‘Disinformation’ claim ‘galls’ dossier author Christopher Steele

wasn’t enough certainty about the facts to really make that possible,” Shane said. Examine the dossier closely, and you can see what Shane was addressing: Many entries in the 35-page dossier describe difficult-to-categorize phenomena. For example: “Russian leadership, including PUTIN, celebrating perceived success to date in splitting US hawks and elite," reads an entry in Report 101. “Russians apparently have promised not to use ‘kompromat’ they hold on TRUMP as leverage, given high levels of voluntary cooperation from his team,” reads an item in Report 97, on Kremlin concerns about the fallout from the hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee. That was one piece of a larger scheme alleged in the dossier — namely, a grand conspiracy between Russians and the Trump campaign that had been years in the making. The Mueller report dismissed that conspiracy. When Shane took a look at the dossier, he zeroed in on its claims about former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. In what is perhaps its second-most-famous claim — the first being the claim that Trump frolicked with prostitutes in a perverted ritual at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow — the dossier avers that Cohen traveled to Prague for a key meeting with Kremlin officials in August/September of 2016. “That one, unlike most of them, had a lot of detail: when Cohen had supposedly gone to Prague, who they met with and what they talked about,” Shane said. “If there’s something you can actually get to the bottom of, this is it.” A former Moscow correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, Shane decided “on a whim” to call up one of the fellows identified as an “interlocutor” of Cohen on his alleged Prague trip. This was Oleg Solodukhin, who was operating under the cover of Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian cultural exchange arm, according to the dossier. Solodukhin answered the phone. “He came on the line and I talked to him, and if the story was true I didn’t expect him to say, ‘Yeah, yeah, we talked about the hacking.’ I thought that if it was true, he would come up with some alternative explanation. But he said, ‘I don’t know where these rumors are coming from, and I’ve never met anyone from Trump circles.’” Shane plumbed other angles and sources, of course, but came up empty. “I’d eventually gotten hints from sources that there wasn’t evidence he’d gone to Prague, but then he denied it


What we know about the mysterious vaping-linked illness and deaths

vaping-related lung injuries. The finding points to the oil as a likely culprit in the outbreak, a top official said. Cases have been declining since a peak in September. While the number of new hospitalized cases are dropping, they have not returned to levels before June 2019 and public health officials remain worried about the disease. E-cigarettes have been sold for more than a decade, but reports of vaping-linked illness started proliferating this year. An investigation by state health departments in Illinois and Wisconsin traced the first signs of illness among 53 tracked patients to April. The victims — mostly young men with a median age of 19 — overwhelmingly ended up in the hospital, many under intensive care. A third went on respirators. Patients typically experienced coughing, chest pain or shortness of breath before their health deteriorated to the point that they needed to be hospitalized, according to the CDC. Other reported symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever and weight loss. Many victims have ended up with acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening condition in which fluid builds up in the lungs and prevents the oxygen people’s bodies need to function from circulating in the bloodstream. The Washington Post’s Lena Sun chronicled one Utah man’s experience with the disease: The first death from a vaping-related illness was reported Aug. 23 in Illinois. At that time, federal and state officials were investigating almost 200 cases of the baffling sickness in 22 states, according to the CDC. Oregon officials announced a second death, saying a middle-aged adult fell seriously ill after vaping with marijuana oil. It was the first casualty linked to a store-bought product. The list of states with deaths has grown quickly since. Initials, officials weren’t sure why the injuries were surfacing this year. “We’re all wondering if this is new or just newly recognized,” the CDC’s Dana Meaney-Delman said earlier this summer. Some argue that doctors may have missed previous cases: Susan Walley, chair of the tobacco control section of American Academy of Pediatrics, told BuzzFeed News that based on her experience, young people might not recognize their use of common e-cigarette brands such as Juul as “vaping” when pediatricians ask. Others are skeptical that older cases could have gone under the radar. “You have a lot of otherwise healthy young people suddenly arriving with fast-developing pneumonia in emergency rooms — that will raise red flags in


in vape shops that cater to adults but also can be purchased elsewhere. Federal health officials also said they would pursue companies that promote any kind of vaping product to minors or fail to take steps to keep the items away from them. Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Washington have enacted similar bans on flavored vaping sales over industry protests, and Massachusetts recently announced the strictest statewide regulations to date: a four-month halt to sales of all vaping products, effective immediately. Lawmakers elsewhere are mulling similar actions. “We’re seeing more and more states exploring what emergency powers they have,” said Michael Seilback, assistant vice president for state public policy at the American Lung Association. But the new policies face legal challenges. On Oct. 15, a Michigan judge halted the state’s flavor ban about two weeks after it took effect, ruling that the damage to vape businesses outweighs government’s interest in decreasing youth vaping, according to the Detroit Free Press. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has pledged to appeal the decision. Local policymakers are acting, too. San Francisco — home to Juul Labs — was the first city to ban all e-cigarette sales in June, a year after it outlawed flavored products. Vaping has risen dramatically in popularity around the world — from 7 million users in 2011 to 35 million a few years ago — as smoking rates decline. Tobacco and cigarette company Altria Group estimated nearly 14 million nicotine e-cigarette users in the United States earlier this summer. Another study found last year that more than half of American adult e-cigarette users are under 35 years old, stoking concerns about vaping among young people. Studies showing vaping’s growing popularity among teens sparked particular worry last year. About 37 percent of 12th-graders in the United States reported vaping over the past year in one government-funded survey released in December — nearly a 10 percentage-point increase from 2017. Nicotine vaping rates among high school seniors doubled in the past month, and younger students also reported higher use; marijuana vaping rose, too. A CDC report found last year that e-cigarettes were the most popular product among the nearly 5 million high school and middle school students who used tobacco within a 30-day period. Vaping’s popularity among students continued to increase this year, according to preliminary data that found 1 in 9 high school seniors say they vape near-daily — a figure


Why Americans should get to know Britain’s favorite Italian cooking authority

her work could be considered authentic,” author and food historian Elisabeth Luard explained. “Marcella was and is well known among those who read cookbooks, but Anna’s appeal was to ordinary home cooks. She’s accessible, direct and uncomplicated.” Lawson, too, admires “the elegance and archness of Anna’s writing, so particular to her now Anglo-Milanese sensibility,” and finds “her combination of erudition and practicality an object lesson in cookbook writing.” Michelin-starred talent such as Angela Hartnett (of Murano in London, among others) and Locatelli value the author for professional reasons. Harnett scans the pages for ideas, and can’t think of “any chef interested in Italian cooking who does not own an Anna Del Conte book.” Like Del Conte, Locatelli grew up in Northern Italy. But his culinary ambitions were shaped by the idea that to achieve recognition in the restaurant world required specializing in haute cuisine. “Italian cooking was a little bit like a Cinderella,” he said. Del Conte’s way of presenting it — endowing it with the gravitas of French cuisine without trying to make it resemble anything other than itself — made him realize there was validity to the food of his old world and that “home cooking is as important as haute cuisine, especially for Italian cuisine.” He also credits her with schooling Brits on the ethos of ingredient-driven cooking informed by season and location. Organized by region, Del Conte’s “Classic Food of Northern Italy” espouses that philosophy. First released in 1995, then, again, in 2004, it has recently been given an upgrade, complete with photography by Laura Edwards. As of Feb. 1, the updated version is available in the United States, where the author has remained mostly undiscovered. This might just be the book to change that. Three of its recipes — including that Rice Dressed With Fontina and Butter, Venetian Bread Soup and Pork Bundles With Pancetta and Herbs — showcase the simplicity, approachability and timelessness of her work, and the undeniable deliciousness of her food. “She’s a very good cook, you know,” Locatelli said. “She’s not just a good writer. Because a lot of good writers are not very good cooks.” She has her off days. When I check in after her lunch party, she confesses that the Timballo di Pasta di Beckendorf was “not one of my best.” But she could serve porridge, and it wouldn’t matter; you would thrill just to sit at that


Northern Ireland’s parliament collapsed three years ago. On Saturday, lawmakers go back to work.

on Britain’s program to encourage farmers and businesses to switch from fossil fuel to biomass heating. However, there was no cap on usage, so $2 could be paid in subsidies for every $1 spent, and costs spiraled out of control as users gamed the system. A public investigation, which could prove especially damaging for the DUP, is due to conclude in the coming months. But at the heart of the impasse over the past three years have been arguments over the use of the Irish language, and struggles over how British and Irish identities in the contested region are promoted. Northern Ireland has enjoyed relative peace and prosperity since the Good Friday Agreement was brokered, with assistance from the United States, in 1998 — ending three decades of sectarian violence known as the Troubles, which saw 3,600 soldiers, combatants and civilians killed. On Friday, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said her party was ready to share power with all other parties. She described the official recognition of Irish identity and funding for the Irish language as marking a “historic moment,” and said the pact would put Irish Gaelic on a par with English in Northern Ireland. McDonald said many “challenges lie ahead, including the impact of Brexit, austerity and other pressing issues.” The Sinn Fein leader said her party would continue to press for a referendum on Irish reunification, which the unionists oppose. A previous attempt to get a deal, in February 2018, proved unsuccessful after DUP leaders said they couldn’t sell the Irish language elements to their supporters, amid fears that the promotion and expansion of Irish would detract from their British identity. The DUP’s Foster said the new deal is “fair and balanced,” with the inclusion of “many mechanisms to strengthen the union,” and she hailed Britain’s promises to spend more on the region. “The key to making devolution work will be having the resources to do so,” she said. In recent weeks, thousands of health-care workers, including nurses for the first time, have been striking over pay and staffing levels in Northern Ireland, adding further pressure on the parties to get back to work. Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, described the deal as “historic.” Johnson said it is “a great step forwards for the people of Northern Ireland and for restoring public confidence in stable devolved government and delivering much-needed reforms to public services.” william.booth@washpost.com


