Headline News

10, April 2020

Football: Barcelona deny corruption after six board members resign ⁰

Barcelona have denied what the club describes as “serious and unfounded accusations” of corruption after a former vice-president claimed someone “had put their hands in the till”.

Emili Rousaud was one of six board members to resign on Thursday night as Barca continue to be embroiled in political crisis under their current president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

All six resigning board members called for the 2021 presidential elections to be brought forward in a joint letter published on Friday by the newspaper La Vanguardia.

In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Rousaud discussed the social media controversy that rocked the club in February, when Barcelona were accused of hiring a company called I3 Ventures to discredit opponents of Bartomeu online, including players like Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.

“If the auditors tell us the cost of these services is 100,000 euros and we have paid one million, it means someone has put their hand in the till. I have no evidence and I cannot say who,” Rousaud told the programme RAC1 on Friday.

Barcelona responded with an official statement that read: “In the light of the serious and unfounded accusations made this morning by Emili Rousaud, ex-vice president of the club, in different interviews with the media, FC Barcelona categorically denies any activity that can be described as corruption and therefore reserves the right to any legal action that may correspond.”

Bartomeu terminated the club’s contract with I3 Ventures in February. He said the company had been hired only to monitor posts on social media and announced an internal audit to investigate any irregularity.

“The analysis of the monitoring services of social networks is being subjected to an independent audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which is still ongoing and, therefore, without any conclusions,” Barcelona’s statement added.

Rousaud had been appointed as a club vice-president in January and was seen as a leading candidate to succeed Bartomeu, who cannot stand again when the presidential elections come round next year.

Instead, Rousaud has quit, citing frustrations with the club’s management, along with fellow vice-president Enrique Tombas, as well as directors Silvio Elias, Josep Pont, Jordi Calsamiglia and Maria Teixidor.

Bartomeu has overseen a string of political spats in recent months being played out in public, with Messi also involved.

Messi reacted angrily in January to Eric Abidal, the club’s technical secretary, suggesting the players were to blame for the sacking of Ernesto Valverde and last month, the Argentinian criticised the club’s handling of negotiations with the squad over pay cuts.

Those remaining swiftly addressed the resignations from the board. “The resignations of the members of the board of directors announced over the last few hours have come about due to a reorganisation of the board put forward by president Josep Maria Bartomeu and which will be completed in the next few days,” the statement added.

Source: AFP

10, April 2020

Facebook unveils information centres in Cameroon, Nigeria, 15 others ⁰

Social media platform, Facebook is expanding its Coronavirus Information Centre to 17 more countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria.

The others include Benin Republic; Burkina Faso; Cameroun; Cape Verde; Chad; Cote d’ Ivoire; Ethiopia and Gabon.The rest are Guinea; Kenya; Mali; Mauritania; Senegal; Seychelles; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Togo.

The centres form part of the organisation’s efforts to help the global fight against COVID-19 by providing people with the latest news from trusted health authorities as well as resources and tips to stay healthy and support the society.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Centre is featured at the top of News Feed that provides a central place for people to keep informed about the epidemic.

It includes real-time updates from national health authorities and global organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) as well as helpful articles, videos and posts about social distancing and containment of the virus.

Facebook explained yesterday that users could opt in to follow the centre to get notifications and see updates in their News Feed from official government health authorities.

According to the company’s Head of Public Policy, Africa, Kojo Boakye, “we have built the information centres, in collaboration with national health partners, to ensure that people can get access to information from trusted health sources.”

Source: The Guardian

10, April 2020

UK: Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves ICU, receiving ‘close monitoring’ ⁰

Prime Minister Boris Johnson left intensive care on Thursday evening as he continues to recover from COVID-19, but he remains under close monitoring in hospital, his office said on Thursday.

Johnson, 55, was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital on Sunday evening with a persistent high temperature and cough, and was rushed to intensive care on Monday where he spent three nights receiving treatment.

“The prime minister has been moved this evening from intensive care back to the ward, where he will receive close monitoring during the early phase of his recovery,” a spokesman from his office said in an emailed statement.

“He is in extremely good spirits.”

Johnson was the first world leader to be hospitalized with the coronavirus, forcing him to hand control of the world’s fifth-largest economy to foreign minister Dominic Raab just as Britain’s outbreak approaches its most deadly peak.

Raab tweeted that the improvement in Johnson’s condition was “the news we all wanted to hear”. US President Donald Trump described it as “great news”.

