London, United Kingdom 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancee Carrie Symonds married over the weekend, his office confirmed Sunday, in what media reports have described as a  "secret ceremony". 

He is only the second British prime minister to marry while in power, and the first in nearly two centuries. The last was Robert Jenkinson in 1822.

"The Prime Minister and Ms Symonds were married yesterday afternoon in a small ceremony at Westminster Cathedral," a Downing Street spokesman said. 

"The couple will celebrate their wedding with family and friends next summer."

Known for his colourful love life, 56-year-old Johnson wed Symonds, 33, in front of close friends and family, the Mail on Sunday and The Sun newspapers first reported.

The weekend nuptials were a surprise development, after reports earlier this week said the couple had sent out "save the date" cards for a wedding on July 30 next year.

The pair got engaged in December, 2019, and have a one-year-old baby son, Wilfred. Their original plans to marry last year were delayed by the pandemic.

Political colleagues sent congratulations to the couple as the news became official Sunday.

"I think it's a wonderful thing for both of them that they have made their marriage vows to one another," senior minister Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News.

- Third marriage -

Around 30 guests attended Saturday's service -- the maximum currently allowed under coronavirus rules -- in central London, after being invited at the last minute, according to the Mail on Sunday.

A small number of church officials were involved and Downing Street aides were not informed, sources told the paper.

Symonds arrived at the lunchtime nuptials in a limousine and wore "a stunning long and flowing white dress" but chose not to wear a veil, it added.

There were no descriptions of Johnson's attire, with the mop-haired British leader infamous for his often dishevelled appearance. 

Johnson, who has faced several bruising days of scrutiny after his former top aide Dominic Cummings lambasted his government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in front of a parliamentary committee Wednesday, has been married twice before.

He had four children with his previous wife, lawyer Marina Wheeler, before they split in 2018. The couple only finalised their divorce last November.

Johnson also reportedly has a daughter born as the result of an affair.

When elected in 2019, he became the first prime minister to live at Downing Street as part of an unmarried couple.

Symonds, a former head of communications for the Conservative Party who has not been married before, gave birth to their son just weeks after Johnson left intensive care as he recovered from a severe case of coronavirus. 

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Washington, United States |

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced  it will send researcher Kellie Gerardi, a well-known figure on TikTok, into space to conduct experiments for several minutes while weightless.

The move presents an ideal opportunity for the company to flaunt its ambitions not only to send wealthy tourists on pleasure rides costing $200,000 or more, but also to advance science.

The 32-year-old bioastronautics researcher, who is affiliated with the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), said she always believed the space tourism industry's success could also "help open up opportunities for researchers like myself."

The first experiment conducted by Gerardi, who has more than 400,000 TikTok followers and some 130,000 on Instagram, will involve "astro skin," in which sensors are placed under her flight suit to collect biometric data. While the process has already been used aboard the International Space Station, data has never before been collected during landing and takeoff.

Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, hopes to begin regular commercial suborbital flights in early 2022, with eventual plans for 400 trips a year.

The flights are far from the classic rocket experience, with a carrier plane taking off from a runway then dropping the spacecraft once in the air, which then ignites its engines.

Asked whether just a few minutes in space was sufficient, Gerardi said "uninterrupted consecutive minutes of time in space in microgravity to do my research" was "really the dream."

Until now she has only been able to board parabolic flights which reproduce zero gravity conditions for a few seconds, achieved in conventional planes that tilt at strong angles towards the sky and then towards the ground.

When experiments are sent to the ISS, Gerardi said, they stay there for several months, but the scientists unfortunately don't travel with them. 

"They're not able to check in on it or manipulate it, or fix it," Gerardi said.

With Virgin Galactic's expected frequent flight schedule, "we could validate data over and over instead of having to wait years, you know, for another spaceflight opportunity," she said.

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Hanoi, Vietnam |

Tall, thin and brightly coloured, Hanoi's "tube houses" dominate the city's streets as nine million people compete for space in Vietnam's bustling capital.

Although Vietnam saw a number of villas and garden houses built during the French colonial period, Hanoi has few of these grand residential homes.

