It took just milliseconds for the conspiracy theories to surface.

Moments after the U.S. Labor Department announced that the U.S. jobless rate had fallen sharply to 7.8 percent -- a very favorable number for President Barack Obama -- the financial website Zerohedge tweeted: "Total data manipulation. Such a farce."

A study arousing interest online Friday found that checking Facebook or Twitter is more alluring than sex for those immersed in Internet Age lifestyles.

The week-long poll conducted in Germany by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business classified checking social network tweets, pictures, comments and other posts as stronger than sex and cigarettes in terms of temptation.

Malaysia's anti-graft body is investigating the wedding of a top official's son -- attended by around 130,000 people -- after opposition politicians questioned the celebration's funding.

The wedding on Sunday of Ridhwan Ali, 26, eldest son of Ali Rustam, chief minister of the southern state of Malacca, reportedly lasted eight hours and made it into the Malaysia Book of Records for its massive turnout.

Anyone relying on their nose to guide them to a toilet at Quebec's La Providence golf course won't find one -- that's because its outhouse is odorless.

Beneath a tidy wooden latrine on the grounds is an army of earthworms that churn decaying organic materials into compost.

Police in Canada have seized more than 600 barrels of maple syrup in New Brunswick as part of an investigation into the theft of millions worth of syrup in Quebec and are transporting it back to Quebec under police protection, officials said.

The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers reported large quantities of syrup missing last month during a routine inventory, finding empty barrels at a site of the province's global strategic reserve at St-Louis-de-Blandford.

Police say they arrested a U.S. man after he showed up at a crime scene wearing a Batman outfit because he wouldn't leave them alone.

"He wouldn't clear the scene, and we had a canine out there, and he kept screwing up the scent," State Police Sgt. Jeff Gorno told the Petoskey News-Review. "He said he wanted to help us look for the driver."

Three men who barbecued and curried the remains of their victim were being held by authorities in Japan, police and reports said Thursday.

The trio used a hammer to dismember Kazuyuki Kobayashi, before grilling parts of his body and getting rid of it in mountains in rural Japan, a police spokesman told AFP.

In a campaign dominated by talk of high unemployment and soaring deficits, Mitt Romney's threat to sack one particular government employee -- Sesame Street's Big Bird -- has ruffled feathers.

In an otherwise strong performance in the first presidential debate on Wednesday, Romney vowed to cut support for public television, saying he liked the tall yellow muppet but felt he should try his luck in the private sector.

French President Francois Hollande's partner Valerie Trierweiler admitted Wednesday she had made a mistake in firing off a tweet snubbing Hollande's ex-companion and said she regretted it.

"It was a mistake that I regret. I must have been clumsy because this was badly interpreted," Trierweiler told newspaper Ouest-France. "I had not yet realised that I was no longer a simple citizen. It won't happen again."

A dog who survived an 11-mile (17-kilometer) ride from Massachusetts to Rhode Island after being hit by a car and wedged into the grille has been reunited with its owners.

The owners, who weren't identified, told WPRI-TV it's a "miracle."