Heavily-armed robbers posing as policemen stole cash and a service vehicle from a mobile phone distribution company in Quezon City, east of the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday morning during a "raid" against violators of intellectual property rights. Reports say the eight "policemen," wearing bull caps with "Pulis" (police) and "PNP" (Philippine National Police) markings, introduced themselves to the store owner and said they were conducting a "raid" against sellers of fake mobile phones from China.

A man in search of buried treasure struck gold, literally, when he found a pair of coins that bore the image of Emperor Carausius. Derrick Fretwell, 57, reportedly found the coins while digging in a field by Ashbourne. The coins bore the portrait of Emperor Carausius, a Roman commander. The coins and were said to be 90 percent pure gold.

Technology is displacing the telephone directory from American households. Environmentalists and households, among others, are now questioning the wisdom of printing 2,000 pages of phone numbers hardly touched by consumers who prefer speed dialing features of their mobile units or Internet search engines to find a contact number. A number of apartment buildings in South Boston reported 2008 editions of newly delivered phone books remain untouched in foyers.

Almost 50 people reportedly lost their sight after staring at the sky in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rumored image of the Virgin Mary. Officials of India's Kottayam district reported a total of 48 individuals experiencing the condition, after medical examinations determined that their retinas were burned from staring at the sun. The cases had reportedly been constantly coming in since Friday last week.

Crews from a Canadian warship involved in an anti-terrorism patrol of the Arabian Sea have found more than four tons of hashish from a Pakistani fishing boat they intercepted on Feb. 18. The Canadian crews of the frigate HMCS Charlottetown found the cargo of illegal drug hidden under the deck planks and fuel tanks of the dhow named Al Moula Madad after a 17-hour search. The crews boarded the vessel 37 miles (60 kilometers) off Pakistan's coast to verify reports that it is being used by terrorists.