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Making massssks from Florida python skin

A Florida craftsman has come up with a novel way of tackling both the coronavirus pandemic and the problem of invasive pythons and iguanas that damage the state's fragile ecosystem. Brian Woods, the 63-year-old owner of All American Gator Products, has turned his hand to designing face masks made out reptile skin. "I took something that's very serious and turned it into a fashion statement," he said at his workshop in Dania Beach, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Miami.

Phantom lock picker of Paris parks becomes folk hero

A mysterious figure who picks the locks of Paris parks at night for people who have been cooped up in the city's tiny apartments has become something of a folk hero. Parks have been chained up in Europe's most densely populated capital since the coronavirus lockdown began more than eight weeks ago. Despite the city's mayor Anne Hidalgo pleading with the government to allow them to reopen if people wore masks, ministers have been unmoved.

US family turns in $1 mn found on street

A sheriff's department in the US state of Virginia praised a family who turned in two large mail bags they found in the middle of the road -- filled with nearly $1 million in cash. Emily Schantz told local television station WTVR that her family was out driving on Saturday when they ran over one of the bags. At first, the family thought they had hit a bunch of trash.

In Spain, bar bot serves up contact-free beers

He maybe silent and his moves mechanical but he can pull you a pint without the slightest concern about contamination: meet Beer Cart, the robotic barman serving beer in Seville. Sitting in the middle of the bar at La Gitana Loca (The Crazy Gypsy), the giant robotic arm with a "Captain Hook" pincer smoothly reaches over to a dispenser, takes a plastic cup then spins around to hold it at an angle under the tap. Serving up small draft beers -- or canas -- for just over a week in the centre of Seville, the bionic barman has drawn a steady stream of both customers and curious onlookers.

Singapore knicker nicker gets nicked for lockdown breach

A serial underwear thief has admitted to breaching Singapore's strict coronavirus lockdown to sneak into a backyard and try to purloin women's lingerie. Lee Chee Kin has stolen underwear from homes on at least 30 occasions since 2018 and police found more than 100 bras during a raid on his home last year, according to court documents. "The accused used the stolen bras and panties for his own sexual gratification."

UK royal 'swan marker' confirms census cancellation

The man who counts swans on England's River Thames on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday confirmed that this year's census had been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak. The so-called Swan Upping, a royal tradition dating back to the 12th century, was due to take place over five days in July along a length of the river west of London. Crowds typically gather to watch the Swan Uppers in scarlet uniforms on traditional rowing skiffs as they measure, weigh and check the swans.

Turkmen leader instructs grandson to compose propaganda songs

Turkmenistan's autocratic leader Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov instructed his favourite grandson to compose songs reflecting "the rhythm of the country's development" to mark public holidays, state media said Monday. Footage aired on national television showed Berdymukhamedov and his teenage grandson Kerimguly Berdymukhamedov catching up as they biked through otherwise deserted roads in the capital Ashgabat.

Masks blossom among roses at French perfume capital

May roses are blooming in Grasse, the birthplace of French perfumes, but out in the fields, some of those who pick them face a problem this year. "Working with a mask and not smelling," the flowers, "is pretty frustrating," horticulturist Carole Biancalana acknowledges. Biancalana can still tick off a list of adjectives to describe the "complex, multiple and varied" scent of the centifolia rose, a fragile variety that cannot even stand by itself in a vase.

South Korean football club sorry for 'X-rated' sex doll controversy

One of South Korea's top football clubs apologised for causing "deep concern" Monday after being accused of using sex dolls to fill empty seats at a weekend game. FC Seoul insisted the mannequins -- used in the absence of fans, who are banned because of the coronavirus -- had "no connection to sex toys". Other mannequins, which wore facemasks and were separated according to social distancing guidelines, held placards advertising the company and some of its models.

UK royal swan census cancelled due to virus: reports

An annual swan census on the River Thames in southeast England, a royal tradition dating back to the 12th century, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus, press reports said Sunday. The so-called Swan Upping, which involves measuring, weighing and checking swans on a stretch of the waterway between Surrey and Oxfordshire, is usually conducted over five days in July. The spectacle, which involves so-called Royal Swan Uppers in scarlet uniforms on traditional rowing skiffs, draws crowds along the riverbank with many schools typically invited to meet the Swan Uppers during their journey.

