Japan's girl-groping crackdown, the ghost fleet of Christmas future

GOOD DAY FOR: Good behavior, after Japan has started a weeklong crackdown on commuter-train gropers. According to one survey, almost two-thirds of young Japanese women have been groped on public transit, and more than 6,000 people were arrested last year for either groping or taking unsolicited photographs on trains. “Groping prevention week” will feature extra uniformed and undercover police. Groping is punishable by up to seven years in jail. (BBC News)

BAD DAY FOR: A merry Christmas, as a sharp drop in global trade has idled about 12 percent of the world’s shipping fleet, and led shipping lines to park some 500 empty ships in a remote stretch of ocean off Malaysia. This secret “ghost fleet,” larger than the U.S. and British navies combined, should be in its busiest time of year, moving Christmas merchandise across oceans. But retailers are running low inventories, because they expect a drop in demand and don’t have enough credit to stock their warehouses. (Daily Mail)