Wales: All I want for Christmas is... the return of my stolen pet llama
Louis the llama, who has been missing for more than a month from his Powys home, is a TV star having appeared in Midsomer Murders
Many teenagers will be asking for the latest Xbox for Christmas, but all 14-year-old Cai wants is the safe return of his pet llama Louis. ... Owner Sally Burr said: “My son has lost his best friend. ...
Wales Online
File photo of a llama. (Shutterstock)
Kuwait: Pigeon keeping a popular pastime
Pigeon keeping is a popular hobby for both locals and expatriates in Kuwait. Despite some controversy over the noise they create, many pigeon keepers maintain coops in their gardens or rooftops. Historically, in the region, civilizations like the Abbasids and the Greeks were known to have relied upon the homing pigeon to deliver letters and messages over long distances. ...
Today, keeping the domesticated pigeon has taken other forms, with some people collecting different species of the bird for its bodily features, in what is termed as ‘fancying’. Others collect the bird for its aerial acrobatics, particularly its ability to flip and tumble while flying, in what is known as the ‘roller pigeon’. …
Kuwait Times
A file photo of a pigeon. (Shutterstock)
Italy: Stucco falls off Pompeii building ahead of UNESCO deadline
Site fixed by Dec 31 or loses UNESCO World Heritage title
(ANSA) - Pompeii, December 13 - A section of stucco on Friday fell off a building in the ancient Roman ruins of Pompeii, just two weeks ahead of a UNESCO deadline. The UN agency has given Italy until December 31 to apply a series of upgrade measures or face having Pompeii struck off the prestigious list of World Heritage sites. …
The site has been plagued for decades by accusations of mismanagement, neglect, and even mafia infiltration. ...
ANSA
RELATED: Italy’s Cultural Heritage Crumbling From Financial Neglect
Spain: Brits and Americans opt for Spanish jails
British and American prisoners doing time in Spain’s jails often have the right to serve out their sentences in their home countries. So why are they choosing to stay in Spain? ...
“Spanish prisons are amazing compared to US prisons”, Maritheresa Frain, US Consular Agent for the US State Department for Western Andalusia told The Local. ...
Most of the prisoners she sees are in on drug charges and would never consider transferring to a US prison. “The crimes committed by the men I visit are drugs-related and therefore federal, and that would see them serving time in a federal prison in the US — something they don’t want.” ...
The Local
Australia: Last wild emus v the corporation
A western Sydney community has vowed to keep fighting to keep the last wild emu population living in the Sydney metropolitan area from being relocated by a housing developer.
“Vandalism [to a fence surrounding the area] has allowed emus to enter on to public roads where they are a hazard to both themselves and the public,” he said. ...
Sydney Morning Herald
A file photo of emus. (Shutterstock)
Canada: Nearly 300 stranded for hours in Labrador in freezing cold after train loses power
The Canadian Red Cross says 270 passengers huddled together for warmth in freezing temperatures for about eight hours Friday after the train they were travelling on lost power in western Labrador.
The passengers, including children and seniors, used a few blankets and huddled together for hours as temperatures hovered around -30 C [-22 F]. ...
Toronto Star
Latin America: Women taking charge of Latin American governments; A major change in a traditionally ’macho' culture
For a region famous for “machismo,” Latin America is about to take an unlikely step: elect a record number of women presidents.
In Chile, moderate socialist former President Michelle Bachelet — whose admirers include Hillary Clinton — is widely expected to crush her conservative opponent, also a woman, in a runoff vote on Dec. 15. ...
Cuenca High Life
*Image of Pompeii via Shutterstock
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