Singapore (AFP) – After a series of rapid passes and powerful jumps, Irene Tan slams the ball into a trampoline-like “rebounder” to score a point. Singapore has only ever produced a few world champions, but the city-state is ranked number one in women’s tchoukball — a little-known sport similar to handball.
Lahore (Pakistan) (AFP) – Supporters of the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, gather outside of his house in Lahore after police attempted to arrest Khan. The arrest warrant was issued after Khan failed to appear in court in a corruption case on February 28. Khan is accused of failing to declare gifts received during his time in office or the profit made from selling them.
Vatican City (AFP) – In his Sunday’s Angelus prayer Pope Francis prays for the victims of Greece’s train accident, for the migrants who died on the Italian shore and for the Ukrainian people still at war.
Las Vegas (AFP) – “I’m not sorry for the French fans”, says mixed martial arts legend Jon Jones after a stunning first-round victory over France’s Ciryl Gane to claim the vacant UFC heavyweight crown. Former light heavyweight champion Jones, making his return to the Octagon after more than a three-year absence, forced Gane into a submission after just two minutes and four seconds of the opening round.
Bamako (AFP) – People from Mali and Ivory Coast living in Tunisia arrive back home after boarding repatriation flights, fearful of a wave of violence since the Tunisia’s president launched a tirade against migrants. Last month President Kais Saied ordered officials to take “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration, claiming without evidence that “a criminal plot” was underway “to change Tunisia’s demographic makeup”.
Tallinn (AFP) – Estonians began voting to elect a new parliament on Sunday in a poll that could bolster far-right nationalists, who have campaigned on opposing further arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Beijing (AFP) – President Xi Jingping joins thousands of other delegates for the opening of the annual National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp parliament. In an opening report, the Chinese government said it would aim for economic growth of “around five percent” for the coming year — one of its lowest in decades.
Geneva (AFP) – The World Health Organization urges all countries to reveal what they know about the origins of Covid-19, following US claims of a Chinese lab leak, countered by furious denials from Beijing. “If any country has information about the origins of the pandemic, it’s essential for that information to be shared with WHO and the international scientific community,” says WHO’s Director General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – In Ukraine, a country that elected former comedian Volodymyr Zelensky as president, it didn’t take long for the stand-up scene to reboot in the wake of Russia’s invasion. But the jokes are not quite the same anymore. “All my humour is built on my personal experiences” says Maryna Voytsekhovska “and at the moment, the war absorbs all of our lives, so my jokes also revolve around it”. Ivan Zhornokley, a comedy night organiser explains that his events “show that we are laughing and therefore we are not surrendering.”
London (AFP) – An unusual bed could see its first royal sleepover on the eve of King Charles III’s coronation if a tradition dating back to medieval times sees a revival. The “State Bed”, never used after it was remade after a fire in 1834, is in a dedicated room in parliament’s Speaker’s quarters where it returned after going missing in the 1960s when a family bought for £100 at an auction.
