Divorce is down, despite covid-19

as they scrambled to forge a new schedule to cover their two jobs and child care for their toddler. But once they rearranged their schedule, things got better — in part because her husband took on a greater share of child care than he had prior to the pandemic and in part because they began taking walks and talking more in covid time. “It may sound strange, but the stay-at-home order and pandemic truly strengthened our marriage,” Katie observed. Distress about the state of our unions certainly seems warranted. The tensions arising from being with your partner all day, every day; the disagreements about how to handle sanitation, socializing and schooling; and the stresses occasioned by lost lives, lost jobs and political tempests seem to never end. A major new survey of American families, the American Family Survey (AFS), found that 34 percent of married men and women ages 18 to 55 report the pandemic has increased stress in their marriage. Yet Katie is not alone. Most married people in America report their unions have gotten stronger, not weaker, in the wake of covid-19. The AFS found that 58 percent of married men and women 18 to 55 said the pandemic has made them appreciate their spouse more, while 51 percent said their commitment to marriage had deepened. Only 8 percent said that the pandemic had weakened their commitment to one another. Other research has found “increases in fathers’ time spent on housework and child care,” a pattern that comports with Katie’s experience. Given all this, it is probably no surprise that the AFS also found the share of married people reporting their marriage is in trouble fell from 40 percent in 2019 to 29 percent in 2020. In spite of breathless media reports of a surge, divorce appears to be down in 2020. The initial data we have from the five states that report divorce statistics in real time indicates a decline in divorce filings for 2020, with year-to-date filings down 19 percent in Florida, 13 percent in Rhode Island, 12 percent in Oregon and 9 percent in Missouri. While divorces are up 9 percent in Arizona, that increase began in late 2019, before the pandemic. Though states are returning to pre-pandemic levels of divorce, most haven’t gotten there yet. Divorces also fell during the Great Recession, then went up a bit as the economy recovered and couples got


U.S. agencies mount major effort to prevent Russian interference in the election even though Trump downplays threat

The U.S. government is mounting a major effort to prevent a repeat of 2016 — when federal agencies were slow to address Russia’s attempts to manipulate the presidential election — and is taking a range of actions despite the disinterest of President Trump, who questions intelligence that the Kremlin is intent on undermining American democracy. Top security agencies are coordinating actions to thwart foreign hackers, prevent Russia-linked individuals from entering the United States and freeze any of their assets subject to U.S. jurisdiction. They are also passing intelligence to social media firms, and helping state and local election officials shore up their defenses. For months American military cyber-operators, aided by intelligence from the National Security Agency (NSA), have been targeting Russian spies to disrupt their plans by repeatedly knocking them off the Internet, confusing their planners and depriving them of their hacking tools. The goal is to prevent them from attacking U.S. voting systems, according to security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. The State Department this year has revoked the visas of two Ukrainians deemed to be engaged in activities designed to influence the election and advance Russia’s interests. The Treasury Department imposed sanctions last month on four Russia-linked individuals — including one of the Ukrainians, who was labeled an “active Russian agent” — to prevent them from interfering in the electoral process, the first time that the U.S. government has taken such an action before an election. A vital missing ingredient, however, has been messaging from the top, such as a declaration from the president that the United States will not tolerate efforts — in particular from the Kremlin — to interfere in the election. And disinformation experts say that Trump has reinforced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to stoke American social divisions with Trump’s inflammatory and unfounded remarks about racial and cultural issues, the novel coronavirus and the security of voting by mail. “We get better at exposing Russia’s activity, and when the president denies it or calls it into question, that gives Putin the space and opportunity he doesn’t deserve,” H.R. McMaster, Trump’s former national security adviser, said in an interview. He wrote about Putin’s “playbook” in his new book, “Battlegrounds.” But officials say even if Trump is not publicly voicing support for agencies’ efforts, he is not impeding them, and the NSA, FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS)


Youth sports take a punch from the pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has changed a lot of things, including kids’ sports. Recently the Aspen Institute, an organization that studies sports as well as other important subjects, issued its State of Play 2020 report. One part of the report examined the effects of the pandemic on kids’ sports and how kids play. Researchers at the Aspen Institute and two universities (Utah State and North Carolina State) asked more than 1,000 parents of youth sports participants (ages 6 to 18) from across the country what their kids were doing during the pandemic. Interesting things the study found out include: ●Even though kids are going back to playing organized sports, kids were only half as physically active in September as they were before the coronavirus was declared a pandemic in March by the World Health Organization. ●On average, kids spent about 6 1/2 hours a week less on playing sports during the pandemic than before. ●The study looked at 21 sports and physical activities, including flag football, field hockey, skateboarding and swimming. The number of hours kids spent playing each of those sports fell from March to September. ●However, that is beginning to change. Parents reported kids playing more in 10 of the sports since June. For example, kids were spending 29 percent more time playing baseball in September than in June. ●One activity that dropped less than others during the pandemic was bike-riding. In fact, bicycling went from being kids’ 16th favorite activity before the pandemic to the third-favorite during the pandemic. ●Another sign that bike-riding is getting more popular is that sales of regular bikes and mountain bikes are way up from last year. ●Experts say the popularity of bike-riding may be part of a move — a small move — toward individual sports and more unstructured play during the pandemic. ●One big problem the study uncovered is that 29 percent of kids say they are no longer interested in playing sports. These aren’t kids who sat on the couch all day: They are kids who used to play sports before the pandemic. That’s higher than the 18 percent who said they didn’t want to go back to sports at the beginning of the pandemic. So the bad news is that kids are playing less, and some kids are thinking of staying on the sidelines. The good news is that people at the Aspen Institute and other places are working


The coronavirus pandemic has caused nearly 300,000 more deaths than expected in a typical year

The coronavirus pandemic has left about 299,000 more people dead in the United States than would be expected in a typical year, two-thirds of them from covid-19 and the rest from other causes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. The CDC said the novel coronavirus, which causes covid-19, has taken a disproportionate toll on Latinos and Blacks, as previous analyses have noted. But the CDC also found, surprisingly, that it has struck 25- to 44-year-olds very hard: Their “excess death” rate is up 26.5 percent over previous years, the largest change for any age group. It is not clear whether that spike is caused by the shift in covid-19 deaths toward younger people between May and August or deaths from other causes, the CDC said. The report comes with just two weeks left in a presidential campaign whose central issue is President Trump’s handling of the pandemic. Trump has sought at every turn, including in remarks Monday, to minimize the virus’s impact, despite a covid-19 death toll that is likely to be the third-leading cause of mortality in the United States this year, behind heart disease and cancer. That stance has proved to be the president’s enduring weakness as the election looms Nov. 3. His Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, has made his plans to tackle the pandemic the major focus of his bid to capture the White House. “The number of people dying from this pandemic is higher than we think,” said Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who has conducted independent analyses of excess mortality. “This study shows it. Others have, as well.” The United States is in the midst of another sharp increase in coronavirus infections, this one centered in the upper Midwest and Plains states. The seven-day rolling average of cases, considered the most accurate barometer, is near 60,000 per day. At least 220,000 people have died of covid-19 so far, according to data kept by The Washington Post. The new CDC data covers Feb. 1 to Oct. 3. Woolf said the total is likely to reach 400,000 by the end of the year. The numbers were assembled by the National Center for Health Statistics, a unit of the CDC. Outside analyses, including some by The Washington Post and researchers at Yale University, have found two main causes for excess deaths. Many


weakness as the election looms Nov. 3. His Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, has made his plans to tackle the pandemic the major focus of his bid to capture the White House. “The number of people dying from this pandemic is higher than we think,” said Steven Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, who has conducted independent analyses of excess mortality. “This study shows it. Others have, as well.” The United States is in the midst of another sharp increase in coronavirus infections, this one centered in the upper Midwest and Plains states. The seven-day rolling average of cases, considered the most accurate barometer, is near 60,000 per day. At least 220,000 people have died of covid-19 so far, according to data kept by The Washington Post. The new CDC data covers Feb. 1 to Oct. 3. Woolf said the total is likely to reach 400,000 by the end of the year. The numbers were assembled by the National Center for Health Statistics, a unit of the CDC. Outside analyses, including some by The Washington Post and researchers at Yale University, have found two main causes for excess deaths. Many probably were the result of covid-19, although they were not recorded that way on death certificates. Others are probably the result of deaths at home or in nursing homes from heart attacks, diabetes, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease, among people afraid to seek care in hospitals or unable to get it. Overall, the CDC found that “excess deaths have occurred every week since March, 2020,” with a peak during the week of April 11 and another during the week ending Aug. 8. Those dates roughly coincide with the virus’s surge into the New York metro area near the start of the outbreak and a second major rise across the Sun Belt when many states reopened too soon in an effort to revive flagging economies. All told, an estimated 299,028 more people died than would be expected in a typical year, which was defined as the average annual deaths from 2015 to 2019, the CDC reported. It said 198,081 of those fatalities were caused by covid-19, with the remainder attributable to other causes. While the virus continues to prey mainly on older people and, disproportionately, African Americans and Latinos, the rate of excess mortality among 25- to 44-year-olds was less expected. Among


