KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    6,72,342              /             45,43,556            /             10,334   /             1,86,81,943        /             582.9

1             USA        1,81,360              /             6,59,874              /             1,471     /             85,36,774            /             1,980

2             UK          35,693   /             1,32,742              /             207        /             11,90,224            /             1,943

3             Iran        33,170   /             1,08,393              /             599        /             6,79,525              /             1,272

4             Russia    18,368   /             1,84,014              /             790        /             5,53,940              /             1,260

5             Turkey   23,946   /             57,000   /             290        /             5,02,896              /             667

6             Brazil     26,348   /             5,81,228              /             703        /             4,47,114              /             2,712

7             India      45,971   /             4,39,559              /             505        /             3,96,207              /             315

8             Spain     6,818     /             84,472   /             132        /             3,96,061              /             1,806

9             Mexico  11,146   /             2,59,326              /             835        /             3,92,352              /             1,987

10           France   17,621   /             1,14,577              /             86           /             3,84,213              /             1,751

11           Malaysia              18,762   /             16,942   /             278        /             2,65,274              /             516

12           Honduras             1,084     /             8,932     /             30           /             2,23,626              /             885

13           Japan     17,713   /             16,041   /             47           /             2,15,402              /             127

14           Vietnam               11,434   /             11,868   /             804        /             2,12,940              /             121

15           Argentina            5,328     /             1,12,005              /             193        /             2,00,844              /             2,452

16           Indonesia            10,337   /             1,33,676              /             653        /             1,89,571              /             483

17           Thailand               14,802   /             11,841   /             252        /             1,66,922              /             169

18           Poland   366        /             75,358   /             13           /             1,56,594              /             1,994

19           South Africa       9,544     /             82,496   /             235        /             1,44,102              /             1,371

20           Philippines           14,216   /             33,533   /             86           /             1,40,949              /             301

25           Pakistan               3,569     /             25,889   /             101        /             93,901   /             115

42           Bangladesh         3,062     /             26,274   /             79           /             45,422   /             158

WITH KABUL AIRPORT CLOSED, FEARFUL AFGHANS RUSH FOR THE BORDER

Crowds looking to flee Afghanistan flocked to its borders while long queues formed at banks on Wednesday, as an administrative vacuum after the Taliban’s takeover left foreign donors unsure of how to respond to a looming humanitarian crisis.

The Islamist militia focused on keeping banks, hospitals and govt machinery running after the final withdrawal of US forces on Monday brought an end to a massive airlift of Afghans who had helped Western nations during the 20-year war.

With Kabul’s airport inoperable, private efforts to help Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals focused on arranging safe passage across the land-locked nation’s borders with Iran, Pakistan and central Asian states.

More than 1,23,000 people were evacuated from Kabul in the US-led airlift after the Taliban seized the city in mid-August, but tens of thousands of Afghans at risk remained behind.

Germany alone estimates that between 10,000 and 40,000 Afghan staff still working for development organisations in Afghanistan have a right to be evacuated to Germany if they feel endangered.

Meanwhile, the Taliban is talking with Qatar and Turkey over how to run Kabul’s airport, according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, but it could take days or weeks to finalise those negotiations.

The Taliban have declared an amnesty for all Afghans who worked with foreign forces during the war that ousted them from power in 2001. Taliban leaders have also called on Afghans to return home and help rebuild, while promising to protect human rights, in an apparent bid to present a more moderate face than their first regime, known for its brutal enforcement of radical Islamic law.

The White House on Tuesday said 98% of Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan were able to do so, and President Joe Biden affirmed that the United States remained committed to helping the remaining 100 to 200 US citizens who had some intention to leave.

Biden said the US govt had reached out 19 times to Americans in Afghanistan since March, offering to help them leave the country.

IN LAST CALL, BIDEN & GHANI SEEMED UNAWARE OF THE IMMINENT DANGER...

In the last call between US President Biden and his Afghanistan counterpart Ashraf Ghani before the Taliban seized control of the country, the leaders discussed military aid and political strategy but neither appeared aware of or prepared for the immediate danger of the entire country falling to insurgents, a transcript of the presidential phone call shows. The men spoke for roughly 14 minutes on July 23. On August 15, Ghani fled the presidential palace, and Taliban entered Kabul.

