San José (AFP) – The right-wing politician Laura Fernandez assumes the presidency of Costa Rica. At a mass event in the National Stadium in San Jose, the 39-year-old political scientist was sworn in for a four-year term after handily winning the February 1 elections, thanks to the popularity of her mentor, outgoing president Rodrigo Chaves. IMAGES
San José (AFP) – Costa Rica’s President-elect Laura Fernandez arrives to the National Stadium on her inauguration day. Fernandez, 39, is the political heir of outgoing president Rodrigo Chaves, who survived two impeachment attempts by Congress over corruption allegations. IMAGES
Houston (AFP) – In a Houston football league of big men shedding pounds, the five-a-side teams have names like OB City FC, Big Bananas and Heavy Touch FC. Originating in the United Kingdom, “Man v Fat Soccer” is a tongue-in-cheek league now thriving in Houston as the city prepares to host several World Cup matches.
Washington (AFP) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he does not believe that US President Donald Trump — who is allied with Brazil’s far-right — would attempt to influence the presidential election in October.
Urtsadzor (AFP) – Bears Nairi, Aram and their cub Lola were kept in captivity in Armenia’s capital Yerevan and left living in their own faeces as their owners neglected them. After being rescued last year, they are now thriving at a wildlife refuge in the Caucasus country’s highlands, but others have not been so lucky. As many as 20 bears are thought to remain captive in Armenia — a post-Soviet country where oligarchs have been accused of keeping predators as status symbols.
Baabda (AFP) – More than half of Lebanon’s population depends on humanitarian aid, says EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib, as Israel continues its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war with militant group Hezbollah. “At present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive,” Lahbib tells reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut.
East Rutherford (AFP) – The grass pitch for the World Cup final is installed at a stadium near New York, a milestone as anticipation builds for the top football tournament. The final playing surface is the result of specialist research and was grown for months before being transported across the United States to meet the standard required of the competition.
Leiden (AFP) – The hantavirus that has broken out on the cruise ship MV Hondius is much less transmissible than Covid, the head of the Dutch unit treating one of the patients tells AFP. “It’s nothing like Covid, no. It’s much harder to transmit,” says Karin Ellen Veldkamp, head of infectious diseases at Leiden University Medical Centre, in an exclusive interview with AFP.
Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says “no terrorist has immunity” after a senior commander from Hezbollah’s Radwan elite force was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Jakarta (AFP) – Mounds of slimy carcasses pile up on a riverbank in Jakarta where authorities are fighting an uphill battle against a fast-breeding invasive fish flourishing in Java island’s heavily polluted waterways. The sapu-sapu, a sucking fish introduced from South America decades ago to keep Southeast Asian aquariums algae-free, has made a home in Javan rivers — many after being thrown out for outgrowing their tanks.
Moskau (AFP) – Russia says it is “strange” that its ally Armenia hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a European summit earlier this week, cautioning the South Caucasus country against deeper European integration. Ties between the two former Soviet republics have sharply deteriorated in recent years after Armenia froze its membership in the Russian-led CSTO military alliance and began pivoting towards the EU.
Mexiko-Stadt (AFP) – Around 50,000 fans of K-pop superstars BTS gather outside Mexico’s National Palace to catch a glimpse of the group, who wave to the crowd from a balcony after meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum. “After so many years of watching them online, on my phone, seeing them here in your country, here in person, so close […] it’s incredible,” says 20-year-old fan Eric Laduna.