NZealand's Ardern turned away from cafe under virus rules

In New Zealand, no one is exempt from the strict coronavirus prevention measures -- not even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was denied entry to a cafe because of her own social distancing rules. Ardern, her fiance Clarke Gayford and a group of friends were turned away from a cafe in Wellington on Saturday because it had already reached its customer limit. As New Zealand eases out of its coronavirus lockdown, cafes were allowed to reopen on Thursday, but must maintain social distancing between tables and customers must remain seated.

Prickly pastime: Cactus inspires lockdown art project

What do a match-studded turnip, celeriac embedded with coffee capsules and a kiwano melon decorated with lollipops and pins have in common? All are the brainchild of a British man trying to keep busy during lockdown, reproducing the shape of the novel coronavirus from everyday objects. "The idea started a bit randomly," Lorenzo Saa told AFP at his flat in north London.

Bears on the loose in Estonian capital

Coronavirus aside, residents of a Tallinn neighbourhood had ever the more reason to stay indoors Friday, after local authorities warned that bears were on the loose in the Estonian capital. The animals, thought to be a mother with one or more cubs, were first spotted on forest trails in the Haabersti district on Thursday morning, while one of the later sightings placed them at a school parking lot. "We ask folks in Haabersti to pay attention, to not go looking for the bears on their own, to keep dogs on leashes and, if they notice a bear, to dial 112 immediately," rescuers wrote on their Facebook page Friday.

100-year-old Russian beats coronavirus

Russia celebrated a rare bit of good news on Wednesday as a 100-year-old woman left a Moscow hospital after fully recovering from the coronavirus. In the country's first reported case of a survivor that old, the woman, Pelageya Poyarkova, was discharged on her 100th birthday, the Moscow clinic treating her said. Russian television showed the elderly woman wearing a face mask and clutching a bouquet of red roses as she exited in a wheelchair, surrounded by doctors and journalists.

Ancient British archery event cancelled due to virus

A British archery competition that has been running for more than 300 years has been cancelled for the first time since the 1940s because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Ancient Silver Arrow tournament had been set to take place in northern England on May 16. Organisers describe it as the world's longest-established and oldest recorded sporting event, dating back to 1673.

Scruffy shoppers welcome reopening of Europe's shops

Queues of shoppers -- many with unkempt hair or beards -- formed in parts of Europe on Monday, as more countries further eased anti-virus lockdowns. In Istanbul, barbers set to work taming the unruly beards that locked-down men have grown during their confinement. People have had longer beards.

Inter-species lockdown meet-up at Japan aquarium

A Japanese aquarium has come up with a wild idea to entertain the public during its temporary closure due to the coronavirus outbreak -- introducing sea animals to each other and sharing the results online. "They're not actively trying to get to know each other, but I'm sure they're interested in each other," aquarium spokesman Naoya Goto told AFP.

Five-year-old pulled over in US while driving to California

A police officer in the western US state of Utah was stunned after stopping what he thought was an impaired driver on a highway only to find a five-year-old behind the wheel. The Utah Highway Patrol said the boy told the trooper who pulled him over on Monday that he left home following an argument with his mother who had refused to buy him a Lamborghini. "He decided he'd take the car and go to California to buy one himself," the Highway Patrol said in a tweet.

Welcome baby X Æ A-12: Musk and Grimes do it their way

Fans hoping for clarity and perhaps some pronunciation tips were left floundering Wednesday after Elon Musk's girlfriend, the musician Grimes, explained their newborn son's name -- X Æ A-12. Musk, the outspoken Tesla chief, announced the birth of the couple's first child earlier this week, before Grimes broke down the unusual moniker. Musk, the 48-year-old CEO of SpaceX, gently corrected Grimes on Twitter to say the plane was an SR-71 -- a Cold War spy aircraft.

Virus hangover for French brewers as they dump 10 mn litres of beer

France will discard 10 million litres of beer -- four Olympic-sized swimming pools full -- due to expire, undrunk, with consumers in coronavirus lockdown, the national brewers' association said Wednesday. Most of the wasted brew is craft beer, which is often unpasteurised unlike traditional blonde lagers, and quicker to spoil, said the Brasseurs de France. "These are very hoppy beers, and if they are kept for too long, when they spend more than two to three months in storage, the olfactory and taste effects, the aroma, disappears," brewery association boss Maxime Costilhes told AFP.

Free-roaming horse Jenny cheers up German lockdown

Every morning white mare Jenny leaves her stable to stroll through her Frankfurt neighbourhood. Bringing trams to a halt and smiles to people's faces, the free-roaming horse is brightening up the coronavirus lockdown for many. "Everyone else has to live with coronavirus restrictions but Jenny is as free as ever," her owner Anna Weischedel, 65, told AFP.

