DW Coronavirus: Timeline of the global spread of COVID-19Since the first cases were confirmed in December 2019, the flu-like COVID-19 virus exploded into a global pandemic, killing tens of thousands of people and infecting around 800,000. Scientists scramble for a vaccine. Pneumonia-like virus hits WuhanOn December 31, 2019, China notifies the World Health Organization of a string of respiratory infections in the city of Wuhan, home to some 11 million people. The root virus is unknown and disease experts around the world begin working to identify it. The strain is traced to a seafood market in the city, which is quickly shut down. Some 40 people are initially reported to be infected. First death in ChinaOn January 11, China announces the first death from the coronavirus — a 61-year-old man, who had shopped at the Wuhan market, dies from complications with pneumonia. Like SARS and the common cold, scientists identified...

Daily Sabah US Says Airstrike In Somalia Kills Al-Shabab Senior Leader An April 2 airstrike by U.S. forces in Somalia killed a "senior leader" of the al-Shabab militant group, the U.S. Defense Department said Tuesday.The strike left three Shabab militants dead, including Yusuf Jiis, one of the "founding" leaders of the terrorist organization, which has carried out deadly attacks against the Somali government and public targets for years, the U.S. Africa Command said in a statement.Africa Command Commander Gen. Stephen Townsend said Jiis was a "key leader" in al-Shabab."He was violent, ruthless, and responsible for the loss of many innocent lives," Townsend said in a statement. Read more: https://www.dailysabah.com/world/africa/us-says-airstrike-in-somalia-kills-al-shabab-senior-leader...

MSN.com Police search for woman who claims to be ‘willfully spreading’ coronavirus in Texas by Nelson Oliveira Police are asking the public’s help in finding an 18-year-old woman who posted a series of videos on Snapchat over the weekend claiming to be “willfully spreading” coronavirus in Texas. In one of the videos circulating on social media, the suspect is seen filming herself inside a store that she claims to be Walmart and issues a bizarre threat to the camera.“I’m here at Walmart about to infest every motherf***** because if I’m going down all y’all motherf****** going down,” she said.Police on Sunday identified the suspect as Lorraine Maradiaga, of Carrollton, a city in the Dallas metro area, and said she will be charged with making a terroristic threat once she’s taken into custody. Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/police-search-for-woman-who-claims-to-be-willfully-spreading-coronavirus-in-texas/ar-BB12hX95?li=AAgfYrC...

Sahara Reporters Boko Haram Terrorists Burn Houses, Loot Shops In Adamawa Village A source told SaharaReporters that the terrorists in large numbers arrived the village in pickup vans and motorcycles at about 4:00pm. by SaharaReporters, New York Boko Haram terrorists have attacked a village in Adamawa State, destroying residential buildings and looting shops.The terrorists attacked Kirchinga under Madagali Local Government Area of the state on Monday night, razing no fewer than five houses. A source told SaharaReporters that the terrorists in large numbers arrived the village in pickup vans and motorcycles at about 4:00pm.The Boko Haram fighters also shot an octogenarian in the leg before being repelled by troops of the Nigerian Army. Read more: http://saharareporters.com/2020/04/07/breaking-boko-haram-terrorists-burn-houses-loot-shops-adamawa-village...

The Evening Standard Riot squad: Met looks to buy military-style vehicles to tackle disorder in Londonby Rachael Burford Scotland Yard wants to buy a new fleet of military-style armoured vehicles to help tackle public disorder, firearms incidents and riots in London.Last week the force put out a notice stating it was looking for suppliers for armoured personnel carriers, armoured military vehicles, armoured combat vehicles and weapon carriers.It also wants security, fire-fighting and defence equipment and armour plating.It wishes to buy “tactical intervention and public order and firearm patrol vehicles” that can carry up to eight personnel and have a gross vehicle weight over 10 tonnes, according to the notice. Read more: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/riot-squad-met-looks-to-buy-militarystyle-vehicles-a4405991.html...

