Kids are back in classrooms for summer school — and coronavirus-related problems emerge

plans about whether and how to open schools for the 2020-21 academic year, they are getting some real-time examples of what can happen when students return to school buildings. Superintendents are trying to balance health concerns with the need for students to get back to school while, in some areas, coronavirus infection rates are spiking. School leaders are under pressure from President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to reopen fully in the fall even as some major school systems have decided they can’t do so safely and have announced they will start the new school year virtually. Those include Los Angeles, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. While some districts are offering virtual summer school, with students staying at home, others are offering in-person instruction. In some areas, classes have taken place (and some child-care centers have opened) without reported incidents. Experiences with summer school are test runs for how things could go in the fall if students return to school — and how schools respond to coronavirus infections reported in their communities. In Quincy, Mass., where two summer schoolteachers were diagnosed with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Anthony Andronico, vice chair for the school committee, was quoted by the Patriot Ledger as saying that those diagnoses will inform what happens in the fall in the school district. “We knew we were going to experience things like this — that people were going to get COVID[-19] — but I was surprised by how quickly a case was identified,” he said. “This is a learning moment for us as a school committee to look closely at how we are going to go forward with school in the fall.” In Billings, Mont., masks were mandated for children attending summer school, and Greg Upham, superintendent of School District Two, said that students returning to school in the fall will wear masks as well. The decision came as infection rates are rising in the state. “Seeing the increase in the cases, I think we need to continue to work to mitigate those, social distancing, masking and washing our hands are the three big ones, and we need to continue to work to improve,” he was quoted as saying by KULR8. In the Mosinee School District in central Wisconsin, a summer school program closed for the day Friday for deep cleaning after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Wausau Pilot


U-Md. suspends requirement for SAT or ACT scores, joining test-optional movement for one year because of pandemic

The University of Maryland at College Park declared Friday it will suspend its requirement for SAT or ACT scores for next year’s applicants, joining a test-optional movement that has exploded nationwide during the coronavirus pandemic. With the announcement, U-Md. became the latest state flagship to set aside its admission test mandate. In recent weeks, the University of Virginia, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Delaware, among others, also became temporarily test optional. So have selective private colleges in the Ivy League and elsewhere. Colleges and universities across the country have been forced to rethink their policies since the novel coronavirus emergency began disrupting admission tests last March. Hundreds of thousands of college-bound students in the high school Class of 2021 have encountered huge troubles finding a place to take the SAT or ACT. Testing organizations have said they plan to expand capacity in the fall, but it’s unclear how many students they will be able to serve as the virus continues to rage in many states. Without test scores, many students might cross off their list colleges that require them. That worried U-Md. officials. “We didn’t want to prevent students who wanted to come to the University of Maryland from being able to apply,” said Shannon Gundy, the university’s executive director of undergraduate admissions. Gundy said consideration for merit scholarships and other special programs would also be test-optional next year. The new policy only affects next year’s applicants. But Gundy said it is too early to know what the testing policy will be in future years. She said the university conducted a study in 2019 that verified the validity of admission test scores in helping to predict success for entering students. About 32,000 students a year apply for freshman admission to College Park. “The SAT and ACT are one factor among many in our holistic review to help us make decisions,” Gundy said. “We’re pretty confident that those tests, when used appropriately, really can help us.” U-Md. is relatively late to the test-optional movement. The University of California system, with nine undergraduate campuses, suspended its admission testing requirement in April, and in May it decided to phase out the SAT and ACT for in-state applicants. That may have helped spur other prominent colleges to drop, or at least halt, testing requirements. Gundy said U-Md.'s policy needed clearance from the University System of Maryland. She also said U-Md. wanted to


U.S., Britain and Canada say Russian cyberspies are trying to steal coronavirus vaccine research

Plus, Sun Belt hospitals are feeling the strain from virus’ surge, and tens of thousands of mail ballots have been tossed out in this year’s primaries.


‘The Shadow King’ is a must-read on Ethiopia’s history

what awaits him back in Europe. Hirut and her compatriots also have an unavoidable date with destiny at the site, one that will haunt Hirut for the rest of her days. In a series of interludes, we also get a glimpse into the mind of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Mengiste’s deft writing suggests what he might have been thinking as Italy invaded his country and persecuted his people, leaving him little choice but to flee with his family to the United Kingdom for the duration of the war. The scenes in which the emperor tries to make sense of what is happening are among the book’s most compelling. In one interview, Mengiste explains how she set out “to write a book that reflected history as a series of voices that sometimes conflict.” Interludes in the story carry forward the narrative with a “Chorus” that guides the reader to understand Hirut’s fate and the way it is entangled with Kidane’s cruelty, her growing love for another soldier, and that of the emperor in exile in a faraway land as his people continue to fight for Ethiopia. “Arise, Hirut” says the Chorus, and we are compelled to know that becoming a soldier is her only choice. The novel takes its title from an idea of Hirut’s, one intended to bring hope to the Ethiopian people in a time of great despair. A man in the militia’s camp, Minim, looks so much like Selassie that they decide he must become a “Shadow King” — someone who will appear to peasants in the countryside dressed in regal vestments and riding a royal-looking horse, allowing people to believe that their emperor has not abandoned them, and giving them hope to continue the fight until the Italians are defeated. I devoured the beautifully written “The Shadow King” in two nights, then read Mengiste’s earlier novel, “Beneath the Lion’s Gaze,” in two more. She is simply an outstanding writer, with an uncanny ability with words, metaphor, history and truth. That her novel also centers on women like Hirut and Aster makes it even more compelling. I simply cannot recommend this remarkable book highly enough to anyone who looks for the best writing to tell compelling stories. It would also be a great asset for any student of Ethiopian history or politics, helping to bring to life the narratives of fascists and freedom fighters, emperors and common people.


Trump-era racist rhetoric makes Chinese students in the U.S. less supportive of democracy

exposed to racist comments on U.S. social media were more likely to say that China’s political system is suitable for China than the control group — and that nothing about China’s political system needs to change. However, for all these questions, students in the United States who read highly critical comments of the Chinese government written by Westerners don’t show more support for China’s current political system. This suggests that the monolithic view that Chinese overseas students are fierce defenders of the Chinese regime may be off the mark. Surprisingly, when we look at who is most affected by the xenophobic attacks, we found that students who are least supportive of nationalistic policies exhibit the biggest increases in support for Chinese authoritarianism. This may be because racist comments provide new information to less nationalistic students or because those who hold strongly nationalistic views are already highly supportive of Beijing. Some scholars argue that the U.S. failure to control the covid-19 outbreak is a major setback for the appeal of democracy. In China, for instance, recent surveys show that support for the Chinese government and authoritarianism have increased significantly since the beginning of the outbreak. We asked students to evaluate how different governments around the world have handled covid-19. Nearly 90 percent of our respondents say the U.S. government has handled covid-19 badly or very badly, while only 10 percent say the same of the Chinese government. But the relative performance of the United States and China on covid-19 does not account for the effect of racism on boosting support for the Chinese regime. In particular, survey respondents exposed to xenophobic comments did not have a worse view of the U.S. political system — but they did show greater support for China’s authoritarian regime. Anger toward the anti-Chinese rhetoric seems to be the main driver of this response. It has become a joke in China to call Trump Chuan Jianguo, or “Build-the-Country Trump” — a riff on a term that refers to strengthening China’s power. Our survey experiment suggests that racist rhetoric pushes Chinese students who would otherwise be likely to subscribe to democratic values into the pro-China camp, and away from wanting to see political change in China. By repeatedly using racist, xenophobic rhetoric and inciting discrimination against Chinese and Asians in America, Trump may be handing an invaluable gift to President Xi. The TMC newsletter has moved! Sign up


How to take a long-haul train trip during the pandemic

As the country experiences an uptick in new coronavirus cases, Americans may be searching for alternative travel options. For the carless who feel wary of the return of crowded flights, train travel may be an attractive substitute. Like the rest of the travel industry, Amtrak made adjustments to its operations as the pandemic erupted. In addition to increasing its cleaning procedures, America’s railroad service is limiting passenger bookings on its trains to promote physical distancing. There’s no such thing as risk-free travel right now. Anytime you leave your house during the pandemic, you’re opening yourself up to the potential of contracting or spreading the novel coronavirus. Adrian Hyzler, chief medical officer for Healix International, a company that specializes in security, international medical and travel-assistance services, says there are advantages and disadvantages to traveling by train. Travel by air or by rail requires passing through potentially crowded areas, whether that’s a TSA checkpoint or a train terminal. A flight may get you to your destination faster than a train trip, but crowding on a plane may be harder to avoid. “I do think that the pros and cons balance each other out,” Hyzler said. “In the end it comes down to which is your preferred mode of transport.” If you decide to take the train during the pandemic, here are some tips to keep in mind for a health-conscious and happy journey. For long-haul train trips, book Amtrak’s private-room accommodations if you have the budget. Traveling by Roomette, Bedroom, Bedroom Suite, Family Bedroom or Accessible Bedroom will provide you with the most physical distance from other travelers. “You close the door and you have the choice of never having to interact with someone, except when the conductor comes by once and lifts your ticket,” said Roger Harris, executive vice president and revenue officer at Amtrak. Harris says that while ticket sales across the board are down, sales of private accommodations are outpacing standard coach seats. While booking a private space is more expensive, they may be more accessible than before the pandemic. Amtrak is marketing fare deals and special roomette promotions in response to the decrease in demand. Once you’re on board, follow the same coronavirus safety measures you would in other parts of your life. That means practicing good hand hygiene, choosing a seat away from other passengers (if you don’t have a seat assignment that has already enforced that


