A man accused of using a truck to kill eight people on a Manhattan bike path on Halloween in 2017 is an Islamic State sympathizer who carried out the attack to satisfy the militant group, federal prosecutors said on Monday.

Sayfullo Saipov, 34, left behind “a scene of destruction and horror” when he employed a rental truck as a weapon and mowed down people on Oct. 31, 2017, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Li told a jury during 30 minutes of opening statements.

Prosecutors allege Saipov in 2014 began researching the Islamic State online and was in possession of serrated knives the day of the attack.

“Right after the attack, he proudly declared why he did it. He did it for ISIS, the brutal terrorist organization,” Li said. “It was a scene of devastation and horror all caused by the defendant for ISIS.”

Saipov has pleaded not guilty to a 28-count indictment that charges him with murder and for providing material support to Islamic State, a militant group in the Middle East that the United States has designated a terrorist organization.

He appeared in court wearing a green jacket and gray pants. A black beard hung past his face mask. An Uzbek national, Saipov was provided a headset to listen to an interpreter.

The defense team is set to deliver opening remarks later on Monday after the court returns from lunch.

The trial is expected to last about three months, Judge Vernon Broderick of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan said.

The U.S. Department of Justice told the judge in September that it intends to seek the death penalty for Saipov. It is the first federal death penalty trial under U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat who took office in January 2021. If convicted, Saipov could also be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

According to prosecutors, Saipov chose Halloween because he thought more people would be on the streets, and also planned to strike the Brooklyn Bridge.

Mangled bicycles, injured bodies and casualties of the attack covered the scene of the violence, Li said. A school bus was left with a “truck-sized hole,” he added.

Those killed included five Argentinian tourists and one Belgian tourist. More than a dozen other people were severely injured.

Prosecutors have told the court they intend to show the 12-member jury photographs and videos of the attack.

Saipov has been jailed since his arrest.

The decision to pursue the death penalty came after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a moratorium on federal executions in July 2021 while the Justice Department reviews its use of the punishment.

Federal executions had resumed in 2020 under then U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, after a 17-year hiatus, with 13 carried out before Trump left office in 2021.

The jury will not consider punishment during the first phase of the trial. If they find Saipov guilty of any capital crimes they would then be required to weigh whether to sentence him to death.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal watchdog on Monday accused newly elected Republican U.S. Representative George Santos of breaking campaign finance laws by concealing funding sources and using donor money to pay rent on his personal residence.

The Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan government watchdog, made the complaint in a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after Santos admitted in an interview with the New York Post that he fabricated much of his resume.

“The commission should thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money,” according to the complaint.

Santos’ office in Congress referred queries to the lawmaker’s election campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Santos, who was elected in November to represent a district in New York City’s Queens borough and parts of its wealthy Long Island suburbs, already faces an investigation by a New York prosecutor’s office, according to the district attorney for Nassau County. The nature of that inquiry remains unclear.

Citing federal disclosures, the complaint filed on Monday with the FEC alleges that Santos “appears to have spent $13,500 on rent payments for Santos’s personal residence in blatant violation of the law.”

The Campaign Legal Center said Santos’ campaign finance disclosures also do not square with other disclosures he has made regarding his income and assets.

“The overall circumstances instead indicate that unknown individuals or corporations may have illegally funneled money to Santos’s campaign,” according to the complaint.

An FEC spokesman said the commission does not comment on pending enforcement matters.

Following news stories detailing falsehoods in how Santos has described his education and work and family history, Santos last month apologized for “embellishing” his resume, while defending aspects of the way he had represented himself.

Around the previous day, Ukrainian air forces have launched 17 strikes on Russian staff clusters and 3 strikes on enemy air protection system positions.

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Ukraine will get a major delivery of armored fighting vehicles from the West, following a deal last week that saw the U.S., France, and Germany agree to send them.