WDRB Myanmar officially brands Rakhine rebels a terrorist group YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar has officially designated an armed ethnic rebel group known as the Arakan Army a terrorist organization.The declaration, published in official notices in Tuesday's newspapers, came after more than a year of bitter fighting between government forces and the guerrilla group, which represents the Buddhist Rakhine inhabitants of Rakhine state in western Myanmar. It is one of more than a dozen ethnic minorities in Myanmar seeking autonomy.The notice says the Arakan Army and an affiliated organization, the United League of Arakan, "have caused serious losses of public security, lives and property, important infrastructures of the public and private sector, state-owned buildings, vehicles, equipment and materials." Read more: https://www.wdrb.com/news/national/myanmar-officially-brands-rakhine-rebels-a-terrorist-group/article_e6a4a5f9-e694-51bf-bae6-bdab40a3c27d.html...

Voice Of America US, Somalia Conduct Airstrike Against Al-Shabab Terrorist Group By VOA News The U.S. Africa Command says it has, in coordination with the Somali government, targeted al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group in an airstrike Friday.The command issued a statement Saturday saying that the airstrike took place near Bush Madina on Friday.According to initial assessments, the statement said, five terrorists were killed during the airstrike, and no civilians were killed or injured.The U.S. Africa Command works with the Somali government to improve security conditions for the country and its people, and to enhance governance and economic development there. Read more: https://www.voanews.com/africa/us-somalia-conduct-airstrike-against-al-shabab-terrorist-group...

DNA ISIS may launch lone wolf attack on cops during lockdown: Delhi police by DNA Web Desk Delhi Police has issued an official advisory stating that police personnel deployed for COVID-19 duty in the national capital are likely to be the target for the terror outfit ISIS during the 21-day lockdown. "A reliable inputs indicate that the police personnel deployed at various pickets, barricades in Delhi in connection with maintaining of law and order in Delhi during the COVID-19 duty may be targeted by suspected ISIS operatives," communication issued by Delhi Police on Tuesday night stated.The secret message intercepted by the Delhi Police stated that the act may be in the form of 'Lone Wolf attack like stabbing, firing or ramming the pickets with a vehicle.'In the likelihood of such an attack being conducted in the national capital, security has been tightened-fiELD staff have been reinforced with 'morchas and extra...

SILive.com NYPD: 18.6% of department on sick report; 2,117 members test positive for coronavirus By Joseph Ostapiuk STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYPD said that 6,718 uniformed members were on sick report Sunday, which accounts for 18.6% of the department’s uniformed workforce.While the percentage of the NYPD members out sick continued to rise, the rate at which it increased has slowed in recent days -- only increasing .6% since three days ago compared to April 1 and 2, when the department saw a 1% increase over a one-day span. As of Sunday, 1,843 uniformed members and 274 civilian members tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), which increased from 1,775 uniformed members and 260 civilian members Saturday, according to the NYPD. Read more: https://www.silive.com/coronavirus/2020/04/nypd-186-of-department-on-sick-report-2117-members-test-positive-for-coronavirus.html...

The Times of Israel Islamic terror groups see opportunity in global chaos from virus Al-Qaeda, Islamic State view pandemic both as threat and as opening to recruit and to strike harder, taking advantage of armies busy fighting a silent enemy By Agencies    JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Both the Islamic State (IS) group and al-Qaeda see the coronavirus as a threat, but some of their fighters also see the upheaval from the pandemic as an opportunity to win over more supporters and strike harder than before.Messages from the Islamic terror groups show concern about the virus mixed with bravado, asserting that it is punishment for non-Muslims while also urging followers to repent and take care of themselves. Read more: https://www.timesofisrael.com/islamic-terror-groups-see-opportunity-in-global-chaos-from-virus/...

