Three cheers for space robots

Daniel Britt is the Pegasus professor of astronomy and planetary sciences at the University of Central Florida. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, now exploring the vast region of our solar system beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper belt, completed yet another trip full of superlatives: Last week, it celebrated its closest approach to Ultima Thule, the farthest object ever visited by spacecraft. Ultima Thule is 1 billion miles past Pluto, more than 4 billion miles from Earth, and radio signals take more than six hours to travel from the spacecraft back to NASA’s receivers. At this distance, the sun is just the brightest star in sight, and the local temperature is a balmy minus-390 degrees Fahrenheit. New Horizons, for which I serve as a member of the science team, is a prime example of the essence of robotic exploration. Space robots might not capture the imagination of the public as much as, for example, a person setting foot on the moon or traveling to Mars would. But today, they are operating at the frontier of science. And so they deserve a moment for our gratitude. We can design robots to survive long cruises and the extremes of radiation and temperature in space. And we can reprogram and repurpose them as new exploration opportunities become available. Ultima Thule was not even discovered until eight years after New Horizons was launched in 2006. The entire planning for the Ultima Thule encounter did not even begin until after New Horizons sped past Pluto in 2015. The discovery of Ultima Thule allowed NASA to take advantage of a healthy and operating spacecraft deep in the outer solar system. Since it took nine years to get to Pluto, this placed an extremely capable observatory deep into previously unexplored regions. Robots can also carry instruments that hugely extend the reach and sensitivity of our senses. Robots can be built relatively cheaply and relatively quickly as opportunities for exploration present themselves. New Horizons was designed, built, tested and launched in a little less than four years. For spacecraft, this was very fast because it was driven by the need to take advantage of a celestial free ride, the chance to borrow some energy from an encounter with Jupiter that would accelerate New Horizons toward Pluto and cut five years off the trip. Fundamentally, robots and robotic exploration are all about taking chances. Going into the unknown, doing it


‘Life in prison isn’t a life’: A Nevada inmate whose execution was delayed is found dead in apparent suicide

painkiller fentanyl; and a muscle-paralyzing agent called cisatracurium. But the execution, which would have been Nevada’s first in more than a decade, was postponed after Alvogen, a New Jersey-based maker of midazolam, filed a complaint alleging that the state of Nevada had acquired the drug “by subterfuge with the undisclosed and improper intent to use it for the upcoming execution.” In response, the state said the tactic was part of a “guerrilla war against the death penalty,” adopting language used by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in oral arguments in the 2015 Glossip v. Gross case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of the sedative midazolam. Nevada found support from 15 other states, from Utah to Florida, which banded together to file a brief backing plans to put Dozier to death. Thirty states use some form of capital punishment. Makers of fentanyl and cisatracurium soon joined the lawsuit against Nevada, though U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez found in September that only Alvogen had demonstrated that the state had acted in “bad faith.” In a preliminary injunction, which again halted the execution, she cited a letter in which the company had informed states that it “strongly objects to the use of its products in capital punishment.” The judge warned of “reputational harm” because of “anti-death-penalty sentiments within the medical community.” Dozier’s execution was first delayed in the fall of 2017, when a different judge objected to the use of cisatracurium based on the testimony of an anesthesiologist, who warned that the paralysis it induced could hide signs that the other two drugs then in the mix, diazepam and fentanyl, were failing. The defense’s expert witness said the condemned prisoner might be able to feel himself suffocating. The state Supreme Court later overturned the judge’s decision. The legal dispute was ongoing at the time of Dozier’s death. The state warned in a filing in the closing days of 2018 that the objections of private drug companies could effectively neutralize the death penalty. The state’s new attorney general, Democrat Aaron Ford, opposes the death penalty, but declined to tell the Review-Journal whether he would drop the appeals pursued by Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general and unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor. Dozier was put on suicide watch several times during the wrangling over his execution, though he denied in December attempting to take his own life. “The state’s responsibility is


How Gov. Evers can make Foxconn work for Wisconsin

(close behind R.J. Reynolds’ Camel cigarettes in the United States), and BAT’s China operation became its largest foreign outpost. Like the Foxconn deal, which adds Wisconsin to the company’s investments in Taiwan and China, BAT’s China operation did not entail factory flight from home countries. Burgeoning factories in Shanghai and Harbin complemented those flourishing in Durham and Liverpool. But BAT’s profitability often came at the expense of mistreated workers and local communities. Today, as we enter a new era of global capitalism marked by direct foreign investment in the United States, government officials like Evers will increasingly need strategies for protecting communities like Wisconsin’s Racine County that become a node in a foreign company’s global network. BAT dreamed of a thriving parallel production system in China because high transport and labor costs of exported cigarettes made its product too expensive for most Chinese consumers and left the company vulnerable to competition from more proximate Chinese and Japanese firms. BAT planted U.S. cigarette tobacco, built cigarette factories and distributed cigarettes to a massive, largely rural consumer population. Its effort proved wildly successful: Chinese smokers increasingly shifted from the customary pipe to the cigarette. Offered at a higher price than pipe tobacco, cigarettes sold better in towns and cities and to merchants and professionals than to rural farmers. Despite this limitation, BAT-China proved highly profitable. BAT’s success stemmed from an operation model that conceived of labor management as a global problem. Despite dramatic cultural differences between the United States and China, they employed techniques developed simultaneously in the two countries. For example, American managers created workplace order in their new Chinese factories by applying the methods of Jim Crow segregation that were used in U.S. cigarette factories. But they understood they could not simply impose their ways on Chinese people. Instead, they employed Chinese supervisors and grafted their ideas to established Chinese practices, creating hybridized management systems. BAT also had a brilliant public relations strategy, both at home and in China. At home, BAT’s public information about its operations in China notably left out its direct investment in farming and manufacturing. Instead, it publicized only the numbers of cigarettes sold and the amount of tobacco shipped from the United States. The company knew that Americans would object to diverting dollars from the domestic industry. But in China, BAT equated its own economic success with progress for China, even while it worked diligently


Nats allow season-ticket holders affected by the shutdown to postpone monthly payments

As the partial shutdown of the federal government dragged into its third week, the Washington Nationals offered a reprieve to season-ticket holders affected by the furlough. In an email to Nats Plus members on Monday, the Nationals announced that employees or the spouses of employees of federal agencies affected by the shutdown may postpone their monthly ticket payments beginning this month. “We realize that many of our fans are facing challenges due to the ongoing federal government shutdown,” the email reads. “For those of you who are employed by federal agencies impacted by the shutdown, we want to make sure that your NATS PLUS plan isn’t adding to your stress. So, the Washington Nationals are offering NATS PLUS members who are employed by federal government agencies impacted by the closure, or who have a spouse employed by those agencies, the option to postpone your monthly ticket payments. The postponement would begin with the scheduled January 15 payment, continuing until the federal government is back up and running.” It’s anyone’s guess as to which will happen first: Bryce Harper makes his free agency decision or the federal government reopens. According to the Nationals, once the federal government reopens, the “next scheduled payment will be for the amount of the full missed payment(s). Subsequent payments will return to your normal monthly installments, until your account is paid in full by June 15, 2019.” If the federal government remains shut down on Feb. 1, season-ticket holders’ Feb. 15 payment will be postponed. If the federal government remains shut down on March 1, season-ticket holders’ March 15 payment will be postponed. Season-ticket holders affected by the shutdown are encouraged to contact the Nationals' Membership Services team, either by calling 202-675-6287 or by emailing stcomments@nationals.com. Fans will be asked to provide “verifiable documentation that you or your spouse are employed by a federal government agency impacted by the shutdown.” Fans who wish to maintain their current payment schedule do not need to take any action. The Nationals also announced five of the six players who will be featured as bobblehead giveaways this season, and that six-game bobblehead ticket packages are now on sale. This year’s bobbleheads will include Juan Soto (April 12), Trea Turner (May 15), Max Scherzer (June 21), Adam Eaton (July 2), Patrick Corbin (Aug. 17) and a player to be announced later (Sept. 13). Read more on the Nationals: This week could


Apple stars at giant tech confab CES — without actually being there

entertainment services — critical revenue as growth in its hardware sales slumps. Samsung is the world’s top supplier of smartphones, and those devices compete with the iPhone, but its televisions offer a way for Apple to get its content onto bigger screens in the home. Apple is known for its tight control over every aspect of its ecosystem, from consumer privacy to its proprietary messaging and entertainment software, which helps lock in customers and drive sales to its hardware. As controversies tied to data-collection practices have arisen in recent years, Apple has tried to differentiate itself from its tech industry peers, including Google and Facebook. The Las Vegas billboard advances Apple’s self-perception as a hardware manufacturer, in contrast to Silicon Valley’s data-hungry Web companies. However, Google is also one of Apple’s main partners, and the search giant pays billions of dollars to be the default search engine on iPhones. Both Apple and Google declined to comment. Google has faced a number of questions about privacy and security, including a software bug in Google+ in November that could have allowed access to 52 million users' personal information without their permission. And during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, lawmakers questioned Google chief executive Sundar Pichai about the scope of data collection on the Android operating system. In October, Apple chief executive Tim Cook delivered a biting critique of Silicon Valley to the European Parliament in Brussels, warning regulators of an emerging “data-industrial complex” and of anti-democratic forces brewing on social media. Cook did not mention Facebook, Google or any other tech company by name, but he emphasized that privacy is a “fundamental human right.” During the same speech, Cook called on U.S. officials to pass a comprehensive digital privacy law and praised the European Union’s aggressive data protection rules that recently took effect. “Now, more than ever — as leaders of governments, as decision-makers in business, and as citizens — we must ask ourselves a fundamental question: What kind of world do we want to live in?” he said. Apple isn’t known for playing nice with others. But as The Washington Post’s Geoffrey Fowler wrote last month, in his 2019 predictions for tech, as Apple develops its business lines beyond hardware, it’s going to need some frenemies. Integration between Apple devices and Samsung’s smart TVs may give the company reach and exposure that its Apple TV streaming boxes couldn’t get on


