East Antarctic summer cooling trends caused by tropical rainfall clusters

A new study identifies key linkages between rainfall occurring in the tropics and climate trends in Antarctica

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IMAGE: (LEFT) EAST ANTARCTIC WARMING ASSOCIATED WITH AN ANOMALOUS HIGH PRESSURE (H) EXCITED BY THE MJO RAINFALL EVENTS IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. (RIGHT) EAST ANTARCTIC COOLING ASSOCIATED WITH AN ANOMALOUS LOW... view more 

CREDIT: ZHEN FU

Our planet is warming due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions; but the warming differs from region to region, and it can also vary seasonally. Over the last four decades scientists have observed a persistent austral summer cooling on the eastern side of Antarctica. This puzzling feature has received world-wide attention, because it is not far away from one of the well-known global warming hotspots - the Antarctic Peninsula.

A new study published in the journal Science Advances by a team of scientists from the IBS Center for Climate Physics at Pusan National University in South Korea, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Ewha Womans University, and National Taiwan University, uncovers a new mechanism that can explain the regional warming/cooling patchwork over Antarctica. At the heart of the mechanism are clusters of rainfall events in the western tropical Pacific, which release massive amounts of heat into the atmosphere by condensation of water vapor. Warm air rises over the organized rainfall clusters and sinks farther away. This pressure difference creates winds which are further influenced by the effect of earth's rotation. The interplay of these factors generates a large-scale atmospheric pressure wave which travels from west to east along the equator with a speed of about several hundred kilometers per day and which drags along with it the initial rainfall clusters. This propagating atmospheric wave is known as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), named after Roland Madden and Paul Julian, who discovered this phenomenon in 1971. The characteristic atmospheric pressure, convection and wind anomalies, which fluctuate on timescales of 20-70 days, can extend into the extratropics, reaching even Antarctica.

The international research team arrived at their conclusions by analyzing observational datasets and specially designed supercomputer climate model simulations. "Our analysis provides clear evidence that tropical weather systems associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation can directly impact surface temperatures over East Antarctica." says Prof. Pang-Chi Hsu from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, who co-led the study.

More specifically, as the MJO rainfall clusters move into the western Pacific towards the location of the Solomon Islands, the corresponding global atmospheric wave tends to cool East Antarctica three to eleven days later (Image, right panel). In contrast, when the MJO-related rainfall occurs in the Indian Ocean, East Antarctic shows a pronounced warming (Image, left panel).

"During recent decades, MJO rainfall and pressure changes preferably occurred over the western tropical Pacific but decreased over the Indian Ocean. This situation has favored cooling of East Antarctica during austral summer.", says Prof. June-Yi Lee from the IBS Center for Climate Physics and Pusan National University, and co-leader of the study.

The research team estimated that up to 20% to 40% of the observed summer cooling trend in East Antarctica from 1979 to 2014 can be attributed to the long-term changes in the character and longitudinal core location of the MJO. Other contributing factors include the ozone hole and the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation - a slowly varying weaker companion of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. The new Science Advances study highlights that climate change even in remote regions such as Antarctica, can be linked to processes that happen nearly 10,000 km away.

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FIRE HIM
CRTC chairman under fire over one-on-one meetings with big telecom lobbyists

Anja Karadeglija 

Meetings that Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission chairman Ian Scott had with lobbyists from big telecom companies – including a one-on-one at an Ottawa pub with the now-CEO of Bell – are further reasons to overturn a recent CRTC decision and fire Scott, a small internet provider told the Liberal government.

© Provided by National Post CRTC Chairman Ian Scott.

TekSavvy has filed a petition to the federal cabinet asking it to reverse the CRTC’s May decision not to lower internet wholesale rates. Critics have said that surprise ruling, in which the CRTC reversed a 2019 decision that lowered rates, will lead to higher internet service prices for Canadians.

MPs on the House of Commons industry committee also weighed in on the decision in a report released this week, saying they were “very frustrated with the CRTC’s decision to cancel the new wholesale rates.”

“The committee questions this change of direction by the CRTC,” it said.

TekSavvy announced Thursday it has filed additional evidence, based on lobbying records, that Scott held “numerous ex parte meetings with litigants with open CRTC files, apparently unaccompanied.”

“In particular, Mr. Scott held at least 11 reported solo meetings with Bell, Rogers or Shaw during the course of the CRTC’s open and active file,” TekSavvy said in a press release.

“Remarkably, at least one of Mr. Scott’s ex parte meetings took place in a social setting, alone, with the CEO of one of the primary litigants in the open file. Mr. Scott met one-on-one with Mirko Bibic, then chief operating officer of Bell (and now CEO) at D’Arcy McGee’s, an Ottawa bar on December 19, 2019.”

