Japan’s Abe heads to Washington this week bearing pledges of jobs and investment

in the Japanese media. The prime minister’s office declined to confirm them. But it is not clear how many of the jobs Abe will offer will actually be new jobs. The infrastructure component would include high-speed rail projects in the Northeast, as well as in Texas and California. Japan would also help replace as many as 3,000 train and subway cars in the United States, the document said. But Japan is already trying to sell Maryland a superfast “maglev” train between Baltimore and Washington and is involved in bullet train projects in Texas and California. The document said Japan would “further cooperate” in highly efficient gas-fired power generation and the latest compact nuclear-power generation systems, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun, a conservative newspaper with close ties to the prime minister. Abe met with Akio Toyoda, the chief executive of Toyota Motor, last week to prepare for the summit, according to local reports. After Trump took to Twitter to criticize Toyota’s plan to build a plant in Mexico to manufacture Corollas for the U.S. market, Toyota re-announced plans to invest $600 million and add 400 jobs to its plant in Indiana, the home state of Vice President Pence. Separately, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest with $1.2 trillion in assets, is preparing to invest $150 billion in the United States. It will buy debt issued by U.S. companies, the Nikkei business newspaper reported. The GPIF had long concentrated its investments in Japanese government bonds but, under Abe’s orders, has been buying up Japanese stocks over the past three years. Norihiro Takahashi, president of the fund, denied that the latest plan had been orchestrated by Abe’s government, saying investments were made according to the returns they could earn. Polls have shown that most Japanese expect relations with the United States to worsen under Trump. One, conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper the day after the inauguration, found that 56 percent thought it would worsen, while 29 percent thought it would remain the same. Remarks like those Trump made to pharmaceutical executives last week are fueling concerns about relations with the United States under its new president. “You look at what China’s doing, you look at what Japan has done over the years,” Trump told the meeting. “They play the money market, they play the devaluation market, and we sit there like a bunch of dummies.” Financial and governmental authorities


U.N. says civilian toll in Afghanistan is highest in years

An Afghan woman clad in a burqa begs on the outskirts of Kabul on Feb. 6. (Mohammad Ismail/Reuters) KABUL — The report said the figures represented a 3 percent increase over 2015 and a 24 percent rise in the number of children, who accounted for 923 of the dead and 2,589 of those wounded. It said that two-thirds of the casualties were inflicted by insurgents but that airstrikes by Afghan and NATO forces accounted for 250 deaths and 340 injuries, nearly double the rate for the previous year. The U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, called on “all parties to the conflict” to “take immediate concrete measures to protect the ordinary Afghan men, women and children whose lives are being shattered.” The devastating report came just days after a U.S. government watchdog group reported that the Afghan government continued to lose territorial control to the insurgents in 2016. The report, from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), found that the government maintains full control over 57 percent of Afghan territory, down from 72 percent at the end of 2015. As civilian deaths hit record numbers last year, SIGAR reported that conflict-related violence also took a high toll on Afghan security forces. It said that 6,785 soldiers and police had been killed and an additional 11,777 wounded through November. In addition, nine U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in 2016. The spate of alarming reports came after the second full year in which Afghan defense forces have been doing almost all the fighting against the Taliban and other insurgent groups, after the Obama administration pulled out the majority of U.S. forces at the end of 2014. There are about 8,400 U.S. troops remaining in the country, most as the result of a decision by President Barack Obama last summer to slow down his planned final drawdown amid persistent Taliban aggression. Most of them are limited to advising and supporting Afghan ground forces, but that includes conducting airstrikes that often take a deadly civilian toll. The U.N. report released Monday said fighting on the ground, especially in civilian areas, was the leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by explosive devices, suicide attacks and deliberate killings. It also noted an increased number of attacks by Islamic State-affiliated fighters, which killed 209 people and wounded 690, mostly in bombings of Shiite communities. Throughout 2016, the Taliban staged repeated assaults on scattered provincial


Giant panda Bao Bao will leave National Zoo on Feb. 21

Bao Bao, a giant panda at the National Zoo, plays in the snow on Jan. 21, 2016. (Devin Murphy/Smithsonian's National Zoo) Bao Bao, the National Zoo’s 3-year-old female giant panda, will be shipped to China on Feb. 21, the zoo said Monday. The move is part of a long-standing arrangement with China, whereby any giant panda cubs born in the United States must go to China around age 4. China owns all giant pandas in the United States and leases them to American zoos. Bao Bao will be 4 on Aug. 23. In China, giant pandas participate in a breeding program when they reach sexual maturity, between 5 and 6 years old, the zoo said. The zoo said Bao Bao will travel via FedEx “Panda Express” from Dulles International Airport and will first go into quarantine at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province. The zoo will have online and in person programs to mark her departure. Three-year-old panda Bao Bao will soon say goodbye to D.C.'s Smithsonian National Zoo, which has an agreement that with the China Wildlife Conservation Association to send all cubs born at the Zoo to China before their fourth birthday. Here's a look back at some of Bao Bao's most memorable moments. Bao Bao was born at 5:32 p.m. Aug. 23, 2013, as thousands of people watched on the zoo’s panda cams. Her mother, Mei Xiang, had five false pregnancies between 2007 and 2012, and in 2012 delivered a female cub that died six days later. That cub had underdeveloped lungs that led to liver problems. Bao Bao is the second giant panda to be sent to China after being born at the National Zoo. The first was Tai Shan, a male, who was born July 9, 2005. He was moved to China in 2010. He is now 11. The zoo has three other giant pandas: a male cub, Bei Bei, 1; an adult female, Mei Xiang, 18; and an adult male, Tian Tian, 19.


At 12, he had stopped growing. Doctors were stumped. The answer was in his gut.

diarrhea. “Saying there was a measurable fever got everyone’s attention,” Mann recalled. When she showed the temperature and symptom chart to the new pediatrician, he immediately referred Evan to a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases. Absolute certainty Evan’s hives, fevers and fatigue seemed to suggest an environmental cause. The family lives on a 40-acre ranch containing horses, chickens and other animals. The Manns frequently hike in national parks, including Yosemite, which was the epicenter of a 2012 outbreak of hantavirus infection, a mouse-borne illness that killed three people. Evan liked to shoot and skin squirrels. And he had been bitten by ticks repeatedly. But extensive testing ruled out many zoonotic exposures (diseases that can be transmitted from animals to people) including Lyme and hantavirus, as well as other infections. The infectious-disease specialist referred Evan to a pediatric gastroenterologist. During the initial appointment on Jan. 10, 2012, the GI specialist looked at Evan’s fingers and at the cold sores that seemed ever-present on the corners of his mouth, and he felt the boy’s abdomen. Within 10 minutes, he turned to Evan’s parents. “Your son has Crohn’s disease,” Mann remembers him announcing. “I’m sure of it.” Mann and her husband were shocked — and skeptical. Crohn’s, a serious, chronic and incurable autoimmune disorder characterized by severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea, seemed unlikely to them. Evan had only occasional, mild diarrhea. “How can you be so sure?” Mann remembers asking. The doctor ticked off the telltale signs: Evan’s growth was stunted. He had chronic cold cores on the corners of his mouth, a common Crohn’s symptom. The ends of his fingers were clubbed. When he pressed on Evan’s lower right abdomen, the boy felt pain. Several tests had indicated unusually high levels of inflammation. Evan had greatly improved while taking steroids, a mainstay treatment for Crohn’s. There was a family history: Evan’s great-grandmother and another relative had been diagnosed with Crohn’s, and another close relative had a similar disorder, ulcerative colitis. Evan also had taken a lot of antibiotics at a young age, which can raise the risk of Crohn’s. And finally, the Manns are Ashkenazi Jews, whose descendants came from Central and Eastern Europe; Crohn’s is more common among Ashkenazi Jews than in the general population. Scientists have recently discovered several genetic mutations among Ashkenazi Jews that raise the risk of Crohn’s. The disease, which is believed to result from an interplay


The music man: Joshua Bell at mid-career

York companies like Loft Opera – and now and then in concerts with Bell himself. The fact that chamber music is Bell’s stated preference says a lot about an artist who is fueled more by interest in music than by the lure of stardom. It’s not quite true that he’s not interested in the trappings of celebrity – his New York apartment certainly fits his profile as star musician. Indeed, the limelight may fuel him – but he defines it on his own terms. Take his relatively recent foray into conducting. In 2011, he took over as music director of the Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, the prestigious British chamber ensemble. He describes his work with them as deeply rewarding, and not only because it’s allowing him to explore new repertory, like Beethoven symphonies. (He will lead the Seventh Symphony with the NSO on Feb. 11.) “I’ve known the [symphonies],” he says, “for my whole life — listened to countless orchestras on the second half [of the program] doing them, because I’m done after the first half. I finally get to sort of dig into [them], and go after things. There’s still so many things where I think, ‘Nobody goes for it this way!’ And I can make this happen in a way that I’ve never even heard on recording, and it’s incredibly exciting.” But he’s ambivalent about the idea of standing in front of an orchestra with a baton and waving his arms. With the Academy, he usually conducts seated, often playing along with the orchestra. And he’s never taken a conducting lesson — beyond watching dozens of the world’s greatest conductors from the stage, playing with them as soloist. “I don’t think of conducting as a show,” he says. “I think of it as a means to an end.” And unlike some other violinists-turned-conductors (such as Nikolaj Znaider), he has no great ambition to recast himself as a maestro. Conducting is just another way that he makes music. And “the biggest goal, that I feel like I haven’t done enough,” he says, “is to compose.” In short, he’s leaving no musical stone unturned. “You can not like how I do things,” he says, “but I don’t think one can say that I phone it in. Really, every note means something to me. And I want them” – the players in his orchestra – “to have that feeling too.” Joshua Bell’s


Trump tried and failed to build a wall in Ireland. That could mean big trouble for Europe.

