AFP 0100 GMT News Advisory

Duty Editor: Anuj Chopra

Tel: +852 2829 6211

-- TOP STORIES --

+ Emergency meeting after Cyprus MPs reject bank levy

+ Obama heads to Israel on first tour as US president

+ Syria troops, rebels trade chemical weapons charges

Cyprus-economy-EU-finance,newseries-WRAP

NICOSIA

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades calls for an emergency meeting of party leaders as the island and its eurozone partners seek a viable plan B after MPs rejected the terms of a bailout aimed at saving Cyprus from bankruptcy.

800 words 0230 GMT by Charlie Charalambous. Picture. Video. Graphic

Also moving: Cyprus-economy-EU-finance-Russia

Israel-Palestinians-US-Obama-diplomacy

JERUSALEM

Barack Obama heads to Israel for the first time as US president, hoping to ease past tensions with his hosts and under pressure to narrow differences over the immediacy of Iran's nuclear threat.

650 words 0200 GMT by Stephen Collinson

Also moving: Palestinians-US-Obama-diplomacy-peace

Syria-conflict,2ndlead-WRAP

DAMASCUS

Troops and insurgents accuse each other of using chemical weapons for the first time in Syria's two-year conflict, as a newly elected rebel prime minister rules out dialogue with President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

700 words 0300 GMT. Picture. Video

-- AFRICA --

 

Mali-conflict-France-Qaeda-hostage-Mauritania,2ndlead

NOUAKCHOTT

A French hostage has been executed in Mali, a man claiming to be a spokesman for Al-Qaeda in North Africa tells Mauritania's ANI news agency, though there is no immediate confirmation from Paris.

500 words 0200 GMT. File picture

 

-- ASIA --

Japan-disaster-accident-nuclear-energy,2ndlead

TOKYO

Technicians who were battling round the clock to tame the latest crisis at Japan's tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant succeed in restoring all the cooling systems at its reactors, the operating company says.

500 words 0200 GMT by Hiroshi Hiyama. Graphic. File video

US-China-Internet-hacking-IT-crime-politics

WASHINGTON

China is pouring massive amounts of money and resources into cyberattacks aimed at stealing business secrets, security researchers tell a congressional panel.

500 words 0130 GMT by Rob Lever

Pakistan-Britain-unrest-education-children-rights,lead

LONDON

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai returns to school for the first time since she was shot in the head by the Taliban in October for campaigning for girls' education.

450 words moved. Picture

Malaysia-politics-vote-fraud-reform,FOCUS

KUALA LUMPUR

Nearly all of Malaysia agrees coming elections will be the country's closest ever, but opinions diverge on another key question: will the hotly anticipated contest be free and fair?

850 words 0400 GMT by Julia Zappei. Picture

-- MIDEAST --

Iraq-war-10years

BAGHDAD

Grappling with a spike in violence and a worsening political situation, Iraq marks 10 years since the US-led invasion that sought to establish a stable, democratic ally in the Middle East.

500 words 0230 GMT by Prashant Rao. Graphic. Picture. Video

Also moved: Iraq-war-10years-US-Obama,lead

-- AMERICAS --

Guatemala-trial-rights-indigenous,4thlead

GUATEMALA CITY

Former Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios Montt goes on trial on genocide charges over the killing of almost 1,800 indigenous people during the dark days of his country's civil war.

650 words 0130 GMT by Henry Morales Arana. Picture.

US-politics-guns,lead

WASHINGTON

US lawmakers drop an effort to include a ban on assault weapons in a broader gun control package, conceding the difficulties of passing such legislation through Congress.

750 words moved by Michael Mathes

-- EUROPE -- 

Vatican-religion-pope,newseries-WRAP

VATICAN CITY

Pope Francis dons the symbols of papal power and vows to embrace the "poorest" of humanity at a grand inauguration in the Vatican as leader of a troubled Roman Catholic Church.

750 words 0230 GMT by Dario Thuburn. Graphic. Picture. Video

 

Britain-economy-budget

LONDON

Britain's government is set to unveil plans to grow the country's recession-threatened economy, despite insisting on greater state savings as it struggles to meet its deficit-reduction target.

500 words 0130 GMT. File picture

 

Turkey-Kurds-unrest-peace,ADVANCER

ISTANBUL

Turkey's armed Kurdish rebellion is poised to enter a historic ceasefire on Thursday, the Kurdish New Year, at the command of a single man whom only a handful of people have seen since 1999.

700 words 0300 GMT by Ceren Kumova

 

Britain-media-politics-press-Internet,FOCUS

LONDON

The British government insists that bloggers and posts on social media will not be caught by a new system of press regulation, but campaigners warn that the new rules could still be open to interpretation.

700 words 0230 GMT by Robin Millard. 

 

Spain-politics-economy,ANALYSIS

MADRID

Spain's two major political parties, the pillars of a democratic system re-born after the 1975 death of General Francisco Franco, face a historic crisis as they battle popular distrust in the face of corruption scandals and recession, analysts say.

700 words 0300 GMT by Ingrid Bazinet. 

Also moving: Spain-Russia-economy-property-real-estate

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