Trump »opens the country» || Weekly News, 18th of April, 2020

Donald Trump stated that Washington has suspended their contributions to the WHO. He accused the WHO of the fact that due to their incorrect estimates and recommendations, 20 times more people were infected with the new coronavirus than it could have happened otherwise. He added that Washington is pushing for a reform of the WHO, and intends to discuss with the other countries how to use the American funds, previously received by the organization. Earlier Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the actions of the WHO. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, criticized the US decision to suspend the funding of the WHO in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. «I am sure that the WHO should be supported. It is absolutely imperative that the world wins in the war against the COVID-19» — said Antonio Guterres. He underlined that it is necessary to “learn” new lessons because of the pandemic, but he added that “such time has not yet come”.

Donald Trump stated that the US authorities are starting to re-open the country by gradually lifting the sanitary restrictions, imposed due to the new coronavirus. Donald Trump explained that the federal government gave the state governors some recommendations on the lifting of the sanitary restrictions. The plan of the US administration consists of 3 steps for the economic recovery. The state governors will be able to decide on their own when to remove the restrictions.

The Syrian news agency ‘SANA’ reported an explosion of a car bomb in the village of Al Ahras, near Ras Al Ain. As a result of that explosion — some Turkish mercenaries were killed and injured. The SANA sources said that after the explosion — «the Turkish forces and their mercenaries opened random fire on the nearby residential buildings, and arrested some local villagers».

The Kurdish TV channel ‘Rudaw’ reported that the Turkish Air Force attacked the shelters of the members of the ‘Kurdistan Workers Party’ in Iraq. An air strike was carried out near the village of Mahmur, 60 km south-west of Erbil. The air strike killed 3 women. The fortifications of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party near Ravanduz, 110 km north-east of Erbil, were attacked as well. During an air attack, 2 telecommunication towers were destroyed.

The spokesman of ‘Ansar Allah’ Yemeni armed forces, General Yahya Saria, stated that the rebels from the ‘Ansar Allah’ movement repelled the attacks of the Arab coalition in the province of Marib, 120 km east of the capital of Sanaa — the ‘Al Mayadeen’ TV quoted the general. He added that the coalition aviation launched at least 20 missile strikes in Marib and the nearby Al-Jauf provinces, right before the attacks. The locals were affected by the missile attacks. Some material damage was inflicted as well.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that on Tuesday the DPRK launched several anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Japan. The missiles were lauched by the DPRK Air Force fighters near the coastal city of Munchon, at 07:00 a.m. The missiles flew for about 150 km. «The South Korean military maintains a high alert level by continuing to monitor the situation and possible new missile launches» — the report concluded. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.