Veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim hit a glittering century as Bangladesh set Pakistan an imposing target of 427 to win the second Test after another commanding day for the hosts on Monday.

Bangladesh posted 390 all out in their second innings on day three with Mushfiqur, who made 137, and Litton Das, who hit 69, putting together 123 runs for the fifth wicket.

The 39-year-old Mushfiqur rolled back the years as he scored his 14th Test century, surpassing Mominul Haque’s record of 13 for Bangladesh.

Pakistan openers Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal survived the last two overs of the day without scoring before bad light ended play. The visitors will need a record chase to level the two-match series after Bangladesh won the opener.

West Indies currently hold the record for the 418 they scored to beat Australia in Antigua in 2003, while Pakistan have never successfully chased more than 377.

Starting the day on 110-3 with a lead of 156 runs, Bangladesh lost skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto for 15, but Mushfiqur and Litton put the Pakistan bowlers to the test.

Litton, who scored a century in the first innings, looked good for another big score but fell to Hasan Ali at deep third-man.

Mushfiqur reached his century off 178 balls with a boundary off Mohammad Abbas — the shot that moved him clear of Mominul into the history books. It was also his eighth Test century since 2022.

Taijul Islam provided valuable lower-order support, adding 77 runs with Mushfiqur before off-spinner Sajid Khan dismissed him for 22.

Mushfiqur was the last man out as he became Sajid’s third wicket in the innings.

Pakistan pace bowling coach Umar Gul, however, said his team will fight on.

“We have two days left and we are mentally prepared. If we bat through the full duration, there is a chance to win — we aren’t just looking for a draw,” said Gul. “Two or three good partnerships will be very important. To chase 437, you have to be brave and play positive cricket. In cricket, anything is possible.”

Bangladesh spinner Taijul was confident the target would weigh on Pakistan.

“When they see the target number, many things may work in their minds. Discipline is very important now,” he added.

Pace bowler Khurram Shahzad took four 4-86 while Sajid claimed 3-126.

Iran’s top security body announced on Monday the formation of a new body to manage the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has effectively closed and wants to charge ships to traverse.

On its official X account, the Supreme National Security Council shared a post for the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) saying it would provide “real-time updates on the #Hormuz_Strait operations and latest developments”.

The account of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy shared the same post.

It was not immediately clear what the new body would do but earlier this month Iranian English-speaking broadcaster Press TV said it constituted a “system to exercise sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz” and that ships passing through the strait were sent “regulations” from the email info@pgsa.ir.

Iran has largely blocked shipping through the vital strait since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel on February 28. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

Iran’s grip over the waterway has rattled global markets and given Tehran significant leverage, while the US has imposed its own naval blockade on Iranian ports.

In peacetime, the route accounts for roughly a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, along with other key commodities including fertiliser.

Since the war began, Iran has repeatedly said that maritime traffic through the strait would “not return to its pre-war status”, and last month it said it had received the first revenue from tolls on the waterway.

On Saturday, Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said Iran “has prepared a professional mechanism to manage traffic” through the strait, adding that it will be “unveiled soon”.

A Wall Street banker’s explosive sexual harassment lawsuit against a female executive has triggered a torrent of salacious falsehoods muddying the waters — with AI-created deepfakes and memes fueling the frenzy.

The social media storm erupted soon after the suit — packed with allegations of sexual abuse, coercion, and racial harassment — was filed last month in a New York court by a former JPMorgan Chase banker identified by US media as 35-year-old Chirayu Rana.

Lawyers for the defendant Lorna Hajdini, who remains at the bank, have called the accusations fabricated. JPMorgan Chase has said it investigated the claims and found them meritless.

But even before any legal outcome, the suit’s tawdry claims have become a source of public fascination, spawning a wave of AI-generated clips and sexually suggestive memes — at a time when high-profile sexual harassment cases against women remain rare.

“This trend hints at how AI is going to increasingly pollute our feeds and pollute public discourse on both important and frivolous topics,” Timothy Caulfield, a misinformation researcher from the University of Alberta in Canada, told AFP.

“This content can be produced incredibly quickly and can be specifically framed to play to our fears, interests, and grievances. In the attention economy, it is all about clicks. Find a trending story and exploit.”

One hyper-realistic AI video circulating on Elon Musk’s platform X purports to show the pair laughing and drinking wine at a restaurant, with a voiceover claiming “they are on a date”.

