It’s a boy! National Zoo reveals the gender of its new panda cub.

The National Zoo said Monday that, based on the results of genetic testing, its 6-week-old giant panda cub is male. “Outwardly, male and female cubs appear similar at birth, so a genetic test was the most accurate way to determine the cub’s sex,” the zoo said in a statement. “During the cub’s first veterinary exam Sept. 19 … veterinarians obtained a swab from his cheek for DNA analysis.” Veterinarians said the cub appears to be healthy and strong. The cub weighs 3.6 pounds, measures 14 inches “from nose to tail tip,” and is 12.5 inches around. The cub was born Aug. 21, giving Washington its first giant panda cub in five years. Zoo officials said they expect to name in the panda in a few weeks. The cub’s mother, Mei Xiang, 22, is the oldest giant panda in the United States and the second-oldest known in the world to give birth. At that age, Mei had less than a 1 percent chance of having a cub, the zoo said. She was also the first giant panda in the United States to give birth after the use of frozen semen, the zoo said. The cub’s father, Tian Tian, is 23. The zoo is open, but with virus safety restrictions. The panda house at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat is closed to provide quiet for Mei Xiang and her cub. The Asia Trail area, which includes the panda viewing area, is temporarily closed for sidewalk repaving. Mei Xiang has given birth to three other surviving offspring: Tai Shan and Bei Bei, both males, and Bao Bao, a female. Tai Shan was born July 9, 2005, and was moved to China in February 2010. Bao Bao was born Aug. 23, 2013, and was moved to China in February 2017. Bei Bei was born Aug. 22, 2015, and was moved to China last November. By agreement, all cubs born at the National Zoo are moved to China when they are 4 years old. An earlier version of this story misidentified the sex of two giant pandas born in recent years at the National Zoo. Bao Bao is female. Bei Bei is male.


John Banville’s new novel begins, like a game of Clue, with a body in the library

We’ve all had the experience of feeling as though a room we’ve entered or a person we’ve met was “straight out of a novel.” Indeed, in the deep strangeness of this year, is there a reader alive who hasn’t once entertained the thought that we’re all trapped in “The Plague,” “1984,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” or Ling Ma’s “Severance” — to name but a few fictional analogues to our current unreality? Which is all to say that when Detective Inspector St. John Strafford, the glum main character of John Banville’s latest mystery, “Snow,” first thinks to himself that the murder case he’s investigating feels like something straight out of a mystery novel, we readers think little of it, except to perhaps credit Banville with a taste for metafiction. The first sentence of this novel, after all, is the announcement that: “The body is in the library.” That moldy line is uttered by a colonel (named Osborne, not “Mustard”) who’s the master of the manor house called Ballyglass House where the murder has taken place. A candlestick is a suspected murder weapon. The fourth (or maybe it’s the 40th time), however, that Strafford thinks to himself that he’s trapped in a creaky, Clue-like game board of a mystery novel, the reader begins to suspect that a crime more foul than murder may have been committed here: namely, that a novelist may be arrogantly denigrating the very form that he himself can’t seem to bring to life. “Snow” is terrible. Not just mundanely flat, but aggressively, sneeringly terrible. It’s the kind of novel that makes even the most ardent mystery fan reconsider the latent wisdom of critic Edmund Wilson’s famous 1945 essay, “Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?” Wilson, who found Agatha Christie’s masterpiece — as well as almost all other mystery novels — to be the literary equivalents of crossword puzzles, would find ample support for his contempt in “Snow.” The fact that Banville himself keeps underscoring the woodenness of his own fictional construction doesn’t render it any more interesting. “Snow” is set in 1950s rural Ireland, during a freak blizzard. The murder victim is one of those social-climbing Catholic priests — himself straight out of an Evelyn Waugh novel — who attaches himself to the landed gentry, even though the landed gentry of Ballyglass House are straggling members of the Protestant landowning class. A frequent guest at Ballyglass House, Father Tom


These states are most likely to boost turnout — despite the pandemic

all-mail elections. All-mail elections decrease the cost of voting because there is no burden placed upon the citizen to request a ballot. Other states, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, removed the burden of requesting an absentee ballot by mailing all registered voters an application to request one. Michigan’s secretary of state mailed absentee applications indicating that current law allowed the action, while Pennsylvania passed a temporary measure to make this happen. As a result, our index recognizes only Pennsylvania as having reduced the cost of voting. Here’s how I did my research Typically, my co-authors and I generate one index per election cycle; however, given the extraordinary circumstances this year, we calculated two indexes for 2020. The first index only accounts for enshrined laws, while the second index includes any temporary changes due to covid-19 (as implemented by Sept. 1, 2020). Values in the first index range from a low of -1.69 (Oregon has the lowest cost of voting) to a high of 1.29 (Texas has the highest cost). For the second index, reflecting changes enacted over the summer, the values range from a low of -1.59 (Washington state) to a high of 1.38 (Texas). After computing each index, I calculated the net change in the cost of voting values between the first and the second indexes for each state. This difference allows me to estimate the effect of these temporary policies on expected turnout. How will 2020’s temporary policies affect voter turnout? Of course, it’s difficult to predict overall voter turnout in 2020. Analysts expect the highly charged political atmosphere to increase turnout — yet voters concerned about contracting coronavirus may stay home, lowering turnout at the polls. However, our research demonstrates that any policy that reduces the difficulty of voting ultimately means more people vote. To get an idea about the influence of these temporary policy changes, I focus on the five states that had the largest shifts in rankings, between the two indexes: Nevada (moved up 10 spots), California (up 4), Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (each up 2). The extent of the effect of a temporary policy will vary depending on the extent to which it altered the difficulty of voting. States that didn’t implement any temporary election policy due to covid-19 saw no change in their index scores, but perhaps fell slightly in the overall rankings as other states moved ahead. And states that adopted


The pandemic is amplifying the U.S. anti-vaccine movement — and globalizing it

comparable for Britons. The number of Germans who said they would be willing to get a hypothetical coronavirus vaccine dropped to 64 percent in June, down from 79 percent in April, one survey found. Last year, the World Health Organization warned that a rise in vaccine hesitancy could roll back progress on vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles and polio. Since the start of the pandemic, the WHO has once again found itself defending the lifesaving power of vaccines. “The anti-vaccine movement, they can build narratives to fight against vaccines, but the track record of vaccines tells its own story, and people should not be confused,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, said in September. Some of the loudest voices coming out of the United States these days are sophisticated, well-funded anti-vaccine “proselytizers,” said Imran Ahmed, chief executive officer at the Center for Countering Digital Hate and an expert on malignant online behavior. “The digital anti-vaccine movement is an American disease,” he said, “and it is spreading around the world.” For years now, well-organized and well-funded U.S. activists have been central to the global spread of disinformation and misinformation about vaccine safety, particularly the false claim that vaccines cause autism. When it comes to false information about vaccines, the United States “is sort of a superspreader,” said Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the author of “Stuck,” a book investigating why vaccine rumors don’t go away. As the novel coronavirus made its way around the world in the spring, so did questions about an eventual vaccine. Before the pandemic, the average adult did not think about vaccines until they had children, said Kolina Koltai, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington. Now, information about vaccine development and testing is everywhere from Facebook groups to the nightly news. “At a global level, you have people talking about vaccines: Who is producing them? What are their political ties?” she said. “The anti-vaccine movement was already asking those questions.” Anti-vaccine campaigners stepped in with answers, flooding existing networks with false and misleading content. A major turning point was the May 4 release of a conspiracy video, “Plandemic,” featuring a discredited American scientist with ties to the anti-vaccine movement. The video cast the coronavirus crisis as a shadowy plot orchestrated by the “scientific and


Appeals court says census count must continue through the end of the month

A three-judge panel on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s order saying the Trump administration must continue the 2020 Census count until the end of this month. However, the ruling, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, said the government can still attempt to deliver the data while President Trump is still in office. A lawyer for the plaintiffs, which include the National Urban League and several jurisdictions and other groups, applauded it. “For those who care about seeing a fair and accurate census, we’re pleased with this order; it’s a victory,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is arguing the case. The administration went almost immediately to the Supreme Court, asking it for a stay of the lower courts’ actions. Acting solicitor general Jeffrey B. Wall wrote that continuing the count “exacerbates the serious risk” that the Census Bureau will not be able to deliver the data by the Dec. 31 statutory deadline. The government had requested a stay after a federal judge blocked the administration’s efforts to end the count last week and process the data in time to deliver it to the president for apportionment by a statutory deadline of Dec. 31. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction last month, adding a clarification last week after the government shifted the end date by just five days, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5. The clarification said the government must keep counting until Oct. 31 and could not deliver the data until April 30 — dates the bureau set in a “COVID-19 Plan,” after the coronavirus pandemic upended the bureau’s original schedule. In April, the bureau asked Congress to approve the COVID-19 Plan’s delivery deadline. But Congress failed to act, and in early August, shortly after Trump said he would seek to exclude undocumented immigrants from apportionment, the bureau abruptly issued a replan that shortened the count by a month and hewed to the Dec. 31 reporting date after all. Bureau officials have issued conflicting statements about the agency’s ability to deliver accurate census data by the end of the year: In early July they said the window to do so had already passed; in early August they said they could do so only if they ended the count on Sept. 30, and late last month they


Trump says he feels great. My experience — as a doctor and patient — says that might not last.

