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

               World    32,72,555            /             55,91,944            /             8,324     /             6,22,02,219               /             717.4

1             USA        4,93,259              /             8,83,248              /             2,142     /             2,54,20,109               /             2,644

2             France   4,25,183              /             1,28,114              /             245        /             56,27,602               /             1,956

3             UK          1,07,364              /             1,53,202              /             330        /             36,09,207               /             2,239

4             Spain     1,57,447              /             91,599   /             162        /             33,25,538            /               1,958

5             Italy       1,88,797              /             1,42,590              /             385        /             26,71,973               /             2,364

6             India      3,47,254              /             4,88,396              /             394        /             20,18,825               /             349

7             Germany              1,34,930              /             1,17,044              /             176        /               11,40,484            /             1,390

8             Australia              71,407   /             2,890     /             49           /             11,15,698            /               111

9             Brazil     1,68,060              /             6,22,251              /             324        /             11,14,748               /             2,896

10           Argentina            1,29,709              /             1,18,809              /             181        /               9,63,302              /             2,592

11           Netherlands        39,920   /             21,188   /             10           /             7,19,345              /               1,232

12           Turkey   71,843   /             85,419   /             166        /             6,65,200              /             996

13           Russia    38,850   /             3,24,060              /             684        /             6,63,868              /               2,219

14           Mexico  60,552   /             3,02,112              /             323        /             6,41,915              /               2,306

15           Switzerland         17,513   /             12,659   /             2             /             6,28,875              /               1,446

16           Belgium               53,851   /             28,726   /             31           /             5,64,326              /               2,462

17           Poland   32,835   /             1,03,378              /             315        /             4,89,457              /               2,736

18           Norway 16,877   /             1,413     /             1             /             4,81,290              /             258

19           Sweden                /             15,596   /                            /             4,73,511              /               1,529

20           Ireland  5,523     /             6,087     /                            /             4,61,294              /               1,212

26           Philippines           31,173   /             53,153   /             110        /             2,75,364              /               475

57           Bangladesh         10,888   /             28,180   /             4             /             70,157   /             169

68           Pakistan               6,808     /             29,042   /             5             /             51,094   /             128

100        Sri Lanka              827        /             15,255   /             12           /             15,279   /             708

BIDEN FRAYS RAW NERVES BY SUGGESTING RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE LIKELY

U.S. President Joe Biden has inadvertently set off alarm bells by suggesting that Russia will indeed invade Ukraine again.

He suggested during a press conference on Jan. 19 that a U.S. response to a Russian attack on Ukraine will depend on how it occurs, inadvertently suggesting that a Russian military invasion was perhaps a fait accompli. Biden explained that U.S. sanctions would depend on whether an attack would be “a minor incursion” or a more significant invasion.

“I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades, and it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and we end up having to fight about what to do and not to do,” said Biden.

He added that “It depends on what (Russian President Vladimir Putin) does as to what extent we’re going to be able to get total unity on the NATO front.“

Ukrainian leaders were taken aback by Biden’s unexpected declaration. CNN reported that an unnamed Ukrainian official expressed “shock” at Biden’s remarks and said that his words “give Putin the green light to enter Ukraine.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the nation on TV in the evening to reassure it that there is no need for panic.

The White House quickly responded in an effort to clean up the president’s words. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden was simply trying to make clear that the U.S. and NATO would respond if Russia attacked Ukraine.

COVID: FACE MASK RULES AND COVID PASSES TO END IN ENGLAND

England's Plan B measures are to end from next Thursday, with mandatory face coverings in public places and Covid passports both dropped, Boris Johnson has announced.

The prime minister also said the government would immediately drop its advice for people to work from home.

The PM said England was reverting to "Plan A" due to boosters and how people had followed Plan B measures.

He told MPs scientists believed the Omicron wave had peaked nationally.

At a Downing Street press conference, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: "This is a moment we can all be proud of.

"It's a reminder of what this country can accomplish when we all work together."

But, he said, this should not be seen as the "finish line" because the virus and future variants cannot be eradicated - instead "we must learn to live with Covid in the same way we live with flu".

He urged people to continue taking steps to keep the virus at bay, including hand washing, ventilating rooms and self-isolating if positive - and pressed those who were unvaccinated to come forward to get their jabs.

U.S. WARSHIP’S SOUTH CHINA SEA PASSAGE SPARKS ROW

A U.S. warship sailed through the South China Sea on Thursday, sparking a warning from China’s military as tensions between the superpowers remain high.

The American Navy said the USS Benfold “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law”.

The Southern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said the U.S. ship had “illegally” entered what Beijing regards as its waters.

The PLA “organised naval and air forces to engage in tracking and monitoring as well as to warn and drive (the destroyer) away,” its statement added.

BORIS JOHNSON: I'VE SEEN NO EVIDENCE OF PLOTTERS BEING BLACKMAILED

Boris Johnson says he has "seen no evidence" of blackmail in his party after claims by one of his own MPs.

