Intel agencies: No link to ‘Havana syndrome’ among US adversaries

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence agencies cannot link a foreign adversary to any of the incidents associated with so-called Havana syndrome, the hundreds of cases of brain injuries and other symptoms reported by American personnel around the world.

The findings released Wednesday by U.S. intelligence officials cast doubt on the longstanding suspicions by many people who reported cases that Russia or another country may have been running a global campaign to harass or attack Americans using some form of directed energy.

Most of the cases investigated appear to have different causes, from environmental factors to undiagnosed illnesses, said the officials, who say they have not found a single explanation for most or all of the reports.

Instead, officials say, there is evidence that foreign countries were not involved. In some cases, the U.S. detected among adversarial governments confusion about the allegations and suspicions that Havana syndrome was an American plot. And investigators found “no credible evidence” that any adversary had obtained a weapon that could cause the reported symptoms or a listening device that might inadvertently injure people.

President Joe Biden in 2021 signed into law the HAVANA Act, which provided compensation to people deemed to have sustained injuries consistent with what the government calls “anomalous health incidents.”

Affected people have reported headaches, dizziness and other symptoms often linked to traumatic brain injuries. Some U.S. employees have left government due to the severity of their illnesses.

Two officials familiar with the assessment briefed reporters Wednesday on condition of anonymity, under ground rules set by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.

Investigators reviewed roughly 1,500 cases in 96 countries. Many of those cases, officials said, have been linked to other potential explanations aside from a foreign campaign: medical illnesses, malfunctioning air conditioning and ventilation systems, or electromagnetic waves coming from benign devices like a computer mouse. And some people may have come forward to report symptoms based on what they had heard about other cases or the exhaustive media reports about Havana syndrome, officials said.

NYPD settlement: New York City has agreed to pay several million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by protesters who say they were assaulted, abused and trapped by police using a technique known as “kettling” at a demonstration in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

In court papers late Tuesday, the city said it will pay $21,500 to each of at least 200 protesters who were detained, arrested or met with force by police during a June 4, 2020, protest in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood.

The city said it will also pay $21,500 per plaintiff for legal costs and an extra $2,500 to protesters who were given court appearance tickets, meaning the bill from the class-action lawsuit could be close to $10 million or more. A judge must still approve the settlement.

In the Mott Haven protest, the NYPD was criticized for kettling protesters, essentially trapping them.

At least 61 people were hurt, with injuries including a broken nose, lost tooth, sprained shoulder, broken finger, split lip, black eyes and bruises.

Iran school poisonings: Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday ordered authorities to investigate a series of incidents in which noxious fumes have sickened students at girls’ schools, which some officials suspect are attacks targeting women’s education.

Hundreds of girls at around 30 schools have been sickened since November, with some winding up in hospital beds. Officials initially dismissed the incidents, only acknowledging the scope of the crisis in recent days.

Children have complained about headaches, heart palpitations, feeling lethargic or otherwise unable to move. Some described smelling tangerines, chlorine or cleaning agents.

Unlike neighboring Afghanistan, Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting girls’ education.

Nigeria election: Election officials declared Bola Tinubu the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election Wednesday, keeping the ruling party in power in Africa’s most populous nation and raising the specter of protests by opposition supporters who already have called for the vote to be voided.

Tinubu, 70, the former governor of Lagos state, appealed for reconciliation with his rivals in a pre-dawn victory speech in the capital, Abuja. The running mate of one opposition candidate, though, signaled a court challenge was imminent.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and one of the continent’s top oil producers, has seen deadly violence erupt after previous presidential elections.

Tinubu received only 37% of the vote and would be Nigeria’s first president to take office with less than 50%, analysts say.

UK royal rift: Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, have been asked to vacate their home in Britain, suggesting a further fraying of ties with the royal family amid preparations for the coronation of his father, King Charles III.

Frogmore Cottage, on the grounds of Windsor Castle west of London, had been intended as the couple’s main residence before they gave up royal duties and moved to Southern California. The Sun newspaper reported that Charles started the eviction process Jan. 11, the day after the publication of Harry’s explosive memoir “Spare.”

Disclosures Harry made in “Spare” deepened the rift between him and his family. The book included his account of private conversations with his father and his brother, Prince William.

Michigan State shootings: Public access to most buildings at Michigan State University will be restricted at night, the school announced Wednesday, one in a series of security steps in response to the February shootings that killed three students and wounded five more.

Students, faculty and staff will need to use their campus ID cards to gain electronic access to buildings between 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. on weekdays starting March 13, officials said. There will be exceptions for events typically open to the general public.

Michigan State plans to make it possible to lock 1,300 classrooms from the inside by the fall semester. Students, faculty and staff will also be required to complete “active violence intruder training” next fall.

A gunman shot eight students after 8 p.m. Feb. 13. Two students were killed at an academic building, Berkey Hall, while another was slain at the MSU Union, a gathering place for students and the public. Both remain closed.

The shooter, Anthony McRae, 43, later killed himself away from campus, police said.