KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,27,652              /             48,56,030            /             7,180     /             1,81,18,740               /             623

1             USA        99,121   /             7,32,237              /             1,697     /             98,31,612            /               2,196

2             UK          36,060   /             1,37,541              /             124        /             13,50,234            /               2,013

3             Russia    27,246   /             2,14,485              /             936        /             6,83,075              /               1,469

4             Turkey   30,201   /             65,778   /             188        /             4,78,272              /             769

5             Brazil     18,172   /             6,00,493              /             628        /             3,95,301              /               2,800

6             Iran        9,897     /             1,22,197              /             185        /             3,75,687              /               1,432

7             Mexico  7,613     /             2,81,121              /             514        /             3,62,391              /               2,152

8             Honduras                            /             9,949     /                            /             2,47,151              /               985

9             India      19,870   /             4,50,408              /             248        /             2,43,224              /               322

10           Poland   1,895     /             75,834   /             31           /             1,76,440              /               2,007

11           Ukraine 16,362   /             58,081   /             241        /             1,73,442              /               1,338

12           Germany              9,742     /             94,585   /                            /             1,47,614              /               1,124

13           Serbia    6,401     /             8,631     /             49           /             1,28,973              /             993

14           Romania              13,854   /             38,927   /             357        /             1,28,747              /               2,041

15           Malaysia              9,751     /             27,191   /             78           /             1,25,998              /               827

16           Philippines           10,670   /             39,232   /             191        /             1,18,203              /               352

17           Thailand               11,140   /             17,534   /             116        /             1,10,113              /               250

18           Norway 467        /             871        /                            /             1,03,231              /             159

19           Finland  325        /             1,096     /             7             /             98,583   /             197

20           France   4,470     /             1,17,029              /             38           /             98,229   /               1,788

35           Pakistan               912        /             28,058   /             26           /             43,648   /             124

89           Bangladesh         645        /             27,654   /             7             /             11,218   /             166

MORE THAN 100 KILLED AND INJURED IN MOSQUE BLAST IN NORTHEASTERN AFGHANISTAN

A suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing scores of worshippers in the country's third attack this week on a religious institution.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack that state-run Bakhtar news agency said had killed 46 people and wounded 143. Two health officials told Reuters the death toll could be between 70 and 80.

Video footage showed bodies surrounded by debris inside the mosque, which is used by the minority Shi'ite Muslim community.

The blast, which the United Nations' mission in Afghanistan called part of a disturbing pattern of violence, follows others in recent days at a mosque in Kabul and a religious school in the eastern province of Khost.

There have been similar attacks in recent weeks, some of which have also been claimed by Islamic State, whose fighters are Sunni Muslims.

The attacks underscore security challenges facing the Taliban, which took over the country in August and have since carried out operations against Islamic State cells in Kabul.

The United States has condemned the attack, saying it is an "enormous tragedy" and people of that country deserve better.

"Obviously, any loss is an enormous tragedy, and our heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference on Friday., October 8, 2021.

TWO JOURNALISTS WIN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Philippines journalist Maria Ressa and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

“Ms Ressa and Mr Muratov are receiving the Peace Prize for their courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia,” Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told a news conference.

The prize is the first for journalists since the German Carl von Ossietzky won it in 1935 for revealing his country’s secret post-war rearmament programme.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.

Ressa is the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, an independent news website based in the Philippines. Rappler has consistently shone a light on the Rodrigo Duterte government’s activities, including its controversial and violent ‘war on drugs’. Her reporting has made her a target of her country’s judiciary and online hate campaigns. She has been subject to a sustained campaign of gendered online abuse, threats, and harassment, and as the jury said her case is emblematic of global trends that represent a real threat to press freedom and therefore to democracy. Ressa also won the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2021 was named Time magazine’s person of the year in 2018.

Muratov is the editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. He edited the newspaper between 1995 and 2017. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Novoya Gazeta is “the only truly critical newspaper with national influence in Russia today”. “Despite the Kremlin’s success in marginalising independent reporting, Novaya Gazeta continues to wield considerable influence with its uniquely uncompromising editorial line,” the CPJ continued.

NATIONS AGREE TO 15% MINIMUM CORPORATE TAX RATE

Most of the world's nations have signed up to a historic deal to ensure big companies pay a fairer share of tax.

Some 136 countries agreed to enforce a corporate tax rate of at least 15%, as well a fairer system of taxing profits where they are earned.

It follows concern that multinational companies are re-routing their profits through low tax jurisdictions to cut their bills.

Yet critics say a 15% rate is too low, and firms will get around the rules.

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the deal would "upgrade the global tax system for the modern age".

"We now have a clear path to a fairer tax system, where large global players pay their fair share wherever they do business," he said.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation, has led talks on a minimum rate for a decade.

It said the deal could bring in an extra $150bn (£108bn) of tax a year, bolstering economies as they recover from Covid.

Yet it also said it did not seek to "eliminate" tax competition between countries, only to limit it.

The floor under corporate tax will come in from 2023. Countries will also have more scope to tax multinational companies operating within their borders, even if they don't have a physical presence there.

BANGLADESH PLANS TO MOVE 81,000 ROHINGYA TO ISLAND AFTER UN DEAL: OFFICIALS

Bangladesh wants to send more than 80,000 Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal after sealing an agreement for the United Nations to provide help, officials said on Friday.

Some 19,000 of the Muslim refugees from Myanmar have been already relocated from crowded camps on the mainland to Bhashan Char island, despite doubts raised by aid groups, officials said.

Bangladesh refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat told AFP that tens of thousands more would go once the monsoon storms that batter the Bay of Bengal each year end in November.

"We are aiming to relocate some 81,000 (Rohingya) to Bhashan Char by the end of February to complete the 100,000 quota," he told AFP.

The government has spent about $350 million building shelters on the 53 square kilometre (20 square mile) island which was formed by tidal silt deposits about 20 years ago.

NEPAL PM DEUBA EXPANDS CABINET; INDUCTS 17 MINISTERS

Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Friday expanded his Cabinet by inducting 17 ministers and two ministers of state from the five-party ruling alliance, three months after he assumed office.

With this, the government’s strength has now reached 25, including 22 ministers and three ministers of state.

The newly appointed ministers took oath of office and secrecy at the President’s office shortly after they were appointed at the recommendation of Prime Minister Deuba.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered oath to the newly appointed ministers, while Prime Minister Deuba did the same to the two ministers of state at the president’s office in the presence of the president.

According to the Kathmandu Post newspaper, the new appointments were possible after ruling coalition partners reached a power-sharing deal.

BERLIN POLICE PROBE ‘HAVANA SYNDROME’ CASES AT US EMBASSY

German police are probing several cases of the mysterious “Havana syndrome” at the US embassy in Berlin. The syndrome, believed to have affected around 200 US officials and family members globally, came to attention in 2016 after diplomats at the US embassy in Havana complained of the symptoms like migraines and nausea. In response to a report by Der Spiegel, Berlin police said they had since August been probing an “alleged sonic weapon attack”, but declined to give more details. There was no comment from the embassy.

UNHRC: ACCESS TO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT IS HUMAN RIGHT

The UNHRC on Friday recognised access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, formally adding its weight to the global fight against climate change and its devastating consequences. The vote passed with overwhelming support, despite criticism in the lead-up from some countries, notably the US and Britain. The resolution, first discussed in the 1990s, is not legally binding but has the potential to shape global standards.