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| - Duty Editor: Denholm Barnetson Contact: Engdeskers@afp.com -- TOP STORIES -- + China under pressure after lab leak theory revived + George Floyd witness regrets 'not doing more' + VW says 'Voltswagen' rebrand was early April Fool + Niger 'coup attempt' ahead of president's inauguration + Electronic shark deterrents can save lives (of sharks too) Health-virus,WRAP BEIJING China faces growing pressure after the WHO chief revived the theory that the coronavirus may have leaked from a Chinese lab before triggering a devastating global pandemic. 650 words 1000 GMT by Jing Xuan Teng, with AFP Bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic. Videographics Also moved: Health-virus-WHO-China,FOCUS Health-virus-world,FACTS US-racism-trial-police-Floyd,WRAP MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota The teenager who took the viral video of George Floyd's death says at the trial of the white police officer charged with killing the 46-year-old Black man that she knew at the time "it wasn't right." 750 words moved by Joy Powell with Chris Lefkow in Washington. Picture. File Picture. Video. Graphic Germany-US-automobile-environment,WRAP NEW YORK Volkswagen's US subsidiary is keeping its name and will not rename itself "Voltswagen," a company spokesman says, confirming that an earlier announcement was an April Fool's joke that may have gone further than intended. 700 words moved by John Biers Niger-politics-unrest,WRAP NIAMEY An "attempted coup" has taken place in Niger, a security source says, just two days before the inauguration of newly-elected president Mohamed Bazoum -- an event that had been hailed as a democratic watershed in the country's troubled history. 600 words 1030 GMT. File picture. Graphic Australia-shark-attack PARIS Systematic use of electronic devices designed to repel sharks could prevent more than 1,000 people from being bitten by the apex predators in Australian waters over the next five decades, researchers say. 500 words moved by Marlowe Hood -- SPOTLIGHT -- India-culture-sport-athletics,FEATURE JAMBUR, India Rohit Majgul has weathered racism and rejection in India as part of a marginalised community tracing its roots back to Africa -- but he still dreams of bringing sporting glory to his country. 700 words moved by Abhaya Srivastava. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-France-politics,3rdlead PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron makes a prime-time television address under pressure to stem soaring Covid-19 cases and respond to criticism that he has allowed the pandemic to run out of control. 700 words 1200 GMT by Adam Plowright. Picture. Video. Health-virus-France,FOCUS PARIS As Covid-19 rips through the impoverished Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, doctors are struggling to find beds for critical patients and teachers are walking out over a spike in infections in schools. 600 words 1100 GMT by Alexandre Marchand. Picture. Video Britain-health-virus-vaccines-homelessness,FOCUS WINCHESTER, United Kingdom Mac is only 25, normally too young to be eligible for the British government's Covid inoculation campaign at this stage. But he's still terrified of catching the virus. 700 words moved by Anna Cuenca. File picture Health-virus-Moldova-Romania,FOCUS CHISINAU At the hospital in the small Moldovan town of Leova, exhausted doctors see no end to the pandemic: cases are rising, and vaccinations have only just begun. 700 words moved by Mihaela Rodina and Ionut Iordachescu. Picture. Video -- EUROPE -- Italy-Russia-espionage-diplomacy,WRAP ROME Italy summons the Russian ambassador in protest as an Italian navy captain is arrested for spying after allegedly passing confidential documents to a Russian military official. 400 words 1030 GMT by Alvise Armellini Italy-Easter-food-art,FOCUS ROME In a working-class neighbourhood of Rome, crowds gather in front of Walter Musco's bakery to see his sumptious display of Easter eggs inspired by modern art. 500 words 1300 GMT by Gildas Le Roux. Picture. Video. Bulgaria-politics-vote,FOCUS SOFIA When Bulgarians took to the streets last summer demanding the resignation of conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, analysts thought that after almost a decade in the job his time was up. 850 words moved by Diana Simeonova. File picture Poland-music-politics-religion,INTERVIEW WARSAW In his Warsaw apartment decorated with occult imagery, heavy metal star Adam Darski from the band Behemoth says he has had enough of being prosecuted under Poland's anti-blasphemy law. 500 words 1100 GMT by Stanislaw Waszak. Picture. Video -- MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA -- Lebanon-politics-economy-bread,VIDEOESSAY BEIRUT Scattering spinach and hot chili onto fluffy flatbread in Lebanon's capital, 54-year-old Abu Shadi bemoans better times before the economic crisis when all Lebanese could afford his simple meals. 600 words 1130 GMT by Layal Abou Rahal. Picture. Video Egypt-shipping-Suez-transport,FOCUS CAIRO The near week-long shutdown of the Suez Canal threw Egypt under an uncomfortable international spotlight, but experts see limited overall fallout for the country's commercial shipping reputation. 