WORLD BANK TO RESCUE WITH $160-BILLION AID TO 100 NATIONS

The Covid-19 pandemic is expected to put over 60 million people into extreme

poverty globally, the World Bank has said as it announced emergency

operations worth $160 billion in 100 developing countries to fight the

deadly virus.

"The pandemic and shutdown of advanced economies could push as many as 60

million people into extreme poverty - erasing much of the recent progress

made in poverty alleviation," World Bank President David Malpass told

reporters during a conference call on Tuesday. "The World Bank Group has

moved quickly and decisively to establish emergency response operations in

100 countries, with mechanisms that allow other donors to rapidly expand the

programmes," he said.

Of the 100 countries, home to 70 per cent of the world's population, 39 are

in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly one-third of the total projects are in fragile

and conflict-affected situations, such as Afghanistan, Chad, Haiti, and

Niger. "To return to growth, our goal must be rapid, flexible responses to

tackle the health emergency, provide cash and other expandable support to

protect the poor, maintain the private sector, and strengthen economic

resilience and recovery," Malpass said.

"This represents a significant milestone in the World Bank Group's effort to

deploy $160 billion over a 15-month period. So this is a milestone in the

$160 billion that we have committed to," he said.

CHINA DESTROYED DWELL COVID-19 SAMPLES AS AN ALTERNATIVE OF SHARING THEM:

POMPEO

Mike Pompeo on Wednesday accused China of destroying live COVID-19 samples

instead of sharing them and said that America stands with over 120 nations,

including Australia, who have taken up the American call for an inquiry into

the origins of the virus.

China banned beef exports and levied 80 per cent trariffs on barley from

Australia as the country supported international call for an investigation

into the pandemic that has claimed over 324,000 lives in the world and

infected over 4.9 million people worldwide.

Pompeo said that China threatened Australia with economic retribution for

the simple act of asking for an independent inquiry into the origins of the

virus.

"That''s not right. We stand with Australia and the more than 120 nations

now who have taken up the American call for an inquiry into the origins of

the virus, we can understand what went wrong and save lives now and in the

future," Pompeo told reporters at a news conference.

"The Chinese Communist Party''s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan

have accelerated our more realistic understanding of communist China. The

party chose to destroy live virus samples instead of sharing them or asking

us to help secure them," he said.

The People''s Liberation Army has claimed more features in the South China

seas international waters, sank a Vietnamese fishing boat, threatened

Malaysian energy prospector, and declared a unilateral fishing ban.

"The United States condemns these unlawful acts," he said.

He said that China also chose to pressure the World Health Organization''s

Director General Tedros Adhanom into excluding Taiwan from this week''s

assembly in Geneva.

BORDER DISPUTES A REMINDER OF THE THREAT POSED BY CHINA: U.S. DIPLOMAT ALICE

WELLS

The U.S.'s top diplomat for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, called the

recent tensions between India and China along the Line of Actual Control

(LAC) a reminder of the "threat" posed by China. Her comments come at a time

when the U.S.-China relationship, already strained due to trade disputes,

has further deteriorated over U.S. accusations of China's mismanagement of

the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

"The flare-ups on the border I think are a reminder that Chinese aggression

is not always just rhetorical. And so whether it's on the South China Sea or

whether it's along the border with India, we continue to see provocations

and disturbing behaviour by China that raises questions about how China

seeks to use its growing power," she said during a briefing call with

reporters in response to a question on the India-China border tension.

Ms. Wells also said China's behaviour was causing other nations to group

together to reinforce the post Second World War economic order. She cited

ASEAN, the trilateral partnership between India, the U.S. and Japan as well

as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with these countries and Australia.

"What we want to see is an international system that provides benefit to

everyone. And not a system in which there is a suzerainty to China. And so I

think in this instance the border disputes are a reminder of the threat

posed by China," she said.

COMMITTED TO DEAL WITH U.S.: TALIBAN

The leader of the Taliban said on Wednesday that militants were committed to

a landmark deal with the U.S., despite being accused of carrying out

thousands of attacks in Afghanistan since it was signed.

In a rare message released ahead of the end of the Islamic holy month of

Ramzan next week, Haibatullah Akhundzada urged Washington "not to waste" the

opportunity offered by the deal to end America's longest war.

"The Islamic Emirate is committed to the agreement... and urges the other

side to honour its own commitments and not allow this critical opportunity

to go waste," Akhundzada said in a statement, using the name the Taliban

called Afghanistan when they were in power.

"I urge American officials to not afford anyone the opportunity to obstruct,

delay and ultimately derail this internationally recognised bilateral

agreement", the reclusive leader said.

Akhundzada hails from the Taliban's traditional bastion of Kandahar, and was

appointed head of the group after a U.S. drone strike killed his

predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in 2016. Mansour had succeeded Mullah

Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who founded the group.

