by Laura Conaway

From AP:

Japan's finance minister resigned in disgrace Tuesday after slurring his speech and nodding off during the G-7 summit in Rome last weekend in yet another political distraction as the world's No. 2 economy battles an ever-deepening recession.

Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa denied he was drunk on the job and blamed his bizarre behavior at a press conference in Italy on cold medicine and jet lag, but friends and foes alike weren't buying his excuse.