Alice Waters wants Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to ‘make a difference’ with Whole Foods

business, and how we had to find a path to the people who were taking care of the land and growing food that we wanted at Chez Panisse. It’s not a difficult path to find, it just doesn’t fit into the values of a fast food culture. It doesn’t fit into cheap and fast and uniform. It fits into a whole other set of slow food values. It becomes a partnership. And it doesn’t mean that every store has to have the same things. Every store could be different. You could buy from 10 lettuce growers, you don’t have to buy from one, and it’s not harder to buy from 10. Fast food culture would want us to believe so, but it’s not true. What is your greatest fear about the purchase? I have a great fear of technology. And of misinformation. Misrepresentation. What do you hope will happen? I want to believe that that it could be transformed in a way that would really educate and enlighten us, and delight us. All of the above. I had one crazy idea that maybe the stores should just be gutted and turned into indoor farmers’ markets. I mean, I just came from Spain, and the way people shop there is so beautiful. There are stalls in a big huge building that has refrigeration. And each one is owned by somebody. [There’s] great ham people, a cheese shop and vegetables. And outdoors there’s an organic market. And we don’t think about shopping like that. Every time an American goes into a market in another country, they find it wondrous. I get to go to the farmers market every single day. But in other parts of the country we need an indoor space that operates in that way, where you’re empowering people to build a food community. It really could begin that sort of transition. It could begin in a Whole Foods Market. What do you think people lose when they shop for groceries online? We don’t want to put in an order on a computer. We think we do, but it’s another idea of fast food culture, that time is money. So talking with somebody personally, [people] think, is too much time. But my great pleasure has always been when I called up Bob, my farmer, and he’d say, “I was just out in the field.” It’s the conversation that I have


Dinner for two for less than $100 in Washington? Good luck.

you could feast on snails tossed with sweetbreads as part of a multicourse dinner for up to $90, about $180 today. That three-figure price isn't unlike what's downtown now, or at such special-occasion spots as Minibar and Pineapple and Pearls. (The latter’s price tag: $280 per diner.) The difference is that, in the past, the most respected restaurants in Washington were almost all considered high-end. “What was interesting about the city back then is that there were these sort of destination, expense-account restaurants, but there wasn’t much more than that,” says Adam Rapoport, a Washington-area native and the editor in chief at Bon Appétit magazine. “There were not great neighborhood restaurants.” Now, “neighborhood restaurants” — such as Rose’s Luxury, Tail Up Goat and Maketto — which Rapoport describes as creative, small and independent restaurants with chefs who have forged their own approach, have disrupted the old model of dining. They can cost more than $150 per couple. Nowhere is this price range more prolific than 14th Street NW, which food writer and former Washingtonian critic Todd Kliman once said is packed with restaurants “in the middle.” These spots are in the same general price range as Rapoport’s “neighborhood restaurants”: Walk up and down the corridor, and you'll encounter everything from foie gras scrambled eggs with black-truffle butter ($14) at Estadio to confit pork shank ($28) at the Pig. These trendy destinations — better than greasy spoons or giant chains but below the gastronomic level that earns multiple Michelin stars — have hopscotched their way across the city, emerging in gentrifying waves in Shaw and Petworth, where you can order clay pot rockfish ($28) at Hazel or carne asada ($26) at Ruta del Vino. Convivial in Shaw. (Goran Kosanovic for The Washington Post) Restaurateurs and chefs will point to the rising costs of labor, rent and utilities as an explanation. Convivial chef-owner Cedric Maupillier said a dish with $5 worth of a protein could end up retailing for $21, a figure that might suggest the restaurant is making big money. But the profit margin at most places is typically in the single digits. “It’s hard to make the two ends meet,” Maupillier says. The reality is that dish prices are not only a reflection of costs, but also of the dining scene as a whole. Restaurants have to build menus with the competition in mind, and now there are simply more


Attention Scott Pruitt: Red teams and blue teams are no way to conduct climate science

developing science.” He implicitly accuses the climate science community of “advisory malpractice” by ignoring major sources of uncertainty. To use present-day vernacular, both Koonin and Pruitt are essentially claiming that peer-review systems are rigged, and that climate scientists are not providing sound scientific information to policymakers. We do not consider ourselves to be members of any team or tribe. Our goal is not to “win” against “the other side.” Our prime motivation is to understand the natural world, and to use that knowledge and understanding to inform sensible decisions on important public policy questions. Whether we succeed in doing so is what we are ultimately judged on. The peer-review system criticized by Koonin and Pruitt is imperfect, but it is the best system we have, and has served science well for several centuries. The international assessments Koonin has questioned are made by large groups of experts, and are reviewed in an extraordinarily open and transparent way. These assessments receive detailed comments from many hundreds of scientists uninvolved in the writing of the assessment, with expertise in a wide range of fields, as well as from industry stakeholders and government representatives. All comments received are logged and made publicly available, together with responses from the assessment authors. Independent review editors determine whether the authors’ responses are accurate and adequate. Developing science, far from being ignored, is confronted directly and openly in such assessments. Koonin’s claim that important uncertainties are neglected is patently incorrect. Scientists have spent many decades kicking the tires of climate science, identifying and quantifying key uncertainties, and trying to reduce those uncertainties. Critical examination of models, data and theory is not a fringe activity. All scientists are inveterate tire kickers and testers of conventional wisdom. To paraphrase the Geico commercial, “If you’re a scientist, that’s what you do.” The highest kudos go to those who overturn accepted understanding, and replace it with something that better fits available data. Even after all the tire kicking, there is strong scientific consensus that planetary-scale warming is now unambiguous, and that human activities are the dominant contribution to this warming. Critiques of this consensus have been offered up for decades. Each critique is often presented as a kind of smoking gun — one piece of evidence that falsifies all other evidence and understanding. There are many examples of such putative smoking guns. The ballistics of each gun has been carefully tested by


The 55 things the White House has promised to get back to us on

it’s worth noting at least one reason Spicer and Sanders default to a response of “I’ll find out.” One, obviously, is that they genuinely don’t know and are committing to get an answer. Another is probably that they’d rather not offer an answer. This has its own separate possible causes, including that President Trump has a habit of contradicting affirmations made by people who work for him. He’s given his press secretaries a get-out-of-trouble free card on Twitter, as seen below, but it seems clear that the risk of offering a response to even an obvious question sometimes outweighs the reward. Perhaps because that reward is “earning the respect of the media, a group that Trump hates.”) As a very active President with lots of things happening, it is not possible for my surrogates to stand at podium with perfect accuracy!.... Below, our list of all of the times someone from the White House communications office promised to get back to the American public with more information — and, to the best of our ability to determine the answer, whether they did. It’s important to note, by the way, that this includes only specific pledges to provide more information. Feb. 1 Feb. 1 Feb. 3 Feb. 7 Feb. 8 Feb. 17 Feb. 17 Feb. 21 Feb. 22 Feb. 27 Feb. 28 Feb. 28 March 1 March 3 March 6 March 7 March 7 March 7 March 8 March 8 March 9 March 13 March 14 March 14 March 20 March 23 March 23 April 13 April 17 April 19 April 25 April 27 May 8 May 9 May 9 May 9 May 9 May 10 May 10 May 12 May 12 May 15 May 16 May 30 June 2 June 5 June 5 June 6 June 8 June 12 June 15 June 15 June 19 June 19 June 20 It is possible that we missed some of the responses that ensued to the promises made by Spicer and Sanders. (If we have, don’t hesitate to email.) Generally speaking, though, it’s clear that the goal is less frequently to tell the media that the information was not at hand and more frequently simply to deflect the question indefinitely. Spicer and Sanders do provide useful information. But if the media wants to pin them down on something more controversial, the most effective strategy appears to be to ask over and over again.


Mexico just legalized medical marijuana

(Ted S. Warren/AP) Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto signed a decree this week legalizing medical marijuana. The measure also classified the psychoactive ingredient in the drug as “therapeutic.” The new policy isn't exactly opening the door for medical marijuana dispensaries on every corner. Instead it calls on the Ministry of Health to draft and implement regulations and public policies regulating “the medicinal use of pharmacological derivatives of cannabis sativa, indica and Americana or marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol.” It also tasks the ministry with developing a research program to study the drug's impact before creating broader policies. The measure had broad support from Mexico's Senate and Lower House of Congress, where it passed 347-7 in April. Marijuana legalization advocates are celebrating the decision and calling on the government to do more. Sen. Miguel Barbosa said the legislation was “well below the expectations of society.” Sen. Armando Rios Peter called it a “tiny” step away from a failed drug policy. For decades, Latin America has struggled to address the rampant corruption and violence wrought by the drug trade. Lately, many places have focused on a particular strategy: decriminalization. As my colleague Josh Partlow wrote last year: “Uruguay has fully legalized weed for sale. And a large chunk of South and Central America, including Brazil, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, have made marijuana more available in varying ways, whether it is for medicinal or recreational use.” It's a recognition, he wrote, that “years of violent struggle have failed to stem the flow of narcotics into the United States.” Even so, conservative Mexico kept its tight drug laws in place. In part, it was because legalization was unpopular. One poll found that about 66 percent of Mexicans oppose decriminalization of marijuana. Also, violence around drug trafficking has had a tremendous impact on the country — experts estimate that 100,000 people have been killed in the past decade because of the cartels. The Catholic Church also remains staunchly opposed. “A drug is a drug even if it’s sold as a soft medicinal balm. Bad Mexican copycats emulate the neighbor to put on the table of ‘sane democracy’ a bleak, absurd and counterproductive debate,” the church wrote in an editorial. “Recreational marijuana is a placebo to ease the pain of the social destruction in which we irremediably wallow.” That's beginning to change, though. Recreational marijuana is still broadly prohibited in Mexico, but the government is


