The United States is seeking to "fundamentally change" the World Health Organization amid threats to withhold contributions in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump has promised an announcement this week on US funding to the UN body on the forefront of the crisis. The United States is the top donor to the WHO, offering USD 400 million last year.
"The World Health Organization in its history has done some good work. Unfortunately here, it didn't hit the top of its game," Pompeo told Florida radio program "Good Morning Orlando."
"We need to make sure that we push through efforts to fundamentally change that or make a different decision that says we're going to do our part to make sure that these important world health obligations -- things that frankly keep Americans safe, too -- actually function," he said.
The Trump administration, a frequent critic of UN bodies, says that the WHO relied too much on Chinese ...

US seeks to 'fundamentally change' WHO, Pompeo says

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With the coronavirus keeping Israelis indoors, dozens of jackals have taken over a deserted park in Tel Aviv, scavenging for food in what is usually a playground for joggers and families.
The normally timid animals wander freely among palm trees and across the grass of Hayarkon Park, an oasis in the Mediterranean city that was also a magnet for cyclists and picnickers until the arrival of COVID-19.
The disease has cost almost 120 lives in Israel.
Hayarkon prides itself as the lung of Tel Aviv, complete with a river and enough space for tourists to pitch tents during last year's Eurovision song contest, when hotels were fully booked.
Now, rare human visitors wear masks and use their phones to photograph jackals, the park's new occupants.
Normally, the dog-like animals would only venture out from their burrows or the bushes at night in more secluded parts of the park to search for scraps left by visitors, zoologist Yariv Malichi told AFP.
"But once you take away the trash people are ...

Virus brings out the jackals in deserted Tel Aviv park

Airline passenger revenues are set to plunge by 55 per cent, or USD 314 billion, in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.
It marks a sharp worsening of the forecast for the aviation industry, as just three weeks ago the decrease was predicted to be 44 per cent, or USD252 billion.
"The industry's outlook grows darker by the day," said IATA chief executive Alexandre de Juniac.
"The scale of the crisis makes a sharp V-shaped recovery unlikely. Realistically, it will be a U-shaped recovery with domestic travel coming back faster than the international market.
"Without urgent relief, many airlines will not survive to lead the economic recovery."
As of early April, the number of flights worldwide was down by 80 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, said IATA, which brings together 290 airlines.
The crisis began for the aviation sector at the end of January when airlines suspended services to China, where the COVID-19 virus 

Airline revenues to nosedive by 55% in 2020: IATA

It will be difficult to hold the Cannes film festival in its original form in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak, organisers said Tuesday, adding they were looking at new ways of hosting the world's biggest annual celebration of cinema.
The festival had already been postponed from its original mid-May dates to late June and early July. But organisers said this is "no longer an option" after President Emmanuel Macron said that cultural festivals could not resume until mid-July at the earliest.
"It is clearly difficult to assume that the Festival de Cannes could be held this year in its original form," organisers said in a statement, while adding that they were exploring "all contingencies" to realise Cannes 2020 "in a way or another".

Cannes film festival difficult to hold this year 'in original form': organisers

Clubs in the English Football League (EFL) agreed a deal with players' union the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) on Tuesday for 25 percent of wages to be deferred in April.
Many clubs in the three divisions of English football below the Premier League have already reached individual agreements with their squads to defer or cut wages due to the economic crisis caused by coronavirus.
"A compromise proposal has been agreed between the EFL and the PFA for those clubs engaged in deferral negotiations with their players, meaning that, up to a maximum of 25 percent of players' wages for April may be conditionally deferred," the EFL and PFA said in a joint statement.
As part of the agreement, players earning less than ?2,500 ($3,153) per month will be paid in full and the 25 percent reduction must also not take any player below the ?2,500 a month threshold.
No such agreement has been reached between the PFA and Premier League clubs, who have requested players take a 30 percent hit 

