KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,67,905              /             49,95,843            /             7,773     /             1,81,19,552        /             640.9

1             USA        72,100   /             7,63,741              /             1,165     /             93,60,849            /             2,290

2             UK          39,842   /             1,40,206              /             165        /             15,34,182            /             2,051

3             Russia    40,096   /             2,35,057              /             1,159     /             8,85,587              /             1,610

4             Turkey   25,528   /             69,998   /             229        /             4,87,065              /             818

5             Ukraine 26,071   /             66,204   /             576        /             3,73,889              /             1,526

6             Mexico  4,797     /             2,87,274              /             386        /             3,50,240              /             2,198

7             Iran        11,409   /             1,25,875              /             159        /             3,05,014              /             1,474

8             Honduras             226        /             10,219   /             8             /             2,49,093              /             1,011

9             Poland   8,378     /             76,773   /             101        /             2,28,745              /             2,031

10           Germany              26,610   /             96,062   /             122        /             2,10,668              /             1,142

11           Romania              13,197   /             46,430   /             413        /             1,98,551              /             2,435

12           Brazil     15,268   /             6,07,125              /             399        /             1,94,987              /             2,830

13           India      14,323   /             4,57,221              /             803        /             1,68,367              /             327

14           Serbia    6,697     /             9,761     /             63           /             1,25,174              /             1,123

15           Norway 996        /             900        /                            /             1,14,878              /             164

16           Finland  673        /             1,150     /                            /             1,09,809              /             207

17           Netherlands        7,683     /             18,371   /             15           /             1,08,942              /             1,069

18           Belgium               8,771     /             25,946   /             32           /             1,06,132              /             2,226

19           Thailand               9,658     /             19,006   /             84           /             99,144   /             271

20           France   6,461     /             1,17,622              /             33           /             98,936   /             1,797

64           Pakistan               705        /             28,414   /             9             /             23,439   /             125

96           Bangladesh         294        /             27,847   /             6             /             8,315     /             167

IMRAN KHAN CALLS NSC MEET AS TLP PROTESTS ENTER 7TH DAY

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan summoned a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Friday to discuss the situation in the country pertaining to the protests launched by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), Geo News reported.

Protests by the members of the proscribed group entered their seventh day on Thursday with protesters camping out in Kamoke since Wednesday night.

Initially, the group staged sit-ins in Multan and Lahore, after which a march towards Islamabad was announced.

Security forces had cordoned off major roads to prevent the protesters from reaching Islamabad. The protesters have been staging sit-ins on GT Road for the past several days, disrupting transport services.

TLP's march has affected life in the federal capital and various other cities in Pakistan Punjab, the report said.

The rally comprising thousands of workers of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) left Kamoke and entered Gujranwala city on Thursday afternoon, as life in the areas surrounding its route continued to remain disrupted, Dawn reported.

Some 4,000 TLP workers travelled on the Grand Trunk Road in large trucks and buses along with their supplies, as stick-wielding activists of the group guarded the procession from all sides.

Meanwhile, Rangers and police personnel took positions near the Chenab river and Wazirabad border. Security officials plan to stop the TLP activists near the Wazirabad-Chenab river area instead of Gujranwala city, the report said.

At a high-level meeting held to review the security situation, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar directed officials to "take every step possible" to establish peace in the province, according to a statement.

CHINA SHUTS 3rd CITY AS COVID CASES SOAR

China placed a third city under lockdown on Thursday to tackle Covid numbers, with around six million people now under orders to stay home. The country has taken a zero tolerance approach to the virus since it first emerged in Wuhan in 2019. The resurgence prompted officials this week to lock down Lanzhou city — with a population of over four million — and Ejin in Inner Mongolia region. After one new confirmed case, authorities in Heihe followed suit on Thursday. China reported 23 new cases on Thursday, less than half of the previous day’s number, in a sign that its tough disease controls may be working.

