The Australian Federal Police (AFP) and their Irish counterparts are investigating the source of illegal drugs smuggled inside an Action Man figure and a smiling Mr Potato Head toy after the Australian Customs officers say they found banned ecstasy tablets and cocaine inside the figurines placed in a package that arrived at the Sydney International Mail Centre from Ireland, in late July. The Australian Customs officers say they found the MDMA tablets intended for a home in western Sydney, in a small taped bag inside the toy after an X-ray examination revealed suspicious substances.

Police in Northern Ireland arrested a man for hurting his girlfriend and torturing her pet snake. Shane Cooke bit his girlfriend Coleen McGleenon 's pet snake in half during a fight and remarked that it "tasted lovely," lawyers testified Friday.

Rotimi Adebari made history yesterday, becoming the first black mayor elected in Ireland, winning the election to lead Portlaoise, a busy commuter town just west of Dublin. Adebari, 43, a native of Nigeria, migrated to Ireland in 2000 with his wife and two sons, claiming political asylum based on religious persecution, although his application was rejected because of insufficient evidence.

Continental Airlines Inc. is offering a group of passengers special travel vouchers. The coupons are not, however, part of any kind of promotional strategy - they're compensation for what passengers endured on a Continental trans-Atlantic flight last week. Things went wrong on Flight 71 right from the beginning when it took off June 13 from Amsterdam bound for Newark, N. J. The pilot decided to land the plane in Shannon, Ireland, after passengers complained of blockage in the lavatories.

A visually impaired Irishman named Mark Pollock on Wednesday finished one of the world's most challenging sporting events -the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon in Nepal - setting a world record as the first visually impaired person to complete the high-altitude race. "Proud to be here," he said upon crossing the finishing line.