Author Archives: Reuters News Agency

U.S. FBI calls ‘anomalous health incidents’ a top priority

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday the issue of “anomalous health incidents” – widely known as Havana Syndrome – is a top priority and it will continue to investigate the cause of such incidents and how to protect staff.

Around 200 U.S. diplomats, officials and family members overseas are believed to have been struck by the mysterious ailment – with symptoms including migraines, nausea, memory lapses and dizziness. It was first reported among U.S. officials in the Cuban capital in 2016.

“The issue of anomalous health incidents is a top priority for the FBI, as the protection, health and well-being of our employees and colleagues across the federal government is paramount,” the FBI said in a statement.

It added that it would keep working with the intelligence community to “identify the cause of these incidents and determine how we can best protect our personnel.”

Sufferers and lawmakers have criticized U.S. agencies, saying they have not taken the illness seriously enough. Current and former U.S. officials said the FBI historically had been skeptical about the existence of Havana Syndrome.

“The FBI takes all U.S. government personnel who report symptoms seriously,” the FBI statement said, adding it had messaged its staff on how to respond and how to report if they experience an incident, and where they can receive medical treatment.

Lawyer Mark Zaid, who represents Havana Syndrome victims, said historically the FBI had “been less than helpful, particularly by claiming victims are suffering psychosomatic symptoms even though they never interviewed the individuals…I suspect that is about to change.”

To lead an agency task force on Havana Syndrome, CIA director William Burns recently chose a career undercover spy who participated in the search that led to the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

A U.S. government source said U.S. agencies do not currently have a solid view of the syndrome’s cause but that investigating its origins and spread has been a high priority for the CIA.

(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Gregorio)

Thanksgiving air travel set to be busiest since pandemic

By Rajesh Kumar Singh

CHICAGO (Reuters) -Flights and airports across the United States are expected to have one of their busiest days since before the pandemic on Wednesday as millions of people fly to visit their families for the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen about 20 million air passengers during the Thanksgiving travel period, the most since 2019 when nearly 26 million Americans were on the move at that time, as rising COVID-19 vaccination rates have made people more confident about travel.

The travel demand is also getting a boost from consumers flush with savings as rising wages along with government stimulus have strengthened household balance sheets.

On Tuesday, the TSA screened about 2.21 million U.S. air passengers, the sixth consecutive day with checkpoint volume topping 2 million.

Los Angeles International Airport expects 2 million passengers. Victoria Spilabotte, the airport’s public information officer, said the numbers showed people were willing to travel again and added that passengers should arrive early to allow extra time for security.

The holiday weekend is a test for carriers after a spate of flight cancellations marred travel over the summer. One in five Americans are concerned about delays and cancellations, an American Pecans/YouGov survey found.

Carriers have ramped up staffing and offered bonuses and other incentives to employees.

“We’re staffed and ready to get our customers to where they need to go safely, reliably and enjoyably,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson said.

Calm weather expected for Thanksgiving should also help to prevent disruption.

Some passengers at the Los Angeles airport said the airport was not as busy as they expected.

“So far, so good,” said Lani Emanuel, who is traveling to Seattle to see her daughter. “It was a little tricky finding parking, but it doesn’t seem too crazy busy just yet.”

U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak is also expecting a jump in passenger volumes. A company spokesperson said some trains are already close to full capacity.

Travel group AAA estimates, in all, 53.4 million people will travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, up 13% from 2020, with air travel recovering to about 91% of pre-pandemic levels.

The biggest concern this holiday season is high fuel prices, the YouGov survey found.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; additional reporting by David Shepardson, Alan Devall and Omar Younis; Editing by Stephen Coates, Barbara Lewis and Mark Porter)

Slovakia follows Austria into lockdown amid record surge in COVID cases

By Robert Muller and Jason Hovet

PRAGUE (Reuters) – Slovakia’s government followed the example of neighboring Austria on Wednesday and ordered a two-week lockdown to quell the world’s fastest rise in COVID-19 cases as the number of people sick in hospital reached a critical level and vaccination levels remain low.

Restaurants and non-essential shops will close as part of the measures and movement will be limited to trips for essential shopping, work, school or medical visits, along with walks in nature, government officials said.

