Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei said Thursday he was ordered to take down four live webcams he installed in his home this week to mock authorities' round-the-clock surveillance of him.

Ai, who was held in secret detention for 81 days last year as part of a widespread clampdown on dissent in China, said authorities had telephoned and given him a "clear order" to stop the live feed from his Beijing house.

A pleased-looking Pope Benedict XVI was presented with a colorful, two-meter high Easter egg weighing 250 kilograms on Wednesday, as Catholics and other Christians prepare to celebrate Easter, the Agence France Presse reported Thursday.

The egg, made by Italian chocolate maker Tosca, was unveiled in a Vatican courtyard. The brilliant yellow and blue wrapper was decorated with the pope's coat of arms, wreathes of flowers and doves -- the symbol of peace.

Gillette, the world’s leading Male Grooming brand, has launched its most technologically advanced razor, Gillette Fusion ProGlide™, across the Middle East, the company said in a press release.

At an event hosted by senior executives and scientists from Gillette and Procter & Gamble at YAS Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, guests learned how Gillette’s new ProGlide razor has “truly turned shaving into gliding, offering men throughout the region their most comfortable shave yet,” said Gillette.

A district in Indonesia handed out cash to civil servants who volunteer for vasectomies -- but the initiative upset women who fear their sterilized husbands will be more likely to have affairs, the Agence France Presse reported Wednesday.

Mukomuko district on Sumatra Island is offering one million rupiah ($109) to any of its 2,000 male employees who undergo the operation, in a bid to control population growth in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Sixteen pit bulls rescued from a dogfighting ring in the Philippines were euthanized Tuesday for lack of facilities to rehabilitate them and prevent them from reappearing in underground arenas, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Roughly 300 dogs were rescued in separate raids late Friday in Laguna province south of Manila, said Anna Cabrera of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society. Seventeen with the worst injuries were put down over the weekend, and the health of the living dogs and the progress of rehabilitating them will determine how many of them ultimately survive.

Most of Cyprus was blacked out early on Wednesday due to the failure of one of the Mediterranean island's main power plants, local media said.

The outage caused massive traffic jams during the peak morning rush hour, with police scrambling to control intersections where lack of traffic lights confused and angered motorists.

US First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on Tuesday night's episode of "The Biggest Loser" to promote her campaign against obesity -- and has hosted the US diet reality show's first White House workout.

The six competitors still vying for the title of "Biggest Loser" -- the one who loses the most weight -- got the shock of their lives when they were invited to Washington by the wife of US President Barack Obama.

The Miss Universe Organization announced Tuesday that it might reverse an earlier decision and allow a transgender woman to enter the Miss Universe Canada pageant.

Jenna Talackova, 23, was born male, leading organizers to disqualify her last month as a finalist in the 61st Miss Universe Canada pageant in May.

A 21 months old boy from Oregon drowned in a top-loading washer while helping his mother with laundry, the Associated Presse said Tuesday.

Ollie Hebb was his mother's helper on laundry day, climbing atop a bin so he could toss clothes into a top-loading washer.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei said Tuesday he had set up four live webcams in his home in a symbolic reference to the 24-hour police surveillance he has been subjected to since his detention a year ago, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

Ai -- whose activism has made him a long-standing thorn in the side of Chinese authorities -- disappeared into custody on April 3 last year as police rounded up dissidents amid online calls for Arab-style protests in China.