Canadian court ended hearings this Wednesday of what observers see as a case that pits freedom of expression with safeguarding children. For refusing to carry what it deems to be sexually explicit pamphlets, Canada Post was sued by the Sex Party, the country's only accredited sex-related political party.

estern Europe's highest peak Mont Blanc (French for white mountain) is taller than ever as snow piled atop its summit, experts described it as a weather change related occurrence. The height was found to be 15, 783. 79 ft (4,810. 90 m) on Sept. 15 and 16 respectively - a 7. 05 ft (2. 15 m) increase in two years.

A 50-year-old Canadian man has set out on the first of its kind balloon journey Tuesday, where he will fly an undersized hot-air balloon across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to England. David Hempleman-Adams, who lives in Box, Wiltshire, set off on the adventurous journey in a helium balloon at 1 am from St John's in Newfoundland, Canada.

Starting Wednesday, visitors at the Paris Zoo in Paris, France will have a new attraction named Aldo who looks, eats and behaves like a hippopotamus but is only about as long as a human baby. This three-week old pygmy hippo, which is just 21 inches long, was bred and born June 5 at the Paris Zoo in a special program to boost the rare species. Since the start of the breeding project in the early 1990s, 47 males have been born and 66 females. Aldo's older siblings reside in Spain and Britain.

One of Napoleon's swords sold at an auction in France Sunday for more than $6. 4 million. According to auctioneers, no other Napoleon memorabilia has garnered as high a sum as the gold-encrusted sword, which Napoleon wore as he went into battle in Italy about 200 years ago. The sale took place at the Osenat auction house, located in Fontainebleau, a town southeast of Paris. The buyer was not immediately named. It was not expected that the 32-inch sword would sell for more than $1. 6 million.