No ‘consistent connection’ between mold problem and adenovirus infections, U-Md. says

and the incidents of adenovirus infection affecting UMD students.” Similarly, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said no link exists between mold and adenovirus. That virus usually spreads from one infected person to another, the CDC said. That can happen through touching or shaking hands, or coughing and sneezing. It also spreads when people touch objects or surfaces on which the virus has landed, and proceed to touch their mouth, nose or eyes before washing their hands. The university on Tuesday said a student had died of an adenovirus-associated illness. The student, identified as 18-year-old Olivia Paregol, had lived in Elkton Hall, a dorm on the College Park campus where mold was discovered this year. Paregol, a freshman at the university, was from Howard County, Md. Maryland learned on Nov. 1 that a student was dealing with adenovirus, David McBride, director of the University Health Center, said in a statement this week. University officials worked with the state Department of Health and Prince George’s County Health Department to monitor for cases since that discovery. “The health center staff has been on high-alert and we have reached out to medical facilities in the area to heighten awareness of this illness,” McBride’s statement said. Since the first case emerged, McBride wrote, five more cases of students with “confirmed adenovirus-associated illness” have been reported. And one specimen, sent to federal officials for testing, showed an adenovirus strain that can lead to more serious health problems. Adenovirus-related illnesses are usually treated with rest, fluids and medicine to reduce a fever, according to the statement. “However, vigilance is extremely important for those with chronic medical problems like asthma, diabetes or illnesses that lower your immune system or if you take medicine that lowers your immune system,” McBride said in the statement. Concerns about mold have lingered this year on the College Park campus, where mold was reported throughout Elkton Hall, home to more than 500 students. The problem, which occurred earlier in the semester, worsened because of “significant rain and high humidity in our area,” according to a university statement at the time. To deal with the mold concerns, Maryland officials hired contractors, cleaned and replaced furniture and installed “commercial-grade dehumidifiers” in hallways. Students were temporarily relocated, a decision the university said it made “out of an abundance of caution." A university spokeswoman on Wednesday said the Elkton cleanup was completed in mid-October.


Major Trump administration climate report says damage is ‘intensifying across the country’

season. The city of Phoenix, which experienced about 80 days per year over 100 degrees around the turn of the century, could see between 120 and 150 such days per year by the end of the century, depending on the pace of emissions. And those who face the most suffering? Society’s most vulnerable, including “lower-income and other marginalized communities,” researchers found. In another major step, the authors of the new report have begun to put dollar signs next to projected climate damage, specifically within the United States. In a worst-case climate-change scenario, the document finds, labor-related losses by the year 2090 as a result of extreme heat — the sort that makes it difficult to work outdoors or seriously lowers productivity — could amount to an estimated $155 billion annually. Deaths from temperature extremes could take an economic toll of $141 billion per year in the same year, while coastal property damage could total $118 billion yearly, researchers found. Of course, mitigating climate change would also mitigate this damage, by as much as 58 percent in the case of high-temperature related deaths, the report finds. The categorical tone of the new assessments reflects scientists' growing confidence in the ability to detect the role of a changing climate in individual extreme events, such as heat waves and droughts. At the same time, increasingly sophisticated computer simulations now allow them to project future changes in highly specific regions of the country. For many Americans, however, no simulations are necessary. The effects of climate change are already playing out daily. “We don’t debate who caused it. You go outside, the streets are flooded. What are you going to do about it? It’s our reality nowadays,” said Susanne Torriente, who also reviewed the report. She is chief resilience officer for Miami Beach, which is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to adapt to rising sea levels. “We need to use this best available data so we can start making decisions to start investing in our future. … It shouldn’t be that complicated or that partisan.” The report is being released at the same time as another major federal climate study that, in contrast, reaches a more positive conclusion — at least with respect to what can be done about climate change. The Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report, which examines all of North America (not just the United States), finds that over a


Sometimes autocrats strengthen their power by expanding women’s rights. Here’s how that works.

local to the national. The party also often has close ties with, or control over, nongovernmental organizations and civil society movements. Both Ethiopia and Rwanda have this kind of arrangement. While most autocrats create some kind of political party or movement to cloak their power, only in a minority of cases do these parties have organizational strength that’s independent of the ruler. One test of this is whether the party can change leaders and still hold on to power; the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) did this in both 2012 and 2018. How is an autocratic ruling party strengthened by women’s rights and women’s political power? Unlike countries governed by a military junta or a monarch, which rely on a small elite for political survival, countries governed by parties need broader support in society to survive. These parties are more likely to provide goods and rights to at least some of their citizens, since doing so helps the party stay in power. Supporting gender equality — or at least seeming to — can help the party win women’s support. Ethiopia’s rulers have been shaken by two years of anti-government unrest. The new prime minister, Abiy, has promised sweeping political and economic overhauls to ensure his regime’s survival. Expanding women’s cabinet representation is one of his first moves. Presumably, Abiy recognizes that women’s political support will help solidify his hold on power. Abiy can appoint a gender-balanced cabinet because the EPRDF has long cultivated female leaders. Our research indicates that dictatorships with strong ruling parties often have dedicated women’s wings or ties with the women’s movement. These help spread the regime’s policies and vision for the country to the people. At the same time, they supply loyal female politicians to fill parliamentary and cabinet posts. In Ethiopia, the EPRDF’s Women’s League has served these functions. The new minister of peace has held numerous party-appointed positions, including as minister of women’s affairs and as speaker of Parliament. Autocratic ruling parties also foster women’s support through gender quotas for legislatures. In 2004, the EPRDF introduced a 30 percent gender quota, meaning that at least 30 percent of the candidates running for office on a party’s ticket must be female. Women fill 39 percent of the national legislature’s seats. Rwanda is known for having the world’s highest proportion of women in its national legislature, at 61 percent. The ruling party introduced a mandatory


Trump is not a champion of human rights. He is a clueless clown.

In Riyadh, they must be laughing at President Trump. In Pyongyang, too, and in Tehran. In Beijing and, of course, in Moscow, they must be laughing until it hurts. They look at Washington and they don’t see a champion of freedom and human rights. They see a preening, clueless clown. Trump’s reaction — or non-reaction — to the Saudi regime’s brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a holiday-season gift to autocrats around the globe. It shows them that if you just shower Trump with over-the-top flattery, feed him some geopolitical mumbo jumbo and make vague promises to perhaps buy some American-made goods in the future, he will literally let you get away with murder. Recall what happened: The Saudi government lured Khashoggi, a contributing columnist for The Post, to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where a team of assassins lay in wait. Khashoggi was killed and his body dismembered. The CIA has reportedly concluded with “high confidence” — as close to certainty as the agency gets — that the assassination was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler. After weeks of hemming and hawing, the White House put out a statement Tuesday from Trump making clear that for the murder of Khashoggi — who lived in Virginia, was a permanent U.S. resident and had children who are U.S. citizens — the Saudi regime will face no consequences. Zero. Not even a slap on the wrist. Despite the CIA’s assessment that the crown prince ordered the killing, the White House statement waffles on whether he even knew about it in advance: “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said the same thing later to reporters, adding, “We are with Saudi Arabia. We’re staying with Saudi Arabia.” Even more appalling, the statement — which is littered with exclamation points, suggesting Trump himself had a hand in writing it — attacks and defames the victim. Khashoggi was a respected journalist who sometimes criticized the Saudi government. The president of the United States suggests he deserved to die. “Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an ‘enemy of the state’ and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that,” the statement says. That is a rhetorical device known as paraleipsis — saying something by professing not to say it — and its use to suggest the


Thousands of U.S. troops celebrate Thanksgiving at the Mexican border

America’s military men and women are away from home this Thanksgiving, making sacrifices to secure our freedom and to protect our southern border,” Army Brig. Gen. Mark T. Simerly, the commander of troop support for the Defense Logistics Agency, said in a statement. He said the military was providing them “the very best Thanksgiving meal our country has to offer.” A spokeswoman for U.S. Army North, which oversees the Army’s part of the deployment, said that Thursday would be a “light-duty day” for troops deployed along the border, meaning they would be asked to do little, if any, work. No troops had been sent home to their regular duty stations or moved among the border mission sites, she said. Many bases host traditional Thanksgiving meals in their dining halls. Those deployed farther afield often find more-creative ways to celebrate, whether that means frying a turkey on a combat outpost in Afghanistan or eating Thanksgiving dinner on a submarine. Often a select few get treated to meals with senior leaders, who typically visit the troops on Thanksgiving and Christmas as a show of thanks for their sacrifice. President George W. Bush famously flew into Iraq under the cover of night to mark Thanksgiving with the troops in 2003, months after the invasion. The tradition of making sure that forces deployed over the Thanksgiving holiday receive their turkey dates back decades. The Pentagon supplied turkey and cranberry sauce to troops serving overseas during World War II. The tradition followed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the troops deployed to the border in Texas marked Thanksgiving in place, with the turkey sent over by the Pentagon. Others deployed to California and Arizona will go to military bases near their border outposts to celebrate the holiday, according to a spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency. Traditionally, Thanksgiving festivities among deployed troops have been as uncontroversial as military events come, with the Pentagon widely publicizing sacrifices that those in uniform make while serving the country over the holidays. But questions about the deployment of roughly 5,800 troops to the border with Mexico have made the Thanksgiving celebrations there something of a political football. Critics have accused President Trump of using the military for a political stunt, deploying forces to the border to rally his base before this month’s midterm elections. He has been focused on Central American migrants moving through Mexico with hopes


