Users of the Apple iPhone and iPad got a new palate of emoji on Wednesday, including a group of alternative or gay family illustrations.

The new emoji appeared on an update to Apple's mobile operating software, iOS 8.3, which was rolled out on Wednesday. Some test versions of the software had been in use since February.

An Indonesian man hitched a high-stakes ride to the country's capital by clinging to the landing gear of a commercial plane, officials said Wednesday.

21-year-old Mario Steven Ambarita sneaked onto the tarmac at an airport in Sumatra on Tuesday before clambering aboard the Boeing jet's landing gear, air transport ministry director general Suprasetyo said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has a lot on his plate, but one item is causing him considerable stress: his impending empty nest syndrome. 

Sixteen-year-old daughter Malia hasn't even finished high school, but Obama says the thought of her heading off to college has him crying. Several times a day, in fact.  

A French owl breeder whose birds did a star turn in a Harry Potter film was acquitted Tuesday of wildlife violations that saw his beloved birds confiscated and banned from performing.

A court in central France noted the man's "lack of intent" to violate the rules over keeping and working with protected species, and ordered the three eagle owls be returned to him.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron has been skewered in the middle of a tense election campaign -- for eating a hot dog with a knife and fork.

The Conservative leader's visit on Monday to a voter barbecue backfired as an attempt to appear as an everyman, relaxing in a blue shirt as the beer flowed.

A South Korean activist said Wednesday he had launched thousands of copies of Hollywood film "The Interview" into North Korea by balloon, ignoring dire threats of reprisals from Pyongyang.

The capital has labelled the Seth Rogen comedy about a fictional CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, a "wanton act of terror".

Police in a northern Indian city said Tuesday they have a new weapon for controlling unruly protesters in the world's largest democracy: pepper-spraying drones.

Yashasvi Yadav, police chief of Lucknow, said his officers have successfully test-flown the newly purchased drones with a view to better crowd control. 

Prince Harry has warned Australians against taking a "selfie" with him during his one-month stint Down Under, saying he much prefers normal photographs.

The 30-year-old British prince was warmly received by hundreds of fans in Canberra on Monday, including one teenage girl who wanted to have a photograph of herself with him in the background.

Two thousand miles might seem like a long way to go for fried chicken.

Two men from Canada who took their sons on a journey to the original home of Kentucky Fried Chicken say it's a trip they'll never forget.

A group of around 30 gynaecologists in a Romanian town have decided to stop all abortions during the week leading up to Orthodox Easter on April 12, so as to not "upset God".

"We do not perform abortions during the major holidays, especially during Holy Week and Christmas because we think it is not right to upset God," said Marius Craina, gynaecologist and director of the local hospital of Timisoara, a town in western Romania.