KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

Pos   /   Country   /   New Daily cases   /   Total Deaths   /        Daily Deaths /           Active Cases   /           Deaths/1M Pop

               World    8,32,275              /             32,54,807            /             14,086   /             1,86,03,538        /             417.6

1             USA        44,940   /             5,93,130              /             725        /             67,07,909            /             1,783

2             India      4,12,618              /             2,30,151              /             3,982     /             35,71,625            /             165

3             Brazil     75,652   /             4,14,645              /             2,791     /             9,92,247              /             1,939

4             France   26,000   /             1,05,631              /             244        /             8,71,329              /             1,615

5             Iran        15,872   /             73,568   /             349        /             4,78,614              /             867

6             Italy       10,585   /             1,22,005              /             267        /             4,07,129              /             2,020

7             Ukraine 2,576     /             45,077   /             161        /             3,48,551              /             1,036

8             Turkey   26,476   /             41,883   /             356        /             3,24,210              /             492

9             Germany              21,266   /             84,593   /             308        /             3,00,155              /             1,007

10           Argentina            24,079   /             65,865   /             663        /             2,71,166              /             1,446

11           Russia    7,975     /             1,11,895              /             360        /             2,71,044              /             766

12           Mexico  3,064     /             2,17,740              /             395        /             2,60,013              /             1,674

13           Spain     6,317     /             78,566   /             167        /             2,39,770              /             1,680

14           Netherlands        7,273     /             17,245   /             24           /             2,24,310              /             1,005

15           Hungary               1,130     /             28,173   /             128        /             2,18,829              /             2,923

16           Poland   3,896     /             68,482   /             349        /             2,02,785              /             1,811

17           Sweden                /             14,151   /             33           /             1,60,613              /             1,394

18           Honduras             1,358     /             5,386     /             19           /             1,31,097              /             537

19           Colombia             14,806   /             76,015   /             388        /             1,03,656              /             1,481

20           Belgium               2,731     /             24,367   /             45           /             98,586   /             2,095

US RELENTS, SAYS IT WILL SUPPORT PATENT WAIVERS ON COVID-19 VACCINES

The US has thrown its support behind an initiative at the World Trade Organization (WTO) to waive intellectual property protections for coronavirus vaccines.

India and South Africa proposed the move, which they said would increase vaccine production around the world.

But drugs manufacturers argue it may not have the desired effect.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that "extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures".

And she warned that it would take time for WTO members to reach a consensus decision on the matter.

India and South Africa were the leading voices in a group of about 60 countries which for the last six months has been trying to get the patents on vaccines set aside.

However, they met with strong opposition from the previous US administration of Donald Trump, the UK and the EU.

But Mr Trump's successor as US President, Joe Biden, has taken a different tack. He backed a waiver during the 2020 presidential campaign and reiterated his support on Wednesday.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) called the move a "monumental moment" in the fight against Covid-19.

BRITISH TRADE SECRETARY LIZ TRUSS AND COMMERCE MINISTER PIYUSH GOYAL SIGN U.K.-INDIA ETP AGREEMENT

British Trade Secretary Liz Truss and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal have signed the UK-India Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) agreement, aimed at doubling bilateral trade by 2030.

"Today I signed the U.K.-India Enhanced Trade Partnership with my friend @PiyushGoyal. Together, we have committed to - negotiating a comprehensive free trade deal, starting this autumn, more than doubling trade by 2030 and reducing barriers to trade in key industries,” Ms. Truss said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Tuesday launched the 'Enhanced Trade Partnership' (ETP) to unleash the trade potential between the 5th and 6th largest economies of the world and by setting an ambitious target of more than doubling bilateral trade by 2030, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release on Tuesday.

As part of the ETP, India and the U.K. agreed on a roadmap to negotiate a comprehensive and balanced FTA, including consideration of an Interim Trade Agreement for delivering early gains. The enhanced trade partnership between India and U.K. will generate several thousands of direct and indirect jobs in both the countries, it said.

