Kyodo News

Abe (67) was left unconscious after he was shot by an unidentified assailant, who was taken into custody by police at the scene, Kyodo reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said he did not know Abe's condition after the attack, and Kyodo news agency and NHK reported that Abe, 67, was unconscious and in cardiac arrest when he was taken to hospital.

Turkey on July 3 expressed grief over widespread destruction caused by a massive landslide after heavy rains in Japan.

About half of live dolphins caught in the Japanese coastal town of Taiji were exported to China and other countries despite global criticism of the hunting technique used, a news report has said.

The so-called "drive hunt" method has been criticized overseas as cruel and Japanese zoos and aquariums were recently forced to vow not to buy animals caught with the controversial fishing.

A fire at two adjacent hostels in Kawasaki, southwest of Tokyo, claimed the lives of at least four people on Sunday. Their identities were not immediately known.

Nineteen others were injured and sent to hospital. About 60 people are believed to have been staying at the two wooden hostels when the fire broke in one of them.

Japan's new trade minister said on Thursday a political support group spent money at a racy bar, a blow for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after his cabinet suffered two high-profile resignations over separate funding scandals.