Johnson’s ongoing recovery prompted a small rise in the value of sterling against the dollar GBP=.

However, the government statement did not give any details on when Johnson may be able to resume leadership, and Raab – speaking before the latest announcement – had stressed the importance of allowing the prime minister to focus on recovery.

No further updates on Johnson’s health were expected on Thursday.

Raab is deputizing for Johnson during the most stringent shutdown in Britain’s peacetime history. Earlier he told a news conference it was too early to end the lockdown because Britain had not reached the peak of the outbreak yet.

The UK death toll in hospitals from coronavirus now stands at 7,978, a rise of 881 on the day but a smaller increase than the 938 seen in Wednesday’s data.

Government spending

With Johnson absent and the death toll still mounting, the British government is wrestling with two major issues – how to finance a vast increase in state spending to support the shuttered economy, and when to start easing lockdown measures.

With the economy facing potentially the worst hit since World War Two, the government said it had expanded its overdraft facility with the Bank of England.

The central bank has agreed temporarily to finance government borrowing in response to COVID-19 if funds cannot immediately be raised from debt markets, reviving a measure last widely used during the 2008 financial crisis.

The BoE said it was a short-term measure and both it and government said any borrowing from the Ways and Means facility – effectively the government’s overdraft with the Bank – would be repaid by the end of the year.

The government has made pledges costing tens of billions of pounds to support businesses and workers hit by the virus. On Thursday, the government said an additional 1.2 million claims for welfare payments had been filed since March 16.

Raab said the peak of the virus outbreak had yet to be reached and that the government would not be able to say more about the duration of the lockdown until late next week, once experts have had chance to analyze data on how well it is working. It was introduced last month.

“The measures will have to stay in place until we’ve got the evidence that clearly shows we’ve moved beyond the peak,” he said.

While Johnson’s condition was improving, the likely length of his recovery remained unknown, with some political commentators saying there was a power vacuum in his absence.

Raab said on Thursday he had the power to make “necessary decisions” in the prime minister’s absence and that government will continue to follow the strategy set out by Johnson. He said cabinet could take decisions collectively.

The United Kingdom is entering what scientists say is the deadliest phase of the outbreak, with deaths expected to continue to rise over the Easter weekend.

But in a sign the shutdown measures were working, health officials have said the number of coronavirus infections and hospital admissions had begun to show signs of flattening.

Police said they would be taking tougher action to do just that before the four-day Easter holiday weekend because many people were continuing to ignore the ban on social gatherings.

(Source: Reuters)

10, April 2020

UN chief calls for solidarity among discordant Security Council over coronavirus crisis ⁰

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Security Council on Thursday to display unity as it met to discuss what he called the “fight of a generation” — the global coronavirus pandemic.

“A signal of unity and resolve from the Council would count for a lot at this anxious time,” Guterres told the divided body holding its first meeting about the crisis.

The meeting of the 15-member Security Council is being held behind closed doors by videoconference but the UN released a copy of the secretary general’s remarks.

“The engagement of the Security Council will be critical to mitigate the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Guterres said.

“To prevail against the pandemic today, we will need to work together,” he said. “That means heightened solidarity.

“This is the fight of a generation — and the raison d’être of the United Nations itself,” he said.

Security Council members gathered after weeks of disagreement — especially between the United States and China, where the coronavirus outbreak began in December.

Led by Germany, the meeting was requested last week by nine of the council’s 10 non-permanent members who were fed up with the body’s inaction over the unprecedented global crisis.

Though the council meeting was closed-door, several ambassadors taking part released extracts of their remarks on Twitter or to reporters.

While Germany described the pandemic as an “international peace and security issue,” several other countries, notably Russia, China and South Africa, said health matters were not part of the Security Council’s brief.

France, meanwhile, confirmed that it would provide 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to fight the virus in Africa.

Non-permanent member Estonia, for its part, said holding the Security Council meeting was “better late than never,” a jab at those seen as delaying the talks.

‘Missing in action’

Ahead of the meeting, the United States and China had been arguing over the origins of the virus, which President Donald Trump has referred to as the “Chinese virus.”

There were two competing draft resolutions up for debate.

One, spearheaded by Tunisia on behalf of the 10 non-permanent members and obtained by AFP, calls for “an urgent, coordinated and united international action to curb the impact of COVID-19.”

It calls for the Security Council to “monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international peace and security and asks the Secretary General to brief the Council on such developments when appropriate.”

It also seeks an “immediate global ceasefire to allow for adequate humanitarian response” to the pandemic.

