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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
U.S. law enforcement officials say a United States Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers had pledged allegiance to ISIS but acted alone in the attack. Reuters correspondent Freddie Joyner reports. FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia spoke at a press conference Thursday. "We do not assess at this point that anyone else involved in this attack, is involved in this attack except for Shamsud-Din Jabbar." Shamsud-Din Jabbar was shot dead at the scene after firing at police. The 42-year-old Texan was a U.S. Army veteran who once served in Afghanistan. He posted videos on Facebook on the morning of the attack in which he said he supported Islamic State, according to the FBI. At least 14 people were killed in the attack. The FBI also said there was no link between the attack and the incident in Las Vegas on the same day, in which a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel. Reuters correspondent Freddie Joyner. Police on Thursday said a highly decorated elite U.S. soldier planned to cause more damage when his rented Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. AP correspondent Sagar Meghani reports. Officials believe the man in the truck was Matthew Livelsberger, "... a Green Beret operations sergeant ..." on approved leave from a special forces assignment in Germany. "The individual had sustained a gunshot wound to the head prior to the detonation." Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMayhill says they believe Livelsberger shot himself in the head, and the explosion did not cause the intended damage. Seven people suffered minor injuries. Sagar Meghani, Washington. This is VOA News. The 119th U.S. Congress will come into session Friday. VOA's congressional correspondent Catherine Gibson has more. A new U.S. Congress set to start Friday. But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's leadership position is in jeopardy after his deal last month with Democrats to keep the government funded and open. Meanwhile, House Democrats have expressed concern about the influence of billionaire Elon Musk after he stole the government funding bill by posting his concerns about it on social media. Catherine Gibson, VOA News, Washington. Indian authorities said on Thursday they had completed moving toxic waste from the site of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster which killed more than 5,000 people. Reuters correspondent ??? reports. On December 3, 1984, a methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a pesticide factory owned by American firm Union Carbide, poisoning more than half a million people. Twelve leak-free containers carrying about 370 tons of toxic waste reached a disposal facility on Thursday, Swatantra Kumar Singh, the director of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, told Reuters. The Madhya Pradesh state government said in a statement that a trial run was done in 2015 to dispose of 11 tons of waste and that it will take three to nine months to incinerate the remaining material. Singh said the trial run conducted by the Federal Pollution Control Agency found emission standards to be in accordance with prescribed national standards and that the process is environmentally safe. But activist Rachna Dhingra said the solid waste after incineration would be buried in a landfill and will result in environmental concerns. Reuters correspondent ???. Researchers in Britain have unearthed nearly 200 dinosaur tracks that date back 166 million years. AP correspondent Charles De Ledesma reports. The discovery announced on Thursday by the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham was made last summer when a worker digging up clay in a quarry in Oxfordshire noticed unusual bumps. That finding led to a week-long excavation in June which unearthed five extensive trackways that formed part of a dinosaur highway. Four sets of tracks were made by herbivores called sauropods which were most likely Cetiosaurus. The Cetiosaurus comes from the Middle Jurassic period in what is now Britain and probably France. I'm Charles De Ledesma. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey VOA News. |