KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    6,10,441              /             34,56,990            /             12,273   /             1,57,40,693               /             443.5

1             USA        28,539   /             6,03,399              /             647        /             58,59,436            /               1,814

2             India      2,54,395              /             2,95,508              /             4,143     /             29,30,544               /             212

3             Brazil     77,598   /             4,46,527              /             2,136     /             11,07,420            /               2,088

4             Iran        11,250   /             78,194   /             200        /             4,32,864              /             921

5             Argentina            35,468   /             73,391   /             692        /             3,48,976              /               1,611

6             Italy       5,218     /             1,25,028              /             133        /             2,91,788              /               2,071

7             France   12,800   /             1,08,437              /             113        /             2,86,210              /               1,658

8             Russia    8,937     /             1,17,739              /             378        /             2,64,986              /               806

9             Mexico  2,628     /             2,21,080              /             230        /             2,59,873              /               1,699

10           Spain     4,792     /             79,620   /             19           /             2,00,561              /               1,702

11           Ukraine 4,984     /             49,101   /             202        /             1,97,242              /               1,129

12           Netherlands        4,148     /             17,518   /             12           /             1,93,393              /               1,020

13           Germany              8,096     /             87,852   /             213        /             1,84,148              /               1,046

14           Poland   1,679     /             72,691   /             191        /             1,72,309              /               1,923

15           Honduras             1,100     /             6,093     /             42           /             1,40,825              /               607

16           Sweden                /             14,366   /             38           /             1,26,321              /               1,415

17           Turkey   9,528     /             45,840   /             214        /             1,25,472              /             538

18           Peru                      /             67,253   /                            /             1,22,442              /               2,015

19           Nepal    8,407     /             6,024     /             177        /             1,16,192              /             204

20           Colombia             14,838   /             83,719   /             486        /             1,10,208              /               1,630

27           Pakistan               3,070     /             20,089   /             102        /             63,229   /             89

29           Philippines           6,258     /             19,763   /             141        /             55,531   /             178

35           Bangladesh         1,504     /             12,310   /             26           /             45,349   /             74

PALESTINIANS SEE VICTORY IN GAZA TRUCE AS ISRAEL WARNS HAMAS

Thousands of displaced Palestinians started returning to their bomb-shattered homes after a ceasefire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as a costly but clear victory for the Hamas resistance and Gaza's governors.

The 11-day war left nearly 250 dead – the vast majority Palestinians – and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-governed Gaza.

President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to help organise efforts to rebuild Gaza and said creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the "only answer" to the conflict.

Biden also said he had told the Israelis to stop "intercommunal fighting" in the flashpoint city of Jerusalem.

However he stressed "there is no shift in my commitment, commitment to the security of Israel" and added that until the region "unequivocally" acknowledges Israel's existence "there will be no peace."

Hamas is now being seen as the actual leader of the Palestinians, which is likely to have a huge impact on the future of peace talks with Israel, Azzam Tamimi, a Palestinian academic and activist told TRT World.

Friday's ceasefire faced an early test when Israeli forces stormed Al Aqsa Mosque compound again and engaged in pitched battles with the Palestinian protesters.

Police fired stun grenades and tear gas, and Palestinians hurled rocks in response after hundreds took part in a celebratory demonstration in which they waved Palestinian and Hamas flags and cheered the resistance group.

Thousands took to the streets of Gaza as the ceasefire took hold at 2 am. Young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks.

Celebrations also broke out overnight in occupied East Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank. Israel captured all three territories in the 1967 war and the Palestinians want them for their future state.

Hamas also claimed victory but faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from high unemployment and a coronavirus outbreak.

COVID CLAIMED OVER 3 MILLION LIVES MORE THAN REPORTED IN 2020: WHO

The coronavirus pandemic claimed more than 3 million excess deaths, or 1.2 million more than officially reported, in the year 2020, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation on Friday.

While the WHO's official death toll due to Covid-19 is around 3.4 million so far, the actual number could be at least 6-8 million, showed the global health body's annual World Health Statistics report 2021.

"This number would truly be two to three times higher. So I think safely about 6-to-8 million deaths could be an estimate on a cautionary note," WHO's Assistant Director General for Data and Analytics, Samira Asma, was quoted as saying at a virtual briefing.

The current estimate can be explained by under-reporting by countries on the number of infections and deaths tolls, the WHO report said.

"At the time of writing, more than 160 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and 3.3 million deaths had been reported to WHO. Yet these numbers are only a partial picture, as many countries have not been able to accurately measure and report on deaths that are either directly or indirectly attributable to Covid-19," WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in the report.

"One of the greatest lessons from the pandemic is the importance of timely, reliable, actionable and disaggregated data. This requires strong country data and health information systems through collaboration between governments, ministries of health, national statistical offices, and registrar generals," he said.

