'The Herds' begins its journey from central Africa to the Arctic Circle

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — In the Kinshasa Botanical Garden, a troupe of cardboard animals – monkeys, a gorilla, leopards, a giraffe – stand at attention in a clearing. Their handlers, puppeteers dressed in black, begin to move slowly through the woods, eventually picking up speed and breaking out into a run.

These were the first steps of “The Herds,” a moving theater performance made up of cardboard puppet animals that flee from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis.

This week, the puppet animals started their journey in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC in central Africa. The story goes that the animals will be forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming and displaced north, stopping in cities along the way and being joined by more animals.

Just meters (yards) away a real-life example of climate change: Part of the botanical garden lay under floodwaters left over from massive flooding earlier this week that left half the city inaccessible and killed dozens. The sight brought “The Herds” story to life in a bleak way. The main event planned in the center of Kinshasa on Friday was canceled because of the heavy rain.

“The Herds” comes from the team that was behind “The Walk” in 2021, in which a 12-foot tall puppet of a refugee girl called Little Amal drew attention to the refugee crisis by traveling to 15 countries — from Turkey to the U.K., Ukraine, Mexico and the U.S.

Tshoper Kabambi, a Congolese filmmaker and producer, is working on “The Herds” as its DRC producer. He said “The Herds” main goal is to raise awareness.

“Nature is very important to us. But humans have a tendency to neglect nature,” he said. “We want to raise awareness among people about everything that is happening. You have seen the floods all over the world, global warming, deforestation.”

“The Herds” will stay in Kinshasa until Saturday before moving onto Lagos, Nigeria, and Dakar, Senegal.

“The Herds” organizers say the significance of starting in Congo lies in the fact that the country is home to the second biggest rainforest in the world. The Congo Basin serves as one of the planet’s “lungs,” the other being the Amazon Rainforest.

They say much less attention has been focused on Congo’s rainforest, but it is still in dire need of protection.

Congolese artists were an integral part of “The Herds” opening act, just as artists from other countries will be as the project moves north.

Amir Nizar Zuabi was on that team and is now the artistic director of “The Herds.” He was also a part of “The Walk.”

“I think one of the big impacts of this project is the fact that this project is happening in 20 different cities," he said. "It will travel through different cultures, different places, and it accumulates. And it will tell the story of the Congo also in Norway, because we have partners everywhere."

Puppeteers move cardboard animals through DRC's capital Kinshasa's botanical gardens Thursday, April 10, 2025, the first steps of "The Herds", a moving theatre performance that will travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals through DRC's capital Kinshasa's botanical gardens Thursday, April 10, 2025, the first steps of "The Herds", a moving theatre performance that will travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals through DRC's capital Kinshasa's botanical gardens Thursday, April 10, 2025, the first steps of "The Herds", a moving theatre performance that will travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals through DRC's capital Kinshasa's botanical gardens Thursday, April 10, 2025, the first steps of "The Herds", a moving theatre performance that will travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

Puppeteers move cardboard animals through DRC's capital Kinshasa's botanical gardens Thursday, April 10, 2025, the first steps of "The Herds", a moving theatre performance that will travel from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A former Polish justice minister who faces prosecution in his homeland over alleged abuse of power said Monday that he has been granted asylum in Hungary.

Zbigniew Ziobro was a key figure in the government led by the nationalist conservative Law and Justice party that ran Poland between 2015 and 2023. That administration established political control over key judicial institutions by stacking higher courts with friendly judges and punishing its critics with disciplinary action or assignments to far-away locations.

Current Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government came to power more than two years ago with ambitions to roll back the changes, but efforts to undo them have been blocked by two successive presidents aligned with the national right.

In October, prosecutors requested the lifting of Ziobro's parliamentary immunity to press charges against him. They allege among other things that Ziobro misused a fund for victims of violence, including for the purchase of Israeli Pegasus surveillance software.

Tusk’s party says Law and Justice used Pegasus to spy illegally on political opponents while in power. Ziobro says he acted lawfully.

Hungary, led by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has hosted several politicians close to Law and Justice while Polish authorities were seeking them.

In a lengthy post on X Monday, Ziobro wrote that he had “decided to accept the asylum granted to me by the government of Hungary due to the political persecution in Poland.”

“I have decided to remain abroad until genuine guarantees of the rule of law are restored in Poland,” he said. “I believe that instead of acquiescing to being silenced and subjected to a torrent of lies — which I would have no opportunity to refute — I can do more by fighting the mounting lawlessness in Poland.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Monday that Hungarian authorities have granted asylum to “several” individuals who would face political persecution in Poland, according to his ministry. He declined to specify their names.

In an English-language post on X, Tusk wrote that “the former Minister of Justice(!), Mr. Ziobro, who was the mastermind of the political corruption system, has asked the government of Victor Orbán for political asylum.”

“A logical choice,” he added.

FILE - The leader of the Polish junior coalition partners Zbigniew Ziobro, speaks to reporters alongside in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, file)