CORONAVIRUS: TRUMP VOICES HOPE FOR 'LEVELLING-OFF' IN US HOTSPOTS

President Donald Trump has expressed hope coronavirus cases were "levelling

off" in US hotspots, saying he saw "light at the end of the tunnel".

On Sunday, New York, the epicentre of the US outbreak, reported a drop in

the number of new infections and deaths.

Mr Trump described the dip as a "good sign", but warned of more deaths as

the pandemic neared its "peak" in the US.

"In the days ahead, America will endure the peak of this pandemic," Mr Trump

said at his daily coronavirus briefing.

He said more medical personnel and supplies, including masks and

ventilators, would be sent to the states that are most in need of

assistance.

CORONAVIRUS: QUEEN TELLS UK 'WE WILL SUCCEED' IN FIGHT

The Queen has said the UK "will succeed" in its fight against the

coronavirus pandemic, in a rallying message to the nation.

In a rare speech, the monarch thanked people for following government rules

to stay at home and praised those "coming together to help others".

She also thanked key workers, saying "every hour" of work "brings us closer

to a return to more normal times".

It comes as the number of people to die with the virus in the UK reached

4,934.

Speaking from Windsor Castle, the Queen said: "While we have faced

challenges before, this one is different."

"This time we join with all nations across the globe in a common endeavour,

using the great advances of science and our instinctive compassion to heal.

We will succeed - and that success will belong to every one of us.

"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better

days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our

families again; we will meet again."

The Queen, 93, also said the "painful sense of separation from their loved

ones" that social distancing was causing for people reminded her of the

experience child evacuees had during the Second World War.

"Now, as then, we know, deep down, that it is the right thing to do," she

said.

DUBAI IMPOSES 2-WEEK LOCKDOWN AS GULF STATES BATTLE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

Dubai imposed a two-week lockdown Saturday night and Saudi Arabia sealed off

parts of the Red Sea city of Jeddah as Gulf states tightened measures in big

cities to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Dubai had been under an overnight curfew along with the rest of United Arab

Emirates since March 26.

Its Supreme Committee of Crisis and Disaster Management said the lockdown

would now run around the clock for two weeks, state news agency WAM said.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, authorities announced a lockdown and a partial

curfew in seven neighbourhoods of Jeddah also starting on Saturday as part

of measures to contain the outbreak, the interior ministry said in a

statement.

Saudi Arabia is worst hit in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

group of Arab oil monarchies. It had reported 2,179 cases of confirmed

infections up until Saturday and 29 deaths.

In Dubai, mobility will be restricted and legal action taken against

violators though supermarkets and pharmacies, as well as food and drug

delivery services would continue normal operations, WAM said.

People can only leave their homes for essential purposes and just one family

member is permitted to go out at any one time.

COVID-19: UK PM ADMITTED FOR TESTS, TRUMP EXTENDS BEST WISHES

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital for tests, 10

days after testing positive for coronavirus.

Johnson (55) "continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus", a

Downing Street spokesperson said on Sunday.

On the advice of his doctor, the Prime Minister has tonight been admitted to

hospital for tests. This is a precautionary step, as the Prime Minister

continues to have persistent symptoms of coronavirus ten days after testing

positive for the virus," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has extended his well wishes to the

British Prime Minister.

"I want to express our nation's well wishes to Prime Minister Johnson as he

wages his own personal fight with the virus, Trump told reporters during a

press briefing at the White House on Sunday.

He said all the Americans prayed for Johnson's good health.

POVERTY 'AMPLIFYING' IN UK

The pandemic is increasing poverty in Britain, where levels are already high

after a decade of austerity triggered by the global financial crisis.

Official data shows that more than 14 million people in the UK are classed

as living in poverty, or nearly one-quarter of the population.

The situation is worsening with Britons losing jobs en masse as the UK

experiences lockdown. "The risk of poverty is particularly high for workers

in sectors like hospitality and retail," said Dave Innes, head of economics

at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an organisation for social change.

Over the past fortnight, almost one million adults in the UK have applied

for Universal Credit, the government's main form of state aid. That is

nearly 10 times the level in an average two-week period.

"If families who were earning decent wages before the pandemic move on to

the Universal Credit, they will suddenly find themselves living in poverty,"

said Louisa McGeehan, a director at Child Poverty Action Group UK. McGeehan

noted that "a lot of schools are putting lessons on the Internet for

children to do at home. If those children are in households who don't have

Internet or don't have a computer, they are not able to do that learning. We

have a nation where a child poverty crisis has been amplified by the impact

of coronavirus."

