International
The Islamic State, responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia since 2015
The attacks on Russian soil by the Islamic State (IS) are not something new. The jihadist group began to claim actions in Russia in 2015, some of them without victims and others with several deaths, such as the one that occurred in the Urals in 2017 when the explosion of a residential building left 39 dead.
According to the figures collected by EFE, both from its own information and from databases such as the United States Department of State, the IS has claimed or been responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia between 2015 and 2019, the last year in which a Daesh action was registered until this Friday in Moscow.
The one in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert hall is the deadliest counted since then, but IS actions in Russia have gone from the murder of police, the killing of faithful in a church, an explosion in a supermarket, shootings or a lone wolf stabbing pedestrians.
2015
December 19. In the first attack claimed by IS on Russian soil, a man shot 11 tourists and killed one of them while visiting the city of Naryn-Kala de Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan.
2016
-August -17. Two men attacked a policeman with weapons and axes at a traffic control post in the Moscow suburb of Balashija, and were killed by the agents. A policeman was seriously injured. The attack was claimed by the IS.
-October 23rd. Two men shoot a policeman who was inspecting his car in Nizhny Novgorod, who returned the fire and killed the two attackers. The IS claimed the attack stating that they were two “soldiers of the Islamic State.”
December -17th. Two alleged IS militants stabbed a policeman in Grozni, Chechnya, and used his weapon and a stolen car to kill three police officers. Although the IS did not claim the action, the U.S. State Department claims that they were recruited by a Daesh commander in Syria and videos were published in which they swore allegiance to the group.
2017
-March 24th. A group of alleged IS affiliates attacked a Russian National Guard post in Grozny, which resulted in the death of six soldiers and six attackers. He didn’t claim it, but the US attributed the attack to him.
-April 4th. Two Russian policemen die in a shooting in the southern city of Astrajan, in an action later claimed by IS.
– August 19. A 19-year-old from the Siberian city of Surgut wanders the streets with a knife and injures seven people, before being killed by the police. The attack, claimed by ISIS, occurred the day after similar ones that occurred in Finland and Germany, where several people were stanched.
-December 27. Explosion occurred in a supermarket of the Perekriostok chain in St. Petersburg, with about twenty injured. The pump, which had a power equivalent to 200 grams of trilite, did not cause serious damage to the building. EI became responsible for the attack.
2018
-February 8. An armed man shoots indiscriminately outside a church in the town of Kizliar against a crowd of people who were celebrating the Russian festival of the Másletnisa, similar to Carnival. Five people die and five others are injured. Claimed the same day by the IS.
-May. ISIS claims three attacks, one in Neftekamsk, another in Nizhny Novgorod and a third in Dagestan. They claim that they attacked police and a Sufi sanctuary, with no reported deaths.
December 31st. An explosion in a residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, in the Urals, causes 39 deaths. At the time of the tragedy it was believed that the building collapsed due to a gas explosion, but days later the IS claimed its authorship stating that it had killed 39 Russian “crusaders”.
2019
April 8th. There is an explosion in Kolomna, near Moscow, which was later claimed by IS. Supposedly there were no victims.
– July 1. A man kills a policeman with a knife at a checkpoint in the Chechen district of Achkhoy-Martonovsky. The policeman killed the attacker. The IS is attributed to the attack.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
International
Trump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump criticized a federal judge’s ruling on Friday that reinstated Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua, stressing that the immigration program was never intended to serve as a “de facto asylum system.”
On Thursday, Judge Trina Thompson extended protections for about 7,000 Nepalese immigrants, whose TPS was set to expire on August 5. The ruling also impacts roughly 51,000 Hondurans and nearly 3,000 Nicaraguans, whose TPS protections were scheduled to end on September 8.
Immigrants covered by TPS had sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), alleging that the program’s termination was driven by “racial animus” and stripped them of protection from deportation.
DHS Deputy Undersecretary Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying the decision to end TPS was part of a mandate to “restore the integrity” of the immigration system and return the program to its original purpose.
“TPS was never conceived as a de facto asylum system; however, that is how previous administrations have used it for decades,” McLaughlin emphasized.
She also criticized Judge Thompson, calling the ruling “another example” of judges “stirring up claims of racism to distract from the facts.”
McLaughlin added that DHS would appeal the decision and take the legal battle to higher courts.
The Trump administration has also terminated TPS protections for approximately 160,000 Ukrainians, 350,000 Venezuelans, and at least half a million Haitians, among other immigrant groups.
International
Trump to build $200M ballroom at the White House by 2028
The U.S. government under President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that it will begin construction in September on a new 8,000-square-meter ballroom at the White House.
The announcement was made by Karoline Leavitt, the administration’s press secretary, during a briefing in which she explained that the expansion responds to the need for a larger venue to host “major events.”
“Other presidents have long wished for a space capable of accommodating large gatherings within the White House complex… President Trump has committed to solving this issue,” Leavitt told reporters.
The project is estimated to cost $200 million, fully funded through donations from Trump himself and other “patriots,” according to a government statement. Construction is scheduled to begin in September and is expected to be completed before Trump’s term ends in 2028.
The Clark Construction Group, a Virginia-based company known for projects such as the Capital One Arena and L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C., has been selected to lead the project.
The new ballroom will be built on the East Wing of the White House, expanding the iconic residence with a space designed for state dinners, official ceremonies, and large-scale events.
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
Trump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
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