Belgium Hosts Exhibition for Huge Chocolate Statues

A chocolate sculpture of an elephant is seen during the chocolate sculpture festival in Durbuy, Belgium March 29, 2018. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir)
A chocolate sculpture of an elephant is seen during the chocolate sculpture festival in Durbuy, Belgium March 29, 2018. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir)
TT

Belgium Hosts Exhibition for Huge Chocolate Statues

A chocolate sculpture of an elephant is seen during the chocolate sculpture festival in Durbuy, Belgium March 29, 2018. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir)
A chocolate sculpture of an elephant is seen during the chocolate sculpture festival in Durbuy, Belgium March 29, 2018. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir)

Dreams of chocolate lovers will come true in the Belgian city of Durbuy, which hosts an exhibition featuring giant sculptures of elephants and flamingos all crafted from Belgian chocolate.

According to Reuters, the animal creations, up to three meters tall, are the centerpiece of an exhibition in Belgium of around 50 chocolate pieces by 40 international artists.

The ChocoPalace festival, in the small city of Durbuy, southeast of Brussels, also features a chocolate river and stalls selling macaroons and boozy chocolate drinks.

The festival has already attracted more than 30,000 visitors and is set to draw in plenty more over the Easter holidays until it closes on April 8.

Durbuy, with a population of around 10,000, light-heartedly bills itself as “the smallest city in the world”, and attracts sightseers from nearby Brussels and Luxembourg.

Laura Trommelen, from PLG, the advertising group that has organized the festival, said: “The idea was to bring the biggest chocolate sculpture festival in the world to the smallest city in the world.”



Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Japan Post to Stop Delivery of Live Reptiles 

A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)
A monitor lizard looks out under a hut at the Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve in Singapore on January 15, 2025. (AFP)

Japan Post will not deliver live reptiles starting from April on animal welfare grounds, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Customers had raised concerns and animal rights activists had criticized the service online, the spokeswoman for the nationwide postal service told AFP.

"After consulting with the government... we came to realize that shipping animals in an environment where temperature control and food are unavailable can amount to animal abuse," she said.

From April 1, Japan Post -- which already does not allow mammals or birds to be sent by mail -- will not deliver reptiles through any parcel or other postal services, the spokeswoman added.