KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    3,82,914              /             51,67,486            /             4,014     /             1,99,32,476               /             662.9

1             USA        26,236   /             7,93,640              /             85           /             93,35,133            /               2,378

2             UK          40,004   /             1,43,927              /             61           /             16,13,572            /               2,105

3             Russia    36,970   /             2,64,095              /             1,252     /             10,42,133            /               1,809

4             Germany              36,860   /             99,613   /             60           /             6,52,279              /               1,184

5             Ukraine 10,635   /             81,272   /             377        /             4,88,721              /               1,874

6             Turkey   21,177   /             75,042   /             195        /             4,04,565              /             877

7             Poland   18,883   /             80,822   /             41           /             3,76,719              /               2,139

8             Netherlands        20,643   /             18,966   /             11           /             3,71,678              /               1,103

9             Mexico  3,306     /             2,92,372              /             227        /             3,47,386              /               2,235

10           Belgium                              /             26,568   /                            /             2,88,571              /               2,279

11           Honduras                            /             10,388   /                            /             2,47,686              /               1,026

12           France   19,749   /             1,18,461              /             15           /             2,46,213              /               1,809

13           Czechia 14,402   /             32,079   /             35           /             2,03,155              /               2,988

14           Brazil     5,126     /             6,12,659              /             34           /             1,82,585              /               2,854

15           Vietnam               9,889     /             23,761   /             76           /             1,65,253              /               241

16           Iran        4,340     /             1,28,956              /             104        /             1,65,057              /               1,509

17           Norway 701        /             999        /                            /             1,52,191              /             182

18           Austria  14,042   /             12,015   /             22           /             1,49,444              /               1,324

19           Italy       9,709     /             1,33,177              /             46           /             1,48,760              /               2,207

20           Hungary                              /             32,780   /                            /             1,28,124              /               3,405

22           India      10,488   /             4,65,662              /             97           /             1,22,724              /               333

62           Pakistan               313        /             28,659   /             4             /             22,479   /             126

94           Bangladesh         199        /             27,953   /             7             /             7,937     /             167

BIDEN DECLARES INTENT TO RUN IN 2024, COOLS KAMALA PROSPECTS

US President Joe Biden has conveyed to his supporters that he plans to run for the White House again in 2024 in an apparent effort to quell Democratic disquiet and infighting amid falling poll numbers for himself and his party. Biden and members of his inner circle have reportedly reassured allies in recent days that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, despite the widespread assumption that his age — he turned 79 on Saturday and he will be 82 by the time of the next election — will not allow a vigorous campaign.

Declaration of his intent to run is also aimed at snuffing out preparatory work by other contenders, including his vicepresident Kamala Harris, who is expected to make a bid for the party nomination should Biden bail out. “The only thing I’ve heard him say is he’s planning on running again. And I’m glad he is,” former Senator Christopher Dodd, a close friend of the president who was also part of the team that vetted Kamala Harris for running mate in 2020 told the Washington Post, which first reported on Biden’s latest word to fundraisers. The declaration of intent to run by a president who is already the oldest in US history comes amid growing anxiety in the party over its prospects in the mid-term poll of 2022 when the full House of Representatives and a third of the Senate — both of which are in Democratic hands — will be up for re-election.

Harris is widely perceived in political circles as not being up to the mark to win a party nomination considered she failed to win any delegates in the 2020 race, despite which Biden picked her as a running mate.

Reports of tension between the two camps have surfaced in the months since they took office, and there have already been a couple of highprofile exits from their staff in recent days

WTA CONCERNS PERSIST AFTER VIDEOS OF PENG SHUAI EMERGE

The head of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has expressed fresh concerns about Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai after government-affiliated media on Sunday released videos purported to be showing she was safe and in Beijing, amid growing concerns around the world about her safety.

Ms. Peng had not been seen in public for two weeks after she had posted a message on November 2 on Chinese social media site Sina Weibo alleging sexual abuse by a senior former Communist Party leader and former Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. The message was promptly deleted while news of the allegations remains completely censored in China. Ms. Peng’s page on Weibo, a Twitter-equivalent, has also largely remained inaccessible and no longer shows up in search results.

