This is what happens when you have an unfit commander in chief

Jamal Khashoggi, which set off a firestorm regarding the Saudis on Capitol Hill. They do not believe in Trump’s policy of making Saudi Arabia a proxy in a battle with Iran over regional dominance. And, moreover, the Senate is willing to undercut Trump at the precise moment his credibility and judgment are under fire in a standoff with Iran. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared from the Senate floor: “I must say, even in closed-door briefings with senators, the administration doesn’t spell out a strategy. This is not how democracy is supposed to work, and this is not how even the CEO of a major company should behave — with no articulated strategy. The president needs to explain to the American people why he is driving us towards another endless conflict in the Middle East.” On Saudi Arabia specifically, Schumer explained that the Senate was denying “the transfer of tens of thousands of precision-guided munitions that the Saudis have previously used to bomb innocent civilians in Yemen.” The votes come after the United Nations issued a report far more revealing — and damning — about the grotesque Khashoggi murder and dismemberment. As Schumer said, “Last night, the United Nations issued a report that documented evidence that the Saudis meticulously planned the murder of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi and ‘forensically' disposed of the evidence. According to the report, the Saudis referred to Mr. Khashoggi as a ‘sacrificial animal’ and that dismembering the body would ‘be easy.’ ” And now, of all times, the administration wants to give Saudi Arabia access to weaponry that can slaughter more civilians in Yemen. The president once more has gone to the well claiming “emergency” powers as a way to do an end run around Congress. The only emergency we have, however, is an utterly unfit commander in chief who has earned no deference from Congress, no trust from allies and no respect from foes. Read more: The Post’s View: Trump continues to kowtow to MBS. Congress has a chance to say no. Jason Rezaian: Iran’s hollow rhetoric could result in war Mohammed Ali al-Houthi: We want peace for Yemen, but Saudi airstrikes must stop Alkhatab Alrawhani: Yemen’s peace process is almost dead. Here’s how to revive it. The Post’s View: A path has been laid out for holding Khashoggi’s murderers accountable Tawakkol Karman: Enough is enough. End the war in Yemen.


American Paul Whelan, charged in Russia for spying, appeals to Trump for help

the Kremlin that he was caught “red-handed,” no evidence has been presented, exasperating U.S. officials. If found guilty, Whelan could face up to 20 years in a Russian prison. Whelan’s court-appointed Russian lawyers say a flash drive containing “state secrets” was planted in his pants pocket by a Russian friend who is tied to the country’s security services. They declined to go into detail Thursday about which of Russia’s powerful security agencies he worked for. “This man did this to Paul so he could get promoted,” lawyer Olga Karlova said. On Thursday, Whelan repeated his claims that he was being maltreated and denied some of his rights to force a confession “for a crime that did not occur.” Whelan said he was being denied reading material, medical care and full consular access. He also said he was being physically harassed, but did not go into detail, saying he was prohibited from doing so. His lawyers said that Whelan has an English-speaking cellmate, and that he writes a letter a day to his family — letters that sporadically make their way to the United States and Canada. They also warned that Whelan’s fate is very much in limbo. By Russian law, he could stay behind bars — he is housed in a notorious pretrial detention center in Moscow — through the end of December, which would mark a full year since his arrest. But even this time frame could be challenged if the investigator continues to provide no evidence. By extending his custody, the judge ruled Thursday against granting Whelan house arrest with an electronic tag on his ankle. Lawyer Vladimir Zherebenkov had offered the American a place to stay in one of his two Moscow apartments. Failing that, Whelan could technically stay at his own cost in his hotel room at the Metropol near the Kremlin, where he was arrested. “They’re worried that if he moves to the hotel, representatives from his countries will try to take him away,” Zherebenkov said, referring to the judge’s decision. U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said he had a productive meeting with Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, late last week, amplifying a growing chorus of voices in Washington who are concerned about Whelan’s situation. Softening for a brief moment on Thursday, Whelan hesitantly smiled, saying the officers in prison were treating him better than before. He also wished his dog, Flora, a happy birthday. amie.ferris-rotman@washpost.com


The real witch hunt? Trump’s investigation of the investigators

the information for political purposes, an unpardonable and egregious sin to most intelligence professionals. Second, just as many prospective foreign sources have good reason to worry about the security of the information they provide to the CIA (and by extension their own longevity), foreign intelligence services will have similar concerns. If, for example, the DOJ demands to know not simply which of our foreign partners provided intelligence on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s active measures but also who their sources were and how they obtained the information, such demands will cause our allies to become much more circumspect than they already are about passing important information to us. This erodes the overall security of the United States on critical issues not limited to Russia, but extending to China, Iran and North Korea, and possibly terrorism-related issues as well. While it is unlikely for any of our allies to actually withhold terrorist threat intelligence – information of an impending attack on the United States, for example – it would not be unreasonable for an ally to be so concerned with Trump’s loose lips that they might be less forthcoming on passing intelligence on Russia. And third, imagine you are the CIA analyst or counterintelligence officer who gets the call from the DOJ to have that “chat.” Indeed, imagine that you are any CIA officer involved in collection or analysis on Russia, or Saudi Arabia, or President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, or any of the more obvious United States adversaries previously mentioned. Wouldn’t you be more cautious if you were involved in intelligence matters on which you knew the president was focused? How comfortable would you feel writing an assessment of the Saudis’ knowledge of and involvement in the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi? Without worrying about the consequences, would you write a report from a source claiming that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un was mocking the American president – especially after Trump’s pronouncement that he would not have allowed the CIA to recruit a family member of Kim’s, a half brother who was assassinated? Might you not reasonably worry that one of Barr’s officers would show up at your door, just wanting to talk? Wouldn’t it be better to be safe than sorry? Is that the kind of intelligence service we want working to protect the security of the United States? It is of course common practice in many


University of Maryland-led survey finds honeybee losses highest in 13 years this winter

honeybees and their brood, eventually sucking the life from a hive if not checked with a variety of countermeasures beekeepers use to stop their spread. “If you control them, your bees are fine,” said Jim Fraser, president of the Maryland Beekeepers Association. “There are an awful lot of people who don’t control them.” That has allowed wounds to fester in honeybee hives, vanEngelsdorp said. The mites spread viruses that have mutated to become increasingly lethal to honeybees. The mite infestations also contribute to reducing the insects’ tolerance to pesticides that are ubiquitous in the environment. In places like Maryland, where flowering plants are only abundant for a few months, honeybees already struggle to find nectar for much of the year. It doesn’t help that many residents kill or pull weeds that are actually prime nectar sources for bees, including white thistle and dandelion, or that farmers across the country plant massive swaths of corn and soybeans, which don’t require bees for pollination. A Maryland law went into effect last year banning a class of pesticides known as neonicotinoids, which are particularly harmful to bees. While that could help reverse the losses, the pesticides are just part of that confluence of factors weakening colonies, biologists say. The losses are most significant in the winter because bees must survive three to four months without foraging; if disease or pesticides cut their lives short by, say, 10 percent, that could be the difference preventing a colony from surviving to spring, vanEngelsdorp said. During the rest of the year, honeybees each only live about 35 days, making it easier for beekeepers to manage losses by splitting up the hives that are thriving and starting new ones. As the University of Maryland shares the latest survey results, entomologists there are urging beekeepers to use three different strategies to fight the spread of varroa mites. Those can include chemical treatments, tweaks to colony management practices and use of essential oils that can keep the mites at bay. Karen Rennich, executive director of the university’s Bee Informed Partnership, said many beekeepers she works with across the country are frustrated that many methods they’ve used to reduce varroa mites are no longer working. The nonprofit works to help apiaries troubleshoot such problems, while also collecting data that can lead to solutions. “Think of it like antibiotics,” she said. “This is what keeps the wolves at bay.” Don John,


Peeling away Russia’s lies about the downed Malaysia Airlines flight

WHEN MALAYSIA Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine five years ago, killing all 298 people aboard, Russian military officials denied involvement. They offered some fabricated evidence that it was Ukraine’s fault. Since then, journalists and international investigators have worked diligently to uncover the truth: that a Russian surface-to-air Buk missile was fired to destroy the Boeing 777. This week, investigators took another step toward identifying the people behind the shoot-down — and the suspects are in Russia. Fred Westerbeke, chief prosecutor for the Netherlands, which lost 193 citizens in the disaster, announced that four men will be put on trial next March on charges of murder in connection with the shoot-down. Three of them are connected to Russia’s military and intelligence services; the fourth is a Ukrainian who led a separatist faction reporting to one of the Russians. The shoot-down on July 17, 2014, came as Russia ignited a violent separatist uprising in southeastern Ukraine, a conflict in which some 13,000 people have been killed and that remains unresolved. Previous investigations, examining debris, videos and conversations, established that the airliner was downed by the missile, and that the missile launcher came from Russia and was quickly spirited back across the border in a hasty effort at a coverup. The open-source investigative group Bellingcat identified, through intercepted phone conversations, people responsible for escorting the missile to and from the launch site. Now, the criminal investigation is moving ahead, coordinated by Mr. Westerbeke and carried out by a joint team from Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. “Their acts on and around July 2014 have led to the shooting of Flight MH17. Even though they have not pushed the button themselves, there is suspicion that they have closely cooperated” in obtaining and positioning the missile launcher, Mr. Westerbeke told reporters. He said the officers involved may have thought they were shooting down a Ukrainian military aircraft, but that does not absolve them of responsibility for the murder of those aboard MH17. None of the four men charged are likely to be present at the trial; most are in Russia, which will not extradite them and still denies responsibility. These charges do not account for the whole story — who else at high levels in Russia approved moving the missile across an international border in the first place? Everything about Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has


