Pope Benedict XVI wrote a message on Twitter on Tuesday praising Jesus and announcing the launch of a new Vatican website in the first "tweet" by a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

"Dear Friends, I just launched www.news.va. Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI," wrote the pope, using his formal name in Latin -- the Vatican's official language.

A South Korean dog meat festival has been cancelled following growls of protest from animal rights activists, one of the would-be organizers said Tuesday.

The Korea Dog Farmers' Association had scheduled for Friday a festival aimed at promoting traditional dog meat consumption, said Ann Yong-Geun, an adviser to the association.

Margaret Thatcher's famous handbag which struck fear into the hearts of British ministers during the former premier's rule sold at a charity auction for £25,000 ($40,350, 28,000 Euros) Monday.

Thatcher frequently used the black Asprey bag on important occasions, such as summits with then U.S. president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during her 1979-1990 premiership.

Far away from the Caspian Sea, sturgeon is raised in ponds cooled in the heart of the Gulf desert of Abu Dhabi, carrying in their wombs a form of black gold strange to these countries -- caviar.

Production of the desert-grown caviar will begin later this year and by 2012, consumers in the oil-rich Gulf region will begin savoring the "food of the kings".

Once a symbol of Beirut's golden age, the St. Georges hotel today is but a hollow shell at the center of an epic real estate battle pitting its owner against powerful developers.

"Before the (1975-1990 civil) war, Lebanon was the world's capital and the St. Georges was the capital of Beirut," recalls Serge Nader, whose family ran the beach adjacent to the hotel until 1997.

Yoda's short tufts of hair, protruding tongue, and long, seemingly hairless legs were enough to earn it the World's Ugliest Dog title at a Northern California fair.

The 14-year-old Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix won the honor Friday night at the 23rd annual contest at the Sonoma Marin Fair.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in New York after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that was narrowly passed by state lawmakers Friday, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the American gay rights movement was born.

New York becomes the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.

Forget mice. A Swiss cat named Speedy has an eye for finer things.

Speedy has stolen so much loot that its owner had to post leaflets throughout a northern Swiss town saying "Help, our cat steals!" and inviting people to recover their missing things.

Days before a college football player was arrested on a U.S. Airways flight at San Francisco airport following a dispute over his saggy pants, the airline allowed another man wearing skimpy women's panties and mid-thigh stockings to fly, according to a passenger and airline spokeswoman.

Jill Tarlow, a passenger on a June 9 flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Phoenix, took a photo of the scantily clad man, which she provided to the San Francisco Chronicle. The newspaper published the photo in its Wednesday edition.

State regulators say a gambler won a $25,000 jackpot on a Pittsburgh casino slot machine that should have paid out only $12.

The Gaming Control Board tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the false jackpot happened on May 29, 2010. It was one of five at Rivers Casino involving machines that were not properly tested or certified.