KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    6,47,419              /             52,48,748            /             6,772     /             2,07,02,967               /             673.4

1             USA        1,00,038              /             8,06,126              /             1,015     /             95,11,164               /             2,415

2             UK          53,945   /             1,45,281              /             141        /             10,57,665            /               2,124

3             Russia    33,389   /             2,77,640              /             1,221     /             10,25,350            /               1,901

4             Germany              73,486   /             1,02,909              /             357        /             9,44,187               /             1,223

5             Netherlands        23,043   /             19,524   /             65           /             5,37,196              /               1,136

6             France   48,416   /             1,19,330              /             103        /             5,12,924              /               1,822

7             Poland   27,356   /             84,656   /             502        /             4,45,617              /               2,240

8             Belgium               20,409   /             27,072   /             57           /             4,13,444              /               2,322

9             Turkey   21,747   /             77,230   /             192        /             3,89,883              /             902

10           Ukraine 13,531   /             87,057   /             525        /             3,81,088              /               2,008

11           Mexico  3,345     /             2,94,428              /             182        /             3,48,778              /               2,250

12           Czechia 21,126   /             33,317   /             67           /             2,92,975              /               3,103

13           Honduras             70           /             10,412   /             3             /             2,46,439              /               1,028

14           Vietnam               13,698   /             25,658   /             210        /             2,35,320              /               260

15           Italy       16,806   /             1,34,003              /             72           /             2,08,871              /               2,221

16           Hungary               10,466   /             34,931   /             218        /             1,87,795              /               3,629

17           Norway 1,911     /             1,093     /                            /             1,83,489              /             199

18           Spain     14,500   /             88,122   /             42           /             1,75,120              /               1,884

19           Switzerland         4,798     /             11,574   /             3             /             1,53,340              /               1,324

20           Brazil     12,910   /             6,15,179              /             159        /             1,52,098              /               2,865

26           India      9,458     /             4,69,724              /             170        /             99,763   /             336

72           Pakistan               377        /             28,745   /             8             /             14,168   /             127

89           Bangladesh         261        /             27,986   /             3             /             7,180     /             168

OMICRON AND DELTA SPELL RETURN OF UNPOPULAR RESTRICTIONS

Germany decided on Thursday to bar the unvaccinated from all but the most essential business and the United States prepared further travel restrictions as the world scrambled to curb the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

With countries including the United States, India and France reporting their first Omicron cases, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she hoped the pandemic would not completely stifle economic activity.

The new measures in Germany focus on the unvaccinated, who will only be allowed in essential businesses such as grocery stores and pharmacies, while legislation to make vaccination mandatory will be drafted for early next year.

By early next week the United States will require inbound international travellers to be tested for COVID-19 within a day of departure, regardless of vaccination status.

Greece detected its first case of the Omicron variant on the island of Crete in a Greek citizen who had arrived from southern Africa. Singapore detected two imported cases in travellers who arrived from Johannesburg.

Greeks over 60 who refuse coronavirus vaccinations could be hit with monthly fines of more than one-quarter of their minimum pensions. Weekly protests in the Netherlands over the country’s 5pm lockdown and other new restrictions have descended into violence, despite what appears to be overwhelming acceptance of the rules. With the Delta variant pushing up cases in Europe and growing fears over the Omicron variant, governments around the world are weighing new measures for populations tired of hearing about restrictions and vaccines. New restrictions, or variations on the old ones, are cropping up around the world, especially in Europe.

The new variant is fast overtaking Delta to become the dominant variant in South Africa, where cases are rising dramatically. New Scientists said they were bracing for the surge to continue. South Africa has accelerated its vaccination campaign by giving jabs at popup sites in shopping centers and transportation hubs, where daily cases nearly doubled to 8,561 on Wednesday, from 4,373 a day earlier, according to official statistics.

US AND IRAN VOICE PESSIMISM ABOUT REVIVING N-DEAL

The US and Iran both sounded pessimistic on Thursday about the chances of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, with Washington saying it had little cause for optimism and Tehran questioning the determination of US and European negotiators.