Iran admits to shooting down Ukrainian passenger jet because of ‘human error’

accountable, but also compensation,” Prystaiko said Friday. In Washington, U.S. officials expressed “high confidence” that the Boeing 737-800 was targeted by an SA-15 surface-to-air missile, part of a Russian-made air defense system also known as a Tor system, as Iranian forces were on high alert. President Trump said the downing of the aircraft was probably a “mistake.” Then in Ottawa, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said intelligence analyses indicated that a surface-to-air missile hit the plane in what could have been an “unintentional” act. In London, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cited a “body of information that the flight was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.” A Ukrainian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment publicly, said Zelensky made the public request for evidence about the crash because the United States had not yet shared with Ukraine its intelligence about the missile Thursday. “The theory that the plane was hit by a missile is not ruled out, but it is not confirmed so far,” Zelensky added. Danilov wrote on Facebook that his team was considering a variety of possible causes but wanted to search for possible debris from a Tor air-defense missile, after seeing online reports about the discovery of possible fragments of one near the crash site. The Washington Post obtained a video that allegedly shows the moment the airliner was struck in midair. The video, first published by the New York Times, purportedly shows a missile intercepting the aircraft near the city of Parand, followed by a loud boom. Abedzadeh said Friday that video “cannot be confirmed.” If the United States and other Western countries “have any technical information [about the crash], they can provide us with it. American officials must substantiate their claims with technical evidence,” he said. Abedzadeh previously said that the pilot gave no distress call before the crash. He said the aircraft was on fire for over a minute and turned around “to come back to the airport.” “There could be different reasons why the pilot didn’t contact the control tower,” Abedzadeh said. “It could have been because his first priority was to save the plane.” Several minutes after takeoff, Abedzadeh said, the pilot contacted the Mehrabad airport, which also services Tehran, and asked for permission to climb to 26,000 feet. Shortly after that the plane caught fire, he said. Earlier Friday, the Iranian government


Trump administration hits Iran with fresh sanctions after attack on U.S. forces

organizations that have been imposed since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign to get Tehran to change its policies. Some Iranians have been hit by sanctions more than once, in what a U.S. official called a “wraparound effect.” Mnuchin said Friday’s action would cut off billions of dollars to the government. The latest round of sanctions are more broad-based than previous ones that have focused mostly on Iran’s oil, banking and shipping sectors. The new sanctions blacklist Iran’s entire construction, mining, textiles and manufacturing sectors. Anyone doing business with them will face sanctions as well. Brian Hook, the special envoy for Iran, predicted the sanctions would have a major impact on the leadership, because they target the sectors that have kept Iran’s economy “on life support.” “We have this regime that is facing its worst financial crisis, and its worst political unrest in its 40-year history,” he said in a call with reporters. “And so the regime has very bad options right now. They are in a state of panicked aggression.” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said last month that the U.S. “economic war” of sanctions had deprived Tehran of $100 billion in oil revenue and another $100 billion in investments. By some estimates, Iran’s economy contracted more than 10 percent last year. The economic stranglehold has forced Iran to adopt a “budget of resistance” that includes ending some subsidies and raising fuel prices. The budget cuts have helped spur widespread protests and a government crackdown. But the pain has mostly been felt by ordinary Iranians instead of government officials. The Trump administration says it believes the sanctions will push the Iranian government to renegotiate the nuclear deal, curtail its missile development program and stop its sponsorship of militias in neighboring countries. “We want Iran to behave like a normal nation,” Pompeo told reporters, reprising a demand he has made repeatedly over the past year and a half since he outlined 12 ways the Iranian government must change before sanctions can be eased. Though Pompeo and other administration officials have denied they are seeking regime change, imposing sanctions on officials involved in the crackdown against protesters signaled Washington’s support of those in Iranian society most discontented with their government. State Department officials have said as many as 1,500 Iranians may have been killed in the protests, though independent human rights group


Genetic sequencing of measles suggests a much older history for the virus

In the 10th century, Persian physician Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi wrote about patients with fever, anxiety and full-body rashes — the first clear medical descriptions of measles. But scientists have never been able to pinpoint when the virus came into being. Now, genetic sequencing of measles found in a pair of century-old lungs suggests the virus existed 1,500 years earlier than previously thought. Researchers from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin recently posted the results of a newly sequenced measles genome on bioRxiv, which publishes scientific manuscripts before they are submitted to journals. Figuring out when diseases first arose is tricky work: Researchers must sequence genetic information from various points in history to make educated estimates, and it’s difficult to find well-preserved samples of RNA viruses such as measles. Until recently, scientists had only analyzed three measles genomes occurring before 1990, and couldn’t track the disease back to earlier than the 11th century. Then, evolutionary biologist Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer found a pair of lungs in the basement of the Berlin Museum of Medical History at the Charité. They had been removed from a 2-year-old after her 1912 death from complications of measles. After sequencing the older measles RNA, Calvignac-Spencer and colleagues were able to track the virus to as early as 345 B.C. Their findings haven’t yet been peer reviewed, but they could have implications for how scientists treat long-neglected medical archives. If the measles research does spark a reconsideration of other medical specimens, it would fit into a growing trend of using archaeological artifacts and old data to fuel new scientific discoveries. Researchers have already begun to explore the potential of unleashing artificial intelligence on old data sets, and some are pushing to digitize the once-stagnant back collections of natural history museums. Everything old is new again — and the old stuff could be even older than we once thought.


No excuses, Virginia — it’s up to you to save these birds

the Virginia Wildlife Action Plan calls for “intense and immediate management action” to save such species. In summary, it’s a unique place for these birds. They’ve been driven out of other areas by development and predators such as cats, foxes and raccoons that have spread thanks to their ability to subsist on people’s trash. If the birds are displaced this spring and begin looking elsewhere for nesting sites, they also risk being struck by cars crossing the bridge — and potentially causing accidents — something that has happened multiple times in the past. That problem could be fixed by creating an alternate island farther from the roadway. Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration has a choice. It can, in effect, base its environmental policies on the federal government’s new legal interpretation of bird protection law, which says that migratory birds can be killed without regard so long as killing the birds is not the intention of the activity — one of the most damaging environmental decisions ever made. Or it can set its own path and help birds that will otherwise become victims of development. I am sure that Virginia does not really regard migratory birds as an inconvenience to be swept aside when they happen to be in the way of progress. But that’s the message that the state government is sending. This is exactly the sort of thinking that has caused North America to lose 3 billion birds since 1970. Authorities are taking similar decisions all across the United States on a regular basis. For the environmental community in our region, this choice facing Northam represents a watershed moment for the future of U.S. wildlife. If Virginia won’t save this hugely important bird colony when officials are fully aware of the situation and have all the tools at their disposal to remedy it, then what hope do wild birds and nature really have here? Please, Gov. Northam, save this critical habitat — and start the process of recovery for America’s birds. Read more: Diane Stopyra: I never meant to be a birder. But the birds didn’t give me any choice. Alexandra Petri: Just admit it! You don’t care about other species! Michael Parr: We’re losing birds at an alarming rate. We can do something about it. Kate Cohen: Most of us are hypocrites on climate change. Maybe that’s progress. Joel Clement: Once again, the U.S. embarrasses itself on climate change


Is it safe to travel to Hong Kong? I went to find out.

need to be super flexible and willing to go with the flow.” In terms of civil unrest, the world map has become a game of whack-a-mole, with many of the moles popping up in concert. This year, citizens have demonstrated in the United Kingdom, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Haiti, Russia, Zimbabwe, the Czech Republic, India, Egypt, Tunisia and Indonesia, among three dozen or so countries. Protests have led to the resignations of the prime ministers of Lebanon, Malta and Iraq. They have forced Paris officials to close the Eiffel Tower. They have caused airlines to cancel flights to Barcelona, the Spanish city that wanted to curb overtourism, but not this way. “This is definitely the age of mass protests,” said Samuel Brannen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There is not a region or place in the world that isn’t experiencing them.” Brannen said the trend started about a decade ago, with the Arab Spring, and “has ticked up in intensity globally.” Protesters’ activities are rarely isolated and self-contained; they spill into everyday life, affecting residents and travelers alike. Strikes shut down transit systems (see: Paris and Buenos Aires), and marches consume neighborhoods and popular thoroughfares (Santiago’s Providencia neighborhood, Barcelona’s Via Laietana, Hong Kong’s Kowloon). Officials barricade streets, including those in front of hotels and tourist attractions, and businesses alter their hours, forcing visitors to rejigger their itineraries. During standoffs between protesters and law enforcement, visitors have to lie low until the tension subsides. But once calm returns, they can pick up the sightseeing where they left off. To be sure, these disruptions are not pleasant, especially when you crave a soothing vacation. But (safely) witnessing a defining moment in a country’s history can provide unparalleled insights into a culture and a deeper understanding of its people and their passions. “Culturally, it’s not insensitive to visit,” said Bradley. “You can experience their pursuit of democracy.” As protests proliferate around the world, more travelers will have to face this tough question: Should you visit a destination experiencing unrest? (These days, you can ask yourself that same question without leaving the Beltway.) For the answer, you need to dig a little. Start with the travel advisories issued by government agencies, such as the U.S. State Department. For multiple perspectives, David Clapworthy, an Asia sales manager with Audley Travel, reads the warnings compiled by several countries, including


