Shinzo Abe

Tokyo (CNN)Landslides and flooding caused by torrential rain in Japan have killed 200 people in what has become one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the country since the earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

At least 141 people are now known to have died in floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain in western Japan, says the government.

It is the highest death toll caused by rainfall that Japan has seen in more than three decades.

Rescuers are now digging through mud and rubble in a race to find survivors, as dozens are still missing.

(CNN)Heavy rains pounded southwest Japan, triggering flooding and landslides that killed 57 people and forced 2 million others to flee their homes

Telegraph - A powerful earthquake rocked Japan's second city of Osaka on Monday, killing three people including a nine-year-old girl and injuring scores of others, according to an official tally.

Television images showed buildings swaying and burst pipes spewing water after the quake, which struck at the height of rush hour in the city of around two million people.

Japan Times - North Korea announced Saturday that it had suspended nuclear and longer-range missile tests and shut down its main nuclear test site as the sanctions-hit country seeks to shift its focus to shoring up its moribund economy, state media said, less than a week ahead of a key inter-Korean summit.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on April 4 received Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdağ, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing government officials. 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on March 30 that he would explain Japan's stance on the North Korean abduction of Japanese citizens in a meeting with Donald Trump, ahead of the U.S. president's planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s support has fallen 9.4 points to 39.3 percent, according to a survey by Jiji news agency, as suspicion swirls over a suspected cover-up linked to cronyism, Abe’s worst crisis since taking office.

Japan’s top government spokesman left the door open on March 14 to a possible summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jung Un to discuss the matter of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang’s agents decades ago.

Pressure mounted March 13 on Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over a ballooning cronyism and cover-up scandal, as a new poll showed his support at the lowest level since his re-election in October.