The former Pakistani cricketer and opposition politician Imran Khan has addressed tens of thousands of his supporters in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi. Mr Khan demanded strong measures to tackle corruption and called for a change in Pakistan's political culture. Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool was at the rally. He told us about Mr Khan's chances of success.
The question keeps
coming up
as to whether he has the practical solutions to
back up
all of this
rhetoric
. And I still think for a lot of Pakistanis, he hasn't answered a lot of those questions. But for the crowds here today, who are frankly
euphoric
, I mean they really see that this is suddenly a man who could be a future leader.
Police in the northern Afghan city of Taloqan say at least 19 people have been killed in a bomb explosion. Many more people are said to have been injured. The bombing was carried out during a funeral. A senior police official said a suicide attacker targeted a member of parliament, Mutalib Beg, who was killed in the blast.
Queen Elizabeth has focused on the importance of families and friendship in her Christmas message, which was broadcast as her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, recovered in hospital from a heart operation. She said it was in hardship that people found strength from their families and in
adversity
that new friendships were formed.
A choir of wives of British soldiers serving in Afghanistan has topped the British singles chart to take the Christmas No. 1 spot. The song Wherever You Are was written using excerpts from letters sent between military couples.