TekSavvy, which declined an interview request Friday, is urging the government to fire the CRTC chairman for bias.
Calls for federal government to reverse decision on internet wholesale rates, fire CRTC head
'Boggling' CRTC flip-flop on wholesale internet rates could mean higher prices for consumers: critics

The company pointed out the meeting with Bibic was held a week after the CRTC began the review of its 2019 decision to lower the rates. That review application was part of an effort by the country’s biggest telecom companies to fight the lower rates through every avenue available to them, including the courts and an appeal to cabinet.

Four years ago the Liberal government fired CRTC commissioner Raj Shoan for reasons including meetings with stakeholders who had open files in front of the commission. Shoan later argued in court documents that such meetings are commonplace, and that given some companies file more than a dozen CRTC applications a year, they’d never have a chance to meet with the commission if that rule was followed.

The meetings between Scott and the large telecoms were first reported by the Toronto Star earlier this month. A former CRTC chairman told the Star that when he was at the commission, his practice was to include a third party in meetings with lobbyists, while a former vice-chair said the recommended practice was to have such meetings in the office and have a third party present.

Asked whether the CRTC has any policies about meeting with lobbyists, spokesperson Patricia Valladao said that prior to accepting such meetings, “it is always established by parties that matters that are in front of the commission are not to be discussed.”

“To better understand the Canadian communications industry, CRTC staff and commissioners routinely meet with stakeholders, including consumer groups. These meetings must comply with the reporting obligations set out in the Lobbying Act,” Valladao said in an email.

A Bell spokesperson said Scott’s meeting with Bibic “in the public establishment, a busy and popular meeting place in Ottawa for government officials, public servants and news media,” was registered in the federal lobby registry, with broadcasting as the topic of discussion.

“Meetings between Bell representatives and government officials cover a range of topics including broadcasting and telecom policy, infrastructure development and technology issues. These meetings occur regularly and are registered in the federal lobby registry as required,” the spokesperson said.

In its report on the affordability of telecommunications services released this week, the House industry committee said that during its study, independent ISPs “repeatedly stressed the importance of implementing” the lower wholesale rates “to provide affordable services to their customers and thereby put downward pressure on the price of services offered” by incumbent telecom companies.

It said the decision not to lower rates, alongside a separate CRTC ruling on wireless wholesale access, doesn’t meet “Canadians’ expectations of affordability in the telecommunications sector.”

“They certainly do not advance this objective as much as they should, and the Committee believes that the CRTC should do more to address affordability,” it said.

The committee added the “federal government should intervene to encourage the CRTC to put in place decisions that promote specific objectives, including affordability and accessibility.”

Among 16 recommendations, the committee said the CRTC should set standards for what makes an affordable rate.

“While prices have gone down in recent years, they are still too high for much of the population. The Committee is aware that some people have to choose between buying food and paying their bills for telecommunications services,” the report outlined.

The committee also took aim at the process that has seen the implementation of new CRTC rates drag for years.

It said the government should “issue a directive to encourage the CRTC to revise its process for implementing and appealing new rates so that incumbent telecommunications service providers stop using the appeals process as a delay tactic.”

Pentagon UFO report: 'UAP threaten flight safety, lack a single explanation'

Eric Mack CNET


The US Pentagon report on UFOs finally landed on Friday, and it reveals that all those sightings of bizarre flying things over the years fall into several categories, require more study and remain largely unexplained and unidentified.

© Provided by CNET This still shows the unidentified object tracked by a Navy pilot in 2015 in the "Gimbal" video.

 Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET





"The limited amount of high-quality reporting on unidentified aerial phenomena hampers our ability to draw firm conclusions about the nature or intent of UAP," reads the summary of a report posted online by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shortly before 2 p.m. PT.

"There are probably multiple types of UAP requiring different explanations based on the range of appearances and behaviors described in the available reporting ... UAP clearly pose a safety of flight issue and may pose a challenge to US national security," the summary says.




According to the nine-page document, each report of an UAP would "probably... fall into one of five potential explanatory categories: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, USG or US industry developmental programs, foreign adversary systems, and a catchall 'other' bin."

A few of those categories lead the report authors to highlight potential concerns:

"Safety concerns primarily center on aviators contending with an increasingly cluttered air domain. UAP would also represent a national security challenge if they are foreign adversary collection platforms or provide evidence a potential adversary has developed either a breakthrough or disruptive technology."

Notably, the Department of Defense UAP Task Force reported 11 "documented instances in which pilots reported near misses with a UAP."

Video: U.S. report finds no evidence UFOs were alien spacecraft (CBS News)




The report goes on to say there isn't enough data to determine whether any UAP belong to a potential adversary.

Some hoped the report would include reality-altering revelations, or at least a watershed moment for the UFO truth movement on par with the Roswell crash incident of 1947 (which was a secret military reconnaissance mission rather than an alien craft). This remains to be seen, however.

"I (am) pleasantly surprised with the report," said blogger Mick West, who has been a prominent debunker of alien spacecraft explanations for UAP, on Twitter. "It seems like a generally accurate assessment of the situation."

