BOLTON CLAIMS TRUMP PLEADED WITH CHINA FOR RE-ELECTION HELP

US President Donald Trump pleaded with Chinese leader Xi JinPing to help him

win a re-election and sold allies down the drain so as to not displease

Beijing, former National Security Advisor John Bolton has alleged in

explosive revelations in his upcoming book "The Room Where It Happened: A

White House Memoir." The book is set to be released Tuesday by Simon &

Schuster.

The White House worked furiously to block the book, asking a federal court

for an emergency temporary restraining order Wednesday against its release.

Bolton's allegations that Trump solicited Chinese help for his reelection

effort carried echoes of Trump's attempt to get political help from Ukraine,

which led to his impeachment.

"I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my

tenure that wasn't driven by re-election calculations," Bolton wrote.

The 577-page book paints an unvarnished portrait of Trump and his

administration, amounting to the most vivid, first-person account yet of how

Trump conducts himself in office. Several other former officials have

written books, but most have been flattering about the president. Other

former officials have indicated they were saving their accounts of their

time working for Trump until after he left office in order to speak more

candidly.

The book also includes embarrassing claims that Trump thought Finland was

part of Russia, didn't know that the United Kingdom was a nuclear power and

called reporters "scumbags" who should be "executed."

TRUMP OKs BILL TO PUNISH CHINA OVER ETHNIC CRACKDOWN

US President Donald Trump signed legislation on Wednesday calling for

sanctions over the repression of China's Uighur Muslims, as excerpts from a

book by his former national security adviser alleged he had approved of

their mass detention.

The bill, which Congress passed with only one "no" vote, was intended to

send China a strong message on human rights by mandating sanctions against

those responsible for oppression of members of China's Muslim minority.

The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been

detained in camps in the Xinjiang region. The US State Department has

accused Chinese officials of subjecting Muslims to torture, abuse "and

trying to basically erase their culture and their religion."

China denies mistreatment and says the camps provide vocational training.

One of the main exile groups, the World Uyghur Congress, thanked Trump for

signing the law, adding that it "gave hope to the desperate Uighur people".

Trump signed the bill as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held his first

face-to-face meeting since last year with China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi.

Trump issued a signing statement that some of the bill's requirements might

limit his constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy so he would regard

them as advisory, not mandatory.

The Uighur law for the first time calls for sanctions on a member of China's

powerful Politburo, Xinjiang's Communist Party secretary, Chen Quanguo, as

responsible for "gross human rights violations."

It also calls on US companies operating in Xinjiang to take steps to ensure

they do not use parts made with forced labor.

BEIJING CANCELS 1,200 FLIGHTS, SHUTS SCHOOLS OVER NEW CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK

Beijing moved on a war footing on Wednesday, cancelling hundreds of domestic

flights and trains while ramping up the mass testing of 90,000 people to

stem the spread of the coronavirus, as the city reported 31 new COVID-19

cases, pushing the tally to 137.

Two airports in Beijing have cancelled 1,255 domestic flights, nearly 70% of

the scheduled trips, the official media reported. Beijing currently does not

operate international flights.

The national railway operator will allow passengers, who had booked train

tickets in and out of Beijing as of Tuesday, to refund tickets without any

extra charges.

Starting Wednesday, Beijing halts return to campus, and resumes online

courses for middle and primary school students, as well as suspends college

students' return to campus, the reports said.

Beijing has asked libraries, museums, parks to limit visitors up to 30% of

full flow and halted cross-province group tours, the reports said.

W.H.O SAYS MORE UNDERSTANDING NEEDED ON STEROID DEXAMETHASONE

On Tuesday, when the British researchers announced their findings, the

department of health said the dexamethasone had been approved to treat all

hospitalized COVID-19 patients, effectively immediately.

The emergencies chief of the World Health Organization welcomed the news

this week that dexamethasone, a cheap steroid, was shown in a British trial

to reduce deaths among patients critically ill with the coronavirus, but

said it was too soon to change how patients are treated.

"It's one of the breakthroughs we're going to need to effectively deal with

COVID-19, but it's still preliminary data," said Dr. Michael Ryan at a press

briefing on Wednesday. "We will pull together the necessary expert group...

and come to a decision around our clinical advice to countries."

Ryan said that "this is not the time to rush to change clinical practice"

and that it was crucial to understand issues like what dose should be used

on patients, how patients would be assessed and if there were adequate

supplies of the drug.

On Tuesday, when the British researchers announced their findings, the

department of health said the dexamethasone had been approved to treat all

hospitalized COVID-19 patients, effectively immediately.

NORTH KOREA SAYS ITS SENDING SOLDIERS TO JOINT BORDER SITES

North Korea said Wednesday that it will send soldiers to now-shuttered

inter-Korean cooperation sites in its territory and reinstall guard posts

and resume military exercises at front-line areas, nullifying

tension-reducing deals reached with South Korea just two years ago.

