KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,02,947              /             47,77,376            /             7,589     /             1,84,69,475        /             612.9

1             USA        89,878   /             7,10,958              /             1,680     /             98,58,522            /             2,132

2             UK          34,526   /             1,36,375              /             167        /             13,44,510            /             1,996

3             Russia    21,559   /             2,05,531              /             852        /             6,23,692              /             1,408

4             Turkey   28,892   /             63,611   /             239        /             4,79,198              /             744

5             Iran        11,701   /             1,19,888              /             239        /             4,51,694              /             1,405

6             Brazil     15,395   /             5,95,446              /             744        /             4,25,153              /             2,777

7             Mexico  3,007     /             2,75,676              /             230        /             3,68,408              /             2,111

8             India      21,901   /             4,47,781              /             375        /             2,88,711              /             321

9             Honduras             506        /             9,705     /             11           /             2,45,404              /             961

10           Vietnam               4,589     /             18,936   /             178        /             1,91,763              /             192

11           Malaysia              11,332   /             25,935   /             240        /             1,74,492              /             789

12           Poland   975        /             75,601   /             29           /             1,66,915              /             2,000

13           Germany              7,411     /             94,121   /             86           /             1,46,161              /             1,119

14           France   6,765     /             1,16,615              /             60           /             1,35,477              /             1,782

15           Philippines           13,846   /             37,686   /             91           /             1,32,139              /             338

16           Serbia    8,467     /             8,142     /             45           /             1,25,865              /             937

17           Spain     2,290     /             86,358   /             60           /             1,22,061              /             1,846

18           Thailand               9,489     /             16,498   /             129        /             1,16,711              /             236

19           Italy       2,985     /             1,30,807              /             65           /             98,872   /             2,167

20           Norway 702        /             851        /             1             /             98,492   /             155

35           Pakistan               1,400     /             27,638   /             41           /             49,968   /             122

86           Bangladesh         1,310     /             27,470   /             31           /             12,527   /             165

CHINA’S POWER CRISIS IS WORLD’S LATEST SUPPLY-CHAIN THREAT

Widening power shortages in China have halted production at numerous factories including many supplying Apple and Tesla, while some shops in the northeast operated by candlelight and malls shut early as the economic toll of the squeeze mounted. Nearly 60% of the Chinese economy is powered by coal, but supply has been disrupted by the pandemic, put under pressure by tough emissions targets and squeezed by a drop in coal imports amid a trade tiff with Australia. Earlier this month, coal prices hit a record high, with restrictions imposed on businesses and homes amid supply crunch.

China’s energy crisis is shaping up as the latest shock to global supply chains as factories in the world’s biggest exporter are forced to conserve energy by curbing production. The disruption comes as producers and shippers race to meet demand for everything from clothing to toys for the year-end holiday shopping season, grappling with supply lines that have been upended by soaring raw material costs, long delays at ports and shortages of shipping containers. Manufacturers warn that strict measures to cut electricity use will slash output in economic powerhouses like Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces — which together account for almost a third of the nation’s GDP — and possibly drive up prices.

Apple supplier Unimicron Technology said factories in two regions were told to stop production from midday Sunday through Thursday. Dozens of other companies, including a parts supplier to carmaker Tesla, were told to halt production this week.

The power woes come after recent port disruptions in China rippled across global supply chains. Part of Ningbo port, one of the world’s busiest, was idled for weeks last month following a Covid outbreak.The energy crunch will weigh on China’s economy. Goldman Sachs said it expects growth to come in at 7.8%, down from 8.2%. “Global markets will feel the pinch of a shortage of supply from textiles, toys to machine parts,” said Lu Ting, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings in Hong Kong.

TALIBAN TO ‘TEMPORARILY’ ADOPT 1964 MONARCHY CONSTITUTION

The Taliban said on Tuesday they will temporarily adopt a 1964 constitution that granted women the right to vote but eliminate any elements they disagree with.

The Taliban's acting justice minister issued a statement saying the Islamists planned to introduce a constitution used during Afghanistan's short-lived golden age of democracy, but only briefly and with amendments.

But anything in the text found to conflict with Sharia law and the principles of the Islamic Emirate would be discarded, he added.

The king ratified the constitution a year after coming to power in 1963, ushering in nearly a decade of parliamentary democracy before he was overthrown in 1973.

The group, which swept to power in mid-August, has vowed a softer and more inclusive approach than during their brutal 1996 to 2001 rule, when women were largely excluded from public life, including work and education.

After suffering through the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, followed by civil war and then harsh Taliban rule, Afghanistan once again adopted a constitution in the aftermath of the US-led 2001 invasion.

AFGHANISTAN: BIDEN ADVISED TO KEEP 2,500 TROOPS - GENERALS

Two top US generals have said they recommended keeping a force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, ahead of the full US withdrawal in August.

Testimony by Gen Mark Milley and Gen Frank McKenzie to Congress seemed to contradict President Joe Biden, who said he did not recall any such advice.

The Taliban took power in August, after rapidly advancing through the country.

Gen Milley said the US had been taken by surprise by the speed of the Afghan government's collapse.

The two US generals were questioned by the Senate armed services committee along with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.

The hearing comes weeks after a chaotic withdrawal at Kabul airport as foreign powers sought to get their citizens home and thousands of desperate Afghans begged for rescue.

Later White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki addressed the issue.

"The president values the candid advice of... the joint chiefs and the military," she said. "That doesn't mean he always agrees with it."

She said that if troops remained in the country after the August deadline the US would now be at war with the Taliban.

