Feb 4 - Every week, Reuters journalists produce scores of multimedia features and human-interest stories from around the world.

Below are some stories selected by our editors, as well as explanatory context and background to help you understand world headlines. For a full schedule of news and events, please go to our editorial calendar on Reuters Connect https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning.

Robotic dog Spot learns new tricks with addition of helping hand

Feb 2 - A dog-like robot named Spot, seen dancing in a viral video, can now not only bring your slippers, it can pick up dirty laundry, open doors and even plant flowers. (TECH-ROBOTS/BOSTON DYNAMICS-SPOT (PIX, TV), by Matthew Stock, 303 words)

Work and play: for some Europeans, Dubai is ideal lockdown location

DUBAI, Feb 3 - Some Europeans have extended their stay in Dubai this winter to avoid strict coronavirus lockdown at home and make the most of lighter restrictions to work, learn, dine out and relax by the pool. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/DUBAI-EUROPEANS (PIX, TV), by Tarek Fahmy, 411 words)

Wrapped in Brexit red tape, a UK freight firm struggles to trade

FELIXSTOWE, England, Feb 1 - In just one month of post-Brexit trading, British logistics expert Jon Swallow has seen exports dive, prices rise and customers so desperate that he is practically offering a counselling service. (BRITAIN-EU/TRADE (PIX, TV), by Kate Holton, 550 words)

Olympics-Undaunted by pandemic, S.Sudan athletes in Japan fix eyes on the prize

MAEBASHI, Japan, Feb 1 - After the coronavirus forced a delay in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, athletes from South Sudan who are training in Japan seized the opportunity for more practice, which they have vowed to keep up, despite mounting uncertainty over this year's event. (OLYMPICS-2020/SOUTH-SUDAN (TV, PIX), by Kiyoshi Takenaka, 504 words)

Pakistan's Charlie Chaplin aims to raise a smile in bleak times

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 1 - In the bustling northern Pakistani city of Peshawar a man in bowtie, bowler hat and carrying a cane flamboyantly weaves through busy traffic, narrowly avoiding rickshaws, motorcycles and buses in a scene reminiscent of a 1920s silent film. (PAKISTAN-CHARLIE CHAPLIN/ (PIX, TV), moved, 359 words)

'Loved ones, not numbers': Inside a British funeral business as COVID deaths surge

LONDON, Feb 1 - It was a normal busy winter for British funeral director Matthew Uden until the second week of January. "Then it was like someone flicked a switch," he said. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/BRITAIN-FUNERAL (PIX, TV), by Andrew R.C. Marshall, 690 words)

Splendid isolation: Hungarian family outsails COVID nightmare on the sea

BUDAPEST, Feb 1 - While the world was grappling with the pandemic, a Hungarian family of four decided last summer to fulfil their dream: sailing around the globe in a 50-feet boat called "Teatime." (HUNGARY-SAILING/FAMILY (PIX, TV), by Krisztina Than, 519 words)

Crossing the COVID chasm between Israel and the Palestinian Territories

JERICHO, West Bank, Feb 3 - As a Palestinian living in Jerusalem, Ismail Daiq is used to negotiating the dividing lines between communities: the daily commute to his Jordan Valley date farm involves crossing a checkpoint on his way home. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL-VACCINES (PIX, TV), by Zainah El-Haroun and Adel Abu Nimeh, 528 words)

Rust Never Sleeps - Gaza's car graveyards turn to profit

GAZA, Feb 3 - The rusting hulks of thousands of old cars brought into Gaza from Israel decades ago have long been piled up in Mad Max-stye wastelands of decaying metal that scar the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. (ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/GAZA-SCRAPMETALS (TV, PIX), by Nidal al-Mughrabi, 410 words)

'Oxygen, oxygen, oxygen': Nigeria battles shortages amid COVID-19 surge

LAGOS, Feb 2 - The Lagos businesswoman recalled the "horrendous" week she spent in the COVID-19 wing of a city public hospital, where the sense of crisis was lifted only briefly by whoops of joy when a patient secured one of the few available tanks of oxygen. (HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/NIGERIA-OXYGEN (PIX, TV), by Libby George and Alexis Akwagyiram, 589 words)

EXPLANATORY CONTENT

FACTBOX-Space Race: The sport of choice for billionaires Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk

FACTBOX-Who is Andy Jassy, the next CEO of Amazon?

NEWSMAKER-From ECB to Rome, 'Super Mario' Draghi rides to Italy's rescue

EXPLAINER-Myanmar generals are back in charge, but for how long?

TIMELINE-Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar's most famous political figure detained again

FACTBOX-What has Biden done so far to roll back Trump's immigration policies?

FACTBOX-The long and short of it: GameStop and other market squeezes

FACTBOX-How silver is traded, from stocks and shares to coins and bars

GRAPHIC-The age of the 'megafire' https://tmsnrt.rs/2KVXP1V

UNDERSTANDING COVID-19

FACTBOX-Olympic organisers unveil new COVID-19 measures for Tokyo Games

FACTBOX-EU approves Astra-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, J&J vaccine 66% effective

FACTBOX-Russia's Sputnik V vaccine 91.6% effective against COVID-19 in late-stage

Vaccine tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/36jDuuj)

Global COVID-19 tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/32CyMHu)

U.S. COVID-19 tracker (https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR) (Compiled by Patrick Enright and Tiffany Wu)