Pakistan

Bangladesh are three wickets away from a famous Test series win at home after spinner Taijul Islam took 4-113 to rattle Pakistan despite a rearguard by the opposition batters on Tuesday. Pakistan ended day four on 316-7, needing another 121 runs for victory in what would be a record chase of 437 on the fifth and final day in Sylhet. Mohammad Rizwan, on 75, and Sajid Khan, on eight, were unbeaten at the close of play. Left-arm spinner Taijul struck key blows, including Babar Azam for 47 and Salman Agha on 71, to keep Bangladesh in the hunt for their first-ever Test series win over Pakistan at home. Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan plays a shot during the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on May 19, 2026. — AFP Bangladesh, who won the opener of the two-match series, also closed in on back-to-back Test series victories over Pakistan —having whitewashed them 2-0 on Pakistani soil in 2024. Pakistan slumped to 162-5 and were h...

Iranian authorities held mass public weddings in Tehran for couples who signed up to a state-sponsored scheme declaring their readiness to sacrifice their lives in the war against the US and Israel. The ceremonies conducted late on Monday involved hundreds of couples in several major squares in the capital, including more than 100 in the vast Imam Hossein square in central Tehran, according to reports in Iranian media. They were broadcast on state TV in a bid to boost wartime morale, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatening new military action against Iran amid a shaky ceasefire which halted the fighting that began on February 28. Those involved had signed up, according to Iranian media, for the so-called “self-sacrifice” scheme (janfada in Persian) where people pledged to put their lives on the line in the war by, for example, forming human chains outside power stations. Iranian authorities say millions of people, including top figures such as Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Pres...

PESHAWAR: Two people lost their lives and 11 were injured in rain-related incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA). The Met Office has forecast dust-thunderstorm and rain with occasional gaps in upper parts of the country till May 23. According to the PDMA’s report, two deaths were reported in rain-related incidents last night from Mardan. Meanwhile, four people were injured in Battagram, one in Mardan and six in Swat. Four houses — one in Battagram and three in Shangla — were fully damaged. Twenty-seven houses were partially damaged in Shangla, two in Swat, five in Torghar and one each in Upper Dir and Mardan, according to the report. A school also suffered damage due to adverse weather in Shangla, the data showed. According to the PDMA’s daily weather report, the highest amount of rainfall in KP over the past 24 hours was recorded in Kalam at 12mm, followed by 11 in Chitral, 8mm in Malam Jabba, 7mm in Saidu Sharif and Balakot, and 4mm each i...

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday expressed concern at the speed and scale of the Ebola outbreak in central Africa — declared a “continental” emergency — as the number of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) jumped to 131. The toll from the Ebola outbreak in the DRC has risen to an estimated 131 deaths from 513 suspected cases, health minister Samuel Roger Kamba said. There has also been one death in neighbouring Uganda. However, speaking to Congolese national television overnight, Kamba cautioned that the toll was an estimate and further research was needed to confirm whether all 131 suspected deaths were indeed linked to Ebola. No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola behind the latest outbreak of the deadly disease, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half century. The outbreak’s epicentre is in the northeastern Ituri province on the border with Uganda and South Sudan, whose status as a gold-mining hub leads to people ...

The project will upgrade key N-5 highway sections across Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday inaugurated the Punjab Pavilion at the World Urban Forum in Baku, highlighting Punjab’s development and urban planning initiatives on an international platform.

ISLAMABAD: Opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP) and PTI on Tuesday announced countrywide protests on Friday against Imran Khan’s imprisonment, rising inflation and other issues. The announcement was made by senior PTI leaders during a press conference held out the Parliament House after a parliamentary party meeting. The press conference was addressed by former National Assembly speaker Asad Qaiser and PTI parliamentary leader Shahid Khattak. Addressing the media, Qaiser said the entire party and the people of Pakistan were deeply concerned about the health of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi. He said that the parliamentary party had unanimously endorsed the decisions taken at yesterday’s summit of the TTAP. “Protests will be held across the country on Friday against inflation, the increase in petroleum prices, concerns over the health of PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi, demands for their transfer to hospital, the release of political pr...

Association cites massive losses from burned trucks and forced bribes; demands probe

Women, children and elderly flee homes in scorching heat in Datta Khel

Video analysis found the bull unrealistically huge, far larger than any known cattle breed

A local court on Tuesday remanded suspected drug trafficker Anmol, widely known as Pinky, into police custody for three days for further interrogation in multiple narcotics cases.

A district and sessions court in the federal capital has sentenced Umar Hayat to death in the murder case of social media influencer Sana Yousuf.

Fact-check traced viral video to May 2024 X post showing TTP ambush on Pakistan security forces

Investigation agency says case registered against ‘private individual’ for ‘slapping’ a citizen

'I'm deeply concerned about the scale and speed of the epidemic,' WHO chief tells World Health Assembly

Pakistan is manufacturing world-class footballs for global use

Senior Sindh Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Tuesday announced that a new Peoples Bus Service route will be launched in Hyderabad after Eid al Adha 2026.

Inspector General Sindh Police Javed Alam Odho said that more prominent names could emerge in the case involving Anmol alias Pinky.

Sindh Inspector General Javed Alam Odho on Tuesday vowed transparency in investigations into drug queenpin Anmol alias Pinky, noting that the probes stretched across multiple “domains”. Anmol was arrested last week from her apartment in Karachi in connection with the possession of narcotics and an unlicenced weapon. She is in police custody till May 22 in two of the 15 cases active against her, while her judicial remand in other cases extends till May 30. Responding to media queries at an event held at the Karachi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Sindh police chief said multiple agencies were involved in probing Anmol’s alleged criminal activities. “There are now different institutions involved […] so there will be transparency, and secondly, each [authority] will work under its domain,” he affirmed. “You referred to one bank account with Rs30 million, indicating a huge quantum, so you are absolutely correct. We are working on this exact aspect,” IG Odho said in response to a question by a reporter. He ...

Thailand is drastically cutting the length of visa-free stays for tourists from more than 90 countries in an effort to curb crime involving foreign nationals, officials said on Tuesday. Tourism is vital to the Southeast Asian nation’s economy, but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid highs. A recent series of high-profile arrests of foreigners has included cases linked to drug offences, sex trafficking and foreigners operating businesses such as hotels and schools without proper permits. Under Thailand’s current tourism scheme, travellers from more than 90 countries — including Europe’s 29-nation Schengen area, the United States, Israel and several South American countries — are eligible to visit for up to 60 days without a visa. Thailand’s cabinet approved reducing visa-free stays for travellers from those countries on Tuesday, Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul told reporters in Bangkok. The new visa-free duration would be decided on a country-by-country basis, with most foreign na...