Trump likely to restore some funding for WHO

US CDC says a total of 100k Americans could die by June 1

WASHINGTON/UNITEDNATIONS: President Donald Trump is reportedly reconsidering the suspension of US funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) and could restore its annual contribution partially, but only to match China’s $40 million contribution - a 10th of its own previous yearly contribution of $400 mn.

Fox News reported on Friday that the US president has either already signed on the decision or is about to do so.

“Despite its shortcomings, I believe that the WHO still has tremendous potential, and I want to see the WHO live up to this potential, particularly now, during this global crisis,” Trump is expected to say, according to a Fox presenter, who said he was quoting from a five-page draft that the US president is expected to sign.

The Trump administration had suspended funding for the WHO last month as the US investigated its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Washington has accused the world body of botching the initial response to the crisis and also of siding with China to help it conceal the exact extent of the outbreak.

Trump, meanwhile, continued to encourage the reopening of the US, openly going against his own health officials. He has publicly dismissed, for instance, calls for caution by Anthony Fauci, a top epidemiologist and a member of the White House coronavirus task force.

On Friday, the top US body for disease control projected that by June 1, Covid-19 could kill up to a total of 100,000 people in America - up by a staggering 13,000 from Friday’s death toll.

The projection of fatalities by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based on 12 models, its director Robert Redfield, who is also member of the White House task force, tweeted.

It has come as a grim reminder of the need for continued surveillance and mitigation as public health officials are urging, even as at least 48 US states are set to reopen to varying degrees by early next week.

Covid-19 fatalities in the country rose by 1,632 over the past 24 hours and the number of infections went up by 25,050. With about 13,000 more fatalities projected by the CDC in two weeks’ time, the situation is likely to get worse.

CHINA ASKS U.S. TO PAY UP ITS DEBTS TO UN

China on Friday issued a statement calling on all UN member states to “actively fulfill their financial obligations to the United Nations”, stressing that Washington owes the organisation more than $2 billion.

“As of May 14, the total unpaid assessments under the UN regular budget and peacekeeping budget amount to $1.63 billion and $2.14 billion respectively,” the Chinese statement said, citing a report from the UN secretarygeneral’s office.

Including arrears that stretch back several years, “the United States is the largest debtor, owing $1.165 billion and $1.332 billion respectively,” China added.

The US is the biggest contributor to the UN budget, paying 22% of its annual running costs.