KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    4,61,527              /             51,28,764            /             6,651     /             1,93,60,059               /             658

1             USA        72,552   /             7,85,997              /             1,018     /             92,37,961            /               2,356

2             UK          37,243   /             1,43,159              /             214        /             15,90,613            /               2,094

3             Russia    36,818   /             2,57,837              /             1,240     /             10,41,627            /               1,766

4             Ukraine 16,308   /             77,985   /             838        /             5,02,391              /               1,798

5             Germany              39,985   /             98,660   /             299        /             4,94,244              /               1,172

6             Turkey   25,101   /             73,973   /             227        /             4,41,482              /             864

7             Mexico  775        /             2,91,204              /             57           /             3,45,441              /               2,227

8             Poland   16,590   /             79,161   /             282        /             3,24,446              /               2,095

9             Netherlands        20,168   /             18,785   /             35           /             2,86,726              /               1,093

10           Honduras             48           /             10,362   /             8             /             2,48,340              /               1,024

11           Belgium               9,229     /             26,403   /             27           /             2,32,523              /               2,265

12           Iran        6,430     /             1,28,406              /             134        /             2,02,343              /               1,502

13           Brazil     4,918     /             6,11,478              /             94           /             1,76,839              /               2,849

14           France   19,778   /             1,18,271              /             47           /             1,70,323              /               1,806

15           Vietnam               10,259   /             23,270   /             87           /             1,51,130              /               236

16           Czechia 11,514   /             31,636   /             45           /             1,50,025              /               2,947

17           Norway 1,911     /             952        /             1             /             1,41,316              /             174

18           India      8865      /             4,63,852              /             197        /             1,30,793              /               332

19           Finland  937        /             1,233     /             3             /             1,23,989              /             222

20           Italy       7,698     /             1,32,893              /             58           /             1,23,396              /               2,202

65           Pakistan               216        /             28,618   /             6             /             22,626   /             126

94           Bangladesh         213        /             27,928   /             2             /             8,053     /             167

BIDEN RAISED CONCERNS OVER XINJIANG, TIBET, HONG KONG; XI WARNS OF TAIWAN 'RED LINE'

US President Joe Biden raised China’s policies in Tibet, Hong Kong and Xinjiang and unfair trade actions in his first bilateral meeting - held virtually with President Xi Jinping on Monday. He also reiterated US support for Taiwan while remaining committed to the “One China” policy.

The American president stressed on the need for “common sense guardrails to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict”, according to a readout of their three-hour meeting issued by the White House.

There were no major outcomes or deliverables from the meeting, as had been warned by US officials. “Our responsibility as leaders of China and the United States is to ensure that the competition between our countries does not veer into conflict, whether intended or unintended,” said President Biden in his opening remarks. “Just simple, straightforward competition.”

President Xi said, “A sound and steady China-US relationship is required for advancing our two countries’ respective development and for safeguarding a peaceful and stable international environment, including finding effective responses to global challenges such as climate change, which you referenced, and the Covid pandemic.”

He added: “China and the United States should respect each other, coexist in peace, and pursue win-win cooperation.”

Biden raised “concerns about the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] practices in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong, as well as human rights more broadly. He was clear about the need to protect American workers and industries from PRC’s unfair trade and economic practices”, the White House said in the readout.

The American president also discussed the “the importance of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and communicated the continued determination of the United States to uphold our commitments in the region”.

On Taiwan, President Biden underscored US commitment to “One China” policy but said ties will be guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three joint communiques, and the six assurances, under which the US supplies military hardware to Taiwan. He added that the United States “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

Xi in turn told Biden his country would have to take "decisive measures" if "pro-Taiwan independence" forces crossed a "red line," Chinese state media said.

While the US side was transparent in the limited objective of the talks, Beijing claimed “fruitful” outcomes.

