Five-year-old twins Ruhi and Mahi often wake up crying or seized with fear. In the morning, they ask their great-uncle the same question over and over: Where are our parents?
They lost both parents to covid-19. And what happened to them is not unique. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
Nearly 600 children in India have lost both parents to covid-19, said a government official.
Even that figure may understate the tragedy. Across India, over 3,600 children have been orphaned due to covid and other causes since the pandemic started. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
Although India’s situation is extreme, the country is far from alone.
Researchers in the United States estimate that about 43,000 American children had lost a parent to covid-19 since March of last year. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
In India, the ferocity of the second wave left hospitals too full to treat the ill.
Many died because they couldn't get enough oxygen or other treatment, leaving families with the question of whether their relatives might have been saved with proper care. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
Most of the children orphaned in the surge are staying with relatives. Some have been placed in institutional care.
The perils are myriad: Children who lose their parents are at higher risk of depression, dropping out of school and being exploited. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
In April, social media messages began to circulate seeking adoptive parents for kids whose parents died of covid.
The appeals became so widespread that authorities issued a warning that such direct adoptions are illegal and could be used for trafficking. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced that the national government would cover educational expenses and provide health insurance to children orphaned by covid, as well as set aside funds they could access upon turning 18. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
For Ruhi and Mahi, all their great-uncle wants to do is fulfill the aspirations of the girls’ parents — a good school, a high-quality education, a chance to move up in the world. Mahi says she wants to be a doctor. Ruhi would like to be a police officer. wapo.st/3ABfYXS
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Mark Robinson, the firebrand Republican nominee for governor in North Carolina, has for years made comments downplaying and making light of sexual assault and domestic violence. wapo.st/3KQffZ6
A review of Robinson’s social media posts over the past decade shows that he frequently questioned the credibility of women who aired allegations of sexual assault against prominent men, including Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and now-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. wapo.st/3KQffZ6
In one post, Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, characterized Weinstein and others as “sacrificial lambs” being “slaughtered.” wapo.st/3KQffZ6
Exclusive: A Washington Post investigation has found that over the past two decades, hundreds of law enforcement officers in the United States have sexually abused children while officials at every level of the criminal justice system have failed to protect kids, punish abusers and prevent additional crimes. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
The Post conducted an exclusive analysis of the nation’s most comprehensive database of police crimes.
From 2005 through 2022, reporters identified at least 1,800 state and local law enforcement officers who were charged with crimes involving child sexual abuse. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
Police and court documents show that abusive officers frequently spent months befriending and grooming kids.
Many used the threat of arrest or physical harm to make their victims comply. wapo.st/3XiNgZC
Exclusive: For decades, Catholic priests raped or molested Native American children who were taken from their homes by the U.S. government and forced to live at remote boarding schools, a Post investigation found. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
At least 122 priests, sisters and brothers assigned to 22 boarding schools since the 1890s were later accused of sexually abusing Native American children under their care, The Post found. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
Most of the documented abuse occurred in the 1950s and 1960s and involved more than 1,000 children.
Experts say the The Post’s findings are a window into the widespread sexual abuse at Indian boarding schools. wapo.st/3yB2VZT
Exclusive: A group of billionaires and business titans working to shape U.S. public opinion of the war in Gaza privately pressed New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams (D) last month to send police to disperse pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. wapo.st/4apUvBO
Business executives including Kind snack company founder Daniel Lubetzky, hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb, billionaire Len Blavatnik and real estate investor Joseph Sitt held a Zoom video call with Mayor Eric Adams (D) a log of chat messages shows. wapo.st/4apUvBO
During the call, some attendees discussed making political donations to Adams, as well as how the chat group’s members could pressure Columbia’s president and trustees to permit the mayor to send police to the campus to handle protesters. wapo.st/4apUvBO
Emily Franciose’s love of the backcountry drew her to boarding school in the Swiss Alps.
Then a mountain fell apart beneath her skis — and left her parents seeking answers. wapo.st/3UqR3SH
Emily had been on skis since she was 2, had attended avalanche safety courses and traveled with a first-aid kit.
She arrived at Ecole d’Humanité — which had a backcountry program with ski tours at least once a week in the Swiss Alps — in August 2022, one day after turning 18. wapo.st/3UqR3SH
The school’s last backcountry outing of the season took place on March 21, 2023.
Spring break was a few days away. Emily and her roommate had tickets to Paris.
But first, a trek to the top of the Wellhorn: wapo.st/3UqR3SH
As Donald Trump faces dwindling options to pay off a massive fine imposed as a result of losing a fraud case in New York, financial experts say filing for bankruptcy would provide one clear way out of his financial jam.
But Trump is not considering that approach, partially out of concern that it could damage his campaign to recapture the White House, according to four people close to the former president. wapo.st/3TLvfAX
Even though bankruptcy could alleviate Trump’s immediate cash crunch, it also carries risks for a candidate who has marketed himself as a winning businessman — and whose greatest appeal to voters, some advisers say, is his financial success. wapo.st/3TLvfAX
A bankruptcy filing by Trump personally or by one of his companies could delay for months or years the requirement that he pay the judgment of nearly half a billion dollars, which with interest is growing by more than $100,000 a day. wapo.st/3TLvfAX