For years, pilots and other military personnel have encountered strange things in the sky that have come to be called "unidentified aerial phenomena." The change from "UFO" to "UAP" is, in part, a nod to the likelihood that some of the incidents may be explained by technical glitches or environmental phenomena rather than actual tangible objects.

The report begins by acknowledging some UAP may simply be bugs in the system.

"Various forms of sensors that register UAP generally operate correctly and capture enough real data to allow initial assessments, but some UAP may be attributable to sensor anomalies."

But it goes on to conclude that "most of the UAP reported probably do represent physical objects."

As for the Navy videos (known by equipment acronyms like Flir, Gofast and Gimbal) that have been seen millions of times in the media and appear to show some sort of craft moving at high speeds and even seeming to perform physics-defying maneuvers, there's this nod:

"In a limited number of incidents, UAP reportedly appeared to exhibit unusual flight characteristics. These observations could be the result of sensor errors, spoofing, or observer misperception and require additional rigorous analysis."

The report was mandated by a funding bill passed last year. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio added a passage requiring the director of national intelligence to produce a report "on unidentified aerial phenomena (also known as "anomalous aerial vehicles"), including observed airborne objects that have not been identified."

The report is required to be public and also includes a classified annex. Officials previously told The New York Times this addendum doesn't contain any evidence of alien visitation.

The report doesn't resolve humanity's long-standing question about whether we've been visited by aliens, but it doesn't mention E.T. at all, either.

This is a developing story that will be updated...

Pentagon UFO Report Videos Reveal Mysterious Objects That Baffled U.S. Military
Jack Dutton 18 hrs ago


A highly-anticipated Pentagon report on UFOs is due to see the light of day before the end of June

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© U.S. Navy The highly-anticipated Pentagon report will shed more light on some of the incidents recorded by the military over the years.

The report was demanded by Congress after numerous sightings from the U.S. military of vehicles moving through the sky.

UFOs, long dismissed and relegated to movies and science fiction, have begun to shed the farce label in recent years after the release of footage of high-profile U.S. military encounters with aircraft of unknown origin. Although widely anticipated, the Pentagon report isn't likely to yield much conclusive evidence about whether UFOs exist.

The report features 120 incidents involving UFOs examined by Pentagon officials over the last two decades, including three declassified videos that were previously released last April showing "unexplained aerial phenomena."

The videos, released by the Air Force and Navy, show unexplained objects on radar traveling at ultra-fast speeds and performing aerial maneuvres that defy logic and appear to defy physics too.

One shows a small disc-like object speeding across the radar while the other two show a saucer-like object appear to turn over in front of the military aircraft.

However, military leaders have warned that if the technology isn't extra-terrestrial, it may belong to U.S. rivals, such as China or Russia.

A classified version of the report was shared with lawmakers earlier this month. The report is not expected to reveal any groundbreaking revelations about UFOs. The New York Times reported on June 3 that American intelligence officials found no evidence that aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy officials in recent years are alien spacecraft, but the report still cannot explain the odd sightings. Citing anonymous officials, the paper reported that the majority of the report did not originate from any American military or other U.S. government technology, but officials said that the investigation will not likely reach any other firm conclusions on UFOs.

Video: New video raises more UFO questions ahead of Pentagon report release (TODAY)

The Defense Department has been quietly gathering data since 2007 as part of the military's little-known Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. More recently, in June 2020, tucked into the 2021 Intelligence Authorization Act, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) added language requesting that the director of national intelligence and the secretary of defense create a report with "a detailed analysis of unidentified aerial phenomena data and intelligence reporting." Two months later, the Pentagon became more serious about UFOs, and created a task force to investigate the encounters by U.S. military aircraft.

The task force's job is to "detect, analyze and catalog" alien events, and "gain insight" into the "nature and origins" of UFOs, according to the Pentagon.

In May, former Navy pilot Lieutenant Ryan Graves told CBS that his F/A-18F squadron began seeing UFOs hovering over restricted airspace southeast of Virginia Beach in 2014.

He said his pilots see them off the Atlantic Coast all the time. "Every day. Every day for at least a couple years," he said.

The government has mainly ignored UFOs since 1969, when it closed its Project Blue Book investigation. It logged 12,618 UFO sightings between 1947 and 1969.

 A new survey published on Tuesday by market research company Piplsay has found that nearly half of Americans say they are more interested in UFOs and aliens in the wake of new footage that was recently released by the Pentagon, and the promise of more to be released soon. This is a stick image of an artist's rendering of a UFO. ursatii iStock/Getty

AMERIKAN FASCISM
Trump aides drafted order to invoke Insurrection Act during Floyd protests: report

Celine Castronuovo 

Aides to former President Trump last year reportedly drafted an order that would have allowed him to invoke the Insurrection Act amid the ongoing demonstrations and civil unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd

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© UPI Photo Former President Trump addresses the North Carolina Republican Party Convention on June 5

The New York Times reported Friday that according to two senior Trump administration officials, a group of White House staff members prepared the document on June 1, 2020, after Trump had expressed in a meeting with several top officials that he wished to deploy thousands of active-duty troops throughout Washington, D.C., to respond to the protests.

