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A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report released Friday slammed the CIA for its treatment of patients with a mysterious ailment known as “Havana syndrome,” determining that “many individuals faced obstacles to timely and sufficient care.” The report outlines 11 recommendations for the CIA to implement to address key concerns such as a lack of an “established clear and documented policies, guidance, and criteria for how it refers AHI (anomalous health incidents) reporters to facilitated treatment programs.” The recommendations also include developing written policies for medical care and benefit programs associated with AHIs, conducting a comprehensive organizational assessment of the CIA’s response to AHIs, and reestablishing a standard post-AHI evaluation to all AHI reporters who request one. Examples of insufficient care outlined in the report included patients who “experienced delayed, denied, or pre-conditioned care,” including “long wait times to access facilitated treatment options; were denied facilitated care by a CIA care adjudication board; perceived that their access to facilitated medical care was contingent on their willingness to participate in a NIH clinical research study.” A spokesperson for the CIA told CNN that during the periods covered in the report, the agency worked to both understand the problem and investigate the “possibility that foreign actors were harming US government personnel and their families.” “In that environment, supporting our officers and their families required us to dynamically adapt our programs and processes to changing needs and circumstances. Whether, in hindsight, we could have done better is for others to evaluate, but our commitment to ensuring that our officers and their families had access to the care they needed has never wavered,” the spokesperson said, emphasizing that the agency has “no greater responsibility than to care for the health and safety of our people.” The mysterious illness first emerged in late 2016, when a cluster of diplomats stationed in the Cuban capital of Havana began reporting symptoms consistent with head trauma, including dizziness and extreme headaches. In subsequent years, there have been cases reported around the world, including clusters of at least 60 incidents in Bogota, Colombia, and Vienna, Austria. There have been about 1,500 reported cases across the US government in 96 different counties, officials said last year, but the number of reported incidents has dropped significantly in recent years. One problem facing the medical community is that there is still not a clear definition of Havana syndrome, which the government refers to as “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs). These tests were done, in some cases, long after symptoms began, making it harder to understand what physically happened. The illness and its cause have remained frustratingly opaque to both the intelligence community and the medical community. Despite long-standing speculation that the illness could have been the result of a targeted campaign by an enemy of the US, the US intelligence community said last year that it cannot link any cases to a foreign adversary, ruling it unlikely that the unexplained illness was the result of a targeted campaign by an enemy of the US. The Senate report, however, recommends that the US intelligence community should continue research as “there remain many unanswered questions about these incidents given information and research gaps.” “The IC must remain objective and must continue to actively collect intelligence: conduct analysis and pursue information that could shed light on AHI reports in general and foreign adversary emerging technologies, to include directed energy weapons in particular.” “Moreover, U.S. adversaries are likely developing directed energy technologies that may plausibly explain some of the reported symptoms community associated with AHls,” the report states. The report also denounces the CIA for halting its collection of clinical research on Havana syndrome while the Pentagon’s research efforts continue. “CIA has halted its own internal clinical research efforts related to AHIs. Specifically, the Agency stopped promoting pre-AHI baseline medical assessments in December 2021 and stopped conducting post-AHI medical assessments in January 2022. As a result, CIA may be missing out on important clinical data that could advance its understanding of AHIs,” it says. The committee also warns about the risks posed by the CIA’s lack of preparedness to respond quickly. “The Committee nevertheless assesses that CIA may not be well postured to respond to future AHI reports and to facilitate quick, accessible, high-quality medical care for those who need it, particularly in the case of another AHI cluster.” Additionally, the report lays out three recommendations for Congress to consider, including codifying into law the two Federal Employees’ Compensation Act bulletins pertaining to AHI-related claims and amending the Expanded Care Program. The findings are “based largely off testimonial evidence provided by CIA officials, other USG (US government) officials, medical professionals who provided care to AHI reporters as part of a facilitated medical care program, and AHI reporters.”
NoneMIAMI — Dozens of luxury beachfront condos and hotels in Surfside, Bal Harbour, Miami Beach and Sunny Isles are sinking into the ground at rates that were “unexpected,” with nearly 70% of the buildings in northern and central Sunny Isles affected, research by the University of Miami found. The study, published Friday night, identified a total of 35 buildings that have sunk by as much as three inches between 2016 and 2023, including the iconic Surf Club Towers and Faena Hotel, the Porsche Design Tower, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Trump Tower III and Trump International Beach Resorts. Together, the high rises accommodate tens of thousands of residents and tourists. Some have more than 300 units, including penthouses that cost millions of dollars. “Almost all the buildings at the coast itself, they’re subsiding,” Falk Amelung, a geophysicist at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science and the study’s senior author, told the Miami Herald. “It’s a lot.” Preliminary data also shows signs that some buildings along the coasts of Broward and Palm Beach are sinking, too. Experts called the study a “game changer” that raises a host of questions about development on vulnerable barrier islands. For starters, experts said, this could be a sign that rising sea levels, caused by the continued emission of greenhouse gases, is accelerating the erosion of the limestone on which South Florida is built. “It’s probably a much larger problem than we know,” Paul Chinowsky, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, told the Herald. Initially, researchers looked at satellite images that can measure fractions of an inch of subsidence to determine whether the phenomenon had occurred leading up to the collapse of Champlain Towers in Surfside, the 2021 catastrophe that killed 98 people and led to laws calling for structural reviews of older condos across the state. The researchers did not see any signs of settlement before the collapse “indicating that settlement was not the cause of collapse,” according to a