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By Will Weissert and Paul J. Weber | AP
Democrats face challenges of their own after nearly three decades of statewide losses. Former congressman Beto O'Rourke has little competition for the party’s gubernatorial nomination, but he faces uphill odds going into the fall. Nine-term U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, meanwhile, is hoping to avoid becoming the first Democratic member of Congress to lose a primary this year. He’s facing a much-watched challenge from progressive rival Jessica Cisneros and contending with the fallout of a recent FBI raid on his home. Cuellar has denied any wrongdoing.
The U.S. is steadily moving out of the deepest lows of a pandemic that has raged for nearly two years. But that’s tempered by inflation reaching a decades-high level and a burgeoning war in Europe. And there are persistent questions about the country’s commitment to basic democratic principles after many GOP leaders have tied themselves to Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen — a phenomenon especially acute in Texas. | null | null | null | null | null |
By Alex Horton and Missy Ryan1:15 a.m.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Feb. 27 that he had put his nuclear deterrence forces into alert, blaming the West’s “aggressive statements.” (Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered nuclear forces on alert Sunday, adding a complicated and concerning dimension to the widening conflict in Ukraine.
Experts said it was the first time the Kremlin, which has the world’s biggest nuclear stockpile, had made such an announcement since the Russian Federation was established in 1991.
U.S. officials have refused to say whether the Pentagon’s posture has changed in response to Putin’s announcement. White House press secretary Jen Psaki, speaking on MSNBC, said soon after that the United States has “the ability, of course, to defend ourselves, as does NATO” while describing Russia’s actions as an escalation to justify its actions in Ukraine.
While experts said they did not expect Putin to attempt any sort of nuclear strike on the West or a smaller-scale nuclear attack within Ukraine — where conventional Russian forces already have a major advantage — they said the fact the alert was occurring at a time when a major conflict is unfolding on NATO’s borders made it much more dangerous. Russia has nearly 6,000 warheads, slightly more than the United States’ approximately 5,400, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
“We’re in a dangerous moment. How dangerous, it’s hard to assess,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association. | null | null | null | null | null |
MIAMI — Derek Jeter announced a surprise departure from the Miami Marlins on Monday after 4 1/2 mostly unsuccessful years that didn’t come remotely close to matching his success as a player for the New York Yankees.
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Zach Johnson was introduced as the 30th U.S. captain on Monday, next in line to try to end three decades of losing the Ryder Cup on European soil.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday, saying he did not want to risk further injury to his hand and hip because he wasn’t completely ready to defend his title at Bay Hill.
LONDON — American coach Jesse Marsch was hired by Leeds on Monday, with the club hoping a late-season change in manager can help to preserve its English Premier League status.
CARDIFF, Wales — British boxing authorities are investigating the scoring of a world title fight that saw Scottish fighter Josh Taylor retain his light-welterweight belts in a split-decision victory. | null | null | null | null | null |
FILE - Wilt Chamberlain, of the Philadelphia Warriors, holds a sign reading “100” in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., March 2, 1962, after he scored 100 points, as the Warriors defeated the New York Knicks. Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of the greatest scoring effort in NBA history — 36 field goals, 28 free throws, 100 points for Chamberlain, in the Warriors’ 169-147 win in a game played before about 4,000 people in Hershey. It might be the closest thing the NBA has to a single-game record that will never be broken. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File) | null | null | null | null | null |
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - -The body of an unidentified man is seen washed up on a beach on the Greek island of Lesbos. on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Greece’s coast guard says six bodies have been recovered from the shore of the eastern island of Lesbos, and authorities suspect the people were migrants who died in their attempt to make it to Greece from the nearby Turkish coast. (AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas) | null | null | null | null | null |
Dan Clark, 36, a Little League coach, was reeling knowing the Lismore baseball field was under several feet of water after expensive renovations had only just been completed. He said he spent Monday “holding my breath and waiting by the phone” for news of friends and family waiting on their roofs.
The meteorology bureau warned Tuesday that the same region of Queensland was likely to be hit by severe thunderstorms with large hailstones, damaging winds and more heavy rainfall in the second half of the week. In New South Wales it predicted the rainstorm would continue south with flash-flooding possible in Sydney, coastal regions, and as far as Victoria — the southernmost state on the east coast. | null | null | null | null | null |
Turkey’s diplomatic balancing act may behind this move.
The Russian Navy's diesel-electric submarine Rostov-on-Don sails thorough the Bosphorus strait, on its way to the Black Sea, past Istanbul, Turkey on Feb. 13. (Yoruk Isik/Reuters)
Over the weekend, following a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that Ankara would implement the Montreux Convention. The decision made headlines around the world — but what does this mean, exactly?
The most important implications of Turkey’s decision have more to do with Turkey’s own diplomatic strategy — rather than any particular effect in shifting the tide of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The military impact is likely limited
This 1936 international agreement allows Turkey, during times of war, to regulate transit of warships traveling through the Turkish straits, the heavily traveled waterway connecting the Black Sea and the Aegean. But militarily, implementation of the convention isn’t likely to have a meaningful effect. After Russia seized most of Ukraine’s navy in 2014, Ukraine’s naval forces are limited to a handful of small patrol boats and one frigate.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, by contrast, is sizable, including approximately 45 warships and six submarines. Moscow has also invested in modernizing the fleet considerably since 2014. Earlier in February, Russia moved at least six warships and a submarine into the Black Sea as part of its build-up of forces before the invasion of Ukraine. Russia already enjoys overwhelming naval superiority in the Black Sea.
It's also not immediately clear what Turkey’s decision to implement the Montreux Convention will mean. Under the terms of the convention, Turkey enjoys considerable flexibility — even in times of war — in how it polices the straits. Moreover, warships of the countries that border the Black Sea, including Russia, can return their ships and submarines to base. As Russia has already positioned its navy for this war, Turkey’s implementation of the Montreux Convention now will have little or no effect on the war’s conduct.
What is Turkey’s strategy?
In this sense, Turkey’s decision helps Ankara address its own diplomatic balancing act in the current crisis. The core of Turkey’s strategy has been to engage in steps that underline its importance while minimizing its risk. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned NATO and the E.U. for being too weak in their response. And Turkey has repeatedly offered to mediate negotiations. These moves, however, seem designed more to keep Turkey in the media spotlight as an important party.
Iran and Turkey have become drone powers
In terms of tangible steps to support Kyiv, Turkey has done very little. The government in Ankara issued earlier statements that it would not impose economic sanctions against Russia, and has not done so, to date. Turkey has not offered to send additional weapons to Ukraine, as many of its NATO allies have. And Turkey has not closed its airspace to Russian flights, as most countries in Europe have chosen to do.
Turkey has, however, supplied drones to Ukraine, a sale completed before the conflict began. These weapons reportedly have had significant value in the field, but the actual number in the Ukrainian arsenal appears limited. Overall, these sales are more likely part of Turkey’s push to join the global weapons trade than an attempt specifically aimed at supporting Ukraine’s defense.
Is this just “noisy diplomacy”?
The decision to implement the Montreux Convention follows continues Turkey’s strategy of what I call “noisy diplomacy.” This latest move highlights a favorite talking point of Turkish diplomacy — that geography makes Turkey strategically important. This argument has the virtue of being true, even if the actual repercussions in this context are not particularly striking. Nonetheless, Ankara has much to gain and nothing to lose in reminding all parties that Turkey holds some particularly valuable geostrategic real estate.
At the same time, the policy does no real damage to Russia. For Turkey, Russia is both an economic partner and a strategic model. In general, Turkey’s foreign policy in recent years has been marked by occasional and limited conflict with Russia — particularly in Syria and Libya — and by significant cooperation in other spheres.
In particular, Turkey chose to purchase Russia’s S-400 Surface to Air missile system in 2017, throwing U.S.-Turkish relations into a tailspin, straining ties within NATO, and resulting in significant U.S. sanctions. Turkey has no desire to leave NATO, from which it accrues significant benefit — but nor does it feel particularly constrained by its NATO alliance.
As foreign policy analyst Selim Koru wrote recently, Turkey’s cooperation with Russia is an important part of a general strategic and ideological consensus among Turkish elites — that Turkey, like Russia, is a resurgent power whose natural role in the world has been stymied by the West. Turkey, like Russia, wishes to expand its influence and power in a new age of multi-polarity and declining Western power. In Koru’s view, elites in Ankara view Russian revanchism less with worry than with understanding and sympathy.
Turkey’s president insists on low interest rates. That could cost him politically, this research shows.
Moreover, Turkey’s economic ties to Russia — and to a lesser extent to Ukraine — make the current crisis particularly fraught for Ankara, giving Turkish officials good reason to send signals of sympathy to both sides. Russia and Ukraine are Turkey’s first and second-largest sources of wheat. Russia provides nearly half of Turkey’s natural gas supplies.
With Turkey already in the throes of the worst economic crisis in decades and popular discontent with spiraling prices rising, the Erdoğan government is weathering the worst crisis it has faced since the attempted coup of 2016. Turkey approaches this crisis from a position of extreme vulnerability, making the costs of confronting Moscow — even if Ankara was so inclined — extraordinarily high.
In this crisis, Turkey has attempted to play the role of important international participant, while doing as little as possible to antagonize either NATO or Russia. The decision to implement the Montreux Convention over this vital waterway made news headlines — but makes few waves. From Ankara’s standpoint, that makes it a perfect step to take.
Howard Eissenstat is an associate professor of Middle East History at St. Lawrence University and a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. | null | null | null | null | null |
Can economic sanctions end a war?
For sanctions to be effective, countries must work together and pull no punches
Signs in support of Ukraine outside U.N. headquarters on Monday in New York. (Jason Decrow/AP)
By Christine Adams
Christine Adams is professor of history at St. Mary's College of Maryland and author of book on "The Creation of the Official French Royal Mistress," with Tracy Adams.
In reaction to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, a flagrant violation of the independent nation’s sovereignty, President Biden announced harsh economic sanctions against Russia in concert with our allies that target Russian banks and even Putin’s own assets. While at first it appeared that Western allies would be reluctant to inflict the most painful economic tool in their arsenal — specifically, excluding Russia’s financial institutions from the SWIFT international payments system — on Saturday, the United States and European nations made the decision to remove some Russian banks from SWIFT. They also imposed new restrictions on Russia’s Central Bank, thus cutting off Putin’s ability to use his country’s substantial international financial reserves.
As of Monday, however, the U.S. Treasury Department was still exempting transactions relating to energy exports from sanctions. Europeans nations have balked thus far at halting Russian oil and gas exports given the E.U.’s heavy reliance on Russian natural gas.
Still, these actions against Russia are unprecedented. The United States and European nations imposed them with reluctance, fearing that hard-hitting sanctions would further damage their own economies when they are still reeling from covid-related disruptions. They also worry about the possibility of escalation if Putin responds with retaliatory measures; in a show of force, he put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert this weekend. Since the early 20th century, similar fears have frequently led countries to pull their punches when it comes to economic sanctions. The result? Sanctions have often lacked the necessary force and can be impossible to enforce. Without a united international response, authoritarian leaders consider themselves untouchable.
Peace negotiations in Paris in the wake of World War I led to the creation of the League of Nations in 1920 as an international forum for resolving disputes among nations and preventing future wars. Its task became increasingly difficult in the 1930s, as the world’s representative democracies watched with alarm the rise of aggressive and expansionist dictatorships in both Europe and East Asia.
In September 1931, the Japanese army engineered an incident to justify the invasion and occupation of Manchuria, hoping its rich natural resources would help the country cope with the effects of the Great Depression. The League of Nations responded by sending a commission under the direction of Victor Bulwer-Lytton, Earl of Lytton, a British politician and former colonial administrator, to investigate.
The Lytton Report maintained a careful impartiality in assessing the claims of both China and Japan, and suggested ways to minimize tensions between the two countries. But the facts of the report indicated that Japan was the aggressor. The Council of the League of Nations voted to accept the report and its assessment of Japanese guilt, but never seriously considered forcing the Japanese to leave Manchuria, even by imposing economic sanctions.
Concerned about conditions closer to home, including the Depression and Hitler’s recent rise to power, European powers did not want to be drawn into conflict with Japan. When Japan chose to withdraw from the League of Nations and to keep Manchuria — now renamed Manchukuo — under its control, the League took no further action in response.
Japanese actions in Manchuria exposed the fundamental weakness of the League of Nations. Western nations were focused on their own economic woes and geopolitical concerns in Europe rather than on stopping a bellicose nation on the other side of the world. As a result, the lack of coordinated response emboldened other dictators.
In 1935, Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, further tested the resolve of the League of Nations. Italy held colonial possessions bordering on Ethiopia (or Abyssinia), including Italian Eritrea and Somalia, but coveted Ethiopia itself as part of a greater Italian Empire. Nationalist Italians were still bitter over their defeat at the hands of Ethiopian troops at the Battle of Adwa in 1896. To fulfill Mussolini’s imperial vision, Italian forces began encroaching on Ethiopian territory in the early 1930s, creating conflict along the border. This became the excuse to launch an invasion of Ethiopia in October 1935.
Meanwhile, the French and British, who dominated the League of Nations, were worried about alienating Mussolini and more focused on Nazi Germany. Hitler’s military buildup in the heart of Europe was a greater threat to them than Mussolini’s colonial aspirations. Rather than imposing strong sanctions, they instead tried to cajole Mussolini with the promise of substantial control of Ethiopian territory as long as he eschewed formal occupation.
However, Mussolini assumed that Britain and France’s desire to maintain the Stresa Front to blunt Hitler’s violations of the Versailles Treaty meant they would condone his actions in Ethiopia. His invasion of Ethiopia in October 1935 in flagrant disregard of League of Nations arbitration efforts outraged politicians and onlookers across Western Europe, forcing political leaders to take action. For the first time, the League of Nations not only condemned an aggressive act, but also voted to impose limited economic sanctions.
However, Western nations did not impose sanctions that might actually have prevented Italy’s victory in Ethiopia. They refused to embargo oil sales to Italy, and the British fleet did not prevent Italian military troops from moving through the Suez Canal. Moreover, not all nations observed the sanctions. The United States, which was not a member of the League of Nations, actually increased its exports to Italy.
Like Putin in the weeks leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, Mussolini occasionally played along with the diplomatic initiatives of the French and British, for example, pretending to consider the Hoare-Laval Pact proposed in early December 1935, which would have conceded significant chunks of Ethiopia to Italy in exchange for halting the war. Mussolini strung the Western powers along, asking for changes to the pact as a way of stalling to allow the Italian army the time necessary to conquer Ethiopia. After an exceptionally brutal war, Mussolini was able to claim victory in Ethiopia in 1936. Like Japan, Italy left the League of Nations in response to its condemnation.
The irresolute diplomatic efforts of the League of Nations were a disaster. Mussolini was not appreciative that the West chose “moderate” economic sanctions, even though they were ultimately ineffective. In fact, he became more inclined to look to Hitler as an ally after 1935. In addition, Hitler was emboldened by the League’s failure to impose serious consequences in the face of Italy’s brazen defiance and by the breakdown of the Stresa Front. Historians agree that he felt more secure in his decision to move his troops into the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936 in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and 1925’s Locarno agreements, confident that the French and British would not retaliate. In 1937, the Japanese would join with the two European dictators in the Anti-Comintern Pact before its invasion of China. Western Europe was on the road to appeasement at Munich.
As Russia fights to take control of Kyiv and impose a puppet government there, Western nations are showing impressive unity and imposing crippling economic sanctions. Their success will require a willingness on the part of the citizens of representative democracies throughout the world to endure the economic pain sanctions will cause them.
Such a strategy may pay off, especially if enough nations uphold harsh sanctions and step up assistance to the Ukraine resistance. We may not know for months. Russians have already taken to the streets of cities throughout the country to protest this war, which has led to the crash of the ruble and a doubling of interest rates there. Indeed, many historians say strong and concerted early action against the international violations of fascist dictators in the 1930s might have prevented later horrors; appeasement did not turn out to be a wise choice. By the time Hitler invaded Poland, it was too late to prevent a world war. The willingness of Western nations to impose sanctions that seemed unthinkable just a week ago suggests that world leaders may have learned that important lesson as they try to prevent the next one. | null | null | null | null | null |
President Zelensky’s leadership of Ukraine’s resistance is a testament to democracy
How John Steinbeck’s “The Moon is Down” inspired resistance to occupation.
A screenshot from a video on the Facebook account of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which he says: “We are all here” in Kyiv. (-/Facebook / @volodymyr Zelensky/A)
By Charles Edel
Charles Edel is a senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney and previously served on the U.S. secretary of state’s policy planning staff. He is co-author of "The Lessons of Tragedy: Statecraft and World Order."
“The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars.”
These words of defiance, warning and resolve appear at the end of John Steinbeck’s short novel “The Moon is Down,” his fictional tale of a small town’s refusal to bow to violent occupation by the invading army of a large nation.
Steinbeck wrote these words in the dark days of 1941, as Europe descended into war, propelled by Germany’s destructive march across the continent. It was Steinbeck’s attempt to puncture the myth that the German war machine was invincible, to warn Europeans and Americans against succumbing to counsels of despair, to call for the international community to do more to aid the resistance fighters in Europe’s conquered lands and, above all else, to celebrate and defend democracy.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to violently subjugate Ukraine, and as President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine heroically leads his country’s determined resistance, Steinbeck’s hymn to the democratic spirit is a stark reminder that this invasion is but a new front in an old war. At its center is a battle of ideas about whether and how people should govern themselves.
The book, written first as a play and converted into a short novel, tells the story of the military occupation of a small town somewhere in Northern Europe. As the occupation becomes more coercive and more violent, members of the town begin to resist. Enraged by these shows of defiance and perplexed as to why the town’s citizens would dare fight back against an overwhelming force, the occupying army becomes ever more brutal. Resistance, both violent and nonviolent, spreads. Townspeople tear up railroad lines linking the town’s coal mine to a nearby port, sabotage the occupying forces’ machines and short-circuit their electrical generators. The invaders respond with extrajudicial killings, show trials and, eventually, attempts to starve the population into surrender. Some of the town’s people flee abroad and some collaborate with the occupiers, but most stay and fight, aided by an increasing flow of arms and ammunition from other democratic states.
At the center of the action is a clash between Mayor Orden, the democratic leader of the town, and Colonel Lanser, the head of the occupying force. Lanser, a veteran of World War I who knows how brutal war is, attempts to restrain his men and urges the mayor to accept occupation to avoid further violence. He is not depicted as evil, even though the logic of war and the totalitarian leader whose orders he follows compel him to act brutally.
Orden, the town’s longtime mayor, is not young, nor is he a man of action rallying his people to defy the invaders. As he candidly admits, he is afraid. But he possesses immense dignity and refuses, even under threat of execution, to undercut his citizens’ fight against subjugation. He knows he is not just a man but a symbol of democratic resistance to totalitarian force. “I am not a very brave man who will have made them a little braver,” the mayor tells Lanser shortly before Lanser condemns him to death. By refusing to bow, and by defying the demands of the aggressor, the mayor — in his words and actions — becomes a symbol for decency, bravery and a free people’s unconquerable opposition to tyranny and commitment to freedom.
When this work first appeared, Steinbeck was criticized for refusing to depict the invading forces as inhuman personifications of evil. Steinbeck thought that humanizing them made the work more realistic, and more compelling. During the war, he worked as a correspondent in Europe, wrote training manuals for the U.S. Army and served in the Office of Strategic Services. All of these posts afforded him access to the resistance efforts underway in Europe and allowed him to write his account by “basing its fiction on facts” and writing of “the experiences of the occupied” in a way that would bring home to Americans what was occurring overseas. “I had written of Germans as men,” Steinbeck later wrote, “not supermen, and this was considered a very weak attitude to take. I couldn’t make much sense of this, and it seems absurd now that we know the Germans were men, and thus fallible, even defeatable.”
Steinbeck wanted to motivate the American public with depictions of the invaders not as a faceless juggernaut, but as ordinary, vulnerable men, following orders grimly and unenthusiastically. “The war came on,” Steinbeck would later write, “and I wrote ‘The Moon Is Down’ as a kind of celebration of the durability of democracy.”
Although American literary critics didn’t care for Steinbeck’s work, it was abroad, in the hands of the resistance fighters who battled on in defeat, that this work had the most immediate impact. Thousands of copies of the book were smuggled into occupied territory across Europe, and translations even found their way into occupied China. Informed of these efforts after the war, Steinbeck marveled at how the novel was “copied, mimeographed, printed on hand presses in cellars, and I have seen a copy laboriously handwritten on scrap paper and tied together with twine.”
As it turned out, the book’s depiction of the courage of a people fighting to preserve their independence was not unrealistic, but factual. And dangerous. The Nazis made possession of Steinbeck’s work a capital crime. It was an extraordinary piece of anti-Nazi propaganda, delivering a message of hope and a cry of resistance. Norway’s king, leading his country’s government in exile from London during the war, conspicuously appeared at the opening of the London production of “The Moon is Down.”
But the work held more than just symbolic value. It inspired Europeans to resist and fight on. It also encouraged allied nations to send arms and ammunition to occupied territories. Winston Churchill read the book, noting that it was a “well-written story,” and sent a memo to his minister of economic warfare, underscoring the importance of smuggling arms and explosives to resistance fighters in occupied countries. After the war, and in recognition that his work had inspired the conquered people of Europe to resist, the Norwegian king awarded Steinbeck the country’s Liberty Cross. In 1955, he received the Commander’s Cross of Franco-Belgian Gratitude.
In the book’s conclusion, Orden, the democratic mayor, declares, “I am a little man, and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into a flame.” Today, the world watches in horror at another grim occupation, and is startled by the brave resistance of another people struggling for their independence against a brutal dictator.
Zelensky is not a small man and Kyiv is not a little town. But, like the mayor of Steinbeck’s work, he has stayed in his capital under significant threat of assassination or missile strike. It is his actions, and his presence, that have defined his commitment to his country’s democracy and his leadership. “We are defending our independence, our state, and we will continue to do so,” he declared in a video, holding his phone, wearing military dress and broadcasting his message. “Our army is here, our civil society is here, we are all here,” he said to the camera, the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia and the entire world.
Overwhelmed by the bravery of people who “refused to admit defeat even when Germans patrolled their streets,” John Steinbeck wrote “The Moon is Down” as a message of defiance, as a tribute to the durability of the democratic spirit and as a charge not to succumb to feelings of despair, apathy or helplessness.
“The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride,” Zelensky declared Saturday in response to Washington’s offer to help him flee his capital as he fights Putin’s army of darkness. The closing words of Steinbeck’s wartime novel are the most fitting response: “Remember to pay the debt.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Russia’s threats make a bad situation more dangerous
Russian President Vladimir Putin put nuclear forces on high alert on Sunday, after the United States and NATO allies imposed harsh financial sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Alexei Nikolsky/AP)
By James M. Acton
James M. Acton holds the Jessica T. Mathews chair and is co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On Sunday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defense minister to place the country’s “deterrence forces on high combat alert.” This technical-sounding order left the normally unflappable Sergey Shoigu visibly uncomfortable — and with good reason: In the middle of the invasion of Ukraine, Putin had just ordered him to start readying Russia’s nuclear forces for use.
The likelihood of a nuclear war, while still low, is rising. Putin’s unprovoked war of aggression has, so far at least, not played out as he might have hoped, and this nuclear threat is unlikely to change the war’s dynamics. If the conflict drags on, desperation could lead him to cross the nuclear threshold. Ukraine, the United States and its NATO allies will have to try to create an off-ramp for Putin to avoid that catastrophic outcome.
Putin’s problem is clear. Russia’s armed forces are making much slower progress than he likely anticipated, their losses are mounting, and his war appears to be proving unpopular at home. The West is unified and has agreed to levy truly severe sanctions, including against Russia’s central bank. Right now, the best case for Russia would be the eventual defeat of Ukraine in a drawn-out bloodbath that leaves NATO more united and resolute than before. We can only speculate about Putin’s worst fears, but given his public expressions of “disgust” over the killing of the Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, he may worry about incurring the same fate.
Putin likely has some general sense that a nuclear threat, backed by Russia’s vast arsenal, offers a way out of this quandary. But does it?
Putin’s rule depends on creating foreign enemies — and domestic ‘traitors’
In the coming days, Russia’s nuclear force posture may change in a way that indicates whether Putin aims to threaten the United States or Ukraine or both. One possibility is that Russia alerts its so-called strategic nuclear forces — those that can reach the United States — by, for example, dispersing its road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (which are normally kept in garages) or loading long-range bombers with nuclear weapons. These actions would indicate that Putin seeks to threaten Washington.
If he were to do that, Putin might be implying that he would use nuclear weapons if the United States intervened directly, consistent with a warning he issued on Thursday in announcing his invasion (sorry, “special military operation”). Yet preventing the United States from entering the war directly — which President Biden had already categorically ruled out before it started — won’t provide a magic shortcut to defeating Ukraine’s armed forces, which have held out by themselves so far.
Putin’s remarks on Sunday, however, suggest a somewhat different purpose. Taken literally, they appear to imply that Russia will use nuclear weapons unless the United States and its allies lift “illegitimate sanctions” and stop making “aggressive statements.” Perhaps Putin is also demanding that the United States and its allies stop providing equipment to Ukraine. If so, this threat is so outlandish — essentially “be nice to us or we’ll nuke you” — that it won’t be taken seriously. Indeed, the United States has, quite sensibly, not raised the alert level of its own nuclear forces, and Biden has publicly discounted Putin’s threat.
Another possibility is that Russia may start to move the warheads for its nonstrategic delivery systems, those that cannot reach the United States, from their storage sites to the bases where these delivery systems are deployed. In this case, Ukraine would be the likely target of Putin’s nuclear threat. However, as President Richard Nixon discovered in 1969 when he initiated the so-called Madman Nuclear Alert to try to force North Vietnam and the Soviet Union to make concessions at the negotiating table, it’s very difficult to make the other side believe that you’re willing risk Armageddon for anything less than the defense of your own territory. The fact that Putin claims this war is defensive won’t make his threat more credible — every aggressor says the same thing.
In short, whether Putin currently realizes it or not, his nuclear alert is unlikely to help him win the war. But the danger of nuclear escalation is real even so. In fact, the danger is real precisely because Russia’s nuclear threats are unlikely to work; as RAND Corp. analyst Samuel Charap put it, “an isolated, angry Putin” could end up “presiding over a grinding, existential conventional war and an economy devastated by sanctions.” In this situation, Putin may feel that he has given Washington and Kyiv fair warning, and then resort to nuclear use, likely on the battlefield, in the hope it’ll lead one or both of them to back down.
To avoid that situation, Ukraine, the United States and NATO should try to give Putin a face-saving way to end the war on terms that preserve Ukraine as an independent state — though it is, of course, ultimately up to Putin whether he takes such an off-ramp.
Ukraine’s performance on the battlefield has been remarkable. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy surely understands that if he cannot negotiate a quick end to this war, Putin may level Ukraine’s cities like he leveled Grozny in 1999-2000 or even use nuclear weapons. Kyiv and Moscow have already begun negotiations, though they ended Monday morning without a deal. Any future talks will presumably focus on the status of Donetsk and Luhansk and a possible Ukrainian commitment not to join NATO.
For there to be any chance of an agreement, the United States and its allies will have to lift the most punishing of the current round of economic sanctions — the freeze on Russia’s central bank, which threatens to destroy the ruble. The whole point of sanctions, after all, is to lift them if your adversary changes its behavior. Washington and its allies should make clear to Moscow which sanctions they will lift as part of a cease-fire agreement. They should resist the inevitable calls to make sanctions relief contingent on the resolution of issues — such as the status of Crimea — that are not germane to the immediate conflict. They should also reup some of the security-building measures they presented to Moscow in January. For example, the United States and its allies could again offer Russia, subject to reciprocity, the right to inspect Aegis Ashore missile defense installations in Europe to verify that they cannot be used to fire offensive missiles.
It is deeply distasteful to identify incentives for Putin to back down after he launched an illegal war that will likely kill thousands of Ukrainians and rank-and-file Russian servicemembers who had no choice but to fight. But unless one state annihilates another’s armed forces, which Ukraine cannot do to Russia, ending wars always involves agonizing compromises. Ultimately, they are worse than the alternatives — which in this case, include a nuclear war. | null | null | null | null | null |
War with Ukraine may make that harder, my research finds.
A police car patrols near to Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow on Thursday. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg)
By Sharon Werning Rivera
With Russia deep into its invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin faces challenges beyond the military ones. Like all authoritarian leaders, Putin must be careful to keep the highest-ranking members of Russian society on his side. That will be especially difficult, given the West’s sweeping countermeasures designed to impose economic pain, such as increasing sanctions, imposing export controls, and halting authorization of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe.
Scholars and analysts have stressed that Russian mass support for military intervention in Ukraine is precarious. Data from our Survey of Russian Elites suggest that elite backing is likely to be tepid as well.
Every four years, the SRE interviews approximately 240 high-ranking Russians based in Moscow who work in a broad range of occupational sectors. The most recent survey was conducted in February and March 2020, with 245 respondents selected using a quota sample. Respondents are drawn from Russia’s legislative branch, executive branch, military and security forces, state-owned enterprises, private businesses, scientific and educational institutions with strong international connections, and media outlets; respondents are connected in some way with foreign policy issues.
Here are two reasons why, according to the SRE, elites will be ambivalent about a costly military campaign in Ukraine.
Russia is about to plunge into a financial crisis. How will citizens react?
Elite support for the unification of Russia and Ukraine has consistently declined since 1995
Each wave of the SRE since 1995 has asked elites to explain how Russia and Ukraine should relate to each other. Specifically, we asked respondents to choose their preferred status for the two countries, using a five-point scale, with 1 signifying that they should remain “completely independent countries” and 5 that they be “united into a single country.”
Our findings in the figure below, discussed in our 2020 policy report co-authored with Hamilton College students, show that peak support for merging Ukraine and Russia into one country came in 1995, reaching 65 percent. Since then, the desire for unification has steadily declined. In 2020, that support fell to its lowest level ever, with only 5 percent — while support for maintaining Ukraine and Russia as independent countries reached an all-time high of 67 percent.
Over the three decades since the collapse of communism, Russian elites have steadily come to terms with the independence of the two countries.
Putin and the Russian elite diverge on prioritizing foreign policy
Russian elites give Putin high marks for increasing Russia’s international influence and respect for the country while in office. In 2020, the SRE asked elites to evaluate Putin’s accomplishments during his two decades in power. We presented a battery of issue areas and asked respondents to say whether they had increased, decreased, or remained the same since 2000. Exactly 87 percent responded that Russia’s military readiness and strength had grown during this period. Another 80 percent stated that Russia’s world influence had increased and 68 percent credited Putin with increasing Russia’s respect in the world.
However, Russian elites’ assessments of Putin’s domestic achievements are markedly less sanguine than those of his performance on the international stage. We queried respondents about a variety of domestic issue areas, including official corruption, income inequality, and democracy and human rights in Russia. Elites noticed marked improvement in only one of these measures: political stability. On all other domestic indicators, less than half of the sample perceived any improvement over the past two decades. On the economy, only 12 percent believed that Putin had reduced income inequality, and a sizable minority of 37 percent said the standard of living had fallen since 2000.