Two-month countdown: Watch Bill Nye and Phil Plait talk about the total solar eclipse

Two months from now, a total solar eclipse will cross the United States from Oregon to South Carolina. The moon will block out the sun along a 70-mile-wide path and for the people within that path, the afternoon sky will turn to stars. The last time a total eclipse was visible from the West Coast to the East Coast was 1979, and the next time it happens is 2045, so people are getting very excited. Hotels are booking up and anxious travelers are crossing their fingers the sky is clear that day. On Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, the space geeks at Slooh.com are hosting Bill Nye and astronomer Phil Plait to chat about the eclipse — what it will look like, how it happens and generally getting people excited about the celestial event of the year. We can’t think of a better way to celebrate the summer solstice. From Slooh.com: The live event will feature extraordinary views of the Sun streamed from Slooh observatory partners all over the world, including close-up views from Prescott Observatory in Prescott, Arizona, wide angle views from New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Hawaii, and other locations around the globe. Slooh regularly brings together feed partners from around the world, commanding a network of telescopes, cameras, and various high definition feeds from world class observatories and amateur astronomers alike. In addition to celebrating the day of the June Solstice, Slooh will preview 2017’s main event, the Transcontinental Total Solar Eclipse, and look forward to their outdoor celebration for the Eclipse in Stanley, Idaho. Slooh is no stranger to the challenges of live streaming the biggest and most spectacular events in the sky. The company has been covering Total Solar Eclipses (as well as Partial and Annular Eclipses) for years, dispatching crews to cover them in person from locations including Kenya, the Faroe Islands, and Indonesia. These live events have been enjoyed by millions of viewers worldwide. More solar eclipse: This solar eclipse video is ‘double rainbow’ all over again The U.S. Postal Service designed this awesome stamp to celebrate the eclipse Dear Science: Why is the eclipse moving from west to east?


Afghan military’s uniform choice has unnecessarily cost U.S. taxpayers $28 million, report says

questionable uniform choice by the Afghan military has probably cost taxpayers an unnecessary $28 million since 2008, according to a new watchdog report released Tuesday. The 17-page report, written by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, says that a woodland camouflage pattern uniform chosen by the Afghan Ministry of Defense for the country’s military has cost an exorbitant amount because of its “proprietary” status. In 2007, the then-Afghan Minister of Defense Abdul Rahim Wardak saw a woodland pattern produced by the company HyperStealth while browsing the Internet, according to the SIGAR report. “He liked what he saw,” Pentagon officials told SIGAR. The pattern, called the Spec4ce Forest, appeared to be selected based solely on looks, according to the report, and despite the U.S. military owning the rights to other camouflage patterns that would have been significantly cheaper to purchase and field. Since 2008, the HyperStealth uniforms have cost more than $93 million. SIGAR estimates that by switching to a uniform pattern owned by the Pentagon, U.S. taxpayers would save between $68.61 million and $72.21 million in the next 10 years. The SIGAR report mentions that other Afghan units, including the commando battalions and some elements of the Afghan National Police, wear woodland BDUs, or Battle Dress Uniforms. The BDUs have been in service with the U.S. military for decades and are significantly cheaper than HyperStealth uniforms that are adorned with hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro) and additional zippers and pockets, much like modern U.S. Army uniforms. U.S. Special Operations troops often wear BDUs to blend in with local forces, but their prevalence also comes with a downside: Taliban and other hostile groups can easily get a hold of them for infiltration attacks. [Mattis: ‘We are not winning in Afghanistan,’ new strategy is weeks away] The report also questions the HyperStealth forest pattern’s “appropriateness” for Afghanistan’s primarily desert landscape. While much of the country is arid, greenery is prevalent in most of the country’s more populated areas where rudimentary irrigation helps with farming. At the height of the war, U.S. Marine units rotating into the Helmand River Valley often ditched their desert camouflage uniforms for woodland variants to better blend in with their surroundings. The U.S. military is also not without its share of uniform waste. In 2012, the Government Accountability Office called the Pentagon’s approach to uniform procurement “fragmented” and accused the U.S. military of wasting millions of dollars.


Zima, the clear beverage of youthful regret, is back. Did anyone miss it?

Zima, the clear 1990s “malternative” beverage, is back. (Photo courtesy of MillerCoors) Chalk up another victory for pointless ’90s nostalgia: MillerCoors is bringing Zima back to stores for a limited time. The clear, sticky-sweet, chemically citrusy malt beverage — sold under slogans such as “Zomething Different” — was beloved at high school and underage college parties, where it was often adulterated with Jolly Ranchers just to make it palatable. Zima is but one in a long line of wine cooler-ish products that were popular at the time, which included Bacardi Breezer and the more established Bartles & Jaymes. But Zima was born into a world where clear beverages like Crystal Pepsi were cool and novel. Let’s take a stroll down memory line through the pages of The Washington Post in March 1993. In a bid to invigorate a market gone flat, Miller Brewing Co., the nation’s second-largest beer maker, said yesterday it would introduce a beer of a different color — Miller Clear — to several markets later this month. Milwaukee-based Miller calls the product the beer industry’s first clear beer, and industry watchers said other brewers may be getting ready to introduce similar colorless products. Consumer-products giants such as PepsiCo Inc. (with Crystal Pepsi), Gillette Co. (with Sensor deodorant) and Procter & Gamble Co. (with Ivory dishwashing liquid), as well as smaller companies, have recently introduced clear versions of popular brands, betting that consumers will associate colorlessness with purity and all-natural ingredients. Whether the same strategy works with beer — where color is associated with rich flavor — is uncertain. Coors Brewing Co. of Golden, Colo., is testing a clear malt beverage, called Zima in three markets. That, my friends, is the first mention of Zima in The Post archives. Crystal Pepsi died a ignominious death two years later. Miller Clear never even made it out of test markets. Zima, on the other hand, grabbed a remarkable 1 percent share of the national alcohol market in its first year. Zima Alcoholic Beverage commercial 1994 Less than two years later, though, Zima pops up again in The Post, this time in a more serious context: Youth officials in Maryland and nine other states have complained to the Coors Brewing Co. about its new colorless drink, which tastes like soda pop and has inspired rumors that it cannot be detected on police breath-testing equipment. … Jesse Rivkin, a 16-year-old junior at


The rise of Saudi Arabia’s young prince casts a shadow over the Middle East

Want smart analysis of the most important news in your inbox every weekday along with other global reads, interesting ideas and opinions to know? Sign up for the Today's WorldView newsletter. In the early hours of Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's King Salman elevated his 31-year-old son to be the kingdom's crown prince, replacing the king's 57-year-old nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef. The formal ascension of Mohammed bin Salman establishes the young royal as the most important political figure in the country, given the widespread suggestions that his father is ailing and infirm. Mohammed bin Salman's admirers style him a necessary and energetic promoter of change in a kingdom that needs it. His detractors, though, see him as reckless and impulsive ruler, and they fear his rise will lead only to escalating tensions in the Middle East. The announcement “marks the first time since Saudi Arabia's first ruler, King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, that a Saudi monarch has designated his son rather than a brother as his heir apparent,” my colleagues wrote. “And it's only the second time since the kingdom was founded in 1932 that a grandson of Ibn Saud has been named crown prince, and its potential future king.” Time to update the Saudi royal family tree again: https://t.co/snLmBZuWUd https://t.co/r6qBntEUrz But it shouldn't come as a surprise. Experts and journalists expected King Salman to eventually shove aside Mohammed bin Nayef, a political heavyweight with deep ties to the country's security apparatus, in favor of his son — it was just a question of when. In April, the king reshuffled key government posts and issued decrees seen as part of a bid to strengthen the hand of then-Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while weakening that of his rival. On Wednesday, more posts were granted to a younger generation of princelings who are thought to be loyal to the new crown prince. “We've seen the shift of power coming for some time, and the steady centralization of power under King Salman and the purview of his son,” Kristin Smith Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf State Institute in Washington, said to my colleagues. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman elevated his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to become crown prince and ousted his nephew, Mohammed bin Nayef, from the royal succession line. Here's what you need to know. Despite its various palace rivalries and family grievances, Riyadh is making the transition look


Secret tunnels were hidden beneath London since WWI. Soon you can visit them.

