and nawaz sharif believes that the pti, the current ruling party, has been working with the army in pakistaniut nawaz sharif and his party for several years. and i think that if we do have a conviction now, then plmn members and supporters would essentially make that same argument that this is a political witch—hunt that this is a political witch—hunt thatis that this is a political witch—hunt that is really leading to this type of outcome and it is not actual justice being served, it is simple politics and nothing else. thank you very much indeed. thank you. president trump has promoted the deputy us defence secretary, patrick shanahan, to replace his boss, james mattis, on an acting basis. general mattis announced his resignation last week after the president's decision to withdraw american forces from syria. he had said he would stay in his post until the end of february but mr trump's announced that mr shanahan would take the job from the new year. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come: singing announcing the arrival of christmas at prague's main train station. the world of music

if you look at the current government in place, the pti government, they campaign was slowly —— was solely. —— was solely based on anticorru ption. they let it —— was solely based on anticorruption. they let it from there and they have blown everything out of abortion. anticorruption is something that every pakistani can believe in. —— out of proportion. correct, but when you compare pakistan and the uk it is completely different. corruption is a social issue in pakistan. it is from the bottom all the way to the top. we are, pakistan is going on the right direction, i will say. are, pakistan is going on the right direction, iwill say. yes, we are, pakistan is going on the right direction, i will say. yes, we are addressing those issues. but to actually target one family, and highly influential political family, purely because they represent the majority, you know, it is the biggest party and theyjust want majority, you know, it is the biggest party and they just want to wea ken biggest party and they just want to weaken them, and they have used that anticorruption campaign for that, i feel

is the pti government strong enough to put pakistan on a new course?in islamabad, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you are one of the key ministers in imran khan's government. why do you think the hope and excitement generated by imran‘s election victory has worn off so very quickly? actually, it hasn't. if you look at the pakistani media and listen to the political talk shows, and maybe hear some of the discussions going on in the parliament, you might be led into believing what you just said. but in reality, you know, when the first 100 days of the government ended, there was a lot of focus. a number of surveys got carried out. and if you look at the surveys, a very clear majority of pakistanis think the country is moving in the right direction, it is moving towards a place where it is better than where it was earlier, and hope is very much in the air. the truth is, the country isn't going in the direction that imran promised for it. in fact, the press have taken to calling him mr u—turn. he said, "i will be ashamed to go abroad and ask for money." we

thes have a look stock opened 10% down, paring back a little bit to the downside on this report out of ptihange board in india are investigating an insider trading case. it is up .5% and you should be up about .7% on the indian market. probey are saying this alleges lapses in raising funds overseas. we have yet to get any kind of but we on this report will keep you updated. check of you a quick the latest business flash headlines. conferencebe a news in attempt to convince investors to abandon a takeover of london listed shire. family members and shareholders wanted to rail the biggest ever international takeover by a japanese company. investors will be asked to approve the deal on wednesday. after ang in sydney $10idered takeover, australian per share. the australian government asected a takeover offer being against the national interest. >> pushing ahead for plans on an ipo. the carrier aims to offer shares in the first quarter though the final decision will be made by the government in hanoi. originally saw vietnam a are aiming to come to market by 2019. >> here's the state of play acro