About 6 percent of Oregon eighth-grade teens said they have engaged in the "choking game," researchers found. Sarah K. Ramowski, Robert J. Nystrom and Dr. Kenneth D. Rosenberg, all of the Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division in Portland, used data from the 2009 Oregon Healthy Teens survey. The survey was a cross-sectional weighted survey of 5,348 eighth-graders that questioned lifetime

Prosecutors raided the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) over allegations of a rigged primary, an official said Monday, amid deepening factional infighting over how to revive the left-wing party.Prosecutors came to the party's headquarters in southeastern Seoul with a warrant, said Lee Jeong-mi, a party spokeswoman.A senior party official and a lawyer were believed to be checking th

A powerful earthquake shook Italy's densely populated industrial northeast early Sunday, killing at least six people and reducing homes, factories and historic buildings to rubble.Emergency services said dozens had been injured in the magnitude 6.0 quake, which struck in the middle of the night, sending thousands of people running into the streets in towns and cities across the Emilia Romagna regi

The prosecution on Friday indicted Choi See-choong and Park Young-joon on bribery charges as part of its investigation into an influence-peddling scandal involving the members of President Lee Myung-bak’s most trusted circle. Choi, former chairman of the Korea Communications Commission known as Lee’s mentor, is accused of taking a total of 800 million won between July 2006 and February 2008 in bri

Seattle police are scratching their heads about this one.A car prowler shattered a window of a parked Jeep, stole nothing and left behind a little something for the car's owner — a dozen tortillas scattered across the floor. The crime happened last week near the University of Washington.Bemused by the break-in, police were moved to pun, saying, "The Seattle Police Department would like to take thi

Moody's on Thursday cut the debt ratings of 16 Spanish banks by one to three notches, citing the effects of the ongoing recession and the Spanish government's own reduced creditworthiness.The leading bank, Santander, and the number two BBVA, were both hit with three-notch downgrades from Aa3 previously to A3, which for Moody's is a upper-medium credit grade, with still low credit risk.Two other la