How Washington and the world can help Sudan fulfill its democratic dream

Andrew Natsios is a professor at the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University and director of the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs. He served as U.S. envoy to Sudan during the George W. Bush administration. Sudan is in the throes of its greatest political crisis since independence in 1956, as the rule of Omar Hassan al-Bashir has come to an end, overthrown by a Transitional Military Council exercising tenuous control over the country and facing widespread demonstrations led by civil society organizations demanding democratic reforms. Previous changes of government have not threatened the power of the Nile River Arab elite who have governed the country for so long; this crisis does. If the worst scenarios come to pass, an implosion of Sudan could be worse than the Syrian civil war and could drive millions of refugees to its neighbors, including Egypt and Ethiopia — important allies of the United States — which are already under serious internal stress themselves. Sudan, with more than 40 million people, is much larger in geography, population and ethnic complexity than Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan; any implosion in Sudan would “unlock the gates of hell,” as one African diplomat once told me. It need not be so. Despite Bashir’s 30 years of authoritarian rule, Sudan’s political culture has a number of assets that make it better suited to a transition to democracy than many other countries in the region. It has maintained a vibrant civil society, which has been on the vanguard of the protests that toppled Bashir and continues to oppose both the remnants of his regime and the military junta that stubbornly clings to power. Sudan has a highly educated and sophisticated elite, lawyers and doctors associations, women’s groups and business community. It also has a history of democracy — albeit one interrupted by coups and dictatorships — that has allowed political parties to maintain constituencies and develop organizing capacities to a degree nearly unprecedented in the Arab world or the Horn of Africa. It will take many years and skillful leaders to bring Sudanese institutions that have been compromised by Bashir’s Islamist coalition under control, but now is the time to begin that process. The Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, the umbrella organization representing the Sudanese demonstrators, has rightly called for a three-year transition to allow time and space for secular political organizations to consolidate their positions and


Man fatally shot near D.C.’s Petworth neighborhood

A 29-year-old man has died after a shooting in Northwest Washington. The shooting happened around 9:24 p.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of Princeton Place NW just off Georgia Avenue near the Petworth neighborhood. When officers arrived, they found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. D.C. police later identified him as Juan Marcell Grant of Northwest Washington. The D.C. region has had more than 130 homicides so far this year. Of those, 73 have been in the District, according to a tracking done by The Washington Post. dana.hedgpeth@washpost.com


Roy Moore is running for Senate again, and there’s nothing Washington Republicans can do about it

willing to stand by Moore. But this time, Moore may have to win a primary without the support of the most popular politician in Alabama. Trump recently tweeted that he did not think Moore could win and that he should stay out of the race. It is a 180-degree turn from Trump’s position on Moore two years ago. But then again, being the first Republican to lose a Senate seat in Alabama in three decades will change many minds. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. was more direct about what Trump World wants Moore to do this time: Moore has won in Alabama without Trump before. He won his runoff against Republican interim Sen. Luther Strange in 2017, even though Trump endorsed Strange. “I’m not going against President Trump at all,” Moore said when asked by reporters Thursday. “I support President Trump. I vote for him. Whether he votes for me or not, I’ll see. I’m sure he will — when I get in the general election.” The point is, whether Moore wins or loses is in the hands of Alabama voters, not Washington Republicans'. If Moore wins, that is when the ball gets tossed in Republican leaders’ court. And they have a couple of not-surefire options to try to keep him out of the Senate. Last time, Senate Republicans were considering kicking him out of the Senate if he won. That would require an overwhelming majority. No sitting senator has been expelled by his peers since the Civil War. They also considered supporting a write-in candidate, such as maybe Sessions. That idea quickly foundered when Sessions said no, and it was impossible to find another candidate so well known that people could remember how to spell his or her name to write the person in. Actually, a lot of the Republicans’ Roy Moore problems could be solved by Sessions. It is possible he could run for his old Senate seat now that Trump pushed him out of the attorney general job. His former colleague Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Wednesday that Sessions had not dismissed the idea. You can be sure they are lobbying him behind the scenes. Sessions is by far the biggest name of them all, given that he held the seat for 20 years. But if Sessions does not get in and Moore wins this Senate race, the likeliest scenario is Moore becomes, and remains, the


Erdogan says he does not expect U.S. sanctions after purchase of Russian missiles

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that he did not expect the United States to impose sanctions on his government over its purchase of a sophisticated Russian air defense system, citing long-standing U.S.-Turkish ties but also his warm personal relationship with President Trump. The United States and NATO have strenuously objected to Turkey’s procurement of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, but Erdogan called it a done deal Thursday and said Turkey would take delivery of the system in the first half of July. In Washington, Congress has threatened to impose sanctions in response, and the Pentagon said this month that it would stop training Turkish pilots to fly the U.S.-made F-35 warplane because of Turkey’s purchase of the Russian system. But Erdogan, speaking Thursday in a rare meeting with foreign journalists, seemed confident in his ability to manage the fallout from the purchase and said he intended to speak with Trump about the matter at the Group of 20 meeting in Japan this month. “I will say, ‘Do you find such sanctions against Turkey suitable?’ ” Erdogan said. “I do believe Mr. Trump will say he doesn’t.” “We’re friends,” Erdogan added. “We’re strategic partners.” During the lengthy news conference — his first appearance before the foreign news media in years — Erdogan, appearing relaxed, discussed his relationship with the United States as well as Russia, and regional issues, including the escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran. He criticized the U.S. approach to Iran, saying it was “causing great unrest.” His comments came just days before a mayoral election in Istanbul that has focused attention on what critics say is Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian style of leadership. Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party were criticized in recent months after they asked for the cancellation of the previous round of voting, which showed that an opposition candidate had won. Erdogan said Thursday that his party would “accept the outcome” of the revote, which will be held Sunday. He harshly criticized the opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu, while declining to refer to him by name. The Turkish leader also spoke at length about a report released Wednesday on the death of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. The report by Agnes Callamard, a United Nations human rights expert, relied heavily on audio recordings said to be of Khashoggi’s death


SpaceX and Boeing continue to struggle with spacecraft designs, as watchdog raises safety concerns

Getting astronauts to the International Space Station was supposed to become routine, so much so that NASA hired a pair of contractors to provide a taxi-like service to low Earth orbit. That, in turn, would allow NASA to focus on the hard stuff — deep space exploration to the moon and Mars. But four years after awarding the contracts, worth $6.8 billion combined, to Boeing and SpaceX, the agency still can’t fly astronauts, a capability it lost when the space shuttle was retired in 2011. A new report from a government watchdog paints a grim picture of the program, as both companies “continue to experience delays” in developing their spacecraft and are two years behind schedule. The situation was made worse when SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft exploded during an engine test in April, sending a thick plume of smoke wafting over the Florida coastline. SpaceX still has not determined what caused the failure during a test of abort engines designed to carry the spacecraft away from the rocket in an emergency. The investigation is continuing, and the company had no update Thursday about the cause or what effect it would have on the company’s schedule. But NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recently told reporters there is “no doubt the schedule will change” as a result of the failure. Boeing has had problems as well. Last year, during a test of its abort system, it had a propellant leak after four of eight valves failed to close properly. The investigation and remediation efforts resulted in a one-year delay, according to the Government Accountability Office, which released the report Thursday. But the system has since been tested successfully, the company said. The GAO said Boeing also has a problem with its Starliner capsule generating debris when it separates from its service module, which could “damage the spacecraft” and force the company “to explore a possible redesign.” But the company said it has already fixed that problem. In response to the report, Boeing said it was “progressing toward the first Starliner launch this summer. Safety remains our number one priority, and we’re focused on performing a safe, successful uncrewed orbital flight test.” The report also highlighted a “safety risk” with the Atlas V rocket Boeing plans to use to launch its Starliner spacecraft. During a launch last year, the rocket’s engine position during liftoff “deviated from commands,” the GAO said. Despite the problem, “the mission


17 things to do in the D.C. area this weekend

and not the 1890s, because it’s more fun to dance to En Vogue, Busta Rhymes and Britney Spears than to gather around the piano and sing “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.”) Held on the mansion’s surprisingly spacious back lawn, this event features music, lawn games, tours, birthday cake and the chance to try samples of Senate Ale, a recreation of Heurch’s best-selling lager from the 1940s. 1 to 4 p.m. $12.50 suggested donation. Bebel Gilberto at the Birchmere [4 concerts to catch in the D.C. area over the next several days] Well Ray Taste the Philippines at District Pier at the Wharf Sunday, June 23 Crabs and Coladas at Archipelago: Since 2017, Washington food lovers have been looking forward to the opening of Pennyroyal Station in Mount Ranier. The American kitchen, helmed by former Bar Pilar chef Jesse Miller, is getting close to opening, and Miller is hosting a pop-up crab feast at the Archipelago tiki bar on U Street. (Archipelago co-founder Owen Thomson was the beverage director at Pilar.) Tickets include all-you-can-eat blue crabs and a seat on the patio; potent rum cocktails are priced a la carte. 5 to 10 p.m. $35. Momofuku D.C. Summer Seafood Boils: On one Sunday per month this summer, Momofuku chef Tae Strain is inviting some friends over to cook on the CityCenter restaurant’s patio. They’ll prepare a seafood boil -- local blue crab, shrimp, crawfish, clams, mussels -- that will be sold by the pound with special sides and sauces created by the chefs, plus beer towers and adult slushies. The inaugural event features Tim Ma of American Son and Johanna Hellrigl of Doi Moi. Just get there early, as no reservations are taken. 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Seafood boil $15 to $21 per pound. Blagden Market Pop-Up: The narrow, hidden passages of Blagden Alley and Naylor Court are home to James Beard-nominated restaurants, one of the country’s best cocktail bars and some of the city’s most colorful murals. But this weekend, artists will take over the streets and selected businesses to sell paintings, jewelry and other goods during the Blagden Market. Stop into Lost and Found, Tiger Fork, La Colombe and Calico to browse merchants, listen to live music or enjoy happy hour specials. Noon to 5 p.m. Free. Sneaks at the Kennedy Center — Hau Chu, Fritz Hahn, Adele Chapin, Michael Gaynor, Rudi Greenberg and Nelson Pressley


