GLOBAL COVID TOLL CROSSES 3M; 370M PEOPLE INOCULATED WITH SINGLE DOSE

Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide crossed 3 million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of Covid-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe.

Worldwide Covid-19 deaths are rising once again, especially in Brazil and India. Health officials blame more infectious variants that were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, along with public fatigue with lockdowns and other restrictions.

According to a Reuters tally, it took more than a year for the global coronavirus death toll to reach 2 million. The next 1 million deaths were added in about three months.

Brazil is leading the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported and accounts for one in every four deaths worldwide each day, according to a Reuters analysis.

India reported a record rise in Covid-19 infections on Monday, becoming the second nation after the United States to post more than 100,000 new cases in a day.

The European region, which includes 51 countries, has the highest total number of deaths at nearly 1.1 million.

Five European countries including the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Italy and Germany constitute about 60% of Europe's total coronavirus-related deaths.

The United States has the highest number of deaths of any country at the world at 555,000 and accounts for about 19% of all deaths due to Covid-19 in the world.

At least 370.3 million people or nearly 4.75% of the global population have received a single dose of Covid-19 vaccine by Sunday, according to latest figures from research and data provider firm Our World in Data.

WORLD POWERS, IRAN AND US LAUNCH INDIRECT TALKS TO REVIVE NUCLEAR DEAL

Officials from five world powers began a new effort Tuesday to try to bring the United States back into the foundering 2015 nuclear deal they signed with Iran, a delicate diplomatic dance that needs to balance the concerns and interests of both Washington and Tehran.

The meeting in Vienna of envoys from Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran came as the U.S. was due to start its own indirect talks with Iran. It would be one of the first signs of tangible progress in efforts to return both nations to the accord, which restricted Iran's nuclear program in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

Following the closed meetings of the signatories to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Russia's delegate, Mikhail Ulyanov, tweeted that the initial talks were ``successful.''

``The restoration of JCPOA will not happen immediately. It will take some time. How long? Nobody knows,'' he wrote. ``The most important thing after today's meeting of the Joint Commission is that practical work towards achieving this goal has started.''

``Lifting U.S. sanctions is the first and the most necessary action for reviving the deal,`` Araghchi was quoted as saying. ``Iran is fully ready to reverse its activities and return to complete implementation of the deal immediately after it is verified sanctions are lifted.``

NETANYAHU GETS OFFICIAL NOD TO FORM GOVT

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got a new lease on his political life on Tuesday, receiving a mandate from Israel's president to form a new government after an inconclusive election.

Israel's longest-serving leader, in power consecutively since 2009, now faces the tough task of breaking an unprecedented political stalemate and enlisting enough allies for a governing coalition.

Under law, Netanyahu will have 28 days to do so, with the possibility of a two-week extension before President Reuven Rivlin picks another candidate or asks parliament to choose one.

Israel's election on March 23, its fourth in two years, ended with neither a Netanyahu-led right-wing and religious bloc nor a prospective alliance of his opponents winning a parliamentary majority.

But in consultations Rivlin held with political parties on Monday on granting the coalition-building mandate, Netanyahu received more endorsements than his challengers, leading to the president's televised announcement giving him the nod.

ASTRAZENECA UK VACCINE TRIAL IN CHILDREN PAUSED AS CLOT LINK PROBED

A British trial of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on children has been paused, Oxford University said Tuesday, as global regulators rush to assess its possible link to rare blood clots in adults.

The university, which helped develop the embattled vaccine, said in a statement that there were "no safety concerns" in the trial, but acknowledged fears over a potential link to clots by saying that it was awaiting additional data from Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before restarting the study.

"Parents and children should continue to attend all scheduled visits and can contact the trial sites if they have any questions," it added.

It is the latest drama to hit AstraZeneca, which has been embroiled in controversy over its failure to deliver promised doses to the European Union, and over the jab's efficacy and safety profile.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN TALKS TO DOMINATE AGENDA

Russia's foreign minister arrived Tuesday in Pakistan for a two-day visit expected to focus on efforts to bring peace to neighboring Afghanistan.

