India is a country known for its love of gold, but for one businessman a ring or chain was not enough.

Datta Phuge is now the proud owner of a golden shirt worth 12.7 million rupees (240,000 dollars), made up of 14,000 pieces of 22-carat gold and put together by 15 craftsmen over 16 days.

A British man has been offered 50,000 euros for a strange-smelling rock his dog found on a beach, which is likely a rare form of whale vomit used in perfumes, the BBC reported Thursday.

Ken Wilman was walking his dog Madge in the coastal town of Morecambe in northwest England when she began "poking at a rather large stone" with a waxy texture and yellowish color.

Shanghai was forced to deny that China's future tallest building, now under construction, was on fire Thursday after what looked like smog surrounded the towering structure.

The incident came after a factory fire in the neighboring province of Zhejiang went unnoticed for three hours earlier this month because of thick haze, according to state media.

The vandals that damaged a U.S. cemetery this week have pleaded "moo."

Police say a small herd of cows knocked over 40 flags and veterans' grave markers, then snacked on a few flower arrangements, at the Center Cemetery in Massachusetts on Monday.

With hot pink sofas, high heels-shaped tables and chairs decorated with tutus, the first Barbie-themed restaurant opened in Taiwan on Wednesday catering to fans of the iconic doll.

U.S. toymaker Mattel has licensed Taiwan's restaurant group Sinlaku to operate the Barbie Cafe and hopes that the new establishment in a bustling shopping district in the capital Taipei will help promote Barbie as a fashion brand.

Missing: One golden cookie, weighing around 44 pounds (20 kilograms).

Suspect: The Cookie Monster?

Already known the world over for its baths, coffee and sweet Turkish delights, Turkey is on the road to adding another item to its roster of specialties: the moustache.

Lip whiskers remain a highly sought-after mark of manliness in Turkey and the Middle East to the point that the naturally less hairy are increasingly seeking out moustache transplants at the hands of Turkish cosmetic surgeons.

France's culture minister has demanded an explanation from the Musee d'Orsay after a family visiting as guests of an anti-poverty group were asked to leave because snooty fellow visitors complained that they smelled.

ATD-Quart Monde, who had treated the hard-up couple and their 12-year-old child to a tour of the museum on Saturday, described the family's ejection from the celebrated museum as blatant discrimination.

After paying public workers' salaries last week, the balance in cash-strapped Zimbabwe's government public account stood at just $217, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Tuesday.

"Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 (left) in government coffers," Biti told journalists in the capital Harare, claiming some of them had healthier bank balances than the state.

New hearing, new rules: spiral notebooks and pens are now permitted at the Guantanamo military tribunal trying five prisoners accused of the September 11 attacks.

Authorities at the U.S. base have taken advantage of a three month break in hearings to update the court's draconian security procedures, for example by allowing reporters to take notes with pens and pads of their own choice.