The Pakistani city of Lahore has some of the world's worst air pollution. For years the government played down the extent of the problem. Now activists are pushing back.

Pakistan and China are hoping to transform the Karakoram Highway into a vital trade link that connects China to the Arabian Sea and beyond.

If you want to know where the world's demographics are trending, look at the babies born this New Year's Day.

Over half those births will happen in just eight countries, according to the U.N. agency.

A few years ago, Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif wrote A Case of Exploding Mangoes, a novel that lampooned the Pakistani military. Now, it's been translated into Urdu, Pakistan's national language.

Former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia. The sentence was handed down by a court for treason over his 2007 imposition of emergency rule.

Defending the former leader, a military spokesperson says that someone who "served the country for over 40 years, fought wars for the defense of the country can surely never be a traitor."

The Karakoram Highway revamp is a key part of China's trade and infrastructure initiative in the region, and local communities' expectations are high.

We remember the life of Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese doctor who dedicated decades of his life to helping people in Afghanistan. He was killed by gunmen in eastern Afghanistan earlier this week.

Locals in Pakistan's northern highlands call tourists "guests," often welcoming them into their homes. But with domestic tourists nearly outnumbering locals, patience is wearing thin.

Pollution and global warming are causing glaciers to melt and form unstable lakes in the north of the country. NPR visits a valley where farms were destroyed by glacial floods.

An American and an Australian have been freed in Afghanistan as part of a prisoner swap with the Taliban. It could be a sign of movement on peace negotiations.

The train caught fire in the eastern province of Punjab after a cooking stove smuggled aboard by a passenger exploded. Some of those killed died while leaping from the moving train, officials said.

A growing number of women and children are becoming entangled in drugs as the country's number of addicts aggressively grows.

The Babur Garden is a place of respite in an often chaotic city. "Do you think the Taliban will ever accept this?" asks one man, pointing to himself and his fiancée, strolling among blooming roses.

People in Kabul, Afghanistan, are grappling with the stalled peace deal and the prospects of the return of the Taliban to govern the country.

The salt has become trendy in the U.S. But Pakistan hasn't benefited much economically from that popularity. Now, Pakistan's government wants to trademark the salt and cash in.

The campaign has been marred by repeated delays, killings and the collapse of U.S.-Taliban talks that left the Afghan government on the sidelines.

Most pink Himalayan salt comes from one source: Pakistan. And that country now would like everybody to know.

The leader of a pro-democracy group in Kabul says most of his friends "are supporting the decision of Trump." The president called off a potential deal with the Taliban in a series of weekend tweets.