Coronavirus is crushing tourism — and cutting off a lifeline for wildlife

MAASAI MARA, Kenya — The world’s most famous savanna boasts two epic migrations. One has traversed it for millennia: Millions of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles follow billowing rain clouds in search of new grazing grounds. The other horde descends upon the first in open-air safari jeeps, zoom-lens cameras at the ready, coolers tucked between the seats filled with snacks and prosecco. Coronavirus travel restrictions mean the humans have suddenly vanished, and along with them a billion-dollar tourism industry that employs millions and underpins a symbiotic human-wildlife ecosystem — the private conservancy — that is essential to wildlife conservation in many African countries. Conservancies constitute more than 11 percent of Kenya’s land, more than national parks. The model is simple: Community shareholders, mostly cattle herders, receive tourism revenue from wildlife safaris as compensation for lost grazing land, and salaried jobs proliferate at new hotels and for rangers. Wildlife becomes more valuable alive than dead, disincentivizing poaching. Now, with tourism revenue nearly zeroed out, most workers at Kenya’s 167 community-owned conservancies are furloughed, and payouts to nearly 1 million shareholders have been reduced or suspended entirely. Communities are considering a return to grazing, jeopardizing decades of wildlife conservation efforts across the continent’s vast grasslands. “Through conservancies, we built a system in which coexistence between humans and wildlife is central,” said Dickson Kaelo, CEO of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association. “Conservation used to be premised on kicking communities off their land. Now we know that those communities are essential. Without benefiting them, there is no future for conservation.” Travel restrictions from March to July brought international tourism to a halt. Industry analysts say 2020 is essentially a lost year for tourism operators: as much as $2.2 trillion lost, at least 80 percent lower profits, as many as a billion fewer travelers, and more than 100 million jobs gone. Other closely related businesses like airlines, construction, handicrafts, catering and car rentals have been drawn into a whirlpool of bankruptcy. In Kenya, where 8 percent of the economy is directly derived from tourism, the gross domestic product is forecast to shrink by 5 percent. Other tourism-dependent economies like Jamaica and Thailand could see declines of around 10 percent or more, according to the United Nations. International flights to Kenya resume on Aug. 1, but arrivals are expected to be limited by continued restrictions on travel imposed by European and Asian countries. With limited flights and


vast grasslands. “Through conservancies, we built a system in which coexistence between humans and wildlife is central,” said Dickson Kaelo, CEO of the Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association. “Conservation used to be premised on kicking communities off their land. Now we know that those communities are essential. Without benefiting them, there is no future for conservation.” Travel restrictions from March to July brought international tourism to a halt. Industry analysts say 2020 is essentially a lost year for tourism operators: as much as $2.2 trillion lost, at least 80 percent lower profits, as many as a billion fewer travelers, and more than 100 million jobs gone. Other closely related businesses like airlines, construction, handicrafts, catering and car rentals have been drawn into a whirlpool of bankruptcy. In Kenya, where 8 percent of the economy is directly derived from tourism, the gross domestic product is forecast to shrink by 5 percent. Other tourism-dependent economies like Jamaica and Thailand could see declines of around 10 percent or more, according to the United Nations. International flights to Kenya resume on Aug. 1, but arrivals are expected to be limited by continued restrictions on travel imposed by European and Asian countries. With limited flights and travelers worried about the quality of available health care, it could be years before bookings return to normal. Stock market slumps and terrorist attacks threatened tourism here in the past, but the pandemic may leave an indelible scar. “Right now, we’re in survival mode,” said Jimi Kariuki, chairman of the Kenya Tourism Board and CEO of one of the country’s swankiest hotel chains. “Let’s not even talk about recovery yet.” Whereas the past decade saw a growing debate around “overtourism” clogging the canals of Venice and dirt tracks of the Maasai Mara, there’s now talk of a future in which tourists stay closer to home, away from packed planes and public spaces. Vast parking lots sit empty from Disneyland to the pyramids of Giza. Asia and Europe are hardest hit because of the sheer number of tourists they receive, but some African economies are more dependent on tourism even with fewer travelers. That’s partly because wildlife tourism tends to be pricey: Week-long packages cost upward of $10,000 even at midrange camps. Kenya, Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania are particularly reliant. Although Africa has less than 5 percent of global coronavirus cases, the pandemic’s effects on economies may be most dire here.


Nationals decide to play at Nationals Park this season after exploring alternate sites

The Washington Nationals will play this season at Nationals Park after the District approved a tweak to its novel coronavirus regulations for the team. Doubt arose because of the District’s strict self-quarantine rules, and the Nationals had actively explored alternate sites in Fredericksburg, Va., and, as a last resort, their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, Fla. But in a letter to the Nationals on Thursday night, Christopher Rodriguez, director of the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, approved reworked guidelines for the Nationals. Rodriguez had stated that “close contacts of individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 are directed to self-quarantine for 14 days,” referring to the disease caused by the virus. The Nationals were unsure whether they could be competitive under that restriction, because contact tracing could force the entire team into self-quarantine in the middle of a 60-game season set to start July 23. Since the Nationals began training July 3, up to 11 players and one coach were affected by these regulations. On July 10, the Nationals asked the city for an exception: While their players or coaches are observing the 14-day self-quarantine, they would be allowed to leave home only to go to the ballpark. The Nationals’ proposal otherwise mirrored Major League Baseball’s process for clearing a potentially exposed individual, which includes daily testing. That tweak would allow players and coaches to work while serving a less restrictive self-quarantine. The city expressed trepidation with the Nationals’ plan and, by extension, MLB’s protocols but indicated it would not stand in the team’s way. The Nationals’ first home game will be against the New York Yankees on Thursday, the start of baseball’s attempt to return amid the pandemic. “DC Health opines that this proposal poses a potential risk to others in the workplace, both employees and non-employees, who may come into contact with the individual who has been exposed to COVID-19 and continues to work,” Rodriguez wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Gregory McCarthy, the Nationals’ senior vice president of community relations. “If the individual is permitted to travel during the self-quarantine and interacts with members outside the primary organization, the risk extends,” Rodriguez continued. “As such, the Washington Nationals [adopt] this modified policy with the understanding and acceptance of this risk to its workforce and other members of the public.” Rodriguez also laid out suggestions that could clash with the team’s plans. In the event a


Coronavirus has weakened the West’s nationalists

Want smart analysis of the most important news in your inbox every weekday, along with other global reads, interesting ideas and opinions to know? In the first few months of the pandemic, a host of pundits and politicians declared the crisis a A few months later, though, that worldview has fallen apart. Governments are desperate for global trade to return to previous levels and for global travel to resume as it once was. Some are already working toward equitable, fair global distribution of a possible future coronavirus vaccine. And, in real time, certain prominent populists are providing case studies in how not to reckon with a pandemic. The leaders of the Western Hemisphere’s worst-hit nations, President Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, are both hard-bitten nationalists who have raged against the guidance of scientists and sought to play down the public health emergency, eager instead to wage culture wars against their domestic rivals. They have battled with their own chief medical offices and blamed foreign powers or international organizations for their woes. In both instances, body counts and confirmed cases soared, while public approval of the presidents plummeted. Critics argue that the dithering and denials by Trump and Bolsonaro may have cost tens of thousands of lives. Bolsonaro has even contracted the virus and continues to tout from isolation the use of unproven and potentially dangerous drugs as a panacea. Unbowed by the evidence, Trump and his allies are pressing for schools to reopen even as the first wave of the virus surges through parts of the United States. On Sunday, Germany (population 80.2 million) confirmed 159 new cases of the coronavirus; Florida (population 21.5 million) confirmed 15,300, noted The Washington Post’s conservative columnist George F. Will. “Under the most frivolous person ever to hold any great nation’s highest office, this nation is in a downward spiral,” he concluded. In Western Europe, Trump’s ideological brethren have slumped German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the consummate anti-populist, has emerged as one of the political heroes of the past few months. Though in the twilight of her career, Merkel has gained in popularity once again for her technocratic handling of the pandemic in Germany, which rolled out a swift, extensive testing and contact tracing system. “Merkel was able to give a calm and clear explanation of the mathematics of infection rates and to act upon it; Trump complains that the U.S. is doing too


NCAA head warns coronavirus rates going in ‘wrong direction’ as new guidelines are issued

ventilation, the document stated, mitigation should include face coverings, distancing, daily self-health checks and outdoor training, including strength and conditioning workouts, whenever possible. Athletes are encouraged to wear plastic face shields when a “mask/cloth face covering cannot be safely tolerated,” and masks should be worn at all times on the sidelines, including for an athlete who “moves from the playing field to the sideline to confer with a coach.” Testing plays a major role in the NCAA guidelines, with a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test of a nasopharyngeal swab described as “the gold standard.” However, “emerging” test strategies, such as nasal swab or salivary samples and point-of-care antigen testing, are seen as being potentially crucial in the near future. For football players, the NCAA is calling for PCR testing within 72 hours of competition. If that cannot be done, then “the competition should be postponed or canceled, or an alternative plan for testing should be developed and agreed upon,” the NCAA stated. The guidelines also contemplated scenarios in which continued or increasing rates of the coronavirus might mean high-contact-risk sports “may not be practiced safely in some areas.” Conditions that could lead to decisions by NCAA schools, in conjunction with local health officials, to discontinue athletic activities include: an inability, for a variety of reasons, to perform “symptomatic, surveillance and pre-competition testing when warranted”; an inability to carry out “adequate contact tracing”; and local officials declaring an “inability for the hospital infrastructure to accommodate a surge in hospitalizations related to COVID-19.” The potential for a spike in coronavirus cases to overwhelm local medical infrastructure is a major concern for Sankey, among others. When asked Monday what would have him feeling encouraged about playing this fall, the SEC commissioner replied, “We need to see the ability for our hospitals and our health-care systems to manage covid-19.” The NCAA’s chief medical officer, Brian Hainline, said in a statement Thursday, “Any recommendation on a pathway toward a safe return to sport will depend on the national trajectory of COVID-19 spread.” “The idea of sport resocialization is predicated,” he added, “on a scenario of reduced or flattened infection rates.” Read more: Vice President Pence wants schools reopened. LSU’s Ed Orgeron REALLY wants football. NFL’s concerns over an on-time start are growing amid rise in coronavirus cases More than a dozen women allege sexual harassment and verbal abuse by former team employees at Redskins Park