and far between in an area like this. And the fact is it’s 200 jobs, plus the spinoff for local businesses.” Coincidentally, Vice President Pence has ancestors who hail from Doonbeg, which has also helped to consolidate local support. “Trump has kept the jobs here and kept the tourists coming in. He made a promise to the people of Doonbeg, and he made good on it,” said Hugh McNally, a local restaurant owner and Pence’s third cousin. McNally said that much of the opposition to the wall was generated based on political opposition to Trump and that it came from outside the village. Opponents acknowledge their outsider status but insist the objections they lodged with county planners are based on genuine concern for an important natural habitat. Some of the legal objections, though not all, were based on the site’s E.U. designation as “a special area of conservation” and a habitat for the narrow-mouthed whorl snail — a rare and protected species. “If you damage the dunes, then you eventually eliminate the snail’s habitat,” said Tony Lowes, director of Friends of the Irish Environment. “They will go if a wall is put in place.” Trump has fumed at such arguments, calling them “environmental tricks to stop a project from being built” in an interview with the Times of London and Germany’s Bild. He also said his company had received “the approvals very quickly from Ireland and then Ireland and my people went to the E.U. to get the approval. It was going to take years.” The reality, however, is that E.U. approval was never needed, and Irish approval was never given. The project was stalled at the county level — with planners weighing objections based on local, national and E.U. law. A petition at the national level was rejected. Trump encouraged Britain to leave the E.U., and has said he believes other members will follow. After the Brexit vote last June, he hailed the decision in a ribbon-cutting at one of his Scottish golf courses, Turnberry, saying the vote was “a positive” because it would depress the value of Britain’s currency. “When the pound goes down,” he said, “more people are coming to Turnberry.” That’s proved correct. The course has seen an upturn in business. So has Doonbeg, with the course benefiting from what its general manager, Joe Russell, said is an investment of over $25 million in upgrades since


Vizio agrees to pay $2.2 million to settle FTC’s television-spying case

by Tyson and the other producers. Tyson said in the filing that it is cooperating with the SEC. Chief executive Tom Hayes declined to comment further but said Tyson wants to defend itself in court. — Bloomberg News Also in Business ● A Carnegie Mellon University student who developed and sold malicious software through an online cybercriminal marketplace that allowed others to remotely control Google Android smartphones has been sentenced to three years’ probation. Morgan Culbertson is one of 12 people charged by U.S. authorities in a takedown of the worldwide Darkode.com cybercriminal marketplace, where hackers bought and sold malicious software and advertised schemes to infect computers and cellphones with software that could cripple or illegally control the devices. ● Hasbro stock hit an all-time high Monday after posting record annual revenue after the toymaker snared the rights to Disney’s princesses. Hasbro shares jumped 16 percent to $95.80 per share. Hasbro officials said sales in the girls category accounted for $1.19 billion of its $5.02 billion in revenue for 2016. That compares with total revenue of $4.45 billion in 2015. Profits for the fourth quarter reached $192.7 million, a 10 percent increase from the $175.8 million reported during the same period last year. ● Dominion Resources is planning to change its name to Dominion Energy. The Richmond-based utility said Monday that it will seek shareholder approval to be renamed at the company’s annual meeting this spring. Chairman Thomas Farrell II, who is also president and chief executive, said in a statement that the new name will unify the company’s brands throughout the 18 states where it does business. ● Loan officers at U.S. banks reported largely unchanged lending standards and slightly looser terms for business loans in the last three months of 2016, the Federal Reserve said Monday in a quarterly survey. About a third of the 69 institutions surveyed, however, said they had “tightened somewhat” the standards for commercial real estate construction and land development loans, and close to one-fifth had tightened standards on loans secured by multifamily properties. — From news services Coming Today ● 8:30 a.m.: Commerce Department releases international trade data for December. ● 10 a.m.: Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for December. ● 3 p.m.: Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for December. ● Earnings: BP, General Motors, Walt Disney. Correction: A previous version incorrectly identified Kevin Moriarty as Kevin McCarthy.


The panic is over at Zika’s epicenter. But for many, the struggle has just begun.

on a waiting list. The demand for exams has stretched wait times for appointments from a few weeks to several months, and even the families who are grateful to receive care say it isn’t enough. Multiple medications have stopped Davi Lucas’s seizures, but he needs a chest scan to determine why he’s having breathing problems, and the machine at the hospital is broken. His mother worries that public attention is fading as Zika infections ebb. “What’s going to happen to us when people forget about Zika?” Paz asked. Gessycca Barbosa Queiroz, a 15-month-old who was born with microcephaly receives physical therapy at IMIP public hospital in Recife. (Joao Pina for The Washington Post ) The start of the outbreak A year ago Zika was spreading rapidly across the Americas, prompting governments to warn women to avoid or postpone pregnancy. Today Zika is waning virtually everywhere in the Western Hemisphere. Epidemiologists say the pattern fits the typical trajectory of a virus that spreads explosively at first but fizzles out as it runs out of new hosts to infect. What researchers still don’t understand is why the majority of Zika-related birth defects have been so concentrated in one region of a single country. Of the more than 2,600 cases of Zika-related congenital syndrome confirmed so far in the Americas, nearly 2,400 are in Brazil. The vast majority are in a cluster of northeastern states, including Pernambuco, where Recife is located. “Why was there so much microcephaly if it’s the same virus?” said Amilcar Tanuri, an epidemiologist at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro who formerly worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re looking at other possible co-factors, but we’re still in the middle of the investigation,” he said. With its heat, abundant mosquitoes and extensive slums, Recife, the largest urban area in Brazil’s northeast, became one of Zika’s most potent launchpads. The city and surrounding state typically register 11 or 12 cases a year of microcephaly, but by late 2015, hospitals were reporting 50 to 60 a month. “It was a tsunami,” said Sergio Negromonte, the director of the maternity ward at one of the city’s largest private hospitals. His hospital’s emergency room shut down because patients with Zika symptoms were spilling out into the hallways and parking lots. Sonogram exams became somber, fateful appointments — “like a sentencing,” said Pedro Pires, an obstetrician-gynecologist who specializes in Zika. State


Michael Flynn: Trump is like the chariot driver in ‘Ben-Hur’

he’ll have eight people reporting directly to him, compared with his predecessor Susan Rice’s 23. The most interesting detail is the small box on the top-right corner, marked “Stephen Bannon.” It’s a staff position, not in the chain of command. Next to it is a “Strategic Vision Task Force” that Flynn and Bannon will oversee along with White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior adviser Jared Kushner. Flynn, who has been at Trump’s side far longer than Bannon, described the strategist as part of the “new team” that “got us across the finish line.” He denied news accounts of friction, noting the two meet “routinely.” Interestingly, he described the populist Bannon’s stance as “more left than right.” Flynn is still hiring his staff. He said about 85 percent of his roughly 230 employees are assigned from other agencies, with about 60 of those positions unfilled. That may reflect wariness at the State Department and CIA, where many career officials are reluctant to work for Trump. An overarching goal, Flynn said, is to “do more strategy, not kill people with process.” Where President Barack Obama wanted a tightly controlled interagency system, Flynn wants Cabinet agencies to do their jobs. He scoffed at the Washington micromanagement sometimes described as “the 5,000-mile screwdriver.” An example of Flynn’s focus on strategy is a plan to reorient the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board so that it’s focused more on assessment and less on intelligence. The idea is to tap the global connections of top business and academic leaders. But this change may worry those who want intelligence oversight. Trump’s turbulent first two weeks led some critics to complain about haphazard management. Flynn tried to rebut that image by describing the run-up to the Iran sanctions. He met five times with the acting treasury secretary to discuss sanctions; planning was underway before Iran provided a rationale with its Jan. 29 missile test. The morning that sanctions were announced, Flynn said he personally notified counterparts in Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The beginning of the president’s term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Former defense secretary Bob Gates notes that Flynn’s job will be complicated by the many competing centers of power in this White House. “If someone comes up with a bad idea and Flynn says no, there are four or five other


Second man charged in Takoma 7-11 case

A second suspect was charged Tuesday in a homicide that occurred last year outside a 7-11 store in the Takoma neighborhood of the District, D.C. police said. They said Wlliam Charlie Bowman, 27, of Northwest, DC, was arrested Jan. 10 in Atlanta, and extradited to the District, where he was charged with second degree murder while armed in the death of James Dorsey, Jr., 37. Dorsey was shot Dec. 26, in the 200 block of Cedar Street NW, police said. Bowman is the second person to be charged in the shooting. Another man was arrested Dec. 31, It was not known Tuesday night why Bowman was in Atlanta. He was arrested there by members of the U.S. Marshals Service, police said. No motive in the shooting could be learned Tuesday night.


Bank tellers are the next blacksmiths

the new robo-banks leaked out at a Credit Suisse conference in Miami on Tuesday during a question-and-answer session with Dean Athanasia of Bank of America’s consumer banking unit. There are no layoffs accompanying Bank of America’s robo-banks, but the new branches are part of a revolution in U.S. banking in the past few years as companies seek to save money by reducing the number of branches — and tellers and managers. Banks also are attempting to stay current with technology, which is moving toward handheld devices. “Cash is dying out,” Fitzgerald said. “Many millennials don’t carry cash. They only use their debit card. In 2011 and 2012, bank branch traffic dropped precipitously. The last I checked, 98.5 percent of our bank’s transactions are done online and electronically.” Robo-banking is also part of Bank of America’s strategy to expand its presence into harder-to-reach areas. At a fraction of the size of its traditional branches, the robo-banks save on real estate as well as personnel. Bank of America’s traditional branches run about 5,000 square feet. The robo-banks are about a quarter of that size. “There is no one-size-bank-fits-all anymore,” Pace said. “We have different centers based on different communities. We are taking some of that savings from mobile banking and reinvesting it into new centers, renovating others and hiring more specialists to provide advice and guidance to clients.” But the days of the local teller hanging around to make change or cash checks have been replaced by technology designed to service more robust profitmaking centers such as credit cards, mortgages and even retirement advice. “We are simply following our clients,” Pace said. “Mobile banking users increased to 21.6 million, and 19 percent of deposit transactions are done through mobile. That’s equivalent to 880 financial centers. We need to be there whether it’s through the mobile phone or inside a financial center.” Bank of America is working on voice recognition technology called Erica (as in Bank of Am-ERICA) that will allow people to do virtual banking by voice with a computer, much as people use Amazon Alexa to order books or Apple’s Siri to ask questions on an iPhone. The bank’s Merrill Edge investment service is also allowing customers to use a robo-advised platform to invest without speaking with a human. Read more: 84 Lumber and the big-budget Super Bowl ad to nowhere Warren Buffett may have missed out on an amazing opportunity


Chocolate with a mission comes to D.C.

