Wednesday, June 14, 2006

LONDON - A British government worker has been fired and another demoted following allegations they were involved in serious misconduct, including leaping naked from filing cabinets and having sex in office lavatories.
Newspaper reports said staff at the Rural Payments Agency in Newcastle in northeast England also took drugs at work, brawled in the reception area and carried out pranks such as vomiting in cups and leaving them for other people to find.
"Action has been taken to strengthen RPA Newcastle with a senior manager drafted in to take charge while the investigation and series of disciplinary actions to resolve some instances of serious misconduct and behavioral problems there is concluded," the RPA said in a statement on Tuesday.
An investigation into the alleged misconduct was launched on May 24 after an internal memo was sent to managers by repulsed fellow workers, the statement said.

TOKYO - A Japanese man who robbed a post office returned more money than he stole and turned himself in after deciding to come clean for the sake of his girlfriend.
The 33-year-old stole 340,000 yen, about $2,300, at knifepoint from a post office in western Tokyo in March. Ridden with guilt, he went back to the post office at the end of May and left 350,000 yen in an envelope on the counter before running off.
On Sunday, he turned himself in to the police, Asahi TV reported. “I did the robbery because I was short of money,” Asahi quoted the man, who works as a gardener, as saying.
“I didn’t want to get arrested when I took the money back, but I talked to my girlfriend about it and thought I should clear things up quickly for her sake.”
The Mainichi newspaper quoted the man as saying he gave an extra 10,000 yen back because he was sorry for what he had done.
A Tokyo police department spokesman said they were still discussing what to do with the extra cash.

PORTLAND, Ore. - For many men, a finding by Oregon researchers sounds too good to be true: An ingredient in beer seems to help prevent prostate cancer, at least in lab experiments.
The trouble is you'd theoretically have to drink about 17 beers a day for any potential benefit. And no one's advising that.
Researchers at Oregon State University say that the compound xanthohumol, found in hops, inhibits a protein in the cells along the surface of the prostate gland. The protein acts like a switch that turns on a variety cancers, including prostate cancer.
Dr. Richard N. Atkins, CEO of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, said the experiments are encouraging and "perhaps men could take it in pill form someday."
He noted that lycopene, an ingredient in tomatoes, and thus also in tomato sauce, has previously been linked to prostate cancer prevention.
"It's every man's dream to hear that beer and pizza can prevent cancer," he said. "However, the 17 beers and four large pizzas needed to get enough xanthohumol and lycopene to help prevent prostate cancer is unfortunately not advised."
Atkins noted that drinking 17 beers a day can lead to alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver, and overdoing it on pizza can lead to obesity and other health problems.
"Food, no matter how helpful it may be, is not a full preventive for prostate cancer," he said.

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