What happens when colleges welcome people to campus and someone becomes ill?

processes. The NCAA has made news with its settlement for undisclosed sums about traumatic brain injuries resulting from playing college football. The claims that made the news are ones against private universities or the NCAA, which is not a state agency. Why a statute from a legislature, instead of an individual waiver? Many people are familiar with waivers from participating in sports. Anyone who works out at a gym signs an agreement few people read, agreeing not to sue if a piece of equipment fails and someone gets hurt. State courts vary in what they do with these waivers, but waivers are indeed a reason to bring in the lawyers. An individual waiver when college athletes travel from state to state, with different requirements in each state, would not appeal to a university as much as a blanket waiver. And if universities settle cases whether they believe they are legally responsible, the waiver will not get rid of payments. If people get hurt, waivers also won’t solve a family’s sorrow or news stories about them. What are alternatives to lawsuits if people get sick or injured? Of course, there are alternative ways to pay people who get sick. The U.S. government has instituted compensation funds for some problems, including for coal miners with black lung disease. People with illnesses associated with vaccines go to a program a court administers; it lists conditions required for compensation. Many Europeans have paid sick leave — but many in the United States don’t. That means compensation for medical bills and injury for family members who do not have health insurance or good access to care for recovery is through lawsuits and universities’ insurance. Universities continue planning the fall semester, and one of the uncertainties they face is how lawsuits hold organizations responsible. Concerns about liability color public debate, and stopping liability looks like a simple solution. As more universities announce plans, it’s clear no one simple action can resolve public health problems. As research has documented, however, courts are alternatives when other routes for compensation are blocked. The TMC newsletter has moved! Sign up here to keep receiving our smart analysis. Susan M. Sterett is a professor and director at the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s School of Public Policy. She has written on litigation and disaster assistance. Most recently, she co-edited the “ William Blake is assistant professor of political science at UMBC.


That sound you’re hearing is classical music’s long overdue reckoning with racism

the rancor of racism would be, as Norman put it, “mistaken. Sadly mistaken.” And so, too, would those who imagine that our nation’s intensifying reckoning with racial injustice merely marches past the concert hall. As the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and others have come to light, and amid the rise of anti-racism as a cultural imperative spurred by the activism of the Black Lives Matter movement, the rifts and inequalities that define American culture since its inception have become more visible than ever. And the call to improve institutions from criminal justice to arts organizations to newsrooms is extending to the stages (and offices) of the classical world. Data collected from 500 American orchestras for a 2016 study by the League of American Orchestras paints a starkly white picture when it comes to diversity in classical organizations. Its key finding: the “proportion of nonwhite musicians represented in the orchestra workforce — and of African American and Hispanic/Latino musicians in particular — remains extremely low.” The proportion of Hispanic and Latino musicians grew from just 1.8 percent in 2002 to 2.5 percent in 2014; while over the same 12-year period, the proportion of black musicians languished at around 1.8 percent. Meanwhile, since 2010, when the league started examining organizational metrics, the percentage of nonwhite staff of American orchestras has hovered at around 14 percent, with black staff accounting for just 5 to 7 percent. And between 2010 and 2016, black conductors and music directors have accounted for just 2 to 6 percent of the field. The league will analyze updated data in 2022, but the urgency of the cultural moment, along with the expectation that those growth curves will stay flat, inspired them to post a statement on the league’s website in early June that feels more like a call to action: “There is an urgent need for White people and predominantly White organizations to do the work of uprooting this racism,” it says. “We recognize that for decades, in our role as a national association and voice for orchestras, we have tolerated and perpetuated systemic discrimination against Black people, discrimination mirrored in the practices of orchestras and throughout our country.” The systemic racism that runs like rot through the structures of the classical music world exists somewhere between broad statistical data and intimate personal disclosure. And right now, in what seems like a promising turn,


Blistering heat and humidity to intensify in central, eastern U.S. this weekend

to air conditioning. Integral to the heat is a dome of high pressure that will park itself over the Tennessee Valley over the weekend. Winds blowing in a clockwise circulation around this high will help transport moisture north across the central United States, with a humid air mass already in place to the east. Temperatures Saturday will be hottest across the Plains, with highs topping 100 possible in western Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Highs in the mid-90s are likely from Chicago to the Gulf Coast, as well as in the Mid-Atlantic. Washington could wind up with a high of 96 degrees. Equally impressive will be dew points. The dew point measures how much water vapor is in the air and is a key factor in determining how hot the air feels to the human body. Dew points in the 50s are refreshing; in the 60s, the air becomes progressively more humid. It’s downright sticky when the dew point hits 70. By late Saturday, the Corn Belt could see dew points climbing into the mid- or even upper 70s. Simultaneously, an area of moisture will snake its way from the Gulf Coast up into the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, where dew points in the lower-to-mid 70s are also possible. Added atop the already hot temperatures, the heat index will soar to between 100 and 105 degrees for millions in the Mississippi River Valley, with heat indexes in the lower 100s possible from Iowa and Illinois all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. On Saturday, a heat index surpassing 100 degrees is possible in Washington, Virginia Beach, Charleston, Charlotte and Atlanta. “The heat index is extremely high, and many people are very uncomfortable because of it,” Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. He believes the heat wave will peak over the weekend into early next week and that climate change is amplifying its intensity, perhaps adding 3 to 4 degrees on top of what temperatures otherwise would have been without human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. “You add 3 or 4 degrees to a very hot event, and it’s even hotter,” said Wehner, an expert in analyzing connections between extreme weather events and climate change. “My ballpark estimate … is that climate change could have made this event 50 times more likely [to occur].” By Sunday, conditions could be even


greatest risk from the coronavirus. “Heat waves are hell for the poor, hell for the elderly,” Sacoby Wilson, an associate professor with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, said during Thursday’s conference call. “Many of those most at risk [from the heat] are … the very people shown to be more at risk of infections and dying of covid-19,” said Renee Salas, assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Heat leads to heat stroke, makes people with [health conditions] sicker … This creates a deadly trifecta that is a recipe for disaster.” Salas expressed concern that cooling shelters — frequented by vulnerable populations during extreme heat events — would need to adjust how they operate in the face of the ongoing pandemic. “Cooling shelters … may in some cases not be opened,” Salas said. “If [people] do find them open, they run the risk of contracting the virus. We need to modify our usual procedures to ensure low occupancy.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidance for how to mitigate risk of covid-19 transmission at cooling shelters. If people are too worried about covid-19 to go to cooling centers, they may be at greater risk of becoming ill or dying from heat-related illnesses. “If people stay in their homes to protect from [the] pandemic, they may become sick or die if they don’t have access to a cool place,” Salas said. Wilson says the cooling shelter dilemma offers insight into a plight long faced by minorities and marginalized populations, who are disproportionately affected by extreme weather and climate change. He says it’s amplified by the pandemic. “In the U.S., we’ve had historically a lot of inequalities in planning and zoning development,” Wilson said. “Cities that were historically redlining … those are the places where it’s hotter because of the lack of trees and [green space.]” “Redlining” refers to a systematic denial of resources by various levels of government to populations of specific areas. “Covid[-19] is hell for the poor, hell for black folks. Black folks have three time more mortality than white folks. Black folks are the essential workers,” said Wilson. “People should not have to choose between their energy bill and being safe from covid-19.” Long range forecasts continue to point toward anomalous heat engulfing much of the central and eastern United States in the coming weeks. Andrew Freedman contributed to this report.


D.C. health officials voice concern about virus metrics as region’s caseload creeps higher

most indoor and outdoor activities that cannot be done with six feet of distance between people. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) had been set to announce plans for some public school students to return part time to classrooms this fall but said she would wait two weeks to make that decision because of the uncertain virus indicators. “This week especially we saw some trends in our data that were not ideal for making decisions about the upcoming school year,” she said. The city’s coronavirus protocols have also created uncertainty about whether the Washington Nationals will begin this season playing at Nationals Park, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation, and the team is actively exploring alternative sites. Players, coaches and staff have to quarantine for 14 days if they are exposed to the coronavirus, per the city’s health protocols. The city is unwilling to bend that requirement for the Nationals, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, and the team is wary of its ability to compete under those guidelines. The Nationals are scheduled to host the New York Yankees on July 23. D.C. reported 50 new cases Thursday and a second consecutive day with three fatalities. Virginia added 904 known cases and 15 deaths, while Maryland reported 648 cases and six deaths. The rate of hospitalizations in the three jurisdictions has continued to tick upward this month, even as the average daily death toll has dropped to levels not seen since early April. The region has recorded more than 161,000 cases and 5,928 deaths. The pandemic’s economic toll continued to be felt, with the U.S. Labor Department reporting Thursday that 55,717 people in Maryland, Virginia and the District filed new unemployment claims for the week ending July 11. Virginians filed 33,850 jobless claims, while 18,657 were filed in Maryland and 3,210 were filed in D.C. More than 1.5 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in the greater Washington region since the pandemic forced many businesses to close under stay-at-home orders. Nationwide, about 1.3 million workers filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week — the 17th straight week new claims exceeded 1 million. Virginia’s Hampton Roads area has seen the region’s largest increase in infections in recent days. The seven-day average of coronavirus cases in that area increased Thursday for a 12th consecutive day. Northern Virginia’s seven-day average has remained stable.