Slovakia on Tuesday registered more than 10,000 new daily infections for the first time since the pandemic started, while hospitalizations hit what the Health Ministry called a “critical point” that meant limiting other care and possibly asking for foreign assistance.

“The situation is serious,” Prime Minister Eduard Heger said. “We got here because the (existing) measures were not observed.”

Adjusted for population size, Slovakia is experiencing the world’s fastest rise in infections, according to Our World in Data, topping a list currently led by other European countries.

The neighboring Czech Republic and Hungary both registered a record daily rise in cases on Tuesday, while Austria also implemented a total lockdown this week, shutting non-essential shops, bars and cafes for at least 10 days.

Slovakia’s decision to return to a lockdown comes after the government already slapped new restrictions on unvaccinated people this week in a bid to push up inoculations. Before that, the country had been gradually tightening restrictions in regions hard-hit as cases have jumped over the past month.

Heger said measures would be assessed after 10 days and any loosening would only be for the vaccinated.

Less than 50% of people in the country of 5.5 million are fully vaccinated, the third-lowest rate in the European Union. The unvaccinated count for the majority of cases and hospitalizations.

President Zuzana Caputova made an emotional plea on Tuesday, saying the country was losing its fight with COVID-19 and needed a lockdown as healthcare staff became overworked.

The number of hospitalized patients has reached 3,200, approaching peaks of around 3,800 seen in the last wave of the pandemic.

Dagmar Sudekova, deputy director of the Zilina hospital in one of the harder hit regions, told the state broadcaster RTVS on Tuesday evening more than 80% of patients were unvaccinated and the hospital’s ventilation and high-flow oxygen beds were full.

“We just manage with the help of neighboring hospitals,” she said.

(Reporting by Robert Muller and Jason Hovet; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Hugh Lawson)

At least 31 migrants perish trying to cross Channel to UK, French mayor says

By Geert De Clercq and Ingrid Melander

PARIS (Reuters) -At least 31 people died on Wednesday after their dinghy capsized while crossing the Channel from France to Britain, in the worst disaster on record involving migrants in the waters separating the countries.

The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and currents are strong. Overloaded dinghies often barely stay afloat and are at the mercy of waves as they try to reach British shores.

More migrants left France’s northern shores than usual to take advantage of calm sea conditions on Wednesday, according to fishermen, although the water was bitterly cold.

One fisherman called the rescue services after seeing an empty dinghy and people floating motionless nearby.

Franck Dhersin, deputy head of regional transport and mayor of Teteghem on the northern French coast told Reuters that the death toll had reached 31 and that two people were still missing.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he was heading for the coast. “Strong emotion in the face of the tragedy of numerous deaths due to the capsizing of a migrant boat in the English Channel,” he wrote in a tweet.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair an emergency meeting on Wednesday, his spokesperson said.

Three helicopters and police and rescue boats were still at the scene, looking for people missing from the capsized vessel, said Maritime Minister Annick Girardin.

The local coast guard said they could not yet confirm the total number of deaths.

One fisherman, Nicolas Margolle, told Reuters he had seen two small dinghies earlier on Wednesday, one with people on board and another empty.

He said another fisherman had called rescue services after seeing an empty dinghy and 15 people floating motionless nearby, either unconscious or dead.

He confirmed there were more dinghies on Wednesday because the weather was good. “But it’s cold,” Margolle added.

Early on Wednesday, Reuters reporters saw a group of over 40 migrants head towards Britain on a dinghy.

While French police have prevented more crossings than in previous years, they have only partially stemmed the flow of migrants wanting to reach Britain – one of many sources of tensions between Paris and London.

Some rights groups said that tighter monitoring was pushing migrants to take greater risks as they sought a better life in the West.

“To accuse only the smugglers is to hide the responsibility of the French and British authorities,” l’Auberge des Migrants NGO said.

