HD Viral Videos

Welcome (back) to Dawn.com on the first day of 2025. As we continue to report the news in its most original form, and find new and interesting ways to do so, here’s a snapshot of what you — our audience — read the most in 2024. See the 10 stories with the highest number of views on Dawn.com below, with some surprises and some obvious entries. 10. Met Office forecasts heavy monsoon showers across the country from Aug 2 to 6 Published July 31 In late July, the Pakistan Meteorological Department issued a forecast for heavy rainfall for the start of August and since monsoon rains tend to set alarm bells ringing, this article drew readers from all over the country. Roads inundated as heavy rain lashes Lahore on July 12, 2024. — DawnNewsTV The Met Office’s predictions became a dreadful reality as the subsequent rains wreaked havoc in most parts of the country. Cities like Karachi and Lahore were flooded with rainwater for weeks which brought the metropolises to a standstill. ...

KARACHI: Amid the growing need for financing to meet external debt repayment obligations, the government has arranged a $300 million loan from United Bank Ltd (UBL). According to a press release issued on Monday, UBL had arranged and financed a $300m short-term loan for the government of Pakistan through its UAE and Bahrain branches. While the government is trying to arrange more financing for its debt servicing during the current fiscal year, it struggles to roll over the debt from China and other countries. UBL has one of the largest international presences among Pakistani banks, with international assets exceeding $2.4 billion. The bank said the deal shows the ability of UBL to offer clients seamless and reliable solutions, both in Pakistan and abroad. UBL enjoys a strong track record of successfully executing complex and high-value transactions. Despite higher remittances and exports, the country needs at least $14bn to pay the external debt during 2024-25. The target rese...

A suspect who allegedly filmed women customers in the changing rooms of a garment retailer in Khanewal with his mobile phone was sent on judicial remand on Monday, police said. Khanewal City Station House Officer (SHO) Muhammad Saeed told Dawn.com that the suspect, who worked for clothing brand Limelight, was presented before a judge today after videos were found on his phone. “The judge put him in judicial custody,” SHO Saeed said, adding that the suspect was arrested on Sunday. A first information report (FIR) was submitted on the SHO’s complaint at the City Khanewal Police Station on Saturday under Section 21-1D (offences against modesty of a natural person and minor) of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment) of the Pakistan Penal Code. According to the FIR, the suspect was an employee of the store who would allegedly film wome...

Pakistan’s equity market ripped higher in 2024, carrying the KSE-100 index to its record peak as the economic fundamentals stabilised and the State Bank started cutting interest rates. The benchmark index climbed to 116,169 points on Dec 17 (before settling down to 110,246 points on Friday) from 64,661 points on Jan 1. This compares with the previous peak of around 52,000 points achieved in 2017. The stocks have gained much more rapidly after the announcement of the budget on June 12, when the index stood at 72,797 points, in the hope of anticipated approval of the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) funding programme of $7 billion. But Pakistan’s stock market wasn’t the only one rising during the outgoing year. Argentina’s stock market has surged 22-fold since July 2022 and Turkiye has also seen more than a four-fold increase in its equities compared to Pakistan’s two-fold rise, according to data collated by Ahmed Jamal Pirzada, a leading economist and Bristol professor. “...

BEIJING: The top diplomats of China and Iran agreed on Saturday that the Middle East is “not a battleground for the big powers” and should not be an arena of geopolitical competition between countries outside the region. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed that “the international community should respect the sovereignty, security, stability, unity and territorial integrity of Middle East countries,” according to a readout from Beijing’s foreign ministry. Araghchi is on his first visit to China since being appointed foreign minister of Iran. The two major trading partners reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza , the proper implementation of the ceasefire in Lebanon, and the “integrated promotion of counter-terrorism, reconciliation and humanitarian processes in Syria”, according to the readout. “The two sides agreed that the Middle East belongs to the people of the Middle East, and is not a battleground for the big powers, and should not be a ...

• Enclave’s health ministry says hospital staff out of contact • Strikes kill 25 Palestinians, including 15 in a single house CAIRO: Israeli forces on Friday raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of Gaza, ordering dozens of patients and hundreds of others to evacuate and leaving part of the site on fire, health ministry officials said. Elsewhere in Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 25 people, including 15 people in a single house in Gaza City, medics and the civil emergency service said. The Palestinian health ministry said contact with staff inside the hospital in Beit Lahiya, which has been under heavy pressure from Israeli forces for weeks, had been lost. “The occupation forces are inside the hospital now and they are burning it,” ministry director Munir Al-Bursh said in a statement. The Israeli military said it had tried to limit harm to civilians and had “facilitated the secure evacuation of civilians, patients and medical p...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a non-Muslim is not entitled to inherit any share from the estate of a Muslim relative, eit­her as a successor or predecessor. Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal issued the ruling upholding the decisions of two lower courts regarding a devolution of a land measuring 83 kanals in Gojra tehsil of Toba Tek Singh district. The landowner was Muslim by faith and after his demise the property was devolved to his children — three sons and two daughters. However, a Muslim grandson of the deceased challenged the mutation in favour of one of his uncles while alleging that the latter was an Ahmadi by faith and as such he could not inherit the property from the estate of his deceased Muslim father. The courts decreed in favour of the grandson who sought cancellation of the subsequent mutations. During the cross-examination, one of the heirs of the non-Muslim man also testified that his father was an Ahmadi. Justice Iqbal observed it was an adm...

