Pipeline’sShutdownExposes CyberThreatto PowerSector
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MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 108
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What's News
Business & Finance
A mericans accustomed to years of low inflation are beginning to pay sharply higher prices for goods and services as the economy strains to rev up and the pandemic wanes. A1
Investors in search of higher returns and lower taxes are scooping up debt sold by state and local governments, pushing borrowing costs to near-record lows. A1
Star Entertainment said it wants to merge with casino operator Crown Resorts, which has also received a sweetened bid from Blackstone Group. B1
Policy makers debated the root cause of a growing shortage of workers that threatens to restrain the pace of U.S. economic growth. A2
Benson Hill is going public by merging with a blankcheck company in a deal that values the plant-growing tech firm at $2 billion. B1
An anticipated decline in mortgage volume is prompting price wars across the industry, driving down profit margins. B1
A judge ordered CredForce to pay the Wharton School more than $1.2 million related to an executive program there. B3
World-Wide
The ransomware attack that forced the closure of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline showed how cybercriminals pose a far-reaching threat to the infrastructure that keeps the nation's energy moving. A1
Biden administration officials said the U.S. is entering a new phase of the pandemic in which many vaccinated Americans can begin returning to normal activities. A5
The White House plans to name Thea Lee, a former AFL-CIO trade official, as head of the Labor Department's international-affairs division. A4
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test, raising the prospect of a disqualification in horse racing's marquee event. A3
Courts are weighing whether some of the failed legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election were frivolous or improper. A4
Israel's Supreme Court postponed a ruling on whether to evict Palestinian families from an East Jerusalem neighborhood. A9
The nation's largest wireless carriers are lobbying to delay a new regulation on robocalls aimed at overseas scammers who make them. A4
JOURNAL REPORT Investing in Funds: The 6 big Social Security
mistakes. R1-6
CONTENTS Arts in Review... A15 Business & Finance.. B2 Business News... B3,5 Crossword.............. A16 Heard on Street..... B8 Opinion.............. A17-19
Outlook....................... A2 Personal Journal A13-14 Sports........................ A16 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-6 Weather................... A16 World News........ A7-9
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Shoppers Kabul Mourns Victims of Attack That Struck at Schoolgirls Feel Bite As Prices Begin To Climb
Companies are passing on the pain of supply shortages and rising costs of ingredients
BY JAEWON KANG
GRIEF: Mourners on Sunday attend a funeral for one of 53 people killed Saturday in a bombing that targeted schoolgirls in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Kabul. The Afghan president blamed the Taliban. The Taliban denied responsibility. A8
Pipeline's Shutdown Exposes Cyber Threat to Power Sector
The ransomware attack that forced the closure of the largest U.S. fuel pipeline this weekend showed how cybercriminals pose a far-reaching
By Collin Eaton, James Rundle
and David Uberti
threat to the aging, vulnerable infrastructure that keeps the nation's energy moving.
Colonial Pipeline Co. closed
its entire 5,500-mile conduit carrying gasoline and other fuels from the Gulf Coast to the New York metro area on Friday as it moved to contain an assault that involved ransomware, code that holds computer systems hostage. So far, no evidence has emerged that the attackers penetrated the vital control systems that run the pipeline, people familiar with the matter said.
But the consequences of an
infection spreading to that deeper layer are dire for any energy company. Many machines that control pipelines, refineries and power plants are well past their prime, have few protections against sophisticated attacks and could be manipulated to muck with equipment or cause damage, cybersecurity experts say.
Last year, a ransomware attack moved from a natural-gas company's networks into the
control systems at a compression facility, halting operations for two days, according to a Department of Homeland Security alert. The company, which Homeland Security didn't name, didn't have a plan to respond to a cyberattack, the agency said.
The Colonial ransomware attack is a high-profile example of the online assaults that U.S. companies, schools, hospi-
Please turn to page A2
Americans accustomed to years of low inflation are beginning to pay sharply higher prices for goods and services as the economy strains to rev up and the pandemic wanes.
Price tags on consumer goods from processed meat to dishwashing products have risen by double-digit percentages from a year ago, according to NielsenIQ. Whirlpool Corp. freezers and dishwashers and Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. lawn and garden products are also getting costlier, the companies say.
Some consumers are feeling stretched. Kaitlyn Vinson, a program manager in Denver, said her recent $275 bill at a Costco Wholesale Corp. store, which included razors and cotton pads on top of her typical groceries, was more expensive than usual. Ms. Vinson said she switched from buying fresh to frozen fruit and vegetables because they are less expensive and last longer.
"We're sacrificing the food that I really like to cook just to
Please turn to page A6
Policy makers debate roots of worker shortage...................... A2
Investors Flock Into Market For Munis
BY SEBASTIAN PELLEJERO
Investors in search of higher returns and lower taxes are scooping up debt sold by state and local governments, pushing borrowing costs to near-record lows and boosting coffers from California to Connecticut.
A net $39 billion has poured into municipal-bond mutual funds this year through Thursday, according to data compiled by Municipal Market Analytics, the most over the same period since 2008. Returns on the debt, which local governments use to fund public works such as sewers or bridges, have beaten those of corporate bonds and Treasurys.
Demand is so intense that Illinois, the only state to tap the Federal Reserve's pandemic emergency-lending program, recently sold three-year bonds at yields near 1%. The Biden administration's proposed tax changes also could potentially make municipal debt more attractive to investors.
Considered almost as safe as Treasurys because they are backed by taxes or payments on essential services like water, municipal bonds typically offer interest payments that are tax-free.
The furor marks a reversal from the pandemic's lows. In the spring of 2020, cash-hungry investors dumped even safe munis at steep discounts. Many predicted tax collections
Please turn to page A9
Demand Cools For Mortgages
As rates increase, demand for mortgages drops. B1
Breakout Cities Energize U.S. Economic Recovery
Mortgage originations, quarterly
$1.4 trillion
Rising stars were vibrant; now draw new workers and businesses
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
2020
'21
'22
Note: Q2 2021 through Q4 2022 are estimates. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
BY JUSTIN BAER
GREENVILLE, S.C.--The pandemic is accelerating growth in midsize cities, positioning them to lead the charge in the nation's economic rebound.
Even before Covid-19, these rising stars-- such as Greenville, Des Moines, Iowa, and Provo, Utah--had been quietly building out vibrant economies in the shadow of bigger metropolises. During the pandemic, they have drawn workers and businesses with large and affordable homes, ample access to outdoor space and less congestion.
They also have a mix of high-tech jobs and old-line industries, including manufacturing and finance, that turned out to be more resistant to the downturn. They came through the
year with fewer job losses and service cuts, and made quicker recoveries.
"They offer a lot of things you can't really get in the big city," said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo & Co. "They're more affordable, and it's so much easier to live there. And all of these industries are poised to do very well."
The pandemic-fueled flow of jobs and residents out of New York, San Francisco and other large coastal cities will subside and likely eventually reverse, economists say. But the economies in some of these smaller metro areas have staying power.
In Greenville, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3% in March, well below the national rate of 6.0% that month, according
Please turn to page A12
Tiny Pools Make Big Splash In Cramped New York
iii
Brownstones, penthouses want water features; `We craned a pool on a roof'
BY CHARLES PASSY
aged to squeeze in a cedar hot
tub and sauna.
When Jersey City, N.J., resi- The country is reopening,
dent Niki Turkington won- but not everyone is so sure
dered how she and her family about public pools. Heading
were going to make the best of into summer, residents of the
Covid-era living, she remem- New York metro area are find-
bered the good times she had ing ways to wedge water fea-
spent with friends in
tures into the tiniest
their backyard hot
spaces.
tubs.
Local pool and spa
The problem: Ms.
companies say demand
Turkington's town-
has soared during the
house doesn't have
past year or so. They
much of a back-
are doing projects ev-
yard. She and her
Splash erywhere from the
husband still man-
spot Please turn to page A12
Melinda Gates Sought Divorce Lawyers in '19
BY EMILY GLAZER AND KHADEEJA SAFDAR
The split between Bill and Melinda Gates, announced last week, has been in the works for a long time.
Ms. Gates consulted with divorce lawyers roughly two years before she filed for divorce from Mr. Gates, saying their marriage was "irretrievably broken," according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The 56-year-old philanthropist has been working with lawyers at several firms since at least 2019 to unwind the mar-
riage of more than 25 years, according to these people and the documents.
Last Monday, the billionaire couple announced they were ending their marriage. In a joint statement posted on Twitter, they said, "we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives."
The couple hasn't said what prompted the split. One source of concern for Ms. Gates was her husband's dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to the people and a former employee of their charity, the Bill & Melinda
Please turn to page A6
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A2 | Monday, May 10, 2021
**
U.S. NEWS
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
THE OUTLOOK | By Phred Dvorak
Economy Navigates Herd Immunity
A s countries rush to get their citizens vaccinated, a debate is heating up among economists about how much herd immunity matters for the world's economic recovery-- or even if it does.
Some view herd immunity--the point at which a critical mass of a population become immune to a disease-causing virus or bacteria--as a key factor in determining when Covid-19 will be conquered and economies will return to normal. Until herd immunity is reached, some say, governments will restrict activities to prevent the disease's spread, resulting in fewer goods and services being produced and consumed.
Other economists say businesses can reopen and economic activity can rebound without full herd immunity, and likely will.
Part of the challenge for economists is that it is hard to know exactly when a given place will achieve herd immunity, if ever. For Covid-19, epidemiologists generally believe it will require having at least 60% to 80% of a population develop antibodies, curbing the virus's ability to spread.
Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have tried to incorporate immunity estimates into their forecasts by looking at daily vaccina-
tion progress around the world and take account of estimates of how many people have already been infected.
According to their calculations, 60% of the population in the U.S. and U.K. are already immune to Covid-19; the biggest economies of Europe will get there by August.
The bank's data suggest that some emerging markets may also be close to or at herd immunity because of high levels of natural immunity caused by infections. Some 72% of the population in Peru had natural immunity by early May, while 58% in Mexico did, the bank says.
Those estimates are factors in the bank's relatively bullish economic outlooks. It expects global gross domestic product to grow 6.6% this year, on the high end of forecasts.
