Two inebriated Russians in a Siberian mining region both cut off their own left ears after betting on the result of an armwrestling contest, police said Friday.

The men were drinking to celebrate Orthodox Christmas and held an armwrestling contest, agreeing that the loser had to cut off his ear, police reported in the southern Siberian Kemerovo region.

It may be your best friend, but your smartphone is also probably teeming with germs.

As innovators descended on the Consumer Electronics Show, companies offering better sanitizing were also promoting the cause of cleanliness.

Yes, technology can get into your head, says the maker of a new brain-sensing headband that promises to reduce stress.

The Muse headband from Canadian-based Interaxon presented at the Consumer Electronics Show uses seven sensors, including five on the forehead and two behind the ears, to monitor brain activity and help people with stress-reducing exercises.

Easy on the cinnamon! That advice from Denmark's food authority has rankled pastry chefs whose cinnamon rolls were found to violate the European Union's spice rules.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration recently discovered that Danish cinnamon rolls and twists contained more coumarin — a chemical compound in the most common variety of cinnamon — than EU rules allow. Excessive intake of coumarin can cause liver damage.

A man in Australia endured a painful hospital visit after a large cockroach burrowed into his ear and his efforts to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner failed.

Darwin-based Hendrik Helmer's ordeal began in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he was woken by a sharp pain in his right ear, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.

Australia's national science agency has issued a rare apology to a seven-year-old girl for not being able to make her a fire-breathing dragon, blaming a lack of research into the mythical creatures.

The youngster, Sophie, wrote to a "Lovely Scientist" at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), politely asking whether they could make her a winged pet of her own.

Staff in a Kenyan hospital were gripped by panic Thursday when a man who was pronounced dead after committing suicide woke up a day later.

"The victim was saved before be could be embalmed," explained the superintendent in charge of Naivasha district hospital, Dr. Joseph Mburu.

A giant 73-year-old elephant died Wednesday at a famed wildlife sanctuary in northeast India, bringing tears to the eyes of his keepers -- and fellow pachyderms.

The majestic 11-foot (3.35 meter) tall elephant, called Joyraj, died of old age at Kaziranga National Park, 220 kilometres (130 miles) east of Assam's state's main city of Guwahati, keepers told Agence France Presse.

Ancient Romans dined on giraffes, pink flamingos and exotic spices from as far away as Indonesia, according to a new scientific study of excavations in Pompeii near Naples in southern Italy.

The study of food waste dug up by researchers from the University of Cincinnati in the United States led by archaeologist Steven Ellis found that menus in the city were far richer and more varied than previously thought.

British government plans for new laws to penalize 'annoying' behavior were defeated in the House of Lords on Wednesday by critics who warned they might be used against anybody from carol singers to nudists.

Unelected members of the upper house of parliament voted 306 to 178 to amend plans for new court-imposed injunctions to prevent nuisance or annoyance (Ipnas), the breach of which could lead to a prison term.