'IRAN WILL SUPPORT ANY NATION OR GROUP THAT FIGHTS ISRAEL': KHAMENEI

Iran will support any nation or group that fights Israel, Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, ahead of this week's annual

observance of Quds (Jerusalem) Day to express support for Palestinians.

"We will support and assist any nation or any group anywhere who opposes and

fights the Zionist regime, and we do not hesitate to say this," Khamenei

said in a post on his official English-language Twitter account.

Iran, Israel's arch-enemy in the Middle East, has been a key supporter,

along with Russia, of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war,

sending military advisers as well as material and regional Shi'ite militias.

Separately, Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran's enmity toward Israel was

not the same as hostility toward Jewish people.

"The elimination of the government of Israel does not mean the elimination

of Jews. We don't have an issue with Jewish people," Khamenei said in a post

on his official Farsi-language Twitter account.

"'Elimination of Israel' means the Muslim, Christian and Jewish people of

#Palestine choose their own government themselves and push out foreigners

and thugs like [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu," the post added.

Khamenei is scheduled to speak on Friday to commemorate Quds Day.

GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES SURPASS 5 MILLION, INFECTIONS RISING IN S. AMERICA

Global coronavirus cases surpassed 5 million on Wednesday, with Latin

America overtaking the United States and Europe in the past week to report

the largest portion of new daily cases globally.

It represents a new phase in the virus' spread, which initially peaked in

China in February, before large-scale outbreaks followed in Europe and the

United States.

Latin America accounted for around a third of the 91,000 cases reported

earlier this week. Europe and the United States each accounted for just over

20%.

A large number of those new cases came from Brazil, which recently surpassed

Germany, France and the United Kingdom to become the third-largest outbreak

in the world, behind the United States and Russia.

Cases in Brazil are now rising at a daily pace second only to the United

States.

The first 41 cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Wuhan, China, on Jan. 10

and it took the world until April 1 to reach its first million cases. Since

then, about 1 million new cases are reported every two weeks, according to a

Reuters tally.

At more than 5 million cases, the virus has infected more people in under

six months than the annual total of severe flu cases, which the World Health

Organization estimates is around 3 million to 5 million globally.

The pandemic has claimed over 326,000 lives, though the true number is

thought to be higher as testing is still limited and many countries do not

include fatalities outside of hospitals. Over half of the total fatalities

have been recorded in Europe.

PROSECUTORS SEEK 35 YEARS IN JAIL FOR PARK GEUN-HYE

South Korean prosecutors demanded on Wednesday a 35-year jail term for

former President Park Geun-hye, who was ousted and later convicted over a

sprawling corruption scandal.

Park, the country's first woman President, was brought down in 2017 after

huge street protests triggered by allegations that she and a close friend

took bribes from top conglomerates for government favours. She was later

sentenced to 32 years in jail.

Park is being retried in the High Court on the bribery, abuse of power and

spy agency corruption charges after the Supreme Court ruled the bribery

accusation should have been handled separately. In closing arguments,

prosecutors said Park should be jailed for 35 years.

IRAQI INTELLIGENCE CAPTURES POTENTIAL SUCCESSOR OF AL-BAGHDADI: REPORT

Iraqi intelligence has arrested Abdulnasser al-Qirdash, the potential

successor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, former leader of the dreaded terrorist

organisation ISIS, according to multiple reports.

"Today, the terrorist named Abdulnasser al-Qirdash, the candidate to succeed

the criminal al-Baghdadi, was arrested. [The arrest] came after accurate

intelligence," the statement from the Iraqi National Intelligence Service

read, according to a report in Al-Arabiya.

The latest raid that led to the capture and arrest of al-Qirdash comes a

month after Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Iraq's former intelligence chief, became the

country's prime minister, reported the outlet.

Baghdadi was killed in the Idlib province of northwestern Syria in an

operation by the US in October last year.

The Islamic State had last year confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr

al-Baghdadi, days after US President Donald Trump said that the terrorist

blew himself up during a raid by the American military.

TOKYO ANGER OVER PARODY OLYMPICS LOGO

A parody logo meant to show a mash up of the coronavirus and the Tokyo

Olympic Games has not exactly had the effect it intended.

The image was published by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan as the

front page design for the April issue of their magazine.

But Tokyo Olympic officials are anything but amused. They've called for the

image to be taken down, saying that it was "disappointing to see the games

emblem being distorted and associated with the virus".

"The design is clearly using... the Olympic emblem. We therefore consider it

an infringement on our legally secured copyright," said Tokyo spokesman Masa

Takaya, according to an AP report.

The artist of the logo - the magazine's art director, Andrew Pothecary, told

the Asahi Shimbun the design was a parody and was meant to make a "powerful

statement about the situation in Japan".