Tokyo (AFP) – At a Tokyo Christmas concert, three musicians with disabilities perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with a full orchestra using an AI-powered piano. The “Anybody’s Piano” tracks the notes of the music and assists players by adding whatever keys are needed but not pressed. “I play music myself, and today I was so touched,” says one audience member.
Jakarta (AFP) – “We want to spread the joy of Christmas especially in Jakarta,” says Gary Sarungu. Along with a dozen other musicians and singers, he is singing Christmas carols on a sidewalk in the capital of the world’s largest Muslim majority country.
East Flores (Indonesia) (AFP) – The Lewotobi volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted, spewing volcanic ash between 1 kilometres to 1.5 kilometres above its peak and into surrounding villages. It comes less than a month after the eruption of Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra killed 23 people.
Manila (AFP) – People take a walk through the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Philippines’ capital Manila as it lights up for its annual Christmas lights show.
Thurlow (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Emerging from the woods in a quiet corner of rural England, a small band of anti-foxhunting campaigners have just one goal: to confuse the pack of dogs chasing a fox and save its life. Fox hunts have been illegal in the UK since 2004, with trail hunting — in which packs of dogs follow a route artificially laid with a fox’s scent — permitted as a replacement. The “hunt saboteurs” say that trail hunts are used to cover up actual foxhunting and regularly gatecrash gatherings across the country, distracting the hounds and gathering evidence of lawbreaking, in what has become a fierce clash of cultures.
Prague (AFP) – People lay flowers and light candles outside Prague’s Charles University, where 14 people were killed and a further 25 injured in a gun attack on December 21. A 24-year-old student, who was known to police, carried out the shooting before turning the gun on himself. “These things don’t happen here” says Richard Smaha, a 17-year-old student, “it’s terrible.”
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Two people have been injured in a Russian drone attack that struck a residential building in Kyiv on the evening of December 21. While missiles and drones frequently target the Ukrainian capital, most are shot down by air defence systems and this incident is the first of its kind in months.
New York (AFP) – Residents and tourists in New York gather in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dyker Heights, where a homemade Christmas tradition has emerged. The area’s inhabitants put up spectacular festive lights, illuminating the streets and drawing the crowds.
Spain (Spain) (AFP) – Famed Russian writer Boris Akunin says the Putin regime identifying literary figures as terrorists or extremists is “an important step” towards totalitarianism. Akunin, who has spoken out against Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, was placed on a list of extremists earlier this week. The 67-year-old also says Putin can only be toppled by action from within Russia, rather than military means.
Singapore (AFP) – Tan Chwee Lian picks up a small paddle, her finger resting on a groove worn into the wood over 70 years of making Buddhist and Taoist deity statues in her shop. But with competition from mass-produced items and lacking heirs to take up the trade, the craft is in danger of dying out.
Los Angeles (AFP) – At “Squid Game: The Trials” in Los Angeles, fans of all ages can relive the most emotional moments of Netflix’s South Korean hit show — but there is a lot less blood and no one wins any prize money. In a series of rooms, organizers of the immersive LA attraction have set up harmless versions of the brutal games depicted in the series.
Baubau (Indonesia) (AFP) – On Buton Island in eastern Indonesia, schoolchildren are using Korean Hangul script to learn their indigenous Cia-Cia tongue. The language of the Cia-Cia ethnic group has no written form, and the syllable-based tongue does not readily translate to the Latin alphabet often used to transcribe Indonesia’s national language.