Sergey Lavrov's visit comes as a May 1 deadline for US troops to leave Afghanistan in line with a deal Washington signed a year ago with the Taliban seems increasingly unlikely.

The US has accelerated efforts to get a peace deal for Afghanistan but is also seeking a three-to-six month extension on the troop withdrawal deadline amid repeated statements from President Joe Biden that America wants to end its longest war. That's according to officials familiar with the talks who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

The Taliban have warned against overstepping the deadline and threatened more attacks including an end to a moratorium on attacks against US and NATO troops.

Lavrov heads a 13-member delegation that includes Moscow's special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. Russia has intensified efforts to interject itself as a key player in the peace push and last month, Moscow hosted Taliban and Afghan government officials for a one-day meeting.

``Pakistan and Russia are working together in the Afghan peace process,'' Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in the video statement.

NEW UK REGULATOR SET TO CURB TECH GIANTS POWER OVER NEWS PUBLISHERS

Britain's new regulator for tech giants Facebook and Google launches on Wednesday with an initial remit to see if a code of conduct could improve the balance of power between the platforms and news publishers.

The Digital Markets Unit (DMU), based in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), has been set up to stop big tech companies abusing their market dominance after the competition regulator said existing rules were not enough.

The power and reach of big tech has grown faster than governments' ability to keep them in check.

A row, now resolved, between Facebook and the Australian government in February over payment for local news highlighted the disparity.

The tech company blacked out news content in response to planned legislation, a move condemned by publishers and politicians in multiple countries.

Britain's Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said he had asked the DMU to look at how a code could govern the relationships between platforms and content providers, such as news publishers, to ensure they were as fair and reasonable as possible.

RUSSIA MAY BE 'SLOWLY KILLING' ALEXEI NAVALNY, SAYS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Alexei Navalny, the prominent opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is incarcerated in conditions that amount to torture and may slowly be killing him, human rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

Amnesty International said Navalny, who last year was poisoned with a military grade nerve agent, was now being subjected to sleep deprivation and did not have access to a doctor he could trust in jail.

"Russia, the Russian authorities, may be placing him into a situation of a slow death and seeking to hide what is happening to him," Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, told Reuters ahead of the publication of the group's annual report.

"Clearly the Russian authorities are violating his rights. We have to do more," she said. "(They) have already attempted to kill him, they are now detaining him, and imposing prison conditions, that amount to torture."

Navalny went on a hunger strike last week in an attempt to force the prison holding him outside Moscow to provide him with proper medical care for what he said was acute pain in his back and legs.

The Kremlin has declined to comment on his health, saying it is a matter for the federal penitentiary service. The penitentiary service last week said the 44-year-old was receiving all necessary treatment.

TURKEY SUMMONS CHINA'S AMBASSADOR OVER TWITTER POSTS

Turkey summoned China's ambassador after the embassy suggested on Twitter that it could take action against two Turkish politicians who criticised Beijing's treatment of its Muslim Uyghur community.

A Foreign Ministry official said the ambassador was summoned to the ministry on Tuesday, but did not elaborate. The official provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with the ministry's rules.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy tagged Meral Aksener, the head of the opposition Good Party, and Ankara's mayor, Mansur Yavas, in two Twitter posts in which it defended Beijing's policies and said “the Chinese side reserves its right to a rightful response.” The comment was widely interpreted as a threat against the two politicians and caused a social media outrage in Turkey.

The embassy tagged Ms. Aksener and Mr. Yavas after the two marked with Twitter posts the killing of Uyghurs by Chinese forces during an uprising in 1990.

The embassy said: “The Chinese side resolutely opposes and strongly condemns any challenge by any person or power to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." Turks are sympathetic to the Uyghurs, a Turkic group native to China's Xinjiang region. Many Uyghurs have sought refuge in Turkey for decades because of their shared cultural ties.

Once a champion of the Uyghur cause, Turkey's government has become less vocal about their plight in recent years as it has developed stronger economic ties with China.