WHEN the state fails to listen to people’s grievances, citizens have a right to peacefully take to the streets to ensure that their voices are heard. While street protests and sit-ins should be the option of last resort, sadly in Pakistan they have become the only resort to catch the attention of a callous power elite. Disaffected populations have once again taken to the streets in the biting cold of Parachinar, as well as in Gwadar, to attract the state’s attention. In the Kurram sit-in, which has been going on for a week, local people are calling for an end to the de facto blockade of their area. The blockade has resulted in a severe shortage of essentials, as well as a critical situation in hospitals, as patients have to be airlifted to other cities, while medicines are also running short. Moreover, the demonstrators have placed the bodies of two men who were brutally beheaded while on their way to Parachinar at the protest site. Sit-ins in solidarity with Kurram’s people ...

ISLAMABAD: Amid a flurry of activity on the diplomatic front, the year-end press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday left several questions unanswered, as the Foreign Office spokesperson parried queries regarding recent air strikes on Afghanistan, as well as pro-Imran Khan statements from an official of the incoming Donald Trump administration. Responding to a volley of questions about voices from the US, including President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming aide, Richard Grenell , demanding Imran Khan’s release, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said she would not like to comment on “anyone making statements in their individual capacity”. “We would like to have positive, constructive relations with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs… We will continue to engage with officials and public personalities in the United States and discuss with them, issues of mutual interest and mutual...

KARACHI: The government borrowings from banks for budgetary support were negative during the first half of the current fiscal year ending Dec 31, indicating higher liquidity in the national exchequer. The State Bank’s latest data for the July 1 to Dec 13 period showed a net debt retirement of Rs2.03 trillion against a net borrowing of Rs2.875tr in the same period last year. Experts believe this is historical as the governments in the past had been borrowing heavily for budgetary support, and this debt retirement could be the result of Rs2.7tr inflows from the State Bank in profit. They also noted that this debt retirement was significant given that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed the projected collection target during the first five months of 2024-25. Oozing with liquidity, state retires Rs2.03tr debt in July-December The government borrowed Rs7.479tr in FY24 against Rs3.748tr in FY23, reflecting a doubling of borrowing for budgetary support compared to the preceding y...

THOUGH the KP government has hammered out a seemingly comprehensive ‘ roadmap ’ to bring peace to Kurram district, the barbaric murder and decapitation of two men on Monday on their way to Parachinar underscores the fact that implementing these measures will require the state’s full commitment. Influenced by decades-old tribal and sectarian rivalries, with the state mostly playing the role of bystander, and complicated by geopolitical factors, the Kurram conundrum will require more than mere statements to resolve. From the looks of it, the KP cabinet’s roadmap seems quite detailed. For example, it envisions a special force to protect the region’s thoroughfares, a deweaponisation drive , as well as measures to punish hatemongers spreading incendiary content online. If implemented in full, these steps could bring peace and healing to Kurram. But it is a very big ‘if’. The latest round of bloodletting was sparked after a convoy was attacked last month; over 130 lives have been lo...

ISLAMABAD: A ceremony was held in the Supreme Court on Monday to celebrate Christmas. The event was attended by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, lawyers and Supreme Court employees from the Christian community. CJP Afridi cut a cake in the special ceremony held to foster inclusivity and harmony. While addressing the event, CJP Afridi emphasised the importance of unity and inter-faith harmony. He said the judiciary was committed to upholding the Constitutional principles of equality and religious freedom. CJP also extended his heartfelt greetings to Christian employees and members of the legal fraternity, acknowledging their valuable contributions to the justice system. Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/hYRzDqr

French President Emmanuel Macron named a new government on Monday evening putting together a team under Francois Bayrou, his fourth prime minister of the year , to drag the second-largest EU economy out of a political crisis. Macron named former prime minister Elisabeth Borne as education minister in a new cabinet under centrist Bayrou, the presidency said. Another former premier, Manuel Valls, returned as overseas territories minister while former interior minister Gerald Darmanin became justice minister. Both Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot kept their jobs, the presidency said. Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, also stayed in his post. The difficult job of delivering a budget plan for next year falls to Eric Lombard, the new economy minister. The inclusion of two former prime ministers indicates Macron’s desire for a heavyweight government that will enjoy stability and no...

