Nashik (India) (AFP) – India’s largest winemaker Sula Vineyards is heading to the stock market, betting on the diversifying tastebuds of a booming urban middle class in a country that has long favoured heavy liquors.
Doha (AFP) – Iranian artist Emad Salehi sets a new Guinness World Record with his artwork “Ball Story”, covering 9,652 square metres to become the world’s largest canvas painting. The piece tells the story of the World Cup from its inception to Qatar 2022.
Kanyaruchinya (DR Congo) (AFP) – Thousands of people displaced by clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels are struggling to survive in Kanyaruchinya camp, eight kilometres north of Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite aid efforts, all the displaced people interviewed by AFP complained of hunger, and several described having to fight for food. Cholera, a consequence of poor hygiene, has also broken out.
Amboseli (Kenya) (AFP) – In national parks across Kenya, the signs of drought are everywhere. Dry and cracked soil, animal carcasses lying along the trails and emaciated trees with yellowing leaves have become common sights.
Narita (Japan) (AFP) – Hundreds of Japanese football fans flock to Tokyo’s Narita International Airport to greet coach Hajime Moriyasu and members of the Blue Samurai as they return from the World Cup in Qatar. Japan were eliminated by Croatia on penalties in the Round of 16, denying them a first ever appearance in the quarter-finals.
Beijing (AFP) – China has announced a nationwide loosening of its hardline Covid restrictions, which had hammered the world’s second biggest economy and ignited rare protests against the ruling Communist Party.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Candles, coal and wood burning stoves: one restaurant in Kyiv’s city centre is doing all it can to keep welcoming its customers during the frequent blackouts affecting the Ukrainian capital. Continuous Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid have made dark restaurant halls a new reality, but resilient customers and staff are doing their best to adapt.
Bad Lobenstein (Germany) (AFP) – German police stage nationwide raids, arresting 25 people suspected of belonging to a far-right “terror cell” plotting to overthrow the government and attack parliament.
Kabul (AFP) – Afghanistan’s capital has a bold new landmark that puts it at the centre of the world — or rather the world at the centre of Kabul. Municipal authorities have unveiled a giant hand-painted globe of planet Earth in Dahan-e-bagh square, and the eye-catching structure is already turning heads.
Bad Mitterndorf (Austria) (AFP) – Townsmen dressed head-to-hoof in shaggy black sheepskin costumes and scaring children — welcome to Austria’s annual Saint Nicholas play awarded UNESCO heritage status. “Nikolospiel” as it is known in German, has been performed every December 5, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, for more than 150 years in the Austrian town of Bad Mitterndorf.
