It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Lapland, where Santa's office is said to be located. Elves and reindeer are preparing for their journey to every home in the world to deliver countless presents. Santa is - almost - on his way. With just over a week to go before Christmas, he's busy preparing for the big day. Lapland's capital Rovaniemi, in Finland, is said to be the official home of Santa Claus and his little helpers. It's located near the Arctic Circle, where snow covers all trees in the winter months. Visitors can meet the man in person in Santa Claus Village, a theme park dedicated to Santa. Annabelle and Alexandra, aged 5 and 9, who live in the UK, were spending a few days in Lapland ahead of Christmas. Annabelle was hoping to be on the nice list, so she asked for a puppy, just like she did last year. Rovaniemi expects to break pre-pandemic tourism records this Christmas season, with visitor numbers up by 20% compared to 2022. Most visitors to the Village are families with children. Alice, who was visiting from Dublin in Ireland, was excited to spend time in Lapland. "I also really enjoy the magic of Christmas and I love snow and things like that," she says. The theme park caters to adults too, with a bar and a restaurant featuring tables and stools carved out of ice. Gisela Gonzales, who travelled from California, US, had a mushroom soup. This trip was an emotional one for her. "I cried when I got here," Gonzales said. "It's an amazing feeling to be here, where Santa Claus is actually from," she says. According to Visit Rovaniemi, Santa Claus Village welcomes about 500,000 visitors per year, making it one of the top attractions in the region.

Viktoria Kovalenko chose to come to England not only because it offered her refuge from the war in Ukraine. It was also a chance for her to escape from her harrowing memories of losing her family in a shell attack. Kovalenko, 34, witnessed the death of her husband Petro and 12-year-old daughter Veronika last March when the car they were in was hit by a shell in northern Ukraine. Kovalenko survived, along with her then one-year-old baby, Varvara, but they were soon picked up by Russian soldiers and held captive in a school basement for three weeks. Almost a year on from that ordeal, Kovalenko has found a temporary new home in a quiet English village with the kindness of volunteers, who helped her cross borders and apply for a UK visa. But she hasn’t yet found a way to live with her grief and trauma. ""(I get) some obsessive thoughts, fears or just tiredness from everything I experienced," she said. Like tens of thousands of other Ukrainians who have fled to the UK, Kovalenko is slowly getting used to her new life. Her English is improving day by day. She keeps busy taking care of Varvara, now a 2-year-old who toddles everywhere with no fear and loves British chocolate. She shares her refuge with her brother, his wife and their two young girls, who also escaped unharmed. But Kovalenko still wells up when she speaks about Petro and Veronika or look at their images, which she keeps in photo frames next to her bed. And every day she longs to return to Chernihiv, the city she fled when war broke out last February. On March 5, 2022, the family of four were near a Russian checkpoint near the village Yahidne when a shell exploded, killing Petro and Veronika on the spot. Kovalenko and Varvara hid in an abandoned building nearby, but the next day they were found by Russian soldiers who took them to a gym in the basement of a school in Yahidne. There the mother and child were held by Russian soldiers for 24 days, along with about 300 people including babies as young as two months old and elderly villagers who later died during captivity. "People were sick, coughing; some slept on the floor, some on a chair, and some slept standing up," Kovalenko recalled. "At night, they (people) went to the toilet in a bucket, it was difficult to breathe." When the Russians retreated from the village in early April, Kovalenko got out and later found her way to Lviv, then on to Poland, where she joined her brother and his family. It was in Poland that a volunteer reached out and offered to help find her refuge in the UK. The volunteer was working with Derek Edwards, a Briton who set up an organization called Homes for Ukraine soon after the war started to help transport dozens of Ukrainian refugees to safe housing in England. Kovalenko said she knew next to nothing about the U.K., but decided to go anyway because she thought being on the move would help her process her grief. In December, six months after Edwards first submitted her visa request, Kovalenko finally arrived in Kent. Edwards had picked up Kovalenko and her relatives from Poland, and found her a former vicar's house with the help of church officials. She took in the quiet country lanes, the village green and old brick houses, the everyday luxuries that British people take for granted. But all she could think about was returning to her apartment block in Chernihiv. By year end, the war could be over, she said hopefully. Then, she said, she could restart therapy, find a job and rebuild her life.

