SCO COMES TO CHINA'S DEFENCE, SEEKS WHO-LED ROLE TO BATTLE COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic along with terrorism against the backdrop of the two

horrific attacks on a maternity hospital and Gurdwara Har Rai Sahab, both in

Kabul, dominated the videoconferencing of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

(SCO) foreign ministers from India, Pakistan, China, Russia and four Central

Asian countries.

The SCO FMs' meeting took place days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

initiated a videoconferencing of his counterparts from India, Israel,

Brazil, South Korea, Japan and Australia where attempts were made to corner

China.

In contrast, a SCO joint declaration, also endorsed by India, strongly

called for centrality of the UN system in combating Covid and noted the need

for effective cooperation with WHO and other international bodies.

The US-led interaction on Monday saw attempts to blame China for the spread

of the disease and hiding its initial spread.

At the SCO meet, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov came to China's

defence.

"We have to state that even in the conditions of a pandemic, our American

colleagues and their allies do not abandon their attempts to escalate

confrontation, to use the current situation to impose their point of view,

which they call an order based on rules. As you know, they invent the rules

themselves," Lavrov said while dismissing the accusations against China as

"baseless".

The SCO joint declaration also noted the importance of effective cooperation

between the SCO and WHO in the fight against coronavirus infection.

U.S. ACCUSES IRAN OF DEFYING UN RESOLUTION ENDORSING NUKE DEAL

The United States accused Tehran on Wednesday of defying the U.N. resolution

endorsing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with a satellite launch last month and

also argued it is continuing to violate a U.N. arms embargo.

The U.S. Mission to the United Nations made the allegations at an informal

meeting of experts from the Security Council committee that monitors

implementation of the resolution.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have escalated since the Trump

administration withdrew from the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world

powers in 2018 and reimposed crippling U.S. sanctions. A year ago, the U.S.

sent thousands more troops, long-range bombers and an aircraft carrier to

the Middle East in response to what it called a growing threat of Iranian

attacks on U.S. interests in the region.

The meeting that the United States called on Wednesday appeared to be

another step in its campaign to pressure Iran to stop interfering in the

region and halt what the Mr. Trump and Israel believe is its pursuit of

nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies.

MIKE POMPEO MEETS NETANYAHU TO DISCUSS WEST BANK ANNEXATION

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met on Wednesday with Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel's plans to annex parts of the West

Bank, as Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian teen in a clash with

stone-throwers in the occupied territory.

Mr. Pompeo's brief visit came at a tense time, as Israeli troops searched

for the killers of a soldier killed a day earlier by a rock dropped from a

rooftop during an army raid of a West Bank village.

Standing alongside Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Netanyahu said the six-hour visit is a

"testament to the strength of our alliance." The two said their talks would

focus on shared concerns about Iran, the battle against the coronavirus and

Israel's incoming government.

Mr. Netanyahu and his new coalition partner, Blue and White party leader

Benny Gantz, postponed the swearing-in of their government until Thursday to

accommodate Mr. Pompeo's visit.

Mr. Pompeo also met with Mr. Gantz and with his fellow retired military

chief Gabi Ashkenazi, the new government's incoming Foreign Minister.

COVID-19 COULD BECOME ENDEMIC LIKE HIV, MAY NEVER GO AWAY:?WHO

The coronavirus "may never go away", the World Health Organization (WHO) has

warned.

Speaking at a briefing on Wednesday, WHO emergencies director Dr Mike Ryan

warned against trying to predict when the virus would disappear.

He added that even if a vaccine is found, controlling the virus will require

a "massive effort".

Almost 300,000 people worldwide are reported to have died with coronavirus,

and more than 4.3m cases recorded.

The UN meanwhile warned the pandemic was causing widespread distress and

mental ill health - particularly in countries where there's a lack of

investment in mental healthcare.

The UN urged governments to make mental health considerations part of their

overall response.

"It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just

another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away,"

Dr Ryan told the virtual press conference from Geneva.

"HIV has not gone away - but we have come to terms with the virus."

ANGELA MERKEL BLAMES RUSSIA FOR HACKING

German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced frustration on Wednesday that Russia

was targeting her in hacking attacks, saying she had concrete proof of the

"outrageous" spying attempts. "I can honestly say that it pains me. Every

day I try to build a better relationship with Russia and on the other hand

there is such hard evidence that Russian forces are doing this," she told

Parliament. Calling such cyberattacks "more than uncomfortable," Ms. Merkel

raised the spectre of sanctions if such activity did not stop. Germany's

intelligence service has repeatedly called out attempts by Russian hackers

to spy on lawmakers.

