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| - Duty Editor: Tanya Willmer Tel: +33 1 40.41.76.80 -- TOP STORIES -- + US kicks off virus vaccine drive + Brexit trade talks extended + Spy novelist John le Carre dies + Electoral college set to confirm Biden win + US removes Sudan from terror blacklist Health-virus,WRAP KALAMAZOO, Michigan The United States prepares to start its Covid-19 vaccination program as the nation's death toll edges towards 300,000, while Germany announces a partial lockdown over the holidays due to an explosion of cases. 850 words moved by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Britain-EU-politics-Brexit,WRAP BRUSSELS The European Union and Britain extend talks after agreeing to abandon a supposed make-or-break deadline for a post-Brexit trade pact. 700 words 1100 GMT by Max Delany. Picture. Video. Graphic. Live video Also moving: Markets-world,WRAP Britain-literature-espionage-LeCarre,WRAP LONDON John le Carre, the British writer best known for his Cold War espionage novels "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold", has died aged 89, his agent and family says. 750 words moved by Phil Hazlewood. File picture. File video Also moved: Britain-literature-espionage-LeCarre,OBIT Britain-literature-espionage-LeCarre,DATES Britain-literature-espionage-LeCarre,QUOTES Britain-literature-espionage-LeCarre-novels,FACTS US-vote,WRAP WASHINGTON Long a mere formality, a vote on Monday by members of the Electoral College to formally recognize Joe Biden as the next US president has taken on unusual import this year with Donald Trump stubbornly refusing to admit defeat. 650 words moved by Francesco Fontemaggi. Picture. Video. Graphic US-Sudan-diplomacy-Israel,WRAP KHARTOUM The United States removes Sudan from its state sponsor of terrorism blacklist after almost three decades, less than two months after Khartoum pledged to normalise ties with Israel. 500 words 1000 GMT by Sammy Ketz Also moved: US-Sudan-diplomacy-Israel,CHRONO -- SPOTLIGHT -- Ethiopia-conflict-Tigray-Sudan-elderly,FOCUS UM REQUBA, Sudan As fighting raged and bombs rained down on Ethiopia's Tigray region, 80-year-old Asafu Alamaya begged her daughters to flee with their children to Sudan, and to leave her to die at home. 750 words 1300 GMT by Serene Assir. Picture. Video Sahel-music-internet-virus,FOCUS DAKAR Ali Traore, dressed in black, sits down to record in his lively courtyard in Mali's capital Bamako, with children frolicking on the dirt ground between parked mopeds and stray jerrycans. 700 words 1000 GMT by Emmet Livingstone with Amaury Hauchard in Bamako. Picture. Video China-health-virus-Wuhan-river-swimming,FOCUS WUHAN, China Standing beside a large picture of Mao Zedong, Shen Peihua recalls the moment she resumed her daily swim in the Yangtze River in Wuhan after the Chinese city's long coronavirus lockdown. 750 words moved by Peter Stebbings. Picture. Video Pakistan-history-tradition,FOCUS SHOGRAN, Pakistan Mohammad Naseem's eyes shine while he shares the legend of a remote, alpine lake nestled among snow-capped Himalayan peaks as a rare crowd of onlookers hears one of Pakistan's last "storytellers". 650 words moved by Joris Fioriti and Sajjad Tarakzai. Picture. Video -- MIDDLE EAST -- Saudi-Singapore-maritime-blast,WRAP RIYADH An explosion rocks a Singapore-flagged oil tanker off the Saudi port city of Jeddah, the vessel's owner says, in the latest apparent strike on energy sector targets in the kingdom. 600 words moved by Anuj Chopra Saudi-politics-corruption,FOCUS RIYADH Hoards of cash, some of it squirrelled away in false ceilings and water tanks, have been seized in a widening anti-corruption crackdown in Saudi Arabia that has evoked both awe and fear. 800 words moved by Anuj Chopra. File picture -- AFRICA -- Nigeria-crime-school-kidnapping,lead KANO, Nigeria Nigerian authorities step up efforts to rescue scores of students who were abducted by armed men who raided their hostels. 600 words moved -- EUROPE -- Bosnia-politics,FOCUS MOSTAR, Bosnia and Herzegovina Nina Popovic has been eligible to vote for a decade but she has never had a say in the leadership of her Bosnian hometown of Mostar -- a city that will hold its first local election in 12 years on Sunday. 750 words moved by Rusmir Smajilhodzic. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-Brazil-vaccine-politics,2ndlead RIO DE JANEIRO President Jair Bolsonaro faces scathing criticism over his government's plan -- or lack thereof -- to vaccinate the population against Covid-19 in Brazil, the country with the second-highest death toll worldwide. 750 words moved by Joshua Howat Berger. File picture -- BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY -- Technology-internet-Reddit-Dubsmash-merger LOS ANGELES Reddit has acquired the Tik Tok-like app Dubsmash, as big tech moves to carve out territory in the lucrative short-form video-sharing market. 300 words moved -- SPORT -- RugbyU-WC-2023-draw,WRAP PARIS World Cup holders South Africa and the pretenders to their title will discover their group-stage opponents as the draw is made for the 2023 tournament in France. 500 words 1200 GMT by Illtud Dafydd. Picture Auto-Prix-UAE,WRAP YAS MARINA, United Arab Emirates Max Verstappen claims his second win of the season and the 10th of his career as he drives to a clinical victory for Red Bull in a pedestrian season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 550 words moved. Picture Racing-CHN-China-Wuhan-health-virus,FOCUS WUHAN, China Blue cushions are up for grabs as masked spectators cheer horses galloping to the finish in Wuhan, ground zero for the pandemic but also a major centre for racing in China. 750 words moved by Peter Stebbings. Picture afp
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