TRUMP IMMIGRATION BAN TO LAST 60 DAYS, TARGET THOSE SEEKING PERMANENT

RESIDENCY

President Donald Trump said on April 21 his new U.S. immigration ban would

last for 60 days and apply to those seeking "green cards" for permanent

residency in an effort to protect Americans seeking to regain jobs lost

because of the coronavirus.

Mr. Trump plans to institute the ban through an executive order, which he

said he was likely to sign on April 22. He said it would not apply to

individuals entering the United States on a temporary basis and would be

re-evaluated once the 60-day period had passed.

"It would be wrong and unjust for Americans laid off by the virus to be

replaced with new immigrant labour flown in from abroad. We must first take

care of the American worker," Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House.

He said there would be some exemptions in the order and he could renew it

for another 60 days or even longer.

The order could spark legal action.

A senior administration official said the administration was looking at a

separate action to cover others affected by U.S. immigration policy,

including those on so-called H-1B visas.

The order would include exemptions for people involved in responding to the

coronavirus outbreak, including farm workers and those helping to secure

U.S. food supplies, he said.

The official said as the country begins to open up its economy, immigration

flows were expected to increase, and the administration wanted to ensure

that employers hire back fired workers rather than giving jobs to immigrants

at lower wages.

Mr. Trump confirmed that a secondary order was under consideration for a

separate time.

'WOULD LIKE TO SEE HIM BE WELL': TRUMP ON KIM JONG UN'S HEALTH

U.S. President Donald Trump wished North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "well"

amid reports of him undergoing a serious surgery.

Mr. Trump, however, did not confirm or deny news reports that the North

Korean leader was ailing and that his health was in grave danger.

"Well, these are reports that came out, and we don't know. I've had a very

good relationship with him. I wish him well because if he is in the kind of

condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, that's a very

serious condition, as you know, Mr.Trump told reporters during his daily

White House news conference on Coronavirus .

CNN on Monday said that the U.S. is monitoring intelligence that suggests

North Korea's leader is in grave danger after undergoing a surgery.

I've said it and I've said it many times, if somebody else were in this

position, we would've been right now at war with North Korea and we're not

at war and we're nowhere close to war with North Korea," Mr. Trump said.

"I just have to say to Kim Jong-un I wish him very good luck... I mean, they

came out with very, very serious medical reports. Nobody's confirmed that.

It's was CNN that came out, so when CNN comes out with a report I don't

place too much credence in it," the U.S. President added.

SINGAPORE LOCKDOWNS TILL JUNE 1; DENMARK OPENS

The city-state of Singapore, having seen a spike in cases in the past two

days, has extended its lockdown till June 1. This is the first time any

country has officially extended its lockdown into June. Singapore's lockdown

was supposed to end on May 3.

Singapore reported 1,111 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, bringing its

total of infections to 9,125, after a record daily jump of 1,426 on Monday.

Experts say the surge is due largely to local officials underestimating the

vulnerability of the city's migrant workers, who live in cramped dormitories

with up to 20 people in a room.

Meanwhile, Denmark has started to ease lockdown restrictions, children are

going back to school and people are getting their hair cut professionally.

On Monday, the nation said it would allow gatherings of up to 500 people

from May 10, and also rigorously test anyone who comes forward with

coronavirus symptoms.

WHO STANDS BY CHINA IN CORONAVIRUS ORIGIN ROW

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that all available

evidence suggests the coronavirus originated in animals in China late last

year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory.

US President Donald Trump said last week that his government was trying to

determine whether the virus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, where the

coronavirus emerged in December.

"All available evidence suggests the virus has an animal origin and is not

manipulated or constructed in a lab or somewhere else," WHO spokeswoman

Fadela Chaib told a Geneva news briefing. "It is probable, likely, that the

virus is of animal origin."

It was not clear, Chaib added, how the virus had jumped the species barrier

to humans but there had "certainly" been an intermediate animal host. "It

most likely has its ecological reservoir in bats but how the virus came from

bats to humans is still to be seen and discovered."

U.S. SENATE APPROVES NEARLY $500 BILLION MORE FOR CORONAVIRUS BAILOUT

The U.S. Senate on April 21 unanimously approved $484 billion in additional

coronavirus relief for the U.S. economy and hospitals treating people

sickened by the pandemic, sending the measure to the House of

Representatives for final passage later this week.

The bill, approved by the Senate on a voice vote in a near-empty chamber,

was hurried along shortly after congressional leaders and the White House

brokered an agreement.

The House is expected to vote on April 23 on what would be the fourth

coronavirus-response law. Taken together, the four measures amount to about

$3 trillion in aid since last month to confront a crisis that has killed

more than 43,000 Americans.

