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Forget aerobars: Ars tries out an entire aerobike | Ars Technica
Tuesday May 14^th, 2024 at 1:06 AM

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My brain registered that I was clearly cycling. My feet were clipped in to pedals, my legs were turning crank arms, and the arms were linked via a chain to one of the wheels. But pretty much everything else about the experience felt wrong on a fundamental, almost disturbing level.

I could produce a long list of everything my mind was struggling to deal with, but two things stand out as I think back on the experience. The first is that, with the exception of my face, I didn't feel the air flow over me as the machine surged forward down a slight slope. The second, related to the first, is that there was no indication that the surge would ever tail off if I didn't hit the brakes.

Living the dream

My visit with a velomobile was, in some ways, a chance to reconnect with a childhood dream. I've always had a fascination with vehicles that don't require fuel, like bicycles and sailboats. And during my childhood, the popular press was filled with stories about people setting human-powered speed records by putting aerodynamic fiberglass shells on recumbent bicycles. In the wake of the 1970s oil crises, I imagined a time when the roads might be filled with people cycling these pods for their commutes or covering long distances thanks to a cooler filled with drinks and snacks tucked in the back of the shell.

But the pods seemed to vanish from public consciousness as I got older, and I also learned that recumbent bikes are absolutely terrible on hills, which I'm now fond of climbing. The dreams had faded from my awareness when a reader, in response to one of our e-bike reviews, suggested I check out a velomobile. It turns out that my dreams weren't dead; they had just relocated to Europe without mentioning it to me.

Velomobiles are a product category with a variety of designs and manufacturers producing them, most of them based in Europe. They're also the fiberglass pods of my youth updated to current standards. Gone is the weight of fiberglass, and the one-off, hand-made hardware has been replaced by standardized models that have gone through refinements across generations. Safety features like lights, directionals, and mirrors are now standard.

But the prices, while not exorbitant (mostly in the $8,000–$10,000 range—for bicycles; you can pay more for far less carbon fiber), mean that living my childhood dream really wasn't an option. The European Union-based companies don't seem to have any agreements with US bike shops that would let me check one out in a showroom; I've heard of only two dealers in the US that keep velomobiles in stock, and neither is anywhere close to me. Fortunately, that didn't preclude the option of trying one. One major vendor of velomobiles, Romania's Velomobile World, has an ambassadors program, where people agree to let potential buyers take test rides in return for a discount on purchases.

That's how I found myself setting out for a short spin near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border in a Velomobile Bülk owned by Marc Rosen, who also fielded a lot of my questions about the hardware.

Page 2

A velomobile is typically a tricycle with two forward wheels and one in the rear (there's at least one four-wheel design). This adds stability that's critical for two reasons. The first is that there's a lot of flat surface to catch crosswinds, which could potentially topple a two-wheeled version over. The second, as mentioned earlier, is that these things are terrible on climbs since you can't force your entire body weight down on the pedals. Rosen said the three-wheeler's stability allows him to crawl up hills in an extremely low gear at a pace that might be slow enough to cause a two-wheeled bike to fall over.

The tricycle itself is a fairly standard recumbent setup, with the cranks in front and slightly above the seat, which can be adjusted for different riders' legs. The cranks typically have two chainrings and drive a chain that runs under the seat and to the rear axle, where there's a standard derailleur. Rosen went for internal gearing on his. Hardware called a Schlumpf Drive allows him to shift between two gearings with a flick of his heel: either a direct drive from the full 65-tooth crank ring or a gearing that reduces the effective crank ring by a factor of 2.5, which is better for handling hills.

On the Bülk, all of this hardware is accessible from the exterior via carbon fiber panels held in place by velcro. To avoid the weight, lack of aerodynamics, and complexity of hinges and latches, the Bülk uses velcro extensively.