A teen’s injuries looked like he was in a ‘high-speed’ crash. Instead, a vape pen exploded in his mouth.

home. In February, a 24-year-old man’s vape pen exploded while he was smoking it and nicked the carotid artery in his neck, causing a fatal stroke. Between 2015 and 2017, there were about 2,035 explosion and burn injuries caused by e-cigarettes, according to a report published last year in BMJ Journals. Researchers noted that the number was likely an underestimate given the difficulty of accurately tracking incidents. According to the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, the source of the explosions may be “battery-related issues.” E-cigarettes use lithium-ion batteries, which the U.S. Fire Administration has deemed “not a safe source of energy for these devices.” “The shape and construction of electronic cigarettes can make them (more likely than other products with lithium-ion batteries) behave like ‘flaming rockets’ when a battery fails,” the fire agency wrote in a 2017 report. E-cigarettes are the only consumer product that “places a battery with a known explosion hazard such as this in such close proximity to the human body,” the report said. “It is this intimate contact between the body and the battery that is most responsible for the severity of the injuries that have been seen.” In a statement to The Post early Thursday, an FDA spokesman said the agency “is concerned about adverse events associated with the use of e-cigarettes, including overheating and exploding batteries.” Beyond educating consumers about how to avoid explosions, the FDA is also “exploring product standards to address battery issues,” the spokesman said. Earlier this month, the FDA also released an industry guidance for e-cigarette manufacturers that requires companies to provide detailed information about batteries when submitting new tobacco product applications. As the number of young people using e-cigarettes continues to rise, Russell, the pediatric surgeon, stressed the importance of understanding the dangers associated with the devices. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3.6 million middle and high school students used e-cigarettes last year — an increase of about 1.5 million from 2017. There have been several recent incidents of teenagers being blinded or burned by exploding e-cigarettes, CNN reported. “Everyone seems to be vaping,” Russell said. “It seems like this technology has really taken off, but we didn’t really get adequately educated about the possible risks.” Austin has sworn off smoking and vaping, his mother said. “He just quit,” Burton said. “He does tell people, ‘This is what happened


A 19-year-old Salvadoran woman wanted to reunite with her father in California. She was shot dead in Mexico.

most recent and up-to-date information available at this time suggests that there are no indications that shots were fired from the vehicle in question,” the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement. The agency, of which the Federal Police is a part, continues to investigate. “The secretariat of security and citizen protection will not tolerate any violation of human rights and disapproves of any conduct that is remote from the observance of the law,” the ministry said. De Paz said the migrants were not armed. “We were a group of migrants crammed in a truck,” he said. “There were no weapons.” The checkpoint that the migrants passed in southern Veracruz state is part of the expanding enforcement infrastructure staffed largely by police and military personnel, some of them members of Mexico’s newly formed national guard. Six thousand members of the guard are being sent to southern Mexico, their deployment accelerated as part of the agreement this month between Mexico and the Trump administration. That mission has worried human rights advocates since it was announced. Mexico’s security personnel had not been trained in immigration enforcement and now were being sent to the front lines of the country’s high-stakes effort to stop migration. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has tried to reconcile his promise to respect the rights of migrants with the country’s U.S.-backed crackdown. But multiple incidents in recent weeks, including María’s death, have made it clear how difficult it will be to strike that balance. On June 10, a migrant woman from Honduras was allegedly kidnapped by federal agents. This week, Doctors Without Borders said Mexican immigration officers raided one of their mobile hospitals and detained migrants who had gone there for medical treatment. “We are already seeing the consequences of criminalizing migrants and asylum seekers and forcing them underground,” said Sergio Martín, the head of mission for Doctors Without Borders in Mexico. María was killed five days after the United States and Mexico signed the pact to stop migration. “The killing of a Salvadoran migrant woman by Mexican police is a tragic yet predictable consequence of Mexican security forces’ new role in immigration enforcement,” said Maureen Meyer, the director of the Mexico program at the Washington Office on Latin America. The government of El Salvador said it is awaiting the results of the investigations. The Salvadoran ambassador to Mexico, Carlos Enrique Cáceres Chávez, told The Washington Post


Walmart to pay $282 million to settle charges of corruption at its foreign subsidiaries

Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, on Thursday agreed to pay $282 million to settle federal criminal and civil charges that it ignored evidence of internal corruption for years that helped fuel its massive overseas expansion. The company acknowledged wrongdoing as part of the settlements with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlements end a seven-year investigation into the company’s compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials to help their businesses. For more than a decade, between 2000 and 2011, Walmart executives were aware of problems with its anti-corruption programs at its foreign subsidiaries, including in Mexico, Brazil and China, but failed to act, according to court documents. The internal failures allowed the company to open its overseas stores more quickly than it would have otherwise and make additional profit, federal officials said. The company reported $120.8 billion in international sales last year, up from about $99 billion 10 years ago. “Walmart valued international growth and cost-cutting over compliance,” Charles Cain, chief of the SEC’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act division, said in a statement. In 2005, a former Walmart attorney reported that he had overseen a scheme in Mexico in which a third party made improper payments to government officials to obtain permits and licenses. The third party submitted invoices that specified that the payments were for “avoiding a requirement” and “influence,” the Justice Department said in a statement. Walmart Brazil indirectly hired a third party, who was internally known as the “sorceress” or “genie,” though company officials knew of several “red flags” that prevented them from hiring her directly, according to the Justice Department. In 2009, that third party made improper payments to government inspectors related to construction of Walmart stores there. “In numerous instances, senior Walmart employees knew of failures of its anti-corruption-related internal controls involving foreign subsidiaries, and yet Walmart failed for years to implement sufficient controls comporting with U.S. criminal laws,” Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski said. Walmart said in a statement that it had since enhanced its global anti-corruption policies. “Walmart is committed to doing business the right way, and that means acting ethically everywhere we operate," Doug McMillon, Walmart president and CEO, said in a statement. "We want to be the most trusted retailer, and a key to this is maintaining our culture of integrity.” The company’s rapid international expansion has slowed


House committee leader says railroads have fallen to ‘jackals on Wall Street’

crew size, the FRA said. The debate over how many crew members are needed to operate a train safely is of relatively recent vintage, as railroads foresee an era when fewer crew — or none at all — might be necessary to run a train. The railroads don’t want federal regulators to step in, imposing new rules on crew requirements that could become onerous as they move closer to an era of autonomous trains. For example, a technology called positive train control, with onboard computers and signal beacons lining track beds, is expected to virtually eliminate human error. Once that is fully operational on most lines by the end of next year, railroads may begin to reduce the number of crew in the locomotive. Unions, however, believe there always will be a need for crew members to operative a train. In a joint statement by Previsich and Dennis R. Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, after the FRA pulled the proposed rule, they said the decision “placed corporate profits above public safety.” “If the ongoing grounding of the Boeing Max aircraft has taught us nothing else, FRA and the Department of Transportation should be mindful of the danger of transferring the risk of a human-factors accident from [crew members] to [a computer] programmer when autonomous technology is implemented,” they said. Most trains run with two crew members: an engineer and a conductor. On passenger trains, often with more than one conductor, the lead conductor is in the passenger cars but remains in communication with the engineer. On freight locomotives, however, the conductor may be in the locomotive unless he or she has more-pressing duties. In addition to an engineer and conductor, Amtrak said it uses a second engineer on routes that take six hours or longer. The rulemaking process was begun by Szabo after 2013, when an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil ran downhill and crashed in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic, killing 47 people. Later that year, a pair of trains collided in Casselton, N.D., causing the explosion of 476,000 gallons of crude oil and a huge cloud of smoke that caused the evacuation of the surrounding area. Although no one died, lawmakers were placated by Szabo’s promise to require two-man crews. In deciding to revoke the proposed rule this year, the FRA concluded, “There is no direct safety connection between train crew