New results from a once-promising therapy show the difficulty of treating covid-19

but at Day 28, the researchers observed no difference in mortality. Brigham and Women’s Hospital physician David Leaf, an author of the observational study, said timing and disease severity may explain some of the inconsistency in the results. Leaf, Gupta and their co-authors focused on patients who received the drug relatively early. “You want to give it before irreversible organ injury has occurred,” said Leaf, also an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. The patient population was also more severely ill in that study than in the two randomized trials. The reports from France and Italy provide the first available peer-reviewed results for randomized trials involving tocilizumab, said Jonathan Parr, an infectious-diseases physician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who was not involved with the studies. Parr said the observational study was rigorous, but he gave more weight to the randomized trials. “We have been eagerly awaiting studies like those coming out today,” he said. Drugmaker Roche, which manufactures the drug as Actemra, had announced via a news release in July that a Phase 3 trial showed tocilizumab did not help patients with severe covid-19 pneumonia. Mortality at four weeks was not improved, either. Another randomized trial by Roche appeared to show positive results, suggesting that patients with covid-19 who took the drug were less likely to die or require mechanical ventilation than patients given a placebo. But because the peer-reviewed results from the Roche trials aren’t yet available, “it’s difficult to assess those studies,” Parr said. Early in the pandemic, Parr and his colleagues treated a handful of very sick covid-19 patients with tocilizumab. The doctors stopped once they began to see “different patterns than what had been described in initial case reports,” Parr said. Parr said he does not yet plan to resume using the drug. “My conclusion was that the results were mixed and not convincing enough for me to change my practice,” he said. “I’m going to wait until more compelling results are available.” He should not have to wait long to judge whether new evidence is compelling. Several other clinical trials are investigating tocilizumab and related anti-inflammatory drugs. Read more: Steroids can save lives of patients with severe covid-19, earning WHO endorsement These laboratory-made antibodies are a best bet for a coronavirus treatment, but there won’t be enough ‘Nobody has very clear answers for them’: Doctors search for treatments for covid-19 long-haulers


Metro tampered with evidence from Red Line decoupling incident, safety commission says

from Metro’s safety department and the safety commission, as Metro’s operating procedures require. He cited other examples of Metro workers manipulating evidence. After an Aug. 15, 2019, collision of trains stored at Largo Town Center, the commission said in its findings that a train operator tried to “decouple” the wreck without permission, “thereby disturbing the scene.” A safety commission audit released last month found 21 major safety issues or violations including how Metro handled evidence after incidents. The audit said Metro had no guidelines or policies barring the editing or deleting of raw data from audio or video files before they are sent to investigators. There also was no independent chain of custody for evidence, allowing access to those who might be involved or connected to actual incidents. The audit also called on Metro to record and preserve phone calls, ambient conversations and other communications during emergencies. In the case of the torqued bolt, Mayer said, a manager directed employees to conduct testing without regard to Metro’s standard operating procedures for investigations. “This concern crosses all aspects of Metrorail,” he said. During a briefing about a Feb. 4 fire that took place near one of the tracks, Hart said it appeared that Metro was not using the word “smoke” in describing events as he thought officials should. “I noticed the place where it looked like the word smoke was not used when it should have been, and I just wonder, did you have any sense that the word smoke generates a need to follow different specific procedures that they wanted to avoid so they didn’t use the word smoke? Did you get any sense of that?” Hart asked a commission staff member. “There has been a habit of either leaving out smoke or using other phrases that we have addressed our concerns with [Metro] and the safety department,” Adam Quigley, a program specialist, responded. Metro was given 30 days to start “initial and ongoing refresher training” on following proper chain-of-custody procedures, keeping control of evidence and being forthright in providing investigators with direct access to recordings and other potentially relevant information, according to the commission’s findings. “These examples demonstrate that from the front line worker involved in a safety event up to the level of department leaders, Metrorail employees are not properly trained on and familiarized with their basic responsibilities related to safety event investigations,” the safety commission report said.


We saved our economy in Sweden. But too many people died.

When the coronavirus pandemic gained momentum in the spring, Sweden chose a less restrictive containment strategy than most other countries did, including its Nordic neighbors. Some medical experts and economists, in and out of Sweden, have criticized its policy for being too lenient. Others, from Elon Musk to National Review columnists, have hailed it as a role model for allegedly keeping the economy open, staving off the consequences of a harsher lockdown. President Trump’s medical adviser Scott Atlas has advocated that the United States adopt the Swedish approach to the pandemic. Sweden’s strategy indeed likely helped the economy — but this came at too high a cost, in terms of lives lost. Taking a similar approach in the United States would, in all probability, be even more costly, because unlike Sweden and other European countries, the United States does not have a centralized, publicly funded health-care system with universal coverage. Observers outside of Sweden have often misunderstood its handling of the pandemic. It is true that the government never imposed a formal lockdown and that day-care centers and elementary schools remained open. But the Public Health Agency has strongly recommended social distancing, working from home and avoiding unnecessary travel, among other precautions; compliance was high. The agency instructed people above 70 years of age to avoid socializing with others, and visits to old-age homes were banned. The government prohibited public gatherings of more than 50 people. The Swedish summer holidays, when many people leave the cities and towns for their summer houses in the countryside, may have worked as an informal lockdown, slowing the spread of the virus. Even for observers within Sweden, it has been difficult to ascertain the rationale behind its pandemic strategy. Throughout, the Swedish Public Health Agency remained reticent about the motives behind its policy approach. Officials did not explain how they weighed economic considerations and wider public health concerns, and whether they drew up policies with an objective of achieving herd immunity or based on a worry that rigorous restrictions would be unsustainable. It might be most accurate to characterize the Swedish “strategy” as one that began with misjudgments of the risk of large-scale spread and the extent of asymptomatic contagion. The health agency did not try to dissuade families from going skiing in the Alps during the winter holidays in late February, though reports regarding an outbreak in northern Italy soon surfaced. A recommendation


The arrest of a Mexican general should be a turning point for AMLO and the war on drugs

he told me. “I thought it was very offensive to the Mexican armed forces, but maybe that’s what they had to do.” Even though MCaffrey acknowledged the unprecedented amounts of money that stem from the drug trade in Mexico and its potential for corrupting law enforcement, he seemed surprised that a figure like Cienfuegos could have actively operated against the interest of the Mexican state for years. He shouldn’t be. In 1997, McCaffrey learned of the arrest of Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, his Mexican anti-narcotics counterpart, who was found to be under the thumb of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, one of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords. “We thought he was the most amazing crime fighter in Mexico, and he was — but on behalf of one of the cartels,” McCaffrey told me. Still, McCaffrey insisted, the Mexican military should not be considered a rotten institution. “I don’t think the Mexican armed forces are impenetrable,” he told me. “But they are highly effective, well-organized and largely high-integrity organizations.” McCaffrey may be right, but Cienfuegos’s arrest will put Mexican president López Obrador in an uncomfortable bind. Perhaps operating under the assumption of their supposed incorruptibility, López Obrador has granted the Mexican military more responsibilities, including duties far beyond their purview, such as the construction of Mexico City’s new airport. Even under normal circumstances, such dependence on the armed forces seems inadvisable. This is even more the case in Mexico today. Led not by a civilian but by a military officer, Mexico’s armed forces operate largely unchecked. The DEA investigation might soon uncover a deeper rot. “The defense minister himself can’t accept bags of money and personally go to a Swiss bank,” McCaffrey told me. “So, you’ve got to believe there’s a network of people who are facilitating that. And they are all getting paid off.” If that’s the case, then “El Padrino” might be about to send the country he swore to protect into further despair. Read more: León Krauze: A high-profile corruption case could be a major victory for Mexico. Politics must not derail it. Peter Andreas: Trump’s plan to label Mexico’s cartels as terrorists ignores U.S. role in drug trade León Krauze: With coronavirus hurting the drug business, there’s an opportunity to corner cartels Leer en español: Omar Sánchez de Tagle: Hay más generales investigados por la DEA Julio Astillero: El riesgo de que Estados Unidos detenga a un alto militar mexicano


Why countries are resorting to pandemic lockdowns again

You’re reading an excerpt from the Today’s WorldView newsletter. The lockdowns are back. Ireland is not alone in moving toward drastic action, although the extent of measures varies. The Czech Republic, only months ago considered a rare pandemic success story, announced similar plans on Wednesday. Britain, France, Germany and Spain have set regional restrictions this month, prompting demands for nationwide action. “We are going to a partial lockdown. That hurts, but it’s the only way,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said at a news conference last week. He announced measures including the closure of bars and restaurants for at least a month. No governments take these steps lightly. Even limited shutdowns have consequences. National lockdowns like the one seen in Ireland can take a brutal toll on the economy. When he announced the six-week lockdown Monday, Varadkar said that 150,000 people could lose their jobs and the cost to the economy could reach $1.78 billion. The return of lockdowns highlights an uncomfortable reality: Despite significant medical advances in the treatment of covid-19 and an unprecedented race to find a vaccine to beat the virus, the only proven measures to stop its rampant spread as of yet are crude, perhaps draconian limits on human interaction. The tactic is deeply unpopular in many places. As the economic turmoil of the spring and summer continues, lockdown is a dirty word for many governments. Officials in Sweden and Belgium emphasized that new restrictions, reported as lockdowns in the media, were recommendations, not rules. “In the end, [a lockdown] is a failure of the recommendation of restricting people’s contacts,” Belgian state virologist Steven Van Gucht told the Brussels Times on Friday. “If that system fails, a lockdown is the only thing left.” The return to lockdowns is a sign of desperation. Ireland’s decision to reimpose its lockdown came as the country buckled under a second wave of coronavirus infections. In fact, its outbreak remains smaller than that of many of its neighbors in Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and France are seeing some of fasting-growing outbreaks in the world, adjusted for population size. The global surge appears to be hitting countries that successfully avoided the initial wave of cases in the spring. The Czech Republic has the fastest-growing outbreak in the world, according to a Washington Post analysis, after Prague residents held a “farewell” party for the virus over the summer. A similar trend can be


