Posts

Image
  Band of brothers: how the war crushed a cohort of young Ukrainians Reuters followed the fortunes of a group of raw recruits who enlisted as part of Ukraine’s drive to refresh its depleted ranks. None of the 11 are still fighting. December 1, 2025 5:00 PM GMT+11 Updated 1 hour ago Yevhen Yushchenko, Pavlo Broshkov and Kuzma were among hundreds of Ukrainians aged 18 to 24 who volunteered to fight on the front lines against Russia this year. KYIV - Pavlo Broshkov had high hopes when he joined the Ukrainian army in March as a fresh-faced recruit eager to defend his country and earn a bumper bonus to buy a home for his wife and baby daughter. Three months later, the 20-year-old lay broken and prone on the battlefield, his dreams in tatters. "I understood this was the moment I would be torn to pieces," he told Reuters. "I was not afraid of death. I was afraid of not seeing my wife and child again." Broshkov is among hundreds of 18 to 24-year-olds who have volunteered to...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  China central bank's crypto warning hits related Hong Kong shares PBOC flags stablecoin risks, vows to continue clampdown on virtual assets A visitor poses for photos during the Bitcoin Asia conference in Hong Kong in August. The city has been keen to develop the crypto industry, while Beijing is more cautious. LORRETTA CHEN December 1, 2025 15:05 JST HONG KONG -- A stern warning from the People's Bank of China about cryptocurrencies jolted related shares in Hong Kong on Monday, casting a shadow on the city's ambitions to develop a digital currency hub. The PBOC vowed to continue a crackdown on all virtual assets following a 2021 ban. But for the first time, it specifically mentioned stablecoins, a form of cryptocurrency considered less volatile thanks to backing by a fiat currency or assets like government securities. "Virtual currency speculation has resurfaced, and related illegal and criminal activities have occurred from time to time, posing new challenges and...
Post a Comment
Read more
Image
  Navigated Menu Back Financial Times Financial Times Europe 1 Dec 2025 Buttons.Search Options Dark side of Japan con­veni­ence stores exposed Sui­cide of 7-Eleven man­ager high­lights over­work as labour short­ages strain the fran­chise model behind a way of life HARRY DEMPSEY AND DAVID KEOHANE TOKYO Settings Print Share Listen After Akiko mar­ried in 2021, her new hus­band worked around the clock as a store man­ager at a 7-Eleven in Japan’s south­ern Oita pre­fec­ture. He did not have a single day off before he died by sui­cide almost 16 months later, she said. “He him­self had said sev­eral times to the owner that it was too hard and he wanted to quit. But there weren’t enough staff, and because he was the man­ager, there was no one to replace him,” said Akiko, a pseud­onym. “It would have been bet­ter if I forced him to quit sooner no mat­ter what. All I have now are regrets.” Last year, the pre­fec­ture’s Labour Stand­ards Inspec­tion Office found the 38-year-old man’s sui­cid...
Post a Comment
Read more