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It's largely been a quiet week, no?
Of course, discounting the looming disaster of climate change, the impending worldwide confabulations, the historic elections in politically unstable regions, the deluge suffered by an entire State, a whole lot of arson (constructive and destructive alike), the pink sheen on a gentleman's game, and a potential harbinger of the consequences of an unchecked Internet.
Seriously, all this happened last week. And here are the pictures to prove it...
Australia and New Zealand played the first ever Test match under lights. The match, played in Adelaide, was dominated by the pink ball. Either because the seam was harder to pick, or the pink ball swung more under lights, the bowlers ruled the roost, wrapping the historic game up in under three days. Josh Hazlewood scorched the timber, bulldozing the Kiwi batsmen with a nine-for before the Aussies chased down 187 runs with three wickets to spare. The Kiwis, though, may be thanking their stars that the toe-crushing Mitchell Starc was out injured on crutches, or they may have been left nursing more than just their spirits. ~ Photo: Reuters
Fair to say that Test Cricket is not only alive and kicking, but in the pink of health?
Speaking of burning wood, satellite data has revealed that 5,831 kilometres of land have been razed in the Brazil Amazon this year till August 1. This constitutes a 16% increase in the destruction of the South American nation's rainforest compared with the previous 12 months. Ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the Brazil environment ministry's report underscores the direness of the global climate situation. Deforestation accounts for about 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. Reports indicate that the increased deforestation was a fallout of a relaxing of the forest code, a growing agricultural lobby, rise in infrastructure projects, and people resorting to clearing land for timber in a declining economy.
Above, a devastated section of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is rendered more stark when framed by the hollow aperture of a smouldering tree trunk near Rio Pardo. ~ Photo: Reuters
In what could grow to be seen as the first indication of how the online open sharing culture of the past couple of decades may pan out in the future, Czech software pirate 'Jakub F' was last week forced to make contritional video to avoid a lawsuit for unethical practices on the world wide web. The 30-year-old claims, in this >YouTube video , that he had been nabbed after 8 years of illegally distributed 'warez' and faced a hefty fine of 600,000 Czech Koruna, a sum that would take a lifetime to pay off. So, the aggrieved software companies, which include Microsoft, HBO, Sony Music, had struck a deal with him: if he would produce an anti-piracy plea video and promote it to over 200,000 views, the suit would be as good as settled out of court.
Jakub's video, uploaded at the start of the week on the November 22, managed to secure the 2k views in the matter of a few days, and has been viewed a whopping 8k times as of November 29. Ironically, most comments seem to applaud his passion for piracy. ~ Photo: AP
If piracy is bad, so are drugs, right? Well, the war against drugs is even more harrowing, if you ask this group of activists. 'Catharsis', a "secular humanist ceremony", was an multi-day vigil event organised in Washington last week to "collectively heal from the drug war". The coup de grace was the burning of artist Michael Verdon's "Temple of Essence", an art installation erected for the express purpose of deliberate destruction, at the National Mall.
Inspired from the mammoth bonfires of Burning Man that are aimed at celebrating freedom and fighting oppression, the three-day event sought to decry the prevalence of "unworkable drug laws that target minorities". It coincided with the conclusion of the Drug Policy Alliance's International Drug Policy Reform conference, a biennial event that draws more than 1,000 people from the world over. ~ Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Londoners protested injustice of a much larger scale and dimension — war — in a much milder and more peaceable way. Anti-war protesters marched on Downing Street against United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron's push for military action in Syria. The UK's Stop the War Coalition organised the sit-in, attended by thousands on November 28, after Cameron made a parliamentary proposal to get Britain involved in the armed conflict against the Islamic State. The organisation believes Cameron's "incoherent proposals for action in Syria will do nothing to weaken the IS but will instead inflame the war, deepen the misery of the Syrian people and increase the terrorist risk". ~ Photo: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Egypt moved that much closer to a triumph of democracy of its own, as it held the second phase of parliamentary elections on November 22. Here, a boy waits for his father to cast his ballot inside a polling station in Minya Al Qamh, Sharqiya province, nearly 50 km northeast of Cairo. Egyptians across nearly half the country, including the capital, voted last week to establish the country's first legislature since a chamber dominated by Islamists was dissolved by a court ruling in 2012. ~ Photo: AP
While Chennai was lashed by crippling rainstorms through the week, a couple of children shared a moment of bliss at Marina Beach. Many parts of Chennai and districts in Tamil Nadu have been affected by a cyclonic depression formed over the Bay of Bengal. Amid rampant illegal construction on lake- and river-beds, the common man was hit hard. As roads and transport suffered, a few entrepreneurs brought ferries to the doorstep of many a household marooned on their own flooded street. If Met predictions are to be believed, the State is bracing for another week of potential downpour. ~ Photo: V. Ganesan
Chennai is hot and humid, you gasp? Well why didn't you hop over to Rajasthan, whose hot and dry desert climate would have filled you with a pleasant chill in the misty evenings. Also, you most likely missed out on the annual Pushkar fair, where camels and other indigenous livestock are traded. The event has grown into a tourist attraction with a variety of sideshows — longest moustache competition, for instance. Then there are the camel races to watch, while women haggle over trinkets and clothes. Camels are paraded, proffered and sold based on how well they carry their loads.
The popularity of the fair, though, has seen a decline of late as the numbers that usually throng this event have fallen compared to last year. Here, villagers await buyers for their camels on November 21. ~ Photo: Rohit Jain Paras
There was more entertainment in Burkina Faso, where election campaign ralies too are a source of gaiety. But the outcome is dead serious. The west-African nation held its first free presidential and legislative elections on Sunday after an uprising last year threw President Blaise Compaoré, who had ruled for 27 years, out of power and into exile. In the photo above, an entertainer wears a mask and body paint at a rally for presidential candidate Zephirin Diabre, who is considered to be one of the front-runners, in Ouagadougou on November 25.
The key poll planks are corruption and justice. Security has been on high alert to curb vote fraud and also in light of the jihadist attack at a hotel in Mali just over a week ago.
The polls were, in fact, pushed back from October 11, after a failed coup by members of the elite presidential guard. The coup cost the economy $50 million in lost revenue and cut growth by 0.3 percentage points. ~ Photo: Reuters
Sweden's traditional Christmas display, the Gävlebocken (Yule goat), is lit up at Slottstorget (Castle Square) in central Gävle, Sweden, on November 29, Sunday. The giant straw statue of a goat is an enlarged version of the traditional Swedish Yule goat figure and has been erected every year in the town since 1966, on the first day of Advent (coming of Jesus Christ).
The Gävlebocken has, over the years, been subject to several arson attacks by vandals. It has been burnt down a total of 27 times since its conception, the latest being in 2013. A fire station is usually at the ready at a close location, given the Gävlebocken's history. Is its incendiary tendency all a part of the Christmas spirit or just some homeless Swedes' attempt to get some warmth during the winter months?