of infection experienced by most everyone else who has suffered through symptoms of this horrific disease. It’s hard to know with a test panel composed of a single person. More likely, the president will have a shortened course of symptoms but, like most covid-19 patients, will experience moments of seemingly good health, followed by stretches where his energy vanishes and he needs to lie down. This is what covid-19 infection does. It’s like a dog with a toy, shaking it vigorously for a few moments, resting for a while, and then shaking vigorously again. The beast — in this case, it’s a beast — doesn’t let go until it’s good and ready. Based on my experiences as both an infected person and a provider to dozens of patients fighting the infection, I would expect the president to struggle this week with waxing and waning symptoms of covid-19: paroxysms of coughing, shortness of breath after mild exertion, headaches, moments of “fuzzy thinking,” intermittent fever and profound episodes of fatigue. The fatigue is particularly vexing and is the one symptom that likely will linger for weeks after he has recovered from the others. I wouldn’t be surprised if it persisted up to Election Day. Owing to the lack of transparency into the president’s condition, I can only speculate what his day-to-day symptoms are or how he truly is feeling moment to moment. Yet, having fought through this nightmare, I can imagine what it is like for him. The fear of the unknown, the terrifying nights when I wasn’t sure I would make it to the next morning without having to be hospitalized — that is something I never want to experience again. The president urged Americans not to “be afraid” of covid-19. Perhaps that is good advice, but for sure, we all need to respect this virus: how it is transmitted, what it does to those people it infects and how it leaves countless family members bereaved after it has taken a loved one to the grave. As we learn more about the virus, it is incumbent on scientists and clinicians to do what we can to improve therapies and create vaccines. And it is incumbent on all of us to use what we know to reduce its spread: avoid crowds, keep physical distance and, for goodness’ sake, wear a mask. Even — or perhaps especially — on the South Portico. Read


Let’s hope Trump recovers — and that the GOP gets what it deserves

weeks. Some of the Republicans who have been diagnosed in recent days attended a The nation should wish all these new covid-19 patients well — and then should vote by a landslide to give control of the White House and Congress to Joe Biden and the Democrats, who pledge to implement sound, science-based measures to try to finally bring the pandemic under control. During his weekend in the hospital, Trump continued to model all the wrong behaviors. His joyride on Sunday to wave to supporters needlessly put the Secret Service agents protecting him in jeopardy — and made clear that even as his own immune system battles covid-19, Trump is prioritizing his image over his health. This is nothing new. From the beginning, Trump has acted as if he believed the pandemic could be willed away. Republican officials unwisely went along with his demands that businesses and schools reopen prematurely, despite infection rates that experts said were far too high. Now Trump himself is ill, and the nation faces a potential second wave of the virus, coinciding with flu season, that could be worse than the first. This is no moment for schadenfreude. It is, however, a time for consequences. On a human level, we have to wish every covid-19 victim a speedy and complete recovery, including the president who claimed that "virtually nobody" was affected by the virus. The fact that covid-19 was able to reach the most powerful man in the country, penetrating all of his layers of security and defying a White House regimen of daily testing, shows how vulnerable all of us remain to this awful scourge. Still, surrender and wishful thinking weren't our only options. The virus may not succumb to spin, but it can be slowed by the sorts of common-sense health practices the president has transformed into signifiers of Republican tribal identity. At the first debate, Trump tried to mock Biden for wearing "the biggest mask I've ever seen," even though those masks are one of the more effective weapons we have to fight infection. He promoted quack remedies and predicted that the virus would magically disappear. Republican officials went along with his nonsense — even as their constituents fell ill and died. There are just four weeks left before Election Day. Millions of voters have already cast or mailed their ballots. And what the nation decides on Nov. 3 will also chart


Climate Solutions: Next Generation with BioCellection Co-Founder & CEO Miranda Wang, KARTON Co-Founder Karan Jerath and WellAware CEO Sarah Evans

General’s Envoy on Youth on efforts to engage young people in the realization of the Goals. His novel patented invention targets remediation methods for subsea oil spills and has earned him the Intel Foundation's Young Scientist award along with recognition from the Kingdom of Brunei, Kingdom of Bahrain, Emperor of Japan, and the Governor of Texas. Last year, he filmed a documentary, now on Amazon Prime Latin America, titled ‘The Power of the Centennials’ with Bancolombia, the most sustainable bank in the world as reported by Dow Jones. The objective of the episode is to show a youth’s perspective on how leaders of multi-national corporations should operate, particularly around sustainability issues. He had direct conversations with the President and CEO of Corona Industries, a multi-billion dollar Colombian mining and ceramics company, and was ultimately able to have Corona Industries commit to issues around improving worker conditions and ergonomics, working towards closing circular economy gaps in operations, expanding investments to youth, and eliminating virgin plastic usage within their supply chain. Alongside working for a Big Four Consulting Firm, he is the co-founder of KARTON, a social good transportation company in Zambia, Africa. KARTON’s mission is to bring technology and data to disrupt the transportation sector in the African continent. The company connects shippers and carriers moving freight and will ultimately invest in services like financial literacy and energy storage solutions to address the power shortages experienced within the country. Miranda Wang is a US-based Chinese Canadian entrepreneur, environmental advocate, and inventor. She is the Co-founder and CEO of BioCellection Inc, a plastic-to-plastic chemical upcycling technology company with a focus on polyethylene plastic waste. Her company’s patented process invention ATOD™ transforms polyethylene waste into platform chemicals with a 70% lower CO2e footprint, and synthesizes these chemicals into quality performance materials that can compete with virgin materials on price. Miranda believes that the solution to the plastic problem lies in deeptech (and mostly chemical) innovation and scaling up new manufacturing processes that recycle hard-to-recycle plastics. She brings together key stakeholders in waste management, jurisdictions, and brands seeking improved sustainability to solve the plastic pollution crisis. Backed by well-known impact investors, philanthropists, and governmental programs aimed at solving big problems in our world, her company has received over $5M in investments and $4M in grants. Among other accolades, Miranda is a Rolex Awards for Enterprise Laureate, Forbes 30 Under 30, Echoing Green Climate Fellow,


Unlike most of the country, Maryland consumers can’t purchase alcohol at grocery stores. That may change soon.

Proponents of reforming Maryland’s beverage alcohol laws are optimistic that next year the Free State will join the majority of the country in granting grocery stores and chain stores the freedom to sell beer, wine and maybe even liquor. Forty-seven states and D.C. allow grocery stores to sell beer, and 40 and D.C. allow them to sell wine, according to the Maryland Retailers Association. Maryland’s alcohol distribution is governed by a 1978 law that explicitly denies alcohol licenses to chain and discount stores, poorly defined, and limits licenses to Maryland residents, who can only hold one license. Some stores were grandfathered in the 1978 law, which is why the Giant grocery in White Oak, in Montgomery County, sells beer and wine but other Giant outlets don’t. And Maryland gives considerable leeway to counties and cities in regulating alcohol sales, so you will see a few stores with the same or similar names, but you won’t see that they have different family members listed on the licenses. It’s a messy hodgepodge that does not serve Maryland consumers well. The law was designed to protect the mom-and-pop beer and wine shops that dominate the retail landscape but are beholden to large wholesalers in the national three-tier system established after the repeal of Prohibition. A smattering of independent, quality-minded retailers have chipped away at the margins, especially in cities such as Annapolis, Baltimore and Frederick — and, more recently in Montgomery County. But Marylanders lag behind the rest of the country in their freedom to purchase beverage alcohol. “Ninety-eight percent of Americans can go to a grocery store and buy beer. Eighty-five percent can buy wine,” says Adam Borden, of Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws, which has been advocating for chain store sales since 2012. MBBWL helped change the state’s laws a few years ago to allow Maryland residents to purchase wine directly from wineries. The group released a new survey in July that said 67 percent of Maryland consumers favored allowing chain stores to sell alcoholic beverages. “We’re one of the last states left restricting the free market for alcohol sales,” says Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Association, the Maryland Association of Chain Drug Stores, the Tri-State Jewelers Association and the Maryland Food Industry Council. “I can’t think of any other retail sector where we allow fiefdoms to control the market and we protect them. Do we or


Asked and answered: What readers want to know about coronavirus

The novel coronavirus is changing how we live our lives, and our readers have questions. The Washington Post has catalogued and organized 12,691 questions about the pandemic and provided a guide to help you find the answers. Many of the questions fall into common themes, and this guide provides links to reporting that holds the answers to those frequently referenced topic areas. This guide is updated twice a day and reordered with the most frequently asked-about subject areas, from how covid-19, the disease the virus causes, affects individuals to the broad impact on society as we know it. You can keep asking us questions here. Scientists are still studying how the coronavirus behaves, including how it infects human cells and hides from our immune systems. For more on the science behind the disease, read the following: What the structure of the coronavirus can tell us This coronavirus mutation has taken over the world. Scientists are trying to understand why. Soap — bar soap, liquid soap, laundry detergent, etc. — breaks down the membrane of the virus with water, which is why “wash your hands” is such a common public health message. If you have questions about hand-washing or supplies to disinfect household surfaces, read the reporting below: How to teach kids hand-washing to prevent coronavirus spread The right way to clean and disinfect household surfaces Hiring professional cleaners: Covid-19 rules to keep everyone as safe as possible Colleges and universities are ramping up massive testing procedures to slow the spread of the virus and carry on with the fall semester. Spikes in cases at the start of the school year have led some schools to retreat to online instruction. Read more about the measures universities are taking: Welcome to college. Now get tested for the coronavirus — again and again. How college students can make the most of remote learning Reservations, takeout and food tents: Dining traditions change as campuses attempt to curb virus The pandemic may cause a surge in absentee voting this fall, but officials from both political parties and voting rights activists all have their own reasons to be concerned with how ballots will work in November. Here’s some reporting from the primaries across the country: Vote by mail: Which states allow absentee voting Voting rules changed quickly for the primaries. But the battle over how Americans will cast ballots in the fall is just heating up.