SPAGnVola chocolate boutique has opened a store at the Shops at 2000 Penn (2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW). (Yacouba Tanou ) It starts in the mountains of the Dominican Republic, lands in a small factory in Gaithersburg, and ultimately winds up behind a few choice Washington-area shop counters — the most recent being in a new store in the District. SPAGnVOLA “Chocolate was our calling,” says Eric Reid, president and chief executive. He and Crisoire, an award-winning chocolatier and Dominican Republic native, also have a location in National Harbor (181 Waterfront St., Oxon Hill, Md.). They are planning to open a fourth shop in Virginia this year. The Reids say they are committed to aiding farmers abroad. They’re working with the Ondo state government in Nigeria to build the country’s first premium-chocolate factory and teach farmers how to produce the bricks chocolatiers use in their work. “We [will] provide the knowledge to produce bricks and then [SPAGnVOLA] will buy their bricks,” Eric Reid says. Through the project, farmers’ earnings will increase from “less than 50 cents a pound [for beans] to about $8 a pound for chocolate bricks,” he says. In July, SPAGnVOLA received a top 10 ranking among the world’s chocolate shops from National Geographic. Washington, D.C. Gaithersburg, Md. Oxon Hill, Md.


For the near future, the District’s past will be a little harder to access

that the Historical Society might find itself overburdened. It isn’t increasing its hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, plus one Saturday a month, all by appointment. And while they’ve cleared mold that caused the Carnegie Library to be shut down last year, the HSW will presumably become a construction site itself some time in the next three years when the rest of the building is turned into an Apple megastore. But them’s the breaks. I’m hopeful that the history rooms in the suburban libraries in our area will also do what they can for lovers of D.C.’s past during the future disruption. Ramble on Led Zeppelin played at the Wheaton Youth Center on Jan. 20, 1969. Led Zeppelin did not play at the Wheaton Youth Center on Jan. 20, 1969. Those are the two possibilities. Barring the discovery of a photo of John Bonham standing in front of the Wheaton Youth Center holding up that day’s Washington Post — (“Nixon Will Take Oath Today as U.S. President” was the headline on the lead story) — we may never know for sure. Well, Jeff Krulik is pretty sure. He’s the local filmmaker who in 2013 released the documentary “Led Zeppelin Played Here.” The conclusion that Jeff reached is kind of telegraphed in the title. Jeff will screen his captivating film Monday at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Afterward, I’m moderating a panel that includes a collection of historians, librarians, archivists and musicologists. I suppose one of the things we might be talking about is the nature of reality itself. No ticket stubs, news stories or photographs have surfaced from the Zeppelin gig in question. The youth center was demolished last year. Can mere memories serve as “proof”? Among the panelists is Joanna Love, a musicologist at the University of Richmond who studies contemporary popular music and music in advertising. She said she’s less interested in whether Led Zeppelin actually played at the youth center than with the questions raised by the possibility. Whose narrative do we trust? A rock historian’s? The show promoter’s? An adamant teenager’s? Love said these questions aren’t new. There are gaps in the histories of many classical composers that scholars attempt to fill in through such things as letters, diaries and tax records. How trustworthy is that documentation? Like a lot of panels at colleges, this one threatens


Not all processed foods are bad for you. How they’re made matters.

(carotur/Getty Images/iStockphoto) Ah, processed foods. The term has become a sweeping generalization for anything that comes in a bag or a box. Even my nutrition advice usually includes the general statement “eat less processed food and choose fresh food instead.” But that sentence really simplifies a more complex story. Of course, how we process the food matters. Some ingredients can undergo changes — like being frozen, fermented or sprouted — that makes them equally or more nutritious than they once were. Not all processes are detrimental. Here’s how to tell the difference. Have you heard of ultra-processed foods? An apple is more nutritious than applesauce, and both are better choices than apple pie. The more processed a food is from its original state, the less healthy it becomes. To make it easier to discern just how processed a food is, researchers have developed categories for four distinct groups of foods. Take note of what goes in your grocery cart — and your body — based on these categories: • Group 1 — Unprocessed and minimally processed foods: This group includes basic whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, eggs, meat and milk. If processing is used, it’s to preserve shelf life, such as freezing vegetables and vacuum-sealing meat. This group makes up about 30 percent of the calories we eat — but the number should be higher for these nutritious options. Dietitian Ellie Krieger, Nourish Schools co-founder Casey Seidenberg and certified health education specialist Elaine Gordon offer picks for meals from breakfast to dessert. • Group 2 — Processed culinary ingredients: These foods enhance the flavor of meals and include olive oil, salt, honey and dried herbs. Some like olive oil are more nutritious than others like sugar, but they only account for 3 percent of our calories when used in basic cooking, so they aren’t the main concern. • Group 3 — Processed foods: Foods that undergo some processing and contain just two or three ingredients fall into this group. Examples are canned fish, salted nuts and sourdough (fermented) bread. We get about 10 percent of calories from these foods. Many of these items are nutritious and make it more convenient to cook at home. • Group 4 — Ultra-processed foods: If you take processed (groups two and three) foods such as enriched flour, sugar and high fructose corn syrup, add food coloring, and put them into a Pop-Tart,


Montgomery County Animal Watch

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


This 21-year-old runs a town. (What were you doing at that age?)

in business decline for the past 15 years or so. People still refer to Strauss Avenue as “the old road,” because it was the main capillary before Indian Head Highway was built, in 1949. Indian Head is at the end of Indian Head Highway (Route 210), but don’t tell Paulin that. “We’re at the beginning of 210,” he says. “The mile markers start here at 1.” Paulin at a meeting at Maryland Municipal League’s annual conference, where he was applauded multiple times, not for something he said or did, but for who he is. (April Greer/For The Washington Post) He remembers, Indian Head very much wants a grocery store. You hear this over and over, from fourth-graders’ “If I Were Mayor” essays to town meetings. The Dollar General in town sells milk, bread, frozen pizza and ice cream, but for fresh vegetables and meat you need to drive about 17 minutes away. If you have a car. Buses are scheduled every hour, when they can be relied upon. Paulin wants a grocery store because the town wants one, but really he wants the vacant buildings torn down — here where the CVS and Super Fresh used to be, and across the street at what used to be called Contractor Row, now an empty strip mall and an empty lawyer’s office. And the Algonquin building near Town Hall, and the thrift store that burned down. So, Mayor, Safeway’s listening. What should they know? He is ready for this. “Indian Head is a beautiful place with outstanding waterfront. There’s a base that employs 4,000 people and is consistently growing, and the town has about 4,000 people and is growing. There’s going to be a new townhome development. Your trade area, you’re looking at about 12,000-plus. The town can provide you tax incentives. We’d be willing —” A small pause. Tilt of the head. “It’s negotiable. Depending on employment. We provide business incentives. All commercial permitting is free. Whatever we would need to do to get you in here, we’d be more than willing.” Another pause. Is it working? He goes on. “A lot of the foreclosures that we did have are bought up and are being fixed or flipped. From a business standpoint, you have more traffic coming through this part of the 210 corridor than ever, with the base. I think we’re at 17,000 drive-bys. Um, so buy now before someone


These happy hours offer fantastic food at great prices

plates. (The Capitol Hill outpost has similar offerings.) The chef’s spread tasting, served with fried sourdough and corn bread, features three dips: a beet tzatziki, a lamb pâté and a zesty cheese concoction called urnebes. The open-faced pork sliders, enlivened with horseradish and cabbage slaw, are another hearty option. It would be easy to turn this happy hour into a multicourse meal, because you can also partake in soup, salad and dessert, plus $5 beer, wine and cocktails. Monday to Friday, 4 to 7 p.m. 2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. ambarrestaurant.com Some of the items on the chef’s choice mezze platter, seen here, are also available during happy hour at Ottoman Taverna. (Dayna Smith/For The Washington Post) Ottoman Taverna At the best happy hours, you aren’t stuck in a crowded bar, elbowing your neighbor every time you reach for your drink. That’s why Ottoman Taverna is such a winner. Not only does the Turkish restaurant in Mount Vernon Triangle have a spacious bar, but it also has high tables where you can get a little privacy while enjoying generous servings of such mezze as falafel, zucchini cakes and muhammara, a slightly sweet red pepper and walnut spread. Everything on the happy-hour menu costs $5, including draft beer, wine (cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, sparkling white) and a Turkish sangria. Order enough mezze, and you can easily have dinner for two with drinks for about $40, making it a fantastic (and affordable!) date night. Monday to Friday, 4 to 7 p.m. 425 I St. NW. ottomantaverna.com. Sushi Taro Getting half-price sushi and alcohol is great anywhere, but Sushi Taro isn’t just anywhere. Consider this: The Dupont Circle spot is regarded as the best sushi restaurant in the area. It offers a prized omakase tasting menu with a price tag in the triple digits. And last year, it earned a Michelin star, as well as high marks from The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema. Despite all the fanfare, you can visit the restaurant after work and pay 50 percent less on most of the sushi on the bar menu. Think $4 for two pieces of tuna nigiri, $3.75 for a yellowtail-and-scallion roll or, in simpler terms, a delicious dinner with drinks at one of the top restaurants in town for what recently cost us about $35 per person. The happy hour is extremely popular, and the bar has only 11 seats. So dine


