KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,94,982              /             50,86,781            /             6,956     /             1,88,42,819               /             652.6

1             USA        76,870   /             7,79,716              /             1,113     /             91,68,981            /               2,337

2             UK          39,329   /             1,42,338              /             214        /             15,63,641            /               2,082

3             Russia    38,058   /             2,50,454              /             1,239     /             10,07,098            /               1,715

4             Ukraine 23,283   /             74,205   /             815        /             5,02,725              /               1,711

5             Turkey   27,259   /             72,713   /             203        /             4,49,080              /             850

6             Germany              45,416   /             97,599   /             244        /             3,62,052              /               1,160

7             Mexico  3,663     /             2,90,110              /             299        /             3,45,412              /               2,219

8             Poland   18,550   /             78,250   /             269        /             3,04,281              /               2,071

9             Honduras             81           /             10,336   /             23           /             2,49,442              /               1,022

10           Iran        7,948     /             1,27,686              /             135        /             2,41,341              /               1,494

11           Netherlands        12,648   /             18,637   /             25           /             2,10,317              /               1,084

12           Belgium               10,132   /             26,230   /             30           /             1,85,904              /               2,250

13           Brazil     12,273   /             6,10,036              /             220        /             1,81,855              /               2,843

14           India      1,636     /             4,61,832              /             5             /             1,49,788              /               330

15           Romania              6,291     /             51,888   /             397        /             1,40,178              /               2,722

16           France   11,883   /             1,18,056              /             33           /             1,35,801              /               1,803

17           Norway                /             924        /                            /             1,30,637              /             169

18           Vietnam               7,930     /             22,765   /             79           /             1,25,916              /               231

19           Finland  954        /             1,212     /             3             /             1,19,044              /             218

20           Bulgaria                              /             25,555   /                            /             1,15,052              /               3,716

68           Pakistan               554        /             28,566   /             8             /             22,958   /             126

94           Bangladesh         235        /             27,906   /             2             /             8,102     /             167

COP26: CHINA AND US AGREE TO BOOST CLIMATE CO-OPERATION

China and the US have agreed to boost climate co-operation over the next decade, in a surprise announcement at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The world's two biggest CO2 emitters pledged to act in a joint declaration.

It says both sides will "recall their firm commitment to work together" to achieve the 1.5C temperature goal set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

They called for stepped-up efforts to close the "significant gap" that remains to achieve that target.

China's top climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua told reporters that on climate change "there is more agreement between China and US than divergence".

US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to hold a virtual meeting as early as next week. The two countries are seen as global rivals on a number of issues.

In Wednesday's rare joint declaration, there were steps agreed on a range of issues including methane emissions, the transition to clean energy, and de-carbonisation.

Mr Xie was followed by John Kerry, the US climate envoy, who said the US and China "have no shortage of differences, but on climate, co-operation is the only way to get this job done".

"Every step matters right now and we have a long journey ahead of us," he said.

PAKISTAN SUPREME COURT GRILLS PM IMRAN KHAN IN 2014 PESHAWAR ARMY SCHOOL MASSACRE CASE

Imran Khan on Wednesday faced a barrage of questions at a hearing of the 2014 terror attack on an Army-run school during which the Supreme Court (SC) Bench asked the Pakistan Prime Minister why he was negotiating with the culprits of the massacre of nearly 150 persons, mostly students.

The apex court gave a month-long deadline to the government to determine the responsibility for security failure in the horrific attack in which 147 persons, 132 of them children, were killed when Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants stormed Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar.

The three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, had summoned Khan. The court asked the Prime Minister about the action taken after a special commission in its probe presented to the court last year reported that security failure was responsible for the attack. "The satisfaction of the parents (who lost their kids in the attack) is necessary," said Justice Ahsan addressing the premier.

"You are in power. The government is also yours. What did you do? You brought the guilty to the negotiating table," Chief Justice Ahmed told Khan. In his response, Khan said at the time of the attack, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was ruling in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and it could only provide material compensation, which it did by giving monetary support to the victims' families.