by aerosols, warns of badly ventilated spaces Genetic data shows how a single superspreading event sent coronavirus across Massachusetts — and the nation Virus ‘does not spread easily’ from contaminated surfaces or animals, revised CDC website states Find ways to support your local community. The American Red Cross is facing a severe blood shortage. Food pantries are straining to support newly unemployed Americans. Seniors are having a hard time getting groceries while limiting their contact with the outside world. Read more below: How you can help during the coronavirus outbreak Volunteers can now sign up for large coronavirus vaccine studies Ways to help older neighbors and relatives in isolation (and how they can help you) President Trump is curbing immigration visas through the end of the year in an effort to protect U.S. workers from job losses. To learn more about U.S. immigration policies, enforcement and the international impact during the pandemic, read the articles below: The U.S. is deporting infected migrants back to vulnerable countries Judge orders new health inspection at Virginia immigration center with large coronavirus outbreak Trump, citing pandemic, orders limits on foreign workers, extends immigration restrictions through December There are reported cases of the coronavirus in almost every country in the world. More than half a million people have died. Read more on the international toll of the virus: Brazil ignored the warnings. Now, while other countries fret over a second coronavirus wave, it can’t get past its first. What’s reopened and what’s still restricted in 16 cities around the world For Boris Johnson, catching covid-19 was sobering. Less so for Trump. The country’s top chief executives expect the fallout from the pandemic to extend through 2021, impacting earnings projections and hiring at companies. Read more about the economic impact here: Coronavirus fallout will haunt the U.S. economy for years, costing it $8 trillion through 2030, CBO says As permanent economic damage piles up, the Covid Crisis is looking more like the Great Recession The recession is over for the rich, but the working class is far from recovered Americans find themselves spending a lot more time at home — cooking, teaching, working and finally getting to that much-delayed home improvement project. For some guidance on life at home, read The Post’s coverage here: Why you should stretch more often than before and after exercise — especially nowadays What the country is reading during the pandemic:


on how to support your children during the pandemic, take a look at the articles below: Stuck at home? Now’s the time to have these important talks with your kids. These new books are here to teach your kids about social distancing, masks and covid-19 The stress of the unknown is taking a massive toll on parents Millions of Americans have been financially impacted by the pandemic. If you have questions about unemployment benefits, paying rent or small-business loans, read The Post’s coverage below: Your money and the pandemic: Answers to some personal finance questions The 2020 tax year is going to be a hot mess, and the coronavirus is why New Rules of Retirement: The coronavirus economy has blown up plans for many Americans Are you thinking of getting a dog? Or a cat? Maybe you already have one and they’re wondering why you’re home all the time. Here’s some of The Post’s pet coverage during the pandemic: Your quarantined pet may be acting odd. Here’s how to help. Overfed and underexercised, some dogs are putting on pandemic pounds Getting a dog right now sounds great — but can you really afford it? Americans with underlying medical conditions such as cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease are at an increased risk of “severe illness” from covid-19, according to the CDC. Read more below: Patients with underlying conditions were 12 times as likely to die of covid-19 as otherwise healthy people, CDC finds The ultimate covid-19 mystery: Why does it spare some and kill others? Thousands of inmates are contracting the coronavirus in the close quarters of the U.S. prison system. Activists have been calling for the release of prisoners. Read more on how coronavirus has impacted prisons below: ‘A recipe for disaster’: American prison factories becoming incubators for coronavirus Prisoners and guards agree about federal coronavirus response: ‘We do not feel safe’ These towns love their federal prison. But covid-19 is straining the relationship. All summer, Americans have been protesting systemic racism in the criminal justice system. If you have questions about the risks of protesting during the pandemic, read below: Should you get tested for the coronavirus after protesting? Here’s what experts say about the risks. Protests probably didn’t lead to coronavirus spikes, but it’s hard to know for sure Mass transit systems came to a halt when the coronavirus first shut down major cities in


as cancer, chronic kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease are at an increased risk of “severe illness” from covid-19, according to the CDC. Read more below: Patients with underlying conditions were 12 times as likely to die of covid-19 as otherwise healthy people, CDC finds The ultimate covid-19 mystery: Why does it spare some and kill others? Thousands of inmates are contracting the coronavirus in the close quarters of the U.S. prison system. Activists have been calling for the release of prisoners. Read more on how coronavirus has impacted prisons below: ‘A recipe for disaster’: American prison factories becoming incubators for coronavirus Prisoners and guards agree about federal coronavirus response: ‘We do not feel safe’ These towns love their federal prison. But covid-19 is straining the relationship. All summer, Americans have been protesting systemic racism in the criminal justice system. If you have questions about the risks of protesting during the pandemic, read below: Should you get tested for the coronavirus after protesting? Here’s what experts say about the risks. Protests probably didn’t lead to coronavirus spikes, but it’s hard to know for sure Mass transit systems came to a halt when the coronavirus first shut down major cities in the spring. Now, state and city officials are trying to figure out how to safely reopen the transportation many Americans rely on. Read our coverage below: Amid the pandemic, public transit is highlighting inequalities in cities Metro, other transit providers plead for funding in second federal coronavirus package In major cities, the coronavirus disproportionately affects minority communities and exposed some of the underlying inequities between White and non-White residents. Read more on the impact of coronavirus on different communities below: How the coronavirus exposed health disparities in communities of color Crowded housing and essential jobs: Why so many Latinos are getting coronavirus Hispanic, Black children at higher risk of coronavirus-related hospitalization, CDC finds Older adults are at a higher risk of developing severe cases of covid-19, according to the CDC. The coronavirus has swept through nursing homes across the country, forcing facilities to restrict in-person visits from family members. Read more below: Caregivers on the front lines in nursing homes risk health, safety during pandemic In some states, families can start visiting nursing homes again In the quiet of a shutdown, students and seniors forge new friendships Stores are reopening, but retail shopping isn’t “back to normal.” Companies are changing


These 4 countries are accepting American travelers for remote-work trips

traveling to Barbados for remote work or pleasure during the pandemic must follow new travel protocols. On July 16, the country of Georgia announced a new program for foreigners to work remotely from the country. “Georgia has the image of an epidemiologically safe country in the world and we want to use this opportunity," the country’s minister of economy, Natia Turnava, said in a statement. “We are talking about opening the border in a way to protect the health of our citizens, but, on the other hand, to bring to Georgia citizens of all countries who can work remotely.” Applicants must provide proof of employment and give their consent to quarantine in self-isolation for 14 days to be considered for the program. Applications should be available soon. American travelers are not allowed into Georgia at this time unless they’re granted a long-term visa of at least six months, traveling for business with a special permit or are the spouse of a Georgian citizen. Travelers from the United States are allowed to visit Jamaica. However, the entry requirements vary depending on their home state. All Americans must have an approved Travel Authorization ahead of their trip, or they won’t be allowed to travel to Jamaica. At this time, visitors from Florida, Arizona, Texas and New York are classified as high-risk states by the Jamaican government and are required to provide a proof of negative covid-19 PCR tests from an accredited lab to receive a travel authorization. People who identify as business travelers in their Travel Authorization application will be given a test for the novel coronavirus on arrival to Jamaica. “We have worked with IATA to ensure that it is a part of the airline check-in protocols that if you’re coming to Jamaica you have to produce this authorization," said Donovan White, Jamaica’s director of tourism. White says that while most travelers are given a 30-day visa on arrival, they can apply for a longer stay visa to enjoy more of what Jamaica has to offer digital nomads. “There’s so much history and folklore around Jamaica. Anyone who is a nomad traveler ... will be able to write a storybook about spending an extended time in Jamaica,” White said. Read more: Marriott, the world’s largest hotel chain, will require guests to wear masks in common areas Not the camping type? Here’s what you need to know about a glamping trip. This


We have too much beer (and soda, and seltzer), and not enough cans

end of 2021. According to Can Manufacturers Institute President Robert Budway, can makers are expected to import more than 2 billion cans in 2020 from their overseas facilities to meet customer needs. And can manufacturers overall expect to have to add the capacity to produce 12 billion more cans by the end of 2021, says Budway. Last year, many beverage categories pivoted to cans, but Lester Jones, chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association, says the pandemic has pushed what was a natural evolution to a crisis point. By the end of 2019, 60 percent of the beer market was in cans, he says. For years, craft beer makers had preferred bottles, which are perceived as “fancier” and more suited to higher-end restaurants and bottle shops. “But as soon as craft beer went more mainstream, in grocery stores and convenience stores, cans became the preferred package. They are easier to stack and ship, and they fit into more occasions — going to the beach, or a sporting event or concert,” he says. So, 60 percent of beer came in cans, 30 percent in bottles, and 10 percent was draft sales in breweries, bars and restaurants. It’s that 10 percent that became a problem. “The lockdown in March took the keg part out of distribution,” Jones says. “That’s 1 in 10 beers. Brewers naturally found themselves turning to cans, which put pressure on the marketplace.” Brewers turned to cans in recent years because they are a penny cheaper per container than bottles, they are lighter empty or full, and they store a bit tighter. But Watson says beer drinkers’ enthusiasm for cans during the pandemic is for another reason: Because people are trying to go to the store less, large-format packaging is more popular and “you can carry a 30-pack of cans, not a 30-pack of bottles.” The can shortage is set against a backdrop of on-again, off-again aluminum tariffs and quotas, but Watson says the bottleneck is not the aluminum supply but rather can manufacturing capacity. Some small brewers have adopted a novel strategy of buying up empty cans from other brewers’ seasonal beers that didn’t sell well, misprints, brands that went out of favor or leftovers from a package redesign, then “re-sleeving” the cans with a new shrink-wrap label over the top of the old one. With the future so uncertain — a vaccine could mean restaurants and


