San José (AFP) – Cowboy hats and boots, in the purest “wild west” style, flood the streets of downtown San José to proudly display the horse culture in Costa Rica, as jockeys participate in the traditional ‘El Tope’ parade.
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Cyclists in Pakistan’s smog-smothered Lahore are enduring hazardous pollution levels, abuse from drivers and social stigma in a campaign to get people to ditch their cars.
Washington (AFP) – People walk over the frozen Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, DC, as a historic winter storm and Arctic blast engulf the US.
Buriram (Thailand) (AFP) – As the sun came up, 13 Thai Eastern Sarus cranes were released into the wild, noisily flapping over a rippling reservoir in northeastern Thailand, the latest effort to revive the almost-extinct species in the kingdom. More commonly known as Thai cranes, the birds nearly disappeared from Thailand roughly 50 years ago — they were last spotted in the wild in 1968 — before a collaboration between the Thai government, Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo and United Nations to save them.
Rohingya refugees, including women and children, receive emergency treatment after their boat carrying nearly 200 people landed on the coast of Indonesia’s western Aceh province, according to authorities.
Michigan City (United States) (AFP) – UGC images show ice formations on Lake Michigan on Christmas Day as a winter storm grips the region.
Kherson (Ukraine) (AFP) – Church bells and chanting rang throughout Ukraine’s capital as Orthodox Christians attended Christmas services on Sunday, a defiant break from Russian religious leaders who will mark the holiday in two weeks. The decision by some Ukrainian churches to observe Christmas on December 25 and not January 7, as is customary in Orthodox Christianity, highlights the rift between church officials in Kyiv and Moscow that has deepened with the ongoing war. In liberated Kherson, this Christmas also signifies an act of defiance as, just the day before, Russian strikes killed at least seven people and wounded dozens more in the city centre.
Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Iguanas lay frozen on Florida streets after falling from the trees they live in, amid bitter winter storm battering the United States. In most cases, if left alone, the reptiles will survive and ‘unfreeze’ once the temperature rises again.
Kabul (AFP) – Marwa was just a few months away from becoming the first woman in her Afghan family to go to university — instead, after the Taliban banned women from attending, she will watch achingly as her brother goes without her.
New York (AFP) – The Governor of the State of New York, Kathy Hochul, urges residents to stay home as a historic winter storm batters the United States with blizzard conditions.
Vatican City (AFP) – At his traditional Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis condemns the human “hunger for wealth and power”, which he says drives men and women to “consume even their neighbours, their brothers and sisters.” “I think above all of the children devoured by wars, poverty and injustice”, the pontiff prays.
Buenos Aires (AFP) – After Argentina’s victory in the World Cup final against France in Qatar, the tattoo shops of Buenos Aires have had to work overtime as grateful football fans rush to ink the unforgettable moment of captain Lionel Messi lifting the trophy onto their skin.
