Captain Lionel Messi has told Barcelona he wishes to leave the club immediately, a source confirmed on Tuesday, deepening the turmoil within the Catalan side less than two weeks after their humiliating 8-2 defeat by Bayern Munich. The source said the club received a burofax from Messi’s lawyers declaring that the player, who has spent his entire career at Barca, …

KARACHI: Mills in Sindh have reduced the price of flour by Rs2 per kg prior to the arrival of the first ship carrying 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat on Wednesday. The flour no.2.5 is now selling at Rs56 per kg while the fine and super fine varieties at Rs60 per kg. The 10kg flour bag rate has been cut to …

England’s hard-earned Test series wins over the summer with a blend of youth and experience show the side’s drive to be the number one team in the world, according to captain Joe Root. England beat the West Indies 2-1 and Pakistan 1-0 in a rain-hit series which, coupled with their success in South Africa at the start of the year, …

Test skipper Azhar Ali came in for criticism over his form and leadership during their 1-0 series defeat in England but the 35-year-old said the thought of stepping down as captain never entered his mind. Pakistan dominated much of the opening Test in Manchester but England pulled off a memorable three-wicket victory by riding a 139-run sixth-wicket partnership between Jos …

PESHAWAR: A Peshawar High Court bench through a stay order on Tuesday temporarily stopped Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) from acting on its recent order whereby several taxation related matters of around 200 industrial units of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were transferred from Peshawar Regional Tax Office (RTO) to Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) Islamabad. The bench of Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and …

ISLAMABAD: The government needs to redesign all financial schemes to cater the urgent needs of export sector to minimise the impact of Covid-19, agreed all experts during a webinar organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute on Tuesday. State Bank of Pakistan Senior Joint Director Muhammad Arshad Khan informed the participants that financing for exporters has been increased while long-term …

KARACHI: Heavy rains on Tuesday brought production activities in Karachi to a halt except for Site industrial area which had made preemptive arrangements in view of the weather forecast to ensure production continued unhindered. After witnessing rains on Monday and given the Met office’s warnings of flooding and rains on Tuesday, many workers and staffers opted to stay at home on second …

BRUSSELS: The European Union is offering only partial protection to vaccine makers against legal risks from side-effects of their potential COVID-19 shots, European officials said, in a move that is hampering deals and contrasts with U.S. policy. With vaccines being developed at record speed during the pandemic, there is potentially a greater risk they may have unexpected consequences or may …

BRUSSELS: European Union nations, Britain and EU partners have agreed on a blueprint for a COVID-19 vaccination plan envisaging inoculation of at least 40% of their populations, a step that may set back the World Health Organisation’s own vaccine blueprint. The EU target for early vaccinations is twice as high as the goal set by the WHO, which is aiming …

TOKYO: Japanese researchers said on Wednesday that low concentrations of ozone can neutralise coronavirus particles, potentially providing a way for hospitals to disinfect examination rooms and waiting areas. Scientists at Fujita Health University told a news conference they had proven that ozone gas in concentrations of 0.05 to 0.1 parts per million (ppm), levels considered harmless to humans, could kill …