AFP Video

Ghazni (Afghanistan) (AFP) – At the Ghazni Court of Appeal in eastern Afghanistan, an old man sentenced to death for murder pleads for his life. The 75-year-old admits to having killed a relative. Under the strict interpretation of Sharia ordered by the Taliban’s supreme leader, he faces public execution — with the sentence carried out by a relative of his victim. AFP had rare access to a court in Ghazni to see how sharia justice is being administered since the Taliban returned to power in August last year.

Fiji (Fiji) (AFP) – The sea has already swallowed the village graveyard in Togoru, Fiji, and long-time resident Lavenia McGoon is dreading the day it claims her house. She has piled old rubber car tyres under the coconut trees that line the beachfront, hoping this makeshift seawall will at least buy her some time. The 70-year-old believes climate change, and the creeping ocean, will inevitably force her family to leave.

Beijing (AFP) – China’s Commissioner for the National Bureau of Statistics, Kang Yi, says the country’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades. “By the end of 2022, the national population was 1.41 billion people, a decrease of 0.85 million over that at the end of 2021.”

Hung Yen (Vietnam) (AFP) – On a farm close to Hanoi, Le Van Hien picks out his best bird among 2,000 ‘dragon chickens’ — a breed with legs as thick as a brick that can fetch up to $2,000 a head, popular among the wealth during Lunar New Year. The lumpy legs of the Dong Tao chicken — named after the commune where they’re bred in northern Vietnam — are considered a delicacy and are a particularly popular dish among the wealthy during Vietnamese new year, known as Tet.

Shanghai (AFP) – As Chinese authorities report that the country’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, residents of Beijing and Shanghai give their views. Some see population decline as “inevitable” at a time when young people are increasingly choosing not to have children. The Chinese population stood at around 1,411,750,000 at the end of 2022, Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported, a decrease of 850,000 from the end of the previous year.

Athens (AFP) – People queue to pay their last respects to Greece’s former and last king, Constantine II, ahead of his funeral in Athens. Constantine, who died last week at the age of 82, was the king of Greece until 1973, when a military junta abolished the monarchy.

Darra Adamkhel (Pakistan) (AFP) – The town of Darra Adamkhel lies within Pakistan’s conservative tribal belt, where decades of militancy and drug-running in the surrounding mountains earned it a reputation as a “wild west” waypoint between Pakistan and Afghanistan. But a short walk away from the gun market, a town library is thriving.

Cusco (Peru) (AFP) – Dozens of peasants organise themselves in Cusco province to leave for Lima, bracing for a new rally against Peruvian President Dina Boluarte on Monday following weeks of deadly unrest. At least 42 people have died in five weeks of clashes between protesters and security forces, according to Peru’s human rights ombudsman. IMAGES

Tel Aviv (AFP) – On 14 January tens of thousands protested in Tel Aviv against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government, which critics say threatens Israeli democracy. His government has announced controversial measures like settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, social reforms that worry members and supporters of the LGBTQ community and a controversial plan to hand more powers to lawmakers in appointing judges and overriding Supreme Court decisions.

Al-Qassim (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – One of the longest river valleys in Saudi Arabia, the Wadi Al-Rummah is overflowing with water. Stretching over almost 600 kilometres, the valley has flooded after two weeks of heavy rainfall in the eastern part of the Qassim region. The river valley had been almost dried up for years and partly blocked by encroaching sand dunes. of the Wadi Al-Rummah flooding