Hundreds protest as swastikas and 'Go Trump' appear in New York park

November 21, 2016

New York, Nov 21: At least 300 people, including Beastie Boys singer Adam Horovitz, protested in New York today against what they said were hate crimes inspired by the election of Donald Trump, after swastikas appeared in a Brooklyn park.

Yorkpark

The park bears the name of Adam Yauch, a bassist and singer with the Beastie Boys who militated for human rights. The popular group broke up in 2012 following his death of cancer. Yauch had played in the park as a child.

Sometime before Friday morning, vandals used spray paint to draw awkwardly formed swastikas and the words "Go Trump" on a children's locomotive in a playground.

City workers quickly painted over the graffiti, and by today the locomotive had been covered with flowers, hearts, messages of love and Tibetan flags, in tribute to Yauch, who was a Buddhist.

The defacement - of a sort seen in many parts of the country since Trump's shock election, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremism - sparked widespread outrage on social media.

The Beastie Boys, formed in the 1980s by three young Jewish musicians from Brooklyn, were one of the great successes of the hip-hop genre. The surviving Beastie Boys tweeted yesterday: "Hate has no place in Brooklyn, NYC or America. Join us on Sunday to stand against hate messages."

Horovitz was joined by elected officials including New York state senator Daniel Squadron, a Democrat, as well as leaders of several religious communities. Together they sang the "Star Spangled Banner," the US national anthem, an AFP photographer reported.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, have said they will not tolerate hate crimes or expressions of racism, and they announced a series of measures to protect anyone targeted, whether Muslim, Jew, immigrant or member of a sexual minority.

Thus, Cuomo announced today that he was creating a special state-police unit to deal with such crimes.

Having set up a special help line to take calls from potential victims, Cuomo also announced the creation of a fund to help immigrants in need of legal protection.

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ali
 - 
Monday, 21 Nov 2016

Trump Anti Jew , Muslims & Hindu. So all people coming under one stage to protest against trump.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Tehran, Mar 15: Two hundred and thirty-four Indians stranded in coronavirus-hit Iran have arrived in India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

The batch comprises 131 students and 103 pilgrims, he said.

“234 Indians stranded in Iran have arrived in India; including 131 students and 103 pilgrims. Thank you Ambassador Dhamu Gaddam and @India_in_Iran team for your efforts. Thank Iranian authorities,” Jaishankar tweeted.

The third batch of Indians from Iran arrived early Sunday. A second batch of 44 Indian pilgrims had arrived from Iran on Friday.

Iran is one of the worst-affected countries by the coronavirus outbreak and the government has been working on plans to bring back Indians stranded there.

The first batch of 58 Indian pilgrims were brought back from Iran on Tuesday.

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Agencies
August 7,2020

Colombo, Aug 7: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's party and its allies won an overwhelming two-thirds majority in a parliament election, results showed on Friday, giving him the power to enact sweeping changes to the constitution.

The governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and its allies had won 150 seats in the 225-member parliament, according to the tally published by the election commission from Wednesday's vote.

Rajapaksa had sought a two-thirds majority in parliament to be able to restore full executive powers to the presidency, which he says are necessary to implement his agenda to make the tiny island economically and militarily secure.

He is likely to install his older brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the next prime minister. The brothers are best known for crushing the Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils during the elder Rajapaksa's presidency in 2009.

On a congratulatory phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, which is keen to check Chinese influence on its southern neighbour, Mahinda Rajapaksa vowed to deepen ties between the two countries.

"With the strong support of the people of Sri Lanka, I look forward to working with you closely to further enhance the long-standing cooperation between our two countries," he told Modi. "Sri Lanka and India are friends and relations."

The tourism-dependent nation of 21 million people has been struggling economically since deadly Islamist militant attacks on hotels and churches last year followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

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Agencies
March 14,2020

San Francisco, Mar 14: Microsoft on friday announced that co-founder Bill Gates has left its board of directors to devote more time to philanthropy.

The 64-year-old stopped being involved in day-to-day operations at the firm more than a decade ago, turning his attention to the foundation he launched with his wife, Melinda.

Gates served as chairman of Microsoft's board of directors until early in 2014 and has now stepped away entirely, according to the Redmond-based technology giant.

“It's been a tremendous honor and privilege to have worked with and learned from Bill over the years,” Microsoft chief executive and company veteran Satya Nadella said in a release.

Nadella said Microsoft would continue to benefit from Gates' “technical passion and advice” in his continuing role as a technical advisor.
“I am grateful for Bill's friendship and look forward to continuing to work alongside him,” he added.

Gates left his CEO position in 2000, handing the company reins to Steve Ballmer to devote more time to his charitable foundation.

He gave up the role of chairman at the same time Nadella became Microsoft's third CEO in 2014.

Regularly listed among the world's richest people, William H. Gates was a geeky-looking young man when he and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft in 1975.

Gates went on to turn his attention from software to fighting disease and other humanitarian challenges with his wife, under the auspices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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