Congress’s retaliation over Russian hacking prompts stark response from Moscow

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, left, and Russia’s then-ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, right, arrive for a meeting at the U.S. State Department on June 17. (Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press) MOSCOW — The new sanctions, which passed the House on Tuesday evening by an overwhelming vote of 419 to 3, targeted key Russian officials in retaliation for Moscow’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. Iran and North Korea were also targets. The sanctions’ passage cemented views in Moscow that Trump’s election has provided few deliverables for the Kremlin and that the American president is being held hostage by a foreign policy establishment that seeks conflict with Russia. The sanctions also may prove to be an inflection point. Even for a relationship characterized by saber-rattling and dire predictions, the Russian response was notably stark. “Washington is a source of danger,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, whose portfolio includes relations with the United States, told a state news agency in an interview. Later, he added, “Essentially, the possibilities for normalization of relations in the foreseeable future are closed.” The House voted to advance new financial sanctions against Russia on July 25. Others said that Russia should finally expel several dozen U.S. diplomats, ending a hopeful period in Moscow that Trump would reverse President Barack Obama’s decision late last year to expel 35 diplomats and seize two diplomatic compounds that Obama said were used to gather signals intelligence. “In this case I am a supporter of symmetrical responses,” said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament. “I believe their time has come.” The sanctions bill and the deportations of diplomats were punishment for Russia’s alleged intervention in the 2016 U.S. elections. Russian officials say they believe those accusations are just a pretext to undermine the Trump administration. The sanctions bill passed by the House would force Trump to seek congressional approval to roll back other sanctions against Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine. Members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, resisted the congressional push, but the overwhelming majority in the House suggests that a presidential veto would probably be overridden. The sanctions bill still would require approval by the Senate. While Trump has shown that he wants a closer relationship with Russia and President Vladimir Putin,


D.C. community events, July 27-Aug. 2, 2017

Thursday, July 27 Gentle yoga classes Washington Cathedral Behind the Scenes DowntownDC LIVE Learn to play chess Friday, July 28 Children’s safety seats and belts inspection National Portrait Gallery Conversation Circle Move, dance, create Jenni Sorkin on Peter Voulkos and June Schwarcz Organ concerts Jazz in the Garden U.S. Marines on Parade Saturday, July 29 Adult Zumba “The Burning of Washington and the War of 1812” Yoga at Your Library Live Tarantula feedings Luce Center artist talk with Danielle Scruggs Free food market “Presidents and American Indians” Sunday, July 30 Palisades farmers market Monday, July 31 Citizenship preparation Gallery Tours at NMAI Tuesday, Aug. 1 August Activity in ReSource Room: “Tennessee Ratification of the 19th Amendment” ImagiNATIONS Activity Center Movies at THEARC Toddler story time Lego Playtime and Engineering Challenge Tunes in the Triangle Walk-in help for job seekers Wednesday, Aug. 2 “Gardener’s Focus: Japanese-style Garden” Gallery Talk Amending America Escape Room Pajama story time Marine Band’s Free Country — Compiled by Terence McArdle TO SUBMIT AN EVENT Email:


Montgomery County crime report

Dr., Mink Hollow Rd., Moonlight Trail Dr., Olney Mill Rd., Sheraton St., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Veirs Mill Rd., Winexburg Ct., Woodgate Pl., VEHICLE THEFTS Bryants Nursery Rd., Leona St., VANDALISM Amherst Ave., Bel Pre Rd., Burtfield Dr., Deckman Ct., Gatehouse Ct., Longview Lane, Macduff Ave., Shadowridge Ct., Twin Valley Ct., District 5 Germantown Station Telephone: 240-773-6200 ASSAULTS Aircraft Dr., Archdale Rd., Bethesda Church Rd., Bethesda Church Rd., Bethesda Church Rd., Creola Ct., Fruitwood Way, Johns Dr., Leaman Farm Rd., Millhaven Pl., Sweetgum Cir., Winding Creek Way, Wonderland Way, Wootton Ave., Archdale Rd., Hopkins Rd., ROBBERIES Aircraft Dr., Queensguard Rd., Mateny Rd., THEFTS/BREAK-INS Arora Hills Dr., Bent Willow Cir., Falling Water Cir., Sweet Shrub Dr., THEFTS Brandermill Dr., Circle Gate Dr., Clarksburg Rd., Cottage Garden Dr., Flag Harbor Dr., Frederick Rd., Frederick Rd., Germantown Rd., Harrier Way, Jump Dr., McFarlin Dr., Mustard Seed Ct., Observation Ct., Summit Ridge Ct., Wonderland Way, Shakespeare Blvd., VEHICLE THEFTS Briarcliff Terr., Ridge Rd., VANDALISM Brandermill Dr., Brigadier Pl., Brundidge Terr., Grey Eagle Ct., Notting Hill Way, Regents Park Dr., Shore Harbour Dr., Ridge Rd., District 6 Gaithersburg Station Telephone: 240-773-5700 ASSAULTS Apple Ridge Rd., Centerway Rd., Crabbs Branch Way, Duvall Lane, Fields Rd., Frederick Ave. S., Frederick Ave. S., Frederick Ave. S., Gatlin Dr., Montgomery Village Ave., Muddy Branch Rd., Washingtonian Blvd., ROBBERIES Allied Pl., Ellington Blvd., Flower Hill Way, Meadow Green Way, Queensguard Rd., Rothbury Dr., Summit Ave. N., Washingtonian Blvd., Goshen Rd., THEFTS/BREAK-INS Garrett Rd., Goshen Rd., Market St. E., Summit Hall Rd., Watkins Station Cir., THEFTS Brookridge Ct., Cessna Ave., Emory Grove Rd., Frederick Ave. N., Frederick Ave. N., Frederick Ave. S., Gardenia Way, Grand Corner Ave., Lost Knife Rd., Market St. E., Quince Orchard Rd., Roman Way, Rothbury Dr., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Russell Ave., Shady Grove Rd., Stewartown Rd., Towne Crest Dr., Washingtonian Blvd., VEHICLE THEFTS Stedwick Dr., Teachers Way, VANDALISM Beckwith St., Chestertown St., Clopper Rd., Clopper Rd., Duvall Lane, Founders Mill Dr., Olde Towne Ave., Siesta Key Way, Swallow Point Rd., Treworthy Rd., Tschiffely Square Rd., Takoma Park and other areas ROBBERIES Queensguard Rd., Wildwood Dr., THEFTS Carroll Ave., Hilton Ave., Manchester Rd., Montgomery Ave., Spring Ave., Woodland Ave., Fifth Ave., VEHICLE THEFTS Columbia Ave., Ethan Allen Ave., VANDALISM Carroll Ave., Flower Ave., New Hampshire Ave., Auburn Ave.,


Montgomery County Animal Watch

Montgomery county The following case was reported recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Barking dogs Humane Society adoptions The Montgomery County Humane Society’s private rescue shelter has dogs, puppies, cats and kittens available for adoption. Call 240-252-2555 or visit mchumane.org. MCHS Adoptions and Education Center, 601 S. Stonestreet Ave., Rockville. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except holidays. Reduced FEES FOR CATS Cats and kittens will be available for adoption at the next open house of Friends of Montgomery County Animals at the following location. Call 301-977-4833, or visit fmca.org or facebook.com/fmcainfo. PetSmart at Milestone Center, 20924 Frederick Rd., Germantown. Hours: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Cats at no-kill shelter Cats and kittens will be available for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County’s no-kill shelter at the following location. Call 301-740-2511 or visit awlmc.org. Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter, 12 Park Ave., Gaithersburg. Hours: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Trump’s dishonest betrayal of America’s transgender troops

a shameful policy of silence and discrimination. The decision disregarded the results of a year-long review conducted by the Obama administration that found the costs associated with accepting transgender troops would be minor. The Rand Corp. estimated that allowing these troops to serve openly would have a “minimal impact” on troop readiness and would mean between $2.4 million and $8.4 million in additional health-care costs per year — a little more than a rounding error in the military budget. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine reached similar conclusions. Around the world, 18 countries allow transgender troops to serve openly and none have reported experiencing ill effects or “disruption.” The directive will surely weaken the armed forces, depriving them of thousands of service members and potential recruits. Yet Mr. Trump seems to have made his decision without significant input from the Defense Department. Several Pentagon officials told the New York Times they were caught off guard by the announcement, while spokeswomen for both the Senate and House Armed Services committees said the committees had not been informed in advance. A review of the policy ordered by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was not due to be completed until December. According to a report by Politico, the president’s precipitous action actually came in response to appeals from House Republicans, who feared a defense appropriations bill containing funds for Mr. Trump’s border wall would be blocked by their own disagreements over the issue. That thousands of serving military personnel would be abruptly stripped of their rights for such crass political reasons would be shocking — if Mr. Trump had not already drastically devalued the norms for presidential behavior. During his campaign, Mr. Trump promised to “do everything” to protect members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. But his administration’s small-minded and ignorant policies toward transgender people — first students, and now service members — are doing just the opposite. Read more here: Alexandra Chandler: I serve my country as a transgender woman. I know we can overcome our divisions. The Post’s View: Lifting the ban on openly transgender troops was long overdue The Post’s View: The Pentagon sends a dispiriting message to its transgender troops Greg Sargent: Trump just kicked transgender troops out of the military. This one ugly quote says it all. Gavin Grimm: I’m transgender and can’t use the student bathroom. The Supreme Court could change that.


