Saudi Arabia distances crown prince from killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Thursday implicated two higher-level officials in what the prosecutor said was an operation intended either to persuade or force Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia. One of them, Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy head of intelligence, issued an order for Khashoggi’s return on Sept. 29, the prosecutor said. That was one day after Khashoggi first visited the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and was told to return the following week. Qahtani, on the U.S. sanctions list Thursday, was also involved in planning Khashoggi’s repatriation, according to the prosecutor. Saudi officials have changed their story about Khashoggi’s killing several times since he disappeared, first denying any knowledge of his whereabouts and then saying that he was killed during a fistfight. In the latest version laid out by the prosecutor, a 15-member team was formed to bring Khashoggi back from Istanbul, “by means of persuasion, and if persuasion fails, to do so by force.” The team included a forensic expert “for the purpose of removing evidence from the scene in case force had to be used to return the victim,” according to a summary of the prosecutor’s statement that was emailed to reporters. The leader of the Saudi team also contacted a collaborator in Turkey to secure a safe house in case Khashoggi was forcibly removed, the statement said. But after deciding that moving Khashoggi to a safe house would not be possible, a team leader decided to kill the journalist, according to the prosecutor. “The investigation concluded that the crime was carried out after a physical altercation with the victim where he was forcibly restrained and injected with a large amount of a drug resulting in an overdose that led to his death, may Allah bless his soul,” the statement said. Khashoggi’s body was dismembered and then taken by one of the Saudi agents to the “local collaborator,” according to the prosecutor, who said a sketch of the collaborator has been produced. Turkish officials have complained repeatedly about Saudi Arabia’s refusal to identify the collaborator and said they suspect that such a person does not exist. They have also demanded that the Saudis reveal the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains. Turkey’s prosecutor said late last month that Khashoggi was strangled or suffocated as soon as he entered the consulate, in line with “premeditated plans.” Khashoggi’s eldest son, Salah Khashoggi, announced Thursday on Twitter that the family would receive condolence visits beginning Friday. kareem.fahim@washpost.com


The Cybersecurity 202: Amazon’s HQ2 pick puts it in the Pentagon’s backyard

grabs” in the next five years as the government transforms its systems, according to Wedbush. The firm predicted in a recent note that Amazon and Microsoft will be the front-runners vying against each other to win those deals. Even before confirming its HQ2 plans, Amazon was widely seen as the favorite to land one of the largest government IT contracts in years: a $10 billion effort to build a department-wide cloud computing infrastructure for DoD, known as the “Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure” or JEDI. Ives said the decision to open HQ2 in Crystal City is “a potential ingredient” that could sweeten Amazon’s chances of winning the deal. He said JEDI is “just the tip of the iceberg” in the company’s ambitions as a federal IT provider. But continuing to win government contracts could be a double-edged sword for Amazon, whose business practices could come under increasing scrutiny from President Trump and federal regulators. Trump, in a November interview with Axios aired on HBO, said the administration is continuing to study Silicon Valley giants — including Amazon, Google and Facebook — for potential violations of antitrust laws. John Weiler, the managing director of the IT Acquisition Advisory Council, said he is concerned about Amazon’s growing power and influence in Washington. He said the company’s decision to open part of HQ2 in the Washington metro area was “a cornerstone” to its broader political strategy. “This is going to be a book called, ‘How to Take Over the Government,’ ” Weiler said. “They perfectly played the game.” Weiler was among the critics of the Pentagon’s decision to go with a single cloud provider for the competitive $10 billion JEDI contract. On Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office ruled against a bid protest filed by Oracle, which criticized that decision, my colleagues Aaron Gregg and Christian Davenport reported. IBM also protested the bid, which the GAO is reviewing. A decision on the bid protest is expected by January, Aaron and Christian reported. PINGED: Dmitri Alperovitch, co-founder and chief technology officer of CrowdStrike, told senators the Pentagon ought to switch the focus of its cybersecurity efforts from hygiene to “continuously hunting” hackers in its systems. Alperovitch said the DoD’s emphasis on cyber hygiene “too often” gets in the way of rooting out hackers from the agency’s networks. He also said the Pentagon should emulate private companies’ approach to cybersecurity, which includes “rapidly detecting and ejecting adversaries.”


U.S. announces sanctions against 17 Saudis for alleged roles in killing of Jamal Khashoggi, including senior aide to crown prince

The officials sanctioned included Saud al-Qahtani, a senior aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The Treasury Department said all of those sanctioned were “part of the planning and execution” of the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death. The Treasury announcement followed the release in Riyadh of a statement saying 11 people had been indicted for the crime, which took place Oct. 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The Saudi prosecutor said authorities would seek the death penalty against five of those indicted.This is a developing story. It will be updated.


A U.N. investigation would offer a true path to justice for Jamal Khashoggi

foreign minister’s call for an international investigation should lead the way if there is to be movement on the global calls for justice — and to help Khashoggi’s children understand what really happened to their father. Importantly, there is precedent for this kind of inquiry. In 2008, Pakistan asked U.N. Secretary General António Guterres’s predecessor, Ban Ki-moon, to investigate the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. And earlier this year, Britain turned to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to confirm British authorities’ findings that a Soviet-made nerve agent had been deployed in Salisbury. The unequivocal message such an investigation would also send about the need to protect journalists, at a time when they are alarmingly under attack around the globe, is a vital complement. The Trump administration’s reliance on the Saudi investigation gives Congress a valuable opening to weigh in constructively, in favor of a U.N. effort that is independent and more legitimate. Indeed, as the lame-duck session gets underway, members are preparing concrete ways to respond to Khashoggi’s killing, whether legislatively or otherwise. Twenty-two senators have also called for an investigation under the Global Magnitsky Act, which could determine whether the Saudis are responsible for extrajudicial killing, torture or other gross violations of human rights. These are all important steps that will also help hobble the Saudi coalition’s reckless operations in Yemen, stem the carnage and begin to respond to Khashoggi’s murder. But the circumstances surrounding his death have resonated globally and brought home a level of brutality for millions of people that is usually distant and abstract. Such a heinous act not only demands answers — it also demands truth and justice. Members on both sides of the aisle have called for accountability and promised a forthright response. Khashoggi’s children and his fiancee have called on the international community to take serious steps to reveal the truth. The Turkish foreign minister has made clear his support for an international inquiry as well. Now is the time. Read more: David Kaye and Agnes Callamard: The only way to uncover the truth about Khashoggi’s disappearance The Post’s View: The future of the Middle East depends on justice for Jamal Khashoggi Hatice Cengiz: The international community must bring my fiance’s killers to justice Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression Abdullah Alaoudh: We Saudis will never be silent about Jamal Khashoggi’s death


Heurich House Museum’s new exhibit highlights over 1,000 rarely seen brewery artifacts

At the height of its popularity, in the years after Prohibition, Christian Heurich Brewing Co. was the biggest non-government employer in D.C. — but few people know the company’s full story. It doesn’t help that a 1938 fire destroyed Heurich’s archives building, where much of that story was being stored. The Heurich House Museum’s new exhibit, featuring over 1,000 rarely seen brewery artifacts, could help piece together an integral part of D.C. history. “The objects relate directly to everyone in this city,” says Kimberly Bender, the museum’s executive director. “We’re asking for those whose relatives might have worked at the brewery, remember drinking the beer, to help us understand how these items tell the story of Washington, D.C.” The pieces in “Home/Brewed” are on loan from local collector Jack Blush, who acquired the memorabilia through various bars, auctions and collectors over four decades. Prior to the exhibit, Heurich House had only about 50 brewery-related pieces in its possession — most of them personal items that belonged to the company’s founder, German immigrant Christian Heurich, who died in 1945. The museum is housed inside the founder’s sprawling Dupont Circle mansion. The exhibit — which opens with a reception on Friday (7-9 p.m., free) — will highlight bottles, cans, marketing items and other branded objects spanning the brewery’s existence from 1872 to 1956. (The building was razed in 1962 to make way for the Kennedy Center.) According to Bender, the most unique items in the collection include six beer steins with drawings etched on the bottom. There will also be nearly a hundred types of bottles and cans manufactured by Heurich over the years. Heurich House hopes to raise $300,000 in order to make the exhibit a permanent one. Part of its fundraising campaign includes working with Oregon State University’s fermentation science department to resurrect Heurich’s flagship offering, Senate Beer, which will be brewed locally and sold next year. “We see this entire project as a lens to view Washington’s past,” Bender says. Heurich House Museum, 1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW; go to


Insurance companies should be required to cover in vitro fertilization

In more than 40 percent of cases — after the “in vitro” (literally, “in glass”) combination of egg and sperm — the embryo transfer results in a live birth delivery. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.5 percent of infants born in the United States in 2015 were conceived through IVF. But the nationwide figure masks dramatic variation across states. In Massachusetts, for example, 4.5 percent of infants are conceived via IVF. The state has one of the most comprehensive IVF mandates, requiring insurers to cover the treatment for women who have tried unsuccessfully for more than one year to conceive through other means. In states where coverage for the procedure is limited or nonexistent, the rate of IVF births is unsurprisingly much lower — as low as 0.5 percent in New Mexico, for example. IVF insurance mandates raise premiums, but only slightly. A state-commissioned study of the Massachusetts mandate estimated that the law adds as little as 0.12 percent — and no more than 0.96 percent — to health insurance premiums, or 54 cents to $4.44 per person per month. The Affordable Care Act requires states to reimburse plans offered through the ACA exchanges for expenses associated with new state-imposed coverage mandates, shielding low- and middle-income families from what would otherwise be small premium hikes. Current state-level IVF mandates have loopholes. For one thing, the Supreme Court has ruled that states cannot regulate self-funded plans — that is, plans offered by large employers that bear coverage costs themselves. Nor do state mandates extend to Medicaid, federal employees or patients in the veterans health-care system. To plug some of these gaps and to expand access to IVF in states without mandates, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced legislation in May that would have required all private-sector health plans, plus the federal employees plan and the veterans health-care system, to cover IVF. The legislation left out some state employees and Medicaid recipients, but it would have transformed IVF into a treatment that most American families could access. Neither the House nor the Senate acted on — or even debated — the Booker-DeLauro bill. But, hopefully, the former first family’s example will motivate a new Congress to take up the issue. Helping constituents become parents should be one priority that lawmakers from both major parties share. After all, it’s the ultimate family value.