Congress must preserve the Magnitsky Act to protect human rights

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow on Monday. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via Associated Press) Regarding the Feb. 7 editorial “Mr. Trump’s blind spot”: President Trump may have a blind spot on Russia, but we should all keep an eye on any movement to repeal or modify the Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, and how or whether Mr. Trump or Secretary of State Rex Tillerson apply Magnitsky provisions to Russian officials. The Magnitsky Act passed Congress on a bipartisan vote in October 2012 and was signed by President Barack Obama. It seeks to hold Russian officials accountable for deaths like those the editorial board catalogued by prohibiting Russian officials’ entrance into the United States and their use of the U.S. banking system. The Putin regime retaliated by disallowing the adoption of Russian children by Americans and banning some U.S. officials from traveling to Russia. Many of those Russians affected by the law are oligarchs and friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who would like to see the Magnitsky Act repealed. Congress should resist any attempts to get rid of or weaken the Magnitsky Act and ensure that the Trump administration applies sanctions that reaffirm the U.S. role as the world’s leader in human rights. Thomas Hicks, Reston


Youth group coach faces sex offense charges

did not say how Murphy is related to her. The incidents were reported to police Jan. 30 and are thought to have consisted of repeated sexual assaults since November, according to authorities. A second victim, who is a friend of Murphy’s relative, was also assaulted by him, police said, and he faces charges in those incidents, as well. The name of the youth group that Murphy works with was not immediately released by police. Murphy is being held on a $100,000 bond. Officials are asking those with information to call 301-498-0092. — Dana Hedgpeth VIRGINIA Man is found dead in Potomac River A man was found dead in the Potomac River on Thursday, Alexandria authorities said. The man was found about 3:15 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene after a witness reported that he was in the water near Prince Street, a spokesman for the Alexandria Fire Department said. Earlier reports that the man had fallen off a boat were incorrect, the Alexandria police said in a Twitter message about 4:20 p.m. Police said the death is not considered suspicious. Information about the man’s identity was not immediatelyavailable. A police spokesman said the case would be turned over to the medical examiner. — Justin Wm. Moyer Norovirus suspected in Arlington school About 80 students were out sick Wednesday and Thursday at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington because of gastrointestinal illness suspected to be norovirus. The rash of illness prompted school officials to send a letter home to parents along with a link to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s information page about norovirus, a virus that causes gastrointestinal distress and is highly contagious. The school educates about 800 students, so about a tenth were out with stomach illnesses. In the letter, Arlington County’s school health bureau advised parents to make sure their children wash their hands for 20 or more seconds and told them to keep their children home from school for 24 hours after their symptoms subside. Woman dies after being hit by vehicle A woman died Thursday after being struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of a Loudoun County shopping center, authorities said. Officers went about 12:40 p.m. to 45591 Dulles Eastern Plaza in Sterling, near State Route 28 and Nokes Boulevard, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said. The woman, whose name wasn’t released, died at the scene. — Justin Wm. Moyer


Trump targeted Japan during the campaign. Now its prime minister is embracing the new president.

White House visit after Trump signed an executive action to get started on building a border wall. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull got into a testy exchange with Trump during a phone call after the American president questioned a U.S. commitment to help resettle refugees. For Abe, the goal is to reassure Trump that the U.S.-Japan security alliance is a “win-win” relationship, Japanese officials said. “It’s extremely important to build a trusting relationship with the president, who was chosen through an election,” Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo. Though Trump’s first executive action was to make good on his campaign pledge to cancel U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — an expansive, 12-nation trade deal on which Abe had staked significant political capital — the prime minister has maintained hope that the deal can be rekindled down the road. In the meantime, Abe arrives in Washington with a proposal for Japanese companies to invest $150 billion in U.S. infrastructure, including high-speed rail, potentially creating 700,000 jobs in the United States. The Japanese are “well acquainted with President Trump’s priorities, which can be summed up in three words — jobs, jobs, jobs — when it comes to the economic relationship,” a senior White House official told reporters on a conference call Thursday. The official was not authorized to speak on the record. President Trump posed for photographs with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House, Feb. 10. Abe, who has met with the head of Toyota to prepare for the trip, also will try to preempt Trump’s criticism over the lack of market access for U.S. auto companies in Japan. Japanese auto exports make up about three-quarters of Japan’s $60 billion annual trade surplus with the United States. But the prime minister intends to explain that companies such as Toyota and Honda are not just making cars at U.S. plants but also creating huge demand for local suppliers, Japanese officials said. On security, Trump raised alarms during the campaign by suggesting that U.S. military basing agreements in Japan and South Korea were too expensive and that those two nations should consider developing their own nuclear weapons. But Tokyo was encouraged by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s visit last week, during which he reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to defending Japanese territories under Article 5 of the security treaty. Mattis said the Trump administration recognized Japan’s administration of


Mexico sees steep drop in migrating monarch butterflies

must step up actions to protect breeding, feeding and migratory habitat.” Officials estimate that the storms in March killed about 6.2 million butterflies, almost 7.4 percent of the estimated 84 million that wintered in Mexico, said Alejandro Del Mazo, Mexico’s commissioner for protected areas. The monarchs were preparing to fly back to the United States and Canada at the time the storm hit. Monarch butterflies fly at the El Rosario butterfly sanctuary in the Mexican state of Michoacan in 2013, the year in which migrating butterflies covered a record-low 1.66 acres. (Edgard Garrido/Reuters) While no butterfly lives to make the round trip, a reduction in the number making it out of the wintering grounds often results in a decline among those who return the next year. The combination of rain, cold and high winds from the storms caused the loss of 133 acres of pine and fir trees in the mountaintop wintering grounds, more than four times the amount lost to illegal logging. It was the biggest storm-related loss since the winter of 2009-2010, when unusually heavy rainstorms and mudslides caused the destruction of 262 acres of trees. However, the fight against illegal logging continues. Last week, authorities detained a man trying to truck about a dozen huge tree trunks out of the butterfly reserve, using false papers asserting the trees were diseased and were being removed to reduce risk. In fact, investigators found the trees had been healthy. The monarchs depend on finding relatively well-preserved forests, where millions of the orange-and-black butterflies hang in clumps from the branches. The trees, and the clumping, help protect the butterflies from cold rains and steep drops in temperature. Besides logging, another problem has been the loss of milkweed — the plant monarchs rely on for food. The supply of milkweed in the United States and Canada has dropped because of the increased use of chemical weedkillers and the conversion of land to development. The loss of forests in Mexico and milkweed north of the border has proved devastating. This year the butterflies covered only 7.19 acres. Last year, the butterflies covered 10 acres, compared to 2.8 acres in 2014 and a record low of 1.66 acres in 2013. That is still well below the 44 acres they covered 20 years ago. “We cannot control the climate, but we can do much better in eradicating illegal logging in the reserve and tackling habitat


National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say

urged Russia not to overreact to the penalties being imposed by President Barack Obama, making clear that the two sides would be in position to review the matter after Trump was sworn in as president. “Kislyak was left with the impression that the sanctions would be revisited at a later time,” said a former official. A third official put it more bluntly, saying that either Flynn had misled Pence or that Pence misspoke. An administration official stressed that Pence made his comments based on his conversation with Flynn. The sanctions in question have so far remained in place. The nature of Flynn’s pre-inauguration message to Kislyak triggered debate among officials in the Obama administration and intelligence agencies over whether Flynn had violated a law against unauthorized citizens interfering in U.S. disputes with foreign governments, according to officials familiar with that debate. Those officials were already alarmed by what they saw as a Russian assault on the U.S. election. U.S. officials said that seeking to build such a case against Flynn would be daunting. The law against U.S. citizens interfering in foreign diplomacy, known as the Logan Act, stems from a 1799 statute that has never been prosecuted. As a result, there is no case history to help guide authorities on when to proceed or how to secure a conviction. Officials also cited political sensitivities. Prominent Americans in and out of government are so frequently in communication with foreign officials that singling out one individual — particularly one poised for a top White House job — would invite charges of political persecution. Former U.S. officials also said aggressive enforcement would probably discourage appropriate contact. Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia during the Obama administration, said that he was in Moscow meeting with officials in the weeks leading up to Obama’s 2008 election win. “As a former diplomat and U.S. government official, one needs to be able to have contact with foreigners to do one’s job,” McFaul said. McFaul, a Russia scholar, said he was careful never to signal pending policy changes before Obama took office. On Wednesday, Flynn said that he first met Kislyak in 2013 when Flynn was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and made a trip to Moscow. Kislyak helped coordinate that trip, Flynn said. Flynn said that he spoke to Kislyak on a range of subjects in late December, including arranging a call between


The zoo — and Washington — prepares to say goodbye to its ‘miracle’ giant panda

Bao Bao the panda is leaving the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Go behind the scenes to see how a 3-year-old panda gets ready for a flight to China. The farewell ice cakes are in the freezer. The road food, which includes 50 pounds of bamboo, is being readied. The broom, dustpan and poop bags are on hand, for cleanup during the flight. And Bao Bao, the Smithsonian National Zoo’s heaven-sent “miracle,” is getting accustomed to the airplane shipping crate that says: “Contents: One panda.” On Thursday, a keeper used soothing words and honey water to coax the beloved 3-year-old into the crate in which, on Feb. 21, she will journey from her birthplace in Washington to a new home in China. “C’mon, Bao,” the keeper, Marty Dearie, said. “Good girl. Good job!” Bao Bao now weighs 203 pounds, and it seems like ages since she fit in the palm of his hand when she was born in August 2013. Born at the National Zoo in 2013, Bao Bao leaves her parents and little brother to move to China as part of a breeding program. He was the first person to hold her. She was 2 days old, and people at the zoo were praying that she would survive. They had been devastated in September 2012 when the zoo’s adult female giant panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth to a four-ounce cub — her first in years — and it died six days later. “My biggest memory of that moment [is] the raw emotion,” said Brandie Smith, the associate director for animal care sciences, who had wept with others after the cub’s death. “It was the excitement over having a cub, and when we did, our plans were of the future,” Smith said. “Everyone had been celebrating with us, and then, everyone’s sadness and disappointment.” But the following summer, Bao Bao arrived. She was born on a Friday during the evening rush hour, as thousands of people watched live on the zoo’s black-and-white panda cams. Mei Xiang gave birth to a second cub 26 hours later, but it was stillborn. A zookeeper trains Bao Bao to become familiar with the actual shipping crate that she will ride in on her journey to China. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) “I’m not a religious person,” Dearie said at the zoo Thursday. “I’ve said, ‘She’s a miracle.’ And I don’t even mean that religiously. We went


