U.S. sanctions ensnare Russians with ties to Trump world

The Trump administration imposed new economic sanctions on Russian politicians, tycoons and businesses Friday in its most aggressive response to recurring cyber offensives and Moscow’s attempts to undermine Western democracies. The measures take aim not only at Russians directly connected to the Kremlin but also several with links to President Trump’s campaign or his associates who have been scrutinized in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation. The sanctions continue the Trump administration’s trend of taking increasingly bold moves against Russia under pressure from Congress even as Trump holds out the possibility of warmer relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs and government elites,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. “Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their government’s destabilizing activities.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry vowed a “harsh response” and said the measures would be as ineffective as previous rounds of sanctions. The list includes 17 Russian government officials, a state-owned weapons trading company and seven oligarchs. Several of the individuals have close ties to Putin, including the son of a childhood friend of the Russian president, and an energy executive who vacationed in a dacha near the Putin family and married his daughter. Some of the oligarchs, such as natural resources magnates Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, made their fortunes in the 1990s and have looser connections to Putin. Others got rich running some of Russia’s biggest state-controlled energy and financial firms, including the energy giant Gazprom and the state-controlled bank VTB. But what sets Deripaska and Vekselberg apart from the many other Russian tycoons who did not make the list is their connections to the Trump world. Deripaska, for example, was once a business partner of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who is facing money-laundering charges. A top executive at a U.S. company affiliated with Vekselberg donated to the Trump inauguration fund, and Vekselberg attended the inauguration. Other people whose names have surfaced in connection with the Russia investigation also ended up on the Treasury’s list. Konstantin Kosachev, a Russian lawmaker who led soft-power initiatives for the government and surfaced in a now-famous dossier alleging the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin during the 2016 election, was sanctioned Friday. So was Alexander Torshin, a little-known deputy central bank governor who rose to public interest in


Cherry Blossom Ten Miler’s elite field includes full-time runners — and a fifth-grade teacher

her freshman season and fractured her pelvis. Other injuries followed, including a fractured foot her senior year. After graduating in 2012, Sullivan put her frustrating college career behind her and began teaching. But the desire to run was still there. She researched various competitive running teams in the Washington area and found a fit with George Buckheit and Capital Area Runners, a club for four-hour marathoners to high-level competitors. In 2014, Sullivan was back to her dominating ways. She ran a nation-leading time of 26:51 at the St. Patrick’s Day 8K in Washington and a week later finished second at Virginia Beach’s Shamrock Half Marathon in 1:14:22, a time that qualified her for the 2016 Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles. In her second marathon ever, Sullivan finished 20th (2:41:18) in oppressively hot conditions. Sullivan accomplished this while teaching full time and going to graduate school at Marymount University. “You look at the elite start for Cherry Blossom and I doubt there’s one of them who works a full-time job like she does,” Buckheit said. “It’s a rare thing.” On a chilly spring morning less than a week before the race, Sullivan hopped on the track at Washington-Lee High in Arlington for 800- and 1200-meter repeats. Buckheit stood on the infield and shouted splits to the several dozen runners who showed up for the predawn session. A former elite runner himself, Buckheit has guided several athletes to the Olympic trials, but he has never met a runner with Sullivan’s dedication. “Her biggest strength can also be her biggest weakness,” Buckheit said, as Sullivan ran her cool-down lap around the school. “Because she trains her [tail] off all the time. She’s a really hard worker, probably the hardest worker I’ve ever coached.” Minutes after finishing her morning track session, Sullivan jumped in her car and quickly changed into her work clothes. She needed to be at school an hour early to tutor math, something she does three times a week. On a typical weekday, Sullivan leaves school around 4:15 in the afternoon and goes on a run before heading to the pool. Because her right hamstring has been giving her issues since January, she does aqua jogging for an hour to add fitness. “I like to feel productive,” Sullivan said. “I don’t do well with down time. I’m working on that.” By the time Sullivan returned to her Reston apartment, the


Police arrest 6 accused of planning stabbing rampage during Berlin Half Marathon

Berlin Half Marathon, there were isolated indications that the six detainees, between the ages of 18 and 21, may have been involved in the preparation of a crime in connection with this event,” the Berlin police department said in a statement on its website. Police said they were also on alert after a man plowed a van into a crowd in the northern German city of Münster on Saturday, killing two and injuring 20 others. Investigators have not released a motive, but said the man was a “psychologically disturbed” German national and that they don't suspect a link to terrorism, according to The Washington Post's Souad Mekhennet and Michael Birnbaum. The man had had several run-ins with local police, including a time when he threatened his father with an ax. Still, “the attack sparked fears on a continent that has been hit repeatedly by attacks in which vehicles have been turned into weapons in crowded city centers,” Mekhennet and Birnbaum reported. In Berlin, police conducted raids before the race started, including at a house that was searched after the Christmas market attack, CBS News reported. In one of the homes, search dogs indicated the presence of explosives, although police haven't released more details. On Sunday, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the government would do everything it can to protect citizens. “We have again experienced that absolute security is unfortunately not possible,” he said, according to CBS News. Still, the German anti-terror apparatus has been bolstered in the past two years. According to Reuters, after Amri's attack, German leaders called for tougher security measures. No major Islamist attack has been carried out in the country since then. The Berlin Half Marathon has been held annually in Germany's capital since the early 1980s and now attracts tens of thousands of runners from around the world. Erick Kiptanui, of Kenya, won Sunday's race in 58 minutes, 42 seconds, a course record that equaled the fastest time in the world this year, race organizers said on their website. Read more: For weeks he trained a dog to do a Nazi salute. The man was just convicted of a hate crime. Russian ‘cannibal couple’ may have drugged, killed and eaten as many as 30 people, police say ‘Go back to your country, terrorist’: Man accused of attacking restaurant employee with a pipe ‘Raw hatred’: Vandals break into interracial couple’s home, spray-paint slurs and swastikas


States move to ban fake urine, a new challenge for drug testing amid an abuse epidemic

As part of a routine drug test, Adam Randall handed a vial of yellow liquid to a probation officer. Although it looked like a urine sample from the 31-year-old — who was required to submit to testing after a previous conviction — authorities in Queensbury, N.Y., say it was not. They allege that Randall turned over a synthetic liquid he had sneaked into the probation office via a bottle stuffed into his pants, a substance so in demand that states are now taking steps to ban it: fake pee. With the nation’s opioid crisis raging, rates of cocaine and methamphetamine abuse soaring and recreational marijuana use becoming legal in nine states and the District, the concern about clean drug tests, too, has increased. While people have long tried to cheat drug exams with an array of creative methods — such as providing other people’s urine, attempting to flush their systems with gallons of water or using herbal remedies — authorities say synthetic urine has become the new go-to trick. So much so that states are enacting laws to ban the sale of fake urine, which retails for about $17 to $40 in head shops, truck stops and on the Internet, and is easy to purchase. The substance — made from chemicals and, some claim, uric acid — goes by names including “Monkey Whizz” and “UPass.” Authorities say the products give drug users a way to sidestep screening exams administered by police, courts and employers for safety and security. Laws making it illegal to sell or use synthetic urine or cheat on a drug test are on the books in at least 18 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Indiana and New Hampshire banned synthetic urine last year. Bills to do so were introduced this year in Missouri and Mississippi. Mississippi’s bill was dubbed the “Urine Trouble Act,” drawing snickers and groans in the State House. But its sponsors and others said that the jokey name belies a real problem: Truck drivers, people who operate heavy machinery and others can use the synthetic liquid to easily thwart a drug test, potentially creating public risks. “Our employers are reporting to us a concern that more and more of their employees are using synthetic human urine to cheat on a drug test,” said Dan Gibson, executive director of the Mississippi Association of Self-Insurers, which has lobbied for the bill. Mississippi


Sure, bring the kids! Try these family-friendly activities in D.C.

area’s top punk and indie acts. The Northwest restaurant is equally comfortable for both groups. Denizens Brewing Company 1115 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, Md. 301-557-9818. Children aren’t allowed to sample Southside rye IPA or Born Bohemian pilsner at Denizens Brewing Company, but everything else about the Silver Spring brewery is family friendly, from the spacious beer garden to the changing tables in the bathrooms. Just be aware that the outdoor area is 21-and-over after 8 p.m. on weekends. Franklin’s Restaurant 5123 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville, Md. 301-927-2740. Now in its third decade in Hyattsville, Franklin’s got its start as an old-fashioned general store selling everything from rubber chickens to plush puppets to gourmet hot sauce. The adjoining restaurant and brewpub offers great sandwiches and stellar beers, but the real fun is letting your kids pick out something from the store before your meal. Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab 750 15th St. NW. 202-489-0140. You might not expect an expense-account restaurant a stone’s throw from the White House to welcome the tiniest diners, but check out the Kid’s Club menu, which will keep them occupied with word games, mazes and coloring activities. Whether your foodie-in-training needs the $16.95 colossal lump crab cake is an individual decision — other options include mini cheeseburgers or crispy fried shrimp for $8.95 — but this white-table seafood spot is great for parents marking a special occasion. Roofers Union 2446 18th St. NW. 202-232-7663. Roofers Union is known for its large rooftop bar and its craft beer program, but the good times in Adams Morgan aren’t reserved just for those 21 and over. Continuing a tradition established by the building’s previous occupant, the Reef, Roofers Union sets aside one night a week for families. On Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m., guests 12 and younger get a free entree from the kids menu with the purchase of an adult meal. Ted’s Bulletin Locations in the District (14th Street and Capitol Hill), Maryland (Gaithersburg) and Virginia (Merrifield and Reston). The old-school diner atmosphere of Ted’s Bulletin is designed to appeal to families. The all-day breakfast is great, but kids will go nuts for the desserts: house-made Pop-Tarts and a wide variety of milkshakes, including Oreo and s’mores. If your group includes hungry teens, Sunday’s family-style pasta night guarantees “meatballs as big as your head” for $15.29 per person. This story was originally published March 26, 2015.