That draft resolution has been in development since March 30 and has only been discussed by the 10 non-permanent members.

The second text, proposed by France, focuses on Guterres’s call last month to cease all hostilities around the world as part of a “humanitarian pause” to fight the pandemic.

That one has only had input from the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — which diplomats from non-permanent countries told AFP has been “very frustrating.”

France has argued that the so-called P5 need to smooth out their differences before any wider negotiations with the council.

But efforts to convene a meeting of the five have been stymied by the hospitalization of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has the COVID-19 illness, and Chinese reticence to participate without first setting a clear agenda.

While Gutteres has been outspoken about the crisis and the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for “cooperation,” an ambassador to the UN described the Security Council as “missing in action.”

In the Security Council, at least nine votes out of 15 are necessary to adopt a resolution, without a veto by one of the five permanent members.

Source: AFP

10, April 2020

Ravaged by war, Southern Cameroons Southern Zone turns attention to Covid-19 fight ⁰

Covid-19 has had a big impact on Cameroonians around the country, especially those living in the Centre Region, Littoral, West and Southwest regions. In February 2020, when we first heard of Covid-19 virus, many Cameroonians took the pandemic—and our preparedness to fight it—for granted. The government did not immediately plan or announce any measures to tackle the pandemic. As a result, in the Centre Region, it was business as usual, with educational institutions and commercial spaces remaining open.

Meanwhile, the Northwest and Southwest regions were still reeling from the economic and social impact of the ongoing Anglophone crisis, which began in 2017 and has already taken many lives and caused widespread displacement. The onset of Covid-19 has only aggravated the situation in the Northwest and Southwest regions. After a delayed initial response to the Covid-19 crisis, Cameroon has finally put some measures in place to tackle the pandemic.

Impact of government measures

The Cameroonian government has now announced several measures to curtail the spread of Covid-19. These include social distancing, a ban on public gatherings of 50 or more people, a lockdown of all shops and bars after 6 PM everyday, and a restriction on the number of people that can be ferried in a taxi at a time.

Although businesses used to do relatively well in the Southwest region, with people buying and selling things at a low cost, the onset of Covid-19 has impacted the economy and has significantly hit the supply of goods in this area. The price of hand sanitisers, which were not in much demand previously, has skyrocketed. Masks and gloves have also have seen a rise in price, even as their stocks deplete. The government’s decision to close several marketplaces has had a direct impact on the livelihoods of many people. The government has also closed down Cameroon’s borders, halting the trade of some goods as a result. The situation is graver for those who run small shops as they are now unable to meet the basic needs of their families.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Cameroon maintained a good trade relationship with China. But with the closure of all borders, trade has been hit. Most goods used by Cameroonians are from China, but now there is a stigma attached to Chinese goods due to a lot of misinformation. The Southwest region is experiencing a widespread shortage of products, forcing many to look elsewhere to satisfy their needs. This has made life even more difficult for the less privileged and differently-abled, who are now struggling to access even basic amenities.

Cameroonians have typically neglected health and sanitation issues. Activities such as washing hands, cleaning your surroundings and waste disposal have seldom been followed. Most people did not even know of or how to use hand sanitisers. The healthcare system has also been plagued by malpractice and the incompetence of inadequately trained medical personnel. But with the arrival of Covid-19, there has been some change in personal health and hygiene practices and the functioning of the medical system. The government is working to sensitise Cameroonians around the country on measures to protect themselves against this disease, including issuing communiqués on the proper techinique of on washing your hands with soap.

People comply with advisories

People in the Southwest region have become more aware and alert since the government’s measures to counter the spread of Covid-19 went into action. The government has also set up a dedicated helpline to help people access the right information. News of three alleged cases in the region caused some panic but people have been adhering to the safety and hygiene measures more strictly since then. The cases were later found to be negative, but the people continue to remain cautious and follow the government’s advisories.

Some civil organisations such as Social Change and Establishment Center for Youths and Disabled Persons are teaching people how to make hand sanitisers and face masks themselves since there is a shortage of these product and those that are available are being sold at a high pricer. Even the artistic community is doing its bit to educate people. A musician in the Southwest region has written a song to help inform people about the dangers of the of the Covid-19 virus.

There has been no positive Covid-19 case in the Southwest region as of now, and people are continuing to adhere to the government restrictions and suggestions. However, the shortage of basic goods continues and people are struggling. The government must take into consideration the concerns of the people, especially the differently-abled and less privileged, and must plan to help them meet their basic needs.