On Dec. 1, 2013, after a global online vote, she was named Bao Bao, which means “precious” or “treasure” in Chinese. In subsequent years, the panda nation has followed Bao Bao’s antics on the cams and social media. In 2014, she accidentally touched an electric wire designed to keep her in her compound and fled up a tree for two days. That same year, she beat out the Star-Spangled Banner in a Smithsonian popularity contest. Bao Bao is the second giant panda to be shipped to China from the National Zoo. The first was Tai Shan, a male, who was born in 2005 and, to the dismay of panda fanatics, moved to China in 2010. The transfers are part of a long-standing arrangement with China, whereby any giant panda cubs born in the United States must go to China around age 4 to breed. China owns all giant pandas in the United States and leases them to American zoos. Now it is Bao Bao’s turn. Dearie and zoo veterinarian Katherine Hope will go with her on the trip. She is traveling on a nonstop 16-hour FedEx “Panda Express” flight from Dulles International Airport to the Chinese city of Chengdu, the zoo said. Bao Bao will be the only cargo, FedEx said. She will then go into quarantine at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Dujiangyan, Sichuan province. Meanwhile, the zoo’s commissary is preparing flavored ice cakes that are being constructed in its giant freezer. They will be presented to Bao Bao in the days leading up to departure. The commissary is also preparing to pack up food and 10 gallons of water for the journey. The food includes bamboo — a panda staple — a 25-pound bag of beet-colored panda biscuits, two pounds of apples, and two pounds of sweet potatoes cooked with the skins on. There will be no pears. Word is that Bao Bao doesn’t like pears. The day of her departure will be emotional. “I was curator of pandas when she was born,” Smith said. “She’s my girl. Bao Bao is special to me, because of my job at that time and because of the significance of her birth.” “So . . . I’ll take a private moment on that day” to be with her, she said. “The panda house is my happy place.” But the zoo has three other giant pandas:


Trump reaffirms U.S.-Japan security alliance in bid to soothe fears in Tokyo

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed trade, refugees and their relationship during a joint news conference at the White House, Feb. 10. Here are the key moments from that event in less than four minutes. President Trump pledged Friday that his administration remains committed to maintaining the United States’ long-standing security alliance with Japan, aiming to calm jitters in Tokyo over his inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail. In a news conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House, Trump called the alliance the “cornerstone of peace and stability in the Pacific region,” and he vowed to make ties between the two countries “even closer.” Trump’s remarks on the alliance, which hewed closely to statements of previous U.S. presidents, would not have been remarkable were it not for the sharp criticism he aimed at Japan during the 2016 presidential campaign. He denounced a sizable U.S. trade deficit to Japan and suggested Japan and South Korea were not paying their share to support American troops based in the region. But the summit, aggressively pursued by the Japanese, aimed to erase doubts, even as the two sides remain at odds over how to move forward on trade and economic ties. President Trump faced repeated questions about the court case surrounding his halted executive order banning immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries at a joint news conference with the Japanese prime minister, Feb. 10. Trump sought to present the two countries in close harmony over shared challenges on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs and China’s aggression in the South China Sea — “both of which I consider a very, very high priority,” he said. On several occasions, Trump gave Abe extended handshakes — one in the Oval Office lasted 19 seconds — and patted him on the back, displaying a personal warmth that has begun to develop between the two men since Abe became the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his election victory in November. “ “Strong hands,” Trump remarked in the Oval Office, mimicking a golf swing. The two were scheduled to play a round this weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s winter retreat in Palm Beach, Fla. “I grabbed him and hugged him because that’s the way we feel,” Trump said at the news conference, describing his greeting of Abe outside the West Wing. “We have a very, very good bond, very, very good chemistry.” “I’ll


Ford buys start-up as part of development of driverless cars

and Rander to hire about 200 employees in the next year while working on the core technology of its autonomous vehicle — the “virtual driver” system. — Associated Press RETAIL Sears considers more closings, job cuts Sears may sell more locations, cut more jobs and put more of its famous brands on the block to try to revive its faltering retail business. The company, which also owns Kmart, said Friday that it is cutting costs by at least $1 billion a year. The Illinois-based retail chain, which has been losing money for years, also said that comparable-store sales during the holiday shopping season were not as bad as industry analysts had thought they were. Sears announced last month that it is closing 150 of its 1,500 stores. It did not announce additional store closures Friday but said it would “actively manage our real estate portfolio to identify additional opportunities.” It may also sell two of its brands — Kenmore appliances and DieHard car batteries — after striking a deal last month to sell its Craftsman tool brand. Job cuts may also be on the way as Sears streamlines its organizational structure, but the company did not release details. From November to January, which includes the holiday shopping season, Sears expects sales to have fallen 10.3 percent at its established stores. — Associated Press Also in Business ● Officials in Virginia say Goodyear will pay $1.75 million to settle workplace health and safety violations found in inspections after four deaths at its Danville tire plant. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry announced the penalties Friday. The department said it has agreed to a settlement with Goodyear and the United Steelworkers, which represents plant employees. Four workers died on the job over the course of a year at the plant, which manufactures aviation and specialty tires. State inspectors found more than 100 violations. ● Facebook will submit to audits by the media industry’s measurement watchdog, the Media Rating Council, helping address concerns among advertisers that had become skeptical of the social network’s metrics. Facebook came under fire recently after a series of missteps in reporting data to partners and advertisers. The company reviewed its practices and vowed to be more transparent about errors. In a statement Friday, Facebook said it aims to release more detailed information, such as metrics on how long users view an ad and how much of it


UDC professor, another person critically injured in District house fire

THE DISTRICT Two critically injured in NE house fire A professor and another person were critically injured Friday in a fire on Capitol Hill, authorities said. John L. Slack, 75, directs the public health program at the University of the District of Columbia, and is on the executive board of the Faculty Association. The fire was reported about 5 a.m. at Slack’s home in the 700 block of Maryland Avenue NE. He was found outside. The second injured person, also male, was found inside, officials said. They said the fire began in a basement furnace. — Peter Hermann THE REGION Clouds block view of full moon, eclipse Neither the full moon nor the lunar eclipse could be seen at the appointed time Friday night from a prominent Washington-area intersection. At 9 p.m., clouds covered the sky above 14th and K streets NW, a busy crossroads in the heart of downtown. It appeared that many people in the Washington area would be deprived of a glimpse of the full moon passing into and then out of the shadow of the Earth. The moon will remain close to full for a while. But it seems unlikely that it will live up to its name, the full “snow” moon. Washington has seen little more than a few flakes of snow recently. — Martin Weil MARYLAND Man fatally shot in Montgomery Village A man was fatally shot Friday in the Montgomery Village area of Montgomery County, police said. He was found in the 8500 block of Hawk Run Terrace. Details were not yet available late Friday. — Justin Wm. Moyer VIRGINIA Inspector general is not reappointed The Virginia Senate on Friday voted to reject the reappointment of the state inspector general, who had been criticized for her office’s investigation into the death of a mentally ill man at Hampton Roads Regional Jail 18 months ago. The Senate, with virtually no debate, voted 37 to 2 to approve the House of Delegates’ action taken Wednesday, which removed June Jennings from Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s normally uncontroversial list of appointees. McAuliffe (D) had suggested that sexism was behind the decision by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to deny Jennings’s appointment. But Del. Robert B. Bell (R-Albemarle), who earlier had called Jennings “too nice . . . too sweet” for a job that needs a “bulldog,” said Thursday night that he was not casting aspersions on Jennings’s gender, just


A brief glimpse of greatness

British marathon runner Ron Hill in 1968. (Central Press/Getty Images) Regarding the Jan. 31 Politics & the Nation article “Briton with record running streak calls it quits at 52 years, 39 days ”: No runner who saw Ron Hill at the Maryland marathon back in the 1970s can ever forget his sprint up Satyr Hill, which was at the 18-mile mark. It was an out-and-back course, so on our way out he was on his way back. His running shorts were the British flag, and not one hair on his head was out of place. His feet barely touched the ground. He looked like a jet, wheels up, leaving an aircraft carrier. As fast as he came, he went. We shared a brief glimpse of greatness that has lasted a lifetime. Bob Coyne, Mount Airy


A year later, scientists keep listening to gravitational waves, the soundtrack of the cosmos

