Egypt will close the Great Pyramid of Giza on Friday to avoid any rituals by a group rumoured to have plans to mark the date of 11/11/11 at the site, an official said.

The decision came "after much pressure" from Egyptian Internet users that strange rituals were going to be held "within the walls of the pyramid on November 11, 2011," Atef Abu Zahab, head of theDepartment of Pharaonic Archaeology, told Agence France Presse.

A number of Lebanese parliament members, actors, and beauty queens made promises which, if delivered, might be considered as wonders of the world.

In a TV commercial released on all Lebanese stations, these personalities made promises ranging from wearing an orange tie, to kissing a cow on the lips.

Thousands of Chinese couples are reportedly planning to get married on Friday, dubbed "singles' day" in China because the date is made up entirely of the number one.

November 11 has been celebrated as an unofficial day for the unattached in China since the 1990s, and is seen as a good date to tie the knot and leave the single life behind.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking a second look at a "Christmas tree tax" that's really not a tax at all, in the face of an uproar triggered by a conservative think tank.

The Heritage Foundation set tongues wagging when it said a levy of 15 cents (11 euro cents) for every fresh Christmas tree harvested in the United States or imported, amounted to a new tax by Barack Obama's administration.

All eyes will be on the Gulf's booming airlines and how deeply they dig into their wallets when the Middle East's main airshow opens in Dubai next week, though few are expecting a flood of blockbuster deals.

That's because the region's heavyweights — Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways — already boast long lists of planes on order designed to fatten their young fleets for years to come.

A rodeo bull in the U.S. appears comfortable again after spending about 20 hours with his head stuck in a giant tire.

The bull, named Skywalker, couldn't eat or drink after he got his head lodged in a discarded truck tire, ranch owner Paige De Ponte said.

For anyone with $15 million (11 million euros) to spare, a dazzling 110-carat pear-shaped jewel known as the Sun-Drop Diamond will go to auction next week.

Said to be the largest diamond of its kind, the gem known as a 'fancy vivid yellow pear-shape' was discovered in South Africa in 2010 and wowed visitors to London's Natural History Museum where it was displayed earlier this year and also in Hong Kong.

A French police dog credited with sniffing out 1,700 drugs suspects was on Wednesday decorated with a medal for bravery and dedication at a ceremony in the southwestern city of Bordeaux.

Aldo, a Belgian Malinois sheepdog, has been behind 1,700 arrests since he started working for the Bordeaux police department in 2006 -- almost one a day -- and 475 arrests this year alone.

A number of livestock traders were robbed of their lucrative Eid-ul-Adha takings after thieves threw itching powder over them at a Mumbai market, a newspaper report said on Wednesday.

The Daily News and Analysis said that several traders selling goats and sheep at the Deonar market were targeted in the run-up to the Muslim festival on Monday, which is marked by the ritual sacrifice of animals.

In a species of hawk, males dress themselves up as females to gain a sneaky advantage in the mating game, according to an unusual study published Wednesday.

Most male marsh harriers (Circus aeruginosus) are grey, but more than a third have permanent plumage that mimics the colors of females, which are mainly brown with a white head and shoulders.