German media reported that among information copied by hackers in 2015 was

data from Ms. Merkel's email account. That attack also targeted the

Bundestag. Ms. Merkel said investigators into the hacking had identified a

suspect.

TRUMP: '100 TRADE DEALS' CAN'T OUTWEIGH COVID-19

In January, Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He signed a "Phase

One" trade deal. As part of the deal, China pledged to boost US imports by

$200bn above 2017 levels and strengthen intellectual property rules.

It was meant to pave the way for a more wide-ranging deal - but the chances

of a resolution to the trade dispute now seem increasingly remote.

On Twitter yesterday, Donald Trump said any benefits from the trade deal

with China were outweighed by what he called "the plague from China".

Mr Trump has also extended for another year an executive order banning US

firms from using telecoms equipment made by companies - such as Huawei -

that his administration says pose a national security risk.

BRAZIL PASSES FRANCE IN CORONAVIRUS CASES TO BECOME 6TH WORST-HIT COUNTRY

Brazil registered a record number of new cases of the novel coronavirus on

Wednesday, surpassing France's tally to become the sixth-worst hit country,

as the disease sends the economy toward its worst year since at least 1900.

The government confirmed 11,385 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its

total count to 188,974 cases of the coronavirus since the outbreak began.

Early on Wednesday, France revised its total number of confirmed and

suspected cases down 0.3% to 177,700.

The pandemic has battered Brazil's economy as residents shelter at home and

many state and local governments instructed most businesses to close to slow

the spread of the virus.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has locked horns with state governors for

weeks over the lockdowns, saying they are causing more damage through lost

jobs than the disease itself.

On Wednesday, the economy ministry predicted the Brazilian economy would

contract 4.7% in 2020, the biggest annual fall since records began more than

a century ago.

The ministry estimates every additional week of quarantine measures costs

the economy 20 billion reais ($3.40 billion).

The five countries that have registered more infections than Brazil are the

United States, Spain, Russia, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Brazil recorded 749 new deaths from coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the

overall toll to 13,149.

BANGLADESH TO EXTEND SHUTDOWN TILL MAY 30

Bangladesh is set to extend the nationwide shutdown for the seventh time as

the country on Wednesday reported an alarming rise of COVID-19 cases with

1,162 new positive cases and 19 fatalities, the highest coronavirus deaths

in a single day in the country.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given her nod to the proposed holiday

extension until May 30, Junior Minister for Public Administration Ministry

Farhad Hossain told media.

He said the official notification to extend the shutdown is likely to be

issued on Thursday, simultaneously ordering stringent enforcement of health

directives asking everyone in the Muslim-majority country to celebrate

Eid-ul-Fitr later this month staying indoors.

The holiday was set to be relaxed on May 16 but the rapid increase of the

coronavirus cases prompted Bangladesh to revise the decision and extend the

shutdown for the seventh time.

Bangladesh first declared a nationwide holiday from March 26 to April 4

while the country confirmed the first coronavirus death on March 18, ten

days after the detection of the first three COVID-19 cases.

An official expert committee, meanwhile, predicted that coronavirus cases

will increase further later this month and the situation will remain worse

until late June.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) earlier Wednesday reported

19 deaths, including 12 from Dhaka, taking the death toll to 269.

During the period 1,162 have tested positive for COVID-19...as 7,900 samples

were examined at 41 authorised laboratories across the country, additional

DGHS chief Professor Nasima Sultana said at a media briefing.

She said the new positive cases too were highest in a single day, taking the

number of COVID-19 cases to 17,822.

Around 3,361 patients have recovered so far.

PAKISTAN MARKETS SHUT OVER SOCIAL DISTANCING CONCERNS

A few days after Pakistan started to ease its lockdown, authorities in Sindh

province have sealed some markets for flouting social distancing measures.

More than 2,300 new cases within 24 hours were confirmed on Wednesday, the

newspaper Dawn reported.

This comes two days after markets were allowed to open and traffic jams were

seen across cities in Pakistan.

On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the lockdown

would be lifted in phases to give relief to its economy.

With more than 35,000 infections so far, critics have said that this could

devastate the country's fragile health system - if cases surge.