Abbas | Pakistan

Achakzai, Abbas to lead talks with govt

Mohammad Abbas claimed five wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 413, before two debutant batsmen combined to put Pakistan in a strong position in the first Test on Saturday. Opener Azan Awais hit an unbeaten 85 and Abdullah Fazal, also playing in his first Test, was 37 not out as Pakistan reached 179-1 at stumps on the second day in Dhaka. The visitors trail Bangladesh by 234 runs, but veteran Pakistan seamer Abbas was the standout performer, claiming three wickets in the morning session after the home side resumed at 301-4. Abbas took two more wickets after lunch and finished with figures of 5-92 from 34 overs, the sixth five-wicket haul of his career. Debutant Azan Awais plays a shot during the second day of the first Test cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sher-i-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh on May 9, 2026. — X/@TheRealPCB Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto laid a strong platform on the first day with 101. Mushfiqur Rahim, who was 48 not out overnight, then went on to...

Hours after he was notified as the opposition leader in the Senate on Tuesday, Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas met lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha, expressing solidarity with them and ruing that “dissent has been made a crime” in the country. The meeting took place at the office of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) president, following which a statement on Abbas’s X account detailed his media talk after his interaction with the lawyers. The post quoted him as saying that Pakistan was currently going through a “severe crisis”. “Unfortunately, the country seems to be heading in a direction where fundamental rights of people, constitutional guarantees and human dignity are being continuously violated. The real tragedy is that those who have the power and authority are the ones ruthlessly crushing the state’s soft power. “Today, civil society, lawyers, human rights organisations and every other voice that raises awareness and questions is being p...