Man fatally shot in Northeast Washington

A 39-year-old man was shot and killed in Northeast Washington, police said. Adrian Terrance Gay, of Southeast Washington, died after an incident about 1:10 a.m. Saturday in the 800 block of 21st St. NE near Benning Road and the Kingman Park neighborhood. Police said they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. A reward of up to $25,000 for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099. This comes as the D.C. region has seen 64 homicides so far this year, according to a tracking done by The Washington Post. Of those, 33 were in the District, with 20 of those in Southeast. dana.hedgpeth@washpost.com


Is China making a trillion-dollar mistake?

Jonathan E. Hillman is a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he directs the Reconnecting Asia Project. China’s $1 trillion push to build infrastructure across Asia evokes romantic comparisons to the ancient Silk Road, but there is a more recent chapter of history that urges caution. More than a century and a half ago, the United States was a rising power racing westward, building transcontinental railways that delivered limited benefits and exacted a high cost from society. Today, China has taken on that role. The parallels are striking — and troubling. Mixing economic and strategic aims, America’s transcontinental railways became an unquestionable national imperative. Their actual construction, however, catered more to elite interests than collective wellbeing. Political favors trumped economic fundamentals thanks to shady financing, excessive subsidies and a heady dose of nationalism. Cozy relations between the U.S. government and large corporations made the railway expansion possible. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, which issued land grants directly to corporations for the first time. Among other subsidies, the government provided a series of land grants that, if combined today, would be the size of the third-largest state. Corruption was common. In perhaps the most infamous example, the construction company Credit Mobilier inflated its fees and bribed American politicians with cash and discounted stock. Among those paid were the secretary of the treasury, the vice president and four senators. Kickbacks also secured the support of state legislators and judges, who threatened to hold up projects. Speed was prized above safety. U.S. land grants and loans required completing projects, which incentivized using temporary wooden structures and other short-term solutions. Railway executives publicly challenged their competitors to see who could build fastest. In 1869, the head of the Central Pacific Railroad company won a bet by pushing his workers to lay 10 miles of track in a single day. But it wasn’t long before the emphasis on quantity over quality showed. Bridges failed, engine boilers exploded, and trains derailed. Mismanaged timetables and single-tracked routes even led to train collisions. In 1880, one survey reported over 8,000 accidents for U.S. passenger trains alone. Building first and troubleshooting later was a distinctly American practice. During the same period in Britain, railway engineers painstakingly ensured tracks were as close to level as possible. The process was slower and more expensive in the short term. But these projects lasted


How a small start-up firm wants to revitalize climate change research

science that is close to ready for commercial application and can be integrated into its cloud-based computing framework, on which its climate simulations operate. Sorkin said research that might take 10 to 20 years to be applied in government could be put to use in as little as six months at his company. “We have a strong interest in seeing the best available science and technology reach maturity as soon as possible,” he said. The partnership is win-win-win for research, business and society, says Columbia’s dean of science, Peter de Menocal. “It’s a new science-delivery model,” he said in an interview. “We win by supporting scientists and making markets and society more resilient to climate change.” De Menocal, who founded Columbia’s Center for Climate and Life, said the business community is increasingly taking note of the economic consequences of climate change and it is more urgent than ever for scientists and corporate leaders to work together. “The private sector and the investment community is where the rubber meets the road in terms of acting on what we know,” he said. “What’s needed is engaging the private sector to transfer knowledge to action.” Jupiter is initially offering $300,000 for a project to advance Columbia’s Hurricane Interactive Track Simulator (HITS). The model projects coastal flooding from landfalling storms and incorporates effects from severe wind and rain. The simulator “is addressing several important factors in an integrated way that are computationally efficient and well-suited for our cloud-based [computing] infrastructure,” Sorkin said. “The social benefit of that is that we’re contributing to acceleration of raw knowledge to practical impact from basic/advanced research to applications. We can go probably one to three years faster with a collaboration with a first-year partner at Lamont-Doherty than if we’re just doing this on our own.” Sorkin said Jupiter will fund at least two additional projects, to be announced soon, at Columbia relating to the coastal effects of climate change. But can a for-profit company such as Jupiter pay an institution like Columbia to conduct work without trying to commandeer how it proceeds, potentially tainting the academic independence of the results? Sorkin said his company will not interfere. “We are confident enough, in totality, of what we’re doing as a company that we don’t need to control any particular component,” he said. De Menocal expressed no concern about working with a partner that has a financial stake in its


The SEC is blunting investor activism over climate, K-Cups and gay rights

proposals.” During his confirmation hearing on March 23, 2017, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said that “the touchstone for stockholder information is — is materiality. What — what would a reasonable investor making an investment decision, what should they know?” Socially conscious investment groups and environmental activists have denounced the moves by the SEC, arguing that climate change, for example, could have massive effects on a business even if it doesn’t register in current earnings or asset figures. And they argue that it is not micromanaging to prod companies into paying greater attention to climate change. “It’s not even close to micromanaging,” said Matthew W. Patsky, chief executive at Trillium, which manages $2.6 billion in funds. “That would be if I went in and told them how to mitigate greenhouse emissions. We didn’t do that.” Patsky said the language of the EOG resolution was similar to that used to challenge climate stances at other companies. “We were caught off guard and think it’s a dangerous precedent,” he said. During this year’s annual meeting season, there have been about two dozen climate-related resolutions asking for progress reports or the adoption of goals for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, said Heidi Welsh, executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute. There have been about 130 such resolutions since 2010, she said. Last year, a resolution calling on ExxonMobil to disclose how it is preparing for the transition to a low-carbon future won votes from investors holding 62 percent of shares, including giant investment firms BlackRock and Vanguard. After ExxonMobil issued the report in February, Tom Sanzillo, who advises big pension funds on social investing, called it “defective and unresponsive” and said that it did not address how actions to limit global warming would affect the marketability of ExxonMobil’s reserves. Sanzillo, director of finance at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, urged shareholders to vote against one or all of the board’s directors. Last year, shareholder resolutions opposed by management also garnered majorities at Occidental Petroleum and PPL, a utility. The SEC also rebuffed shareholders on a resolution requiring JPMorgan Chase to report how restrictions on loans to tar sands projects and developers would affect the bank. JPMorgan compared it to asking for a report on whether the bank offices had “carpeted floors.” On March 30, the SEC agreed, saying the resolution “micromanages the Company by seeking to impose specific methods for implementing complex


Howard University students end occupation of administration building

thank everyone, and please urge each other to not forget the connections that you built today,” said Howard senior Alexis McKenney, an organizer with HU Resist. “Do not forget the art that you created this week. Do not forget the songs that you sang, the chants that we screamed from the halls at 3 a.m.” Earlier this week, full-time faculty members at Howard started voting on a “no-confidence” measure aimed at Frederick and other university leaders. The voting was expected to remain open until early next week. “The solutions that these students have worked on with the Board of Trustees for the problems that we face, and for the difficult issues that challenge us every day, are solutions that I think are very creative, and they should be very proud of,” Frederick said at Friday’s news conference. The protest and faculty vote came amid a financial-aid scandal at Howard, although students involved in the demonstration have said their concerns transcend that imbroglio. The university disclosed the alleged financial-aid misdeeds late last month, saying that six people had been fired for “gross misconduct and neglect of duties.” An investigation found that from 2007 to 2016, some employees who received tuition benefits to cover the cost of taking classes were also receiving university grants. That double dipping exceeded the actual cost of attendance, signaling that the workers appeared to be embezzling. After news of the financial-aid issues were disclosed, Frederick released a statement to students in which he acknowledged that some might feel the university had failed to communicate sufficiently when it did not disclose the existence of the investigation sooner. Howard students have said they were enraged by the scandal, which was the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents at the university. It occurred the same month that Frederick came under fire for criticizing a student’s “tone and tenor” when she expressed concern about whether she would get housing. The student posted her exchange with the university’s president to Twitter, where it garnered attention. McKenney, the Howard senior, called the recent student occupation “a long time coming.” “While many of you think that this started with the financial aid scandal, we have been organizing since February of last year to implement change, institutional change, at our university,” she said. Frederick, a surgeon and Howard graduate, was named interim president of Howard in 2013 and was later named the school’s 17th


