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Japan births fall to record low as population crisis deepens

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The number of births registered in Japan plummeted to another record low last year – the latest worrying statistic in a decades-long decline that the country’s authorities have failed to reverse despite their extensive efforts. The country saw 799,728 births in 2022, the lowest number on record and the first ever dip below 800,000, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday. That number has nearly halved in the past 40 years; by contrast, Japan recorded more than 1.5 million births in 1982. Japan also reported a record high for post-war deaths last year, at more than 1.58 million. Deaths have outpaced births in Japan for more than a decade, posing a growing problem for leaders of the world’s third-largest economy. They now face a ballooning elderly population, along with a shrinking workforce to fund pensions and health care as demand from the aging population surges. Japan’s population has been in steady decline since its economic boom of the 1980s and stood
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Ex-husband and relatives charged with murder of Hong Kong model Abby Choi as body parts found

Four members of the same family charged in connection with the gruesome killing of Hong Kong model Abby Choi appeared in court Monday, after police said they found what are believed to be parts of her dismembered body, public broadcaster RTHK reported. Choi’s ex-husband Alex Kwong, 28, his brother Anthony, 31, and their father, Kwong Kau, 65, are charged with her murder. Alex Kwong’s mother Jenny Li, 63, is charged with perverting the course of justice, RTHK reported. All four were denied bail, the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court ruled Monday, according to RTHK. They are yet to enter a plea. On Sunday, investigators identified a skull, several ribs and hair, believed to be Choi’s remains, in a large stainless steel soup pot, police said. Other body parts, including Choi’s torso and hands, remain missing. It follows a police investigation that began Wednesday after Choi, 28, was reported missing. Two days later, parts of her body were found at a house in the city’s Tai Po district, poli
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Nicola Sturgeon unexpectedly quits as first minister of Scotland amid swirl of political setbacks, citing ‘brutality’ of public life

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Nicola Sturgeon, the figurehead of the faltering Scottish independence movement, dramatically announced on Wednesday that she would resign after eight years as Scotland’s first minister. The Scottish National Party leader made the announcement at a press conference in Edinburgh. She will stay in office until a new SNP leader is appointed. Sturgeon said she knows the “time is now” for her to stand down, adding that it is “right for me, for my party and for the country.” “First, though I know it will be tempting to see it as such, this decision is not a reaction to short-term pressures,” said Sturgeon, who has been facing increasing tensions with the UK government in London over Scottish independence, as well as Westminster’s decision to block a Scottish law intended to allow trans people in Scotland to change their legal gender without a medical diagnosis. “This decision comes from a deeper and longer term assessment.” She added that she could no longer give her full energy to the job,
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China protests after US jets shoot down suspected spy balloon

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China has expressed its “strong dissatisfaction and protest” against the United States’ decision to shoot down its high-altitude balloon, accusing it of “overreacting” and “seriously violating international practice.” US military fighter jets on Saturday shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean in a mission President Joe Biden hailed as a success. The United States believes the balloon was involved in espionage, but China has refuted this, insisting it was a civilian research vessel blown off course. Shortly after the downing of the balloon, China’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday morning local time expressing its “strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US’s use of force to attack a civilian unmanned aircraft.” “The Chinese side has repeatedly informed the US side after verification that the airship is for civilian use and entered the US due to force majeure – it was completely an accident,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Force Majeure” is a legal term which mea
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Ukraine war live updates: Boris Johnson says Putin threatened him with missile strike in pre-call; Berlin rules out fighter jets for Kyiv

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Ukraine is pressing its allies for faster weapons supplies as intense fighting continues in the eastern Donetsk region. Following a weekend of attacks on the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson and ongoing battles around Bakhmut in Donetsk, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that “Russia hopes to drag out the war, to exhaust our forces. So we have to make time our weapon. We must ... speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.” Ukraine’s allies agreed last week to provide the country with heavy battle tanks, with Kyiv then pressing for fighter jets too. One Ukrainian governent advisor was reported stating Saturday that “negotiations” were taking place over the possibility of sending fighter aircraft. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted over the weekend that fighter jets would not be provided to Ukraine, however, telling a German newspaper that “the question of combat aircraft does not arise at all,” Scholz told the Tagesspiegel newspa
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As Israel bans Palestinian flags, one artist protests with his brush

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Just over a decade ago, the Palestinian flag hung alongside Israeli and American flags at the Israeli prime minister’s residence, when Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shared a historic handshake. Today, Netanyahu is back in power and Abbas never left, but many other things have changed, including Israel’s attitude toward the Palestinian flag. This month, new Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ordered police to take down Palestinian flags in any public place in Israel, claiming they are a rallying symbol for terrorists. At least one artist felt forced to respond to Ben Gvir’s decree. As soon as he heard about the minister’s order, Tel Aviv-based visual artist Michael Rozanov drew himself in the colors of the Palestinian flag and made the artwork his Facebook profile picture. “It’s ridiculous, you want to take down flags? What if I am a flag, what would you do? Would you put me down because I’m wearing certain colors?” said Rozanov, kn
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Poland requests German approval to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

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Poland has formally asked for approval from Germany to transfer some of its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, its defense minister said Tuesday, raising the pressure on Berlin to respond to Kyiv’s pleas and send its own shipment of vehicles into the battlefield. “The Germans have already received our request for consent to the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter. “I also appeal to the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. This is our common cause, because it is about the security of the whole of Europe!” The German government confirmed receipt of the request; it would not say how quickly it would come to a decision, but emphasized that the process would take place with “necessary urgency.” Germany has so far resisted calls from Poland, the US and a handful of other NATO countries to transfer the tanks into Ukraine, or authorize other countries to send some of their Leopards to Kyiv. That posi
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