From Tokyo restaurants serving up fresh bear meat to Swedish meteorologists counting zero hours of sunshine, this week’s international roundup proves truth remains stranger than fiction across the globe.
Japan serves up solution to bear crisis
In Japan’s mountainous regions, restaurant owners have discovered an unconventional approach to the country’s escalating bear problem: put them on the dinner menu.
Following a record-breaking year that saw 13 people killed in bear attacks – double the previous high – Japanese authorities have ramped up culling efforts. Rather than waste the meat, restaurants are now featuring bear dishes as specialty items.
“The number of customers who want to eat their meat has increased a lot,” said Koji Suzuki (41) owner of a restaurant in Chichibu, a hilly city near Tokyo. Business has been so brisk that Suzuki, who doubles as a hunter, reports turning customers away.
First-time bear meat consumer Takaaki Kimura (28), was enthusiastic about his meal. “It’s so juicy, and the more you chew, the tastier it gets,” the composer said while dining with friends around a traditional grilling stone.
The bears, some weighing up to half a ton and capable of outrunning humans, have increasingly invaded populated areas, breaking into homes, wandering near schools, and even rampaging through supermarkets in search of food.
Suzuki emphasised the respectful preparation of the meat. “It’s better to use the meat at a restaurant like this, rather than burying it,” he noted.
ALSO READ: Japanese governor calls for military aid as deadly bear attacks reach record high
Mexican pilot’s salary strike grounds holiday flight
In one of the year’s most unusual labor protests, a Mexican pilot barricaded himself in his aircraft cockpit and refused to fly passengers to the popular resort destination of Cancun.
The captain informed passengers at Mexico City’s Benito Juarez International Airport that he was owed five months’ salary, declaring “this plane isn’t leaving until they pay us what they owe us,” according to video footage cited by local media.
“I feel bad for you, because you don’t deserve this,” the pilot told bewildered holidaymakers before police arrested him and resolved the standoff.
Swedish capital endures record-breaking darkness
While many suffer from post-Christmas blues, residents of Stockholm face an extreme version of seasonal depression. The Swedish capital recorded zero hours of sunshine for the first 15 days of December, with only 30 minutes of sun visible for the entire period.
Meteorologists predict this December could become the darkest since 1934, when sunlight hours were so minimal that weather experts “rounded it down to zero hours.”
The perpetual gloom challenges even the famously resilient Scandinavian psyche, which has developed cultural concepts like “hygge” – or coziness – to weather long winter nights.
Meteorologist Viktor Bergman expressed pessimism about the prospects for snow to brighten spirits during Christmas and New Year celebrations, leaving Stockholmers to find solace in whatever artificial light they can muster.
ALSO READ: Funny old world: The news that’s too weird to be fake
