Skeletons found on 'ghost ship' washed up in Japan

Japanese authorities are trying to identify eight people whose partially skeletonised remains were found on a wooden boat that washed up on a beach in the northern Akita prefecture. It comes days after a group of men claiming to be North Korean fishermen washed onshore in the same area.

Crew-less boats or vessels with bodies on board, known as "ghost ships" and thought to be North Korean fishing boats, regularly wash up in Japan. They have usually been found on the western coast, which faces North Korea.

The discovery is the latest in a string of similar incidents. On Friday, a wooden boat carrying eight men - alive and in reasonably good health - washed up at Yurihonjo city. Reuters news agency reported that two bodies were also found over the weekend at Sado island, with a pack of North Korean cigarettes and other belongings with Korean lettering.

The BBC's Celia Hatton says the appearance of "ghost ships" is thought to be a consequence of North Korea's attempts to satisfy hunger by demanding huge quotas of seafood. That forces fishermen to board ageing ill-equipped vessels and to venture far out to sea, with no equipment to issue a distress call if their boats run into trouble, says our correspondent.

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World’s first sex shop shuts down, declares bankruptcy

Germany’s pioneering sex shop chain, Beate Uhse, said Friday that it has filed for insolvency, as the empire started by a female World War II pilot fails to rise to the challenge posed by erotic e-commerce. In its hey day, the group sold lingerie, erotic films and sex products. Uhse began her foray into erotic business in 1946, when she put together a pamphlet called “Document X” describing how women could avoid pregnancy. In post-war Germany, her advice was in high demand and she sold thousands of copies of her brochures. The mail order business thrived and the former fighter pilot and member of the Luftwaffe opened in 1962 her first shop in the German town of Flensburg. Named Institute of Marital Hygiene, the store selling lingerie and contraceptives became the world’s first sex shop. Her activities often ran counter to the morality of post-war Germany and she was called before the courts in thousands of legal suits filed against her. Yet she remained frank and unashamed about...

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John McCain has brain cancer, his office says.

Veteran US Republican Senator John McCain has been diagnosed with brain cancer and is reviewing treatment options, according to his office. The options may include chemotherapy and radiation, his doctors said. The 80-year-old politician is in "good spirits" recovering at home. The tumour was discovered during a surgery to remove a blood clot from above his left eye last week. A Vietnam veteran, Mr McCain spent more than five years as a prisoner of war. The six-term senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate underwent surgery at a clinic in Phoenix, in the state of Arizona, last Friday. Tissue analysis revealed that a primary brain tumour known as glioblastoma was associated with the clot, a statement from the Mayo Clinic said. "The senator's doctors say he is recovering from his surgery 'amazingly well' and his underlying health is excellent," it added.

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