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Piyaphorn Promnonsri | E+ | Getty ImagesShoppers with higher incomes are more likely to return retail purchases they make, a new report finds. Higher-income households had the highest percentage of retail refunds, at 5.3% of their purchases in 2025, according to a recent report by the Bank of America Institute that compared higher-, middle- and lower-income shopper return behavior. The analysis is based on aggregated, anonymous transaction data from bank debit and credit card holders who made at least five transactions per month.Lower-income households had the smallest percentage of retail refunds at around 3.7% of their purchases.Higher-income shoppers are less cash-strapped…

MONACO: European champions Paris St Germain were handed a tough list of opponents, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich, in this season’s Champions League and record 15-time winners Real Madrid will face Manchester City and Liverpool after the league phase draw was made on Thursday. PSG will entertain Bayern and go to Barcelona, while the French club will also meet Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United along with Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen and Athletic Bilbao in the new group phase format which started last season. Tottenham, the Europa League champions, will play PSG in a repeat of their Super Cup…

SHARJAH: Salman Ali Agha is not too concerned by Pakistan’s recent losses. Instead, Pakistan T20 captain is looking forward to his “quality side with exciting youngsters and amazing seniors” doing well at the upcoming tri-nation series and the subsequent Asia Cup. The Salman-led team face Afghanistan in a T20 tri-nation series opening match in Sharjah on Friday. The event, a warm-up for next month’s T20 Asia Cup, also includes hosts UAE. Besides Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE, the Asia Cup will also include defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman and Hong Kong. Pakistan’s white-ball fortunes are dipping after they…

Olympic 100m champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred will head to the world championships in Tokyo in two weeks’ time on the back of impressive victories at Thursday’s Diamond League Finals. Lyles and Alfred were but two of the cream of track and field’s elite who rose to the top in a scintillating night of action at a 25,000 sell-out Letzigrund Stadium. American Lyles became the first track athlete to win six Diamond League Final titles by producing a strong finish to outpace Botswana rival Letsile Tebogo for victory in the men’s 200m. Lyles, the reigning world champion in both…

Iga Swiatek weathered an unexpected storm to reach the US Open third round on Thursday, while defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner delivered a masterclass and Naomi Osaka rediscovered her groove at Flushing Meadows. But the day’s most dramatic moments belonged to Coco Gauff, who wiped away tears mid-match before rallying to beat Donna Vekic and avenge her Olympic heartbreak from Paris. Second seed Swiatek, fresh from her Wimbledon triumph and Cincinnati title, was forced to grind it out against unseeded Suzan Lamens in a 6-1 4-6 6-4 thriller on Arthur Ashe Stadium that proved far trickier than expected. “It got…

In 2000, internet darling Cisco was the world’s most valuable company. Today it’s worth half as much. AI juggernauts like Nvidia and Palantir are driving the tech-bloated S&P 500 today. Buyer beware. Atthe end of the 1990s, there was one narrative on every stock broker’s lips. The so-called world wide web would change everything about our way of life: the way we buy and sell goods, interact with friends, conduct research and advance our careers. It would be impossible to imagine life without it. That narrative has come true on a scale beyond what many imagined, but it might not…

Higher inflation and accelerating unemployment are primary risks for investors as 2025 heads to a close.getty The S&P 500 is up more than 9% this year, but there are many reasons to believe that could change. The President Trump is attempting to influence the Fed, the job market has slowed, and business and consumers are adjusting to a new tariff reality with unknown economic consequences. Amid the uncertainty, Ayako Yoshioka, portfolio consulting director at Wealth Enhancement, cited two familiar concerns—higher inflation and accelerating unemployment—as primary risks for investors as 2025 heads to a close. She also shared key investing moves…

Iga Swiatek survived a second-set scare to beat the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on Thursday, as the 2022 champion battled back on Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the US Open third round. The second seed has looked like a top contender after picking up her sixth major at Wimbledon and clinching the Cincinnati tune-up tournament and she cleaned up some mid-match errors to keep her campaign on track. She will play 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya in the third round. Swiatek was in control as she broke in the second game when her opponent hit the ball long and…

Containers are loaded and unloaded at Port Jersey Container Terminal in New Jersey, on May 1, 2025. Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty ImagesThe Trump administration is scrapping the “de minimis” rule on Friday, a move likely to raise prices for consumers who buy inexpensive goods online and that may trigger near-term shortages for certain items, economists and trade experts said.”It’s a massive change for the U.S. consumer,” said Rathna Sharad, CEO of FlavorCloud, a cross-border logistics firm.’Quite a big price increase’The de minimis exemption lets U.S. consumers import $800 worth of goods free of tariffs, duties and fees. The rule makes…

The twin tragedies this month sent shockwaves through Japanese boxing, with authorities scrambling to investigate and under pressure to tighten safety. Drastic weight loss, ferocious sparring and lax regulation have created a dangerous environment in Japanese boxing, as the sport battles for its future in the country after two fighters died. Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought separate bouts on the same card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on August 2 and died days later following brain surgery. Another Japanese boxer died after a bout in Tokyo in December 2023 and one more has been in…