KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    5,60,283              /             46,83,253            /             9,066     /             1,86,79,733               /             600.8

1             USA        1,45,746              /             6,88,462              /             1,846     /             96,08,227               /             2,065

2             UK          26,911   /             1,34,805              /             158        /             12,97,175            /               1,973

3             Iran        18,021   /             1,16,072              /             453        /             5,79,632              /               1,361

4             Russia    19,594   /             1,95,835              /             794        /             5,66,287              /               1,341

5             Turkey   28,118   /             60,903   /             262        /             4,43,415              /             713

6             Mexico  13,217   /             2,69,912              /             897        /             3,83,661              /               2,067

7             India      34,649   /             4,44,278              /             318        /             3,45,376              /               318

8             Brazil     34,407   /             5,89,277              /             637        /             3,06,676              /               2,749

9             Honduras                            /             9,400     /                            /             2,37,345              /               931

10           Malaysia              18,815   /             22,355   /             346        /             2,27,117              /               680

11           France   8,128     /             1,15,894              /             65           /             2,23,399              /               1,771

12           Vietnam               10,489   /             16,425   /             239        /             2,16,153              /               167

13           Spain     4,075     /             85,739   /             101        /             2,15,533              /               1,833

14           Philippines           21,261   /             36,018   /             277        /             1,77,946              /               324

15           Germany              11,875   /             93,454   /             57           /             1,72,684              /               1,111

16           Poland   722        /             75,464   /             10           /             1,61,847              /               1,997

17           Thailand               13,897   /             14,953   /             188        /             1,28,728              /               214

18           Italy       5,117     /             1,30,167              /             47           /             1,16,342              /               2,157

19           Japan     6,806     /             16,959   /             65           /             1,00,087              /             135

20           Iraq        3,923     /             21,683   /             52           /             99,346   /             525

29           Pakistan               3,012     /             27,004   /             66           /             76,581   /             119

74           Bangladesh         1,862     /             27,109   /             51           /             17,004   /             163

AUKUS: UPSET PARIS HITS OUT

The United States, United Kingdom, and Australia announced a new defence deal on Thursday (September 16), under which America and Britain will help Australia deploy nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific region.

The pact, termed AUKUS (Australia, UK and US), is predicted to assist Australia purchase nuclear-powered submarines in a bid to counter China’s rising energy within the strategically important area.

France —which was not notified of the alliance between the three nations — expressed its unhappiness over the deal, calling it a “stab in the back”.

France is irked that the AUKUS pact successfully places the curtains on the 90-billion Australian greenback (about 65 billion USD) submarine deal that Australia had signed with it in 2016.

France is upset because it has been stored out of the loop. But, with the core goal of pushing again in opposition to China’s aggression, all 5 nations — US, UK, Australia, France and India — are on the identical monitor.

Reacting sharply to the pact between the three nations, French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian stated, “We had established a trusting relationship with Australia, and this trust was betrayed…I am today very angry and very bitter about this break-up. This is not acceptable between allies.”

“What concerns me as well is the American behaviour. This brutal, unilateral, unpredictable decision looks very much like what Mr Trump used to do. Allies don’t do this to each other [especially when] they want to have coherent Indo-Pacific approaches. It’s rather insufferable,” he stated.

Meanwhile, China has criticised AUKUS, describing it as "extremely irresponsible" and "narrow-minded".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the alliance risked "severely damaging regional peace... and intensifying the arms race".

He criticised what he called "the obsolete Cold War... mentality" and warned the three countries were "hurting their own interests".

In New Delhi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, didn’t touch upon the brand new AUKUS partnership, which comes simply days earlier than the primary in-person Quad leaders’ summit in Washington DC subsequent week.

US President Biden will host the summit, which will likely be attended by Modi, Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga.

A MONTH LATER, AKHUNDZADA, HAQQANI AND YAQOOB REMAIN IN SHADOWS

A month after Sunni Pashtun Islamists militarily took over Kabul, there is uncertainty and confusion within the Taliban government with US designated global terrorist and Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani remaining in the shadows and visiting Quetta earlier this week. Haqqani belongs to Miramshah or Peshwar Shura of Taliban with Defence minister Mullah Yaqoob Omari is part of the Quetta Shura. Haqqani is said to have returned to Kabul on Wednesday night.

Kabul watchers say that the main players of Taliban, particularly self-declared Emir-ul-Momin Haibatullah Akhundzada’s whereabouts are not clear as he has not been seen in public either in Kandahar or in Kabul. While deputy prime minister Mullah Baradar is in Kandahar nursing his angst at being politically humiliated by both Haqqani and Yaqoob, the latter two are also lurking in the shadows. “Haqqani’s visit to Quetta over the weekend shows that the crown prince of terror is still worried about his physical safety in Kabul due to over the horizon capabilities of US Central Command as well as the resistance still led by Amrullah Saleh,” said a senior official. Haqqani has a bounty of $10 million on his head as declared by the FBI.

