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ny0254148 | [
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"politics"
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| 2011/07/16 | Some G.O.P. Senators Hold Up Extension of Mueller’s F.B.I. Term | WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s plans for Congress to smoothly extend the tenure of Robert S. Mueller III as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are derailing, raising an outside chance that he may have to step down temporarily early next month. While there was broad bipartisan acceptance of President Obama ’s decision earlier this year to keep Mr. Mueller in place for about two years past the expiration of his 10-year term, Senate Republicans have thrown up a series of roadblocks to approving that proposal swiftly. First, a group of lawmakers led by Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, objected on constitutional grounds to passing legislation that would have simply extended Mr. Mueller’s term. They said Mr. Obama should nominate him to a special new term, subject to Senate confirmation. While the White House believed that was unnecessary, it quietly agreed last week to use that approach, officials said. But now, a necessary first step — enacting legislation that would create a one-time shortened term and make an exception to a 10-year limit on the amount of time any person may serve as director — has been delayed by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a libertarian-leaning Republican who was elected last year. He is invoking a Senate rule that allows any member to block a swift vote on a bill. There may be significantly less time to complete the steps necessary to avoid a disruption at the F.B.I. than had been generally understood. The widespread understanding has been that Mr. Mueller’s term will expire on Sept. 3, because he started work as F.B.I. director on Sept. 4, 2001. But the administration legal team has decided that Mr. Mueller’s last day is likely to be Aug. 2, because President George W. Bush signed his appointment on Aug. 3, 2001. Coincidentally, Aug. 2 is also the day the government will hit a debt ceiling if Congress does not raise it. “Director Mueller has resounding bipartisan support, and our hope is that the Congress will act as soon as possible to ensure that Director Mueller can continue to lead the F.B.I. in its important national security mission,” said Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman. This year, Mr. Paul blocked the Senate from voting on reauthorizing sections of the Patriot Act until hours before they were to expire . To avoid a gap, Mr. Obama, who was overseas, took the unusual step of “signing” the bill into law by directing an aide to run it through a White House autopen machine. On Thursday, Mr. Paul sent a four-page letter to Mr. Mueller saying he wanted to meet next week and asking a series of questions about F.B.I. cases and policies. The topics included the Patriot Act, abortion rights groups, domestic militias and a terrorism-related case in Kentucky involving two Iraqis admitted to the country as refugees. Mr. Paul was traveling on Friday and could not be reached. An aide said the senator only wanted answers to his questions and did not intend to hold up the matter “until the 11th hour.” The problem traces back to May, when Mr. Obama announced that he wanted to keep the director in place through the end of his presidential term, citing a need for stability on his national security team at a time of leadership changes at both the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Mueller is widely respected in Congress, and leaders from both parties quickly agreed to Mr. Obama’s request. But disagreement soon arose about how to accomplish it. Congress passed a law during the post-Watergate era forbidding anyone from serving as F.B.I. director for more than 10 years. The administration argued that Congress could enact a new law making a one-time exception to the term limit, simply moving back the last day for the current director. It has released a memorandum by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that such an approach is constitutional. But at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, John C. Harrison, a University of Virginia law professor who served in the Office of Legal Counsel during the administration of the elder George Bush, testified that it might not be constitutional to extend an incumbent official’s tenure that way. Citing that view, some Republican senators raised concerns that F.B.I. actions ordered by Mr. Mueller could be challenged on the theory that he was no longer lawfully the director. While the Judiciary Committee approved a bill to extend his term, the critics, led by Mr. Coburn, continued to object. Last week, the administration agreed to the more drawn-out process to get the matter completed. Most senators then privately consented to swiftly pass the bill setting up the special term, but Mr. Paul put his hold on it. | Mueller Robert S III;Federal Bureau of Investigation;Republican Party;Obama Barack |
ny0139489 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2008/02/16 | By Making Holocaust Personal to Pupils, Sarkozy Stirs Anger | PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy dropped an intellectual bombshell this week, surprising the nation and touching off waves of protest with his revision of the school curriculum: beginning next fall, he said, every fifth grader will have to learn the life story of one of the 11,000 French children killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust. “Nothing is more moving, for a child, than the story of a child his own age, who has the same games, the same joys and the same hopes as he, but who, in the dawn of the 1940s, had the bad fortune to be defined as a Jew,” Mr. Sarkozy said at the end of a dinner speech to France ’s Jewish community on Wednesday night. He added that every French child should be “entrusted with the memory of a French child-victim of the Holocaust.” Adding to the national fracas over the announcement, Mr. Sarkozy wrapped his plan in the cloak of religion, placing blame for the wars and violence of the last century on an “absence of God” and calling the Nazi belief in a hierarchy of races “radically incompatible with Judeo-Christian monotheism.” Education Minister Xavier Darcos explained later that the aim of the plan was to “create an identification between a child of today and one of the same age who was deported and gassed.” The Holocaust is already taught in French schools, but some psychiatrists and educators predicted that requiring students to identify with a specific victim would traumatize them. Secularists accused Mr. Sarkozy, who is already under fire for his frequent praise of God and religion, of subverting both the country’s iron-clad separation of church and state and the national ideal of a single, nonreligious identity for all. Political opponents dismissed the plan as his latest misguided idea, unveiled without reflection or consultation. Some historians argued that the focus on victims could steer attention away from the Vichy government’s collaboration with the Nazis. Still others warned that the plan could backfire, creating resentment among France’s ethnic Arab and African populations if they felt their own histories were getting short shrift. “Every day the president throws out a new unhappy idea with no coherence,” said Pascal Bruckner, the philosopher. “But this last one is truly obscene, the very opposite of spirituality. Let’s judge it for what it is: a crazy proposal of the president, not the word of the Gospel.” The initiative has also pitted some Jews against one another. “It is unimaginable, unbearable, tragic and above all, unjust,” Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor and honorary president of the Foundation for the Memory of the Holocaust, told the Web site of the magazine L’Express. “You cannot inflict this on little ones of 10 years old! You cannot ask a child to identify with a dead child. The weight of this memory is much too heavy to bear.” Ms. Veil was in the audience when Mr. Sarkozy spoke, and said that when she heard his words, “My blood turned to ice.” But Serge Klarsfeld, a Jewish historian who has devoted his life to recording the list and biographies of France’s Holocaust victims, praised the president for his “courage.” “This is the crowning glory of long and arduous work,” he said. “To those who say it’s too difficult for young children — that’s not true. What they see on television or in a horror film is much worse. This is not a morbid mission.” Mr. Klarsfeld likened the plan to a practice by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., which gives visitors small booklets describing the experiences of Holocaust victims and survivors. On one level, Mr. Sarkozy’s plan is a logical extension of his sometimes sentimental and pedagogical approach to governing. Last year, he enraged politicians on the left, the biggest union for high school teachers and some historians and teachers when he ordered all high schools in France to read a handwritten letter of a 17-year-old student who was executed by the Nazis for his resistance activities. On another level, it reflects his oft-stated declaration that as president, he is also a “friend” as he calls himself, of Israel. By extension, he is also a friend of France’s Jews. He is, for example, the first French president to address the annual dinner of France’s Jewish community. But there is something else. Mr. Sarkozy is shattering another barrier in French intellectual life: religion. His public statements on the subject seem to reflect a deeply held belief that religious values have an important place in everyday French society — an iconoclastic position for a French politician. When Mr. Sarkozy was made an Honorary Canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome last December, he proposed a “positive secularism” that “does not consider religions a danger, but an asset.” He was even more provocative in declaring that “the schoolteacher will never be able to replace the priest or the pastor” in teaching the difference between good and evil. In Saudi Arabia last month, he infused his speech with more than a dozen references to God, who, he said, “liberates” man. He also said last month that it was a mistake to delete the reference to “Europe’s Christian roots” from the European Constitution. In France, a country where one’s religion is typically kept private, Mr. Sarkozy heralds his religious identity, referring publicly to his Jewish grandfather and wearing his Roman Catholicism on his sleeve. “I am of Catholic culture, Catholic tradition, Catholic belief, even if my religious practice is episodic,” he wrote in a book of essays in 2004. “I consider myself as a member of the Catholic Church.” Still, Mr. Sarkozy’s conduct in his personal life seems to contradict the image of Catholic spirituality. Twice divorced, three times married, he has alienated the country to the point that there is widespread disapproval of his behavior in his personal life. That level of disapproval seems to have made Mr. Sarkozy vulnerable in almost anything he does these days, including his Holocaust initiative. Teachers defended the current approach to the Holocaust in French schools. Since 2002, fifth-graders have studied the Nazis’ systematic destruction of six million Jews as a crime against humanity. Older children watch films on the Holocaust, visit Holocaust museums and memorials and take field trips to concentration camps. Schools where students were taken away for deportation hang plaques in their memory. “The Holocaust has to be put in the context of the rise of the Nazis and the war, not just emotion and dramatic spectacle,” said Gilles Moindrot, secretary-general of the largest union for primary school teachers. “If you do this with the memory of individual Jews, you’d have to do it with the victims of slavery or the wars of religion. We can’t have this approach.” Some of Mr. Sarkozy’s other political foes accuse him of trying to put his personal stamp everywhere. “One day he is giving us sermons about God,” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a Socialist senator on LCI television on Friday, adding, “Now he has suddenly turned himself into a teacher.” Other analysts blamed the confessional approach of the United States for infecting Mr. Sarkozy’s thinking. “Listen, it’s in the air of the times,” said Régis Debray, the philosopher and author, on France Inter radio Friday. “There is a religious sentimentality, a pretty vague religiousness, let’s say, in the world of show business, in the world of business, that comes from America. It’s the neoconservative wave of the born-agains.” MRAP, an organization that campaigns against racism, accused Mr. Sarkozy of chauvinism by singling out French victims of the Holocaust for study and excluding other groups, like the Gypsies. Mr. Sarkozy’s advisers acknowledged that he came up with his Holocaust plan for schoolchildren without any formal consultation. In the face of the criticism, however, Mr. Sarkozy vowed to proceed. “It is ignorance — not knowledge — that leads to the repetition of abominable situations,” he said during a visit to Périgueux in central France on Friday, adding, “You do not traumatize children by giving them the gift of the memory of a country.” | Sarkozy Nicolas;Nazi Policies Toward Jews and Minorities;Education and Schools;France;World War II (1939-45);Politics and Government;History |
ny0200223 | [
"us"
]
| 2009/09/02 | California Wildfire Rages Unaided by the Usual Winds | LOS ANGELES — A wildfire threatening thousands of homes in the Los Angeles suburbs, which firefighters were making progress in controlling on Tuesday, is likely to be remembered as not the biggest, not the worst, but one of the weirder blazes in Southern California in recent years. The fire at one point was spreading in five directions, and the gale-force winds that normally whip Southern California fires into infernos that swallow whole neighborhoods were absent. In addition, an unusual mix of fuel, from chaparral and dry grass at lower elevations to pine at higher ones, coupled with record heat and slopes that are among the steepest of any mountain range in the country, posed some of the toughest challenges firefighters have seen in years. “This kind of fire spread is unprecedented without wind,” said Stanton Florea, a spokesman for the Angeles National Forest, where the fire began and was still burning. Scott L. Stephens, an associate professor of fire science at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies wildfires, said the fire would provide a fresh reminder that topography and the makeup of dry brush could prove just as troublesome as wind-driven blazes. “Even without winds, with that fuel bed you could have extreme fire behavior,” Dr. Stephens said. “Fire is not always going to be linked to wind.” The Angeles National Forest, the mountainous wilderness 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, on average has more than 200 fires a year, though most are quickly extinguished. The cause of this fire is under investigation, but more than 90 percent of the fires there are caused by people, accidentally or intentionally. The fire has consumed more than 120,000 acres, an area about two-fifths the size of the city of Los Angeles. It has destroyed dozens of homes and caused the deaths of two firefighters, who were killed when their vehicle overturned Sunday as fire advanced on them. Temperatures cooled and the air moistened Tuesday, giving firefighters a chance to make progress, but the fire was still largely out of control and threatening thousands of homes. Fire officials said they had made significant progress putting out seven other fires burning in the state. For the first time, a 747 reconfigured as an air tanker capable of dumping 19,000 gallons of water was used on a California fire, a blaze in San Bernardino County and later at a fire near Los Angeles. “That saved lives and kept property loss to a minimum,” said Del Walters, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. He said the authorities would consider using the plane in other fires, depending on the terrain and other conditions. But the focus continued to be on the fire burning near Los Angeles, known as the Station Fire after its origin near a ranger station in the Angeles National Forest. Firefighters marveled at its intensity and its fickle, multipronged nature. Its spread in so many directions at once, said Mark Whaling, a Los Angeles County fire captain, was “very rare” and taxing for firefighters. Mike Dietrich, a commander with the United States Forest Service, said the fire had turned from “angry” to “cranky,” a little more under control but still stubborn to put out because of its size and the terrain. The lack of strong winds, however, has allowed the authorities to set more backfires near homes, fighting fire with fire. Firefighters also were digging trenches and clearing brush near communities that seemed in the path of flames. The fire seemed sure to renew debates about building homes in close proximity to wilderness. While many homeowners take precautions like clearing brush from their property and leaving a fire area when told to do so, the police have reported that several people have chosen to stay put, endangering themselves and firefighters. Early Tuesday, a group of residents in an area the authorities had ordered evacuated the day before watched as flames drew closer to their homes. Anna Aragel, 50, a resident of the area, Big Tujunga Canyon, said through a mask that she and several neighborhoods stayed “because we felt we had open outlets, we could get out easily if needed, and we wanted to stay with our homes.” Still, as the flames appeared to grow more intense, she prepared to leave. Dr. Stephens, the Berkeley fire scholar, said that vast expanses of brush in the state had yet to burn, and with a drought in the past several years, much of it is very dry. The Station Fire area had not burned in about four decades, which he said was about average. But in places like Los Angeles, where many homes are in or close to the wilderness, such big fires “continue to point to the challenges of learning to live with fire as part of the landscape,” he said. “How do we position houses?” Dr. Stephens asked. “How or do we rebuild them? It is a recurring theme.” | Fires and Firefighters;Forest and Brush Fires;Los Angeles (Calif) |
ny0115626 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
]
| 2012/11/14 | Palestinians Prepare for Arafat Exhumation | JERUSALEM — The West Bank tomb of Yasir Arafat has been cordoned off and screened from public view ahead of an expected exhumation, a Palestinian Authority official said Tuesday, four months after a television investigation raised new suspicions that the Palestinian leader had been poisoned. The preparatory work, involving the removal of layers of stone and concrete, is being done manually and is expected to take at least two weeks. “It needs to be done meticulously and privately, out of respect for the late president and our religious traditions,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak about the issue. Tawfiq Tirawi, the chief of the Palestinian committee overseeing the inquiry, issued a statement on Monday announcing that the mausoleum was closed to visitors, without specifying a date for the exhumation. The structure lies within the walls of the compound in Ramallah where Mr. Arafat, long the symbol of the Palestinian national struggle, was confined under an Israeli Army siege and virtual house arrest for more than two years while outside raged the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and the Israeli clampdown. The preparations for the exhumation have been enveloped in almost as much mystery and contention as was the death of Mr. Arafat in 2004, at the age of 75. Mr. Arafat became ill in October 2004 and was flown by helicopter out of his headquarters and transferred to a French military hospital, where he died about two weeks later of unannounced causes. The records showed that he had died of a stroke that resulted from a bleeding disorder caused by an underlying infection. The infection was never identified. The hospital found no traces of poisons. In July, Mr. Arafat’s widow, Suha, called for an exhumation in an interview with Al Jazeera, the Arabic television channel based in Qatar, after it reported that Mr. Arafat might have been poisoned with polonium, a radioactive element associated with K.G.B.-style assassination intrigues. With Mrs. Arafat’s help, the news channel carried out what it called an in-depth investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr. Arafat’s death. Mrs. Arafat gave the broadcaster a copy of Mr. Arafat’s medical records as well as personal effects, including clothing he had worn close to his death, his toothbrush and his trademark black-and-white checkered headdress. Al Jazeera said it took the items to the best laboratories in Europe for forensic testing. At the University of Lausanne’s Institute of Radiation Physics in Switzerland, doctors found what they said were unusually high levels of a highly toxic radioactive isotope, polonium 210, in certain items but added that further testing of Mr. Arafat’s remains would be necessary before determining that he had been poisoned. Mrs. Arafat has since requested that the French authorities open a murder inquiry, and on Sunday, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president and Mr. Arafat’s successor, said Russian experts would also be helping with the investigation. French, Swiss and Russian teams are now expected in Ramallah for testing the remains later this month. | Arafat Yasir;Poisoning and Poisons;Palestinians |
ny0233809 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2010/08/14 | U.S. Judge Rules Congress May Withhold Money From Acorn | A federal appeals court on Friday threw out a decision that had barred Congress from withholding money from Acorn, the activist group driven to ruin by scandal and financial woes. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Manhattan, reversed a decision by a federal district judge in Brooklyn that Congress had violated Acorn’s rights by punishing it without a trial. Congress cut off Acorn’s federal financing last year in response to accusations that it engaged in voter registration fraud and embezzlement and violated the tax-exempt status of some affiliates by engaging in partisan political activities. Fueling the outrage was a video that caught three employees advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings. Acorn responded with a lawsuit accusing Congress of abusing its power with what amounted to a “corporate death sentence.” The appeals court disagreed, citing a study finding that only 10 percent of Acorn’s financing was federal. Acorn, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, announced this year that it was folding because of falling revenues, but several of its largest affiliates continue to operate. | Assn of Community Organizations for Reform Now;Decisions and Verdicts;Appeals Courts (US);Suits and Litigation;Voter Registration and Requirements |
ny0170996 | [
"technology"
]
| 2007/11/05 | $7,900 Valentino Gowns, a Click Away | ANGELENOS have Rodeo Drive. New Yorkers have Fifth Avenue. Chicagoans have the Magnificent Mile. For many other high-fashion shoppers, the nearest destination is the Web. Retailers and brands are increasingly relying on the Internet to market $3,000 skirts and $5,000 suits to consumers who think nothing of spending that much on clothing. The trend represents another byproduct of high-speed Internet connections, but it also speaks to the growing belief among luxury retailers and designers that a two-dimensional Web store will not diminish their marquee status. “We’ve begun to see that the e-commerce shopper is indeed someone who has really quite a level of sophistication, and is older than was once imagined,” said Robert Triefus, an executive vice president with Armani Group. “For fashion, that type of consumer is very fundamental.” Armani had been selling a small fraction of its collections through online retailers until September, when it introduced EmporioArmani.com , which sells the entire Emporio collection, one of Armani’s six major brands. Among other things, Mr. Triefus said, the site opens the brand to consumers who are not near the company’s stores. “In a market like America where we’ve historically only had 10 freestanding stores, this suddenly makes accessible one of our most important collections in a very broad way,” he said. “One imagines the virtual store will progressively rise up the charts.” The Web site may not become the top-selling store, but given the experiences of other fashion brands, it could get close. The online stores of Saks and Armani Exchange, the company’s casual clothing line, sell more goods than all but the top store in their chains. According to Brendan Hoffman, president of Neiman Marcus Direct, the company’s catalog and online division, luxury apparel “has been exploding over the past 18 months, really at the upper end of the price points.” Basic garments sell comparatively slowly, Mr. Hoffman said, but items like $7,900 Valentino gowns, $5,500 Carolina Herrera jackets and other items “with more camera appeal” sell quickly. “We’ve yet to see any limits to what they’re willing to pay,” he said. Two factors are behind the recent growth, Mr. Hoffman said. First, many more customers have high-speed Internet connections, allowing them to click more freely through multiple pictures of an item and zoom in on shots of fabrics and colors. Mr. Hoffman noted that until 18 months ago, most of his business came during working hours on weekdays. Now much of it comes “on weekends and after 8 p.m., once the kids are in bed,” he said. • Designers, meanwhile, have given shoppers more reason to move online, Mr. Hoffman said. After watching Neiman Marcus and other luxury online retailers — like Net-a-Porter.com , Yoox.com , Saks.com — for years sell expensive shoes, bags and other accessories, designers like Armani, Zagliani and Marni have pushed more of their collections onto the Web. The recent surge in luxury apparel sales brings sweet vindication to online-only retailers who endured the fallow years, like Net-a-Porter and Yoox. The two sites made their debut in 2000, around the same time as the humiliating demise of Boo.com, an online retailer based in London. Boo.com in late 1999 built a site heavy on animation and slick photography, but that proved useless for those with dial-up Internet connections. By contrast, Net-a-Porter aimed at more basic customer needs, like fast delivery and fast-loading photos, said Natalie Massenet, the company’s founder. “We wanted to put the clothing and images on show, but we didn’t have money, so we had to do things simplistically,” she said. “We continue to do things in a very streamlined way. Customers like that.” Ms. Massenet found other ways to improve the shopping experience. Net-a-Porter’s early management team, which included fashion magazine veterans, developed weekly editorial spreads featuring the site’s merchandise. The site’s packaging, meanwhile, carries more than a whiff of cachet; shoes come inside noncollapsible boxes tied with brocade ribbon, which are then wrapped in tissue and placed inside cloth bags and placed inside another box tied with ribbons. The company is considering ways to cut the cost of the packaging, she said. “But we always say it’s what makes it so exciting to shop on Net-a-Porter,” Ms. Massenet said. Sales at the privately held company will jump by more than 85 percent this year, Ms. Massenet said, with profits rising as well. Over all, luxury apparel sales will approach $1 billion this year, according to Forrester Research, a technology consulting firm. E-commerce is expected to grow by 21 percent compared with last year, and growth in luxury apparel sales is expected to exceed that, Forrester said. Sales for Net-a-Porter’s chief competitor, Yoox.com, which is based in Italy, are also increasing rapidly, but the site has recently added a new dimension: creating e-commerce sites for designers who want to sell directly to consumers. Yoox this year developed online stores for Marni, a women’s designer, as well as Armani’s Emporio site, with 10 designers still to follow over the next 18 months. • Federico Marchetti, Yoox’s chief executive, said the decision to build online stores for designers was easy. “We already put together so many things — logistics systems, technology, customer care, warehouses, 20 studios to make pictures with 25 photographers; why not give this platform to the brands to do their own mono-brand flagship store?” Mr. Marchetti said the business had about $70 million in revenue in 2005, and sales have increased annually by at least 40 percent since then. It has been profitable since 2005, he said. Given the sales growth, it is perhaps no surprise that Web sites are investing more heavily in technologies that could give them a competitive edge. Take Saks Fifth Avenue, for example. In September, the company unveiled a revamped Web site, simplifying its layouts and adding features meant to showcase popular designers with video fashion shows and interviews, among other things. Denise Incandela, president of Saks Direct, said visitors to the new site buy at a slightly increased rate, compared with the older version. “This medium is a fabulous way to communicate even more information than we can in the stores,” Ms. Incandela said. “This is almost what you heard people talking about in 2000, but only now is the technology catching up with our ideas.” | Apparel;Computers and the Internet;Retail Stores and Trade;Sales;Armani |
ny0134946 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2008/04/16 | Police Dept. Settles Suit by Protesters Over Tactics | To settle a lawsuit, the New York Police Department has agreed to formalize changes it had made in its crowd-control procedures during political demonstrations, the authorities said on Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed in 2003 by the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of antiwar protesters who said they had been treated harshly by the police. The suit charged that the police trapped protesters inside pens and blocked off “avenues of escape” while approaching on horseback, causing people to be knocked down. The civil liberties group sued on behalf of three people: a woman who said she was trapped behind a police barricade and had her wheelchair broken by an officer when she tried to leave; a man who said he was stepped on by a police horse and injured; and another man who said he was knocked down by someone who had been struck by a police horse. “This settlement is an important step toward assuring that the N.Y.P.D. will not be an obstacle to peaceful protest,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the civil liberties group, which made copies of the settlement available on Tuesday. The agreement was approved on April 1 by Judge Robert W. Sweet of Federal District Court in Manhattan. Under the settlement, the department agreed to pay $125,000 in legal fees and damages to plaintiffs. Connie Pankratz, a spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department, said on Tuesday that the court settlement “doesn’t require the N.Y.P.D. to implement new procedures, but rather, formalizes procedures that they already have in place.” She said the department had abided by similar crowd-control rules for many years, including in 2003, when the lawsuit was filed. As part of the settlement, the police agreed to include new language on crowd control in its written guide for officers. For example, the new instructions say that police barriers should “not unreasonably restrict access to and participation in the event,” and the revisions say that officers on horseback are “to ensure that a crowd or group to be dispersed has sufficient avenues of escape and/or retreat.” The rules also say that the public must be informed about access routes to demonstrations when sidewalks or roads are closed. In June 2004, before the Republican National Convention was held in Manhattan that year, a preliminary injunction by Judge Sweet ordered the department to abide by rules similar to those now being formalized. While the settlement order by Judge Sweet said that the city and the police “deny any liability arising out of the plaintiffs’ claims,” it said the city had agreed to pay $25,000 in damages. The city also agreed to pay $100,000 to the civil liberties group for legal fees. | Demonstrations and Riots;Police;New York City |
ny0188671 | [
"technology",
"internet"
]
| 2009/04/13 | Should Online Scofflaws Be Denied Web Access? | PARIS — Is Internet access a fundamental human right? Or is it a privilege, carrying with it a responsibility for good behavior? That is the question confronting policy makers as they try to bring Internet access to the masses while seeking to curb illegal copying of digital music, movies and video games. The United States Congress held hearings last week on the growing problem of piracy, which the American entertainment industry says accounts for the loss of $20 billion a year in sales. Several lawmakers vowed to increase scrutiny of international markets where piracy is widespread. But if events in Paris last week are any indication, legislative solutions will not be easy. French lawmakers rejected an antipiracy plan championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, where the Internet connections of people who ignored repeated warnings to stop using unauthorized file-sharing services would have been severed. Mr. Sarkozy said he planned to reintroduce the measure, but public opinion is solidly against the idea of cutting off Internet users, and many politicians — not just in France but across Europe and elsewhere — are listening. Last month, in a pre-emptive strike, the European Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution calling Internet access a fundamental freedom that could not be restricted except by a court of law. New Zealand recently suspended a law under which Internet service providers would have been required to crack down on illicit copying. And in Britain, years of discussion between content owners, Internet providers and the government have failed to produce a plan to curb piracy. “There’s increasing understanding that broadband is fundamental to basic economic and social participation,” said Sacha Wunsch-Vincent, an economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development who studies information technology. “Some people wonder whether this is consistent with cutting off Internet connections.” Content owners have sometimes had more luck with the courts, winning a series of rulings against accused pirates. They are hoping for another favorable decision this week when the front lines of the antipiracy fight shift to a courtroom in Sweden. On Friday, a judge in Stockholm is expected to rule on whether four people connected with a popular file-sharing service, the Pirate Bay, are guilty of criminal violations of copyright law. If so, they could face as much as two years in prison. But both sides have indicated that they would appeal any decision against them, and the Pirate Bay has said that it could keep operating the service from another country. Meanwhile, new ways of sharing copyrighted material are gaining popularity on the Internet. Even as French lawmakers prepared to vote on Mr. Sarkozy’s proposal, the Pirate Bay was offering a new service aimed at foiling both that plan and other efforts to track down file sharers. The site charges users 5 euros a month, or about $6.60, for technology capable of hiding a computer’s Internet address. The system was developed to counter a new law in Sweden that makes it easier for the authorities, going through the courts, to obtain the Internet addresses of suspected copyright violators. Since that law took effect on April 1, Internet traffic has fallen by more than a third, suggesting less unauthorized file sharing, which is estimated to account for as much as half of all Internet traffic. David Price, head of piracy intelligence at Envisional, a company based in Cambridge, England, that helps movie studios and other clients monitor copyright violations on the Internet, said that while file sharing by peer-to-peer networks appeared to be leveling off globally, sites that offered alternatives to downloading, like streaming of pirated movies, were growing fast. Pirates are also turning to file hosting services like RapidShare, which allow users to upload files too big to e-mail. Others can then download them from RapidShare. RapidShare, based in Cham, Switzerland, is widely used for legitimate purposes — for advertising agencies wanting to show campaigns to clients around the world, for example — and is password-protected, limiting public access. But music and movie pirates can get around this by posting the lists of available songs or films, along with the passwords, on outside message boards. In several rulings, German courts have sided with GEMA, a German royalty-collection organization, in its complaints that RapidShare facilitates piracy and needs to do more to prevent it. But RapidShare, which is appealing the latest ruling, says that it removes copyrighted material at the owner’s request, and its chief executive, Bobby Chang, say it is “only an infrastructure provider, not a publisher.” Tim Kuik, director of Brein, a Dutch antipiracy organization, says there is a paradox in the way the public views copyright online and offline. “If you put 200 VCRs in your garage and start making and selling copies of films, you will get a visit from the police,” he said. “If you do it from a Web site, everybody says, ‘Hey, freedom of information’ ”. | Computers and the Internet;Counterfeit Merchandise;Copyrights;Recordings and Downloads (Audio);Recordings and Downloads (Video) |
ny0087133 | [
"business",
"international"
]
| 2015/07/08 | Greece Given Until Sunday to Settle Debt Crisis or Face Disaster | BRUSSELS — Frustrated European leaders gave Greece until Sunday to reach an agreement to save its collapsing economy from catastrophe after an emergency summit meeting here on Tuesday ended without the Athens government offering a substantive new proposal to resolve its debt crisis . “The situation is really critical and unfortunately we can’t exclude the black scenarios of no agreement,” said Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, warning that those possibilities included “the bankruptcy of Greece and the insolvency of its banking system” and great pain for the Greek people. Also looming ever larger was the prospect of Greece leaving the European currency union. Mr. Tusk said that the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had until Thursday to deliver a new plan to Greece’s creditors. “Until now I have avoided talking about deadlines,” Mr. Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, told reporters after a day of fruitless meetings. “But tonight I have to say it loud and clear — the final deadline ends this week.” “I have no doubt that this is the most critical moment in our history.” Deadlines have come and gone without serious consequences, but yet another emergency gathering, this one involving all 28 European Union leaders in Brussels on Sunday, might really be a crunch point. “This could be the last meeting about Greece,” Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy told reporters on Tuesday night. Video Jeroen Dijsselbloem, president of the eurozone finance ministers, spoke on Tuesday about the next steps in debt negotiations between Greece and the European Union. Credit Credit Virginia Mayo/Associated Press And for the first time, “Grexit” — Greece’s exit from the euro — has surfaced as a serious option. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, said at a brief news conference late Tuesday night that his staff had drawn up plans for several possible outcomes. “We have a Grexit scenario prepared in detail,” he said. Mr. Juncker expressed fury at a barrage of verbal attacks on Greece’s European creditors by officials of Syriza, the left-wing party, led by Mr. Tsipras, that won Greek parliamentary elections in January on a platform of rejecting the austerity policies that were a condition of European bailouts. He singled out a remark by the recently departed finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, accusing creditors of “terrorism.” “Who are they and who do they think I am?” Mr. Juncker said, sputtering with rage. He asserted that he was “strongly against” Greece leaving the euro but “I cannot prevent it if the Greek government is not doing what we expect it to do to respect the dignity of the Greek people.” At a separate news conference, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, made it clear that eurozone leaders were determined to set a very high bar for Athens before the Thursday deadline. “There are only a few days left for a discussion on what’s going to happen in the future,” she said. “What we now need is a multi-annual program that goes far beyond the program that we discussed only 10 days ago.” Asked if the eurozone would consider easing the debt burden on Greece — a key demand by Athens — Ms. Merkel emphasized that Greece would first be required to convince its lenders that it stood ready to meet the conditions for a new bailout. Image Amid concerns about the fiscal picture in Greece, European leaders held a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, ahead of an emergency Euro Summit. Credit Getty Images The decision by Mr. Tsipras to hold a referendum on whether to accept previous terms set by creditors only made matters worse, Ms. Merkel added. In comments to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Tsipras struck an almost sunny tone by contrast, saying that the talks had been held in “a positive climate” and that his government would continue efforts to secure “a final exit” from the crisis. “The process will be fast,” he said, “beginning in the coming hours with the aim of concluding by the end of the week, at the latest.” Tuesday’s efforts to break the deadlock got off to an inauspicious start when Greece’s new finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, on his second day in the job after replacing Mr. Varoufakis, failed to present a detailed plan at a meeting of finance ministers called to review Syriza’s demands after Greek voters rejected previous terms on offer. The failure to present concrete proposals turned what had been billed as a last-chance opportunity for Greece into another display of the substantive and stylistic gulf between Mr. Tsipras’s government and his country’s big creditors, starting with Germany and other European countries that use the euro. Still, it appears that no one wants to take the blame for a Greek departure from the eurozone. That means that all sides seem ready to keep talking even as the crisis, which began more than five years ago, reaches new levels of intensity, and even as Greece hurtles toward a July 20 deadline to make a payment of 3.5 billion euros, or about $3.8 billion, to the European Central Bank . Many analysts say Greece cannot miss that payment without leaving the eurozone. Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a research organization in Brussels, agreed that time was running out to keep Greece in the currency union. “If there is no progress whatsoever this week, the prospects for Greece staying in the eurozone would become grim,” Mr. Véron said. The continuation of emergency financing for Greek banks by the European Central Bank “is clearly dependent on the likelihood of an agreement between Greece and its creditors,” Mr. Véron said. But if that source of aid is “stopped and no agreement is in sight, it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Greece stays in the eurozone for long,” he said. The day’s events continued what has become a pattern of crossed wires and mutual incomprehension between Greece and its creditors, frustrating expectations that the dismissal on Monday of Mr. Varoufakis, a combative former professor, might drain some of the poison or at least uncertainty from Greece’s tumultuous relations with the rest of Europe. Yet Mr. Tsakalotos surprised his peers by turning up for the emergency meeting with only a vague outline of Greece’s proposal for breaking the long standoff. A person with direct knowledge of the talks, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the closed-door meeting, said that Mr. Tsakalotos had at least struck a far less abrasive tone than his predecessor and seemed open to constructive discussion. Some of the finance ministers, summoned to Brussels on Tuesday for the sixth crisis meeting in three weeks, expressed deep frustration at what they considered a further delay by Greece. Late last month, Athens infuriated fellow European countries by calling off negotiations as they came close to yielding a deal and announcing a referendum on creditors’ terms that the Tsipras government then denounced as unacceptable and the work of “extremist conservative forces.” Explaining Greece’s Debt Crisis European authorities have agreed to disburse $8.4 billion in fresh funds to Greece, allowing the country to keep paying its bills in the coming months. In Athens, a Greek government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic matter, said the Greek proposals, once they arrived in Brussels, would be a revised version of measures submitted early last week in a letter from Mr. Tsipras to creditors. Those proposals largely matched the ones Mr. Tsipras called on Greek voters to reject. But the official, without elaborating, said the revised offer would reflect the outcome of Sunday’s referendum. Shortly before meeting with Ms. Merkel and other leaders in Brussels, Mr. Tsipras spoke by telephone with President Obama and explained Greece’s position. The White House said that the president told the Greek prime minister that it was crucial that both sides reach “a mutually acceptable agreement.” Mr. Obama also spoke with Ms. Merkel on Tuesday and the White House said the two leaders agreed that a deal to keep Greece in the eurozone was “in everyone’s interest.” Greece’s departure from the euro would not necessarily destabilize other weaker members of the eurozone or spread havoc in global markets, which have so far reacted relatively calmly to Greece’s troubles. Yet it would upend one of the European Union’s fundamental principles, a commitment to “ever closer union” in place since 1957, and throw into reverse decades of steady integration. Finance ministers were in some cases even encouraging the idea that Greece should leave. Janis Reirs, finance minister of Latvia, a small Baltic nation that endured its own grinding austerity program and has now returned to economic growth, indicated that a Greek departure might even be beneficial. “If in a system there is an element that doesn’t work, the departure of this element won’t harm the system and in some cases can even be positive,” Mr. Reirs said in response to a question about whether Greece might have to give up the euro. Ms. Merkel said the leaders of all European Union member states would attend the meeting on Sunday because any decision would affect future members of the single currency. The presence of leaders from the full bloc could also be needed to approve European Union humanitarian aid for Greece in case a bailout deal for the country remains out of reach. | Greece;Euro Crisis;Euro;European Central Bank;EU;Eurozone |
ny0195949 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2009/10/11 | What Not to Say to Flight Attendants in a Plane’s Exit Row | At times, even hearing your own name can make no sense. “James Dwyer.” The decal on the wall of the plane showed in little pictures how to open the emergency exit. Yank the lever. Fling the door open. Then get out. It was after 2 o’clock last Sunday, five hours since my daughter and I had arrived at La Guardia for a short trip to Columbus, Ohio. A mechanical problem had hung up the flight. In the next moment, it seemed that we would not be leaving New York even after all that time. “James Dwyer,” the voice said again. “That’s me.” Two men in vests stood in the aisle. Maybe I was getting upgraded? “You have to get off the plane, sir,” one of them said. “Get your things.” My daughter, Catherine, a high school senior, was a few rows up. She spotted me in the aisle and immediately got her backpack. Within the hour, tours would be getting under way at a college in Ohio that she was seriously considering, and where we had intended to spend the night. “We’re already late,” I said. “Let’s talk about it outside,” the security man said. “I’ve got to get there,” I said. “The captain is not going to fly with you on board.” The plane was on the small side, about 38 seats. The steps emptied onto the tarmac. What could be behind this banishment? I frisked my conscience. Perhaps after the announcement was made to switch off electronic devices, I took another minute to finish an e-mail message. “You were sitting in an exit row?” asked the security man. “Yes, in Row 8,” I said. “You said something funny to the flight attendant?” he asked. In hotels, I count the doors from my room to the stairs. On airplanes, I map routes to the exits. Some years back, a magazine article about a plane crash said that passengers often suffocated because they were slow to get out of a burning plane. An exit-row seat is a big moment in the day of a safety fetishist. No, I told the security man, I had not said anything to the attendant, other than answer her questions. He pressed me. Hadn’t I made a joke? Then it dawned on me. There had been an exchange between the attendant and a man sitting in the same row on the other side of the aisle. When she asked him about being willing to perform the duties, he had answered, “Yes, if the exit door works.” She repeated the question. He replied, “If this door actually works.” It sounded juvenile. True, all morning, the passengers in the terminal had been told that a balky exit door had to be fixed before the plane could leave. But flight attendants don’t repair doors. She continued her routine without breaking stride. When the attendant moved on, another passenger remarked, “I don’t think she likes you.” The complainer said, “Good, that’s what I was hoping for.” Then someone griped that the attendant was wearing jeans with her blazer, and that it was unprofessional. On the tarmac, I explained to the men in vests that they had the wrong guy — apparently, the other man was sitting in my seat by accident, and they had called for the passenger listed on the seating chart. By all means, I said, they should get him. But I hadn’t said a word since boarding. Dubious, they went back on the plane. They asked a nearby passenger, Eric, who did not want his last name used in this account, to come to the front. He confirmed that the man pulled off the flight — me — was not the person who made the remarks. Eric also said he would not identify the exit-door quipper, but the agents told him that unless he did, he, too, would be put off the flight. Under pressure, Eric relented. With some fussing, the man in my assigned seat was escorted off. Catherine and I were brought back on board, with apologies. We were shaken. But a mistake had been fixed. The right man was given the heave. OTHERS on the plane saw a needless delay piled on top of the hours already spent waiting. Granting that the terrain has changed since Sept. 11, Eric said a little back talk should not be grounds for throwing someone off. “Are we not allowed to be frustrated?” he asked. “Any prudent person would not have made the determination that people on the flight were at risk.” Maybe that is so. But it is one thing to be belligerent on the street, and quite another on a commercial flight. And in truth, I did not care much about justice for the man who got thrown off, as long as I was let back on. After we were in the air, the attendant brought me a soda. She was wearing a ribbon on her lapel, signifying that she had donated to a breast cancer awareness drive. “If you have this, they let you wear jeans for the weekend,” she said, giving a perfectly professional smile. | Airlines and Airplanes;Flight Attendants |