Culled from orfonline.org

10, April 2020

Cameroonians looking for missing president amid coronavirus crisis ⁰

Cameroon’s aged president is coming under fire for his absence from the national stage as the central African country faces a burgeoning coronavirus crisis.

A month after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded, 87-year-old Paul Biya has yet to address the nation — a silence that for supporters is a sign of gravitas but for critics one of failure.

According to official figures posted early Monday, Cameroon has 658 cases of the virus, with nine deaths, making it the second most-affected country after South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cameroon is already waging two violent conflicts, one against Boko Haram terrorists in the north, the other against English-speaking separatists in the west. The fighters in the new front are doctors and nurses who are woefully lacking in masks and breathing equipment.

In his 37 years in power, Cameroonians have become accustomed to Biya’s long absences, mainly because of poor health, but his silence over the pandemic is raising sharp questions. He posed for the cameras after talks with the US ambassador on March 11, but did not speak to the press.

Six days later Biya urged Cameroonians on Facebook to “respect” measures taken to combat the virus, but since then there has not been so much as a whisper from a leader who has overseen many crises since he took power in 1982.

– Biya ‘cannot be pinned down’ –

Biya’s track record suggests he is not a major communicator in the best of times, making just three or four appearances a year. But for researcher Stephane Akoa, “In a context like this, the presidential message is important.”

Last week, speculation mounted on social media that Biya could be dead, prompting a formal public denial by Communications Minister Rene-Emmanuel Sadi, who insisted that Biya was “going about his official business as normal”.

But there was no word from the president himself, provoking a sharp attack from main opposition leader Maurice Kamto, the runner-up to Biya in 2018 elections. On Friday, Kamto demanded that the president address the nation within seven days, otherwise “the people… will inevitably see his failure”.

Biya’s silence “is becoming criminal,” he added. Labour Minister Gregoire Owona snapped back, saying Kamto wished to politicise the crisis, calling it “shameful”.

Oswald Baboke, the president’s deputy chief of staff, commended Biya’s “wisdom… (and) restraint,” writing in the press that “the President’s time cannot be improvised and cannot be pinned down.”

Thus far the youthful health minister, Malachie Manaouda, has been the point man for the coronavirus crisis, tweeting out frequent updates and detailing the government’s response. But criticism has grown louder with the rise in known cases from 142 to 658 in a week.

– ‘Lack of coordination’ –

“Government communication is weak, its response was late and in some respects poorly prepared,” said Stephane M’Bafou, a consultant in public management and governance. “There is an obvious lack of coordination,” said economist Albert Ze.

Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on March 13 announced measures such as closing borders and a ban on rallies, which have been extended.

The one new step since then, attributed to Biya but announced by Ngute, has been the creation of a solidarity fund worth one billion CFA francs (1.5 million euros / $1.65 million). Others say the response does not go nearly far enough.

“We must quickly declare a curfew, isolate the cities where cases are confirmed and move towards a general containment regardless of the socio-economic cost,” said M’Bafou.

Source: AFP

10, April 2020

Southern Cameroons fighters relaunch attacks to reject French Cameroun reconstruction Plan ⁰

Cameroonian separatist fighters have relaunched attacks after the government announced a reconstruction plan, claiming that peace was returning to the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of the central African state. The military said attacks were reported in at least seven villages, with about 13 fighters killed, but the fighters say the military had more casualties.

Public Works Minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi says road construction engineers are leaving after persistent attacks in several parts of the Northwest region, where President Paul Biya had instructed them to begin reconstructing the central African state’s English-speaking regions, devastated by three years of separatist conflict. Djoumessi spoke to VOA via a messaging app.

“The work started, unfortunately some criminals came and destroyed the property of the company but we have to continue without showing any signs of weakness. The head of state [Cameroon’s president] himself is extremely committed,” he said.

Biya last week created what he called the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions. The reconstruction and development plan envisages construction of roads, schools, hospitals, public edifices, markets, private homes and villages in areas destroyed by three years of fighting.

After the plan was announced, separatists warned on social media that they will not accept such projects from what they said a foreign government in Yaounde, and began attacking military posts and burning more infrastructure. The fighters torched local council offices and schools in Bui, Donga Mantung and Ngoketunjia administrative units in the Northwest and Lebialem and Manyu administrative units in the Southwest.

The military said in a release that there was heavy fighting in the northwestern villages of Vekovi, Tatum and Mbiame and the southwestern town of Kumba, with 13 fighters killed. The fighters on social media said the casualties were more on the side of government troops. The military has denied the allegations.