Haitian immigrants revived America’s turkey town. This Thanksgiving together might be their last.

took some members of the town by surprise. “We had people all over town we hadn’t seen before speaking a language none of us had ever heard,” said Brown, the Mount Olive town manager. Women walked back from the grocery store with bags on their heads. Newcomers crowded into houses because they didn’t know where else to go. Brown knew the immigrants were there to work at the Butterball plant, which was the largest turkey processing facility in the world and always faced high turnover. The town is famous for being the hometown of the pickle company that shares its name, but Butterball has the labor-intensive plant that needs the most workers. And these jobs can be very difficult. One recent listing says certain workers must be able to lift “up to 57 pounds” and be able to work “with animal organs and animal feces.” “It’s tough, dirty work, and not everyone can do it,” Brown said. Christa Leupen, a Butterball spokeswoman, said finding enough workers for the facility has long been a challenge. Even with the Haitian immigrants at the facility now, the company is seeking to hire 100 new people each week, in part to deal with turnover and demand. Asked about the Haitian workers, she said, “These folks have been working here for a long time and have been part of the family of the operation.” If they were all deported, especially at once, “that’s a significant blow.” Mount Olive had 4,700 people before the earthquake, Brown said, and its population grew by 30 percent when Haitians arrived that summer. He said it helped kick the local economy back to life. “We’ve got a Walmart, and they are buying big-screen televisions,” Brown said. “They are buying cars. They are buying groceries.” He said they would go together to the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Longtime residents would see Haitians spending money in their town every day. But few of the new workers spoke English or knew U.S. customs and laws. Brown needed to find a way to help them adapt. That winter, the town received a complaint that there were 25 Haitians living in a single small home. Faced with the decision on whether to evict them, Brown told his aides to let them stay, fearing that putting them out in freezing temperatures could put lives at risk. But he knew changes were necessary. A few months


Maryland could see smaller, and fewer, oysters this year. Blame all that rain.

As shucking season begins, the forecast for Chesapeake Bay oysters is worrisome. Record rainfall has made the water less salty — and oysters need salt to thrive. Harvesters may find fewer of them this year, and many will be too small. The impact on the struggling shellfish could go well beyond this winter. If climate change means spring and summer deluges become more common, that will be one more obstacle to the effort to rebuild the bay’s once-thriving oyster population. Jim Mullin, president of the Maryland Oystermen’s Association, said he’s afraid increased rainfall could set back years of work to help oysters. “You can plant as many oysters in the bay as you want, but they’re not going to survive if this keeps up,” he said. If Hollywood Oyster’s current crop is any indication, this year has been a challenging one for oyster growth. Owner Tal Petty says the oyster farm off the Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County usually sees a “bump” in oysters’ size in the spring, once waters warm, and again in the fall. But this year, there was no spring bump. “The conditions were there to grow, but the salt wasn’t there,” Petty said. “I’ve just never experienced that in my 20 years.” Increased rainfall and other issues associated with climate change influence big decisions Maryland must make about how to manage its oyster population. Rising and increasingly acidic oceans also could affect the way the shellfish fare in the long run. Under Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the state has worked to balance commerce and conservation. The debate is a contentious one because with oysters, more is at stake than the species. The mollusk naturally filters impurities from the water. So the recovery of the oyster population means recovery of the bay. Allison Colden, Maryland fisheries scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said that if heavy rain becomes more routine and harms oyster reproduction, the job of managing oyster harvests would become more difficult. “The number you can take out continues to get smaller and smaller if you want to sustain the population,” she said. Too much rain Much of Maryland has experienced 60 inches of precipitation so far in 2018 — a foot and a half more than what falls in a typical calendar year. The rain has kept the brackish waters of many Chesapeake tributaries more fresh and less salty than normal. Oysters have


How Gibraltar almost stopped a Brexit deal

received written assurances that meant that in the future Madrid and London could directly negotiate on Brexit issues relating to Gibraltar. On Sunday, the leaders of the 28 E.U. countries are expected to meet in Brussels at a carefully choreographed summit to approve Brexit plans and an accompanying political declaration on the future ties between Britain and the 27 E.U. nations that will say goodbye officially in March. The Brexit package, which is very much British Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal, has been painstakingly crafted. But it’s been a tortured path: 17 months of sometimes bitter negotiations, nonstop bickering within May’s own leadership team, ongoing concerns about how to handle the border between E.U.-member Ireland and Northern Ireland, the resignation of a string of ministers including two Brexit secretaries, and a new vocabulary of Brexit-related puns and put-downs from British tabloids. Around 30,000 Britons live in Gibraltar, a 2.6-square-mile rocky outpost that shares a land border with Spain. It was famously the headquarters for Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower during the planning stages of the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942. The sovereignty issues around Gibraltar may have hit the headlines this week, but they are long-festering. Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht, but it is still claimed by Spain. In a 2002 referendum, its citizens overwhelming rejected a proposal of joint British-Spanish rule, instead opting to remain under the sovereignty of Britain only. But the two countries have deep ties with each other — an estimated 12,000 workers cross the border every day. In the 2016 E.U. referendum, Gibraltarians voted 96 percent to remain in the European Union. May has said any Brexit deal must apply to the “whole U.K. family,” including Gibraltar. Spain can’t officially “veto” the withdrawal agreement, a 585-page legally binding agreement, but the E.U. has worked hard at presenting a united front during Brexit negotiations and it wanted a consensus Sunday. Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, tweeted on Saturday afternoon that there was unity and solidarity from the E.U. side. He added: “No one has reasons to be happy.” Even with the Gibraltar issue solved at the 11th hour, May’s headaches are far from over. If the deal is finalized in Brussels this weekend, as expected, May still needs to convince the majority of British lawmakers to back her deal — arguably her biggest challenge yet.


Dispelling deadly myths about the flu vaccine

their newborns. The flu vaccine appears to also protect people from long-lasting influenza complications, such as heart attacks and strokes, which become more likely during a period of inflammation that can follow an initial infection, Schaffner says. And the vaccine remains especially important for older people who are frail or on the edge of frailty. For them, the flu can be like the first domino in a series of bad health consequences. So far, this year’s flu season is starting off slowly and looking fairly conventional, with sporadic cases and small outbreaks starting to occur around the country. The H1N1 strain is circulating, and for now, the vaccine appears to be a good match, says Gregory Poland, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group in Rochester, Minn. But cases tend to peak in February, and there is still plenty of time for things to go haywire. That’s a lesson Poland learned in winter 2000, when he was on the committee that decided which strains to put in the vaccine. That year, the flu season started out looking tame. Then, in early November, a new variant showed up in the United States and spread rapidly, leading to a particularly bad flu season. Hundreds of millions of new influenza mutants form every few minutes, Poland says. “People tend to think of the flu as a static virus, but it is an incestuous cesspool of viruses,” he says. “Prediction is impossible.” Studies consistently show that the most effective motivator is an insistent recommendation from a health-care provider. But fewer than half of Americans got the flu shot last year. To avoid the annual battle, some scientists are working on a universal vaccine that would cover all strains. Others are trying to make the flu vaccine easier to deliver with patches or other methods that don’t require needles. For now, there are nine options, Poland says, including a version for older people, a newly re-approved nasal mist, a vaccine made in cells instead of eggs, and one that can be delivered by jet injector, a high-pressure stream of liquid. Poland recommends that people talk with their health-care providers about which is best for them. As for the worry that the flu shot might give you the flu, Thompson offers reassurance. “This is a vaccine made with a killed virus,” he says. “It is literally impossible for it to give you the flu.” health-science@washpost.com


How the Khashoggi killing ruinously defined Trump

Sometimes a middling foreign policy crisis produces a presidential decision of far more consequence. It clarifies and crystallizes the executive’s core instincts, thereby establishing a road map for managing the United States that countries around the world then follow. President Trump’s decision to excuse Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman for ordering the murder and dismemberment of one of his own citizens will be one of those junctures. Trump’s “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t” proclamation last Tuesday looked like a hasty, Thanksgiving Eve attempt to rid himself of a troubling mess in a part of the world that he wishes he could forget. Yet like President Barack Obama’s retreat from his own red line on Syria’s use of chemical weapons, Trump’s failure to exact accountability for the slaying of journalist Jamal Khashoggi will resonate far beyond the Middle East. In Obama’s case, the world learned that the U.S. president was not willing to back up U.S. leadership with military force, even at the expense of his own credibility. Russia and China responded accordingly; the invasions of the South China Sea and Ukraine followed. The Khashoggi affair similarly confirms several fundamental truths about Trump. The first and most obvious is that his narrow, idiosyncratic and sometimes personal interests take precedence over the defense of traditional American values and even the expectation of honest treatment by an ally. Not just Mohammed’s fellow Arab rulers but despots everywhere will study this case and conclude: If you heap flattery on Trump, court him with exotic entertainment, patronize his family businesses and promise to buy American, you can get away with outrages that would once have ensured censure and sanction from Washington. The United States has always tolerated human rights abuses by friendly dictators, but there were limits — as Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, the shah of Iran and, more recently, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak discovered. By refusing to impose sanctions on the Saudi crown prince even after the CIA concluded he was responsible for the Khashoggi murder, Trump has set a new standard. No atrocity is too much — not even sawing up a critical journalist and then baldly lying about it to the president and secretary of state. The resulting open season on dissidents, journalists and human rights activists by regimes that used to worry about U.S. reaction will be compounded by a second Trump message: Abductions and murders in other countries are now