Walmart reports strong earnings, e-commerce gains ahead of holidays; J.C. Penney falls further behind

expectations, with $1.08 earnings a share over the predicted $1.01. Grocery and e-commerce headlined Walmart’s performance this quarter, with online sales up 43 percent. “We have momentum in the business as we execute our plan and benefit from a favorable economic environment in the U.S.,” Walmart chief executive Doug McMillon said in a statement. “We’re accelerating innovation and utilizing technology to shape the future of retail.” After years of catering to value shoppers, Walmart has moved to capture younger, wealthier customers through a spate of acquisitions, such as plus-size clothing brand Eloquii, menswear line Bonobos and online indie clothing retailer ModCloth. Walmart had cut its forecast for fiscal 2019 because of the massive price tag on Indian online retailer Flipkart, the biggest acquisition in its history. The world’s largest retailer is also emphasizing e-commerce and convenience. By year’s end, Walmart is poised to overtake Apple as the third-largest U.S. e-commerce retailer, according to a recent eMarketer forecast. “The retail giant continues to make smart acquisitions to extend its e-commerce portfolio and attract younger and more affluent shoppers,” eMarketer analyst Andrew Lipsman said in a statement. "But more than anything, Walmart has caught its stride with a fast-growing online grocery business, which is helped in large part by the massive consumer adoption of click-and-collect.” Conversely, ailing department store J.C. Penney reported losses of $151 million, or $0.48 per share, falling short of expectations in its first quarter under its new chief executive, Jill Soltau. Before taking over last month, Soltau served as chief executive for fabric and crafts retailer Joann. Like other department store chains, J.C. Penney is in a tough position as a middle-of-the-road retailer, something that is growing increasingly obsolete. As traditional brick-and-mortar stores try to compete with online retailers, they’re struggling to cut back on hordes of inventory and costly real estate. The company has closed roughly 20 percent of its stores in the past few years, including 140 locations in 2017. But unlike its competitor, Macy’s, which pulled out of a three-year slump by closing dozens of stores, leveraging its assets and strengthening its digital performance, J.C. Penney continues to lag. At $2.65 billion, the company’s net sales were down 5.8 percent from last year. Despite a digital push, J.C. Penney’s brick-and-mortar stores far outperformed its website this quarter, and the company admitted it still has a long way to go in terms of pruning its inventory,


Dump May? Approve her plan? Some scenarios for what might be next for Brexit Britain.

The Scottish National Party is disgruntled that it was left out of the negotiations, and the Liberal Democrats will vote against the deal out of principle. Most Labour Party members are expected to also reject the agreement, partially because a May defeat increases the likelihood of a future Labour prime minister. Worse even, May is facing a rebellion among her own allies. Pro-Brexiteers will vote against her deal, and the party that has kept her in power since last year — the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) — might join them. The DUP leadership fears May’s deal could create a de facto border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. That’s a red line for a party committed to keeping Northern Ireland fully within the U.K. Labour cannot topple May by itself, but the prime minister’s own allies may help with that. Moreover, if the DUP were to withdraw from its agreement to keep the Conservative Party — led by May or any successor — in power, then new general elections would be almost inevitable. Without the DUP, the Tories lack a majority in Parliament. A no-deal Brexit is unpopular but may be inevitable If May’s deal is rejected, chances of a no-deal Brexit rise. While leading pro-Brexiteers have said that they would prefer this scenario over a bad deal, a no-deal Brexit would probably not be a deliberate choice but instead an accidental outcome of a government unable to obtain a majority for any better solution. Most stakeholders know very well that a no-deal Brexit could have catastrophic repercussions on the British economy. As an island, Britain is dependent on its trade with the E.U., and a no-deal Brexit would disrupt all those ties overnight. The government may have to ship in goods to keep supermarkets stocked, and nobody knows for sure what the effect of a no-deal Brexit would be on the millions of Europeans working in Britain. Nothing really changes Given the risks of a no-deal Brexit, Parliament could theoretically reject May’s deal until Christmas and still approve a similar document next year. But even then, it would be unclear what sort of relationship Britain would have with the E.U. in the long term. What would Britain’s immigration policy look like, especially as think tanks predict that the country will face a severe labor shortage going forward? Could it stay in the customs


It’s crunch time for Brexit

hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of the biggest sticking points in the talks. In a news conference in Brussels, Michel Barnier, the E.U.'s chief negotiator on Brexit, welcomed signs of progress in London. “The United Kingdom will remain our friend, our partner, our ally,” Barnier added. Even so, Brexit is hardly a fait accompli The deal with the European Union requires endorsement from European heads of state. Far more difficult will be a vote in Britain’s Parliament, where May’s plan may yet falter. At least a third of May’s own cabinet members balked over the draft agreement, and the right-wing Northern Irish party that joined May’s Conservatives in a ruling coalition will likely resist measures that legally separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the country. In histrionic language, proponents of a “hard” Brexit decried May’s accommodation with the E.U. as a “betrayal" that left Britain in thrall to “colonial rule from Brussels." “It’s vassal state stuff,” said Boris Johnson, who resigned as May’s foreign secretary this summer after disagreeing with the course of negotiations. “For the first time in 1,000 years, this place, this Parliament will not have a say over the laws that govern this country.” There was rampant speculation on Wednesday that disgruntled hard-liners may force a vote of confidence on May’s leadership within days. Moderate voices lashed back, asking Brexiteers what they expected. “There was never any prospect of a good deal. Brexit is a salvage operation; even when it is done well, the boat is not in the condition it was before it sank,” wrote Alex Massie in the center-right Spectator. He added that “there is a piquant irony in seeing committed Brexiteers complaining that if this is the deal, it’s worse than remaining a full member of the E.U.” Brexit was But it was never as simple as that. May, who tepidly opposed Brexit before the referendum, has found it nearly impossible to navigate around both the demands of Brexit cheerleaders and the vastly superior negotiating position of the E.U. And the chaotic attempts to forge an agreement have led to growing calls for a new referendum on whether Brexit should happen at all. New polls suggest a majority of Britons would favor holding another referendum on the final Brexit deal. Last month, some 700,000 pro-E.U. protesters marched through London demanding a second vote. But that would require quite a few


For U-Md.’s president, a football scandal caps a series of athletic controversies

issue. Regents voted 12 to 5 to rename the edifice Maryland Stadium. Brady, one of the dissenters, recently told The Post that he was “viscerally opposed” to segregation but skeptical of revising history. Harry Clifton “Curley” Byrd, he said, was arguably the most consequential president in the university’s history. The episode left a residue of friction between Loh and Brady. Then came the football scandal, which generated a host of questions about the football team and Maryland’s athletic management. Brady, as board chair, was tracking the issues closely. On Aug. 14, Loh made a crucial decision: After learning preliminary findings of an investigation into McNair’s death, the president apologized to the athlete’s family and at a news conference accepted “legal and moral responsibility” for mistakes U-Md.’s training staff made on the day the 19-year-old suffered heatstroke. Before the news conference, Loh consulted with Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) on remarks he planned to make, according to people familiar with the events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Exactly what Frosh told him is unclear. A spokeswoman for the attorney general, Raquel Coombs, said she could not comment on legal advice the office gives. One person close to the situation said Frosh indicated to Loh that it was a judgment call. “You are the client,” the attorney general said, according to this account. Another knowledgeable person said Frosh advised against making a public statement that would be construed as an assumption of liability. Kelly, the former regent, said Loh “did the right thing” by publicly taking responsibility. But Kelly said he heard later that “some regents were upset” that they hadn’t been consulted in advance and felt “blindsided.” Loh’s actions drew sharp scrutiny from the board. On Aug. 17, the board voted to take control of investigations that Loh had launched into McNair’s death and the football program. That set the regents and the president on a collision course. When investigators produced a report in October that found problems within the football program and “dysfunction” in the athletic department, the board and Loh diverged on what should be done about the football coach. After he fired Durkin, Loh said in a statement that he would devote “the remaining months of my presidency” to reforms needed in the athletic department. Asked recently about the leadership turmoil, Loh told the Diamondback: “That’s behind us.” nick.anderson@washpost.com


‘Rodarte’ is a beautiful fashion exhibition. But sometimes, beauty is not enough.

movies that fascinated them. They excavate those memories and use them as building blocks to collections. Often ideas flow in a stream-of-consciousness style. A collection that included references to Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” was inspired not by the artist, but rather by a visit to the Mount Wilson Observatory, not far from the Mulleavy home. The designers’ minds hopscotched their way to Van Gogh from astronomer Edwin Hubble. Whatever the inspiration, the story of the collections always seem to come back to the sisters. That’s much of what makes their work so captivating. It is so personal that it exists on its own terms, not tied to the ebb and flow of fashion trends. The designers have not fallen under the spell of streetwear, denim or athleisure — and for that, they should be applauded. The Mulleavys’ world exists inside a snow globe, where it is beautiful, fragile and isolated. The new exhibition is organized thematically, based on inspiration. So it’s possible to explore at length the designers’ willingness to wreak havoc on their materials by burning, fraying, beating and unraveling them. The garden room is filled with dresses adorned with handmade silk flowers, realistic sprays of faux baby’s breath and embroidery that mimics the honeycomb of bumblebees. Despite the breadth of this show, though, not every collection is represented. There are no garments, for instance, from their spring 2014 collection, which was inspired by Los Angeles and its hard-edge youth culture. It was not a critically praised collection (I was blunt in my dislike for it), yet in a survey of a designer’s work, it’s important to see collections that were not well received in order to better understand what ultimately makes the work soar. Here there are no collection sketches, no rough drafts, no preliminary studies — only the final, perfected end result. One also wishes that more of the sisters’ fall 2014 collection were on display. The headlines from that season focused on a group of gowns emblazoned with characters from Star Wars. But it also included ephemeral trousers that floated around the body like a cloud and metallic coats with a sci-fi edge. The Star Wars gowns were more gimmick than grand artistry and were not especially adept at illustrating the designers’ complicated relationship with film as both a medium and an inspiration. The Mulleavys, for example, for fall 2011, explored the transformative properties of


