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Our world in photos: December 2

The Beijing-gifted giant panda An An makes his debut appearance to media in Ocean Park during a preview event in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: Chan Long Hei/AP
The Beijing-gifted giant panda An An makes his debut appearance to media in Ocean Park during a preview event in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: Chan Long Hei/AP
The Beijing-gifted giant panda An An makes his debut appearance to media in Ocean Park during a preview event in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Photo: Chan Long Hei/AP

HONG KONG — Beloved, celebrated, and well, just cute: The Beijing-gifted giant panda An An makes his debut appearance to the media in Ocean Park during a preview event in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. An An is half of a pair who met journalists on Monday. The other panda is Ke Ke. The pair had recently completed their quarantine period.

The pandas were quarantined to allow them to adjust to their new surroundings without the additional stimuli of visitors.

Xavier forward Zach Freemantle (32) is fouled by South Carolina State forward Drayton Jones during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Tanner Pearson)
Photo: Tanner Pearson/AP

CINCINNATI — Some players just make it look like ballet: Xavier forward Zach Freemantle (32) is fouled by South Carolina State forward Drayton Jones during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Cincinnati. Xavier won in a close game, 71-68. Xavier’s Zach Freemantle, the 6’9”, 24-year-old forward, was a star in Sunday’s game, scoring 17 points and seven rebounds. The Xavier Musketeers are 3rd in the Big East, with a 7-1 record for the season.

Xavier is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Part of 2500 panda sculptures are displayed at the Hong Kong International Airport during a welcome ceremony of the panda-themed exhibition "Panda Go!" in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Photo: Chan Long Hei/AP

HONG KONG — ‘Get those damn things off the runway …’: Part of 2500 panda sculptures are displayed at the Hong Kong International Airport during a welcome ceremony of the panda-themed exhibition “Panda Go!” in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. A local creative studio hosts the exhibition, showing up at various iconic locations across that city on weekends in December and during Christmas, according to NPR. The bear sculptures made partly from recycled rubber barrels and resins to boost tourism were inspired by real-life twin cubs, as well as the recent arrivals of An An and Ke Ke.

Pandas are considered China’s unofficial national mascot. They are also used in soft-power diplomacy — the practice of sending the giant bears to zoos overseas to raise awareness of wildlife conservation needs.

Players of Brazil's Botafogo parade through the streets on a truck during a homecoming celebration after winning the Copa Libertadores soccer tournament, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Photo: Bruna Prado/AP

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s ticker-tape parade: Players of Brazil’s Botafogo parade through the streets on a truck during a homecoming celebration after winning the Copa Libertadores soccer tournament, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in the team’s history — and quite dramatically so — on Saturday at Buenos Aires’ Estadio Monumental, beating Atletico Mineiro 3-1. The team was one man down early in the game when a player was handed a red (penalty) card early in the game for kicking a player from the opposing team.

Botafogo’s win secures the Brazilian team the final berth in next year’s FIFA Club World Cup in a newly expanded 32-team tournament hosted next year in North America.

An ice-cold artwork, depicting the carnival of Venice, is seen at an ice and snow sculpture exhibition made by 35 international artists, who worked 4 months at minus eight degrees Celsius in Oberhausen, Germany, on the 1st of Advent, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Photo: Martin Meissner/AP

OBERHAUSEN — Subfreezing weather sets stage for dramatic and thematic ice sculpture: An ice-cold artwork depicting the carnival of Venice is seen at an ice and snow sculpture exhibition made by 35 international artists who worked four months at minus eight degrees Celsius in Oberhausen, Germany, on the 1st Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2024.

Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford (47) runs toward the ball to recover a fumble by San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk next to wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., bottom, during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Photo: Gene J. Puskar/AP

BUFFALO REGION — No matter how tough the game gets, in the snow, it looks like ‘frolicking’: Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford (47) runs toward the ball to recover a fumble by San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk next to wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., bottom, during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. The Bills, who rank 1st in the AFC East, won 35-10.

Top performers for the Bills were 28-year-old quarterback Josh Allen in passing, 25-year-old running back James Allen in rushing, and tight end Dawson Knox in receiving.

Demonstrators go down an escalator to hide from the police in a subway station during a rally against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Photo: Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP

TBILISI — Protesters in favor of Georgia’s affiliation with European Union avoid police: Demonstrators go down an escalator to hide from the police in a subway station during a rally against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. Police in Georgia’s capital on Monday dispersed thousands of demonstrators after detaining more than 200 people during four previous nights of protests against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

The opposition accuses the ruling Georgian Dream government of rigging the system and is warning its leaders not to stifle the people’s freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe kicks the ball in an attempt to score during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Photo: Bernat Armangue/AP

MADRID — Split second prelude to a power kick: Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe kicks the ball in an attempt to score during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Getafe at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. Real Madrid won 2-0 with 13 shots, four on target, 70% possession, 619 passes, and an 89% pass accuracy.

Real Madrid was founded in 1902 as the Madrid Football Club. The word Real has a different meaning in Spanish (royal) than in English; in fact, King Alfonso XIII in 1920 bestowed the team with the name Real Madrid and the royal crown on its emblem.

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