London, United Kingdom |

Milan, Italy | It was business as usual  for Milan Fashion Week despite a clutch of coronavirus cases including two fatalities near the northern venue.

Barely 60 kilometres (35 miles) away from the capital of the Lombardy region, where outfits from Salvatore Ferragamo and Ermanno Scervino were headlining runway interest, 39 confirmed cases have emerged.

The small town of Codogno, about an hour away from Italy's business capital by road, was in lockdown along with several other neighbouring towns after the deaths of an elderly woman and man.

Those fatalities saw Italy become the first country in Europe to report the death of one of its own nationals from the virus.

Authorities confirmed Saturday the other people infected had all had contact with "patient number one", a 38-year-old man still in intensive care in Codogno.

Members of his family, friends and his doctors are all among those who have been disgnosed with the COVID-19 virus and Italian authorities have reacted by asking some 50,000 people in the area to stay at home to keep the virus spread at bay.

"The (fashion) shows are going ahead calmly, there is no panic, there are no cases of contamination or suspicion of cases in Milan or in our sector for the moment and we hope that stays so," said Carlo Capasa, president of Italy's National Fashion Chamber.

"Prevention measures are absolutely active -- we are in permanent contact with health institutions who tell us the situation is under control," Capasa told AFP.

Salvatore Ferragamo's new collection had been the day's early highlight, the Florence-based house's British creative director Paul Andrew bringing its legendary flair alive with items including long coats and culottes.

Lingerie-inspired dresses, in silk or leather, were more the order of the day for the Scervino set, replete with shiny sequins and feathers.

Also on bill was was Bottega Veneta, owned by French luxury house Kering, winning a seal of approval from actress Sigourney Weaver, who found it "superb".

The house's US artistic director Daniel Lee, 34, is avowedly out to turn a cold shoulder on the sensational in offering a collection which will pack a punch over time and ultimately even earn cult status rather than be cast aside at season's end. 

The collection married classic Bottega Veneta style with a modern approach to colour including silhouettes ranging from black to pistachio green, while other offerings included knitted black frock paired with Texan-style big boots.

str-fka/avz/cdw/har

© Agence France-Presse

Liverpool, United Kingdom | It's a Liverpool institution that was a favourite hangout of The Beatles. Now, the Philharmonic Dining Rooms has become the first Victorian-era English pub to be given Grade I listed status.

"The Phil", as it's known in the city, was built in 1898 by architect Walter W Thomas during the "golden age" of pub building in the 19th century.

The venue, opposite the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall concert venue, is notable for its exuberant grand stone exterior and richly decorated interior.

John Lennon once complained that the worst thing about being in The Beatles was "not being able to have a pint in the Phil".

Band-mate Paul McCartney returned to the city where the band made their name and surprised drinkers with an impromptu show there in 2018.

The pub, Grade II listed since 1955, now joins other architectural gems such as Buckingham Palace and Chatsworth House after Historic England upgraded it to a top-ranking Grade I.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, called the Phil a remarkable survivor from the Victorian era. 

The listing "will help maintain and preserve its outstanding interior fittings and exterior fabric for the future", he added

The pub's exterior boasts obelisk finials, tall chimney stacks, turrets and a balustraded balcony around the second floor.

Its art nouveau entrance gates are considered to be among the finest of their style in England.

Inside, ornate plasterwork, detailed stained glass, and mahogany fireplaces surround the horseshoe-shaped bar.

Landlord Eamonn Lavin said the new listing was a "real honour".

"We got people from all over the world -- Japan, America, France, everywhere, Europe -- and they all come in just to see the building and sample some of the beers and drink," he told AFP.

"So it's got real rich history as well. And Liverpool is a city that's quite interesting anyway. So, this is just the icing on the cake for tourists really."

photo-video-jwp/phz/jxb/mgs

© Agence France-Presse

Kabul, Afghanistan | Unable to use her hands, arms, or legs, Afghan artist Robaba Mohammadi has defied unlikely odds in a country that routinely discriminates against women and disabled people.

Moscow, Russia |Vasilisa Ermakova may be too young for school, but the six-year-old Russian girl has already made a name for herself as a snowboarding prodigy.

Vasilisa spends five hours a day barrelling down slopes outside Moscow and has even smashed a number of national records.

"She wants to go train every day and she asks for snow, even in summer," says her mother Natalia.