Instead, tree-lined streets are packed with dwellings that are barely four metres wide, but are three times that in depth.

Typically, a tube house might be home to a family of four but two or three generations of relatives sometimes have to jostle for space.

The first tube houses -- known as "nha ong" in Vietnamese -- are thought to have appeared in the capital at the end of the 19th century, when villagers looking to sell silver, traditional herbs and tools began to move to the area.

A narrow architectural style evolved from the limited available space, said Tran Quoc Bao, a senior lecturer at the National University of Civil Engineering.

The design is still a favourite in modern day Hanoi, where architects now refer to them as "adjoining houses". 

"This model of house is essential for an urban architect (today). The adjoining house is a combination of both the traditional and modern residence," the Hanoi-based lecturer told AFP, adding that they can also be found in many other Vietnamese cities.

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Paris, France |

European tourism has had its worst time in living memory as coronavirus lockdowns, curfews and hotel and restaurant closures have threatened the industry's livelihood and frustrated travellers eager for a change of scenery. 

The summer of 2020 saw a sharp downturn in European cross-border travel, leaving the continent's beaches, cities and monuments -- many of them top global destinations -- eerily deserted.

This year is to be different: Covid-19 is still far from defeated, but virus testing is widely available, the EU countries' vaccination rollout has gathered pace and the bloc is only days away from launching an EU travel pass, in digital and paper form, assembling key health information to speed up processing at arrival points.

Some key destinations, like Italy, are already reporting brisk bookings, while Spain hopes to reach up to 70 percent of pre-pandemic tourism levels.

Tourists from countries outside the bloc -- which since Brexit include the United Kingdom -- still face plenty of obstacles at EU borders, and mandatory social distancing and mask-wearing will dampen everyone's experience.

But governments say they must avoid a dreaded fourth coronavirus wave, even as they throw tourism a lifeline.

"We have to reconcile freedom of mobility with the need for security," French Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said, echoing the sentiment across the bloc.

Here is a summary of rules in some of Europe's key tourism spots.

- France -

France, the world's top tourist destination, on Friday announced a colour-coded map laying out entry protocols for the summer travel season, with restrictions lifted for EU residents and "green" countries Australia, South Korea, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, New Zealand and Singapore.

From July 1, France will also recognise the European health pass.

In "orange" zones including Britain, North America and most of Asia and Africa, even vaccinated travellers to France will still have to produce a recent negative Covid test, but they will no longer need to quarantine or have a compelling reason for their visit.

For non-vaccinated people coming from "orange" zones, however, only essential trips will be allowed and a seven-day self-quarantine imposed.

Sixteen countries will remain largely off-limits, including India, Turkey, South Africa and much of South America, including Brazil.

Mask-wearing remains mandatory indoors and outdoors, but curfew rules will be lifted on June 30.

- Spain -

On Monday June 7 Spain dropped the requirement for EU arrivals to produce a recent negative PCR test.

Now anyone who has been vaccinated can enter the country, irrespective of their point of origin.

Masks remain mandatory, including outdoors, except on beaches as long as people keep a distance of at least 1.5 metres (5 feet) from each other. Walking on the beach will still require a mask.

Both the Madrid region and Catalonia, which includes hotspot Barcelona, have lifted their curfews and bars and restaurants can open until 1:00 am in Madrid and until midnight in Catalonia.

Spain is "technically ready" for the EU health pass, but hasn't linked up with the system yet.

- Italy - 

Arrivals from the EU, Britain and Israel must produce a negative Covid test less than 48 hours old and fill in a health form, but don't need to go into quarantine.

Travellers from Australia, South Korea, Rwanda, Thailand, Canada and the US need to show a negative test, go into quarantine for 10 days, and then take another test.

Italy is off-limits for tourists from Brazil, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Masks are still mandatory, although from July people may be allowed to take off the protection when outside 

A curfew between midnight at 5am remains in force, and no more than four people per table are allowed in bars and restaurants.

- Portugal - 

Portugal's southern Algarve coast is a favourite destination for tourists from Britain, with bookings having picked up since the country reopened to European tourists last month.

