Our world in photos: December 6
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
December 6, 2024
INDONESIA — Endangered mangroves are a reflection of humankind’s dependence on water: Debora Sanyi stands chest deep in water as she collects clams in a mangrove forest where only women are permitted to enter in Jayapura, Papua province, Indonesia on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. Known as “the women’s forest,” and officially named so in 2016, the spot is a place for the village women to fish and collect food, often clams, to gather firewood and, also importantly, to gather so that they can talk more freely with each other about home life and daily matters with which they are dealing. Their gathering, which the women have done for six generations, is referred to as the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means “working in the forest.” One leader, Petronela Merauje, told the Associated Press, “The customs and culture of Papuans, especially those of us in Enggros village, is that women are not given space and place to speak in traditional meetings, so the tribal elders provide the mangrove forest as our land … which is their place to find food, a place for women to tell stories, and women are active every day and earn a living every day.”
However, the mangrove forest has been shrinking, in large part because of development, pollution and a shrinking biodiversity. Efforts made to preserve the forest have met with slow progress.
SPAIN — Rare moment — post-chest bump or pre-chest bump — but definitely post-victory: Australia’s Matthew Ebden, left, and Jordan Thompson celebrate their victory against Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton of the United States during their doubles tennis quarterfinal Davis Cup match at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
A possible factor in the American team’s elimination was a last-minute switch from Olympic men’s doubles silver medalists Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek to top U.S. singles players Paul & Shelton.
BIRMINGHAM — Another example of basketball as a full-contact sport: Alabama forward Grant Nelson (4) collides with Illinois forward Morez Johnson Jr. (21) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, at Birmingham. Alabama beat Illinois 100-87.
Alabama Crimson Tide is 3-1 all-time and, before Wednesday night’s game, carried a three-game win streak, which has increased by one.
ICELAND — Dramatic insights into the core of Mother Earth, whom we seem to anger more and more these days: A new volcanic eruption that started on the Reykjanes Peninsula as seen from Grindavikurvegur, the road to Grindavik in Iceland, Wednesday, Nov.20, 2024. The volcano in southwestern Iceland, which until last December had been silent for eight centuries, again erupted with scant warning at 11:14 p.m. local time, making this the the seventh activation, reports the Associated Press. The volcano, which created a fissure about 1.8 miles long, is spewing molten lava in the direction of the Blue Lagoon Spa, a major tourist attraction.
However, Iceland’s meteorological office reports this latest eruption was considerably smaller than the previous one in August.
LONDON — The angels of Regent St. embark upon the holiday season: Christmas lights are displayed on Regent Street, in London, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. The display, with its 300,000 LED lights, was illuminated on Nov. 20, according to a sightseeing website titled Secret London. This particular tradition, now marking its 70th year, dates back to 1954.
This year, visitors to Regent St. and its vicinity will have the chance to participate in a fun outreach: turning on the tree’s sparkling lights by tapping to donate to The Felix Project, a charity dedicated to repurposing surplus food to reduce hunger.
SPAIN — ‘This is okay for warm-up, but I hate doing it in a game’: Ben Shelton of the United States reacts against Australia’s Athanasios Kokkinakis during a Davis Cup quarterfinal match at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall, in Malaga, southern Spain, on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Shelton made his Davis Cup debut during this match, losing to Kokkinakis, the latter of whom won 6-1, 4-6, 7-6.
Now 28, Kokkinakis was born in Adelaide, Australia, to Greek immigrants. He holds both Australian and Greek citizenship.
SEATTLE — Nature’s revenge — yes, old trees agree, there are too many cars on the road: Neighbors look at the remains of a small car that had a tree fall on it in the aftermath of a “bomb cyclone” on 35th Avenue Northeast after severe weather hit last night, in Seattle, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. And yet they were the luckier ones; falling trees in other parts of western Washington struck homes, killing at least two people. One woman in Lynnwood was killed when a large tree fell on a homeless encampment, while another woman in Bellevue was killed when a tree fell on a home, reports the Associated Press. More than 320,000 Washingtonians — most of them in the Seattle area — were still without power on Thursday.
A storm becomes a bomb cyclone when it rapidly intensifies. Bomb cyclones can happen anywhere, but the storm system that plowed into the Pacific Northwest this week is not unique. Wednesday’s bomb cyclone then hit northern California.
AZERBAIJAN — Sometimes it’s just about the money: Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Negotiators remained at an impasse on Thursday, the penultimate day of the summit, after rejecting the first draft of a text outlining a potential decision on climate finance goals. Politicians and advocates with civil society alike criticized the proposal text, with Wopke Hoekstra, EU commissioner for climate action, saying, “The text as it now stands is clearly unacceptable.” Developing nations and industrialized nations wound up in two factions with seemingly conflicting goals.
Developing countries want industrialized nations to commit to an undefined funding goal in the trillions of dollars from 2025, while industrialized nations want the developing bloc to contribute. Wealthier developing nations are at the crux of the debate.
