The number of stray and abandoned dogs in the United Kingdom jumped by 11 percent in the past year -- the biggest surge in a decade -- possibly because of the financial crisis, a British dog charity said Wednesday. Dogs Trust said local authorities picked up 107,228 stray and abandoned dogs from British streets in the past year. It called on the government to make microchipping compulsory for all dogs to help reunite owners with pets, whether lost or abandoned. ...

U.S. soldiers searched a hospital in central Afghanistan for Taliban fighters, tying up hospital guards and entering women's wards in violation of local customs, an aid worker said Monday.

The Mexican military has detained a suspected leader of a notorious drug-trafficking family in connection with the July slayings of two U.S. citizens. Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, known as El Rikin, was taken into custody Friday in Nuevo Casa Grandes, in Chihuahua state, according to a military statement. Escajeda is an alleged ringleader of a drug-trafficking family that runs a 120-mile smuggling corridor on Mexico's border with Texas, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. He has been indicted by the ...

The "disgusting" blob that Fred DeNegri's wife says she poured out of his Diet Pepsi can was probably a gutted frog or toad, the Food and Drug Administration said. DeNegri was grilling in his backyard tiki bar in Ormond Beach, Florida, when he popped open a can of Diet Pepsi, took a big gulp and started gagging, his wife, Amy, said. He emptied out the can down a sink but something heavy remained inside. His wife took over ...

In the closing days of Cash for Clunkers, car dealers were turning buyers away, the government website crashed trying to keep up with the paperwork, and even the purple cars were selling. So, what does it tell us about our national character when the most popular government program in years is an economically dubious, environmentally negligible, politically lazy handout from 99% of the population to the other 1%, all aimed at reviving the economy from its vegetative state? ...

When it comes to taking spirited vacations, wandering a vineyard falls flat in the face of handcrafted brew. With more than 1,500 breweries across the United States, beer is not just a drink -- it's a destination. "What's happened is that the old world has influenced the new world; the U.S. is now a travel destination for beer, [even] for people from outside of the country," said Julia Herz, craft beer program director at the Brewers Association. "What's so great ...

Investigators have offered a $10,000 reward in the killing of a pastor at an Oklahoma church, a crime the local prosecutor described as "horrific." The reward comes as police try to unravel the mystery of who killed Carol Daniels, a 61-year-old pastor from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She traveled many Sundays to Anadarko, Oklahoma, about 50 miles southwest of her home, to Christ Holy Sanctified Church "in case people came in to worship," her son, Alvin Daniels, told CNN. ...

UK officials have sought to play down low voter turnout in Afghanistan's elections amid reports just 150 people cast their ballots in an area where four British troops died securing it from the Taliban. British media claimed that early estimates of ballots in the former Taliban stronghold of Babaji in Helmand province indicated few exercised their voting rights, despite the efforts of Operation Panther's Claw, a five-week offensive against militants in the region. The claims have fueled debate in ...

A man was stabbed in the chest and 13 people were arrested after violence marred an English League Cup tie between Premier League side West Ham and east London neighbors Millwall. The 44-year-old man was stabbed in Priory Road, a few yards from West Ham's stadium as fans clashed with police before and after the match; police say he is now in a stable condition. During the match, which West Ham won 3-1, fans fought with police and stewards inside ...

Enchantment can be dangerous work. A series of employee fatalities this summer at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., has exposed a hard truth: the recipe for making dreams come true at the Magic Kingdom includes not only pixie dust and princesses but the hard work of very mortal human beings acting in a risky world where sometimes things go badly awry. Over the past six weeks at Disney World, a 21-year-old monorail driver, a 47-year-old actor portraying pirate ...