Dogs do not like people who are mean to their owners, Japanese researchers said Friday, and will refuse food offered by people who have snubbed their master.

The findings reveal that canines have the capacity to co-operate socially -- a characteristic found in a relatively small number of species, including humans and some other primates.

A huge reptile is on the prowl through Tokyo's streets -- but unlike Godzilla, who stomped across Japan's capital in a blaze of destructive energy, Bon-chan the giant tortoise isn't doing anything very quickly.

The metr- (3-feet-) long African spurred tortoise, which tips the scales at 70 kilograms (150 pounds), is a regular sight on the streets of Tokyo's Tsukishima district, as he and owner Hisao Mitani take their snail-paced daily walk. 

A Vermont man has escaped jury duty — by getting dismissed for wearing a prisoner costume.

James Lowe says he was released from jury duty on Tuesday when he showed up at court wearing a black-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie.

It was a grisly crime in a sleazy place -- the stuff New York tabloid headline writers feast on, too good an opportunity to miss: "Headless body in topless bar."

The author of that dark zinger, former New York Post editor and film critic Vincent Musetto, died Tuesday at the age of 74, the paper said.

Frank, a 50-pound pet tortoise, has been found in western Michigan after a two-day search.

Owner Bradley Clark tells The Grand Rapids Press that he got a call from someone who said the tortoise was munching on flowers Tuesday, 7 miles from home in Kent County's Ada Township.

In the lush, green hills of northern Thailand, a woman painstakingly picks coffee beans out of a pile of elephant dung, an essential part of making one the world's most expensive beverages.

This remote corner of Thailand bordering Myanmar and Laos is better known for drug smuggling than coffee, but Blake Dinkin decided it was perfect for a legitimate enterprise that blends conservation with business.

Belgium on Monday began minting 2.5-euro coins marking the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's defeat of at the Battle of Waterloo, after France forced it to scrap a two-euro coin of the same purpose.

Paris objected to the new Belgian coin, commemorating the French emperor's defeat by British and Prussian forces, earlier this year, saying it would create tensions at a time when Europe's unity is under threat.

A city council in western India is planning to pay residents to use public toilets in a desperate attempt to stop legions of people urinating and defecating in public.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has decided to give residents one rupee a visit in a bid to draw them into its 300 public toilets and away from open areas and public walls, which often reek of urine.

A South Korean couple's special day has become an unexpected symbol of the country's MERS health scare, after a joke wedding photo with their guests wearing surgical face masks went viral.

The picture that flooded South Korean social networking sites showed the young couple formally posing with dozens of family and friends -- with nearly everyone's face obscured by the white masks.

New Zealanders are boiling mad over a recipe tweak to their favorite chocolate milk drink Milo, labeling the new taste "crapola" and "disgusting".

Milo has been a Kiwi favorite for more than 80 years -- mixed with either hot or cold milk, and sometimes, when parents aren't looking, scooped up in spoonfuls straight from the tin.