ISLAMABAD: The statistics of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has shown that the coronavirus pandemic claims 71 more lives, whereas, 2,463 new infections were reported during the last 24 hours. In the past 24 hours, 71 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 10,176. 2,156 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and …

vac ZURICH: The World Health Organization on Thursday listed Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, in a move seeking to speed access in the developing world. The United Nations health agency said it will work with regional partners to tell national health authorities about the two-dose shot and its anticipated benefits. The WHO established its emergency use listing …

BERLIN: BioNTech is working flat out with partner Pfizer to boost production of their COVID-19 vaccine, its founders said, warning there would be gaps in supply until other vaccines were rolled out. The German biotech startup has led the vaccine race but its shot has been slow to arrive in the European Union due to relatively slow approval from the …

WASHINGTON: The hacking group behind the SolarWinds compromise was able to break into Microsoft Corp and access some of its source code, Microsoft said on Thursday, something experts said sent a worrying signal about the spies’ ambition. Source code – the underlying set of instructions that run a piece of software or operating system – is typically among a technology …

Christchurch: All-rounder Faheem Ashraf has aimed not to repeat the mistakes the Pakistan team did in the first Test against New Zealand at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. Blackcaps defeated Pakistan by 101 runs but there were few standout performers including Faheem, who tried to save the Test after being down and out in the first innings. “We identified our mistakes …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday named a 17-member women’s squad for the ODI and T20I series against South Africa. Javeria Khan will lead the team in the absence of Bismah Maroof who pulled out of the tour due to family reasons. Urooj Mumtaz-led selection committee, which also includes Asmavia Iqbal and Marina Iqbal, considered on-field performances in the National Triangular T20 …

LAHORE: Pakistan captain Babar Azam, seasoned batsman Mohammad Hafeez, and emerging fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi have all been shortlisted in three categories, for the PCB Awards 2020, the final results of which will be announced on the PCB digital Platforms on Friday. Among others Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf were nominated in two categories. Babar …

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand’s first-Test hero Neil Wagner will miss the second and final match of the series against Pakistan and is expected to be out for more than five weeks as he recovers from breaking two toes during this week’s dramatic victory, head coach Gary Stead said on Thursday. The world’s third-ranked Test bowler suffered the injury — struck by …

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collection in the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year stood at Rs2.194 trillion, missing the projected Rs2.21tr target by Rs16 billion, provisional data showed on Thursday. However, revenue collections were increased by five per cent year-on-year when compared to Rs2.092tr during the same period last year. For achieving the annual target, …

KARACHI: The rupee showed strong resistance against the US dollar during 2020 despite serious repercussions of Covid-19 on the economy. The local currency depreciated by 3.29 per cent against the greenback between Dec 31, 2019 to Dec 30, 2020. Since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 started expanding on a global level and reached Pakistan by the end of February. …