Our world in photos: December 6
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
December 6, 2024
ICELAND — Clarity on the disruption that hot lava flow actually causes: Panoramic view of the eruption site with the Blue Lagoon area to the right and the active fissure in the far background after the volcanic eruption that started Wednesday, on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, Thursday, Nov.21, 2024. The eruption has caused the parking lot of the Blue Lagoon spa to be engulfed in flames. Hotel guests and nearby homes had to be evacuated, but authorities said there was no threat to air travel in the region, the BBC reported.
Some passengers aboard a plane flying over the volcano photographed the lava flows and smoke.
INDIA — Bright colors seem synonymous with anything Indian: A roadside vegetable vendor takes a midday nap in Kolkata, India, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. India is currently in its Raba season, with climate, sunlight and moisture conditions just right for growing these vegetables. Some of the less-familiar varieties pictured include bitter gourds (resembling ribbed zucchini) that are used in Indian meals, round gourds, sponge gourds and turnips.
Readers: Does anyone recognize the root herb in the white basket? Stoneroot, perhaps?
TAIPEI — How did they purify before firecrackers were invented? A participant dressed as Ba Jia Jiang (eight generals), a Chinese guardian of the gods, is purified by firecrackers during a temple festival marking the birthday of traditional Taoist deity “Qingshan Wang” or “Ling”an Zunwang” in Taipei, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Also known as the King of the Green Mountain, Qingshan Wang/Ling An Zun Wang lived during the third century A.D. (Common Era) and is venerated for healing and protection. The traditional three-day festival, which began on Wednesday, Nov. 20, is considered among Taipei’s most impressive, according to Radio Taiwan International’s website.
Activities during the religious and cultural festival traditionally include night patrols of the neighborhood on the first two nights to exorcize evil spirits and bring people good luck. The third day includes a midday pilgrimage, loud music, performances and vivid art.
ECUADOR — Anger at energy rationing — just wait until it’s potable water: Anti-government protesters challenge police during a demonstration against electricity rationing in Quito, Ecuador, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. As the South American nation relies heavily on hydroelectric power, water levels have been drastically lowered during the prolonged severe drought, leading the government to ration power.
On Friday, Nov. 22, Ecuador’s Constitutional Court declared the government’s attempt to suspend the right of assembly to be unconstitutional in a ruling that was handed down just before hundreds of anti-government protesters marched through Quito’s historic district, according to Cuenca Times, a website serving the Ecuadorian expatriate community.
SCOTLAND — Whimsical snow angels seen being made at base of cairn: The Prince Albert Cairn, built in 1862 by Queen Victoria, is surrounded by snow and ice near Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. A cairn is defined as a man-made stack of stones that serve as a marker, memorial or landmark. The Prince Albert Cairn, which was constructed using square granite blocks, bears an inscription reading, “To the Beloved Memory of Prince Albert, the Great and Good Prince Consort, Erected by his Broken-hearted Widow, VICTORIA R.” A smaller plaque underneath the main dedication tablet quotes from the Biblical Apocryphal book, Wisdom of Solomon, verses 13-14: “He being made perfect in a short time, Fulfilled a long time, for his soul pleased the Lord. Therefore he hastened to take him away from the Wicked,” according to The Royal Collection Trust’s website.
This landmark is one of 11 cairns on the Balmoral Castle estate.
TEHRAN — Selfies with iconic contemporary art: People take snapshots next to a painting of China’s late leader Mao Zedong by American artist Andy Warhol as they visit an exhibition titled “Eye to Eye” which showcases over 120 works by modern world artists as well as Iranian painters at Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, in Tehran, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024.
Warhol created the Mao project in 1972-73 as part of a series of 199 silkscreen paintings done in five scales. His model was the famous photograph of the communist leader that was reproduced throughout China during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), according to The MET’s (Metropolitan Museum of Art) website.
CALIFORNIA — Nature’s revenge — just flooding, but it’s happening more and more: A pedestrian walks along a flooded street during a storm Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Santa Rosa, California. One of the strongest storms on the West Coast in decades, it came ashore as a bomb cyclone (one that rapidly intensifies), knocking out power for thousands of people, hurling strong winds that toppled trees and leaving two persons dead in Washington before making its way through Oregon to Northern California, reports the Associated Press.
The National Weather Service on Thursday extended a flood watch into Saturday for areas north of San Francisco.
JERUSALEM — ‘Memurials’ — murals of hostages, still held and possibly alive: People hug next to graffiti portraits of Gaza-held hostages in Jerusalem, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. There is also a more formal exhibit tribute in Jerusalem, titled “Faces of October 7,” by acclaimed Israeli graffiti artist Benzi Brofman. He curated this exhibition in collaboration with the international advocacy group StandWithUs, which partnered with Dubai-based philanthropist Eitan Neishlos. The exhibition brings to life the faces of those murdered and kidnapped during the Israel-Hamas war.
Brofman, who had been painting murals at the Unity Festival a few hours before Hamas launched its attack, began memorializing the victims through his art. Many of the people he painted are believed to still be alive.
