KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    3,34,885              /             50,69,584            /             4,708     /             1,86,95,276               /             650.4

1             USA        32,906   /             7,75,729              /             265        /             91,92,020            /               2,325

2             UK          32,322   /             1,41,862              /             57           /             15,62,039            /               2,075

3             Russia    39,400   /             2,48,004              /             1,190     /             9,98,931              /               1,698

4             Ukraine 13,068   /             72,557   /             473        /             4,94,988              /               1,673

5             Turkey   27,824   /             72,314   /             187        /             4,49,930              /             845

6             Mexico  1,382     /             2,89,734              /             60           /             3,47,067              /               2,216

7             Germany              20,580   /             97,167   /             108        /             3,23,982              /               1,155

8             Poland   7,316     /             77,760   /             3             /             2,80,449              /               2,058

9             Iran        8,341     /             1,27,439              /             140        /             2,53,256              /               1,492

10           Honduras                            /             10,309   /                            /             2,49,863              /               1,019

11           Brazil     5,638     /             6,09,573              /             89           /             2,06,710              /               2,841

12           Netherlands        11,804   /             18,583   /             22           /             1,91,359              /               1,081

13           Belgium                              /             26,131   /                            /             1,58,246              /               2,242

14           Romania              4,255     /             50,996   /             240        /             1,52,365              /               2,675

15           India      7,841     /             4,61,347              /             304        /             1,49,871              /               330

16           Norway 594        /             921        /                            /             1,27,576              /             168

17           France   2,197     /             1,17,965              /             55           /             1,23,583              /               1,802

18           Finland  2,016     /             1,200     /             16           /             1,17,292              /             216

19           Bulgaria                              /             25,074   /                            /             1,12,845              /               3,646

20           Vietnam               7,988     /             22,598   /             67           /             1,12,599              /               229

67           Pakistan               449        /             28,547   /             9             /             22,733   /             126

92           Bangladesh         215        /             27,901   /             6             /             8,293     /             167

PAKISTAN LIFTS BAN ON FAR-RIGHT TLP BEHIND ANTI-FRANCE PROTESTS

Pakistan said Monday, it has lifted a ban on a radical Islamist party behind a violent anti-France protest last month that triggered clashes with police, leaving six officers and four demonstrators dead.

The development follows an agreement reached last week between the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan that the party would halt its march to Islamabad. The march was called to demand the closure of the French Embassy in the Pakistani capital.

The interior ministry officially lifted the ban late Sunday.

Pakistan's move to lift the ban on TLP drew criticism on social media. The government said the ban was lifted in the “larger national interest” amid assurances the party would not indulge in violent activities in future.

The protest march on Islamabad, which started Oct. 22, was also meant to demand the release of the party's leader, Saad Rizvi, who was arrested a year ago, as well as thousands of Islamists who were detained in a crackdown to foil Islamists’ march from the city of Lahore to Islamabad.

TLP supporters are yet to formally announce the end of their march and scores of demonstrators are still sitting sitting along a highway in the city of Wazirabad. Authorities say they last week freed more than 1,000 detained TLP supporters and that a process was underway to release Rizvi.

ISRAEL DISTANCES ITSELF FROM BLACKLISTED PEGASUS SPYWARE MAKER NSO

Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Saturday distanced the government from the NSO Group, a firm blacklisted this week by the United States over alleged misuse of its phone hacking spyware.

An investigation by 17 media organisations published in July said NSO's Pegasus software had targeted smartphones of journalists, rights activists and government officials in several countries.

The company sends its products abroad under licences from Israel's Defence Ministry, which has launched its own probe of the company's practices after the alleged software misuse emerged.

No results have been announced and Israel has given no indication so far that it was considering limiting the scope of NSO's exports.

"NSO is a private company, it is not a governmental project and therefore even if it is designated, it has nothing to do with the policies of the Israeli government," Lapid told a news conference in Jerusalem. "I don't think there is another country in the world which has such strict rules according to cyber warfare and that is imposing those rules more than Israel and we will continue to do so."

His comments are the first made publicly by a senior Israeli minister since the U.S. Commerce Department announced the blacklisting on Wednesday.

