BOSTON. Former tax collector charged in fraud scheme.

US authorities charged a former employee of the national tax-collection agency with fraud accusing him of stealing $ 330 000 in goods from stores and then returning them for store credit. Prosecutors said Robert Dooley, a former Internal Revenue Service clerk, carried out the operation at Home Depot Inc.stores in nine states from 2002 through 2005. According to papers filed in Boston federal court, Dooley preyed upon a store policy that allowed customers to return merchandise without a receipt if they showed photo identification. He would show store clerks his IRS badge and on occasion said that as an IRS employee he was ?trustworthy,? prosecutors alleged.

OTTAWA. Mistake-ridden World War One exhibit to be removed.

Canada will remove the French-language exhibit at a major military memorial after a reporter discovered it was riddled with grammatical errors, Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson said. Public broadcaster Radio-Canada found numerous mistakes in interpretive panels at Vimy Ridge in France, where more than 10 000 Canadian soldiers were killed or wounded in April 1917 during World War One. ?I have just been made aware of this situation and it is totally unacceptable. As soon as the errors were confirmed, it was obvious the only solution was to remove the panels,? Thompson said in a statement. The panels will be replaced. The issue is an embarrassment for Ottawa, since Canada has been officially bilingual for 40 years and millions of French-speakers are very sensitive about their fate in a country where most people speak English.

BEIJING. No weirdness, vulgarity for TV talent show?

China?s broadcasting watchdog has issued a list of rules governing the airing of its latest take on the ?American Idol? television series, urging the singing contest ?Happy Boys Voice? to uphold high moral standards. Contestants must choose songs that are ?healthy and ethically inspiring? in order to create a good atmosphere for China?s 17th Party Congress, the Communist Party?s five-yearly leadership meeting to be held later this year.

?Happy Boys Voice? is the follow-up to ?Super Girls,? a smash hit that amassed more than 400 million viewers for its final round ? an enormous figure for China?s huge but fragmented television market. Both are broadcast by Hunan Satellite TV. The rules also stipulate that contestants be over 18 and dress and wear their hair and make-up in a manner that is in keeping with the ?aesthetic values of the masses.?

NEW YORK. Occidental CEO got more than $ 400 million in 2006.

Occidental Petroleum Corp.?s chairman and chief executive took in more than $400 million in compensation last year, the company said in a filing, one of the biggest single-year payouts in US corporate history. The largest part of Ray Irani?s 2006 payout was $ 270,2 million from the exercise of options awarded from 1997 to 2006, representing more than 7,1 million shares, according to the company?s annual proxy statement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in March. Irani also received $ 93,3 million in stock and dividends from a deferred stock program when the company closed the plan in October due to increases in liability and expenses for the program, the company said. Irani?s salary in 2006 was $ 1,3 million and his cash bonus was $ 1,4 million, according to the filing. But stock and option awards and other benefits lifted his 2006 compensation to $ 55,6 million, the proxy said.

MEXICO CITY. Hundreds sick in religious school mystery.

Hundreds of girls at a Mexican boarding school run by Catholic nuns have been struck by a mystery illness that authorities say is psychological, raising questions about conditions inside the academy.Headmistress Margie Cheong, a nun from South Korea, said it was unclear what had caused the symptoms, which include difficulty walking and nausea. ?We really don?t know the cause, but the diagnosis by health authorities is of a psychological ailment,? Cheong said. Government psychologists will begin interviews with pupils next week to determine what happened. Some of the students have complained of overstrict disciplinary measures like being sent to sleep in an enclosure that houses sheep.