CORONAVIRUS | WHO WARNS OF NEW LOCKDOWNS IF TRANSITION NOT MANAGED CAREFULLY

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday warned of the

risks of returning to lockdown if countries emerging from pandemic

restrictions do not manage transitions “extremely carefully and in a phased

approach”.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus listed a series of steps needed

before countries lift measures designed to control the spread of the

COVID-19 respiratory disease, such as surveillance controls and health

system preparedness.

“The risk of returning to lockdown remains very real if countries do not

manage the transition extremely carefully and in a phased approach,” he said

at a virtual briefing in Geneva.

He also said that it was not possible to return to business as usual when

the pandemic eventually ebbs, stressing the need for investment in health

systems.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will eventually recede but there can be no going back

to business as usual,” he said.

U.S. DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN ALLEGED VENEZUELA INVASION ATTEMPT AS DETAILS

REMAIN MURKY

Authorities in Venezuela have recently detained two US citizens for what

they are calling an attempt to topple President Nicolás MaduroÂ’s

government.

A US military veteran has admitted that the men work for him, and has

claimed responsibility for a failed armed incursion into the country.

During a state television address, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro said

that the authorities had arrested 13 “terrorists” involved in the plot,

which he claimed was coordinated with the US to enter the South American

country through the Caribbean coast to oust him. During his televised

address, Maduro showed the US passports and other identification documents

of the two detained US citizens, identified as Airan Berry and Luke Denman,

who he claims were working with Jordan Goudreau, a US military veteran who

runs a Florida-based security firm called Silvercorp USA. Goudreau has

admitted the men work for him.

US president Donald Trump has denied any involvement of the US government.

During a White House press briefing on May 5, Trump said, “I just got

information. Nothing to do with our government, but I just got information

on that.”

Venezuela is currently under the authoritarian rule of President Maduro, who

belongs to the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and took his position in

2013 after the death of former president Hugo Chávez. After completing his

first term, Maduro began his second term in January 2019, which is seen by

many Venezuelans and members of the international community as illegitimate.

WILL REPORT IN A WEEK OR TWO: TRUMP ON CHINA FULFILLING TRADE DEAL

OBLIGATIONS

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he will report in a week or two

about the level at which China is adhering to the bilateral trade deal that

was signed in January.

“I will be able to report on that at the end of next week,” he told

reporters at the White House, when asked if China is fulfilling its

obligations as detailed out in Phase I of the trade deal signed between the

two countries in January.

“They are buying a lot of farm product but are they buying to the level that

they were supposed to? You know they were going to buy $50 billion worth.

The most they ever did was $15 billion and now they are going to $50

billion..., anywhere between $40 and 50 billion in terms of farm. But (the

total is) $250 billion overall. That is something that never happened,” he

said.

“No president has ever even talked about anything like that. It is about

time. I will be able to report in about a week or two as to -- not only with

the farmers but with many other industries also,” the president said.

Trump refrained from answering a question on imposing tariff on China as a

punishment for the spread of coronavirus.

“I do not want to talk about that now. We are in the midst of some very big

thing, so I just do not want to talk about that now,” he said.

DONALD TRUMP CALLS COVID-19 CRISIS ‘WORSE THAN PEARL HARBOR OR 9/11 ATTACKS’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that fallout from the novel

coronavirus pandemic has hit the United States harder than Pearl Harbor in

World War II or the 9/11 attacks.

“This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This is worse than the World Trade Center.

And it should have never happened,” he told reporters at the White House.

POMPEO HAS NO EVIDENCE ABOUT VIRUS LAB LEAK: CHINA

China hit back Wednesday at U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over his

claims that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory in Wuhan, saying he “doesn’t

have any” evidence.

Washington and Beijing have clashed repeatedly over the virus, which emerged

in China late last year but has since spiralled into a global pandemic.

Theories that the virus came from a maximum-security virology lab in Wuhan

have swirled since earlier this year, but were brought into the mainstream

last month by U.S. government officials.

Mr. Pompeo said on Sunday that there was “enormous evidence” to show that

the new coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab.

“I think this matter should be handed to scientists and medical

professionals, and not politicians who lie for their own domestic political

ends,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

“Mr. Pompeo repeatedly spoke up but he cannot present any evidence. How can

he? Because he doesn’t have any.”

Beijing has accused the U.S. of trying to divert attention from its domestic

handling of the outbreak.

“We urge the US to stop... shifting the focus to China,” Ms. Hua said.

TRUMP SAYS CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE TO SHIFT FOCUS, DRAWING PELOSI CRITICISM

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday his coronavirus task force would

shift its focus to reviving U.S. business and social life, prompting the top

Democrat in Congress to warn that ignoring science and the need for more

testing would put Americans at risk.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Trump said that because of its success,

“the Task Force will continue on indefinitely with its focus on SAFETY &

OPENING UP OUR COUNTRY AGAIN. We may add or subtract people to it, as

appropriate.”