CHINA OVERTAKES US AS WORLD’S RICHEST NATION AS GLOBAL WEALTH SURGES

China has surpassed the United States to become the richest nation in the world as global wealth tripled over the past two decades, according to a new report by the research arm of consultants McKinsey & Co.

The report has been prepared after examining the national balance sheets of 10 countries, representing more than 60 per cent of world income. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Jan Mischke, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute in Zurich, said, “We are now wealthier than we have ever been.”

The worldwide net worth rose to $514 trillion in 2020, from $156 trillion in 2000, according to research conducted by McKinsey & Co. China emerged at the top of the worldwide list, accounting for almost one-third of the increase.

China’s wealth jumped to $120 trillion in 2020 from just $7 trillion in 2000. This marks a jump of $113 trillion in 20 years, helping the nation surpass the United States in terms of net worth.

During the same period, the US saw its net worth more than double to $90 trillion. However, the nation could not beat China due to muted increases in property prices.

It is worth noting that in both the US and China, more than two-thirds of the wealth is held by the richest 10 per cent of households, and their share has been increasing, according to the McKinsey & Co report quoted by Bloomberg.

It is worth mentioning that financial assets are not counted in the global wealth calculation as they are effectively offset by liabilities.

CHINA ENGAGED IN "BORDER WAR" WITH INDIA: US SENATOR

China is engaged in a "border war" with India and is posing a grave threat to its neighbours, top Republican lawmaker John Cornyn has told the US Senate, giving details of his visit to New Delhi and Southeast Asia to understand the challenges faced by countries in the region.

Senator John Cornyn, who is also the India Caucus Co-Chair, and his Congressional colleagues have just returned from a visit to India and Southeast Asia wherein they had a firsthand experience of the challenges being posed by China.

"The most urgent and grave threats are against countries closer to China's borders," Cornyn told members of the Senate on Tuesday.

"Last week, I had the chance to lead a congressional delegation visiting Southeast Asia to gain a better understanding of the threats and challenges in the region," he said.

"It (China) threatens freedom of navigation in international waters, and it's guilty of gross human rights abuses against its own people, namely the Muslim minority Uyghurs. It's engaged in a border war with India and it threatens to invade the Republic of China, otherwise known as Taiwan," Cornyn said.

Cornyn said that they travelled to India where "we met with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and Cabinet officials to discuss threats posed by China as well as other shared priorities."

PFIZER AGREES TO LET OTHER COMPANIES MAKE ITS COVID-19 PILL

Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has signed a deal with a U.N.-backed group to allow other manufacturers to make its experimental COVID-19 pill, a move that could make the treatment available to more than half of the world's population.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Pfizer said it would grant a license for the antiviral pill to the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool, which would let generic drug companies produce the pill for use in 95 countries, making up about 53% of the world's population.

The deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks.

For example, while a Brazilian drug company could get a license to make the pill for export to other countries, the medicine could not be made generically for use in Brazil.

Still, health officials said the fact that the deal was struck even before Pfizer's pill has been authorized anywhere, could help to end the pandemic quicker.

“It's quite significant that we will be able to provide access to a drug that appears to be effective and has just been developed, to more than 4 billion people,” Esteban Burrone, head of policy at the Medicines Patent Pool, said.

He estimated that other drugmakers would be able to start producing the pill within months, but acknowledged the agreement wouldn't please everyone.

DELTA NOW ACCOUNTS FOR 99.5% OF ALL GENE SEQUENCES: WHO

The Delta variant now accounts for nearly all Covid infections globally and virus experts are closely watching its evolution, looking for signs of mutation. According to the WHO, Delta makes up 99.5% of all genomic sequences reported to public databases and has “outcompeted” other variants in most countries. A key exception is South America, where other variants previously seen as possible global threats — notably Gamma, Lambda and Mustill contribute to a significant proportion of cases. Many experts now believe that all future strains will be offshoots of Delta. One notable Delta “grandchild” is known as AY.4.2 and is concentrated largely in the UK, where it makes up roughly 10% of sequenced virus samples.