WORLD WATCH
Amazing images that celebrate the beauty and diversity of the incredible world we all share.
Our collection of amazing images from around the world.
LONDON, ENGLAND
Santa Claus greets Jaythan Corbacho with an elbow bump during the Selfridges 2020 Christmas Shop ‘Once Upon a Christmas’ photocall at Selfridges department store on Oxford Street in London. There is still a measure of uncertainty around what Santa visits will be available across Europe this year as a result of new restrictions caused by the ‘second wave’ of COVID-19. But, like most of us affected by the pandemic, Father Christmas is embracing technology and offering live video calls from the North Pole. Santa schools in the UK have also been training Father Christmas in social distancing and the use of PPE.
In New Zealand, Santa visits are currently ‘on’ but come with a number of caveats. Perhaps the country’s best-known Santa experience, Santa’s Enchanted Forest at the 140-year-old Smith & Caughey’s department store, is going ahead in as normal fashion as COVID-19 permits. They are monitoring all advice from the Ministry of Health with regards to new developments and have contingencies around the different alert levels.
David Lewis opened the world’s first Christmas grotto in Lewis’s Bon Marche Department Store in 1879, entitled ‘Christmas Fairyland’. Santa Claus later made his debut in New Zealand department stores in 1894 when he took his place, complete with tree and toys, at the Wellington DIC store on Lambton Quay. Children visiting Santa in Auckland for the first time were treated to a ‘Magic Cave’ designed by celebrated US decorator, Frank L. Carr Jnr.
VISIT MiNDFOOD.COM
While some may argue that it isn’t Christmas until the fragrant smell of pine wafts through the house, here are some non-traditional Christmas tree options to try out. mindfood.com/alternative-trees
GANJA, AZERBAIJAN
A man carries geese on top of his car as he drives on a highway towards the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan. A simmering, decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has recently exploded into the worst fighting the area had seen since an ethnic war in the 1990s. Officially, the 4,400 km² territory is part of Azerbaijan, but is home to ethnic Armenians, and is known by its Russian name, which translates to ‘mountainous Karabakh’.
Skirmishes have been common for years along the front lines, which is considered one of the world’s most militarised borders. Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second-largest city, lies 100km from the frontlines of Nagorno-Karabakh, but that didn’t save it from being shelled as both sides in the conflict have been using drones and powerful long-range artillery. Despite ceasefire efforts, Turkey’s direct support of Azerbaijan, in an area of traditional Russian influence, risks turning the local dispute into a regional one. Both Russia and France have supported Armenia’s claim that Turkey deployed Syrian militants to Nagorno-Karabakh, similar to the nation’s recent intervention in Libya.
But life goes on, even when nations are embroiled in armed conflicts, and this man has been photographed for more than 10 years taking his geese for drives such as this. Whether he is heading to markets in the city has never been explained.
VISIT MiNDFOOD.COM
Whether it’s living in conflict zones or simply having a very busy job, the link between stress and our physical health is universal and directly impacts the immune system. mindfood.com/anxiety-and-immunity