A starving polar bear wandered into a Russian city, scavenging for food

UPDATE: The A polar bear described as sick and starving wandered into an industrial city in northern Siberia, roaming the streets and a local garbage dump scavenging for something to eat, reports say. Officials in Norilsk, which is above the Arctic Circle, alerted residents Tuesday that a polar bear had been seen in the Russian city for the first time in more than four decades, the Associated Press reported, citing the news agency Tass. Photos showed the female, which appeared Sunday outside the city center, trudging across a busy road with muddy paws, digging through rubble and trash and lying down from apparent exhaustion on the ground. State wildlife experts are scheduled to assess the bear Wednesday and decide what will happen to it, according to the Guardian. The AP reported that Anatoly Nikolaichuk, who heads the local hunting department, told Tass that authorities must also consider whether the bear can be transported by aircraft back to its home in the Arctic. A wildlife expert who captured images of the bear told Reuters that it had watery eyes and did not appear to be able to see well. Oleg Krashevsky told Reuters it was not clear why the animal had come into the city, but he wondered whether it was simply lost. In any case, he speculated that the animal may be in too poor condition to return it to its natural habitat, according to the news agency. The recent sighting is reminiscent of one earlier this year in which dozens of polar bears invaded a Russian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. In February, local reports estimated that about 50 polar bears had taken over Novaya Zemlya, popping up in buildings, on playgrounds and at a local garbage dump. As The Washington Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reported at the time, officials declared a state of emergency, many people were too scared to leave their homes or let their children play outside, and military personnel were being transported to work sites in special vehicles. As Stanley-Becker previously reported, polar bears “are classified as a vulnerable species because of the ‘ongoing and potential loss of their sea ice habitat resulting from climate change,’ according to the World Wildlife Fund. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that there are 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears worldwide." He added Read more: ‘We stood there crying’: Emaciated polar bear seen in ‘gut-wrenching’ video and photos


A path has been laid out for holding Khashoggi’s murderers accountable

THIRTEEN MINUTES before Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, the head of a hit team who was dispatched to intercept him asked the team’s forensic doctor about dismembering the journalist’s body. It would, replied Salah Tubaigy, “be easy. Joints will be separated. . . . If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished.” Just 37 minutes after that conversation, and 24 minutes after Khashoggi entered the consulate, sounds could be heard that Turkish investigators later judged to be those of a saw. These shocking details come from a penetrating and disturbing report on Khashoggi’s murder issued Wednesday by Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Ms. Callamard, who spent five months investigating The Post contributing columnist’s murder, was stonewalled by Saudi authorities. But she collected considerable evidence, including from some 45 minutes of tape recordings made by Turkey inside the Saudi Consulate before, during and after the murder. Her conclusions are unambiguous: “Mr. Khashoggi has been the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law.” Yet eight months after his death, there has been no credible process for holding those responsible accountable — including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Ms. Callamard’s report points out that Maher Mutreb, the leader of the hit team, was an employee of Saud al-Qahtani, a top aide to the crown prince who “personally directed a campaign targeting activists and political opponents,” and briefed the hit team about Khashoggi before it departed from Riyadh. It cites “credible evidence” that “the decision to kill Mr. Khashoggi was made before the plane carrying Dr. Tubaigy and Mr. Mutreb had left Saudi Arabia.” As for Mohammed bin Salman, Ms. Callamard reports, “every expert consulted finds it inconceivable that an operation of this scale could be implemented without the Crown Prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature, directed at Mr. Khashoggi, was being launched.” Similarly, she concludes that the “destruction of evidence” carried out after Oct. 2 to cover up the murder “could not have taken place without the Crown Prince’s awareness.” Ms. Callamard says she did not reach a conclusion about the guilt of Mohammed bin Salman or Mr. Qahtani, but she found that “there is credible evidence meriting


Trump’s July 4 speech, flyovers confirmed by federal officials; fireworks details still unclear

observed in France in 2017. It did not mention Air Force One. D.C. officials who will help oversee security on July 4 said details of those arrangements are still being worked out with the federal government. D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said the city would share information about road closures and access to the Mall in the coming weeks, urging would-be visitors to pay attention to changes from past years. Along with the president’s appearance at the Lincoln Memorial and the moving of the main fireworks show to West Potomac Park, Newsham said Wednesday afternoon that it is his understanding that a second, smaller fireworks display may take place before the main show. But later Wednesday, administration officials said the two displays would be merged. Interior spokeswoman Molly Block said the department was working “to bring two of America’s foremost fireworks companies together to produce the largest show ever seen in the nation’s capital.” D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), speaking earlier in the day, said moving the fireworks locations will influence where crowds gather and shape the deployment of police officers. “Where will you be able to see it? Does it change where people are going to want to stop and view it? Will the fireworks start and people realize they can’t see it and try to be moving so they can see it?” Bowser said. “So those are the types of things that are just a little unknown when you change the location.” A Capitol Fourth, the annual concert performed on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol, will proceed as planned, its organizers have said. D.C. police said no boating would be allowed from 4 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. July 4 along the east side of the Potomac River from the 14th Street Bridge to just north of the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Boats will also be barred from anchoring between the Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Police warned there may be intermittent travel restrictions between the 14th Street Bridge and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge between 8:30 and 10 p.m. Local officials have fretted Federal officials have said they will pay for any added costs, but District officials are worried that the event could further deplete the city’s Emergency Planning and Security Fund, which is used to reimburse the city for security expenses such as hosting protests. That fund is dwindling, in part because the


The right answers to the New York Times candidate questionnaire

be done. 4. Do you think Israel meets international standards of human rights? *glances around nervously* Uh, to whom am I speaking? Is this in an ideal world? Sorry, could you clarify? I mean, if we’re in an ideal world, ah, well, you know I love international standards of human rights, as who would not? *starts to sweat* Also solutions and states, numbers of states. But then, Bibi Netanyahu is, well, once you realize the complications and take everything into account, and, uh, gripped him warmly by the hand, stared into his eyes and called him “brother,” as in that ideal world we all surely would. I think that answers your question. 5. Who is your hero, and why? My opponents will say that their heroes are their wives. All of them are wrong except for Jay Inslee. My hero is Jay Inslee’s wife. 6. Would there be American troops in Afghanistan at the end of your first term? I swear on my sacred honor, on the grave of my mother, on my hero wife, on the Congress, on my most treasured picture of John Jay, that there would not be. Unless something happens! 7. How many hours of sleep do you get a night? The spirit of the American voter rises from the lamp to claim me, and I go I know not where. What I am trying to say is that I sleep the right amount, a normal amount. 8. Do you think illegal immigration is a major problem in the United States? I spit upon you for using the term! You have said the word to entrap me into saying the word! 9. Where would you go on your first international trip as president? SAUDI ARABIA, BABY! NO BAD REASON, DON’T FRET! 10. Describe the last time you were embarrassed. Why? Recently I was riding out of a burning building with an elderly man held in my arms, and when I did a manual on my skateboard right as the building exploded behind us, I wobbled a little bit and my Hero Wife saw but she said ultimately that it was relatable. 11. Do you think President Trump has committed crimes in office? I don’t see how you could read all 912 pages of the Mueller report cover to cover (I printed it out in a big font to make it longer) and not come away with


U.N. investigator calls for probe of Saudi officials in Khashoggi killing

it clear that it will not let this stand.” In a telephone interview from Geneva, Callamard characterized the U.S. response as ambiguous and conflicted. “At the highest level of the U.S. government, there has not been a determination to hold to account the state of Saudi Arabia,” she said. She called U.S. sanctions against 17 suspects, most of them low- to mid-level personnel, insufficient. Callamard offered a macabre account of Khashoggi’s final moments, drawn from audio recordings that captured events inside the consulate in the days before Khashoggi visited a second time and on the day of the killing. She said she was permitted to listen to 45 minutes of conversation — a small fraction of the seven hours of audio captured by Turkish intelligence. Her team was permitted to keep notes on only a portion of the recordings. Other conversations “were reconstructed from memory,” she wrote. Some of the audio was hard to discern. “For instance, on the basis of recordings, the Special Rapporteur could not reach firm conclusions about what [she and her investigators] were told was the sound of a ‘saw’ in operation. The Turkish authorities undoubtedly have more information and intelligence about events in the Saudi Consulate than they were willing or able to share with the inquiry,” the report said. According to the report, 13 minutes before Khashoggi entered the consulate on Oct. 2, two of the Saudi agents, Maher Mutreb and Salah Tubaigy, a forensic expert, discussed dismembering the body. “Joints will be separated,” Tubaigy told Mutreb. “First time I cut on the ground. If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished.” Khashoggi’s name was not mentioned, but Mutreb referred to the “sacrificial animal.” The report also said that Tubaigy “expressed concerns” about what was about to transpire, telling Mutreb: “My direct manager is not aware of what I am doing. There is no one to protect me.” The audio suggests they attempted to make Khashoggi think he would be kidnapped and repatriated to Saudi Arabia, not killed. When Khashoggi arrived at the consulate on Oct. 2, he was invited to the consul general’s office and asked whether he would return to Saudi Arabia. “He responded that he wanted to return in the future,” the report states. But the Saudi agents, using the pretext of an Interpol warrant, said they were there to take him back to the


Deaths in Dominican Republic could be ‘mysterious.’ But so far, all signs point to ‘normal.’

