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PARIS: Paris Opera musicians on Tuesday gave a symphonic show of support for the grinding transport strike over the French government’s pension overhaul. The orchestra musicians set up on sunlit steps outside the Bastille Opera to play for several hundred passers-by, many capturing the concert on cellphone cameras as cars clogged the nearby roundabout. It chimed in with the protests that have led to a crippling transport strike that has greeted President Emmanuel Macron’s reform, which would also remove the opera employees’ right to early retirement. “We still refuse to participate in any parody of negotiations,” a musician told the crowd before the start of the concert. The repertory included classics like The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz and The Dance of the Knights from the Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev, and ended with a rousing rendition of the La Marseillaise , France’s national anthem. Paris Opera employees are covered by one of France’s 42 separate pension

Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber is opening up about his creative and personal life through a 10-part documentary ahead of a career comeback after three years away from the spotlight. YouTube announced on Tuesday that Bieber’s first-ever documentary series, Justin Bieber: Seasons , will launch on the video platform on Jan. 27. It will chronicle the making of the Canadian singer’s first album in four years, as well as giving fans glimpses of his private life with new wife, model Hailey Baldwin, and other family members. Bieber, who first found fame on YouTube as a baby-faced 13 year-old in 2007, abruptly pulled out of his “Purpose” world tour in 2017, citing the need for rest. In the past year, he has written a series of Instagram postings to his 124 million followers talking about his struggles with depression, drug abuse and fame and crediting religion and childhood sweetheart Baldwin for his recovery. Earlier in December, Bieber, 25, announced that in 2020 he would release his fir

NEW YORK: The dollar slid to a six-month low on Tuesday as progress on U.S.-China trade tensions led investors to higher-risk assets, while a year-end rally that lifted global stocks to record highs stayed alive on the last trading day of 2019. A gauge of world stock markets and stocks on Wall Street rebounded late in the session after trading lower most of the day, marking an end to a remarkable year for investors. Many equity indices, long-term bonds, oil and gold posted double-digit gains in 2019. U.S. President Donald Trump said the Phase 1 trade pact with China would be signed on Jan. 15 at the White House, though confusion remains about details of the agreement. Hope of an imminent deal has been a key driver for lifting global equities to their best year since 2009, up 24% for the year and 88% for the decade. MSCI’s all-country world index .MIWD00000PUS of stock performance in 49 nations rose 0.86 point or 0.15 percent, to 565.24. The index is less than 3 points shy of an al

LAHORE: Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh took oath as the 51st Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday. Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar administered the oath to the chief justice-designate at a ceremony at the Governor House. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, high court judges, government officials and representatives of lawyers’ bodies were present on the occasion. Justice Mamoon Rashid Sehikh was named the new LHC chief justice after Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan reached the age of superannuation on  Dec 31. His tenure as the top LHC judge will span just two months and 18 days. Read More: Chief Justice LHC Sardar Muhammad Shamim retires today Justice Qasim Khan, senior pusine judge of the high court, will succeed Justice Mamnoon Sheikh as LHC CJ on March 18, 2020 and will serve in the office for about one year and four months. Addressing a full court reference on the high court premises held in his honour on Dec 31, Justice Shamim Khan had

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways (PR) and its huge number of passengers found the year 2019 worst as a number of accidents, including the horrible Tezgam fire tragedy in October, exposed wrong decision-making and incompetence allegedly on the part of the management while dealing with the department’s operations. “If we recall major happenings in 2019, you may find railways its worst ever as a number of passengers, including the railway employees, died, left incapacitated or maimed. Though the year was really a sad one in view of the worst operational affairs and fatal/non-fatal accidents, the PR top management kept making tall claims of improving the department’s performance,” deplores an official source who said the worst operational affairs in railways remained a matter of grave concern. Though the PR has not yet released the official data on the total number of fatal/non-fatal accidents and derailments etc of the year 2019, the sources claim that the numbers crossed 100. “Over 100