$1.1 billion on LIGO, which is operated by Caltech and MIT and includes a second site, the LIGO Hanford Observatory in eastern Washington. A LIGO technician installs a mode cleaner tube baffle used to control stray light as part of the Advanced LIGO auxiliary optics system in 2010. (Ligo Laboratory/Reuters) The chairman of the House Science Committee, Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), has supported the project, according to committee spokeswoman Kristina Baum. She wrote in an email, “The Chairman’s priorities include ensuring more NSF funding is directed towards the hard sciences and groundbreaking research like gravitational waves, and less funding to frivolous or marginal projects.” LIGO certainly meets the definition of hard science. There’s only one stoplight in Livingston, a small town about an hour north of New Orleans. If you look closely, you’ll see a tiny sign, with an arrow, saying “LIGO.” It’s easy to miss next to the three billboards advertising a personal-injury attorney, a $5,000 reward for tips to Crime Stoppers, and “Top Dollar Paid” for gold and guns at a pawnshop. But if you head west a couple hundred yards, and then turn north at the Fireworks Warehouse, and drive a few miles on a winding country road, you’ll eventually reach the place where the theory of gravitational waves became a reality. LIGO is, in some ways, an incredibly improbable enterprise because of its physical scale and esoteric scientific ambition. There is no obvious application for the knowledge gained. The cost of the project could easily have led to a kind of gravitational collapse ending in oblivion. And although it had a firm theoretical foundation — Who would bet against Einstein? — it required levels of engineering never before attempted. An aerial photo shows the LIGO Hanford Observatory site in eastern Washington. (REUTERS/Caltech/MIT/LIGO Laboratory) The two observatories in Louisiana and Washington state had to be built in remote, seismically stable locations. The dominant feature of each facility is the pair of 2.5-mile-long beam lines, set perpendicularly. These are tubes in which laser beams pass through an almost perfect vacuum. “We had to correct for the curvature of the Earth,” Stuver said, standing on a bridge overlooking one of the beam line tubes as it receded into the pineywoods — timber land owned primarily by Weyerhaeuser. “From the corner there to the end of the arm, the Earth curves down away a little bit more than four feet.” A


reporter drove a rental car the length of the arm, with Stuver serving as narrator. The beam line is encased in heavy concrete. Stuver said that so few atoms and molecules remain in the vacuum tubes that if you could gather them all up, from the entire 2.5-mile length, and compress them to normal atmospheric pressure, they’d amount to one thimbleful of air. Hunting stands are nearby in the woods, but they point away from the beam lines. The scientists met with local hunting clubs, and made a simple request: Don’t shoot the observatory. The essential concept of LIGO is that a gravitational wave, when it passes through Livingston, will stretch one arm while contracting the other that runs at a 90-degree angle. Space itself will change dimensions. Two arms normally of identical length will suddenly be slightly mismatched. This effect, however, is smaller than the width of an atom. That’s where the lasers come in. A laser beam is split into two beams, one for each arm. The beams travel the length of the arms and bounce off mirrors at the end. They circulate hundreds of times in the arms before finally reconverging at the corner where the arms meet. If there’s no gravitational wave rolling through town, the wavelengths of the beams will continue to line up perfectly. But if, say, a couple of black holes have collided, and the ripple of the event passes through the Earth, the shift in the laser wavelengths can reveal the signature of that distant cataclysm. The first big run of LIGO, from 2002 to 2010, had yielded bupkis. The observatory just wasn’t sensitive enough. But the experiment got some upgrades, and suddenly the universe became audible. At precisely 4:51 a.m. CDT on the morning of Sept. 14, 2015, the Livingston detector picked up a signal — a hum, building in intensity and ending in a chirp. A fraction of a second later, the detector 1,865 miles away in Hanford, Wash., picked up the same signal — and in the process confirmed that gravitational waves move at the speed of light. The signal fit precisely with the theoretical models for what happens when black holes collide. A month later, another apparent gravitational wave passed through — though scientists can’t be absolutely sure it wasn’t caused by some terrestrial noise. “I have an 87 percent confidence that this is a gravitational wave from


Clouds block many from view of eclipse

Neither the expected full moon, nor the predicted lunar eclipse could readily be seen at the appointed time Friday night from a prominent Washington-area intersection. Clouds covered the sky at 9 p.m. above 14th and K Streets NW, a busy crossroads in the heart of downtown. But all was not lost. The clouds appeared to part in the nick of time for the eclipse to be seen above parts of Washington. Truth to tell, the kind of eclipse that occurred Friday night was not the easiest to recognize in the best of times. It was a penumbral eclipse. That means that the moon did not enter the full black shadow cast by the earth across the heavens. It passed into the partial shadow, which might be fairly described as an astronomical gray area. So a pall of grayness seemed to fall across the moon. But it was the kind of thing that you might miss entirely if you didn’t know it was there. Or perhaps it might have made people wonder if they ought to see the optometrist more often. Still, the very idea of a gray area out there in space seemed appealing. It seemed relevant to real life, where as we often hear, matters are seldom black and what. The moon shines by reflecting light from the sun. The penumbra is is the place where s SOME of the light from the sun is blocked from reaching the moon. But not all of the light is blocked there, and so the moon does not vanish from view. It just looks a bit gray and peaked. It appeared likely that many people in the Washington area would be deprived of a glimpse of the full moon passing into and then out of the shadow of the Earth. The moon will remain close to full for a while. But it seems unlikely that it will live up to its name, the full “snow” moon. Washington has seen little more than a few flakes of snow. But in New England, it was probably easier to recognize Friday’s as the Snow Moon. They have had snow to spare. As concerned eclipse watching, in the Tyson’s Corner area someone had a similar experience to that obtainable at 14th and K Streets. “Be it a lunar eclipse, rare meteor shower, an extra-terrestrial fly-by, one thing is guaranteed: the weather in the Tysons Corner/Vienna area


Animal Watch: Squirrelly trespasser

BOWIE, Among cases received by the Prince George’s County Animal Management Division.


Family describes mysterious killing of former World Bank economist for first time

makes no more sense today than it did that night. Who would target an elderly man quietly living out his golden years? They hope speaking out can help crack the case. The circumstances have made the slaying of the avid outdoorsman and civic activist one of the most mysterious in the D.C. area. Fairfax County police revealed this month that a pickup truck was seen leaving the neighborhood near de Leede’s home on River Drive in Lorton on the night of the killing and asked that anyone with information come forward. LORTON, VA - MARCH 11: Police and other agencies line the street near Johan De Leede's home. Police are investigating the murder of 83-year-old De Leede. (Photo by Antonio Olivo/TWP) De Leede’s slaying would be tragic under any circumstances, but the family said the lack of answers has lent it a special cruelty. Liesbeth de Leede, 78, who was married to Johan for 56 years, described herself as “lost” in a note to The Washington Post. She said she was too distraught to sit for an interview, but her daughter-in-law did agree to speak for the family. The de Leedes said the home that was the center of the family’s life, where Johan de Leede joyfully tripped over his grandchildren’s toys and they warmly shared large gatherings at Christmas, has become a place of mourning. “I do not feel at home,” Liesbeth de Leede wrote. “The last thing Johan would have ever imagined is to die in this way in a house he loved so much.” The de Leede’s residence sits in an upscale neighborhood of $1 million homes on the Mason Neck peninsula, which is about 45 minutes south of the District but feels much farther away because of its bucolic beauty. The home has views of the river, which laps at the back yard. Johan and Liesbeth were born in the Netherlands and emigrated to the United States in 1970, when he got a job at the World Bank. De Leede spent 25 years working on improving economic infrastructure in Sudan and other African countries before retiring. He helped spearhead the Mason Neck Trail project in the area. He had four children and eight grandchildren. The night of the killing unfolded with little indication of the trouble to come, said Susie Paul-de Leede, de Leede’s daughter-in-law. On March 10, de Leede and his wife were hosting her


Grandmother charged in Md. infant’s methadone overdose

apparently occurred about 12:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of H Street, based on an account from police. They said ammunition casings were found there after the sound of shooting was reported. The victim was later found near 15th and Morse streets NE, about five blocks away, the police said. He had a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in a leg, they said. — Martin Weil Gunpoint daytime robbery on Capitol Hill A gunpoint robbery occurred Saturday in an apartment house on Capitol Hill, police said. They said the female victim had gotten out of an elevator in a building in the 500 block of Ninth Street NE when the robber approached. She told police that he showed a black handgun, took her purse and ran down the building’s stairs. The street is just north of Maryland Avenue and includes both rowhouses and apartment houses. Police said the robber was described as a dark-skinned black man in his mid to late 20s, thin and about 6 feet tall. Police said he wore a black hooded jacket and black jeans. — Martin Weil VIRGINIA Thefts from 15 cars in North Arlington Fifteen cars were entered on a street in North Arlington and numerous valuable items were taken, the Arlington police said. They said the thefts were reported in the 3800 block of 38th Street about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. That indicated that the thefts probably occurred late Wednesday or early Thursday. The neighborhood is one of the quietest in the area. It is near Military and N. Glebe roads, about a half-mile from Chain Bridge. Police said most of the vehicles involved were not locked. — Martin Weil THE REGION Yes, some saw lunar eclipse despite clouds Some people in the Washington region did see and even photograph the lunar eclipse Friday night despite the overcast skies. Photos of the gray moon above the Washington Monument were posted on Twitter. The grayness was characteristic of the type of eclipse, in which the moon did not enter the darkest part of the Earth’s shadow. Instead, it was in the area called the penumbra. In one Twitter photo, the face of the moon was not only gray but also mottled with clouds. By 2 a.m. Saturday, the eclipse was long over, but skygazers could see overhead the February full moon that is known as the “Snow Moon.” (It should be noted that despite the designation, no


Beer of the Week: Allagash’s new year-round beer sounds simple. It isn’t.

