An Olympics more to some men's tastes is brewing this weekend in this small Finnish town. The winner receives his wife's weight in beer. More than 50 couples from countries around Europe are registered for Saturday's 16th annual Wife Carrying World Championships. The rules are simple, even if the contest isn't necessarily easy. The wife-even a borrowed one- is carried by the man-piggyback, on his shoulders, or however he can manage-around a quarter-kilometer (. 15 miles) course made up of sand, asphalt and grass over logs and through three feet of water.

A restaurant in Manhattan is challenging the economic downturn by offering a $175 burger with gold toppings. And Heather Tierney, one of the burger stand's co-owners, says sales are brisk.

Local police arrested a driver who allegedly used a seatbelt to secure a carton of beer, and not the 5-year old child riding with him. Authorities involved in the investigation were reportedly "shocked and appalled" at the apparent priorities the man had, as he was driving along the Ross Highway near Alice Springs.

In an effort to minimize the number of paw injuries in its canine force, police officials in Germany have mandated that all 20 members start wearing shoes. The German and Belgian shepherds of Dusseldorf police are currently being trained to walk in plastic fiber shoes designed by Wilhelm Fennen. Spokesman Andre Hartwich isn't sure if the dogs like wearing the new boots, but says the canine unit would have to get used to it.

ilipino inventor Virgilio Malang invented a vitamin-enriched beer that has garnered awards and recognition worldwide even before it is commercially marketed. Malang's Vitamin Beer, fortified with Vitamin B Complex, became widely popular at the First International Inventors' Day Convention held recently in Bangkok, Thailand. It also won a gold medal at the European Union-sponsored Genius-Europe competition at the Budapest Fair Center in Hungary and it also won the Romanian Ministry Education and Research Cup few years ago.