ny0195247 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2009/11/14 | Tight Security Planned for Trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed | Convoys of heavily armed officers, fields of barricades and additional checkpoints are likely to sprout in and around the jail where the accused will be housed and the courthouse where they will be tried. Access to nearby streets and areas may be sealed off. And bands of plainclothes officers — “people in civilian clothes with earplugs,” as one former law enforcement official put it — will probably be scanning the crowds to spot anyone with ill intent. Those security efforts will probably be rolled out, former law enforcement officials and security experts said Friday, for the trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed , accused as the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four other 9/11 detainees in the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, blocks from where the Trade Center towers once stood. New York has been home to trials of high-profile terrorists before, among them Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind cleric convicted in 1995 of plotting to blow up the United Nations and other New York landmarks. But those trials happened in a different era. Anthony L. Ricco, a lawyer who represented defendants in two major terror trials before 9/11, said that today, courthouse security is more stringent, both in the building and on its perimeter, as are the restrictions on what people can carry in. United States marshals will be in charge of securing the inside of the courthouse and the transport of the five suspects. The suspects are most likely to be held on a high floor in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a federal jail adjacent to two federal court buildings in Lower Manhattan, and the pretrial home to almost every notorious defendant who has been prosecuted in recent decades by the United States government in Manhattan, including mobsters and terrorists. The New York police will provide support for the marshals as needed, said the chief police spokesman, Paul J. Browne. But he declined to detail the extra measures that the police would take. “We are also prepared to address any security issues that may arise because of the special notoriety of the defendants, including the anticipated augmentation of police presence downtown,” Mr. Browne said in an e-mail message. One former law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity lest he lose his former colleagues’ trust, said high-ranking police officials would probably be convening soon with security directors for New York buildings, landmarks and sensitive diplomatic sites, like the Israeli Consulate, as well as with leaders of synagogues and mosques. Increased communication between federal intelligence agencies and the New York police, forged partly by the intelligence failures of Sept. 11, should also help security efforts, the former official said. Representative Peter T. King, a Long Island Republican, is bitterly opposed to trying the Sept. 11 defendants in New York, saying it would make the city even more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. “We’re already the No. 1 terrorist target in the world, certainly the U.S.,” said Mr. King, who wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric H. Holder in April urging him not to transfer any terror suspect from Guantánamo Bay, where the five suspects are now being held, to New York. As with most of the high-profile prisoners, the five 9/11 detainees will most likely be placed in the jail’s high-security wing, called 10-South, a fortresslike unit with a small number of cells that are reserved for prisoners awaiting trial for the most violent crimes. They will most likely be held under strict rules that confine them to their cells virtually around the clock and bar them from communicating with outsiders other than lawyers and family members. | Mohammed Khalid Shaikh;September 11 (2001);World Trade Center (NYC);Security and Warning Systems;Manhattan (NYC);Metropolitan Correctional Center (Manhattan NY) |
ny0090906 | [
"us"
]
| 2015/09/14 | 4th Inmate Dies After Oklahoma Prison Brawl | An inmate hospitalized after a weekend outburst of violence at a prison in Oklahoma died of his injuries, the company that owns and operates the prison said on Sunday, bringing the number of dead from the episode to four. The prisoner, a man, had been taken to the hospital after an “inmate-on-inmate altercation,” said Steve Owen, a spokesman for Corrections Corporation of America, which owns the Cimarron Correctional Facility in Cushing, Okla. Three more inmates remained hospitalized in stable condition, he said. The violence took place Saturday night in one of the prison’s housing pods, the company said in a statement on Sunday. The altercation lasted only two minutes, but it took prison staff members 38 minutes to secure the area, prison officials said. No staff members were injured, Mr. Owen said. The prison remained on lockdown on Sunday while the episode was investigated. Mr. Owen said. It was the second time in four months that those measures were put in effect in response to violence. The prison was locked down for several weeks after a large fight in June resulted in 11 inmates being sent to the hospital with injuries, said Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Corrections Corporation of America has owned Cimarron Correctional Facility, a 1,720-bed prison for medium- and maximum-security inmates, since 1997, according to the prison’s website. Nearly 70,000 inmates are housed in more than 60 facilities that Corrections Corporation owns or operates across the country, according to its website. | Prison;Corrections Corporation of America;Oklahoma;Civil Unrest |
ny0223578 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2010/11/09 | Rep. Steny Hoyer to Run for Minority Whip | WASHINGTON — Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said Monday that he would try to hold on to that position when his party slips into the minority next year as the leadership of House Democrats remained in turmoil one week after devastating election losses. The decision by Mr. Hoyer, who has served as majority leader the past four years, sets up a possible fight with Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, currently the No. 3 Democrat, who said on Monday that he was still pursuing the No. 2 position as well. At the same time, some Democrats continued to publicly question the decision of Speaker Nancy Pelosi to try to remain as party leader in the new Congress though no lawmaker has stepped forward to challenge her. Both parties are to hold internal elections next week when Congress returns for a lame-duck session. In a letter to his colleagues, Mr. Hoyer, who spent the weekend canvassing his fellow Democrats as he explored a run for minority whip, said he could provide the experience necessary to help Democrats try to recapture the House in 2012. “As Democratic whip, I will hit the ground running, delivering our message across the country, speaking out on the House floor against efforts to undermine the health and security of the middle class, building support for our party among all Americans and fighting the special interest money that overwhelmed many of our colleagues,” he wrote. Mr. Clyburn and Mr. Hoyer met Monday, but aides would not divulge any details about their talks. Mr. Hoyer leads in public endorsements. Some Democrats were pushing for a compromise that would keep both men at the leadership table by encouraging Mr. Clyburn to instead pursue the No. 3 job of party caucus chairman. He held that job previously when Democrats were in the minority, but on Monday he did not seem interested in returning to his old post. “I’ve been there,” Mr. Clyburn told reporters. Democrats had hoped to avoid a divisive clash between Mr. Hoyer, who is closely aligned with more moderate Democrats, and Mr. Clyburn, the senior African-American lawmaker in Congress, who would have a strong base of support in the Congressional Black Caucus . Both men are popular beyond those constituencies, and such a fight could have long-term repercussions for Democrats as they try to regroup. Lawmakers and senior aides said they still believed an accommodation could be reached that would prevent hard feelings and acrimony. Ms. Pelosi touched off the scramble on Friday when she said she intended to run for minority leader despite Democrats’ loss of at least 60 House seats. Aides say she has gotten a strong response and has the support to remain the head of House Democrats, though not all of them seem persuaded. “What I question is whether the future of the Democratic Party is well served with her continuing as leader,” Representative Jason Altmire, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said Monday in an interview on MSNBC. While Democrats squared off, Republicans appeared to avoid at least one fight at the top. Representative Pete Sessions, the Texan who headed the successful National Republican Congressional Committee effort to win the House, said he intended to remain in that post rather than seek a higher position, like majority whip. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California is now unchallenged for that job. Republicans still face a contest for the No. 4 position of Republican Conference leader between Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas. | United States Politics and Government;Hoyer Steny H;Clyburn James E;House of Representatives;Democratic Party |
ny0112026 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
]
| 2012/02/21 | U.N. Team to Check for Military Uses of Iran Nuclear Program | LONDON — A team of United Nations inspectors arrived in Iran on Monday for its second visit in three weeks, saying its highest priority remained “the possible military dimensions” of Iran’s nuclear program , which Tehran insists that the program does not have and which the inspectors’ previous visit did nothing to resolve. International tensions, pressures and counterpressures over the nuclear program have been rising steadily, as Iran claims significant technological advances in uranium enrichment and threatens retaliation against countries that pursue sanctions against it, including a boycott of its oil. Shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency team arrived for talks with Iranian officials, the Iranian government signaled that it might expand the ban on oil shipments to Britain and France, announced on Sunday, to cover other European powers that it deems “hostile” because of broader economic sanctions by the European Union that are scheduled to come into force on July 1. The ban was apparently announced to pre-empt those sanctions, which include a boycott on new purchases. Iran’s deputy oil minister, Ahmad Qalebani, said that oil exports to Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Italy and Portugal might also be banned, state media reported. “Undoubtedly, if the hostile actions of certain European countries continue, oil exports to these countries will be stopped,” Mr. Qalebani, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, was quoted as saying by the Mehr News Agency. The threat reflected speculation that Iran may be trying to sow division in the 27-nation European Union between the members that do not rely heavily on Iranian oil and those that do. Over all, the European Union buys about 18 percent of the oil that Iran exports. But those exports are much more important to Italy and Spain, which each get about one-eighth of their oil supplies from Iran, or to Greece, which gets one-third, than they are to Britain and Germany, which get only 1 percent of their oil from Iran, or to France, which gets only 3 percent. Despite Mr. Qalebani’s remarks, Iran may hesitate to compound the economic harm it suffers from existing sanctions by forfeiting significant revenue from oil sales to Europe now. Even so, the standoff between Iran and the West sometimes resembles a poker game with potentially lethal stakes, as both Iran and its adversaries maneuver for advantage with no way of knowing their opponent’s ultimate intentions. British leaders, for instance, are trying to dissuade Israel from contemplating a military strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities, while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran boasts of enhanced enrichment capabilities. Over the weekend, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said that while the West should leave all of its options open, a military strike would have “enormous downsides,” and that Britain’s main priority was to “bring Iran back to the table” through diplomacy and economic pressure. Iran, for its part, announced new military exercises on Monday “in a bid to prevent such aggressions” by Israel and the West, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported. “The grandeur and mightiness of the country’s armed forces is a deterrent element against enemies’ recent aggressions and threats,” said Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. The leader of the delegation of inspectors, Herman Nackaerts, told reporters on Sunday as his team left its headquarters in Vienna, “We hope to have some concrete results after this trip.” Though weapons development was the most important question, he said, “We want to tackle all outstanding issues.” Mr. Nackaerts, the atomic agency’s deputy director general, warned that “this is of course a complex issue, which may take a while,” according to a transcript of his remarks made available on Monday by agency officials. The latest visit is scheduled to last two days, though it may be extended, as the last one was. Diplomats who were briefed on the discussions held on the last visit said that Iranian officials failed to address the major concerns about Iran’s activities that were raised in a report issued by the agency in November. Some of the latest Western worries center on a new uranium enrichment plant at Fordo, Iran, which is buried deep underground, making it much harder to monitor or, presumably, to attack. Iran tried to keep construction of the plant secret, but Western intelligence agencies confirmed its existence in 2009; Iran then insisted that it had intended to make the plant publicly known all along. Western officials appear to be divided over whether Iran is shifting toward a more conciliatory posture or is playing for time to pursue its uranium enrichment program, which it says is for strictly peaceful purposes. Last week, in a letter to the European Union, Iran called for new talks “at the earliest possibility” with the group of six powers that have negotiated with Iran in the past on the nuclear issue: the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany. In the past, calls for talks from Iran have often been accompanied by warlike statements that it is honing its military capabilities. Iran’s defense minister, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, said Monday that the country had begun several projects to build new advanced warplanes, according to Press TV, a state-financed satellite broadcaster. On its Web site, the broadcaster showed a photograph of what it said was a long-range land-to-sea missile called Qader, or Capable, being fired during war games in southern Iran. | International Atomic Energy Agency;United Nations;Iran;Nuclear Weapons |
ny0017731 | [
"nyregion"
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| 2013/07/03 | Audit of City Crime Statistics Finds Mistakes by Police | A long-awaited report ordered by the police commissioner in New York has found deficiencies in the Police Department’s efforts to detect whether its crime statistics are being manipulated. The report made numerous recommendations, including the suggestion that the Police Department should do more to hold supervisors accountable for “egregious” mistakes in how crimes are classified, even if they did not make the mistakes. The report urged the department’s auditing staff to “be more proactive in pursuing errors that suggest intentional downgrading.” Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the department had “adopted all of these recommendations.” The report was released on Tuesday, more than two years after Mr. Kelly empaneled a committee of former federal prosecutors to review the department’s internal crime-reporting system. The committee’s report did not directly address how often such manipulation occurred, but it identified vulnerabilities in the department’s system for auditing the integrity of its crime statistics. Before each report of a crime is entered into the department’s computer system, relatively few controls exist to prevent officers on the street from refusing to fill out any paperwork or for sergeants to alter paperwork back in the station house, the review found. While praising the department on the considerable resources devoted to auditing crime statistics, the committee noted that most of those efforts were directed at identifying “human error” — that is, unintentional mistakes in a police officer’s paperwork. But for “an officer who wishes to manipulate crime reporting,” the report said there were “few other procedures in place that control the various avenues of potential manipulation.” The committee represented a rare example of Commissioner Kelly inviting outside scrutiny of the department. The move came amid questions over whether police commanders across the city were artificially suppressing crime statistics to advance their careers. The 60-page report describes several instances of manipulation in which felony crimes were marked down as misdemeanors. In one instance “a desk officer scratched out the item values in order to bring the total to below the $1,000 threshold for grand larceny,” which is a felony. In another instance, police paperwork for lost property “described a complainant who ‘lost property’ following an assault by multiple individuals,” according to the report, which added, “On its face the narrative appears to describe a robbery.” In the aggregate, the report found, the effect of such errors, intentional or otherwise, on crime statistics was not negligible. “A close review of the N.Y.P.D.’s statistics and analysis demonstrate that the misclassifications of reports may have an appreciable effect on certain reported crime rates,” the report said. The report noted, for instance, that Police Department auditors had already detected an error rate in 2009 suggesting that grand larcenies were undercounted that year by 2,312. The adjusted figures represent a 4.6 percent increase over the figures that the department issued that year. The findings do not change the overall picture of a decline in crime in recent decades. “Even considered in light of the committee’s findings, the accomplishment of the N.Y.P.D. in reducing crime compared with 20 and even 10 years ago is indeed historic,” the report said. The committee members were three former federal prosecutors: David N. Kelley, a former United States attorney in Manhattan; Sharon L. McCarthy, who also had worked as a special counsel to the state attorney general; and Robert G. Morvillo, a prominent defense lawyer. Mr. Morvillo died in December 2011. At a news conference with Commissioner Kelly on Tuesday, Mr. Kelley noted that a certain amount of error was unavoidable, given the complexities of the penal code and in determining whether an incident met the threshold for one crime or another. As to whether officers intentionally sought to misclassify or suppress crime reports, Mr. Kelley said, “the answer is, from time to time yes.” The report noted that within the Police Department “performance is — at least in part — measured by the ability to ‘reduce crime.’ ” But the report did not uncover direct evidence that such pressure resulted in direct orders by superiors to incorrectly classify crimes. Granted access to internal department paperwork about disciplinary proceedings, the committee noted that at least 30 police officers or supervisors had received disciplinary action between 2008 and 2012 after complaints that they had misclassified crimes. Mr. Kelley said the committee “held the N.Y.P.D. to the highest of auditing standards, a bar that I do not believe any police department has ever endeavored to meet.” “Nevertheless,” he added, “we identified a number of areas in which the N.Y.P.D. could improve its audit program to better control for the risk of error or manipulation.” | False Data;NYPD;Crime;Raymond W Kelly;David N Kelley;Sharon L McCarthy;Robert G Morvillo;Police;Crime statistics |
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"us"
]
| 2014/08/28 | Iowa: Guilty Plea in Campaign Allegiance Deal | A former Iowa state senator pleaded guilty on Wednesday to receiving and concealing payments in exchange for switching his support from one presidential candidate to another in the 2012 election, the Justice Department said. Kent Sorenson of Milo resigned from the Iowa Senate last year after an inquiry found that he had probably violated ethics rules by taking money from presidential campaigns. Mr. Sorenson, 42, had been the state chairman for the presidential campaign of Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, but switched his support to former Representative Ron Paul of Texas days before the state’s caucus. In his plea agreement, Mr. Sorenson admitted that he had agreed to switch his allegiance in exchange for $73,000. | Iowa;Ethics Misconduct Malfeasance;Kent Sorenson;2012 Presidential Election |
ny0052286 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2014/10/14 | Some Captured Terrorists Talk Willingly and Proudly, Investigators Say | When Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, who encouraged jihad against the United States, was arrested and flown from Jordan to this country last year, it might have seemed unlikely that he would be willing to say much. But whatever reticence he might have had was quickly lost. “I am willing to tell you anything, and will not hold back,” he said. He soon waived his Miranda rights, according to an F.B.I. summary of his interrogation . He also said, “You will hear things of Al Qaeda that you never imagined.” The defendant, Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was sentenced to life in prison last month, offered a trove of information, some of which was later used against him in court. And he was far from alone. In the annals of crime, one time-honored tradition is the oath, spoken or not, of not cooperating with law enforcement. The Mafia has omerta ; the slogan “Stop Snitchin’ ” has appeared on murals and T- shirts ; and pop culture has its own references. In “Goodfellas,” the character played by Robert De Niro advised that the two greatest lessons in life were to “never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.” Those maxims can apply even in the lowest-level crimes. “The young kid on the street who’s busted for snatching a chain knows enough not to talk to the cops,” Ronald L. Kuby, a defense lawyer, said. But time and time again, terrorists break that mold. Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a car bomb in Times Square in 2010, spent two weeks being questioned about “sensitive national security and law enforcement matters,” after waiving his right to a lawyer and a speedy court appearance, the government said. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Some defendants in the civilian court system cite the specter of the government’s methods of torture, like waterboarding, at secret C.I.A. sites, for the extraction of information. Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, an alleged Libyan Qaeda operative who was captured last year in Tripoli, waived his rights and gave an incriminating statement while being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, prosecutors have said. He has pleaded not guilty and moved to suppress his statement on the grounds that it followed “countless hours of abusive interrogation” by the C.I.A. that left him confused, afraid and vulnerable to being pressured into waiving his rights, his lawyer wrote in a court filing. “I was convinced that I would end up in one of C.I.A.’s black site torture prisons,” Mr. Ruqai, whose nom de guerre is Abu Anas al-Libi, said in a separate filing. By the time he spoke to the F.B.I., he said, his ability to make a voluntary decision about whether to speak “was long since gone.” Image Sulaiman Abu Ghaith volunteered information to investigators. Credit Reuters Prosecutors say that Mr. Ruqai’s statement was made only after he “knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights.” A judge is holding a hearing on the matter on Wednesday. Mansour J. Arbabsiar, an Iranian-American charged in 2011 in a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, confessed and provided “extremely valuable intelligence” on Iran’s role, prosecutors have said. He pleaded guilty before a judge could rule on his suppression motion, which argued that his statements had been the product of mental illness. That illness, his lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, recalled, “led him to believe that he could convince the agents to see things his way and that would show his innocence.” He is now serving a 25-year sentence . Terrorism defendants speak willingly for a variety of reasons, according to defense lawyers and former prosecutors. “They want to boast, particularly if they have ever done something to harm ‘the infidel,’ ” said David Raskin, a former chief of the terrorism unit in the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan. “But just being an enemy of the United States is something they’re very proud of and anxious to talk about.” Linda Moreno, a terrorism defense lawyer, said: “I think it’s cultural in part. They’re not raised in this system, and they don’t grow up with the holy notion that you have the right to remain silent ingrained in their psyche.” Mr. Abu Ghaith’s case and some of the other terrorism cases appear to underscore what defenders of civilian courts have long argued: that traditional law enforcement techniques are effective at extracting information from suspects in international terrorism cases. In the 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed 224 people, three Qaeda operatives who were arrested gave lengthy statements; they identified people in photographs and discussed their associates with the F.B.I. and other authorities. Not everything that they said was true, and many of their statements were self-serving, said Daniel J. Coleman, a retired F.B.I. agent who participated in the Bin Laden investigation. “But they did manage to say enough to get themselves into a great deal of trouble,” he added. All three men are now serving life sentences. In Mr. Abu Ghaith’s case, an F.B.I. agent and a deputy United States marshal flying with him from Jordan on a Gulfstream V aircraft, first asked him through an interpreter whether he was aware of any plots against the United States or any other country. He said no. He was then, according to the interrogation summary, advised of his rights and nodded as they were explained to him to indicate that he understood. Image Ramzi Ahmed also volunteered information after being arrested in a terror case. Credit Associated Press He then waived his rights and did not ask for a lawyer to be present, the summary said. “I have no problem with telling my story and answering your questions if you’re an investigator,” he is quoted as saying. He was offered food and water, and breaks to pray, use the bathroom and stretch his legs, the document says. A judge found that Mr. Abu Ghaith had been treated humanely and his statements were ruled admissible. The decision to prosecute Mr. Abu Ghaith in the civilian system drew criticism from Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who said he should have been held as an enemy combatant and interrogated for intelligence purposes. Although the summary of Mr. Abu Ghaith’s interrogation ran 21 pages, “it should have been a 200-page statement, taken over weeks or months,” Senator Graham said in March after Mr. Abu Ghaith’s conviction. “We lost an opportunity here with this guy.” Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the debate over how best to gain intelligence from hardened terrorists has intensified. Much has been made of the advantages of the military system, where Miranda warnings are not administered and coercive techniques have been used. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, whose office has successfully prosecuted a string of international terrorism cases, including Mr. Abu Ghaith’s, said in an interview over the summer that law enforcement’s success in obtaining information from suspects could not be discounted. “It is counterintuitive — and I understand that,” Mr. Bharara said, “that people one morning want to do everything they can to kill everyone who looks like an American, and destroy cities, and in some cases, prepare to engage in suicide missions or help others engage in suicide missions, and then the next afternoon, when caught, snitch on their plans, snitch on their colleagues, snitch on intelligence that otherwise would have been unavailable to the very same people that they were dedicated to killing.” “However, it is true; it happens all the time,” he said, adding that a willingness to talk was “something that should be considered a little bit more by people who fight really hard in these debates.” The phenomenon of international terrorists’ providing information goes back at least to 1995, when Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, who orchestrated the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, spent six hours answering questions as he was flown to the United States from Pakistan. On the last leg of his journey, as a helicopter carried him along the East River and an F.B.I. official pointed at the twin towers and observed that they were still standing, Mr. Yousef famously replied , “They wouldn’t be, if I had had enough money and explosives.” Ali H. Soufan, another former F.B.I. agent, said that in his experience, the “higher the operatives are in the pyramid of the terrorist organization, the easier it is to talk to them.” Many terrorists “feel what they are doing is an extension of their jihad, is part of their cause,” he said. “They are willing to die for it, so if given the right opportunity, they are not going to deny it.” Mr. Soufan said there was no “cookie cutter” approach to terrorism interrogations. “What works on one subject does not necessarily work on the other,” he said. “But if you know how to do it and you know what buttons to push, intellectually and mentally, these guys will talk.” “Sometimes, the problem is in shutting them up,” he added. | Terrorism;Sulaiman Abu Ghaith;Interrogation;FBI;Al Qaeda;NYC |
ny0212154 | [
"sports",
"football"
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| 2017/01/08 | N.F.L. Sunday Wild-Card Matchups: Who We Think Will Win | Follow our live N.F.L. playoffs coverage here. The Giants leapt through an arctic Lambeau Field in the postseason nine years ago, on their way to a Super Bowl parade. The 1972 Dolphins won a playoff game in wind-chilled Pittsburgh on their path to a perfect season. Both the Giants and the Dolphins may want to channel their former selves in Sunday’s wild-card playoff games. Each team’s road to this year’s Super Bowl in Houston winds through freezing conditions (temperatures will peak in the midteens) and the city limits of a divisional champion. Precedent makes for a great pregame speech in the visiting locker room. Expect the Packers and the Steelers to offer in-game rebuttals on their home tundra. Here is a look at Sunday’s playoff games and who we think will win them. All times Eastern. Image Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell in the second half of a game last month against the Buffalo Bills. Credit Bill Wippert/Associated Press Dolphins (10-6) at Steelers (11-5) 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Line: Steelers by 10 On Oct. 16, the Dolphins were 1-4, worst in the A.F.C. East. The Steelers were 4-1, kings of the A.F.C. North. They met in Miami, and the Dolphins won, in a game no one considered a postseason preview. But here they both are, together again in a playoff showdown. The Dolphins won Round 1 because running back Jay Ajayi gained 204 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns. It helped that Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed 24 of 32 passes for 252 yards, but he has been out with a sprained knee since Week 11. It is up to Tannehill’s replacement, Matt Moore, who is making the first postseason start of his nine-year career, to provide air cover for the running game. Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell missed the past two postseasons with knee injuries. Now, his ligaments are as healthy as his numbers. Bell rushed 110 times in the last four games of the regular season, for 569 yards, and he averaged 187 yards from scrimmage. Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who played with an injured knee in the first meeting with the Dolphins, has led the Steelers to seven consecutive victories. Defense tips the scoreboard in Pittsburgh’s favor. This season’s team is not the Steel Curtain of old, but it pinches up inside the 20-yard line — with the N.F.L.’s fourth-ranked red-zone defense. Pick: Steelers Giants (11-5) at Packers (10-6) 4:40 p.m. Sunday. Line: Packers by 4 ½ Giants fans keep waiting for the return of the good Eli Manning, the quarterback who won two Super Bowl rings with wild-card teams — both of them after having successfully passed through Green Bay. Only one defense has allowed fewer points than the Giants’ this season. The Giants kept opposing teams to 10, 6 and 7 points in their last three victories. That was necessary because the Giants scored 19, 17 and 10 points in those games. The Giants need Manning to flip the playoff switch, especially if Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers turns this game into a Lambeau Leap-a-thon. That is what happens when Rodgers has at least five seconds to find open receivers. Giants cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie cannot cover their men forever, not against one of the best ad-lib throwers in the league. Rodgers has not thrown in an interception in 245 consecutive passes, which helps explain how Green Bay won its final six games (three against playoff teams). The Packers have scored at least 30 points in each of the past four weeks to outpace the shortcomings of their own defense. Did we mention that they beat the Giants once already this season? Pick: Packers | Playoffs;Football;Giants;Packers;Steelers;Miami Dolphins |
ny0214887 | [
"business",
"media"
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| 2010/03/15 | ‘Earth Days’ Documentary to Be Seen on Facebook First | PBS ’s “American Experience” has sent its documentary “Earth Days” on a film festival and 40-city theatrical tour for the last year, before its television broadcast in April. Now the 102-minute film about the origins of the American environmental movement, from director Robert Stone, is planning for another outlet, a presentation on the social networking site Facebook . Users will be able to watch communally and interact with the filmmaker and the “American Experience” executive producer Mark Samels in real time. The April 11 event, eight days ahead of the film’s television broadcast on April 19, will be the first time a major broadcaster has introduced a full-length documentary on the site, according to “American Experience” executives. It will use a new “social screening application” created by Brand Networks. Mr. Samels called the showing, which will include the standard PBS underwriting credits, an experiment. “It’s an opportunity, we think, to engage with a new audience, an audience that we may not be bringing to PBS Monday nights at 9 o’clock,” he said. The program draws an average four million viewers an episode on PBS. Mr. Samels said he was eager to get feedback from viewers in a way that television does not normally allow. “It’s such a distancing medium that we work in, in television,” he said. “You put all this work into something, and then it goes into this black hole, the ether.” The application involves a customized video player, integrated with a proprietary poll system and Facebook’s comment box, said Jamie Tedford, the founder of Brand Networks, which is based in Boston. Users who want to post questions or interact during the film can decide whether to restrict their comments to others who are watching or make them visible in the news feed that goes to all their friends. Theoretically, he said, there are no limitations on the number of people who can take part. “We’re prepared to handle the influx,” he said. Mr. Samels said that “American Experience” executives do not know how many people will turn up. Promotion began on March 3, and since then more than 2,000 people have invited friends to join them at the event. ELIZABETH JENSEN | Facebook.com;Television;Public Broadcasting Service;Public Television;Social Networking (Internet);Earth Days (Movie);American Experience (TV Program) |
ny0073114 | [
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
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| 2015/03/22 | Kentucky Doesn’t Crack, Even as Cincinnati’s Defense Raises the Pressure | LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein sat on a bench in the Wildcats’ locker room wearing a T-shirt featuring the menacing face of the Incredible Hulk and talked about Cincinnati’s menacing play. The Bearcats, known as fierce defenders who can be combative, tried their best to maul No. 1 Kentucky, and that created an emotional caldron inside KFC Yum Center. “If teams come in and their sole purpose is to rough you up, well, you can’t settle for jumpers,” Cauley-Stein said. “You got to go back at them and let them know, you roughing us up isn’t going to do anything — we’re still going to come at you. “It kind of demoralizes them. As the game goes on, they’re like, ‘Hey, man, we’re trying to beat them up’ — like, ‘It’s not working.’ ” Pushing back, Kentucky (36-0) suffocated the Bearcats for a 64-51 victory Saturday in the round of 32 of the N.C.A.A. tournament. The game, in the Midwest Region, was played in front of an announced 21,760 fans, most of them clad in the blue of the Wildcats. An N.C.A.A. Bracket for Risk-Takers For this bracket, the more unusual that your picks are, the more points you’ll receive — so long as those picks are correct. Kentucky made just 37 percent of its field-goal attempts and was outrebounded by 45-38, but its lack of efficiency on offense did not matter as it blocked nine shots and held Cincinnati (23-11) to 32 percent shooting. Cincinnati was leading by 24-23 late in the first half when the 7-foot Cauley-Stein made a point about shoving back. Taking a pass from the wing, he roared in with a two-handed dunk that knocked down the 6-foot-8 Bearcats freshman Quadri Moore, who was called for a foul. Cauley-Stein’s teammate Trey Lyles walked past Moore, who was sitting on the floor, and glared at him. After a timeout, Cauley-Stein made the free throw to complete a 3-point play, and the Wildcats stayed in the lead for the rest of the game. “They were trying to make us play a game that we didn’t want to come out and play,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, a 6-11 Kentucky freshman. “We did some of that the first half, and that’s why it was close. The second half, we went back to what we wanted to do, and we didn’t let them change the game for us.” Aaron Harrison led Kentucky with 13 points, and Lyles added 11, but this game was about Kentucky’s covering every piece of the floor on defense and not giving Cincinnati many clear looks at the basket. The Bearcats had 21 offensive rebounds, but too many times they tried to take the ball right back up to the basket against Kentucky’s huge defenders. “When you get a rebound, you can’t be stubborn and just go back up,” said Larry Davis, Cincinnati’s interim coach. “You got to realize, I’m surrounded — throw it out. That was the game plan.” Image Kentucky forward Willie Cauley-Stein dunking against Cincinnati’s Quadri Moore during the first half Saturday. Credit Jamie Rhodes/USA Today Sports, via Reuters The Bearcats took a 4-2 lead two and a half minutes into the game and, for the next 11 minutes, kept the score even or in their favor. The crowd howled at the Cincinnati players simply for playing hard and berated the officiating crew. It hardly seemed a neutral site for an N.C.A.A. tournament game. “Yeah, it was Rupp Arena, I think,” Cincinnati center Octavius Ellis said, referring to Kentucky’s home court. The Bearcats did terrific work on defense, but that did not help them at all with their offense. Not only did Kentucky’s frontcourt foursome — each player 6-10 or taller — prevent clear looks at the rim, but the Wildcats’ guards, playing man-to-man defense, stayed fastened to their marks. Cauley-Stein’s dunk put Kentucky ahead with 2 minutes 46 seconds left in the first half, and the Wildcats stretched their lead to 31-24 by the intermission. It was no easier in the second half for Cincinnati; the Bearcats cut the gap to 5 points, at 39-34, with 14:11 to play, but it might as well have been 25, as difficult as it was for them to score. Cauley-Stein said that he had been trying to ignore the adulation for the spotless Wildcats but that it had been hard to avoid. He said he had changed the television channel five times in his hotel room Friday night because he kept encountering Kentucky highlights. He finally landed on a channel showing the animated comedy “Family Guy” and stayed there the rest of the night. His point was that the Wildcats were not an entitled team admiring themselves in the mirror and raking in all the praise, and he was right. A team too impressed with its own work could have been flattened by the bruising Cincinnati delivered Saturday. Instead, Kentucky pushed back and then rolled on. | College basketball;University of Cincinnati;University of Kentucky;NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness |
ny0269303 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2016/04/17 | Man Critically Injured in Fall From Manhattan Hotel | A man was critically injured when he fell from the 10th floor of an Upper West Side hotel on Saturday afternoon, the police said. The man, 29, whose identity was not released, fell around 3:35 p.m. and landed on scaffolding covering a terrace on the first floor at the Days Hotel at 215 West 94th Street, the police said. The man, who was a guest at the hotel, was taken to Mount Sinai St. Luke’s hospital and was in critical condition. The police were investigating the circumstances of the fall. Gabrielle Battin, 21, a guest on the 13th floor, said she heard a noise. “I heard ‘boom, boom’ and that was it,” she said. “It was ‘boom.’ And then ‘boom.’ The first one was loud and the second was less.” She said she thought something had fallen but was not so concerned that she felt the need to investigate. Ronald Derisca, 45, a resident of the hotel for more than 10 years, said he had been in his room on the 11th floor at the time of the fall. The episode was the first time he could recall something like this happening there, he said. “People get sick from time to time and there are ambulances,” Mr. Derisca said. “We’ve had fires here a few times and evacuated, but nothing like this.” | Falling;Hotels;Upper West Side Manhattan |
ny0251512 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2011/02/15 | If It’s All About Pitching, Then It’s All About the Phillies | CLEARWATER, Fla. David Montgomery and Chris Wheeler stood off to the side of a Philadelphia Phillies practice field Monday, remembering the old days. Both joined the Phillies 40 years ago, and now Montgomery runs the team as the general partner. He agreed with Wheeler, a broadcaster, that no spring training had this much buzz since 1979, Pete Rose’s first with the team. The Phillies won the World Series a year later. They won again in 2008, and since then have added three aces: Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee — twice. Lee’s return, Montgomery said, highlights the atmosphere the Phillies have strived to create. A hitter’s park in a demanding town is now a destination for the game’s best pitchers. Halladay and Oswalt waived no-trade clauses to come to the Phillies. Lee took less guaranteed money to come back as a free agent. Add those three to the homegrown Cole Hamels — the most valuable player of the 2008 World Series — and the Phillies are dreaming big. “David doesn’t say ‘no’ a whole lot to me,” General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “I don’t know how else to describe it. One of the best things about working for this organization is your bosses have faith to allow you to do what you think is good for the club.” Amaro, whose father played shortstop for the star-crossed 1964 Phillies, joined the front office in 1998 after batting .187 for a losing Phillies team. Historically, that is usually redundant. The Phillies have finished in last place 31 times, and they reached the playoffs just once in 23 seasons before 2007. But Amaro was there for the glory years, too, as a bat boy in 1980 and as a spare part for the rowdy pennant-winners of 1993. The concept of the Phillies as a glamour franchise seemed possible. “I knew the fan base would be there, because of their loyalty,” he said. Lee would not have been here Monday morning, chatting and laughing with Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels at a table in the clubhouse, without a five-year, $120 million contract. The Yankees offered $148 million across seven years, and the Rangers were said to have bid $120 million over six years, with a vesting option for a seventh, to keep him. The Phillies’ offer had the highest average annual value, at $24 million. But Lee also felt a pull back to Philadelphia, where he pitched in the 2009 World Series. Amaro traded him to Seattle for prospects that December, acquiring Halladay from Toronto at the same time. Lee bounced to Texas, pitched in another World Series, and entered free agency with no grudges. “I just honestly stepped back and looked at each team and evaluated,” he said Monday. “I felt like this is the team that’s going to give me the best chance to win a ring, and hopefully multiple rings. But that was what the decision was based on. “Obviously, the fans had a lot to do with it. They sell out every game. A lot of the stadiums were packed. There was a lot of hype every game. It’s a great feeling playing in that park, and I wanted to come back and do some more of it.” The Phillies have sold out their last 123 games at Citizens Bank Park, a streak that began before Lee arrived in a trade with Cleveland in July 2009. Amaro used prospects in that deal, did so again in the Halladay trade, and once more last July to snag Oswalt from Houston. “The organization has done a phenomenal job of getting guys,” said Hamels, a first-round draft pick in 2002 . “Everybody really talks about, in the postseason, it’s all about pitching. We have guys with postseason experience, and you want that. “I think we’re just fortunate enough to be in this sort of situation, because I know when I was drafted by the Phillies, the whole team’s almost completely different. Everything evolves.” Hamels and Lee spoke at a news conference in the media lunchroom Monday, at a table with Halladay, Oswalt and Joe Blanton. A reporter noted that Hamels was the only one with a World Series ring , and Blanton, who won a game and homered against Tampa Bay in 2008, spoke up. “I got one, too,” he said. “I know you forget about me, but that’s O.K.” Blanton has started on opening day — for Oakland in 2008 — but the fifth starter on a decorated staff is an afterthought. Lee acknowledged as much, in a way, when asked to name a comparable rotation. “The best rotation I can remember is the Braves back with Glavine, Smoltz, Steve Avery and Maddux,” Lee said. “I mean, that was I don’t even remember who the fifth guy was, but those four were pretty dang good.” The first season of that Braves’ foursome was 1993, when the Phillies, of all teams, upended Atlanta in the playoffs . (The fifth starter, Pete Smith, was not a factor.) The Braves won the next World Series, but a dazzling rotation guarantees nothing. Other examples abound. The Cincinnati Reds won two World Series in the mid-1970s, then acquired Tom Seaver and could not get back. The Mets could not reach the playoffs with David Cone, Frank Viola, Dwight Gooden and Sid Fernandez. Halladay said he once wanted to play for the Oakland Athletics with Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. That team won no pennants, either. Last October, in the National League Championship Series, Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt each lost to the San Francisco Giants. Lee lost twice to the Giants in the World Series. “Sometimes people forget how hard it is to win,” Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel said, though Phillies fans should not need the reminder. It is true that only a championship could meet expectations for a rotation this good. And with a left-leaning offense that did not replace Jayson Werth, the Phillies have questions. But for the only franchise in baseball with 10,000 losses , times have never been better. “We’ve got a chance to have a special season,” Manuel said, “and we’ve got a chance to have a lot of fun.” | Philadelphia Phillies;Halladay Roy;Oswalt Roy;Lee Cliff;Baseball;Draft and Recruitment (Sports) |
ny0004349 | [
"us",
"politics"
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| 2013/04/19 | Unveiling Immigration Bill, Senators Seek Distance From Guns | WASHINGTON — It was drafted by a bipartisan Senate coalition, has the strong backing of the White House and activist groups, and draws on deep public support from those who see it as helping to solve one of the nation’s most difficult problems. But advocates of the Senate’s new immigration proposal say it differs in many respects from the gun control legislation defeated this week, despite surface similarities that illustrate how a measure with substantial advantages and widespread backing can still founder on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, they formally began seeking support for the proposal from the public and Congressional colleagues. Reminded anew of the pitfalls that await high-profile measures, the bipartisan group of eight senators that assembled the immigration legislation is determined to avoid the mistakes and hazards that doomed the measure to expand background checks for gun buyers. As they unveiled their measure at a news conference, the senators mustered an impressive display of unity from business and labor, conservatives and liberals, and members of the various faith-based communities. They offered a bipartisan backdrop determined to say: not only is this immigration bill different from the one that failed in 2007, but it is very different from the bipartisan gun legislation. Asked why the group expected it to fare better, one member, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, turned and pointed to what he called “one compelling reason” — the assembled crowd of nearly two dozen supporters behind him. “When you look at the representatives of business, labor, the religious community, Hispanic community — across the board — this is a coalition,” he said. “This is why we will succeed, because of this broad-based, dedicated support for this legislation.” Mr. McCain joked, “I never thought I’d be standing with Richard Trumka,” referring to the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the nation’s largest federation of unions. Group members and their aides insist the moment is right for overhauling the nation’s strained immigration system. The 2012 election, they say, in which President Obama won with 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, has created a climate in which Republicans are willing to make concessions that could lead to a broad immigration overhaul. Image Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and a member of the bipartisan group, center, made appearances on talk radio on Thursday, and his office set up an “Immigration Reform Facts” page on its Web site to dispute false claims about the bill. Credit Charles Dharapak/Associated Press And instead of having a powerful interest group like the National Rifle Association lobbying lawmakers to stand firm against any new gun control bill, aides say they already have two major and often combative groups — business and labor — on board. The agreement between business and labor also represents a stark change from 2007, when the two groups could not reach an agreement, and labor groups were internally divided as well. Finally, both Democrats and Republicans insist the current bill can offer something to many: a clear path to citizenship that excites Democrats and immigration advocates, and tough border security measures that placate Republicans and allow them to reassure their conservative base that the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the United States would not be rewarded for breaking the law. “The border security triggers are strong but achievable,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York and a member of the group. “The path to citizenship is tough, but it is accessible. Yes, our bill does secure the border first, but it treats the situation of those living in the shadows as an equally urgent priority.” Still, getting the immigration bill passed in the Senate — let alone through the Republican-controlled House and onto the president’s desk — will be a monumental challenge. Opposition to the legislation began almost as soon as it was filed, around 2 a.m. Wednesday, after the group’s carefully choreographed rollout was derailed by the Boston Marathon bombings. The Federation for American Immigration Reform , which has called for reducing levels of illegal immigration, organized a two-day summit meeting of nearly four-dozen conservative talk radio hosts from around the country. The hosts descended on the nation’s capital to broadcast their concerns to listeners back home that the new bill amounted to “amnesty.” (During the 2007 effort, the organization was credited with helping crash the Congressional servers with calls from angry constituents.) Senators Jeff Sessions of Alabama and David Vitter of Louisiana, both Republicans, held a competing news conference during which they denounced the bill. And NumbersUSA, a group that seeks to reduce immigration, has begun poring over the bill to enumerate how it believes the legislation could hurt American workers. “There are a lot of parallels between our type of outreach and the N.R.A.,” said Rosemary Jenks, the director of government relations for NumbersUSA. “We’re both grass-roots organizations with very large memberships, and the goal is always to make sure members of Congress are hearing directly from their constituents.” The bipartisan group’s news conference on Thursday was only the first step for the senators, who have already been pressing their case privately and will continue to do so publicly in the coming weeks. The Democratic senators briefed immigration advocates on the details of the bill on Wednesday, and they did the same with their fellow Democratic senators at a lunch on Thursday. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida and a member of the bipartisan group, made appearances on talk radio on Thursday, and his office set up an “Immigration Reform Facts” page on its Web site to dispute false claims about the bill. On Friday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the new legislation, and it has scheduled another for Monday. In some ways, the failure of gun legislation could ultimately work in the favor of an immigration overhaul. On Thursday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told gun control advocates that several senators had told him they could not vote to support both gun control and immigration: they had the political bandwidth for only one tough vote. | Immigration;Legislation;Citizenship;Hispanic Americans;Illegal immigration;US Politics;Barack Obama;Joe Biden;Marco Rubio;John McCain |