Crucially, elites have consistently been more concerned about how failing to solve domestic problems threatens Russia’s security than about threats emanating from the West. We asked respondents to rate a battery of threats to Russian security on a scale of one to five, with one corresponding to the “absence of danger” and five to the “utmost danger.” The figure below shows that almost three-quarters of all elites, or 70 percent, in 2020 rated Russia’s “inability to resolve its internal problems” as either a four or five, compared to 62 percent who were worried about the growth of U.S. military power.
Elites also largely do not appear to share Putin’s concern about two other supposed threats from the West: an information war seeking to tarnish Russia’s reputation in the world, or a Western-backed attempt to change Russia’s regime (or a “color revolution.”) Since Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, Putin has frequently warned that the West was trying to prompt regime change in Russia. But only 44 percent of all elites surveyed in 2020 assessed the threat of Western information warfare as a 4 or 5 (with 5 meaning “the utmost danger”), and only 22 percent were worried about the possibility of a color revolution in Russia.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is remaking Europe
War in Ukraine could complicate Putin’s plans to stay in office after 2024
Research has shown that Putin-era elites follow Kremlin cues, and we should expect many to echo the talking points emitted by the Kremlin. Since 1993 the SRE has tracked Russian elites’ perceptions of neighboring Georgia, where Russia intervened militarily in 2008 on the pretext of defending the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The percentage characterizing Georgia as “hostile” as opposed to “friendly” to Russia rose sharply during the hostilities leading up to the Russo-Georgian War, and with one exception, remained elevated in every survey period afterward.
But if living standards continue to decline and other domestic problems remain unresolved, those in the elite power “pyramid,” as political scientist Henry Hale describes it, that Putin carefully seeks to maintain may grow increasingly dissatisfied. If military action in Ukraine and its consequences for the Russian economy make it impossible for the Kremlin to progress on key domestic concerns such as infrastructure, health care, inflation, and climate change, Putin may lose elite support for any bid to stay in power beyond 2024
Sharon Werning Rivera is professor of government at Hamilton College and principal investigator of the Survey of Russian Elites. | null | null | null | null | null |
As Black History Month comes to a close, Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who serves as chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, discusses her heroes, and the racism she and other Black women on Capitol Hill face. This conversation was recorded on Feb. 16 for "Washington Post Live."
Next month, Janai S. Nelson, who currently serves as the associate director counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, will succeed Sherrilyn Ifill as president of the legendary civil rights organization. This conversation was recorded Feb. 18 for Washington Post Live. | null | null | null | null | null |
Even among those who — enthusiastically or reluctantly — voted for Biden, there is concern that things are not going as they’d hoped
In President Biden's first speech to a joint session of Congress on April 28, 2021, he declared: “America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.” (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
Rose Hansen
Barry Yeoman
President Biden is expected to deliver his first formal State of the Union address before a packed joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. But his true audience lies well beyond the halls of the U.S. Capitol, in the divided nation he leads.
The answers to those questions often reflect the partisan leaning of the people asked. But even among those who — enthusiastically or reluctantly — voted for Joe Biden over Donald Trump, there is growing worry that things are not going as they’d hoped. For similar reasons, party leaders are increasingly concerned about losing their House and Senate majorities in the midterm elections that are just eight months away.
Biden’s approval rating hit a new low this month, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday, with 37 percent approving of his job performance. The president fared better among Democrats, 77 percent of whom approved, but that support has weakened over the past year, down from 90 percent in April and 94 percent in June.
‘Frustration is at an all-time high’: The voices behind Biden’s falling poll numbers
Despite Biden’s lofty campaign promises to unite the country, many communities seem more divided than ever. There are fights over vaccines and masks. Race continues to be a wedge — from protests about the teaching of critical race theory to heated disagreements over what, if anything, should be done to root out bias in policing and society. Congress reflects the divided country that elected it, with even Democrats unable to agree on a sweeping social-spending bill.
Still, for Biden’s supporters, there are things to celebrate. Last year, Biden signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package and a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, sweeping legislation that promises help for every community in America. Although the pandemic has continued, coronavirus vaccines are widely available, millions have received free rapid tests in the mail, most schools and many workplaces have reopened, and federal officials have eased mask recommendations for the vast majority of the country. And last week Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, putting her on a path to be the first Black woman on the court in history.
But the past year has also brought disappointments, including an inability to federalize voting rights protections and much-called-for changes to policing. Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda — a massive climate and social spending package — sputtered and now feels forgotten. Only 65 percent of the country is fully vaccinated, which experts say has prolonged the pandemic. A chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan shook Americans’ confidence in the president’s competence. And now war has broken out in Europe, and the world faces an uncertain future.
The long slide: Inside Biden’s declining popularity as he struggles with multiple crises
In the Milwaukee suburbs, Steve Doering — a 58-year-old cement truck driver and longtime Democrat — feels the division every time he chats with his friends, who he says are all “serious Republicans.” There are both quiet disagreements and obscenity-laced arguments. Many of his buddies don’t recognize that Biden won the election. Most aren’t vaccinated, and Doering says he’s the only one who regularly wears a mask. One friend recently gave him a subscription to the Epoch Times, a pro-Trump publication that has circulated misinformation.
“I’m with Biden on the masks and vaccines, in that we should do what the science tells us to do,” Doering said, but he concedes that the meandering path out of the pandemic hasn’t done much for his side of the political argument.
“Just gives the naysayers a whole lot more ammo,” he said.
Now, as the United States navigates Russia’s war against Ukraine, he has new fears for a leader whom he still supports but can’t always defend.
“No one wants to pay six or seven bucks a gallon for gas,” Doering said. “But I got a feeling that’s coming real soon because of the world economy. It’s just bolstered my buddy who said, ‘Yeah, the first thing that Biden did was shut down the Keystone Pipeline well, and now we’re back to being dependent on foreign oil.’ ”
Doering plans to watch Biden’s address Tuesday night.
‘To me, it’s like a ghost year’
Antoine Miller, a 33-year-old IT project manager for a Philadelphia hospital, was optimistic as he set up a vaccine clinic for front-line responders in early 2021. The shots, he hoped, were the first step out of a pandemic that had flooded his hospital with patients, isolated him in his home and made him miss Christmas with his grandmother.
Biden wasn’t his first choice, or his second, but Miller voted for him because he wanted Trump out of the White House above all else.
Biden’s campaign was based in Philadelphia, and the candidate spent a lot of time in the city. Miller remembers feeling optimistic during the summer of 2020 when Biden took a knee during nearby protests after the death of George Floyd.
George Floyd’s America: Examining systemic racism and racial injustice in the post-civil rights era
But Miller said he finds himself in a rerun of 2020. Few of the changes he had hoped Democrats would usher in — progress against the pandemic, changes to policing, protection of voting rights, student loan relief — have yet to materialize. And the omicron variant meant another Christmas away from his grandma.
He views the president as “someone who has the power and clout and could make tangible changes to the lives of Black people but chooses not to.”
Miller has no plans to watch the State of the Union.
“I mean, I can say that I haven’t moved on,” Miller said of the past year. “Ultimately, I think, things are not progressing in any area. It just feels like there has not really been any progress on anything. To me it’s like a ghost year.”
‘We may not see the real benefits … until he’s gone’
Nearly a year ago, Bonita Green, 61, took notice when Biden proposed a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that could help “disinvested communities” like hers that she says have long been overlooked by both parties.
Green lives in her childhood home in the Merrick-Moore neighborhood of Durham, N.C., a suburban community of single-story houses built by Black veterans returning from World War II, including her father.
The neighborhood sits at the edge of the city, surrounded by metal fabricators, tire dealers, scrapyards, a solar farm and a major highway. The main thoroughfare is a rural-style two-lane road without sidewalks or shoulders. There are no traffic lights, crosswalks or design features to slow drivers, who Green said crash with regularity.
“They’re just not like little dust-ups,” she said. “There was one car that went head-on, T-boned a tree in a neighbor’s yard, and they had to call out the Jaws of Life to cut him out.”
It’s a clear example of America’s infrastructure needs, so when Green learned that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Vice President Harris planned to visit Charlotte, two hours away, to promote the plan, she said, she filled out a Web form calling Buttigieg’s attention to Durham. Buttigieg, she said, did not respond.
Green, who heads her neighborhood association, watched the debate over the infrastructure bill with anger and frustration. As Republicans tried to shrink it and liberal Democrats tried to tie it to a concurrent social spending agreement, she wondered why Congress couldn’t just approve a plan that was so evidently needed.
“Why can’t a thing just be a thing?” she said. “Why does everybody have to try to roll other stuff underneath the bill?”
The final plan, passed in November, is $1.2 trillion, just over half the original size. Green is not ready to celebrate. “It could be a good thing,” she said. “Let’s see what happens, because there are always those that are looking to redirect the funding.”
Green acknowledges that it’s still early in the Biden administration — too soon to gauge the effect he’ll have on communities like hers. She plans to watch his address on Tuesday night.
“I understand your first year you’re in office, you spend it more cleaning up … from the last administration,” she said. “We may not see the real benefits of Biden being in office until he’s gone.”
Green’s attention this weekend turned to the “very frightening situation” unfolding in Ukraine. She was glad to see the United States and its allies impose heavy sanctions on Russia, but she thinks that the strongest actions will need to come from European nations and maybe China.
“On one hand, you want some nation to go in physically and help support the people,” she said. “But then, on the other hand … nobody wants a World War III. Nobody wants to be drawn into that.”
What scares her most is what she has been hearing from some Republicans, including Trump.
“I’m most fearful of support of Putin in this country, and the support of authoritarianism in this country, and how that movement is continuing to grow,” she said. “That’s the scariest thing of all, is how that movement is being encouraged in this country.”
Trump ‘was dividing the country and still is’
When assessing the Biden administration’s progress over the past year, Paola Mejia, an accountant for a title company in suburban Chicago, automatically goes to numbers.
There’s the price of her favorite grapefruit juice at Whole Foods: up $1.04. The gas for the 30-minute commute to work has jumped by about 50 cents a gallon.
“It’s not necessarily because of them,” the 30-year-old said about Biden and Harris. “But I did notice a shift in prices when it comes to, you know, food and gas since he’s been in office.”
Mejia chose Biden because she thought he’d change the temperature in Washington after four years of Trump, who she said “was dividing the country and still is.” Mejia, who is of Mexican descent, was turned off by Trump’s tone toward people like her, and she applauds Biden for softening the rhetoric about immigrants.
Trump put up walls to immigrants, with stinging rhetoric and barriers made of steel and regulation
“I obviously voted for him because we need to change in this country,” she said. “I don’t regret my vote. I just feel like it could be doing a little better to help us middle-class people.”
She has mixed feelings on how Biden has tried to pull the nation out of the pandemic. She got vaccinated but disagrees with Biden’s push to mandate the vaccine in certain workplaces and require masking in public places, because “I don’t think you should force anybody,” she said.
Mejia supports U.S. involvement in Ukraine, including deployment of troops.
“We cannot sit back and watch Russia invade Ukraine and harm innocent civilians,” she said. “The U.S. has the resources to fight and stop Putin’s invasion.”
She didn’t realize that the State of the Union is on Tuesday but now plans to watch. She’s hopeful the next year will bring more relief and change than the past year.
“We’re just gonna have to, I guess, have faith and trust that they keep their word and, you know, move forward,” she said.
‘We came out the other side … better off’
When Ray Hammon looks out the window of the brewery he co-owns in Colorado City, Ariz., he sees a tourist-dependent community accelerating out of a pandemic — but few people willing to give the president any credit.
His brewery closed for five months in the early days of the pandemic in 2020, something he worried would mean the death of his business. But the brewery recovered and business was even robust last summer, as more people traveled to this town of 5,000 that sits between the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. He credits a Small Business Association loan and a pandemic response spearheaded by Biden.
“As the vaccines rolled out, we started to see tourism come back,” said Hammon, who plans to watch Biden’s address. “People had trepidation about traveling when transmission rates were high. As people got vaccinated and boosted, they were more confident that they could go out without getting sick. … We came out the other side of that whole deal better off.”
His city has a new coffee shop, a new winery and two new chain restaurants. A grocery store and a health clinic are two other recent additions, meaning residents don’t have to drive 30 miles on a two-lane highway to get food and medicine. Thanks to $2.5 million in funding for infrastructure projects from Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, the city is exploring sites for a new well.
Still, Hammon said, “the vast majority of people in my community have no idea it’s going on or who’s responsible for it. How many Republicans in the Senate voted for ARPA? The answer, I believe, is zero.”
Hammon said that hasn’t stopped Republicans — including his local member of Congress, Paul A. Gosar — from taking credit for the region’s successes.
Behind the taps, Hammon is not particularly vocal about those points. In Arizona’s Mohave County, Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to 1. Trump flags fly everywhere. And pointing out the partisan flaws in customers’ logic isn’t necessarily a recipe for success in his rebooted business.
“I just see the potential for it to be a wedge between people in my personal conversations,” he said, “so I try to steer away from that.” | null | null | null | null | null |
As many as 5 million people could flee the country in coming weeks, a movement that some health officials fear will fuel covid and other outbreaks
For these Ukrainians, the focus is escaping the Russian invasion bearing down on their country — not on dodging diseases like the coronavirus.
But as more than a half-million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, global health officials fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be the latest reminder of a grim lesson — that war and disease are close companions, and the humanitarian and refugee crises now unfolding in Eastern Europe will lead to long-lasting health consequences, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
As Russia’s military campaign accelerates, Ukraine’s hospitals are running out of critical medical supplies as travel is increasingly choked off by the conflict. The country’s health workers and patients are relocating to makeshift shelters, seeking to escape explosions. Meanwhile, officials at the World Health Organization, United Nations, U.S. State Department and other organizations warn of rising civilian casualties and new pressures on the region’s fragile health systems.
“What we’re dealing with now in Ukraine is a double crisis,” said Máire Connolly, a global health professor at the National University of Ireland Galway who’s studied the link between conflict and disease. In an interview, Connolly said she was worried not just about threats from the coronavirus pandemic, but also from Ukraine’s polio outbreak, which global experts had sought to quell for months. She also feared the potential resurgence of tuberculosis during the current conflict.
While covid cases in Eastern Europe have plunged in recent weeks, experts like Connolly say they’re worried that the regional conflict will trigger new spikes. Ukraine had some of the world’s highest rates of coronavirus late last year, and is flanked by countries with some of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe — raising the prospect that the movement of thousands if not millions of refugees could lead to surges of illness in neighboring countries.
Global humanitarian organizations have moved to shore up Ukraine’s health safety net. The WHO, which began positioning additional medical supplies in Ukraine in November after Russian military forces began to amass on its borders, on Thursday made $3.5 million available in additional emergency funding. The U.S. Agency for International Development deployed a disaster response team to nearby Poland, intended to help coordinate the regional humanitarian response, and along with the State Department, will provide nearly $54 million in additional assistance. The White House also is seeking $6.4 billion for emergency aid to the region, much of which would go toward humanitarian assistance.
Humanitarian and health groups also had not anticipated an invasion from multiple directions, rather than concentrated on the country’s eastern border, where they had propositioned emergency supplies, said Simon Panek, CEO of People in Need, a humanitarian organization working to deliver aid.
“Until a few days before the war started, my colleagues and I didn’t talk about the possibility that there would be a direct offensive on Kyiv from the north, for example,” Panek said in an interview from Prague, where he is based. “What we need most is safe transport to central and eastern Ukraine, but no one from outside can provide it,” Panek added, saying his group had sent five trucks filled with supplies on Sunday and had planned to send more aid on Tuesday.
But like Ukraine, Poland has had a severe covid outbreak in recent weeks, and officials say its health system is dealing with a significant workforce shortage that has sparked walkouts and protests. About 59 percent of Poland’s population has received at least one vaccine shot. Poland is set to lift many of its remaining covid restrictions on Tuesday.
Jarno Habicht, the WHO’s representative to Ukraine, told reporters that he was worried that the conflict would set back months of progress to vaccinate Ukrainians while escalating other regional health crises, like the polio outbreak. | null | null | null | null | null |
Donald Trump, by contrast, is questioning President Biden’s every move during the current Russian invasion of Ukraine
President-elect Richard M. Nixon and President Lyndon B. Johnson stand in front of a battery of microphones after meeting in the White House on Nov. 11, 1968. (Charles Tasnadi/AP)
Late on the night of the military invasion of a small Eastern European country, the U.S. president phoned a leading political rival to give him the news and suggest how he should comment. You might “say this concerns you, that it dismays you,” he said, but that “you’re not trying to second-guess” the president.
The response: “I won’t say a d--- word that’s going to embarrass you, you can be sure of that.”
The president was Lyndon B. Johnson, and Soviet Union tanks had just rolled into Czechoslovakia on Aug. 20, 1968. Johnson’s call was to Richard M. Nixon, the Republican nominee for president, on the eve of the Democratic convention in Chicago, where Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey was the leading candidate for the presidential nomination.
It was crisis politics in a different time. Nixon blasted the invasion as an “outrage” but made no personal criticism of LBJ, in contrast to former president Donald Trump’s comments about Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Speaking at a meeting of conservatives in Orlando on Saturday night, Trump charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin had played President Biden “like a drum” and called the attack “an outrage and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur.” Trump has come under fire for also praising Putin’s actions as “genius” and “smart.”
Unlike democratic Ukraine, Czechoslovakia was a communist satellite in 1968 when the country’s new Communist Party leader, Alexander Dubcek, began promoting “socialism with a human face” and democratic reforms. After the Prague Spring of rallies supporting more freedom, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev decided to crack down. On Aug. 20, more than 250,000 troops, led by the Soviet Union with three allies, attacked.
The invasion surprised Johnson, who had been negotiating with the Soviets on a nuclear arms treaty. At about 8 p.m. on Aug. 20, the Soviet ambassador delivered a letter to the president saying the attack was imminent. Johnson called an emergency meeting of his National Security Council at 10:15 p.m. Afterward, he phoned Nixon to keep him informed as a potential future president.
Nixon had already been alerted by his foreign policy adviser Richard V. Allen, who had been working late at campaign headquarters in New York City when he got word of the invasion. Allen immediately called Nixon at his Fifth Avenue apartment, where Nixon had gone to bed early after a campaign trip. “Around 9 o’clock I woke him up” with news about the Soviet invasion, Allen said in a 2002 oral history interview at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “He said, ‘The b-------. Get over here.’”
Allen rushed over to Nixon’s apartment for a meeting with the Republican nominee and other campaign officials to work on a response. At 11:22 p.m., Johnson phoned. “The voltage was suddenly increased to 1,000 volts from 240,” Allen said. “President Johnson asked him not to condemn too strongly the Johnson administration.”
The recorded conversation was later released as one of the secret Johnson White House tapes that the LBJ Presidential Library began making public in 1993. LBJ was already facing fierce criticism of his Vietnam War policies from liberals in his own party, while hard-liner Nixon was more supportive of the war effort. Johnson sought to help frame Nixon’s response to the Soviet invasion.
“I think, though, that it’s all right for you to say that this concerns you, that it dismays you, and you are always concerned with aggression,” Johnson told Nixon, referring to him as “Dick.” “And you don’t want anybody to get the idea that there are half a dozen presidents that are calling the signals here on foreign policy.”
Nixon agreed: “You have no objection. If I’m asked tomorrow … I say that I’m greatly dismayed about it, and the president has informed me … ” Johnson cut in, “I’d think it’d be quite proper.”
Nixon, who according to Allen was anxious not to allow Humphrey to appear “as a knight on a white horse,” expressed concern about his likely election opponent. “Let me ask you this: Can you keep — just talking very candidly — can you keep … your vice president and others to keep them firm on this thing?” he asked. Before hanging up, Nixon added, “And the main thing, Mr. President, don’t — I mean, just speaking of the country, don’t let your vice president get off on this.”
The call ended close to 11:40 p.m. “So we then revised the statement again, softened it, still bore the classic earmarks of a Nixon statement, and we put it out,” said Allen, who became a top foreign policy official in the Nixon and Reagan administrations.
The next day, Johnson issued a recorded statement at the White House condemning the invasion: “The tragic news from Czechoslovakia shocks the conscience of the world. … We are consulting urgently with others to consider what steps should be undertaken in the United Nations.”
Ukrainians are hurling molotov cocktails at Russians. Hungarians and Finns once did the same.
Nixon released a statement the same day denouncing the invasion as “an outrage against the conscience of the world.” He added, “The voices of all who value freedom ought now to demand the removal of those troops.” Nixon aides noted that he had spoken to Johnson.
Meanwhile, Humphrey had gotten word of the invasion at the National Security Council meeting. “His depression was almost physical,” then-Defense Secretary Clark Clifford wrote in his memoir, “Counsel to the President.” “All he could say was that this would help Nixon, who was already twenty points ahead in the Gallup poll.”
Humphrey gained in the short term in the run-up to the Democratic convention, as antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Minnesota, initially downplayed the invasion. McCarthy criticized Johnson’s emergency security meeting as “out of proportion” for something that wasn’t a major world crisis on the order of, say, “an invasion of France.” Rowland Evans and Robert Novak criticized McCarthy’s “Lack of Compassion” in the headline of their nationally syndicated column.
As Chicago police bashed antiwar protesters’ heads in the streets during the Democratic convention the next week, Humphrey won the nomination. In his acceptance speech, he took a hard-line approach on the invasion, saying, “Last week we witnessed once again in Czechoslovakia the desperate attempt of tyranny to crush out the forces of liberalism by force and brutal power, to hold back change.”
The issue of Vietnam overshadowed Czechoslovakia in the campaign. Humphrey tried to win over voters by switching from support of the Vietnam War to calling for a cease-fire, but Nixon won. Johnson took no long-term actions against the Soviet invasion, which crushed the Czech uprising.
The Prague protests were an early crack in the Iron Curtain before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991 under Mikhail Gorbachev. In late 1989, Czechoslovakia ousted its Communist leaders after the Velvet Revolution of nationwide protests led by such dissidents as playwright Vaclav Havel. In January 1993, the country split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which elected Havel as its first president.
As a young resistor in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Havel had delivered radio addresses denouncing the Soviet invasion, before the radio station was shut down. In one speech, he declared, “Our cause must triumph … and in doing so, perhaps we will teach an important historical lesson to all those who, anywhere and at any time, might try to spit on the freedom of the others the way our occupiers are trying to spit on ours.”
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FILE - This photo provided by Miami Beach Police, Miami Beach Police and Fire respond to a traffic crash on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022 in Miami Beach, Fla. A 75-year-old driver likely won’t face criminal charges after crashing her Bentley into a busy Miami Beach sidewalk cafe, killing one man and injuring eight others, police said. There was no signs the woman was impaired on Feb. 24 as she tried to parallel park in front of Call Me Gaby restaurant. (Miami Beach Police via AP) (Uncredited/Miami Beach Police) | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: When does an invasion become a war crime?
A police officer stands outside a damaged building in Kyiv on Feb. 25 following early-morning Russian artillery strikes in the Ukrainian city. (Erin Trieb/Bloomberg)
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unjustified war that has triggered worldwide revulsion. Horrific attacks on civilian facilities followed. This raises the question: Is Russia engaged in war crimes? And if so, what are we to do about it?
The first thing to figure out is whether this is a war of aggression. While Putin has tried to allege that Ukraine (or NATO) is threatening Russia and his action is self-defense, there is no factual basis for such claims. Putin is the aggressor.
Law professor and expert in the law of war Karima Bennoune explains, “Even Russia’s highly disputed underlying claims regarding breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine can in no way justify this sweeping incursion across the territory of another state, accompanied by widespread bombardment of its cities. … International law requires action taken in self-defense to be necessary and proportionate. Instead, Mr. Putin’s war of choice — complete with nuclear threats — is entirely disproportionate even to Russia’s own claims.”
The next critical question is whether Putin’s aggression constitutes a prosecutable war crime. Aggression has been considered a war crime since the Nuremberg trials, but Russia and Ukraine are not parties to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court (ICC), which prosecutes such offenses. Therefore, the ICC lacks jurisdiction to prosecute the crime of aggression.
That does not mean the ICC has no role to play. ICC prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan recently warned that, thanks to a 2015 declaration, “my Office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine.” He continued, “Any person who commits such crimes, including by ordering, inciting, or contributing in another manner to the commission of these crimes, may be liable to prosecution before the Court.”
Reports of the shelling of apartments, hospitals and other nonmilitary targets suggest Russian troops may have crossed the line. Civilian facilities cannot be targeted, and armed forces have an obligation to minimize harm to civilians resulting from their operations. That certainly does not seem to be the case here.
The Post reported, “Ukrainian officials say at least 11 people were killed and more were wounded in the eastern city of Kharkiv on Monday morning after Russia launched rocket strikes, targeting Ukraine’s second-largest city with some of the heaviest shelling and street fighting since the invasion began Thursday.” In addition, “Suspected cluster munitions struck buildings in the city.” Indiscriminate use of weapons designed to inflict widespread casualties against civilians is precisely the sort of action that international human rights groups and the ICC would want to examine.
Unfortunately, access has been somewhat hampered by dangerous conditions in cities. Observer groups must ensure their own people are not injured or killed. “Documentation efforts, including by victims, are critically important but require training and support,” Bennoune tells me. “All videos and photographic evidence should be preserved. Anyone can submit information.” That means human rights groups need to be fully funded and get assistance with access to locations where war crimes may have occurred.
Ukraine on Monday brought allegations of war crimes to the U.N. Human Rights Council. On Thursday, the council will hold a debate to determine whether to launch an “investigation of a commission composed of three independent experts to examine Russian violations of international law in Crimea as well as in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2014 and across Ukraine since the invasion last week,” Reuters reported.
As the wheels of international justice slowly turn, it is crucial that Ukraine and the world warn Russian officials of their intent to go after those who commit war crimes. Bennoune advises that “it is most important to provide this information widely on the Internet and through social media in Russian.” Western allies can certainly help get the word out, too, and publicly admonish attacks on civilians. Russian officials and their troops must be prodded to stop.
We have already seen reports of concern among Russian troops about tactics their commanders are utilizing. A widespread and consistent message about their possible liability for war crimes (which can result in loss of travel, seizure of assets and prison terms) is essential if we are to deter atrocities. Tragically, we are likely to see far more horrific scenes before the fighting ends. | null | null | null | null | null |
Russian skaters, like Kamila Valieva, are affected by the International Skating Union's decision. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)
Skaters from Russia and Belarus have been barred from competition in the latest sanctions to target sports, a point of pride for Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Also, the world championships in volleyball no longer will be held in Russia.
The decision by the International Skating Union, which governs the sport worldwide, affects the figure skating world championships later this month, with Olympic gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova and Kamila Valieva previously expected to compete in the Montpellier, France, event. Valieva, the 15-year-old who finished out of the running for a medal in the Olympics free skate, had been allowed to skate while her appeal of a positive drug test is considered.
It also would have immediate effect on the speedskating world championships set to begin Thursday in Norway.
No athletes from Russia or Belarus, a Russian ally, “shall be invited or allowed to participate” in events until further notice, the ISU said, announcing a move that comes a day after similar sanctions were placed on soccer and ice hockey and after the International Olympic Committee recommended barring Russian athletes from sporting events..
“The ISU Council reiterates its solidarity with all those affected by the conflict in Ukraine and our thoughts are with the entire Ukrainian people and country,” it said.
The world governing body for volleyball moved the men’s world championships, set for Aug. 26-Sept. 11, from Moscow and group matches from several of the country’s cities that had been scheduled to hold group matches.
“Following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, the FIVB remains gravely concerned by the escalating situation and for the safety of the people of Ukraine,” the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball said.
In other sports, officials of the Paralympic Games, scheduled to begin Friday in Beijing, plan to meet Wednesday to discuss the matter. Russian athletes compete in the Olympics under the “Russian Olympic Committee” name as punishment for the country’s widespread doping of athletes. In the Paralympics, they compete as the “Russian Federation.” “Wednesday is the earliest this meeting can take place with board members in transit coming to Beijing from around world,” the IPC told Reuters in a statement.
FINA, the governing body of swimming, has not followed the IOC’s recommendation and will allow swimmers from Russia and Belarus to compete “as neutrals … under the FINA flag and with the FINA anthem.”
FINA did, however, retract a 2014 federation honor to Putin.
The Badminton World Federation followed suit, allowing athletes to compete under a neutral banner.
The International Ski Federation’s council voted unanimously Tuesday to follow the IOC’s recommendation and to “not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials,” it said in a statement.
That follows the Norwegian Ski Federation’s decision to block those athletes from upcoming World Cup events in its country.
“The FIS Council does not take the decision lightly not to allow any athlete to participate in any competition and is only doing so in accordance with the FIS Statues, which states ‘FIS shall conduct its activities in a politically neutral manner’, which is a cornerstone of the FIS values adopted by its 140 member nations,” FIS said in announcing its decision.
It went on to ask national ski associations to “support” athletes who were preparing to compete “as they travel back to their homes and for the full support of the international ski community during these difficult times.”
It is not yet certain whether Russian athletes, who compete as neutrals without a flag or national connection because of doping punishment, will be allowed to compete in the world indoor track championships this month in Serbia. | null | null | null | null | null |
In talking about Ukraine, parents have an opportunity
Ukrainians and supporters wave Ukrainian flags during an antiwar protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City. (Luis Cortes/Reuters)
The day after Russia first attacked Ukraine, I passed the Russian Embassy with my 12-year-old son. People were gathered at its ominous gates, protesting that country’s invasion. “What have you heard so far about Ukraine and what’s happening?" I asked him. I was taking advice from experts who say when something scary happens, first ask how much our children know and go from there. My son knew a decent amount. And then I asked: "How do you get your information?”
“SportsCenter,” he said.
He and his 14-year-old brother, who gets much of his news from Instagram, TikTok and texts from friends, had a grasp of what was happening, but they didn’t understand why or how. They also are dodging a lot of misinformation.
“Most kids will have heard something about this on TV, radio, social media, from friends,” says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. And much like the Cuban missile crisis implanted itself on his 11-year-old brain forever, “this won’t be something they’ll forget," Haass says.
I spoke with several experts who explain how parents of tweens and teens should look to this terrible time as an opportunity to discuss global issues — and to help them understand how to help. Maybe we parents will learn a few things in the process.
Your kids are taking the news in. Now what?
“As much as we think our kids don’t hear what we’re anxious about, I think they do,” says Caroline Netchvolodoff, vice president of education at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I have four sons. One of the things I’ve learned very clearly is kids do pick up on what their parents are anxious about. ... They are aware."
For parents of older kids who are accessing Ukraine news via TikTok or other social media, now is the time to get involved. When they mention something they saw or read, sit with them while they show you where they gain their knowledge. Treating this as something you’re figuring out together will keep them from feeling like they have to hide it from you. “In this fog of war, we’re getting such incomplete information," Humphries says. “So talk to them about their sources. Ask ‘Can we find this information in other places? Are they reputable?’ ”
It’s so easy for our tweens and teens to access information they assume to be true. Parents don’t have to hover, but checking in on sources and helping our kids understand what it means to be a reliable source is important, especially now. They may actually like sharing this with you, and you can learn together.
Find resources, meet them where they are
The Council on Foreign Relations and iCivics recently created “Convene the Council,” an online game for ages 12 and up, aimed at showing how the president of the United States makes foreign policy decisions. The Ukraine situation is an “extreme example” of a foreign policy challenge, Netchvolodoff says, but playing alongside your child as they worry and wonder about the situation in Eastern Europe can help provide them (and you) with more information about how things work. And more knowledge can mean more ease as they see pictures and videos and hear friends talking about what’s going on.
