LONDON, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - British border officials said Thursday they had stopped dozens of weird animals being snuck into the country -- including a boa constrictor wrapped round a man's leg.

BERLIN, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - Vegetarian activists in Germany's Berlin have caused a stir with an advertising campaign for a new restaurant seeking human meat "donors" and "open-minded" surgeons.

MOSCOW, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - Ancient coins excavated in Moscow have raised doubts about the true age of the Russian capital, which celebrates its 863rd birthday at the weekend, a leading Russian archaeologist said Thursday.

BERLIN, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - Two lawyers who repeatedly appealed minor traffic violations were fined and handed two-month bans by Germany's highest court on Thursday for making "absurd and abusive accusations" in their defence.

BEIJING, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - A huge traffic jam stretching at least 120 kilometres (75 miles) reappeared in northern China Thursday, with thousands of cargo trucks stuck in a bottleneck, state media said.

BEIJING, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - A retired Chinese coal miner has found an underground solution to the country's sky-high housing costs, by carving out a new home beneath the shack he lives in, state media reported on Thursday.

MELBOURNE, Thursday 2 September 2010 (AFP) - An Australian school was under fire Thursday after erasing the word "gay" from iconic song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree" to stop children tittering.

STOCKHOLM, Wednesday 1 September 2010 (AFP) - Scandinavian airline SAS said Wednesday it plans to host the first-ever in-flight gay wedding in December, and is searching for a suitable couple to walk down the airplane aisle.

BERLIN, Wednesday 1 September 2010 (AFP) - A German man celebrated his first day of retirement by handing out one-euro coins to passers-by in the quiet town of Aschaffenburg, near Frankfurt, police said Wednesday.

MOSCOW, Wednesday 1 September 2010 (AFP) - Smoke and drink more, Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin urged citizens on Wednesday, explaining that higher consumption would help lift tax revenues for spending on social services.