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KARACHI: Cold wave continued to grip most parts of the country with icy winds sweeping across Pakistan. According to Met officials, continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country. A shallow westerly wave is likely to affect western and upper parts of the country from Wednesday, they said. Light rain with thunderstorm and snowfall over mountains is expected at isolated places in Northwest Balochistan, upper hilly areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, and Gilgit Baltistan. Read More: Today is the coldest day of Karachi this winter Dense fog is likely to prevail in most plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh while in few plain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the morning and night hours. Cold and dry weather is expected in most areas of the country while very cold in upper areas. Dense fog prevailed over most plain areas of Punjab and Upper Sindh as well as some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Read More: Skardu continues to remain coldest place in Pakistan with mi

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday he hoped North Korea would choose peace over war, a response to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un saying would introduce a “new strategic weapon” in the near future. “So, seeing that reporting publicly, it remains the case that we hope that Chairman Kim will take a different course,” Pompeo told Fox News in an interview. “We’re hopeful that … Chairman Kim will make the right decision – he’ll choose peace and prosperity over conflict and war,” Pompeo said. In a separate interview with CBS News, Pompeo was asked whether he was alarmed by Kim’s statements – Kim said there were no grounds for North Korea to be bound any longer by a self-declared moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear bomb testing. “If Chairman Kim has reneged on the commitments he made to President Trump, that is deeply disappointing,” Mike Pompeo said. “He made those commitments to President Trump in exchange for President Trump agreein

NEW DELHI: Autho­rities in occupied Kashmir will restore text messaging services in the disputed region on Wednesday, almost five months after India’s government downgraded its semi-autonomy and imposed a strict security and communications lockdown, an official said on Tuesday. Local government spokesman Rohit Kansal said the decision was made after a review of the situation. He said broadband internet services in government-run hospitals will also be restored. The curbs on broadband internet and mobile internet services for other users will remain. Authorities fear that insurgents and separatists demanding independence from Indian rule will use the internet to provoke protests in the region that could morph into large-scale street demonstrations. Tensions in occupied Kashmir have escalated since New Delhi’s surprise decision in early August to downgrade the regions semi-autonomy. India followed the move by sending in tens of thousands of extra troops, detaining thousands of peop

KARACHI: Academic activities resume in Sindh including Karachi, as educational institutions across the province reopened on Wednesday (today) after winter vacations, ARY News reported. Due to severe cold wave the attendance in majority of schools is low, while teachers in some schools are also absent from their duties. Meanwhile, majority of the private schools in Karachi, have extended winter vacations till January 6,  owing to cold wave in the city. Earlier on Tuesday, Sindh education secretary Ahsan Ali Mangi had rejected rumours of extending winter vacations for schools. The Sindh’s Secretary School Education and Literacy Department, Ahsan Ali Mangi, had clarified that schools would reopen from January 1 (today). Read More:  No extension in winter vacations for schools, announces Sindh govt According to the notification issued by the Sindh government, academic activities to resume on January 1, 2020 (Wednesday). All schools, colleges, public or private, under the Education D

MUZAFFARBAD: As many as 59 civilians, including women and children, were martyred and another 281 suffered injuries in different areas along the restive Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) in 2019 as a result of ceasefire violations by Indian troops, an official said on Tuesday, the last day of the year. Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri, secretary of disaster management and civil defence in the AJK government, told Dawn that 43 of the deceased were male and 16 female. Similarly, 157 of the injured were male and the rest female. Giving district-wise breakup of the casualties, he said that 13 civilians lost their lives in Kotli, 12 in Neelum, 11 in Haveli, eight each in Muzaffarabad and Poonch, four in Bhimber and three in Jhelum valley. Of those who had sustained injuries, 61 belonged to Kotli district, 52 to Neelum, 51 to Poonch, 49 to Haveli, 29 to Bhimber, 20 to Muzaffarabad and 19 to Jhelum valley. Mr Qadri said that shelling had also wrecked havoc on civilian prop