ny0166982 | [
"politics"
]
| 2006/01/27 | Prosecutor Will Step Down From Lobbyist Case | WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 - The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush. The prosecutor, Noel L. Hillman, is chief of the department's public integrity division, and the move ends his involvement in an inquiry that has reached into the administration as well as the top ranks of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill. The administration said that the appointment was routine and that it would not affect the investigation, but Democrats swiftly questioned the timing of the move and called for a special prosecutor. The announcement came as Mr. Bush faced a barrage of questions about why he would not make public "grip-and-grin" photographs of him with Mr. Abramoff. The photographs apparently show Mr. Bush and Mr. Abramoff smiling at White House Hanukkah parties and Republican fund-raising receptions. Mr. Bush's position, which he offered at a news conference on Thursday morning that was peppered with questions about Mr. Abramoff, was that the photographs were so common as to be almost meaningless and that it was part of his job "to shake hands with people and smile." He said he could not remember posing for the pictures, or, for that matter, even meeting Mr. Abramoff. "I had my picture taken with him, evidently," Mr. Bush said. "I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with them or know them very well." He said, "I'm also mindful that we live in a world in which those pictures will be used for pure political purposes, and they're not relevant to the investigation." The White House, which announced Mr. Bush's selection of Mr. Hillman for the court in a routine e-mail message on Wednesday that included 15 other nominations to judgeships and federal jobs, dismissed the calls for a special prosecutor. "It's nothing but pure politics," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary. "The Justice Department is holding Mr. Abramoff to account, and the career Justice prosecutors are continuing to fully investigate the matter." A special prosecutor would not be especially welcome at the White House. Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case, is more than two years into an investigation that has resulted in the indictment of a top vice-presidential aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr., and has left Karl Rove, the president's chief political adviser, under investigation. Mr. Hillman's departure from the Justice Department creates a vacancy at the top of the Abramoff inquiry only three weeks after Mr. Abramoff, once one of the city's most powerful Republican lobbyists and a major fund-raiser for Mr. Bush, announced his guilty plea and agreed to testify against others, possibly including members of Congress. A former senior White House budget official, David H. Safavian, has been indicted in the case on charges of lying about his contacts with Mr. Abramoff, a former lobbying partner. The Justice Department's plea agreement with Mr. Abramoff makes clear that prosecutors are investigating several members of Congress and other public officials who are suspected of having accepted gifts from the lobbyist in exchange for official acts. Colleagues at the Justice Department say Mr. Hillman has been involved in day-to-day management of the Abramoff investigation since it began almost two year ago. The inquiry, which initially focused on accusations that Mr. Abramoff defrauded Indian tribes out of tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees, is being described within the department as the most important federal corruption investigation in a generation. Mr. Hillman's nomination for a judgeship was among the factors cited Thursday by four Democratic lawmakers, two senators and two representatives, in calling on Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to name a special prosecutor to oversee the corruption investigation. The timing of Mr. Hillman's nomination "jaundices this whole process," Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in an interview. "They have to appoint a special counsel. I think there will be broad support for one." Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, called the timing "startling" and said, "You have one of the chief prosecutors removed from a case that has tentacles throughout the Republican leadership of Congress, throughout the various agencies and into the White House." White House officials have said that Mr. Abramoff had no improper dealings with the White House. They have said he attended "staff level" meetings at the White House, but have declined to say with whom. One of his chief connections to the White House was through Susan Ralston, an assistant who worked for him before she worked for Mr. Rove. Ms. Ralston continues to work for Mr. Rove as a top aide. A Justice Department spokesman, Bryan Sierra, said he had no comment on the Democratic request for a special prosecutor because the department had not received their letter making the request. Mr. Sierra said in an interview that there was nothing unusual about the timing of Mr. Hillman's nomination and that it would not affect the Abramoff inquiry. "The team that Noel put together is going to remain together," he said. "The investigation should not be impacted." He said Mr. Hillman would be temporarily succeeded as head of the public integrity office by Andrew Lourie, a career prosecutor in Florida. The White House had been poised to nominate Mr. Hillman for the bench last year. Mr. Sierra said he did not know why the nomination had been delayed until this week, but he said he believed it had nothing to do with the Abramoff investigation. In a letter sent to the attorney general on Thursday asking for an independent counsel, Senator Schumer and Senator Ken Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, praised Mr. Hillman's office for the investigation that led to the guilty plea by Mr. Abramoff and his former lobbying partner, Michael Scanlon, a former press secretary to Representative Tom DeLay. "We applaud its pursuit of Mr. Abramoff and his colleagues," they said. "We have no doubt that if the investigation is left to the career prosecutors in that section, the case would reach its appropriate conclusion. Unfortunately, the highly political context of the allegations and charges may lead some to surmise that political influence may compromise the investigation." | JUSTICE DEPARTMENT;BUSH GEORGE W;ABRAMOFF JACK;LOBBYING AND LOBBYISTS |
ny0076154 | [
"sports",
"soccer"
]
| 2015/05/11 | Abby Wambach Scores Twice in U.S. Exhibition Win Over Ireland | SAN JOSE, Calif. — Abby Wambach scored twice as the United States defeated Ireland, 3-0, on Sunday in an exhibition match in preparation for the Women’s World Cup. A goal by defender Julie Johnston extended her scoring streak to three straight matches. It was the fifth straight shutout for the Americans, and it was Hope Solo’s 83rd in her career with the United States. Wambach added to her career scoring record of 180 goals. Sunday’s match was her 44th with multiple goals. The sold-out exhibition at Avaya Stadium was part of a send-off tour for the United States for the Women’s World Cup, which starts next month in Canada. The Americans will play a match against Mexico next Sunday in Carson, Calif. Wambach first scored in the 42nd minute, shortly after Irish defender Meabh De Burca was hit in the face by a ball and fell to the ground. Wambach scored again on a header less than three minutes later on a cross from Carli Loyd. Johnston’s goal came in the 54th minute. The United States was without forward Alex Morgan, who had a bone bruise in her left knee. She will also miss the match against Mexico. United States Coach Jill Ellis said Morgan was being held out as a precaution. Midfielder Tobin Heath was also out because of a hamstring injury. The United States is now 11-0-0 against Ireland, which is ranked No. 31 in the world and will not play in the World Cup. The United States opens the World Cup on June 8 with a group-play match against Australia in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Americans are in Group D with Australia, Nigeria and Sweden. | Soccer;FIFA Women's World Cup;Abby Wambach;Ireland |
ny0130474 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2012/06/22 | Hospital Systems’ Merger Talks Collapse as Mount Sinai Steps In | Merger talks between two of New York City’s biggest hospital systems — NYU Langone Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners — broke down abruptly on Thursday after Continuum got a competing offer, officials said. The offer came from Mount Sinai Medical Center , which, like NYU, is an academic medical center with a prestigious medical school. “Discussions between Continuum Health Partners and NYU Langone Medical Center were suspended earlier today,” Jim Mandler, a spokesman for Continuum, said in a statement released Thursday night. “The suspension resulted from Continuum’s decision to consider the possibility for partnership with Mount Sinai Medical Center.” Mount Sinai’s counteroffer was startling in its swiftness. The boards of NYU and Continuum voted only two weeks ago to pursue a merger. But it was clear even then that Mount Sinai had the most to lose from an NYU-Continuum merger, and hence perhaps the most to gain from disrupting it. The proposed merger would have created a formidable rival for Mount Sinai, which is on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It would have been squeezed between two clinical, research and academic behemoths: NYU/Continuum and NewYork-Presbyterian. Two weeks ago, one hospital official described the proposed merger as having moved from a courtship to an engagement stage, and Thursday, NYU Langone reacted like a spurned fiancé. NYU officials suggested, in a prepared statement, that Continuum had betrayed the “good faith” negotiations of the last eight months, and said that as a result, it had decided to suspend all further talks. If Continuum were to approach NYU once again in the future, the statement said, “we will make a determination at that time whether to re-engage with them.” As for Mount Sinai, it took responsibility for the break. “We can confirm that the Mount Sinai Medical Center has approached the Board of Continuum Health Partners (C.H.P.) about entering into merger discussions with them, and C.H.P. has agreed,” Dorie Klissas, a spokeswoman for Mount Sinai, said. “We feel C.H.P. has every right to explore any and all merger options, and we look forward to meeting with them.” Mount Sinai and NYU have a history of a failed merger between them. They tried to merge in 1996, but those negotiations collapsed. In 1998, they did join, but later split off. The new overtures by Mount Sinai put Continuum in the position of the belle of the dance, and hospital officials said Thursday that Continuum’s leadership felt it had a management duty to at least explore what Mount Sinai had to offer before making a final decision. Continuum, which is nonprofit, is financially in the black, officials said, and its leadership believes it is in a position to negotiate for the best deal. Either merger would create one of the largest health care systems in the city, with immense leverage under the new federal health care law. It could put pressure on outside medical practices, insurance companies and rival medical schools looking for hospitals in which to train their students. Through its negotiating power with insurance companies, a merged organization could pass on higher fees to consumers. The institutions themselves, however, argue that they would be able to operate more efficiently and at lower cost, as required by federal law. Beyond the negotiations between the institutions, any merger would probably have to be reviewed for its antitrust implications by the Federal Trade Commission, as well as by state health and financing agencies. Continuum brings to the table a network of several community-oriented hospitals, including Beth Israel and the two St. Luke’s-Roosevelt campuses, while both Mount Sinai and NYU bring their more specialized academic medical services. Continuum officials have argued that a merger would not create antitrust problems because the two systems complement rather than duplicate each other. | Mergers Acquisitions and Divestitures;New York University Langone Medical Center;Continuum Health Partners;Mount Sinai Medical Center;Hospitals;New York City |
ny0182204 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2007/12/18 | Trainer’s Steroid Testimony Followed Deal With Prosecutors | Brian McNamee, the former Yankees strength coach who says he injected pitcher Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone, signed a proffer agreement with federal prosecutors last summer, McNamee’s lawyer said Monday. The one-page agreement, which had not been previously disclosed, referred to illegal activity McNamee said he knew of, and in return for his disclosure of that information, the Department of Justice agreed not to use that testimony against McNamee in a possible drug distribution case as long as he cooperated, said Earl Ward, McNamee’s lawyer. It was a turning point in the exposure of the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. McNamee went on to tell his story to the former Senator George J. Mitchell and his staff. Ward said the government, in effect, told McNamee, “We are not going to charge you if you cooperate.” The proffer agreement, to some, appears to add credibility to McNamee’s testimony against Clemens because of the punishment he would face if he lied, several former prosecutors said Monday. Clemens’s lawyer declined comment Monday, but last week said his client was outraged at the accusations against him in the Mitchell report and that McNamee’s deal with the government gave him incentive to lie. Prosecutors made similar agreements with two lesser-known former players named in the report — Larry Bigbie and Chad Allen — whose testimony to Mitchell’s investigators was also monitored by federal agents for truthfulness but who did not have as much information to disclose as McNamee. Bigbie and Allen received special attention because of information the government had that could have been used to charge them with drug distribution, according to people who have been briefed on the case and were given anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about it. A proffer is a written agreement between a person and a prosecutor allowing a person to say what they know about possible illegal activity with the assurance it will not be used against them at trial. The government is free to follow investigative leads. The proffer agreement, colloquially known as a “queen for a day” letter, may lead to a written immunity, cooperation or plea bargain agreement, or it may stop there if the government does not plan to take the case further. Daniel C. Richman, a professor at Columbia University Law School and a former federal prosecutor, said it was extraordinary to see prosecutors compel an individual to cooperate with a private third party like Mitchell. Bradley D. Simon, a former assistant United States attorney in New York, agreed, adding that he thought, “It sounds to me like they’re not planning to go further or they wouldn’t have offered them up to the Mitchell commission.” Simon said the government must have concluded the Mitchell commission was a good partner in attacking steroids. Kirk Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse attendant who supplied steroids and human growth hormone to McNamee and dozens of players from 1995 through 2005, became Mitchell’s best source of information. He has signed plea bargain and cooperation agreements. Radomski, who faced up to 25 years in prison, may receive a considerably shorter sentence for drug distribution because of his cooperation. He has already pleaded guilty, and will appear in court Feb. 8. Radomski’s lawyer said Monday that he would have no comment until after sentencing. Bigbie and Allen did not return phone calls for comment. Ward said the proffer agreement required McNamee to cooperate with the government but not Mitchell; that request came later. “Nothing was written, but it was understood he would continue to speak with him, and if he did so, he wouldn’t be charged,” Ward said. McNamee told Mitchell he injected Clemens more than a dozen times with steroids or human growth hormone. Clemens’s lawyer has denied those accusations. McNamee told Mitchell he also injected Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte with human growth hormone two to four times. Pettitte has admitted to using H.G.H. for “two days” while he was recovering from an elbow injury in 2002. Jeff Novitzky, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service criminal division, and Matthew A. Parrella, an assistant United States attorney working on the five-year-old Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative case, worked with Radomski and McNamee and attended some of their interviews with Mitchell, a person briefed on the case said. The report did not specify which agents or prosecutors attended Bigbie’s and Allen’s interviews. It said they have “been cooperating with federal authorities in connection with their investigation of illegal distribution of performance-enhancing substances.” Bigbie, 30, was an outfielder for Baltimore from 2001 to July 2005, before going to Colorado and St. Louis. Bigbie got caught up in the federal steroids investigation when authorities monitored a call between him and Radomski, according to the Mitchell report. Bigbie told Mitchell investigators that he and Brian Roberts were introduced to Radomski by David Segui; that Roberts, Rafael Palmiero and Jack Cust told him they had used steroids; and that he saw Miguel Tejada inject himself with vitamin B12, the report says. Bigbie offered no documentary evidence. Allen, 32, was an outfielder for Minnesota, Cleveland, Florida and Texas from 1999 through 2005, before playing in Japan. According to the Mitchell report, Allen admitted to using steroids that he bought from Radomski. He also said that he believed Bart Miadich had used steroids based on his physical appearance and demeanor, and that Gary Matthews Jr. might have left unused syringes at his condominium. It remains unclear whether federal investigators learned anything new from the Mitchell report and whether they may still be investigating. John Dowd, a lawyer whose report on behalf of Major League Baseball in 1989 concluded Pete Rose bet on baseball, said his own investigation provided federal authorities with information that led to Rose’s being indicted on federal tax charges. “Our situation was different than Mitchell’s,” Dowd said in a telephone interview Monday. “We were the ones providing the government with information. The U.S. attorney’s office was helpful and would make witnesses available, but we had much of the information.” | McNamee Brian;Steroids;Baseball;Justice Department;Major League Baseball;Athletics and Sports |
ny0155559 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2008/06/04 | Mets’ Pitcher Pérez Struggles to Duplicate Past Success | SAN FRANCISCO — Oliver Pérez and John Maine began this season as interchangeable parts in the Mets ’ rotation. Each won 15 games last year while posting comparable earned run averages, and the Mets hoped — check that, expected — that they would join the ranks of the National League’s elite. But while Maine has evolved into the team’s most reliable starter after Johan Santana, Pérez has regressed, pitching poorly in three straight starts. The nadir came Monday night, when he was pulled with one out in the first inning of the Mets’ 10-2 loss to the Giants after giving up six runs, five hits, two walks and two home runs. So displeased was Manager Willie Randolph that he had his arm outstretched for the ball as soon as he left the dugout, and he yanked Pérez without offering so much as a word of encouragement or a consoling pat on the back. “You have to make adjustments, and Ollie didn’t seem to make any adjustments,” Randolph said. “I don’t think he hit the glove all night.” He added: “You need to not just haul off and throw as hard as you can. That’s what it seemed like he was doing to me.” Over his last three starts, Pérez has allowed 15 earned runs, 15 hits, 14 walks and 6 homers in 11 1/3 innings as his E.R.A. has swelled to 5.70 from 4.25. In looking at videotape of Monday’s outing, Pérez noticed that he was not throwing from a consistent arm slot. That would be a revealing piece of information, if not for the fact that he has done this in practically every start. Of his 12 starts, only three can be fairly classified as superb: April 2 in Florida, when he pitched six shutout innings; April 8 against Philadelphia, when he pitched five and two-thirds shutout innings; and May 18 at Yankee Stadium, when he allowed two runs and three hits in seven and two-thirds innings. Take away those three, and Pérez is left with a 7.97 E.R.A. “I know myself,” Pérez said before Tuesday’s game. “I know when things are not working. Sometimes you have good starts and things work, and, like you see, last night was my worst night.” The Mets have deflected speculation that Pérez has been negatively influenced by his arbitration victory, which awarded him $6.5 million, or his pending free agency. “That’s outside the field,” Pérez said. “When I’m on the field, I don’t think about anything else. I want to help the team win, and when I don’t do my job, I’m not happy.” If Pérez were to even come close to duplicating last season’s 15-10 record and 3.56 E.R.A., he would have teams lining up for his services in the off-season. If Carlos Silva, who is right-handed and more than two years older than the 26-year-old Pérez, could snag a four-year, $48 million deal from Seattle, there is no telling what sort of jackpot a consistent Pérez could earn. But, as clever as his agent, Scott Boras, is, teams may be leery of investing a long-term contract in someone with start-to-start problems. Even if the Mets were looking to replace Pérez, which they are not, complicating the situation is their lack of palatable alternatives. Orlando Hernández has yet to resume throwing from a mound. The Class AAA New Orleans starters include Brian Stokes, Tony Armas and Ruddy Lugo. Claudio Vargas, who just shifted to the bullpen, would be their best internal option. But Randolph said Pérez still had time to turn his season around. “Let him finish the year out, so hopefully he’ll get better just like John got better,” he said, referring to Maine. “It’s too early to assume that he won’t have the kind of year he had last year. He’s off to a rocky start obviously, but it’s up to him. He’s going to have to make the adjustments and find a way to be more consistent.” INSIDE PITCH A day after Willie Randolph said Brian Schneider would start Tuesday against the left-hander Barry Zito, Ramón Castro caught for the second consecutive game. Schneider was hitting .227 against left-handers; Castro .364. Randolph again said he did not intend to platoon them. Castro has started the last six times against left-handers. Schneider will start Wednesday against the right-hander Matt Cain. ... If José Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltrán are to start in the All-Star Game for a second consecutive year, they must make up significant ground in fan voting. Wright lags nearly 250,000 votes behind the third-base leader, Chipper Jones, while Reyes sits in third place, about 80,000 votes in back of Hanley Ramírez. Beltrán ranks fifth among outfielders, almost 130,000 votes behind Ken Griffey Jr., who is third. ... Raul Casanova will be placed on bereavement after Tuesday’s game because of a death in his family. | Pérez Oliver;New York Mets;Baseball |
ny0008636 | [
"sports",
"olympics"
]
| 2013/05/12 | Katie Ledecky and the Continuing Teenage Parade in U.S. Swimming | CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Young swimmers packed a small room at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Thursday to hear the sage words of a 16-year-old high school sophomore. Katie Ledecky did her best not to disappoint. For the few minutes she had for her talk during a brief trip to compete in an Arena Grand Prix series event here before flying home to Bethesda, Md., and back to classes, Ledecky let those swimmers know they too could make it. A year ago, Ledecky was equally anonymous when she showed up for the UltraSwim in Charlotte. But she had a breakout performance and made it all the way to the Olympics, where she won a gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle and set an American record. “Last year at this meet, I was intimidated by all of them, and now I guess I’m an Olympian, so that’s a little different,” Ledecky said after swimming the 1,500 freestyle for the first time in two years. She won in 16 minutes 4.58 seconds, the fastest time for an American this year, a meet record and a personal best by 20 seconds. The time qualified Ledecky to compete in the national championships in Indianapolis from June 25 to 29, a meet that also serves as the trials for this summer’s world championships in Barcelona , Spain. It is all very different now for Ledecky, one of a group of talented, teenage swimmers who could be the core of the national team for years to come. Missy Franklin, 18, who won four gold medals in London, leads that contingent and is joined by Ledecky; Lia Neal, 18; and Rachel Bootsma, 19. What has changed in a year? In addition to the medals, a measure of fame has come to Ledecky and Neal, who won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay. “My life has changed quite a bit,” Neal, who attends high school in Manhattan, said Friday. “It is pretty weird. I didn’t realize I would be a role model to some kids until I started being asked, ‘How does it feel to be a role model to these kids?’ I still don’t feel very different. I just went to the Olympics and won a medal, but it’s really cool to have all these people, even people I’ve never met before, look up to me.” For Ledecky, fame is having a chance to meet with wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. Or hearing little girls squeal. “Sometimes, I still have to pinch myself that it happened,” she said. “Walking around school, if I have to go up to art, I go through the lower school and all the little kids start screaming and that’s still crazy to put my mind around.” What has not changed is the bond among Ledecky, Neal, Bootsma and Franklin that began before the Olympics and was solidified in London when they spent time together away from the pool. “I think the age kind of drew us together,” Neal said after swimming a morning heat in the 100-meter butterfly. “I had known Missy for quite some years before London. We had already been friendly for a while. But then Katie and I were paired up to be roommates for the training portion, so we were roommates for two weeks. That brought us, like, even closer together.” Of course, they are also competitors — Neal and Franklin even more so now that Neal is headed to Stanford and Franklin to California-Berkeley. And Franklin’s success seems to motivates Neal. “The things she has accomplished and the things that she’s done seems, like, kind of superhuman,” Neal said. “But at one point, we were on that same level, so that does give me motivation to kind of push myself and see what I can do.” Neal and Ledecky inevitably wound up in the shadow of Franklin in London. That was not necessarily a bad thing. “I like it that way,” Ledecky said. But she might not be there for long. If Olympic medals provide a measure of accomplishment, they also create new expectations. Mary Gen Ledecky, Katie’s mother, is trying to keep those from weighing on her daughter. “We want her to keep it fun,” she said. “We want her to do it because she wants to do it, not because it’s important to us. You could set yourself up for a lot of disappointment if you really lay out those expectations.” She may not need to worry. Katie Ledecky is an inch taller, at 5 feet 11 inches, and a year more experienced. Both are likely to help when she competes in the 200, 400, 800 and 1,500 freestyles in Indianapolis. If she swims well again, the spotlight will surely find Ledecky, just as it found Franklin. Whether she likes it or not. | 2012 Summer Olympics;Swimming;Katie Ledecky;Lia Neal |
ny0237031 | [
"sports",
"tennis"
]
| 2010/06/29 | ATP Tour Is Not in Violation | A federal appeals court upheld an earlier ruling that the ATP Tour did not violate antitrust statutes when it reorganized its tour schedule and events to better promote the sport. The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit announced Friday was a legal victory for the tour, which was sued by the promoters of the ATP Tour event in Hamburg, Germany. To boost the attendance and ratings of the 70 or so tour events, players on the ATP Tour are required to play in a certain number of Tier I, Tier II and Tier III events. The ATP alleged that the tennis facility in Hamburg was not as attractive as those in other cities, and that the popularity of tennis in Germany had waned. The promoters alleged that the ATP Tour conspired to act as a monopoly when it downgraded the Hamburg tournament to a Tier II event from a Tier I. | Tennis;Assn of Tennis Professionals;Suits and Litigation;Decisions and Verdicts |
ny0277290 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2016/11/20 | Turkey Cheered by Words of Michael Flynn, Trump’s Security Adviser | ISTANBUL — Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn , the designated national security adviser for the incoming Trump administration, once wrote on Twitter that it was “rational” to fear Muslims, but that does not seem likely to cause him any grief with Turkey ’s government, even though it is led by a religiously conservative Muslim, Recep Tayyip Erdogan . Ankara has paid far more attention to General Flynn’s full-throated support for Mr. Erdogan’s government, and especially its wish to extradite the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen from his sanctuary in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. General Flynn wrote an article published in The Hill on Election Day calling on the United States to be more sympathetic to the concerns of Turkey, a NATO ally, and embracing Mr. Erdogan’s position that Mr. Gulen is an extremist who was behind the failed July coup against his government. Mr. Gulen and his supporters deny that, and depict him as a moderate more concerned with building thousands of schools than with toppling Turkey’s government. Mr. Gulen was once an ally of Mr. Erdogan, but they had a falling out. General Flynn’s article, as Politico reported , did not disclose that he was a paid lobbyist for a consultancy founded by a Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin, who is also the head of the Turkish-American Business Council. Mr. Alptekin denied in a telephone interview on Friday that the council was a government entity or that the contract with General Flynn’s company, Flynn Intel Group, had anything to do with the article in The Hill. “The assumption that General Flynn wrote that in the context of a lobbying contract with me is completely false,” Mr. Alptekin said. “He never consulted with me. I would have advised against it.” And he said the notion that Mr. Erdogan would pay to have the article published was “preposterous,” citing its criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Mr. Erdogan has supported in the past. The discussion of General Flynn’s Turkish connections has occurred in the context of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s promise to prevent officials in his administration from lobbying for foreign governments once they leave office. Mr. Erdogan spoke warmly of Mr. Trump in a speech after the American election, one in which he also accused Hillary Clinton of receiving campaign contributions from the Gulen camp. Mr. Alptekin said he had hired General Flynn’s company to consult on the region’s security environment in connection with a commercial venture he was considering. Later, one of General Flynn’s associates suggested that the company also advocate for better relations between the United States and Turkey, which would require registering as lobbyists with the United States government, Mr. Alptekin said. The company did register as lobbyists on behalf of Turkey, but “I’m not even sure any lobbying got done,” Mr. Alptekin added. “I don’t lobby for the Turkish government. I lobby the Turkish government myself.” Of General Flynn, he said: “This is not a guy who would be influenced by a contract. He wrote what he believes.” Mr. Alptekin declined to say how large the contract was. “It’s tens of thousands of dollars, not hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. Ragip Soylu, a commentator writing in The Daily Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, contended that General Flynn’s article would not have been commissioned by the Turkish government. “Everyone knows that you can’t change a former senior American commander’s opinions by hiring his firm with a $100,000 contract,” Mr. Soylu wrote . Mustafa Akyol, a commentator for Al-Monitor , said, “From a Muslim point of view, Flynn’s appointment is a concern, globally speaking.” He added, “That’s exactly what we mean by Islamophobia, extrapolating from extremists to all Muslims. You would expect to see that concern here, but quite the contrary: Flynn is quite a respected figure now in government circles, just because he wrote that Gulen should be extradited to Turkey. “That was greeted with great happiness here,” Mr. Akyol said. He added that Erdogan supporters had reacted to it as: “Finally, somebody in America who understands us.” | Recep Tayyip Erdogan;Fethullah Gulen;Donald Trump;Turkey;Michael Flynn |
ny0216429 | [
"world"
]
| 2010/04/07 | Obama’s Nuclear Strategy Intended as a Message | WASHINGTON — At the heart of President Obama ’s new nuclear strategy lies a central gamble: that an aging, oversize, increasingly outmoded nuclear arsenal can be turned to the new purpose of adding leverage to the faltering effort to force Iran and North Korea to rethink the value of their nuclear programs. The 50-page “Nuclear Posture Review” released on Tuesday acknowledged outright that “the massive nuclear arsenal we inherited from the cold-war era” is “poorly suited to address the challenges posed by suicidal terrorist and unfriendly regimes seeking nuclear weapons .” Nonetheless, the new strategy aims to use the arsenal to do just that, despite considerable skepticism that any new doctrine or set of White House announcements is likely to change the calculus for North Korea or Iran. Mr. Obama’s new strategy makes just about every nonnuclear state immune from any threat of nuclear retaliation by the United States. But it carves out an exception for Iran and North Korea, labeled “outliers” rather than the Bush-era moniker of “rogue states.” The wording was chosen, Mr. Obama’s senior advisers said, to suggest they have a path back to international respectability — and to de-targeting by the United States. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates made the choice explicit. “There is a message for Iran and North Korea here,” he told reporters on Tuesday. Nonnuclear states that abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would not be threatened with nuclear retaliation by the United States — even if they conducted conventional, biological or cyber attacks. But, he added, “if you’re not going to play by the rules, if you’re going to be a proliferator, then all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you.” A number of analysts argued that by publicly painting a target on Iran and North Korea the administration could, perhaps unwittingly, bolster hard-liners in those countries, who have made the case that nuclear weapons are the only way to ensure their safety against American plotting. The opposite critique came from two senior Republican Party national security experts — Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl, both of Arizona — who contended that the pressure was not direct enough. “We believe that preventing nuclear terrorism and nuclear proliferation should begin by directly confronting the two leading proliferators and supporters of terrorism, Iran and North Korea,” they wrote. “The Obama administration’s policies, thus far, have failed to do that, and this failure has sent exactly the wrong message to other would be proliferators and supporters of terrorism.” To Mr. Obama and his aides, the “outlier” approach is all part of a broader strategy of adding to the pressure on both countries. Over the past year, they have aided the interception of North Korea’s shipping. They have sought to develop new sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and to undermine its nuclear program with a program of covert action. Robert S. Litwak, vice president for programs at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said that Mr. Obama had expanded an effort begun by President George W. Bush to globalize the effort to contain the nuclear aims of both nations. Under Mr. Obama’s strategy, he said, “It is the United States and the world versus Iran, not just the United States versus Iran.” (Mr. Bush’s former aides note that during their time in office, they pushed through four United Nations Security Council resolutions against Tehran, though to little effect.) The new strategy takes that effort one step further, warning both countries that the United States could still use its nuclear arsenal to counter any effort to sell or transfer the country’s nuclear technology to terrorists. “The United States will continue to hold accountable any state, terrorist group or other nonstate actor that supports or enables terrorist efforts to obtain or use weapons of mass destruction,” Mr. Gates said on Tuesday, “whether by facilitating, financing, or providing expertise or safe haven for such efforts.” The problem Mr. Obama faces is that the Bush administration used virtually identical language to warn North Korea soon after it conducted a nuclear test in 2006. The next year, however, North Korea was caught helping Syria build a nuclear reactor. Israel destroyed the site in a nighttime raid in 2007. But North Korea paid little price for what is widely regarded as its most audacious attempt at nuclear proliferation. Mr. Obama, asked on Monday whether that episode harmed American credibility, said, “I don’t think countries around the world are interested in testing our credibility when it comes to these issues. “The message we’re sending here,” he said, was that countries that “actively pursue a proliferation agenda” would not be immune from any form of American retaliation, including nuclear. The reality is more complex. If a backpack nuclear bomb went off in Times Square or on the Mall in Washington, the Pentagon and the Department of Energy would race to find the nuclear DNA of the weapon — so that the country that was the source of the material could be punished. But the science of “nuclear attribution” is still sketchy. And without certain attribution, it is hard to seriously threaten retaliation. The nuclear review also details a larger set of tools to shape the behavior of Iran and North Korea. By reducing the size of America’s own stockpiles, and assuring nonnuclear states inside the nonproliferation treaty that they are exempt from any nuclear attack, the administration hopes to bolster its credentials to close huge loopholes in the treaty that both North Korea and Iran have artfully exploited. “We think we now have credibility Bush never did,” one of Mr. Obama’s aides said, “to tighten the noose. But it will be a very, very slow process.” | Obama Barack;Nuclear Weapons;United States International Relations;Iran;North Korea;Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty |
ny0145281 | [
"business"
]
| 2008/10/24 | New Life for the Death Tax | Perhaps the greatest public relations coup of this decade was the successful persuasion of millions of Americans that repealing the estate tax was a populist cause. A tax that applied to a tiny handful of estates of wealthy people was relaxed and is now slated for repeal in 2010. But the Bush administration, which pushed through the repeal in the 2001 tax act, reached too far and compromised too little. The death tax, as its opponents call it, will live on. The shape of that tax, and its ability to raise significant sums from the very wealthy, will be decided by Congress next year and is an issue in the current presidential campaign. Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama agree that the tax should be extended, but differ significantly on the details. Mr. McCain would exempt far more estates from the tax and would slash the tax bill for those who still must pay. Mr. Obama proposes to basically extend the tax as it will be in 2009. The issue concerns more than dollars, although the dollars are substantial. A new study by the Tax Policy Center estimates that the estate tax backed by Senator Obama would bring in $116 billion from 2010 to 2014, while the McCain plan would bring in $27 billion. To those who support an estate tax that bites the very rich, it is an issue of sharing the burdens of a free society by imposing a progressive tax that brings in money from those who have most benefited from the society. It encourages charitable giving, because such donations are one way to avoid or reduce the estate tax. The tax also encourages work, they argue, by limiting the creation of an idle rich class that became wealthy by inheriting cash, not earning it. As Andrew Carnegie put it, “The parent who leaves his son enormous wealth generally deadens the talents and energies of the son, and tempts him to lead a less useful and less worthy life than he otherwise would.” To opponents, the estate tax smacks of double taxation, as money that was taxed when it was earned is taxed again at death. They say it discourages work, saving and entrepreneurship. Much of the rhetoric when the death tax was being killed concerned family farms, which were said to be lost as families struggled to come up with money to pay estate levies. The law already had breaks for farm families, and it is not clear that any family farms really were broken up. But anecdotes can be powerful things, even if they are not true. The 2001 tax cut, when it was pushed through Congress on largely party-line votes, was made as large as it could be without exceeding an arbitrary limit over the 10 years that budget analysts calculated. The calculated cost was reduced by assuming that the tax cut would expire at the end of 2010, so there was no cost in 2011, the last year being considered by the bean counters. Another consideration was the Senate rule that required 60 votes for a permanent tax cut. To get that many votes, President Bush and Congressional Republicans would have had to bring in Democratic votes, and that would have meant compromises they were unwilling to make. Had a bipartisan deal been struck, the tax cuts would have been smaller, but we would not be facing a huge tax increase in 2011 if nothing is done soon. Such a deal would have gotten the Bush administration off to a less intensely partisan start. The assumption then was that the Republicans would be able to make the tax cuts permanent at some later date, but that date never came. Legislative majorities can be transitory, a lesson the Democrats should remember next year. If Congress takes no action in 2009, the estate tax will fall to zero in 2010, and then bounce back to 2001 levels in 2011. That would create what the Tax Policy Center report, written by Leonard E. Burman, Katherine Lim and Jeffrey Rohaly, delicately calls “grotesque tax planning initiatives.” What they mean is that there would be a great temptation to do in dear old (very rich) dad before midnight on Dec. 31, 2010. It is amazing that a tax paid by so few estates gets so much attention. The Tax Policy Center, which is run by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, estimates that 15,500 estates will face any tax bill this year, and that half the $23 billion in taxes will come from just 700 estates, each of which will face a bill of more than $5 million. This year, estates with more than $2 million of assets — other than assets left to a spouse or to a charity — face an estate tax of 45 percent of the remainder. Next year, the exclusion will rise to $3.5 million. In practice, the effective exclusion is twice the stated amount when it is applied to married couples. The first spouse to die in 2009 can leave $3.5 million to heirs, tax-free, and the rest tax-free to the surviving spouse. If the second spouse dies the same year, he or she can leave another $3.5 million, tax-free, to the heirs. The Obama plan calls for keeping the exclusion at $3.5 million permanently, as well as for maintaining the 45 percent tax rate. The McCain plan seeks to raise the exemption to $5 million. But the far more important part of his proposal is to slash the tax rate to 15 percent. For those with estates in the range of hundreds of millions, that would have the effect of cutting the tax burden by two-thirds. In 2001, the exclusion was $675,000 and the tax rate 55 percent. If nothing is done, the tax rate will revert to that level and the exclusion will fall to $1 million. One sign of the accomplishments of the opponents of the estate tax is that while Mr. Obama wants to return tax rates on very high-income Americans to the levels that prevailed before President Bush took office, Mr. Obama supports an estate tax rate that is 10 percentage points lower than it was then. There are many other parts of the tax law that must be changed next year. Congress used to pass tax laws for individuals that purported to be permanent, but since 2001 that practice has died. Leslie B. Samuels, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb and former tax policy official in the Clinton administration, notes that such provisions as a temporary fix for the alternative minimum tax and one allowing deductions for tuition expenses for some parents will also expire at the end of 2009. Individual income tax rates will rise at the end of 2010. None of this will be easy. Instead of forecasted surpluses, the outlook is for huge deficits even before considering the tax cuts each candidate has proposed, not to mention the inevitable stimulus package to deal with the worsening recession. One principle should be agreed upon before the haggling begins: There will be no more “temporary” tax provisions for individuals. Phasing in a provision may be acceptable, but sunset provisions are not. Never again should a Congress be forced to pass a tax law because a previous Congress adopted an expedient “temporary” tax plan that is about to expire. | Taxation;Wills and Estates |
ny0241211 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2011/03/03 | David Kao’s Killers Get Long Prison Terms | Two teenagers convicted of killing a Queens man whom they overpowered as he slept in his Lexus were sentenced on Wednesday to prison terms of at least 20 years each. The victim, David Kao, 49, was a marketing executive of The World Journal, which describes itself as the largest Chinese-language newspaper in North America. Mr. Kao was strangled inside his Lexus S.U.V., and his body was later dumped on a dead-end street after the teenagers spotted him asleep after they spent a Friday evening at the movies. Before the defendants, Chris Levy, 19, and Cory Azor, 18, were sentenced, they stood as Mr. Kao’s niece, Christine Chu, recounted her uncle’s life in a victim-impact statement read in State Supreme Court in Queens. “The thought of writing this impact statement made me sick to my stomach, because how can you describe the impact of losing my uncle?” Ms. Chu, 29, said as she fought back tears. She said Mr. Kao had raised her after her father died, and he “was always just a phone call away when I needed him.” Ms. Chu, a city schoolteacher, described her uncle as a respected leader in the Chinese-American community. “It’s rare he walked down a street in Chinatown and Flushing without a million people stopping him to speak,” she said as the two handcuffed defendants stood silently, looking straight ahead, as their relatives sobbed. Mr. Levy and Mr. Azor had been charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and robbery. Mr. Azor insisted in court that the crime, in which the victim’s credit cards, cash, cellphone and car were stolen, was a botched robbery and was never intended to be a killing. He received 20 years in prison. Mr. Levy, who admitted breaking into the Lexus and dragging Mr. Kao from behind the wheel and into the back seat while he and Mr. Azor choked him, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. A third defendant, Keron Wiltshire, 19, is expected to receive a five-year sentence later this month for driving the Lexus after Mr. Kao was killed. A fourth teenager, Jay-Quel Merkerson, still faces trial on murder and robbery charges. The plea agreements included concurrent five-year prison terms for another crime in May 2009, in which Mr. Levy, Mr. Azor and Mr. Wiltshire robbed another man, Jin Ton Yuan, 42, in Flushing. When offered a chance to speak after Ms. Chu’s statement, Mr. Levy turned and, appearing to smirk, briefly faced the Kao family. “I apologize to the family,” he said. “Thanks to my family for standing by my side.” Mr. Azor spoke more extensively. Facing Ms. Chu and her mother, Hsiao Chu, the victim’s sister, he said, “After hearing the speech, there is nothing I can say to take up for the loss or take away the pain of the family.” Mr. Levy’s lawyer, Robert Weinstein, in a bid for a more lenient sentence, told Justice Gregory L. Lasak that no weapon was discovered and that “Mr. Chu was severely intoxicated.” “Don’t go any further,” Judge Lasak said, suggesting that Mr. Weinstein might like to withdraw Mr. Levy’s guilty plea and go to trial. Mr. Weinstein declined the offer. | Sentences (Criminal);Robberies and Thefts;Lasak Gregory L;Queens (NYC);Kao David;Levy Chris;Azor Cory |
ny0128991 | [
"sports",
"soccer"
]
