Chinese web users have flooded a wildlife park with pleas for an amorous male sheep and female deer to be allowed to stay together after their mating habits raised concerns.

Staff at the wildlife park turned to the country's half a billion web users for advice after the deer and the ram -- whose Chinese name Changmao means Long Hair -- began their unconventional liaison.

An innovative scheme to keep the streets of northern Taiwan clean has seen thousands of citizens dutifully collecting bags of dog poop in the hope of winning $2,000 in gold.

More than 4,000 residents of New Taipei City, which surrounds the capital, have signed up for the competition since it was launched in early August, and have so far collected 14,000 bags of the stuff.

Pope Benedict XVI used a tablet computer from his Vatican residence on Wednesday to switch on a giant light installation in Italy known as the "World's Biggest Christmas Tree".

"I hope this will be a light in the darkness," the pope said.

The world's oldest dog according to Guinness World Records has died in Japan at the age of 26 years and eight months.

Owner Yumiko Shinohara told reporters at her home in Sakura, a city outside Tokyo, that Pusuke, a fluffy tan Shiba mix, died Monday after suddenly falling ill and refusing to eat.

The Indonesian policeman who shot to fame in April by lip-synching and grooving to an Indian Bollywood hit in a YouTube video has been sacked and forced to hand in his badge.

Norman Kamaru, 26, captured the hearts of Bollywood film fans world over when he was discovered online in his police uniform mouthing the words and dancing to the song "Chaiyya Chaiyya".

A Detroit-area woman is suing an auto dealership, claiming her new SUV smells bad because it once contained a corpse.

The Detroit News and CBS Detroit reported Monday that Margarita Salais (suh-LAZE') sued Suburban Ford of Sterling Heights in Oakland County Circuit Court. The suit claims the dealership failed to disclose that the car had been stolen three times and once held a body.

Rome city council took down a giant white papier-mache Christmas tree Tuesday, just one day after putting it up on a main square, following a storm of protests, officials said.

"I don't like it," Mayor Gianni Alemanno said of the conical structure more reminiscent of the Egyptian obelisks that adorn the Eternal City's many historic squares than of the traditional symbol of the Christmas holiday.

Staff at a wildlife park in southwest China have turned to the country's half a billion web users for advice after a male sheep and a female deer began mating -- and soon became inseparable.

A posting on the park's micro blog posed the question: "What do you do when a ram falls in love with a deer?" It asked readers whether they agreed it would be "unethical" to let the unusual pairing continue.

A Czech wedding party ended in tears, bruises and the drunk tank last Saturday as the inebriated newlyweds started a fight outside a restaurant, the police said Tuesday.

"The bride and the groom attacked each other. They were both drunk, and they both ended up with bruises," police spokeswoman Jana Mazourova told Agence France Predsse.

Bulgaria's prime minister may occasionally take to the field for a third-division side Vitosha Bistritsa, but even he admitted Monday being nominated the country's best footballer might be a step too far.

Boiko Borisov, 52, is on track to be crowned best player in a poll of supporters with 44 percent of the vote, well ahead of Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov on 24 percent, according to preliminary figures.