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| - Duty Editor: Tanya Willmer Contact: Engdeskers@afp.com -- TOP STORIES -- + US backs Covid vaccine patent waiver + France-UK tensions soar over fishing + Hong Kong jails activist Wong again + Fifth time lucky: SpaceX lands Starship + Trans weightlifter on cusp of Olympics Health-virus,WRAP WASHINGTON The United States throws its weight behind a waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, as India posts record new deaths and infections from a catastrophic wave swamping the country. 750 words 1230 GMT by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic France-Britain-Brexit-fishing,WRAP SAINT HELIER, Jersey British and French navy ships steam to waters near the Channel island of Jersey as tensions spiral between the two neighbours over post-Brexit fishing rights. 700 words 0930 GMT by Sameer Al Doumi with Adam Plowright in Paris. Picture. Video. Graphic HongKong-China-politics-court,WRAP HONG KONG Jailed Hong Kong dissident Joshua Wong is handed an additional 10-month sentence after pleading guilty to taking part in an "unlawful" protest last year over the Tiananmen Square crackdown. 650 words moved by Yan Zhao and Jerome Taylor US-space-SpaceX-Starship,2ndlead WASHINGTON SpaceX manages to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts. 500 words moved Issam Ahmed Oly-2020-2021-weightlifting-NZL-Hubbard-gender,lead WELLINGTON New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is poised to become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympic Games, in a move that will reignite debate over the ethics of trans sport. 600 words moved by Neil Sands. File picture -- SPOTLIGHT -- Kosovo-rights-women,FOCUS PRISTINA The rape of Vasfije Krasniqi was one of thousands during Kosovo's 1990s war, but she is still the only victim to have spoken out publicly and now she is at the forefront of a movement pushing for change in a patriarchal society. 900 words moved by Ismet Hajdari. Picture. Video Kenya-crime-drugs,FOCUS NAIROBI Esther Wanjiru started using heroin at 16 to dull the pain after her baby died, first smoking, and now injecting the opioid which has become increasingly cheap and abundant in Kenya. 650 words moved by Romain Fonsegrives. Picture. Video SKorea-music-social-entertainment-Kpop,FOCUS SEOUL Thirty teenagers, thousands of hours of training, dozens of shattered dreams: it all comes to a head next week when the Blitzers will be launched into the cut-throat K-pop market, hoping to become the next BTS. 800 words moved by Kang Jin-kyu. Picture. Video Jordan-drought-climate-Israel,FOCUS GHOR AL-HADITHA, Jordan Ahmad Daoud surveys his shrivelled tomato plants near the Dead Sea in Jordan, where severe drought in what is already one of the world's most water-deficient countries is hitting hard. 700 words moved by Kamal Taha. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-India-toll,3rdlead NEW DELHI India sees record new jumps in Covid-19 cases and deaths, dashing tentative hopes that a catastrophic recent surge that has stretched hospitals to the limit might be easing. 650 words moved by Bhuvan Bagga. Picture. Graphic Health-virus-vaccines-WTO-pharmaceutical-patent,FACTS GENEVA Sudden US backing for a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines offers hope to poor nations struggling for doses -- but the big pharma industry thinks the notion misguided. 800 words 0930 GMT by Agnes Pedrero Health-virus-US-vaccine-promotions,FOCUS WASHINGTON Free beer, free doughnuts, free baseball games and savings bonds -- government officials and businesses are teaming up to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. 600 words moved by Cyril Julien and Chris Lefkow. File picture Also moved: Health-virus-world,FACTS -- EUROPE -- Ukraine-US-diplomacy-Russia-conflict,WRAP KIEV US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicks off his visit to Ukraine by reaffirming Washington's commitment to supporting Kiev's sovereignty and territorial integrity following a massive troop buildup by Russia. 750 words 1030 GMT by Shaun Tandon and Olga Shylenko. Picture. Video Britain-vote,WRAP LONDON Britons vote in the first local and regional elections since Brexit and the coronavirus crisis, with Scotland the main focus after calls for a new independence referendum that could reshape the country. 650 words 1000 GMT by Jitendra Joshi and Anna Malpas. Picture. Video. Graphic EU-summit-Portugal,WRAP PORTO, Portugal EU leaders meet to survey the economic wreckage of the pandemic, with high hopes from summit host Portugal that they will swear off austerity and tackle poverty as they fix a broken economy. 