His name is Vinod ... Agent Vinod. He can shoot two pistols simultaneously while diving through the air, disarm nuclear weapons and drive sports cars at terrifying speeds through narrow streets without breaking sweat.

Dwindling crowds have put five-day game in crisis but Pakistan's revival offers some hope

The former cricketing legend Imran Khan took another stride closer to his ambition of becoming Pakistan's next leader after a fresh slew of prominent politicians joined his Movement for Justice Party.

When looking for an excellent translation of a work of fiction from Switzerland or Germany, a volume of philosophy from France, or narratives from the languages of the African continent, do your thoughts turn to Kolkata? Perhaps they should. Long regarded as a city of literature and learning, the metropolis by the Hooghly has another string to its erudite bow, still too well-kept a secret in Britain: Seagull Books.

Begum Nusrat Bhutto was the wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan between 1973 and 1977. She suffered not only his loss, when he was hanged in April 1979 by General Zia ul Haq, but the early deaths of both her sons and of her daughter Benazir, leaving only one child, a daughter, to survive her. The beautiful Iranian-born matriarch became a focus for Bhutto's supporters during his trial and after, and petitioned the country's Supreme Court against the imposition of martial law, but lived to see her children and grandchildren bitterly divided.

A manhunt is underway in Pakistan's second largest city as the police scour Lahore in an attempt to recover a son of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province who was brutally slain by his own bodyguard for his opposition to the country's draconian blasphemy laws.

Police in Pakistan have safely recovered a US development expert who was kidnapped almost two weeks ago in the eastern city of Lahore, a senior official said.

It is not just outside political observers who take a censorious view of Pakistan's suicide bombers. The protagonist of Moni Mohsin's social satire finds the "beardo weirdos" pretty irksome too, especially when they get in the way of a shopping trip or a lunch date in downtown Lahore. Her irritation sums up the spirit of Tender Hooks, which takes its spoilt, wealthy anti-heroine and blends her voice with the hard social realities of the nation.

Pakistan is poised to appoint its first female Foreign Minister before almost immediately dispatching her to India for crucial talks due to take place later this month.

Sohaib Athar seems very relaxed about his new-found fame. His phone is clogged with messages from the world's media, demanding that he tell his story. But the IT specialist, who runs Abbottabad's Coffity café with his wife, could scarcely be less troubled. He did notice when his name began trending across the world. But he shrugs when reminded that his Twitter following has soared from a few hundred followers to some 55,000 in less than 24 hours.

When he was sworn in as Pakistan's minister for minorities in November 2008, the first time the position had been made a member of the cabinet, Shahbaz Bhatti said he was accepting the post to help the "oppressed, down-trodden and marginalised and to send a message of hope to the people living a life of disappointment, disillusionment and despair".

One of the biggest crises between Pakistan and the United States has been defused after a Lahore court released Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor facing charges of double murder, after a blood-money settlement was paid to families of the victims.

Pakistan's president has said the country must not buckle to terrorism in the aftermath of the assassination of the Christian minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, who spoke out against controversial blasphemy laws.