The announcement is the latest in a series provocations North Korea has

taken in what experts believe are calculated moves to apply pressure on

Seoul and Washington amid stalled nuclear negotiations. On Tuesday, the

North destroyed an empty inter-Korean liaison office in its territory.

The North also said it will resume military exercises, reestablish guard

posts and boost military readiness in border areas as well as open

front-line sites for flying propaganda balloons toward South Korea. Those

steps would reverse agreements reached between the Koreas in September 2018

aimed at lowering military tensions along he border.

South Korea's military expressed regret over the North Korean announcement

and warned that the North will face unspecified consequences if it violates

the 2018 deals.

North Korea will likely next dismantle South Korean-built structures,

equipment and other assets at the two cooperation sites before performing

military drills and firing missiles and shells toward the sea, said Cheong

Seong-Chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in South

Korea.

Cheong said the deterioration of ties was now "unavoidable" and South Korea

might respond with the resumption of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and

joint military drills with the United States.

NEW ZEALAND MILITARY TO OVERSEE QUARANTINE FACILITIES AFTER NEW COVID-19

CASE

New Zealand on Wednesday said the defence force will now oversee the

country's quarantine facilities and strengthen border requirements, after a

slip up allowed two people with coronavirus to move around the country.

New Zealand on Tuesday lost its COVID-free status when two women who had

been given permission to leave quarantine early on compassionate grounds

after arriving from Britain tested positive for the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was appointing the Assistant Chief of

Defence, Air Commodore Digby Webb, to oversee all quarantine and to manage

isolation facilities, including the processes of exiting people from these

facilities.

She added that an audit would be done to make sure all processes in place

are followed and any changes needed can be made to further strengthen the

border facilities.

"I cannot allow the gains we have all made to be squandered by processes

that are not followed," Ms. Ardern said at a news conference in parliament.

NORWAY SAYS ITS SALMON DID NOT CAUSE VIRUS AT BEIJING MARKET

Chinese and Norwegian authorities have concluded salmon from Norway was not

the source of the coronavirus found on cutting boards at a Beijing wholesale

food market, Norway's fisheries and seafood minister said on Wednesday.

"We can clear away uncertainty," Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen told a video

conference.

Chinese and Norwegian officials had decided on Tuesday the source of the

outbreak did not originate in fish from Norway, he added.

China halted imports of European salmon after reports on Saturday that the

virus was discovered on equipment used for handling fish at Beijing's

Xinfadi market, prompting supermarkets in the Chinese capital to remove

salmon from their shelves.

Norwegian salmon producers saw orders from China cancelled over the weekend,

although Norway's Food Safety Authority said there was no evidence fish

could be infected.

Shares in Norwegian salmon farmers, which had fallen on Monday, rose on

Wednesday with market leader Mowi up 3.6% and Salmar up 2.9% at 1004 GMT.

The Norwegian Seafood Council, a state-run marketing company, told Reuters

that some shipments of salmon were being sent to major Chinese cities, with

the exception of Beijing.

One salmon exporter, who declined to be named, said that some exports went

through to China but most were still on hold.

DATA | WHERE DOES DONALD TRUMP'S LOW APPROVAL RATING RANK AMONG U.S.

PRESIDENTS IN RECENT HISTORY?

U.S. President Donald Trump's job approval rating is a mere 39%, with just

over four months remaining for the Presidential elections. The Presidential

job approval rating, based on the Gallup poll, is the percentage of

respondents who answer "approve" for the question "Do you approve or

disapprove of the way [President's name] is handling his job as President?".

1,240 days into his tenure, Mr. Trump's approval rating has not crossed the

50% mark even once, the only President to hold that particular distinction

among the last 14 Presidents for whom data was available. Moreover,

incumbent Presidents who lost their bid for a second term had approval

ratings below 40% just before the election, suggesting a correlation between

electoral success and their approval ratings.

The chart shows the average approval rating for the first 1,240 days of each

President's tenure. Donald Trump had the lowest average among the last 14

Presidents for whom data was available.

The chart shows the highest approval rating achieved by Presidents in their

first 1,240 days. Mr. Trump did not cross the 50% mark at any point in his

tenure, besides having the lowest peak approval among Presidents in this

period.

GERMANY REPORTS 657 VIRUS CASES AT SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAK

Regional officials in Germany say the number of Covid-19 cases linked to a

meatpacking plant has risen to 657.

Officials in the western region of Guetersloh said Wednesday that a total of

983 positive test results have so far been received from workers at the

Toennies slaughterhouse in Rheda-Wiedenbrueck. Of those, 326 tests were

negative.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised regional officials for swiftly

closing schools in the region.