It's typically recommended that you replace bike chains every 2,500 miles or so. But Rosen said that having a chain that's far more protected from the environment extends the lifetime of velomobile chains considerably—many riders don't find chain wear becomes extensive until 10,000 miles or more. That's probably a good thing, as the distance between the cranks and rear derailleur requires three traditional bike chains linked together.

While many of the existing models place some wheels in wells, on the Bülk, they're all fully encased. But the axle doesn't extend through the wheel, so it's possible to change tires and tubes simply by working your way around the wheel while operating on the small portion that extends below the bottom of the velomobile. Rosen said he typically flips his velomobile on the side on some grass, but he knows of other riders who carry blankets in the cargo space behind the rider. He also said that, in some of the company's earlier models, this cargo space is large enough to carry two spare wheels that can be swapped in if needed.

While the Bülk isn't an e-bike, it does have an electrical system. A rechargeable battery powers headlights, directionals, and tail lights (the precise details of many of these systems are user-configurable at purchase). Also reminiscent of powered vehicles: side-view mirrors on either side of the body. There's even a ventilation system, with an intake just under the nose in front leading to a vent pointed straight at the rider. The hood that covers the rider also has a vent that can be lowered to increase the airflow. After cooling you off, the air exits vents at the back.

All of this is encased in an extremely thin carbon fiber shell. In some ways, getting into the velomobile is like lowering yourself into a bathtub, except you need to be careful about only placing your feet where there's some structural support. The fit is also very snug; I couldn't lower my shoulders directly into the machine and had to duck them under the edge one at a time.

We also weren't certain that my knees would have clearance under the hood, even though it's shaped to specifically allow them a bit of space (I'm over 6 feet/190 cm tall, and much of that height is in my legs). There were some issues with my relatively large feet (US size 12/EU 46) hitting the shell as I pedaled; the cranks had three places to thread pedals in, so this could have been solved by moving the pedals inward.

The payoff for all that awkwardness? Aerodynamics. By the time a cyclist hits about 40 km/hr (25 mph), about 90 percent of the energy being put into the bicycle goes into overcoming the wind resistance. Get rid of much of that and it's possible to power yourself to some mind-blowing speeds. Compared to record-setting aero cycles, a velomobile gives up just a bit of aerodynamic efficiency for a massive dose of user-friendliness.

Page 3

So what's it like to ride one of these things? Despite having done so, I don't think I can offer a fair description. Nearly everything about the ride is different from my normal cycling experiences, and it's a lot to process all at once. For starters, the ground clearance on the Bülk isn't that substantial, so I tried to be very conscious of the pavement quality and avoid areas where the machine might bottom out.

This required using the steering, called a "tank" configuration, after the treaded vehicles. Two grips are at the end of short poles nestled up against the left and right side of the shell; pulling back on one turns the bike in that direction. This is also where the brake handles live, and one has a toggle switch that works the directionals.

Getting comfortable with the steering and brakes also competed with my brain's attempts to process the different sensations, as I mentioned above. One of the big sources of wind resistance that cyclists face is their own body; feeling the wind rushing over your shins is as much a part of the experience as feeling it on your face. And, well, it's not part of the velomobile experience. Having skipped the hood, I at least got a bit of a breeze on the upper part of my face, but it's possible to eliminate it entirely.

And then there's the speed. What really stood out was a slight down slope—one that was barely perceptible pedaling back up in the opposite direction. On one of my normal bikes, without pedaling, I'd probably accelerate a bit until the slope and wind resistance offset each other. In the velomobile, there was no indication that the wind resistance would ever slow things down—I'd run out of slope first. I had to hit the brakes simply because I didn't have confidence in my steering skills.

I fully expect that with more experience with the controls, I'd feel less burdened with figuring everything out and could simply enjoy the good aspects of what appeared to be a very well-made machine. But that would take some time.

Who’s this for?

The area where Rosen lives is pretty hilly, so he recommended a very short out-and-back. But the experience was enticing enough to leave me interested in taking him up on his offer to meet up when he takes his machines to someplace flat over the summer. I'd like to do a long enough ride to get comfortable with the practicalities of riding and focus more on the experience.