President Donald Trump urged Congress to give quick approval to the measure,

which mainly expands funding for loans to small businesses hobbled by the

pandemic, leaving additional aid to state and local governments for a later

bill.

The deal includes $321 billion for a small business lending programme, $60

billion for a separate emergency disaster loan programme - also for small

businesses, as well as $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for

national coronavirus testing.

TRUMP AGREES TO HELP NEW YORK DOUBLE CORONAVIRUS TESTING: GOVERNOR

US President Donald Trump agreed to have the federal government help procure

chemical reagents and other supplies needed for New York to double its

testing capacity for the novel coronavirus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

said on Tuesday.

Cuomo, speaking at a briefing after meeting with Trump in Washington earlier

in the day, also said the president indicated he would work to get federal

funding to states in the next financial aid legislation to be passed by

Congress.

With coronavirus-related hospitalizations trending lower in New York, Cuomo

has in the past few days turned his attention to the challenge of widespread

testing, which he has said would be critical to getting New Yorkers back to

work.

Cuomo said Trump had agreed in their White House meeting to have the federal

government take charge of securing materials that the manufacturers who

supply New York's state labs have struggled to procure from overseas.

The governor added that it was up to his state to help the labs boost their

testing capacity and to organize the workforce needed to take more samples

from the population.

"That is an intelligent division of labor," Cuomo told the briefing. "Let

each level of government do what it does best."

Cuomo said New York would aim to double the number of people it tests each

day - including diagnostic and antibody tests - to 40,000. He characterized

it as "an enormous undertaking" that would take several weeks, without being

specific on timing.

CORONAVIRUS | CHINA SEEKS TO EASE TRAVEL CURBS TO STABILISE ECONOMY

China has reached an agreement with South Korea to set up a "fast track"

procedure for business people to travel between the countries as Beijing

looks to ease an entry ban on foreigners imposed to curb the spread of the

COVID-19.

With the deadly disease spreading globally, China last month blocked almost

all foreigners from entering as authorities fretted over cases being

imported from abroad.

Beijing is also in talks with other countries, including Singapore, to set

up a similar channel to stabilise economic cooperation and ensure supply

chains run smoothly, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press

briefing Tuesday.

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), first discovered in the central Chinese

city of Wuhan in December, has since spread like wildfire and killed more

than 1,67,000 people worldwide with cases reported in over 190 countries.

But there are signs that China is looking to relax some of its controls as

the measures used to curb the pandemic place a huge economic strain on

nations worldwide.

"China is in talks with relevant countries to set up fast-track channels

allowing... business and technical personnel to travel," Mr. Geng told

reporters on Tuesday.

China and Singapore have also discussed personnel exchanges via video

conference, he said. Mr. Geng, however, declined to elaborate on which other

countries authorities were negotiating with.

SRI LANKA EC ANNOUNCES POLLS ON JUNE 20; OPPOSITION VOICES CONCERN

Sri Lanka's Election Commission has set the country's parliamentary election

for June 20, after it postponed the April 25 polls in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic.

Sri Lanka has reported 309 coronavirus cases and seven deaths so far. A

total of 33 infections were detected on Monday, the highest number to be

recorded on a single day, prompting authorities to move 1,010 people from a

working class neighbourhood in Colombo to quarantine.

"We are controlling the spread of the virus and increasing testing rates

too. But it's difficult for anybody to say when the pandemic will end," Dr.

Anil Jasinghe, Director General of Public Health, told The Hindu on Tuesday.

According to him, Sri Lanka conducted 695 tests on Monday. "We want to

increase it to 1,000 a day soon."

The Election Commission's announcement came two days after Prime Minister

Mahinda Rajapaksa said in a statement that the Commission was "mandatorily

required" to fix a new date for the polls. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's

secretary too wrote to the Commission on April 9, emphasising citizens'

right to franchise, and the Commission's "responsibility" to fix the date

for the election.

QUEEN MARKS LOW-KEY 94TH BIRTHDAY AMID CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday marked her 94th birthday privately

at Windsor Castle after she had cancelled all forms of public celebration

amid the coronavirus lockdown.

eleased special images and videos on social media to reflect the milestones

of the monarch's reign and also of her as a young Princess Elizabeth playing

in the palace gardens to celebrate the occasion.

Head of the Commonwealth, Head of the Armed Forces, Head of State in 16

countries and the longest reigning Monarch in British History. Wife, mother,

grandmother and great-grandmother. Happy birthday, Your Majesty, read the

Buckingham Palace birthday message.

The Queen is with her husband of 72 years, the Duke of Edinburgh, at Windsor

Castle in Berkshire with a reduced household staff for their protection.

The rest of the royal family are in lockdown in different parts of the U.K.,

including grandson Prince Harry who is in the U.S.