Congress sends Russia sanctions bill to Trump’s desk, but it’s unclear whether he will veto it

policy, and lawmakers then have 30 days in which they can block the president from implementing those changes. The procedure, known as “congressional review,” is the most sweeping authority Congress has given itself to check the president on sanctions policy in decades. Such matters have traditionally been left to the executive branch once Congress authorizes the sanctions at the administration’s disposal. Even in the case of mandatory sanctions, Congress usually steers clear of the president on matters of national security. But lawmakers are worried by hints that the Trump administration might make concessions to Russia, specifically sanctions that the Kremlin has sought to have lifted. The administration has considered handing back to Russia control of two U.S. compounds the Obama administration seized at the end of last year, accusing Moscow of using them for intelligence purposes. And Trump and his surrogates have spoken to Putin and other Russian operatives about restoring the ability of U.S. citizens to adopt children from Russia — which the Kremlin won’t allow until the United States repeals the Magnitsky Act and Global Magnitsky Act sanctioning human-rights violators. The Senate on July 27 passed a bill that increases sanctions on Russia, North Korea and Iran. The White House hasn’t said whether President Trump will veto the bill. House and Senate leaders were unmoved by the Trump administration’s repeated efforts to remove Congress’s 30-day review power from the legislation. In fact, the final dispute among congressional leaders had to do with senators wanting to apply a similar congressional review provision to the North Korea sanctions portion of the bill. In the deal they struck Wednesday night, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said he secured a promise from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that the House would take up such enhancements in the near future in exchange for the Senate passing the House-approved sanctions bill this week. This week, the House passed the same legislation by a vote of 419 to 3. Beyond the congressional review provision, the bill codifies existing sanctions and steps up sanctions against Moscow over Russia’s involvement in the wars in Ukraine and Syria, as well as allegations that it interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. The bill also stiffens punitive measures against Iran and North Korea in an attempt to curtail those countries’ ballistic missile tests and other aggressive activities. Philip Rucker and Mike DeBonis contributed to this report.


Poor locales, rich experiences: Traveling with kids to developing countries is worth the risk

that country is.” Preparation also means parents should understand the risk of illnesses such as malaria, yellow fever and diarrhea, and how to treat injuries where access to medicine and hospitals may be limited. “There are more than 1 billion people traveling annually, approximately four percent of whom are pediatric-age travelers. But a quarter of all travelers who become ill are children,” said John Christenson, a physician who specializes in infectious and tropical diseases and is a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine who serves on the council of the society’s Pediatrics Interest Group. “Travelers’ diarrhea is a serious problem in children traveling to high-risk areas. Parents must be prepared to administer oral rehydration solutions, and in some instances an antibiotic may be beneficial,” he said. Under certain conditions, parents may want to invest in travel insurance and medical-emergency-evacuation services such as International SOS, Christenson suggested. They cover things such as 24-hour assistance, visits to doctors and hospitals, and translation services — as well as those evacuation needs in worst-case scenarios. Parents who have children with a history of health problems, or those traveling to regions with limited health care resources or participating inadventure-travel activities such as skiing, mountaineering or diving might want to investigate this. Travel insurance made a difference for Theodora Sutcliffe, a freelance writer based in Bali, when her 9-year-old son was injured while riding a horse in Mongolia. “My son’s saddle slipped and he was dragged behind a galloping horse, resulting in a bad fracture of his upper arm,” Sutcliffe said. “There aren’t any roads in that part of Mongolia, so evacuation meant a four-wheel drive to the nearest clinic, which was very basic, with electricity but no running water, followed by a helicopter to the capital and an air ambulance [private jet] for surgery in Hong Kong.” Insurance not only paid for getting the medical care her son needed but saved her tens of thousands of dollars in expenses for the evacuation flight alone. Despite the challenges, children who have embarked on immersive travel in developing regions say the benefits of their experiences last well into adulthood. Tyler Jenss was 11 years old when he and his family set out on a round-the-world trip that included 28 countries. Now age 20, Jenss said that his travels, which stand at 45 countries, changed his outlook on the world, and opened him up to different


Tiger cub at National Zoo appears to be a boy

The 2-week-old Sumatran tiger cub at the National Zoo is probably a boy, the zoo announced Thursday. The confirmation will come after the first thorough veterinary exam, keepers said. (Craig Saffoe/Smithsonian’s National Zoo) The tiger born earlier this month at the National Zoo appears to be a boy, zoo staff said Thursday in a statement. Zookeepers have been able to weigh the cub in the past few days when its mom, Damai, goes outside the den to eat. A quick exam led keepers to believe the cub is male, although they say it isn’t official. “His first veterinary exam will take place in a couple of weeks, which includes a physical exam and vaccinations,” said Craig Saffoe, who is curator of great cats at the zoo. “We should be able to confirm the cub’s sex during that exam.” The unnamed cub appears to be healthy and weighs 6½ pounds, three pounds more than it did shortly after birth. Zookeepers are limiting their interactions with the cub so it can bond with Damai. The unnamed cub appears to be in good health and has gained three pounds since birth, the zoo said. (Roshan Patel/Smithsonian's National Zoo) The cub will makes its public debut this fall, after it has its vaccinations and passes a swim test. Zoo visitors this summer can see the cub’s dad, Sparky, and half brother, Bandar.


D.C. police put out video of ‘person of interest’ in connection with June murder

Police tape do not cross. (iStock) Persons of Interest in Robbery (F&V), 500 block of Jefferson St, NW, on July 22, 2017 Police in the District are seeking the public’s help in identifying a man who they believe was involved in a June robbery that turned fatal in Southeast Washington. Authorities released a video showing the man they are calling a “person of interest” in the case. In the short video, the man is seen running along a street. Jason Antonio Dale, 39, of Southeast Washington was killed in the June 12 incident that happened around 9:30 p.m. in the 500 block of Parkland Place SE in the Congress Heights neighborhood, according to police. Officers responded to the report of a shooting, and when they arrived, they found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The man, who was later identified as Dale, was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered. Anyone with information is asked to call 202-727-9099.


What’s in the path of the 2017 eclipse?

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Tampa Bay is due for a major hurricane. It is not prepared.

But that didn’t happen until fairly recently. It took a nerdy University of Florida county extension agent to help open everyone’s eyes. ‘They weren’t doing a lot to address climate change and sea-level rise’ Elizabeth Carnahan was plucked from academia by the county’s director of sustainable living. Her new role was to focus on climate change and engage with others to make the county more resilient to its impacts, and Carnahan took it seriously. But Carnahan didn’t see a lot of area collaboration in planning. “They weren’t doing a lot to address climate change and sea-level rise,” she said. “They were willing, but no one was going to the head of the pack to take it on.” But they were elsewhere, in Gulf Coast states that were hit by Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Florida area of Fort Lauderdale and Miami that was raked by hurricanes constantly in the first years of the new century. Carnahan dropped in on their meetings, talked to planners and listened to their sea-level rise projections and vulnerability assessments. After three years of networking outside the bay, she gathered what she considered the best ideas she heard and imported them to Pinellas County. The county sponsored a three-hour workshop at the Weedon Island Preserve that Mark Luther can see from his flood-risk home. After that gathering, Carnahan noticed a change in officials in the 30 cities in Pinellas County. “I could see them calling each other a lot more to share what each other were doing,” she said. Watching this, Carnahan’s boss, Mary Campbell, floated an idea to get scientists together to make climate related recommendations to local governments. That group became the Climate Science Advisory Panel. Within months, they helped establish the One Bay Resilient Community, looping Hillsborough and Pasco counties into a network that works on climate related problems. Tampa Bay now produces a climate report that compares to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climate Assessment, offering projections for sea-level rise specifically for their region. It is used to plan bridges and roads, to site government buildings that are supposed to last at least 75 years. ‘You hear when it starts to storm and you can’t sleep’ Living in near-poverty in Clearwater, Jessica Lopez said she has little time to worry about a threat that might arrive years down the road. For her, the future is now. Last year around June,


What drives our curiosity?

Katherine Harmon Courage is a science writer and author of “Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea” and “Cultured,” a forthcoming book about cuisine and the microbiome. What is it that compels us not only to gaze at the stars but also to build the technology to reach out to them, study them, understand them? It is, of course, that mysterious, powerful force of curiosity that is with us from infancy, blossoms in childhood and persists throughout our lives. Plenty of animals show a keen interest in objects and situations. But in “Why,” astrophysicist Mario Livio argues that humans are the only species to ask not just what, where or who, but also why. “Why,” by Mario Livio (Simon and Schuster) This wide-ranging investigation is no humanist’s dalliance into wonder and whimsy. Commanded by Livio, who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the topic is treated with a physicist’s sensibility. Examples (Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Feynman) are put under the microscope, the science (fMRIs, neurotransmitters) is assessed, and hypotheses (do scientists consider themselves curious?) are tested. Livio has the credentials for taking on this unwieldy subject, having authored numerous popular-science books (“The Golden Ratio,” “Is God a Mathematician?” and “Brilliant Blunders,” among others), and is apparently plenty familiar with the topic (the first line of the book is: “I have always been a very curious person”). His research roves broadly, from historical documents and technical studies to personal interviews. But the result is rather stilted, yoked to the cult of individual scientific genius, embellished with umoored quotations from Western thinkers and delivered in a tone that often reads as didactic. The reader feels less like a fellow discoverer than an undergraduate in lecture. Like any notable instructor, Livio includes some fascinating tidbits along the way. Perhaps the most interesting and useful segment delves into the role of curiosity in learning and memory. Participants in one study were asked to rate how interested they were in learning the answers to various questions on a list. They were then shown the questions, one by one, followed by the corresponding answer. But the answer was not delivered instantaneously. The subjects sat through a waiting period, during which they saw a brief image of a random face. Later an unexpected memory test showed that people best recalled the faces shown when they were waiting for an answer they had been particularly eager to