Would I want one myself? To an extent, I'm not the typical user. Scroll through the stories of the people who serve as velomobile ambassadors and you'll find a repeated theme: injuries that made using a traditional bicycle impossible, which forced dedicated cyclists onto recumbents. Later came the discovery of the velomobile as a better form of recumbent. (Rosen fits this description perfectly, with back problems relegating him to recumbents until the day a group of velomobiles blew past him during an organized ride.) The option to fully enclose the cabin also makes them appealing for people who ride in a variety of weather conditions—especially the cold and rain.

But they're clearly not for everyone. One major barrier is the high price—$10,000 is a lot to spend on an "every now and then" machine. You'll want to ensure your velomobile will get a lot of use, and that's not likely to be the case if it's just an addition to an existing stable.

Also, getting what I want out of cycling on a velomobile (meaning a few hours pushing pedals) would require a pretty long trip, which would be hard to do without spending time on some heavily trafficked roads. And that is tough to get enthused about, given my general lack of trust in drivers. Despite all the lights on the velomobile, I feel less confident that drivers would be fully aware of me compared to how I feel when I'm on my regular bicycle and positioned at eye level with them.

Would I like to see velomobiles take off, though? Absolutely. I still like my childhood visions of roads filled with human-powered commute machines. And this is the closest thing I've ever seen to that.

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"It turns out that my dreams weren't dead; they had just relocated to Europe without mentioning it to me."

Earth, Sol system, Western spiral arm

My life as a Chinese spy: Secret police agent tells all - ABC News
Tuesday May 14^th, 2024 at 12:55 AM

For the first time ever, an undercover agent for China's secret police steps out of the shadows to tell all about where he's been and who he's been targeting.

On a bitterly cold winter morning in China last year, a man who'd spent more than a decade working as a spy for the notorious secret police decided to flee his homeland.

"I spent most of the time in the airport's bathroom, worried that secret police would find out my plan," he recalls.

The man – who goes by the name Eric – was no stranger to operating undercover.

As an agent for the Political Security Protection Bureau, or 1st Bureau – a secret unit of China's Ministry of Public Security – he'd been involved in missions to surveil, abduct and silence targets around the world since 2008, including in Australia.

This mission, though – to quit – would be his most dangerous.

After landing on Australian soil last year, he walked into ASIO headquarters in Canberra and revealed who he was.

Now, the 39-year-old is divulging the secrets he's been guarding for years, at great risk to himself, to expose what he says is one of the most feared parts of China's intelligence apparatus.

"It is the darkest department of the Chinese government," he says.

"The bureau – they're a bit like the KGB, the Stasi and the Gestapo."

After arriving in Australia, Eric also contacted the ABC and began to explain his predicament.

His story sounded unbelievable, but he seemed determined.

"The Communist Party shaped me into an enemy who is committed to the fight against it," he says in one message.

"Without it, I am just a young man who likes to read books, play games, love animals, and occasionally write poetry."

Eric shared hundreds of secret documents, text and voice messages, and bank records that he'd gathered over the years, and after weeks of complex negotiations, he agreed to an interview.

It is the first time anyone from the secret police has spoken publicly.

Sitting in an empty warehouse with a Simpsons T-shirt just visible under his green jacket, Eric is nervous, but he says:

"I believe the public has the right to know this secret world."

The recruitment

Eric says he was always going to end up turning his back on China.

As a 22-year-old university student obsessed with Western democracy, he says he joined the US-founded China Social Democratic Party in 2007.

He was unaware he was under police surveillance.

After sharing information about the party's annual meeting on social media, police came knocking at his door.

"They told me, 'Get dressed and follow us. You know what you've done'," Eric says.

He was taken from his home, interrogated over several days in a small room inside a local police station, and forced to sign a document confessing to his 'crime' of opposing the Chinese government.

