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| - Duty Editor: Mike Smith Contact: Engdeskers@afp -- TOP STORIES -- + Myanmar bloodbath sparks global condemnation + Hopes rise in operation to free Suez ship + China sanctions Americans, Canadians in Uyghur row + Indonesia cathedral hit by suicide bombing + New York storefront lets live music return Myanmar-politics-military,WRAP YANGON Defence chiefs from a dozen countries jointly condemn the bloodbath in Myanmar a day earlier, when at least 90 people -- including several children -- were killed after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters. 750 words moved. Picture. Video Also moved: Myanmar-politics-military-strikes Egypt-shipping-Suez,WRAP SUEZ, Egypt Hope rises that salvage efforts will free a mammoth container ship blocking the Suez Canal for six days, crippling international trade and causing multi-million-dollar losses. 750 words 1500 GMT by Mohamed Abouelenen. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: Egypt-shipping-Suez,Q&A China-US-Canada-rights-diplomacy,WRAP BEIJING China announces sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights advocacy body over their criticism of Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs, but Washington says the tit-for-tat measure will only intensify the spotlight on Xinjiang. 650 words moved Indonesia-bombings,WRAP JAKARTA An Indonesian cathedral is rocked by a suicide bombing that wounds 20 as worshippers celebrate the start of Holy Week, an attack slammed by the country's president as an "act of terror". 630 words moved by Andi Hajramurni. Picture. Video. Entertainment-US-music-pandemic,VIDEOESSAY NEW YORK After a year that saw concert venues go dark and stages moved online, an empty storefront in New York has offered a glimmer of hope to artists and audiences ravenous for live music. 550 words moved by Maggy Donaldson. Picture. Video -- SPOTLIGHT -- US-Mexico-immigration-children,SCENE ROMA, Texas Oscar is 12 years old and has just crossed the Rio Grande river from Mexico to Texas in a boat driven by human smugglers. He is crying, afraid and hungry after a dangerous month-long journey from Guatemala and his first words in the United States are "I've come alone". 700 words 1600 GMT by Laura Bonilla. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-US,FOCUS NEW YORK Three days after testing positive for Covid-19, "everything tasted like cardboard," recalls 38-year-old Elizabeth Medina, who lost her sense of taste and smell at the start of the pandemic. A year later, she fears she will never get them back. 725 words moved by Catherine Triomphe. Picture Health-virus-Britain-heritage-culture-history,FOCUS BURY ST EDMUNDS, England The sprawling redbrick house and grounds of Kentwell Hall, built up in the time when the Tudors ruled England, have, like so many of Britain's stately homes, faced an existential threat during the pandemic. 750 words moved by Callum Paton. Picture. Video -- EUROPE -- Syria-conflict-Belgium-attacks-children,INTERVIEW BRUSSELS The children of European jihadists trapped in Syrian camps after the Islamic State group's battlefield defeat are at risk of radicalisation and should be repatriated soon, a Belgian NGO leader warns. 500 words moved by Matthieu Demesteere. Video Russia-media-politics,FOCUS MOSCOW Captured on a CCTV camera late at night, a man on a bicycle with a food delivery backpack approaches the offices of Novaya Gazeta, Russia's leading independent newspaper. 800 words moved by Anastasia Clark. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Mozambique-unrest,WRAP MAPUTO Dozens of people are still unaccounted for following a deadly Islamist attack on Mozambique's northern town of Palma as thousands of survivors are evacuated to the provincial capital Pemba. 600 words 1500 GMT. File Picture. Graphic Also moving: Mozambique-unrest-FACTS Madagascar-politics-Ratsiraka,lead ANTANANARIVO Madagascar's longtime former leader Didier Ratsiraka, a naval officer and instigator of a socialist revolution on the Indian Ocean island, dies aged 84. 450 words moved. File Picture Entertainment-Niger-Sahel-cinema-France,FOCUS BAMAKO The wall of a house in Torokorobougou, a district in the Malian capital Bamako, suddenly lights up as a black-and-white film starts to roll. 700 words moved by Amaury Hauchard. Picture -- MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA -- Syria-conflict-IS-Kurds,WRAP BEIRUT Kurdish forces make dozens of arrests in a security operation in a camp for suspected family members of Islamic State group militants in northeast Syria, a war monitor and Kurdish officials say. 650 words moved by Tony Gamal-Gabriel. File picture Iraq-religion-Judaism,FOCUS BAGHDAD The death of Dhafer Eliyahu hit Iraq hard, not only because the doctor treated the neediest for free, but because with his passing, only four Jews now remain in the country. 750 words moved by Salam Faraj and Sarah Benhaida. Picture -- AMERICAS -- US-racism-police-trial-Floyd MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota Opening arguments begin on Monday in the trial of the white police officer accused of killing George Floyd, a black man whose death was captured on video and touched off protests against racial injustice across the United States and around the world. 650 words moved by Joy Powell and Chris Lefkow in Washington. File picture US-politics-disinformation-Trump,FOCUS WASHINGTON False and misleading claims about American politics have plummeted since Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump's account after the January 6 Capitol riot, a trend Twitter and Facebook -- which also blocked Trump but may reverse course -- are keen to take credit for. 800 words moved by Arthur MacMillan -- ASIA -- Taiwan-Palau-diplomacy-virus-health-travel-pandemic TAIPEI Palau's leader flies into Taiwan as the two coronavirus-free allies prepare to launch a travel corridor and boost their pandemic-hit tourist sectors. 500 words moved HongKong-politics-expo-rights HONG KONG An exhibition of World Press Photo winners opens at a different venue in Hong Kong after a local university called off the event that features images of the city's 2019 pro-democracy protests because of security fears. 350 words moved. File picture -- BUSINESS/ECONOMY -- US-economy-banking-work-Goldman,FOCUS NEW YORK A revolt by junior Goldman Sachs bankers over work weeks that can stretch to as long as 105 hours has inspired both schadenfreude over discontent at the storied investment bank and wider debate about the future of work after the Covid-19 pandemic. 900 words moved by John Biers and Juliette Michel -- SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT -- Climate-environment-EarthHour,WRAP BUENOS AIRES From Singapore to Buenos Aires, cities around the world turn off their lights to mark Earth Hour, with this year's event highlighting the link between the destruction of nature and increasing outbreaks of diseases like Covid-19. 600 words moved. Picture. Video -- SPORT -- Auto-Prix-BRN SAKHIR Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts from pole for the floodlit season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with the Mercedes of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton completing the front row in Sakhir. 600 words at 1700 GMT. Picture Fbl-WC-Eur-2022 PARIS World champions France are in Kazakhstan for the second stop on the long road to qualifying for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with England in Albania and Germany also away to Romania. 600 words 1600 GMT. Picture afp
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