The Italian cruise ship captain on trial for murder after the sinking of the Costa Concordia in early 2012 said on the night of the fateful accident that he believed he had hit only "a little rock", a court heard Monday.

Francesco Schettino, the 53-year-old ex-captain of the ship, was heard giving the description in a telephone conversation recorded by the bridge's "black box" 10 minutes after impact which was played out in the Rome court hosting his trial.

Fishermen in the southern Philippines are demanding a reward for a crocodile they said they caught accidentally, but officials insisted Sunday they would not pay for the reptile.

Authorities in Mlang town on the southern island of Mindanao said they were trying to convince the fishermen to hand over the 2.5-metre (eight-foot) long crocodile to them for safekeeping.

Visitors to one of usually-safe Japan's most celebrated spots are being warned to be on the lookout, after two Taiwanese tourists were injured in a rampage by a wild deer.

The two, both 54-year-old women, took a tumble Sunday morning after being startled by the creature near the railway station in Nikko, an area known for its historic temples, a police spokesman said Monday.

A Croatian pensioner who allegedly choked patients in his bathroom until they fainted in a bid to wean them off cigarettes faces a possible prison term for "charlatanism", prosecutors said on Friday.

With a client list that included a former government minister and a local pop star, 69-year-old Petar Miro Zanki thought he had hit on an unorthodox way of breaking the smoking habit.

Tickets to watch Denzel Washington on Broadway in "A Raisin in the Sun" are hard to come by, but one man managed it — President Barack Obama.

The president and first lady caught the American masterpiece Friday night at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it first opened more than 50 years ago.

A New York City man claims that a credit reporting agency falsely reported he had no financial history because his first name is God.

According to the New York Post (http://bit.ly/1evP6XW ), God Gazarov says in a lawsuit that Equifax has refused to correct its system to recognize his name as legitimate.

An unexpectedly sexy catch ended up in the net of a Norwegian fisherman, who said Friday he had landed a cod with a dildo in its stomach.

Bjoern Frilund, 64, this week found a 5- or 6-kilo cod in his net while fishing for herring on Norway's west coast and noticed the unusual shape of its stomach when he gutted it.

Just months ago it was his mother's fashion choices that sparked a buying frenzy -- but with just one pair of mini-dungarees Prince George appears to have stolen her fashion limelight.

When the eight-month-old future king crawled about in a playgroup in Wellington, New Zealand, on Tuesday for what was billed as his first major public engagement, his outfit sold out within hours -- the same effect that his mother Catherine has had in the past.

A man who sucked an unwilling woman's toes inside a Wal-Mart has been sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Michael Anthony Brown apologized for his actions during his court appearance Thursday. He was convicted of assault.

A sewage treatment plant near Seattle is advertising its availability as a wedding venue.

The Brightwater Wastewater Treatment Center says on Facebook it has a full catering kitchen, audio-video equipment, dance floor and ample parking.