Our world in photos: January 22
Brooklyn Eagle Staff
January 22, 2025
NAIROBI — Christmas and ballet … can the Nutcracker be far behind? Young dancers perform during a Christmas ballet event in Kibera slum, one of the busiest neighborhoods of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. The Kibera Ballet School, one of the east African country’s smaller institutions that provides free lessons to children who otherwise wouldn’t have had access to this kind of training, organizes this annual tradition, according to the Associated Press. In turn, a local non-government organization supports the Kibera Ballet School with the goal of giving the youths a creative outlet. The median population age in Kenya is 19.
The children balanced their ballet rehearsals — held in modest community halls — with their regular survival chores, which included fetching water in plastic jerricans in the neighborhood with no clean running water.
SYRIA — Sacrifice of a good sneaker to make a point: A cyclist rides past a portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad with a shoe attached to it as a sign of disdain, in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. Assad’s luxurious lifestyle highlighted the economic disparities of many in the Qardaha district: Members of the same Alawite minority sect barely made a living on mostly manual labor, low-level civil service jobs and farming.
Looters reportedly had a field day at Assad’s house, even leaving on the running water to flood it and removing pipes to sell as scrap metal.
ARLINGTON — More airborne acrobatics in a sport known mostly for ‘scrums’: Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) catches a pass between Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean (35) and Christian Izien (29) in the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. Although the Cowboys were already eliminated from the playoffs, they did not give up and played as if their future depended on it, reported the Athletic.
Several of the Cowboys’ players are still on contract through next year and their participation with the Dallas team could prove more important overall than any individual prospects as draft picks, The Athletic posited.
THESSALONIKI — ‘Hey, these are Greeks in competition — shouldn’t they be naked?’: Participants wearing Santa Claus costumes paddle during a Santa SUP (Stand Up Paddle) surfing, in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024.
Stand Up Paddle surfing is growing in popularity among people of all ages as a low-impact exercise.
LONDON — They don’t call it ‘Title 9’ but … The Choristers of St Paul’s choir, including girls for the first time in 900-year history, rehearse for the Christmas services in St Paul’s Cathedral, in London, Monday, Dec. 23 2024. The first two girls were admitted to the ensemble in June. According to the cathedral’s website, “girl choristers will now also benefit from a world class musical education, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.”
The Cathedral Choir resides at St Paul’s throughout most of the year and consists of boy and girl choristers, the youngest of whom are age 7. Probationers and Vicars Choral also comprise the ensemble; these are professional adult singers who sing alto, tenor and bass.
BERLIN — Making an impact at the Brandenburg Gate: Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, right, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, left, watch the set-up of a giant Hanukkah Menorah by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. The first candle is lit on the first night of Chanukah (24 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar), this year on Dec. 25.
Chabad, which is the largest Jewish educational and outreach organization worldwide, operates centers in most major German cities. In addition to Berlin, Chabad can be found in Hamburg, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorg, Dresden, Potsdam and Munich.
ORLANDO — ‘Can’t believe I beat my dad’: Charlie Woods, front, and his caddie Luke Wise react after his hole-in-one on the fourth hole during the final round of the PNC Championship golf tournament, playing in a father-son competition, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.
The Associated Press called it the “tournament where everyone leaves happy.”
TOKYO — If it looks like a dance, well, it is … Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida, left, Takao Kato, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, center, and Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe, right, leave after a joint news conference in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. The two companies on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding articulating their plans to merge. The merger would become the world’s third-largest automaker by sales, as both Honda and Nissan strive to keep up with the industry’s dramatic move from relying on fossil fuels. Originally founded in 1911 under a different name, the Nissan Motor Company was established on Dec. 26, 1933. Honda came along 15 years later, in September 1948.
Nissan alliance member Mitsubishi Motors Corp. agreed to join the negotiation talks on integrating that company’s business. MHI is a Japanese multinational corporation whose automobile division that was the predecessor of Mitsubishi Motors. MHI also manufactures air conditioners, elevators and other products.