The Energy 202: Climate change isn't the only environmental crisis Biden wants to confront

with Alexandra Ellerbeck One of the biggest parts of Democratic nominee Joe Biden “We need to hit the ground running undoing the damage of the Trump administration, Udall and Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.) introduced a resolution laying out the objective last year. But the idea of protecting a certain percentage of the planet was planted by the biologist and writer E.O. Wilson in his 2016 book “Half Earth.” Restricting human intrusion into nature is necessary, conservation proponents say, not only to curtail climate change, but also to stave off the loss of even more plants and animals to extinction as Yet politicians here and abroad have made bold conservation promises in the past, only to fall short. And while the idea of protecting nature is broadly popular in the abstract, actually carrying out that goal can face stiff resistance from those who live and work near protected areas. His platform calls on the United States to set aside 30 percent of its lands and water for conservation by the end of the decade. “We should be taking the plan where we allow significant[ly] more land to be put in conservation, plant a deep root of plants, which absorb carbon from the air,” Biden said during a town hall event on ABC. According to one estimate, around a football field’s worth of green area is lost to human development on average every 30 seconds in the Lower 48 states. That is playing a part in an unparalleled potential loss of 1 million species, which U.N. scientists say may have profound implications for human survival. The loss of coral reefs worldwide to acidifying oceans, for example, could cause a collapse in populations of edible fish. Farmers increasing reliance on pesticides could kill off bees and other insects those same growers rely on to pollinate their crops. The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity — to which every U.N. member has signed onto except for the United States — had pledged to protect 17 percent of terrestrial and inland waters and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by this year. The United Nations says that goal has been “partially achieved." Stateside, Biden has called out President Trump for opening the vast swath of caribou and polar bear habitat in the Alaskan Arctic to oil and gas drilling and eyeing more uranium mining in the West. Only 12 percent of the nation One


How tour companies are changing to address travelers’ safety concerns

Before the pandemic, Joey Parrott, an inveterate traveler, had plans to visit Norway, India and Italy. But when these borders closed to Americans, his trips were all canceled. After staying at home for five months, the retired banker from Dalton, Ga., was eager to travel again. He and his sister Cathy Barker signed up for a Collette tour to South Dakota. “It had to be domestic because no other country wants us,” Parrott said. His friends questioned his decision to travel before there was a coronavirus vaccine, but Parrott assured them he would be cautious. His travel pod was impressed by Collette’s safety measures — regular temperature checks, stringent sanitizing and social distancing. Their bus held only 15 passengers, with plenty of room to spread out. Everyone was required to wear a mask on the bus, during guided tours, at attractions and at restaurants, unless they were eating. “Nobody complained about it,” Parrott reports. “At Mount Rushmore, it was fairly crowded since we got there on July Fourth, but we tried to keep our distance, and most people had a mask on.” Collette is one of many tour operators that have reinvented themselves for pandemic travel. After stopping all tours for months, the company has responded to the changed landscape by developing new protocols and offering new services. For those seeking a way to resume travel despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, small group tours offer an alternative to going it alone. Tour operators have always handled the logistics of travel for their customers. In the pandemic era, those services have expanded to include coronavirus testing and precautions, as well. Nearly every tour operator interviewed prioritizes getting over the first hurdle — adhering to coronavirus testing requirements. Most can arrange for testing throughout the world, and they can provide medical care and a place to quarantine if needed. Among the other services now being offered by tour operators are scheduling visits to museums during off-hours, disinfecting communal spaces and arranging private dining at restaurants vetted for safety and sanitation. Most important, tour companies typically have a network of local guides who can respond quickly to the needs of the group and individual travelers. Many are taking more-granular proactive steps, too, such as booking hotel rooms on the first floor so guests don’t have to use the elevator. A few months after stay-at-home orders were lifted, Edward Piegza, founder of


Covid-19 and child care: What the latest research says

Although sending their offspring back to day care would provide a welcome respite to parents who are both working and caring for young children, many have been hesitant — fearful of exposing their children and themselves to the novel coronavirus. Questions remain about how the coronavirus affects children, how safe the programs are for children and their families, and which procedures work best to mitigate the spread of the virus and its disease, covid-19. But seven months after child-care centers across the country closed for the first wave of the pandemic, research is providing some answers. Here’s what we know at this point. Children can contract the novel coronavirus, but their outcomes generally aren’t as severe as those of adults. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 741,000 children in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to recently updated data from the American Academy of Pediatrics. As of October, about 100 children and teenagers had died of the disease — a small portion of the country’s total death toll, which has now exceeded 221,000. Like adults, children with certain underlying conditions, including obesity, severe genetic or neurological disorders, diabetes, asthma and other chronic lung diseases, might be at greater risk of severe complications. There have also been cases in which children and teens have developed what doctors are calling multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C. In infants and preschoolers, the symptoms are similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare illness with an unknown cause that typically affects those younger than 5 and can lead to inflammation of blood vessels. MIS-C has caused at least 20 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Throughout the pandemic, concerns have persisted that coronavirus-infected children, who are often asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, may be silent spreaders. A small study published in August in the Journal of Pediatrics found that some children have high levels of virus in their airways during the first three days of infection, despite showing few, if any, symptoms. Another recent study in JAMA Pediatrics reported that children younger than 5 with mild or moderate cases of covid-19 had similar or larger viral loads in their upper respiratory tract, compared with older children and adults. But experts say the amount of virus in young children doesn’t necessarily mean they are major sources of infection, and data on their risk of transmission has been scarce.


might be at greater risk of severe complications. There have also been cases in which children and teens have developed what doctors are calling multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C. In infants and preschoolers, the symptoms are similar to Kawasaki disease, a rare illness with an unknown cause that typically affects those younger than 5 and can lead to inflammation of blood vessels. MIS-C has caused at least 20 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Throughout the pandemic, concerns have persisted that coronavirus-infected children, who are often asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, may be silent spreaders. A small study published in August in the Journal of Pediatrics found that some children have high levels of virus in their airways during the first three days of infection, despite showing few, if any, symptoms. Another recent study in JAMA Pediatrics reported that children younger than 5 with mild or moderate cases of covid-19 had similar or larger viral loads in their upper respiratory tract, compared with older children and adults. But experts say the amount of virus in young children doesn’t necessarily mean they are major sources of infection, and data on their risk of transmission has been scarce. “There is definite evidence that kids can and do have higher viral loads, but less evidence epidemiologically that this translates into the ‘super spreaders’ situation that was feared months ago,” John O’Horo, an infectious-disease specialist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., wrote in an email. Young children may have differences in their immune systems, or their smaller lungs could make it harder for them to breathe out infectious particles as far, O’Horo said in a phone interview. Whatever the case may be, it appears that “very small kids are not very efficient at transmitting virus the way that older kids and adults are,” he said. The results of studies examining the impact of child-care programs on community spread in the United States have been mixed. In September, the CDC published a small study of contact-tracing data collected from three child-care centers in Salt Lake City from April to July and found that a dozen children probably contracted the novel coronavirus at the facilities and went on to infect their family members. Transmission was also linked to two children who had confirmed asymptomatic cases. Outbreaks at two of the centers were traced to staff members who were exposed to the


coronavirus through their family members, but the source of the outbreak at the third facility was not identified, the researchers wrote. According to the report, all the programs had varying safety measures in place at the time. But a more recent study from researchers at Yale University, who surveyed more than 57,000 child-care workers in May and June, presented evidence that experts say can provide reassurance that risk-mitigation efforts could be effective in such environments. The national survey, which was published in the journal Pediatrics, found that child-care workers who continued to go to work during the early months of the pandemic, exposing themselves regularly to young children, did not have an increased risk of contracting the virus compared with those who stayed home — provided that safety measures were being strictly followed. More than 90 percent of survey respondents who worked in facilities that stayed open reported practicing good hand hygiene among staff members and children, and frequently disinfecting indoor surfaces and fixtures. Other safety protocols included keeping group sizes small (an average of six children in home-based programs and cohorts of eight in centers), symptom screening and social distancing. “These child-care programs were doing herculean efforts to keep children safe,” said Walter Gilliam, the paper’s lead author and a professor of child psychiatry and psychology at the Yale University Child Study Center. He added: “Could you imagine cleaning and disinfecting every surface and fixture in your house three times a day? It is incredible the amount of effort that they were going through.” The study’s findings appear to align with another CDC report from August that suggested child-care facilities could reopen safely if community spread was low and strict protocols were enforced. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of the infectious diseases division in the department of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine, said the Yale study contributes important information to what is known about child-care programs and covid-19. “Studies like this really do help understand, on a large scale, what do we think is happening,” said Maldonado, who was not part of the research. But, she added, the study does have limitations, namely that it relied on self-reported survey responses. “We don’t have testing data, and we certainly don’t know if all asymptomatics were identified,” she said. Gilliam also noted that his team focused on whether children posed risks to adults in child-care facilities and did not examine transmission from adult to


