In this Dec. 16, 2002 file photo Russian Col. Yuri Budanov sits in a defendant‘s box during a trial in Rostov-on-Don. (AP-Yonhap News)MOSCOW (AP) -- A disgraced Russian army colonel convicted of murdering a Chechen teenage girl was gunned down contract-style in downtown Moscow Friday, investigators said.Yuri Budanov was sentenced to 10 years in jail for kidnapping and murdering 18-year-old Heda

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Leon Panetta, President Barack Obama’s choice to head the U.S. Defense Department, predicted Thursday that Iraq will ask the United States to keep some American troops in that country beyond the scheduled departure date at the year’s end.In wide-ranging testimony at a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the current CIA director

A man who killed his father with a sofa cushion is to be released, as the judge agreed with his claim of insanity. Stephen Coffeen of Florida allegedly murdered his 83-year-old father after drinking several cans of Red Bull, a popular energy drink.He maintained that he was not getting enough sleep and suffered from temporary insanity.“The defendant is found not guilty by reason if insanity due to

A stay-at-home father in Utah has been dubbed the world’s most embarrassing dad, thanks to the ridiculous costumes he wears in the morning when son gets on the school bus, according to Metro.The quirky father boasts 170 different outfits in his wardrobe. Fitting into a slim mermaid suit is tricky, but he manages to slip his bulk body into it.In other instances he has seen his son off dressed as Wo

 BARCELONA (AFP) – A flexible thief squeezed into a large suitcase and then emerged to plunder valuables from other bags while inside the luggage compartment of a Spanish airport bus, police say. A thief hided into a large suitcase inside the luggage compartment of a Spanish airport bus, police say. (AP-Yonhap News)The thief had a partner who would buy a bus ticket and place the suitcase in a bus

Government knew reactor design inadequacies, need for independence of regulatorsTOKYO (AP) ― Japan admitted Tuesday it was unprepared for a severe nuclear accident like the tsunami-caused Fukushima disaster and said damage to the reactors and radiation leakage were worse than it previously thought.In a report being submitted to the U.N. nuclear agency, the government also acknowledged reactor desi

HARDIN, Texas (AP) _ Deputies who swarmed a rural Texas neighborhood Tuesday to search a farmhouse where a person claiming to be a psychic told officials multiple bodies were buried found no evidence of even a single homicide, a sheriff's official says.Liberty County Sheriff's Capt. Rex Evans said there was no indication of bodies being anywhere on the property about 70 miles (112 kilometers) nort

UNITED NATIONS (AP) ― Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced Monday that he will seek a second term as head of the United Nations, pledging to keep leading the world body as a “bridge-builder” at a time of unprecedented global change. His re-election is virtually assured.The former South Korean foreign minister finally made public what has been the U.N.’s worst kept secret ― that he wants a secon

Activist casts doubt on account; official says authorities will respond firmly to attacksBEIRUT (AP) ― Armed men killed 120 Syrian security forces and torched government buildings Monday in a northern region where troops have unleashed deadly assaults on protesters for days, Syria said. The government vowed to respond “decisively,” hinting at an even more brutal crackdown by a regime known for rut

SANTIAGO (AP) ― An erupting Chilean volcano sent a towering plume of ash across South America on Monday, forcing thousands from their homes, grounding airline flights in southern Argentina and coating ski resorts with a gritty layer of dust instead of snow.Booming explosions echoed across the Andes as toxic gases belched up from a 5 kilometer long fissure in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic comp