Visa and Mastercard reached an estimated $30 billion settlement to limit credit and debit card fees for merchants, with some savings likely to be passed on to consumers through lower prices. The antitrust settlement announced on Tuesday is one of the largest in U.S. history, and if it receives court approval would resolve most claims in nationwide litigation that began …

HONG KONG: Iraq and Australia were in rampant goalscoring form on Tuesday as they both cruised into the third round of Asia’s 2026 World Cup preliminaries wins against the Philippines and Lebanon respectively, while Son Heung-min’s South Korea are on the brink of joining them after beating Thailand. Australia handed out a 5-0 drubbing to Lebanon in Canberra in Group …

Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 277-3 for the highest-ever Indian Premier League (IPL) total in a match against Mumbai Indians with Heinrich Klaasen unbeaten on 80 off 34 balls on Wednesday. Australia’s Travis Head hit a 24-ball 62 to lead the batting assault after Hyderabad batted first and went past the previous IPL best of 263-5 by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2013. …

An International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation visiting Pakistan to inspect venues and facilities for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 called on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi on Wednesday. Pakistan signed the hosting rights agreement with the ICC in December to hold the tournament. There had been doubts about whether Pakistan would stay as the host country for the Champions Trophy …

PARIS: The Olympic flame is set to burn in the Tuileries Garden in front of the Louvre museum for the duration of the Paris Games in July and August, a source involved in the discussions told AFP. The decision to place the Olympic cauldron in the tourist hotspot in the centre of the city was taken “several weeks ago”, the …

AMMAN: Despite trailing Jordan 2-0, Pakistan had finished the first half at the Amman International Stadium strongly. But then came the meltdown; the character and determination showed by Pakistan five days earlier against the same opponents dissipating by the minute as Stephen Constantine’s men went on to concede five unanswered goals against their hosts to suffer their heaviest loss so …

MIAMI: Lionel Messi will not consider his age as a deciding factor in his retirement plans, the Argentine forward said, adding that he has no clear idea of what he will do when that time comes. Messi, who played for 17 years at Barcelona before signing for Paris St Germain in 2021 and Inter Miami last year, will turn 37 …

KARACHI: Repatriation of profits and dividends during the first eight months of the current fiscal year jumped by 237 per cent, reaching close to the inflow of foreign investment in the same period. The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest data shows that the central bank eased the outflow of profits and dividends on foreign investments. The poor outflow of …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit with the nine regional countries widened by 10.98 per cent to $5.415 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year from $4.879bn over the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit is mainly driven by an increase in imports from China and India during the period under review. Exports to regional countries, …

ISLAMABAD: After drying up the provincial project financing from the national kitty in January, the federal government is pushing financing of national ‘strategic nature projects’ jointly by the federal and provincial governments besides the creation of synergies among the provinces through an integration of provincial projects. “Federal and provincial projects in sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, urban services, agriculture, …