TOKYO - The head of Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, who was embroiled in an accounting scandal, hanged himself at his home in Tokyo Monday. Toshikatsu Matsuoka, 62, was found at 12:18 p.m. by his secretary and a security police officer in the living room of his residence in a government building, and was pronounced dead at 2 p.m. at Keio University Hospital, the Kyodo News Agency reported. Matsuoka, who was wearing pajamas when ... [full story]

BEIJING - China Monday accused the United States of exaggerating its military strength, saying the U.S. report is a wanton interference in its internal affairs. The strongly-worded statement was in response to the U.S. Pentagon's annual report to Congress last week on China's military buildup. The Pentagon had reportedly said China is "engaged in a sustained effort to interdict, at long ranges, aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups that might deploy to the western Pacific," ... [full story]

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' decision to shut down an opposition TV station and replace it with a state-backed network triggered angry protests Monday. The Venezuelan Social Television started broadcasting shortly after midnight, taking over the frequency previously occupied by Radio Caracas Television, Voice of America reported. Government officials previously had refused RCTV a new operating license and ordered it to turn over control of its transmitting equipment. The state-run broadcast included traditional ... [full story]

MOSCOW - Russian officials said Monday they had received the British request to extradite a Moscow businessman charged in London with murdering a former KGB agent. The Russian Foreign Ministry said the documents "have been received and passed on" to the general prosecutor's office, RIA Novosti reported. Russian prosecutors have said Russia's constitution prevents the extradition of Andrei Lugovoi to face charges that he killed Alexander Litvinenko but that he could be tried in Russia ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - Congress is considering legislation that would create a privately funded memorial to dogs that have served with the U.S. military. Until a 2000 law allowed them to be adopted, many of the dogs that served with U.S. soldiers were euthanized by military veterinarians, The Denver Post reported. Most of the more than 4,000 dogs that served in Vietnam died there. Some were killed by enemy troops, some died of tropical diseases, and some ... [full story]

CHICAGO - Community groups in Chicago, pairing with Illinois politicians, are trying to tackle the increasing problems facing the children of prison inmates. Many officials within the Illinois prison system have applauded the move, calling it a major necessity in a city where an estimated 90,000 children are dealing with an imprisoned or paroled parent, The Washington Post said Monday. "I'm so grateful they put a face on this issue," said Roberta Fews, an official ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - A U.S. father and son who hadn't seen each other in 12 years were reunited in Baghdad recently to celebrate an important birthday. The Army arranged a meeting between Master Sgt. William McGraw and his son, Pfc. Logan McGraw, after learning the two had lost touch due to a divorce, the Los Angeles Times reports. William McGraw says the last time he saw Logan his son was 8-years-old. "For whatever reason, it's unknown ... [full story]

KATHMANDU, Nepal - Researchers from the University College London are being credited with saving the life of an oxygen-deprived female climber on Mount Everest. The British research team was set up on the mountain's South Col, called a death zone because of the thin atmosphere there, in order to study oxygen deprivation, the BBC said Monday. When climbers recently found 22-year-old Usha Bista unconscious on the mountainside, the British medical research team saved her life ... [full story]

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia - Experts monitoring Russia's massive Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano said Monday it was spewing ash more than four miles into the sky. In addition to the huge ash column, volcanic station head Yuri Demyanchuk said the volcano launched volcanic dust nearly 5.6 miles into the air Sunday as its activity continued to increase, Itar-Tass reported. Demyanchuk said while some ash ultimately fell on nearby residential areas, there was no pressing need to evacuate the ... [full story]

KABUL, Afghanistan - The commander of Finland's peacekeeping forces in northern Afghanistan said a faster medical response would not have saved a soldier killed by a bomb. "He was so close to the explosion and received such serious injuries, that he could not have been saved even if he had been put immediately on a helicopter and flown to a hospital," Lt. Col. Ali Mattola told Helsingin Sanomat of St. Petri Immonen. Mattola, whose Maimana-based ... [full story]