Snakebites are reportedly on the rise in Maryland

Fifty-two people have been biten by snakes this year in Maryland. Here are two venomous snakes that can be found in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region: a copperhead (left) and a timber rattlesnake. (Courtesy of Maryland Poison Center) Slither, slither. Officials in Maryland said they have seen an increase this year in the number of reported snakebites. Fifty-two people have been bitten by snakes so far in 2017 compared with 41 over the same period last year, according to officials with the Maryland Poison Center in Baltimore. Why? Scientists and biologists say they don’t know, but they have a few ideas. “We have no way of explaining it,” said Angel Bivens, a public education coordinator for the poison center, of the uptick in reported cases. “It may be more people are aware of us” and therefore reporting bites. “Or,” she added, “it could be that more people are out in nature and finding snakes.” In this area, there are two types of venomous snake — copperheads and timber rattlesnakes. Bites by those snakes can cause severe symptoms, potentially requiring treatment with an antivenin, Maryland poison center officials said. Of the 52 reported snakebite cases in the state this year, 28 involved copperheads and two involved rattlesnakes, according to the officials. The rest involved nonvenomous snakes. Typically, copperheads can be found throughout Maryland, whereas timber rattlesnakes are more common in Frederick County and west of that area. The reports of bites have come from 15 counties in Maryland and Baltimore City. Experts at the poison center recommend exercising caution outdoors. “Typically, folks can be out gardening and reach into their flower bed and get bitten,” Bivens said. Or, she said, “they may be out on a hike and startle a snake and it bites them.” “Just be aware,” she said. In Virginia and the District, officials said they have seen no substantial increase in snake bites this year. Typically, there are between six and 12 snake bites reported in the District annually, poison experts said. That is amid a total of between 97 and 125 for the Washington region, according to the National Capital Poison Center. The poison center also has a list of tips and do’s and don’ts in case you are bitten by a snake. Check it out at http://mdpoison.com/news/2017/maryland-poison-center-shows-its-season-for-snakes/


Chasing revelation on a long-distance run through a natural landscape

Runners in the Boston Marathon. (Tim Bradbury/ Getty Images) Joanna Scutts is a fellow at the Center for Women’s History at the New York Historical Society, and the author of the forthcoming “The Extra Woman: How Marjorie Hillis Led a Generation of Women to Live Alone and Like It.” Early in the morning, after finishing Vybarr Cregan-Reid’s hard-to-categorize “Footnotes,” I am penned in a corral with more than 5,000 other runners in New York’s Central Park, as the sun heats up, music pumps and officials congratulate us through loudspeakers for supporting the charity of the day. This four-mile race, with its entry fee, timing chips, bib numbers, medals and tightly managed course, is far removed from the solitary, unencumbered, mostly barefoot running that Cregan-Reid celebrates: a plastic bottle of Gatorade to his handful of water gulped from a mountain stream. I do my best to relax into a restorative state of “soft fascination,” which the author describes as “a sort of meandering, free-form mode of thought inculcated most successfully by natural environments,” absorbing the light splintering through the leaves and a wave of scent from the flowering trees overhead. I listen to my breathing and the ambient noise of the park rather than blocking them out with headphones. Throughout the run, I’m absorbed by the large questions this book raises about what I’m doing here. Is this natural? Healthy? Good for me? If so, how, exactly — and why? A literature professor at the University of Kent in southern England, Cregan-Reid isn’t an obvious guide to the science of the human body in motion, but he gamely engages experts in neuroscience, psychology, paleontology and evolutionary biology in a quest to confirm what he already feels to be true: that running outside confers powerful physical and mental benefits. One expert in running biomechanics describes in awed terms the complexity of the human foot and advocates running without shoes, while another group of researchers is exploring the benefits of immersing ourselves in green environments — the “room temperature of our visual spectrum” — for benefits that are easy to feel but hard to measure. Runners or not, readers have no doubt encountered the thread of worry that links all these areas of study: that humans are struggling with a fundamental maladjustment to modern life and that sitting all day indoors, hunched over our screens, is making us sick and miserable. Running offers


Skywatch: Solar eclipse will be the talk of many towns across the U.S.

It’s been 38 years since a total solar eclipse touched any of the contiguous 48 states and 26 years since solar totality moved through Hawaii. In three weeks, the moon cuts in front of the sun, and there will be a total solar eclipse, with an approximately 70-mile-wide, temporary band of shadow making its way from Oregon to Missouri to South Carolina on Aug. 21. Easily, it will be the talk of many towns. For Washington, this event will be a partial eclipse, with 81 percent of the sun obscured, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. The eclipse starts at 1:17 p.m. Eastern, and the middle of the eclipse occurs at 2:42 p.m. It all ends at 4:01 p.m. For Baltimore, the eclipse starts a minute later than in Washington. Many places will be in the path of the eclipse shadow. In Charleston, S.C., a city within the solar totality band, the eclipse starts at 1:16 p.m. Totality begins at 2:46 p.m. and ends just shy of 2:48 p.m. The partial eclipse there ends at 4:09 p.m. Music City — Nashville — will converge harmonically to watch as the eclipse starts at 11:58 a.m. Central, the local time. Totality lasts almost two minutes, from 1:27 p.m. to 1:29 p.m., and it all ends at 2:54 p.m. Web resources for eclipse information are abundant. Obtain details and find maps at greatamericaneclipse.com and NASA’s eclipse2017.nasa.gov. For any town or city in the United States, the Naval Observatory provides local eclipse circumstances at goo.gl/ekVciJ. Mind your eyes. Do not look at the sun if it is not 100 percent covered. Do not look at it through binoculars or telescopes without proper filters, as you could go blind instantly. Protect your eyes: eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety. Eclipse events for Aug. 21 ●See the eclipse safely through solar-filtered telescopes free at the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory, outside near the National Air and Space Museum on the Mall and at the museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Chantilly, Va. (Parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center is $15.) 1-4 p.m. airandspace.si.edu. (Other viewing locations will be the National Archives, the National Zoo and other locations near the Mall.) ●The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum presents the total solar eclipse, live from the path of totality online at s.si.edu/2v3X10D, 1:30-2:30 p.m. It is hosted by the STEM in 30 team. ●Slooh.com ●See the eclipse live stream at CNN.com/eclipse, with a 360-degree video


Russian propaganda has flooded U.S. airwaves. How about some reciprocity?

Sputnik, a radio station funded by the Russian government, is broadcasting from the heart of the nation's capital. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN is a fresh convert to the principle of reciprocity in his dealings with the United States. He ought to take it a step further. On Friday, the Russian leader, irked at a sanctions bill that sailed through Congress, confiscated two American diplomatic properties in Russia and ordered the expulsion of diplomats and other staff from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The moves matched sanctions that President Barack Obama slapped on the Kremlin in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. As long he’s into reciprocity, Mr. Putin might take notice that while Moscow continues to banish U.S. international news outlets from Russian airwaves, Kremlin-funded mouthpieces such as Sputnik radio have enjoyed a field day in the United States, taking advantage of America’s open society to sow misinformation and distrust. As reported by The Post’s Justin Wm. Moyer, Sputnik, Moscow’s main radio propaganda outlet, has taken over a bandwidth on the District’s radio dial, 105.5 FM, formerly occupied by a bluegrass station, and began airing broadcasts July 1 from offices in downtown Washington, three blocks from the White House. Meanwhile, there has been no change in Russia’s decade-long banishment of U.S. government-funded outlets airing programs on Russian television airwaves, or Russian-language broadcasts from Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were banned by a 2012 law. Mr. Trump should also take notice. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One recently, he said, “To me, the word reciprocal is a beautiful word.” As it happens, he was talking about international trade, an area in which he thinks Americans get a bad deal. Yet in the realm of U.S.-Russian international news, reciprocity seems absent from Mr. Trump’s radar. A 24/7 Russian-language television venture produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, called Current Time, has been up and running for several months, producing high-quality news, but is available only online. The asymmetry is a problem. Mr. Putin’s government, intent on undermining liberal democracies by casting doubt on the very notion of truth, and sowing division and doubt about basic Western institutions, has become increasingly adept at weaponizing information. U.S. intelligence agencies have called attention to Moscow’s fake news campaign, as have U.S. allies in Europe. English-language shows on Sputnik and, secondarily, RT


The Kremlin is done betting on Trump and planning how to strike back against U.S. sanctions

airline industry or cut off an important source of nuclear fuel, respectively; blocking U.S. diplomatic initiatives such as a U.N. vote on new North Korea sanctions and cooperation in Syria; and seizing corporate property or even kicking out U.S. companies such as Google or Microsoft. Moscow knows it’s outgunned in a trade war. It generally fights back by using its own market as a weapon, whether by imposing sanctions on European food imports in 2014 or, in a more cynical moment in 2013, by banning Americans from adopting Russian children (Trump discussed the adoption ban, and probably the associated sanctions, with Putin during an after-dinner meeting at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg this month). “Of course it’s very difficult for Russia to do anything to harm the U.S. interests unless Russia is ready to take steps, which will harm ourselves,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, an influential group of Russian foreign policy experts. Hawks poring over the U.S. sanctions say Moscow needs to break the rules. “It says that by no means shall sanctions apply to NASA projects,” said Nikolay Platoshkin, a former Russian diplomat and professor at the Moscow University of the Humanities, referring to the bill passed by the Senate. “Here we go, a perfect tip, let them apply [to NASA], let American astronauts ride horses to the International Space Station.” One idea voiced by the Kremlin is to expand cooperation with Europe, and possibly with China, to counterbalance U.S. power. European leaders have expressed anger over the planned U.S. sanctions, saying they could backfire, dealing a blow to transatlantic efforts to curb Russian aggression against Ukraine and sparking a trade war between Europe and the United States. “Of course for our entire lives we’ve held onto the hope that Europe is close to us and will align in its interest with us against the Americans,” said Sidorov. But he was doubtful that the current crisis would bring about this schism. Meanwhile, dialogue between the countries is minimal. American diplomats can’t get their Russian diplomats to agree on facts about Moscow’s participation in the election hack, and they expect Russians to accept the testimonials given by American intelligence chiefs as evidence of Russia’s complicity. The Russians have demanded evidence, which the Americans say would compromise sources and methods of intelligence gathering. The impasse is total. Conflict is assured. CORRECTION:


