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| - Duty Editor: Denholm Barnetson Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Anti-racism protesters throng US capital + Trump steps up all-out assault on Biden + Black Panther star Boseman dies of cancer + Banksy-funded rescue boat requests help + Tour de France starts in virus shadow US-racism-politics-march,WRAP WASHINGTON Tens of thousands of protesters demanding an end to racial injustice and police brutality throng the US capital, signaling a renewed groundswell of anger gripping the nation following a white officer's shooting of African-American Jacob Blake. 800 words moved by Charlotte Plantive and Michael Mathes. Picture. Video US-politics-vote,WRAP MANCHESTER, New Hampshire US President Donald Trump insults his Democratic challenger Joe Biden as "low-IQ" and barely conscious in a New Hampshire speech reinforcing his strategy of painting himself as the defender of the country against socialist mayhem. 750 words moved by Saul Loeb with Sebastian Smith in Washington. Picture Also moved: US-politics-vote-Republicans,POINTS Entertainment-US-film-Boseman,OBIT LOS ANGELES Chadwick Boseman, the star of the ground-breaking superhero movie "Black Panther," has died from colon cancer at the age of 43, his publicist tells AFP. 600 words 1000 GMT by Andrew Marszal. File picture Europe-migrants-Britain-Italy-Spain-art,WRAP ROME A refugee rescue vessel funded by British street artist Banksy calls for urgent help after lending assistance to a boat in the Mediterranean that was carrying at least one dead migrant. 600 words moved by Jan Hennop and Herve Bar. Picture Cycling-FRA-Tour,WRAP NICE, France The Tour de France rolls out from the French Riviera, two months later than planned and under the shadow of a coronavirus pandemic which could still shatter hopes of the world's greatest bike race making it to the Paris finish line in three weeks' time. 700 words at 0930 GMT by Damian McCall. Picture -- EUROPE -- Health-virus-Germany-politics-demo BERLIN Thousands of coronavirus sceptics are set to descend on Berlin for a mass protest against pandemic restrictions that was allowed to go ahead after a bitter legal battle. 600 words 0930 GMT by Isabelle Le Page. File picture Sweden-Denmark-Islam-racism-demo STOCKHOLM Protesters threw stones at police and burned tyres in southern Sweden, authorities say, hours after an anti-Muslim Danish politician was blocked from attending a Koran-burning rally nearby. 250 words moved. Picture Greece-Turkey-diplomacy-energy,SCENE KASTELLORIZO, Greece The tiny island of Kastellorizo, peeking out of the turquoise waters of the eastern Mediterranean just two kilometres off the Turkish coast, may not look like the focus of an international incident. And it doesn't feel that way to its sun-baked residents even as diplomatic tensions mount. 700 words moved by Alexandros Kottis. Picture. Video Poland-history-politics,FOCUS WARSAW Forty years after the Solidarity movement united Poles and sparked their peaceful triumph over communism, the EU member is now deeply divided as concerns mount over the health of its young democracy. 700 words moved by Bernard Osser. File picture Also moved: Poland-history-politics-unions-communism,FACTS Belarus-politics-unrest-Poland-NEXTA,INTERVIEW WARSAW A fresh-faced 22-year-old blogger is using nothing more than his keyboard to run the main communications hub for protesters in Belarus as they mount an unprecedented challenge to the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko, often dubbed Europe's last dictator. 700 words moved by Stanislaw Waszak, Dario Thuburn. Picture. Video -- MIDDLE EAST -- Lebanon-blast-heritage,FOCUS BEIRUT Ever since a monster blast ravaged the arches and high ceiling of his family home in Lebanon's capital, Bassam Bassila says a real estate developer has been hounding him to sell. 800 words moved by Layal Abou Rahal. Video. Picture -- LATIN AMERICA -- Brazil-politics-corruption-health-virus,WRAP RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil's High Court of Justice removes Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel from office, as police raid his official residence in a probe into accusations he stole emergency funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic. 550 words moved by Joshua Howat Berger. Picture. Video -- ASIA -- Japan-politics-Abe,WRAP TOKYO The race to succeed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicks off informally with several contenders announcing their plans to stand, a day after Japan's longest-serving leader announced his resignation. 650 words moved by Shingo Ito and Sara Hussein. Picture Bhutan-health-virus-tobacco,FOCUS THIMPHU The remote Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, known for embracing gross national happiness and outlawing television until 1999, has now made the unusual decision to reverse a ban on the sale of tobacco, blaming coronavirus. 400 words moved. Picture HongKong-China-politics-virus-health,FOCUS HONG KONG Hong Kong's plan to offer free coronavirus tests to all residents has become swept up in the festering political debate dividing the city, where many remain deeply distrustful of both local leaders and China. 700 words moved by Jerome Taylor. Picture Thailand-politics-royals-protest-Rung,FOCUS PATHUM THANI, Thailand When university student Rung calmly read out 10 demands to reform Thailand's monarchy before thousands of protesters at a pro-democracy rally this month, she defied the country's biggest political taboo. 700 words moved by Dene-Hern Chen and Pitcha Dangprasith. Picture. Video Afghanistan-conflict-health-virus-drugs-opium,FOCUS JALALABAD, Afghanistan Afghans pushed out of work by the coronavirus pandemic after businesses and schools were shuttered have turned to opium cultivation for cash during this year's poppy harvest. 550 words moved by Noorullah Shirzada with Rasheed Durrani in Kandahar. Picture. Video India-Pakistan-conflict-politics-Kashmir,Q&A SRINAGAR, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is changing Indian Kashmir's residency laws for the first time since 1947 in a bid finally to snuff out any challenge to the disputed territory belonging to India. 800 words moved by Parvaiz Bukhari -- ECONOMY -- Health-virus-US-economy-layoffs-consumer WASHINGTON US consumers continued to spend in July but the gains were much slower than the prior two months amid a surge in coronavirus cases, and confidence remained in a "depressed range," according to new data. 600 words moved by Heather Scott -- ENTERTAINMENT -- Entertainment-Italy-cinema,FEATURE ROME It survived the advent of DVDs and the internet era of instant gratification. Now Rome's last remaining adult cinema says it is sure to also overcome its latest challenge as it grapples with coronavirus. 650 words moved by Herve Bar. Picture. Video afp
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