The man carjacked by one of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers after the attack is speaking out about his ordeal?but not revealing himself, at least to the public.
"Danny," identified as a 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur, gave on-camera interviews to NBC, CBS and CNN this week, with his face darkened and voice modified to protect his identify.
Danny told the networks that he was sitting in his parked 2013 Mercedes SUV sending a text message when a man, who police believe was alleged bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, put his hand through an open car window, opened the door from the inside, got in and pointed a gun at him.
"I thought it was just a robbery, you know?" Danny told CBS News. "He told me, 'You know I am serious. Don't be stupid.'"
Tsarnaev, he said, asked him if he had been following the news of the marathon bombings.
?I said, 'Yes, of course,?" Danny told NBC's Matt Lauer. ?Then he said, ?I did that. And I just killed a policeman in Cambridge.'" The officer, 27-year-old Sean Collier, who worked on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was shot to death while he sat in his cruiser, authorities say.
?At first, I can't manage to drive,?? Danny said. ?I was shaking. My body was shaking. Tamerlan told me, ?Relax, man. Slow down. Don't drive too fast.???
Tamerlan?s younger brother, 19-year-old bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Danny said, followed the Mercedes in a separate car. The brothers stopped and loaded what police say were explosives from the second car into the Mercedes.
"This is like something you see in a movie, isn't it?" Tamerlan said at one point during the carjacking, according to Danny.
At another point during the 90-minute ordeal, Danny said, he got a call. He was asked who was calling, and he answered that it was his roommate.
"[Tamerlan] was nervous," recollected Danny. "He took out his gun, [pointed it at] me, saying, ?If you say any single word in Chinese, I will kill you right now.'"
Danny said he told his friend, in English, that "'I'm going to sleep in my friend's place tonight,' My roommate is like, ?What? Why you [speaking] English to me?? I kept talking, [saying], 'I gotta go, I gotta go.'"
He continued: "After, I hang up the phone, Tamerlan was very happy. He said, 'Good job. Good boy.'"
The carjacking victim told CNN he felt the fact he was Chinese?and not American?saved his life.
The group drove to a Shell gas station, where Dzhokhar got out to use an ATM and pump gas. Danny jumped out of the car, leaving his iPhone inside. ?I took off," he said. Tamerlan "tried to grab me. He was trying to grab me. It was very close. I can feel it.?
He ran to another gas station and told the attendant to call 911. Using the vehicle's GPS, authorities tracked the Mercedes to Watertown, where Tamerlan was killed in a shootout with police. A wounded Dzhokhar evaded capture for 18 hours, later surrendering from a shrink-wrapped boat he was hiding on in a yard.
During the carjacking, Danny heard the brothers reference Manhattan. He told CNN he thought the brothers were going to drive to New York, kill him on the way and dump his body under a bridge.
?I think I was really lucky," Danny told Lauer of his escape. ?God was with me.?
Tick-borne Lone Star virus identified through new super-fast gene sequencingPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Bole kristen.bole@ucsf.edu 415-502-6397 University of California - San Francisco
UCSF scientist says new approach could 'democratize' viral surveillance
The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF).
What made the work especially promising, said principal investigator Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, was the speed at which the virus was definitively identified. The team used a new approach to gene sequencing that enabled them to completely reconstruct the virus' previously unknown genome in less than 24 hours significantly faster than conventional sequencing techniques, which can take days to weeks.
The technique, called ultra-rapid deep sequencing, combines deep sequencing an emerging technology that reconstructs an entire DNA sequence from a tiny snippet of DNA with advanced computational techniques and algorithms developed in the laboratories of Chiu and his research collaborators.
Chiu, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF and director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, reported the results in a paper published in PLOS ONE on April 29. It can be found online at http://www.plosone.org/.
The team found that the Lone Star virus, which is carried by the Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is related to a group of human pathogens including Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus, which infected hundreds of farmers in China between 2008 and 2010; Bhanja virus, initially found in India; Palma virus, found in Portugal; and Heartland virus, an illness recently reported among farmers in Missouri.
"We did not show that Lone Star virus causes disease in humans," Chiu cautioned, "although the laboratory and sequencing data suggest that this is a distinct possibility."
He said the work may prove to be significant in light of the fact that nearly all emerging diseases discovered over the past two decades have originated in animals. While the causes of many human infectious diseases have been "pretty well characterized," he said, researchers have "only touched the tip of the iceberg" with respect to pathogens that have the potential to pass from animals to humans.
Chiu pointed to a number of serious and unexpected animal-to-human disease transmissions over the last 10 years, including SARS in 2003, the H1N1 influenza in 2009, and the current outbreak of H7N9 avian influenza, which already has resulted in more than 20 deaths in China.
