Japanese Emperor Akihito has started a day of ceremonies in the Imperial Palace as he prepares to step down from the throne on Tuesday.
It'll make him the first monarch to abdicate in more than 200 years.
His son, Crown Prince Naruhito, will ascend the Chrysanthemum throne the next day.
Akihito had expressed a desire to abdicate in 2016 due to his age and declining health.
Israeli strikes kill 17 Palestinians in Gaza
Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, eight of them at a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City, medics said, as the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of a hospital in the north.
Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges
A man suspected of driving a car into a German Christmas market in an attack that killed at least five people and injured scores of others faces charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday, after the man was remanded in custody.
Four killed in helicopter crash at Turkish hospital
Four people were killed in southwest Turkey on Sunday when an ambulance helicopter collided with a hospital building and crashed into the ground.
Mozambique's Cyclone Chido death toll rises to 94
Mozambique's death toll from Cyclone Chido has risen to 94, the country's disaster management agency said on Sunday.
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, on Sunday, discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance cooperation to serve shared interests and advance development and prosperity in both countries.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), on Sunday, opened a key two-lane bridge spanning 1,000 metres to enhance traffic flow from Hessa Street to Al Khail Road.
The Sharjah Department of Human Resources announced on Sunday there will be a holiday on Wednesday, January 1, to celebrate the New Year.
