Duty Editor: Jenny Vaughan Tel: +33 1 40.41.46.36 -- TOP STORIES -- + Germany scraps shutdown as EU boosts vaccine controls + Myanmar junta frees 600 detainees + Giant ship blocks Suez Canal + Israel deadlocked again after elections + Postcard from the edge of a black hole Health-virus,WRAP BERLIN Germany backtracks on its plan to impose a strict Easter weekend shutdown after a public outcry, as the European Union says it will tighten vaccine export controls in a bid to ramp up its stuttering inoculation campaign. 800 words 1700 GMT by AFP bureaus. Picture. Video. Graphic Myanmar-politics-military,WRAP YANGON Myanmar frees more than 600 coup detainees, including an Associated Press photographer arrested while covering rallies, following fresh outrage over brutal crackdowns on protesters. 700 words moved. Picture. File picture Egypt-shipping-Suez,WRAP CAIRO Tug boats work to free a giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal after it veered off course in a sandstorm, creating huge tailbacks on one of the world's busiest trade routes. 750 words 1500 GMT. Picture. Graphic Already moved: Egypt-Suez-Canal,FACTS Israel-vote,WRAP JERUSALEM Israelis wake to find that after their fourth election in two years, there is still no clear indication of whether the next government will be led by veteran premier Benjamin Netanyahu or his bitter rivals. 750 words 1530 GMT by Stephen Weizman. Picture. Video. Graphic Astronomy-science-telescope-blackhole PARIS The astronomers who gave the world its first true glimpse of a black hole have produced another landmark image, this time capturing the polarised light swirling around the same star-eating monster's magnetic fields. 600 words moved by Marlowe Hood. Picture. Video -- SPOTLIGHT -- Poland-history-WWII-Jews-Holocaust,FOCUS WARSAW Ewa Bazan, an archivist at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum, compares her work on newly-accessible records to piecing together a "puzzle" that is revealing new names and stories of the Nazi death camp's inmates. 650 words moved by Bernard Osser. Picture Taiwan-China-politics-farms-trade-pineapple,FOCUS PINGTUNG, Taiwan A Chinese ban on pineapple imports from Taiwan has sparked a flood of patriotic buying of the fruit and forced restaurants to come up with inventive new menu choices but it has also left many questioning Taipei's overwhelming economic reliance on its giant neighbour. 750 words moved by Amber Wang. Picture. Video -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-EU-vaccines BRUSSELS The EU tightens its rules on Covid-19 vaccine exports, making authorisations contingent on destination countries behaving fairly in return -- particularly vaccine-producing ones. 600 words 1600 GMT by Marc Burleigh. Picture. Video We will also move: Health-virus-EU-vaccines,POINTS Health-virus-Germany-politics,4thlead BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel admits a failed plan for a strict Easter virus shutdown was "my mistake" in a rare climbdown amid massive criticism of the government's pandemic response. 600 words 1500 GMT by Femke Colborne. Picture. Video Health-virus-China-HongKong-Macau-vaccine,3rdlead HONG KONG Hong Kong suspends the use of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine after being informed some vials from a recent batch had "defective caps" -- although authorities say none of the problematic containers were used on residents. 600 words moved by Yan Zhao and Jerome Taylor. File picture Health-virus-India-vaccine NEW DELHI One year after imposing the world's biggest pandemic lockdown, India is scrambling to vaccinate its 1.3 billion population against the coronavirus as a new surge in cases threatens to derail efforts to get the pandemic under control. 700 words moved by Glenda Kwek and Atish Patel. Picture. Video Health-virus-US-Miami-spring,FOCUS MIAMI BEACH, Florida Not everything is in Miami Beach is about the wild party. A few blocks from the entertainment district where hordes of out-of-control tourists forced the Florida island under curfew, local residents do yoga on the beach at dawn and pick up trash left by the previous night's revelers. 500 words 1600 GMT by Leila Macor. Picture. Video -- EUROPE -- US-diplomacy-NATO-EU-China,WRAP BRUSSELS US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vows a new approach to work closer with European allies, promising Washington will not force them to take sides against China. 600 words 1500 GMT by Max Delany. Picture. Video Entertainment-Russia-Eurovision-politics-Manizha,PROFILE MOSCOW Russia's unlikely entry to Eurovision song contest, sung by a refugee and feminist activist, was making headlines even before a controversy with conservative groups kicked off. 600 words moved by Marina Lapenkova. Picture. Video Russia-market-environment-paper-Europe,FOCUS VOLOGDA, Russia In a dense forest northeast of Moscow, logging machines cut down rows of trees as Russia taps foreign demand for its wood as part of efforts to reduce its dependence on oil exports. 