Forget me not: Japan aquarium seeks video-chats for eels

A Japanese aquarium closed during the coronavirus outbreak is asking people to make video calls to their eels so the sensitive creatures remember humans exist and don't pose a threat. The Sumida Aquarium, housed in the landmark Tokyo Skytree tower, has been closed since the start of March and its animals have become used to a largely human-free environment during the two-month calm. "Creatures in the aquarium don't see humans except keepers and they have started forgetting about humans," it said on its Twitter account this week.

Two pizzas and a spliff please: Interpol warns of lockdown drug deliveries

Criminal gangs are using fast-food couriers to deliver recreational drugs to people confined at home because of coronavirus lockdowns, policing agency Interpol said Thursday. Cocaine, marijuana, ketamine and ecstasy are among the drugs being moved in pizza boxes or other takeaway containers in countries including Ireland, Malaysia, Spain and Britain, Interpol said in a statement. "In one Malaysian case, a food delivery rider in the Gombak district of Kuala Lumpur contacted police and asked for his food package to be inspected after he became suspicious," Interpol said.

Porch costumes provide cheer in troubled times

It started as a way for Erin Kemble to entertain her young cousins, who she misses seeing, and to keep herself busy after the catering company where she works closed. When that image got 30,000 social media "likes" she thought she might be onto something -- besides just flaunting her new-found fame to her three college- and high school-age children. "I could probably do this for the rest of my life," a smiling Kemble tells AFP.

Norwegian billionaire held over wife's disappearance

Norwegian police said Tuesday they had arrested a wealthy businessman over the disappearance of his wife 18 months ago, the latest twist in a case that has kept the Nordic countries on tenterhooks. Tom Hagen, 70, was arrested as he was leaving his home for work on Tuesday, on suspicion of "murder or accessory to murder," commissioner Ida Melbo Oystese told a press conference. Hagen's wife Anne-Elisabeth Hagen disappeared without a trace from their home in Lorenskog, east of Oslo, on October 31, 2018.

'Face' of Sweden's virus response immortalised in tattoo

While Sweden's softer approach to the new coronavirus has drawn international attention, the country's state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell has become a household name for Swedes and on Monday, his face was immortalised in a tattoo. Strange tattoos are plentiful around the world, but you'd probably still be hard pressed to find one of a star epidemiologist. "I like to have tattoos that represent something for me and, I mean, this COVID-19 will be a part of my life, for the rest of my life," Agerblad told AFP while reclining in the tattoo parlour's chair.

Lockdown-defying Parisians pose challenge for authorities

After six weeks of being stuck in their homes, a growing number of Parisians appear unable to wait for the May 11 lifting of the nationwide lockdown, venturing out even as officials warn of a new surge in COVID-19 cases if people let down their guard too early. Humans aren't designed to live like that, isolated like that."

German police bust cellar hairdressers

Finding the perfect fringe during these times of confinement may prove to be an expensive gamble after German police went underground to uncover two makeshift hairdressing salons on Saturday. When the officers arrived at the salons, carefully installed in the cellars of two private houses, "people were having their hair done", local police said in a statement. Two people were waiting for a cut in Elsenfeld and another in a cellar in Momlingen, according to the German agency DPA, which claims that "the salons were professionally equipped".

Lockdown inspires Italian boy to create coronavirus video game

While most nine-year-olds have been battling during lockdown with the vagaries of home schooling, Lupo Daturi has been waging war on COVID-19 itself. The fourth-grade pupil from the outskirts of Milan, where inhabitants have been living in lockdown since March 8, has used his time to create a video game to play with his friends.

S.Africa leader pokes fun at himself after viral face mask fumble

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday poked fun at himself for clumsily fumbling with his face mask during televised speech, a move that attracted widespread laughter on social media. The president awkwardly pulled a colourful fabric mask over his eyes after announcing an easing of lockdown restrictions on Thursday night, prompting instant reactions on Twitter by amused viewers. The hashtags #facemaskchallenge and #CyrilMaskChallenge were trending on Friday as South Africans humoured their president by posting captioned images of Ramaphosa and pictures of themselves in impromptu face coverings.