The Daily 202: Obama’s 10 deepest cuts against Trump in Philadelphia

feet of an infected individual for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period,” Lena Sun reports. “The update comes as the United States is ‘unfortunately seeing a distressing trend, with cases increasing in nearly 75 percent of the country,’ Jay Butler, the CDC’s deputy director for infectious diseases, said Wednesday at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, in the first news conference administration officials permitted in more than eight weeks. People may be tired of the advice, Butler said, but mask-wearing is more important than ever this fall and winter as Americans head indoors, where transmission risks are greater. … "The guidance about transmission of the coronavirus … had been discussed by CDC scientists for several weeks, according to a CDC official … Then came unsettling new evidence in a report published Wednesday. CDC and Vermont health officials discovered the virus was contracted by a 20-year-old prison employee who in an eight-hour shift had 22 interactions — for a total of over 17 minutes — with individuals who later tested positive for the virus. ‘Available data suggests that at least one of the asymptomatic [detainees] transmitted’ the virus during these brief encounters, the report said.” “Mayor Tim Kabat was already on edge as thousands of students returned to La Crosse, Wis., to resume classes this fall at the city’s three colleges. When he saw young people packing downtown bars and restaurants in September, crowded closely and often unmasked, the longtime mayor’s worry turned to dread,” Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Chris Mooney report. “Now, more than a month later, La Crosse has endured a devastating spike in coronavirus cases — a wildfire of infection that first appeared predominantly in the student-age population, spread throughout the community and ultimately ravaged elderly residents who had previously managed to avoid the worst of the pandemic. For most of 2020, La Crosse’s nursing homes had lost no one to covid-19. In recent weeks, the county has recorded 19 deaths, most of them in long-term care facilities. Everyone who died was over 60." With new cases surging across the continent, Ireland's six-week lockdown includes a raft of new restrictions. But schools will remain open. (Karla Adam) “The Justice Department announced a historic $8.3 billion settlement Wednesday with OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma, capping a long-running federal investigation into the company that, for critics, became a leading symbol of corporations profiting from America’s deadly addiction to


Target shoppers can now make reservations to avoid holiday crowds

At a time when the thought of holiday crowds might be more frightening than festive, Target is introducing a new safety measure: reservations. Retailers have adopted a range of protocols to minimize crowds, long lines and repeat shopping trips during the pandemic. Most large retailers offer curbside pickup and contactless checkout to accommodate social distancing, and many have scrapped such Black Friday traditions as Thanksgiving Day openings and “doorbuster” deals to fill their stores. But shopping by appointment is uncommon among retailers. “Given that Target is a very popular holiday destination, the new system makes sense in terms of both keeping people safe and giving customers a convenient tool that prevents them having to wait ages outside the store,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail in New York, said in an email to The Washington Post. “During the pandemic Target has been a savvy operator and has used both online and its stores to drive sales. This is another example of how Target is using digital technology to improve the store experience.” Some national chains, including Best Buy, Williams Sonoma and West Elm, instituted mandatory store appointments early in the pandemic, though most have since lifted those requirements. Others such as Suitsupply and Chico’s now offer appointments to interested shoppers. Shoppers can also reserve time slots at local grocery stores and farmers markets using OpenTable, the restaurant reservation site. Target chief executive Brian Cornell said during a media call Wednesday that the reservation system “could be very important during the holiday season” but that he does not anticipate using it on a regular basis. “But some measures, like contact-free shopping, are here to stay.” During the holidays, shoppers can visit Target.com/line to see if there is a line outside their local store and reserve a spot. They’ll be notified when it’s their turn to shop. Other new safety measures include contactless self-checkout anywhere in-store through Target’s Wallet app, double the parking for Target’s popular Drive Up services, and expanded same-day delivery and pickup offerings, the company said. This holiday season, Target has said it plans to keep seasonal hiring in line with last year — about 130,000 positions at its nearly 1,000 stores around the country. But it’s doubling the number of employees helping with curbside and in-store pickup and hiring more full-time and seasonal warehouse employees to meet growing demand. The Minneapolis-based retailer has seen a windfall in


Cows rejoice: Impossible Foods beefs up plant-based milk investment

and 2015. The challenge now is how to satisfy the demand for milk while working toward a lower-carbon future. The plant-based milk category has seen consistent double-digit increases in sales even as cow’s milk consumption has declined, according to a Nielsen study in June 2018. But, Brown said: “The plant-based milks out there are inadequate. [Our goal] is to make something that for a dairy milk lover is better than anything that comes from a cow.” Alan Bjerga, senior vice president of communications for the National Milk Producers Federation, an industry organization, said that Impossible’s attempted incursion is more likely to affect other plant-based beverage producers. “These beverages have been on the market for 30 years, and they tend to cannibalize each other’s market share,” he said. “For example, oat’s big gains have come much more at the expense of soy-beverage consumption than it has at dairy. If people who like plant-beverages can find a plant-based beverage that is more like real milk — a superior product — than what’s currently being offered, that could cause some concerns for people who are currently grinding up almonds, soy, or oats or whatever else they can mix with sugar water and artificial coloring so they can sell it for twice the price of real milk.” Kliman said the Impossible Foods product will taste like cow’s milk, froth like it, cook like it and, she demonstrated, integrate with a cup of hot coffee without precipitating out (soy and nut milk drinkers are familiar with the gritty texture imparted by adding the products to hot beverages). Tuesday’s demonstration was of a not-yet-finalized recipe, made of plant-based ingredients including a special de-flavored and deodorized soy protein created in-house, and will probably continue to be evaluated in terms of taste, nutrition, versatility and sustainability. The animal dairy industry has pushed back vigorously against the proliferation of plant-based milks, advocating for state legislation to change labeling laws by arguing that consumers are confused by ambiguous labeling and nomenclature that equates soy-, oat- or nut-based milks with animal dairy. The dairy industry has urged states to append qualifiers like “fake” or “artificial” to plant-based milk. “In fact, there is no ‘consumer confusion’ about Impossible Burger’s ingredients,” said Rachel Konrad, chief communications officer for Impossible Foods. “The skyrocketing growth of Impossible Burger is testimony to the fact that consumers are crystal clear that they are getting a product without


Ireland is first European country to reimpose a lockdown amid a coronavirus resurgence

LONDON — Ireland became the first European country to reimpose a nationwide lockdown following a surge in coronavirus cases, with its government urging everyone who can to "stay at home." At 12:01 Thursday morning, Ireland entered a six-week lockdown that includes a raft of new restrictions. Schools, however, remain open. A number of European countries have experienced a resurgence in coronavirus cases and hospital admissions. On Wednesday alone, at least 10 European nations announced record numbers of daily cases. Ireland, which has a population of about 5 million, has recorded more than 53,400 confirmed cases and 1,868 deaths. As Europe braces for the second wave of the pandemic, many countries have opted for targeted, regional restrictions. Ireland has gone a step further with its national lockdown. Under the new restrictions, set to last until Dec. 1, people in Ireland are being asked to stay at home and to exercise within only a three-mile radius of their homes. Restaurants, cafes and bars can stay open for takeaway and deliveries, but most nonessential retail establishments will close, including hairdressers and barbers. Only 10 people will be allowed at funerals. Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said at a news conference that Ireland “will be the first country in Europe to go back into a national lockdown.” Varadkar said the move could result in 150,000 people losing their jobs and cost the government 1.5 billion euros. But he said the country needed to take a “preemptive strike” against the virus “before it is too late.” Varadkar drew comparisons to the pandemic of 1918, noting that the second wave was worse than the first. “That’s not inevitable this time,” he said. “We can make sure the second wave is only a ripple, but that depends on all of us.” Some commentators noted that there is a sense of exhaustion this time around. Tanya Sweeney, a columnist for Ireland’s Independent newspaper, wrote that “when lockdown was announced in March, we banded together in a sort of Blitz spirit, often keen to do our bit in the ‘war’ against Covid-19. But now, as we enter into a second wave of lockdowns, the nights are getting longer and many of us, while keen to do the right thing are just a bit . . . well, depleted.” Gail Mc Elroy, a professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin, said there is a “weary acceptance that it’s necessary.” Both


The Energy 202: Biden draws GOP attacks with call to 'transition' from oil

Deal — well before Biden rolled out his own plan. “He kept referring back to plans of the Dem primary candidates Biden defeated (and we criticized) but didn't touch Biden's actual plan,” Josh Freed, head of the climate and energy program at the center-left think tank Third Way, said by email. Trump also said Biden supports a ban on fracking — a claim his Democratic opponent has repeatedly knocked down, including on Thursday evening. “I never said I oppose fracking,” Biden said. Biden has sometimes fumbled over his words when describing his position on fracking on the campaign trail. He supports ending new permits for fracking and other oil and gas drilling only on federal lands out West — but not on state or private lands such as those in Pennsylvania. The technique is controversial both for the risk it poses to drinking water and for the greenhouse gas emissions it causes. His stance has helped him win the support of labor groups in the energy sector. Still, during the debate, Biden emphasized he wants to reduce fracking's environmental footprint. During a meeting with California leaders last month, the president appeared to dismiss the role of climate change in exacerbating a record-breaking series of wildfires that have devastated the state. “It will start getting cooler. You just watch,” the president said. When a participant objected, pointing out that the science predicted the opposite, Trump responded, “I don’t think science knows, actually.” A few minutes later, however, the president changed his tune while out of view of the television cameras. Several witnesses described what happened when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) approached Trump after the event and said he hoped the president understood why California leaders thought it was so important to highlight the role of climate change, the New York Times reports. “Gavin, I totally get it, and really it’s probably like 50-50,” Trump replied, referring to the role of poor forest management and the role of climate change in fueling the fires. “I know that a price on carbon is one that makes Republicans more than a little bit nervous,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said on Wednesday during an event with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) that was sponsored by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. “But I do think that can be and that should be one of the options that is on the table for discussion, in terms


