The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-01)

California bound The “People’s Convoy”

leaves the Washington area after weeks of

protests that left traffic snarled. B

A breakthrough Two decades after

celebrating a historic sequencing, researchers

published the first full human genome. A

WEEKEND

Kusama’s return

A mini show at the

Hirshhorn Museum and

Sculpture Garden in D.C.

offers a more intimate

window on t he polka-dot

priestess’s world.

STYLE

‘Julia’

HBO Max serves up

a sweet take on the

T V chef with élan and

a smile. C

In the News

THE NATION

A House panel said it

will question Postal

Service officials about

the agency’s decision to

buy as many as 148,

gas-powered delivery

trucks. A

The House minority

leader issued a rare

rebuke of Rep. Madison

Cawthorn, but some

think he isn’t doing

enough to keep the

outlandish in line. A

Union elections at

Amazon warehouses in

Alabama and New York

were too close to call. A

THE WORLD

The international

community faced a

sharp dilemma: Should

aid continue flowing to

Afghanistan’s citizens,

or should assistance be

cut off to punish the

government? A

A Turkish prosecutor

asked to move the trial

of suspects linked to the

killing of Washington

Post contributing col-

umnist Jamal Khashog-

gi to Saudi Arabia, ac-

cording to local media

and a person who at-

tended the hearing. A

Tunisia’s president

dissolved parliament,

escalating a political

c risis in the North

African nation. A

THE ECONOMY

It’s still too easy to stalk

people with Apple, Tile

and Samsung digital

tags, columnist Geoffrey

A. Fowler writes. A

THE REGION

Legislators passed

a bill that could make

Maryland a leader in

battling climate change,

if it survives. B

Five fetuses were

taken from a D.C. home

after nine people were

indicted in the blockade

of an abortion clinic. B

A former Walt Whit-

man High School coach

accused of sexually

abusing two former

r owers has delayed

accepting a plea deal,

prosecutors said. B

Thomas Jefferson

High School will keep

its controversial admis-

sions system as the case

against the process

proceeds in court. B

A bondsman w as sen-

tenced in a case involv-

ing a friend who killed

an ex-girlfriend while he

was out on bail. B

SPORTS

A House committee

expanded its probe into

the Commanders after

allegations of financial

improprieties. D

Women’s sports made

a leap in 1982, when a

showdown between

competing factions led

to two basketball title

games, about 300 miles

apart. D

Inside

RICKY CARIOTI/THE WASHINGTON POST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CONTENT © 202 2

The Washington Post / Year 145, No. 117

1

BY ANNIE GOWEN

mount juliet, tenn. — The pastor prom-

ised his followers that this church service

would be like no other, and the event on a

cold Sunday in March did not disappoint.

“Devil, your foot soldiers are coming out

tonight, they’re coming all the way out. We

will expel them,” Pastor Greg Locke howled

from the stage in a crowded white tent. “You

gotta leave, Devil,” he shouted, “you gotta get

out!”

Wielding a microphone as he paced the

stage, his wife, Ta i, at his side, Locke called

out “spirits” of anger, rage, bitterness, lust

and envy.

“Spirit of molestation, spirit of abuse, get

out right now!” Locke commanded.

“Every spirit of homosexuality, lesbian-

ism, come out, come out,” his wife ordered.

“Transgenderism, gender dysphoria, come

out.”

“We rebuke it, we rebuke it!” Locke yelled.

The tent slowly took on a spirit of its own.

Worshipers began writhing as if in pain.

Others waved their hands in the air in

benediction. “A mens” began to mix with the

guttural sound of growling, moaning and

praying in tongues.

SEE PASTOR ON A

BY STEVEN MUFSON

AND CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.

President Biden on Thursday

announced that he will release

1 million barrels a day from the

nation’s Strategic Petroleum Re-

serve to try to offset the loss of

Russian crude oil from world mar-

kets, starve Russia of revenue and

cut the cost American consumers

are paying at the pump.

The release — the biggest with-

drawal in the reserve’s more than

46-year history — would continue

for the next six months, adminis-

tration o fficials said, an indication

that the Biden administration an-

ticipates a prolonged conflict in

Ukraine.

“This is a wartime bridge to

increase oil supply into produc-

tion,” Biden said in remarks at the

White House. “... It is by far the

largest release of our national re-

serve in our history to provide a

SEE BIDEN ON A

To c urb gas spike,

Biden opens tap

on oil reserve

A pastor divides his community

Greg Locke preaches Donald Trump’s false election

claims as he spreads his gospel around Tennessee

WILLIAM DESHAZER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Greg Locke, who was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, preaches from

the stage in the tent of Global Vision Bible Church in Tennessee last month.

