| schema:articleBody
| - Duty Editor: Jenny Vaughan Contact: jenny.vaughan@afp.com -- TOP STORIES -- + George Floyd to be laid to rest + Moscow emerges from pandemic lockdown + N.Korea severs communication with South + France under fire for handling of virus crisis + 'Harry Potter' star sorry after Rowling trans row US-politics-race-unrest,WRAP HOUSTON, Texas George Floyd is to be laid to rest in his Houston hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism. 750 words 1530 GMT by Cyril Julien and Julia Benarrous. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: US-politics-race-unrest-Floyd,PROFILE Health-virus,WRAP MOSCOW Moscow emerges from a strict coronavirus lockdown despite Russia seeing thousands of new cases every day, as the World Health Organization warns the pandemic is "worsening" worldwide. 750 words 1600 GMT by Michael Mainville with AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic NKorea-SKorea-conflict-politics-diplomacy,WRAP SEOUL North Korea announces it is severing all official communication links with the South, in a move analysts say is aimed at manufacturing a crisis on the divided peninsula. 700 words moved by Sunghee Hwang Health-virus-France-investigation,2ndlead PARIS The chief prosecutor of Paris says he has opened a probe into the French state's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, with possible charges including "involuntary homicide" and "endangering life". 550 words 1600 GMT by Mariette Le Roux Britain-gender-discrimination-Rowling LONDON The star of the "Harry Potter" movies Daniel Radcliffe has apologised to any fans of the book franchise offended by comments from author JK Rowling which have been criticised as insensitive to the transgender community. 400 words moved -- EUROPE -- US-politics-race-protest-Britain LONDON The toppling of a statue of a slave trader has reignited demands for the removal of other monuments to Britain's colonial past, with further protests planned, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledges anger at racial injustice. 650 words 1600 GMT by David Harding. Picture. Video We will also move: US-politics-race-protest-Britain-Rhodes Russia-environment-climate,FOCUS MOSCOW Best known as a vast, cold tundra, Russia's sprawling Siberia region is being transformed by climate change that has brought with it warmer temperatures, forest fires and growing swarms of hungry moth larvae. 650 words moved by Marina Lapenkova. Picture. Video Health-virus-Russia,SCENE MOSCOW Tamara Saldikova, 85, beams as she announces she has left her home in Moscow for the first time since late March as the Russian capital exits from strict lockdown to slow the coronavirus. 600 words 1430 GMT by Thibaut Marchand. Picture. Video Health-virus-Austria-music,SCENE VIENNA After months of lying silent because of the coronavirus pandemic, Vienna's illustrious classical music venues are throwing open their doors -- but their vast halls can now host only 100 audience members at a time. 650 words moved by Julia Zappei. Picture. Video -- AMERICAS -- US-politics-unrest-race-police,FOCUS WASHINGTON Calls for police reform have spread across the United States, but after years of acting with relative impunity -- supported by powerful unions and protective laws -- changing the worst habits of the men in blue will be a steep challenge. 800 words moved by Charlotte Plantive Health-virus-US WASHINGTON When epidemiologists talked about "flattening the curve," they probably didn't mean it this way: the US hit its peak coronavirus caseload in April, but since that time the graph has been on a seemingly unending plateau. 800 words moved by Issam Ahmed and Ivan Couronne. Picture Brazil-environment-health-virus,FOCUS RIO DE JANEIRO As tens of thousands of fires consumed the Amazon last year, it seemed the world's biggest rainforest could not be in greater peril. But now fire season is here again, and the coronavirus pandemic risks making it even worse. 700 words 1500 GMT by Joshua Howat Berger. File picture -- MIDDLE EAST -- Iran-US-Israel-espionage,WRAP TEHRAN Tehran says it will execute an Iranian for spying for the United States and Israel after his conviction was upheld for helping the US locate a top Iranian general killed in a drone strike. 550 words moved by Amir Havasi Bahrain-rights,WRAP MANAMA Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who played a key role in 2011 Shiite-led anti-government protests, is freed from jail after being convicted over tweets critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. 