Legislative work group on policing backs statewide body cameras, use-of-force policy in Maryland

along party lines. Del. Susan K. McComas (R-Harford), for example, objected to the proposal for a statewide mandate on body cameras, arguing that small departments will probably not be able to afford it. Minority Whip Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) voted against allowing someone who has used marijuana to become an officer. She said she thought there needed to be a limit on how often an applicant had used the drug. Anderson said removing the disqualification would increase the diversity pool of applicants. “The continued banning of people who have used marijuana in the past has kept us from hiring African Americans, Asians and Hispanic folks,” he said. Several members of the work group say they are committed to enacting substantive changes during the upcoming legislative session, despite strong pressure and a lobbying campaign by the Fraternal Order of Police. The General Assembly tried to strengthen some accountability procedures after Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore police custody in 2015. But advocates and most lawmakers say those changes did little to alter how officers are disciplined, expand the public’s access to misconduct records or strengthen community oversight of the process. Trying to apply pressure for strong action this session, a coalition of 85 statewide groups placed full-page advertisements in the Afro-American Newspaper, The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. They are calling for five major changes, including a total repeal of the officer bill of rights. Approved in 1974, Maryland’s is the oldest such statute in the country. It gives officers a formal waiting period before they have to cooperate with internal inquiries into police conduct, scrubs records of complaints brought against officers after a certain period, and ensures that only fellow officers — not civilians — handle complaints. Atterbeary said the legislative work group will not take up proposals to overhaul the Maryland Public Information Act to make police records more transparent and publicly accessible. That topic was not part of the panel’s charge, Atterbeary said, and will be considered by the relevant committees during the legislative session. Dels. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery) and Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s), who both serve on the work group, disagreed with Atterbeary, saying the issue of whether to allow scrutiny of police records should be addressed by the group. “It’s an important subject that needs to be included,” Barnes said. “When we talk about use of force, body cameras, the MPIA is right there with it.”


Trump campaign promotes false claim that Biden would end fracking

“If Joe Biden’s elected, he’ll end fracking. … That would be the end of my job and thousands of others.” — “Jen,” identified as a Pennsylvania “fracking technician” in More than six months after former vice president Joe Biden became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, the Trump campaign still acts as if it is running against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders had an unequivocal position during the Democratic primaries — he wants a nationwide ban on fracking. Biden disagreed, saying he did not support a national ban but he would support an end to additional permits for drilling on federal lands. That’s a big difference, given that about 90 percent of 982,000 wells in the United States are on private lands, subject to state and local regulation, according to the Bureau of Land Management. As usual, the Trump campaign justifies this ad by taking some Biden quotes out of context. Fracking, short for “hydraulic fracturing,” is a drilling technique that uses high-pressure water and chemical blasts to access natural gas and oil reserves underground. The technique has facilitated a boom in U.S. energy production over the past decade, but it has been controversial, the target of climate-change activists and many Democrats. The issue is important to Pennsylvania because underneath about two-thirds of the state is the Marcellus shale formation — which also covers parts of New York, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. Meanwhile, Biden has proposed a $1.7 trillion plan that aims for net-zero emissions by 2050. The plan would end fossil fuel subsidies while continuing to rely on these energy sources during the 30-year transition period. In the midst of Jen’s commentary, the ad plays a clip of Biden saying: “No more — no new fracking.” This is an out-of-context video from Biden’s debate with Sanders on March 15. Confusingly, the ad precedes that clip with text that says “Joe Biden will end fracking” and the citation of “Biden Remarks, 9/16/20.” Biden did not speak about fracking on Sept. 16, and the clip was from March 15. So that citation is incorrect. Over the course of the campaign, Biden has straddled a fine line at times. On Sept. 6, 2019, he told a young climate activist who confronted him, “We’re going to end fossil fuel.” In the debate with Sanders, he appeared, briefly, to agree with his then-rival on fracking. That’s the clip the Trump campaign highlights. But when


Primary Care in the Time of COVID-19 with Mike “Dr. Mike” Varshavski, DO and Patrice Harris, MD

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical role of the family physician and primary care providers in our health system. Doctors, nurses and other health care workers in hospitals and emergency rooms have responded with bravery and resilience to the pandemic. Less visible have been the thousands of primary care and family physicians who are the first point of contact for patients when they develop symptoms. Family physicians have had to innovate, make rapid changes to their practice environment for the safety of patients and staff, and pivot to telemedicine to ensure patients have access to uninterrupted care. These issues are compounded by a looming 50,000 primary care physician shortage nationwide. On Thursday, Oct. 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET, Washington Post Live gathers the top medical minds, key lawmakers and mental health experts to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our primary care system and family physicians. With over 12 million social media followers, Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, commonly known as "Doctor Mike," is a multifaceted board-certified family medicine physician, media personality, educator, writer, and philanthropist. Emigrating with from Russia to New York at the age of 6, Doctor Mike grew up to pursue his medical degree at the New York Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Life Sciences and a Doctorate in Osteopathic Medicine with honors by the age of 24. During his residency, Doctor Mike decided to document his journey and share his medical learnings with the internet. Over the next few years, he garnered 651+ million views, making his platform one of the largest in health education. Leveraging his media presence and impact in the medical community, he covers the importance of health literacy while simultaneously battling misinformation in a practical, yet entertaining approach. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, the common saying “if it bleeds it leads” rang ever-true in the news, and the public’s anxiety was fueled. Doctor Mike made it his mission for his platform to be a news source where only the most reliable and up-to-date information was reported. His audience has trusted him in this troublesome time to be an honest and fact-forward source of information. Because of the trust he has built, Doctor Mike has made appearances and consulted on many mainstream news channels such as CNN, ABC and Fox News, alongside interviewing some of the United States’ most notable health professionals, Dr. Anthony Fauci and the head of Google


The 2020-2021 pandemic school year

Pandemic school year: Visuals: Schools in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia area: Tools for school: We want to hear from you:


Washington Post Live Past Events

Race in America: Civil Rights and Social Justice Infrastructure & Innovation Fighting Food Insecurity A Conversation with Bob Woodward Road To Recovery: Global Solutions with Melinda Gates A Conversation with Sen. Marco Rubio 2020: The Evangelical Vote A Conversation with Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison A conversation with Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan about their new book, ‘Trump on Trial: The Investigation, Impeachment, Acquittal and Aftermath’ 2020 Republican National Convention 2020 Democratic National Convention America’s Health Future The Future Reset: Global Food Systems The 2020 Election: The Youth Vote Race in America: The Historical Monuments Debate Coronavirus: Vaccines and Treatments A Conversation with Sen. Ted Cruz Conservation & Sustainability Race in America: A Conversation with Beverly Johnson and Tina Knowles-Lawson The Path Forward: The Airline Industry with Delta CEO Ed Bastian A Conversation with Chris Christie A Conversation with Sen. Tammy Duckworth Coronavirus: Critical Choices A Conversation with Mary L. Trump Race in America: Diversity in Corporate America Coronavirus: Leadership During Crisis : Anthony S. Fauci, MD Ford Foundation president Darren Walker on reimagining American capitalism Miami-Date County Mayor Carlos Gimenez on the coronavirus pandemic The Path Forward: The Global Economy Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on coronavirus, protests, and President Trump A Conversation with SNL’s Colin Jost The Path Forward: Dining Out with Wolfgang Puck and Marcus Samuelsson Race in America: Prison Reform with Common, Scott Budnick and Jarrett Harper Chasing Cancer Cape Up Live with Ambassador Susan Rice Race in America: Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Policing, Immigration and Political Change Cape Up Live with New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Coronavirus: Leadership During Crisis with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Race in America: A Conversation with Aurora James Coronavirus: Leadership During Crisis with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego The Path Forward: Strategic Preparedness Cape Up Live: Sen. Kamala Harris with Jonathan Capehart The Path Forward: The Economy The Immigrant Experience: A Conversation with the Executive Producers of “Little America” Maternal Health in America Race in America: Stacey Abrams on Protests, Policing and Voter Access The Path Forward: Future of Train Travel Coronavirus: Helping First Responders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Conversation with Robert Costa Corporate Purpose & Social Responsibility Chasing Cancer: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Effects Cancer Outcomes Race in America: A Conversation with Lindsay Peoples Wagner and Kerby Jean-Raymond John Bolton in Conversation with Robert Costa Veterans: Frontline Concerns Race in America: The Legacy of Juneteenth with Lonnie G. Bunch


Museums, gardens and zoos are reopening across the region. Here’s what you can visit now.

