TOP UPDATES FROM UKRAINE

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the town of Bucha on Monday, speaking with residents and accusing Russia of genocide. He claimed that 300 civilians there had been "killed and tortured" and vowed to bring to justice any Russian soldiers who participated in the atrocities. Zelensky has accused Russia of attempting to cover up evidence of war crimes committed by its troops in occupied areas. International journalists over the weekend found corpses in civilian clothes, some with their hands bound, in the town of Bucha outside Ukraine’s capital after Kyiv’s forces retook it from Russia’s Army. The scale of the killings is still being pieced together. "They are already launching a false campaign to conceal their guilt in the mass killings of civilians in Mariupol. They will do dozens of stage interviews, re-edited recordings, and will kill people specifically to make it look like they were killed by someone else."  On Sunday, Ukrainian prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said 410 civilian bodies had been recovered in the wider Kyiv region after Russian troops pulled back. Ukraine and Western leaders have erupted in outrage over the deaths in Bucha.

- Zelensky, who will address an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, accused Vladimir Putin's regime of mounting a "propaganda" operation to cast doubt over reports that Ukrainian civilians have been murdered by his forces.

- U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday called for a war crimes trial over the alleged atrocities against civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, and said he wants more sanctions imposed on Russia. Calling President Vladimir Putin “a war criminal” and the killings “a war crime,” Mr. Biden told reporters there should be “a war crimes trial.” Mr. Biden has called Mr. Putin a war criminal in the past, provoking an angry response from the Kremlin. “You may remember I got criticised,” he said. “Well the truth of the matter is, you saw what happened in Bucha... This guy is brutal and what’s happening to Bucha is outrageous and everyone’s seen it.” Mr. Putin “is a war criminal,” he said — but he added that “we have to gather all the details” to be able to have a trial.

- International condemnation - UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss pledged a "a tough new wave of sanctions" on Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was ready to send investigators to document atrocities. Germany expelled 40 Russian envoys but rejected an embargo on energy imports from the country.

- The United States plans to seek a suspension of Russia from its seat on the U.N.’s top human rights body amid increasing signs that Russian forces may have committed war crimes in Ukraine, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield made the call for Russia to be stripped of its seat in the Human Rights Council in the wake of reports over the weekend about violence against civilians in the town of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, after Russian forces pulled out.

- Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky lambasted the former leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, in a video address released late on Sunday, seemingly blaming them for the deaths of Ukrainian civilians. “I invite Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha, to see what the policy of 14 years of concessions to Russia has led to,” Zelensky said, referring to the Kyiv suburb where images surfaced of bodies lying in the streets after Russian forces withdrew. Later, he insisted that he did not blame the West or anyone else except the Russians. “But we have the right to talk about indecision. ”

Zelensky was speaking, he said, on the 14th anniversary of the 2008 Nato summit in Bucharest, Romania, where, after an internal debate, Nato members decided against offering a membership action plan to Georgia and Ukraine, but promised them membership at some point in the future.

PAK SC FINDS VIOLATIONS IN PROCEEDINGS OF NO-TRUST MOTION, ADJOURNS HEARING

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the plea filed by opposition challenging the dismissal of no-confidence motion against Imran Khan government and the dissolution of the national Assembly till Tuesday.

A larger bench of the Pakistan Supreme Court comprising chief justice Umar Ata Bandial along with justices Ijazul Ahsan, Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Munib Akhtar and Jamal Khan Mandokhail took the up the matter against deputy speaker Qasim Suri's decision to reject the no-confidence motion on Sunday.

During the hearing, the chief justice rejected the opposition's demand for a full-bench.

During the proceedings, Justice Ahsan noted that there were violations in the proceedings of the no-trust resolution, Dawn reported.

Justice Bandial observed that a debate before voting on the no-confidence motion had been clearly mentioned in the law but didn't take place.

Meanwhile, Justice Akhtar expressed dubiousness over the deputy speaker's constitutional authority to pass such a ruling, the paper said.

In my opinion, he said, only the speaker had the right to pass the ruling. "The deputy speaker chairs the session on the non-availability of the speaker."

The Supreme Court intervened after the Pakistan national Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri rejected the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan government. Later, President Arif Alvi dissolved the Assembly on Khan's advice.

