KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,02,515              /             37,87,201            /             10,390   /             1,23,53,822               /             485.9

1             USA        10,818   /             6,13,831              /             339        /             53,83,392            /               1,844

2             India      91,266   /             3,63,097              /             3,402     /             11,31,347            /               261

3             Brazil     85,612   /             4,82,019              /             2,228     /             10,58,196            /               2,253

4             Argentina            27,628   /             83,941   /             669        /             3,42,813              /               1,841

5             Iran        12,398   /             81,672   /             153        /             3,09,349              /             961

6             Russia    11,699   /             1,25,278              /             383        /             2,70,676              /               858

7             Mexico  3,855     /             2,29,353              /             253        /             2,66,036              /               1,762

8             Italy       2,079     /             1,26,855              /             88           /             1,69,309              /               2,101

9             Colombia             29,302   /             94,046   /             573        /             1,62,015              /               1,830

10           Poland   382        /             74,447   /             84           /             1,55,125              /               1,969

11           Honduras             671        /             6,559     /             27           /             1,50,359              /               653

12           France   4,475     /             1,10,270              /             68           /             1,48,548              /               1,686

13           Spain     4,623     /             80,465   /             133        /             1,43,750              /               1,720

14           UK          7,393     /             1,27,867              /             7             /             1,31,856              /               1,874

15           Indonesia            8,892     /             52,373   /             211        /             1,04,655              /               190

16           Netherlands        1,561     /             17,705   /             5             /             97,718   /               1,031

17           Malaysia              5,671     /             3,684     /             73           /             79,848   /             112

18           Nepal    2,874     /             8,238     /             59           /             77,858   /             278

19           Turkey   6,408     /             48,524   /             96           /             77,846   /             570

21           South Africa       9,147     /             57,410   /             100        /             71,617   /             957

26           Philippines           7,485     /             22,312   /             122        /             56,921   /             201

34           Bangladesh         2,576     /             12,989   /             40           /             47,776   /             78

38           Pakistan               1,303     /             21,529   /             76           /             44,236   /             96

EU LEADERS URGE UNFETTERED PROBE INTO ORIGINS OF COVID-19

EU leaders on Thursday called for an unfettered investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, first identified in central China, amid criticism of an initial World Health Organization probe.

The WHO study in January and February was "insufficient and inconclusive", the U.S. mission to the U.N. in Geneva said in a statement last month, calling for what it called a timely, transparent and evidence-based second probe to be conducted, including in China.

"Investigators need complete access to whatever is necessary to really find the source of this pandemic," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference in Brussels.

The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said: "The world has the right to know exactly what happened in order to be able to learn the lessons." He added that the EU supported all efforts.

A draft text to be approved at a EU-U.S. summit next week says: "We call for progress on a transparent, evidence-based and expert-led WHO-convened phase 2 study on the origins of COVID-19, that is free from interference.".

EU diplomats have said the EU's support for a new study is mostly symbolic, as the bloc would not be directly involved.

PAKISTAN CLERIC ARRESTED FOR THREATENING NOBEL LAUREATE MALALA YOUSAFZAI: REPORT

A Muslim cleric in northwest Pakistan has been arrested under the anti-terrorism act for threatening Malala Yousafzai and instigating people to attack the Nobel Laureate for her recent comments on marriage, police said.

Mufti Sardar Ali Haqqani, a cleric in Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was arrested on Wednesday after the police raided his house, Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting Lakki Marwat District Police Office.

An FIR under the Anti-Terrorism Act was registered against him on the complaint of SHO Wasim Sajjad, it said.

According to the FIR, a video went viral on social media showing Mufti Sardar instigating people at a gathering in Peshawar to take the law into their own hands and attack Malala. He was armed when the incident took place, the report said.

“When Malala comes to Pakistan, I will be the first to attempt a suicide attack on her,” the FIR quoted him as saying.  The complaint further said the speech had threatened peace and incited lawlessness, according to the news report.

