OIL PRICES SKYROCKET AS TRUMP CLAIMS RUSSIA, SAUDIS PLAN TO SLASH OUTPUT

Oil prices rocketed Thursday after US President Donald Trump said Russia and

Saudi Arabia planned to end their price war by slashing output.

But gains for Brent North Sea crude of nearly 46 percent cooled to around 20

percent as Russia denied it had spoken with Saudi Arabia, the world's

biggest exporter of crude.

After Trump tweeted that Saudi and Russia could slash production by up to 15

million barrels, Brent hit $36.29 per barrel, up almost 46 percent.

West Texas Intermediate soared around 35 percent to $27.39.

Gains were trimmed soon after, with Brent up 20.25 percent at $29.75 per

barrel and WTI showing a gain of 23 percent to $24.98.

With gains remaining substantial over Wednesday's closing levels, "traders

are taking the view the two feuding nations... will come to some agreement

in term of lowering output", said David Madden, analyst at trading group CMC

Markets UK.

Trump tweeted that he had spoken to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who he

claimed had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I expect & hope that they will be cutting back approximately 10 Million

Barrels, and maybe substantially more which, if it happens, will be GREAT

for the oil & gas industry!" said Trump.

"Could be as high as 15 Million Barrels," he added in a subsequent post.

But the Kremlin denied Putin had spoken to the crown prince.

"No, there was no conversation," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told

Interfax news agency, adding that "so far" there were no plans for such

talks.

Saudi Arabia did though call for a meeting of the OPEC+ oil producers to

"stabilise the oil market", just one day after the kingdom boosted supplies

to record levels.

The kingdom, which is the cartel's kingpin, launched last month a vicious

price war, after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and

Russia failed to clinch a deal to slash output as the deadly coronavirus

battered oil demand.

US NAVY FIRES COMMANDER WHO RAISED ALARM ABOUT CORONAVIRUS ON SHIP

The US navy has dismissed the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt

aircraft carrier, who had raised the alarm about an outbreak of coronavirus

on his ship.

Thomas Modly, the acting secretary of the navy, said that Captain Brett

Crozier had been relieved of his command of the nuclear-powered carrier

because he had copied in too many people on an internal memo on Monday, in

which he urgently appealed for members of his crew who had fallen ill to be

allowed to disembark for medical care in Guam.

By Thursday, 114 of the more than 4,000 crew had tested positive for

Covid-19. Modly did not accuse Crozier of leaking the memo, but suggested he

made it more likely that the letter would be leaked. He also accused Crozier

of raising unnecessary alarm among the sailors' families, and exaggerating

the threat to their lives.

In his letter, Crozier said it was impossible to achieve social distancing

and quarantine conditions on board the Roosevelt, and therefore the majority

of the sailors on board should be disembarked for quarantine and treatment.

Briefing the press on his decision on Thursday, Modly said accused Crozier

of "not being careful" about who would receive his note.

"It was copied to 20 or 30 other people. That's just not acceptable. He did

not take care and what that did is it created a little bit of a panic on the

ship," Modly said. He stressed that he was not accusing Crozier of leaking

the memo himself.

Modly said that the navy had already begun mobilizing resources to help the

crew in response to Crozier's earlier requests for assistance.

DANIEL PEARL MURDER: U.S. SLAMS PAKISTAN COURT'S OVERTURNING OF DEATH

SENTENCE, CALLS IT 'AFFRONT' TO VICTIMS OF TERRORISM

The US on Friday criticised a Pakistani court for overturning the death

sentence of British-born top al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who

was convicted in the abduction and murder of American journalist Daniel

Pearl, terming the verdict an "affront" to victims of terrorism everywhere.

The U.S.' response comes after the Sindh High Court on Thursday found the

46-year-old Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and commuted

his death sentence to seven years in prison.

Sheikh has been in jail for the past 18 years after being convicted in

Pearl's murder in Karachi in 2002 in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror

attack.