Trump might see the media as his enemy. But Jamal Khashoggi deserves better.

come from an American president: This cannot stand. No amount of lost deals, even ones worth billions of dollars; no danger of escalating oil prices; no worries of strategic alliances can outweigh the responsibility of the president of the United States to stand tall for a free press and freedom of speech everywhere. The only acceptable response is this: If a country retaliates with the torture and murder of a journalist representing a U.S. news outlet, there will be a steep price to pay. “America first” is a Trumpian message well-regarded across much of the heartland and within Trump’s solid base. The president cited the theme among his reasons for giving Saudi Arabia a pass in Khashoggi’s murder. But in kowtowing to the Saudis, Trump seemed to indicate that U.S. success is dependent upon Saudi largess, hardly a message conveying American strength. Just a week ago, I had the privilege of speaking with graduate students at the Columbia Journalism School in New York. As I often do when addressing students in various settings, I defended many of Trump’s attacks on journalists whose personal politics lead to biased reporting on this president. Were I to be in front of those students today, I could make no excuse for the president’s lame response to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In his Fox News interview with Wallace, Trump said he has not listened to the audio recording of Khashoggi’s brutal murder. He said he was advised against hearing it, because it was a disturbing “suffering” tape. Listen to the recording, Mr. President. Listen to the recording. And when you hear it, remember, this was not merely an attack on a Saudi dissident for political reprisal. This was an attack on journalism itself, a vivid demonstration of what some nations would do to the very concept of a free and independent press — torture it, kill it, dismember it. Trump often, understandably, demonstrates disdain for a news media dominated by a liberal mindset that despises him and what he stands for. But he cannot allow his scorn for organizations — even those that sometimes abuse their journalistic platforms — to diminish the ideal of journalism itself, which remains both the bedrock of a free and informed society, as well as one of the most important foundations of democracy. That is what he must defend and protect in the tragic case of Jamal Khashoggi.


E.U. leaders approve Brexit plan, setting up December vote in British Parliament, where it faces stiff opposition

At a carefully choreographed summit in Brussels, the leaders of the remaining 27 European Union members accepted the nearly 600-page Withdrawal Agreement, which spells out the terms for Britain’s exit from the E.U. on March 29. The Brexit package has followed a tortured path: 17 months of sometimes bitter negotiations, disagreement within May’s own leadership team, ongoing concerns about how to handle the border between E.U. member Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the resignation of a string of ministers, including two Brexit secretaries. Now the challenge will be for British Prime Minister Theresa May to get the unpopular plan through her own Parliament. This is a developing story. It will be updated.


May’s plan for phasing Britain out of the E.U.

The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by British Prime Minister Theresa May honors the U.K. commitment to pay its share of the E.U. budget until it leaves the economic bloc. The deal includes a 21-month transition period, beginning in March 2019, which could be extended for another year or even longer. During the transition period, little would change as the U.K. and the E.U. negotiate their future trade and security relationship — meaning citizens on both sides would continue to move freely without a visa. During the transition, the U.K. would continue to abide by all E.U. rules and regulations and obey the rulings of the European Court of Justice. During the transition, the U.K. would no longer have its members serving in the European Parliament and other E.U. rulemaking bodies. In order to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland, a nation in the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the E.U., the two sides agree to a “backstop,” a kind of insurance policy. This backstop means that if the two sides fail to achieve a future trade deal that would free both countries from the need for inspections, controls and tariffs at the Irish border, then the U.K. would remain under an E.U. customs union umbrella. The Parliament’s “European Research Group,” composed of hard-line Brexiteers, who favor a decisive break from the European Union, issued a white paper outlining their objections to proposed Withdrawal Agreement. Their main points are ● “The UK would hand over £39 billion ($50 billion) of taxpayers’ money with nothing guaranteed in return.” ● “The UK would remain a ‘rule taker’ over large areas of E.U. law.” ● “It would lock us in a Customs Union without the ability to leave.” ● “It would create internal borders within the UK, undermining the integrity of the Union.” ● “The European Court of Justice would remain in control of the agreement and large areas of E.U. law directly effective in the UK.”


E.U. leaders approve Brexit plan, setting up vote in British Parliament, where it faces stiff opposition

as a self-inflicted wound that hurts British voters. According to the British news media, as many as 90 lawmakers of May’s own Conservative Party have said they plan to vote against it, alongside members of the opposition Labour Party. The plan seeks to avoid a “hard” border between the Republic of Ireland, which is remaining in the European Union, and Northern Ireland, which will depart. It also seeks to prevent an internal split between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. To do so, the two sides agreed that if they fail to come up with a better plan before the end of Britain’s transition period, London will remain locked inside the European customs union, obligated to respect most E.U. regulations on goods that would pass between the two sides, including tariffs with the rest of the world. In addition to the divorce deal, May and her European counterparts approved a political declaration on the future relationship between the two partners. Unlike the withdrawal agreement, which will be legally binding after it is approved by the British and European parliaments, the political document is loosely worded and aspirational, an outline for future talks that will probably take years to complete. It contains a list of hoped-for outcomes on trade, customs inspections, tariffs, fishery rights, aviation and the ability of citizens to visit and live in the other’s territory. Even the vague aspirations, however, are likely to disappoint British business interests. For example, while May has long sought to replicate the “frictionless” trade that exists today between members of the European Union, a post-Brexit Britain will face “separate markets and distinct legal orders,” according to the political declaration, while aligning with E.U. rules. And London’s financial center, one of the largest in the world, will see its access to Europe diminished when it surrenders its “passport” rights to move money. Boris Johnson, the former British foreign secretary and lead campaigner for Brexit, said on Saturday that Britain was “on the verge of a historic blunder.” He said May’s withdrawal deal surrenders too much power to Brussels. What will happen to the withdrawal agreement if it is voted down by the British Parliament is unclear. May could put it up for a vote again. She could face a leadership challenge or new elections. Britain could even rerun its separation referendum, although few analysts say this is realistic. Brexiteers want negotiators


Theresa May’s unloved Brexit plan is much like the prime minister herself

Rees-Mogg event festooned with signs reading “Global Britain,” Crace concluded, “Global Britain turned out to be seven old, white men waiting for the golf club bar to open.” Since her disastrous performance in the 2017 general-election campaign, in which she lost the Tory’s majority and had to be propped up by a single-issue unionist party in Northern Ireland, May has been branded — by peers in the House of Lords and former colleagues who sat in the cabinet rooms at 10 Downing Street beside her — as “a dead woman walking” and “the worst prime minister in recent history.” And yet, May remains. Her Brexit deal has survived the past two tumultuous weeks. That is saying something. The nearly 600-page Withdrawal Agreement, which spells out the terms for Britain’s exit from the E.U. on March 29, is scheduled to be voted on by the leaders of the remaining 27 E.U. member states on Sunday in Brussels. The Europeans are expected to pass the plan in 90 minutes, barring derailment over fishing rights or the future status of Gibraltar. Then the Withdrawal Agreement would return for a December vote in the British Parliament, where again its critics say May’s plan is doomed. But is it, really? After her deal was savaged last week in Parliament — where barely a soul stood to support her — May confessed to the Daily Mail that it had been “a pretty heavy couple of days.” The 62-year-old prime minister said her husband, Philip, her “rock,” made beans on toast and poured her a large Welsh whisky — and then she carried on. Alan Duncan, a Conservative Party member of Parliament who went to Oxford University with May, told the prime minister he did not know how she could take the abuse heaped on her in the House of Commons. “And she just sort of shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘Well, on to the next thing,’ ” Duncan told The Washington Post. “She is steadfast and she doesn’t get blown off course, and I think her steeliness is incredible,” he said. “She might not be the most exciting big character in the world, but, oh my God, those big characters would not have the same qualities she has been showing.” Tim Shipman Shipman said he saw a cabinet minister earlier this week who told him any man would have resigned if he had gone through what


Who becomes the U.S.'s best friend in Europe after Britain leaves the E.U.?

in the world. European and British leaders will gather here Sunday to try to finalize terms of their split. A draft plan mooted this past week seeks to preserve close ties between Britain and the United States in areas including security, an American priority. Leaders in London and Washington like to boast of their “special relationship,” the product of centuries of political, cultural and linguistic ties and trust. The reality, say policymakers, is that Britain outside the European Union is a lot less special. Already, countries across the European Union are clamoring to be the new U.S. sweetheart. Ireland bought a big building in Washington to expand its embassy. Poland promised to build “Fort Trump” on Polish soil. Dutch diplomats are excitedly pitching themselves to Americans as British in stance and attitude. “There will be a vacuum,” said Stefano Stefanini, a former senior Italian diplomat who is now a security consultant in Brussels. “Countries including mine, Poland, others, they’d like to take some of the slack [of Britain’s absence]. But they don’t have the kind of relationship that the U.K. has with the U.S.” And there are potential public policy consequences for Britons, also. “Every U.S. president I have known has considered our relevance to America to be enhanced by our membership of the European Union,” former Conservative prime minister John Major said in a speech in London last month. “Our value as an ally of America will decline. Our friends, the Americans, are hardheaded about power. It is romantic folly to think otherwise. Be in no doubt — if the U.K. can no longer serve America’s interests in Europe, she will look elsewhere for someone who can,” he said. That dynamic undermines a key argument of the Brexiteers during their 2016 campaign to sever ties with the European Union. Many advocates thought an exit from the E.U. would make the special relationship even more special — and that a free-trade deal with the United States would be the first order of business after Brexit. Then came Trump’s election, coasting on the same surge of anti-immigrant, anti-establishment sentiment that bolstered Brexit. Although British Prime Minister Theresa May has tried to stay on good terms with her American counterpart, Trump has rarely returned the favor: He ripped into her in a phone call earlier this month about Brexit, criticized what he said were unfair trade deals with the Europeans and decried


