Los Angeles Times: Trump administration is battling coronavirus without a war room “…In the U.S., the pandemic preparedness team at the White House’s National Security Council (NSC) was tracking [the virus H7N9] daily, even as President Trump took office in those early days of 2017. The NSC team, called the…

AFP/The Guardian: China outraged after Brazil minister suggests Covid-19 is part of ‘plan for world domination’ “China has demanded an explanation from Brazil after the far-right government’s education minister linked the coronavirus pandemic to Beijing’s ‘plan for world domination,’ in a tweet imitating a Chinese accent. In the latest incident…

Devex: Exclusive: DFID poised to announce COVID-19 funding through rapid response network “After weeks of silence on how it would help NGOs tackle the COVID-19 pandemic internationally, the U.K.’s Department for International Development is set to announce a package of funding to support organizations’ work in low-income countries that are…

Wall Street Journal: World Health Coronavirus Disinformation Editorial Board “The coronavirus pandemic will offer many lessons in what to do better to save more lives and do less economic harm the next time. But there’s already one way to ensure future pandemics are less deadly: Reform or defund the World…

U.S. Department of State: Virtual Forum on Expanding Taiwan’s Participation on the Global Stage “On March 31, 2020, high-level officials representing the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the U.S. Department of State, the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), and the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs convened for a…

Washington Post: Trump rightly extended pandemic guidance. Here’s what he should do next. Editorial Board “…[T]he month ahead must be well spent — with action. … Mr. Trump … ought to immediately and forcefully insist that governors and other elected officials follow his guidance, order people to engage in social…

New York Times: This Coronavirus Crisis Is the Time to Ease Sanctions on Iran Editorial Board “Iran is in terrible shape. It is among the countries worst hit by the coronavirus … Sanctions have choked its economy. … Does that mean the United States should tighten sanctions further in the…

U.S. Department of State: Release of Arbitrarily Detained Civilians and U.S. Citizens in Syria to Avert COVID-19 Spread In a press statement, U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Morton Ortagus said, “In light of threats posed by COVID-19, the United States reiterates its calls for the Assad regime to take concrete…

Financial Times: World Bank: Coronavirus highlights the need to strengthen health systems David Malpass, president of the World Bank Group “…[A]ddressing emergency health and economic impacts from this outbreak must be followed by longer-term investments to build stronger and more resilient health systems. This makes sense both from a health…

Council on Foreign Relations: The WHO and China: Dereliction of Duty Michael Collins, research associate for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the relationship between the World Health Organization and China, highlighting the WHO’s response to China’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Collins writes, “The WHO’s weak…