We missed one chance to open schools safely. Here’s the new, more expensive, option.

Pathei mathos — in suffering we learn. The words of the Greek tragedian Aeschylus continue to echo in my mind. Our suffering today in America is finally teaching us that we need to fight covid-19 for real; we need to pursue not just mitigation — slowing the spread of disease — but suppression — getting back to near zero case incidence. But just because we grown-ups have had to learn from suffering doesn’t mean the kids should. To date, all countries that have reopened schools without further outbreaks did not open until after they had achieved near zero case incidence and low community transmission rates. They also have maintained focus on infection control and ongoing testing, tracing and supported isolation programs for disease control after opening. Combined, these tools represent the best (and least expensive) policy to support school reopening. Many of us have learned that lesson, but our window of opportunity for achieving that across the whole country before the start of the new school year has closed. We now must take a different path. This is how it could work: States that are at near zero case incidence are at what the Harvard Global Health Institute, based on common metrics agreed upon by a broad network of public health organizations, calls a “green risk level.” States that are almost completely at near zero case incidence — including Maine, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii — should reopen. States that are seeing more than 25 new daily cases per 100,000 people on a seven-day rolling average, putting them at a “red risk level” — including Arizona, Texas and Florida — should be reverting to stay-at-home orders and remote learning. More difficult decisions will be faced by states between those parameters, at yellow and orange risk levels. States that reopen schools at these levels of covid-19 community spread will be attempting something not yet achieved anywhere in the world. Can it be done safely? The very different risk levels facing young students, older students and adults in the school must be taken into account. Certainly both the transmission rate of covid-19 and its impacts are much lower for those younger than 10, as the National Academy of Medicine has pointed out. They may also be lower for those under 15, a point that researchers are seeking to clarify in the coming weeks. Older students, though, should be thought of as adults for


What we’ve learned about how to catch — or avoid — covid-19

CAN JUST breathing the air get you infected with the novel coronavirus? Most worriedly, does the virus linger in the air? These questions are cropping up more often, along with answers that have left many people puzzled and uncertain. Grasping how the virus spreads remains at the heart of all the difficult choices looming in the months ahead: going back to school, sports, restaurants, bars, conferences, concerts, stores and transportation, among other things. The virus spreads person-to-person in close contact. When people cough, sneeze or shout, they expel the virus in different amounts and sizes. Research shows it is usually carried in small respiratory droplets, say five microns or larger. When inhaled, they can infect anew. These respiratory droplets usually fall to the ground within three to six feet. To mitigate the spread, keeping a distance helps, and face masks can be highly effective, blocking the droplets from being inhaled or exhaled. It is also evident the virus can be picked up from surfaces, so hand-washing is essential. For understandable reasons, public anxiety has risen lately about another possibility, that the virus can linger for hours in the air. This suggests that airborne virus particles, very tiny, smaller than five microns, might be exhaled and remain suspended and swirl like dust or pollen. A group of 239 scientists and engineers led by Lidia Morawska and Donald K. Milton recently appealed in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases for more attention to be given to this possibility. The implications could be unsettling and disruptive: Masks might be useless against such small particles; social distancing worthless at six feet; classrooms, stores and officers requiring major new control measures, such as upgraded ventilation. Some viruses do succeed at lingering in the air — measles can remain contagious in a closed space for two hours. Fortunately, the scientific evidence so far shows the coronavirus does not behave like measles. Michael Klompas and colleagues note in the Journal of the American Medical Association that, before mitigation efforts, the coronavirus reproduction number was estimated to be about 2.5, meaning that each infected person went on to infect an average of two to three others, similar to influenza, and quite different from measles, which has a reproduction number closer to 18. However, a series of factors can come together that do create super-spreading events in which airborne spread plays a role. These events are often the outcome of


Top nine brick-and-mortar retailers now require coronavirus masks in U.S. stores

The nine largest brick-and-mortar retail companies, which the National Retail Federation ranks based on global sales, have adopted new policies to require customers to wear masks inside U.S. stores. Costco began enforcing masks on May 4, but two months passed before other top retailers followed suit. Walmart, Inc. seemed to have triggered a corporate landslide this week with its announcement on Wednesday that masks would be required in its namesake stores and Sam’s Club locations. Seven more of the largest brick-and-mortar retailers in the U.S. announced similar policies within two days: Kroger, CVS Health, Walgreens, Target, Albertsons Companies (which owns Safeway, Tom Thumb, and Acme, among other brands). Lowe’s and Home Depot both announced mask requirements Friday. Here are some significant developments: Sign up for our coronavirus newsletter


IOC president cautions against Olympic boycotts, is uncertain about fan attendance in Tokyo

Nearly a year away from the scheduled beginning of the postponed Tokyo Olympics, the International Olympic Committee is preparing for the dual global challenges of the novel coronavirus pandemic and deepening political divisions, both of which threaten the Games next summer and into the future. In his speech during an IOC video conference session Friday, during which he signaled his intent to run for another term, President Thomas Bach cautioned about the potential for boycotts of future Games and advised against countries and national governing bodies considering them. “Boycotts and discrimination because of political background or nationality are once again a real danger,” Bach said. “A sporting boycott only punishes the athletes of the boycotting country and deprives their people of sharing in the success, pride and joy of their Olympic team.” In a news conference following the session, Bach said he was not alluding to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics but instead to instances over the past 18 months of countries not granting visas to allow athletes from other countries to compete. But the oppressive treatment of the Uighur population by China’s government and its crackdown on Hong Kong may lead to international tensions that spill over into sports. Bach, a fencer who failed to convince West Germany not to boycott the Moscow Games along with the United States, said the 1980 boycott “accomplished nothing” and proved they do more harm than good. The political climate across the world, particularly the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, has made athletes and activists take a fresh look at Rule 50, the item in the Olympic charter that bans political demonstration at the Games. Late last month, in a letter co-signed by famed former sprinter and activist John Carlos, the advisory council representing U.S. athletes called on the IOC to permit protests at the Olympics. Bach said the IOC’s athletes’ commission had “initiated a dialogue” on athletes’ expression, but he pushed back on abolishing Rule 50 by insisting athletes already have ample platforms to broadcast their political views. “It is important to emphasize that the athletes have already multiple opportunities to express their views also during the Olympic Games — press conferences, mixed zones, social media, interviews, team meetings and others,” Bach said. “Rule 50 addresses only the field of play and the ceremonies.” In an email to The Post, USOPC Athletes Advisory Council Chair Han Xiao responded to


Disappearance of covid-19 data from CDC website spurs outcry

On the eve of a new coronavirus reporting system this week, data disappeared from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website as hospitals began filing information to a private contractor or their states instead. A day later, an outcry — including from other federal health officials — prompted the Trump administration to reinstate that dashboard and another daily CDC report on the pandemic. And on Thursday, the nation’s governors joined the chorus of objections over the abruptness of the change to the reporting protocols for hospitals, asking the administration to delay the shift for 30 days. In a statement, the National Governors Association said hospitals need the time to learn a new system, as they continue to deal with this pandemic. The governors also urged the administration to keep the information publicly available. The disappearance of the real-time data from the CDC dashboard, which was taken down Tuesday night before resurfacing Thursday morning, was a ripple effect of the administration’s new hospital reporting protocol that took effect Wednesday, according to a federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Without receiving the data firsthand, CDC officials were reluctant to maintain the dashboard — which shows the number of patients with covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, and hospital bed capacity — and took it down, the federal health official said. The CDC dashboard states that its information comes directly from hospitals and does not include data submitted to “other entities contracted by or within the federal government.” It also says the dashboard will not be updated after July 14. The dashboard “was taken down in a fit of pique,” said Michael R. Caputo, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services. “The idea CDC scientists cannot rely upon their colleagues in the same department for data collection, or any other scientific work, is preposterous.” This week, the CDC, the government’s premier public health agency whose medical epidemiologists analyze the hospital data, also stopped producing reports about trends in the pandemic that had gone twice a week to states, and six days a week to officials at multiple federal agencies. Adm. Brett Giroir, an assistant secretary in the HHS who oversees coronavirus testing, was unhappy that the CDC hospital report stopped Wednesday and Thursday mornings, according to the federal health official. Caputo said that the administration’s goal


