KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    3,51,952              /             35,64,518            /             7,714     /             1,39,24,101        /             457.3

1             USA        5,141     /             6,09,767              /             141        /             55,75,368            /             1,832

2             India      1,26,698              /             3,31,909              /             2,782     /             19,02,242            /             238

3             Brazil     32,554   /             4,62,966              /             874        /             11,20,077            /             2,164

4             Iran        11,042   /             80,156   /             217        /             3,74,296              /             943

5             Argentina            28,175   /             78,093   /             637        /             3,53,089              /             1,714

6             Russia    8,475     /             1,21,501              /             339        /             2,65,831              /             832

7             Mexico  1,307     /             2,23,507              /             52           /             2,63,016              /             1,717

8             Italy       1,820     /             1,26,128              /             82           /             2,33,674              /             2,089

9             France   1,211     /             1,09,528              /             126        /             2,24,073              /             1,675

10           Peru                      /             69,342   /                            /             1,65,462              /             2,077

11           Poland   333        /             73,745   /             7             /             1,58,849              /             1,950

12           Spain     3,186     /             79,953   /             16           /             1,49,862              /             1,709

13           Colombia             23,177   /             88,774   /             492        /             1,48,109              /             1,728

14           Netherlands        2,042     /             17,623   /             2             /             1,47,351              /             1,026

15           Honduras             629        /             6,316     /             20           /             1,46,705              /             629

16           Germany              2,203     /             89,148   /             97           /             1,14,070              /             1,061

17           Ukraine 1,022     /             50,536   /             64           /             1,10,876              /             1,162

18           Nepal    4,178     /             7,386     /             114        /             1,06,470              /             249

19           Indonesia            5,662     /             50,578   /             174        /             1,02,006              /             183

20           Turkey   6,493     /             47,527   /             122        /             87,253   /             558

29           Pakistan               2,117     /             20,779   /             43           /             59,033   /             92

32           Philippines           6,684     /             20,966   /             107        /             54,290   /             189

38           Bangladesh         1,710     /             12,619   /             36           /             47,549   /             76

NSA SPYING ROW: US AND DENMARK PRESSED OVER ALLEGATIONS

French President Emmanuel Macron urged the U.S. to clarify media reports that American intelligence monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European politicians with the help of Denmark.

“If the information is correct, then that’s unacceptable between allies, and even less so between European allies,” Macron told reporters after a bilateral meeting with Merkel. “We expect complete openness and a clarification of the facts from our Danish and American partners.”

The aim isn’t just to find out what spying activities happened in the past, but also to determine “which practices are still going on today” in order to maintain trust between the U.S. and Europe, he said, adding that “there’s no room for suspicion between us.”

Merkel said she agreed with Macron’s position.

Denmark’s state broadcaster DR cited a classified report saying that the Danish Defense Intelligence Service allowed the U.S. National Security Agency to use the country’s internet cables for spying on Merkel and politicians in France, Sweden and Norway. Denmark is one of America’s closest allies in Europe.

COVID: WHO RENAMES UK AND OTHER VARIANTS WITH GREEK LETTERS

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a new naming system for variants of Covid-19.

From now on the WHO will use Greek letters to refer to variants first detected in countries like the UK, South Africa and India.

The UK variant for instance is labelled as Alpha, the South African Beta, and the Indian as Delta.

The WHO said this was to simplify discussions but also to help remove some stigma from the names.

Earlier this month the Indian government criticised the naming of variant B.1.617.2 - first detected in the country last October - as the "Indian variant", though the WHO had never officially labelled it as such.

"No country should be stigmatised for detecting and reporting variants," the WHO's Covid-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, tweeted. She also called for "robust surveillance" of variants, and for the sharing of scientific data to help stop the spread.

Letters will refer to both variants of concern, and variants of interest. A full list of names has been published on the WHO website.

These Greek letters will not replace existing scientific names. If more than 24 variants are officially identified, the system runs out of Greek letters, and a new naming programme will be announced, Ms Van Kerkhove told STAT News in an interview.