A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha also acquitted

the three others - Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil- serving life

sentences in the case.

"The overturning of the convictions for Daniel Pearl's murder is an affront

to victims of terrorism everywhere," Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary

of State for South and Central Asia, said in a tweet.

But the U.S.' top diplomat for South Asia welcomed Pakistani prosecutors'

indications that they would appeal the decision.

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES NEAR A MILLION AS SPAIN SEES RECORD DEATHS

Confirmed coronavirus cases around the world topped one million on Thursday

(Apr 2) and the number of deaths soared past 50,000 as Europe reeled from

the pandemic and the United States reported record numbers of people out of

work.

Despite more than half the planet imposing some form of lockdown, the virus

claimed thousands more lives, with Spain and Britain seeing the highest

number of daily fatalities yet.

And it continued to wreak havoc on the global economy, with the US

announcing a record 6.65 million workers filed for unemployment benefits

last week and Spain reporting its biggest monthly increase in jobless claims

ever.

Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has infected at least

1,000,036 people - including more than half a million in Europe - and

claimed 51,718 lives, according to a tally by AFP from official sources.

There have been 236,339 infections and 5,648 deaths reported in the United

States, where COVID-19 is currently spreading the most rapidly.

Italy, the hardest-hit country in terms of deaths, has 115,242 reported

cases, 13,915 of them fatal, while Spain reported 110,238 cases and 10,003

fatalities.

The number of actual infections is believed to be higher since many

countries are only testing severe cases or patients requiring

hospitalisation.

Spain and Britain saw record numbers of new deaths in the past 24 hours -

950 and 569 respectively.

France recorded 471 hospital deaths, down from the previous day, but also

announced a new figure of 884 deaths in old people's homes since the

epidemic began.

Italy registered 760 new deaths, with its numbers continuing to fall.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin extended paid non-working days until the

end of April as the number of confirmed cases jumped by more than a quarter

on Thursday to 3,548 with 30 deaths.

RUSSIAN PLANE LANDS IN US WITH MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO COMBAT CORONAVIRUS

A Russian cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of medical supplies, including

ventilators, masks and other protection gear, needed to treat the patients

with COVID-19 landed in the US as the country wrestles with the coronavirus

pandemic that the White House has warned could kill up to two lakh people

during the next fortnight.

The Permanent Mission of Russia to NATO on Thursday tweeted a video of the

Russian Ministry of Defence cargo aircraft Ruslan AN-124-100 arriving at the

John F Kennedy airport in New York.

"MoD cargo aircraft Ruslan AN-124-100 arrived in Flag of United States NY

JFK airport with 60 tons of medical equipment, ventilators, masks & other

protection gear to assist in fighting real common adversary- COVID19," the

mission said in the tweet.

The move to buy medical equipment from Russia comes after a telephonic

conversation between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart

Vladimir Putin on March 30.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet said that it was a time to work

together to overcome a common enemy that threatens the lives of all.

"We have to work together to defeat COVID-19. This is why the US agreed to

purchase urgently needed personal protective equipment from Russia to help

FEMA respond in New York City," he said.

UN CALLS FOR UNITY AGAINST 'UNPRECEDENTED' CORONAVIRUS THREAT

The UN General Assembly has unanimously approved a resolution recognising

"the unprecedented effects" of the coronavirus pandemic and calling for

"intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat" the

deady disease.

General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande sent a letter to all UN

member nations Thursday night informing them that there were no objections

to the resolution entitled "Global Solidarity to fight the coronavirus

disease" sponsored by Ghana, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore and

Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. He said the resolution was approved and is

in effect.

The resolution also recognises the disease, also known as COVID-19, has

resulted in "severe disruption to societies and economies, as well as to

global travel and commerce, and the devastating impact on the livelihood of

people" and that "the poorest and most vulnerable are the hardest hit."

IRAN, U.S. HEAT UP WAR OF WORDS DESPITE PANDEMIC

Iran said on Thursday it "only acts in self-defence" after President Donald

Trump warned it against attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, as a new war of

words heated up despite the pandemic.

