Funny old world: the week's offbeat news

From predator to plate Japan has come up with a novel way of tackling the growing menace of bear attacks... by eating them. Bear is back on the menu in country inns cooked on a stone slate -- or in a hot pot with vegetables -- as culls are stepped up after 13 people were killed in maulings this year, twice the previous record. Bears, who can weigh up to half a ton and outrun humans, have been breaking into homes looking for food, nosing around schools and rampaging through supermarkets. But as alarm has grown...