■ MONACO
Overfishing a threat: UNEP
A deadly combination of climate change, over-fishing and pollution could cause the collapse of commercial fish stocks worldwide within decades, said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Program (UNEP). "You overlap all of this and you see you're potentially putting a death nail in the coffin of world fisheries," Steiner told reporters on Friday on the fringes of a climate conference involving more than 150 countries and 100 environment ministers. Some 2.6 billion people worldwide depend on fish for protein, said a UNEP report In Dead Water published on Friday.
■ UNITED STATES
Dog drives pickup truck
Police said Charles McCowan parked his pickup in front of a mini-mart on Wednesday, leaving his 36km Boxer Max in the passenger seat. When he came out, the truck and Max were gone. McCowan called police, assuming the truck had been stolen. When officers arrived, they found the pickup across the street in a fast-food parking lot but had no idea how it got there. In security video shown on Thursday on KCAL-TV, the truck can be seen rolling backward out of the store lot and across the street, threading its way through traffic and out of view. Police said Max had knocked the vehicle out of gear and sent it rolling backward.
■ UNITED STATES
Record sale sets record
A Pennsylvania man says he can now retire because someone bought his massive record collection on eBay for the asking price -- US$3 million. A buyer from Ireland agreed to shell out US$3,002,150 for the collection of about 3 million vinyl albums, singles and CDs, owner Paul Mawhinney said on Thursday. The winning bidder has already deposited US$300,000 and a bank has confirmed that he has enough money to buy the collection, Mawhinney said. The price tag is one of the highest recorded by eBay Inc, said Karen Bard, a spokeswoman for the online auctioneer. "I am legally blind. I had a couple of strokes a few years ago ... and it's time at my age to think about doing something else with my life," Mawhinney said.
■ UNITED STATES
Bush has rhythm: Rice
President George W. Bush has rhythm, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters on Friday after watching her boss join African dancers during his five-nation tour of the continent this week. "I just want to report that the president did a fair amount of dancing when he was in Africa and demonstrated that he can stay on the beat," said Rice, an accomplished musician who loves to dance herself. "You look skeptical, but I was there? I can certify," Rice added when reporters chuckled at her observations and asked to see a video of the president dancing.
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