Germany: Escaped leopard turns out to be cuddly toy

Did Tarzan’s Cheetah really die?

Samoa says goodbye to Friday

Twin polar bear cubs to debut in China (VIDEO)

Canadians abroad ply their embassies with weird questions

Hugo Chavez’s 5 weirdest moments

New Red Sea island formed

Titanic artifacts to go up for auction

Mandela health scare sparked by mistaken tweet

Mom keeps “zombie cheeseburger” on kitchen counter to scare kids off McDonald’s

15 Kate Middleton memorable moments in 2011

China’s one-child rule flouted by wealthy ‘octomom’

Apps for Apes: Orangutans use iPads at Milwaukee zoo (VIDEO)

Maldives government orders resorts to shut their spas

Royal honors for Apple designer, Helena Bonham Carter

Kelly Clarkson’s Ron Paul endorsement boosts her record sales

Johannesburg police on guard for New Year’s Eve appliance-tossing tradition

New Year’s Eve: Dutch giraffes soothed by pop music

NASA Grail gravity mapping satellite now orbiting the Moon

Banana Sam stolen from San Francisco Zoo

Italian man, 99, divorcing wife of 77 years over 60-year-old extramarital affair

Blackbird deaths in Beebe, Ark., becoming New Year’s Eve tradition

Cars, dogs, pot plants… British police reveal what thieves steal from police stations

Kate, Middle Kingdom, and deficit among 2012’s projected top words

Rupert Murdoch joins Twitter

2012’s projected top words

NASA: No doomsday in 2012

Mystery “gold bars” found on Paris train may be a scam

Swaziland activists accuse Coca-Cola of supporting King Mswati III

Unauthorized Steve Jobs action figure is impressively lifelike

Salma Hayek joins the French Legion of Honor

Twitter admits it verified fake Wendi Deng Murdoch account

Canadian man enters US using scan of his passport saved on iPad

Bangladesh man sentenced to six months in prison for Facebook status

China year of the dragon stamp “too ferocious”

Parasitic flies may be responsible for colony collapse disorder in bees, study shows

Judge: KKK store in South Carolina rightfully owned by a black congregation

Cuba slams Twitter for fueling Fidel death rumor

Oklahoma teen mom Sarah McKinley calls 911 to ask if she can kill intruder, then shoots him to death

Zimbabwe’s “female rapists,” accused of semen harvesting, strike again

Was $66,000 too much to spend on a party for giant pandas?

Canadian woman, shot in eye, insists on finishing beer

All hail the god of Kopimism: File-sharing becomes official religion in Sweden

22-year-old pilot makes emergency landing on downtown street

Darth Vader burger to be served at French fast food chain

Russian blogger sneaks into state’s ‘high-security’ rocket plant through hole in fence

China grows “Asia’s biggest man boobs”

Everton’s Tim Howard scores 100-yard goal (VIDEO)

‘Harry Potter’ owls sighted across the United States

South Africa: Driver pulls over to watch ducks, causes multi-car pileup

Drugs arrest for man named Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop

Winter packs wallop in Asia, Europe

Zebra shark in Dubai zoo reproduces without male

French retailer facing naked truth

Passengers around the world commute in their underwear for the No Pants Subway Ride

The 11th Annual No Pants Subway Ride

Racist receipt gives New York customer indigestion

Thug life of Fred the baboon revealed in documentary (VIDEO)

Zimbabwe bans sale of secondhand underwear

Apocalypse could be minutes nearer if Doomsday Clock goes forward