Russia pledges ‘long overdue’ retaliation against U.S. over any new sanctions

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Russia’s deputy foreign minister said Sunday that his country was poised to retaliate aggressively against any new U.S. sanctions on Moscow. “I think retaliation is long, long overdue,” Sergei Ryabkov said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos. “We have a very rich toolbox at our disposal.” His comments come as Russia announced Friday that it would seize U.S. diplomatic properties and expel scores of U.S. diplomats and other staff members. The steps were described by Ryabkov as retaliation for the punitive sanctions bill passed by Congress on Thursday, an effort to address Russia’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. On Friday, the White House said President Trump plans to sign the legislation. The Post's Andrew Roth explains a statement the Russian Foreign Ministry issued July 28, seizing U.S. diplomatic properties and demanding the State Department reduce its staff in Russia. “After the Senate . . . voted so overwhelmingly on a completely weird and unacceptable piece of legislation, it was the last drop,” Ryabkov said. “If the U.S. decides to move towards further deterioration, we will respond in kind. We will mirror this, we will retaliate.” He added, “My whole point is — don’t do this, it’s to the detriment of the interests of the U.S.” When asked what sort of retaliation the United States could expect, Ryabkov wouldn’t elaborate but added, “I can assure you different options are on the table, and consideration is being given to all sorts of things, both symmetrical and asymmetrical.” Experts predict it could lead to all-out economic war. “If the bill is approved, and most probably it will be adopted, then we will inevitably enter the stage of what we call the Cold War,” Andrei Sidorov, an expert on international politics at Moscow State University, told The Washington Post last week. “And the Cold War means various responses.” In a statement on Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, “The near unanimous votes for the sanctions legislation in Congress represent the strong will of the American people to see Russia take steps to improve relations with the United States. “We hope that there will be cooperation between our two countries on major global issues and these sanctions will no longer be necessary.” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) responds to President Trump’s description that the investigation into Russia’s interference with the 2016 election as a “witch


Why running is so beneficial for older women

patients that they can start small, working their way up to one mile, then two and maybe even up to a 5K. “I know women who started in their 50s and 60s and are running half-marathons,” she said. If running isn’t an option, McGuinness suggests resistance training (with or without weights) and yoga, which can build bone density as well as help maintain strength and motor control. If you’ve been a runner since your 20s or 30s, Mishori says, you’re going to notice differences postmenopause. For example, the body becomes less adaptive at digesting sugars, breaking down carbohydrates and regulating its temperature, Mishori said. This might mean that postmenopausal women consider fueling longer runs with fruit, such as a banana or dates, or using just half or even a quarter of a sport energy gel. And Mishori recommends bringing a frozen headband on your runs so that as it thaws it slowly releases cold water onto your hair and shirt. And bring light layers, she added. As experienced and new runners age, we don’t recover as quickly as we used to, says Claire Bartholic, a five-time Boston Marathon qualifier, competitive masters athlete, and coach at Runners Connect, an online community of runners and coaches. “If you raced on a Saturday in your younger years, you might have been able to do some speed work a few days later and have no problems,” she said. “Now we need to take our time and get back to some slower running, easier recovery running, to feel good again.” Another effect of lower estrogen levels is that the body wants to store more fat just as it’s losing muscle, and fat slows you down, Bartholic said. This is important whether or not you’re a competitive runner if you enjoy participating in certain organized races, including the Marine Corps Marathon, which specifies that all runners maintain a 14-minute-per-mile pace across the course. “You’d rather have lean muscle on board to keep you moving faster,” said Bartholic, who recommends regular strength-training sessions to all of her runners but especially to her postmenopausal runners. Carolee Belkin Walker More from Lifestyle: Changing your perspective about weight loss may change the outcome, too ‘American runners have never been slower,’ a new report says — but why? Low-carb vs. low-fat: New research says it doesn’t really matter You know soda is bad for you. Kick the habit with these tips.


Washington area news briefs: Man found dead identified as Francisco Sagastizado

MARYLAND Man found dead in woods is identified Authorities have identified a 47-year-old man who was fatally stabbed and left in a wooded area last week in Adelphi, Md. Police in Prince George’s County said the victim was Francisco Sagastizado of no fixed address. Sagastizado’s body was found Thursday morning with stab wounds near the 7800 block of West Park Drive just after 8 a.m., when someone reported finding an unresponsive man. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The D.C. region had nearly 160 homicides so far this year, according to tracking done by The Washington Post. Of those homicides, nearly 60 were in Prince George’s County. — Dana Hedgpeth Police seek man who raped woman Montgomery County police are looking for a man who raped a woman after she left a Gaithersburg bar. The assault happened around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday after the 26-year-old victim left Quincy’s Bar and Grille on Quince Orchard Road with a man she had met there, police said. According to police, the woman said that when they were outside the bar the man forced her to a nearby grassy area. The woman said she tried to get away but the man held her and raped her. The assailant fled, and the victim drove to her home and reported the assault, police said. Police described the suspect as a Hispanic man between 20 and 30 years old. He stands about 5-feet, 3-inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. He was wearing glasses and had facial hair. VIRGINIA Fugitive is set to be returned to Houston A fugitive in two Texas homicides who was arrested in Arlington County last weekend was arraigned Monday and awaits being sent back to Houston to face felony murder charges, officials said. Douglas Alexander Herrera-Hernandez — a Salvadoran national who is a suspected member of the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a transnational gang — is charged with the murder of a 26-year-old man in Houston in July and the slaying of a 16-year-old just outside the city in June. During his court hearing Monday, Herrera-Hernandez, 20, waived his right to contest being extradited to Texas to face those charges, which speeds up his removal, the office of the Arlington County Commonwealth Attorney said. An official with the district attorney’s office in Harris County, Tex., which includes Houston, said a date has not been set for receiving Herrera-Hernandez. He was held Monday


We’re on the road to a new Cold War

instability into Ukraine after Ukraine’s president, Putin ally Viktor Yanukovych, fled his palace in the face of mass protest. Mr. Putin was aggrieved at Ukraine’s decision to sign a pact with the European Union, but Ukraine is not a vassal of Russia, and Mr. Putin’s claims to a sphere of influence are untenable. The sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe were a response to Mr. Putin’s ill-considered impulse to use violence as a tool of intimidation and coercion. Another poor and deliberate choice was to interfere with the U.S. election campaign. Mr. Putin cannot escape responsibility for Russian attempts to damage the candidacy of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and, perhaps, tilt the election to Donald Trump. We know that Mr. Putin seethed over Ms. Clinton’s outspoken support for the principle of free speech during the 2011-2013 protests against him, but he is altogether wrong to think the United States engineered the unrest. Mr. Putin and his aides cynically deny they attempted to interfere in the U.S. election, but surely they know exactly what occurred and how. The sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama last December and recently tightened by Congress did not appear out of thin air. They are a logical response to Mr. Putin’s attempt to meddle in American democracy. Have these choices had positive consequences for Russia or global stability? Mr. Putin behaves as though he believes Russia is walking tall. Perhaps in his zero-sum world, he takes satisfaction in the chaos rippling through U.S. politics, but his tactics have backfired badly in both Ukraine and the United States. And Mr. Putin’s choices have been costly for Russia, its economy and its people. We have long believed that U.S.-Russian engagement is essential to avert miscalculation, and it remains important for both Washington and Moscow to keep talking. But Mr. Putin should not expect the West to suddenly forgive or forget his bad choices. He would be wiser to deal with the underlying source of tension than to sit around plotting new ways to escalate it. Read more: The Post’s View: Congress’s drastic — but necessary — rebuke to Trump The Post’s View: This is why Russia wanted to help Trump Michael Gerson: Trump’s breathtaking surrender to Russia The Post’s View: Russian propaganda has flooded U.S. airwaves. How about some reciprocity? The Post’s View: While the world is distracted, Putin escalates his war in Ukraine


President Trump silent on Russia after Putin announced expulsion of U.S. diplomats

chaos in the U.S. election and ultimately to benefit Trump. In late December, Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and the FBI took possession of Russian recreational compounds on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and on New York’s Long Island. Surprisingly, Putin said he would not respond. Within weeks, the Justice Department became aware of conversations between Russia’s Washington ambassador and top Trump aide Michael T. Flynn — soon to become Trump’s first national security adviser — in which Flynn appeared to indicate that Trump’s Russia policy would be more amenable to Moscow. Over the ensuing months, as investigations into Russian electoral behavior and Trump’s campaign expanded, U.S.-Russia relations had ups and downs. At the United Nations, Russia has stood fast against new sanctions on the Syrian government and North Korea, even as it negotiated a partial Syrian cease-fire with the United States. In early July, Trump held his first face-to-face meeting with Putin, at the Group of 20 summit in Germany. The White House said that Trump confronted the Russian leader over election meddling and that Putin had denied it. Putin said Trump accepted his denials. Both said they had agreed to move on to other subjects during their initial two-hour session. In his readout of the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described it as “very specific,” extending through North Korea, Syria, Ukraine and cybersecurity, and down into the weeds of Russia’s long-standing demands that the United States release two long-jailed Russian nationals — arms dealer Viktor Bout and Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot arrested in Liberia for arms smuggling and extradited to this country. “We are continuing to work on this issue,” Lavrov said. “We expect our American counterparts to make the right choice.” Nowhere has Russia been more adamant about the “right choice” than in its demands that the United States return its Maryland and New York properties. Although the administration had indicated to Moscow that it was willing to do so, under certain circumstances, no deal was struck. Putin clearly grew tired of waiting. “It’s always been just a matter of time before the Russians decided to do something to punish the United States for the expulsions and the seizure,” Weiss said. “The sanctions legislation is a complicating factor that basically precipitated” a new low in the relationship, he said, “but we’ve been marking time in many respects.” Unlike Obama, who ordered the expelled Russians to leave this