The Daily 202: Trump’s compulsion to take credit deepens his credibility gap amid questions about Iran intelligence

stop smoking over the past few decades, as well as more advanced treatments. The cancer death rate has fallen 29 percent overall since its 1991 peak, with declines every year from 1991 through 2017. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), a breast cancer survivor, noted that Trump’s budget for the current fiscal year proposed cutting more than $4.5 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health, but a bipartisan coalition in Congress blocked his request and instead appropriated a $2.6 billion increase in support. Chris Lu, a senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center who worked in the Obama White House, said the president is trying to have it both ways. Lu said that, if Trump wants to take credit for the cancer rate falling, “he also needs to own” that income inequality is the highest ever recorded, that the United States has suffered the most mass killings since at least the 1970s, that hate crimes are at a 16-year high, that July 2019 was the hottest month ever recorded and that air pollution is getting worse. -- Trump taking credit for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed earning the Nobel Peace Prize apparently stemmed from confusion about African affairs. Ahmed was recognized for his work securing a peace treaty with Eritrea after decades of hostilities. “Trump played no apparent role in the Eritrea peace deal, but Washington has played a convening role in another deal [Ahmed] is seeking with Egypt that will regulate how quickly Ethiopia can fill a new dam it has built in the upper reaches of the Nile River that has major implications for the flow of water Egypt relies on economically,” our Nairobi bureau chief Max Bearak explains. “The apparent conflation of the two led to widespread befuddlement on social media in Ethiopia and elsewhere, though by and large the comments were not taken seriously.” “He was talking about Egypt and Ethiopia,” a senior Ethiopian government official told the Associated Press. “President Trump really believes he avoided a war as such … but that was not the case.” MORE ON IRAN: -- The only woman to ever win an Olympic medal for Iran has defected to the West. “Alizadeh is not the only notable Iranian athlete to defect in recent months: Olympian and judoka world champion Saeid Mollaei left Iran and ultimately became a Mongolian citizen after Iranian officials allegedly pressured him to throw


A billionaire is taking applications for a life partner. The winner gets to go to the moon.

by emotions of embarrassment and pride, and I thought about refusing the offer. The more I thought about it, however, I started to think a chance like this might not come around again.” This is not the first eccentric stunt Maezawa has pulled. In early January, he announced that he would give away about $9 million in a lottery to his followers as part of a social experiment tracking whether money makes them happier. In 2018, Maezawa announced he purchased not just one, but all of the seats aboard SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket, which is tentatively set to blast off for a week-long trip to the moon in 2023. The amount of money he paid for the lucrative experience was not disclosed, but Musk has said it was “a lot.” Even then, Maezawa said he did not want to make the trip alone, which is why he chose to buy all the seats for six to eight artists as part of a project he called “Dear Moon.” An art collector, Maezawa said he wanted to launch filmmakers, painters, architects and sculptors into space with him on the condition that they create interstellar-inspired works upon their return to Earth. “I did not want to have such a fantastic experience by myself, that would be a little lonely,” he said. “I don’t like being alone. I want to share these experiences and things with as many people as possible.” Now he has taken the party to another level. Those vying to be his leading lady should apply by 10 a.m. Japan time on Jan. 17. Selection will begin at the end of the month, and the matchmaking dates will begin by mid-February. “Special dates” to get to know Maezawa will take place in mid-March, and a winner will be announced by the end of the month. In his online plea, Maezawa made clear he is not looking for a one-orbit stand. “I want to find a ‘life partner,’ ” he wrote. “With that future partner of mine, I want to shout our love and world peace from space.” Read more: Yusaku Maezawa just purchased every seat on the SpaceX flight to the moon. Who is he? Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to fly a Japanese billionaire and several artists on a tourist trip around the moon Yes, space tourism is for the rich. But sending artists to space is good for us all.


The Energy 202: Colorado voters will decide whether to bring back endangered wolves

they’re not going to recover species like wolves in the Southern Rockies,” said Noah Greenwald, the center’s endangered species director. Meanwhile in Colorado, Edward said there’s wide support among residents for reintroducing wolves. Conservationists say the predators can provide a check on the population growth of animals such as deer and elk, which eat vegetation. But opponents of the measure, like Denny Behrens, co-chair of the Colorado Stop the Wolf Coalition, argue wolves would kill livestock and risk the livelihoods of Colorado ranchers. Edward said the initiative would require the state to compensate owners when wolves kill cows, sheep or other livestock. But Behrens said the compensation is inadequate. “Check with the ranchers in Idaho and Montana; it’s not working. The depredation is so high, they don’t have the money to pay for it,” Behrens said. He said his group has the support of 25 Colorado counties and counting that have expressed opposition to the initiative. Joanna Lambert, professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado, said the wolf restoration effort in the state is especially notable as the world’s scientists warn about biodiversity loss. She pointed to the Australian fires as the latest crisis that has affected or killed more than a billion animals. “Anybody that has their eyes open looking around the world sees habitat destruction. If you’re paying attention, you cannot deny we’re losing wild things and wild places at a time when the measures we have to protect those species are increasingly being eroded,” she said. “Although what’s happening in Colorado is not necessarily addressing what’s happening at the federal level, it’s a statement on how much we are interested in saving what we have regardless of what’s happening at the federal level.” You are reading The Energy 202 , our must-read tipsheet on energy and the environment. — A dispatch from the “epicenter of global warming”: — The tortoise that helped save his species is retiring: — “We’re building an army, folks — In Australia, people are rushing to hospitals because the smoke pollution is so bad: — The reality of climate change, pollution was on display at CES: — Trump administration sets new standards for big equipment — Earthquakes and aftershocks continue to rock Puerto Rico: — Tesla is leading the electric vehicle race, but the strategy is risky: Coming Up — Teen discovers planet on the third day of his NASA internship:


With bioacoustics, conservationists try to save birds through their songs

rails and pied-billed grebes. Dave Lawlor, the park’s resource manager, said he hopes to discover the wetland depths that will coax the birds to breed again in this Northern Virginia urban oasis. Few terrains are as difficult as the mountains of Hawaii, the front lines of the struggle to save rare birds. A third of the United States’ endangered birds can be found on the islands, where a combination of predators, such as rats and pigs, and the avian malaria and nonnative plants have been lethal for many species. It has always been difficult to track Puaiohi (pronounced Pu-i-o-hee) thrushes where they live in the cliffs high above streams in Kauai’s rainforests. As the bird species slowly disappeared, a group of state and nonprofit agencies turned to bioacoustics to find the remaining 500 or so Puaiohi. Now they’re putting up fences, rat traps and mosquito treatments they hope will reverse the bird’s decline. Lisa “Cali” Crampton, project leader of the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project, said she often is asked why it is important to rescue a bird that people rarely see, in places you can hardly even reach. She said the thrushes, the island’s primary fruit eater that spreads seeds over the forest, are an example of how every species has a role to play. “I would hate to see us have to save only one bird, but it would be the Puaiohi,’’ she said. “We have no forest without the Puaiohi. Without forests, we have no flood control. We have no drinking water. The forest is the backbone of these islands.’’ Most of these projects are still in the initial data collection stage, so it will take time to compare results from one season to the next to come up with the long-term population, migration and breeding trends. “We’re still very much in the trenches,’’ said Mary Clapp, an avian ecologist at the University of California at Davis. But the potential is growing, not just for science but also for commercial applications, researchers say. Experiments beyond bird studies are exploring how to monitor the sound of machines in factories and on farms for malfunctions, help the deaf navigate their environments, and listen for the sounds of illegal poaching and lumbering in national parks. One long sought-after invention in beta testing at Cornell Lab of Ornithologyis the creation of a cellphone app that can instantly recognize birds as well


The only woman to win an Olympic medal for Iran just defected

Mongolian citizen after Iranian officials allegedly pressured him to throw a match to avoid competing against Israelis; Pourya Jalalipour, an Iranian para-archer who qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, left Iran in July to seek asylum in the Netherlands. “Should I start with hello, goodbye or condolences?” Alizadeh wrote in an emotional post that addressed her love of her homeland but anger with its regime. Alizadeh said the government took credit for her athletic achievement while humiliating her for her efforts, recalling one instance in which an official told her, “It is not virtuous for a woman to stretch her legs!” She described how Iranian officials attributed her success to their management practices, including making her compete in an Islamic headscarf, which is obligatory for women under Iranian law. “Whatever they said, I wore. Every sentence they ordered, I repeated,” she wrote, adding, “My troubled spirit does not fit into your dirty economic channels and tight political lobbies” “I have no other wish except for taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life,” she continued. “I accept the pain and hardship of homesickness because I didn’t want to be part of hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery. This decision is even harder to win than the Olympic gold, but I remain the daughter of Iran wherever I am.” Alizadeh did not disclose to where she had defected, mentioning only that “no one invited to me to Europe.” Radio Free Europe cited her past remarks, indicating she may have gone to the Netherlands. Some Iranian officials appeared to sidestep news that Alizadeh’s defection was driven in part by clashes with the government, while others demanded answers. Mahin Farhadizadeh, a deputy Iranian sports minister, suggested that the young athlete was bowing out of competition because of educational commitments, telling the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency, “I have not read Kimia’s post, but as far as I know she always wanted to continue her studies in physiotherapy,” according to Reuters. Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a member of parliament, accused “incompetent officials” of allowing Iran’s “human capital to flee” the country, Agence France-Press reports. Alizadeh’s move drew praise from State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, who commended the Olympian for “reject[ing] the regime’s oppression of women. “She has defected for a life of security, happiness, and freedom. #Iran will continue to lose more strong women unless it learns to empower and support them,” Ortagus said on Twitter late


How do sanctions on Iran work?: Reporters answer questions about U.S. strike that killed Soleimani and its aftermath

