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Riga (AFP) – As Riga Russian Theatre’s actors rehearse the season’s big premiere, “Lady Macbeth”, they know the play’s poster will not crop up around the Latvian capital as it normally would. The city council has prohibited the theatre from advertising its shows in Russian — the language of the Baltic state’s biggest minority. The use of the language and more generally the rights of ethnic Russians living in Latvia have become sensitive issues in a country that fervently backs Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.

Melbourne (AFP) – Australian police release CCTV footage of a bungling arsonist who set their own pants alight and had to hot-foot it from the scene without them. The attack took place in the early hours of Christmas morning on a fast-food outlet in the southern city of Melbourne.

Malibu (AFP) – Rubble and burnt husks are all that remain of luxury homes that once stood along stretches of the scenic Pacific Coast Highway, as many properties were devastated by the wildfires raging around Los Angeles.

Baabda (AFP) – “To congratulate him and wish him success in these difficult circumstances, of course this is an obligation,” says former Lebanese president Michel Aoun after meeting newly elected president Joseph Aoun at the presidential Palace in Baabda. Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president, ending a more than two-year vacancy in a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial crisis.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is sworn for a third six-year term in office, shunned internationally over claims of voter fraud and repression, but bolstered by a loyal military. Maduro takes the oath before parliament, vowing his next term would be a “period of peace,” a day after thousands took to the streets to protest his alleged power grab. IMAGES

Weinan (China) (AFP) – In the frigid night of China’s Qinling mountains, hunters with huge social media followings scour the landscape in pursuit of wild boars menacing local farmers’ livelihoods. China’s wild boars — today numbering two million — were a protected species from 2000 until 2023, but emerged from safeguarding last year with a reputation for devastating crops.

Sakuragawa (Japan) (AFP) – When nature calls, Masana Izawa has followed the same routine for more than 50 years: heading out to the woods in Japan, dropping his pants and doing as bears do.

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado leaves a protest against Nicolas Maduro on a motorbike before being detained. She has since been freed, confirms her team. IMAGES

Santo Domingo (AFP) – Exiled opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who asserts his victory in Venezuela’s July presidential election, is welcomed by Dominican President Luis Abinader at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo, the final stop of his tour. The 75-year-old opposition candidate is on a tour of Latin American capitals to pressure Maduro to relinquish power. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado comes out of hiding to lead protests in Caracas against Nicolas Maduro’s swearing-in. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – Supporters of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro government take part in a demonstration on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas. Venezuela is on tenterhooks facing demonstrations called by both the opposition and government supporters a day before President Nicolas Maduro is due to be sworn in for a third consecutive term and despite multiple countries recognizing opposition rival Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate president-elect following elections past July. IMAGES

Caracas (AFP) – The Venezuelan Tupamaro “colectivo” – one of the civilian armed groups accused of committing violence on behalf of Nicolas Maduro’s regime – passes through the opposition protest in Caracas. They have already been deployed to violently put down demonstrations that erupted after Maduro’s declaration of re-election victory last July — a claim not recognized by much of the world. IMAGES