Trump expressed his interest in doing so to then-Attorney General William Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, who all later talked the commander in chief out of the plan, according to The Times.

However, the sources told The Times that some Trump aides went ahead and prepared a draft order just in case Trump decided to go through with invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows the president to deploy U.S. military personnel and National Guard troops throughout the country to quell waves of civil disorder or insurrection.

The act has only been invoked twice in the past 40 years to respond to unrest following Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and in response to the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

One senior administration official told the Times that Trump was aware of the draft document, which was prepared the same day law enforcement agencies forcibly removed protesters from Lafayette Square shortly before Trump crossed the area for a photo-op with a Bible at a nearby church.

The officials also said that Trump continued to propose deploying military troops in the weeks that followed the June 1 demonstrations, including in cities like New York and Portland, Ore., were massive demonstrations against police brutality took place.

However, Trump in a statement to The Times denied that he wanted to deploy troops on U.S. citizens.

"It's absolutely not true and if it was true, I would have done it," Trump reportedly said.

Additionally, a Trump adviser reportedly told The Times that the former president rejected invoking the Insurrection Act when it was proposed by some aides, adding that if he had done so, Trump would have politically "owned the problem."

The Hill has reached out to a Trump representative for comment.

Trump claimed exoneration in the forced clearing of protesters in Lafayette Square after the Department of Interior's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said in a report that while there were failings in law enforcement's responses to the demonstrations, Trump's plans to visit the park did not influence officers' decision to clear it.

A federal judge this week ruled that Barr, as well as current and former officials named in lawsuits regarding the clearing of Lafayette Square, are entitled to qualified immunity over their actions during the June 1, 2020, protests.

Afghans who worked as interpreters for US troops hold rally

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A small group of Afghans who worked as interpreters for the U.S. military rallied on Friday near the American Embassy in Kabul, protesting the red tape that stands in the way of their leaving Afghanistan.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The protest comes amid a push to get Afghan interpreters and others who helped the U.S. out of the country as American and NATO troops complete their pullout. The protesters in Kabul said they are victims of a bureaucratic nightmare as they try to escape abroad.

Many — even those who have not been directly threatened — say they fear for their lives, despite assurances from the Taliban they would not be targeted.

The former interpreters said the situation is increasingly urgent. Many had their special immigration visas approved, only to see them later denied, allegedly because of minor discrepancies in their statements from one interview to another. Others had been denied outright or were approved but were still waiting for the visas.

One of the men, Omid Mahmoodi, said he was not moved by President Joe Biden's promise on Thursday that Afghans who had helped the U.S. military during the last nearly 20 years would not be left behind.

“We think he is lying,” said Mahmoodi, who worked as a translator in 2018 . “Time is running out.”

Lately, it's become evident that the deadline for the last of the 2,500-3,5000 U.S. troops and 7,000 allied NATO soldiers to leave Afghanistan has been accelerated. Biden had said the last of the troops would be home no later than Sept. 11 but it has become increasingly clear that th e last soldiers would be gone from Afghanistan as early as next month.

Hezat Shah, who said he worked as an interpreter in southern Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold, said he risked his life each time he stepped into an armored vehicle with the Americans.

He said he does not trust a Taliban statement from last month that they would not seek revenge against those who worked with the Americans or helped Western interests.

“They are not to be trusted ... they are lying,” said Shah.

Biden faces strong criticism from some Republicans for pulling out of Afghanistan, even though President Donald Trump made the 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw all U.S. forces by May 2021.

The Taliban are today stronger than they have ever been since the 2001 invasion to topple their regime for harboring Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida chief, and have control over roughly half of Afghanistan, mostly rural areas. There is deep insecurity and fear of violence from the Taliban and the many heavily armed U.S.-allied warlords once the U.S. withdraws. Increasing lawlessness and a recent move to resurrect militias to fight a Taliban surge has further fired fears of a violent future for Afghanistan

Later on Friday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chair of the High Council for National Reconciliation, are meeting with Biden at the White House.

As past experience not just from Afghanistan but also Iraq has shown, the vetting process to qualify for a special immigration visa could sometimes takes years, with multiple interviews — and the smallest contradiction from one interview to the next would be enough to disqualify an applicant.

Steve Miska, author of Baghdad Underground Railroad, which tells of the challenges faced by interpreters and their struggles to find a new life in America, said the “bureaucracy is a mess.”

“I don’t think the process was intentionally designed to be self-defeating. However, 9/11 created a hypervigilant U.S. response to terrorism,” Miska said in an email to The Associated Press. “The good intentions of the disparate intelligence community has created an extremely challenging process."

Mohammad Shoaib Walizada, who applied for his visa in 2012, was at first accepted but then rejected, said that in one interview he mentioned having three cousins, and later erroneously changed the figure. Mahmoodi, the other interpreter, said he mentioned an uncle and claimed he forgot to mention the uncle's death in a subsequent interview, and was disqualified.