New York Post White House sends protective gear to NYPD in ‘Operation Blue Bloods’By Ebony Bowden WASHINGTON — White House officials sprung into action on Monday after receiving an “SOS” email from the NYPD begging for protective equipment — delivering the frontline gear just 16 hours later, The Post has learned.In a mission dubbed “Operation Blue Bloods,” President Donald Trump’s equipment czar Peter Navarro, Assistant to the President for Trade and Manufacturing Policy, cobbled together a rapid-response team including company executives who flew thousands of full-body suits on a private plane the next day.More than 6,000 gallons of hand sanitizer donated by alcohol company Pernod Ricard were also rushed from Arizona by a UPS trucker in 48 hours.With a mounting number of bodies left in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, reports have emerged of homicide detectives being forced to make house calls without the correct protective equipment — potentially...

BBC By Gordon Corera Security correspondent Coronavirus: How will it change national security and spying? The pandemic has raised questions about whether global health should be a more central part of national security. A senior intelligence officer rushes in to a meeting with the latest report and places it in front of anxious politicians and policymakers.In the past, it might have contained details about a planned terrorist attack - perhaps a cell in the Middle East looking at a new way of taking down an airline. This would lead to the well-practised national security machine cranking into gear.But in the future, that report may instead be about an outbreak of a virus in a far-off country which was being concealed by its government.Since the 9/11 attacks nearly 20 years ago, national security has been dominated by terrorism. But there have been voices over the years who have argued the notion...

Los Angeles Times FBI Looks For Ties To Extremist Groups In Train Derailment Near Hospital Ship Mercy By Richard Winton, Staff Writer The FBI is examining whether a man accused of intentionally derailing a freight train near the Navy hospital ship Mercy, which is docked in San Pedro to help with the coronavirus crisis, had any ties to extremist groups, and agents are digging into his social media background.Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro was charged with deliberately wrecking a train during the incident Tuesday, which led to a derailment and fuel leak, according to the charges.“Moreno is the only person charged in the case. While the government has made no allegations linking Moreno to an extremist ideology, our investigation is continuing,” the FBI said in a statement to The Times.Prosecutors allege that Moreno derailed the train and deliberately crashed through barriers designed to stop engines before grinding to a...

ABC News Terrorist Groups Spin COVID-19 As God's “Smallest Soldier” Attacking West Bleeding the U.S. economy dry has always been a goal of terrorist groups. By James Gordon Meek While much of the United States and Europe has been staying home to avoid COVID-19 as it kills thousands, terrorist groups are blasting online propaganda messages toward followers and potential recruits which hail the calamity of the disease as divine retribution.In propaganda communiques this week, ISIS and al-Qaeda have each claimed that the highly contagious and deadly coronavirus is God's wrath upon the West, and the disease itself is a "soldier of Allah," as one ISIS supporter recently said in an online chatroom, according to the private SITE Intelligence Group."Allah, the Creator, has revealed the brittleness and vulnerability of your material strength. It is now clear for all to see that it was but a deception that could not stand the...

  CBS 12 News Georgia Man Pleads Guilty To Planning Terrorist Attacks On White House, Other DC Monuments by STEFANIE DYGA, Sinclair Broadcast Group WASHINGTON (SBG) – The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday a Georgia man has pleaded guilty to planning a terrorist attack on the White House.23-year-old Hasher Jallal Taheb, of Cumming, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to destroy, by fire or an explosive, a building owned by or leased to the United States, according to the press release. Officials say he had planned an attack on the White House using weapons and explosives.Back in March of 2018, a member of the Atlanta community reported concerns to local law officials who then got in touch with the FBI, officials say.    “Taheb hatched a dangerous plan that would have resulted in unimaginable injury,” said Byung J. “BJay” Pak, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. “We...