Coached by her father -- himself a former competitive snowboarder -- from the age of three, Vasilisa has mastered 360-degree jumps off large snow banks and even 540-degree spins.

"I'm flying like a bird," she says after landing one of the tricks.

Her Instagram account has attracted more than 36,000 followers and the attention of major sports brands that now sponsor her training.

In summer, Vasilisa hones her skills on a skateboard and has set a Russian record in her age group for a descent at 48 kilometres (30 miles) an hour.

That record however did not make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, ironically because she is too young.

"They told us that she had to be at least 16 to set such a record," her mother said, smiling. "And Vasilisa has done it already."

Anton, Vasilisa's father, has high hopes for his daughter. "I hope one day she'll win the X-Games," a popular extreme sports event, he said. "Or that she'll be an Olympic champion."

Vasilisa shares these dreams, her mother says. "She says she wants to have lots of medals."

But away from the slopes, Natalia says her daughter is "just a girl who loves singing, drawing, and snowball fights."

mp-am/ma/jbr/cw/to

© Agence France-Presse

Buzau, Romania |

Steluta Duta was a teenaged orphan living on the streets when, one cold January day in 2002, she stepped through the door of a boxing gym in the town of Buzau and embarked on her unlikely path to becoming an elite athlete.

Duta, whose first name means "little star", has fought for almost two decades in the ring, with every punch thrown bringing her closer to what she calls "a normal life, away from misery" and becoming an inspiration for others like her.

Romania is one of the poorest in the European Union, with 38 percent of children at risk of social exclusion and poverty, according to Eurostat.

Becoming a boxer "was my only chance, my gamble", Duta, a short woman with cropped hair dyed blond, tells AFP during a break from her training at the gym in Buzau, a town in southeastern Romania.

At 38, Duta is a three-time silver medallist at the sport's World Championships and a three-time gold medal-winner at the European Championships in the light flyweight category.

"If it wasn't for that day she entered the gym, she would now be another one of those living under a bridge and sniffing glue," says a tearful Constantin Voicilas, 69, who has been Duta's coach and mentor throughout her career and has been training promising boxers for more than four decades.

When Duta left her orphanage aged 17, she initially became homeless and even thought about suicide.

"Back then I lied to (Voicilas) and said I had a place to sleep so he would let me box," Duta recalls.

When Voicilas learned the truth he converted part of the gym into a bedroom to make sure she had somewhere to sleep.

- Sport as a lifeline -

Duta overcame formidable odds to build a successful career in Romania.

A Save the Children report released in late 2019 cited a host of threats to child welfare, particularly in rural areas: high education dropout rates, limited access to healthcare and a prevalence of physical and emotional abuse as a form of discipline.

Duta is now helping the next generation to fight those obstacles in the ring.

At the Buzau boxing gym, she often spars with Bianca Lacatusu, a shy teenager 20 years her junior. 

Lacatusu also had a tough childhood.

Her parents died when she was seven months old, when she was placed with a foster family who later handed her over to an orphanage.

"I like to fight... I don't know how the Master found me, but I'm glad he did," Bianca tells AFP, using Voicilas's nickname.

Lacatusu says that Duta has been an inspiration to her -- and that she dreams of one day defeating her in the ring.

Adrian Lacatus, the national boxing team coach who has worked closely with Duta, says that girls from tough backgrounds often display this will to succeed. 

"Children from poor families are used to difficulties, they don't throw in the towel at the first hurdle," he says. 

He says with confidence that among the girls he is currently coaching in Bucharest, "many will write history".

- 'No grudge' -

One of them is already well on her way. 

Alexandra Gheorghe's delicate features belie her hardscrabble childhood.

But at 17 she has already won a silver medal at the European Championships and is now training with Lacatus for future competitions.

For her part, Duta is preparing for two national competitions later this year and is determined to fight on for two more years until the age of 40. 

After that, she wants to focus on coaching and her personal life.

"I want to be healthy and to have a family. To be a good mother, first of all," she says.

"Without parental love, it's all in vain." 

Amateur boxing is not lucrative, so Duta's finances have not matched her success in the ring.

The champion still pays rent for a two-room apartment in Buzau that she hopes to buy someday.

When asked if she feels that the Romanian state supports her, Duta points towards her coach, joking: "You're my state!" 

"Yes, the Republic of Voicilas", he replies.