“Then they say you are lying, but I just didn't remember,” said Mahmoodi.

Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press

Lawmakers, advocates demand details on Afghan evacuation plan

BY REBECCA BEITSCH AND REBECCA KHEEL - 06/26/21 THE HILL

© Getty Images


President Biden’s plan to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghans who assisted U.S. military efforts in the country has left lawmakers and advocates with a number of unanswered questions as time dwindles amid the U.S. withdrawal.

The White House confirmed Thursday it would evacuate former interpreters, drivers and others along with their families to third countries to shield them from danger in Afghanistan while completing what can be a years-long process of reviewing applications for so-called Special Immigration Visas (SIVs).

But even those who have pushed the administration to execute that massive-scale evacuation say officials have been short on details about when, where and how it will take place.


“There are many outstanding questions, including which applicants would be prioritized for evacuation, how we would get them out of the country, where we would send them, how much it would cost and where the money to come from, just to name a few. And that doesn’t even mention the clock that is ticking on our time on the ground,” House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said in a statement to The Hill.

“I appreciate the Biden Administration’s intention to evacuate as many SIV applicants as possible – which I have been calling them to do for months – but that doesn’t mean much until they put words to action. They need to start answering some of these basic questions if we are to believe they will actually follow through,” he added.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that a group of SIV applicants will be relocated before the withdrawal is officially completed in September but declined to provide specific details such as where they will be sent or how many people will be evacuated.

“Some of this we’re not going to be able to outline for security reasons,” she said.

Since the Biden administration announced plans to withdraw from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, it has faced calls to speed processing of the 18,000 Afghans who have already applied for SIVs along with another 53,000 family members seeking to accompany them to the U.S.

But the urgency of those calls has escalated as the military looks likely to largely wrap-up its withdrawal in July — and amid U.S. intelligence agency reports that Afghanistan’s current government could fall to the Taliban in as little as six months once America leaves.


Further complicating the issue, Afghanistan is in the midst of a devastating COVID-19 wave that prompted the U.S. Embassy in Kabul to lock down and suspend visa processing.

Experts are worried the lack of military presence could hinder the evacuation, particularly if the withdrawal takes away the option of moving Afghans on military planes.

And immigration advocates are pressing the government to send evacuated Afghans to a U.S. territory such as Guam, fearful they could spend years in limbo in a third country while their applications are processed with little recourse or access to the U.S. asylum system if they are denied.

The 14-point application process can take as long as 800 days to process, and Sunil Varghese, policy director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, said SIV seekers are often held up as the government works to verify employment — an effort complicated by factors including poor record keeping throughout the war and even kidnapping of people’s former supervisors.

“There's a big question as to what happens to someone who is evacuated and then stuck in this years-long process, and what happens if they’re denied in error or forced to reapply,” Varghese said.

“If they’re in American territory they have access to humanitarian protections through immigration court or elsewhere where there are other protection pathways,” he added, including applying for asylum. “We don't know what that looks like if they are taken to a third country.”

Guam has a history of accepting evacuees, taking in 130,000 Vietnamese in 1975 and 6,600 Iraqis in 1996.

“It’s quick; it's one international flight; it has the infrastructure; it has the historical knowledge to do this, and frankly there is a lot of access to legal resources Afghans are going to need,” said Chris Purdy, program manager of Veterans for American Ideals at Human Rights First.

Lawmakers from both parties have also been pushing the so-called “Guam Option.”

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a Marine Corps veteran who has been advocating for sending Afghan interpreters to Guam, praised the decision to evacuate them, but said “it is far from the final chapter” and called on the administration to release a detailed plan.

“It’s clearly long overdue today, so we need to start immediately, and we have not yet seen a timeline from the administration,” Moulton said at a news conference Thursday.

Asked Friday if the congressman was briefed on any more details since his comments, his office told The Hill it had yet to see a “detailed operational plan.”


U.S. military officers have stressed that American forces have the capability to evacuate Afghans if ordered to, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley telling lawmakers this week that “we are prepared to execute whatever we are directed” and that he considers it a “moral imperative” to help the Afghan allies.

But the Pentagon had few details on the evacuation Thursday and suggested U.S. military assets may not end up being used.

“Not all such evacuation operations require military aircraft to conduct,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a briefing. “It's not like we haven't done this before using chartered aircraft, commercially leased aircraft or contracted aircraft.”

Stressing that the State Department is in the lead on the initiative and that planning is still underway, Kirby also did not have answers on how many Afghans will be relocated, where they will go, cost estimates, a timeline or whether the Pentagon would provide supplies such as food and water to care for the evacuees.

“We understand that for many of them there is a physical risk. We're mindful of that,” he said. “We're mindful of the uncertainty that many of them have about their own futures. We are also mindful of our obligation, our responsibility to try to help them to the degree we can. And we're doing that, and we're working on that very hard.”

