KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World 4,05,983 / 41,12,285 / 6,589 / 1,30,34,039 / 527.6

1 USA 19,016 / 6,24,943 / 94 / 49,84,923 / 1,877

2 UK 39,950 / 1,28,727 / 19 / 9,40,285 / 1,886

3 Brazil 15,271 / 5,42,877 / 615 / 7,81,888 / 2,535

4 Indonesia 34,257 / 74,920 / 1,338 / 5,42,938 / 271

5 Russia 24,633 / 1,49,138 / 719 / 4,73,633 / 1,021

6 India 29,424 / 4,14,513 / 372 / 4,12,375 / 297

7 Spain 20,542 / 81,119 / 7 / 4,08,622 / 1,734

8 Mexico 4,438 / 2,36,331 / 91 / 3,36,149 / 1,813

9 Iran 25,441 / 87,374 / 213 / 3,08,677 / 1,027

10 Argentina 12,764 / 1,01,955 / 406 / 2,59,372 / 2,234

11 Honduras / 7,391 / / 1,75,272 / 734

12 South Africa 7,209 / 67,080 / 221 / 1,66,139 / 1,116

13 Bangladesh 13,321 / 18,125 / 231 / 1,57,842 / 109

14 Poland 67 / 75,215 / / 1,53,242 / 1,990

15 Colombia 16,455 / 1,16,753 / 446 / 1,31,142 / 2,269

16 Netherlands 8,874 / 17,778 / 2 / 1,29,160 / 1,035

17 Malaysia 10,972 / 7,148 / 129 / 1,28,997 / 218

18 Thailand 11,784 / 3,422 / 81 / 1,22,097 / 49

19 Iraq 9,883 / 17,892 / 62 / 1,19,158 / 435

20 France 4,151 / 1,11,492 / 20 / 99,017 / 1,704

30 Pakistan 2,452 / 22,811 / 30 / 48,850 / 101

31 Philippines 5,651 / 26,786 / 72 / 47,561 / 241

NO EVIDENCE THAT AFGHAN AMBASSADOR'S DAUGHTER WAS KIDNAPPED: PAK POLICE

Pakistan police on Monday said they have found no evidence that the daughter of Afghan ambassador was abducted from the capital city, an incident that has triggered a major diplomatic row between the two neighbouring nations.

Silsila Alikhil, the 26-year-old daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan Najibullah Alikhil was abducted, tortured and assaulted on Friday by unknown persons in Islamabad. She was abducted while riding a rented vehicle and was held for several hours before being released. She was found near F-9 Park area of the capital with torture marks on her body.

Addressing a press conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf, Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Qazi Jameelur Rehman said police had collected the video footage of all places visited by the envoy’s daughter that included the collected data of around 300 CCTV cameras in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

“We used all our resources for the investigation…and supported all law enforcement agencies,” he said, adding that the abduction was not proven yet.

Rehman said police had analysed all footage of the movement of the ambassador’s daughter on the day of kidnapping, however, the “impression given (about her abduction) is not corroborated by the evidence we have collected”, the Dawn newspaper reported.

MICROSOFT HACK CAUSED BY CHINA: U.S., ALLIES

The Biden administration and Western allies formally blamed China on Monday for a massive hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software and accused Beijing of working with criminal hackers in ransomware attacks and other cyber operations.

The announcements, though not accompanied by sanctions against the Chinese government, were intended as a forceful condemnation of activities a senior Biden administration official described as part of a “pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace.” They highlighted the ongoing threat from Chinese government hackers even as the administration remains consumed with trying to curb ransomware attacks from Russia-based syndicates that have targeted critical infrastructure.

The broad range of cyberthreats from Beijing disclosed on Monday included ransomware attacks from government-affiliated hackers that have targeted victims — including in the U.S. — with demands for millions of dollars.

Chinese authorities denied carrying out a massive hack of key Microsoft servers Tuesday, with the Chinese embassy in New Zealand describing the allegations made by US allies as "totally groundless and irresponsible".

After Wellington joined several capitals in attributing the cyberattack to China, the embassy singled out New Zealand's role and described the allegations as a "malicious smear".

