WIGAN: Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes, with a penalty, secured a 2-0 win at Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup fourth round on a bitterly cold night at DW Stadium on Monday. The victory over the third-tier side was a welcome relief for the 12-time FA Cup winners, who are out of Europe and the League Cup and …

AUCKLAND: New Zealand opening batter Devon Conway believes his side’s familiarity with touring Pakistan will hold them in good stead when the five-match Twenty20 International series begins from Friday. The Black Caps toured Pakistan in April last year, the five-match series ending in a 2-2 draw and Conway said his side has an idea on how their opponents “approach the …

AL HOFUF: Sebastien Loeb took stage four of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as home favourite Yazeed Al Rajhi stretched his overall lead in the car category. Nine-time world rally champion Loeb, racing a Prodrive Hunter for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme team, finished the 299km stage from Al Salamiya to the oasis city of Al Hofuf one …

The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) broadcasting rights for the next two years have been auctioned for the “highest” amount in the league’s history, according to Zaka Ashraf, the head of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Interim Management Committee. “The bidding for the PSL broadcasting rights has seen an increase of Rs3 billion more this time, which is the highest in the …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Minister for IT and Telecom Dr Umar Saif on Tuesday launched the first-ever Pakistan Start-up Fund (PSF) worth Rs2 billion to attract venture investments and position local start-ups as significant players on the global stage. Ignite National Technology Fund will take charge as the executing body of the PSF and ensure transparency through an independent steering body overseeing …

KARACHI: Caretaker Commerce Minister Gohar Ejaz has reiterated Pakis­tan’s commitment to making Pakistani markets accessible to the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region aimed at tapping the potential for collaboration in agriculture, textiles, engineering, and services. “This commitment aligns seamlessly with the Look Africa Policy, emphasising Pakistan’s objective to unlock its economic and trade potential, Mr Gohar said while …

ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar has issued directives to expedite the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and the outsourcing of airports’ operations. In a meeting with the adviser on aviation, retired air marshal Farhat Hussain, on Tuesday, the PM emphasised transparency during the privatisation process.   PM Kakar said the privatisation of state-owned enterprises was a priority …

ISLAMABAD: With the novel application of high-level technology combining satellite remote sensing and mathematical modelling supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), water and land management will be improved for more than 750,000 hectares of agricultural land in Punjab. The Water-Financing Partnership Facility (WFPF)-supported approach has enabled the application of the new technology which has been used elsewhere to inform …

KARACHI: Ambassa­dor of the European Union Raina Kionka has said that the GSP+ status for Pakistan has been rolled over without any changes to the rules of framework so everything was going to stay the same up to 2027. “We also have elections in June 2024, which means there will be a political changeover in the parliament and the EU’s …