A skull discovered in Ethiopia could fill the gap in the search for the origins of the human race. Scientists say it could be the missing link between the extinct Homo erectus and modern man. The skull is estimated to be 200,000 to 500,000 years old.

An estranged husband breaks into his wife's home through her kitchen window and shoots her in the genitals at point-blank range before shooting himself in the head. Marie le Grange, of Pretoria, South Africa is in critical condition at a local hospital.

A canine biscuit company's offer to give Kenya powdered dog food in order to feed famished children was dismissed as "culturally insulting. ""Kenyan kids are not so desperate as to eat dog food," Kenya government spokesman Alfred Mutua told Reuters.

A suspected criminal in South Africa was mauled to death after he hid from authorities in a tiger's cage. South African police say the man had just robbed a couple with a knife. He tried to escape by jumping over the Bloemfontein Zoo fence and taking refuge in the Bengal tiger's cage, reports BBC

Time Magazine has named its Persons of the Year and the three people on this year's cover are honored for being good Samaritans. The magazine says the trio is changing the way people feel about charity. Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda, were named Time magazine's "Persons of the Year" along with Irish rocker Bono for making a difference in different ways. Managing Editor James Kelly said the three had been chosen as the people most effective at finding ways to eradicate such calamities as malaria in Africa, HIV and AIDS and the grinding poverty that kills 8 million people a year. Time also named former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton as "Partners of the Year" for their humanitarian efforts after the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, and the unlikely friendship that developed from that work.