William Wragg - who has called on the PM to resign over parties at No 10 - said suspected plotters have been threatened with bad publicity and cuts to constituency funding.

He has advised colleagues who feel threatened to go to the police.

An ex-Tory MP who defected to Labour, Christian Wakeford, also said he was threatened over funding for a school.

Mr Johnson told reporters: "I have seen no evidence [and] heard no evidence."

But asked if he would look into the reports, he replied: "Of course."

BRITAIN WARNS PUTIN AND XI: WEST WILL STAND UP TO 'DICTATORSHIP'

Britain on Friday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping that the West would stand together to fight for democracy against dictatorships which it said were more emboldened than at any time since the Cold War.

Western leaders say the 21st Century will be defined by a struggle between democracies and rivals such as China and Russia who they say are challenging the post-Cold War consensus militarily, technologically and economically.

Speaking in Australia, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will say the West must respond together to global threats, deepen ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific and "face down global aggressors".

Global aggressors "are emboldened in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War," Truss will say in a speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.

"They seek to export dictatorship as a service around the world. That is why regimes like Belarus, North Korea and Myanmar find their closest allies in Moscow and Beijing."

The West, Truss said, should work with allies such as Australia, Israel, India, Japan and Indonesia to "face down global aggressors", especially in the Pacific.

"It is time for the free world to stand its ground," Truss added.

CORONAVIRUS: AUSTRIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES MANDATORY VACCINATION ORDER

Austria has moved closer to introducing a compulsory vaccination order after parliament's lower house voted in favour of new government proposals.

The law, which is due to come into effect on 1 February, would make Austria the first European country to introduce a mandatory jab.

From mid-March the law will see adults unvaccinated against Covid-19 subjected to fines of up to €3,600 (£2,994).

So far, 72% of Austrians have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

The bill must now pass the upper house and be signed into law by President Alexander Van der Bellen, steps largely expected to be formalities.

The vaccine order is expected to remain in force until January 2024, with the government investing €1.4bn in measures designed to encourage unvaccinated people to come forward for the jab.

‘HAVANA SYNDROME’ NOT A FOREIGN CAMPAIGN: REPORT

The CIA has concluded that U.S. diplomats suffering mysterious headaches and nausea in what has been dubbed “Havana Syndrome” were not targeted in a global campaign by a foreign power, reports said on Wednesday.

The New York Times and Politico cited multiple officials briefed on a CIA assessment on the incidents that first surfaced among diplomats in 2016 in Havana, in which U.S. and Canadian officials complained of headaches, and possible brain damage after hearing high-pitched sounds.

HOUTHIS USED DRONES, MISSILES IN ABU DHABI ATTACK, SAYS UAE

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement used cruise missiles and ballistic missiles alongside drones in Monday’s deadly strike on the United Arab Emirates, which intercepted part of the attack, the Gulf state’s Ambassador to the U.S. said.

It is the first time the UAE, which rarely discusses its security in public, has said missiles were used in the assault that killed three civilians in Abu Dhabi, and the first time it has claimed to have intercepted some of the weapons.

The Houthis said they fired four Quds cruise missiles at an oil refinery in Musaffah district and the airport in Abu Dhabi, a Zulfiqar ballistic missile at Dubai airport and several drones at those and other sites.

The UAE said the attack hit a fuel depot of state oil firm ADNOC in Musaffah and a construction site near Abu Dhabi airport. Abu Dhabi police said they found parts of small planes that could possibly be drones.

“Several attacks — a combination of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones — targeted civilian sites in the UAE. Several were intercepted,” Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba told an online panel hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America.

‘CHINA SATELLITE IN CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH RUSSIAN DEBRIS’

A Chinese satellite had a near collision with one of the many chunks of debris left by the fallout of a recent Russian anti-satellite missile test, state media reported.

Moscow blew up one of its old satellites in November in a missile test that sparked international anger because of the space debris it scattered around the Earth’s orbit.

U.S. officials accused Moscow of carrying out a “dangerous and irresponsible” strike that had created a cloud of debris and forced the International Space Station’s crew to take evasive action.

Russia dismissed those concerns and denied that the space debris posed any danger but a new incident with a Chinese satellite suggests otherwise.

In the latest encounter, China’s Tsinghua Science Satellite came as close as 14.5 m from a piece of debris, the state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday.

The “extremely dangerous” event happened on Tuesday, the report added, citing a social media post by Chinese space authorities that has since been removed.

SENATE SINKS BIDEN PUSH FOR VOTING REFORMS

U.S. Senators dealt a death blow on Wednesday to President Joe Biden’s push to defend voting rights against what Democrats frame as an all-out assault by conservative States targeting racial minorities.

Senate Republicans complained of federal overreach as they blocked the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act passed by the House of Representatives last week.

Democrats and activists call the measures a necessary response to Republican bid to restrict voting, especially among Black and Latino Americans.