statement. Instead, they saw subsidence at nearby beachside buildings both north and south of it. “What was surprising is that it was there at all. So we didn’t believe it at the beginning,” Amelung said, explaining that his team checked several sources that confirmed the initial data. “And then we thought, we have to investigate it,” he said. In total, they found subsidence ranging between roughly 0.8 and just over 3 inches, mostly in Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, and at two buildings in Miami Beach – the Faena Hotel and L’atelier condo – and one in Bal Harbour. It’s unclear what the implications are or whether the slow sinking could lead to long-term damage, but several experts told the Herald that the study raises questions that require further research as well as a thorough on-site inspection. “These findings raise additional question which require further investigation,” Gregor Eberli, a geoscience professor and co-author of the study, which was published Friday in the journal Earth and Space Science, said in a statement. Lead author Farzaneh Aziz Zanjani pointed to the need for “ongoing monitoring and a deeper understanding of the long-term implications for these structures.” Though the vast majority of affected buildings were constructed years or decades before the satellite images were taken, it is common for buildings to subside a handful of inches during and shortly after construction — a natural effect as the weight of the building compresses the soil underneath. And sinking doesn’t necessarily create structural issues. “As long as it’s even, everything’s fine,” Chinowsky said, placing his hands next to each other, “the problems start when you start doing this,” he said, then moving one hand down faster than the other. But such uneven sinking, known as differential subsidence, can cause significant damage to buildings, he said. “That’s where you can get structural damage,” he said. More research is needed to determine whether the buildings are sinking evenly or not. “Sometimes it can be dangerous, sometimes not — it will have to be evaluated,” said Shimon Wdowinski, a geophysicist at Florida International University, told the Herald. Wdowinski worked on a different 2020 study that showed that the land surrounding the Champlain Towers — not the buildings themselves — had been subsiding back in the nineties, though that alone couldn’t have led to the collapse. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has yet to release a final report on the cause but a Herald investigation pointed to design and construction flaws as well as decades of maintenance issues. For the 35 buildings shown to be sinking in the University of Miami’s study, he said, the next step is to check the integrity and design plans. “If there is differential subsidence, it could cause structural damage, and it would need immediate attention,” he said. Cracks in walls, utilities that are breaking, or doors and windows that don’t shut as easily as they used to are all signs of differential subsidence, said Hota GangaRao, a professor of civil engineering and the director of the constructed facilities center at West Virginia University. “In some extreme scenarios, the buildings at some point sink much more dramatically with time,” he said. If that subsidence is differential, “then it is very, very serious,” GangaRao said. Larisa Svechin, the mayor of Sunny Isles Beach, where more than 20 buildings are affected, said that “my priority is the safety of our residents.” Contacted by the Herald Saturday afternoon, she said she was not aware of any structural issues but called an immediate meeting with the city manager. Following that meeting, she said that all required building inspections are up to date and that “the law also requires inspection records to be posted online and shared with residents.” Charles Burkett, the mayor of Surfside, told the Miami Herald that he had not heard of the study nor was he aware of any subsidence of buildings. “I’d like to know if it’s unsafe,” he said on Saturday, adding that he will “review [the study] in due time.” Other officials could not be reached immediately, and several of the affected buildings contacted by the Herald said that management would not be available for comment before Monday. Some settlement appears to have started right around the time when the construction of new buildings nearby began, and when vibration might have caused layers of sand to compress further — just like shaking ground coffee in a tin will make room for more. The pumping of groundwater that seeps into construction sites could also cause sand layers to shift and rearrange. Though there appears to be a strong link to nearby construction for some buildings, it is unlikely to be the only explanation for the 35 sinking buildings, as some settlement had started before any construction began nearby, and it persisted after construction ended, the researchers found. “There’s no sign that it’s stopping,” Amelung said of the settlement. Experts also pointed to the impact the emission of fossil fuels and the resulting warming of the climate is having on the overall stability of Miami-Dade’s barrier islands. For one, rising sea levels are now encroaching on sand and limestone underneath our feet. That could lead to the corrosion of the pillars on which high-rises stand — a serious issue, GangaRao said, though if that’s the case “there may be a way to salvage these buildings,” by fixing the foundation. Stronger waves, fresh water dumped by heavier rainfalls and more sunny-day flooding could also add to the erosion of the limestone that all of South Florida is built on, Chinowsky said. Already a soft rock that is riddled with holes and air pockets, further erosion could destabilize the base of most constructions, Chinowsky said, comparing it to “standing on sand, and someone came with a spoon and started taking the sand out.” “I would expect that they would see this all throughout the barrier islands and on into the main coastline — wherever there is limestone, basically,” he said. “That’s what makes the whole South Florida area so unique, because of that porous rock, the limestone, all that action is happening where you can’t see it, and that’s why it’s never accounted for to this level,” he said. Here is the full list of buildings identified as experiencing between roughly 0.8 and just over 3 inches of subsidence between 2016 — 2023: Regalia, Ocean II, Residences by Armani Casa, Ocean III, Marenas Beach Resort, Millennium Condominiums, Porsche Design Tower, Bentley Residence Development site, Trump International Beach Resort, Aqualina Resort and Residences on the Beach, The Mansions at Aqualina, Pinnacle, Chateau Beach Residences, Double Tree Resort and Spa, Sole Mia A Noble House Resort. Also: Florida Ocean Club, Ocean Four Condominium, Muse residences, Jade Ocean Condos, Jade Beach Condos, Jade Signature Condominium, Kings Point Imperial Condo, Trump Tower III, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Oceana Bal Harbour, Fendi Chateau, Marbella Condominium, Waverly, Carlisle on the Ocean, Residence Inn by Mariott, Luxury Condo Cabarete, The Surf Club North Tower, The Surf Club Hotel Tower, The Surf Club South Tower, Arte Residence, 87 Park Tower, L’atelier Condominium, Faena HouseAvalanche play the Lightning on 3-game win streak
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