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Thousands march in Japan against nuclear power as final reactor switches off
• TOKYO (AP) -- Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the last of this nation's 50 nuclear reactors switching off Saturday, shaking banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.
• Japan will be without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades when one of three reactors at Tomari nuclear plant in the northern island of Hokkaido goes offline for routine maintenance checks.
• After last year's March 11 quake and tsunami set off meltdowns at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, no reactor stopped for checkups has restarted amid growing public worries about the safety of nuclear technology.
• "Today is a historical day," shouted Masashi Ishikawa to a crowd gathered at a Tokyo park, some holding traditional "Koinobori" carp-shaped banners for Children's Day that have grown into a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.
• "There are so many nuclear plants, but not a single one will be up and running today, and that's because of our efforts," Ishikawa said.
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The benevolent Beastie: Adam Yauch remembered for rhymes and more
• NEW YORK (AP) -- When the Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame just weeks ago, the New York trio was down a man.
• Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz took the stage with a letter from their missing band mate: Adam "MCA" Yauch, who was too ill to attend. He was suffering from a cancerous salivary gland first diagnosed in 2009.
• In the letter, which Horovitz read, Yauch dedicated the honor to his fellow B-Boys, "who have walked the globe with me."
• "To anyone who has been touched by our band, who our music has meant something to, this induction is as much ours as it is yours," said Yauch.
• It was typical generosity from Yauch, the gravelly-voiced rapper who helped make the Beastie Boys one of the seminal groups in hip-hop and whose good-hearted nature led him to humanistic causes and made him beloved in hip-hop. One of his most famous rhymes was a sweet ode to women, which he called "long overdue": "To all the mothers and sisters and wives and friends/ I want to offer my love (Continued on page 56)
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