Before Wednesday’s disaster, 14 people had drowned this year trying to make it to Britain, a local maritime prefecture official said. In 2020, a total of seven people died and two disappeared, while in 2019 four died.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq, Tassilo Hummel, Ingrid Melander, Pascal Rossignol; Writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Richard Lough and Mike Collett-White)

Lockdown lifted in Spain’s La Palma, volcanic eruption keeps airport shut

MADRID (Reuters) – Authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma on Wednesday lifted lockdown on three coastal towns as toxic fumes from the lava flowing into the sea partly dissipated, but the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano showed no signs of abating.

The red-hot molten rock continued to gush along the western flanks of the volcano, which has been erupting since Sept. 19, and the pace of daily earth tremors is yet to slow down.

La Palma airport remained closed since the weekend, and footage released by airport operator Aena showed staff shovelings tonnes of black ash from the runway.

“If the eruption intensity doesn’t diminish, it is most likely to keep affecting La Palma airport,” said Carmen Lopez, who heads the National Geographic Institute’s geophysical monitoring program.

Local authorities on Monday forced residents of three coastal towns to stay indoors as a third tongue of lava hit the sea sending thick clouds of vapor and smoke high into the sky.

The cloud is less dense now, said Miguel Angel Morcuende, technical director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan.

“However, we recommend that people living near where the lava flow reaches the sea to wear the FFP2 masks and stay protected to prevent any problem,” he told reporters.

The lava solidifying as it crashes into the water has expanded the island’s surface by some 46 hectares, according to the authorities.

It has engulfed 1,073 hectares of land so far, according to the EU satellite monitoring system Copernicus. The eruption has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,700 buildings, forcing the evacuation of thousands from their homes on the island.

(Reporting by Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip and Mike Collett-White)

Russia and Ukraine both step up military alert with combat drills

By Alexander Marrow and Pavel Polityuk

MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) – Russia staged military drills in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, on Wednesday and said it needed to sharpen the combat-readiness of its conventional and nuclear forces because of heightened NATO activity near its borders.

Ukraine, which with its ally the United States has said it believes Russia may be preparing an invasion, staged exercises of its own near the border with Belarus.

The increase of military activity on both sides follows weeks of rising tension that have raised the risk of war between the two neighbors, even though Russia denies aggressive intent and Western intelligence sources have told Reuters they do not see any invasion as imminent.

The United States and NATO have signaled their backing for Ukraine in ways that Moscow considers provocative, including through warship maneuvers this month in the Black Sea and a delivery of U.S. patrol boats to the Ukrainian navy.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Reuters on Wednesday it would be “a grave mistake from Russia” to attack Ukraine.

Russian fighter planes and ships practiced repelling air attacks on naval bases and responding with air strikes during military drills on Wednesday in the Black Sea, Interfax reported.

Separately, the news agency quoted Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying the need for Russia to further develop its armed forces was dictated by “the complicated military and political conditions in the world and the growing activity of NATO countries near Russia’s borders”.

He said raising the armed forces’ capabilities, supporting the combat readiness of nuclear forces and strengthening the potential of non-nuclear deterrence were among the priorities.

Shoigu on Tuesday complained that U.S. bombers had rehearsed a nuclear strike on Russia from two different directions earlier this month and complained that the planes had come too close the Russian border, drills the Pentagon said had adhered to international protocols.

UKRAINIAN ‘SPECIAL OPERATION’

Ukraine on Wednesday held what it called a “special operation” at the border with Belarus, including drone exercises and military drills for anti-tank and airborne units.

It has deployed 8,500 extra troops to its border with Belarus, saying it fears being drawn into the migrant crisis, which has seen the European Union accuse Minsk of flying in people from the Middle East and pushing them to enter neighboring Poland. Belarus denies fomenting the crisis.

Kyiv also worries that the border with Belarus, a close Russian ally, could be used by Russia to stage a military assault.

The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence told the Military Times outlet this weekend that Russia had more than 92,000 troops massed around Ukraine’s borders and was preparing for an attack by the end of January or beginning of February.

Moscow has dismissed such suggestions as inflammatory, said it was not threatening anyone and defended its right to deploy its troops as it wished.

Intelligence sources, diplomats and analysts say Moscow may be using the escalation of tension with Ukraine as part of a wider strategy to exert pressure in Europe, including by backing Belarus in the migrant crisis and using its influence as the continent’s top gas supplier to press for quick regulatory approval of its new Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany.