Threatened with jail time, he was offered a second chance.

That was the moment his world as he knew it ended, and his double life as a reluctant spy for China's covert system of repression began.

"They forced me to work for them … I didn't have a choice."

For 15 years, Eric would be assigned to a series of secret police handlers who directed him to infiltrate pro-democracy organisations and hunt down dissidents that were now Chinese government targets.

As a dissident himself, Eric had the perfect cover story. In 2016 he was invited to a gathering of activists in India's Dharamshala, home of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

There, he met with the Dalai Lama.

Eric filed a report to his handler detailing the exiled government's confidential future China policy. It was well received.

The secret police now trusted him to work internationally, and he was rewarded with higher stakes missions to help ensnare high-profile opponents living abroad.

One of them was right here in Australia.

The YouTuber

In 2018, Eric was ordered to hunt down Edwin Yin, a YouTuber who has been deeply critical of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Edwin wrote a book alleging Xi has four illegitimate sons, and also published a video ridiculing his daughter.

He fled China for Australia in 2018.

Eric's handlers communicated with him via encrypted social messaging apps including Potato Chat and Ant Messager.

Four Corners is not naming Eric's handlers to protect his safety.

Handler: [Edwin] Yin … born in 1982, from Shengzhou, Zhejiang … He fled to Thailand, Singapore and other places, and is now in Australia.

Handler: Use Twitter or other channels to get closer to him.

Handler: Lure him to South-East Asia.

Eric: Okay, Brother.

When Four Corners met with Edwin to share what it had found, he was living in a campervan, moving from place to place.

He already suspected he had been under surveillance by the Chinese state and didn't feel safe.

"In front of our home, there were different cars, different Chinese faces," he says.

"Sometimes while sleeping, there'd be footsteps outside. I'd grab a knife and rush outside, but they'd be gone."

Edwin tells Four Corners about the extraordinary lengths he believes the Chinese intelligence services have been going to in order to ensnare him.

In 2021, he suffered a broken nose after being assaulted in a Melbourne street by two men he suspects were Chinese agents. A third man who was with them filmed the attack.

The year before, his then partner Michelle, an Australian citizen, travelled to China after being told her father was gravely ill. When she arrived, she realised her parents had been told to lie, and she was forced to meet with intelligence officers who questioned her about Edwin.

"Where he lives, what did he do … his financial information, what kind of people he met," she says.

Michelle doesn't want to be identified.

When she travelled to China, she was pregnant, and says the officers started pressuring her to abort the baby. She believes they thought it would give Edwin a pathway to Australian citizenship.

While Edwin claims he is a dissident on the run, China says it is tracking him down because he is a criminal. He was charged with fraud in China, and Four Corners has spoken to a man who says he is one of his victims.

But Edwin says he's being framed by the Chinese government.

The Australian Federal Police is aware of Edwin's case.

Eric says he began collecting intelligence on Edwin but didn't pursue him further. He told his handler he felt Edwin was "too cunning" and was unlikely to travel overseas.

He says Edwin's case shows the growth of the Chinese Communist Party's global reach.

"Since Xi took over as leader…no doubt their power is expanding, their staffing, their finances."

"So, their overseas operations have become relatively more active."

Following Eric's revelations, Four Corners learned of an AFP raid in Sydney last year that disrupted a Chinese intelligence agency undertaking surveillance on people.

Edwin's name was one of the names listed on the AFP search warrant as a victim of the spying operation.

The cartoonist

Before Eric was tasked with spying on Edwin, he worked for the Chinese police in operations across South-East Asia.

In 2016, he was based in Cambodia and ordered to target political cartoonist Wang Liming, also known as Rebel Pepper.

Rebel Pepper's satirical drawings take aim at China's human rights record and its political elite, including President Xi Jinping.

His work variously depicts Xi as a dumpling, a tyrant, and Winnie the Pooh – and the Chinese Communist Party as a tentacled monster.

