Today’s outlook: Pakistan reports 5,395 Covid-19 cases, TLP supporters detained

Here are some stories we are expecting to follow today (Thursday).

• Pakistan reported 118 coronavirus deaths and 5,395 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country has so far reported 739,818 cases. Four thousand and seven hundred and forty people recoveries were reported.
• The government has decided to impose a ban on the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan under the anti-terrorism law, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed announced on Wednesday. The file will be taken to the Federal Cabinet for approval, he said, pointing out that the decision was taken on the request of the Punjab government. “They [the protesters] were well-prepared,” the minister said. “TLP leaders used to come to all talks with the government but after issuing instructions to their workers regarding road closures.
• The Sindh home department has issued orders to detain three Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan leaders in Karachi under the Maintenance of Public Order, 1960. The leaders of the right-wing group, Maulana Abbas Qadri, Ghulam Ghaus Baghdadi, and Maulana Zain-ul-Abideen, will be detained at the Malir district prison for 30 days, the order read. It said the presence of these leaders “at any public place is likely to pose a grave threat to the public safety and cause a breach of peace and tranquility”. They will be detained for a period of 30 days from the date of their arrest.
• PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shahbaz will appear in an accountability court in Lahore. Shehbaz is expected to be released from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail after the high court approved his bail in the money laundering case.
• The US will begin the “final withdrawal” of its troops from Afghanistan on May 1, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday. “We will hold the Taliban accountable for its commitment not to allow any terrorists to threaten the US or its allies from Afghan soil,” Biden said in a speech announcing an end to America’s longest war. “The Afghan government has made that commitment to us as well,” he added.

from SAMAA https://ift.tt/3mOWdWv