Federal investigators open hearing into cause of fatal Southwest Airlines engine explosion

There was a loud boom, followed by strong vibrations, then Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 rolled 41 degrees before pilots were able to stabilize it. One flight attendant said the pressure in her ears was so great she could barely hear anything. Crew members went row by row to check on passengers and a flight attendant described reaching Row 14 to find a woman still restrained in her seat by her lap belt, but whose upper torso, arms and head had been pulled outside the plane through a broken window. Flight attendants grabbed the woman with the help of two passengers. Another passenger, a nurse, began CPR while a flight attendant ran to retrieve a defibrillator. The woman, who was later identified as 43-year-old Jennifer Riordan, of Albuquerque, died. The chilling details were among the information released Wednesday in the opening of a National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the engine failure on that Dallas-bound Boeing 737-700 on April 17. Federal safety officials are trying to determine what caused the plane’s left engine to explode shortly after takeoff from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, sending debris hurtling into the plane, shattering a window and causing a rapid loss in cabin pressure. Pilots landed the crippled plane with 144 passengers and five crew members safely in Philadelphia. It was the first fatality on a U.S. carrier in nearly a decade and the first in Southwest’s 51-year history. On Wednesday, NTSB officials questioned company representatives about the design and testing of the engine involved and pressed federal regulators about the actions they took following that and a similar incident of engine failure in 2016. NTSB investigators are trying to understand what caused one of the engine’s fan blades to come loose and why elements of the system failed to contain the damage. An earlier investigative update noted that there were signs of metal fatigue on the broken fan blade. Investigators also are examining similarities between this incident and a similar one in 2016 that involved a broken fan blade in the engine on another Southwest Airlines jet. No one was injured in that incident, but the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Pensacola, Fla. Documents released as part of Wednesday’s hearing describe both chaos and coolheadedness as crew members sought to calm passengers and pilots attempted to land the damaged jet. Wednesday’s hearing opened with testimony from representatives from Boeing; CFM


Mexico is not Uruguay or Canada. Before pot legalization, we must consider our violent reality.

Arturo Rocha (@arocha221) is a political scientist from the Mexico City-based Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE). MEXICO CITY — After 12 years of roaring violence that has left over a hundred thousand dead and more than 30,000 missing — not to mention countless human rights violations by the security forces — the Mexican government is finally taking steps to redefine its role in the failed war on drugs. Sen. Olga Sánchez Cordero, who will become interior secretary of the new government, last week presented a bill to legalize and regulate cannabis, from seed to sale. In a Congress largely dominated by Morena — the left-leaning party headed by President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will be sworn in on Dec. 1 — the bill is not expected to face major hurdles and will probably become law next year. The bill not only opens the door to a commercial market, but it also allows cannabis clubs, medical use and individual cultivation — up to 480 grams, or slightly more than one pound per year. While consumption in public spaces is authorized, all advertising will be forbidden, as well as the commercialization of edibles. The bill will be the culmination of a long and tormented road toward legalization. It provides an institutional and commercial framework. Mexico is now poised to become the third country to allow a fully legal market of cannabis, after Uruguay and Canada. However, the implementation of the law will be very different and faces major hurdles. Uruguay and Canada are two safe countries that have experienced the deleterious effects of global prohibition only from the periphery. Mexico is the epicenter of the war on drugs. The homicide rate in Uruguay is 7.69 and is 1.68 in Canada for every 100,000 inhabitants, according to the World Bank. The latest figures in Mexico put ours at 25. While farmers in Montevideo and Alberta can cultivate marijuana peacefully, farmers in Guerrero and other Mexican states will face retaliation from drug cartels. Mexico is facing the highest homicide rate since the war against narcos started. Our conflict has never been more violent. While Canada and Uruguay — as well as the 10 states in the United States that have legalized recreational marijuana — can be free to experiment, the gravity of Mexico’s circumstances forbids us to do so. This is not to say that Mexico can’t learn from others.


U.S. military edge has eroded to ‘a dangerous degree,’ study for Congress finds

Congress should look at the entire federal budget, including entitlement spending and tax revenue, to put the nation on more stable financial footing, rather than slash defense spending. Critics of the report’s findings said the commission recommends catchall defense funding that is unrealistic given the current environment. One of the commission’s members, retired Army officer Andrew Krepinevich, wrote a dissent to the findings arguing that the commission failed to apply analytic rigor to its own recommendations even as it accused the Pentagon strategy of lacking analytic rigor. “The commission rightly calls attention to the erosion of the American military’s conventional edge and the necessity for the country to understand the urgency of the problem,” said Elbridge Colby, a former Pentagon official under Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and who oversaw the strategy’s development. “But it doesn’t give due support and credit to the hard choices that Secretary Mattis made, which are crucial to solving this problem.” To counter Russia and China, the commission said the Navy should expand its submarine fleet and sealift forces; the Air Force should introduce more reconnaissance platforms and stealth long-range fighters and bombers; and the Army should pursue more armor, long-range precision missiles and air-defense and logistical forces. In its recommendations, the report advocated seeing through the modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and putting a top Pentagon official in charge of developing additional air and missile defenses. Another area of focus for the commission was innovation. It described Pentagon acquisition programs as too risk-averse, and urged the Defense Department and Congress to create a new category of pilot programs aimed at “leap-ahead” technologies that could serve as breakthroughs to help retain American military dominance. The report also resurfaced questions about the civilian-military divide that arose after Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, took over as defense secretary, thanks to a vote in Congress that waived a requirement for military officers to be out of uniform for 10 years before serving in that role. In his nearly two years as secretary, Mattis has relied more on current and former military officers for expertise than his recent predecessors have. Without singling out Mattis, the commission warned that “responsibility on key strategic and policy issues has increasingly migrated to the military,” and urged Congress to exercise oversight to “reverse the unhealthy trend in which decision-making is drifting increasingly toward the military on issues of national importance.” paul.sonne@washpost.com shane.harris@washpost.com


Fate of famed L.A. mountain lions unclear after wildfire scorched their habitat

normally, and we just haven’t gotten any updates.” Park biologists believe that 10 to 15 mountain lions — also known as cougars or pumas — live in the Santa Monica Mountains, Kuykendall said; the 13 that are tracked represent some of those and others in a wider area that includes the nearby Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. The park also monitors four bobcats that wear radio-telemetry collars, which must be tracked in the field by a biologist carrying a special receiver and antenna. Their home ranges all burned, Kuykendall said, and whether they survived remains unknown. “With some of the larger animals, like mountain lions and coyotes and deer, they can be pretty good at outrunning fire,” she said. “But a fire of this magnitude, in terms of the scale and the intensity . . . makes it significantly harder for them to be able to escape.” The unrelenting flames are the latest insult to a population of cougars that already has it tough. The cats live in the midst of a megalopolis with various attendant threats: Poison set out by people to kill rodents is one major danger, as is conflict with humans — some of whom keep llamas and other animals that make tempting mountain lion meals. The biggest problem is L.A.'s infamous traffic. The Santa Monica cougars are hemmed in by freeways that are difficult, and sometimes deadly, to cross. That has prevented L.A. cats from roaming to more distant areas and kept cats elsewhere from coming in, leading to massive inbreeding and to mountain lions killing each other. When the park announced in September that researchers had discovered four new mountain lion kittens, the sense of celebration was tempered by the babies' troubling pedigree: Their father was likely their mother’s own grandson. Construction on a $60 million wildlife crossing over Highway 101 — which advocates hope will facilitate mountain lion movement and mixing — is expected to start in 2020, but only if funding comes through. Eighteen cougars have been killed since 2002 on freeways in the area the Park Service studies, the agency said. Once the area is safe, researchers' first post-fire priority will be determining P-74′s fate and then that of others, Kuykendall said. But they will be unlikely to assist lions that are injured but alive, she said. That is because capturing them involves tranquilizers, and because state law prohibits the return


Brexit deal: Theresa May gets cabinet approval for her draft agreement

agreement “the worst deal in history.” In Europe, there was relief that May had won approval from her divided cabinet. “Green light!” Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen tweeted. “Relieved that the UK government has now approved the deal reached by our negotiators.” “This agreement is a crucial step in concluding these negotiations,” said the chief E.U. Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, in a late-night news conference in the E.U. capital of Brussels, where he triumphantly waved a copy of the agreement, which he said contained 185 articles, three protocols and a series of annexes. “We’re practically there.” He said European leaders had been united after what he described as Britain’s “thunderclap” decision to leave the European Union and took pains not to inflame May’s sticky political situation in London. But he confirmed that if negotiators fail to reach a second deal about Britain’s future relationship with the E.U. in the coming two years, a fail-safe, politically painful insurance policy would kick in to prevent a border from springing up between Ireland and Northern Ireland. That insurance plan would keep Britain bound inside the E.U. customs zone, obeying E.U. customs rules and regulations but unable to shape them — the exact opposite of the stated goal of Brexit advocates. European officials say they, too, find the situation uncomfortable, since Britain would have tariff-free and quota-free access to the vast E.U. market without being subject to the same demands as other E.U. countries. In London, May’s approach had few defenders. But among them was former Conservative Party leader William Hague, who asked his colleagues, “Did anybody really think you could leave the E.U. without a lot of compromises?” Hague urged skeptics to consider the “big picture.” He told the BBC that the deal fulfills the mandate the British voters chose when they voted 52 percent to 48 percent in a June 2016 referendum to leave the European bloc. “If what you want is to deliver on leaving the European Union, and have frictionless trade in goods at the border for the next few years until a future free-trade agreement comes into force, and have control of our own immigration policy, and keep the United Kingdom together, all at the same time — well, then, a deal is going to look pretty much like this one seems to look like. It isn’t going to be dramatically different from that,” Hague said. william.booth@washpost.com karla.adam@washpost.com