Starting in July, the tunnels, tracks and replicas of cars will be used to take visitors to the National Postal Museum on a tour of London's past. It was the early years of the 20th century, and London had a parcel problem. Before World War I, the streets of the largest city in Europe were choked with buggies and, increasingly, new inventions called automobiles. Postal workers carrying the lifeblood of commerce and communication found themselves stuck behind stalled horses or marooned by the capital city's notorious fog. So the city fathers concocted a solution for the growing mail crisis: Go underground. Electric mail cars that rumbled under the streets of London wouldn't have to contend with blinding fog or traffic congestion. And with that, the Mail Rail system was born. The 6.5-mile-long network of tunnels sits 70 feet below street level. Its heartbeat was electric-powered, driverless trains that shuttled mail beneath the city for nearly a century, before rising costs shut the system down. “It was quite a remarkable thing for what they did in the 1920s,” said Peter Johnson, a historian who has written about the mail rail. “They basically kept it going until the Internet killed it. People started using email.” Now, nearly a decade after the mail rail system was mothballed, it is being resurrected — but to shuttle people not parcels. Starting in July, the tunnels, tracks and replicas of cars will be used to take visitors to the National Postal Museum on a tour of the city's past. As early as 1855, London leaders worried about mail delays began hatching plans for an underground network of parcel trains, but the costs in the 19th century always proved too high, according to the Postal Museum. What would become the mail rail was the brainchild of a feasibility committee set up in 1909. Four years later, London lawmakers passed the railway bill, and construction began in 1914. That was also the beginning of World War I, and although digging continued as England was sucked into the turmoil, metal at that time went to guns and ammunition, not railroad tracks. Thus, tunnels were dug, but tracks were not laid till later. And the country found another use for a network of secret tunnels. “The tunnels were used during the First World War to store and protect art treasures belonging to the National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Gallery,”


It’s a nightmare for grocery stores, but it might make your groceries cheaper

One of Lidl's first U.S. grocery stores awaits customers June 18, 2017, in Virginia Beach (Chet Strange/Getty Images) It's a rough time to be a grocery store, with competition from new rivals squeezing margins on all sides. But it's a killer time to be a grocery store shopper: They've never had so many companies vie to offer the lowest price. The expansion of foreign discount stores Aldi and Lidl — the latter of which just opened its first U.S. stores last week — are challenging traditional grocery stores on cost, with prices that beat those in existing U.S. stores by 20 to 30 percent, on average. On top of that, Amazon’s recent announcement that it plans to acquire organic giant Whole Foods threatens to take a bite out of grocers’ high-end business. (Amazon’s founder and owner, Jeffrey P. Bezos, also owns The Washington Post.) To stave off the new competitors, chains like Walmart, Kroger and Albertson’s may have to make significant changes. “Prices will go lower — that’s for sure,” said Daniel Lucht, the global research director at ResearchFarm, a British retail consultancy. “There will be lots of promotions, lots of special offers, lots of brands being pulled in, as well. This will be a great year for consumers.” In some parts of the country, that great year has already begun — particularly where Lidl and Aldi have moved in. The two chains, both of which are German-owned, offer a limited selection of produce and packaged foods in relatively small, no-frills stores. That narrow focus has allowed them to optimize their supply chains and offer prices well below those of mainstream grocers. A recent analysis by RBC Capital Markets, which compared Lidl sale fliers with those of other stores, found that its prices were about 22 percent cheaper than Food Lion's and 20 percent cheaper than Kroger's. Scott Mushkin, an analyst with Wolfe Research, has said that Aldi products typically cost about 20 percent less than Walmart’s. For brand-name products — think Coca-Cola or Oreos — analysts have found as much as a 200 percent gap between Aldi-bought products and mainstream-grocery-bought ones. Historically, that hasn’t posed an existential threat to mainstream U.S. stores. Aldi has been in the United States for 40 years, for instance, and still represents a tiny portion of sales by volume. On June 12, however, the company announced plans to spend $3.4 billion over the next


The World Health Organization spends more on travel than on key diseases. That’s actually okay.

million, of which 85 percent was voluntary and earmarked. Consequently, the vast majority of WHO’s spending is dictated by donors and directed toward the diseases/issues on which they choose to focus through WHO. That last part is key. Donors sometimes work through WHO and other times prefer to give bilaterally or through specialized partnerships, often depending on the issue (Check out IHME’s visualizations.) For example, based if you look at IHME data, 80 to 90 percent of all multilateral funding for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria goes through the Global Fund — meaning that WHO is not the only agency on the sidelines. In contrast, 60 percent of funding for polio ($670 million) goes to WHO. The upshot is that WHO’s budget says much less about the secretariat’s independent priorities than about state and donor priorities for the agency. The real choices about how WHO does or does not spend money are made by those who cast votes and write checks. People who are unhappy with WHO’s spending priorities shouldn’t blame the bureaucrats. They should blame the politicians. To be clear, the WHO secretariat does have its own agenda priorities and voice and, as Nitsan Chorev shows, it is able to push these even against the preferences of major donors. It just does so using nonfinancial strategies. Of course, there is still some waste The big sweeping claim, that WHO’s travel spending epitomizes bureaucratic waste and warped priorities, is wrong. That said, the AP report raises important issues. Staffers do sometimes buy more expensive tickets than they’re entitled to (although the article doesn’t say how common this is). And perceived extravagance, such as the organization’s director-general flying business class, can make a donor-dependent organization look bad, even if it’s not strictly against the rules. All the same, these problems are not unique to WHO — all organizations, including private sector businesses, have to deal with them around the edges. Nor are they breaking news. Senior WHO officials have acknowledged and are attempting to curb these problems (with limited success). Most important, they represent bad individual behavior, not bad policies. In other words, they do not alter the fact that, on the whole, WHO’s travel spending is a basic feature of its mandate as an international organization, not a symptom of bureaucracy run amok. Mara Pillinger is a PhD candidate in political science at George Washington University. Follow her on Twitter @mplngr.


Transcript: Addiction in America

cannabinoid in front of all these people. So, if I got that right, is PhRMA willing to go in that direction? Pritchett: So, as you know, there are some medical cannabinoid products available. We’ve looked at the pipeline, and I think there—it’s a—I want to say it’s a half-dozen products that are in the pipeline, that are in that space. So, there are companies that are exploring medication uses under— Bernstein: And it has both practical potential, and affordability? Or is it too early? Pritchett: I think that I am not in a position to comment on that; that we need the science to tell us what the—whether and what the potential is. Bernstein: Okay. Great. I did this in the last session, and so for the next minute and 44 seconds, you’re the drug czar, and you are— Pritchett: Having worked in the drug czar’s office— Bernstein: That’s right. What’s your list? What’s your list of—we’re giving you all the power you need to solve the opioid epidemic. Pritchett: Right, so, for me, this is a multi-faceted problem, and there’s not a one size fits all solution. But among—of my top five on the list, it’s that we need to improve education for prescribers. That means mandated education; that means on an ongoing basis. As part of that, continuing to educate the public to increase their awareness of opioids and when they’re appropriate and when they’re not. That, too, we need to mandate the use of prescription drug monitoring programs, because what we have found, studies show that when prescribers are using prescription drug monitoring programs, it does affect their prescribing. And that many of them say that it has reduced the potential for misuse and abuse. Bernstein: Even if they don’t catch doctor shoppers, it affects the way they do their jobs? Pritchett: It affects the way they do their jobs, and so I think we need to look at the prescriber patterns, and we need to look at the flags for potential doctor shoppers. And I would say, in the PDMP space, one of the things that we’ve heard from physicians is that you have to go through ten screens to get to the information you need; we need to make that easier. We need to increase law enforcement capabilities and capacity to crack down on rogue pill mills, and illicit websites that are illegally provided controlled


Who is Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince?

The new crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, could enjoy a reign that lasts for decades, given that he only turns 32 in August. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court via Reuters) The elevation of Mohammed bin Salman to crown prince of Saudi Arabia is a calculated risk with potentially enormous consequences for the kingdom. If he succeeds with his vision to transform the Saudi economy by 2030 and reduce the country’s reliance on oil revenue, the crown prince — widely known as MBS — could enjoy a reign that lasts for decades, given that he only turns 32 in August and could take Saudi Arabia well into midcentury. Were this to happen, the future King Mohammed would go down as the ruler who renewed his kingdom and regarded as the 21st-century equivalent of his grandfather, Abdulaziz, whom he so closely resembles physically. However, if the vested interests that have built up over decades prove immune to serious overhauls or MBS takes what proves to be one risk too many, history may remember him instead as an impulsive leader who talked a good game but could not ultimately back up his words with implementable actions. The oldest son of King Salman’s third wife, MBS rose rapidly to prominence after his father became crown prince of Saudi Arabia in June 2012. Unlike his much older half-brothers, MBS did not travel abroad for his education, and instead remained at his father’s side and studied law at King Saud University in Riyadh, where his father was governor until 2011. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a strong bond developed between father and son, which may explain why it was MBS, rather than any of his older and professionally accomplished half-brothers, who eventually became Salman’s gatekeeper — first as special adviser and then, in 2013, as head of the crown prince’s royal court. In April 2014, MBS was promoted to a cabinet-level position as minister of state, and in January 2015 he succeeded his father as minister of defense when Salman became king. With the succession to King Abdulaziz having passed among his many sons since his death in 1953, a key question for many Saudi-watchers, particularly those outside the kingdom, was how the royal family would manage the generational transition that had to happen sooner or later. On his first day as king, Salman settled the issue by nominating his nephew, Mohammed bin


Who is Saudi Arabia’s new crown prince?

famously, a black box closed to outsiders, and we may never know the precise reasons (or timing) for the removal of Mohammed bin Nayef and appointment of MBS. It may indeed be the case that Mohammed bin Nayef’s health was failing. He has reportedly suffered from the aftereffects of an assassination attempt in 2009 when a member of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula blew himself up just meters away. It certainly is the case that over the past two years there has been a steady concentration of power and responsibility around MBS, and that a string of appointments made in April — including his 28-year-old brother Khalid as Saudi ambassador to the United States — were perceived by many as consolidating MBS’s position across the diplomatic, economic, security, defense and intelligence spectrum. With Saudi Arabia facing a volatile regional situation and beginning the array of economic overhauls associated with his Vision 2030 economic retooling, there may simply have been an appreciation of the need for decisive, long-term leadership. How this plays out within the Al Saud and among Saudi Arabia’s regional and international partners will be important. Two anonymous letters written in September 2015 appeared to indicate a level of disquiet among at least a section of senior royal family members toward MBS — the announcement that MBS’s appointment as crown prince by 31 of the 34 members of the Allegiance Council may have been intended, in part, to portray a united front against any recurrent acts of dissent. Within the Gulf Cooperation Council — the hawkish axis that binds Saudi Arabia and the Abu Dhabi emirate through MBS and Mohammed bin Zayed — will likely strengthen still further, but may, in the process, intensify the centrifugal pressures that are weakening the GCC among the three states – Kuwait, Oman and Qatar — that do not share the hard-line approach to regional security. Internationally, the rise of MBS to crown prince — and possibly king sooner rather than later — may be viewed with a degree of ambivalence in Western capitals, including Washington. Many in the security and counterterrorism establishment in D.C. had forged productive working relationships with Mohammed bin Nayef that smoothed relations strained by 9/11, and scrambled to get to get the measure of MBS after 2015 (similarly, the lengthy interviews MBS gave to Western media, including the Economist, Bloomberg, and, most recently, David Ignatius of The Washington