Notable deaths in the Washington area

Society of News Editors. She had stints as a copy editor at The Washington Post and a reporter and producer at WETA-TV. She lived in Falls Church. Brock Hansen,psychotherapist Brock Hansen, 71, a psychotherapist and social worker for nearly 50 years who retired from private practice in January, died March 13 at a hospital in Washington. The cause was prostate cancer, said his wife, Penny Hansen. Mr. Hansen, a District resident, was born in Iowa City. He self-published a book, “Shame and Anger: The Criticism Connection” (2006). He was a teacher of emotional intelligence and writing at American University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and a singer with the Polyhymnia Chamber Chorus, where he was board president. He was a vestry member and co-director of the education program at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill. Senta Raizen,science education specialist Senta Raizen, 93, a onetime research chemist who became a science education specialist and was the founding director of the National Center for Improving Science Education, died Dec. 23 at her home in Arlington. The cause was aspiration pneumonia, said her daughter, Helen Raizen. Mrs. Raizen was born in Vienna, which she left at 13 to escape the Holocaust. She arrived in the United States in 1939 and attended a private school in Pennsylvania. She began her career as a research chemist for Sun Oil before coming to the Washington area in 1948. From the 1960s to the 1980s, she was an education policy planner at the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Education and National Academy of Sciences. In 1988, Mrs. Raizen founded the National Center for Improving Science Education, which promotes science education in elementary and secondary schools. She was the center’s director until her retirement in 2010 and wrote many books and articles on science and math education. The organization is now part of WestEd. Joshua Wiener,aging, health-care specialist Joshua Wiener, 68, a specialist in aging, disability and long-term health care in the Washington office of the RTI International research institute, died Jan. 9 at a Washington hospital. The cause was kidney failure and pneumonia, said his wife, Susan Klinger. Dr. Wiener was a lifelong Washingtonian. He had been with RTI International since 2003. Earlier, he was a principal research associate at the Urban Institute and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He wrote or edited eight books and more than 200 articles. — From staff reports


20 years after the Good Friday Agreement, few people recognize how Northern Ireland’s religious leaders helped bring peace

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the deal that brought an end to a 30-year bloody conflict in Northern Ireland, known as “The Troubles,” in which more than 3,000 people lost their lives. The agreement created a power-sharing assembly, hoping that would stabilize a divided society. But for most people in Northern Ireland, the anniversary is cause more for concern than celebration. Right now, Northern Ireland has no functioning executive body. The Nationalists (predominantly Catholics) and the Unionists (predominantly Protestants) who fought during those years still live in separate and segregated communities. As Brexit looms, some fear conflict might return. The conflict in Northern Ireland was mainly ethno-nationalist, with significant religious overtones — and those political tensions remain today. The Unionists want strong continued ties with England and are predominantly Protestant. The Nationalists want closer connections to the Republic of Ireland and are mainly Catholic. Could religious leaders have done more to help bring peace and reconcile the two sides? I have met many scholars and policymakers who feel that they should have. Perhaps. And yet they did a great deal more than is generally understood. Last year I published a book based on interviews and archival research, showing that the leaders of the four main churches involved — the Presbyterian Church, Church of Ireland (Anglican), Methodist Church and Roman Catholic Church — did indeed work hard to bring peace to Northern Ireland, even when their institutions didn’t fully support those efforts. Here are five ways Northern Irish religious leaders helped peacebuilding efforts during the Troubles. 1. They advised political leaders The religious leaders recognized how serious tensions were early on. When the atrocities started in the 1960s, leaders from the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Church wrote confidentially to British Prime Minister Harold Wilson to warn him about the increasing polarization. As the conflict worsened, religious leaders wrote letters, held confidential meetings and conveyed insights to critical political actors behind the scenes. Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein (a major Nationalist party in Northern Ireland) between November 1983 and February 2018, writes in his memoir that Catholic priest Father Alec Reid helped shape Adams’s vision of what peace could be. Similarly, former Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds noted in his autobiography that Church of Ireland Archbishop Robin Eames helped him better understand the Protestant position and aspirations. 2. They offered practical


The craft beer industry’s buzz is wearing off

Has craft beer peaked? In one sign that the industry has grown less frothy, more craft breweries closed in 2017 than any time in the past decade. And while the craft beer makers saw more growth in production than the overall market last year, their pace is slowing. A new report by the Brewers Association — a trade association representing small and independent American craft brewers — showed that craft brewers saw a 5 percent rise in production volume in 2017. Yet with that growth comes an increasingly crowded playing field, leading to more closures of small craft breweries. In 2017, there were nearly 1,000 new brewery openings nationwide and 165 closures — a closing rate of 2.6 percent. That’s a 42 percent jump from 2016, when 116 craft breweries closed. Experts say saturation is still some time away, and that pullback is inevitable for any booming industry that, with time, begins to mature. “We have seen a little bit of deceleration,” said Bart Watson, chief economist of the Brewers Association. “When you’re talking about an industry that sells tens of billions of dollars a year, it’s hard to grow at double-digit rates.” Growth in the craft brewing industry began in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Watson said, and has seen a resurgence in the past decade. With consumers who tend to skew male, younger, whiter and with higher incomes, the industry gained its foothold among adults willing to pay more for beer that tasted better than the mass-produced products that had long dominated the market. Small craft breweries compete among themselves for taps at restaurants and shelf space at retailers. Yet they are also up against massive industrial brewers that wield heavy influence over the national distribution of beer, and often buy up smaller companies. In 2011, for example, Anheuser-Busch InBev bought the craft brewer Goose Island for almost $39 million, the first in a slew of similar acquisitions. “The largest brewers have a lot of ways that they can push into the market, rather than relying on consumer pull,” Watson said. Matt Simpson, owner of the craft beer consultancy the Beer Sommelier, said that the slowdown is natural after “an initial explosion.” There are many reasons brewers won’t be able to keep up. Some of that culling, he said, results from craft brewers who don’t know how to successfully run a business or market products. At the


Kremlin backers warn of threat of war with U.S. as Syria tensions rise

is how Russia responds — both to the sanctions and to any U.S. strike in Syria, where Moscow has military forces aiding Assad’s regime. Putin has said little on both topics in recent days. He visited Russian scientists Tuesday and thanked them for their role in helping develop new Russian nuclear weapons. “This all strengthens the isolationist, consolidating logic of a besieged fortress,” Andrei Kolesnikov, a domestic policy specialist at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said of the sanctions and Syria developments. “The regime won’t fall. It will only become more isolationist and aggressive toward the West.” Slides in the Russian stock market this week showed that Friday’s U.S. sanctions were the Trump administration’s most damaging move against Moscow so far. The ruble fell to 63 against the dollar, the Russian currency’s weakest level since December 2016, and government officials said they were preparing to take steps to stabilize the Russian businesses affected. “A blow to any of the groups of companies” affected by the sanctions “is a blow to the economy as a whole,” Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Tuesday. Sanctioned businessman Oleg Deripaska’s company Rusal, an aluminum giant that employs 62,000 people worldwide, has lost more than half its stock market value since the sanctions were announced. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, has lost some 15 percent on the stock market this week even though it was not sanctioned. Monday’s plunge of more than 8 percent in the benchmark MOEX Russia Index was the worst since March 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, though the index recovered some of those losses Tuesday. “If a very strong sanctions regime spreads to other sectors, this can lead to a financial crisis and certainly a renewed recession,” said economist Alexandre Abramov, a financial-markets expert at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. The risk, he said, is that investors will shun all Russian company stocks, fearing further sanctions. Even as Russia reeled from the blow to its economy, another crisis was deepening in Syria. The suspected chemical attack in rebel-held Douma brought dire predictions in Moscow that disaster could follow if Washington launched airstrikes in response. Russia denies that its Syrian allies used chlorine or other agents in the Saturday attack, which claimed dozens of lives. The West says overwhelming evidence points to Assad’s forces, with their backers Russia and Iran sharing responsibility. Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military scholar and a member of the Defense


Souad Mekhennet wins special prize in the German Nannen Prize series

Washington Post national security reporter and author Souad Mekhennet has been awarded the STERN magazine editorial board’s special prize as part of the Nannen Prize series. With this award, STERN honors Mekhennet’s accomplishments in her reporting on terrorism. The Nannen Prize is regarded as one of Germany’s most prestigious awards in journalism. “Souad Mekhennet is one of the few people in the world to have personally interviewed high-ranking members of the Islamic State and the terrorist organization Al-Qaida. Her reports provide valuable insights into what goes on behind the front lines of the Jihad, and into how the commanders and those pulling the strings think. Mekhennet’s aim has always been to understand, and help others understand, the roots of extremism. Through this special prize, we also pay tribute to the immense courage that this work requires,” said Christian Krug, editor-in-chief of STERN. The Nannen Prize award ceremony will take place in Hamburg on Wednesday, April 11. STERN Digital will broadcast the ceremony at 7pm local time at stern.de. Read the full announcement.


