Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen says that Honduras’ decision to break diplomatic relations with Taipei in favour of China is ‘regrettable’. The switch by the Central American nation cuts to 13 the number of countries that still diplomatically recognise Taiwan, which has lost several Latin American allies in recent years.
Villanueva de Viver (Spain) (AFP) – Some 700 firefighters are battling Spain’s first major forest fire of the year, which is raging out of control 48 hours after it began.
Seoul (AFP) – A zebra that escaped its pen and roamed for hours through the South Korean capital, captivating the internet and sparking thousands of memes, is safely back at the zoo, officials say. Sero the zebra is back in his pen in a “stable condition, healthy and sound,” an official at the Seoul Children’s Grand Park said, after the animal spent three hours Thursday trotting along roads and dodging cars before he was finally cornered by park wardens. Sero, aged 3, was tranquilised and caught using a safety fence after he entered a narrow alleyway, before being returned to the zoo.
Lviv (Ukraine) (AFP) – At a historic military cemetery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, Valeriy Pushko lights up two cigarettes. One is for himself, the other for his son whose portrait is fixed to a cross planted in the ground.
Rovaniemi (Finland) (AFP) – A spectacular display of colourful lights illuminates the skies in Northern Finland caused by a powerful geomagnetic storm.
Munich (Germany) (AFP) – Newly-appointed Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel says being offered the position is an ‘honour’. Tuchel, 49, has replaced the sacked Julien Nagelsmann in charge of the six-time Champions League winners.
Siem Reap (Cambodia) (AFP) – A Cambodian airplane fanatic has built his house shaped like a private jet — despite never having been up in the air himself. Construction worker Chrach Peou spent his $20,000 life savings building the concrete plane.
Madrid (AFP) – Visitors are enjoying an up-close look at the history and innovation behind Formula 1 at the first official exhibition in Madrid. Among the exhibits are the remains of Romain Grosjean’s car that crashed and burst into flames at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2020.
Lisse (Netherlands) (AFP) – Keukenhof, the world’s largest flower garden, opens its display of spring blooms to visitors, showcasing millions of blooming tulips, daffodils and other bulbs in the southern Netherlands.
Berlin (AFP) – A funeral has been held for thousands of human bone fragments found during excavations at Berlin’s Freie Universitaet, thought to have been part of “scientific” collections held by the Nazis. The site where they were found was once home to the notorious Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics (KWIA). Experts concluded that the bones came from “criminal contexts” dating back to the colonial period in particular, but that “some of the bones may also have come from victims of Nazi crimes”.
