CAPE CANAVERAL: The first American spacecraft to attempt to land on the Moon in more than half a century is poised to blast off early on Monday — but this time, private industry is leading the charge. A brand new rocket, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur, should lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 2:18am for its maiden …

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal will miss the Australian Open this month after the Spaniard suffered a small muscle tear during his comeback from a long injury layoff at the Brisbane International last week, the 22-time Grand Slam champion said on Sunday. Nadal’s latest injury casts fresh doubts about the former world number one’s ability to compete at the elite level again …

NEW DELHI: India’s Rohit Sharma will skipper the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, fresh from celebrating the quickest win in Test history in South Africa, India’s cricket board said on Sunday. Earlier in January, Rohit led India to thrash South Africa by seven wickets in the second Test, a match which took only 107 overs and was completed on …

MANCHESTER: Phil Foden scored twice as holders Manchester City cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town on Sunday, with playmaker Kevin De Bruyne making a welcome return after four months out with a hamstring injury. Fielding a strong side, City suffered a setback when they lost defender Manuel Akanji to injury …

New details and statistics continue to emerge, pointing to the shrinking geopolitical clout of major Arab oil producers. The countries in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies in the Opec+ are no longer the sole arbiters of the supply side of the global energy dynamics. Markets are no longer in their absolute control. And this carries …

ISLAMABAD: The nation’s state-run commercial entities incurred losses amounting to a staggering Rs1.395 trillion over the fiscal years 2021 and 2022, the latest consolidated report by the Ministry of Finance has revealed. This figure is more than twice the size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), bringing to light significant concerns regarding financial management and operational efficiency in the …

Despite higher energy and interest rate costs and even amidst stagnant industrial output, Pakistan’s merchandise exports are growing — thanks to strong overseas demand, reduced bureaucratic impediments to export growth and a shift in export earnings from textiles to agricultural products and food. On the other hand, merchandise imports continue to fall despite the recent decline in the US dollar …

China seems to have successfully spurred a ‘modest’ post-pandemic economic recovery amid a myriad of problems, ranging from slump in the real estate sector, stagnant domestic demand, mounting local government debt, deflation, oversupply in some sectors (due to lower exports), soaring youth unemployment and dwindling foreign investment. That China has defied predictions of economic gloom is good news for the …

As a global concept, Islamic banking has established itself on a sound and solid footing. Almost every country with a substantial financial base offers Islamic banking operations parallel to conventional financing. However, the situation in Pakistan is rather complex. Pakistan’s constitutional structure makes it compulsory for the state to shift from conventional banking to Islamic banking after the unanimous decision …