The video also surfaced on other platforms, including Meta-owned Facebook, where some posts used it to baselessly claim that the lawsuit was “fake” and the two had been involved in a “consensual relationship”.

‘Real story fakes’

Another AI clip circulating across platforms including Instagram — dubbed by users as a “Fifty Shades of Gray”-style trailer — presents a dramatised visual reconstruction of the alleged harassment, racial slurs and threats described in the suit.

And another AI video on X depicts the pair running together through a city engulfed in flames before the female executive shoves him aside in a dramatic scene.

Many social media users complained that the AI fabrications make it increasingly difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction on tech platforms, many of which have scaled back content moderation.

The viral posts reflect how some influencers seek to profit from a disinformation trend researchers call “real story fakes” — flooding the internet with sensational AI fabrications about a real story gaining public attention.

“The trend of ‘real story fakes’ has been growing thanks to the proliferation of easy to use AI tools for image and video synthesis,” Walter Scheirer of the University of Notre Dame told AFP.

In many cases, such content is created as a way to “make money off of an existing controversy” through engagement and platform monetisation policies, he said.

‘Internet trolls’

“This form of disinformation is particularly prevalent in salacious circumstances such as the JP Morgan case, where those involved can be targeted for further humiliation through exaggerated depictions of their alleged sordid actions,” Scheirer added.

The bank itself has also come under attack, with online posts sharing a doctored screenshot purporting to show a news site report that a JPMorgan intern was arrested for masturbating in a hotel hallway. The site reported no such arrest.

Even before allegations are tested in court, the AI-generated visuals have propelled Hajdini from a private citizen to an internet spectacle.

Fabricated images of her in a swimsuit are circulating online, while she has drawn comparisons to a character played by actress Demi Moore in the 1994 film Disclosure. In the film, Moore plays a female boss sexually harassing a male subordinate.

The case illustrates the power of AI technology to damage reputations and shape public opinion long before the facts have emerged.

“The JP Morgan case has drawn enormous interest because of the reversal of stereotypical gender roles, meaning many more people are seeking out information beyond what is coming from official channels,” Scheirer said.

“Content farms and internet trolls are happy to oblige them.”

Opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy struck a fluent half-century after the bowlers dominated to put Bangladesh firmly in command of the second Test against Pakistan on Sunday.

Bangladesh, who lead the two-match series 1-0, closed day two on 110-3 in their second innings, leading by 156 runs in Sylhet.

Joy, who fell for a duck in the first innings, responded with 52 off 64 balls before falling to pace bowler Mohammad Abbas.

Tanzid Hasan fell cheaply for four off quick bowler Khurram Shahzad, who later took down Mominul Haque for 30 in the final over of the day, while captain Najmul Hossain Shanto remained unbeaten on 13.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and speedster Nahid Rana took three wickets each to bowl Pakistan out for 232, giving Bangladesh a 46-run first innings lead.

Babar Azam’s 68, which included 10 fours, was the only significant resistance from the visitors.

Pace spearhead Taskin Ahmed removed overnight openers Abdullah Fazal and Azan Awais early and spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz dismissed skipper Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel before lunch.

Rana and Taijul shared the remaining six wickets in the afternoon session.

Pakistan’s Azam acknowledged the damage done by his dismissal.

“The turning point is my wicket and Salman Ali Agha’s wicket — after that we did not build any partnerships. These two dismissals changed the momentum,” said Azam.

Rana, who has now dismissed Azam three times in three Test matches, said any opposition hostility toward him would be at their own peril.

“I don’t know if they will think twice about bowling bouncers at me but I can say this much — if anyone bounces me, I will not let them off easily,” the 23-year-old Rana said.

Rana was also bullish about Bangladesh’s prospects heading into day three.

“There is no specific target like 200, 250 or 300. We have a lot of time — three days still remain. We will try to bat the full day tomorrow,” he said.

Bangladesh’s dominant position was built on Litton Das’s extraordinary rescue act on Saturday.

Walking in at 106-4 — a position that deteriorated to 116-6, Litton struck 16 fours and two sixes in his 126 to steer Bangladesh to 278 all out.

India is scrambling to salvage a sinking rupee as surging oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict threaten to disrupt the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

The currency has dropped more than 5 per cent since the crisis erupted in February, extending losses from 2025 and making it Asia’s worst-performing major currency in 2026 so far.