R ecently, however, some experts have raised questions about when or even if herd immunity is possible--particularly globally. Many countries are reporting vaccination delays and slowdowns, either because they can't get enough shots or their citizens are reluctant to get inoculated.
Vaccines may also be less effective against new variants of the coronavirus, scientists say, and the longer
Percentage of global population vaccinated 100%
80
60
40
20
0 PROJECTIONS 2021 '22 '23 '24
Source: Moody's Analytics
the disease remains untamed, the greater the chance of new variants.
All those factors are dimming the possibility of a relatively quick global recovery, said Taimur Baig, chief economist at Singapore-based DBS Bank Ltd.
Even if individual countries inoculate the bulk of their populations, because of cross-border travel and trade they will be vulnerable until their neighbors and the rest of the world do too. Mr. Baig said the global economy can't really return to normal until that happens--likely mid-decade or later. DBS forecasts global growth will
be 5.6% this year, a full percentage point lower than Goldman Sachs.
"I think for a while we were all hoping that everything is transitory--that this will pass and at some point in 2022, we'll be going back to the way things were," he said. "Probably not."
Economists at Morgan Stanley don't see it that way. Places don't need to achieve herd immunity before their economies normalize, said Asia economist Deyi Tan.
She pointed to China and Taiwan, where strict control measures have effectively tamed the disease despite low levels of vaccinations and immunity. China's economy rebounded to its prepandemic size in the third quarter of last year and its previous level of growth in the fourth quarter, she said. Taiwan's economic growth rate didn't seem to be affected by Covid-19 at all, she said.
Such examples are leading Morgan Stanley to view herd immunity as just one factor in the more important task of Covid-19 control, said Ms. Tan. Even without herd immunity, if places can protect their populations that are most vulnerable to the disease and keep infections down, "you would already be making progress in the path of the economic recovery," she said.
Economies are also adapting to Covid-19 as the pandemic drags on, weakening the correlation between herd immunity and recovery, said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC. The kinds of Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns that pummeled economies early in the crisis are having less effect now, as populations get used to things like working from home or having food delivered, he said.
C ountries may see economic activity rebound before their populations are fully inoculated, but without herd immunity that recovery may not last, said Katrina Ell, senior Asia Pacific economist at Moody's Analytics. Until the world is vaccinated, the virus will be able to sneak across borders and disrupt hard-fought economic gains, she said. Countries like Australia that have managed to largely quell infections and reopen businesses have had to clamp down again when Covid-19 outbreaks popped up.
Moody's Analytics forecasts global herd immunity-- which it says will require at least 70% of the world's population to be inoculated-- could be achieved in 2023.
Until then, "it's going to be a recovery that happens in fits and starts," she said.
ECONOMIC CALENDAR
Tuesday: China's factory-gate prices are expected to surge in April. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal are forecasting a rise in the producer-price index of 6.5% from a year earlier. The country's consumer-price index is expected to climb for the second consecutive month.
Wednesday: The U.K. economy likely contracted in the first quarter after the government in December responded to rising Covid-19 cases with fresh restrictions on social and economic activity. But a strong vaccination campaign and steady reopening of the economy suggest the downturn was short-lived. Economists expect growth to return in the second quarter.
U.S. consumer prices in April are expected to post their largest annual increase in nearly a decade. Costs are rising for goods and services in high demand and short supply, but the figures will also be amplified by the comparison to prices from a year earlier.
Friday: U.S. consumer spending jumped in March as federalstimulus checks sent household incomes soaring. Economists are forecasting more gains in April, albeit at a slower pace than the previous month. Retail sales will likely be helped along as Covid-19-related restrictions are relaxed, vaccination campaigns advance and the broader economy expands.
U.S. industrial production--a measure of factory, mining and utility output--is expected to advance in April as factories look to keep up with strong demand for autos, appliances and other goods.
Hacking Exposes Threat
Continued from Page One tals and other organizations now face regularly. It should also serve as a wake-up call for the energy industry's particular exposure, consultants and others who work with companies to shore up cybersecurity said.
U.S. and industry officials have known for years about such problems surrounding the nation's energy infrastructure. A cybersecurity unit of Homeland Security said in 2016 it had worked to identify and mitigate 186 vulnerabilities throughout the energy sector, the most of any critical-infrastructure industry that year. In 2018, federal officials warned that hackers working for Russia had infiltrated the control rooms of U.S. electric utilities.
The energy industry is a big target. The U.S. has 2.5 million miles of pipelines. Across that vast network are hundreds of thousands of devices--sensors that take myriad readings, valves that help control flow and pressure within a pipeline and leak detection systems-- and all are vulnerable to attack, security experts said.
Refineries have even more valves and sensors than big pipelines, and there are about 135 of those across the country. That doesn't include electric utilities and all the components of the sprawling power grid.
Colonial ferries 100 million gallons a day of gasoline, diesel and other refined petroleum products from the country's chief refining corridor along the Gulf Coast to Linden, N.J. It transports roughly 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast, according to the company's website.
Curtis Smith, a spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell PLC, one the owners of the Colonial Pipeline, said on Sunday it is still too early to "be specific about potential impacts to product flow." He said Shell is actively engaged with Colonial.
The type of attack that occurred against Colonial Pipeline is becoming more frequent and is something that businesses need to be concerned with, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Sunday.
The attacks are "here to stay and we have to work in partnership with businesses to secure networks, to defend ourselves against these attacks," she said on CBS. Specific to the Colonial attack, "it's an all-hands-on-deck effort right now."
In response to the pipeline shutdown, the Transportation
Propensity to be hit by ransomware across different sectors
Retail
Education
Business & professional services
Central government
Technology & telecoms
Manufacturing & production
Energy, oil/gas & utilities
Healthcare
Local government
Financial services
Media, leisure & entertainment
Construction & property
Distribution & transport
0%
10
20
Impact of ransomware
Cybercriminals succeeded in encrypting data
Ransomware complaints filed with the FBI
2500
30
40
Victim loss from ransomware attacks
$30 million
Global average
73%
54%
25
2000
2020
2021
20
Attack stopped before the data could be encrypted
1500
15
24%
39%
1000
10
Data not encrypted but
victim still held to ransom
500
5
3%
7%
0
0
2015
'20
2015
'20
Sources: Sophos State of Ransomware 2021 report (industries, impact); FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (complaints, loss)
Siemond Chan/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
The 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline system carries roughly 45% of gasoline and diesel fuel consumed on the East Coast
Linden
Greensboro Knoxville Nashville
Norfolk
Birmingham
Charlotte Atlanta
Houston Baton Rouge
Department's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrationsaid it issued a temporary hours of service exemption for trucks transporting gasoline and other refined products across 17 states, including Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
On Sunday, Colonial didn't provide a timeline for bringing the pipeline back into service but said that while its main lines remained offline, some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points were once again operational.
As markets opened Sunday evening, gasoline futures were up about 1.6% at $2.16 per gallon, after briefly rising more than 3% higher.
Analysts said a closure of the pipeline for a few days shouldn't have dramatic market impacts, because inventories of gasoline have been readied for the summer driving season and usually get replenished every five to six days. But if the pipeline remains offline for five days or longer, shortages could begin to affect retail stations and consumers along the East Coast, they said.
Two people briefed on the probe said the attack appeared to be limited to information systems and hadn't infiltrated control systems.
A report by an International Business Machine Corp. unit found energy companies in
2020 sustained the third-most attacks of any industry, up from ninth in 2019, as cybercriminals ramped up assaults on firms with software connected to operational control systems.
The industry is ill-prepared for such attacks, security experts said. Some operational technologies--for physical systems like pipelines and the electric grid--have protocols that predate those for the internet, said Padraic O'Reilly, co-founder and chief product officer of Boston-based CyberSaint Security, who works with pipelines on cybersecurity.
"There are just as many [operational technology] vulnerabilities as there are IT vulnerabilities, but they're scarier in a way because they can go cyber to physical," Mr. O'Reilly said.
These weak spots have been known for years, but most energy companies have only recently begun to implement defenses to protect control systems, said Raymond Sevier, a technical-solutions architect with Cisco Systems Inc., who focuses on industrial systems.
The control systems were considered safe for years because they weren't connected to the internet, but hackers found ways to penetrate them through unsecured remote-access and networked systems.
--Eric Morath contributed to this article.
Worker Shortage Explanations Differ
BY ERIC MORATH
Policy makers on Sunday debated the root cause of a growing shortage of workers that threatens to restrain the pace of economic growth while the U.S. emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many Republicans say enhanced and extended unemployment benefits are discouraging Americans from seeking work, especially in low-wage jobs where the aid often pays more than they earned at previous jobs. The Biden administration and Democrats say other factors, including lack of access to child care and shortages of computer chips, are holding back more robust job growth.
U.S. employers added a seasonally adjusted 266,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department said Friday. The figure was a sharp slowdown from March and well below the one million jobs economists expected to be created.
Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said labor supply is a factor holding back better overall growth, at least temporarily. "There is some truth to the unemployment benefits, maybe, being a disincentive," he said in a CBS interview that aired Sunday. "I see that in the
data and I see that in anecdotes as we talk to people."
Under relief bills passed by Congress, those receiving jobless benefits get an additional $300 a week on top of regular state benefits, which average $318 a week, according to the Labor Department. That means the average recipient earns better than the equivalent of working full time at $15 an hour.
Mr. Kashkari said that child-care shortages, schools with limited capacity and fear of the virus also weigh on people seeking jobs. He said he expects stronger job growth in the second half of the year, when virus fears subside, schools fully open and extended unemployment benefits are scheduled to expire.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Biden administration is monitoring the effect unemployment benefits are having on Americans' willingness to work, but added, "There's nothing in the data which would suggest that that's the reason people are out of work."
"The No. 1 reason now that people aren't going back to work is...fear," Ms. Raimondo said in a CBS interview that aired Sunday, adding that child care and a shortage of suppliers, particularly semiconductors, are also limitations.
CORRECTIONS AMPLIFICATIONS
A U.S. News article Saturday about negotiations in Congress over new measures affecting police officers incorrectly referred to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as majority leader in some editions.
