US approves 1 trillion dollar special relief package for corona



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The Republican-led United States senate overwhelmingly approved a bill backed by US President Donald Trump that guarantees free coronavirus testing for Americans and provides assistance for families and workers affected by the outbreak.

The Senate approval on Wednesday(March 18) sends the bill to the White House for Trump's signature.

At the same time, Congress began work with Trump administration officials to develop a larger measure that would inject up to one trillion dollars into the US economy, officials said.

"This is a very unique situation in this economy. We have put a proposal on the table that would inject a trillion dollars into the economy," Mnuchin said after meeting with Republican senators on Tuesday.

As many as one in five American workers have already lost their jobs or had their hours reduced as businesses across the country shut down or cut staff in response to the health emergency, according to a new Marist poll.

"Across the United States, we are coming to realise that this is an exceptional health crisis the likes of which we have never seen," said Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US surged to 7,324 on Wednesday, an increase of 2,120 over the previous day, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. Those numbers are expected to rise sharply as testing for the virus becomes more widely available.

Titled the Families First Corona Virus Response Act, the bill approved by the Senate on Wednesday was drafted last week in negotiations between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

The bill provides open-ended authority for federal spending in excess of three billion dollars for expanded food assistance and unemployment benefits.

Most workers who do not currently have paid sick leave from their employers would get 14-days of paid leave under the bill if they have to be out because of the outbreak. Small businesses under 50 employees can be exempted from the requirement.

Companies with more than 500 employees are not mentioned in the bill, but would be subject to Department of Labor policies. Nearly one in 10 employees at big companies do not have paid sick leave, according to DOL statistics.

The bill provides for 12 weeks of paid family leave - up to two-thirds of an individual's pay - for workers with children whose schools closed. The benefit would be capped at $200 a day.

Gig workers and the self-employed individuals would get similar benefits via a federal tax credit.

The bill also includes waivers for US public school systems to allow school lunch funds to be redirected to provide meals for children during the outbreak.

The virus was first detected on December 31 in Hubei Province, China. At present, the number of virus infected and dead in the country is going down. Already health workers from different provinces of China have officially begun to leave. So far in the country, Corona has killed a total of 3,226 people. 82 thousand 7 people were infected.

The corona horror though ended in China, but it has gone to be terrifying in Europe particularly in Italy. International news media al-Jazeera cited the country's civil defense agency as the number of corona infected in Italy rose to 31506. So far 2 thousand 903 have died of the virus.

Currently the country is in lockdown. All educational, business establishments, traffic movement and everything have been shut down. Food service establishments and pharmacies are open.  Fines are being imposed for violating lockdown. Earlier, the government had banned public gatherings to prevent the coroner's spread. All types of sports events, including football matches, have been suspended.

   

76 more killed in Gaza, death toll rises to nearly 32,500



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Even after the UN Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution, the Israeli barbaric attacks on the Palestinian-besieged Gaza have not stopped. Another 76 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the last 24 hours by Israeli attacks. The death toll has increased to about 32,500 people. The number of injured has reached about 75000 people.

Al-Jazeera reported this information in a live update on Thursday (March 28).

Quoting the Ministry of Health of Gaza, the report said that since last October, the number of dead in Palestine has reached 32490 in the Israeli barbaric attack in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, an emergency ceasefire resolution was passed in the besieged Gaza Strip. The resolution passed by the UN Security Council on Monday (March 25) calls for a cease-fire in Gaza as well as the immediate and unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas.

In this proposal, 14 countries of the Security Council voted in favor of the proposal. Israel's close ally, the United States, abstained from voting.

Welcoming the proposal, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, after a long wait, the Security Council has passed a resolution regarding the cease-fire in Gaza. This proposal must be implemented. Failure of any party to implement the ceasefire and its terms would constitute an unforgivable offence. 

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Israel wants to wipe out Palestinians: UN



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Gazans are going through one of the worst times in living memory. The lives of Palestinians are in danger due to the long-term killings and severe food shortages. The world is criticizing the surprise attack on the destitute Gazans. However, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu is unwilling to stop the attack. In this situation, the international organization, which could not find any solution after repeated efforts, said that Israel is going to wipe out the Palestinians.

