Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez officially reset the country's official time by 30 minutes, effective Sunday. With the move, Venezuela is now four-and-a-half hours earlier than the Greenwich Mean Time, from the previous four hours advance. The time change is not a daylight saving time measure, but a permanent change initiated by President Chavez, who is set to also change the nation's currency to the strong bolivar by January 1, 2008.

Brian Rush, 28, did not like the discipline of the seminary but he loved the perks of a priest. Rush, who quit the seminary after a month in 2006, dressed in black, wore a cross and a white strip of cardboard on his neck and went shopping at a local grocery store in Pittston.

A man disguised as a priest was arrested by police for checking out groceries, and then claiming that the bill was to be charged to the St. Rocco's Catholic Church, which actually had a tab at the supermarket. Police officials said that Brian Rush, who claimed that he intended to give help to the poor, scammed the supermarket Gerrity's out of $98 on Tuesday.

Policemen in the capital city of the Philippines are now donning a new headgear to complement their uniform just in time for the Christmas season - Santa Claus hats. "We are wearing this to show the people that during this Christmas season our hearts and minds are on serving the Filipino people," said Manila police spokesman Giovanni Valera.

The constant admonition for kids to eat their veggies probably will not be heard often in the Krishna-Avanti school in northwest London. The school requires enrollees to be vegetarians. The school policy is criticized by Hindus who find the strict requirement favoring the Hare Krishna tradition. The school's leaning toward practices of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, more known as Hare Krishna, is not surprising since the movement's vegan followers are behind the school administration.