Preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics are underway, as Chinese-manufactured table tennis tables and associated facilities have arrived and are being set up at the venue.
The tables, designed by a renowned Chinese sports equipment maker, feature a sleek black hue with pink accents and rainbow-shaped curved bases, enhanced by a variable lighting system controlled by embedded chips.
Design elements include three-dimensionally crafted features such as the "Paris 2024" logo and Olympic rings, strategically angled to avoid interference during competition.
Craftsmanship of the table's surface has been optimized to enhance friction and bounce effects through advanced technological processes.
"The table surface is treated with a special polymer, so players feel it's as smooth as ice when they touch it. This should be the latest technology in the entire industry," said Lou Shihe, general manager of the table tennis table manufacturer.
These tables have garnered acclaim from the Paris Olympics organizing committee and received special approval for their innovative color scheme from the International Table Tennis Federation.
The table tennis events at the Paris Olympics are scheduled to commence on July 27.
Advanced, colorful table tennis tables to debut at Paris Olympics
Advanced, colorful table tennis tables to debut at Paris Olympics
Half of children under the age of five in Yemen are malnourished, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday, underscoring how a decade of conflict has been catastrophic for the country's young population.
The decade-long conflict has devastated the country's economy, healthcare system, and infrastructure, leaving more than half of the population reliant on humanitarian aid to survive, Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative to Yemen, said via a video link from Yemeni capital city of Sanaa, at a press briefing on the situation for children in Yemen after 10 years of conflict.
He warned that the country is registering a staggeringly high child malnutrition rate, while mothers and expecting mothers face similar challenges.
"One in two children under the age of five are malnourished in Yemen today. This is a statistic that is almost unparalleled across the world. Among them are over 540,000 girls and boys who are severely and acutely malnourished. Equally alarming are the 1.4 million pregnant and lactating women who are malnourished," said Hawkins.
He added that severe and acute malnutrition rates of 33 percent have been recorded in certain areas including the west of the country.
Yemen's conflict entered its second decade in 2024 since the Houthis stormed Sanaa on September 21, 2014, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile.
Half of Yemen's children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition: UNICEF
