Tokyo (AFP) – Passers-by stop and stare at the ramshackle, hand-built concrete tower that looks like it has been lifted right out of a Japanese animation and dropped onto a real-life Tokyo street. It’s creator, Keisuke Oka, spent almost 20 years making the distinctive four-storey Arimaston Building.
Sidon (Lebanon) (AFP) – A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect in the early hours of Wednesday after more than a year of fighting that has killed thousands of people.
Rovaniemi (AFP) – From his Lapland town of Rovaniemi, Santa Claus is preparing for Christmas. But after Finland’s hottest summer, there is not a snowflake in sight. “We can see that the climate change is true,” he laments while sitting on an armchair. “And it’s affecting the reindeer. It’s affecting the life here in the Arctic.” In the touristic Santa Claus Village, visitors brave the rain to get a glimpse of the magic.
Bukarest (AFP) – Romanians share their views after far-right pro-Russia candidate Calin Georgescu secured a surprise lead in Romania’s presidential election Monday. Georgescu was in pole position with almost 23 percent after the first round of voting, a political earthquake in the country of 19 million people.
Athen (AFP) – Anti-NATO demonstrators march through central Athens as Secretary General Mark Rutte visits the capital to meet with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Hong Kong (AFP) – Hong Kong’s top court has ruled to affirm housing and inheritance entitlements for same-sex couples, siding against the government in favour of LGBTQ rights protection.
Hasan Abdal (Pakistan) (AFP) – Thousands of protestors calling for the release of Pakistan’s jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan defied roadblocks and tear gas to march to the gates of the nation’s capital.
Berlin (AFP) – The centre-left Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) federal executive board unanimously backs current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to lead it to the polls a second time – this time for snap elections in February. The decision is expected to be formally confirmed at a party congress on January 11.
Paris (AFP) – Christmas lights are switched on along the Champs-Elysees in Paris as spectators gather on the road to witness the illumination of the “world’s most famous avenue” ahead of the holiday season in the city of light.
Fiuggi (AFP) – Speaking on the sidelines of the G7 meeting in Fiuggi, Italy, Britain’s Foreign Minister David Lammy says that the UK is sanctioning 30 more ships in Russia’s “shadow fleet”. He calls the measures the UK’s “biggest sanctions package” yet, against tankers and cargo ships used by Moscow to circumvent export and oil embargoes to fund its war against Ukraine.
Simon’s Town (AFP) – Hundreds of chacma baboons roam the Cape Town area, enchanting tourists and some locals, but also creating a nuisance for others. As human settlements increasingly encroach on their habitat, the region struggles to find solutions.
Nana Backpackers Hostel in Laos has been linked to the deaths of six foreign tourists from suspected methanol poisoning after a night out in the backpacker hotspot of Vang Vieng. Two of the victims were Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles. The Vietnamese manager of the hostel has been detained for questioning but no charges have been made, the Laos tourist police told AFP.