| 2012/06/10 | Euro 2012: As Schweinsteiger Goes So Goes Germany | LVIV, Ukraine In his last decisive soccer match, Bastian Schweinsteiger clanged a penalty kick off the goal post and pulled his jersey over his face, disconsolate as Bayern Munich lost the European Champions League final to Chelsea in its own stadium. Tears came to his eyes. He felt paralyzed. Devastated, Schweinsteiger did not take the outstretched hand of Germany’s president, Joachim Gauck, who attempted to offer some small consolation during a postgame medal ceremony. Some thought Schweinsteiger had refused the handshake. No, he said. He didn’t see Gauck. “After this great disappointment, I noticed nothing around me,” Schweinsteiger said in a statement. The European Championships could not have arrived fast enough on Saturday for Schweinsteiger and his Bayern teammates who are also on the German national team. Victory in the opener against Portugal was seen as vital both to bolster Germany’s chances in this tournament and to provide a kind of palliative for what had happened last month in Munich. Joachim Löw, Germany’s coach, calls Schweinsteiger the brain of the team in the defensive midfield. Others refer to him as the heart or the pulse. More accurate, perhaps, is that Schweinsteiger plays the tough, durable connective role of a ligament for a team that is seeking its fourth European title and first since 1996. He fronts and protects a vulnerable back line and serves as a vital link with the creative midfielders Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller and Mario Götze on a team that has evolved from a counterattacking style to one with Barcelona-esque ambitions for possession and short passing and mesmerizing flair. At 27, Schweinsteiger has matured from callow prankster to emotional leader. He has both muscle and music in his game, which is embroidered with forceful tackling, superb vision, a point guard’s sense of tempo and anticipatory passing and a shot that is heavy and precise. If Schweinsteiger has a flaw, it is that his body sometimes betrays his skill. He seems as finely tuned, powerful and fragile as a sports car. This past season in the Bundesliga, he missed long stretches with a broken collarbone and a knee injury as Bayern Munich conceded the title for a second consecutive season to Borussia Dortmund. “He is the head of the team,” Jupp Heynckes, the Bayern coach, told Reuters. “He gives the tempo, he steers our game and is very hard to replace. When he is not there, then both our offensive and defensive game is affected.” The same might be said of the German national team. While it is a favorite, along with Spain and the Netherlands, Germany’s preparation for Euro 2012 has been disjointed. And Schweinsteiger has been bothered by a calf strain since the Champions League final. A 5-3 loss to Switzerland and an uninspired 2-0 victory over Israel in warm-up exhibitions did nothing to soothe national anxiety about the state of the Mannschaft. When Schweinsteiger began training fully in the days before Saturday’s opener, Bild, Germany’s largest-selling newspaper, expressed the collective relief: “Breathe out! Basti is fit!” And he will probably have to remain in top form. Otherwise, Germany will most likely struggle to sustain its belief that this engaging, multicultural team can finally win a title after finishing second at the 2008 European championships and third at the 2010 World Cup. “They were young and immature a few years ago,” said Alexi Lalas, the ESPN commentator and former United States defender. “It’s going to be fascinating to see what they do now. Schweinsteiger has experience and confidence and the team has the fire of trying to win something.” Against Portugal, Schweinsteiger and his holding midfield partner, Sammy Khedira or Tony Kroos, were expected to be essential to a collective effort to limit the flamboyant brilliance of Cristiano Ronaldo. Khedira suggested Ronaldo might be susceptible to a relentless swarm of defenders, saying, “He is Portuguese, and they do not work when they are not enjoying themselves.” Yet, the German back line has been unsettled. Per Mertesacker has played little at center back since damaging an ankle ligament in February. At right back, Löw considered using Lars Bender, a midfielder who has never played the position for the national team. Jerome Boateng’s place at right back was threatened the other day by late-night carousing dutifully chronicled by the paparazzi. Boateng was photographed with a model and several friends early Monday, several hours before Germany flew to its training base in Poland. Löw was not amused and threatened to bench Boateng. Germany found itself in another contretemps when the assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick said players would have to wear “steel helmets” to repel Ronaldo’s powerful free kicks. Flick’s remarks were criticized as insensitive, especially given that Lviv’s Jewish population was decimated during the Holocaust. He apologized, saying, “It’s not my style to use military vocabulary for sporting issues.” By Saturday night, Germany hoped to return its entire focus to soccer. “This is the best national team I have ever played for,” Schweinsteiger recently told reporters. “Everyone expects us to win the title, and naturally it is something that we also desire.” | Schweinsteiger Bastian;Germany;UEFA European Football Championship;Low Joachim;Soccer;Bayern Munich (Soccer Team) |
ny0294349 | [
"sports",
"basketball"
]
| 2016/06/23 | History of N.B.A. Draft’s Top Slot Is Full of Stars and Flameouts | When Ben Simmons steps on stage Thursday as (in all likelihood) the No. 1 pick in the N.B.A. draft, he will carry the expectation of stardom. But while being the No. 1 overall pick is the pinnacle for a new professional, it is far from a guarantee of success. Here is a look at the best, and worst, No. 1s over the decades. 2010s Best No. 1: Anthony Davis, 2012, New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans). A three-time All-Star in his first four seasons, Davis has been a star offensively and defensively for the Pelicans, who happily signed him to a nine-figure contract extension last summer. Although a shoulder injury slowed him this past season, there are plenty of people who still see him as the league’s next big thing. Image Anthony Davis dunking in March. Drafted in 2012, he quickly became an All-Star for New Orleans. Credit Ezra Shaw/Getty Images Successful No. 1s (in approximate order): Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Karl-Anthony Towns Disappointing No. 1 (so far): Andrew Wiggins Worst No. 1: Anthony Bennett, 2013, Cleveland Cavaliers. After a year at Nevada, Las Vegas, Bennett was snapped up by the Cavaliers, with whom he averaged 4.2 points per game. He was traded to Minnesota and then released, and he spent this past season playing for the Toronto Raptors (1.5 points a game) and the Delaware 87ers of the D-League. Toronto has given up on him, too, and he is now trying to help his native Canada qualify for the Olympics. Three years after he went No. 1, his future in the N.B.A. is uncertain. He Didn’t Go No. 1? Paul George was selected 10th behind John Wall and, among others, Evan Turner, Wesley Johnson and Ekpe Udoh in 2010. He had played two years at Fresno State, a low-profile program that had a losing record in each season. After coming back last year from a badly broken right leg, he averaged 23.1 points per game this season, made the All-Star team and led the Indiana Pacers back to the playoffs. 2000s Best: LeBron James, 2003, Cavaliers. Chosen straight out of high school, James has, of course, more than justified his selection. Successes: Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Yao Ming, Andrew Bogut, Kenyon Martin Disappointments: Andrea Bargnani, Greg Oden Worst: Kwame Brown, 2001, Washington Wizards. Like James, Brown was drafted straight out of high school. That is where the comparisons end. Brown managed to play more than a decade in the N.B.A. but only once averaged even 10 points a game. By most accounts, Michael Jordan , finishing his playing career with the Wizards, loved Brown before the draft but quickly soured on him once he got on the court. Brown made six more stops, last appearing in a game in 2013 not long before turning 30. Image Commissioner David Stern with Kwame Brown after he was selected first over all by the Washington Wizards in 2001. Credit Al Bello/Getty Images He Didn’t Go No. 1? Stephen Curry. Guards who are 6 feet 3 inches and play three years at Davidson do not go No. 1, even if they average nearly 30 points a game. His scouting reports faulted his defense and tendency to shoot too much, not something the Golden State Warriors are currently complaining about. Curry went No. 7 over all in 2009, one spot behind Jonny Flynn, who played just three N.B.A. seasons. 1990s Best: Shaquille O’Neal, 1992, Orlando Magic. A superstar in college, a sure thing at the draft and a superstar in the pros. Successes: Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Chris Webber, Elton Brand, Larry Johnson Disappointments: Derrick Coleman, Glenn Robinson, Joe Smith Worst: Michael Olowokandi, 1998, Los Angeles Clippers. A native of Nigeria, he had played basketball only since he was 18, but the Clippers were entranced by his height (7-0) and potential. He was a competent pro for a few years, but stardom never came. Another 7-footer, Dirk Nowitzki, went No. 9. He Didn’t Go No. 1? Kobe Bryant, Charlotte Hornets (traded to Los Angeles Lakers), 1996. Drafted in an era when players straight out of high school, especially guards, were looked at dubiously, Bryant was taken at No. 13, after the likes of Samaki Walker and Todd Fuller. Image Kobe Bryant after his final game, on April 13. He was not a top pick but won five N.B.A. titles after the Los Angeles Lakers acquired him from the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. Credit Frederic J. Brown/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images 1980s Best: David Robinson, 1987, San Antonio Spurs. He was good enough for the Spurs to wait two years while he finished his Navy service. A Hall of Fame career followed. Successes: Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, James Worthy, Danny Manning, Brad Daugherty, Mark Aguirre Disappointments: Pervis Ellison, Ralph Sampson Worst: Joe Barry Carroll, 1980, Warriors. Stardom at Purdue and the magic 7 at the start of his height listing led the Warriors to grab Carroll. He had a number of 20-point seasons and one All-Star selection, so he was not an epic bust. But a perceived apathetic attitude on court earned him the nickname Joe Barely Cares. The Warriors sent Robert Parish and a draft pick used on Kevin McHale to the Boston Celtics to acquire the pick used to take Carroll. Image From left, Joe Barry Carroll, Darrell Griffith and Kevin McHale on draft day in 1980. Carroll was picked first over all by the Warriors; Griffith went to the Jazz and McHale to the Celtics. Credit Marty Lederhandler/Associated Press He Didn’t Go No. 1? Michael Jordan. Few fault the Houston Rockets for taking the all-time great Hakeem Olajuwon at No. 1 in 1984. But Sam Bowie at No. 2, by the Portland Trail Blazers, is often considered the worst draft selection in history. The Bulls took Jordan at No. 3. 1970s Best: Magic Johnson. He led Michigan State to a national title and was an easy No. 1 choice. Image Larry Bird driving around Magic Johnson during an N.B.A. finals game at the Los Angeles Forum in 1984. Credit Lennox McLendon/Associated Press Successes: Bob Lanier, Bill Walton, David Thompson, Mychal Thompson, Doug Collins Disappointments: John Lucas, Kent Benson, Austin Carr Worst: LaRue Martin, 1972, Trail Blazers. As David Halberstam recounted in “The Breaks of the Game,” Portland decided to pass on Bob McAdoo, a future 30-point-a-game N.B.A. scorer, because he demanded a car. So the Blazers turned to the 6-11 LaRue Martin of Loyola-Chicago, hoping he would at least develop into a defensive star. Martin spent four years coming off the bench for Portland and then was out of the league. He Didn’t Go No. 1? Larry Bird. Because Bird briefly enrolled at Indiana before transferring to Indiana State, he was eligible for the draft after his junior season under the rules at the time. Boston was willing to wait a year, chose him at No. 6 in 1978 and then watched with pleasure as he won player of the year awards as a senior. 1960s Best: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969, Milwaukee Bucks. The N.B.A.’s career leader in points. Image Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the Lakers in 1989. Abdul-Jabbar won six N.B.A. championships, five of them with the Lakers. Credit Reed Saxon/Associated Press Successes: Oscar Robertson, Elvin Hayes, Walt Bellamy, Cazzie Russell, Jimmy Walker Disappointments: Jim Barnes, Fred Hetzel, Art Heyman Worst: Bill McGill, 1962, Chicago Zephyrs (now Wizards). A 6-9 center who was the national scoring leader while at Utah, he played with nine teams in five years in the N.B.A. and the A.B.A. and never really found a role. He Didn’t Go No. 1? Jerry West. He could have gone No. 1 after a stellar career at West Virginia but found himself in the same draft as Robertson and went No. 2 instead. 1950s Best: Elgin Baylor, 1958, Lakers. He played 14 seasons with the Lakers, 11 of them as an All-Star. Successes: Bob Boozer, Hot Rod Hundley, Frank Selvy, Ray Felix Image Bob Boozer in 1968. The Cincinnati Royals made him the first nonterritorial pick in the 1959 N.B.A. draft. Credit Associated Press Disappointments: Si Green, Chuck Share, Dick Ricketts, Mark Workman Worst: Gene Melchiorre , 1951, Baltimore Bullets. He was barred from the league for life for his role in a point-shaving scandal at Bradley before he ever played an N.B.A. game. They Didn’t Go No. 1? Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Under the rules at the time, Chamberlain was eligible to be taken in 1959 as a so-called territorial pick by the Philadelphia Warriors because he was from the city. The No. 1 pick that year was Boozer. Russell was part of the regular draft in 1956, but Rochester chose Green instead, leaving Russell to go No. 2 to the St. Louis Hawks. They promptly traded him to the Celtics. Eleven N.B.A. titles followed. | Basketball;Sports Drafts and Recruits;NBA |
ny0065107 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
]
| 2014/06/17 | Sunnis and Kurds on Sidelines of Iraqi Leader’s Military Plans | BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has presented himself as the man who could bring Iraqis together, but with the collapse of his army before a Sunni militant assault, he has taken on only one role — that of commander in chief of Iraq. He is spending much of his time on the military side of the presidential compound, while some of his close civilian aides have taken to wearing starched military fatigues. He spends the better part of his day running the war. He meets with military commanders, travels to the front lines, makes speeches at recruiting drives rallying young Shiite men and, not infrequently, falls into fits of anger, according to members of his inner circle. What he does not do, by all accounts, is spend much time on the political reconciliation with the Sunni Arabs and Kurds that his international allies in Washington and Tehran have insisted is his country’s only possible salvation. Even his top aide in charge of reconciliation said Monday that he thinks it is all but hopeless at this point. “Now there’s a war, there’s not reconciliation,” said Amir al-Khuzai, a longtime friend of Mr. Maliki’s. “With whom do we reconcile?” he said. President Obama has made it clear that the United States will not provide military support unless Mr. Maliki engineers a drastic change in policy, reaching out to Sunnis and Kurds in a show of national unity against the Sunni militants, whose shock troops are the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Without that, analysts say, the country is at risk of a renewed sectarian war in which Baghdad could lose control over nearly a third of the country for the foreseeable future. But Mr. Maliki is showing few signs of changing his ways. Just as he did in a similar, though not nearly as threatening, crisis in 2008 in Basra, he is pinning his hopes on the military option. He is determined to use the Shiite fighters he trusts to stabilize the country and, he hopes, rout the Sunni insurgents and reimpose the government’s control over its territory. In a rare show of concord, Mr. Obama has been joined by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran in pleading with Mr. Maliki to work with the Sunni Arabs and Kurds. As the Iraqi leader continues to resist those calls, though, the outside powers and prominent Iraqi politicians are increasingly questioning whether he will ever take such steps and, if not, whether to jettison him in favor of someone who will. One of those waiting in the wings should Mr. Maliki falter, Shiite politicians say, is the one-time darling but longtime nemesis of the United States, the mercurial Ahmad Chalabi. For now, Mr. Maliki’s public message to Mr. Obama and Mr. Rouhani is that it is just not possible to work with the Kurds and Sunnis right now, that the army first needs to retake lost ground. Mr. Maliki, 63, has long shown a stubborn streak, an unwillingness to bend his principles. He spent much of his life as a dissident, working to oust the former president, Saddam Hussein. He came from a modest Shiite family, but as a young man joined the anti-Baathist Dawa Party and was one of the few who escaped in 1979 when Mr. Hussein ordered the arrest of all its members. He lived in exile for 24 years, and secrecy became a way of life, in order to avoid arrest. The experience left him wary of all but his closest associates. He did not appear destined for higher office but was encouraged to run for prime minister in 2006 by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, in part because he was viewed as incorruptible. Mr. Maliki surprised the United States and other Western governments by sending his army forces in 2008 against Shiite militias loyal to the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, which at the time were destabilizing the country. But in more recent years he has not appeared willing to repeat that step and has hewed more to sectarian policies. At times it has looked almost as though Mr. Maliki was going out of his way to alienate the Sunnis. After the Sunni tribes helped to defeat Al Qaeda in 2008, he cut off much of their funding. In search of insurgents, Mr. Maliki has authorized mass arrests of Sunnis and held many of them in prisons outside the law. He has also accused a prominent Sunni politician, Tariq al-Hashimi, of running a death squad, driving him into exile in Kurdistan, and has similarly gone after other prominent Sunnis. Image Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq led a meeting with military officers during a visit to the city of Samarra on Friday. Credit via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Shiite politicians have said there are some immediate gestures Mr. Maliki could make that would help ease the tensions. He could release the thousands of Sunni prisoners detained by his security forces and being held without trial. He could make common cause with Sunnis and Kurds with statements against the Sunni militants, and he could work with them to bolster the military instead of turning to Shiite militias. Convinced that there is a conspiracy to undermine him, Mr. Maliki speaks often of “failed politicians” who are working with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, while his associates describe “dirty deals” between the Kurds, ISIS and the Sunnis. The accusations are then answered in kind by Sunnis who have lost patience and now simply want the prime minister to resign. Many Shiite politicians are deeply uncomfortable with Mr. Maliki’s more indiscriminate condemnations. “To say the Kurds are supporting ISIS is not a useful narrative,” said a former member of Mr. Maliki’s government. “We need the Kurds. Even the Iranians are telling him that.” Mr. Maliki’s most recent general condemnations of non-Shiites came Sunday at a recruiting drive for volunteer fighters in Mahmudiya on the outskirts of Baghdad. Wearing a white shirt and dark jacket, he spoke with determination. “Politicians that have failed are standing next to ISIS," he said. “We will fight you with free men.” The worry is that, barring reconciliation, Iraq will split into a Sunnistan and a Shiastan, said a former ambassador, Ryan C. Crocker. Preventing that, he said, will take a heavy American diplomatic hand. “Either we intervene at the White House and the secretary of state level or this is going to devolve into a bloody stalemate,” he said, “a line of demarcation between north and south, to be determined, but probably just north of Baghdad and the establishment of a de facto Al Qaeda state, and that’s completely terrifying.” The suggestion of many is that Mr. Maliki has lost so much credibility that the best thing that could happen would be to form a new government with a different leader who might inspire more trust. But for now Mr. Maliki is not stepping down, and it seems unlikely that there would be enough unity to anoint a successor anytime soon. Many Shiite politicians, worried about the fate of the country, have begun offering alternatives to Mr. Maliki’s approach. Mr. Chalabi, a Shiite with ties to many groups, wants to change the narrative so that instead of accusing the army (Mr. Maliki has been threatening to arrest officers who left their posts in Mosul) he is reaching out to Kurds, thanking them for receiving refugees and recommending a national reconciliation. Video President Obama faces tough choices as Sunni militants seek to solidify control over large areas of Iraq. Credit Credit Susan Walsh/Associated Press “The collapse in Mosul is not the fault of the soldiers and officers,” said Mr. Chalabi. “It’s the fault of a corrupt and incompetent command structure.” He added: “We need a plan, but it must be drawn by a leadership that’s not tainted by incompetence and corruption. We need a plan to defend Baghdad and continue operations with the Kurds.” For now the government’s dominant view is that the most recent security deterioration is the result of a conspiracy of Sunnis and Kurds, and because of that there is no point in appealing to them at the senior level. That does not mean that Mr. Maliki has lost faith in all Sunnis. He still has words of praise for the Sunni tribes with whom he has long worked, and who have fought and lost large numbers in battling Qaeda-type extremists in western Iraq. But Mr. Maliki has little faith in the Sunni political leaders, said Mr. Khuzai and other Shiite colleagues. As recently as last week in the wake of the fall of Mosul, Mr. Maliki appeared to have a chance to create a unified multisectarian, multiethnic block to fight ISIS and those who support it. In a long late-night meeting with Sunni and Kurdish leaders, it appeared they might emerge with a unified stand. Hours passed, and when they emerged there was no agreement. It turned out the Sunnis proposed raising in effect a Sunni army, a sort of new version of the tribal Awakening Councils that fought Al Qaeda in 2007 and 2008. But that idea was rejected by Mr. Maliki, even as the Shiite militias were beginning to organize. While the idea of separate Sunni and Shiite armies is an indication of the depths of the sectarian divide, Mr. Maliki’s inability to use the moment to try to build trust is telling, and his outright rejection left the Sunni leaders with nothing to deliver to their supporters. So the speaker of Parliament, Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni, delivered a scathing assessment of Mr. Maliki, further deepening the divide. “We don’t want this prime minister; we reject him,” Mr. Nujaifi said. “We tried to take him down on more than one occasion.” | Iraq;Sunnis;Shiite;Kurdish;ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State;Nuri Kamal al-Maliki;Islam |
ny0248974 | [
"sports",
"hockey"
]
| 2011/05/23 | N.H.L. Playoffs: 3-Goal Canucks Burst Puts Sharks on Brink | SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — With the sharp-passing Sedin twins, plenty of players with big shots, and a gold-medal-winning goalie, the Vancouver Canucks are tough enough to beat in normal situations. That task becomes nearly impossible when they have two extra skaters on the ice. The Canucks converted three successive 5-on-3 power plays in a span of less than two minutes during the second period, with Sami Salo scoring twice and Ryan Kesler adding the third, to beat the San Jose Sharks , 4-2, on Sunday and take a 3-1 series lead. “We kept marching to the box,” Sharks Coach Todd McLellan said. “They kept scoring.” Henrik Sedin helped set up the three goals in a span of 1 minute 55 seconds as the Canucks needed only 37 seconds on the three 5-on-3 situations to become the first team in N.H.L. history to score three goals with a two-man advantage in the playoffs. He added another assist in the third period to set a franchise record for assists in a game. “When you give Henrik that much open time, he’s going to find a way to make plays,” his teammate Alex Burrows said. “He’s a magical player the way he’s able to hold on to that puck and make plays.” Burrows added an even-strength goal off a nifty pass from Henrik Sedin in the third period as the Canucks moved to the doorstep of reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994, when they lost to the Rangers in seven games. Vancouver had just 13 shots all game, but scored on four of their seven shots in the final two periods. The Sharks had no answer for the Sedins, who have combined for 15 points in four games this series after having just 7 points and a minus-10 differential in six games against Nashville the previous round. The Sharks failed to capitalize on five early power-play chances and now must win Game 5 in Vancouver on Tuesday night to extend the series. | Hockey Ice;Playoff Games;San Jose Sharks;Vancouver Canucks;Salo Sami |
ny0030875 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2013/06/07 | Ichiro Suzuki Returns to Seattle as Yankees Play Mariners | SEATTLE — When Ichiro Suzuki played for the Seattle Mariners, he lived in Issaquah, a suburb east of Seattle, and not surprisingly for a player of strict routines, he had a specific route to the stadium. Now that he is a Yankee, that routine has changed, and on Thursday, for the first time in his memory, he came to the park not from his home, but from the Yankees’ hotel downtown. Funny the things people notice when they take a different route to work. “I lived here for 12 years,” Suzuki said through his interpreter, Allen Turner, “but I didn’t realize how many Starbucks there are here in Seattle.” That’s almost akin to living in New York for a decade and not noticing how many yellow cabs there are. Suzuki spent 12 seasons in Seattle before being traded to the Yankees. At 39, he is no longer the 200-hit machine he was in his prime as a Mariner. The routines are different, his place in the batting order has changed, the number of hits is down significantly, and even the route to the stadium has changed. As he does in every city, Suzuki said, he did stop in at a downtown Starbucks before heading to the park. When he arrived at Safeco Field, he went to the visitors’ clubhouse, instead of the home clubhouse that housed his locker for a dozen years. “It just really feels weird,” he said. “I obviously know this place really well, and I am kind of close to it, but at the same time I just kind of feel distant. It just feels a little weird to me.” Suzuki came to the Mariners from Japan in 2001, and before he was traded to the Yankees on July 23, 2012, he amassed 2,533 hits over 12 seasons, for a .322 batting average. He reached 200 hits in each of his first 10 seasons, including a record 262 in 2004 (when he hit a career-high .372), beating out George Sisler’s mark of 257 set in 1920. Image Fans at Safeco Field greeted Ichiro Suzuki, who spent 12 seasons in Seattle before being traded to the Yankees. Credit Dan Levine/European Pressphoto Agency Suzuki has been gone from Seattle for almost 11 months, but the Mariners still commemorate his record-setting season on the concourse of Safeco Field, where items from his final game are placed in an exhibit that is next to Ken Griffey Jr.’s old locker from the Kingdome. (There are no such obvious monuments to honor Alex Rodriguez, who spent six years in Seattle before leaving for free agency.) Inside the exhibit are the batting gloves, spikes, helmet and scorecard from the game when he tied and then passed Sisler. Directly behind it sits a sushi concession stand that features the Ichiroll, which, according to the attendant behind the counter, was discontinued at the start of the season, only to be brought back a few weeks later after consumer demand. Suzuki is still revered by many in Seattle. During batting practice for his first games here since last July — when he was traded, the Yankees were in Seattle and he played all three games for his new team — he was cheered respectfully, and a crowd gathered down the right-field line as he signed autographs. Other remnants of his many years here have been expunged from memory. His old locker is now occupied by Raul Ibanez, his teammate here and with the Yankees last year, and the special slot on the bench where he would keep his bat has been virtually paved over. At the Mariners’ team store downtown, any remaining Suzuki No. 51 shirts have been relegated to the clearance rack. But for the Yankees’ four-game series here, the store has displayed dark blue Yankee T-shirts with a No. 31 Ichiro shirt. Since joining the Yankees, Suzuki has batted .297, including a .322 batting average last year and a .266 mark this year going into Thursday’s game. He became a favorite with Yankee fans last year and was signed to a two-year contract in the off-season. But he has struggled this year, and was replaced in right field by Lyle Overbay during the three-game series against the Indians before the Yankees brought Suzuki back to Seattle. “Every season is different,” he said. “But even in the year I had 262 hits, there were things I wasn’t doing. As professionals, you go through the stress of performing and doing well on the field, and you will always have that pressure and stress.” INSIDE PITCH The Yankees selected the 21-year-old Eric Jagielo, a junior third baseman from Notre Dame, with the 26th pick in the amateur draft. A left-handed hitter, Jagielo impressed scouts last summer when he hit 13 home runs in the Cape Cod League, where players use wooden bats. | Baseball;Mariners;Yankees;Ichiro Suzuki;George Sisler |
ny0210888 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2017/01/02 | Obama Plans Farewell Speech From Chicago | HONOLULU — President Obama will give a farewell address next week from Chicago, his hometown, most likely his last chance to defend his legacy directly to the country before Donald J. Trump is sworn in, the White House announced on Monday. The address is set for the evening of Jan. 10 at McCormick Place, a hulking convention center overlooking Lake Michigan. In an email to supporters, Mr. Obama said the speech would give him “a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.” Since Mr. Trump beat Hillary Clinton in November, many of Mr. Obama’s accomplishments appear at risk, notably the Affordable Care Act that Mr. Trump has said he is intent on rolling back. In an effort to unify Democrats around protecting the health care legislation, Mr. Obama is scheduled to travel to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to meet with lawmakers from his party. Mr. Obama said in the email that he was “just beginning to write my remarks.” Although the president has been in Hawaii on vacation for the past two weeks, his administration has moved forward in its final days with several bold initiatives. On Thursday, Mr. Obama announced a series of sanctions against Russia for its attempts to disrupt the November election. A week before that, his administration allowed the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution that condemned Israeli settlement construction. Mr. Obama, mindful that his two terms in office will now be assessed in the context of his predecessors, cited the history of farewell addresses. “In 1796, as George Washington set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power, he also set a precedent by penning a farewell address to the American people,” Mr. Obama said. “And over the 220 years since, many American presidents have followed his lead.” “Since 2009, we’ve faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger,” he wrote. “That’s because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better.” He added: “So I hope you’ll join me one last time. Because, for me, it’s always been about you.” | Barack Obama;US Politics;Chicago |
ny0023258 | [
"us"
]
| 2013/09/14 | Fraud Investigation Unsettles Mental Health Care in New Mexico | SANTA FE, N.M. — For weeks now, New Mexico has been in the midst of a sweeping criminal investigation into 15 of its largest mental health providers, suspected of defrauding Medicaid of $36 million over three years. Arizona companies have been hired to fill in, but many patients are struggling without regular treatment. The state behavioral health system is in turmoil, with the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez under sharp attack. Laura Bruening’s 12-year-old son, Michael, who is autistic, has been without his therapist for two months, since funding was frozen at the Albuquerque provider where he worked. “I’m really concerned that we don’t have anybody to intervene if something happens with him at school,” she said, adding that her son had become noticeably more agitated. State officials, under pressure from families like the Bruenings, said they had little choice but to take drastic action when the extent of the abuse accusations became evident. “When we saw the totality of it all, it was extremely sobering,” said Diana McWilliams, chief executive of the state’s behavioral health system. “We have had to look at our entire system, and that’s what we’re doing. It’s scary, but it’s necessary.” Late last year an audit by the contractor that handles Medicaid payments for New Mexico’s behavioral health system discovered systemic billing problems, officials said. Alarmed, the state hired Public Consulting Group, a Boston firm that specializes in Medicaid fraud. That audit unearthed what seemed to be widespread overpayments for services that had never been provided. A quarter of patients’ claims were also processed with mistakes, according to the audit. Ms. McWilliams cited other examples of wrongdoing brought forth by whistle-blowers during and after the audit. In one case, she said, an executive at an agency ordered an employee not to inform the state that a patient had died. In another, she said, an employee reported being fired after refusing to overbill for services. Image Laura Bruening has concerns about the gaps in the mental health care for her son Michael. Credit Mark Holm for The New York Times Ms. McWilliams also cited a “suspicious business arrangement” between a group of providers, where it appeared the executives were shuffling Medicaid money away from their agencies to a corporation they had formed. “I’m stunned at some of the business practices that have been going on,” she said. But the full audit, which was referred to New Mexico’s attorney general, Gary King, has been kept secret while his office investigates. Providers who have been implicated say they are stunned and deny any wrongdoing. All 15 sought exceptions from the state so their Medicaid funding could be restored while the investigation continues. Only three exceptions were granted. “We were all just shocked,” said Patsy Romero, the chief operations officer for Easter Seals El Mirador, which handled behavioral health services for children in northern New Mexico. “Before this, we have never received any type of audit or call to tell us there was anything wrong.” She said the providers were especially upset because the Medicaid billing contractor for mental health, OptumHealth, never informed them of any problems before the audit. “You need accountability in the system of care,” Ms. Romero said. “But you have to have a dialogue back and forth with the providers.” The situation has also rankled state lawmakers, who have criticized Governor Martinez’s defense of her administration’s actions. At a recent hearing in Las Cruces, legislators peppered Ms. McWilliams and other officials with questions, saying it was unfair that the providers were being driven out of business without a chance to fight the allegations. “There’s no opportunity for people to confront their accusers,” said Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a Democratic state senator from Albuquerque who is a frequent critic of Ms. Martinez, a Republican. “There’s been no due process. There’s been no fair hearing. There’s been nothing.” Image "I'm really concerned that we don't have anybody to intervene if something happens with him at school," Mrs. Bruening said. Credit Mark Holm for The New York Times But state officials say they were obligated under federal law to freeze the funds once the attorney general decided to investigate. Under the Affordable Care Act, states now have more power to suspend payments whenever there is credible evidence that Medicaid dollars are being misused. While the new law does not require states to take sweeping action, they are expected to do so “unless there is good reason not to,” said Brian Cook, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “This is important authority designed to stop taxpayer dollars from going out the door when there’s a credible allegation of fraud,” Mr. Cook said. In recent years, Congress has increased pressure on federal officials to root out fraud in Medicaid and Medicare. The 2010 health care law gave investigators and prosecutors new tools to crack down on abuse. Obama administration officials often boast of their efforts to curtail health care fraud, and they have prodded state officials to step up their efforts as well. Administration officials say program integrity is particularly important at a time when Republicans in Congress are demanding substantial cuts in the growth of Medicaid spending. The Medicaid agency currently has its own investigators looking into the fraud allegations in New Mexico, Mr. Cook said. Agency staff planned to travel to New Mexico to ensure patients’ care was not further disrupted. The 15 accused providers served 30,000 of the most vulnerable mentally ill patients in New Mexico, a poor state with one of the nation’s highest suicide rates. And complaints from those who say their treatment has been compromised by the transition have added to the chaos. Image Gay Finlayson with her son Neil Rawley, whose treatment was disrupted because his therapist's provider is under investigation. Credit Mark Holm for The New York Times In late August, the federal Medicaid agency held a conference call on which it heard from dozens of family members and mental health workers, who told of disruptions in treatment and confusion. Ms. Romero estimated that of the 300 children being served by her company, 50 had continued their care so far. Hugh Hammant, a psychologist at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, said that the rate of hospitalizations had risen drastically since a local mental health agency’s funds had been frozen. In a letter provided to a state lawmaker, he wrote that patients had grown upset after struggling to make appointments with the new provider. “A good number of these patients had been emotionally stable for years, properly medicated and living relatively normal lives,” Dr. Hammant wrote. “Unfortunately, these same people became psychotic or suicidal.” Ms. McWilliams said the state was working to address any disruptions as quickly as possible. And officials of the Arizona companies brought in said they were seeking to transition the cases seamlessly, although they acknowledged that patients had been affected. In July, a federal judge in Albuquerque dismissed a lawsuit filed by several of the providers who sought to have their payments reinstated until they could challenge the allegations. In the meantime, though, some patients are still struggling to navigate a fragile system. Gay Finlayson’s 23-year-old son, Neil Rawley, who has a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, was being treated by a therapist once a week at Hogares, one of the Albuquerque agencies now under investigation. Since the end of June, when his therapist resigned and Hogares was taken over, Ms. Finlayson said she had not received any word about when a new counselor would be provided. This week, Neil was assigned a new therapist, but he was hesitant to return. | Medicaid;Fraud;Mental Health;Arizona;Susana Martinez;New Mexico |
ny0261575 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2011/06/08 | Gunmen Kill Rector at Muslim University in Russia | MOSCOW — Gunmen on Tuesday killed the rector of a Muslim university in southern Russia who had been leading a government-sponsored effort to counter violence in the region by reviving the local traditions of Sufi Islam that he said were less likely to inspire suicide bombers. The rector, Maksud I. Sadikov, of the Islamic University of the North Caucasus, was shot to death in a car in Makhachkala, the capital of the Dagestan region, Russian prosecutors said. Mr. Sadikov’s bodyguard was also killed, they said. The prosecutors had not arrested or identified any potential suspects by late Tuesday, and no group immediately stepped forward to take responsibility for the attack. Mr. Sadikov was a proponent of the idea that state support for Sufism could diminish the threat of terrorism in Russia. Sufism was once widespread in the North Caucasus but faded after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the arrival of proselytizers from Middle East who sought to spread Sunni Islam. In an interview about his work in February, Mr. Sadikov said that no Sufi had committed a suicide bombing in Russia. “One of the best methods to resist the ideology of extremism is a good religious education,” Mr. Sadikov said. He said a moderate Islamic education was an “anti-venom” against terrorism. The effort, and the government financing it received, had put him at odds with militants in the Islamic insurgency in Russia that began in Chechnya in the 1990s and has spread to other regions, including Dagestan. His university, a sprawling complex beside a mosque in Makhachkala, was involved in one of the few nonmilitary approaches that the Russian government has attempted to resolve the long-running rebellion. President Dmitri A. Medvedev has also tried to use economic aid to ease unemployment in the area. Militants have sent dozens of suicide bombers into central Russian cities, including Moscow, over the past decade. In the past 18 months, 76 people have died in attacks on the Moscow subway system and at its main airport. Those attacks led the police to put additional metal detectors in public spaces. Mr. Sadikov said his strategy was to prevent radical Islamic ideas from taking root in young men. In southern Russia, as in Iraq and Afghanistan, most suicide bombers are adherents of fundamentalist Sunni sects, including the Salafi tradition that is the state religion in Saudi Arabia. The Russian government latched onto Mr. Sadikov’s observations and threw official support behind other forms of Islam. The United States tried a similar tactic in Iraq by introducing moderate imams at the prisons where insurgents were being held. Mr. Sadikov’s university was intended to educate elementary school teachers for a pilot project to teach Sufi Islam in public schools. This year, 1,300 students were enrolled, making it the largest effort of its kind in the North Caucasus. His university taught what he characterized as pacifist Sufi practices, like performing a ritual whirling dance or taking pilgrimages to holy sites. Critics countered that the Sufi monopoly of formal religious education in the North Caucasus only served to further alienate fundamentalist Sunni believers by compelling them to worship at home. The state’s support also made the university a target. In the February interview, Mr. Sadikov said that he was keenly aware of the dangers inherent in his project. “The radicals are saying, ‘You need to punish the impure Muslims,’ ” Mr. Sadikov said. | Sufism (Religion);Muslims and Islam;Russia;Caucasus (Russia) |
ny0153400 | [
"sports",
"golf"
]
| 2008/01/20 | Classic Event Thrives Without Famous Founder | PALM DESERT, Calif. — The old tournament director’s sharp eyes gleam when he talks about a time when the names of golf tournaments also had faces. There were 10 of them, including the one he ran that everybody still called the Hope in those days. Even now the litany is familiar. “There was the Crosby up at Pebble Beach, of course, and the Andy Williams, over in San Diego,” the former director Ed Heorodt, 82, said. “Glen Campbell in Los Angeles and the Dean Martin Tucson Open.” There also were the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic in Lauderhill, Fla., and the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic. The Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open. The Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open. The Joe Garagiola Tucson Open. What started with Bing’s pals at the Crosby Clambake in 1937 turned into a 50-year run for celebrity-branded pro-ams, glittering events with clusters of stars — singers, dancers, actors and athletes who lighted the season like the Milky Way. The pro-am is still part of the PGA Tour’s revenue model. Almost every event on the tour sets aside one day for a pro-am. But by 1988, every one of the original celebrity names — except one — had been stripped from the marquees. Bob Hope . The ageless performer, who lived to be 100, is the only original celebrity host whose name survives. He no doubt would have a wisecrack ready about that. After all, when he was on his deathbed, Hope responded to a question from his wife, Dolores, about where he would like to be buried by saying, “Surprise me.” Hope might be surprised to see what has become of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic since his death in 2003. The main staging ground among four tournament courses is now the Classic Club, with a mammoth clubhouse towering over the landscape north of Interstate 10 in Palm Desert. The purse has crept up by 10 percent to $5.1 million, and last year’s tournament raised $1.8 million for local charities, bringing the total to $44 million in 49 years. Adding the comedian George Lopez as the host is part of the tournament’s attempt to stay current and become inclusive. Young stars like Chris O’Donnell, Carson Daly, Chad Michael Murray, Kyle MacLachlan and Luke Wilson appeal to the coveted under-30 demographic, and the veteran rockers Alice Cooper and Meat Loaf and the actors Samuel L. Jackson and Don Cheadle are draws for the over-30 crowd. Even so, this year’s event did not attract any of the top 20 golfers from the world rankings. The two-time champion Phil Mickelson, who for many years started his season here, took a pass, as did the world’s No. 1, Tiger Woods. Players like Fred Couples, John Daly and Justin Leonard drew respectable galleries to the four sites over the first three rounds, and the tournament director, Mike Milthorpe, made no apologies. “The pros who play in our event are aware of the level of clientele we have in the pro-am,” Milthorpe said. “They know how much it benefits them to play golf with and get to know people like Bill Gross, who is probably the most successful bond investor of this generation.” Milthorpe, the tournament’s third director, is underscoring the formula that created the pro-am, one that was followed by the original Bob Hope tournament director, Gen. William Yancey, and refined by Heorodt. Showbiz people love golf, and they attract rich people who love golf and who share an appreciation for golfers who can do amazing things with a club. When they get together for a week, people tune in on television, big crowds turn up to watch, players make a great deal of money, and everybody is happy. For 50 years, it had been enough to ensure fields packed with pros, celebrities and amateurs who could generate ratings. With the amount of money available on the tour for today’s pros — $278 million in 48 official events and millions more from appearance fees and endorsement deals — the allure of playing 90 holes, 72 of them with amateurs, over four courses in five days is not what it was. “For a lot of them today, it’s all dollar signs,” Heorodt said. “That’s unfortunate. The relationships are what made the tour. The sponsors and the people who play in the pro-am, they are the financial backbone of the game.” Many of today’s players still get it, among them Robert Gamez, the tournament leader after three rounds. “This is in my top five favorite tournaments of the year,” he said. “I just love playing with the amateurs. On the PGA Tour any week, we take four and a half or five hours to play just threesomes. To add the amateurs is not a big deal.” Gamez seemed unconcerned during his first-round 66 when the celebrity Jimmy Fallon danced all over his putting line; he laughed and made his putt for birdie. One of his pro-am partners lost the grip on his driver, and the club hit Gamez in the head. He laughed again. “I birdied that hole, too,” he said. “We had so much fun, I didn’t realize what I was even shooting.” | Golf;Hope Bob;Celebrities;PGA Tour Inc;Martin Dean;Gleason Jackie;Davis Sammy Jr |
ny0060549 | [
"us"
]
| 2014/08/23 | A Prominent Location to Remember Veterans Who Were Wounded | WASHINGTON — On a patch of land in the shadow of the Capitol’s dome, a new memorial for soldiers will honor those who died as well as those who survived the nation’s wars, with an emphasis on the survivors. What is unusual about it is that it will be the only monument in Washington dedicated solely to those who have been disabled. The 2.4-acre memorial honors “not only the four million who are alive today, but the millions that have gone before us and those, unfortunately, who will come after us,” said Arthur H. Wilson, who was one of the leaders in the effort to build the landmark, the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial . “These people have sacrificed and served, but they still live with their disabilities, and it’s a lifelong struggle,” said Mr. Wilson, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. The memorial’s opening, scheduled for Oct. 5, is timely, with controversies still playing out at the Department of Veterans Affairs over the shoddy medical treatment of Americans who have served their country. Officials behind the memorial effort said they hope it will be a permanent reminder of the government’s responsibility to its service members. Its location just southwest of the Capitol is no coincidence. “Right up there is where appropriations are introduced and passed,” said Rick Fenstermacher, the chief executive of the Disabled Veterans’ Life Memorial Foundation. The memorial sits between a busy Metro rail stop and congressional staff buildings. “You won’t be able to pass by here without having something resonate,” Mr. Fenstermacher said. The site has special meaning for Capt. Dawn Halfaker, who lost her right arm in 2004 when Iraqi insurgents attacked her Army vehicle during a routine patrol. Her image is etched into one of the glass walls, but she is not optimistic that the memorial will inspire any political or policy changes at the Department of Veteran Affairs. “It is less than a mile from the headquarters of Veterans Affairs, but I don’t see that making a difference because the agency hasn’t shown that they are putting veterans first,” she said. “But it is a sign that the public recognizes the sacrifices we have made.” Image Crew members prepare the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial before an opening ceremony will take place on Oct. 5. Credit Drew Angerer for The New York Times The memorial includes 12-foot granite walls inscribed with quotations from George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who were both generals as well as presidents, and a star-shaped fountain representing the five branches of the military, with a flame at the center. Ginkgo trees dot the site, chosen because they date “back to the early Jurassic era, so they’re survivors, too,” said Doug Hays, senior associate at Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, which won the design competition for the memorial in 2003. Captain Halfaker’s image on the glass shows her receiving a medal from a fellow soldier. “I think that as a veteran of a recent war, injured while on patrol, and being a female officer, my story really represents all the elements of this generation, like women in leadership roles, women on the front lines,” she said. Captain Halfaker is the chairwoman of the Wounded Warrior Project, which is dedicated to helping the men and women who have been wounded in recent wars. Her one complaint is the memorial’s name. “I don’t like the term ‘disabled’ because I don’t think of myself that way, but I get what they’re trying to do,” she said. The push for the memorial began in 1997, when Lois Pope, a Florida philanthropist, approached Jesse Brown, then the secretary of Veterans Affairs, with the idea. Lawmakers took up the cause a year later and President Bill Clinton signed the law approving the memorial in 2000. The $80 million project was also almost entirely financed with private contributions, and construction began last fall. The memorial plan largely avoided the bruising debates that have dogged and sometimes delayed similar projects. Some veterans questioned why the individual names of wounded could not be included in the monument. Mr. Wilson said that without a complete database, it was not possible. “If you can’t name them all,” he said, “then you can’t name any.” | Veteran;Monuments and Memorials;American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial;Veteran Affairs;Washington DC;Disability |
ny0111535 | [
"science",
"earth"
]
