Duty Editor: Karl Malakunas Tel: +852 2829 6211 -- TOP STORIES -- + Biden orders intel probe into Covid origins + UN aviation body to discuss Belarus diversion + China bars Australian ambassador from spy trial + Villarreal edge Man Utd in epic 11-10 shootout + 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' author Eric Carle dies Health-virus-politics-China-US probe,3rdlead WASHINGTON President Joe Biden orders US intelligence agencies to report to him in the next three months on whether the Covid-19 virus first emerged in China from an animal source or from a laboratory accident. 750 words moved by Issam Ahmed Belarus-politics-aviation-arrest,WRAP MINSK The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will meet to discuss Belarus, after the United States and western European members of the UN Security Council called for the body to investigate Minsk's diversion of a European flight and arrest of a dissident on board. 900 words moved. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moving: Belarus-politics-aviation-law,FOCUS China-Australia-trial-espionage,WRAP BEIJING Australia's ambassador to China is barred from the trial of an academic held on spying charges, in a case that has exacerbated a bitter row between the two nations 650 words 0700 GMT by Sebestian Ricci and Helen Roxburgh. Picture. Video. Live Video Fbl-Eur-C3-ENG-ESP-ManUtd-Villarreal,WRAP GDANSK, Poland Villarreal defeat Manchester United 11-10 on penalties to win their first major trophy after a 1-1 draw in the Europa League final as goalkeeper David de Gea misses the decisive spot-kick in a remarkable shootout. 700 words moved by Martyn Wood. Picture. Video. Graphic Also moved: fbl-Eur-C3-ESP-ENG-Villarreal-ManUtd-Coquelin-Pedraza,REAX US-literature-children-Carle,lead WASHINGTON Eric Carle, author and illustrator of the beloved children's classic "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," dies aged 91, according to a statement from his official Instagram account. 600 words moved. Picture -- SPOTLIGHT -- Taiwan-population-women-social,FOCUS TAIPEI Wu En-tzu has delivered more than 2,000 babies working as an obstetrician but does not plan to have children of her own -- an increasingly common position taken by Taiwanese families. 750 words moved by Amber Wang. Video. Picture -- CORONAVIRUS -- Health-virus-Australia,WRAP MELBOURNE Millions in Australia's second-biggest city of Melbourne are ordered into a snap week-long lockdown, as officials blamed a sluggish vaccine rollout and hotel quarantine failures for another virus outbreak. 700 words. 0700 GMT. Picture. Video. Health-virus-treatments,FOCUS WASHINGTON The hunt is on for a coronavirus treatment that can be taken as a pill soon after a confirmed positive, halting the disease in its tracks so that cases that might have been severe end up being nothing more than a bad cold. 800 words moved by Issam Ahmed and Lucie Aubourg Also moved: Health-virus-EU-vaccines-AstraZeneca-court Health-virus-WHO-variants,lead Health-virus-Switzerland Health-virus-Pakistan-Saudi-Afghanistan,FOCUS ISLAMABAD Afghanistan's capital has become an unlikely pandemic transit route for Pakistanis desperate to reach the riches of Saudi Arabia despite deteriorating security and the threat of bomb blasts. 500 words moved by David Stout with Usman Sharifi in Kabul. Picture. Video -- ASIA -- China-US-trade,WRAP BEIJING Top US and Chinese trade officials have held their first talks since Joe Biden became president, the two sides say, describing them as "candid". 550 words 0700 GMT India-cyclone-weather,WRAP DIGHA, India Thousands of people are homeless after the latest cyclone to hit Covid-ravaged India left a trail of destruction, although timely evacuations meant the death toll was limited to single figures. 550 words 0700 GMT by Dibyangshu Sarkar. Picture. Video. Graphic -- AMERICAS -- US-shooting-California-crime,WRAP SAN JOSE A public transit worker shot dead eight people at a California rail yard before turning his gun on himself as police arrived, officials say, in the latest mass shooting to hit the United States. 750 words moved by Amy Osborne with Andrew Marszal in Los Angeles. Picture. Video. Graphic US-defence-intelligence-UFO,FOCUS WASHINGTON Are aliens watching us? That's what Americans hope to find out when a report on the US government's secret files on UFOs goes to Congress next month after years of sightings and videos suggesting that highly advanced extraterrestrials are, indeed, out there. 