Tokyo

The world's oldest man, Yasutaro Koide, died on Jan. 19 at the age of 112 in central Japan, a local official said.

The prominent Bulgarian female freestyle wrestler Stanka Zlateva announced her retirement on Monday due to an injury in the back.

The treatment of the injury, which occurred in the summer of last year, was a lengthy one and it did not allow her to prepare for the forthcoming Olympic qualifications which are to take place in April.

The Bulgarian men's national volleyball team lost on Thursday its second match from the European 2016 Olympic qualification tournament which is taking place in Berlin.

Bulgaria was defeated by Russia with 0:3 (20:25, 22:25, 17:25) in a match which lasted 78 minutes.

Thus Bulgarian chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro considerably diminished.

The Bulgarian men's national volleyball team defeated Finland in its opening game of the European Olympic qualification tournament, which is taking place in Berlin between January 5 and 10.

Bulgaria won with 3:1 (29:27, 25:15, 23:25, 25:22) in a match which lasted slightly over two hours.

Millions of people gathered in central squares and streets around the world to welcome the New Year amid terror fears.

At least two million people crowded at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to watch a spectacular fireworks show that lasted 16 minutes.

South Korea and Japan reached a landmark agreement on Dec. 28 on the thorny issue of wartime sex slaves that has long soured relations, with Tokyo offering survivors a one-billion yen payment.

Japanese factory output and U.S. consumer confidence are among the few trading cues in the last trading week of the year, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 on track to be one of the best-performing major stock indices globally.

The Japanese market is open from today through Dec. 20 in what is expected to be quiet trading in a holiday-shortened week.

The dollar broadly weakened Dec. 25 as emerging market currencies got a boost from recovering oil prices, which eased fears about slumping demand and a faltering global economy.

The manga style of comics is linked to Japan, however there’s a growing hub of Thessaloniki-based Mangatellers in Greece. Enough to warrant a publication of manga comics written by Raphael Voutsidis and Karyofyllis-Christos Hatzopoulos and cartoonist Manos Lagouvardos.

Japan scrapped the original architectural plan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium as a result of the exploding cost estimate and ridicule over its design. On Tuesday it announced its new design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma.