AFP 0900 GMT News Advisory

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Mar, 2024) Duty Editor: Yana Dlugy

Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36

-- TOP STORIES --

+ Six presumed dead in US bridge collapse

+ Israel Pounds Gaza after UN ceasefire resolution

+ Thailand passes same-sex marriage bill

+ Olympic flame to burn near Louvre

US-transport-incident,WRAP

BALTIMORE, Maryland

Authorities in Baltimore are set to focus on expanding recovery efforts after a cargo ship slammed into a major bridge, causing it to collapse and leaving six people presumed dead.

750 words 0930 GMT by Aziz El Massassi. Picture. Video

Also moving: US-accident-transport,FACTS

Israel-Palestinians-conflict,WRAP

GAZA STRIP

Israeli forces pound targets in Gaza in the war sparked by the October 7 attack and fight Hamas around several hospitals despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

900 words 1100 GMT by Adel Zaanoun with Joshua Melvin in Jerusalem. Picture. Video. Graphic

Thailand-politics-LGBT-law,WRAP

BANGKOK

Thailand's parliament passes a same-sex marriage bill, paving the way for the kingdom to become the first Southeast Asian nation to recognise LGBTQ marriage equality.

550 words 1000 GMT by Montira Rungjirajittranon. File Picture. Video

Oly-2024-flame,WRAP

PARIS

The Olympic flame is set to burn in the Tuileries Garden in front of the Louvre museum for the duration of the Paris Games in July and August, a source involved in the discussions tells AFP.

500 words moved

-- BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE --

US-accident-transport-Baltimore,REPORTAGE

BALTIMORE

A massive, uncontrolled cargo ship was bearing down on one of the most heavily used bridges in Baltimore harbor and police had only moments to react before the unstoppable disaster turned into an even bigger tragedy.

500 words moved by Aziz El Massassi. Picture

US-accident-transport-economy,FACTS

WASHINGTON

The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is likely to cause substantial economic damage for as long as it continues to block shipping in the Port of Baltimore.

550 words moved by Daniel Avis

-- ISRAEL/HAMAS WAR --

Israel-Palestinians-conflict-politics,FOCUS

RAMALLAH, West Bank

Nineteen years after assuming the presidency, Mahmud Abbas has timidly begun reforming the Palestinian Authority under US pressure, though diplomats are unconvinced a revamped administration is ready for a post-Gaza war future.

800 words moved by Hossam Ezzedine and Chloe Rouveyrolles-Bazire

Israel-Palestinians-conflict-science-climate,FOCUS

BEIT DAGAN, Israel

Israeli scientist Ellen Graber has spent years researching ways to save chocolate crops from climate change. But with the government slashing spending to fund the war in Gaza, her project is one of hundreds now hanging in the balance.

700 words moved by Ilan Ben Zion. Picture. Video

-- EUROPE --

Health-bullying-WHO-Europe-Canada,WRAP

COPENHAGEN

Some 16 percent of children aged 11 to 15 were cyberbullied in 2022, up from 13 percent four years earlier, according to a WHO Europe report covering 44 countries.

450 words moved by Camille Bas-Wohlert. Video.

Croatia-Nepal-Philippines-labour-migration, FOCUS

ZAGREB

Durga Phuyal had hoped to start anew when she landed in Croatia, but the Nepali migrant faced an uphill battle to adjust to life in the Balkan country.

800 words moved by Lajla Veselica. Picture. Video

-- NORTH AFRICA --

Tunisia-politics-trial,WRAP

TUNIS

Four people are condemned to death and two sentenced to life in prison after a decade-long investigation into the 2013 killing of Tunisian secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid.

500 words moved by Kaouther Larbi

-- ASIA --

Myanmar-politics-conflict-army,WRAP

NAYPYIDAW

Myanmar's junta holds its annual Armed Forces Day parade in a show of force as it struggles to contain a growing armed resistance that has captured broad swathes of territory.

500 words 1130 GMT. Picture. Video

Pakistan-politics-court

ISLAMABAD

Six Pakistan high court judges have accused the nation's intelligence agency of intimidating and coercing them over "politically consequential" cases in a letter seen by AFP.

550 words moved

Indonesia-Bangladesh-Myanmar-Rohingya-refugees

JAKARTA

Dozens of Rohingya refugees saved after their boat capsized off Indonesia's westernmost coast last week have been forced from their temporary shelter due to local protests, a United Nations refugee agency official says.

400 words moved

Uzbekistan-environment-gold,REPORTAGE

SOYKECHAR, Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, recent regulatory changes designed to boost the economy mean anyone and everyone can now hunt for gold.

750 words moved by Bruno Kalouaz. Picture. Video

-- AMERICAS --

US-justice-abortion-health,WRAP

WASHINGTON

The US Supreme Court appears poised to reject restrictions imposed by a lower court on an abortion pill widely used in the United States to terminate pregnancies.

650 words moved by Chris Lefkow. Picture.

Also moved: US-justice-abortion-health-pill,FACTS

Venezuela-vote,WRAP

CARACAS

Venezuela's main opposition coalition says it has managed to register a proxy candidate to face off against President Nicolas Maduro in the country's July elections -- but not the one it wanted.

600 words moved by Patrick Fort and Javier Tovar. Picture. Video

-- ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE --

Sweden-EU-environment-plastics-recycling,REPORTAGE

MOTALA, Sweden

Discarded crisp bags, ketchup bottles and Tupperware containers speed along conveyor belts at a massive high-tech sorting plant dubbed "Site Zero", which Sweden hopes will revolutionise its plastic recycling.

750 words moved by Viken Kantarci. Video. Picture

Austria-climate-energy,FOCUS

VIENNA

In a large hall on the outskirts of Vienna, shiny pipes carry treated wastewater through three giant heat pumps, part of Austria's drive to reduce carbon emissions and its dependence on Russian gas, with more and more European cities eyeing this alternative.

600 words moved by Julia Zappei. Picture. Video

Australia-environment-climate-carbon

SYDNEY

Australia's carbon credit scheme is undermined by damning new research, which found a world-leading reforestation project had been an underperforming "catastrophe".