Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi handed out ice creams to journalists at his official residence Friday in a lighthearted response to a cover of the Economist weekly showing him on a sinking ship, cone in hand.

Shortly after presiding over a cabinet meeting, Renzi called a press conference where a master ice cream maker had been called in to help him with the stunt.

A Russian bank is offering customers the ultimate fluffy extra with their mortgage -- the free loan of a cat to bring good luck to their new home.

Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, is aiming to beat its competitors by a whisker by offering 30 mortgage holders the choice of ten different cats, ranging from hairless Sphynx cat Kuzya to Siamese Iriska as well as several moggies of indeterminate origin.

A German Green party politician who poured a bucket of ice water over his head for charity has caused an online stir by slipping in a quiet call to legalise marijuana.

Party co-leader Cem Ozdemir, 48, joined thousands worldwide when he doused himself in freezing water for an online video clip to raise awareness of the neurodegenerative Lou Gehrig's disease or ALS.

The subjects were serious enough at President Barack Obama's impromptu press conference Thursday, but many viewers and the collective press corps seized on something more immediately visible: his tan suit.

The president's decision to address the media in a breezy, light-colored summer suit swiftly took center stage for many even as he addressed Russian responsibility for rebel actions in Ukraine and ongoing U.S. air strikes against Islamists in Iraq.

A man who was the target of a police manhunt in Copenhagen on Thursday turned out to be a student suffering from pre-exam jitters while reading a book about terrorism.

"If you see the man, who according to a witness has exhibited suspicious behaviour, contact (us)," Copenhagen police wrote on Twitter.

A Vermont restaurant that removed a bacon advertisement called insensitive to vegans and Muslims is being criticized for doing so.

Sneakers Bistro and Cafe in Winooski last week took down a sign saying "Yield for Sneakers Bacon" after comments were posted in an online community forum by "a vegan and a member of a Muslim household." Vegans and Muslims don't eat pork.

A Malaysian court sent six men to jail for a month on Thursday and will try four other people over a nudist gathering that triggered outrage in the Muslim-majority country, a defense lawyer said.

The six men -- five Malaysians and a Singaporean -- were jailed after pleading guilty to charges of public obscenity, said lawyer S. Thangaveloo, who represents Singaporean defendant Loh Kok Hong.

A Utah woman accused of using a pound of bacon to start a fire in her ex-boyfriend's house will stand trial on arson charges.

Police say 32-year-old Cameo Adawn Crispi repeatedly called and texted her former flame in March from his home, where she left the bacon over a lit burner.

There is the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle. The unresolved identity of Jack the Ripper. The enigma of how the Universe developed beyond a quark-gluon soup following the Big Bang.

And then there is the Sheepdog Mystery.

There is the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle. The unresolved identity of Jack the Ripper. The enigma of how the Universe developed beyond a quark-gluon soup following the Big Bang.

And then there is the Sheepdog Mystery.