KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    18,51,531            /             55,62,795            /             4,717     /             5,64,81,794               /             713.7

1             USA        2,76,880              /             8,74,115              /             419        /             2,33,59,043               /             2,617

2             France   1,02,144              /             1,27,263              /             296        /             49,47,974               /             1,943

3             UK          84,429   /             1,52,075              /             85           /             36,55,733            /               2,222

4             Spain     1,10,489              /             90,993   /             78           /             30,02,335            /               1,945

5             Italy       83,403   /             1,41,391              /             287        /             25,55,278            /               2,344

6             India      2,82,970              /             4,87,202              /             358        /             18,31,000               /             347

7             Australia              73,258   /             2,699     /             31           /             11,34,657            /               104

8             Germany              53,916   /             1,16,411              /             143        /             9,28,937               /             1,383

9             Argentina            1,02,458              /             1,18,231              /             191        /               8,85,619              /             2,580

10           Brazil     76,345   /             6,21,261              /             162        /             7,51,205              /               2,891

11           Turkey   64,935   /             84,920   /             162        /             6,99,569              /             990

12           Netherlands        42,352   /             21,158   /             3             /             6,44,604              /               1,231

13           Russia    30,726   /             3,21,990              /             670        /             6,33,899              /               2,205

14           Mexico  19,132   /             3,01,410              /             76           /             6,23,020              /               2,301

15           Switzerland         8,452     /             12,596   /             2             /             5,43,963              /               1,439

16           Ireland  6,329     /             6,035     /                            /             4,58,342              /               1,202

17           Norway 11,031   /             1,382     /             1             /             4,33,090              /             252

18           Poland   10,445   /             1,02,309              /             4             /             4,21,122              /               2,708

19           Belgium                              /             28,612   /                            /             4,20,571              /               2,452

20           Finland  22,217   /             1,753     /             29           /             3,45,599              /             316

26           Philippines           37,070   /             52,929   /             23           /             2,90,938              /               473

69           Bangladesh         6,676     /             28,154   /             10           /             42,913   /             168

76           Pakistan               4,340     /             29,019   /             7             /             35,677   /             128

102        Sri Lanka              688        /             15,218   /             7             /             13,444   /             706

PAKISTAN MUST BE MODELLED ON PROPHET’S STATE OF MEDINA, WRITES IMRAN KHAN

In an op-ed for Pakistani daily The Express Tribune Monday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said the most urgent challenge facing his country is the struggle to establish the rule of law.

Over the last 75 years of Pakistan’s history, our country has suffered from elite capture, where powerful and crooked politicians, cartels and mafias have become accustomed to being above the law in order to protect their privileges gained through a corrupt system. While protecting their privileges they have corrupted state institutions,” he wrote.

Khan said Pakistan must embody the five guiding principles of the state of Medina (i.e. the Islamic version of a welfare state) built by the Prophet Muhammad: unity, rule of law, strong moral and ethical foundations, inclusivity, and the quest for knowledge.

He also emphasised that the National Rahmatul-lil-Alamin Authority (NRA) — a body of scholars formed last October and tasked with finding ways to disseminate lessons from the life of the Prophet to the masses — will play a key role with regard to the third principle: strong moral and ethical foundations.

“NRA will endeavour to engage in amr bil maroof by teaching seerat-al-nabi (SAW) to our youth in schools and universities in the hope to raise the level of ethics and morals in our society,” he wrote.

RUSSIA COULD INVADE UKRAINE 'AT ANY POINT' AS IT MOVES TROOPS WEST, US WARNS

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday that the U.S. believes that Russia could carry out an attack on Ukraine “at any point,” underscoring the immediacy of the threat should Moscow decide to take action.

“Our view is this is an extremely dangerous situation. We're now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack in Ukraine,” Psaki told reporters at a briefing, adding later that her language was “more stark than we have been.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday as the U.S. seeks to ward off an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which has amassed 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine and recently moved forces to Belarus for joint military drills.