On Monday, Imran Khan nominated former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed as the caretaker prime minister. The care-taker prime minister will be in office till the new government is formed after the general elections scheduled to be held within three months.

THREE NEW MINISTERS TAKE OATH AFTER EN MASSE RESIGNATIONS IN LANKA; CENTRAL BANK GUV QUITS

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fired his brother and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, who was earlier scheduled to leave for the US to meet with the IMF for a possible bailout package to get over the unprecedented economic crisis in the country. After the resignation of the 26 cabinet ministers on Sunday, at least three new ministers were sworn in. G L Peiris has been sworn in as foreign minister while Dinesh Gunawardena is new education minister and Johnston Fernando made the new minister of highways. The largest opposition political party, the United People's Force, or Samagi Jana Balavegaya, rejected the president's proposal of a unity government. Party leader Sajith Premadasa tweeted, “We want resignations and then we want a political model that works. A new Sri Lanka will begin with stronger institutions and not just a change in leadership. An interim government is nothing but internal party politics. ” Mano Ganesan, a Tamil leader from the opposition, said his party Tamil People’s Alliance and the main Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also on the opposition will also not join the unity government.

Sri Lankan opposition leader and MP Sajith Premadasa on Monday urged PM Narendra Modi to help their nation to the maximum possible extent.

Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal announced his resignation. Cabraal was blamed for his rigid stance on Sri Lanka seeking an economic bailout through an IMF structural adjustment facility. Despite his opposition, the government in the last fortnight approached the international lender for support. During his governorship, the Central Bank was accused of printing large volumes of money, triggering inflation. Former Central Bank official P Nandalal Weerasinghe said that he had accepted an offer from Rajapaksa to become the governor.

CHINA SENDS DOCTORS, MILITARY TO TEST 26 MN SHANGHAI RESIDENTS FOR COVID

China sent the military and thousands of healthcare workers into Shanghai to help execute COVID-19 tests for all of its 26 million residents on Monday, in one of its biggest ever public health responses.

Some residents were asked to wake up before dawn for nucleic acid testing at their housing compounds, many queuing up in their pyjamas.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Sunday dispatched more than 2,000 medical personnel recruited from across the army, navy and joint logistics support forces to Shanghai, an armed forces newspaper reported.

Multiple provinces such Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Beijing have sent healthcare workers to Shanghai, according to media reports, with some estimates putting the total number at more than 10,000.

Shanghai, which began a two-stage lockdown last Monday that has been expanded to confine practically all residents to their homes, reported 8,581 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and 425 symptomatic COVID cases for April 3. It also asked residents to self-test using antigen tests for COVID-19 on Sunday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the country to curb the momentum of the outbreak as soon as possible while sticking to the "dynamic-clearance" policy.

HONG KONG LEADER LAM TO LEAVE OFFICE

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on April 4 that she wouldn’t seek a second term after a rocky five years marked by huge protests calling for her resignation, a security crackdown that has quashed dissent and most recently a COVID-19 wave that overwhelmed the health system.

Her successor will be picked in May and the city’s security chief, John Lee, during the 2019 protests is among the possible choices.

“I will complete my five-year term as Chief Executive on the 30th of June this year and I will also call an end to my 42 years of public service,” Ms. Lam said.

99% OF WORLD’S POPULATION IS BREATHING POLLUTED AIR: WHO

A full 99% of people on Earth breathe air containing too many pollutants, the World Health Organization said on Monday, blaming poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.

Fresh data from the UN health agency showed that every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution, although the problem is much worse in poorer countries. “Almost 100% of the global population is still breathing air that exceeds the standards recommended by the World Health Organization,” the agency’s environment, climate change and health director Maria Neira told reporters. “This is a major public health issue.”

In its previous report four years ago, WHO had already found that over 90% of the global population was affected, but it has since tightened its limits, it said.

“The evidence base for the harm caused by air pollution has been growing rapidly and points to significant harm caused by even low levels of many air pollutants,” WHO said.

WHO’s study provides air quality data from more than 6,000 cities and other settlements across 117 countries — representing around 80 percent of urban settings.

The poorest air quality was found in the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, and Africa, she said. The findings were alarming, it said, and highlighted the need for rapidly curbing fossil fuel use.