The cost to Canadian taxpayers to keep Prime Minister Stephen Harper safe since 2006 was estimated at $30 million.

The Canadian Press obtained the data through Access to Information laws. According to the statistics it got, the security bill on Harper's first year in office reached $10.7 million, which went up to $13 million the next fiscal year. Partial estimate for the current fiscal year places Harper's security cost at $5.6 million.

A 27-year-old Oregon man has a search and rescue team to thank, as it located him five days after he set off climbing southern Washington's Mount Adams.

Derek Mamoyac of Philomath, Ore. was found 6,000 feet up on the mountain reportedly surviving the ordeal by eating centipedes and drinking water from creeks.

Only one house in the coastal town of Gilchrist in Galveston County, Texas survived Hurricane Ike and remained standing after the storm passed the area last week.

The home of Warren and Pam Adams was elevated 14 feet above ground by strong wooden columns which helped it withstand Ike's 110 mph winds and avoid floods that wiped out all other homes in the beach.

German Education Minister Annette Schavan was criticized by the opposition for riding a military chopper instead of flying on a regular airline. For her trip to Zurich from Stuttgart to have a newspaper interview, German taxpayers had to shell out $39,179.

If she flew on a regular plane, the ticket would cost only $496.45 (329 euro). The trip covered 90.72 miles (146 kilometers).

The nation that gave the world counterfeit toys, fake toothpaste and poisoned pet food also gave 3 billion television viewers a bogus fireworks show of Olympic proportions Friday night, according to media reports Monday.

The spectacular fireworks telecast to billions of viewers around the world at the end of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics Friday night were largely faked using computer animation and the audience wasn't told, the Beijing Times newspaper revealed.