KEY COVID NOS. WORLDWIDE

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

               World    26,14,781            /             57,82,253            /             12,492   /             7,44,49,434        /             741.8

1             USA        1,79,169              /             9,32,443              /             2,777     /             2,87,95,422        /             2,791

2             France   2,35,267              /             1,33,614              /             691        /             58,63,484            /             2,040

3             Spain     43,831   /             94,931   /             361        /             32,74,035            /             2,029

4             Brazil     1,71,483              /             6,33,894              /             1,174     /             30,41,066            /             2,949

5             Germany              2,12,724              /             1,19,726              /             231        /             30,34,338            /             1,422

6             UK          66,183   /             1,58,677              /             314        /             22,80,546            /             2,318

7             Russia    1,65,643              /             3,36,721              /             698        /             21,04,803            /             2,306

8             Netherlands        1,89,377              /             21,336   /                            /             20,39,375            /             1,241

9             Italy       1,01,864              /             1,49,512              /             393        /             19,27,800            /             2,479

10           Belgium               13,525   /             29,337   /             31           /             11,13,037            /             2,514

11           Switzerland         19,437   /             12,934   /             1             /             9,09,343              /             1,477

12           India      71,365   /             5,05,279              /             626        /             8,92,828              /             360

13           Sweden                /             16,207   /                            /             8,81,333              /             1,589

14           Norway 26,109   /             1,467     /                            /             8,46,902              /             267

15           Japan     71,708   /             19,446   /             122        /             8,26,882              /             155

16           Turkey   1,11,096              /             89,211   /             241        /             7,77,562              /             1,040

17           Poland   35,960   /             1,06,894              /             286        /             7,43,351              /             2,829

18           Chile      24,970   /             40,087   /             27           /             6,02,381              /             2,069

19           Portugal               30,757   /             20,302   /             44           /             5,99,997              /             2,000

20           Denmark              47,039   /             3,927     /             18           /             5,68,867              /             674

38           Bangladesh         8,354     /             28,670   /             43           /             2,27,728              /             171

56           Philippines           3,574     /             54,621   /             83           /             1,05,550              /             488

60           Pakistan               2,799     /             29,553   /             37           /             87,168   /             130

96           Sri Lanka              1,253     /             15,656   /             35           /             24,265   /             726

BIDEN SAYS EUROPEAN PIPELINE WILL END IF RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE

U.S. President Joe Biden said a crucial European gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, will not go forward if Russia invades Ukraine, as high-level diplomatic efforts took place Monday to try to prevent an invasion, with Germany’s leader traveling to Washington and France’s president to Moscow.

Biden told reporters at the White House on Monday after a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, “the notion that Nord Stream 2 would go forward” in the event of an invasion by Russian tanks or troops is “just not going to happen.”

“I promise you we will be able to do that,” Biden said when asked how he could make that happen.

Scholz did not directly say whether Germany would cancel the pipeline project but said, “We will take all the necessary steps, and all will be done together” with the United States and other allies.

He said, “We have prepared a reaction that will help us to react swiftly if needed” in the event of a Russian invasion. He said Germany would not “spell out everything in public.”

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, running under the Baltic Sea, is designed to bring Russian natural gas to Germany. The pipeline was recently completed but is not yet operational.

The U.S., among others, has viewed putting the brakes on the pipeline as part of the deterrence of a Russian attack on Ukraine, eliminating potential Russian revenue from the pipeline.

Meanwhile in Moscow, French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, trying to curb the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putin said after the talks that Russia would do its best "to find compromises" in the crisis with the West over Ukraine and said, "As far as we are concerned, we will do everything to find compromises that suit everyone."

He said there would be "no winners" if war broke out on the European continent.

RETIRED POPE ASKS PARDON FOR ABUSE, BUT SAYS NO WRONGDOING

Retired Pope Benedict XVI asked forgiveness on Tuesday for any “grievous faults” in his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, but denied any personal or specific wrongdoing after an independent report criticised his actions in four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.

