Two paintings were stolen from a Brazilian museum, including a Picasso, when thieves broke in Thursday morning. The break in lasted a total of three minutes, but that was enough for the thieves to make off with Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch. " Candido Portinari's "O Lavrador de Cafe" was also stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art. Investigators say the thieves appear to be professionals and used a car jack to pry into a metal pull-down gate over the museum's front door. Then, they broke two glass doors and took the paintings from the museum's second floor.

A middle school coach was arrested and charged for leading a group of players into manipulating Christmas displays to depict images of a pornographic nature. John Hayes, 46, while driving around in his pickup truck with middle school varsity football team at the back, allegedly placed a homeowner's reindeer displays in sexual positions. The group also destroyed several Christmas decorations they came across.

Several women in a County Durham village hoping to help raise funds for charity are selling plates with painted images done not by their hands - but with their bare breasts. Covering their breasts with paint, the women paint images of pandas, cherries, Christmas puddings and bumblebees on plates which are later glazed and fired

With its toilet-shaped seats and napkins dispensed from toilet rolls, a restaurant is attracting throngs of customers in the upbeat city of Taipei in Taiwan. The innovation, according to Modern Toilet owner, Wang Tzi-wei, is quite a hit among young and adventurous diners.

The Chinese Confucius Foundation in cooperation with China's two media giants inked a $ 5. 3 million deal on Friday to make a cartoon series highlighting the life and teachings of the popular ancient philosopher, Confucius. The cartoon series, to be composed of 100 episodes in 13-minuter format each, will be aired to mark the 2,560th birth anniversary of Confucius in 2009.