‘This really opened my eyes up’: Hundreds of D.C. students study abroad for free

Kyree Cox, 18, of Washington spent a week caring for Bao Bao and other giant pandas at the Dujiangyan Giant Panda Base near Chengdu, China. The trip was one of 22 offered to students this summer through the D.C. Public Schools study abroad program. (Courtesy of D.C. Public Schools) When Bao Bao left the National Zoo for China, thousands of fans showed up in February to bid the giant panda adieu. To Kyree Cox, who had grown to love the spunky bear during Bao Bao’s three and half years in Washington, it felt like saying goodbye to a childhood friend. “I thought, after they took her, ‘She’s going to be gone forever. Why?’ ” the 18-year-old D.C. student said. But last month Cox found himself in an unlikely position: on the other side of the globe, staring into the majestic animal’s eyes again. This time, he was her caretaker. Cox, a rising senior at McKinley Technology High School in Northeast Washington, had traveled to China through the D.C. Public Schools study abroad program — an 8,000-mile journey that didn’t cost him a penny. The trip was one of 22 offered this summer to DCPS students in the second year of a program that is thought to be the first of its kind for a public school district. Private donations covered the entire cost for more than 400 participants. From airfare to lodging, students paid nothing for the one-week trips, making the program accessible for all regardless of family income. DCPS officials say their goal is to deepen enthusiasm for learning by exposing students to global experiences. “Does this lead to students getting higher scores on math exams? No, probably not,” said D.C. Schools Chancellor Antwan Wilson. “But that’s not what I want to measure.” Wilson said he wants the trips to spur academic initiative, saying that they could inspire “courage” in students to sign up for Advanced Placement courses or further their language studies. Students would then be better positioned for success after high school, he said. To qualify, students must study a world language at school. Eighth- and 11th-graders are eligible to apply, as well as special education students working toward an alternate diploma. This year’s trips cost about $1.7 million. The D.C. Public Education Fund, which supports DCPS initiatives, provided the funding. Participants went to destinations in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Most chose countries


Second man dies from injuries suffered in Northwest D.C. shooting

THE DISTRICT Second man dead after NW shooting A second man has died after a shooting early Sunday in the 4800 block of Kansas Avenue NW, according to D.C. police. The first man died there. The second man’s death brings to four the number of people killed over a violent weekend in the city. The man who died at the scene was identified as Juan Carlos Osorio-Herrera, 24, of Northwest Washington. On Tuesday, police said David Santiago Amaya-Medano, 23, of Northwest, had also died. In an unrelated shooting, police said Jermaine Richards Jr., 17, was killed Sunday shortly before 3 p.m. in the 4400 block of Quarles Street NE. Also Sunday, police said Demond Marcel Rush, 39, of Southeast, died of stab wounds inflicted Saturday in the 3600 block of 22nd Street SE. — Peter Hermann Council member is amassing cash for run D.C. Council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) is off to a strong start amassing cash for her 2018 reelection campaign, according to recent campaign finance reports. Nadeau, a first-term council member who has attracted early challengers, raised $189,923 between February and the end of July, according to a report her campaign filed Monday night with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance. By contrast, one of the two candidates who have announced their bids for Nadeau’s seat — former D.C. Superior Court magistrate judge Lori E. Parker — raised $14,995, according to campaign finance filings. VIRGINIA Lorton man charged in double slaying A Lorton man has been charged in connection with a double homicide in Fairfax County last month, police said. Authorities said as Kelsey Jordan McCrimmon, 21, of Lorton, was charged with two counts of second degree murder. He was charged in the deaths of Gregory Dennis, 19, and Ryan Cross, 20, both of Dumfries, who were found in a vehicle about 3:30 a.m. July 26 at Dolsie Grove Drive and Pohick Road in Lorton. Police said the case is drug-related. — Justin Wm. Moyer CVS manager’s death seen as homicide Authorities said they are investigating as a homicide the death of a Warrenton CVS manager whose body was found near a dumpster outside the store. Rex Mack Olsen, 64, of Reva, worked at the CVS Pharmacy on Blackwell Road in Fauquier County, where his body was found Wednesday night, Warrenton police said. — Dana Hedgpeth Police: Church camp volunteer solicited sex A Virginia man has


Don’t be blindsided during the eclipse

High School science teachers Ashley Moretti, left, and Candace Wright, right, use their Eclipse Shades to look at the sun as they pose for a portrait at Twin Falls High School in Twin Falls, Idaho. The district bought 11,000 pairs of solar glasses for viewing the solar eclipse Aug. 21, from Twin Falls. (Pat Sutphin/AP) For the first time in nearly a century, on Aug. 21, a total solar eclipse of the sun will be visible in parts of the contiguous United States. Depending on where you live, and provided the clouds don’t interfere, you will see the sun partially or, if you’re fortunate enough to be in the “path of totality,” completely disappear behind the moon. And you know what else you’ll see if you aren’t careful? An eye doctor. That is, if you look up at the eclipse without protection or if you buy counterfeit viewing glasses. With every major event or crisis, the con artists show up ready to fleece someone. In this case, unscrupulous companies are selling unsafe eyewear. To safely view this spectacular solar event, sunglasses won’t do — no matter how dark the lenses. You also shouldn’t use any other unfiltered devices, such as binoculars, cameras and telescopes. The eyewear or hand-held viewer you buy needs to have certified solar filters. Both NASA and the Federal Trade Commission have issued consumer warnings urging people to be sure to purchase the right glasses. “This rare event will be exciting and even better when you view the eclipse safely,” Alesha Hernandez, the FTC’s consumer education specialist, wrote in a blog post. You’ve got only a few weeks left to shop, so don’t wait until the last minute and, in your rush, possibly be scammed. As you shop, look for glasses that are marked “ISO” followed by these numbers: 12312-2. This means they have met a certain international safety standard. But the ISO label isn’t enough. Dishonest companies know people are being cautioned to look for that stamp of approval. They can easily copy it onto counterfeit glasses. As I browsed online, every seller promised that its glasses were “certified.” So the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse Task Force has compiled a list of recommended vendors. I’m not playing around with my eyes, and neither should you. This is not the time to skip doing your homework. You’ll find a list of reputable vendors for solar filters


How a small family nursery thrives in the big-box world

asked Ruckle to show me some asters that might take a little shade. The obvious choice might have been the white wood aster, handsome as a woodland native when planted in and around other perennials. I was drawn, though, to a couple of more unusual varieties of a Japanese aster, Aster ageratoides. Both are upright and a little stiff-looking, but they spread by stolons to create drifts that, I read, are smothered in daisies in October and November that are perfectly frost-hardy. Ezo Murasaki is bright pink with yellow centers; Ashvi is a white version. I hadn’t grown ajuga or bugleweed for many years, seeing it as a bit coarse, but I discovered that I just wasn’t looking hard enough. Chocolate Chip is a popular ground-hugger that had passed me by. It’s remarkable for its narrow (for ajuga) leaves with bronze tints. The effect is of a fine-textured, creeping ground cover for those awkward spaces that need cover but not show. I bought a couple of ajuga-crowded four-inch pots and, once home, managed to extract almost 40 plants from them, which were then planted over an area of about six feet by two feet. Spaced six inches apart, the little divisions will form a single mat in no time. Ruckle said she is driven in her plant selections to give gardeners perennials (there are a few shrubs) that are different, and those that aren’t conspicuously decorative contribute in other ways, perhaps by being easy to grow or vital to wildlife. The Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) is a dense vine with heart-shaped leaves whose rapid growth was used to screen and shade sleeping porches in Appalachia. The blooms are no match for the ornament of the several tender species of Dutchman’s pipe, but the hardy one has one endearing quality in the wildlife habitat garden. Ruckle took me to an established plant to study the well-eaten leaves. There was a healthy population of caterpillars of the pipevine swallowtail. The butterfly’s larvae are black, knobbly and red-spotted. Soon, these crawlers will turn into an imposing dark butterfly, black with iridescent blue hind wings. There is now a young vine sitting at the base of my vegetable garden arbor. adrian.higgins@washpost.com @adrian_higgins on Twitter More from Lifestyle: How gardening can help build healthier, happier kids How a hydroponic tomato garden inspired cops to raid a family’s home Blueberries are good for you. Don’t be


Montgomery County Animal Watch

Montgomery county The following case was reported recently by the Montgomery County Animal Services Division. For information, call 240-773-5900. This number provides recorded information on topics such as the new animal services and adoption center’s hours and location in Derwood, adoption and licensing procedures, and lost-and-found and field services. Goats and sheep and pigs, oh my! Humane Society adoptions The Montgomery County Humane Society’s private rescue shelter has dogs, puppies, cats and kittens available for adoption. Call 240-252-2555 or visit mchumane.org. MCHS Adoptions and Education Center, 601 S. Stonestreet Ave., Rockville. Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except holidays. Reduced FEES FOR CATS Cats and kittens will be available for adoption at the next open house of Friends of Montgomery County Animals at the following location. Call 301-977-4833, or visit fmca.org or facebook.com/fmcainfo. PetSmart at Milestone Center, 20924 Frederick Rd., Germantown. Hours: 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday. Cats at no-kill shelter Cats and kittens will be available for adoption through the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County’s no-kill shelter at the following location. Call 301-740-2511 or visit awlmc.org. Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County no-kill shelter, 12 Park Ave., Gaithersburg. Hours: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. — Compiled by Lisa M. Bolton


Two U.S. troops killed in attack on NATO convoy in Afghanistan

U.S. troops assess the damage to an armored vehicle of the NATO-led military coalition after a suicide attack in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 2. (Ahmad Nadeem/Reuters) KABUL — The identities of the service members were not immediately released. A spokesman for the Taliban insurgents claimed that the group carried out the assault and that 15 foreign soldiers were killed. He also said that two armored vehicles were destroyed. He named the driver of the truck as Asadullah Kandahari and called him a “hero.” A spokesman for the U.S. military assistance mission in Kabul confirmed that the convoy was attacked Wednesday morning near its base at the Kandahar airport. He said there were casualties but did not provide details. NATO soldiers secure the scene of a suicide bomb attack that targeted a NATO convoy in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Aug. 2. (Muhammad Sadiq/European Pressphoto Agency) The Pentagon said Wednesday that two Americans were killed in the attack. Officials did not immediately provide further information. Witnesses reported seeing two military helicopters land near the site of the bombing and take away wounded troops. A local mechanic whose workshop was near the site told the Associated Press that the force of the blast knocked him unconscious. When he revived, he said, he saw a military vehicle on fire and stepped out of his shop but was driven back by a burst of gunfire. Kandahar Airfield has long been a hub for U.S. and NATO forces in southern Afghanistan. American troops advise the Afghan army’s 205th Corps at a small installation separate from the larger air base, while Special Operations troops operate from a facility near the city of Kandahar. Nine U.S. troops have been killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan since the start of the year, six of whom were killed supporting operations against the Islamic State’s Afghan offshoot in the eastern part of the country. More than 2,000 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan since Afghan forces and U.S. airstrikes drove the Taliban from power in 2001. The Taliban has increased its attacks in recent weeks as a part of its annual spring and summer offensives. In Washington, the Trump administration is weighing whether to send about 4,000 additional forces to Afghanistan, where the NATO troop total is now about 13,500. Most attacks are aimed at Afghan defense forces. Last week, 40 Afghan soldiers died in a single insurgent attack in Kandahar.