| 2012/02/16 | In Heartland Institute Leak, a Plan to Discredit Climate Teaching | Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars. The documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute , outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet. “Principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective,” one document said. While the documents offer a rare glimpse of the internal thinking motivating the campaign against climate science, defenders of science education were preparing for battle even before the leak. Efforts to undermine climate-science instruction are beginning to spread across the country, they said, and they fear a long fight similar to that over the teaching of evolution in public schools. In a statement , the Heartland Institute acknowledged that some of its internal documents had been stolen. But it said its president had not had time to read the versions being circulated on the Internet on Tuesday and Wednesday and was therefore not in a position to say whether they had been altered. Heartland did declare one two-page document to be a forgery, although its tone and content closely matched that of other documents that the group did not dispute. In an apparent confirmation that much of the material, more than 100 pages, was authentic, the group apologized to donors whose names became public as a result of the leak. The documents included many details of the group’s operations, including salaries, recent personnel actions and fund-raising plans and setbacks. They were sent by e-mail to leading climate activists this week by someone using the name “Heartland insider” and were quickly reposted to many climate-related Web sites. Heartland said the documents were not from an insider but were obtained by a caller pretending to be a board member of the group who was switching to a new e-mail address. “We intend to find this person and see him or her put in prison for these crimes,” the organization said. Although best-known nationally for its attacks on climate science, Heartland styles itself as a libertarian organization with interests in a wide range of public-policy issues. The documents say that it expects to raise $7.7 million this year. The documents raise questions about whether the group has undertaken partisan political activities, a potential violation of federal tax law governing nonprofit groups. For instance, the documents outline “Operation Angry Badger,” a plan to spend $612,000 to influence the outcome of recall elections and related fights this year in Wisconsin over the role of public-sector unions. Tax lawyers said Wednesday that tax-exempt groups were allowed to undertake some types of lobbying and political education, but that because they are subsidized by taxpayers, they are prohibited from direct involvement in political campaigns. The documents also show that the group has received money from some of the nation’s largest corporations, including several that have long favored action to combat climate change. The documents typically say that those donations were earmarked for projects unrelated to climate change, like publishing right-leaning newsletters on drug and technology policy. Nonetheless, several of the companies hastened on Wednesday to disassociate themselves from the organization’s climate stance. “We absolutely do not endorse or support their views on the environment or climate change,” said Sarah Alspach, a spokeswoman for GlaxoSmithKline, a multinational drug company shown in the documents as contributing $50,000 in the past two years to support a medical newsletter. A spokesman for Microsoft, another listed donor, said that the company believes that “climate change is a serious issue that demands immediate worldwide action.” The company is shown in the documents as having contributed $59,908 last year to a Heartland technology newsletter. But the Microsoft spokesman, Mark Murray, said the gift was not a cash contribution but rather the value of free software, which Microsoft gives to thousands of nonprofit groups. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the Heartland documents was what they did not contain: evidence of contributions from the major publicly traded oil companies, long suspected by environmentalists of secretly financing efforts to undermine climate science. But oil interests were nonetheless represented. The documents say that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation contributed $25,000 last year and was expected to contribute $200,000 this year. Mr. Koch is one of two brothers who have been prominent supporters of libertarian causes as well as other charitable endeavors. They control Koch Industries, one of the country’s largest private companies and a major oil refiner. The documents suggest that Heartland has spent several million dollars in the past five years in its efforts to undermine climate science, much of that coming from a person referred to repeatedly in the documents as “the Anonymous Donor.” A guessing game erupted Wednesday about who that might be. The documents say that over four years ending in 2013, the group expects to have spent some $1.6 million on financing the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change , an entity that publishes periodic reports attacking climate science and holds lavish annual conferences. (Environmental groups refer to the conferences as “Denialpalooza.”) Heartland’s latest idea, the documents say, is a plan to create a curriculum for public schools intended to cast doubt on mainstream climate science and budgeted at $200,000 this year. The curriculum would claim, for instance, that “whether humans are changing the climate is a major scientific controversy.” It is in fact not a scientific controversy. The vast majority of climate scientists say that emissions generated by humans are changing the climate and putting the planet at long-term risk, although they are uncertain about the exact magnitude of that risk. Whether and how to rein in emissions of greenhouse gases has become a major political controversy in the United States, however. The National Center for Science Education , a group that has had notable success in fighting for accurate teaching of evolution in the public schools, has recently added climate change to its agenda in response to pleas from teachers who say they feel pressure to water down the science. Mark S. McCaffrey, programs and policy director for the group, which is in Oakland, Calif., said the Heartland documents revealed that “they continue to promote confusion, doubt and debate where there really is none.” | Heartland Institute;Education (K-12);Greenhouse Gas Emissions;Global Warming;Air Pollution;Environment;Nonprofit Organizations;Koch Industries Inc;Koch Charles G |
ny0206479 | [
"world",
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| 2009/06/03 | Uncertainty Clouds British Report of Taliban Leader’s Death | KABUL, Afghanistan — A helicopter strike killed “one of the most dangerous Taliban leaders” in southern Afghanistan, British military officials said Tuesday, but a local government official said the target might have been a lower-level fighter with the same name. The strike occurred Monday, British officials said, when an Apache helicopter shot the Taliban leader, Mullah Mansur, as he was traveling with two others by motorbike. “We know it’s him,” one official said. The Taliban commander organized several recent attacks, including one last month that killed two British soldiers in the south, the official said. The British defense secretary, John Hutton, also expressed certainty, releasing a statement on the killing that said “Mullah Mansur was the heart of the insurgents’ attempts to kill and injure British and NATO troops in Afghanistan and his presence brought misery to innocent Afghan civilians.” But Dawoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand Province, where the strike occurred, said two militants in the region were known as Mullah Mansur. The Taliban leader, Mullah Akhter Muhammad Mansoor, is the top commander in the south and was the director of the Kandahar airport in the Taliban government that was toppled in 2001. A lower-level commander who operates in the province is Mullah Ahmad Mansur. The Taliban could not be reached for comment. In March, NATO troops in Helmand killed a senior Taliban leader named Maulawi Hassan , who was responsible for numerous roadside bombings and suicide attacks against NATO forces. Separately on Tuesday, six members of an Afghan family, including two children, died in an explosion that wrecked their car on a road near the American air base at Bagram , according to Afghan and American officials. But accounts of the attack — the second in a week involving a device detonated near the strategic base — varied significantly. An Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemarai Bashary, said a suicide bomber, presumably on foot, carried out the morning attack. But the Bagram district governor, Kabir Ahmad, who visited the scene, said there were indications that “someone put explosives in the car, because there was no crater” and there were no remnants of a mine. He also said another child survived and was in serious condition in a hospital. He said the family was traveling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle borrowed from a distant relative, a former Taliban fighter who is now viewed by the militants as a traitor. Civilian casualties have become one of the most contentious issues in the Afghan war, with Afghan political leaders criticizing American and NATO forces for the growing number of civilians killed in airstrikes and house raids. The United Nations has reported that 55 percent of the 2,118 civilian deaths in 2008 were caused by insurgents, while American-led forces accounted for 39 percent. United Nations officials say they will issue updated figures for 2009 this month. NATO officials said that five soldiers were killed Tuesday by militants in eastern Afghanistan. Elsewhere, Afghan and American forces killed 12 militants in two clashes, including one in Wardak Province, south of Kabul. Military officials said those killed were connected to a Taliban commander in Jalrez District. Jalrez was a Taliban stronghold until recently, when the additional American troops deployed by President Obama took control of the area. | Afghanistan;Bombs and Explosives;Afghanistan War (2001- ) |
ny0285549 | [
"sports",
"soccer"
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| 2016/09/21 | An English Soccer Club Turns Fantasy Sports Into Reality | At first glance, the sideline of a United London F.C. home game features exactly what one would expect from an amateur-level soccer match on a rented field in England’s capital. Water bottles. A collection of balls. Substitutes warming up. A crowd that United London’s chairman, Mark North, describes as “one man and his dog.” What is missing is more notable: a manager. At United London F.C. , the position of a traditional coach is unnecessary. Instead, the lineup is selected by the team’s fans each week. Image United London’s chairman, Mark North, walked with his son toward the team’s locker room. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times Formed this year and currently playing in the Essex Alliance Premier League — the 12th tier of England’s competitive soccer pyramid — United London F.C. claims to be the world’s only managerless club. In place of a traditional coach, the team’s business model brings together elements of reality TV voting and player analytics similar to those used in video games and by scouts. It employs a fantasy football-style system that awards points to or deducts points from the team’s fans (acting individually as managers) based on whether their selections make the starting 11, score or record an assist, or play a role in posting a shutout. Image United London players attached nets to the goals before a recent match. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times “In nonleague football, there’s not much in the way of eyeballs, because the Premier League just takes over everything,” North, 38, said. “That’s where we want to be different, in that we are building an online fan base, rather than a localized one.” To date, more than 2,000 people have signed up with the club, which played its first competitive match in early September. The team claims support from fans in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Sweden and the United States. Image A staff member set United London’s formation. While the team doesn’t have a manager, coaches run practices and handle in-game substitutions. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times Each week, those fans vote on United London’s starting lineup by reviewing player statistics, scouting reports and videos of previous weeks’ matches posted online by the club. After voting closes each Friday, the squad for Saturday’s match is announced. “I think it’s cool because it keeps the club’s supporters involved,” said John Frusciante, a 19-year-old from Aberdeen, N.J., who recently signed up. “The fans have more input than, say, at Real Madrid. Zidane isn’t going to ask you if Ronaldo should be starting or not” — as in Coach Zinedine Zidane and striker Cristiano Ronaldo. Image The team’s voting page as it appeared on Tuesday. After fan voting closes each Friday, the squad for Saturday’s match is announced. North said the idea behind the team came to him last year while he and his wife were watching TV on a Saturday night. Tired of ballroom dancing shows and singing contests, North, who worked in financial recruitment at the time, began devising ways to apply the reality TV voting model to soccer. Like the contestants on such shows, players for United London have something at stake in each week’s voting. While researching how to find players for a grass-roots team, North realized he might be able to mine the large number of academy prospects that are released by English professional clubs each season. Image Fans — managers? — watched United London’s game on Saturday. Credit Andrew Testa for The New York Times After this highly competitive annual cull, many players abandon their hopes of professional soccer, around age 18. United London has positioned itself as a second chance for such players; the club’s badge depicts a phoenix rising from flames. “A lot of players, by the time they get to 18, 19, 20, they haven’t got a résumé,” said Jon Willis, the head of recruitment at the Football Careers Centre, an organization that helps place former academy players with new clubs. He helped organize United London F.C.’s summer trials. Willis said United London allowed players to reset their career path, or try to attract the attention of a new club. “This program is interesting,” Willis said, “because they record every game. It’s going to put people in the shop window.” Already, United London F.C. has created a diverse squad of second-, third- and even fourth-chancers, among them a Turkish youth international; a player who, the club claims, was the fourth-fastest soccer player in Britain last year; and the nephew of an England international striker. “Right now, I don’t really think about it,” Georges Ketoka, who once played in the third tier of Belgian soccer, said of fans’ having the power to pick, or cut, players. At 26, Ketoka is one of the team’s oldest members. “If you play,” he said, “you know it’s because people like you, the way you play and what you bring to the team.” For now, United London supporters can influence the team’s lineup only before matches. On a basic-looking website — North admitted that it had had some growing pains — fans are met with a formation empty of players that they can fill by selecting names from drop-down menus beneath each position. Clicking on a star above a player selects him as the captain, earning the manager double points for that player’s performance. As technology improves, North said, the club would like to allow fans to make in-game decisions on substitutions and other questions. For now, those decisions, and practice sessions, are handled by United London staff members . North would not reveal how many of those 2,000-plus fan-managers are active users. The reason, he said, is that knowing such information could allow him and his staff to manipulate voting for the players they prefer. However, North did joke that results so far had shown that he was perhaps not the best person to be making such decisions anyway. His role at the club includes start-up tasks like putting up the nets before matches, but he also sits down every Sunday to count every pass, tackle and shot from the previous day’s match, so that fans have the information they need to vote during the week ahead. That has not lent him much of an insider advantage, though, when he picks his own lineup. Last week, he said: “I was only ranked seventh — some guy from Sweden was top of the leaderboard. And I should know everyone!” | Soccer;United London F.C.;Coaches;England;Fantasy sport |
ny0022910 | [
"world",
"asia"
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| 2013/09/23 | Humble Chinese Village Basks in Legacy of Three Kingdoms Era | LONGMEN, China — In the shadow of a lush mountain and near a slow-moving river in southeast China sits this village, whose name means Dragon Gate. There are narrow alleys and whitewashed homes and the flesh of sliced bamboo drying on the ground. Its humble appearance, though, belies the fact that it played a role in the famous Three Kingdoms era, when kings leading rival states fought in the third century over the right to succeed the Han empire. The blood-drenched stories were immortalized in a 14th-century classic by Luo Guanzhong , “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which in turn has spawned countless films, television shows and other adaptations. “This village is so important because the people are descended from Sun Quan ,” said one resident, Sun Yaxiao, 25, as she walked with visitors one afternoon through the alleys. Sun Quan was one of the three major kings in the early period of the Three Kingdoms, a figure known to most Chinese. “People named Sun are rare; there just aren’t that many,” she said. “There aren’t as many as those named Huang, for example.” The village has managed to capitalize on its association with Sun Quan, even though the king never actually lived here. It was his grandfather Sun Zhong, a melon farmer, who was said to be a resident, even though that is debated among scholars. Longmen charges a $13 entrance fee to outsiders, who usually make the 30-mile drive from the provincial capital of Hangzhou. There are countless hamlets, towns and cities across China that boast of links to the four or five towering classics of Chinese literature and the historical events on which those works are based. Virtually all Chinese learn these tales, which mix history and myth, and so residents of otherwise obscure locales leap at the chance to latch on to the legends, sometimes for profit. In the western region of Xinjiang, for instance, the desert town of Turpan has become a big tourist draw because of its proximity to the Flaming Mountains, the site of a well-known episode in “Journey to the West,” a 16th-century novel about the Monkey King’s pilgrimage to India that, like “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” is also based on history. “The Three Kingdoms” is to China what “The Iliad” is to the West. Its tales of battlefield heroics and betrayal, palace intrigue and passions, stir the imagination here. It also resonates with the Chinese because its sweeping narrative encapsulates a historical rhythm that they see as an immutable fact, one expressed in the opening lines: “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.” But unlike “The Iliad,” “The Three Kingdoms” has wide appeal in modern times. Mao Zedong supposedly studied it for strategy lessons. John Woo, the Hong Kong filmmaker, recently directed an epic, “ Red Cliff ,” based on a famous battle from the novel. The film was the top earner at the Chinese box office in 2008. Image Credit The New York Times Places associated with heroes and villains from “The Three Kingdoms” — Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Cao Cao and, of course, Sun Quan — are scattered across China. “In China, there are simply too many places that have become famous because of the Three Kingdoms,” said Fang Beichen, a scholar of the Three Kingdoms at Sichuan University who has visited Longmen. “The number is over a hundred. It’s a very common phenomenon in China.” Mr. Fang said Longmen’s ties to the Three Kingdoms were “at best mediocre.” South of the Yangtze River, where Sun Quan’s Kingdom of Wu once existed, there are places with more famous links to the ancient king. The area around Nanjing, where the kingdom’s capital once stood, has a mausoleum reputed to contain Mr. Sun’s remains and a stone citadel that Mr. Sun ordered built, Mr. Fang said. That has not stopped residents of Longmen from claiming not just ties to the Three Kingdoms but to other famous figures — Sun Yat-sen, the 20th-century revolutionary intellectual from Guangdong Province, and Sun Tzu, the author of “The Art of War.” Ordinary residents take obvious pride in the village’s ancient roots. Sun Yaxiao, the young woman showing visitors around, boasted that the village had 80 homes dating to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and 40 to the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). She said villagers began preserving the homes in 2002, when they realized there was tourism potential. About 10 of the 120 or so buildings are open to the public. Directors of a half-dozen minor films have shot scenes in the village. There is an ancestral hall with dark wooden pillars, red lanterns and a cobblestone courtyard. On one wall is a drawing of a complicated family tree showing the dozens of generations of Suns. “In all of China, this is the place with the most people named Sun,” said Ms. Sun, with perhaps a bit of exaggeration. “The Sun people have gone everywhere — Korea, Singapore and so on.” Outside the hall, another villager, Sun Ruqi, 16, stood by a street stand selling stinky tofu and liquor made from fermented sorghum, two somewhat dubious local specialties. Badminton rackets are another local specialty — a factory in a nearby village makes them. She was among the Suns who might leave the village a few years from now. “Many young people go out to find work,” she said. “This is a small place.” But Longmen plays a big role in local Three Kingdoms lore, according to one resident, Sun Wenxi, who wrote a book on Longmen folk tales. One legend, he wrote, says that Sun Quan attained his monarchical status because of the generosity of his grandfather, the melon farmer. When the grandfather came across three elders passed out in a field one day, he shared half a melon with them. They turned out to be immortals who promised Mr. Sun that within four generations, a king would arise within his family. Sun Quan’s legacy is a mixed one, though, and his story in “The Three Kingdoms” is one of shifting loyalties. He met an ignominious end. Yet he remains “a very special figure” in Chinese history, Mr. Fang said. “In the first half of his life, Sun Quan was modest and enterprising, readily following good advice,” he said. “But in the second half of his life, he became corrupt and depraved, purged loyal and faithful officials and became a loser in the competition for power. The Wu Kingdom’s prosperity came to an abrupt end. Decline and chaos followed. It’s very important to learn from his lesson, for an individual, a family and the state.” | Longmen; Zhejiang; China;Sun Quan;China;Books |
ny0117381 | [
"sports",
"ncaafootball"
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| 2012/10/21 | 3rd-Ranked Florida, Led by Defense, Trounces South Carolina | GAINESVILLE, Fla. — On the game’s first snap, intending to make a statement, swiftly and brutally, Loucheiz Purifoy, a Florida cornerback, stared down South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw, angled his body and fired toward him. If Shaw had seen Purifoy plotting, he did not adjust. From about 10 yards away, Purifoy came from Shaw’s right side as Shaw looked left. A path cleared, and the stadium pulsed. At the last moment, Shaw turned and stepped, but the ball was exposed. “They don’t hold it high and tight like they’re supposed to,” Purifoy said after the game. He missed his clean sack, but he slapped the ball away. The noise in the Swamp grew as the ball bounced to the 2-yard line, where Florida’s Lerentee McCray pounced on it. Three plays later, the Gators led, 7-0. “That sets a tone, a big tone,” Purifoy said. “Let them know, they wanted a fistfight, they wanted a physical game, we’re going to give it to them.” In a fight for supremacy atop the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference, Florida’s defense flexed and strutted. And when South Carolina left battered and bruised, it had legitimized the new-look Gators’ breakout season, the second under Coach Will Muschamp, as No. 3 Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC) outslugged the ninth-ranked Gamecocks, 44-11. As a byproduct, the Florida defense spoiled South Carolina Coach Steve Spurrier ’s return to his alma mater, and he left in a sour mood. If Florida tops Georgia next week, then cruises by Missouri, the Gators will play in the SEC championship game for the first time since 2009, most likely against Alabama. The way the Gators’ defense played Saturday, perhaps they could keep pace with the top-ranked Crimson Tide. Shaw did his best to dink and dunk the Gamecocks’ offense down the field, but with running back Marcus Lattimore mostly absent or slowed by a hip injury, South Carolina (6-2, 4-2) often faced long third downs. Strengthened by the return of defensive end Dominique Easley (knee) and linebacker Jelani Jenkins (hamstring), the Gators pounced and swarmed. When Shaw did escape, his passes were feeble and errant. The Gamecocks managed to kick two field goals, the first helped by a roughing-the-snapper call on fourth down, but had another blocked. The game was all but decided during a five-minute span in the second quarter, when the Gators forced two turnovers with violent, jarring hits. South Carolina’s Ace Sanders fumbled a punt return, which led to a Jeff Driskel touchdown pass. Damiere Byrd fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the ball was scooped up and nearly returned for a touchdown. Driskel wound up throwing a 1-yard touchdown pass, one of his four scoring passes. By halftime, Florida’s offense had gained 29 yards and 2 first downs, but the Gators led, 21-6. The crowd at the Swamp roared just as loudly for Muschamp’s current brand of football — relentless defense combined with a grinding running game — as it had when Spurrier won at least nine games in each of his 12 seasons here with a decidedly different approach. “It’s who we are at this point and we’ll be who we are in three weeks,” Muschamp said of his team’s run-first identity. “Next season? No, I don’t think so. I think we’ll continue to evolve what we want to be. “We want to be more balanced. We want to be able to vertically stretch the field.” Before the game, South Carolina fans posed for photographs in front of Spurrier’s bronze statue outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, commemorating his 1966 Heisman Trophy, Florida’s first. Next to Spurrier’s statue is one of Danny Wuerffel, who won the Heisman in 1996 and a national championship, Florida’s first, with Spurrier as coach. But any similar aspirations — a national championship for Spurrier’s team, and a Heisman Trophy for his star — ended with the loss. Lattimore, who bruised his hip in last week’s loss to Louisiana State, scratched out 13 yards on three forgettable carries. When Driskel led a 10-play, 59-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter, the outcome was all but sealed. Spurrier benched Shaw, and South Carolina did not muster a first down in the quarter. “The only thing you can hope is that your guys give in their best shot, and not just lay the ball down and basically say, ‘Hey Florida, we don’t want to win,’ ” Spurrier said. He added, “So it was sad, and on the other side, their defense stuffed us.” | University of Florida;University of South Carolina;Muschamp Will;Spurrier Steve;Football (College) |
ny0226332 | [
"sports",
"golf"
]
| 2010/10/09 | Course Record For Cochran | Buoyed by birdies on the first five holes, Russ Cochran shot a course-record six-under-par 64 to take a one-shot lead at the Senior Players Championship in Potomac, Md. Cochran is at six under for the tournament and is trying for his third win in his last four events on the Champions Tour. Cochran, who will turn 52 at the end of this month, is also trying for his first major victory. Michael Allen remained in second at five under after a second-round 67, and Mark O’Meara shot another 68 to stand alone at four under. (AP) ¶Mika Miyazato of Japan shot a nine-under 63 for a share of the second-round lead in the Navistar L.P.G.A. Classic with Na Yeon Choi and Cristie Kerr. Winless in 40 career L.P.G.A. Tour starts, the 20-year-old Miyazato had five straight birdies on the front nine and four in a row on the back nine in her bogey-free round. She matched the course record on the links-style Senator layout at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill complex in Prattville, Ala. “Everything was going inside my zone,” Miyazato said through a translator. “Everything was going the way that I wanted it to.” lpga (AP) ¶John Parry shot a seven-under 65 on the Old Course at St. Andrews to take a four-shot lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Parry, an Englishman, was at 12-under 132 after seven birdies in the second round of the tournament, which is played at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St. Andrews in Scotland. dunhill (AP) | Golf;Cochran Russ;Toms David |
ny0035356 | [
"us",
"politics"
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| 2014/03/02 | Obama’s New Political Chief Tries to Reassure Democrats | WASHINGTON — David Simas left nothing to chance when he ran for the Taunton, Mass., school board at the age of 22. He packed the kickoff fund-raiser at the Portuguese-American Civic Club with his extended family, took his mother with him to knock on 5,000 doors and left a handwritten note if no one was home: “Sorry I missed you. David.” That 1993 victory was the start of a political career that has now landed him in coveted real estate in the West Wing, where last month Mr. Simas reinaugurated the job of White House political director, which had not existed since 2011. The ascension of Mr. Simas — driven, data-obsessed and a relentless salesman — is meant as a message to anxiety-prone Democrats that the White House is serious about mitigating losses in the Republican House and defending the party’s control of the Senate. Mr. Simas (pronounced SEE-mas) is carrying out a midterm election-year strategy that aims to put Republicans on the defensive in key congressional races by daring them to block votes on Capitol Hill on popular issues: a higher minimum wage, an overhaul of the immigration system and equal pay legislation, among others. He will oversee a staff of five to help guide President Obama’s message that the choice is opportunity for all or for the few. At the same time, plenty of Democrats are running away from Mr. Obama, whose popularity is perilously low. The services of Mr. Simas, the White House “fixer” who pores over internal polling, conducts focus groups and works hand in hand with the party’s campaign and fund-raising apparatus on Capitol Hill, are not sought by everyone. But his job is a critical one for Mr. Obama, whose remaining second-term agenda will shrivel if Republicans seize the Senate or gain in the House. Many Democrats on Capitol Hill recall with frustration an earlier Obama White House political operation that largely failed to mobilize its supporters to counter Tea Party activists at town-hall-style meetings. Some still vent about what they saw as the president’s relentless focus on his own re-election in 2012. And they worry that his health care law will cost them votes. Mr. Obama vowed to do more on Friday, when he told Democratic National Committee activists that he would raise money and drive a populist message to light up the liberal base. Aides said he had pledged to appear at 18 fund-raisers for the Democratic National Committee by June and 12 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It will be up to Mr. Simas to make sure all that happens. “He really has stepped up the level of coordination in a really significant way,” said Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, who leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Mr. Simas, he added, will help “ensure that going into this election, we have a coordinated political message to help our incumbents and challengers succeed.” Mr. Simas, who declined to be interviewed for this article, arrived in what is now called the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach from his job as the main White House cheerleader for the administration’s health care law. Ever the optimist, Mr. Simas, 44, was merrily peddling the health care website’s attributes just hours before it crashed spectacularly in October. Embarrassed but never blamed for technical failures he could not control, Mr. Simas ventured to Capitol Hill with Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, to try to calm members of Congress outraged by the debacle. Lawmakers said that he had understood at a gut level the political pressures they faced from the website’s failures and that he had spoken to them honestly — attributes that were crucial in the president’s decision to name Mr. Simas to his current job. “He is completely grounded in the one thing that counts the most to us: What does this mean back home?” said Representative Steve Israel, the New York Democrat who runs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and who is tasked with electing more Democrats to the House and restoring Representative Nancy Pelosi of California to the speaker’s office. Mr. Simas learned that importance early. The son of blue-collar immigrants from Portugal — his mother lost two fingers in an industrial accident at one of Taunton’s silverware-making factories — he was a high school politician: class president, junior Rotarian, football running back and captain of the baseball team. During the summers, Mr. Simas earned money as a caddie at the Sankaty Head Golf Club in Nantucket, where, he says, he once carried clubs for Jack Welch, the former chief executive officer of General Electric, and Sam Nunn, the former senator from Georgia. Emulating his father, a virulent anti-Communist, Mr. Simas hung a poster of Ronald Reagan in his bedroom and became a founding member of the Teenage Taunton Republican Club. Sometime in college, friends say, he became a Democrat. Mr. Simas graduated from Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.; went on to win the school board race while attending law school at Boston College; and only months later led a rally of 15,000 on Taunton’s central square to demand that the local cable monopoly carry the only Portuguese-language television channel. The company agreed to do so, and Mr. Simas was soon on the City Council. “At that point, that crowd would have elected him president of the United States,” recalled Jordan H. F. Fiore, a longtime member of the schools committee and the City Council. In 2004, after Mr. Simas left the Council, he returned to advise Bob Nunes, the mayor. Faced with double-digit increases in its health care costs, the City of Taunton needed to find a new way to insure its workers. Behind the scenes, Mr. Simas helped devise a strategy to persuade the city’s 16 unions to go along. “He’s very low key, thoughtful, smart,” Mr. Nunes said. “It doesn’t take him long to understand an issue.” Those skills, and a season of nonstop campaigning in 2006, led Mr. Simas to the office of the Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, where he served as Mr. Patrick’s deputy chief of staff. “There’s a big part of successful politicking and policy thinking which is about people feeling that you see them,” Mr. Patrick, a mentor to Mr. Simas, said in an interview. “Not that you just see them as a data point but you see them in human terms. David really gets that.” Shortly after the 2008 election, Mr. Patrick reached out to the top aides to the president-elect. “The one thing I’m asking you is to hire my guy,” he recalled saying. At the White House, and later at Mr. Obama’s Chicago re-election headquarters, Mr. Simas became a key adviser. When Mr. Obama performed poorly in his first debate against Mitt Romney, it was Mr. Simas, in the campaign’s Chicago headquarters, who reassured the president’s rattled aides that the re-election was still on track. “He very clinically, very deliberately and very calmly tried to tell people where we were,” recalled David Plouffe, one of the president’s closest confidants. That temperament — “calm and unflappable,” said David Axelrod, Mr. Obama’s longtime adviser — allowed Mr. Simas to break into Mr. Obama’s tight circle of loyalists. On a trip to Portugal in 2010, the president made a point of taking Mr. Simas along and introducing him to Portuguese television reporters. Last year, Mr. Obama urged Mr. Simas to consider seeking a temporary appointment to the Senate when John Kerry left to be secretary of state, but Mr. Simas said no. Stephanie Cutter, a longtime aide to Mr. Obama who also grew up in Taunton, said the Republicans should not be fooled by his gentle, sunny manner. “When it comes to politics, his ability to be razor sharp and on message is unprecedented,” she said. | US Politics;Barack Obama;David M Simas;Election;Legislation;Democrats;Republicans;US |
ny0133740 | [
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
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| 2008/03/21 | Measuring a Coach’s Value Merely by Wins | Washington Of all the issues I complain about in intercollegiate athletics, the most unseemly ritual is the public humiliation of college coaches trying to save their jobs. I am not talking about the world of Kelvin Sampson, Jim Harrick and Larry Eustachy, who break rules or violate codes of conduct. I am talking about the hard-working coach who, by dumb luck or poor recruiting, has one losing record too many and is fired. While tenured professors may muddle along largely in private on campus, coaches are kicked around in public during the season and fired when the season ends. Most of the time, the result is out of the coach’s hands. Thursday night, Belmont Coach Rick Byrd watched his 15th-seeded team pull even with and finally lead big, bad Duke, the second seed, with 2 minutes 2 seconds to play. For 22 seasons, Byrd had been coaching at Belmont. Finally, on this night, he came face to face with pulling off the biggest upset of his career. But Byrd watched helplessly as one of his players, Justin Hare, took a bad shot that could have put the game away and saw another player throw the inbounds pass away to ice the game for Duke, 71-70. Afterward, Byrd was left to second guess. “If we’d scored earlier, if I had run a better out-of-bounds play, if Justin’s shot had gone in, we probably wouldn’t have played any better, but we’d be still celebrating out there and the world would be talking about us,” he said. More often than not, this is the coach’s lament. Earlier this week, Georgia Coach Dennis Felton escaped the coach’s guillotine by virtue of a stunning run — four wins in four days — through the Southeastern Conference tournament. The 14th-seeded Bulldogs, though, saw their season come to an end Thursday, losing by 73-61 to third-seeded Xavier. The good news is that Felton, by all accounts a solid citizen and a caring coach, will continue his run. Damon Evans, the Georgia athletic director, announced that Felton would return next season. After Georgia’s loss, I stood in a corridor at the Verizon Center talking with Gene Smith, the athletic director at Ohio State, and Bernard Muir, his counterpart at Georgetown. As I explained my distaste for coaches being fired for losing games — especially if their players graduate — Smith, who had been the athletic director at Eastern Michigan and at Arizona State, explained the facts of life. “The bottom line, you got to win,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, people want to make it purely 100 percent about academics and education, and the reality is that it’s not. The reality is that it is a business. You’ve got to be able to win, to generate the money to support your program. People don’t want to be that blunt about it, but that’s the truth.” Georgia (17-17) finished last in the SEC East, after four seasons of 16-14, 8-20, 15-15 and 19-14. Throughout the season, the speculation in Athens was that Felton’s time was over unless he pulled off an amazing turnaround. He did. When a tornado damaged the Georgia Dome last Friday night, Georgia was forced to play two games Saturday and the final Sunday. Georgia, which had won four conference games all season, roared through the tournament and defeated Arkansas in the final. Smith said he knew that Evans’s heart was pounding. Evans was part of the committee that hired Felton. “I know in my heart, Damon was like, ‘Please, do something to help me,’ ” Smith said. “I assume he didn’t want it to happen, and fortunately things worked out.” I have my own sliding criteria for keeping a coach beyond wins and losses. Civility is important, as is riding herd on players to stay on track for graduation, and stepping into difficult circumstances. For example, Felton was hired in 2003; his primary charge was to clean up the mess left by his predecessor, Jim Harrick. Unlike Felton, Baylor Coach Scott Drew has a long leash. Drew replaced the disgraced Dave Bliss in 2003 after Baylor endured one of the most horrific basketball scandals in recent history. One player was convicted of murdering a teammate. The player is in prison, the coach resigned, and later it was reported that Bliss had given $40,000 in improper payments to players. Drew led Baylor to a 21-10 record and a berth in the tournament, where the Bears were beaten, 90-79, by Purdue. Athletic success is relatively easy to quantify in a number of categories: Wins and losses and success in the N.C.A.A. tournament. How a coach manages the budget, manages the staff. The quality of recruits, the team’s grade-point average, the hours the athletes put into community service each year. Coaches are held accountable for what their student-athletes do on and off the field, 24 hours a day. How do you evaluate the faculty? By the number of A’s, the number of F’s? Smith argued that faculty can get tenure. “Coaches are on contract, so it’s a definitive period of time,” he said. Smith added: “Somebody said a long time ago, ‘You’re never going get 100,000 people rallying around a math class.’ ” That opens up a whole new area of discourse. For the time being, let’s celebrate a coach who survived the ax. “In this tournament, I saw so much,” Evans said. “It wasn’t about the wins, it was how he managed the team through a very difficult time. How he won two games in one day. How he got those kids to believe. That made me know he’s the guy who needs to be here.” | College Athletics;Coaches and Managers;Baseball |
ny0265861 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2016/03/11 | How to Watch the Republican Debate | Join us for live updates of the Republican debate . _______ The Republican presidential candidates will gather in Miami on Thursday for their last debate before voters in Florida, Ohio and three other states go to the polls next week for primary elections that could reshuffle the race. Chances are dwindling for Donald J. Trump’s rivals to slow his campaign’s momentum. With Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida under pressure to hold their home states on Tuesday, this face-off on the debate stage could prove to be decisive. How to follow the action: On television The debate will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will air on CNN. CNN International and CNN en Español will simulcast the event. Online CNN will stream the debate live on its website and mobile platforms. Cable provider login information is not necessary. On social media Filter the noise on Facebook and Twitter with the hashtag #GOPDebate. And you can follow along with The New York Times for our live chat and analysis of the action. On radio For those who prefer easy listening, Salem Radio Network stations are the place to tune in. | 2016 Presidential Election;Political Debates;Republicans;Donald Trump;Marco Rubio;John R Kasich;Primaries |
ny0228790 | [
"sports",
"ncaafootball"
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| 2010/07/30 | In Revamped Pac-10, Everyone Likes Los Angeles | PASADENA, Calif. — When the Pacific-10 Conference athletic directors meet at a hotel here Friday to begin hashing out realignment of the soon-to-be 12-team conference into two football divisions, there may be a consensus on just one thing. Nobody wants to be left out of Los Angeles. Maintaining ties with U.C.L.A. or Southern California not only ensures exposure in a vital recruiting bed, it also could mean millions of dollars in revenue through ticket sales and television revenue. “That’s emerged as a very important issue for our schools,” Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott said. “It’s central to the debate we’re having for multiple reasons.” Friday’s meeting is the first step in determining just how a reshaped Pac-10, which will add Utah and Colorado by either 2011 or 2012, will look. Also up for discussion is whether a conference championship game would be played at a home field or a neutral site. Scott would like to deliver a proposal to the Pac-10’s presidents and chancellors when they meet Oct. 21. “This is the hot topic, how this is going to shake out,” said Ray Purpur, Stanford’s deputy athletic director. There appear to be two main proposals on how the divisions would be split. One is geographically: the Northwest universities (Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State) would be teamed with Colorado and Utah. The California universities (Stanford, Cal, U.C.L.A. and U.S.C.) would be paired with Arizona and Arizona State. Teams would play the five teams within their division, and then rotate playing four of the six teams in the other division. “I don’t think that’s good for us financially or competitively,” said Oregon State Coach Mike Riley, who was fearful of being isolated in the Northwest. “And it’s not as much fun.” Another proposal is the so-called zipper format: All the natural rivals (Stanford and Cal, Arizona and Arizona State, etc.) would be in separate divisions, but would play each other every year. The zipper proposal would allow every conference member to be tied to at least one Los Angeles university, but it is not without its own obstacles. There is a chance that natural rivals could play each other in the final week of the season, then meet the next week in the conference championship game. Or it could force rivalry games to be played earlier in the season. “That’s one of the negatives,” said Bill Moos, Washington State’s athletic director. The zipper proposal also raises the question of how the teams would be divided under the zipper. One plan would have Washington, Oregon State, Stanford, U.C.L.A., Arizona State and Utah in one division, with Washington State, Oregon, Cal, U.S.C., Arizona and Colorado in the other. Kevin Weiberg, the Pac-10 deputy commissioner and former Big 12 commissioner, said striking a competitive balance is critical. In recent years in the Big 12, the South, which included Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, dwarfed the North. “I’d go to media day and I was always answering the question: ‘Why is the South so much better than the North?’ ” Weiberg said. “If there’s a constant comparison, that can lead to tensions and people asking, ‘Are we all in this together?’ ” The Pac-10’s athletic directors have also been considering how television money will be divided . Most conferences split the revenue evenly, but in the Pac-10 55 percent of a game’s television revenue goes to the game’s participants. Typically, that can mean about $1 million more per year for U.S.C. than Washington State. “In the Big 10, Northwestern gets the same cut as Ohio State,” Moos said. “It’s the N.F.L. model — Green Bay gets as much as the New York Jets, so why shouldn’t Washington State get as much as U.S.C.?” That’s a question Scott said would likely be addressed once the Pac-10 has a new television contract in place. The current one, with Fox Sports Net and ESPN, expires after the 2011 season. Negotiations will begin on a new deal in January. The athletic officials will also discuss what to do about a conference championship game — play it at a neutral site, or on one team’s home field. Stadiums in San Diego, Seattle and Phoenix, as well as the Rose Bowl, have expressed interest in hosting the game. But fans of Pac-10 universities generally do not travel to faraway stadiums the way fans do in the Big 12 or Southeastern Conference, so the prospect of Stanford playing Oregon State in Glendale, Ariz., is not an appealing one. Scott said he does not anticipate final decisions being made Friday, but that he was hopeful a direction will be charted. If needed, a conference call would be arranged for sometime in August, and then a proposal would be sent to the Pac-10 Council, which is made up of athletic directors, senior women’s administrators and faculty representatives. The council meets Oct. 6-7, and it is expected to forward a recommendation to the presidents when they meet in San Francisco two weeks later. “We understand there’s a new day and new dynamics,” said Dan Guerrero, U.C.L.A.’s athletic director. “But in a lot of ways, it’s important to preserve some of the traditions.” | Pacific-10 Conference;College Athletics;Scott Larry;Television;Bowl Championship Series |
ny0062102 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2014/01/28 | How the French View Life as a Couple | PARIS — It may not be as juicy as Closer, the weekly gossip magazine that broke the story about President François Hollande’s love affair with the actress Julie Gayet. And unlike the mini-series at the Élysée Palace, the report this month on France’s overall married state was a snapshot in time, a year-end summary of the number of French couples who opted for marriage and those who chose the looser civil union known as the PACS. In 2012, the last year with statistics for both kinds of partnerships, the ratio was three marriages for every two PACS (245,930 and 160,200 respectively). In 2013, the number of marriages — 300,000 in 2000 — dropped to 231,000: the figure would have been lower without the 7,000 same-sex marriages registered under a much-contested law that took effect last May. The French statistical agency Insee has yet to publish the number of PACS in 2013, but the trend remains clear: Fewer French couples (except same-sex couples) are getting married every year. That includes the president himself, who isn’t married to Valérie Trierweiller, the scorned woman in the current affair, and wasn’t married to Ségolène Royal, his longtime partner and the mother of his four children. As Mr. Hollande keeps insisting, these are personal choices that don’t concern anyone else. To some extent, that’s true: In 2012, French voters paid little attention to the Socialist candidate’s unmarried status, and didn’t blink when Ms. Trierweiller moved into the Élysée Palace as the president’s “companion.” The president and his first lady didn’t even opt for a PACS. But even after Mr. Hollande announced on Saturday that he had put an end to his relationship with Ms. Trierweiller, the status of a presidential companion remained a subject of considerable fascination. No matter how much the mainstream media tiptoed around Mr. Hollande’s domestic dilemma, ever mindful of France’s strict privacy laws, it is clear that the French are following the affair closely (even as they tell pollsters it’s none of their business.) So what does Mr. Hollande’s unmarried state have to do with this lingering fascination? A lot, according to François de Singly, a sociology professor who in an opinion piece in the newspaper Le Monde wrote that living in “concubinage” (the French word is a lot sexier than the English “cohabiting union”) is a “legitimate choice, but it has consequences.” One institutional function of marriage, he argued, is to put a “public” face on a private life, one that can provide “public” refuge from the turbulence of adultery. Other French presidents have had mistresses — some more than one — but their affairs (not publicized but well known) didn’t threaten their wives’ role as France’s first lady. In contrast, concubinage, which has no status, draws its only legitimacy from the love and affection shared by the couple. When that’s gone, there is nothing left, which is why Ms. Trierweiler’s status was so precarious. If Ms. Gayet is Mr. Hollande’s mistress, then what did that make Ms. Trierweiler? According to Mr. de Singly, the live-in-lover model “doesn’t tolerate a mistress.” That’s the theory. Reality is another matter; couples stray, and split or stay together, regardless of their union. Since 2004, the number of divorces in France has oscillated around 130,000, even as the number of marriages decreases. In contrast, only 49,000 civil unions were dissolved in 2012, of which interestingly, 40 percent moved on to the stronger bonds of marriage. In other words, it’s not that French couples are reluctant to commit. In fact, the PACS “is often compared to an engagement,” noted Christophe Giraud, a Paris-based sociologist. In his view, the issue raised by Mr. Hollande’s domestic mess is not which vow he broke, but the fact of his betrayal. “What is shocking is not so much the non-marriage, non-PACS situation as the double life François Hollande seems to have been leading,” Mr. Giraud wrote in an email. “The French more or less accept the various forms of private life, but they are shocked by the cheating, and the lies within the relationship.” | Francois Hollande;Julie Gayet;Marriage;Paris France;Same-Sex Marriage,Gay Marriage |
