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Talk about a sacrifice that will warm your heart. A group of older Japanese folks are asking for permission to clean up the contaminated nuclear power station in Fukushima. More than 200 retirees are volunteering to take the place of young people who are exposing themselves to high levels of radiation. The group figures they have less than 20 years to live and will be dead before any radiation induced cancer develops. It's a different story for the young people who have battled in this war zone for three months and are at great risk for developing cancer as they...

Koi killers net probation Pair also fined, sentenced to 500 hours of community service By CATHY REDFERN Sentinel STAFF WRITER SANTA CRUZ — Two former UC Santa Cruz fraternity brothers netted a combined 500 hours of community service and five years probation Friday for stealing and sautéing Midas, an honored campus koi. Casey Loop, 23, of San Jose and Matthew Cox, 22, of Santa Cruz pled no contest to misdemeanor vandalism and grand theft charges for the May 20 prank. They had faced a maximum of two years in jail. Loop was ordered to serve three years of probation, 300...

The largest contingent to date of Japanese troops bound for a controversial mission to Iraq arrived in Kuwait on Sunday. About 140 ground troops in green fatigues and berets arrived at Mubarak Air Base, south of the capital, on their way to Iraq to take part in a humanitarian mission that has been criticised as a violation of Japan's pacifist constitution. The latest arrivals will join about 100 troops who are constructing a base near the town of Samawa in southern Iraq. Japan is to send a total of up to 1,000 troops including air force and navy personnel on...

Bush camp itching to draw blood Democratic candidates are gaining ground in opinion polls, and many Republicans can't wait to fight back WASHINGTON - The presidential primary season has been good for Democrats, and President George W. Bush's anxious allies now fear his standing with the electorate has been undercut. And they want to start fighting back. 'The mood is not restless, but restive. Everybody's eager to get in the game,' said Mr Tom Rath, a Republican Party leader in New Hampshire who advises the White House. A survey released on Thursday found that the public's impression of the Democratic...

Japanese housewife nabbed for noisy attack on neighbour Wed Dec 10, 9:00 AM ET TOKYO (AFP) - A middle-aged Japanese housewife has been arrested for bombarding her neighbour around the clock for seven months with high-decibel sounds from a dozen radios and alarm clocks, police said. Kayoko Deguchi, 47, who lives in the ancient city of Nara, was held on suspicion of assault and injury because the neighbour, a 53-year-old housewife, suffered from a chronic headache, insomnia and ringing in the ears. Deguchi's vendetta may have dated back 10 years, when the victim's family were playing with a ball and...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Faced with growing public uneasiness over Iraq, Republican Party officials intend to change the terms of the political debate heading into next year's election by focusing on the "doctrine of preemption," portraying President Bush as a visionary acting to prevent future terrorist attacks on US soil despite the costs and casualties involved overseas.</p>

(CNSNews.com) - A well-known climatologist is so confident science does not support the claims in a new legal effort against fossil fuel-emitting businesses that he has a message for the coalition of international environmental groups filing the lawsuit: "Bring it on." The litigation effort is seeking to penalize companies for contributing to climate change because of their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. Patrick J. Michaels said businesses should not be concerned about the new litigation efforts. "I say, 'Bring it on.' If we ever get into a court of law, the holes in the arguments about disastrous...

Tokyo - A Japanese minister said on Friday that the parents of a boy suspected of kidnapping and killing a young child should be "beheaded." The remarks came a day after a 12-year-old high school student was taken into custody on suspicion that he pushed a four-year-old to his death from the top of a building. The victim was found naked and may have been molested. "The parents should be dragged through the streets and then beheaded," said Yoshitada Konoike, state minister in charge of deregulation zones and disaster management. "Then parents and their children would be more careful." The...

General Tommy Franks leaves his top spot at United States Central Command repeating President Bush's taunt to Iraq militants: [on Good Morning America Live] 'Bring Em On.'On his last day of his command, Franks told ABC News Good Morning America that he agreed with the President's comments, and he doesn't think that more United States Troops are needed to deal with the recent spate of attacks against Amercian forces.'The fact is wherever we find criminals, death squads and so forth who are anxious to do damage to this country and to peace loving nations around the world, I absolutely agree...

Shocked, shocked are the fainthearts that President Bush has openly double-dared Iraq's rogue troublemakers to come take a poke at our troops any time they feel like mixing it up. "Bring 'em on!" war-whoops the commander in chief, and you'd think this pack of Democratic presidential aspirants had never seen a John Wayne movie in their whole lives. "Phony macho rhetoric!" bawls candidate Rep. Dick Gephardt. "Unworthy of the office!" bleats Sen. John Kerry. "Tremendous insensitivity!" blubbers Gov. Howard Dean. Cripes. What a bunch of twinkies. "Tremendous insensitivity"? Find one warrior who thinks that. It's a fair guess that our...

AT least 19 American soldiers were wounded in an attack on a US base in Iraq yesterday, and another US soldier was killed in an assault on his convoy in Baghdad. News of the twin attacks brought a sombre start to American Independence Day activities for the 150,000 US troops stationed in Iraq. The blows came as the US offered multi-million-dollar rewards for Saddam Hussein and his sons, and aides to George W. Bush countered claims the President had encouraged attacks on allied troops by his taunt to Hussein loyalists: "Bring 'em on". The decision to offer rewards – $US25...

President George Bush's threat and taunt of terrorists to 'try their hand against the United States' has been highlighted, above the fold, in the Japanese press. The newest buzzword sweeping Japan in connection with Bush and his image as a 'tough guy, no nonsense on terrorism dude' is:"KAKKATE KOI!" or "OK, BRING IT ON THEN" Directly transliterated, it means, "If you are going to come after me, then come on!" This phrase is often heard in tough, burly precincts of blue collar Japan just before fists are hurled.