Your smartphone photos are totally fake — and you love it

— that’s making our photos better. “It is hyperbole, but true,” says Marc Levoy, a retired Stanford computer-science professor who once taught Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and now works for them on camera projects including Night Sight. Levoy’s work is rooted in the inherent size limitations of a smartphone. Phones can’t fit big lenses (and the sensors underneath them) like traditional cameras, so makers had to find creative ways to compensate. Enter techniques that replace optics with software, such as digitally combining multiple shots into one. New phones from Apple, Samsung and Huawei use it, too, but “we bet the ranch on software and AI,” Levoy says. This liberated Google to explore making images in new ways. “Google in terms of software has got an edge,” says Nicolas Touchard, the vice president of marketing at DxOMark Image Labs, which produces independent benchmark ratings for cameras. (Whether any of this is enough to help the Pixel win converts from Apple and Samsung is a separate question.) With Night Sight, Google’s software is at its most extreme, capturing up to 15 low-light shots and blending them to brighten up faces, provide sharp details and saturate colors in a way that draws in the eye. No flashes go off — it artificially enhances the light that’s already there. Anyone who has attempted a low-light shot on a traditional camera knows how hard it is not to take blurry photos. With Night Sight, before you even press the button, the phone measures the shake of your hand and the motion in the scene to determine how many shots to take and how long to leave the shutter open. When you press the shutter, it warns “hold still” and shoots for up to six seconds. Over the course of the next second or two, Night Sight divides all its shots into a bunch of tiny tiles, aligning and merging the best bits to make a complete image. Finally, AI and other software analyze the image to pick the colors and tones. Night Sight had some difficulty with focus and in scenes with almost no light. And you — and your subject — really do have to hold that pose. But in most of my test shots, the product was fantastical. Portraits smoothed out skin while keeping eyes looking sharp. Night landscapes illuminated hidden details and colored them like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.


Trending: Brexit seems to be going as well as expected.

@xtophercook, @mosheroperandi, @ManInTheHoody, @sophpos,


What it would take to oust British Prime Minister Theresa May

simple majority of Tory MPs backed her. A substantial number of lawmakers would likely opt to keep May in power to prevent a so-called “no-deal” Brexit, which has been embraced by some hard-line conservative MPs. As a new British government would probably not have sufficient time to negotiate a new deal with the European Union on the country’s terms of departure, the nation would crash out of the bloc -- potentially resulting in food shortages and job losses, according to some governmental scenarios. On top of that, any successor would face the same unrealistic expectations from all sides of the political spectrum that have derailed May’s plans. But hard-line MPs in favor of getting rid of May would point to a Tory rule that would prevent another leadership challenge for at least a year. Following substantial election losses last year, May’s era was widely believed to be doomed. Her party critics — who are far more numerous than the hardcore Brexiteers behind the current challenge — may be unwilling to essentially grant her at least another year in office. And while May might survive the rebellion on paper, an unexpectedly high number of votes against her would put additional pressure on her to resign. Even if May did not face a Tory challenge or survived it, her government may still run into another obstacle that is also connected to last year’s election outcome. After May’s Conservatives fell short of a parliamentary majority, the prime minister negotiated a “confidence and supply” power-sharing agreement with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party. The DUP has threatened to withdraw from that agreement several times. The party reportedly repeated those threats this week, indicating that it may withdraw unless May is removed as party leader because her deal with the E.U. may result in some regulatory checks between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The DUP believes that such checks could tear the country apart. If the DUP were to withdraw from its agreement with the Conservative Party, the Tories could still try to agree on a similar deal with another opposition party — but none of those parties are in favor of the Tory hard-liners' Brexit vision, either. Ousting May that way would increase the chances of new elections and, perhaps, of a second referendum. Read more: Can Brexit be stopped? A guide for those just waking up to Britain’s political nightmare.


Readers critique The Post: Omissions about space, time and . . . romance novels

or jury finding of “not guilty” is not a finding of innocence. It is merely a finding that guilt was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. I can easily imagine a scenario in which evidence of sexual assault might not meet the standard necessary to convict someone of a crime but would be sufficient to sway a senator’s vote on a Supreme Court nominee. Rick Talisman ● Not innocent, not guilty Palmer Rampell made some interesting and valid observations in his Nov. 4 Outlook essay, “Stacey Abrams and the politics of romance.” He cited several previous critics supporting him, at least in part. He did not, however, cite the seminal academic (or at least one of them) who elucidated this type of analysis of fiction. Lynn Hunt summarized her professional lifetime of research in 2007 in “Inventing Human Rights: A History.” Hunt is one of the leading historians of the Enlightenment, and her examination of literature as a significant factor in creating the Enlightenment as a popular movement underlies Rampell’s analysis as well as those he did cite. And this type of examination began many years ago. David M. Whalin ● Space The otherwise excellent Oct. 30 Health & Science article on telescopic exploration of space, “A not-so-simple Hubble Telescope fix,” omitted information on the new $8 billion James Webb Space Telescope. NASA, after earlier estimates, now says the telescope will be launched on March 30, 2021. The expectation is that it will provide information “almost to the beginning of the universe,” according to the Post article. Victor Tupitza ● Time The Oct. 31 Metro article “Students find ancient stone ax at Mt. Vernon” described the find’s age differently in the first three paragraphs. Once as 6,000 years, then as six millennia and later as 60 centuries. I read through to the end to see if it would become “600 decades” old to complete the cycle. Mike Creveling ● Continuum “The military-astronomy complex,” Joshua Sokol’s Nov. 4 Book World review of Neil deGrasse Tyson’s excellent book “Accessory to War,” noted “the United Nations’ efforts to establish international space law, including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.” As we enter an age of accelerated artificial intelligence and potential space militarization, there must be a renewed effort to provide global agreement and oversight. The one existing entity that has a mandate and universal membership is the United Nations. The United States could lead


26-year-old man shot to death in Northwest’s Shaw neighborhood

THE DISTRICT Man fatally shot in Shaw neighborhood A 26-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night on a street in the Shaw neighborhood in Northwest Washington, according to D.C. police. Javon Smith of Southeast Washington was found with a gunshot wound about 10:35 p.m. in the 2100 block of Eighth Street NW, in LeDroit Park. Police said they believe Smith was shot a block south, in the 800 block of Florida Avenue NW, on the border with Shaw, and ran to Eighth Street, where he collapsed. — Peter Hermann Man charged in October slaying D.C. police have arrested a suspect in the October shooting death of a 26-year-old man who was attacked last month in the Anacostia neighborhood of Southeast Washington. Tondrick Murphy, also 26, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed. Police said in a statement that Murphy has no fixed address. Police said the shooting occurred just after midnight on Oct. 6 in the 2100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE. The victim, Marquis Jones, who police said also has no fixed address, was pronounced dead at the scene. According to an arrest affidavit, the two men were seen arguing on the street and the victim pushed Murphy. Police said in the affidavit that Murphy shot Jones once, and then shot him six more times as he lay on the ground. — Peter Hermann MARYLAND Police investigate Gaithersburg death A Maryland man was found dead Tuesday in Montgomery County, and police described the death as suspicious. The man, identified as Dammeon Terrell Powell of Gaithersburg, was found by the side of a road about 8:45 a.m. in the Gaithersburg area, Montgomery County police said in a statement. The statement said the discovery was made near Cherry Laurel Lane and Coriander Drive. The circumstances of the death were not known, but police are investigating the possibility that a vehicle was involved, the statement said. — Martin Weil and Justin Wm. Moyer Tourism spending up in state Maryland officials say tourism spending increased in 2017, despite a drop in overall visitors. The Baltimore Sun cites a release from the Maryland Department of Commerce that says visitors to Maryland spent more than $17 billion in 2017, up 2.1 percent from the previous year. Overall visitation dropped from 42.1 million in 2016 to 41.5 million last year, but officials touted an increase in visitors from targeted markets, such as


The unfolding Brexit drama is not Britain’s finest hour

good to be true, it probably is. Fifty-two percent of British voters approved a Brexit referendum on the basis of false promises by the measure’s advocates that it would get rid of all the encumbrances of E.U. membership without sacrificing any advantages. Questions, such as the fate of European citizens living in Britain (and Britons in Europe), the re-creation, from scratch, of all the regulatory agencies Britain now shares with Brussels, and reestablishing an international boundary between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, were dismissed as the fretting of an out-of-touch “establishment.” Most dishonest of all, Brexiteers suggested that other nations would rush to cut free-trade deals with a newly liberated United Kingdom, and that there would be no significant economic dislocations from leaving a customs union and free-trade zone into which Britain began to integrate itself half a century ago. Ms. May’s attempt to negotiate a settlement with the E.U. represents her thankless, and hence courageous, effort to cope with the inherent contradictions of Brexit, in the hope of minimizing its harms to her people. The heart of her proposed deal is to fudge the most intractable issue of all: the border Brexit would re-create between Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, an E.U. member. Her plan would keep Britain, including Northern Ireland, in a customs union indefinitely with the European Union unless some alternative final arrangement could be struck by the end of 2020. Her Conservative opponents contend, not implausibly, that this would defeat Brexit’s sovereignty-restoring purposes. What they manifestly cannot do, however, is articulate a plausible alternative plan. Instead, Tory politicians continue to carp, in some cases for personal political advantage. They are irresponsibly setting the stage for a potentially disastrous “hard” Brexit next March, when the already established divorce date arrives. That may yet be avoided, either because Ms. May uses the specter of a Corbyn prime ministership to rally her troops in Parliament or, even less likely, because E.U. proponents manage to persuade Parliament to stage a new referendum in which the British people can express what polls say are widespread second thoughts. Until then, the rest of the world must simply watch with concern as this pivotal industrial democracy thrashes about due to a self-inflicted wound. Whatever happens next, it’s doubtful anyone will ever look back on the Brexit chapter of British history and say, “This was their finest hour.”


