Shedding weight is as good as gold under an unusual slim-down initiative in Dubai over growing concerns about rising obesity levels in the wealthy Gulf city-state.

Municipal officials are offering a gram of gold — worth about $45 at current prices — for each kilogram of weight lost in a 30-day challenge. The minimum drop is two kilograms, or 4.4 pounds, to cash in.

A wild boar went on a rampage in downtown Prague, terrorizing pedestrians and even smashing a window at a five-star hotel in the Czech capital before being sedated, police said Tuesday.

"On Sunday at 9:15 am, a citizen called the emergency line saying a wild boar was swimming across the Vltava river... towards a Prague hotel," city police said in a statement.

For thousands of years, thinkers have marvelled at the feat of engineering that is the honeycomb.

Each waxy cell is a perfect hexagon, its six wafer-thin sides providing not only strength to the honeycomb structure but also the smartest way to store honey.

Air New Zealand announced plans Wednesday to stage the country's first same-sex marriage at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,150 metres), saying it wants to prove that love is truly in the air.

New Zealand passed a bill allowing gay marriage in April but it does not become law until August 19, when officials say they are expecting a slew of same-sex weddings.

One in four Australians believe humans co-existed with dinosaurs while one in three think it takes just one day for the Earth to orbit the sun, according to a "worrying" survey published Wednesday.

The Auspoll survey of 1,515 adults for the Australian Academy of Sciences showed basic scientific knowledge was declining on key questions, including human influences on evolution and the Earth's reserves of fresh water.

British interior minister Theresa May on Tuesday laughed off suggestions she was needed at the imminent royal birth, saying the custom of making sure the "baby hadn't been smuggled in" no longer existed.

Lawmaker Michael Ellis admitted he was being "mischievous" when he posed the question to May at a select committee hearing.

Lebanese citizen Rabih A., 39, who hails from the Akkar town of Hrar, was found wounded at the square of the Aley town of Baisour with his penis cut off, state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanese Red Cross medics rushed the man to the West Shahhar Hospital with life-threatening injuries, NNA said.

Thailand's premier university has apologized for displaying a banner that showed Adolf Hitler alongside Superman and other superheroes. School officials say it was painted by ignorant students who didn't realize Hitler's image would offend anyone.

The huge banner said "Congratulations." It was hung outside the art school of Chulalongkorn University for this year's graduating class.

Having live snails crawling on your face sounds like the thing of nightmares, but in Japan one company is hoping people will be prepared to pay for it.

Starting Monday, women who want to slough off dead skin, clear their pores or roll back the years can submit themselves to five minutes of molluscs.

A Brazilian man died after being crushed by a cow that fell through his roof and landed on his bed, local media reported Sunday.

The accident took place Wednesday in the southeastern province of Minas Gerais, a mountainous area where cattle are raised.