Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to introduce a bill to parliament that would allow women to take the throne. Existing rules that permit only men to become emperors are proving problematic for the royal family as no boys have been born into the imperial family for 40 years, reports BBC News.

A new U. K. survey reveals that the cost of a burial has risen 61 percent since the year 2000. Burials, according to a BBC report, now costs an average of

A man, unable to properly recognize his mother, held a bed side vigil for the wrong patient. The mix-up left his real mother dead and alone in a nearby room.

Scientists have uncovered the remains of two prehistoric men in an Irish bog, one of which is the tallest body from the Iron Age ever found. Ned Kelly, head of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland says the 6-foot 6-inch man "would have been a giant. . . the other man was quite short, about 5 foot 2 inches. "

123 pilot whales have stranded themselves on New Zealand's South Island beach. Over 100 volunteers and conservation workers are trying to save as many as they can, in what is being called one of the "biggest mass strandings in a decade. "