It hit a record low of over 96 to the dollar on Friday, prompting officials to signal that halting further depreciation is a key macroeconomic priority.

India’s central bank has already poured billions of dollars to stabilise the currency, curbed speculative trading and offered a special credit line to oil importers to ease dollar demand.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged voluntary austerity measures to rein in dollar-guzzling imports, including cutting down on gold buying and foreign travel for a year.

But the pressure persists.

“The whole system has been disturbed,” said Dilip Parmar of stockbroker HDFC Securities, citing heavy foreign investor outflows, weaker growth prospects and elevated crude prices.

“That is the basic problem which you’re seeing replicated in the fall of the rupee,” he said, noting that it was ultimately “a function of demand and supply” with dollar demand being higher.

The rupee’s slide comes as India faces a widening current account deficit driven by costly energy imports.

The gap is likely to be over 2pc of GDP this fiscal year, more than double last year’s level and potentially the widest since 2012-13, according to Bank of America Securities estimates.

Widening deficit

At the same time, foreign investors have dumped more than $20 billion in Indian stocks since the start of the Mideast conflict, the fastest pace on record, while dollar inflows have slowed, opening the possibility of a balance-of-payments gap as large as $67-88 billion.

The 2027 fiscal year “will be our third year of a balance-of-payment deficit, which is certainly unusual,” economist Dhiraj Nim of ANZ Research told AFP.

This strain has weighed on the rupee, prompting the central bank to defend it by burning through foreign exchange reserves — now at around $697 billion, down from over $720 billion before the Middle East war.

While still covering about 11 months of imports, the decline underscores the strain.

A weaker rupee is rippling through the domestic economy.

Manufacturers and food processors, many dependent on imported raw materials priced in dollars, are seeing costs surge.

Smaller firms often lack the ability to hedge currency risks.

In Kerala’s cashew industry, which mostly imports raw nuts from Africa, the impact has been acute.

“Imports have become far more expensive for the local market,” said Rajmohan Pillai, who runs a cashew firm, adding buyers can now afford only about 90pc of last year’s volumes.

He estimates more than 80pc of processing units have shut in recent years, with rupee volatility a contributing factor.

‘Last straw’

India’s currency decline has also hit students looking to study abroad.

Education consultants say studying in the United States now costs more than one million rupees ($10,450) extra compared with a year ago.

“This is the last straw,” said Meghna Sen, a 17-year-old aspiring psychology student.

“Now we have to track (the rupee) movement to check how much we need for our grocery budgets.”

The depreciation has punctured India’s ambition to become the world’s third-largest economy.

Modi, who once criticised his predecessors over currency weakness, has seen India’s global economic ranking dented because GDP comparisons are measured in dollars.

The country has slipped behind the United Kingdom to the sixth place according to International Monetary Fund data, largely due to the rupee’s fall.

Nomura analysts warn more drastic measures may be on the anvil.

These include possible fuel price hikes, tighter controls on overseas remittances and steps to attract dollar deposits from non-resident Indians — a playbook used in past crises.

Still, economists caution that intervention can only smooth volatility, not reverse underlying pressures.

“Fundamental factors” remain to be resolved, Nim said, adding “I would not even rule out an interest rate hike which squarely targets future inflation”.

The Reserve Bank of India knows what its options are, he said. “All that remains is to see what it decides to choose.”

Australia’s Qantas was forced to divert a flight bound for the United States over a disruptive passenger, with local media reporting the man bit a flight attendant.

The flight from Melbourne was headed to Dallas on Friday when it was forced to make a stop-off in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, due to the disruptive passenger.

The man was restrained by fellow passengers, with local media including national broadcaster ABC reporting he bit a member of Qantas staff.

The man was met by local authorities on arrival and has been slapped with a no-fly ban on all Qantas planes.

“The safety of our customers and our crew is our number one priority and we have zero tolerance for disruptive or threatening behaviour on our flights,” a Qantas spokesperson told AFP on Sunday.

• Strikes on Harouf medical centre kill six, including paramedics; at least five villages targeted
• Evacuation warnings trigger another wave of displacement; civilians dismiss ceasefire as ‘meaningless’

BEIRUT: Israel launched a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday, striking at least five villages and prompting a new exodus of residents, despite a 45-day extension of a fragile truce agreed to only a day earlier.

