KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    5,09,633              /             34,98,858            /             11,781   /             1,48,93,489               /             448.9

1             USA        21,383   /             6,05,181              /             646        /             57,34,499            /               1,819

2             India      2,08,886              /             3,11,421              /             4,172     /             25,01,662               /             224

3             Brazil     74,845   /             4,52,224              /             2,198     /             10,95,425            /               2,114

4             Iran        11,873   /             79,056   /             208        /             4,13,912              /             931

5             Argentina            24,601   /             75,056   /             576        /             3,54,020              /               1,647

6             Italy       3,224     /             1,25,501              /             166        /             2,68,145              /               2,078

7             Russia    7,884     /             1,19,194              /             393        /             2,65,646              /               816

8             Mexico  703        /             2,21,695              /             48           /             2,59,468              /               1,703

9             France   3,155     /             1,08,879              /             203        /             2,53,740              /               1,665

10           Spain     5,359     /             79,801   /             90           /             1,70,820              /               1,706

11           Netherlands        2,462     /             17,566   /             13           /             1,70,234              /               1,023

12           Poland   1,000     /             73,096   /             151        /             1,64,465              /               1,933

13           Ukraine 2,608     /             49,685   /             249        /             1,61,714              /               1,142

14           Germany              2,578     /             88,161   /             122        /             1,50,707              /               1,049

15           Honduras             444        /             6,188     /             42           /             1,43,203              /               616

16           Peru                      /             68,358   /                            /             1,37,900              /               2,048

17           Colombia             21,181   /             85,666   /             459        /             1,21,618              /               1,668

18           Nepal    8,387     /             6,700     /             169        /             1,17,261              /             226

19           Sweden                /             14,360   /                            /             1,14,317              /               1,414

20           Turkey   9,375     /             46,621   /             175        /             1,11,256              /             548

28           Pakistan               2,253     /             20,400   /             92           /             62,295   /             91

33           Philippines           3,972     /             20,019   /             36           /             48,201   /             181

35           Bangladesh         1,675     /             12,441   /             40           /             46,945   /             75

MODERNA SAYS ITS COVID-19 VACCINE IS UP TO 100% EFFECTIVE IN TEENS

Moderna said Tuesday its Covid-19 vaccine was 100% effective in a study of adolescents ages 12 to 17, making it the second shot behind Pfizer’s to demonstrate high efficacy in younger age groups.

The company said it plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to expand the emergency use of its Covid vaccine for teens early next month. If approved, it would likely dramatically expand the number of shots available to middle and high school students ahead of the next school year. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech were cleared to use their vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds earlier this month.

“We are encouraged that mRNA-1273 was highly effective at preventing COVID-19 in adolescents,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a press release. “We remain committed to doing our part to help end the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The two-dose vaccine, which is given four weeks apart, is already authorized for adults.

The phase 2/3 study the company is citing Tuesday included more than 3,700 adolescents. No cases of Covid were observed in participants who received two doses of the vaccine, while four cases were observed in the placebo group, according to the company.

No significant safety concerns have been identified, and side effects generally are consistent with those seen in an earlier trial of adults, the company said.

U.S. CALLS FOR 'TRANSPARENT' NEW INVESTIGATION INTO COVID ORIGINS

The United States on Tuesday called for a “transparent” second phase of investigation into the origins of novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the route of introduction to the human population. In a video message to the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA), US health secretary Xavier Becerra advocated that international experts should be given independence to fully assess the source of the virus, which has claimed more than 3.4 million lives so far.

An international team of experts visited Wuhan in January to probe the origins of the virus and identified two most likely scenarios that caused SARS-CoV-2 transmission to the human population, including the one involving intermediary host species. The hypothesis of introduction through a laboratory incident had gained a lot of traction in the early days of the outbreak but the global study, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), deemed it “extremely unlikely.”

"Phase 2 of the Covid origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based, and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak," Becerra told the annual ministerial meeting of the WHO.

Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of COVID-19 emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019.

A WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, asking about a follow-up mission, told Reuters on Monday that the agency was reviewing the recommendations from the report at the technical level.

"The technical teams will prepare a proposal for the next studies that will need to be carried out, and will present that to the Director-General for his consideration," he said, referring to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

US TO REOPEN JERUSALEM CONSULATE, UPGRADING PALESTINIAN TIES

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that the US would reopen its consulate in Jerusalem - a move that restores ties with Palestinians that had been downgraded by the Trump administration.

The consulate long served as an autonomous office in charge of diplomatic relations with the Palestinians. But former US President Donald Trump downgraded its operations and placed them under the authority of his ambassador to Israel when he moved the embassy to Jerusalem.

Trump's move infuriated the Palestinians, who view east Jerusalem as occupied territory and the capital of their future state.

Blinken did not give a precise date for reopening the consulate. He announced the step after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

"As I told the president, I'm here to underscore the commitment of the United States to rebuilding the relationship with the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people, a relationship built on mutual respect and also a shared conviction that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve equal measures of security, freedom opportunity and dignity," he said.

Blinken is in the region to help shore up the cease-fire adopted last week that ended a devastating 11-day war between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.

HALF OF ALL US ADULTS FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST COVID, SAYS WHITE HOUSE

Half of all US adults will have received full Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, the White House said, marking another huge milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

"Today, the United States will reach 50 percent of American adults fully vaccinated," a White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

More than half a million Americans have died from the coronavirus but the country is now a world leader in rolling out vaccinations.

The US has reached almost 50 percent of its population of 332 million with at least one dose, but its vaccination campaign is slowing in the face of hesitancy.

President Joe Biden has set a target of having 70 percent of adults vaccinated with at least one dose by July 4. The current figure is almost 62 percent.

US SECURITY ASSISTANCE TO PAKISTAN REMAINS SUSPENDED: PENTAGON

The security assistance to Pakistan that was suspended by the previous Trump administration remains to be the same, the Pentagon said on Monday as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and US National Security Advisor Jek Sullivan met his Pakistani counterpart in Geneva.

"At this time, the US security assistance to Pakistan is still suspended. I will not get into speculating one way or another about if or whether that will change going forward," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news conference.

He was responding to a question on if the new Biden administration has reviewed the policy in this regard of the previous Trump administration and if there are any changes in it or was this issue on the table during talks with the Pakistani leadership.

Former US president Donald Trump, in January 2018, had suspended all security assistance to Pakistan, arguing that he was not satisfied with the latter's cooperation and role in the fight against terrorism.

RIGHTS GROUP URGES JAPAN TO UPDATE LAW ON CHANGING GENDER

An international rights group on Tuesday urged Japan to change a law that it says puts “abusive and outdated” burdens on transgender people seeking to have their gender change legally recognised, including sterilization surgery and a psychiatric diagnosis.

The report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said such requirements are inhumane, unnecessary and discriminatory.

“Tokyo officials should embrace public opinion and local-level policies and update the law to reflect current medical and legal perspectives,” Kanae Doi, the group’s Japan director, said in a statement.

The report comes as activists in Japan push for the passage of an equality act, which would remove such barriers as well as legalize same-sex marriage. The legislation faces resistance from conservative members of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s ruling party.