KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    18,84,162            /             56,21,590            /             5,599     /             6,72,31,642               /             721.2

1             USA        3,22,920              /             8,91,167              /             900        /             2,70,05,955               /             2,668

2             France   1,08,481              /             1,29,022              /             393        /             62,11,015               /             1,970

3             Spain     1,01,810              /             91,994   /             85           /             35,62,883            /               1,966

4             UK          88,447   /             1,53,916              /             56           /             33,94,801            /               2,249

5             Italy       77,696   /             1,43,875              /             352        /             27,09,857            /               2,385

6             India      255874  /             4,90,462              /             456        /             22,36,842            /               350

7             Brazil     90,509   /             6,23,412              /             267        /             16,59,612            /               2,901

8             Germany              90,962   /             1,17,515              /             161        /             14,17,492               /             1,396

9             Australia              40,662   /             3,161     /             58           /             10,73,530            /               122

10           Netherlands        64,630   /             21,219   /             8             /             9,01,167              /               1,234

11           Argentina            78,121   /             1,19,444              /             276        /             8,33,235               /             2,605

12           Russia    65,109   /             3,26,767              /             655        /             8,01,197              /               2,238

13           Belgium                              /             28,780   /                            /             6,66,361              /               2,466

14           Mexico  20,872   /             3,03,183              /             98           /             6,60,198              /               2,314

15           Switzerland                        /             12,727   /             12           /             6,24,127              /               1,454

16           Turkey   67,023   /             86,125   /             156        /             6,11,529              /               1,004

17           Poland   29,100   /             1,03,846              /             2             /             5,81,561              /               2,749

18           Norway 18,542   /             1,414     /                            /             5,50,772              /             258

19           Portugal               32,758   /             19,613   /             44           /             5,09,628              /               1,932

20           Sweden                /             15,639   /                            /             4,99,700              /               1,534

28           Philippines           24,938   /             53,519   /             47           /             2,62,997              /               478

48           Bangladesh         14,828   /             28,238   /             15           /             1,13,867              /               169

57           Pakistan               7,195     /             29,105   /             8             /             76,617   /             128

113        Sri Lanka              877        /             15,313   /             14           /             11,126   /             710

NATO BEEFS UP EAST EUROPEAN FLANK

NATO said on Monday that it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as an escalation of tensions over Ukraine.

The move added to a flurry of signals that the West was bracing for an aggressive Russian move against Ukraine. The Kremlin, in response, accused the West of “hysteria”.

“NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all allies, including by reinforcing the eastern part of the alliance,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Britain said it was withdrawing some staff and dependants from its embassy in Ukraine in response to “a growing threat from Russia”, a day after the United States said it was ordering diplomats' family members to leave.

“Military action by Russia could come at any time,” the US Embassy said in a statement. Officials “will not be in a position to evacuate American citizens in such a contingency, so US citizens currently present in Ukraine should plan accordingly,” it added.

US diplomats at the embassy in Kyiv were being allowed to leave voluntarily. Shares across the world fell as the risk of conflict quashed demand for riskier assets, and tension over Ukraine was among factors that pushed up oil prices.

Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands were all planning or considering sending troops, planes or ships to eastern Europe, NATO said.

Meanwhile, Russia is awaiting a written response to its demands this week after talks held on last Friday —the fourth round this month — produced no breakthrough.

UAE AND US INTERCEPT HOUTHI MISSILE TARGETING ABU DHABI

Dubai: The UAE and the US military intercepted two ballistic missiles fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels over the skies of Abu Dhabi early on Monday, authorities said, the second attack in a week that targeted the Emirati capital. The missile fire further escalates tensions across the Persian Gulf, which previously had seen a series of assaults near — but never indisputably on — Emirati soil. American troops at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the capital took shelter in bunkers during the attack and fired back with their own Patriot missiles.

Videos on social media showed the sky over Abu Dhabi light up before dawn on Monday, with what appeared to be interceptor missiles racing into the clouds to target the incoming fire. Two explosions later thundered through the city. The state-run WAM news agency said that missile fragments fell harmlessly over Abu Dhabi. The Emirates is “ready to deal with any threats. . . ,” WAM quoted the UAE defence ministry as saying. A US military official acknowledged the assistance of American Patriot missiles. The missile fire disrupted traffic into Abu Dhabi International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Etihad, for about an hour after the attack. Houthi military spokesman Yehia Sarei claimed the attack.