"Nature is continually throwing us curveballs," Chiu said. "We will likely always be faced with the threat of novel outbreak viruses originating in animals or insects. It will be extremely important to identify and characterize those viruses as quickly as possible to get a head start on the development of diagnostic assays for surveillance and drugs, or vaccines for treatment before they have a chance to really spread."
In such circumstances, ultra-rapid deep sequencing will be "extremely useful," he said. "By the time SARS was identified and sequenced using conventional methods, more than a week of time had been lost. That kind of delay could be quite risky in a virus that spreads rapidly in human populations."
Chiu and his team plan to introduce a graphical user interface that will allow small laboratories to analyze and access ultra-rapid, deep-sequencing data through cloud computing over the Internet, even though they do not have access to advanced computers.
"This will mean that any remote laboratory in Asia or Africa where a lot of these recent outbreaks have occurred will be able to use a portable, field-ready benchtop sequencer hooked up to a smartphone or laptop with an Internet connection, to obtain a complete genetic sequence of a novel pathogen within hours," said Chiu. "Our hope is that these efforts will democratize the surveillance and investigation of infectious diseases."
###
The first author of the study is Andrea Swei, PhD, of San Francisco State University. Other co-authors include Brandy J. Russell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Samia N. Naccache, PhD, Beniwende Kabre and Narayanan Veeraraghavan, PhD, of UCSF; and Mark A. Pilgard and Barbara J.B. Johnson, PhD, of the CDC.
The study was supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health (R56-AI089532 and RO1-HL105704), an Abbott Viral Discovery Award, the QB3 Swartz Foundation Lyme Disease Grant, the National Research Fund for Tick-borne Diseases, a UCSF Microbial Pathogenesis training grant and the CDC.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Tick-borne Lone Star virus identified through new super-fast gene sequencingPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kristen Bole kristen.bole@ucsf.edu 415-502-6397 University of California - San Francisco
UCSF scientist says new approach could 'democratize' viral surveillance
The tick-borne Lone Star virus has been conclusively identified as part of a family of other tick-borne viruses called bunyaviruses, which often cause fever, respiratory problems and bleeding, according to new research led by scientists at UC San Francisco (UCSF).
What made the work especially promising, said principal investigator Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, was the speed at which the virus was definitively identified. The team used a new approach to gene sequencing that enabled them to completely reconstruct the virus' previously unknown genome in less than 24 hours significantly faster than conventional sequencing techniques, which can take days to weeks.
The technique, called ultra-rapid deep sequencing, combines deep sequencing an emerging technology that reconstructs an entire DNA sequence from a tiny snippet of DNA with advanced computational techniques and algorithms developed in the laboratories of Chiu and his research collaborators.
Chiu, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine at UCSF and director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, reported the results in a paper published in PLOS ONE on April 29. It can be found online at http://www.plosone.org/.
The team found that the Lone Star virus, which is carried by the Lone Star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is related to a group of human pathogens including Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus, which infected hundreds of farmers in China between 2008 and 2010; Bhanja virus, initially found in India; Palma virus, found in Portugal; and Heartland virus, an illness recently reported among farmers in Missouri.
"We did not show that Lone Star virus causes disease in humans," Chiu cautioned, "although the laboratory and sequencing data suggest that this is a distinct possibility."
He said the work may prove to be significant in light of the fact that nearly all emerging diseases discovered over the past two decades have originated in animals. While the causes of many human infectious diseases have been "pretty well characterized," he said, researchers have "only touched the tip of the iceberg" with respect to pathogens that have the potential to pass from animals to humans.
Chiu pointed to a number of serious and unexpected animal-to-human disease transmissions over the last 10 years, including SARS in 2003, the H1N1 influenza in 2009, and the current outbreak of H7N9 avian influenza, which already has resulted in more than 20 deaths in China.
"Nature is continually throwing us curveballs," Chiu said. "We will likely always be faced with the threat of novel outbreak viruses originating in animals or insects. It will be extremely important to identify and characterize those viruses as quickly as possible to get a head start on the development of diagnostic assays for surveillance and drugs, or vaccines for treatment before they have a chance to really spread."
In such circumstances, ultra-rapid deep sequencing will be "extremely useful," he said. "By the time SARS was identified and sequenced using conventional methods, more than a week of time had been lost. That kind of delay could be quite risky in a virus that spreads rapidly in human populations."
Chiu and his team plan to introduce a graphical user interface that will allow small laboratories to analyze and access ultra-rapid, deep-sequencing data through cloud computing over the Internet, even though they do not have access to advanced computers.