Caribbean have gained so much attention. In 2017, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found dozens of tourists that fell violently ill — often blacking out — after drinking alcohol at popular all-inclusive resorts in Mexico. Weeks after that investigation was published, the State Department updated its safety advice for traveling to Mexico, suggesting tourists drink in moderation and seek medical attention immediately if they feel ill. Phil Sylvester, a travel safety expert and a spokesman for World Nomads, a global travel insurance company based in Australia, said his company also noted several issues from Australian travelers in Bali a few years back that he thinks were connected to toxic homemade alcohol. The barrage of bad news has caused frustration and concern in the Dominican Republic, where tourism accounts for about 22 percent of the economy, directly and indirectly. The stories have coincided with other damaging reports. Famed Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was shot in the back at a restaurant in Santo Domingo, the country’s capital, last week. A 51-year-old woman from Delaware, Tammy Lawrence-Daley, has recently spoken about a vicious assault she says she suffered at a resort in Punta Cana in January. “We can see that many international media outlets are just going for it as news, just to get the headline, and they are not really getting into what’s going on . . . The caricatures have been made, and some in media have done a lot of damage,” Luis José Chávez, president of the Dominican Tourism Press Association, told The Washington Post. “The whole country is trying to get over this and gain back the image of what we really are.” The Dominican Republic, just a few hours on a plane from many areas in the southern and eastern United States, might be a victim of its own success as an increasingly popular vacation destination for Americans, and one that attracts a crop of travelers not used to venturing to countries with different medical and legal systems. The reports led Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) to ask the State Department to reassess the Dominican Republic’s travel safety. They have also led to a flood of complaints from people who say they, too, have fallen ill while traveling in the Dominican Republic. More than 600 online visitors to the website IWasPoisoned.com in the past few months posted symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea that they said


Supercomputing is latest front in U.S.-China high-tech battle

China’s burgeoning supercomputer industry became the latest target of U.S. trade restrictions as officials banned shipments to four Chinese technology companies and one research institute on the grounds that they threaten American national security. This latest move in a broadening confrontation over advanced technology between the world’s leading economies appeared in a notice to the Federal Register dated Tuesday, which became public Friday. The move comes after last month’s similar move against Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei Technologies, which U.S. officials placed on its “Entity List” over allegations it violated sanctions against Iran, among other national security issues. “The timing here is important because China is really just on the cusp of moving away from U.S. dependence to a certain degree of independence in high-performance computers,” said Bob Sorensen, vice president of research and technology at Minneapolis-based Hyperion Research. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet next week in Japan during the Group of 20 summit. The latest move singles out an entity, Wuxi Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology, that is involved in supercomputing, an area in which China has made significant strides in recent years. The institute is owned by China’s People’s Liberation Army, according to the notice in the Federal Register. Also added to the list was the Chinese company Sugon, which calls itself the largest manufacturer of supercomputers in Asia. Sugon, for instance, is helping the Chinese military do nuclear weapons simulation testing and hypersonic glide vehicle testing, said James Mulvenon, a China expert at SOS International, a Northern Virginia defense contractor. The glide vehicle can deliver nuclear-tipped weapons at speeds impossible to stop with missile defenses, he said. And Jiangnan Institute of Computing Technology is the cover name for the former General Staff Department No. 56 Institute, the Chinese military’s primary supercomputing institute, he said. The institute was renamed in a reorganization and thought to be placed under the Strategic Support Force, he said. The other companies added to the list are Chengdu Haiguang Integrated Circuit, Chengdu Haiguang Microelectronics Technology, and Higon. Each of the companies does businesses under a variety of other names. The notice posted to the Federal Register said the research institute and the four companies “have been determined by the U.S. government to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.” China’s efforts to develop its own supercomputing capability has been an


U.S. action could add even more motivation for the Chinese to bolster its own technology industry, which the nation has been seeking for several years to make independent of foreign sources of components. “In the short term, we are hurting the U.S. companies, and in the long-term we are helping the Chinese advance more rapidly,” said Tarek El-Ghazawi, a computer engineering professor at George Washington University who specializes in supercomputers. “I see this as a lose-lose for us.” China and the United States have over the past decade engaged in a fierce rivalry for the top spot in supercomputer performance. Some of the Chinese entities targeted by the U.S. action this week are allegedly developing “exascale” computers that are roughly 8 to 10 times faster than the best currently available, capable of performing a quintillion calculations per second. The U.S. may have an exascale computer sometime in the next year or two, said El-Ghazawi. Robert K. Knake, a White House cybersecurity policy expert during the Obama administration, said it's not clear whether the motivation for this week's U.S. action comes from national security concerns or the ongoing trade war with China. “If Trump gets the trade deal he wants from China, does he lift the trade restrictions?” said Knake, now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I think that’s a very open question.” U.S. officials for years have worried about the rapid advances in China’s high-technology industry, though some of these strides have relied on American components or designs. One of the sanctioned companies, Hygon, entered into a joint venture several years ago with the American semiconductor firm AMD or Advanced Micro Devices to build x86-based server chips. The chips can be used to build supercomputers that aid the design and testing of nuclear and conventional weapons, among other things. The listing of the Chinese companies comes as China and the United States are locked in a trade war that has seen both countries impose tariffs on billions of dollars worth of imports from the other. “It’s not new that the U.S. government is concerned about China’s efforts in this area,” said Richard C. Sofield, a former Justice Department lawyer who once oversaw national security review of trade in American technology and now is a partner at Wiley Rein. “This is just another step.” China’s embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.


How to survive Smorgasburg, D.C.’s hottest new foodie destination

Ekiben brought the Bird — a chicken thigh marinated in Taiwanese curry, popped in a bao bun and topped with pickles and a garlicky sambal sauce — in both bao and fried rice form, as well as Tofu Brah, an option with fried tofu, peanut sauce and pickled veg. Roy Boys, which is moving to the neighborhood later this summer to replace Justin’s Cafe, had a small spot in the beer garden, where they were serving potent bloody-mary oyster shooters (the green version with “firewater tincture” has a nice kick). But the standout was Nashville hot-oyster sliders: Virginia War Shore oysters in a spicy, crackly cornmeal crust. Bring sunscreen and a hat. Smorgasburg’s vendors are arrayed in rows on Tingey Plaza, a sunbaked brick square that surrounds a squat, industrial World War I-era electrical substation. The exception is the beer garden, which fills a narrow green berm between the plaza and Tingey Street SE. On a summer afternoon, there’s no escape from the blistering sun. The picnic tables — located at one end of the plaza and on the beer garden’s grass — don’t offer umbrellas or any shade. The one respite is on the Transportation Walk, on the other side of the Tingey Plaza fountain from Smorgasburg, where you’ll find a tree-shaded path directly behind the U.S. Transportation Department. Bench-width ledges, which sit among exhibits about the history of planes, trains and automobiles, are popular for anyone looking to avoid direct sun, but most people will want to sprawl out in the grassy area in the beer garden, where they might need protection from the heat. Don’t forget your water bottle. At times, the lines to get free water from a cooler rivaled the most popular vendors, and it’s more rewarding to wait for bao or spicy chicken than to fill a plastic cup. Many vendors sell sodas, while the holding pen-like beer garden — which requires you to show an ID to enter and wait in more lines — has local beer, cider and wine, and cocktails made with D.C. spirits. A plastic of Bluejacket’s Self-Portrait Pilsner was $2 more than at the brewery a block away, though bartenders were pouring Old Westminster Rosé, which won our recent rosé taste test. Grab and go. Once you’ve found your food, there’s no need to try to squeeze in at the communal picnic tables or try to find some grass


later this summer to replace Justin’s Cafe, had a small spot in the beer garden, where they were serving potent bloody-mary oyster shooters (the green version with “firewater tincture” has a nice kick). But the standout was Nashville hot-oyster sliders: Virginia War Shore oysters in a spicy, crackly cornmeal crust. Bring sunscreen and a hat. Smorgasburg’s vendors are arrayed in rows on Tingey Plaza, a sunbaked brick square that surrounds a squat, industrial World War I-era electrical substation. The exception is the beer garden, which fills a narrow green berm between the plaza and Tingey Street SE. On a summer afternoon, there’s no escape from the blistering sun. The picnic tables — located at one end of the plaza and on the beer garden’s grass — don’t offer umbrellas or any shade. The one respite is on the Transportation Walk, on the other side of the Tingey Plaza fountain from Smorgasburg, where you’ll find a tree-shaded path directly behind the U.S. Transportation Department. Bench-width ledges, which sit among exhibits about the history of planes, trains and automobiles, are popular for anyone looking to avoid direct sun, but most people will want to sprawl out in the grassy area in the beer garden, where they might need protection from the heat. Don’t forget your water bottle. At times, the lines to get free water from a cooler rivaled the most popular vendors, and it’s more rewarding to wait for bao or spicy chicken than to fill a plastic cup. Many vendors sell sodas, while the holding pen-like beer garden — which requires you to show an ID to enter and wait in more lines — has local beer, cider and wine, and cocktails made with D.C. spirits. A plastic of Bluejacket’s Self-Portrait Pilsner was $2 more than at the brewery a block away, though bartenders were pouring Old Westminster Rosé, which won our recent rosé taste test. Grab and go. Once you’ve found your food, there’s no need to try to squeeze in at the communal picnic tables or try to find some grass in the beer garden that isn’t adjacent to the lines. Take your takeout container a block south to Yards Park, where there’s plenty of green space, seating, breezes from the water and waterside stands that (whisper it) sell adult beverages without making you jump through hoops. Smorgasburg: Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tingey Pl. SE.