On Sunday, new videos were posted on Twitter, a website blocked in China, by Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a newspaper published by the Communist Party’s official newspaper the People’s Daily, showing Ms. Peng purportedly appearing at a youth tennis event in Beijing. Mr. Hu said the event had taken place on Sunday morning. He also released two videos of Ms. Peng having dinner with friends, which he said was from Saturday night in Beijing.

The videos could not be independently verified. It also was not clear who filmed the dinner and why.

PROTESTS ERUPT IN PAKISTAN'S GWADAR AMID GROWING BACKLASH AGAINST CPEC

A growing backlash against China's multibillion-dollar belt and road program has resulted in protests in Pakistan's port city of Gwadar over unnecessary checkpoints, a severe water and electricity shortage, and threat to livelihoods from illegal fishing.

Protests have been taking place for a week at Y Chowk on Port Road in Gwadar, a coastal town in Pakistan's restive Southwest Balochistan province, between workers of some political parties and civil rights protestors.

On Sunday, Jang newspaper reported that demonstrators are demanding the removal of unnecessary checkpoints, access to drinking water and electricity, and eviction of trawlers from Makran coast, as well as the opening of the border with Iran from Panjgur to Gwadar.

"Give rights to Gwadar" rally leader Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman said protests would continue until their demands were met. He asserted that the government has not been sincere in its attempt to resolve the problems of the local people living in the region.

According to Rehman, the government has done nothing to address the issue of unemployment in the city despite the deep sea port being built.

Increasing protests regarding China's presence in Gwadar are linked to the project's vital importance to China's Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI), on which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is built.  The CPEC passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), which has prompted India to protest China.

China's Xinjiang province and Pakistan's Balochistan province are connected by this massive infrastructure project.

In the process of becoming Pakistan's jewel in the CPEC crown, Gwadar port became the very definition of security state.

CHINA DOWNGRADES ITS TIES WITH LITHUANIA OVER TAIWAN

China on Sunday downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the Baltic state after Taiwan, which Beijing claims as a breakaway region, opened a de facto embassy in capital Vilnius.

The Chinese foreign ministry also issued a “stern warning” to Taiwan, saying it is “never a country”.

China views Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy, as its territory and opposes any kind diplomatic ties with a third country.

On November 18, Lithuania, a nation of around 2.8 million people, brushed aside China’s protests, to allow Taipei to set up a “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania” in Vilnius.

“The Chinese side expresses its strong indignation and protest against this move, and decides to downgrade its diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the chargé d’affaires level,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“It has allowed the establishment in Lithuania of the “Representative Office” bearing the name of Taiwan, thus creating an egregious precedent in the world,” the statement added.

Lithuania, according to agency reports from Vilnius, expressed regret over China’s move but defended its right to expand cooperation with Taiwan while respecting Beijing’s “One China” policy.

TOP U.S. ADMIRAL WARNS ABOUT CHINA THREAT AT HALIFAX FORUM

The head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on November 20 the United States and its allies need to operate with a greater sense of urgency amid rising tensions and China’s increasingly assertive military actions.

Adm. John C. Aquilino reaffirmed America’s commitment to achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific region during meetings with allies at the Halifax International Security Forum.

“Look at what the Chinese have said. President Xi [Jinping] has tasked his forces to be at a level of military parity with the United States by 2027. Those are his words,” Adm. Aquilino said in a meeting with journalists.

Adm. Aquilino said the U.S. and its allies need to work together more frequently in international waters to build interoperability so they can operate together quickly if needed.

“We need to deliver capabilities sooner and faster,” he said.

EL SALVADOR TO BUILD CRYPTOCURRENCY-FUELLED ‘BITCOIN CITY’

In a rock concertlike atmosphere, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced that his government will build an oceanside “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano.

Bukele used a gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts on Saturday night to launch his latest idea, much as he used a an earlier Bitcoin conference in Miami to announce in a video message that El Salvador would be the first country to make the cryptocurrency legal tender, A bond offering would happen in 2022 entirely in Bitcoin, Bukele said. And 60 days after financing was ready, construction would begin. The city will be built near the Conchagua volcano in the Gulf of Fonseca to take advantage of geothermal energy to power both the city and Bitcoin mining — the energy-intensive solving of complex mathematical calculations day and night to verify currency transactions.