Eric was given an apartment in Phnom Penh and a cover story, working as a planning supervisor for the Prince Real Estate Group.

The company is a subsidiary of multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, the Prince Holding Group, which has connections to Cambodia's leadership.

Cambodia and Laos have close ties with the Chinese government and there have been allegations in the past that it can operate freely in both countries.

At the time, Rebel Pepper was living in Japan, so Eric was ordered to lure him to Cambodia where he could be arrested by and returned to China to face trial.

"I really like Wang as a cartoonist. I didn't want him to be arrested, but there was little space for me to offer help," Eric says.

High-ranking secret police officials travelled from Beijing to a private clubhouse in Phnom Penh to discuss the entrapment with him.

Eric contacted Rebel Pepper using his cover at Prince Real Estate, asking him to design a logo for them.

Every message he sent was first approved by his handler.

Eric: I plan to leave a message…such as "Hi Pepper…I have seen a lot of your work, and I'm very impressed.

Handler: OK.

In a voice message, Eric's handler told him to exploit Rebel Pepper's need for money.

Handler: If he says his financial situation is bad, you can immediately send him 500 US dollars.

Rebel Pepper responded a few days later.

Eric: He replied.

Handler: OK, wait for my update.

Eric: Well. The fish seems to be biting the bait.

Rebel Pepper's designs were used by Prince Real Estate at their events, and Eric arranged for senior managers to pose with a giant inflatable version of one of them.

Secret police then organised a job interview for Rebel Pepper in Cambodia, but his wife suspected it was a trap and dissuaded him from going.

Four Corners met with Rebel Pepper – who now lives in the US – and told him he had been a target of the secret police. He's shocked at the findings.

"They only needed to censor my cartoons. What intelligence was there to collect on me?"

"It freaks me out. If they spent that much effort to arrest me, they would severely penalise me," he says.

A spokesperson for the Prince Holding Group said it has no affiliations with any part of the Chinese government and holds itself to the highest ethical standards.

"We do not participate in or condone any actions that violate human rights or the laws of any jurisdiction," they said.

The activist

In 2018, Eric was sent to Thailand to target another dissident.

This time, they would end up dead.

Eric was ordered to befriend Hua Yong, an exiled Chinese artist and activist hiding in Bangkok who had long been an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 2012, Hua had staged a protest commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre by punching himself in the face.

Hua also documented Beijing's mass evictions of migrant workers in 2017.

In a voice recording in April 2020, Eric's handler stressed that he was a high priority.

Handler: You listen to my following request carefully.

Handler: This Hua Yong, the superiors now find him very annoying and want to deal with him. As you mentioned, he is short of money and wants to do business together. You think of a way to lure him to Cambodia or Laos.

Eric was given the cover story as a business planning manager at a hotel group named White Horse.

Over drinks, Eric and Hua bonded over their desire to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party and discussed setting up a pro-democracy group overseas. Eric reported this back to his handlers and they came up with a plan.

Eric would form a fake anti-CCP militia called "V Brigade", to further build Hua's trust.

In a video posted online, Eric dressed up as a militia leader and delivered a speech urging Chinese citizens to prepare for armed resistance against the regime.

It was a success: Hua promoted the V Brigade video on his Twitter and YouTube accounts, and messaged Eric: "I just watched the video … I can feel my blood boiling".

Eric says the secret police offer a reward system for the agent who assists with capturing a high-profile target, and a bounty of 100,000 yuan (around $20,000) was put on Hua.

In April 2021, the plan almost faltered when Hua was granted a temporary protection visa by Canada, but he remained in close contact with Eric and invited him into his core group of activists.

A few months later, Hua moved to Vancouver and Eric filed a comprehensive intelligence report at the request of his handler, including Hua's phone number, address, where he went and who he met.

Eric was praised for his work and given a financial bonus.