In an interview to the Vogue magazine in its latest edition, 23-year-old Yousafzai, an Oxford graduate and a Pakistani activist for girls education who miraculously survived a bullet to the head from the militant Taliban in October 2012, revealed that she is not sure if she will ever marry.

“I still don’t understand why people have to get married. If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can’t it just be a partnership?” she told the magazine.

Yousafzai’s interview with Vogue has been circulating on the mainstream and social media.

WUHAN MARKETS SOLD WILD ANIMALS BEFORE COVID

Markets in China’s Wuhan sold dozens of wild animals that can host pathogens and potentially jump to humans, two years before the Covid pandemic hit the world, according to a study.

The study was led by an international team of researchers from China West Normal University in China, Oxford University in the UK and the University of British Columbia in Canada.

In the study, published in the journal scientific reports, the researchers document 47,381 animals across 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan's markets. Of these, 33 have been reportedly infected with zoonotic pathogens in wild populations, the findings showed.

CHINA HAS CREATED A DYSTOPIAN HELLSCAPE IN XINJIANG, AMNESTY REPORT SAYS

The human rights organisation Amnesty International has said China is committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, the north-western region that is home to the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.

In a report published on Thursday, Amnesty called on the UN to investigate, and said China had subjected Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims to mass detention, surveillance, and torture.

Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, accused Chinese authorities of creating "a dystopian hellscape on a staggering scale".

"It should shock the conscience of humanity that massive numbers of people have been subjected to brainwashing, torture and other degrading treatment in internment camps, while millions more live in fear amid a vast surveillance apparatus," Ms Callamard said.

She also accused UN Secretary General António Guterres of "failing to act according to his mandate".

Mr Guterres "has not denounced the situation, he has not called for an international investigation", Ms Callamard told the BBC. "It is incumbent on him to protect the values upon which the United Nations has been founded, and certainly not to stay silent in front of crimes against humanity."

In the 160-page report based on interviews with 55 former detainees, Amnesty said there was evidence the Chinese state had committed "at least the following crimes against humanity: imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; torture; and persecution."

CDC LOOKING INTO REPORTS OF HEART INFLAMMATION AFTER PFIZER, MODERNA VACCINE SECOND JAB

US health officials are investigating what appear to be higher than expected reports of heart inflammation in male teens and young adults after they get a second dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

It’s not clear if the heart inflammation is caused by the shots and the reports still are rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It urges everyone 12 and older to get vaccinated.

As of May 31, the agency had 275 preliminary reports of such inflammation in 16- to 24-year-olds, CDC’s Dr Tom Shimabukuro told a government vaccine meeting on Thursday. That’s out of more than 12 million second-dose injections of the vaccines.

The cases seem to occur more often in men and in younger people, and most already have fully recovered, he said.

This kind of heart inflammation can be caused by a variety of infections, including a bout of COVID-19, as well as certain medications, and there have been rare reports following other types of vaccinations.

The CDC’s vaccine advisory committee will meet on June 18 to further evaluate the possible risk.

NFT OF DIGITAL ARTWORK CALLED 'CRYPTOPUNK' SELLS FOR $11.8M

A nonfungible token (NFT) of a digital artwork called “CryptoPunk” has been sold for a world record amount of $11.8 million.

Auction house Sotheby’s shared Thursday that the famous artwork, which depicts an alien-like creature with blue-green skin wearing a medical mask, was auctioned off at a world record price.

The artwork is a part of CryptoPunks, a series of 10,000-pixel artworks created by Larva Labs in 2017, according to a Reuters report. The CryptoPunk #7523, was the most sought after piece in the auction.

The NFT was sold in Sotheby’s online auction “Natively Digital: A Curated NFT Sale” which runs from June 3-10. The auction features various digital artwork from 27 different artists, Reuters noted.

Michael Bouhanna, contemporary art specialist at Sotheby’s, said the sale demonstrated continued strong demand for NFTs.

“We are excited to continue to explore new and interesting ways in presenting these cutting-edge works.”

Anyone can view the artworks the NFTs represent, but only the buyer has the official status of being the owner.