The White House announced Thursday that the U.S. would provide Bradley fighting vehicles, which can transport infantry in combat zones and fire at enemy forces, as part of the newest military aid package totaling $2.85 billion. It would send about 50 Bradleys, according to the Associated Press.

The provision of Bradleys marks a continued willingness from the Biden administration to expand the kinds of weaponry and equipment they will provide to Ukraine. Back in June, the U.S. began providing the country with long-range HIMARS rockets. But they have remained reluctant to send heavier battle tanks with longer-range guns, as Ukraine has requested.

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Effective armored vehicles can provide Ukraine with more offensive and defensive options. “The fundamental mission of fighting vehicles is to transport troops… into a protective place that they can move around the battlefield, and then get out when they need to engage in combat,” says Ian Williams, deputy director of CSIS’s Missile Defense Project. “Often times the most dangerous part for infantry is just getting to the fight.”

This will be particularly important as the war is entering a “grinding, attritional phase… where breakthroughs are becoming harder,” Williams says. These fighting vehicles can help Ukraine launch further offensives in a country with flat and open terrain, he adds.

Below, what to know about the new weapons, and why they matter.

The American Bradley

“The Bradley is an effective armored personnel carrier that is capable of conquering challenging terrain that humvees and other non-tracked vehicles cannot,” says George Barros, an analyst on the Russia and Ukraine portfolio at the Institute for the Study of War, in an emailed statement to TIME. “It helps transport soldiers safely to take the fight to the adversary.”

It has a powerful 25 mm chain gun and TOW missiles that can make it effective against tanks. “What the Bradley does is bring firepower,” says Mark F. Cancian, a retired Marine Corps reserves colonel and senior advisor at CSIS. “It is powerful enough to punch through a lot of armor, not just for lightly armored vehicles, but even tanks.”

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The TOW missiles in particular could prove to be effective because they can destroy Russian tanks as well as out-range some of them, Williams says.

The Bradley also has sophisticated features when it comes to night vision, range calculators, and fire control. They can be used in a reconnaissance role, too.

“Ukraine needs more mechanized equipment to help Ukrainian forces maintain the military initiative following its successful counter offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson in late 2022,” says Barros. “I hope the decision to give Ukraine Bradley’s is a precursor to Ukraine eventually receiving Western main battle tanks, which the Ukrainian government has been requesting for months.”

The U.S. had already sent some armored vehicles to Ukraine—such as 200 M-113 troop carriers—but those mostly offered transportation, not effective firepower. “They call it a battlefield taxi; it’s really just an aluminum box that gets soldiers around,” Cancian says.

The French AMX-10

The AMX-10 is often referred to as a “tank killer” for its powerful firepower.

The gun is much larger than the American Bradley and German Marder; it does not typically carry much infantry.

The AMX-10 is a wheeled vehicle that can move relatively quickly but often needs to stay on roads or firm ground, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The AMX-10 has relatively light armor which could prove difficult in withstanding Russian guns.

The German Marder

The German Marder has a 20 millimeter auto cannon—and has the weakest firepower of the three vehicles.

It’s an older vehicle, which was first developed in the early 1960s, with MILAN anti-tank missiles and steel armor, according to Forbes.

The Marder can travel at 40 miles per hour and carry three crew and six infantry, Forbes reports.

Cameron at the 1998 Oscars.

AP

• “Avatar: The Way of Water” is the No. 7 highest-grossing movie ever with $1.7 billion globally.
• Director James Cameron has made three of the top 10 biggest movies of all time.
• He’s said that “The Way of Water” has earned enough money to release the next three “Avatar” films.

When James Cameron won the award for best director at the 1998 Oscars for “Titanic,” he exclaimed: “I’m the king of the world!”

He still is.

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Cameron’s sequel to his 2009 blockbuster “Avatar,” became the No. 7 highest-grossing movie of all time over the weekend with $1.7 billion worldwide, passing “Jurassic World” and the 2019 “Lion King” remake.

Next up is the sixth biggest movie ever, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which grossed $1.9 billion.