800 words 1100 GMT Health-virus-Yemen-conflict ADEN, Yemen War-torn Yemen has received its first shipment of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines, says the UN children's agency, a week after a local committee called for a public health "state of emergency". 450 words moved. Picture Morocco-women-cartoon-books,FOCUS CASABLANCA Young Moroccan cartoonist Zainab Fasiki draws on a whiteboard in a Casablanca studio where she is holding a workshop that mixes art with a homegrown illustrated #MeToo campaign. 650 words moved by Sophie Pons. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- France-Rwanda-Algeria-history-politics,FOCUS PARIS From France's role in the Rwandan genocides to its colonial-era crimes in Algeria and looting of indigenous art, President Emmanuel Macron has gone further than his predecessors in recognising some of the darker chapters of his country's past in Africa. 700 words 1000 GMT by Valerie Leroux and Clare Byrne. Picture. Video. -- AMERICAS -- US-Honduras-drugs-sentence-politics,WRAP NEW YORK Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's brother is sentenced to life in prison by a New York judge for large-scale drug trafficking after a trial that implicated the leader of the Central American country. 550 words moved US-China-rights-diplomacy,WRAP WASHINGTON The United States will speak out about human rights everywhere including in allies and at home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken vows, turning a page from Donald Trump as he bemoans deteriorations around the world. 700 words moved by Shaun Tandon. Picture Brazil-politics-army,WRAP BRASILIA President Jair Bolsonaro replaces all three commanders of Brazil's armed forces, in a second day of upheaval as the far-right leader braces against mounting pressure created by an explosion of Covid-19 deaths. 750 words moved by Jordi Miro. File picture -- ASIA -- Myanmar-politics-military,WRAP YANGON Myanmar's ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears in good health despite two months of detention, her legal team says, as diplomatic pressure on the military junta ramps up. 650 words 1000 GMT. Graphic. Picture. Video Myanmar-politics-military-wounded,lead MAE SAM LAEP, Thailand Some 50 Myanmar refugees who fled air strikes to neighbouring Thailand have "voluntarily" returned across the border, Thai authorities say, despite reports of continued bombings in their home state. 500 words 0930 GMT by Dene-Hern Chen and Thanaporn Promyamyai. Picture. Video. Live video Indonesia-accident-aviation,lead JAKARTA Indonesian investigators find a crashed jet's cockpit voice recorder, which could offer more clues as to why the Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 plunged into the sea more than two months ago just minutes after takeoff, killing all 62 passengers and crew. 450 words moved. Picture. Video. China-US-politics-diplomacy,ANALYSIS BEIJING It only took one meeting for hopes of a reset in US-China relations under a Biden presidency to evaporate. Instead, alliances are fast coagulating on either side of an old dividing line: democracy. 750 words moved by Patrick Baert -- ENVIRONMENT -- Climate-environment-economy-agriculture-forests,WRAP PARIS An area of pristine rainforest the size of the Netherlands was burned or hacked down last year, as the destruction of the planet's tropical forests accelerated despite a global economic slowdown, according to new research. 800 words moved by Kelly Macnamara. Graphic -- BUSINESS/ECONOMY -- Britain-food-stock-Deliveroo,WRAP LONDON Deliveroo shares slump by nearly a third in value during a disastrous stock market launch for the app-driven meals delivery company, which is facing criticism from institutional investors over its treatment of self-employed riders. 650 words 1030 GMT by Ben Perry Also moved: Britain-food-stock-Deliveroo-app,FACTS Mozambique-unrest-energy-Total,FOCUS PARIS A deadly assault by Islamic State-linked militants in Mozambique could delay plans by Total to build a massive liquefied natural gas facility, analysts warn, although the project is still likely to go forward. 800 words moved by Julien Mivielle Energy-technology-hydrogen,FOCUS PARIS It's seen as the missing link in the race for carbon-neutrality: "green" hydrogen produced without fossil fuel energy is a popular buzzword in competing press releases and investment plans across the globe. 800 words moved by Marie Heuclin and Catherine Hours. File picture. Graphic Also moved: Energy-technology-hydrogen-transport,POINTS Russia-retail-e-commerce,FOCUS MOSCOW Kristina draws closed the purple curtain of the changing room at her nearest Wildberries location, emerging moments later to twirl in a black dress with the label still attached. 700 words moved by Andrea Palasciano. Picture. Video -- ENTERTAINMENT -- EU-media-Netflix-internet,FOCUS BRUSSELS "Lupin", a French reboot set in postcard Paris, has made Omar Sy a global star and fulfilled a long lost dream for Europeans: the confidence to take on Hollywood. 750 words moved by Alex Pigman. File picture afp
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