Londoners reacted on Thursday to the news that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced his resignation. There was a big smile on Jo's face, who was visiting London from Sheffield. She said she was "massively relieved". Marek Pytel, who was cycling past Downing Street from Covent Garden, on the way back to Brixton, where he lives, was also pleased to hear the news. Conservative party supporter, Maria, had high hopes for the future party leader. "I think things will improve," she said. Johnson's resignation, which came after dozens of ministers quit his government in protest, sparks a party contest to replace him as leader. All Conservative lawmakers are eligible to run, and party officials could open the nominations within hours. AP video shot by: Tristan Werkmeister

SHOTLIST: RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP AND SNTV CLIENTS MAY USE ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP AND SNTV CLIENTS MAY USE Sheffield - 5 August 2021 1. Various of boxer Thomas Essomba and trainer Pearce Gudgeon getting ready for training 2. Various of Essomba and Gudgeon in ring 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Essomba, boxer who defected from Cameroon: "All my life was there. I came here for nine years (ago). I'm 33 years (old) man. All my life was in Cameroon. Even when I have (British) citizenship here, do you understand, but my grandparents, my mom, my children, all of them, they're in Cameroon. I have to miss Cameron, because it's where I was born." 4. Tilt down on sign 5. Essomba and Gudgeon talking 6. Various of Essomba training 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Essomba, boxer who defected from Cameroon: ++PART OVERLAID++ "It was very difficult to decide. But all the way I said, 'listen, my life first', I had to try to protect my life. The only thing I was scared of was going back and stop doing boxing, because boxing is all my life. They don't like challenge, because I've tried to challenge them and my life became dangerous." 8. Various of Essomba on treadmill 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Essomba, boxer who defected from Cameroon: ++PART OVERLAID++ "In the Olympic Village, you're not in prison, isn't it? You are not in prison. You have the right to walk, go anywhere you want. So, we just left. I remember we had a bus ticket, we just took the bus and then we went somewhere and then we got accommodation. I didn't know anything about the U.K. Even applying for asylum, I didn't know that I was supposed to apply for asylum." 10. Various of Essomba and Gudgeon training in ring 11. Focus pull to Union Flag 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Essomba, boxer who defected from Cameroon: ++PART OVERLAID++ "I haven't done my goal yet. My goal is to have the British title. This is my hope. I want to have it. I want to write my name in the U.K. So that's why I keep fighting. I believe that I will do it." 13. Various of Essomba punching bags 14. Low angle of Essomba and Gudgeon training in ring STORYLINE: When boxer Thomas Essomba walked out of the London Olympic Village with his suitcases in 2012, he left behind his life in Cameroon to start from scratch in a country he knew next to nothing about. Essomba, who was captain of his country's boxing team, disappeared with four other boxers during the Games nine years ago. Of the 37 athletes Cameroon sent to London, seven - including a swimmer and a female soccer player - never went home after completing their events. In the decade that followed, Essomba said he sometimes struggled to reconcile his yearning for his family in Cameroon and his dream of becoming a successful boxer in the U.K. "It was very difficult to decide," the 33-year-old told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday at his gym in Sheffield in the north of England. The stories of young athletes who defect during the Olympics often capture the world's imagination. This week, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya left the Tokyo Games and sought refuge in Poland, saying team officials tried to force her to fly home early after she criticized them. The 24-year-old runner said her move was not premeditated, and it's not clear what's next for her. Hundreds of athletes have sought asylum at global sporting events, especially during the Cold War, to flee authoritarian rule at home or to seek a better life in the West. At the London Olympics in 2012, several other athletes from other African teams also disappeared and reportedly sought asylum. Essomba maintained he had a good life back home and did not plan to escape before arriving in London. The reasons behind his decision weren't entirely clear: the boxer said he ran into trouble with Cameroonian government sports officials, but did not elaborate. "The only thing I was scared of was going back and stopping doing boxing, because boxing is all my life," Essomba said. "They don't like challenge, because I've tried to challenge them and my life became dangerous." Cameroon, a predominantly French-speaking nation of 26 million in Central Africa, has a high poverty rate and stark inequality between rural and urban areas. President Paul Biya has been in power since 1982, and critics accuse him of political oppression and persecuting his adversaries. Essomba said he still missed his home country, not least because "my grandparents, my mom, my children" remained there. Once out of the Olympic Village the athletes took a bus to south London, found a place to live and stayed there for weeks while a lawyer helped them with the paperwork they needed to apply for asylum with the British government. At the time, they all had six-month visas allowing them to stay in the U.K., Essomba himself spoke next to no English. "I didn't know anything about the U.K. Even applying for asylum, I didn't know that I was supposed to apply for asylum," Essomba said.