Young farmers and farmers of color have been shut out of federal assistance during the pandemic

customers were scant due to fears about social distancing. In short, their markets dried up. The National Young Farmers Coalition, an advocacy network that represents young farmers, has lobbied the USDA to add new categories of relief to make more funds available for small-scale producers, especially beginning farmers and farmers of color. The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, an industry group, in March projected a decline in farm product sales of more than $680 million between March and May at farmers markets, restaurants, food hubs and other venues. The group estimates that local and regional food markets will lose $1 billion in sales by the end of the year due to the pandemic, even as grocery store sales swell because of more people cooking and eating at home. The CFAP program compensates large-scale and commodity farmers for lost crops, but doesn’t address local and regional markets drying up for small farmers. The National Young Farmers Coalition estimates that three-quarters of its members have experienced lost sales due to reduced outlets to sell their products. The USDA’s Farm Service Agency added missing commodities to its list and adjusted some prices, says Sophie Ackoff, the National Young Farmers Coalition’s co-executive director, but because the program still bases compensation on wholesale commodity prices, and requires crop-by-crop reporting of losses, that doesn’t work for many young farmers, who depend on commanding premium prices for their crops and growing a wide range of items. Depending on the crop and loss type, payment rates ranged from $0.01 per pound for dry onions to $1.45 per pound for raspberries — prices that don’t take into consideration premiums paid for local, organic and heirloom fruits and vegetables. “One of the potato farmers in our network lost a $20,000 contract,” Ackoff says. “The CFAP payment would have been $800. So many small farmers are looking at the price points and just laughing.” Bathazar, 39, and Chaparitta, 35 (originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, they spoke on the condition that their last names be omitted due to their immigration status), launched their organic farm last year on 1½ acres of rented land at the edge of Salinas, Calif., with a $5,000 loan from a local nonprofit. Chaparitta lost her off-farm job as a housekeeper because of the pandemic, and Bathazar says it is hard finding buyers for their celery, green beans, sweet peas, beets and carrots. “The majority of our fresh vegetables we


“The majority of our fresh vegetables we sold straight to customers,” he said by phone via an interpreter. “This year people don’t want to spend too much money, they don’t want to get close to us, so everything isn’t getting sold. Some of the markets don’t want us there and other markets are closed or are only open for a few hours. Last year we sold everything in Salinas; now we have to go outside of Salinas to look for different places to sell.” Because they are undocumented, the couple are ineligible for CFAP money for a PPP loan. Because they don’t grow crops in quantities sufficient to entice grocery stores, many young farmers have turned to online sales, hustling to launch websites and apps, thus adding to their daily workloads. “It takes time to set up websites and keep them up to date in the middle of planting season. These farmers are innovative and entrepreneurial, but they are working 24/7 and are so exhausted,” Ackoff says. Roberto Meza, a 32-year-old former graduate student at MIT, farms in Bennett, Colo. He says young farmers often struggle with student debt and often have no way to access land. He and his partner grow microgreens in greenhouses. “It was already a rough year before covid-19 hit because Lucky’s, our main grocery store, went bankrupt at the beginning of the year,” he says. “Fifty percent of our business was grocery stores, 35 percent was food service and the rest was direct to consumers. We pivoted, doubled down and streamlined to create a CSA food bundle farm box to recuperate lost sales.” He says he’s incurred $15,000 in additional costs, but has applied to supply items for the food assistance program SNAP (commonly called food stamps). Even as he’s struggled, Meza doesn’t think the pandemic has been universally bad for young farmers. “The pandemic has been a great teacher,” he says. “It has illuminated what is wrong with the current paradigm; the inconsistencies are laid bare and we can see where we need to redirect resources. People want to pay attention to where their food comes from — they don’t take it for granted anymore.” And, he says, because the average age of American farmers is approaching 60, according to the USDA, creating viable market opportunities for beginning farmers, young farmers and farmers of color is imperative to maintain the country’s future food supply.


A teenager’s apparent clumsiness foreshadowed a shocking diagnosis

and Cajuns in Louisiana, NIH specialists informed the Kalnas family. Late-onset Tay-Sachs, a recently discovered, less-severe variant of the disease resulting from a deficient level of HexA, surfaces in adolescence or adulthood. “It was an eye opener,” said Judy, who has Irish ancestry. “All I could hear was my mother’s voice talking about a family we knew whose child had Tay-Sachs” and how terrible it was. “I remember thinking as a child, ‘Why is she bringing this up?’ I’ve wished so many times I could ask her.” After Jessica’s diagnosis, Judy discovered something she had not previously known: her paternal grandfather was from southern Louisiana, an area where clusters of infants called “lazy babies,” many of whom were believed to have Tay-Sachs, were strikingly common. Judy Kalnas has since often wondered whether the disease had struck her own family decades before Jessica was born. Was that why her mother kept mentioning it? Unlike babies with Tay-Sachs, who have a telltale cherry red spot in their retinas, late onset cases can be very difficult to diagnose. Symptoms and severity vary greatly and decline is more gradual. Diagnosis of the disease is made through enzyme and genetic testing. “Not only does the average person not know about this,” said neurogeneticist Heather A. Lau, associate director of the division of neurogenetics at NYU Langone, “but my colleagues in neurology aren’t aware of LOTS.” Some people with late onset disease have been told they have multiple sclerosis or ALS, said Lau, who treats about a dozen LOTS patients, several of whom were diagnosed in their 50s. Diagnosis is further complicated because in about 40 percent of cases initial symptoms include a manic episode or other psychiatric symptom, according to the National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association, a Boston-based support and advocacy group. All forms of the disease result from the inheritance of a mutated gene, one from each parent who are both carriers. For each such pregnancy, there is a 25 percent chance the child will be affected by inheriting two abnormal genes, a 25 percent chance the child will be neither affected nor a carrier, and a 50 percent chance the child will be a carrier who typically shows no symptoms. After Jessica was diagnosed, testing revealed that two of her brothers are carriers, while her sister is unaffected. Two brothers have not been tested. Doctors at NIH referred the family to Edwin


It’s not only coronavirus cases that are rising. Now covid deaths are, too.

that morgues could run out of room. The medical examiner’s office has ordered more portable storage coolers. Funeral directors, meanwhile, have been busy ensuring they have sufficient capacity, said Heather Long, executive director of the trade group that represents Arizona funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria. “It’s 115 degree in Arizona. So we want to make sure we have everything in place if there is a surge,” Long said. That includes preparing for “the ability to cremate when we need to,” she said. “If that means cremating 24/7, we can.” In other states, the rise in deaths has been even more dramatic than in Arizona. Texas reported 174 new deaths on Friday, smashing its earlier record of 129 — which was set just a day earlier. The state has more than 10,000 coronavirus patients still in the hospital, and the strain is showing. Ivan Melendez, who leads public health efforts in Hidalgo County, on the Mexican border, said the body of a patient may lie on a stretcher for up to 10 hours before it can be removed from an overcrowded intensive care unit. “Before someone gets a bed in the covid ICU unit, someone has to die there,” Melendez told the Associated Press. Some hospitals in surging areas are also suffering critical drug shortages. Sergio Segarra, the chief medical officer for Baptist Hospital of Miami, said the 11 hospitals in the Baptist Health system ran out of their remdesivir supply on Friday. “We were able to do a full-court press on everyone” thanks to that drug, Segarra said, “but now without our tools we just don’t have that ability.” The lack of remdesivir and the short supply of convalescent plasma, coupled with the older age of patients, contributes to the ongoing rise in mortality, the doctor said. Florida’s new reported deaths rose to 130 on Friday, an increase of 35 percent compared with the previous seven-day average. About two dozen people died in Miami-Dade, the county with the highest deaths, bringing that region’s overall body count to almost 1,300. Jackson Memorial Hospital, a public 1,550-bed hospital in Miami, needed at least one mobile morgue unit earlier during the pandemic but has not requested one recently, said spokeswoman Lidia Amoretti. The Jackson Health System had 445 coronavirus patients across its hospitals as of Friday afternoon. Miami-Dade county officials enacted a new ordinance on Thursday that allows fines of $100 for residents


World Digest: July 18, 2020

FRANCE French investigators opened a probe into possible arson Saturday after a fire tore through parts of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul of Nantes in western France, bringing scenes reminiscent of the inferno that nearly destroyed Notre Dame in Paris last year. The blaze was brought under control, and the damage at the cathedral in Nantes was mostly concentrated around the church's organ. A criminal motive was suspected, said Pierre Sennes, the Nantes public prosecutor, because the fire had three separate starting points throughout the large cathedral — whose construction began in the 15th century and was completed four centuries later. But he also noted that "the first observations did not find traces of a break-in." — James McAuley IRAN Iran has sent the black box of the Ukrainian passenger jet that its armed forces mistakenly shot down in January to France for reading, according to an Iranian semiofficial news agency. The ILNA report did not elaborate on why Iran sent the black box to France. Boeing is an American company, and Iranian experts needed a converter to recover data from the black box, but the United States opposed providing it to Iran. Iran accidentally shot down the Boeing 737-800, killing all 176 people aboard, after mistaking it for an incoming missile. Iranian armed forces had been bracing for a counterattack after launching missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq in response to the killing of a top Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, in a U.S. strike earlier in January. — Associated Press European leaders threaten sanctions over Libya: Mexico investigates video showing paramilitary force: Fighting in Congo leaves at least 43 dead: Flooding in China leaves at least 14 dead: — From news services


A trio of markets once kept Washingtonians fed. One had a more sinister role.