BY ANNIE LINSKEY

AND NICK MIROFF

The Biden administration’s
plan to end a pandemic order
barring many migrants from en-
tering the United States could
trigger a rush of crossings at the
border with Mexico — threaten-
ing to exacerbate a political lia-
bility for Democrats ahead of
November’s midterm elections.
Top Democrats on Thursday
lashed out at the administration
and each other over the fate of an
emergency order that the Biden
and Trump administrations have
used to expel undocumented im-
migrants during the pandemic,
with some arguing for a quicker
policy change and others warn-
ing not to move ahead. Republi-
cans pounced on President
Biden, accusing him of inviting
chaos and danger.
Administration officials ac-
knowledged this week that the
move could significantly in-
crease the record number of
SEE BORDER ON A

Border edict’s

end may trap

Democrats as

fall vote nears

ABCDE

Prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington. SUV1 V2 V3 V

Partly sunny, windy 59/38 • Tomorrow: Partly sunny 59/46 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness FRIDAY, APRIL 1 , 2022. $

BY AMY GOLDSTEIN

AND DAN KEATING

Pregnant people who are vacci-
nated against the coronavirus are
nearly twice as likely to get covid-
19 as those who are not pregnant,
according to a new study that
offers the broadest evidence to
date of the odds of infections
among vaccinated patients with
different medical circumstances.
The analysis, based on medical
records of nearly 14 million U.S.
patients since coronavirus immu-
nization became available, found
that pregnant people who are vac-
cinated have the greatest risk of
developing covid among a dozen
medical states, including being an
organ transplant recipient and
having cancer.
The findings come on top of
research showing that people
who are pregnant or gave birth
recently and became infected are
especially prone to getting seri-
ously ill from covid-19. And covid
has been found to increase the
risk of pregnancy complications,
such as premature births.
The Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention has been urg-
ing people to get coronavirus
shots before or during pregnancy,
seeking to dispel fear — wide-
spread in some communities,
without scientific basis — that
those vaccinations could be
harmful. As of March, nearly 70
SEE VIRUS ON A

Pregnant at

higher covid

risk among

vaccinated

Study looks at i nfection

odds for people in

different m edical states

Refugees: For elderly Japanese,

their plight hits close to home. A

Nuclear fears: Ukrainians worry

about p lants being targeted. A

E.U. and China: Putin’s war may

color talks between the two. A

BY MATT VISER,

DALTON BENNETT,

ALEX HORTON

AND PAULINA VILLEGAS

Russian and Ukrainian offi-

cials agreed to a temporary cease-

fire in the besieged southern port

city of Mariupol, with evacuations

planned for Friday, even as the

Pentagon reported devastating

airstrikes there and in Kyiv,

the capital, over the previous

24 hours.

D ozens of buses began arriving

in the area around Mariupol on

Thursday to deliver humanitari-

an aid and transport civilians, an

effort that a spokesman for the

International Committee of the

Red Cross called “desperately im-

portant” for a city that has borne

the worst of Russia’s invasion and

where 100,000 residents may still

be trapped.

Russian troops also appeared

to be withdrawing from the Cher-

SEE UKRAINE ON A

Cease-fire is set for ravaged Mariupol

AID STREAMS IN,

RESIDENTS TO E XIT

NATO chief: Russia likely

repositioning for attacks

RODRIGO ABD/ASSOCIATED PRESS

BY JEANNE WHALEN

Russia’s ruble and banking sys-

tem are showing continued signs

of recovery from the initial punch

of sanctions, as Moscow relies on

energy exports and currency con-

trols to partly protect the nation’s

economy.

After initially plummeting, the

ruble has rebounded and is edging

closer to the value it held before

the war began, according to the

official exchange rate. And the

banking system is gradually stabi-

lizing as panicked customer with-

drawals subside, economists say.

Some of the recovery is artifi-

cial, made possible by strict limits

that the central bank, the Bank of

Russia, has placed on currency

exchange, withdrawals and hard-

currency transfers overseas. But

it is also due to a very real factor

still working in Russia’s favor:

strong oil and gas exports that

SEE RUSSIA ON A

Despite sanctions,

ruble and Russian

banks recovering

FADEL SENNA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

TOP: Ukrainian soldiers gather Thursday along a trail of destroyed Russian armor on the outskirts

of Kyiv, the capital, where heavy airstrikes continued despite Moscow’s announcement that it would

scale back operations there. ABOVE: A gas station burns Thursday after an attack on Kharkiv.

Virus funding: Lawmakers have
agreed on a framework. A