WHO CHIEF TOUGHENS TONE ON CHINA WITH LAB PROBE CALL

The WHO's chief, long accused of complacency towards Beijing, hardened his tone Tuesday, urging further investigation into a theory Covid-19 sprang from a laboratory leak.

The director-general of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also rebuked China for sitting on key data.

The theory that the new coronavirus may have escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city where it was first detected in humans in December 2019, was a US favourite under former president Donald Trump.

China has always flatly rejected the hypothesis.

And the team of international experts sent to Wuhan by the World Health Organization earlier this year to probe the pandemic's origins have also all but ruled it out.

Their long-delayed report, written alongside the team's Chinese counterparts and published Tuesday, ranked four hypotheses in order of probability.

They said the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 disease most probably jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary animal, judging a lab leak to be an "extremely unlikely" source.

But Tedros said Tuesday the probe into Wuhan's virology labs had not gone far enough, adding that he was prepared to launch a fresh investigation.

"I do not believe that this assessment was extensive enough," he told the UN health agency's 194 member states, in a briefing on the Covid origins report.

"Further data and studies will be needed to reach more robust conclusions," he said.

"Although the team has concluded that a laboratory leak is the least likely hypothesis, this requires further investigation, potentially with additional missions involving specialist experts, which I am ready to deploy."

COVID: GERMANY LIMITS USE OF ASTRAZENECA COVID JAB FOR UNDER-60S

Germany is suspending routine use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people aged below 60 because of a risk of rare blood clots.

The German medicines regulator found 31 cases of a type of rare blood clot among the nearly 2.7 million people who had received the vaccine in Germany.

Canada earlier suspended use of the AstraZeneca jab in people under 55.

AstraZeneca said international regulators had found the benefits of its jab outweighed risks significantly.

It said it was continuing to analyse its database to understand "whether these very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia occur any more commonly than would be expected naturally in a population of millions of people".

"We will continue to work with German authorities to address any questions they may have," it added.

The EU and UK medicine regulators both backed the vaccine after previous cautionary suspensions in Europe this month.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency stressed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine continued to outweigh the risk of side effects.

'GO BIG': US PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN TO LAUNCH SWEEPING INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN

It is a mantra that Joe Biden repeats at every opportunity: "Go big."

And this week, the US leader launches the second big offensive of his fledgling presidency: a massive infrastructure investment project, to be accompanied by tax hikes that remain to be defined but already have his political opponents up in arms.

In a sign of the importance he attaches to the issue -- which could be a central plank of his presidency -- he will speak Wednesday from the city of Pittsburgh, where he launched his campaign two years ago.

His predecessor Donald Trump tried to label him "Sleepy Joe," portraying him as a man lacking inspiration, but Biden wants to show he has a bold and reformist agenda.

Having already pushed an almost $2 trillion pandemic recovery plan through Congress, the figures being bandied about for his infrastructure plan reach as high as $3 or even $4 trillion.

The aim of the huge package is to "rebuild our economy and create better-paying jobs for American workers," said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

US PRESIDENT BIDEN TO LET TRUMP’S H1-B VISA BAN EXPIRE IN WIN FOR TECH FIRMS

President Joe Biden plans to allow a pandemic-related ban on visas for certain temporary workers, enacted by former President Donald Trump, to expire Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.

The moratorium, which affected H-1B visas used by technology companies to hire foreign coders and engineers, was imposed last June. Biden is opting not to renew it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the decision hasn’t been announced. The White House declined to comment.

Biden’s decision will please business groups, which had pressured the administration to lift the ban ever since the new president took office. Executives have grown frustrated that the directive was not immediately revoked, arguing it hurt US companies.

Trump’s restrictions on guest-worker visas, which also covered non-agricultural seasonal laborers, au pairs and others, had been under review by the Biden administration.

Biden last month withdrew a related Trump executive order that stopped the issuance of new green cards, citing the pandemic -- a move that drastically cut legal immigration to the U.S. Trump had argued the policies were necessary to protect the American economy as it emerged from the pandemic-induced recession.