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U.S. NEWS
Monday, May 10, 2021 | A3
Cuomo Probe Expands Into Vaccine Calls
BY JIMMY VIELKIND
ALBANY, N.Y.--The state attorney general's office has expanded its investigation of sexual-harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo to look at whether one of his top advisers linked access to Covid-19 vaccines to support for the governor, people familiar with the matter said.
Investigators have interviewed at least three Democratic county executives who said they were surprised to receive calls from Larry Schwartz, a volunteer adviser who oversaw vaccine distribution for the state, asking whether they would be calling for Mr. Cuomo's resignation, the people said.
Mr. Schwartz contacted more than a half-dozen executives in early March, executives said, as Mr. Cuomo faced mounting calls for his resignation from members of his own political party and was personally contacting state lawmakers to shore up support.
The executives said that at the time of Mr. Schwartz's calls they were typically speaking with him about the allocation of vaccine supplies, not politics.
An adviser said he didn't tie distribution of vaccines to political considerations.
Mr. Schwartz has said he didn't link vaccine distribution to political considerations. On Friday, he referred questions to his lawyer, Guy Petrillo, who declined to comment.
Mr. Schwartz, an executive at an airport-concession company, resigned from his post as the state's vaccine czar in April after state lawmakers changed lobbying rules for nonpaid state advisers.
Under the new rules, Mr. Schwartz would have been banned for two years from lobbying the governor's office if he had stayed on in the role.
Beth Garvey, Mr. Cuomo's counsel, said in March in regard to the calls that "distorting Larry's role or intentions for headlines maligns a decadeslong public servant."
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment further on Friday. A spokeswoman for state Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment on a continuing investigation.
The attorney general's investigation is one of several ongoing probes into Mr. Cuomo and
his administration. The U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York is looking into administration policies on Covid-19 and deaths at nursing homes during the pandemic.
Leaders of the Democraticdominated state Assembly have said they are conducting an investigation of Mr. Cuomo's conduct as they consider whether to impeach him. The latest impeachment of a New York governor took place in 1913.
Mr. Cuomo has said he never touched anybody inappropriately and apologized if his behavior offended anybody. He has said his administration has been cooperating with the investigations. He has also repeatedly said people should wait for the results of Ms. James's investigation.
"I've already told New Yorkers where I am. I did nothing wrong, period. And I'm not resigning, and I'm doing my job every day," Mr. Cuomo said.
County executives are the top local elected officials in the state. Some large counties have roughly a million residents or more, and their governments have a key role in implementing public-health and socialservice programs for the state, including vaccine distribution.
The governor has regularly appeared with county executives in Westchester and Suffolk counties, which are important political swing districts.
One county executive filed a complaint about the call from Mr. Schwartz with the attorney general's office in March, the people familiar with the matter said.
"Right at the time that every county was working, and desperately needed more vaccines, to receive a call from the person who was responsible for allocating those doses gauging political loyalty to the governor was an obvious conflict, and at best ethically gray," said one county executive who received a call from Mr. Schwartz.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said he spoke with investigators on March 30 about the call he received from Mr. Schwartz.
Mr. Poloncarz, a Democrat, said he didn't feel Mr. Schwartz was trying to pressure him to stand by the governor; Mr. Poloncarz hasn't called for Mr. Cuomo's resignation.
The investigators for Ms. James's office have interviewed at least six of Mr. Cuomo's sexual-harassment accusers, according to the women and their lawyers.
They have also issued dozens of subpoenas to current and former officials in the Cuomo administration, people familiar with the matter said.
Kindergarten teacher Lynda Reich checks on her students as they work on their assignments in High Point, N.C.
Remote Classes Cost Kindergartners Critical Learning, Development Time
BY VALERIE BAUERLEIN
HIGH POINT, N.C.--Of all the students who suffered learning loss during the Covid-19 pandemic and remote schooling, one grade level has educators very concerned: the kindergartners.
Kindergarten is where 5and 6-year-olds learn the building blocks of how to be students, skills such as taking turns and working together that they will need for the next 12 years of formal schooling. It coincides with a critical window for brain development, the time between 5 and 7 years old when neural connections are firing most rapidly for higher-cognitive functions like problem-solving and reasoning.
Kindergarten "can't be replicated even by the very best teachers in the virtual environment," said Whitney Oakley, chief academic officer for North Carolina's Guilford County Schools. A missed, delayed or low-quality kindergarten experience "could impact this generation of kids for their lifetime."
The most reliable predictor of positive outcomes in adulthood, from educational attainment to mental health, isn't academic ability but how well students cooperate with peers, help others, understand feelings and resolve conflicts, according to a 2015 study by Mark Greenberg, a professor of developmental psychology at Penn State University, that tracked 750 people from kindergarten to about 25 years of age.
"The skills that we would be teaching in kindergarten? Children have not gotten them
Districts Prioritize Opening Classrooms
School districts have given priority to reopening classrooms for kindergartners because the year is so important, the curriculum so challenging to do online and the growing scientific evidence that small children aren't spreading the coronavirus.
As of April 5, 34% of kindergartners attended districts that were fully in-person and
this year," he said. "In the best case, they've gotten a small percentage of them."
Many parents didn't enroll their children in kindergarten this year, with enrollment off by roughly 15% in many states. There are typically three million kindergartners, according to federal data, so a decline of 15% nationwide would mean roughly 450,000 missing students.
Most states require that schools offer kindergarten but only 19 require that students enroll, according to the Education Commission of the States, a nonpartisan research organization. Families aren't legally required to enroll a child in school until ages 6 or 7 in most states, according to federal data.
Some children will start first grade in the fall and just skip kindergarten, school administrators predict. Others will be starting kindergarten a year late, leaving the fall's kindergarten class extra large and filled with students with a wide developmental range.
9% attended districts that were fully remote, with the majority of kids attending hybrid school, according to the Return To Learn Tracker, developed by the American Enterprise Institute.
In suburban Washington, D.C., freelance writer Jessica Goodwin's son spent most of the school year in remote learning. He wasn't developing close friendships with classmates since they spent much of remote instruction time on mute.
"The most important part of kindergarten is how to make
Many districts are building supplemental summer programs and pushing parents to sign up students who missed kindergarten or were fully remote this year.
Guilford County Schools, a district of 69,000 students in central North Carolina, began offering half-day in-person kindergarten in October and full-day in November, earlier than most peer districts in the state. At Southwest, the district's largest elementary school, there are 115 children in six kindergarten classes. Five classes are in person; one is remote.
Kindergarten teacher Lynda Reich began the first lesson of a recent in-person school day by switching her cloth mask for one with a clear plastic panel. She said the mask tends to fog up, so she saves it for language-arts lessons when it is important for students to watch her mouth make sounds.
She stood at the front of the classroom and spoke loudly, over-enunciating, to
friends, how to solve your own problems and be independent," said Ms. Goodwin, a former elementary school teacher. "It's hard to be independent when you're sitting in a room all day with your mom."
Her son recently started inperson school and is a different child, she said. He comes home chattering about who he saw on the bus or how during a math lesson he was a "10" and his friend was a "2" and together they made "12."
"There's something about being in the room," she said.
counteract the mask's muffling.
"We've been learning how to use our digraphs," Ms. Reich said. "What are digraphs?"
"Two letters!" a student responded.
Recess, which research shows boosts social skills overall and concentration during the school day, is abbreviated, to ensure only a few classes are on the playground at a time. Each class keeps to a designated section.
Harvard University education professor Stephanie Jones said she hopes that once all kindergartners are back in the classroom, the emphasis isn't just on getting them caught up academically to prepare for required testing but also on the intangible habits of thinking and behavior.
"They need to focus attention, be aware of their emotions and interactions, just to understand the words being spoken by the teacher," she said. "It's all wound up in the process of learning."
Derby Winner Fails Drug Test, Faces Disqualification
BY JIM CHAIRUSMI
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test, trainer Bob Baffert said on Sunday, raising the prospect of a disqualification in horse racing's marquee event.
Mr. Baffert said he was told of the positive result by Kentucky officials on Saturday. He said he didn't know how Medina Spirit could have tested positive and denied any wrongdoing.
Medina Spirit, who pulled off a Derby upset at odds of 12-1 on May 1, tested positive for betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug that could ultimately lead to the horse's disqualification.
"It is our understanding that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's postrace blood sample indicated a violation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's equine medication protocols," Churchill Downs said. "The connections of Medina Spirit have the right to request a test of a split sample and we understand they intend to do so. To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit's results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner."
According to Kentucky regulations, the horse won't be disqualified until a split sample confirms the result. The winner's share of $1.86 million
FROM LEFT: TIM NWACHUKWU/GETTY IMAGES; LUKE SHARRETT/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug. The horse was trained by Bob Baffert, at right.
would be forfeited. Bettors who wagered on the horse in the derby, however, wouldn't have to return their winnings.
Mr. Baffert said his barn was told that Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone, which is twice the legal threshold allowed in Kentucky. Betamethasone is a drug used to treat inflammation and joint pain in horses.
"I got the biggest gut punch in racing, for something I didn't do," Mr. Baffert said on Sunday at Churchill Downs. "This horse was never treated with that. He's a great horse, he doesn't deserve this. He ran a gallant race."
The news comes as the derby for the first time this year banned the use of Lasix, a drug used to prevent respira-
tory bleeding that is also seen as performance enhancing. Meanwhile, scrutiny of Mr. Baffert's operation has been intensifying.
Medina Spirit is the fifth horse from Mr. Baffert's barn to have failed a drug test in the past year. Last September, the Baffert-trained filly Gamine finished third in the Kentucky Oaks but was disqualified after
testing for betamethasone. Mr. Baffert was fined $1,500 for the violation.
A few weeks before the Kentucky Derby, regulators in Arkansas upheld a ruling that an illegal substance had been found in two of Mr. Baffert's horses but voted to reduce Mr. Baffert's 15-day suspension to a fine of $5,000 for each horse.
The 68-year-old Mr. Baffert
has become horse racing's most prominent trainer due to his victories in the sport's biggest and most lucrative races. Mr. Baffert was previously tied with Ben Jones for most wins in the Kentucky Derby.