All arrivals from EU countries, the Schengen area and the UK need a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old to enter Portugal.

The same rules apply to arrivals from Australia, South Korea, Israel, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, Thailand and China.

Everyone else needs a compelling reason to enter Portugal.

Arrivals from South Africa, Brazil and India will have to self-isolate on arrival.

Social distancing and mask-wearing are mandatory, and special rules are in place for beaches and swimming pool areas, with a distance of three metres minimum required between parasols.

Portugal is expected to sign up to the health pass scheme on July 1.

- Greece - 

The Greek government is hoping to to reach about half of its pre-pandemic tourism revenues this summer which, if confirmed, would double last year's figure.

Arrivals from EU countries and the Schengen area are authorised to enter Greece, as are residents of Canada, the US, Israel, China, Thailand, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

But they are required to fill in a form and produce proof of vaccination or a PCR test of less than 72 hours, or a certificate of post-infection immunity.

Masks remain mandatory both indoors and outdoors. 

Discotheques and indoor cultural venues remain shut, while the maximum number of people allowed per table in restaurants is six.

- UK - 

Travel to Britain is made difficult for most of the world by strict curbs on arrivals, costly quarantine requirements and expensive Covid tests.

The tourism sector's efforts are mostly focused on domestic holidaymakers.

Travellers from a handful of "green" countries -- including Australia, New Zealand and Iceland -- need only produce a negative Covid test.

Arrivals from Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands can enter freely.

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Vienna, Austria |

While the 1942 Disney film "Bambi" is world famous as a classic of animated cinema, the man behind the story -- an eminent writer in pre-war Vienna who had to flee the Nazis -- is little known. 

Felix Salten was a product of the cultural blossoming in the capital of the then Austro-Hungarian empire around the turn of the 20th Century.

As a Vienna exhibition which shines a spotlight on the neglected creator shows, he was a prolific writer who moved in the same circles as the likes of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.

Salten wrote the iconic and poignant tale of the fawn bereaved of his mother by hunters in 1922 under the title "Bambi: A Life In The Woods".

On its publication the following year, it did not enjoy immediate success among the reading public.

However, in the 1930s, Salten -- himself a hunter -- sold the film rights for the text for $1,000 to an American producer, who in turn sold them to Disney. 

As for the book itself, "Felix Salten changed publishers and from then on it became much more successful," said Ursula Storch, curator of the exhibition at the Wien Museum dedicated to the city's history.

"Of course it was made even more famous by the film adaptation in 1942," Storch told AFP.

But by then, "Bambi", along with the rest of Salten's work, had been banned because he was Jewish, first in Germany and then in Austria after Hitler's annexation of the country in 1938.

- Literary 'chameleon' -

The film's success, however, was enough to give rise to numerous retellings of the story.

Storch says that while Salten himself never offered a commentary on the meaning of the book, it is a powerful evocation of the dark side of human nature and the relationship between humans and the environment.

"It's a book which is deeply anchored in its time and is much more than a simple children's story about the loss of one's mother," said philosopher Maxime Rovere, author of the preface to a new French edition.

Given "the impression of fear, the way the animals must constantly escape," Rovere says it is "impossible not to make the link with (Salten's) personal experience", living as he did through an era of rising anti-Semitism.

But as the exhibition makes clear, there is much more to the work of Salten than "Bambi".

Born in 1869 in Budapest, he and his family moved to the imperial capital the following year.

At around the age of 20, he began a career as a journalist, which remained his staple source of income for around 50 years, according to Marcel Atze, head of the manuscripts department at Vienna City Library.

However, Salten's oeuvre of some 50 books spans opera librettos, poetry, art criticism, film scripts and even a pornographic novel under the title of "Josefine Mutzenbacher".

He won a reputation as a versatile literary "chameleon".

Storch says that his social life was no less notable, with Freud and composer Richard Strauss among his acquaintances. 

But the Anschluss shattered that world, with Salten later writing of his "contempt for the Viennese and for Austrians in general" after many of them joyfully welcomed Hitler's takeover of their country.

His diaries record an ever-growing anxiety.

"His writings are very moving," Atze, who spent several weeks poring over the journals with colleagues, said.