The West appears to be mounting pressure on Pakistan, which is striving to set its economy on a growth path after achieving relative financial stability. Could the ultimate goal be to compel the Government of Pakistan to revisit its relations with China, particularly in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)? In addition to a subdued yet persistent media campaign aimed at casting doubts on the efficacy of CPEC projects under bilateral agreements between Pakistan and China, recent developments have added to the pressure. The World Bank cancelled a loan, a UK envoy warned of repercussions if power purchase agreements with Chinese independent power producers (IPPs) are not renegotiated, and the US imposed sanctions on four security-related entities last week. The government officially dismisses this notion but privately acknowledges that pressure against CPEC has always existed. “We are a small country and aspire to maintain cordial relations with all nations esp...

• Faisal Edhi claims 50 deaths in Parachinar due to lack of medical facilities • KP launches helicopter service to shift trapped people • Punjab govt sends another consignment of essential items KURRAM: Protests over the prolonged closure of transportation routes continued on Sunday in Kurram, with residents braving freezing temperatures in a sit-in outside the Parachinar Press Club. Philanthropist Faisal Edhi said that 50 children have died due to a lack of medical facilities at hospitals and other health centres, while independent sources suggested the toll might be even higher. Speaking to protesters, Tehsil Council Chairman Agha Muzammil Hussain lamented that the people of Parachinar and surrounding areas had been besieged due to road closures, and severe shortages of essential food items and medicines had worsened the situation. He slammed the government for being “bent on disarming besieged citizens”, adding that the government’s actions “are tantamount to leaving innoce...

MAGDEBURG: Ger­man authorities have started investigating a Saudi man with a history of anti-Islam rhetoric as the suspected driver in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg which killed five people on Friday evening. The attack on crowds of market visitors gathered to celebrate the pre-Christmas season comes amid a fierce debate over security and migration during an election campaign in Germany, where the far right is polling strongly. “What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in the central city, part of the former East Germany, where he laid a white rose at a church in honour of the victims. “We have now learned that over 200 people have been inju­red,” he added. “Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.” Suspect arrested A 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany for almost two decades was arrested at the scene. Police searched h...

• Says law ministry asked to take immediate action in line with law • Tahir Ashrafi welcomes move to register madressahs with govt ISLAMABAD: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Friday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had assured the party that the issue of madressah registration would be addressed soon. “The prime minister has ordered the law ministry to take immediate practical measures as per the law and the Constitution regarding the Societies Registration (Amendment) Act 2024,” Maulana said in a presser soon after meeting PM Shehbaz at PM House. The JUI-F has threatened to launch nationwide protests if the bill — approved by both houses of parliament but pending assent from President Asif Ali Zardari — continues to face delays . The party has accused coalition partners of stalling the process. The Societies Registration (Amen­dment) Act 2024 proposes reverting the registration of madressahs to the deputy commissioner’s office, as was the practice before 2019. It als...

In Karachi, cars inch forward in bumper-to-bumper traffic. But some seamlessly carve through the jam: SUVs flanked by Toyota Hilux pickup trucks. The Hilux has become a symbol of power, affluence and intimidation in a society marked by significant class divisions. “The vehicle carries an image that suggests anyone escorted by one must be an important figure,” 40-year-old politician Usman Perhyar told AFP . “It has everything — showiness, added security and enough space for several people to sit in the open cargo bed.” On Karachi’s chaotic roads, Hiluxes part the traffic — speeding up behind cars and flashing their lights demanding drivers move out of their way. The Hilux first became popular among feudal elites for its reliability in rural and mountain regions. This photograph from November 12 shows security personnel riding in the back of a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck bearing a PPP flag in Karachi. — AFP But in recent years, the “Dala”, as it is locally known, has soared in po...

KARACHI: The branded ghee and cooking product manufacturers have raised prices despite a bearish trend in palm oil import costs. A retailer said the price of branded ghee and cooking oil has increased by Rs80 per kg/litre to Rs570. He added that the hike is up to Rs100 per kg/litre in some big brands. Giving the reason for price disparity, Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman Sheikh Umer Rehan told Dawn that palm oil prices, which had increased in the world market to $1,285 per tonne, have later settled to $1,185, thus bringing down the palm oil rate in the open market to Rs16,500 per maund from Rs19,000. As a result, he added that prices of ghee and cooking oil, which had risen by Rs80 per kg/litre, witnessed a drop of Rs40 by small and medium-sized players, holding major market share. He said that branded items (TV advertisement brands mainly), which have a 5pc market share, usually take time to adjust price fluctuations due to their printing, distrib...

WASHINGTON: A clemency petition seeking the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist serving an 86-year sentence in the United States, has been submitted to the White House. Advocates are urging President Joe Biden to grant her release before his term ends on Jan 20, sources in Washington confirmed to Dawn. A Pakistani delegation, led by Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, recently visited the United States to advocate for Siddiqui’s release on humanitarian grounds. The group included Senator Talha Meh­mood and psychiatrist Dr Iqbal Afridi. Their efforts followed instructions from the Islamabad High Court to meet US lawmakers and officials as part of this initiative. In Washington, the delegation held discussions with US lawmakers, including Congressman Jim McGovern, who chairs a House committee, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Karachi-born Democrat. They also met Elizabeth Horst, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Cent...