EFL clubs agree deal to defer 25 percent of wages in April

Former US president Barack Obama formally endorsed Joe Biden's White House bid on Tuesday, saying his longtime deputy can unify and "heal" a nation struggling through some of its darkest moments.
"Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery," Obama said in a 12-minute video.
"I believe Joe has all the qualities we need in a President right now," Obama said, adding that picking Biden as his running mate in 2008 "was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Obama says Biden can 'heal' US in dark times as endorses ex-VP

Bahrain has turned a car park near the capital Manama into an intensive care unit with 130 beds for patients infected with the novel coronavirus, in a first in the Gulf.
The new ICU in the covered car park was set up as a precautionary measure in case of a spike in cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease, officials said.
The small Gulf country, whose population stands at 1.5 million, has recorded more than 1,500 cases, of whom seven people have died and 645 have recovered.
According to official statistics, only three people are currently in critical condition.
"The new ICU is a precautionary step in case there are any developments," Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa, the Royal Medical Services commander, told reporters at the inauguration on Tuesday.
"We are able in record time, in seven days, to establish this unit with 130 beds... working day and night.
"This is the first time that such an equipped (temporary) unit has been established in the Gulf."
The ICU was set up by the ...

Bahrain turns car park into ICU for virus patients

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said Tuesday the EU may need a 1.5-trillion-euro (USD 1.6-trillion) economic recovery fund following the coronavirus pandemic, but the financing of such joint spending remains murky.
"I could imagine that kind of level of financing," Dombrovskis told German business daily Handelsblatt when asked about the 1.5 trillion figure, although "so far nothing is decided".
Finance ministers from the 19 euro single currency nations last week agreed a package worth over 500 billion euros to cushion the immediate impact of the virus.
The toolbox includes loans from the financial-crisis-era European Stability Mechanism (ESM) but without the tough economic and fiscal reform conditions normally involved.
The ESM is flanked by guarantees for business lending from the European Investment Bank and a eurozone unemployment reinsurance scheme.
But after a war of words lasting several weeks, the finance chiefs could not agree on so-called coronabonds, ...

Brussels mulls 1.5-tn-euro virus recovery fund

Sweden on Tuesday reported that more than 1,000 people had died from the novel coronavirus, as a group of experts attacked the authorities' approach to the crisis.
Sweden's Public Health Agency said it had recorded a total of 11,445 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,033 deaths.
And it warned that because not all deaths had yet been reported over the four-day Easter weekend, the true number might be higher.
"Deceased per day is probably the figure we can trust the least today, because there is normally a lot of trailing when it comes to weekends," state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell told journalists.
Sweden has not imposed the extraordinary lockdown orders implemented elsewhere in Europe to stem the spread of the virus, instead calling for citizens to take responsibility to follow social distancing guidelines.
The government has banned gatherings of more than 50 people and barred visits to nursing homes.
But the Nordic country's softer approach has still drawn criticism abroad and the .

Coronavirus deaths in Sweden pass 1,000

oil, prices, crude

The OPEC+ alliance, led by Riyadh and Moscow, agreed on Sunday to slash daily production by 9.7 million bpd over the next two months

Total oil curbs could remove 19.5 mn barrels from market every day: Saudi

Press Trust of India

An Italian woman who took her pizza-sized turtle out for a walk has been fined 400 euros ($440) by the Roman police for breaking strict coronavirus confinement rules.
Italians need a justifiable reason to be out on the street in the middle of a pandemic that has officially claimed more than 20,000 lives in the Mediterranean country since February.
Taking your dog out for a walk is viewed as a good enough reason to leave your home.
But it seems taking your turtle out for one is not.
The Roman police said "the 60-year-old woman was caught outside her home without a justifiable reason" and fined.
"The woman was walking with a turtle," the police statement said.
Roman police spokesman Nunzio Carbone told AFP that the woman was fined 400 euros because it was "not a justifiable excuse".
Italian authorities reported issuing a record 16,545 fines on Easter Monday -- a national holiday in the largely Catholic country.
Another 13,756 fines were issue on Sunday.
Italians have been joking on ...