How an ‘outbreak culture’ worsened the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa

When Ebola broke out in West Africa in 2014, it spread with dizzying speed — and outwitted responders. By the time the epidemic ended in 2016, more than 28,000 people had been infected and 11,325 had died. It didn’t have to be that way, write Pardis Sabeti and Lara Salahi. In “Outbreak Culture: The Ebola Crisis and the Next Epidemic,” they uncover the chaos behind the world’s response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, and posit how it could have been avoided. Sabeti, a genetic researcher, was on a team that determined when and where Ebola first jumped from animals to humans. But as she collaborated with officials on the ground in West Africa, she noticed the response was uncoordinated. Interpersonal tensions brewed. Politics and logistics slowed down the response process. All too often, fear prevailed, with disastrous consequences. Salahi, a journalist, and Sabeti make a case for what is called “outbreak culture,” a pernicious, toxic situation that evolves during the flare-up of an infectious disease. This culture thrives on denial, blame and mistrust. Ethics can fall to the wayside as bad actors use epidemics to bolster their careers; responders on the ground scramble for the resources they need. It is as predictable as the plot of a bad movie — and it happens over and over again, the authors write. Rooted in personal stories and testimonies, the book is a critical, poignant postmortem of the epidemic. But the authors aren’t content to just list the many failures of the last crisis. They lay out a plan to sidestep such outbreak cultures and allow organizations to coordinate, information to flow freely, and public health campaigns to thwart deadly diseases. “The next epidemic demands better,” they conclude. Their words are painfully timely. Africa faces another Ebola contagion — this time in an active war zone in Congo.


We are Jamal Khashoggi’s daughters. We promise his light will never fade.

Noha Khashoggi and Razan Jamal Khashoggi are the daughters of Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was a complex man, but to us, his daughters, he was simply “Dad.” Our family has always been proud of his work, and we understood the awe and grandeur with which some people viewed him. But in our lives, he was “Baba” — a loving man with a big heart. We loved it when he took us every weekend to the bookstore. We loved looking through his passport, deciphering new locations from pages covered with exit and entry stamps. And we loved digging through the years of musty magazines and newspaper clippings that surrounded his desk. As children, we also knew our father as a traveler. His work took him everywhere, but he always returned to us with gifts and fascinating stories. We would stay up nights wondering where he was and what he was doing, trusting that no matter how long he was gone, we would see him again, wide-armed, waiting for a hug. As bittersweet as it was, we knew from a young age that Dad’s work meant that his reach extended far beyond our family, that he was an important man whose words had an effect on people over a great distance. Throughout our lives, it was common for people to stop us on the street to shake hands with Dad, telling him how much they valued and appreciated him. To many, our father was more than just a public figure — his work touched their lives powerfully and resonated with them personally. And it still does. We grew up with our parents’ love of knowledge. They took us to countless museums and historical sites. While driving from Jiddah to Medina, Dad would point out different areas and tell us their historical significance. He surrounded himself with books and always dreamed of having more. And in all he read, he never discriminated, fully absorbing every opinion. His love of books taught him to form his own thoughts. He taught us to do the same. His life was a series of unexpected twists and turns, and we were all on the same ride. Not many people can say they got fired from the same job twice a few years apart, as Dad was as the editor in chief of the Al-Watan newspaper. But no matter what happened, he was an optimist, seeing every challenge


Trump’s kowtowing to Saudi Arabia should be the last straw

President Trump’s inability to criticize and penalize Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for participation in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi governmental official who fled and became a Post contributing columnist, is scandalous. Despite the CIA’s evidence that Prince Mohammed bin Salman supervised that killing, Mr. Trump is stubbornly refusing to stop the United States’ dealings and cooperation with the Saudis. The crown prince should be removed from office and prosecuted for a murder conspiracy by the Saudis. Meanwhile, the U.S. government must stop supplying his country with millions of dollars in military weapons and assisting in bombings in Yemen, which are killing Yemeni civilians and harming the lives of millions more there. Thomas Dennis Williams President Trump’s reaction to Mr. Trump, just as he has before with Russia’s election meddling and North Korea’s promise to denuclearize, unabashedly accepted the word of a brutal dictator as the truth. Now, Mr. Trump’s own premier intelligence agency, the CIA, has concluded that the Saudi prince ordered Mr. Khashoggi’s murder. Mr. Trump’s response: “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” The truth does not seem to matter to Mr. Trump, especially when it is an inconvenient truth. Mr. Trump views Saudi Arabia as the linchpin of his Middle Eastern foreign policy — and claims that the Saudis will buy more than $100 billion in arms from us and create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. (Both claims are highly hyperbolic.) To Mr. Trump, Mr. Khashoggi is acceptable collateral damage. As Mr. Trump has demonstrated so many times, in so many ways, he will not let a little matter such as right and wrong stand in the way of what he wants to do. Ken Derow It ought to be With his latest deference, this time to Saudi Arabia, despite what every intelligence agency and every astute national leader knows, President Trump has for the third time gone into kowtow mode. He has absolved the Saudi crown prince, who all others acknowledge directed the ghastly murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This after the kowtow to Kim Jong Un, the sad man who heads the absolutely inconsequential North Korea, and the earlier kowtow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a man with a visceral hatred of the United States, and who for his entire adult life has done everything in his power to disrupt our democracy. It is time


Finland and Denmark join Germany in halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia

BERLIN — Denmark and Finland both announced Thursday that they would halt future arms exports to Saudi Arabia, following a similar decision by neighboring Germany earlier this month. The Danish and Finnish announcements come the same week President Trump backed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite the CIA assessing that he ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Denmark’s ban includes goods that can be used both for military and civilian purposes but is still less expansive than the German measures, which also included sales that had already been approved. While the Nordic countries are tiny arms equipment exporters in comparison with bigger players such as the United States, Britain or France, their decision will probably exacerbate concerns within the European arms industry of a growing anti-Saudi consensus in the European Union and beyond. Even though Trump has suggested he will put Saudi investments and arms exports revenue above human rights concerns, lawmakers across the political spectrum and on both sides of the Atlantic have grown increasingly alarmed. Apart from the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October, a Saudi-led coalition has been accused of numerous human rights violations in Yemen since 2015. On Wednesday, international humanitarian organization Save the Children said 85,000 children had starved to death there since the beginning of the intervention. Speaking on Danish television Thursday, Denmark’s foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, confirmed that the “continued worsening of the already terrible situation in Yemen and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi” had led to the exports ban. He urged other E.U. members to also reevaluate their stances. On Thursday, Finland also stopped arms equipment exports to the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen. In its announcement, the Finnish government explicitly cited the “alarming humanitarian situation in Yemen.” While Denmark, Finland and Germany are being celebrated by human rights advocates for following through on their threats to halt sales to the kingdom, bigger arms exporters have pointed out the two nations have far less to lose domestically than others. And Germany has in the past shown it is willing to break its own promises whenever pressure by human rights groups drops. After the current government vowed to halt all arms sales earlier this year, it approved new sales months later — only to halt them once again after the Khashoggi killing.


A Saudi agent discussed hiding Khashoggi’s remains before his death, prosecutors say

involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi had discussed concealing Khashoggi’s dismembered remains during a telephone call the day before the killing, Turkish prosecutors said Monday. During a telephone discussion on Oct. 1 between the agent, Mansour Othman M. Abbahussain, and a Saudi businessman who owns a villa in Turkey, “the conversation was regarding what would be done to destroy/hide the body of the killed journalist” after it was dismembered, a prosecutor’s statement said. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor who had written columns critical of current Saudi leaders, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 by members of a 15-man team that had been sent to Turkey from Saudi Arabia, according to Turkish and Saudi prosecutors. His remains have not been recovered. The phone discussion, if confirmed, bolsters Turkey’s repeated assertions that Khashoggi’s killing had been planned. Saudi prosecutors say that the agents had orders only to persuade or force Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia and that they killed the journalist during a struggle in the consulate. Information about the phone call led Turkish investigators to search two villas in northwestern Turkey early Monday, including one owned by the Saudi businessman who is said to have spoken with the agent, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. The businessman was not in Turkey when Khashoggi was killed and has not visited the country since, the news agency said. In addition to the search of the villas, security agents, using sniffer dogs and drones, drained a well in the yard of one of the houses. It was not clear whether the search, in Yalova province, turned up any evidence. Turkey’s steady release of investigative details has kept Saudi Arabia’s leaders on the defensive and forced a belated Saudi admission that its agents were responsible for Khashoggi’s killing. The investigation has focused attention on the policies of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who has imprisoned rivals, clerics and independent political activists at home. To counter the negative publicity, Mohammed embarked on a tour of Arab states last week, visiting closely allied leaders in Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. He was scheduled to visit Tunisia on Tuesday. Activists and journalists who protested Mohammed’s visit in the Tunisian capital Monday displayed a banner of the crown prince holding a chain saw — a reference to Khashoggi’s dismemberment, Bloomberg News reported. kareem.fahim@washpost.com


