Duty Editor: James Hossack Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + Tributes, calls for justice at Floyd funeral + EU urges leaders to act before next pandemic + Burundi leader dies after 15 years in office + Darfur war crimes fugitive surrenders to ICC + Pangolins removed from Chinese medicine list US-politics-race-unrest,WRAP HOUSTON Houston says farewell to George Floyd in a rousing hometown funeral, with poignant tributes and calls for justice for the 46-year-old African American whose death "touched the world" and ignited global protests against police brutality and racism. 850 words moved by Cyril Julien and Julia Benarrous. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: US-politics-race-unrest-Floyd,PROFILE Health-virus,WRAP BRUSSELS Europe's most powerful countries urge the European Union to better prepare for the next pandemic after chaotic responses to the coronavirus, as Moscow emerges from lockdown despite Russia still being in the grip of a surging epidemic. 650 words 0300 GMT by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Burundi-politics-Nkurunziza,WRAP BUJUMBURA Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has died of heart failure, just months before he was to step down after 15 turbulent years at the head of the troubled nation. 800 words moved. Picture. Graphic. File picture Also moved: Burundi-politics-Nkurunziza,OBIT Burundi-politics-Nkurunziza,CHRONO Burundi-politics-Nkurunziza,COUNTRYFILE Sudan-Darfur-warcrimes-ICC-CAfrica,WRAP THE HAGUE Longtime fugitive militiaman Ali Kushayb has turned himself in to the International Criminal Court where he faces war crimes charges for his role in Sudan's Darfur conflict. 700 words moved by Jan Hennop Also moved: Sudan-unrest-Darfur-ICC,CHRONO Environment-China-medicine BEIJING China has removed pangolin parts from its official list of traditional medicines, state media reports, days after increasing legal protections on the endangered animal. 250 words moved -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-WHO-transmission GENEVA A top WHO official clarifies her remarks that transmission of the new coronavirus from asymptomatic carriers was "very rare", citing a "misunderstanding". 350 words moved -- ASIA -- Philippines-press-Rappler-court,INTERVIEW MANILA High-profile journalist Maria Ressa tells AFP days before the verdict in her libel trial that the Philippine government is aiming to silence critical media by making an example of her. 700 words 0330 GMT by Joshua Melvin. File picture. Video Pakistan-agriculture-locusts-famine,FOCUS LAHORE Chickens in Pakistan have been feasting on captured locusts under an initiative to combat swarms of the gluttonous insects that are threatening food supplies in the impoverished country. 600 words 0330 GMT by Kaneez Fatima with Ashraf Khan in Karachi. Video. File Picture Health-virus-aviation,FOCUS SINGAPORE Cabin crew in protective suits, health certification for passengers, mandatory face masks, and longer check-in times. Welcome to the new reality of mass air travel. 850 words 0330 GMT by Martin Abbugao with Haeril Halim in Jakarta. Picture. Video Afghanistan-conflict-Taliban-prisoners,FOCUS KABUL Afghan authorities are opening prison doors for thousands of Taliban inmates in a high-stakes gambit to ensure the insurgent group begin peace talks with Kabul. 650 words 0330 GMT by Elise Blanchard and Mushtaq Mojaddidi. File Picture. File Video -- AMERICAS -- US-politics-unrest-race-history-military-slavery WASHINGTON A handful of US Army bases named for Civil War generals of the pro-slavery South could be in for name changes as pressure builds to rid the country of monuments associated with repression of blacks. 400 words moved. File picture US-politics-police-unrest-Trump,lead WASHINGTON President Donald Trump suggests that an elderly man bleeding from the head after he was shoved to the ground by US riot police was a far-left agitator faking the shocking incident. 400 words moved. File picture Brazil-environment-health-virus,FOCUS RIO DE JANEIRO As tens of thousands of fires consumed the Amazon last year, it seemed the world's biggest rainforest could not be in greater peril. But now fire season is here again, and the coronavirus pandemic risks making it even worse. 700 words moved by Joshua Howat Berger. File picture US-Russia-nuclear-diplomacy-disarmament,WRAP WASHINGTON Russia confirms that it will open talks with the United States this month on extending a major nuclear disarmament treaty but warns that US insistence on including China could scuttle efforts. 750 words moved by Shaun Tandon. File picture -- EUROPE -- US-Russia-nuclear-diplomacy-disarmament,WRAP WASHINGTON Russia confirms that it will open talks with the United States this month on extending a major nuclear disarmament treaty but warns that US insistence on including China could scuttle efforts. 700 words moved by Shaun Tandon. File picture US-politics-race-protest-Britain LONDON Thousands of people call for a statue of 19th century British imperialist Cecil Rhodes to be removed from an Oxford University college, as debate rages over the removal of other monuments to the nation's colonial past. 700 words moved by Sylvain Peuchmaurd. Picture. Video -- MIDEAST & NORTH AFRICA -- Bahrain-rights,WRAP MANAMA Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who played a key role in 2011 anti-government protests, is freed from jail after serving time over tweets critical of the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. 600 words moved. File picture. File video UAE-space-Mars DUBAI The first Arab space mission to Mars, armed with probes to study the Red Planet's atmosphere, is designed to inspire the region's youth and pave the way for scientific breakthroughs, officials say. 550 words moved by Dana Moukhallati. File Picture -- AFRICA -- Nigeria-unrest-jihadists KANO, Nigeria Fighters from an IS-linked jihadist group on kill 59 people in a raid on a herding village in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, local militia and residents tell AFP. 350 words moved Egypt-Ethiopia-Sudan-water-diplomacy,2ndlead KHARTOUM Sudan says it will hold "daily meetings" with Egypt and Ethiopia to ease tensions over a mega-dam being built on the Nile after a war or words between Cairo and Addis Ababa. 550 words moved. Picture. Graphic Uganda-energy-electricity-environment-tourism,FOCUS MURCHISON FALLS, Uganda Tens of thousands visit northwest Uganda every year to marvel as the force of the Nile crashes into a jungle-clad ravine. But a proposal to build a hydroelectric dam nearby has caused an uproar, and debate over the merits of development at all costs. 750 words 0400 GMT by Cyril Belaud. Picture. Video afp