When a German boy phoned to complain he was being made to do "forced labor", police were alarmed. But it turned out the 11-year-old had only been asked by his mother to help clean up at home.

The boy from the western city of Aachen phoned on Monday to make his complaint, adding that his mother "made him work all day", police said.

A woman who attacked a painting at Washington's National Gallery of Art earlier this year has struck again, police say, this time lashing out against a Henri Matisse painting at the museum.

Susan Burns was arrested Aug. 5 after police say she walked over to Matisse's 1919 painting "The Plumed Hat," and slammed the painting repeatedly against a wall, damaging its frame but not the $2.5 million painting.

Pretty young women and older men of means -- 'sugar babies' and 'sugar daddies' -- are pairing up thanks to a U.S. website that openly offers companionship for money, but balks at the word prostitution.

SeekingArrangement.com (SA) -- which bills itself as the "premier Sugar Daddy dating site" -- does not beat around the bush.

A man was killed after being gored by a bull known to be dangerous during a bull run in an arena in Xativa, eastern Spain, local authorities said Sunday.

The bull, nicknamed "Mouse", ran at the man, who has not been named but is said to be around 30, during the run on Saturday night.

Chinese bloggers and the media speculated Monday about whether the new U.S. ambassador's Chinese roots would help Sino-U.S. ties -- and nicknamed him "the backpacker" for his frugal travelling habits.

Gary Locke, formerly U.S. commerce secretary, arrived in Beijing at the weekend carrying his own luggage and travelling in a regular car, with little of the ceremony that usually surrounds Chinese dignitaries abroad.

An animal welfare group urged Rugby World Cup organizers Monday to ditch plans to stage "the running of the sheep" in New Zealand's largest city Auckland during the tournament.

Under the plan, about 1,000 sheep will be herded down Auckland's main road Queen Street, accompanied by sheep dogs and bikini-clad models riding quad bikes.

Now not only are Angry Birds available on your mobile phone, they can also be found on your dining plate -- in the form of the Angry Birds mooncake, unveiled in Hong Kong on Sunday.

The popular mobile game, which was first launched for Apple's mobile operating system in 2009, features cartoonish, wingless birds that the player must slingshot into enemy pig territory to reclaim stolen eggs.

Hundreds of women swapped business suits for short skirts and revealing tops Saturday as Washington joined the list of cities around the world that have hosted a SlutWalk -- a march calling for an end to sexual violence and victim blaming.

A crowd made up mainly of women, which SlutWalk organizer Samantha Wright estimated at around 2,000-strong, marched from the White House to the Washington Monument brandishing signs with messages reading "This is what I was wearing when I was raped," and, "Rape pre-dates the miniskirt."

Brazilian authorities seeking to take a bite out of crime caught a lucky break when a purse-snatcher unwittingly left behind key evidence that led to the thief's arrest: his own dentures.

The robber grabbed a woman's handbag in the small town of Severina, about 430 kilometers (265 miles) from Sao Paulo, and managed to escape, victim Silvina Julieta Ferreira told local media on Friday.

It seemed too good to be true — a slot-machine jackpot of almost 43 million euros. And maybe it was.

Austrian state broadcaster ORF reports that Behar Merlaku is going to court over the refusal of the Bregenz casino to give him what he considers his win on March 26.