‘All hell will break loose’: U-Md. president warned board against keeping football coach

our decision.” The hearing capped a tumultuous and painful period for the state’s flagship university and the governing board as officials wrestled with the aftermath of McNair’s death following a team workout in May. McNair failed to receive proper care after suffering heatstroke, leading Loh to assert that the university would shoulder legal and moral responsibility for what happened. The regents examined the culture of the football team after investigators found problems in it and the athletic department. Some lawmakers were skeptical of the report’s finding that the team did not have a “toxic” culture. McNair’s death, said Del. Keith E. Haynes (D-Baltimore City), “rises to the height of toxicity.” Loh told lawmakers that he recently held a constructive meeting with Caret and Gooden. “The only thing we can do is to make sure that this kind of death never happens again at College Park or at any other campus in the state of Maryland,” he said. The board ordinarily has 17 members but has a vacancy, following Brady’s resignation. Regents are appointed by the governor to staggered terms, subject to state Senate confirmation. They are unpaid, overseeing 12 universities statewide with 175,000 students under a system established in 1988. Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) asked Gooden whether the board was up to the task. “Do you believe that a single, voluntary, politically appointed board really can oversee the entire system of colleges in the state of Maryland?” “I do,” Gooden replied. “For the past 30 years, we’ve gotten many things right. Clearly, we got this one wrong.” Normally, the only personnel decisions the board makes for individual campuses are hiring or firing a president. Gooden has been on the board since 2009, appointed by then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D). Most regents are appointees of Gov. Larry Hogan (R). Gooden said she was not at the Oct. 26 board meeting when regents voted to recommend keeping Durkin. She declined after the hearing to share her position on that. But she said the board had been divided on Durkin. Loh, 73, who earns about $675,000 a year, has been in office since 2010. Some supporters have called on him in recent days to postpone his retirement in light of the widespread criticism of the board’s actions. Lawmakers did not raise that question with him. Asked after the hearing whether he was reconsidering his plans, Loh told reporters he had no comment. nick.anderson@washpost.com


American traveler missing in Mexico was killed by Sinaloa cartel, officials say

The family of a North Carolina teacher missing in a remote part of Mexico received the news Thursday that Patrick Braxton-Andrew was killed by drug cartel members in late October. Since he was last seen Oct. 28 in Urique, a tiny village in the country’s Chihuahua state, Braxton-Andrew’s family has been in Mexico working with local and U.S. authorities to locate the 34-year-old Spanish teacher, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. Two days later, on a Facebook page devoted to the search, Braxton-Andrew’s family stated they had been informed by Mexican authorities that Patrick was killed “on October 28th at the hands of a criminal organization that operates in the area where he was traveling,” the Thursday afternoon post stated. “The search continues to recover his body so we can bring him back home.” Braxton-Andrew’s sister-in-law confirmed his death in an email to The Post. Javier Corral, the governor of Chihuahua, wrote on his official Facebook page that investigators believe Braxton-Andrew was killed by a narco-trafficker operating in the region named José Noriel Portilo Gil, also known as “El Chueco.” “Through the advances in the investigation, I can say that it was a cowardly and brutal assassination of a person who was totally innocent, a clean man whose misfortune was to cross paths with this criminal,” Corral wrote. According to Mexico media reports, Portilo Gil is associated with the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. Proceso reported that “El Chueco” — a name that translates to “twisty,” “crooked” or “bowlegged” — is a young man allegedly running the cartel’s business in the region surrounding Urique. In April 2017, Portilo Gil was believed to have been killed in an attack. But that September, Portilo Gil resurfaced when he and his associates allegedly led an attack on the State Security Commission in Urique. A fluent Spanish speaker who loved the language and had traveled widely in Central America and Mexico, Braxton-Andrew was originally scheduled to meet his brother in Mexico City on Oct. 30 after spending a few days hiking the Copper Canyon in Chihuahua. When he failed to show, his family began retracing his steps, eventually determining that he was last seen leaving his hotel in Urique on Oct. 28. Mexican officials have not provided further details about how the American crossed paths with drug traffickers or why Braxton-Andrew was killed. “Patrick died doing what he loved — traveling and meeting people. Join


5 new places to eat around Union Market (that aren’t Union Market)

Union Market is well-known as a culinary destination in D.C. When it opened in 2012, the market was surrounded by warehouses that were still largely oriented toward wholesale businesses. And while that industrial character remains — pedestrians may have to dodge the occasional forklift and delivery truck — there’s been a new wave of restaurants and cafes in the neighborhood over the past several months. In addition to the Michelin-starred Masseria and the rum-driven Cotton & Reed distillery, here are five spots near Union Market that are worth a visit — no food hall navigation required. St. Anselm Sample grilled meats and seafood alongside a robust selection of wine (including fortified varieties such as Madeira and sherry) at this rustic tavern. Restaurateurs Stephen Starr (Le Diplomate) and Joe Carroll brought the concept to D.C. from Brooklyn, though the Union Market version is uniquely D.C., thanks to the cooking of executive chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley (Smoked & Stacked). The dinner menu includes small bites such as biscuits with pimento cheese and grilled salmon collar, as well as monstrous (and shareable) tomahawk steaks priced by the ounce. Brunch was recently launched with such offerings as blue crab deviled eggs and oysters and grits. 1250 Fifth St. NE. The Eleanor Upscale bowling is definitely a thing these days, whether it’s at Pinstripes or Lucky Strike. The Eleanor is the latest place in the city to let you play a round or two while enjoying a cocktail. The dinner menu features oysters on the half shell, a spaghetti sandwich, sweet potato gnocchi and buttermilk fried chicken thighs. Brunch is available, as well. Reservations are required in advance for the restaurant’s two duckpin-style bowling lanes, and the hands-on entertainment also includes Skee-Ball, a few pinball machines and console games such as Pac-Man and Big Buck Hunter. 100 Florida Ave. NE. O-Ku This Japanese sushi spot serves raw seafood as well as meats cooked over a traditional robata grill. Though O-Ku has several sister locations in the southeast, the D.C. menu is inspired by executive chef Bryan Emperor’s travels to countries such as Japan and Korea. The main-level sushi bar is a sleek setting for a lively group gathering or a date night. Peruse the larger selection of Japanese whiskeys at the upstairs bar, or enjoy a cocktail on the open-air patio overlooking Union Market and the Capitol building. 1274 Fifth St. NE. The Village Cafe Founded


The New York Times says movies about killer robots are bad for us. It’s wrong.

This means that it’s unlikely that campaigners’ framing of autonomous weapons as killer robots is responsible for the high levels of public opposition to these weapons. Second, we tested whether being “primed” with sci-fi — asked about the science fiction franchises before being asked about autonomous weapons — made a difference. Again, we found no significant effect. Where we did find an important effect was in sci-fi consumption. People who reported that they had seen a lot of sci-fi films were more likely to oppose trends in autonomous weaponry. Their reaction was even stronger if they were “primed” by getting the sci-fi questions in the survey first. However, this only happened with the most fluent science-fiction buffs in our sample, not for the overall population. What this suggests is that pop culture may sometimes matter — but not in the simple way that foreign policy analysts might expect. People vary in how they interpret the messages in film and TV shows. If our results are right, killer robot fiction doesn’t have any significant effect on the general population. There is, however, a strong effect among the subculture of science fiction fans. The fact that they are only a small subset of the American population may explain why only a few people in our open-ended survey refer to science fiction as a reason to fear the outsourcing of kill decisions to machines. Instead respondents emphasize a variety of philosophical, normative and tactical fears, which are described in the wordcloud below: This leads us to think that the widespread anti-killer-robot sentiment among Americans is driven more by legitimate fears over the weapons themselves than by activist’s scaremongering language. While references to “‘Terminator” may be ubiquitous in popular culture, for these narratives to inform foreign policy attitudes, one needs a deep immersion in science fiction, not just a superficial exposure to killer robot memes. More broadly, it may be that pop culture doesn’t actually have much of an impact on actual foreign policy attitudes. Movies about evil artificial intelligence are certainly fun to watch, and even to write about. However, it isn’t clear that they have large-scale consequences for the way that people think about technology. They may influence the ideas of fans like Finn (and us!) but they don’t have measurable effects on the rest of the population. And if the U.S. population is nervous about outsourcing kill decisions to machines, it


Salmonella contamination in turkey is widespread and unidentified as Thanksgiving approaches

would be “grossly irresponsible and reckless” to identify the brands or name the companies that operate the facilities “when a link from an establishment to an illness has not been made.” There have already been two recalls of turkey products. One in February involved raw ground turkey pet food. On Thursday, FSIS announced that Jennie-O Turkey Store Sales in Wisconsin is recalling 91,388 pounds of raw ground turkey products that may be associated with the outbreak. The products were produced Sept. 11 of this year and include one-pound packages of different kinds of ground turkey that were shipped to retail locations across the country. The federal agencies and Arizona health department officials tested samples from an unopened, intact package of Jennie-O brand ground turkey at a sick patient’s home. The strain in the sample matched that of the patient. The National Turkey Federation said its producers follow “comprehensive pathogen control programs” from the hatchery through processing that are designed to reduce bacteria. At processing plants, the focus is on areas where contamination is most likely to occur. Producers use food-grade rinses that kill or reduce the growth of bacteria, organic sprays to clean the turkeys and inhibit bacteria, and USDA inspectors are “continuously present” in every turkey facility to monitor food safety, the industry group said. According to the federation, nearly 88 percent of Americans surveyed by the federation eat turkey at Thanksgiving. In 2017, they estimated 44 million birds were eaten on Thanksgiving, 22 million at Christmas and 19 million at Easter. Since the investigation began in February, state public health officials have been interviewing patients, looking at grocery receipts and shopper card data, and testing any turkey products that they had in their homes to search for a common supplier. The states with the largest number of cases are Minnesota (17), Illinois (16), California (13), New York (12) and Texas (11). In February, a pet food manufacturer in Minneapolis, Raw for Paws, recalled about 4,000 pounds of its ground turkey pet food after two children became sick after the pet food was fed to pets in their home. One child’s infection resulted in a painful and serious bone infection, and the child was hospitalized, according to health department officials. Read more: AFM: Experts chase the cause of a paralyzing childhood disease spiking this year Percentage of young U.S. children who don’t receive any vaccines has quadrupled since 2001


