10 must-reads for today

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The Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with its Gothic-Renaissance architecture and plethora of carvings, tiles and sculptures, holds about 350,000 books, some of them very rare. The library today, however, is more a tourist attraction and selfie backdrop than a reading room.

A tsunami struck the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra yesterday, killing and injuring hundreds. Buildings were heavily damaged and thousands had to evacuate.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 24, 2018, with the headline 10 must-reads for today. Subscribe