“It feels… more like another piece of coercive leverage that the Russians are heaping onto this strategic situation in Eastern Europe,” said Samir Puri, senior fellow in hybrid warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“It may well have value in that alone, rather than having to be followed through with a full-scale invasion which would be politically disastrous for Putin.”

(Additional reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Alex Richardson)

U.S. puts Chinese firms helping military on trade blacklist

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Commerce Department put a dozen Chinese companies on its trade blacklist on Wednesday citing national security concerns and in some cases their help with the Chinese military’s quantum computing efforts.

The department also said 16 entities and individuals from China and Pakistan were added to the blacklist for contributing to Pakistan’s nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.

In total, 27 new entities were added to the list from China, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement that the move will help prevent U.S. technology from supporting the development of Chinese and Russian “military advancement and activities of non-proliferation concern like Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.”

The Commerce Department said Hangzhou Zhongke Microelectronics Co. Ltd., Hunan Goke Microelectronics, New H3C Semiconductor Technologies Co. Ltd., Xi’an Aerospace Huaxun Technology, and Yunchip Microelectronics were placed on the Commerce Department’s entity list for their “support of the military modernization of the People’s Liberation Army.”

It also added Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, QuantumCTek, and Shanghai QuantumCTeck Co. Ltd. to the list for “acquiring and attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items in support of military applications.”

Suppliers to these companies will need to apply for a license before selling to them, which is likely to be denied.

(Reporting by Chris Sanders and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and David Clarke)

Suspect in Wisconsin parade attack to appear in court as prosecutor prepares charges

By Brendan O’Brien and Julio-Cesar Chavez

WAUKESHA, Wis. (Reuters) – The motorist suspected of an attack at a traditional Christmas parade that killed five people and injured at least 48 near Milwaukee was set to face criminal charges on Tuesday at his first court appearance since the weekend rampage.

Darrell Brooks, 39, was due in Waukesha County Circuit Court at 4 p.m. CST (2200 GMT) after authorities said he deliberately drove an SUV through police barricades on Sunday and into the city of Waukesha’s annual parade, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Milwaukee.

Waukesha police Chief Daniel Thompson on Monday said his department would refer five counts of first-degree intentional homicide to prosecutors and additional charges could come later as the investigation progresses.

But Waukesha County District Attorney Sue Opper’s website said on Tuesday that her office was still deciding what charges to bring against Brooks, a Milwaukee resident arrested near the scene of the carnage shortly afterwards.

Police have ruled out terrorism as a motive and said Brooks, who was out on bail from a domestic abuse case, acted alone.

Police were not pursuing Brooks when he drove his car through the parade route, but one officer fired shots to try to stop the sport utility vehicle, Thompson said.

The injured included at least 18 children who suffered facial abrasions, broken bones and serious head injuries and were taken to Wisconsin Children’s hospital in Milwaukee. Six were listed in critical condition, officials said. At least two of the children were since discharged from the hospital.

The five casualties, who ranged in age from 52 to 81, included some members of the “Milwaukee Dancing Grannies” parade group.

“Our hearts are heavy over the loss of our grannies and volunteer,” the group said on Facebook on Tuesday, adding some of the injured members were in stable condition and one has been released from a hospital.

The incident drew the attention of President Joe Biden, who called the attack “horrific,” and Pope Francis. The Vatican sent a condolence message to the Roman Catholic bishop of Milwaukee on Tuesday.

“The pope “commends the souls of those who died to almighty God’s loving mercy and implores the divine gifts of healing and consolation upon the injured and bereaved,” the message said.

At one of several vigils and services on Monday, Jeremy Wittig, 39, an information technology professional, said “Waukesha is strong. That’s why we are out here.”

Video of the incident posted on social media showed a red SUV racing alongside the parade route and then into the procession, appearing to run over more than a dozen people before bystanders raced from sidewalks to help.

“I saw children who were run over,” Brian Hoffman, 33, a Waukesha resident, recounted on Monday. “I am still totally shocked.”