States has maintained its strike was legal as a form of self-defense. However, the U.N. rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnès Callamard, has concluded that’s probably not the case: The killings “most likely violate international law incl human rights law,” she tweeted Jan. 2. “Lawful justifications for such killings are very narrowly defined and it is hard to imagine how any of these can apply to these killings.” She added in another tweet: “Outside the context of active hostilities, the use of drones or other means for targeted killing is almost never likely to be legal.” — Miriam Berger Q. A. “If the United States withdraws from Iraq as backlash over the killing widens, Russia could strengthen its foothold in the country — much as it did in Syria after Trump ordered a troop pullout there last fall, a step that was later partly reversed.” Dixon wrote. — Miriam Berger Q. There are direct and indirect ways to restrict the flow of money to people, places, institutions and governments. The Trump administration has sanctioned more than 1,000 Iranian individuals, companies and organizations since withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal. Then, on Friday, it announced new sanctions, this time targeting Iran’s metal industries, as well as some senior military and national security officials. In the case of oil, the Trump administration has threatened to impose sanctions on countries that buy oil from Iran, thereby severely restricting the country’s market. Initially the United States granted some countries waivers, meaning they could buy Iranian oil without fear of an American financial reprisal. But those waivers expired in May, depressing Iran’s oil economy, as these graphs show. Sanctions can have far reaching effects: Trying to cash-strap a government, for example, trickles down to the people, too. — Miriam Berger Q. A. Hamid worked as an interpreter for U.S. forces in Iraq. It’s actually very common for contractors (and subcontractors) to be working on U.S. bases and for the U.S. military in Iraq (and anywhere else the United States has troops). The number of contractors, hired through private companies, aren’t included in U.S. troop counts. Despite that, they are a big part of what America’s military presence in the Middle East looks like. — Miriam Berger Q. A. Read a previous Q&A with reporters: Analysis: Trump’s ‘four embassies’ claim utterly falls apart Iranians protest for third day over downed airliner amid reports of gunfire by security


Dogs are helping save Florida’s citrus groves from a devastating disease

PERRY, Fla. — On a crisp, cloudless morning, Andy Jackson stood adjacent to a row of orange trees, his mind on the disease that has wiped out much of Florida’s citrus industry. He gazed intently at the weapon he had hired to defend his 25-acre grove against that scourge: a springer spaniel named Bello. At first glance, Bello might look more cute than formidable. But watch her work — running lickety-split alongside rows of trees, occasionally sitting under one to signal she has sniffed out the disease — and you might arrive at the opposite conclusion. Bello and her handler, Tyler Meck, work for F1 K9, a Florida firm that trains and provides dogs for an array of purposes, including the detection of explosives, drugs and agricultural disease. She and her keen-nosed canine colleagues represent an innovative, government-backed effort to counter the devastation caused by Huanglongbing, or HLB, a bacterium that prevents fruit from ripening. Agricultural experts and analysts estimate that since it surfaced in about 2005, HLB has caused a 75 percent decline in the state’s $9 billion citrus industry and forced nearly 5,000 growers to abandon the business. Like something out of a bad science-fiction flick, the culprit annihilating Florida’s citrus crops is a small flying insect, the psyllid, which acts as a highly effective HLB distributor. The insect feeds on the plant, drawing out its juices and the bacteria, and when it feeds again, it deposits the bacteria into the next plant. “That psyllid is really a little flying hypodermic needle,” said Tim R. Gottwald, a plant epidemiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As HLB continues to spread with deadly efficiency, some hope dogs will be the heroes to vanquish this crop-destroying foe. After all, canines have already demonstrated the ability to sniff out plant diseases, including citrus canker and plum pox virus, which infects peach, plum and cherry trees. The USDA has spent the better part of 15 years studying dogs’ capability to sniff out HLB, and it has found that the animals do so with 99 percent accuracy, according to Gottwald. Nineteen dogs, all owned by F1 K9, now boast this expertise and have been deployed in Florida and California. Experts say the dogs aren’t likely to stem the tide of the citrus industry’s destruction — it may be too little, too late — but they do offer the fastest and most accurate diagnosis


H.S. basketball notes: Clarksburg doesn’t need a ‘redo’ to prove itself as a Maryland contender

It would’ve been easy for Clarksburg’s players to feel satisfied with their accomplishments last season. The Coyotes qualified for the third round of the state playoffs for the first time and won their initial division title. But when they lost to Bethesda-Chevy Chase in the Maryland 4A West girls’ playoffs, Clarksburg’s players contemplated what else they could’ve done. “The kids were like, ‘Coach, we want a redo,’ ” Clarksburg Coach Sissy Natoli said. “I was like, ‘There’s no redos, but what you can do is come back strong next year.’ ” Clarkburg has taken advantage of that fresh slate. The Coyotes are 9-0 for the first time and have beaten opponents by an average of 32.2 points. “It’s all a transition of the year before — establish a tradition and try to get the kids to challenge that tradition and be better than the year before,” Natoli said. “You challenge the kids … coming in this year, saying, ‘Hey, can we go one step further and get to the final four?’ ” Clarksburg was far from that goal when Natoli began coaching the Montgomery County school at its opening in 2006. In her first few years, the Coyotes’ objective was to finish .500. As her teams continued to improve, expectations grew. “Those first couple years, I’m like, ‘It has to get better than this,’ ” Natoli said. “We were like the doormat for a while. People just kind of kicked us to the curb and just kind of ran all over us.” Any doubts about Clarksburg’s legitimacy changed during the Coyotes’ best season last year, when they finished 19-7. Still, Natoli isn’t satisfied with her squad’s start, believing the competition will only get tougher the rest of the season. Plus, Clarksburg’s players desire to make up for last year’s abrupt ending. ⇒ Maryland boys’ player of the week: Jomo Goings, G, Churchill. The senior averaged 31 points in wins over Walter Johnson and Wootton. ⇒ Maryland girls’ player of the week: Kaleah Boykin, F, Clarksburg. The junior had 16 points and 14 rebounds in the Coyotes’ 56-49 win over Quince Orchard. ⇒ Maryland game of the week: Great Mills girls at North Point, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday — Kyle Melnick When the D.C. State Athletic Association decided to split into two divisions before last season, KIPP was placed in the lower, A division. Instead of viewing the move as a slight,


News networks use retired military brass as war analysts without disclosing their defense-industry ties

During eight appearances on Fox News and Fox Business Network in early January, Jack Keane was introduced several ways: as “a retired four-star general,” as the former “vice chief of staff for the U.S. Army,” and as Fox News’s “senior strategic analyst.” All of those are accurate descriptions. Keane is a distinguished veteran, having commanded American troops in such places as Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia. Fox employs him to provide analysis of national security and military operations, such as the unfolding hostilities between the United States and Iran. But another part of Keane’s résumé wasn’t mentioned: the former general is also executive chairman of AM General, a leading defense contractor, best known as the manufacturer of the Humvee and other tactical military vehicles. He is also a partner at a venture-capital firm that specializes in the defense industry. In other words, viewers never learned that Keane has a direct financial interest in the war policies he was assessing on the air. Fox News’s nondisclosure of Keane’s role in the military-industrial complex is standard operating procedure for network news shows. Many of the retired military leaders employed by the networks as paid contributors have secondary affiliations that are rarely, if ever, mentioned, leaving viewers in the dark about whose interests they’re promoting. Like Fox News, none of the leading networks — ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and MSNBC — makes a regular practice of announcing its military analysts’ financial ties to the Pentagon, connections that could color their on-air comments. NBC News and MSNBC, for example, often turn to retired Adm. James Stavridis, the networks’ “chief international security analyst,” for commentary. But neither NBC nor MSNBC has mentioned that Stavridis, NATO’s former supreme allied commander, currently works for the Carlyle Group and McLarty Associates. Stavridis advises Carlyle on its multibillion-dollar portfolio of defense companies; he is chairman of the board of counselors at McLarty, which advises military contractors, among others. CBS’s own in-house military expert, retired Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., is a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is also on the board of Raytheon, a major defense contractor, a fact that hasn’t come up during Winnefeld’s recent appearances on the network. News organizations typically prohibit their employees and contributors from working for another entity that might profit, even indirectly, from the employee’s analysis or reporting. Others permit such affiliations but disclose them to readers or viewers.


The Health 202: Medicare-for-all goes MIA on the 2020 trail. Only Bernie Sanders remains a purist.

deaths in those expansion states between 2015 and 2017. “The new study appears to be the first to conduct a county-by-county examination of overdose deaths and Medicaid expansion. It found an 11 percent decline in the death rate from heroin overdoses and a 10 percent drop in deaths from illegal fentanyl and its analogues,” Lenny writes. “…The study found no link between Medicaid expansion and declines in overdose deaths from prescription narcotics.” OUCH: This season’s flu vaccine has been a poor match for severe flu infections sickening children, our Post colleague This season, flu activity began earlier than usual, and an influenza B strain has been dominating in most parts of the country, whereas usually an A strain dominates in early months. “Flu hit hard in the South with influenza B before spreading to much of the rest of the country. It’s the first time in nearly three decades that an influenza B strain has been the dominant circulating flu virus in the United States,” Lena writes. “Generally, that type of virus isn’t as dangerous to people 65 and older, who make up the majority of flu hospitalizations and deaths. But the B virus is more likely to cause complications in children and younger adults than in the elderly.” She adds that while flu viruses constantly change, “health officials must choose the influenza strains that vaccine makers should target for an upcoming season months in advance, when it is hard to know what strains might be circulating … The vaccine should still be useful, however. Although the circulating virus is genetically different from the influenza B virus in the vaccine, CDC officials said the two are similar.” — New research from the University of California at San Francisco examined women’s long-term feelings following an abortion – starting at one week following the procedure and then twice yearly after that. It was part of a look at the physical, social, emotional and economic impacts abortion has on women. “What they found was a surprise: Over time, all emotions, good and bad, faded,” our Post colleague Ariana Eunjung Cha reports. “A week after their abortions, about 51 percent of women expressed mostly positive emotions, 17 percent expressed negative emotions and 20 percent said they had none or few. As time went by, the number who felt few or no emotions rose sharply. At the five-year mark, 84 percent reported either primarily positive