Trump family friend charged in stalking case in New York

board member of the National Endowment for the Humanities, but he withdrew from consideration during his background check, the New York Times reported at the time. In 2016, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, Kurson became the subject of controversy when it was revealed that, while he edited Kushner’s newspaper, the New York Observer, the two friends consulted with then-candidate Trump on a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Kushner has sought Kurson’s input in this election cycle as well. The White House had no comment. Kurson also has ties to Trump’s attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, with whom he has co-written a book. — Shayna Jacobs Washington State Scientists have discovered the first nest of so-called murder hornets in the United States and plan to wipe it out Saturday to protect native honeybees, officials in Washington state said. After weeks of searching, the agency said it found the nest of Asian giant hornets in Blaine, a city north of Seattle near the Canadian border. Bad weather delayed plans to destroy the nest Friday. The world’s largest hornet at 2 inches long, the invasive insects can decimate entire hives of honeybees and deliver painful stings to people. Farmers in the northwestern United States depend on those honeybees to pollinate many crops, including raspberries and blueberries. Despite their nickname and the hype around the insect that has stirred fears in an already bleak year, the hornets kill at most a few dozen people a year in Asian countries, and experts say it is probably far less. — Associated Press Alabama A 115-year-old Confederate monument that was the subject of protests in Alabama this year was removed from outside a county courthouse early Friday. News outlets reported that a small group of onlookers cheered at the Madison County Courthouse in Huntsville as crews took away the stone memorial, which was topped by the likeness of a soldier, in pieces. Madison County Commissioner JesHenry Malone, in a statement, said the county finally took action after a state commission created in 2017 to protect historic monuments failed to respond in a timely way to the commission’s request to remove the memorial. The monument was reassembled at its new home in the Confederate burial section of a city-owned cemetery. It’s unclear whether the county will have to pay a $25,000 state fine imposed in 2017 to discourage the removal of Confederate memorials. — Associated Press


Coronavirus surge closes schools on Eastern Shore

were fully authorized to begin safely reopening for in-person classes, based on improving health metrics. Nineteen of the state’s 24 school systems have opened school buildings to students to some extent this fall, state officials said Friday. Hogan’s office issued a statement Friday saying Dorchester’s approach is consistent with data-driven health metrics provided by the state. “The recent rise in the county’s positivity rate is connected to a small number of family clusters, which is in line with trends we are seeing statewide,” spokesman Mike Ricci said. Salmon called the changes in Dorchester “an example of the metrics being utilized to inform health-based decisions at the local level,” according to a statement provided by the Maryland Department of Health. Dorchester opened Sept. 8 and soon brought back seniors in career programs and later students with special needs. More recently, it embarked on a hybrid approach that combined online and in-person learning for students in pre-K, kindergarten, sixth grade and ninth grade. Since schools opened, nine people related to schools in Dorchester have tested positive: four students, all teenagers, and five employees, only some of whom worked in school buildings. The announcement about closing school buildings was made Wednesday night following a decision by the superintendent and county health officer. Students had remote learning Thursday and Friday, and will be in all-virtual learning in the days ahead. Katie Holbrook, president of Dorchester Educators, the county’s union for teachers and support staff, said many were disappointed that classroom learning was being postponed but also glad the safety of students and staff was prioritized. “It’s being proactive instead of waiting for a large outbreak in the schools to take action,” she said. Linda Barnes, a parent and educator, said she appreciated the difficulty of Bromwell’s decision, which was causing some buzz on social media but was best for health and safety. Still, she said, “it’s sad” thinking of her seventh-grade daughter. “She was really looking forward to going back, and she really missed her teachers and her classmates.” Meagan Fitzpatrick, an infectious-disease transmission modeler at University of Maryland School of Medicine, said school and health leaders acted wisely in changing course when the numbers shifted. “When we open school districts, we should have protocols to close like this,” she said. Dorchester is not the only county school system to face changes in its in-person learning plans because of the coronavirus. Elsewhere on the


A travel group report says flying is safe. The doctor whose research it cited says not so fast.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), a global airline trade group representing 290 carriers in 120 countries, published a report this month aiming to reassure grounded travelers about the future of flying. The group collected medical journal data on in-flight coronavirus cases and used it to declare that commercial flights have a “low incidence of inflight COVID-19 transmission” when masks are worn. Following an abundance of new research, the report says, only 44 cases of coronavirus have been linked to a flight, during a period when 1.2 billion passengers traveled. But a doctor whose work was cited in the report says that the group is misrepresenting his findings by only counting proven flight-linked cases that were published in medical journals. “IATA is taking it to an extreme saying there’s ‘little’ risk in flying,” says David Freedman, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of Alabama whose study is cited in the IATA report. “What they want is to throw this number on the risk of flying … and we don’t know what that risk is yet. I’m not saying the risk is high, but there is some risk. It just looks like masks help a lot.” The bottom line, Freedman says, is that cases linked to air travel are very difficult to scientifically prove because passengers are not usually monitored after flying and therefore are not tallied if they become sick. It’s also nearly impossible to determine whether sick passengers picked up the virus on a plane as opposed to in an airport or on the way there, he says. “And if you can’t prove it, it doesn’t end up in a journal." Freedman’s cited study, published in September 2020, says that “the absence of large numbers of published in-flight transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 is not definitive evidence of safety.” While an abundance of in-flight research on covid-19 has recently come to light, Freedman is not alone in his assessment that it’s unclear if flying is a low-risk endeavor amid the pandemic. Brad Pollock, the associate dean of public health sciences at the University of California at Davis, agrees with Freedman’s assessment of IATA’s report, calling it an “overreach.” Studies do not account for unpredictable passengers who board planes every day, he says. “There’s movement in the cabin to consider, but also so many people improperly wear a mask below their nostrils,” Pollock says. “That’s more of an issue than what kind


is that cases linked to air travel are very difficult to scientifically prove because passengers are not usually monitored after flying and therefore are not tallied if they become sick. It’s also nearly impossible to determine whether sick passengers picked up the virus on a plane as opposed to in an airport or on the way there, he says. “And if you can’t prove it, it doesn’t end up in a journal." Freedman’s cited study, published in September 2020, says that “the absence of large numbers of published in-flight transmissions of SARS-CoV-2 is not definitive evidence of safety.” While an abundance of in-flight research on covid-19 has recently come to light, Freedman is not alone in his assessment that it’s unclear if flying is a low-risk endeavor amid the pandemic. Brad Pollock, the associate dean of public health sciences at the University of California at Davis, agrees with Freedman’s assessment of IATA’s report, calling it an “overreach.” Studies do not account for unpredictable passengers who board planes every day, he says. “There’s movement in the cabin to consider, but also so many people improperly wear a mask below their nostrils,” Pollock says. “That’s more of an issue than what kind of mask they’re wearing. If everyone wears their mask properly on the plane, we’re going to be much better off.” In September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that nearly 11,000 people have been potentially exposed to the coronavirus on flights. The CDC told The Washington Post that of those in-flight exposures, “an absence of cases identified or reported is not evidence that there were no cases.” On Monday, it updated its guidance to “strongly recommend” all passengers and crew members wear masks. When asked for comment, IATA spokesperson Perry Flint told The Post over email: “It is possible that the actual number of transmissions is greater than the 44 cases we have been able to identify. And if we were able to determine how many passengers have flown internationally while infectious, this would be tremendously useful. However, these numbers are not available.” Flint also maintains that “it is true that the documented, published transmissions in flight are very low, and those that have occurred with onboard mask wearing are lower still — and it is true that well over a billion people have travelled by air during the pandemic.” Experts say there is reason to be optimistic


How many coronavirus deaths are truly attributable to Trump?

tricky for three reasons. First, the actual number of deaths so far is a bit murky. Second, the number of deaths the country might have seen involves a fair amount of speculation. And, third, people are still dying at the rate of 1,000 a day, meaning that we're nowhere near knowing what the final toll from the virus will be. How many have died? As noted above, there are at least 222,000 confirmed deaths to date. Many of those came at the outset of the pandemic, when undetected infections spread from person-to-person before containment measures were implemented. Because of how the virus works — infections are identified a week or two before patients succumb — surges in new cases have preceded surges in deaths. You can see that in the recent data: cases began to increase at the end of last month; deaths began to increase over the past week. What isn't captured is any unconfirmed deaths, deaths which followed undiagnosed infections or which preceded America's slow rollout of testing. To estimate that total, we look at excess deaths, how many people died in 2020 compared to preceding years. Deaths follow seasonal patterns, and exceptional mortality events therefore stand out statistically. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released earlier this week estimates that “an estimated 299,028 excess deaths have occurred in the United States from late January through October 3, 2020, with two thirds of these attributed to COVID-19,” the disease caused by the virus. That's roughly in line with the confirmed total through the same date, but this estimate, too, has limitations. More recent deaths might not yet have been counted, for one, and because “deaths from other causes might represent misclassified COVID-19 — related deaths,” as the report notes. Nonetheless, it seems fair to assume that the number of deaths is around the 222,000 total. How many This is a trickier question to answer. One way to look at it is to compare the death toll in the United States with outcomes in other, similar countries. That's the approach taken by researchers with Columbia University's National Center for Disaster Preparedness. This week, they released a report estimating that between 130,000 and 210,000 deaths from covid-19 didn't need to occur, had the country's response been as effective as those of other nations. In South Korea, where the first infection was detected on the same day