According to Hua's friends in Canada, he had settled there and was living a happy new life.

But in November 2022 – more than a year-and-a-half after he arrived – Hua was found dead. He died while kayaking on a cold autumn night.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police concluded Hua's death was not suspicious.

Eric says he has his doubts about Hua's death.

"My first reaction was that maybe he'd been killed, but in fact, I couldn't tell whether his death was just an accident or a murder, because I wasn't part of it."

"All I could say is that Mr Hua had been a long-term target of the secret police."

Asked if he feels any guilt, Eric says he had no choice but to carry out his work.

"I'm an idealist, but I'm also pragmatic. I am aware of the outcome one might face in China if you refuse to work for the secret police."

The escape

Eric says in the early days, he tried to flee the secret police on several occasions.

In 2011, without telling his handler, he travelled to Hong Kong and declared who he was working for at the US consulate.

American officials took him seriously, he says, but ultimately, he never escaped.

Even as Eric worked for the secret police, he says he tried to subtly undermine their work.

Once, in 2021, while he was still in Thailand, his handler asked him to target a Chinese military veteran living in Myanmar.

Eric says he tried to help the veteran slip the net by blaming the pandemic, telling the handler he'd contacted him but Covid meant it would be hard to meet.

The handler responded with an angry voice message.

[You're] too cautious, it always sounds like you don't want to do anything.

I've been thinking, and over the past few years you haven't actually met with these bad people very much, because you're not willing to.

You always tell me you can't ask them this or ask them that. You don't even fucking try to approach them!

Eventually it was one of Eric's cover stories that brought his time as a spy to an end.

The V Brigade videos sparked an inquiry by security officials in Beijing who didn't know the militia was a secret police trap.

Eric's handler told him he was facing arrest and ordered him to return to China while his handler tried to smooth it over.

Eric knew his time had run out. He fled, flipping a coin to decide between Australia and New Zealand.

His handlers tried to reach him after he arrived in Australia.

"I told them that it was impossible to meet me," Eric says.

"I suggested them and their families leaving China because there could be a huge fallout as a result of my escape … I wished that they take care of themselves."

Now Eric is going public, he says he will be a target of his former masters, and secret agents may now be sent to harm him.

"When they deal with a target like me, they may be more patient … and wait for an appropriate time to act," he says with a worried but firm tone.

"They may mobilise some agents on the ground or send people to Australia to take measures against me."

An Australian Government spokesperson said defending against malicious foreign interference was "a top priority".

The Chinese embassy in Canberra and the foreign affairs ministry in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment.

Eric says working undercover has deeply affected him.

"Years of clandestine political activity had turned me into a suspicious and confrontational person.

"I'm still sentimental, but I can also be cruel in some ways."

There is only one way he says he'll ever feel safe.

"For all those who oppose the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping, the day that we can feel truly safe is the day the CCP falls."

Watch the Four Corners documentary, Ruthless Pursuit, tonight from 8.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.

Be the first to hear about our next big investigation: subscribe to the newsletter and follow us on Facebook.

Contact Four Corners here.

Credits

Story by: Echo Hui, Elise Potaka and Dylan Welch

Photos: Keana Naughton and Ryan Sheridan

Illustrations: Rebel Pepper

Editing and production: Kate Sullivan

A Four Corners and ABC Investigations production

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‘Total outrage’: White House condemns Israeli settlers’ attack on Gaza aid trucks | Gaza | The Guardian
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 10:43 PM

The Guardian

The White House has condemned an attack on an aid convoy heading to Gaza by Israeli settlers who threw packages of food into the road and set fire to the vehicles.

Video of the incident on Monday at Tarqumiya checkpoint, west of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, showed settlers blocking the trucks and throwing boxes of much-needed supplies on the ground. Photographs from the scene showed piles of damaged aid packages and drifts of rice and flour across the road.

Late on Monday, photos began circulating on social media showing the trucks on fire.

