Japan's swollen ranks of cuddly mascots, once de rigueur for every local government and commercial brand, are coming under increasing threat, with some being culled and others combined.

The move comes after the finance ministry last year ordered authorities nationwide to cut back on the use of life-size "yuru-kyara" ("laid-back characters"), saying many of them are a waste of public money.

A "disorderly" goat has been corralled in northern New Jersey, and authorities are now trying to determine who owns the wayward animal.

Two Paramus police officers nabbed the small white goat shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday. The department says on its Facebook page they were responding to "calls of a disorderly goat head-butting a door."

A 100-year-old Japanese woman has become the world's first centenarian to complete a 1,500-meter freestyle swim, 20 years after she took up the sport.

Mieko Nagaoka took just under an hour and 16 minutes to finish the race as the sole competitor in the 100 - 104-year-old category at a short course pool in Ehime, western Japan, on Saturday.

People who want to participate in Alaska's biggest guessing contest have until Sunday to buy tickets for the Nenana Ice Classic.

Thousands of people each year pay to try to guess the exact date and time the ice will break up on the Tanana River in Nenana. Each guess costs a $2.50 ticket.

New Jersey police say a teenager who had just received her learner's permit drove into an apartment building and struck three gas meters after hitting the accelerator instead of the brake.

The 16-year-old was getting a driver's lesson from her father Thursday night in Woodbridge when the crash occurred.

Good Friday processions usually see Catholic worshippers focus on the crucifixion and death of Christ, but in one town in Ecuador it is the devil who takes center stage.

In the central Andean town of Alangasi, just south of Quito, 24 celebrants paint themselves red, don devilish masks and parade through the streets while carrying pornographic magazines, phallic symbols and wads of cash to symbolize tempting the faithful.

An Indian minister Friday filed a complaint against a leading high street retailer in the western state of Goa after discovering a hidden camera in its fitting room, police said.

Federal Education Minister Smriti Irani was trying on clothes at FabIndia in the holiday region when she spotted a camera pointed into the dressing room.

A Utah man got a surprise when he stopped to pull a large orange bag off the highway, fearing that it would become a traffic hazard.

The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/1BRXSdg ) the 75-pound bag tumbled out of a truck driving in front of Dan Kennedy on Interstate 80 on Tuesday. When he looked inside, he found stacks of cash.

Perennial candidate Gatewood Galbraith died in 2012, but that might not stop his name from appearing on the 2015 ballot for Kentucky governor.

No, he's not running from beyond the grave.

Guests at a wedding in southern Brazil might have thought they had had too much champagne to drink, but they were not seeing triple. There were indeed three identical brides.

Triplets Rafaela, Rochele and Tagiane Bini were married on March 21 in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in a joint ceremony, fulfilling their childhood dream of walking down the aisle together.