KARACHI: The Pakistan stocks gained 1.2 per cent during the week ended December 17, 2021, and analysts expect the market to move both ways next week. Further, a mini-budget is expected soon, where the market will react to any introduction, re-imposition or removal of duties and subsidies. “There is a likelihood that [the] inflationary pressures … Read more
KARACHI: The volatile exchange rate is expected to continue next week, owing to higher dollar demand for import and corporate payments by the year-end. The rupee ended the week with an all-time low of Rs178.04 on December 17, 2021. The local currency lost 33 paisas, or 0.2 per cent, during the week, despite harsh measures … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistan’s state-owned shipping enterprise is planning to add two container vessels to its fleet to facilitate foreign trade at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on global maritime activities, Arab News quoted officials as saying. Founded in 1971, the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) currently operates six tankers and five bulk … Read more
KARACHI: Pakistan has spent Rs144 billion for the import of mobile phones during the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year. The spending on imports of mobile phones recorded a sharp increase of 21 per cent, compared with Rs119.22 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. The massive rise in … Read more
PARIS, (Xinhua) — French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Friday evening a series of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 during holiday seasons, and called on French citizens to respect preventive measures during celebrations. Facing the fifth wave of the pandemic that “continues to affect strongly France with more than 50,000 cases per day,” … Read more
HAVANA, (Xinhua) — Cuba on Friday entered the sixth consecutive day with no deaths due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), keeping the pandemic death toll at 8,313, the Ministry of Public Health said. Tests did detect 73 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours, raising the country’s total caseload to 963,958 since … Read more
SAN FRANCISCO, (AFP) – San Francisco’s mayor on Friday declared a state of emergency in a downtown district reeling from a severe spike in fatal drug overdoses driven mainly by fentanyl. The Tenderloin neighborhood, just south of tourist and shopping hotspot Union Square, has emerged as the city’s epicenter of an opioid crisis that has … Read more
Santa Claus made a special delivery for children and families in Lima, Peru, isolated at a hospital. Nothing is more enjoyable for small children than meeting Santa Claus and receiving Christmas gifts. And, while he used reindeers to aid him with his job, he used a ladder to distribute presents in Peru! Santa Claus, loaded … Read more
During the winter, seasonal diseases such as colds coughs, and fevers become more widespread, and there are a thousand pieces of advice on how to protect yourself from the cold winds. During the winter, a more usual recommendation is to keep your head covered to keep warm. Is it, however, beneficial? Dr Nitika Kohli, an … Read more
FRANKFURT, Dec 17, 2021 (AFP) – Germany, battered by a recent rise in Covid cases, must brace for a “massive fifth wave” due to the new Omicron variant, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Friday. “We must prepare for a challenge that we have not yet had in this form,” Lauterbach told reporters, adding that even if the variant … Read more
According to authorities within the Sindh Health Department, a second case of the Omicron form of coronavirus has been recorded in Karachi. The 35-year-old afflicted man arrived in Karachi from the United Kingdom and tested positive for coronavirus during random testing. Omicron infection was later confirmed in the infected person using genome sequencing. However, the … Read more
BISHKEK, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) — Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 are in high demand in Kyrgyzstan, director of the Republican Center for Immunoprophylaxis of Kyrgyzstan Gulbara Ishenapisova has said. People have received the Sinopharm vaccine and “it began to be in good demand,” the director told Xinhua on Wednesday, noting that the Kyrgyz health authorities have … Read more
PARIS, (AFP) – Scientists have discovered the world’s first true millipede, a study said Thursday, describing a long, thin and segmented creature with a whopping 1,306 legs — more than any other animal ever. Worm-like creepy critters with hundreds of legs are commonly known as millipedes, a name that roughly translates to “thousand feet” — … Read more
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) — China has provided its Fengyun meteorological satellite data to 121 countries and regions, including 85 along the Belt and Road, its meteorological authority said Friday. Fengyun satellites are a series of remote-sensing meteorological satellites developed by China. Two new satellites launched this year, Fengyun-3E and Fengyun-4B, have already received orders … Read more