A year after a divisive vote, doubts are mounting in a town that went overwhelmingly for Brexit

support for the harsh Brexit that May has so far pursued is in decline. Having focused almost entirely on her vision for a clear-cut exit from the E.U., her Conservative Party surprisingly lost the parliamentary majority in June and now relies on the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party. Under pressure from Brexit supporters in her own party, May has so far refused to give in to demands by her opponents to soften her approach. But it is a strategy that could easily go wrong, as Tilbury indicates. In the general elections, the party that gained most votes here was Labour, even though the Conservatives narrowly defended their lead. Despite a relatively high density of college graduates and skilled workers in the area, the town of 12,000 remains one of England’s poorest places. Little here has changed since last June. A former guesthouse in the town’s center is still plastered with advertisements for instant cash loans, and many stores on the main street remain shuttered. In the distance, the sound of containers being loaded onto ships could be heard. Many here in Tilbury work in professions such as car manufacturing that rely on trade deals with Europe — deals that are now at stake. It is the irony of Brexit that it found most supporters in areas that depend most heavily on continental trade and E.U. subsidies. “The vote will affect many jobs in Tilbury, given that we trade so much with the E.U. from our port here,” said one woman working with a Tilbury-based shipping company. Others remained staunchly in favor of leaving the E.U. but said they had little hope that their vision would be fully implemented. “I hope it happens, but the government will end up softening Brexit, anyway,” said Cheryl, a 53-year-old health-care worker. Despite continued support for Brexit among parts of the town, the E.U. has lost much of the ugliness in which it was being portrayed here during the referendum campaign. In fact, some former Brexit sympathizers now even feel comfortable with viewing other member states as role models. “In Germany, you can get a doctor’s appointment almost instantly,” said Louise Thompson, 32. “Here, it takes three weeks to see someone. You’re dead by the time it’s your turn.” And there is a growing sense in Tilbury that leaving the E.U. alone won’t change that. Read more: In stunning decision, Britain votes to


The 12 months in which Britain turned from a seemingly confident leader into a stretched nation

British Prime Minister Theresa May makes a campaign visit to the Royal Bath and West fairground in Shepton Mallet, southwest England on May 31. (Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images) LONDON — The glory days of the Empire are long over. But in some ways, Britain still seemed like it was punching far above its weight a year ago. Although less populous than France or Germany, Britain remained a political and economic world leader, and was the dream destination for Europeans in awe of London, its vibrant capital. But a lot has changed, at least in terms of perception, since Britain voted to leave the European Union exactly one year ago. Last year's referendum on leaving the European Union has created an identity crisis, worsened by Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to announce a general election in which her party unexpectedly lost its majority in Parliament. Four terrorist attacks in three months have troubled a nation that once prided itself on its security services, and a disastrous high-rise fire last week brought Britain's neglect of some of its poorer communities back on the agenda. Whenever there is Breaking News coming out of Britain these days, there is a high likelihood it is bad news. The queen recently stated that it is difficult to escape the “very somber mood.” How did the great Britain get to where it is today? On June 23 last year, many Britons went to bed believing nothing would change. It was the day of the referendum on the country's E.U. membership. But the next morning, Britain had decided to leave the union by a margin of four percentage points. There were celebrations in pro-Brexit strongholds, and tears in pubs around London where continental European workers feared for their future. But soon after, even some supporters of Brexit wondered: What now? There remains significant support for leaving the E.U. in Britain, according to polls. But even in some Brexit strongholds, few seemed to believe that their vote would actually matter. Many wanted to send a signal to London that things needed to change, but they are now unsure that leaving the union will result in improvements. Tilbury, an economically deprived dockside town on the outskirts of London, voted to leave the E.U. with a majority of more than 70 percent. (Shannon Jensen Wedgwood for The Washington Post) Many who voted in favor of Brexit work in professions and


Why is China suddenly leading the climate change effort? It’s a business decision.

market opportunities for foreign renewables to diversify energy sources and establish an energy infrastructure, the Chinese government re-regulated to promote indigenous capacity in advanced energy. These efforts are part of the larger story of China’s deft use of globalization and industrial policy to develop industrial sectors perceived to be strategic for national security and the national technology base, as I detail in my book. Here’s a case study: In 2005, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) increased the local content policy from 50 percent to 70 percent for wind turbines installed in China. Foreign wind vendors, such as Danish turbine producer Vestas, built factories in China and instructed Chinese workers and contractors how to fabricate blades, assemble nacelles and build complex electronic controls and generators. By the time the Chinese government dropped local content requirements in late 2009 in the face of a WTO challenge, most foreign turbine makers’ domestic inputs far exceeded the 70 percent obligation. The Renewable Energy Law, which took effect in 2006, instituted key policies to spur domestic sector development, also championed by China’s 11th Five-Year Plan and the Medium- and Long-Term Plan on the Development of Science and Technology. These included national debt interest subsidy programs, which supported wind farms supplied with domestically produced turbines that received subsidies per megawatt produced. The Special Fund for Wind Power Manufacturing awarded tens of millions of dollars to wind turbine and components manufacturers. Moreover, the government mandated foreign manufacturers of certain turbine categories to form joint ventures with Chinese partners. In this institutional context, Chinese wind turbine producers Goldwind, Ming Yang and Envision had an established domestic supply chain, and had purchased Western technology or partnered with a foreign company to enter the market — and emerged among the global top 10 producers. The domestic industry was further strengthened with the government’s engagement of foreign participation in setting technical standards. A similar pattern of FDI strategy and deliberate government intervention with market and nonmarket mechanisms shaped the development of solar energy and hydropower in China. This “import substitution-cum-FDI strategy,” as I show in a paper on economic policy, “explicitly courts, digests, absorbs, and innovates upon foreign knowledge and technology” to achieve state goals. Chinese views on climate change also shifted The fast-paced development of Chinese renewables paralleled the twists and turns of the domestic narrative on climate science. “New left nationalists” and internal government reports alike claimed


The Energy 202: This Energy Department official has a history of disturbing tweets

back at the reason Trump is preoccupied by the birds killed by wind power after telling a crowd in Iowa "the birds fall to the ground" from turbines: "In 2006, Trump announced that he would be building a golf course in Scotland, near Aberdeen. Locals were a bit puzzled, given how often the area was shrouded in fog, but Trump pressed forward anyway. Construction began in 2008. Three years before Trump started talking about the course, though, another project kicked off. It was an offshore wind farm, originally slated to be composed of 33 turbines but eventually slashed by two-thirds. In 2012, Trump turned his attention to the project, which, he claimed, would ruin the views for his golfers." -- Trump's comment about wind power in Iowa is now gunpowder for political attacks by Democrats in the state. Andy McGuire, a candidate for governor, called Trump’s comment “an attack on Iowa’s economy." THERMOMETER -- Before Jason Samenow became The Post’s weather editor and Capital Weather Gang's chief meteorologist, he spent a decade as a climate change science analyst for the federal government. One of his jobs in public service was to manage the EPA's climate change website, which the agency's new administrator, Scott Pruitt, removed from public view in April. In an op-ed on Thursday, Samenow calls the website's removal a "declaration of war": To me, a scientist who managed this website for more than five years, its removal signifies a declaration of war on climate science by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. There can be no other interpretation. I draw this conclusion as a meteorologist with a specialization in climate science and as an independent voter who strives to keep my political and scientific views separate. I concede that this specific issue is personal for me, given the countless hours I spent working on the site. But it should be obvious to anyone how this senseless action runs counter to principles of good governance and scientific integrity. Samenow, who worked under both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, said the situation was different under the last Republican president: While the George W. Bush administration attempted to exert some control over the site, it was never so drastic. For example, when Bush’s political appointees filed into the EPA in 2001 — coinciding with when I began managing the site — updates to the website were put on hold for


A music director will depart. What does that mean for the company that’s left?

been rumored that he is on his way out. But it’s a shame to jettison someone who has done such fine work and gotten the orchestra to sound so much better, and whose biggest collaboration with Zambello, the “Ring,” got such magnificent results. The company, Zambello said, needs someone who “can be here more” — a disingenuous way of framing the fact that Auguin wasn’t offered very much. Meanwhile, the roster of available suitable music directors who are actually resident in Washington is as short as the roster of people who might be willing to relocate here for the handful of performances a year that WNO puts on. (Zambello, interestingly, will not be on the search committee to replace Auguin — or so the company’s outgoing executive director, Michael Mael, said in a phone call on Friday afternoon.) It’s not entirely fair to brand Auguin as simply a conductor of canonical great operas — this is someone, after all, who made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2001 conducting Busoni’s “Doktor Faustus,” which is not a piece people tend to whistle in the shower. But Auguin does represent a link to an old-school European tradition of music directors, from which the Washington National Opera is making it clear it wants to move away. In making this move in this way, however, it not only leaves the company in a state of some flux — Mael is voluntarily stepping down as executive director on July 1, and the orchestra is in the middle of contract negotiations — but sends an explicit signal that it wants to turn away from a tradition that means a great deal to a good portion of its audiences. WNO could have spent this season trumpeting the story of its successes in fusing new and old: Philip Glass’s “Appomattox” and the “Ring” cycle here in the 2015-2016 season were two of the most memorable experiences I’ve had in any opera house. And the “Ring” showed how powerful it can be when a strong new vision like Zambello’s is supported by old-school musical values like Auguin’s. Instead, the company floundered in 2016-2017, and a so-so season has been capped with the announcement of Auguin’s departure, a significant artistic loss. I am the first to say it’s important not to cling too tightly to tradition, but it remains unclear exactly what vision WNO, under Zambello, is offering to replace it.


