A 14-year-old Russian girl in the Urals city of Izhevsk staged an armed bank robbery as part of a plan to run away from home and commit suicide, investigators said Thursday.The girl, "wearing a mask and armed with a knife, carried out a raid on one of the city's commercial banks with the aim of stealing money but was stopped by the bank's security guards," the Investigative Committee said.The girl

World News Sept. 7, 2012

Barack Obama on Thursday accepted his party's nomination to run for president in November. In a prime-time address he set out his view of the last four years, Republicans' record and offered a glimpse of a second term.Here were some of the highlights:ON HIS RECORD"Hope has been tested by the cost of war, by one of the worst economic crises in history and by political gridlock that's left us wonder

World News Sept. 7, 2012

The ruling and main opposition parties are in an escalating clash over allegations that threats were made against Ahn Cheol-soo, a software entrepreneur-turned-professor with presidential ambitions, with both sides accusing each other of engaging in political intrigue.Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) blasted the ruling Saenuri Party for resorting to old-fashioned poli

Politics Sept. 7, 2012

Pennsylvania State Police said they arrested a man caught on camera stealing a toilet from a store and immediately returning the item for store credit.Investigators said Bobby Clifford Smith III, 32, was caught on camera Aug. 28 taking the toilet from a Lowes home improvement store in Somerset and going directly to the customer service line, where he exchanged the toilet for $667.34 in store credi

World News Sept. 7, 2012

Barack Obama, his re-election in doubt, looked to reignite the excitement that powered his first run for the presidency, promising better days ahead as he accepted the Democratic Party nomination before thousands of charged-up party loyalists and millions of television viewers. The speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention was a crucial one for Obama with just two months to go before t

World News Sept. 7, 2012

A local court acquitted the chief of an online media firm Friday of charges of insulting and threatening President Lee Myung-bak in a hostile online posting.Shin Sang-cheol, head of online news outlet Surprise, was indicted on the charges in February after a conservative group sued him over his posting on the company's Web site that allegedly threatened the president with foul words.He told prosec

Social Affairs Sept. 7, 2012

The European Central Bank unveiled its most ambitious plan yet to halt Europe's financial crisis on Thursday with a pledge to buy unlimited amounts of the government bonds of countries struggling to manage their debts.Large-scale purchases of short-term government bonds would drive up their price and push down their interest rate, or yield, making it less expensive for countries to borrow money. T

World Business Sept. 7, 2012

The United States believes that North Korea may use biological weapons some day, which poses another major security threat on top of its nuclear weapons drive, according to an annual U.S. government report."The United States judges that North Korea may still consider the use of biological weapons as an option," the State Department said in its new report on international agreements and commitments

North Korea Sept. 7, 2012

A Seoul court ordered the communications watchdog Thursday to release cost structures of the country's three mobile carriers in a decision that could possibly help raise pressure on the firms to cut down service charges. The Seoul Administrative Court delivered the ruling in favor of civil rights group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, which petitioned the court to overturn the Kore

Industry Sept. 6, 2012

South Korea's potential economic growth rate is estimated to have fallen to the 3-percent range on its economic slowdown stemming from the eurozone debt crisis and population aging, economists said Thursday.The country's potential growth rate, or the maximum possible rate at which an economy can grow without triggering inflation, had remained in the range of 4.5-5 percent between 1998 and 2007, ac

Sept. 6, 2012

A Philadelphia man was being held Wednesday on charges of keeping a deaf mute prisoner to collect his Social Security checks. William Richardson, 63, usually known as Willie, was rescued Sunday after police got a tip he was being kept in a basement, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Capt. Laurence Nodiff said he was found in a room furnished only with “a bed, a chair, a commode.”“He didn‘t appea

World News Sept. 6, 2012

North Korea apparently made for an easy, simple discussion between the top diplomats from two of the most powerful nations -- the United States and China, as they struggle to deal with the crisis in Syria and Beijing's territorial disputes with its smaller neighbors.After talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Beijing Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said they had "product

North Korea Sept. 6, 2012