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| - Duty Editor: Huw Griffith Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + US to buy 500 million vaccine doses for world: reports + Biden triumphant on first overseas tour as president + Myanmar's Suu Kyi hit with corruption charges + Keystone pipeline project officially terminated + Meatpacker JBS 'paid $11m ransom' to hackers Health-virus,WRAP WASHINGTON The United States is set to announce it will buy 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to distribute around the world, a strong gesture intended to prove the country's commitment to the global effort to fight the coronavirus. 750 words 0700 GMT by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: Health-virus-world,FACTS Britain-US-G7-NATO-EU-Russia-summit,WRAP CARBIS BAY, United Kingdom Joe Biden and Boris Johnson will hold their first face-to-face meeting, during which they are to lay the foundations for a new pact, although Brexit and its consequences in Northern Ireland cast a shadow on the old "special relationship". 900 words 0800 GMT by Jerome Cartillier with Sebastian Smith in Washington. Picture. File picture. Video. Graphic Myanmar-politics-military,WRAP YANGON The Myanmar junta hits deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with corruption charges over claims she accepted illegal payments of gold and more than half a million dollars in cash, state media reports. 550 words 0600 GMT. File Photo. US-Canada-oil-environment-politics-pipeline,WRAP NEW YORK Blocked by US President Joe Biden, Canada's TC Energy says it has officially terminated the Keystone XL Pipeline project, throwing in the towel on a controversial initiative opposed by environmental activists. 650 words moved. File picture US-Brazil-cyber-attack-JBS,2ndlead WASHINGTON JBS, one of the world's biggest meat processors, has paid bitcoin worth $11 million in ransom to hackers to prevent any further disruption after a paralyzing cyberattack believed to have originated in Russia. 400 words moved. File picture -- SPOTLIGHT -- Myanmar-politics-military-coup-health,FOCUS YANGON Protesters shot during rallies against Myanmar's military regime are avoiding treatment for their wounds, fearing arrest if they visit junta-run hospitals and searching desperately for sympathetic doctors to operate on them in secret. 700 words moved. Picture -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-France-social,FOCUS PARIS As France enjoys a new relaxation of Covid rules including indoor dining, the mood is unusually buoyant. Will starting to overcome pandemic help the French reclaim their famed joie de vivre? 700 words moved by Clare Byrne. Picture. Video Also moved: Health-virus-France,lead -- AMERICAS -- US-China-IT-security,WRAP WASHINGTON President Joe Biden revokes executive orders from his predecessor Donald Trump seeking to ban Chinese-owned mobile apps TikTok and WeChat over national security concerns. 650 words moved by Rob Lever. File picture Peru-vote,WRAP LIMA Leftist Pedro Castillo casts himself as the winner of Peru's presidential vote, even though election authorities have yet to declare a winner in his race against right-wing populist rival Keiko Fujimori. 750 words moved by Francisco Jara. Picture. Video. Graphic Nicaragua-politics-opposition-arrest,3rdlead MANAGUA The global community urges Nicaragua to free four recently-detained opposition presidential candidates, as the United States announces sanctions against allies of long-serving leader Daniel Ortega. 800 words moved. File picture. Video US-politics-diplomacy-immigration-Harris,FOCUS WASHINGTON Back from her first international mission, US Vice President Kamala Harris catches flak from Republican critics accusing her of not taking the migration crisis seriously enough, but also from vocal progressives frustrated about border policy. 750 words moved by Michael Mathes. Picture Brazil-environment-drought-economy,FOCUS RIO DE JANEIRO The worst drought in nearly a century to hit two key regions in Brazil is wreaking havoc on hydroelectric dams and crops -- and threatening the nascent pandemic recovery of Latin America's biggest economy. 750 words moved by Morgann Jezequel. File picture -- ASIA -- ETimor-US-crime-court-assault-religion,WRAP DILI A defrocked American priest accused of molesting girls for years at an East Timor shelter goes on trial in a case that has split the overwhelmingly Catholic country. 650 words moved by Zevonia Vieira, with Randy Mulyanto in Jakarta. Picture -- EUROPE -- Britain-EU-Brexit-politics-NIreland-trade,WRAP LONDON The European Union threatens the UK with retaliatory action if it refuses to implement post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, after talks to solve the simmering row broke up without agreement. 750 words moved by James Pheby. Picture. Video Russia-politics-opposition-family,WRAP MOSCOW A court in Moscow brands the political organisations of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny as "extremist" and barred them from working in Russia, a further blow to the embattled opposition ahead of parliamentary elections. 800 words moved by Maria Panina. Picture. Video Russia-politics-opposition,INTERVIEW KIEV Vladimir Putin's Russia is morphing into a "dictatorship" intent on punishing and sidelining critics ahead of parliamentary elections, says Dmitry Gudkov, an opposition figure who recently fled to Ukraine. 700 words moved by Dmytro Gorshkov. Picture. Video -- MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA -- Iran-vote-economy,FOCUS TEHRAN When Iranians vote for a new president next week, they will do so in the depths of an economic crisis brought on by crippling sanctions and worsened by the pandemic. 750 words moved by Marc Jourdier. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moving: Iran-vote-candidates,FACTS Health-virus-Lebanon-politics-corruption,FOCUS BEIRUT Lebanon's cash-strapped leaders are bribing their base with free Covid-19 jabs ahead of next year's elections, in what observers say is the latest variant on an old corruption trick. 800 words moved Bachir El Khoury Health-virus-Jordan-tourism-animals,FOCUS PETRA, Jordan Herds of hard-working donkeys once carried hordes of tourists on the rocky paths of Jordan's Petra, but visitor numbers crashed amid the pandemic and the loyal animals now face the chop. 550 words moved by Mussa Hattar. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Mali-coup-politics,WRAP BAMAKO Mali's neighbours offer breathing room to Colonel Assimi Goita, saying they are "reassured" the strongman intends to restore civilian rule after heading two coups in nine months. 550 words moved by Amaury Hauchard and Kassim Traore. Nigeria-Twitter-censorship-technology,FOCUS LAGOS Nigeria's media and activists fear their country is slipping into repression after the government suspended Twitter in Africa's most populous nation, where hyper-connected youth embraced the platform as a means of protest. 900 words moved by Sophie Bouillon. File Picture. -- BUSINESS, ECONOMY & TECH -- France-Germany-automobile-fraud-pollution-Peugeot,2ndlead PARIS French car-maker Peugeot is facing prosecution in France over the "dieselgate" emissions cheating scandal, its parent company Stellantis say, after similar charges were announced against Renault and Volkswagen. 450 words moved ECB-EU-eurozone-rates-inflation-rate FRANKFURT Markets will be looking for clues on when the European Central Bank might start winding down monetary stimulus, as the economic rebound from the pandemic accelerates and eurozone inflation surges past the bank's target. 550 words moved by Michelle Fitzpatrick ElSalvador-politics-economy-bitcoin,FOCUS LONDON El Salvador's approval of bitcoin as legal tender, making it the first country in the world to do so, has delighted cryptocurrency fans but left markets unconvinced. 630 words moved by Joseph Sotinel. File picture afp
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