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Washington (United States) (AFP) – US President Donald says Iran is “not too strong at all,” adding “but we’re soon going to find out, aren’t we?” as he speaks next to the Easter Bunny at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, an event that opens the South Lawn to children to mark the holiday. He also praises the rescue of two servicemen shot down over Iran and lauds the US military: “I built it in my first term and I didn’t know I was going to be using it this much in my second term,” Trump says.

Ayutthaya (Thailand) (AFP) – Thai police seize 1.6 tonnes of ketamine and crystal methamphetamine buried under cabbages in the bed of a pickup truck, with the driver arrested on drug trafficking charges. The Thai man, aged 39, was arrested over the weekend when he stopped his truck at a petrol station in central Ayutthaya province, police said.

Doha (AFP) – Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari says the Middle East war is “very close” to a point where it cannot be controlled, as Doha urges all sides to find a resolution before the conflict spirals further. “We have been warning since 2023 that escalation left unchecked will get us into a situation where it cannot be controlled and we are very close to that point,” he says.

Lagos (AFP) – Thousands of revellers don elaborate costumes to bring the rhythm, vibrancy and colours of Brazil’s Rio Carnival to the streets of Lagos in Nigeria. For generations, the Fanti Carnival has been a living bridge between Brazil and Africa, reflecting the legacy of Afro-Brazilian returnees who settled in Lagos centuries ago after the abolition of slavery in the Americas.

Budapest (AFP) – US Vice President JD Vance throws his support behind Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, ahead of this weekend’s fiercely fought parliamentary elections, accusing Brussels of “foreign election interference”. Orban — the EU leader with the closest ties to US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin — is facing an unprecedented challenge to his 16-year rule in Sunday’s vote.

Brasilia (AFP) – Indigenous communities from all over Brazil begin a march in Brasilia to demand greater speed in the demarcation of land from the government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and to protest against Congress, six months before the elections in which the leftist leader is seeking re-election. IMAGES

Sydney (AFP) – One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers has been charged with murdering unarmed prisoners captured in Afghanistan, police said following a sweeping war crimes probe.

Johnson Space Center (United States) (AFP) – A look inside the Science Mission Operations Room, located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where scientists analyze materials sent by the Artemis II crew in real time. The astronauts have wrapped up their lunar flyby and are now journeying back to Earth.

Dans l’espace (AFP) – NASA mission control in Houston regains communications with Artemis astronauts traveling around the Moon after an expected blackout that lasted some 40 minutes. “We will always choose Earth, we will always choose each other,” says astronaut Christina Koch, in initial comments following the signal cut that happened as their spacecraft passed behind the Moon. IMAGES

Kyoto (Japan) (AFP) – Against a backdrop of blooming cherry blossoms, a group of geishas elegantly shuffle onto a stage in Japan’s Kyoto city to begin a centuries-old performance celebrating the arrival of spring.

In space (AFP) – Artemis mission commander Reid Wiseman describes the energy and excitement of the astronauts as they get closer views of the moon. “We’re lika bunch of little kids up here,” Wiseman tells Houston’s mission control. “We cannot get enough of this”. The astronauts are in the final phase of their run-up to a lunar loop, meaning the Moon’s gravity is now having a stronger pull on the spacecraft than Earth’s. IMAGES

Kabul (AFP) – Samira Muhammadi hopes an international investigation can “extinguish” her pain after a Pakistani bombing killed her son and hundreds of other Afghans in the capital Kabul. The March 16 attack hit a drug treatment centre and killed 411 people, according to Afghan officials.