The United States condemned intense fighting in war-wracked South Sudan, where government forces recaptured a key rebel enclave after a weeks-long assault marred by accusations of rights abuses.

The government assault that began in late April is one of the heaviest offensives in South Sudan's 17-month-long civil war, which has cut off over 650,000 people from aid.

An election tie in Canada's Prince Edward Island province has been decided by a coin toss, local media reported Wednesday.

A judicial recount on Tuesday in one of the island's electoral districts resulted in the Liberal incumbent's victory by two votes being quashed.

The fate of an orangutan named Sandra is inching through a court in Argentina, after another court ruled she was entitled to certain human rights, including the right to be freed from the Buenos Aires Zoo.

In a world first, a court in the Argentine capital ruled in December that Sandra, a 29-year-old female, was entitled to some of the same basic rights as humans, after lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus on her behalf, alleging unlawful imprisonment.

A newspaper has published a mother's request for a groom for her son after three leading dailies refused, the first gay matrimonial advert published in India where homosexuality is illegal, the family said Wednesday.

Padma Iyer placed the advert for her rights activist son Harish in the matrimonial pages of Mid-Day, the largest selling tabloid in India's financial and entertainment capital Mumbai.

The sight of a stuffed tiger — a very large stuffed tiger — lashed to the top of an SUV cruising around a southwest Washington lake was enough to generate a 911 call from someone who apparently thought it was real.

The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver reports (http://is.gd/6cnx8h ) that Connor Zuvich says he was by Lacamas Lake in Camas on Monday with some friends when a truck came by and dumped some trash and the giant tiger.

Weeks after burned macaroni and cheese emptied out the Iowa Capitol, a charred pizza crust has done it again.

The crust burned Tuesday morning in the Capitol cafeteria, prompting a brief evacuation.

Parents who say their children's music is dumb might have a point. A new study finds that the average hit song has lyrics at a third grader's reading level.

The research took lyrics from 225 songs that topped U.S. charts since 2005 and used standard tests that determine the reading difficulty.

Officials from Wembley Stadium issued an apology on Tuesday after misspelling Middlesbrough's name on tickets for Monday's Championship play-off final against Norwich City.

Middlesbrough was incorrectly spelled “Middlesborough” on the tickets.

Cannes Film Festival organizers were forced Tuesday to deny a report that they were enforcing a strict high-heel rule for women on its legendary red carpet.

In what was meant to be women's year at cinema's top showcase, an article in a trade magazine about women allegedly turned away from a premiere for wearing "rhinestone flats" sparked a storm of protest on Twitter.

Perhaps they hope that the fragrant smells and blooming petals will be transformed into instant electoral success.

But the penchant of Turkey's politicians for throwing flowers into crowds at rallies has given a huge boost to the domestic flower industry, which expects to deliver 40 million flowers in the run-up to June 7 legislative polls, an association chief said Sunday.