“The good news is you’ve got something … that will elicit questions from a younger person. It’s a way for parents to say here’s what’s going on,” Haass says. He suggests you take a moment and look at a map together. You can talk about the invasion and ask your tween or teen questions, so they understand that question so many are asking: Why should we care? “You can talk about freedom, about the importance of democracy,” Haass says. "So much tends to be abstract. Here you have pictures and videos. Suddenly it doesn’t seem so remote. It’s all too graphic and real.”
Lisa Remillard, a former television news reporter and anchor, now co-founder of digital network BEONDTV, has discovered how to reach the audience who needs her: TikTok. Her audience is mostly 16- to 30-year-olds, she says, and her videos about Ukraine are garnering millions of views. She says she wants to help bring short, fact-based news reporting to a generation that might not otherwise get it on social media. She kept seeing comments from her viewers asking why the United States is even involved in the Ukraine situation, and why they should care. “I tried to explain there’s a humanitarian part of this. That didn’t go too far. So I focused on how world events like this impacts the U.S.” She has done videos about what Putin really wants, and more history-based videos about why the Soviet Union collapsed — as she realized her audience wasn’t alive when that happened.
Tik Tok is the medium where so many of our young people are getting their news, and it’s hard for them to discern what’s factual. So this is a chance for parents to meet their kids where they are and point them to factual content. “They see these pictures everywhere, whereas when we were young, our parents just turned it off. At school we didn’t see it. But these kids have their phones and it’s everywhere,” Remillard says. “So if we come to them, get down to the root basics of how these things work, it’s going to be a better place to start from with them.”
Stop scrolling, start doing
It’s easy for any of us to scroll through Twitter and Instagram, to feel anxiety and sorrow and then ... what? "Any time you have a global crisis, if you look throughout world history, there has been an awakening that happens about your place as an individual, as a family, in the world,” says Silverbrook. “The pandemic really illustrated that we’re all interconnected. ... Now there’s a feeling of a call to service for human kind.”
During the pandemic, many children and parents did what they could to “flatten the curve” and protect front-line workers, she explains. “These moments, they call to us. It happened after 9-11, too.” The current crisis is yet again “a call to service for families. So beyond the anxiety, it’s an opportunity to better understand your role and what you can do. You don’t have to be the president of the United States to make an impact."
“What we have here is a global teachable moment," Humphries says. "This is the type of moment that allows us to have those conversations.” | null | null | null | null | null |
As many as 5 million people could flee the country in coming weeks. Some health officials fear that will fuel covid and other outbreaks.
For these Ukrainians, the focus is escaping the Russian invasion bearing down on their country — not on dodging diseases such as covid-19.
But as more than half a million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, global health officials fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be the latest reminder of a grim lesson — that war and disease are close companions, and the humanitarian and refugee crises now unfolding in Eastern Europe will lead to long-lasting health consequences, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
As Russia’s military campaign accelerates, Ukraine’s hospitals are running out of critical medical supplies as travel is increasingly choked off by the conflict. The country’s health workers and patients are relocating to makeshift shelters, seeking to escape explosions. Meanwhile, officials at the World Health Organization, United Nations, U.S. State Department and other organizations warn of rising civilian casualties and new pressures on the region’s fragile health-care systems.
“What we’re dealing with now in Ukraine is a double crisis,” said Máire Connolly, a global health professor at the National University of Ireland Galway who has studied the link between conflict and disease. In an interview, Connolly said she was worried not just about threats from the coronavirus pandemic but also those from Ukraine’s polio outbreak, which global experts had sought to quell for months. She also said she fears the potential resurgence of tuberculosis during the current conflict.
While covid cases in Eastern Europe have plunged in recent weeks, experts such as Connolly say they’re worried that the regional conflict will trigger new spikes. Ukraine experienced some of the world’s highest rates of coronavirus late last year, and is flanked by countries with some of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe — raising the prospect that the movement of thousands if not millions of refugees could lead to surges of illness in neighboring countries.
Global humanitarian organizations have moved to shore up Ukraine’s health safety net. The WHO, which began positioning additional medical supplies in Ukraine in November after Russian military forces began to mass on its borders, on Thursday made $3.5 million available in additional emergency funding. The U.S. Agency for International Development deployed a disaster response team to nearby Poland, intended to help coordinate the regional humanitarian response, and along with the State Department, will provide nearly $54 million in additional assistance. The White House also is seeking $6.4 billion for emergency aid to the region, much of which would go toward humanitarian assistance.
Humanitarian and health groups also had not anticipated an invasion from multiple directions, rather than concentrated on the country’s eastern border, where they had propositioned emergency supplies, said Simon Pánek, CEO of People in Need, a humanitarian organization working to deliver aid.
“Until a few days before the war started, my colleagues and I didn’t talk about the possibility that there would be a direct offensive on Kyiv from the north, for example,” Pánek said in an interview from Prague, where he is based. “What we need most is safe transport to central and eastern Ukraine, but no one from outside can provide it,” Pánek added, saying his group had sent five trucks filled with supplies on Sunday and had planned to send more aid on Tuesday.
But like Ukraine, Poland has had a severe covid outbreak in recent weeks, and officials say its health system is dealing with a significant workforce shortage that has sparked walkouts and protests. About 59 percent of Poland’s population has received at least one vaccine shot. Poland is set to lift many of its remaining coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday.
Jarno Habicht, the WHO’s representative to Ukraine, told reporters that he was worried that the conflict would set back months of progress to vaccinate Ukrainians while escalating other regional health crises, such as the polio outbreak. | null | null | null | null | null |
Chef José Andrés, at his restaurant Zaytinya in Washington in 2019. (Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post)
But by early Tuesday in Poland, the 52-year-old chef and founder of the World Central Kitchen organization had reached his breaking point in Sesow, a town in central Poland.
“The snow is now coming as we speak. The temperatures are really freezing,” the chef said in the emotional clip, his voice breaking at times. He added, “It’s hard to know that even in this moment there are mainly women, because the men are staying behind, with children walking for hours out of Ukraine to safety, to different countries.”
The chef is known for quickly coming to the aid of those in need. When the coronavirus pandemic hit the restaurant and hospitality industries and left millions of workers without stable income, Andrés devised a plan to pay the costs to prepare 1 million meals at more than 400 restaurants across the United States. The plan, spearheaded by World Central Kitchen, also promised to provide jobs to some hospitality workers and feed those who had been laid off.
Mook said he was there handing out sandwiches, fresh fruit and chocolate to children: “whatever we can do to support as they are here,” he said. “It is very cold out right now, and we’re just trying to do the little bit that we can to support and help out.”
Back in Sesow, Andrés condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s supporters. | null | null | null | null | null |
In a new television ad timed to coincide with Biden’s address, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee seeks to draw a contrast between the priorities of Democrats and Republicans as they vie for control of the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.
The spot says that Democrats are focused on the middle class, citing a drop in the unemployment rate, jobs created by the bipartisan infrastructure bill and efforts to lower prescription drug costs, among other things. Meanwhile, the ad contends that Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), are focused on “the same wealthy insiders who get rich by keeping prices high.”
The DSCC said the ad would air Tuesday on Fox, MSNBC and CNN.
By Seung Min Kim8:49 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson first heard from the White House about filling the soon-to-be-vacated seat of Justice Stephen G. Breyer three days after he formally announced his intention to retire after the court’s current term.
The timeline of Jackson’s interactions with the White House about her nomination process was disclosed in her official questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee this week.
White House counsel Dana Remus first reached out to Jackson about the vacancy on Jan. 30 — three days after Breyer and Biden appeared together Jan. 27 to announce the associate justice’s plan to retire.
Jackson formally interviewed with both Biden and Remus on Feb. 14. Three days before that, on Feb. 11, Jackson had interviewed with Vice President Harris over Zoom. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said last week that Biden interviewed all three finalists for the nomination — Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina federal district judge J. Michelle Childs — in person on Feb. 14.
Biden is sure to tout his historic nomination of Jackson — who, if confirmed, would be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court — at his State of the Union address Tuesday night. | null | null | null | null | null |
A part of the underground tunnel during a tour of the Boring Co. Convention Center Loop in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Friday, April 9, 2021. Once operational, Tesla vehicles capable of carrying up to 16 passengers will shuttle through the tunnel, turning a 1.5 mile walk on the surface into a trip that takes a couple of minutes. Photographer: Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg (Bloomberg)
By Sean O'Kane and Sarah McBride | Bloomberg
Bastrop County commissioners on Monday tabled the company’s application for a conditional use permit for the project, meaning that the massive facility is on hold for now, even as other Boring work progresses nearby. The company already has a development permit to conduct tunneling research on the site, and recently applied to add a warehouse and manufacturing with parking for 200 vehicles. Boring has also applied with the county for a water hookup and waste water system, according to a representative for the county.
Boring has increasingly focused its efforts on Texas, after meeting resistance from local officials in Southern California and other densely populated areas. But the delayed approval in Bastrop County indicates that the company will need to work to assuage local concern even in Texas.
Boring already has some people living on-site in Texas, according to one of the nearby homeowners who attended the meeting. But having people reside on the site before obtaining sewage permit approval may be a violation of the permitting process, County Judge Paul Pape, who was presiding over the meeting Monday, said during the proceedings.
Texas law typically requires a state-level review by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for sewage facilities. A TCEQ spokeswoman said a review of its registry database returned no records for either Boring or for Gapped Bass LLC, the entity that purchased the property on its behalf.
No Boring representatives spoke at the meeting, and the company did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Boring purchased the land in May 2021 and is building test tunnels to hone its techniques. The site already features a large tent, several small residences and a sports court.
People who live in the area are still trying to learn more about what, exactly, Boring has planned for the land it owns in Bastrop County. “We’re trying to protect what is here,” neighboring resident Maura Ambrose said during the meeting, “the rich soil, the pastoral views.”
Boring officials have met with officials in Austin and expressed interest in connecting Tesla Inc.’s new Gigafactory there to other sites in the area, such as the airport, city development officials said last year.
Musk has said that cities can use Boring’s tunnels as an alternative to public transportation and as a way to alleviate traffic. So far the still-small company has a few tunnels operating in Las Vegas, connecting the different ends of the Las Vegas convention center and a hotel. Plans are underway to extend those to a network that would run under the Las Vegas Strip and possibly to the airport. | null | null | null | null | null |
(Stephanie Yeboah/Washington Post illustration)
Welcome to The Work Day, a series that charts a single day in various women’s working lives — from gallery owners to stay-at-home parents to chief executives. In this installment, we hear from Stephanie Yeboah, a content creator and writer who recorded a workday in February.
Name: Stephanie Yeboah
Job Title: Content Creator, freelance journalist and author
Previous Jobs: Before going freelance, I used to work as a public relations executive at a boutique marketing agency, and before that, I was a marketing assistant at an employment law firm.
What led me to my current role: During the second year of my law degree at university, I decided to start a blog as a way to show off my creative side. I’ve always had a huge love of writing, photography and fashion, but I didn’t really have an outlet to express myself, so I created my own little corner of the Internet to express these passions. Over the years, I continued to write and create content on my blog and social media about everything from fashion and beauty to travel, gadgets, body image and mental health.
In 2014, I decided to concentrate my content efforts on plus-size style and body image, which eventually took off and led me into writing fashion and lifestyle articles for various publications.
In 2018, I was approached to write a book and knew I wanted to write something that spoke to plus-size Black women and women of color; it went to publication in September of 2020.
I’ve also been creating content with brands on a freelance basis and writing for publications for two-and-a-bit years now.
How I spend the majority of my work day: A huge chunk of my workday is spent behind my laptop at a collective workspace, writing articles for publications, and creating and editing photo/video content. Every day is very different, but on average, this can take between four to six hours a day per brand campaign.
4:45 a.m.: I wake up and get ready to go to the gym. I used to have a habit of checking my social accounts as soon as I woke up, but in a bid to have a sense of peace in the morning, I now check on those things at least an hour after waking up.
8:30 a.m.: Home from the gym to pick up my laptop and memory cards. I then proceed to make my way to a women’s collective workspace, where I often hot-desk and write.
8:40 a.m.: I use the 20-minute bus journey to the workspace to catch up on and flag any emails I’ll need to respond to when I sit down. I also screenshot and send through the social analytics of my latest campaigns to my management team for review. I scroll through Instagram and Twitter to catch up on any news or conversations I may have missed overnight, and also answer any unread messages.
9 a.m.: Arrive at the workspace. I find a nice, quiet spot and fire up the laptop while ordering breakfast.
9:15 a.m.: I read campaign briefs and opportunities sent in to me by my management team. I usually spend a few minutes reading through each one and researching the brand or product (if I’m not already aware of them) to see if I want to collaborate with them.
9:30 a.m.: Emails! Answering all the emails. This can take between five minutes and two hours, depending on the day.
10:15 a.m.: I’m working as a consultant for an international travel PR agency in a couple of weeks, so I create my PowerPoint presentation and run through it in my head a few times to make sure I have all the information I need.
12:30 p.m.: I answer a few direct messages on Instagram and prepare to schedule a sponsored Instagram post to go live that evening.
12:52 p.m.: I do some prep for an article I have to write this week.
1:35 p.m.: Time to edit! I download some campaign photos I’d shot previously into Adobe Lightroom and get to work.
2:17 p.m.: I leave the workspace and make my way home to pack for a hotel in Central London. I create a lot of travel and lifestyle content and hotel reviews and content are included in this, so I am sometimes very kindly gifted a night’s stay at a hotel in return for content creation.
2:50 p.m.: I get home, pack a night’s worth of clothes alongside my tripod and camera, and make my way to the hotel, while answering some more emails on the way.
3:45 p.m.: I check into the hotel room and head downstairs to the lobby to continue writing a manuscript I’ve been working on for a while.
5 p.m.: Back upstairs at the hotel room, and I take some photos of the room and its amenities. I then upload and edit those photos and videos, and write the beginnings of a blog review of my stay.
8 p.m.: Head downstairs for dinner and answer some emails along the way. Today’s been quite a quiet admin-filled day compared with others, so I’m grateful for it. I use the time at dinner to update my laptop, talk to my family and boyfriend, and upload the branded content.
9:30 p.m.: Back up to the hotel room, writing article pitches to publications and reading through some more brand briefs. I also spend some time sketching and working on the manuscript.
2:30 a.m.: Finally bedtime. I set my alarm for 6 a.m., ready to start another day. | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Rick Scott’s awkward plan to help Democrats
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) after a Republican strategy meeting at the Capitol on Feb. 15. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) published an 11-point plan for Republicans, the highlight (or lowlight) of which could be called the Advancing Income Inequality Act [“GOP senator’s income tax plan draws a broad rebuff,” news, Feb. 24]. The plan would have all Americans, including the poorest, pay federal income taxes. Never mind that with sales taxes, state taxes, gas taxes and other taxes, the nation’s poorest are likely to pay a higher percentage than some of our nation’s wealthiest in taxes. Never mind that child poverty is on the rise again after dropping last year, thanks to the expanded child tax credit that Congress allowed to lapse.
Give Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) credit. He knew that any Republican plan would be short on advancing the needs of most Americans and long on culture-war items such as critical race theory and diminishing the rights of the LGBTQ community, so he chose to remain silent when asked about specifics. Mr. Scott joins fellow Floridians Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and former president Donald Trump to give some much-needed ammunition for Democrats to run against in the midterms. Their so-called policies are built to win primaries but might not fare as well in the general election.
Elliott Miller, Bala Cynwyd, Pa. | null | null | null | null | null |
It’s been a little more than a year since Congress impeached former president Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach him, a remarkably high number (five House Democrats voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1999.)
After voting for his impeachment, she agreed to serve on a committee Democrats put together to investigate the former president’s role in the Jan. 6 attack; she’s the committee’s vice chair. She’s also running for reelection, even though her party has kicked her out of leadership, censored her, and backed a pro-Trump primary challenger to her, Harriet Hageman. Wyoming only has one congressional district, and Trump won the state in 2020 with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Cheney, like many of the Republicans on this list who are running for reelection, is outraising her primary challenger. Incumbency has its advantages, even if you have a target on your back.
What he’s up to now: Upton is one of the longest-serving members of Congress on this list, coming to Congress in 1986. After his impeachment vote, he said he received death threats. And he said he was deciding whether to run again; his district was redrawn to force him to face off against another Republican incumbent (who didn’t vote for Trump’s impeachment). Trump has also endorsed another primary challenger in the race, state Rep. Steve Carra. But Upton is running ads and raising money like he is running again, setting this race up to be another big one to watch. “I don’t have any qualms about my vote — and neither do any of the other nine [House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump],” he told The Post’s Early 202 last month.
What he’s up to now: Gonzalez was the first to retire rather than face a brutal primary battle after his impeachment vote. (A former Trump aide announced that he’d challenge Gonzalez and got Trump’s endorsement.) But Gonzalez made sure to share how he felt about Trump on his way out: Trump “is a cancer on the country,” Gonzalez told the New York Times in an interview, where he also mentioned that he and his family needed security after arriving at Cleveland’s airport after his impeachment vote. He also told the Times he’d spend his political energy stopping Trump from being president again. | null | null | null | null | null |
Liz Seymour named The Post’s Deputy Managing Editor for News Operations and Planning
Liz Seymour (Liz Seymour)
Announcement from Executive Editor Sally Buzbee:
I am happy to announce that Liz Seymour will become deputy managing editor for news operations and planning. Liz will be charged with ensuring the smooth, efficient, creative and forward-thinking functioning of our newsroom as we continue to grow and innovate, working closely with me and the rest of the news leadership team on budgeting, newsroom standards, personnel and administrative issues.
Liz, who joined The Post in 1999, will be a liaison between News and many other parts of The Post, including our colleagues in Finance, Human Resources, Legal and Security. She will guide the newsroom’s budgeting process and oversee a new standards team to update our policies and help us maintain our ambitions and values in an ever-changing media landscape.
Liz is one of The Post’s most talented news leaders. When she accepted the position of Executive Features Editor in 2014, she merged six print-oriented teams into a re-organized department that was digitally focused on covering arts, entertainment, food, lifestyle and culture while keeping the print sections vital. Under her leadership, Features conceived and launched verticals, including Voraciouslyfor food; revitalized The Washington Post Magazine by hiring new staff and introducing new features; started a pop culture team and new beats in wellness and internet culture; and hired the first gender columnist. During her tenure, The Post won its first National Magazine Award, and dozens of awards from the Society of Features Journalism.
Liz has superb organizational and communications skills and deep dedication to The Post’s mission. She will bring to this job fairness, empathy, strong analytical skills and experience, but most of all, enthusiasm. “I love The Post and I’m eager to help in a central newsroom role,” she has said.
Liz joined The Post as a reporter in the Loudoun County bureau, later moving to Fairfax. She spent five years in Metro before moving to the Home section as deputy editor. She was the founding editor of Local Living and for nearly two years ran Local Living and Weekend. She has also worked at the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit News and began her career as a reporter at the Torrington Register Citizen in Connecticut.
Liz, a native of Brooklyn, graduated from Smith College with an A.B. in government and has an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and two children in Washington, D.C. When she’s not in the newsroom, you’ll find her at the beach on the Jersey Shore.
Liz begins this new role immediately, working on a transition with current Managing Editor Tracy Grant, who returns to a reporting and writing role in late March. Deputy Features editor David Malitz will serve as interim Features editor as we search for Liz’s replacement.
Please join me in congratulating Liz and welcoming her to this new role. | null | null | null | null | null |
She’ll play basketball for LSU and rap for Jay-Z’s label. The new rules of college sports will let her profit from both.
Flau'jae Johnson, 18, at Street Execs Studios in Atlanta. (Kevin D. Liles/For the Washington Post)
By David Gardner
Flau’jae Johnson skipped up the steps of the school bus, slipped her phone out of her pocket and flipped the camera onto herself. She showed the diamonds of her “Street Execs” chain sparkling over her black Sprayberry High School warmups. Then she showed off her freestyle rap skills, hyping up her teammates on the drive to play their rival, Kell High School. It was the Georgia Region 6-6A Tournament Final, and Flau’jae wanted her 684,000 Instagram followers to share in the moment.
By the time Flau’jae sent the Feb. 18 game to overtime with a deep three-pointer, thousands of people had already streamed her story. By the time she got home from the game, dozens of fans had tagged her in the highlight of her game-tying shot. But she didn’t see those mentions. Her Yellow Jackets had lost in overtime. So after leaving the locker room, she drove straight to a studio, where she rapped until 2 in the morning, trying to vent all the frustration she was feeling — and trying to turn the thousands of melodies she has stored in her Voice Memos app into just a dozen tracks for her first mix tape. It’s what her dad would have done.
“Raw emotions bring out the best music,” Flau’jae says, “and I’m never more emotional than after a loss.”
The game was among the few setbacks that the 18-year-old Flau’jae has faced on her relentless ascension over the past couple of years. As a hooper, she’s an electric 5-foot-10 combo guard who attacks the rim with abandon, passes her teammates open and can pull up from the logo. In March, she’ll play in the McDonald’s all-American Game. In April, she’ll be the only girl at the Iverson Classic, another elite showcase for amateur basketball stars. This summer, she’ll enroll at LSU to try to help Kim Mulkey bring a title to Baton Rouge. And as a rapper, she already has 122,000 subscribers on YouTube and a distribution deal with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. She’ll release that debut mix tape this spring.
If she had been born two years earlier, Flau’jae would have faced a choice between playing basketball and making money off her music. But in the wake of the NCAA relaxing its restrictions on name, image and likeness (NIL) rights, she doesn’t have to sacrifice one of her passions to preserve the other. Instead, she’s hoping that these new rules allow her to become a bona fide star in both worlds.
“Music and basketball go together,” Flau’jae says. “Most people know me now as a basketball player, a McDonald’s all-American. That’s a major, major thing for me. But it’s not all of me.
“I don’t feel like anyone has ever done what I’m doing. Quavo raps, and he likes to play basketball, but he’s not a pro. Dame Lillard is a pro basketball player, and he makes music, but it’s secondary for him. For me, neither one outshines the other. I’m trying to shine through it all.”
Jason Johnson wanted to give his daughter the world. He only had time to give her a name.
Better known as Camoflauge, Jason was a product of the housing projects of Savannah, Ga. His energetic delivery and profanely honest lyrics about the struggles of being raised in the streets made him a star on the rise in the late 1990s. Before he turned 20, he had a lengthy arrest record — and a lucrative record deal with a major label, Universal. When he found out that his fiancee, Kia, was pregnant, he wanted to give his daughter a part of him: From “Camoflauge” came “Flau’jae.”
At first, Kia didn’t care for the name. She thought it would be too hard for her daughter to get a good job. But Jason countered: “My daughter isn’t going to be sending her résumé out. She’s going to be accepting résumés.”
He never got to see his prophecy fulfilled. On May 19, 2003, six months before Flau’jae was born, Jason was shot dead outside his Savannah studio. His murder remains unsolved.
Kia didn’t tell Flau’jae about her father’s death for years. She would just say he was traveling. After school one day when she was about 7, Flau’jae burst through the front door — and into tears. Some of her friends had found out about her father’s murder and teased her about it. “The world can be so cruel,” Kia said. So Kia told Flau’jae the full story and decided to invite her to an annual party she held in Jason’s memory.
After listening to her father’s music for the first time, Flau’jae asked if she could perform at the party. “Mom said, ‘Absolutely not!’ ” Flau’jae recalls, laughing. “She was like, ‘Girl, you’re 7! Go pick up a book!’ ”
But Kia’s brother Dominique convinced her that Flau’jae could finish what her father had started. So Kia shifted into what she now calls her “Momager” mode — half mom, half manager. She dressed Flau’jae from head to toe: a Georgia hat with her ponytail popping out, a red vest, and — of course — camouflage pants. The party was at night at a club, and Flau’jae fell asleep in the car while she was waiting to perform. When Kia saw her sleeping, she was struck by the similarity: Jason used to snooze before shows, too.
“When she got on stage, I got emotional,” Kia says. “That girl is every spit of her father.”
Kia shared the video with friends, and soon people were asking for Flau’jae to perform at kids’ birthday parties. From there, Kia reconnected with some of Jason’s old friends in the music business and started asking about opportunities for Flau’jae. At the age of 12, she was cast in Season 3 of Lifetime’s “The Rap Game,” a show that pitted five young artists against each other for the chance at a record deal with host Jermaine Dupri’s label, So Def Recordings.
She was the first contestant eliminated, but the appearance caught the attention of producers on “America’s Got Talent,” where she wowed judges with her song “Guns Down.” With a mouthful of braces, she rapped:
Do you know what it’s like to not have a father?
No one to talk to when you get mad at your mama?
I know you ain’t gonna pick up the phone, I still call you
The reason that it hurts so bad: I never saw you
After one performance, the notoriously dour Simon Cowell said: “Right now, we are witnessing the start of somebody’s career, big time.”
In truth, they were witnessing the start of one of Flau’jae careers.
Her first shot
Basketball was Flau’jae’s first love. Kia installed a hoop in their driveway for her son Tray, but it was Flau’jae who begged to be lifted up for a dunk every time they were in the driveway. It was Flau’jae who insisted on being dressed in Lakers gear. And it was Flau’jae who could sit on the couch for hours watching LeBron James highlights, and who would run around the driveway imitating not only his moves but also his signature chest-slap celebration.
Kia couldn’t find a girls’ league in Savannah, so Flau’jae played with boys’ teams until she was 10. In basketball, she first experienced what it was like to make a crowd ooh and ahh. Every time she bulldozed her way to the basket or crossed over an older boy to launch an improbably deep three, she was chasing that cheer. “I can still remember the look on her face after she made her first shot,” Kia says. “She heard the crowd going crazy and looked up at me with this huge smile.”
But while Camoflauge’s connections had opened doors in the music business, Kia was uncertain how to help her daughter take the next step in basketball. She loved Savannah, but she blamed petty jealousies for Jason’s death, so she decided to move her family to Atlanta. Flau’jae found a bigger stage at Sprayberry, a 6-A high school in Marietta. Following her sophomore year, she joined FBC BounceNation21, one of the best AAU basketball programs in the country. After a few months on the grass-roots circuit, she went from unranked to No. 55 on the ESPN100.
“I don’t think she realized how good she was,” says Sprayberry Coach Kellie Avery. “She does so much in her off time with her music that I don’t think basketball had balanced out until her sophomore year. Then she was like, Maybe I could do both. She got on the right AAU team this year, and it showed.”
Her trainer, Rob Riley, took a screenshot of all the names ranked ahead of her and told Flau’jae: We’re going to get all of them. Since then, Flau’jae has moved to the cusp of the top 25, and she seems destined to become a five-star prospect before she leaves for LSU. She’s started to set her sights even higher. “She just texted me and said, ‘I want to be like Michael Jordan. I want to be the greatest ever,’ ” Riley says. “And I was like, Finally! What do you think we’re doing here? She’s not staying up in the studio till 2 in the morning and then coming to see me at 5 because she wants to be good. She wants to be the best.”
At Sprayberry, Flau’jae has broken record after record, culminating with the school’s all-time basketball scoring mark, regardless of gender. But she’s no longer just a local phenom. Earlier this month, Avery picked up $130 worth of McDonald’s and gathered the entire team in their locker room to see if Flau’jae would be selected for the all-American team. A camera crew for one of the two docuseries in development about her journey was crowded in among them. Avery was anxious when she couldn’t immediately find her star’s name on the screen, but Flau’jae didn’t flinch. When she saw her name, she hollered and ran onto the court. Her teammates followed, still carrying their food. Using the McDonald’s bags, she drew a 4 — her number — at half-court.
“She knows what she wants in this world,” Avery said. “And she doesn’t doubt she can get it.”
‘Our thing’
The people who coach Flau’jae are convinced basketball is her true love. “Flau’jae is her rap name,” says Maurice Kirkland, her youth basketball and baseball coach in Savannah. “Flau is her sports name — her real name.”
And the people who produce her music are equally convinced — in the opposite direction. “Music was first,” says Allen Parks, the owner of Street Execs, the studio where Flau’jae records. “I think she played basketball as a kid as something to do. But her goal and her vision is to be an artist.”
It’s a testament to the dedication that Flau’jae demonstrates for each of her disciplines. To her, basketball and music are inextricably intertwined. “When I go through hard times, basketball and music are both there for me,” she says. “Basketball helps me clear my head and get away from it all. And then music is where I let it all out and talk about it.”
Music is also a way to make up for all the conversations she and her father could never have. “This is how I connect with him,” she says. “This was something he was so good at it. It was his thing. When I realized I was good at it too, I realized this could be our thing.”
When some college coaches recruited her, they told her she’d have to quit music and focus on basketball. She crossed them off the list right away. But LSU’s Mulkey said she thought Flau’jae could be the biggest NIL star in women’s basketball, which earned her commitment. “The timing has really worked out perfectly for me,” Flau’jae says. “I’m going to push my basketball and my business and my music all at the same time.”
Within the next few months, Flau’jae will be on the biggest amateur basketball stages in the world. Within the next year, she’ll be a star of at least two TV shows. And after that, there’s a likely March Madness run with LSU to look forward to. In the last year, NCAA athletes like UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd have signed major NIL deals based on their basketball abilities alone. But Flau’jae has the potential to be one of the first crossover NIL stars.
In the past, she wouldn’t have been able to profit off her music, even though it was separate from her basketball endeavors. But now she can sell her music and advertise on her social media channels, on top of earning endorsements as one of the best young basketball players in the country.
It could all sound like too much for the average teenager, but Flau’jae doesn’t feel that way. During a FaceTime interview between her homework and her late-night training (8 p.m.) and recording (10 p.m.) sessions, she’s asked if she’d like to take some time off before heading to LSU in June. “Yeah,” she says. “I need a minute because I want to do, like, hour-long YouTube episodes, and I’ve got to finish designing the logo for my business so that I can set up some merchandise, and I need to start streaming on Twitch, too.”
She pauses. A rare moment for a girl who can talk as fast as she raps. “I know it’s a lot,” she says. “But I know what I’m here to do. I have a legacy to fulfill.”
• Eight teams that can make a surprise run to March Madness (plus, six games to watch)
• NCAA tournament bracketology: Teams out West enjoying strong seasons
• Providence and Wisconsin have been lucky and good | null | null | null | null | null |
The Washington Spirit won its first NWSL trophy in November in Louisville, defeating the Chicago Red Stars in extra time. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
The Washington Spirit and Portland Thorns are slated to join two European powers in a women’s soccer tournament this summer in Portland, Ore., people familiar with the plans said.
Details are close to being finalized for the fourth edition of the Women’s International Champions Cup, pegged for Aug. 17-20 and featuring four domestic trophy-winners from 2021. In the continued absence of a global FIFA women’s competition — the men have had one since 2000 — the WICC serves as a small-scale club world championship.
The Spirit won its first National Women’s Soccer League title in November and the Thorns claimed both the NWSL’s preseason Challenge Cup and the Shield (most regular season points).
English club Chelsea, the Women’s Super League champion, is also slated to participate, one person said. The fourth entry has not been finalized, but from the top leagues in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the prime candidates.
USWNT captures SheBelieves Cup with a dominant win over Iceland
The Spirit and the tournament organizer, Relevent Sports Group, said they did not want to comment. Portland did not respond to messages.
