Britain's Home Office refused Wednesday to release the names of more than 1,000 foreign criminals it accidentally released from prison. British media reported how killers, rapists and pedophiles were among 1,023 inmates released in England and Wales since 1999 instead of being sent through immigration or deportation channels.

A Wisconsin radio reporter got sick of hearing people mispronounce Wisconsin-related words like Lake Butte des Morts and Chequamegon forest, so she decided to create a pronunciation website to set things straight. Jackie Johnson says she wanted to give newcomers, tourists, and even natives some way to learn how to pronounce such words correctly.

Canadian police and health officials searched on Tuesday for a thief who made off with vials of HIV-contaminated blood plasma from a Vancouver hospital. The thief pried open a locked freezer at a laboratory at St. Paul's Hospital during the weekend and removed the 19 vials that were marked with the lettering "HIV VL" and labeled with the patients' names, Reuters reported.

China may be banning strange names by default, as they prepare to institute identity cards for its 1. 3 billion people. According to state media, the name database for new electronic identity cards will not contain uncommon characters.

An unusual drug bust in California. Federal drug enforcement agents in Northern California shut down an elaborate "marijuana candy" factory that produced drug-laced snacks called Rasta Reece's, Pot Tarts, and other parodies of popular products. Authorities raided five locations Thursday, arresting 12 people for allegedly running the criminal enterprise.