KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    5,79,264              /             53,35,957            /             6,820     /             2,21,51,568               /             684.6

1             USA        94,194   /             8,21,144              /             1,407     /             1,00,81,720        /               2,460

2             UK          59,610   /             1,46,627              /             150        /             12,11,372            /               2,144

3             Germany              40,795   /             1,07,166              /             575        /             9,96,045               /             1,273

4             Russia    28,343   /             2,91,749              /             1,145     /             9,79,048              /               1,998

5             France   63,405   /             1,20,832              /             158        /             8,50,693              /               1,845

6             Netherlands        12,760   /             20,214   /             74           /             6,11,788              /               1,176

7             Belgium               9,751     /             27,631   /             46           /             4,74,354              /               2,369

8             Poland   17,460   /             89,045   /             537        /             4,34,727              /               2,357

9             Vietnam               15,220   /             28,333   /             252        /             3,54,879              /               287

10           Mexico  771        /             2,96,721              /             49           /             3,46,803              /               2,267

11           Turkey   21,477   /             79,503   /             181        /             3,38,923              /             928

12           Spain     26,136   /             88,542   /             58           /             3,18,914              /               1,893

13           Italy       20,677   /             1,35,049              /             120        /             2,97,394              /               2,238

14           Ukraine 7,283     /             91,602   /             387        /             2,45,837              /               2,113

15           Honduras             14           /             10,424   /                            /             2,45,600              /               1,029

16           Czechia 11,896   /             34,697   /             56           /             2,42,939              /               3,231

17           Norway                /             1,136     /                            /             2,32,656              /             207

18           Switzerland         5,971     /             11,874   /             19           /             2,23,874              /               1,358

19           South Africa       23,857   /             90,172   /             24           /             1,70,900              /               1,493

20           Hungary               3,575     /             37,079   /             195        /             1,68,918              /               3,852

26           India      5,619     /             4,75,888              /             87           /             88,993   /             340

71           Sri Lanka              2,545     /             14,661   /             20           /             15,765   /             681

76           Philippines           235        /             50,351   /             10           /             10,526   /             451

78           Pakistan               250        /             28,839   /             3             /             9,120     /             127

87           Bangladesh         295        /             28,034   /             3             /             7,307     /             168

COVID: OMICRON SPREADING AT UNPRECEDENTED RATE, WHO SAYS

The new coronavirus variant Omicron is spreading across the globe at an unprecedented rate, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned

Cases of the heavily mutated variant have been confirmed in 77 countries.

But at a press conference, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was probably in many others that had yet to detect it.

Dr Tedros said he was concerned that not enough was being done to tackle the variant.

"Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said.

The WHO on Tuesday provided room for cautious optimism saying Africa had recorded a massive rise in cases over the past week but a lower number of deaths compared with previous waves.

But it urged countries to act swiftly to rein in transmission and protect their health systems and warned against complacency.

WHO expert Bruce Aylward strenuously warned against "jumping to a conclusion that this is a mild disease".

"We could be setting ourselves up for a very dangerous situation," he added.

BLINKEN VOWS TO EXPAND U.S. MILITARY MIGHT IN INDO-PACIFIC

The U.S. will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

Mr. Blinken said the U.S. government is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting U.S. alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the U.S. military maintains “its competitive edge.”

“Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships,” Mr. Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia.

“We’ll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power — diplomacy, military, intelligence — with those of our allies and partners,” he said. That will include linking U.S. and Asian defence industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

Later, he signed a series of three agreements with Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, including one that extends until 2026 an existing maritime cooperation pact that among other issues calls for enhanced joint U.S.-Indonesian naval exercises.

COVID-19 PILL IS NEAR 90% EFFECTIVE: PFIZER

Pfizer Inc on Tuesday said final analysis of its antiviral COVID-19 pill still showed near 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalisations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data suggests the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The U.S. drugmaker last month said the oral medicine was around 89% effective in preventing hospitalisations or deaths when compared to placebo, based on interim results in around 1,200 people. The data disclosed on Tuesday includes an additional 1,000 people.

Nobody in the trial who received the Pfizer treatment died, compared with 12 deaths among placebo recipients.

The Pfizer pills are taken with the older antiviral ritonavir every 12 hours for five days beginning shortly after onset of symptoms. If authorised, the treatment will be sold as Paxlovid.

“It’s a stunning outcome,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said.

“We’re talking about a staggering number of lives saved and hospitalizations prevented. And of course, if you deploy this quickly after infection, we are likely to reduce transmission dramatically,” Mr. Dolsten said.

COVID-19: US SURPASSES 800,000 PANDEMIC DEATHS

More than 800,000 Americans have now died from the coronavirus, the highest recorded national death toll from the global pandemic.

It comes as the US reached 50 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Monday.

Most deaths have been recorded among the unvaccinated and the elderly, and more Americans died in 2021 than in 2020.

The US is again seeing deaths rising at an alarming rate.

The last 100,000 deaths came in just the past 11 weeks, a quicker pace than any at other point aside from last winter's surge.