Named as a key Saudi suspect in Khashoggi killing, former top royal adviser drops out of sight

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Authorities here will not say what became of Saud al-Qahtani, a powerful royal adviser who Saudi prosecutors allege played a major role in the events that led to Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in Istanbul three months ago. So in the seven weeks since the government said he was under investigation, only rumors have filled the silence. He was spotted recently in the coastal city of Jiddah, a resident said, and in the offices of the royal court here in the capital, according to a person who works with the government. Other accounts put Qahtani, once a top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a remote corner of the kingdom, lying low. The government’s treatment of Qahtani is being closely watched in Washington and other foreign capitals as a test of whether Saudi Arabia is sincere about prosecuting everyone found to be involved in Khashoggi’s killing, including senior officials. Even then, the many unanswered questions surrounding Qahtani’s role include whether he helped hatch the plot, as some Saudi officials allege, or is a fall guy served up by the government. The CIA has concluded with medium to high confidence that the crown prince likely ordered the Khashoggi operation. Saudi officials say Mohammed was unaware of the plot, and some of them privately suggest it was a misguided plan by Qahtani to demonstrate his loyalty to his boss. The Saudi government did not respond to requests for comment about whether he is free, detained or under indictment. Qahtani did not respond to an email requesting comment on his whereabouts. A person close to the Saudi royal court said he believed Qahtani was under house arrest but could not be sure. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s general prosecutor said 11 defendants had appeared in court for the first time, but the prosecutor’s office did not release their names or say whether Qahtani was among them. A U.S. official said in a conference call with reporters that the Trump administration was “pleased” to see the beginning of the trial but added that the legal process had not yet “hit that threshold of credibility and accountability.” The last detailed government comment on Qahtani was on Nov. 15, when prosecutors said he was under investigation and had been forbidden to leave the kingdom. That same day, the Trump administration said it had imposed sanctions on Qahtani, calling him “part of the planning


Government contractors feel the heat as shutdown enters week three

receive “stop work order” notices from agencies that are out of funds for the year. Alan Chvotkin, general counsel for the government contractors’ trade group Professional Services Council, said companies serving the Federal Communications Commission, USAID and the EPA have been among those receiving stop work orders. Those serving the Defense Department and intelligence agencies are largely unaffected. But the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, known as FEMA, last week posted a “blanket” stop work order affecting scores of open contracts. “Any work done after receipt of this notice is at your own risk and will not be reimbursed,” FEMA head of contracting activity Bobby McCane wrote in a note to federal contractors. “I thank you for your assistance during this funding lapse.” The companies affected by the FEMA shutdown include deep-pocketed tech companies and large government-services firms for whom the shutdown is little more than an annoyance. AT&T was ordered to stop work on a contract to provide cellphone data plans, for example; government-services giant CACI was ordered to stop work on three of its support contracts, and IBM was ordered to halt certain activities related to a government content management system. Small businesses are feeling the impact of the shutdown more sharply. Smaller government contractors might rely on just a few contracts that provide a large portion of their annual revenue, and transferring employees onto other contracts can be difficult. “There is a human side of this that doesn’t show up in the economic data,” said Stephen S. Fuller, an economist with George Mason University in Virginia who studies the local economy. “The people affected by this are also those who are least likely to be able to absorb it.” Many of those receiving stop work orders from FEMA are small businesses. They include companies like HME, which is engaged in facilities maintenance and support related to Hurricanes Irma and Harvey; R3 Government Solutions, a service-disabled-veteran-owned consulting firm based in Arlington, and Seventh Sense Consulting, a minority and veteran-owned small business based in Virginia, for example. Seventh Sense Consulting managing partner Ron Lambo says about 25 of his company’s 120 employees have been affected by the shutdown. His company does some contract management support work for FEMA that is being held up as a result of the shutdown. Those employees were paid through the holidays in large part by using vacation days, Lambo said, but


U.S. towns with federal workers brace for impact as the shutdown continues

OGDEN, Utah — The snowy streets of Ogden are quiet these days. Parking lots are half-empty. Restaurant sales have dropped. Without federal workers to serve, Bickering Sisters cafe has cut the hours of its lunch service. More than 4,000 federal employees who work for the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Forest Service have been furloughed from their jobs in this outdoorsy haven north of Salt Lake City as part of the partial government shutdown. The closing of federal offices has reverberated across the city of 87,000, where roughly a third of annual revenue comes from the sales tax. Far away from the behemoth federal office complexes in Washington, small towns and cities with workforces dependent on government jobs are beginning to feel the pinch of one of the longest shutdowns in history, now at more than two weeks old. Many of the affected federal workers — including 10,000 people in Utah, 6,200 in West Virginia and 5,500 in Alabama — have salaries far below the average $85,000 for government employees. But those paychecks drive local economies, and workers are starting to make tough choices about how to spend them — eating out less, limiting travel and shopping at food pantries instead of grocery stores — creating a ripple effect through the neighborhoods and towns where they live. With President Trump predicting the shutdown could last months or even years, these towns are preparing for a long-term economic blow. “The lunches that are missed and the shopping that is missed, people are staying at home, and that really hurts our small-business community,” said Tom Christopulos, director of community and economic development for Ogden. He expects the town will take a hit on its weekly sales tax revenue of $314,000, which could delay parks and roads projects. Foot traffic along the historic 25th Street commercial corridor has dropped dramatically — and so have sales at Marcy Rizzi’s bookstore two blocks from the James V. Hansen Federal Building. The shutdown “definitely has an impact,” said Rizzi, owner of Booked on 25th, as she managed an empty store at lunchtime on Friday. Other shopkeepers she knows are “more liberal leaning,” so they already had misgivings about the government under Trump, she said. But now that he is “willing to impact local, everyday citizens over a wall? You hear people [complaining] about that.” Furloughed IRS employee Krystle Kirkpatrick, 31, said she and her family of


مأساة فهد البتيري ولجين الهذلول

بقلم كُرك رودِل كُرك رودِل هو كاتب مقيم في كاليفورنيا. هذه المقالة مقتبسة من مجموعة تغريدات له على تويتر. قبل بضع سنوات عندما كنت أكتب لمسلسل أميرِكان داد!، كنتُ بحاجة إلى متحدث بالعربية من أجل دور صغير. اقترح مدير توزيع الأدوار فنّانًا كوميديًّا سعوديًّا اسمه فهد البتيري صادف وجوده في لوس أنجلوس لمدة شهرين من أجل تصوير برنامج تلفزيوني. بحثتُ عنه، وتبيَّن أنه أول فنّان كوميدي سعودي يظهر على خشبة المسرح بشكل احترافي في المملكة، “جيري ساينفَلد السعودية”. كان لديه بضعة ملايين من المتابعين عبر تويتر. (ليس لديه متابعين الآن، ولكن سأصل لتلك النقطة لاحقًا.) كان بصراحة أكثر إثارة للاهتمام من هذا الدور الذي ذكرته مسبقًا. في اليوم المخطط للتسجيل، مشيتُ إلى المقصورة لمقابلة فهد وإخراج جلسته. كان مجرد سطرين، لذا فكنتُ أعتقد أنني سأحييه وأُشرِف على التسجيل عدة مرات وثم سنمضي في طريقنا. كان فهد واقفًا مع امرأة قدمها لي كزوجته لجين. لم تكن تعرف أي شخص في لوس أنجلوس، ولذلك كانت ترافق فهد خلال ذلك اليوم. كانا شابَّين رائِعَين عالميَين ولطيفَين بشكل لا يصدق. راقا لي على الفور ودردشنا. سألتُ فهد عن كونه كوميديًّا سعوديًّا – عن فعله لشيء لم يكن موجودًا من قبل في بلاده. كنتُ قد التقيت مؤخرًا بتريفور نوا للحديث معه عن مشروع ما، وقد تحدث عن ترعرعه من دون وسيلة للوصول إلى الثقافة الشعبية الغربية. لذلك لم يستوعب أبدًا الإيقاعات القياسية للكوميديا الارتجالية – فأنشأ هو وغيره من مواطني جنوب إفريقيا إيقاعاتهم الخاصة. كان فهد مفتونًآ. نعم، لقد كانت لديه تجربة مماثلة. لكن صوته تأثر أيضًا بحقيقة أنّ الكوميديا في المملكة كانت… خطيرة. في تلك اللحظة انغمسنا في الحديث عن السياسة. ذكرتُ الشاب “التقدمي” الأمير محمد بن سلمان. كافة الصحافة في الولايات المتحدة أخذت انطباعًا إيجابيًا جدًا عن الرجل. كان يجتمع بأشخاص في هوليوود ووادي السيليكون. هل شعر فهد ولجين بالتفاؤل بشأن مستقبل السعودية؟ لقد كانا متفائلَين ولكنهما حذَّرا من أنه لا يزال هنالك طريق طويل بشأن تطور حالة حقوق الإنسان. لهذا السبب كانوا انتقلوا مؤخرًا إلى دبي في الإمارات العربية المتحدة. قلتُ لهما: “حسنًا على الأقل أنتما تعرفان أنكما بخير.” كان رفيع المستوى بما فيه الكفاية لدرجة أن لن يعبث أحد معهما نظرًا لوجود ملايين المعجبين به. نظرتُ إلى لجين. “وشهرته تغطي كلاكما، أليس كذلك؟” نظرا إلى بعضهما البعض. قال: “إنها أكثر شهرة مني في الشرق الأوسط”. ثم أدركتُ من كانت… إحدى ناشطات حقوق المرأة الذين اعتُقِلوا بسبب قيادتهم للسيارة في السعودية. شعرتُ وكأني أحمق. كنتُ أفترض أنها كانت مساهِمة جانبية له عندما هي بالفعل حقَّقَت الكثير من أجل حقوق الإنسان أكثر من


