The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been informed that Australia will not be coming to Pakistan for a one-day series scheduled to be held in March-April this year, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Sunday. Pakistan is scheduled to host Australia for a five-match ODI series in the United Arab Emirates in March, and the PCB had last month decided to renew talks with CA …

JOHANNESBURG: A century by Quinton de Kock and a double strike by Dale Steyn kept South Africa on course to complete a series clean sweep on the third day of the third and final Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Sunday. Set to make a daunting 381 to win, Pakistan were 153 for three at the close, needing another …

LIVERPOOL: Everton avoided a third consecutive Premier League home defeat as Kurt Zouma’s header and a late goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned them a flattering 2-0 victory against Bournemouth at a rainy Goodison Park on Sunday. There were grumblings of discontent from the home fans as Everton were outplayed before the break but Marco Silva’s side improved in the second …

MELBOURNE: Caroline Wozni­acki is entering new territory at the Australian Open as a defending champion for the first time at a major here from Monday. For Roger Federer, it’s a well-worn experience. A women’s final last year featuring two players aiming for their first Grand Slam title finished with Wozniacki holding off top-ranked Simona Halep for the championship. Federer beat …

Legendary South African batsman AB de Villiers has announced that he will be visiting Pakistan in March as part of the Lahore Qalandars roster to play Pakistan Super League matches at the Gaddafi Stadium. The Qalandars have by far been the most hapless side across the first three editions of the T20 league, having finished last on the points table …

Lionel Messi scored his 400th La Liga goal on Sunday, a total his coach Ernesto Valverde called “monstrous”, as Barcelona terrorised Eibar to reclaim their five-point cushion at the top of the table. Messi drove the ball into the bottom corner after being teed up by Luis Suarez, who added two goals to his own tally either side of the …

Last week, social media began buzzing with the ‘rumour’ that Urwa Hocane and Farhan Saeed will soon work in a film together. Now we know what the couple’s secret project is. According to their PR reps, Farhan is starring in a film titled Tich Button, which Urwa is producing. ARY Films and Salman Iqbal Productions are also attached to the project. …

Salt has been an essential part of cuisine all over the world since time immemorial. Apart from the daily diet, it is used in so many things like paint, detergent, soaps, beauty industry (spas, saloons, massage parlours, health clubs and hydrotherapy) and home decoration. The industry uses it in the manufacturing caustic soda and soda ash. Its use in the …

As a nation, we are bad savers. We are worse while parking our savings in government-run schemes. In the last five fiscal years (2013-2018), Pakistan’s domestic saving growth rate averaged below 7.4 per cent. In each of these years, the government sector’s saving growth remained negative. Its reason was that most of us tend to choose a hefty return over …

In December 2017, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) launched its policy to encourage financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The policy seeks to enhance the sector’s share in private-sector credit from 8.7 per cent to 17pc and increase the number of borrowers from less than 164,500 to half a million by 2020. A year later, the situation remains …