■ United States
Racy fundraisers spurned
A group of California women aged from 51 to 84 posed for a racy calendar to raise money for their local firehouse, but the town turned down the cash as too hot to handle. The women raised US$30,000 to help fix up Carmel-by-the-Sea's firehouse because the upscale town was short of funds, calendar organizer Patty Ross said on Friday. She said she had obtained permission from the mayor to use the firehouse and its equipment as props for the "Carmel Fire Belles" calendar, which features some partially nude shots. City Attorney Don Freeman said town officials decided that taking the group's money would open the town to potential lawsuits.
■ United States
Bryant accuser lied
The woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape admitted to investigators that she lied to police about details of what followed her sexual encounter with the NBA star, documents revealed on Friday. In a letter to investigators written more than a year after she first accused Bryant, she apologized and said she lied because she feared police would not believe her claim. The stunning revelation emerged in a letter that was among 625 pages of previously-secret prosecution documents released following last month's dramatic collapse of the famed basketballer's criminal trial after the accuser refused to testify against him.
■ Costa Rica
OAS head resigns
Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Miguel Angel Rodriguez resigned on Friday amid accusations of corruption dating to his presidency of Costa Rica and licenses for French telecom giant Alcatel. He had only been in the post for two weeks. Assistant Secretary-General Luigi Einaudi of the US will head the OAS until the Americas' regional body's general assembly elects a replacement, said Aristides Royo of Panama, the president of the OAS permanent council. Costa Rican President Abel Pacheco welcomed Rodriguez's resignation after demanding it earlier in the week.
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