A pair of cantaloupe melons sold at auction in Japan on Friday for 1.6 million yen ($15,730), one of the highest prices ever paid for the coveted orange-fleshed fruit.

A local fruit wholesaler snapped up the 3.7-kilogram (8.1-pound) Yubari melons at the high-end fruit and vegetable sale, which took place on the first day of the season for the prestigious melons.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet on Friday formally denied months-long rumors that the premier had not moved into his official residence over fears the mansion is haunted.

The conservative leader took office in December but has yet to move into the 11-room brick home in central Tokyo, the longest holdout among any of his predecessors, according to local media.

Hungarian authorities evacuated around 1,000 people on Thursday after an unexploded World War II shell was discovered embedded in the roof of Budapest's city hall.

"The Soviet-made explosive device was found during a renovation project," a defense ministry spokesperson told state newswire MTI.

A massive Star Wars X-Wing spaceship has landed on New York's Times Square.

Well, not quite. It's actually a replica of one flown in the famed movie franchise and represents the largest model ever made by Danish toy company Lego.

A new French online game is allowing players to step into the shoes of an ArcelorMittal worker by fighting police and a robot version of Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal to keep a factory open.

Players throw barrels and beams at police in the "Kill Mittal" game inspired by the long-lasting -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- struggle in France's northeastern town of Florange to stop the closure of steel blast furnaces owned by Mittal.

An 80-year-old Japanese climber reached the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday, becoming the oldest person to scale the world's highest mountain, his website and a Nepalese official said.

Yuichiro Miura and his party arrived at the summit at around 9am (0315 GMT), according to the website.

It's hard to miss the enormous 20-foot (6-meter)-wide American flag on the side of Richard Ormbrek's home. Comprised of around 180 tiles painted with scenes of Americana against a background of red and white stripes, the flag pops from the orange cedar shingles with traffic-stopping audacity.

This is actually the second major art project that Ormbrek has put on the house he shares with brother-in-law Bruce Edenso. The first — a traditional Haida Indian totem house design that covered the entire side of the home — was painted in 1975 and made the house something of a local landmark.

Calligraphy by Japanese porn star Sola Aoi has sparked a culture war in China, where she has a huge fan base, with purists dismissing the work as "unskilled" after it was reportedly auctioned for $95,000.

Eight Chinese characters the actress wrote with brush and ink at a theme park in the eastern city of Ningbo were sold earlier this month, the Liberation Daily newspaper said Wednesday, without identifying the auction house or buyer.

Hundreds of sunbathers fled a popular Indonesian beach in panic when a four-meter (13-foot) crocodile laid down next to them to soak up some rays, an official said Wednesday.

Crowds were thronging the beach at Balikpapan on Borneo island at the weekend when the 500 kilogram (1,100 pound) reptile crawled ashore.

A Singapore company supervisor caught on video slapping a male intern is in trouble after the clip went viral on the web and sparked a public outcry.

Police confirmed to Agence France Presse that a complaint had been lodged against the supervisor, who works at a software company, and the manpower ministry said it had also been alerted about the alleged case of workplace abuse.