Vladimir Putin, who has carved out a health nut image by wrestling with tigers or judo opponents, raised eyebrows Thursday as he was pictured swollen-faced and caked in make-up, apparently to mask a black eye.

Journalists feverishly speculated that the Russian premier could have taken a punch during a judo session or even had a facelift, after he visited Ukraine on Wednesday slathered in war paint.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was on striking form when he met his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales on Wednesday -- on the football pitch for a friendly with top Iranian players, local media said.

The Iranian and Bolivian leaders, sporting T-shirts and shorts, played in the same team alongside Iran's star midfielder Karim Bagheri, with both scoring in a match that was drawn 4-4 at the end of normal time.

Just how mini can a miniskirt be?

If an Italian mayor of a small Italian seaside town has his way, law enforcement officials, and not fashion gurus, will be the ones to decide.

Paul the octopus, who shot to fame during this year's football World Cup in South Africa for his flawless record in predicting game outcomes, has died, his aquarium in Germany said on Tuesday.

"Management and staff at the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre were devastated to discover that oracle octopus Paul, who achieved global renown during the recent World Cup, had passed away overnight," the aquarium said in a somber statement.

China has launched an official online mapping service as U.S. Internet giant Google continues to hold out on applying for a license to provide a similar service in the country, state media said Friday.

The government-backed service Map World is free and allows users to search for two and three-dimensional images across the globe, the China Daily said.

Australian police served a court order on an alleged cyber bully using the social networking site Facebook, officials said Wednesday, describing it as a national first.

Victoria police got court approval to use the site after attempts to serve the order in person, over the telephone or via the post failed.

Japan's foreign ministry has told its embassies abroad to reduce huge wine stockpiles after finding excessive build-ups, including almost 7,900 bottles at one European mission alone.

"I was very surprised to see the report by the audit board," Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who took office a month ago, told a parliamentary committee after a recent audit of embassies' booze stocks.

A Nepalese fruit seller's son with the body of a toddler turned 18 on Thursday and was officially declared the world's shortest man by Guinness record officials.

Khagendra Thapa Magar measured in at 67 centimeters, displacing the former record holder, Edward Nino Hernandez of Colombia, who measures 70 centimeters.

A rock band will have to face the music after blocking a Los Angeles freeway and performing atop its trailer.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Rick Quintero said a big box van decorated with Imperial Stars' logo stopped on the southbound U.S. 101 near Sunset Boulevard at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, blocking four of the five lanes.

Having breezed through several world records in the culinary field Lebanon has now gone for the big one -- the world's largest national flag, and so huge it needed an airfield.

The Lebanese military on Sunday released a picture taken from the air of the massive flag, stitched in Kuwait, assembled in Lebanon and covering 65,000 square meters (645,600 square feet) "unfurled."