The man who drove a pick-up truck into people celebrating the New Year in New Orleans is believed to have acted alone, according to the FBI – as new information was revealed about the two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) recovered near the scene.
There is also “no definitive link” between the attack and the Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas, said FBI deputy assistant director Christopher Raia.
Shamsud-Din Jabbar’s rented truck rammed into people in New Orleans’ famous Bourbon Street, killing 14 and injuring dozens, in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Mr Raia called the attack “premeditated” and an “evil” act of terrorism, and said Jabbar was “100% inspired by ISIS”, also known as Islamic State.
He also said the FBI was reviewing two laptops and three phones linked to Jabbar, as well as two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) recovered near the scene of the attack.
The two “functional” devices contained nails and were made of galvanized pipe with end caps, and taped inside two coolers, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC News, citing the FBI and two senior US law enforcement officials. Both devices had receivers for remote firing, they said.
It was not immediately clear if Jabbar tried to detonate the devices, or if they malfunctioned, the officials said.
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8:55
New Orleans attacker was lone wolf – FBI
Five videos posted in hours before attack
The 42-year-old army veteran, who was born in the US and lived in Texas, was shot dead after he crashed and opened fire on police.
The FBI said he posted five videos on his Facebook account between 1.29am and 3.02am – with the attack taking place around 3.15am.
In one, he said he planned to harm family and friends but was concerned headlines would not focus on the “war between the believers and disbelievers”.
He also joined Islamic State “before this summer” and provided a will, Mr Raia told reporters.
A black ISIS flag was attached to the back of the white Ford truck used in the attack and was pictured lying next to the vehicle.
Image: Jabbar talked about working in real estate after leaving the army in a 2020 YouTube video
Image: An ISIS flag at the location where the truck crashed
Authorities said Jabbar drove around police barricades on to the footpath, with witnesses describing carnage as the truck sped down the street, knocking people over.
“You just heard this squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and then the people screaming,” said one witness, Kimberly Strickland from Alabama.
Barriers protecting pedestrians had been removed for repairs before the attack, city officials said, and were due to be replaced with a new bollard design.
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0:35
New Orleans police chief challenged by Sky’s US correspondent James Matthews
While the works were taking place, they had been replaced with white gate barriers which were managed by the New Orleans Police Department, according to the City Of New Orleans.
Among the victims named so far are an 18-year-old aspiring nurse, a single mother with a four-year-old son, and a graduate of Princeton University.
Image: Victims, clockwise from top left: Reggie Hunter, Martin ‘Tiger’ Bech, Nicole Perez and Matthew Tenedorio
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3:41
‘I love you’ – victim’s last words to brother
What we know about Shamsud-Din Jabbar
The FBI also said CCTV showed Jabbar placing the IEDs near the scene. However, none of them went off.
The investigation is expected to look at any support or inspiration he may have drawn from IS or any of its affiliate groups.
The bureau has received more than 400 tips from members of the public and more than 1,000 agents and officers have been working on the case.
Jabbar held human resources and IT roles in the army from 2007 until 2015, and was stationed in Afghanistan for a year. He was then in the reserves until 2020.
Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl college American football game went ahead on Thursday afternoon, with a moment of silence beforehand, after being postponed on Wednesday following the attack. The city will also host the Super Bowl next month.
Photos in Australian media on Wednesday are said to show Ms Giuffre being driven in a vehicle north of Perth.
The 41-year-old appeared with a bruised face last week when she posted an Instagram video saying her car had been hit by a speeding school bus as she slowed for a turn.
She said: “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure, they’ve given me four days to live, transferring me to a specialist hospital in urology.
“I’m ready to go, just not until I see my babies one last time…”
Police said they had received a report of a “minor crash” between a school bus and a car in Neergabby, about 12 miles from Perth, on 24 March.
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“The collision was reported by the bus driver the following day,” said a spokeswoman. “There were no reported injuries as a result of the crash.”
Ms Giuffre is reported to have separated from her husband.
The case was due back in court today (9 April).
