In an unusual prayer for world peace, residents of Poovalur village near Lalgudi, performed the marriage of two donkeys in the ancient Sri Thirumoola Natha Swamy Temple. A male and female donkey were brought to a specially decorated dais put up inside the temple on Sunday. While the 'bridegroom' was adorned with a silk dhoti, the 'bride' wore a silk jacket and saree. After garlanding the donkeys amidst chanting of vedic hymns by the priests, a villager tied the nuptial knot on behalf of the male donkey, to the female.

The Vatican released a document on Tuesday, which condemned gay marriage, abortion, gay couples seeking children and other practices that go against the Church's concept of family, terming them symptoms of "the eclipse of God". The document reaffirmed the Church's conservative position on sexuality, marriage and life. It also said the concept of family is currently more exposed to danger than it has ever been in the past.

A man who entered the lions' enclosures in a Kiev Zoo shouting and questioning the existence of God was mauled to death by a lioness. "The man shouted 'God will save me, if he exists', lowered himself by a rope into the enclosure, took his shoes off and went up to the lions," the official said.

In what is believed to be the first public execution in years, a Somali teenager stabbed his father's killer to death yesterday in a public execution ordered by an Islamic court. The accused, Omar Hussein, 45, had been convicted of killing Sheik Osman Moallim, a teacher, in the capital, Mogadishu, after a dispute over the education of his 16-year-old son.

Temptress Europe" - a campaign to reawaken Europeans to the continent's "sensuous" side - is used as part of Austria's presidency of the European Union. Evoking the Greek god Zeus's mythical seduction of Europa, Hans Winkler, of Austria's foreign ministry, said he hoped the campaign would help to restore a sense of identity and joie de vivre across the 25-nation bloc.