ALMATY: A Japanese billionaire returned to Earth on Monday, after 12 days on the International Space Station where he made videos about performing mundane tasks including brushing teeth and going to the bathroom. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano parachuted onto Kazakhstan’s steppe at around the expected landing time of 0313 GMT on Monday, along with …

MADRID: Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal said on Monday he had tested positive for Covid-19, which puts in doubt his participation in the Australian Open next month where he was expected to make his big comeback after months of injury. The Spanish former world number one said he took the test when he returned to Spain from Abu Dhabi where …

ZURICH: International football leaders were told by FIFA on Monday that a switch to a biennial World Cup would create an extra $4.4 billion in revenues for the world body. FIFA is holding a ‘global summit’ of leaders of national football federations to discuss their proposal to increase the frequency of the World Cup from every four years to every …

JOHANNESBURG: No tickets will be sold to the general public for the forthcoming Test and One-day International series between South Africa and India because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Monday. CSA said in a statement that a joint decision had been taken with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to bar spectators …

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars will be led by pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi in their upcoming HBL Pakistan Super League campaign, its head coach Aaqib Javed and CEO Rana Atif announced here on Monday. Shaheen will replace Sohail Akhtar as captain in the month-long seventh edition of the PSL, which begins from Jan 27. Pakistan’s premier pacer Shaheen was previously the vice-captain …

Cricketer Shadab Khan is turning into a Twitter Q&A regular — nothing like a healthy fan Q&A to get your blood pumping for the next match, eh? We last found him holding a Q&A on Instagram on December 9. He resurfaced on social media on Monday to hold another fan Q&A, this time on Twitter. But this wasn’t your run of …

ADELAIDE: Jos Buttler’s dogged resistance ended in a bizarre fashion as Australia thrashed England by 275 runs in the day-night second Test to go 2-0 up in the five-match Ashes series on Monday. England resumed the final day on a precarious 82-4, needing 386 more runs for an improbable win or to at least bat out the last three sessions …

Test cricketer Abid Ali was taken to a hospital in Karachi on Tuesday after complaining of chest pain during a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab at UBL Sports Complex. The 34-year-old batsman was batting for the Punjab side on the final day of the match when he felt the discomfort. He underwent an electrocardiogram (ECG) at …

KARACHI: The bullish trend continued on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as investors’ confidence remained high following the central bank’s liquidity injection into the money market last week. The PSX remained in the green zone throughout the day, although profit-taking occurred in the first trading hour. Arif Habib Ltd said the sectors recording bullish activity included cement, steel …