World Digest: April 10, 2018

the predominantly Buddhist Burma, after a Rohingya insurgent group attacked police outposts on Aug. 25. The military called it a “clearance operation” against terrorists, but the United States and the United Nations branded it as “ethnic cleansing” after the operation drove nearly 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh. — Associated Press SUDAN Bashir orders release of political prisoners Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir ordered the immediate release of all political prisoners on Tuesday as part of national dialogue efforts, the state news agency said. The report by the Sudan News Agency did not say how many would be released, but it said the move came in the spirit of “reconciliation, national harmony and peace.” It said the release “opens the door to participation of all political forces” to discuss Sudan’s issues. Opposition figures in the country are regularly detained, and parties that oppose Bashir face numerous state obstacles. Sudan is grappling with a currency crisis and hyperinflation that have stoked discontent, although public protests are effectively banned and regularly quashed by security forces. Protests erupted in Khartoum, the capital, and other parts of the country in January after the government slashed subsidies and devalued the currency in a bid to strengthen the economy. Hundreds were detained in those and subsequent protests. — Associated Press LIBYA Thousands being held unlawfully, U.N. says Libyan militias, including some affiliated with authorities, are holding thousands of prisoners in prolonged arbitrary and unlawful detention that includes torture, the United Nations said Tuesday. Men, women and children have been rounded up based on “tribal or family links and perceived political affiliations” and held with “little or no recourse to judicial remedy or reparations,” the organization said in a report. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein noted “the sheer horror and arbitrariness of such detentions” and urged Libyan authorities to act. Libya plunged into chaos after the 2011 uprising in which dictator Moammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed. The country is now ruled by rival governments in the capital, Tripoli, and in the east, each backed by militias. The report says around 6,500 people are being held in prisons overseen by the Justice Ministry, but it notes that no statistics are available for those held by other ministries or armed groups. — Associated Press Pakistan police seek travel ban on U.S. diplomat over crash: 5th candidate added to Mexico's presidential ballot: — From news services


Man, 60, charged with woman’s fatal stabbing near Gallaudet University

at the doorstep of one of the most prominent churches in the Washington region. The incident occurred about 7 a.m., just outside a historic Roman Catholic Church in Alexandria. The church, which was known as St. Mary Catholic Church, was recently named a basilica, the second Roman Catholic basilica in this region. In the car crash, the motorist’s vehicle ended up on the red brick sidewalk at the doorstep of the Basilica of St. Mary. Details of the crash were not immediately known. The motorist was taken to a hospital, Alexandria police said. — Martin Weil Woman and her dog killed on Interstate 95 A woman and her dog were killed Saturday night on Interstate 95 when the dog ran from the woman’s car and she chased it, authorities said. State police said the incident occurred in Stafford County, Va., about 10 p.m. a mile south of Exit 136. Katie M. Mason, 28, of Stafford, was headed south in a 2007 Toyota when the vehicle ran off the road and struck a guardrail, authorities said. After the impact, her dog left the vehicle. Mason chased the dog into the southbound lanes of the highway, police said. A southbound 2012 Honda was unable to avoid striking Mason as she ran through a travel lane, police said. She died at the scene. The dog was also struck, and fatally injured. The crash remained under investigation, police said. A family statement said Mason was a Virginia Commonwealth University graduate with a biology degree who had served as a medic in the National Guard and the Army Reserve. It identified the dog as a pug named Stella and said Mason was fiercely protective of it. — Martin Weil MARYLAND Howard County man dies in Sunday crash A motorist was killed Sunday night in Howard County, Md., in a two-car crash in the Ellicott City area, authorities said. The victim was identified as Dante Taylor, 30, of Ellicott City. He was driving west on Frederick Road just beyond Terra Maria Way about 8 p.m. when he “attempted to pass” another vehicle on the shoulder, said Seth Hoffman, a county police spokesman. Taylor’s car sideswiped the other vehicle, left the road and struck a utility pole, police said. The driver of the other vehicle and a passenger were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Police said late Sunday that they were investigating. — Martin Weil


The Health 202: Under Trump, immigrants back away from Medicaid, Obamacare subsidies

movement, told Fenit she hasn’t been able to find a willing doctor. Officials with the national advocacy group Compassion and Choices blame local health officials for creating what they consider a cumbersome process that dissuades doctors from participating. “It’s been exceptionally, exceptionally slow,” said Kat West, national director of policy and programs for Compassion and Choices. “Especially in the first year, there’s usually a lot of interest in learning a lot about these laws. That, we think, has been really dampened and discouraged in D.C. because of these administrative rules.” D.C.'s assisted-suicide law was modeled after Oregon's first-in-the-nation 1998 law, but the District's health department added requirements when implementing it, including psychological evaluations for patients, registration for doctors and online training for patients and doctors. OUCH: Fatalities from heroin and black-market synthetic opioids skyrocketed while the nation saw a decline in the number of opioid painkiller prescriptions and the overdose deaths attributed to them, per a new study from the American Action Forum “The number of opioids prescribed nationwide sharply dropped in 2010, as did the death rate from prescription-opioid overdoses. “This came after authorities went after pill mills and rogue doctors, states began implementing prescription drug monitoring programs and Purdue Pharma released a reformulated version of the painkiller OxyContin that was more difficult to crush and thus more difficult to abuse, though some users found ways around it,” Katie writes. But now illicit opioids are filling the demand instead. — Before you get your new Medicare card in the mail, a word of warning: the new cards have sparked a series of scams. Here’s what you should know: — Former House Speaker John Boehner tweeted this morning he's joining the board of one of the country's largest cannabis organizations, saying his thinking on the issue has changed. “Over the last 10 or 15 years, the American people’s attitudes have changed dramatically,” Boehner told the Detroit News. “I find myself in that same position.” — Yesterday, a federal judge ordered Martin Shkreli to pay $388,336.49 in restitution to the hedge fund investor he defrauded, Shkreli misled Kocher and other investors about key details of his two hedge funds. —A few more good reads from The Post and beyond: Today Coming Up Watch Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Senate hearing, in three minutes: Here are five awkward moments from Zuckerberg’s hearing: What does Fox News cover instead of negative stories about Trump?


Trump says veterans wait too long for health care. VA’s 33,000 vacancies might have something to do with that.

the hires were not, he noted, citing a 2017 report by the Government Accountability Office. VA’s human resources division remains short-staffed and continues to struggle with hiring even after the freeze was lifted, Stier said. VA officials said the vacancy rate in the human resources department is 11.5 percent, or 540 employees. That has not affected “our numerous staffing successes,” said Curt Cashour, a VA spokesman, who noted the department has added nearly 15,000 slots since Trump came into office. Across the agency, there were more than 33,000 full-time vacancies as of early March, Cashour said. “Historically, one of the main benefits of working at the VA is stability. Unfortunately, people working in the health-care field are increasingly not viewing the VA as stable, and it is making recruitment more difficult because of that,” said Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees. “It is a real problem.” A Senate hearing is scheduled for Wednesday to confirm Paul R. Lawrence to become VA’s undersecretary for benefits, a key post that has gone without a permanent leader since October 2015. Lawrence is a retired Army officer and vice president of the consulting firm Kaiser Associates ; his nomination is considered non-controversial. The role of undersecretary for health also remains vacant. Cashour said VA is “making steady progress” in its search for a permanent appointee. “VA has made phenomenal progress during the Trump administration when it comes to VA staffing,” Cashour said. More than one-third of veterans enrolled in the VA system — which serves 9 million veterans a year at 1,200 hospitals and clinics — now receive care from private doctors. At a hearing before he was fired, Shulkin spoke about the difficulty in hiring doctors and nurses, mental health care professionals and benefits claims officers. The agency offers lower pay than the private sector does and involves a tedious, government-mandated recruiting process. It is not clear what is Jackson’s philosophy regarding outsourcing care. But health-care experts and veterans advocates say the private system is also overwhelmed by long wait times. Outsourcing more care is not the solution, said Rick Weidman, executive director of policy and government affairs for Vietnam Veterans of America. “You can’t just toss millions of veterans into the private health-care system, which wasn’t built to care for their specific needs as vets,” he said. “The VA needs full staffing. It’s irresponsible and not fair.” emily.wax@washpost.com


Frozen food is no longer just the sad refuge of dieters with office jobs

just a meal-kit that costs less without the work?” The report showed that that the frozen food market has grown for the first time in five years, growing 1 percent in the 12 weeks leading up to March 10. As millennials seek out nutritious and well-rounded meals without sacrificing convenience, frozen vegetables, fruits and prepared foods present a relatively cheap and easy-access option. That’s true for younger people and families who are less interested in eating out — whether that’s because they’re working from home or having dinner with a side of Netflix. In the backdrop is consumers’ dwindling stigma against the freezer aisle, often pitted against the outer perimeter of grocery stores stocked with fresh proteins and produce. Experts say frozen foods are now more commonly understood to not necessarily contain added salts or sugars and can find their place from breakfast to dessert. Frozen foods can also claim some nutritional and environmental advantages over fresher fare. Frozen foods are often flash frozen after harvest or preparation, locking in nutrients that fresh foods gradually lose in the time it takes to reach a grocery store or kitchen. With an estimated 40 percent of food wasted in the United States each year, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, freezing extends the lifespans of ingredients that people may be too quick to toss. “We all love to purchase fruits and vegetables at their peak of freshness … but often our lives are busy and it’s challenging to manage the meals that we need to prepare for our family,” said JoAnne Berkenkamp, a senior advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Freezing can be a great complement to fresh foods so that people can have what they need on hand, and then it’s available when they need it.” The RBC report highlighted Conagra Brands — which includes Healthy Choice, Banquet and Marie Callender’s — as a leader in the overhaul of frozen foods. The company cut back on deep discounts on some products, boosted the protein content of its meals and modernized its packaging. Among the top 20 frozen prepared foods brands in the country, Healthy Choice is posting the fastest year-over-year growth — up 21 percent in the 12 weeks leading up to April 3, according to the RBC report. Falling in line with popular food trends, the company nixed artificial ingredients and hard-to-pronounce words on its packaging and highlighted


Peter Gruenberg, Nobel-winning scientist who advanced computer technology, dies at 78

