Rusty, an eight year old poodle cross Maltese was stolen from his home in Woy Woy in New South Wales nearly three months ago. Against the odds, he was recovered this week from Australia's north, about 4000km (2485 miles) away from home. The dog's owner, who had lost all hope of retrieving Rusty, is delighted. Owner, Shirley Lowry, had lost all hope of ever finding him again after placing newspaper and radio advertisements following his disappearance. All seemed to be a useless effort. But Darwin City Council animal management officer Colin Roe this week found Rusty roaming the streets in Winnellie, Darwin, in the Northern Territory.

A capuchin monkey is under the custody of the Montgomery County Division of Animal Control and Humane Treatment in Maryland, after authorities seized the animal from a woman who was raising the baby as her own. Elyse Gazewitz says her 1-year-old, 18-inch monkey, Armani, was like a baby to her and has been battling the state for custody. A Maryland law forbids possessing a "nonhuman primate," including monkeys, as a pet.

After a four-year struggle to get a European Union visa, an Egyptian man had a nervous break-down at the Cairo airport and tore apart his passport, minutes before boarding a plan to Milan, Italy. The debacle ended the young man's hope of entering Europe. Other travelers noticed the young man talking to himself vaguely and then storming off into a breakdown, which caused him to tear his passport apart. The fresh Humanity Studies graduate had gone through a long and hard process to get the visa.

A 31-year-old mother from Trondheim, Norway was shell-shocked after she saw her own stomach tearing apart following a Cesarean surgery. Tone Lise Johannessen said she was horrified at the sight of her stomach contents, including intestines falling out after the stitches were cut. Authorities at St. Olav's hospital blame the new thread used for stitching that has been replaced despite complaints from some doctors.

Police in Napier, New Zealand were amused when a middle-aged woman called up crying to report a theft of cannabis plants she had been growing in buckets at her home. The 45-year-old woman's main grudge was that the plant theft was the fourth from her property in North Island in the past four years. She was emotional and in tears when police reached her home.