AFP 0500 GMT News Advisory

Duty Editor: Anuj Chopra

Tel: +852 2829 6211

-- TOP STORIES --

+ Venezuela gives Chavez lavish farewell

+ Kabul bomb attack during Hagel's visit

+ Kenyatta wins Kenyan presidential race

Venezuela-politics-Chavez,newseries-WRAP

CARACAS

Venezuela gives late leader Hugo Chavez a lavish farewell at a state funeral that brings some of the world's most notorious strongmen to tears before his handpicked successor takes office in a disputed inauguration.

900 words 0545 GMT by Laurent Thomet. Picture. Video. Graphic.

Also moving: Venezuela-politics-Chavez-Maduro,PROFILE

Also moved: Venezuela-politics-Chavez-US-Entertainment,FOCUS

Afghanistan-US-diplomacy-unrest,newseries-WRAP

KABUL

Gunfire erupts in central Kabul after a suicide bomb attack during a surprise visit by new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as he seeks a successful withdrawal of international troops next year.

500 words 0600 GMT by Mathieu Rabechault

Kenya-vote,lead

NAIROBI

Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya's deputy prime minister and one of Africa's richest and most powerful men, is elected the country's new president despite facing an international crimes against humanity trial, provisional election commission figures show.

600 words 0830 GMT by Peter Martell. Graphic. Picture. Video

Also moved: Kenya-vote-Kenyatta,PROFILE

            Kenya-vote-Odinga,PROFILE

            Kenya-vote-facts,FACTS

-- ASIA --

NKorea-military-nuclear-UN-tests-SKorea,lead-WRAP

SEOUL

North Korea says UN sanctions would only make its nuclear and missile programmes stronger, with the foreign ministry hinting at further nuclear tests to come.

550 words 0600 GMT

Myanmar-politics-opposition,3rdlead

YANGON

Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi calls for her once-banned party to unify amid concerns that internal squabbles could undermine its push for power at historic polls in 2015.

600 words by Kelly Macnamara 0630 GMT. Picture

Japan-disaster-anniversary-nuclear,FOCUS

FUKUSHIMA, Japan

Mikio Nihei's family is split by his need to work and their fear of radiation from a nuclear disaster that some warn could leave part of Japan a hollow shell for generations.

750 words by Kyoko Hasegawa moved. Picture. Graphic

Environment-wildlife-crime-CITES,FOCUS

BANGKOK

Ruthless and heavily armed "criminal syndicates" linked to drug smugglers and militias are running the global wildlife trade and turning their guns on the park rangers tasked with protecting endangered species.

650 words moved by Amelie Bottollier-Depois

-- EUROPE --

Vatican-religion-pope

VATICAN CITY

Vatican workers make final preparations in the Sistine Chapel after Catholic cardinals voted to begin their conclave to elect a new pope under Michelangelo's famous frescoes next week.

800 words moved by Ella Ide. Picture. Graphic. Video

Also moved: Vatican-religion-pope-conclave-history,BACKGROUND

 

Health-virus-SARS-epidemiology,FOCUS

PARIS

A decade ago, a highly contagious and deadly new illness sent people worldwide scrambling to cancel flights and holidays as schools closed and sales of surgical masks spiked.

850 words moved by Mariette Le Roux. Graphic

-- MIDDLE EAST --

Syria-conflict,5thlead-WRAP

DAMASCUS

The 21 UN peacekeepers taken hostages in the Golan are expected to be freed on Saturday after the Syrian regime agreed to observe a ceasefire in a deal with the United Nations, a watchdog says.

800 words moved. Graphic. Picture. Video

-- AFRICA --

SAfrica-police-death-court-Mozambique,4thlead

BENONI, South Africa

Nine South African policemen tell a court they are not guilty of murdering a Mozambican immigrant who was dragged behind a police van and then brutally beaten to death.

650 words moved by Johannes Myburgh. Picture. Video

 

SAfrica-crime-sport,WRAP

PRETORIA

South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is seeking to have his bail conditions relaxed, local television says, with his lawyers arguing he should be allowed to travel abroad.

550 words moved. File picture

-- AMERICAS --

US-finance-takeover-people-Icahn-Dell

NEW YORK

Wall Street raider Carl Icahn defends his twin attacks on computer giant Dell and offshore oil rig operator Transocean, saying such companies need "shaking up" for shareholders' benefit.

800 words 0545 GMT by John Biers. File picture

US-attacks-Qaeda-arrest,4thlead

NEW YORK

Osama bin Laden's son-in-law and former spokesman pleads not guilty to terror charges in New York, where he was brought a week ago after a top secret US operation.

700 words moved by Sebastian Smith

Also moved: US-attacks-Qaeda-arrest-court-politics-rights,lead-FOCUS

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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130309/afp-0500-gmt-news-advisory