Unfortunately, it’s not helpful for planners: Timed tickets are made available at 10 a.m. each day on recreation.gov, and are only good for visits on the following day. For example, if you want to visit on Oct. 15, you go online at 10 a.m. on Oct. 14 to pick a time slot. One ticket covers four people; if you have a group of six, you need two tickets. However, no more than eight people can ride together in the elevator to the top. Note that the monument is closed daily between 1 and 2 p.m. for cleaning, and the last tour begins at 4 p.m. Open daily. Free, with $1.50 reservation fee per ticket. Maryland Zoo Mount Vernon National Gallery of Art: The National Gallery of Art became the first museum on the Mall to reopen to visitors on July 20. Only the ground floor of the West Building is open, which includes the temporary exhibitions “Degas at the Opéra” and “True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe, 1780-1870.” Free, timed passes are required for entry; dates for the following week are released every Monday at 10 a.m. Open daily. Free. National Zoo: Four months after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the National Zoo reopened on July 24. The Zoo has plenty of outdoor space for the 5,000 guests allowed daily, though social distancing may prevent some exhibits from reopening — the Zoo’s Giant Panda House is closed, though Tien Tien might be visible in his yard. Of the indoor areas, only the Elephant Outpost and the Great Ape House are open. Masks are required for visitors aged 6 and older. Free, timed-entry passes are required for entry, and can be reserved through the Smithsonian’s website up to 30 days in advance. Open daily. Admission is free. Parking at the Zoo costs $30 per vehicle, which includes six passes. The Phillips Collection Please note that access to facilities, such as restrooms and cafes, is limited. Check before going. Baltimore Museum of Art: The museum’s two sculpture gardens, spread over three terraced acres, include pieces by Alexander Calder, Auguste Rodin and Elsworth Kelly. A cellphone tour with commentary is available. Open Tuesday through Sunday. Free. Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden: After five months of closure, the Hirshhorn’s sunken Sculpture Garden reopened on the Mall on Aug. 17. Two new works have joined more than 30 pieces already on display: “We Come in


Montgomery, Prince George’s begin gradual reopening today; D.C. area leaders fear virus surge after protests

The number of known coronavirus cases in the District, Maryland and Virginia was 106,186 on Monday, with 52,778 cases in Maryland, 44,607 in Virginia and 8,801 in the District. The number of virus-related deaths reached 2,532 in Maryland, 1,375 in Virginia and 466 in the District, for a total of 4,373 fatalities. Here are some of the most significant recent developments as the region responds to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19: • Washington-area leaders raised alarms that widespread protests against police brutality could lead to a new wave of coronavirus infections, wiping out progress as the region began reopening over the weekend. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) urged protest attendees to self-isolate or to get tests, depending on their exposure. • Montgomery and Prince George’s counties will allow retail businesses to offer curbside pickup and restaurants to begin outdoor seating today, following similar moves in the District and Northern Virginia on Friday. • The District, Maryland and Virginia on Sunday reported a combined 1,843 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 32 fatalities — the lowest number of new deaths since early April. New fatality reports tend to dip on weekends. Maryland and the District reported the fewest number of people hospitalized with covid-19 since mid-April. What is open in D.C.?


Coronavirus: What you need to read

The latest: Coronavirus maps: What you need to know: How to help: Asked and answered: Have you been hospitalized for covid-19? Tell us whether you’ve gotten a bill.


PM Update: Expect soaking rain from Delta’s remnants Sunday

Hopefully you got some outdoor time today, because it’s going to be quite wet Sunday. What’s left of former Hurricane Delta will throw a significant chunk of rain our way from Sunday afternoon through Monday. Upward of two to three inches of rain will fall over a 24-hour period, which will probably cause some isolated flooding. Listen to our daily D.C. forecasts: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Echo | More options Through tonight: View the Tomorrow (Sunday): See Ian Livingston’s forecast through the weekend. And if you haven’t already, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter and Instagram. For related traffic news, check out Gridlock. DC radar back online: Want our 5 a.m. forecast delivered to your email inbox?


Fluctuations in the covid-19 numbers could have a lot to do with the weather

theory may not have been wrong so much as insufficiently refined. After all, it was based on a real observation: back in March, colder places were having more outbreaks than warmer ones. In the United States, however, that relationship broke down this summer. But don’t focus on the temperature; focus on how humans react to it. Because one thing we have learned in seven months is that most spread seems to take place over long exposures in enclosed spaces. So the right question may not be “how cold is it?” but “is this the kind of weather that drives gatherings indoors?” The answer to that question probably varies from place to place, which seems to explain some puzzling patterns. Why did the European outbreak die down faster than America’s? Well, maybe it was all policy, but maybe it helped that Europeans rarely have air conditioning in their homes, so when it’s hot they tend to do their socializing outside as much as possible. The Sun Belt in the United States needs air conditioning to make its sizzling summers bearable — and perhaps unsurprisingly, had a lot of outbreaks this summer. Now that Europe is getting cold and the Sun Belt is cooling off, that pattern seems to have once again reversed. As economist Michael Strain recently pointed out, “Cooler weather three weeks ago is strongly correlated with more covid cases this week.” Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, noted that 45 degrees Fahrenheit, “the temperature range where outdoor dining is no longer sought by consumers” seems to be a particularly important inflection point. As yet unpublished work by researchers Sterling Haringa, Sean Trende and Christina Ramirez bolsters this case, with regression analysis suggesting that two factors account for much of the variation in cases between U.S. states: population density and temperature. But with an important caveat: When data was analyzed in March, places with lower temperatures generally had worse covid-19 outbreaks; in June, it was the places with higher temperatures that had the bigger problems, exactly as we’d expect if “indoor gatherings” are the main driver. Trende told me that when Ohio reopened, he and his wife went to dinner for their anniversary — right about the time when he conducted the analysis for June. “I haven’t been back out since,” he added ruefully. In other words, felicitous weather may have been impersonating herd immunity.


Amid pandemic, Americans overseas worry about making sure their vote counts

set period after polls closed, according to Wiedmann. Some states with voter identification laws require a form of identification be sent along with absentee ballots. For U.S. citizens who were born abroad and have never lived in the United States, not all states permit them to register without first traveling to the United States to establish residence. Some language in the overseas forms can be confusing for voters. Instructions, for example, do not specify that voters can use any kind of paper while printing their ballot and any kind of envelope to send it in. “Every overseas voter can print on the paper they have,” Dzieduszycka-Suinat said. One form asks when the voter intends to return to the United States, which is more of a legal formality. Once signed and sealed, ballots can also be returned via FedEx, DHL or any such courier service. “For overseas voters nowhere does it prescribe that ballots must be returned by U.S. Postal Service only,” Dzieduszycka-Suinat said. The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the Postal Service challenges from the pandemic and other factors, has made receiving and sending ballots more complicated for some overseas voters. The rhetoric around the election, such as Trump’s railing against mail-in ballots and refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, has also heightened attention on absentee voters and what role they could play in a contested election. Coronavirus-related curfews and restrictions on movement, for example, could make it harder for some potential voters to access a printer or post office. Due to the novel coronavirus, the Postal Service has suspended mail service to around 30 countries. Mail delays on the U.S. side could further impede a ballot’s timely arrival. Amid the anxiety, FedEx announced last month a special discount on next-day delivery for U.S. voters in 10 European countries, allowing ballots to ship for around $30. Before the pandemic, voters abroad had designated periods during which to drop off ballots at U.S. consulates and embassies, which would send them on to the right states. Many diplomatic buildings around the world, however, remain temporarily closed due to the coronavirus, while some that are open have told voters they cannot accept ballots or ensure their timely arrival, BuzzFeed News reported. “In this situation this year, with the Postal Service being so questionable, it’s upended a lot of the things that we’ve done in the past,” said Dzieduszycka-Suinat. Despite the challenges,


On campus with the coronavirus: An oral history of the strangest semester ever

It was the second Wednesday of the first month back on campus, just weeks into the weirdest semester on record, when one dorm’s residents received an email that might have marked the beginning of the end. The University of Virginia was about to confront the biggest threat yet to its audacious plan to bring thousands of young adults back to Charlottesville and resume in-person schooling mid-pandemic. There appeared to be an outbreak of the coronavirus in Balz-Dobie residence hall, a first-year dorm with a handful of positive cases and concerning signs pointing to even more. Like scores of universities across the country, U-Va. found itself facing rising case counts and an anxious student body at the outset of an unprecedented, chaotic school year. Students closely tracked the upheaval elsewhere. When nearby schools were forced to change course, they wondered if they’d be next. The virus swirled, and so did the rumors. Closure was imminent, some said; the school just wanted to cash in on nonrefundable tuition payments, others claimed. Many feared it would only get worse. Then, the email came. Around 5 p.m. on Sept. 16, a “Public Health Alert” arrived in Balz-Dobie inboxes, ordering students back to their dorm within the hour. Every resident would get a coronavirus test, and the building would be locked down until the results came back. The future of U-Va.’s restart experiment hung in the balance. It was a moment that exemplified a fall of extreme uncertainty, which unspooled against a backdrop of fierce national debate over in-person instruction. On U-Va.’s campus, known as the “Grounds,” students struggled with questions both monumental and mundane: Where can I study? How do I make friends? What if my roommate gets me sick? What’s the big deal? Why are we here? This is the story of those first few weeks — condensed and edited for clarity — as told by new college students, a second-year, resident advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their jobs, three school officials and the university’s coronavirus dashboard, which tracks quarantines and virus cases since Aug. 17. This oral history follows more than a dozen students in different dorms who shared their experiences in real time, from the days before move-in, through the ominous Balz-Dobie email and into the unpredictable aftermath. On Aug. 28, three days after fall semester classes began online, the university U-Va. leaders in


