KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    18,52,010            /             55,57,349            /             3,827     /             5,55,80,580               /             713

1             USA        2,16,881              /             8,73,420              /             271        /             2,29,25,046               /             2,615

2             France   2,78,129              /             1,26,967              /             98           /             50,25,835               /             1,939

3             UK          70,924   /             1,51,987              /             88           /             36,76,112            /               2,221

4             Spain                    /             90,759   /                            /             27,52,905            /               1,940

5             Italy       1,49,512              /             1,41,104              /             248        /             25,40,904               /             2,339

6             India      2,58,089              /             4,86,451              /             235        /             16,56,341               /             347

7             Australia              86,060   /             2,673     /             40           /             12,65,348            /               103

8             Germany              45,287   /             1,16,268              /             26           /             9,11,464               /             1,381

9             Argentina            65,241   /             1,18,040              /             51           /             8,95,744               /             2,575

10           Turkey   54,100   /             84,758   /             136        /             7,06,902              /             989

11           Brazil     24,934   /             6,21,045              /             38           /             6,68,781              /               2,890

12           Mexico  47,113   /             3,01,334              /             227        /             6,27,668              /               2,300

13           Russia    29,230   /             3,21,320              /             686        /             6,23,599              /               2,200

14           Netherlands        36,231   /             21,155   /             7             /             6,16,864              /               1,230

15           Switzerland                        /             12,566   /                            /             4,94,091              /               1,436

16           Ireland  10,753   /             6,035     /                            /             4,59,346              /               1,202

17           Belgium                              /             28,612   /                            /             4,30,611              /               2,452

18           Norway 7,604     /             1,381     /                            /             4,22,060              /             252

19           Poland   14,667   /             1,02,305              /             35           /             4,20,354              /               2,708

20           Canada 19,642   /             31,530   /             67           /             3,61,516              /             824

25           Philippines           37,154   /             52,907   /             50           /             2,87,856              /               473

73           Bangladesh         5,222     /             28,144   /             8             /             36,674   /             168

79           Pakistan               4,027     /             29,012   /             9             /             31,551   /             128

105        Sri Lanka              690        /             15,211   /             14           /             12,926   /             706

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: TENNIS STAR DEPORTED AFTER LOSING AUSTRALIA VISA BATTLE

Novak Djokovic has been deported from Australia after losing a last-ditch court bid to stay in the country.

Judges rejected a challenge by the unvaccinated tennis star after the government cancelled his visa on "health and good order" grounds.

Djokovic said he was "extremely disappointed" but accepted the ruling. He has left on a flight to Dubai.

It marks the end of a 10-day saga, in which the Serb fought to stay to defend his title in the Australian Open.

Djokovic's supporters fell silent outside the courtroom as the decision was announced on the eve of what would have been his opening match in the tournament. One fan told the BBC her summer would be "empty" without the 34-year-old playing at the Open.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed "the decision to keep our borders strong and keep Australians safe" but his government faces criticism at home and abroad for its handling of the affair.

During Sunday's court hearing before a three-judge panel, Djokovic's defence unsuccessfully argued that the grounds given by the government were illogical because to deport the star also risked fanning anti-vaccine sentiment.

Chief Justice James Allsop said the court ruling was based on the legality of the minister's decision, not on whether it was the right decision to make.

The Australian Open could have seen Djokovic make history by winning his 21st Grand Slam. Italy's Salvatore Caruso, ranked 150th in the world, is the "lucky loser" who will now replace Djokovic in his match against Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday.

AFTER A HOSTAGE DRAMA IN TEXAS, PAKISTAN UNDER TERRORISM SCRUTINY AGAIN

Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani prisoner in the United States whose release was reportedly demanded this weekend by a Texan hostage-taker, who is serving an 86-year sentence for the attempted murder of American soldiers. After more than ten hours of stalemate at a synagogue in the US state, four people were released unharmed on Sunday. A man suspected of being their captor was killed. Media, quoting a US official briefed on the matter, reported that the man was calling for the release of 49-year-old Siddiqui.

A US-educated Pakistani scientist, she was jailed in 2010 for attacking American soldiers in Afghanistan. US authorities suspected her of having Al-Qaeda ties, but she was never found guilty. Siddiqui moved to the US when she was 18 years old to study at Boston’s prestigious MIT, earning her Ph.D. in neuroscience at Brandeis University after she graduated.

She came up on the FBI’s radar after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 for giving to Islamic organizations and for buying $10,000 worth of night-vision goggles and books on warfare. After returning to Pakistan, she married Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s family, the architect of the 9/11 attacks. She is suspected of joining Al-Qaeda from America.

Islamabad has long sought the release of Aafia Siddiqui, whose initiation into extremist circles while she pursued a masters and PhD in Boston, her peregrinations to and from Pakistan, her ties to al-Qaida, and her subsequent capture and conviction, constitutes one of the more murky chapters in the US war on terror. She is regarded as a “daughter of the nation” by sections of the Pakistan establishment who have campaigned for her release from jail.

According to her lawyer, she had ‘absolutely no involvement’ in the hostage situation, and she condemned the hostage-taker’s actions.

U.S. President Joe Biden pledged to “stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country.” and also termed the incident an “act of terror” during a separate event in Philadelphia on Sunday.

TO ENTER BEIJING, CHINESE MUST HAVE NEGATIVE COVID TEST

Beijing: Beijing will require travellers to get a Covid-19 test within 72 hours of arrival in the Chinese capital, state media announced on Sunday, a day after the city reported its first Omicron case and as it readies to stage the Winter Olympics next month.