He added: “The Task Force will also be very focused on Vaccines &

Therapeutics.”

The task force to date has included medical professionals focused on

battling the pandemic, some of whom have at times offered guidance at odds

with Trump's, including on when to ease stay-at-home orders and lockdowns on

the economy.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she did not believe the

Republican Trump should pivot to reopening at the expense of emphasizing the

need for more testing.

“If you undermine science, if you underfund testing, if you exaggerate the

opportunity that is out there for the economy at the risk of people dying,

that's not a plan,” Ms. Pelosi said.

“Death is not an economic motivator, stimulus. So why are we going down that

path?”

ITALIAN FIRM CLAIMS TO HAVE MADE A VACCINE TO CONTAIN CORONAVIRUS

Italian researchers have claimed that they have successfully developed a

vaccine to contain the coronavirus, which is likely to work on humans,

Italian news agency ANSA has reported.

Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis, the firm that claims to have developed the

vaccine, said that a coronavirus candidate vaccine has neutralised the virus

in human cells for the first time, according to the news report.

The researchers experimented with the vaccine on mice that successfully

developed antibodies that blocked the virus from infecting the cells. The

tests were reportedly carried out at Spallanzani Hospital in Rome.

“This is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created

in Italy. Human tests are expected after this summer,” Aurisicchio was

quoted as saying by ANSA.

The researchers observed that five vaccine candidates generated a large

number of antibodies, after which two were selected. The vaccine candidates

being developed are based on the genetic material of DNA protein “spikes”,

the molecular tips used by the coronavirus to enter human cells.

The researchers believe that this makes their vaccine particularly effective

for generating functional antibodies against the “spike” protein. “To reach

our goal, we need the support of national and international institutions and

partners who may help us speed up the process,” the Takis CEO said.

TRUMP CALLS OUSTED HEALTH OFFICIAL A ‘DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEE’

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday an ousted health official who

filed a whistleblowerÂ’s complaint accusing the administration of retaliating

when he voiced concerns about the coronavirus in January seemed to be a

disgruntled person who wants to help Democrats.

The Republican president told reporters at the White House that he did not

hear good things about Rick Bright, who was ousted last month from his job

as the director of a U.S. agency responsible for developing drugs to fight

the coronavirus outbreak.

“I don’t know who he is. I did not hear good things about him at all,” Mr.

Trump said. “And to me he seems like a disgruntled employee that’s trying to

help the Democrats win an election.”

Mr. Bright had been director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and

Development Authority, or BARDA, since 2016.

REPORT ALLEGES COVER-UP BY IRAN ON COVID-19 OUTBREAK

A UK-based Iranian TV channel has claimed to have obtained a leaked report

from the World Health Organization (WHO) detailing how Covid-19 was present

in Iran weeks before the government gave an official announcement on the

outbreak.

Iran International, which airs Persian programmes, claimed that the WHO

report said the government withheld information on the virus, risking the

safety of its citizens and international travellers. Iran confirmed its

first two cases of Covid-19 in the city of Qom on February 19.

“The investigation by the WHO concluded that the virus was most likely

circulating in Qom for several weeks before the official announcement by the

government,” Iran International said in a press release.

FACEBOOK NAMES FIRST MEMBERS OF OVERSIGHT BOARD THAT CAN OVERRULE ZUCKERBERG

Facebook IncÂ’s new content oversight board will include a former prime

minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and several constitutional law

experts and rights advocates among its first 20 members, the company

announced on Wednesday.

The independent board, which some have dubbed Facebook’s “Supreme Court,”

will be able to overturn Chief Executive Mark ZuckerbergÂ’s decisions on

whether individual pieces of content should be allowed on Facebook and

Instagram.

Facebook has long faced criticism for a catalog of high-profile content

moderation issues. They range from temporarily removing a famous Vietnam-era

war photo of a naked girl fleeing a napalm attack, to failing to combat hate

speech targeting the Rohingya in Myanmar and other Muslims.

The oversight board will focus on a small slice of challenging content

issues including hate speech and harassment and peopleÂ’s safety.

Facebook said the boardÂ’s members have lived in 27 countries and speak at

least 29 languages, though a quarter of the group and two of the four

co-chairs are from the United States, where the company is headquartered.

Nick Clegg, FacebookÂ’s head of global affairs, told Reuters in a Skype

interview the boardÂ’s composition was important but that its credibility

would be earned over time.

The board will start work immediately and Mr. Clegg said it would begin

hearing cases this summer.