Peter Gruenberg, a German scientist who won the Nobel Prize in physics for a discovery that made possible great advances in computer technology, by enabling the rapid reading of vast quantities of stored data, died last week. He was 78. The Institute of Solid State Research at the Juelich Research Center in Germany, where he worked, confirmed the death but did not disclose further details. Dr. Gruenberg’s prize was for the discovery of the process known as giant magnetoresistance, which formed the basis for the fast, precise extraction of huge amounts of stored information through the harnessing of subtle electrical and magnetic effects. Applications of giant magnetoresistance sprang from the demonstration that changes in the polarity of magnetic materials could act as a switch, with one polarity letting current flow and the opposite polarity halting the flow of the electrons that form currents. In the techniques of giant magnetoresistance, sandwiches constructed of extremely thin slices of magnetic material made it possible for magnetism to exert a far more pronounced effect on currents than had hitherto been known or suspected. His discovery is said to lie at the heart of the operation of modern hard-disk drives with their storage capacities in the gigabyte range. Furthermore, almost anything that operates on the basis of reading vast quantities of internally stored information is said to rely on his work. “It is no exaggeration to say that Peter Gruenberg and his discovery of giant magnetoresistance have dramatically changed all our lives,” the research center in Juelich said in a statement. “Without him, modern computers and smartphones as we know them today would be inconceivable.” Modern computer and information technology depends on the binary system of ones and zeros, or up and down, or on and off, corresponding to the presence or absence of an electrical current. Magnetic materials are well suited to a binary information system. Magnets may be polarized in one direction or its opposite, offering an obvious analogue to a system that is based in an infinity of yes-or-no questions and answers. As developed by Dr. Gruenberg, giant magnetoresistance showed a process by which it became possible to read the information silently stored in magnetic memories. It relied on an interaction explained largely by quantum theory. Magnetism depends on the alignment of the spins of the electrons in magnetic substances. Current is the flow of electrons; and, in quantum theory, electrons possess


in the second layer. In a disk reader, magnetic polarities are induced by the magnetic polarities in the memory device. And depending on the direction of the induced polarities, a signal will either flow through the layers of the memory device, giving a signal equivalent to a “1,” or be squelched, giving a “0.” It was the discovery of this property, of the ability of properly prepared and arranged magnetic materials to be a sensitive valve for current, turning it on and off, that pointed the way to modern memories and readers. The prize was shared in 2007 by Dr. Gruenberg and by a French scientist, Albert Fert, who each led teams that in 1988 discovered the magnetic phenomenon independently. Fert, of the University of Paris South, was credited with developing the term giant magnetoresistance, a coinage that recognized how much more powerful an effect the layer technique had on currents. Peter Andreas Gruenberg was born May 18, 1939, in Pilsen, in what was Czechoslovakia and now is the Czech Republic. In explaining what it was that attracted him to physics, he told of looking at a model of the solar system as a child and wondering intently what made the planets orbit the sun. Despite this curiosity, he recalled in a biographical sketch prepared for the Nobel Prize committee, he was only an average physics student in his secondary school years. Nevertheless, he began studying physics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and went on to the Technical University of Darmstadt, also in Germany. His PhD thesis, completed there in 1969, used optical spectroscopy to determine splits in the energy levels of rare earth ions in garnets under the influence of the electromagnetic fields of the crystals. A great deal of mathematical computation was involved, and he remembered being urged not to lose sight of physical reality in a flood of numbers. After almost three years of postdoctoral work at Carleton University in Ottawa, he took a post as a research scientist in 1972 at a new institute for magnetism at the research center in Juelich. His honors included the Wolf Prize in Physics in 2006 and the Japan Prize in 2007. He retired officially in 2004 but, according to the Juelich Center, had continued teaching physics until his death. He married Helma Birge in 1966. Besides his wife, survivors include three children, according to the research center. martin.weil@washpost.com


Are we getting Sputnik Syndrome all over again?

to Japan and How to Reclaim It” by Clyde Prestowitz and an article in the Atlantic Monthly, “Containing Japan,” by James Fallows. In many industries, Japanese imports rapidly displaced U.S. production. According to Taylor, both the Soviet Union and Japan were seen as posing similar threats: They invested more in factories and new technologies than we did, especially in new industries favored by government economic planners. Instead of investing, we consumed. The Soviet Union and later Japan would come to dominate critical industries. They would become the world’s richest and most dynamic economies. This, too, proved an exaggeration. To some extent, the Sputnik Syndrome inspired Americans to compete harder, including appealing to the government for help. But mainly, the prophecies didn’t come true, because high investment rates by themselves don’t ensure rapid economic growth. In the Soviet Union and later Japan, much investment was squandered on projects with poor returns. Meanwhile, America’s entrepreneurial culture spawned new enterprises (Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Oracle, Qualcomm — and others) that kept the United States in the forefront of innovation. Will the same be true of the China threat? Maybe. As with the Soviet Union and Japan, China’s rapid economic growth (averaging 10 percent annually from 1999 to 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund) reflected a long period of “catch-up” by adopting known technologies and management systems. As these opportunities dwindled, annual economic growth has slowed to a 6 percent to 7 percent range. It could go lower, as China needs to rely more on homegrown industries and products. It’s also worth remembering that the gap between American incomes and those of many other countries remains huge. Taylor cites per-capita gross domestic product figures in 2016 from the World Bank: $57,600 for the United States, $38,900 for Japan; $8,748 for the Russian Federation and $8,123 for China. Still, there are many reasons it’s dangerous to discount the threat from China. The sheer size of its economy — and the determination of its leaders — makes it a powerful player. China’s huge domestic market is a perfect platform from which to launch new industries. The Chinese are aggressively pursuing advanced technologies and have condoned the theft of foreign trade secrets. Last but not least: They represent a potential military adversary. The irony is palpable. Even if exaggerated, the Sputnik Syndrome is a useful antidote to complacency. Read more from Robert Samuelson’s archive.


John Boehner was a longtime opponent of marijuana reform. Here’s what changed his mind.

Project, told the New York Times that Boehner “should be actively working to reform federal marijuana laws to allow states to determine their own policies, rather than just consulting with a business to navigate the conflicts between state and federal law.” In a joint statement, Boehner and Weld focused on a long-standing concern among veterans and advocacy groups — federal law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the same as heroin and ecstasy. Current prohibitions have stymied research at Veterans Affairs to evaluate the drug's efficacy in treating post-traumatic stress and physical pain as the result of military service, then-VA Secretary David Shulkin said earlier this year. Critics of restrictions say a tangle of federal laws that regulate research and funding have confused VA and lawmakers on what it can evaluate. Veterans advocating for decriminalizing marijuana have spoken with Boehner in the past, Schnittger said. “It was an argument he heard as a member, considered and never dismissed,” he said. Descheduling cannabis would not legalize it nationally, but it would end federal marijuana enforcement and allow states to set their own marijuana policies without federal interference. Polls show that more than 60 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana completely, with well over 90 percent in favor of legal medical use. Democrats eyeing a 2020 presidential run have grown increasingly vocal about the shortcomings of current federal law, and the cannabis industry has stepped up lobbying lawmakers in both parties. Acreage Holdings, a main player in the increasingly white-collar marijuana trade, will expand its research initiatives among universities as it seeks to “demystify” cannabis, chief executive Kevin Murphy told The Post. The company cultivates, processes and distributes marijuana in the growing, billion-dollar industry, according to its site. The company focused on veterans in its messaging, because they are “passionate” about broadening marijuana options available to former troops, Murphy said. The American Legion, the largest veterans group in the country, found in a 2017 survey that veterans overwhelmingly support marijuana use for medical reasons. About 22 percent of veteran households said they use weed for medical reasons. Altieri said he hopes Boehner will use his influence within the GOP to extend acceptance of marijuana, which may lead to legalization laws for veterans and nonveterans alike. VA has said 20 veterans commit suicide every day. “Think of the number of veterans who could’ve had relief sooner,” he said. Read more at PowerPost


The price of cheap meat? Raided slaughterhouses and upended communities.

ICE raided the world’s largest slaughterhouse, owned by Smithfield Foods, in Tar Heel, N.C. They arrested 21 workers, surreptitiously pulling Latino workers off the line, saying they were needed in the human resources department. Workers quietly put down their knives, took off their protective gear and headed to HR, where they were put in handcuffs, then driven away in the waiting vans. To disguise what was happening, the officers called in African American and white workers for drug tests. Despite the subterfuges that agents employ, word spreads when “la migra” — Spanish slang for the immigration service — is on the way. In Tar Heel, within weeks of the raid, nearly half of the workforce at the plant — more than 2,000 employees and their families — simply left the region. The loss of workers forced Smithfield to increase wages, which attracted more African Americans, who were far more likely to vote for union representation. By 2008, workers who typically started at about $8 an hour had organized under the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and received a raise of $1.50 an hour, the largest pay raise in the history of the plant. It was an unusual victory for factory workers in the South, where right-to-work, anti-union views flourish. The raid in Tennessee mirrors the 2008 ICE raid in Postville, Iowa, which snared nearly 400 workers: First came the sound of helicopters, then the crying. The Postville company filed for bankruptcy and then closed, devastating the economy in northeast Iowa. A similar result is likely in Tennessee. No charges were filed against the owners of Southern Provision, near Knoxville, at the time of the raid, but federal agents had been investigating the company, which processes beef, after Citizens Bank employees noticed that it was withdrawing large amounts of cash each week — possibly to pay workers while avoiding payroll taxes. Should there be charges, the result will be the familiar exodus and the rippling economic impact, altering the communities that support the plant and the companies that feed into it. More often, large employers are slapped with fines — the cost of doing business — and they lie low, then go back to business as usual. It’s an open secret. Americans want cheap meat. We want our holiday hams and roasts. We also demand, or at least tolerate, the occasional public display of immigration enforcement, despite the human suffering.


