Democrats introduced on Thursday a comprehensive immigration reform bill that wants to allow more permanent immigrant status or green cards for professional Indians, who have the longest wait for immigration, and cut their wait times. ....

The South African variant of Covid-19 may significantly reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as per a laboratory study, the pharmaceutical companies said. However, human trials are still to be conducted in this regard. ....

Nepal government on Wednesday granted emergency use approval to a Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd. (BIBP) in China under Sinopharm. ....

"End of summer, beginning of Fall" is the earliest that US kids under the age of 16 years could get Covid-19 vaccine shots, US President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci told IANS. ....

Prince Philip, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, has been admitted to a London hospital "as a precautionary measure" after feeling unwell for the last few days, reports said. ....

The dates for Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India this year, at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are being finalised as the two countries look to strengthen their strategic partnership. ....

China's behaviour with the expert team constituted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the coronavirus (Covid-19) has led to more speculation about the virus that traces its origins to Wuhan in central China. Various news reports have made it clear that the WHO team worked under limitations and did not have access to all information it sought on the initial days of the outbreak. ....

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's wife Ri Sol-ju has made her appearance in public for the first time in more than a year as she attended a concert commemorating the birthday of late leader Kim Jong-il, state media reported on Wednesday. ....

Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi said that the ministry detected cases of a new strain of coronavirus, while the ministry reported 2,798 new coronavirus cases in the country. ....

The total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 108.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.39 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University. ....