It is a city where the locals have long enjoyed showing off a bit of bronzed flesh, but the people of Rio can now go all the way.

Abrico beach, an hour's drive west of Rio's center, was officially designated as the Brazilian city's first nudist site on Tuesday.

A towering sandcastle in Brazil made by an American artist is vying for the world record for the tallest of all time.

The 12-meter-high (39 feet) castle designed by American artist Rusty Croft was unveiled Tuesday in the town of Niteroi, across the bay from Rio De Janeiro.

Cristina Scuccia, the singing nun who won Italy's version of The Voice, on Tuesday releases a first album containing an unlikely cover of Madonna's 1984 hit "Like a Virgin."

On her way to victory in the television singing contest, the 26-year-old from Sicily became a global Internet sensation with tens of millions clicking on YouTube recordings of her covers of Alicia Keys's "No One" and Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer."

A man going through a divorce sent the red Corvette his wife drives plunging into a river, triggering a search for a possible victim inside, police said.

Officers were called on Monday afternoon about a car in the Delaware River. A witness told them that a man had driven to the riverbank, gotten out and then let the car run into the river, police Inspector Scott Small said.

Pro-cannabis supporters planning to rally at a summit of world leaders in Australia have been stopped from taking their giant inflatable joint, but said Tuesday they plan to still push for medical marijuana.

The HEMP Embassy, based in the New South Wales town of Nimbin, had planned to bring its 10-meter (33 foot) joint to the site near the G20 talks in Brisbane at the weekend, with U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping attending.

Eleanor Cunningham of Howes Cave, New York, has bested former President George H.W. Bush.

He celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving; she made the big leap to mark her centennial.

Chinese authorities are promoting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum as another step into the global limelight, but they turned to an American composer when it came to the mood music for Sunday's events.

At multiple sessions of the APEC CEO Summit -- a gathering of business leaders and politicians that precedes the main event -- participants marched on stage to the sound of "Summon the Heroes" by John Williams.

Japanese shoppers are up in arms over a serious butter shortage that has forced Tokyo to resort to emergency imports, as some grocers limit sales to one block per customer.

Some shop shelves are bare and stores are trumpeting the arrival of new supplies with posters in the windows announcing "We have butter!"

Mohammad Shahid's eyes lit up when he saw his once bald cousin come home one day with a head full of hair and a strutting gait to match.

A handsome but follically-challenged young man, he decided the time was ripe to restore his honor, battered by years of taunts that follow the barren-headed and the beardless in Pakistan.

Police guards at the Tyre prison on Saturday thwarted an attempt to smuggle a quantity of hashish that was hidden in a number of potatoes.

“Palestinian national M. A., 22, was arrested after he tried to smuggle a quantity of hashish that was stuffed into 16 potatoes in a crafty manner,” the Internal Security Forces said in a statement.