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New York, Jun 21 : A Jack Russell pup that had been left in the care of a woman, was cruelly shot dead as she wanted to make a belt of the dog's skin.

The 23-year-old woman, Krystal Lynn Lewis of Muskogee, Okla., had been given the pup, named Joplin, by her former lesbian ex-lover Jessica Nichols, to be looked after as she was moving house.

But Lewis instead hatched a plot to kill the pup and use its white fur with a black spot as a belt, and she allegedly had her friend Austin Michael Mullins, 26, shoot Joplin 10 times with a .22-caliber pistol.

Washington, Jun 21 : American model Holly Madison has revealed that she did not think much about her relationship with Vegas magician Criss Angel at the start, as he was dating a different person every week.

But after they got to know one another, the relationship between them lasted for an intense four months.

"He dates a different person every week so I didn't think anything of relationship status would happen," Fox News quoted Madison as telling Las Vegas Weekly.

Beijing - Armed police clashed with residents in central China's Hubei Province after the suspicious death of a chef at a local hotel sparked a three-day standoff, according to local reports Sunday.

The unrest began Wednesday evening after the body of 24-year-old Tu Yuangao was found outside the door of the Yonglong Hotel in Shishou City, where he worked as a chef, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

Manila - One man was killed and 32 wounded when unidentified suspects hurled two grenades at a crowded town plaza in the southern Philippines, the army said Sunday.

The attack occurred late Saturday in Maasim town in Sarangani province, 980 kilometres south of Manila, while the municipality was celebrating a festival and its founding anniversary.

Lieutenant Colonel Kurt Decapia, an army spokesman, said the suspects first hurled a grenade at civilians watching a show at the town plaza.

Washington, June 21 : Thanks to the Internet, Americans are increasingly reporting erosion of face-to-face family time, increased feelings of being ignored by family members using the Web, and growing concerns that children are spending too much time online.

These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

Washington, June 21 : Although German children have grown taller than 30 years ago, the height observed during the last century has become slower, say researchers.

Bettina Gohlke and Joachim Woelfle of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Bonn reviewed the current state of knowledge of changes in height and of the physical development of young people.

The found that 7- to 10-year olds are 1 to 1.5 cm taller than in the 1970s, whereas length at birth only slightly increased between 1984 and 1997, by 0.2 cm.