■ CANADA
Ottawa blocks Web sites
A case involving teenagers who allegedly killed a pet cat by microwaving it during a home burglary last month has provoked outrage among Internet users, leading authorities to block some Web sites, police said on Monday. Police shut down local Web sites over the weekend that breached a Canadian law banning the identification of young people charged with a crime, or that promoted vigilante justice, inspector Lee Foreman said. "I think people like that should be shot," said one message posted on the social networking Web site Facebook. "I would say these monsters should be tortured."
■ MEXICO
Boys glues hand to bed
A 10-year-old boy dreaded returning to school after Christmas break so much that he glued his hand to his bed. Sandra Palacios spent nearly two hours on Monday morning trying to free her son Diego's hand with water, oil and nail polish remover before calling authorities, police chief Jorge Camacho said from outside the northern city of Monterrey. "I didn't want to go to school because vacation was so much fun," the Reforma newspaper quoted the boy as saying. Palacios said Diego sneaked into the kitchen in the early morning to get the industrial glue, which he then slathered on his right hand.
■ UNITED STATES
Man gets catchy new name
You can refer to him officially now as Mr Experience. Daniel Michael Miller II is history. The former Dan Miller, 24, has legally changed his name to "The" Dan Miller Experience. His first name is "The" Dan, with the quotation marks. His middle name is Miller and his last name is Experience. About 300 people petitioned the Summit County Probate Court last year to change a name and Experience was one of the few who was called in to explain why he wanted an unusual name. The Akron musician and rapper did so, and last month the change became official.
■ UNITED STATES
Teacher charged over pics
A high school teacher was charged with sending nude pictures of herself and sex-related text messages to the cellphone of a 14-year-old student. Beth Ann Chester, a 26-year-old health and physical education teacher at Moon Area High School in suburban Pittsburgh, was charged with sexual abuse of children, statutory sexual assault and related counts. On Dec. 22, Chester sent three pictures of herself, two of them naked, to the boy's cellphone, police said. The student replied with a naked picture of himself, authorities said. The boy's parents discovered suggestive text messages on Dec. 26. Chester has tendered her resignation, citing personal reasons.
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