650 words moved by Andrea Palasciano. Picture. Video -- AFRICA -- Ethiopia-Eritrea-unrest-massacre-Tigray,WRAP NAIROBI The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says Eritrean soldiers killed over 100 civilians in a November massacre in war-torn Tigray that may amount to crimes against humanity. 600 words moved by Nick Perry. File picture Rwanda-trial-genocide KIGALI Paul Rusesabagina, the polarising hero of the hit movie "Hotel Rwanda", fails to show up for his trial after informing prison authorities he was quitting the process as he did not expect justice. 450 words moved by Ivan Rush Mugisha Senegal-politics-media-unrest,FOCUS DAKAR Journalists in Senegal say they have rarely experienced as much intimidation as they have since opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was detained for several days earlier this month, sparking unrest that claimed five lives. 600 words moved by Malick Ba. File pictures -- AMERICAS -- US-immigration-Mexico-Biden,WRAP WASHINGTON A White House team joins lawmakers touring the US-Mexico border, where an influx of migrants is being seized upon by President Joe Biden's rivals in an early political test. 550 words 1730 GMT by Jerome Cartillier. File picture US-politics-employment-rights-gender WASHINGTON US soccer star Megan Rapinoe testifies before Congress to highlight the pay inequities between men and women as she urges lawmakers to help end the gender gap, a push supported by President Joe Biden. 550 words 1530 GMT by Michael Mathes. Picture US-politics-media,FOCUS NEW YORK Tensions have cooled between the news media and the White House after four tumultuous years -- potentially bad news for outlets struggling with a long downtrend in the industry. 700 words moved by Thomas Urbain, with Rob Lever in Washington -- ASIA -- Bangladesh-refugee-fire-charity-unrest,lead COX'S BAZAR Bangladesh defends the use of barbed-wire fences around vast camps holding almost a million Rohingya refugees, after a major fire leaves at least 15 people dead and nearly 50,000 homeless. 550 words moved by Sam Jahan. Picture Australia-flood-weather,WRAP WINDSOR, Australia Rescue teams race emergency supplies to flood-hit Australians, as trapped residents wait for still-swollen rivers to ebb, so the long, hard clean-up from the "Big Wet" can begin. 700 words moved by Andrew Leeson. Video. Photo. Graphic Thailand-demonstration-politics-police BANGKOK More than a thousand Thai pro-democracy protesters take over a major Bangkok intersection, defying authorities in the first major rally since police used rubber bullets against demonstrators over the weekend. 500 words moved. Picture US-NKorea-SKorea-defence,WRAP WASHINGTON North Korea fires two short-range missiles days after a visit to the region by top US envoys, but President Joe Biden dismisses suggestions it was a provocation. 700 words moved by Paul Handley, with Kang Jin-kyu in Seoul. File picture -- BUSINESS/ECONOMY -- Health-virus-Germany-pandemic-debt-budget,2ndlead BERLIN The German government has agreed to borrow a record 240.2 billion euros ($284 billion) this year to weather the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic, a third more than initially planned. 550 words moved by Kit Holden -- SPORT -- Fbl-FIFA-probe-Blatter-Valcke-ban,lead LAUSANNE FIFA has banned its former president Sepp Blatter until 2028 after handing him a new suspension of six years and eight months for receiving huge bonuses. 450 words 1500 GMT. File picture Moto-Prix-2021-season-five PARIS The 2021 MotoGP season sparks into life in Qatar on Sunday. AFP Sport looks at five talking points ahead of the curtain-raiser at the Losail International circuit. 700 words moved Fbl-ENG-Euro-2020-WC-2022 LONDON Three World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland over the next week provide England manager Gareth Southgate with his final chance to experiment before he names his squad for the delayed Euro 2020. 650 words moved ESports-KOR-SKorea-technology-game-business,FOCUS SEOUL A Nike-sponsored gym, support staff including nutritionists, and English language classes are all part of the set-up at T1, one of the world's top eSports organisations, where around 70 gamers are looking to emulate its highest-profile member, League of Legends giant Faker. 750 words moved by Sunghee Hwang. Picture. Video -- SCIENCE -- Science-palaeontology-kangaroo-Australia PARIS Even more remarkable than the nearly perfect fossils of 40-kilo kangaroos which mysteriously evolved to climb trees was where they were found: the famously barren Nullarbor Plain -- as in "Null" for none, "arbor" for tree -- of southwestern Australia. 600 words moved by Marlowe Hood. Picture afp