Israel has faced heavy international pressure to step up the flow of aid into Gaza, where international organisations have warned of a severe humanitarian crisis threatening a population of more than 2 million people.

“It is a total outrage that there are people who are attacking and looting these convoys coming from Jordan, going to Gaza to deliver humanitarian assistance,” US national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

“We are looking at the tools that we have to respond to this,” he added. “We are also raising our concerns at the highest level of the Israeli government and it’s something that we make no bones about – this is completely and utterly unacceptable behaviour.”

Referring to a US report issued on Friday on Israeli compliance with international humanitarian law, Sullivan said that the Israeli state had hindered aid deliveries in the recent past but had improved the flow sufficiently, so as not to be subject to restrictions on military aid that might have been required under US law.

“We believe that there were periods over the last few weeks where there were restrictions that had to be worked through,” Sullivan said. “But at the time we put that report forward, we felt that there was sufficient work being done by the Israeli government with respect to the facilitation of humanitarian aid, that we did not make a judgment that anything had to be done in terms of US assistance.”

Police do not appear to have intervened to stop the looting, though four people including a minor were later reported to have been arrested.

This is not the first time that settlers have tried to stop the flow of aid to Gaza, which is already only a fraction of that needed by the population of the embattled territory.

Last week, Israeli demonstrators blocked a road near the desert town of Mitzpe Ramon to protest against the delivery of aid trucks into the strip. The protesters – who say the aid is helping Hamas and want to block its passage until all Israeli hostages are freed – formed a sit-in protest as they scattered rocks across the road to prevent vehicles from passing, creating standstill traffic.

Israel’s siege of Gaza has created what aid officials are referring to as “man-made starvation”, with the territory facing the threat of mass deaths from famine with children already dying from hunger.

In March, the international court of justice ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation.

Aid efforts have been further complicated by the temporary closure of the headquarters of the main channel for humanitarian support for Palestinians after weeks of violent protests and arson attacks by Israeli right-wingers.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees announced it was closing its East Jerusalem headquarters on Thursday after a fresh attack by what Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the agency, described as “Israeli extremists”.

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American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 8:53 PM

Upward of 20 American doctors are trapped in Gaza as a result of Israel’s post-invasion closure of the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, according to sources with knowledge of the plight of two ill-fated medical missions.

Israel has blocked fuel, food, and water from entering Rafah for over a week, leading to severe dehydration among the general population, as well as among the doctors on mission.

Relatives of the doctors were told by the State Department that rescue efforts were underway, including through coordination with the United Nations and the Israel Defense Forces. Yet on Monday, the Israeli military fired on a United Nations vehicle that was traveling to the European Hospital in Khan Younis, near Rafah, killing a U.N. employee and injuring another.

A family member of one of the doctors stranded at the European Hospital said that he suspected the vehicle was part of the rescue mission, but was uncertain. “We are aware that a car that is similarly supposed to be their rescue passage was shot at and UN employees were killed and injured and we fear for their ability to have a safe passage and exit,” said the relative. “We are aware that there is active shelling around the hospital and that staff has been told to stay away from windows.”

Among the stranded doctors is Adam Hamawy, a plastic surgeon and Army veteran from New Jersey. While serving in Iraq, he was on duty when now-Sen. Tammy Duckworth’s mangled body was brought to the hospital after her helicopter was shot down. She credits him with saving her life. Hamawy’s friend Sami Shaban has been in touch with him the past several days and said that he is physically doing well. “He’s a tough dude,” said Shaban, who has lost 35 members of his own family in Gaza. “Now we just need to get him home. We funded the bombing of every single hospital there. You have to at least let the relief people in and out.”

The doctors are rationing water and at least one physician is in poor health and is on an IV drip to combat dehydration. The dire state of the medical mission underscores how difficult the conditions are for average Palestinians, who have spent seven months enduring the Israeli siege, whereas the medical mission arrived only recently. More than 1 million Palestinians are trapped in Rafah, which is at the southernmost end of the Gaza Strip. As Israel threatens a full-scale invasion of Rafah, Israeli troops entered the area last week and took over the crossing into Egypt.

The doctors are part of two medical missions, one of which was organized by FAJR Scientific, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It was not immediately clear which organization set up the second mission.

“The people on the ground always said once y’all are gone and not allowed in, we’re gonna be destroyed like Al-Shifa,” said Dr. Mohammed Khaleel on Monday, referring to Gaza’s largest hospital, which Israel has repeatedly raided. Khaleel recently returned from the most recent mission organized by FAJR. “I guess we were all hoping that wouldn’t be allowed to happen.” Khaleel, who spoke about his experience in a recent Intercept podcast interview, has also been in touch with doctors on the current mission, and he said they remain optimistic they will get out this week.

The FAJR mission was told to leave its safe house, Khaleel said, because it was no longer considered safe.

The Intercept asked about the stranded doctors during the State Department’s daily briefing on Monday. “We’re aware of these reports of U.S. citizen doctors and medical professionals currently unable to leave Gaza,” said spokesperson Vedant Patel. “We don’t control this border crossing and this is an incredibly complex situation that has very serious implications for the safety and security of U.S. citizens. But we’re continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel and with the government of Egypt to work on this issue.”

Patel added, “Rafah is a conduit for the safe departure of foreign nationals, which is why we continue to want to see it get opened as swiftly as possible.”

A trial evacuation will begin on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of it said, and if that goes well, further evacuations will be attempted.

Update: May 13, 2024, 5:33 p.m. ET
This article was updated to mention a plan to attempt evacuations from Rafah and to identify one of the trapped doctors, Adam Hamawy.

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sarcozona

4 hours ago

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Yeah, fuck the war criminals of Israel

Epiphyte City

New mRNA cancer vaccine triggers fierce immune response to fight malignant brain tumor - UF Health
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 2:08 PM

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sarcozona

11 hours ago

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Epiphyte City

Global land subsidence mapping reveals widespread loss of aquifer storage capacity | Nature Communications
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 12:46 PM

Nature Communications

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sarcozona

12 hours ago

reply

If you use it, you lose it

Epiphyte City

Forget aerobars: Ars tries out an entire aerobike | Ars Technica Tuesday May 14th, 2024 at 1:06 AM

Living the dream

Page 2

Page 3

Who’s this for?

My life as a Chinese spy: Secret police agent tells all - ABC News Tuesday May 14th, 2024 at 12:55 AM

The recruitment

The YouTuber

The cartoonist

The activist

The escape

Credits

‘Total outrage’: White House condemns Israeli settlers’ attack on Gaza aid trucks | Gaza | The Guardian Monday May 13th, 2024 at 10:43 PM

American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration Monday May 13th, 2024 at 8:53 PM

New mRNA cancer vaccine triggers fierce immune response to fight malignant brain tumor - UF Health Monday May 13th, 2024 at 2:08 PM

Global land subsidence mapping reveals widespread loss of aquifer storage capacity | Nature Communications Monday May 13th, 2024 at 12:46 PM

Forget aerobars: Ars tries out an entire aerobike | Ars Technica
Tuesday May 14^th, 2024 at 1:06 AM

My life as a Chinese spy: Secret police agent tells all - ABC News
Tuesday May 14^th, 2024 at 12:55 AM

‘Total outrage’: White House condemns Israeli settlers’ attack on Gaza aid trucks | Gaza | The Guardian
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 10:43 PM

American Medical Missions Trapped in Gaza, Facing Death by Dehydration
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 8:53 PM

New mRNA cancer vaccine triggers fierce immune response to fight malignant brain tumor - UF Health
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 2:08 PM

Global land subsidence mapping reveals widespread loss of aquifer storage capacity | Nature Communications
Monday May 13^th, 2024 at 12:46 PM