Peter Barakan (born 20 August 1951, London, England), is an English-born DJ, freelance experienced broadcaster, and an author of books on music and English language education. He is best known as the presenter for Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus on NHK World. In Japan, he is known as the radio host of "Barakan Beat" on InterFM, "Weekend Sunshine" on NHK FM, and Lifestyle Museum on Tokyo FM. Barakan also curates "Live Magic!", presented by , Tower Records, and InterFM. It is a two-day festival intent on promoting obscure western artists to a wider Japanese audience.

The 2021 Hong Kong Legislative Council election is scheduled on 19 December 2021 for the 7th Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo). Under the new framework imposed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), the electoral system was drastically changed. The total number of the Legislative Council seats would be increased from 70 to 90 seats, 20 of which are from the directly elected geographical constituencies (GCs), which were reduced from 35; 30 seats remain from the trade-based indirectly elected functional constituencies (FCs); while an extra number of 40 seats will be elected by the Election Committee. Originally scheduled on 6 September 2020, Chief Executive Carrie Lam postponed the election, citing the COVID-19 pandemic five weeks before the scheduled election date. The delay was seen as a blow to the pro-democrats who hoped to achieve "35+" majority in the legislature for the first time by riding on the 2019 District Council landslide with the wave of massive anti-government protests. After the postponement, the NPCSC unseated four pro-democracy legislators which triggered the mass resignation of the opposition camp, while the police raided pro-democracy media outlet and arrested 55 opposition leaders who participated in the primaries under the newly imposed national security law. In March 2021, the NPCSC amended the Basic Law of Hong Kong which extensively rewrote the electoral rules.

Quidditch is a sport of two teams of seven players each mounted on a broomstick, played on a hockey rink-sized pitch. The sport was created in 2005 and is actively growing and played around the world.[5] It is based on a fictional game of the same name invented by author J. K. Rowling, which is featured in the Harry Potter series of novels and related media.[3] The game is also sometimes referred to as muggle quidditch to distinguish it from the fictional game, which involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls. In the Harry Potter universe, a "muggle" is a person without the power to use magic. The pitch is rectangular 60 by 36 yards (55 by 33 m) with 3 hoops of varying heights at either end.[4] The ultimate goal is to have more points than the other team by the time the snitch, a tennis ball inside a long sock hanging from the shorts of an impartial official dressed in yellow, is caught. Rules of the sport are governed by the International Quidditch Association, or the IQA, and events are sanctioned by either the IQA or that nation's governing body. To score points, chasers or keepers must get the quaffle, a slightly deflated volleyball, into one of three of the opposing hoops, which scores the team 10 points.[6] To impede the quaffle from advancing down the pitch, chasers and keepers can tackle opposing chasers and keepers at the same time as beaters using their bludgers—dodgeballs—to take out opposing players. Once a player is hit by an opposing bludger, that player must dismount their broom, drop any ball being held, and return to touch their hoops before being allowed back into play.[7] The game is ended once the snitch is caught by one of the seekers, awarding that team 30 points.[8] A team consists of a minimum of seven (maximum 21) players, of which six are always on the pitch, those being the three chasers, one keeper, and two beaters. Besides the seeker who is off-pitch, the six players are required to abide by the gender rule, which states that a team may have a maximum of four players who identify as the same gender, making quidditch one of the few sports that not only offers a co-ed environment but an open community to those who do not identify with the gender binary.[10] Matches or games often run about 30 to 40 minutes but tend to be subject to varying lengths of time due to the unpredictable nature of the snitch catch. If the score at the end of the match including the 30 point snitch catch is tied (such that the team that caught the snitch was 30 points behind the other), the game moves to overtime where the snitch is constrained to the pitch's dimensions and the game ends after five minutes or when the snitch is legally caught.