The Washington Post - 20.08.2019

these people said, speaking on the

condition of anonymity because

they were not authorized to dis-

close internal discussions. But the

White House increasingly is dis-

cussing ideas to boost a slowing

economy, they said.

Even though deliberations

about the payroll tax cut were

held Monday, the White House

released a statement disputing

that the idea was actively under

“consideration.”

“As [National Economic Coun-

cil Director Larry Kudlow] said

yesterday, more tax cuts for the

American people are certainly on

the table, but cutting payroll taxes

is not something under consider-

ation at this time,” the statement

said.

The statement and the internal

SEE ECONOMY ON A

BY DAMIAN PALETTA

Several senior White House of-

ficials have begun discussing

whether to push for a temporary

payroll tax cut as a way to arrest

an economic slowdown, three

people familiar with the discus-

sions said, revealing growing con-

cerns about the economy among

President Trump’s top economic

aides.

The talks are still in their early

stages and have included a range

of other tax breaks. The officials

also have not decided whether to

formally push Congress to ap-

prove any of these measures,

arms. But in recent days, Trump

has focused in public remarks on

the need to keep guns out of the

hands of the mentally ill while

emphasizing that the nation al-

ready has “very strong back-

ground checks right now” — posi-

tions that hew more closely to the

views of the National Rifle Associ-

ation.

Behind the scenes, Trump’s

communication with key law-

makers, including Sen. Joe Man-

chin III, a moderate Democrat

from West Virginia who has

sought to develop bipartisan gun-

control measures, has gone most-

ly cold, according to Capitol Hill

aides, in part because Congress

has left town for its summer re-

cess.

Meanwhile, the president

spent most of his time with advis-

SEE GUNS ON A

BY JOSH DAWSEY

AND DAVID NAKAMURA

President Trump appears to be

backing away from potential sup-

port for gun background check

legislation, according to White

House aides, congressional lead-

ers and gun advocates, dimming

prospects that Washington will

approve significant new gun mea-

sures in the wake of mass shoot-

ings that left 31 dead.

Immediately after the carnage

in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio,

Trump said “there is a great appe-

tite” for tightening background

checks on people who buy fire-

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. M2 V1 V2 V3 V

T-storm, hot 94/75 • Tomorrow: T-storms, hot 93/76 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 , 2019. $

NYPD fires officer Daniel Pantaleo was

terminated for his actions leading up to the

death of Eric Garner in 2014. A

A new balance A group of top CEOs said that

maximizing shareholder profits should no

longer be corporations’ primary goal. A

HEALTH & SCIENCE

Ready for school

As children head back

to class, we take a look

at all aspects of their

physical and mental

health. E

STYLE

Gotta catch ’em all

At the Pokémon World

Championships, fans

play video games, hold

stuffed Pikachus for good

luck and get engaged. C

In the News

THE NATION

The deadline to qualify

for the next presidential

debate has prompted

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

to break into a sprint. A

White liberal voters in

New Hampshire are

now talking about issues

of racial justice, includ-

ing reparations. A

Sen. Cory Booker’s

plan to provide a trust

fund for every U.S. child

faces many hurdles, in-

cluding the lack of data

on its effectiveness. A

A study of possible

links between fluoridat-

ed tap water and lower

child IQs has led experts

to urge patience in an

effort to head off fears

about unsafe water. A

THE WORLD

China is investing in

Europe — and has little

tolerance for objections,

as a feud with Prague’s

mayor shows. A

Three civilians were

killed when a Turkish

convoy was targeted by

an airstrike in Syria, im-

periling a fragile peace

between the nations. A

As Boris Johnson

girds Britain for a “no-

deal” Brexit, opponents

are threatening a no-

confidence vote to oust

the prime minister. A

India slightly eased its

crackdown in Kashmir,

with landlines working

but Internet still out

and local politicians still

detained. A

THE ECONOMY

The Trump adminis-

tration added more

Huawei affiliates to a

trade blacklist, creating

a challenge for rural

telecom companies. A

The CFPB is signaling a

retreat from aggressive

oversight of federal stu-

dent loans by limiting

the duties of its new om-

budsman. A

THE REGION

Rep. Abigail Span-

berger learned a harsh

lesson after clashing

with liberals in her own

party. B

A whirlwind partner-

ship that includes movie

star Keanu Reeves aims

to help at-risk young

people in the region. B

A third family has

sued a District charter

school, saying employ-

ees failed to protect the

child from sexual abuse

by a teacher. B

A huge search by sea

and air is underway for

a Fairfax County fire-

fighter and his friend

who are missing off the

Florida coast. B

D.C. students made

steady gains on a por-

tion of the PARCC, but

the standardized test’s

results also showed hur-

dles to bridging the

achievement gap. B

Inside

EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS

BUSINESS NEWS ....................... A

COMICS ....................................... C

OPINION PAGES.........................A

LOTTERIES...................................B

OBITUARIES ................................ B

TELEVISION ................................. C

WORLD NEWS..............................A

CONTENT © 2019

The Washington Post / Year 142, No. 258

BY MARIE C. BACA

AND TONY ROMM

Twitter and Facebook said
Monday they had taken action
against China for using hun-
dreds of fake accounts to sow
political discord during the
Hong Kong protests, marking

the first time the social media

giants had identified Beijing di-

rectly for spearheading such an

operation.

