ISRAELI PM PRESENTS NEW UNITY GOVT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new unity government

to parliament on Sunday, ending more than a year of political deadlock but

still facing a trial starting in a week for alleged corruption.

His power-sharing agreement with former election rival, centrist Blue and

White leader Benny Gantz, opens the way for the right-wing Netanyahu to

proceed towards a pledged de facto annexation of parts of the occupied West

Bank, land Palestinians seek for a state.

Under his accord with Gantz, after three inconclusive elections, Netanyahu

will remain Prime Minister for 18 months before handing over to his new

partner.

Gantz, a former armed forces chief, will be Netanyahu's Defence Minister and

"alternate Prime Minister", a new position that Netanyahu will hold when

Gantz is in charge. By assuming that "alternate" premiership once he hands

over to Gantz, Netanyahu hopes to avoid having to resign from the government

under legal rules that allow a Prime Minister to remain in office even if

charged with a crime.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, first came to power in 1996.

LOCKDOWNS EASE FURTHER ACROSS EUROPE

Italy and Spain are among a number of European countries that are set to

further ease their coronavirus lockdown restrictions from Monday.

Most businesses in Italy, including bars and hairdressers, will be free to

reopen after more than two months of nationwide lockdown measures.

Spain is set to relax its restrictions outside of Madrid and Barcelona, with

groups of up to 10 people free to meet.

The measures follow consistent drops in the number of daily recorded deaths.

On Sunday, Italy recorded the fewest daily deaths since it entered lockdown

in March.

It said 145 people had died with the virus in the previous 24 hours. This

marked a significant drop from its highest daily death toll, which was more

than 900 on 27 March.

In Spain, the daily death toll fell below 100 for the first time since it

imposed its lockdown restrictions.

Restaurants, bars, cafes, hairdressers and shops will be allowed to reopen

in Italy providing social distancing is enforced.

Catholic churches are preparing for the resumption of Mass, but there will

be strict social distancing and worshippers must wear face masks. Other

faiths will also be allowed to hold religious services.

In Madrid and Barcelona, along with parts of the north-west, the majority of

restrictions will remain in place, but some small shops will be allowed to

reopen.

Elsewhere in Europe, Belgium is to begin reopening primary and secondary

schools under strict conditions on Monday.

Portugal, Greece, Denmark and Ireland are among a number of countries which

are also set to relax their lockdown measures.

AFGHAN PRESIDENT AND RIVAL SIGN POWER SHARING DEAL AFTER MONTHS OF FEUDING

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a

power-sharing deal to end a months-long political stalemate, Ghani's

spokesman said on Sunday, a step that could smooth efforts to end the

country's long-running war.

"Today is a historic day for our dear Afghanistan. Afghans have proven that

they are committed to their national interests with common thinking," Ghani

said during the signing ceremony.

"In the coming days, we hope that with unity and cooperation, we will be

able to provide the ground for a ceasefire and lasting peace," he added.

Discussions over the final sticking points including the allocation of some

key posts had been underway throughout the day, three sources said.

It was not immediately clear which ministries each camp controlled after the

agreement was struck.

Pompeo welcomed the agreement but chided Ghani and Abdullah for taking so

long. He said the United States looked forward to prompt intra-Afghan talks

and a political settlement.

"Secretary Pompeo noted that he regretted the time lost during the political

impasse," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also welcomed the deal and called on

the Taliban to reduce violence and for all sides to work towards peace.

CHINESE ENVOY TO ISRAEL FOUND DEAD AT HOME

China's ambassador to Israel was found dead in his residence on Sunday and

initial indications were that he had died of natural causes, an Israeli

official said.

Du Wei (57) became ambassador to Israel in February, as per the embassy's

website. "Police are investigating this as death by natural causes," an

Israeli official said. A police spokesperson confirmed the ambassador's

death at the residence in coastal Herzliya, adding only that police were at

the scene "as part of the regular procedure".

He is survived by a wife and son, both of whom were not in Israel.

CHINA ALLOWED PEOPLE TO TRAVEL OUTSIDE DESPITE KNOWING THE RISK OF COVID-19

TRANSMISSION: MIKE POMPEO

The Chinese leadership allowed its people to travel outside the country

despite knowing the risk of the transmission of the coronavirus, US

secretary of state Mike Pompeo has alleged, saying that President Donald

Trump will decide on the future course of action on penalising China.