"When you read them you can absolutely imagine what was happening," he added.  

- 'Feeling of redemption' -

Atze says that only a few such documents survive from this tumultuous period, making Salten "an unbelievably valuable witness".

In March 1939, Salten fled to Switzerland, taking with him a library comprising thousands of volumes.

Two years later, the Nazis stripped him of his nationality.

Atze notes that this news is written in red in Salten's diary instead of the usual blue or black and that the attendant possibility of being deported from Switzerland as a stateless individual must have left him "trembling" until his death in 1945.

His Swiss granddaughter Lea Wyler never knew him personally but says that accounts handed down through the family tell of a "broken man" marked by successive tragedies.

"He had lost his only son in a car accident, he lost his home, Vienna, friends," she told AFP by phone. 

She laments the fact that out of work left by her "loving, humorous, cheeky" grandfather, only "Bambi" is remembered -- and that the Disney adaptation has eclipsed the original.

"The crazy thing is that everybody thinks that Disney wrote it. He did not even get that credit, that is really annoying," she said.

Nevertheless, Wyler adds the fact that Vienna is now celebrating Salten has brought "a feeling of redemption".

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Abidjan, Ivory Coast |

Ivorian-Burkinabe tailor Pathe'O can look back on a 50-year career that has seen him rise from self-taught improviser to supplier of Africa's wealthy and powerful, including anti-apartheid torchbearer Nelson Mandela.

As well as South Africa's first black president, his richly coloured shirts have graced the backs of Moroccan King Mohamed VI, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and the continent's richest man Aliko Dangote.

Now he's doing his best to change attitudes to his profession across Africa and create opportunities for the next generation.

"In the minds of many people here, tailoring is a job for people who didn't go to school, a job for failures," Pathe Ouedraogo -- his legal name -- says with a smile.

"But African fashion, African fabrics interest the whole world! There's a wealth of creators and talents," he adds.

"We have to move up from cottage industry to mass manufacture, produce more to move Africa forward."

- 'My parents' blessing' -

A tall, slender man at 70 with the face of a wise elder, Pathe'O is never seen without one of his own vibrant shirts.

Now at the head of a pocket business empire that stretches across 10 countries and employs 60 people, the father-of-three still shows up every day at the workshops in Abidjan's working-class district of Treichville, where he first set up shop 50 years ago.

Back then, rejected for work in the cocoa fields because of his frail health, he started teaching himself tailoring in a little workspace rented for just a few francs.

Bit by bit he improved, starting to make a wider name for himself by winning the local "Golden Scissors" contest in 1987.

Ten years later, Mandela would wear one of his shirts on an official visit to France, the images prompting new customers to beat a path to his door.

It was a heady rise for a man born during French colonial rule in the Upper Volta -- later Burkina Faso -- who set off aged 19 to make his fortune in Ivory Coast with nothing but "my parents' blessing" in his pocket, according to his biography "De fil en aiguille" ("From thread to needle").

"I never thought 50 years ago that I'd be here. It's amazing!" the founder told reporters at a recent press conference in a luxury hotel as he unveiled the book.

- A 'simple man' -

Now dozens of workers are packed into three large rooms scarcely ventilated by ceiling fans.

All the work is done by hand on old cast-iron Singer sewing machines, and Pathe'O moves among the tailors, designers and pressers to check their work and lend advice.

"You have to know how to do everything in this trade," he says.

Leon Ouedraogo -- no relation -- has worked with Pathe'O for 40 years and now runs the shop floor.

He calls his boss "a simple man, always ready to talk, who takes time to listen and explain".

The founder shows off the intricately patterned cloths dyed in another workshop in the same Abidjan district.

Each is known by a familiar name to insiders, from the "speckled" and "speckled print", to "salad" and "clouds" -- as well as the "Faso Danfani" patterns from Burkina.

- 'Gave us pride' -

"You've got to keep creating every day, surprise your customers, everyone wants something new," says Pathe'O.

He finds inspiration on the street, from women who go to market decked in multicoloured clothes and scarves.

