Our world in photos: January 23
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
January 23, 2025
INDIA — Massive population here includes converted Christians among the Indigenous: An Indigenous Naga tribal sings during the Hornbill Festival in Kisama, on the outskirts of Kohima, capital of the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Nagaland is eastern India, bordering Myanmar (formerly named Burma). Ethnically distinct from most Indian regions that are predominantly Hindu, the Nagas are predominantly Christian but remain attached to indigenous culture. The festival, which ended Tuesday, brought together a collection of traditional arts, cuisine and folklore, spotlighting the diverse Naga heritage. Nagaland’s famed headhunters also joined, and hundreds of tribal participants wore accessories that included necklaces made from animal tusks.
The festival is named after a large forest bird called the Indian hornbill.
CALIFORNIA — Nature’s revenge still rages in Malibu: Firefighters battle the Franklin Fire in Malibu, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony C. Marrone said the blaze, also called the Franklin Fire, grew by nearly 40% overnight. At least 7,500 structures, mostly homes, were threatened, with at least 12,600 people under evacuation orders, officials told the Associated Press.
Among the residents of this famous strip of land who were forced to evacuate have been Cher and comedian Dick Van Dyke, who turns 99 on Friday.
VATICAN — Job One for the world’s chief proponent of peace — hug a child: Pope Francis embraces a child during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The pontiff also prayed for peace in the Middle East.
During this week’s audience, Pope Francis also concluded a 17-week series on the Holy Spirit and the Church as the Bride of Christ, Catholic World News reports.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — When not useful enough to steal, cars are brutally burned as a statement of power: Residents walk past cars set on fire by armed gangs in the Poste Marchand neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. Over the weekend of Dec. 6-8, gangs reportedly went on a killing spree near Port-au-Prince’s coastal Cite Soleil amid accusations of witchcraft.
Nearly 200 people, many of them elderly, were killed as punishment after being accused of using witchcraft against a gang member’s child, Al Jazeera reported.
BUDAPEST — Pre-free style stretches: Barbora Janickova of Czech Republic, left, and Milla Jansen of Australia, right, prepare before competing in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Heats on day two of the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. American swimmer Gretchen Walsh again came in first, with a time on the 100m Freestyle of 51.64.
The World Record in this event, at 50.25, is held by Australian Cate Campbell and hasn’t been broken since she set it in October 2017. Holding the Championship Record is her countrymate Emma McKeon at 50.77 in 2022.
MALIBU — More nature’s revenge questions — when wildfire smoke invades the clouds, will the rain be polluted? The Franklin Fire sends a plume of smoke into the sky Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. The National Weather Service reported on Wednesday that the strongest Santa Ana winds, reaching 40 mph, have passed. These winds push dry air towards the coast, thus pushing moist air from the Pacific Ocean back out to sea, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.
As rain has not been forecasted for the Malibu area, airborne firefighters are dropping water and fire retardant onto the blaze, which endangered Pepperdine University earlier in the week.
SYRIA — Realities of the modern world — successful coup means young smiling faces, pics with weapons: A woman holding a rifle borrowed from a Syrian opposition fighter poses for a picture next to a government forces tank left on a street at the Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. The jihadi rebels who succeeded in the coup that toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they want to build a unified, inclusive country. However, the region has suffered almost 14 years of civil war, so challenges to forming a government lie ahead.
Facing additional challenges is Syria’s Kurdish minority, which is the United States’ closest ally in that nation. The rebels got valuable help from Turkey, a long-time foe of the Kurds, whose place in the new Syrian government is even less certain.
CAPITOL HILL — Things are getting rough on the Hill — hope it wasn’t a food fight: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. wears a bandage on his face as he walks to cast a vote on the Senate floor after falling during a luncheon on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington. The 82-year-old McConnell sprained his wrist when he tripped and fell while walking out of a GOP luncheon on Tuesday, the latest in a series of medical incidents for him in recent years. He also has a cut on his face. Although McConnell “has been cleared to resume his schedule,” he did not attend a scheduled news conference immediately after the luncheon.
McConnell, who was majority leader until Democrats won the US Senate in 2022, has stepped down from party leadership. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, who turns 64 four days after the new (119th) Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, will succeed McConnell as Senate Majority Leader as the Republicans won control of Congress in the November 2024 federal election.
