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| - Duty Editor: Barry Parker Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Lebanon braces for new protests as donors meet + Belarus strongman faces surprise challenge in tense vote + Afghan peace talks near as prisoner release agreed + US begins highest level Taiwan visit in decades + Thousands race to stop oil spill in Mauritius ocean paradise Lebanon-blast,WRAP BEIRUT Lebanon's political leaders face pressure from all sides after a deadly explosion blamed on negligence, as a first minister resigns, re-energised protesters vow more action and donors demand reforms. 800 words 1600 GMT by Tony Gamal-Gabriel. Picture. Graphic. Video Also moving: Lebanon-blast-UN-France,lead ex-Paris Belarus-vote,WRAP MINSK Belarus holds tense presidential polls with a popular woman opposition candidate posing the greatest challenge in years to long-ruling strongman Alexander Lukashenko. 750 words 1500 GMT by Tatiana Kalinovskaya. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: Belarus-vote,FACTS Belarus-politics-vote-Tikhanovskaya,PROFILE, Belarus-vote-Lukashenko,PROFILE Afghanistan-conflict-Taliban-prisoners,WRAP KABUL The Afghan government and the Taliban are "on the verge of peace talks" after thousands of prominent Afghans approved the release of about 400 militant prisoners, the head of Kabul's peace council says. 700 words moved by Usman Sharifi. Video Taiwan-US-China-politics-diplomacy,WRAP TAIPEI A senior Trump administration official lands in Taiwan for Washington's highest level visit since it switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979, a trip Beijing has condemned. 700 words moved by Amber Wang. Video Mauritius-environmental-pollution,shipping,WRAP PORT LOUIS Thousands of Mauritians race to contain a catastrophic oil spill swamping its pristine ocean and beaches as frustration mounts over why more wasn't done to prevent the ecological disaster. 650 words 1600 GMT. Picture. Video -- HEALTH -- Health-virus-US WASHINGTON The United States is poised to reach the extraordinary milestone of five million coronavirus cases as President Donald Trump is accused of flouting the constitution by unilaterally extending a virus relief package. 600 words 1700 GMT by Brian Knowlton Health-virus,WRAP RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil becomes the second country to pass the grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths as US President Donald Trump signs executive actions extending economic help in virus-stricken America. 700 words moved by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Health-virus-Britain-work-offices,FOCUS LONDON Deserted streets, empty restaurants, shuttered stores: London's financial districts remain largely abandoned by workers still worried about the pandemic and reluctant to return to office life. 800 words by Jean-Baptiste Oubrier. Picture US-health-virus-Hollywood-nightlife,FOCUS LOS ANGELES With Los Angeles nightclubs closed, party promoters have turned to mansions in the Hollywood Hills to throw lavish, raucous and sometimes deadly gatherings that have enraged neighbors and local officials. 700 words moved by Andrew Marszal. Picture. Video -- MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA -- Lebanon-blast-UN-France,lead PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron urges the world to open its wallet for Lebanon but cautions the country's leaders to prevent post-disaster "chaos" as he hosts a conference to launch a coordinated humanitarian response to Beirut's deadly port blast. 650 words 1500 GMT by Mariette le Roux and Jerome Rivet. Picture. Video. Graphic Egypt-heritage-development-rights,FOCUS CAIRO Egyptian mother-of-three Menna said she was caught off guard when a bulldozer clearing space for a controversial highway flattened much of a mausoleum that doubled as her home in a sprawling cemetery. 750 words moved by Hager Harabech. Picture. Video Health-virus-Algeria-economy,FOCUS ALGIERS Currency depreciation, inflation, negative growth, businesses closed: Algeria's economy has been battered by the one-two punch of the coronavirus crisis and tumbling oil revenues. 570 words moved. File picture. Video -- EUROPE -- Entertainment-music-Cyprus-refugees,FOCUS NICOSIA Cypriot singer Alexia Vassiliou remembers sirens wailing when she was just a child to warn of the Turkish invasion. "I am a refugee... This is why I am here today," she says in an online concert being re-streamed this week. 750 words moved by Lisa Golden. Picture. Video -- AMERICAS -- US-Poland-Czech-Slovenia-Austria-diplomacy,ADVANCER WASHINGTON As President Donald Trump orders US troops out of Germany and faces a tough re-election battle, his top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, is heading to friendly climes in Central and Eastern Europe. 600 words moved by Shaun Tandon Mexico-crime-drugs-media,FOCUS MEXICO CITY Mexican journalist Julio Cesar Zubillaga shudders when his young daughter asks him why "they" want to kill him. He spoke up after a fellow reporter's murder and quickly felt the consequences: death threats and a gun attack on the office where his paper is printed. 600 words moved by Jennifer Gonzalez Covarrubias. File picture US-economy-agriculture-theft-drugs,FOCUS STANLEY, Virginia When she planted hemp to make extra money for her family farm, Susan Corbett did not imagine thieves would find their way to her rural plot in Virginia to steal the plants. 700 words moved by Chris Stein. Picture. Video US-China-economy-agriculture-diplomacy,FOCUS NEW YORK Seven months after the United States and China signed a preliminary agreement to temper their trade war, Beijing's purchases of US agricultural goods have yet to reach the deal's target. 600 words moved by Daniel Hoffman -- ASIA -- Health-virus-Thailand-economy-luxury,FOCUS BANGKOK Thai businessman Yod decided to buy himself an $872,000 treat -- a lime-green Lamborghini -- as Bangkok's luxury sector goes unbroken by the coronavirus-induced crisis ripping through the wider economy. 850 words moved by Aidan Jones. Picture. Video Japan-US-history-nuclear-Nagasaki-Hiroshima,2ndLead NAGASAKI, Japan The Japanese city of Nagasaki commemorates the 75th anniversary of its destruction by a US atomic bomb, with its mayor and the head of the United Nations warning against a nuclear arms race. 650 words moved. Picture. File video -- BUSINESS -- Aramco-Saudi-earnings,WRAP RIYADH Energy giant Saudi Aramco says its net profit for the second quarter plunged a massive 73 percent due to sharply lower oil prices as the coronavirus pandemic undercuts global demand. 600 words 1030 GMT by Anuj Chopra with Omar Hassan in Dubai. File picture afp
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