World Digest: Oct. 11, 2020

NIGERIA Under mounting pressure, Nigerian police announced Sunday that they had dissolved the Special Anti-Robbery Squad in response to “the yearnings of the Nigerian people.” The unit, known as SARS, was widely accused of preying on the people it was supposed to protect. It was the target of massive protests in several Nigerian cities last week. The officers will be redeployed, a spokesman said, and human rights groups will assist in building a replacement squad and guiding a probe into past abuses. Activists have campaigned against SARS for years, and videos that surfaced online last week shone a fresh spotlight on police brutality. The dissolution came two days after President Muhammadu Buhari pledged change. Two agents have been arrested on charges of professional misconduct, officials said. Amnesty International said in June that it had documented 82 cases of the squad’s brutality in three years. — Danielle Paquette IRAN Iran announced on Sunday its highest single-day death toll from the novel coronavirus, with 251 confirmed dead, the same day local news media reported that two senior officials had been infected and the currency had plunged to its lowest level on record. A Health Ministry spokeswoman said the total confirmed death toll stands at 28,544, making Iran the hardest-hit country in the region. A further 3,822 new cases were confirmed over the past 24-hour period, raising recorded nationwide cases to 500,075. Among those recently infected is the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency said Ali Akbar Salehi, also a vice president of Iran, had been confirmed positive last week and has been in home quarantine since. A separate report by the news agency said the country’s vice president in charge of budget and planning also had tested positive. Iran has struggled to contain the virus. The government has largely resisted imposing wide-scale lockdowns as the economy teeters under U.S. sanctions. Money exchange shops in Tehran sold the U.S. dollar at 315,000 rials on Sunday, compared with 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The currency plummeted further Sunday after the Trump administration’s decision on Thursday to blacklist 18 Iranian banks. — Associated Press LIBYA Libya’s national oil company said Sunday that it was resuming production at the country’s largest oil field as rival officials from eastern and western Libya began peace talks, part of preliminary negotiations


A choir resumes singing, with masks and after weighing pandemic risks

in public. Although there is no immediate financial pressure, Staininger and others also worried about the long-term impact on their organization if the hiatus continued indefinitely. “There is a finite point at which arts organizations, if we don’t get support from grants and the state, where we just have to cease to exist,” Staininger said. For the Frederick group’s Sept. 29 rehearsal, eight women met at 7 p.m., accompanied by a pianist and led by Staininger in a classroom in the school’s visual and performing arts center; a group of seven met at 7:40 p.m. in a different classroom. The singers stood at least six feet apart, and all wore masks. Hand-sanitizer dispensers were mounted on the walls near whiteboards with blank musical staffs. A large fan whirred. Staininger asked that everyone warm up before arriving. There was little time to socialize, before or after. Some said they felt jitters or that the gathering was “surreal,” but those paled in comparison to the joy of singing with others. “It was good,” said Steven King, 66, of Monrovia. King, a retired mailroom employee of The Washington Post, who anchored the bass line for “Silver Bells,” “Carol of the Bells” and the motet “Übers Gebirg Maria geht.” “But I haven’t used my voice enough, so my voice fatigued quickly, and my range has been restricted by not singing.” Shawn Dean II, a full-time music student in her second year, said it felt good to harmonize with other singers again in the same space, even if it was only a small group. “You miss the fun,” she said. Two days after the rehearsal, however, Dean became sick: a fierce headache, aches all over her body, fatigue and labored breathing. She said she alerted Staininger and went for coronavirus testing right away, but the results took longer than expected to return. Staininger, who said privacy regulations prevented her from alerting anyone until the test results came back, said she was in agony wondering whether the rehearsal would prove to be a disastrous mistake. “I had to live with this every single day,” she said. “It has made me sick to my stomach worrying about it. The last thing I want to do is put anybody in danger.” The singers plan to have another rehearsal Tuesday, but Staininger, after the health scare, said she was having second thoughts about whether to go through with it.


Rocket problem prompts NASA and SpaceX to delay next launch of astronauts

crew safe. Speaking to reporters recently, Koenigsmann stressed that there “was nothing to be concerned with at all times. The astronauts were safe, and the vehicle was working perfectly." Earlier this month, SpaceX scrubbed a pair of launches late in the countdown, prompting Musk’s plans for "a broad review of launch site, propulsion, structures, avionics & regulatory constraints this weekend.” He added that he would make a trip to Cape Canaveral “to review hardware in person.” A launch on Oct. 2 of a GPS satellite for the U.S. Space Force was scrubbed two seconds before liftoff after what Musk described as an “unexpected pressure rise in the turbomachinery gas generator,” which helps power the rocket’s Merlin engines. A day earlier, SpaceX scrubbed a launch of its Starlink satellites with 18 seconds to go in the count because of a problem with a ground sensor. After scrubbing the Starlink mission, SpaceX bounced back and launched the batch of 60 satellites on Tuesday. Still, SpaceX’s goal is to launch much more frequently, and Musk said on Twitter recently that: “We will need to make a lot of improvements to have a chance of completing 48 launches next year!” The GPS launch has not yet been rescheduled. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket has flown more than 90 times, the most of any U.S. rocket currently in operation and is considered a reliable workhorse. NASA uses it to fly cargo and supplies to the International Space Station and has certified it for human spaceflight as well. But it has had problems. In 2015, a rocket carrying cargo to the station exploded some two minutes into flight after a steel strut failed, causing helium to overpressurize a second stage liquid oxygen tank. Then, in 2016, another exploded while being fueled on the launch pad ahead of an engine test after a helium tank buckled. Last year, the company lost its Dragon spacecraft in an explosion ahead of an engine test fire. NASA and SpaceX investigated all three incidents and eventually cleared SpaceX to fly again. Noguchi, a veteran of the three space missions, recently told reporters that it is important "to be diligent and don’t be complacent. We have to ask the right questions at the right time to make sure the space vehicle is safe enough. Of course we trust the system. But as a crew we have to persuade ourselves that this vehicle


America’s reputation has suffered under covid-19, but China has struggled to step into the void

You’re reading an excerpt from the Today’s WorldView newsletter. Last New Year’s Eve, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping both vowed to make major strides in the year to come. “It’s gonna be a fantastic year,” Trump said. That same day, worrisome news emerged out of the Chinese city of Wuhan, where officials informed the World Health Organization of patients with a mysterious form of pneumonia. It took weeks for most global decision-makers to take note of what would come to be known as covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and months before the full implications became clear. By early October, the coronavirus had killed more than 1 million people and plunged the world into its worst economic tailspin since World War II. The past nine months have exposed structural weaknesses around the world, straining health care systems, exacerbating poverty and worsening inequality. The international reputation of the United States, the world’s worst-hit country, has suffered — but China, its main geostrategic rival, has struggled to capitalize on the moment. Different factors are at stake in each country, but both Trump and Xi have found themselves accused of obscuring information about the pandemic. For months, Trump and his administration downplayed the virus’s threat and undermined U.S. scientists tasked with handling the outbreak. Even when Trump himself was infected with the virus earlier this month, he showed reluctance to wear a mask and publicly acknowledge the risks posed by covid-19. Meanwhile, China, where the virus first emerged, has managed to keep its infection level far lower than that of the United States, but it may have done so at a high cost. As the virus began to spread globally, Beijing provided little transparency, relying instead on censorship to stifle public anger, and “helping to turn a potentially containable threat into a global calamity,” according to Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch. The coronavirus didn’t create China’s or the United States’ reputational weaknesses, but does appear to have exacerbated them. Early in Trump’s presidency, much of the world watched his conduct with a degree of amusement, hoping that Congress, the Supreme Court or his own advisers would keep the president in check. But U.S. institutions have largely stood by as Trump pulled out of a growing number of international commitments. Domestically, the United States became increasingly polarized, prompting concerns abroad that U.S. democracy may be in


Transcript: America’s Digital Transformation

meaningful opportunity and a profound opportunity as I think about the pandemic, and the meaningful opportunity is that if you're blessed with resources and access to technology and you're in an industry where you can continue to do what you do, you know, what we do can largely be distilled to zeros and ones, Eugene. So, there's no reason for us to slow our productivity. And I'm very much into this idea of functional speed and variance. Jerry Rice, Hall of Fame wide receiver, never was the fastest guy on the field, but he could supposedly accelerate and decelerate faster than anybody. And if you think about NASCAR, races aren't won on the track. They're won in the pits, where if you shave two seconds off your pit time at 220 miles an hour, that's an eighth of a mile. If you're blessed with the ability to work right now, I would argue that you want to take advantage of your functional speed and you want to work around the clock. I'm blessed in that I have a supportive family. I'm economically secure, and what I do can largely be done remotely. I'm in Cabo San Lucas in a windowless conference room right now coming to you. So, I basically decided I was going to work 24 by 7 until there was a vaccine, and to be blunt, it's getting exhausting. But I think I will win my race, whatever that race is, because I'll shave some seconds off in the pits while there's greater variance. That's a meaningful opportunity. I think the profound opportunity and something I'm trying to do and it's a struggle for me is if you think about it, we're in a crisis. This is a crisis of our generation, and we give medals to young men and women in uniform who demonstrate real grace and courage during times of crisis. I think there's a lot of people out there in our own lives that are struggling economically, intellectually, emotionally, and so I think this is a real opportunity to extend some grace and some generosity to people who need help and reestablish or cement and catalyze relationships in weeks that would otherwise have taken years. So, I think there's a meaningful opportunity to lap the competition by working very hard right now because of the variance. But I think the profound opportunity and something I'm


have life and provide value after the fact. And we're seeing that already as we transition a lot of those things from providing the initial needs to the ongoing needs, and then the needs that we perceive are going to be coming, yet. MS. LABOTT: So, Brad, another element of this is workplace safety. How do you think the pandemic has changed the industry's mindset on, you know, what workplace safety is, and how are you at Hitachi adapting and using the technology to ensure safe conditions on the factory floor, not just for COVID and protecting people in health ways, but on other aspects? MR. SURAK: Yeah, safety is always top of mind in our industry. I think the industry has always taken safety very seriously. And COVID has just added to the risks that need to be managed in a manufacturing environment. Here at Hitachi, we operate more than 400 factories. 130,000 employees are working in those manufacturing facilities and we're very proud of the fact that even prior to the COVID pandemic, we have 75 percent fewer accidents than average in the industry, and we've been deploying digital technology to really drive that stellar safety record. What we found is when the pandemic hit we could leverage that technology for additional safety-related use cases that now extended into social distancing, using technologies like LIDAR, which is laser radar, that can get a very good understanding of a space and can look at the distancing of the working population in the factory, find these choke points in the assembly line where maybe people are forced to violate this two-meter restriction. These are technologies that we've been using for many years for, you know, repetitive stress injuries and other types of use cases. But what we've done now is really apply them to some of the COVID-related areas, and we're seeing the results. MS. LABOTT: So, Bryan, we're talking about all these remote operations and the use of automation. And I know you worry--and I do worry--especially in manufacturing that we're going to lose sight of the human element. And how can companies kind of drive the use of technology on the factory floor but in a way that puts the workforce first and creates new opportunities for the worker? And I have to mention--I'd like you to talk about those collaborative robots that you and I have discussed.