"The waves of illness that we're seeing will continue until the population-level immunity is high enough to prevent them. Quite simply, we're not there yet," said Dr Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

It has been more than 650 days since the first American patient dying from Covid-19 was reported in Seattle, Washington (public health officials have since attributed earlier deaths to the virus).

COVID PASS STARTS IN ENGLAND DESPITE BIGGEST REBELLION OF JOHNSON ERA

Adults in England must now show a Covid pass to enter nightclubs, big sports matches and other large events - despite nearly 100 Conservative MPs voting against the government's plans.

The new rules - which kick in today - require proof of double-vaccination, or a recent negative test, to enter certain venues.

MPs approved the measure in Tuesday's vote on England's new Covid rules.

Despite the revolt by 99 Tory MPs, the plans passed thanks to Labour support.

The Commons also backed - with smaller Conservative rebellions - the continuation of mandatory mask-wearing in most indoor settings, and compulsory vaccination for NHS workers in England.

The scrapping of self-isolation for fully vaccinated Covid contacts - in favour of daily lateral flow tests - passed unanimously without a vote.

The rebellion on Covid passes was by far the biggest since Boris Johnson took office.

PARKER SOLAR PROBE MAKES HISTORIC PASS THROUGH SUN'S ATMOSPHERE

The US space agency (Nasa) is calling it a historic moment - the first time a spacecraft has flown through the outer atmosphere of the Sun.

The feat was achieved by the Parker Solar Probe, which dipped, for just a short while, into a region around our star that scientists call the corona.

It occurred in April, but the analysis of data has only now confirmed it.

Parker had to withstand intense heat and radiation but gathered new insights on how the Sun works.

"Just as landing on the Moon allowed scientists to understand how it was formed, touching the Sun is a gigantic stride for humanity to help us uncover critical information about our closest star and its influence on the Solar System," said Nicola Fox, the director of Nasa's heliophysics science division.

The Parker Solar Probe is one of the most audacious missions ever mounted by the agency.

Launched three years ago, its goal is to make repeated, and ever closer, passes of the Sun.

DEUBA SET TO BECOME NEPALI CONGRESS PRESIDENT AFTER WINNING PARTY ELECTIONS

Nepal's Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday won the election of the president of the Nepali Congress during the party's ongoing General Convention.

As per the election officer Sunil Pandey, Deuba secured 2733 votes out of 4623 votes that were cast. "The electoral body is yet to announce the results officially but PM Deuba has been elected for the second tenure as party President," said Pandey.

He defeated Dr Shekhar Koirala, who was contesting while other presidential candidates, gave up in the second phase of the election.

The second round of voting started from 3:30pm (local time) after no one got more than 50 per cent votes in the first round. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dr Shekhar Koirala, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Kalyan Gurung were the candidates in the election held on Monday under the 14th General Convention.

In the first round, Deuba got 2258 votes. Similarly, Dr Koirala got 1702 votes, Nidhi got 249 votes, Singh got 371 votes and Gurung got 22 votes. Voting for the second round is underway as no candidate got 50 per cent of the votes.

TESLA FACES BARRAGE OF US SEX HARASSMENT LAWSUITS

Six women sued Tesla on Tuesday, alleging a culture of sexual harassment at the electric carmaker's California plant and other facilities that included unwanted touching, catcalls and retaliation for those who complained.

The lawsuits -- filed within a month of two others -- add to the controversies centered on the Fremont factory in the San Francisco Bay area and which include a Black ex-employee being awarded $137 million in a racism case.

"Tesla's factory floor more resembles a crude, archaic construction site or frat house than a cutting-edge company in the heart of the progressive San Francisco Bay area," several of the suits claim.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaints, which in at least one instance argued CEO Elon Musk's explicit or provocative tweets influenced the tone at the workplace.

MALTA 1ST IN EUROPE TO LEGALISE CANNABIS

Malta has become the first EU country to legalise the cultivation and personal use of cannabis.

Adults will be allowed to carry up to seven grams of cannabis, and grow no more than four plants at home.

But smoking it in public or in front of children will be illegal.

Several other nations have similar plans, such as Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Countries like the Netherlands tolerate cannabis use in certain circumstances.

Malta's parliament voted in favour of the reform on Tuesday afternoon, with the bill winning 36 votes in favour and 27 against.

Equality Minister, Owen Bonnici, said the "historic" move would stop small-time cannabis users from facing the criminal justice system, and would "curb drug trafficking by making sure that [users] now have a safe and regularised way from where they can obtain cannabis".

TALIBAN RESPONSIBLE FOR EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS: UN

More than 100 former Afghan national security forces and others have been killed since the Taliban takeover in August, most at the hands of the hardline Islamist group which is recruiting boy soldiers and quashing women’s rights, the UN said on Tuesday. Nada al-Nashif, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that in addition, at least 50 suspected members of ISIS-Khorasan — an ideological foe of the Taliban — died by hanging and beheading. In a speech to the Human Rights Council, she described Taliban rule as being marked by extrajudicial killings across the country and restrictions on women’s and girls’ basic rights.