DON’T ASSUME COVID PANDEMIC NEAR ‘END GAME’: WHO CHIEF

The head of the WHO warned on Monday that it was dangerous to assume the Omicron variant would herald the end of Covid-19’s acutest phase, exhorting nations to stay focused to beat the pandemic. “It’s dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant and that we are in the end game,” Tedros Ghebreyesus told a WHO executive board meeting. “On the contrary, globally the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge.” Omicron’s less lethal impact and the increasing prevalence of vaccines has led to optimism in some parts that the worst of the pandemic may have passed. “The Covid pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical juncture,” he said. “We must work together to bring the acute phase of this pandemic to an end. We cannot let it continue to drag on, lurching between panic and neglect."

CHINA SENDS 52 AIRCRAFT TOWARDS TAIWAN ZONE

China’s Air Force sent 52 aircraft towards Taiwan on Sunday and Monday in its latest show of force aimed at the island, prompting jets to be scrambled in response.

Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said 39 PLA aircraft had entered Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday, while 13 more aircraft did so on Monday. The first group included 34 J-16 fighters jets, four electronic warfare planes and one H-6 bomber, while on Monday there were 10 J-16s, two H-6 bombers and one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft.

The Ministry said Taiwan had scrambled jets and issued radio warnings in response.

Reports in the Chinese media suggested the latest aerial intrusions into the ADIZ may have been timed to coincide with recently concluded U.S.-Japan drills.

JOHNSON ORDERS PROBE INTO MUSLIM MP'S CLAIM

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered an internal Cabinet Office inquiry into allegations by a Pakistani-origin MP that she was sacked from her ministerial post due to her Muslim faith.Conservative Party MP Nusrat Ghani had said in a 'Sunday Times' interview that at a post-reshuffle meeting in February 2020 with the party whips, or MPs in charge of party discipline, she was told that her “‘Muslimness’ was raised as an ‘issue’, that my ‘Muslim woman minister’ status was making colleagues uncomfortable.”

On Monday, Downing Street confirmed that Johnson has asked the Cabinet Office to carry out an inquiry into the allegations. Ghani welcomed the investigation in a statement on Twitter. She said: “As I said to the PM last night all I want is for this to be taken seriously and for him to investigate. I welcome his decision to do that now. The terms of reference of the inquiry must include all that was said in Downing Street and by the whip. I look forward to seeing the terms of reference.”

ABORIGINAL FLAG: AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SECURES COPYRIGHT AFTER ROW

The Australian government has bought the Aboriginal flag's copyright in a bid to "free" the symbol of identity from bitter fights over who can use it.

Indigenous artist Harold Thomas created the flag in 1971 as a protest image but it is now the dominant Aboriginal emblem and an official national flag.

Despite this, many Aboriginal people say the flag has been "held hostage" by copyright deals that limit its display.

The flag can now be reproduced by anyone without fear of legal threats.

"Over the last 50 years we made Harold Thomas' artwork our own - we marched under the Aboriginal flag, stood behind it, and flew it high as a point of pride," said Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt.

"Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no-one can take it away."

It has followed pressure from Aboriginal groups and controversies in sports such as the Australian Football League (AFL), which began refusing to pay leaseholders to display the flag.

FACEBOOK PARENT META CREATES POWERFUL AI SUPERCOMPUTER

Facebook’s parent company Meta on Monday said it has created what it believes is among the fastest artificial intelligence supercomputers running today.

The social media giant said it hopes the machine will help lay the groundwork for its building of the metaverse, a virtual reality construct intended to supplant the internet as we know it today.

Facebook said it believes the computer will be the fastest in the world once it is fully built around the middle of the year.

Supercomputers are extremely fast and powerful machines built to do complex calculations not possible with a regular home computer. Meta did not disclose where the computer is located or how much it is costing to build.

