The pants worn by actor Mark Hamill in the first Oscar-winning "Star Wars" film went under the hammer Tuesday for $36,100, according to auction house's website.

Calligraphy by Japanese porn star Sola Aoi has sparked a culture war in China, where she has a huge fan base, with purists dismissing the work as "unskilled" after it was reportedly auctioned for $95,000.

Hundreds of sunbathers fled a popular Indonesian beach in panic when a four-metre (13-foot) crocodile laid down next to them to soak up some rays, an official said Wednesday.

One of the oldest salt mines in Europe, Poland's Wieliczka, on Tuesday called for photos of salt from across the globe for a contest and show at its underground museum.

Hong Kong on Tuesday joyfully welcomed the return of a giant inflatable rubber duck, which drew tens of thousands of visitors before it was abruptly deflated for maintenance for almost a week.

The first-ever statue of Pope Francis has been unveiled in a potato field near Naples -- an unorthodox homage to the fact that the Argentine pope's ancestors were farmers in northern Italy.

The concept of lunch hour dance parties is taking hold around the world, with office workers breaking free from the chains that bind them to their desks for sweaty, 60-minute dance-offs in the middle of the day.

Pizza restaurant chains are turning up the heat when it comes to innovative marketing campaigns, with the latest pitch out of Domino’s selling DVD discs that emerge out of the player smelling like pizza.

A US man who dug a handful of old lottery tickets out of his cookie jar was shocked to find out one of them was worth $4.85 million, officials said.

Prague underground commuters looking for love will soon be able to try their luck at romance in designated dating cars, a transport spokesman said Friday.