Hayatullah Hayat, Afghanistan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development(MRRD), is a senior politician and was former Interior Minister of the country. He was also the Governor of Wardak, Helmand, Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces. ....

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine to administer an additional dose in people with weaker immune systems, which includes organ transplant recipients. ....

On August 6, adviser to the Russian President and Executive Secretary of the Eastern Economic Forum Organizing Committee Anton Kobyakov held a meeting in Moscow with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Russian Federation D. B. Venkatesh Varma during which they discussed possible formats for India’s participation in the EEF 2021 and SPIEF 2022, the members of the Indian delegation, business programme events, and agreements that the countries may sign, a press release from Russian Embassy said. ....

An organisation representing the Indian diaspora in the US has said it will hoist the biggest tricolour at the iconic Times Square in New York on August 15 on the 75th anniversary of India's Independence Day. The 6 feet by 10 feet tricolour places on a 25 feet pole will be unfurled by the consul general of India in New York, Randhir Jaiswal, according to the Federation of Indian Association (FIA). ....

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the Afghan troops must fight for themselves as multiple cities have fallen to the Taliban in the past few days. ....

Covid-19 cases among US children are climbing at an alarming rate, with nearly 94,000 diagnosed with the virus last week and trends showing a "continuing substantial increase". ....

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday proposed five basic principles for a holistic approach to maritime security that holds the "key to the planet's future" and the UN Security Council, in a show of support, adopted India's Presidential Statement reflecting them. ....

An eight-year-old Hindu boy is being held in protective police custody in Pakistan after becoming the youngest person ever to be charged with blasphemy in the country, a media report said on Monday. ....

A team of researchers has designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour. ....

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out introducing new laws that would allow employers to mandate Covid-19 vaccines. ....