The Tooth Fairy won't catch the virus, Fauci assures seven-year-old

Top US health and infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci has assured a young girl that the tooth fairy is not at risk of infection during the coronavirus pandemic. The popular doctor will appear Wednesday as a guest on actor Will Smith's Snapchat show "Will From Home." "Can the tooth fairy still come if I lose my tooth because of the coronavirus?" asked the girl, who introduced herself as Ava.

Social distancing takes a hit as Taiwan baseball teams brawl

Playing to empty stadiums, Taiwan has managed to keep its baseball league running during the coronavirus pandemic -- but social distancing went out of the window on Sunday when a game descended into an on-field brawl. As a measure of its success, Taiwan has one of the few professional sports leagues in the world still operating, and a new international audience starved of games back home. The melee broke out after Fubon pitcher Henry Sosa hit in-fielder Kuo Yen-wen in the hip with an inside ball, the fourth inside pitch at Kuo.

Viral content: Tokyo governor's distancing call is online hit

Manga, music and even video games: calls from Tokyo's governor for residents to practise social distancing to stem the spread of coronavirus have inspired a slew of viral online tributes. On Twitter, a clip from a game in which players roam around town finding and breaking up gatherings was shared tens of thousands of times after being posted on Monday. Governor Yuriko Koike has spearheaded calls for Tokyo to take a rising number of infections more seriously, pushing for the state of emergency the government has now declared nationwide.

Virus can't stop Germans getting their baguettes

German gourmets refuse to let a virus keep them from their favourite French pastries, with one even resorting to a fishing rod to reel in his baguettes. "It was an idea of mine to create awareness," he said.

WWII veteran, 99, raises nearly £20 mn for UK health workers

A 99-year-old British World War II veteran who has become a global phenomenon for his fundraising efforts had on Friday raised almost £20 million ($25 million, 23 million euros) for health workers fighting coronavirus. Tom Moore, a captain who served in India, completed his target of 100 laps of his 25-metre (82-foot) garden, with the help of his walking frame, on Thursday but is still pacing his grounds as the funds continue to pour in.

Recipe for disaster: Vietnam embraces kitchen nightmares in lockdown

Burnt bread, collapsed cakes and inedible potatoes: the kitchen failures of Vietnamese families in self-isolation are being shared online, with hundreds of thousands joining a Facebook group to commiserate over their culinary catastrophes. With half the world in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, masterchefs-in-the-making across the globe have been posting snapshots on social media of their perfect sourdough and gorgeously gooey brownies as they while away the hours in the kitchen.

Catch me if you can: police in Easter scramble to keep Greeks indoors

Thousands of police are deploying ahead of Orthodox Easter celebrations this weekend to keep stir-crazy Greeks indoors, in a mobilisation unseen since the 2004 Olympics. Backed by helicopters and drones, nearly everyone that can be spared on the 52,000-strong Greek police force will be on the streets, with trainees filling the gaps back at stations, a senior police source told AFP. The deployment can only be compared to the security operation mounted for the Athens 2004 Olympics involving 70,000 police and army staff, the officer said.

Coronavirus or not, US Marines need their buzz cuts: top general

While coronavirus sequestering has millions sporting longer locks as they go without haircuts, that's not going to happen for one group: the US Marines. From their boot camp buzz cuts to the "high and tight" style standard for the Marine Corps, a spartan trim is inseparable from their war-fighting discipline, Pentagon Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said Tuesday. Milley was asked whether social distancing practices, which have prevented many worldwide from keeping their barber appointments, should be implemented in the US military, after a video surfaced of about two dozen of Marines lined up for their regular cut at Camp Pendleton in California.

Virus brings out the jackals in deserted Tel Aviv park

With the coronavirus keeping Israelis indoors, dozens of jackals have taken over a deserted park in Tel Aviv, scavenging for food in what is usually a playground for joggers and families. The normally timid animals wander freely among palm trees and across the grass of Hayarkon Park, an oasis in the Mediterranean city that was also a magnet for cyclists and picnickers until the arrival of COVID-19. Hayarkon prides itself as the lung of Tel Aviv, complete with a river and enough space for tourists to pitch tents during last year's Eurovision song contest, when hotels were fully booked.

Woman fined for taking turtle for a walk in Rome

An Italian woman who took her pizza-sized turtle out for a walk has been fined 400 euros ($440) by the Roman police for breaking strict coronavirus confinement rules. Italians need a justifiable reason to be out on the street in the middle of a pandemic that has officially claimed more than 20,000 lives in the Mediterranean country since February. The Roman police said "the 60-year-old woman was caught outside her home without a justifiable reason" and fined.

