KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    6,59,280              /             45,55,566            /             10,397   /             1,87,98,806        /             584.4

1             USA        1,64,239              /             6,62,769              /             1,481     /             86,47,446            /             1,989

2             UK          38,154   /             1,32,920              /             178        /             11,96,757            /             1,946

3             Iran        30,279   /             1,08,988              /             595        /             6,77,016              /             1,278

4             Russia    18,985   /             1,84,812              /             798        /             5,53,458              /             1,266

5             Turkey   23,496   /             57,283   /             283        /             5,06,105              /             671

6             Brazil     26,497   /             5,82,004              /             776        /             4,46,983              /             2,716

7             India      45,482   /             4,39,916              /             357        /             4,06,344              /             315

8             Mexico  17,337   /             2,60,503              /             1,177     /             3,94,201              /             1,996

9             Spain     9,561     /             84,640   /             168        /             3,86,940              /             1,809

10           France   15,911   /             1,14,680              /             103        /             3,73,701              /             1,752

11           Malaysia              20,988   /             17,191   /             249        /             2,62,540              /             523

12           Honduras             1,677     /             8,974     /             42           /             2,25,083              /             890

13           Vietnam               13,197   /             12,138   /             271        /             2,15,265              /             123

14           Japan     20,031   /             16,123   /             82           /             2,13,160              /             128

15           Argentina            4,653     /             1,12,195              /             190        /             1,98,988              /             2,456

16           Indonesia            8,955     /             1,34,356              /             680        /             1,76,638              /             485

17           Thailand               14,956   /             12,103   /             262        /             1,63,680              /             173

18           Poland   390        /             75,367   /             7             /             1,56,868              /             1,994

19           Philippines           16,621   /             33,680   /             148        /             1,46,510              /             303

20           South Africa       9,202     /             82,914   /             418        /             1,45,026              /             1,378

25           Pakistan               4,103     /             25,978   /             89           /             92,941   /             115

44           Bangladesh         3,436     /             26,362   /             88           /             42,869   /             158

MULLAH HEBATULLAH AKHUNDZADA SET TO HEAD THE NEW TALIBAN GOVT IN AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban are likely to announce a new administration after Friday afternoon prayers on the lines of the Iranian leadership with the group’s top spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada as Afghanistan's supreme authority, according to reports. Bilal Karimi, a member of the group’s cultural commission, said on Thursday that the Taliban and other Afghan leaders have reached a “consensus” on the formation of a new government and cabinet under Akhundzada's leadership.

In the new set-up, 60-year-old Mullah Akhundzada will be the Supreme Leader of the Taliban government, which will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership.

In Iran, the supreme leader is the highest political and religious authority of the country. He ranks above the president and appoints the heads of the military, the government, and the judiciary. The supreme leader has the final say in the political, religious, and military affairs of the country.

Mullah Akhundzada is the top religious leader of the Taliban and has been serving at a mosque in the Kachlaak area of Balochistan province for 15 years.

Samangani said that under the new governmental setup, governors will control the provinces, while the district governors will be in charge of their respective districts.

The Taliban has already appointed governors, police chiefs, and police commanders for provinces and districts.

The name of the new governance system, the national flag, and the national anthem are yet to be finalised, he said.

Meanwhile, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy leader of the Taliban political office in Doha, on Thursday told the foreign media channels that women and members from all tribes in Afghanistan will be part of the new government set-up.

“Any person who was part of any former Afghanistan governments during the last 20 years will not be included in the new Taliban administration,” he said.

He said that Mullah Akhundzada will monitor the government from Kandahar, the stronghold of the Taliban movement.

The Taliban want to have friendly relations with the European Union, the US, and India, and members of the Taliban political office in Doha are in close contact with different foreign countries, he said.

The Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul will be functional in the next 48 hours and people with valid travel documents will be allowed to leave the country, Stanakzai said, adding that it will cost USD 25-30 million to renovate the airport.

AFGHANISTAN PANJSHIR: FIGHTING INTENSIFIES OVER HOLDOUT AFGHAN VALLEY

Heavy fighting is reported between Taliban forces and resistance militants in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley.

The Taliban said they had taken some territory and inflicted "heavy" losses on the National Resistance Front.

But the Front said it had control of all entrances to the valley, and the Taliban had lost hundreds of fighters.

Panjshir is the only province that has not fallen to the Islamist group and thousands of opposition fighters are believed to have massed there.

The resistance - which includes former Vice-President Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan security force members and local militias - is led by local tribal leader Ahmad Massoud. Massoud's father held off the Soviets in the 1980s and the Taliban in the 1990s.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that fighters had moved into the Panjshir Valley after negotiations failed, Reuters news agency reports.

Talks failed because the two sides held very different positions, BBC Persian quoted NRF spokesman Fahim Dashti as saying.

He said they were fighting the Taliban on two fronts and that 350 Taliban fighters had been killed and a number captured.

Claims from either side are difficult to verify.

Reports of Taliban fighters searching for, and killing, people such as senior police officials and government officials contradict the more moderate image the group sought to portray when it took control of the country.

WHO WARNS NEW MU VARIANT OF COVID-19 COULD BE MORE VACCINE-RESISTANT

The World Health Organisation has said that it is closely monitoring a new coronavirus "variant of interest" named Mu, warning that the new variant shows signs of possible resistance to vaccines.

Mu – also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 – was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the U.N. health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday.

The cases of the Mu variant have also been reported in the U.K., Europe, the U.S. and Hong Kong.

The new 'variant of interest' is being closely monitored, the U.N. health agency said.

Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced COVID-19 cases is currently below 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased, it said.