"This will mean that any remote laboratory in Asia or Africa where a lot of these recent outbreaks have occurred will be able to use a portable, field-ready benchtop sequencer hooked up to a smartphone or laptop with an Internet connection, to obtain a complete genetic sequence of a novel pathogen within hours," said Chiu. "Our hope is that these efforts will democratize the surveillance and investigation of infectious diseases."
###
The first author of the study is Andrea Swei, PhD, of San Francisco State University. Other co-authors include Brandy J. Russell of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Samia N. Naccache, PhD, Beniwende Kabre and Narayanan Veeraraghavan, PhD, of UCSF; and Mark A. Pilgard and Barbara J.B. Johnson, PhD, of the CDC.
The study was supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health (R56-AI089532 and RO1-HL105704), an Abbott Viral Discovery Award, the QB3 Swartz Foundation Lyme Disease Grant, the National Research Fund for Tick-borne Diseases, a UCSF Microbial Pathogenesis training grant and the CDC.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
May 1, 2013 ? Douglas Owsley, the division head for physical anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, presented today a forensic analysis of 17th-century human remains proving that survival cannibalism took place in historic Jamestown. The findings answer a long-standing question among historians about the occurrence of cannibalism at Jamestown during the deadly winter of 1609-1610 known as the "starving time" -- a period during which about 80 percent of the colonists died.
The announcement was made with chief archeologist William Kelso from the Jamestown Rediscovery Project at Preservation Virginia, and historian James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at Colonial Williamsburg; each expert provided context about the discovery and the history of the site.
Owsley has worked closely with Kelso and his team of archaeologists since 1996, examining skeletal remains to help researchers understand the lives of individual colonial settlers in the Chesapeake. This particular incomplete human skull and tibia (shin bone) were excavated by Jamestown archeologists in 2012 as part of a 20-year excavation of James Fort. The remains were unusual due to their location and extensive fragmentation, so Kelso approached the Smithsonian's forensic anthropologist for a comprehensive analysis.
Owsley and his research team identified a number of features on the skull and tibia that indicated the individual was cannibalized. Four shallow chops to the forehead represent a failed first attempt to open the skull. The back of the head was then struck by a series of deep, forceful chops from a small hatchet or cleaver. The final blow split the cranium open. Sharp cuts and punctures mark the sides and bottom of the mandible, reflecting efforts to remove tissue from the face and throat using a knife.
"The desperation and overwhelming circumstances faced by the James Fort colonists during the winter of 1609-1610 are reflected in the postmortem treatment of this girl's body," said Owsley. "The recovered bone fragments have unusually patterned cuts and chops that reflect tentativeness, trial and complete lack of experience in butchering animal remains. Nevertheless, the clear intent was to dismember the body, removing the brain and flesh from the face for consumption."
Through specialized scientific analyses, Smithsonian scientists determined details about the life and story of this 14-year-old girl from England. By analyzing the dental development of the third molar and the growth stage of her shin bone, the research team determined that "Jane" was approximately 14 years old when she died. The cause of death could not be determined from the remains, estimated to be less than 10 percent of the complete skeleton.
Through a combination of digital and medical technologies, Smithsonian researchers led the effort to reconstruct the girl's likeness through forensic facial reconstruction. After scanning the incomplete remains of the fragmented skull with the museum's CT scanner, a virtual model of the skull was pieced together digitally. This digital rendering was sent to the Medical Modeling company to print a three-dimensional replica of the reconstructed skull. Finally, StudioEIS, in Brooklyn, N.Y., worked with Smithsonian scientists to create a forensic facial reconstruction of the girl's likeness.
On May 3, the facial reconstruction will be on display in the National Museum of Natural History's popular "Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake" exhibition, alongside other materials and information about Smithsonian forensic science. The skeletal remains will be on display at Historic Jamestowne near the discovery site on Jamestown Island.
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April 30 (Reuters) - The Retail Council of Canada said on Tuesday it will develop a new set of trade guidelines in response to last week's deadly collapse of a Bangladesh garment factory complex that manufactured apparel for western retailers including Loblaw Cos Ltd.
The statement follows a private emergency meeting of retailers on Monday, including Loblaw, Sears Canada Inc and Wal-Mart Canada, to discuss how they would deal with the tragedy, which has killed at least 390 people.
Rescue officials in Bangladesh said on Tuesday that they had given up hope of finding more survivors at the complex, known as Rana Plaza.
The incident is the latest to raise questions about worker safety and low wages in the poor South Asian country, which relies on garments for 80 percent of its exports.
Representatives of some 45 companies, including Gap Inc , H&M, J.C. Penney, Nike Inc, Wal-Mart and Primark, met officials from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Monday to discuss safety.
The Retail Council of Canada, which represents the operators of more than 43,000 stores in Canada, said it will work with international organizations, the Bangladeshi government and others to find ways to address safety in the Bangladesh garment industry.
