The US has charged Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and other senior officials in the country with drug trafficking crimes.

The move, which will increase tensions between the two nations, was announced by Attorney General William Barr.

The US also offered a $15m (£12.5m) reward for any information leading to Mr Maduro’s arrest.

It has long accused him of leading a corrupt and brutal regime, a charge he has repeatedly rejected.

Washington backs opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who last year declared himself interim president.

Source: BBC

By a vote of 96-0, the Senate passed a massive $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus compromise package just before midnight Wednesday, ending days of deadlock and sending the bill to the House of Representatives — which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said will soon take up the historic measure to bring relief to individuals, small businesses, and larger corporations “with strong bipartisan support.”

The 880-page legislation is the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared somber and exhausted as he announced the vote. He released senators from Washington until April 20, though he promised to recall them if needed.

“96-0 in the United States Senate,” President Trump wrote on Twitter. “Congratulations AMERICA!”

The unanimous vote came despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough. The vote capped days of difficult negotiations as Washington confronted a national challenge unlike any it has ever faced. Unemployment numbers were set to be revealed Thursday morning, and experts warned they could reach alarming new highs.

The package would provide one-time direct payments to Americans of $1,200 per adult making up to $75,000 a year, and $2,400 to married couples making up to $150,000, with $500 payments per child. After a $75,000 threshold for individuals, the benefit would be reduced by $5 for each $100 the taxpayer makes. A similar $150,000 threshold applies to couples, and a $112,500 threshold for heads of households.

The legislation passed by the Senate will use 2019 tax returns, if available, or 2018 tax returns to assess income for determining how much direct financial aid individuals receive. Those who did not file tax returns can use a Form SSA-1099, Social Security Benefit Statement or Form RRB-1099, a Social Security Equivalent Benefit Statement, per Page 149 of the bill.

Further, the bill allocates $250 billion to extend unemployment insurance to more workers, and lengthen the duration to 39 weeks, up from the normal 26 weeks. $600 extra a week would be provided for four months. (Just before voting on the final package began late Wednesday, the Senate was debating an amendment from Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., to bar people from getting more from new unemployment benefits than they would have received on the job; the amendment needed 60 votes and failed 48-48.)

The final package would additionally provide $349 billion in loans to small businesses — and money spent on rent, payroll and utilities becomes grants that don’t need to be paid back. Many hotels would qualify as small businesses under the plan.

Passenger airlines would receive $25 billion for workers’ “salaries and benefits,” plus up to $25 billion more in loan guarantees and loans. Contract workers would also receive $3 billion in assistance. Airlines would have to agree not to furlough workers until at least the end of September in return.

Source: Fox News

The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday praised President Trump for his leadership in handling the novel coronavirus outbreak and said the president is “taking responsibility” for leading the United States’ response to the global pandemic.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the United Nations health agency has repeatedly called for the heads of state to lead a “whole of government” response to COVID-19 and said Trump was leading by example.

“That’s exactly what he’s doing, which we appreciate because fighting this pandemic needs political commitment,” Tedros said during an afternoon press briefing in Geneva.

Tedros said he and Trump had recently spoken and that the president is “doing all he can.”

“I believe that kind of political commitment and political leadership can bring change or can stop this pandemic,” Tedros said.

During the virtual press conference, Tedros called COVID-19 “Public Enemy No. 1,” and warned that if some countries don’t get serious about putting safety measures in place, the world could see thousands of additional casualties.

He added that wide-scale efforts to slow the coronavirus should have started weeks ago.

“It’s a dangerous virus,” Tedros said. “We had been saying to the world the window of opportunity is narrowing and the time to act was actually more than a month ago, two months ago.”

Tedros instructed countries that have locked down their populations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to use the time to “find and attack the virus.”

“Asking people to stay at home and shutting down population movement is buying time, and reducing pressure on health systems. On their own, these measures won’t extinguish epidemics,” he said.

Nations need to expand, train and deploy their health care and public health workers, Tedros said, and encouraged them to ramp up testing and track down every suspected case of the coronavirus within their borders.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the global death toll has surpassed the 20,000 mark.

Tedros said he believes the death toll will rise even higher.

“The question is how large a price we will pay,” he said.

The WHO has been under fire for waiting for weeks before declaring the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. It then raised the ire of many countries including the United States by praising China for its handling of the coronavirus.

“Senator Rand Paul has tested positive for COVID-19,” Paul’s account tweeted. “He is feeling fine and is in quarantine. He is asymptomatic and was tested out of an abundance of caution due to his extensive travel and events. He was not aware of any direct contact with any infected person.”

“He expects to be back in the Senate after his quarantine period ends and will continue to work for the people of Kentucky at this difficult time,” the thread continued. “Ten days ago, our D.C. office began operating remotely, hence virtually no staff has had contact with Senator Rand Paul.”

Source NBC news