BEIJING: Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi launched its first electric vehicle in Beijing on Thursday, injecting itself into a fiercely competitive sector in the world’s largest car market. China’s EV sector has grown rapidly in recent years — propelled by purchasing subsidies that were discontinued in late 2022 — and dozens of domestic automakers are engaged in a stiff price war to …

ZURICH: World football governing body FIFA and its European counterpart UEFA have written to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) requesting a detailed update after arrests were made in a corruption probe last week in Spain. FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom and UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis sent a joint letter to Pedro Rocha, the president of the RFEF’s management committee, …

PARIS: France has asked its foreign allies to send several thousand members of their security forces to help guard the Paris Olympics, officials said Thursday, underlining the strains caused by the sporting extravaganza which begins in July. “Several foreign nations are going to reinforce us in certain critical areas, such as dog-handling capabilities where the needs are enormous,” an official …

LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi may have announced the recently-formed selection committee as the sole authority to make a decision over the national side’s Twenty20 Interna­tional captaincy, but as it has emerged, the PCB chief may well be the one who makes the final call. Mohsin, a media mogul-turned politician, who was elected as the PCB chairman …

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 …

DHAKA: Sharfuddoula Ibne Shahid said on Thursday it was a “great honour” to be named the first Bangladeshi to join the International Cricket Council’s Elite Panel of umpires. Sharfuddoula, 47, who last year became the first umpire from Bangladesh to take charge of a World Cup match, had been on the international panel since 2006. “It is a great honour …

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Friday expressed hope for reaching a Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of the fiscal year (June 30), adding that there haven’t been any final discussions with the Fund yet. The $3 billion standby arrangement with the global lender expires on April 11, and the two sides reached a …

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s gross domestic product witnessed a meagre expansion of one per cent in the second quarter of 2023-24 compared to 2.2pc in 2QFY23 mainly due to a contraction in the industrial sector. The agriculture sector contributed the most to the nominal growth in the second quarter, followed by the services sector which also grew nominally. It was also far …

NEW YORK: Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Thursday, after falling for two consecutive sessions, on the prospect of supplies given the Opec+ producer alliance is widely expected to stay the course on its current production cuts. Brent crude futures for May were up $1.30, or 1.5pc, at $87.39 a barrel at 1:28pm EDT (1728 GMT). …