The Republican case for Biden

Biden doesn’t even drink beer, or any alcohol, but he’s still able to inspire a sense of collegial good feeling. I saw as much at the November 2006 Return Day ceremony, a post-election tradition in Sussex County, Del., when politicians from both sides gather and literally bury a hatchet to symbolize goodwill. Lots of beer is consumed on Return Day, but one of the most convivial participants I saw was the teetotal Biden. Washington could use a few more old-school politicians who understand that spirit of bipartisanship. For some Democrats, the idea of wooing dissatisfied Republicans is nauseating. Yet the best outcome for the country may require the left-of-center to find common ground with the right-of-center, especially on trade, immigration and foreign policy. The surest way for that to happen is for Biden to win the Democratic nomination and the White House. Trump has bludgeoned free-trade Republicans into temporary submission, but it’s far from clear that they’ve forgotten basic economics. They may have lost some enthusiasm for trade deals, but the GOP wasn’t the party of tariffs before Trump, and it won’t be after Trump, when business interests can be expected to reassert their party influence. But Republicans weren’t alone in adjusting to Trumpian trade politics: Free trade has achieved record popularity among Democrats. It’s possible that the end of the Trump era will see Democrats revert to their usual trade-wariness; most of the Democratic presidential contenders don’t seem to match their constituents’ enthusiasm for free trade. But the beginning of a Biden presidency could present a brief, shining opportunity for trade liberalization. He’s certainly no fan of Trump’s tariffs. Immigration policy presents another opening. The ugliness of the Trump administration’s immigration policies might appeal to some parts of the GOP, but the president appears to be losing some Republicans on the issue. Between December 2018 and July 2019, for example, Republican support for accepting refugees from Central America climbed 10 points, to 24 percent, according to Gallup. Trump’s anti-immigrant message works with his base but cuts against overall trends: Since 1999, Gallup says, Americans’ support for keeping the immigration level the same or increasing it has climbed from 51 percent to 64 percent, with the biggest jump — from 10 percent to 27 percent — in support for raising the immigration numbers. On immigration, as on trade, big business will push the Republican Party toward compromise. Biden, who released


Restaurants are all in on plant-based burgers. Except McDonald’s.

drive-through times? And what is the cost and what are people willing to pay for?” And while McDonald’s has had success with products such as the fresh Quarter Pounder, consumers see the brand as more value-oriented (the P.L.T. is priced at $6.49 Canadian plus tax, about $5 U.S.). Many premium sandwich launches at McDonald’s have met with lukewarm enthusiasm because of their perceived high prices. McDonald’s uses value as a strategic weapon, Goldin said, with its dollar menu essentially a loss leader that “puts a world of hurt on the competition. They can do it because of their size and scale, and competitors are challenged.” Whether it is using Beyond, Impossible or another proprietary product, McDonald’s might be worried that a plant-based burger is going to be more expensive, a cost it may be leery of passing on entirely to its customers, Goldin said. Yarbrough said McDonald’s may have also decided to capitalize on a bigger opportunity: chicken. It has been working on a better chicken sandwich because, surprise, “they sell more chicken than they do beef,” Yarbrough said. Goldin agreed: “McDonald’s has a bigger opportunity. The franchisees are all screaming they don’t have a good chicken sandwich.” He said that plant-based burgers might be like the McDonald’s salads, menu offerings designed as hedges that deny veto power to vegetarians and vegans. “They said moms wouldn’t go to McDonald’s without salads,” Goldin remembered. “And no one ordered them.” Still, Goldin said he has never seen anything “this hot, this fast,” referring to plant-based meats. Impossible’s Konrad said this indicates a cultural shift. She said that when Impossible was gearing up, it did focus groups on purchasing motivation. No. 1 was taste, then there were factors such as nutrition, animal welfare and religious restrictions, and at the bottom of the list was concern for the environment. It did the same survey in May 2019. While the No. 1 reason to purchase remained taste, concern for the environment had crept to No. 3. “It shows a massive increase in awareness,” she said. Others aren’t so sure. Yarbrough said that while McDonald’s might be late to the game, there might be no penalty for that tardiness. After all, he said, no one knows whether plant-based is here to stay. “A few years ago bison burgers were going to overtake beef,” he said. “They were the next big thing. How did that work out?”


Could the global debt balloon pop? It’s hardly impossible.

a record 322 percent. All debts of “mature” nations such as the United States and Japan — including government, business and household borrowings — exceeded $180 trillion in September. That’s near a record 383 percent of all mature countries’ GDP. Similarly, debts of “emerging market” countries such as China and Brazil were $72 trillion, or a record 223 percent of GDP. Second, to a considerable extent, the sluggish global recovery is being driven by low interest rates and easy credit policies of central banks — the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the like. For example, the Fed’s target interest rate on overnight fed funds is now 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent. "In good economic times, governments would get their houses in order," says economist Sonja Gibbs of the IIF. "That's not being done now." Is this good policy or bad? One view is that the global economy is so weak that the borrowing — while worrisome — is necessary to avert a further slowdown or an outright recession. The other interpretation is that high debts risk deeper trouble, though it’s hard to predict precisely what. For example, the IIF estimates that $19 trillion of bonds and loans will mature in 2020. "Redemptions are high for China, India and Brazil within emerging markets and for the U.S., Japan and Germany within mature markets," the IIF report says. If any major borrower defaulted, because it couldn't refinance existing loans, there could be a wider fallout. Some historical danger signals are flashing: high borrowing and lending; enthusiasm over a new technology (say, railroads in the 19th century, the Internet now); easy credit; high prices for stocks and bonds. Optimism is widespread — until it isn’t. Opinion then changes abruptly. It soon becomes obvious that there was overinvestment in the new technology. Stock and bond prices fall, reversing previous speculation. If these reactions are mild, the economy enters a brief recession. But if they’re powerful, a broad-based financial crisis or serious recession might occur. There’s no obvious red line signifying too much debt. The answer depends on a multitude of factors and circumstances that government can’t easily control. But there’s a red line out there somewhere, and we’re getting closer to it all the time. Read more Robert J. Samuelson: Will the global debt bomb explode again? Robert J. Samuelson: With booming global debt, we’re entering unexplored territory


Watch this cat fight off three coyotes that were definitely planning to eat him

lunged at the cat. Max jumped back, yellow eyes gleaming on the security camera, causing the coyote to retreat. The other two coyotes thought they could take the street-smart cat, but Max glared at them and pivoted in their direction. The coyotes stepped back and rethought things. The coyotes leered at Max and inched toward him, but Max would not yield. He leaned heavily on his back paws and lunged at one of the coyotes as its friends looked on, as if considering whether they should jump back into the fight. Max turned to face the other two ― letting them know he still had his eyes on them. He jumped at them, paws spread wide, which frightened one coyote enough that it jumped onto a ledge. With his tail erect and white paws out for blood, Max strategically swatted away the beasts. Little did he know, his humans were about to break up the fight. Gurrin and her husband, Eliot, saw some tails wagging through a glass door, and decided to go outside to investigate the noise. “We thought it was a raccoon,” she said. “We went out and saw that he was surrounded by them. The coyotes hurried off when we went out there." Max walked back inside unfazed and unsullied. “He wanted to go right back outside like a psycho,” Gurrin said. Gurrin said she’s seen coyotes in the area before but never three at once. Since his brush with death, Max has been inside, but the Gurrins know that they can’t keep him indoors forever, based on experience. Max had grown seemingly sad about the decline of outdoor activity in his life once they moved from an apartment complex to their current home, she said. He started urinating in the house, gaining weight and crying as he looked longingly at outside life, she said. She and her husband supervised his outdoor time and noticed he would often return after 30 minutes or a couple of hours of exploring, she said. That’s no longer enough given recent events, so the Gurrins are working out a compromise that would ensure Max’s safety and give him the freedom to smell the outdoors in the form of a catio or cat patio, which is an enclosed outdoor structure for cats still tapped into their wild side. The structure will be built in coming days, she said. Max is very intelligent,


The D.C. region’s AU Park and Fairlington are among Redfin’s 20 most competitive neighborhoods in the U.S. for home buyers

For much of 2019, the focus of attention for the Washington region was the neighborhood surrounding the new Amazon headquarters site in Arlington and Alexandria, Va. The Amazon second-headquarters story garnered attention across the nation with housing experts fascinated by the potential impact of the behemoth company’s move here. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) A review of sales data by Redfin real estate brokerage shows the 20 most competitive neighborhoods in the country for 2019. As expected, one of the neighborhoods was in Arlington. Redfin’s report is based on the company’s “Compete Score,” which uses data such as the number of competing offers, how quickly a home sells, how much the sales price is above the list price and the number of waived contingencies (which refers to buyers giving up items such as a home inspection) to evaluate how difficult it is for buyers to obtain a home in a neighborhood. Each of the top 20 neighborhoods had a Compete Score above 90, which means that most homes in that community got multiple offers, typically with waived contingencies. In the D.C. region, the AU Park/Friendship Heights neighborhood in Northwest ranked No. 7 with a Compete Score of 94.2. In that neighborhood, homes sold in a median of seven days for a median sales price to list price ratio of 103.6 percent. The median sales price for the neighborhood in November 2019 was $1.1 million, and 57.8 percent sold for more than the list price. The other D.C.-area neighborhood on the list was Fairlington in Arlington, which ranked No. 18 with a Compete Score of 93.0. In that neighborhood, homes sold in a median of seven days for a median sales price to list price ratio of 101.8 percent. The median sales price for the neighborhood in November 2019 was $485,000, and 59.1 percent sold for more than the list price. While some neighborhoods are still highly competitive, nationally, 12 percent of offers written by Redfin agents faced a bidding war, compared with 48 percent in 2018 and 53 percent in 2017. The city with the most competitive markets — 10 of the top 20 — was San Francisco, followed by Boston, which had four of the most competitive neighborhoods. Grand Rapids and the District had two neighborhoods among the most competitive. For the full report, click here.