Benard Okalia Bilai, governor of the English-speaking Southwest region, speaking via a messaging app, said since the attacks were relaunched last week, the population has been collaborating with the military to denounce the attackers.

“The populations have understood that they were misled, so they have realized that their future, their hope is within the institutions, and that what the head of state has put at their disposal is their future and that they should collaborate with those authorities, the forces of law [the military], to denounce those who are disturbing. The damages are enough,” he said.

Christopher Effimba, leader of the NGO Hope Cameroon, said the central African state should make sure peace fully returns to its English-speaking regions before reconstruction projects are launched. He said the separatists are still very active and strong. He also spoke via a messaging app.

“Infrastructural development cannot be implemented in the field if we do not have a peaceful atmosphere. Therefore, calm the atmosphere,” he said. “We need peace to enable the road workers to dig the roads. If the people do not accept peace, it is impossible for any Caterpillar, any bulldozer to go in there and try to do any road.”

Unrest began in Cameroon in 2017 after a government crackdown on peaceful protests led by lawyers and teachers who complained of being marginalized by the French-speaking majority.

In October 2019, Biya organized a national dialogue to solve the crisis but the separatists did not attend. The separatists said they will only be ready to discuss the terms of their independence in a republic they have created called Ambazonia.

The unrest has killed more than 3,000 people and displaced over 500,000 according to the United Nations. Fifty thousand others are asylum seekers in neighboring Nigeria.

Source: VOA

9, April 2020

US: More signs of absolute dysfunction coming from the White House ⁰

The resignations of US President Donald Trump’s chief spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham and Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly show absolute dysfunction in the White House, according to Myles Hoenig, an American political analyst and activist.

Hoenig, a former Green Party candidate for Congress, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Thursday after Grisham stepped down Tuesday and the US Navy chief offered to resign in the wake of an aircraft carrier coronavirus crisis.

Modly’s trip last weekend to address sailors aboard the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt cost taxpayers more than $243,000, according to a Navy official.

In a speech to the sailors, Modly branded the fired captain of the ship as “naive” and “stupid” for seeking aid, causing his resignation Tuesday.

“When Donald Trump was running for president he promised to hire only the best. Maybe he saw himself as the reincarnation of John Kennedy with a cabinet of the ‘best and the brightest’ but like that previous administration, this term referred to the utter failure of its foreign policy regarding Vietnam,” Hoenig told Press TV.

“For Trump, it relates more to the idea of dumb and dumber when it comes to his choice of advisors, personnel picks, and overall policies. The latest resignations of Acting Navy Secretary Modly, followed by press secretary Grisham shows more than just looking for the best to represent the administration, but shows absolute dysfunction in the White House,” he said.

“Rarely has there been a near mutiny on board a US Naval ship which caused the ranking civilian close to the President to step down. Secretary Modly relieved of his command Captain Crozier for publicly highlighting a critical medical problem on board in order to get the attention of much higher ups. Modly, in talking with the naval personnel on board called him stupid and naïve. This didn’t go well and he was cursed at by many of the sailors. Discipline and decorum flew out the window, or porthole,” he added.

“On the political side the resignation of Stephanie Grisham, who never held a press briefing, only showed that in all policies it is President Trump who leads the way and is leading the way towards utter confusion, chaos, misinformation, and ridiculous conspiracy theories coming from the White House. On the Corona virus he’s not a doctor but plays one on TV, often offering to his supporters medical advice that contravenes the wisdom of the medical profession. But like everything else, it isn’t just that he thinks he is smarter than anyone in the room, as he so often states, but he has financial interests in the quackery that he’s promoting,” he noted.

“Overall, these two most recent resignation serve as a metaphor for a collapse of societal norms and capitalist dysfunction, not at all started by Trump, but certainly exaggerated by him. Overt racism, homophobia, misogyny, failure to accept responsibility, conspiracy theories, saving the very wealthy over the needs of everyday people, long preceded Trump but are all the hallmark of the Trump administration,” he concluded.

Source: Presstv

9, April 2020

France to extend coronavirus lockdown again, will run beyond April 15 ⁰

France will extend its nationwide lockdown put in place to contain the spread of the new coronavirus for a second time, meaning it will run beyond April 15, the French presidential palace said on Wednesday.

The Élysée Palace said French President Emmanuel Macron would address the nation regarding the disease situation on Monday evening.