SOUTH KOREA'S MOON MEETS JOE BIDEN, HAILS 'AMERICA'S RETURN'

South Korean President Moon Jae-in welcomed “America’s return” to the world stage after his meeting with President Joe Biden on Friday and said both leaders pledged to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the US on curbing North Korea’s nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue. High on Biden's list for the meeting as well: coordination in vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Moon said “The world is welcoming America’s return,” an oblique reference to former President Donald Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trump’s deeply personal effort to win over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Barack Obama’s more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

NEPAL PRESIDENT DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT, ANNOUNCES NEW ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER

Nepal plunged into fresh political turmoil on Saturday as President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the Parliament and fixed general elections in November amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak.

The surprise announcement comes after a presidential statement said neither the caretaker Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, nor opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba were able to demonstrate a majority to form a new government by the Friday deadline set by Ms. Bhandari.

“The President has dissolved the House of Representatives and ordered the first phase of general elections on November 12 and the second phase on November 19,” a presidential statement issued after midnight said.

It said the decision was made on the recommendation of the cabinet headed by caretaker Prime Minister Oli, whose December 2020 dissolution of parliament sparked weeks of protests and was reversed by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in February.

BBC UNDER PRESSURE OVER DIANA INTERVIEW AFTER PRINCES LAUNCH SCATHING ATTACK

The British government vowed on Friday to examine how the BBC was run, after a damning inquiry into how the broadcaster got its bombshell 1995 interview with Princess Diana and unprecedented criticism from her son Prince William.

An independent investigation concluded on Thursday that journalist Martin Bashir lied and deceived to persuade Diana to agree to the interview in which she disclosed intimate details of her failed marriage to heir to the throne Prince Charles.

It also lambasted the BBC for its “woefully ineffective” investigation into Bashir’s actions the following year and for covering up his wrongdoing. Bashir tricked Diana’s brother into thinking her staff were spying on her, and could not be trusted.

In a scathing statement, Diana’s eldest son William, now 38, called the way the interview was secured “deceitful”.

“It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC’s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.

“His younger brother Prince Harry said the interview was part of a series of unethical practices that ultimately cost his mother her life.”Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed,” he said.

The BBC has apologised for its failings, but ministers, newspapers, critics and some supporters said the episode raised questions for the publicly-funded broadcaster.

Britain’s justice minister, Robert Buckland, said “doing nothing” was not an option in light of the inquiry by former UK Supreme Court judge John Dyson.

Media minister Oliver Dowden said they would consider whether further reforms were needed during a review of the BBC’s royal charter, which sets the 98-year-old broadcaster’s mission, due in 2022 before it needs to be renewed in 2027.

“I am obviously concerned by the findings of Lord Dyson’s report,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told broadcasters.”I can only imagine the feelings of the Royal Family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.

London police said officers would assess the contents of Dyson’s report to see if there was any significant new evidence having previously ruled out a criminal investigation.

CHINA OFFERS $3 BILLION COVID-19 AID, VACCINES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

China has pledged an additional $3 billion in aid for developing countries to assist their COVID-19 responses and suggested setting up a global forum on vaccines to ensure equitable distribution.

This was proposed by President Xi Jinping on Friday as he addressed the Global Health Summit held by the G20 and European Commission.

China, which has broadly curbed the transmission of COVID-19 at home and avoided a second wave, has been offering its vaccines and assistance including in the neighbourhood, having organised a series of virtual dialogues with South Asian countries in recent months.

Beijing has offered $2 billion in aid so far to developing countries as well as free vaccines for 80 countries with 43 other nations importing its vaccines, Mr. Xi said.

STUDY FINDS IRAN USING CRYPTO MINING TO REDUCE IMPACT OF SANCTIONS

Around 4.5% of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions, a new study has found.

At its current level of mining, Iran's bitcoin production would amount to revenues close $1 billion a year, according to figures from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The United States imposes an almost total economic embargo on Iran, including a ban on all imports including those from the country's oil, banking and shipping sectors.

While, exact figures are "very challenging to determine", Elliptic estimates are based on data collected from bitcoin miners by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance up to April 2020, and statements from Iran's state-controlled power generation company in January that up to 600 MW of electricity was being consumed by miners.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are created through a process known as mining, where powerful computers compete with each other to solve complex mathematical problems. The process is energy intensive, often relying electricity generated by fossil fuels which Iran is rich in.

The country's central bank prohibits the trading of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies mined overseas, although the currencies are widely available on the black market, according to local media reports.

MYANMAR POLL BODY TO DISSOLVE SUU KYI’S PARTY

Myanmar’s junta-appointed election commission will dissolve Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party for vote fraud in a November poll, local media reported on Friday. News websites said the announcement was made at a meeting with political parties that was boycotted by many, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

The army seized power accusing the NLD of obtaining victory through a manipulated vote, though the electoral commission at that time had rejected its complaints. The NLD had committed fraud “so we will have to dissolve the party’s registration”, the chairman of Union Election Commission Thein Soe was cited as saying. The National Unity Government, an alliance of democracy groups, said it was a ploy to cling to power.