Portland hosted the tournament last summer at Providence Park, winning the title by defeating France’s Olympique Lyonnais, 1-0. FC Barcelona and the Houston Dash were the other entries.
Lyonnais prevailed in 2019 in Cary, N.C., besting the North Carolina Courage, which won the 2018 crown in Miami by defeating that French side. Manchester City participated in those first two years, and Atletico Madrid and PSG played once.
The tournament did not take place in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The WICC falls deep in the NWSL’s regular season and near the end of the European preseason, providing U.S. teams with an advantage in fitness and form.
Featuring seven U.S. national team players, the Spirit is among the favorites entering the 10th NWSL season. Portland has won the league championship twice and finished second once but hasn’t advanced to the final since 2018.
The NWSL will begin competition with the Challenge Cup, March 18-May 7, followed by the start of the 22-game regular season in May. (The schedule is being finalized.)
Washington will again play home matches at Audi Field in the District and Segra Field in Leesburg. Its Challenge Cup home debut is March 25 against Gotham FC at Segra Field. | null | null | null | null | null |
Winter notes: Churchill swimmers and wrestlers enjoyed a big weekend
Churchill sophomores Nasim Elkassem, left, and twin Samir, right, stand with their older brother, Karim, at the Maryland 4A/3A swimming and diving state championships. (Bridget Meretta)
In swimming, boys generally take longer than girls to grow and develop into their top high school speed. But at 6-foot-1 and with a slew of accomplishments behind them, Churchill sophomores Nasim and Samir Elkassem have their school set for the present. On Saturday at the Maryland 4A/3A state swimming championships, the fraternal twins swam the final two legs of Churchill’s first-place 400-yard freestyle relay, helping secure a state title for their Bulldogs.
The Elkassems are competitive, though they usually swim different events, with Samir racing longer distances (he placed third in the 500 freestyle) and Nassim competing as a sprinter (third in the 100 butterfly, fourth in the 100 backstroke).
“We’re competitive and supportive at the same time,” Nasim said, adding that their times are closest together in the 200 freestyle.
Saturday was no anomaly for the twins, who have long been at their best in relays. At 10 years old, the brothers anchored a 200-yard medley relay (in long-course meters) that set a national age record.
“Then, when we were 8, we set a team record and we got the same exact time, in the 25 fly,” Samir said. “It was just really funny that we tied for the record and we’re twins.”
It has been an eventful senior year for Churchill’s Jaden Selby.
In the fall, he led the Bulldogs’ football team as its quarterback, throwing for more than 2,000 yards. In the winter, he jumped out to a 36-1 record on the wrestling mat, and Saturday he secured the 170-pound 4A West regional title ahead of this weekend’s individual state championships.
“Sometimes when you get an athlete that has a high level of success, they kind of seem like they’re better than other people. In no way does he conduct himself like that,” Coach Tim Lowe said. “He’s just fun to be around.”
Selby is among nine Churchill wrestlers who placed at regionals, which were held Saturday at Quince Orchard. He joined fellow seniors Ethan Nasvaderani (120) and Ayo Tobun (160) along with sophomore Charlie Trenkamp (195) as regional champs.
When these wrestlers take the mat at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro on Friday and Saturday to compete for individual state titles, it’ll mark the end of a season in which a senior-heavy Churchill team went 21-2 and was one of three Montgomery County schools represented at the Maryland dual meet championships last month.
Selby and Nasvaderani have served as team captains, and Lowe has been particularly impressed with their abilities to lead.
“Those guys have sort of set the pace,” Lowe said. “It’s just so rewarding to watch them get an opportunity to finish off.”
— Shane Connuck
Going into the Maryland Student Hockey League girls’ final Friday, Howard County and North Eastern were preparing for a tough, close game. But maybe they weren’t prepared for a double-overtime battle that would be the second-longest game in league history.
Just 21 seconds into the second overtime, North Eastern scored to secure the MSHL championship and a 3-2 victory.
“Everybody knew it was going to be a tough game. Everybody knew it was going to be a very close game. Nobody could have fathomed that it was going to go to double overtime,” said Howard County Coach David Ditch, whose team had handed North Eastern its only conference loss.
The MSHL girls’ league was established in 2019 and consists of co-op teams from different conferences. The Howard County team joined the league last year. Despite the loss in the final, Ditch said he is proud of his team and the growth he has seen over the past two years.
Howard County was led by senior captain Toni Smith, whom Ditch calls the “anchor” of the team. Smith also plays for the River Hill varsity squad.
“I think she remained positive, and that kind of shows to the other kids,” Ditch said. “If you were to have a captain who would be banging their stick or getting mad or crying and everything like that, that would kind of proliferate through the rest of the team. She leads a lot through example of her character and her positiveness to the rest of the players.”
Local runners took home several crowns during the Ocean Breeze Elite Invitational, a national competition in New York on Saturday.
Archbishop Carroll freshman Jasmine Sharps had a chance to showcase her speed in the 60-meter dash, finishing in 7.76 seconds, while St. John’s junior Takiya Henson came in just behind at 7.82. D.C.-area teams dominated the girls’ 4x200 relay, with St. John’s winning in 1:40.77 and Carroll taking second in 1:44.41. The 4x800 was a similar story, but this time another local team came out on top — Paul VI in 10:13.48.
On the boys’ side, Carroll’s Nyckoles Harbor, a junior, tied Carter Cukerstein of Shenendehowa (N.Y.) for first in the 60-meter dash (6.71 seconds). Carroll junior Antwan James took home the 60 hurdles crown. St. John’s senior Joshua Thompson took first in the long jump with an impressive mark of 22 feet 4.75 inches, more than nine inches better than his win at the D.C. State Athletic Association meet Feb. 20. | null | null | null | null | null |
Children with cancer treated in basement at hospital in Kyiv, as fighting continues
Children battling cancer rest in the basement, which is being used as a bomb shelter, of the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv on Monday. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
Many children with cancer in Ukraine are being forced to take cover and continue their treatment in the basement of one of the country’s largest pediatric hospitals, as fighting continues around them.
The Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in the capital Kyiv is the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, according to its official website, with 620 hospital beds, where it treats up to 20,000 children annually.
“If we stop [treatment], they will die,” Lesia Lysytsia an onco-ophthalmologist told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “We cannot stop their treatment. They’re at war with cancer every day.”
Lysytsia said most of her patients and others requiring intensive care treatment were sheltering in the building’s basement that was safer and quieter, unable to hear shelling or airstrikes above ground.
Oncology patients were still getting chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she said, as well as some types of surgery. More serious patients were being transported to other cities or to Poland, and those who can stay at home were being urged to do so with medical consultations taking place over the phone or online, she added.
Lysytsia called her current work setup “surrealism.”
“I still can’t imagine this is happening, when you work you don’t think about it you have a lot of duties to perform,” she added. “They’re underground, it’s not normal treatment for patients.”
The capital Kyiv was still holding out Tuesday, but satellite imagery showed a Russian convoy of tanks, troop carriers and artillery more than 40 miles long threatening the capital. Residents in the city of almost 3 million are bracing for an all-out assault as the Russian force apparently prepares to encircle Kyiv.
Lysytsia told The Post she had spent the last four nights in the hospital along with her husband who is also a doctor and their two children ages 5 and 3.
Like her younger patients, “they’re scared” but “they don’t realize the big problem of what’s happened,” she said. Teenage patients are more aware, Lysytsia added, with some suffering from panic attacks because of the crisis.
“It’s uncomfortable conditions for them,” she said. “For sure they don’t like it but it’s better to be in safety.”
Images from the Associated Press showed children, many of whom had gone through chemotherapy, in the hospital’s basement now a makeshift bomb shelter, sleeping on sofas and mats. Some were connected to drips, and others were holding up handwritten signs saying: “Stop war.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine six days ago, the hospital has issued a number of statements that it will continue to treat its young patients and work to ensure the safety of its medical staff.
President of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology and professor of oncology, Kathy Pritchard-Jones, said in statement this week that the global body “stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the health care workers caring for children and adolescents with cancer and all others supporting patients and their families, or affected by the widespread violence and destruction caused by the Russian military invasion.”
In a population of about 44 million, there are about 169,817 cancer cases in Ukraine, according to World Health Organization data. The global public health body also warned last week that it was worried about oxygen supply shortages in the country, which it said were “nearing a very dangerous point.”
It’s unclear how many children have been killed and wounded in the conflict, so far, but the United Nations’ children’s agency confirmed in a statement that there had been child deaths and other children “profoundly traumatized by the violence all around them.”
“The situation for children caught up in the conflict in Ukraine grows worse by the minute,” UNICEF’s executive director, Catherine Russell, said in a statement Monday.
The Ohmatdyt hospital’s chief surgeon Volodymyr Zhovnir told reporters Monday that patient numbers had dropped to about 200 from 600 since the fighting broke out, according to Reuters.
“These are patients who cannot receive medical treatment at home, they cannot survive without medication,” he said, adding that the hospital had stockpiled enough medication for a month, but still needed food for newborns.
“Of all things we need peace most,” Zhovnir said.
Lysytsia said that supplies in the hospital so far were good and that social distancing because of the coronavirus had become a thing of the past amid the war.
People were unsure how long the conflict would last, she said. “I want it finished as quickly as possible,” Lysytsia said. But added she and other colleagues will “stay til the end.” | null | null | null | null | null |
A pedestrian takes photos of cherry blossoms along the Tidal Basin in March 2021. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
The National Cherry Blossom Festival will be in full bloom this year, hosting in-person events again for the first time since 2019.
On Tuesday, National Cherry Blossom Festival and city leaders announced that the event will be held from March 20 to April 17 in coordination with the National Park Service’s prediction for peak bloom, or the time at which more than 70 percent of the blossoms along the Tidal Basin have flowered — between March 22 and 25.
On Monday, The Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang predicted peak bloom for March 24, or within a five-day window of March 22 and 26.
The festival is one of Washington’s most cherished traditions as the blooming trees across the National Mall signal the transition to spring and mark the start of the city’s tourism season. In 2020, the festival — like other large events around the world — was shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic and forced to find virtual and other ways to celebrate.
This year, as coronavirus cases in the Washington region trend down and leaders lift restrictions, the festival is back with the theme “Rediscover Spring,” and will feature dozens of events including an opening ceremony, kite festival, performances, parades and art displays.
“This year’s festival is about uniting the community as well as rediscovering well-loved traditions and exploring new ways to celebrate springtime throughout Washington, D.C., and the surrounding areas,” Diana Mayhew, president of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, said. | null | null | null | null | null |
Biden has sought more than $6 billion, though lawmakers are eyeing greater sums along with new aid to combat the coronavirus
Washington, D.C. — FEBRUARY 28: President Biden makes remarks as he and the first lady host a celebration to mark Black History Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)
“I’ve heard some senators talking about as much as $10 billion,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a top lawmaker on the chamber’s armed services panel, adding he “suspect[s] we will act in a very vigorous way.”
Setting the stage for the debate to come, congressional leaders on Tuesday tried to rally lawmakers to move swiftly. In the Senate, Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Democrats and Republicans to act on a “bipartisan basis, and in lockstep with the Biden administration, to pass a strong aid package.”
“Let me put it this way: I’m hoping this emergency [aid] will spur more action on the omnibus,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a top lawmaker on the spending-focused Senate Appropriations Committee.
The flurry of work on Capitol Hill comes days after the Biden administration urged lawmakers to approve $6.4 billion in emergency assistance for the war-torn country. The request called for about $2.9 billion for the State Department and other agencies, which would be tasked to provide humanitarian and security assistance to Ukraine as well as other states in the region, including Poland and Lithuania. And it proposed another $3.5 billion to boost efforts at the Defense Department, according to White House officials, who described their request last week on condition of anonymity given the sensitive, early nature of the talks.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said GOP lawmakers are currently reviewing Ukraine’s aid needs and speaking with military experts. “We want to make sure it can get there, and get there now,” he said.
“We must immediately send more lethal aid to the Ukrainian people to help them as they fight for their lives,” said Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) in a statement this week. Toomey is among a group of Republicans who have supported a bill that would ratchet up sanctions while providing money to the country for air defense and anti-air and ship capabilities.
What to know about Ukraine's president-turned-wartime-leader
Immediately, Democrats pledged last week to attach any Ukraine aid to any longer-term spending deal, which could fund the government through the end of the fiscal year. On Tuesday, party lawmakers signaled optimism they can meet the fast-approaching deadline, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) telling his colleagues the House intends to vote on the broader package on March 8, three days before the current spending stopgap runs out.
Some Republicans, however, signaled this week they may prefer to handle the two matters separately. Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), the top GOP lawmakers on the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters Monday that federal funding and Ukraine aid “ought to be separate” — though he said the procedural quibbles mattered little “as long as they move” through Congress.
Marianna Sotomayor and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report. | null | null | null | null | null |
March will feature a spike in severe weather risk over the Lower 48
It’s usually the time of year when severe thunderstorms and tornadoes become more common
A supercell thunderstorm looms over Northeast Oklahoma in May 2019. (Matthew Cappucci)
March is fabled to come “in like a lion and go out like a lamb,” but sometimes, the atmosphere has other plans. The weather outside of the Pacific Northwest will be deceptively tranquil to kick off the month Tuesday, but signs point to an active pattern that could unleash its inner lion toward the middle of the month.
March marks the start of “meteorological spring,” a three-month window that closes at the end of May. The span is usually punctuated by violent clashes between winter’s retreat and summer’s increasingly daring insurgencies, each resulting in an atmospheric battle that can spell episodes of strong-to-severe thunderstorms and tornadoes.
Even Japan’s snowiest towns are overflowing with record snow
March also features an influx of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that, when entrained northward, can lead to hefty snow totals over the north-central and northeastern United States. It is too early to make calls for any specific storm systems, but indications are that winter hasn’t breathed its last gasp yet.
In recent days, the mid-level flow over much of the Lower 48 has been largely zonal, or west to east. That has suppressed southerly flow that would result in warm-ups or marked increases in moisture over the eastern United States. It also hasn’t opened the doors for many large-scale, robust cold-air outbreaks, either. Instead, the pattern has been quiet, offering a welcome, albeit temporary, reprieve from the barrage of winter storms that rolled across North America in January and February.
That looks to change by the beginning of next week. The jet stream, or a river of swiftly moving winds in the upper atmosphere, will dive south over the western part of the country, allowing chilly air to spill southward from British Columbia. At the same time, warm high pressure will bring mild, above-average temperatures in the East as the jet stream crests northward, with some humidity even returning to the Deep South and Southeast as well.
In between, “shortwaves,” or lobes of high-altitude cold air, low pressure and spin, will be ejected out of the Rockies and surf the jet stream eastward, feeding off the interface of the steeply contrasting temperatures. Each shortwave will have the propensity to touch off strong to severe thunderstorms in its “warm sector” along with heavy rainfall, while snow or mixed precipitation is possible farther north.
Chances of severe thunderstorms climb
March is usually a time when the risk of severe weather ramps up, anyway, and this March may be a bit more active than typical. Severe weather will be possible over the Southern Plains, the Mid-South and the Mississippi Valley on Saturday ahead of a low-pressure system approaching from the west. Temperatures will rise into the mid- or upper 70s in advance of the system, which, coupled with climbing dew points, will provide fuel for thunderstorm growth. Counteracting any storminess, however, will be a lid of mild air several thousand feet above the ground that could “cap” the rise of any pockets of surface air. That may somewhat limit the coverage of storms.
Any risk on Sunday appears to be near and east of Interstate 35 in Texas and Oklahoma, and could extend as far east as western Tennessee and Mississippi or Alabama. A change of wind speed and/or direction with height, known as wind shear, could also encourage a few storms to rotate. That risk would be likely to linger into Monday before the cold front squashes any fledgling warm-ups offshore. Additional severe-weather odds may return in the March 10 to 15 time frame before a brief relaxation of the pattern around the middle of the month.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center is noting that it may need to elevate severe-weather probabilities in its outlook for Monday, cautioning about the increasingly favorable pattern.
Victor Gensini, a researcher at Northern Illinois University who specializes in long-range tornado and severe-weather forecasts, tweeted that he was watching a number of processes unfold in the western Pacific that could, downstream, bolster the chances of severe weather stateside in the next several weeks.
The ongoing La Nina pattern also will allow for broader “warm sectors” in storm systems, thanks to a slightly farther north jet stream. That, too, combined with above-average sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico, will make for increased chances of severe weather.
Where heavy precipitation is possible
In addition, weather models are hinting that parts of the South may have a greater risk of flash flooding and excessive rainfall in the next two weeks. That’s especially true for central and northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, extreme northwest Georgia and parts of Tennessee. The remnants of any thunderstorm complexes that form in the weeks ahead probably will dump much of their moisture there before decaying.
Apropos of snowfall, Old Man Winter will still hang around, but the corridor of greatest wintry weather will be shunted north as winter begins its protracted, laggard retreat. The Northern Plains, Upper Midwest, Northern Tier and perhaps only the northernmost stretch of the Great Lakes, as well as perhaps northern New England, will have the highest chances for accumulating snowfall. | null | null | null | null | null |
People are pouring into a basement restaurant in Kyiv to seek shelter. The ...
Televangelist Pat Robertson listens as Donald Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, speaks at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., in February 2016. (Steve Helber/AP)
Televangelist Pat Robertson said Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “compelled by God” in his decision to invade Ukraine, suggesting that Russia’s attacks are a precursor to an end-times battle in Israel.
The Christian media mogul returned to “The 700 Club” a few months after he retired from the show he hosted for 55 years on the Christian Broadcasting Network. In his return, Robertson claimed that Putin was simply following God’s wishes when Russia invaded Ukraine — to fulfill a biblical prophecy.
“I think you can say, well, Putin’s out of his mind. Yes, maybe so,” said Robertson, 91. “But at the same time, he’s being compelled by God. He went into the Ukraine, but that wasn’t his goal. His goal was to move against Israel, ultimately.”
Robertson then cited verses from the book of Ezekiel that note how nations will come together to rise up against Israel, suggesting that Ukraine is merely a “staging ground” for an eventual Armageddon battle.
“God is getting ready to do something amazing,” he said. “And that will be fulfilled.”
Robertson’s comments come as Ukraine has suffered 1,500 civilian and military casualties since the attack began, Biden administration officials told U.S. lawmakers Monday. In Kyiv, residents are bracing for an all-out assault as the Russian force, under the command of Putin, a president whose country has quickly become an international political and economic pariah, is apparently preparing to encircle the capital.
Russian invasion escalates as massive convoy threatens Kyiv, Kharkiv ‘surrounded’
As the invasion has unfolded, some Fox News personalities have been criticized for their sentiments on Ukraine. Before the invasion began, several Fox hosts wagered that the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine was manufactured to distract from the Biden administration’s domestic political issues. In a recent interview with former president Donald Trump, Laura Ingraham said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleading with Putin to not invade the country was a “pathetic display.” Tucker Carlson recently shifted his tone on Putin after he downplayed the invasion and asked Americans why they should hate the Russian president.
The takes from her colleagues has led to Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin fact-checking her network’s hosts and pundits.
It’s hardly the first time Robertson, a former Republican presidential candidate, has claimed that the end of the world was near. The televangelist startled his audience in 1980 when he told them he knew exactly when the end was coming.
“I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world,” Robertson said at the time. But 1982 came and went without the “judgment” Robertson referenced.
In 2006, Robertson relayed an inaccurate prediction he said he received from God about a possible tsunami devastating the Pacific Northwest, according to the Associated Press. The next year, he said God told him there would be a terrorist attack on the United States: “The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.” According to his 1990 book, “The New Millennium,” Robertson predicted that the world would end on April 29, 2007. Again, the world was not destroyed.
Perhaps the most politics-centered prediction came in October 2020, when Robertson said God told him that Donald Trump would win the presidential election — and that an asteroid would destroy Earth afterward.
“What I think very frankly is the only thing that will fulfill the word of Jesus … is some kind of asteroid strike on the globe,” he said at the time. “It’s sudden destruction. It’s not going to be some nuclear war. We’re not going to be allowed to blow this Earth up.”
On Monday, Robertson again indicated that the end of the world was near, thanks to Putin and Russia. Although Turkey has issued a statement of support for Ukraine and is not backing Russia’s invasion, Robertson claimed without evidence that Turkey would “come together” with Russia. He went on to say how the area that includes Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey “is going to be mobilized against Israel in the latter days.”
“And God says, ‘I am going to deal with it,’ ” Robertson said.
He added: “Is Putin crazy? Is he mad? Well, perhaps. But God says, ‘I’m going to put hooks in your jaws, and I’m going to draw you into this battle, whether you like it or not.’ And he’s being compelled after the move into the Ukraine. He’s being compelled to move again.”
Despite the lack of evidence in Robertson’s claims, the televangelist urged viewers to “watch what’s going to happen next.”
“You read your Bible, because it’s coming to pass,” he concluded. | null | null | null | null | null |
Cancer patients rest in the basement of Kyiv's Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital on Feb. 28. The basement has become a bomb shelter. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)
LONDON — Many children with cancer in Ukraine are being forced to take cover and continue their treatment in the basement of one of the country’s largest pediatric hospitals, as fighting continues around them.
The Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in the capital, Kyiv, is the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine, according to its website, with 620 hospital beds where it treats up to 20,000 children annually.
“If we stop [treatment], they will die,” Lesia Lysytsia, an onco-ophthalmologist, told The Washington Post on Tuesday. “We cannot stop their treatment. They’re at war with cancer every day.”
Lysytsia said most of her patients and others requiring intensive care were sheltering underground in the building’s basement, which is safer and quieter and where the children are unable to hear shelling or airstrikes.
Oncology patients were still getting chemotherapy and radiation therapy, she said, as well as some types of surgery. Patients in more serious condition were being transported to other cities or to Poland, and those who could stay home were being urged to do so, with medical consultations taking place over the phone or online, she added.
Lysytsia called her work setup “surrealism.”
“I still can’t imagine this is happening. When you work, you don’t think about it, you have a lot of duties to perform,” she added. “They’re underground — it’s not normal treatment for patients.”
Kyiv was still holding out Tuesday, but satellite imagery showed a Russian convoy of tanks, troop carriers and artillery more than 40 miles long threatening the capital. Residents in the city of almost 3 million are bracing for an all-out assault as the Russian force apparently prepares to encircle Kyiv.
Lysytsia told The Post she had spent the past four nights at the hospital along with her husband, who is also a doctor, and their two children, ages 5 and 3.
Like her younger patients, her children are scared but “they don’t realize the big problem of what’s happened,” she said. Teenage patients are more aware, Lysytsia added, with some suffering from panic attacks because of the crisis.
“It’s uncomfortable conditions for them,” she said. “For sure they don’t like it, but it’s better to be in safety.”
Images from the Associated Press showed children, many of whom had undergone chemotherapy, in the hospital’s basement, sleeping on sofas and mats. Some were connected to drips, and others were holding up handwritten signs saying “Stop War.”
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine six days ago, the hospital has issued several statements saying it will continue to treat patients and work to ensure the safety of its medical staff.
Kathy Pritchard-Jones, president of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology and a professor of oncology, said in statement this week that the global body “stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the health care workers caring for children and adolescents with cancer and all others supporting patients and their families, or affected by the widespread violence and destruction caused by the Russian military invasion.”
Among Ukraine’s population of 44 million, there are about 170,000 cancer cases, according to World Health Organization data. The global health body also warned last week that it was worried about oxygen-supply shortages in the country, which it said were “nearing a very dangerous point.”
It’s unclear how many children have been killed or wounded in the conflict, but the U.N. children’s agency confirmed in a statement that there had been deaths among children and that others had been “profoundly traumatized by the violence all around them.”
“The situation for children in Ukraine is worsening by the minute as we hear harrowing reports of children killed, wounded and many vulnerable children stranded in the most terrifying conditions,” Afshan Khan, UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia, told The Post by email Tuesday.
Ohmatdyt’s chief surgeon, Volodymyr Zhovnir, told reporters Monday that patient numbers had dropped to about 200 from 600 since the fighting broke out, according to the Reuters news agency.
“These are patients who cannot receive medical treatment at home; they cannot survive without medication,” he said, adding that the hospital had stockpiled enough medication for a month but still needed food for newborn babies.
“Of all things, we need peace most,” Zhovnir said.
Lysytsia said that supplies at the hospital so far were good and that social distancing due to the coronavirus had become a thing of the past amid the war.
Though it’s unsure how long the conflict will last, she said, “I want it finished as quickly as possible.” But she added that she and other colleagues will “stay till the end.” | null | null | null | null | null |
It’s been a little more than a year since Congress impeached former president Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Ten House Republicans voted to impeach him, a remarkably high number (five House Democrats voted to impeach Bill Clinton in 1999.).
After voting for his impeachment, she agreed to serve on a committee Democrats put together to investigate the former president’s role in the Jan. 6 attack; she’s the committee’s vice chair. She’s also running for reelection, even though her party has kicked her out of leadership, censored her and backed a pro-Trump primary challenger to her, Harriet Hageman. Wyoming only has one congressional district, and Trump won the state in 2020 with nearly 70 percent of the vote. Cheney, like many of the Republicans on this list who are running for reelection, is outraising her primary challenger. Incumbency has its advantages, even if you have a target on your back.
What he’s up to now: Upton is one of the longest-serving members of Congress on this list, coming to Congress in 1986. After his impeachment vote, he said he received death threats. And he said he was deciding whether to run again; his district was redrawn to force him to face off against another Republican incumbent (who didn’t vote for Trump’s impeachment). Trump has also endorsed another primary challenger in the race, state Rep. Steve Carra. But Upton is running ads and raising money like he is running again, setting this race up to be another big one to watch. “I don’t have any qualms about my vote — and neither do any of the other nine [House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump],” he told The Post’s Early 202 in January.
What he’s up to now: Gonzalez was the first to retire rather than face a brutal primary battle after his impeachment vote. (A former Trump aide announced that he’d challenge Gonzalez and got Trump’s endorsement.) But Gonzalez made sure to share how he felt about Trump on his way out: Trump “is a cancer on the country,” Gonzalez told the New York Times in an interview, where he also mentioned he and his family needed security after arriving at Cleveland’s airport after his impeachment vote. He also told the Times he’d spend his political energy stopping Trump from being president again. | null | null | null | null | null |
From Green Day to Franz Ferdinand, numerous musical acts cancel Russian tour dates over Ukraine invasion
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day performs in August during the Chicago date of the Hella Mega Tour. (Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images)
A growing number of musical acts have canceled their tour dates in Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Green Day canceled an upcoming show in Moscow earlier this week, writing Sunday in an Instagram story, “We are aware that this moment is not about stadium rock shows, it’s much bigger than that. But we also know that rock and roll is forever and we feel confident there will be a time and a place for us to return in the future.”
The band was soon joined by Louis Tomlinson and the Killers, the latter of which pulled out of the Park Live festival set to be held in Moscow this summer, according to a representative. Tomlinson, known for performing as part of One Direction, tweeted Monday that his concerts in Moscow and Kyiv would be canceled “until further notice.”
“The safety of my fans is my priority,” the English singer wrote in a statement, “and my thoughts go out to the people of Ukraine and all those suffering from this needless war.”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also canceled shows in the Russian and Ukrainian capital cities, writing Tuesday in a tweeted statement, “Ukraine, we stand with you, with all those in Russia who oppose this brutal act, and we pray that this madness is brought to a close soon.” The band Franz Ferdinand announced on Instagram earlier in the day that the invasion was the “only reason” behind canceling shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
“Since Thursday morning, we have spoken to many of our friends in Russia via social media and have encountered unanimous opposition to this violence and solidarity with our Ukrainian friends,” the band wrote. “We know you see the madness of your country’s leadership. We know you do not want war. We do not want war.”
The concert cancellations follow the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to ban Russian acts from competing in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, scheduled for May.
“The decision reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s Contest would bring the competition into disrepute,” the EBU wrote in a statement, adding that it remains “dedicated to protecting the values of a cultural competition which promotes international exchange and understanding, brings audiences together, celebrates diversity through music and unites Europe on one stage.” | null | null | null | null | null |
A Bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) at a bar in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. Cryptocurrencies appear to be kicking off the week with a more positive outlook than U.S. stocks, just as some strategists are predicting the recent high correlation between the two may begin to ease. (Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg)
It’s not as simple as that. Ruble-denominated crypto trading pairs have jumped since the U.S. announced its first sanctions on Russia on Feb. 22, according to research firm Chainalysis. As the researchers wrote on Twitter, it’s possible some of that may represent illicit funds. Hryvnia-based crypto trading also jumped initially, although the increased volume has been less persistent. According to Chainalysis, the volumes “could also be driven by individuals in both countries reacting to the recent devaluation of the ruble and hryvnia and attempting to preserve their savings.” Bitcoin has climbed about 11% since Friday, and Ether is up 8% even as stocks and other risk assets have slipped.
Ukraine and Russia are ranked No. 4 and No. 18 in Chainalysis’s Global Crypto Adoption Index, and in that sense, it’s understandable for their residents to stash their money in crypto amid the mayhem. The hryvnia isn’t falling as much as the ruble, but it is getting hit. Crypto may be a decent option for some Ukrainians; the last thing they need is for their savings to be depreciated away as Vladimir Putin wages a bloody invasion of their country. Perhaps that’s a victory for crypto innovation.
But if crypto is being used to dodge sanctions — and it certainly stands to reason that it’s happening to some extent — there’s no way that activity is good for assets like Bitcoin. As my colleagues Ben Bartenstein and Allyson Versprille reported, the White House’s National Security Council and the Treasury Department have solicited the help of crypto exchanges to stop such transactions. Ultimately, dodging sanctions will do nothing to help the crypto industry make friends in Washington.
In theory, cryptocurrencies’ appeal is that they’re not issued or controlled by any state or central entity. That has made them popular with Libertarians, Venezuelans living through hyperinflation and, of course, some internet extortionists, drug dealers and general money launderers. Skeptics in Congress and at regulatory agencies frequently cite crypto’s illicit use, but there’s significant debate over whether the mainstream digital currencies are truly useful for criminals at all because the radical transparency of technology like the Bitcoin ledger facilitates tracking. Last month, the U.S. seized some $3.6 billion in Bitcoin stolen in a 2016 hack, underscoring that the authorities have developed the expertise to follow the on-chain money trail. Yet criminals must be finding some success or they wouldn’t keep doing it.
To be sure, Chainalysis says the transparency of the blockchain makes it likely that bad actors will get caught, and specifically sanctioned people probably moved their money well in advance of the sanction announcements, but it’s hard to underestimate the brazenness and stupidity of some criminals.
So the bump in demand may help prop up prices for a few days, but it appears that the illicit impact — if any — is modest; crypto’s boosters should hope that remains so. As the asset class fights for broader adoption, no one is ever going to look favorably upon anything that undercuts efforts to punish a ruthless dictator for a senseless war. | null | null | null | null | null |
The lion was killed late last year on U.S. Forest Service land. Gianforte’s office said the hunt was legal.
A mountain lion thought to be M220 is seen in a tree in Montana in December 2021. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
GARDINER, Mont.— On public land north of Yellowstone National Park late last year, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) shot and killed a mountain lion that was being monitored by National Park Service staff, after hunting dogs had chased it up a tree.