Macron will from now until Monday “speak to a large number of public and private actors – French, European and international – on what is at stake concerning Covid-19 and prepare the decisions that will be announced on Monday to the French”, the presidency said.

It will be Macron’s third prime time address from the Élysée Palace since the crisis began.

The announcement comes as France’s coronavirus death toll rose to 10,869 after hospitals recorded 541 new fatalities over the most recent 24-hour period.

Jérôme Salomon, head of the public health authority, told reporters that there were now 7,148 people in intensive care at hospitals across France, a net increase of 17 from the day earlier, the lowest increase recorded in recent weeks.

Salomon said he was unable to give a tally for the country’s nursing homes, which account for more than 30 percent of total fatalities, due to “technical problems”.

The health official said the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 17, had helped slow down the virus’s spread.

“The slowing seen over the last days is linked to your good respect of the confinement rules,” he said.

He expressed hope that France would see a flattening in its curve of cases in coming days but emphasised that this “plateau is at a very high level”.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

9, April 2020

WHO fires back after Trump dig about their handling of coronavirus pandemic ⁰

The head of the World Health Organization gave a strident defence of his agency’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism and suggestions that Washington could review its funding for the agency.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for unity and a halt to “politicization” of the global health crisis, specifically urging China and the United States to show “honest leadership”.

Tedros said he expected U.S. funding to continue with traditional bipartisan support.

Trump and his administration repeated its criticism, on Wednesday. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington was re-evaluating U.S. funding to the body, saying international organizations utilizing U.S. taxpayer money needed to deliver on their goals. But he objected to a leadership change at the WHO at this time.

U.S. contributions to the WHO in 2019 exceeded $400 million, almost double the second-largest country donor, according to U.S. figures. The WHO website shows the United States as its top donor, contributing nearly 15% of the budget.

Trump told the daily White House briefing on the coronavirus that Beijing’s payment was a small fraction of Washington’s WHO contribution, and that was “not fair at all.”

“So, we’re going to do study, investigation. And we’re going to make a determination as to what we’re doing. In the meantime, we’re holding back. We … want to see.”

Trump said the WHO issued a statement on Jan. 14 saying “there was no human-to-human transmission” and criticized him “very strongly” when he said he was going to shut down flights from China.

Tedros said the WHO had “kept the world informed about the latest data, information and evidence” and noted that Thursday would mark 100 days since China first notified the organization of cases of “pneumonia with unknown cause” on Dec. 31.

Tedros, a former foreign minister of Ethiopia, rejected Trump’s suggestion that the WHO was “China-centric”, saying: “We are close to every nation, we are colour-blind.”

Earlier, Dr Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to Tedros, also defended the U.N. agency’s relationship with China, saying its work with Beijing authorities was important to understand the outbreak.

“It was absolutely critical in the early part of this outbreak to have full access to everything possible, to get on the ground and work with the Chinese to understand this,” said Aylward, who led a WHO expert mission to China in February.

In an interview with KDKA Radio, Pompeo said: “I think it’s pretty clear that the World Health Organization hasn’t lived up to its billing, it hasn’t been able to achieve what it was designed to achieve, and we just can’t continue to permit that to go on. We’ve got to find a way.”

Pompeo was asked at the coronavirus briefing whether it was time to change the WHO leadership and replied: “This is not the time to be doing that kind of change.”

‘We make mistakes’

In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday now was not the time to assess the global response to the pandemic, calling instead for the international community to focus on working in solidarity to stop the virus.

Tedros said his U.N. agency would conduct its usual assessment of its performance after the emergency and draw lessons about its strengths and weaknesses, adding: “We make mistakes like other human beings.”

He summarised his advice as: “Please, unity at national level, no using COVID for political points. Second, honest solidarity at the global level. And honest leadership from the U.S. and China.”

“The most powerful should lead the way and please quarantine COVID politics,” he added, referring to COVID-19, the highly contagious, sometimes deadly illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Tedros said Beijing and Washington should follow the example of what the former Soviet Union and the United States did in 1967 when they launched a 10-year global campaign that eradicated smallpox, a disease then killing 2 million people annually.

Tedros rejected “racist slurs” against him, which he said had originated in Taiwan, and disclosed that he had also received a death threat during the crisis.

“We are losing people, why would I care about being attacked when people are dying?” he said, noting there were already “60,000 body bags” after more than 1.3 million infections.

“We will have many body bags in front of us if we don’t behave,” he added.

Source: REUTERS