The computer, which is already up and running but is still being built, is called AI Research SuperCluster. Meta says it will help its AI researchers build “new and better” artificial intelligence models that can learn from “trillions” of examples and work across hundreds of different languages simultaneously and analyze text, images and video together.

“We hope RSC will help us build entirely new AI systems that can, for example, power real-time voice translations to large groups of people, each speaking a different language, so they can seamlessly collaborate on a research project or play an AR game together,” Meta said in a blog post.

OZ PM ‘LOSES’ CONTROL OF A/C ON CHINESE-OWNED WECHAT

Australia PM Scott Morrison has lost control of his account on the Chinese-owned social media platform WeChat. A little-known Chinese tech firm that took over the account set up for Morrison said on Monday it wanted to buy an account with a large fanbase in Australia, and was unaware it was his. Australian politicians said Morrison’s office lost access to the account on the platform, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, several months ago. The politicians claimed the move represented censorship and political interference amid growing diplomatic tension between Canberra and Beijing with national elections to be held in Australia by May.

The account, which bore Morrison’s photo and posted information on his policies in Mandarin targeted at Australian voters of Chinese ethnic origin, had 76,000 followers. The account was renamed ‘Australia China New Life’ in January by its new Chinese owner, Fuzhou 985 Technology, based in Fujian province, which notified followers the account would instead promote Chinese life in Australia. An employee from Fuzhou 985 Technolog y toldReuters was not aware the account was previously connected to Morrison. He said the transfer of ownership was conducted with a Chinese male national living in Fuzhou, whose identity he declined to disclose.

WeChat’s owner Tencent told AP there was “no evidence of any hacking or third-party intrusion”. “This appears to be a dispute over account ownership,” the firm said.

CHINA LIFTS XI’AN LOCKDOWN ON 13M

A cluster of Covid cases in Beijing has prompted authorities to test two million people and impose new measures two weeks ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics on February 4, even as the city of Xi’an lifted on Monday a monthlong lockdown that had isolated its 13 million residents.

ASSANGE GRANTED APPEAL TO FIGHT EXTRADITION TO US

London: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won the first stage of his effort to overturn a UK ruling that opened the door for his extradition to US to stand trial on espionage charges.

The high court in London gave Assange permission to appeal the case to the UK Supreme Court. But the SC must agree to accept the case before it can move forward. “Make no mistake, we won today in court,” Assange’s fiancee, Stella Moris, said outside the courthouse in London. “We will fight this until Julian is free,” she added. The SC normally takes about eight sitting weeks after an application is submitted to decide whether to accept an appeal, the court says on its website. Assange has 14 days to make an application to the court.

BURKINA FASO PRESIDENT HELD BY MUTINOUS SOLDIERS: REPORTS

Mutinous troops in restive Burkina Faso arrested President Roch Marc Christian Kabore on Monday and detained him in army barracks a day after staging an uprising, security sources said.

Soldiers at several army bases across the country rebelled on Sunday, demanding the sacking of the military top brass and more resources to fight a bloody jihadist insurgency.

Later in the day gunshots were heard near Mr. Kabore’s private residence in the capital Ouagadougou, and witnesses reported seeing a helicopter above it.

“President Kabore, the head of Parliament and the Ministers are effectively in the hands of the soldiers” at the Sangoule Lamizana barracks in the capital Ouagadougou, a security source said, with another source confirming the arrest.

The situation was tense and confused in the capital, where mobile Internet had been cut on Sunday, making it difficult to verify rumours of a coup in progress.

An AFP journalist said around 10 hooded troops had posted themselves in front of the national broadcaster RTB on Monday, but it was not immediately clear if they were from the mutineers or had been sent in by the government.

SONY MUSIC BUYS BOB DYLAN’S RECORDED MUSIC

Sony Music has acquired the entire recorded music catalog of Bob Dylan, including all his previous albums and “the rights to multiple future release,” the firm said on Monday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. When Dylan sold his songwriting rights — which are separate from those for recordings — to Universal Music in late 2020, that deal was estimated to be worth well over $300 million. According to Sony’s announcement, the transaction was concluded in July, making it one of the music industry’s rare big-money deals to avoid leaks for as much as six months. The Bob Dylan Centre in Tulsa, housing Dylan’s vast archives, is set to open in May.