The mountain lion hunt, which has not been previously reported, occurred on Dec. 28 on a swath of U.S. Forest Service land southwest of Emigrant, Mont., according to residents familiar with the episode who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve relationships in the community. Less than a year earlier, Gianforte killed a Yellowstone wolf in a similar area that was wearing a tracking collar, prompting an outcry among environmentalists.
The 5-year-old mountain lion was wearing a GPS-tracking collar that Yellowstone biologists use to monitor the rare and elusive predators. Park staff knew the animal by its research number: M220.
Gianforte’s press secretary, Brooke Stroyke, confirmed on Monday that the governor had hunted the mountain lion. She said he had a valid license, drove the lion up into a tree and shot it on public land.
“The governor and friends tracked the lion on public lands,” Stroyke said in an emailed statement to The Washington Post. “As the group got closer to the lion, members of the group, who have a hound training license, used four hounds to tree the lion once the track was discovered in a creek bottom on public land.”
Stroyke said that after the mountain lion was chased into the tree, Gianforte confirmed it was a male, “harvested it, and put his tag on it,” she said. “He immediately called to report the legal harvest and then the [Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks] game warden. In Livingston, the governor met the game warden who tagged the lion and took the collar.”
Stroyke denied that account. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Greg Lemon also said “the idea that the governor just showed up to harvest the animal is not consistent” with what he’s been told.
The hunting site was located close to the Point of Rocks Ranch, where Gianforte trapped and killed the Yellowstone wolf last year. That ranch is owned by Robert E. Smith, who is a co-director of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, a Maryland-based company that owns or operates nearly 200 local television stations across the country. Smith has donated to Gianforte in the past.
In the wolf hunt, Gianforte was accompanied by the ranch manager, Matt Lumley, who is also vice president of the National Trappers Association. Residents said Lumley was also involved with the lion hunt. He did not respond to requests for comment. Stroyke also did not respond to a question about the governor’s hunting partners.
The February 2021 wolf hunt violated state rules because Gianforte did not take a mandatory trapping certification course before the hunt. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks gave the governor a written warning, and he later said he “made a mistake.”
Conservationists have been outraged by Gianforte’s personal hunting exploits as well as his support of controversial pro-hunting laws that passed last year. One law mandated a cut in the state’s wolf population and prompted regulations freeing up hunters to kill wolves just outside Yellowstone’s boundaries. In the past six months, 25 Yellowstone wolves have been killed — a record for one year — all but six of them in Montana.
“The consequences are severe for wolves,” said Dan Wenk, who was Yellowstone National Park superintendent from 2011 to 2018.
Hunters killed off mountain lions in the park in the 1930s but the animals moved back in during the 1980s. Park staff monitor the population through satellite GPS collars, remote cameras and genetic surveys. The sophisticated collars used to study the population have embedded accelerometers that can identify when the animal is hunting, feeding or on the move.
There are an estimated 34 to 42 mountain lions that reside year-round in Yellowstone. But for wildlife watchers in the park they remain a rare and special sight. The lions tend to move across rugged and difficult-to-access terrain, and are adept at hiding.
“We almost never see a mountain lion,” said Nathan Varley, a biologist who leads wildlife viewing tours in Yellowstone. “They’re just too secretive. They usually only move around at night. They love to hide. They just don’t sit out in the open very much.”
Young male mountain lions are known to travel widely in search of territory not already dominated by a rival, covering many miles in a single day. Those characteristics make them likely targets for hunters once they leave the park’s protected boundaries.
“It often puts young males in the highest category of probable mortality,” Varley said. “It’s so hard for them to live long enough to be competitive with the older males that hold territory.”
Mountain lion M220 was first captured and collared by Yellowstone biologists in December 2019 in the northern section of the park, according to Yellowstone spokeswoman Morgan Warthin. Gum recession measurements indicated that the lion was 3.5 years old at the time, and weighed 130 pounds.
Lemon, the spokesman for Montana’s fish and game agency, said that targeting mountain lions is legal but relatively rare compared to other game hunting and is managed carefully. It often takes place in winter, he added, as hunters will follow lion tracks in the snow and then dogs chase them into trees.
“Once the animal’s in the tree, the hunters choose to harvest it or not,” Lemon said. | null | null | null | null | null |
The International Energy Agency plans to release 60 million barrels of oil from reserves — a move intended to reduce gasoline prices that have climbed rapidly in recent weeks
A contractor works on a crude oil pipeline infrastructure at the U.S. Energy Department's Bryan Mound Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Tex., on June 9, 2016. (Bloomberg/Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomber)
The United States and other world powers have decided to release 60 million barrels of oil from their reserves, a move intended to reduce gasoline prices that have climbed rapidly in recent weeks, according to the International Energy Agency.
The agency’s governing board released a statement Tuesday attributing the decision to already tight global oil markets that have become further strained by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Although the sanctions that countries have imposed on Russia in recent days do not directly target its oil and gas sectors, they are expected to shrink crude oil stocks dramatically.
“I am pleased that the IEA has also come together today to take action. The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery.”
The U.S. Energy Department plans to release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, one of the most aggressive steps available to the White House as it tries to reduce costs for consumers. In a statement Tuesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm suggested that the Biden administration may be prepared to release more.
“We stand prepared to take additional measures if conditions warrant,” Granholm said.
The release makes up a small percentage of the nation’s total reserves, which last stood at 582.4 million barrels as of Feb. 22.
Oil industry analysts said it’s unclear exactly what effect the release of stockpiled oil will have on prices. Uncertainty over how long the war in Ukraine will last and what effect it will have on Russian oil exports have made it difficult for experts to predict how much worse the existing oil shortage will become in the weeks and months ahead.
Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer. It exports more oil than any other country – about 5 million barrels a day of crude – and accounts for roughly 12 percent of global trade. In its announcement, the IEA said its initial release is equivalent to 2 million barrels a day for 30 days. Replacing Russia’s oil exports in the long-term using reserves is not an option, industry analysts said. But as a short-term response to inflationary pressure and rising gasoline prices, it is expected to lower costs for consumers. | null | null | null | null | null |
Myroslava, who declined to give her last name, holds a special pamphlet with a prayer for peace in Ukraine during a service before Lent at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington on Feb. 27. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)
Pope Francis and other Christian leaders around the globe have encouraged believers to fast and pray for Ukrainians on Ash Wednesday, a day when many Christians are reminded of their mortality with a swipe of ashes to their foreheads.
The last two years have led clergy scrambling to find ways to distribute ashes safely during the pandemic. This year, Christian leaders’ attention has turned to the recent attacks from Russia on Ukraine with calls for prayers for peace.
“May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war,” Pope Francis wrote in his call for fasting.
The ancient Christian practice of fasting allows believers to heighten their senses and focus their spiritual energies, said Mark Morozowich, a theologian at the Catholic University of America. He said that Ukrainian Catholics like him began Lent on Monday, unlike Roman Catholics who begin on Wednesday, but different groups of Christians will be engaged in similar spiritual acts during the Lenten period.
“The world is called to deeper prayer,” said Morozowich, who is dean of CU’s School of Theology and Religious Studies. “As we continue to stand by our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and as the world shows to Russian authorities that this is intolerable, we have the chance to ... try to build a world that’s built on mutual respect and order, not based on tyranny and fear, one that is built on respect and love for our fellow human beings.”
For Christians who observe Lent, including President Biden who is Catholic, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the period of weeks leading up to Easter Sunday, which most Christians in the United States will celebrate on April 17. The weeks of Lent serve as a period of reflection on the biblical story of Jesus’s time in the desert, where he fasted and prayed before his death and resurrection.
Although most Americans who celebrate Lent will begin on Wednesday, the majorities of people living in Russia and Ukraine belong to Orthodox Christian wings of Christianity, most of whom will begin Lent on March 7 and end on the day they celebrate Easter, April 24.
During Lent, many Catholics and some Protestants give up something during the period and do forms of fasting, such as refraining from eating meat. Many groups are holding prayer services specifically on behalf of Ukrainians this year. For example, on Wednesday, Catholic University’s Ukrainian Church Studies Center will hold a day-long prayer vigil in the Basilica of the National Shrine’s Byzantine chapel in Washington.
Though fasting is not obligatory for Ukrainian Catholics as it is for Roman Catholics, Robert Hitchens, pastor of the Ukrainian Catholic Shrine of the Holy Family in Northeast Washington, D.C., said he has encouraged his congregation to participate in the global fasting on Wednesday.
“Everyone is worked up and on pins and needles,” Hitchens said of members of his congregation. “With Lent coming, it’s a time for intensified prayer and doing good works. It’s a way for people to do something concretely.”
Other Christian leaders have also called for prayer on Ash Wednesday on behalf of Ukrainians. Five Christian world communions — including the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Lutheran World Federation and the Mennonite World Conference — will be holding a joint Ash Wednesday prayer service for peace in Ukraine.
And several people have said that they plan to fast on Wednesday even though they don’t belong to the Roman Catholic Church. Dan Gibson, who is part of the Anglican Church of North America and would not typically follow Pope Francis’s direction, said that he felt like fasting on Ash Wednesday was an ecumenical moment for Christians worldwide after he saw Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of Anglicans worldwide, join Francis’s call.
“I’m a lawyer, not a soldier, not a paramedic. I’m not a person who can go over to Ukraine and do much to help anyone,” said Gibson, who lives in Durham, N.C. “As a Christian, I believe God listens to our prayers. This is at least something I can do.”
Though she left the Catholic Church of her youth, Patricia Yingst, who now describes herself as spiritual, saw Pope Francis’s call to fast and plans to join him.
“I wish I could hug a Ukrainian right now. All I can do is meditate and pray at the moment,” said Yingst, who is based in Oroville, Calif. “Fasting is something I know I can accomplish to be supportive to people trying to make a difference. It seems like a little thing, but I’m doing what I can.”
Hoping to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine, Jared Cook said that even though his denomination, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doesn’t observe Lent or Ash Wednesday, he plans to join others who are fasting.
LDS members typically fast during one Sunday of each month and are asked to give the money they would have spent on food to the LDS Church, which then distributes it to people in need. Cook said he felt like he didn’t need to wait for LDS leadership to call for a fast for Ukrainians.
“Scrolling Twitter, watching the updates of what’s happening in Ukraine, your heart goes out to these people, seeing how they’re defending themselves,” said Cook, who is an attorney in Rochester, N.Y. “There’s a sense of helplessness that comes with that. It’s not like I can show up in person and pick up a gun and help them.”
Christians have historically fasted for all kinds of reasons, and Ash Wednesday reminds people of their own mortality and lack of control, said Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, an Anglican priest in Toronto who has done activism opposing the use of nuclear weapons.
“It’s interesting to think, people are latching onto fasting as a way to give them agency,” he said. “But it’s the spiritual move Christians have always made. Here’s this war we can’t control, but we’re going to acknowledge our dependence on a higher power.”
In the biblical story of Jonah, when the prophet warns Nineveh of impending destruction because of its wickedness, the city turned to fasting and prayer, and God decided not to destroy the city. Fasting engenders weakness, Wigg-Stevenson said, and it brings home how dependent and vulnerable people are.
“When you think about fasting, especially toward an end rather than for self-improvement, it’s not about your own agency but a recognition of your dependency on God. We fast and repent because it’s our way of drawing close to the reality of death for us,” he said. “After we fast, you become desperate for food. It’s a way of appealing to the hope of life that defeats death. It feels appropriate to do that in the face of a war. We appeal to the Lord of life, to the one who can offer resurrection in the face of death.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Barring a series of late-season storms during spring, the wet season looks likely to end with below average precipitation.
Folsom Lake during a drought in Folsom, Calif. on Feb. 21, 2022. California had its driest January since 1984, with the lack of rain and snow pushing drought conditions across the most populous U.S. state. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
California has had one of its driest January and February periods on record with little to no precipitation falling in many locations.
After a very promising start to the water year, precipitation has essentially flatlined during what should be the wettest two months of the year — months that are critical to drought improvement. The extreme dry spell also marks an abrupt shift from an extremely wet and snowy December 2021.
San Francisco, San Jose, Eureka, Sacramento, Fresno, Los Angeles International Airport and parts of the Sierra Nevada all recorded their driest January to February period on record, with many Southern California locations in the top five driest.
The extreme dryness just doesn't stop for California.
San Francisco, San Jose, Eureka, Sacramento, Fresno, and the Sierra Nevada are going to experience the driest January-February period on record. #CAwx
(h/t @ggweather) pic.twitter.com/sSgc7t1RTr
— US StormWatch (@US_Stormwatch) February 25, 2022
Sacramento saw no measurable precipitation during February and Tuesday will break its record for the longest dry stretch during the wet season of 52 days, which was set during the winter of 2013-14. It’s the city’s third extended dry period in the last decade. This comes on the heels of California’s longest streak without precipitation during the dry season: 211 days from March 20 to Oct. 16, 2021.
San Jose had 54 straight days without rain, from Dec. 29 to Feb. 21 — its longest winter dry streak with records dating to 1893. The city saw only 0.01 inches of rain in the last two months.
Downtown San Francisco had no rain for 44 consecutive days, its second-longest on record.
The missing moisture is reminiscent of February 2020, an extremely dry month in which some Northern California stations recorded zero rainfall, kick-starting the current drought.
This winter’s dry spell is particularly concerning because it is enveloping the wettest parts of the state that are crucial for water supply.
Mountain snowpack is now well below normal for the date at 64 percent — almost exactly where it was at this time last year. While atmospheric rivers in October, November and December provided most of the precipitation that has fallen since the water year began on Oct. 1, the storm track shifted north in early January and has yet to return.
Snow shuts off in January in the West as drought recovery hopes dim
Instead, the state has seen wind, a record-breaking heat wave, and only occasional light precipitation over the last two months, thanks to a persistent ridge of high pressure that has blocked moisture from the Pacific.
“The systems that we’ve had have been very weak, especially for January and February,” said Cory Mueller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento. “It was almost a fall-like pattern with weather systems passing just to the east of California.”
Barring a series of late-season storms during spring, the wet season looks likely to end with below average precipitation, with drought remaining or even worsening as the state enters its months-long dry season.
Only above-average precipitation in the coming months would restore the snowpack to normal levels, which isn’t likely
Jeanine Jones, interstate resources manager with the California Department of Water Resources, said that statewide precipitation is currently 80 percent of average, which would mark a third consecutive dry year for Northern California and a second for Southern California without significant additional rain and snow.
“Frankly, March will really be a make-or-break month, especially for Northern California,” she said. “If we have a really wet March, there is a chance we can come out pretty much near normal.”
Long-range forecasts aren’t promising a “Miracle March,” although a shift to a wetter pattern is possible around mid-month, according to the National Weather Service in San Diego.
Lake Shasta, the state’s largest reservoir, sits at only 37 percent of its total capacity because of light water-year precipitation in the Sacramento River basin.
Last week, water districts that supply Central Valley farms learned that they would receive no water for the second year in a row from the Central Valley Project, a water storage and conveyance system managed by the federal government, with Lake Shasta as its backbone.
Mount Shasta is nearly snowless, a rare event that is helping melt the mountain’s glaciers
“That’s significant not just for agricultural water users but also more broadly for the area in which they are located,” Jones said.
Without irrigation water, farms may overdraw groundwater, leading to dry wells and land subsidence, both of which the state experienced last summer. Lake Shasta’s low water levels are also a concern for the region’s salmon, which rely on reservoir releases to maintain optimal water temperatures downstream.
But California isn’t the only state that has missed major winter storms. Much of the West has been dry for the last two months. Large swaths of Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Utah and Colorado are below average for the water year and remain mired in drought. In fact, the only drought-free spots in the Western U.S. are western Washington and the northwestern corners of Oregon and Montana.
Today's atmospheric river event has focused precipitation mostly in western Washington and northwest and coastal Oregon. Inland southern and eastern OR and eastern WA have received little rain. Map shows station precip amounts as of 11am 2/28. And the #drought goes on... pic.twitter.com/8PBuwQGRMa
— Oregon Climate Office (@ORClimateSvc) February 28, 2022
Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor placed portions of Northern California and southern Oregon back into the “extreme drought” category, the second most severe category of drought.
“Without a major pattern change during March, additional degradations may be needed for California and the Great Basin in the weeks ahead,” the Drought Monitor stated.
This year’s precipitation extremes in California and the West, combined with long-term drought, are consistent with what is expected with climate change. A study released last month found that the 2000-2021 was the most severe drought period in the Western U.S. in 1,200 years, due in large part to human-caused climate change.
And Monday’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted: “North American water resources continue to be affected by ongoing warming, with impacts driven by reductions in snow and ice, increases in extreme precipitation, and hotter droughts.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Transcript: 117th Congress: Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.)
MS. ALEMANY: Good afternoon, and welcome to Washington Post Live. I’m Jackie Alemany, anchor of The Early 202 newsletter at The Washington Post and also a congressional correspondent.
In the last week, cyberattacks have become a top concern for many officials worldwide. My guest today is Representative John Katko, Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
Representative Katko, welcome back to Post Live. Thanks for joining us on this extraordinarily busy week.
REP. KATKO: Thanks for having me. I'm getting hungry looking at the cupcake jar behind you.
MS. ALEMANY: Unfortunately, it's not edible.
And I want to give a reminder to our audience. We want you to join in, in our conversation. So please tweet your questions and comments to the handle @PostLive.
Congressman, I know you're just out of the House Republican Conference meeting this morning. We're told that Congresswoman Victoria Spartz, who is Ukrainian, spoke. Can you give us a readout of her message to her colleagues this morning?
REP. KATKO: Well, I was not there for that portion of the meeting, but I spoke to Victoria last night. She's full of angst, obviously, for the Ukrainian people where she came from, as all of us are. I have relatives in Ukraine right now that I'm terribly concerned about, as all of us are, and her message is one of real concern. And I think one of‑‑her message that she said last night and I'm sure she said today was the real story about what's going on over there is probably much worse than what's being reported, and that's a real concern going forward. There's real human tragedy going on, and it was wholly unnecessary on the part of Putin, and you know, it's incumbent upon all of us to support them in every way we possibly can and to make life as difficult as we can for the Russians so that maybe, just maybe they'll wake up and realize that this isn't worth it and stop this nonsense.
MS. ALEMANY: And on that comment that you just made about things being‑‑likely being worse than we realize, is that the sense that you got from senior administration officials last night at a classified briefing? I know there's obviously only so many details you can share about that, but that things are worse than we realize, including casualty counts at the moment?
REP. KATKO: Well, I can't reveal what's classified information, but I can tell you generally that there are heavy casualties, and that there's also weapons that the Russians have that they are implementing that‑‑and are reportedly implementing that are basically, truly awful in nature. And I think that's what Victoria was referring to, and that's what folks were referring to last night. And it's been reported in the media as well. Trying to figure out exactly what those weapons are and how they're being used, they're pretty awful weapons that they're going to implement.
I think there's been reports of cluster bombs and these other things that are really awful.
MS. ALEMANY: What about nuclear weapons? Has the U.S. detected any change in Russia's nuclear posture since Putin's order went out on Sunday?
REP. KATKO: No. In fact, I think the United States‑‑if they had thought it was a real eventuality, their nuclear forces would have been on higher alert than they are right now, and we just have to be careful with what we're doing.
I know there's some alert, and there's some heightened alert, but I think, basically, they're taking a wait‑and‑see approach, and obviously, we're monitoring the situation very, very closely.
When you start talking about nuclear weapons, you realize it really indicates--it's indicative of the instability with respect to Putin. To casually throw that out there like he did is really a sign of someone, a world leader, who is not really as stable as he should be, and that's a very big concern.
MS. ALEMANY: So I take it you don't agree with the former President Trump's assessment that Vladimir Putin is a genius?
REP. KATKO: No. I don't think either one of them are.
MS. ALEMANY: And I want to get back to the House GOP conference meeting quickly. Did the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy address any of the issues that bubbled up with the conference over the weekend about two House Republicans who participated in a White nationalist conference, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar?
REP. KATKO: Not to my knowledge. I don't know if they did or not after I left, but I can tell you one thing that racism and those types of conferences are anathema to the American public. If they were there‑‑I don't know any of the details, but if they were there, they should be called out on that. And I'm sure that, you know, they're going to deal with that going forward, but make no mistake about it, that type of rhetoric is hurtful and harmful. And it's something that we should put in the rearview mirror in America and never talk about again, and for them to going to a place where that stuff is discussed to me is very, very deeply troubling if, in fact, they engaged in that conduct. So, going forward, I'm sure that's something we'll be discussing more.
MS. ALEMANY: Obviously, the two of them have already faced some punitive measures from House Democrats, but what about from Republicans? Do you think it's time for Republicans to censure them or take more action in some way for these continued behaviors?
REP. KATKO: Well, with respect to Marjorie Taylor Greene, they already have. I mean, she's not on any committees. So, going forward, I think that's something we have to examine the facts and proceed accordingly.
I really‑‑I'm hesitant not--to talk about the particulars because I don't know them, but I'm just talking generally that from a general standpoint, this type of conduct cannot be tolerated.
MS. ALEMANY: Now I want to get back to Ukraine.
REP. KATKO: Sure.
MS. ALEMANY: Why isn't the U.S. telling Ukrainians to cut a deal with the Russians before more people die, and is that something that you think the administration should be considering?
REP. KATKO: I don't think the Ukrainian people want that. Let's not forget the Ukrainian people are hardy souls. They're strong. They're determined. They're independent‑minded, and if you look back after World War II, they resisted Stalin for close to 10 years. It's in their DNA to be independent and free, and when they gained their freedom from the Soviet Union many years ago, they had nuclear weapons, a ton of them in Ukraine. And they gave them up with a promise that they would be protected going forward, and it's sad to see that. They really haven't been protected.
Now, I'm not calling for U.S. military intervention or NATO military intervention, but at some point, you got to say to yourself when does that red line‑‑the red line as far as atrocities and everything else goes, when does it change that dynamic? And I'm concerned that we're fast approaching that.
And for me, for any administration to take military intervention off the table and then repeatedly say that to the bad guy is akin to me when I was a prosecutor saying to the gangbangers who were wreaking havoc in our cities that I prosecuted them in saying, look it, we're going to work with you, but we're not going to prosecute you. What do you think they're going to do? They're going to run crazy in the city, and that's what Putin is doing right now.
So, like, I want to stress I'm not calling for military intervention, but taking it off the table reduces a huge deterrent effect. And now we're in a situation where we're trying to get weapons to a government and a people that are by the minute getting more and more encircled by their enemies.
So it's a real concern going forward, and what do we do if these atrocities spike and they really skyrocket? We start seeing dead children in the streets and dead women in the streets. What are you going to do then? Right? Just keep trying to rap their knuckles with sanctions? He doesn't care about sanctions.
And, again, I can't say enough. I'm not saying we should take military intervention, but at the same token, we should‑‑shouldn't have to take one of our key strikes off the table from the beginning.
MS. ALEMANY: Yeah--
REP. KATKO: And as far as the Ukrainian people go, if they want peace with Russia, they can have it, but they want to fight. And they're ready to fight and is all they've asked for us for months is getting some assistance so they can fight for themselves.
MS. ALEMANY: And we reported last night that senior administration officials told House lawmakers that they expected an insurgency‑‑that from the current situation to phase into an insurgency in three to four weeks, the inference being that the capital would potentially be taken by Russia along with leadership. Do any American officials think that Ukrainians can actually prevail against Russia here?
REP. KATKO: I think the prevailing wisdom is that‑‑sadly that Russia will ultimately prevail. They have overwhelming force, and they have overwhelming supplies. So I think, ultimately, we're praying‑‑everyone is praying for a miracle, but ultimately, I think people understand that it's highly likely that it will turn into an insurgency within a matter of weeks, if not months.
We're hopeful that the contrary happens, but I think, realistically, you got to understand that that's probably what's going to happen. And that's why these sanctions, the more severe the sanctions can be at this point might get‑‑embolden the Russian people themselves to stand up to their despotic leader who has really, clearly become unbalanced, and stand up to him once and for all and ask for a change in Russia that may make the situation go away.
MS. ALEMANY: Have you received any new estimates for the amount of casualties that U.S. expects Ukrainians to suffer during the fighting?
REP. KATKO: Nothing that‑‑only in a classified setting, but they are quite significant, no question about it.
MS. ALEMANY: Yeah. And what is your assessment of the Biden administration's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine versus their response to the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan?
REP. KATKO: You know, I think the key term you used is "response" because we are in response mode. What you have to do is take a step back to before the response, when they had an opportunity to influence things in a different way. And like I already said, taking military actions off the table immediately doesn't help. Waiting until the last minute to get lethal aid‑‑that's missiles and what you have you, javelin missiles and what have you to the Ukrainian people‑‑was a mistake. And not having the sanctions ready to roll right away was a mistake.
Are they doing better with sanctions now? Are they tightening the sanctions with their response? Absolutely, but really, when bad guys sense weakness, they will exploit the weakness. And that's what Putin did. He sensed the weakness of this administration, and it's emblematic of how they handled Afghanistan and other crises and how they didn't respond to the major cyberattacks we've had from China and Russia over the last year or two. And so I think the bad guys are looking at this and they're saying, well, I don't think Biden is going to do anything, so we're going in.
And then you look at China and Taiwan‑‑and they're looking at Taiwan going‑‑and Xi is looking very closely at what's happening here with respect to Russia.
So however‑‑whatever the shortcomings were in this administration before the invasion, the response, I think, has been pretty good, and I think they need to continue to respond in the manner they're doing.
And I think by its very nature, it caused NATO to come together because NATO wasn't on the same page before the invasion. Now not only is everybody in NATO countries are on the same page, you have countries like Finland and Sweden who are generally very, very against joining NATO are talking about joining NATO. So it's been a sea change in NATO.
And so, ironically, Putin went into this partly to ensure that Ukraine didn't become part of NATO, and now NATO is going to be stronger than ever. And so just a lot to go with this going forward, a lot of moving parts, but I think the administration has done a pretty good job with respect to the sanctions.
I think we should do more with respect to oil and cut off their oil supply to the West. We could do that by the president temporarily, at least temporarily, rolling back a lot of his restrictive policies with respect to oil production in the U.S., and at a minimum, it would send a signal to the markets. That would lessen the severity of cutting off Russian oil to the U.S., and I think we ought to think about really going hard core and doing that. That would show real leadership by the president.
MS. ALEMANY: What about a strategic oil reserve release? Is that something that you think should be under consideration as well from NATO allies?
REP. KATKO: Absolutely. Look, if the president would cut off Russian oil supplies to the West and we all just put on our chin straps and figured out how to get better production in the U.S., for example, it would go a long way towards really putting a major stranglehold on Russia because at this very moment‑‑think about this, and I don't know if viewers understand this. When they're going to the gas tank right now, it's highly likely that some of the stuff that's going into their vehicles is oil that came from‑‑came from oil that came from Russia, and we're funding, in part, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is pure insanity by my standards. So we've got to do something about that.
MS. ALEMANY: And quickly, before we pivot to the topic of cyberattacks which you had shown, this further unification of NATO allies and countries who were not previously part of NATO, how much credit does Joe Biden get for that?
REP. KATKO: Well, listen, it happened under his watch, so he should get credit. Listen, whether it was because of his actions or just because of the actions of Russia, it doesn't really matter. It happened on his watch, and so, you know, that's a good thing.
And if you may or may not know, I'm one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. So I'm not one to call out the other side just for the sake of calling him out, and that's why I say if it happened on his watch, he should take credit for it. But, regardless, it's a good thing that NATO seems to be reconstituting understanding that their core mission is to protect a spread of bad leaders like Putin, and this is clearly a sterling example of that.
MS. ALEMANY: And as you're well aware, top of mind right now is the growing threat of a cyberattack. Are we in a place to be able to handle the tidal wave of new forms of warfare, most specifically those prompted by cyber warfare?
REP. KATKO: I think the most important thing you just said there is warfare, and people have got to understand that modern war is‑‑a key component of modern war is cyber, cyberattacks, and if you look at Russia before they went into the Ukraine, launched a massive cyberattack to basically soften them up a little bit. And, you know, every credible army in the world has a cyber command within it, and U.S. has a very robust cyber command. So, going forward, we have to understand that from a war standpoint, cyber is always going to be there but not just when you're in war. If you look at the last few years, look at what's happened in the U.S. Russian cyberattacks in the U.S. basically went unchecked by this administration, the JBS attack on the food supply, the Colonial Pipeline and others. Russia doesn't‑‑the state of Russia doesn't do the cyberattacks themselves. There are many robust cyber gangs within Russia that do the cyberattacks, and they do it under the imprimatur‑‑[audio distortion]‑‑cyberattacks, and it's highly likely that more cyberattacks are coming.
And we have to be ready for them, and that's why we spend a lot of time at Homeland Security over the last several years establishing CISA, the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency, and then beefing it up repeatedly. And Jen Easterly, who runs CISA now, has done a yeoman's work over there getting them up to speed, and right now, we have something called "Shields Up" over a CISA, and any entity, whether you're an individual or a business or a government entity, can go to Shields Up and get help to help you harden your systems and find out where the holes are because I think the message is, assume you're the next to be hacked, assume that you're the next one that's going to be attacked, and act accordingly.
Colonial Pipeline came to Congress after their attack and told us all the things they were doing to harden their system, and I thought to myself, where was this ahead of time? Why wasn't that there ahead of time? And I think every system has to understand we're in a very high cyberthreat right now. We need to have the collaborative resources of CISA and the private sector working together through Shields Up and other entities to harden their systems as best they can, assuming that attacks are coming, because if you do that, you lessen the severity of the attacks long term.
And the best way to liken it, I guess, is if you drive a car that is very unsafe and you get in an accident, probably toast, right? If you are‑‑if you have a very safe car when you get in an accident, much more likely to survive and much more likely to recover from it, and it's the same way with respect to cyber. You've got to put resources into it, and you've got to have a good car to drive.
MS. ALEMANY: Who is most vulnerable to whatever cyberattacks might be coming?
REP. KATKO: I think systemwide, we're all vulnerable. I mean, financial institutions, for example, though, they're getting attacked many times a second. So their cybersecurity apparatus is quite robust. So maybe other sectors, especially some critical infrastructure sectors, may not be as secure as they should be. Look at the Colonial Pipeline incident. It wasn't as secure as it should be, and we have to do that with respect to others, critical infrastructure systems as well.
I can't really tell you which ones are and which ones aren't, but I can tell you most of them are not where they should be, and we need to keep continuing to get them in a better state than they are right now. And it takes money. They got to do it.
MS. ALEMANY: A 2021 communique showed that NATO would weigh whether to trigger Article 5 on the grounds of a cyberattack. How does Article 5 apply to cyber warfare, and what kind of cyberattack should be categorized as an attack on a member of NATO?
REP. KATKO: That's a great question because, you know, that is really thinking about warfare in a modern realm, like we have to, and I think that is a discussion that needs to be had. And if you have a catastrophic cyberattack that shuts down your grids or shuts down your ability to keep your people warm in the winter or fed or what have you, I think you got to‑‑we've got to figure that out. I think NATO needs to get together and have those very difficult decisions because it is a component of war, as I said before, and I think it needs to be viewed as such.
MS. ALEMANY: Well, that leads me to my next question. Is NATO cyber policy as developed as it should be?
REP. KATKO: I think it's evolving. Do they have more to go? Absolutely, absolutely.
MS. ALEMANY: Yeah. I mean, I know you and others have been sort of raising alarms about this for years now. So‑‑
REP. KATKO: Yeah.
