Japanese media are reporting that a man has died after setting himself on fire in a public park in apparent protest over the country’s military policies.

ALMOST everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair.

SOME 6,000 people staged a rally against sending Japanese troops to Iraq yesterday, a day before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was expected to give the final go-ahead for the dispatch of the core group of ground troops.