Florida Keys residents say they feel a strong sense of community and see a fast recovery as restaurants reopen and cleanup crews remove debris caused by the powerful storm that struck the state on September 10.

Final preparations are underway for the Cannes Film Festival as tourists take photos of the Palais des Festivals with the 79th edition set to kick off in two days.

Everyone on the hantavirus-hit ship is a "high-risk contact" and must be monitored says Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director during a briefing in Geneva. However, "the risk to the general public is low. The risk to the people in the Canary Islands is low," she says.

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.

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.

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.