Deshorn Brown took a long journey to D.C. United, but he’s no journeyman

in Norway for about $500,000. He scored 13 goals in 37 appearances, attracting interest from the Chinese league, a fledgling but well-financed circuit. At Shenzhen FC, a second-division club, Brown posted seven goals in 14 matches. He had planned to stay in China for the foreseeable future. Language and culture presented challenges, but the money was good and he was learning new tricks under manager Clarence Seedorf, the former Dutch midfield star. Last fall, however, Shenzhen FC fired Seedorf. “I was getting excited to work with him the next year,” Brown said, “but that’s how it goes in the soccer business.” His replacement, former English national team coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, wanted his own players. Just like that, Brown was out of the picture. “Playing in China is like riding a mechanical bull — you stay on as long as you can,” said Patrick McCabe, one of Brown’s agents at Global Premier Management. The quality of play is still evolving, but the money has attracted many players from abroad. Other teams in China were interested in Brown. So was AIK in Sweden. Shenzhen, though, wouldn’t let him out of his contract, which had a year left. By the time McCabe and partner Damani Ralph reached a financial settlement with the club, most transfer windows around the world had closed. The U.S. market was the only immediate option. Brown’s reps were deep in talks with the Rapids but couldn’t reach a deal. For the time being, the Rowdies, in the second-tier United Soccer League, made sense. Brown scored three times early in the season, but with his contract nearing an end, his playing time faded (51 aggregate minutes in the last four league matches). In Washington, once he regains his fitness, he will have ample opportunity to secure a starting job — and score badly needed goals. “We like his qualities, we like his personality — he’s a lovely kid and humble,” Olsen said. “He’ll help this group.” United notes: ******************* D.C. United at Philadelphia Union Where: Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. When: Saturday at 7 p.m. TV: NewsChannel 8. Records: United 5-8-3, 18 points; Union 4-7-4, 16. D.C. probable starters: GK Bill Hamid; Ds Chris Korb, Steve Birnbaum, Kofi Opare, Taylor Kemp; MFs Lloyd Sam, Jared Jeffrey, Luciano Acosta, Ian Harkes, Patrick Nyarko; F Lamar Neagle. Philadelphia probable starters: GK Andre Blake; Ds Raymon Gaddis, Jack Elliott, Oguchi Onyewu, Fabinho;


Donald Trump is wrong. Mexico isn’t the second-deadliest country in the world.

out at the time, citing United Nations statistics, even though the latest figures were a few years old. The most recent U.N. stats put Mexico's homicide rate at about 20 per 100,000 people, far below several other Latin American countries, including Honduras, at 90 per 100,000 residents. Several security experts in Mexico considered the think tank's original study a bit sensationalist. Alejandro Hope, a top security analyst here, described it as “idiotic.” Mexico has undoubtedly been extremely violent over the past decade, with an estimated 200,000 dead in the drug war. And the number of killings has risen sharply in the past two years, approaching record highs. Mexican newspapers reported that May 2017 was deadlier than any month since such statistics started being tabulated — even bloodier than at the height of the drug war. But the problem goes beyond how you count. When you reach the upper ranks of the world's most violent countries, torn by insurgencies and civil wars, the accuracy of statistics often goes out the window. War zones are notoriously difficult places to compile an accurate tally of deaths. How many people died last year in South Sudan's civil war? It's hard to know. During the peak years of the U.S. involvement in the Iraq War, the casualty estimates sometimes varied by hundreds of thousands of people. Getting a straight answer is also hard given how politically delicate the homicide rate is. In countries such as Honduras and El Salvador, which have suffered severe gang violence for years, day-to-day fluctuations in the homicide rate get reported like football scores, a way of pinning success or failure on the countries' governments. Mexico is highly bureaucratic but also keeps official information closely guarded. Corruption is rife and distrust of government runs high. Given all this, counting homicides is fraught. Different federal agencies have different statistics and homicides are broken down into different types. One of the best recent studies on Mexican violence, by researchers at the University of San Diego, found that no other country in the Western Hemisphere has seen such a large increase in its homicide rate or in absolute number of homicides over the past two decades as Mexico. No one can deny Mexico is plagued by terrible violence right now — regardless of their opinion on Trump's wall. This post has been updated. Read more: Violence is soaring in the Mexican towns that feed


This quiet agricultural ‘moonshot’ could change the future of food

Tomatoes are displayed for sale in a supermarket in Princeton, Ill. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News) The global population is skyrocketing, the climate is changing, and diets are shifting. So how do you tackle the problem of feeding 9 billion people by 2050? Assemble an elite team of scientists for a year-long brainstorming session. The first meeting of “Science Breakthroughs 2030” just convened to discuss the key advances essential for revolutionizing food and agriculture in the next decade. The resounding theme: What's needed is akin to a moonshot. Or as committee co-chair John D. Floros put it, a "green revolution 2.0." "This is something we owe to society … to really look forward as far as we can see and find better solutions," Floros said. The effort dates to last fall, when the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation (SoAR) teamed up to commission a report identifying the greatest challenges, opportunities and knowledge gaps in food and agriculture. The National Academy of Sciences answered the call and assembled the panel of eight staff and 13 scientists from institutions across the country. Their expertise ranges from nutrition to climate science to nanotechnology, and the report they're set to deliver next March will lay out a “strategic vision” for how to rapidly improve the quality and quantity of food. Half a century ago, scientists similarly asked how to feed a growing population. Their answer: "invest more in agricultural technology," recounted Floros. That investment kick-started what became known as the green revolution. During it, new crop varieties, technological advances, changes in agricultural practices and shifts in the storage and transport of food all contributed to a dramatic increase in agricultural output. But according to some experts, that investment and the growth it fueled has begun to stagnate. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's budget for agricultural research "has been flat for a decade," noted Robert A. Easter of SoAR. And many green-revolution solutions have reached their limits. Irrigation once made possible an agricultural boon, for example, yet sources for that water are drying up in many places. So the challenge becomes finding new ways to grow crops with less water, Easter said. Lurking pathogens also threaten the global food supply. "We are one major disease away from starvation," Floros warned this week. Easter agreed. "We are already grappling with diseases with no obvious solutions," he said, pointing to


A doctor prescribed so many painkillers, she’s been charged with murdering her patients, authorities say

Regan Nichols is charged with five counts of second-degree murder after investigators say she overprescribed powerful opioids to her patients. (Oklahoma County Jail). On Nov. 21, 2012, Sheila Bartels walked out of the Sunshine Medical Center in Oklahoma with a prescription for a "horrifyingly excessive" cocktail of drugs capable of killing her several times over. A short time later, she was at a pharmacy, receiving what drug addicts call “the holy trinity” of prescription drugs: the powerful painkiller Hydrocodone, the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and a muscle relaxant known as Soma. In total, pharmacists handed her 510 pills that day — all legal, because she had a prescription with the signature of her doctor, Regan Ganoung Nichols, scrawled at the bottom, according to a probable cause affidavit. Bartels's lifeless body was found later that day, court documents say. A medical examiner concluded that she died of multiple drug toxicity, another victim of the America's opioid epidemic. But investigators say the 55-year-old Bartels was also a victim of Nichols, a pain management doctor who investigators concluded “either didn't know or didn't care what she was doing.” Nichols is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Bartels and four other patients, some of whom died just days after receiving large prescriptions from the doctor. She was arrested Friday and released from Oklahoma County Jail on $50,000 bail. She couldn't be reached for comment on Saturday. A number listed for Sunshine Medical Center was disconnected. Jail officials didn't know whether she had hired an attorney. The doctor's arrest is part of a new and growing offensive in America's battle against the abusive use of opioids, which kill an average of 91 people a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Respondents who took part in The Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey on long-term, opioid painkiller use share their experiences of living with pain. Law enforcement agents aren't just going after drug dealers and Mexican cartels — they're also targeting pharmaceutical companies and doctors, who they say are irresponsibly flooding the nation with potent painkillers, and holding them responsible for overdose deaths. “Nichols prescribed patients, who entrusted their well-being to her, a horrifyingly excessive amount of opioid medications,” Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter told the Associated Press on Friday as his office announced the doctor's arrest. “Nichols’s blatant disregard for the lives of her patients is unconscionable.” Opioids killed more than


PM Update: Cool and comfortable tonight with temps falling into the 50s. Mild but not hot Monday.