ny0101206 | [
"sports",
"hockey"
]
| 2015/12/10 | Bruins Win in Montreal | Loui Eriksson and Landon Ferraro scored third-period goals 42 seconds apart, and Patrice Bergeron added a milestone score to help the Boston Bruins rally past the Canadiens, 3-1, in Montreal. With a third-period goal, Bergeron pushed past Milt Schmidt for 11th on the Bruins’ career list with 576 points. The Canadiens lost their third straight game, a season high. | Ice hockey;Bruins;Montreal Canadiens |
ny0269229 | [
"business",
"dealbook"
]
| 2016/04/28 | Conforama Declines to Raise Offer for Darty, Ending Bidding War | LONDON — The bidding war for Darty, the French electronics and appliance retailer, appears to be over. Conforama, the French household goods unit of Steinhoff International Holdings, said on Wednesday that it had no plans to raise its offer for Darty after Groupe Fnac made a final bid for the retailer on Monday. Fnac and Conforama have been entwined in a frantic battle for Darty, with each offering escalating bids last week . On Monday, Fnac said it was willing to pay 914 million pounds, or about $1.3 billion, in cash for the London-listed retailer, or 170 pence a share. Fnac also said at the time that it owned or had agreements in place for investors to support its offer, equivalent to 41.05 percent of Darty shares. That exceeded Conforama’s highest — and apparently now final — offer of 160 pence a share, or about £860 million, in cash. “Our independent board and management had a clear valuation in mind for the stand-alone Darty business,” Conforama said in a news release on Wednesday. Conforama said that at a price of 160 pence a share, “the Darty business would have been a good addition to the Steinhoff group of businesses but, at an increased price, it would no longer create sufficient value for Steinhoff shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.” The fight for Darty began in March, when Steinhoff of South Africa offered to buy the retailer at a price that exceeded the one in a previous merger agreement with Fnac. In November, Fnac had offered to pay £558 million for Darty. Also in March, Steinhoff abandoned its pursuit of the Home Retail Group as it faced a separate and potentially lengthy battle with J Sainsbury, one of Britain’s largest grocery store chains. The bidding for Darty heated up last week when a series of escalating offers by Conforama and Fnac on April 21 sent shares of Darty up 23 percent in trading in London. Darty shares fell less than 1 percent in morning trading in London on Wednesday. The company operates about 400 stores in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. It reported revenue of more than 3.5 billion euros, or about $3.9 billion, in its 2014-15 fiscal year. | Mergers and Acquisitions;Conforama;Darty;Groupe Fnac |
ny0045060 | [
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
]
| 2014/02/28 | Antoine Mason Is Driven to Succeed, Just Like His Father | Longtime Knicks fans probably still treasure memories of Anthony Mason, a powerful 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward who willed himself to prominence as a seemingly tireless worker beside Patrick Ewing in the early 1990s. Mason’s son Antoine, a junior guard at Niagara who is the second-leading scorer in Division I with 25.7 points a game, has a less imposing body type. But he is his father’s son in every other way. Like his father, who played at Tennessee State and reached the N.B.A. after stints in Turkey, Venezuela, the Continental Basketball Association and the United States Basketball League, Antoine (6-3, 210 pounds) is buoyed by the self-confidence that he, too, can play at the highest level. He is also driven to do whatever it takes to get there. “My confidence is sky-high; I feel I am the best scorer in the nation,” said Antoine, who is dueling Doug McDermott (26 points a game), a senior forward at Creighton, for that honor. “I just want to put my best effort out every game.” Antoine is heavily motivated by his father, who is as much a force in his son’s life as he was in the frontcourt when he helped the Knicks reach the N.B.A. finals against the Houston Rockets in 1994. When Antoine excelled for New Rochelle High School in New York, his father humbled him by taking him to Rucker Park in Harlem and exposing him to the rough-and-tumble style of basketball there. Anthony Mason, who lives in New Rochelle and works in insurance, attends almost all of his son’s games. He invariably briefs him before the second half on what needs to improve. “I want my kids to be successful in life, period,” said Anthony, 47, who was the N.B.A.’s sixth man of the year in 1995. “You don’t put pressure on your kids to do what you did. Of course, I want them to achieve their dreams.” Another son, Anthony Mason Jr., a 6-7, 205-pound forward, played at St. John’s from 2005 to 2010. He continues to refine his game with Sioux Falls of the N.B.A.’s Development League. Niagara (6-23) is rebuilding with 10 additions to its roster under the first-year coach Chris Casey. And despite Antoine Mason’s scoring output — he accounts for 33.6 percent of his team’s points, second nationally — he remains a work in progress as well. Like his father, he is difficult to stop when he slices inside, but his effectiveness decreases when he cannot penetrate. He is shooting 43.5 percent from the floor (235 of 540) and only 29.9 percent from 3-point range (46 of 154) while connecting on 74.1 percent of his free throws (229 of 309). Mason leads the nation in free throws made, free throws attempted and field goals attempted. He is eager to be known for more than scoring, though, and cites defense and rebounding as areas he would like to improve. He averages 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. “I want to make sure when I’m not scoring, I’m doing something else,” he said. Looking back on his career, Anthony Mason said, “Nobody outworked me,” and Niagara’s coach says Antoine has the same relentlessness. Image The Knicks’ Anthony Mason in the 1994 N.B.A. finals. Credit Amy Sancetta/Associated Press “He is the first in the gym and the last to leave,” Casey said. “He shoots on off days. It’s not an accident that he is where he is.” Antoine averages 37.4 minutes; his father set the Knicks’ single-season record with 3,457 minutes in 1995-96, which is more than 42 minutes a game. Antoine has earned respect throughout the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. “You can’t take his numbers away from him,” Manhattan Coach Steve Masiello said. “He plays hard every night, and he can score the basketball. He’s got a gift.” Mason averaged a team-leading 18.7 points last season in helping the Purple Eagles to the conference’s regular-season title. Casey credits Anthony Mason’s heavy involvement for Antoine’s progress. “To have someone who has probably forgotten more basketball than most of us will ever know, to have someone who is almost like an encyclopedia, is a very valuable thing,” Casey said. Antoine’s mother, Latifa Whitlock, emphasizes education to her son. He made the dean’s list in the fall with a 3.5 grade-point average. “I always tell Antoine: ‘Don’t let basketball use you. You use basketball,’ ” she said. She also seeks to ease the pressure on him. “I made sure he had an identity. He was always Antoine Mason, not Anthony Mason’s son,” she said. Anthony was cut after being a third-round draft choice by the Portland Trail Blazers in 1988. He bounced around domestically and abroad before he established himself with the Knicks in 1991 and played for them until 1996, part of his 13-year N.B.A. career. Anthony hopes his son can avoid such a circuitous route. “If his jumper develops the way I think it can, he can take a direct path,” he said. “He has a lot more tools than I probably had at this stage.” Antoine redshirted his freshman season because of a foot injury. He is on course to graduate in May with a degree in finance, leaving him with one year of eligibility. Although Casey said he expected him to stay, he might enhance his N.B.A. prospects by transferring to a program with greater exposure and proving he can flourish against better competition. Antoine said he did not have his immediate sights on the N.B.A. “It’s been my goal since I was a little kid, but I’m just focused on this season,” he said. “I’m not worried about the next level yet.” | College basketball;Anthony Mason;Knicks;Niagara University;Antoine Mason |
ny0024977 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2013/08/09 | Grand Jury Decides Not to Charge Officer Who Fatally Shot Unarmed Youth in Bronx | Eighteen months after a police officer barged into a private residence and fatally shot an unarmed teenager in the bathroom of the home, the criminal case against the officer has collapsed with a grand jury’s decision to not bring charges in the case. The decision, which was announced on Thursday morning, was met with shock from the Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, and it prompted calls for a federal civil rights investigation and an independent prosecutor. By late afternoon, the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan said it would review the evidence to “determine whether there were any violations of the federal criminal civil rights laws.” Nonetheless, the grand jury decision stirred anger and talk of racism among supporters and relatives of the shooting victim, Ramarley Graham, 18. Mr. Graham was black; the officer, Richard Haste, is white. Narcotics officers had become suspicious of Mr. Graham as he walked through the Wakefield section of the Bronx with two friends. Officer Haste, 31, pursued the teenager, forcing his way into the apartment where Mr. Graham lived with his grandmother. The officer confronted him in the bathroom and shot him, after he mistakenly interpreted a gesture as Mr. Graham reaching for a gun, according to the officer’s account to the grand jury. The resulting tensions in the community had been largely calmed after Officer Haste was initially indicted last year on manslaughter charges. But a judge dismissed the indictment in May, saying prosecutors had improperly precluded the grand jury from considering Officer Haste’s claim that he believed that Mr. Graham was armed, based on what he had heard fellow officers say over a police radio. Image Richard Haste at his arraignment for the shooting of Ramarley Graham. The judge’s ruling allowed prosecutors to seek a new indictment. On Tuesday, Officer Haste told grand jurors that he had repeatedly directed Mr. Graham to “show me your hands,” according to the officer’s lawyer, Stuart London. Mr. London acknowledged on Thursday that “it was surprising” for a grand jury in the Bronx to vote against prosecuting an officer after such a shooting. “The grand jury should be commended for the courage they had in the face of such a tragedy to keep an open mind and allow my client to tell his side of the story,” he said. Although the officer will not face state charges for the shooting, he still faces the federal inquiry and a disciplinary review in the Police Department; Mr. Graham’s family is also suing the police. At a news conference outside the district attorney’s office on Thursday, Mr. Graham’s father, Frank Graham, said, “Everything just seems dark.” Speaking before two dozen protesters and several politicians, the father said: “We have to ask ourselves this question: ‘Had Ramarley been white, would this have happened? Would they have run in a white person’s home?’ ” Image Ramarley Graham in 2012. The turn of events is all the more surprising because Bronx juries tend to be far more skeptical of police actions than juries elsewhere. About 16 officers are currently under indictment there on charges related to a widespread ticket-fixing scandal that has also cast a pall over State Supreme Court in the borough, as defense lawyers cite the scandal to suggest that the police cannot be trusted to testify truthfully. District Attorney Johnson said in a statement: “We are surprised and shocked by the grand jury’s finding of no criminal liability in the death of Ramarley Graham. We are saddened for the family of the deceased young man and still believe that the court’s dismissal of the original indictment was overly cautious.” For a time it had appeared that Officer Haste would be the first New York City officer to stand trial in criminal court for a fatal shooting in the line of duty since three officers were tried — and acquitted — in 2008 for the shooting of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a Queens club. The shooting of Mr. Graham provoked widespread outrage amid allegations of racial profiling and criticism of the aggressive tactics that led the police to pursue him and force their way into his apartment after finding the door locked. Anger over the shooting is memorialized even in Google’s mapping function: the street view of Mr. Graham’s home on East 229th Street shows a white fence thickly decorated with votive candles and posters criticizing the Police Department (one compares it to the Ku Klux Klan). Immediately after the shooting, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg expressed “real concerns.” The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, ordered a review of the street narcotics enforcement units, which are responsible for arresting low-level street dealers and their customers. Untrained in undercover work, they are limited to making arrests after they witness a drug sale, often observed from afar through binoculars. In the wake of Mr. Graham’s death, the focus of the squads shifted from narcotics work to youth gangs. Image Supporters of Mr. Graham, whose death has provoked widespread outrage amid allegations of racial profiling, marched on Thursday. Credit Michael Appleton for The New York Times On Feb. 2, 2012, something about how Mr. Graham moved his hands near his waist, as he walked down the street, led the narcotics officers to suspect he might be armed, and as the surveillance progressed, two officers said over the radio that they had seen the butt of a gun. Officer Haste said he was relying on what his fellow officers had observed as he rushed to the scene and broke into Mr. Graham’s residence. He told the grand jury on Tuesday over five hours of testimony, according to his lawyer, how he had confronted Mr. Graham, who had darted into the bathroom. Mr. Graham ignored repeated warnings to show his hands, and Officer Haste came to think the teenager was reaching for a gun, the lawyer said. “He believed he would be shot and killed,” Mr. London said of his client. It was then that Officer Haste fired a single, fatal shot. “I think the grand jury found there were many opportunities for Ramarley Graham to end the situation with no violence and no shooting and he did not avail himself of those opportunities,” Mr. London said. A bag of marijuana was later found in the toilet, and investigators think Mr. Graham’s final act was a bid to flush the drugs away. No gun was found. | Ramarley Graham;Richard Haste;Racial profiling;Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings;NYPD;Robert T Johnson;NYC;Discrimination;Black People,African-Americans |
ny0154944 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2008/01/23 | City Parents Boycotting Added Tests at 2 Schools | New York City public school students have taken English tests for years. Math tests, too. This year, 10 “diagnostic” tests have been added to the menu in the hope that they will improve results on the real thing. But when parents at two Manhattan elementary schools discovered that their children had been selected to participate in “field tests,” or tests to help the state’s testing company try out questions for future tests, they decided to draw the line. At a news conference in front of City Hall on Tuesday, the parents said they were organizing a boycott of the field tests to be given at their children’s schools — Public Schools 40 and 116 — later this week. “We’re using tests to figure out how kids will test on tests,” said Jane Hirschmann, the founder and co-chairwoman of Time Out From Testing, an anti-testing group that sponsored the news conference. Jonathan Burman, a spokesman for the State Education Department, said that there was nothing new about this year’s field tests, and that the state, working with its testing companies — CTB/McGraw-Hill in this case — has conducted field tests in the same manner since 2000. “We have explained for years that we field test to ensure the accurate development of test questions,” he added. But because of requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind Law coupled with the City Education Department’s decision to raise the number of diagnostic tests given to third through eighth graders — last year there as many as six — New York City’s public school students are taking more standardized tests than ever. And so the boycotters seized on the field tests, saying the testing company should figure out another way to conduct its research. “I don’t think it’s going to be a strain on any particular child, but it replaces classroom teaching, and it’s a waste of everybody’s time,” said Anne Daniel, who has two daughters at P.S. 40 on East 19th Street and who said she was circulating a petition for a boycott of the field tests there. Laurie Posimato, co-president of the P.T.A. at P.S. 116 on East 33rd Street, selected as a fourth-grade field test site, said parents of 50 of the school’s 115 or so fourth graders had either signed a petition or written letters to the principal announcing that they would not let their children take part in the field test. Ms. Posimato said she did not know about the field test until she overheard a conversation among teachers late last week. “Everything seems so secretive,” she said. In an e-mail message, Mr. Burman said the field tests were necessary “to determine the exact level of difficulty of each question,” and which should ultimately be used. Statewide, he said, roughly 200,000 students in third through eighth grade are selected to take part in either English or math field tests. Most schools are selected in only one grade and in one subject. A CTB/McGraw-Hill spokeswoman described the field testing as “a large undertaking that ensures the accuracy of these results.” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, on his way into City Hall during the news conference, defended the testing, saying, “I’m sure the teachers will use the information to figure out how they can improve education.” | Tests and Testing;No Child Left Behind Act;Boycotts;Teachers and School Employees;New York City |
ny0131472 | [
"business"
]
| 2012/12/16 | Bobby Kotick of Activision, Drawing Praise and Wrath | PEOPLE who love video games love to hate Bobby Kotick. Mr. Kotick, the C.E.O. of Activision Blizzard , the world’s largest video game publisher, inspired a stocky, auburn-haired character named Money Sack, who, in a game created by a competitor and a former employee, wields a wide grin and an automatic weapon. In another video, Mr. Kotick pops up from behind a fortified wall, and in a husky, ominous voice says he’ll set the price of his biggest game, Call of Duty, to “your soul” — a dig at its cost. Then fiery lasers shoot out of his eyes, wreaking havoc on an apocalyptic fantasy world. In several online photographs he is depicted as the Devil, with red horns against a Hades-like background. On this particular Sunday, it’s those Photoshopped horns that really irk Mr. Kotick. He is seated at a corner table in the cavernous breakfast room of the Pierre hotel, across the street from Central Park, shaking a leg nervously and whispering in a conspiratorial hush. “Think about what it’s like for my dating life when the first picture that comes up is me as the Devil,” says Mr. Kotick, who is recently divorced. “You see all this chatter and you realize that they game the search results. These super-sophisticated 19-year-olds are smarter than our expensive P.R. firm.” (His publicist, Steven Rubenstein, shrugs sheepishly.) Mr. Kotick, 49, has reason to be annoyed. Not since the music industry’s heyday has there been a business with such a wide disparity between the popularity of its products and its customers’ perception of the chief executive who made those products possible. Video games are among the most successful segments in the entertainment industry, and the disdain heaped on Mr. Kotick in video game blogs is second only to the admiration for him on Wall Street. He bought the company that is now Activision in 1990, when it was nearly bankrupt and when analysts dismissed video games as fads. But in his 22 years as C.E.O. he has built Activision into a company with a stock market value of $12.7 billion, almost three times that of its top rival, Electronic Arts . Mr. Kotick isn’t the most technology-driven executive. (He still prefers a BlackBerry.) And he doesn’t get into the weeds of creative storytelling; he leaves that to the studios Activision has acquired. But like David Geffen, who never played a musical instrument well but signed Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and the Eagles, Mr. Kotick has a knack for identifying hit after blockbuster hit. He wakes up each day thinking about those hits — some would say obsessing about them — and how Activision can lavish games like Call of Duty, Diablo and World of Warcraft with ever more bells and whistles to keep customers happy and ensure that the next release is a big success, too. The latest edition of Activision’s biggest game, the shoot’em-up megahit Call of Duty: Black Ops II, was released Nov. 13 and had sales of $500 million in its first 24 hours and more than $1 billion in the first 15 days. That fell short of some analysts’ expectations but was nevertheless more than the total domestic box-office revenue of “Avatar,” the highest-grossing movie of all time. BUT expensive, immersive games now face a challenge as free online games from companies like Zynga and Rovio compete for users’ attention. Retail sales of video games in the United States totaled $7.5 billion from January to October, down 26 percent from the same period in 2011, according to the NPD Group. In response, Activision is doubling down on a handful of games with high margins. The strategy is to have customers pay $60 or more to traverse for hundreds of hours through story lines with orchestral soundtracks and realistic, hologram-like heroes and heroines. With each new version “we need more resources, more time, and our development schedule has to get longer,” Mr. Kotick says. “How do you make the games better each year?” Developers of Call of Duty took the risky step of bringing the mostly historical war series into the not-so-distant future of 2025. David S. Goyer, co-writer of the story for “The Dark Knight Rises,” was a co-writer on the story for the latest Call of Duty. Trent Reznor, the Nine Inch Nails singer who won an Oscar for the soundtrack of “The Social Network,” did the theme song. Oliver L. North served as an adviser for the game, which features a virtual David H. Petraeus , the former Central Intelligence Agency director. The Activision strategy relies heavily on the holiday season. “This is a nail-biting time for us,” said Brian G. Kelly, Mr. Kotick’s longtime business partner, who is co-chairman of the Activision Blizzard board. In the three months ended Sept. 30 , Activision exceeded analysts’ expectations and increased its earnings by 53 percent, to $226 million, or 20 cents a share, even as video game console sales declined slightly. Mr. Kotick’s compensation is tied to the company’s performance. He made more than $8 million in 2011 and has an estimated net worth of over $1 billion. Fans have complained that Activision rakes in revenue by increasing the prices of their beloved games — though the company says the new Call of Duty costs around $60, the same price as previous releases. Fans also bemoan its practice of releasing only a few franchise games a year. “He gets wealthy if investors get wealthy and that’s why investors really like the guy and most gamers hate the guy,” Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said of Mr. Kotick. In an industry that is equal parts glitz and gritty computer programming, Mr. Kotick has always fit firmly among the former. He made a cameo in “Moneyball,” the 2011 film, as a cheapskate baseball team owner. His Beverly Hills home is filled with Abstract Expressionist art, and he recently flew his helicopter to pick up his friend Jeffrey Katzenberg for a Los Angeles Lakers game. Mr. Kotick’s games may regularly make more money than the movies, but his movie-star lifestyle doesn’t sit well with some gamers. But mostly Mr. Kotick has never lived down a 2009 Forbes magazine article that praised his business acumen but said he did not play video games, a claim that he says was inaccurate. Gamers went ballistic. “It’s doubtful he even knows the name of Azeroth,” the video game writer Ben Kuchera said of Mr. Kotick, a reference to the fantasy world in World of Warcraft, an online, multiplayer Activision Blizzard game with more than 10 million subscribers. Mr. Kotick dismisses such accusations. “When you dig down and look at the people who are vocal in their criticism of me, it’s a small number,” Mr. Kotick says. He holds out his thumb and says he had calluses from playing too much Defender, a 1980s arcade game set on a fictional planet that requires users to protect astronauts by shooting aliens. Today, he says he mostly plays Activision’s newest series, Skylanders, with his 11-year-old daughter. “People criticize me for not being passionate about the products, but I am,” he says. BUT even if it wasn’t about playing his own games, there’s something about Robert A. Kotick, a brassy Long Islander turned Hollywood mogul, who strikes some critics as the type of moneyed, outgoing jokester who would have teased obsessive gamers in high school. He once spotted Antonio Villaraigosa, the mayor of Los Angeles, surrounded by security guards, and jokingly put him in a chokehold from behind. “Is that Bobby Kotick?” Mr. Villaraigosa said, without turning around, according to a person who was standing with the mayor. Bobby Kotick is that kind of guy. Even in high school in Roslyn, N.Y., he had a taste for showmanship, picking up friends in a chauffeured limo to take them to Studio 54. He showed up at college at the University of Michigan in a Fiat convertible, with a stack of Italian cashmere sweaters in various ’80s hues, according to two former classmates. Ask the casino giant Steve Wynn and he’ll tell you that Mr. Kotick is still the precocious, if pushy, 19-year-old who in 1982 started a technology company with a friend and computer whiz, Howard Marks, in their Michigan dorm room. That company, the Arktronics Corporation, made a software package called Jane that cost $295 and was designed to emulate Apple’s Lisa operating system, which back then cost $10,000. During his sophomore year, Mr. Kotick, trying to secure financing for the company, tagged along with a friend to the annual Cattle Baron’s Ball in Dallas, a denim-and-diamonds fund-raiser held at Southfork Ranch, the setting of the fictional home of J. R. Ewing. That’s where he met Mr. Wynn. Mr. Kotick hitched a ride on Mr. Wynn’s plane to Atlantic City, figuring he could always make his way back to his parents’ house on Long Island. He used the flight to pitch Mr. Wynn on Arktronics. A couple of weeks later, Mr. Kotick and Mr. Marks were summoned to Mr. Wynn’s office, then on the top floor of the Bankers Trust building on Park Avenue in Manhattan. Bodyguards took them to a nearby heliport, from which they were flown to the Golden Nugget hotel in Atlantic City. Waiting in the casino basement, Mr. Kotick said he envisioned Mr. Wynn emerging in a custom Fioravanti suit and a pinkie ring. When he arrived, Mr. Wynn gave them a check for $300,000 to invest in Arktronics. (Mr. Wynn confirms the story, but has said he’s never worn a pinkie ring.) Mr. Kotick asked if they needed a contract. “ ‘Contracts-schmontracks — we’re family now,’ ” Mr. Wynn replied, in Mr. Kotick’s telling. Mr. Kotick says: “I thought: ‘O.K., we’re in the basement with a guy who owns casinos who said we’re his family now. We’re going to die.” The investment paid off. Ten years later, after Mr. Kotick had bought a controlling stake in a nearly insolvent company called Mediagenic and built it into Activision, he stopped by Mr. Wynn’s white-leathered office at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. He asked Mr. Wynn if he had been paying attention to the Activision share price, which then was about $18. “I have no idea about Activision,” Mr. Wynn said. “Is that good, Bobby?” “It’s good if you own a million and a half shares,” Mr. Kotick replied. “I sat at my desk speechless,” Mr. Wynn recalled recently, while on board his private jet, a Bombardier Global Express, en route to Monte Carlo. “The kid was telling me I had $31 million I didn’t know about.” Mr. Wynn was henceforth known as Uncle Steve. But it was another Steve, Steven P. Jobs of Apple, who persuaded Mr. Kotick to drop out of college. Mr. Jobs had heard about the Jane software package and visited Mr. Kotick and Mr. Marks in Ann Arbor. He told them that they were wasting their time in class. Mr. Kotick, an art history major, took the advice. At the time, his father, a real estate lawyer, and his mother, a homemaker and art collector, were skeptical. In a 1983 Forbes article, Mr. Kotick and Mr. Marks were shown grinning in front of an Andy Warhol silk-screen of Steve Wynn. A subheading read: “When Bobby Kotick wanted to get into the computer business, his father told him to cut the crap and start doing some schoolwork.” Seven years later, Mr. Kotick and his partners paid $440,000 for a controlling stake in Mediagenic , a software company founded by Atari programmers. It had $30 million in debt and $2 million in assets, and its office in Menlo Park, Calif., was in such disarray that the local sheriff showed up to repossess an I.B.M. mainframe computer. Mr. Kotick says an office assistant handed over a cheaper PDP 11 computer instead. The sheriff “didn’t know the difference between an I.B.M. and a PDP 11,” Mr. Kotick recalls. MR. KOTICK and Mr. Kelly moved the company to Santa Monica, Calif., and aggressively acquired development studios. In 1994, Activision raised $42.5 million from private investors. “That’s when I felt like we cannot fail. We have to make this successful,” Mr. Kotick says. The company spent much of that money on increased production and distribution of new games. From 1997 to 2003, Activision acquired nine development studios. In 1995, it introduced its first hit game, MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat, followed in 1999 by the popular Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. Then, in 2008, Mr. Kotick spearheaded one of the largest video game mergers in history when he combined Activision Inc. with the games division of Vivendi, the French telecommunications conglomerate; that unit was mostly made up of Blizzard Entertainment. Today, the combined company has more than 7,000 employees worldwide. “It’s one of the great success stories of all time,” says Herb Allen III, the president of Allen & Company, the boutique investment bank. This past July, Activision was the talk of Allen & Company’s media and technology retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, after reports emerged that Vivendi had consulted Goldman Sachs and Barclays about selling its 61 percent stake in Activision Blizzard. At a price tag of roughly $8.1 billion, no buyer immediately emerged. The uncertainty has put pressure on Activision’s stock, which closed at $11.41 on Friday, down from a 52-week high of $13.01 in May. A spokesman for Vivendi declined to comment. As the stakes in the video game industry have skyrocketed, so have the number of lawsuits. Gaming has started to look more like the movie industry, with creators and executives often suing each other over who should benefit from the windfall of profits on successful games. In May, Mr. Kotick settled a lawsuit against two of the founders of Infinity Ward, the video game developer and Activision subsidiary that created Call of Duty. Activision acquired Infinity Ward for $5 million in 2003; since then, it has turned Call of Duty into a multibillion-dollar franchise and one of the world’s most lucrative entertainment assets. The developers Jason West and Vince Zampella sued Activision, accusing it of wrongful termination, after they were fired in 2010. Activision countersued, contending that the employees had been disloyal. Activision later sued Electronic Arts for recruiting Mr. West and Mr. Zampella. The lawsuit enraged the game world. Mr. Kotick was painted as an evil capitalist and the developers as creative heroes. But Mr. Kotick says the decision to let the developers go was a no-brainer. “You find out two executives are planning to break their contracts, keep the money you gave them and steal 40 employees. What do you do? You fire them,” he says. Robert M. Schwartz, a lawyer for Mr. West and Mr. Zampella, said Mr. Kotick had “falsely promised huge bonuses and franchise control” to his clients. Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Electronic Arts, said Mr. Kotick’s “history of suing developers and competitors” appears to be “a fundamental part of his business model.” CALL OF DUTY may look like a movie, but Mr. Kotick has little interest in turning it into one — and has turned down several studios’ requests. He says movies based on video games rarely please devoted fans and could taint the brand. “He’s a very, very careful thinker about how value is created in the business,” says Bruce Hack, who was chief executive of Vivendi Games when it merged with Activision. He says that most Silicon Valley companies, meanwhile, haven’t figured out how to make money on free online games. But analysts caution that even the most popular brands reach saturation. Call of Duty , which makes up an estimated one-third of Activision’s more than $4 billion in annual revenue, faces a potential threat from the Electronic Arts shooter game Battlefield 3 . In 2010, Activision stopped making Guitar Hero, the game that lets users become living-room rock stars, after the market became flooded with it and related knockoffs. Since then, Activision has lacked a game that widely appeals to women. “Guitar Hero was much more about us not innovating in a way that was appealing to audiences,” Mr. Kotick says. “It’s not about oversaturating the market.” Last year, Activision released the first version of Skylanders, a video game with accompanying figurines; it’s aimed at young boys. Mr. Kotick, giddy about an entirely new concept in a company based mostly on old reliables, showed off a stack of prototype Skylanders action figures to friends. “We’re at some fancy-pantsy restaurant, and he has a shopping bag with him,” Mr. Katzenberg recalls. “I’m trying to be polite, but everyone is staring at us like we’ve lost our minds. Here are two grown men playing with toys.” Mr. Katzenberg, a prominent donor in Democratic Party politics, says he’s close to Mr. Kotick despite their political differences. Mr. Kotick, who calls himself a libertarian, voted for Mitt Romney for president, and in 2007 and 2008 donated a combined $47,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Mr. Kotick’s restlessness and competitiveness lead his friends to speculate about what he will do next, and whether it will be at Activision or elsewhere. “I like what I’m doing,” Mr. Kotick says. “If I didn’t like what I was doing, I’d be doing something else.” Mr. Wynn, for one, doesn’t see his surrogate nephew sitting still. “He’s got to decide what to do with the rest of his life,” says Mr. Wynn from somewhere over the Atlantic. He compares Mr. Kotick to the millionaire bank robber who tested his luck with a second heist in “The Thomas Crown Affair” — the 1968 version with Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. “I think all of us in life want to know if we can do it twice.” | Activision Blizzard Inc;Kotick Robert A;Computer and Video Games;Vivendi;Electronic Arts Inc;Wynn Stephen A |
ny0270653 | [
"technology"
]
| 2016/04/15 | Microsoft Sues Justice Department to Protest Electronic Gag Order Statute | Big technology companies have usually played a defensive game with government prosecutors in their legal fight over customer information, fighting or bowing to requests for information one case at a time. But now, in a move that could broaden the debate over the balance between customer privacy and law enforcement needs, Microsoft is going on the offense. The software giant is suing the Justice Department, challenging its frequent use of secrecy orders that prevent Microsoft from telling people when the government obtains a warrant to read their emails. In its suit, filed Thursday morning in Federal District Court in Seattle, Microsoft’s home turf, the company asserts that the gag order statute in the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 — as employed today by federal prosecutors and the courts — is unconstitutional. The statute, according to Microsoft, violates the Fourth Amendment right of its customers to know if the government searches or seizes their property, and it breaches the company’s First Amendment right to speak to its customers. Microsoft’s suit, unlike Apple’s fight with the Federal Bureau of Investigation over access to a locked iPhone, is not attached to a single case. Instead, it is intended to challenge the legal process regarding secrecy orders. The company is also trying to fuel a public debate about the frequent use of secrecy orders in government investigations and, in the process, portray itself as an advocate of its customers’ privacy. The suit itself could plod through the courts, with appeals going on for months or even years. Emily Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said officials were “reviewing the filing.” Microsoft is drawing attention to legal issues that have become more acute as tech companies move their customers’ personal and business information into so-called cloud computing systems. The largest such digital storehouses of personal email and documents are operated by big tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Apple. Seizing information from file drawers or personal computers used to require entering a building to examine paper or a hard drive. Typically, the target of an investigation knew about it. Not so in the cloud computing era, when investigators can bypass an individual and go straight to the company that hosts that information. And when courts issue secrecy orders, often with no time limit, a target may never know that information was taken. Microsoft, in its suit, contends that the government has “exploited the transition to cloud computing as a means of expanding its power to conduct secret investigations.” In an interview, Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s president and chief legal officer, said, “People should not lose their rights just because they are storing their information in the cloud.” Microsoft, like Google and Apple, fields thousands of requests a year from federal and state prosecutors for customer information. The companies issue periodic reports with the totals. But, Mr. Smith said, it was the rising portion of gag orders attached to the information warrants that led to the suit. From September 2014 to March 2016, Microsoft received 5,624 federal demands in the United States for customer information or data. Nearly half — 2,576 — were accompanied by secrecy orders. Mr. Smith called the growing share of secrecy orders “fairly shocking,” suggesting they had become a routine process rather than an exception. The suit positions Microsoft as a champion of its customers’ privacy and draws attention to a legal process many may not be aware of. “Most people do think of their email as their personal property, wherever it happens to reside,” said A. Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami. “But there is a disconnect between behavior and expectations and the statute. And Microsoft is inviting a court to bring the law in line with people’s expectations.” Beyond image-burnishing, the suit is a pragmatic attempt to move away from litigating cases one by one, which is costly and time-consuming. “Microsoft is going on offense, but they’re kind of forced into it,” Mr. Froomkin said. Judges grant the secrecy orders. Microsoft sees only the warrant for the information demanded and not the argument made by the prosecutors to justify a gag order. But the Microsoft legal team looked at the high percentage of secrecy orders granted in the year and a half through March of this year, and concluded that prosecutors often relied on a vague standard that there was a “reason to believe” that disclosure might hinder an investigation. Microsoft, Mr. Smith said, “readily recognizes that nondisclosure orders are appropriate and necessary” when there is a risk of endangering a person’s life or that crucial evidence may be destroyed, for example. “What concerns us is the low standard the government has to bear and the absence of a time limit,” Mr. Smith added. About two-thirds of the secrecy orders Microsoft received in the span it audited had no time limits. In the physical world, so-called sneak-and-peek warrants for secret searches are granted to look at documents without notifying a target. But most secrecy orders delay notification for a fixed period of time, typically 30 to 90 days, and detailed evidence is required for any extensions. Microsoft, Mr. Smith said, has talked to other major tech companies, and others may join with briefs in support of Microsoft. In addition to challenging the Justice Department and the courts, Microsoft is trying to prod Congress into looking at the issue. In both the House of Representatives and the Senate, legislation has been proposed to reform the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. But Mr. Smith said he saw little prospect of any substantive action in Congress anytime soon. “We’ll keep taking these ideas to the Justice Department, Congress and the courts,” Mr. Smith said. | Microsoft;Privacy;Government Surveillance;Justice Department;Email;Computers and the Internet;Tech Industry;Lawsuits;Electronic Communications Privacy Act;Cloud computing |
ny0276189 | [
"world",
"asia"
]
| 2016/02/24 | 30 Years After Revolution, Some Filipinos Yearn for ‘Golden Age’ of Marcos | MANILA — As Filipinos prepare for the 30th anniversary on Thursday of the “People Power” revolution that toppled Ferdinand E. Marcos , the Marcos family legacy is undergoing a political renaissance by those who claim it was a “golden age” of peace and prosperity. “I think Marcos was our best president,” said Richard Negre, a Manila resident who was born two years after the dictator was overthrown. “That was when the Philippines was the leader of Asia. We were respected.” Ferdinand Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, ruled the Philippines with an iron fist for two decades, with his wife Imelda, whose lavish lifestyle — and thousands of pairs of shoes — became a global symbol of greed and corruption. Marcos was removed from power in 1986 when millions of Filipinos poured into the streets for days of peaceful protests. But in the decades since Marcos was ousted and fled the country, the outrage has faded for many Filipinos. Despite the accusations of widespread corruption and human rights violations, none of the Marcos family members have been jailed. The family has quietly returned to politics — Mrs. Marcos is a now member of Congress, while her daughter Imee Marcos is a governor. The family’s political resurgence is led by Marcos’s son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., known as Bongbong, a popular senator who is tied for first place in the vice president’s race for the May 9 national election, according to a recent survey. Mr. Marcos has built a coalition from his father’s remaining supporters and young people who were not alive when martial law was declared in the 1970s. He is also backed by the well-funded families who benefited from the Marcos presidency, according to Ramon C. Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform in Manila. Mr. Marcos has also drawn close to popular politicians. He often appears at rallies with the boxer Manny Pacquiao, a senatorial candidate who is loved by millions of Filipinos. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who is running for president with Mr. Marcos, has a large following among young people on social media. On the campaign trail, Mr. Marcos usually discusses his plans for the future, but he has also touched on what his father’s supporters consider the “golden age” of the Philippines. Image Ferdinand Marcos with wife, Imelda, on Feb. 16, 1986, after his disputed victory in the presidential elections held on Feb. 7. He was ousted later in the month. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Imelda Orduña, a 70-year-old retired schoolteacher living in the city of Caloocan, north of Manila, who attended one of his recent political rallies, said she remembers well the time of Marcos when there was no traffic, police officers did not extract bribes and criminals were on the run. “Life was easier under Marcos,” she said. “We had peace and order and corruption was minimal. We have to tell our children and grandchildren about these times.” Mr. Marcos was campaigning and not available for an interview, his staff said, but during a television interview in August he said he would not apologize for his father’s administration. “What am I to say sorry about?” he said during the interview, adding that under his father thousands of miles of roads were built, the country had one of the highest literacy rates in Asia, and it was an exporter of rice — the country’s staple food — not an importer, as it is now. But, he noted during a Feb. 17 news briefing, the issue of martial law and his father’s human rights record does not come up that often on the campaign trail. “People no longer ask about martial law,” he told reporters. “They are interested in the current problems of the country, such as jobs and traffic.” Michelle Pulumbarit, 31, a customer service operator who lives north of Manila, said Mr. Marcos was putting forward a proposal for the future that will bring back the best of the Marcos years. She is not concerned about martial law and human rights violations, she said. “For me, those are things of the past,” she said. “That was a time when our economy was booming. Even Imelda did a lot of good things. She shared our culture with the world. I can forgive her for having so many shoes.” For others in the Philippines, the idea of a Marcos “golden age” is not supported by the facts. In her recent book, “Marcos Martial Law: Never Again,” the journalist Raissa Robles estimated that more than 3,200 people were murdered by the government during the Marcos years, and about 40,000 were tortured. “It was a ‘golden age’ if you were politically aligned with Marcos,” said Mr. Casiple of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “The cronies and the warlords of Marcos lived well and got the best of everything, but not the rest of society. Our school textbooks don’t reflect the agony of what was taking place during that time.” On Tuesday, a spokesman for President Benigno S. Aquino III told reporters that the country is more successful now than it was under Mr. Marcos. “It took us three decades to return our country’s honor,” he said. “We are now known as Asia’s rising star, an investment-grade economy and an example of good governance.” Lisandro Claudio, a professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University, said the Marcos family has changed the political narrative over time, focusing on the glamour and high-profile achievements of the Marcos years. “They have poured a lot of money into this,” he said. “They have engineered this resurgence for decades and it taps into something genuine: that Filipinos don’t think they are respected in the world anymore. They feel they are globally insignificant.” Marcos supporters note that most of the accusations against the family have never been proved in court. Ferdinand Marcos was never convicted of a crime, but in a class-action lawsuit after his death the United States District Court in Hawaii found his estate liable for torture, summary executions and disappearances. The Philippine government estimates that Marcos and his associates spirited away $5 billion of government funds by moving the money to overseas bank accounts, as well as buying lavish works of art and jewelry. Some fear that the election of Mr. Marcos could slow the recovery of that fortune; Mr. Casiple noted that the court system is overwhelmed and in some cases judges are not motivated to rule against associates of the Marcos family. “Some of the people in the courts were appointed by Marcos during martial law,” he said. “This is a statement of the residual power of the Marcos family. All of the administrations that have followed Marcos have had a very difficult time prosecuting them in the courts.” Apple Buiza, 26, an employee of a Manila aluminum siding company, said the fate of Imelda Marcos’s jewels was not a priority for her in the next election. Ms. Buiza spends hours each day battling traffic to get to work and is frustrated by the current government. She said she has heard stories of how orderly the country was during the Marcos years. “During the time of martial law, the Philippines was disciplined,” Ms. Buiza said as she gestured toward a group of jaywalkers dodging vehicles and blocking traffic. “People don’t even know how to cross the street now.” | Philippines;Ferdinand Marcos Jr;Ferdinand E Marcos;Imelda R Marcos;Manny Pacquiao |
ny0033452 | [
"world",
"asia"
]
