Familiar faces on wedding banquets involving a Canadian groom and an Indian bride were the giveaway that aroused the suspicion of Canadian immigration officials that marriage for convenience syndicates were behind the move to fast track the acquisition of resident visas by Indian nationals. After their curiosity was challenged, visa officers compared files of wedding photos submitted as proof of a legitimate wedding, which led to the conclusion syndicates were behind the rent-a-guest modus operandi.

A ton of live snakes have been discovered by Vietnamese Customs officials onboard a plane from Bangkok. Custom officials said the snakes were contained inside 60 boxes marked 'fresh fish,' onboard the cargo hull of a Thai Air plane.

Two prison officers have been sent to jail by a court in northern Vietnam for helping a woman on death row get pregnant, according to an official Thursday. The People's Court of Hoa Binh City found Nguyen Thuyen and Bui Van Quyet guilty of allowing a male prisoner visit 40 year old Nguyen Thi Oanh to have sex so that she could become pregnant and take advantage of a Vietnamese law which states that pregnant women and those with children under three cannot be put to death.

After traveling for more than 6,000 miles covering at least 19 countries mostly in Asia and Europe commencing in Hong Kong for more than four months, two British adventurers are now back in London - on horseback - still in their tuxedos. British Heath Buck and American Doug Campbell said they came up with the idea on raising funds for a charity when they met in a Hong Kong bar.