America’s overt payback for China’s covert espionage

but also others with whom they came in contact. This law enforcement approach to counterespionage requires public disclosure of sensitive information, something that intelligence agencies often resist. But it seems to be an emerging U.S. strategy. The Justice Department has pursued a similar open assault on Russian cyberespionage, with three recent indictments naming a score of Russian operatives and disclosing their hacking techniques, malware tools and planned targets. China, like Russia, is displaying an increasingly freewheeling and entrepreneurial approach to espionage. Several indictments unsealed since September reveal how the Ministry of State Security, the Chinese spy service, has operated through its regional bureaus — in this case the Jiangsu provincial office of the MSS — to obtain precious U.S. technology. The indictments allege that from 2010 to 2015, the Jiangsu branch ran a team of nine hackers who tried to steal U.S. techniques for making jet engines. This is a subtle and highly valuable aspect of aerospace technology, one of the few that China hasn’t yet mastered or stolen, and the Chinese evidently wanted to obtain by stealth what they couldn’t produce on their own. “The concerted effort to steal, rather than simply purchase, commercially available products should offend every company that invests talent, energy and shareholder money into the development of products,” said Adam Braverman, the U.S. attorney in San Diego who helped prosecute the cases. The San Diego indictment lists the hacker names used by the alleged conspirators, handles such as “Cobain,” “sxpdlcl” and “mer4en7y.” A separate indictment charged an MSS officer named Yanjun Xu, a deputy division director in the Jiangsu bureau, with trying to steal jet engine secrets from GE Aviation; Xu was arrested in April in Belgium after he began trying to penetrate the company’s operations, and he was extradited to the United States last month. The United States in September arrested a U.S. Army reservist named Ji Chaoqun and charged that he had helped the Chinese gain information about aerospace industry targets. This month, the Justice Department also unsealed a September indictment that accused a Chinese company and its Taiwanese partner, both funded by the Chinese government, of trying to steal eight trade secrets for a memory-chip technology known as DRAM from Micron Technology Inc., based in Silicon Valley. The indictment notes that the Chinese government had identified DRAM as “a national economic priority” that Beijing was determined to obtain. The indictment, brought by


As pro- and anti-Brexiteers unite in distaste for deal, Brussels shrugs

by installing a third Brexit secretary, after the first two quit in protest. Stephen Barclay is a former junior health minister who voted to leave the E.U. A BBC politics editor described him as “ultra-loyal, having never rebelled against the government.” Many Brexiteers want May to rip up this deal — the product of more than a year of talks — and start again, even as the calendar dwindles ahead of Britain’s March 29 exit date. Brexiteers also complain that the E.U. has singled them out for punishment to set an example to other countries that might contemplate divorce from Brussels. E.U. officials retort that British leaders have fouled up the Brexit process so sufficiently on their own that they don’t expect other countries to follow London’s precedent. Negotiators warn there is little further to be achieved at their level, and even some Brexit advocates say this is the best deal under the circumstances. “We think this is the best we can do collectively with the constraints we have on both sides,” said an E.U. official briefing reporters about the deal under ground rules of anonymity. In the end, the direction of the deal was profoundly shaped by tiny Northern Ireland: Britain wants its territory to remain borderless with the Republic of Ireland, to preserve the peace, and with the rest of the United Kingdom, to maintain national unity. “If what you want is to deliver on leaving the European Union, and have frictionless trade in goods at the border for the next few years until a future free-trade agreement comes into force, and have control of our own immigration policy, and keep the United Kingdom together, all at the same time — well then, a deal is going to look pretty much like this one seems to look like,” former Tory foreign secretary William Hague said this week. “It isn’t going to be dramatically different from that.” The deal maintains E.U. rules and obligations in Britain during a transitional period lasting until the end of 2020 as negotiators hammer out plans for future relations between the two sides. Britain would be on the hook for the financial commitments it made while it was a member — about $50 billion in total — plus a significantly smaller amount for the time it is in the transitional deal. But if the talks for future relations fall apart, Britain would be bound


Father of plane crash victim sues Boeing over flight control system

evidence that has been made public so strongly points in the direction of a defect in the design of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft and a failure by Boeing to adequately instruct and warn its airline customers and their pilots about the changes it made to the flight control system,” Curt Miner, an attorney representing the plaintiff, said in an email. “In recent years, when aviation accidents have occurred in foreign countries, they have typically been attributed to pilot error," he added. Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said “we extend our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the families and loved ones of those on board" in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit. If authorities conclude that a flight system failure caused the crash, it could deal a blow to Boeing’s commercial prospects at a time when it is trying to sell more passenger jets abroad. The 737 is the best-selling commercial jet in the company’s history, and the MAX8 was billed as an evolution of a tried-and-tested airplane. A week after the crash, Boeing warned international airlines that they could experience erroneous warnings from flight-control software on its planes related to so-called Angle of Attack (AOA) sensors, which measure which direction the plane’s nose and make automatic adjustments to prevent the plane from stalling. The company also notified pilots that a manual override built into previous plane models does not work on the Max 8. The Federal Aviation Administration issued its own separate warning drawing attention to the same issue on 737 MAX 8 and 9 planes. Pilots' representatives were caught off-guard by Boeing’s disclosure, saying they were not trained to handle or even made aware of that automated system, which can pitch the nose of a plane downward if it is fed faulty data. It was only on Nov. 7 — after disclosures from Indonesian authorities — that Boeing notified pilots of the systems' existence and added it to pilot manuals, representatives from two U.S. pilot unions said. In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Irianto blamed Boeing. His complaint argues that the company is guilty of negligence for designing a potentially faulty flight control system that is hard to override manually. The suit pointed to news reports stating that pilots had been insufficiently trained to handle the system. “At no relevant time prior to the crash of Lion Air Flight 610 into the Java Sea did Boeing adequately


Without a body, mourners gather in Turkey and Saudi Arabia to commemorate Jamal Khashoggi

and Saudi Arabia attended symbolic funeral prayers for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Friday, after weeks of investigation failed to locate his remains. Khashoggi was killed inside Istanbul’s Saudi consulate Oct. 2, prompting a global firestorm and piling pressure on the kingdom’s powerful crown prince as Turkish officials insisted that he had been complicit in the Saudi writer’s death. Dozens gathered in Istanbul on Friday for a rain-swept memorial at which officials called from the stage for justice and attendees prayed in a silence broken only by the whir of a bank of media cameras. “They may have got rid of his body, but they have only spread his thoughts,” Yasin Aktay, a friend of Khashoggi and an adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told the crowd. “Now everyone is asking why he was killed.” Once a palace insider, Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, had become one of the kingdom’s most famous dissidents. In Saudi Arabia, a stream of mourners came to offer condolences to Khashoggi’s family. Although a Saudi investigation concluded Thursday that the journalist’s body was cut up by a hit squad after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, no remains have been found. Turkish investigators have searched the diplomatic mission while police have combed nearby forests. The Trump administration and Saudi Arabia have each taken steps to punish those they say were responsible for the killing. But both distance Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — a key ally of the United States — from its planning. The United States said Thursday that it would sanction 17 Saudis for their alleged involvement. Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor had released a statement hours earlier, saying that 11 Saudi citizens had been indicted, among them Saud al-Qahtani, an adviser and key enforcer for the crown prince. Saudi authorities are seeking the death penalty for five of those charged, none of whom have been named. Mohammed has centralized the kingdom’s government and security forces since coming to power. According to Western diplomats and Turkish officials, it is unlikely that any mission to kill a high-profile dissident abroad could have taken place without the crown prince’s knowledge. As rain swirled over the Istanbul ceremony Friday, Aktay told the crowd that Turkey would not cease its pressure on Saudi Arabia. “Just because we have performed his funeral prayers does not mean we will stop asking for his body,” he said. louisa.loveluck@washpost.com


Here’s what Congress must find out

relationship with the Saudis given their entirely insufficient response to the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, who was a Global Opinions columnist for The Post. This newspaper reports there is hope for significant action from Congress: Not only did the Saudis change their account of the murder, but also they and the Trump administration stop short of implicating Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and senior intelligence officials, who most experts on Saudi Arabia believe must have approved a plot of this magnitude. Moreover, the Saudis’ latest version of the story appears to contradict available evidence. Here is an opportunity not only to obtain testimony from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and CIA Director Gina Haspel (whom Corker admonished “to share with us exactly what is happening with the U.S. response to Saudi Arabia”) about the murder. It is also an opportunity to seek information about Trump’s and Jared Kushner’s conflicts of interest, the human disaster unfolding in Yemen (made possible by U.S. support for the Saudis) and the dangers in continued overreliance on a brutal, repressive regime to defend our interests (e.g., challenging Iran) in the Middle East. (Have we learned nothing from backing Hosni Mubarak in Egypt?). It’s not every day that Sens. Corker, Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) are united — in this case on the necessity of much stronger action against the Saudis. A second area for congressional oversight must be the war in Afghanistan, nearing the 20-year mark. While one administration after another has put the best face on our policy, it’s far from clear we are any closer to “winning” or that “winning” is even in the cards. Moreover, as negotiations drag on, the Taliban still engages in military operations resulting in massive fatalities. (“The events from Sunday, where dozens of Afghan special forces troops were killed and a loyal and peaceful province appears about to be ravaged, shouldn’t surprise us,” Shazar Shafqat writes in the Hill newspaper. “The failure of the security apparatus the U.S. forces helped build is apparent.”) If this shouldn’t surprise us, it’s fair to ask why we are sending Americans to die there. Michael Rubin (no relation) of the American Enterprise Institute wrote in August: In Rubin’s view, we’ve missed our window of opportunity. “The U.S. had a unique opportunity to win in Afghanistan in the first years after Sept. 11 but squandered it through poor strategy


More than 125 animals rescued from bad conditions at Maryland property

An animal rights group saved more than 125 animals from bad conditions at a Maryland property. The Humane Society of the United States helped the Prince George’s County Animal Services Division in taking the animals, which included chickens, cows, goats, rabbits, geese and pigs. A video from the rescue shows goats running amid muddy fields, pigs with overgrown hoofs and crowded, unclean pens. Cows stood in dilapidated barns and chickens overlooked flooded areas. The groups served a search-and-seizure warrant on the property in the messy snowstorm Thursday morning. Officials called it a “large-scale cruelty situation” and said the animals suffered from “neglect and were living in filthy conditions.” One of the lead rescuers on the team from the Humane Society said the animals had conditions consistent with bad care. Some had overgrown hoofs and matted and unkempt coats. Some of the birds were sickly or had been injured and lost feathers or had skin conditions. Two veterinarians checked the animals and found many of them to be too thin. Officials said they are working to provide care for the animals that will include better housing, bedding and food. “As our team worked through the sleet and rain today, it was heartbreaking to see these animals exposed to the elements and appearing to suffer from neglect,” Emily Hovermale, Maryland state director for the Humane Society of the United States, said Thursday. Authorities did not immediately say whether any charges would be filed against the animals' owner or owners.