continue to innovate. And that's the way we think about it, it's really something we like to call the "double bottom line." How can we deliver results for our shareholders at the same time as delivering results for society on a whole? MS. LABOTT: You know, I think especially in the COVID pandemics, companies are really mindful of that double bottom line, not only productivity and profit, but also the worker. Brad Surak, President of Digital Solutions at Hitachi Vantara; and Bryan Jones, CEO of JR Automation, also part of the Hitachi Group, thanks for joining me. Back to The Washington Post. [Video plays] MR. SCOTT: Welcome back. I'm Eugene Scott, political reporter for The Fix and the Washington Post. My next guest is Scott Galloway. He's a professor of marketing at the NYU's Stern School of Business, and he's also an author and well-known podcast host. Scott, welcome to Washington Post Live. Thank you for joining us. MR. GALLOWAY: Thanks, Eugene. Good to be with you. MR. SCOTT: Awesome, awesome. I would like to start by asking you about this explosion in the use of technology that we have seen during COVID-19. Do you see this as an era of digital transformation? Is this something that we think could stick, or is this just pretty temporary? MR. GALLOWAY: So, I think that almost when we talk about digital, it's a little bit talking about electricity, and that is it's now just such a fundamental component of everything we do. I think technology is a tool. Obviously, it's helping us scale, just as the assembly line or the printing press helped us scale innovation, but really at the end of the day, what you have here, as largely facilitated by digital but also consumer, changes in consumer behavior, changes in regulations coming down, if we're going to talk about the acceleration in telehealth or remote medicine, but loosely speaking, COVID-19 is more of an accelerator than a change agent. I think a decent exercise for any organization to go through is to take the three biggest trends in your industry or your company, take the slope of those trend lines, and then extend them 10 years out or where they were supposed to be in 10 years, and ask yourself are we there today. So, I see COVID-19 as more of an accelerant. Digital is obviously a key component of


College athletes, long muffled by schools, are finding new ways to speak out

One morning in August, as the novel coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest gripped the country, an email from a dozen Pac-12 football players landed in the inboxes of reporters. The email listed demands the players wanted to have met before they would return to competition in the fall, including increased safety protocols and steps to combat racial injustice. They also called on the Pac-12 to share the hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue flowing through the conference each year. It was a rare and dramatic power play from a group of organized college athletes. But how it was delivered to reporters was noteworthy, too. The message came from the Gmail account of Valentino Daltoso, an offensive lineman at the University of California, and offered the personal email addresses of the other players so reporters could contact them. “The interests of athletes aren’t always in line with the institutions and coaches,” said Andrew Cooper, a Cal cross-country runner who helped organize the effort. “It was important that we talked directly to the media.” As college sports navigate their returns, enveloped by issues of racial justice, safety and amateurism, athletes have advocated for themselves this year in unprecedented ways. That’s including how they have delivered their messages. Many college athletic departments prohibit players from talking to journalists without team permission. Some team handbooks urge players not to speak to the media at all. Others, including at the University of Alabama and the University of Georgia, have policies against freshmen speaking to the media during the regular season. And many schools have policies that monitor or even restrict players’ social media accounts. But in their efforts to advocate for change this year, players have increasingly cut out their athletic departments. The Pac-12 players maintained correspondence with reporters over several weeks about their negotiations with the conference. When Florida State’s football coach said in an interview that he was having one-on-one conversations with players about George Floyd and racial justice, defensive lineman Marvin Wilson tweeted that it wasn’t true. Clemson’s football program recently eliminated a long-standing rule barring players from using social media, after star quarterback Trevor Lawrence tweeted about players’ rights and the return of the season over the summer. As games are canceled and some universities withhold information about positive coronavirus tests within football programs, it’s especially critical that players are allowed to speak out, said Frank LoMonte, head of the


Fauci’s actual view of how Trump’s handled the pandemic isn’t a mystery

Anthony S. Fauci understood President Trump’s approach to the coronavirus pandemic even before The Post’s Bob Woodward published audio from his late-March interview with the president. In that conversation, Trump told Woodward that he liked “playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” During a news briefing focused on the pandemic the next day, the country’s top infectious-disease expert made a similar point. Trump had been touting hydroxychloroquine as a possible treatment for covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. A reporter asked Fauci to respond, given his obvious skepticism about the treatment. “There really isn’t that much of a difference in many respects with what we’re saying,” Fauci said. “The president feels optimistic about something — his feeling about it. What I’m saying is that it might — it might be effective. I’m not saying that it isn’t. It might be effective. “But as a scientist, as we’re getting it out there, we need to do it in a way as — while we are making it available for people who might want the hope that it might work, you’re also collecting data that will ultimately show that it is truly effective and safe under the conditions of covid-19,” Fauci said. “So there really isn’t difference. It’s just a question of how one feels about it.” For a nonpolitical official, Fauci’s response was quite politically sensitive. He has spent decades in government, of course, working for presidents of both parties — the sort of thing which seems likely to hone a skill at navigating political currents. On that day, Fauci was careful to highlight the difference between his reliance on the science with Trump’s optimism but did so without challenging the president directly. He made his point without obviously undermining Trump’s position. Over the next few months, though, Fauci’s desire to accurately represent the threat posed by the pandemic frequently conflicted with Trump’s insistence on “optimism.” Over and over, the doctor found himself answering questions honestly in ways that made clear his disagreements with Trump’s approach. And, over and over, his warnings proved prescient. This is important to keep in mind given a new ad created by Trump’s reelection campaign. The president’s it’ll-all-work-out approach to the virus has repeatedly proved to be flawed, leading Americans to view his handling of the pandemic with broad skepticism. That, in turn, has hammered his standing in the polls. So


E.U. penalizes Belarusian leader Lukashenko for ongoing crackdown

sanctions “send a clear message to the Belarusian authorities that business as usual is no longer possible in our relations,” said E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, speaking to reporters from Luxembourg after the meeting of the foreign ministers. “Yesterday, Sunday, we saw again a strong, tough, disproportionate response to the demonstrators. There has not been any signal from the Belarus authorities to engage in any kind of conversation, in any kind of talks.” Diplomats said the measures against Lukashenko would include a travel ban and an asset freeze. The leader, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, is under British and U.S. sanctions. A previous round of E.U. sanctions against him was lifted in 2016 during a thaw in relations. Lukashenko has given little ground to protesters. Ahead of the election, he locked up most of the main opposition candidates. After the election, he chased the main remaining contender, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, into exile in Lithuania and imprisoned another group of dissident leaders. Over the weekend, Lukashenko met with many of the imprisoned opposition candidates, according to Belarusian government news outlets, which broadcast images of the meeting. But it did not appear as though he was engaging in serious political dialogue with them, as E.U. leaders have urged, diplomats said. A previous round of sanctions against Belarusian officials took months to enforce after internal E.U. squabbling about unrelated foreign policy issues delayed them. Monday’s decision will also need additional technical preparation, but Borrell and other top diplomats said they do not expect the same kind of political delay again. “We should have had them earlier,” said Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics. “This is inevitable if you have 27 members. It shows that even with delays, the E.U. is capable inevitably to make decisions.” The list of Russian officials to be punished is not finalized and will be discussed before final approvals. France and Germany pushed for punishing officials deemed to have a connection to the attack on Navalny after he was nearly killed by what those governments have said was a nerve agent of the Novichok variety, developed by the Soviet and Russian governments. “We have agreed to enact sanctions against individuals that we consider to be responsible for this violation of international law. It is important that the E.U. shows unity concerning such a serious crime, and we did that today,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after the meeting.