ISLAMABAD: A new model of non-formal education that combines literacy and labour and market skills for illiterate children and youth is being developed and will be piloted in selected districts of Punjab and Sindh provinces with World Bank assistance. The World Bank has agreed to provide $2.73 million for the pilot project, which is expected to be implemented in partnership with the Sanjh Preet Organisation (SPO) — a Lahore-based non-governmental organisation — which has implemented 34 different projects nationwide in partnership with public, non-public, academic and international agencies and organisations, including Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Unicef and USAID. An initial institutional assessment for environmental and social management has been conducted at the concept stage through meetings with SPO personnel and a review of relevant policy documents shared by the organisation. This initial assessment indicates that SPO has worked with international donors and h

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) missed revised revenue collection target for the first half year of current fiscal year by a wide margin of Rs287 billion against the target of Rs2.367 trillion despite several measures and double-digit consumer inflation. The FBR has collected Rs2.080tr during the first half year as against the target of Rs2.367tr projected for the same period, leaving behind a shortfall of Rs287bn. The tax authority estimates to collect another Rs2-4bn in book adjustments. However, the collection during the first half of current fiscal year is 16.95 per cent higher than the Rs1.784tr collected in the corresponding period last year. The trend in revenue collection shows that the quantum of shortfalls is constantly increasing with each passing month starting since July. The decline in collections is mainly attributable to poor performance of top tax administration. Meanwhile, the FBR on Tuesday also extended the last date for filing of income tax retur

ISLAMABAD: Special desks have been established at National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) centres for the registration of transgender persons so that Sehat Insaf cards could be provided to them. “Community members just have to declare themselves as transgender and in this regard a simple procedure will be adopted as only their personal confirmation is enough. There is no req­uire­ment of documentation from any other office in this regard,” said Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza at a news conference on Tuesday. “Each transgender person would be able to get medical treatment of Rs720,000 from as many as 300 private and public sector hospitals which have been put on a panel to provide health services to deserving people.” Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced that cards would be issued to transgender persons so that they could get medical facilities free of cost. Dr Mirza said the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) ha

ISLAMABAD: The government has defended the necessity of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority which enhanced scope after inclusion of socio-economic, agriculture and industrial development, and third party participation. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Planning and Development met here on Tuesday to discuss the need for the government’s bill regarding the CPEC Authority, which was set up through a presidential ordinance on Oct 5. Opposition parties, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have rejected the government’s act of setting up the CPEC Authority through the presidential ordinance. The PML-N termed it an “illegal” move in violation of recommendations of the parliamentary committee concerned. PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal had said the establishment of the authority through the presidential ordinance was a “backdoor legislation” and his party would not accept it. NA panel told rules for post of

ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is expected to arrive in Islamabad on January 2, on a day-long visit, ARY News reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The visiting crown prince is scheduled to hold meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and other high-level officials of the government, said sources privy to the matter. The expected visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is considered to be most important in context of Pakistan skipping the Kuala Lumpur summit. Earlier on December 20, Prime Minister Imran Khan had made a telephone call to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and exchanged views on bilateral relations. Read more: COAS Qamar Javed Bajwa calls upon Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Matters of mutual interest, regional, international affairs and other issues were came under discussion during the telephonic conversation. The two leaders had also discussed ways of further deepening bilateral coo

KARACHI: At least 13 people, including  two women and a minor girl, were wounded in aerial firing during New Year celebrations in Karachi, ARY News reported on Wednesday. According to rescue sources, 13 persons sustained injuries when some citizens resorted to aerial firing to welcome the new year of 2020 in different parts of the metropolis. The injured were shifted to different Jinnah, Abbasi Shaheed and Murshid hospitals of the city for treatment. Pakistan and rest of the world welcomed the arrival of New Year 2020 with new hopes, wishes, and ambitions. Read more: Welcome 2020: New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off in Pakistan Bahria Town Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad had organized a splendid show of fireworks. ARY News also extended its viewers New Year greetings. The moment when the clock struck 12, everybody was on their feet as celebrations started and fireworks show across most of the cities made the atmosphere lively everywhere. In a surprise move for the residents of t