Advocates have estimated that if the U.S. relies on chartered flights for the evacuation it would need to run four or five 300-person flights per day in order to evacuate 70,000 people before the Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline.


But beyond flights, experts fear deteriorating conditions across the country will become even more dangerous for evacuees without a U.S. military presence.

“The safety situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating rapidly. The reports coming out of the country is that the Taliban is taking over huge swaths of the country, especially in the north, and preventing escape routes,” Varghese said.

“You’re forcing the applicant to carry all this proof with them that they worked for us, which in itself is dangerous,” he added.

Lawmakers have for months been calling on the State Department to speed visa processing, introducing bills to cut some red tape and add anywhere from 4,000 to 20,000 visas to the program.

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) on the Senate floor Thursday called for a paperwork surge, noting the disparity in the hundreds of days it takes to process a visa versus the 90 remaining days the U.S. will remain in Afghanistan.

“There's a mismatch there. We've got to take steps to protect these people,” he said.


“The Taliban has made no secret of the fact that they are in grave danger,” King added. “They have already started killing them. If we leave without providing for the safety of those people, providing them a way to maintain their lives, it will be a stain on this country that will exist for generations.”

Roughly 650 troops to stay in Afghanistan after withdrawal: report

Advocates have similarly echoed frustration, confused by why a plan to evacuate those who assisted the U.S. is coming so late in the process.

“Why did you wait so long? Why wasn't this part of the plan for the withdrawal?” Purdy asked.

“That's just a question that — it weighs on a lot of us in this community. We’ve been saying this for the last four months, and it's been crickets.”

Everything you need to know about Subway's rise and fall, including a franchisee revolt, sale rumors, and more

ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor,Nancy Luna) 

 A closer look at Subway's history and its plummeting sales. Peter Summers/Getty Images

Subway is the largest chain in the US, having long leapfrogged industry giants such as McDonald's.
But after the death of its cofounder Fred DeLuca in 2015, Subway has taken a turn for the worse.
Insider's on top of the developments, so here's what you need to know about the ongoing Subway saga.

After the death of Fred DeLuca, Subway's cofounder and CEO, in 2015, the sandwich chain went into a tailspin marred by mounting store closures and sinking sales - in stark contrast to the chain's heyday when it benefited from consumers' desire for healthier fast-food options.

Insider has reported that former executives and franchisees believed that Subway overexpanded and struggled to stay relevant, in part because of a muddled vision for the future of the company. With no real succession plan put in place for DeLuca, the company floundered under new leadership, including DeLuca's sister, Suzanne Greco.

Over the past few months, life at Subway has been further marked by chaos and conspiracy, including the increase in franchise startup fees and the downsizing of staff under the leadership of John Chidsey, the former chief executive of Burger King who became the CEO of Subway in November 2019.

Under Chidsey, Subway has laid off upwards of 500 corporate staffers, closed hundreds of stores, and frustrated franchisees who struggled to turn a profit.

Changes have led to feuds with hundreds of franchisees, heated internal debates about the company's direction, and some consideration of whether a sale should be in the privately held brand's future.

Insider is on top of all the developments going on at Subway. The following covers everything you need to know about the latest happenings at the chain.
Rumors are swirling that Chidsey is setting Subway up for a sale

Chidsey's role in spearheading Burger King's sale to 3G Capital in 2010 has helped fuel industry chatter that Subway is trying to sell itself. Restaurant Brands International and Inspire Brands - the parent companies of Burger King and Arby's, respectively - are believed to have sniffed around Subway to weigh the pros and cons of a potential acquisition, an industry expert said. But Subway insists that it's not for sale.

Read more: Rumors are flying that Subway is up for sale as the distressed sandwich chain lays off hundreds to cut costs and abandons franchisees

Read more: Insiders are buzzing about Subway's attempts to sell itself to Arby's or Burger King's parent companies

Subway franchisees are furious about changes coming from corporate

Subway is the largest chain by location in America, having leapfrogged industry giants Starbucks and McDonald's years ago.

DeLuca once hooked entrepreneurs, many of them immigrant families, with historically cheap fast-food franchise startup costs. The reasonable fees allowed franchisees to invest in multiple stores and be put on a fast track toward becoming millionaires.

But after years of declining sales and store closures - and dealing with the devastating effects of a pandemic - franchisees have found themselves at odds with leadership. The chain closed 1,882 stores in the US in 2020. Franchise disclosure documents for 2021 also said Subway has raised the startup investment costs for new franchisees. Also, franchisees whose contracts were up for renewal were presented a new contract that forces them to choose between higher royalty fees or tighter restrictions on how they run their stores.

Read more: Subway's 'dirt cheap' startup costs for franchisees just increased by thousands even as the company's unit count declined by 1,600

Read more: Subway franchisees say a new contract forces them to sign away their ability to criticize the struggling chain

Insiders say internal battles have been raging for years

Franchisees and employees have been complaining about Subway's inability to keep up with trends and its footprint expansion cannibalizing sales for years. Many of these problems, insiders said, can be tied back to DeLuca, who led Subway from its founding in 1965 until 2015.