Military groups to DeVos: Drop plan for private school vouchers. We don’t want them.

that H.R. 5199, called the Education Savings Accounts for Military Families Act, would divert critical revenue that goes to school districts. The missive said it would be “financially devastating for many school districts, critically compromising the quality of the education they could provide to military children and their civilian classmates.” DeVos has been advocating for military school vouchers, including during a visit in April 2017 to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. She has long been a proponent of alternatives to traditional public schools and has said her chief priority as education secretary is to expand them. Critics say that public money should not be used for private and religious school tuition, as DeVos advocates, and that she is seeking to privatize public education. She denies it. There are nearly 600,000 school-age military children, and more than 80 percent attend public schools in their local communities. More than 72,000 students attend 166 public Defense Department schools in 11 foreign countries, seven U.S. states, Guam and Puerto Rico, according to the Department of Defense Education Activity, an agency that runs pre-K through 12th-grade educational programs for stationed military families. The legislation at issue would divert what is known as Impact Aid, which is a revenue source for many schools serving military families. The aid helps districts offset property tax revenue that is lost because of nontaxable federal land, such as a military base. Impact Aid is already funded at less than 60 percent of what it should be to cover district needs as set in the law. DeVos has faced resistance to her push for vouchers for military families, including during her Fort Bragg visit and now by the Military Coalition. The coalition includes groups such as the Air Force Association, the Association of the United States Army, the Association of the United States Navy, the Military Officers Association of America and the National Military Family Association. Together, they represent more than 5.5 million current and former officers and their families and survivors. In a letter to House leaders, the coalition said: The letter was sent to Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House Education Committee; Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott of Virginia, the leading Democrat on the House Education Committee; Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; and Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the leading Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Here’s the letter:


House-Senate standoff imperils effort to roll back banking rules passed after the financial crisis

and community banks across America as soon as possible.” The Senate bill leaves major provisions of Dodd-Frank in place, but it would exempt from the toughest banking regulations about two dozen financial companies with assets of between $50 billion and $250 billion — including American Express, Ally Financial and Barclays. These banks would no longer be labeled “too big to fail” and automatically undergo a yearly stress test to prove they could survive economic turmoil. The legislation also delivers relief to small banks from mortgage and other rules put in place after the financial crisis. Supporters say the legislation is aimed at helping community banks and credit unions that have struggled under a regulatory yoke that has forced them to pull back from lending and as a result has harmed consumers, particularly in rural areas. Opponents contend that the bill would inject greater risk into the financial system, possibly increasing the likelihood of a repeat of the economic crisis that convulsed the nation a decade ago and forced a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street. The legislation’s passage was a significant victory for the banking industry and spoke to the lobbying power of the local banks that are a presence in every community. The Independent Community Bankers of America, representing nearly 6,000 community banks around the country, is hosting a D.C. fly-in this week that is likely to increase the pressure on lawmakers, and the group is circulating a petition praising the Senate bill and calling on the House to act, arguing, “Further delay or inaction could derail its current momentum.” And on Monday, the American Bankers Association and state associations sent a letter to House leaders. The groups praised Hensarling’s work, but their message was clear: Pass the Senate version. So far, neither the Senate Democrats nor Hensarling have budged. But “That’s one avenue that’s being discussed, like I say, on all sides, and I certainly would like that to happen,” Crapo said. “I’m also very fine if we can find some kind of a pathway forward, whatever the vehicle is, and so I’m not going to try to push a specific path right now other than moving ahead expeditiously.” As to concerns that the bill would die if forced to return to the Senate, Crapo said: “That concern has been raised by a number of senators, and so I’m aware of it. I’m not going to comment further.” erica.werner@washpost.com


Nerve gas used in Syria attack, leaving victims ‘foaming at the mouth,’ evidence suggests

by an activist, Yasser al-Doumani, shows him pausing outside the building beside four sprawled corpses before descending concrete stairs into what appears to be a basement apartment. There a gruesome mangle of bodies is seen: babies, children, men and women lying in twisted distortions of death. A child sprawled spread-eagle, half upside down, on the body of a woman. A girl in red died covering her face with her arms. “It’s just bodies piled up. That is so horrific,” said Hay, the Leeds professor, expressing shock as he watched the video online during a telephone interview Tuesday. “There’s a young child with foam at the nose and a boy with foam on its mouth. That’s much, much more consistent with a nerve-agent-type exposure than chlorine.” Doumani says in the video that he could smell chlorine, but chlorine doesn’t usually kill so many people so quickly, Hay said. “Chlorine victims usually manage to get out to somewhere they can get treatment,” he said. “Nerve agent kills pretty instantly.” If a nerve gas was indeed used, their deaths would have been agonizing, Hay said. “It would be terrifying for those afflicted as they struggled to breathe, their chests failing to inflate properly and lungs filling with fluid,” he said. “It would be an asphyxiation over some minutes.” The widespread reports of a chlorine odor coupled with symptoms not usually associated with the substance have given rise to speculation that a new kind of weapon was used that combined chlorine and a nerve agent such as sarin, which killed as many as 1,400 people in an attack in the Douma area in 2013. Both gases are heavier than air and sink, making them especially deadly for people trapped in a confined space, such as those hiding from regular bombardment. Such a mixture could potentially have been made, but it has not been seen before, and it would be “complicated and difficult to prepare,” Hay said. He speculated that chlorine and sarin could have been dropped separately but at the same time, perhaps to confuse rescuers into identifying the deadly agent as chlorine. The use of chlorine has not earned the same degree of international censure as attacks carried out with sarin and some other chemical agents. The White House said this year that it suspected the Syrian government was experimenting with new forms of weapons, but there has been no independent confirmation. liz.sly@washpost.com


Why doctors don’t use alternatives to opioids

bills have been introduced to support the development and Food and Drug Administration approval of a non-opioid pain medication. But the problem in American medicine is not a lack of alternatives to opioids, but the minimal utilization of the many non-opioid treatments for pain that already exist. More than 200 medications other than opioids have evidence of benefit in at least some pain conditions. These range from the familiar (ibuprofen) to the surprising (gabapentin, an anti-seizure medication, that is FDA-approved for certain types of nerve-related pain). Yet most physicians are not aware how many medications other than opioids have strong evidence of relieving pain. Beyond medications, many psychological and behavioral interventions have a substantial ability to reduce pain and improve function. Yet treatments such as physical therapy, cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy and yoga are prescribed far less commonly than opioids. Why do so few doctors recommend non-opioid pain treatments? Opioid manufacturers’ ruthlessly effective (and in some cases, fraudulent) marketing has played a role, convincing many physicians to reflexively reach for the opioid prescription pad when confronted with pain. But other factors are also at play. Stanford University psychologist Beth Darnall, the author of multiple books on psychological approaches to pain relief, notes that “doctors literally get less pain medicine training than veterinarians. If they even know about psychological therapies for pain, they tend to view them as a last resort instead of the first option.” Better training of physicians, who receive an average of only seven hours of pain management training in medical school, could thus help doctors expand their repertoire beyond opioids. Augmenting insurance coverage for physical therapy and pain-related psychotherapy could also help by stimulating more individuals to practice in those fields, which cannot meet the high level of patient need. “If you are referred to a pain psychologist by your primary care doctor, you might wait nine months for an appointment,” Darnall says. If Congress simply supports the development of a new non-opioid pain treatment that, like all the others, rarely gets prescribed, it will do little to ameliorate the simultaneous problems of poorly managed pain and opioid overprescribing. It could have a much bigger effect by enhancing insurance benefits (e.g., in Medicaid and Medicare) for psychological and behavioral pain care services provided by interdisciplinary pain management clinics as well as funding training for pain management in medical schools and continuing education programs serving physicians and other health-care professionals.


Seahawks reportedly postpone a Colin Kaepernick workout over protest uncertainty

Colin Kaepernick still does not have an NFL job. He apparently won’t be getting one with the Seattle Seahawks in the immediate future, and there were conflicting reports Thursday about exactly why that is. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the team this week postponed a Kaepernick workout after the quarterback “declined to stop kneeling during the national anthem next season.” That report was partly contradicted by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who reported that the Seahawks postponed the workout because “the team asked for [Kaepernick’s] plan moving forward on how to handle everything and there was not a firm plan.” Yahoo’s Charles Robinson tweeted that his sources were aligning with Schefter’s, and that the issue was specifically kneeling rather than the lack of a plan. The scheduled workout “was on the books for Monday,” Robinson wrote, adding that the Seattle front office then “followed up and asked if Kaepernick would stipulate to ending his kneeling during anthem. Kaepernick said no,” and, according to Robinson, the Seahawks then canceled the visit. According to the Seattle Times Rapoport also suggested the meeting was postponed until later, writing that the Seahawks brass wanted Kaepernick “to consider how he wants to proceed on everything (not just anthem) and get together at a later date when his plans are formed.” But Rapoport acknowledged that “those close to Kaepernick” were maintaining that the issue was specifically with the quarterback’s kneeling. With Kaepernick, nothing is simple, with many NFL observers believing he is being blacklisted because of his refusal to stand during the national anthem. He began kneeling during the 2016 preseason to protest police brutality and racial injustice in the United States, and after a fairly successful performance that year, he sat out the 2017 season after he and the San Francisco 49ers parted company last March. Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL in October, alleging collusion by team owners to keep him out of the league for his political activism, and he and his legal team have been deposing some owners and other officials as part of their evidence-collection process. Robinson reported that Kaepernick was set to be on hand Thursday in Frisco, Tex., for the deposition of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, adding a notable layer to the concurrent reports of his setback with the Seahawks. According to Robinson, Kaepernick was present last month for the deposition of Houston Texans owner Bob McNair, who,


North Korea has a big tuberculosis problem. It’s about to get worse.

