Romans aghast at a spiraling mafia probe found new reason for outrage Thursday over the Hollywood-style funeral of a purported local crime boss: It was replete with a gilded, horse-drawn carriage, flower petals tossed from a helicopter and the theme music from "The Godfather" playing outside the church.

Hundreds of tearful mourners paid their final respects to Vittorio Casamonica, 65, at the San Giovanni Bosco church on Rome's outskirts. Police identified him as a leader of the Casamonica clan active in the southwest part of the capital but said he was "on the margins" of organized crime and hadn't emerged as a suspect in recent mafia investigations.

Santa Claus is broke and has filed for bankruptcy in Finland, or at least a popular tourist attraction on the Arctic Circle has done so.

According to court documents on Thursday, Dianordia, a company which fulfils the dream of children and their families from all over the world to meet Santa Claus in person, needs a bit of Christmas cheer. 

Local media are abuzz over the rumoured discovery of an armoured train car in southwestern Poland, which has revived old lore of trains full of gold and jewels stolen by the Nazis that vanished after World War II. 

"Has Hitler's gold train been located?" asked the leading daily Gazeta Wyborcza in a headline echoed by broadcaster TVP.info, tabloid Fakt and broadcaster TVN24 among other media. 

Singapore's central bank has apologised for misspelling the name of the city-state's first president on the packaging of a special currency issue marking the country's 50th year of independence.

The name of the late president Yusof Ishak was spelt "Yusok Ishak" on the cover folder containing the Sg$50 and Sg$10 commemorative notes, launched Thursday, much to the embarrassment of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The members of the little-known Colombian salsa band are clueless as to how an obscure song they recorded more than a decade ago landed on a Spotify playlist curated by President Barack Obama.

The track, "La salsa la traigo yo," by Sonora Carruseles, is one of 40 songs featured on two #POTUSPlaylists on the popular music streaming service. The lists also include music by Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Coldplay, Frank Sinatra, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Spanish singer Mala Rodriguez.

Naked but for a thong and body paint to spare their blushes, topless women in New York's Times Square are courting the wrong crowd this summer.

Their ample bosoms painted in patriotic stars and stripes, N and Y daubed on each butt cheek and sprouting feather headdresses, the curvaceous beauties call themselves street entertainers.

A Brazilian bank didn't have a leg to stand on when it forced a client to remove his shoes and do business in his socks, a judge ruled.

Many banks in crime-ridden Brazil have tight security with metal detectors and, on entering the Caixa Economica Federal (CEF) branch in Sao Paulo state, Lourivaldo de Santana was asked to empty his pockets.

Japan said Thursday it is eyeing a cheaper alternative to the pricey gift that it gives to people turning 100 each year, in a nation famous for its long-living population.

The welfare ministry pointed to the growing cost, as Tokyo wrestles with one of the world's biggest national debts and faces spiraling social and health expenses to look after its legions of retirees.

Police in western Germany are looking for thieves who broke into a store selling alcohol and stole the caps off 1,200 bottles of beer — presumably to collect points for a prize contest — yet left the suds themselves untouched.

Essen police said Tuesday the thieves broke into the shop in Muelheim an der Ruhr overnight Sunday and stole the caps from the popular Koenig Pilsner. They kept those with points toward prizes like Bose speakers or a Black & Decker cordless drill, left dozens of "good luck try again" caps on the ground and didn't drink a single beer.

After a year of globe-traversing lobbying in his successful bid to become the new IAAF president, Sebastian Coe vowed Wednesday to buy his "knackered" team flight socks for the journey home.

Coe, speaking after pipping Sergey Bubka 115-92 to succeed Lamine Diack as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said he and his support team had flown 700,000km (435,000 miles) in the past eight months.