The Dutch love to plan. But even they may not be able to avoid the chaos of a no-deal Brexit.

happen,” said Mark Dijk, head of external relations at the Port of Rotterdam, whose docks, rail yards and warehouses handle nearly 1 million tons of goods moving to and from Britain every week. The port has been working on Brexit emergency plans for more than a year and is trying to alert businesses that they need to brace for a wave of restrictions. Britain’s efforts to manage the withdrawal “are so chaotic that it’s hard for people to be sure there won’t be a [no-deal] Brexit,” Dijk said. No precedent exists for a country scissoring itself out of the interconnected modern world. And yet that outcome appears increasingly likely, as the British Parliament prepares to resume debate on a draft withdrawal agreement that has meager support. In a no-deal scenario, London’s powerful banks could find themselves in legal limbo when they want to trade in Europe’s market. Millions of British citizens who have lived and worked in the E.U. legally for years, as well as E.U. nationals in Britain, could suddenly become undocumented. Connections between British and European law enforcement agencies would go dark. British leaders have warned of shortages of food and medicines, and they have asked importers to build stockpiles. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson has put 3,500 troops on standby to deal with potential disruptions. In all, cabinet ministers have approved $2.5 billion of contingency spending. The countries that will remain in the European Union also are amping up their no-deal preparations. Irish lawmakers may have to set aside all other business this month to pass 45 pieces of emergency legislation aimed at mitigating the impact of Brexit. France is building roads, warehouses and checkpoints near its ports in preparation for new customs controls. The E.U.’s headquarters in Brussels unveiled a list of proposals to protect E.U. citizens from the worst consequences of a no-deal Brexit, but that would offer little relief to the British side. British airlines, for example, would be able to carry passengers to E.U. airports only from Britain. Here in the Netherlands, exports to Britain could fall by 17 percent if Brexit happens without a deal, according to a study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Dutch government is scrambling to limit the damage, hiring nearly 1,000 more customs agents for the inspections that would become necessary. The agency, whose officials inspect meat, dairy products and animals, is scouring Eastern Europe


NASA administrator rescinds invitation to Russian counterpart after backlash on Capitol Hill

Facing mounting criticism from Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has rescinded an invitation to the controversial head of the Russian space agency to visit the United States. In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, Bridenstine said that the invitation was an attempt to maintain relations with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. But after the offer was blasted by some key senators, he said he decided to withdraw it. “We had heard from numerous senators suggesting that this was not a good idea,” he said in a phone interview late Friday evening. “And I wanted to be accommodating to the interests of the senators, and so I have rescinded the invitation.” Rogozin was placed on a sanctions list by the Obama administration in 2014 response to Russia’s military actions in Ukraine when he was a deputy prime minister. After the sanctions were issued, he said Russia should stop flying NASA’s astronauts to the International Space Station in retaliation. “After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. delivers its astronauts to the ISS [International Space Station] with a trampoline,” he wrote on Twitter. Given Rogozin’s history as a bombastic Russian nationalist and his presence on the sanctions list, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and others said Bridenstine should never have invited him. “Administrator Bridenstine’s invitation to Dmitry Rogozin, one of the leading architects of the Kremlin’s campaign of aggression towards its neighbors, undercuts our message and undermines the United States’ core national security objectives,” Shaheen said in a statement on Wednesday. “Rogozin has a proven record of choosing conflict over cooperation, and this invitation weakens the U.S.’s global standing by demonstrating the ease by which Russian officials can get around transatlantic sanctions.” Earlier Friday, a NASA spokesman said that the visit, originally scheduled for February, would be postponed. But as the criticism mounted, the agency decided it was best to withdraw the invitation entirely. Although the United States and the Soviet Union had faced off in a Cold War space race to the moon in the 1960s, they later became key partners in space, working together on numerous projects, including the Apollo-Soyuz program in 1975, when the two countries’ spacecraft docked in orbit. Today, the countries are partners on the International Space Station. And NASA has had to rely on Russia to fly its astronauts there ever since the space shuttle was


Here are NASA’s first up-close images of the most distant object ever explored

at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., where New Horizons is operated, were up late working to transform those bits of data into the first-ever high-resolution image of an object in the Kuiper belt. The black-and-white photo was taken from about 30,000 miles away, as New Horizons sped toward its target at a blistering 32,000 miles per hour. “Spectacular,” principal investigator Alan Stern said at a Wednesday news conference at which he displayed the early images from the flyby. He described watching his colleagues jump out of their seats and embrace upon seeing the compelling, crystal-clear image. “That’s elation,” he said. “And it’s just the tip of the iceberg.” Scientists had suspected that Ultima Thule would not be perfectly round since the summer of 2017, when a global network of observers captured the rock passing in front of a distant star. But the Kuiper belt object is so distant and so dim that even the most powerful telescopes saw it only as a flicker of light in the sky. Even as New Horizons sped toward its target, in the hours before closest approach, Ultima Thule resembled little more than a blurry bowling pin. But now “it’s a world,” Stern said — with shape, character and implications for our understanding of planetary science. Jeff Moore, the leader of the New Horizons geology team, said Ultima Thule probably formed in the first few million years of the solar system from a swirl of smaller objects. Over time, dust and pebbles clumped together to form the object’s two lobes, which eventually combined to form a single body. The lack of evidence for damage at the sight of the collision suggests the joining was probably gentle, like tapping someone’s bumper as you fit into a tight parking space, Moore said. “You don’t need to fill out any paperwork.” This would make Ultima Thule a lot like the early planetesimals from which larger worlds — including our own — ultimately formed. But unlike the planets, which have undergone dramatic geologic change, and comets, which are heated and transformed by the sun, the Kuiper belt object has existed in a “deep freeze” since it first formed, 4.6 billion years ago. “What we think we’re looking at is the end product of a process that took place at the very beginning of the formation of the solar system,” Moore said. He called New


Everything you need to know about the possible government shutdown that may be coming this month

thing. Which brings us to … Simply, the biggest issue is funding for President Trump’s border wall. It’s his signature issue, one that he’s been promising since the early days of his campaign (back when Mexico would pay for it) and now he says he’d allow the government to shut down if the spending package doesn’t include $5 billion for his wall. The Democrats have conceded to $1.67 billion for enhanced border security, but Trump isn’t satisfied. Meanwhile, some Democrats wonder why a deal was made in the first place, especially one that didn’t include protections for dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Just because the government “shuts down” doesn’t mean everything grinds to a halt. Essential personnel keep working, and federal programs often have enough funds to keep operating. The special council currently investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election would continue its work. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s office is “funded from a permanent indefinite appropriation and would be unaffected in the event of a shutdown,” a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN Wednesday. “The appropriations bills before Congress do not touch" the special counsel’s office. That’s hard to say. The agencies are all responsible for putting together shutdown contingency plans. But if prior government shutdowns are a guide, perhaps the most visible effect is the closing of national parks across the country. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed without pay (though Congress usually approves back pay). But most of the government’s most pressing responsibilities continue, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: There as a shutdown for two days at the beginning of this year, but the biggie was in 2013. It was fall 2013, and the major fight was over funding the Affordable Care Act. Republicans in the House refused to fund the government unless Obamacare was defunded. The idea to hold the rest of the government hostage to kill the health-care law was spawned by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). You may remember his 21-hour filibuster, in which he famously read his daughter “Green Eggs and Ham” through C-SPAN. But as the shutdown wore on, some moderate Republicans realized that optically they were going to be blamed for it and started working on a plan to get the government running again. Slowly they peeled off enough Republicans to support reopening the government. The bill passed with


Power Up: Trump may be about to have his own ‘pen and phone’ moment

Good morning and welcome back. We're on the 17th day of the government shutdown -- have you been affected in any way? We'd love to hear from you. Reach out and sign up. Breaking: 'A PEN AND A PHONE'?: During an hour-long briefing with reporters yesterday at the White House, Vice President Pence and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen bolstered the president’s case to declare a national emergency to construct a border wall without congressional approval because of a “a humanitarian and national security crisis.” President Trump will attempt to make the case directly to the American public tonight. Immigration experts maintain the administration is manipulating statistics by alleging that terrorists and criminals are flowing over the border at alarming rates. And current and former lawmakers warn of the repercussions of tapping presidential emergency powers for the wrong reasons. Important underlying thread: There are cracks in the GOP ranks as the shutdown drags into week three... P.S.: 'WE RESERVE THE RIGHT': No legal mandate: Limiting Separately: Also Monday, BUT FIRST, SHUTDOWN STORIES FROM A SHUTDOWN As The Post's columnist Petula Dvorak wrote There’s a debate over to whether networks and cable outlets should air live Trump’s speech to the nation:


