AFP UK

Nashville (AFP) – Passengers are stranded at Nashville International Airport after several Southwest Airlines flights were cancelled due to a severe winter storm.

Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen announces an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from an increasingly hostile China. Beijing considers self-ruled, democratic Taiwan a part of its territory, to be taken one day, by force if necessary, and the island lives under the constant fear of a Chinese invasion.

Shanghai (AFP) – Chinese residents are preparing for change after Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation. “The travel plans I made three years ago may finally become a reality,” a Beijing resident says.

Beijing (AFP) – Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin says China will scrap mandatory quarantine on arrival, further unwinding years of strict virus controls as the country battles a surge in cases.

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.