600 words 1300 GMT by Thomas Cabral with Daniel Aronssohn in Brussels -- AFRICA -- ICC-Uganda-warcrimes-Ongwen-LRA,WRAP THE HAGUE International Criminal Court will sentence a child soldier-turned-Lord's Resistance Army commander for a litany of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Uganda. 500 words moved Danny Kemp. File picture Nigeria-unrest-students,WRAP KANO, Nigeria Nearly 30 abducted Nigerian college students have been freed, government officials say, two months after heavily armed gunmen kidnapped them in the north of the country. 450 words moved by Aminu Abubakar -- MIDDLE EAST -- Israel-politics,Q&A JERUSALEM Israel's opposition leader Yair Lapid hopes to end the era of veteran premier Benjamin Netanyahu, a tough task that would force him to build a governing alliance spanning the nationalist right and Arab lawmakers. 650 words 1300 GMT by Guillaume Lavallee. Graphic. Video Also moving: Israel-politics,CHRONO Saudi-Iran-Yemen-conflict-US-diplomacy,FOCUS RIYADH After years of proxy warfare, Saudi Arabia's secret talks with arch-rival Iran signal a high-wire diplomatic act as it scrambles to rein in Tehran-backed Yemeni rebels, although prospects of a breakthrough look remote. 700 words moved by Anuj Chopra Israel-Palestinians-conflict-court JERUSALEM Twenty-two Palestinians are wounded in fresh clashes with Israeli police in annexed east Jerusalem, the Red Crescent says, with tensions inflamed by a controversial land rights case. 500 words moved. Picture. Video -- ASIA-PACIFIC -- China-Australia-diplomacy-politics,WRAP BEIJING China suspends an economic agreement with Australia, worsening an already-troubled relationship fractured by spats over the Covid-19 pandemic and human rights abuses. 550 words moved by Beiyi Seow China-G7-diplomacy,WRAP BEIJING China "strongly condemns" a statement by the Group of Seven nations accusing Beijing of rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong as the schism with western democracies widens. 500 words moved -- AMERICAS -- US-IT-politics-Facebook-Trump,WRAP WASHINGTON Facebook's independent oversight board upholds a ban on former US president Donald Trump while ordering further review of the case, in a decision with a potentially far-reaching impact on the regulation of online speech. 900 words moved by Rob Lever. File picture Also moved: US-IT-politics-Trump,FACTS US-IT-politics-Facebook-Trump,Q&A Mexico-accident-train,WRAP MEXICO CITY Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador rejects any link between his austerity drive and a metro line disaster that left 25 dead, as devastated families begin to bury the victims. 700 words moved by Sofia Miselem. Picture. Video Colombia-politics-protest-rights,WRAP BOGOTA Thousands of demonstrators are pouring into Colombia's streets on the eighth straight day of protests despite clashes that have left at least 24 dead and hundreds wounded. 700 words moved by Lina Vanegas. Picture. Video. Graphic -- BUSINESS -- EU-US-computers-Microsoft,WRAP PARIS US tech giant Microsoft pledges to process and store all European cloud-based client data in the European Union amid unease in the region over the reach of US legislation on personal data collection. 500 words moved by Laurent Barthelemy France-Netherlands-aviation-health-virus-earnings,WRAP PARIS Air France-KLM posts huge first-quarter losses and warned that the situation would not improve much in the next few months as global travel restrictions persist due to the pandemic. 500 words 1100 GMT by Tangi Quemener -- CLIMATE -- Climate-Greenland-Antarctica-glaciers-oceans-warming,lead PARIS Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could halve how much sea levels rise due to melting ice sheets this century, according to a major new study modelling how Earth's frozen spaces will respond to ever-increasing greenhouse gas emissions. 700 words moved by Patrick Galey. Graphic -- SPORT -- Fbl-Eur-C1-ENG-ESP-Chelsea-RealMadrid-Tuchel,FOCUS LONDON Sacked by Paris Saint-Germain on Christmas Eve, Thomas Tuchel is going back to the Champions League final for a second consecutive season after his rejuvenated Chelsea cruised past Real Madrid in the last four to set up an all-English showdown with Manchester City. 600 words moved by Kieran Canning. Picture Fbl-Eur-C1-ESP-Liga-RealMadrid-Zidane-ENG-Chelsea,FOCUS MADRID Real Madrid were not just beaten but outplayed in the Champions League semi-final, their defeat by Chelsea clear enough to spell the end of a team that has gone on and on but can no longer match the best in Europe. 700 words moved by Tom Allnutt. Picture. Graphic afp
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