As shutdown stalls farm bailout, Trump team extends deadline

The government shutdown has stalled President Trump’s program to send billions of dollars to farmers hurt by the trade war with China, as the Agriculture Department office responsible for administering the payouts is closed for lack of funding. On Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that the department has extended the deadline for farmers to apply for bailout payments. The application window was slated to close Jan. 15, but Perdue said Tuesday that the deadline will be extended, at minimum, weeks after the shutdown ends. The extension is one of a string of actions taken by the administration to limit the pain inflicted by the federal shutdown, even as the extended lapse in funding brings to a halt an increasing range of government functions. The move also reflects the administration’s attempt to protect a U.S. agriculture community hurt by the downturn in commodity prices caused in part by Trump’s trade war with China. Soybean-producing counties went for Trump by a margin of more than 12 percent, a Washington Post analysis last year found. The shutdown caused the Agriculture Department to run out of money on Dec. 28 to keep Farm Service Agency offices open. “Using existing funds, we were able to keep FSA offices open as long as possible, but unfortunately had to close them when funding ran out,” Perdue said in a statement. “We will therefore extend the application deadline for a period of time equal to the number of business days FSA offices were closed, once the government shutdown ends.” Amid criticism from Republican farm state lawmakers on the impact of its trade war with China, the Trump administration this summer unilaterally authorized up to $12 billion in bailout payments to farmers. China has slapped retaliatory tariffs on a range of U.S. exports, including agricultural products, amid the wider trade spat. The administration’s bailout included about $10 billion in direct cash assistance to farmers — the bulk of which would go to soybean producers — as well as approximately $1 billion to purchase excess food supplies to distribute to food banks and nutrition programs across the country. Bailout checks have continued to go out during the shutdown for farmers who had already certified their 2018 crop production. About $5.2 billion in bailout payments have been made since the program began, including approximately 360,000 payments since the federal shutdown began on Dec. 22, according to Tim Murtaugh, a USDA


Trump wanted a big cut in troops in Afghanistan. New U.S. military plans fall short.

Several officials who described the plan were hesitant to name a specific number, citing the evolving nature of the discussions. But some said it could be about half of what Trump was initially seeking. That would mark nearly a full rollback of the 3,900-troop increase Trump authorized in August 2017, after months of internal debate and strong advocacy from then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who resigned last month. It also would stand as a symbol that Trump is serious about getting out of the war, even if he is convinced for now that it is not possible. “The president is very frustrated about our progress in Afghanistan,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a confidant of the president. “But an immediate withdrawal would be an unmitigated disaster because Afghanistan is the center of gravity in the war on terror.” The discussions about Afghanistan come as Trump and his advisers more publicly discuss a military withdrawal in Syria, which was ordered the same week Trump asked for withdrawal plans for Afghanistan. Mattis resigned afterward, citing differences of opinion with the president. Trump initially said he wanted all 2,000 troops out of Syria within 30 days but has since said the exit will be done in an orderly fashion. But the war in Afghanistan — far costlier and with more troops involved — has mostly stayed out of the spotlight. In a rare exception, Trump caustically derided it during a Cabinet meeting Jan. 2 and attempted to tie the military stalemate there to Mattis. “What’s he done for me? How has he done in Afghanistan? Not too good. Not too good,” Trump said. “I’m not happy with what he’s done in Afghanistan, and I shouldn’t be happy.” The Pentagon has been virtually silent about the situation since then, as it attempts to walk a fine line between reassuring U.S. allies and Afghan partners and not getting out in front of the president. Marine Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Army Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said late last month that they have received no new orders for the war, and three U.S. officials said Monday that remains the case. Miller, speaking in a meeting last month broadcast by the Afghan television station Tolo, sought to reassure Afghans that even if there is a partial withdrawal coming, U.S. troops will remain alongside


The Daily 202: The wall has become the symbol of the Trump presidency — and his credibility gap

believe that partial solutions can exist for so universal an issue.” The pope then praised Colombia and other South American nations for accepting large numbers of Venezuelans fleeing food shortages and economic difficulties, per the Associated Press. “All human beings long for a better and more prosperous life,” he said, “and the challenge of migration cannot be met with a mind-set of violence and indifference, nor by offering merely partial solutions.” WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: -- Clemson defeated Alabama 44-16 in the College Football Playoff national championship game to capture its second title in three years, becoming the first program to go 15-0 since Penn in 1897. GET SMART FAST: SHUTDOWN LATEST: -- Reversing legal precedent, the White House said the IRS would issue tax refunds during the shutdown. -- Air travelers are starting to feel the impact of the funding lapse. -- For government employees who have already felt snubbed by the Trump administration, the shutdown is the latest indignity inflicted by the “drain the swamp” president. -- Federal workers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, say they are already feeling the strain on the home front. -- Some government employees have been forced to find “side hustles” to make ends meet, including one diplomat who has taken to reviewing cosmetics online. -- The National Weather Service is open, but the shutdown has still affected employee morale and overall operations. -- The shutdown has dealt another blow to a federal prison in Florida that was still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Michael. -- Trump’s stance on the border wall could jeopardize newly elected Republican Sen. Rick Scott’s relationship with Hispanic voters in Florida. -- More than a dozen freshman lawmakers are joining their colleagues in refusing to cash their paycheck during the shutdown. THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD: -- Beto O’Rourke is pursuing plans for a solo road trip to meet voters outside Texas as he weighs a 2020 presidential bid. -- Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is on the morning-show circuit today, part of a flurry of television appearances preceding a likely 2020 announcement. -- Joe Biden gave Democratic candidates only a fraction of the money he raised during the midterms. -- Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has seen some pushback from his Republican colleagues after he wrote a Post op-ed criticizing Trump. -- Gavin Newsom (D) was sworn in as California's governor — replacing Jerry Brown, the


D.C. Council approves ‘LOVE’ Act to allow marriages to continue during shutdown

Let the wedding bells ring again in the District. The D.C. Council on Tuesday unanimously approved emergency legislation allowing the city to grant marriage licenses during a federal government shutdown, reversing fortunes for couples for whom the shutdown meant big headaches on their big day. The Marriage Bureau at the federally funded D.C. Superior Court was among the “nonessential” services halted since the shutdown began Dec. 22. That left couples scrambling to come up with backup plans for making their marriages official in the eyes of the government, such as holding a second wedding in Maryland or Virginia. The Marriage Bureau registers officiants and issues marriage licenses, which the officiants are supposed to sign and return to the court after the nuptials. But the Let Our Vows Endure Act — or LOVE Act — introduced by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) allows her to issue marriage licenses while the courthouse is partially closed. D.C. government agencies falling under the executive branch are not affected by the shutdown. “They can shut down the United States government, but they cannot shut down love in the District of Columbia,” Council member Brandon T. Todd (D-Ward 4) said before the vote. The mayor plans to sign the bill Thursday when she returns from the CES electronics show in Las Vegas, where she is to participate on a panel about innovation in cities. The law would take effect immediately for 90 days, bypassing the typical congressional review period. Lawmakers are also considering passing a permanent version of the bill. Aides to Bowser say the secretary of the District of Columbia would handle marriage license applications, but city officials are still figuring out the process and how applicants will obtain licenses. The District government also has been picking up trash from the Mall and ramping up staffing at the Department of Employment Services to process unemployment claims as a result of the shutdown. Other court functions suspended during the federal government’s partial shutdown include bar admissions, the law library, the day care at D.C. Superior Court and expungement services. If the shutdown continues, local government functions that rely on federal funding may be affected, including food stamps and public housing. fenit.nirappil@washpost.com


I was traded for a Russian spy. I know what Paul Whelan is going through.

During the Cold War, Lefortovo prison in Moscow — where Russian authorities are detaining American citizen Paul Whelan on espionage charges — seemed a frightening place for political dissidents and foreigners accused of espionage. Isolation, intimidation and torture were the Soviet authorities’ tools of the trade. I know what Lefortovo was like back then, since I was held there when I was arrested in 1986 in a Russian tit-for-tat operation for the arrest in New York of Gennadi Zakharov, a Soviet physicist working for the United Nations. The FBI had ample evidence of Zakharov’s spying activities, including a receipt for $6,000 he had paid for classified jet engine materials. When the Soviets needed a bargaining chip to trade with U.S. intelligence to get Zakharov back, they grabbed me. Whelan’s family says he is innocent of the espionage charges. He’s being held in solitary confinement. Russian intelligence officials claim they arrested him after he received a USB drive containing the names of people working in a secret facility, but they haven’t released much more information on his case. Many former Western intelligence officers, though, suspect he was arrested so he could be traded for the release of Maria Butina, a Russian national who pleaded guilty to conspiring with a senior Russian official to infiltrate U.S. conservative groups and who has been detained in Washington for five months. Reports that Whelan’s arrest might have been part of a grand game between intelligence services reminded me of my own ordeal. In 1986, I was working in Moscow as the bureau chief for U.S. News and World Report. My family and I had lived there for five years. One day, a Russian whom I had known for several years and considered a friend handed me a plastic bag containing photos from Central Asia showing Soviet troops in Afghanistan; in exchange, I gave him several Stephen King novels I had collected for him. I had a standing request for him to bring me photos and newspaper clippings on the Soviet war there. Tucked inside the plastic bag with the photos, though, were wall maps of Soviet deployments marked “secret.” After we parted, I started to walk home, carrying the bag without opening it. Suddenly a minibus drove up alongside me. Six men jumped out. Several of them surrounded me, pinned my arms behind my back and handcuffed me before shoving me into the van. In