Transcript: Primary Care in the Time of COVID-19

similar to COVID-19. MS. CUNNINGHAM: I know you live in New York City and you practice medicine in New Jersey, so you were really in the epicenter of everything during the spring. Can you describe a little bit of what you saw as a physician there during that time and how it affected you? DR. VARSHAVSKI: It was a time of health care heroes, and I'm not talking about myself because I largely work in an outpatient practice. A lot of it was switched to telemedicine so I was practicing from a computer just like this, safe at home. But the health care heroes in the Atlantic Health System, the ones that I work with day in and day out--the nurses, the CMAs, the patient care techs, the custodial staff, the engineering staff--those individuals were putting their lives on the line to adapt and pivot during one of the most stressful times that I can remember in my young career. I've got to give a huge thank-you to those individuals, because there was a lot of uncertainty. The amount of mental health stress that they took on but continued to show up for work was absolutely incredible. In fact, there was a recent survey done by the Primary Care Collaborative Institute where they said 50 percent of respondents were having a level of mental health burnout that they were putting to the side in order to take care of their patients. And while I think that's noble, I also think that it's going to lead to a lot of problems down the line for these health care physicians, because they're not putting their mental health care first. And we need to talk about the mental health struggles that we're facing as physicians. We need to address it, to make sure that we continue to be able to deliver the best care for our patients. MS. CUNNINGHAM: I want to ask you a little bit about the obesity epidemic, and I feel like it's kind of flown under the radar a little bit during COVID, although we know that it's one of the biggest risk indicators for having serious COVID-19. And, of course, this an epidemic that our country has been struggling with for a really long time, and in many ways, we've failed to fix it. But do you think that this pandemic is bringing attention to this problem and


even my colleagues, put out messages negatively about the FDA and the CDC. How can we expect the general public to trust these major institutions that they so desperately need to, when we do have a COVID vaccine come out, when both sides are attacking them? I think we need to make these attacks accurate. We need to make them not personal, not politicized, and really stick to the facts without getting offended, because getting offended, getting emotional is only going to make the conversation more confusing and lead the general public astray to make worse health care decisions. MS. CUNNINGHAM: You mentioned President Trump being infected with COVID-19, and, of course, that has dominated so much of the conversation over the last couple of days. We had a report recently saying the thought now is that he contracted the virus on September 26th, because, of course, the White House won't say when the president last received a negative test result. If it's true that he first contracted the virus on the 26th, that would put him around day 12 of being infected and potentially out of the woods. But what's your take on all of that? Are you concerned about kind of the speculation around all of this, and conversely, are you worried about the White House's refusal to share both the information about testing and then also some specific indicators about Trump's health, such as how his lungs are doing and other indicators? DR. VARSHAVSKI: I'm concerned about two things. First is how the White House has handled COVID-19 messaging. They haven't been clear with their recommendations about supporting the CDC, Dr. Anthony Fauci, recommending masks for everyone. In fact, the first thing that President Trump did when he arrived back at the White House was remove his mask. And I think a lot of these are symbolic gestures that confuse the general public. There are many people who look up to President Trump and I want to reach out to those people, to recommend that they wear masks to protect themselves, their family members, and those around them. So, I desperately would like to see the White House improve their COVID-19 messaging, to not have President Trump come out and say, "Don't worry. We'll dominate COVID-19. There's nothing to be afraid of," because that's simply an inaccurate message. The truth is we shouldn't be afraid and we


Transcript: Manufacturing: The Road Ahead

back shortly with the CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, as Senator Klobuchar promised, Jay Timmons. So please stay with us. [Video plays] MS. HUMPTON: I'm Barbara Humpton, CEO of Siemens USA. And joining me today is assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, Dr. Will Roper. Welcome, Will. MR. ROPER: Barbara, thank you so much for having me, and I'm excited about this subject, so I can't wait to hear your questions. MS. HUMPTON: Well, earlier this summer I had a chance to share with The Washington Post audience my thinking about how digital twins could be used to enhance preparedness, whether that's for a natural disaster, for a pandemic, or even for future national security issues. But I know that you have been working toward digital twin technology for quite some time. And you, the Air Force and Space Force have made this a foundational element of your plan for the future. Tell us what motivated you to get interested in digital twins? MR. ROPER: It's one word, Barbara: Speed. Our process right now is exceptionally slow. It's still borne out of the Cold War during a time when technology was slow and difficult. And so, when we had a breakthrough, we tended to go into mass production and buy things for a long period of time. But technology is ubiquitous, it's everywhere, and we need to change with the times. Digital technology, especially digital twin technology, allows us to do things in the virtual world that we once had to do in the physical one. And that speeds everything up. It helps us to learn in a digital world where normally we had to build something, fly something, test something, and then come back to those engineers who originally designed the system to provide them the learning that they need to make improvements. Now all of that can happen millions of times every night when we leave the office. So, the power of digital technology is ultimately one of speed and agility. And during today's era where technology's ubiquitous and it's available to every adversary we have just as it is to us, speed and agility are going to be the only delineators for us on the future battlefield. And this is one way that we can start preparing for that future battlefield today in the laboratories and computing enclaves we have


PPP. MS. LONG: Thank you. And can you just say, again, what is your biggest worry if Congress and the White House don't reach a deal, or if they just do something for the airline industry that's very limited? Obviously, that wouldn't help many of your members. What do you foresee that could happen in the next few months without aid? MR. TIMMONS: Sure. And look, this is difficult. Let's not--you know, let's not sugarcoat this. This is very difficult because we're not just talking about the manufacturing sector. That's what I represent and obviously I want to make sure that manufacturing has got all the tools necessary to recover. But it really does involve every industry. It involves the airlines; it involves schools; it involves the service industry and the hospitality industry. We've never experienced anything like this, and so this is vital to be able to produce the predictability, the certainty that American business needs in order to operate and to function and to ensure that they don't have to make horrific decisions to lay off parts of their workforce. That was what the PPP program and the main street lending programs were all about, as well as some of those tax incentives that would be applicable for businesses that did not lay off employees. MS. LONG: Yeah. MR. TIMMONS: And so, we need to make sure that we are all--Democrats, Republicans, independents, we're all united on the same idea that we have to provide certainty for American business and for the American worker. MS. LONG: I think another issue that's come up a lot when I talk to manufacturers is this issue of childcare. A lot of manufacturing workers are moms and dads and they can't work from home, generally. They need to go into their place of work, usually a factory or something along those lines. How big of an impact has been on your sector to have so many schools virtual and childcares offline? MR. TIMMONS: Yeah, it's a big--it's a big issue for all Americans. I think--I have two remote learners down in the basement right now from Chesterfield Elementary School, my local school. And then, we have a preschooler who's also, unfortunately, lost his ability to go to preschool. So, it is a very difficult issue for so many Americans. I am not one who says get the schools open. I think that


China hawks encounter powerful opponent: U.S. companies

would like to see there be, in an ideal rule, a more clear scoping of who is covered,” said Bitko, a former top FBI official who has been meeting with lawmakers and the Pentagon to press the industry’s case. Another section of the Senate’s latest NDAA bill is causing a similar panic among U.S. companies because it requires them to stop using printed circuit boards made in China, Iran, North Korea and Russia by fiscal 2033. The Senate recently approved the bill with bipartisan support, while the House adopted a bill containing a similar prohibition. The bills are now being merged in conference, where industry lobbyists are pushing for changes, a campaign that prompted Hawley to urge Senate staff members not to “give in” to the pressure. Technology and defense companies including Microsoft and Honeywell have been pushing particularly hard against the provision known as Section 808, according to legislative staff members who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive meetings. The Aerospace Industries Association has also emerged as an opponent, they said. Microsoft and the AIA declined to comment. McGovern, Honeywell’s spokeswoman, said the company and trade associations have proposed “the setup of a trusted supplier or design verification program to better protect national security." Printed circuit boards are a key component of most electronics, from computer servers to fighter jets. The panels hold semiconductors and other components in place and connect them to one another. “If you’ve ever broken your alarm clock or phone, that green board that the chips stick to, that is the PCB,” said John Mitchell, chief executive of IPC, an industry group representing U.S.-headquartered PCB makers and other electronics companies. Twenty years ago, about 30 percent of the world’s PCBs were produced in the United States, but that number is only 5 percent today, after manufacturing migrated to China and other Asian nations, Mitchell said. In a 2018 report, the Pentagon called this reliance on foreign suppliers a security risk, saying that strong domestic production of PCBs is “essential to U.S. defense and essential civilian needs.” “The U.S. printed circuit board sub-sector is aging, constricting, and failing to maintain the state of the art” technology, the report said. Hawley, who introduced the measure in the Senate, has said the Chinese government could “sabotage” PCBs destined for the Pentagon or “sever DoD’s access to Chinese PCBs altogether.” Mitchell said his group supports the


Trump returns to campaign trail after bout with covid-19, amid criticism he is still not taking pandemic seriously

pandemic. “His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable,” Biden said. “The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he seems to get.” Biden tested negative Monday for the coronavirus, his campaign said. It was the seventh known test he has taken since Oct. 2, the day Trump announced his diagnosis. All seven have been negative, and the more accurate PCR test has been used, according to the campaign. There continues to be criticism that the White House is not releasing enough information about Trump’s health to assure the public about his well-being. Joshua Sharfstein, a physician at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that the president might not be contagious but that it was difficult to reach any conclusion based on the Conley memo Monday. He said there were “a couple of actual test results, then an interpretation of other test results” whose contents were not disclosed. He said that the antigen test “is probably the least accurate.” “The challenge is that the president’s physician is not a credible source,” Sharfstein said. “It’s very clear that he’s taken ‘accentuate the positive’ to heart. For credibility, you need to release everything or have a totally credible person review everything.” On a call with reporters Monday morning, top campaign aides emphasized Trump’s eagerness to return to public campaigning and touted what they claimed was his robust physical health. “He is strong, he is energetic, he is raring to go, and I think his campaign calendar reflects his health and well-being and enthusiasm to get back on the trail,” said Stepien, who added that Trump was the campaign’s “best asset” and would be “a big shot in the arm of the campaign.” Stepien also tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. Senior adviser Jason Miller said he expects that the president will start doing two to three events a day, before ramping up to as many as half a dozen in the campaign’s final stretch. “You’re going to see President Trump flat-out outworking Joe Biden down the home stretch here, just as he has shown in his previous campaign,” Miller added. At his last public rally — in Duluth, Minn. — before his covid-19 diagnosis, the normally verbose Trump kept his remarks uncharacteristically brief, speaking for just 45 minutes. And Saturday, at an event on the White House South Lawn aimed at conservative activists, the