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| - Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + US gets vaccine boost with panel recommendation + Doping: Russia banned from sports for two years + Nigerian jihadists release kidnapped schoolboys + Villages flattened as monster cyclone hits Fiji + Virus threatens Hong Kong's last true junk boat Health-virus,WRAP WASHINGTON The United States takes a giant step closer to emergency approval of the Moderna vaccine, as death tolls climb around the world with Europe becoming the first region to pass 500,000 fatalities and Brazil notching more than 1,000 deaths in 24 hours. 700 words 0230 GMT by AFP bureaus. Picture. Graphic. Video Also moved: Health-virus-US-vaccine-Moderna,3rdlead Health-virus-France-Macron,FOCUS Doping-Russia-RUS-Oly-2020-2021-court-WADA,WRAP LAUSANNE Russia is banned from international sport for two years, including the Tokyo Olympics next year and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, but the halving of the initial punishment is blasted as "a catastrophic blow to clean athletes and the integrity of sport". 850 words moved by Coralie Febvre. Picture, File picture, Graphic Nigeria-kidnapping-unrest,WRAP KANKARA, Nigeria More than 300 Nigerian schoolboys are released after being abducted in an attack claimed by Boko Haram, officials say, although it is unclear if any more remain with their captors. 600 words moved by Aminu Abubakar. Video. Picture. Graphic Fiji-Tonga-weather-cyclone,WRAP SUVA Super cyclone Yasa flattens entire villages as it tears through Fiji, aid agencies say, with one person reported dead as rescue workers race to the worst-hit communities in isolated areas of Pacific island nation. 600 words 0130 GMT by Leon Lord. Picture. Video. Graphic HongKong-China-virus-tourism,PHOTOESSAY HONG KONG The red sails of the "Dukling" junk boat have glided across Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour for more than six decades but coronavirus restrictions mean its future is now far from certain. 450 words 0330 GMT by Celia Cazale. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-US-education-society-family,FOCUS NEW YORK Exhaustion, stress and worsening inequality: nine months into the coronavirus pandemic and most American children have not returned to classrooms, disrupting the lives of families and teachers and fueling concerns about the long-term impact on youngsters' development. 800 words 0130 GMT by Catherine Triomphe. File picture Health-virus-US-education-Texas,FOCUS HOUSTON The coronavirus pandemic may be raging in the Houston area, but tens of thousands of students in one district are headed back to the classroom in January because of poor results while learning from home. 600 words 0130 GMT by Francois Picard. Picture. Video Health-virus-Africa,FOCUS JOHANNESBURG After being relatively spared by coronavirus, Africa is bracing for the pandemic's second wave, noting how the microbe has once more cut a swathe through rich countries in Europe and North Africa. 700 words 0200 GMT by Claire Doyen with AFP bureaus in Africa. Graphic. Picture Health-virus-Spain-parties-social,FOCUS MADRID "If you don't open the door, we'll break it down," shouts a policeman, sparks flying through the night as a circular saw cuts through the chained back entrance of a Madrid bar. 800 words 0200 GMT by Hazel Ward. Video Health-virus-Germany-government,FACTS BERLIN Long held up as a European success story in the fight against the pandemic, Germany has been hit hard by a second coronavirus wave that has brought record daily infection numbers and deaths. 700 words 0200 GMT by Mathieu Foulkes. File picture Health-virus-Balkans-vaccines,FOCUS BELGRADE As Balkan governments scramble to secure coronavirus vaccines, another foe lurks: a growing anti-vaccination movement that is trying to grab the spotlight. 1,000 words 0230 GMT by Sally Mairs with AFP bureaus in the Balkans. File picture. Graphic -- AMERICAS -- US-economy-unemployment-politics-stimulus,WRAP WASHINGTON As lawmakers inch closer to a new stimulus package to help the pandemic-battered US economy, more workers are applying for unemployment benefits as the recovery stalls. 650 words moved by Heather Scott. File picture. US-politics-Biden-cabinet-interior-indigenous,PROFILE LOS ANGELES A single mother who overcame alcoholism, poverty and prejudice to become one of the United States' first Native American congresswomen, Deb Haaland caps a remarkable rise with her nomination as the nation's next interior secretary. 700 words 0130 GMT by Andrew Marszal. File picture. Venezuela-Trinidad-migration,FOCUS GUIRIA, Venezuela Head down, Venezuelan Jonhy Matey is despondent: tragedy has struck once again. Between 2018 and 2019 around 100 people disappeared while trying to make the perilous 100-kilometer (60-mile) journey from the northeastern port of Guiria to Trinidad. 