The new variant was added to the WHO’s watchlist on August 30 after it was detected in 39 countries and found to possess a "constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape," it said.

Mu is the fifth variant of interest to be monitored by the WHO since March. It has a number of mutations that suggest it could be more resistant to vaccines, the WHO warned, but said that further research would be needed to confirm this.

YOSHIHIDE SUGA TO STEP DOWN AS JAPAN'S PRIME MINISTER

Japan's Yoshihide Suga prime minister has said he will not run for re-election as party leader this month, signalling the end of his tenure.

Mr Suga had been appointed to the role just a year ago following the resignation of Shinzo Abe.

The shock announcement comes as Mr Suga's approval ratings dropped to an all-time low.

Japan - which is still under a state of emergency - is now grappling with its worst ever Covid wave.

The country, which has now seen more than 1.5 million virus cases, has also seen a slow vaccination roll out.

The decision to host the Olympics Games this year despite the worsening pandemic also proved to be hugely unpopular.

"Today at the executive meeting, [Mr] Suga said he wants to focus his efforts on anti-coronavirus measures and will not run in the leadership election," said the secretary general of Mr Suga's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), according to an AFP report.

"Honestly, I'm surprised. It's truly regrettable. He did his best but after careful consideration, he made this decision," he said.

The ruling LDP is due to hold an election on Sept 29 to pick its president. The winner of the leadership election is widely expected to be Japan's leader as the LDP holds a parliamentary majority.

STORM IDA: DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 45 ACROSS FOUR US NORTH-EAST STATES

US President Joe Biden says "historic investment" is needed to deal with the climate crisis, as the north-east reels from flash flooding and tornadoes that have killed at least 45 people.

The US is facing climate-related destruction across the country and tackling it is "a matter of life and death", the president said.

New York City and New Jersey saw unprecedented levels of rainfall.

Some residents became trapped in flooded basements and cars.

Six states suffered loss of life:

-New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said at least 23 people had died in his state - most of them stuck in their vehicles as the waters rose

-At least 14 people lost their lives in New York City, including a two-year-old boy. Eleven of them drowned while trapped in their flooded basements, officials said

-Five people died in Pennsylvania, while a state trooper in Connecticut was swept away as he responded to a call

-Deaths were also reported in Maryland and Virginia

President Joe Biden has declared an emergency in both New Jersey and New York, enabling both states to receive federal funding to support local disaster relief efforts.

IRISH WATCHDOG FINES WHATSAPP $267M AFTER EU PRIVACY PROBE

Ireland's privacy watchdog has fined WhatsApp a record 225 million euros ($267 million) after an investigation found it breached stringent European Union data protection rules on transparency about sharing people's data with other Facebook companies.

The Data Protection Commission said Thursday that it was also ordering WhatsApp to take “remedial actions” so that its data processing complies with the EU rules. WhatsApp said the fine was out of proportion and it would appeal the decision.

The watchdog's announcement wraps up an investigation into the Facebook-owned messaging service that opened in December 2018, after the EU rules, known as General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect. It's the second penalty - and the biggest - issued by the Irish watchdog under GDPR. Last year it fined Twitter 450,000 euros for a security breach.

“WhatsApp is committed to providing a secure and private service," the company said in a press statement. “We have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive and will continue to do so. We disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely disproportionate.”

The commission said the case examined whether Facebook followed GDPR requirements to be transparent for both users and those who didn’t use its service, including how people's data is processed between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies.

Under GDPR, the Irish watchdog acts as the lead regulator in cross-border data privacy cases for WhatsApp and many other big tech companies that have their European headquarters in Dublin.

NORTH KOREA REJECTS CHINESE VACCINES: UNICEF

North Korea has rejected around three million doses of a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting they should be given to countries in greater need, UNICEF said on Thursday.

The impoverished North was the first country to impose a strict lockdown when it sealed its border in January last year to stop the virus spreading from neighbouring China, where it first emerged before sweeping the world.

Pyongyang insists it has yet to see any cases of the virus — a claim that analysts doubt — but it has paid a huge economic price for the blockade, with the regime admitting in June it was tackling a “food crisis.”

Regardless, the isolated country told UNICEF — which distributes vaccines under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (Covax) programme for low-income countries — that the Chinese-made vaccines could be given to others, UNICEF said.

North Korea’s Public Health Ministry “has communicated that the 2.97 million Sinovac doses being offered to DPR Korea may be relocated to severely affected countries in view of the limited supply and surge in some countries,” a UNICEF spokesperson said.

Pyongyang would “continue to communicate” with COVAX “to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months,” they added.

CHINA BANS REALITY TALENT SHOWS

China banned reality talent programmes on Thursday and ordered broadcasters to promote more masculine representations of men, in a wide-ranging crackdown on “immoral” pop culture Beijing believes is leading young people astray.

Talent shows that put hundreds of aspiring young performers through rigorous boot camps and subject them to public votes have become massively popular in China, sparking criticism over obsessive fans and poor role models.

“Broadcast and TV institutions must not screen idol development programmes or variety shows and reality shows,” China’s broadcast regulator, the National Radio and Television Administration said.

The regulator ordered broadcasters to resist “abnormal aesthetics” such as “sissy” men, “vulgar influencers,” stars’ inflated pay and performers with “lapsed morals.”

Faced with falling birth rates, Chinese authorities have tried to instil traditional masculine values in the youth by ramping up gym classes and criticising male entertainers who model the effeminate looks of Korean pop idols.

Instead, broadcasters were urged to “strongly promote outstanding traditional Chinese culture... and advanced socialist culture.”