A former chief librarian at a Chinese university admitted in court Tuesday to stealing more than 140 paintings by grandmasters in a gallery under his watch and replacing them with fakes he painted himself.

For two years up until 2006, Xiao Yuan substituted famous works including landscapes and calligraphies in a gallery within the library of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

Cows sizzling under Switzerland's summer sun are getting help from an unexpected ally: the Swiss army.

Soldiers have been ordered to help keep cows in the far west of the country cool amid a weeklong heat wave. Army spokesman Urs Mueller says troops are erecting eight artificial reservoirs in the Jura mountains to supply cows with drinking water.

A tax collector in northern New York has been arrested on allegations she falsified her own tax records to avoid paying up.

The state comptroller's office says its audit and investigation led to nine charges of tampering with public records against Michelle Sheppard, the town clerk and tax collector in DePeyster (dee-POY'-ster).

Romania is tapping into the Dracula legend, offering concert-goers free tickets in exchange for their blood.

The campaign is part of a push to increase blood donations in a country where only 1.7 percent of the people donate blood.

Teams of census-takers took to the River Thames on Monday for the colorful annual count of Queen Elizabeth II's swans — a blend of science and ceremony that dates to the 12th century.

By tradition, the monarch owns all the swans found in Britain's open waters, and the event assesses their overall well-being.

The black director of South Carolina's public safety agency said Monday he was surprised a photo showing him helping a white man wearing a racist T-shirt went viral. But now that it has, he is hoping it will be a catalyst for people to work toward overcoming hatred and violence.

Leroy Smith said in a statement that the photo, taken at a Ku Klux Klan rally, captured "who we are in South Carolina" and represents what law enforcement is all about: helping people "regardless of the person's skin color, nationality or beliefs."

This week's reopening of embassies and resumption of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba opens a new chapter in the countries' complicated relationship.

But any visitor to the Cuban capital can see that connections between the two nations run long and deep just by taking stock of all the attractions showcasing American culture and history. Despite decades of hostility, some of these sites even seem to celebrate Americans, while others reflect an anti-U.S. point of view.

Plans to build an 800-megawatt coal power plant near some of Thailand's most popular beaches have sparked protests and a hunger strike by activists who say officials aren't considering its impact on the pristine environment that makes the area an international tourist destination.

More than 100 members of the Save Andaman from Coal Network this week staged a march and sit-in outside the prime minister's office in the nation's capital against plans to build the plant near southern Thailand's Andaman coast about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok.

Miley Cyrus is twerking back to the MTV Video Music Awards as the show's host.

The 25-year-old singer-actress revealed on her social media accounts Monday that she's helming the Aug. 30 ceremony.

New research suggests poor sleep may increase people's risk of Alzheimer's disease, by spurring a brain-clogging gunk that in turn further interrupts shut-eye.

Disrupted sleep may be one of the missing pieces in explaining how a hallmark of Alzheimer's, a sticky protein called beta-amyloid, starts its damage long before people have trouble with memory, researchers reported Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.