550 words 0130 GMT by Margioni Bermudez. Picture. Video. Graphic -- ASIA -- Afghanistan-conflict-talks-US-military,WRAP WASHINGTON The top US military officer presses Afghanistan's Taliban to reduce violence in a rare meeting as outgoing President Donald Trump seeks to hasten the end of the nearly 20-year war. 600 words moved by Sylvie Lanteaume Myanmar-conflict-justice-rights-women,FOCUS SITTWE, Myanmar After being gang-raped by soldiers, steely eyed Thein Nu went up against Myanmar's powerful military in a months-long fight for justice -- a fight that paid off with a rare legal victory. 750 words 0330 GMT. Video. Picture Japan-entertainment-film-anime-health-virus,FOCUS TOKYO An anime epic in which a teenager hunts down and beheads demons has become the surprise sensation of Japanese cinema during the pandemic, and could soon be the country's top-grossing film ever. 650 words 0300 GMT by Mathias Cena and Katie Forster. Picture -- EUROPE -- Britain-EU-politics-Brexit,WRAP BRUSSELS EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson fail to find a breakthrough in post-Brexit trade talks despite a crisis call. 700 words moved by Dave Clark and Clement Zampa. Picture. Video Also moved: Brexit-Britain-trade-France Turkey-US-politics-trial ISTANBUL Turkey's jailed civil society leader Osman Kavala is to appear before an Istanbul court on charges that rights groups say are part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's effort to stifle dissent. 650 words 0130 GMT by Fulya Ozerkan with Burcin Gercek in Ankara. File picture -- MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA -- Israel-Palestinians-conflict-literature,FOCUS PSAGOT WINERY, Palestinian territories They shared a childhood in a West Bank Jewish settlement but as adults Yaakov and Yonatan Berg have developed radically different views about Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory. 600 words 0200 GMT by Michael Blum. Picture. Video Algeria-media-rights,FOCUS TUNIS Algeria has announced tighter state controls over online media, sparking alarm in the North African country whose pro-democracy movement is under heightened pressure from the government. 650 words 0230 GMT by Salsabil Chellali Syria-conflict-farming-livestock,FOCUS KFAR TAKHARIM, Syria To dodge skyrocketing prices for animal fodder in Syria's last major rebel bastion, farmer Ayman Ibrahim has turned to an aquatic fern used as a fertiliser in Asian rice paddies. 600 words 0230 GMT by Aaref Watad. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Benin-Nigeria-trade-diplomacy,SCENE SEME-KRAKE, Benin The main border crossing between Benin and Nigeria is buzzing after the announcement it will reopen after more than 16 months, relieving thousands who suffered from the closure. 450 words 0230 GMT by Josue Mehouenou. Picture. Video -- BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY -- US-IT-lifestyle-transport-stocks-Tesla,FOCUS NEW YORK Tesla is set to join an elite group of companies in a key Wall Street index, a move which gives greater prominence to the high-flying electric carmaker and forces money managers to reshuffle their portfolios. 500 words 0130 GMT by Daniel Hoffman. File picture US-computers-hack-Russia-politics,WRAP WASHINGTON A sophisticated cyberattack on US government agencies and private companies that was revealed this week poses a "grave risk" and thwarting it will be "highly complex," the US computer security agency says. 600 words moved US-IT-politics-antitrust-Google,WRAP SAN FRANCISCO Dozens of US states hit Google with its third antitrust suit in as many months, accusing the internet giant of abusing its internet search dominance to eliminate competition. 800 words moved by Glenn Chapman. File picture. -- SPORT -- Doping-Russia-RUS-Oly-2020-2021-court-WADA-USA,REAX LOS ANGELES The United States Anti-Doping Agency condemns the Court of Arbitration for Sport's decision to halve Russia's doping ban as a "tragedy" for the global fight against drug cheats, slamming the ruling as a "weak and loophole-riddled outcome." 600 words moved by Rob Woollard Doping-Russia-RUS-Oly-2020 2021-court-WADA,INTERVIEW MONTREAL By excluding Russia from major international sporting competitions for the next two years over systematic doping, the Court of Arbitration for Sport made a "very strong" move that validates the work of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), its director general Olivier Niggli tells AFP. 400 words moved by Eric Thomas. Picture. Video Also moved: doping-trial-Oly-2020-2021-RUS-CAS-WADA-timeline afp
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