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| - Duty Editor: Frankie Taggart Email: frankie.taggart@afp.com -- TOP STORIES -- + World leaders pledge $5 tln for pandemic battle + US sees virus deaths surge, jobless claims jump + US indicts Venezuela's Maduro for 'narco-terror' + New Zealand mosque gunman changes plea to guilty + Meghan bags Disney gig narrating elephant movie Health-virus,WRAP RIYADH World leaders promise $5 trillion to stave off global economic collapse from the coronavirus as the pandemic hits the grim milestone of half a billion infections around the world. 950 words 2100 GMT by Anuj Chopra with Shaun Tandon in Washington. Pictures. Graphics. Video. Health-virus-US NEW YORK The United States is quickly becoming a new epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic as new infections soar and unemployment claims skyrocket to a historic high. 500 words 0030 GMT by Diane Desobeau with Sebastian Smith in Washington. Picture. Video US-Venezuela-politics-crime-drugs-terrorism,WRAP WASHINGTON The US indicts Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other senior members of his government for 'narco-terrorism,' saying he leads a cocaine trafficking group called "The Cartel of the Suns." 800 words 2100 GMT by Paul Handley. File picture NZealand-mosques-attack-court-plea,WRAP WELLINGTON An Australian far-right extremist charged with murdering 51 Muslim worshippers in last year's mass shooting at two New Zealand mosques unexpectedly flips his plea to guilty. 600 words moved. File Picture. Video Britain-royals-Meghan-Disney LONDON Prince Harry's wife Meghan will make an instant start to life away from Britain's royal frontline by narrating a new film about a family of African elephants, Disney announces. 250 words moved. File picture -- AMERICAS -- Health-virus-US-NewOrleans,FOCUS WASHINGTON New Orleans, the Louisiana city known as the "Big Easy" famed for its jazz and nightlife, has become an epicenter of the coronvirus pandemic gripping the United States. 650 words 2030 GMT by Chris Lefkow. File picture Moved: Health-virus-US-politics-media-Trump,FOCUS Health-virus-US-economy-unemployment,FOCUS WASHINGTON With streets in major cities barren, and shops and restaurants forced to close due to the coronavirus pandemic, there was a record explosion of Americans filing for unemployment benefits. 600 words moved by Heather Scott -- EUROPE -- Health-summit-EU-virus,WRAP BRUSSELS EU leaders struggle to unify their scattershot response to the COVID-19 epidemic, as hardest-hit Spain, France and Italy call for joint borrowing to share the economic burden. 650 words 2100 GMT by Dave Clark Health-virus-Italy BERGAMO, Italy An overwhelmed Italian city at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic sends its dead to nearby towns for cremation as the country's world-leading toll tops 8,000. 600 words 2000 GMT by Piero Cruciatti and Dmitry Zaks in Rome. Picture Health-virus-Britain-hospitals,FOCUS LONDON London hospitals are overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, according to the head of an organisation representing health bosses, as the country's daily death toll passes 100 for the first time. 650 words 1930 GMT by James Pheby and Phil Hazlewood. -- MIDEAST -- Israel-parliament-politics,WRAP JERUSALEM Israel's Benny Gantz calls for an emergency unity government after being elected speaker of parliament, surprise developments that point towards an alliance with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tackle coronavirus. 650 words by Ben Simon 2000 GMT. File picture. Video Health-virus-G20 RIYADH G20 nations pledge a "united front" in the fight against coronavirus, saying they were injecting $5 trillion into the global economy to counter the coronavirus pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession. 750 words moved by Anuj Chopra. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Health-virus-Africa,WRAP JOHANNESBURG South Africa braces for a nationwide lockdown, joining a host of other African countries that have imposed stringent curfews in desperate attempts to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus across the continent. 700 words 2000 GMT by Susan Njanji and AFP African bureaus. Picture. Video Health-virus-Africa-sport-entertainment-music,FOCUS KINSHASA Footballers and musicians have been on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus in Africa, reaching not just for social media to spread awareness of the dangers of the virus but also for the cheque book. 700 words moved. Picture. Video -- ASIA -- Health-virus-internet-misinformation,FOCUS HONG KONG From being duped into taking poisonous "cures", to watching businesses crumble and avoiding life-saving medication, people are suffering devastating real-world impacts of a deluge of online virus misinformation. 800 words moved by Katie Forster with Uzair Rizvi in New Delhi Health-virus-distancing-study,lead PARIS The lockdown in the Chinese outbreak city of Wuhan brought the COVID-19 epidemic crashing to a halt, giving health systems crucial breathing room to deal with serious cases, new research shows. 600 words moved by Patrick Galey Health-virus-UNICEF-Afghanistan-children-vaccines,lead KABUL The novel coronavirus pandemic that has forced billions of people across the globe to stay home is making parents skip routine immunisations for their kids, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF warns. 400 words moved -- ECONOMY/BUSINESS -- Health-virus-economy-rates-politics,POINTS LONDON Governments and central banks around the world are ripping up the policy rulebook as they battle to immunise their economies from deeper coronavirus carnage. AFP surveys the latest responses by major economies. 600 words moved by Jitendra Joshi -- OLYMPICS -- Oly-2020-Tokyo-politics-virus-health-Abe,FOCUS TOKYO In 2016, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke with his staid public image to pop up in Rio dressed as Super Mario for the official handover of the Olympic Games to Tokyo. 750 words moved by Hiroshi Hiyama Oly-2020-Japan-culture-manga-cartoon,FOCUS TOKYO Next to a countdown showing the number of days to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is scrawled "just cancel it". Not a scene from real life but from "Akira", a remarkably prescient cult Japanese manga series. 650 words moved by Etienne Balmer. Picture afp
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