Image: Ms Giuffre reached a settlement with the duke in 2022. File pic: AP
Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
The severity cannot be overstated, if an additional 50% tariffs are levied on all Chinese goods it will decimate trade between the world’s two biggest economies.
Remember, 50% would sit on top of what is already on the table: 34% announced last week, 20% announced at the start of US President Donald Trump’s term, and some additional tariffs left over from his first term in office.
In total, it means all Chinese goods would face tariffs of over 100%, some as high as 120%.
It’s a price that makes any trade almost impossible.
China is really the only nation in the world at the moment that is choosing to take a stand.
While others are publicly making concessions and sending delegations to negotiate, China has clearly calculated that not being seen to be bullied is worth the cost that retaliation will bring.
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6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
The real question, though, is if the US does indeed impose this extra 50% tomorrow, what could or would China do next?
There are some obvious measures that China will almost certainly enact.
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Further export controls on rare earth minerals (crucial for the development of high-tech products) are one example. China controls a huge proportion of the world’s supply, but the US would likely find workarounds in time.
Hiking tariffs on high-impact US products such as agricultural goods is another option, but there is only so far this could go.
The potentially more impactful options have significant drawbacks for Beijing.
It could, for instance, target high-profile American companies such as Apple and Tesla, but this isn’t ideal at a time when China is trying to attract more foreign investment, and some devaluation of the currency is possible, but it would also come with adverse effects.
Other options are more political and come with the risk of escalation beyond the economic arena.
In an opinion piece this morning, the editor of Xinhua, China’s state news agency, speculated that China could cease all cooperation with the US on the war against fentanyl.
This has been a major political issue for Mr Trump, and it’s hard to see it would not constitute some sort of red line for him.
Other options touted include banning the import of American films, or perhaps calling for the Chinese public to boycott all American products.
Anything like this comes with a sense that the world’s two most powerful superpowers might be teetering on the edge of not just a total economic decoupling, but cultural separation too.
There is understandably serious nervousness about how that could spiral and the precedent it sets.
Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on what he calls “the worst offenders” come into effect at 5am UK time, with China facing by far the biggest levy.
The US will hit Chinese imports with 104% tariffs, marking a significant trade escalation between the world’s two largest superpowers.
At a briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump “believes that China wants to make a deal with the US,” before saying: “It was a mistake for China to retaliate.
“When America is punched, he punches back harder.”
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0:54
White House announces 104% tariff on China
After Mr Trump announced sweeping levies last week – hitting some imported goods from China with 34% tariffs – Beijing officials responded with like-for-like measures.
The US president then piled on an extra 50% levy on China, taking the total to 104% unless it withdrew its retaliatory 34% tariff.
China’s commerce ministry said in turn that it would “fight to the end”, and its foreign ministry accused the US of “economic bullying” and “destabilising” the world’s economies.
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‘Worst offender’ tariffs also in effect
Alongside China’s 104% tariff, roughly 60 countries – dubbed by the US president as the “worst offenders” – will also see levies come into effect today.
The EU will be hit with 20% tariffs, while countries like Vietnam and Cambodia see a 46% levy and 49% rate respectively.
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2:03
What’s going on with the US and China?
Since the tariffs were announced last Wednesday, global stock markets have plummeted, with four days of steep losses for all three of the US’ major indexes.
As trading closed on Tuesday evening, the S&P 500 lost 1.49%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.15%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.84%.
According to LSEG data, S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8tn (£4.5tn) in stock market value since last Wednesday, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark was created in the 1950s.
Image: Global stock markets have been reeling since Trump’s tariff announcement last week. Pic: AP
Meanwhile, the US president signed four executive orders to boost American coal mining and production.
The directives order: • keeping some coal plants that were set for retirement open; • directing the interior secretary to “acknowledge the end” of an Obama-era moratorium that paused coal leasing on federal lands; • requiring federal agencies to rescind policies transitioning the US away from coal production, and; • directing the Department of Energy and other federal agencies to assess how coal energy can meet rising demand from artificial intelligence.
At a White House ceremony, Mr Trump said the orders end his predecessor Joe Biden’s “war on beautiful clean coal,” and miners “will be put back to work”.