U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley condemns Russia’s ‘outlaw’ actions against Ukrainian ships

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused Russia on Monday of taking “outlaw actions” against Ukrainian ships in an incident at sea this weekend and vowed that sanctions punishing Russia’s annexation of Crimea would continue. Speaking at an emergency meeting of the Security Council called by both Russia and Ukraine, Haley said the United States would welcome a normal relationship with Russia. “But outlaw actions like this one continue to make that impossible,” she said. “The United States will maintain its Crimea-related sanctions against Russia. Indeed, further Russian escalation of this kind will only make matters worse.” Haley pointedly noted she had spoken with President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before coming to the Security Council. So far, she is the most senior U.S. official to speak publicly on Sunday’s incident. She said Russia had acted illegally, and arrogantly, when it blocked three Ukrainian ships traversing the Kerch Strait as they sailed from Odessa on the Black Sea to Mariupol on the Azov Sea. They opened fire on the fleet, injuring six sailors. The ships, and at least 23 sailors, are now in Russian custody. Despite a bilateral treaty granting both countries the right to use the Azov Sea, Moscow closed the strait to the Ukrainians by positioning a cargo vessel beneath a bridge that it finished building only two months ago. The maritime confrontation has turned long-simmering tensions between Ukraine and Russia into a full boil. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared he was implementing martial law for 30 days, which would ban protests and give Poroshenko more latitude in dealing with Moscow. Ukrainian officials warned Moscow could be preparing more acts of aggression, including a land assault on the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Russian officials accused Ukraine of attempting to stir up tensions and stoke conflict. Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s deputy envoy, said the Ukrainian ships had ignored Russian calls to stop for a customs check made necessary by threats from Ukrainian radicals to blow up the Russian bridge over the Kerch Strait. He said the Ukrainian ships had illegally crossed Russia’s border. “We consider such steps a violation of Russian sovereignty,” he said, labeling Ukraine’s actions “banditry.” Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N., Volodymyr Yelchenko, called Polyanskiy’s account of the incident “an outright lie” and urged the Security Council to tighten sanctions against Russia. “This is the only way,” he said. “Because Russia doesn’t


Turkish police raid villa outside Istanbul in search for Khashoggi’s body

ongoing investigation. Photographs of the raid showed police officers standing in front of a grand two-story villa surrounded by woods. Drones and sniffer dogs were also being used in the search, the state news agency said. It remains to be seen whether the new information will help in Turkey’s search for Khashoggi’s remains, which could provide critical information about how he was killed. Turkey and Saudi Arabia have said that Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post who had criticized the Saudi leadership, was killed by the team of Saudi agents in the consulate. But they have sharply disagreed about the events leading up to his death. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the killing was premeditated and that it was ordered by the “highest levels” of the Saudi government. Turkish officials have detailed what they say is evidence of Saudi planning — including the scouting of locations where Khashoggi’s body could be dumped — as well as extensive attempts by Saudi agents to cover up the crime. Intelligence officials in several Western countries say the killing was almost certainly carried out with either the authorization or knowledge of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler. Saudi prosecutors have denied that Mohammed knew about the killing and have cast it as a rogue operation carried out by agents who disobeyed official orders to either persuade or force Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia. And the prosecutors have professed ignorance about the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains, saying that the Saudi agents turned over his body to a local “collaborator.” Prosecutors have not named the collaborator or publicly released a sketch of his likeness that they said has been produced. Turkish officials have said they strongly suspect that no such person exists. Police previously searched areas in Yalova as well as around Istanbul, including the Saudi Consulate, the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general and a forest on the outskirts of the city. As Khashoggi’s children have issued emotional appeals for the return of their father’s body, Turkish officials have accused Saudi Arabia of withholding information that could aid in the search. Abahussain was among 17 Saudi nationals who were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department this month for their role in the killing. A news article four years ago described a man with the same name as a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi civil


85,000 children may have starved to death in Yemen. They deserve more attention.

The Post’s extensive coverage of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi by the government of Saudi Arabia is understandable given the egregious nature of the act and his association with The Post. However, on the same day The Post published a front-page article describing how Mr. Khashoggi’s death was complicating the influence efforts of the defense industry on our relations with Saudi Arabia, “Defense industry faces rare backlash” [Nov. 22], it published in the World Digest an item that reported the death by starvation of an estimated 85,000 children in the Saudi-led war in Yemen [“85,000 children may have starved to death”]. The murder of a dissident journalist is a horrific event, and the implications for the United States’ relations with Saudi Arabia are profound. There is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the actual cost in civilian lives of the conflict in Yemen, but shouldn’t the death of 85,000 people receive at least as much attention as the death of a single man? Stanley J. Binder


The 2019 Washington weather calendar is out. It features photos of D.C. in every season.

This was another good year for weather photography, and the images worked well in my new “Seasons of Washington” calendar for 2019. I have produced the calendar for over a decade, and all of the calendar photos were associated with Capital Weather Gang posts from the past 12 months. When creating my weather calendars, I use photos shot during the past 12 months. The months January through November feature photos from 2018, and each photo is displayed on the month it was taken. Because I produce the calendars in November, I used a snowy photo from Dec. 9, 2017 for the December photo. I also list the dates of historic storms and important weather events on the calendar pages. Here is the link to place an order for a “Seasons of Washington 2019” calendar. I follow these rules in the calendar’s creation: 1. It needs a snow photo for January and/or February. Even during bleak snow years, I usually manage to capture a few snow shots. During 2018, we had a few small snow events in January and February, and our only significant snowstorm occurred on March 21, the first day of spring. We also had a small snow event on Dec. 9, 2017 and one during this month, on the 15th. Four of the 2019 months feature snow photos, which is more than normal for this calendar. 2. It must have one cherry blossom photo that is used for the month of March or April, depending on the time of peak bloom during the year. In 2018, peak bloom occurred on April 5. Last year, the bloom occurred on March 25. Because the bloom occurred in April this year, I featured a snow photo for March. 3. The calendar must have a fireworks photo for July. I know fireworks is not exactly weather, but this is D.C., and people like to see fireworks. This year, I chose a photo from D.C.'s Fourth of July show that I photographed at the Marine Corps War Memorial. 4. I include at least one lightning photo. Capturing a lightning was my biggest challenge this year. Our summer thunderstorms featured very heavy rain with embedded lightning, and we did not have many photogenic storms. I had to wait until Sept. 7 to finally photograph a large lightning flash over D.C. 5. I include a D.C. Christmas tree photo with snow for December. Because accumulating


A victim’s father, the killer’s grandfather and a shared mission to protect youths from violence

Bill Clinton was president. In 2017, Felix and Khamisa presented at a TED Talk “great ideas” gathering. The foundation has grown in size and reach along the way. It has become more adept at fundraising and broadened its mission to include helping to create safer schools and communities through “compassion, forgiveness and peacemaking.” What has not changed, however, is the relationship between two dissimilar men. Each calls the other his brother. Each says the tragedy gave him an unexpected life mission. Felix vows to continue speaking out about violence “as long as I have breath.” For Khamisa, the work helps him escape feeling forever like a victim. They “are the most inspiring people I have met in my entire 28-year judicial career,” Superior Court Judge Joan Weber, who sent Hicks to prison, wrote recently in support of his parole. At the time of the killing, Felix was a city employee living in a blue-collar neighborhood of San Diego. He had brought his grandson from Los Angeles five years earlier to escape a chaotic home life and the pervasive violence that had already killed the boy’s cousin. Felix, a devout Baptist, tried to provide structure. He warned about false friends and guns. Tony remained angry and confused. “He was just so mad,” his grandfather recounted recently, “that he was not thinking about his future.” Khamisa, a Muslim, is an immigrant from Kenya who was educated in England. An international business entrepreneur who lived in San Diego’s upscale La Jolla neighborhood, his interests back then were far-ranging — a car dealership in his birth country, a candy factory in Seattle and various land-development deals across the United States. His only son was working part-time at a local pizzeria while attending San Diego State University. Tariq studied Gandhi and Confucius and dreamed of one day being on assignment for National Geographic. He and his girlfriend were talking marriage. “Death claimed Tariq before he had a chance to make his mark on life,” Khamisa said. “I think he would have done marvelous things.” A slapdash plot ended his life. Tony had bolted his grandfather’s home that day, hoping to join a local gang called the Black Mob. “Dear Daddy,” his note read. “I love you. But I’ve run away. Tony.” The teen spent the evening drinking and smoking pot with several gang members and wannabes. When they got hungry, they decided to call in


The Energy 202: Trump administration’s release of a climate report on Black Friday didn’t bury the news

