A fishing town in Japan has declared its all-out support for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and for good reason too; the city and the senator share the same name. The Illinois senator took time to send city leaders a letter thanking them for their support, according to Mayor Toshio Murakami. "I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the city of Obama for your support and encouragement and thank you for your thoughtful gift. We share more than a common name. We share a common planet and common responsibility. I look forward to a future marked by the continued friendship of our two great nations and shared commitment to a better, freer world," Obama wrote in the letter.

Philadelphia police have arrested and charged a 15-year-old boy from Nicetown, PA who held a beagle for ransom and attempted to extort money from its owner. The minor suspect, whose name was withheld by authorities, was taken into custody in the early morning of Dec. 30. He was turned over to the custody of his parents while awaiting trial set on Jan. 31.

Chinese farmer Zhou Zhenglong, 52, has gone back into the wilderness to take more photos of the tiger, in an effort to refute accusations that the photo he earlier submitted was a fake. A former hunter in the Chengguan Township of Zhenping County, Zhou said that he planned to track down the tiger and bring back more photographs. He has been searching for tiger tracks for the past three days.

A Mexican politician who suffered a humiliating defeat in Mexico's 2006 presidential election, tried his luck in the over-55s section of the Berlin Marathon, winning the event only to be disqualified later for taking a short cut. Mexican politician Roberto Madrazo, running oddly on a long skintight pants, complemented with a wind breaker, a hat, caught the attention of New York-based marathon photographer Victor Sailer, who alerted race organizers.