It is one of the world's most iconic sights. But for local residents, the huge "Hollywood" sign on their hillside overlooking Los Angeles is a source of growing anger.

Travelers have long flocked to have their pictures taken with the vast sign behind them -- but with the advent of satellite navigation and Google Earth, they have begun to invade the Hollywood Hills neighborhood like never before.

Prominent Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil, who appeared in numerous smash-hit films including "Crocodile Dundee" and "Australia", was Thursday jailed after beating his wife with a broomstick.

The 58-year-old was given a one-year sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of five months after being convicted of breaking wife Miriam Ashley's arm during a drunken attack in December.

A runaway steer stopped traffic on a major highway, hurtled over a brick wall and damaged two police vehicles during a Tuesday morning chase that had four Arizona law enforcement agencies scrambling.

The male bovine escaped from a livestock trailer Tuesday morning on Interstate 8 just east of Yuma in southeastern Arizona, Yuma County sheriff's Capt. Eben Bratcher told The Associated Press.

A dog eating carnival in China dating back more than 600 years has been banned after public outrage at the cruel way the animals are slaughtered, state media said Wednesday.

The dogs are killed and skinned in the streets of Qianxi township in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang during the festival, which is usually held in October, the official Xinhua news agency said.

A local town council in central Turkey has built a morgue with a warning system in case dead bodies come back to life, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.

The municipality of Malatya province has equipped its new mortuary with refrigerators sensitive to movement inside, Anatolia said.

The sex life of Octopoteuthis deletron -- O. deletron, if you prefer -- is a cruelly hit-or-miss affair, according to candid footage of the deep-sea squid in its element, unveiled Wednesday.

No foreplay, no tender caresses, no fond farewells until the next union, just a desperate drive to reproduce followed by a glancing quickie and an early death.

Starbucks is being sued for $3 million by a tourist from Virginia who says his five-year-old daughter found a video camera hidden in the washroom of one of its Washington outlets.

William Yockey, 28, accuses the Seattle-based global coffee chain of invasion of privacy, negligence, "intentional infliction of emotional distress" and negligent hiring, training and supervision of staff.

More than 300 men fell for a Spanish sex scam, paying 124,000 euros ($170,000) in registration fees for the false promise of work as high-class gigolos, police said Tuesday.

A total of 310 men replied to national newspaper job advertisements for a bogus male escort agency, which demanded employment fees in advance, national police said in a statement.

Animal rights campaigners PETA will go wild later this year -- with a pornography website.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has long deployed nearly-nude street activists to promote its campaign against the wearing of leather, fur, or make-up tested on animals.

Philippine diplomats helped two Filipina maids slip out of the home of a relative of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi after the women asked for a "rescue", according to the foreign ministry.

The pair left the house of one of Gadhafi's nephews and were picked up by embassy staff who were in position in two vehicles, ministry spokesman Raul Hernandez said on Tuesday.