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.

Officials said Wednesday that police officers were now trying to uncover details regarding the series of suicides in a Welsh town which were believed to be linked to an internet online network. The death of a 17-year-old teenage girl heightened the alert of police because in over a year, there have been six young men who took their own lives in the area.

Germany's brewing industry suffered its eighth decline in the last nine years. Beer consumption plummeted to a record low of 29. 7 gallons (112. 5 liters) per person for 2007. In the 1980s, Germans guzzled down 41. 2 gallons (156 liters) of beer. However, Brewery Association managing director Peter Hahn attributed the decline in beer consumption to changing demographics and a poor summer.

Egypt's parliament is set to pass a law that requires payment of royalties for exact replicas of its ancient pyramids in every country. The proposed law announced by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) on Tuesday also prohibits the duplication of the Egyptian monuments, including the Sphinx. Drawings and other reproductions of pharaonic and Egyptian monuments from all eras are exempted from the law if they are not exact copies.

A North Dakota farmer has a unique way of forecasting the weather - using pig spleens. Paul Smokov swears his method is 85 percent accurate, insisting the weathermen - with their state-of-the-art radar and other scientific equipment - "aren't any better. "