A Paul Manafort court filing just accidentally connected some big dots between the Trump campaign and Russia

to say that he not only had ties to Russian intelligence, but to add that he “had such ties in 2016.” It had been reported that Kilimnik served in the Russian military and attended a Russian military foreign language university that often produces intelligence agents. But whether those ties were ongoing was another question, and Kilimnik had denied this. Previous Mueller filings also said Kilimnik had such ties — but not specifically in 2016. One filing described Kilimnik as “a longtime Russian colleague … who is currently based in Russia and assessed to have ties to a Russian intelligence service.” It may seem like splitting hairs. But it now looks like Mueller’s team may have made a point to establish both Kilimnik’s current ties to Russian intelligence and that they existed specifically in 2016 for a reason. The question from there was whether Kilimnik’s ties would rear their heads again. And now they have. We now have polling data allegedly being shared by a Trump campaign higher-up directly with someone with alleged, contemporaneous ties to Russian intelligence. (A valid question from there: Was it internal data? The filing just refers to “sharing polling data with Mr. Kilimnik related to the 2016 presidential campaign,” but that could technically be publicly available data.) We also have a meeting that took place with this person tied to Russian intelligence that Manafort allegedly hid. Whether any information was passed along to Russian intelligence or any coordination took place involving the Russian government, we don’t know. (My colleague, Philip Bump, has applied some very valid skepticism.) But the potential is clearly there for Kilimnik to have served as a conduit. And the arrows pointing in that direction are no longer quite so speculative. It also bears asking, yet again, why someone like Manafort felt the need to allegedly lie about this stuff — especially at the expense of his cooperation agreement and further legal jeopardy he was well familiar with. Kilimnik’s name has always been one of the lesser-understood but potentially most important in this whole matter — especially given his known Russia ties. He’s the one Manafort was writing to when he apparently asked about leveraging his position on the Trump campaign to chase down debts he was allegedly owed. “How do we use [this] to get whole?” he wrote to Kilimnik. He also spoke with Kilimnik about setting up briefings with Oleg Deripaska,


I’m a journalist who fled Pakistan, but I no longer feel safe in exile

I received, I once again fear for my life. Every time I leave my apartment, enter public places or simply walk on the streets in Paris, I am paranoid about being followed. Every time I stand on the subway platform, I fear that someone may push me on the tracks at the last moment. Since the warning by the U.S. agency, my family has been telling me to go quiet and forget about Pakistan. I remind them that the only reason I left Pakistan, where I had a stable job, a comfortable home and a strong journalism network, was so I could continue being the voice of those in Pakistan who cannot speak up. I have had friends murdered, disappeared and shot because they dared to challenge the powers that be. This past year was the worst year for Pakistani journalists. Hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs in recent months With the mainstream media muted, social media platforms have become an important outlet for those who still dare to speak truth in Pakistan. But even those platforms are now collaborating with the Pakistani authorities. Facebook is heavily censored in the country and Twitter has been sending legal notices on behalf of the Pakistani government to its users to remove objectionable content. I received such a warning, too. Also, following the Saudi playbook, Pakistan also deploys armies of online trolls to target target critics like me, warning us of fates like Khashoggi’s. Pakistan recently had elections, and a new government has come into power, led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His close ties to the military show he may not care for democratic norms such as freedom of expression. One year after my attack, the harassment, intimidation and threats have followed me abroad, too, and have forced me to think whether it is all worth it. As someone recently told me: If they are obsessed with silencing a journalist and his ideas, it probably means that his ideas are powerful and worth listening to. I believe powerful and independent ideas should not be given up, no matter what the cost. Read more: Mehreen Zahra-Malik: Who’s afraid of Imran Khan’s Pakistan? Almost everyone. Manal al-Sharif: Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance spreads fear worldwide, but we won’t be silenced Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression Barkha Dutt: Imran Khan is close to Pakistan’s army. Here’s why that’s good for India.


Bipartisan governors group calls for immediate end to shutdown

our states do business with daily,” the governors wrote. “Approximately 800,000 federal employees in our states are working without pay or furloughed — impacting their ability to provide for their families, jeopardizing their credit, and potentially siphoning dollars from state economies.” The letter cited other ill effects of the shutdown, including national parks overflowing with trash, the cessation of federal loans for rural development, reduced Coast Guard capabilities and the forced furloughing of employees that serve Native American tribal governments. The states are concerned about the shutdown’s effect on a variety of programs they operate jointly with the federal government, in particular the federal welfare program known as TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), a $16.5 billion block grant program that funds cash assistance, job training and other services for low-income families. Congress failed to reauthorize the program before the Dec. 21 shutdown, and for now states are using any money left over from last year to cover the missing federal funds. But such funds are expected to run out soon, at different times for different states. “At what point is the federal contribution going to run out?” James Nash, National Governors Association spokesman said in an interview. “States cannot get a lot of clarity on this.” The group has calculated that the shutdown has halted $85.8 billion in federal money to the states under grants and programs that cover transportation, housing, the judicial system, public lands and agriculture. The association said Monday that it has been reaching out to the White House on behalf of the states, in particular to find out the administration’s plans for the TANF program, but it has been unable to get answers. “We can’t reach the officials in the agencies, because they’re furloughed,” Nash said. “It’s been hard for the states to get answers.” Other issues with cascading effects on the states are the federal court system and the Internal Revenue Service. With the U.S. judiciary announcing Friday that it will keep federal courts open one more week than expected, until Jan. 18, but suspend all civil cases after that, state courts may need to absorb some civil cases in the federal system, Nash said. And any delays to IRS tax refunds — which will begin to be processed this week after a more than two-week hiatus — will have a ripple effect on state tax agencies as well, delaying their returns. john.wagner@washpost.com lisa.rein@washpost.com


Behold, the solar system’s best planet

It was January, the nights chilly and clear, when the astronomer Galileo Galilei made one of his most startling discoveries: The stars he had spotted beside Jupiter were moving. Which meant they were not stars after all, but moons. Which meant that Earth was not the only body that others orbited. Which meant we might not be the center of everything after all. Four centuries later and an ocean away, on a balmy May evening, I climbed the ladder to the University of Maryland Observatory’s 8-inch refractor telescope and held my breath as that tiger-striped wonder was brought into focus once more. Galileo was a celebrated physicist and mathematician who opened a new window onto the heavens using a telescope of his own invention. His findings, which he published in a pamphlet called the “Starry Messenger,” would rearrange the solar system and redefine humanity’s place in it. I am just a journalist who barely scraped by in high school physics, and until that spring evening, had never looked through a telescope in my life. But I like to think that, for Galileo and for me, the effect of seeing another world suspended in our eyepieces was the same: Each of us became vividly, viscerally aware of where we stood in the universe. That is why Jupiter is my favorite planet. (Other than Earth, of course; but saying Earth is your favorite planet is like saying humanity is your favorite species — pretty self-centered and completely beside the point.) There is something about bearing witness to Jupiter’s massive majesty that makes me feel simultaneously profoundly insignificant and positively grand, aware of space’s vast and chilly expanse, and yet closer to the cosmos than I have ever been. Jupiter is the planet that puts all of us in our place. That is not just a metaphor. As the solar system’s biggest planet, it is the most gravitationally powerful. Every other object bends to its influence; even the sun wobbles a bit thanks to Jupiter’s irresistible sway. The planets follow paths that parallel the gas giant’s own tilt, gaps appear in the asteroid belt at places where its influence resonates, and the trajectories of comets are changed as they swoosh past. Without Jupiter, our home might not even exist. Some astronomers believe that during the solar system’s infancy, 4.6 billion years ago, Jupiter swung through the inner solar system, which was then inhabited


For federal workers affected by the shutdown, a collegiate reprieve

On the 18th day of the partial government shutdown, American University plans to host a free skills and management training session for affected federal workers. Registration for the Tuesday event is closed, but 550 federal employees have signed up for the training, an American University spokeswoman said. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been affected by the shutdown, provoked by a stalemate between President Trump and congressional Democrats over Trump’s demands for money for his Mexico border wall. A lawsuit filed Monday by a federal employees union against the Trump administration estimates that more than 400,000 federal employees are being forced to work without pay during the shutdown. Thousands of other federal employees have been furloughed by their departments, including NASA and the Defense Department. Classes are expected to run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and cover a variety of topics, including yoga, workplace mindfulness and how to start a podcast. A full list of courses can be found here.


Could a Chinese-made Metro car spy on us? Many experts say yes.

to be a strong contender for a Metro contract likely to exceed $1 billion for between 256 and 800 of the agency’s newest series of rail cars. CRRC’s success has raised concerns about national security and China’s growing footprint in the U.S. industrial supply chain and infrastructure. “This is part of a larger conversation about this country and China, and domination of industries,” said Robert J. Puentes, president of the Eno Center for Transportation. “We don’t want to get trapped into a xenophobic conversation . . . but we also don’t want to be naive.” No U.S. company makes subway cars, so China competes in that market against companies from Asia, Europe and Canada. But U.S. companies build freight rail cars, such as boxcars and tank cars, and they fear China will target them next. That could cost U.S. manufacturing jobs. It also could increase the risk of a cyberattack that cripples domestic rail transportation in a military confrontation or other national emergency. “China’s attack on our rail system is insidious and ingenious,” retired Army Brig. Gen. John Adams wrote in an October report distributed by the Rail Security Alliance, a U.S. industry group. “We must retain the know-how and technology to . . . safeguard against disruption of this strategically vital sector of our economy.” China makes no secret of its desire to dominate the global rail car industry. Its “Made in China 2025” economic strategy proposes to seek competitive advantage in that sector, among others. Both the U.S. Senate and House have sought to block further Chinese penetration of the transit vehicle market. Each chamber has inserted language in annual transportation appropriations bills to impose a one-year ban on new purchases of mass transit rail cars or buses from Chinese-owned companies if the procurement uses federal funding. The ban is not yet law, as final action has been put off until this year. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) sponsored the Senate ban. His spokeswoman said it reflected his “concern over China’s market distorting practices and their whole government effort . . . to dominate industries sensitive to our national security.” Texas is home to Trinity Industries, a leading U.S. rail car company. A ban on purchases from China could penalize financially pressed transit systems such as Metro, which may want to take advantage of CRRC’s low prices. Critics have said the company is able to underbid competitors because of