CHINA ALLOWS THREE CHILDREN IN MAJOR POLICY SHIFT

China will for the first time allow couples to have a third child, the country’s government said on Monday, in a further relaxation of family planning rules five years after a “two-child policy” largely failed to boost birth rates.

The announcement followed a meeting of the 25-member Politburo, chaired by China’s President and Communist Party of China General Secretary Xi Jinping, “to hear reports on major policy measures to actively address the ageing of population during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025)”, State media said.

The change comes less than three weeks after the release of China’s once-in-a-decade population census that painted an alarming picture of declining births. The National Bureau of Statistics said on May 11 that 12 million babies were born last year, the lowest number since 1961, a time when Mao’s China was in the midst of a four-year famine, and down from 17.86 million in 2016.

The census said China’s population was 1.41 billion in 2020, and increase of 72 million since the last census in 2010, reflecting a 5.38% growth in this period and a 0.53% annual growth. Forecasts say the population could peak in the next couple of years and most likely by 2025, when India will become the world’s most populous country.

PFIZER'S COVID-19 VACCINE APPROVED FOR MINORS AGED 12-15 IN JAPAN: REPORT

The Japanese government approved Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for ages 12 to 15 on Monday, the media reported.

According to the Japanese Kyodo news agency, this newly approved age group will not be getting the vaccine instantly as the country is still vaccinating medical staff and senior citizens. So far, an estimated 6% of the Japanese population has taken at least one shot of a vaccine, which is lower when compared to other developed nations.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has promised to speed up the effort and ensure complete vaccination of the elderly before the commencement of the Tokyo Olympics in July.

In a parallel development, Japan has approved the storage guidelines for the Pfizer vaccine that will allow for month-long storage at 2-8 degrees Celsius (36-46 degrees Fahrenheit) after removal from the freezer, instead of five days.

The US pharmaceutical company had advised that 12 to 15 year olds be made eligible after a successful clinical trial including 2,260 children revealed a 100% efficacy rate, with none developing any symptom except for 18 who were given a placebo.

COVID-19 | VIETNAM TO TEST ALL NINE MILLION RESIDENTS IN HO CHI MINH

Vietnam plans to test all nine million people in its largest city for the coronavirus and imposed more restrictions on Monday to deal with a growing COVID-19 outbreak.

People in Ho Chi Minh city are only allowed to leave home for necessary activities and public gatherings of more than 10 people are banned for the next two weeks, the government announced.

Prior to the order, the city, also Vietnam’s economic hub, shut down non-essential business last Thursday when cases started to increase.

State newspaper Vietnam News said the city authority is planning to test its entire population with a testing capacity of 1,00,000 samples a day.

The newspaper also said police had filed a case on Sunday against the couple who head a Protestant church mission for “spreading dangerous infectious diseases,” citing poor health protocols applied at the premises.

PAK. JOURNALIST WHO CRITICISED ARMY BANNED

A Pakistani television station on Monday removed a prominent journalist as host of a popular talk show after he criticised the country’s powerful military.

The development comes just days after the journalist, Hamid Mir, made a fiery speech at a rally in support of a fellow reporter, Asad Ali Toor, who was beaten up by three unidentified men in his apartment in Islamabad. Mr. Toor later told the police his attackers claimed that they were from the ISI.

Geo News TV did not comment on the changes regarding its “Capital Talk” programme, in which Mr. Mir would debate current events in the country. Mr. Mir tweeted it was nothing new. “I was banned twice in the past,” said Mr. Mir, who had in the past been fired by Geo News.

JAPANESE COMPANIES TO DEVELOP CHIPMAKING TECHNOLOGY WITH TSMC

About 20 Japanese companies, including electronic component maker Ibiden Co, will work with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to develop chip manufacturing technology in Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

Japan's government will pay half of the 37 billion yen ($337 million) cost of a research facility, The Nikkei said, without disclosing its sources.

TSMC in February said it will spend about $178 million to open a material research subsidiary near Tokyo.

In a statement to Reuters, TSMC said that facility "aims to leverage more expertise in the field of materials to bring value to the industry".

"We appreciate the support from Japan's government for us to drive semiconductor technology advancement together with TSMC's partners in Japan," it added, without elaborating.