Brooks was last released from custody after posting $1,000 cash bond on Nov. 11, an amount the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said was “inappropriately low in light of the nature of the recent charges” against him.

Brooks had been charged on Nov. 5 with obstructing an officer, battery, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and felony bail jumping in a domestic abuse case, prosecutors and state court records show.

Shortly before Sunday’s attack on the parade, police received a domestic disturbance complaint involving Brooks and a knife, Thompson said.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Julio Cesar-Chavez in Waukesha, Wisconsin; Writing by Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by Howard Goller)

U.S. govt asks court to immediately lift stay on COVID vaccine rule

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) – The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court to immediately lift a court-ordered stay on a sweeping workplace COVID-19 vaccine rule to avoid “enormous” harm to public health, or alternatively to allow a masking-and-testing requirement, according to a court filing.

Delaying the rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that requires employees to be vaccinated or tested weekly would lead to thousands of hospitalizations and deaths, the government said in a Tuesday filing with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has issued several rules aimed at encouraging vaccination, although OSHA’s Nov. 5 standard is the most far-reaching.

The OSHA rule requires businesses with at least 100 employees, covering tens of millions of American workers, to comply by Jan. 4.

Although 82% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one vaccine dose, requiring shots against COVID-19 has become a divisive political issue over trade-offs between civil liberty and public health.

The rule was challenged by Republican-led states, businesses and trade groups and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans quickly blocked it, calling it “staggeringly overbroad” and a “one-size-fits-all sledgehammer.”

After the stay was imposed by the 5th Circuit, lawsuits from around the country were transferred to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.

That has given the Biden Administration an opportunity to ask for the ruling by the 5th Circuit to be reviewed.

The government said in its filing that if the 5th Circuit’s ruling remained, it should at least be modified to allow the masking-and-testing requirement.

A modified stay would also shield employers from state and local laws banning vaccines and face coverings, the government said.

Florida is among the states that have banned businesses from requiring vaccination against COVID-19.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Moscow says U.S. rehearsed nuclear strike against Russia this month

By Andrew Osborn

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s defense minister on Tuesday accused U.S. bombers of rehearsing a nuclear strike on Russia from two different directions earlier this month and complained that the planes had come within 20 km (12.4 miles) of the Russian border.

The accusation comes at a time of high tension between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine, with U.S. officials voicing concerns about a possible Russian attack on its southern neighbor – a suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false.

Moscow has in turn accused the United States, NATO and Ukraine of provocative and irresponsible behavior, pointing to U.S. arms supplies to Ukraine, Ukraine’s use of Turkish strike drones against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and NATO military exercises close to its borders.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Moscow had noted a significant increase in the activity by U.S. strategic bombers which he said had carried out 30 flights close to Russia this month. That, he said, was 2.5 times more than the same period last year.

Shoigu complained in particular of what he said was a simulated U.S. nuclear strike against Russia earlier this month.

“The defense minister underlined that during the U.S. military exercises ‘Global Thunder,’ 10 American strategic bombers rehearsed launching nuclear weapons against Russia from the western and eastern directions,” Shoigu was quoted as saying in a defense ministry statement.

“The minimum proximity to our state border was 20 km.”

Shoigu was quoted as saying that Russian air defense units had spotted and tracked the U.S. strategic bombers and taken unspecified measures to avoid any incidents.

Global Thunder, which this year put U.S. nuclear-capable B-52 bombers through their paces, is the U.S. Strategic Command’s annual nuclear and command exercise designed to test and demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear capabilities.

President Vladimir Putin referenced the apparent episode briefly last week, complaining of Western strategic bombers carrying “very serious weapons” close to Russia. He said the West was taking Moscow’s warnings not to cross its “red lines” too lightly.

Shoigu made the comments in a video conference with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe. He said that U.S. bomber flights close to Russia’s eastern borders were also a threat to China.

“Against this backdrop, Russo-Chinese coordination is becoming a stabilizing factor in world affairs,” said Shoigu.

Russia and China agreed at the meeting to step up cooperation between their armed forces when it came to strategic military exercises and joint patrols, the defense ministry said.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn Additional reporting by Polina Devitt and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)