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.”