GERMANY’S LASCHET FACES CALLS TO RESIGN OVER ELECTION SETBACK

Pressure was mounting on Tuesday on Armin Laschet to quit after his Conservatives lost to the Social Democrats in Germany’s election, further complicating his bid to form the next government after the disastrous vote.

Mr. Laschet’s Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CDU-CSU) Conservative alliance brought home its worst election result in post-war Germany of 24.1%, behind Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) on 25.7%.

But Mr. Laschet, the conservative bloc’s hope to succeed veteran Chancellor Angela Merkel, insisted his party would still try to build a governing coalition and was ready for talks with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) for a possible partnership.

Though he admitted he could “not be satisfied with this result”, Mr. Laschet also claimed “no party”, not even the Social Democrats, could claim a mandate to govern from Sunday’s vote outcome.

But calls were growing louder for Mr. Laschet to admit defeat and resign, even from within his own party.

“You have lost. Please have some insight. Avert further damage to the #CDU and resign,” Ellen Demuth, a CDU member of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament, wrote on Twitter.

US REPORT: PAK HOME TO 12 TERRORIST OUTFITS

Pakistan is home to at least 12 groups designated as “foreign terrorist organisations” by the US, including five of them being Indiacentric like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to the latest report on terrorism by the independent Congressional Research Service (CRS). The “Terrorist and other militant groups in Pakistan” report, released by the bipartisan research wing of Congress on the eve of the Quad summit hosted by President Bidenin last week, said these groups operating in Pakistan can be broadly categorised into five types — globally-oriented, Afghanistanoriented, India- and Kashmiroriented, domestically-oriented and sectarian (anti-Shia).

The LeT was formed in the late 1980s in Pakistan and designated as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) in 2001. “LeT was responsible for major 2008 attacks in Mumbai,” the CRS said. JeM was founded in 2000 by Kashmiri militant leader Masood Azhar and was designated as an FTO in 2001. Along with LeT, it was responsible for the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, it said. Harakat-ul Jihad Islami was formed in 1980 in Afghanistan and was designated as an FTO in 2010. After1989, it redirected its efforts toward India. Hizb-ul Mujahideen, formed in 1989 and reportedly the militant wing of Pakistan’s largest Islamist political party, was designated as an FTO in 2017. It is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in J&K. Among others operating from Pakistan are al-Qaida and IS-K, CRS said.

CRS said as per the US state department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, Pakistan has “continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally focused terror groups” and has “allowed groups targeting Afghanistan ... as well as India ...to operate from its territory”. The department assessed that “Islamabad has yet to take decisive actions against India- and Afghanistan-focused militants”. CRS reports are not an official report of the Congress.

FRANCE, GREECE SIGN DEFENCE AGREEMENT

France and Greece on Tuesday announced a multibillion-euro defence deal, including Athens' decision to buy three French warships as part of a strategy to boost its defense capacities in the Eastern Mediterranean amid recurring tensions with longtime foe Turkey.

President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a defence and security strategic partnership in a joint news conference in Paris. “This partnership expresses our will to increase and intensify our cooperation in the defense and security sector based on our mutual interests,” Macron said.

It will “help protect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of both states." Greece will purchase three French frigates to be built by defense contractor Naval Group in Lorient, in western France. The three-way strategic defense alliance announced by Australia, the UK and the US came as a shock to French officials.

Tensions between Greece and historic regional rival Turkey have increased in recent years over gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean and waters between the two countries.

MACRON WANTS EUROPEANS TO BOOST DEFENCE, BE 'RESPECTED'

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Europeans must boost their defence plans and make themselves “respected,” as France opens talks with the United States to try to restore confidence after a submarine dispute led to a major diplomatic crisis.

“Europeans must come out of their naivety,” Mr. Macron said in a news conference in Paris, the first time he had spoken about the new Indo-Pacific defence deal announced this month by the U.S., Australia and Britain.

“When we are under pressure, ... showing that we also have power and the capacity to defend ourselves ... is simply making ourselves be respected.”

As part of the pact, Australia will cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and acquire U.S. nuclear-powered vessels instead. In an unprecedented move, France recalled its ambassador to the U.S. in response.

Ambassador Philippe Etienne will go back to Washington on Wednesday with a “clear mandate,” Macron said. He stressed that he and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed last week in a phone call to open in-depth consultations aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence between the longtime allies.

Mr. Macron said he is to talk again with Mr. Biden in mid-October, before a scheduled in-person meeting at the end of next month in Europe.

AUKUS CAN UNDERMINE WORLD PEACE: LABOUR PARTY PASSES MOTION

The UK’s Opposition Labour Party members have passed an emergency motion declaring the new AUKUS military pact between Australia, UK and the US as a “dangerous move” threatening world peace.

The party’s annual conference is underway in the seaside town of Brighton, where members had pushed through the emergency motion on Monday despite the party leadership backing the agreement earlier this month.

However, the wider membership passed the motion, 70 per cent to 30 per cent, attacking the Conservative Party Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Conference believes that in contradiction to Tory PM Johnson’s statement that ‘this will promote stability in the Indo-Pacific region’, in fact, this is a dangerous move which will undermine world peace,” the motion reads.

Under the AUKUS alliance, the three nations have agreed to enhance the development of joint capabilities and technology sharing, including a collaboration on future nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer had backed the alliance when it was announced, saying: “Britain must look after our most important relationships.”

The passing of the motion is seen as a reflection of a divide within the Opposition party, with former leader Jeremy Corbyn backed leftist faction pushing through their agenda.

It came as Andy McDonald, who was shadow secretary for employment rights in Starmer’s frontline team, stepped down from the post claiming that the party was “more divided than ever”.