Afghan war plagued by ‘mendacity’ and lies, inspector general tells Congress

senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the conflict had become unwinnable. Known as The Afghanistan Papers, The Post’s series was based on hundreds of confidential interviews that SIGAR conducted with key figures in the war. The inspector general had drawn on the interviews to publish seven reports — called “Lessons Learned” — about policy failures in Afghanistan. But the reports left out the harshest and most frank criticisms and omitted the names of more than 90 percent of the people who were interviewed for the project. The Post obtained about 2,000 pages of unpublished notes and transcripts from the interviews under the Freedom of Information Act, but had to sue SIGAR in federal court — twice — to force it to release the records. Several lawmakers said they were shocked by revelations in The Afghanistan Papers, including blunt admissions from generals, ambassadors and White House officials that they didn’t know what they were doing in Afghanistan and that the war strategy was fundamentally flawed. “The documents, and The Post’s excellent reporting, helped fill in some significant gaps in our understanding of the U.S. war in Afghanistan,” said Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.), the committee chairman. “It’s a damning record. It underscores the lack of honest public conversation between the American people and their leaders about what we were doing in Afghanistan.” Rep. Michael McCaul (Tex.), the ranking Republican on the panel, said The Afghanistan Papers served “as a sober reminder of our past mistakes and underscores the importance of the Trump administration’s efforts to end the war.” Sopko defended his agency’s attempts to withhold the documents, saying he had an obligation to protect the identities of people who criticized the war and wanted to remain anonymous. “These people who spoke to us risked a lot,” he said. “You know what this town is like, you know what it’s like if somebody bad-mouths their old boss or whatever.” At the same time, under questioning from lawmakers, Sopko acknowledged that there was no evidence anyone had faced retribution since The Post published its series last month. “There is no retaliation that we know of,” he said. craig.whitlock@washpost.com Read more: How The Post unearthed The Afghanistan Papers ‘Why now?’ Answers to 16 reader questions about The Afghanistan Papers. A visual timeline of the war in Afghanistan


What we learned about the 2020 Democrats and foreign policy last night

to the pre-Trump status quo — a status quo that has become even more popular during the Age of Trump, by the way! This time is different, however, because in the run-up to this debate, President Trump’s moves against Iran put foreign policy front and center. Everyone knew that the candidates would be asked specific questions about Iran, terrorism and other foreign policy issues. So how did they do? Well, on the one hand, here is Kyle Kondik’s assessment: That was partially true. On trade, when Sanders talked about using the power of the federal government to force firms not to engage in outsourcing, he sounded an awful lot like Trump, and an awful lot out of date on the question of outsourcing. And when Warren talked about generals claiming that they’ve turned the corner in Afghanistan so many times, “we’re going in circles,” it was a pithier version of Trump. That said, there were some commonalities in the Democratic answers that were mildly reassuring. It was interesting to hear Biden and Sanders say that they made mistakes in their votes for Iraq and Afghanistan. Leaders acknowledging mistakes is a good thing! It’s much better than ludicrous claims of infallibility. Both Sanders and Warren stressed the need for multilateral solutions to Iran and climate change; Biden talked about the need to restore U.S. alliances. Buttigieg had the best foreign policy answer of the night in calling for an end to the current AUMF and for Congress to take some responsibility in foreign policy — a point that Biden agreed on. To the extent that it matters, the tenor of the foreign policy debate likely helped Biden, since he is the most trusted on this issue by both the elite and mass public. That said, a recent Morning Consult survey shows that “voters consider health care and climate change the two most important issues in the race,” and Sanders is more trusted on those issues. So I suspect the post-debate landscape will resemble the pre-debate landscape. The good news is that every candidate on the stage sounded better than Trump in describing their foreign policy worldview. The better news is that candidates largely avoided the trap of making specific policy promises that will not age well. Axios’s Zachary Basu described the foreign policy portion of the debate as “tame but substantive.” After four years of counterproductive disruption, that sounds awfully compelling.


Science and engineering report shows continued loss of U.S. dominance

The United States has continued to fall from its position as the uncontested world leader in science and engineering, according to a federal report on scientific investment and education released Wednesday. The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, a federal statistical agency within the National Science Foundation, took the pulse of American science by compiling research expenditures, journal articles, the scientific workforce and education data. The NSF submits this state-of-the-science report to Congress every two years. The report identifies several obstacles and declines. “There’s no denying that the U.S. science and engineering enterprise faces head winds,” Diane Souvaine, the chair of the National Science Board, told reporters on Tuesday. “Fifty-nine years ago, President Kennedy sent America on a path to the moon,” she said. “Today we find ourselves again in an hour of challenge and change.” What the report found on investment: The U.S. economy is tightly bound to science and technology. Since World War II, these advancements have driven 85 percent of economic growth, said Julia Phillips, chair of the National Science Board’s science policy committee. In 2017, the United States spent $548 billion on research and development. That’s more than any other country. Business investments have driven growth of research and development spending, which has increased by about 4 percent each year since the turn of the century. But, on the global stage, the U.S. share in R&D has been shrinking while the world’s total swelled to more than $2 trillion — an overall tripling of investments between 2000 and 2017. In 2000, nearly 40 cents of each dollar used for R&D was spent in the United States. By 2017, the U.S. portion was down to 25 cents. Much of the growth has been in Asia; China, which was responsible for 32 percent of the increase in those 17 years, is probably the world’s largest R&D performer. “China may already have surpassed the U.S. in total expenditures at some point in 2019,” Phillips said, based on a National Science Board projection. Phillips drew a distinction between two types of science expenses, what she called “fundamental research” vs. “experimental development.” Fundamental research, which includes theoretical and applied work, generates new knowledge, she said. The United States spends more in this area than any other country, by a significant amount. This, Phillips said, is the “seed corn” of American science and engineering enterprise. The government funded $76 billion of


What might Britain’s E.U. withdrawal mean for the Irish border? A photo essay.

270 public roads crisscross it, and on some, you can’t always tell exactly where. The subtleties can be as simple as a contrast in the pavement, as seen in the first photo on the road from Londonderry to the village of Muff in the Republic of Ireland. In Belleek, there is a gas station situated in such a way that when you walk through the front door, you’re in the Republic of Ireland, but when you exit out the back, you’re in Northern Ireland. All this makes it difficult to imagine restoring checkpoints and customs controls, which the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union could require. What to do about that winding line between the two Irelands has become a sticking point in Brexit negotiations. There could be other consequences, too. This past year, attacks on police, the killing of a young journalist and a bombing in a border village were attributed to Brexit stoking relatively dormant sectarian tensions. It is unclear if political leaders will figure out a solution by the time the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. What is clear, though, is that they run the risk of endangering a hard-won peace that the creation of the European Union helped secure. A dog and horse on the Northern Ireland side of the River Fane. The trees in the background on the other side of the river are in the Republic of Ireland. Standing in Northern Ireland just outside the Republic of Ireland, on a road heading into the town of Clones. If you drive on this road for seven miles, you will reach Clones in just over 10 minutes — and cross the border four times. A former official flag of Northern Ireland — known as the Ulster banner — flies in the Protestant enclave of the Fountain, which is surrounded by mostly Catholic communities in the border city of Londonderry (also called Derry) in Northern Ireland. A sign in Londonderry opposing internment by remand, a practice used during the Troubles, in which the British held Irish republicans for years without charging them. A small shop in Clones, which is in the border region and has been designated for economic development by the Irish government. The majority of roads into Clones lead to Northern Ireland. Beer kegs behind a pub in Clones, a small town in western County Monaghan, in the Republic of Ireland. The rear


‘A real wildcat in the District’: Bobcat spotted in D.C. along the C&O Canal

said. That same year, Ollie, the National Zoo’s bobcat, escaped from its enclosure. She was found about two days later near the zoo’s Bird House exhibit, not far from her home. This bobcat, Rauch said, is probably about a year old. Bobcats are native to North America and can range from Canada to southwestern New Mexico. In the Washington region, sightings have been reported in rural areas of Maryland and Virginia. Rauch said the bobcat probably traveled down the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal from rural Virginia or Western Maryland. He said it could be moving through or “looking for territory, looking to hunt or looking to find a mate.” Bobcats are reclusive, nocturnal animals about twice the size of a house cat. They eat small birds, rodents and other small mammals, along with the occasional snake. They pose no danger to people and are unlikely to be spotted during the day, Rauch said. “They’re not going to go after a small dog,” he said. “They’re nothing to be concerned about. They’re just making D.C.'s habitat a little more wild.” DC Cat Count has more than 1,000 cameras placed throughout the city, each taking about 4,000 photos over a two-week period. The cameras take about five photos each time they detect movement, Herrera said. The photos are then sorted, but the process takes time, officials said in explaining how an image from November was discovered only this month. The cat census is being conducted through the Humane Rescue Alliance and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. Some on social media initially wondered whether the image showed “Cookie” the house cat, which some thought to be a mountain lion after the cat was found in September on a Georgetown home security camera. Rauch said the bobcat image is a sign that Washington’s wildlife is thriving. He noted that American coots and ravens have also been seen recently in the District, birds that are new to breeding in this area. While spotting the bobcat in person would be highly unlikely, Rauch advised anybody who comes across one to “step back and give it some room.” Read more: Injured bald eagle makes full recovery, is released into wild in Fairfax County After 8 days on the run in Maryland, two dogs are reunited with their owner A teen dropped his cellphone down a storm drain. A crew found it with 1 percent of battery left.