50 astronauts, in their own words

back and see New York very clearly. Over Manhattan, I saw this thick gray cloud enveloping the southern half of the city. What I was seeing, I determined later, was the second tower coming down. I just assumed tens of thousands of people were dying. Nicole Stott Flew on a space shuttle for NASA twice between 2009 and 2011 To paint with watercolors in space — you know, everything floats. So instead of dipping my brush in a cup of water, I would use a little ball of water from a drink bag. I thought I'd be dipping [the brush] into the ball of water at the end of the drink bag, but just before the brush would touch the water, the water would move over to the brush. Some super fancy magnetism or something. Then you'd have this ball of water floating around the end of the brush and then as you got it close to the solid paint, it would move from the brush to the paint. You didn't even have to really touch the brush to the paint; it was like it was attracted. It was the weirdest thing. Yury Usachov Russian cosmonaut who flew to the Mir space station and the International Space Station (ISS) between 1994 and 2001; former commander of the ISS and the Soyuz; conducted seven spacewalks When I saw the Earth for the first time, I was shocked with its size. You think that you would see it very small and fragile like a Christmas decoration, but when you saw it from the distance of 200 kilometers you are so impressed with its huge size — one circle around the Earth takes one and a half hours at a speed of 8 kilometers per second. And you are also impressed with its beauty. This is stunning, you can stay at the window for hours and enjoy wonderful views. Nobody can remain indifferent. Because the view of the Earth from space is something really amazing. I had a thought that it is a live organism and it lives according to its own laws. I am not a religious person, but I got a thought that such beauty could be created by a very big love. Mike Massimino Flew on two space shuttle missions for NASA, in 2002 and 2009, to service the Hubble Space Telescope It was probably my third day back, and


The failure of our health system, underscored in two articles

The June 17 front-page article “As insulin costs soar, diabetics drive to Canada ” and the June 17 Politics & the Nation article “In first states to legalize pot, teen use triggers concerns ” underscored the profound failure of our health system. As a parent of a child with Type 1 diabetes, I know firsthand the intense anxiety of running out of insulin. Without it, my daughter will die. As the insulin article highlighted, in Canada, anyone can walk into a pharmacy and buy analog insulin. In the United States, you must have a doctor’s prescription. But high-potency marijuana for recreational use that can cause “vomiting, paranoia, psychosis and other acute cannabis-related symptoms” in teenagers, who easily obtain it? For that, adults in several states can purchase marijuana without a prescription (and at an affordable price). Tell me again how great the United States’ health-care system is. Anne Noel Occhialino Read more letters to the editor.


She wrote her dissertation on unusual names instead of changing hers. Now you can call her Dr. Marijuana Pepsi.

middle name, was what many of her close friends and family members called her. But in school, and, later, at work, she was Marijuana Jackson. The rumors about the name’s origins weren’t too far off: Her parents were “products of the post-Woodstock era when reefer was rampant,” the Journal Sentinel reported. Her aunt, Mayetta Jackson, told the paper that cannabis was everywhere in 1972, the year that Marijuana was born, and after smoking, the couple liked to cool off with a sweet, fizzy can of Pepsi. “I thought it was crazy,” Mayetta Jackson said of the name, “but they were such fun-loving people that it suited them.” The couple’s marriage disintegrated after young Marijuana’s father became a Jehovah’s Witness and eventually moved to Chicago. Meanwhile, back in Beloit, the preteen struggled with a difficult home life and relentless teasing because of her name. “Every single class, the teacher is taking attendance out loud,” she told the Journal Sentinel. “And as they slowly get down through the J’s, I’m just like, here it comes. ‘Marianna? Marijuana?’ And all the students turn to see who it is.” But by the time she was in high school, the tables had turned. Other teenagers told her that they were jealous of her name, and wanted to name their own children after her. “I hear that so much and I go, Lord, please don’t do that to that child,” she said. Her life was improving in other ways, too. At 15, she left her unstable home situation behind, taking just a few possessions in a pillowcase. Relying on family members and friends for a place to stay, she rededicated herself to school and stopped cutting class, and saw her grade-point average skyrocket. At her high school graduation in 1990, she was named the most improved student and awarded a $12,000 scholarship to the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, the Journal Sentinel reported. “They could make a movie about her,” Carlton Jenkins, who taught at Beloit Memorial High School in the 1980s and later became its principal, told the paper. “I could almost write a book on Marijuana myself in terms of a young student who’s been so resilient and taken even her name and made it into a positive. We’re so very proud of her. She’s exactly what any kid in America needs to know about someone who can truly make it if they put


Deaths in Dominican Republic

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — For weeks, news media in the United States and beyond have painstakingly chronicled the horrifying stories of Americans who have died at resorts in the Dominican Republic. There was the 78-year-old man who died with fluid in his lungs a day after he was reported to have been vomiting at his hotel; the 53-year-old woman who was found unresponsive in her room, dead after a heart attack, local authorities said; a 67-year-old who died on a trip for his stepson’s wedding; a 55-year-old man whose family said perished from heart and respiratory issues last week. Stories about the deaths of 11 American tourists over the past year have been trickling out one by one — on local outlets, in international tabloids such as the New York Post and the Daily Mail, and digital juggernauts including Fox News Channel and NBC. The stories are starting to link the deaths, characterizing them as “mysterious,” “strange” and “suspicious,” and painting the Caribbean island nation — where tourism is the leading industry — as a place where something nefarious might be lurking amid the pools, beaches and palm trees. But there’s a problem: There are no signs that’s actually the case. There’s not even firm evidence the apparent spate of death and illness in the Dominican Republic this year is out of the ordinary for the country, any other popular tourist destination or even the U.S. As the coverage seemed to reach a fever pitch this week, the U.S. State Department said it has seen no spike in deaths reported from the Dominican Republic. The FBI is looking into at least three of the cases: those of Miranda Schaup-Werner, a 41-year-old psychotherapist who died at a hotel on May 25, and Nathaniel Edward Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day, a couple from Maryland who were found in their room at a neighboring resort several days later. Toxicology results in those cases are expected within 30 days. The Maryland couple was found to have died with fluid in their lungs, according to the Dominican Republic’s national police, but details about Schaup-Werner’s death have been harder to pin down. Officials have given conflicting statements to media outlets, but have declined to comment recently citing the pending investigation. A family spokesman said Schaup-Werner became ill after drinking from her room’s minibar, which touched off a round of unverified speculation about whether tainted alcohol


Deaths in Dominican Republic

The Post, indicating that it could be an effect of increased news coverage. Some news organizations, playing catch-up with social media, have broadened their coverage to report on cases of people who have merely gotten sick with food poisoning-like symptoms in the country — a relatively common experience for anyone who has spent enough time abroad. Travel insurance operators told The Post that they have been inundated with inquiries about how their coverage, which applies to misfortunes such as illness and injury, might work for those headed to the Dominican Republic. Insurers know the cold statistical truth that lurks in the reams of travel data they amass. Even for vacations to tropical paradises such as the Dominican Republic, a small subset of trips will be marred by serious health issues and other tragedies. “Ninety percent of the time, your holiday goes off without a hitch,” Sylvester, of World Nomads, told The Post. Of the other 10 percent who do file claims, the vast majority are for things such as a lost cellphone, a pair of sunglasses that flew overboard or minor health issue like a skin rash, he said. But about two out of 100 travelers who purchase insurance do experience more serious incidents — medical issues that appear while they are traveling that they weren’t aware of before, or accidents while in transit, particularly on motorcycles, Sylvester said. “We’re wound up so tight, you unwind some time and you find out you’re not just stressed at work. You’re actually sick,” he said. Robert Quigley, a cardiovascular surgeon and senior vice president of International SOS, which offers medical and travel security risk services to individuals and companies, said travelers experience health problems for a variety of reasons: They engage in activities they don’t normally do, take more risks, try new foods and drink more than usual, making people with preexisting conditions vulnerable to medical complications, he said. But on a first glance, he said, the reported deaths in the Dominican Republic did seem to potentially indicate a cluster that was not entirely explainable by natural causes, noting that some of the victims were relatively young. “It could raise some concern,” he said, “but until there’s forensic data, no conclusions can be made.” Rosenberg reported from Washington. Lindsey Bever contributed to this report. Read more: Trump supporter arrested after smacking reporter’s phone. ‘MAGA,’ a GOP lawmaker responded. New York will give


The Soulful Symphony reinvents itself, elevating music’s American roots

National Museum of African American History and Culture. Yet even though a good 25 percent of its players — drawn from all realms of the musical spectrum, from top classical artists to musicians who have toured with Beyoncé — have been with Atwater since the beginning, the orchestra has seen at least two longish hiatuses and was still, until this year, on the lookout for a permanent home. Now there’s hope for that with the new partnership with Merriweather Post Pavilion, where the Soulful Symphony will offer three concerts this summer. The pavilion, designed in 1967 by Frank Gehry, is a showpiece of Columbia, Md., a planned community founded in the 1960s with elimination of race and class divisions as one of its goals. This makes it well-suited for the Soulful Symphony, which represents an alternative and also idealistic vision for an orchestra. The pavilion also offers what Atwater calls a “bidirectional” experience: Patrons are free to move around or to respond to what’s happening onstage. This fits well with the orchestra’s definition of a concert. “For the artists as well as the audience, Soulful Symphony concerts are not a performance; rather, they are an experience,” Massie, the violinist, says in an email. “Just as you may expect to see a church congregation of passionate believers dancing, clapping, shouting and engaging in active worship, so goes a ‘typical’ Soulful Symphony concert.” Does the Soulful Symphony offer a possible template for other orchestras, as well as a repository of scores other orchestras might play if they are as committed as they say they are to being more diverse? It’s not clear. One of the main reasons it works so well is Atwater’s charisma. “I would follow him anywhere,” says Don Johns, the orchestra’s lead percussionist, who has played under Atwater since 2005. “I think aspects of it could be replicated, but I think there’s a special artistry Darin brings to it.” As for integrating the field, Atwater says that “we have a long way to go.” And cultivating the audience works both ways. “If tomorrow, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra were to integrate with all people of color, they still would have a problem with audience development,” he says. “The black community wouldn’t come to see Mozart if we did it with all black musicians.” It’s an interesting hypothesis. One hopes that someday the Soulful Symphony might even test it out. anne.midgette@washpost.com


