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| - Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + US, China clash in first talks under Biden + EU regulators say AstraZeneca jab safe + Putin mocks Biden 'killer' remark + North Korea severs ties with Malaysia + London battles lockdown rodent problem US-China-diplomacy,WRAP ANCHORAGE, Alaska US and Chinese diplomats clash in their first face-to-face talks since President Joe Biden took office, with the world's top two powers each digging in on a laundry list of issues on which they diverge broadly as the summit opened in Alaska. 700 words 0230 GMT by Frederic J. Brown, with Francesco Fontemaggi in Washington. Picture. File picture. Video Health-virus,WRAP THE HAGUE Leading EU countries say they will resume AstraZeneca vaccinations after the European medical regulator says the jab is "safe and effective" and not associated with a higher blood clot risk after days of commotion around the shot. 900 words moved by Danny Kemp with AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic. Videographic Russia-US-diplomacy-politics,WRAP MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin mocks Joe Biden for calling him a "killer" -- saying "it takes one to know one" -- as ties between Moscow and Washington sink to new lows. 700 words moved by Anna Smolchenko NKorea-Malaysia-US-diplomacy-extradition,WRAP SEOUL North Korea severs diplomatic ties with Malaysia, abruptly shutting down a once-close relationship that plunged following the shocking assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in a Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago. 550 words 0230 GMT Health-virus-Britain-rats,FOCUS LONDON "That's quite a big one," rat-catcher Colin Sims remarks with understatement, holding up a prime specimen. It's boom time for companies like Sims' CHS Pest Control, which has seen callouts to deal with rats jump 75 percent since Britain first entered coronavirus lockdown a year ago. 600 words 0300 GMT by Martine Pauwels. Picture -- SPOTLIGHT -- HongKong-China-environment-reefs,FOCUS HONG KONG In jade waters off Hong Kong's eastern shoreline, scientists are thrilled to spot a cuttlefish protecting her eggs inside an artificial, 3D-printed clay seabed helping to restore the city's fragile coral reefs. 750 words 0330 GMT by Sarah Lai. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-Spain-economy-poverty,FOCUS MADRID Even though her face is covered by a black mask, Rita Carrasco still wears bright red lipstick. But her easy smile faltered when she had to join Madrid's "hunger lines" for food aid. 650 words 0300 GMT by Emmanuelle Michel. Picture. Video Health-virus-US-Florida-Miami,FOCUS MIAMI BEACH, Florida The warm sands of Miami Beach in Florida are again packed with revelers -- a sight that Americans view either as a proof of progress at last against Covid-19, or of a recklessness that could set back the nation's recovery. 800 words moved by Leila Macor. Picture -- AMERICAS -- US-crime-shooting-racism-Asian,WRAP ATLANTA, Georgia Asian-American communities are on alert after a shooting rampage that left six women of Asian origin dead and stoked fears in a population already alarmed by a surge in hate crimes during the coronavirus pandemic. 850 words 0300 GMT by Cyril Julien. Picture. Video. Graphic US-shooting-crime-racism-gender,FOCUS WASHINGTON A white man kills eight people in the US city of Atlanta, including six Asian women. Police hold a press conference and say he denies being driven by racism, and that he told them he was eliminating "temptation" for a "sex addiction." So what category of hate does his crime fall in? 800 words 0300 GMT. File picture US-politics-immigration-family,FOCUS BROWNSVILLE, Texas Amanda Garcia struggles to hold back her tears. After 30 days on the road, waiting in this Texas border town for a bus to Dallas, she is just hours from her goal -- a better life in the United States. 800 words 0130 GMT by Paul Handley. Picture. Video -- ASIA -- China-Canada-politics DANDONG The trial is set to begin for Michael Spavor, the Canadian detained in China since December 2018 and charged with espionage, as relations between Ottawa and Beijing plummet. 400 words 0200 GMT. Picture. Video -- EUROPE -- Spain-euthanasia-law,WRAP MADRID Spain's parliament passes a law legalising euthanasia, making the country one of the few to allow terminally ill or gravely injured patients to end their own suffering. 750 words moved by Diego Urdaneta. Picture. Video Also moved: Spain-euthanasia-law,FACTS -- MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA -- Israel-vote,FOCUS JERUSALEM Israel's voters, who include settlers in the occupied West Bank, Tel Aviv residents eyeing change and Arabs in annexed east Jerusalem, are days away from their fourth election in less than two years. AFP asked five of them about their voting intentions. 700 words 0200 GMT. Picture. Video Already moved: Israel-vote-farright,FOCUS Israel-vote-Judaism,FOCUS Syria-conflict-sanctions-internet-streaming,FOCUS DAMASCUS Virtual platforms like Netflix and Zoom have emerged as lifelines for a pandemic-hit world forced indoors, but in sanctioned Syria where both websites are blocked, Mohammad Habash feels increasingly disconnected. 750 words 0200 GMT by Maher Al Mounes. Picture. Video Libya-conflict-women-politics,FOCUS TRIPOLI Libya's new government counts five women, with two in key portfolios -- a first for the country but criticised by activists as too little and as not living up to a UN commitment. 750 words 0200 GMT by Hamza Mekouar and Jihad Dorgham. Picture Sudan-Ethiopia-border,FOCUS WAD KAWLI, Sudan Under a thatched roof, Sudanese dream of returning to farmland at the heart of a decades-old dispute with Ethiopia that has turned violent and threatened to ignite a wider conflict. 850 words 0200 GMT by Menna Zaki. Picture. Video Iran-politics-tradition-health-virus,FOCUS TEHERAN Battered by punishing US sanctions and the Covid-19 pandemic, Iranians are readying for a gloomy Nowruz, the traditional Persian New Year festival on Saturday. 700 words moved. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Tanzania-politics-Magufuli,WRAP DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania is in mourning over the sudden death of President John Magufuli, an authoritarian leader and Covid sceptic who leaves behind a divided legacy and a question mark over his fatal illness. 850 words moved. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: Tanzania-politics-Magufuli,SCENE Tanzania-politics-Hassan,PROFILE Tanzania-politics-death-Magufuli-timeline, CHRONO Tanzania-politics-death-Magufuli-facts,FACTS SAfrica-royals,WRAP NONGOMA, South Africa South African politicians, traditional leaders and celebrities bid farewell to Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini, with tributes led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who declared "a huge tree has fallen." 900 words moved by Susan Njanji. Picture. Video -- BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY -- Music-technology-telecommunication-culture,lead PARIS Spotify launches a new website addressing questions on how it pays out royalties, but fails to dampen mounting anger from musicians struggling to survive in the streaming era. 550 words moved by Eric Randolph Technology-media-science,FOCUS PARIS Audio stimulates our brains more powerfully than video, and slots neatly into our new patterns of voracious cultural consumption -- making this a revolutionary time for aural entertainment. 750 words 0200 GMT by Eric Randolph and Carole Guirado US-IT-lifestyle-Clubhouse,FOCUS SAN FRANCISCO An internet spin on talk radio, the new invitation-only social network Clubhouse has become a sandbox for people tinkering with ways to win fans and make money with audio. 650 words 0200 GMT by Glenn Chapman Also moving: US-IT-lifestyle-Clubhouse-talk,POINTS -- ENTERTAINMENT -- Entertainment-US-celebrity-television-Kardashians,FOCUS NEW YORK It's a cultural abyss for some, an addictive melodrama for others, but no matter your view "Keeping Up With The Kardashians", which premieres its 20th and final season, succeeded in syncing reality television with social media -- and making the clan a fortune. 700 words moved by Thomas Urbain. 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