An American politician who allegedly posted himself an imitation grenade has been accused of making false police report.Leroy Schaffer, a city councilman from Minnesota, told authorities that somebody had sent him a bomb. It turned out to be a ploy to buy sympathy from people.On July 1st, the accused had called police concerning a suspicious package he had received from Chicago. He told officers t

A Korean Marine has hanged himself in his barracks, an official said Monday, in a new blow to the Corps after a corporal who claimed he was bullied went on a deadly shooting spree last week.The 19-year-old Private First Class, identified only as Jung, was found by colleagues Sunday night hanging in a barracks shower room in the southeastern port of Pohang, a Marine Corps spokesman said.Military in

TBILISI (AP) -- The personal photographer to the Georgian president was shown on television Saturday confessing to supplying a colleague with secret information that was then sent to a Russian secret service.Irakli Gedenidze confessed to giving another photographer, Zurab Kurtsikidze of the European Pressphoto Agency, details of the president's itinerary, motorcade route and offices for unspecifie

An American fishing tour operator is under a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, accused of conducting sex tourism in Brazil, according to reports.The defendant, Richard Schair operated Wet-A-Line Tours until 2009, allegedly using sports fishing expeditions in the Amazon as covers for tourists to have sex with underage girls. The lawsuit was filed last month by Atlanta law firm

A man who set fire to his own home to retaliate against his noisy neighbor was sentenced to two years by Changwon District Court.The 46-year-old arsonist, who lives in an apartment, said the neighbor upstairs was too noisy and he could not stand it. He said in the hearing that despite frequent remonstrations, the situation did not change.On the day of the accident, his neighbor ignored his complai

MOSCOW (AP) _ A half-century-old tourist boat with 188 people on board listed and sank quickly in one of the world's largest reservoirs amid wind and rain Sunday, authorities and survivors said, and dozens of children were believed to be among the 101 people missing. Two bodies were recovered.About 30 children gathered in a cockpit in the double-decker Bulgaria moments before it sank into the rese

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- U.S. President Barack Obama convened a second consecutive day of crisis White House talks Monday, but a polarized Washington appeared far from a deal to stave off a catastrophic debt default.Obama met Sunday evening with congressional leaders, including Republican House Speaker John Boehner, but 75 minutes of talks failed to unblock an impasse that reaches right to the heart of

SC First Bank, the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc., said Monday it had temporarily shut down operations at 43 branches in a bid to minimize the impact of a prolonged labor strike. Unionized workers at SC First Bank launched an indefinite strike on June 27 in protest of the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system, causing bank customers to face inconvenience in us

  LUCKNOW, India (AP) _ Rescuers searched through the wreckage of a packed express train for people trapped inside after it derailed in northern India on Sunday, killing at least 21 and injuring more than 100 others, officials said.   The Kalka Mail train was on its way to Kalka, in the foothills of the Himalayas, from Howrah, a station near Kolkata in eastern India, when 12 coaches and the engine

   MOSCOW (AP) _ A passenger boat sank on the Volga River in Russia Sunday, killing at least one person and leaving 61 missing, officials said.   Regional emergencies ministry spokesman Marat Rakhmatullin said the Bulgaria sank in the middle of the river in the Tatarstan region, about 450 miles (750 kilometers) east of Moscow..   He said 173 passengers and crew were onboard when the boat went down