Woman fined for taking turtle for a walk in Rome

The IMF has approved a $1 billion (910-million-euro) aid package for Ghana to help the West African country manage fallout from the new coronavirus pandemic, the multilateral lender said.
The credit is through the IMF's rapid credit facility to help Ghana as growth falters and the government's financing needs expand, the IMF said in a statement on its website.
"COVID-19 pandemic is already impacting Ghana severely. Growth is slowing down, slowing financial conditions have tightened, and the exchange rate is under pressure," the statement said.
The aid disbursement will help "address the urgent fiscal and balance of payments needs that Ghana is facing, improve confidence, and catalyze support from other development".
The International Monetary Fund on Monday also announced it had approved immediate debt relief for 25 poor countries, most of them in Africa, to help them free up funds to fight the pandemic.

IMF approves $1 bn in virus aid for Ghana

Iraq has suspended the Reuters news agency for three months after it said there were more COVID-19 cases in the country than officially reported, the agency said Tuesday.
In a report published on April 2, Reuters quoted doctors saying there were more than 3,000 novel coronavirus cases in Iraq, well over the 772 cases confirmed by the health ministry at that time.
The Iraqi health ministry denied the allegations contained in the report while the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) accused Reuters of violating broadcasting rules and demanded the agency make a formal apology.
The CMC revoked Reuters' operational licence for three months and fined it $21,000, according to a letter to the agency seen by AFP.
The Reuters report "endangers the safety of society, hampers the government's huge efforts to fight the spread of the coronavirus and gives a negative picture of the crisis cell" formed to deal with the pandemic, the CMC said explaining its decision.
In a statement on Tuesday, ...

Iraq suspends Reuters news agency over COVID-19 story

The German Football League (DFL) announced Tuesday that a decision about whether the Bundesliga could resume next month has been pushed back by a week until April 23.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the DFL suspended top-flight football in Germany on March 13 until at least April 30.
However, negotiations are taking place to see if the Bundesliga could resume in early May, albeit in near-empty stadiums with fans locked out to restrict the spread of the virus.
The top 36 clubs in Germany's top two leagues had been due to hold discussions via a conference call on Friday, but the meeting has been delayed until Thursday next week.
The executive committee of European football's governing body UEFA will also discuss the situation via video conference on April 23.
In a statement on Tuesday, the DFL said the delay in Germany is to give clubs and the league "extra time" to prepare for "upcoming decisions" as to whether matches can resume in the top two tiers.
On Wednesday, German chancellor ..

German league delays decision on Bundesliga return

Finance ministers and central bankers from G7 countries said Tuesday they favor a temporary halt to debt payments from the world's poorest countries, but only if G20 governments also agree.
Noting that poor countries face the most hardship in trying to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the Group of Seven advanced nations said it stands "ready to provide a time-bound suspension on debt service payments" owed to their governments "if joined by all bilateral official creditors in the G20 and as agreed with the Paris Club." The G20 includes major emerging market economies like China and Russia.  The aim of the initiative endorsed by the G7 is to "provide liquidity support to help these countries deal with the health and economic impacts of the crisis," according to a summary released after G7 officials met by video conference.  The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have called for official creditors to provide relief to the world's 76 poorest countries and the IMF on Monday ...

G7 favors debt standstill for poorest countries, if G20 agrees

A 99-year-old British World War II veteran on Tuesday had raised over 1.5 million  pounds ( USD 1.9 million) for health workers on the coronavirus front-line, crashing the donation website hosting his appeal.
Tom Moore, a captain who served in India, is being sponsored to complete 100 lengths of his 25-metre garden, with the aid of a frame, in time for his 100th birthday at the end of the month.
He originally planned to raise 1,000 for a National Health Service charity after receiving treatment for a broken hip and cancer.
But he has now smashed the million mark and completed 70 laps of his garden in Bedfordshire, south England.
"It's marvellous for our doctors and nurses on the front line," he said of the money raised.
"In the last war it was soldiers in uniform on the front line. This time our army are the doctors and nurses (in) uniforms," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain television show.
"We will survive this."
More than 70,000 people have contributed funds, with the rate of ...

