Japan

In cold drizzle Takayuki Ueno combs a desolate winter beach for the bones of his three-year-old son, unable to move on in his grief until he finds the remains of a boy killed by Japan's monstrous tsunami four years ago.
      

Forget the frightening androids of dystopian sci-fi, the future of robots is cute polar bears that can lift elderly people into and out of bed.
      
The "Robear" has a cub-like face with big doey eyes, but packs enough power to transfer frail patients from a wheelchair to a bed or a bath, Japan's Riken institute said Tuesday.
      

Japan's parliament on Dec. 24 re-elected Shinzo Abe as prime minister with an overwhelming majority following the conservative leader's mid-December election triumph.

The powerful lower house voted for the 60-year-old Abe with 328 votes against 73 for acting opposition leader Katsuya Okada.        

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec. 15 vowed he would try to persuade a sceptical public of the need to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, the day after scoring a thumping election victory.
      
The premier, who was re-elected by a landslide in Sunday's polls, pledged to pursue his nationalist agenda while promising to follow through on much-needed economic reforms.

Exit polls predict an electoral victory for the Liberal Democratic Party of the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the early parliamentary elections that took place in the country on Sunday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won comfortable re-election Sunday in a snap poll he had billed as a referendum on his economic policies after early success faded into a recession.
      

Damages from the devastating hailstorm that hit Bulgaria's Sofia about 2 weeks ago will cost insurance companies more than BGN 100M.

So far, the big companies only have received damage claims for nearly 50,000 vehicles and the average compensation amounts to BGN 2,000 – BGN 4,000, Nova TV reports.

Minor tsunami hit the northern Japanese coastline early Saturday, including in a city near the Fukushima nuclear plant, reports Japan Times. 

It was caused by a strong 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific coast.There were no immediate reports of damage, however, and authorities lifted all advisories roughly two hours later.

Employees of Avtomagistrali – Tcherno More, the company contractor of a section of Bulgaria's Hemus highway, have blocked the main road Sofia – Varna, Friday.

The company employees remained on the roadway for about ten minutes. Around 300 people gathered at the protest and warned that if the problem with salaries is not resolved they will protest again next week.

For the third year in a row, the European Consumer Centеr opens a passenger desk at Sofia Airport.

The initiative aims at providing European consumers with necessary and useful information on the possibilities offered by the United European Market.