In the call, Biden offered aid if Ghani could publicly project he had a plan to control the situation in Afghanistan. “We will continue to provide close air support, if we know what the plan is,” Biden said. He also advised Ghani to get buy-in from powerful Afghans for a military strategy going forward, and then to put a “warrior” in charge of the effort, a reference to defence minister General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi. Biden lauded the Afghan forces, which were trained and funded by the US. “You clearly have the best military,” he told Ghani. “You have 3,00,000 well-armed forces versus 70-80,000 and they’re clearly capable of fighting well.”

In much of the call, Biden focused on Afghan government’s “perception” problem. Biden told Ghani that “perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan is that things are not going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban.” Biden said that if Afghanistan’s political figures were to back a new military strategy together, “it will change perception...” On his part, Ghani told Biden that they needed to move fast. “We are facing a full-scale invasion, composed of Taliban, full Pakistani planning and logistical support, and at least 10-15,000 international terrorists, predominantly Pakistanis thrown into this.”

US OFFICIAL: MOST AF ALLIES LIKELY NOT EVACUATED

The US may have left behind the majority of Afghans who helped in the 20-year war effort along with their families as American citizens were prioritised in the airlift that came to an end this week, a senior state department official said on Wednesday. President Joe Biden has pledged to keep helping US citizens left in the country and a much larger group of atrisk Afghans, including former interpreters for the US military. Asked how many potential applicants to the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) programme for Afghan allies and their families remained in Kabul, a senior state department official said they could not provide an estimate. “But I would say it’s the majority of them just based on anecdotal information about the populations we were able to support,” the official said. About 2,000 SIV applicants were brought to the US before the broader airlift began in mid-August.

BEIJING ROLLS OUT NEW DATA LAW

China’s new data security law takes effect from Wednesday — the latest effort to tighten oversight of the country’s mammoth tech sector.

The broadly worded law seeks to tighten the leash on China’s tech giants and what they do with information from their hundreds of millions of users.

It also comes as fears grow over data security with government departments becoming increasingly dependent on cloud storage services.

Broad scope

Beijing has also flagged national security concerns as justification for the law. As Chinese tech firms look to branch out overseas, authorities fear domestic data will end up in foreign hands.

The law lays down the responsibilities of all companies and organisations handling data. It stipulates fines of up to 10 million yuan ($1.55 million) for a range of offences, including leaks and failing to verify the identity of buyers or sellers of information. Its scope is broad, and includes data stored and handled within China’s borders as well as data abroad that could harm China’s national security or the rights of its citizens.

POPE FRANCIS INADVERTENTLY QUOTES PUTIN TO CHIDE WEST’S AFGHAN WAR

Pope Francis has criticised the West’s two-decadelong involvement in Afghanistan as an outsider’s attempt to impose democracy — although he did it by citing Russia President Vladimir Putin while thinking he was quoting German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Asked during a radio interview aired on Wednesday about the new political map taking shape in Afghanistan, the pope said he would answer with a quote that he attributed to Merkel.

“It is necessary to put an end to the irresponsible policy of intervening from outside and building democracy in other countries, ignoring the traditions of the peoples,” the pope said, using his own translation into Spanish. But the words were spoken by Putin in the presence of Merkel, during her visit to Moscow on August 20.

In the interview, he also addressed direct questions about his health. He dismissed an Italian newspaper report that he might step down, saying: “I don’t know where they got it from last week... it didn’t even cross my mind.”

FRANCE IS FIRST MAJOR EU NATION TO START WIDESPREAD BOOSTER JABS

France on Wednesday started administering booster shots of Covid-19 vaccine to people over 65 and those with underlying health conditions as the Delta variant spreads in the country. France is the first big EU country to introduce booster shots, and several other European countries are expected to follow suit.

Almost 44 million people, or 65.6% of the French population, are fully vaccinated. In August, Hungary became the first EU country to allow booster dose.