TALIBAN WARN DEAL WITH US IN AFGHANISTAN NEAR BREAKING POINT

The Taliban has said the deal with the United States aimed at bringing peace

to Afghanistan was nearing a breaking point, accusing Washington of

violations that included drone attacks on civilians, while also chastising

the Afghan government for delaying the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners

promised in the agreement.

The Taliban said it had restricted attacks against Afghan security forces to

rural outposts and had not attacked international forces or Afghan forces in

cities or military installations.

The group warned of more violence if the US and the Afghan government

continue alleged violations of the deal, adding that continued violations

would "create an atmosphere of mistrust that will not only damage the

agreements, but also force mujaheddin to a similar response and will

increase the level of fighting".

"We are seriously asking the Americans to abide by the contents of the

agreement and to alert their allies to fully abide by the agreement," the

Taliban statement read.

FRANCE'S DEATH TOLL SLOWS BUT CORONAVIRUS STILL HITS HARD

France's daily death toll from the novel coronavirus fell in the past 24

hours and admissions into intensive care also slowed, the health ministry

said on Sunday, thanking citizens for largely respecting a lockdown to halt

the spread of the virus.

The health ministry data showed that 357 people died from COVID-19 in

hospitals, compared with 441 in the previous 24 hours, taking the total toll

in hospitals to 5,889.

It said that 2,189 people had died in nursing homes since March 1, taking

France's total death toll to 8,078.

"These data confirms that the epidemic is ongoing in the country, and

continues to hit hard," the ministry said.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in France since the start of the epidemic rose by

2.7% or 1,873 to 70,478, the ministry said in daily update of the situation.

It added that some 22,361 confirmed or possible cases have been recorded in

nursing homes, taking France's total confirmed or possible coronavirus cases

to 92,839.

JAPAN EXPECTED TO DECLARE STATE OF EMERGENCY

Parts of Japan are expected to go into a state of emergency in the coming

days. That's according to Japanese media, as the number of confirmed

infections continues to rise despite measures to contain the virus.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to announce the move later on Monday

though it's thought it won't come into effect that same day. It likely won't

be for the entire country but for big cities such as Tokyo and Osaka only.

The decision would give the government the power to implement stricter

measures to ask people to stay at home or to close businesses. It will not,

though, give Mr Abe the power to impose full lockdowns like we've seen in

China, or some European countries, where there are heavy fines for breaking

the rules.

Japan has had more than 3,600 confirmed infections and 85 deaths. There's

particular concern for Tokyo, where the number of people with confirmed

infections has been sharply rising and now exceeds 1,000.

POPE OPENS HOLY WEEK

Pope Francis marked a surreal Palm Sunday in an empty St. Peter's Basilica,

urging people living through the coronavirus pandemic not to be so concerned

with what they lack but how they can ease the suffering of others. The

service, kicking off Holy Week events leading to Easter, usually attracts

tens of thousands of people to a St. Peter's Square bedecked with olive and

palm trees. The service normally includes a long procession of cardinals,

priests and faithful carrying palm fronds.

This time, it was held from a secondary altar behind the main one Francis

normally uses and attended by only about two dozen people.

BOAT WITH 202 SUSPECTED ROHINGYAS INTERCEPTED

Malaysian authorities said on Sunday they had intercepted a boat ferrying a

group of 202 persons believed to be ethnic Rohingya.

Malaysia, which does not recognise refugee status, is a favoured destination

for ethnic Rohingya fleeing a military-led crackdown in Myanmar and squalid

conditions at refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The boat was found adrift around one nautical mile from a luxury beachside

resort on the holiday island of Langkawi, off the west coast of the

Malaysian peninsula, the Malaysian maritime enforcement agency said.

The group included 152 men, 45 women and 5 children. All 202 have been

detained at the coastguard's Kedah state headquarters. The group will be

handed over to immigration authorities for attempting to enter the country

illegally, the coastguard said.

The agency said it would also investigate complaints from the migrants about

three alleged members of a migrant smuggling

syndicate who escaped from the boat while out at sea.

FORMER LIBYA PRIME MINISTER MAHMOUD JIBRIL DIES FROM CORONAVIRUS

Mahmoud Jibril, the former head of the Libyan rebel government that

overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has died from the

coronavirus, his party said.

Jibril, 68, died on Sunday in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two

weeks, said Khaled al-Mrimi, secretary of the National Forces Alliance,

founded by Jibril in 2012.

He had been admitted to the Ganzouri Specialized Hospital in Cairo on March

21 after suffering from cardiac arrest and three days later tested positive

for coronavirus, hospital director Hisham Wagdy said.

"He started ... recovering the day before yesterday but then he began

deteriorating again," Wagdy told the AFP news agency, confirming that Jibril

died at 2pm local time.

He was an economic advisor to the Gaddafi government in its final years,

before joining the revolution in 2011.