Summertime, and the living is easy. (Mark Andre via Flickr) A refreshing air mass has parked itself over the DMV for the time being. With another cool night on tap, Reagan National Airport is expected to have consecutive days with lows in the 60s for the first time since June 10. The rest of us will be even cooler, giving the region a chance to shut those A/C’s off for a couple more sleep cycles. Through tonight: View the current weather conditions at The Washington Post. Tomorrow (Monday): See Brian Jackson’s forecast through the week. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Dr. Gridlock. Firefly abundance: Thousands of fireflies emerge at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on June 5. (National Park Service) The Smoky Mountains offer an ideal habitat for the little blinkers, given the warm, moist, overgrown landscape devoid of artificial light. Closer to home, however, firefly abundance varies quite a bit from season to season. Last year, largely as a result of below-normal rainfall leading up to June, there was a notable lack of fireflies. In 2015, supplied with ample spring moisture, it seemed as though the little bug lightbulbs were everywhere. Of course, there is more complexity to the annual abundance of fireflies than just precipitation amounts. A worldwide decline in natural firefly habitats has been taking place for decades, mostly as a result of human development and artificial light intrusions (fireflies like it dark!). But for casual observers and nostalgia seekers, annual precipitation is probably the best predictor for local numbers. So how are we stacking up for 2017? Well, things didn’t start out very well — a substantial drought hung over the region through April. But a wetter-than-normal May combined with a recent influx of heat and humidity seems to have improved the odds of a near-normal firefly season this year. But don’t just take my word for it! You can track the firefly observations and even enter your own sightings at the Boston Museum of Science’s firefly watch page. Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your inbox? Subscribe here.


One year after the Brexit vote, Britain’s relationship with the E.U. is unlikely to change much. Here’s why.

In this file photo, demonstrators fly E.U. and U.K. flags during a rally following an anti-Brexit, pro-European Union march in London on March 25. Tens of thousands of pro-E. U. protesters took to London’s streets Saturday to mark the European Union’s 60th anniversary. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images) It has been a year since the Brexit referendum. Negotiations between Britain and Europe have now begun and will continue for most of the next decade. As a matter of formal international law, we do not know whether Britain will remain in the European Union, become an associate member, achieve a “partially attached” status akin to that of Norway or Switzerland, or negotiate a unique arrangement. Yet one thing has become clear: A broad renunciation of substantive policy coordination with the European Union — the “hard Brexit” option — is unlikely. Instead, when it is all over, surprisingly few real policies are likely to change — and those that do will probably favor Europe, not Britain. These predictions stem from an analysis of the three most important factors that political scientists believe structure international economic and political affairs: interdependence, influence and institutions. Interdependence: Why Britain does not really want to eliminate E.U. policies British Euroskeptics often decry E.U. policies as unnecessary and damaging regulations crafted by arbitrary bureaucrats and unelected judges. But Brexit is unlikely to change the substance of very many E.U. rules — because the British government does not really want it to. In recent decades, Europe has moved decisively in directions Britain favors. The European Union is now built around a single market with shared regulations. Participation in other policies is essentially optional; that’s true for the Euro, collective defense, the Schengen zone for free movement, social policy, homeland security, external immigration, and so on. Britain long opted out of most E.U. policies it dislikes. But on those issues where Britain participates fully in the European Union, it is deeply connected to Europe. Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiating stance toward Brussels actually treats most of Britain’s current commitment to policy coordination with Europe as essential or uncontroversial. London does not even propose, much less expect, to tamper with free trade in manufactured goods and services under common regulations, which is the European Union’s most important policy, or with common research policies or the rights of all Europeans currently living abroad. Britain needs the European Union’s liberal rules because


What marijuana legalization did to car accident rates

three states to legalize recreational marijuana have experienced more crashes,” said Matt Moore, senior vice president of the IIHS's Highway Loss Data Institute, in a statement. But hot on the heels of that analysis came a second study, published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), that found no increase in vehicle crash fatalities in Colorado and Washington, relative to similar states, after legalization. The authors of that study analyzed federal data on fatal car crashes from 2009 to 2015. “We found no significant association between recreational marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado and subsequent changes in motor vehicle crash fatality rates in the first 3 years after recreational marijuana legalization,” they concluded. On the one hand, a finding that legalization led to a small but significant increase in crashes. On the other, a study concluding that legalization had no effect on fatal crashes at all. Do the two contradict each other? Not necessarily. The studies measured slightly different things: IIHS looked at claims for motor vehicle collisions, while the AJPH report focused more specifically on fatal crashes. It seems plausible that legalization could lead to a slight increase in minor accidents that don't prove fatal. Indeed, federal research has shown that while smoking weed before driving does indeed elevate your risk of crash, it's nonetheless far less impairing than alcohol, which dramatically increases the likelihood of a crash even at small doses. Beyond that, the two studies used different baselines for comparison. The IIHS report compared legalization states to their neighbors. The AJPH study, on the other hand, chose comparison states not based on geography but on other shared characteristics: traffic patterns, makeup of roadways and population. Both approaches have their strengths. But in the end, it's hardly surprising that choosing different comparison states will yield slightly different results on similar measures. Any increase in car crashes is cause for concern. But on balance, public health experts worry more about fatal crashes than nonfatal ones, for obvious reasons. The AJPH study is heartening news on that front, and it comes on the heels of previous research showing that medical marijuana laws are also not associated with increased vehicle fatalities, and may in fact lead to fewer traffic deaths. Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada just approved recreational marijuana use. Here's what they can learn from Washington, Colorado and Oregon, states where marijuana use has already been legalized.


The Daily 202: Pragmatic Koch network treads carefully around Trump, plays inside game to advance agenda

Japanese air bag maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo and the United States. The move comes as the company is overwhelmed by lawsuits and costs related to its production of faulty air bag inflators, which are linked to at least 16 deaths, 180 injuries, and have sparked the largest automotive recall in U.S. history. (AP) - Florida is racing to protect its coral reef from climate change. The reef’s continued depletion could seriously threaten the local economies along the coast. (Chris Mooney) - The attorney for an off-duty policeman in St. Louis who was shot last week by a fellow officer is claiming his client was viewed as a threat “because he was black” — an incendiary claim that has prompted division in the community as authorities continue to investigate the so-called “friendly fire” incident. (Cleve R. Wootson Jr.) - Israeli’s government on Sunday reneged on a plan to allow mixed-gender religious services at the Western Wall, angering many American Jews who have said they feel abandoned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. (Ruth Eglash and William Booth) - Thousands of people in Venezuela have been arrested in recent months in a string of anti-government protests — and as the number of detainees continues to climb, so have reports of human rights violations and horrific abuse inside prison walls. At least 15 survivors recalled being forced to eat pasta mixed with human excrement — and one woman was so dismayed at the prison conditions that she tried to hurl herself out of a window of a courthouse during her preliminary hearing. (Rachelle Krygier and Joshua Partlow) - Police in Des Moines arrested a 22-year-old girl suspected of setting a small fire at a local mosque last week. Authorities said she was seen on security footage pouring lighter fluid on the carpet before setting the blaze and fleeing. (Des Moines Register) - A teenage girl who fell 25 feet from a Six Flags ride in Upstate New York managed to avoid serious injury or worse this weekend, after a crowd below saw her dangling from the attraction and quickly gathered below to catch her. (Amy B Wang) - An Orange County, Calif., man is preparing to file a lawsuit against the coroner’s office after officials told him his son was dead — using what later turned out to be only an old driver’s license photo to identify


Middle East turmoil is disrupting a vital resource for nuclear energy, space flight and birthday balloons

A woman walks in front of the city skyline in Doha, Qatar, in 2010. (Kamran Jebreili/AP) The diplomatic and trade embargo on the tiny Middle Eastern nation of Qatar is creating devastating ripple effects around the globe, including in one little-noticed market: helium. No, helium is not just for filling balloons and making your voice sound like Mickey Mouse. The ultralight gas is widely used in medical imaging, technology manufacturing and nuclear reactors. And the blockade of Qatar, the source of roughly one-fourth of the world’s helium supply, could soon cause destabilizing shortages and skyrocketing prices in this essential global market. In 2015, Qatar supplied 27.2 percent of the global supply, according to IHS Markit, a research firm. In terms of global helium reserves, or the total amount available that could be tapped, Qatar is tied with Iran for the second-largest source, containing 17 percent of the world’s helium. The country with the largest amount of helium is actually the United States, which has a little more than one-third of global resources, mostly near the oil and gas fields of Kansas and Oklahoma. Yet the analysts at IHS Markit say the shortfall from Qatar likely can’t be met by increasing production from these aging American fields. Although American producers could benefit from higher global helium prices, they probably won’t be able to boost production enough to meet the demand that is left over from falling Qatari production. Helium is often extracted from natural gas, an abundant resource in Qatar. Helium can be captured both at natural gas deposits and at the processing plants where the gas is transformed into a liquid for shipment. Most Qatari helium travels by land through Saudi Arabia to the port at Dubai, from where it is shipped to markets around the world. But on June 5, Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, cut off air, land and sea links with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting terrorism and being a secret ally of Iran. Qatar has denied the charges and protested that the blockade is having a brutal humanitarian impact, cutting off access to food, medical products and other imported goods. Production at Qatar’s two helium plants, which are co-operated by the state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil, has ground to a halt, IHS Markit said. Analysts say this could soon send the price of helium skyrocketing and lead to global


‘Top chef’ Kwame Onwuachi to D.C.: I’m ready to give it another shot. Are you?

