Newly elected Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo named a former slave as his Minister for Indigenous Affair. Margarita Mbywangi, 46, an Ache tribal chief, was captured in the jungle when she was four and sold several times as a slave to owners of large lands. Fortunately, her masters send her to school which enabled her to learn to read and write.

Once again, Zimbabwe broke world records Tuesday, not in the sporting arena but in having the world's highest inflation rate at 11. 2 million percent in June. Zimbabwe Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi attributed the country's hyperinflation rate to soaring food prices and western sanctions on their ruling elite.

The nation that gave the world counterfeit toys, fake toothpaste and poisoned pet food also gave 3 billion television viewers a bogus fireworks show of Olympic proportions Friday night, according to media reports Monday. The spectacular fireworks telecast to billions of viewers around the world at the end of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics Friday night were largely faked using computer animation and the audience wasn't told, the Beijing Times newspaper revealed.

Many restaurants have a policy of giving police officers free cups of coffee or discounted food but a Chicago police officer was suspended for 18 months and recommended for counseling after she demanded free coffee and pastries from area Starbucks. Most police departments have unwritten rules against officers either accepting or demanding anything free, although those rules generally aren't enforced. Many restaurants feel it enhances safety to have police officers stop in for coffee, a snack or a meal. But officers traditionally offer to pay before a restaurant tells them it's on the house or discounted.

A study by psychiatrists at the Erlangen University, in collaboration with researchers from the University of North Dakota, linked shopping addiction to an intense craving for attention. One in 10 consumers from wealthy western nations have varying degrees of shopping addiction, according to Martina de Zwaan, head of the Erlangen University's Department of Psychotherapy.