Benedict, 94, was responding to a January 20 report from a law firm that had been commissioned by the German Catholic Church to look into how cases of sexual abuse were handled in the Munich archdiocese between 1945 and 2019. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, headed the archdiocese from 1977 to 1982. The report faulted Benedict’s handling of four cases during his time as archbishop, accusing him of misconduct for having failed to restrict the ministry of the priests even after they had been convicted. Benedict issued what he called a “confession”, though he didn’t confess to any specific sin or fault.

Benedict’s lack of a personal apology or admission of guilt riled abuse survivors. His response drew criticism from Eckiger Tisch, a group representing survivors, who said it fit into the church’s “permanent relativising on matters of abuse — wrongdoing and mistakes took place, but no one takes concrete responsibility”.

SOLAR ERUPTIONS EXPECTED TO HIT EARTH TODAY; GEOMAGNETIC STORM TO BE TRIGGERED

Earth is set to be hit by a fresh solar eruption on Wednesday and Thursday, that could trigger a geomagnetic storm, researchers have said. This comes just a week after a similar moderate geomagnetic storm was triggered by the powerful eruptions hurtled by the Sun towards the Earth.

According to tweets by the Center of Excellence in Space Sciences (CESS) under the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, a filament eruption was observed on the Sun south of disk center on February 6. The eruption was recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission’s Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO), said CESS.

SOHO is a joint mission by Nasa and the European Space Agency launched in 1995 to study the Sun. It routinely identifies the coronal mass ejections.

The CESS further said that the Earth will be impacted by the moderate geomagnetic storm in the range 451-615 kilometres per second from February 9 (05:48 UT) to February 10 (09:53 UT), which translates to 11.18am IST on February 9 to 3.23pm IST on February 10.

“The impact is unlikely to be very hazardous. Moderate geomagnetic storms are likely,” the CESS further said on Twitter.

The solar storm could also touch off geomagnetic activity that could make the Northern Lights visible.

These storms - triggered by powerful blasts of radiation called solar flare - can disrupt some high-frequency radio broadcasts and low-frequency navigation. They also produce major changes in currents, plasma and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere.

COVID-19 IN CANADA: JUSTIN TRUDEAU SAYS TRUCKERS’ PROTEST ‘HAS TO STOP’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerged from isolation on Monday evening and attended an emergency session of Canada’s House of Commons and asserted that the truckers’ strike in Ottawa “has to stop”.

His appearance at the in-person sitting was an unexpected addition to his schedule which had earlier stated he was only due for private meetings at an undisclosed location in the National Capital Region.

However, facing a barrage of criticism from the opposition over being missing in action as the agitation by the Freedom Convoy 2022 has laid siege to the country’s capital for the last 11 days, Trudeau addressed MPs and said, “Everyone is tired of Covid, but these protests are not the way to get through it.”

There were no updates from the prime minister’s office on whether Trudeau, who was in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, had been cleared to physically attend the session.

Trudeau also took to Twitter to attack the protestors again, as he said, “Canadians have the right to protest, to disagree with their government, and to make their voices heard. We’ll always protect that right. But let’s be clear: They don’t have the right to blockade our economy, or our democracy, or our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop.”

EU JOINS CHIPS RACE WITH €43-BILLION BID TO RIVAL ASIA

The EU on Tuesday unveiled a plan to quadruple the supply of semiconductors in Europe by 2030, hoping to limit the bloc’s dependence on Asia for a key component used in electric cars and smartphones.

The production of chips has become a strategic priority in Europe as well as the United States, after the shock of the pandemic choked off supply, bringing factories to a standstill and emptying stores of products.

The manufacturing of semiconductors overwhelmingly takes place in Taiwan, China and South Korea and the European Union wants factories and companies inside the bloc to take on a bigger role.

The highly anticipated EU Chips Act will “mobilise more than €43 billion ($49.1 billion) of public and private investments” and “enable the EU to reach its ambition to double its current market share to 20% in 2030”, the European Commission said.

