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| - Duty Editor: Frankie Taggart Email: frankie.taggart@afp.com -- TOP STORIES -- + UK virus toll now the 2nd highest after US + Last month equals record for hottest April + China hails launch of key new space rocket + Baseball restarts S. Korea's sports season + Hong Kong's penguins chill during pandemic Health-virus,WRAP LONDON Britain overtakes Italy with the second-highest number of coronavirus deaths after the US, as countries accelerate plans to ease lockdowns aimed at halting the deadly pandemic. 950 words 2100 GMT by James Pheby with AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Climate-warming-temperature-world PARIS Last month tied 2016 for the hottest April on record worldwide, with particularly high temperatures over western Europe and north-central Asia, the European Union's climate monitoring network says. 400 words moved China-space-launch,WRAP BEIJING China successfully launches a new rocket and prototype spacecraft, state media say, in a major test of the country's ambitions to operate a permanent space station and send astronauts to the Moon. 550 words moved. Picture. Video Baseball-Fbl-golf-KOR-health-virus-SKorea,lead SEOUL South Korea's professional sport returns to action after the coronavirus shutdown with the opening of a new baseball season, while football and golf will soon follow in a ray of hope for suspended competitions worldwide. 500 words moved. Picture Health-virus-HongKong-animal-penguin HONG KONG Save for an absence of gawping crowds, life for the penguins of Hong Kong's Ocean Park has been much the same during the coronavirus pandemic -- but their carers have worked long shifts to keep the monochrome troupe healthy. 450 words moved by Yan Zhao. Picture. Video -- AMERICAS -- Health-virus-US-Washington,FOCUS WASHINGTON Despite more than a month of stay-at-home orders, the Washington region has become a coronavirus hot spot and the African-American and Latino populations of the US capital have been particularly hard hit. 650 words 2000 GMT by Cyril Julien. Picture. Video Health-virus-US-politics-Trump-masks,WRAP PHOENIX, Arizona Will he finally wear one? President Donald Trump's refusal to use a mask during the coronavirus crisis comes under the spotlight at a visit to mask-making factory for his first big trip outside the White House in two months. 600 words 2000 GMT by Brendan Smialowski, with Sebastian Smith in Washington. Picture Health-virus-US-France-economy-food,FOCUS LAUREL, Maryland At the Picou family's factory in Laurel, Maryland outside the US capital, the only workshop that is buzzing is usually reserved for making jams for baking. Now, it's churning out hand sanitizer. 750 words 2000 GMT by Delphine Touitou. Picture -- EUROPE -- Health-virus-Britain,lead LONDON Britain's death toll from the coronavirus has topped 32,000, according to an updated official count, pushing the country past Italy to become the second-most impacted after the United States. 500 words moved by James Pheby and Joe Jackson Also moved: Health-virus-Britain-response,FOCUS Health-virus-RedCross-misinformation GENEVA The Red Cross launches what it says is the first global network of social media "influencers" to battle misinformation about the new coronavirus and to spread lifesaving content about the pandemic. 550 words moved by Nina Larson Health-virus-Germany,3rdlead BERLIN Germany is accelerating its return to normality from a crippling lockdown, with regional leaders pushing back against Chancellor Angela Merkel's pleas for prudence in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. 600 words moved by Hui Min Neo. Picture Health-virus-Spain-hospital,FOCUS MADRID Two steps from the Madrid hospital where they battle the coronavirus, four young doctors share a flat where they help keep each other calm during the pandemic in one of the world's hardest hit countries. 650 words moved by Laurence Boutreux. Picture -- MIDEAST -- Israel-politics-court,lead JERUSALEM Israel's parliament launches what it warns will be a "marathon debate" on a proposed coalition government deal, the legality of which has been challenged in the country's Supreme Court. 550 words moved by Stephen Weizman. Video Health-virus-Saudi-royals-rights,FOCUS LONDON A year after landing in jail without charge, her mercy plea unanswered by Saudi rulers and in fear of a coronavirus outbreak behind bars, a prominent princess did the unthinkable and went public. Her Twitter account has since gone silent. 800 words moved. File Picture Cyprus-crime-police NICOSIA Fifteen Cyprus police officers face criminal prosecution for botching any search for seven missing foreign women and children who were victims of a serial killer. 450 words moved -- AFRICA -- Health-virus-Cameroon-anglophone,FOCUS YAOUNDE People living in English-speaking western Cameroon are having to grapple with a double peril -- the coronavirus pandemic and a conflict between anglophone separatists and the security forces that has claimed thousands of lives. 650 words moved by Reinnier Kaze and Jean-Baptiste Ketchateng with Camille Malplat in Libreville. File picture. Graphic -- ASIA -- Heath-virus-India,2ndlead NEW DELHI India embarks on a "massive" operation calling up passenger jets and naval ships to bring back some of the hundreds of thousands of its nationals stuck abroad due to coronavirus restrictions. 600 words moved by Abhaya Srivastava Philippines-politics-media,WRAP MANILA The Philippines' top broadcaster ABS-CBN is forced off air over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh charges that authorities are cracking down on press freedom. 550 words moved. Picture. Video Health-virus-HongKong HONG KONG Hong Kong announces plans to ease major social distancing measures, including the reopening of schools, cinemas, bars and beauty parlours after authorities largely halted local transmissions of the deadly coronavirus. 400 words moved. Picture. Video -- BUSINESS AND ECONOMY -- Health-virus-US-food-Costco,WRAP NEW YORK Big-box retailer Costco is the latest big US retailer to limit consumer purchases of meat as supply chain problems in the wake of the coronavirus continue to test American households. 550 words 1930 GMT by Daniel Hoffman and Luc Olinga Health-virus-US-litigation-business-labor,FOCUS NEW YORK As the US reopens its economy, businesses are pressing for a shield from litigation from workers who get sick from COVID-19, an effort opposed by organized labor. 650 words 1930 GMT by Luc Olinga ECB-eurozone-economy-Germany-court,WRAP KARLSRUHE, germany The European Central Bank stands firm after Germany's top court questioned its massive bond-buying stimulus scheme, vowing to do "everything necessary" to fulfil its mandate of ensuring price stability. 750 words moved by Carsten Hauptmeier with Tom Barfield in Frankfurt. Picture afp
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