– Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s availability for the opening Test against England will be decided after the national team’s practice session on Tuesday, as the batter continues to recover from a hand injury.

Babar was struck on the hand by a ball during a practice match ahead of Pakistan’s Test series in England. He subsequently took part in a training session at Headingley, providing an encouraging sign ahead of the series opener.

The Pakistan team is scheduled to hold another practice session, after which the management will assess Babar’s fitness and make a final decision on whether he is fit to feature in the first Test.

Batter Shan Masood, who sustained an injury during Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies, also participated in the practice session at Headingley.

Meanwhile, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Abbas said the squad comprises a combination of experienced and younger players and expressed confidence that the team would seek a strong performance against England.

“We have senior and junior players in the team, and we will try to perform well in the series against England,” Abbas said.

The first Test of the series is scheduled to begin in Leeds on August 19, with Pakistan hoping to enter the contest at full strength as it faces the hosts in English conditions. 

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 President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to the lowest level of his presidency, with an overwhelming majority of Americans concerned the U.S. war with Iran will last a long time, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.

Just 33% of respondents in the four-day survey said they approved of Trump’s performance in the White House, while 64% disapproved. Trump’s approval rating, down from 35% in a poll that closed earlier this month and lower than at any point in his current term, has now tied the lowest level of his prior term reached in December 2017.

After returning to the White House in 2025 with just under half the country approving of his presidency, Trump’s popularity ⁠this year took a hit after he ordered strikes on Iran alongside U.S. ally Israel. The ensuing conflict paralyzed a fifth of the global oil trade, triggering a surge in the price of gasoline that is weighing on U.S. households – and on Trump’s Republican allies defending congressional majorities in November midterm elections.

Trump, who campaigned on promises to keep inflation in check and avoid long-lasting wars, initially pledged the conflict with Iran would take a few weeks. But Iran has proved resilient and has kept the oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz largely bottled up even as the conflict has cooled.

Some 80% of Americans – including 87% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans – think U.S. involvement in Iran “will go on for an extended period of time,” the Reuters/Ipsos poll found. Just 16% said the conflict would likely end in a few weeks.

The Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has approached the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) seeking an increase of Rs2.52 per unit in electricity tariffs under the July fuel price adjustment mechanism.

According to Nepra, the CPPA has filed an application seeking the tariff adjustment based on electricity generation costs recorded during July.

The application stated that 10.78 per cent of electricity was generated from imported LNG during the month, costing around Rs77.19 billion, with the fuel cost of LNG-based generation reaching Rs47.37 per unit.

Electricity generated from furnace oil accounted for 1.42pc, with generation costs amounting to Rs10.77 billion.

The application showed that hydropower contributed 39.81pc of total generation, while local coal accounted for 10.91pc and imported coal 14.38pc. Nuclear sources contributed 10.10pc, with their fuel cost recorded at Rs3.02 per unit.

Around 31 million units of electricity were also generated using diesel in July. The cost of diesel-based generation stood at Rs54.47 per unit.

Nepra said it would conduct a hearing on the CPPA’s request on August 27.

If approved, the proposed adjustment would place an additional burden of around Rs41 billion, including GST, on electricity consumers.