Allagash’s Hoppy Table Beer. (Goran Kosanovic/For The Washington Post) The groundhog saw his shadow. Snow is in the forecast. But spring is just around the corner, and until it gets here, I’m going to drink an Allagash beer that makes me think of the brighter, greener days ahead. Hoppy Table Beer Allagash says the new offering is “inspired by the Belgian tradition of low-ABV [alcohol by volume], easily drinkable beers.” That and the name make it seem like such a simple beer, compared with Allagash’s barrel-aged and spontaneously fermented ales, but Hoppy Table Beer has a surprising depth. The light-straw color and big, white head make it look like a witbier, but the aromas are of bright lemon zest and grassy hops. Notes of coriander and a peppery spice are revealed in the body, which has a lovely crispness and a surprisingly soft mouth feel. The hops are assertive throughout, and the beer is dry-hopped with Azacca and Comet, leading to a piney and grapefruity bitterness and a very dry finish. I typically think about drinking Allagash beers by the goblet or snifter, but I would definitely take a pitcher of this — especially because it’s only 4.8 percent alcohol by volume. Now, if only the sun would hang around for a few days so I could enjoy this on a patio. — Fritz Hahn Allagash Hoppy Table Beer. allagash.com. About $10 for a four-pack of 12-ounce bottles. More from Food: Beer Column archive


Sound worlds spinning from a single keyboard

Pianist Igor Levit — now bearded — dazzled with taut intimacy in his Washington Performing Arts recital. (Gregor Hohenberg) Classical music can entertain, or it can uplift, and not everyone wants to engage with it on a deeper level. But for those who did, pianist Igor Levit offered a superb afternoon of music-making at the UDC Theater of the Arts on Saturday. Levit was scheduled to appear at the Washington Performing Arts Hayes piano series two years ago, when he still qualified as a rising star. Since then, several recordings have placed him firmly on the map, particularly his memorable juxtaposition of three mighty sets of variations: Bach’s Goldbergs, Rzewski’s “The People United Will Never Be Defeated”! and Beethoven’s Diabellis. Saturday’s program offered a similar, but shorter, tripartite grouping: three parts of Shostakovich’s wonderful Preludes and Fugues; Rzewski’s “Dreams, Part II” and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations to finish. Levit, Russian-born and German-raised, projects the air of a Dostoevsky hero, pale and slender and bearded; and he approaches music with some of the same inner fanaticism — not in the sense of a mad onslaught on the keys, but in the sense of a total devotion so that the music emerges burned free of worldly concerns, in a kind of spiritual halo. Over the course of 2½ hours of heartfelt music — which flew by more rapidly than many recitals half as long — he offered world upon world of sound, offered with digital-quality clarity and detail and infused with analog warmth. The delicacy, legato and individuality of the three Shostakovich preludes and fugues — Nos. 10, 4 and 12 — set the stage for what for me was the highlight of a rich afternoon, the Rzewski piece, which the composer dedicated to Levit. In introductory remarks to the audience (which he gave with such appealing directness that the crowd was further won over), Levit posed a tacit challenge that he proceeded to meet: “This man,” he said of Rzewski, “writes incredibly humane music, which is about nothing but us.” He then showed the advantages of having a meaningful relationship with a composer who can tailor music to a pianist’s strengths. Rzewski’s piece, inspired by things from Akira Kurosawa’s film “Dreams” to Debussy’s preludes to Woody Guthrie, had all of the detail and emotional variety and virtuosic difficulty that Levit seems particularly equipped to transmit — including an improvisatory section that Levit


Trump undertakes most ambitious regulatory rollback since Reagan

also delayed the effective dates of roughly 250 others, including 30 Environmental Protection Agency rules that were frozen in a single day, with no opportunity for public comment. And although White House Chief of Staff Reince Preibus’s Jan. 20 memo called for a 60-day regulatory freeze, some regulations already are being delayed longer than that. An Agriculture Department rule tightening animal welfare requirements for organic livestock and poultry was just delayed from March 20 until May 19. As a result, groups that had finally settled long-fought battles are feuding once again. Take the issue of the rusty patched bumble bee, whose population has shrunk 87 percent since the mid-1990s. On Jan. 11, the Obama administration declared it would be added to the endangered species list. Last Thursday — a day before those protections were set to take effect — the Trump administration said it would postpone the listing until at least March 21. Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau, said the group is “pleased that the administration is taking a second look.” If the bee is declared endangered, he said, farmers in parts of Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota would be subject to severe penalties for killing or harming the insects through “normal farming operations” such as plowing and pesticide use. As an alternative, Yates said, the Farm Bureau is open to discussing a strategy for voluntary conservation. But voluntary plans are inadequate, said Rebecca Riley, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. Riley said the group is weighing whether to challenge the delay, which was issued without the normal 30-day period for public comment. “We don’t want to reach a point of no return for the rusty patched bumblebee,” Riley said in an email, “but further delay could dash our last, best chance to keep this bee around.” Incoming agency officials are also signaling significant shifts in the way some industries are regulated. In November, the EPA sent out a lengthy request to nearly 20,000 oil and gas companies, asking them to gauge their emissions of methane within 60 or 180 days, depending on their facilities. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas linked to climate change. Matthew Hite, who represents gas processors as vice president for government affairs at the GPA Midstream Association, called the request “unnecessary and duplicative” and estimated that complying would cost each processor nearly $3 million. Since Trump took


What in the world are those blobs following us around?

(FREDERICK MURPHY) In retrospect, eating that sniffling monkey was a bad call. That’s one of the first lessons to be gleaned from “A Short History of Humans and Germs,” a series of animated shorts appearing this month on NPR’s Goats and Soda blog. These, ahem, viral videos break down the science behind the meanest microbes around — HIV, SARS, Ebola, Zika, measles — which are depicted as colorful blobs toting around a copy of the book “How to Rule the Planet.” As for the humans? We’re pretty adorable, too, but we don’t exactly look like worthy adversaries. In Episode 1, “Early Encounters,” there’s a trio of hunter-gatherers who decide to dine on a sick monkey. What they don’t realize is that a virus inside the critter has developed “an accidental superpower”: It can make itself at home in people. After dinner, those folks are done. Things don’t get any better with the development of agriculture. Larger families and the establishment of communities equals more people for viruses to target. And so we arrive at Episode 2, “The Golden Age of Germs.” Basically, humans couldn’t catch a break in that era. First, we were taming animals and constantly hanging out with them. That’s how rinderpest, a cattle virus, begot measles 5,000 years ago. Then there was the formation of cities, which exposed large groups to infection. To seek relief, our ancestors often packed their stuff and moved — bringing dastardly blobs with them. And this wanderlust took some adventurers to the high seas, which gave viruses an invitation to new continents. The next episode, which debuts this week, explains how, finally, “Humans Get a Clue.” Here’s a hint: It involves discovering vaccinations. But don’t expect an entirely happy ending to this tale. We’re still engaged in activity that encourages germs to move in with us, and, thanks to planes, a pandemic could start almost overnight. So there are plenty of reasons to be nervous about what’s to come, even if it doesn’t involve eating monkeys.


Suspect who was arrested in multiple-victim shooting outside D.C. liquor store sought revenge, police say

A man charged with shooting four people in D.C. last year during rush hour at a busy intersection had targeted a man he believed had fatally stabbed an acquaintance, according to newly filed court documents. An arrest affidavit filed over the weekend says the suspect came out of “retirement” from the street life to avenge the death “because nobody in the neighborhood would do anything about it.” D.C. police identified the suspect in the shooting as Alan Maybin, 33, of Northwest. He was arrested Friday and charged with assault with intent to kill. The shooting in which Maybin is charged occurred about 4:30 p.m. June 8 in front of Big Ben Liquors at North Capitol Street and New York Avenue, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the District. At the time, D.C. police described the intersection as a “long-term, open-air drug market.” Residents that summer confronted police and other District officials at a series of meetings, complaining of crime and violence at and near that corner. New York Avenue divides the public housing complex Sursum Corda and the historic neighborhood of Truxton Circle, where residents are struggling to reclaim their streets after years of being overtaken by drug dealers. Police quickly arrested the alleged driver of a vehicle involved in the shooting but had been searching for months for the suspected shooter. With that suspect now in custody, D.C. police filed court papers that reveal many more details from that afternoon. Three men who were shot suffered minor wounds to the hands, foot and thigh, police said. One had just walked out of Big Ben Liquors where he had bought a beer. The fourth victim, described by police as the target, was shot in the stomach, right arm and leg, and underwent several surgeries at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He was not identified in the court documents. Police said in an arrest affidavit that the seriously wounded man in April had fatally stabbed Kenneth Eugene Jackson, 27, of Northwest, behind shops at New York Avenue and North Capitol Street. According to police, the two men had been drinking together when an argument started. Jackson got into a car and tried to run his friend over, the affidavit says, and then got out and started to hit him. The friend told police he stabbed Jackson with a kitchen knife. The police affidavit says the U.S. attorney’s office declined to prosecute the


Washington’s week with Joshua Bell revealed little that we didn’t already know

Violinist Joshua Bell conducted the National Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 11 at the Kennedy Center. (Scott Suchman) We in the classical music field are fond of saying that we wish classical music were more popular — and then tend to come down hard on artists who are actually making it so. Think Lang Lang, think Yo-Yo Ma, think Joshua Bell, the violinist, who has just finished a week-long residency at the Kennedy Center. When the pianist Lang Lang did a D.C. residency in 2012, hearing him play several times over the course of a few days got me to discard a lot of my prejudices about him and realize the deep and interesting musicianship that underlies the crowd-pleasing persona so many of his critics love to hate. I was hoping for a similar revelation about Bell. After four performances, though, I can’t say I came away with any new insights — though I can reaffirm that he is very musical and makes very beautiful sounds on his violin. It didn’t help that every one of these concerts hid him, to some extent, behind some other element. On Wednesday, he played along with an elaborate meal, the courses paired to the music, in a collaboration with the Gourmet Symphony and the National Symphony Orchestra (my full review of the evening is online). On Saturday, he conducted the NSO in Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony and then played as soloist in Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” while the usually acclaimed troupe Dance Heginbotham, in brightly colored, one-piece costumes that made them all look awkward, literally upstaged him with the world premiere of a choreography called “Lola” that seemed as if it had wandered into the wrong evening. (You can see for yourself on Medici.tv, which streamed the concert live.) Violinist Joshua Bell, right, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma interact with students in the D.C. Youth Orchestra program at Bunker Hill Elementary on Feb. 7. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post) On Sunday, Bell was the marquee attraction at an NSO children’s concert that featured the world premiere of a co-commissioned piece, “The Man With the Violin” by Anne Dudley, based on a children’s book about the 1997 Washington Post experiment for which Bell played in the D.C. Metro at rush hour. Dudley’s piece was quite good, and hit its mark: My 5-year-old junior critic, at least, stopped wiggling and completely focused on the gentle animation and pretty sounds on