ISLAMABAD: In a move that took many by surprise, the government on Tuesday convened both houses of parliament to meet on a 24-hour notice. While the opposition appeared to be wondering as to what was the need for convening the sessions of parliament in such haste, the government said the decision had been taken to take the legislature into confidence over recent important developments. When contacted, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani said he had failed to understand the reasons behind convening the sessions within 24 hours. He said in foggy weather many members from other cities would find it difficult to reach Islamabad in time. He regretted that the Senate session had only been convened a day after the opposition had requisitioned it. He said the government continues to ignore the parliament and pointed out that the Senate would be meeting after a gap of 124 days, apart from a requisitioned session convened in between. Opposition baffled over the haste in convening the sessio

ISLAMABAD: The government on Tuesday increased fuel prices for January, raising the petrol price to Rs116.60 per litre with the increase of Rs2.61, while app­roving the recommendations made by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). A notification issued by the finance ministry says that the new rate for the most widely used fuel consumed in large vehicle engines and generators — High Speed Diesel (HSD) — has been raised by Rs2.25 to Rs127.26 per litre. An official of the state-owned oil company PSO said that January was not the month of heavy consumption of diesel and petrol in the country as there was limited activity in the farm sector while the movement of trucks too was restricted in the wake of occasional fog at highways. Similarly, the price of Light Diesel Oil (LDO) consumed in certain engines used by tube-wells and mills in rural areas has been raised by Rs2.08 to Rs84.51 per litre. While kerosene price has jumped to Rs99.45 per litre with the increase of Rs3.10,

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has restrained Air Marshal Arshad Malik from carrying out any function as the chief executive officer of Pakistan International Airlines till Jan 22 on a petition challenging his appointment. A two-judge bench headed by Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui also issued notices to respondents as well as the deputy attorney general for Jan 22. The bench in its order said that the contentions raised by the petitioner’s lawyer merited consideration, particularly the apparent titanic gulf between the CEO’s education, qualification and experience and the job requirement. In the meanwhile, the bench said that the PIA chief, chief human resource officer and the airline’s board of directors, through its chairman/CEO, were restrained from carrying out any function as well as encumbering or disposing of assets of the national flag carrier valued over Rs10 million. SHC issues notices to Air Marsal Arshad Malik and federal govt for Jan 22 Petitioner Safdar Anjum, who

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The decade which comes to an end on the midnight of December 31, 2019 was a period of seismic national developments that defined the country's present and will inevitably shape its future. The 10-year stretch saw democratic systems taking root in Pakistan with consecutive transfers of civilian power and passage of major legislation that turned the country into a parliamentary republic. During this time, Pakistan also entered into a multi-billion dollar economic partnership with China, and waged a war against militancy. Here, we list the 10 exclusive pieces published by Dawn over the past decade that saw the highest digital traffic. 10. Election 2018 survey results: And the winner is... Published: 2018 2018 was an election year, and marked a historic second consecutive democratic transition in Pakistan's 70-plus year history. Before the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf emerged victorious in the July 25 polls and went on to form government in the Centre and the Pu

KARACHI: Sindh Rangers on Tuesday claimed to have arrested 14 suspects during raids conducted at different areas of Karachi, ARY News reported. The raids were conducted in metropolis’ areas of Bahadurabad, Paposh and others areas by the paramilitary forces. According to the Sindh Rangers spokesman, illegal weapons, looted items and drugs were recovered from the possession of the suspects. The arrested were handed over to the police for further legal action. Yesterday, Pakistan Rangers Sindh had foiled an attempt to smuggle drugs at Hub check post near Karachi. Read more: Rangers foil bid to smuggle drugs, betel nuts worth Rs20 million According to Rangers spokesman, the betel nuts and drugs worth Rs20 million were recovered from a truck going to Karachi from Hub. At least 263 kilograms of betel nuts, five kilograms of hashish and 17kg of heroin was confiscated, according to the Rangers. Last week, Pakistan Rangers, Sindh  apprehended  20 criminals  from different parts of Kara

NEW YORK: Netflix Inc’s original film Murder Mystery , starring Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler, topped a list of the streaming service’s most popular releases of 2019 in the United States but its award-winning The Crown  failed to make the top 10. Netflix said on Monday that science fiction series Stranger Things came in second, followed by the Michael Bay action movie 6 Underground . The animated movie Incredibles 2  and Martin Scorsese’s gangster film The Irishman  took the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. The ranking was based on the number of households watching at least two minutes of a series, movie or special during its first 28 days on Netflix in 2019, the streaming service said. British royal series The Crown , whose first two seasons cost a reported $130 million to make, did not appear in the top 10 list for either the U.S. or the UK or Canada despite having won major awards, including for its leading actors. Season 3 was released in November and Netflix did not