E.U. rejects proposal to ban labeling plant-based foods as veggie ‘burgers’

as burger, steak and sausage — off non-meat substitutes in the 27-nation European Union. Europe’s meat industry backed the ban, arguing that consumers could be confused by the messaging and mistakenly buy a vegan rather than animal-based box of burgers. The E.U. has already banned labeling as “milk” or “butter” nondairy products based on alternatives such as soy. COPA-COGECA But European environmentalists pushed back, arguing that using terms such as veggie “discs” or “fingers” could deter would-be consumers looking to reduce their meat consumption. “Consumers are in no way confused by a soy steak or chickpea-based sausage, so long as it is clearly labeled as vegetarian or vegan,” Camille Perrin, senior food policy officer at the Brussels-based European Consumer Organization, said in a statement. “Terms such as ‘burger’ or ‘steak’ on plant-based items simply make it much easier for consumers to know how to integrate these products within a meal.” She continued: “There is no doubt Europeans need to shift to more plant-based diets, both for their health and the planet. The best would be for consumers to cook more with legumes such as beans and peas instead of meat, but not all have the time and skills to do so.” The proposal was one amendment within a package of agricultural measures. Another that did pass bans terms such as “yogurt-style” or “cheese-style” for nondairy imitation replacements. The larger farm bill was to be voted on later Friday. Elena Walden, Europe’s policy manager for the Good Food Institute, a U.S.-based organization that promotes plant-based alternatives, criticized the latter ban in a statement as “further undermining the E.U.’s sustainability commitments.” The European Parliament has issued an array of regulations around food labels, from Parmesan cheese to champagne, that European producers must follow. ING Think, a global research firm, published a report Thursday estimating that sales of meat and dairy alternatives in Europe grew by nearly 10 percent over the past decade. The study estimated the market’s share would rise to 7.5 billion euros ($8.8 billion) by 2025, up from 4.4 billion euros ($5.2 billion) in 2019. “The sheer size of the meat and dairy market and the small base for plant-based alternatives mean that, even at the current growth rate, it would take until the mid-2050s before sales of ‘plant-based meat and dairy’ could surpass sales of meat and dairy,” the report concluded. Michael Birnbaum in Brussels contributed to this report.


U.S. sanctions Russian lab that built what experts say is potentially the world’s deadliest hacking tool

The United States on Friday sanctioned a Russian government lab that built what experts say is potentially the world’s deadliest hacking tool — malware designed to disrupt industrial control safety systems that protect human life. The Treasury Department’s designation of an institute of the State Research Center of the Russian Federation marks the first time the United States has sanctioned hackers for targeting industrial control systems, analysts said. “The Russian Government continues to engage in dangerous cyber activities aimed at the United States and our allies,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said in a statement. “This Administration will continue to aggressively defend the critical infrastructure of the United States from anyone attempting to disrupt it.” The lab — the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics in Moscow — created the Triton malware, also known as Trisis and HatMan, used in an attack on a Saudi petrochemical facility in 2017 that resulted in tens of millions of dollars in lost production. Dozens of people could have been killed, but a coding error prevented the malware from working as intended, and a potential catastrophe was averted, experts said. The lab is thought to have links to Russia’s GRU military spy agency. The hackers who attacked the Saudi plant also have scanned and probed U.S. energy facilities, as well as oil and gas companies in Europe and the Persian Gulf, experts said. The Saudi plant was identified by E & E News in 2017 as Petro Rabigh. The malware at Petro Rabigh was found almost by accident, said John Hultquist, senior director of intelligence analysis at the cybersecurity company Mandiant, which was among the firms called in to investigate the incident. The hackers tripped a safety system, causing the plant to shut down, which led to the cyber investigation, he said. “This malware is a threat to human life,” Hultquist said. Mandiant in 2018 linked the malware to the Russian lab. The sanctions are “a very significant move by the U.S. government,” said Robert M. Lee, a co-founder of Dragos, a cybersecurity firm that, like Mandiant, identified the malware. “It’s a good norm-setting moment. It’s a signal to say, ‘Hands off’ of industrial control equipment.” The sanctions freeze any assets the institute holds in the United States, and Americans are barred from engaging in transactions with the lab. It remains unclear why Russia would have targeted the Saudi plant. The Treasury


‘The enemy’ in the covid ward: Some Israelis oppose treating a Palestinian leader

avowed plans to annex settlements in the West Bank. The freeze continues even though annexation was shelved as part of Israel’s diplomatic accord with the United Arab Emirates. Both Israel and the Palestinian territories are also suffering a second wave of coronavirus infections, leading some to assert that Erekat is taking up a bed needed by an Israeli patient. His doctors disputed that charge. “No one is being disadvantaged by his care,” said Vernon Van Heerden, the physician in charge of the seven-bed coronavirus ICU ward where Erekat is being treated. Among the doctors attending Erekat is his daughter, Salam Erekat, who also managed his care at his home in Jericho before his condition worsened. Some Palestinians, too, have criticized Erekat’s decision to seek medical care in Israel, saying a facility in another Arab country would have been better. Soon after Erekat reported testing positive in early October, Jordan’s foreign minister said his government was ready to have Erekat transferred to Amman. But Erekat’s history of respiratory disease — he received a lung transplant in the United States three years ago — meant that he needed equipment and expertise not widely available in the region, Van Heerden said. “It’s very specialized therapy,” he said. “Last-line therapy. If this doesn’t work, there’s nothing else.” Hadassah, which has multicultural staff and a history of providing care to all parties in the conflict, had no hesitation accepting Erekat, Van Heereden said. “We have Arab doctors and Jewish doctors, Arab nurses and Jewish nurses taking care of all patients without fear or favor,” Van Heereden said. “We were delighted to provide any care that he needed.” But Erekat’s presence was met with protests Monday and a hospital staff member noted signs and chants of “Let him die.” Erekat’s arrival had to be approved by the Israeli government, and some politicians said it should have wrung concessions from the Palestinians in exchange for treating one of their leaders. One member of parliament for Netanyahu’s Likud party called the move “a sign of weakness.” But Benny Gantz, the former army chief of staff who serves as defense minister and alternate prime minister in the coalition government, defended his decision to permit Erekat’s care unconditionally. “The minister of defense, who is the authority on these issues, is personally committed to humanitarian aid, particularly when it is life-saving,” his office said in response to a request for comment.


Donors rescind $50 million in gifts over Baltimore museum’s planned sale of Warhol painting

This story has been updated. The Baltimore Museum of Art continues to be hit by criticism and turmoil — including the resignations of artists Amy Sherald and Adam Pendleton from the board of trustees — since announcing earlier this month that it would sell three paintings by Andy Warhol, Clyfford Still and Brice Marden to generate $65 million for diversity and equity programs. Now, two former museum board chairmen say they’ve rescinded planned gifts totaling $50 million. Former board chairman Charles Newhall III said Friday that he and another former chairman, Stiles Colwill, made verbal pledges of $30 million and $20 million, respectively, in gifts to the “In a New Light” campaign that was tied to the museum’s 100th anniversary in 2014. In a letter in which he resigned as an honorary trustee, Newhall said he and Colwill are rescinding those promises because of the museum’s intention to sell the three artworks, which include Warhol’s “The Last Supper.” Other donors Newhall has spoken to are considering canceling gifts, too, he said, while Colwill warned that the museum may lose out on gifts of art from local collectors. However, Clair Zamoiski Segal, chairwoman of the board of trustees, said in an email that the museum has no record of a $50 million pledge or any pledges totaling that amount. “While we appreciate that Charles Newhall is expressing that he had intended on making such a pledge, this was not negotiated or recorded with the museum,” Segal wrote. Newhall rejected Segal’s statement and characterized it as part of a pattern. “We never put anything in writing, but I ran that campaign for five years. I’m sure it’s in the minutes of the various board meetings,” he said. “That’s what they are doing about everything. They are denying everything. They lie.” The canceled donations are the latest evidence of growing opposition to the deaccessioning that the board approved earlier this month. Museum officials plan to auction Still’s “1957-G” and Marden’s “3” on Wednesday night at Sotheby’s. A private sale of the Warhol work is said to be imminent. The controversy led to the resignations of artists Pendleton and Sherald, whose resignation letter revealed strife on the board. Both artists said they could not devote the time required to participate fully on the board. Neither stated outright that they objected to the sale. “I have my opinions about the recent and ongoing proceedings but