Here’s which Virginia and Maryland members of Congress are forgoing pay during the shutdown

and have not received January checks yet, can ask for their pay to be withheld but will get it back when the shutdown is over. Wittman plans to donate his salary to charity as he has in the past, although he hasn’t decided where it will go, a spokeswoman said. Riggleman said he plans to donate his salary to the Drakes Branch Volunteer Fire Department in Charlotte County, which serves a region hit hard by Hurricane Michael. The shutdown has triggered a cascade of negative consequences for local governments. The D.C. Council is set to approve legislation Tuesday that would allow the mayor to issue marriage licenses. Couples currently cannot get marriage licenses in the District because the local court system is federally funded and the marriage bureau is considered a nonessential function during a shutdown. “It’s very unfortunate,” Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said. “It’s hurting real people and it’s over a certain amount of stubbornness or unwillingness to adopt the continuing resolution that allows the government to stay open.” City Administrator Rashad M. Young said District officials planned to meet this week to develop a contingency plan for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients if the shutdown drags into next month and the food-benefit program is threatened. The D.C. Housing Authority, which manages federally funded public housing programs, said Monday it could operate through the end of March with previously scheduled payments and reserve funding. The shutdown inspired some bipartisan behavior on behalf of elected officials watching their local economies and budgets suffer. Bowser and Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, both Democrats, and Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican, “As our federal employees and contractors experience a sudden loss of income, this not only causes financial hardship for individuals and families, but also deals a significant blow to our region’s economy,” they wrote. “Hard-working federal employees and those who depend on them should not have to suffer because of this partisan standoff.” Last month, Hogan, who will be the next chairman of the National Governors Association, and Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat, called for an end to the shutdown on behalf of the NGA. Many of the more than 360,000 federal workers who live in the region are on furlough or working without pay. The most The Census Bureau website explains: “Due to a lapse in federal funding this website is not being updated.” jenna.portnoy@washpost.com


White House rules IRS can issue tax refunds during shutdown, aims to bring back agency employees

The White House on Monday directed the Internal Revenue Service to pay tax refunds to millions of Americans during the federal shutdown, marking its most dramatic reversal yet of past legal precedent as officials scramble to contain public backlash from the funding lapse. Last year, and during previous administrations, the IRS said it would not pay tax refunds during a government shutdown. But Trump administration lawyers ruled Monday that the refunds could be processed after all, a move that some Democrats called legally dubious. The decision could prove extremely consequential for U.S. households and the U.S. economy. Last year, between Jan. 29 and March 2, the IRS paid more than $147 billion in tax refunds to 48.5 million households. But it is also the latest in a string of sudden shifts and legal reversals that have seen the White House reverse precedent in the face of public pressure. Senior administration officials changed rules to pay Coast Guard salaries in December, restart an IRS program to clear mortgage applications and reopen some national parks. They are now searching for ways to prevent the nation’s food assistance program from running out of money. Unless the shutdown ends, the program lacks funds to cover expected demand in February. By March, it would be out of money entirely. A new legal ruling on the issue could come this week. “We have tried to make this as painless as possible consistent with the law,” White House Office of Management and Budget acting director Russell Vought said at a White House briefing, describing the White House’s approach to managing the shutdown. President Trump has threatened to continue the partial federal shutdown for months, much longer than past lapses have endured. Government shutdowns force affected agencies to severely curtail their operations, sending workers home without pay and eliminating certain services and programs. Instead of following a set plan, though, the White House has constantly adjusted the way it is managing the shutdown, seeking to change operations when there are complaints from businesses or public groups. “You’ve got programs that have different capacities to weather shortfalls in funding, and some of them can’t weather this at all,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican and former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “This is what you get,” he added, referring to the shifting management of the shutdown. Trump had signaled to many White House officials in mid-December that he would


Ping-pong, bowling and pinball are stars at D.C.’s newest restaurants and bars

place, chef Daniel Perron is offering a menu focused on shabu shabu, or Japanese hot pot. Diners take turns dipping scallops, shrimp, beef or vegetables in a choice of bubbling house dashi or red miso broth, before finishing with udon noodles. Other choices include monkfish katsu sandwiches and charcoal-grilled tempura oysters, washed down with cocktails featuring Japanese whisky or shochu. (Don’t worry: The seafood towers and local oysters are still available, and oysters are $1 between 5 and 7 p.m. as part of the daily happy hours.) The shabu shabu menu will be available through mid-March. 301 Water St. SE. Julii: The owners of Cava enlisted the help of Doi Moi’s former executive chef to create a new French-Mediterranean concept at Pike and Rose in North Bethesda. Sasha Felikson’s menu features French onion soup and roasted bone marrow, but also highlights fare from across the sea, such as shakshuka and lamb tagine. Daytime hours, including breakfast service, are coming soon. 11915 Grand Park Ave., North Bethesda. Pizzeria Paradiso Spring Valley: The fifth Pizzeria Paradiso location boasts everything fans have come to expect from Ruth Gresser’s 27-year-old pizza-and-craft beer chain, with the added bonus of extra room. Including the large patio, Spring Valley boasts 179 seats — more than the Dupont Circle and Hyattsville restaurants combined. The menu features the same wood-fired pizzas that Gresser has become known for, such as the spicy Atomica and the gooey Quattro Formaggi. The spacious bar includes two pinball machines and a pair of video-game machines, plus 14 draft beers and ciders and a library of 200 bottles and cans. Happy hour runs from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. 4850 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Punch Bowl Social Spin Tiki TNT: Todd Thrasher helped usher in the Washington area’s serious cocktail scene with his work at Alexandria’s PX, but his latest endeavor is 180 degrees from a speakeasy. Tiki TNT, a sprawling bar and rum distillery that opened at the Wharf earlier this month, is colorful and playful, with a rooftop bar and multiple outdoor spaces with water views that will be perfect for enjoying one of Thrasher’s frozen rum-and-Cokes, served in a Coke can. For now, we can sit at the bar with tiki drinks that bear his stamp — playful, flavorful and far too easy to drink — and pretend we’re sipping daiquiris outside as the sun sets. 1130 Maine Ave. SW.


‘A decision that broke me’: American track star had abortion just before Olympics

Five-time Olympic medalist Sanya Richards-Ross was two weeks out from attending her second Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 when she learned what would wind up to be life-changing news. She was pregnant. Instead of a feeling of joy when she learned the news, however, Richards-Ross immediately began to worry. “Everything I ever wanted seemed to be within reach,” she writes in her new book “Chasing Grace” (via Essence). “The culmination of a lifetime of work was right before me. In that moment, it seemed like no choice at all.” And so the day before she was set to fly to China, the Jamaican-American sprinter opted for an abortion. She said she made the decision in conjunction with her now-husband, New York Giants player Aaron Ross, who was at training camp when the couple found out they were expecting. “Over the phone, we didn’t go into details,” the 32-year-old writes about the conversation she and Ross had at the time about the procedure. “As if not saying it would alleviate some of the guilt and the shame.” Richards-Ross was able to push the emotion and most of the physical pain away as she captured a gold medal in the women’s 4×400-meter relay and a bronze in the 400-meter dash, but it partly caught up with her. In that latter race, Richards-Ross led for 300 meters before falling behind two runners in the final 100 meters. Chalking it up to her hamstring at the time, the physical pain paled in comparison to her mental anguish. “I made a decision that broke me, and one from which I would not immediately heal,” she writes in her book. “Abortion would now forever be a part of my life. A scarlet letter I never thought I’d wear.” While discussing her story Tuesday, Richards-Ross told Sports Illustrated Now that her story is not that unique among women’s track and field athletes, which is one of the reasons she decided to write about her experience. “The truth is it’s an issue that’s not really talked about, especially in sports,” she said. A lot of young women have experienced this, like, I literally don’t know another female track athlete who hasn’t had an abortion, and that’s sad.” She added: “For me, I’m hoping that this will open up some discussions, especially in helping a lot of young women who are in my situation not experience what I


Educator: ‘When my students learned I was once a soldier, they fell for many of the pervasive stereotypes of veterans.’ Why that’s a problem and how we can fix it.

veteran, I didn’t suffer from PTSD; in fact, most combat veterans are not suffering from PTSD. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, about 11 to 20 out of every 100 veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan in any given year have PTSD. I didn’t join the military as a last resort, but I volunteered out of a sense of duty, a desire to serve my country and an eagerness to join an exclusive organization — 71 percent of youth are not even eligible to serve in today’s military for reasons of physical, medical, educational and moral shortcomings. Ignorance of the military and veterans is a symptom of the growing military-civilian divide and it can only be cured through education. The solution could be changes in curriculum, but more youth need to be connected to veterans and their real stories of service, not some manufactured caricature out of Hollywood telling us what veterans are like. We need a new type of surge, one designed not only to keep schools safe but to educate people about the military and the veteran experience. We need large numbers of veterans working inside schools not only as volunteers but also as teachers, principals, administrators, deans, counselors, nurses, aides and other support personnel. And more veterans working inside schools will have national security implications. The recent news that the Army failed to meet its recruiting goal for the first time since 2005 is often blamed on the strong American economy. I don’t see it that way. My time teaching hundreds of teenagers made me aware that the military faces a recruiting challenge that is more cultural than economic. The next generation of potential recruits has perceptions of military service that negatively impacts their propensity to serve. They fear military service will likely result in physical injury and psychological trauma, and there is nothing being done to correct this damaging belief. If we fail to connect youth to veterans as a way to bridge the military-civilian divide, the military will no longer need recruiters and will have to return to the old way of raising an Army — doing so through a draft. Veterans working inside schools is not only about safety in schools and national security. It’s about creating informed citizens who can sustain a free society. Such citizens need to be familiar with the military and those who serve and sacrifice in it.


