AFP Video

Hong Kong (AFP) – The game of Mahjong is an integral part of Chinese culture, but the manufacturing of the games tiles has become largely automated. In Hong Kong, Cheung Shun-king is one of the last remaining hand-carvers of mahjong tiles. The hand-carving and painting process is a time-consuming one, and Cheung’s tiles cost significantly more than their machine-made counterparts. But having been in the business for nearly 3 decades, he says he’ll keep serving his dwindling customer base for as long as he can. 

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says in his daily address that Russia has “provoked a food crisis in order to use grain, corn and oil supplies as weapons” as the first Ukrainian grain shipment since the Russian invasion reaches Turkey.

Taipei (AFP) – US Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen meet at the Presidential Palace in Taipei. Pelosi’s visit defied a string of increasingly stark warnings and threats from China, which views Taiwan as its territory and had warned it would consider her visit a major provocation. IMAGES

Taipei (AFP) – US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is given the Order of Propitious Clouds cordon by Taiwan President Tsang Ing-wen for the recognition of her roles and contributions in promoting the relations between Taiwan and the United States. IMAGES

Musandam Governorate, oman (Oman) (AFP) – Roads are destroyed as water overflows from the Al Sarooj Dam in the Wilayat of Madha in Oman’s Musandam Governorate following flash floods in the southern Arabian Peninsula. complete VIDI32FV4J3_EN

Washington (AFP) – US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters that US President Biden welcomes the extension of a truce between Yemen’s warring parties, which he adds “has brought an unprecedented calm in Yemen.” The agreement to extend a four-month long truce for a further two months was reached just hours before it was due to expire, the United Nations announced.

Istanbul (AFP) – The first official shipment of Ukrainian grain since Russia’s invasion reaches Turkish territorial waters near the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait. The Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni is due to be inspected Wednesday near Istanbul by a team that includes Russian and Ukrainian officials before delivering its cargo of 26,000 tonnes of maize to Tripoli, Lebanon. IMAGES

Rustaq (Oman) (AFP) – Visitors at a waterfall in Rustaq, north of Oman, scream as a man is swept downstream during a flash flood. Sightseers make it out by scrambling up a rocky bank as fast-flowing flood water and debris surge in the southern Arabian Peninsula.

Saint-Aignan (France) (AFP) – Fans are given a treat at Beauval zoo park in France as twin pandas Huanlili and Yuandudu celebrate their first birthday in style. Huanlili shows appreciation by taking a lick from the birthday cake, and a bite of bamboo.

Moscow (AFP) – Moscow denounces a potential visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as a provocation, expressing full solidarity with ally China. Faced with unprecedented sanctions and international isolation over its military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine, Russia has sought closer ties with China and expressed solidarity with Beijing over Taiwan.