MOSCOW SHUT FOR 11 DAYS TO STEM CASES

Moscow shut down non-essential services for 11 days on Thursday as Russia battles a record-breaking Covid surge driven by low vaccination rates. Russia on Thursday recorded 1,159 fatalities in a single day. An official tally also reported a record 40,096 new cases. Retail outlets, restaurants, and sporting and entertainment venues will all remain closed till Nov 7, along with schools. Only shops selling medicine and other essentials are allowed to be open.Only 32% of Russia’s population is fully vaccinated.

FACEBOOK CHANGES ITS NAME TO META IN MAJOR REBRAND

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it would rebrand as Meta, a name change that underscores its ambitions to refocus the world's largest social network on building the "metaverse."

The rebrand comes as the company battles criticisms from lawmakers and regulators over its market power, algorithmic decisions and the policing of abuses on its platforms.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company's live-streamed virtual and augmented reality conference, said the new name reflected its focus on building this new virtual realm rather than its namesake social media service.

The tech giant said the change would bring together its different apps and technologies under one new brand. It said it would not change its corporate structure.

The metaverse, a term first coined in a dystopian novel three decades ago and now attracting buzz in Silicon Valley, refers broadly to the idea of a shared virtual environment which can be accessed by people using different devices.

The company unveiled a new sign at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Thursday, replacing its thumbs-up "Like" logo with a blue infinity shape.

Zuckerberg said the new name reflects that over time, users will not need to use Facebook to use the company's other services.

The company said in a blog post that it intends to start trading under the new stock ticker it has reserved, MVRS, on Dec. 1.

FRANCE SEIZES BRITISH TRAWLER IN POST-BREXIT ROW OVER FISHING RIGHTS

France seized a British trawler fishing in its territorial waters without a licence on Thursday and issued a warning to a second vessel in a dispute over access to fishing grounds after Brexit.

Furious that Britain has refused to grant its fishermen the full number of licences to operate inside British waters that France says is warranted, Paris announced retaliatory measures on Wednesday if there was no progress in talks.

The French government said it would from Nov. 2 impose extra customs checks on British goods entering France, raising the prospect of more economic pain before Christmas for Britain, which faces labour shortages and rising energy prices.

It is also reviewing a second round of sanctions and does not exclude a review of its exports of electricity to Britain, which left the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020.

"It's not war, but it is a fight," France's Seas Minister Annick Girardin told RTL radio.

EYE ON AFGHANISTAN, CHINA TO BUILD MILITARY BASE IN TAJIKISTAN

China will take full control of a military base in Tajikistan near the Afghan border that it has been quietly operating and will also build a new base for the Tajik government, according to a report on Thursday.

Tajikistan on Wednesday granted approval for the construction of a new base, following an agreement reached between Tajikistan's Interior Ministry and China's Public Security Ministry or police force, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported. That the agreement was being signed by the Public Security Ministry, and not the Chinese military, suggests a focus on counterterrorism amid rising concerns over instability in neighbouring Afghanistan. The new base, RFE quoted Tajik officials as saying, would be owned by Tajikistan's Rapid Reaction Group or special forces, and financed by China for a cost of $10 million. It will be located in the eastern Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous province near the Pamir mountains, and Chinese troops will not be stationed there.

While this base will be under Tajik control, the Tajikistan government has also agreed to transfer full control of an existing facility that both sides have been using jointly, a former Soviet base not far from the China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan tri-junction and the Wakhan Corridor, where China shares a less than 100 km border with Afghanistan.

TAIWAN LEADER CONFIRMS SMALL US TROOP TRAINING PRESENCE

President Tsai Ing-wen has confirmed a small number of U.S. troops are present in Taiwan to help with training, adding she had “faith” that the American military would defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack.

The remarks sparked a strident, albeit familiar, rebuke on Thursday from China which accused the U.S. of trying to “stir up trouble” and that it “firmly opposes” any official or military contacts between Taipei and Washington.

In an interview with CNN, Ms. Tsai described Taiwan as a regional “beacon” of democracy that is facing down a giant authoritarian neighbour as the threat from Beijing grew “every day”.

Asked how many U.S. troops were in Taiwan, she replied “not as many as people thought”.

“We have a wide range of cooperation with the U.S. aiming at increasing our defence capability,” she added.