A bizarre wave of exploding watermelons -- possibly due to farmers' abuse of a growth-boosting chemical -- has once again spotlighted safety fears plaguing China's poorly regulated food sector.

State media has said nearly 50 hectares (120 acres) of watermelon crops in the eastern city of Danyang have been ruined by the phenomenon this month after some growers doused them with the growth accelerator forchlorfenuron.

The president says he is ready to face excommunication from the Catholic Church for advocating free access to condoms. A boxing champion says he is the best example why birth control should never be allowed.

After simmering for months, a wide-ranging and acrimonious debate over government-funded access to contraceptives in the Philippines has entered the country's Congress.

Ming Ming, the world's oldest panda, has died of old age, Chinese state media reported Tuesday. She was 34.

Ming Ming was rescued in Pingwu country in the southwest province Sichuan in 1977 and had resided in Xiangjiang Wild Animal World, a safari park in southern Guangdong province since 1998, the Global Times reported.

Sydney is poised to get Australia's biggest brothel, including a wing with two king-sized beds and a pool table in each room for group bookings, a report said Tuesday.

A development application has been lodged for a Aus$12 million (US$12.7 million) extension to the Stiletto brothel, which proposes doubling its size to 40 working rooms and 21 waiting rooms, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

People living in a Singapore block of flats unknowingly consumed water tainted by the decomposing body of an Indonesian maid before police made the gruesome discovery, a report said Tuesday.

The Straits Times newspaper said some residents complained to authorities after they discovered the tap water on Monday was slightly yellowish and unnaturally foamy.

A German man scooped the title of world's best beard on Sunday after impressing competition hosts in Norway with his facial hair featuring a moose and a Norwegian flag.

Hairdresser Elmar Weisser, 47, beat 160 hopefuls from 15 countries to take first prize in the World Beard and Mustache Championship, held this year in Trondheim.

Marshall ordered an ice-cream but left in a huff before the waiter dished it up, Smile woofed down the chicken but showed no appetite for the wholesome carrots and apple left on his plate.

Arthur actually pooped right by the table.

The computer files taken by U.S. special forces from Osama bin Laden’s home contained a considerable quantity of pornographic videos, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed U.S. officials, the newspaper said these officials declined to say whether there was evidence that bin Laden or the other men living in the house had acquired or viewed the material.

Six women dressed as nuns stood anxiously in a queue at Manila's chaotic international airport, unaware their shoes were about to end their dreams of an illegal job abroad.

At the immigration counter, an official looked up after stamping a genuine traveler’s passport and surveyed the women.

A man whose luggage contained a baby bear, a pair of panthers, two leopards and some monkeys was arrested as he tried to smuggle the live animals out of Thailand, police said Friday.

Noor Mahmoodr, a 36-year-old citizen of the United Arab Emirates, was detained soon after midnight by undercover officers at a Bangkok airport with the animals -- all aged under two months -- in his cases.