The hellebore: Popular, early and now in a dazzling variety

be 20 inches high or so, at least as wide and decorated with as many as a hundred flowers. They are small bowls, nodding to protect their pollen against the winter weather. The colors are extraordinary, and they change, softening as the plant completes its seasonal growth spurt. Some are pale yellow, others apricot, others creamy white, or green, or deep magenta, wine or purple-black. In a normal winter, whatever that is, the hellebore begins to stir sometime in February, reaches its peak of fresh blossoming in March and the blooms persist ornamentally until the end of April. The flowers endure because the petals are in fact thick structures called sepals. Oddly, for an herbaceous perennial, the hellebore is evergreen. But for a clean display, the previous season’s leaves should be removed before the new growth gets established. Be careful not to slice into the fresh growth or your fingers. This winter, like last winter, is shaping up to be mild and uneven. The hellebores already are peeking and will appear early, barring some deep freeze. They are remarkably cold-hardy, though, which makes them one of the very few plants in the garden that bridges that groundshaking, protean period from late winter to early spring. I often greet the hellebore in the frenzy of April and think, “You kicked off this party way back in February.” Other gardeners see the beauty, grace and value of hellebores, not least because hellebores can grow in the dry shade of a wooded area where the choices are limited. In hot regions, they prefer a little shade. When hellebores first hit the scene, the varietal offerings were meager, and, in retrospect, the blooms were mediocre. “We saw the potential of beautiful flowers in English books,” said Marietta O’Byrne, co-owner of Northwest Garden Nursery in Eugene, Ore. She and her husband, Ernie O’Byrne, have been key figures in this advance. They have spent almost 30 years refining their varieties in the decidedly low-tech and laborious practice of hand-pollinating and then bagging flowers (to prevent unintended bee pollination) to create seed strains uniform within their respective groups. They are not the usual genetic clones found in mass-produced horticulture, but, as Marietta O’Byrne points out, are “more like brothers and sisters.” As a result of their skill and devotion, they have raised the bar to the point that the original English varieties they aspired to pale by


What it’s like for one boy living with autism and Duchenne muscular dystrophy

At the end of a long day at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, the Barber family sits in a dimly lit exam room. As cartoons play on a television in the background, J.J., a 13-year-old boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and autism, sits on an examination table while his father, James, sits in his son’s wheelchair and his mother, Lisa, sits in a chair. It’s one of the first moments of respite the family has had after a long day. They’ve been going nonstop since 8 in the morning. Once all the tests have been finished for the day, the Barbers sit in tired silence. J.J. parrots the TV show, and Lisa reaches over to touch her son’s foot. She slowly lifts up the leg of J.J.’s sweatpants and pretends to bite his calf. She then gently tickles him. “He’s pretending to resist me. I know he can’t resist my tickles,” Lisa says. James reaches over and begins to tickle J.J.'s other calf, prompting the boy to explode into uncontrollable laughter. After a painful ultrasound and a failed attempt to inject J.J. with an osteoporosis medication, the laughter is a welcome relief. The condition J.J. has, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, is a rare genetic disorder that, beginning in early childhood, causes progressive atrophy and weakening of muscles, making it difficult for those affected to run, walk, sit and, eventually, breathe, leading to early death. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the condition primarily affects boys and its symptoms tend to show up between the ages of 2 and 5. There is no cure for Duchenne right now; people with the condition often die in their teen years and rarely live beyond early adulthood. Although Duchenne is the most common form of muscular dystrophy, there are others that tend to show later in life — some not until middle age — and also tend to have a less severe impact. J.J. had been part of a clinical trial for an experimental drug to improve calcium binding in osteoporosis. However, he was put in the control group, meaning he would have to endure the industry standard, an hour-and-a-half-long injection of Zometta, a calcium-binding enhancer. As the day came to a close, the Barbers waited for the final results of the ultrasounds before going to get McDonald’s — J.J.’s reward for braving the day. The three of


Four big takeaways from the explosive Lev Parnas documents

that Giuliani was set to undertake his pressure campaign. In the letter, Giuliani explicitly states that he was representing Trump “as a private citizen, not as the president of the United States,” and also that Giuliani was carrying out this mission with Trump’s “knowledge and consent.” That confirms in Giuliani’s own words that his scheme was geared toward satisfying Trump’s personal interests, even as Giuliani was in effect carrying out U.S. foreign relations with an ally. Our national interests were subverted to Trump’s own, at Trump’s explicit direction. One of Trump’s main defenses is that, in pressing Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden — and another that would absolve Russia of 2016 electoral sabotage — he was merely acting as a responsible leader. Yes, Trump froze hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid while demanding these investigations, but only because he reasonably wanted Ukraine to clean up “corruption”! That has always been obvious nonsense, but the letter forcefully underscores the point: Trump’s defenders cannot explain why, if he was merely acting in the national interest throughout, he needed his private attorney to orchestrate the whole scheme, all to his private benefit. The menacing texts about Yovanovitch raise questions that will yield more revelations. The documents contain menacing-sounding text messages between Parnas and an associate, Robert Hyde, who appeared to be tracking the movements of Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine removed by Trump. Some texts seem to capture Hyde relating his communications with people tailing Yovanovitch. One said: “They will let me know when she’s on the move.” Separately, a text from a former top Ukrainian prosecutor shows him pushing Parnas to help oust Yovanovitch so he can then carry out efforts to dig dirt on Biden. Recall: Giuliani wanted Yovanovitch out of the way so he could implement his corrupt pressure on Ukraine. Also, Trump told Zelensky on July 25 that “she’s going to go through some things,” which made Yovanovitch feel threatened. It’s not clear what that meant, but at a minimum, we know Giuliani launched an ugly smear campaign to oust Yovanovitch, and plainly, Trump was aware of it in some way before removing her himself. The House Foreign Affairs Committee will, in coming hours, demand that the State Department provide information on its knowledge of any security threats to Yovanovitch during that campaign against her. In a statement sent my


Claire’s Journey: Their 8-month-old daughter was admitted to the hospital for a common virus. Then they discovered her brain was ‘shrinking.’

There are two ways to read the Facebook page created in Claire Aldrich’s name. You can start with the last post and scroll down, or you can start with the first post and scroll up. No matter how you unfurl the infant’s story, it ends the same way — too soon. The first post on Dec. 17 shows her in a red dress with a matching bow on top of her head. She is smiling and sticking out her tongue playfully. Less than a month later, in one of the last posts, a photo shows an orange glow cast across her face. Her eyes are closed. “I took this photo of Claire last night as the sun went down,” it reads. “It was the last sunset she would see, but she basked in the setting light as it faded to dark. You fought so hard, sweet one. We are so, so very proud of you.” The Facebook page is titled “Claires Journey,” and her mother started it after she and her husband, Jeff, learned that what they thought were febrile seizures from RSV, a common respiratory virus with symptoms that resemble a cold, were actually an indication that their 8-month-old daughter was much more ill. “It was her body reacting to the fact that her brain is, essentially, shrinking,” her mother, Sally Aldrich, explained in a post on that page. The doctors, she wrote, told the couple that the frontal lobe of their daughter’s brain had significantly deteriorated and she had minimal white matter. Doctors then informed them that she had a degenerative brain disease causing a rapid deterioration that would continue until she passed away. “There is no treatment, there is no cure,” Aldrich wrote in that post. “It was no one’s fault. It was not something that we did, or did not do. It could be genetic, or it could be bad luck. . . . Our amazing, darling girl is going to die. And there is nothing that we can do to stop that. I am her mother, and I want to run away with her. I want to pretend that the doctors are wrong, that she is fine. But they aren’t, and she isn’t. I do not have the words to express how my husband and I feel. All I can say is that we are broken. We are deeply and utterly broken.” There is no


A government watchdog nailed Trump. Republicans cannot say no laws were broken.

with the President’s foreign policy.’ ... The ICA does not permit deferrals for policy reasons.” While beyond the purview of the GAO, we now know the “policy reason” was false; this was about extracting a political benefit for Trump that conflicted with administration policy. Third, GAO also rebuts another lie that this was a “programmatic delay”: “Here, there was no external factor causing an unavoidable delay. Rather, OMB on its own volition explicitly barred [the Defense Department] from obligating amounts.” It should be noted that in addition to lying to the American people and Congress about the reason for the holdup, the administration also lied to GAO. Finally, GAO in essence accuses the White House of obstruction in refusing to provide all the necessary documents. "OMB and State have failed, as of yet, to provide the information we need to fulfill our duties under the ICA regarding potential impoundments of FMF funds. We will continue to pursue this matter and will provide our decision to the Congress after we have received the necessary information. " In ominous phrasing, GAO says: “We consider a reluctance to provide a fulsome response to have constitutional significance.” (Emphasis added.) The administration is nothing if not consistent in its stonewalling. Tribe sums up: “So this nonpartisan body’s finding that the OMB withholding of the military funds appropriated for Ukraine’s defense against Russia violated the Impoundment Control Act undercuts a substantial part of what the president and his defenders have been using as talking points.” With each new revelation and piece of evidence that pops up, Senate Republicans’ refusal to consider overwhelming evidence of impeachable conduct becomes less sustainable. The issue is no longer whether Republicans can make ridiculous excuses for violating their oaths as senators and jurors. We know many do so easily with no shame. (Appealing to conscience incorrectly assumes that most Republicans are guided by conscience.) Now the issue is whether the public will tolerate a pattern of corruption, lying, obstruction and betrayal of the president’s oath — and whether they will put up with a Senate coverup. Read more Dana Milbank: Impeachment descends into darkness E.J. Dionne Jr.: Debating in the shadow of impeachment Caroline Fredrickson: It’s up to John Roberts to make sure senators stay true to their oath Jennifer Rubin: Here is why Senate Republicans dare not exclude witnesses Greg Sargent: Four big takeaways from the explosive Lev Parnas documents


A vegan YouTube star went to Bali. A video of her there brought her platform crashing down.