Honeybee colonies increase after years of decline

Honeybee colonies are on the rise in the United States, the Department of Agriculture reported Tuesday. The colonies had been declining for years because of parasites and disease. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) The number of U.S. honeybee colonies rose in 2017 from a year earlier, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey released Tuesday. The number of commercial U.S. honeybee colonies rose 3 percent to 2.89 million as of April 1, compared with 2.8 million a year earlier, the department reported. It said the increase was caused by beekeepers adding more bees to make up for previous years’ rapid losses. Parasites and disease have accounted for the majority of the decline in honeybee population. But another cause of this drop is colony collapse disorder, which has raised concerns among farmers and scientists for a decade. Colony collapse disorder is a phenomenon in which bees abandon their hives. Beekeepers have improved hive conditions, and the disorder has steadily decreased in recent years. A possible contributing factor to the changes in the honeybee population has been pesticides. Environmental groups have expressed alarm about the more than the 90 percent decline during the past two decades in the population of pollinators, including wild bees and monarch butterflies. Pesticide manufacturers argue that their products contribute in a very minor way to the population trend. Tim May, a beekeeper in Harvard, Illinois, and the vice president of the American Beekeeping Federation, says he thinks that it’s difficult to point out specific factors causing the loss of honeybees. “It’s really tricky,” May said. “Maybe it’s pesticides, maybe it’s not. But when I eliminate everything else, it’s a distinct possibility.”


Should colleges let football players risk damaging their brains?

This combination of photos shows sections from a normal brain, top, and from the brain of former University of Texas football player Greg Ploetz, bottom. Ploetz was found to have a brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, when he died in 2015. (Ann Mckee/Boston University via AP) Big football news: Researchers in Boston announced last week that they had examined the brains of 111 former National Football League (NFL) players and determined that 110 had a serious brain disease — chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. CTE is found in people with a history of blows to the head. Symptoms include headaches, confusion, memory loss and anger control. The symptoms usually get worse with time. This doesn’t mean that every NFL player gets CTE. Ann McKee, the head of the research project, says that the study may not be representative of the whole league because most of the brains examined were from players who had shown symptoms of the disease. Researchers can examine someone’s brain for CTE only after the person dies. For the Boston study, the players or their families donated the brains. While CTE may not affect every NFL player, McKee says her findings show that the disease is “not uncommon” in the league. New England Patriots linebacker Junior Seau (55) was diagnosed with CTE after his death in 2013. A recent study looked at the brains of 111 former NFL players. Of those, 110 had CTE. (Elise Amendola/AP) Sometimes, however, the big news is behind the headlines. If you read deeper into the story and the study, you will learn that the researchers also examined the brains of 53 men who played football in college but never in the pros. Forty-eight of the college players — or 91 percent — were found to have CTE. This means that college football players may be at a similar risk of getting CTE as professional players. That finding, it seems to me, raises several important questions as the college football season approaches. NFL players are paid millions of dollars to play football. Someone such as superstar quarterback Tom Brady may think it’s worth the risk of injuring his brain to make all that money. College players, however, are not paid. Many receive scholarships. But that is small compensation compared with the money that coaches, athletic administrators and people at the television networks make from college football. Shouldn’t the athletes


Across D.C., a resurgence of the small neighborhood grocery store

Good Food Markets in Northeast Washington is one of a handful of small-scale neighborhood grocery stores that have opened across the city in the past two years. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post) On a stretch of Rhode Island Avenue that for years was a food desert stands Good Food Markets, a small neighborhood grocery store that opened in January 2015. Arranged neatly on shelves inside a tiny retail space of a mere 800 square feet is a diverse selection of fresh, packaged and prepared items. There’s pasta and canned tomatoes for a quick weeknight dinner, but also fresh fruit and vegetables, organic quinoa in bulk and even Vietnamese spring roll wrappers. “I love it,” said Senait Teklehaimanot, 48, a resident of nearby Woodridge who does almost all of her weekly shopping at Good Food Markets. “They’re reasonably priced and have good products.” Good Food Markets is just one of a handful of neighborhood grocery stores that have opened across the District recently, part of what appears to be a resurgence of small-scale groceries catering to neighborhood residents — in stark contrast to the trend of disappearing mom-and-pop stores in small towns across the country. Even as more openings are in the pipeline for large retail chains such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, the smaller neighborhood stores are making their mark. By one count, at least six have opened since 2015, and more are in the works. Good Food Market is part of a trend of small-scale neighborhood grocery stores that opened up across the city in the past two years. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) Of course, neighborhood groceries are not new to the city. The family-owned Rodman’s has been a fixture of Northwest Washington since 1955. And Yes Organic Market, which now has six stores across the District, traces its roots back to 1970, when it opened under its original name Yes Food Shop in Georgetown. But the most recent spike suggests a shift in the dynamics of the city’s grocery business. There is a “renaissance of the neighborhood,” said Keith Sellars, president and chief executive of the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, a nonprofit, “and people want services that they can walk to” as well as “convenience on all levels.” The new corner groceries are part of a broader back-to-the-city movement in parts of the country, said Brett Theodos, a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center


pipeline for large retail chains such as Whole Foods and Wegmans, the smaller neighborhood stores are making their mark. By one count, at least six have opened since 2015, and more are in the works. Good Food Market is part of a trend of small-scale neighborhood grocery stores that opened up across the city in the past two years. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post) Of course, neighborhood groceries are not new to the city. The family-owned Rodman’s has been a fixture of Northwest Washington since 1955. And Yes Organic Market, which now has six stores across the District, traces its roots back to 1970, when it opened under its original name Yes Food Shop in Georgetown. But the most recent spike suggests a shift in the dynamics of the city’s grocery business. There is a “renaissance of the neighborhood,” said Keith Sellars, president and chief executive of the Washington D.C. Economic Partnership, a nonprofit, “and people want services that they can walk to” as well as “convenience on all levels.” The new corner groceries are part of a broader back-to-the-city movement in parts of the country, said Brett Theodos, a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. That trend, Theodos said, is driving demand for a “job-rich, transit-rich environment” and “the meeting together of commercial and residential sectors in a way that feels very authentic and vibrant.” D.C. history through its stores Grocery stores, writes Michael Ruhlman in his new book “Grocery: The Buying and Selling of Food in America,” are “a barometer of our country’s collective state of mind.” On a more local level, corner grocery stores can also trace the contours of a changing city. As the District has developed over the years, its grocery stores have also evolved with it. Between the late-19th to early-20th centuries, hundreds of eastern European Jews, lured to the United States by the promise of religious freedom and economic opportunity, opened small grocery stores in the Washington area. In the early ’20s, a dozen of these grocers teamed up to establish a cooperative: the District Grocery Stores. At its peak, the cooperative boasted 300 stores across the city and surrounding suburbs. But the arrival of the first Giant supermarket in 1936 presaged disruptive changes to the existing grocery market. Already,“the writing was on the wall,” as a Washington Post story put it. Still, the District


A 31-year-old mother of three and real estate agent runs her way into world championships

From left to right, Sara Vaughn, Jenny Simpson and Kate Grace pose after the women's 1,500 meters at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in June. Vaughn finished third behind Simpson and Grace, earning a trip to London for the World Championships. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) BOULDER, Colo. — “But the itch was still there,” she said, “and I couldn’t ignore it.” It took some time. The six months after her daughter Cassidy was born, Vaughn said, she was in the worst shape of her life. Even when she resumed training, there was always a good reason to skip a run. “I’d have hopes. I’d get dressed, get ready to go, and then fall asleep on the couch in my running shoes,” she said. “I tried, but there was a lot going on. I wasn’t prioritizing it. It was an afterthought. ‘Oh, I’ll go for my run after I take care of A, B and C.’” And usually D, E and F, too. Of the 47 runners competing in the women’s 1,500 meters at worlds, which begin Friday in London, only one is older than the 31-year-old Vaughn. But none faces quite the same challenges and daily juggling act. The others have shoe contracts and sponsors and build their lives around training. Vaughn is a mother of three with a full-time job. She’s always put family first and wasn’t sure she’d ever get to compete at this level. “I was like, ‘I don’t know if I could work and be a mom to my older two kids and take care of this infant and run. It seemed overwhelming,” she said. “But I couldn’t ignore the feeling of wanting to compete still.” She became pregnant with her oldest, Ciara, who’s now 10, when she was a sophomore in college. She and now-husband Brent Vaughn were on athletic scholarships at the University of Colorado. At the time, she didn’t know what a child would mean to her running career. Coaches were supportive, but administrators in the school’s athletic department had no experience with expectant mothers. “I remember distinctly a discussion with a compliance officer,” she recalls, “who said that I was not worth their time applying for a redshirt because I probably wouldn’t graduate anyway.” Sara Vaughn and her family, husband Brent, children Cassidy, 1, Calia, 7 and Ciara, 10, pose for a family portrait Nederland, Colo. (John Leyba/Denver Post) That was more than


