Agony for Japan

Belgium's fearsome forward line needed only 73 seconds to finally come alive at Euro 2024 on Saturday but almost 80 minutes later they were still trying to deliver the knockout blow on Romania.

Then the masterful Kevin De Bruyne took matters into his own hands with his 28th goal for his country to totally change the feel of the night.

A granite-jawed Romania side had absorbed the kind of first-half pummelling that would have seen the towel being lobbed into the ring had it been a boxing match.

Edward Iordanescu's men were rocking when recalled Youri Tielemans blasted Belgium in front in the second minute but somehow stayed on their feet, repelling raid after Belgium raid as De Bruyne conducted the attacking ensemble.

When Romelu Lukaku fired home from De Bruyne's stunning pass just past the hour, only for VAR to deny him for the third time in two games, Belgium's raucous fans must have feared the worst as Romania continued to look dangerous on the counter-attack.

They were spared an agonising climax though as De Bruyne turned poacher supreme -- racing on to an old-fashioned hoof forward from keeper Koen Casteels and burying a clinical shot past Florin Nita to seal a precious three points.

The 32-year-old turns football into a fine art, his weight of pass and decision-making nearly always spot-on whether for Manchester City or Belgium.

But on Saturday, with his team's anxiety growing and Romania looking capable of snatching a point, he also showed a willingness to do the hard graft in a relentless man-of-the-match display.

The sight of him reacting quickest to race on to a long punt to score encapsulated a superb all-round display.

"We have a new team with a lot of young boys. I'm already getting a little older and I want to show with the Devils in my last years how to behave as a player and as a leader," he said.

Belgium started the game bottom of Group E after their shock 1-0 defeat by Slovakia and the so-called golden generation were in serious changes of exiting the Euros at the group stage, as they did at the 2022 World Cup, had they misfired again.

They ended it joint-top, however, and the feeling is that someone could be in for a horrible hiding from the Red Devils soon - assuming they progress on Wednesday from a group where all three teams have three points.

De Bruyne's Manchester City team mate Jeremy Doku was a constant twisting an turning menace down the left while on the other side Dodi Lukebakio justified his starting place, although a second yellow card means he will not play against Ukraine.

Tielemans, one of the four changes manager Domenico Tedesco, made was also instrumental as Belgium rediscovering their verve and his finish from Lukaku's lay-off was emphatic.

Lukaku was desperately unlucky not to add to his 85 goals for Belgium and may well wonder what he has to do to open his account at this tournament.

Belgium still have work to do to make sure they even reach the last-16 but the shackles are off and with dynamic duo De Bruyne and Lukaku firing on all cylinders, they look in the mood to prove the doubters wrong and have a deep run.

Historical drama "Shogun", the sweeping story of a struggle for power in feudal Japan, racked up 25 nominations on Wednesday (July 17) to lead this year's contenders for television's Emmy Awards.

The first season of the FX network series will compete for best drama, the top Emmy trophy, with the final instalment of Netflix's British royal saga "The Crown", and "The Morning Show" from Apple TV+ among others.

Another FX show, nail-biting restaurant tale "The Bear", earned 23 nominations, a record for a comedy. Its second season - which explores the quest to turn a Chicago sandwich shop into a world-class dining destination - will compete again for best comedy, a category it won at the last Emmys.

Other comedy nominees included ABC's "Abbott Elementary", set in an underfunded Philadelphia school, and HBO's "Hacks" about a septuagenarian comedienne and a millennial writer.

"Baby Reindeer", the Netflix series about a bartender stalked by a customer, was nominated for best limited series, one of its 11 nods. Creator and star Richard Gadd has said the tale reflects a true story, though a defamation lawsuit argues its portrayal of the stalker is exaggerated.

Competitors for limited series include Netflix's psychological thriller "Ripley", FX's "Fargo", and HBO's "True Detective: Night Country".

Netflix topped all networks with 107 nominations, including 18 for "The Crown". FX followed with 93 nods, just ahead of the 91 for Warner Bros Discovery's, HBO and streaming service Max.

Winners of the Emmys, the highest honours in television, will be announced at a red-carpet ceremony broadcast live on Walt Disney's ABC on September 15. 