Insider reported that those close to DeLuca knew him to be extraordinarily hands-on and dedicated to Subway. But, they said, he made certain strategic mistakes, such as expanding too aggressively, and refused to believe others could do the job as well as he could. Today, the sandwich empire is owned by two secretive billionaires, who insiders said have been unable to turn the chain around.

Read more: Subway cofounder Fred DeLuca ruled the company like a demigod and pursued wives of franchisees. How one man sent the world's biggest fast-food chain into a tailspin.

Read more: 'Subway is dying': Battles at HQ are killing the world's largest fast-food chain - and many franchisees are turning against the CEO

Read more: Inside the 2 secretive billionaire families that own Subway, as they face backlash from furious franchisees

Read the original article on Business Insider

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M
South African regulator says it's powerless over suspected $3.6 billion bitcoin scam, as crypto is out of its reach

hrobertson@businessinsider.com (Harry Robertson) 

© Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images Bitcoin replica coins are seen on November 13, 2017 Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

South Africa's regulator said it's powerless to act on a suspected $3.6 billion bitcoin scam.

Two brothers who founded Africrypt appear to have gone missing, along with bitcoin worth billions.

South Africa's FSCA said the company appears to be a Ponzi scheme designed to defraud investors.

South Africa's financial services regulator has said it can't take any action over a suspected scam that lawyers say has caused as much as $3.6 billion worth of bitcoin to go missing.

The country's Financial Sector Conduct Authority said Thursday that Africrypt, the company linked to the lost holdings, looks like a Ponzi scheme set up to defraud investors.

Yet the FSCA said that as cryptocurrencies are not regulated financial products or services in South Africa, it is powerless to do anything in this case.

"At this stage we have only found evidence of crypto asset transactions," it said in a statement. "Currently crypto assets are not regulated in terms of any financial sector law in South Africa and consequently the FSCA is not in a position to take any regulatory action."

Africrypt was created by brothers Ameer and Raees Cajee in 2019, and based in Johannesburg in South Africa.

According to a police statement seen by Bloomberg, the company promised high returns of up to five times principal investments.

Yet Hanekom Attorneys, the lawyers for the affected investors, now say that the brothers - and as much as $3.6 billion of bitcoin - have vanished, in what they describe as a "heist". Insider was unable to contact the crypto company, whose website is down.

The FSCA said: "This entity was offering exceptionally high and unrealistic returns akin to those offered by unlawful investment schemes commonly known as Ponzi's."

"The public is urged to understand that unrealistically high returns suggests that the investment scheme is likely to be fraudulent," it added.

Africrypt's apparent closure, and the inability of regulators to deal with it, raises fresh concerns about the safety of cryptocurrency investments around the world.

Crypto markets are currently largely unregulated. Watchdogs have routinely warned that investors should be prepared to lose all their money.

NRC SIXTIES SCI FI  
Canadian hyperloop company says ultra-high-speed travel between Calgary and Edmonton is feasible

Lucie Edwardson 

CBC

© Radio-Canada/TransPod Hyperloop Canadian hyperloop company TransPod says it expects to have private funding secured for the first portion of an ultra-high-speed transportation line between Calgary and Edmonton by the end of the year.

Canadian hyperloop company TransPod has completed a feasibility study of the implementation of an ultra-high-speed transportation line between Calgary and Edmonton.

The company says it expects to have private funding secured for the first portion of the line by the end of the year.

TransPod's ultimate goal is to have Albertans shuttling between Calgary and Edmonton in train-like pods — at speeds up to 1,000 kilometres an hour — through magnetic tubes.

In August 2020, Toronto-based TransPod announced it had inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the province that supported the company — but offered no funding — in further studying the feasibility of the technology in Alberta, sharing transportation data and identifying suitable land for a test track.

On Friday, the company released the findings from the feasibility study. It said initial investment proposals for a total amount of $1 billion have been shared with the government.

TransPod co-founder and CEO Sebastian Gendron said the completion of the study moved the project into the next phase of investment and research and development.

"The next step is securing — so we have two proposals for half a billion to finance those first 20 kilometres and we must confirm that before the end of this year," he said.

"Then we'll start the process of looking at the land acquisition or land agreements between the Edmonton airport and the city and public consultation, construction permits and environmental assessments."

© Tony Seskus/CBC Sebastien Gendron, co-founder and CEO of Transpod, a Canadian hyperloop company.

In total, the feasibility study has forecast the project to cost an estimated $22.4 billion, or $45.1 million per kilometre along roughly 350 kilometre of unique track.

It also forecasts an additional cost of $6.7 billion for fixed infrastructure-like stations.

In 2020, the company estimated that to build the full line it would cost between $6 billion and $10 billion, but Gendron said the new cost analysis includes land acquisition costs.

