Tests eliminated most other items from the school menus. Researchers did not find the E. coli 0-157 bacteria on sprout samples from the suspect school lunches but authorities note sprouts were also served at a nearby retirement home hit by a similar outbreak. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Heavy rains swamped farmland in the country's main western rice belts, according to an international Red Cross worker who toured affected regions. The country faces a shortfall of as much as 20 percent of its grain production this year, he said.
Relief workers report famine conditions in some areas.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. He was 68. For nearly 30 years, Atsumi played a wandering peddler whose big heart won him friends on screen and fans across Japan. Atsumi died Sunday at a hospital, and his body was cremated. The Associated Press contributed to this report.