Colombo, Apr 22: An improvised pipe bomb discovered close to Colombo’s main airport was successfully defused by the Sri Lanka airforce, police said.
A police source told news agency that a “homemade” pipe bomb had been found late Sunday on a road leading towards the main terminal, which remains open with heavy security after deadly attacks on churchs and hotels.
Airforce spokesperson Group Captain Gihan Seneviratne said the IED was believed to be locally manufactured.
Nagpur, Feb 21: Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday condemned AIMIM leader Waris Pathan's reported remarks that 15 crore Muslims are more than a match for the country's 100 crore Hindus, and asked the latter not to mistake the majority community's tolerance for weakness.
Pathan has been widely condemned for reportedly stating that "15 crore hain lekin 100 crore pe bhari hain".
He purportedly made these comments while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Kalaburagi in north Karnataka on February 16. The AIMIM leader has claimed he was quoted out of context.
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis demanded an apology from Pathan and asked the Uddhav Thackeray government to take action.
"We condemn the statement made by Waris Pathan and demand an apology. In case he does not apologise, the state government must take action against him," he said.
Fadnavis said Pathan should understand that minorities were safe and enjoyed full freedom in India because 100 crore Hindus live in the country.
He said no one would dare utter such a statement in a Muslim-majority nation, adding that the "Hindu community is tolerant but its tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness".
"Pathan should apologise to the nation and the Hindu community," he said.
Washington, May 28: US President Donald Trump has warned social media giants that his government could "strongly regulate" or "close them down" after Twitter fact-checked one of his tweets for the first time.
"Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices," Xinhua news agency reported citing Trump as saying in a tweet to his 80 million followers on Wednesday.
"We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen."
Later in the day, he said that Twitter "has now shown everything we have been saying about them... is correct" and vowed "big action to follow".
The President's remarks came after Twitter slapped a warning label on one of his tweets on Tuesday, cautioning readers "Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud".
It was in response to Trump's tweet, without providing evidence, said: "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent."
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It is unclear what regulatory steps the president could take without new laws passed by Congress, the BBC reported.
The White House is yet to offer further details.
Earlier, Trump has accused Twitter of interfering in this year's US presidential election scheduled for November, saying the company was "completely stifling free speech, and I, as president, will not allow it to happen".
With more than 52,000 tweets currently to his name, Trump is a prolific tweeter and relies on the platform to disseminate his views to millions of people.
He has used Twitter to launch attacks on opponents, with targets ranging from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to his political rivals in the US.
In 2017 he used anti-Muslim tweets aimed at London Mayor Sadiq Khan to serve a domestic political purpose of warning about immigration.
New Delhi, Apr 27: Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has said the monthlong ongoing lockdown has yielded positive results and that the country has managed to save “thousands of lives”.
Modi, who had a videoconference with various heads of the states on Monday, said the impact of the coronavirus, however, will remain visible in the coming months, according to a press statement released by his office. On the issue of getting back Indians who are overseas, the Prime Minister said that this has to be done keeping in mind the fact that they don’t get inconvenienced and their families are not under any risk.
During the meeting with state heads, Modi advocated for social distancing of at least 6 feet and the use of face masks as a rapid response to tackle COVID-19.
He said that states should put their efforts of converting hotspots, or red zones, into “orange and thereafter green zones”.
India last week eased the lockdown by allowing shops to reopen and manufacturing and farming activities to resume in rural areas to help millions of poor, daily-wage earners. But the economic costs of the nationwide lockdown continue to mount in a country of 1.3 billion people.
Modi, who put India under a strict lockdown on March 25, did not say if the lockdown restrictions will extend after May 3.
India has confirmed over 27,000 cases of the coronavirus, including 872 deaths.
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