In the midst of a Toronto neighborhood rests a 13-1/2 foot bronze and granite monument depicting Alexander Wood, famous for both owning the land on which the community now sits, and for being run out of town due to sexual scandal in the early 1800s. The statue of a hero in Toronto's gay community is the cause of concern both for the actions of the man it depicts and for the somewhat graphic description of the 19th-Century sex scandal that made him famous.

Australian news reports the return of an 87-year-old man to his home after he beat off an intruder with a shoe. Local reports say semi-retired horse trainer Johnny Oswin was attacked by a man who threatend him with a metal bar at his home in Mt Eliza, south of Melbourne. Oswin was able to fight him off suffering only minor cuts and bruises to his head and arms.

A bid by Indonesia's first directly elected president to be closer to his people by publicizing his mobile phone number backfires over the weekend, after thousands of calls crashed the line. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced the number on Saturday saying anyone could call or send text messages if they wanted to complain about government services. By Monday, Indonesian newspapers were carrying stories of people complaining they couldn't get through.

Modjadji VI, the South African queen believed to make rain, has died in hospital, just two years after being crowned. Makobo Modjadji was a descendant from a line of rain queens dating back at least 200 years, and the youngest ever to head southern Africa's only female dynasty ruling the Balobedu people in the country's northern Limpopo province.

Gays and lesbians marching in the northern city of Hamburg on Saturday reportedly set a new world record for a group hug, with 16,000 people embracing each other for 10 seconds. Drag queen Olivia Jones, one of organizers told local media that the "march should bring people together, regardless of whether people are homosexual or heterosexual. "