Putin’s interference in our election clearly backfired

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Alexei Nikolsky/Associated Press) With his interference in the 2016 election, Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped he could tilt Washington onto a more pro-Moscow course. But after President Trump signed legislation tightening sanctions on Russia on Wednesday, it should be clear that Putin’s strategy backfired in a big way. First, Russia’s meddling has not helped it achieve its policy objectives. Russia wanted sanctions lifted; instead, they have been strengthened. Russia hoped that Trump would splinter the NATO alliance with his threats not to defend members who were not meeting their financial commitments. Instead, allies are increasing their defense spending by $12 billion, the Trump administration continued the deployment of NATO forces to the Baltics and sent an additional 900 troops to Poland’s border with Russia, and the president has now reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Article V of the NATO charter. None of these outcomes please Moscow. The Trump administration is considering plans to provide Ukraine with advanced anti-tank weapons, including Javelin missiles, and possibly anti-aircraft weapons — a move that is sure to anger Putin. In Warsaw, Trump delivered one of the most anti-Russian speeches any American president has given in a generation, and proposed a natural gas deal with Poland to decrease its energy dependence on Moscow. Administration officials have also accused Moscow of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty and arming the Taliban in Afghanistan. The one bright spot for Putin is Syria, where Trump worked with Russia to establish a cease-fire area and canceled a CIA program to train and equip anti-Assad rebels — a move sought by Moscow. But Trump also bombed Putin’s ally Bashar al-Assad and his administration blamed Moscow for Assad’s use of chemical weapons on innocent civilians. Relations between the United States and Russia are so bad that Putin is now expelling hundreds of American diplomats, the largest such expulsion since the Communist revolution. We are in a new Cold War. Second, Russia’s election meddling has boxed Trump in to this aggressive stance for the foreseeable future. Trump’s best defense against charges of collusion with Russia is: Look at my policies. There has been no president this tough on Moscow since Ronald Reagan. Even if Trump wanted to pursue détente with Russia, he cannot do so, because any concessions he makes to Putin will be seen through the prism of the Russia investigation. Every step taken that benefits


A guide to Hyattsville: D.C.’s newest suburban dining and arts destination

and under. The crowd is diverse and the vibe is lively, but this Busboys has some of the same shortcomings as other restaurants: Service drags and prices seem high ($9 for one pint of a local craft beer?). The broad menu is loaded with options for pescatarians, vegetarians and vegans, and the 100-seat patio is awfully appealing when you’re looking for a brunch spot to accommodate a variety of diets. 5331 Baltimore Ave., Suite 104. 301-779-2787. busboysandpoets.com. Chez Dior Several months ago, co-owner Mamadou Fall installed a massive sign across the front of his modest storefront on Baltimore Avenue. He wanted to make sure no customer would ever again mistake the lounge next door for his exceptional Senegalese restaurant. “Sometimes, they’d just go there, and they’d ask for thiebou dienne,” says Fall, a native of Dakar. If you want to sample one of Senegal’s defining dishes, you must stop at Chez Dior for the thiebou dienne, a stuffed slab of fish served with rice stained with the same tamarind-tomato sauce that flavors everything else on the plate, including the soft-cooked vegetables. When dabbed with even a microscopic amount of the Jamaican-hot-pepper condiment, the fish will ignite into a full-throated bite, the heat acting as a muffler for the dish’s sweeter, more tart flavors. You can practically plot the history of the West African nation via chef Binette Seck’s menu: The beignets are remnants of French colonialism (though they’re more savory than the pastries you’ll find in the French Quarter). The nems — spring rolls — are a faint echo of Vietnam (courtesy of the Senegalese soldiers who married Vietnamese women after the first Indochina war). Then there are the many African accents, such as rice and fish, staple ingredients in Senegalese cooking. In a nod to Islam, the dominant religion in Senegal, alcohol is not served, but diners may bring their own beer and wine. 5124 Baltimore Ave. 240-696-5907, chezdior.com. Guests wander through the general store side of Franklins, where you can find everything from whoopie cushions and penny candy to quirky wedding gifts. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) Franklins Restaurant, Brewery and General Store After almost 25 years in the center of Hyattsville, Franklins is such a fixture that locals use its prominent neon sign as a landmark. Mike and Debbie Franklin opened a deli and general store in 1992 and then, a decade later, opened a full-service


restaurant and Prince George’s County’s first brewpub in the adjacent building. Both sides of the business are thriving. The sprawling general store is still the best place in the Washington area to shop for a birthday or housewarming gift: Where else will you find oven mitts shaped like Darth Vader’s gloves, Edgar Allan Poe bandages, miniature Stretch Armstrong figures, oversize stuffed animals, penny candy and walls of hot sauce and craft beer? The restaurant side of the operation, meanwhile, has a more airy, warehouse feel, with the brewpub and bar upstairs, the pizza oven and dining room on the ground floor and works by local artists hanging throughout. There are 20 house-made beers on tap, and brewer Mike Roy’s specialties are completely on trend: hoppy IPAs and tart, fruited sour ales, such as the blackberry-based Bramble Blast. The menu has evolved from pizzas and pub basics — the standout from recent visits was sliders made from merguez sausages and topped with tzatziki — but Franklin says the biggest change over time has been “a kid population boom in Hyattsville.” They’ve upgraded the kids menu to make it healthier — grilled chicken and a salmon filet have joined the expected fried chicken tenders and burgers — and “there’s a contingent of kids who love the mussels. I love that.” 5123 Baltimore Ave. 301-927-2740. franklinsbrewery.com. Pizzeria Paradiso recently opened in Hyattsville — the popular pizza and beer restaurant’s third location, and first in Maryland. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) Pizzeria Paradiso More than the Whole Foods that opened just outside the city’s boundaries and the Busboys and Poets outlet that added a little boho cred to the Arts District, Pizzeria Paradiso’s debut underscores Hyattsville’s untapped potential as a culinary market. Paradiso founder Ruth Gresser is the first high-profile chef to drop anchor in the ’burb, opening the fourth location of her pizza-and-craft-beer concept. The locals are behaving as if Mario Batali were manning the wood-burning oven nightly. Speaking of which, the Marra Forni oven — the one with the tricked-out mosaic flame designed by local artist Valerie Theberge — is the centerpiece of that 2,000-square-foot restaurant. The oven turns out beautiful, leopard-spotted rounds, the kind Gresser introduced to Washingtonians way back in 1991. They’re not exactly traditional Neapolitan pies, but they nod in the general direction of Naples, their crusts crispier than those found in Italy. Whatever pie you order, you


Construction worker killed in fall in College Park, Md.

A construction worker was killed in an accident in College Park on Thursday, officials said. Francois Odil Dishmey Kelly died while working on a construction site and fell to his death, according to Sgt. Rosanne Hoass of the university’s police department. Hoass said foul play is not suspected, and that a death investigation will continue. At around 1:30 p.m., the Prince George’s County Fire Department responded to a building under construction at the University of Maryland near Campus Drive and Route 1, fire department spokesman Mark Brady said in a Twitter message. The worker fell from an upper floor of the building and was pronounced dead at the scene, Brady said. This story has been updated.


(Final) exit through the gift shop: L.A. County Coroner’s Office has souvenirs to die for

Surprisingly it’s not the only coroner’s office to sport one. Clark County, Nev. — home of Las Vegas — has one, too. Harvey says the people who seek the shop out are usually either in forensics or just “identify strongly with the institution,” like “people who wear T-shirts that say USC or UCLA who never went to the school.” A skeletal “Sherlock” appears through the window of this beer glass as it empties. (Liz Langley/For The Washington Post) Also among the items on offer is a coroner’s office barbecue apron. (Liz Langley/For The Washington Post) That’s not surprising, as the number of forensics students has increased steadily since the 1990s and the profession has been popularized by numerous TV shows, fictional and reality-based. One of those is the documentary series “North Mission Road,” based on cases that have come through this very office. In the episode “Frontier Justice,” for example, a film crew shooting an episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man” at a California fun house in 1976 discovers a prop hanging victim that turns out to be an actual mummified person. The coroner’s office successfully identifies him as Elmer McCurdy, an old west Oklahoma outlaw, who was shot in 1911 in a gun battle with law enforcement in the Osage. “We can’t do it in 44 minutes plus commercials,” Harvey says, a disclaimer that is wonderfully and thoroughly L.A. “It takes us longer to arrive at these things.” The tale of Elmer McCurdy and other lively times at the coroner’s office can be found in the book “Death in Paradise, an illustrated History of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner,” which turned out to be one of my favorite souvenirs and a ripping airplane read. The rain has worsened by the time I leave the building and despite the dangerous conditions some people are still driving like they’re in the Daytona 500. My Lyft driver apologizes for going slowly, saying it’s just not safe to go fast. “Take your time,” I tell him. “I just came from the coroner’s office. I don’t want to go back.” My last trip to this city was in 2003. I didn’t have time to tiptoe through the toe tags on that visit, but 14 years later I was thrilled to find that Skeletons was still rattling along. “The gift shop makes its expenses,” but not much more than that, Harvey says.


Conducting foreign policy via sanctions is not a good idea

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting in Novobureyskiy, Russia, on Thursday. (Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin pool photo via Associated Press) Regarding the July 31 front-page article “Putin tells U.S. to cut diplomatic staff by 755”: When sanctions are levied against a state with authoritarian leadership, those measures will be answered in kind. A response may be announced, as was the case with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to reduce U.S. diplomatic staffs in Moscow and elsewhere in his country, or the reciprocal action could be far more insidious. Such a response to the recently announced sanctions bill could be forthcoming. In Estonia on Sunday, Vice President Pence said that the United States would “expect Russian behavior to change.” Well, do not hold your breath. It is quite clear that Mr. Putin will double down. Or perhaps he will change his behavior but most likely not in a positive way. This is the danger of sanctions. Congress loves sanctions for symbolic reasons, to look tough. But is it ready for what they will produce? No doubt Mr. Putin’s head is spinning as a result of the mixed messages out of Washington. Using sanctions to send President Trump a message about Russia is not good form. Conducting domestic politics via sanctions bills is poor foreign policy. The pressing question is: What is our foreign policy? Brigid Starkey, Catonsville, Md.


