Not content with housing a pair of celebrity pandas that attract hordes of avid onlookers, a zoo in France has decided to put their droppings to good use by recycling them into gas and electricity.

Yuan Zi and Huan Huan -- "Chubby" and "Happy" in Chinese -- arrived at Beauval zoo in central France in January last year, on loan from China for 10 years at a cost of around a million dollars a year.

Uruguay's President Jose Mujica had no apologies Friday after disparaging remarks aimed at Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner and her late husband were picked up by an open microphone.

In a radio presentation, Mujica talked about the close links between the two countries, and emphasized that no event or person "can uproot our common history."

U.S. retailer Target apologized Friday after a labeling gaffe that saw the color of a plus-size dress named after manatees, the blubbery denizens of the deep found off the Florida coast.

While the scale of the outrage caused by the blunder was not clear, Target was clearly not taking any chances by swiftly updating the color label for its "Manatee gray" kimono maxi dress.

Shackles, whips, chains and even a stretching rack will go on sale next week, with the reputable auction house Lawsons charged with selling off the contents of a closed Australian brothel.

About 250 items of furniture, clothing and books and accessories from Salon Kitty go on sale on April 12, after the Sydney establishment closed its doors last month after dominating the city's bondage scene for 27 years.

Their lights blaring in the night, hundreds of taxis lined an unlit airstrip in a jungle region of Peru so an emergency medevac plane with three very sick patients could take off.

All three survived after the 300-odd drivers of motorcycles fashioned into small taxis with compartments for passengers heeded a call Wednesday night from a radio station to race to the 800-meter airstrip in Contamana, in one of Peru's poorest regions, Peruvian media reported Thursday.

A New York City man dressed as a zombie for his job at a haunted house is being credited with rescuing a cat that disappeared from his owner's home two years ago.

Jeremy Zelkowitz says he spotted Disaster the cat crossing 42nd Street in Times Square early Saturday.

Uruguay's President Jose Mujica was left red-faced Thursday after disparaging remarks apparently aimed at Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner and her late husband were picked up by an open microphone.

Buenos Aires swiftly responded with an official protest, calling the comments "unacceptable."

"Top Gear" presenter Jeremy Clarkson is pictured near Sibiu city, 300 km northwest of Bucharest, on September 24, 2009. Dutch police were forced to explain why one of their number announced that …more

Dutch police were forced to explain why one of their number announced that a vital section of motorway would be closed for Britain's "Top Gear" television program, in what turned out to be an April Fool's joke.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has told fellow lawmakers that nights of hard drinking with visiting dignitaries formed part of his diplomacy.

Noda, a well-known aficionado of "sake", said he "chugged" down cups of the rice wine with then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and separately with British premier David Cameron, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Thursday.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has told fellow lawmakers that nights of hard drinking with visiting dignitaries formed part of his diplomacy.

Noda, a well-known aficionado of "sake", said he "chugged" down cups of the rice wine with then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and separately with British premier David Cameron, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Thursday.