His victory with Medina Spirit was his seventh Derby win and 17th win in a Triple Crown race, which is also a record. Mr. Baffert broke horse racing's Triple Crown drought in 2015 with American Pharoah. Three years later, he won the Triple Crown again with Justify.
Mr. Baffert will be prohibited from entering any horses at Churchill Downs pending an investigation, the track said.
He said he still plans to enter Medina Spirit in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Concert Tour, another Bafferttrained colt, is also set to be entered in the race.
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Election Suits Prompt Bids to Punish Lawyers
President Biden toured a water plant in New Orleans last week. He has called for spending $2.3 trillion on a broad infrastructure plan.
Biden, Key Republicans To Meet on Spending Plans
BY ANDREW RESTUCCIA AND ANDREW DUEHREN
WASHINGTON--President Biden faces a crucial test this week of whether he can find any common ground with Republicans as he pushes trillions in spending on infrastructure, child care and education.
The president is hosting top lawmakers at the White House to chart a path forward amid mounting GOP opposition to his agenda and calls from some Democrats to move his proposals through Congress without Republican support.
The president has called for more than $4 trillion in spending across two proposals: a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan centered on fixing roads and bridges, expanding broadband internet access and boosting funding for research and development, and a $1.8 trillion plan that would extend the expanded child tax credit, and provide for tuition-free community college and prekindergarten. The plans would be paid for through increased taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.
On Wednesday, Mr. Biden will hold his first formal meeting since taking office with top congressional leaders: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). The meeting will touch on several topics, but is expected to focus in part on the president's spending proposals, White House aides said.
Mr. Biden is also planning to meet at the White House on Thursday with Sen. Shelley
MICHAEL BROCHSTEIN/ZUMA WIRE
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito is part of a group of Republicans who have proposed a narrower $568 billion infrastructure plan.
Moore Capito (R., W.Va.) and a group of Republican senators who have proposed a $568 billion infrastructure plan. That measure is a narrower alternative to Mr. Biden's plan, which would spend $2.3 trillion over eight years on programs and services that go beyond physical infrastructure, among them home care for seniors and technology and manufacturing research.
While the White House has held a series of previous meetings with lawmakers on infrastructure, the coming round of talks could indicate whether Democrats and Republicans can ultimately find a path toward a compromise. Mrs. Pelosi has set July 4 as an informal target for passing infrastructure legislation in the House, though some Democratic aides expect that timeline to slip.
Slower-than-expected job growth in April and recent concerns about inflation have hardened Republican opposition to Mr. Biden's proposals.
In remarks at local events in
Kentucky last week, Mr. McConnell inveighed against the breadth of Mr. Biden's agenda, attacking the tax increases and proposed spending.
Facing repeated questions about divisions among House Republicans over former President Donald Trump's role in the Republican Party, Mr. McConnell said his focus was on unifying the GOP against Mr. Biden's ambitious agenda. He said he was open to roughly $600 billion in infrastructure spending.
"My hope is that if the president is unable to convince the narrow Democratic majority in the House and the 50-50 Senate to pass the $4.1 trillion bill, we can sit down and have a serious conversation," Mr. McConnell said Thursday.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), one of the Republican senators who is working to find a compromise on infrastructure legislation, said he believes Mr. McConnell and other GOP congressional leaders would support a bipartisan infrastructure deal.
"On infrastructure, he has made it clear, if we can find something that actually spends money on infrastructure, roads and bridges, imagine that, as opposed to what the Biden plan does, which is spend a trillion on things which have no relationship to infrastructure, we can cut a deal," Mr. Cassidy said of Mr. McConnell in a Sunday interview on NBC.
Some Democrats have questioned how Republicans presented the $568 billion in spending in their two-page infrastructure outline, saying that it includes baseline federal transportation funding in its total. The White House plan calls for spending on top of that baseline, meaning the gap between the two parties' proposals may be even wider than it appears.
"I don't believe that that is a serious proposal," said Rep. Norma Torres (D., Calif.), one of the lawmakers who has recently met with Mr. Biden at the White House.
Not only would a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure force each party to compromise on the amount of spending, it would also require them to agree on how to pay for the package.
Republicans have dismissed Mr. Biden's tax proposals as a nonstarter, calling for the government to rely on unspecified user-fee increases and existing government funds to pay for new infrastructure spending. The White House is opposed to raising user fees to pay for the plan, though some Democrats have said user-fee increases should be part of an infrastructure plan.
BY BRENT KENDALL AND ALEXA CORSE
Courts are weighing whether some of the failed legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election were frivolous or improper and warrant punishment for the lawyers who filed them.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump, and in some cases the Trump campaign itself, filed--and lost-- dozens of lawsuits seeking to block or overturn election results in battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Some Democratic governors and other state and local officials who were sued have filed motions asking the judges who heard the cases to impose sanctions on the plaintiffs' lawyers, and in some instances the plaintiffs themselves. Some also have filed separate grievances with disciplinary bodies that can reprimand, suspend or disbar attorneys who violate their professional obligations.
Judges issue sanctions rarely. They can include a requirement to pay the other side's attorneys' fees, other legal costs, or penalties to the court, as well as nonmonetary actions such as a censure or mandatory ethics training.
In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, and other officials have asked U.S. District Judge Linda Parker in Detroit to punish Sidney Powell and other lawyers who sued the state in late November on behalf of six Republican voters, alleging that systemic fraud denied Mr. Trump a victory there. In December, the Obama-appointed judge ruled the lawyers lacked diligence in bringing claims based on "nothing but speculation and conjecture."
Ms. Whitmer's legal team has requested the reimbursement of roughly $11,000 in attorney fees, alleging the lawsuit was abusive and designed "to undermine the integrity of the election results." The city of Detroit, in another motion, asked for the lawyers to be disciplined and ordered to pay a penalty at least equal to what they collected through fundraising campaigns aimed at contesting the results.
Ms. Powell's legal team defended its Michigan lawsuit in a court brief, saying the sanctions requests "are a new form of political retribution." The judge could rule at any time.
Mr. Trump and his legal team face three motions for sanctions in Wisconsin, filed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and other officials, who are seeking roughly $250,000 in attorney fees. Mr. Trump, in a Dec. 2 lawsuit, alleged state election officials intentionally undermined safeguards for absentee ballots and permitted ballot tampering. A Trump-appointed fed-
eral judge dismissed the case. "There is no reason for Wis-
consin taxpayers to bear the cost of this attempt to hijack the democratic process," lawyers for Mr. Evers said in their motion requesting attorney's fees and punitive sanctions.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, said, "These sanctions motions are just grandstanding garbage that will fail." The campaign has until June 10 to respond in court.
New York University law professor Stephen Gillers said the legal standards for deeming a lawsuit frivolous or abusive are high, making such requests difficult to win.
"I think judges will give a lot of leeway to election lawyers who bring very weak claims, because election law is so closely tied to the values of democracy," he said. "But that doesn't mean you get a pass. There's a point past which you can't go."
Separate from proceedings in particular court cases, some lawyers are facing complaints filed with disciplinary committees that have the authority to suspend or disbar attorneys.
In New York, multiple complaints have been filed against Rudy Giuliani, a former personal lawyer for Mr. Trump, including ones signed by retired judges, former prosecutors and other lawyers. They have asked a grievance committee overseen by New York state courts
Courts, licensing boards consider whether attorneys abused the system,
to discipline him over allegations that he made unsupported claims about voter fraud and helped incite the Jan. 6 unrest in the Capitol. The committee can recommend punishments ranging from an admonition to disbarment.
A representative for Mr. Giuliani didn't respond to requests for comment.
Lin Wood, who filed several lawsuits challenging the November election results, has sued members of the Georgia State Bar's disciplinary board in federal court over their request that he undergo a mental-health evaluation. In a court filing, the state bar cited allegations that the lawyer has engaged in a pattern of erratic behavior and filed legal submissions riddled with errors.
"The actions against me by the State Bar of Georgia are frivolous and are driven by the political agenda of the elite establishment presently controlling the Georgia Bar," Mr. Wood said. A court hearing is set for May 13.
Former Union Official Is Pick for Labor Post
BY BOB DAVIS
The Biden administration plans to name Thea Lee, a former AFL-CIO trade official, to head the Labor Department's international affairs division, according to people familiar with the appointment.
Ms. Lee, who most recently served as president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank that often critiques free-trade policies, is slated to become the deputy undersecretary for international labor affairs. In that job, she will oversee the bureau that investigates labor rights, forced labor and child trafficking around the globe.
Spokesmen for the Labor Department didn't respond to requests for comment.
The appointment will give Ms. Lee a role in enforcing the labor rights provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, negotiated under the Trump administration to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.
She also will have a say in how the U.S. deals with allegations of forced labor in the textile, solar and agriculture industries in China's western Xinjiang region. The U.S. has
barred cotton imports from some companies that do business in Xinjiang. Activists are pushing for a similar ban on solar-panel imports that contain raw materials mined in the region.
The Xinjiang region is featured prominently on the website of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs under the heading "Against Their Will: The Situation in Xinjiang." Gloves, hair products, textiles, yarn and tomato products were added this past year to the agency's list of products made by forced labor or child labor.
Ms. Lee is a close friend of U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who as a Democratic staffer on Capitol Hill pushed to strengthen the labor-rights sections of USMCA.
Ms. Lee spent 20 years at the AFL-CIO, including stints as its main trade official at a time when Washington was pursuing trade policies that included negotiating Nafta and shepherding China into the World Trade Organization. The AFL-CIO opposed those deals, arguing that they undermined labor rights and wages at home. She became deputy chief of staff at the labor organization before running EPI since 2017.
Carriers Seek to Delay Robocall Rule
BY RYAN TRACY
WASHINGTON--The nation's largest wireless carriers are lobbying to delay a new regulation on robocalls aimed at overseas scammers who make them, citing concerns that the rule could end up blocking legitimate calls.
The Federal Communications Commission rule, set to take effect Sept. 28, would require foreign-based phone companies to step up efforts to fight illegal robocalls or risk being blocked from sending calls to the U.S.
Many of the billions of robocalls annoying Americans emanate from India, the Philippines and other countries. FCC officials say the regulation, known as the foreign provider prohibition, would allow them to better trace the sources of illegal calls and block companies that carry them.