How did climate change initiatives do in the midterms? Some lost — but some won.

in adapting to climate change. The politics of adapting to climate change are different from the politics of limiting the magnitude of climate change. State and local efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions impose costs that are concentrated and immediate, but offer benefits that are spread across the globe and may never be visible. But when a community invests in adapting to climate change, those taxpayers benefit more directly, in two ways. First, investing in adaptation can help the community endure and survive natural disasters and other climate change effects — both boosting the local economy and keeping people safe. For instance, improved wastewater infrastructure along the coast reduces the nuisance and public health risk of being exposed to raw sewage in the case of flooding from storm events and sea level rise. And it also puts people to work. Second, adaptation efforts may offer value for a community whether or not the climate changes. For instance, a city might invest in green spaces to reduce flooding — resulting in more parks, lower urban temperatures, and other human health benefits. As a result, advocates for these policies don’t have to argue about whether humans have changed the climate, which is an ideological minefield that makes climate politics challenging. Still, for a variety of reasons, Americans have been slow to invest in the infrastructure that will protect against climate-related risks. Research shows that while many communities are starting to plan for adaptation, funding these efforts remains a challenge. A few initiatives to adapt to climate change passed. The midterm elections changed that, if only slightly. In two New England states, voters approved bonds for clean water infrastructure. Maine and Rhode Island are targeting funds toward improving the performance of wastewater and storm-water systems when there’s flooding, and Rhode Island will set aside money to improve the resiliency of vulnerable coastal habitats. In California, two local measures won the necessary two-thirds support for major investments in protective infrastructure. San Franciscans approved a $425 million bond to rebuild the Embarcadero sea wall, which will help protect the city as sea levels rise. Los Angeles County voters adopted a new parcel tax on paved surfaces, which will pay for storm water improvements to reduce pollution and capture more storm water to boost the region’s fragile water supply. Supporters had abandoned a similar measure in 2013 when it met strong opposition.


Britain has reached a new worst-case scenario on Brexit

Two and a half years ago, when Britain voted to leave the European Union, my instant reaction was apocalyptic. I predicted a recession that has not materialized, thanks mostly to a central bank stimulus and a strong world economy. I predicted the destabilization of the Western alliance, but with President Trump as destabilizer in chief, Britain is a rounding error. Yet in some respects my pessimism was, if anything, too mild. As of Thursday afternoon in London, two cabinet members, two junior ministers and four other aides had resigned their government positions. The obstacles to a reasonable exit deal have proved as bad as anything I imagined, and the resulting political chaos is dizzying. In 2016, the expectation of chaos was ridiculed by the Brexit gang that won the referendum. To cite four leading Brexiters who later held cabinet positions: Britain would “hold all the cards” in negotiations with the European Union; it could “have our cake and eat it”; a replacement trade deal with the E.U. would yield “the exact same benefits”; and the bargaining would be “the easiest in human history.” Once Britain freed itself from the shackles of the E.U., it would conclude wonderful new trade deals of its own and rapidly emerge as the Singapore of Europe. Now the government has published a draft exit treaty. It is as long as a Dickens novel and far more confusing. The most controversial portion concerns the Irish “backstop,” which would kick in at the end of a transition period unless Britain managed to negotiate an unexpectedly deep trade deal with Europe. To avoid a destabilizing hard border between Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland, the backstop provides that the North would live by Europe’s rules on food products and goods standards, even though the United Kingdom would have lost all influence over those rules’ content. Meanwhile, to minimize trade barriers between the North and mainland Britain, the mainland would remain within the E.U. Customs Union. This would prevent it from negotiating its own separate free-trade deals; so much for the vision of Britain as Singapore. What’s more, Britain would not be allowed to shake off this restraint without the E.U.’s approval, and the European Court of Justice would adjudicate customs disputes. So much for the Brexiters’ promise of enhanced British sovereignty. The political whirlwind has come quickly. The very Brexiters who promised a cakewalk are denouncing


Theresa May’s Brexit deal gives everyone something to hate

a de facto customs border in the Irish sea. Ireland, backed by the rest of the European Union, refused to accept the former. Many of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland, including May’s coalition partners, the Democratic Unionist Party, refused to accept the latter. As a result, May has opted to stay inside the customs union, more or less, as a temporary measure, until something else can be negotiated. But in the agreement’s most astonishing passage, Britain has left this temporary arrangement wide open. May has agreed that the U.K.’s “status as a non-voting member of the E.U. in transition can be extended” beyond that date to … “31 December 20xx.” In other words, the U.K. stays inside Europe’s trading space until … whenever. This deal offers something for everyone to hate. Brexiteers who promoted this debacle are angry because the deal means that Britain is indefinitely obliged to follow the rules of the European single market, yet will be unable to shape them. It might make it hard for the U.K. to pursue trade deals with anyone else. Trade flexibility, supposedly, the great advantage of Brexit, now becomes a distant dream. Anti-Brexit campaigners are furious because the deal leaves Britain weaker and less influential than before. The Northern Irish hate it because it implies that they still might end up in a separate trading arrangement from the rest of Britain. The Scottish hate it because they would like a guarantee similar to the one that the Northern Irish have obtained. And so on. But let me say it again: This is absolutely the best deal on offer. There isn’t anything else that works. Nobody is proposing anything better. None of the cabinet members who have quit have made any better suggestions. There isn’t an “ideal Brexit” that could be achieved, if only someone had the will to achieve it. The only other options are no deal — to simply crash out of all of the U.K.’s trading arrangements, with all the chaos that entails — or no Brexit. In other words, the Brexit fantasy has finally tumbled to the ground. This is what a negotiated Brexit deal was always going to look like, and yes, it’s very ugly. Read more: Sebastian Mallaby: Britain has reached a new worst-case scenario on Brexit Sebastian Mallaby: The case for a second Brexit referendum The Post’s View: America should support Theresa May’s ‘soft’ Brexit


Man fatally shot in Northwest Washington

A 26-year-old man was fatally shot Wednesday night on a street in the Shaw neighborhood in Northwest Washington, according to D.C. police. Javon Smith of Southeast was found with a gunshot wound about 10:35 p.m. in the 2100 block of Eighth Street NW, in LeDroit Park. Police said they believe Smith was shot a block south, in the 800 block of Florida Avenue NW, on the border with Shaw, and ran to Eighth Street, where he collapsed. Police said Smith died at a hospital. The shooting occurred in the eastern end of the U Street corridor, near Howard University Hospital and the African American Civil War Museum. Police did not comment on a possible motive. Officers rushed to the scene after an alert by ShotSpotter, the audio-sensing technology that records the sounds of gunshots, and found the victim lying on the street. He told police, “I can’t breathe, I don’t know,” according to the report. It did not elaborate on the statements. Three vehicles were damaged by gunfire. peter.hermann@washpost.com


Four Thanksgiving wine strategies — and five great bottles for your table

that give it a sense of being firmly rooted in its terroir. Absolutely delicious. ABV: 14.1 percent. Distributed by Simon N Cellars: Available in the District at Calvert Woodley. Available in Maryland at Wine Cellars of Annapolis. Available in Virginia at Leesburg Vintner in Leesburg, Tastings of Charlottesville and Wine Warehouse in Charlottesville, Tinto Wine & Cheese (Chesapeake, Virginia Beach). Boedecker Cellars Pinot Noir 2015 Willamette Valley, Ore., $28 Pinot noir is a great choice for Thanksgiving because of its versatility with a wide variety of foods. This fine Oregon example from Boedecker Cellars offers flavors of candied cherries, raspberries and — dare I say it? — cranberries. It’s tart and refreshing with good balance, texture and finish. ABV: 13.3 percent. Distributed by Elite: Available in the District at Downtown Liquors, Lion’s Fine Wine & Spirits, Modern Liquors, Rosebud Liquor; on the list at Kapnos, Magnolia, Pennsylvania 6. Available in Maryland at Capital Beer & Wine and Cork 57 Beer and Wine in Bethesda, Downtown Crown Wine and Beer in Gaithersburg, Rodman’s in Wheaton; on the list at Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park. Available in Virginia at Grapevine in Warrenton, Libbie Market in Richmond, Society Fair in Alexandria. On the list at Sonoma Cellar in Alexandria, Trummer’s on Main in Clifton. McNab Ridge Winery Petite Sirah 2014 Mendocino County, Calif., $18 This is a big, powerful California red wine, with a plush, inky texture and flavors of vanilla, black cherry and plum. Petite sirah has become a bit of a cult wine, and it is unusual now to find one this good under $20. This one delivers. ABV: 14.7 percent. Distributed by M. Touton Selection: Available in the District at Eye Street Cellars, Rodman’s, the Wine Outlet. Available in Maryland at Bethesda Co-Op in Cabin John, Bradley Food & Beverage in Bethesda, Old Farm Liquors in Frederick. Available in Virginia at Chain Bridge Cellars in McLean, Foods of All Nations in Charlottesville, Libbie Market in Richmond, the Wine Outlet (various locations). Edelheiss Wine Germany, $20 I was ready to dismiss this wine, with its ceramic bottle and swing-top beer-bottle cap, for lacking seriousness. But it’s rather tasty — a fortified red wine, moderately sweet, flavored with cinnamon, cloves and other spices. Think of the mulled wine popular in Europe at winter markets. Whether you warm it or drink at room temperature, it is a good pairing for pumpkin pie


