Khan, Qadri march to Parliament inside Islamabad's 'Red Zone'

August 20, 2014

Khan Red ZoneIslamabad, Aug 20: Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan and cleric Tahirul Qadri tonight marched with thousands of their supporters towards the Parliament, entering the heavily fortified 'Red Zone', the capital's diplomatic and political enclave, even as minor clashes took place between anti-government protesters and security personnel.

"Promise me, if something were to happen to me, you will take revenge from Nawaz Sharif," Khan said while addressing his supporters before starting his march towards the Red Zone that houses important government buildings including the Parliament House, Prime Minister House, President House, the Supreme Court besides embassies of various countries.

Unfazed by army deployment, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief and Qadri marched towards the Parliament demanding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation, putting the PML-N-led government on the backfoot.

Khan said that he has given Prime Minister Sharif till tomorrow evening to resign."If Nawaz Sharif does not resign then we will enter into the PM House," said the PTI chief.

Police baton-charged Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) protesters as they neared the Parliament.

Anti-government protesters entered the Red Zone, even as clashes took place between them and the police. After the initial minor skirmishes, police slowly retreated as part of policy to avoid violence.

The protesters had reached the Constitution Avenue as the government decided to withdraw security forces.

"PM just told me he has ordered the police not to use any kind of force against the protesters as women & children are in the front rows," Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz Sharif tweeted.

Inter-Services Public Relations spokesperson Asim Bajwa tweeted: "Bldgs in red Zone r symbol of State & being protected by Army, therefore sanctity of these national symbols must be respected."

"Situation requires patience, wisdom & sagacity from all stakeholders to resolve prevailing impasse through meaningful dialogue in larger national and public interest," he said.

Pakistan Army has also taken charge of the Interior Ministry's control room, Dawn News reported.

The protesters of Khan and Qadri started separately but later were moving towards the Parliament together. Thousands of anti-government protesters planned to stage a sit-in in an open ground in front of the building.

Information minister Pervaiz Rashid told Geo TV that the marchers have violated written commitment that they will not enter the Red Zone.

"They have women and children with them. So the government has decided to show maximum restraint. They want dead bodies but we will not give them the opportunity despite provocations," he said.

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News Network
July 20,2020

Paris, Jul 20: Two coronavirus vaccine candidates have proven safe for humans and produced strong immune reactions among patients involved in separate clinical trials, doctors said on Monday.

The first trial among more than 1,000 adults in Britain found that the vaccine induced "strong antibody and T cell immune responses" against the novel coronavirus.

A separate trial in China involving more than 500 people showed most had developed widespread antibody immune response.

The studies, published in The Lancet medical journal, constitute a major step on the road towards a COVID-19 vaccine that is effective and safe for widespread use.

The authors of the studies said that they encountered few adverse side-effects from the vaccine candidates.

However, they cautioned that more research was needed, particularly among older adults, who are disproportionately at risk of dying of COVID-19.

Co-author Sarah Gilbert from the University of Oxford said the results "hold promise".

"If our vaccine is effective, it is a promising option as these types of vaccine can be manufactured at large scale."

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June 1,2020

Washington, Jun 1: As protesters gathered outside the White House on Friday night in Washington DC, US President Donald Trump was briefly taken to the White House underground bunker, The New York Times reported citing a person having firsthand knowledge about the incident.

Trump was there for less than an hour before being brought upstairs. After hundreds of people surged towards the White House on Friday, Secret Service and the United States Park Police officers sought to block them.

Trump's team was surprised by the protests that were witnessed outside the White House on Friday night, according to the US daily. It is, however, unclear if Melania Trump and Barron Trump were also taken down with him.

in response to the continuing protests against the death of African-American man George Floyd in police custody.

National Guard members have been activated in 15 states and Washington, DC with another 2,000 prepared to activate if needed.

Demonstrators across the United States have been protesting since May 25, when George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died under the police custody in the city of Minneapolis.

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News Network
May 3,2020

London, May 3: The British government had a contingency plan for prime minister Boris Johnson’s death as his condition deteriorated while he battled COVID-19 last month in intensive care, Johnson said in an interview with The Sun newspaper.

Johnson returned to work on Monday, a month after testing positive for COVID-19. Johnson, 55, spent 10 days in isolation in Downing Street from late March, but was then was taken to London’s St Thomas’ Hospital where he received oxygen treatment and spent three nights in intensive care.

“They had a strategy to deal with a ‘death of Stalin’-type scenario,” Johnson, 55, was quoted as saying by The Sun. “It was a tough old moment, I won’t deny it.”

After Johnson was discharged, St Thomas’ said it was glad to have cared for the prime minister, but the hospital has given no details about the gravity of his illness beyond stating that he was treated in intensive care.

Johnson and his fiancée, Carrie Symonds, on Saturday announced the name of their newly born son as Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas, partly as a tribute to two of the intensive care doctors who they said had saved Johnson’s life.

“The doctors had all sorts of arrangements for what to do if things went badly wrong,” Johnson said of his COVID-19 battle. “The bloody indicators kept going in the wrong direction.”

He said doctors discussed invasive ventilation.

“The bad moment came when it was 50-50 whether they were going to have to put a tube down my windpipe,” he said. “That was when it got a bit . . . they were starting to think about how to handle it presentationally.”

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