| 2013/12/19 | Lawlessness on Borders Taints Progress in Myanmar | TACHILEIK, Myanmar — The verdant fairways of the golf course outside this northeastern city in Myanmar might suggest a measure of normalcy and tranquillity — except for the handguns that some of the golfers wear. In a region known for rival ethnic armies and drug-trafficking gangs, many officials find it prudent to carry sidearms even as they play 18 holes. In the city, which sits along the border with Thailand, a picture of barely controlled lawlessness emerges, with at least eight ethnic militias patrolling the streets in different uniforms. Despite their presence — or, in some cases, facilitated by it, Thai officials say — drug traffickers regularly smuggle shipments of heroin and methamphetamine pills to Thailand. Myanmar has begun a remarkable transformation over the past two years, edging toward democracy and moving past the legacy of five decades of military rule. But borderland areas of the country, long riven by ethnic conflict, pose a stubborn impediment to the government’s hopes for national peace. Officials have repeatedly postponed the announcement of a national cease-fire, partly because of the government’s inability to come to terms with ethnic groups located in an arc around the northern and eastern borders of the country. The United Nations reported on Wednesday that Myanmar’s production of opium, which is used to make heroin, rose 26 percent this year from 2012. Opium cultivation by the region’s impoverished farmers has increased for seven straight years, the United Nations says. Production of methamphetamines in northeastern Myanmar has also surged. “This area is ignored in the global conversation about Myanmar,” said Jason Eligh, the Myanmar country manager of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. “The rising level of opium cultivation is an indicator that things are not going well.” Mr. Eligh, who has traveled widely through the northeast of Myanmar, says it is afflicted by a “classic mix of guns and trafficking.” “There are dozens of groups with dozens of different agendas,” he said. “You are not going to find a resolution to the conflict without first addressing the issue of drugs. We are talking about a process that is going to take years and years.” An on-and-off conflict between the central government and the tangled jumble of ethnic groups in northern and northeastern Myanmar is sometimes described as the world’s longest-running civil war. Since Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948, ethnic groups have been battling for greater autonomy. Today, under the first nominally civilian government since 1962, they are clamoring for federalism. The central government and especially the military have not yet proposed a specific alternative to the country’s highly centralized state, controlled by members of the main ethnic group, the Burman. The volatility of the region is underlined by periodic attacks and skirmishes, including a blast near the border with China on Tuesday that left at least three people dead, according to Burmese news accounts. A sort of de facto autonomy reigns in many parts of the borderlands, including large swaths of territory where the central government has little or no presence. The starkest example involves the Wa people, who had something close to autonomy during British colonial rule and who since 1948 have built a state within a state, including their own armed forces, the United Wa State Army. With at least 20,000 men under arms, it is one of the largest rebel armies in Asia. Image The Wa have built their own roads, schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. They use their own license plates, have their own police force, and access Chinese and Thai networks for phone and Internet connections. The leadership writes in Chinese characters, and many if not most Wa do not speak Burmese. U Aung Myint, a spokesman for the Wa, said Wednesday that the Wa leadership had not held talks with Burmese government officials since October. “The government in Naypyidaw has not properly answered our call for a Wa autonomous state,” he said, referring to Myanmar’s capital. The Wa have not yet decided whether to agree to the nationwide cease-fire agreement, he said. Here in Tachileik, the Wa have a “liaison office” that functions like an embassy. U Ar Thet, the deputy liaison officer, told a visiting reporter that the 20 or so Wa representatives in the office were armed “for self-defense.” The Wa have rejected the central government’s role in conducting a census next year. Wa leaders say they will count their own people. Government peace negotiators have met with a range of ethnic groups, sometimes on rebel-held territory. Yet the government has deferred the key question, ethnic leaders say, of how a unitary state inured to decades of top-down military rule will devolve power to the ethnic areas in a new and more democratic Myanmar. Leaders of ethnic groups say the military, which has maintained significant influence and power in the new government, does not appear to be budging from the idea of central command. “Everybody, including the president, is talking about federalism — except the military,” said Gun Maw, a general who is the deputy chief of staff of the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic militia that has clashed regularly with government troops. Speaking on the sidelines of peace negotiations in November, General Gun Maw said the government and ethnic groups were “still in the precondition phase of the peace talks.” Outside observers say they see an overall improvement in the situation in northern Myanmar but are concerned about the continued, periodic clashes between government troops and ethnic forces. A Thai military intelligence officer who is a member of a special task force that deals with border security said he believed that the Burmese military was pursuing a strategy of “clobber, then caress.” “The Burmese government is pretty smart at this,” he said. “They are trying to push and push these groups. And then once tension grows, they propose more talks.” Thailand is particularly concerned about the situation because of the record seizures of methamphetamines in recent years and the prospect of violence spilling across its borders, as has happened in the past. The intelligence officer, who declined to be quoted by name because it would jeopardize his work, said ethnic leaders told him that “deep down inside they still mistrust the government, especially because the government and military seem to be moving in different directions.” Mr. Ar Thet of the Wa liaison office would not comment on the overall prospects for peace. But he said the security situation had definitely improved in Tachileik during his decade and a half working in the city. “When I arrived here there were shootings almost every day,” he said. “Now it’s only once in a while.” An avid golfer, he also plays down the danger of fighting on the fairways. “During my 15 years here, there has only been one attack on the golf course,” he said. | Myanmar,Burma;Drug Abuse;Thailand;Military;Opium;Tachileik Myanmar |
ny0011429 | [
"business"
]
| 2013/02/13 | In a Shovel, a Cure for Our Stunted Economic Growth | The budget deficit in 2013 is expected to fall below $1 trillion for the first time in five years. Perhaps policy makers in Washington can now focus on the other $1 trillion deficit, one that gets next to no attention yet is much more threatening to the well-being of American families: our sluggish economic growth. At the end of last year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office , the economy was still about 5.5 percent smaller than it would have been had it avoided the recession and kept growing along its long-term potential path, making full use of the workers and equipment currently sitting idle. A rebound is hardly around the corner. Growth this year will average only 1.4 percent, according to the budget office’s latest forecast. By the time we recover to our potential — which the C.B.O. expects will take until 2017 — the Great Recession set off by the implosion of the housing bubble more than five years ago will have cost us nearly half of one year’s entire economic production: about $7.5 trillion. We will be paying the price for years. The slump is hindering capital investment, stunting the careers of college graduates and encouraging workers to drop out of the labor force, potentially blighting the economy over the long term. The C.B.O. expects unemployment to remain above 7.5 percent through next year. And low growth is crimping government finances — reducing tax revenue while, at the same time, increasing the cost of programs like unemployment insurance. Last year, the budget office calculated that sluggish growth alone was responsible for more than a quarter of the budget deficit over the last four years. And yet the government is doing little to turn things around. The collapse of public spending, mainly by state and local governments, explains most of the subpar growth since 2009, according to the C.B.O. , more than sluggish consumer spending or business investment. In the final three months of last year, the economy may have even shrunk a bit, dragged down by declining military spending. Now, the government is expected to deliver another wallop to the struggling economy. This year, the budget office expects that budget tightening — including the so-called sequestration, the battery of spending cuts set to take effect on March 1 unless the White House and the Republicans agree on an alternative plan to cut the budget — will cut economic growth in half. Our protracted stagnation calls into question the priorities of our elected officials, who are consumed in a debate over how to cut spending even as the economy drifts. “We should be thinking about all the tools of economic policy to get the economy to escape velocity,” said Lawrence Summers, President Obama’s former top economic adviser. This is bringing us back to the questions that were hotly debated over the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus package of 2009. What power does the government have to pull the economy out of its rut? How much do tax cuts or spending programs stimulate growth? Even if Mr. Summers’s priorities were shared across the political spectrum, there is little consensus on what kind of tools should be used. Jared Bernstein, the former chief economic adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden who is now at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, argues that while fiscal consolidation would have been necessary at some point, the government slammed the brakes on spending before families were ready to spend again, while they were still working to reduce large debt burdens. “The stimulus didn’t last long enough,” Mr. Bernstein said. “We pivoted to deficit reduction too soon.” Image Applicants at a job fair last month. Unemployment may stay above 7.5 percent through 2014. Credit Mario Tama/Getty Images Not everybody agrees. Conservative economists, and most Republicans in the House, make the exact opposite argument: that spending cuts stimulate growth by giving businesses confidence that the government will be able to pay its debts. While few economists share this view, many are indeed skeptical of deploying more government spending now to pull the economy out of the hole. When the Obama administration unveiled its first fiscal stimulus package, in the early weeks of 2009, the federal government’s debt to the public amounted to only 35 percent of our gross domestic product. Today, it amounts to about 75 percent. That kind of debt scares people. “If debt were at 20 percent of G.D.P. I would be a big stimulus guy,” said Olivier Blanchard, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist. “Now, more fiscal stimulus would be playing with fire.” The Congressional Budget Office’s calculations suggest caution. It estimates that the administration’s fiscal stimulus produced about $1 of economic output for every $1 in stimulus, on average. Spending on infrastructure — say, repairing bridges and roads — produced a bigger bang for the buck, because it also encouraged private investment. Tax cuts, on the other hand, yielded less, because taxpayers saved some of their windfall rather than spend it. Since federal taxes across the entire population add up to a top rate of about 25 percent, this implies that $1 worth of stimulus would generate 25 cents in taxes, increasing the deficit by 75 cents. Earlier this month, the budget office produced an analysis of the impact that further deficits would have on the economy. A $2 trillion fiscal stimulus would increase growth for the next three or four years. But as the economy recovered, the deficit would crowd out private investment, reducing growth over the decade. By 2023, government debt would amount to 87 percent of G.D.P. Perhaps low growth is something we have to live with, for now. Even assuming that sequestration takes place, the C.B.O. forecasts that the economy will grow 3.4 percent next year — bringing us a little closer to our maximum potential output. In a related analysis, it concluded that while budget tightening weakens the economy in the short term, growth rebounds more strongly a few years down the road. “We’re almost there in terms of fiscal adjustment,” said Simon Johnson, a former chief economist of the I.M.F. who is now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. “If we don’t do it now,” he asked, “when will we?” Even the liberal research group the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities recommends that the budget deficit be cut by a further $1.5 trillion over the next decade to stabilize the federal debt. But there is another way to look at our policy options. It just requires analyzing more closely the potential return on public investment over the long term. Mr. Summers points out that there are many profitable investment opportunities for the government to improve the nation’s physical infrastructure, opportunities that would yield much more than a dollar in economic output for each dollar spent. There is also plenty of idle capacity in the construction industry — unemployed workers, unused machinery. And the government can borrow for 15 years at negative real interest rates. While he argues that we also need commitments now to reduce future budget deficits, not borrowing the money now to make the investments would be unconscionable. Some of them may even pay for themselves. Putting fallow resources to work — which also means employing men and women who are becoming obsolete — will, he suggests, bolster growth more than people expect. “It’s not like we’re never going to fix our infrastructure,” Mr. Summers said. “Not doing it now burdens future generations just as surely as more debt does.” | Federal Budget;Congressional Budget Office;Infrastructure,public works;US Economy |
ny0222410 | [
"world",
"europe"
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| 2010/11/20 | Britain: Adviser Resigns After Remarks on Recession | Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday first reproved then effectively dismissed a prominent economic adviser who gave an interview in which he said “the vast majority of people” in Britain “have never had it so good since this recession — this so-called recession — started.” The remarks by Lord David Young, 78, a multimillionaire businessman, were in an interview published on Friday in The Daily Telegraph in which he discussed Britain’s effort to impose 20 percent across-the-board cuts in government spending, its biggest peacetime cuts ever. Lord Young said many Britons had gained from historically low mortgage rates, allowing them to spend more freely on other things, thus buoying the economy through the banking crisis. His words echoed those of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, a former Conservative prime minister, who was accused of insensitivity to hard-pressed Britons when he said in 1957 that “most of our people have never had it so good.” They were also seen as undermining Mr. Cameron’s efforts to present his government as keenly attuned to the hardships experienced by Britain’s 60 million people, including 2.5 million unemployed. The prime minister first described Lord Young’s statement as “unacceptable” and said he would be doing “a bit less speaking in the future,” but as the political storm over the remarks continued to build, 10 Downing Street announced within hours that Mr. Cameron had accepted Lord Young’s resignation. | Politics and Government;Recession and Depression;Conservative Party (Great Britain);Young Lord David;Cameron David |
ny0001154 | [
"us"
]
| 2013/03/10 | Declared Innocent in a Killing, but Still Behind Bars | TENNESSEE COLONY, Tex. — In 2008, Ben Spencer’s family bought him clothes in preparation for a day they had prayed for since 1987. A Dallas County judge had declared Mr. Spencer innocent of the robbery and killing that sent him to prison for life. “I really thought once he made his ruling, I was finally going to get out and be free,” Mr. Spencer, 48, said in an interview nearly five years later from the Coffield Prison here. This month marks 26 years behind bars. Mr. Spencer’s 1988 conviction in the killing of Jeffrey Young was based primarily on the testimony of a jailhouse informer and three witnesses who claimed to have seen Mr. Spencer, who was then 22, and an accomplice in a dark alley. An expert hired years later by Mr. Spencer’s lawyers reviewed the crime scene and said that the witnesses could not have seen him. The informer has recanted his testimony. Dallas County State District Judge Rick Magnis concluded that the conviction should be overturned. But three years later, in an unusual move, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected those findings, saying in part that the expert evaluation of the crime scene had not been reliable. To get Mr. Spencer’s case back into court, his lawyers must find new evidence of his innocence. His advocates remain baffled by the ruling and the reticence of the Dallas County district attorney, Craig Watkins — widely known for investigations that have led to dozens of exonerations — to investigate the man they believe committed the killing. Russell Wilson, the assistant prosecutor who leads the district attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit , said that if new evidence were discovered, his office would pursue it. “All I can really tell you on that is we’re always open for business,” Mr. Wilson said. In 2008, a Dallas County assistant prosecutor told The Dallas Morning News that the office stood by the testimony of the witnesses. On the night of March 22, 1987, residents of a gritty West Dallas neighborhood found Mr. Young, a businessman, lying in the street, barely alive. He had been abducted from his office in an industrial complex, beaten, shoved into his BMW and dumped on the street before he died. A few blocks away, officers found his abandoned car in an alley. Two days later, Gladys Oliver, who lived near the place where the car was found, contacted the Crime Stoppers organization. She had told the police the previous day that she had not seen anything. Image Andrew Wattley, the son of Ben Spencer’s lawyer, Cheryl Wattley, demonstrates the distance at which witnesses said they identified Mr. Spencer in 1987. Credit Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune After Mr. Young’s company had offered a reward, she told police officers that she had seen Mr. Spencer and a friend get out of the BMW. She also suggested other neighbors who might have seen something. The police interviewed Jimmy Cotton, who lived across the street from where the BMW was found. He said he had seen Mr. Spencer and the friend from his kitchen window as they got out of the car. Investigators also interviewed Charles Stewart, who said that from more than half a block away on that moonless night he saw the two get out of the car. Officers arrested Mr. Spencer on March 26, 1987. He was placed in a county jail cell with Danny Edwards, who testified that Mr. Spencer had confessed to the killing. At the trial, Mr. Spencer’s lawyers argued that he had been at a park on the night of the crime, talking with a 16-year-old girl, who corroborated his alibi. But jurors rejected his claim of innocence. Jim McCloskey, the founder of Centurion Ministries , which works to free the wrongfully convicted, took up Mr. Spencer’s case in 2000. He is convinced that Michael Hubbard, a convicted robber, killed Mr. Young and that Mr. Spencer was wrongfully convicted. (Mr. Hubbard, known by the nickname the Batman, is serving a life sentence for an aggravated robbery in which he assaulted his victim, who was leaving an industrial park, with a baseball bat.) “This guy is totally innocent,” Mr. McCloskey said of Mr. Spencer. Centurion Ministries filed a writ on Mr. Spencer’s behalf in 2004. At a 2007 evidentiary hearing in Mr. Spencer’s case, Kelvin Johnson, an ex-convict who said he had committed crimes with Mr. Hubbard, told Judge Magnis that he informed the police in 1987 that Mr. Hubbard had told him he had stolen items that matched those stolen from Mr. Young. Mr. Johnson said he told officers that Mr. Hubbard had robbed and assaulted Mr. Young. “Michael had explained to us how he did it,” Mr. Johnson said in a recent interview. Mr. Hubbard declined to be interviewed for this article. At the 2007 hearing, he refused to testify. Paul Michel, an expert in forensic visual science whom Mr. Spencer’s lawyers hired, said during the hearing that on the night of the crime, the witnesses would have to have been within 25 feet of Mr. Spencer to identify him. The closest of the three witnesses who claimed to have seen Mr. Spencer was Mr. Cotton, who was about 100 feet away. Image Ben Spencer Credit Callie Richmond for The Texas Tribune At the hearing, Mr. Edwards, the jailhouse informer, admitted that Mr. Spencer had not confessed to him. After Judge Magnis ruled that Mr. Spencer was innocent and recommended a new trial in 2008, the case went to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which must approve such findings. Usually, it is a matter of rubber-stamping the finding of the judge who heard the evidence. But Mr. Spencer waited three years for a ruling. “It started to get depressing,” he said in the interview. In 2011, the court found that Mr. Michel’s crime scene evaluation was unreliable because he could not replicate the lighting conditions. Even if the court accepted the findings, the opinion stated, it would not prove Mr. Spencer’s innocence. “I thought they would have done the right thing,” Mr. Spencer said. “They did the opposite.” Mr. McCloskey and Cheryl Wattley, a lawyer for Mr. Spencer, said they would never give up, but they are running out of options. They have met with prosecutors in Mr. Watkins’s office, asking for assistance. Mr. McCloskey said the prosecutor’s resistance in Mr. Spencer’s case mystifies him. “They don’t want to see what is evident to all who look at this case,” he said. Mr. Wilson, the assistant prosecutor in the Conviction Integrity Unit, said his predecessors had reviewed the case and found no new evidence. Whether or not he agrees with the appeals court’s decision, Mr. Wilson said, that is the last word unless new evidence is discovered. Mr. Spencer and his lawyers say his best hope for freedom is a parole hearing scheduled for July. His last two applications were denied by the parole board, which typically asks convicts to express remorse before consenting to release. “It’s hard to have remorse for something you didn’t do,” Mr. Spencer said. | False arrest;Murders;Witness;Decisions and Verdicts;Texas |
ny0000465 | [
"sports"
]
| 2013/03/20 | Big East Secures TV Deal with ESPN | The soon-to-be-former Big East made one big component final Tuesday, announcing its broadcasting deal with ESPN. It still needs a name, a conference basketball tournament site, a revenue-sharing system and a 12th football member. The media contract for football, basketball and other sports runs through the 2019-20 season and pays about $20 million a year. The so-called Catholic 7 basketball schools are leaving the conference and taking the Big East name. | College basketball;ESPN;Big East Conference;College Sports;TV;College football |
ny0002602 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2013/03/12 | World Baseball Classic — European Showing Broadens Appeal | PHOENIX Brandon Phillips was a bat boy for the United States Olympic baseball team in 1996. It was a transformative experience, said Phillips, who was 15 and lived near Atlanta. Before the Olympics, Phillips said Sunday, his favorite sports had been football and basketball. “Just being around the clubhouse with those guys, I learned a lot,” Phillips said. “That’s when I took baseball seriously.” Phillips developed quickly and was in the major leagues within six years. Now he is an All-Star second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds, a No. 2 hitter and a defensive magician for the American team in the World Baseball Classic. The United States advanced to the second round here and will face Puerto Rico on Tuesday in Miami . The Dominican Republic is also there, and another baseball-mad country, Japan, has already earned a spot in the championship round in San Francisco starting Sunday. The other teams still alive are not as well known for producing major leaguers. Italy is also in the Miami bracket, and the Netherlands earned a trip to San Francisco by eliminating Cuba on Monday in Tokyo . The presence of two European teams is heartening for Major League Baseball, which hopes to inspire more players through international competition the way Phillips was inspired in 1996. “The more you can globalize the sport, the bigger the sport is everywhere,” Commissioner Bud Selig said during Friday’s game when Mexico beat the United States. “It will make the sport better here and better in the world.” Baseball was dropped from the Olympics after 2008 ; it had been an official sport only five times, and always uneasily, because of the obvious timing problem. The World Baseball Classic, which has also taken place in 2006 and 2009 , is also imperfect. Participation is not mandatory, and stars like Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, Justin Verlander and Mike Trout have declined to take part. (Trout, at least, watched from the stands on Saturday night.) Phillips, a three-time Gold Glove winner and two-time All-Star, is a prominent headliner. He said he did not watch the tournament much the first two times, but now that he is playing, he is having fun. “A lot of people don’t really know about the W.B.C. until you get here,” Phillips said. “It’s a lot of work, but you’ve got to take honor in this, and if you don’t want to do it, then you shouldn’t do it. But it’s a beautiful thing. This is the best thing that ever happened to me, wearing the red, white and blue.” Yet for all of the pride players may feel, the games are an odd hybrid of intense competition and get-your-work-in spring training. Joe Torre, the United States manager, acknowledged Sunday that he had to use three specific relievers, no matter what, because of promises he had made to managers about playing time. Some tournament standards, including tiebreakers based on run differential, have been confusing. On Saturday, a ninth-inning bunt by Canada with a six-run lead sparked a brawl with Mexico that led to seven ejections. Rick Renteria, the manager for Mexico, said he should have better explained to his players that some unwritten rules, such as not running up the score, do not apply in the W.B.C. Other players, though, are well acquainted with the format. The Mets’ David Wright also played in the 2009 event, when the United States advanced to the championship round on his game-ending single to beat Puerto Rico. The United States did not escape the second round in 2006. “It’s only going to get tougher from here,” Wright said Sunday, adding that he had paid attention to games involving the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. “They’re putting up video-game-like offensive numbers, and Italy’s going out and playing great baseball. It’s going to be a tough second round.” Wright will see several former teammates on the Puerto Rico team, including Carlos Beltran, Jesus Feliciano, Nelson Figueroa and Angel Pagan on the roster and Carlos Delgado and Jose Valentin on the coaching staff. Mike Piazza, another former Wright teammate, is a coach for Italy, and Jose Reyes is a standout for the Dominican Republic. Then there is Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager, who was a virtual presence at Chase Field. Once each game, the center-field scoreboard played a commercial in which Valentine encouraged fans to visit the United States and quizzed them on American cities. Sample: Which city has the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and Wall Street? a) San Juan, b) San Francisco, c) New York. Never mind that the fans in Phoenix were already in the United States, making the trivia questions come off as unintentional comedy at its finest. It was all part of the quirky charm of an event that is decidedly imperfect, but potentially important. | Baseball;World Baseball Classic;MLB |
ny0278987 | [
"us",
"elections"
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| 2016/11/13 | To Our Readers, From the Publisher and Executive Editor | When the biggest political story of the year reached a dramatic and unexpected climax late Tuesday night, our newsroom turned on a dime and did what it has done for nearly two years — cover the 2016 election with agility and creativity. After such an erratic and unpredictable election there are inevitable questions: Did Donald Trump’s sheer unconventionality lead us and other news outlets to underestimate his support among American voters? What forces and strains in America drove this divisive election and outcome? Most important, how will a president who remains a largely enigmatic figure actually govern when he takes office? As we reflect on the momentous result, and the months of reporting and polling that preceded it, we aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you. It is also to hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president and his team. We cannot deliver the independent, original journalism for which we are known without the loyalty of our readers. We want to take this opportunity, on behalf of all Times journalists, to thank you for that loyalty. Sincerely, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher Dean Baquet, executive editor | Donald Trump;2016 Presidential Election;News media,journalism;The New York Times |
ny0126038 | [
"sports",
"tennis"
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| 2012/08/30 | Baker and Isner Open On Very Different Stages | On the Arthur Ashe Stadium court Wednesday, John Isner was thrilling a big crowd and brushing away thoughts that he was under pressure to advance far in the United States Open . He professed, after a hard-fought, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (9) victory over Xavier Malisse, that he was just happy to finally be awarded the honor of opening his tournament on the Open’s feature court. A few hundred yards away, Brian Baker was winning his first-round match on Court 11, enjoying the honor of opening this tournament anywhere. The two Americans, both 27, were junior tennis prodigies. They have each put together remarkable seasons. But apart from that, they reside in separate tennis universes. Isner has spent the past few years adding weapons to his game to complement his huge serve and climbing to No. 9 in the world, the highest ranking among American men. Baker has spent the past seven years having his body and career reconstructed, with five operations and a ranking that hovered in the 500s as recently as a year ago. So while fans followed every boom that emanated from Isner’s racket as he left Malisse muttering to himself, a smaller in-the-know crowd gathered for Baker’s less dramatic but emotional 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jan Hajek. It was Baker’s first match at the Open since 2005 — when, perhaps fittingly, he played Malisse — an absence even deeper than it was long. “It means everything,” Baker said. “Everybody knows I’ve gone through a hard time. I was probably a little more nervous today than I’d like to have been. But seven years is a long time.” Somewhere in all the pain and frustration, Baker, who since January has lifted his ranking to 70 from 458, has fashioned a remarkable comeback . He received more good news after his victory when he discovered that his next opponent, eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, needed five sets to win his first-round match against Guillaume Rufin. Still, Baker has no illusions that his journey will suddenly be easy. “I haven’t really played him,” Baker said of Tipsarevic. “I think I played him in junior Wimbledon when I was 15. He doesn’t have to win in straight sets. He can win in five sets because he’s in great shape. When I get opportunities, I’m going to have to be aggressive and step up. I’m going to have to serve better than I did today.” Baker advanced despite a 61 percentage mark on first serves. But all of that was mere details when he thought about what it meant just to be here. “I remember several years watching it on TV, wishing I was here, so just to be here is an awesome feeling,” Baker said. “And then at the same time, the competitive side kicks over and I want to do really well.” Isner tried to claim he was also just happy to be moving on after dispatching Malisse, but he seemed to be convincing himself there was no more than the usual pressure on him here. He had to work hard to keep Malisse at bay, even though Malisse seemed to be coming apart at the seams. He carried on a running discussion with the umpire, with noisy fans, and at times, with himself. Four sets in, he resembled the crazy guy inevitably encountered on the 7 train at rush hour. But Malisse was still battling, sending two sets to tiebreakers. That is Isner’s specialty, however. He leads the world in tiebreaker victories, and his record in them this season is 37-13. Malisse, in contrast, is 9-10. “I’ve had a lot of practice, obviously,” deadpanned Isner, who won tournaments in Newport, R.I., and Winston-Salem, N.C., this summer. “Last week I won a tiebreaker at the end to win the tournament, and it gave me a lot of confidence. I wish I could make it a little easier on myself. I tend to not to, as people know.” At least, however, Isner did offer the Ashe Stadium crowd something to linger on and cheer for after two and a half days of uncompetitive matches. Before him on Ashe, Victoria Azarenka continued the trend of highly seeded players having little trouble, storming through her match against Kirsten Flipkens. Azarenka, ranked No. 1, needed all of 65 minutes to win, 6-2, 6-2. She happily collected the easy victory and became a little more used to the wind that buffeted the stadium court, knowing her hard work is still ahead. As the top seed for the first time, she knows that, like Isner, she is going to have to work harder to impress people. “The expectations are higher for sure,” Azarenka said. “There is a lot more attention. People expect you to play better. “For me, I always take it match by match, no matter where it is, what my ranking is. I have been doing it for pretty much my whole career. I try to stay humble and focused.” No. 4 David Ferrer, not known for short matches, got through his first-round match relatively quickly with a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory over Kevin Anderson. Juan Martín del Potro, the No. 7 seed, knocked out Florent Serra, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Serra, a lucky loser from the qualifying tournament, earned a spot in the match on Wednesday morning because del Potro’s scheduled opponent, David Nalbandian, withdrew. Elsewhere in the women’s draw, Petra Kvitova, the fifth seed, enjoyed an easy victory over Alize Cornet, 6-4, 6-3. Li Na, the No. 9 seed, defeated Casey Dellacqua, 6-4, 6-4. | United States Open (Tennis);Azarenka Victoria;Troicki Viktor;Halep Simona;Petrova Nadia;Isner John;Tennis;Baker Brian |
ny0162289 | [
"sports",
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| 2006/02/04 | An Empire in Your Pocket | My quest to unite the warring tribes of the Mongolian plains is in trouble. Half my spearmen are dead, my last knight is trapped behind enemy lines and a battering ram is at the castle gates. Fortunately, the tribes attack one another as often as they attack me, and as the battle grinds on, I begin to gain the upper hand. As my archers' volleys of flaming arrows leave enemy towns in ruins, opposing leaders have no choice but to surrender. There is more to do to cement my power, but for the moment I fold up my empire and put it in my pocket. Like any great military conqueror, I wish to hold the world in the palm of my hand, but rather than slicing the real world down to size, I prefer waging war in the pocket-size universe of Backbone Entertainment's Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, a turn-based strategy game developed for Nintendo's handheld DS. Kings presents war's grand battles and epic scope in miniature, with tiny little knights and tiny little archers laying siege to tiny little castles. It is a game that perfectly fulfills my pint-size ambitions. The game plays out as a series of campaigns waged by famed military leaders, with Joan of Arc taking on the English and Genghis Kahn uniting the Mongol hordes into a nation. The player moves the soldiers at his command, ordering each to attack, explore or retreat, then each allied and enemy army moves in turn. The day ends when all armies have moved. As enemies fight with skill and determination, these missions can easily last a month or two. Kings is a scaled-down version of the Age of Empires PC series, and it does a good job of squeezing typical PC strategy game play into the smaller format. Some missions give you an army that you must carefully maintain as you cut a swath of destruction through the country. At other times you build towns with barracks to train soldiers and use missionaries to both heal your wounded men and persuade enemy soldiers to join your side. You can also research technology, using advanced metallurgy and husbandry to make your armies more effective (this involves little more than choosing from a list of technologies as they become available). All this is paid for through income from mines and farms built by villagers. I normally find this resource-gathering the most tedious part of strategy games, but Kings make this chore strategic as well; resources are often difficult to get to or surrounded by enemies. The game also attempts to emulate the look of the PC series, with fairly detailed terrain and an angled bird's-eye view of the battlefield. This looks good, but at times the complexity of the landscape makes it easy to overlook enemies, especially when armies are crowded around a city. Missions are quite interesting, as you seek out holy relics or protect besieged cities. They can also be very difficult, and there were times when after an hour of desperately trying to wipe out the enemy my army would be decimated and my general slain, forcing me to start over with a fresh approach. Fortunately, the varied strategic choices can make a mission play out quite differently a second time. Variety is less evident in Tales of Legendia, a role-playing game from Namco that forces you to do mildly entertaining things over and over until all the entertainment has been squeezed out. The synopsis of Legendia could be used to describe dozens of other Japanese role-playing games: a callow, headstrong boy joins an odd assortment of traveling companions and explores bucolic monster-infested locales to rescue a mysterious damsel in distress. The game hews close to the familiar formula, with eccentric characters, magical powers, towns full of chatty strangers and people who all look like young children even when they are middle-aged. Legendia does a decent job with these familiar elements. Although the story is only mildly interesting and the characters somewhat bland, the game looks nice and has some amusing moments. The game even has a few amusing song-and-dance numbers. Managing your characters' weapons and powers is simple and straightforward. And unlike most Japanese role-playing games, Legendia doesn't force you to press a button after every sentence spoken, although you can do so if you prefer it. The least typical part of the game is its battle system, which plays more like an arcade action game than a typical role-playing game. You control one member of the traveling party during fights while the others battle independently based on your general instructions. You can fire long-distance spells or run up to monsters and attack, and occasionally you gain the ability to petrify your enemies and wallop them for a while unchallenged. But in spite of a variety of spells and attacks, combat isn't much more than running back and forth pushing buttons. This is unfortunate, because there is a tremendous amount of fighting, and the simplistic battles soon wear out their welcome. I eventually set battle mode to automatic, giving up control of the fights, and while I would join in for the game's occasional big battles, during the dozens of minor skirmishes encountered in a typical hour I would take a break to check my e-mail while the battle raged on without me. Despite Legendia's flaccid battles, the game does have an easygoing charm as you wander through its pretty locales, solve its occasional puzzles and confront various villains. But the game's slight charms don't make up for the constant confused wandering through monster-filled mazes. Mazes are an element of role-playing games I have always hated, and I try to avoid games that rely on them too much. Legendia fooled me by making travel early in the game fairly straightforward, but as the game progressed the amount of time I spent in look-alike, crisscrossing passages ending in cul-de-sacs increased. Part of the game is even set in a forest designed to be virtually impossible to escape, with almost nothing to differentiate one grove from the next. After wandering for a very long time, the game offered to lead me out of the forest, but actually took me only about halfway, after which I still spent an hour trying to find my way out. The mazes aren't large, but you run into a monster every few seconds, so progress is slow. After a battle, my traveling party would often be facing a different direction, and I would find myself unsure which way I'd been heading, resulting in a good deal of backtracking. To make things worse, the game uses one short, repetitive melody for exploring and a different, equally repetitive one for fighting, and while they were both pleasant at first, after hearing each several hundred times I actually muted the game, turning on the sound only when someone was having a conversation. Legendia includes all the elements of an epic story as you travel through a vast world of wildernesses and cities encountering enigmatic strangers and striving to prevent world-shaking destruction. But while the game was fun for the first few hours, its world never felt as vast, as magnificent or as compelling as the war-ravaged empire nestled in my pocket. IF YOU BUY AGE OF EMPIRES: THE AGE OF KINGS Developed by Backbone Entertainment Vancouver Published by Majesco Entertainment For ages 10 and older $29.99 For Nintendo DS TALES OF LEGENDIA Developed and published by Namco/Bandai Games For ages 13 and up $49.99 For PlayStation 2 GAME THEORY: VIDEO GAMES E-mail: [email protected] | BACKBONE ENTERTAINMENT;COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES |
ny0263157 | [
"sports",
"football"
]
| 2011/12/11 | Giants Can’t Find Right Formula for Consistent Special Teams | EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —This season, when the Giants’ special-teams coaches screened the film from last year’s brutal loss to the Philadelphia Eagles for the first time, the players in the room were appropriately solemn. Those who had lived through DeSean Jackson’s punt return for the winning touchdown winced, while those who did not — like the rookie Jacquian Williams — were nonetheless sensitive to what they were watching. “That has got to be the worst feeling ever,” Williams said. The only hint of a grin came from the veteran Derrick Martin, who played for the Green Bay Packers in 2010 and recalled that the Giants’ loss “helped get us into the playoffs,” and they went on to win the Super Bowl . But as the images flashed on the screen, even Martin’s smile soured. Martin knew. One sequence against the Eagles — an ill-timed shank by Matt Dodge and then shoddy coverage — was surely the nadir of the Giants’ special-teams play during the Tom Coughlin era, a glaring symbol of a facet of the game that has been consistently inconsistent. Giants fans have often complained about the special teams’ performance on message boards and sports talk radio, and the Web site Football Outsiders, which uses a statistic called Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (D.V.O.A.) to measure a team’s performance in each phase, supports the notion that the unit has been erratic under Coughlin. This year’s group has been significantly better — ranking 13th among the 32 N.F.L. teams in special-teams D.V.O.A. — but the improvement is most noticeable because of its context: if the Giants finish the season in the same spot, it will be only their second time since 2005 with an above-average ranking. In 2010, the Giants ranked 30th ; in 2009, they were 27th . This season’s rise has been particularly apparent in coverage on punts and kickoffs, but the special-teams coordinator Tom Quinn said last week that he remained frustrated by the Giants’ lack of a consistent return game, especially on punts. Going into Sunday night’s game against Dallas, the Giants are averaging just 7.1 yards per return on punts, the fifth lowest in the league. What’s more, they are barely attempting any returns. Giants returners have called for 19 fair catches this season and have run back only 20 punts. By comparison, their opponents have run back 32 punts and taken a fair catch 11 times. “You’ve got to take some swings at it,” Quinn said. “I’d like to see more returns. That’s the biggest thing that’s held us back. We’ve always prided ourselves on being able to cover. Just the return game in general — we need some consistency back there.” He added, “We haven’t had a return game since Domenik left, which is unfortunate.” Quinn was referring to Domenik Hixon, a wily wide receiver and returner who was a cog on kickoff returns for the Giants during their Super Bowl run in the 2007 season and averaged 12.1 yards on punt returns over the 2008 and 2009 seasons. In September, though, Hixon tore his right anterior cruciate ligament for the second time in 15 months , ending his season. When Hixon has been out with his various injuries over the years, the Giants have tried a litany of fill-ins — three so far this season, including the latest, wide receiver Victor Cruz — with minimal success. Ornery Giants fans will also surely remember the struggles of Sinorice Moss, Darius Reynaud and Will Blackmon (among others) in previous seasons, and the Giants have had exactly two punts returned for a touchdown since Coughlin became the coach in 2004; Dez Bryant, the Cowboys’ punt returner, ran back that many in 2010. “The key is seeing a hole early and hitting it,” said the rookie Jerrel Jernigan, who faltered badly in the preseason as a returner. “But punt return is a lot of chaos. It never works the way you want it to work.” Despite the struggles on punt returns, the Giants have fared well in kickoff returns (a play that is generally more scripted), and their performance on coverage this season has been particularly encouraging. With as many as six rookies playing critical roles on special teams, there was a sharp learning curve, but rookies like Tyler Sash and Williams, who are the team’s leading special-teams tacklers, have impressed. Sash, a safety who said he played sparingly on special teams while at Iowa, will probably play some on defense Sunday because Kenny Phillips was ruled out, but he has drawn notice for his tenacity on kick coverage. Sash credited Quinn, as well as the assistant Larry Izzo , a former special-teams star in the N.F.L. who is in his first season as a coach. Izzo is adept at teaching the nuances of special teams, according to Sash. If a player on the returning team is turned slightly so that his back is toward one sideline, Sash said, that often means the team will run its return toward the sideline and the blocker is going to try to push would-be tacklers — like Sash — in the other direction. “If you see that early, you can fake the way he wants and then cut across his face,” Sash said. “Details like that are big.” Quinn, who joined the Giants in 2007, acknowledged that there was always an unknown quantity in special teams because of the continual turnover among players. The best are inevitably moved off special teams (Ahmad Bradshaw, for example, was the primary punt returner in 2007), leaving coordinators to adapt on the fly. Organizational approach to special teams is also a factor. Mike Westhoff, the Jets’ special-teams coordinator since 2001, has developed a reputation for pushing hard in draft meetings or free-agency discussions to acquire certain players, and his presence may make it more likely that the Jets will acquire players specifically suited for special teams. With the Giants, Quinn has valued input in such discussions but, he said, “we’ve always felt like they’ve got to be good on offense and defense and then they’ll be good on special teams; that’s the approach we’ve always had.” This season, at least, the results have been mostly positive. Kicker Lawrence Tynes has been solid; punter Steve Weatherford has been a huge improvement over Dodge. The return game has been hit and miss, but the coverage, as Quinn said, “is something we pride ourselves on.” With four games remaining — and a playoff spot still dangling — the Giants must hope the trend continues upward. “There are three parts to the game,” Sash said. “And even if it’s not as noticed, we know that this part matters, too.” | Coughlin Tom;Football;New York Giants;National Football League |
ny0064166 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2014/06/05 | Ex-Convict Arrested in Stabbing of Brooklyn Children | A man with an extensive criminal record who was released from prison less than two weeks ago was arrested Wednesday night in connection with the stabbing death of a 6-year-old Brooklyn boy, hours after investigators used forensic evidence to identify a suspect, the authorities said. The arrest of the man, Daniel St. Hubert, 27, just after 8 p.m. on a quiet street in Ozone Park, Queens — more than five miles from the scene of the killing — came minutes after police officials and Mayor Bill de Blasio publicly identified the suspect, displaying his picture at a news conference at Police Headquarters. Mr. St. Hubert’s criminal record includes arrests for assaults on a police officer and a correction officer, the authorities said. He was released on May 23, said the chief of detectives, Robert K. Boyce. Prison officials said he had served the full length of his five-year sentence for attempted murder and assault. He had been denied a conditional release in September for refusing to complete programs in prison, according to state correction records. A law enforcement official said early Thursday morning that Mr. St. Hubert had been arrested in May 2009 on charges that he had punched his mother and tried to strangle her with a telephone wire. Mr. de Blasio, who cleared a packed schedule Wednesday night to appear at the news conference with Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, said no effort had been spared to ensure that the suspect was tracked down. News of the arrest, which was overheard on police radio at a community meeting in the precinct where the stabbings occurred, prompted rousing applause. The 6-year-old boy, Prince Joshua Avitto, who was known as P.J., was killed, and Mikayla Capers, 7, was critically wounded when an attacker stabbed them in an elevator of a building on Sunday in the Boulevard Houses project where P.J. lived. Mikayla remains hospitalized. When he heard the news of the arrest, Henry Alston, P.J.'s godfather, said by phone that he felt relieved. Image Donta’e Acker, 8, a schoolmate of the stabbing victims, at a memorial at the Boulevard Houses. Credit Uli Seit for The New York Times “It’s great, I’m glad there’s an arrest,” he said. “There’s a relief that he’s off the streets and that no other family will have to suffer what me and mine have suffered.” Witnesses said that upon hearing the news, Arica McClinton, P.J.'s mother, rushed out of the building where the children were stabbed and threw her hands in the air, triumphantly. Hobbling toward the 75th Precinct station house with a cane on Wednesday night after hearing about the arrest, Regenia Trevathan, Mikayla’s great-grandmother, said she wanted a glimpse of the suspect. “I want to see this bastard’s face,” said Ms. Trevathan, a retired correction officer. “He’s not a crazy person; he’s just an animal who does not belong on the face of the earth. I don’t think he’s going to be a happy camper in incarceration this time around; people in prison have children, too.” An official speaking on the condition of anonymity said earlier that a preliminary match had been made between DNA on the knife used to kill the boy and a profile in the New York State database. At the news conference, the police declined to detail the nature of the forensic evidence recovered. For much of Wednesday afternoon, an arrest seemed imminent. Chief Boyce said at a news conference around 2 p.m. that the “case has picked up a lot of steam.” But by night, he returned to the podium at Police Headquarters to say that detectives had yet to locate the suspect and that no arrests had been made. That changed in an instant as detectives, who tracked Mr. St. Hubert to Queens, recognized him on the street from the stone-faced arrest photographs of the man that were later shared with the public. The arrest occurred only blocks from one of his former listed addresses. It was unclear what would have brought him to East New York on Sunday. Neighbors near Mr. Hubert’s former home in Queens said that they had noticed increased police presence in the area in recent days, and that they saw officers in the house’s backyard on Wednesday afternoon. Image A poster advertises a reward for information leading to the capture of a suspect in the stabbing of the two children. Credit Uli Seit for The New York Times Asked about Mr. St. Hubert’s mental health history, Chief Boyce said he did not yet have information on it. For days, the police had been canvassing for witnesses, circulating a sketch of a man said to be the suspect, and going over arrests made nearby, including those for trespassing in public housing, in search of any possible leads in the crime. With the matching of DNA from the knife to a name in the state criminal database, the investigation shifted to finding that person. Capt. John Buttacavoli of the 75th Precinct said late Wednesday that when his officers learned the suspect’s name, he received a text from one that said, “We may have stopped him and written him a summons last night.” He did not provide further details. But even with the name, the suspect could not immediately be located and the mayor and police commissioner asked for help from the public, which had already flooded the Police Department with tips. “I ask all New Yorkers to help in this investigation in any way you can,” Mr. de Blasio said. “Do it for this grieving family. Do it for all of us so we can be safe.” The police said Mr. St. Hubert is a suspect only in the attack on the P.J. and Mikayla, and was not at this time a suspect in the fatal stabbing of Tanaya Copeland on Friday. Ms. Copeland, 18, was attacked with a similar knife on a street several blocks from the housing project where the children were stabbed. The police have said her killing may be linked to the attack on the two children. That killing, on May 30, has drawn increased attention since the attack on the children. The stabbings set the community on edge and led to outraged calls by elected leaders for better security in the neighborhood. Only one of the 18 buildings in the complex has security cameras, delaying efforts to get an image of a suspect in the boy’s killing. Image Rochelle Copeland, the mother of Tanaya Copeland, the 18-year-old who on Friday was found stabbed to death a few blocks from where the children were attacked, speaking at a news conference Wednesday. Credit Uli Seit for The New York Times On Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio criticized the New York City Housing Authority, saying the agency moved too slowly to install cameras in housing projects, despite the fact that millions of dollars had been allocated by the city for that purpose. With no video of the attack, a sketch of the man circulated widely in the neighborhood, staring out from lamp posts, parking signs and store windows. Detectives scoured the area for any relevant videos and witnesses, going door to door in the vast housing project, where more than 3,300 residents live. Detectives had also lifted fingerprints found inside the elevator where the children were attacked, hoping that the prints of the assailant were among the many prints inside. It was not immediately known if the suspect’s prints turned up there. But the kitchen knives the killer left behind constituted the main physical evidence. Outside the housing development, witnesses saw the fleeing man drop an eight-inch blade with “Dura Edge by Imperial Knife” written on the side, the police said; that line of knives has not been manufactured since 2004. The same make of blade was left near Ms. Copeland’s body, the police said. In that case, there were no witnesses to the killing or the suspect’s flight, only a grainy camera image of a man — of husky build and in clothes similar to those described in Sunday’s attack — running from near the scene. A taxi driver found the body of Ms. Copeland, a popular teenager who played in a community marching band, on the street and called the police. The longer the manhunt went unresolved, the more nerves were frayed in the area of East New York. At a news conference Wednesday morning, Borough President Eric L. Adams told residents to call the police if they saw the suspect and not take the law into their own hands. He was echoed by Rochelle Copeland, the mother of Ms. Copeland. She also warned her neighbors to stay alert, and not walk around with their attention focused on their phones. By evening, a neighborhood racked by fear and mourning breathed a sigh of relief. Jessica Gonzalez, 25, a student who lives just a few blocks from the stabbing scene, said she was elated to hear news of the arrest “because I don’t have to stay scared no more.” She added: “I can go to the park with my kids, I can sleep well, I was locked in my house.” On the street, two uniformed officers kept up the police line in front of the building where P.J. was killed. The shrine to his memory continued to grow — with candles, stuffed toys, Spider-Man balloons and a hand-drawn portrait of the boy. | Daniel St Hubert;Murders;Prince Joshua Avitto;Mikayla Capers;East New York Brooklyn;NYC |