U.S. sanctions Venezuelan vice president as drug kingpin

erosion in the already strained relations between the two governments. El Aissami, the son of immigrants from Syria and Lebanon, has had a meteoric political rise. Just over a decade ago, he was a student activist in rural Venezuela. Since then, the 42-year-old has climbed the government ranks to become interior minister and governor. On Jan. 4, Maduro named El Aissami vice president. El Aissami has a reputation as a hard-line loyalist to the late president Hugo Chávez. He also leads a special task force to root out potential coup plots against Maduro, so he’s trusted by Maduro above few others. The Treasury Department placed him on a list reserved for “specially designated narcotics traffickers,” part of what’s known as the Kingpin Act. Under the sanctions, assets owned by El Aissami and López Bello are blocked, and it is illegal for U.S. citizens to have any dealings with them. Two years ago, the Obama administration ordered sanctions against seven government officials it said had repressed political opponents or were corrupt. But in Venezuela, being sanctioned by the United States has become a badge of honor and even grounds for promotion in the government. Among the officials sanctioned for alleged drug trafficking was a top anti-narcotics official, Néstor Reverol. John E. Smith, acting director of OFAC, said Monday’s sanctions resulted from an investigation into narcotics traffickers spanning several years. “This case highlights our continued focus on narcotics traffickers and those who help launder their illicit proceeds through the United States,” Smith said. “Denying a safe haven for illicit assets in the United States and protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse remain top priorities of the Treasury Department.” This month, 34 lawmakers sent a bipartisan letter urging President Trump to place sanctions on Venezuelan government and military officials — including El Aissami — allegedly involved in corruption and human rights abuses. Venezuela has been under a state of economic emergency for more than a year. Amid hyperinflation and a deep recession caused largely by low oil prices and amplified by mismanagement of the economy, Maduro has pinned the blame on the United States, saying it is plotting to overthrow him. Hungry Venezuelans must line up for hours to buy food with devalued currency, and Maduro has placed the military in charge of food distribution. Many people have fled to neighboring countries to get medical care. Nick Miroff contributed to this report.


The United States needs a new strategy for North Korea

A television news program in South Korea shows a photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul on Feb. 13. (Ahn Young-Joon/Associated Press) IF THERE is one lesson that all nations with successful ballistic missile programs have learned, from the dawn of the missile age until today, it is that practice makes perfect. Testing is essential, and no one succeeds without it. North Korea’s latest missile launch did not reach the intercontinental range that its leader Kim Jong Un had threatened on New Year’s Day, but the event did show that North Korea is steadily testing and harvesting the know-how. The United States needs a new and serious strategy to meet this challenge. The latest launch was a solid-fuel missile , lofted in a high trajectory, that flew 310 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. That’s a sufficient range to worry both Japan and South Korea, vital U.S. allies. The missile may be an adapted version of one known as the KN-11 that North Korea test-fired from a submarine last year. North Korea is clearly making progress in the technology of solid-fuel missiles, which are quicker to launch and require less in the way of support facilities. The weekend test was carried out on land from a mobile launching vehicle with tanklike tracks; mobility could give the missile more capability to evade detection. As always with North Korea, there are important unknowns, such as whether the solid-fuel engines or designs are indigenous or somehow imported. Prudently, President Trump refrained from a rash response of the kind he delivered in January, when he tweeted: “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won’t happen!” There is nothing to be gained right now by drawing red lines. In a brief appearance before reporters late Saturday, Mr. Trump wisely emphasized the United States’ support for Japan while standing alongside Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The tone of their meeting, as well as the recent phone call to President Xi Jinping of China, suggest Mr. Trump is attempting to soothe worries in Asia over his isolationist campaign rhetoric. Now, Mr. Trump needs to focus on creating a strategy to deal with North Korea. On Monday he acknowledged it is “a big, big problem” and


Have you said bye-bye to Bao Bao? She’s about to fly the ‘Panda Express’ to China.

Bao Bao waits for her treat at a farewell gathering at Smithsonian's National Zoo on Saturday. The 3½ -year-old giant panda who was born at the zoo and will be leaving February 21 for China. (Photos by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post) When Bao Bao was born in August 2013, the National Zoo’s not-yet-giant panda cub was the size of a stick of butter. Laura Schmechel of Mount Vernon, Virginia, remembers watching on the zoo’s online Panda Cam, marveling at the tiny bear who was “always moving around and having fun.” Bao Bao seemed like a smaller version of her, the 14-year-old says. One year later, when Bao Bao celebrated her first birthday, Brandon Budd of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, joined in the festivities at the zoo. “She got a cake,” remembers Brandon, now 11, “though she didn’t eat it that fast.” Soon enough, she was climbing trees, rolling down hills and — like Laura and Brandon — “moving a lot.” Next week, the playful bear whose Chinese name means “precious” or “treasure” will make her biggest move of all. On February 21, she will step inside a shipping crate and board the “Panda Express,” a FedEx plane that will fly her, a panda keeper, a veterinarian and more than 55 pounds of bamboo and treats to the Chinese city of Chengdu. She’s leaving her family behind, including younger brother Bei Bei, for a new home at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Older brother Tai Shan has lived there since 2010. Bao Bao the panda is leaving the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Go behind the scenes to see how a 3-year-old panda gets ready for a flight to China. Under an agreement with Chinese officials, all pandas born at the National Zoo move to China around the time they turn 4, shortly before they reach breeding age. Researchers at the panda center are trying to increase the number of pandas in the wild. Today, that number is about 1,800, all of them in China. “This is the time that Bao Bao would be moving away from her mom in the wild,” panda keeper Nicole MacCorkle said at the National Zoo on Saturday. Visitors watch as Bao Bao receives a fruitsicle Saturday. The zoo is having several events to mark Bao Bao’s departure. Standing near her were hundreds of members of Friends of the National Zoo who snapped


her, a panda keeper, a veterinarian and more than 55 pounds of bamboo and treats to the Chinese city of Chengdu. She’s leaving her family behind, including younger brother Bei Bei, for a new home at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Older brother Tai Shan has lived there since 2010. Bao Bao the panda is leaving the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Go behind the scenes to see how a 3-year-old panda gets ready for a flight to China. Under an agreement with Chinese officials, all pandas born at the National Zoo move to China around the time they turn 4, shortly before they reach breeding age. Researchers at the panda center are trying to increase the number of pandas in the wild. Today, that number is about 1,800, all of them in China. “This is the time that Bao Bao would be moving away from her mom in the wild,” panda keeper Nicole MacCorkle said at the National Zoo on Saturday. Visitors watch as Bao Bao receives a fruitsicle Saturday. The zoo is having several events to mark Bao Bao’s departure. Standing near her were hundreds of members of Friends of the National Zoo who snapped photos, wrote farewell messages and said goodbye to the 203-pound panda. “She’s ready to go on and look for a suitable mate and to have babies of her own in the next couple years,” MacCorkle said. The crowd at the panda habitat included dozens of kids wearing panda hats or panda jackets. Among them were Laura, Brandon and 12-year-old Matt Kilareski, who came with his family from Woodbridge, Virginia. On his right foot was a walking boot, from a recent surgery, and in his hands was a stuffed panda, a souvenir from the San Diego Zoo when Matt was a baby. Like Matt, the panda — named Panda — recently acquired a boot on its right foot. “Panda was with me during surgery,” Matt said. His sister “used a bit of cardboard and fabric, wrapped with tape, to give him a bit of a boot after the surgery, because I have a boot, too.” Kids at the zoo write goodbye letters to Bao Bao. The panda leaves behind mom Mei Xiang, dad Tian Tian and little brother Bei Bei, who also will head to China close to his fourth birthday. The Robinson family of Annandale — from left, Virginia, 6,


An athlete accused her coach of sex abuse. Olympic officials stayed on the sideline.

act upon a child for his actions with Brown and another girl. Gitelman — who maintains that he never had sex with Brown before she turned 18 and that the other victim lied — was sentenced to serve four years and four months, and will have to register as a sex offender when he’s released. When Brown decided to go to police about her abuse, she became a pariah in the Las Vegas taekwondo community. At tournaments, Gitelman’s other students, and their parents, cheered against Brown, she said. At the trial, parents testified in support of Gitelman. Gitelman’s conviction has not delivered vindication for Brown. When she opened her own taekwondo studio last year, Gitelman supporters wrote critical reviews of it on Facebook and Yelp, screen grabs show, with one review warning potential customers that Brown might try to “get with your husband.” One of the parents who testified on Gitelman’s behalf said in a recent phone interview that she was still upset her daughter lost her coach because of Brown. “When we found out he’d been dating one of his athletes, I thought, ick. . . . He made some bad decisions. But he didn’t deserve to go to jail,” said April Thompson, 59, a Las Vegas-area substitute teacher. In November, a California judge dismissed both the USOC and USA Taekwondo as defendants in the lawsuit filed by Brown and two other victims, with a ruling neither organization was liable for Gitelman as he was not employed by either organization. Brown’s case continues against Gitelman, and her lawyer is appealing. Brown, now 23, has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and said she has experienced bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts. She still tries to compete but is often stricken at tournaments by panic attacks or intense nausea, she said. In the office of her studio, Brown has decorated the walls with mementos of her coaching career. Notes from her students cover one wall: a coloring of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and a jagged, scrawled note from a 5-year-old, “I want to go to taekwondo forever, love Faris.” On the wall near her desk, Brown hung a sign that used to decorate her bedroom, back when she dreamed of competing in last summer’s Rio Games. It’s a small red, white, and blue pennant, with five familiar interlocking rings, the American flag and, in big, block letters, “TEAM USA.”