Navy SEALs and Marine Raiders face murder charges in death of Special Forces soldier

Norfolk. Rear Adm. Charles W. Rock has been appointed by the Navy to oversee the proceedings. A spokesman for U.S. Special Operations Command, Navy Capt. Jason Salata, said in a statement that if substantiated, the allegations would represent “a violation of the trust and standards required by all service members.” The military trusts all of its members to safeguard U.S. interests and to do so with honor, he said. “We will not allow allegations or substantiated incidents of misconduct to erode decades of honorable accomplishments by the members of U.S. Special Operations Command,” Salata said. “Ours is a culture of professionalism and accountability, which prides itself in being a learning organization that uses critical self-examination in a relentless dedication to improvement.” The names of the accused service members were redacted from the charge sheets released Thursday, but they are identified by rank as a Marine staff sergeant, a Marine gunnery sergeant and two Navy petty officers. The investigation progressed as the Pentagon weighed how many U.S. troops to keep deployed across Africa as it reorients to better prepare for adversarial relations with Russia and China. On Thursday, the Pentagon said that after a review, it has decided to reduce the number of deployed troops by about 10 percent, down from 7,200, over the next few years. Melgar’s death was kept secret by the U.S. military for months as the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and other federal officials began probing what happened. It was first reported in October 2017 by the New York Times. A native of Lubbock, Tex., Melgar had served two previous deployments in Afghanistan. The accused service members wanted to confront Melgar after he was invited to a party at the U.S. Embassy in Mali and they were not, the Daily Beast reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the case. There allegedly was an ongoing disagreement between Melgar and the others in part because some of them had solicited prostitutes in the past and brought them back to the military’s safe house in Bamako, the Daily Beast reported. The case marks the latest black eye for the Navy SEALs, who have been faced with a series of allegations involving war crimes. On Wednesday, the Navy began a hearing in San Diego for another SEAL, Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who is accused of stabbing to death an unarmed Islamic State fighter in the Iraqi city of Mosul. dan.lamothe@washpost.com


U.S., Saudi steps in Khashoggi case don’t go far enough, lawmakers say

us exactly what is happening with the U.S. response to Saudi Arabia” on Yemen and Khashoggi. “It’s very important for them to be forthcoming given the heightened level of concern and increasing demand for action here in the Senate,” Corker said in a statement. Several other lawmakers issued similar statements. “I am disturbed that following repeated Saudi lies about what happened to Jamal, the administration appears to be following the Saudi playbook of blaming mid-level officials and exonerating its leadership,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) derided the sanctions, saying on Twitter that “these individuals might lose their heads, do you think they care” about sanctions? “We are pretending to do something and doing NOTHING,” Paul tweeted. Khashoggi, who feared for his safety in Saudi Arabia and relocated to Virginia last year, was a contributing columnist for The Washington Post and a critic of some of Mohammed’s policies. In a statement, Post publisher Fred Ryan said: “In announcing actions against ‘those responsible’ for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, the Saudi and U.S. governments are asking the world to take their word for it that this settles the matter. From the start, the Saudi ‘investigation’ has been an effort to shield those ultimately responsible for this heinous crime when there is every reason to believe that it was authorized at the highest levels of the Saudi government.” Imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which empowers the United States to sanction human rights abusers abroad, the sanctions freeze any assets of the designated Saudis that are under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit Americans from dealings with the 17. Corker led a bipartisan group of senators who called on President Trump last month to determine whether the Saudi government had violated the act and to “consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest-ranking officials in the Government of Saudi Arabia.” The most senior person sanctioned was Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide to the crown prince. Treasury also named Mohammad al-Otaibi, the Saudi consul general in Istanbul, in whose diplomatic mission Khashoggi was killed; and Maher Mutreb, described as a Qahtani “subordinate.” Mutreb, a security official who is frequently seen at the side of the crown prince, was photographed entering and leaving the consulate on the day of the killing. The department named 14 others, saying only that they were “members of an operations team” who had a role in Khashoggi’s


لا يحق للحوثيين الحديث عن حرية الصحافة

هذا العصر الذهبي حتى قاد الحوثيون المدعومون من قبل إيران انقلابًا عسكريًا في سبتمبر/أيلول 2014، وما لبث وأن أصبحت وسائل الإعلام عدو الشعب الأول على الفور. في الرواية الحوثية، فإنّ جميع الصحفيين جواسيس للغرب وأعداء لليمن. أغلقت الجماعة بسرعة وسائل الإعلام التي لم تتوافق مع سياستها، واختُطِفَ مئات من الصحفيين وتعرّضوا للتعذيب، أحيانًا حتى الموت. بحلول نهاية عام 2017، كان هنالك 13 صحفيًا محتجزين لدى الحوثي وفقًا للجنة حماية الصحفيين، و اعتقلوا منذ ذلك الحين ما لا يقل عن ثلاثة أشخاص آخرين نعرفهم. في مايو/أيار 2015، اختُطِفَ الصحفيان عبد الله قابيل ويوسف العيزري. وبعد بضع أيام، ألقت نقابة الصحفيين اليمنيين اللوم على الحوثيين إثر وفاة الصحفيَين اللذَين كان يستخدمهما الحوثيون كدروع بشرية لحماية منشأة عسكرية في مدينة ذمار من الغارات الجوية السعودية. أنا شخصيًا تلقيتُ تهديدات من الحوثيين واقتُحِمَت الصحيفة التي عملتُ بها وأُوقِفَت عن العمل. عندما لم يتمكنوا من الوصول إليّ بشكل مباشر، اعتقلوا والدي وأخي وأجبروهم على التبرؤ مني باعتباري “جاسوسًا”. لقد صدمت قصة مقتل خاشقجي الوحشية الأميركيين جدًا، وانتقد مشرّعون في واشنطن من كلا الحزبَين الحكومة السعودية بسبب انتهاكاتها لحقوق الإنسان. إنني أحيّي الروح الاستثنائية التي أظهرها مشرّعو واشنطن في تصريحهم بعدم تمكّن أي قاتل أو نظام ما من الإفلات من جرائمه. لكن خاشقجي هو مجرد واحد من العديد من ضحايا هذه السياسات. لا ينبغي استغلال موته المأساوي لاستمالة الصحافة كما سعى محمد علي الحوثي لفعله في مقاله المنشور في الـ”بوست”. بدلًا من ذلك، يجب أن نحترم حياة خاشقجي عن طريق حماية الصحافة. وان تحقيق العدالة لخاشقجي يجب أن تعني أيضًا العدالة للمتضررين في حرب اليمن، وخاصة الصحفيين. لقد جلبت مأساة خاشقجي، الذي كنتُ أفتخر بالقول إنّه كان صديقًا لي، اهتمامًا طال انتظاره بالحرب في اليمن وانخراط السعودية فيها. كوني يمني، فقد شعرتُ بالارتياح لأن العالم قد استيقظ أخيرًا، ولكن مع استمرار الجدل، شعرتُ أنّ أصواتنا كيمنيين ليست مٌمَثلَة. بعد مرور أكثر من ثلاث سنوات على تدخل قوات التحالف بقيادة السعودية لدعم حكومة اليمن المعترف بها دوليًا ضد المتمردين الحوثيين المدعومين من قبل إيران، فإنّه لا توجد في الأفق نهاية للحرب، وبدأ اليمنيون بفقدان بصيص الأمل نحو أي نوع من العودة إلى الحياة الطبيعية. إنّ الوضع الإنساني والاقتصادي لا يوصف بأقل من كونه كارثي، كما تتعمق الانقسامات الاجتماعية والسياسية. لقد حان الوقت لكي يتخذ العالم ما يلزم من الإجراءات. وقد دعا البعض في واشنطن الإدارة الحالية إلى وقف مبيعات الأسلحة إلى السعودية. على الرغم من أن هذه خطوة أولى هامة، إلّا أنّها لن تكون كافية بحد ذاتها لإنهاء الحرب. يجب أن يتذكر المجتمع الدولي أنّ السعوديين لا


Can we give Metro the Amazon Prime treatment?

a good job. . . . Now, it’s a hell of a problem.” And it is the key to making so much work. Real, effective, far-reaching mass transit expands the affordable housing market, alleviates gridlock, reduces greenhouse gasses. But ridership has been falling because the folks who ran Metro didn’t account for running an aging system. And the folks who fund Metro — our elected officials in the DMV — didn’t want to pay for its full cost. So Wiedefeld is now trying to untangle years of disrepair. There have been moves toward fixing this. There is a planned $15.5 billion infusion of badly needed cash over the next 10 years. And the addition of Amazon promises more than $100 million annually in regional tax revenue that can go into fixing Metro. Because the addition of all these jobs isn’t going to affect just National Landing, as the Amazon folks are rebranding it now. This affects the entire region. So we need to think bigger, and to challenge Amazon to help make it happen. Until we get those flying cars, how about light rail? Hydroplane ferries? Maglev? Monorail? Why on earth is Amazon already experimenting with drone delivery, but we can’t express-send ourselves anywhere? Japanese officials unveiled their insane, rocket maglev train earlier this year, flying across the land four inches above tracks at 311 miles an hour. It’s been hotly debated whether Americans will embrace a proposed superconducting magnetic-levitation train — SCMaglev — from D.C. to Baltimore. It’s the future, but it also could devastate the neighborhoods in its path. It would have to be a delicate and thoughtful process. But it’s what forward-thinking leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt would’ve done, argued one Washington Post reader, in a letter to the editor last month. “I cannot imagine Roosevelt (or any New Dealer) endorsing a “no-build” option,” wrote Greenbelt resident Robert Snyder. We used to be a nation that built things. The transcontinental railroad, highways, airports. We went from Orville and Wilbur flying on a giant dragonfly at the beach to walking on the moon in about 60 years. And now we can’t get it together for the Red Line to be on time? Every summer, when my kids travel by train to University of Notre Dame in Indiana for a hockey camp, Amtrak announces delays on their return trip. Not an hour. Not two hours. At least four hours.