KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    5,95,151              /             43,25,587            /             9,767     /             1,65,39,155        /             554.9

1             USA        97,908   /             6,34,619              /             628        /             62,93,483            /             1,905

2             UK          23,510   /             1,30,503              /             146        /             12,91,739            /             1,911

3             Spain     15,680   /             82,227   /             102        /             7,06,156              /             1,758

4             Brazil     35,245   /             5,64,890              /             1,183     /             6,25,774              /             2,637

5             Iran        39,139   /             95,111   /             508        /             5,52,252              /             1,117

6             Russia    21,378   /             1,66,442              /             792        /             5,36,136              /             1,140

7             Indonesia            32,081   /             1,10,619              /             2,048     /             4,37,055              /             400

8             France   28,576   /             1,12,356              /             68           /             4,27,840              /             1,717

9             India      36,316   /             4,29,183              /             468        /             3,93,526              /             308

10           Mexico  6,513     /             2,44,690              /             270        /             3,90,088              /             1,876

11           Turkey   26,597   /             52,437   /             124        /             3,89,757              /             614

12           Argentina            12,412   /             1,08,165              /             204        /             2,41,799              /             2,369

13           Malaysia              19,991   /             11,162   /             201        /             2,30,762              /             340

14           Thailand               19,843   /             6,588     /             235        /             2,11,223              /             94

15           Honduras             1,178     /             8,202     /             19           /             1,97,391              /             814

16           Iraq        9,970     /             19,336   /             66           /             1,65,296              /             469

17           Netherlands        2,161     /             17,878   /             7             /             1,60,547              /             1,041

18           Poland   200        /             75,285   /                            /             1,54,399              /             1,992

19           South Africa       6,540     /             75,201   /             189        /             1,51,758              /             1,251

20           Vietnam               8,390     /             4,145     /             388        /             1,43,642              /             42

22           Bangladesh         11,164   /             23,161   /             264        /             1,18,399              /             139

25           Pakistan               3,884     /             24,004   /             86           /             84,427   /             106

26           Philippines           8,560     /             29,220   /             92           /             79,016   /             263

TALIBAN SEIZES EIGHTH AFGHAN PROVINCIAL CAPITAL IN FIVE DAYS

The Taliban took control of two more provincial capitals in Afghanistan on Monday, officials said, taking the number of provincial capitals the group has seized since Friday to eight.

Farah city of the eponymous southwestern province and Pul-e-Khumri of the northern province of Baghlan both fell to the armed group on Tuesday.

The Taliban has captured the province’s central prison, according to parliamentarian Abdul Nasri Farahi. The capture of Farah also provides another border crossing into Iran for the group.

The Taliban have captured eight out of 34 provincial capitals in the country in less than a week.

U.S. President Joe Biden Tuesday, August 10, ruled out any change in the withdrawal of his troops from Afghanistan despite the Taliban increasingly gaining control over large parts of the country.

President Biden has ordered the withdrawal of all the U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11. The Pentagon says it has already withdrawn more than 90 per cent of its troops from the war-ravaged country.

“No,” Mr. Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if his current plan to withdraw troops could change at all.

“Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped over 300,000 Afghan forces. Afghan leaders have to come together. We lost thousands — lost to death and injury — thousands of American personnel. They've got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” he asserted.

“The United States — I'll insist we continue to keep the commitments we made of providing close air support, making sure that their air force functions and is operable, resupplying their forces with food and equipment, and paying all their salaries. But they've got to want to fight. They have outnumbered the Taliban,” Mr. Biden said.

Meanwhile, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy, travelled to Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to tell the group that there was no point in pursuing victory on the battlefield because a military takeover of Kabul would guarantee they will be global pariahs. He and others hope to persuade Taliban leaders to return to peace talks with Afghan government.

‘PAK THREATENING MILITARY DISSIDENTS ABROAD’

Pakistan is cracking down on dissidents living abroad who are critical of the country’s military, a British newspaper has reported, evoking a rebuttal from Islamabad which on Tuesday dismissed the report as false. According to the report published in Guardian newspaper on Saturday, Pakistani exiles living in London who have criticised the country’s military have been warned that their “lives are in danger”. The report said the exiled Pakistanis have been warned by authorities in the UK that “they will be targeted”.

“British security sources are understood to be concerned that Pakistan, a strong UK ally — particularly on intelligence issues — might be prepared to target individuals on British soil,” the report said. “Since Imran Khan came to power in Pakistan in 2018 with the backing of the military, civil rights groups there have documented an erosion of press freedom with rising violent attacks on journalists. The concern now is that Pakistan appears to be moving from suppressing criticism within its borders to targeting critics based overseas,” it said.

The report noted that a man was charged in London last month with conspiring to murder political activist Ahmad Waqass Goraya in the Netherlands. The report features a statement from Mark Lyall Grant, the former UK high commissioner to Pakistan, who said: “If there is illegal pressure, in particular on journalists in the UK, then I would expect the law enforcement agencies and the British government to take notice of that and to make an appropriate legal and/or diplomatic response. If British nationals or residents in the UK acting lawfully are being harassed or threatened by the ISI, or anyone else, then the British government would certainly take an interest.”

Responding to the report, the Pakistan foreign office said: “We categorically reject the unsubstantiated media reports alleging Pakistan cracking down on overseas dissidents. There is no question of any threat being made to any national of any state including Pakistan’s own nationals living anywhere on any pretext whatsoever.”

