After 60 years, the last letter written by a soldier killed in World War II finally makes it home. Gary Mathis bought a box of old newspapers at a Kansas yard sale, and discovered the letter inside a newspaper from 1915. The envelope has military post office markings dated March 6, 1944 and is addressed to W. J. Krotz of Poole, about 120 miles west of Lincoln.

Two young boys in Florence, Italy attempted to climb a 16-century statue of Neptune siting in a fountain in the main town square of Piazza della Signoria, breaking a hand right off the statue and damaging other parts of the fountain. The young men are from the city of Empoli, just outside of Florence in northern Italy. One of them was slightly injured during the pre-dawn climb.

A British couple revealed Wednesday that they drove from the north of Scotland to the south of Italy without leaving their vehicle to use the restroom. They didn't need to, their portable toilet drove with them. Biochemist James Shippen and his colleague Barbara May took almost a week to complete the trip, using what they claim to be the first lavatory ever installed in a car.

New law under the city council in Turin, Italy, puts pressure on pet owners to treat their animals properly - having to follow the most stringent animal protection guidelines in the country. The 20-page rulebook details specific treatment of animals expected by the people of Turin. Dog owners will be fined up to 500 euros ($650) if they don't walk their pets at least three times a day. People will also be banned from dyeing their pets' fur or "any form of animal mutilation" for merely aesthetic motives such as docking dogs' tails, under the law about to be passed in the northern Italian city. "In Turin it will be illegal to turn one's dog into a ridiculous fluffy toy," the city's La Stampa daily reported. Italians can already be fined up to 10,000 euros and spend a year in prison if found guilty of torturing or abandoning their pets, but Turin's new rules go into much greater detail. Dogs may be led for walks by people on bicycles, the rules say, "but not in a way that would tire the animal too much. " Italy considers itself an animal-loving nation and in many cities stray cats are protected by law. Still some 150,000 pet dogs and 200,000 cats are abandoned in Italy every year, according to animal rights groups. To enforce the law, Turin police would rely largely on the help of tipsters spotting cruel treatment by their neighbors, La Stampa reported.

A 20-year old violinist is breathing much easier now that the 18th century violin she lost has been returned. Lindsay Deutsch says the instrument was stolen from her car last weekend while she was grocery shopping. Deutsch says, "I've been waiting my whole life to get an instrument of this quality, and for it to be gone like this, I didn't think I'd ever get this one back. " It was found Thursday in an alley by a man who was walking his dog. He took it police who kept to dust for fingerprints. The violin, made in 1742, was on loan from collector Peter Mandell, who says his insurance covered almost every possible contingency -- except theft from a vehicle. The instrument is one of only 30 still in existence that was handcrafted in Venice, Italy by the top violin maker of his time, Sanctus Seraphin. Though a fine violin, it is considered to be several notches below those made by Antonio Stradivari. Deutsch says, had the violin not been recovered, she was ready to work off the debt to pay Mandell for the instrument Her parents offered a $10,000 reward. If an investigation confirms his story, her father says he will give the money to the finder.