Cameron now has his last three scripted movies in the top 10, which span three decades: the two “Avatar” films, released in 2009 and 2022, and “Titanic,” which is No. 3, released in 1997. He took long breaks between each movie, making documentaries about ocean life and focusing on his passion for deep-sea diving. 

“The Way of Water” still has a ways to go to catch the first “Avatar,” which is the biggest movie ever with $2.9 billion, but it’s showing strong legs. It’s the highest-grossing movie of 2022 at the global box office, dethroning “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Cameron has already said that “The Way of Water” has earned enough money to release the planned third, fourth, and fifth installments, which are scheduled for 2024, 2026, and 2028.

“I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years,” Cameron said during an interview on HBO Max’s HBO Max’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” last week. “The point is we’re going to be okay.”

He’s also said that he has ideas for a sixth and seventh entry, but that he might “have to train somebody else” to make them.

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The state of Texas is planning to build nearly 14 miles of new border wall in Del Rio and the Rio Grande Valley, but it’s unclear exactly where, and environmentalists tell Border Report they want more information.

The Texas Facilities Commission last week approved two contracts not to exceed a total of $307 million to build 30-foot-tall metal bollards using surplus federal government material and identical in design to the Trump-era border wall.

This will add to the 1.77 miles of state-funded border wall that has been built in rural Starr County in the Rio Grande Valley.

The state border wall is part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border security initiative, which also solicits private donations for the border wall barrier.

A 1.7-mile segment of state-funded border wall in rural Starr County, Texas, is photographed by drone in March. The segment was completed in the summer, the Texas Facilities Commission reports. (Photo Courtesy the Texas Facilities Commission)

TFC commissioners on Thursday unanimously awarded a contract for $167 million to Southwest Valley Constructors Company to build 6.77 miles of border wall in the Del Rio Sector. They awarded another contract for $140 million to BFBC of Texas LLC, to build 6.95 miles of border barrier in the Rio Grande Valley.

The structures will not be built on state-owned land and are to be constructed mostly on private land, as well as municipality-owned land that has not yet been acquired, Border Report has learned.

“We’re still negotiating for the land,” TFC Communications Specialist Francoise Luca told Border Report on Tuesday.

“Under the state procurement law, first contracts are awarded then contracts need to be negotiated and executed and then pre-planning, so there’s quite a few steps before construction begins,” Luca said.

Construction crews work July 13, 2022, on the Texas-built border wall in rural Starr County. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)

The project has come under scrutiny by Democratic state lawmakers, like Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, of McAllen, who has questioned the costs and the need for the state to build a barrier, which he says is a federal responsibility.

During Thursday morning’s TFC online meeting, TFC Executive Director John Raff told commissioners: “We have a high degree of confidence we’ll be able to close the easement agreements.”

“Would be good to know where,” Scott Nicol, a longtime environmentalist from McAllen told Border Report on Tuesday. “The state should release maps and contracts.”

But Luca said the contracts have not been drawn up yet and officials are still deciding which parcels to approach landowners about based on security needs that are determined by the Texas Department of Public Safety and Abbott’s office.

On Thursday, commissioners did not seem too concerned about the actual locations and did not mention specific areas, but questions did come up about the $27 million difference in pricing between the two contracts for about the same amount of border wall to be built.

Raff explained the Del Rio project involves more difficult topography that drives up costs to an average of $25 million per mile. The Rio Grande Valley border wall is expected to average about $20 million per mile.

“We’re sort of marrying up to a natural barrier, like a bluff or a cliff,” Raff said. “So that drives up the cost.”

Crews work on Dec. 18, 2021, on the state-funded border wall in rural Starr County, Texas. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)

The materials are from the federal government’s surplus program and are the same steel bollards and beams that were produced for the Trump-era border walls that were halted by the Biden administration.

In a July 7 media release, Abbott said state officials have acquired “1,700 unused steel panels to build the border wall in Texas.”

