When a gigantic mural of St. George appeared next to a historic church dedicated to the revered figure, many hailed it as a brilliant piece of street art. But the influential Romanian Orthodox Church was not amused.

The surreal interpretation, replete with a faceless saint and a masked unicorn with a pink tail, went up just yards from the 18th century church — triggering outrage from priests and pious residents. Days later it was painted over.

A bird weighing just two teaspoons of sugar scares off a predator 40 times its size by imitating the "hawk alarm" of other species, scientists said Wednesday.

The trick is used by the brown thornbill, one of Australia's tiniest birds, to scare off its much larger enemy, the pied currawong, they reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Japan is looking at installing toilets in elevators and providing an emergency supply of drinking water for people trapped by the nation's frequent powerful earthquakes, an official said Wednesday.

The move comes after dozens of people were left high and dry, some for over an hour, following a 7.8 magnitude quake on Saturday that stopped lifts.

It's been decades since Ofelia Kirker lost her wedding rings, but she'll be wearing the treasured jewelry for her 64th wedding anniversary.

"It feels like we're getting married again," said her 83-year-old husband Robert Kirker.

A Silicon Valley recycling company on Monday was searching for a woman who dropped off a rare Apple computer subsequently snapped up by a collector for $200,000.

The woman didn't leave her name or ask for a receipt when she dropped off a box of unwanted gadgets, including a first-generation Apple I computer considered a coveted collectable by computer history buffs, according to U.S. media reports.

A British woman who kept her neighbours awake by engaging in enthusiastic love-making was sentenced to two weeks in prison on Monday after a neighbour complained about her "screaming and shouting".

The court ruling stated that at around 5:00 am on January 29, 2015 "the defendant (Gemma Wale) was guilty of screaming and shouting whilst having sex at a level of noise which caused nuisance or annoyance".

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has given ministers a dressing down over cabinet leaks describing it as a "come to Jesus moment" for senior officials.

Abbott "read the riot act" to his cabinet on Monday after top level discussions last week about denying citizenship to jihadist supporters, and frontbench rifts over the proposal, were leaked to the media before he went public with the plan.

A 92-year-old U.S. grandmother has become the oldest woman to finish a marathon, when she crossed the finish line of a San Diego 26-miler on Sunday, race organizers said.

A smiling Harriette Thompson, aged 92 years and 65 days, was cheered by dozens of onlookers and supporters as she completed the Southern California event in seven hours, 24 minutes and 36 seconds.

More than 100 babies faced off in the sumo ring on Saturday in an annual contest pitting crying toddlers against each other in a Japanese tradition believed to bring infants good health.

The "crying sumo" event, held at Tokyo's Sensoji Temple in the historic Asakusa district, saw hulking sumo wrestlers attempt to make 120 babies bawl on command to the delight of parents and onlookers.

Too much love can be a bad thing: Paris city officials, exasperated with lovers sealing their passion by clipping padlocks all over the city, are set to remove 45 tonnes of the locks next week.

Starry-eyed tourists from all over the world flock to the Pont des Arts bridge spanning the Seine River to attach a lock representing their eternal love, and throw the key into the river.