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| - Duty Editor: Daniel Lawler Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Australia to oppose Great Barrier Reef downgrade + Spain pardons Catalan leaders over independence bid + Taliban captures main Tajikistan border crossing + New York City votes in primary to select new mayor + Covid disrupts England and Scotland at Euro 2020 Australia-UNESCO-climate-oceans-reef,WRAP BRISBANE Australia says it will strongly oppose a UNESCO plan to list the Great Barrier Reef as "in danger" over deterioration caused by climate change as the UN cultural agency brings out a string of potential changes to its world heritage list. 700 words 1530 GMT by Holly Robertson and Clare Byrne in Paris. File picture. Also moved: UN-heritage-culture-environment,POINTS Spain-politics-Catalonia-prisoners-pardon,WRAP MADRID Spain pardons the jailed Catalan separatists behind a failed 2017 independence bid in a bid to break the deadlock over the political crisis in this wealthy northeastern region. 650 words 1530 GMT by Hazel Ward. Picture. Video Also moved: Spain-politics-Catalonia-pardon,FOCUS Spain-politics-Catalonia-dates,CHRONO Afghanistan-Tajikistan-conflict-Taliban,WRAP KUNDUZ The Taliban captures Afghanistan's main border crossing with Tajikistan -- with Afghan forces abandoning their posts and some fleeing across the frontier -- scoring their most significant gain since the US began the final stage of its troop withdrawal. 600 words 1430 GMT by Hakim Hasas with Usman Sharifi in Kabul US-politics-vote-NewYork,WRAP NEW YORK New York City residents cast ballots in a Democratic primary that will select the mayor tasked with shaping the post-pandemic future of America's largest metropolis. 600 words 1600 GMT by Peter Hutchison. Picture. Video Fbl-Euro-2020-2021,WRAP LONDON England's bid to win their Euro 2020 group is thrown into chaos ahead of their clash with the Czech Republic after Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were forced to isolate following exposure to an opponent who has Covid-19. 750 words 1600 GMT by Steven Griffiths. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moving: fbl-Euro-2020-2021-health-virus-Britain-politics-UEFA-Wembley -- SPOTLIGHT -- China-animal-monk-religion,FOCUS SHANGHAI His bald head glistening with sweat, Buddhist monk Zhi Xiang peers into the eyes of a stray dog whose coat has become matted in heavy rain and says soothingly: "Let me cut your hair, cutie." 750 words moved by Peter Stebbings and Jessica Yang. Picture. Video Mali-women-prison,FOCUS BAMAKO Laughing children, yoga classes, job-training sessions: Mali's only women's prison is a far cry from the squalid, overcrowded jails found elsewhere in the war-torn Sahel. 500 words moved by Amaury Hauchard. Picture. Video Colombia-protest-poverty,FOCUS CALI, Colombia In a rich neighborhood in the Colombian city of Cali, residents standing next to police fire their weapons at protesters, believing they are protecting their possessions from the mob. After 50 days of social protests, Cali's class divide seems to be widening. 750 words moved by Diego Legrand. Picture. Video Also moved: Health-virus-Colombia-toll,lead -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-US-EU-travel-diplomacy,FOCUS WASHINGTON As the Covid pandemic recedes dramatically in the West, Europe is opening its doors to Americans -- but the reverse is not holding true, with the United States not budging on restrictions imposed 15 months ago. 600 words moved by Francesco Fontemaggi Health-virus-India,lead BANGALORE, India An aviation firm carries out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas. 450 words moved. Picture. Video Health-virus-alcohol-liver PARIS A survey of people hospitalised for Covid-19 found those with chronic liver disease and a history of alcohol abuse were 80 percent more likely to die from the virus and less likely to receive life-saving intubation. 450 words moved by Natalie Handel -- EUROPE -- Vatican-pope-religion-Italy-homosexuality,WRAP ROME The Vatican confirms it has lodged a diplomatic protest against a draft Italian law against homophobia, in what a news report called an "unprecedented" act of meddling in Italy's affairs. 650 words 1530 GMT by Alvise Armellini. File picture Britain-NIreland-politics-EU-Brexit,WRAP DUBLIN Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party names its third leader in under a month, the latest twist in a Brexit-soaked drama that has left the region's leadership in turmoil. 