The US has expressed disappointment over China's handling of the Covid-19

pandemic which has claimed over 88,000 lives in America. President Trump on

Thursday threatened to "cut off the whole relationship" with China.

Trump has been pressing China to agree for an inquiry into the origin of the

virus, including the allegation that it emerged from a lab in Wuhan.

"Those are the kinds of decisions that, as you stare at them, it is

unambiguous that they created increased risk, that people were still

travelling around the world - why? While the Chinese Communist Party knew of

the risk of transmission, it was still allowing people to travel outside of

China while they had locked down a major city inside of their own country,"

Peompeo told Breitbart News Network and satellite radio station SiriusXM

Patriot in an interview.

VACCINES WON'T COME SOON: EUROPEAN LEDERS

In separate, stark warnings, two major European leaders have bluntly told

their citizens that the world needs to adapt to live with the coronavirus

and cannot wait to be saved by the development of a vaccine.

The comments by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and British Prime

Minister Boris Johnson came as both nations around the world and the US

states are struggling with the increasing need to reactivate economies

blindsided by the pandemic.

SPACE PLANE: MYSTERIOUS US MILITARY AIRCRAFT LAUNCHES

The US Air Force has successfully launched its Atlas V rocket, carrying a

X-37B space plane for a secretive mission.

The rocket launched on Sunday from Cape Canaveral, a day after bad weather

halted plans for a Saturday launch.

The aircraft, also known as an Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), will deploy a

satellite into orbit and also test power-beaming technology.

It is the plane's sixth mission in space.

The launch was dedicated to front line workers and those affected by the

pandemic. A message including the words "America Strong" was written on the

rocket's payload fairing.

X-37B is a classified programme and very little is known about it. The

Pentagon has revealed very few details about the drone's missions and

capabilities in the past.

"This X-37B mission will host more experiments than any other prior

missions," Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said earlier this

month.

One of the experiments will test the effect of radiation on seeds and other

materials.

The length of this mission is currently unclear.

POSSIBLE RARE CORONAVIRUS SIGNS INCLUDE 'COVID TOES', OTHER RASHES

Skin doctors suddenly are looking at a lot of toes - whether by emailed

picture or video visit - as concern grows that for some people, a sign of

COVID-19 may pop up in an unusual spot.

Boston dermatologist Esther Freeman expected to see skin complaints as the

pandemic unfolded - various kinds of rashes occur when people get very ill

from other viruses.

"But I was not anticipating those would be toes," said Freeman of

Massachusetts General Hospital, who has viewed via telemedicine more toes in

the last several weeks than in her entire career.

They're being called "COVID toes," red, sore and sometimes itchy swellings

on toes that look like chilblains, something doctors normally see on the

feet and hands of people who've spent a long time outdoors in the cold.

The most common coronavirus symptoms are fever, a dry cough and shortness of

breath -- and some people are contagious despite never experiencing

symptoms. But as this bewildering virus continues to spread, less common

symptoms are being reported including loss of smell, vomiting and diarrhea,

and increasingly, a variety of skin problems.

"The public health message is not to panic," Freeman said, noting that most

toe patients she's seen haven't become severely ill.

LOCKDOWN FATIGUE SPREADS QUICKER THAN THE CORONAVIRUS IN AFRICA

Two months after most African nations closed their borders and imposed

lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus, they're deciding it's

not worth the economic cost.

Countries began shutting their economies soon after the first case was

detected in Nigeria in February and before the disease started to take hold

on the continent. That helped keep Africa's reported case count well below

80,000 out of a population of some 1.2 billion people. But as the pandemic

risks dragging them into the worst economic recession on record, governments

from Ghana in the west to Rwanda in the east have started to ease

restrictions.

Faced with an impossible dilemma -- starvation and deepening poverty or a

wider outbreak -- many leaders are opting to save people's livelihoods.

"Africa is now victim of its success," said Nana Poku, a political economist

and vice chancellor of the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

"Thanks to a strong public-health response, we have kept the number of

infections and deaths relatively low. Compared to those numbers, the

economic cost of Covid-19 in terms of lost output and increased poverty

seems very large."

"We can't stop economic activity in our country, our social lives, our

children's education, so we need to do something that will enable us to live

our normal lives," Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said May 14. "We

should begin to accept the fact that the disease will be with us for a

while."