The nation's largest telecoms--AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and TMobile US Inc.--say they support measures aimed at stemming illegal robocalls, but that the foreign-provider prohibition as written could have unintended negative consequences.
They say foreign-based phone companies aren't prepared for the rule, which could lead to legitimate calls being
blocked because U.S. carriers aren't allowed to accept calls from companies that aren't in compliance.
For example, if an American customer travels to India and calls home with her mobile phone, the call might not go through if the local Indian phone company isn't in good standing with the FCC.
CTIA, a trade group representing Verizon, AT&T, and TMobile, petitioned the FCC to delay implementation in December and said the foreign provider prohibition "lacks sufficient support" under the Administrative Procedure Act. Executives have since been calling FCC staff to make their case for a delay, FCC records show.
"We strongly support the direction the FCC is going to address the foreign robocall problem, to police the edge of the U.S. telephone network," Verizon associate general counsel Christopher Oatway said. "We would like to pause the process, re-examine what needs to be done and continue to work on ways to create effective barriers to these incessant calls."
George Slover, senior policy counsel with Consumer Reports, a nonprofit that reviews products and advocates for consumers, said it is important that the rules don't affect
Unwanted calls have picked up after a dip at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unwanted calls per month
10 billion calls
8
6
4
2
0
2020
'21
Source: TNS Inc.
Americans' legitimate calls, but the FCC shouldn't delay too long.
"A slight pause could be helpful" to address unintended consequences, he said. "If the foreign providers aren't making every effort to complete and certify compliance, there needs to be consequences for that."
In comments to the FCC, the only person to counter the telecoms' delay request was David Frankel, chief executive of ZipDX LLC, a Utah-based conference call provider.
Mr. Frankel, who helped develop an industry robocall tracing program, conceded that the
program might inconvenience some Americans traveling abroad.
But he said those whose calls are blocked have other methods at their disposal, such as a Wi-Fi call, text or calling from a hotel or office.
"How many Americans are overseas in circumstances where they are trying to call home this way, versus how many people are being bombarded with these illegal calls?" he asked.
The wireless giants declined to say how many customers might be affected by the rule. A CTIA spokesman said the group's focus "is on working with the FCC to help clarify the scope and implementation."
AT&T and T-Mobile declined to comment. Other companies have written to the FCC backing the wireless giants.
The FCC declined to comment. It isn't required to respond to the industry's pending petition.
The foreign provider prohibition is part of a broader agenda to plug the robocall deluge. The FCC has empowered companies to block suspected illegal calls, mandated caller ID authentication and threatened to shut down small companies facilitating illegal calls.
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U.S. NEWS
Monday, May 10, 2021 | A5
White House Signals Easing of Mask Advice
BY ANDREW RESTUCCIA
WASHINGTON--Biden administration officials said Sunday that the U.S. is entering a new phase of the pandemic in which many vaccinated Americans can begin returning to normal activities and signaled that the federal government will further relax mask-wearing recommendations as more people get shots.
"I would say we are turning the corner," Jeff Zients, President Biden's Covid-19 coordinator, told CNN. The administration said last week it is focused on helping hesitant and hardto-reach Americans get shots, with a goal of having 70% of
the adult population receive at least one dose by July 4.
Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will update guidelines for social distancing and mask usage "almost in real time" as the percentage of the public that is vaccinated increases. About 58% of the U.S. adult population has received at least one vaccine dose, according to the CDC.
"We do need to start being more liberal as we get more people vaccinated," he told ABC on Sunday.
The CDC late last month eased coronavirus guidance, saying that people who are
fully vaccinated against Covid-19 don't need to wear face masks when walking, hiking, biking, running alone or gathering in small groups outside. The CDC has also said that fully vaccinated people can gather indoors with others who are also fully vaccinated without taking extra precautions.
Some public-health experts and Republicans have urged the Biden administration to further ease restrictions to incentivize more people to get vaccinated.
"I think we're at the point in time when we can start lifting these ordinances in a wholesale fashion, and people have to take precautions based on their
individual risk," Scott Gottlieb, the Trump administration's FDA chief, told CBS on Sunday. "They have to judge their own individual risk and decide whether or not they're going to avoid crowds or wear masks based on their circumstances."
Despite the CDC's guidelines, Mr. Biden has continued to wear a mask during many public events, even though those around him are vaccinated. "Why am I wearing a mask? Because when we're inside, it's still good policy to wear a mask," he told reporters last week.
Asked about the president's mask use, Mr. Zients said, "The president is going to continue to follow the CDC guidance."
He said the U.S. is preparing for the possibility that booster shots may be necessary to maintain immunity to the virus. "If boosters are necessary, we'll certainly be ready, as we have been for all contingencies, and we'll have sufficient supply," Mr. Zients said.
Dr. Fauci said it is possible that members of the public will decide to wear masks on a seasonal basis in the coming years to protect themselves from disease during the winter.
"I think people have gotten used to the fact that wearing masks clearly, if you look at the data, diminishes respiratory diseases," Dr. Fauci said Sunday on NBC. He said, "It is
conceivable that as we go on, a year or two or more from now, that during certain seasonal periods when you have respiratory-borne viruses like the flu, people might actually elect to wear masks."
And he said it is likely that the U.S. death toll from the virus is higher than the official count. More than 581,500 people have died in the U.S. as a result of the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Asked about a recent study that projected that the U.S. death toll may actually be about 900,000, Dr. Fauci said, "I think there's no doubt that we are and have been undercounting."
U.S. WATCH
OBITUARY
Presidential Candidate Du Pont Dies at 86
Among the moneyed du Ponts, who preferred the privacy of their elegant homes and the offices and plants of the chemical company that bore their name, Pierre S. "Pete" du Pont IV was a bit of a rebel.
Mr. du Pont, who died on Saturday at age 86 after a long illness, according to his former chief of staff, broke with family tradition by leaving the family business for a career in law and politics. That led Mr. du Pont to multiple elected offices, including governor of Delaware, and an unsuccessful bid in the 1987-88 Republican presidential primary race.
"I was born with a well-known name and genuine opportunity. I hope I have lived up to both," Mr. du Pont said in announcing his presidential bid in September 1986. As a little-known governor of small state, Mr. du Pont had to distinguish himself from the rest of the Republican field--including Vice President George Bush and Sen. Bob Dole. He did that by questioning sacrosanct social programs that his better-known rivals feared to address, such as doing away with farm subsidiaries.
Mr. du Pont's February 1988 withdrawal became inevitable after poor showings in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.
--Associated Press
MARYLAND
Lynching Victims Get Posthumous Pardon
Gov. Larry Hogan posthumously pardoned 34 victims of racial lynching in the state dating between 1854 and 1933, saying they were denied legal due process against the allegations they faced. It was a first-of-its-kind pardon by a governor of a U.S. state.
Mr. Hogan, a Republican, signed the order at an event Saturday honoring Howard Cooper, a 15-year-old who was dragged from a jailhouse and hanged from a tree by a mob of white men in 1885 before his attorneys could file an appeal of a rape conviction that an all-white jury reached within minutes.
"My hope is that this action will at least in some way help to right these horrific wrongs and perhaps bring a measure of peace to the memories of these individuals and to their descendants and their loved ones," Mr. Hogan said.
--Associated Press
ILLINOIS
Renowned Architect Killed in Bicycle Crash
Helmut Jahn, a prominent German architect who designed an Illinois state government building and worked on the design of the FBI headquarters in Washington, was killed when two vehicles struck the bicycle he was riding outside Chicago.
Mr. Jahn, 81 years old, was hit Saturday afternoon while riding in Campton Hills, about 55 miles west of Chicago. He failed to stop at a stop sign at an intersection and was struck by the two vehicles, headed in opposite directions, Campton Hills Police Chief Steven Miller said.
Mr. Jahn's professional career began in 1967 when he joined CF Murphy Associates, which later became Murphy/Jahn. He worked on several major projects, including Chicago's McCormick Place and the United Airlines terminal at O'Hare International Airport, which includes a walkway famous for its colorful lighting. He also had a hand in the design of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the FBI headquarters in Washington.
--Associated Press
PRATT INDUSTRIES
HAS BUILT
5 OF AMERICA'S LAST 7 PAPER MILLS --
ALL 100% RECYCLED
PRATT INDUSTRIES
HAS BUILT
5 OF AMERICA'S LAST 7 PAPER MILLS --
ALL 100% RECYCLED
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VER?NICA G. C?RDENAS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
A6 | Monday, May 10, 2021
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
J&J Halt Slows Vaccination Goals
Cindy Mijares of Monterrey, Mexico, received her first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine last week at a pharmacy in Edinburg, Texas.
U.S. Lures Foreign Shot Seekers
BY ELIZABETH FINDELL AND JUAN MONTES
McALLEN, Texas--Even before New York City announced plans to offer visitors free vaccines, tourism from Texas to Florida has received a boost as tens of thousands from Mexico and other countries fly to the U.S. for a shot in the arm.
"Enjoy Dallas, Includes Covid Vaccine," said a Mexico travel agency ad. Thai tour companies are selling vaccine packages to California. Northern states in the U.S. are supplying their Canadian neighbors with doses.
Most of the travel appears to be between Mexico and Texas. Mexican airlines have added routes to South Texas and stepped up frequency. Flights to Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are booked for weeks, and prices are rising.
Cindy Mijares, a 31-year-old jewelry designer from Monterrey, Mexico, said she booked a Covid-19 vaccination appointment at a Texas pharmacy, as have many of her friends. People hesitate to talk about crossing the border for a vaccine, concerned that they are doing something wrong, she said, adding that she just wants life to go back to normal.
"I'm excited, I'm happy, I want to go travel," she said.
Mexico has fully vaccinated 6% of its population, compared with 31% in the U.S., according to figures from Our World in Data. Mexico is still mostly focusing on people over the age of 60, while the U.S. is providing the shots to those 16 or older.
In April, some 207,000 passengers departed for the U.S. from Mexico City's international airport, compared with 177,000 in March and 95,000 in February, according to preliminary data from the airport. Top destinations in April were Houston and Dallas, with 41,000 and 26,000 passengers, respectively, followed by Los Angeles, Miami and San Antonio.
