Four people foraging for edible wild plants or bamboo shoots have been killed in bear attacks in a small area of northern Japan in three weeks, police said.

Four people foraging for edible wild plants have been killed in bear attacks in a small area of northern Japan over a period of three weeks, police said.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

They left him there as a punishment.

Army troops and other rescuers rushed to save scores of trapped residents after two strong earthquakes in south-western Japan killed at least 41 people, injured about 1,500 and left hundreds of thousands without electricity or water.

A chimpanzee fled from a zoo in northern Japan and tried desperately to avoid being captured by climbing an electricity mast.

A message Japan began delivering is a bit unusual, but true enough: Don’t wait until it’s too late to think about toilet paper.

Japan is urging people to stock up on toilet paper, because more than 40% of the nation’s supply comes from a high-risk earthquake zone.

A weakened typhoon slammed into Japan, leaving one person dead, more than 30 injured and prompting evacuation alerts for some 1.1 million residents near swollen rivers.

Japan’s hugely popular female pop group AKB48 cancelled fan events after a saw-wielding man attacked two members and a staffer, shocking the nation and raising questions over security.

The recent attack by an Akita dog on a small child in Limerick follows a similar attack in Sligo just over a year ago.

Six people have died and at least 100 others have been made ill by pickles contaminated with E coli bacteria in northern Japan.

Hero swimmer Steve Redmond flies out to Japan later this week in a determined attempt to make sporting history.

A nearly-70ft dock torn from a fishing port in northern Japan during the tsunami drifted thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean and floated ashore on an Oregon beach.

A group of bears escaped from their enclosure at a park in northern Japan and killed two people, police have said.

A strong earthquake has shaken northern Japan, and regional tsunami advisories have been issued.

A strong earthquake has hit northern Japan in the same area as the one that left 22,000 people dead just a few months ago.

JAPAN has widened the evacuation zone around a stricken nuclear plant a month on from a huge natural disaster as another 7.1 magnitude quake and tsunami alert strained nerves anew.

Nearly a million homes suffered blackouts in Japan’s north east today after a strong aftershock that killed two people and piled more misery on a region buried under the rubble of last month’s devastating tsunami.

Toyota said it will resume car production at all Japanese plants from April 18 to 27.

A strong aftershock ripped through north eastern Japan, killing two, injuring dozens and piling misery on a region still buried under the rubble of last month’s devastating tsunami.

The Bank of Japan says it has kept its key interest rate unchanged at near zero to bolster a sluggish economy.

A DOG rescued from drifting ocean debris immediately jumped to her owner and wagged her tail at their reunion more than three weeks after Japan’s tsunami.

Japan’s car sales plunged nearly 40% in March after the tsunami and nuclear disaster, an industry group said today.

Northern Japan has been hit by an earthquake, not far from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

VICTIMS of the Japanese earthquake, tsunami and snow blizzard are still being found by humanitarian groups and are receiving food, water and medical attention.

JAPAN continues to grapple with a potential nuclear catastrophe after a fire continued to blaze at the stricken Fukushima plant last night.

DAYS after the 9.0 Richter scale earthquake that sent a devastating tsunami crashing through the coastal regions of northern Japan, the images of communities, shipping, rows of buildings, cars and trucks being swept along like leaves in an angry autumn river are probably even more socking than they were when first seen.

The death toll in Japan’s north-eastern Miyagi prefecture alone is likely to exceed 10,000 in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, local police said today.

CAR plants, electronics factories and refineries shut across large parts of Japan as the earthquake rocked the country, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.

Two to three hundred bodies have been found in a north-eastern coastal area of Japan after a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami.

A massive tsunami triggered by the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history slammed into the eastern coast today sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people.

One of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded has triggered tsunami warnings across the Pacific ocean.

Japan has been hit by at least 19 aftershocks, most of them of more than magnitude 6.0, after a huge earthquake ripped across the country today bringing devastation to a wide area and prompting fears of a massive death toll.

Ten climbers died as strong winds and rain struck two mountains in northern Japan, police said today.

North Korea’s military threatened immediate retaliation today if “even the slightest effort” was made to intercept a rocket it plans to launch in the next few days.

Japan hanged two convicted killers today, including a man who strangled two schoolgirls with his bare hands, pushing executions in the country to the highest level in three decades.

Japan’s transport minister resigned today after a string of gaffes, dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Taro Aso who took office less than a week ago, reports said.

A powerful earthquake rattled northern Japan, injuring more than 100 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of households.

THE Group of Eight leading industrial nations yesterday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer- term targets.