99-year-old war veteran raises 1.5m pound for UK health workers

A fierce dispute has divided the Palestinian community after Gaza's rulers, Hamas, arrested six local activists for chatting by video conference with left-leaning campaigners in Israel.
Islamist group Hamas bans all communications with Israel and last week arrested the six members of the Gaza Youth Committee on charges of "treason" and "normalisation" of relations with the Jewish state.
The arrests have sparked a fierce free-speech row that has drawn in a former Gaza-based contractor with human rights group Amnesty International who had criticised the activists online.
In the two-hour call via video conference service Zoom -- the latest in a format they have called "Skype with your enemy" -- the participants had discussed their daily lives and expressed hopes for better leadership for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Rami Aman, 36, the founder of the Gaza Youth Committee, and the five others were detained, accused of "treason", after speaking to the dozens of Israeli activists ...

Row in Gaza over arrests for Zoom chat with Israelis

The number of people who have died in hospital in Britain from the coronavirus has risen to 12,107, according to health ministry figures published on Tuesday.
This is an increase of 778 on the previous day and official figures also showed that the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 has reached 93,873.

UK coronavirus death toll rises 778 to 12,107

Al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists have claimed responsibility for killing dozens of soldiers in Mali and suggested coronavirus was weakening foreign forces in the Sahel.
In a statement verified on Monday by the jihadist-surveillance group SITE Intelligence, the jihadists said they attacked a military base in the northern town of Bamba on April 6.
Officials at the time told AFP that some 25 Malian soldiers had died in the raid, but the statement by the GSIM -- the Group to Support Islam and Muslims -- said about 30 soldiers had been killed.
AFP was unable to independently confirm the figures.
GSIM also suggested that the coronavirus sweeping Europe could weaken the resolve of its enemies.
"The pandemic also struck the ranks of the invading forces in Mali. This bears a sign of the near disintegration of this satanic alliance, Allah willing," the statement said.
Mali has been struggling to contain a jihadist revolt that first broke out in the north in 2012, and which has since spread to the .

Al-Qaeda's Sahel branch says virus weakening its foes

Authorities in Kabul will ban motorcycles and scooters in the Afghan capital in a bid to control rampant crime and stop assailants on two-wheelers from conducting targeted killings, officials said Tuesday.
The ban, which takes effect Wednesday, comes after a string of assaults by armed men on motorbikes.
Delivery riders, who are seeing heavy demand amid Kabul's coronavirus lockdown, will be exempted.
"Most of the crimes in the city, including targeted killings and other crimes, are carried out using motorbikes," interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian told AFP.
"We have therefore decided to ban the use of the motorbikes in Kabul city and its districts."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a security official told AFP that the Taliban are conducting an increasing number of targeted killings of government officials.
"They all use motorbikes to do hit and runs," the official said, noting that street robberies by theives on motorcycles and scooters were also on the rise.
Earlier this ...

Kabul bans motorbikes to stem Taliban killings and crime

Australian Cardinal George Pell, released from prison last week after a court overturned his child sex conviction, was warned by police Tuesday of online threats against him, as new abuse allegations also emerged.
Pell walked free last week after the Australian High Court cleared him of five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys in the 1990s, ending the most high-profile paedophilia case faced by the Catholic Church.
But on Tuesday, as Pell released excerpts from his prison diary and blamed his conviction on "culture wars" against conservative Christians, a major newspaper reported there was a fresh investigation into the 78-year-old.
The new allegation of child sex abuse -- being investigated by police -- dates back to the 1970s, the Herald Sun reported.
Police Tuesday visited the Sydney seminary where Pell has been staying to discuss his security, a spokesman for Sydney's Catholic Archdiocese said in a statement aimed at dispelling rumours it was related to the Herald 

AFP

AFP

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