THE LIGHTBULB The Trump administration did something over the long holiday weekend it has rarely done for most of the president's tenure. It actually acknowledged global climate change is real and its effects on the United States both now and in the future are dire. But Friday's release of the congressionally mandated report was stuffed into the middle of a Thanksgiving weekend on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. If the intent of that publication date was to keep the climate report out of public view, the plan did not quite work. “The Trump administration may want to bury this report so that it doesn’t get attention,” Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement, “but we can’t bury our heads in the sand to the threat of climate change.” The National Climate Assessment, which is the product of scientists from 13 federal departments and agencies, found that the effects of climate change have already arrived in the United States. They include an increasing likelihood of events like deadly wildfires and debilitating hurricanes that have dominated the news in recent months. The wide-ranging findings contained in the 1,600-page report gave regional papers the news hooks they needed to give the story prominent placement. As the managing editor of the Press Herald said on Twitter: Major national and regional newspapers such as the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Mercury News, Miami Herald, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Times and Washington Post carried stories about the report on their front pages as well. The report also gave television journalists at NBC, CNN and even Fox News the opportunity to ask Republican politicians — who rarely if ever bring up climate change on their own — about the looming economic and ecological crisis as well. Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Joni Ernst of Iowa were each asked what Congress could do to address the economic toll climate change could extract on the nation that was described in the report.Under the worst-case scenario, labor-related losses by the year 2090 as a result of extreme heat could total an estimated $155 billion annually while coastal property damage could go up to $118 billion. While each senator to some degree acknowledged the climate is changing, they all brushed aside the need for the aggressive action, like placing a price on carbon dioxide or reinstating an Obama-era


The rhetoric of reaction to climate change

can mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. Will this report trigger any serious policy response from the Trump administration? Before I answer that, let’s remember two important facts about President Trump. The first is that he has recently tweeted about climate change: The second thing to remember is that Trump does not know a lot about, you know, most areas of public policy. On Sunday, The Post’s Josh Dawsey and Damian Paletta related the following anecdote: So no, do not expect an actual response from the Trump White House when the president believes that “the climate will change back again.” I would also not expect a particularly vigorous reaction from the congressional wing of the GOP either. For one thing, the midterm elections wiped out a lot of moderate Republicans, who are the GOP officials willing to acknowledge that man-made climate change is real and require some responses. As the Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer noted earlier this month, “The 2018 midterm election dramatically shrank the small group of House Republicans who have painted themselves as moderates on climate change." For another thing, I can already anticipate the reaction, because this is not the first report to make this point this fall. These kind of warnings seem to be issued on a regular basis, almost as if there is something that warrants concern. Albert Hirschman wrote a great and depressing book titled “The Rhetoric of Reaction” in which he detailed three tropes of argumentation that reactionaries deploy in response to proposals for progressive action. The “perversity thesis” is the argument that any willful action to address the problem will have counterproductive effects. To see that in action with respect to climate change, see the conservative response to this story about proposed geoengineering. The “jeopardy thesis” warns that any action taken will sacrifice hard-won gains. That has been the standard GOP response to climate change, which is that any response is not worth risking U.S. living standards (doing nothing, on the other hand, seems guaranteed to threaten U.S. living standards). The more dire the warnings get, however, the more I suspect that Trump’s GOP pivot to the “futility thesis” — that the problem is so massive that it is folly to expect any public policy to put a dent in the problem. Or, as Trump would put it, “have fun, everybody.” It is a truism in Washington that the urgent tends to


Border Patrol trainees prepare to enter one of the country’s fiercest political battles

the Border Patrol has operated on the literal periphery of the country’s more celebrated and visible law enforcement agencies. It is outranked in the popular imagination by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and it is off the radar for many Americans who live far from the border. The starting salary for a Border Patrol agent with no prior military or law enforcement experience is $41,187 — comparable, Harris says, with the other federal agencies with which Border Patrol competes for recruits. But the requirements are less stringent — a successful applicant needs neither a college degree nor relevant work experience — and the job usually requires agents to live on the hot, desert border, where schools and services are often lacking. TOP: Christopher Flores goes through a confidence course in August. Recruits have different levels of athleticism, but instructors say in the early days they are more focused on how recruits react to stress. LEFT: Felipe Chavez, left, and Silvia Gutierrez Gomez train with weapons. RIGHT: When Herrgott applied to the academy, she didn’t think she was qualified. Charged with preventing drugs and people from illegally entering the United States, Border Patrol agents are stationed between the country’s ports of entry, sometimes in remote stretches of mountains, deserts and forests, and in areas that can only be reached on foot or horseback. To recruit, the Border Patrol goes to military bases, college campuses and career fairs. Recruiters also speak at special events. “You’d be surprised how many applicants we get from the PBR,” the Professional Bull Riders rodeos, said Harris. Such events are attractive to people who grew up on ranches and have a strong sense of “obligation to serve their country,” he said. Not all make it in. The most common disqualifier for applicants to the Border Patrol Academy is drug use or lying about drug use on the mandatory polygraph test. And attrition is common. About one in four leaves before graduation day. Some drop out because of injuries or other personal issues. Others fail — the immigration law class tends to be the hardest. Then there are those who finish the program and embark on their mission but leave the agency after a few years for more desirable jobs with other federal agencies. “This will be the first year our hiring will outpace our attrition,” Harris said. The new curriculum shifts training


Toys R Us comes crawling back, just in time for the holidays

AMELIA, Ohio — The giraffe was supposed to be long gone, but here he is, beaming on the cardboard displays inside a Kroger. He’s right at home, surrounded by unblinking baby dolls and drones that are liable to break when little hands inevitably pilot them straight into the ceiling fan. Buckets of little green Army men, waiting to be unleashed and eventually stepped on. Kids, bundled up and rosy-cheeked, bound toward the toys and circle the displays like predators. They paw at the boxes, leaving fingerprints on the plastic. Some clutch toys to their chests before they begin pretty-pleasing. “Mom,” one boy with a buzz cut yells, lofting an action figure. “Look, they have Venom!” “I am not talking about this right now,” his mother says, but she mouths the name on the box and nods, before whisking her son toward the pharmacy. Parents pushing shopping carts rubberneck as they walk by the menagerie. Some smile in recognition. Others squint, eyeing the giraffe and his toys skeptically. That couldn’t be, could it? It is. The beloved mascot, the array of toys, the bright, blocky lettering spelling out “Geoffrey’s Toy Box” are all seeds of the complicated comeback of Toys R Us. *** Toys R Us’s fall was a long one, marked by a botched buyout, mountainous debt and a losing battle with big-box and online competitors. After filing for bankruptcy in September 2017, the toy store that had delighted kids for six decades announced in March it would be closing its doors, leaving 33,000 employees jobless. Then, as retailers geared up for the lucrative first holiday without Toys R Us, the company rose from the grave. The hedge funds that own its assets filed paperwork in October to hang on to the Toys R Us and Babies R Us brand names, Web domains and mascot Geoffrey the Giraffe while considering “a new, operating Toys R Us and Babies R Us branding company.” A month later, Kroger announced it would partner with Geoffrey, the subsidiary for Toys R Us intellectual property, to bring pop-up toy shops to 600 of its stores through the holidays. The pop-ups carry 35 toys from six brands that were once exclusive to Toys R Us, including Imaginarium, Just Like Home and Journey Girls. “I’ve never seen something in our stores that our customers are so excited about,” said Erin Rolfes, a corporate affairs manager for Kroger.


Man slain Monday night in Shaw area of Northwest

A man was attacked and killed Monday night in the Shaw neighborhood of Northwest Washington, according to D.C. police. The attack occurred about 6:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of New Jersey Avenue NW, said Alaina Gertz, a D.C. police spokeswoman. The victim was later identified as Noe Alberto Gallardo Ponce, 22, of Northwest Washington. It was not clear how the man was fatally wounded, Gertz said. Ponce was found inside a home and taken to a hospital, where he died, according to D.C. Police. On Monday, police said they arrested William Alexander Marrouquin Gallardo, 24, of Northwest Washington and charged him with second-degree murder in the slaying. A motive in the attack was not immediately determined. Martin.Weil@washpost.com


Three new cases of adenovirus reported at U-Md.’ s College Park campus

Three more students have been diagnosed with adenovirus at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, bringing the number of cases to nine in recent weeks. A letter sent to students indicated the new cases had been diagnosed over the Thanksgiving holiday, university officials said. In the letter, David McBride, director of the University Health Center, wrote that “none of these new cases has required hospitalization to our knowledge.” University officials said before Thanksgiving that the campus had recorded six cases of students with adenovirus. One student, 18-year-old Olivia Paregol, died Nov. 18 after being diagnosed with the illness. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan this week called Paregol’s death “very concerning.” A viral outbreak of the illness also left 11 children dead at a health center in New Jersey. Adenoviruses are “common causes of colds” and typically “found in significant numbers of people at this time of year,” McBride said. But certain strains of adenovirus can be more serious, according to the website for the school’s health center. For healthy people, treatment includes rest, fluids and fever-reducing medicine. There is no medication for the infection outside of hospitals. Officials advised those with chronic medical problems, including diabetes or asthma, or those taking medications that weaken the immune system to seek medical help within 48 hours of developing symptoms. University officials said they are working closely with state and local health departments to monitor the illness and test those who may have it. To stop the spread, the university is increasing the cleaning of “high-touch surfaces and restrooms” on campus. The dining services department is also increasing cleaning. The campus earlier in the fall worked to remove mold in some on-campus dorms, but officials said there is “no consistent connection between mold exposure and the incidents of adenovirus infection affecting UMD students.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends other preventive measures, such as frequent hand washing; avoiding touching the eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands; and avoiding close contact with those who are ill. dana.hedgpeth@washpost.com


