Vegan burger upstart Beyond Meat, whose backers include Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, has raised $241 million from its initial public offering, valuing the firm at about $1.5 billion as it surfs a wave of flexitarianism.

The California-based firm said it sold 9.625 million shares on the Nasdaq exchange at $25 each on Wednesday, at the top of its offer range. Reflecting strong investor demand, it had increased the offer price of its shares to $23-25 from $19-21.

Three teenagers were killed while taking selfies on a railway track in India, the country which researchers say has the worst record for selfie-related deaths.

A fourth youth managed to jump to safety before the accident in Panipat city in the northern state of Haryana, a police officer told AFP Wednesday.

German automaker Daimler, which makes armored limousines used by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, says it has no idea where he got them and has no business dealings with the North.

Kim has raised eyebrows by using Daimler-branded stretch limousines at several very high-profile summits, including his meeting this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and both of his earlier summits with President Donald Trump.

An Indian man chopped off his index finger in desperation after voting for the wrong party in the country's national election.

Pawan Kumar became confused by the symbols on the electronic voting machine and voted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party instead of its regional rival in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday, his brother told AFP.

Banners “backing” Jon Snow, a main character in the blockbuster TV epic 'Game of Thrones', have appeared in several Beirut streets in a humorous show of support.

“Beirut's Residents Back Jon Snow in His Battle against the White Walkers”, reads one of the banners.

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.