Tokyo

International advisers to Japan?s atomic regulator have raised concern a mandatory review of its performance could lead to a loss of independence for the body, which was set up in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Athletics global governing body is to launch a doping crackdown on elite marathon runners after scandals involving top Kenyan and Russian stars.
      
Organisers of the top races in London, New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo and Berlin have agreed to finance extra testing of top runners by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
      

Japan on Feb. 17 announced $15.5 million to fight "terrorism" in the Middle East and Africa, as Tokyo tries to demonstrate its resolve despite the murder of two citizens by Islamist extremists.
      
The amount doubles the $7.5 million in assistance that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged during a visit to Brussels in January.
      

The euro weakened Tuesday after the showdown debt talks between Greece and its creditors collapsed, raising the prospect the country will be dumped out of the eurozone.

However, many equity markets were unfazed by the trouble in Europe as trade begins to wind down in several Asian bourses before the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of the week.

A strong undersea earthquake unleashed a small tsunami Feb. 17 off the same coastline of northern Japan devastated by a tsunami in 2011 that left more than 18,000 people dead.
      
The quake was followed by a series of tremors, the largest of which was magnitude 5.8, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
      

Trustworthy Tokyo-ites handed in $28 million of lost cash last year, police said on Feb. 15, with three quarters of it returned to its rightful owner, in the latest example of Japan's startling honesty.
      

BELGRADE- Renowned Yugoslav marathon runner Franjo Mihalic passed away at the age of 95 in Belgrade on Saturday.

The legendary winner of silver medals at the Olympics in Melbourne dedicated his whole life to sport, especially athletics.

Mihalic broke down 22 records in his career, and his greatest success was the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Melbourne in April 1956.

The euro weakened Thursday after talks between Greece and its European creditors on restructuring the country's bailout broke up without an agreement, with talks set to go down to the wire next week.

In Tokyo, the common currency bought $1.1311 and 136.05 yen, down from $1.1332 and 136.37 yen in New York where it had strengthened on hopes for a breakthrough in Europe.

Brilliant architecture, it is often said, has the ability to improve the lives of the citizens in a city or region.

In order to celebrate an urban style, the architecture blog “ArchDaily” has composed a list of the most notable structures in the world.

Bulgaria's The Lesson won the prestigious Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the renowned Göteborg Film Festival. Local cinema lovers will also have the opportunity to see it as a part of the Sofia International Film Festival.