Ivorian designer Gilles Toure says that his mentor Pathe'O "gave us pride in wearing African fabrics".

Pathe'O himself plans to put all his business success and international recognition behind what he calls his "battle" to win respect for Africa's fashion industry.

He sees it as a key economic sector that could help the continent along its road to development.

With a huge, modern new headquarters building in the trendy Cocody district of Abidjan that will also host its charitable foundation, Maison Pathe'O hopes to "bring forth a new generation of African creators".

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Johannesburg, South Africa | 

Geneva, Switzerland | Switzerland's first insect-based food aimed at humans will go on sale next week following a revision of the country's food safety laws, a supermarket chain said. 

Switzerland's second-largest supermarket chain, Coop, announced it would begin selling an insect burger, and insect balls, based on protein-rich mealworm.

The products, made by a Swiss start-up called Essento, will be available in a handful of Coop branches, including in Geneva, Bern and Zurich, as of August 21, according to a statement.

Switzerland is the first European country to authorise the sale of insect-based food items for human consumption, a spokeswoman for the country's food safety authority told AFP.

Swiss food safety laws were changed last May to allow for the sale of food items containing three types of insects: crickets, grasshoppers and mealworms, which are the larval form of the mealworm beetle.

These insects, long used in animal feed, must be bred under strict supervision for four generations before they are considered appropriate for human consumption, according to Swiss law.

Local production will thus take a few months to get started. 

In the meantime, imports are possible under strict conditions -- the insects must be raised in accordance with the Swiss requirements at a company submitted to inspections by national food safety authorities.

Kathmandu, Nepal | Ram's new hand was manufactured on a 3D printer in Nepal's capital for just $30, an innovation that could be a game changer for many in the impoverished Himalayan country.

Once a farmer, Ram lost his hands and toes within a few years of contracting leprosy, forcing the father-of-three to turn to begging in a desperate bid to feed his family.

That's where he was spotted by US-born Matthew Rockwell, the founder of Disaster Hack, a non-profit technology startup that is making functional prosthetic hands for those who couldn't otherwise afford them.

Disaster Hack makes its money doing tech consulting and teaching people to code, while running altruistic ventures on the side like teaching Nepalis IT skills and manufacturing low-cost, basic prosthetics.

Rockwell -- who flits between Nepal and the US, where he is part of the tech team behind the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert -- brought a 3D printer to Kathmandu after a powerful earthquake struck the country in 2015. 

Soon, he began printing new hands for those in need: a girl who lost both limbs after being electrocuted by hanging power lines, a construction worker whose hand was crushed beyond repair.

"We've only distributed to five so far but we have a list that keeps on growing," said Rockwell, sitting in a cramped office in Kathmandu, the 3D printer whirling behind him.

- Recycled materials -Rockwell only has the capacity to make hands at the moment -- a leg requires a more heavy-duty printer -- but he has identified more than 7,000 people in Nepal who could benefit from Disaster Hack's creations.

"A traditional prosthesis costs anywhere between $1000 to $3000 to $5000," Rockwell explained.

"Now we're able to produce prostheses for right around $30 so it (3D printing) lowers the cost dramatically for a functional prosthesis."

Rockwell hopes to bring down the cost even further by recycling plastic bottle tops to make the wire that feeds the printer.

Nepal's healthcare sector is chronically underfunded and ill-equipped but 3D printing can reduce both the cost and time it takes to bring medical equipment to those who need it most.

The 3D printed hands being manufactured by Disaster Hack take nearly a full day to print, and are comprised of roughly 20 different parts.

Rockwell hopes the mostly volunteer-run project will sow the seeds for something bigger.

He has now trained 20 prosthetists at hospitals in Nepal in 3D printing, and signed a deal with Kathmandu's largest university to set up the country's first biomedical 3D printing lab.

Meanwhile for Ram, a new hand could mean a chance to give up begging.

"What should I say, I have nothing to eat. If I stay here I make 100 rupees ($0.97), 50 rupees," he said from his daily spot on the corner of a busy intersection.

He lifted the new prosthetic hand, and as he slowly contracted the plastic fingers to make a fist, a smile spread across his face.