700 words moved by Joe Stenson. File picture France-Libya-Egypt-rights-cybercrime,WRAP PARIS Prosecutors charge four executives at two French companies accused of aiding Libya's former strongman Moamer Kadhafi and Egyptian authorities to spy on opposition figures who were later detained and tortured, a rights group says. 500 words 1530 GMT by Eleonore Dermy -- AMERICAS -- US-politics-voting-rights WASHINGTON The US Senate addresses a pillar of democracy that has divided lawmakers, with Republicans poised to block a sweeping package of voting rights that are at the heart of Donald Trump's 2020 election challenges. 500 words 1600 GMT by Michael Mathes US-EU-Germany-France-Italy-diplomacy,WRAP WASHINGTON On the heels of Joe Biden's first presidential trip overseas, Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads back to Europe to solidify a common front with Western allies in the face of the administration's focus on a rising China. 600 words 1630 GMT by Shaun Tandon Nicaragua-politics-elections,FOCUS MANAGUA With five opposition challengers now in detention, Nicaragua's long-serving President Daniel Ortega is clearing domestic obstacles to a fourth successive term, but lining up forceful international response. 750 words 2030 GMT Also moving: Nicaragua-politics-elections,COUNTRYFACTFILE Nicaragua-politics-elections,CHRONO -- ASIA -- HongKong-China-politics-media,2ndlead HONG KONG Media outlets in Hong Kong must not "subvert" the government, the city's leader says, rejecting US criticism of recent action against a pro-democracy newspaper under a powerful new security law. 550 words moved by Jerome Taylor and Yan Zhao. Picture. Video. Live video Also moved: HongKong-China-politics-media,FOCUS Myanmar-politics-military-coup-SuuKyi-trial YANGON Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears in a junta court again on trial for sedition and for flouting Covid restrictions during an election her ousted party won in a landslide. 300 words moved. Picture Also moved: Myanmar-politics-military-coup,lead -- MIDDLE EAST -- Iraq-politics-Hashed,FOCUS BAGHDAD With the second-biggest bloc in Iraq's parliament, powerful friends in Iran and vast financial assets, the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance has become the predominant force in Iraqi politics, experts say. 750 words moved by Ammar Karim and Sarah Benhaida -- AFRICA -- Ethiopia-vote-conflict,WRAP ADDIS ABABA Vote counting is under way following elections in Ethiopia that went ahead without polling in the war-torn northern Tigray region and other restive parts of Africa's second-most populous nation. 750 words moved by Nick Perry with Marion Douet in Bahir Dar. Picture. Video -- BUSINESS/ECONOMY -- Forex-market-bitcoin,WRAP LONDON Bitcoin drops below $30,000 for the first time in five months, hit by concerns over China's ongoing crackdown on the world's most popular cryptocurrency. 400 words 1500 GMT ElSalvador-economy-bitcoin,FOCUS MONTEVIDEO El Salvador is now the only country in the world where bitcoin is legal tender -- a new avenue for citizens abroad to send money back home. But concerns remain about the cryptocurrency's volatility and security. 700 words 1830 GMT by Mauricio Rabuffetti with AFP bureaus in El Salvador, Mexico and Washington -- OLYMPICS -- Oly-2020-2021-Japan-health-virus,WRAP TOKYO The Tokyo Olympics have weathered a historic postponement, an unprecedented ban on overseas fans and persistent domestic opposition, but with one month to go, the finish line is finally in sight. 700 words moved by Sara Hussein. File picture ** Please see AFP's Special Tokyo Olympics Advisory: one month to go ** -- SPORT -- Amfoot-NFL-Raiders-Nassib-homosexuality,WRAP LOS ANGELES Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib makes history after coming out as the first active openly gay player in the NFL, announcing his sexual orientation in a post on social media. 700 words moved by Rob Woollard Fbl-Euro-2020-2021-GER-HUN-UEFA,WRAP MUNICH, Germany UEFA's decision to block plans by Munich to light the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours for the Germany-Hungary Euro 2020 match is met with defiance in the Bavarian city, which vows to decorate other landmarks in protest at a law passed by the Hungarian government. 700 words moved. File picture afp
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