The burning of Harry Potter "magic" books by priests in Poland triggered a wave of protest in the majority Catholic country on Tuesday with critics making comparisons with totalitarian regimes and the Inquisition.

A "meteor" that tore across the Los Angeles skyline set Twitter alight with speculation it was a real life "Deep Impact".

A bright orange fireball that arced over Hollywood -- home of countless disaster movies -- sent people scrambling to capture the scene for social media -- even if it later turned out to be more fiction than fact.

It may be grating for some, but hip-hop is music to the ears of Switzerland's most famous cheese. 

Widely mocked for calling Apple CEO Tim Cook "Tim Apple" to his face, President Donald Trump came up with an explanation Monday: it wasn't a gaffe, he was just being succinct.

Trump said his apparent slip-up at a White House roundtable with business leaders last Wednesday had been on purpose.

In a divided America where politics seems increasingly to get people's goat, a small town in Vermont has taken the concept to heart -- this week electing one as mayor.

Spanish police said Thursday they rescued an elderly man and woman locked up in a house, allegedly drugged and fed via a tube by a couple whose other "wards" died mysteriously.

President Donald Trump didn't have to change the menu Monday for his second hosting of college athletes at the White House this year: it was time to pile the table with fast food again.

A decision by German local authorities to impound a pug from an indebted family and hawk it on eBay was spiraling on Monday into a possible case for the courts.

Japanese sumo officials have introduced a crackdown on beards, calling them "indecent" and telling wrestlers they must look spick and span during competitions under strict, new rules on personal grooming.

The draconian whisker ban is part of fresh regulations also barring tattoos and long nails, a sumo spokesman told AFP on Wednesday, as the authorities look to clean up the image of Japan's roly-poly sport.

President Donald Trump is technically obese and has put on weight since last year, but his official doctor declared him Thursday to be in "very good health."

The presidential physician, Sean Conley, said Trump, 72, passed his medical exam last week with flying colors.