A new ringtone invades cellphones all across the Philippines: the allegedly wiretapped voice of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's comments on vote-rigging. A voice resembling that of Arroyo is heard talking to an election official requesting assurance of a one-million-vote margin over her fiercest opponent during the May 2004 election.

New York's crime-fighting Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is usually immersed in the task of fighting crime on a large scale. He did however, take time to handle a smaller crime, in which a restaurant owner was allegedly pocketing the tips given to his waiters and waitresses.

The recent election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope was a sure bet for two British gamblers who became 5,000 pounds richer as the bells rang in Rome. One of the two gamblers, from Twickenham near London, won 2,250 pounds and the other, from Enfield, also near the capital, won 2,500 pounds after placing 500 pound stakes on Ratzinger this week. Bets are already being taken on the successor to Pope Benedict XVI, Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze currently sits as a 10/1 favorite.