Nicol wants to know why the costs are so high if they are using surplus materials.

“These costs really look inflated,” Nicol told Border Report.

He also worries about environmental damage to the South Texas border where miles of border wall have already been built, and miles more of barrier are going in, which the Department of Homeland Security calls “remediation efforts” to fix topography altered during the border wall construction.

“These border walls will inflict terrible damage to border ecosystems and communities just so that Abbott can whip up his xenophobic base ahead of the election. Texans are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for his re-election campaign,” Nicol said.

The state-funded border wall is part of the $4 billion that the Texas Legislature appropriated for border security as part of Operation Lone Star.

“Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border,” Abbott’s office said in a statement issued Friday.

“While securing the border is the federal government’s responsibility, Texas will not sit idly by as this crisis grows. Texas is responding with the most robust and comprehensive border plan the nation has ever seen,” Abbott said.

So far, over $55 million has been received in border wall funding donations, according to the governor’s office.

European stock indexes rose in early trading on Monday and world stocks were at the highest in more than three weeks, boosted by investors scaling back expectations for U.S. Federal Reserve rate hikes and optimism about China’s borders reopening.

U.S. jobs data on Friday showed a jump in the workforce and easing wage growth. This, along with data pointing to a U.S. service sector contraction, was interpreted by investors as an indication that the Fed can be less hawkish. Global stocks rallied and the dollar dropped.

The upbeat market momentum continued on Monday, with Asian stocks up after China reopened its borders, bolstering the outlook for the global economy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose to its highest in more than six months.

At 1219 GMT the MSCI World Equity index was up 0.6%, having hit its highest since Dec. 15 (.MIWD00000PUS).

Europe’s STOXX 600 was 0.5% higher, also near a one-month high (.STOXX) but London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, retreating after it hit its highest since 2019 earlier in the session (.FTSE).

Wall Street was set to open higher, with S&P 500 e-minis and Nasdaq 100 e-minis both up 0.4% , .

“The market is reading that wage pressures are easing quite rapidly and seeing that as positive and potentially people whispering the words ‘soft landing’ more loudly now,” said Hani Redha, global multi-asset portfolio manager at PineBridge.

A soft landing is the ideal Federal Reserve policy goal after raising interest rates, a situation in which inflation slows but there are not enough job losses to trigger a recession.

Redha said that there was “over-excitement” in the market reaction to the U.S. jobs data, and that more wage data would be needed.

Money markets were pricing in a 25% chance of a half-point hike in February, down from around 50% a month ago . Investors will look to Thursday’s CPI data for further clues as to the Fed’s next move.

The U.S. dollar index was down around 0.2%, still near its lowest in seven months after it dropped 1.2% on Friday .

The euro was up 0.4% at around $1.0688, versus a 1.2% jump on Friday .

China’s offshore yuan neared its highest in five months versus the U.S. dollar at 6.7882 , while the Australian dollar – often seen as a proxy for risk appetite – was up 0.6% on the day at $0.6913, having touched its highest since late August earlier in the session .

“The pace of (China’s) reopening is much more rapid I think than anyone was expecting and as a result we’ll see this flow through to the fundamentals for several months to come,” said PineBridge’s Redha. PineBridge said in November it had sharply raised its China equity exposure on expectations of China’s COVID rules easing.

“China’s going to be accelerating whereas you’ll see growth decelerating everywhere else, and that’s going to be fairly positive for Asia as a region and markets like Australia which are going to benefit from the impact on commodities as China reopens,” Redha added.

Oil prices climbed by more than 3%, as China’s reopening overshadowed concerns about a global recession.

Emerging market stocks (.MSCIEF) were up 2.4% on the day, and have risen by more than 20% since their October lows.

In bond markets, European government bond yields rose, in a reversal after the previous weeks’ sharp falls. Germany’s benchmark 10-year government bond was up 4 basis points at 2.252% .

