A New Zealand researcher has earned a doctorate studying the social habits of heavy metal fans, or "bogans" as they are known in the country.

Dave Snell began his research at Waikato University in 2007, intent on using psychological tools to look beyond the stereotypical image of bogans as anti-social and potentially dangerous outsiders.

A 4.4-meter (14.5-feet) crocodile that had eaten up to nine pet dogs has been hauled out of a river in Australia's north, a report said on Friday.

The rogue croc was trapped at Daly River community, some 225 kilometers (139 miles) south of Darwin, where it was terrorizing residents and animals, the Northern Territory News said.

Authorities in New Zealand raised concerns Thursday about a student drinking game called "possum", in which participants sit in trees downing alcohol until they fall to the ground in a drunken stupor.

The craze has reportedly swept the South Island city of Dunedin, which has a large student population, leaving public parks strewn with glass, litter and vomit.

An elephant named Shanthi at the U.S. national zoo plays a harmonica with her trunk and appears to love doing it.

Video released Wednesday by the zoo in Washington shows the 36-year-old Asian elephant has a harmonica attached to her stall and plays tunes even when no humans are within view.

A New Jersey mother faces criminal charges for tucking her five-year-old child into bed -- a tanning bed.

Patricia Krentcil, 44, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to taking her daughter, now six, into the tanning booth at a salon where she regularly soaks up the rays, Essex County prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter told Agence France Presse.

U.S. drug-busting authorities apologized Wednesday to a student who said he was driven to drinking his own urine and trying to kill himself after being abandoned in a cell for five days.

Daniel Chong, 23, was mistakenly left in a cell in San Diego after being arrested with eight other people on April 21 in raid in which the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized guns, ammunition and drugs.

Authorities are calling time on the drinking culture in Britain's Houses of Parliament, announcing new measures on Tuesday in the wake of a late-night fist-fight in a bar.

The House of Commons Commission, the body that runs the lower chamber's facilities, said it was bringing in new policies to promote responsible alcohol use.

Stunt woman Jolene Van Vugt was flushed with pride Wednesday after setting a new land speed record for the fastest motorized toilet.

Van Vugt, a former Canadian motocross champion, steered the contraption through some early wobbles to 75 kilometers per hour (46 mph) in Sydney, seven kilometers more than the previous Guinness world record.

Forty-five percent of Americans fall asleep somewhere other than their bed at least once a week, a survey by a mattress industry group found Tuesday.

Men are more likely than women to nod off away from their beds, according to the nationwide survey of 1,000 adults for the Better Sleep Council, which Tuesday declared May to be "Better Sleep Month."

Two drunken Welshmen Wednesday escaped with a fine after being convicted of stealing a penguin called Dirk from an Australian theme park after consuming large amounts of vodka.

Former Royal Marine Rhys Owen Jones, 21, and his bricklayer friend Keri Mules, 20, broke into Sea World on Queensland's Gold Coast last month and swam with the dolphins and let off a fire extinguisher in a shark enclosure.