To add to political instability in Afghanistan is the regrouping of al Qaeda forces as publicly declared by a top CIA official. Al Qaeda has filial ties and symbiotic relationship with Taliban even though they belong to opposing schools of Islam with former a Wahhabi-Salafi group and the latter a Deobandi group. The regrouping of al Qaeda means that there is no change in the present Taliban from the past and will give sleepless nights to counter-terrorism organizations in the neighbourhood.

MASSOUD HAS A LOBBYIST IN US; TALIBAN ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR ONE: REPORT

Panjshir leader and the face of Northern Resistance Front, Ahmad Massoud has signed up a lobbyist in the United States this week, a New York Times report said. The contract was filed with the Justice Department on Wednesday evening and the work will be done pro bono (free, for the public good), the report said. So what will Robert Stryk, the lobbyist, do? He will shore up support for the anti-Taliban force, which is firm on their decision of not surrendering and declaring a parallel government. While the international community is silent on whatever is happening in the Panjshir valley and countries are far from the discourse of recognising the NRF, the lobbyist will do his work. The NYT report said that the Taliban are also looking for representation as they want international funding and legitimacy.

Meanwhile, the Afghanistan-US Democratic Peace and Prosperity Council a well-financed Afghan group active in Washington is discussing the possibility of forming a government in exile, the report said. What is this council doing now after the fall of Afghanistan? Reports said it is now promoting protests against the Taliban.

The NYT report said that Stryk who will represent Massoud in Washington has represented similar cases in the past as he was the lobbyist of former Congolese President Joseph Kabila and also represented the administration of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

Panjshir spokesperson Ali Nazary has admitted that there has been a new contract. As of now, while the struggle in the valley is still going on, the aim of lobbying is asking for material support, including weapons. Plus, the NRF will also lobby for theUS not recognising the Taliban.

The clash in the Panjshir Resistance is still going on and reports said Massoud and Afghanistan's former vice president Amrullah Saleh are still in Panjshir.

IMF HEAD, ACCUSED OF INFLUENCING REPORT IN CHINA'S FAVOUR, RISKS UNDERMINED AUTHORITY

Kristalina Georgieva risks seeing her authority as head of the International Monetary Fund undermined just weeks before an annual meeting of global finance chiefs, after being accused of influencing a report in China’s favor when she worked at the World Bank.

Georgieva on Thursday said that she “fundamentally” disagreed with the finding -- by an outside law firm engaged by the World Bank -- that she had applied pressure on the bank’s staff to boost China’s ranking in an economic report. She informed the IMF board of the allegations on Thursday and will be addressing the fund’s staff Friday, according to people familiar with the matter.

The substance of the charge -- putting “undue pressure” on World Bank staff to adjust the rating in the “Doing Business” report when she served as the chief executive officer – was the latest in a series of scandals that have plagued the troubled report in recent years. So beleaguered, subjective, and controversial is the methodology for the report, which measures the ease and transparency of operating in an economy, that the World Bank announced it will stop producing it.

The ranking that she is accused of pressuring staff to improve is that of China, a magnet for criticism in Washington over everything from trade to geopolitics. The US Treasury sees the accusations as serious and is “analyzing the report,” the department said; the US holds veto power over major IMF and World Bank decisions. Republican lawmakers could use the issue to renew criticism of an expansion in IMF resources under Georgieva’s leadership.

Justin Sandefur, a senior fellow and World Bank watcher at the Center for Global Development, a think-tank, said the report could end up affecting her relationship with IMF members.

IMF SUSPENDS ITS ENGAGEMENT WITH AFGHANISTAN

The International Monetary Fund has said its engagement with Afghanistan will remain suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government led by the Taliban.

The IMF said it was deeply concerned with economic conditions in Afghanistan, urging the international community to take urgent steps to stall a "looming humanitarian crisis" in the country.

“Our engagement with Afghanistan has been suspended until there is clarity within the international community on the recognition of the government,” IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told reporters at a news conference here on Thursday.

“We’re guided by the international community in terms of the recognition of the government in Afghanistan and we don’t have that. So, the IMF programme there has been put on hold; and, again, as we said, last month, the country cannot access IMF resources, SDRs, and so on, at this point,” he said.

The IMF is deeply concerned with the difficult economic situation in Afghanistan and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

“We have said the immediate focus should indeed be on that humanitarian situation, aid to help the Afghanistan people; and allowing the flow of remittances and small-scale transfers; and providing assistance to countries hosting Afghan refugees,” he said.

PUTIN SAYS DOZENS IN KREMLIN INNER CIRCLE HAVE COVID-19

Dozens of people in Vladimir Putin’s entourage have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Russian leader said on Thursday, as his country struggles with high infection rates and a vaccine-sceptic population.