Twitter said it was suspending

nearly a thousand Chinese ac-

counts and banning advertising

from state-owned media compa-

nies, citing a “significant state-

backed information operation”

related to protests in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Facebook said it was

removing five Facebook ac-

counts, seven pages and three

groups after being tipped off to

the use of “a number of deceptive

tactics, including the use of fake

accounts.”

The new takedowns by Face-

book and Twitter reflect the

extent to which disinformation

has become a global scourge, far

surpassing the once-secret ef-

forts of Russian agents to stoke

social unrest in the United States

during the 2016 presidential

election. Researchers recently

have pointed to similar cam-

paigns linked to Saudi Arabia,

Israel, China, the United Arab

Emirates and Venezuela, efforts

aimed at shaping discussions on

social media beyond their bor-

ders.

“It’s almost like wherever you

look, you’re finding this stuff,”

said Ben Nimmo, chief of investi-

gations for Graphika, a network

analysis firm based in New York

that studies online disinforma-

tion.

Some of this activity has come

under the auspices of state-con-

trolled media. In August, for

example, Facebook, Google and

Twitter each identified a sprawl-

ing disinformation campaign

originating out of Iran that post-

ed content — and in some cases,

purchased ads — in a bid to

SEE TWITTER ON A

BY JOANNA SLATER

miryalaguda, india — They

were young, glamorous and

dreamily in love.

Pranay Perumalla strode into

the wedding hall in a midnight

blue suit, his face lit by a grin as

he clasped the hand of his bride,

Amrutha Varshini. The couple

draped huge garlands of flowers

around one another’s necks and

relatives threw grains of yellow

rice that caught in their dark

hair.

But even as they celebrated,

they were already in danger.

One bright afternoon less than

a month later, the couple left a

doctor’s appointment in the

small southern Indian city where

they grew up. A man came up

behind them carrying a large

butcher knife in his right hand.

He hacked Pranay twice on the

head and neck, killing him in-

stantly.

Pranay, 23, was a Dalit, a term

used to describe those formerly

known as “untouchables.” Am-

rutha, 21, belongs to an upper

caste. Her rich and powerful

family viewed the couple’s union

as an unacceptable humiliation.

Her father, T. Maruthi Rao, was

so enraged that he hired killers to

murder his son-in-law, court doc-

uments say.

While Indian society is chang-

ing, it is not shifting rapidly

enough for couples like Amrutha

and Pranay, whose marriage de-

fied an age-old system of discrim-

ination and hierarchy. Even as

India has lifted millions out of

poverty, increased education

rates and built one of the world’s

fastest-growing economies, the

influence of caste — a social

order rooted in Hindu scriptures

and based on an identity deter-

mined at birth — remains perva-

sive.

That system is at its most

resilient in marriage. A 2017

study found that just 5.8 percent

of Indian marriages are between

people of different castes, a rate

that has changed little in four

SEE INDIA ON A

BY MAURA JUDKIS

west hollywood — Like any
good chef about to open a restau-
rant, Andrea Drummer wants to
get her pairings just right. But
her lamb chops with plantain-
mango salsa won’t be matched
with wine or beer.
Instead, a “budtender” — some
in the industry call them gan-
jiers, as in ganja sommeliers —
will help guests at the soon-to-
open Lowell Farms cannabis cafe
pair their farm-to-table meal
with the perfect strain of farm-to-
table marijuana.
“A kush is a little more pun-

gent, so it pairs better with a stew,

or something like a beef or a meat

product. A lighter lemon profile

goes nicely with a fish,” Drummer

said. One of her favorite strains,

Blue Dream, “pairs well with

both savory and sweet. I’ve done

it with ice cream and with bread

puddings, but I’ve also done it

with octopus.”

When the rustic, plant-filled

220-seat space opens, it will be

the first of its kind in the United

States: a place for locals and

tourists to have a high-quality

meal and smoke a joint in public.

Other restaurants are soon to

follow. But if they want weed on

the menu, restaurateurs in the

famously progressive city —

which in 2017 approved an ordi-

nance allowing business licenses

for this purpose — will still have

to navigate a complicated patch-

work of regulations.

SEE CANNABIS ON A

White House officials

weigh a payroll tax cut

Twitter, Facebook act to curb China disinformation

In some Calif. cafes, pot

to get a seat at the table

Dangerously in love in India’s age-old caste system

ILYAS AKENGIN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Demonstrators clash with police in Diyarbakir, Turkey, after the government indicted three popular mayors and

replaced them with state officials. The opposition mayors of Kurdish-majority areas, including Diyarbakir, had won

landslide victories in local elections this year. The government accused the officials of links to terrorism. Story, A

In Turkey, anger after government suspends mayors

MOMENT MAKERS PHOTOGRAPHY

Pranay Perumalla and Amrutha Varshini before their wedding

reception. Less than a month later, Pranay was slain.

Early-stage talks reflect

growing concern about

an economic slowdown

W. Hollywood businesses

navigate a web of rules to

pair cuisine and cannabis

They defied the social

order. Now her father is

accused in a killing.

Suspended accounts tied

to Beijing efforts to sow

discord in Hong Kong

Trump shows little

urge to act on guns

RECENT POSITIONS

ALIGN WITH NRA’S

Background checks

already ‘strong,’ he says

Recession fears: Economists see

downturn by 2021, poll finds. A

‘Red flag’ laws: Such legislation

may help stop mass shootings. A