US President Donald Trump once again on Monday attacked the WHO, saying the UN health body was a puppet' of China.
Trump claimed that more people would have died from coronavirus in the country had he not imposed a ban on travel from China, which was opposed' by the health agency.
They (WHO) are a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer. But they're a puppet of China, Trump told reporters at the White House.
I think they have done a very sad job. The United States pays them USD 450 million a year. China pays them USD 38 million a year, Trump said in response to a question.
Trump said the World Health Organization was against the imposition of a ban on travel from China in late January.
The World Health Organization was against it. They were against me doing the ban. They said you don't need it, it's too much, it's too severe, and they turned out to be wrong, he said.
Trump said Democratic Party's presidential nominee and former vice-president Joe Biden was too against .

WHO a puppet of China: Trump

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US President Donald Trump on Monday said he has been taking anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against coronavirus.
I have been taking it (hydroxychloroquine) for about a week and a half, Trump told reporters at the White House, asserting that he has zero symptoms of the deadly COVID-19, which has killed over 90,000 Americans in the past three months.
Trump said he consulted his doctors in this regard but was not explicitly recommended by White House physicians.
White House doctor didn't recommend. I asked him, what do you think? He said well, if you'd like it. I said yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it, he said.
Trump said he has been taking a pill of the anti-malaria drug a day.
I take a pill every day. At some point, I'll stop. What I'd like to do is I'd like to have the cure and/or the vaccine, and that will happen, I think, very soon, he asserted.
Soon after Trump revealed to the world that he has been taking the medicine, the White House doctor said .

Taking anti-malaria drug for protection against virus, says Trump

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the new coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects.
Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily for about a week and a half now.
Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration's top medical professionals.
The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.  Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician.
"I started taking it, because I think it's good," Trump said. "I've heard a lot of good stories.
The White House physician, Dr Sean Conley, said in a statement released through the ...

Trump says he's taking malaria drug to protect against virus

As COVID-19 reached remote indigenous lands in Brazil's Amazon, the government agency responsible for protecting native people brushed off calls for action, focusing instead on waging ideological battles, according to agents from the institution itself and others.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's repeated promotion of developing the vast Amazon has for months prompted indigenous activists, celebrities and agents on the ground to sound the alarm.
In the face of a spreading pandemic, they warn inaction is enough to wipe out many indigenous people.
The Associated Press spoke to four agents who work with indigenous peoples in the farthest reaches of Brazil's Amazon, and they were unanimous in their conclusion: The national Indian foundation, known as FUNAI, is hardly doing anything to coordinate a response to a crisis that could decimate ethnic groups.
There's not enough protective equipment for agents who enter indigenous territories or meet with native people in cities. Necessities .

Indigenous infections grew amid slow Brazil agency response

Australia on Tuesday welcomed international support for an independent coronavirus pandemic investigation as China ratcheted up a bilateral trade rift by placing tariffs on Australian barley.
The World Health Organization bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus.
The comprehensive evaluation, sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries including Australia, is intended to review lessons learned from WHO's coordination of the global response to COVID-19, but would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the respiratory virus.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne had earlier welcomed the apparent majority support for the motion, saying her government wanted the inquiry to be impartial, independent and comprehensive.
Australia is seen as a leader in rallying global support for an inquiry, attracting Chinese criticism that it is ...

Australia welcomes virus inquiry but condemns China tariff

Mountains of infectious waste, including huge piles of discarded coffins and tons of hospital garbage, are popping up across Mexico amid the coronavirus pandemic, a grisly problem authorities attribute to illegal dumping and unscrupulous operators.
Authorities announced on Monday that they had found 3.5 tons of hospital waste dumped in the woods on the outskirts of Mexico City, and 6,000 cubic yards (meters) of medical waste piled ceiling-high at a clandestine warehouse in Puebla state, leaking out of over-crammed trailers and buildings.
Teetering piles of coffins, meanwhile, are piling up outside Mexico City's overworked crematoriums.
The office for environmental protection said much of the waste would have to be incinerated because it represents a health risk and blamed unscrupulous, unlicensed operators for the problem.
The scene at the Puebla warehouse was grotesque: mountains of red plastic hospital waste bags had been crammed so tightly into one metal-sided warehouse that the ...

