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Tzucacab (Mexico) (AFP) – As night falls in Mexico’s Yucatan jungle, veterinarian Omar Garcia extracts blood and fluids from a bat as part of an investigation aimed at preventing the next potential pandemic. The goal of the project is to detect zoonoses, diseases transmitted from animals to humans. As well as disease detection, the project also speaks to communities in areas at risk, like the Yucatan peninsula, where deforestation has brought humans into closer proximity with wild and disease-bearing animals.

Pingtan (China) (AFP) – Images of a Chinese warship and helicopters deployed to the Taiwan strait on Friday, two days after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The meeting sparked an angry reaction from Beijing, which vowed a “firm and forceful” response.

Taoyuan (Taiwan) (AFP) – Returning to Taiwan after a round of diplomatic visits, President Tsai Ing-wen thanks “all my fellow citizens, both at home and abroad…for your solidarity and cooperation”. Tsai has been visiting Taiwan’s remaining allies in Latin America and on Wednesday travelled north to meet US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a rendezvous that sparked fury in Beijing.

Beijing (AFP) – Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning says the “Taiwan question is not an issue of democracy” and “some countries exaggerate the false narrative of democracy versus authoritarianism” in an attempt to contain China, an approach she goes on to describe as “extremely dangerous.”

Paris (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in nationwide protests in France Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms. The controversial reforms seek to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Klungkung (Indonesia) (AFP) – Indonesian animal experts were preparing Thursday to conduct an autopsy on an 18-metre whale that died after washing up on a beach in Bali. Forensic experts are investigating the cause of its death.

Blumenau (Brazil) (AFP) – Mourners hold a candlelight vigil for four children who were killed by a man armed with a small axe at a preschool in the southern Brazilian city of Blumenau. The attacker also wounded four other children before turning himself in to the police.

Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Israel launches air strikes on the Gaza Strip, after vowing to retaliate over a barrage of cross-border rockets fired from Lebanon, which it blamed on Palestinian groups. IMAGES

Washington (AFP) – The White House says that US President Joe Biden “is not focused” on the indictment of former commander-in-chief, Donald Trump. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says that Biden is instead focused on building an economy “that leaves no one behind”. In the same press conference, Jean-Pierre addresses China’s response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the United States, saying there is no reason for Beijing to “overreact”.

Beijing (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron says he is pleased to have the opportunity to discuss “major bilateral issues”, as well as the “context of the war that is raging in Ukraine” during his meeting with the chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, Zhao Leji, in Beijing.

Dunajská Lužná (Slovakia) (AFP) – Working through the night, staff at a Slovakian orchard carefully place paraffin flames under cherry trees. These are just one tool in the fight to save the trees’ precious buds against spring frost. To maintain a temperature between -1 and 0 degrees, workers use candles, pellet stoves, and smoke machines for the cherry trees, while apple trees are covered in ice, a procedure which creates a bubble around the buds, maintaining the most sensitive parts at a temperature of 0 degrees.

Taipei (AFP) – Residents of Taiwan express mixed feelings about this week’s meeting between President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s visit to the US sparked an angry response from China, with Beijing vowing a “firm and forceful” response, before deploying a number of warships to waters around Taiwan. “It’s meaningless” says one man in Taipei, “the only thing out of it is a newspaper headline.”