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| - Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + France extends lockdown as others ease measures + Angry Trump defends pandemic response + Sanders endorses former rival Biden + Sailor from virus-hit US carrier dies + Berlin artists use balconies to display work Health-virus,WRAP PARIS France extends its national lockdown to halt the spread of the coronavirus while other hard-hit countries consider easing measures, hoping the worst of the pandemic may have passed. 750 words 0330 GMT. Picture. Video. Graphic Health-virus-US-politics-Trump,FOCUS WASHINGTON An angry, aggrieved President Donald Trump dismisses rumors that he is going to fire his top medical advisor on the coronavirus pandemic but signals new fights with the Democrats and the media ahead of the high-stakes reopening of the economy. 600 words 0200 GMT by Sebastian Smith. Picture US-politics-vote-Democrats-Biden-Sanders,WRAP WASHINGTON Former White House candidate Bernie Sanders endorses onetime rival Joe Biden for president, saying it was time to unite in the effort to defeat Donald Trump in November. 500 words moved by Michael Mathes. File picture Health-virus-US-defense-Navy,2ndlead WASHINGTON A sailor who was aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier dies of COVID-19, the first fatality from more than 500 confirmed cases among its crew. 550 words moved by Sylvie Lanteaume. File picture Health-virus-Germany-art BERLIN Berlin's galleries may be closed but around 50 artists have risen to the occasion, join a community exhibition from their balconies. 300 words moved. Picture -- AMERICAS -- Health-virus-OPEC-oil-Trump,WRAP WASHINGTON Top global oil producers are considering slashing output by 20 million barrels a day under the terms of a deal to boost prices, US President Donald Trump says. 650 words moved by Chris Stein Health-virus-US-secondwave,FOCUS WASHINGTON The first wave of the US coronavirus outbreak has yet to peak, but scientists are already warning of a second if President Donald Trump and others move too fast to ease the nationwide lockdown. 700 words moved by Ivan Couronne. Picture. Video Health-virus-US-media,FOCUS NEW YORK Battered by grim headlines, horrifying statistics and deep uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, many people worldwide are trying to lift their spirits by seeking out "good news." 500 words 0130 GMT by Thomas Urbain Also moved: US-politics-justice-Trump-taxes,WRAP Health-virus-Cuba-US-diplomacy,FOCUS HAVANA As the deadly coronavirus spreads across Cuba, with 726 cases recorded, a growing chorus of voices is calling for an easing of the decades-long US embargo. 800 words 0130 GMT by Katell Abiven Health-virus-Ecuador-bodies,ANALYSIS GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador With hundreds of corpses left decaying in homes due to lack of space in overwhelmed morgues and hospitals, the coronavirus has struck a withering blow to Ecuador's economic capital Quayaquil, symbolizing the chaos the pandemic can unleash in a poor country. 700 words moved by Paola Lopez. Picture -- ASIA -- Health-virus-China,FOCUS BEIJING Beijing has virtually walled itself off to outsiders with drastic measures to protect China's seat of power against the threat of a second wave of coronavirus infections coming from other regions. 650 words 0300 GMT by Laurie Chen with Jing Xuan Teng in Wuhan. File Picture -- EUROPE -- Health-virus-France,2ndlead PARIS France's lockdown to contain the coronavirus outbreak will be extended until May 11, President Emmanuel Macron says, but adds that the restrictions could start to be eased from then if current positive trends continue. 500 words moved by Stuart Williams and Joseph Schmid. Picture Health-virus-Spain,2ndlead MADRID Workers in Spain's construction and manufacturing sectors cautiously return to work as the daily death toll resumes its downward trend and new infections fall to the lowest level in three weeks. 550 words moved by Alvaro Villalobos and Hazel Ward. Picture. Video Health-virus-Turkey-prisoners,2ndlead ANKARA The Turkish parliament approves a law that allows for the release tens of thousands of prisoners as a safety measure against the coronavirus outbreak. 500 words moved Health-virus-Russia,2ndlead MOSCOW President Vladimir Putin warns officials to brace for "extraordinary" scenarios in the coronavirus pandemic as Moscow tightens its lockdown measures and Russia reports its highest daily infection figures yet. 600 words moved by Anna Malpas and Anna Smolchenko Chernobyl-Ukraine-fire-nuclear KIEV Hundreds of firefighters battle a forest blaze in Ukraine's Chernobyl exclusion zone while officials insist there is no risk to the ruined reactor and nearby storage facilities for nuclear waste. 450 words moved by Olga Shylenko. Picture France-religion-Notre-Dame,FOCUS PARIS Perched over the gaping roof of Notre-Dame, a crane stands idle above the silent Paris cathedral, where repair work has ground to a halt one year after the monstrous blaze that nearly destroyed one of the world's most revered monuments. 800 words 0230 GMT by Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere and Joseph Schmid. File picture. File video. Graphic -- MIDEAST -- Libya-conflict,WRAP TRIPOLI Forces backing Libya's unity government capture two coastal cities west of Tripoli in a new blow to military commander Khalifa Haftar a year after he launched an offensive on the capital. 650 words moved by Imed Lamloum. Picture. Video Israel-politics JERUSALEM Israel's parliament speaker Benny Gantz is given 48 hours to reach a deal on an emergency unity government with his former election rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 500 words moved by Ben Simon -- AFRICA -- Chad-conflict-Sahel,Q&A N'DJAMENA Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno threatens to end the deployment of his troops beyond national borders, a move loaded with potential consequences for the campaign against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel. 650 words moved by Djimet Wiche with Amaury Hauchard in Bamako. File picture -- SPORT -- Health-virus-cycling-Tour-FRA-2020,FOCUS PARIS The Tour de France not only plays a central role in French life, it is the economic heartbeat of professional cycling and analysts fear heavy consequences if the coronavirus crisis forces its cancellation. 600 words moved by Andrea Bambino. File picture afp
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