The post showed the Instagram and YouTube star on the beach in a red dress, the turquoise waters behind her an unmistakable sign she had landed in a tropical paradise. "Can you guess where I’m at?” Yovana Mendoza Ayres, 29, a professional social media influencer known as Rawvana, wrote in the caption. “I’ll give you a hint: it’s a plant based paradise.” Ayres had made a name for herself on YouTube and Instagram by extolling the virtues of a raw and vegan lifestyle, now often referred to as “plant-based.” Her YouTube channels — she has about 2 million subscribers on her Spanish language channel and another 500,000 in English — are filled with videos of her sharing vegan recipes and skin care routines. On her personal website, she sells meal plans, including a 21-day “Raw Vegan Detox & Yoga Challenge,” to help people lose weight for $49. But a couple of weeks after she landed in Bali, she appeared in another YouTube star’s video at a restaurant. The camera found her seated in front of a salad. Her arms dropping to cover the plate did not stop commenters from identifying a distinctly not plant-based item on her plate: fish. The story of the vegan social media star who was not really a vegan has now traveled across the globe and back. It has been covered by news outlets around the world: from England, to Mexico to Poland and Mexico — the punchline of a joke to some, and to others, yet another example about the way in which the vast and largely unregulated world of social media presents such a ripe environment for scams. But it also suggested a darker truth: the audience is not the only victim of the proliferation of false worlds online. Content creators suffer these algorithm-driven systems too, forcing them into a never-ending quest for viewers, ad money, sponsorships and engagement against dwindling attention spans. For some, like Ayres, the pressure may simply be too much. In an emotional apology Ayres released on YouTube last week, she explained why she misled her fans. She changed her diet after years of significant health problems that culminated with doctors urging her to eat more food, including protein and eggs, she said. The lifestyle of fitness, weight loss and wellness she had sold to her followers had apparently been making her ill. “I know that so many of you


Mountain goats are flying out of a national park. It’s a long story.

Mountain goats belong in mountains. But they don’t belong in the mountains of Olympic National Park, officials say. Although the white-furred, black-horned animals look right at home on the Washington park’s stunning peaks, park officials refer to the mountain goats there as an exotic species, as well as a “nuisance.” They were introduced to the area in the 1920s, officials say, and have since gone on to destroy vegetation and erode soils. What’s more, they’ve become comfortable to the point of dangerous with park visitors, one of whom was fatally gored by a mountain goat in 2010. So now goats are flying — plucked by helicopter off the terrain and placed into trucks, then a ferry, on a journey to a new home in a forest 100 miles away. After years of planning and public review, officials began capturing goats this week and relocating them to the North Cascades mountain range, where they’re native but in short supply. The effort, Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum said in a statement last week, “will relieve issues with non-native mountain goats in the Olympics while bolstering depleted herds in the northern Cascades." The strange sight — of soaring pairs of goats in blue blindfolds, their hoofs dangling above treetops — is the first stage of a plan aimed at removing at least 90 percent of Olympic’s mountain goat population of about 725, according to the Park Service plan. It anticipates that half the goats will be relocated, and that the remainder will eventually be killed with shotguns or high-powered rifles in an operation lasting three to five years. The goats captured Tuesday were tagged and fitted with GPS collars, the Seattle Times reported, adding that at the end of it all, the animals “galloped from their crates dazed and somewhat bewildered by the ordeal and their new home.” It’s not the first time park officials have sought to reduce the mountain goat population through evictions. More than 400 were captured and moved to other Western mountain ranges in the 1980s, and another 119 outside park were killed, according to the Park Service. But the goats rebounded, doubling in number to about 625 between 2004 and 2016. If nothing is done, the Park Service says, the population could grow to 1,000 by 2023. Doing nothing was one of four plans considered during a review process that began in 2014. That alternative, documents note,


Thieves stole 7,000 creepy insects and spiders from a museum. But why?

they know it’s what you say it is. It’s that easy.” Sales of regulated and banned insects take place online as well as at legal trade shows, Verderame said. Such creatures require permits for a reason. Some, such as hissing cockroaches, are restricted because they could establish breeding populations if released in hospitable environments, such as Florida. Others, including many tarantula species, are restricted because they’re becoming rare in their home ranges. Unfortunately, scarcity can also drive demand. “I think that’s sometimes some of the lure for them. They’re a unique specimen, and they are fascinating,” Verderame said. “A lot of people have never gotten to see one alive.” The exotic insect industry is particularly lucrative in Asia, where scarab beetles are traded like show dogs, she said — some for their beauty, others for their ability to fight. “The males have horns they use to wrestle other males for a mate,” she said. The insects can even be encouraged to square off by the introduction of a little bit of a female’s pheromone into the ring. The FBI joined the investigation in Philadelphia over the weekend The theft, meanwhile, has forced the insectarium to shut down two of its three floors, leaving the butterfly pavilion as the only open exhibit. Police recovered the fire-legged tarantula during a search of one former employee’s house, but most of the stolen animals are still unaccounted for. Cambridge said he almost hopes some have been sold, because he doubts their captors would be able to adequately care for all of them for this long. “If they haven’t sold, they’ve probably died,” he said. While part of the building is closed, the team is acquiring thousands of new insects, rebuilding exhibits and planning to host a grand reopening in early November. It will celebrate hard-to-love animals that are among the most abundant, and resilient, life-forms on the planet. What better, Cambridge said, to inspire the next incarnation of the museum? “Humanity has managed to name roughly 1.9 million organisms in the world. And of that number 1.1 million are insects,” Cambridge said. “We plan to come back even stronger.” Read more: The extraordinary life and death of the world’s oldest known spider Florida family terrorized by backyard squatter: A giant lizard that looks like something out of ‘Jurassic Park’ Two men found pythons trapped in their grill. They called an 81-year-old grandma for help.


Watch ‘The Bee Man’ flush hundreds of hornets from their nest — in an old El Camino

also bouncing off a screen protecting his face. “How could your adrenaline not be pumping when you’re doing something like this?” Experts say European hornets are large — with the queen measuring about an inch and a half long. Although Watson said they are not typically dangerous when away from their nests, “they defend their nest very aggressively.” Watson posted the video on Facebook over the weekend, showing him pumping pesticide into the hornets' nest before breaking it apart. He said the nest, which he estimated to weigh between three and four pounds, filled several plastic bags. Watson, also a beekeeper who rescues honeybees, said he exterminates hornets because they are pests and can kill honeybees. Watson said the hornets, which look for confined spaces away from the elements, had gotten into the vehicle through a crack in the window. “I wasn’t expecting what I found,” he said. Watson said European hornets are new to the area he services around Austintown, Ohio, about 70 miles southeast of Cleveland. The hornets were first reported in the United States in the 1800s, according to the entomology department at Penn State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The queen emerges in the spring, searches for a secluded spot such as a hollow tree (or perhaps a living room wall) and starts to build the nest, using a hornet-made paper created from tree bark and the insect’s saliva, according to Watson and Penn State. She then begins to lay eggs and, within a couple of months, leaves the construction to the worker bees so she can focus on laying more eggs. By September or October, the hornets' nest has typically reached its maximum size of about 800 to 1,000 hornets. Watson said that European hornets can sting repeatedly and that they pose a greater threat to people who are allergic. He said he has been stung in the past but takes precautions, wearing a special suit and gloves. “I don’t mess around with these guys,” he said. He discourages homeowners from attempting to get rid of European hornets on their own. Watson said the hornets in Alliance were exterminated. After the video gained widespread attention on social media over the weekend, he said, someone who has an insect museum in Pennsylvania asked him for the nest. Read more: ‘Insane’ discovery: 30,000 bees — and 40 pounds of honey — inside the walls of a house


After 3 years, Northern Ireland’s legislators have finally gone back to work. What happened?

for example, almost 20,000 health service workers went on strike over low pay, inadequate staffing levels, dangerous conditions and a declining quality of care. Citizens have put intense pressure on politicians to do the jobs for which they continued to be paid despite the suspension. Furthermore, the politics of Brexit changed the political parties’ calculations. From 2017 until the U.K. Parliament’s December elections, the DUP enjoyed power as junior partner to the Conservative Party. However, the DUP was less influential than it had hoped; it was unable to prevent the British Parliament from extending same-sex marriage and abortion rights to people in Northern Ireland, despite its strong opposition. Perhaps more important, the DUP also failed to prevent Boris Johnson’s government from approving a Brexit withdrawal deal that will leave Northern Ireland tied to the Republic of Ireland’s economy and that of the European market — while creating trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The new U.K. government no longer depends on the DUP, as the Conservative Party won an outright majority. It declared that it would call new elections in Northern Ireland if the parties did not find common ground by Jan. 13. In the December U.K. elections, both Sinn Fein and the DUP lost votes to more centrist parties, so they had no appetite to face the voters again without making progress on issues that matter to them. The British House of Commons also passed Johnson’s withdrawal deal Jan. 9 — suggesting that the U.K. is now very likely to exit the European Union on Jan. 31. Northern Ireland now needs locally accountable politicians to represent its interests throughout the transition, making the significant decisions about implementation that remain. Now the governing parties will have to deal with ordinary politics For the past three years, government ministries have been running on autopilot. But now the DUP, Sinn Fein and the three other, smaller parties in the executive will have to deal with the backlog of neglected issues. They face pressure to reform the health care, education and welfare systems; invest in infrastructure and public services; address policing issues leftover from the Troubles; and devise new funding schemes to pay for all of this, possibly by taxing water. These mundane politics of governing are all complicated by the fact that the parties have multiple, competing agendas and little experience of trust or cooperation. The