Study findings indicate hyperloop transportation between the two cities would help reduce the province's carbon emissions by 636,000 tonnes per year.

Alberta Transportation Minister Ric McIver said Alberta has a history of innovation and entrepreneurial enterprise.

"That's why we're excited TransPod's feasibility study points toward a possible safe and clean ultra-high-speed passenger and cargo link between Calgary and Edmonton," he said in an emailed statement.

The company hopes to have a test track constructed and complete high speed tests from 2022 to 2027, with construction of the full inter-city line between Edmonton and Calgary to begin in 2025.

"The option of Red Deer was considered, however it would be adding an additional billion to the infrastructure cost," said Gendron.

A release from the company claims the project "will create up to 140,000 jobs" but its full study explains that number was arrived at by multiplying annual "full-time equivalent" positions over a period of nine years.

"In Alberta, over 140,000 FTE-years worth of jobs are expected to be created, or an average of 15,556 per year over the nine year period," the study says.

Just under half of those "FTE-years" would be "direct," according to the study; the remainder would be "indirect" or "induced" jobs from anticipated economic spin-off effects

.

© CBC Transportation Minister Ric McIver said he's encouraged to see a project like this come forward with private funding.

"The objective is really to make this project as inclusive as possible and to address any concerns," said Gendron.

"We already started to reach out to some some of the First Nations, for example, and we're working with the Building Trades of Edmonton to make it happen and create jobs."

McIver said it's encouraging to see a project like this brought forward and financed with private capital.

"Since day one, Alberta's government has been focused on making our province the most attractive place in North America for innovators and the incredible opportunities they bring. That work is paying off."

Tickets on the ultra-high-speed hyperloop would cost riders around $90 for an economy ticket and up to $150 for business class tickets.

A one-way trip would take about 45 minutes. It would carry a mix of passengers and cargo.

THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA DEVELOPED A PROJECTED HYPERLOOP SYSTEM AS EARLY AS 1960

Doctors Without Borders

Aid group MSF 'horrified' as colleagues murdered in Ethiopia

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Friday it was “horrified by the brutal murder” of three colleagues in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the latest attack on humanitarian workers helping civilians in the deadly conflict there.

A statement by the aid group, also known by its French acronym MSF, said two Ethiopian colleagues and one from Spain were found dead Friday, a day after colleagues lost contact with them while they were traveling.

“This morning the vehicle was found empty and a few meters away, their lifeless bodies,” the statement said.

“We condemn this attack on our colleagues in the strongest possible terms and will be relentless in understanding of what happened,“ MSF added, calling it “unthinkable” that the three — emergency coordinator Maria Hernandez, assistant coordinator Yohannes Halefom Reda and driver Tedros Gebremariam Gebremichael — paid for their work with their lives.

In a statement, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry expressed condolences for the deaths it said occurred in the town of Abi Addi, and it suggested that Tigray fighters were to blame. It also called for military escorts — a thorny issue for many aid groups because Ethiopian forces, like all sides in the conflict, have been accused of abuses.

Another MSF team was attacked in March after witnessing Ethiopian soldiers pulling men off two public buses and shooting them dead. Soldiers beat the MSF driver and threatened to kill him, the aid group said at the time.

This latest attack occurred amid some of the fiercest fighting in Tigray since the conflict began in November. This week Ethiopia's military acknowledged carrying out an airstrike on a busy market in Tigray that health workers said killed several dozen civilians. The military claimed it was targeting combatants.

Ethiopian soldiers detained six victims of the airstrike en route to a hospital and three were later released, a regional health official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The three who are still being detained — two women and a 15 year-old boy — were not receiving medical care, said the official who added, “this is very desperate.” It's unclear why they're held.

The conflict in Tigray has been deeply challenging for humanitarian workers who have pleaded for better access to the region since the fighting began, with Ethiopian forces backed by ones from neighboring Eritrea pursuing Tigray’s former leaders.

At least 12 aid workers have now been killed since the conflict began.

Death by starvation is another looming crisis in Tigray. On Friday the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, tweeted that “terrifying” new findings show that up to 900,000 people in the region now face famine conditions, “with millions more at risk.”

The United Nations on Thursday warned that at least 33,000 children in inaccessible parts of Tigray “are severely malnourished and face imminent death without immediate help.”

Meanwhile, Ethiopia awaits the results of Monday's national election, the first test at the polls for Abiy who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. a year after taking office. He now stands accused by critics of backsliding on political reforms.

Abiy's government has said the election would be the first free and fair one in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country. But on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the vote “was not free or fair for all Ethiopians,” citing opposition boycotts, detentions of political leaders and insecurity in various parts of the country.

The statement also called for a cease-fire in Tigray and the withdrawal of Eritrean forces, who have been accused by witnesses of atrocities including gang-rapes and massacres.

In separate statement Friday, the European Union and 12 countries including Britain and Japan described “problematic conditions” regarding Monday's election and urged a national dialogue to de-escalate conflict.

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Cara Anna, The Associated Press