one part of the city’s slave trade infrastructure. Nearby hotels had cells in their basements or courtyards so enslaved people could be locked up while their owners conducted business in town. And two slave auction sites — Robey’s Tavern and the Yellow House — were across the Mall from Center Market, where the FAA headquarters is now. To the west was Western Market, the first iteration of which opened a few years after Center Market near 20th and H streets NW. Were humans ever sold at Western Market? Gibbs, whose books include “Black Georgetown Remembered,” thinks not. The reason: “People can essentially walk across the bridge to the thriving slave markets of Georgetown,” he said. Georgetown was convenient to the plantations of Montgomery County. It was also a busy port. Both operations used enslaved workers, who were bought and sold at McCandless’s Tavern at High and Bridge streets, today’s Wisconsin and M. It appears that, like Western Market, Eastern Market at Seventh and C streets SE was not a site of slave sales. But Gibbs said the city had what we might call “pop-up” slave markets. Visitors to Washington remarked upon stumbling into ad hoc auctions of enslaved people, including at the foot of Capitol Hill, he said. And enslaved African Americans were bought and sold in another Washington neighborhood: Alexandria, which from 1800 to 1847 was part of the capital. One dealer, Franklin and Armfield, was at 1315 Duke St. Another was four blocks up Duke Street, across from what is now a Whole Foods. “I always try to give that as a landmark,” said Gibbs. The slave trade in Washington was abolished in 1850. Center Market closed in 1931 to make way for the National Archives. Western Market moved in 1873 to a new brick building at 21st and K streets NW. It was demolished in 1967. Only Eastern Market — designed, like Center Market, by Adolf Cluss and completed in 1873 — remains. Gibbs said that the conjunction of markets — for things and for people — created powerful ironies and stirring stories. Before the market at Lafayette Square was supplanted, an enslaved woman named Alethia Browning Tanner earned enough money selling vegetables there to purchase freedom for herself and other members of her family. And among the African American vendors at Center Market after the Civil War were some who had once been enslaved. Twitter: @johnkelly


Patients are still delaying essential care out of fear of coronavirus

drastically different than it would have been just two months earlier. The day before his operation, the 70-year-old Long Island resident went to a drive-through facility at Syosset Hospital to be tested for the coronavirus. He was grilled about recent travel and suspicious symptoms and told to self-quarantine that night. When he returned to the hospital the next day, everyone wore masks and squirted hand sanitizer, and the lobby was eerily empty, a sign of new policies that enforce social distancing. New carpeting and curtains had been installed as part of a deep cleaning that followed the discharge in the spring of the last patient with covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Everything around Johnson was wiped down frequently, including his call button. “They couldn’t do enough disinfecting,” Johnson said. At the beginning of the outbreak He stressed the importance of personal protective equipment for staff and of separating covid-19 patients from other patients. Some people are not reassured. Rochelle Sallad was supposed to have bariatric surgery in late March at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. After the operation was canceled, the hospital offered her a slot in June but she turned it down. “I want them to do some other surgeries to make sure it’s safe for me and going smoothly,” said Sallad, 52. She plans to have the operation in August. But it can also be unsafe to delay necessary care. A Washington Post analysis of federal data found thousands more people died in March, April and May of heart disease and a handful of other diseases than would have been expected. Now the health-care industry is worried that could happen again, especially in hot spots like Texas. If the situation “continues to spiral, then people, seeing the news, could decide not to go in when they think they are having a heart attack or stroke,” said Tom Banning, chief executive of the Austin-based Texas Academy of Family Physicians. Much of the concern is focused on cancer patients. People who have cancer — or have had it — are at high risk of complications from covid-19, partly because of compromised immune systems. Many doctors urged a delay in care early in the pandemic, but now experts are warning that skipping treatment and screening tests carries its own risks and could lead to thousands of avoidable deaths. “Cancer is going to kill a lot more people this year


Pakistan has flattened its coronavirus curve, but officials fear upcoming holiday could lead to spike

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Two months ago, even with the novel coronavirus lurking, Pakistanis were eager to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, after a long month of prayer and fasting. The virus had barely affected the country, so officials decided to lift some health restrictions, allowing people to shop and socialize freely. Within weeks, the price of this relaxation had become starkly clear: Cases of the coronavirus soared in the impoverished Muslim-majority nation of 230 million, and hospitals were overwhelmed. By June, infections reached 6,000 per day, and some days saw nearly 150 deaths. Overall, more than 260,000 Pakistanis have become infected, over 200,000 have recovered, and more than 5,500 have died. A sterner official attitude now prevails. Prime Minister Imran Khan, while reluctant to impose a nationwide lockdown, initiated a policy of two-week “hot spot” lockdowns in hundreds of communities where the virus had spiked. Khan also asked the military to assist in the fight, and its involvement in logistics, security and surveillance helped to flatten the coronavirus curve. The past several weeks have seen fewer than 2,200 new cases and 70 deaths on an average day. But nobody in the government is breathing a sigh of relief. Two weeks from now, the nation will celebrate Eid al-Adha, a different Muslim holiday of sacrifice, which draws millions to crowded livestock fairs, shopping bazaars, mosques, family gatherings and ritual animal slaughtering. With public fears of the virus ebbing, officials worry that people will abandon masks and social distancing and rush into crowded holiday settings. And with the economy badly damaged and provincial governments imposing repeated closures of restaurants, wedding halls and entertainment venues, many Pakistanis are also desperate to get back to work and business. “I urge the nation to continue observing [precautions] essential to sustain our positive trend. Eid ul Azha must be celebrated with simplicity so as not to repeat what happened last Eid,” Khan said in tweets Friday, using an alternate spelling for Eid al-Adha. At that time, he said, health precautions were “ignored & our hospitals were choked.” Now, he said, he was ordering “strict implementation” of the rules. In addition to reminding people to keep wearing masks and maintaining distance from one another, the government has issued new instructions on holiday behavior, such as avoiding the custom of greeting friends and relatives with an “Eid embrace.” It has issued separate


Comet Neowise, two meteor showers and the ISS: Skywatching opportunities abound in next few weeks

Big Dipper downward toward the horizon. Neowise will climb progressively higher in the sky each night. Those deciding to try their luck at spotting the comet must be patient and remember that what it looks like will differ from photographs. Traveling away from light pollution is key for the best viewing, as is having wide-open panoramic views. But if you are lucky, you will see the comet, at times resembling a luminous eraser smudge, fanning a few degrees across the sky. Those who venture outdoors in pursuit of Neowise may also be fortunate enough to catch a Delta Aquarid meteor. Delta Aquarids occur sporadically during the second half of July and much of August, but the main flurry of activity comes on the night of July 29. That’s when up to 20 shooting stars per hour may streak over clear, dark skies. Meteor showers occur when Earth bowls through a dense stream of debris left in the wake of a comet, asteroid or other space-borne object. Depending on where you look, you may encounter fewer meteors. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will see shooting stars emanate from the shower’s “radiant” point in the southern sky, meaning the best meteors with the longest tails will be most readily visible in the east and the west. A much more spectacular meteor shower — among the year’s most prolific — will pepper the skies with a spattering of bright shooting stars and “fireballs” come mid-August. The Perseid meteor shower peaks the night of Aug. 11. Dozens of shooting stars could be visible beneath a clear sky every hour. Perseid meteors zip across the sky at 37 miles per second. Their diaphanous tails can appear white, orange, yellow, pink, turquoise and even violet, lingering in the sky for a few seconds. The rainbow spectrum of colors come from the combustion of magnesium, sodium and iron. The only fly in the ointment? This year’s Perseids will be competing with a 47 percent illuminated moon, which could outshine some of the fainter meteors. In the meantime, you can also keep an eye out for the International Space Station, a scientific laboratory 254 miles above Earth’s surface. The International Space Station will occasionally be visible as it cruises overhead at speeds of about five miles per second. Viewing times and directions will vary according to your location; for the latest listings specific to your area, check here.


A med-school staffer dived into online groups to debunk coronavirus conspiracy theories. Would anyone listen?

just meant to distract from the woman behind a viral debunked film called “Plandemic.” “This is chock-full of half truths, fraud, bad medical advice, and just poor quality,” Cochetti wrote below the hospital “murder” post. It was the start of a four-paragraph response, but if it swayed anyone, it’s not clear. Victory, to Cochetti, looked like someone saying they watched the video he posted, or having a polite back-and-forth in the comments (“I agree to a point … ”) or messaging privately and eventually agreeing they’d be fine to one day “have a beer” together. Stewart affirmed that virtually no content would be removed, saying he’s not there to police viewpoints or determine accuracy: If you’re an adult on the Internet who drinks Lysol because someone told you to, he said, “I don’t have a terrible amount of sympathy for you.” Asked about Cochetti, Stewart said he was unimpressed with someone “reposting any article you have" and “just repeating everything that you’ve been hearing.” He’s not sure he’d trust even a scientific study, though he’d listen to an infectious-disease specialist friend of his at Johns Hopkins. “ It’s a common sentiment in “Marylanders Against Excessive Quarantine” — no longer publicly visible because it was archived a few weeks ago, after restrictions lifted — and in other groups that have persisted as states with spiking cases tighten back up, in some cases swelling to more than 100,000 members. It’s also an outlook that’s stymied Cochetti again and again. Once, in the Maryland group, Cochetti shared a link to a report about a “superspreader” choir practice in Washington state. One person went with coronavirus symptoms; 87 percent of the other 60 people in attendance ended up as confirmed or “probable” covid-19 patients, the report stated. Two died. “Median age was 69,” someone commented, directing some profanity at Cochetti. “This was in Washington state what exactly does it have to do with Maryland?” said another further down. “Also i don’t believe this is a true article more propaganda BS by the snowflakes.” “Trump’s CDC released it … ” Cochetti wrote below. There was no reply. Read more: Why dangerous conspiracy theories about the virus spread so fast — and how they can be stopped How Fauci, 5 other health specialists deal with covid-19 risks in their everyday lives For parents who can afford it, a solution for fall: Bring the teachers to them