SHOTLIST: RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS London - 8 August 2021 ++NIGHT SHOTS++ 1. Various of Heaven nightclub 2. Various of vaccine recipient Sarah Golding talking to vaccination staff member 3. Golding being vaccinated 4. Pan of Golding walking 5. Mid of Golding talking to staff member 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Golding, vaccine recipient: "Someone outside the station was like 'Do you want your vaccine?' and I was like, 'Sure, where?' and he was like 'Heaven (nightclub),' and I was like, 'I haven't been to a club in months, absolutely, let's go'." 7. Various exteriors of Heaven nightclub 8. Low angle shot of club entrance 9. Mid of back of t-shirt of staff member reading (English): "Get vaxxed at Heaven" 10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Joseph, owner of Heaven nightclub: "I've been trying to do this for maybe six or eight months. When we were in lockdown and when we were closed and they were choosing places to have a vaccination centre, I wrote to everybody: the NHS, the government, Westminster City Council, my MP, everybody's and said I've got an empty venue, please use it. It's a waste, you know, we're closed." 11. Various of vaccine recipient and drag queen Baga Chipz getting vaccinated 12. Close of vaccination stickers 13. Mid of Chipz 14. Close of sticker 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Baga Chipz, vaccine recipient and drag queen: "Obviously, I've heard about (vaccine) passports coming in and all that, and I work in the entertainment industry, so I wouldn't be able to work and also I just want to keep other people safe. Even though I might be healthy, you can still pass it on to older people, vulnerable people. So it's about keeping everyone safe." 16. Various of staff preparing vaccine doses 17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ricardo Bega, vaccine recipient: "For me, it's quite unusual, but it's really nice because it's a place -- I guess I have been like three or four times partying here. And when you see it like completely empty and with tables (with) like people vaccinated, it's amazing, actually." 18. Close of medical supplies 19. Mid of laptop on table 20. Wide of interior of club STORYLINE: One of London's most famous nightlife venues was turned into a pop-up vaccination centre on Sunday as the UK continued to press ahead with its COVID-19 vaccination campaign. The country's health service had prepared about 1,200 jabs, but more nurses than patients attended the make shift site at Heaven nightclub throughout most of the afternoon. Despite the low turnout, most were happy to get their first or second dose of the Pfizer vaccine while listening to pop singers like Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. "Someone outside the station was like 'Do you want the vaccine?' and I was like, 'Sure, where?' and he was like 'Heaven,' and I was like, 'I haven't been to a club in months, absolutely, let's go," said Sarah Golding who received her vaccine at the nightclub. The special vaccination event was the idea of Jeremy Joseph, owner of the club. He said he had been trying to get authorities to agree to use the nightclub as a vaccine centre for months and he was happy they had finally agreed to use the venue. Heaven nightclub is a pillar of the LGBT community in the UK and home to many drag queen shows. Baga Chipz, a former contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race UK, popped down on Sunday to receive the vaccine. "Even though I might be healthy, you can still pass it on to older people, vulnerable people. So it's about keeping everyone safe," said Baga Chipz. Amongst nurses, the priority was to make sure that no vial would go to waste. Doses of the vaccine were carefully prepared in small batches as more people came in. The special event comes amid evidence that the vaccination drive among younger adults in Britain has slowed down in recent weeks, a trend that's prompted the government to offer incentives like discounts and free pizza to persuade young people to get the shot. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory.