Ethiopia confronts its worst ethnic violence in years

ringed by eucalyptus trees next to his house, made of wood faced with mud. Oromo authorities announced on Wednesday that the master plan would not be implemented. But that may not stop the demonstrations. ‘People have grievances’ The regional center of Woliso witnessed some of the largest protests in the area in mid-December, said Seyoum Teshome, a lecturer at the local university. He said the protests were peaceful until the feared federal police appeared and started firing tear gas and live rounds, after which the crowds went on a rampage, targeting the property of government officials. “The damage itself indicates what was the real problem,” Teshome said, adding that under the country’s authoritarian system, the people have few ways of making their grievances heard. “They (the Oromo) use the master plan to demonstrate their grievances and frustration with the poor administration,” he said. In legislative elections in May, not a single opposition candidate won a seat, prompting accusations of widespread vote fraud by the ruling party. Reda, the spokesman for the Ethiopian government, said the master plan has been misunderstood and the Oromo people are victims of poor local government, which national authorities will address. “There have been areas where the government has identified serious challenges in terms of good governance and delivery of services,” he said, acknowledging that compensating farmers for confiscated land has often been mishandled. “It’s not entirely surprising that people have grievances.” He said there were already plans underway to remove corrupt officials. The U.S. government has rebuked Ethiopia over the use of counterterror troops, the death toll and the imprisonment of students, activists, journalists and politicians in connection with the demonstrations. In recent weeks, it appears the number of killings has declined and army troops in some towns and villages have withdrawn to their barracks in favor of the local police forces. In Wenchi, however, the arrests continue, Terrafa said. He said one of his friends is recovering at home after being shot in the leg when soldiers opened fire a few weeks ago, while another man he knows was killed. “I am ready to sacrifice my life for the cause of my people,” he said, promising to continue the protests. Read more Obama’s trip to Ethiopia alarms some human rights activists Ethiopian bloggers on trial in case seen as crackdown on free expression Pentagon shutters African drone base, moves aircraft to other hot spots


Zoo’s panda baby Bei Bei to make public, in-person debut Saturday morning

Nicole MacCorkle carries giant panda cub Bei Bei at the National Zoo in December. The public will get to see him at the panda house Saturday. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) Five months after the doors were closed to the public at the National Zoo’s giant panda house, keepers are scheduled to unlock them at 9 a.m. Saturday to let the masses see for the first time, in person, the cub named Bei Bei. There won’t be hoopla or baby streamers, the zoo says, but long lines are expected as people get the chance to see the 25-pound, black-and-white bear that has grown dramatically in size and strength. “It’s going to be just a great day in the panda house,” said zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson. “Everyone’s been ready for this, waiting for this,” she said. “Our supporters and enthusiasts finally . . . get to come and see him in person.” Friends of the National Zoo got special glimpses last week, but Bei Bei’s public debut — and the latest chapter in Washington’s love affair with pandas — starts this weekend. The Smithsonian National Zoo’s four-month-old giant panda Bei Bei was still cute to watch, despite not having a whole lot of energy during his big media debut. No longer the helpless creature he was at birth, nor the sleepy armful he was a few weeks ago, Bei Bei now has attitude and heft, the zoo says. Three keepers had to abandon an attempt to draw his blood Tuesday because he resisted so vigorously. “He is a bear,” said Brandie Smith, the zoo’s associate director for animal-care sciences. “He’s at the point where he’s unwieldy enough” that keepers can no longer compel his cooperation: “After a few attempts, we decided to let him go on his way.” “He’s big enough that he can decline, and we can’t make him,” she said. “He’s very active, very boisterous. He’s moved from the baby stage to the toddler stage. . . . Now, he has control over all four limbs and he likes testing them out.” As he grows, the zoo staff is increasingly careful with him. “Only the trained keepers in the panda house who are familiar with him and can read his behaviors go in with him,” Smith said. “There are moments when he wants to challenge them, to show them that he’s a tough male,” she said. “There are times that


he’s more playful. There are times that he’s sleepy.” Giant pandas have powerful jaws — with large, sharp teeth — and huge claws. Full grown in about six years, Bei Bei will probably weigh about 275 pounds. Before that, a time will come when keepers will go into his area only in pairs, Smith said. Later, keepers will only go in if there is an emergency, she said. Then, it will be too dangerous to go in with him at all. But for now, he is still nursing, and still has not been outdoors. That step will probably come in the next few weeks, when his mother, Mei Xiang, decides he is ready. She will indicate that she wants to take him outside by pushing him toward the door, Smith said. “It’s bringing him out of his den into the wild,” she said. “That’s something that would happen [naturally], so we let her control that behavior.” The zoo said that it has been gradually increasing the number of staff and visitors to the panda house to avoid shocking the cub with a big crowd Saturday. Bei Bei, whose name is pronounced “bay bay” and means “precious treasure” in Mandarin, was born at the zoo Aug. 22, along with a twin that died a few days later. It was the third time that giant panda twins had been born in the United States. The zoo’s adult male giant panda, Tian Tian, fathered both cubs after the mother was artificially inseminated in the spring with his semen and that of a panda in China. Bei Bei has an older sister, Bao Bao, who was born at the zoo Aug. 23, 2013, and still lives there. He also has an older brother, Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and lives in a panda conservation center in China. The birth of Bei Bei and his twin, who was never named, posed a problem for the zoo. Panda mothers often have a hard time caring for two cubs, and usually only one survives. The zoo tried switching the cubs — leaving one with Mei Xiang while keepers cared for the other. Then the keepers would switch the cubs back, so each got time with the mother. But after several days, it appeared that the smaller twin was sick. The cub, which weighed only three ounces, had contracted pneumonia after inhaling formula it was being


WADA’s new report cites ‘embedded’ culture of corruption in IAAF

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and then-IAAF President Lamine Diack attend the opening ceremony for the world track championships in Moscow in 2013. (Mikhail Klimentyev/AP) An “embedded” culture of corruption within track and field’s world governing body played a major role in the vast and state-sponsored doping scandal engulfing Russia’s athletics federation, according to a report released Thursday by WADA. The cooperation between the IAAF and Russia was so ingrained and high-level, former IAAF president Lamine Diack suggested to a lawyer that he could cut a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin over the fates of Russian athletes accused of doping. The corruption within the IAAF “cannot be blamed on a small number of miscreants,” as the IAAF had widely claimed. Instead, the report said, the corruption “was embedded in the organization.” Specifically, the 89-page report concludes there was no way the IAAF Council — which included current IAAF President Sebastian Coe — could have been unaware of the extent of Russia’s doping program. “There was far greater knowledge within the IAAF of problems with Russia than it has been willing to acknowledge,” the report said. “Quite obviously, there was no appetite on the part of the IAAF to challenge Russia.” WADA’s 89-page report, to be released Thursday morning, concludes there is no way members of the IAAF Council, including current president Sebastion Coe, could have been unaware of the widespread doping and corruption in their sport. Coe has repeatedly denied any knowledge of the scandal. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images) With Diack and several associates under investigation by French authorities for extorting Russian athletes in exchange for hiding their doping, the Russian track and field federation under a suspension from international competition and the culture of track and field’s leadership itself now called into question, one of the signature sports of the Summer Olympics is under siege just as attention begins to turn to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in August. Asked at a news conference in Munich on Thursday whether fans could expect a “clean” competition in Rio, Richard W. Pound, the report’s lead author and the first president of WADA, pointedly refused to answer in the affirmative. “I’m certain the IAAF would like to make it so, and make it evident. That’s a challenge for the IAAF,” Pound said. “. . . Culture changes will take longer than six months, but conduct changes can happen in that time.”


Style Invitational Week 1158: What do you mean ‘What are these things’?

’bout gluten or trans fat,Let’s hope you don’t meet a Pizza Cat, Please watch your back, O Pizza Rat. (Duncan Stevens) Benji’s at the Vet’s Two songs to “Be Our Guest”: Sung by wasps: Unholy Matrimony The Centipede’s Song Mouse’s Night Out Two to “You’re the Top”: To a Woodworm Called the local exterminator.He arrived as a giant craterOpened deep and wide, as it occupied our hall.Seems you’ve done a number on all the lumber in every wall.Despite massively masticating,There’s no sign of your greed abating.Though we’ve tried and tried each pesticide’s no good.We just pray someday you’re sated — knock on wood! (Stephen Gold) Dog Foodie Whose “Kitty”? Anteater Oh-oh, here she comesWith her curvy claws to dig me up,Oh-oh, here she comes,She’s a anteater … (Jon Gearhart, Des Moines) Armadillo Two about the National Zoo’s new baby panda: As sung by his mother, Mei Xiang (to “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby”; Nan Reiner sings the parody here) I was in heat, they were discreet, Gave me a treat, knocked me off my feet – but kindly. Four months later, and aSqueeze – Look! A tiny panda!Yes, sir, that’s my Bei Bei now…Bye-bye; you’re passé, Bao Bao! (Nan Reiner) (To “Broadway Baby” from “Follies”) Cute? Did I say cute?That’s Bei-Bei’s snoot, all fuzzy and black.Awwww, I think I sawHe’s waving his paw. I’m waving right back! Panda babies! Wish the parents would make more.Mating seems to be a chore.For babies to be born, oh,Make them watch a panda porno.What a great “Big Panda” show. (Kathy Hardis Fraeman, Olney, Md.) Great Dane (To “There Is Nothing Like a Dame”)We’ve got “landmines” in the yard, we’ve got dog hair on the floor;We’ve got really ugly scratch marks up and down the kitchen door;We’ve got slobber on the furniture, our food bills are insane;What have we got? A new Great Dane….There is nothing like a Dane, nothing in the world;Anyone with half a brain will buy anything but a Dane. (Beverley Sharp, Montgomery, Ala., former Great Dane owner) Our Feline Overlords Little Doo Scoop Well, I’m not draggin’, Fluffy, not a bit down,I’m fine even though you’ve really gone to townAnd filled your whole box until it stinks to the sky’Cause I have got the finest tool that my money could buy.It’s my little doo scoop, oh the stuff it’ll hold(My little doo scoop)— brown or gold, hot or cold. Just a


Zoo to hunt down coyotes that killed endangered gazelle at Front Royal site

greatly expanded from the Western United States to the East and have been getting larger, possibly by breeding with wolves. They are not picky eaters, have adapted to living around people and thrive in patchwork rural countrysides. “They’re successful, and they’re very adaptable,” Pitt said. He said the suspect coyotes were seen and photographed near the dead gazelle and fled only when keepers approached. Pitt said coyote bite marks and coyote DNA were found on the carcass. He said the animal had probably been killed a few hours earlier. The coyotes seem to have gotten into the gazelle’s enclosure by squeezing under a gate. “There was one gate that would have made it pretty easy for coyotes to get in,” Pitt said. And there has been evidence since the killing that they have tried to get into other enclosures. “Coyotes originally probably started showing up in Virginia in the ’80s, probably first around this area in the ’90s,” Pitt said. The site here dates to the 1970s, and enclosures were built to keep animals in, not out. Wildlife abounds. “I’m sure we have coyotes throughout the facility,” Pitt said. “We have bears that go throughout the facility.” Rarely before have predators preyed on the institute’s animals. Since the incident, vulnerable animals have been kept in more secure enclosures and fences have been extended to make entry more difficult. Once a predator discovers the location of a food source, it will keep coming back, Pitt said. They could try getting under or over a fence. When it snows, fences, in effect, can become lower. The coyotes that ate the gazelle are very likely to return. “It could be two of them,” Pitt said. “It could be one of them. But probably that trio. And so what we’re going to do is, just in that localized area, try to target those animals and remove those individuals.” Hunters from the Department of Agriculture will do the work. “These are the people that can do it effectively, efficiently and humanely,” he said. He said trapping and relocating the coyotes as an option is problematic because the moved coyotes get into competition with coyotes in the new area, or they are often hit by cars when trying to find their way back to their home turf. Experts will be able to tell via DNA comparisons whether the hunters get the coyotes that killed the gazelle.


Get in line: It’s panda time

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: Bei Bei the giant panda cub is photographed at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Tuesday December 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. He was born August 22, 2015. This series features animals that were born at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park or the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2015. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) O But let’s start with the good news: Those who venture inside the panda house this weekend will probably get to see Bei Bei in the flesh. Panda keeper Marty Dearie says the nearly 5-month-old cub spends a lot of his time in a visible area rather than concealed in the den, which can be seen only through the Panda Cam. (His sister, Bao Bao, on the other hand, was more of a den dweller at that age.) The bad news? Bei Bei sleeps about 90 percent of the day, Dearie says, so most visitors will catch him slumbering — unless they stop by between noon and 2 p.m., when the cub tends to be most active. Of course, Dearie warns, nothing is guaranteed. Pandas can get tired, and pandas can get carried by their mothers into hidden dens. Arriving within that two-hour time frame might not be easy this weekend, anyway. The first day of Bao Bao’s debut attracted about 5,400 visitors in 2014, some of whom lined up before daybreak or waited for more than four hours. “I would bet this weekend would be roughly the same,” Dearie says. Or perhaps even worse. With Saturday’s high forecast to peak at about 50 degrees — unlike Bao Bao’s chillier debut in January 2014 — a larger turnout wouldn’t come as a surprise. Consider that on busy days, only 50 to 75 visitors are allowed in the panda house for 10 minutes or so at a time. So you should be prepared to wait. As for how to get there, taking Metro will probably be easier — and cheaper — than finding parking near the zoo. For those traveling with kids or strollers, opt for the Cleveland Park station to avoid the uphill trek from Woodley Park-Zoo; both stations sit roughly a half-mile walk from the zoo. If you have to drive, arrive early to score one of the zoo’s $22 parking spots, or pay a little extra to reserve a space in advance through Parking Panda for $30. (Parking lots A


Hunter killed a park ranger’s dog on Christmas, police say

A Maryland man has been accused of killing a park ranger’s dog on Christmas. Marcus S. Stauffer, 20, has been charged with animal cruelty for shooting the dog twice and then cutting its throat. Maryland Natural Resources Police said Stauffer, who lives in Leonardtown, went to Newtowne Neck State Park in St. Mary’s County to hunt deer on Christmas. While he was in a tree stand, he saw the one-year-old retriever below. He shot it twice with his muzzleloader, then climbed down to cut its throat, police said. The dog, which was named Canton, according to police spokeswoman Candy Thomson, belonged to a ranger who lives at the park. Police said that the ranger had two retrievers, which both wore collars and tags. Normally, the dogs are confined to a porch while the ranger is on patrol, police said. But that day, they broke free. The ranger was able to locate one of the retrievers quickly, but searched fruitlessly for hours for Canton. Eventually, she found Stauffer. And Stauffer said, according to police, that he thought the dog was a stray. He allegedly said he “shot it for the public.” He then brought Canton’s body back from a marshy area where he had left it. Police announced Thursday that Stauffer has been charged with animal cruelty, aggravated animal cruelty and destruction of property. He could be sentenced to up to three years in prison if he is convicted. Meanwhile, his hunting permit for public lands in southern Maryland has been revoked.


Jolted by terrorist attacks, U.S. travelers get serious about overseas trip security

attacks in so many parts of the world “have raised my awareness that something can happen.” A litany of horrors has jolted frequent-flying foreign-aid workers, contractors and think tank researchers, including Friday’s attack on a luxury hotel in Burkina Faso that left at least 29 dead, the November terrorist massacre in a Mali hotel popular with expatriates and the November assaults in Paris that killed 130. Jennifer Cooke shows her passport. She’s a frequent traveler and has been collecting safe-travel tips. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Those attacks, along with the vanishing or blowing up of airliners and Islamic State-related scares from California to Cairo, have spooked many hard-core travelers accustomed to the most uncomfortable and unsavory parts of the world. Even those who might have thought that their noncombatant status shielded them from most of the violence are increasingly eager to prepare for the worst. “A lot of the NGOs thought, ‘Hey, we’re protected by being do-gooders,’ ” said Bruce McIndoe, chief executive of iJet, an Annapolis, Md.-based travel-risk-management firm that employs 200 people around the world, plus 900 contractors. “But now, they recognize that they are targets just by being Westerners. This could happen anywhere.” Although few Americans are killed in terrorist attacks abroad, trepidation is fueling the growing market for travel assistance and travel insurance, which is expected to reach $18 billion by the end of this year, according to industry analysts. In recent months, McIndoe has heard from more than 200 organizations, agencies and companies looking to improve their travel safety. Some bookers have begun to avoid U.S. hotel chains. The World Bank, which dispatches staff members on more than 100,000 trips a year, has seen a spike in demand for travel-security training. “Enrollments have gone up dramatically in the last month and a half,” Jeff Culver, the bank’s head of security, said of the two-day course in situational awareness available to employees. At a facility in Northern Virginia, staff members role-play restaurant attacks, carjackings and other worst-case scenarios. Managers say their traveling employees, even those who have logged millions of long-haul miles over the years to the dustiest nooks of the world, are asking for greater travel prep. Even small nonprofit organizations are being asked to provide more training, more intelligence and more sophisticated ways of keeping in touch from a dozen time zones away. “If you’re walking around with just a 1-800 number to call


If the suits fit: Bureaucrats getting rich through cover-ups are the real cheats

organization. Well, yes, of course, who ever doubted that? First we had FIFA officials secretly auctioning off host sites and broadcast rights of soccer matches for cash in briefcases. Now we have the former head of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, allegedly forming a “powerful rogue group” that used anti-doping regulations as an avenue to illegal cash. According to WADA, Diack made a crooked fiefdom out of the IAAF, forming an “inner circle” made up of his personal lawyer and two sons, Papa Massata and Khalil, to whom he gave jobs as marketing consultants. This little group operated as an “informal illegitimate government” and took over the handling of Russian doping offenses. They not only corresponded with the Russian government about plans to cover up evidence of state-sponsored doping, they put the muscle on athletes to pay up. IAAF President Sebastian Coe attends a news conference in Germany on the report of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) concerning allegations of widespread doping in international atheltics. (Lukas Barth/AFP/Getty Images) Take for instance the case of Liliya Shobukhova, the winner of the London Marathon in 2010. She was extorted to the tune of 450,000 Euros. That’s how much she handed over under pressure to senior Russian and IAAF officials seeking bribes to cover up her violations. The venality of officialdom in this case is not especially surprising. The only thing surprising is that for once the bureaucratic pocket liners don’t seem to be covering for each other the way they usually do. Someone must have missed a payment. It’s commendable that WADA and an independent IAAF ethics commission have outed the corruptions of track’s inner circle to this extent. The author of the report, Dick Pound, is a fearless and much needed — if flawed — voice in international athletics. For once, the anti-doping police found the right point of emphasis: the systemic one. WADA has been a failure as a reform body since its inception for the simple reason that it tends to be just another layer of potentially corrupt blazered-bureaucracy that seeks to build itself up by exploiting athletes, who face a terrible dilemma. The deeper problem with doping is not that it’s a moral violation. The deeper problem is that it creates human rights violations. Athletes feel they must do it to compete, that they have no other choice in a system that even the state colludes in. Mostly, WADA


Zika virus: What you need to know when heading to Latin America or the Caribbean

mosquito is at it again. The latest bugger-borne virus to rattle U.S. health officials and travelers is called Zika, which was named after a forest in Uganda. The virus has been quickly spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering releasing a warning to pregnant women traveling to these infected areas. The concern: possible brain damage to babies. To better understand the virus, we contacted the CDC, which responded with a primer on Zika virus. Here is what you need to know. What is Zika? The Zika virus is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species of mosquito. These are the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. Mosquitoes become infected when they bite a person who is infected with the virus. The infected mosquitoes can pass on the virus to other people through bites. The daytime biters live indoors and outdoors, near populated regions. What areas of the world have been affected by Zika? Outbreaks have been reported in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and, most recently, the Americas. In December, Puerto Rico reported its first confirmed case. There have not been reports of locally transmitted Zika virus in the continental United States, but cases have been connected to returning travelers. In addition, the imported cases may result in the local spread of the virus in some areas of the United States. The Aedes aegypti mosquito transmits Zika virus. (James Gathany/ASSOCIATED PRESS) Is this a new virus? No, but it could spread to new areas. Last May, the Pan American Health Organization issued an alert concerning the first confirmed infection in Brazil. Between last May and Jan. 7, at least 14 other countries and territories, including Puerto Rico, have reported local transmission. What are the symptoms? About 1 in 5 infected people becomes ill. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis, or red eyes. Other symptoms include muscle pain, headache, pain behind the eyes and vomiting. The symptoms are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya. The illness is usually mild, with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Hospitalization is uncommon, and deaths are rare. There is no vaccine or medicine to treat the illness. Where can travelers find more information? Check the CDC’s website at cdc.gov/zika. More from Travel: The virus that ruins Caribbean vacations


BSO debut of ‘Oboe Concerto’ bursts with trills and colors

Next month, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra marks the 100th anniversary of its first public concert. This season and last, music director Marin Alsop has given both her programming and her musicians an energy-boosting shake-up. That happy trend continued Thursday night with the BSO’s concert in the Music Center at Strathmore, anchored on a recent work by Baltimore-born composer Christopher Rouse. The Minnesota Orchestra gave the world premiere of Rouse’s “Oboe Concerto” in 2005. The BSO’s outstanding principal oboist, Katherine Needleman, advocated for its BSO debut after playing it at the Peabody Conservatory. It is a fascinating work that returns again and again to rhapsodic slow sections bursting with exotic colors, including solo trills on the same note, alternating between the oboe’s regular and harmonic fingerings. In these passages, harp, celesta and silvery alto flute provided a halo for Needleman’s hypnotic sound on the solo part. Alsop kept the orchestra reined in during the fast outbursts, which were less memorable but exciting. Katherine Needleman, oboist. (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) That sense of containment meant that the chance for the musicians to open the throttle a bit in the other pieces was welcome. In the fun “Academic Festival Overture” of Brahms, the orchestra dug into the raucous quotations of drinking songs the composer had picked up in his own brief student days. Alsop offered no new ideas in Beethoven’s Third Symphony (“Eroica”), with tempos that seemed to vary from moment to moment, heard most blatantly at the repeat of the first movement’s exposition. The horn section stood out for its heraldic contributions in the scherzo, as well as in the Brahms. Alsop is experimenting with new seating arrangements for the orchestra, here splitting the violin sections on opposite sides and moving the basses into a single row at the center back. These changes had an unsettling effect on the group’s ensemble unity, but the chance to hear each other in different ways may have long-term benefits for the orchestra.


Brazilians panic as mosquito-borne virus is linked to brain damage in thousands of babies

South America’s biggest country has seen a rise in cases of a disease triggered by the little-known Zika virus being linked to a spike in birth defects. RECIFE, Brazil — Then, at the six-month mark of her pregnancy, Jusikelly, 32, learned from a scan that her baby had microcephaly, a rare defect that causes infants to have unusually small heads and can lead to learning and motor difficulties. Parents such as the da Silvas are struggling as South America’s largest country faces an unprecedented outbreak of microcephaly cases. Brazilian officials say the disease is being triggered by Zika — a little-known virus borne by mosquitoes. The government has spent more than $300 million to battle the mosquito, mobilizing hundreds of soldiers in the effort. Concern about Zika has grown so strong that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late Friday issued a travel alert urging pregnant women not to visit Brazil or about a dozen other countries in the region where mosquitoes have spread the virus. In the northeastern city of Recife, Jusikelly wiped away tears as she cuddled and kissed her baby Luhandra, now two months old. “She will have some mental difficulties,” she said. “She does not react like other children. She does not laugh.” The da Silvas’ lives are on hold, the mother said. “We stopped everything,” said Jusikelly. After the diagnosis, the couple dropped plans to open a small bakery. “I couldn’t work,” she said. The rise in microcephaly cases in Brazil has been startling: there were just 147 in 2014. But since October, 3,530 possible cases of Zika-related microcephaly have been reported to the Ministry of Health. Authorities say the real number of cases is almost certainly lower, with some of those misdiagnosed as microcephaly. Still, officials have also reported 46 deaths of babies who had microcephaly that may have been related to Zika. A new link The Zika virus was first identified in a rhesus monkey in Uganda in 1947, but its initial outbreak in humans was in 2007, on the South Pacific island of Yap. It is typically transmitted to people by infected mosquitoes and can cause flulike symptoms. But the virus had never been linked to microcephaly before. Instead, microcephaly was thought to be genetic or caused by diseases such as rubella. Researchers say they are now in unchartered territory on the issue. “The disease in Brazil is behaving in


District leaders furious Walmart breaking promise to build stores in poor neighborhoods

Walmart announced Friday that it is pulling out of a plan for a supercenter at the Skyland Town Center in Southeast Washington. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post) Walmart abruptly announced Friday that it was abandoning a promise to build stores in Washington’s poorest neighborhoods, an agreement that had been key to the deal allowing the retailer to begin operating in the nation’s capital. The giant retailer cited increasing costs for the new projects and disappointing performance at the three D.C. stores it opened over the past several years. But news that Walmart would pull out of two supercenters planned for east of the Anacostia River, where its wares and jobs are wanted most, shocked D.C. leaders. In one case, the city had already committed $90 million to make a development surrounding one of the stores viable. “I’m blood mad,” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said at a Friday news conference. “It’s an outrage,” said former mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), who in 2013 completed the handshake deal for the stores. “This is devastating and disrespectful to the residents of the East End of the District of Columbia.” The decision to withdraw from the planned D.C. locations came as part of a broader strategic move by the nation’s largest retailer to shutter 269 of its stores around the world — but not the existing D.C. stores, the company confirmed — a plan Walmart hopes will allow it to focus on becoming a more serious player in online shopping and to improve its remaining fleet of supercenters and grocery stores. Walmart said Friday that it is terminating plans to build two stores on the east side of the Anacostia River in Washington D.C. This comes after the retail giant announced it was closing more than 200 stores around the world. But in the nation’s capital, the two stores were more than statistics. For D.C. leaders, they amounted to Walmart’s breaking a promise that had allowed it to win a public relations coup at a critical point for the company. After saturating the nation’s rural landscape with big-box stores at the turn of the decade, Walmart had been blocked by liberal politicians and unions in New York and Boston from its next frontier, remaking retail in the nation’s urban core. But in the District, Walmart won the right to open stores surrounding the U.S. Capitol — and a symbolic victory for its


‘Bei Bei is just so cute, a little ball of fluff’

was born July 9, 2005, and whose name means “peaceful mountain,” lives in China in a conservation center for pandas. (China owns and leases all giant pandas in U.S. zoos, and by agreement, any cubs born in the United States are sent to China when they are 4 years old.) Bei Bei’s twin — who was never given a name — died when it was 4 days old after it inhaled some food product, which led to pneumonia. Bei Bei’s father, Tian Tian, still lives at the zoo — although Bei Bei’s mother and father are separated. (Because giant pandas are solitary in the wild, they live apart, zoo officials explained.) “They can see each other through a mesh ‘howdy window,’ if they choose,” zoo officials said. Zookeepers explained how to distinguish Mei Xiang from Tian Tian. The mother, who weighs about 233 pounds, has black hip-high “stockings” extending up her hind legs. Tian Tian, who weighs about 264 pounds, has black “knee socks.” His name means “more and more.” As people waited to enter the panda house, they were able to see panda mom, dad and sister outside. They watched Tian Tian roam his den and eat bamboo. They saw Bao Bao sitting up and mom Mei Xiang stripping bamboo. Giant panda keeper Marty Dearie explained the differences in personality between brother Bei Bei and sister Bao Bao. “Bao Bao was more independent at this age,” Dearie said. “She did what she wanted. Bei Bei seems to spend more time with his mother.” Bei Bei is still taking milk from his mother. He has been nibbling on bamboo, although keepers are not sure whether he is actually consuming it, Dearie said. “He is chewing it, and it is mostly falling out of his mouth. He may have eaten a leaf, but we are still watching.” Dearie said that the cub is typically awake when keepers arrive about 6:30 a.m. Then he falls asleep. He wakes again between noon and 2 p.m. Friends of the National Zoo got special glimpses of the cub last week, but on Saturday all visitors could see Bei Bei. Anticipation grew as crowds inched closer to the panda house, where they were allowed to enter in groups of 50. “I follow Bei Bei on Instagram,” Wells said. “When I saw they were debuting him this weekend, I sent my friend an immediate Facebook message. I


What we know about the seven Iranians offered clemency

their business consisted of buying parts in other countries to build surge protectors for computers, were charged as part of a larger scheme involving individuals and companies in Turkey and Taiwan. They had not yet gone to trial. “They feel victimized by the government,” Androphy said. “People should be happy that both countries did the right thing by releasing people that were unfairly confined.” He said his clients were “victims of disputes between countries, not people who’ve committed any horrific crimes.” Nader Modanlo, serving an eight-year sentence for sanctions violations, was granted clemency. (Reuters) Androphy said his clients, who were born in Iran and naturalized more than five years ago, are now free to travel and would remain in the United States with their families. Mechanic will drop his lawsuit against the United States for unlawfully seizing his business in Tehran, and he plans to travel to Iran to continue his business there, Androphy said. Another Iranian who will be released is Nader Modanlo, a Montgomery County businessman who prosecutors said used his aerospace expertise and connections with Russia to help Iran launch a satellite for the first time. Modanlo, a U.S. citizen born in Iran and living in Potomac, was sentenced in 2013 to eight years in prison for conspiring to illegally provide satellite-related services to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iran trade embargo. Modanlo, then 52, was also convicted of money-laundering and obstruction of bankruptcy proceedings. Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said at the time that, partly as a result of Modanlo’s actions, an Iranian Earth-observation satellite equipped with a camera was launched into space from Russia on Oct. 27, 2005. “Modanlo violated the law by helping Iran launch communications satellites,” Rosenstein said. A jury convicted Modanlo, finding that he illegally facilitated a satellite deal between Iran and Russia and received a $10 million brokering fee. “Mr. Modanlo has been fighting to clear his name for nearly a decade,” Modanlo’s attorney, Lucius Outlaw III, said after the trial in federal court in Greenbelt. “Unfortunately, the fight will have to continue.” Also in 2013, Rosenstein announced that Ali Saboonchi, then 32, a U.S. citizen living in Parkville, Md., had been indicted on charges of conspiring to export and exporting U.S.-manufactured industrial products and services to Iran. In a five-count indictment, Saboonchi, who has been imprisoned in Petersburg, Va., was charged with


Kjell Sandved, photographer who found art in butterfly wings, dies at 93

going to search for the entire alphabet.” Facelike markings on a butterfly wing. (© Kjell Sandved/ ) And so began a decades-long search, as he wondered what else he might see in the wing patterns of the nearly 20,000 species of butterflies across the globe. Abandoning plans for a comprehensive encyclopedia on nature, Mr. Sandved stayed in Washington as a volunteer at the museum. He redirected his career toward nature photography, teaching himself the craft by trial and error. “Before I came here, I really wasn’t interested in photography,” he told a Smithsonian employee publication in the 1980s. “Why, I didn’t even know how to use a camera!” After two years, he was hired to help assemble and photograph exhibits. Two years after that, Mr. Sandved became the Museum of Natural History’s first full-time nature photographer. For nearly three decades, he traveled the world for the museum. “He has old friends everywhere,” a 1987 Smithsonian magazine article noted. “Walk down a street with him in Anchorage, or Tokyo, or Oslo, or Des Moines, and someone is sure to wave and shout, ‘Hi, Kjell!’ ” He visited more than 30 countries, climbing across ice fields, walking through deserts and crawling on jungle floors to capture such diverse forms of life as piranhas in the Amazon, penguins in Antarctica and white tigers in India. Mr. Sandved worked alongside the country’s leading researchers on insects, plants and marine life. He photographed archaeological excavations in the Middle East, coral reefs in the Pacific and the world’s largest flower, the three-foot-wide Rafflesia arnoldii, in Sumatra. Once, while photographing orchids, he looked down and saw a viper inches from his face. It was perfectly formed in the shape of the letter Q, and Mr. Sandved got his photo before stepping away from danger. A look at those who have died. Yet, through it all, his overarching interest remained the delicate world of butterflies and moths. He devised ways to take pictures through microscopes and built other equipment from spare parts, including specialized lights and underwater platforms. He became an authority on all things lepidopterous and spent thousands of hours in the field hoping to capture the beauty of butterflies with his cameras. It was best to go out early in the morning, and he learned to approach them slowly, walking straight ahead. Any lateral movement would drive them away. He was proud that he never killed


Arresting impunity for Maryland police

chiefs and civil rights organizations have complained about this regime for years; only recently, following Mr. Gray’s death and the riots that ensued in Baltimore, did those complaints gain traction. No sooner had the task force issued its recommendations than the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents uniformed officers, pronounced itself summarily opposed to any changes. And no wonder, given that the current system grants such vast privileges to police officers facing internal investigations for allegations of abuse, brutality and other wrongdoing. Among the privileges that would be rolled back is the so-called cooling-off period, which grants officers suspected of wrongdoing 10 days of silence before they must start cooperating with internal-affairs investigators — plenty of time to get their story straight with other officers. That would be halved to five days, which is more than enough time to hire a lawyer. Under the panel’s proposals, victims of alleged police brutality would have a year, instead of just three months, to lodge complaints. The law that forbids civilians from sitting on disciplinary boards for officers accused of wrongdoing would be scrapped. Official police department policies and collective bargaining agreements, sometimes hard-to-find documents that often contain sweetheart provisions protecting bad cops, would be posted online. The task force made some concessions to police unions. It rejected regular psychological evaluations for officers in favor of ones at intervals set by a commission that would be established to set best practices and standards for law enforcement agencies statewide. It ruled out anonymous complaints of police abuse, which civil rights groups favored. And officers suspected of using excessive force would face internal trial boards that may still be tilted in favor of accused cops. The excessive protections afforded Maryland police, far beyond those granted civilians accused of wrongdoing, have helped poison the public’s trust and confidence in law enforcement. They have contributed to impressions and evidence that impunity for police officers who abuse the privileges conferred by their badges is not the exception but the rule. It is critical that Maryland lawmakers restore some balance. Read more on this topic: The Post’s View: A shield for police misbehavior Radley Balko: Reforming police culture is a daunting challenge Jennifer Rubin: Baltimore mistrial comes during a new low for race relations Todd Oppenheim: The bad court ruling that let police chase Freddie Gray Alex Horton: In Iraq, I raided insurgents. In Virginia, the police raided me.


How Mexico secretly launched a crackdown after Penn met ‘El Chapo’

then spent the next two days hiding in the woods. “This was a terrorist government.” The Mexican government discounted the allegations against the marines, saying they were unfounded. A Mexican official said the trafficker manipulates his followers to make such claims in order to keep the military out of this drug-producing region of Durango state. “In this moment I have no knowledge that there has been one person” displaced, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Still, the accounts of 16 residents from communities far apart were consistent, describing unprovoked shooting from helicopters and property theft by ground forces. Some were interviewed in their hamlets in the mountains — with bullet holes visible in their houses and vehicles — while others were reached in Cosala, where they have fled. The Mexican security forces have been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses for years. In 2014, Mexican soldiers allegedly killed 22 people, some of them execution-style, after they had surrendered in a warehouse southwest of Mexico City during an operation to pursue alleged kidnappers, according to human rights reports and charges against some soldiers. The U.S. State Department last year cut off a portion of its anti-narcotics aid after deciding Mexico failed to reach some of its human rights goals. Of the security forces, the marines have a reputation of being the best trained and equipped, and their elite teams are often given the task to hunt the country’s most dangerous drug traffickers. Guzmán was nabbed by federal police in the adjacent state of Sinaloa this month, a victory for the Mexican government. But the ferocity of the military action seems to have further alienated the people in this region, where many of the farmers grow opium poppy and marijuana. The marines now based at El Limón, a rustic settlement with grapefruit and guava trees and a private airstrip, refused last week to describe their operation or give a tour of the premises. They have draped metal spikes across the entryway to block visitors. They clearly have a dangerous mission: Many of the farmers in this region are heavily armed. And cartel gunmen have shot down government helicopters in other parts of the country. One of the marines acknowledged the difficulty of separating good from bad characters in the fight against illegal drugs. “It’s hard to know who is involved,”


No food is healthy. Not even kale.

of protein, typically undergirded by a layer of fat. When these strips of pig skin are fried, most of the fat is rendered out and the connective tissue puffs, resulting in a delectable, crunchy, salty crackling. I therefore recommend them to you as a “protein snack” during your on-the-go day. Given the infinitely malleable language of food, it’s no wonder American food shoppers are confused. What is “mechanically separated meat,” a standard ingredient in the turkey bacon and chicken sausages popularized because of our low-fat love? “Do you know what that is?” a grocery store owner asked me. “They basically put poultry carcasses in a giant salad spinner.” Whatever winds up on the walls of the spinner in addition to meat — bits of cartilage (protein!), nerves (I have enough of my own, thank you), vessels, bone fragments — is scraped off and added to the mixing bowl. “Mechanically separated meat” engages our imagination only when someone attaches new words to it, such as “pink slime.” The label might tell you it’s “enriched,” but it doesn’t tell you that the bread’s ingredients were first stripped of their natural benefits. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images) “Refined” is another critical food word. Generally, refined means elegant and cultured in appearance, manner or taste, or with impurities removed. Yet that is what food companies have been calling wheat from which the germ and bran have been removed, leaving what is in effect pure starch, devoid of the fiber, oils, iron and vitamins that make wheat nutritious. That’s not refined, Sukol said, “that’s stripped.” Flour stripped of the nutrition that makes it valuable to our bodies but reduces shelf life. Because it has been stripped, we must “enrich” it. “Enriched.” “Fortified.” Good, yes? To make rich, to make strong. Food companies added the iron they took out during the refining process, but not enough of what we need. “Refined flour — this resulted in B vitamin and iron deficiencies,” Sukol said, “so they added vitamins and iron. And what do they call that? Enriched and fortified. But they forgot to add folate, vitamin B9, until the 1990s.” What we don’t know, Sukol said, is how those additions, not to mention the diglycerides and sulphates, combined with the lack of fiber, will affect our metabolism in the long run. So far, she said, “it has resulted in diabetes and metabolic syndrome.” We will be healthy


Independent Silver Spring coffeehouse reopens

media as tools for change. When the county wanted to place a cafe on the ground floor of the new Silver Spring library — just up the street from Kefa at Bonifant and Benton — the Tsegayes submitted the winning proposal. Their 12-seat kiosk opened with the building last summer. The deal guaranteed only a raw, undeveloped space, so the sisters went to GoFundMe.com in search of $50,000 for furniture and equipment. More than 480 people — mostly Silver Spring residents — donated $54,000. Montgomery Board of Education member Jill Ortman-Fouse (At Large) was one of many contributors who sent mini-tributes and stories along with their money. Her first baby shower was at Kefa 17 years ago, and she planned her Board of Education campaign there in 2014. “They set the tone,” Ortman-Fouse said of the Tsegayes. “They have such good karma.” Crime writer and neighbor George Pelecanos even mentions Kefa and the Tsegaye sisters in a couple of his books. “The truth of the matter is, I don’t drink that much coffee,” Pelecanos said. “I go in there because I like them. They’re just beautiful people.” Building a business The sisters grew up in Addis Ababa, daughters of an air force colonel who rose in the ranks under Emperor Haile Selassie. When a communist junta overthrew Selassie in 1974, Tsegaye Tsadik was driven from the service, the women said. In 1982, with his country plagued by political repression and embroiled in a border war with Somalia, he quietly slipped 19-year-old Lene out of the capital. “It was not safe for girls our age,” she says. “Everyone wanted to flee.” Lene walked more than 200 miles with a brother and cousin in 1982, crossing the border into Djibouti, on the Gulf of Aden. She still remembers the muddy black water she drank as they made their way through desert and waist-high grass. Abeba was flown to Sudan five years later, when she was 17. Both young women ended up with family friends in Fort Wayne, Ind. After college (Indiana University for Lene, Defiance College in Ohio for Abeba), they joined their older brother, Abiy, a graduate student at Howard University, who had the original idea for Kefa. Much of downtown Silver Spring was still a sorry collection of boarded-up buildings and empty lots. “It was dead,” Lene recalled. “People were asking, ‘What was my brother thinking?’ ” Abiy returned to


For Rezaian and others freed from Iran, journey home could be a long one

a long time,” he explained. How individuals respond to captivity varies widely, said Frank Ochberg, a psychiatrist at Michigan State University and a leading figure in research on traumatic stress. A gate at the U.S. military medical center in Landstuhl, Germany, moments after Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and two other Americans landed at Ramstein Air Base on Sunday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) “I don’t think we really know why one person is more emotionally and physically resilient than somebody else,” he said. For those leaving prison, a comprehensive medical checkup is crucial, Ochberg said. Poor nutrition, unsanitary conditions and environmental toxins in prison can combine with stress to produce or exacerbate a range of medical conditions, such as diabetes, infections, thyroid disorders, circulatory problems, multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease. Three of the American prisoners leaving Iran — Jason Rezaian, a correspondent for The Washington Post; Saeed Abedini, an evangelical pastor; and Amir Hekmati, a former Marine — arrived in Germany on Sunday afternoon, where they were receiving medical attention at a U.S. military hospital. A fourth prisoner, student Matt Trevithick, was released and left the country separately. A fifth American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, was also released but chose to remain in Iran. In general, Ochberg said, seeing a psychologist isn’t always necessary, especially for the former prisoners who have family and close friends to return to and a sense of purpose in their professional lives. That isn’t to say that acclimating to freedom is easy. Roxana Saberi, a journalist imprisoned in Iran in 2009, had a habit of looking over her shoulder when she first returned to the United States. Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian has been freed after 544 days in Iranian prison. He was arrested in Iran in 2014 and convicted of espionage last year. Here's what you need to know about the case against him. While she was in prison, the Iranians had demanded that she spy for them once she was released. It took her some time to shake the feeling that they would kidnap her and imprison her again because she was not cooperating. “Those captors were very good at putting that fear in my head, that they could find me wherever I was,” Saberi said. “It’s not a fear that’s based in reality. It’s just that some of those fears are, kind of, ingrained in my psyche.” Like Rezaian, Saberi had been living and


America now has more breweries than ever. And that might be a problem.

in the District and Baltimore last fall, and the citrusy Nanticoke Nectar IPA became a hit. “Nectar sold so well that [bars] believe in us,” says co-founder Chris Brohawn, “and that gets our foot in the door” when they’re trying to get bars to carry a saison or a seasonal beer. About 85 percent of the beer RAR makes leaves the premises. Still, with an increasing number of local breweries fighting for the same oxygen, Brohawn knows buzz can be fleeting. This year, RAR plans to stay in the spotlight by releasing limited-edition beers in cans at its brewpub “monthly, if not bi-weekly,” Brohawn says. RAR has experimented with placing local radio and print ads, but he says the social-media buzz surrounding a beer release “increases the word-of-mouth tenfold.” Many in the beer industry pin their hopes for small breweries on localization: the idea that consumers would rather drink beers made down the road than across the country. Lary Hoffman, who co-owns Galaxy Hut in Arlington and Spacebar in Falls Church with his wife, Erica, prefers to stock most of the taps with Virginia breweries, such as Blue Mountain, Champion and Three Notch’d. “You can get any style of beer locally now, and the quality is on par with the best beer in the world, so why not seek out the regional option?” he asks. A handful of national brands, including Bell’s and Avery, show up on the 28 taps at Galaxy Hut and the 24 at Spacebar, but they’re the exception. Customers would be angry “if our draft lineup looked like a Safeway shelf,” Hoffman says. In national surveys conducted by the Brewers Association, 67 percent of craft beer drinkers said it was important to them that their beer be locally made, while 61 percent said it was important that the brewery was independent. Meanwhile, the craft category is growing faster than the total beer market, and in 2014 reached a double-digit (11 percent) share of the marketplace by volume. Those trends aren’t lost on Terry Haley, vice president for marketing at World of Beer, which has 77 craft-focused locations along the Eastern Seaboard and throughout the South. Haley says his company tries to make sure local and craft regional beers are well represented among the roughly 50 taps found at each tavern, even though “there’s definitely a point of emphasis to have what we call ‘craft’ beers across


Loudoun farm family is growing in new directions

couldn’t do it,” Virts said. “That’s not good. You can’t make a living doing everything by yourself.” He also realized that the costs of land and equipment had grown too high and that profits were too small. “I couldn’t keep fighting that any longer in Loudoun County,” he said. “So I had to do something.” In fall 2014, Virts built a greenhouse on his property at Purcellville Road and Route 9. The controlled environment allows him to grow tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, cucumbers and other produce year-round. The greenhouse increased his yield and reduced water consumption. “The general rule is that you get 50 to 80 percent more volume per acre using 30 to 50 percent less water,” he said. By growing the plants vertically in racks, mounted one above another, Virts is able to make the best use of the space, he said. Instead of using soil, Virts grows his plants in water, feeding them with a fertilizer solution. This eliminates the need for chemicals to kill pests and weeds, and gives him maximum control over what goes into the plants, he said. Light, temperature, ventilation and even the pollinators can be controlled inside the greenhouse, Virts said. Every month or two, he puts in a box of bees to pollinate the plants. CEA Farms — the name stands for controlled environment agriculture — is the most diversified hydroponics operation in the region, said Kellie Boles, Loudoun’s agricultural development officer. “The fact that he’s growing strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers is just extraordinary,” Boles said. Virts decided that another way to increase his profits would be to sell his produce directly to customers. Hoping to capitalize on the growing number of tourists who are flocking to Loudoun’s wineries, he opened a farm store in the fall next to the greenhouse to sell produce from his farm. The store also sells organically grown produce from other local suppliers, as well as beef, pork and lamb from livestock raised nearby. It houses a kitchen and an informal dining area where customers can eat freshly prepared sandwiches made from the meats and produce sold there. “When I cook these burgers and serve them to people, as soon as they eat it, they come over and buy some [packaged meat], because of the flavor,” Virts said. “And when they put a slice of these tomatoes and a piece of lettuce on it, I’ve got


Treating addicts: The tension between drug treatment and abstinence

not similarly regulated. Instead of fulfilling the addicted brain’s perceived need for opioids, it blocks the effect of the drugs and thereby reduces cravings. Any doctor can prescribe and administer Vivitrol. But it has a major drawback: To avoid severe and dangerous withdrawal symptoms, patients must avoid opioids completely for at least seven days before receiving the first shot. For many, that means residential treatment, which can be costly. The drug itself is also expensive, at $1,000 per month. Research on Vivitrol’s long-term effectiveness is still to come, but its use is spreading, particularly in jails and prisons. Patients are also increasingly opting for Vivitrol because the shots are effective for 30 days, tempering the temptation to stop daily doses to get high. A turning point? For advocates of medication-based treatment, recent policy changes are cause for optimism. The Affordable Care Act allows states to expand health insurance coverage to more adults and makes it mandatory for Medicaid and private insurers to cover substance abuse treatment. In the past, Medicaid covered only low-income pregnant women, children and disabled adults. A severe drug or alcohol addiction, while debilitating and life-crushing, did not qualify on its own as a disability. Under the ACA, 30 states and the District have opted to expand Medicaid to low-income, able-bodied adults, giving millions of poor Americans coverage for addiction treatment. The health law also requires all state Medicaid programs and all insurance companies to cover the gamut of recommended treatments for addiction. In addition, the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, although not enforced everywhere, requires insurers to pay for proven addiction treatments at the same dollar level as medical and surgical treatment for other diseases. “There has never been a better time to confront the addiction problem we have in this country,” said Michael Botticelli, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “We know so much more about addiction from years of scientific research,” Botticelli said. “We know that substance-use disorders are diseases of the brain, that they can be chronic and relapsing. But we also know that, like other diseases, they can be prevented, treated, and people can recover.” This article was produced by Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts. In the U.S. nearly 22 million people have a substance-use disorder. 1 in 10 Since 2008, more than 115,000 Americans have died from overdoses of prescription opioid painkillers.


China pulls lawyers and activists into a dark zone of fear

Human rights lawyer Wang Yu talks during an interview with Reuters in Beijing in 2014. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters) FOR ALL the semblance of a judicial system, with lawyers, judges and prosecutors, China’s courts remain a tool of a party-state that sees itself as above the law. People can be detained for months — they simply disappear — and only later formally charged or tried. In China, detention means being sucked into the vortex of arbitrary rule. In recent years, some lawyers and activists in China attempted, with extraordinary bravery, to navigate this system and work within it. Known as the rights defense movement, the lawyers demanded that authorities follow China’s own laws and rules. They worked in a sort of legal gray zone, tolerated — despite the party-state’s intolerance of dissent — because they handled individual cases and did not seem to threaten the regime. Now, these attorneys are being dispatched to oblivion. After rounding up or questioning 293 of them last summer, and detaining some for as long as six months, China has begun to issue formal charges of subverting state power, which can carry a sentence of life in prison. The charges are akin to saying the lawyers are trying to undermine the regime. Among those who have been accused in recent days are human rights lawyer Wang Yu and several others from the Fengrui law firm in Beijing who were part of the rights defense movement. Ms. Wang was detained in July and has not been heard from since, but lawyers said a notice from the police about the charges had been sent to her mother. Her husband, Bao Longjun, is also detained and facing charges. Wielding the charge of state subversion marks a dark turn of events in China. In some cases in recent years, individual activists were accused of inciting state subversion, a lesser charge. It was leveled against Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo , who is serving an 11-year prison term for advocating greater freedom of expression and democracy, among other things. In other cases, activists and dissidents were rounded up on lesser charges of provoking trouble or creating public disorder. President Xi Jinping is now well into a campaign to crush independent voices in China. Recently, four labor activists were detained, and China’s security apparatus appears to be behind the disappearance of five booksellers in Hong Kong in recent months. The booksellers had


Roly-poly manatees are making a comeback

manatee still met the act’s definition of “endangered,’ a term that describes a species “in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range,” according to the statement. A “threatened” species, on the other hand, is one that is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. [Marine Marvels: Spectacular Photos of Sea Creatures] What the review found was a rare conservation success story. “Their numbers are climbing, and the threats to the species’s survival are being reduced,” Michael Bean, a Department of the Interior official, said in the statement. Working together, a number of agencies, including the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, have established more than 50 protected areas for manatees — an effort that played an important part in helping the species recover. Even the Coast Guard was involved; it worked with the service to patrol the protected areas and prevent trespassing, and to help minimize boat collisions with the manatees. The West Indian manatee includes two subspecies: the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee. In 1967, when manatees first gained endangered status, their Florida population numbered in the hundreds. Manatee populations worldwide are now estimated to be around 13,000, with more than 6,300 of them in Florida. That represents a 500 percent increase since 1991, according to the service’s website. Although the manatee’s future looks brighter than it has for decades, the agency noted that the status change shouldn’t be taken as a sign that conservation work for the species is over. Manatees will continue to enjoy the protection of government agencies and legislation such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and efforts will continue to further rebuild “sea cow” populations, manage threats and support their role as a “sentinel species” that serves as an early-warning indicator of environmental disturbances. “Today’s proposal is not only about recognizing this progress, but it’s also about recommitting ourselves to ensuring the manatee’s long-term success and recovery,” Cindy Dohner, Southeast regional director for the service, said in the statement. The agency published the status-change proposal in the Federal Register on Jan. 8. A 90-day period follows, during which people may submit information for the service to review before it reaches a final decision. — Live Science In Photos: The World’s Most Endangered Marine Mammal 7 Marine Animals That are Not OK with Seismic Blasting (Photos) Deep Divers: A Gallery of Dolphins


Move over, foie gras: The latest rage in Paris is . . . classic American barbecue

Tex. “All wood,” Abramowicz says, referring to the lack of assistance from gas or electricity in the J&R cooker, shipped from Mesquite, Tex. The Beast gets its name from the giant, two-ton smoker. “I had to keep it real.” Real barbecue, in Paris? Mais oui! It’s the latest trend in the city that defines haute cuisine, not primal low-and-slow smoked meats. In addition to the Beast, there’s Flesh, a cheeky name for a restaurant that is situated among the sex shops of the Pigalle neighborhood; Floyd’s Bar & Grill, where the meats are cooked on an Engelbrecht smoker shipped from Illinois; Blues Bar-B-Q, which started the trend when a Dallas woman opened it in 2010; and a chain called Frog Pubs, which serves pulled pork sandwiches and brisket tacos. Thomas Abramowicz is a native Parisan who quit his job in marketing to learn about barbecue in Texas. He apprenticed at Louie Mueller Barbecue and brought the techniques home to his restaurant, the Beast. (Nicolas Buisson Photography) But it’s not just Paris. Barbecue, that onetime fiercely regional American food, has gone global. American-style barbecue restaurants have opened in Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, London, Vienna, Mexico City, even Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Last year, Wayne Mueller, the third-generation owner of Louie Mueller Barbecue, went on a State Department-sponsored world tour, during which he cooked barbecue and discussed its culture and history at the Milan Expo in Italy. The competition circuit, too, has gone international. The prestigious Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue contest draws teams from all 50 states and around the world. Last year, a record 27 international teams competed. Meanwhile, contests on foreign soil, from the Netherlands to Prague to Australia, have grown so numerous that the Kansas City Barbeque Society, the sanctioning organization, created an international division. “It’s like us 25 years ago,” says KCBS executive director Carolyn Wells, referring to the torrid growth of the organization after it was founded in 1985. The grilling manufacturer Weber-Stephens sponsors “Grill Academies” in Copenhagen, Berlin, Paris and London, among other cities, to grow the market for its products in Europe. In October, the company promoted Danish barbecue competitor Stig Pedersen from marketing director of a region that included Europe, Africa and the Middle East to a newly created position of “vice president global creative” to oversee the company’s international sales and initiatives. Like jazz before it, barbecue is viewed as an


here we have a different side of Texas. Cool people. Good food.” One challenge faced by Paris barbecue entrepreneurs is the procurement of the right cuts of beef. Grass-fed French beef is not as marbled as grain-fed American beef, so it is less tender and juicy. And because the French don’t sell the cut known as brisket, for the first couple of years, the Darrahs procured the front half of cows and butchered them themselves to get brisket. Now, they import brisket from the States. So does Abramowicz at the Beast and a Californian named Simon Lewis, chef at the 50-seat Flesh BBQ. The 26-year-old has worked at the Michelin two-star restaurant the Hand and Flowers in London and at hot Paris restaurants Spring and Frenchie. Aside from doing some barbecuing while attending college in Colorado, though, Lewis has no smoked-meat background. “I’m not trying to replicate what they do in Texas or North Carolina,” he says, checking on a brisket. “I just want to make food that tastes good.” He cooks on three Big Green Egg smokers. His decidedly nontraditional sides include such creations as grilled mushrooms in bacon cream and smoked cauliflower with chorizo vinaigrette. “We didn’t want mac ’n’ cheese or baked beans,” says co-owner Arnaud Champetier. At Flesh, the pulled pork becomes the star of carnitas tacos. Chef Simon Lewis grew up in Southern California. (Jim Shahin/For The Washington Post) Champetier and longtime friend David Vidal, both French, and Lewis co-own Flesh, which opened in October 2014, and share a vision of mixing traditional American-style smoked meats with unconventional dishes and presentations for a barbecue restaurant. For example, the pulled pork is not served on a bun with tomato-based sauce and topped with coleslaw, but as carnitas in a flour tortilla with a pineapple salsa. “We’re not following any rules,” says Lewis. The approach is working. On a Monday at lunchtime shortly before Christmas, the place was packed. And the owners are working on opening a second location, which they hope to have operating by June. They are talking about installing the type of wood-enhanced oven common in American barbecue restaurants. At the Beast, the lunchtime line extends from the counter nearly to the door. I dig into a huge platter of smoked meats. The chicken, cooked whole, its cavity filled with hot peppers, lemon and orange, is a marvel of tenderness and subtle flavors. Delicious,


The garden is a sanctuary — for plants, animals, Mother Earth and you

In this winter period of garden planning, it is worth remembering that most of us have in our power the ability to create a garden that helps to heal a damaged Earth. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post) I was talking to a nursery grower the other day who was encouraged by the fact that he was hiring young, smart people who were keen to make their mark in the green industry. They were coming to his production greenhouses not from the traditional route of the horticulture schools but with a background in ecology. The two disciplines are merging in the garden as never before: We have entered an age of environmental gardening. Given the afflictions of our planet, this is overwhelmingly positive as long as we remember that the one creature most in need of refuge in the garden is the gardener. Ecology has to do with the relationship of organisms and their environments. In its purest sense, horticulture is the science and art of growing plants, but it is rare to find a horticulturist who doesn’t see the biological web in the decorative landscape. It is possible to create a garden that degrades the larger world — for example, through excessive paving and a reliance on pesticides and fertilizers — but the days when the use of poisons and chemical nutrients was not just the norm but an imperative seem to be behind us. One hopes. In this winter period of garden planning, it is worth remembering that most of us have in our power the ability to create a garden that helps to heal a damaged Earth, even if that just means putting some planters on a balcony and filling them with a few herbs for us and nectar-rich plants for the butterflies. You can think big but start small. It is also worth pondering that our understanding of the interconnectedness of nature is relatively new and coincides, paradoxically, with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution. Alexander von Humboldt, seen above, “plaited together the cultural, biological and physical world, and painted a picture of global patterns,” author and historian Andrea Wulf writes in her latest book. (Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy/Alamy) The author and historian Andrea Wulf makes the case that the guy who first connected the ecological dots was the Prussian polymath Alexander von Humboldt. He lived a long and exalted life, dying at the ripe age


Maryland’s veto-override battle begins Wednesday in Annapolis

provide $2 million for capital improvements to a performing-arts hall in Annapolis. It remained unclear Tuesday whether the House would also attempt to override Hogan’s veto of a bill to restore voting rights for felons who have been released from prison but are on parole or probation. The House could wait for the Senate to take up the issue first. The Senate will attempt four veto overrides on Thursday, including the voting rights measure; a bill that would decriminalize drug paraphernalia; and one that would prevent police from seizing a certain amount of property and money from people without charging them with a crime. The Senate will also consider a statewide hotel tax bill, known by many as the Marriott bill, because the hotel chain has pushed for the measure and threatened to move its headquarters out of Maryland if the legislation is not enacted. Hogan vetoed the bills in the spring. “The people opposing the Marriott bill — they’ve hired every lobbyist in town, including two of my former chiefs of staff,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), adding that he is concerned about losing 2,000 jobs if Marriott moves away. “But I’m certainly going to vote for the override. It’s the right thing to do.” Democratic leaders have said that resurrecting the voting rights bill may be the most difficult. Hogan has said he does not think convicted felons should be able to vote until they have completed their entire sentences, including parole or probation. “It doesn’t poll well,” said Miller, who plans to vote for the override. “So it’s a question of, do you do things because it doesn’t poll well or because it’s the right thing to do? . . . This isn’t about Democratic or Republican policy. It’s about human beings coming back into society.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland is pushing for overrides of the voting rights veto, the veto of the bill decriminalizing drug paraphernalia and the veto of the asset-seizure bill. The group on Tuesday held a news conference that focused on the asset-seizures bill and also backed legislation being introduced this session that would make forfeiture laws even stronger. Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) has joined Sen. Michael J. Hough (R-Frederick) to introduce a bill that says a civil forfeiture can not take place unless there is a criminal conviction. Josh Hicks contributed to this report.


Pete L. Manos, who rose from clerk to chairman of Giant Food, dies at 79

1936 and later headquartered in Landover, Md., Giant became the dominant food chain in the capital area, with 150 stores in the District, Maryland and Virginia, and one of the largest such chains in the country. Mr. Manos joined the company in his early 20s and ascended the company ranks, working in inventory before overseeing grocery purchasing, deli operations and departments including dairy, produce and perishables. “The greatest learning part was in perishables,” he once told The Washington Post. “Because you are dealing with Mother Nature and you still have to deliver high quality to the customer.” Pete L. Manos, shown in 1998, rose from accounting clerk to president, chairman and chief executive of Landover, Md.-based Giant Food before the grocery chain was sold. (Larry Morris / The Washington Post ) He became senior vice president of food operations before being named president in 1992. He succeeded Israel “Izzy” Cohen, the businessman largely credited with leading the company’s expansion, as chairman and chief executive after Cohen’s death in 1995. Mr. Manos was widely admired among employees for what was described as his common touch — like his cashiers, he wore a badge with his name, “Pete” — and for his attention to the everyday needs and experiences of grocery shoppers. He led the company through a labor strike by Teamsters truck drivers and through increasing competition from chains including Shoppers Food Warehouse and Safeway before retiring in 1999 after the acquisition of Giant by Royal Ahold NV, a Dutch grocery concern. Pete Lazarus Manos was born in Washington on Dec. 29, 1936. He graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1954 and studied accounting at Benjamin Franklin University, now part of George Washington University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1956 and a master’s degree in 1961. He was a Navy veteran and a certified public accountant. Mr. Manos served on the board of the Children’s Cancer Foundation, according to his family. He lived in Annapolis. His wife of 55 years, the former Barbara Isper, died in October. Survivors include two daughters, Helene Manos of Annapolis and Cindy Manos of Millersville, Md.; a sister; a brother; and a grandson. Read more Washington Post obituaries : Daniel J. Callahan III, major figure in D.C. banking, dies at 83 Elaine McConnell, former Fairfax supervisor, dies at 88 Ann Caracristi, who cracked codes, and the glass ceiling, at NSA, dies at 94


He was born in the USA

Bei Bei, the giant panda cub, was born at the National Zoo on Aug. 22. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) Regarding the Jan. 17 Metro article “Hey, Bei Bei”: As Bei Bei makes his public debut, I am inspired to propose a Panda Platform for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, perhaps the most consistently vociferous critic of China. Bei Bei and his sister Bao Bao — and their big brother Tai Shan — were born right here in the District, of parents born in China. Mr. Trump would certainly agree that, in this sense, the young pandas are “American.” Mr. Trump should demand that the baby pandas stay here permanently and that China fly Tai Shan here to live out his years and order China to forfeit the $1 million annual fee that the United States has to pay for the privilege of keeping the pandas for breeding and research. These are very modest demands for China, considering its deceitful ways: reported currency manipulation, Internet hacking and ongoing harassment of several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines (the land of my birth), over the Spratly Islands. On a personal level, it would be a great comfort not to have to go through more separation issues when these little ones grow up a bit and then have to be shipped back in cages to their so-called “homeland.” The United States is their home. To lose them again would simply be too much to bear. Evelyne McFeaters, Falls Church


Bread Furst victim of holdup during lunchtime; 1 person seriously hurt

Columbia online FOIA public access library.” It would also expand the public reporting requirements for District agencies. — Abigail Hauslohner MARYLAND Woman dies in possible hit-and-run Police in Prince George’s County were looking Tuesday for a garbage truck that they think was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash on the Capital Beltway in the Forestville area. Authorities said they were looking for a truck that is blue or green, has red lettering on it and has “fresh damage to the passenger side.” Ghada Seifel-Din Ahmed, 37, of Upper Marlboro died in the crash, which happened about 7:15 a.m. Police said she had just leftthe Beltway and was headed onto Pennsylvania Avenue when her vehicle and the trash truck collided, causing her to hit a pole. It’s possible that the garbage truck’s driver didn’t know that a crash had occurred because the truck was so much larger than Ahmed’s vehicle, police said. Investigators asked witnesses to call 301-731-4422. — Dana Hedgpeth THE REGION Man is fatally struck by train A person was fatally struck by a train in Northeast Washington, D.C. police said Tuesday evening. Police spokesman Hugh Carew did not know the circumstances of the incident, but he said that police were responding to an adult man killed by a train in the 2800 block of New York Avenue NE, where tracks heading in and out of the District run past the National Arboretum. About three hours after trains stopped on the tracks, leaving some passengers stuck on board and others unable to depart, Amtrak began putting its trains back into service between the District and Baltimore. About the same time, just after 9 p.m., MARC said it was also resuming service. It had halted all trains on the Penn Line, which goes from Washington to Baltimore and other destinations. — Julie Zauzmer, Peter Hermann and Martin Weil VIRGINIA 8 goats reported stolen in Stafford Baaaa-d news: Eight goats were recently stolen from two residences in Virginia. Stafford County animal control officers first got a call Saturday morning about three missing goats. A resident of the northern portion of the county said the goats were taken from the shelter where they lived behind the house. A few hours later, another resident called to say that five more goats had been stolen, according to the county sheriff’s office. Those goats lived in a barn behind a home about two miles away


Record year for public school enrollment in Maryland

number of additional students, according to state numbers. Montgomery’s enrollment numbers — which vary slightly from state data — show a total student population of 156,447 this year, an increase of nearly 2,600 from last year’s 153,852. “For us, it’s the eighth year of enrollment increases of over 2,000 per year — so that’s a lot of growth,” said Bruce Crispell, director of long-range planning for Montgomery schools. “It’s more than any other jurisdiction in Maryland by far.” Crispell projects that the school system will grow by an additional 10,000 students during the next six years. The district’s rising enrollment reflects trends in birthrates, family migration into Montgomery and more populated grades of younger students aging up through the school system, Crispell said. Judith Docca, vice president of Montgomery’s school board, noted that the system is experiencing other changes as it grows. “We’ve been getting many more students who have more needs, particularly language needs and other academic needs,” she said. According to Montgomery data, more than 54,000 students in the suburban district receive free and reduced-price meals — an increase of more than 53 percent since 2007. The number of English language learners in Montgomery is up almost 39 percent over the same period, to 22,270 students. The state numbers are part of a recently released 25-page report on enrollment in Maryland districts this school year. The figures show enrollment in Prince George’s up by 1,360 students this year, to 128,936. Prince George’s school officials expect modest yearly enrollment increases through 2022, a district spokeswoman said, as a result of factors including births, international migration and the change in compulsory age of attendance, which was raised from 16 to 17 last year. Elsewhere along the Baltimore-Washington corridor, Baltimore County’s enrollment increased to 111,138, Howard County’s hit 54,870 and Anne Arundel’s reached 80,387, the report showed. Across Maryland, state officials said the racial and ethnic composition of student population is changing markedly. Over the past five years, the number of Hispanic students has increased by 37,000 statewide and the number of Asian students by nearly 7,000. But the number of African American students has dipped by 3,000 and the number of white students by more than 21,000, according to state officials. White students are the largest group statewide, representing 39 percent of enrollment. Black students account for 34 percent, Hispanic students for 15.5 percent and Asian students for 6 percent.


Maryland House overrides three of Gov. Hogan’s vetoes

Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch, right, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. Both are both Democrats. (Brian Witte/AP) Maryland’s House of Delegates voted Wednesday to override three of Gov. Larry Hogan’s 2015 vetoes, a reminder to the Republican chief executive that — despite his sky-high approval ratings — Democrats still wield some power in the state capital. The House voted to restore voting rights to felons who are on parole and probation and to resurrect a bill that requires online hotel booking companies to collect sales tax for the cost of hotel rooms they reserve in Howard County and give the full amount to the state, rather than keeping part of it as a service fee. Delegates also voted to override Hogan’s removal of $2 million in capital funds from a performing-arts hall in Annapolis. The votes on the hotel-tax bill and for Maryland Hall passed, 90 to 51, with little debate. In each case, every Democrat in the chamber except one voted to override, and every Republican voted against doing so. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle made impassioned pleas for and against overriding Hogan’s veto of the voting-rights bill. “This is one of the last vestiges of Jim Crow in our law,” Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery) said, referring to the disproportionate percentage of felons in the state who are African American. “We have a sacred responsibility to ensure the right to vote.” Republican delegates who supported Hogan’s veto said losing the right to vote is a consequence of committing a crime; restoring it before felons complete their probation and parole, they said, goes too far. Under current law, felons can vote after they finish parole and probation. With several felons who had pushed for the law watching from the gallery, the House voted 85 to 56 to override the veto and restore the bill. In addition to the Republican caucus, the votes against the override came from Democratic Dels. Eric M. Bromwell (Baltimore County), Ned Carey (Anne Arundel), Mark S. Chang (Anne Arundel), Mary Ann Lisanti (Harford), Theodore J. Sophocleus (Anne Arundel) and C.T. Wilson (Charles). Hogan vetoed six bills in the spring that had been passed by the Democratic-controlled state legislature. Democrats are trying to override the vetoes, which requires a three-fifths majority in each legislative chamber. On Thursday, the Senate will attempt to override the governor’s vetoes of three bills that originated


Montgomery County Animal Watch

These cases were received by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. In the dog house, somewhat: Brief and costly freedom: Reduced fees for cat adoption: Germantown Adoptable cats at no-kill shelter: Gaithersburg Adopt dogs and cats at MCHS no-kill rescue: Rockville — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Montgomery County news in brief

Restaurant Week starts Friday in county, D.C. More than 40 eateries in Montgomery County and Northwest Washington will participate in this year’s Restaurant Week, which begins Friday and runs through Jan. 31, with a selection of prix fixe lunch and dinner menus. Organized by Bethesda Magazine, the event showcases cuisine from top local chefs by offering special deals, such as two-course lunch menus for $18 and three-course dinner menus for $36. For information and a list of participating restaurants, visit bethesdamagazine.com. Free tax-preparation program available The RSVP/AARP Tax-Aide Program, which provides free tax-preparation assistance to low- and moderate-income taxpayers who live or work in Montgomery County, will open its scheduling office Monday. Online registration will open Tuesday. Special attention is given to those 60 or older. The program has more than 100 volunteers who are trained to prepare simple federal and Maryland state tax forms. Taxes are prepared at more than 20 locations in the county, and an appointment is required. The program runs through April 18. For information or to schedule an appointment, go to montgomeryserves.org or call 240-777-2577. Candidate filing deadline is Feb. 3 for primaries The deadline to file as a candidate for the Board of Elections in the primaries is 9 p.m. Feb. 3. Those interested in running for the board (districts 2 and 4 and At Large) may file a certificate of candidacy with the Montgomery County Board of Elections at 18753 N. Frederick Ave., Suite 210, Gaithersburg. Candidates for other offices should contact the Maryland State Board of Elections for deadlines and filing locations. The board’s office is open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will accept filings on Feb. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. For an appointment, call Christine Rzeszut at 240-777-8585. For information, call 240-777-VOTE (9683) or visit 777vote.org or elections.state.md.us. — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


You may be a genius — but you just may live in the wrong time and place

Characters from the television show “Silicon Valley” in Silicon Valley. (Frank Masi/Frank Masi) Jon Gertner is the author of “The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation.” Not long ago, I spent a day in Waterloo, Canada, visiting with a few dozen scientists and engineers. There probably aren’t too many college students in America who are dreaming right now of making it big there. And yet, if you were to make a list of places that are vying to become new centers for innovation, you wouldn’t dare leave out Waterloo, which is booming with tech start-ups and is in hot pursuit of an emerging technology called quantum computing. As it happens, though, Waterloo has a lot of competition. Pick a country — Israel, China, India, Brazil — and you’ll find a city where venture capitalists and civic boosters are making strenuous efforts to cultivate local talent and incubate new ideas, all in the hope that they can spark jobs and wealth and Renaissance-size bonfires of creativity. The goal is to build the kind of economic engine we tend to call a global hot spot, or what’s more typically described these days as the Next Silicon Valley. These hot spots are not a new phenomenon; they date back to an era long before anyone considered the potential for the rolling hills around Palo Alto. Think of Athens in the age of Socrates or Florence in the era of Michelangelo. What these places seem to have in common is that their cultures produced an inordinate number of people — geniuses, let’s call them — who went on to change the world through literature, art, music, science or philosophy. And sometimes, the cities gave us standouts in many fields simultaneously. “Certain places, at certain times, produced a bumper crop of brilliant minds and good ideas,” Eric Weiner tells us in his new book, “The Geography of Genius.” But as he readily admits, we don’t precisely know why. Weiner reasons that maybe we’ve been pursuing the answer to the wrong question for a while. Instead of asking “What is creativity?,” a better question is “Where is creativity?” If you want to know, of course, you’ve got to go. And so Weiner goes — to Athens, Florence and a host of other places, including Silicon Valley. Fortunately, we get to tag along. “The Geography of Genius” — like Weiner’s previous book,


Noticias locales en breves

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 15: Bei Bei the giant panda cub is photographed at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Tuesday December 15, 2015 in Washington, DC. He was born August 22, 2015. This series features animals that were born at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park or the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in 2015. (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post) (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) distrito de columbia Ya se puede visitar al bebé panda Bei Bei en el Zoo Washington, DC Distrito de Columbia Se acerca el plazo para solicitar pasantía en la NASA Washington DC • Tener 18 años de edad o más. • Ser estudiante de una Universidad en los EE.UU. o alumno recientemente graduado; •Tener un puntaje promedio o GPA mínimo de 3.0.. •Capacidad de trabajar en equipo, creatividad, motivación, entusiasmo y liderazgo. Para postular ingresar a http://develop.larc.nasa.gov/apply.html. VIRGINIA Detienen a hombres por sospecha de terrorismo RICHMOND Maryland Dos niños y sus abuelos mueren en incendio CHILLUM AP, ETL, EFE


Larry Hogan’s hovering white elephant

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan and his wife Yumi sit on board the L0 series magnetic-levitation (maglev) train at the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track in Japan. (Ko Sasaki/Ko Sasaki for The Washington Post) When you think about commuting between the District and Baltimore, what comes to mind? For most people, the answer is congestion, delays and headaches. Now imagine riding on a futuristic train that floats on a cushion of electrons and can reach speeds of more than 300 miles per hour. In recent months, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has pushed the idea of building such a train, known as a magnetic levitation train, or maglev. Hogan rode a demonstration model on a trip to Japan. The idea of super-fast commuting is enticing, but this proposal deserves a great deal of skepticism. Let’s begin with cost. Initial back-of-the-envelope estimates place the construction cost of the maglev train at $10 billion, and the history of mega-projects strongly suggests that the final cost will be much higher. While innovation is important, the expense of maglev raises serious questions about whether the benefits could ever outweigh the costs, especially if improvements to the Northeast Corridor would deliver similar mobility and economic development gains far more cost-effectively. One of the most difficult aspects of any major transportation project is the acquisition of land on which to build. Unlike MARC and Amtrak trains, which operate on the existing Northeast Corridor, a maglev train would require new rights-of-way. And because maglev trains travel at such high speeds, they require routes that are straight and level, making passage along existing rail or highway corridors largely infeasible. As a result, the Maryland Transit Administration would have to acquire as much as 40 miles of land, relying on the contentious process of condemning private property through eminent domain. Next is the issue of ticket cost. A one-way trip on MARC from Union Station in the District to Baltimore’s Penn Station costs $8, or about 20 cents a mile. Traditional high-speed rail service in Japan, an admittedly imperfect comparison, costs 40 cents a mile, twice as much. The cost of maglev tickets would likely be even higher in order to repay large project debts. That higher cost could put the service out of the reach of many commuters. Hogan has tried to brush aside concerns over construction costs by claiming that private investors or possibly the Japanese government would provide


More pandemics are inevitable, and the U.S. is grossly underprepared

Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are kept in a container in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Aedes aegypti is a vector for transmitting the Zika virus. (Andre Penner/Associated Press) WHILE IT has not gained much attention in the United States, Brazil has been struck in recent months with an outbreak of Zika virus that has infected hundreds of thousands of people. Most of the time the symptoms are mild and flu-like, but in some cases health officials say the virus has led to birth defects in babies born to women who were infected in pregnancy. The virus is spread by small insects such as mosquitoes or fleas, and there is no known vaccine to prevent infection. The Zika story might seem easy to dismiss if one is not living in Brazil. Is this just another unpleasant headline about misery far away? Not quite. In the aftermath of the mishandled and tardy reaction to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in which more than 11,000 people died, an independent and authoritative commission was set up in the United States to look ahead and draw lessons from this and other recent waves of infectious disease. The 17-member Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework for the Future issued its final report on Jan. 13, and the panel’s conclusions are a wake-up call about the threat of pandemic disease that could originate almost anywhere and spread everywhere. Despite all the advances of science, “the global community has massively underestimated the risks that pandemics present to human life and livelihoods,” the group declared. “There are very few risks facing humankind that threaten loss of life on the scale of pandemics.” The 1918 influenza pandemic killed anywhere from 50 million to 100 million people; in catastrophic mortality events since 1900, only World War II caused more deaths. Since it first appeared, HIV/AIDS has killed more than 35 million. Although the tolls have been far lower, five outbreaks in the past 15 years have been worrying: severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS; two influenza waves, H5N1 and H1N1; Ebola; and Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. As the world becomes more globalized with the movement of goods and people, as climate change disrupts the environment, and as pathogens move between humans and animals, cocktails of infectious disease will form, spread and sicken. Already a dozen cases of Zika virus have been reported in the United States, so far