Coronavirus cases suspiciously low in Syria, but new uptick is spurring the government to act

BEIRUT — The Syrian government is stepping up efforts to track the novel coronavirus and promote public health measures that have been in place elsewhere for months, after the number of daily reported cases began increasing in recent weeks. The tally of reported infections in government-held areas of Syria remains very low, with fewer than 500 registered cases and at least 25 deaths, mostly in the capital, Damascus, and surrounding countryside. But a recent uptick in cases has prompted alarm among citizens and officials alike, especially as small clusters have started appearing among medical workers. Since the start of the pandemic, Syria has reported far fewer cases than other Middle Eastern countries, prompting widespread skepticism about whether the notoriously opaque government was being candid. Reports that health-care workers have contracted the virus have further increased suspicions that the disease is more prevalent in the general population than officially acknowledged. On Thursday, state-run media announced that the director of Al-Mujtahid Hospital, one of Syria’s largest, had tested positive for the virus. In the past week, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent reported that seven of its volunteers had contracted the virus. When three coronavirus cases were found in June among health-care staff in southwest Syria, medical students complained on the National Union of Syrian Students’ Facebook page. “I think it’s time for us medical students to stop our clinical rounds and being exposed to danger daily,” one student commented. “I mean, our shifts are at the hospitals that have cases and the students are [stacked] atop each other and there are no preventive measures being applied, is that not enough?” Three days later, Damascus University, Syria’s oldest and largest, announced that medical students would no longer do clinical rounds. Government efforts to spread awareness about the virus and track its spread have picked up recently. There are now four testing laboratories in areas under government control, and a website has been set up to monitor cases across the country. Facebook pages and groups run by government agencies and private organizations have started updating the population. Meanwhile, official voices such as the industry minister and public universities are now calling on citizens to take precautions. After two judges tested positive for the virus Monday, Justice Minister Hisham al-Shaar emphasized the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks and gloves. That type of official messaging had been absent in the past few months.


in southwest Syria, medical students complained on the National Union of Syrian Students’ Facebook page. “I think it’s time for us medical students to stop our clinical rounds and being exposed to danger daily,” one student commented. “I mean, our shifts are at the hospitals that have cases and the students are [stacked] atop each other and there are no preventive measures being applied, is that not enough?” Three days later, Damascus University, Syria’s oldest and largest, announced that medical students would no longer do clinical rounds. Government efforts to spread awareness about the virus and track its spread have picked up recently. There are now four testing laboratories in areas under government control, and a website has been set up to monitor cases across the country. Facebook pages and groups run by government agencies and private organizations have started updating the population. Meanwhile, official voices such as the industry minister and public universities are now calling on citizens to take precautions. After two judges tested positive for the virus Monday, Justice Minister Hisham al-Shaar emphasized the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks and gloves. That type of official messaging had been absent in the past few months. Syria adopted preventive measures later than most other countries in the region and began lifting them early. The government imposed a lockdown for two months until late May, banning intercity travel and announcing a night curfew. But footage from that period showed large crowds in Damascus’s famous Souq al-Hamidiyah market, crowding its covered streets, not a mask in sight. “There is no corona in Syria,” many joked dismissively. Even now, media reports continue to show people out in public without masks or practicing social distancing. According to one Damascus resident, masks are too expensive, with 100 masks costing a month’s salary for an average government employee. “They have significant economic problems in the country, and there’s a limit to how much they can enforce the lockdown,” said Rana Hajjeh, the World Health Organization’s director of program management, who led a mission this past week to Syria in support of its response to the outbreak. “What we have seen at this point, for example, is that now they’ve started lifting the restrictions, even though the restrictions were not very strict, the people have just gone out and there’s complete disregard of any prevention measures, masks, social distancing, all of that.” Getting


Army ban on war crime comments during Twitch stream may have violated First Amendment, lawyers say

The Army’s official video gaming team is battling criticism of its online conduct, traced back to a single emoji-laden tweet. The military, recognizing the enormous appeal of video game streaming, has a team that plays popular games like “Call of Duty” and “Valorant” to showcase a slice of Army life and to reach potential recruits. But trolls and activists have bombarded the Army’s esports team chat channel and Twitch streams with references to wartime atrocities committed by the United States. About 300 of those Twitch users have been banned, the Army said. Legal experts say the bans are unconstitutional. “The government can’t try to engineer the conversation of the public by saying only people who agree with us can respond,” said Katie Fallow, a senior staff attorney at Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute. “The First Amendment means the government can’t kick someone out or preclude them based on their viewpoint.” The issue has strained the Army’s efforts to rely more on digital recruiting on places like Twitch, where their prime targets for candidates — mostly young men and boys — hang out in droves. Twitch can get their streams in front of 80 percent of U.S. male teenagers, the company has said, and users watched 5 billion hours of streaming content in the second quarter of 2020. By comparison, Netflix users streamed 6.1 billion hours in April. (Twitch is owned by Amazon, whose chief executive, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.) The Army can trace the beginning of the controversy to its own public awareness efforts and viral tweets. On June 1, the Army esports team responded to the chat app Discord on Twitter with heart emoji and uWu, an emoticon used to express happiness or defiance. It was retweeted more than 20,000 times, perhaps by some perplexed that the military was dipping so far into Internet culture and others angry about the recruiting strategy. By that evening, users went on a speedrun to see how fast they could get banned from the Army’s channel, with some posting Wikipedia links to U.S. wartime atrocities. The bans on Twitch, in real time with commentary from soldiers, were spotlighted by activists and the streaming community. Jordan Uhl, a political consultant and activist, jumped on the stream on July 8, when Joshua “Strotnium” David, a Green Beret on the Army esports team, was streaming a round of the battle royal game “Call


I helped build a police force in Iraq. We refused to dress them in camo.

police officers serving the 11 million Iraqi citizens living in this large area. The task, as we saw it, was threefold: help recruit Iraqis who would be trained to serve as police officers; build large facilities at remote sites to conduct that training, and provide U.S. soldiers who would help train the recruits in law enforcement and public safety skills. Iraq needed these additional police forces to help reduce crime and civic unrest, and our task force needed more partners in providing security for the communities where we were fighting. While I had served in various Army training organizations, I didn’t know much about the intricacies of police training. Luckily, our task force was blessed with a savvy military police lieutenant colonel, who served as our divisional MP battalion commander. In early conversations, this MP professional helped me understand that our task in expanding the force would be very different from the one we had in training soldiers, and he highlighted three cultural differences between police and soldiers. First, while soldiers and police both “bear arms,” a police officer’s main goal wielding a weapon is to keep the peace, control the population and apprehend criminals. Professional militaries, on the other hand, vow to defend nations; they use weapons to threaten, intimidate and kill adversaries. Great police forces, the MP commander emphasized, are trained in ways to be less threatening, so they can protect and serve their communities while also apprehending criminals. While some police units certainly have Special Weapons and Tactics units, or SWAT teams, those units require extensive training and are reserved for dire circumstances. Use them too often or incorrectly, and you lose the trust of the citizens that the police are asked to protect and serve. Second, there is the matter of uniforms. We were rapidly expanding our recruiting and training of future Iraqi police officers so we could put thousands in the cities quickly, but the interior minister — the Baghdad official charged with growing the nascent police force — couldn’t get us the large number of uniforms we needed for those we were graduating. The minister asked if we would accept camouflage outfits instead of police uniforms for the graduates, and he asked if we would also accept unmarked pickup trucks for service as police cruisers. “Tell him, ‘Hell, no,’” the MP commander told me emphatically. When I asked why, he explained the history of


U.S. blacklists strongman of Chechnya for human rights abuses

The State Department blacklisted the head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya and his immediate family on Monday, accusing him of human rights violations that have worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. The main impact of the sanctions, which add to those already in place, prohibit Ramzan Kadyrov’s wife and his two daughters from traveling to the United States. “The Department has extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and extrajudicial killings,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement issued while he was en route to Britain. Though the United States has repeatedly assailed Kadyrov, Pompeo said the abuses are continuing and even intensifying. “We are concerned that Mr. Kadyrov is now using the excuse of the coronavirus pandemic to inflict further human rights abuses on the people of the Chechen Republic,” he said. Kadyrov has threatened journalists who have reported on the government’s attempts to intimidate people into avoiding tests for the coronavirus and called those reporters “enemies of the state.” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, wrote on Facebook, “It will be hard to respond reciprocally, but we will figure something out,” according to Sputnik News. Kadyrov, whose Facebook and Instagram accounts have been suspended, breezily dismissed the State Department and Pompeo on another platform. In a message on Telegram, Kadyrov posted a photo of himself holding two guns and surrounded by other weaponry and wrote: “Pompeo, we accept the fight! What comes next will be more interesting.” Kadyrov took over as Moscow’s favored Chechen leader in the years after his father was assassinated in a 2004 explosion in Grozny. Akhmad Kadyrov was a well-known resistance figure fighting for Chechen independence from Russia during the first Chechen war from 1994 to 1996. But during the second Chechen war, which President Vladimir Putin launched in 1999 as he prepared to take over the Kremlin, the elder Kadyrov switched sides and backed Moscow, seeing elements of Islamist extremism in the insurgency. He became Moscow’s chosen Chechen leader. Since the younger Kadyrov took over as president of Chechnya in 2007, political analysts have remarked on an unspoken pact between Grozny and Moscow, which essentially gives him free rein over the republic on Russia’s southern border so long as he tamps down on separatist sentiments and doesn’t pose problems for the Kremlin. But at