Patricia Ridruejo, 38, who was about to board a recent flight from Mexico City to Dallas with her sister, said they didn't want to wait for the vaccine any longer to spend time safely with their 72-yearold mother. They had already booked flights for their second doses. "We want to end this nightmare once and for all," Ms. Ridruejo said.
Texas, like many U.S. states, doesn't require residency for Covid-19 vaccines. Unlike in Mexico, where there are too
few vaccines to go around, some U.S. states are offering incentives. New Jersey has announced a "shot and a beer," offering a free drink at a participating brewery to adults who have received their first shot.
On Thursday, New York City began promoting itself as a travel spot for vaccine seekers. Florida officials said in April that they would rescind a residency requirement put in
Texas, like many states, doesn't require residency for a Covid19 vaccine.
place after an initial surge of vaccine tourism. In Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said travelers could get free vaccines at the state's major airports starting June 1, in an effort to boost tourism.
While Texas state officials have said foreigners account for a tiny fraction of shots administered, travelers often list a local address on forms.
The trips to the U.S. have a knock-on effect on local economies. Vaccine-seekers buy
flights, stay at hotels and spend extra time shopping and eating out. They revive the economies of places such as Texas' Rio Grande Valley, where businesses reliant on cross-border trade have been hurt by a year of the border being closed.
One group particularly interested in vaccine travel has been Mexico's private doctors, who weren't included in vaccination of health personnel working in public hospitals. Only about a quarter of private doctors have been vaccinated, and those who can afford to do so are making the trip, said Belinda C?zares, the head of Mexico's federation of doctors associations.
Other foreigners are getting U.S. vaccines through official channels. Mike Murphy, a 53year-old truck driver from Winnipeg, Manitoba, was one of hundreds of truckers from the Canadian province to take advantage last month of a free cross-border vaccination program by North Dakota. The state is offering doses to roughly 6,000 Canadian truckers after Manitoba's premier requested help. Mr. Murphy, who drove his big rig to a state site about 30 miles south of the border, said the shot put a bounce in his step.
BY JULIE WERNAU
The 10-day halt in administering Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine has made it harder to inoculate the hardto-reach and hesitant, health officials said, complicating efforts to meet community vaccination goals.
Many people who live in rural and other areas canceled appointments during the temporary pause in April, and many of them haven't rescheduled, vaccination sites said. Some people hesitant to get inoculated told pollsters after the J&J halt that they were less likely to take a shot.
The aftereffects threaten to set back efforts to vaccinate enough people to achieve communitywide immunity and drop many pandemic precautions, allowing for a return to more-normal life.
More than four months into the vaccination campaign, many of the people willing to get vaccinated have done so, according to health officials. Safety concerns raised by the pause have discouraged some people who told pollsters they were open to taking a vaccine but wanted to wait and see.
"There is a portion of the population that because of the pause, that's the straw that broke the camel's back, they're not going to get vaccinated. They just evaporated," said Paul Shelton, executive vice president of pharmacy at AdhereHealth LLC, a health-technology company that has been
operating sites in more hesitant and hard-to-reach populations.
Some state health officials expressed hope that the concerns would fade.
Health authorities had looked forward to J&J's shot partly because its convenient storage requirements and single dose made it easier to give in rural and other areas that lack many of the special freezers needed to store the other vaccines, and to people who didn't want to have to return for a second dose.
In late February, the J&J vaccine became the third to be authorized for use in the U.S.
As supplies were beginning to increase in April, however, federal health officials recommended pausing use of the J&J shot while they investigated reports of a rare bloodclotting condition. The officials later lifted the advisory, saying the vaccine's benefits outweighed its risks while alerting doctors who encountered patients to the proper treatment.
A spokesman for J&J said safety is the company's top priority and its Covid-19 vaccine prevents hospitalization and death, including against viral variants.
"We know that people's top concern about the vaccines is that they might experience serious side effects," said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at Kaiser Family Foundation.
News about rare blood clots associated with the J&J vaccine has made some groups less likely to want any Covid-19 vaccine. Fewer Americans express confidence in the J&J vaccine.
Percentage who say they are confident that the following Covid-19 vaccines are safe
Percentage who said the news made them less likely to want a Covid-19 vaccine.
Very confident Somewhat confident
Hispanic women
18%
Pfizer Moderna
Black men White women Black women
11 7 6
J&J
Hispanic men
5
White men
5
0% 25 50 75
Note: Survey conducted April 15-29, 2021, among a nationally representative sample of 2,097 adults.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
Shoppers Feel Bite as Prices Rise
Continued from Page One be cheaper," she said.
Costs are rising at every step in the production of many goods. Prices for oil, crops and other commodities have shot up this year. Trucking companies are paying scarce drivers more to take those materials to factories and construction sites. As a result, companies are charging more for foods and consumer products including foil wraps and disposable cups.
Kellogg Co., maker of Frosted Flakes, Cheez-Its and Pringles, said Thursday that higher costs for ingredients, labor and shipping are pushing it and other food makers to raise prices.
"We haven't seen this type of inflation in many, many years," Chief Executive Officer Steve Cahillane said.
Investors and economists are watching whether the higher prices drive up broader measures of inflation, which have been muted for years.
Consumer prices jumped 2.6% in the year ended in March, according to the Labor Department, the biggest 12month increase since August 2018.
As higher costs ripple through supply chains, more companies are concluding that their customers will accept higher prices.
"They've seen price increases throughout the entire store," Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer said. "I don't think anybody is surprised right now."
Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said during the conglomerate's annual meeting this month that the economy is experiencing a substantial run-up in prices.
Packaged food and produce companies are passing on rising costs.
"We're raising prices, people are raising prices to us, and it's being accepted," Mr. Buffett said. "It's an economy really that's red hot, and we weren't expecting it."
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on April 28 that inflationary pressures resulting from supply-chain problems would likely be temporary and wouldn't prompt the central bank to change policies aimed to keep borrowing costs down.
Some manufacturers didn't pass higher costs along to consumers in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic last year partly because they didn't want to charge people more for staples during a crisis, said Chris Testa, president of distributor United Natural Foods Inc. Instead, many manufacturers pulled back on discounts. Now, some food and consumerproduct makers are raising prices by up to 10%, he said.
Costs for apples are up 10% to 20% depending on the variety, said Mike Ferguson, vice president of produce and floral at Topco Associates LLC, an Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based cooperative of more than 40 food companies including grocer Wegmans Food Markets Inc.
Bananas and leafy greens cost more, too, Topco said,
while vegetable oils and products like salad dressing and mayonnaise are also getting pricier in part because of higher ingredient costs.
"Our overall goal is to cover cost increases," said Jon Moeller, operating chief at Procter & Gamble Co. Procter & Gamble is raising prices on baby products, adult diapers and feminine-care brands.
Competitor Kimberly-Clark Corp. said it would increase prices by mid-to-high single digits on Scott bathroom tissues, Depend adult diapers and Huggies baby-care products.
H. Kenneth Fleetwood, a songwriter in Nashville, said he has shifted to buying more generic staples such as detergent and recently shopped around for a television and monitor for his studio before finding the lowest price at Walmart Inc.
"Penny-pinching is becoming the name of the game," he said.
Devon Dalton, a sales director in Charlotte, N.C., said he is also buying more store brands and signed up for a fuel-savings program that gives him cash rewards at gas stations after he and his wife recently paid $20,000 more than the listing price to buy their first home.
DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
"Everything is getting a bit tighter," Mr. Dalton said. "We're trying to think what would be a good way to stay smart with our money."
Restaurant prices are rising, too. High demand for wings and a spate of new fast-food chicken sandwiches is pushing up chicken prices.
Takeout containers and coolers are more expensive than usual because production of resin, a key ingredient in plastic, was disrupted by winter storms in the South this year. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. said in April that it had raised prices for delivered food by 4%.
Kevin Hourican, CEO of food-distributor Sysco Corp., said that even at higher prices the pent-up demand for restaurants is enormous.
"People feel bad for their local restaurants. They want to support them," he said.
Khisna Holloway, an office manager for a school in Los Angeles, recently ate at a Mexican restaurant with her husband for the first time in more than a year. She noticed her preferred combo of cheese enchilada and chili relleno cost about $4 more than the last time she visited. She didn't mind.
"It felt like a treat," she said.
Some people are delaying purchases, hoping prices will recede.
Nick Davison said he bought a graphics card for his computer for about $400 in February 2020. He said similar components now sell for more than $1,000 on eBay.
He wants to build a second computer to mine cryptocurrency, but he plans to wait to see if component prices decrease.
"It doesn't seem smart to spend that much money on something that may go down in the future," he said.
--Sharon Terlep, Annie Gasparro, Austen Hufford
and Chip Cutter contributed to this article.
Gates Split In Works For Years
Continued from Page One Gates Foundation. Ms. Gates's concerns about the relationship dated as far back as 2013, the former employee said.
The couple negotiated their divorce throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the documents show. They have three children who are all now 18 years or older, the divorce filing shows.
According to the documents reviewed by the Journal, Ms. Gates and her advisers held a number of calls in October 2019 when the New York Times reported that Mr. Gates had met with Epstein on numerous occasions. Mr. Gates once stayed late into the night at Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, the Times reported.
Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said in 2019 that the software mogul and Epstein had met multiple times to discuss philanthropy. "Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so," Ms. Arnold said at the time. Epstein died in jail in August 2019 awaiting trial on federal charges related to sex trafficking.
Ms. Gates, a global advocate for women and girls, had told her husband she was uncomfortable with Epstein after the couple met him together in 2013, the former employee of the Gates Foundation said. Mr. Gates and some employees of the Gates Foundation continued a relationship with Epstein despite her concerns, this person said.
The Daily Beast earlier reported on the 2013 meeting and Ms. Gates's concerns with Epstein.
When asked about his rela-
tionship with Epstein in a September 2019 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gates said: "I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or friendship with him."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, who is 65 years old, said on Friday that he stands by his 2019 statement to the Journal and declined to comment further. A spokeswoman for Ms. Gates didn't respond to questions about her reasons for seeking a divorce.