MS. ALEMANY: YouTube allows Russian websites known for propaganda to make money from ads on its platforms. Do you think that that social media company should ban Russian state media?
REP. KATKO: Well, I can tell you right now, they should, at a minimum, if they're bad actors, and I think it's incumbent upon them from a moral standpoint. Why enrich bad people? It's just like us enriching them with oil. That's immoral in my mind, and so why enrich them by allowing them to advertise on your platforms? And I think these‑‑you see a lot of companies around the world that are doing just that. They're cutting off‑‑they're cutting off Russia and Russia‑based entities, and I think that, you know, these platforms should do the same.
Lord knows they do the same with respect to bad actors on our side of the fence. So they should do it for them as well for sure.
MS. ALEMANY: And, Congressman, if we take a step back, you've been drawing attention to the issue of safeguarding our cybersecurity again for quite some time. What does the current threat landscape look like compared to when you first started to champion the idea that government should step up to the plate to prepare against potential cyberthreats?
REP. KATKO: I think the cyberthreat is very high right now, but I also‑‑I mean, I'm heartened by the fact that we have‑‑we have improved so much over the last few years since CISA came into existence from an overall cyber readiness and overall cybersecurity awareness, and awareness, as you know, is the first step towards hardening your systems. Awareness if the first step towards dealing with any problem.
And CISA and the other agencies in the federal government have really done a good job with respect to that, but there's a lot more to go. For example, is multifactor authentication really where it should be? No. Is every entity out there really hardening their systems the way they should? No, because CEOs will make a choice and say, "No. We can"‑‑you know, their cyber guy comes and tells them, "We need $10 million to harden our system," and the guy goes, "I'm not going to spend that. The heck with that." But then they get attacked, and then you figure it out. And the more that they see these attacks coming and the devastation that these attacks bring, the more they're stepping up to the plate.
CISA is also helping, too. CISA can do threat hunting on private sector or government agency systems. They can go in and kind of give you a checkup and kind of kick the tires and look at your system and say--do it all for free, and say, "Hey, you've got problems here. You need to fix this," and they can fix them.
So the threat is higher because of the posturing with Russia right now, and Russia is one of the worst actors with respect to cyberattacks. But I also can tell you that I think we are in a much better place from a defensive posture than we have been in years, probably perhaps ever.
MS. ALEMANY: And before we change topics to the State of the Union and your retirement, I realize I wanted to seek some clarification on the question I had asked you at the beginning of our conversation. You had said that neither of them are geniuses when I asked you about Trump's comment that Putin is a genius. Were you referring to Trump and Vladimir Putin?
REP. KATKO: Yes.
MS. ALEMANY: Okay. I just wanted to be clear.
And the president is obviously set to address the country tonight in the State of the Union Address. What will you be listening for him to say or announce?
REP. KATKO: I would very much love to hear‑‑first of all, he should get credit for the sanctions he's done, and like I said, the horse is already out of the barn about the weakness he portrayed prior to Russia coming in. But that's something we're going to have to deal with down the road.
But moving forward, I think I would very much like to hear him say that he's going to temporarily suspend some of the restrictive programs he's initiated in this country for oil production at least until‑‑unless and until the Russian crisis is over so that they can better choke off Russia's economy, because that's the only thing that's really going to help Russia stand down is we help them choke off their economy.
And all these sanctions are nice and good and productive and helpful, but that would really hit them where it hurts. So I would love to hear that from him going forward, and quite frankly, we've had enough of divisiveness on both sides of the fence. He's been a disappointment in that regard in his first year, and so I would love to hear from him a lot more of a unifying message and a bipartisan message. We really haven't seen that. A lot of his major legislation has been unilaterally imposed, and I would love to see‑‑I don't care if he's a Republican or a Democrat. If he wants to work in a bipartisan basis, I'm here to work with him, and a lot of us are.
And I sat in the Oval Office with him in February and to talk about the infrastructure deal, and I ultimately supported it. And I caught a lot of heat for it, but it was worth it, and I think we'd love to hear things that are going to unite this country. I think the American people are sick and tired of all the divisiveness, and he would show true courage if he could do that oil‑‑take those steps I laid out for the oil, but also, he would do well to try and unite the country instead of continuing to be divisive.
MS. ALEMANY: Yeah. And in addition to supporting the infrastructure bill, you were also one of the 10 Republicans who joined Democrats to vote to impeach former President Trump after the insurrection at the Capitol. Did this, along with President Trump's call to get rid of all 10 Republicans that voted against him, contribute to your decision not to run again?
REP. KATKO: Not at all. In fact, I was quite certain, even with the redistricting that was done in New York State, that I had a path of victory, and I had a very good path to victory.
I think a lot of people on both sides of the fence understands what courage is and understands what stepping out is and understands what taking brave stances are, and that's what they liked to see in leaders. And that's exactly what I would like to see with respect to Biden.
And so, no, it didn't. Quite frankly, I've been in government service for 32 years, since I was 28 years old. I'm staring down 60 in November, and you're supposed to say, "No, you don't look that." But‑‑
MS. ALEMANY: [Laughs]
REP. KATKO: And I just understood there's never a good time to leave, and there's unfinished business, but there's things I want to do in the private side. And I think for the rest of my life until I take my last breath, I'm going to be doing things that are evolving and helping keep our country safe. That's all I know how to do as an adult because that's all I've ever done, and I'm going to continue to do that. I just‑‑it's time for me to step away, and you know what? We should have people doing that more in this office, and we don't need people here for 30, 40 years.
I'm a very big believer in term limits, and I said that before I ran, and I still believe it now that change is good. And I think that the next person that comes up and runs the Homeland Security Committee will be great, whoever it is, and that's a good thing for our country. And this is a citizen democracy. It's not something where you work‑‑I don't believe you should have a job here for 30, 40 years. I just don't think that's what our Founders envisioned.
MS. ALEMANY: Well, in the spirit of your newfound freedom and candor, do you‑‑
REP. KATKO: [Laughs]
MS. ALEMANY: What do you think the former president's effect has been on the Republican Party, and has it been damaging?
REP. KATKO: Well, I think‑‑damaging, it's hard to say. He won, and a lot of his policies were very good, and we did a lot of good things. We had tax reform. We projected much more strength on the world stage, which kept bad guys like Putin in check, a lot of good things that president did. But I think I agree with Attorney General Barr and others that sometimes his inability to discipline himself with respect to his rhetoric really hurt him, and that's the biggest‑‑that's the biggest concern I had with respect to the president.
And, you know, going forward, does he have a role to play in the party? Absolutely. But should he be the party standard‑bearer? In my opinion, no, but others feel differently. And that's what conventions are for, and that's what primaries are for, and I think we have a wonderful bunch of really highly qualified people for 2024, and we'll see what happens going forward. And I think it's going to be‑‑I think it will be very interesting to see how it is going forward.
I don't think he's going to run away with anything. He obviously would be the frontrunner, but there's obviously a lot of highly qualified people that could do a very good job. And if he could tone down his rhetoric, he would be very formidable.
MS. ALEMANY: And you worked with your colleague, Congressman Bennie Thompson to establish the January 6th Commission. Obviously, that was met with resistance and did not work out, but what is your assessment of what the committee ultimately turned into and the work that they've been doing so far?
REP. KATKO: Well, the biggest thing I was concerned with, because I have a law enforcement perspective, is that how do we keep the Capitol safer and how do we make sure the Capitol Hill Police is a much better police force than it was, because clearly, that day, they showed their shortcomings. And those are two things I haven't heard a lot of hearings on, a lot of discussion on, and that's the one thing I would really like to see more of. And that's what my commission would have focused on.
So has it become more partisan? Yeah, of course. There's far more Democrats than Republicans on there, and it's not a balanced committee.
My committee would have had to have consensus for every subpoena that was issued from Democrats and Republicans, and my committee would have ended on December 31st of this past year, which would have given us some clarity in moving forward. So, instead, it seems to be dragging out, and I think, you know, Bennie Thompson is a fine man, and he's a good friend of mine. And he's doing what he thinks is right, and I respect him for that. I just wish that we had a‑‑I wish the commission focused on the safety and security of the Capitol and the improvement of the Capitol Police.
MS. ALEMANY: And, Congressman, you said that passing the infrastructure deal was one of your top accomplishments. What is top in your agenda for items that you want to finish before you leave office?
REP. KATKO: There's three of them: cybersecurity, cybersecurity, and cybersecurity. To me, I'm very, very concerned about that going forward. It's not my sole focus, but it is a disproportionate large focus of what we're doing on homeland security right now because that really is‑‑
MS. ALEMANY: And‑‑
REP. KATKO: ‑‑a big thing.
MS. ALEMANY: And, Congressman, before we wrap up, I want to ask you the message that you have to convey to being one of the more moderate voices of your party before you depart Congress.
REP. KATKO: Sure. Listen, when I came in, I said I want to be a moderate, and my entire career, I maintained that status as one of the most bipartisan members of Congress. I don't think that's a stain. I think that's what our Founders envisioned. I think that's what we once were as an entity in Congress on both sides of the aisle. I think that the rhetoric is so overheated down here, and I think it's sad when you see so many good people get subsumed by the partisan politics. I think people back home are sick of it, and if you look at it in your marital relations or your personal relations with people or in business deals, no one gets 100 percent of what they want. But down here, it seems like that's what they want, and if they don't get that, then you're a pariah. And to me, that's not how it works. You got to cut deals. You move on and do what's good for the country as a whole, not just the part of the country that you think you believe in politically.
MS. ALEMANY: Well, Congressman, unfortunately, that's all the time we have today, but congratulations on your retirement, and thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time.
REP. KATKO: Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Have a good day.
MS. ALEMANY: And, everyone, thanks, per usual, for joining us. Please visit WashingtonPostLive.com for more information about our scheduling and guests to come. | null | null | null | null | null |
The late-season strip of moisture has deposited more than 6 inches of rain in numerous locales, adding to nearly 50 inches in high terrain since November.
Atmospheric river season usually winds down by the end of February, but the first day of meteorological spring was heralded by a significant deluge in the Pacific Northwest. Parts of Washington State and Oregon are pushing 6 inches of rain over the past two days from a stream of soaking moisture, spurring flood and landslide concerns in the late-season episode.
Flood watches are up for much of western Washington and northwest Oregon west of the Cascades, where an uninterrupted plume of tropical moisture has been blasting ashore. That adds to a memorable atmospheric river season that’s already dropped up to 50 inches in the high terrain of the Coastal Range since the start of November. Surprisingly, soil saturation isn’t a huge problem thanks to a recent dry spell.
Seattle obliterated its daily rainfall record on Monday, more than doubling it. An impressive 2.97 inches came down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, beating out the 1.46 inches that fell on the same date in 1972. Hoquiam and Olympia also set records.
One location in Olympic National Park posted a whopping 14.41 inches of rain from the event, among numerous locations which have seen at least 6 inches.
On Tuesday morning, the atmospheric river was shifting into the final act of its performance. A patch of moderate to briefly heavy rain was slipping northeast to the south of Seattle and Everett after drenching Tacoma, with rain stretching down Interstate 50 to roughly Eugene, Ore. Rainfall was more sparse and light south of the Willamette Valley.
The atmospheric river will begin to shift southward and decrease in coverage and intensity over Washington State during the afternoon. At the same time, a renewed pulse of moisture will focus its attention on Oregon between Tuesday night and late Wednesday. Two or three inches is possible at the coastline, with 3 to 5 inches in the higher terrain.
At least two dozen flood warnings have been issued for stretches of river in the northwest United States, with streams becoming swollen in the wake of the recent rainfall. In Lewis County, Wash., midway between Tacoma and Portland, major flooding is forecast Wednesday even though rain will have come to an end.
State Route 7 was closed in Lewis County due to water and debris obstructing the roadway. The Washington State Department of Transportation had no immediate estimate for when it would be reopened.
“Residential and commercial areas and farms” could be impacted.
In King County, east of Seattle and near Bellevue, the Snoqualmie River is also anticipated to see major flooding by Wednesday. Flood stage is reached when the river eclipses a flow rate of 20,000 cubic feet per second; a level more than double that was expected.
“Floodwaters will be deep and swift in some areas,” wrote the Weather Service. Similar areas saw exceptional rainfall in a mid-November atmospheric river event that completely isolated the city of Vancouver via roads and brought severe impact to parts of British Columbia.
On Monday, 4.21 inches of rain was tallied at Snoqualmie Pass, with 4.07 inches along Interstate 90 east of North Bend. The interstate was closed for a time Monday.
Atmospheric rivers carry the bulk of their moisture at the mid-levels of the atmosphere a mile or two above the ground. That’s why higher elevations see more rainfall than communities near sea level or nestled within valleys.
In the past six months, most of the western third of Washington is running between 9 and 35 inches above average in terms of rainfall, an anomaly particularly pronounced in the high terrain. Seattle set a record for the city’s wettest autumn ever observed with 19.04 inches of rain.
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes rated the ongoing atmospheric river as a level 4 out of 5 on their scale, which ascribes categorical rankings based on integrated vapor transport, or the amount of moisture moving ashore through any given cross-section of atmosphere.
Modern research suggests that climate change is playing a significant role in the intensity and frequency of atmospheric rivers, since a warming atmosphere can hold more water. A 2020 paper in Geophysical Research Letters states that, by 2100, atmospheric rivers may no longer be primarily beneficial, but rather “primarily hazardous.”
“When you start to get to Category 4 and 5, these become those hazardous flood-inducing ones like what we’re seeing in British Columbia and recently in October in California,” said Alan Rhoades, lead author of the paper and research scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “These have been associated with some of the largest flood damages in the western U.S.”
A study by Scripps found atmospheric river storms were responsible for 84 percent of flood damages in the western U.S. over the past 40 years. Nearly half of the flood damage — amounting to $23 billion — was caused by just 10 atmospheric rivers. Overall, total flood damage amounted to $1.1. billion on average annually in the West. Another study in 2018 stated that atmospheric rivers may become 25 percent wider and longer by the end of the century.
“Category five events definitely have occurred, particularly impactful ones, over the last 150 years … but climate change is making it easier for them to reach these Category 4 and 5 thresholds,” said Rhoades. | null | null | null | null | null |
FILE - Activists and international delegations stand next to cluster bomb units, during a visit to a Lebanese military base at the opening of the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, Lebanon, Monday Sept. 12, 2011. Rights groups and observers say Russia is using cluster bombs in its invasion of Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies. If confirmed, deployment of the weapon, especially in crowded civilian areas, would usher in new humanitarian concerns in the conflict, Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari, File) (Mohammad Zaatari/ap) | null | null | null | null | null |
Carol Harris dances as the Hot 8 Brass Band performs at the New Orleans Jazz Museum on Feb. 22. (Kathleen Flynn for the Washington Post)
By Katy Reckdahl
NEW ORLEANS — At least once a week, Carol “Kit” Harris shows her devotion to New Orleans culture by leaving her house in a short satin dress, matching ruffled bloomers, frilly socks and a matching baby bonnet.
This year on Mardi Gras, Harris, 62, will mark her 10th anniversary “masking,” or dressing in costume, as a “Baby Doll,” a longtime tradition in the city’s Black communities. Over the past decade, Harris has earned the nickname “Mama Baby Doll” because of how she has led younger women in the tradition.
On Fat Tuesday, New Orleans is celebrating Mardi Gras after a year-long pandemic hiatus. A few hundred Baby Dolls will strut through the city streets, carrying ornately decorated umbrellas and wearing colorful satin outfits. These women make up a few dozen groups; Harris leads the N’awlins D’awlins.
New Orleans again embraces Mardi Gras — with constraints
The groups are social clubs of a sort, formed by women connected in some part of life: as childhood friends, neighbors, co-workers, sisters, cousins. Harris hails from a big family in Uptown New Orleans, and much of her group hails from the same area, she said.
Black women have long ridden with Black men’s Carnival krewes, whose members ride on parade floats and toss trinkets to the crowds. Up until 1992, when the City Council banned segregated Carnival krewes, most krewes allowed only White men to be members. In recent years, more krewes have included Black members, and in 2013, the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale became the first krewe founded by Black women for Black women. Baby Doll groups now also walk in some of the big Carnival parades.
The exact origins of the Baby Doll tradition are unclear, so many group members have formed their own explanations. To Harris, the Baby Dolls reflect the resourcefulness of hard-working Black women.
“It’s about us creating something with the nothing that has continually been given to us,” Harris said. “And that something turns into magic.”
One version of the Baby Doll origin story dates back to 1912 and links them to prostitutes, according to Kim Vaz-Deville, a professor of education at Xavier University of Louisiana and author of “The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition.” News reports of the day said a group called the Million Dollar Baby Dolls paraded through Black Storyville, the red-light district located near present-day City Hall.
“I think they reacted to the popular media of a time — vaudeville, stage and screen — that cast grown-up women in baby-doll outfits as sex symbols,” Vaz-Deville said.
In her book, Vaz-Deville theorizes that the practice spread from that 1912 parade into other Black communities that were excluded from the city’s segregated Carnival. At the time, Carnival mostly consisted of celebrations along St. Charles Avenue, where Black people were historically welcome only as servants, mule drivers and “flambeaux,” men who carried large metal torches along parade routes to light up floats.
But Harris grew up hearing a different origin story for the Baby Dolls. After talking with older people in her neighborhood, she said, she believes that it dates back further, maybe 150 years, and was a part of mainstream life in Black communities.
Members of Harris’s family mask as Mardi Gras Indians on Carnival day — another complex tradition dating back 150 years. She said her family members told her the Baby Doll tradition was rooted in everyday working households, often connected with members of their Mardi Gras tribes, who wear satin jumpsuits underneath elaborately beaded and feathered suits. She was told that once the tribes’ suits were complete, the women in those households would take the leftover satin material from the fabric bolt and make little Baby Doll dresses for themselves.
New Orleans’s best hidden treasure is its Mardi Gras Indians
“Somebody cooked, somebody cleaned, somebody got on the sewing machine,” she said, envisioning how the preparation for celebration unfolded.
That origin story is very possible, said Vaz-Deville, noting that the tradition is not well-documented because of who the earliest Baby Dolls were: “They were women, they were Black, they were poor, and they were probably not literate,” she said. The prostitutes from Black Storyville may have made it into official histories because they were more bold and more visible, Vaz-Deville added.
In recent years, the tradition has seen a resurgence. Ten years ago, Harris, who worked as a limousine driver, got a gig driving for the late Eva “Tee Eva” Perry, who was then in her mid-70s and was one of the city’s last remaining Baby Dolls. “One day, I took her to buy fabric, and she bought purple fabric for me, as well,” Harris said, recalling that she then gave the material to her sister, a seamstress.
“It was the first time she’d ever made a doll dress for a grown woman,” said Harris, who wore the outfit on Mardi Gras 2012.
Today’s Baby Doll revival can be traced to several women, including Perry, her good friend Antoinette K-Doe, Miriam Batiste Reed, Lois Andrews and Merline Kimble. Although most have now passed away, Kimble is still actively masking with her group, the Gold Digger Baby Dolls, named for the group that her grandmother led in the early part of the 20th century. The group — like many other ones of that era — went dormant until about 20 years ago, until Andrews, her close friend and neighbor, tried on a satin dress that Kimble kept from her grandmother’s time.
“We were sitting outside that day. Lois put on that dress and told me, ‘C’mon, Merline, we’re going to bring back the Baby Dolls,’ ” Kimble recalled.
Alana Harris (who is not related to Carol Harris), 50, sees an almost revolutionary spirit behind the tradition. For Harris, who works in City Hall as deputy director of arts and culture in the mayor’s office of cultural economy, this spirit is reflected in her family history: Her mother, Linda Diane Smith, a young member of the Congress of Racial Equality, picketed and integrated theaters in New Orleans in 1964, when she was 15.
On Tuesday, when Alana Harris and her 12-year-old daughter Pinky leave the house as part of the Creole Belle Baby Dolls, they are representing a long line of women who broke race and gender barriers, Harris said. “We are continuing my family’s matriarchal line through the spirit of the Baby Dolls,” she said.
The tradition is openly bawdy and bacchanal. Baby Dolls often carry baby bottles filled with liquor on Mardi Gras Day. Historically, to fend off unwanted advances, Baby Dolls carried shivs, razors or ice picks in garters or bricks in purses, according to Vaz-Deville’s book.
As a child, Lauren Blouin, 58, who now masks as “Baby Blue” with the Black Storyville Baby Dolls, remembers her mother warning her about getting too close to “those barroom women.” But few other current Baby Dolls have any memory of the earlier days of the tradition.
These days, many Baby Dolls see the practice as a kind of self-care. Trieshena “Baby Doll Dragon Fly” Duventre, 49, joined her cousin’s group, the Original Black Seminole Baby Dolls, last year.
“I realized there is more to life than going to work,” she said. “I need some fun.”
Outside of Mardi Gras, Baby Dolls are often asked to dress up and volunteer at funerals, concerts and events. During the pandemic, the groups, dressed in their classic satin outfits, have been front and center in the city’s efforts to push mask-wearing and vaccinations; their photos have been emblazoned on buses with their sleeves rolled up; and they’ve staffed events to hand out at-home coronavirus tests.
“I think it’s because the city knows people will always trust a Baby Doll,” said Carol Harris of the groups’ prominence throughout the pandemic. In fact, she said, she believes that Baby Dolls are the perfect antidote for a pandemic-weary world.
“There’s so much darkness around us,” she said. “We bring color, and we bring the spirit of the strong woman. If we get knocked down, we get back up.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the N’awlins D’awlins. It is the N’awlins D’awlins, not the N’awlins Dawlins. | null | null | null | null | null |
It’s Women’s History Month!
As we celebrate Women's History Month and International Women's Day (March 8), test your knowledge on these activists who have made a difference.
This activist was also a journalist. She reported the horrors of laws against Black people (Jim Crow laws) in the South and campaigned to pass anti-lynching legislation.
Nannie Helen Burroughs
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Katherine Frey/ The Washington Post
This formerly enslaved woman went on to become an abolitionist and a women’s rights activist. She is perhaps most famous for the “Ain’t I a Woman” speech she gave at a women’s rights conference, challenging White female activists who did not welcome Black women in the movement.
Nina Otera-Warren
Charles Del Vecchio/ The Washington Post
She wrote "The Feminine Mystic" in 1963, which is credited for sparking a second wave of feminism that began in the 1960s.
Douglas Chevalier/ The Washington Post
This woman is the co-founder of the feminist periodical Ms. magazine.
Dudley M. Brooks/ The Washington Post
Though this woman was married to one of the most influential activists in American history, she was activist in her own right. She marched in a labor strike in Memphis, Tennessee, just four days after her husband was murdered.
Helen Pitts Douglass
Lillian Miles
Pat Carter/ Associated Press
This women was the first principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. She worked most of her life fighting for the rights of Native Americans.
Winona LaDuke
Autumn Peltier
Madonna Thunder Hawk
Andrew Harnik/ Associated Press
She is a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who went on to advocate for tougher gun-control laws in the United States.
X González
Amika George
Amanda Voisard/ for The Washington Post
This advocate for the working poor co-founded the National Farmworkers Association with fellow activist Cesar Chavez.
J. Scott Applewhite/ Associated Press
She was the first woman of color to serve in Congress and was one of two principal authors of the Title IX bill, which is still useful in the fight against discrimination and harassment in classrooms and in school sports.
Patsy Takemoto Mink
Patricia Saiki
Your score: 0 / 9 | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Freedom House chief: An inflection point for democracy
Police detain demonstrators in St. Petersburg on Feb. 28 protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has galvanized the world and presented a unique opportunity for democracies. I spoke to Michael Abramowitz, president of Freedom House, about the historic moment. Here is our conversation:
Q: Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to have done what many democracies could not: rouse them to the threat of totalitarian regimes. Do you think it is an inflection point in how we address rogue nations?
I hope so. There is no question that this is a critical moment for democratic nations and for democracy itself, as Putin has starkly illustrated. Democracy has been on the decline for the past 16 years, in many cases because democratically elected leaders have slowly and methodically eroded democratic processes and repealed civil liberties, and the broader community didn’t push back. It is my sincere hope that Putin’s horrific, unprovoked aggression turns out to be a huge miscalculation that brings democratic nations together in a recommitment to democratic principles and moves their leaders from rhetorical pledges to serious action. Both sides in the global struggle for freedom — fledgling democracies and autocrats alike — are watching the international response closely.
Q: Are you surprised how universal (minus China, Cuba, North Korea) condemnation of Russia has been?
I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I am heartened to see it. It’s an encouraging indication of world leaders’ understanding that people and nations thrive under publicly accountable, democratic systems of government. Democracy produces freedom, prosperity and a peaceful, rules-based world order. That’s why so many people are willing to risk their lives fighting for it — and why Putin and Xi Jinping try to pass their regimes off as democracies even as they lock up dissidents and threaten neighboring states.
Q: Does heightened attention to authoritarian dictators alert citizens of democracies to the fraying of their own institutions and norms? How do democratic leaders help make that connection?
That’s an interesting and complicated question. There is a lot of public opinion research suggesting that commitment to democratic principles is fairly weak for now, even in well-established democracies around the world. Sadly, I think people take for granted what they have always had — whether it’s clean air to breathe, access to clean water and fresh food, a steady electric grid, or democracy. If you have it, and you haven’t faced the prospect of losing it, on some level you expect it to always be there. What we see at Freedom House is that in places where people aren’t free, they don’t take freedom for granted, demand for democracy remains strong and people are willing to fight for it, often at great personal risk to themselves and their families.
I hope this is a moment in history in which people come to understand that the freedom and security of 44 million Ukrainians directly affects the freedom and security of countless others in Eurasia, Europe and around the world. I hope people understand that freedom isn’t free, and that leaders and nations everywhere have to unite behind, and even make some short-term sacrifices, for the democratic principles that ensure their own liberty in the long term.
Q: What do the antiwar protests in Russia say about the Putin regime? What impact do they have on Putin and his oligarchs? Do you think Putin had any notion this would happen?
People want to live in freedom. The Russian people are no different. In 2021, supporters of opposition leader Alexei Navalny were routinely arrested, beaten and sent to prison. Given that context, the sight of thousands of Russians taking enormous risks to protest Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is an encouraging sign. According to Russian human rights organizations, an estimated 6,000 Russians have already been arrested for doing so. At the same time, it’s important to remember that the Russian people are subjected to a state-dominated media environment and nonstop propaganda. Putin may have convinced many Russians that Ukraine and NATO are threatening enemies. And even if large numbers of citizens do turn against him — as the reality and costs of the war set in — they will confront a regime that is not accountable to them or their interests. So it remains to be seen whether the Russian people can force their government to change course. | null | null | null | null | null |
After his latest ailment, T.J. Oshie is just happy to be back on the ice
Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie has had an injury-filled 2021-22 season. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie is normally a pretty positive person. Frequently joking and smiling, he’s an optimist who tries to see the best in any situation. But over the past month, as he tried to recover from his upper-body injury that left him sidelined for an extended period of time, negativity about his health started to creep in.
Oshie would have one good day, but that was followed up by three to four really bad days. That cycle repeated itself for weeks, until he finally was able to hit the ice in a consistent manner for the past two weeks. He credited his wife, Lauren, for helping him through the rough patch.
“The last month was pretty rough for me personally, more so the first three weeks,” Oshie said. “ … thankfully we got great trainers, doctors and coaches, management everyone just came together to find a way to get me back on the ice and we did it.”
The nature of Oshie’s latest ailment, suffered in mid-January, was not disclosed by player or team. But Oshie said it was something he’s been dealing with for a bit now. He said he left Washington’s Jan. 15 game early after something didn’t feel right and “everything kind of went the wrong way.”
“It’s been real frustrating,” Oshie said. “Bunch of things that were really kind of out of my control … I’ve never had a year like this.”
Absences, other injuries piling up
Vitek Vanecek, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov took maintenance days and did not practice Tuesday, according to the team. Joe Snively also did not practice after a lingering upper-body injury caught up to him, Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said. | null | null | null | null | null |
The late-season strip of moisture has deposited more than six inches of rain in numerous locales, adding to nearly 50 inches in high terrain since November.
Atmospheric river season usually winds down by the end of February, but the first day of meteorological spring was heralded by a significant deluge in the Pacific Northwest. Parts of Washington State and Oregon are pushing six inches of rain over the past two days from a stream of soaking moisture, spurring flood and landslide concerns in the late-season episode.
Atmospheric river blasts Pacific Northwest, bringing avalanche and flood danger
Flood watches are up for much of western Washington and northwest Oregon west of the Cascades, where an uninterrupted plume of tropical moisture has been blasting ashore. That adds to a memorable atmospheric river season that’s already dropped up to 50 inches in the high terrain of the Coastal Range since the start of November. Surprisingly, soil saturation isn’t a huge problem, thanks to a recent dry spell.
Seattle obliterated its Feb. 28 rainfall record on Monday, more than doubling it. An impressive 2.97 inches came down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, beating out the 1.46 inches that fell on the same date in 1972. Hoquiam and Olympia also set records.
One location in Olympic National Park posted a whopping 14.41 inches of rain from the event, among numerous places that have received at least six inches.
On Tuesday morning, the atmospheric river was shifting into the final act of its performance. A patch of moderate to briefly heavy rain was slipping northeast to the south of Seattle and Everett after drenching Tacoma, with rain stretching down Interstate 50 to roughly Eugene, Ore. Rainfall was sparser and lighter south of the Willamette Valley.
The atmospheric river will begin to shift southward and decrease in coverage and intensity over Washington state during the afternoon. At the same time, a renewed pulse of moisture will focus its attention on Oregon between Tuesday night and late Wednesday. Two or three inches could fall at the coastline, with 3 to 5 inches in the higher terrain.
At least two dozen flood warnings have been issued for stretches of river in the northwestern United States, with streams becoming swollen after the recent rainfall. In Lewis County, Wash., midway between Tacoma, Wash., and Portland, Ore., major flooding is forecast Wednesday even though rain there will have come to an end.
State Route 7 was closed in Lewis County because of water and debris obstructing the roadway. The Washington State Department of Transportation had no immediate estimate for when it would be reopened.
“Residential and commercial areas and farms” could be affected.
In King County, east of Seattle and near Bellevue, the Snoqualmie River also is expected to experience major flooding by Wednesday. Flood stage is reached when the river eclipses a flow rate of 20,000 cubic feet per second; a level more than double that was expected.
“Floodwaters will be deep and swift in some areas,” wrote the Weather Service. Similar areas recorded exceptional rainfall in a mid-November atmospheric river event that completely isolated the city of Vancouver via roads and caused severe impacts in parts of British Columbia.
On Monday, 4.21 inches of rain was tallied at Snoqualmie Pass, with 4.07 inches on Interstate 90 east of North Bend. The interstate was closed for a time Monday.
The agency also was concerned about avalanches in the Cascades.
Atmospheric rivers carry the bulk of their moisture at the mid-levels of the atmosphere, a mile or two above the ground. That’s why higher elevations see more rainfall than communities near sea level or nestled within valleys.
In the past six months, most of the western third of Washington state is running between 9 and 35 inches above average of rainfall, an anomaly particularly pronounced in the high terrain. Seattle set a record for the city’s wettest autumn ever observed with 19.04 inches of rain.
The Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes rated the ongoing atmospheric river as a level 4 out of 5 on its scale, which ascribes categorical rankings on the basis of integrated vapor transport, or the amount of moisture moving ashore through any given cross-section of atmosphere.