Deep South supermarket Winn-Dixie will require face masks after all

“Stronger Together. Winning Together. Let’s help each other stay safe,” says the coronavirus Web page of Southeastern Grocers, parent company of Winn-Dixie, which operates hundreds of stores across the South. And yet, Winn-Dixie waited until late Monday to announce that it will be joining the stampede of large grocery retailers requiring customers to wear masks in their stores. The company said it will require masks as of July 27. Walmart Southeastern announced at the end of last week that Winn-Dixie stores would not be requiring masks from customers because it did not want to cause undue friction between customers and employees. “Our associates have seen that mask mandates are a highly charged issue with our customers. We do not want to put our associates in a position to navigate interpersonal conflict or prohibit customers from shopping in our stores,” Joe Caldwell, director of corporate communications and government affairs for Southeastern Grocers, wrote in an email this past weekend. However, on Monday afternoon, Southeastern reversed its position, with Caldwell attributing the change to customer feedback. The about-face came a little more than an hour after Trump tweeted a picture of himself in a black mask and called mask-wearing patriotic. “It had absolutely nothing to do with President Trump’s tweet,” Caldwell said. Winn-Dixie has about 500 stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi, all states that went for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Trump wore a mask publicly for the first time July 11 during a visit to a military hospital but until Monday had been otherwise dismissive about mask-wearing. As many grocers did at the outset of the pandemic, Southeastern Grocers adjusted store hours in March to provide additional time for restocking and extra cleaning. On June 25, Winn-Dixie stores resumed normal operating hours, eliminating that extra time for store cleaning, even as coronavirus cases continue to surge across a wide swath of the United States and states begin reversing or slowing reopening schedules. And although the grocery chain installed floor decals and plexiglass partitions at registers and checks workers’ temperatures daily, it has “allowed” workers to wear face masks and gloves rather than requiring them. While Winn-Dixie has had unions at points in its past, none of its stores are currently unionized. In an editorial last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed the latest science showing that


Trader Joe’s removing ‘racist packaging’ after online petition

Trader Joe’s is doing away with store brand labels derided as racist in an online petition, becoming the latest major company to end the use of names and images that perpetuate stereotypes. The grocer said it had decided years ago to adopt the Trader Joe’s banner on its entire product lineup, instead of using such ethnic-sounding variations as Trader Jose’s on Mexican food products and Trader Ming’s on Chinese fare. But a Change.org petition criticizing what it called “racist branding and packaging” apparently helped fast-track the process. “The grocery chain labels some of its ethnic foods with modifications of ‘Joe’ that belies a narrative of exoticism that perpetuates harmful stereotypes,” writes Briones Bedell, who launched the petition. “The Trader Joe’s branding is racist because it exoticizes other cultures — it presents ‘Joe’ as the default ‘normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it,” she said. Bidell’s petition, which has drawn more than 2,800 signatures, also criticized the use of “Arabian Joe” to brand Middle Eastern foods, “Trader Giotto’s” for Italian goods, and “Trader Joe San” for Japanese cuisine. Trader Joe’s said the naming conventions were intended to be playful but acknowledged they may have had the “opposite effect.” “While this approach to product naming may have been rooted in a lighthearted attempt at inclusiveness, we recognize that it may now have the opposite effect — one that is contrary to the welcoming, rewarding customer experience we strive to create every day,” company spokeswoman Kenya Friend-Daniel said. The grocer said that it already has changed the packaging on a number of products and that it expects to complete the process “very soon.” Bedell, an activist and a high school senior in the San Francisco Bay area, was glad to see the announcement from Trader Joe’s but said she wanted the retailer to provide a timeline for the name changes and pull the products in the meantime. “When anyone chooses to represent a culture, especially one that’s not their own, it is necessary to take measures to ensure that they are not furthering prejudice, discrimination or misunderstanding, regardless of the intention,” she said. Privately held Trader Joe’s opened its first store in Pasadena, Calif., in 1967. Today, now headquartered in nearby Monrovia, the grocer — known for low prices and associates in festive Aloha shirts — has more than 500 locations in 42 states and the District. Last year, it had


American tourists are banned from the Bahamas as coronavirus cases spike

One of the few countries to welcome U.S. tourists has changed its mind, citing soaring infection numbers. The Bahamas will close its borders to most visitors from the United States starting Wednesday, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Sunday. While commercial flights from Canada, Britain and the European Union will still be allowed to land, all visitors must show proof that they tested negative for the coronavirus at an accredited lab in the past 10 days. Other international flights will be banned. “Regrettably, the situation here at home has already deteriorated since we began the reopening of our domestic economy,” Minnis said. “It has deteriorated at an exponential rate since we reopened our international borders.” The Bahamas has reported 49 new covid-19 cases since opening its borders to foreign travelers on July 1, Minnis said. That amounts to nearly a third of the total infections detected in the country since the pandemic began. Most of the new cases have been found on the island of Grand Bahama, a popular resort destination. Warning that there was a risk of the Caribbean nation’s hospitals becoming “overrun,” Minnis said that it was time for “decisive action.” He announced a full shutdown of beaches, parks and indoor dining on Grand Bahama as well as beach closures on several other islands. A nighttime curfew will also go into effect for Grand Bahama on Monday night. The travel ban applies to boats carrying commercial passengers, such as the ferries that typically run from hard-hit South Florida to the Bahamas. But it contains an exemption for private yachts and pleasure craft, Minnis said. Private planes will also be allowed to land on the island. The statement from the ministry noted that while Bahamasair will cease outgoing flights to the U.S. immediately, “outgoing flights will be permitted to accommodate any current visitors scheduled to return to the United States after Wednesday, July 22.” Read more: Delta will require maskless passengers to undergo screening or ‘reconsider travel’ Photos | An inside look at Disney park reopenings around the world Airbnb can survive the pandemic. But can Airbnb hosts?


U.K. suspends extradition treaty with Hong Kong amid public outrage over human rights in China

China and Hong Kong expected to be a topic of discussion as he meets with British leaders. The British government has had an extradition treaty with Hong Kong for decades. Under such laws, Hong Kong authorities can ask Britain to extradite anyone accused of a crime in the city and vice versa. But the new national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong this month drew increasing worries that those extradited from Britain could face draconian punishments. Canada and Australia have already suspended similar treaties this month. Residents of Hong Kong, which has been a part of China since 1997, enjoyed a relatively large amount of freedom of speech and other political liberties under Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework. But under the new laws, the city’s 7.5 million population is under the same speech restrictions as the mainland. Under these laws, anyone deemed guilty of subversion could potentially face life imprisonment. In response, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has said it would offer residency rights and a potential path to citizenship for as many as 3 million Hong Kong citizens. China condemned the move, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian telling Britain to “stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs and China’s internal affairs." Britain had been particularly concerned about Articles 55 to 59 of the controversial national security law, Raab said Monday, as they allowed mainland China authority to assume jurisdiction in certain cases and try those cases in mainland courts. London and Beijing had increasingly warm ties only a few years ago, with many in Britain looking toward trade with China as a key part of the country’s post-European Union economic future. But that has changed as concerns about Hong Kong and other issues grew. Britain announced last week that it would suspend new deployments of Huawei equipment in its fledgling high-speed 5G network, in line with requests from the United States, which said that the Chinese technology company was too close to the Chinese government and posed a national security threat. The move accompanied a growing concern among the general public about Chinese intentions, with polling data from this year suggesting many Britons wanted a harder line on the country after the novel coronavirus pandemic began. Liu’s appearance on the BBC’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday prompted an angry response from some British public figures. The footage was later aired on China’s state-run television station CGTN, though


Athletes in Japan suffer widespread abuse, Human Rights Watch says

TOKYO — Young athletes in Japan suffer physical, sexual and verbal abuse when training for sports, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday, documenting consequences such as depression, suicides, physical disabilities and lifelong trauma. The report, which arrives a year before Japan is due to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, chronicles systemic corporal punishment in sports — known as taibatsu in Japanese — from schools to elite levels. Similar accusations surfaced this month in Britain, where one gymnast complained of being locked in a cupboard by her coach as a 10-year-old, according to British media reports. In South Korea, a 22-year-old triathlete was found dead after alleging abuse by her coaching staff. Together, the allegations raise questions about the pressures heaped on young people in the intensely competitive world of elite sports and whether governments and sports federations are doing enough to address the problem. But the deep-rooted and serious nature of the abuse exposed by Human Rights Watch in Japan is particularly thorny for the country’s government ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, due to start July 23, 2021, after being delayed from this year. The investigation found instances of athletes who were punched in the face, kicked, beaten with objects such as bats or bamboo kendo sticks, deprived of water, choked, whipped and sexually abused and harassed. The reports of mistreatment came from hundreds of current and former athletes across 50 sports. “I was hit so many times, I can’t count,” a 23-year-old professional athlete who was not named in the report said of his experience playing baseball in junior high school in Japan’s southwestern Kyushu region. “We were all called to the coach and I was hit in the face in front of everyone. I was bleeding, but he did not stop hitting me. I did say that my nose was bleeding, but he did not stop.” Physical violence as a coaching technique has a long tradition in Japanese sports and is often seen as essential to achieving excellence in competition and in personal character, Human Rights Watch said. Coaches, parents and even some players hold onto the mistaken belief that physical abuse in sports has value, and children suffer as a result. In 2012, a 17-year-old high school basketball player in Osaka took his life after suffering repeated physical abuse at the hands of his coach. Months later, the head coach of