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China: World’s largest indoor ski resort opens in Shanghai

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The massive facility using artificial snow and cooling machines is modeled like a glacier and opened fully to customers, after lengthy delays, on Friday. China’s northern natural pistes are shrinking amid climate change.

The facility has four separate slopes and an array of other rides, with a cable car, chairlifts and trains ferrying people to the summits
© Hector Retamal/AFP

 

Shanghai opened the world’s largest indoor ski resort on Friday amid searing temperatures outside as China reported its hottest August in 60 years.

Temperatures were already at 30 degrees Celsius (roughly 86 Fahrenheit) by 9 a.m. during Friday’s outdoor opening ceremony in a mock Alpine square, but were closer to freezing point inside the building.

The building has a skiing area of 90,000 square meters or 9 hectares. Incorporating other facilities likes shops, hotels, and a still-unopened water park the construction area extends to 350,000 square meters.

The vast resort is one of many large expensive projects developed in recent decades in Shanghai’s once sparsely-populated Pudong district
© CFOTO/picture alliance

The festivities marked the end of a difficult teething and test period for the facility. Chinese state media reported that safety procedures were being reviewed after an incident on Wednesday, when limited numbers of people were already allowed in, in which a patron’s finger was severed by another skier.

Industry expansion amid Winter Olympics

Years in the making, once scheduled to open in 2019 according to Chinese media, the vast resort is part of a state-supported winter sports investment drive rooted partly in the country hosting the last Winter Olympics in 2022 and also in a more general bid to cater to the recreational wishes of an expanding middle class.

The Guinness Book of Records certified the facility as the largest of its kind in the world on opening day, surpassing another giant Chinese facility in Harbin
© Hector Retamal/AFP

Located in Shanghai’s Pudong district, the L*SNOW Indoor Skiing Theme Resort was certified by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest on its opening day on Friday. It overtakes another Chinese facility in northern Harbin.

China has developed several such indoor resorts in recent years and boasts five of the 10 largest by skiing area in the world, according to Daxue Consulting. China’s CCTV reported that some 360 million people in the country do winter sports.

The construction coincides with retreating and less reliable snow slopes in the traditional skiing resorts in the north of the country amid climate change, a tale familiar to European skiiers visiting mountain ranges like the Alps.

“In China, it might have more of an effect in the north because of climate change, there are fewer people doing winter sports there,” 48-year-old skier Zhang Jin told the AFP news agency. “So some of the snow parks just aren’t operating well, they’re shrinking. Instead, it’s this kind of thing opening up right now, larger indoor ones, which I think is still pretty good.”

Solar panels on roof to offset ‘inevitably’ consuming ‘a lot’ of energy

The center uses artifical snow, rather than the oft-maligned dry ski slopes that may not provide as authentic an experience for enthusiasts but that can operate in any weather all year round.

Officials said that it uses 72 cooling machines to maitain an indoor temperature around freezing point, and 33 snow-making machines to feed the pistes.

A Shanghai government report in August acknowledged that such projects “will inevitably consume a lot of energy.” But it also said the resort was built to maximize energy reuse where possible, for instance via ice storage and waste-heat recovery systems.

Three-quarters of the building’s roof is covered with solar photovoltaic panels to help power it.

“We have taken a lot of energy-saving measures,” resort executive Yin Kang told AFP.

Chinese state media reported that the steepest slope had a 26 degree gradient, and the longest s-bend course extended for 460 meters (around 500 yards)
© Hector Retamal/AFP

 

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Gunmen k!ll President General of Ogidi community and one other in Anambra.

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Unidentified gunmen, suspected to be cultists, have k!lled a community leader and one other person in Anambra State.

The President-General of Ogidi community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Ikwuka Okoye, popularly known as Anumili (pictured above), was k!lled on Friday, Feb. 6.

The attack was alleged to have been carried out by members of a rival cult group in revenge for the de@th of their leader, who was arrested and k!lled by local security operatives.

During the attack, which took place at the School Field, Ogidi, another man whose identity has yet to be ascertained was also gunned down.

The spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a press statement on Saturday.

Ikenga said the incident is allegedly linked to the recent capture and k!lling of a known notorious cultist within the community.

He said, “The Anambra State Police Command regrets the murd£r of the President-General of the Ogidi community and one other person. The incident, which occurred on the evening of February 6, 2026, at the School Field, Ogidi, is allegedly linked to the recent capture and k!lling of a known notorious cultist within the community.

“Following the report, police operatives swiftly took over the scene of the incident and commenced investigations. The command is currently working with eyewitness accounts and other available intelligence to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

“The Anambra State Police Command assures members of the public that all efforts are being intensified to bring those responsible to justice.

“Residents are urged to remain calm and cooperate with the police as investigations continue.

“Further developments will be communicated in due course.”

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Police bust syndicate behind nude photo blackmail in Lagos

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Men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Lagos, have apprehended three suspects who allegedly run a cyber blackmail and extortion scheme in the state.

According to the spokesperson of the unit, DSP Ovie Ewhubare, the suspects get a hold of their victims explicit photos and then threaten to release them if a ransom is not paid.

He said that the suspects, two males and a female, were apprehended after a petition was filed by a complainant who reported being repeatedly threatened by unknown individuals demanding money.

“The complainant received several phone calls in which the callers threatened to release her nude photographs to the public if she failed to pay them. Acting out of fear and emotional distress, she transferred money to the suspects.

The situation escalated when the suspects demanded an additional N10 million, prompting her to formally petition the police,” he said

The police imagemaker state dthat upon receipt of the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Mr Kayode Ojapinwa, ordered the immediate deployment of operatives to investigate the matter.

“The investigation led to the arrest of the three suspects. Investigations revealed that one of the suspects gained unlawful access to the complainant’s mobile device and fraudulently transferred her nude photographs to his own device. Further findings indicated that he conspired with the other suspects and other accomplices currently at large to demand and receive money from the complainant in several tranches,” he said

According to him, the suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction.

The image maker said that investigations were ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate and to recover all proceeds of the alleged crime.

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Catholic Priest Collapses And D!es In Front Of Congregation While Walking To Tabernacle To Return Holy Communion

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A Catholic priest has tragically passed away after suddenly collapsing in front of the congregation during Sunday mass.

The tragic incident took place last Sunday, February 1 in Wiesmath in the district of Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

Shortly after administering Holy Communion, 59-year-old priest Raimund Beisteiner was about to return the host to the tabernacle when he “suddenly” collapsed, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Vienna.

“Despite immediate professional assistance, he di£d in the church,” the statement said.

The mayor of Wiesmath, Erich Rasner, had also attended the Mass with many other believers and witnessed the dramatic scenes.

The shock in Wiesmath at the loss of the popular priest is great. Beisteiner had shaped the spiritual life of the parish for almost two decades and was highly regarded far beyond the community.

Rasner praised him as an “extremely conscientious, sensitive priest” and also emphasized the personal loss of a friendship that had grown over many years.

A prayer service was organized at short notice for the late priest. It was attended by numerous priests from the deanery as well as Archbishop Josef Grünwidl.

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