A team of US researchers has detected at least four "cryptic" variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in samples of wastewater from New York City's public sewer system. ....

The mayor of Canada's capital Ottawa has declared a state of emergency in response to more than a week of truckers' protests against Covid restrictions, BBC reported. ....

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz joined others to pay tribute to India's melody queen Lata Mangeshkar, who passed away at the age of 92, in heartfelt tweets, The Express Tribune reported. ....

Five Afghan pilots who had left the country after the Taliban takeover in August last year, have returned and resumed work, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced. ....

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone conversation, the third one within seven days, to discuss the Ukrainian crisis and security guarantees. ....

A historic bridge in Rotterdam will be temporarily dismantled to enable a $485 million superyacht built for US billionaire Jeff Bezos to pass through, according to Dutch media reports. ....

The US is testing quadrupedal robot dogs on its southern border to offer US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a helping hand as the territory is vast and monitoring it is critical for the nation's security. ....

Russia has advised the United States of America to use its influence on the Ukrainian authorities to force them to fully comply with the Minsk agreements instead of "forcing aggressive rhetoric" and "pumping" the Armed Forces of Ukraine with various types of weapons. ....

The governments of Afghanistan and Qatar have reached an agreement to begin direct flights between Kabul and Doha, officials said. ....

At least 12 historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) across the US reported to have received bomb threats. ....