A giant gorilla with brooding good looks and rippling muscles is causing a stir at a Japanese zoo, with women flocking to check out the hunky pin-up. 

Shabani, an 18-year-old silverback who tips the scales at around 180 kilograms (400 pounds), has become the star attraction at Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Nagoya, striking smouldering poses the movie model in  "Zoolander" would be proud of.

A large tractor stolen from a Utah construction site was found abandoned at a Mormon church, apparently after the thieves took it on a ride through Salt Lake City's suburbs, officials said Wednesday.

The Komatsu PT250-5 front-end loader valued at $130,000 disappeared from West Haven early in the week.

A scratch-off lottery ticket bought as a last-minute Father's Day gift has turned a truck driver into an instant millionaire.

Joseph Morrah, 61, was given the winning $1 Million Payout ticket on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

The word "twerk" dates back to as early as 1820, the Oxford English Dictionary said Thursday as it announced twerking as one of 500 new entries this year.

The word rocketed into popular use following U.S. singer Miley Cyrus's controversial gyrating at a music awards performance in 2013.

Queen Elizabeth II may have to move out of Buckingham Palace to allow for much-needed repairs including taking out asbestos, replacing ageing boilers and rewiring, royal officials said on Wednesday.

"One option is for the palace to be vacated," a royal source said, giving one estimate for the refurbishment of the 18th-century building at £150 million (211 million euros, $237 million).

A trio of triplets have been born this month alone at a California hospital and the streak is expected to continue.

The Fresno Bee newspaper reported Monday that one set of triplets was born the week of June 7, followed by another set June 18 and the third set three days later.

A man holding a baby made a great barehanded catch over the glove of Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez on Tuesday night, prompting a replay review.

With two out and none on base in the second inning at Wrigley Field, Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel fouled off a pitch from Zack Greinke. Gonzalez chased the popup and reached over the rolled-up tarp while trying to make a play, but the man reached out and grabbed the ball with his right hand while carrying a baby sucking on a bottle in his left arm.

The crew of a Winnipeg police helicopter was red-faced Tuesday after accidentally broadcasting their sexually explicit conversation during a routine patrol over the Canadian city to shocked and amused citizens below.

According to a police statement, at around 9:30 pm Monday (0200 GMT) the officers had "inadvertently activated the aircraft's public address system."

Three Americans were convicted at trial Monday with base jumping and reckless endangerment after skydiving off the World Trade Center in the middle of the night nearly two years ago.

New York residents James Brady, 33, Marko Markovich, 28, and Andrew Rossig, 34, were convicted on three counts and face up to one year in prison when they are sentenced in August, prosecutors said.

A 73-year-old man climbed up a high-voltage electricity pylon in southern France and unfurled a banner calling for Charles De Gaulle to be president, forcing authorities to cut the power that supplies Spain, officials said Tuesday.

He took two hours to scale the 50-metre (160-foot) pylon and was sitting only 10 metres away from the 400,000 volt lines that usually export power to Spain.