The ETP is said to create immediate opportunities for British businesses in India across industries including food and drink, life sciences and the service sector. Non-tariff barriers on fruit and medical devices will be lowered, allowing British businesses to export more of their products to India and boosting U.K. growth and jobs. It also commits both sides to addressing immediate market access barriers as well as continuing to seek further opportunities on the road to an FTA.

NEPAL'S OLI GOVT LOSES MAJORITY SUPPORT AFTER MAOIST PARTY WITHDRAWS SUPPORT

Nepal's embattled Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli-led government on Wednesday lost majority support in the House of Representatives after the CPN (Maoist Center) led by Pushpakamal Dahal "Prachanda" officially withdrew support to it.

The party submitted a letter to this effect to the Parliament Secretariat, informing about its decision to withdraw support to the government, according to a senior leader of the party, Ganesh Shah.

Chief Whip of the Maoist Center Dev Gurung handed over the letter to officials at the Parliament Secretariat, he said.

After handing over the letter Gurung told the media persons that the party decided to withdraw support to the Oli government as the government had breached the Constitution and the government's recent activities have posed threat to democratic procedures and national sovereignty.

After the withdrawal of support, the Oli government has lost its majority in the House of Representatives.

The decision of the Maoist party to withdraw support to the government comes two days after Oli announced that he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on May 10.

The Maoist Center has a total of 49 lawmakers in the lower house. Since the ruling CPN-UML has a total of 121 lawmakers, Prime Minister Oli is short of 15 lawmakers to save his government in the 275-member House.

GERMANY BANS ISLAMIC GROUP ANSAAR, SUSPECTED OF FINANCING TERRORISM

The global trade body has for months been facing calls led by India and South Africa to temporarily remove the intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines, in a move proponents say would help boost production in developing countries that so far have received far fewer jabs.

But that notion has until now met fierce opposition from pharmaceutical giants and their host countries, which insist the patents are not the main roadblocks to scaling up production, and warn the move could hamper innovation.

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been pressing for an international agreement to provide at least a temporary patent waiver.

"We need to have a sense of urgency on how we approach this issue of response to Covid-19 because the world is watching," she said earlier Wednesday, describing equitable access to the tools to fight the pandemic as the "moral and economic issue of our time."

FACEBOOK'S TRUMP BAN UPHELD BY OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR NOW

Donald Trump's ban from Facebook and Instagram has been upheld by Facebook's Oversight Board.

But it criticised the permanent nature of the ban as beyond the scope of Facebook's normal penalties.

It has ordered Facebook to review the decision and "justify a proportionate response" that is applied to everyone, including ordinary users.

The former president was banned from both sites in January following the Capitol Hill riots.

The Oversight Board said the initial decision to permanently suspend Mr Trump was "indeterminate and standardless", and that the correct response should be "consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform".

Facebook must respond within six months, it said.

WEAK AND TATTERED, 29 STUDENTS FREED IN NIGERIA'S KADUNA

Kidnappers have released the remaining 29 students they were holding captive on Wednesday, nearly two months after abducting them from a forestry college in Nigeria's Kaduna state.

Gunmen took 39 students from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization in northwest Nigeria on March 11 and previously released 10 of them. The newly released students arrived at police headquarters in Kaduna city on Wednesday night looking weak, forlorn and wearing dirty, torn clothing.

One female student could not walk alone and was carried into the building, while another was rushed to the hospital.

Police did not allow journalists to speak to the students.

More than 700 people have been abducted from schools in northwest Nigeria since December in a rash of kidnappings for ransom in the volatile region.

Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai has repeatedly said his state government will not negotiate with "bandits", as the criminal gangs are known, or pay ransoms.

Abdullahi Usman, chairman of the parents' association, said a ransom was paid for the students' release, but refused to say who had paid or how much.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SHOULD NOT AMPLIFY UNTRUSTWORTHY CONTENT: WHITE HOUSE

U.S. President Joe Biden believes social media platforms have a responsibility to "stop amplifying untrustworthy content," the White House said on Wednesday, even as it declined to comment directly on a decision by Facebook Inc's oversight board to keep a suspension in place for former President Donald Trump.

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"The president's view is that the major platforms have a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation and misinformation, especially related to COVID-19, vaccinations and elections," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.