“We’ve set ourselves the goal to have 20% of the global market share of chips production here in Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Getting to that level “means basically quadrupling our efforts” given the huge increase in global demand, she said.

If approved, the EU plans could generate a total of €43 billion via existing EU budget money as well as by loosening existing rules on public subsidy from member states.

NEW COVID-19 TEST WITH SHORTER RESULT DURATION

Chinese scientists say they have developed a new coronavirus test that is accurate as a PCR lab test but gives results within four minutes.

In a peer-reviewed article published on Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the team said their sensor — which uses microelectronics to analyse genetic material from swabs — can reduce the need for time-consuming Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted in COVID labs.

The researchers said their method offers speed, ease of operation, high sensitivity and portability.

Their trial involved taking samples from 33 people in Shanghai who were infected with the coronavirus, with PCR tests conducted in parallel.

The results from their method were a “perfect” match with the PCR tests.

U.S. APPROVES UPGRADE FOR TAIWAN MISSILE

The United States has approved a possible $100 million sale of equipment and services to Taiwan to “sustain, maintain, and improve” the Patriot missile defence system used by the self-ruled island claimed by China, the Pentagon said.

Upgrades to the Patriot Air Defense System would “help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance and progress in the region,” the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.

The main contractors would be Raytheon Technologies and Lockheed Martin.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it “highly welcomed” the decision.

The deal was expected to “come into effect” within one month.

HINDU TEACHER GETS 25 YRS’ JAIL FOR BLASPHEMY IN PAKISTAN

A Pakistani Hindu teacher has been sentenced to prison for 25 years on blasphemy charges levelled by a Class 11 student, following which various Hindu organisations in the Islamic country held protests demanding reinvestigation into the case.

According to All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat (APHP), a sessions court on Monday awarded the teacher 25 years’ imprisonment besides a fine of Pakistani Rs 50,000. As per APHP, in 2019, a student of his school accused him of making blasphemous remarks against Prophet Muhammad following which the student’s father lodged a police complaint against the teacher. As the news of a Hindu allegedly using derogatory language against Prophet Muhammad spread, riots broke out in the Ghotki district, with people looting shops of the minority community.

‘“Amob led by religious leaders attacked properties owned by Hindus and looted their shops, taking away goods worth millions,” the APHP said. APHP president Ravi Dawani said the teacher’s family had decided to challenge the session court’s verdict in the high court. The APHP has also urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to reinvestigate the case.

TERRORIST GROUPS REBRANDING AS NGOS TO EVADE CURBS: INDIA AT UN

Some terrorist groups have made a “mockery" of the UN Security Council's sanction regimes by taking full advantage of carve-outs given for humanitarian purposes, India said as it made a veiled reference to Pakistan, saying proscribed terrorist groups in the neighbourhood have rebranded themselves as humanitarian organisations to evade sanctions.

“It is imperative that sanctions do not impede legitimate humanitarian requirements. However, it is important to exercise due diligence while providing humanitarian carve-outs, especially in cases where terrorism finds safe havens,” India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti said on Monday.

Speaking at the UN Security Council Open Debate hosted by the council president, Russia, on "General issues relating to sanctions: Preventing their humanitarian and unintended consequences", Tirumurti said there had been examples of terrorist groups taking full advantage of humanitarian carve-outs, “making a mockery of sanction regimes”, including that of 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

“There have also been several cases of terrorist groups in our neighbourhood, including those listed by this council, rebranding themselves as humanitarian organisations to evade these sanctions,” he said, making a reference to terror organisations based in Pakistan.

13 MILLION FACE SEVERE HUNGER IN AFRICA: UN

Drought conditions have left an estimated 13 million people facing severe hunger in the Horn of Africa, according to the United Nations World Food Program.

People in a region including Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face the driest conditions recorded since 1981, the agency reported on Tuesday, calling for immediate assistance to forestall a major humanitarian crisis.

Drought conditions are affecting pastoral and farming communities. Malnutrition rates are high in the region.

WFP said it needs $327 million to look after the urgent needs of 4.5 million people over the next six months.