Transcript: Coronavirus: Leadership During Crisis

what this phenomenon of climate change looks like and feels like to you living in Iceland? How do you see it with your own eyes? PM JAKOBSDÓTTIR: Well, we had actually a memorial here last year when one of our glaciers was officially declared that he had disappeared, a glacier called Ok. And we had a lot of environmental activists that walked on top of the mountain that used to be a glacier, and one of our great artists and poets actually wrote scripture where he remembered this glacier. So, we are actually seeing this happen. We are seeing the glaciers receding in Iceland. And obviously, it's a known fact that climate change is happening at a faster pace here close to the Arctic and we are seeing also the melting of the Greenland glacier with really--which can have disastrous consequences. So, this is a core issue for us. It's a core issue, fighting climate change, fighting the climate crisis, as I call it. So, we have actually--my government has actually implemented an action plan to fight the climate crisis where we are focusing on not just reducing carbon emissions but also in binding more carbon. We are focusing really now on reducing emissions from transport but also other factor--other sectors of society, and then we are focused on binding more carbon with old, traditional methods like growing forests and restoring methods, but also with new and innovative methods. And I can now tell you that this earthquake was quite big. It was 5.7 Richter. So, it was quite big. MR. IGNATIUS: Well, I must say, your reaction was as close to unflappable as I think most of us can imagine. So, we are glad that you weren't damaged and we hope the damage in Reykjavik is minimal. Prime Minister, we have, as you may have heard, a presidential election coming in two weeks. And I'm not going to ask you to take sides in that, but I do want to ask you what Americans can learn about leadership from your experience and your country's experience in Iceland that might be useful for us as we think about our own country. PM JAKOBSDÓTTIR: Well, it's always difficult to take one's own experience and try to teach others. But for me, living in society which is very dear to me, and I think what's most important for leaders in a society


Why the NBA is considering a condensed offseason and a December start date

This is an excerpt from NBA players, fans and media members still catching their breath after a marathon 2019-20 season should begin preparing for a 100-meter dash of an offseason. On a board of governors call last week, the NBA’s decision-makers discussed the possibility of condensing the 2020 offseason and shortening the 2020-21 season to 72 games in an effort to return the league’s calendar to its typical cycle, people with knowledge of the conversation confirmed. These plans — as reported by the Athletic, ESPN and the Associated Press — could see regular season games begin before Christmas, rather than the mid-January target previously discussed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts. Moving up the start date and trimming 10 games could allow the NBA to complete its season before the Tokyo Olympics, which are slated to open in July. Make no mistake, the novel coronavirus pandemic continues to force the league, which reportedly fell $1.5 billion short of its original revenue projections for last season, to weigh painful compromises. Reopening in December would be a tough ask for players on top playoff teams, especially those who competed in the Finals. Last season, 132 days passed between the last game of the 2019 Finals and the first game of the 2019-20 campaign. Because of this year’s four-month coronavirus hiatus and the Disney World restart, that period would be trimmed nearly in half to 73 days if the league started Dec. 22. Of course, not every team would feel the squeeze evenly: Eight of the NBA’s 30 teams haven’t played since the March 11 shutdown, and 22 teams have been idle since the first round of the playoffs ended Sept. 2. Even so, the next two months would be a blur: The NBA must finalize its schedule and financial agreement with the players’ union, hold its draft virtually Nov. 18, conduct free agency and open training camps. To understand why the NBA might prefer to rush back to the court, one must remember that the chief argument for delaying was to allow more time to reopen with fans in attendance. The wishful thinking went that a February start could theoretically create a path for team owners to generate money through ticket sales and other game-day-related sources, which typically account for 40 percent of the league’s $8 billion annual revenue. The coronavirus has had other


A Virginia state senator found headstones on his property. It brought to light a historic injustice in D.C.

acres were the city’s busiest Black burial ground between 1880 and 1920, the D.C. planning office said in a report on the city’s cemeteries. Owned by several families, the burial society had fallen on hard financial times by the 1950s. A developer named Louis Bell tried for years to buy the acreage. By 1960 he finally succeeded, promising to relocate all the graves to a new cemetery in Prince George’s County, Md. Headstones, though, were hauled off as scrap. A former owner of Stuart’s farm in Virginia bought several truckloads to build up his shoreline. Apparently some of the burials didn’t make the move, either. The city bought the property from Bell in 1967, according to news accounts of the era, and when Metro began construction in the early 1970s, the work unearthed human remains. Newspaper articles described at least five coffins at the site, piles of dirt containing bones, and — during work on a parking lot in 1979 — “pieces of dark cloth, fragments of coffin and bones.” Today, a small metal plaque at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station is the last reminder of the lost cemetery. Commuters rush past toward buses and parking lots or head to the upscale shops nearby. On the pedestrian bridge that swoops over the train tracks, someone has spray-painted “Black Lives Matter.” The graves were relocated to what is now National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, where many remain unidentified. National Harmony’s current owners — a national network based in Texas with more than 2,000 locations — say the original handwritten records can pinpoint the location of some bodies, but not all. National Harmony covers more than 100 hilly acres in the shadow of FedEx Field, a manicured oasis barely visible from suburban roadways. Atop the cemetery’s highest point, the dome of the U.S. Capitol and its statue of Freedom mark the distant skyline. Violetta Sharps Jones, 72, has been coming to National Harmony for much of her life to pay respects to her deceased family members, though she has no idea where the earliest ones lie. Until she learned the truth late last month, Jones said she always assumed her ancestors were too poor to afford headstones. “You see how devastating that is?” she said. Stuart’s farm is an unlikely solution to the mystery of the missing headstones. A former plantation, the property had been in Stuart’s family for generations


The Trump administration is investigating Google. Good luck pinning the giant down.

for them to slip through the cracks in the regulatory system. Monopoly and antitrust laws work best when they can identify the precise market that a company is operating in. But these laws can’t easily target technology platforms that work across many markets. My research shows how Google has depicted itself simultaneously as a search company, an advertising company, a media company and a telecommunications company. This makes tech giants look less powerful than they are. If you look at them market by market, rather than as a whole, they can look like small fish in big ponds. This isn’t Big Tech’s only advantage. While these companies have users all over the world and often depict themselves as democratizing global media, they are typically headquartered in just two countries, the United States and China. This means other governments that might be concerned about the impact of Facebook on their elections, say, have limited jurisdiction to do anything. Furthermore, even though social media platforms play a central role in public debate and sometimes claim regulating them would erode free speech, they have limited legal liability, if any, for images and content that appear on their sites. These platforms often host marketplaces for others, while also selling their own products, generating powerful lock-in effects. It’s Google’s lock-in effects that caught the attention of the Justice Department. Facebook took a similar approach, using data from its external advertising service for news websites to secure exclusive distribution contracts with media companies. Columbia law professor Lina Khan argues that Amazon uses consumer purchase data on other brands on its site to precision engineer its own products to outsell them. (Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is also the owner of The Washington Post.) This has led some policymakers and scholars to call for “structural separation,” or a ban on companies operating as players in their own marketplaces. India recently introduced legislation to this effect for online retail, forcing Amazon and local competitor Flipkart to pull their own products from their websites. The new U.S. investigation doesn’t propose any remedies, but separation is one possible outcome. Antitrust law is changing The new investigation may signal more active antitrust enforcement in the United States and not just toward the technology sector. Scholars have documented how U.S. monopoly regulators have moved away from challenging existing monopolies and prioritized preemptive scrutiny of mergers that might bring monopolies into


for others, while also selling their own products, generating powerful lock-in effects. It’s Google’s lock-in effects that caught the attention of the Justice Department. Facebook took a similar approach, using data from its external advertising service for news websites to secure exclusive distribution contracts with media companies. Columbia law professor Lina Khan argues that Amazon uses consumer purchase data on other brands on its site to precision engineer its own products to outsell them. (Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, is also the owner of The Washington Post.) This has led some policymakers and scholars to call for “structural separation,” or a ban on companies operating as players in their own marketplaces. India recently introduced legislation to this effect for online retail, forcing Amazon and local competitor Flipkart to pull their own products from their websites. The new U.S. investigation doesn’t propose any remedies, but separation is one possible outcome. Antitrust law is changing The new investigation may signal more active antitrust enforcement in the United States and not just toward the technology sector. Scholars have documented how U.S. monopoly regulators have moved away from challenging existing monopolies and prioritized preemptive scrutiny of mergers that might bring monopolies into being. Influenced by the work of conservative legal scholars such as onetime Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, American courts and regulatory officials have focused on how proposed mergers would affect prices for consumers, rather than broader public interest issues such as fairness, which antitrust law previously considered. However, it’s hard to apply these price standards to technology companies. Very often, tech platforms are free for users. Prices for advertisers are set in individual markets according to secret algorithms. And, research shows, tech platform companies are better able to resist pressure from government because they can combine their market influence with other forms of political influence to push back. This has led some scholars to argue that a new era means it’s time for a different approach, harking back to Theodore Roosevelt’s claim in 1910 that the railroad and oil trusts of the Gilded Age posed a threat to democracy, not just to the economy. Returning to that approach, as some scholars call for, would reverse the changes wrought by Bork and others, making it possible to regulate for a wider range of public interest goals. However, such calls are not yet shaping antitrust enforcement in practice. While the new lawsuit


What do ordinary Arabs think about normalizing relations with Israel?