The honourees will be chosen by the nearly 22,000 performers, directors, producers and other members of the Television Academy.

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The last Emmys was held just six months ago, in January, when strikes by Hollywood writers and actors prompted a delay in last year's ceremony.

Stand-in captain Romelu Lukaku scored twice in three minutes and Johan Bakayoko netted his first international goal as Belgium ended a tumultuous few days with a 3-0 victory over Estonia in their Euro 2024 Group F qualifier on Tuesday.

The visitors had been rocked by a row between new coach Domenico Tedesco and veteran goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the build-up to the game, and made a slow start before Lukaku pounced with two close-range finishes towards the end of the first half.

Austria lead the pool with 10 points from four games, with Belgium in second place on seven points from three matches. Estonia have a single point from their three fixtures.

Belgium took the lead when Lukaku prodded in Aster Vranckx's right-wing cross from six yards, and three minutes later made it 2-0 via a low cross from the left. Bakayoko added a late third with a fine left-footed finish.

The victory follows a chaotic build-up to the fixture after a war of words between Tedesco and Courtois that has yet to be resolved and has left the latter's international future in doubt.

Tedesco said on Monday the keeper refused to travel to Estonia after he felt disrespected when, in the absence of injured regular skipper Kevin De Bruyne, Lukaku was named captain for the 1-1 weekend home draw with Austria.

But Courtois has angrily denied this, saying he is nursing a knee injury and had been advised by doctors to skip the game.

Romelu Lukaku trained on Friday ahead of Belgium's World Cup match against Morocco after missing their tournament opener in Qatar with a thigh injury.

The forward has played 90 minutes just once this season and his last appearance came for his club Inter Milan on October 29.

Lukaku missed Belgium's 1-0 win over Canada in Group F but trained with his teammates ahead of Sunday's match.

The 29-year-old forward also trained on Thursday behind closed doors, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne confirmed.

Michy Batshuayi played up front against Canada on Wednesday, scoring the only goal, but De Bruyne said Lukaku's return would be a major boost for the team.

"Romelu's return will not change the way we play but of course he is a top striker," De Bruyne said on Friday before training.

"Romelu has not played for a long time now, but even if he can only have a few minutes, defensively they will be more scared.

"He gives us a lot more options. His return will be a boost."

The number of people in Japan aged 100 or older has hit a record high of more than 95,000 -- almost 90 percent of them women -- government data showed Tuesday.

The figures further highlight the slow-burning demographic crisis gripping the world's fourth-biggest economy as its population ages and shrinks.

As of September 1, Japan had 95,119 centenarians, up 2,980 year-on-year, with 83,958 of them women and 11,161 men, the health ministry said in a statement.

On Sunday separate government data showed that the number of over-65s has hit a record high of 36.25 million, accounting for 29.3 percent of Japan's population.

The proportion puts Japan at the top of a list of 200 countries and regions with a population of over 100,000 people, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.

Japan is currently home to the world's oldest living person Tomiko Itooka, who was born on May 23, 1908 and is 116 years old, according to the US-based Gerontology Research Group.

The previous record-holder, Maria Branyas Morera, died last month in Spain at the age of 117.

Itooka lives in a nursing home in Ashiya, Hyogo prefecture in western Japan, the ministry said.

She often says "thank you" to the nursing home staff and expresses nostalgia about her hometown, the ministry said.

"I have no idea at all about what's the secret of my long life," Japan's oldest man, Kiyotaka Mizuno, who is 110, told local media.

Mizuno, who lives in Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture in central Japan with his family, gets up at 6:30 am every morning and eats three meals a day -- without being picky about his food.

His hobby is listening to live sports, including sumo wrestling, the ministry said.

Japan is facing a steadily worsening population crisis, as its expanding elderly population leads to soaring medical and welfare costs, with a shrinking labour force to pay for it.

The country's overall population is 124 million, after declining by 595,000 in the previous,  according to previous government data.

The government has attempted to slow the decline and ageing of its population without meaningful success, while gradually extending the retirement age -- with 65 becoming the rule for all employers from fiscal 2025.