Terror groups hail Trump win

November 10, 2016

Washington, Nov 10: Islamic State and al-Qaeda jihadists have 'hailed' Donald Trump's win in presidential polls as the beginning of "dark times" for the US with some extremists predicting America's "demise" at the hands of the billionaire businessman, according to media reports.trumppp

Shortly after Trump was declared the victor, a number of prominent ideologues linked to jihadist outfits in the Middle East took to social media to cheer the prospect of a Trump presidency, The Washington Post reported.

Social-media sites associated with both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda hailed Trump's success as the beginning of "dark times" for the United States, marked by domestic unrest and new foreign military campaigns that would sap the strength of the American superpower, the report said.

"Rejoice...and find glad tidings in the imminent demise of America at the hands of Trump," Islamic State-affiliated Al-Minbar Jihadi Media network was quoted as saying.

The remarks of jihadists signaled their apparent belief that the victory of a candidate like Trump, who has suggested blocks on Muslim immigration and advocated torture, undermines the US' moral standing in the world.

"Trump's win of the American presidency will bring hostility of Muslims against America as a result of his reckless actions, which show the overt and hidden hatred against them," said an essay, provided by the SITE Intelligence group, a private organisation that monitors jihadists' web sites.

Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intelligence Group, on Twitter said, "AQ (al-Qaeda) & ISIS supporters on election: Trump exposes US' hatred of Muslims, will contribute to America/West's downfall -- likening to brexit."

She quoted pro-al-Qaeda accounts on social media as saying, "On 9-11, US struck with disaster at the hands of AQ (al-Qaeda). On 11-9, US struck with disaster at the hands of their own voters."

"Jihadists warn that Trump will unite the mujahideen; Announce: 'Bring it on, Donald'; 'The mujahideen are ready!'," another tweet by Katz said.

A pro-al-Qaeda al-Maqalaat Twitter account predicted that Trump would "make the US Enemy No.1 again," in the Muslim Middle East.

"Trump will serve as the perfect straw man for the next four years, like Bush did before him," it said.

Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, a jihadist ideologue linked to al-Qaeda, gloated about Trump's victory, suggesting that it "may be the beginning of America's fragmentation and the era of its breakup," according to the Post.

Just ahead of polls, the Islamic State terror group had called for "slaughter" of American voters on election day and urged Muslims not to participate in the democratic process.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Sydney, Jul 28: Nearly 3 billion koalas, kangaroos and other native Australian animals were killed or displaced by bushfires in 2019 and 2020, a study by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Tuesday, triple the group's earlier estimates.

Some 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds and 51 million frogs were impacted by the country's worst bushfires in decades, the WWF said.

When the fires were still blazing, the WWF estimated the number of affected animals at 1.25 billion. The fires destroyed more than 11 million hectares (37 million acres) across the Australian southeast, equal to about half the area of the United Kingdom.

"This ranks as one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history," said WWF-Australia Chief Executive Officer Dermot O'Gorman in a statement.

The project leader Lily Van Eeden, from the University of Sydney, said the research was the first continent-wide analysis of animals impacted by the bushfires, and "other nations can build upon this research to improve understanding of bushfire impacts everywhere".

The total number included animals which were displaced because of destroyed habitats and now faced lack of food and shelter or the prospect of moving to habitat that was already occupied.

The main reason for raising the number of animal casualties was that researchers had now assessed the total affected area, rather than focusing on the most affected states, they said.

After years of drought made the Australian bush unusually dry, the country battled one of its worst bushfire seasons ever from September 2019 to March 2020, resulting in 34 human deaths and nearly 3,000 homes lost.

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News Network
April 6,2020

Tokyo, April 6: Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to declare a state of emergency in view of the surging cases of coronavirus in the country, especially in Tokyo and other large cities, government sources said on Monday.

Pressure had been mounting on Abe to make the declaration amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases recently, with calls for the move from Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and the Japan Medical Association intensifying, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Tokyo metropolitan government, along with healthcare specialists, said that the number of hospital beds available for coronavirus patients will soon reach capacity, with the health ministry rapidly trying to secure more beds.

Adding to pressure on the government to demonstrably bolster its preventive and countermeasures to the spread of the virus, a panel of government experts warned recently that the country's healthcare system could collapse if coronavirus cases continue to spike.

The healthcare system in Tokyo and four other prefectures are under increased strain and "drastic countermeasures need to be taken as quickly as possible," the experts said.

As of Sunday, 143 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in Tokyo, a record daily high for the capital, bringing the total to 1,034, with Japan's health ministry and local governments adding that nationwide cases rose to 3,531 as of Sunday afternoon.

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News Network
March 18,2020

Washington, Mar 18: Hundreds of distressed Indian students, stuck in the Philippines, are seeking help through video messages as they are unable to fly back home due to the travel restrictions imposed by India to contain the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus, according to friends and relatives of some of these students in the US.

The Indian government on Tuesday banned the entry of passengers from Afghanistan, Philippines and Malaysia to India with immediate effect amid stepped up efforts against the spread of COVID-19.

In a video message by one of these students Akhil Bala Nair, around 200 Indian students had booked their flight tickets for India in the next few days. But all of them have been cancelled due to the new policy.

Most of the students, she said, had booked their flights for March 17 and rest were schedule to travel to India on March 19 and 20. But the flights were cancelled and scores of Indian students are now stuck at the airport in Manila, Nair said in the video message sent to Prem Bhandari, head of the Jaipur Foot USA.

“It is need of the hour that the Indian government send a plane to bring these Indian students back home,” Bhandari, who in the past has worked for the cause of the Indian diaspora, and who was approached by these students told PTI.

According to these students, some 100 of them have been at the airport since Tuesday.

They all have confirmed tickets but the airport authorities are not allowing them to check in because of the new travel regulations.

While the airport authorities have asked them to go back to their respective place of residence, the students said they were unable to travel because of the absence of local taxi or shared ride services.

The students said that they are running out of time as the Philippines government has given them 72 hours time to exit the country, which started from March 16, after which the country will go into lockdown.

“This means we would not be able to travel anywhere outside Philippines after March 20,” Nair said in her message.

The students said that there are many of them who have applied for renewal of their visas and are unable to travel to India.

There are nearly 1,000 Indian students presently in Manila who are willing to travel back home, they said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Manila, in a tweet, said that they, along with the Ministry of External Affairs, are trying to work out a solution.

“It is requested to all to kindly have patience,” the embassy said.

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