Global Fund is one of — if not the — only funders of malaria and TB treatment in North Korea. Losing this financial support will have a serious effect on the country’s efforts to control both diseases. 3. Are TB and malaria big problems for North Korea? In a word, yes — the TB situation is particularly alarming. Getting exact health figures for North Korea is a challenge, but WHO includes North Korea on its list of 30 high TB burden countries. The country has one of the highest rates of TB infection outside of sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014, WHO estimated that 5,000 North Koreans died of tuberculosis, which meant the TB death rate was more than five times higher than in neighboring South Korea. Making the situation all the more challenging, North Korea has increasing rates of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB). When access to treatment is limited or interrupted, the likelihood of patients developing MDR-TB increases. MDR-TB is even harder and more expensive to treat, which makes the problem even worse. And this is exactly the situation North Korea will face when the Global Fund grants end. Most countries with extensive TB spread also have high rates of HIV prevalence. North Korea does not. Instead, North Korea’s TB epidemic is fueled by chronic malnutrition and lack of treatment access. North Korea had effectively wiped out malaria in the 1970s, but the disease resurged in the late 1990s in the face of the country’s economic collapse. The number of cases peaked in 2013 at nearly 24,000 but dropped to approximately 5,000 in 2016. Despite the decline, WHO estimates nearly 40 percent of the North Korean population lives in at-risk areas for malaria infection. The threat from malaria and TB in North Korea is a concern to neighboring countries, as mosquitoes and bacilli pay little attention to national borders. Chinese officials worry about the spillover effect of North Korea’s TB problems — both as a disease threat in China and as a potential destabilizing force in the region. 4. What will happen when the Global Fund grants end? North Korea has decreased its rates of both TB and malaria since 2010, but that success depends on continued access to the drugs, personnel and resources necessary to keep these programs going. Suspending the grants risks creating medical and humanitarian crises. It also signals a suspension of health diplomacy efforts. The Global Fund


RIP Toys R Us: Why grocery stores could be the salvation of toy makers.

A Barbie by the broccoli? Hot Wheels by the hot sauce? Some toy experts say that stocking toys at supermarkets is a recipe to boost the industry as Toys R Us begins to close all 800 of its U.S. stores. Toymakers could see a bump in sales by targeting grocery stores — and their customers prone to impulse purchases with fidgety kids in tow. That’s the argument of industry experts who say that as the iconic toy behemoth fades away, the country’s more than 38,000 supermarkets may present a bright path forward. “In a summer display, they might put swim toys by the sunscreen or next to beer coolers,” said Tim Hall, CEO of the analytics startup Simporter and a former Hasbro executive. “There’s opportunity for both the toy companies and for the supermarkets to figure out new ways to do that. It’ll take a little bit of creativity.” Hall said toys companies often struggle to engage customers in the “off season” — for example, beyond the weeks leading up to Christmas. But parents needs to buy groceries — and their kids want the latest new toy — all year-round. Toy sales in the United States — the world’s largest toy market — grew by 1 percent in 2017, according to The NPD Group, totaling $20.7 billion in 2017. Hall said sales are likely to dip this year because of the end of Toys R Us, but there’s reason to expect a rebound in 2019. Online outlets like Amazon, as well as big-box stores like Walmart and Target, aren’t going anywhere as major toy retailers. In fact, online toy sales accounted for about 22 percent of the market share in 2016, according to The NPD Group. Those figures are expected to be higher for 2017. “The industry will rebound,” Hall said, “it’s just a question of where the volume will shift.” Toy sales in unconventional places are nothing new. Last holiday season, high-end department stores like Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman sold toys by FAO Schwarz. Bass Pro Shops, a more common go-to for fishing tackle, opened mini Build-A-Bear shops. Nor do people only look to supermarkets for strawberries, steak and shampoo. Food industry analyst Phil Lempert said supermarkets have increasingly made room for dry cleaners, clothing sections and small clinics and restaurants. But Lempert doesn’t see supermarkets designating major shelf space to toys. He thinks they would be more likely


Last holiday season, high-end department stores like Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman sold toys by FAO Schwarz. Bass Pro Shops, a more common go-to for fishing tackle, opened mini Build-A-Bear shops. Nor do people only look to supermarkets for strawberries, steak and shampoo. Food industry analyst Phil Lempert said supermarkets have increasingly made room for dry cleaners, clothing sections and small clinics and restaurants. But Lempert doesn’t see supermarkets designating major shelf space to toys. He thinks they would be more likely to set up in-store lockers from which shoppers can pick up toys they ordered online. That might especially appeal to shoppers who don’t like to wait for home grocery services or don’t want packages ordered online sitting on their doorsteps. David J. Livingston, a supermarket research analyst, said he doubted grocery stores would “go overboard” with toy displays. Moreover, he thinks parents would quickly grow irritated by toys and the distractions they bring. Some parents don’t bring young kids grocery shopping to avoid the begging and the hassle, Livingston said. And for the parents who do bring their kids along, they’re more likely to be swayed by a free cookie from the bakery or a free piece of fruit at check-out, Livingston said. “Being annoyed by toys is going to turn parents off,” Livingston said. “Experts from any industry will say a grocery store is the place to put their product.” There’s risk for toymakers too. In a column, Hall noted that they could opt for guaranteed sales programs through which they agree that if products don’t fully sell at supermarkets by a certain date, the toy company will take the products back. Still, millennials think of supermarkets as a one-stop shop where they can buy cosmetics and other products while fitting in a grocery run, said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the trade group The Toy Association. In the wake of Toys R Us downfall, toy makers will be on the hunt for new places to find customers. “Toys R Us is a very significant place for that business,” Pasierb said. “But that business isn’t going away. That business is going to move.” Read more: They opened a registry at Babies R Us. Now, these parents-to-be are in liquidation limbo. This billionaire wants your help — and $800 million — to save Toys R Us Why neighborhood toy stores are thriving while Toys R Us goes bankrupt


How to get around the Cherry Blossom Festival and Emancipation Day parades this weekend

around the Tidal Basin. Besides the Cherry Blossom and Emancipation Day activities, crowds are also expected at other events including the Sakura Mastsuri-Japanese Street Festival that will close portions of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, from Third Street to Seventh Street NW, and some sporting events this weekend. The Nationals play at home at 7.05 p.m. Friday, 1:05 p.m. Saturday and 1:35 p.m. Sunday. The Capitals have a game at Capital One Arena at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Here are more details about the Cherry Blossom parade and Emancipation Day events, including the street closures that could add to your travel time this weekend. Cherry Blossom Festival Parade Expect extra congestion downtown as one of the District’s largest tourist attractions of the season brings floats and marching bands to Constitution Avenue NW. The parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. It proceeds west along Constitution Avenue from Seventh to 17th Street. Reserved seating, on the west side of the route, starts at $20. But you can stand on Constitution Avenue between Ninth and 15th streets free. It’s recommended you arrive early, specially with the good forecast. Driving to this event will be difficult — so don’t. There will be thousands of spectators and road closures that will add to traffic congestion in the city. Police say Constitution Avenue and its intersections will be closed from Sixth Street to 23rd Street, from 9 a.m. until around 9 p.m. A full list of road closures is here. Fourth and Seventh streets, between Constitution Avenue NW and Independence Avenue SW, will close beginning at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. Parking along the parade route will be prohibited, and police warn about ticketing and towing. The one-mile stretch of the parade can be accessed from multiple Metro stations. The nearest rail stations for spectators planning to see it from the free standing areas are Archives, Federal Triangle and Metro Center on the north side of the parade and L’Enfant Plaza and Smithsonian on the south side. D.C.′s Emancipation Day The District’s Emancipation Day celebrations are scheduled for Saturday. The celebration will kick off with a parade from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. along Pennsylvania Avenue, between 10th and 14th streets NW. A concert featuring Brandy, Big Daddy Kane and others will follow starting at 3 p.m. at Freedom Plaza. The celebration will conclude with fireworks. D.C. police said the following roads around Freedom Plaza will be closed


Congress grilled Mark Zuckerberg, but lawmakers really should look in the mirror

funded researchers have made both researchers and private citizens vulnerable to the power of corporations who are accountable not to citizens, but to shareholders. In short, our data crisis is not one of privacy, it’s one of piracy where governments and corporations aren’t in opposition. They are in a partnership. The very agency we have charged with responsibility for our health — the National Institutes of Health — helped pioneer the practices that would make personal information economically powerful. In 1965 members of an indigenous group in the American Southwest became subjects in a NIH study aimed at understanding diabetes. These residents of the Gila River Reservation suffer from some of the highest rates of diabetes in the territorial United States. For more than 50 years, nearly all residents (who refer to themselves as Akimel O’Odham) agreed to have their personal medical information collected in the hope of helping researchers learn about diabetes. In fact, much of what biomedicine knows about diabetes is a result of the cooperation of those who the U.S. government referred to in the 1990s as “pathfinders for health.” However, Akimel O’Odham neither consented nor imagined that their information would be used to fuel the emerging data market. By the 1980s, however, the research that NIH collected — while anonymized — was being used to develop a new kind of computer algorithm, the kind that would make Facebook possible. How did this happen? Because, like the relationship of Stanford to Silicon Valley, NIH — headquartered in Bethesda, Md. — forged a close relationship with the nearby Johns Hopkins University and its privately funded Applied Physics Lab — the mission of which is to “provide solutions to national security and scientific challenges with systems engineering and integration, research and development, and analysis.” So it was easy for biomedical researchers to share data with nonmedical computer scientists. Indeed, it seemed important to do so. Such collaborations offered the potential of using new computing technology to help predict the onset of debilitating and expensive conditions such as diabetes. Maybe more importantly, NIH was legally required to do so free since the data was collected by the federal government, with taxpayer dollars. Public-health officials saw the Gila River Indian Community as a natural laboratory to experiment not just with solutions for diabetes but also with personal information. The medical information collected from their bodies — information about number of pregnancies,