Mexico faces infectious waste disposal problem amid pandemic

The world economy likely faces a long slog back from the coronavirus crisis.
Two reports out Monday predict that global growth will struggle to bounce back from the lockdowns, travel restrictions and business closures meant to contain the pandemic.
IHS Markit said that it expects the world economy to shrink 5.5% this year, triple the damage it sustained in the 2008 financial crisis, and then struggle to regain traction.
While growth in the hardest hit economies may snap back briefly, the momentum will soon fade,'' the financial research firm warned. It expects the US economy to contract 7.3% this year and the collective economy of the 19 European countries that share the euro currency to recoil 8.6%.
Hobbling the rebound, IHS predicts, will be a wave of business bankruptcies and cautious spending by consumers trying to repair their household finances and uneasy about resuming old habits that drive economic growth  shopping, eating out, booking vacations and going to movies.
Government 

Reports: World economy faces tough journey back from crisis

A UN agency working for the welfare of Palestine refugees has applauded India's financial support to keep its basic services operating, especially under the circumstances posed by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Government of India on Monday provided USD 2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in support of its core programmes and services, including education and health.
The contribution was presented to the UN agency by the Representative of India (ROI) to the State of Palestine, Sunil Kumar.
"On behalf of the agency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for advancing part of its contribution, which will help UNRWA address cash flow challenges," Marc Lassouaoui, chief of the Donor Relations at the UNRWA said.
"The continued determination and commitment of India in support of the Palestine refugees is commendable, in particular under the current circumstances brought on us by COVID-19," he added.
India had increased its annual ...

UN agency serving Palestine refugees hails India's contribution

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is slamming the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak, proclaiming that President Donald Trump, had months, months to take action and failed to do so before the US death toll began rising.
Biden addressed the AAPI Victory Fund's Progressive Summit virtually on Monday, speaking from his home in Delaware, as Canadian geese honked loudly and persistently in the background. The group aims to empower Asian American and Pacific Islanders.
The former vice president said of the virus, The scale of the loss is staggering and it's infuriating.
But more than that, it's heartbreaking to think how much fear, how much loss, how much agony could have been avoided if the president hadn't wasted so much time and taken responsibility, Biden said. We got denials, delays, distraction  many of which were openly xenophobic.
Biden added, that the country, Got bald-faced lies about testing capacity that, 'Anyone who wants a test can .

Biden criticises Trump's response to outbreak

President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to lessen symptoms should he get the new coronavirus, even though the drug is unproven for fighting COVID-19.
Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily for about a week and a half now.
Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration's top medical professionals.
The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.  Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician.
"I started taking it, because I think it's good," Trump said. "I've heard a lot of good stories.

Trump says he's taking malaria drug in case he gets virus

Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in a massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdog's abrupt dismissal.
Democrats said Monday that ousted Inspector General Steve Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a dollar 7 billion Saudi arms sale over congressional objections.
Democrats previously suggested the dismissal might have been tied to Linick's investigation of allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have improperly ordered staff to run personal errands for him.
Neither the White House nor the State Department has provided specific reasons for Linick's late Friday dismissal, which comes amid broader concerns over Trump's removal of numerous inspectors general at various executive branch departments.
Trump has said he had lost confidence in those fired but has not given specific reasons, which lawmakers from both ...

Democrats: Fired watchdog was looking into Saudi arms sale

Islamic extremists stormed a village just as people were preparing to break their Ramadan fast after sundown, killing at least 20 people in the first attack of its kind in northeastern Nigeria since the Muslim holy month began, authorities said Monday.
Witnesses said fighters from the extremist group Boko Haram carried out the attack in Gajigana, where they entered the opposite side of the village from where Nigerian soldiers were posted.
The shootings were sudden and intense; people began to flee in all directions, said Ba'an Bukar, a member of a local civilian defense group.
Many of the victims were too weak to flee after several weeks of fasting, and temperatures had soared to 42 degrees Celsius (108 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday, he added.
Audu Mustapha, a member of the Borno state House of Assembly, said 25 others were wounded in the attack about 47 kilometers (29 miles) north of the state capital, Maiduguri.
Boko Haram has now been waging its insurgency for more than a decade in 

Authorities: Boko Haram attacks Nigerian village, killing 20

The International Criminal Court on Monday rejected a multimillion euro compensation claim by a former Congolese vice president who was cleared of war crimes charges after spending a decade in the court's custody.
Jean-Pierre Bemba filed a claim for compensation and damages after he was acquitted on appeal two years ago of war crimes and crimes against humanity he was alleged to have committed as a military commander of troops fighting in Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.
He originally was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.
Bemba's lawyers sought a total of nearly 69 million euros including compensation for the time he spent in jail and damages for legal costs and losses in the value of assets frozen by the court including a Boeing 727 passenger jet.
The court said in a statement Monday that judges ruled that Bemba failed to establish that he had suffered a grave and manifest miscarriage of justice and therefore rejected his request for compensation for 

ICC rejects compensation claim by former Congo VP Bemba

A gym in New Jersey reopened for business early Monday, defying a state order that shut down nonessential businesses to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.
People began gathering outside the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr several hours before it reopened at 8 a.m. The owners have said the decision to resume operations at the members-only facility was not about financial gain, but rather a question of Constitutional rights.
We truly believe that if we don't do this, in the end, we will have zero rights and no say in what happens, co-owner Frank Trumbetti said in a video posted on the gym's Facebook page. Trumbetti has said he recently lost a loved one to the coronavirus.
Dozens of people came out to show their support for the gym, with many holding signs critical of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and others waving American flags. Only some were wearing face coverings and most people tightly clustered together on the sidewalk and parking area in front of the gym.
If they shut us down today, ..

