Category: Foreign

WORLD leaders and organisations pledged $8 billion to research, manufacture and distribute a possible vaccine and treatments for COVID-19 on Monday, but the United States refused to contribute to the global effort.

Organisers included the European Union and non-EU countries Britain, Norway and Saudi Arabia. Leaders from Japan, Canada, South Africa and dozens of other countries joined the virtual event.

China, where the virus is believed to have originated, was only represented by its ambassador to the European Union.

Governments aim to continue raising funds for several weeks or months, building on efforts by the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and wealthy individuals, and turn the page on the fractious and haphazard initial response around the world.

“In the space of just few hours we have collectively pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8.1 billion) for vaccine, diagnostics and treatment” against COVID-19, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said after chairing the online event.

“This will help kick-start unprecedented global cooperation,” she added.

It was however unclear what was new funding, as commitments made earlier this year may also be included, EU officials said.

Donors included pop singer Madonna, who pledged 1 million euros, von der Leyen said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has recovered from a life-threatening battle with COVID-19, said the search for a vaccine was “the most urgent shared endeavour of our lifetime”, calling for “an impregnable shield around all our people”.

EU diplomats said the United States, which has the world’s most confirmed COVID-19 cases, was not taking part.

A senior U.S. administration official declined to say specifically why the United States was not participating.

“We support this pledging effort by the EU. It is one of many pledging efforts that are going on and the United States is at the forefront,” the official told reporters by telephone.

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President Donald Trump said last month that he would halt funding to the World Health Organization, whose director general addressed the conference, over its handling of the pandemic.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she regretted that decision, as well as Washington’s absence on Monday.

Many leaders stressed that any vaccine must be available to everyone. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it should not just be for rich countries.

Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has emphasised the importance of countries of the world to pool strength and resources together to combat the ravaging Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Its Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the emphasis yesterday during the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Contact Group on COVID-19, held via videoconferencing.

President Muhammadu Buhari joined the NAM Contact Group summit from Abuja via video conference.

The meeting with the theme, “United Against COVID-19”, was presided over by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and current Chair of the NAM, Mr. IIham Aliyev.

In his remarks, Ghebreyesus described the NAM Summit on COVID-19 as a welcome development as “no country can manage the Corona alone.”

According to him, national unity, global solidarity and commitment to peace are vital in the fight against the virus.

“COVID-19 has affected all segments of the society – all countries must work together to ensure that no one is left behind,” he said.

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Aliyev thanked the member countries of NAM for unanimously endorsing the global fight against COVID-19 to protect humanity from destruction.

He said already, Azerbaijan had donated $5 million to the WHO to help combat the deadly Coronavirus disease.

According to him, Azerbaijan, on its part, has introduced several measures, including special quarantine region, which has extended to May 31 to stop the spread of Coronavirus in the country.

He also added that the country had earmarked $3.5 billion for the implementation of the country’s social interventions programmes and tax holidays had also been offered to some companies to cushion the negative impacts of the deadly virus.

Aliyev hailed the WHO and the United Nations for their collaborative support in the global fight against Coronavirus.

He pledged that NAM would continue to share ideas and information with stakeholders to combat the pandemic.

The President of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Prof. Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, who also participated in the teleconference, reiterated the commitment of the UN in the efforts to finding solutions to the deadly Coronavirus.

Noting that the virus has disrupted economies of many nations across the world, Muhammad-Bande commended NAM member countries for their joint efforts in the fight against the pandemic.

He, however, enjoined them to continue to build stronger economies that would address the difficulties being experienced by their respective citizens.

Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres noted with concern that the virus had so far inflicted serious damages on humanity and economies of the world.

Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja

President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with Niger Republic President Mahamadou Issoufou over the death of his Minister of Employment and Labour, Mohammed Ben Omar.

Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, described the late Omar as a highly endowed and dedicated politician.

The statement reads: “President Muhammadu Buhari has telephoned Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou to commiserate with him on the death of his Minister of Employment and Labour, Mohammed Ben Omar.

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“President Buhari also extended heartfelt condolences to the government and people of Niger Republic and the family of the deceased over the unfortunate loss.

