A Japanese construction firm claimed Wednesday it could execute an out-of-this-world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon.

Obayashi Corp claims it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96,000 kilometers (roughly 60,000 miles) above the Earth.

A former U.S. teacher pleaded not guilty to lewd acts with children Tuesday for allegedly photographing blindfolded students with roaches on their faces, and spoons of semen to their mouths.

And a lawyer for Mark Berndt the 61-year-old was at risk of harm in prison, with "a bull's eye on his head" after fellow inmates were told his alleged crimes and his location.

Mining giant Rio Tinto said it has unearthed a "remarkable" 12.76 carat pink diamond in Australia, the largest of the rare and precious stones ever found in the resources-rich nation.

Named the Argyle Pink Jubilee, the huge rough stone was found at Rio's pink diamond operations in the Kimberley region of Western Australia and would take 10 days to cut and polish, the miner said on Wednesday.

"Miss" is officially out in France. The office of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday the term would be struck from official documents, along with that of "maiden name" or "married name" for women.

The prime minister's office said it would be writing to all ministries and regional senior officials to ask them to ban such wording.

The vice president is hitting the road — to what the White House wrote as "Road Island," mistakenly spelled R-O-A-D instead of R-H-O-D-E.

A release outlining Joe Biden's plans for the week showed him traveling to Providence in misspelled "Road Island" on Thursday for a campaign event. The vice president is scheduled to visit Boston and Manchester, N.H., on the same day. No misspellings there.

Seven people have been arrested in southern Taiwan for allegedly kidnapping dozens of race pigeons for ransom, police said Wednesday.

The suspects were accused of setting traps along the racing routes to capture the pigeons and demanding up to Tw$5,000 ($165) in ransom per bird from the owners, said the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

Carnivorous fish attacked bathers in a river in southern Brazil, leaving about 20 of them with bite wounds on their hands and feet, a news website said Monday, citing lifeguards.

The unusual attack occurred Sunday when a school of palometas, a species of piranhas, surprised hundreds of tourists bathing at a beach in Toropi, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.

A Berlin taxi driver told a German newspaper Tuesday how he witnessed history in the making when the man due to become Germany's next president was told the news in the back of his cab.

Russian-born Vadim Belon, 44, told Bild he just saw an older grey-haired chap with a suitcase when he picked up Joachim Gauck at the capital's Tegel airport late Sunday and set off to take him where he wanted to go.

An Indonesian maid was allegedly raped twice by a neighbor, who then cut and strangled her before throwing her out of the window of a second-story flat, according to media reports.

A Swede pulled from a snowed-in car claiming he had not eaten for two months had lived in the vehicle since mid-2011, media reported, as experts said the "miraculous survival" was theoretically possible.

The emaciated 44-year-old man, whose name has not been disclosed, was pulled from a totally snow-covered car parked deep in the woods near the northern Swedish town of Umeaa last Friday.