Auckland (AFP) – “Boats and large boulders washed ashore,” in Tonga, says New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, after a huge volcano eruption at the islands. The Tongan capital Nuku’alofa “is covered in a thick film of volcanic dust,” Ardern adds.
Jabalia (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Members of the Palestinian civil defence evacuate residents from inundated houses after torrential rains hit the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip.
Doel (Belgium) (AFP) – Doel has a reputation as Belgium’s best-known ‘ghost town’. But its few inhabitants — today numbering just 21 — now see a glimmer of hope of their village bouncing back to life.
Los Angeles (AFP) – Dozens of freight cars are broken into every day on Los Angeles’s railways by thieves who take advantage of the trains’ stops to loot packages bought online, leaving thousands of gutted boxes and products that will never reach their destinations.
Lyon (AFP) – France’s well-liked former justice minister Christiane Taubira officially launches her campaign for the presidential election, joining other leftist candidates.
Stockholm (AFP) – Scientists based in Stockholm say they have developed a new tool to target and kill mosquitoes. By isolating a molecule in the malaria parasite that only attracts mosquitoes, and mixing it in beetroot juice alongside toxins that kill the insects, the resulting mixture attracts the mosquitoes to feed and then kills them.
Mondovì (Italy) (AFP) – Deprived of a festival due to the pandemic, balloon enthusiasts are gathering in Mondovi, the ballooning capital of northern Italy, to get their balloons off the ground in the Piedmont town.
Khartoum (AFP) – TO COMPLETE VDI9VU74U_EN Sudanese rally in Sudan’s capital Khartoum as they keep up pressure on the military following a coup 11 weeks ago. The coup, led by army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25, derailed a power-sharing transition between the military and civilians that had been painstakingly established in the wake of longtime autocrat Omar-al-Bashir’s ouster in 2019.
Cambridge (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Nature is reclaiming her territory at a quarry in the east of England that is being transformed into a vast reserve offering vital sanctuary to endangered birds.
Tokyo (AFP) – Tokyo worshippers participate in the annual ice water purification ritual at the Teppozu Inari Shrine, an event to pray for good health in the new year. The participants warm up by stretching their bodies and jump into a pool of cold water with huge ice blocks in it. The New Year event has nearly 70 years’ history in the community. “I pray for the coronavirus pandemic to end soon,” says 74-year-old Yoshiko Shibata, the oldest participant.
Sandstone (United States) (AFP) – Climbers brave freezing temperatures in an ice climbing festival held in Sandstone, Minnesota. “Dealing with the cold is definitely a big part of ice climbing,” participant Ethan Baker says. For fellow climber Catherine Schneider, it’s all about the views: “That’s why I like it, and it’s quiet and you are in places where mostly you couldn’t normally be.”
Las Vegas (AFP) – A driverless racecar snakes around another to snatch the lead on an oval track at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in an unprecedented high-speed match between self-driving vehicles.
