Post Reports

The revolutionary Webb telescope reaches its final destination. Amy Schneider’s historic winning streak on “Jeopardy!” comes to an end. Plus, the faster world of 5G, explained.Read more:NASA’s revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope on Monday fired its thrusters for five minutes and reached its final destination, a special orbit around the sun where it will spend the rest of its life scrutinizing the universe and capturing light emitted soon after the big bang. Joel Achenbach reports. Amy Schneider’s history-making “Jeopardy!” streak came to an end this week. Emily Yahr breaks down why she charmed so many people. 5G service just got faster for some people. Our Help Desk colleague Chris Velazco explains why.

A hunger crisis in Afghanistan is forcing Western countries to grapple with how to save lives without benefiting the Taliban.Read more:After Taliban forces took Kabul in August, foreign aid into Afghanistan dried up. The international community worried that aid money would be misused by Taliban officials, so that money stopped coming. Banks ceased normal operations. Billions of dollars in Afghan assets were frozen.This economic freeze – in combination with the freezing temperatures Afghans have faced this winter – has become a “lethal combination for the people of Afghanistan,” according to United Nations Secretary General António Guterres. But after several months of negotiations, the floodgates of foreign relief aid are reopening. This month, the U.N.announced an appeal for more than $5 billion in emergency aid for Afghanistan. The Biden administration has committed $300 million. And while these numbers look like they could be life-changing, foreign correspondent Pamela Constable says, “it’s still tiny compared to the need.”

Justice Stephen G. Breyer will retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term. This clears the way for President Biden to make good on his campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the court.Read more:Justice Breyer will retire from the Supreme Court, according to a person familiar with his plans. This clears the way for President Biden to reinforce the court’s liberal minority and make good on a campaign promise: to nominate the first Black woman to the nation’s highest court. Our Supreme Court reporter Robert Barnes says Breyer will be remembered for his willingness to compromise with his conservative colleagues — and his long-winded questions.

How inflation is wiping out pay raises. Plus, how Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s mask mandate ban has plunged Virginia’s public schools into chaos. Read more:After years of barely budging, wage growth is finally at its highest level in decades. Workers have more negotiating power than many ever imagined, and average hourly wages rose 4.7 percent last year. But, as economics correspondent Abha Bhattarai explains, the same strong recovery that is emboldening workers is also driving up inflation, leaving most Americans with less spending power than they had a year ago.Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) banned mask mandates in public schools recently. Now, school districts are suing in the name of science. National education writer Laura Meckler says this is not an isolated incident. Many states are dealing with a fight to either support mask mandates or parents’ rights.

Today on Post Reports we ask our Moscow correspondent: Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine? Plus, 5G wireless service was turned on nationwide last week. We’ll talk about why that caused problems for air travel.Read more:On Monday, tensions over Ukraine and Russia continued to escalate amid growing fears that more than 100,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine might soon invade. Isabelle Khurshudyan reports from Kyiv. 5G service was rolled out nationwide last week, and while it promises faster wireless to a lot of people, it's also raising concerns for airlines and airports. Lori Aratani reports.

A Rhode Island emergency department provides a window into how front-line health-care workers are coping with the latest covid surge. And a conversation about how André Leon Talley embodied the heart of the fashion world.Read more:Laura Forman, Kent Hospital’s emergency department director, says that her days dealing with a deluge of covid patients involves a lot of “best bad options.” Reporters Joyce Koh and Lenny Bernstein reported from Rhode Island, where overwhelmed emergency staff have been forced to see patients in their cars. Forman says her staff are burning out – and the conditions are the worst she’s seen in her 26-year career. Fashion icon André Leon Talley died this week at the age of 73. Talley was the former creative director of American Vogue, the first and only black person to hold that position. Senior critic-at-large Robin Givhan interviewed Talley many times over the years – and they were also friends. “He had an incredible capacity for generosity. And it came through in a way that was just as grand as his personality,” Givhan says.

Yasmeen Abutaleb, a health policy reporter at The Washington Post, discusses the government's initiative to provide free rapid coronavirus tests and the challenges of distribution and accuracy. Eva Dou, a foreign correspondent, sheds light on China's strict zero-COVID policy and its impact on the upcoming Winter Olympics, revealing the stark differences in pandemic management between China and the U.S. Both guests highlight how these testing and policy choices affect everyday life and the global landscape.

As midterm elections loom, Democrats scramble to hold on to their slim majority. Plus, what a redistricting debacle in Ohio tells us about the map-drawing process happening in states across the country.Read more:For Democrats in swing districts, the midterm elections are looming large. These “front-liners” especially need something to show for their two years in the majority come November. As Marianna Sotomayor reports, some of them are advocating a new strategy on the stalled Build Back Better spending bill — breaking off popular measures, such as extending the child tax credit and curbing prescription drug costs, and abandoning the big, sweeping package.Based on the results of the 2020 Census, states are drawing up new maps that could dramatically affect how midterm elections go in the fall. One of the states going through this process right now is Ohio, where last week the state Supreme Court rejected a pair of proposed state legislative redistricting maps, saying they were gerrymandered favoring Republicans. Chief national politics correspondent Dan Balz tells us about the rules and processes in place to stop gerrymandering in Ohio, and why they’ve failed –– for now.

Mark Fisher, Senior Editor at The Washington Post, provides vital insights into the harrowing hostage crisis at a Texas synagogue. He discusses the emotional and societal ramifications of the 11-hour standoff, emphasizing the need for security in places of worship amid rising anti-Semitism. Fisher highlights the tension between personal safety and the sanctity of religious spaces. Additionally, he touches on the fallout from Novak Djokovic's deportation over vaccination issues, reflecting on broader implications for athlete participation in sports.

Julie Zauzmer Weil, a reporter at The Washington Post, uncovers a staggering history by creating the first database of over 1,700 slaveholding members of Congress. She discusses the challenges faced during her research journey, including sifting through historical records and documents. The episode highlights how enslavers influenced pivotal legislation, revealing deep connections between political power and slavery. Zauzmer also reflects on public reactions to this historical reckoning, emphasizing its relevance for understanding current societal issues.