SYDNEY: Three people were feared dead in Australian bushfires, authorities said on Tuesday, as huge fire fronts cause widespread devastation and forced thousands of holidaymakers to flee to beaches to escape the flames. New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said there were preliminary reports of three potential fatalities in small towns in the state of New South Wales. Fitzsimmons said it was unsafe for police to get to the locations due to the ongoing threat from fires. “We have three people unaccounted for and the potential for three potential fatalities as a result of the fire on the south coast,” Fitzsimmons told media. Two people are feared dead in the town of Cobargo, and one in Belowra. A further four people are unaccounted for in the state of Victoria, the site of some of the fiercest recent fires, although authorities have not provided further information. There have been nine confirmed casualties this bushfire season, which includes the deat

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has awarded five-year imprisonment to journalist Nasrullah Chaudhry in a case pertaining to possessing literature against the state and spreading religious hatred. Mr Chaudhry, a journalist associated with Urdu-language daily Nai Baat , was found guilty of committing offences punishable under Section 11-F (i) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 (a person is guilty of an offence if he belongs, or professes to belong, to a proscribed organisation), Section 11-W(i) (printing, publishing or disseminating any material to incite hatred or giving projection to any person convicted for a terrorist act or any proscribed organisation or an organisation placed under observation or anyone concerned in terrorism) and Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism). The ATC-VI judge, who conducted trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict reserved after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides on Dec 21. The judge awar

LAHORE: A woman was allegedly tortured to death by her in-laws a day after her marriage on Walton Road. According to the first information report lodged by Suleman Khan, the brother of the deceased Sawera, she was subjected to torture by her husband and his family members over unidentified reasons. He stated that Sawera got married to Asif Jan of Shama Colony on Dec 28. When he visited Jan’s house along with his family members the next morning to see Sawera, they found her in-laws taking her to a hospital in an ambulance, Khan added. He said when they reached the private hospital, the doctors refused to attend to her, calling it a police case due to bruises on various parts of her body. The doctors told them that she had already died, Suleman claimed, adding that they later rushed her to a government hospital where medics confirmed her death. He claimed that his sister was allegedly tortured to death by her husband and his family members. Police sent the body to morgue for autopsy

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KARACHI: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has decided to jack up the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by Rs20 per kilogram for the month of upcoming month of January, ARY News reported. Chairman LPG Distributors’ Association Irfan Khokhar has said that with the increase of Rs20 per kg, the domestic cylinder price will be up by Rs250, while the commercial cylinder will witness an increase of Rs 900. The new price of domestic cylinder would be Rs1760 and commercial cylinder would be Rs6810. Due to increase in cold wave across the country, the usage of LPG has saw a great increase due to shortage and low pressure of suigas. On the other hand, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Monday had announced that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations will remain closed in Sindh for further 24 hours. Read more: OGRA recommends hike in petroleum prices for January 2020 A SSGC spokesperson had said that the decision was taken owing to the shortage of gas in the system, add

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan to chair a session of the federal cabinet today (Tuesday), ARY News reported. The cabinet members will meet under the chair of PM Imran Khan to discuss 8-point agenda. The overall political and economic situation of the country will be reviewed. The draft bill of the National College of Arts Institute is expected to be presented in the meeting. Matters related to handing over of Sohail Ahmed to UK authorities is also on the agenda of today’s meeting. The appointment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SEMs) CEO is also on the cards, while the cabinet would be briefed on financial statistics. Read more:  Not allowing Maryam to go abroad upholds law, says Babar Awan The federal cabinet in its last meeting held on December 24 had rejected the removal of PML-N leader  Maryam Nawaz’s name  from the Exit Control List with consensus. Special Assistant on Information of Prime Minister Imran Khan Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, while answering a question had said