The meeting follows high-level diplomatic talks between U.S. and Russian officials and NATO in Europe last week. Blinken and Lavrov spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed to meet.

Blinken plans to urge the Russians to deescalate the situation and take the diplomatic path offered by the U.S. and its allies, Psaki said, reiterating that there would be significant economic consequences should Russia choose to invade Ukraine.

“It is up to the Russians to determine which path they are going to take, and the consequences are going to be severe if they don’t take the diplomatic path,” Psaki said.

SAUDI ARABIA-LED COALITION STRIKES SANAA, 20 DEAD

Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi group on the capital Sanaa killed over 20 persons overnight, including civilians, Houthi media and residents said, in one of its deadliest attacks since 2019.

Around 14 persons were killed when coalition planes struck the home of a high-ranking Houthi military official, including his wife and son, according to neighbours and a medic.

The air strikes followed Monday's drone and missile attack on coalition partner the United Arab Emirates that was claimed by the Iran-aligned Houthis and killed three persons.

ISRAELI POLICE UNDER FIRE FOR PEGASUS USE TO HACK CITIZENS

Jerusalem: Israel’s parliament will seek an explanation from police over the force’s reported use of a controversial hacking tool against citizens of the country, a senior legislator said on Tuesday. Without citing sources, the Calcalist financial daily said police have possessed the Pegasus spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group — which is now on a US government blacklist — since 2013. Calcalist said the police used it against targets including anti-government protest leaders, sometimes without the required court warrants.

Responding to the Calcalist report, police commissioner Kobi Shabtai said the force had acquired third-party cyber technology, but he stopped short of confirming or denying any usage of Pegasus. All such monitoring activity, he said in a statement, “is carried out according to law . . . (and) for example, in the case of covert listening, a request is filed with a court, which examines the matter”. He denied the newspaper’s report that police had used spyware against, among others, leaders of so-called “Black Flag” protests last year that demanded the resignation of then-PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges he denies. On Israel’s Channel 12 TV news, legislator Meirav Ben Ari said the parliamentary public security committee she chairs would convene as early as next week to question police about the Calcalist report.

RISING SEA LEVELS PROMPT INDONESIA TO RELOCATE CAPITAL

Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday passed a law approving the relocation of its capital from slowly sinking Jakarta to a site 2,000 kilometres away on the jungle-clad Borneo island that will be named “Nusantara”.

The House of Representatives vote provides the legal framework for the move, which was first tipped by President Joko Widodo in April 2019, citing rising sea levels and severe congestion on densely populated Java island.

Home to more than 30 million people in its greater metro area, Jakarta has long been plagued by serious infrastructure problems and flooding exacerbated by climate change.

The new capital will cover about 56,180 hectares in East Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo.

Early plans for the new capital depict a utopian design aimed at creating an environmentally friendly “smart” city, but few details have been confirmed.

BOOSTER DOSE MUST FOR ABU DHABI VISITORS

Facing a nationwide surge in coronavirus cases fuelled by the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, Abu Dhabi is requiring people entering the city to show proof of booster shots.

The government's health app said earlier this week that people entering the capital of the United Arab Emirates must show a “green pass," confirming their vaccination status. The app says visitors are no longer considered fully vaccinated unless they have received a booster at least six months after their second dose. Those wishing to enter Abu Dhabi also must have have tested negative for the virus within the last two weeks to maintain their “green” status.

Abu Dhabi requires that residents show their green pass before entering public places or government buildings.

PROVINCE 2 OF NEPAL RENAMED 'MADHES PRADESH'

Nepal's south-eastern Province 2 has been renamed Madhes Pradesh with Janakpur retained as its capital, settling a long-standing debate on the region's official reference after it was made a province in 2015.

The Provincial Assembly on Monday voted in two-thirds majority for both decisions. Of the 99 voting members, 78 voted for Janakpur as capital and 80 voted for the provincial name Madhes. Madhes is Nepal's smallest province in terms of area but second largest in terms of population. It borders Bihar in the south and has eight districts — Bara, Parsa, Rautahat, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, and Siraha.