Earlier this week, 68-year-old Putin cancelled all in-person events and said he was self-isolating after announcing an outbreak in the Kremlin.

“Cases of the coronavirus were detected in my inner circle. Not just one or two but several dozen people,” Mr. Putin said, speaking via video link at a meeting of a Moscow-led security alliance.

Mr. Putin had been due to attend the meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in Dushanbe in person, but said on Tuesday he would instead join remotely.

Mr. Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the outbreak was mainly among members of the security detail.

FACEBOOK BANS GERMAN ACCOUNTS UNDER NEW 'SOCIAL HARM' POLICY

Facebook removed almost 150 accounts and pages linked to anti-lockdown demonstrators in Germany, the company announced on September 16, under a new policy focused on groups that spread misinformation or incite violence but who don't fit into the platform's existing categories of bad actors.

The accounts on Facebook and Instagram spread content linked to the so-called Querdenken movement, a disparate group that has protested lockdown measures in Germany and includes vaccine and mask opponents, conspiracy theorists and some far-right extremists.

Posts from the accounts included one making the debunked claim that vaccines create viral variants and another that wished death upon police officers who broke up violent anti-lockdown protests in Berlin.

The action is the first under Facebook's new policy focused on preventing “coordinated social harm,” which company officials said is an attempt to address content from social media users who work together to spread harmful content and evade platform rules.

Under its long-standing guidelines, Facebook has removed accounts that use false personas or spread hate speech or make threats of violence. The new policy is intended to catch groups that work together in an attempt to get around the rules, while still spreading harmful content.

UNVACCINATED FRENCH HEALTH CARE WORKERS FACE SUSPENSION

Health care workers in France face suspension from their jobs starting from Wednesday if they haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19. With about 3,00,000 workers still not vaccinated, some hospitals fear staff shortages will add to their strain.

Vaccines are now compulsory for medical care, home care and emergency workers in France and Wednesday is the deadline for such staff to have had at least one shot. Failing that, they face having pay suspended or not being able to work. But a top court has forbidden staff to be fired outright.

The mandate was approved by France’s Parliament over the summer, after the government insisted that the measure was needed to protect patients and the public from new surges of COVID-19. More than 1,13,000 people with the virus have died in France, and health authorities say most of those hospitalised in the most recent surge weren’t vaccinated.

Nearly 90% of French health care workers are estimated to be vaccinated and polls suggest most people support the vaccine mandate for medical staff.

But since some hospitals are already facing strains after a year and half of fighting the pandemic and catching up on other treatments, some fear staff shortages could spell disaster.

CUBA BEGINS VACCINATING CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 2

Cuba on Thursday, September 16, 2021, began a COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children between the ages of 2 and 10, saying it was necessary to curb the spread of the delta variant.

Cuba has two homegrown vaccines, Abdala and Soberana, that it says are safe and effective. Both require three shots. In previous weeks, the government started vaccinating people between 11 and 18 years old.

Cuba faces a persistent outbreak of COVID-19, putting heavy pressure on medical facilities and compounding economic problems. Hard-hit provinces such as Matanzas, Ciego de Ávila and Cienfuegos have received support from doctors from other areas of the country as well as international donations.

'EFFECTIVE LEADER': BARACK OBAMA ENDORSES JUSTIN TRUDEAU IN CANADIAN POLLS

Barack Obama endorsed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday in the Canadian election, calling him an effective leader in a rare endorsement of a candidate in a Canadian election by a former American president.

It is the second time Obama has done it. Obama also urged Canadians to re-elect the Liberal leader in Canada’s last election in 2019.

Obama tweeted Thursday that he was proud to work with Trudeau and described him as an effective leader who has strong democratic values.

Trudeau is in a tough re-election fight with his Conservative rival ahead of Monday’s parliamentary elections. Obama's endorsement helped Trudeau with progressives in 2019.

Obama also endorsed Emmanuel Macron for president in France’s 2017 election, and he warned British voters against leaving the European Union.

THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS CONVERGE UNDER TEXAS BRIDGE, POSING NEW CHALLENGE FOR JOE BIDEN

Thousands of migrants have converged under the bridge that connects Del Rio, Texas and Mexico’s Ciudad Acuña, creating a makeshift camp with few basic services in intense heat in the latest border emergency facing U.S. President Joe Biden.

Food and water has been scarce, around 20 migrants told Reuters, and temperatures have risen to around 99 Fahrenheit (37 Celsius). Reuters witnessed hundreds of migrants wading through the Rio Grande river and back into Mexico to stock up on essentials they say they are not receiving on the American side.

The migrants are mostly Haitians, with Cubans, Venezuelans and Nicaraguans also present.

The squalid conditions are reflective of the humanitarian challenge facing Mr. Biden as border arrests hover around 20-year highs. U.S. authorities arrested more than 195,000 migrants at the Mexican border in August, according to government data released on Wednesday.