Spain to keep social distancing on beaches to fight virus

Spain, one of Europe's top sunshine destinations, said Sunday it will maintain social distancing rules to curb the spread of the coronavirus once a nationwide lockdown ends, even on the beaches. The government on March 14 imposed a strict nationwide lockdown to fight the pandemic, and two days later it closed its land borders, with only Spanish citizens and residents able to enter the country. In an interview published Sunday in top-selling daily newspaper El Pais, Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto said the government did not know when the borders would be reopened, saying it will depend on how "the health crisis evolves".

Coronavirus: the hidden personal grooming crisis

The first victim of the coronavirus has been personal grooming. "Don't touch your eyebrows above all," pleaded Olivier Echaudemaison, creative director of the French cosmetics brand Guerlain. "Let them grow -- leave a virgin forest," said the man who once looked after makeup for screen legends Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren.

Bear takes cubs for stroll by normally busy Greek lake

A bear and her three cubs took advantage of the coronavirus lockdown in Greece by strolling along the normally busy shore of Lake Kastoria in the country's northwest. The animals were spotted by the authorities at the tourist hotspot on Wednesday evening, Greek news agency ANA reported. The walkway is normally very popular with the inhabitants of Kastoria, a city of some 47,000 people located in a valley surrounded by mountains home to the brown bear, a protected species.

Bronx zoo tiger tests positive for coronavirus

A tiger at New York's Bronx Zoo has tested positive for COVID-19, the institution said Sunday, and is believed to have contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at the time. The four-year-old Malayan tiger named Nadia along with her sister Azul, two Amur tigers and three African lions all developed dry coughs and are expected to fully recover, the Wildlife Conservation Society that runs the city's zoos said in a statement. "We tested the cat out of an abundance of caution and will ensure any knowledge we gain about COVID-19 will contribute to the world's continuing understanding of this novel coronavirus," the statement sent to AFP said.

Confined Spaniard stays safe by skiing in his living room

When Philipp Klein Herrero had to cancel a skiing holiday because of the coronavirus pandemic he recreated the winter sport experience in confinement in his Barcelona flat. "I had a spark of creativity," the 28-year-old video maker and amateur skier told AFP.

Message sent: Canada minister arranges virus airlift by text

Canada's foreign minister used his thumbs to arrange an emergency airlift of weary Canadians from Peru during the pandemic, reaching out to his counterpart by text message to secure landing rights, he said Thursday. It was part of what Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne described in an interview with AFP as "the largest repatriation of Canadian travelers abroad in Canada's history."

Cone-a-virus: ice cream van delivers for Belfast's vulnerable

Ice cream vans are normally a common sight on Britain's residential streets and in parks when warmer days arrive in the spring and summer months. In Belfast, however, at least one van is still operating -- bringing essential supplies to the elderly and vulnerable forced to stay at home. "When we had seen that the current situation was starting to arise, we knew that there would be problems for some families and elderly who cannot get access to food," said Steven Pollock, of Greater Shankill Action for Community Transformation group.

Spanish cops bust supermarket 'bar' for breaking virus ban

A Tenerife bar owner has been fined for violating Spain's coronavirus lockdown by serving shoppers at a supermarket next door, police said Wednesday. Like other bars, restaurants and non-essential shops across Spain, his watering hole in Icod de Vinos, in the Canary Islands, was closed on March 14 when Spain declared a state of emergency to fight the coronavirus epidemic. With Spaniards only allowed to go out to buy food or stop at the chemist, the bar was lucky to be next to a supermarket, and have a connecting door.

US man teaching dog how to drive arrested after high-speed chase

A resident of the western US state of Washington was arrested following a high-speed chase that left officers dumbfounded after they found the man's pit bull behind the wheel. The incident unfolded Sunday afternoon after police received calls about a driver hitting two vehicles in an area south of Seattle and then speeding away, state trooper Heather Axtman told AFP. Axtman said that as officers gave chase, they got close to the vehicle -- a 1996 Buick -- and were shocked to see a pit bull in the driver's seat and a man steering and pushing the gas pedal from the passenger side.

Rodgers uses private jet to flee Peru amid COVID-19 panic

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers used a private jet to escape Peru with just 15 minutes to spare before the airport was locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic. Rodgers on Friday described scenes of panic and fear as he recounted his hasty exit along with three others from the South American country. "When we rolled up to the airport at like seven in the morning, it was wall-to-wall people and you couldn't move," Rodgers said.