Tensions between the arch-foes flared in Iraq where the U.S. deployed

Patriot air defence missiles, prompting Iran to warn of consequences and

demand a withdrawal.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that "unlike the U.S. -which

surreptitiously lies, cheats & assassinates - Iran only acts in

self-defence".

"Don't be misled by usual warmongers, AGAIN," he said, addressing Mr. Trump.

"Iran starts no wars but teaches lessons to those who do," he added.

Mr. Trump warned Iran on Wednesday that it would pay a "heavy price" in the

event of further attacks on U.S. troops. He tweeted that "upon information

and belief, Iran or its proxies are planning a sneak attack on U.S. troops

and/or assets in Iraq".

In response, Mr. Zarif tweeted that "Iran has FRIENDS: No one can have

MILLIONS of 'proxies'"

Iran responded angrily to the U.S. Patriot deployment warning that

Washington risked leading the Middle East to disaster in the midst of the

coronavirus pandemic.

TRUMP TO IRAN: IF THEY WANT HELP, WE WILL GIVE THEM HELP

President Donald Trump has said if Iran requests his administration for help

in dealing with the coronavirus emergency that he would be willing to do it.

"They have a very big case of virus. A very, very big case. One of the worst

on earth if you believe what you're reading and I happen to believe what I

see and what I know. If they want help, we will give them help."

Earlier, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, former Vice

President Joseph Biden said he supports the lifting of sanctions against

Iran as the country deals with the deadly disease.

TRUMP'S CONTRADICTORY VIEWS ON CHINA SHIFT AS CRISIS GROWS

President Donald Trump has held an unequivocal position about China and the

coronavirus - several of them. Trump initially praised China, then

excoriated Beijing after it made unsubstantiated claims that the virus

originated in the United States.

Now, Trump is back to offering niceties. The diverging messages have

generated finger-pointing by both Beijing and Washington that is further

destabilizing a critical relationship between countries with the two largest

economies and militaries.

There might not be radical shifts in U.S.-China policy during the next

several months, but China's cover-up and disinformation campaign will color

the relationship going forward, Dan Blumenthal, director of Asian studies at

the American Enterprise Institute, said Wednesday.

"It's very hard to see progress on trade talks after this," he said. He

added that he expects Congress will push to address American dependence on

China for medical and other manufacturing supplies.

There are calls in Congress to hold China accountable for initially covering

up the outbreak. Anticipating a backlash, China's official Xinhua News

Agency last month suggested that Beijing could retaliate against the U.S. by

banning the export of medical products that would leave the U.S. stuck in

the "ocean of viruses."

WHO URGES MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES TO ACT FAST

Governments in the Middle East need to act fast to limit the spread of the

coronavirus after cases rose to nearly 60,000, almost double their level a

week earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

"New cases have been reported in some of the most vulnerable countries with

fragile health systems," said Ahmed Al-Mandhari, the WHO's director for the

Eastern Mediterranean region, which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia

and Djibouti, as well as Middle Eastern states.

"Even in countries with stronger heath systems, we have seen a worrying

spike in the numbers of cases and deaths reported," he said in a statement.

"I cannot stress enough the urgency of the situation," said Mandhari. "The

increasing numbers of cases show that transmission is rapidly occurring at

local and community levels."

"We still have a window of opportunity, but this window is slowly closing

day by day," he added.

DONALD TRUMP ANNOUNCES HE TESTED NEGATIVE AGAIN

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has taken his second

coronavirus test at the White House since the outbreak began and was found

to be negative.

"I just took it this morning," he told a press conference. "It said the

President tested negative for COVID-19."

This was Mr. Trump's second test. This time he used a new rapid method that

he said took a minute to complete and barely 15 minutes to return a result.

"I took it out of curiosity to see how quickly it worked. It is a lot

easier. I have done them both. The second one is much more pleasant," the

President said.