In early 2020, Mr. and Ms. Gates surprised many people when they said they wouldn't attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual gathering of business and world leaders.
A few months later, on March 13, Mr. Gates said he was resigning from the boards of Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The Microsoft co-founder said he planned to focus more on his philanthropic efforts.
By that time, the Gateses were already in discussions to divide their vast wealth, according to the people familiar with the matter and the documents.
Ms. Gates's legal team by then already included New York divorce lawyer Robert Stephan Cohen, the documents show. Mr. Cohen has represented Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kravis and Ivana Trump in their divorces.
Mr. Gates also has some star lawyers, including Ronald Olson, a partner at the firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP who has represented Mark Zuckerberg, among others.
The May 3 divorce filing says the couple had agreed to a separation contract to divide their assets--a fortune estimated at $130 billion by Forbes.
Last week, Mr. Gates's investment firm transferred nearly $2.4 billion of public company shares to Ms. Gates, including stakes in car-dealership owner AutoNation Inc., a Mexican broadcaster and a Canadian railroad.
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
WORLD NEWS
Monday, May 10, 2021 | A7
India's Teachers Take Virus Hit in Election
CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV/BLOOMBERG NEWS PRAKASH SINGH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Hundreds die after government called them to work at polls in April, unions say
DEHRADUN, India--After India's most-populous state went ahead with local elections last month, a wave of illness swept through schoolteachers who were deployed by the government to work at the polls. Many of them died, without access to healthcare or a coronavirus test.
By Vibhuti Agarwal, Krishna Pokharel and Niharika Mandhana
In the run-up to the elec-
tions, Arunoday Prakash
Mishra was summoned for
training, packed into small
rooms with dozens of others
as they received instructions
on how to manage voting
booths. A few days later, after
reporting for duty at a polling
site, the 52-year-old high-
school teacher developed a fe-
ver and sore throat. Then he
had trouble breathing, his
brother said.
When Mr. Mishra returned
home later that day, he looked
very sick. His family took him
to several hospitals. None had
room for him, overstretched
by a constant stream of
Covid-19 patients.
The father of four died
early the next morning at
home. He was never tested for
the virus that causes Covid-19.
India is recording around
4,000 deaths a day in the
world's
fastest-growing
Covid-19 surge, but public-
health experts say the official
numbers don't reflect the toll,
with hospitals and testing
sites overwhelmed and many
dying at home. Hard-hit areas,
including the national capital
New Delhi, continue to battle
shortages of oxygen, medicines
and hospital beds. Crematori-
ums and burial grounds in
many parts of the country are
struggling to cope.
Around 2,000 civil servants
likely died of Covid-19 after
A teacher's body is carried for cremation. Among the state employees who worked at the polls, hundreds of teachers died of Covid-19.
the elections in Uttar Pradesh, including more than 700 teachers, a count based on Covid-19 test results or symptoms, according to surveys by unions representing state employees and the teachers. The unions had tried to get the elections postponed. Mr. Mishra's brother, Shailendra Kumar Mishra, had tried to persuade him not to report for election work.
" `The state administration is very tough,' " he said his brother told him. " `If I don't go for election duty, there are chances I might get suspended. If I get suspended, how will the family eat?' "
Public-health experts have pointed to elections that were held in states in India earlier this year as one of the factors that contributed to the surge. Political parties and leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held large campaign rallies in some states.
Elections in India, even at
the local level, often entail mobilizing an army of civil servants. About 1.3 million candidates were vying for nearly 870,000 posts representing villages and districts in the Uttar Pradesh election, which took place in four phases in late April. About 124 million voters participated, and more than 1.2 million government officers and employees helped administer it, the state election commission said.
"They know election duty is part of their job," said Suresh Yadav, joint general secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Primary Teachers' Union. "Still, this time, many were tense because of the fast-rising cases in the state from early April."
Before voting began, the unions petitioned the government and the state election commission for a delay because of rising Covid-19 cases.
Shishir Singh, a spokesman for Uttar Pradesh's government, said the administration
wanted to delay but had to follow a February court order to hold the elections by the end of April. The court issued the order at a time when Covid-19 infections were much lower in India, after the votes had been delayed.
Mr. Singh said there hasn't been any undercounting of cases. He said Sunday that the government was awaiting a report on the virus's spread among election workers but hasn't verified that anyone was infected or died from Covid-19.
Separately, lawyers petitioned the Allahabad High Court for postponement of the election. On April 7, the court dismissed the petition but directed the government and the state election commission to take the necessary care to prevent the spread of the virus during the elections.
Unions, election workers and their families say little heed was paid to the court di-
rective or the safety of election workers. A union representing government employees asked senior state officials for personal protective equipment for election workers.
"We were told that the state had no resources for it," said Hari Kishore Tiwari, president of the Uttar Pradesh State Employees' Joint Council.
Adesh Kumar Singh, a 45year-old teacher at a primary school, was assigned to work as a polling officer at a village in the state's northern Shahjahanpur district. Training sessions were held in small rooms filled with more than four dozen people, he said, and election workers were driven to polling sites in crowded trucks typically used to transport grain and cement.
"The Covid-19 guidelines hardly made a difference," he said. "There was colossal mismanagement. There were no masks, no sanitization, no
physical-distancing rules being followed."
The Uttar Pradesh election commissioner didn't respond to requests for comment.
Mahesh Prasad's family had tried to talk him out of going for election work. But the father of six said he had heard that absenteeism could be punished with job suspension, his nephew Sunil Rajvanshi said.
When the 50-year-old principal of a primary school in northern Uttar Pradesh returned from duty on April 20, he looked tired, Mr. Rajvanshi said. The following day, he had a fever and a cough. By the night of April 24, he was struggling to breathe.
His eldest son, age 17, rushed him after midnight to a government hospital in the district of Lakhimpur Kheri, where Mr. Prasad was admitted and given oxygen support. His family noticed doctors were keeping their distance, and asked whether they thought it might be Covid-19. Doctors said the soonest he could be tested was 10 a.m.
When Mr. Prasad's oxygen cylinder ran out, doctors moved one over from another patient, said his nephew, who was present that night. The family worked to arrange for an oxygen-equipped ambulance to take Mr. Prasad to the state capital of Lucknow, a three-hour drive away, but none was available.
That morning, around 8:25 a.m., Mr. Prasad died before he could be tested.
"Look at his symptoms. This has happened to so many teachers across the state who went for election duty," Mr. Rajvanshi said. "How could they all have fallen sick if it isn't corona?"
Uttar Pradesh's government has said it would give $41,000 to the families of state employees found to have died of Covid-19 after being infected during election duties, said Mr. Singh, the government spokesman. Families said they have been asked to submit a positive test to apply for it.
Some Nations Shift on AstraZeneca Shot
BY KIM MACKRAEL
Several countries have changed their guidance in recent days on who should receive the AstraZeneca PLC vaccine, as public-health officials continue to weigh the risk of the vaccine against the prevalence of Covid-19 cases.
The AstraZeneca shot hasn't been cleared for use in the U.S., unlike Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. But in some wealthy countries where the supply of those vaccines has been more constrained, AstraZeneca doses have been offered to people as young as 30, showing the wide variation even among wealthy countries in vaccination campaigns.
On Friday, the U.K.'s vaccines advisory body said the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, which has raised concerns among health experts due its possible link to rare blood clots, should preferably not be given to people under 40. Previous guidance suggested the vaccine should preferably not be given to people under 30.
In Canada last week, members of a national expert panel referred to the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as the preferred option after elected officials had earlier encouraged citizens to get the first vaccine available, which for some age groups was AstraZeneca's shot.
Meanwhile, German officials on Thursday took the opposite tack, saying they would make
Canada last month began allowing people in their 40s and early 50s to book AstraZeneca shots..
the vaccine available to all adults after earlier limiting it to those 60 years and older, as it sought to speed up a vaccination campaign that had gotten off to a slow start.
AstraZeneca has struggled to pull together the data required for an emergency-use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S., and on Friday people familiar with the matter said it could skip that step in favor of pursuing a more timeintensive application for a fullfledged license to sell the shot. U.S. government and publichealth officials have said they have ample supplies of other vaccines that are already authorized for use.
Health officials note that with the pandemic abating in
certain countries, the calculations around the benefits of receiving a vaccine change.
British officials said Friday that while the risks of suffering the blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine are minuscule, they now outweigh the risks of someone under 40 suffering a fatal Covid-19 case. The calculation of the overall safety of the vaccine itself hasn't altered, the U.K. medicines regulator said.
They said unvaccinated individuals under 40 should receive alternative vaccines, "where available and only if this does not cause substantial delays in being vaccinated."
Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa, said it is reasonable for experts' advice to change as
new evidence emerges, and officials should be open with the public about what they know and recommend.
But he said officials can struggle to communicate both the risks and benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine, adding to confusion and potentially chipping away at public trust.
He said confusing messaging has been displayed in Canada: Last month authorities in many parts of the country began allowing people in their 40s and early 50s to book appointments for AstraZeneca's vaccine. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has repeatedly said the best vaccine is the first one that is available, was among those who signed up.
Yet on the day Mr. Trudeau
received his shot, the expert panel, called the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, said it preferentially recommended the messenger RNA vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. It said AstraZeneca's vaccine should be offered to those 30 years and older who don't want to wait, and for whom the benefits outweigh the risks.
Canada's chief public health officer, Theresa Tam, said she didn't see the advice from the government and the panel as different. "Everyone is trying to provide the best information in order for everyone to make a decision," Dr. Tam said.
The Canadian advisory panel has said the risk of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, or blood clotting, was about one in 100,000. As of May 6, Canada had reported 11 cases of blood clots and three blood clot-related deaths. It had administered more than 2 million AstraZeneca shots as of May 1.
Heather Badenoch, a 45year-old Ottawa resident who spent three days trying to snag an AstraZeneca appointment at overbooked pharmacies, said she was glad to have some protection, especially because her husband and mother-in-law would both be considered high risk if they contracted Covid-19.
"Zero regrets and pleased to have the antibodies," Ms. Badenoch said last week.
--Jason Douglas and Max Colchester contributed to
this article.