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 2 bps at 3.5893 , also recovering after a sharp drop on Friday.

Earnings season kicks off this week with the major U.S. banks, with analysts fearing no year-on-year growth at all in overall earnings.

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Brazilian soldiers backed by police dismantled a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on state institutions since the country’s return to democracy in the 1980s.

After thousands of Bolsonaro’s backers stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday, police in riot gear amassed at the pro-Bolsonaro camp outside Brasilia’s army headquarters, while troops took down tents, Reuters witnesses said. The protesters were dispersed.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro’s leftist rival who took office on Jan. 1 after a narrow October election win, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice, after demonstrators broke windows and furniture, destroyed art work and stole guns and artifacts.

Lula, who was back at work at the Planalto presidential palace, met with his defense minister and the armed forces commanders to discuss the attacks that recalled the assault on the U.S. Capitol two years ago by backers of former President Donald Trump.

U.S. President Joe Biden joined other world leaders in condemning Sunday’s riots, calling them “outrageous,” while Bolsonaro, who is now in Florida, denied inciting his supporters and said the rioters had “crossed the line.”

Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida on Monday, a source close to his family said, adding that his condition was “not worrying.”

Pro-Bolsonaro truckers, who have caused havoc on Brazil’s highways for weeks, held more protests through the night.

A toll road operator for the BR 163 highway that cuts through Brazil’s top grain-producing state Mato Grosso reported several blockades that were cleared by dawn. Police said blockages on another highway in Parana state were also cleared.

“There are still people trying to block roads and access to oil refineries,” presidential spokesman Paulo Pimenta told reporters. State-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said its refinery operations and fuel supplies had not been affected.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the governor of Brasilia removed from office late on Sunday for 90 days over alleged security failings and demanded that social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and TikTok block accounts of users spreading anti-democratic propaganda.

Facebook parent Meta (META.O) said on Monday it was removing content supporting or praising the weekend actions. Telegram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Brazil’s financial markets held steady, with the Bovespa benchmark stock index (.BVSP) edging higher in afternoon trading. Some analysts said Sunday’s violence could strengthen Lula politically and impact policy in Latin America’s largest economy.

Lula, a former union organizer who was also president from 2003 to 2010, said the local militarized police force that reports to Brasilia Governor Ibaneis Rocha, a former Bolsonaro ally, had done nothing to stop the protesters from advancing.

Lula decreed federal intervention of public security in the capital and promised exemplary punishment for the leaders of the “fascist” assault that he said was aimed at provoking a military coup that could restore Bolsonaro to power.

“All the people who did this will be found and punished,” Lula, speaking from Sao Paulo state, told reporters on Sunday night.

He blamed Bolsonaro, whose four years in power were marked by divisive nationalist populism, for inflaming his supporters after a campaign of baseless allegations about election fraud.

From Florida, where Bolsonaro flew to 48 hours before his term ended, the former president rejected the accusation. He said on Twitter that peaceful demonstrations were democratic but the invasion of government buildings “crossed the line.”

The assault raised questions among Lula’s allies about how security forces in the capital were so unprepared for rioters who had discussed their plans on social media for days.

The occupation of the government buildings had been planned for at least two weeks by Bolsonaro’s supporters in groups on messaging platforms such as Telegram and Twitter, yet there was no move by security forces to prevent the attack, called by one group as “the seizure of power by the people.”

Police retook the damaged public buildings in the futuristic capital after three hours and dispersed the crowd with tear gas.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said 200 demonstrators had been arrested, although that number is expected to rise.

Dino said investigations aimed to uncover who financed the several hundred buses that brought Bolsonaro’s supporters to Brasilia and question the suspended Brasilia governor.

Bolsonaro faces legal risks from several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he traveled on a visa issued to heads of state, diplomats and other government officials, is in question.

“Bolsonaro should not be in Florida,” Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, said on CNN. “The United States should not be a refuge for this authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism in Brazil. He should be sent back to Brazil.”

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