ISLAMABAD: The Standard & Poor’s (S&P) rating agency on Thursday affirmed Pakistan’s ‘B-’ long-term and ‘B’ short-term sovereign rating while maintaining ‘stable’ long-term outlook. The New York-based rating agency also affirmed ‘B-’ long-term issue rating on Pakistan’s senior unsecured debt and sukuk trust certificates. It said the country’s rating remains constrained by a narrow tax base and domestic and external …

SAN FRANCISCO:  Users across the world on Thursday reported that they were facing difficulties in accessing popular Google services including Gmail and Drive, with the US technology giant informing people that they were “aware of a service disruption.” Frustrated customers in countries including Australia, Japan, France and the United States complained online of the outage and tracking website DownDetector reported …

A report by The Wall Street Journal that Facebook Inc’s content regulation policies favoured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party shows that the social media giant is “no longer impartial” and it must take practical steps to redeem its independence, Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Aminul Haque said on Thursday. The world’s largest social network is battling a public relations and political crisis …

MELBOURNE: Australia will pick their best XI against England during the white-ball tour next month but fringe players can win selection by impressing in intra-squad warm-up matches, head coach Justin Langer said on Thursday. Australia will bring a bumper 21-man squad for the T20 and one-day series in Southampton and Manchester due to the logistical difficulties of flying in reinforcements …

LAHORE: Despite facing a storm of criticism over the team’s poor show and his own dismal batting form, Pakistan captain Azhar Ali sounded highly optimistic on Thursday, backed his misfiring players and hoped for a series-levelling victory against England in the third and final Test starting at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Friday. “Our batsmen are defying the tough …

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have been encountering several bumps on the road during their LA move after they severed ties with the British royal family. While paparazzi intrusion doesn’t seem like it will be a problem in their new Santa Barbara abode situated within a gated community, there are some other threats hovering around that the Duke and Duchess …

Meghan Markle’s battle with the press had begun right after she married Prince Harry and entered the British royal family, and didn’t stop even after she moved away. However, in the midst of her battle with the press and immense scrutiny, there were several people who stood up for the former actor, including many A-listers like Beyonce. In Harry and …

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry took fans inside their sprawling new Santa Barbara home. On August 17, the couple joined a virtual chat while sharing a small look from inside their forever home. The talk was centred around the role and significance of the social media in the modern world. What caught the attention of many was the Duke and …

Olympia Valance on Wednesday took social media by storm by revealing that she has been the victim of a cybercrime. According to the actress, her private pictures were shared online after her phone was hacked in what she described as a “traumatising” cybercrime. The Neighbours actress wrote she had been dealing with the “profound violation” for over a year, which …

Selena Gomez got emotional while talking about managing her life in the limelight. During an episode of her new virtual cooking show with restauranteurs and chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo on Thursday, Gomez was asked whether she cares “about people’s reviews and what they write.” “I guess I’ll just speak on comments in general,” she replied. “No, it does …