On Russia sanctions, Trump has a point

This, truly, is a season for hypocrisy. The best argument that sanctions are overused was made in March 2016 by Jacob Lew, then treasury secretary, in an interview with me and in a subsequent speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His focus at the time was on congressional efforts to prevent Obama from easing sanctions on Iran as it complied with the nuclear deal. Lew explained back then Lew noted another problem with the United States’ growing tendency to use sanctions as a cure-all in foreign policy. By limiting access to U.S. financial markets to punish countries whose behavior we don’t like, the sanctions tool ultimately risks undermining the primacy of the dollar and U.S. financial institutions. I asked Lew on Thursday whether he’d still make the same argument. “My views haven’t changed,” he said. “I continue to think that the executive branch needs to have the tools to increase pressure and release it at the appropriate time. That’s very complicated if you have to go back through Congress.” Don’t misunderstand me. In questioning congressional review of sanctions, I’m not excusing Trump’s behavior. His non-response to Russia’s well-documented meddling in the 2016 presidential election has been outrageous. Sacking special counsel Robert S. Mueller III would be even worse — an assault on our constitutional rule of law. Having trouble keeping track of everything that's wrong at the State Department right now? Post Global Opinions Editor Karen Attiah breaks it down. But even if you think this story is headed toward impeachment, the United States still has to conduct foreign policy in a dangerous world for many months, if not years. We hear many Watergate analogies these days, but let’s not forget the foreign policy version — of a weakened, erratic president facing regional wars and global crises, as in 1973 and ’74. Like President Richard Nixon, Trump needs good foreign policy advisers (he seems to have them) and some maneuvering room. The Trump-Russia file stinks. But this doesn’t mean that every congressional zinger fired at Russia is sensible, or that every Trump attempt to preserve executive authority is a potential conspiracy count. When Washington legislators start making arguments that, in other circumstances, they would reject, you know something is wrong. Read more from David Ignatius’s archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Read more on this issue: Marc A. Thiessen: Putin’s interference in


The newly remodeled Tredici Enoteca kicks things up a notch in Dupont Circle

Cockles lay on a bed of squid ink tonarelli with a white wine garlic cream sauce at Tredici Enoteca. The shishito peppers add adventure to the dish, which is one of the highlights on the new menu at the restaurant inside the St. Gregory Hotel. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The Washington landscape has changed conspicuously since Greg Dodge last worked here, as the assistant food and beverage director at the Roof Terrace atop the Kennedy Center in the mid-1990s. For starters, “I find D.C. to be a destination restaurant city,” says Dodge, now part of the Philadelphia-based Zavino Hospitality Group and one of three managing partners in the newish Tredici Enoteca at the St. Gregory Hotel near Dupont Circle. Which means he and his staff, including chef de cuisine Nick Martino, last seen at the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, have to work a little harder to get noticed in a field of plenty. Lunchtime diners on the top level at Tredici Enoteca inside the remodeled St. Gregory Hotel. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Six months of construction within the hotel last year rendered a lobby with epic ceilings, a fireplace, handsome bookcases and a staircase that allows mere mortals to make grand entrances and exits. The tiered restaurant, set off with green banquettes and photographs of bridges and shutters, is equally striking. Count yourself fortunate to be led to one of the broad tables and chic chairs set near the expansive windows overlooking M Street. “If we can get someone to eat our food,” says Dodge of the enoteca’s menu, that person “will become a customer.” The bookends to a meal best support his statement. And any meal starts off swell with a Pompelmo based on cachaça, mescal, grapefruit and ginger. Broccoli and avocado are spruced up with a Dijon vinaigrette and black sesame seeds in this appetizer. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) The Joey flatbread leaves its mark with pork sausage, mozzarella, crushed tomato, spinach, garlic and red pepper flakes. (Deb Lindsey /For The Washington Post) Mindful eaters are likely to cheer the sight of meatballs rolled out from ground chicken and a raw broccoli salad. The first appetizer collects soft little spheres in a pool of ginger-laced tomato sauce, while the second (plenty for three to split) combines buttery avocado and a Dijon vinaigrette with the lead vegetable. A sprinkling of black sesame seeds makes


The top 35 female composers in classical music

Amy Beach, The first American woman to compose large-scale art music, Beach focused on composition after marriage compelled her to pull back from what had been an active career as a pianist. The Handel and Haydn Society’s performance of her Mass in E-flat gained her renown, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra subsequently premiered both her Gaelic Symphony and piano concerto (with her as soloist). After her husband died, she traveled extensively in Europe, and her writings about the European music scene remain a valuable testimony to an era; but her unpopular political sympathies (with Germany in World War I and Mussolini in the 1930s) may have contributed to her postwar neglect. Amy Beach Piano Concerto. Joanne Polk, pianist Valerie Coleman In 1997, Coleman, unhappy with the underrepresentation of musicians of color in the classical music world, founded Imani Winds, a wind quintet whose name is the Swahili word for “hope.” The group has gone on to considerable success, and Coleman remains its flutist and composer in residence with a catalogue mainly of chamber works for her ensemble as well as some pieces for other instrumentations, often incorporating whiffs of jazz and evocative illustrations of the music of the South, such as “Red Clay and Mississippi Delta,” which Joan Reinthaler, in The Washington Post, called “a family portrait in sound,” and “terrific.” Imani Winds performs Valerie Coleman's "Umoja" Libby Larsen, 66 A pathbreaking figure in creating a sense of community in the American new-music scene, Larsen co-founded the organization that became the American Composers Forum and was the first woman to hold a residency with a major American orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, in 1983. She has written 11 operas, from a children’s opera based on “A Wrinkle in Time” to “Every Man Jack,” about Jack London, and has a huge catalogue of choral music, in addition to several symphonies and large-scale orchestral works. Libby Larsen - Try Me Good King: Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII Florence Price A 1906 graduate of the New England Conservatory, Price was the first African American woman to have her music played by a major orchestra — the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which performed her first symphony after she took first place in the Wanamaker Foundation Awards. She incorporated American folk tunes and material from the African American religious tradition in her native South in expressive, accomplished works. Florence Price: Symphony No. 1 in


National security adviser attempts to reconcile Trump’s competing impulses on Afghanistan

2005 and 2015 to show how businesses and traffic had returned to the once-desolate area. And he asked one of his Afghanistan experts to find a black-and-white snapshot from 1972 of Afghan women in miniskirts walking through Kabul. “The goal was to give the president the idea that Afghanistan was not this hopeless place,” said one U.S. official familiar with the briefing, which included several pictures of the country. The briefing did not change Trump’s position, which had been shaped by his two years on the campaign trail and his sense that the American people had lost sight of the war’s purpose. The strategy review that McMaster had hoped to complete by early May — ahead of a NATO conference where he hoped to secure pledges for more European troops — remains stalled. At McMaster’s urging, Trump earlier this summer signed an order giving the Pentagon the authority to send as many as 3,900 more troops requested by commanders to Afghanistan. But Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, concerned about the absence of an approved strategy and chastened by Trump’s doubts about the war, has not authorized the forces to go. At a meeting last month, the president angrily complained that the United States was not winning in Afghanistan, suggested firing the current commander and questioned whether sending more troops to the country would be folly, said U.S. officials familiar with the meeting. The first detailed accounts of the meeting were reported by NBC News. The fight over the Afghanistan strategy points to a larger problem with the relationship between McMaster’s NSC and the West Wing. During his six months on the job, McMaster has raised morale among the career staffers, who describe him as open and accessible. He has put in place a rigorous and structured process that integrates the views of agencies across the government. Less clear is whether any of that work is resulting in new policies. A Pentagon strategy aimed at defeating the Islamic State was completed in early March but still has not been approved by the president, officials said. The administration instead has worked piecemeal to give U.S. commanders in Iraq and Syria more latitude to increase the pace of military operations. Potentially divisive questions about the United States’ long-term goals and military presence in the region — the same issues being debated in the Afghanistan review — remain unresolved. Julie Tate contributed to this report.


The never-ending search for UFOs and extraterrestrial intelligence

be found? “Aliens: The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for Extraterrestrial Life” lays out the case for optimism in a collection of essays. The world in which this book was published is one that Hynek and Tarter helped make. Chris French, the head of anomalistic psychology research at Goldsmiths, University of London, uses Hynek’s “close encounters” scale to discuss psychological phenomena that can explain such experiences. Two of the essays were written by scientists at Tarter’s SETI Institute. The other contributors include experts from astronomy, cosmology, planetary science and genetics, as well as fields that didn’t even exist when Hynek and Tarter began their work — astrobiology and exoplanet research. Together, they provide an overview of where the search for alien life now stands. Advances in biology on Earth have expanded our notion of where and how life can thrive. Meanwhile, exploration of space has identified places in our solar system and beyond that could be (or once were) hospitable to alien organisms. Mars used to boast an atmosphere and flowing water; the moons of Jupiter and Saturn harbor hidden subsurface oceans and liquid methane lakes. Our growing catalogue of exoplanets suggests that most stars in the galaxy host planets on which life could conceivably form. When the James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2018, scientists will be able to probe the atmospheres of those planets in pursuit of “biosignatures” — molecules that are thought to signal the presence of life. No one has an answer to the question: “Where is everybody?” But scientists do have plenty of places to look. Perhaps, someday in the not-too-distant future, they’ll receive that long-awaited radio beacon from a distant galaxy. Or look through a microscope at a water sample from an ocean moon and find microbes swimming around. Or detect a haze of “biosignatures” in the atmosphere of an alien world. Or, hey, maybe an unidentified flying object will appear suddenly in the sky one day when we least expect it. A crowd will gather, a hatch will open and, finally, a little green man will step out to reassure us we’re not alone. The Close Encounters Man How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOs By Mark O’Connell Dey Street. 403 pp. $17.99 paperback Making Contact Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence By Sarah Scoles Pegasus. 288 pp. $27.95 Aliens The World’s Leading Scientists on the Search for