500 words 1500 GMT. File picture. File video UAE-space-Mars DUBAI The first Arab space mission to Mars, set for launch next month, will inspire the region's youth and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, officials in the United Arab Emirates say. 500 words 1630 GMT by Dana Moukhallati Israel-Palestinians-conflict-US-diplomacy,WRAP RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories Palestinians have sent the diplomatic Quartet a response to the US Mideast plan which sees parts of the West Bank being annexed by Israel, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh says. 450 words moved by Guillaume Lavallee. Picture Health-virus-UAE-Dubai-tourism,FOCUS DUBAI The waiter at a chic Dubai restaurant wears a face mask and gloves, pours the wine into plastic cups and serves the steaks on paper plates with disposable cutlery. As the pandemic lockdown eases, the new normal has taken a toll on the city's "wow" factor. 700 words moved by Dana Moukhallati. File picture -- AFRICA -- Tanzania-politics-unrest-crime,WRAP DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania's main opposition party describes a violent beating that left its chairman Freeman Mbowe in hospital with injuries as "politically motivated". 500 words moved. File picture. File video Health-virus-EGuinea, FOCUS MALABO In Equatorial Guinea, a country ruled with an iron fist for four decades, the strain of living under one of Africa's toughest coronavirus confinements is starting to tell. 650 words 1500 GMT by Samuel Obiang -- ASIA -- HongKong-China-politics-unrest-anniversary,WRAP HONG KONG Several thousand demonstrators march in Hong Kong -- defying authorities a year after huge pro-democracy protests erupted -- as the movement struggles in the face of arrests, coronavirus bans on crowds and a looming national security law. 600 words moved by Su Xinqi and Jerome Taylor. Picture. Video. Live Video. Graphic Also moved: HongKong-China-politics-unrest-anniversary-frontliner,PROFILE HongKong-China-politics-unrest-anniversary-medic,PROFILE HongKong-China-politics-unrest-anniversary-student,PROFILE HongKong-China-politics-unrest-anniversary,PHOTOESSAY HONG KONG Torn up paving stones filled-in with concrete, cages erected over bridges and security guards on campuses -- protests have left a permanent imprint on Hong Kong streets after its year of tumult. 550 words moved by Jerome Taylor. Pictures by Anthony Wallace and Isaac Lawrence. India-China-diplomacy-goats-textile,FOCUS SRINAGAR, India The world is heading for a shortage of the highly prized and super-soft cashmere wool as pashmina goats that live on the "roof of the world" become caught up in the border dispute between nuclear neighbours India and China. 650 words moved by Parvaiz Bukhari. File Picture -- BUSINESS -- Health-virus-France-aviation,3rdlead PARIS The French government pledges 15 billion euros ($16.9 billion) for the country's aviation industry, where thousands of jobs are on the line as the coronavirus crisis hammers the travel industry. 600 words 1600 GMT by Mathieu Rabechault HongKong-China-Britain-Cathay-aviation,WRAP HONG KONG Troubled Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific announces a HK$39 billion ($5 billion) government-led bailout plan as it battles a crippling downturn caused by the coronavirus. 600 words moved by Jerome Taylor. Live video. File picture -- LIFESTYLE AND ENTERTAINMENT -- France-US-food-television-chef,INTERVIEW PARIS The world's best pastry chef reveals how he cracked America's sweet tooth by taking a break from his day job in the Paris Ritz to work in a Los Angeles food truck. 600 words moved by Olga Nedbaeva. File picture. File video Health-virus-France-wine,FOCUS BORDEAUX, France For a week every year, thousands of wine connoisseurs descend on France's famous Bordeaux region to taste the new vintage. This year, however, there was just a small, sedate gathering of trade experts. 600 words moved by Alexandra Lesieur. Picture. Video Italy-France-literature-Ferrante PARIS French fans of the Italian writer Elena Ferrante queue outside bookshops for her latest novel. But English language readers will have to wait until September for "The Lying Life of Adults". 400 words moved by Alain Jean-Robert and Fiachra Gibbons. File picture France-US-police-protest-streetart PARIS Street art star JR unveils a huge Paris mural to honour a young black man whose death has been blamed on French police brutality. 450 words 1530 GMT. Camille Bouissou and Fiachra Gibbons. Picture afp
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)