Loblaw, which is Canada's biggest grocer, has said only a small percentage of its popular Joe Fresh clothing line was manufactured at Rana Plaza. The line, launched in 2006, represents a key part of Loblaw's growth strategy.
"We will be providing compensation for the families of the victims who worked for our supplier," said Loblaw spokeswoman Julija Hunter in an email on Monday that did not specify any amounts.
The eight-story plaza in Bangladesh had been built on swampy ground without the correct permits, officials said.
When it comes to having a healthy fridge, staying stocked with low-calorie, high-nutrient foods makes eating right an easy choice. That's why we love keeping ours stocked with hummus. Here's why the condiment classic can help you drop pounds.
1. It's a low-calorie substitute: Who needs mayonnaise (90 calories per tablespoon) when a dollop of hummus (27 calories per tablespoon for a basic hummus recipe) on your sandwich satisfies just as well? The creamy spread also works well to quiet dip cravings or as a salad dressing substitute to help you shave calories in your daily meals.
2. It fills you up: Made from chickpeas, hummus is a great source of protein and fiber, both of which will help keep you feeling full. Adding hummus to your favorite healthy meal will help give your body sustained energy for your workouts or will keep you from reaching for junk food when your stomach starts grumbling in the afternoon. In fact, a small study even found that people who ate more chickpeas in their diet ended up eating less low-fiber, high-fat foods?and ended up losing more weight because of it.
3. It's easy to make: It's well known that homemade food helps you keep pounds in check, since you know exactly what's in your meals. Luckily, not only is making a batch of hummus simple to make?just throw your ingredients in a blender?but also, the versatile condiment lends itself to many different flavor profiles to keep your taste buds from becoming bored. Check out a few of our favorite healthy hummus recipes to get inspired!
More From POPSUGAR Fitness: How to Make Running Feel Easier 27 Ways to Boost Metabolism and Torch Fat Today Torch Fat With This 10-Minute Tabata Workout
Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) watches Claire (Natalie Zea) on the season finale of "The Following."
What just happened? Things finally calmed down on Fox's serial killer series, "The Following," on Monday night, but it was more like the calm before the storm.
Sure, it seemed as though Ryan had saved the day, saved Claire and saved a good portion of humanity by battling Joe to his explosive end -- well, his presumed end. That wasn't, however, the end of the episode.
There was still a finale twist in store -- complete with a decoy.
Emma was still out there after all, and she was none too happy to hear the news about Joe. But in the last moments, someone else upstaged her.
Just as Ryan and Claire were ready to settle down to a relaxing, killer-free meal, Molly -- Joe's supporter and Ryan's ex -- barged in and stabbed both Ryan and Claire!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama took U.S. concerns about Syrian chemical weapons to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, reaching out to one of the Syrian government's staunchest allies.
The United States is trying to determine the facts around alleged Syrian use of chemical weapons. Last week U.S. officials said they had "varying degrees of confidence" that Syria had likely used the nerve agent sarin on a small scale against rebel fighters.
If proved with certainty, the chemical weapons' usage could triggered unspecified U.S. actions against the Syrian government. Russia has been one of the Syrian government's staunchest allies.
"President Obama and President Putin reviewed the situation in Syria, with President Obama underscoring concern over Syrian chemical weapons," a White House statement said.
The two leaders agreed to stay in touch on the issue and that Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would continue discussions on Syria.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States would proceed in a deliberate fashion in determining whether forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons to attack his own people.
Obama has vowed that all options will be considered if Syria is shown to have used chemical weapons but the White House is worried about the prospect of acting without definitive proof and aides say formulating a U.S. response will take time.
"It's very important that we take the information that's been gathered thus far and build upon it, because an assessment of varying degrees of confidence is not sufficient upon which to base a policy reaction," Carney said.
He said a U.N. team was ready to deploy to Syria in 24-48 hours to investigate chemical weapons allegations, if the Assad government let it in.
(Reporting By Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_t0Ui89kCjF8bdNd7LUvrGzEkS-hV0d7rD2A6jSn4JRBqnHB7MjQvZ52uj1J2ADMSO0hAygLxGNT86Ydi4_0Rtp1TWmJ0_1CeIKoMX8R5Kct94B4hCy4IVTi6MgujkIQi0xCNu3xg2Sck4bkEXvPzheAzywmsYeyZLcQu7gTE1Go6GpUYuWrnqAEio6YkkaJZOB434P5lCjAAeqpWtqyFtYHGkT_K-2USaubXymsJP5W1LaZn-c29UiA3QH77OUIQ=s0-d ""Danny" (NBC/Today)")
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Public release date: 2-May-2013
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