“I have to tell you, recent moves, recent rhetoric, don't give us a lot of cause for ... optimism,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken told reporters in Stockholm, saying he could judge in a day or so if Iran would engage in good faith. Blinken made the comments after Iran provided the European powers who are shuttling between US and Iranian officials in Vienna with drafts on sanctions removal and nuclear commitments, as world powers and Tehran seek to reinstate the tattered pact. “We went to Vienna with serious determination, but we are not optimistic about the will and the intention of the US and the three European parties to the deal,” Iran foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted by Iranian media as saying. The comments came on the fourth day of indirect US-Iran talks after a five-month hiatus.

UK APPROVES NEW TREATMENT

The UK’s medicines regulator on Thursday approved a new antibody treatment against Covid, which it believes will also be effective against new variants such as Omicron.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said Xevudy or sotrovimab is for people with mild to moderate Covid who are at high risk of developing severe disease.

Developed by GSK and Vir Biotechnology, sotrovimab is a single monoclonal antibody and the drug works by binding to the spike protein on the outside of the Covid virus. This in turn prevents the virus from attaching to and entering human cells, so that it cannot replicate in the body. “I am pleased to say that we have another safe Covid treatment, Xevudy (sotrovimab),” said Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive.

BANGLADESHI COURT SENTENCES 13 TO DEATH FOR LYNCHING 6 STUDENTS

A Bangladeshi court on Thursday sentenced 13 people to death and 19 others to life imprisonment for lynching six students suspecting them of being robbers on the outskirts of the capital ten years ago.

“They will be hanged by neck until they are dead,” Dhaka 2nd Additional District and Sessions Judge Ismat Jahan ruled.

The judge said those given the death penalty would have to pay Taka 20,000 each.

Nineteen others were given life in prison. They were also slapped with a fine of Tk10,000 each.

A total of 60 people had been accused of the killings. Names of three people were dropped from the charge sheet as they died during the trial.

Prosecution lawyers said 40 out of the 57 defendants were in jail and one was on bail while the rest were tried as fugitives. The judge acquitted 25 of them.

MEGHAN MARKLE WINS NEW ROUND OF PRIVACY LEGAL BATTLE IN UK

Meghan Markle on Thursday won the latest round of her legal battle over privacy against the publishers of the ‘Mail on Sunday’ newspaper as a UK court turned down an appeal against a previous ruling in her favour, welcomed by the Duchess of Sussex as setting an important “precedent”.

The Court of Appeal judges rejected the Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) attempt to have a trial over its publication of extracts from Markle’s letter to her father, which the judges concluded was “personal, private and not matters of legitimate public interest”.

Earlier this year, a UK High Court judge had already ruled in favour of the Duchess in the privacy and copyright case and rejected the need for a full trial. Now, that decision has been upheld.

“This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right,” Markle, the wife of Prince Harry – the Duke of Sussex, said in a statement.

BIDEN BLASTED FOR REVIVING TRUMP'S REMAIN IN MEXICO POLICY

US President Joe Biden has come under fire for restoring a Trump-era policy that requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed.

Migrant groups said reinstating the Remain in Mexico programme would spur crime and violence in border camps.

Mr Biden had suspended the policy, calling it "inhumane", but was ordered by courts to resume it.

The US and Mexican governments confirmed they would revive it.

Mr Biden's administration has kept up one other major Trump-era border policy: Title 42, which allows for the quick expulsion of migrants on public health grounds.

ABE’S WARNING TO CHINA OVER TAIWAN IS A BLUNT MESSAGE TO PRESIDENT XI

Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe’s upfront warning to China that Tokyo and Washington will not stand-by if Beijing attacked Taiwan is a message to President Xi Jinping to tone down his belligerence over Taipei.

Speaking virtually at a forum organized by a Taiwanese think tank on Wednesday, Abe said: “An armed invasion of Taiwan would be a grave danger to Japan. A Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency, and therefore an emergency for the Japan-US alliance. People in Beijing, President Xi Jinping in particular, should not have a misunderstanding in recognizing this.” Abe is head of the largest faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and remains a very influential figure in the party and the Island nation.