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/ November 2, 2017

Uzbek man charged in New York attack said he ‘felt good’ about what he did

An Uzbek immigrant accused of plowing a truck down a New York City bike path, killing eight people, told investigators he had been inspired by watching Islamic State videos and began planning the attack a year ago, according to a criminal complaint filed against him on Wednesday. Sayfullo Saipov, 29, who was hospitalized after he was shot by a police officer and arrested, confessed to authorities that he made a trial run with a rental truck on October 22 to practice turning the vehicle and "stated that he felt good about what he had done" after the attack, the complaint said. The 10-page charging document said Saipov waived his rights to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination in agreeing to speak to investigators without an attorney present from his bed at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan. In the course of that interview, the complaint said, Saipov told investigators he chose Halloween for the attack because he believed more people would be on the streets and said he had originally planned to strike the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the bike path on the western edge of lower Manhattan. The complaint said Saipov had requested permission to display the flag of the Islamic State militant group in his hospital room. It said he was particularly motivated by seeing a video in which Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who led the campaign by Islamic State - also known as ISIS - to seize territory for a self-proclaimed caliphate within Iraq and Syria, exhorted Muslims in the United States and elsewhere to support the group's cause. Investigators found thousands of ISIS-related propaganda images and videos on a cellphone belonging to Saipov, including video clips showing ISIS prisoners being beheaded, run over by a tank and shot in the face, the complaint said. Separately on Wednesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had located another Uzbek man, Mukhammadzoir Kadirov, 32, wanted for questioning as a person of interest in the attack. The FBI earlier had …

/ February 25, 2021

New coronavirus variant identified in New York: researchers

A new coronavirus variant that shares some similarities with a more transmissible and intractable variant discovered in South Africa is on the rise in New York City, researchers said on Wednesday. The new variant, known as B.1.526, was first identified in samples collected in New York in November, and by mid-February represented about 12% of cases, researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, said on Wednesday. The variant was also described in research published online this week by the California Institute of Technology. Neither study has been reviewed by outside experts. The Columbia researchers said an analysis of publicly available databases did not show a high prevalence of coronavirus variants recently identified in South Africa and Brazil in case samples from New York City and surrounding areas. “Instead we found high numbers of this home-grown lineage,” Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann, assistant professor in the division of infectious diseases at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, said in a statement. The Columbia study found that B.1.526 shares some worrying characteristics with B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa, and P.1., which was first identified in Brazil. Several studies have suggested that those new variants are more resistant to some existing vaccines than earlier versions of the coronavirus. The researchers said the main concern is a change in one area of the virus’ spike protein, called E484K, that is present in all three variants. The E484K mutation is believed to weaken the body’s immune response to the virus. Studies have shown that recently launched coronavirus vaccines are still likely to neutralize the virus and protect against severe illness, even for infections with new variants. Vaccine makers are also working to develop booster shots to combat mutated versions of the virus. …

/ February 17, 2021

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines report new COVID-19 cases

Hanoi (VNA) – Over the past 24 hours, Indonesia recorded 9,687 new COVID-19 cases, raising the national count to 1,243,646. The Health Ministry said on February 17 that the country recorded 192 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 33,788. In 24 hours, West Java saw the highest number of confirmed cases with 4,124, followed by Jakarta, 1,445; Central Java, 869; East Java, 580; and East Kalimantan, 452. On February 17, Indonesia began the second phase of a free vaccination programme against COVID-19. President Joko Widodo said the country targets to vaccinate at least 38.5 million people in the second phase, including teachers, market traders, public servants, military and police personnel, journalists, athletes, religious figures, and workers in hospitals, transportation offices and tourism industry. Indonesia officially launched the first phase of a massive vaccination programme against COVID-19 in mid-January. Meanwhile, the Health Ministry of Malaysia reported 2,998 new COVID-19 cases, including 2,991 in the community, over the past 24 hours. The country has to date logged 272,163 COVID-19 cases. Also on the day, the Health Ministry of the Philippines documented 1,184 new COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths. The total numbers of COVID-19 cases and death toll are 553,424 and 11,577, respectively./. VNA …