The head of the Vatican's pontifical council for culture on Wednesday announced the launch of a new academy for the teaching of Latin with a Tweet written in the ancient language.

"Hodie una cum Ivano Dionigi novam aperiemus academiam pontificiam latinitatis a Benedicto conditam, hora XVII, via Conciliationis V," Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, an avid Tweeter, told his online followers.

President Barack Obama "pardoned" two turkeys Wednesday ahead of the annual Thanksgiving holiday, when Americans dine on millions of the fattened fowl.

"They say that life is all about second chances," Obama told reporters gathered at the White House Rose Garden for the yearly ceremony. "This November I could not agree more."

Mexican tequila makers celebrated on Wednesday Australia's decision to recognize Mexico as the only place in the world that can use the drink's name.

The Tequila Regulatory Council of Mexico said that Australia joined Russia and Thailand in giving Mexico the protected designation of origin for the drink, which is made from the blue agave plant found in Jalisco state.

Adults love it, but the smell is more than most kids can bear.

Tvaruzky, a stinky low-fat Czech curd cheese has won a coveted EU protected geographical indication (PGI), similar to Italy's venerable Parmesan or France's Roquefort cheese.

In a nondescript building around the corner from the world's biggest casino, students at the Macau Polytechnic Institute are in class. Huddled at a long table topped with green felt, they pay close attention as their instructor writes a series of diagrams and numbers on a whiteboard.

But this isn't a regular math lesson. The students sitting around the roulette table are getting schooled on how to quickly calculate payoffs for the casino game by glancing at how the chips are placed. Elsewhere in the room, the biggest mock casino in Asia, other students are playing practice hands of blackjack or learning how to run a craps table.

A New York police officer accused of plotting cannibalism had no intention of actually eating his victims -- it was all in his mind, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Gilberto Valle, a promising six-year veteran of the New York Police Department, may have sounded scary during extensive online chats with other men about kidnapping and eating up to 100 women, but he was never dangerous, Julia Gatto said in Manhattan federal court.

An online video featuring cartoon creatures killing themselves in a variety of ways as part of an Australian transport safety campaign has gone viral, with almost 12 million YouTube views in a week.

The Melbourne Metro Trains video "Dumb Ways to Die" has been shared widely on social media since being uploaded to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR2EpS0jw) seven days ago and the clip and jingle have been especially popular in Asian countries.

A restaurant in the Beirut district took advantage of Tuesday's severe traffic jam, that kept Lebanese drivers stuck in their vehicles for several hours, and sent messages encouraging the stranded citizens to order fast food requests by promising delivery to their 'car step'.

Lebanese drivers were stuck in their vehicles for several hours as Army preparations for Independence Day added severe delays to the usual morning traffic.

They are found in more than two-thirds of Japanese households and visitors to the country have marveled at their heated seats, posterior shower jets and odor-masking function.

But for the company that has sold over 30 million high-tech toilets, commonly known as Washlets, global lavatory domination remains elusive, especially among shy U.S. consumers.

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said Monday he was looking for the owner of a wallet crammed with cash and credit cards he found during his morning jog in the capital Bratislava.

"I found a wallet full of money and credit cards when I was jogging this morning by the Danube river," he told journalists at a press conference.