This environmental group is launching its own satellite to learn more about greenhouse gas leaks

of Harvard researchers including professor of atmospheric and environmental science Steven C. Wofsy has been doing similar work about the large increase in U.S. methane emissions during the past decade using existing satellite data and surface observations. The new data will help compare actual emissions and the pledges made by companies or countries in line with the Paris agreement. While there is no Paris target, methane reductions are part of countries’ individual implementation plans. “Twenty-five percent of the warming that the planet is experiencing right now is from man-made methane emissions, and the oil and gas industry is a significant source of those emissions,” EDF Senior Vice President Mark Brownstein said. “Reducing those emissions can have a material impact on slowing the rate of warming now.” The Trump EPA has been seeking to roll back rules issued in 2016 that would limit methane emissions. In 2016, President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto vowed to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sectors by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025. When burned in power plants, natural gas, which is made up almost entirely of methane, releases half as much greenhouse gas as coal. But those advantages can be offset by leaks of methane into the air because methane is a short-lived but extremely potent greenhouse gas. Though half of it vanishes in 8.3 years, EDF says it is still 84 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over 20 years. The EPA uses a broader time frame and says methane’s global warming effect is 28 to 36 times that of carbon dioxide over the course of a century. In recent years, EDF has been conducting 16 studies with industry and academics to produce an authoritative estimate of leaks all along the natural gas supply chain. “There tends to be an undercounting of pieces of equipment in the field,” Brownstein said. “Certain source categories not being counted at all, such as storage tanks in the Barnett shale field. The emission factors don’t take into consideration that a significant part of emissions comes from malfunctions and failures.” He added that “what we now know is that with technology advancing, there are ways to collect this data — actual data in the field — and be able to do it more frequently than older measurements allowed for.” Read more at Energy & Environment:


According to Martellus Bennett, NFL players smoke marijuana at a very high rate

Recently retired NFL player Martellus Bennett has a rough estimate of how many of his former compatriots smoke marijuana. It’s pretty high (sorry). “I want to say about 89 percent,” Bennett told Chris Simms and Adam Lefkoe on their Bleacher Report podcast this week after the hosts asked him if more than 70 percent of NFL players smoke marijuana. Bennett, who played 10 seasons for five teams, said players are turning to marijuana as a natural alternative to prescription painkillers. “There’s medical marijuana,” Bennett said. “So it’s like, there’s times of the year where your body just hurts so bad, that you don’t want to just be popping pills all the time. … It ruins your liver. There’s a lot of these anti-inflammatories that you take for so long that, like, it starts to eat at your liver or kidneys and things like that. And a human made that. God made weed.” Marijuana use, especially its use to combat chronic pain as compared with prescription painkillers, has become a contentious subject between the league and its players. In July, the NFL reached out to the players’ union about possibly joining forces to study the use of marijuana to combat chronic pain. The union, according to the MMQB’s Peter King, in turn asked the NFL for comprehensive data on how teams are distributing prescription painkillers to players, and things stalemated from there. Last year, sealed court documents reviewed by The Washington Post from a federal lawsuit filed by 1,800 former NFL players revealed that teams violated federal laws governing prescription drugs, disregarded guidance from the Drug Enforcement Administration on how to store, track, transport and distribute controlled substances, and plied their players with powerful painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Union chief DeMaurice Smith also has told The Post that the players would like the league to take a “less punitive” approach to recreational marijuana use by players. The drug is banned by the NFL, with escalating punishments for each positive test, though marijuana use is treated more leniently than the use of other drugs. Considering how easy it is for players to get around the league’s recreational drug-testing policy, Bennett might be lowballing his estimate. Players without a positive test on their record are tested only once per year, with league rules mandating it take place between April and August, usually after they report to training camp. “If a player passes his one


Transcript of Zuckerberg’s appearance before House committee

you're a real American success story. There's no question that you and Facebook have revolutionized the way Americans — in fact, the world — communicate and interconnect with one another. I think the reason that — one of the reasons that you were able to do that is because nowhere other than here in America, where a young man in college can pursue his dreams and ambitions on his own terms without a big federal government overregulating them and telling them what they can and cannot do, could you have achieved something like this. But, in the absence of — of federal regulations that would reel that in, the only way it works for the betterment of society and people is with a high degree of responsibility and trust. And you've acknowledged that there have been some breakdowns in responsibility. And I think, sometimes — and I'm a technology guy. I have two degrees in computer science. I'm a software engineer. I'm a patent holder. So I know the challenges that you face in terms of managing the technology. But, oftentimes, technology folks spend so much time thinking about what they can do, and little time thinking about what they should do. And so I want to talk about some of those “should do” kind of things. You heard earlier about faith-based material that had been — that had been taken down, ads that had been taken down. You admitted that it was a mistake. That was in my district, by the way — Franciscan University, a faith-based university, was the one that did that. JOHNSON: How is your content filtered and determined to be appropriate, or not appropriate, and policy-compliant? Is it an algorithm that does it? Or is there a team of a gazillion people that sit there and look at each and every ad, that make that determination? ZUCKERBERG: Congressman, it's a combination of both. So, at the end of the day, we have — we have community standards that are written out, and try to be very clear about what's — what is acceptable. And we have a large team of people. As I said, by the end of this year, we're going to have about 20,000 — more than 20,000 people working on security and content review across the company. But, in order to flag some content quickly, we also build technical systems in order


Trump wants to stand up a military ‘Space Force.’ Here’s why.

Russia and China are engaged in robust efforts to fight wars in space, developing technology and weapons designed to take out U.S. satellites that provide missile defense and enable soldiers to communicate and monitor adversaries, according to a pair of reports released this week. The reports punctuate a growing concern by the Pentagon, which has been increasingly vocal about the vital role space plays in modern conflict. And they come as some members of Congress have pushed for a “space corps,” a proposal that seemed to gain the backing of President Trump, who in a recent speech said that “space is a war-fighting domain, just like the land, air and sea. We may even have a space force. … We have the Air Force; we’ll have the space force.” The proposal by the House last year to create the Space Corps, which would become the first new military service branch since the Air Force was created in 1947, was unsuccessful after top Pentagon leaders came out against the measure. But the Pentagon is increasingly concerned that its assets in space, which are vital for modern warfare, are vulnerable. “We have lost a dramatic lead in space that we should have never let get away from us,” Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Ala.) said as he was pushing the space-corps concept last year. “So that’s what gave us the sense of urgency to get after this.” That view is shared broadly. The White House’s National Security Strategy, released late last year, cited space as one of the Pentagon’s top priorities and warned: “Any harmful interference with or an attack upon critical components of our space architecture that directly affects this vital U.S. interest will be met with a deliberate response at a time, place, manner and domain of our choosing.” As reports released this week from the Secure World Foundation and the Center for Strategic and International Studies show, the countries have been quite active in recent years, posing a significant threat to the United States. Though much of the foreign nations’ activities in space are secret, the reports are an attempt to spotlight some of the publicly known activities to create a clearer picture of the threats the United States could face in space. In 2007, China fired a missile that blew up a dead satellite, a worrisome demonstration of power that put the Pentagon on notice that its assets in


low orbit could be vulnerable. Then, in 2013, China fired a rocket into a far more distant orbit, 22,000 miles away, where some of the nation’s most sensitive satellites live. More recently, Russia sparked concern when one of its satellites flew between two commercial Intelsat communications satellites and then sidled up to a third. The threats range from missiles that could destroy satellites by physically taking them out, to cyberattacks and even lasers and jammers that could disrupt sensors and blind the eyes and ears the Pentagon relies on in orbit. While the worst-case scenario of blowing up satellites concerns military officials, the "non-kinetic" attacks can be just as effective, said Brian Weeden, the director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, "and are becoming a lot more prevalent." The organization's report noted that “China has recently designated space as a military domain, and military writings state that the goal of space warfare and operations is to achieve space superiority using offensive and defensive means.” In 2014, China hacked U.S. weather and satellite systems operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Russia has also been active in space, heightening tensions between the former Cold War adversaries. “There is strong evidence that Russia has embarked on a set of programs over the last decade to regain some of its Cold War-era counterspace capability,” according to the Secure World Foundation. Unlike China, Russia “is actively employing counterspace capabilities in current military conflicts,” including with Ukraine, the report said. In recent years, Russia flew a spacecraft uncomfortably close to other satellites. While there was no evidence of foul play, the Secure World Foundation report concluded, “It is possible that the technologies they tested could be used offensively,” including jamming the satellite’s communications. While the United States "pioneered many of the national security space applications that are in use today and remains the technology leader in nearly all categories," the advancements by Russia and China are forcing the Pentagon to augment its systems, the report said. "There is evidence to suggest a robust debate is underway, largely behind closed doors, on whether the United States should develop new counterspace capabilities, both to counter or deter an adversary from attacking U.S. assets in space and to deny an adversary their own space capabilities in the event of a future conflict." But the Pentagon is not sitting on its hands. In the fall, the