Man killed in Shaw neighborhood

was found inside a home and taken to a hospital, where he died, D.C. police said. On Monday, police said they had arrested William Alexander Marrouquin Gallardo, 24, of Northwest and charged him with second-degree murder. Police had not identified a motive in the attack. — Martin Weil MARYLAND Fleeing man arrested after car hits cruiser The pursuit of a suspected felon ended Wednesday after the suspect’s car crashed into a police cruiser in Maryland, authorities said. D.C. and Prince George’s police officers pulled the vehicle over shortly after 11 a.m. near Interstate 495 and Ritchie Marlboro Road, said Lamar Robinson, a spokesman for Prince George’s County police. The car stopped along the side of the road, and officers approached, Robinson said. As the Prince George’s officer came to the car, the suspect drove off, Robinson said. The officer was dragged a short distance and suffered minor injuries, police said. Officers pursued the vehicle to Adelphi and Riggs roads, where it crashed into a cruiser. The suspect, who was wanted in the District and had not been identified, was taken into custody. — Lynh Bui Person killed in path of Metrorail train Someone who placed himself in the path of an oncoming Metrorail train was killed Monday night at a Red Line station in Montgomery County, the transit agency said. The age of the victim was not immediately clear, but he appeared to be an adult, Metro said. He was struck about 9:30 p.m. at the Forest Glen station in the Silver Spring area. — Martin Weil U-Md. finds 3 more adenovirus cases Three more students have been diagnosed with adenovirus at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, bringing the number of cases to nine in recent weeks. A letter sent to students indicated the new cases had been diagnosed over the Thanksgiving holiday, university officials said. In the letter, David McBride, director of the University Health Center, wrote that “none of these new cases has required hospitalization to our knowledge.” University officials said before Thanksgiving that the campus had recorded six cases of students with adenovirus. One student, 18-year-old Olivia Paregol, died Nov. 18. Adenoviruses are “common causes of colds” and typically “found in significant numbers of people at this time of year,” McBride said. But certain strains of the virus can be more serious, according to the website for the school’s health center. — Dana Hedgpeth


Alone in the Arab world, Tunisians can protest visit by Saudi crown prince

Arab leaders generally don’t have to worry too much about protesters when they visit their neighbors. There has long been a kind of informal code against allowing criticism of brotherly nations and their heads of state unless some kind of feud is going on. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings and the subsequent widespread crackdowns, that still holds true — with a few exceptions. One of them happens to be Tunisia. In the North African country that overthrew longtime dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, freedom of assembly and expression remains intact, and so people were able to say they aren’t thrilled with a visit by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday. The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia has been linked by intelligence agencies to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2 in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. While admitting that the killing took place, the Saudis have denied that upper levels of government were involved, insisting instead that the decision to kill the Washington Post contributing columnist and critic of Saudi leadership was made at the scene by the head of a 15-man hit squad. Before Mohammed attends the Group of 20 summit in Argentina this weekend, he has been visiting a number of Arab countries, including close allies such as the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, where he has been warmly received. The trips have been described as a kind of comeback tour amid global disapproval of the Khashoggi killing. In Tunisia, however, the Bar Association attempted to file a motion to block the visit, while the Journalists’ Syndicate issued a statement describing Mohammed as a “true enemy of free expression.” The activists also adorned the villa that serves as a syndicate headquarters with a two-story banner showing a robed Saudi figure carrying a massive chain saw — a reference to the apparent dismemberment of Khashoggi. “No to the desecration of Tunisia, the land of the revolution,” the banner stated. A similar-size poster showing a figure carrying a whip could be seen at the headquarters of a women’s association. “No welcome to the flogger of women,” it said. Scores of protesters demonstrated Monday night on Tunis’s Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the center of the city, where the country’s final Arab Spring showdown with security forces occurred seven years ago. The crowd protested in front of the national theater, carrying posters


Venezuela’s health crisis demands an urgent regional response

medical records. Several medical professionals have been fired or detained for speaking out. Some brave ones continue to document the crisis under the radar despite fear of retaliation. But no matter how hard the government tries to hide the truth, the numbers speak for themselves. In 2018, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization indicated that between 2015 and 2017, 11.7 percent of Venezuela’s population — 3.7 million people — was undernourished, up from less than 5 percent between 2008 and 2013. Unofficial statistics indicate that 80 percent of Venezuelan households are food insecure, and the percentage of children under 5 with severe and moderate acute malnutrition in some locations surpasses the World Health Organization threshold for a crisis. Venezuela is the world’s only middle-income country where large numbers of patients with HIV have been forced to discontinue their antiretroviral treatment. Among the 79,000 HIV-infected patients registered to receive treatment from the public health system, 87 percent are not getting it. The medical system collapse is so severe that infectious diseases easily preventable by vaccination have surged. According to the Pan American Health Organization, more than 7,300 suspected measles cases have been reported since an outbreak began in mid-2017, after eight years in which only one case had been reported. After nine years with no reported cases of diphtheria, more than 2,000 cases were recorded in the past two years, with more than 200 fatalities. The WHO reported that malaria is an epidemic in nine of Venezuela’s 23 states and is rising at the fastest rate in the world. In 2017, there were more than 406,000 malaria cases, a 69 percent increase from the year before. The number of reported tuberculosis cases increased from 6,000 in 2014 to more than 10,000 cases in 2017 — the highest incidence rate in Venezuela in 40 years. The collapse of Venezuela’s health system has become evident to the world with the massive exodus of Venezuelans. More than 3 million have fled since 2014, according to the United Nations. Many cross the borders to Brazil or Colombia seeking medical care or food. One would expect the Maduro government to acknowledge the gravity of the situation and ask for whatever help it might need. Instead, it has gone from denying what was happening to saying that problems result entirely from an economic crisis caused by foreign “economic sanctions.” But most sanctions — imposed by the


Proposal to rename D.C. street outside Saudi Embassy for Khashoggi gains support

A neighborhood advisory panel in Washington that typically focuses on liquor license applications and other local concerns is inserting itself into the international furor prompted by the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A, as the Foggy Bottom panel is known, is expected to vote Wednesday to rename the street outside the Saudi Embassy for Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist who resided in Virginia. Under the proposal, the east side of New Hampshire Avenue NW between F Street and Juarez Circle would become “Jamal Khashoggi Way.” The Watergate complex is on the west side of New Hampshire Avenue NW. The measure would have to be approved by the D.C. Council and, as is the case with all local legislation, would be subject to congressional review. The CIA has concluded that Khashoggi’s Oct. 2 killing was carried out at the behest of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, an assertion that has been questioned by President Trump, who is seeking to maintain strong diplomatic ties with the regime. Saudi officials have denied the prince’s involvement. William Kennedy Smith, the ANC’s chair, said that he expects the commission to approve the resolution. But he also said that the Saudis “have a lot of friends and resources and there may be an effort to head it off.” Smith said that changing the street’s name is not only intended as a pointed reminder of Khashoggi’s killing — described as “state-sponsored” in the ANC’s resolution — but also to promote the importance of a free press and freedom of speech. “When we don’t stand up for those values, it gives permission to others who are perhaps more brutal to take action,” Smith said. Smith, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, acknowledged that global affairs are not the ANC’s normal purview. But he said that Trump’s muted response to Khashoggi’s slaying and his unceasing criticism of the press have created an opportunity for the commission to become involved. “There’s a vacuum in terms of the U.S. response to this and it feeds into a larger conversation about the role of the free press,” Smith said. “That’s a conversation playing out in our own country when you have a president who introduces conspiracy theories and arguments that have no basis in fact. You have the language about ‘enemies of the people’ and ‘fake news’ that’s


José Andrés is nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, congressman confirms

Ever since José Andrés and his small nonprofit group took it upon themselves to feed hungry Puerto Ricans following the near-knockout punch of Hurricane Maria last year, the celebrity chef’s name has been whispered in talk about potential nominees for a Nobel Peace Prize. Today, Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) confirmed that he has nominated the restaurateur and humanitarian for the 2019 award. Delaney, who has already announced his presidential campaign for 2020, said he could not discuss any specifics of his nomination or what motivated it. The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the annual prize, discourages nominators from making any public announcements. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 1, and the committee will announce the laureates next October. The Nobel Foundation did not immediately respond to an email about Andrés’s nomination. According to its website, the Nobel committee “does not itself announce the names of nominees, neither to the media nor to the candidates themselves.” The committee also doesn’t reveal any information about nominees until 50 years after the award is first announced. Last year, according to the committee, there were 331 candidates, the second-highest number ever. The record was 376 candidates in 2016. Only certain individuals are allowed to submit nominees. They include people who have previously won, past and current members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and current members of a national assembly, such as the House of Representatives. The Washington Post obtained some of the language from Delaney’s nomination submission for Andrés. In the section where the congressman explained why he nominated Andrés, Delaney wrote: When reached by phone, Andrés characteristically downplayed the nomination. “Oh, wow,” he said, after a long pause. “They nominate everybody.” But on further reflection, Andrés said the nomination just underscores the growing importance of food in U.S. politics. Food plays a role in national security, public health, even in immigration given that so many restaurant kitchens are run by immigrants from Central America. “In the end,” he added, “you see that food every day is having a bigger impact.” Andrés’s nomination comes as little surprise This Thanksgiving, Andrés was not at home carving a turkey with his friends and family. He was in California, preparing hot meals for survivors of the Camp Fire, along with fellow chefs Tyler Florence and Guy Fieri. They served 15,000 meals on Thanksgiving Day. “The least we can be doing today on Thanksgiving is all coming


Theresa May needs Parliament’s support for her Brexit deal. The math isn’t in her favor.

