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As record numbers of elderly Japanese struggle with poverty, Yoshitsugu Shimizu’s life embodies a path that feeds widespread anxiety. The former leather-goods entrepreneur declared bankruptcy about a decade ago and later divorced. He now lives on welfare in a 55-square-foot room in the city’s Kotobukicho district, populated by cheap hostels and groups of old men socializing with drinks in hand. “I never imagined I’d be in this situation,” the 63-year-old said. Mr. Shimizu is among a growing number of older Japanese living in poverty.

After July’s attempted coup, Turkish ministers, officials and trade bodies have been scrambling to show that the world’s 17th largest economy is on a sound footing by meeting investors, advertising in western media including the Financial Times, and announcing a slew of measures aimed at building confidence. They are anxious to reassure markets and investors and, crucially the rating agencies, after Moody’s warned it could downgrade Turkey’s sovereign debt rating to junk status.

A Dutch court has accepted a request by Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA to put one of its Netherlands-based units under protection from creditors, two people with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday, handing creditors a victory as they seek to recoup billions of dollars in losses. According to the sources, who requested anonymity since the matter is confidential, Oi's request for "suspension of payment" in an Amsterdam bankruptcy court allows for an independent trustee to be appointed. The suspension creates a standstill for payments to creditors for companies in the Netherlands.

Eurozone governments set out new fiscal targets for Portugal and Spain as they backed the decision by the European Union’s executive not to fine them for missing deficit targets, The Wall Street Journal reported. The European Commission had recommended last month after protracted discussions that the two countries should not be fined. The commission acknowledged the difficult economic environment and the reform efforts of both countries, but the decision led some to warn the bloc’s fiscal rules were being dangerously undermined.

Raghuram Rajan, India’s outgoing central bank governor, said in his final monetary policy statement that he was “comfortable” with recent progress made in cleaning up India’s banking system, but urged banks and over-indebted industrialists to keep up the effort to resolve their bad debt problems, the Financial Times reported. His comments come amid speculation over who will take the helm of the Reserve Bank of India after Mr Rajan steps down next month.

Denmark’s biggest mortgage bank is reminding homeowners that a seemingly unstoppable series of price gains can end, and even go into reverse, the Irish Times reported. Chief analyst at Nykredit, Mira Lie Nielsen, says Danish people need to put the possibility of house-price declines “on their radars” or risk going into “shell shock when it happens”. “Our expectation isn’t that home prices will fall in the near future, but it’s important to say, again and again, that especially apartment prices can also fall,” Nielsen said in an email.

Saudi Arabia, faced with dwindling oil income, has sharply increased government fees such as visa charges as part of a range of measures aimed at raising revenue from non-oil sources, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the new rules approved by the Saudi government, foreigners will have to pay $800 for a six-month visa, six times the current cost.

Just a year after its stock rocketed to an all-time high, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. looks like an entirely different company, The Wall Street Journal reported. About $80 billion of the Canadian drugmaker’s market value has been erased, as has its business model of acquiring drugs and raising their prices. Its former chief executive, Michael Pearson, has departed in favor of Joseph Papa.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, policy makers around the world have put new rules in place to make banks less risky and more transparent, Bloomberg News reported. They're confident that these changes have made the financial system safer and eliminated the need for taxpayer bailouts. But as Julius Caesar said: "Men willingly believe what they wish to be true." Start with new rules on capital. Prodded by regulators, banks have been increasing their buffers against losses with higher levels of shareholder capital and total loss-absorbing capital, or TLAC.

Two years ago, the European Central Bank cut interest rates below zero to encourage people such as Heike Hofmann, who sells fruits and vegetables in this small city, to spend more. Policy makers in Europe and Japan have turned to negative rates for the same reason—to stimulate their lackluster economies, The Wall Street Journal reported. Yet the results have left some economists scratching their heads. Instead of opening their wallets, many consumers and businesses are squirreling away more money. When Ms.