The government will provide land and infrastructure and work to attract investors.

The only tax collected there will be the value-added tax, half of which will be used to pay the municipal bonds and the rest for municipal infrastructure and maintenance. Bukele said there would be no property, income or municipal taxes and the city would have zero carbon dioxide emissions.

The city would be built with attracting foreign investment in mind. There would be residential areas, malls, restaurants and a port, Bukele said.

TTP DEMANDS POLITICAL OFFICE IN THIRD COUNTRY, PAK GOVT SAYS NO

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has asked the Pakistan government to allow it to open a political office in a third country, a demand rejected by Islamabad as unacceptable, according to a media report. In a series of meetings with the Pakistani authorities during negotiations for a peace agreement, TTP made three demands, which include allowing the opening of a political office in a third country, reversal of the Federal Administered Tribal Areas merger with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and the introduction of Islamic system in Pakistan, Express Tribune newspaper reported on Saturday. “But Pakistani authorities told TTP that these demands were not acceptable,” the daily reported.

“TTP was told in categorical terms that there was no question of introducing an Islamic system based on their interpretation. The terrorist group was also told that Pakistan is an Islamic republic and that all laws in the country had to be in conformity with Islam,” it said. Pakistan authorities, in turn, put forward three demands to TTP. These include, accepting the writ of the state, laying down arms and apologising to people . If the demands are met, the authorities said they would consider granting them amnesty.

SUDAN'S MILITARY REINSTATES OUSTED CIVILIAN PM HAMDOK

Sudan's ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has been reinstated following last month's coup when he was put under house arrest.

He has appeared on TV to sign a new power-sharing agreement with coup leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan amid continuing mass protests.

But the civilian coalition that nominated Mr Hamdok as PM two years ago refused to acknowledge any new deal.

The pact had been struck with a gun to his head, a spokesperson told the BBC.

"The future of the country will be determined by the young people on the ground," Siddiq Abu-Fawwaz, from the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, told BBC's Newshour programme.

On the streets of capital, Khartoum, the security forces have fired tear gas at protesters marching towards the presidential palace and demanding the military's complete withdrawal from politics.

Under the agreement, the reinstated prime minister will lead a cabinet of technocrats until elections are held. But it is unclear how much power the new civilian government will have, as it it will be subject to military oversight.

FRANCE VOWS TO KEEP BATTLING IN FISHING DISPUTE WITH UK

France’s minister of the sea vowed on Sunday to “continue the fight” in the country’s dispute with Britain over fishing rights.

Minister Annick Girardin met with fishermen in northern France on Sunday.

“We fight every day for these ships, for these licences, and we will not give up,” she told reporters, criticising the British interpretation of post-Brexit rules over fishing rights as “inadmissible.”

Before Brexit, French fishermen could fish deep inside British waters.

Now they need to be granted a special licence from the British government or the self-governing British Crown dependencies of Jersey and Guernsey to fish in certain areas.

Those authorities have already granted 961 fishing licences to French boats, according to French authorities, but France wants about 150 more licences.

Girardin said France set a deadline for the fishing talks, led by the European Union, to end in December.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that France “will not yield”.

The British “are playing with our nerves,” he said.

Sunday’s comments came three days after Girardin said the French government is considering providing financial compensation to French fishermen who can’t get licenses.

TALIBAN ASKS AFGHAN TV CHANNELS TO STOP AIRING SHOWS WITH WOMEN ACTORS

Afghanistan's Taliban authorities on Sunday issued a new ''religious guideline'' that called on the country's television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring women actors.

In the first such directive to Afghan media issued by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Taliban also called on women television journalists to wear Islamic hijabs while presenting their reports.

And the ministry asked the channels not to air films or programmes in which the Prophet Mohammed or other revered figures are shown.

It called for banning films or programmes that were against Islamic and Afghan values.

''These are not rules but a religious guideline'," ministry spokesman Hakif Mohajir told AFP.

The new directive was widely circulated late Sunday on social media networks.