GLOBAL CALL FOR ‘END’ TO TALIBAN OFFENSIVE

More than a dozen diplomatic missions in Afghanistan on Monday called for “an urgent end” to the Taliban’s ruthless military offensive, saying it was at odds with claims they want to secure a political deal to end the conflict.

The statement — signed by the U.S., EU, and more than a dozen other missions in Kabul — follows another round of inconclusive talks in Doha over the weekend between the Afghan government and the Taliban that many hoped would kickstart the ailing peace process.

“The Taliban’s offensive is in direct contradiction to their claim to support a negotiated settlement,” it read.

“It has resulted in loss of innocent Afghan lives, including through continued targeted killings, displacement of the civilian population, looting and burning of buildings, destruction of vital infrastructure, and damage to communication networks.”

A joint statement released late on Sunday said little more than they had agreed on the need to reach a “just solution”, and to meet again next week.

“We also agreed that there should be no pause in the negotiations,” Abdullah Abdullah, who oversees the Afghan government’s delegation, said on Monday.

REPORTS FULL OF WRONG ASSUMPTIONS, SAYS NSO GROUP

NSO Group, a private Israeli cybersecurity firm that sells the spyware Pegasus, has dismissed media reports that alleged that phones of prominent personalities, including journalists, politicians and experts in India were targeted for surveillance, terming them “full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories”.

“The report by Forbidden Stories is full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories that raise serious doubts about the reliability and interests of the sources. It seems like the ‘unidentified sources’ have supplied information that has no factual basis and are far from reality,” the NSO Group said in a statement.

“We firmly deny the false allegations made in their report. Their sources have supplied them with information which has no factual basis, as evident by the lack of supporting documentation for many of their claims. In fact, these allegations are so outrageous... that NSO is considering a defamation lawsuit.”

In its statement, the NSO Group also said that it “has a good reason to believe the claims that are made by the unnamed sources to Forbidden Stories, are based on misleading interpretation of data from accessible and overt basic information...”

CAUGHT BETWEEN CHINA AND US, ASIAN COUNTRIES STOCKPILE POWERFUL NEW MISSILES

Asia is sliding into a dangerous arms race as smaller nations that once stayed on the sidelines build arsenals of advanced long-range missiles, following in the footsteps of powerhouses China and the United States, analysts say.

China is mass producing its DF-26 - a multipurpose weapon with a range of up to 4,000 kilometres - while the United States is developing new weapons aimed at countering Beijing in the Pacific.

Other countries in the region are buying or developing their own new missiles, driven by security concerns over China and a desire to reduce their reliance on the United States.

Before the decade is out, Asia will be bristling with conventional missiles that fly farther and faster, hit harder, and are more sophisticated than ever before - a stark and dangerous change from recent years, analysts, diplomats, and military officials say.

"The missile landscape is changing in Asia, and it's changing fast," said David Santoro, president of the Pacific Forum.

Such weapons are increasingly affordable and accurate, and as some countries acquire them, their neighbours don't want to be left behind, analysts said. Missiles provide strategic benefits such as deterring enemies and boosting leverage with allies, and can be a lucrative export.

"More likely is that missile proliferation will fuel suspicions, trigger arms races, increase tensions, and ultimately cause crises and even wars," he said

AMAZON MAGNATE BEZOS READY TO RIDE HIS OWN ROCKET TO SPACE

The wealthiest man on the planet Jeff Bezos will ride his own rocket to outer space on Tuesday, a key moment for a fledgling industry seeking to make the final frontier accessible to elite tourists.

Blue Origin has planned its first crewed mission, an 11-minute hop from west Texas to beyond the Karman line and back again, to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of the first Moon landing.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson made the voyage on July 11, narrowly beating the Amazon magnate in their battle of the billionaires.

But Bezos, like Branson, insists it wasn't a contest.

"There's one person who was the first person in space -- his name was Yuri Gagarin -- and that happened a long time ago," he told the TODAY show on NBC on Monday, referencing the Soviet cosmonaut's 1961 milestone.