CHINA: XI JINPING LOOKS TO SECURE ANOTHER TERM AS COMMUNIST PARTY MEET BEGINS

A summit of the Communist Party of China (CPC) elite opened behind closed doors in Beijing on Monday as President Xi Jinping looks to secure both his legacy and future as China’s leader for a third term in 2022.

The detailed agenda of the four-day meeting is secret but what is known is that on Monday Xi delivered a work report on behalf of CPC Central Committee’s powerful Politburo and explained a “…draft resolution on the major achievements and historical experience of the CPC’s 100 years of endeavours”.

The resolution - only the third such document in CPC’s history -- document is set to look back at key events in the party’s 100-year history, “…reinforce unity among the party and strengthen the authority and leadership of the CPC central committee with Xi at its core, as well as determine the party’s direction for the next few decades”, Chinese political analysts told official media.

Cutting through CPC jargon and clutter, at the end of the four-day meeting on Thursday, Xi is expected to emerge as a leader at par with Mao and Deng.

“At the 6th plenum, opening today in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party will pass its third resolution on history. But all of the verbiage in the important document to be released this week will boil down to a simple political fact: XI Jinping will lead the party for years to come,” David Bandurski, editor at the University of Hong Kong’s China Media Project wrote.

“The “resolution” will be unveiled in full to the world, so that we can all pick apart its finer points - beyond, that is, Xi Jinping’s blunt claim to power,” Bandurski wrote.

UK TO ADD COVAXIN, CHINA'S SINOVAC, TO LIST OF APPROVED COVID-19 VACCINE

Britain said it would recognise COVID-19 vaccines on the World Health Organization's Emergency Use Listing later this month, adding China's Sinovac, Sinopharm and India's Covaxin to the country's approved list of vaccines for inbound travellers.

The changes, which come into force from Nov. 22, will benefit fully vaccinated people from countries including the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and India.

The travel rules are being further simplified as all people under the age of 18 will be treated as fully vaccinated at the border and will be able to enter England without self-isolating on arrival, the Department for Transport said on Monday.

IRAN-BACKED MILITIA BEHIND ATTACK ON IRAQI PM: REPORT

A drone attack that targeted the Iraqi PM on Sunday was carried out by at least one Iranian-backed militia group, Iraqi security officials and sources close to the militias said. The sources, who spoke to Reuters on Monday on condition of anonymity, said the drones and explosives used in the assault were Iranian-made.

A spokesperson for one Iran-aligned paramilitary group declined to comment immediately on the attack or on who carried it out. Other Iranianbacked groups could not be reached immediately for comment. The Iranian government in Tehran did not immediately respond to requests for comment. PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi escaped unhurt from the attack on his residence in Baghdad, which was carried out using explosives-laden drones.

Two Iraqi security officials and three sources close to the militia groups that Iran has supported in Iraq said the attack was committed by at least one of those groups, but gave slightly different assessments of exactly which factions. The two security officials said that the powerful Kataib Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq groups carried it out in tandem.

One militia source said that Kataib Hezbollah was involved and that he could not confirm the role of Asaib. Neither of those groups immediately commented for the record. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

CHINESE WOMAN WALKS IN SPACE, SCRIPTS HISTORY

Astronaut Wang Yaping became the first Chinese woman to walk in space, authorities said on Monday, as her team completed a six-hour stint outside the Tiangong space station as part of its ongoing construction.

Tiangong - meaning “heavenly palace” - is the latest achievement in China’s drive to become a major space power, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon.

Its core module entered orbit earlier this year, with the station expected to be operational by 2022. Wang and her colleague Zhai Zhigang stepped out of the module on Sunday night - waving to the camera while tethered to the outside of the station - and installed a suspension device and transfer connectors.

The third member of the crew, Ye Guangfu, assisted from inside the station, China Manned Space (CMS) agency said.

“This marks the first extravehicular activity of the Shenzhou-13 crew, and it is also the first in China’s space history involving the participation of a woman astronaut,” said CMS.

“The whole process was smooth and successful,” the agency added.