Tahir-ul-Qadri returns to lead 'revolution', clashes erupt in Pak

June 23, 2014

Lahore/Islamabad, Jun 23: Amid high drama, Canada-based cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri returned to Pakistan today after authorities diverted his Islamabad-bound flight to Lahore fearing unrest in the capital, as clashes between his supporters and police left many injured.Tahir qadri

Qadri, a 63-year-old cleric who drew tens of thousands of supporters for a sit-in protest here in January last year demanding electoral reforms, refused to come out of the plane in Lahore saying the aircraft should be taken to its original destination or the army take him in its protective custody.

But later, Qadri came out of the Emirates plane after successful talks with Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar inside the aircraft.

The process of Qadri's immigration has been completed and he was set to leave for his residence in the Model Town area, Geo TV reported.

Sarwar was at the airport with his official car in which Qadri will leave the premises.

The thaw in the standoff came after government refused to involve army for negotiations as Qadri had demanded.

Private guards were also being arranged by Qadri's supporters as he has refused to take any government security.

Many supporters of Qadri's Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) were present outside the airport in Lahore.

Qadri, who has dual nationality, has come back from Canada to lead what he called a "revolution" against the Nawaz Sharif-led government.

Ten supporters of Qadri, including two women, were killed last week during violent clashes with the police.

Last year, Qadri paralysed the capital by rallying thousands of supporters to demand postponement of elections. He had asked for electoral and political reforms before polls.

Earlier today, Qadri had refused to disembark from the plane, saying, "I will not leave the plane until the army officers come and take me in their protective custody."

"I have no trust in the PML-N government which is the murderer of my supporters in Lahore. I will not hold talks with the government. I will only listen to the Pakistan army," Qadri said while talking to the media by phone.

Meanwhile, clashes erupted between police and Qadri's supporters in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, leaving scores of policemen and activists injured.

Over 70 police personnel were injured when PAT workers pelted stones at them near the airport in Islamabad, Radio Pakistan reported.

Many of Qadri's supporters also sustained injuries in clashes with the police in the capital.

Police had to fire tear gas shells to disperse Qadri's supporters.

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News Network
June 24,2020

Jun 24: The coronavirus tally in Pakistan reached 188,926 with the detection of 3,892 new cases in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Sixty more people died due to the viral infection, taking the death toll to 3,755.

As many as 3,337 patients are in critical condition across the country, the ministry said.

With the detection of 3,892 new cases in the last 24 hours, the coronavirus tally in the country now stands at 188,926, it said.

Sindh reported the maximum number of 72,656 cases, followed by 69,536 in Punjab, 23,388 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 11,483 in Islamabad, 9,634 in Balochistan, 1,337 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 892 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok).

Health authorities have so far conducted 1,150,141 coronavirus tests, including 23,380 in the last 24 hours.

A total of 77,754 patients have recovered so far from the disease.

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News Network
February 21,2020

New Delhi, Feb 21: Global terror financing watchdog FATF on Friday decided continuation of Pakistan in the "Grey List" and warned the country that stern action will be taken if it fails to check flow of money to terror groups like the LeT and the JeM, sources said.

The decision has been taken at the Financial Action Task Force's plenary in Paris.

The FATF decided to continue Pakistani in the "Grey List". The FATF also warned Pakistan that if it doesn't complete a full action plan by June, it could lead to consequences on its businesses, a source said.

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News Network
June 11,2020

Jun 11: The total death toll in the US from the novel coronavirus pandemic could hit the grim figure of 200,000 by September and expecting a dramatic decrease in COVID-19 cases in the country will be a "wishful thinking , an eminent Indian-American professor has warned.

Ashish Jha, the head of Harvard's Global Health Institute, told CNN on Wednesday that he is not trying to scare people to stay at home rather urged everyone to wear masks, adhere to the social distancing rules and called for ramping up testing and tracing infrastructure.

Anybody who's expecting a dramatic decrease in cases is almost surely engaging in wishful thinking. And if it (COVID numbers) stays just flat for the next three months, we're going to hit 200,000 deaths sometime in September and that is just awful, Jha said.

Jha said the 200,000 death toll is not just a guess . Currently 800-1000 people are dying daily in America from the virus and all data suggest that the situation is going to get worse.

We're gonna have increases, but even if we assume that it's going to be flat all summer, that nothing is going to get worse... even if we pick that low number of 800 a day, that is 25,000 (deaths) a month in three and a half months. We're going to add another 88,000 people and we will hit 200,000 sometime in September, Jha said.

The United States is by far the hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, in terms of both confirmed infections and deaths.

According to data by the Johns Hopkins University, the number of coronavirus cases in the US currently is nearly two million and about 112,900 people have died in the country, the most in the world.

When asked about an improvement in states like New York, which had been the epicenter of the COVID19 pandemic in the US, Jha said while coronavirus cases are declining in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts, the numbers are increasing in states such as Arizona, Florida, Texas, North and South Carolina while the country as a whole is pretty flat.

He said, people should take measures as that will help suppress the virus and ensure people could get back outside safely but he voiced concern that this was not the situation in reality.

We're not doing that and so we're going to unfortunately have another 25,000 deaths a month until September, and then it'll keep going. It's not going to magically disappear. We've got a turn around. This is not the future I want, he said.

Jha said he had expected the situation to improve in the summer months but on the contrary the numbers have continued to rise even in the warm weather.

Summer was supposed to be our better months - warmer weather, people outside, a little less transmission. This is not the time (summer) I was expecting a lot more cases. We're seeing a lot more cases, especially in states like Arizona where the numbers look really scary, he said.

Jha added that he was hopeful that maybe the summer months would give us more of a break. I think I may have been too optimistic on that.

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