  California engineer ran train 'off the end of rail tracks' in attempted attack on USNS Mercy in Los Angeles, DOJ saysJordan Culver, USA TODAY A California man faces federal charges after officials allege he ran a train "at full speed off the end of rail tracks" near the U.S. Naval Ship Mercy, the 1,000-bed floating hospital that arrived in the Port of Los Angeles last week amid the coronavirus pandemic.Eduardo Moreno, 44, of San Pedro, was charged Wednesday with one count of train wrecking after the Tuesday incident, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement. Moreno told police that he believed the Mercy had "an alternate purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover," according to the DOJ.Moreno told law enforcement officers he "intentionally derailed and crashed the train near the Mercy." The train Moreno was conducting crashed through several barriers and came to a rest nearly...

China Concealed Extent of Virus Outbreak, U.S. Intelligence Says By Nick Wadhams and Jennifer Jacobs China has concealed the extent of the coronavirus outbreak in its country, under-reporting both total cases and deaths it’s suffered from the disease, the U.S. intelligence community concluded in a classified report to the White House, according to three U.S. officials.The officials asked not to be identified because the report is secret, and they declined to detail its contents. But the thrust, they said, is that China’s public reporting on cases and deaths is intentionally incomplete. Two of the officials said the report concludes that China’s numbers are fake.The report was received by the White House last week, one of the officials said.The outbreak began in China’s Hubei province in late 2019, but the country has publicly reported only about 82,000 cases and 3,300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. That compares...

Foreign Policy The battle against jihadi terrorism in Africa takes one of its deadliest turns yet, with consequences far beyond the region. By Will Brown As The World Is Distracted, Boko Haram Terrorists Strike A Key Western Ally s the world’s attention turns almost completely to the coronavirus pandemic, the battle against jihadi terrorism in Africa’s vast Sahel region has taken one of its deadliest turns yet. On March 23, Boko Haram terrorists ambushed a military encampment of Chadian soldiers on the Boma Peninsula, in the Lake Chad region. Over seven hours, the militants—whose group’s name roughly means “non-Islamic education is a sin”—killed at least 92 heavily armed troops with machine guns and bombs and injured dozens of others.It is the deadliest attack the Chadian military has ever suffered. Chad’s ruler of 30 years—President Idriss Déby Itno—visited the site of the attack the next day and picked through the burned-out...

New York Post Brooklyn man arrested for hoarding masks, coughing on FBI agents By Carl Campanile A Brooklyn man claiming to be infected with the coronavirus coughed on FBI agents who were investigating him for hoarding medical supplies, the US Attorney’s Office said Monday.Baruch Feldheim, 43, is facing charges of assault and making false statements to the feds on Sunday outside his Borough Park home where he allegedly peddled and stored massive amounts of N95 respirator masks, federal officials said.Feldheim is also accused of price-gouging. On March 18, he’s suspected of selling a New Jersey doctor about 1,000 of the masks for $12,000, a markup of roughly 700 percent, authorities said.The accused fraudster also directed another doctor to an Irvington, NJ, auto repair shop to pick up another order. There, the doctor reported to investigators that Feldheim was allegedly hoarding enough medical supplies “to outfit an entire hospital.”The materials included...

  The Diplomat The Islamic State’s Increasing Focus On India Amid religious polarization in India, Islamic State is renewing efforts to expand its presence in the country. By Saurav Sarkar On March 25, a lone terrorist affiliated with Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) carried out an attack on a Sikh place of worship, the Gurudwara Har Rai Sahib, in Kabul, Afghanistan killing 25 worshipers. Some reports mentioned the presence of three attackers, including suicide bombers, in an attack that lasted for hours holding some 80 people hostage. The terrorist behind the Kabul gurudwara attack has been identified as Abu Khalid al-Hindi (real name Mohammed Mohsin) from the Indian state of Kerala. A statement by the Islamic State’s (IS) Amaq media claims the attack was “revenge for the Muslims in Kashmir” who were facing alleged atrocities at the hands of the Indian government.The recent attack, scattered violence in Jammu and Kashmir...