AFP UK

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.

San José (AFP) – Spain’s King Felipe lands in San Jose, Costa Rica, for the inauguration of incoming right-wing president Laura Fernandez. Foreign dignitaries are arriving for the ceremonies to be held on May 8. IMAGES

Mexico City (AFP) – Some 50,000 fans of BTS welcome the South Korean group at Mexico’s Zocalo, a day before the first of three concerts in the country. The members of the group wave to their fans from the main balcony of the presidential palace after a meeting with President Claudia Sheinbaum. IMAGES

Afrobeats star Tiwa Savage, a prominent multi-talented figure in Nigeria’s music industry, is banking on her fame to foster the “next great artist or producer or songwriter” with her newly established foundation in Lagos. As part of the initiative, she is partnering with the famed US-based Berklee College of Music, which for the first time is offering a programme that brings the school’s teaching style to the Nigerian music scene.

London (AFP) – Reform UK leader Nigel Farage poses in front of Westminster one day ahead of local elections under the campaign ‘Vote Reform, Get Starmer Out’. He is optimistic about Reform’s chances, saying “We’re doing incredibly well in many, many traditional Labour areas, the kinds of parts of the country that they’ve dominated now for over a century.” Polls predict the party is set to make huge gains in the UK’s biggest election since the 2024 general election, which will be a key litmus test for Keir Starmer’s declining popularity.