750 words moved by Sylvie Lanteaume -- EUROPE -- Britain-politics-health-virus,WRAP LONDON Britain's government "disastrously" failed the public by mishandling its coronavirus pandemic response, former top adviser Dominic Cummings tells lawmakers, calling Prime Minister Boris Johnson "unfit for the job". 850 words moved by Joe Jackson. Picture. Video Also moving: Britain-politics-health-virus,POINTS Also moved: Britain-politics-Cummings,PROFILE Switzerland-EU-diplomacy-trade,WRAP BERN Switzerland calls off years of talks with the European Union aimed at sealing a cooperation agreement with Bern's largest trading partner, angering Brussels. 800 words moved by Fabrice Coffrini with Robin Millard in Geneva. Picture. Video Also moved: Switzerland-EU-diplomacy-trade,FACTS -- MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA -- Israel-Palestinians-conflict-US,WRAP AMMAN US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wraps up a Mideast tour to bolster an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, calling for regional cooperation to avoid more 'harrowing violence'. 800 words moved by Kamal Taha with Emmanuel Parisse in Cairo. Picture. Video Also moved: Israel-Palestinians-conflict-UN-rights Syria-conflict-vote,WRAP DAMASCUS President Bashar al-Assad dismisses criticism of Syria's presidential election as voters cast ballots in government-held areas despite Western accusations it is neither 'free nor fair'. 750 words moved by Maher Al-Mounes and Rouba El-Husseini in Beirut. Picture. Video. Graphic -- AFRICA -- Nigeria-accident-boat,WRAP KANO, Nigeria More than 150 people are feared drowned in northwest Nigeria after an overloaded boat ferrying passengers to a market sinks in the Niger River, local officials say. 400 words moved by Aminu Abubakar. Graphic Rwanda-France-diplomacy-genocide-history,WRAP KIGALI French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Rwanda for a highly symbolic visit aimed at moving on from three decades of diplomatic tensions over France's role in the 1994 genocide in the country. 600 words moved by Jerome Rivet, Simon Valmary. Picture. Video Mali-politics-conflict-unrest,WRAP BAMAKO Mali's interim president and prime minister resign, a top junta aide says, two days after they were detained and stripped of their powers in what appeared to amount to the country's second coup in nine months. 800 words moved by Serge Daniel and Malick Konate. File picture. Video. Graphic DRCongo-volcano-evacuation,WRAP GOMA, DR Congo The risk of further eruptions from volcano Nyiragongo leads DR Congo authorities to order the evacuation of parts of the city of Goma, causing an immediate exodus of tens of thousands of people, an AFP correspondent says. 500 words 0530 GMT -- ENVIRONMENT -- Netherlands-Britain-Shell-energy-climate-oil-court,WRAP THE HAGUE A Dutch court orders oil giant Shell to slash its greenhouse gas emissions in a landmark victory for climate activists with implications for energy firms worldwide. 700 words moved by Danny Kemp. Picture. Video Also moved: US-climate-corporate-meeting-ExxonMobil,WRAP -- ENTERTAINMENT -- US-IT-lifestyle-cinema-Amazon-MGM,FOCUS LOS ANGELES Amazon agrees to buy the storied MGM studios for $8.45 billion, the companies say, giving the US tech giant a vast content library to further its ambitions in streaming. 700 words moved. File picture -- SPORT -- Fbl-WC-2022-GUM-CHN,FOCUS SHANGHAI Off the football pitch it is a total mismatch: China's 1.4 billion population versus Guam's 170,000. But the two collide in a World Cup qualifier on Sunday with the US island territory's squad -- which includes high-school and college players -- trying to cut their Chinese hosts down to size. 600 words 0600 GMT by Peter Stebbings. File picture Oly-2020-2021-weightlifting-Philippines,INTERVIEW JASIN, Malaysia Filipina weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz grunts with the effort of hoisting a barbell over her head in a makeshift gym ringed by banana and rambutan trees as trucks thunder past -- an unlikely training base for a shot at her country's first ever Olympic gold in Tokyo. 800 words moved by Patrick Lee. Picture. Video afp