When astronomers sent Chuck Berry and Bach to dance among the stars

James Hill is a former senior editor for The Washington Post News Media Services. Even though the 200th-anniversary celebration of American independence was spectacular, nostalgia isn’t usually the way we contemplate the 1970s. Watergate happened, and the ramifications are still felt today. Inflation raged, gasoline lines became common, cars were crummy, and the clothing was god-awful. Worse, we seemed to be failing at fighting the Cold War. In other words, a lost decade. But the ’70s had their moments. One, recounted well by British journalist Jonathan Scott, involved the effort to leave some semblance of our earthly presence aboard the Voyager spacecraft, which are still going — and going, and going — 42 years after their launch. They may still be going a billion or more years from now, which was not lost on those who proposed and then pushed for what is now known as the Voyager Golden Record. First, though, there had to be a precedent. And lo and behold, the precedent was aboard the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft that NASA had launched in the early ’70s: the Pioneer plaques. One of the people involved in producing the plaques — which generated a mini-scandal of sorts because the human figures were nude — was Carl Sagan, a scientist at Cornell University. “Sagan was already a well-known astronomer, with a growing public profile, but he was not yet the household name he would become,” Scott writes. Nevertheless, he did know John Casani of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who had encouraged for the coming Voyager mission an effort similar to the Pioneer plaques. As he urged: “Send a message!” And what a message it was. Once put together, the Golden Record consisted of music; greetings in several languages, including from then-United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim (since discredited for his Nazi service in World War II), President Jimmy Carter and selected members of Congress; along with sounds and images of life on Earth. Simple? Think again. Scott’s book is a testimony to the amount of work that Sagan, who died in 1996, and his team put into the Golden Record, which was not vinyl but metal (copper), plated with gold. And while this is about the production of the record and not the Voyager mission itself, Scott masters the technical details, often with a touch of humor. “The ‘hydrogen line’ is the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created


Why did Trump decide against airstrikes on Iran? Here’s what we know.

appealing to leaders. In his tweet, Trump invoked the classical just war theory of proportionality, which generally refers to the military benefits obtained from an attack being large enough to justify the harm caused by the attack. Trump’s tweet did not specify what the target sites in Iran were, but it implied that killing 150 Iranians was too large a cost to justify the potential benefits of this attack. Notably, Iran also made a public announcement stating it had the ability to shoot down a U.S. military plane but chose not to do so. Similarly to Trump, the Iranians seem to be signaling a desire not to escalate the crisis by avoiding human casualties. Beyond military casualties that could escalate a crisis, our work shows that using air power in conflict, whether in conjunction with ground forces or on its own, leads to increased civilian casualties. Though Trump’s tweet did not specify whether those 150 expected casualties would be military or civilian, any time air power is used, civilian casualties are a potential cost. Though aerial technology has grown more precise, the immediacy of airstrikes, as well as their large distance from the target, can lead to increased collateral damage. Civilian casualties can lead to negative attention from the U.S. public and the international community, as has been the case with U.S. uses of air power in the Middle East and Africa. Restraint won out Though airstrikes are often thought of as a low-cost option, their potential for creating casualties and escalating a conflict made them too costly of an option in this case. Recent reports by human rights groups and the publication of civilian harm information by the nongovernmental organization Airwars, as well as an unprecedented review from the Pentagon of civilian casualties in U.S. military interventions in recent years, demonstrate strong public concern about the collateral deaths of civilians. Airstrikes are more likely to result in collateral damage than other forms of military force. Given the popularity and prominence of air power as a foreign policy tool, leaders are perhaps beginning to take this unintended consequence into account. Susan Hannah Allen is an associate professor at the University of Mississippi whose research focuses on coercion in the international system. Find her on Twitter @lady_professor. Carla Martinez Machain is an associate professor at Kansas State University whose research explores military effectiveness and military policy. Find her on Twitter @carlammm.


It’s that time again — when mosquitoes feast and we disagree on what to do about them

is only our second summer in a house with a backyard. Last year, we did nothing about the mosquitoes, and I regretted it. This year, I decided to do some research. I called a few professional companies to better understand my options. I also thought that if anyone would know how people really feel about spraying in this area, it would be the people holding the nozzles. “It’s always a controversial discussion as far as the pros and cons,” Al Nelson, the manager for Capitol Mosquito Control, told me. Attitudes can differ from one neighborhood to the next, he said. “Some areas are a lot greener than others. There are whole communities that are against it.” Nelson said his company usually encourages customers to start with a weaker, more eco-friendly solution and work toward more powerful ones if they’re needed. He said employees know what not to spray, such as blooming flowers where bees like to hang out and drains that will wash into water sources. The worst thing a person can do for the environment, he said, is order powerful products online and try treating their own property. Too many people, he said, wrongly think more is better. (At 10 years old, I used half a can of Aqua Net to kill a cockroach, so I don’t doubt that.) No secret spraying, of course, leaves only one option if you really want the mosquitoes gone: A van parked in front of your house that might draw some side-eye from your neighbors. When Ron Gaskill first started working for Mosquito Joe of the National Capital Region, his daughter remarked they would never lose sight of his van in a parking lot. The company’s vehicles are lemon yellow and lime green. I asked Gaskill whether customers ever ask him to park a block away or to come at night when their neighbors are less likely to see him. He laughed, then explained that, occasionally, “you have some spots where some neighbors aren’t that receptive.” “You can get people who say very unpleasant things right away,” he said. “We just politely turn away and keep doing what we’re doing.” Sometimes, he said, couples don’t even agree on what mosquito-fighting actions to take. There have been times when customers have asked him not to leave a sign in the yard indicating the area was treated. He said in Virginia and Maryland, there is


Japan’s dream of an island deal with Russia appears to slip out of reach

RAUSU, Japan — Kimio Waki remembers the day in 1945 when Soviet soldiers burst into his home, “machine guns in their hands, and with their shoes on.” He was just 4 years old. “They ransacked the house,” he said. “I’m left with my memory of fear.” Waki and his family were among 17, 000 Japanese living on the southernmost Kurile Islands — known in Russia as the Kurils — when Soviet troops invaded after Japan had announced its surrender in World War II. Over the next four years, all of the Japanese either fled or were forcibly evicted. More than seven decades later, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has embarked on a quixotic dream to persuade Moscow to return at least some of the islands, with President Vladimir Putin first dangling — then seemingly withdrawing — the prospect of a deal. There had been hopes the two leaders might have signed a framework agreement on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit, which begins June 28 in Osaka. But that dream has died, experts say. “A deal to settle the territorial dispute — that’s really not on the table anymore,” said James Brown, an associate professor at Temple University’s campus in Japan. Instead, Russia is now proposing to deepen economic cooperation by introducing visa-free travel for residents of the Russian island of Sakhalin and Japan’s island of Hokkaido, which lie west of the disputed smaller islands. The idea has met a mixed reception in Japan, experts say. Japan’s Foreign Ministry fears it might be seen as recognizing the disputed islands as part of Sakhalin, and reduce pressure to resolve the dispute over sovereignty. Waki, now 78, is one of a dwindling number of elderly Japanese people who remember life on islands referred to by Japan as its Northern Territories. Sixteen miles apart At a viewpoint above the Japanese town of Rausu, Waki points out the nearest island — Kunashiri in Japanese, Kunashir in Russian — and the mountain at the base of which his family lived and harvested seaweed from the seashore. It is just 16 miles away, clearly visible across the water. In the first few years of Soviet occupation, he remembers playing with Russian children, kicking stones and catching fish with their bare hands in a local river, and sharing their bread and canned food. Then the order came: Gather by the shore and wait. He and


Man pleads guilty to murder in fatal stabbing of D.C. runner. The Sept. 2018 attack was random.

especially women who run alone. Hincapie and several of Martinez’s family and friends established the Wendy Martinez Legacy Project, a foundation that promotes safety for female runners and the role of women in technology. Martinez — who worked at Fiscal Note, a District-based management and technology firm — ran daily and had participated in six marathons. She had graduated from Georgetown University with a master of arts in Latin American studies in 2012 and earned an internship on Capitol Hill with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.). While Crawford, 23, admitted to the killing, there are still no answers as to why he attacked. The plea agreement was announced at a hearing where Judge Craig Iscoe had planned to interview Crawford to determine if he was competent to reject an insanity defense. Instead, Crawford decided to plead guilty. Court records show Crawford had a history of mental illness and has used synthetic drugs that can cause delusions and deranged behavior. At Friday’s hearing, Eugene Ohm, Crawford’s public defender, reminded the judge his client had tested negative for PCP and K2 after his arrest. However, authorities did say he tested positive for cocaine. If Crawford had been found guilty at trial, he would have faced life in prison without parole. The attack occurred just before 8 p.m., before the sun had set when Martinez was out on her regular run. The busy, gentrified neighborhood was full of other joggers, dog walkers and people strolling to and from local restaurants just off Logan Circle. One witness told detectives the attacker was mumbling incoherently, authorities have said. At a November court hearing, a homicide detective testified that DNA belonging to both Crawford and Martinez was found on a knife with a 5½-inch blade that witnesses say they saw the attacker discard as he was fleeing the scene. The detective testified that Crawford was arrested after several people who know him contacted authorities after seeing media reports that included surveillance video released by police of the person they believed was the attacker as part of an extended effort by D.C. police to locate Martinez’s killer. Authorities determined Crawford cut himself during the attack and trailed blood for about six blocks. When Crawford was located, he had multiple bandages on his right hand. His blood matched the blood that was found near where Martinez was attacked. Crawford is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 13. The plea deal


The murder of two Scandinavian women in Morocco was meant to impress the Islamic State. The far right seized on it to attack Islam.