WASHINGTON, Dec 17, 2021 (AFP) – A US government-appointed panel of medical experts on Thursday unanimously recommended mRNA Covid vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna over Johnson & Johnson’s shot, in light of its weaker protection and greater risks. The panel voted 15-0 in favor of the new guidance, which applies to everyone over 18 years … Read more
SHANGHAI, Dec 17, 2021 (AFP) – Chinese drone-maker DJI is easily the highest-profile company targeted in a new round of US economic sanctions against companies over China’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority. Following are key facts about Shenzhen DJI Sciences and Technologies Ltd, better known around the world by drone users simply as DJI. Born … Read more
JOHANNESBURG, Dec 17, 2021 (AFP) – Infection rates are soaring across South Africa as a result of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but fewer people have died or required hospital treatment compared to previous waves of Covid, health officials said Friday. On Wednesday, South Africa recorded the highest number of infections the nation has ever seen in … Read more
In this clip, an elephant snatches the hat of a woman standing next to it has gone viral on the internet. The woman declares that her sister gave her the hat, “Please can I have my hat back” she pleads as she requests the elephant to return her headgear. Surprisingly, the elephant removes the hat … Read more
Pakistan’s Capital Development Authority (CDA) has planned to build the country’s first solar-powered metro terminal. If everything goes according to plan, the project will begin in January of next year and be completed in three months. A precise strategy has been established, according to a CDA official, to give residents of the twin cities (Rawalpindi … Read more
MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — Russia registered 28,486 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 10,131,646, the official monitoring and response center said Thursday. The nationwide death toll from COVID-19 increased by 1,133 to 294,024, while the number of recoveries increased by 37,155 to 8,876,788. Meanwhile, Moscow, Russia’s worst-hit … Read more
HANOI, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — Vietnam reported 15,270 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including 15,267 locally transmitted and three imported, according to its Ministry of Health. Most of the community cases were recorded in southern localities, including 1,339 in Ca Mau province, 1,175 in Ho Chi Minh City, and 880 in Binh Phuoc province. On … Read more
KARACHI: The Pakistan bourse tumbled on Thursday, as the less-than-expected rate hike and the central bank’s forward guidance was disregarded by the market after the T-Bills target was missed and yields didn’t ease, dealers said. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised Rs1,285 billion against the target of Rs1,400 billion at an auction held on … Read more
KARACHI: Four Pakistani automotive companies participated in the Automechanika Dubai 2021 Fair to showcase their products, a statement said on Thursday. The companies which exhibited their products at the fair include Century Engineering, Malik Auto and Agricultural Industries, Pakistan Accumulators and Service Industries Limited, it added. The 18th edition of Automechanika Dubai started from December … Read more
BEIJING, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — When China’s Mars lander successfully touched down on the red planet on May 15, the control center in Beijing was full of cheers and applause. Zhang Rongqiao, however, was spotted shedding tears. Born in 1966, Zhang, the chief designer of China’s first Mars exploration mission, was included on Thursday in … Read more
ACCRA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — Ghana secured a total of 17.7 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccines to protect against the pandemic, said Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo late Wednesday. In his latest nationwide COVID-19 update, Akufo-Addo said 6.4 million of these doses had been administered to individuals. “There are currently 1.7 million fully … Read more
THE HAGUE, Dec 16, 2021 (AFP) – The EU’s drug regulator said on Thursday it would decide whether the Novavax coronavirus jab will become the fifth vaccine approved for the bloc at a meeting next Monday. The US firm’s shot uses a more traditional technology than current vaccines, which experts hope could ease hesitancy and scepticism … Read more
JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — With the latest COVID-19 cases at 26,976, the National Coronavirus Command Council has retained lockdown restrictions at “adjusted level 1”, health authorities said on Thursday. Dr. Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) told Xinhua that “it makes sense to keep lockdown at this level as hospitals … Read more
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa surpassed the 9-million mark on Wednesday as the continent strives for adequate access to vaccines. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said that as of Wednesday evening, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached 9,033,788 as … Read more