New Jersey gym reopens in defiance of coronavirus measures

The UN special envoy for Syria called Monday for talks between Russia and the United States to help end the more than nine-year-old war, saying the two major powers could play a key role.
Geir Pedersen's encouragement to Moscow and Washington to take a leading role was his first public appeal to the rival powers on opposing sides of the conflict  Russia which has been the key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the United States which supports the opposition.
Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that the three countries that have taken the lead in arranging cease-fires in Syria  Assad allies Russia and Iran and opposition backer Turkey are key players too. He said members of a committee from the Syrian government, opposition and civil society who are supposed to draft a new constitution for the country and the 15 council nations are key players as well.
Pedersen said there have been too many fleeting opportunities in the past decades to move from conflict to a ...

UN envoy calls for Russia-US talks to help end Syrian war

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Monday that the party will not be holding a virtual convention," pledging that the presidential nominating convention in late August will be conducted at least partly in-person.
The coronavirus outbreak forced Democrats to move their convention from July to August, and it's still unclear whether that event will be entirely online.
On a call with reporters about election lawsuits, McDaniel initially demurred when asked about the GOP gathering, slated for Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the party is set to formally choose President Donald Trump as its nominee.
It's quite a ways away, and there's ample time for us to adjust, if necessary, McDaniel said. But later, in response to a question about the Minnesota Republican Party's online convention possibly being disrupted by hackers, McDaniel said: We will not be holding a virtual convention.
The RNC has hired a medical adviser for the convention, and McDaniel said 

GOP chair: 'We will not be holding a virtual convention'

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday condemned the World Health Organization's delay on whether to grant Taiwan observer status, saying it proved the UN body's chief was pleasing China.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus' "lack of independence deprives the Assembly of Taiwan's renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHO's credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most," Pompeo said in a statement.

Pompeo says Taiwan exclusion 'further damages' WHO credibility

The Supreme Court is allowing a bigger award of money to victims of the 1998 bombings by al-Qaida of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Despite the court's ruling, however, the victims may only ever collect a fraction of the billions of dollars a lower court awarded.
The nearly simultaneous truck bombings at the embassies killed 224 people and injured thousands. They were the first major attacks on U.S. targets by al-Qaida.
The case the Supreme Court ruled in involves lawsuits filed by victims and their families against Sudan. The lawsuits accused the country of causing the bombings by aiding al-Qaida and leader Osama bin Laden, who lived in Sudan in the 1990s.
The more than 500 people involved in the case are mostly foreign citizens, either U.S. government employees or contractors injured in the bombings or relatives of those who died.
A court initially awarded the group more than $10 billion, but an appeals court threw out about $4 billion of the ...

High court allows bigger award in 1998 embassy bombings case

The coronavirus outbreak disrupted what had been big plans to mark the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state.
The peak in the Cascade Mountain Range blew its top on May 18, 1980, killing 57 people, blasting more than 1,300 feet (396 meters) off the top of the mountain and raining volcanic ash around for hundreds of miles.
But there will be no public observances at the volcano on Monday. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the main highway into the national volcanic monument is closed due to COVID-19 and the multiple visitor centers and museums that had planned remembrances are also shuttered.
We've been thrown for quite a loop here, said Washington State Parks interpretive specialist Alysa Adams. Please stay tuned for next year because I think we're going to take all of this energy and passion and turn it into something productive for the 41st anniversary. Several agencies are presenting talks and experiences online.
The Oregon Museum of Science and ..

Virus interrupts St. Helens eruption anniversary plans

A former Syrian secret police colonel testified in a German court Monday that he was not involved in the torture of opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad, in the first war crimes trial outside Syria linked to the country's years-long conflict.
Anwar R., 57, is accused of crimes against humanity, rape and murder as head of the Al Khatib detention center, also known as Branch 251, near Damascus.
As a senior member of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate, R. is accused of overseeing the systematic and brutal torture of more than 4,000 prisoners between April 2011 and September 2012, resulting in the deaths of at least 58 people, according to the indictment.
His co-defendant, 43-year-old Eyad A., is accused of being part of a police squad that detained protesters and brought them back to Branch 251, where they were then mistreated. Neither of their last names has been released, in line with German privacy laws.
In his first statement since his trial opened in April, Anwar .

Former Syrian secret police officer testifies he's innocent

Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in a massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdog's abrupt dismissal.
Democrats said Monday that ousted Inspector General Steve Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a $7 billion Saudi arms sale over congressional objections. Democrats previously suggested the dismissal might have been tied to Linick's investigation of allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have improperly ordered staff to run personal errands for him.
Neither the White House nor the State Department has provided specific reasons for Linick's dismissal, which comes amid broader concerns over Trump's removal of numerous inspectors general at various executive branch departments.
Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was troubled that Linick was sacked before the completion of .

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