Hawaiian-born former sumo wrestler Konishiki admitted Thursday to a physical confrontation with a neighbor in a dispute over dog poo.

Konishiki, 47, now a popular television personality in Japan, said on his blog that he was trying to defend his wife over charges she had allowed her dog to foul on private property in Tokyo.

A fire in a French retirement home killed six women Wednesday, after a 75-year-old man tried to open a packet of sweets with his cigarette lighter, officials said.

An investigation has been launched into the blaze, which broke out at around 2:20 am in "Les Anemones", a retirement home for 180 people in the southern port city of Marseille, state prosecutor Christophe Barret told reporters.

Thousands of traffic enforcers struggle grimly to keep the Philippine capital's notoriously gridlocked roads moving every day, but Ramiro Hinojas does it with a smile and a little help from Michael Jackson.

Rain or shine, seven days a week, the diminutive 55-year-old stands in the middle of one of Manila's major intersections, and to the cacophony of roaring engines, puts on an elaborate dance show as he deftly guides traffic flow.

An Australian taxi driver was Wednesday ordered to pay Aus$1,415 (US$1,417) for wearing jeans to work despite insisting they were tailor-made and suitable for the job.

Shahram Forozandeh, 44, was prosecuted by the transport department for wearing the trousers contrary to industry standards when he was stopped during a routine inspection in January, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.

A southern Indian state on Wednesday ordered a vacation for elephants employed by temples as part of an official program to "rejuvenate" the weary creatures, officials said.

State foresters herded 45 domestic pachyderms from Hindu shrines and hermitages in Tamil Nadu to the coastal state's Mudumalai forests for a 48-day break to help them regain lost vigor, they said.

Police in Indonesia's most conservative province raided a punk-rock concert and detained 65 fans, buzzing off their spiky mohawks and stripping away body piercings because of the perceived threat to Islamic values.

Dog-collar necklaces and chains also were taken from the youths before they were thrown in pools of water for "spiritual" cleansing, local police chief Iskandar Hasan said Wednesday.

Girls who attended Silvio Berlsuconi's raunchy parties dressed up as Father Christmas, a policeman testified on Monday at the trial of the ex-premier for allegedly having sex with an underage prostitute.

Investigator Giorgio Bertoli said he had viewed photos featuring "mutual effusions" between the girls, some of whom also dressed up as policewomen.

Laid-off workers complaining about unpaid wages disrupted a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday by shouting and throwing objects, news websites and an agency reported.

One of the men threw a "pair of shoes" at Ahmadinejad, according to a report by a little-known website, Ghasednews.ir, that was picked up by the mainstream Mehr news agency and the website of the Tehran Times newspaper.

Latvian airline airBaltic announced Monday it was branching out into another business, claiming to be the world's first carrier to sell cars during its flights.

From Friday, passengers on all airBaltic flights will be able to buy a Mini Cooper R56 -- provided they have a spare 24,699 euros ($33,048).

An acute butter shortage in Norway, one of the world's richest countries, has left people worrying how to bake their Christmas goodies with store shelves emptied and prices through the roof.

The shortfall, expected to last into January, amounts to between 500 and 1,000 tons, said Tine, Norway's main dairy company, while online sellers have offered 500-gramme packs for up to 350 euros ($465).