The ongoing Israeli bombardment and expanded evacuation warnings have fuelled deep scepticism about the ceasefire among the thousands of Lebanese already driven from their homes.

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah positions, but Saturday’s strikes were preceded by an evacuation warning that covered nine villages.

The attacks have expanded in scope in recent weeks, reaching areas north of the Litani River and farther from the border. Since the truce began, the Israeli military has repeatedly issued such warnings ahead of strikes, compounding the humanitarian crisis in the south.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported strikes on villages that included one more than 50 kilometres from the border.

The Israeli military also struck at least one town near the southern city of Nabatieh that was not included in its warning. At the same time, the NNA reported a new flight of residents heading north towards the coastal city of Sidon and the capital, Beirut.

The violence came just one day after the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations, agreed to extend a ceasefire that began on April 17 but has been marred by numerous violations.

The latest extension was brokered during negotiations in Washington between Israeli and Lebanese envoys, which followed the first direct talks in decades between the two nations last month.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, Israel continues to conduct strikes in Lebanon, and its forces are occupying territory near the border.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, regularly claims attacks on northern Israel and against the Israeli military inside southern Lebanon.

The resistance group, which opposes the negotiations, claimed an attack against Israeli troops in the Lebanese town of Khiam on Saturday, justifying the action by accusing Israel of ceasefire violations and “attacks that targeted villages in southern Lebanon.”

The human cost of the conflict continues to mount. Israeli attacks since the start of the war have killed more than 2,900 people in Lebanon, with more than 400 of those deaths occurring since the truce took effect, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel has reported the deaths of 19 soldiers in southern Lebanon since the fighting erupted.

On Friday, an Israeli strike hit the centre of the Islamic Health Committee in the southern town of Harouf, authorities said. Six people were killed in that attack, including three paramedics, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

For displaced residents, the term “truce” rings hollow.

“This is not a truce as long as Israeli attacks continue against the south and its people, with deaths, injuries, and destruction,” said Ali Salameh, 60, speaking from a school in Beirut where he has been displaced since the war began on March 2.

Others voiced their support for Hezbollah to continue its fight.

“What kind of a truce is this when they have just threatened villages and people are being displaced? Where is the state? We stand only with the resistance,” said Nawal Mezhir, who is also displaced from the south.

In stark contrast, Lebanon’s negotiating delegation in Washington on Friday welcomed the extension of the truce and the creation of a US-facilitated security track.

The delegation said the agreements “provide critical breathing space for our citizens, reinforce state institutions, and advance a political pathway toward lasting stability”.

Lebanon was dragged into the wider Middle East war on March 2 after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

On Friday, an Israeli strike also hit the southern city of Tyre. An AFP correspondent at the scene saw significant destruction at a targeted site near the coastal city’s ancient ruins.

“They destroyed the entire neighbourhood,” said Ibrahim Kahwaji, a tailor who was wounded in the leg. “They are emptying the south of its population… it’s a real occupation. We want a solution.”

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2026

A driver injured seven people, four of them badly, when he drove on a sidewalk in the northern Italian city of Modena on Saturday and then got out possibly holding a knife, the mayor said.

Early eyewitness accounts said the driver, aged in his 30s, apparently “aimed for the sidewalk, hitting a bike, then crashed while slamming head-on into a woman, badly hurt with both legs crushed”, mayor Massimo Mezzetti told local media and the ANSA news agency.

The car then crashed into a shop window.

“He was seen with a knife in his hand, but he didn’t manage to stab anyone.

It seems like he was trying to hit someone,” the mayor said.

Police have arrested the driver and are questioning him, he added.
Mezzetti told RaiNews channel that four of the seven hit had been seriously injured.

One witness told Italian broadcasters the car had arrived at high speed on Emilia Centro street, which is very busy on Saturday afternoons.

“I heard impacts and I saw people getting run over, ” he said.

“The car got to me and I managed to throw myself to the ground,” said the man, whose head was bloodied.

“The driver seemed to be high or drunk, he didn’t seem to be in a normal state. ” He and several other pedestrians chased him down when he tried to run off, disarming him after he produced a knife, he added.

The mayor, Mezzetti, thanked “those citizens who showed courage and civic duty”.

He added: “We need to understand what’s behind this act. But it was a dramatic event.

“I am deeply shaken. Whatever it was, it was extremely serious. If it turns out to be an attack, that would be even more serious,” Mezzetti said.