Modern research suggests that climate change is playing a significant role in the intensity and frequency of atmospheric rivers, since a warming atmosphere can hold more water. A 2020 paper in Geophysical Research Letters states that by 2100, atmospheric rivers may no longer be primarily beneficial but rather “primarily hazardous.”
“When you start to get to Category 4 and 5, these become those hazardous flood-inducing ones like what we’re seeing in British Columbia and recently in October in California,” said Alan Rhoades, the lead author of the paper and a research scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “These have been associated with some of the largest flood damages in the western U.S.”
A study by Scripps found that atmospheric river storms were responsible for 84 percent of flood damage in the western United States over the past 40 years. Nearly half of the flood damage — amounting to $23 billion — was caused by just 10 atmospheric rivers. Overall, total flood damage amounted to $1.1 billion on average annually in the West. Another study in 2018 stated that atmospheric rivers may become 25 percent wider and longer by the end of the century.
“Category 5 events definitely have occurred, particularly impactful ones, over the last 150 years … but climate change is making it easier for them to reach these Category 4 and 5 thresholds,” Rhoades said. | null | null | null | null | null |
As Biden prepares to address the nation Tuesday night, the reality of his presidency so far has been that his two most ambitious goals — taming partisan division and tamping down the pandemic — have not been runaway successes. And importantly, the latter didn’t happen because the first didn’t.
Of course, we know the answer. Over the course of 2021, a wide gap emerged between those who were and weren’t vaccinated, with Republicans making up an increasing percentage of the latter group. Most Republicans were vaccinated, of course, but at lower rates than Democrats. That overlapped with a general indifference — and at times, hostility — toward adopting other preventive measures, such as limiting social interactions and wearing masks.
The pandemic does seem as though it might be on the brink of collapse. Even Democratic officials are scaling back precautions because of vaccination rates — and the surge in cases that accompanied the omicron variant. It’s possible that the virus’s last gasp came this winter, thanks not to broad precautionary efforts but a version of the virus that was better able to evade those precautions. | null | null | null | null | null |
The yacht of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovitch, the Eclipse, is seen moored on Sept. 4, 2013 near Nice, France. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
Buried in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution is a federal power that will likely be unfamiliar to a layperson. Among the powers granted Congress, it reads, is that to “grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water.” So what does that mean? It means that the federal government is authorized by the Constitution to issue documents (letters of marque) that empower private individuals to legally seize foreign vessels.
The practice of privateering, as it’s known, is largely archaic, having been banned by treaty in most countries in the 19th century. But at the time, the United States declined to sign on, worried that doing so would cut off one way in which its naval inferiority could be offset. Were there a war between the U.S. and a foreign power with a substantial fleet, we could make up some of the difference with the enemy by issuing letters of marque that provided bounties for those willing to engage and destroy foreign ships. In fact, this was a significant factor in the Revolutionary War, during which Britain lost more than 550 ships to American privateers.
On Monday, Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Tex.) introduced the idea once again, in the context of the yachts and jets owned by those oligarchs. In broad strokes, the theory is that the government would establish a system allowing private individuals to seize the vessels and, eventually, make them their own. So instead of that Ukrainian mechanic sinking his Russian boss’s yacht, he could theoretically have gotten some friends together, sailed it away from port and become its new owner.
You can see how there might be some legal questions here. In an interview with The Post conducted over email, Gooden clarified some of his thinking — admitting that some questions were yet to be answered.
“There are private security companies with a global presence that could capitalize on these letters of marque, there are private American citizens who have volunteered to fight alongside the Ukrainians,” he continued, “and I guarantee there are more here at home and abroad who would welcome the opportunity to help seize these assets.”
Of course, this also relies an awful lot on Putin appreciating the above distinction. Given his recent behavior, one might assume that he’d be disinclined to respect a legal distinction between the U.S. government empowering people to seize his friends’ planes and the government seizing those planes directly.
When letters of marque have been issued the U.S. government in the past (the last known occasion having been the War of 1812), they have generally required that privateers post bond in order to ensure compliance with applicable international laws. Gooden clarified that his process, if enacted, would exclude the government from liability for, say, deadly shootouts or violations of international borders. Another detail to be worked out.
It’s extremely unlikely that Congress will enact this idea, of course, given both the questions and the downside risk. (Namely: stoking nuclear war.) But, hey, these are unprecedented times. So you might as well keep an eye on Sweeney’s oligarch tracker. Next thing you know, you could be the proud owner of a very expensive jet. | null | null | null | null | null |
For those looking to obtain widely coveted gaming hardware like Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, it’s a familiar story: Launch day comes and goes, but devices remain out of stock indefinitely. So too with the Steam Deck. Valve’s initial shipment could not even remotely satisfy demand, as evidenced by the months-long wait many prospective owners continue to endure. Someday, Valve hopes to put Decks in the hands of all who pony up the requisite $400 or more, but for now, it’s uncertain when that day will come.
“We’re just gonna keep ramping up production,” Steam Deck designer Jay Shaw told The Post. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any numbers to share. Supply chain issues are a very real thing. You hate to hear it because everybody says it over and over and over again, but it is 100 percent true that we cannot make enough of these, and we wish we could.”
Shaw said the plan is to ultimately arrive at “a level at which — fingers crossed, all the variables line up — people will be able to eventually just go order a Deck and have it shipped and receive it a day or two later.” In an ideal world (very much not the one we’re living in, from the look of things) that will happen sometime this year. In the meantime, Steam Deck engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais recommended that people sign up for Valve’s reservation system sooner rather than later.
Valve announced the Steam Deck last year, at which point tech and video game enthusiasts were already well aware of tech supply chain issues born of covid-19 and crypto. These circumstances were not enough to convince Valve to delay the Steam Deck to a potentially less volatile time.
“We would never have been able to predict what supply chain or any other kind of logistical issues would look like in the future,” said Shaw. “So even if we had decided to postpone, I don’t think we would have had confidence to say, ‘Well, in 2023 this is what silicone’s going to look like,' or, 'This is what shipping is going to look like.’ ”
That experience, however, remains in flux. In many ways, the Deck is a peerless piece of hardware, but it falls short where battery life and game compatibility are concerned. The former, especially, was a focus for Valve, with the company working alongside partners like semiconductor manufacturer AMD to create efficient components that would offset the need for a big, heavy battery. Still, it ended up with something of a trade-off; on default settings, demanding Triple-A games like 2018′s “God of War” or the newly released “Elden Ring” sap the Deck of its electronic lifeblood after around 90 minutes. Valve hopes to improve that battery life through operating system and graphics driver optimizations, as well as additional performance options that will let users tweak their in-game experiences to cut down on battery drain. Immense improvement is unlikely, however. | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Why is Apple mum on Ukraine?
Apple chief executive Tim Cook in D.C. on May 11, 2019. (REUTERS/Joshua Roberts//File Photo/File Photo)
Adam Lashinsky is the former executive editor of Fortune Magazine and author of “Inside Apple: How America’s Most Admired — and Secretive — Company Really Works.”
On Friday, a day after Russia launched what he called “a deceptive and absolutely outrageous military attack” on his country, Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, wrote a “Dear Tim” letter to the chief executive of Apple.
He asked Tim Cook “to stop supplying Apple services and products to the Russian Federation, including blocking access to the App Store!” He hoped, he wrote, “that such actions will motivate youth and active population of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression.”
Cook’s public response, at least so far, has been silence. The day before, when the Russian attacks rolled into Ukraine, Cook also took to Twitter. “I am deeply concerned with the situation in Ukraine,” he wrote. “I am thinking of the people who are right now in harm’s way and joining all those calling for peace.”
Cook’s timidity is business as usual for a leader practiced in avoiding political controversy. He voices concern, not outrage. He is thinking of, but not doing a thing for, the Ukrainian people. And he calls for peace rather than condemning the actions of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
These are the carefully chosen words of a man known for choosing his words carefully.
When Cook became CEO in 2011, weeks before the death of Steve Jobs, most observers thought him an unlikely or even accidental CEO. I was not among them. I had covered Cook’s ascent as the head of Apple’s supply chain operations. I described him as Jobs’s alter ego, an opposite so polar that Jobs could take comfort knowing he was being succeeded by someone not a bit like himself.
What I didn’t predict was how politically astute Cook would become by steering clear of politics. Cook has taken brave personal stands, including by coming out as gay in 2014 and throwing Apple’s support firmly behind LGBTQ rights. He has advocated for human rights, female representation on Wall Street, immigration reform and privacy rights.
While sometimes courageous, though, none of these positions have threatened Apple’s business much. In the case of privacy, Cook’s sometimes sanctimonious advocacy is in fact all about business. That’s because Apple, unlike Facebook and Google, doesn’t have a major advertising business that relies on tracking its users.
But when it comes to rocking the boat in ways that could compromise Apple, Cook has stood studiously above the fray — when he’s not actively supporting political figures he presumably might loathe. Though he donated to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, Cook became one of Donald Trump’s favorite CEOs, dining privately with the president and speaking regularly to him. The courtship was fruitful: Cook supported Trump’s reduction of corporate taxes and skillfully persuaded Trump to refrain from imposing tariffs on China that would have affected the importation of Apple’s products manufactured there.
He has been equally effective at avoiding criticism of Xi Jinping’s China. In 2017, I interviewed him at the government-supported Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou and asked about Apple’s willingness to toe the Chinese line, including his appearance days earlier at an event produced by China’s Internet censor. “I know that every country in the world decides their laws and regulations,” he said, the message being that Apple would play by Beijing’s rules. His efforts have paid off. After seeing market share declines in iPhones, Apple recently became the top-selling smartphone in China.
Cook’s pragmatism would be more palatable if he didn’t wrap himself, and Apple, in a cape of idealism. He has kept a photo Robert F. Kennedy in his office, and his Twitter profile quotes the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. asking, “What are you doing for others?”
What can Cook do? At minimum, he can add his considerable voice to let the world know Apple abhors Putin’s criminality. Even Facebook parent Meta, referenced the “invasion of Ukraine” in explaining several actions it took to restrict Russia’s use of its platform. Elon Musk responded to another Ukrainian plea to provide SpaceX’s Starlink satellite service over the country. YouTube temporarily halted the ability of Russian media outlets to monetize their content. Disney paused its releases in Russia; Airbnb has provided funds to open homes to Ukrainian refugees.
Stopping phone sales or suspending the App Store in Russia could have unintended consequences, such as keeping anti-Putin dissidents from communicating via Telegram. Then again, kicking Russian gamers off Apple’s Arcade app or music lovers off Apple Music — and loudly explaining why — might embolden opposition to Putin, just as the Ukrainian digital minister hopes.
Apple did not respond to a request for a comment on its reaction to the Ukraine crisis. Cook has tweeted only once since his comment on “the situation” in Ukraine. It was to note what would have been the 67th birthday of Jobs, who struck high-minded notes about Apple changing the world while making it a point to keep Apple out of politics. “In these challenging times, I’m remembering his call for us to use our time wisely, to pursue excellence, and to leave the world better than we found it,” Cook wrote.
Jobs would indeed be proud.
We must end the war on Ukraine — and put an end to perpetual wars | null | null | null | null | null |
Employment agencies for the two jurisdictions were among the first four selected to receive these new federal grants, which are meant to help claimants of all backgrounds access unemployment benefits, DOL officials announced Tuesday.
After the pandemic put an unprecedented strain on unemployment programs around the country, researchers have pointed to mounting inequities in who applies for benefits — and how much funding is dispersed. The first-of-their-kind grants, including $6.84 million for Virginia and more than $2.28 million for the District, are meant to address those disparities.
“We had to spend a lot of time going back and forth with states about looking at where they think this will actually move the needle, and what the need is,” said Michelle Evermore, deputy director for policy in the Department of Labor’s Office of Unemployment Insurance. “Equity is something we’ve never measured or enforced on.”
More than 49 states and jurisdictions applied for the equity grants. Evermore said D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania and Oregon were the first to be selected because their agencies presented the most thorough applications. More than $20.5 million was distributed in the initial round, and other and remaining applications will be approved on a rolling basis."
The first-of-its-kind grant is a continuation of more than $2 billion in funding allocated to the Department of Labor and made available to U.S. states and jurisdictions through the American Rescue Plan.
Last year, the Department of Labor awarded $140 million in grants to help states enhance fraud protection in their unemployment systems.
“We know that equity and access is a big question," Evermore said. "There are a number of things you can do to make sure that claimants have better access to unemployment insurance.”
Some workers who are eligible for unemployment insurance don’t qualify because they falsely assume they’re ineligible, Evermore said, or because messaging hasn’t reached them.
“A lot of barriers to access are generally a lot more unintentional," Evermore said. | null | null | null | null | null |
One paper provided an analysis of the geographical clustering of patients in the vicinity of the market. The authors of that study — Rasmussen and Andersen among them — said researchers who collected environmental samples after the market was shuttered in early 2020 found that the virus was disproportionately evident in stalls selling animals. Five positive samples were in a stall that had been seen by one of the paper’s authors in 2014 selling raccoon dogs, a mammal capable of carrying coronaviruses. | null | null | null | null | null |
Hartford Hawks (10-18, 8-8 America East) at Albany (NY) Great Danes (13-16, 9-8 America East)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Albany (NY) -2; over/under is 135.5
BOTTOM LINE: Hartford faces the Albany (NY) Great Danes after David Shriver scored 23 points in Hartford’s 83-62 win over the NJIT Highlanders.
The Great Danes have gone 4-7 at home. Albany (NY) has a 4-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Hawks have gone 8-8 against America East opponents. Hartford is eighth in the America East with 6.6 offensive rebounds per game led by Hunter Marks averaging 1.4.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Albany (NY) won the last matchup 71-52 on Feb. 5. Matt Cerruti scored 15 points points to help lead the Great Danes to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jamel Horton is averaging 12.5 points and 4.1 assists for the Great Danes. Cerruti is averaging 11.8 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 48.4% over the last 10 games for Albany (NY).
Austin Williams is averaging 16.4 points and 3.4 assists for the Hawks. Shriver is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Hartford.
LAST 10 GAMES: Great Danes: 5-5, averaging 63.5 points, 26.1 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 5.4 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.2 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Bishop leads Montana State against Southern Utah after 27-point game
Southern Utah Thunderbirds (18-9, 12-5 Big Sky) at Montana State Bobcats (21-7, 13-4 Big Sky)
Bozeman, Montana; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Montana State plays the Southern Utah Thunderbirds after Xavier Bishop scored 27 points in Montana State’s 80-74 loss to the Montana Grizzlies.
The Bobcats have gone 11-1 in home games. Montana State has a 5-3 record in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Montana State won the last matchup 76-71 on Feb. 19. Bishop scored 19 points points to help lead the Bobcats to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyler Patterson averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Bobcats, scoring 7.8 points while shooting 39.2% from beyond the arc. Bishop is shooting 41.7% and averaging 14.5 points over the last 10 games for Montana State.
Tevian Jones averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Thunderbirds, scoring 15.2 points while shooting 31.4% from beyond the arc. John Knight III is averaging 12.9 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals over the past 10 games for Southern Utah. | null | null | null | null | null |
Cain leads Oakland against IUPUI after 20-point game
IUPUI Jaguars (3-25, 1-16 Horizon) at Oakland Golden Grizzlies (19-11, 12-7 Horizon)
Auburn Hills, Michigan; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Oakland -23.5; over/under is 125.5
BOTTOM LINE: Oakland takes on the IUPUI Jaguars after Jamal Cain scored 20 points in Oakland’s 65-57 win over the Cleveland State Vikings.
The Golden Grizzlies have gone 9-3 in home games. Oakland is 8-5 in games decided by 10 or more points.
The Jaguars are 1-16 against Horizon opponents. IUPUI ranks sixth in the Horizon with 8.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Nathan McClure averaging 1.8.
The teams meet for the second time this season. Oakland won 78-45 in the last matchup on Dec. 4. Jalen Moore led Oakland with 15 points, and B.J. Maxwell led IUPUI with 19 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Cain is scoring 20.1 points per game with 10.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists for the Golden Grizzlies. Moore is averaging 16.2 points, 7.2 assists and 2.4 steals over the last 10 games for Oakland.
Mike Depersia is averaging 6.4 points and 3.3 assists for the Jaguars. Maxwell is averaging 15.3 points over the last 10 games for IUPUI.
LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Grizzlies: 4-6, averaging 71.5 points, 30.0 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 9.6 steals and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.8 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Stetson Hatters (11-18, 5-11 ASUN) at Central Arkansas Sugar Bears (10-19, 7-9 ASUN)
Conway, Arkansas; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Central Arkansas -1.5; over/under is 151.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Central Arkansas Sugar Bears play in the ASUN Tournament against the Stetson Hatters.
The Sugar Bears are 7-4 on their home court. Central Arkansas ranks ninth in the ASUN in rebounding with 32.5 rebounds. Darious Hall leads the Sugar Bears with 6.8 boards.
The Hatters have gone 5-11 against ASUN opponents. Stetson ranks seventh in the ASUN with 14.3 assists per game led by Stephan D. Swenson averaging 5.1.
The teams square off for the second time this season. Central Arkansas won the last matchup 79-75 on Feb. 5. Eddy Kayouloud scored 24 to help lead Central Arkansas to the win, and Christiaan Jones scored 20 points for Stetson.
TOP PERFORMERS: Camren Hunter is averaging 14.5 points, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals for the Sugar Bears. Kayouloud is averaging 17 points and 7.4 rebounds over the past 10 games for Central Arkansas.
Chase Johnston is shooting 40.7% from beyond the arc with 3.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hatters, while averaging 15.3 points. Jones is averaging 13.3 points and 7.6 rebounds over the last 10 games for Stetson.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sugar Bears: 4-6, averaging 74.0 points, 33.7 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 6.8 steals and 2.5 blocks per game while shooting 43.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 78.7 points per game.
Hatters: 3-7, averaging 72.4 points, 34.5 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 41.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.7 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
CSU Northridge Matadors (7-20, 3-11 Big West) at UCSB Gauchos (14-10, 6-5 Big West)
Santa Barbara, California; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UCSB -15; over/under is 132.5
BOTTOM LINE: UCSB takes on the CSU Northridge Matadors after Ajay Mitchell scored 30 points in UCSB’s 97-90 overtime victory against the UC Riverside Highlanders.
The Gauchos are 9-3 in home games. UCSB scores 74.5 points and has outscored opponents by 8.5 points per game.
The Matadors have gone 3-11 against Big West opponents. CSU Northridge has a 1-13 record in games decided by 10 or more points.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. UCSB won the last meeting 72-45 on Jan. 26. Miles Norris scored 31 points points to help lead the Gauchos to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell is averaging 12 points and four assists for the Gauchos. Amadou Sow is averaging 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 49.1% over the last 10 games for UCSB.
Atin Wright is averaging 14.4 points for the Matadors. Elijah Hardy is averaging 14.5 points over the last 10 games for CSU Northridge.
Matadors: 2-8, averaging 64.9 points, 27.4 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 8.9 steals and 2.9 blocks per game while shooting 41.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.5 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
Louisville Cardinals (12-16, 6-12 ACC) at Virginia Tech Hokies (18-11, 10-8 ACC)
Blacksburg, Virginia; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Virginia Tech -10.5; over/under is 132
BOTTOM LINE: Louisville visits the Virginia Tech Hokies after Sydney Curry scored 28 points in Louisville’s 99-77 loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
The Hokies have gone 10-4 at home. Virginia Tech averages 69.8 points and has outscored opponents by 8.0 points per game.
The Cardinals are 6-12 against ACC opponents. Louisville ranks fourth in the ACC with 26.0 defensive rebounds per game led by Malik Williams averaging 5.9.
The Hokies and Cardinals face off Tuesday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Keve Aluma is scoring 15.8 points per game and averaging 6.6 rebounds for the Hokies. Hunter Cattoor is averaging 6.8 points and 3.2 rebounds over the last 10 games for Virginia Tech.
Noah Locke is scoring 9.9 points per game and averaging 2.3 rebounds for the Cardinals. El Ellis is averaging 7.3 points and 1.4 rebounds over the last 10 games for Louisville.
Cardinals: 1-9, averaging 69.3 points, 31.2 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 7.1 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.0 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
Dayton Flyers (20-9, 12-4 A-10) at Richmond Spiders (19-10, 10-6 A-10)
Richmond, Virginia; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Richmond -2; over/under is 133.5
BOTTOM LINE: Richmond takes on the Dayton Flyers after Tyler Burton scored 23 points in Richmond’s 68-66 victory against the Saint Louis Billikens.
The Spiders have gone 11-3 at home. Richmond scores 73.1 points while outscoring opponents by 3.7 points per game.
The Flyers are 12-4 against A-10 opponents. Dayton ranks fourth in the A-10 scoring 32.6 points per game in the paint led by Daron Holmes averaging 8.3.
The Spiders and Flyers match up Tuesday for the first time in A-10 play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jacob Gilyard averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Spiders, scoring 12.7 points while shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc. Burton is averaging 16.9 points and 7.5 rebounds over the last 10 games for Richmond.
Holmes is shooting 63.6% and averaging 11.6 points for the Flyers. Koby Brea is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Dayton.
LAST 10 GAMES: Spiders: 7-3, averaging 70.4 points, 29.9 rebounds, 12.2 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.5 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Green Bay Phoenix (5-24, 4-16 Horizon) at Detroit Mercy Titans (13-14, 10-7 Horizon)
Detroit; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Detroit Mercy -10; over/under is 133.5
BOTTOM LINE: Detroit Mercy plays the Green Bay Phoenix after Antoine Davis scored 26 points in Detroit Mercy’s 81-78 loss to the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.
The Titans are 8-1 on their home court. Detroit Mercy is sixth in the Horizon with 8.3 offensive rebounds per game led by Madut Akec averaging 2.1.
The Phoenix are 4-16 in Horizon play. Green Bay is 4-14 in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams square off for the second time this season. Green Bay won the last meeting 70-63 on Jan. 21. Cade Meyer scored 16 to help lead Green Bay to the victory, and Davis scored 25 points for Detroit Mercy.
TOP PERFORMERS: Davis is scoring 23.7 points per game with 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Titans. D.J. Harvey is averaging 11.4 points and 5.8 rebounds over the past 10 games for Detroit Mercy.
Kamari McGee is averaging 11.3 points for the Phoenix. Meyer is averaging 13.3 points over the last 10 games for Green Bay.
Phoenix: 1-9, averaging 61.8 points, 24.9 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 7.0 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 42.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.7 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
Western Michigan Broncos (7-22, 3-15 MAC) at Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-19, 5-13 MAC)
Kalamazoo, Michigan; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Eastern Michigan -4.5; over/under is 138.5
BOTTOM LINE: Eastern Michigan hosts the Western Michigan Broncos after Noah Farrakhan scored 27 points in Eastern Michigan’s 75-64 loss to the Ball State Cardinals.
The Eagles are 8-6 on their home court. Eastern Michigan has a 5-15 record against teams over .500.
The Broncos have gone 3-15 against MAC opponents. Western Michigan has a 4-17 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams play for the second time this season in MAC play. Eastern Michigan won the last meeting 85-79 on Jan. 5. Farrakhan scored 25 points points to help lead the Eagles to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Farrakhan is averaging 16.9 points for the Eagles. Nathan Scott is averaging 8.1 points over the last 10 games for Eastern Michigan.
Lamar Norman Jr. is averaging 19.6 points for the Broncos. Mileek McMillan is averaging 8.1 points over the past 10 games for Western Michigan. | null | null | null | null | null |
North Alabama Lions (9-20, 2-14 ASUN) at Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (20-10, 10-6 ASUN)
Fort Myers, Florida; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: FGCU -10.5; over/under is 141.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles and North Alabama Lions meet in the ASUN Tournament.
The Eagles are 14-3 in home games. FGCU has a 3-2 record in one-possession games.
The Lions are 2-14 against ASUN opponents. North Alabama is 8-11 in games decided by at least 10 points.
The teams play each other for the second time this season. FGCU won the last meeting 92-60 on Feb. 10. Tavian Dunn-Martin scored 18 to help lead FGCU to the victory, and Daniel Ortiz scored 12 points for North Alabama.
C.J. Brim is averaging 10 points for the Lions. Ortiz is averaging 18.4 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 37.8% over the past 10 games for North Alabama.
Lions: 1-9, averaging 63.3 points, 32.1 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 5.3 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 36.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.9 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
Florida Gators (18-11, 8-8 SEC) at Vanderbilt Commodores (14-14, 6-10 SEC)
Nashville, Tennessee; Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Vanderbilt hosts the Florida Gators after Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 32 points in Vanderbilt’s 74-69 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
The Commodores have gone 10-7 in home games. Vanderbilt is eighth in the SEC in team defense, allowing 67.2 points while holding opponents to 42.2% shooting.
The Gators are 8-8 in SEC play. Florida averages 70.3 points and has outscored opponents by 5.4 points per game.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Florida won the last meeting 61-42 on Jan. 22. Tyree Appleby scored 11 points to help lead the Gators to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pippen is averaging 20.2 points, 3.9 assists and two steals for the Commodores. Jordan Wright is averaging 7.5 points over the last 10 games for Vanderbilt.
Colin Castleton is averaging 16 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks for the Gators. Appleby is averaging 9.6 points over the past 10 games for Florida.
LAST 10 GAMES: Commodores: 4-6, averaging 71.9 points, 30.9 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 10.4 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 42.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.9 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Georgetown visits Seton Hall following Rhoden's 30-point game
Georgetown Hoyas (6-22, 0-17 Big East) at Seton Hall Pirates (19-10, 9-8 Big East)
Newark, New Jersey; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Seton Hall plays the Georgetown Hoyas after Jared Rhoden scored 30 points in Seton Hall’s 82-66 win against the Xavier Musketeers.
The Pirates have gone 12-3 at home. Seton Hall scores 69.5 points while outscoring opponents by 6.9 points per game.
The Hoyas are 0-17 in conference play. Georgetown has a 0-3 record in one-possession games.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Seton Hall won the last matchup 70-63 on Feb. 2. Tray Jackson scored 21 points points to help lead the Pirates to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kadary Richmond is averaging nine points, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals for the Pirates. Rhoden is averaging 10.9 points over the last 10 games for Seton Hall.
Dante Harris is averaging 12 points, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals for the Hoyas. Don Carey is averaging 10.3 points over the last 10 games for Georgetown. | null | null | null | null | null |
Tennessee Volunteers (21-7, 12-4 SEC) at Georgia Bulldogs (6-23, 1-15 SEC)
Athens, Georgia; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Georgia -16; over/under is 145.5
BOTTOM LINE: Georgia faces the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers after Kario Oquendo scored 20 points in Georgia’s 84-72 loss to the Florida Gators.
The Bulldogs have gone 6-12 at home. Georgia allows 78.3 points to opponents and has been outscored by 7.7 points per game.
The Volunteers have gone 12-4 against SEC opponents. Tennessee ranks second in the SEC giving up 62.8 points while holding opponents to 40.5% shooting.
The Bulldogs and Volunteers square off Tuesday for the first time in SEC play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Aaron Cook is averaging 10.1 points and 5.6 assists for the Bulldogs. Oquendo is averaging 13.4 points over the last 10 games for Georgia.
Santiago Vescovi averages 2.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Volunteers, scoring 13.6 points while shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc. Kennedy Chandler is shooting 46.1% and averaging 9.3 points over the last 10 games for Tennessee.
Volunteers: 8-2, averaging 66.1 points, 39.8 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 7.8 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 36.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.6 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
American Eagles (9-21, 5-13 Patriot) at Holy Cross Crusaders (9-21, 7-11 Patriot)
Worcester, Massachusetts; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Holy Cross -2.5; over/under is 130.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Holy Cross Crusaders square off against the American Eagles in the Patriot Tournament.
The Crusaders are 5-8 on their home court. Holy Cross is 1-1 in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Eagles are 5-13 in conference games. American gives up 71.2 points to opponents while being outscored by 7.9 points per game.
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Eagles won 60-54 in the last matchup on Feb. 15. Matt Rogers led the Eagles with 20 points, and Kyrell Luc led the Crusaders with 15 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gerrale Gates is averaging 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Crusaders. Luc is averaging 9.8 points over the last 10 games for Holy Cross.
Johnny O’Neil is shooting 36.1% from beyond the arc with 1.5 made 3-pointers per game for the Eagles, while averaging 8.5 points. Stacy Beckton Jr. is shooting 44.6% and averaging 10.9 points over the last 10 games for American.
LAST 10 GAMES: Crusaders: 4-6, averaging 59.3 points, 33.4 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 4.4 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 35.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.8 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Kennesaw State Owls and Eastern Kentucky Colonels meet in ASUN Tournament
Eastern Kentucky Colonels (13-17, 5-11 ASUN) at Kennesaw State Owls (12-17, 7-9 ASUN)
Kennesaw, Georgia; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Kennesaw State -4.5; over/under is 151.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Kennesaw State Owls square off against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels in the ASUN Tournament.
The Owls have gone 9-6 at home. Kennesaw State averages 74.8 points while outscoring opponents by 3.9 points per game.
The Colonels have gone 5-11 against ASUN opponents. Eastern Kentucky ranks sixth in the ASUN shooting 35.2% from 3-point range.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Colonels won 82-81 in the last matchup on Feb. 3. Michael Moreno led the Colonels with 21 points, and Chris Youngblood led the Owls with 20 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Stroud is averaging 6.2 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Owls. Youngblood is averaging 14.4 points over the last 10 games for Kennesaw State.
Devontae Blanton is averaging 10.6 points and 6.2 rebounds for the Colonels. Moreno is averaging 16.9 points and 6.3 rebounds over the last 10 games for Eastern Kentucky. | null | null | null | null | null |
Bucknell Bison (8-22, 5-13 Patriot) at Lafayette Leopards (10-19, 7-11 Patriot)
Easton, Pennsylvania; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lafayette -5.5; over/under is 145.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Lafayette Leopards play in the Patriot Tournament against the Bucknell Bison.
The Leopards are 6-8 in home games. Lafayette ranks ninth in the Patriot with 28.8 points per game in the paint led by Neal Quinn averaging 4.3.
The Bison are 5-13 in conference play. Bucknell is 4-2 in one-possession games.
The teams square off for the third time this season. Bucknell won the last matchup 92-89 on Feb. 19. Andrew Funk scored 20 to help lead Bucknell to the win, and Quinn scored 24 points for Lafayette.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tyrone Perry averages 2.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Leopards, scoring 11.6 points while shooting 36.4% from beyond the arc. Quinn is averaging 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists over the past 10 games for Lafayette.
Funk is averaging 17.7 points for the Bison. Xander Rice is averaging 10.9 points over the last 10 games for Bucknell.
LAST 10 GAMES: Leopards: 5-5, averaging 75.3 points, 25.2 rebounds, 17.7 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.9 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
North Florida Ospreys (11-19, 7-9 ASUN) at Lipscomb Bisons (13-18, 6-10 ASUN)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Lipscomb -2.5; over/under is 148.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Lipscomb Bisons take on the North Florida Ospreys in the ASUN Tournament.
The Bisons are 8-6 in home games. Lipscomb leads the ASUN with 26.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Ahsan Asadullah averaging 7.5.
The Ospreys are 7-9 against ASUN opponents. North Florida ranks ninth in the ASUN shooting 33.9% from 3-point range.