On Monday (March 25), the special envoy for human rights in Palestine, Francesca Albanez, released her detailed report. She said that since the start of the attack, Israel has targeted Gazans. The Israeli forces assumed that these Gazans could be attacked, killed, or even destroyed. Israel's genocidal action has become clear through this. They are trying to erase Palestinians from Palestine.

The news agency AFP reported this information.

According to the report, Albanez attacked Israel in harsh language at the meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council. She said Israel destroyed Gaza. She also said, 'What is happening in Gaza shows the intention of genocide. We cannot turn away from it. We have to face it, we have to stop this genocide and action must be taken against those who took this step.''

Francesca Albanez is working as Special Envoy for Palestinian Human Rights. She told the United Nations Human Rights Council last Monday that the organization's member states should end arms embargoes against Israel and arms supplies to Israel.

Support for the UN expert panel, which has been working on allegations of genocide against Israel since the start of Israel's assault on Gaza, has been growing in Palestine. Various countries are now showing interest in investigating the allegations of genocide.

Ambassadors of different countries are supporting this report of Albanez. Ambassadors from Muslim and Arab countries, as well as Latin American countries, are among those supporting Albanez's report to hold Israel accountable.

Pakistan has supported this Albanez report on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC has also called for an arms embargo on Israel. When Albanez presented the report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Pakistan's representative said, "We appreciate your courage in documenting the genocide in Gaza."

Accusations of genocide against Israel are intensifying as it continues to operate in Gaza's Rafah area in defiance of international calls. The Ministry of Health of Palestine said on Wednesday that 76 people were killed in the attack in the last 24 hours. With this, 32490 people have been killed in Israel's attacks since October 7.

The representative of Egypt, on behalf of the Arab countries, said they were deeply concerned about Israel's structural and systematic attack on the Gaza Strip, making it uninhabitable. Qatar represented the Gulf countries in the meeting. They want international action to stop the war that Israel is waging in Palestine. 

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Romania sent back 5 Bangladeshis with ban



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Immigration police in the Arad region bordering Romania forcibly returned 20 migrants to their respective countries on charges of attempting to cross the border illegally. Five Bangladeshis are among the migrants.

Romania's General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) announced this information in a press release on Monday (March 25).

According to the notification, on March 23, the Immigration police of Arad region of Romania forcibly sent back to their respective countries a total of 20 immigrants, including 18 people from South Asian countries and 2 people from Egypt. The concerned migrants were taken from the migrant detention center in Arad region to the airport in the presence of law enforcement agencies.

Apart from five Bangladeshis, the migrants include nine Sri Lankans, three Pakistanis, two Egyptians and one Indian national. A legal notice to leave Romania was issued against them earlier. But as they did not return on their own initiative, forced expulsion was implemented with an escort according to the law.

Upon leaving Romania, they are banned from entering all EU member states, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation for five years.

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18 killed in Gaza after relief sack fell on head



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18 people were killed while collecting airdropped aid in the besieged Gaza Strip. The casualties occurred during an airdrop of relief near the Mediterranean coast in northern Gaza. At that time, 12 people were killed when relief sacks fell on their heads and 6 others died after being trampled in haste while collecting relief. AFP reports.

Hamas, the armed political group that controls the valley, said in a statement that the tragedy occurred on Tuesday (March 25).

In the statement, Hamas said, "A request to the international community, please stop dropping the relief bags from the planes." Instead, take steps to remove the obstacles in sending relief by road.'

More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the last six months of Israeli forces' operations, and about 74,000 others have been injured.

On the other hand, 1,200 Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas fighters on October 7. Also, 240 people were taken hostage by Hamas fighters, 108 of them have been released so far.

A third of the people of the Gaza Strip are directly dependent on aid from the United Nations and other donor countries and groups. Since the beginning of the operation in the valley, the Israeli forces have been blocking the delivery of relief supplies, resulting in a death march in Gaza since last February due to lack of food.

In this situation, the United States and its allies in the Western world announced air relief supplies to the Gaza Strip from that month.

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