“The President described the late cabinet Minister, who was former spokesperson for the Nigerien government under President Issoufou, and also served in parliament, as a highly endowed and dedicated politician who gave his best for the progress, prosperity and socio-economic development of his country.

“The President prays God almighty to comfort the family of the late minister and grant the soul of the departed eternal rest.

The trade minister of the UK resigned on Monday after a parliamentary watchdog found that he attempted to use his position as a lawmaker to intimidate a member of the public in a private dispute.

The dispute between Conor Burns, the minister of state for trade policy, and the member of the public concerned a loan dispute with Burns’s father.

Burns used parliamentary stationery to write a letter to the person saying: “My role in the public eye could well attract interest especially if I were to use parliamentary privilege to raise the case.”

He said the victim could avoid the “potentially unpleasant experience” by satisfactorily resolving the financial dispute with his father.

The parliamentary standards committee said Burns “put personal interest before the public interest by suggesting that he would take advantage of his public office.”

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Burns is close to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, having worked as an assistant for Johnson when the latter was foreign secretary between 2016 and 2018.

The parliamentary standards committee told Burns to apologize and suggested he be suspended as a member of parliament for seven days.

Responding to the decision, Burns said he “absolutely should not have written to the complainant in the terms I did or used” House of Commons stationery to do so.

He added that he was resigning “with deep regret” and would continue to give the prime minister his “wholehearted support from the backbenches.”

A Downing Street spokesman said: “Conor Burns has resigned as minister of state for international trade following a report from the parliamentary commissioner for standards. A replacement will be announced in due course.”

(www.newsnow.co.uk)

An official report on Monday in Italy showed a rise in the number of deaths in the country in 2020 by nearly 40 per cent compared to recent years, linking it to coronavirus.

According to the National Statistics Agency (Istat), from February 20 to March 31, more than 90,000 people died 38.7 per cent more than the average of around 65,000 recorded during the same periods in 2015/2019.

The agency noted that it there means no excess mortality of 25,000 for the time period, even though there were only 13,710 fatalities officially linked to coronavirus.

“The rest could either be undiagnosed COVID-19 cases or people with other conditions who were not treated properly while the health system was overwhelmed by the epidemic,“it said.

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The agency noted that more than 90 per cent of the excess mortality was concentrated in municipalities with high virus infection rates, mostly in the North of the country.

In March alone, the number of deaths compared to the 2015-2019 average jumped by 568 per cent in Bergamo province, 391 per cent in Cremona province, and 370 per cent in Lodi province.

The Istat study, conducted with the National Health Institute, was based on data from 6,866 Italian municipalities, about 87 per cent of the total.

The covered period went from the detection of Italy’s first locally transmitted case, in the Northern Town of Codogno, until when the country’s infection curve started to flatten.

Italy’s official COVID-19 death toll currently stands at nearly 29,000.

(dpa/NAN)

The Taliban, on Monday, claimed responsibility for an attack at a military centre in southern Helmand province in Afghanistan, where at least 150 members of the Afghan army and intelligence wing were stationed.

The bombing occurred on Sunday night, government officials and the Taliban said.

“Dozens of members, belonging to the enemy forces, have been killed and wounded in the attack,’’ Qari Yousuf Ahmedi, a spokesman for the hard-line Islamist group, said in a statement.

The Defence Ministry confirmed the blast and said one member of the army was injured.

The Afghan forces have, in the last two months, suffered heavy casualties across the country.

The violence poses an immediate threat to a fragile peace deal between the U.S. and the Taliban, signed in February, as the Afghan military is forced to fight an emboldened Taliban with less U.S. support.

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An intelligence officer, who survived the attack at the military centre, told Reuters that militants detonated a truck bomb near the facility for National Directorate of Security (NDS) and Army forces.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, the official said he helped pull out at least 18 bodies from the blast site on Sunday night.

In a separate incident, the Police in south eastern Paktika province said at least 20 people were injured when Taliban fighters threw a hand grenade into a mosque in Khayerkot district on Sunday evening.

The U.S. recorded an increase in Taliban attacks against Afghan forces in March after signing a peace deal with the insurgent group, a government watchdog office said in a report last week.

This is contrary to hopes that the peace deal would lead to less violence in the war-torn country.

(Reuters/NAN)