US SENATE PASSES BIDEN'S $1 TRILLION INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

A $1 trillion infrastructure package that is a top priority for U.S. President Joe Biden secured enough votes to pass in the Senate on Tuesday, a bipartisan victory for the White House as it aims to provide the nation's biggest investment in decades in roads, bridges, airports and waterways.

Voting was continuing in the 100-seat chamber after the measure secured the 50 votes needed for passage.

Polls show that the drive to upgrade America's infrastructure, hammered out by a bipartisan group of senators over months of negotiations, is broadly popular with the public.

The bill still has to go to the House of Representatives and the spirit of cooperation in Congress that led to its passage on Tuesday will likely prove fleeting.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aims to follow the bill with a budget resolution laying the groundwork for $3.5 trillion to be spent on healthcare, climate change and other Biden priorities that Democrats will almost certainly have to pass over Republican objections in a maneuver known as "budget reconciliation."

Once the resolution is adopted, Democrats will begin crafting the reconciliation package for a vote on passage after they return from their summer break in September.

RUSSIA, CENTRAL ASIAN ALLIES HOLD DRILLS NEAR AFGHANISTAN

The troops from Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan on Tuesday wrapped up their drills intended to simulate a joint response to potential security threats coming from Afghanistan.

The war games that began last week involved 2,500 Russian, Tajik and Uzbek troops and about 500 military vehicles.

The drills, which were held at Harb-Maidon firing range about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) north of the Tajik border with Afghanistan, saw the troops practice action against invading militants. As part of the exercise, Russian Su-25 attack jets struck mock targets imitating militant vehicles.

The Russian military said the maneuvers took place “against the background of the destabilization of the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, in order to work out the issues of repelling possible threats and practical interaction to ensure security and maintain stability in the Central Asian region”.

It noted that Russian troops in Tajikistan practiced using new weapons during the drills, including new sniper rifles and flame throwers.

Russia, which has a military base in Tajikistan, has pledged to offer military assistance to its ally and other ex-Soviet Central Asian nations if they face incursions of militants from Afghanistan.

‘HONG KONG SET TO ADOPT CHINA’S ANTI-SANCTIONS LAW’

China’s anti-sanctions law will be implemented in some form in Hong Kong, the city’s leader confirmed on Tuesday, a move that will add fresh regulatory pressure on international companies in the finance hub.

Beijing’s rubber-stamp legislature passed the law in June in response to Western penalties that were imposed following crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

Its powers include denying visas, deportation, or seizing assets of those who formulate or comply with sanctions against Chinese businesses or officials.

Foreign companies can be sued in Chinese courts for applying sanctions and the law can also be wielded against family members.

On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam confirmed Beijing had consulted her on adding the law to the city’s mini-Constitution, known as the Basic Law.

“The purpose of the Anti-Sanctions Law is to defend our country’s sovereignty, security and development interests,” she told reporters.

But she said Beijing could also impose the measures directly like it did with a national security law last year that snuffed out dissent.

A SURGE IN DENGUE CASES ADDS TO THE HOSPITAL BURDEN IN COVID-HIT S ASIA

The latest wave of Covid-19 infections in South Asian nations has been complicated by a surge in dengue, a mosquito-transmitted virus. The rise in cases of dengue is adding to the load of hospitals that are already overwhelmed. Sri Lanka has reported over 17,000 cases this year, including 3,300 in July. Bangladesh has recorded about 4,500 cases of hospitalisation for dengue this year, nearly half of them in July. “The health system is already overburdened by Covid-19 patients,” said Dr. Himali Herath, a consultant physician at Sri Lanka’s National Dengue Control Unit. “Caring for dengue patients is labour-intensive. Therefore it will be very difficult.” The WHO estimates that there are hundreds of millions of dengue infections every year, and nearly twothirds occur in Asia. There is no specific treatment for the virus, and severe cases can lead to death if not detected early and if patients do not receive adequate medical care.

“Due to the heavy stream of Covid-19 patients, we are turning dengue patients to other hospitals,” said Brig. Gen. Nazmul Haque, the director of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in Bangladesh. “We are only treating the patients who are infected with both Covid and dengue.”

Dengue outbreaks also remain endemic in Nepal and Pakistan. In Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, officials said the main hospital that treated dengue patients in previous years had been turned into a Covid hospital. The government lab where all suspected dengue cases would usually be referred to for testing has also been overwhelmed with coronavirus tests, they said.

TIKTOK REPLACES FACEBOOK AS MOST DOWNLOADED APP OF 2020

TikTok was the world's most downloaded app last year, overtaking Facebook and its messaging platforms, market tracker App Annie said Tuesday.

The Chinese-owned video app surged in popularity despite efforts by former president Donald Trump to ban it or force a sale to US-based investors, according to the research firm.

TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance, is believed to have one billion users worldwide including more than 100 million in the United States, and its short-form videos are especially popular with young smartphone users.

US President Joe Biden in June revoked executive orders from his predecessor seeking to ban TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat from US markets on national security concerns but ordered a review of the potential risks of foreign-owned internet services.

While political debate about the video-snippet sharing sensation roiled, TikTok climbed from the fourth most downloaded app in 2019 to the top spot last year, according to App Annie data.

On the way, TikTok stepped over Facebook and two of the US internet giants texting apps Messenger and WhatsApp, the market tracker determined.

TikTok's popularity has prompted Facebook-owned Instagram to add video features to ride the hot trend.