“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Biden said in a presidential proclamation at the time. “It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.”

EVER GIVEN: SHIP FREED AT LAST, PROBE BEGINS INTO SUEZ DRAMA

In the end, it took roughly six days and seven hours to undo the minutes of drama that exposed the vulnerability of global trade and captivated the world. It may take longer to figure out how to avoid it happening again.

At just after 3 pm local time on Monday, the Ever Given was dislodged from a sand bank in the Suez Canal by tugboats pushing and pulling to rock it loose. To cheers from the dozens of crew working on the effort to refloat it and relief among Egyptian authorities, the enormous 21st century container ship that got stuck in a waterway first opened in 1869 was free. The backlog of about 400 ships started moving that evening.

“Despite the difficult situation we’ve confronted, Egyptians stood beside their leadership and their country and endured the crises and registered their joy,” President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared at a press conference on Tuesday alongside Osama Rabie, the chief executive of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

The freed vessel was travelling north toward the Great Bitter Lake, through which the canal passes, “for an inspection of its seaworthiness,” said the Taiwan company Evergreen which operates the ship. “The outcome of that inspection will determine whether the ship can resume its scheduled service.”

There will be questions about speed, whether the Ever Given should have employed tugs and if it should have braved the journey through the wind at all. Egyptian investigators, led by a canal authority committee, will analyse recordings from the deck, including conversations among crew.

When blame gets assigned, it will likely lead to years of litigation to recoup the costs of repairing the ship, fixing the canal and reimbursing those who saw their cargo shipments disrupted. Since the vessel is owned by a Japanese firm, operated by a Taiwanese shipper, flagged in Panama and now stuck in Egypt, matters quickly become an international morass.

MYANMAR INSURGENTS SENSE GROWING CONFLICT, CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION

One of Myanmar's main ethnic minority rebel groups warned of a growing threat of major conflict on Tuesday and called for international intervention against a military crackdown on opponents of last month's coup.

While cities and towns across the country have been consumed by protests against the military, fighting has also flared between the army and insurgents in frontier regions and refugees are spilling over borders.

The Karen National Union rebel group, which operates in the east along the border with Thailand, said it was bracing for a major government offensive.

"Now, thousands of Burma military ground troops are advancing into our territories from all fronts," the group said in a statement.

"We have no other options left but to confront these serious threats posed by the illegitimate military junta's army in order to defend our territory."

The group urged the international community, Thailand in particular, to help Karen people fleeing the "onslaught" and for countries to cut ties with the junta to stop the violence against civilians.

Opponents of the coup have called for a united front with insurgent groups to help those standing up to the military.

Rebels have battled the government for decades for greater autonomy in remote border regions. The military has justified its long grip on power by saying it is the only institution capable of ensuring national unity.

Military aircraft bombed KNU fighters on the weekend, sending some 3,000 villagers fleeing to neighbouring Thailand.

Thailand denied accusations from activists that refugees were being forced back but a Thai official on the border said the army was sending most people back because it was deemed safe on the Myanmar side.

A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said it was concerned about reports people were being sent back and it was seeking information from Thailand.

Fighting has also flared in the north where ethnic Kachin insurgents battle government forces.

A border state in India withdrew an order to refuse refugees food and shelter after the measure drew fierce public criticism.

GLOBAL LEADERS CALL FOR TREATY TO COMBAT FUTURE PANDEMICS

UK PM Boris Johnson on Tuesday joined other world leaders to call for a new international treaty to help the world prepare for and fight future pandemics collectively.

In an article published across Europe, leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron said Covid-19 posed the biggest challenge since the world wars and had shown how "nobody is safe until everyone is safe".

