In a reversal of fortunes, a once-unwanted cat has come to the rescue of an animal shelter in need of a new home.

However, this orange-and-white tabby named Daniel is no typical cat. He has a near-record 26 toes, a phenomenon that is helping the nonprofit Milwaukee Animal Rescue Center raise money to relocate to a new building.

A light airplane crashed into a school building Saturday near the Philippine capital after its pilot requested an emergency landing shortly after takeoff, killing at least 13 people, including two children.

The plane burst into flames after hitting the school, said Mayor Florencio Bernabe of suburban Paranaque city.

Radioactive water leaked inside a nuclear power plant in southwestern Japan but did not escape into the environment, the government said Saturday, the latest problem for the country's nuclear industry amid an ongoing crisis at another plant.

The leak Friday at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai plant occurred as Japan continues its attempts to stabilize a tsunami-hit nuclear plant on its northeastern coast where three reactor coresmelted and large amounts of radiation were released into the air and ocean.

A gunman walked down the middle of a street in the heart of Hollywood Friday, firing on passing cars and wounding a driver before police shot and killed him.

The unidentified man, who in video clips had short hair and wore jeans and a white tank top, was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles police Officer Cleon Joseph said. No officers were hurt.

The leaders of 23 European countries moved to tie their economies much closer together in a new treaty in their latest attempt to shore up the euro, but failed to get the four other European Union members, including Britain, to join in.

Following marathon all-night talks, the 23 decided to back a new treaty with strict oversight over national budgets, as they try to convince markets that the euro has a future in the wake of a crippling debt crisis.

Think poinsettia plants are passé? Had enough holly at the holidays? Try tomatoes.

Besides growing dozens of varieties of poinsettias for a national research project, the University of New Hampshire has been experimenting with dwarf tomato plants as holiday decor. Researchers grew about six dozen plants in three varieties of tomatoes and showed them off along with the poinsettias at a holiday open house recently.

Jay-Z didn't graduate from high school, but he's encouraging others to value their education.

The rapper announced Thursday that he will perform two shows at New York's Carnegie Hall in February to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of New York City.

50 Cent has rapped about getting rich. Now he's focusing on getting fit.

The hip-hop star is putting out a fitness book that's set to be published in January 2013 by Avery Books. Titled "Formula 50: A 6-Week Total Body Transformation Plan," the book will tout metabolic resistance training as the key to getting in shape. It will also include a nutrition guide.

Adele dominated music this year, and iTunes was no exception.

The British songstress had iTunes' best-selling album and song, and she was named its top artist.

Gamers worried their actions on the virtual battlefield could land them at the Hague war crimes tribunal can relax.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says media reports that it is investigating whether the Geneva Conventions apply to video games are false.