Envigado (Colombia) (AFP) – Giant illuminated balloons in a variety of wacky shapes — animals, monsters and even Lionel Messi’s Argentina shirt — glow in the dark as crowds gaze from below at a festival in Colombia’s southern city of Envigado.
Los Angeles (AFP) – Aerial images show two cars inside a giant sinkhole that opened up on Tuesday during the relentless storms ravaging California. According to local media, the passengers were rescued and hospitalized with minor injuries. Torrential downpours in the US state have caused flash flooding, closed key highways, toppled trees, and swept away drivers and passengers.
Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Russian strikes hit eastern Ukraine’s city of Kharkiv late Tuesday, the regional governor said, just hours after a surprise visit by the German foreign minister with her Ukrainian counterpart.
Melbourne (AFP) – Mass is held at Melbourne’s cathedral after Cardinal George Pell died in Rome aged 81, Pell was convicted and later cleared of sexual abuse in Australia. Pell died of complications related to a hip surgery he had undergone in a Rome hospital on Tuesday, according to the Vatican’s official news website. IMAGES
Antwerp (Belgium) (AFP) – “It’s unheard of” says the head of Belgian Customs, Kristian Vanderwaeren, as the organisation announces it seized a record total of 110 tonnes of cocaine in 2022 at the port of Antwerp. Belgium’s main container terminal is now considered the main gateway for illegal drugs into Europe, with supply being plentiful enough to push prices down, according to Vanderwaeren.
Bucha (Ukraine) (AFP) – Volunteers and members of the Kazakh community in Ukraine distribute free tea, coffee, biscuits and Kazakh fried bread, or ‘baursaki’, to Bucha residents in the ‘Yurt of Invincibility’– a traditional Kazakh yurt that has been installed in the city to serve as a heating point for locals, amid the disruption to power and water supplies.
London (AFP) – People queue in London to buy Prince Harry’s much anticipated autobiography, “Spare”, as some bookshops opened their doors at midnight to cater for immense demand. Beyond the Channel, the biggest royal book since Andrew Morton’s biography of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, has also caused a stir, with eager buyers in Paris and Germany.
Juliaca (Peru) (AFP) – At least 12 people have been left dead after protestors in Peru tried to storm an airport in the southern city of Juliaca. The clash is another violent outburst in Peru’s ongoing, month-long, political crisis, as protestors demand the removal of President Dina Boluarte, who took power after her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, was ousted and arrested on December 7.
Brasília (AFP) – Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, visits the country’s Supreme Court, damaged and locked down by security forces after supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed the building on Sunday. Lula meets with state governors as police say 1,500 arrests have so far been made in connection with the riots, which echoed those to the north, in Washington D.C on January 6 2021.
Brussels (AFP) – NATO and the European Union vow to bolster their backing for Ukraine to fight off Russia’s invasion. “We must continue to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the European Union. And we must further strengthen our support to Ukraine,” says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg after signing a joint declaration with the EU’s top officials. SOUNDBITE
Copenhagen (AFP) – “An ongoing surge in China is not anticipated to significantly impact the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in the WHO European Region” says the World Health Organization’s European regional director, Hans Kluge. “The surge of two virus variants circulating in China are those that have already been seen in Europe and elsewhere,” he adds. China is battling a wave of Covid cases since the government’s decision to lift nearly three years of restrictions. SOUNDBITE
Balikpapan (Indonesia) (AFP) – As Indonesia’s capital Jakarta sinks at an alarming rate, the country’s top architects are facing the daunting task of designing a new, sustainable and green capital city in the middle of the world’s oldest stretch of jungle.
