Reuters
Oddly Enough - Reuters

A judge takes a spoonful of specialty coffee before tasting it during the Cup of Excellence competition in Machado November 13, 2009. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker

"Coffee police" fight fraud on shop shelves

Wed Nov 25, 11:57 AM ET

GUARAJUBA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's coffee industry is engaged in a tireless battle against rogue roasters who cut corners and costs by bulking up their products with corn, soy or even wood, the ABIC industry association says.

  • A woman pushes a pram across a glass walkway in the Victoria Square shopping centre, Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 19, 2009. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
    Irish use strike day to shop across border Wed Nov 25, 11:57 AM ET

    DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish workers caused traffic jams on Tuesday as hundreds made use of a one-day public sector strike to do some Christmas shopping in the cheaper stores across the border in Northern Ireland.

  • Nazi leader Adolph Hitler waves to crowds in his six seater Mercedes car in this undated World War II file photo. REUTERS/Handout
    Hitler's favorite car makes comeback? Tue Nov 24, 3:19 PM ET

    BERLIN (Reuters) - A car expert says he has tracked down Hitler's favorite Mercedes to a garage near the town that helped the Austrian-born Fuehrer become a German citizen.

  • Using your plastic for plastic surgery.. Tue Nov 24, 3:18 PM ET

    CARACAS (Reuters) - Unfazed by a recession and rampant inflation, image-conscious Venezuelans show no signs of cutting back on the facelifts, liposuction, and breast augmentation that have become de rigueur beauty treatments.

  • Man robbed of $2 million bank withdrawal Tue Nov 24, 3:16 PM ET

    TAIPEI (Reuters) - A man in Taiwan was robbed of more than $2 million in cash that he had just withdrawn from the bank, a police official said on Tuesday.

  • Judge blocks law allowing guns in bars Mon Nov 23, 2:00 PM ET

    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A judge on Friday blocked a Tennessee law that allowed people to bring handguns into restaurants and bars.

  • Cops on trail of "gingerbread town" vandals Mon Nov 23, 2:00 PM ET

    OSLO (Reuters) - The people of Bergen rolled out the cookie dough Monday as local police tried to sniff out vandals who destroyed the Norwegian city's traditional Christmas decoration -- a town of gingerbread houses.

  • A detail of British artist John Collier's 1883 painting of Charles Darwin is displayed as part of an exhibition in Darwin's former home, Down House, in Kent, southern England February 12, 2009. REUTERS/Tal Cohen
    Darwin book worth up to $100,000 found on shelf Mon Nov 23, 1:59 PM ET

    LONDON (Reuters) - A first edition of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species," which had been kept in a toilet bookcase for years, will go on sale this week and is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds ($66-100,000).

  • Men dressed as Santa Claus pose in the assembly hall after a meeting of the rent-a-Santa Claus service organised by the "jobcafe.de" at Munich's Universitiy November 23, 2009. REUTERS/Michael Dalder
    Don't kiss Santa, he may have the flu Mon Nov 23, 1:56 PM ET

    BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Santa Claus should avoid kissing children and shaking their hands to prevent spreading the flu and should get vaccinated against the illness, Hungary's state health authority said.

  • Aging Santa gets $100,000 facelift for Christmas Mon Nov 23, 8:33 AM ET

    WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A Santa in New Zealand with a droopy eye has received a NZ$100,000 ($74,000) face-lift in the run-up to Christmas so that his aging face does not scare children.

  • Cartons of contraband cigarettes are put on display at the Finance Ministry in Paris on September 4, 2008. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
    Diplomats arrested for cigarette smuggling Fri Nov 20, 11:04 AM ET

    STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish police have arrested two North Korean diplomats on suspicion of smuggling 230,000 cigarettes into the Nordic country, the Swedish Customs Office said Friday.

  • A forensic scientist displays human bones found in the jungle of Huanuco in this undated picture provided by the police. Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang suspected of killing dozens of people and selling their fat to buyers to be used for making cosmetics. Four Peruvians were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, murder and trafficking in human fat. REUTERS/Handout
    Gang accused of killing to sell human fat Fri Nov 20, 11:03 AM ET

    LIMA (Reuters) - Peruvian police said on Thursday they had broken up a gang that allegedly killed dozens of people and sold their fat to buyers who used it to make cosmetics.

  • New fossils reveal a world full of crocodiles Thu Nov 19, 4:21 PM ET

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New fossils unearthed in what is now the Sahara desert reveal a once-swampy world

  • Then President-elect Senator Barack Obama is pictured live on a giant screen as he addresses supporters at his election night rally in Chicago November 4, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Reed
    U.S. election, iPhone among decade's top 10 Internet moments Thu Nov 19, 4:20 PM ET

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - The launch of Wikipedia, emergence of the iPhone and the election of U.S. President Barack Obama were among the 10 most influential moments on the Internet in the past decade, according to the annual Webby awards.