WORLD WATCH
SCOTLAND
Independence Parties Gain Ground in Vote
Scotland's future in the U.K. is set to loom over British and European politics for years after pro-independence groups led by Nicola Sturgeon's Scottish National Party expanded their majority in the Scottish parliament, setting up a clash with Britain on whether Scots should be allowed a vote on leaving the union.
Ms. Sturgeon's SNP secured
the largest number of seats-- nearly half the total--in the multiparty, European-style proportional electoral system after pitching independence as a way to accelerate Scotland's recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. A referendum could also chart a path for Scotland back into the European Union after Britain left the trade bloc at the start of the year, supporters said.
The SNP fell one seat short of an outright majority. Only the U.K. government may sanction a vote.
--James Hookway
OLYMPICS
Athletes Give Stadium a Test Run
A handful of athletes from as far away as the U.S. and the U.K. came to Tokyo for a track and field competition on Sunday that served as a rare onsite test for a pandemic-constrained Olympics.
Nine athletes who live outside Japan were permitted to enter the country. Their movements were limited to their
lodging and the National Stadium, which was empty but for staff and journalists.
The event comes less than three months before the Games are scheduled to begin on July 23.
--Peter Landers
EUROPEAN UNION
EU Tepid on Biden Call to Waive Patents
European Union leaders pushed back against President
Biden's call to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, saying exporting more shots would be a faster way to help poor countries struggling to contain the virus.
The EU is prepared to discuss the U.S. position, which the Biden administration had voiced earlier last week, when there is a concrete proposal, European Council President Charles Michel said at a summit meeting in Portugal on Saturday.
--Eric Sylvers
Chinese Rocket Debris Falls To Earth
BY NATASHA KHAN
HONG KONG--Debris from a Chinese rocket re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, Chinese officials said, easing days of anxiety that pieces would fall on densely populated areas.
The China Manned Space Engineering Office said the Long March-5B rocket made the re-entry at 10:24 a.m. Beijing time Sunday. Most of the components of the wreckage were burned up and destroyed during the re-entry, it said.
The rocket was sent into orbit to ferry a core component of its space station, the Tianhe module, on April 29. It was the first of a series of planned launches as China begins construction on the space station.
The rocket's size, about the height of a 10-story building, and concerns from space-monitoring organizations that the entry back to earth wouldn't be controlled caused worry in recent days, as various tracking organizations predicted potential landing sites covering swaths of the planet.
While there was a minuscule chance of the debris hitting populated areas, the episode has raised the issue of responsible space behavior, with China ramping up its space program and private corporations globally engaging in space activity.
Bill Nelson, who leads the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, criticized the re-entry on Saturday saying, "It is clear that China is failing to meet responsible standards regarding their space debris."
China's Foreign Ministry said Friday the risks of harm were small. Spokesman Wang Wenbin said authorities were watching the situation and that because the upper stage of the rocket had been deactivated, most of it would burn on re-entry, minimizing chances of damage to aviation or ground facilities and activities.
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FROM TOP: HEDAYATULLAH AMID/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK; WAKIL KOHSAR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
A8 | Monday, May 10, 2021
NY
WORLD NEWS
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
Deadly Kabul Attack Took Aim at Girls
BY SUNE ENGEL RASMUSSEN AND EHSANULLAH AMIRI
KABUL--Zainab Maqsudi, 13 years old, exited the library and walked toward the main gate of the Sayed Shuhada school to go home on Saturday when she was blown backward by an explosion. When she stood up, the air was thick with dust and smoke, and she was surrounded by shattered glass.
"Suicide attack!" everyone yelled, she said, reflecting how common such attacks have become in Afghanistan. She noticed she was bleeding from her arms. An older sister took her to hospital.
"I'm not sure if I will go back to school when I recover," Zainab, who is in seventh grade, said from her hospital bed Sunday, with her parents by her side. "I don't want to get hurt again. My body shakes when I think about what happened."
Preventing girls like Zainab from going to school was the likely goal of the terrorists behind Saturday's attack in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Kabul. Widening access to women's education was one of the most tangible achievements of the 20-year U.S. presence in Afghanistan--progress that could be reversed once American forces leave the country later this year.
Afghan authorities on Sunday raised the official death toll from Saturday's attack that targeted schoolgirls at Sayed Shuhada to 53. It was the latest assault on the area's mostly Shiite Hazara minority, which in recent months has suffered horrific attacks by Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, including on a maternity ward and an education center.
No group has claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. The Afghan president blamed the Taliban. The Taliban denied responsibility and condemned the bombings, accusing Islamic State of being behind them.
On Sunday, residents of the Afghan capital spent the day burying dozens of schoolgirls on a hillside on the outskirts of the capital. Hospitals across the city treated dozens of injured, including several who remained in intensive care.
The attack followed a rise in targeted assassinations of activists, politicians and female journalists. "We know if there is further violence, the groups who will be most vulnerable are women and girls," said Shaharzad Akbar, chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. "The message this attack sends to children, especially to girls going to school, is a very bleak one, a very scary one."
The Biden administration last month set Sept. 11 as the deadline for all U.S. forces to leave Afghanistan, but U.S. officials have suggested the drawdown could be completed as soon as July. The agreement follows a February 2020 deal between the Taliban and the Trump administration that committed the insurgents to enter peace talks with the Afghan government. However, American efforts to clinch a peace settlement before a full withdrawal have stalled, and bloodshed across the country continues.
The neighborhood of Dashte Barchi where Saturday's bombings occurred is one of Kabul's most disenfranchised areas. It is populated mostly by the Hazara minority, which
Mourners attended the funeral, above, of one of the victims of a Saturday attack that targeted a girls' school, below, in Kabul.
historically has been marginalized and oppressed, especially during Taliban rule in the 1990s.
"These are the poorest of the country, those who are most disadvantaged," said Freshta Karim, an education activist and founder of Charmaghz, a nonprofit that operates mobile libraries for children in Kabul. She said she
feared for the future now that Mr. Biden is withdrawing the troops who kept Taliban advances in check. "The schools are not safe, maternity hospitals are not safe, the streets are not safe, and we are helpless about it," Ms. Karim said.
Nikbakht Sharifi's twelfthgrade daughter, Marziah, was among those injured on Saturday. "I didn't send her to
school for a year because I was afraid of suicide bombings. But this was her last year, so I sent her back," said Ms. Sharifi, who herself is illiterate. "I was hoping she would become something."
The Afghan government hasn't released its findings from Saturday's blast site. Several witnesses said the first explosion was caused by
a minivan that blew up outside the school. Two smaller blasts followed in short succession about 10 minutes later, injuring people who had rushed to the scene to help the wounded.
A clinic for war wounded in central Kabul run by the Italian aid group Emergency said it had admitted 29 injured victims, nearly all of them girls. Several victims had both burns and injuries from shrapnel, a combination that Emergency's country director Marco Puntin called uncommon. He said this indicated the likely use of two types of weapons used in the blast.
Some of the girls injured by Saturday's explosion said they weren't intimidated by the terrorists.
Tahira Hassani, 17, was carried away from the blast site by an elderly man who tied her head scarf around her legs to stop the bleeding.
"I hope my legs will get better so I can walk again," she said. "I will continue my studies. I want to become a prosecutor. The country is full of injustice, and I want to fix that."
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U.S. on the Hunt for Bases After Afghanistan Pullout
BY VIVIAN SALAMA AND GORDON LUBOLD
WASHINGTON--U.S. military planners are looking for options to base forces and equipment in Central Asia and the Middle East after American and allied troops leave Afghanistan in the coming months.
With withdrawal preparations ramping up, U.S. military commanders want bases for troops, drones, bombers and artillery to shore up the Afghan government, keep the Taliban insurgency in check and monitor other extremists. Options being assessed range from nearby countries to more distant Arab Gulf emirates and Navy ships at sea, U.S. government and military officials said.
Preferable, according to some military and Biden administration officials, would be Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which border Afghanistan and would allow for quick access. But Russia's large military footprint in the region, China's growing one and tensions between them and Washington complicate plans for Central Asian bases, the officials said.
"The drive to work looks like it will be a little bit longer for now," one official said.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan, traveled to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan this past week.
Mr. Khalilzad's discussions focused on efforts to broker peace among the Afghan factions before the Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline--a topic a U.S. official involved in the discussions said is of concern to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which don't want a spillover of the violence.
No formal requests for bases in Central Asia have been made to date, according to U.S. officials, with the Pentagon still weighing the pros and cons. The State Department and White House are also involved in the decision.
The hastened planning to find regional footholds for the U.S. military is part of a gen-
A handover ceremony from the U.S. Army to the Afghan National Army was held at Camp Anthonic in Helmand province on May 2.
eral scramble to meet the September deadline set by President Biden last month but which U.S. defense officials say could be completed as early as July. Tensions have been mounting between Afghan groups even before the deadline was announced, and many U.S., Afghan and other officials are concerned the withdrawal could precipitate a slide into broader conflict.
Army Gen. Scott Miller, the top commander in Afghanistan, and Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who heads U.S. Central Command, submitted rough plans to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin late last month for the drawdown of personnel and equipment from Afghanistan.
Those plans, which military officials said aren't complete, involve 25,000 to 30,000 total personnel, including North Atlantic Treaty Organization and American forces and contractors. Still to be determined is how many people the State Department wants to retain at the sizable U.S. Embassy in Kabul, though that number could be as high as 1,000 Americans, U.S. officials said.
Also missing from the rough plans is where to base American forces postwithdrawal, those officials said, and finding hosts could prove challenging.
Ultimately, administration officials said, they want locations that are close to Afghanistan for troops, drones and other rapid-response equipment, in the event, for example, of an attack on its embassy in Kabul. When it announced the withdrawal last month, the Biden administration said it would launch airstrikes or conduct surveillance missions if al Qaeda reappeared in Afghanistan or another group like Islamic State posed a threat to the U.S. or its interests.
If nearby countries aren't accessible, U.S. officials are looking farther afield for "over the horizon" options in Arab Gulf allies, several of which currently host U.S. forces.
The fallback is using an aircraft carrier to host aircraft that could be used for missions over Afghanistan, though the Navy is reluctant to commit a carrier full-time to the region due to needs elsewhere, according to Navy and other officials.
AFGHAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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