Sweden's culture minister on Wednesday apologized for her participation in a ceremony involving a cake depicting a nude African woman that sparked cries of racism.

The controversial cake was prepared to mark the 75th anniversary of the National Organization of Swedish artists, attended by culture minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.

A 300-year-old drawing of a flying fish that nearly scuttled Isaac Newton's world-changing opus on modern physics will be showcased in the Royal Society's online picture library, launched Thursday.

The engraving was first published in 1686 in a lavishly-illustrated book "A History of Fishes," by John Ray and Francis Willughby, the prestigious British academy of sciences said.

Rampaging elephants are terrorizing Mozambican villages near the Zimbabwe border, attacking people, trampling crops and scaring children, state-run newspaper Noticias reported Wednesday.

"We are using traditional ways to try to scare the animals, but all in vain, because whenever we do something, the monsters disappear for a few days, and when they come back there is no peace," local farmer Joseph Maithe told the paper.

Austere furniture for austere times was the message from this week's Milan design fair, where the aesthetics of the sober 1940s and 1950s prevailed and extravagance gave way to functionality.

"Design needs to take into account a significant economic crisis which has led to a re-interpretation to make products more functional while avoiding provocations," architect Marco Romanelli, a fair organizer, told Agence France Presse.

An Italian museum on Tuesday began burning its collection of contemporary artworks in a singular protest against harsh budget cuts that have left many cultural institutions out of pocket.

The Casoria Contemporary Art Museum near Naples held a bonfire in its grounds for the first torching of a painting by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who was in favor of the protest and followed it on Skype.

Briton Sarah Outen is no stranger to adventure, but when she rows out from a small port in Japan this week she will be on her own -- all the way until she reaches Canada.

Outen's solo voyage across the Pacific, in a rowboat packed with the latest gadgetry, is probably the most challenging leg in her ambitious project to circle the globe by boat and bike.

Four barrels of beer, a bottle of champagne and a bicycle repair kit have been reported stolen from Britain's parliament in recent months, official records showed Tuesday.

A flower arrangement, two iPads, a passport and a printer were also among 36 reported thefts from June up to March 22, according to the House of Commons Commission.

The death and damage caused by Hurricane Irene means the name is being withdrawn from a rotating list of storm titles, the U.N. weather agency said on Tuesday.

"Irene" will be replaced by "Irma" after meteorologists decided any future use of the name could cause upset.

Bangladesh customs agents seized more than 400 tortoises being smuggled in three suitcases through the country's main airport on Tuesday, an official said.

Two Indian citizens were arrested in connection with the seizure at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital Dhaka, customs officer Showkat Ara said.

Lebanese wine industry is going through a rebirth. Whereas there were only 5 wineries in the early 90s, there are over forty operating today. In order to make sense of this exciting and diverse landscape, Le Commerce du Levant has decided to partner up with Tamyras to publish the first bilingual (English/French) guide to Lebanese wine.

The Zawaq Guide presents every single Lebanese winery, region by region. For each region, the guide lays out the main tourist attractions, as well as tips on accommodation and restaurants in the area, so that the reader can blend the pleasures of wine with an appreciation of Lebanon’s rich cultural heritage. The Zawaq Guide tells the story of forty wineries, from the big brands to the smallest “garage wines’, detailing the characteristics of their terroir. The guide also looks at the wineries in the making and those around the world that are run by members of the Lebanese Diaspora.