Theresa May’s Brexit plan appears headed for defeat next week

Bercow about a sticker on his car that makes “derogatory comments about Brexit.” Bercow said that the car belonged to his wife, who was not the “property or chattel of her husband” and “entitled to her views.” His comments drew applause from opposition lawmakers. Those who favor Brexit as a way to reclaim British sovereignty have been reluctant to back any agreement that keeps Britain too closely tied to the E.U. Many want legally binding assurances that Britain won’t be permanently trapped in the so-called Irish backstop, which would keep Britain in the E.U. customs union until another way is devised to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. Sammy Wilson, of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland — which props up May’s minority government — tweeted Wednesday that the assurances provided by the government were “meaningless.” Brexit opponents, meantime, have yet to be convinced of a deal that offers more benefits than Britain remaining a member of the bloc. Britain is scheduled to leave the E.U. on March 29, and May has repeatedly insisted that Brexit will happen then. But now there are mutterings about extending the departure date. “We are already seeing hints on that from the government,” said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London. “It strikes me we are being softened up for that possibility.” Digital Minister Margot James, who backs May’s deal, said that if lawmakers do not support a Brexit deal, then the government may seek to delay Brexit. “We might have to extend Article 50,” she told the BBC, adding, “But I think it’s very unlikely that Parliament will actually stare down the barrel of that particular gun.” An extension also might be needed in the event of major political turmoil, such as a general election. And if Britain were to pursue a second referendum, the Constitution Unit research group at University College London estimates it could take five months to execute. May seems to hope that the threat of Britain leaving the E.U. in a chaotic no-deal Brexit will push skeptics into backing her deal. But some Brexiters have said the government warnings about the disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit — including food and medicine shortages — are exaggerated. Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary and prominent Brexiteer, argues that a no-deal Brexit is, actually, the “closest to what people actually voted for.” karla.adam@washpost.com


Schools tackle anxiety over food and fees as shutdown shows no sign of ending

Shayne Wells said the system “never denies a student a meal at school” and will work with any families who have a change in income to complete a free and reduced meal application. Parents with children in day-care centers at federal buildings are struggling to find temporary care. While some parents have been furloughed and can stay home with their children, others must report to work or work in the private sector. “We’ve definitely had a number of parents calling since the shutdown,” said Crystal Mayo, assistant director of Bright Horizons day-care center on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, just a few blocks from the White House. Mayo has had to inform parents the center is fully enrolled. “There just aren’t really that many options out there for them,” she said. One group of parents fear their children may not have a school to return to if the shutdown doesn’t end soon. The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center is home to a preschool and small kindergarten — just seven children — that operates out of the National Museums of Natural History and American History. For the kindergarten students, classes are held in the morning, and afternoons are spent visiting Smithsonian museums and sites throughout Washington. But unlike preschool-age children, students who are at least 5 years old are required to attend school. Parents of those students have to cross their fingers and hope the shutdown ends soon or transfer their kids out of the school and enroll them in another private or public school to meet the mandatory schooling requirement. Annie Froehlich’s 5-year-old son loves the school and his classmates, so Froehlich is reluctant to pull him out. But with President Trump saying the shutdown could last months or years, she feels she may not have a choice. “We are still wait-and-see and still hoping, maybe stupidly so, for a positive resolution,” Froehlich said. “To the extent this drags on and if other parents decide to take their children out, there is no guarantee the program will continue this year.” A call to the school’s director was not immediately returned. But the taped outgoing message had a familiar ring in Washington these days: “Hello . . . the Smithsonian is closed due to the federal government shutdown, and [the enrichment center] is closed, as well. I will be out of the office and unable to return your phone call until further notice.” joe.heim@washpost.com


Government shutdown creates a January slowdown for businesses trying to adapt

At the Swann House, a cozy bed-and-breakfast in a fin de siècle mansion a few blocks from Dupont Circle, 11 empty, impeccably decorated rooms are languishing in shutdown mode. There is a piano in the sitting room, but no one to play it. There are abstract paintings on the walls, but no one to view them. There are 11 fireplaces, but no one to build a fire. On the 19th day of a partial government shutdown, some federal workers are suffering as they start to go without paychecks. Meanwhile, D.C. businesses are suffering as pieces of those paychecks stop trickling down to them. “Right now, the phone is not ringing,” said Isabelle Hauswald, Swann House’s general manager. She said January is always slow, but this January is worse. Just one of the bed-and-breakfast’s dozen rooms is occupied, and business is down 30 percent compared with last year. Some Swann House regulars are government workers who travel, she said, while other visitors cut trips short because Smithsonian museums are closed. City officials have stressed that while some tourist destinations are closed, much of the city remains open for business — even if business is a bit slower than normal. Kevin Donahue, D.C. deputy mayor for public safety, said the severity of the shutdown on the District is clear but too soon to calculate. He noted downtown lunch spots, for example, have shorter lines and are missing out on revenue that can’t be recovered. “The government, in ways people cannot see, is moving the economy forward. If you stop the engine, that has consequences,” he said. Downtown food-truck oases such as Farragut and Franklin squares aren’t abandoned, but options are more limited as business has fallen. Kirk Francis, owner of the mobile bakery Captain Cookie & the Milkman, said the shutdown is “crushing lunch vending.” His survival strategy: Take trucks off the street and roll staff into his brick-and-mortar operations. “I think all metro-area retailers will have to cope with a sharp drop in spending,” Francis wrote in an email. “In general, I believe the uncertainty of our political climate is dragging the economy down.” The shutdown was also hitting businesses in more unusual ways. Mel Gold, spokeswoman for DC Brau, a craft brewery in Northeast Washington, said the business had no complaints about sales volume, although a promotion was beginning to take a bite out of profits. The brewery is offering


The Saudi blocking of Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix show proves nothing has changed in Riyadh

not modernizing Saudi Arabia,” he says. “The only thing he’s modernizing is Saudi dictatorship.” As if to prove the comedian correct, Saudi authorities ordered Netflix to block the episode inside the kingdom under provisions of a cybersecurity law, and Netflix agreed. The episode surely stirred the ire of the crown prince in its handling of the savage murder of our colleague Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. “It blows my mind that it took the killing of a Washington Post journalist for everyone to go, ‘Oh, I guess he’s really not a reformer,’ ” Mr. Minhaj says of MBS. He declared that the crown prince’s nickname is Abu Rasasa, or “father of the bullet,” recalling the arrests and prosecutions under his rule. “Strong-arming, coercion, detaining people — these are MBS’s go-to moves,” Mr. Minhaj said, “and he’s been getting away with all of it.” For a comedian, it was a deadly serious monologue, and much of it on target. It remains available on Netflix outside the kingdom and is still on YouTube. Netflix said it pulled the episode to comply with a Saudi cyberlaw that deems a crime the “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers.” It’s too bad that more technology titans won’t show a little more backbone standing up to censors and despots. The crown prince dreams of economic modernization under political dictatorship. He wanted early in his rule to respond to the yearning of a bulging population of young people for Western entertainment and culture. He eased the suffocating control of the strict religious police, making way for more Western entertainment, and granted women the right to drive, while making a high-profile tour of the United States’ technology hubs last year in search of support for his modernization blueprint, known as Vision 2030. The crown prince was looking to remake the kingdom of oil into the digital jewel of the desert. But tyranny and modernization don’t make for natural partners. Transparency and free flows of information are more conducive to economic development than murdering a journalist and telling Stalin-sized lies about it. Since Mr. Khashoggi’s death, there does not appear to be any fundamental change in Riyadh, just window-dressing and damage control. Without true liberty for his people, the crown prince’s vision will remain profoundly occluded.


How Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun embodies the struggles of many Saudi women

an elderly woman could still have her civil and human rights curtailed by a teenager; the custodian must always be male). Women may be arrested and charged for reported “disobedience” to their guardian. In court, a woman’s testimony is worth only half of a man’s and many judges are openly hostile to women who dare to bring their cases to court. In addition to Saudi Arabia’s discriminatory legal system, many equally oppressive practices persist through informal means. While many Saudi women do have supportive, empowering family relationships, many others face abusive treatment at the hands of relatives and spouses. Domestic violence is rampant in many Saudi communities but remains vastly underreported. Of those who dare to seek help from authorities, many are dismissed or blamed for their suffering. For women facing such a tangled network of legal, social and religious control, prospects within Saudi Arabia can look hopeless leaving some, as Alqunun put it, with “nothing to lose.” The attempted interception of Alqunun also points to another troubling fact: The Saudi regime remains actively committed to controlling its citizens abroad, apparently unchastened by the global uproar after the brutal murder of the Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. In some ways, the West is complicit in this. The gradual rehabilitation of MBS post-Khashoggi — of which President Trump has been a key player — reinforced a dangerous sense of impunity for the crown prince. Yet Alqunun’s story also offers potential for hope: Through her courageous resistance, she has, for a moment, drawn global attention to the ongoing struggle of Saudi women. The striking image of a young woman, wielding nothing but a cellphone, facing down the force of an oppressive government is an apt metaphor for this fraught moment in Saudi Arabia’s history. It illustrates both the absurdity of the regime’s rabid desire for control, as well as the inevitable futility of this obsession. Both inside and outside Saudi Arabia, Saudi women continue to push back against patriarchal control, refusing to be halted by fear. They know what their government continues to deny: No amount of intimidation can fully silence the truth, and no measure of ruthlessness can completely suppress the human impulse for freedom. Read more: The tragedy of Fahad Albutairi and Loujain al-Hathloul I’m a Saudi activist. Twitter put my life in danger. Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is freedom of expression


