Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong’s oldest university launched an overnight operation Thursday to dismantle and remove a statue commemorating those killed in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in the latest blow to academic freedoms as China cracks down.
Gitega (Burundi) (AFP) – In Burundi’s capital, drummers take part in the final of a drumming competition between participants from all of the country’s provinces. Listed as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO since 2014, the ritual dance of the royal drum is a tradition that Burundians hope to preserve and share with the world.
Stockholm (AFP) – A Swedish company has come up with a microchip that can be inserted under the skin so that users can carry their Covid passports in their arm.
London (AFP) – UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announces measures to support businesses as the Omicron Covid-19 variant sweeps through the country.
Shah Alam (Malaysia) (AFP) – The Malaysian military uses boats to distribute food to people trapped in their homes after massive floods left at least 14 people dead and more than 70,000 displaced.
La Palma Island (Spain) (AFP) – The eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma is the first since 1971, and the longest on record on the island. While the eruption has been the source of destruction and displacement, for scientists it is also a unique opportunity to learn. Around 70 experts have been monitoring the volcano and examining the rare and valuable data spilling out from it.
Jakarta (AFP) – Divers dressed as Santa Claus swim with mermaids and greet visitors in a Jakarta’s aquarium with a Christmas tree made of recycled materials.
Mataró (Spain) (AFP) – Neil Harbison is a self-described cyborg artist whose technological implants allow him to perceive things beyond the capability of a regular human. Despite seeing the world in greyscale, he can ‘hear’ colour thanks to an antenna which vibrates according to colours it detects. Now, he is testing out a new device designed to allow him to physically feel the passing of time.
Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) – Demonstrators converge on arterial roads in the eastern DR Congo city of Goma, setting up barricades and burning tyres and a mobile phone box in the capital of the Nord Kivu province during the protest against rising crime. At least one policeman died as police fired tear gas and used live rounds to disperse the crowd.
Santiago (AFP) – The streets of Santiago erupted in celebration Sunday after leftist millennial Gabriel Boric became Chile’s youngest-ever president-elect with an unexpectedly large victory over his far-right rival in a polarizing race.
Cebu (Philippines) (AFP) – Typhoon Rai, the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, ravaged the southern and central regions of the archipelago, knocking out communications and electricity in many areas, ripping off roofs and toppling concrete power poles.
Rome (AFP) – Once the stomping ground of Italy’s greatest directors and actors, from Federico Fellini to Sophia Loren, Rome’s renowned Cinecitta film studios are planning a much-needed makeover for a new era. Dubbed the ‘Hollywood on the Tiber’, Cinecitta was at the heart of the golden age of Italian cinema and now hopes to regain some of its former lustre thanks to European Union post-pandemic funding.
