Authorities Monday shut down Mexico's -- and possibly the world's -- biggest garbage dump and said they would invite bids to exploit methane gas generated by the decomposing waste.

Waste Management Commission chief Fernando Menendez called the closing "historic" as "it is the world's largest (truck-filled open-air) dump."

A Polish man who shot his partner with a Taser stun gun and then buried her alive in a Yorkshire wood was found guilty of attempted murder on Monday.

Marcin Kasprzak, 25, attacked Michelina Lewandowska, 27, the mother of his child, at their home in Huddersfield on May 28, and then bound and gagged her with tape.

An Athens stray dog who has become an unofficial mascot of city protests and an online sensation this week reaped another accolade by featuring in Time magazine's 'Person of the Year' award.

Sable-furred Loukanikos -- 'sausage' in Greek -- was granted his own photo gallery in the magazine's annual honors which this year were dedicated to protesters in the Arab world, the crisis-hit EU, the United States and Russia.

An Italian driver was stopped by astonished police in the southern city of Bari on Saturday when they saw him speaking on two phones with a handset in each hand and no control of the wheel.

Asked to explain his actions, the 43-year-old driver of an Alfa Romeo 166 saloon car said he was speaking to his wife when his mother called and he could not hang up on either of them, the Corriere Della Sera daily reported.

Prince Harry rushed to the aid of a friend who was robbed of his mobile phone while speaking to the royal, The Mail on Sunday newspaper said.

Harry, third in line to the throne, heard the robbery and quickly drove to the crime scene in Battersea, southwest London.

At The Apothecarium, a quaintly upscale medical marijuana club in San Francisco's Castro District, the vibe is even jollier than usual this month. To boost holiday spirits, the dispensary is giving a storewide 15 percent discount to patrons who donate to its canned food drive, making year-end contributions to local charities and raffling off a seriously spiked "ganja-bread" house made with a whopping 80 "doses" of pot-infused butter.

"We have a whole bunch of decorations up, holiday music playing. It's pretty festive here right now," said Ryan Hudson, The Apothecarium's executive director. "Why not? We are just like any other business, in that regard."

A Tory MP who attended a stag party where guests dressed as Nazis and toasted the Third Reich has lost his post as an aide and been placed under investigation by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Aidan Burley, 32, has been sacked from his role as a parliamentary private secretary to Transport Secretary Justine Greening, the Conservative Party said Sunday.

Police in Rome have arrested two men suspected of carrying out a string of armed robberies dressed as Father Christmas.

At least six stores in the Appia neighborhood south of Rome city center reported thefts by the two in the past month, in which one of the men pointed a gun at shop staff while another grabbed the cash.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, meet your Israeli doppelganger: Mark Zuckerberg.

Israeli entrepreneur Rotem Guez says he has legally changed his name to that of Facebook's CEO, a gimmick meant to persuade the social networking site to back down from what he says are threats to take legal action against him.

U.S. authorities said Friday they have apprehended a fugitive French graffiti artist known as "Rask" for allegedly tagging trains in Boston, before trying to catch a flight home.

Maxime Bezat, 25, was caught at Newark airport in New Jersey on December 3 while about to fly to Paris, where he is also sought for spray paint vandalism.