The world - Jan. 20, 2011

THURSDAY

An Alaska animal shelter was packed beyond capacity after 157 starving dogs, mostly huskies, were removed from the lot of breeder Frank Rich, who was arrested and charged with 50 counts of animal cruelty. Twenty dogs were found dead at the site.

A wounded fox shot its would-be killer in Belarus by pulling the trigger on the hunter’s gun as the pair scuffled after the man tried to finish the animal off with the butt of the rifle.

Actor Peter Fonda, best known as the star of 1969’s “Easy Rider,” discovered a 50-year-old dead man slumped in his car after an apparent suicide.

FRIDAY

Arnold Schwarzenegger told a newspaper in his native Austria that serving as California governor for two terms cost him at least $200 million in lost income from acting in Hollywood films. He added “it was more than worth it.”

John “Sonny” Franzese, 93-year-old underboss of New York’s Colombo crime family, one of the city’s big five organized crime syndicates, was sentenced to eight years in prison on racketeering charges for shaking down businesses such as the Hustler and Penthouse strip clubs for money.

A 33-year-old man was arrested in Germany for stealing 100,000 worthless East German marks from a collectors’ bunker. The currency has no value more than 20 years after German reunificiation.

Shannon Johnson, 34, suburban Denver, was charged with child abuse resulting in death after her 13-month-old son drowned in a bathtub while she was allegedly playing a game on Facebook. Johnson is being held on $100,000 bond.

WEEKEND

Pope Benedictine declared Pope John Paul had performed a miracle by curing French Catholic nun Marie Simon-Pierre of her Parkinson’s disease in June 2005. The declaration clears the way for John Paul’s beatification, a step on the way to sainthood.

Thousands attended a gun trade show in Tucson Saturday, one week after Jared Lee Loughner killed six people during on a shooting rampage at a political rally for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the same city. Giffords took her first breath without ventilation the same day.

Facebook film “The Social Network” won four Golden Globe Awards Sunday, including best drama, best director, best screenplay and best musical score. British actor Colin Firth was named best actor for his portrayal of stuttering King George VI in “The King’s Speech,” while Natalie Portman took home best actress with “Black Swan.”

A pair of chimps bit off the index and ring fingers of a keeper at a Nebraska zoo. When the keeper began petting a 40-year-old chimp, the animal grabbed her hand. The keeper then screamed, causing the chimp to scream. This attracted another chimp, who also grabbed the keeper’s hand. The chimps bit, and the keeper lost her fingers.

Emergency personnel were summoned to the Foss Swim School inside the Knollwood Mall near Minneapolis Sunday after a chlorine leak at the shopping center’s indoor pool struck dozens of children and adults with respiratory problems and nausea. Eleven were hospitalized.

MONDAY

FBI officials announced Spokane city workers found an unattended Swiss Army-brand backpack, with wires visible, on a downtown bench just minutes before the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday parade. About 1,500 people attended the parade, which was rerouted while the city bomb squad disposed of the device, which was ruled a bomb.

Philadelphia police arrested a man they believe to be the “Kensington Strangler” serial killer. Antonio Rodriguez, 21, is accused of sexually assaulting and murdering at least three women, with DNA linking all three cases.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre filed retirement papers with the NFL for the third time in his 20-season career.

A 50-year-old Australian man was charged with assault with a weapon for using the skeleton of a swordfish to stab another man.

TUESDAY

Taj, the oldest elephant in North America, died at age 71 at a California theme park. The female was a star for Circus Vargas in the 1970s, was once owned and used in religious ceremonies by a group of Hari Krishnas and learned to paint with a brush on canvas in her later years.

Scientists completed the genetic sequencing of sweet orange and Clementine mandarin trees, the first sequencing of any citrus plants.

WEDNESDAY

Iran banned Valentine’s Day gifts in an effort to halt the spread of Western culture. The holiday may still be celebrated, just without the hearts or red roses.

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.2 shook southwestern Pakistan, though it did little damage in the sparsely populated region.

Compiled by Gazette staff from a variety of sources.