China: Black Swan Seen Scooping Leaves in Reverse at Zhaotong University

On November 15, 2025, in Zhaotong, Yunnan, a video captured the unusual sight of a black swan at Zhaotong University moving backward across a pond while repeatedly scooping leaves toward the shore.

Botswana's indigenous food vendors blend tradition with health

STORY: Botswana's indigenous food vendors blend tradition with health SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 25, 2023 DATELINE: Dec. 3, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:48 LOCATION: Gaborone CATEGORY: HEALTH/SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of food market 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English and Setswana): LESEGO TSHIDI MOTSHEGALETAU, Food vendor 3. various of food market 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): OMPHILE RASEDI, Customer 5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English and Setswana): THANDEKA PULE, Customer 6. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): JOHN NDERITU, Dietitian STORYLINE: In the bustling city of Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, lies Main Mall, one of the oldest and most eclectic markets in the country. Built in 1963, this vibrant marketplace is home to prolific hawkers, merchants and food vendors, offering a diverse array of flavors and colors amid high-rise concrete buildings. Lesego Tshidi Motshegaletau, an indigenous food vendor, owns a traditional food stall within this market. Her stall is a burst of colorful and flavorful offerings, including Sorghum bran, rice, mill

Strings of dried persimmons hung under eaves

Strings of dried persimmons hung under eaves

KATSURAGI, Japan - Strings of dried persimmons are hung under the eaves of a farmhouse in Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, on Nov. 9, 2009. The dried fruit is used to decorate special ''kagami-mochi'' New Year rice cakes. Kagami-mochi consist of two round, flat rice cakes -- a smaller one on top of a larger one -- and are used as offerings to the god of New Year.

Vietnamese celebrate traditional festival amid goods price hike

STORY: Vietnamese celebrate traditional festival amid goods price hike DATELINE: June 5, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:54 LOCATION: Hanoi CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Thanh Cong Market, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi, Vietnam 2. various of retailers busy preparing foods 3. various of a family making ceremonial offerings and enjoying foods STORYLINE: Sitting in a 4-square meter room of a boarding house with sheet metal rooftops, kidney patient Nguyen Thi Oanh was enjoying a bowl of fermented sticky rice on a scorching summer day. The fermented sticky rice the middle-aged woman was eating is the most typical dish of "Doan Ngo" (Duanwu in Chinese) Festival, also known as Double Fifth or Dragon Boat Festival, which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in Vietnam. It is similar to the Chinese dish Jiuniang, a mixture of partially digested rice grains floating in a sweet saccharified liquid, with small amounts of alcohol and lactic acid. Oanh, born in the northern province of Hai Duong, has rented a room

Taste the flavor of spring with a bite of Qingtuan

STORY: Taste the flavor of spring with a bite of Qingtuan DATELINE: April 4, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:49 LOCATION: NINGBO, China CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): GUO YUQI, Xinhua correspondent 2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese): YE SANJUAN, Villager STORYLINE: Smash juice out of leaves, mix the sticky rice and wrap the stuffings, then you have a savory green rice ball, or Qingtuan. STANDUP (English): GUO YUQI, Xinhua correspondent "One of the ingredients of Qingtuan, the wormwood, grows well in the season of rains and greens. Qingtuan has become a special food of the day and signifies the peak of spring. Today I'm at Ninghai in east China's Zhejiang to join a family where different generations are gathering together to make the food and celebrate the day." In China, the Qingming Festival is for families to visit their ancestors' tombs and make ritual offerings. The steamed Qingtuan is not only the carrier of craftsmanship but also the ceremony for thousands of families to convey their sincere feelings of

Strings of dried persimmons hung under eaves

Strings of dried persimmons hung under eaves

KATSURAGI, Japan - Strings of dried persimmons are hung under the eaves of a farmhouse in Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, on Nov. 9, 2009. The dried fruit is used to decorate special ''kagami-mochi'' New Year rice cakes. Kagami-mochi consist of two round, flat rice cakes -- a smaller one on top of a larger one -- and are used as offerings to the god of New Year. (Kyodo)