The ‘Daily Telegraph’ article, also published in ‘Le Monde' in France and ‘El Pais' in Spain, notes that such a new global treaty similar to that reached in the wake of World War II is needed to build cross-border cooperation. In total, 24 leaders have affirmed the article, including WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

"At that time, following the devastation of two world wars, political leaders came together to forge the multilateral system,” it reads. “The aims were clear: To bring countries together, to dispel the temptations of isolationism and nationalism, and to address the challenges that could only be achieved together in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation – namely peace, prosperity, health and security.” The leaders said in the same spirit, countries must now “be better prepared to predict, prevent, detect, assess and effectively respond to pandemics in a highly coordinated fashion”.

The treaty would help to establish better systems for alerting people about potential pandemics, they said.

ITALY ORDERS 5-DAY QUARANTINE ON ENTRIES FROM EU

taly has imposed a five-day quarantine on people entering from other EU countries in a bid to deter Easter getaways and limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Health Minister Roberto Speranza says he signed the new ordinance on Tuesday. It requires a virus test before arriving in Italy, five days of quarantine once here and another virus test to get out of quarantine for anyone entering Italy from the EU.

Lobby groups, including those representing tour operators, had cheered the now-closed loophole that allowed Italians to travel to low-risk countries for pleasure.

Italy has long required quarantine for people arriving from non-EU countries, though exceptions abound, including for residents returning from short work trips and those flying on flights with tests at departure and arrival.

PAK PM IMRAN KHAN MAKES FULL RECOVERY FROM COVID-19, RESUMES WORK

Prime Minister Imran Khan has made full recovery from the coronavirus and has resumed work, it was announced on Tuesday, more than a week after he tested positive for the deadly virus.

Senator Faisal Javed Khan, who is considered close to the premier, made the announcement on Twitter.

“He has resumed work gradually and started building up his work routine as per doctors’ instructions keeping in view national and international guidelines,” the senator tweeted, adding that the public should take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.

The 68-year-old premier along with his wife Bushra Bibi tested positive for COVID-19 on March 20 and the couple remained in quarantine. It was not known if she had also recovered.

The news of Prime Minister Khan’s recovery came a day after President Arif Alvi and Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak tested positive for the deadly virus and went into quarantine. No fresh statement was officially made about their health.

NEPAL'S SCHOOLS CLOSE AS AIR POLLUTION HITS ALARMING LEVELS

Nepal has ordered schools to close for four days after air pollution climbed to hazardous levels, forcing millions of students to stay home across the country.

Nepal, with a population of 30 million people, is located in the Himalayas between China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters.

Air pollution is a chronic problem in the rapidly growing capital city of Kathmandu and an additional headache for the government that is struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the weekend, pollution levels hit their highest in the capital since the government began keeping records in 2016, government official Shankar Paudel told Reuters.

Education ministry spokesman Deepak Sharma said about eight million students have been affected by the closures.

'CAN'T BE SILENT': BIDEN ANNOUNCES ACTIONS TO RESPOND TO ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE

US President Joe Biden has announced additional actions to respond to the violence and xenophobia perpetrated against Asian Americans.

The announcements on Tuesday include reinstating and reinvigorating the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), with initial focus on anti-Asian bias and violence

"We can't be silent in the face of rising violence against Asian Americans," Biden tweeted. "That's why today I'm taking additional steps to respond-including establishing an initiative at the Department of Justice to address anti-Asian crimes. These attacks are wrong, un-American, and must stop."

The announcement also include allocation of USD 49.5 million from the American Rescue Plan to a new grant programme for community-based, culturally-specific services and programmes for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault who face additional barriers, such as language access barriers, to services and safety.

Biden, who during his prime time address had said anti-Asian violence and xenophobia was wrong and must stop, also announced to set up a Covid-19 Equity Task Force committee on addressing and ending xenophobia against Asian Americans and establishment of a Department of Justice cross-agency initiative to address anti-Asian violence.

"A harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us," Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted.

The president and "I will not be silent which is why our administration is taking steps to address the rise in violence against the Asian American community, including an initiative to combat anti-Asian violence," Harris said.