that Onwuachi was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for food. Onwuachi, originally from New York, could have walked away from a city that didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet for him — he was criticized for being too inexperienced to open a restaurant that ambitious. But after he licked his wounds, Onwuachi decided to stay. “It wasn’t hard for me to stay. It’s become home,” he said. “I feel like I have a great support system here. “ And the strong reaction to his first Washington endeavor hasn’t left him bitter. “I feel like I did something, and it was critiqued, and that’s what happens when you put yourself out there,” he said. When Shaw Bijou closed, Onwuachi took some time to himself. He did a few events with chef Danny Lee of Mandu and Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto. He also traveled to Curacao, Mexico and Colombia, “Just to get some inspiration. Travel always opens your eyes, it always influences your cooking, and it’s a direct lens into someone’s culture.” Asked if those travels would be reflected in the Wharf restaurant’s concept, he demurred, and not for the first time in the interview. His move to the Wharf “has been in the works for a while,” he said. The restaurant has private owners, but when he was asked to discuss the ownership structure and its relationship with the hotel, Onwuachi’s publicist interjected and said they could not provide that information. As for the look of the future restaurant: His Instagram account may offer a few hints. And he did offer up one small kernel of what D.C. diners can expect. He’s been researching the history of the neighborhood throughout time. “There’s a lot of deep roots in history, whether it’s the Great Migration from the south, the Civil War, the Native Americans that treaded on that land before,” he said. “There’s so much rich history that’s involved there,” and much of it has influenced the concept — along with his own autobiography. Onwuachi’s personal narrative was threaded throughout the menu at Shaw Bijou as well, but this restaurant will be different — conceptually and emotionally. “There’s a lot of lessons learned from the last restaurant. The thing I take away the most is to never lose sight of your vision and your dreams,” he said. “It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how


Legalized marijuana is making it harder for police to search your car

forefront of opposition to marijuana legalization. One reason is that the drug, with its pungent, long-lasting aroma, is relatively easy to detect in the course of a traffic stop or other routine interaction. It's an ideal pretext for initiating a search that otherwise wouldn't be justified — even if that search only turns up evidence of marijuana use and nothing more. New data on traffic stops in Colorado and Washington underscore this point: After the states legalized pot, traffic searches declined sharply across the board. That's according to the Open Policing Project at Stanford University, which has been analyzing public data of over 100 million traffic stops and searches since 2015. “After marijuana use was legalized, Colorado and Washington saw dramatic drops in search rates,” the study's authors explain. “That’s because many searches are drug-related. Take away marijuana as a crime and searches go down.” In Colorado and Washington, traffic searches of black, Hispanic and white drivers fell significantly after legalization, according to the Open Policing Project's analysis. That pattern didn't hold for states where marijuana use remained illegal. The Project's data encompasses traffic searches initiated for any reason but excludes searches following an arrest. This makes the data a good barometer of searches initiated at an officer's discretion. The numbers changed dramatically after legalization, as we see in the above chart, suggesting, as the researches do, that suspected marijuana use is often a factor in these searches. As the chart also shows, legalization didn't eliminate racial disparities in the searches. Black and Hispanic motorists are still searched at considerably higher rates than white motorists. But following legalization, they are searched less often than they were before. In 2014 a Washington Post investigation detailed how highway police often use suspicion of marijuana as justification to search drivers' vehicles and ultimately seize cash and property from them, regardless of whether any drugs are ultimately found. From 2002 to 2012, the federal government seized roughly $1 billion in cash and other assets related to marijuana cases, according to the Wall Street Journal. That figure doesn't include seizures made by state and local law enforcement authorities who handle most of the nation's drug enforcement. If legalization leads to fewer searches, that means fewer seizures of cash and property, which could have a significant negative impact on the finances of police departments that have come to rely on those seizures to pad their budgets.


Europe has an Irish problem

Scotland and Wales. The government in Northern Ireland collapsed in January over a heating bill scandal. Since then, the DUP which supports the union with Britain, and its coalition partners, the nationalist Sinn Fein party, which supports the unification of Ireland, have been bickering over how to revive the executive. If they don’t reach an agreement by June 29, the British government will impose direct rule over the province. That would be an enormous blow to the peace process, which gave the province the right to govern itself. “A deal between the DUP and [Britain’s] Conservatives could complicate the situation in Northern Ireland,” Andrew Gilmore, Brexit expert at the Dublin-based Institute of International and European Affairs, said to me. “With the DUP so close to the heart of power in Westminster, a return to direct rule from London could be problematic,” he added. Direct rule would rob Northern Ireland of having a real say in the Brexit negotiations. Not only that, the Good Friday Agreement specifically states that the British government must exercise “rigorous impartiality” in its dealing with all the communities in Northern Ireland. “Northern Ireland needs its own voice, in the context of Brexit in particular as well as so many other issues that need to be resolved,” Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said. “Without that voice people in Northern Ireland will be disadvantaged in a major way and will be essentially relying on others to make the case for them,” he told politicians in Northern Ireland. He had no illusions about what was at stake. “I think it’s fair to say that Northern Ireland is perhaps the most vulnerable part of Europe to a bad Brexit deal should that happen.” With days left to revive home rule in Northern Ireland, the good news is that with some exceptions, both the DUP and Sinn Fein oppose a hard border consisting of controls and checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland. “This is despite the fact that the majority of DUP voters opted for Brexit, said Federico Fabbrini, director of the Brexit research and policy at Dublin City University, in an interview. Once Britain leaves the E.U., Ireland becomes an external border to the E.U. That should mean the imposition of border controls between Northern Ireland, which will leave the E.U., and Ireland, which will remain. That’s how it is between E.U. member Poland and non E.U.-member Belarus. Barnier knows


Takata files for bankruptcy following multiyear air bag crisis

The Takata logo outside the Takata Corp. building in Auburn Hills, Mich. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters) Takata, the Japanese air bag maker, announced Monday it is filing for bankruptcy protection in both Japan and the United States, after struggling for more than a decade to manage recalls related to its faulty products. Separately, it said its assets would be acquired by Key Safety Systems, an American producer of vehicle safety systems. The Tokyo-based company rose to prominence in the early 1990s after creating a less-expensive type of air bag. But the safety devices relied on a faulty inflator that when activated can explode and send shrapnel into the vehicle. The air bags have since been linked to more than a dozen deaths and approximately 180 injuries in the United States alone, causing the recall of 42 million vehicles and up to 69 million air bag inflators. In February, Takata pleaded guilty for falsifying testing data and reports provided to automakers. The company was fined $25 million, and ordered to set up restitution funds of $125 million for individual victims and $850 million for damages caused to automakers. Takata is still in the process of replacing the recalled air bags, found in 34 types of U.S. vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the cost has been mounting. Last week, Takata disputed Japanese media reports that it was planning to file for bankruptcy, saying no decision had been made. But on Monday, the company announced its deal with Key Safety Systems and said it would be filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Under the $1.59 billion deal, Detroit-based Key Safety Systems would acquire 56 Takata plants that employ 46,000 people and leave responsibility for the recalls and other liabilities with the reorganized Takata. In addition, Takata said it had obtained financing of up to $227 million from the Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. “Takata expects to continue to meet demand for airbag inflator replacements without interruption,” Takata said in a statement. Even after the sale, analysts said Takata probably does not have enough money to deal with all the recalls. “Other people will have to chip in, which would be the automakers,” said Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, a California-based valuation and automotive research company. Takata’s president Shigehisa Takada told reporters in Tokyo that with the company rapidly losing value, filing for bankruptcy protection was


What China’s treatment of its most famous dissident says about its claim to global leadership

Jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate, dissident and civil rights activist Liu Xiaobo in Beijing. (Liu Xia/European Pressphoto Agency) Isaac Stone Fish is a journalist and senior fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations, on sabbatical from Foreign Policy Magazine. When the imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, Beijing found itself subject to an uncomfortable historical comparison. The last Nobel Peace Prize recipient whose government barred them or their family from attending the ceremony was 1935’s winner Carl von Ossietzky, a German pacifist languishing in a concentration camp. One Nazi newspaper at the time warned the Nobel Committee “not to provoke the German people by rewarding this traitor to our nation.” After Liu, who was serving an 11-year prison sentence on trumped-up charges of subversion, won the prize, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called the decision a “desecration” that awarded a “criminal,” and warned it would harm Norwegian-Chinese relations. China’s economic achievements have been “extraordinary,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement at the time. True. But politically, it lags far behind. Since Liu received the prize, China’s gross domestic product has nearly doubled, to roughly $11 trillion. It now vies with the United States for global economic leadership. To be sure, China’s economy still suffers from many shortcomings. But on issues relating to free trade, sustainable growth and climate change, and even the future of capitalism, China could very well soon be the world’s dominant economic force. Yet the case of Liu — and of thousands of other Chinese intellectuals, thwarted Communist Party reformers and frustrated journalists — shows just how unfit China is for global political leadership. Monday’s announcement that Liu has been moved from prison to a hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer calls to mind another recent incident. In January 2016, the then 21-year-old student Otto Warmbier, who was visiting North Korea, was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster. Sometime in 2016, and for unknown reasons, he fell into a coma. Pyongyang allowed American diplomats to return him to the United States on June 13; he died six days later. Beijing likely released Liu for domestic reasons. If he had died in prison, he could become a martyr for China’s beleaguered human rights community. Pyongyang likely released Warmbier because U.S.-North Korea relations would have gone into a tailspin


