SYDNEY: Facebook will be “weakened” if it stops Australians from sharing the news so the company can avoid paying for content under proposed laws, Australia’s top antitrust regulator said on Thursday. Australia has proposed forcing Facebook and internet search giant Google to pay local media outlets for content, drawing strong opposition from the U.S. companies in a dispute that is …

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus claimed six more lives across the country during the last 24 hours, lifting the overall death toll to 6,399. According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 545 more people tested positive for the infection during this period, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the country to 303,634. As many as 291,169 Covid-19 patients have …

MANCHESTER: Jonny Bairstow revived England from the depths of 0-2 with a superb hundred as the world champions made 302-7 against Australia in the third and deciding One-day International at Old Trafford on Wednesday. Opening batsman Bairstow watched from the other end as left-arm quick Mitchell Starc took two wickets with the first two balls of the match. But Bairstow …

SYDNEY: Out-of-favour Aust­ra­lia batsman Usman Khawaja bel­i­e­ves criticism of him as a ‘lazy’ pla­yer is rooted in racial stereotypes and thinks cricket needs to do more to attract players from more ethnically diverse backgrounds. The left-handed batsman, who was born in Pakistan and moved to Sydney as a young child, was the first Muslim to play for Australia when he …

MANCHESTER: World Cup winner Chris Woakes admits players may be next to feel the pinch as England cricket chiefs on Tuesday announced 62 job cuts due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison said such measures would have been ‘unthinkable’ seven months ago but the global crisis had had a …

LONDON: Former Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan on Tuesday claimed that he was racially abuse by Yorkshire supporters when he played for the English county. Naved alleges he was subjected to racist slurs and hooting from the home crowd when he played for Yorkshire in 2008 and 2009. The 41-year-old’s comments came after Pakistan-born English spinner Azeem Rafiq revealed earlier …

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday reiterated that the revamped domestic cricket structure will help produce high quality talent in the country which will excel at the international level to take Pakistan cricket to great heights. He also approved of the PTV Sports’ new satellite broadcast deal with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) which was signed for three years on the …

After months of uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the delayed season of the popular Indian Premier League will kick off in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday with a clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The 2020 edition of the world’s richest Twenty20 league was originally scheduled to begin on March 29 in India but …

KARACHI: The stock market was dragged down in another choppy trading session on Wednesday which saw the KSE-100 index decline by 64.14 points (0.15 per cent) to close at 42,282.28. The index opened positive and reached intraday high by 198 points. It later moved responding to the “breaking news” with decreased investor participation. On the positive side, the improved growth …

ISLAMABAD: Further restricting access to financial services, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has directed all non-bank financial institutions to issue red flags for associates of the proscribed individuals. The SRO881(I)/2020 was issued under the SECP’s (Anti-Money Laundering and Coun­tering Financing of Terrorism) Regulations 2018, directing securities brokers, futures brokers, insurance companies, takaful operators, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) …