But Duta has used her meagre savings to renovate the house where her biological mother lives with two of her younger siblings -- despite the fact she gave Duta up right after she was born.

"I hold no grudge," Duta says.

ii-mr/jsk/jza/gd

© Agence France-Presse

Pune, India | Like many Indian women, college student Suvarna Dongare dreads getting caught short when she is out and about, with hygienic public toilets in short supply across the country.

So she was pleasantly surprised to find a pink women-only "washroom-on-wheels" in a public park in western India -- one of several facilities dotting the city of Pune, where a pair of entrepreneurs have transformed run-down buses into hop-on toilets.

"I came to the park and wanted to visit the bathroom urgently. These toilets are very comfortable and felt safe," 18-year-old Dongare told AFP.

For a relatively affordable five-rupee-fee (seven US cents), any woman can board the toilet to use the facilities, breastfeed babies or purchase sanitary napkins and diapers.

Launched in 2016 by entrepreneurs Ulka Sadalkar and Rajeev Kher, the "Ti Toilet" project -- "ti" means "her" in the local Marathi language -- has 12 mobile washrooms, on average used by more 200 women daily. The buses are powered by solar panels mounted on top of the vehicle.

Sadalkar said the pair, who run a portable sanitation business, came up with the idea as part of a series of projects focused on improving hygiene in the city.

"We believe women deserve access to clean and safe washrooms and it is their basic right," she told AFP, adding that the duo wanted to open 1,000 toilets across India in the next five years.

"We focused a lot on aesthetics in refurbishing these buses and provided clean toilets, television sets, temperature monitors with an attendant in tow."

Manisha Adhav, 40, who operates one of the toilets, told AFP she felt "proud working here as we are doing something for women". 

"Women bless me ... as they come here from far away areas as well because there aren't enough public washrooms around."

Even as India went on a building spree constructing millions of toilets as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship "Clean India" programme, experts said the lack of water or electricity meant many remain unused.

State governments have struggled to maintain public toilets, which are often poorly lit, unmanned, and reek of urine and faeces. 

These too are mostly used by men, with women -- fearing for their safety -- going long hours without using such facilities.

Modi in October declared India free of open defecation and said 600 million people had been provided with access to toilets.

But experts questioned the claims and said sanitation and safety remain intertwined for millions of Indian women.

Finding "clean and safe washrooms in public spaces is not easy during emergencies. We are trying to change that," Adhav said. 

im-vm/amu/grk/mtp/hg

© Agence France-Presse

Lima, Peru |Peru unveiled a priceless manuscript containing the memoirs of former Inca leaders that had disappeared during Chile's occupation of Lima during the 1879-84 Pacific War.

The manuscript -- called "Memories of the Peruvian monarchy or outline of the Inca's history" -- was written in the 1830s by Justo Apu Sahuaraura Inca (1775-1853), a descendent of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac (1493-1525).

"The value of this document from 1838 is incalculable. It was always considered an extremely rare jewel of a document, we don't have another of its type," Gerardo Trillo, director of the Protection of Collections at Lima's National Library, told AFP about the manuscript that was found in Brazil.

Sahuaraura was a member of the indigenous nobility in Cusco, the old Inca capital, and dedicated his time to preserving the memory of the Inca empire, which lasted 100 years between the 15th and 16th centuries and covered a vast area from the south of Colombia to the center of Chile.

The author styled himself as "the last descendent of the Inca's imperial line."

In the manuscript he traced Inca history until the arrival in South America of the Spanish colonizers, using now extinct documents.

The text includes information about Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of a Spanish conquistador and Inca noblewoman, thought to be the first mixed-race person in the history of the Americas.

The manuscript also includes accounts of the Spanish conquest of Cusco, as well as an Inca chronology.

"It's a pretty rare and strange manuscript because it has colored sheets that represent the different Incas," said Trillo.

He said the manuscript was stolen from the National Library during the Chilean occupation of Lima from 1881-83, a war that pitted Peru and Bolivia against Chile.

Chile has returned more than 4,500 books taken from Peru's National Library during the occupation.

However, this manuscript was acquired in 1970 by Brazilian private collectors, who agreed in November to return it to its rightful owners.

"It took a decade of negotiation for this manuscript to be returned," said Trillo.

It has since been digitalized and can be consulted online.

cm/fj/mps/bc/acb

© Agence France-Presse