LONDON — Securing the unanimous approval of 27 European heads of state for a Brexit deal was the easy part. On Monday, British Prime Minister Theresa May turned to a far greater challenge: winning support from skeptical British lawmakers and their constituents. A vote on the deal in Parliament is scheduled for Dec. 11, with the hope that Britain can leave the European Union in a “smooth and orderly way” in March. But the math doesn’t appear to be on May’s side. She needs 318 votes in the House of Commons for the deal to pass. By many estimates, she’s more than 60 votes short. “The chances are currently around zero, to put it bluntly,” said Jonathan Tonge, a politics professor at the University of Liverpool. He said passage would require the “biggest whipping operation you’ve ever seen in the Conservative Party.” And even if the resistance within May’s own party melts away, she would need support from some opposition lawmakers. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May’s minority government, is against the deal. May is planning to make her case in an election-style campaign through England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales over the next two weeks. She previewed her stump speech in Parliament on Monday. May said the Brexit withdrawal agreement, painstakingly negotiated over more than 17 months, was a good deal — and, crucially, it was the only one on the table. “There is not a better deal available,” she told lawmakers, adding that E.U. leaders have also stressed the point. “We can back this deal, deliver on the vote of the referendum, and move on to building a brighter future of opportunity and prosperity for all our people,” she said. Or, she said, lawmakers can reject the deal and “go back to square one,” exposing Britain “to more division and more uncertainty, with all the risks that will entail.” Scores of lawmakers stood to denounce the plan. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, told Parliament that the “botched” Brexit deal was “the worst of all worlds — no say over future rules and no certainty for the future.” He cited one estimate that the British economy would shrink by 3.9 percent with the current deal in place. “Plowing on is not stoic,” Corbyn added. “It’s an act of national self-harm.” Boris Johnson, a Conservative member of Parliament and leading Brexiteer who resigned as


U-Md. accreditation remains under review; agency has further questions

The University of Maryland’s accreditation remains under review as an oversight agency seeks additional information about the state flagship school’s leadership after turmoil enveloped the campus last month. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education had already sought additional information from U-Md. in August after football player Jordan McNair died following a team workout and after media reports of problems within the football program. That request focused on two of the commission’s required standards: the student experience, and ethics and integrity. The university responded in September. But before the commission met to review that response in November, a leadership crisis erupted. The University System of Maryland Board of Regents announced that the football coach and the athletic director would remain at U-Md., and the school’s president, Wallace D. Loh, said at the same news conference that he would retire — decisions that upset many political and campus leaders, who thought the regents had vastly overstepped their authority. The following day, Loh defied the regents and announced that football coach DJ Durkin was leaving U-Md. The Board of Regents chairman resigned the next day. As a result of those events, the commission requested a second “supplemental information report,” due in March, “providing evidence of a clearly articulated and transparent governance structure that outlines roles, responsibilities, and accountability for decision making by each constituency.” Once that report is submitted, the accrediting agency will visit the university and meet in June. At its November meeting, the results of which were made public Monday, the commission had several options. It chose to request the supplemental report, but it also could have taken no further action, or declared that the school was not in compliance with the accrediting agency’s rules and put the institution on warning or probation, or launched the process in which an institution needs to show why its accreditation should not be withdrawn, according to Brian Kirschner, a spokesman for the agency. Accreditation is critical to universities, because it is the quality assurance that the Education Department requires for a school to be eligible for federal student financial aid funding. Katie Lawson, a spokeswoman for U-Md., referred questions to the University System of Maryland. She said the university would not have anything to add beyond Loh’s remarks to lawmakers this month. Loh told lawmakers


Only romaine lettuce from certain parts of Calif. should be avoided, FDA says in new warning

Federal health officials said Monday that only romaine lettuce from certain parts of California is unsafe to eat and that romaine lettuce entering the market will now be labeled to give consumers information about when and where it was harvested. If consumers, retailers and food service facilities cannot determine whether the romaine was grown outside California, they should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one got sick, according to a lengthy statement from Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. FDA officials said the most likely source of contamination is from the Central Coast growing regions in northern and central California. Romaine lettuce harvested outside those regions “does not appear to be related to the current outbreak,” the FDA said. Hydroponically grown and greenhouse-grown romaine also does not appear to be affected in the outbreak. Romaine from those sources is safe to eat, the FDA said. No common grower, supplier, distributor or brand of romaine lettuce has been identified in the outbreak. Several major romaine lettuce producers have agreed to label products with a harvest date by region, and new romaine from other growing regions, including Florida and Arizona, is being restocked in grocery shelves. The new warning from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention came as the number of people sickened by the outbreak grew to 43 people in 12 states. Sixteen of those people have been hospitalized, including one person with severe kidney failure. No deaths have been reported. The updated information follows an unusually broad warning that federal health officials issued two days before Thanksgiving, telling consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they may already have purchased. At the time of the outbreak, the majority of romaine on the market was being grown in the Central Coast region of California. Since then, harvesting of romaine has ended and shifted to the winter growing regions, which include the California desert region of the Imperial Valley, the desert region of Arizona in and around Yuma, and Florida, Gottlieb’s statement said. Romaine lettuce grown in Mexico is exported to the United States during the winter months. Smaller quantities are grown in other states. “At this time, the FDA has no information to suggest any of these growing areas are involved in the current outbreak, which began well before any romaine lettuce from


The world is on fire — and Trump is playing with matches

and global average sea level has risen by about 8 inches. These changes are accelerating. By the year 2100, if action is not taken to curb carbon emissions, the temperature rise could total 9 degrees and the sea level rise could exceed 4 feet. Trump and other deniers can no longer claim with a straight face that no warming is taking place, since nine of the hottest 10 years on record have come since 2005. Instead, they try to blame some as-yet unknown natural cycle. But the new climate assessment notes that “observational evidence does not support any credible natural explanations.” Instead, “the evidence consistently points to human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse or heat-trapping gases, as the dominant cause,” according to the report. As I have shouted until I am blue in the face, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has risen from around 280 parts per million at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution to more than 400 ppm now. That is an astonishing 40 percent increase since humankind began burning fossil fuels on a massive scale. This is no coincidence and involves no guesswork. Scientists can directly and precisely measure carbon dioxide concentrations during past eras by drilling ice cores in Antarctica or Greenland and analyzing air bubbles trapped within. According to records maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ice cores show that over the past 800,000 years, levels of atmospheric carbon fluctuated between 170 and 300 ppm — until recently zooming off the charts. Resist any temptation to write all this off as scientific gobbledygook. Pay attention to the numbers, which are important and not very hard to follow. Denialist officials and commentators who throw up their hands and say “I’m not a scientist” are being disingenuous. There is no real scientific debate about the existence of climate change or the fact that human activity is driving it. There is, however, a political debate about what to do. Trump is determined to accelerate climate change by boosting the production and use of coal — the “dirtiest” widely used fuel, in terms of carbon emissions — and keeping oil prices low. This is the dumbest, most shortsighted policy imaginable. Trump visited California to see firsthand the destruction of the horrific Camp Fire, which killed at least 85 people — with the death toll expected to rise as more remains are found — and destroyed nearly


Tear gas should never be used on children. Period.

An infant, for instance, will take 30 to 60 breaths per minute, and a preschooler will take 22 to 34. Adults, on the other hand, average 12 to 16 breaths per minute. This means that relative to body weight, a child will inhale significantly more air in any given time frame — even more so under conditions of stress or panic. If that air is contaminated with tear gas or pepper spray, younger children will get a disproportionately large dose of the inhalable toxin. Second, these chemical agents can cause severe respiratory distress in people with preexisting pulmonary conditions such as asthma. This is of particular concern among Central American migrants, as a 2015 study by a multinational research group shows that asthma rates in Honduras and El Salvador are 18 percent and 24 percent, respectively (compared with about 10 percent in the United States). It’s reasonable to assume that a high percentage of the children in the caravan have asthma, and it’s important to note that an acute asthma attack in the absence of immediate medical care could easily be fatal. Other than the respiratory impact of these chemicals, the direct effects of exposure in children include severe irritation and pain in the eyes, nasal passages and skin. Rapid inflammation and mucous in the respiratory system, including the trachea, can make breathing difficult, even if there is no preexisting chronic pulmonary precondition. And remember: These children have been exposed to an arduous journey of many weeks traveling from Central America to the U.S. border. Families had limited access to food, shelter and rest. Uncertainty, danger and deprivation were constant companions throughout the trek. In the days after the use of chemicals against migrants, many conservatives have painted the parents in the caravan as selfish — or worse — for attempting to bring their children to the United States. With no basis whatsoever, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen even described the children as “human shields.” I do agree that national borders need to be respected and asylum seekers need to be appropriately vetted. What’s needed, however, is serious immigration reform, not random acts of cruelty that can have terrible long-term consequences for children. In reality, these people are fleeing from a desperate situation. Yes, for many it’s about economic opportunity that doesn’t exist in their home countries. But many, unprotected by corrupt and incompetent governments, are running from threats by