PERTH: Novak Djokovic insisted Tuesday a sore right wrist which required on-court treatment was “not a major concern” as he led Serbia into the quarter-finals of the United Cup. The world number one dro­pped a set in grinding past the Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1 and required several visits from the trainer. He did not take part …

BRISBANE: Rafa Nadal marked his singles comeback after being out injured for nearly a year with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 victory over Austrian for­mer world number three Dominic Thiem in the Brisbane International first round on Tuesday. The 22-times Grand Slam champion had arthroscopic surgery last June after injuring his left hip flexor during his second round defeat by Mackenzie …

MADRID: Spanish World Cup-winning star Jenni Hermoso told a judge on Tuesday that the kiss forced on her by former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales was “at no point consensual” and that she had come under pressure to defend his actions. After arriving at the Audiencia Nacional in Madrid just before 10:00 am (0900 GMT), the 33-year-old went to testify …

KABUL: Former England batter Jonathan Trott has signed a contract extension as Afghanistan head coach following their remarkable World Cup campaign in India. Afghanistan finished sixth of 10 teams at the 50-overs World Cup where they registered upset wins over former winners Eng­land, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and came close to humbling eventual champions Australia. The 42-year-old, who has signed …

Gritty Pakistan clawed back from looming disaster to finish with 313 on the back of fighting half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman and Aamer Jamal on the first day of the third Test against Australia on Wednesday. The tourists, staring down a meagre innings total at 96 for five after winning the toss, counter-attacked to frustrate the Australians at the Sydney Cricket …

KARACHI: After staging the second-best single-day rally the other day, the stock market on Tuesday faltered on profit-taking triggered by a spike in headline inflation and growing uncertainty about upcoming general elections. However, the benchmark KSE 100 index closed above the 64,000 level. Beating the government’s projection of 21pc with a big margin, the first-half inflation for FY24 surged to …

ISLAMABAD: Merchandise exports grew for the fourth consecutive month in December, reaching an 18-month high, indicating a recovery of export-led industrial growth. In absolute terms, the export proceeds were recorded at $2.82 billion in December against $2.30bn over the corresponding month last year, indicating a growth of 22.21pc, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday. On …

KARACHI: The rupee snapped its 13-session winning streak as it lost three paise against the US dollar to Rs281.89 in the interbank market on Tuesday. However, market experts said the meagre gain didn’t reflect a comeback of the bullish dollar which hit an all-time high of Rs307 against the local currency on Sept 5, 2023. “The depreciation is negligible and does not …

SINGAPORE: Bitcoin galloped past $45,000 on Tuesday, for the first time since April 2022, as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency started the new year with a bang, buoyed by optimism around the possible approval of exchange-traded spot bitcoin funds. Bitcoin touched a 21-month peak of $45,922, having gained 156 per cent last year in its strongest yearly performance since 2020. It …