conducted face-to-face polling in Kuwait, plus phone surveys in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Here’s what we found. Few gulf citizens support recognizing Israel In Saudi Arabia, only 6 percent of the sample supported diplomatic recognition of Israel. In Kuwait, 88 percent of the sample rejected such recognition, with 10 percent in favor. In Qatar, 88 percent also rejected recognition. When asked whether the Palestinian cause was a concern for all Arabs or the Palestinians alone, 89 percent of the Saudi sample answered that it was a cause for all Arabs. This was comparable to the Qatari sample, at 88 percent. In Kuwait, 69 percent of the sample agreed with this sentiment. But a large Saudi segment — 29 percent of our sample — refused to answer the diplomatic recognition question, similar to what we saw in the 2017-2018 survey. This high rate of nonresponse is probably due to the “sensitive” nature of the question, reflecting the Saudi government’s recent rhetoric on the Israel-Palestine issue, as well its continued crackdown on activists. Following the normalization announcement, official Saudi media outlets praised the deal, making a clear statement that the UAE, an allied country, had made a “sovereign decision.” Accounts on social media known for promoting regime discourse also criticized the hypocrisy of those in opposition, noting many voices from Qatar and Turkey were covering up their own country’s normalization. In previous survey waves, we conducted an experimental analysis to determine how people really felt about sensitive issues. We asked respondents to list the number of items in the question that were important to them, without identifying which ones. We showed them either a list of four or five items — the fifth item was the “sensitive” topic, the importance of Palestine to them. We discovered statistically significant differences between the two groups, suggesting that the fifth item — the Palestinian cause — was an important issue, even if respondents were reluctant to answer direct questions. These findings suggest many Saudi respondents reject the idea of normalization with Israel but remain afraid to say so. Repression and public sentiment Kuwait The UAE and Bahrain were not included in our survey, but we can get a sense of public opinion from how civil society reacted to the news of normalization, as well as in the measures regimes took in the lead-up to the announcement. Emirati phone numbers, for instance, received government WhatsApp messages


Transcript: A Conversation with John O. Brennan

personal enemy. There has been a campaign on Saudi Twitter claiming that you, John Brennan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, others were conspiring to place his predecessor, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as king. That doesn't make it easy for a rapprochement. But do you think there's a path back to a better U.S.-Saudi relationship? And describe what that path would require. MR. BRENNAN: Well, first of all, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef was the crown prince, and he was displaced by Mohammed bin Salman. And so, Mohammed bin Salman is the one who changed the order of succession in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman is a quintessential authoritarian leader. Yes, there have been some reforms in Saudi Arabia under his leadership that have been positive, you know, the increased mixing of the genders and reducing some of these social morays in Saudi Arabia, but also, he has very aggressively tried to suppress people who speak out against a lot of his authoritarian practices. People have been incarcerated, and people have been maltreated, including women activists in Saudi Arabia. So, yes, I will continue to speak out against Mohammed bin Salman who, according to reports, the CIA has determined with moderate confidence, was responsible for the horrific killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, one of your colleagues at The Washington Post. And so, I do believe that we need to have a good relationship with Saudi Arabia. That is in our strategic interest, but Mohammed bin Salman really needs to be held to account for what he has done inside of Saudi Arabia, what he did to Jamal. And I do believe that a Biden administration is going to make it clear to the Saudi leadership that as long as Mohammed bin Salman continues along this path, it's going to be very difficult to repair the relationship to the point that we need to. And I do think that we need to curtail the support for the Saudi military adventurism in Yemen that has led to thousands upon thousands of civilian deaths. I do think that there are things that we need to do in order to show our displeasure, even curtailing some of the support to Saudi Arabia's military, but the fact that the Trump administration has given Mohammed bin Salman a pass for these human rights atrocities is just unconscionable. And I do think Vice President Biden, when he


Transcript: Race in America: Athletes & Activism

MR. CAPEHART: Good afternoon. I'm Jonathan Capehart, opinion writer for The Washington Post. Welcome to Washington Post Live. Basketball player Renee Montgomery is a star athlete, a point guard for the Atlanta Dream. She is a two-time WNBA champion. But in June, Montgomery decided to take a time-out. Less than a month after the killing of George Floyd, Montgomery announced that she would sit out the 2020 WNBA season to focus on social justice reforms. "Moments equal momentum," she said in a tweet revealing her decision. So, what's her perspective, four months later? Well, let's find out. Renee Montgomery, welcome to Washington Post Life. MS. MONTGOMERY: Well, thank you for having me. My parents are super excited for me to be here with you. So, I had to get that in there early. MR. CAPEHART: Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. Renee, your decision was momentous. We've been used to seeing professional athletes take stands or take a knee for racial justice reform or for social justice. But talk us through your decision to sit out the season and focus on social justice reform. MS. MONTGOMERY: Yeah. You know, it was difficult, and that, to me, missing basketball was the hardest part. You know, I knew that this was what I wanted to do, but it's just something that basketball has been what I've done since I was 10, and so it just made the decision that much more difficult. But I just thought about it. You know, I've talked to my parents and they told me to pray on it and just to sit on it. And so, it wasn't like I made the decision overnight. You know, and it wasn't as if things stopped. So even as I was starting to make the decision then Ahmaud Arbery got killed, and I'm sitting here in Georgia, living here. So, it just was thing after thing that kept happening, and then I just knew I was like, yeah, this is what I want to do this year. MR. CAPEHART: I love how your parents said, you know, to pray on it, because that's what my mother says as well. But, you know, this isn't just a decision to, "Oh, I'm not going to play basketball." This is your job, and your livelihood. So how much did that factor into your decision? MS. MONTGOMERY: Oh, it was huge. You know, it was even


Transcript: Free to State: The New Free Speech

you look in the other key committee in the House of Representatives, which is Engineering and Commerce, the Consumer Protection Subcommittee, headed by Jan Schakowsky, doing fantastic work both in privacy and now in safety. Because one of the issues here is these tech products, the tech engineers are not held to any standard. If you think about in any other area of engineering, you're responsible for the work you create, except here. Here they're allowed to do massive damage without any liability, and that's going to change, thanks to the House of Representatives. On the Senate side, you have Senator Warren, you have Senator Markey, you have Senator Blumenthal. There's just lots and lots of Senators who work on this. Obviously, the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department, just yesterday filed an antitrust case against Google. State attorneys general across all 50 states are doing the same thing. The Europeans are doing the same thing. The great thing is you don't need to have harm to have what we love about the internet. In fact, it should be very easy to engineer out. It will not be as profitable as stealing people's data and using it to manipulate them. That's the most attractive business model ever created. But as Shoshana likes to say, like slavery we may well conclude that this is a business model that violates our most basic values as Americans. And I look forward to a future where we return to capitalism from a monopoly, and that we let 1,000 new flowers bloom in the tech industry, addressing all the needs that cannot be met in a world where surveillance capitalists have the ability to control everything that everyone does. So, I'm super, super bullish, much more so than I would have been just a few months ago. MR. DUFFY: I'm so glad I tuned in. You guys have been informative and provocative, and it's great to hear the optimism as well. But, unfortunately, we're out of time. Shoshana, Roger, thank you for joining us. MS. ZUBOFF: Thank you, Michael. MR. DUFFY: Thank you both. All right. And thank you all for tuning in. You can head to WashingtonPostLive.com for more information about upcoming guests, including former CIA Director John Brennan tomorrow at 9:30 a.m., Eastern time. Once again, I'm Michael Duffy for The Washington Post. Thank you for watching Washington Post Live. [End recorded session.]


Trump should be mediating the dispute over the Nile dam. Instead he is inciting war.

ETHIOPIA, EGYPT and Sudan have been locked in an increasingly tense standoff over an enormous dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile river, upstream from its neighbors. Nearing completion, the $5 billion project is crucial to Ethiopia’s development plans. It would more than double electricity output, transforming the lives of 65 million people who now lack it. But Egypt and Sudan, which also depend on the Nile, fear they will be starved of water as the giant reservoir behind the dam is filled. This is a dispute that the United States ought to be helping to solve. Egypt and Ethiopia are long-standing U.S. allies and aid recipients, and relations between Washington and Khartoum are rapidly improving. Instead, President Trump is inciting war. Egypt, he proclaimed last week during a phone call with Sudanese officials, “will end up blowing up the dam . . . they have to do something.” Probably, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, whom Mr. Trump has called “my favorite dictator,” won’t heed Mr. Trump. But Mr. Trump’s rash and ignorant remarks underlined how his administration has squandered U.S. leverage and abdicated leadership in Africa and around the world while alienating important allies. The latest example is Ethiopia, a country of 100 million people whose prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with neighboring Eritrea. The United States initially tried to mediate among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan earlier this year. Most experts believe a solution is possible: The countries must agree on how quickly the reservoir behind the dam is filled and how water supplies will be managed during future droughts. But rather than play honest broker, Mr. Trump sided with Mr. Sissi, a brutal but inept dictator whose regime blames Ethiopia for water shortages that are largely of Egypt’s own making. When Ethiopia walked away from the talks and began filling the reservoir, Mr. Trump ordered that $264 million in U.S. security and development assistance be withheld — which only hardened Mr. Abiy’s resistance to U.S. pressure. Now Mr. Trump is suggesting that Egypt go to war with a country that has been an important ally in fighting al-Qaeda and its east African affiliates. The Ethiopian foreign ministry diplomatically responded that “the incitement of war between Ethiopia and Egypt from a sitting U.S. president” does not reflect “the long-standing partnership and strategic alliance between Ethiopia and the United States.” Former