I would have been too afraid and I would have stopped her” from going, Irene Ueland said. The suspects’ families are engaged in their own searches for answers. Affati who allegedly operated the cellphone camera during the attack, has four children and for years worked with his own father making stools from salvaged limbs of Eucalyptus trees for sale to tourists. On a recent day, the father stood in his shop — an outdoor stall piled with wood shavings and hand tools — struggling to comprehend. “Why would he hurt the people who are buying his wares?” he said. Rachid “is not evil,” he said, but is “sometimes a naive person.” During a recent visit at the prison near Rabat, Affati told his father that he “didn’t do anything,” his father said, even though his son’s foot is visible in the video holding down Jespersen’s head while Ejjoud cuts her throat. Khayali, the suspect who left the group, has been separated from his family for more than five months. He was in prison when his wife gave birth to their third child, another son, in March. On one recent night, three generations of women in Khayali’s family gathered on the outskirts of Marrakesh in a room lit by a single, dangling bulb. Among them were his mother, who is in her 50s, his grandmother, who is in her 80s, and his wife and an aunt. His mother said she felt sympathy for Ueland and Jespersen, but spoke of her son as if he had been drawn against his will into a terrorist cell and was somehow also deserving of sympathy. “The girls were victims like my son,” she said. “This is what God has written.” When told that Khayali had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State, his wife shook her head in disagreement. “That is what people say,” she said. “I don’t believe that this information is true.” When a reporter began playing the allegiance video on a cellphone, the four women reluctantly turned their eyes toward the screen. As the recording started, Khayali’s wife noted with a measure of vindication that “only one guy” — Ejjoud — “is talking.” But as all four men’s’ voices rose and recited the pledge to Baghdadi, the women buried their faces in their hands and sobbed — another audience that the four men had failed to anticipate. Julie Tate contributed to this report.


One man killed, another injured by gunfire in Northwest D.C.

A 45-year-old man was shot and killed Saturday night in Northwest, D.C. police said Sunday. Authorities said police responded to the 600 block of Morton Street at 9:51 p.m., after a report of a shooting. They found Melton Grant, “of no fixed address,” with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, according to a news release. Responders found a second man suffering from a gunshot wound in the 3400 block of Georgia Ave. NW. He was taken to a hospital. The shootings remain under investigation. steve.thompson@washpost.com


Ethiopia’s army chief, 3 other officials killed in renegade general’s coup attempt, government says

views by the previous government several years before. “The coup attempt and attack was orchestrated by Brig. Gen. Asaminew Tsige, the Amhara peace and security head with other agents,” she told journalists. “He and his colleagues were given amnesty over the last year by the new administration amid efforts to integrate them back to regular life.” She said most of the perpetrators, including Seare’s bodyguard, were in custody and operations were underway to sweep up the remaining accomplices. The Amhara region was “currently under 100 percent control,” she said. Ethiopia, Africa’s second-largest country by population, is a key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa and an important source of stability in the restive region. The country’s politics have undergone a dramatic change over the past year with the arrival of a new reformist prime minister who has invited back exiled opposition politicians and guerrilla groups and freed thousands of political prisoners. Asaminew was imprisoned by the previous regime for his opposition to the government, and his release and appointment to head of security was part of the larger reconciliation process. The new freedoms, however, have allowed long-simmering tensions to rise to the surface, and millions have been displaced in ethnic-based land conflicts around the country. In 2018, with some 3 million driven from their homes, Ethiopia had the largest number of newly displaced people in the world. There has also been a great deal of political ferment in the ethnic-based regions that make up the country, with the rise of nationalist ethnic groups pushing for greater regional autonomy from the central government. As news of the coup attempt in Bahir Dar and the attack on the chief of staff’s home in the heart of the capital spread late Saturday, social media exploded with rumors and speculation over what was taking place. Within a few hours, access to the Internet was shut down, and army and police checkpoints were installed around the capital. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared on television at midnight dressed in military fatigues to call for calm and reassure the country that the situation was under control. Since coming to power, Abiy has made peace with longtime rival Eritrea and has been active in brokering peace deals between fractious neighbors in the region. Most recently, he has been active in mediating between the military transitional rulers in Sudan and protesters there. paul.schemm@washpost.com


Trump brushes off calls to investigate Jamal Khashoggi’s death

activists who wish to see the kingdom punished. But the president’s relationship with the crown prince has endured, to the concern of Democrats and even some Republicans — including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a close ally of Trump. Soon after the CIA revealed those findings, Trump issued a statement that his administration was “standing by Saudi Arabia” for strategic reasons having to do with Iran and because it had agreed to invest “a record amount of money” in the United States. As for Mohammed’s involvement in the death, the statement reads: “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” There were echoes of that justification on Sunday as the president said he remained focused on the business and strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, which the administration considers a key ally in the Middle East and says “serves as a bulwark against Iran and its proxies’ malign activities in the region." Trump’s interview comes as tensions with Iran have escalated following explosions on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and the downing of a U.S. drone, both of which the administration has blamed on Iran. “I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them,’ ” he said when pressed about the humanitarian concerns raised against Saudi Arabia’s leadership. “Take their money. Take their money, Chuck.” “We’re going to protect Saudi Arabia,” he said. “Look, Saudi Arabia is buying $400 billion worth of things for us. That’s a very good thing.” Trump added: “They buy massive amounts, $150 billion worth of military equipment that, by the way, we use. We use that military equipment. And unlike other countries that don’t have money and we have to subsidize everything. So Saudi Arabia is a big buyer of American product. That means something to me. It’s a big producer of jobs.” Trump’s commitment to working with Saudi Arabia has earned rare rebukes from his party. Last winter, the Republican-controlled Senate unanimously voted on a resolution holding Mohammed responsible for Khashoggi’s death. And on Thursday, it voted to block planned arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a move the White House has said the president will veto. Read more: The events surrounding the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi Global Opinion: Read Jamal Khashoggi’s columns for The Washington Post


World Digest: June 22, 2019

SUDAN Opposition bloc accepts draft government plan Sudan’s main opposition coalition on Saturday said it had received a draft agreement from the Ethiopian mediator and had agreed to all of its points defining the country’s governmental structure for the transitional period. A draft of the proposal seen by Reuters suggested that the sovereign council would be made up of seven civilians and seven members of the military, with one additional seat reserved for an impartial individual. Babikr Faisal, a spokesman for the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition, gave no details on the contents of the agreement. Sudan’s ruling generals and the coalition have wrangled for weeks over the form of a transitional government in the wake of the military’s removal of longtime president Omar Hassan al-Bashir on April 11. In May, the parties came to an initial agreement that gave two-thirds of a transitional legislative council to the FFC coalition and allowed it to nominate candidates for a merit-based cabinet of ministers. The Ethiopian draft seen by Reuters suggested that this would remain the case. — Reuters Jordan, Egypt to send delegates to Bahrain summit: Iran executes man it says was spying for the CIA: Ethiopia says coup attempt failed in province: Building collapse leaves at least 17 dead in Cambodia: Myanmar orders Internet shutdown amid conflict: SE Asian nations adopt decree against ocean plastics: — From news services


Facebook’s venture into cryptocurrency is a terrible idea

gain a foothold, someone will have to trade an actual dollar bill, which is straightforward to use, for a crypto-unit that is awkward to buy and sell. Facebook tells us that Libra will run on blockchain technology, which eats energy like there’s no tomorrow and can process only a limited number of transactions. If so, using Libra will be prohibitively expensive. Or maybe Facebook’s references to blockchain are mere advertising fluff, where in reality, Libra will run on whatever centralized accounting system Facebook chooses to deploy. Either way, someone will have to trade a dollar backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government for a monetary unit backed by the full faith and credit of Mark Zuckerberg and the 28 corporations on Libra’s governing board. To be sure, the Fed can raise and lower interest rates and thereby affect the value of the dollar. But what prevents Facebook and its 28 corporate partners — the likes of Uber — from changing the composition of the Libra basket and altering its value as they see fit? What prevents them from changing the rules of the game midstream? Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell can only imagine such power. Facebook wants Libra’s users to be people in developing countries without ready access to banks. But a growing number of such countries already have cellphone-based digital payment systems, such as M-Pesa in Kenya, against which Libra will compete — and presumably destroy. Beyond this, who might be tempted to exchange a dollar in the bank for an equivalent amount of Libra? Most obviously, individuals and organizations engaged in money laundering, tax evasion and terrorist financing who value the anonymity of crypto-based transactions. To address these problems, Facebook will have to track the identity of all those holding Libra. To identify bad actors, it will have to scrutinize their transactions. Leave aside its dubious promise to shield this information from its own social media and advertising arms. Do we really believe, given Russian manipulation of such platforms, that Facebook and its partners are capable of recognizing money laundering when they see it and searching it out when they don’t? Are we then supposed to rely on Facebook to report the transactions it deems questionable to the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department? Are we to assume that it will offer similar cooperation to 200 governments worldwide? Credit card companies have been dealing