The teams square off for the second time this season. Lipscomb won the last matchup 77-74 on Jan. 29. Asadullah scored 19 to help lead Lipscomb to the victory, and Carter Hendricksen scored 26 points for North Florida.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jacob Ognacevic is scoring 11.8 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists for the Bisons. Asadullah is averaging 13.5 points, 9.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists over the last 10 games for Lipscomb.
Jarius Hicklen is shooting 38.4% and averaging 12.1 points for the Ospreys. Jose Placer is averaging 3.6 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for North Florida.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bisons: 4-6, averaging 72.3 points, 33.1 rebounds, 14.5 assists, 5.2 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.7 points per game.
Ospreys: 7-3, averaging 72.5 points, 33.4 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 4.1 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 70.3 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: Old Dominion faces the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs after Austin Trice scored 23 points in Old Dominion’s 83-63 victory over the Florida International Panthers.
The Bulldogs are 12-3 in home games. Louisiana Tech ranks seventh in C-USA at limiting opponent scoring, allowing 68.9 points while holding opponents to 41.8% shooting.
The Monarchs have gone 7-9 against C-USA opponents. Old Dominion is ninth in C-USA with 12.7 assists per game led by Jaylin Hunter averaging 4.3.
The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kenneth Lofton Jr. is scoring 16.4 points per game with 10.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists for the Bulldogs. Cobe Williams is averaging 10.5 points and 2.8 rebounds while shooting 37.6% over the past 10 games for Louisiana Tech.
C.J. Keyser is scoring 14.1 points per game with 2.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists for the Monarchs. Trice is averaging 13.2 points and 10.9 rebounds over the last 10 games for Old Dominion. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: DePaul faces the Marquette Golden Eagles after Javon Freeman-Liberty scored 39 points in DePaul’s 99-94 victory against the Saint John’s (NY) Red Storm.
The Blue Demons are 10-7 on their home court. DePaul ranks eighth in the Big East with 23.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Freeman-Liberty averaging 5.7.
The Golden Eagles have gone 10-7 against Big East opponents. Marquette has a 4-2 record in one-possession games.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Marquette won the last matchup 87-76 on Jan. 12. Greg Elliott scored 25 points to help lead the Golden Eagles to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: David Jones is scoring 14.6 points per game and averaging 7.4 rebounds for the Blue Demons. Freeman-Liberty is averaging 15.6 points and 5.1 rebounds over the last 10 games for DePaul.
Justin Lewis is averaging 16.4 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Golden Eagles. Kam Jones is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Marquette. | null | null | null | null | null |
Miami (OH) RedHawks (12-17, 6-12 MAC) at Central Michigan Chippewas (7-20, 6-10 MAC)
Mount Pleasant, Michigan; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Central Michigan -2.5; over/under is 149.5
BOTTOM LINE: Central Michigan hosts the Miami (OH) RedHawks after Cameron Healy scored 32 points in Central Michigan’s 73-71 loss to the Kent State Golden Flashes.
The Chippewas are 2-8 on their home court. Central Michigan has a 3-14 record against teams above .500.
The RedHawks are 6-12 in MAC play. Miami (OH) has a 3-4 record in one-possession games.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Central Michigan won 83-69 in the last matchup on Feb. 25. Kevin Miller led Central Michigan with 24 points, and Mekhi Lairy led Miami (OH) with 18 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Miller is scoring 13.0 points per game with 3.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Chippewas. Healy is averaging 12.8 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 40.9% over the last 10 games for Central Michigan.
Dae Dae Grant averages 2.2 made 3-pointers per game for the RedHawks, scoring 17.4 points while shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc. Lairy is averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games for Miami (OH).
LAST 10 GAMES: Chippewas: 3-7, averaging 70.4 points, 32.0 rebounds, 12.5 assists, 6.3 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 41.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.4 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Middle Tennessee visits Charlotte after Young's 26-point performance
BOTTOM LINE: Charlotte plays the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders after Jahmir Young scored 26 points in Charlotte’s 74-69 loss to the Florida Atlantic Owls.
The 49ers are 10-4 in home games. Charlotte ranks third in C-USA with 14.3 assists per game led by Young averaging 3.6.
The Blue Raiders are 13-3 in conference matchups. Middle Tennessee is fifth in C-USA scoring 74.9 points per game and is shooting 45.1%.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Middle Tennessee won the last meeting 78-63 on Feb. 13. Josh Jefferson scored 30 points to help lead the Blue Raiders to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Young is averaging 19.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the 49ers. Robert Braswell is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Charlotte.
Jefferson is shooting 37.0% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Blue Raiders, while averaging 14.7 points. Eli Lawrence is shooting 50.0% and averaging 10.9 points over the last 10 games for Middle Tennessee. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: Maryland hosts the Minnesota Golden Gophers after Fatts Russell scored 27 points in Maryland’s 75-60 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The Terrapins are 9-8 on their home court. Maryland is 2-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Golden Gophers are 4-14 against Big Ten opponents. Minnesota is 6-9 in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Terrapins and Golden Gophers meet Wednesday for the first time in conference play this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Eric Ayala is shooting 33.9% from beyond the arc with 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Terrapins, while averaging 14.4 points. Russell is averaging 12.8 points over the past 10 games for Maryland.
Jamison Battle is averaging 16.5 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Golden Gophers. Payton Willis is averaging 10.3 points and 3.4 assists over the last 10 games for Minnesota. | null | null | null | null | null |
Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-21, 2-16 Big Ten) at Ohio State Buckeyes (18-8, 11-6 Big Ten)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Ohio State -14.5; over/under is 151.5
BOTTOM LINE: Nebraska visits the No. 23 Ohio State Buckeyes after Bryce McGowens scored 25 points in Nebraska’s 93-70 victory against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
The Buckeyes are 12-1 on their home court. Ohio State is 3-3 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Cornhuskers are 2-16 in conference play. Nebraska is 3-19 against opponents over .500.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Ohio State won the last matchup 87-79 on Jan. 3. Malaki Branham scored 35 points points to help lead the Buckeyes to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jamari Wheeler is averaging seven points and 3.3 assists for the Buckeyes. E.J. Liddell is averaging 12.3 points over the last 10 games for Ohio State.
C.J. Wilcher averages 1.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Cornhuskers, scoring 8.0 points while shooting 40.2% from beyond the arc. McGowens is shooting 41.0% and averaging 12.7 points over the last 10 games for Nebraska. | null | null | null | null | null |
Nevada Wolf Pack (12-15, 6-10 MWC) at Boise State Broncos (23-6, 14-2 MWC)
Boise, Idaho; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Boise State -10.5; over/under is 139.5
BOTTOM LINE: Boise State hosts the Nevada Wolf Pack after Marcus Shaver Jr. scored 27 points in Boise State’s 86-76 victory against the UNLV Rebels.
The Broncos have gone 12-3 in home games. Boise State scores 69.1 points and has outscored opponents by 8.9 points per game.
The Wolf Pack are 6-10 in MWC play. Nevada ranks third in the MWC with 25.6 defensive rebounds per game led by AJ Bramah averaging 4.5.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Boise State won the last meeting 85-70 on Jan. 13. Shaver scored 28 points points to help lead the Broncos to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Abu Kigab is averaging 14.4 points and six rebounds for the Broncos. Tyson Degenhart is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Boise State.
Desmond Cambridge is averaging 16.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals for the Wolf Pack. Will Baker is averaging 7.8 points over the last 10 games for Nevada.
LAST 10 GAMES: Broncos: 8-2, averaging 72.1 points, 29.2 rebounds, 9.9 assists, 6.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 62.9 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
No. 10 Wisconsin hosts No. 8 Purdue after Edey's 25-point showing
Purdue Boilermakers (24-5, 13-5 Big Ten) at Wisconsin Badgers (23-5, 14-4 Big Ten)
Madison, Wisconsin; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Purdue visits the No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers after Zach Edey scored 25 points in Purdue’s 68-65 loss to the Michigan State Spartans.
The Badgers have gone 11-3 in home games. Wisconsin scores 70.9 points while outscoring opponents by 4.7 points per game.
The Boilermakers are 13-5 against Big Ten opponents. Purdue is 2-3 in one-possession games.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Wisconsin won the last matchup 74-69 on Jan. 4. Jonathan Davis scored 37 points points to help lead the Badgers to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Davis is averaging 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds for the Badgers. Brad Davison is averaging 1.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Wisconsin.
Sasha Stefanovic is averaging 11.2 points and 3.4 assists for the Boilermakers. Jaden Ivey is averaging 12.3 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 43.7% over the past 10 games for Purdue. | null | null | null | null | null |
Kent State Golden Flashes (19-9, 14-4 MAC) at Northern Illinois Huskies (8-20, 5-13 MAC)
DeKalb, Illinois; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Northern Illinois -8.5; over/under is 132
BOTTOM LINE: Kent State visits the Northern Illinois Huskies after Andrew Garcia scored 21 points in Kent State’s 73-71 win against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
The Huskies have gone 2-7 in home games. Northern Illinois is 2-11 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 12.8 turnovers per game.
The Golden Flashes are 14-4 in conference matchups. Kent State is seventh in the MAC with 23.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Malique Jacobs averaging 5.4.
The teams meet for the second time in conference play this season. Northern Illinois won 65-63 in the last matchup on Jan. 12. Kaleb Thornton led Northern Illinois with 17 points, and Sincere Carry led Kent State with 16 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Anthony Crump is averaging 5.9 points for the Huskies. Trendon Hankerson is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Northern Illinois.
Carry is averaging 18.6 points, 4.6 assists and 1.5 steals for the Golden Flashes. Jacobs is averaging 10.3 points over the last 10 games for Kent State.
Golden Flashes: 10-0, averaging 74.9 points, 33.3 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 5.9 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 61.8 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
West Virginia Mountaineers (14-15, 3-13 Big 12) at Oklahoma Sooners (15-14, 5-11 Big 12)
Norman, Oklahoma; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Oklahoma -5.5; over/under is 135.5
BOTTOM LINE: West Virginia visits the Oklahoma Sooners after Malik Curry scored 27 points in West Virginia’s 82-81 loss to the Texas Longhorns.
The Sooners have gone 10-5 in home games. Oklahoma ranks fifth in the Big 12 shooting 33.0% from downtown, led by Jake Moser shooting 100.0% from 3-point range.
The Mountaineers are 3-13 in conference play. West Virginia is sixth in the Big 12 with 9.2 offensive rebounds per game led by Gabe Osabuohien averaging 2.2.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Oklahoma won the last matchup 72-62 on Jan. 27. Tanner Groves scored 21 points points to help lead the Sooners to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Groves is scoring 12.1 points per game and averaging 5.4 rebounds for the Sooners. Umoja Gibson is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Oklahoma.
Taz Sherman is averaging 18.3 points for the Mountaineers. Sean McNeil is averaging 7.1 points over the last 10 games for West Virginia.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sooners: 3-7, averaging 55.2 points, 25.2 rebounds, 11.2 assists, 9.1 steals and 1.0 block per game while shooting 42.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.1 points per game. | null | null | null | null | null |
Binghamton Bearcats (11-15, 8-9 America East) at UMBC Retrievers (15-13, 10-7 America East)
Baltimore; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: UMBC -6.5; over/under is 143.5
BOTTOM LINE: UMBC faces the Binghamton Bearcats after L.J. Owens scored 20 points in UMBC’s 93-79 victory over the Maine Black Bears.
The Retrievers have gone 8-4 in home games. UMBC is 1-1 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.
The Bearcats have gone 8-9 against America East opponents. Binghamton ranks seventh in the America East with 11.4 assists per game led by Jacob Falko averaging 3.2.
The teams play for the second time this season in America East play. UMBC won the last matchup 70-68 on Jan. 29. Keondre Kennedy scored 17 points points to help lead the Retrievers to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Darnell Rogers is averaging 11.3 points and 3.8 assists for the Retrievers. Kennedy is averaging 16.6 points over the last 10 games for UMBC.
Falko is scoring 12.6 points per game with 4.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Bearcats. John McGriff is averaging 12 points over the last 10 games for Binghamton. | null | null | null | null | null |
Rhode Island hosts Saint Louis following Okoro's 23-point performance
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Louis visits the Rhode Island Rams after Francis Okoro scored 23 points in Saint Louis’ 68-66 loss to the Richmond Spiders.
The Rams are 10-4 in home games. Rhode Island scores 67.0 points while outscoring opponents by 3.1 points per game.
The Billikens have gone 10-6 against A-10 opponents. Saint Louis leads the A-10 with 37.2 points per game in the paint led by Okoro averaging 7.9.
TOP PERFORMERS: Makhi Mitchell is averaging 10 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Rams. Makhel Mitchell is averaging 6.4 points over the last 10 games for Rhode Island.
Okoro is averaging 10.9 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Billikens. Gibson Jimerson is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Saint Louis. | null | null | null | null | null |
Saint Bonaventure Bonnies (19-7, 11-4 A-10) at VCU Rams (20-7, 13-3 A-10)
Morgantown, West Virginia; Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: VCU -3.5; over/under is 132.5
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Bonaventure will try to earn its 20th win this season when the Bonnies face the VCU Rams.
The Rams are 10-4 in home games. VCU ranks second in the A-10 with 34.4 points per game in the paint led by KeShawn Curry averaging 6.7.
The Bonnies are 11-4 in A-10 play. Saint Bonaventure scores 71.3 points while outscoring opponents by 4.9 points per game.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Saint Bonaventure won the last matchup 73-53 on Jan. 15. Jalen Adaway scored 25 points to help lead the Bonnies to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vince Williams is averaging 12.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals for the Rams. Curry is averaging 8.9 points over the past 10 games for VCU.
Adaway is scoring 15.9 points per game and averaging 6.4 rebounds for the Bonnies. Dominick Welch is averaging 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds over the last 10 games for Saint Bonaventure. | null | null | null | null | null |
Saint Joseph's (PA) faces La Salle on 6-game slide
BOTTOM LINE: Saint Joseph’s (PA) is looking to break its six-game losing streak with a victory over La Salle.
The Explorers have gone 7-8 in home games. La Salle is third in the A-10 in rebounding averaging 33.2 rebounds. Christian Ray leads the Explorers with 6.8 boards.
The Hawks are 4-12 in conference matchups. Saint Joseph’s (PA) has a 6-14 record against teams over .500.
The teams square off for the second time this season in A-10 play. La Salle won the last meeting 75-64 on Jan. 17. Jack Clark scored 21 points points to help lead the Explorers to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Clifton Moore is averaging 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.7 blocks for the Explorers. Clark is averaging 9.8 points over the last 10 games for La Salle.
Taylor Funk averages 2.7 made 3-pointers per game for the Hawks, scoring 13.4 points while shooting 37.9% from beyond the arc. Erik Reynolds II is shooting 46.0% and averaging 10.1 points over the last 10 games for Saint Joseph’s (PA). | null | null | null | null | null |
San Jose State Spartans (8-20, 1-15 MWC) at Air Force Falcons (10-17, 3-13 MWC)
Colorado Springs, Colorado; Tuesday, 9 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Air Force -5.5; over/under is 128.5
BOTTOM LINE: San Jose State visits the Air Force Falcons after Omari Moore scored 20 points in San Jose State’s 77-52 loss to the San Diego State Aztecs.
The Falcons are 6-6 on their home court. Air Force is 5-14 against opponents over .500.
The Spartans are 1-15 in conference matchups. San Jose State is 3-4 when it wins the turnover battle and averages 12.4 turnovers per game.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Air Force won the last meeting 63-53 on Jan. 26. A.J. Walker scored 12 points points to help lead the Falcons to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Walker is averaging 14.6 points for the Falcons. Jake Heidbreder is averaging 1.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Air Force.
Moore is scoring 13.3 points per game with 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Spartans. Myron Amey Jr. is averaging 9.4 points over the last 10 games for San Jose State. | null | null | null | null | null |
Ohio Bobcats (23-6, 14-4 MAC) at Bowling Green Falcons (12-17, 5-13 MAC)
Bowling Green, Ohio; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bowling Green -8.5; over/under is 158.5
BOTTOM LINE: Ohio plays the Bowling Green Falcons after Mark Sears scored 20 points in Ohio’s 91-83 loss to the Akron Zips.
The Falcons are 8-7 on their home court. Bowling Green averages 12.0 turnovers per game and is 7-11 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents.
The teams play for the second time in conference play this season. Ohio won the last meeting 85-78 on Jan. 12. Jason Carter scored 22 points to help lead the Bobcats to the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Myron Gordon is averaging 11.3 points, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals for the Falcons. Daeqwon Plowden is averaging 15.6 points and seven rebounds over the last 10 games for Bowling Green.
Ben Vander Plas is shooting 33.7% from beyond the arc with 1.9 made 3-pointers per game for the Bobcats, while averaging 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals. Sears is shooting 40.1% and averaging 14.6 points over the last 10 games for Ohio. | null | null | null | null | null |
Toledo Rockets (23-6, 15-3 MAC) at Buffalo Bulls (19-8, 13-4 MAC)
Buffalo, New York; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Buffalo -2.5; over/under is 159.5
BOTTOM LINE: Toledo faces the Buffalo Bulls after Ryan Rollins scored 24 points in Toledo’s 88-73 win over the Miami (OH) RedHawks.
The Bulls are 9-2 in home games. Buffalo averages 81.1 points while outscoring opponents by 9.4 points per game.
The Rockets have gone 15-3 against MAC opponents. Toledo ranks third in the MAC with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game led by JT Shumate averaging 2.1.
The teams square off for the second time in conference play this season. Toledo won the last matchup 86-75 on Jan. 26. Rollins scored 25 points to help lead the Rockets to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jeenathan Williams averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulls, scoring 19.3 points while shooting 45.4% from beyond the arc. Ronaldo Segu is averaging 15.1 points and 5.3 assists over the past 10 games for Buffalo.
Rayj Dennis is averaging 12.6 points, six rebounds and 3.9 assists for the Rockets. Rollins is averaging 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 48.1% over the last 10 games for Toledo.
Rockets: 8-2, averaging 76.8 points, 35.8 rebounds, 16.9 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.5 points. | null | null | null | null | null |
BOTTOM LINE: The UNC Asheville Bulldogs play the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the Big South Tournament.
The Bulldogs are 9-6 on their home court. UNC Asheville is 5-8 against opponents over .500.
The Buccaneers have gone 1-15 against Big South opponents. Charleston Southern ranks second in the Big South with 33.4 rebounds per game led by Cheikh Faye averaging 5.0.
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Bulldogs won 85-66 in the last matchup on Feb. 17. Drew Pember led the Bulldogs with 30 points, and Deontaye Buskey led the Buccaneers with 21 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tajion Jones averages 2.6 made 3-pointers per game for the Bulldogs, scoring 12.7 points while shooting 38.5% from beyond the arc. Pember is averaging 15.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks over the last 10 games for UNC Asheville.
Tahlik Chavez is shooting 38.6% and averaging 11.8 points for the Buccaneers. Claudell Harris Jr. is averaging 11.6 points over the last 10 games for Charleston Southern. | null | null | null | null | null |
The Red Storm are 11-7 in home games. Saint John’s (NY) ranks third in the Big East with 10.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Posh Alexander averaging 2.8.
The Musketeers have gone 7-10 against Big East opponents. Xavier has a 4-2 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
The teams square off for the second time this season in Big East play. Saint John’s (NY) won the last meeting 86-73 on Feb. 16. Julian Champagnie scored 27 points points to help lead the Red Storm to the victory.
TOP PERFORMERS: Champagnie is averaging 19 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the Red Storm. Aaron Wheeler is averaging 1.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Saint John’s (NY).
Jack Nunge is averaging 13 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Musketeers. Paul Scruggs is averaging 8.5 points over the past 10 games for Xavier. | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: What’s missing from the Biden administration’s otherwise correct response on Ukraine
Ukrainians are taken by a truck to the front line to fight after joining the Territorial Defense Forces in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 26. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
Missing from the Biden administration’s otherwise correct response (economic sanctions, sending troops to Eastern Europe) to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is invoking international law. The events leading to World War II led to establishing a bright-line rule that aggressive war is contrary to international law. The United States enforced this legal principle by the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials in the wake of World War II. The principal indictment against the defendants in those proceedings was “crimes against peace,” planning and implementing military aggression against other states. This legal injunction is enshrined in the charter of the United Nations.
The Biden administration should take the lead to cause NATO to create an international process and an international tribunal to carry out a possible prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin and others who planned and carried out the invasion of Ukraine. Because the legal rule against wars of aggression is of universal significance, the United States and NATO should invite all U.N. members to participate in these legal proceedings.
Mr. Putin warned that “whoever tries to hinder us” will face “consequences … never faced in your history.” International law must be employed to give the lie to these threats.
Thomas Schoenbaum, Alexandria
This is not an abstract concept. For every human life lost in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin should be held accountable for a crime against humanity.
Robert Senseney, Gaithersburg
How is it that economic sanctions in response to the Ukraine crisis have not been accompanied by the expulsion of all Russian diplomatic personnel from Western capitals? The futility of dialogue is evident. The Russian government deserves the same embassy presence in Washington that the United States affords North Korea and Iran: none whatsoever.
David Leatherwood, Reston | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: It’s not about protecting women in sports
Katie Ledecky reacts after winning the women's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo on July 28. (Matthias Schrader/Associated Press)
I’d like to remind everyone about Katie Ledecky, who regularly outswam the men on her team at practices, and whose 200-yard freestyle personal best is 1:40.36, set in 2017 at the NCAA championships. Missy Franklin swam the 200-yard free at the 2015 Division I NCAA championships in 1:39.10, and Simone Manuel came in second at 1:41.45. 2021 NCAA Division I women’s 200 freestyle times are all between about 1:42 and 1:45.
Given that Ms. Thomas’s swim times are in the same ballpark as those of her other (presumably cisgender) female competitors, I think we need to face the fact that the kerfuffle over Ms. Thomas isn’t about “biological advantage,” nor is it about “fairness.” It seems to be about transphobia, pure and simple.
Beth Lee-De Amici, Crofton | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Washington Gas can solve the methane leak problem
Leaks of methane from the gas distribution network are a major problem in D.C. [“Coalition reports finding hundreds of gas leaks,” Metro, Feb. 24]. Not only can it be dangerous, but the methane that leaks out is, pound for pound, 85 times worse than carbon dioxide in its impact on global temperatures (over a 20-year horizon).
To stop this, Washington Gas needs to be charged for the damage caused by its failure to stop such leaks. This does not require the wholesale replacement of its pipe network, only fixing leaks where they occur.
One can determine how much gas is leaking: It’s the difference between how much gas is sent into the distribution network minus what is metered at the other end. Washington Gas knows both.
The charge should reflect the damage. The Biden administration set the social cost of carbon (from its impact on global warming) at $51 per metric ton of CO2. Methane gas is about 85 times worse, or $4,335 per ton. While Washington Gas argues that it already has an incentive to stop leaks — losing revenue from gas that leaks — the cost of that gas (based on the wholesale commodity charge for gas in my January bill here in D.C.) was just $346 per metric ton.
Washington Gas will find and stop leaks when it has to pay a $4,335 penalty per ton and not just the $346 cost of the gas. And the $4,335 would not be chargeable against customer bills but rather would come out of corporate profits. That would get Washington Gas’s attention.
Frank Lysy, Washington | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Why we have hate-crime laws
Marchers make their way on Feb. 23 to the site where Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed two years ago in Brunswick, Ga. (Lewis M. Levine/The Coastal Courier via AP)
In suggesting that Ahmaud Arbery’s killers’ hate-crime prosecution and verdict amounted to “punishment of thought crimes,” George F. Will’s Feb. 25 op-ed, “Bigotry is reprehensible, but it’s not a federal offense,” omitted that our legal punishments are also used as deterrents. Because many Americans are at an increased risk of harassment and violence because of the way they look or pray, for example, our legal system increases the punishment for crimes against them to provide more protection.
Benjamin Somers, Washington
George F. Will was correct when he wrote that bigotry is reprehensible, but it’s not a federal offense. The First Amendment protects a person’s right to free speech. However, Mr. Will seemed to confuse “hate” with “hate crime.”
In today’s atmosphere of distrust, hate seems to be a dominant and visible reflection of our differences. However, when it results in the killing of a person because of their race, religion or ethnic background, that motivation is not only despicable, it’s also against the law. And well it should be. No one should be denied federally protected freedoms because of their race. But that’s precisely what happened. Ahmaud Arbery was singled out and killed because he was Black.
Laws are meant to protect all of us, especially those at risk. Arbery’s killers deserved to be found guilty of murder. But they also deserved to be found guilty of killing him expressly because he was Black. His killers’ conviction on hate-crimes charges sends the message that we will not tolerate racial violence. A country that protects its most vulnerable is where I want to live.
Jeff Gates, Silver Spring | null | null | null | null | null |
“To try to boil that down to one sheet of paper on election night with data that we know is going to change, and is supposed to change, because that’s how the process works, really does a disservice to voters and to the public looking at those numbers,” said Beth Stevens, chief of elections for Harris County. “It will potentially sow distrust in the work that we’re doing rather than shedding light.” | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: Republicans know exactly how to handle the fanatics in their party
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 25 in Orlando. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
“There’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists or anti-Semitism,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), after two House Republicans appeared at a white nationalist conference.
“There’s no place in our party for any of this," agreed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) chimed in to call them “morons.”
Your response might be that this is akin to the board of directors of Domino’s Pizza saying, “There’s no place in our company for gooey, fattening cheese. Now, who wants pizza?”
But the story is rather more complicated. The question of how to deal with extremists in their ranks is something every party confronts from time to time, but it’s particularly pressing for Republicans, and has been for decades. You could argue that they’ve never been able to figure out how to handle it — or instead, you could look at episodes such as this one and say they’ve figured it out just perfectly.
In this case, it involves Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and her sidekick in zealotry, Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.), a figure so repellent his own siblings regularly warn against returning him to Congress. The two appeared at a conference organized by Nicholas Fuentes, a notorious white supremacist who’s so extreme he was even banned from a pro-Trump social media site.
The problem figures such as Greene, Gosar, or Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) pose for their party isn’t just their views, it’s that their entire political project is built on provocation. They couldn’t care less about lawmaking; they’re basically social media trolls who happen to have offices in the Capitol. Getting attention is what they do, which means party leaders will have to keep answering for them.
There’s a long history of the Republican Party moving forward and back when it comes to extremism, with the issue never completely settled. The nature of that extremism doesn’t change much: It’s usually some combination of conspiracy theorizing and white racial backlash.
For instance, in the 1950s and 1960s, conservatives struggled with what to do about the John Birch Society, a group of right-wing radicals who believed (among other things) that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist agent. The truncated story people remember is that William F. Buckley denounced the Birchers from the pages of the National Review, thereby purging them from the movement and restoring sanity to the GOP.
The truth was much more complicated; Buckley, Barry Goldwater, and other conservative leaders spent years accommodating the Birchers before finally breaking with them. As they are today, Republicans acted when they decided the support they drew from their own side’s radicals was outweighed by the cost those radicals imposed.
Sometimes the change comes because the broader society has shifted. Consider Trent Lott, then the Senate Republican leader, who offered a 2002 tribute to Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.). Referring to Thurmond’s explicitly segregationist 1948 presidential bid, Lott noted that his home state of Mississippi had voted for Thurmond, and said: “If the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn’t have had all these problems over all these years."
Catherine Rampell: Greene wants to be judged by her own words? Challenge accepted.
Lott forgot that it was one thing to welcome a racist such as Thurmond into the party, but by 2002 it was something else to praise his racist presidential campaign. In the ensuing controversy, Lott stepped down from his leadership position.
The lessons Republicans take from such episodes is that extremists have to be handled with care, and pushed back only when they bring too much attention to ideas that threaten the party’s image. They can’t simply be cast out, because for Republicans the optimal result is one where millions of people whom the extremists represent remain committed to the GOP while the party presents a responsible face to independent voters.
Today, they don’t want moderate suburbanites to think they’ve been taken over by QAnon crazies. But they also can’t completely reject the QAnon crazies, because by some measures they constitute a quarter of all Republicans.
And while Democrats might deal with some roughly analogous issues from time to time, the problem is nowhere near as acute for them. Left-wing radicals tend to exist outside the Democratic Party, while right-wing radicals are enmeshed deeply within the Republican Party.
To outward appearances it might look like Republicans are stumbling about, getting defensive when asked uncomfortable questions about people such as Greene. In fact, they have an extremely effective formula for dealing with their fringe.
Leaders such as McConnell and McCarthy will let nuts like Greene and Gosar do their thing most of the time. Then when controversy flares up over something they said, the leaders will deliver a mild rebuke, enough to make it clear they’re displeased, but not so harsh that they alienate the extremists’ supporters.
Then they hope that everyone forgets about it for a while. Rinse and repeat.
In the big picture, it’s working out great for Republicans. They control the Supreme Court, a majority of state legislatures and governorships, and they’ll probably capture Congress in November. Why would they change anything about how they handle their side’s fanatics? | null | null | null | null | null |
Opinion: The world must take urgent measures to adapt to climate change. But that won’t be enough.
A kayaker fishes in Lake Oroville in California as water levels remain low due to continuing drought conditions on Aug. 22, 2021. (Ethan Swope/AP)
Unfortunately, adaption strategies are limited, the report warns. And relying too heavily on reactive strategies will place the greatest burden not only on vulnerable populations lacking the resources to adapt but also on the planet’s biodiversity. That creates an even greater need to double down on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while it is still possible.
The more than-3,500-page report is an exhaustive review of the devastating impact that climate change will have on the world — what U.N. Secretary General António Guterres described as “an atlas of human suffering.” Humans have already increased average global temperatures by 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial time. In the best-case scenario, in which humanity limits further warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), the number of extreme weather events that a person born in the past decade will experience in their lifetime will increase nearly fourfold. Eight percent of the world’s farmland would become unsuitable for growing crops by the century’s end.
The bad news is that the world is on track to blow through that optimistic threshold. If that happens, the effects of climate change will become substantially worse. If, for example, the world warms by nearly 2 more degrees Celsius (3.4 Fahrenheit), the IPCC reports, tens of millions more people will experience extreme heat waves. Hundreds of millions more will be exposed to water scarcity. And millions more will die due to climate-related diseases.
Then there’s the effect climate change will have on wildlife. The report estimates that up to 14 percent of species in terrestrial ecosystems will likely face a “very high risk of extinction” if the globe warms 1.5 degrees Celsius. At 2 degrees, that rises to 18 percent. At 3 degrees, it’s 29 percent. Remember, many of these species are essential to human civilization. If they disappear, so will the pollinators that sustain our agriculture.
The report lays out a wide expanse of adaptive strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change, from structural measures, such as levees to hold back floods, to conservation strategies to protect ecosystems teetering on the brink. But these measures are limited. Many countries will not be able to afford to build adaptive infrastructure. And many fragile ecosystems — such as coral reefs and rainforests — are already nearing “hard limits” as they struggle to cope with warmer oceans or more frequent droughts.
It’s typical for reports such as this to be referred to as a “wake-up call.” But there is no excuse for policymakers to be asleep to the threat of climate change at this point. Time is running out to substantially reduce carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases. If we don’t act soon, adaptation will become impossible for many of Earth’s inhabitants. | null | null | null | null | null |
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