United States for global economic leadership. To be sure, China’s economy still suffers from many shortcomings. But on issues relating to free trade, sustainable growth and climate change, and even the future of capitalism, China could very well soon be the world’s dominant economic force. Yet the case of Liu — and of thousands of other Chinese intellectuals, thwarted Communist Party reformers and frustrated journalists — shows just how unfit China is for global political leadership. Monday’s announcement that Liu has been moved from prison to a hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer calls to mind another recent incident. In January 2016, the then 21-year-old student Otto Warmbier, who was visiting North Korea, was sentenced to 15 years at hard labor for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster. Sometime in 2016, and for unknown reasons, he fell into a coma. Pyongyang allowed American diplomats to return him to the United States on June 13; he died six days later. Beijing likely released Liu for domestic reasons. If he had died in prison, he could become a martyr for China’s beleaguered human rights community. Pyongyang likely released Warmbier because U.S.-North Korea relations would have gone into a tailspin had the American died in North Korea. In personal terms, Liu, a renowned dissident who won the Peace Prize for “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China,” has little in common with the young student Warmbier. Rather, the similarity lies with the governments. Beijing, like its horrifically oppressive neighbor to the east, imprisoned a man unjustly — and then released him at the last minute, to spare itself the embarrassment of seeing him dying in prison. Many foreign policy experts believe that the United States has been relinquishing its global leadership role in the months since the election of Donald Trump as president. Inevitably, some have wondered if, and how, China will fill that void. Soon after Trump withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership in January, Beijing stepped up efforts to implement its One Belt, One Road trade strategy, which seeks to economically connect China with nations around the world. Especially after Trump announced his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accords in early June, international affairs commentators began increasingly wondering if China, and not the United States, was now the responsible global power. Liu’s release and imprisonment demonstrate a crucial point


The Pentagon promised citizenship to immigrants who served. Now it might help deport them.

filled medical billets and language specialties — like Russian, Mandarin Chinese and Pashto — which were identified by the Pentagon as vital to the success of military operations, but in short supply among U.S.-born troops. Last year, officials heightened security screenings specifically for MAVNI recruits, diverting “already constrained Army fiscal and manpower resources,” the memo said. A U.S. Army recruiting command virtual town hall on June 16 addressed questions about the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest (MAVNI) program launched by the Defense Department in 2009. The overtasked vetting process and heightened security risk led officials to recommend canceling enlistment contracts for all 1,800 awaiting orders for basic training, and halting the program altogether, according to the memo. Those recruits are in what the military calls the delayed-entry program, a holding pool of recruits assigned training dates in the future. About 1,000 of them have seen their visas expire while waiting for travel orders, which would put them at risk of deportation if their contracts are canceled. Defense Department spokesman Johnny Michael said Monday the agency is reviewing program requirements, declining to confirm the existence of the memo or ongoing internal discussions. The copy obtained by The Washington Post was signed off by Pentagon personnel official Tony Kurta on May 19. It is unclear when the memo was issued and its current status. Margaret Stock, a retired Army officer central in implementing the program in 2009, reviewed the document and called the decision a breach of contract made in bad faith. “It’s terrible. You trusted the Army, who delayed the process, and now they’re going to cancel your contract and have you deported,” Stock said. Stock, now an attorney who practices immigration law in Alaska, said the Department of Homeland Security would possibly welcome the move as the Trump administration seeks to ramp up deportations. The recruits are on government rolls detailing their addresses, phone numbers and legal statuses, making them prime targets for removal. It remains unclear if military officials would hand over that information to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Pentagon is also considering ending the careers of 2,400 part-time troops in the program who have yet to attend basic training. Stock, the retired officer, waved off concerns of heightened risk of the MAVNI recruits cited in the memo, which says 30 percent subject to “enhanced screening” have “unmitigable derogatory information” that could bar them from


The Oxford English Dictionary has a new last word. Bet you can’t pronounce it.

(The Washington Post) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, eighth grader Samara St. Louis was cramming for a spelling bee in 2012, when she stumbled upon a word that quickly became her favorite. “It’s the last word in the dictionary and it’s fun to say and it’s fun to spell,” she told the Post Ledger. She was speaking of “Zyzzyva,” an odd little word that often appeared at as the final entry in many English dictionaries. But the Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many as the standard-bearer of dictionaries, ended with “zythum,” which referred to an ancient Egyptian malt beer. That’s no longer the case. The dictionary just announced several new additions to its vast pages, including St. Louis’s favorite word, “Zyzzyva,” which now has the unique distinction of being the OED’s last word. It’s a noun, pronounced “zih-zih-vah” and defined as “a genus of tropical weevils (family Curculionidae) native to South America and typically found on or near palm trees.” For the uninformed, a weevil is a sort of beetle, generally small and herbivorous. The most familiar is a small brown variety referred to as a rice weevil. As its nickname suggests, these are often found in stored rice. Generally, according to Orkin, “if the weevils manage to find an opening and invade the home, the homeowner often finds hundreds of insects crawling on the walls and windowsills.” It is much less likely you’d find Zyzzyva in your home, however. The insect was discovered in Brazil in 1922 by Irish entomologist Thomas Lincoln Casey, who gave it the strange name. The origin of the word is unknown, and it seemingly has no etymology. Many different theories exist, however, which the OED listed in its blog. Some think Casey was attempting to create a word that, when spoken aloud, mimicked the sound made by these insects. The effect is known as onomatopoeia. “Buzz,” “whoop” and “lisp” are some prime examples. Others, however, think Casey was merely having a laugh and came up with the strange combination of letters — so many z’s! — as a practical joke, knowing it would then be the final word in most English dictionaries. If that’s true, Casey wasn’t incorrect. As the OED blog stated, “Zyzzyva owes much of its currency in English to its notoriety as the last entry in various dictionaries, the ranks of which now include the OED.” Indeed, others beside St. Louis seemed to have


The Senate wants tough new sanctions against Russia, but key U.S. allies are furious. Here’s why.

unhappiness with the implications of the sanctions for European companies, and differing views on the future of European energy security. Europeans fear that America is cutting them out of decision-making Sanctions have been in place against Russia since 2014. They were provoked by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its actions in Eastern Ukraine, not its meddling in foreign elections, from which Europeans have suffered, too. The need for sanctions was a matter of European-American consensus. As Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern and Germany’s Gabriel have noted, there has been a transatlantic consensus that sanctions were necessary, ever since they were introduced. Indeed, the European Union voted last week to extend its own sanctions to Moscow, as if Europe wanted to emphasize that its opposition to the new proposed sanctions does not mean that it is going soft on Russia. However, when the Senate passed a bill renewing sanctions, it changed their justification, playing down Ukraine and emphasizing Russian interference in U.S. elections. This means that the bill may be seen as weakening the U.S. commitment to the sanctions’ original goal — raising the cost for Russia of invading and destabilizing Ukraine. The bill may thus make it harder to keep pressure on Moscow to abide by the peace accord, and hurt the cause of peace more generally. U.S. lawmakers’ unilateral retaliation against Russian may backfire. They are right to be concerned at the broad set of Russian measures aimed at disrupting relations between the United States and its Atlantic allies. Yet it may be that U.S. actions make this worse, by causing further discord between the United States and Europe. The United States is threatening to punish European companies without Europe’s assent Europeans also dislike the Senate bill because it looks to make it harder for E.U. companies to do business with Russia, acting extraterritorially to constrain foreign firms while appearing to offer a helping hand to U.S. energy exporters. The bill would target companies that support “Russian export pipelines.” This could create problems for companies such as Shell, Engie and OMV, all of which have backed Moscow’s Nord Stream II pipeline, which brings Russian natural gas to Western Europe. Washington has long worried that Nord Stream II makes the E.U. too dependent on Russian energy supplies, and some E.U. countries have the same worry. Yet Europeans think that this is basically their own business, not Washington’s. The Senate’s bill explicitly


For the seventh time this year, a Mexican journalist is slain

On June 1, Frida Urtiz, wife of reporter Salvador Adame, and his brother-in-law Franco Urtiz, protest the disappearance of the journalist in Mexico City. (Carlos Jasso/Reuters) More than a month ago, a group of armed men forced television journalist Salvador Adame into a black SUV near a water purifying plant, local news outlets reported. The abductors then fled the area, in the southern part of the violent, gang-ridden Mexican state of Michoacán. Weeks later, authorities found charred human remains in a rural area known as “Barranca del Diablo,” or the “Devil’s Gorge.” Through DNA tests, authorities identified the body as Adame’s, Michoacán’s state prosecutor said Monday, making him the seventh journalist killed this year in Mexico, the deadliest country for journalists in 2017. Adame had worked as a journalist for two decades and was the founder and director of local television station 6TV, covering news and local politics in the Múgica municipality. He had been a “frequent critic of municipal officials,” the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported. Authorities have taken two suspects into custody in connection to the murder: Ignacio Rentería Andrade and Daniel Rubio Ruiz, known as “El Cabezas,” who referred to Adame as his cousin, Michoacán’s state prosecutor said in a statement. “El Cabezas” had an active arrest warrant against him for a different kidnapping in 2015. The leader of a local drug cartel allegedly ordered Adame’s death, prosecutors said, adding that the possible motive was due to “personal problems” between Adame and the gang boss, nicknamed “Chano Peña.” The cartel leader sent Adame insulting phone messages, according to the prosecutor’s statement. #ÚltimoMinuto Encontraron restos calcinados del periodista Salvador Adame en Michoacán https://t.co/xw2z1tmlsK https://t.co/cBwl6IRu7o Experts pointed out that Mexican prosecutors have previously come under fire for ascribing vague motives such as “personal problems” to the killings of journalists. “There’s been a tendency by the authorities to disqualify either the victim’s work as a journalist, or focus on personal issues and such as the possible motive, even if there are clear signs that the victim’s work as a reporter was in fact the motive,” Jan-Albert Hootsen, CPJ correspondent in Mexico told the Guardian. Roberto Rock, a committee chairman under the Inter American Press Association said “given the total impunity we journalists have already reached a stage in which while we do not have certainty regarding the causes of the murder of a colleague we have common cause to