Kim Jong Un meets Xi, tours a Chinese medicine plant, then goes home

BEIJING — It was billed as a four-day trip, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spent barely 27 hours in Beijing. Kim attended a banquet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People, a plush ceremonial building on one side of Tiananmen Square, on Tuesday night — his 35th birthday. During the dinner, Kim and Xi, together with their wives, enjoyed a “grand variety show” to mark 70th anniversary of their countries’ diplomatic relations, according to South Korean media reports. On Wednesday morning, Kim visited a traditional Chinese pharmaceutical company inside the Yizhuang Science and Technology Park in the southeast suburbs of Beijing. The 300-year-old Tong Ren Tang Chinese Medicine Co. is one of China’s most famous pharmaceutical companies, producing medicines using bee products including honey, pollen and wax. It stood in stark contrast to the more high-tech sites — China’s Silicon Valley, a science lab and a transit control center — that Kim toured last year. Then it was time to see Xi again. They had lunch at the state-run Beijing Hotel, a place where Xi’s predecessor Mao Zedong once entertained Kim’s grandfather. Kim Il Sung, the founding leader of North Korea, loved the Chinese food at the hotel so much that he sent a stream of chefs to study there, according to the book “Legend of Beijing Hotel.” His private train pulled out of Beijing shortly after 2 p.m. It turned out that North Korea’s announcement of a four-day visit included travel time. The train between the Beijing and Pyongyang takes more than 20 hours. The Chinese government, other than confirming the visit was happening, has not released any information about the meetings. But Kim’s itinerary could be pieced together through motorcades and security cordons and traffic jams. The North Korean leader’s relatively light schedule might be a reflection of the fact that these visits have become somewhat common. The two didn’t meet once during the first five years they were both in power. Now Kim has crossed the border into China four times in the past 10 months. But more likely, it is a reflection of a delicate diplomatic balancing act for the young leader as he prepares for his second summit with President Trump. Kim and Trump are expected to announce the details soon, amid complaints from both sides that the other is not living up to the agreement they reached


The collusion case against Trump just got a lot stronger

Clinton. When political campaigns run advertising, they typically rely on detailed voter data to guide their efforts. Did the Kremlin do its own polling? It didn’t have to, if Manafort was providing the Russians with poll numbers. According to the New York Times, “Most of the data was public, but some of it was developed by a private polling firm working for the campaign,” and Manafort asked Kilimnik to pass the data to two pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine for whom Manafort had previously worked. The Trump campaign chairman had also worked for the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska. The Post has previously reported that Manafort, who was running the Trump campaign for no pay, offered Deripaska, whom he owed as much as $17 million, “private briefings” on the 2016 campaign in order to “get whole.” We don’t know whether Manafort was technically a Russian agent, but this is classic espionage tradecraft: Compromise a person of influence, put him at your mercy, and then force him to do your bidding. Actually, there is evidence to indicate that the data-sharing might have gone both ways. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has revealed that the Russians stole not only emails but also data analytics from the Democratic Party. A few weeks after this theft in September 2016, the Trump campaign shifted its “data-driven” strategy to focus on the very states where it would win the election. Maybe that’s just a coincidence. Or maybe not. There is a name for cooperation between an American political campaign and a foreign government. It’s commonly called collusion. Or, if you prefer the legal term, conspiracy. The revelation about Manafort sharing data with Kilimnik is the most significant evidence of collusion/conspiracy since Michael Cohen’s Nov. 29 guilty plea on charges of lying to Congress to conceal the Trump Organization’s active pursuit during the 2016 campaign, with help from Putin aides, of a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. That, in turn, was the most damning evidence to emerge since the New York Times revealed that there had been a meeting at Trump Tower on June 9, 2016, between the campaign high command and a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. (Veselnitskaya’s deep links to the Kremlin have just been confirmed in a new court filing.) These are only the headline revelations, of course. There is a lot more there there. I surveyed


Scientists just got closer to solving one of astronomy’s biggest mysteries

Imagine a flash of radio energy so powerful it outshines the sun. Now imagine a flash like this going off nearly every minute all across the cosmos. These are fast radio bursts, some of the most enigmatic phenomena in astronomy. Scientists don’t know where they come from, or what celestial event could be so dramatic yet common enough to produce thousands of bursts every day. But they think they’re closing in on an answer. At the winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society this week, researchers at a powerful new Canadian telescope announced the detection of 13 new fast radio bursts (FRBs) over two months of observations — a 20 percent increase over the five dozen bursts found in the past 12 years. One of the newly detected bursts is a rare “repeater.” Researchers saw six flashes coming from the same spot in the sky, which they hope will make it easier to determine the source of the signal. Only one other repeating FRB has ever been found. This sudden rush of tantalizing clues has delighted astrophysicists. “These things are coming to us from halfway across the universe and we don’t really know anything about them,” said McGill University’s Shriharsh Tendulkar, a lead author of one of two papers in the journal Nature about the findings. “Isn’t that exciting?” Work on the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), which Tendulkar and his colleagues used for their research, was not quite complete when the initial 13 FRBs were detected in July and August. But the cylindrical instrument, which maps a 3-degree-wide swath of the sky each night, was already a dramatic improvement over more traditional telescopes, which can focus only on a single spot. CHIME has been fully operational since September, and scientists on the project have hinted that at least 100 more bursts will be reported in the weeks to come. “With fast radio bursts, it’s always felt like the more answers we get, the more questions we have,” said Sarah Burke-Spolaor, an astrophysicist at West Virginia University who was not involved in the research. “But I think we’re reaching the peak of that mountain.” Shami Chatterjee, an FRB researcher at Cornell University, agreed. “This field is about to break wide open,” he said. When the first fast radio burst was detected in 2007, many scientists thought it had to be a result of some telescopic mix-up. The signals are


The Energy 202: Oil industry worries about Trump trade and shutdown standoffs

smarter regulations continue.” Sommers took the helm of API after its decade-long leader, Jack Gerard, stepped down from the job last year. Sommers, once a top aide to then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), continued an effort to revamp the trade group’s rhetoric on the biggest environmental issue of the day -- climate change -- as many activists and new Democratic members of Congress demand an end to oil and gas drilling. “The risks of climate change are real,” he said. “Industrial activity around the globe impacts the climate.” At the same time, Sommers played down a nascent effort among House Democrats to develop a "Green New Deal" to transition to expand renewable power to meet 100 percent of the nation’s power needs. “Right now from what we've seen of the Green New Deal,” he said, “it's really just a plan to have a plan.” SHUTDOWN WATCH Cleanup planned for one park: After initially saying the park would close starting Thursday for the duration of the shutdown, officials later said it would open by the end of the week if the planned cleanup is complete. “Law enforcement rangers will continue to patrol the park and enforce the closure until park staff completes the necessary cleanup and park protection measures,” said a park statement issued Tuesday. The administration’s own policies are being affected: The efforts include a “push by EPA to ease the Obama administration’s limits on toxic pollution from power plants and greenhouse gas emissions from cars’ and trucks’ tailpipes, as well as sweeping protections for wetlands and waterways,” per the report. And at Interior, the shutdown has delayed the release of offshore drilling plans to open areas in the Atlantic and Pacific for oil and gas rigs. Smokey Bear was still working — until now: The Forest Service used Smokey Bear licensing revenue to pay for the trip, which did not violate federal law, but now the administration is clamping down on travel, The Post’s Juliet Eilperin and Lisa Rein report. The White House has “directed agencies to cancel all travel for their employees — including Smokey Bear — during the budget impasse unless it is critical to an agency’s mission,” they write. “The new policy, which affects even departments that are fully funded such as Energy, Veterans Affairs and Defense, reflects optics as much as a legal determination. With 800,000 federal employees either furloughed at home or working without


Trump will be rid of Rod Rosenstein. But it’s too late to help him.

evidence that people around Trump were in regular contact and even coordination with Russia throughout the campaign. Trump put in place an acting attorney general, Matthew G. Whitaker, who may have gotten the job because the president was pleased with his criticism of the Mueller probe, and announced that William P. Barr, who had also been critical of the investigation, will be Sessions’s permanent replacement. But not only has all the attention to the potential for meddling made it harder for either of them to shut Mueller down, by now it’s too late. That brings us to the absolutely extraordinary news we learned late Tuesday that while he was chairman of the Trump campaign, Paul Manafort was feeding internal polling data to his associate Konstantin Kilimnik, who is widely suspected to be a Russian intelligence asset. Let me point you to this paragraph from the New York Times' report, which also refers to Rick Gates, the deputy campaign chairman who has pleaded guilty to crimes and is cooperating with Mueller: So to repeat: The Trump campaign was giving internal polling data to a likely Russian intelligence asset so he could pass that data to a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin. Manafort may well have been trying to “gain favor” with Deripaska; we know that he offered Deripaska private briefings on the campaign in an attempt to “get whole,” i.e., pay off his debts to Deripaska in some fashion. But it’s critical to keep in mind that Deripaska wouldn’t have had any use on his own for internal polling data from the Trump campaign. You know who would? Vladimir Putin. Since Russia was mounting an effort to boost Trump's presidential bid that included targeting voters in key states through social media, particularly Facebook, any information that could aid in that targeting would have been extremely useful. So it seems likely that the whole point of giving the polling data to Deripaska was so he could pass it to the Kremlin, and they could then use it in their campaign to help Trump get elected. We should say that it’s possible this all happened without Trump’s knowledge, just as it’s possible that he didn’t know about it when his son, son-in-law and campaign chairman met with a group of Russians in an attempt to get dirt on Hillary Clinton they believed was to be provided by the Russian government. (Evidence strongly