The response angered the court and the Chief Justice remarked that the premier was rubbing salt on the wounds of the victims.

AT LEAST 600 ISLAMIC STATE MEMBERS ARRESTED IN LAST 3 MONTHS, CLAIM TALIBAN

The Taliban-ruled government in Afghanistan claimed that at least 600 members of the Islamic State (IS) have been arrested in the last three months across the country, adding that some of the detainees include top members of the terror outfit.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Khalil Hamraz, a spokesperson of the intelligence department said that the arrested IS terrorists were involved in subversive acts and killings, according to a report by Tolo News

“The detainees include some top members. They are in the prisons,” Hamraz added.

Since the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in August this year, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks in the war-ravaged country.

The latest attack by the terror outfit was on November 2 when its fighters attacked a military hospital in the capital city of Kabul, killing 25 people and injuring over 50. Among the deceased was Mawlawi Hamdullah Mukhlis, head of the Kabul military corps and a senior commander in the Taliban, officials of the so-called Islamic Emirate said.

Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who was also present during Wednesday's press conference, said that the Islamic State is not a great threat at present and 21 of its sanctuaries were eliminated in several provinces.

“Our efforts are continuing to root out Daesh (IS) but the threats have been reduced to a great extent,” Mujahid told reporters, according to the Tolo News report.

"They are not many in Afghanistan, because they do not have the support of the people," the Taliban chief spokesperson further said.

FRANCE HAS ENTERED THE 5TH WAVE OF COVID-19, WARNS MINISTER

France is experiencing the beginning of the fifth wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, the country's health minister Olivier Veran said on Wednesday, triggering fresh worries for those who were hoping to see an imminent end to the infection. During an interview with the TF1 television, the French minister confirmed that his country is now at the beginning of the fifth wave of the pandemic, much like “several [other] neighbouring countries”, adding that the circulation of the virus was accelerating.

“Several neighbouring countries are already in a fifth wave of the Covid epidemic, what we are experiencing in France clearly looks like the beginning of a fifth wave,” Veran was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency in the TF1 interview.

Warning that Covid-19 infection rates are climbing again in the country, French president Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that those aged 65 and above in the country will need to show proof of a Covid-19 booster jab to be able to visit restaurants, attend cultural events, and take intercity trains. “From December 15, you [over 65s] will need to provide proof of a booster jab to extend the validity of your health pass,” Macron was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency during an address to the nation.

CAR COMPANIES VOW TO PHASE OUT FOSSIL-FUEL VEHICLES BY 2040

A group of countries, companies and cities committed on Wednesday to phasing out fossil-fuel vehicles by 2040, as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions and curb global warming.

But the world's top two carmakers, Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG, as well as major car markets China, the United States and Germany, did not sign up, highlighting the challenges in shifting to zero emissions.

The Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, unveiled at COP26, sees the groups pledge to "rapidly" accelerate the transition to low-carbon emission vehicles. Headline signatories included Ford and General Motors, the world's second-most populous country India and major corporate purchasers of vehicles, including Leaseplan, which rents 1.7 million cars in 30 nations.

FUMIO KISHIDA REELECTED JAPAN PM IN PARLIAMENTARY VOTE

Fumio Kishida was re-elected as Japan's PM on Wednesday after his governing party scored a major victory in key parliamentary elections.

Elected just over a month ago by parliament, Kishida called a quick election in which his Liberal Democratic Party secured 261 seats in the 465-member lower house, the more powerful of Japan's two-chamber legislature, enough to maintain a free hand in pushing through legislation.

The October 31 victory strengthened his grip on power and was seen as a mandate from voters for his weeks-old government to tackle the pandemic-battered economy, manage the coronavirus and other challenges. Kishida said he saw the results as a signal that voters chose stability over change. “Now I will focus on promptly tackling various policy measures,” Kishida said after his reelection.