On Saturday, the city reported the first local infection of the highly transmissible Omicron variant. The new rule, effective from January 22 to endMarch, is aimed to help with early detection of Omicron, which is surging globally, and the control of epidemic risks, Beijing Daily, a government newspaper, said on its official social media account.

VOLCANO CAUSED ‘SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE’

A massive volcanic eruption in Tonga that triggered tsunami waves around the Pacific caused “significant damage” to the island nation’s capital and smothered it in dust, but the full extent was not apparent with communications still cut off on Sunday.

The eruption on Saturday was so powerful it was recorded around the world, triggering a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States.

The capital Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, adding there had been no reports of injury or death but a full assessment was not yet possible with communication lines down.

There has been no word on damage in the outer islands and New Zealand will send an air force reconnaissance aircraft “as soon as atmospheric conditions allow”, the country’s Defence Force tweeted.

Tonga has also accepted Canberra’s offer to send a surveillance flight, Australia’s foreign office said, adding it is also immediately prepared to supply “critical humanitarian supplies”.

The United States was “deeply concerned for the people of Tonga”, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, pledging support for the island nation. In California, the city of Santa Cruz was hit by flooding due to a tidal surge by the tsunami.

Peru closed 22 ports as a precaution while waves of around 1.2 metres hit along Japan’s Pacific coast.

WINTER STORM HITS SOUTHEAST US, MANY FLIGHTS CANCELLED

Atlanta: A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice was sweeping through parts of the US southeast on Sunday, knocking out power, felling trees and fences and coating roads with a treacherous frigid glaze.

Tens of thousands of customers were without power in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. More than an inch of snow fell per hour in parts of the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia, according to the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center.

The stor m was making air travel extremely difficult in some parts of the south. The nation’s hardest-hit airport — Charlotte Douglas International — remained open around dawn Sunday, the airport said. But over 1,000 flights in Charlotte have been cancelled — more than 80% of the airport’s Sunday schedule, according to the flight tracking service flightaware. com. In Atlanta, where Delta Air Lines operates it main hub, over 300 flights were cancelled.

Conditions were expected to continue to deteriorate throughout Sunday, authorities said. Over 2,50,000 people were without power, according to poweroutage. us. Especially hard hit was Georgia, with nearly 1,10,000 outages. Much of South Carolina was under a storm warning, with winds as high as 64 kmph. Separately, a tornado struck Florida.

FEAR RISES OF RUSSIA PLACING N-MISSILES NEAR US COASTLINE

No one expected progress from this past week’s diplomatic marathon to defuse the crisis Russia has ignited in eastern Europe by surrounding Ukraine on three sides with 1,00,000 troops and then, by the White House’s accounting, sending in saboteurs to create a pretext for invasion.

But as the Biden administration and Nato conduct tabletop simulations about how the next few months could unfold, they are increasingly wary of another set of options for President Vladimir Putin, steps that are more far-reaching than simply rolling his troops and armour over Ukraine’s border.

Putin wants to extend Russia’s sphere of influence to eastern Europe and secure commitments that Nato will never again enlarge. If he is frustrated in reachingthat goal, his aides said, then he would pursue Russia’s security interests with results that would be felt in Europe and the US.

There were hints that nuclear weapons could be shifted to places — perhaps not far from the US coastline — potentially igniting a confrontation with echoes of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

And as Ukrainians were reminded anew on Friday, as the websites of the country’s ministries were defaced, Russia’s army of hackers can wreak havoc in Ukraine, but also in power grids from Munich to Michigan.

WEALTH OF WORLD'S 10 RICHEST MEN DOUBLED IN PANDEMIC, OXFAM SAYS

The pandemic has made the world's wealthiest far richer but has led to more people living in poverty, according to the charity Oxfam.

Lower incomes for the world's poorest contributed to the death of 21,000 people each day, its report claims.

But the world's 10 richest men have more than doubled their collective fortunes since March 2020, Oxfam said.

Oxfam typically releases a report on global inequality at the start of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Oxfam GB's chief executive, said the charity timed the report each year to coincide with Davos to attract the attention of economic, business and political elites.

"This year, what's happening is off the scale," he said. "There's been a new billionaire created almost every day during this pandemic, meanwhile 99% of the world's population are worse off because of lockdowns, lower international trade, less international tourism, and as a result of that, 160 million more people have been pushed into poverty."

"Something is deeply flawed with our economic system," he added.

According to Forbes figures cited by the charity, the world's 10 richest men are: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and family, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffet.

While collectively their wealth grew from $700bn to $1.5tn, there is significant variation between them, with Mr Musk's fortune growing by more than 1,000%, while Mr Gates' rose by a more modest 30%.

UKRAINE CLAIMS RUSSIA BEHIND CYBERATTACK IN 'HYBRID WAR'

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Development said on Sunday that Russia was behind a cyberattack that defaced government websites and it alleged that Russia is engaged in a “hybrid war” against its neighbour.

The statement came a day after Microsoft said several computer systems at an unspecified number of Ukrainian government agencies had been infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware.

That disclosure suggested the attention-grabbing defacement attack on official websites last week was a diversion. The attack comes as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms and diplomatic talks to resolve the tense standoff appear stalled. Microsoft said in a short blog post Saturday that it first detected the malware on Thursday. That would coincide with the attack that simultaneously took some 70 Ukrainian government websites temporarily offline.

Microsoft said in a different, technical post that the affected systems “span multiple government, non-profit, and information technology organisations.”