ny0148364 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2008/09/02 | With Focus on Storm, Scaled-Back Convention Opens | ST. PAUL - Republicans cut short the first day of their national convention Monday, issuing an appeal for help for victims of Hurricane Gustav at the end of a day that opened with the surprise news that their vice presidential candidate's unmarried teenage daughter is pregnant. After the line-up of Republican speakers that was to include President Bush was jettisoned due to the storm, First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the wife of Senator John McCain, took the stage in the Xcel Center to urge speedy relief for states along the Gulf Coast. "I would ask that each one of us commit to join together to aid those in need as quickly as possible," said Mrs. McCain, whose husband visited an emergency center in Ohio earlier in the day. The opening session, which ended hours before the prime-time speeches would typically begin, was devoted both to the hurricane and the official business that needed to be accomplished in advance of the nomination of Mr. McCain later this week. But the schedule for the rest of the week remained fluid. Party leaders were hoping that the storm had not inflicted the serious damage that had initially been feared, allowing the convention to get back to its original schedule as early as Tuesday and clear the way for Mr. McCain to speak in person Thursday night. One top Republican official said a final decision might not come before Tuesday morning. It was a move intended to reinforce the message put forth by the party’s nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, who said Sunday that the convention would set aside politics while the storm raged. And at least some delegates came prepared; a group of Texans said they were told by their state party officials they would need to know how to send text messages if they wanted to serve as delegates. “They told us if we didn’t know how to text message, to ask our kids," said one Texas delegate, MerryLynn Gerstenschlager.The floor was the usual convention mix of coordinated outfits and funny hats – Texans in blue jeans shirts and straw ten-gallon hats; Coloradans in navy golf shirts; Floridians in Hawaiian shirts. The mood was festive, but the floor action was brief and perfunctory, lasting no more than 20 minutes. After Mr. Duncan called the convention to order, he suspended the floor activity to convene committees that will handle the routine matters – setting credentials, handling platform issues – necessary to allow the convention to proceed. Instead of a line-up that was to have included President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the first day of the proceedings in the Xcel Center will feature appearances by First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, the nominee’s wife, who are to call for help for victims of the storm. Trying to strike the right tone, organizers of glitzy parties being staged around the Twin Cities are also converting them into fundraisers. Mr. McCain visited a relief center in Ohio. At the same time, the family of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, Mr. McCain’s surprise choice as his running mate, announced that Governor Palin’s unmarried 17-year-old daughter was five months pregnant and would marry the father of the child, illustrating the intense public scrutiny accompanying the new status of the relatively unknown Governor Palin. “Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned,” Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, said in a statement released by the McCain campaign. “We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.” McCain aides said the pregnancy was announced to counter mounting Internet rumors that Governor Palin had claimed to have given birth to her fifth child last April as a way of covering up for what the rumors asserted was for her daughter’s childbirth. A top McCain adviser said he did not see any impact on the way voters would judge Governor Palin. “The notion that that would bear on her capacity to be vice president of the United States is demeaning,” said Steve Schmidt, Mr. McCain’s senior adviser. “I doubt you would ask that question if it was a man. The tradition in our politics has been that we leave the kids alone.” Another McCain aide said the campaign would have preferred that the news of the pregnancy not be become public, allowing the family to deal with it privately. But they said Mr. McCain was made aware of it in a long private conversation with Governor Palin before he selected her as his running mate.In his first comments on the issue, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic nominee, said the pregnancy was not relevant to the campaign. “I think people’s families are off-limits,” Mr. Obama said, speaking to reporters here on Monday. “People’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics.” Several of those attending the convention offered quick support for the Palins, saying the pregnancy was an issue that many families confront. “This happens to people in all walks of life,” said Karen Minnis, 54, a state representative from Oregon. And in another problem facing the party, hundreds of protesters threatened to disrupt the convention. In an incident more serious than any that occurred at the Democratic convention in Denver last week, protesters with black handkerchiefs covering their faces marched downtown toward the convention center and smashed windows of a department store and a bank. “I feel like the Bush administration destroys more property everyday,” one masked protester said. Besides using chemical spray, police officers used their bicycles as a make-shift fence to push back the marchers. The Republicans are conducting internal party business at the convention on Monday afternoon as a necessary prelude to formally nominating Mr. McCain later this week. As the initial reports from the Gulf Coast indicated that Gustav would not inflict the same type of devastation as Katrina three years ago, Republicans said they would make evaluations on a daily basis as to if and when they would return to the planned convention schedule. They noted that first reports on the ground sometimes underestimate the damage. “Obviously, we hope we will get back to our regular program,” said Mr. Duncan. The political ramifications of shrinking the convention remained unclear. Republicans were almost certain to get less exposure than Democrats did last week in Denver. But party strategists also privately pointed to advantages in the absence of Mr. Bush, who was monitoring the storm, and Mr. Cheney, allowing Mr. McCain to keep some distance from the leaders of an unpopular administration. But the hurricane also provided a potent reminder of the administration’s mishandling of the aftermath of Katrina. The McCain campaign team said they were uncertain of the impact of cutting back the proceedings but would cope with it. “This was not the plan,” Mr. Schmidt said ruefully. Mrs. Bush, though, did make a swing through the bustling, heavily-secured convention city, meeting with the Louisiana delegation and conducting a series of television interviews. “I know the delegates are disappointed,” Mrs. Bush said on CNN. “They come from all over the country to have this big celebration but on the other hand I know they understand.” Having invested millions of dollars in convention-related events, Republicans and their political allies were moving ahead with the dozens of parties but trying to strike a more somber tone until the extent of the storm damage is known. For example, the “Spirits of Minnesota” party to be staged Monday night by the Distilled Spirits Council and more than a dozen cosponsors is being converted into the “Spirits of the Gulf Coast,” with the more than 1,000 invited guests being asked to make contributions to the Minnesota Red Cross. “All the money had already been spent so why not turn it into something for the good,” said Frank Coleman, senior vice president of the spirits council, explaining the decision to proceed with the party. In addition, Republicans are planning to assemble thousands of “comfort packages” to be distributed to those affected by the storm. Republicans consider Minnesota an important element of their presidential calculation and the staging of the convention in St. Paul is intended to help build support in a state that has trended Democratic in presidential elections. | Presidential Election of 2008;Conventions National (US);Republican Party;McCain John |
ny0224993 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
]
| 2010/10/02 | Reversal by Sadrists Puts Maliki Closer to Returning to Power in Iraq | BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq appeared almost assured of a second term in office on Friday after securing the support of an anti-American Shiite Islamic movement whose return to political power could profoundly complicate relations with the United States . The deal came as a breakthrough after nearly seven months of bare-knuckle back-room bargaining that followed the country’s election on March 7. It came with political costs, uncertainty and risks, splintering a broad Shiite alliance and threatening to raise tensions with Sunnis who largely supported a secular Shiite leader, Ayad Allawi . As a result, it could still take weeks or longer for Mr. Maliki to secure re-election and form a new government, even as public frustration and extremist violence continue to mount. But Mr. Maliki spoke late Friday night with certainty that the long contest of wills was finally over. “We are confident that with the cooperation and efforts of honorable and faithful Iraqis, we will, God willing, be able to overcome the difficulties, challenges and problems and complete the construction of the institutions of state of a free, democratic Iraq,” Mr. Maliki said in televised remarks. He owes his new support to the extraordinary political resurrection of Moktada al-Sadr , the self-exiled cleric whose fighters once battled in the streets of Baghdad, Basra and other cities with Iraqi and American troops. Until days ago he fiercely opposed Mr. Maliki’s re-election. Mr. Maliki’s success reflected his tenacity — tinged with authoritarianism — to retain power, despite widespread opposition to his leadership. It also showed his willingness to disregard — for political expediency — American concerns about the return of Mr. Sadr’s followers to the center of political power. A dour, uncharismatic leader, Mr. Maliki has persisted in arguing that only he can prevent a descent into the sectarian carnage that consumed Iraq when he took office in 2006, even if that means allying with a movement blamed for much of the violence. While Obama administration officials insisted over months of quiet diplomacy that they preferred no candidate, only a broadly inclusive government, they made it clear that they did not favor a government that included the Sadrists, who are closely allied with Iran and oppose the presence of American troops. This week, a senior American military commander in Baghdad blamed Shiite extremist groups , including one affiliated with Mr. Sadr, for a spike in rocket attacks on the capital’s Green Zone. In Washington, officials were noticeably cool to news of the agreement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Sadr, in no small part because it signaled an ascendant Iranian influence in Iraq. “An Iraqi government that owes its existence to the Sadrists and lacks strong support from Allawi would necessarily be one that leans in Tehran’s direction, something Washington can little afford at the moment,” Daniel P. Serwer, a vice president at the United States Institute of Peace, said in an e-mail. Mr. Maliki, who is 60, now has the backing of at least 148 lawmakers in the new 325-member Parliament to form a government, just short of a majority. The Kurds, with 57 seats among several parties, indicated Friday that they, too, would support his re-election, though only with concessions on territorial, economic and political issues. “Now he has a great possibility to become prime minister again,” said a prominent Kurdish lawmaker, Mahmoud Othman. That would give Mr. Maliki a solid majority, though he must still cobble together a governing coalition among various parties jockeying for control of important positions and ministries, especially those overseeing oil and the security forces. “What happened now is the best for Iraqis,” said a leader of Mr. Maliki’s party, Ali al-Adeeb. He called for a swift session of Parliament to elect Mr. Maliki and pledged to continue talks to include other factions, especially Mr. Allawi’s, which includes almost all of the newly elected Sunni lawmakers. Mr. Maliki echoed that in his statement. Mr. Allawi’s bloc vowed to oppose the nomination, but despite winning slightly more seats than Mr. Maliki did, 91 to 89, he and his supporters did not appear to have enough votes to do so. It was not immediately clear when the new Parliament, known as the Council of Representatives, would meet again. It has convened only once, for 18 minutes , despite constitutional deadlines that have passed unheeded. By law, the members must first elect a president, who then authorizes the leading bloc to form a government coalition. Mr. Maliki’s nomination underscored the ever-shifting alliances of power here. The Sadrists at first backed Adel Abdul Mahdi , one of two vice presidents who is a leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq , which was part of a broader Shiite alliance that joined Mr. Maliki’s bloc after the election, only to disagree on who should be prime minister. That party’s leaders boycotted the nominating session on Friday and met later with Mr. Allawi. A party member, Ali Shubar, said it would oppose Mr. Maliki because “we won’t vote for another failed government.” The outcome of the struggle over the next prime minister showed the ebbing of the power of a party that once dominated Shiite politics after Saddam Hussein ’s toppling. The Sadrists proved to be more effective and disciplined campaigners, with strong grass-roots support among Iraq’s Shiites. Having embraced politics, they are now poised to wield influence they have not had since they withdrew from the previous government in 2006. The Sadrist leaders present on Friday did not explain their drastic and sudden swing toward Mr. Maliki. But in a statement two days ago, issued from Iran, where he is studying theology, Mr. Sadr sounded the pragmatic note of a seasoned politician. He cited a saying of his father, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, a revered Shiite leader who was killed in 1999 under Mr. Hussein’s regime. “Politics has no heart,” Mr. Sadr said, in response to a letter from a follower. “Be informed, politics is giving and taking.” One of the main issues facing Iraq in the coming year is what, if any, American military presence will continue after a deadline in December 2011 for withdrawing the remaining 50,000 American troops here. Diplomats and military commanders here have already signaled an interest in maintaining a close security relationship with Iraq as it rebuilds its armed services and solidifies its fragile democratic institutions. While many Iraqi political and military leaders have expressed support for that, the Sadrists remain opposed to what they call “a foreign occupation.” | Iraq;Nuri Kamal al-Maliki;Politics;Ayad Allawi;Moktada Al- Sadr |
ny0085757 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2015/07/11 | Trying On, Selling and Stealing Sneakers, One Shoe at a Time | Never has buying, selling or stealing a pair of sneakers in Brooklyn been this complicated. The cat-and-mouse tactics between sneaker store managers and sneaker thieves have escalated to new levels of complexity. Theft prevention has changed just about everything involved in the transaction of buying a pair of sneakers — even the simple act of trying them on for size. As a result, thieves — at least in Bushwick — have changed their tactics, resorting to stealing the lowest-hanging fruit: the unguarded, single sneakers on display shelves. “They go here and they steal a left shoe,” explained Dayshorn Mickens, 24, a manager at a Foot Locker on Broadway, standing in a room lined with shelves of left-foot shoes. “Let’s say it’s a 9 and a half. They go to Jimmy Jazz” — another sneaker store two blocks away, where the display shoes are all right — “and steal the right.” Over at Jimmy Jazz, a clerk, Wesley Mejias, 22, confirmed the unlikely bond between the two stores. “That’s true,” he said. “They’ll get the right here and the left at another store.” How did it come to this? The Bushwick thieves cannot even claim to have invented the scheme; accounts of similar thefts have turned up as far away as Denmark and Sweden. For a complete history of the sneaker, one need only visit the nearby Brooklyn Museum, where the exhibit “The Rise of Sneaker Culture” opened Friday . But the clerks of Bushwick tell of more recent patterns in their stores. Mr. Mickens started working at the Bushwick store a few weeks ago after a stint at the flagship on West 34th Street near the Empire State Building . Things were different there. “They have actual security guards,” he said. “And detectives.” Sneaker store sleuths were on the lookout for thieves. “They wear regular clothes,” he said. In Bushwick, Mr. Mickens, uniformed in the store’s standard referee stripes, sees himself as manager, salesman, security guard and detective, all in one. He lives in the neighborhood and knows who the thieves are. “It’s Brooklyn, so the streets talk,” he said. “They know I work here.” Once upon a time, stealing a pair of sneakers was a play in two acts: 1) try on sneakers, and then 2) run away. Image At Jimmy Jazz, another sneaker store two blocks away from the Foot Locker, the display shoes are all for the right foot. Credit Nicole Craine for The New York Times Mr. Mickens and other managers at Foot Locker and Jimmy Jazz stores have since embraced a rule to prevent their sneakers from running out the door. The one-shoe policy. When a customer wants to try on a pair of sneakers, a clerk will hand over the left one. If the customer wants to try on the right sneaker, the clerk will ask for the left one back before handing the right over. The customer never wears two new sneakers at the same time in the store. “If we give them both,” Mr. Mejias said at Jimmy Jazz, “they run with it.” If the customer decides to buy the sneakers, the clerk carries them to the register, handing over the full pair only after payment. Of course, there are exceptions, and the managers use discretion. “The one-shoe policy is cool, but you can’t discriminate against every customer who comes in here,” Mr. Mickens said at Foot Locker. Mitch Lazarre, 20, a store associate, said demeanor could be a giveaway for crooks. “A customer is going to only be focused on product,” he said. “A guy who wants to rob will focus on other people.” Other strategies are employed to beat the one-shoe policy. On June 9, just before noon, a group of young men entered the Foot Locker in Bushwick. A different manager, Jay Barns, 20, greeted them, and they asked him to bring out several pairs of shoes to try on. “Ten or 15 people,” he said. He was suspicious and told them he didn’t have those sizes. “One of the boys was like, ‘This is nothing funny. I’ve got money. We really need these sneakers.’ ” So Mr. Barns relented and brought the shoes up. He handed the men left shoes. One said, “I’ve got two feet,” Mr. Barns recalled. “I’m telling them no, this is part of Foot Locker procedure. ‘Give me back the left and I’ll give you the right.’ ” As other customers became impatient, Mr. Barns saw members of the group stuff some T-shirts into a bag and head for the door. Flustered, he handed the men the right shoes. The men — many wearing one sneaker and carrying the other — ran out the door. “I was outnumbered,” Mr. Barns said. The police say the suspects remain at large . Mr. Mickens said that while he was constantly vigilant, he worked hard to not treat everyone who entered the store like a criminal. “Some people who come in here,” he said, “want to try on shoes.” | Sneakers;Robbery;Brooklyn;Foot Locker;Bushwick Brooklyn |
ny0058019 | [
"business",
"economy"
]
| 2014/09/13 | Fed Rallies New Team to Forestall Next Crisis | WASHINGTON — Stanley Fischer, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, will lead a new internal committee focused on threats to financial stability, the Fed said on Friday. The Fed, which failed to foresee the 2008 financial crisis, has responded by greatly increasing its scrutiny of the health of financial markets. The new committee, conceived by Mr. Fischer and the Fed’s chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, will oversee the work of a department devoted to financial stability that was created in 2010. “The recent crises have appropriately increased the focus on financial stability at central banks,” Ms. Yellen said in a July speech . “We have devoted substantially increased resources to monitoring financial stability and have refocused our regulatory and supervisory efforts to limit the buildup of systemic risk.” The Fed’s concerns about near-term threats to stability have somewhat diminished in recent months. Officials say they see excesses in some financial markets, but they do not see evidence of significant danger to the broader economy. The governor who was most outspoken in his concerns, Jeremy C. Stein, left the Fed in May . Yet Fed officials, and some outside analysts, remain worried about the potential for disruptions as the central bank retreats from its economic stimulus campaign — a concern raised by the outsize jumps in key markets when Ben S. Bernanke, the former Fed chairman, first hinted at retreat in the spring of 2013. Image Stanley Fischer, the Federal Reserve’s No. 2, will lead a committee to assess threats. Credit John Locher/Associated Press Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, said the new committee could help the Fed determine the pace of its retreat. “The Fed has been forced into a trade-off between immediate economic stimulus and greater risk of financial instability down the road,” Mr. El-Erian said. “Such a committee would help assess where the trade-off stands.” The new committee is also intended to prepare the Fed for future crises. “We need always be aware that the next crisis — and there will be one — will not be identical to the last one, and that we need to be vigilant in both trying to foresee it and seeking to prevent it,” Mr. Fischer said in a July speech . But central bankers continue to wrestle with the best way to address threats to stability, including asset-price bubbles. The main tool of monetary policy, raising interest rates, is seen as a blunt instrument that might discourage speculation, but only at the cost of curtailing other economic activity. Regulations can be tightly focused, but that approach is seen as relatively weak and untested. Mr. Fischer, who joined the Fed in May after serving as the head of the Bank of Israel, called for research on these questions in his July speech, and he will now oversee the work of the Fed’s Office of Financial Stability Policy and Research. Governors Daniel K. Tarullo and Lael Brainard will join Mr. Fischer on the new committee. The Fed’s board distributes its work among a number of committees focused on issues including regulatory policy, consumer affairs and the operations of the regional reserve banks. There are currently four Fed governors, other than Ms. Yellen, and two or three sit on each committee. | US Economy;Stanley Fischer;Federal Reserve;Regulation and Deregulation |
ny0289738 | [
"us"
]
| 2016/01/11 | Minneapolis’s Less Visible, and More Troubled, Side | MINNEAPOLIS — Cruise this city’s north side, and the trappings of a sturdy working-class community are easy to see, from charming clapboard homes with wide porches and manicured yards to large parks with basketball hoops and swing sets. Less visible are the open-air, hand-to-hand drug transactions. The rat- and roach-infested apartments. And the tense interactions between the neighborhood’s largely black population and the police. This is the world where 24-year-old Jamar Clark lived and ultimately died from a police bullet last fall. The police said he was struggling with officers when he was shot; some witnesses have said he was handcuffed at the time. The shooting stoked weeks of protests , and tensions remain high as prosecutors continue to investigate its circumstances. But it has also sparked a conversation about race that extends far beyond policing and that will seep into the state’s coming legislative session. A city long known for its robust economy, affordability, liberal politics and chic restaurants finds itself confronting an open secret as discomfiting as the bone-chilling winters. By several measures, its black population, which has grown to 19 percent of its 400,000 residents , has been left behind. The unemployment rate for black residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul region is about four times the overall rate, which at 3.1 percent is among the lowest among major metropolitan areas. Median income is similarly disparate, with white residents having earned on average $73,600 while blacks earned 38 percent of that, $27,950, according to 2014 census estimates. That was the sixth-worst ratio among the country’s 260 metropolitan areas with significant black populations, a New York Times analysis of the data shows . And the highest crime rate of the city’s five police precincts was in the Fourth Precinct covering North Minneapolis, which reported 1,428 violent crimes last year through November, including 18 murders. “Clearly there are deep divisions and divides and gaps between white people and people of color in the city of Minneapolis,” said Betsy Hodges, the first-term Democratic mayor, who is white. “It is job No. 1 for the health of us as a community and for growth and prosperity to eliminate those gaps.” Image Willesha Moorehead at the beauty supply shop where she works. She has seen several friends and family members die from gun violence in North Minneapolis. Credit Alex Potter for The New York Times That divide plays out starkly in a roughly five-square-mile area on the north side, where nearly half of residents are black. The area is not lined with high-rise projects or blighted by abandoned parcels. But as Willesha Moorehead, who came here from Chicago a dozen years ago, can attest, struggle is baked into its streets. Seven of her friends or members of her family, including the father of her first child, have died from gun violence in North Minneapolis. She has struggled to get work, in part because she could not find child care for her two daughters, she said. And for the past three years she has bounced between the homes of friends and family because she could not find affordable housing. Since the summer, Ms. Moorehead, 24, estimates, she and a friend have applied for 50 apartments. Most of the better units have been outside North Minneapolis, but the landlords have asked that they earn two or three times the annual rent, far more than they can cover with money from public assistance and her job at a beauty supply shop. All of the approximately 10 units they have viewed in North Minneapolis were run down, she said. Ms. Moorehead caught a break in November when she was approved for a Section 8 subsidized housing voucher after years of waiting. She must live in neighboring St. Paul for a year with the voucher, she said, after which she can move anywhere. She has not decided whether to return to the north side, where she works. “I love North Minneapolis,” she said. “Sometimes it just be too much.” Generations ago, Plymouth Avenue, one of the main north side corridors, was lined with Jewish-owned businesses. But two nights of rioting broke out in July 1967 after a confrontation involving the police; community leaders at the time said the unrest was a cathartic exhale from a long oppressed community. And things were inflamed even more when a white bar owner shot a black man. The unrest, which drew hundreds of National Guard troops to the city, left dozens of businesses along Plymouth and other north side streets burned, and it hastened white flight to the suburbs. Today, residents of the north side lament that many of the problems from five decades ago remain. After bearing a wave of foreclosures on subprime loans with high interest rates, the Near North neighborhood, closer to downtown, has seen lending dry up. More than 55 percent of mortgage applications in the neighborhood from 2009 to 2012 did not result in loans, the highest rejection rate in the region, according to a 2014 report by the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity at the University of Minnesota Law School. Yet downtown has many well-developed blocks, with packed bars and restaurants, and glittering office and residential towers with floor-to-ceiling windows. Public transportation is poor, residents say, and though local officials are planning to spend more than $1 billion on a light-rail line, North Minneapolis residents have been critical because it will run through downtown and the suburbs but skirt their community. Image Sammy’s Avenue Eatery has become a gathering place in North Minneapolis, which is otherwise dominated by fast-food restaurants. Credit Alex Potter for The New York Times Even the food choices are limited, with fast-food restaurants dominating. Sammy McDowell’s cafe, Sammy’s Avenue Eatery, is a notable exception. Since Mr. McDowell, who is black, opened it four years ago, the restaurant has become a gathering place where chance meetings over meals have led to job offers. But that is not enough, Mr. McDowell, 39, said. “We need to bring in more businesses so we can have more jobs,” he said. “Otherwise, we will never compare to the other areas of the city.” Despite crime and their desire for better security, many black residents say they have little trust in the police. Blacks were nearly nine times as likely as whites to be charged with low-level offenses from 2012 to 2014, according to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union. John Elder, a spokesman for the Minneapolis Police Department, acknowledged a fractured relationship with black residents. But he said a program started three years ago by Chief Janeé Harteau, requiring officers to engage more with residents, had helped. “There historically has been distrust,” Mr. Elder said. “I believe that from where it’s been to where it’s at now is light-years better. Is it where we want it to be? Absolutely not. We have room to grow.” One lifelong resident, Angela Avent, 36, is sticking it out even though she has lived in a house that was struck by bullets and destroyed by a tornado. In September, one of her daughters witnessed a fatal shooting outside the brick flat where they now live. Yet instead of leaving after that shooting, Ms. Avent organized a neighborhood march against violence. She has kept her two oldest daughters in North High School, even though she could transfer them out of the Minneapolis district, where blacks trail whites in math and reading proficiency by more than 50 percentage points. And she is mentoring other parents through the nonprofit Northside Achievement Zone . “You have to not only talk about it, you have to be about it,” she said, “and be willing to go out there and stand and take action.” | Minneapolis;Black People,African-Americans;Income Inequality;Unemployment;Race and Ethnicity;Jamar Clark;Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings;Crime |
ny0091686 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2015/08/18 | France: Search for Malaysia Flight 370 Debris Cut Back | France will reduce its search for debris from a missing Malaysia Airlines flight after a 10-day hunt off the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean turned up nothing new, the authorities said Monday. A wing fragment found on the island last month was the first solid evidence of the fate of Flight 370, which disappeared March 8, 2014, with 239 people aboard. The Malaysian authorities say the piece is part of the plane, though the French, American and Australian authorities have not definitively identified it. Over the past 10 days, searchers scoured nearly 4,000 square miles of ocean but found “nothing suspected of having any connection to a plane,” the local authorities said. | Airlines,airplanes;Malaysia Airlines Flight 370;Plane Crash;Malaysia Airlines;France;Reunion Island |
ny0106200 | [
"us"
]
| 2012/04/29 | At This Atlanta Barbershop, the Conversation Goes on 24/7 | ATLANTA — It is 1 a.m., but the night is young for Dre Rosenberg, a 22-year-old clothing stylist here. Later, he will grab drinks with friends and hit the nightclubs in Atlanta’s wealthiest neighborhood, Buckhead. But first he needs a haircut. So Mr. Rosenberg goes to one of the few places still open at that hour: the 24-hour barbershop Anytime Cutz. “Three a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m.,” he said. “It’s where you find your friends before the end of your night.” This is the barbershop that never closes. And that has made it something of a cult institution in this Southern capital that relishes its fashion and night life. With hip-hop playing softly through the speakers and a futon for taking naps, the eight-chair salon caters to elite African-American men. Celebrities like Shaquille O’Neal and the rapper Akon have walked past the neon “Open” sign that never turns off, even on Christmas. Other cities are taking notice. Over the past decade, 24-hour barbershops and salons have opened in New York, London and Las Vegas. The customers are as varied as their hairstyles: parents who forgot that a child’s school photo was the next day, travelers with red-eye flights, people working two jobs, musicians and night owls. Black barbershops are evolving to keep up with modern lifestyles and an economy that forces many clients to work unusual hours, said Dwayne Thompson, an Atlanta-based writer for Against the Grain Magazine , a quarterly publication about hair salons. “These have always been fraternal places, where men can talk about the latest and greatest topic,” he said. “This just takes that conversation into the night.” Hair is big business in Atlanta, where self-described “celebrity barbers” promote themselves at nightclubs with glossy fliers. Every summer, the city hosts the nation’s largest African-American hair products convention, the Bronner Brothers International Hair Show. And when Chris Rock filmed “Good Hair,” his 2009 documentary about the importance of hair in black culture, he began in Atlanta, which he called “the city where all major black decisions are made.” The man behind the 24-hour barbershop idea is Ernesto Williams, 47, a longtime hairstylist. In 2005, he and his wife at the time, Carol Lamar, opened a small shop that shared a building with a 24-hour gas station. Customers would stop for gas or beer and end up staying for a haircut. The couple were relentless promoters. He would approach celebrities for autographs, and then praise their hair and try to turn the conversation to his barbershop. He even bought a tractor-trailer, installed barber chairs and drove to festivals to cut hair inside the vehicle. Last year, in their divorce, Ms. Lamar took control of the store from her husband. She moved it to a larger studio space and changed the name, from Ernesto’s Cuts to Anytime Cutz. A haircut costs $20, but a $10 tip is added after 9:30 p.m. “Everybody comes here,” said Cavario Hunter, the senior editor of Hip-Hop Weekly magazine, who was transcribing an interview at the shop one recent night. “Sometimes we don’t even text or call our friends. We just come down here to find out what’s going on tonight.” Barbers rent their chairs, so the more hair they cut, the more money they make. There is incentive to stay all night. Many say they often work 24-hour shifts. And to owners, the only added costs are utilities. “These chairs lean back,” said one barber, Mikal Muslim, 34, who goes by the nickname “Mickey the Razor.” “You can take a nap between clients and then pop up and go back to work.” In Las Vegas, a 24-hour barbershop operates near the airport. In New York, two 24-hour Korean beauty salons have opened in Midtown in the past five years. And there is even a shop in Augusta, Ga., which has fewer than 200,000 people. That store, Kenny’s 24 Hour Barber Service, was inspired by Atlanta’s store and serves late-night truck drivers stopping along Interstate 20. Customers have adjusted to the concept, said the owner, Kenny Bryant, 62. “Walmart is 24 hours,” he said. “The drugstore is 24 hours. Waffle House is 24 hours. The idea of 9-to-5 is dead, even for barbers.” | Hair;Barbers and Barbering;Atlanta (Ga);Blacks;Working Hours |
ny0265986 | [
"business"
]
| 2016/03/29 | Avon Shakes Up Its Board to Appease Shareholders | Avon agreed to make changes to its board on Monday to avoid a proxy fight with some of its shareholders who collectively own more than a 3 percent stake in the company. Under the terms of the agreement, Avon will allow an investor group led by the Barington Capital Group to approve an independent board member. In exchange, the hedge fund agreed to withdraw its nominations for the board and will vote for the company’s nominees. Avon announced separately on Monday that it had named the former FedEx executive Cathy Ross to its board. | Avon;Barington Capital Group;Board of directors;Shareholder Rights;Appointments and Executive Changes |
ny0033354 | [
"world",
"africa"
]
| 2013/12/10 | After Mandela, a Test at the Polls for His Party | DIEPSLOOT, South Africa — Isaac Makhura gestured toward the squalid sprawl of shacks outside his house in this informal settlement, where some of the country’s most desperate people live. Was it any wonder, he said, that he no longer had any qualms about voting against the African National Congress, the party of his entire family for three generations? “Is this why Nelson Mandela fought for our freedom?” he asked as South Africans mourned the death on Thursday of Mr. Mandela, the country’s first black president and the party’s most beloved leader. “The A.N.C. has let us down.” In the coming months, the African National Congress will face what may be its most fiercely competitive election since it came to power in 1994 — and, for the first time, will do so without its most important moral figure, Mr. Mandela. “After Mandela, the A.N.C. loses the biggest link to its glorious past,” said William Gumede, who has written extensively about Mr. Mandela and his party. “It will face the voters without him.” Corruption allegations against senior officials like President Jacob Zuma, a failing school system, endemic joblessness, violent crime and growing inequality have whittled away the once near-universal support for the party in places like Diepsloot, a traditional bedrock of a party that boasts of its “bias toward the working class.” Now Diepsloot is a political battleground, with other parties making inroads. No one expects the African National Congress to lose the national election, but there are signs that it could slip below 60 percent of the vote, an important psychological figure for a party accustomed to landslides. Mr. Mandela leaves behind a South Africa where political power is firmly in the hands of the majority, and he helped steer the country away from what seemed to be the biggest risk at the time of its transition to democracy: a race war that pitted blacks against whites. But economic power is still largely in white hands. Unemployment, particularly among the young black people who make up a vast population bulge here, is higher than ever. Inequality has grown, as a small group of black elites has joined wealthy whites in the upper echelons of society, leaving the masses far behind. Seething anger over this state of affairs, after bubbling for years, boiled over in August 2012 when the police killed 34 striking miners in the country’s worst police violence since the end of apartheid. It was a far cry from the heady days of Mr. Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years in 1990 and his landslide victory in South Africa’s first nonracial election four years later. Image Diepsloot, a settlement north of Johannesburg, where other parties have made inroads on the African National Congress. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times “Let there be justice for all,” Mr. Mandela said in his inaugural address. “Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.” It turned out these promises would be tough to keep, even for a man with Mr. Mandela’s gifts. “There was so much hope,” George Bizos, Mr. Mandela’s lawyer and a close friend, said before Mr. Mandela died. “Those of us who took part in the struggle, we expected the speedy establishment of an egalitarian society. It has turned out to be a daydream.” Mr. Mandela pledged in 1997 that South Africa would avoid the “formation of predatory elites that thrive on the basis of looting national wealth and the entrenchment of corruption.” And yet that has happened. The African National Congress has slowly gone from a liberation movement to a Tammany Hall-style political machine. Corruption is endemic. Deep ties between big business and politicians have reinforced the perception that those in power seek only their own enrichment. Mr. Mandela’s death now poses daunting questions for the party. Even in his decline, it benefited from the aura of promise and possibility that surrounded him, and the urge to link the party with his name was evident. In recent months, it bused masses of supporters in African National Congress T-shirts to the hospital where he was being treated. After his death, party supporters were quick to tie the party to Mr. Mandela and its current leaders. In Soweto on Friday, the day after Mr. Mandela died, South African flags were few, but the emblem of the African National Congress — a hand clutching a spear on a field of black, green and yellow — was ubiquitous. “This Mandela belongs to the A.N.C.,” a man said through a microphone. A large truck was parked at a corner, a rolling stage with giant color photographs of the current president, Mr. Zuma, proclaiming that the entire province is now a better place. “Viva Mandela,” a man shouted into the microphone. “Viva A.N.C., viva Zuma!” Mr. Mandela stepped off the national stage in 2004, retiring from public life. Few can say with certainty what he would have made of the tumult surrounding the striking miners and the police response, such was the fog that enveloped him in his last years, people who visited him said. But the problems of today’s South Africa are at least partly rooted in the choice Mr. Mandela made as president to put racial reconciliation above all else and, critical analysts of his legacy say, to put the easing of white fears above the fulfillment of black aspirations. “Mandela became a buffer zone between white fears and black aspirations,” said Aubrey Matshiqi, a veteran analyst. Mr. Mandela guided the African National Congress away from its socialist past and shunned radical means of redistributing wealth, like seizing white-owned land and businesses, which helped keep the peace and stabilize the economy but made it harder to raise living standards for blacks. By embracing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he helped the country move peacefully beyond its racist, authoritarian past, but some South Africans feel that serious crimes went unanswered and that wishful forgetfulness has replaced true reconciliation. Image Isaac Makhura, who lives in Diepsloot, where many are jobless. “The A.N.C. has let us down,” he said. Credit Todd Heisler/The New York Times These days, it is easy to forget how acute the fears of whites were and how high the hopes of blacks ran at apartheid’s end. In the decade after apartheid, 750,000 white South Africans migrated to Australia, England, New Zealand and the United States. Others fortified themselves in highly secured compounds. In 1994, 240,000 South Africans applied for gun permits, a sign of just how fearful many were about a violent, black-on-white uprising during the transition. Many black South Africans, meanwhile, expected to quickly acquire the trappings of middle-class life: suburban houses with backyard swimming pools, white-collar jobs and high-quality schools. That did not come to pass. White South Africans have largely held on to their wealth, and their well-tended suburban neighborhoods have not been overrun by shanty-dwellers. According to this year’s census, white families earn six times what black families do. Mzuvikle Sikodayi, a 33-year-old platinum miner who lives in a tin shack near the mining town of Rustenburg, said his parents believed that his life would be better than theirs — a government job, perhaps, a house and a car. “My only hope now is that my son’s life will be better,” he said. “For me there is no chance. We are running out of patience.” Since the end of apartheid, the government led by the African National Congress has given free houses to 2.5 million poor black families. More than 15 million people get government welfare grants. Electricity and running water have come to millions of black homes for the first time. And yet, Mr. Mandela’s party has fallen far short of the pledge it made in its first election campaign in 1994: a better life for all. To many, the party seems more focused on a better life for some, a perception underscored by the recent disclosure of a preliminary report on one of South Africa’s biggest corruption scandals, the $27 million makeover of Mr. Zuma’s private village home. Mr. Zuma, who has also faced charges of corruption and rape, claimed the upgrades were related to security. But the preliminary report by the country’s ombudsman, published on Nov. 29 in the Mail & Guardian , found that amenities like a swimming pool, an amphitheater and a cattle kraal, or corral, had no security benefits. To some, Mr. Mandela’s death offers the opportunity to shed the notion that South Africa’s transition from white rule to democracy was a miracle rather than a hard-won compromise. “The idea that a miracle occurred in South Africa is a profoundly unhelpful one,” said Steven Friedman, the director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of Johannesburg. “We’ve had some successes and also a lot of setbacks, but no miracles that I can think of.” | African National Congress;Nelson Mandela;South Africa;Election |
ny0265317 | [
"us",
"politics"
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| 2016/03/05 | Ted Cruz Promoted Himself and Conservative Causes as Texas’ Solicitor General | AUSTIN, Tex. — From its start in 1999, the office of the solicitor general of Texas was run by a plain-spoken Mormon, a by-the-books lawyer known for mentoring young attorneys and defending the state, whatever the political consequences. The young lawyers loved him. The state’s legal community hailed him as a man of dignity and integrity. And the office seldom showed up in the headlines. But everything changed in January 2003, when Ted Cruz took over. Within months of his appointment to the job, Mr. Cruz, then 31, set about transforming this under-the-radar, apolitical office into an aggressively ideological, attention-grabbing one. From a nondescript government building in the shadow of the Capitol, he inserted himself into scores of politically charged cases around the country, bombarding the United States Supreme Court with amicus briefs on hot-button issues like abortion and gun control. His focus on gaining attention clashed with the sensibilities of many of the lawyers who worked for him and were accustomed to a more scrupulous and less publicity-minded approach. Before the end of his first year, half of the eight attorneys working in the office had left, raising concern inside the attorney general’s office about whether Mr. Cruz was the right choice for the job. But he had the personal backing of the Texas attorney general at the time, Greg Abbott, who is now the state’s governor. Mr. Abbott shared Mr. Cruz’s new, activist vision for the office and gave him a broad mandate, encouraging him not only to defend Texas, but also to look across the country for opportunities to champion conservative causes. The solicitor’s role became Mr. Cruz’s springboard, elevating him almost directly into the world of Texas politics. The conservative legal record he amassed and the connections he made in Austin helped carry him into the United States Senate in 2012 and are now helping to propel his presidential candidacy. One of his biggest donors has said that he was inspired entirely by Mr. Cruz’s history as Texas’ in-house legal scholar. “He turned a little post in Austin into a nationally significant position,” said James C. Ho, who succeeded Mr. Cruz as solicitor general. The office also became an instrument of Mr. Cruz’s ambitions. In 2006, The Austin-American Statesman published a front-page profile of him, with the headline, “In State Politics, His Star Is Rising.” “In the fullness of time, my plan for Ted would be for him to be the governor of Texas,” said a quote in the article by Charles J. Cooper, the former head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in the Reagan administration, and one of Mr. Cruz’s political mentors. The small team of lawyers in Mr. Cruz’s office figured his sights were set higher: They joked, even back then, about whether his Canadian birth certificate might one day impede his drive to be president. Mr. Cruz declined to be interviewed for this article, but a spokeswoman for his campaign, Catherine Frazier, noted that he was “the longest serving solicitor general in Texas history, which would not be the case if he wasn’t effective, successful and well-regarded.” Ms. Frazier attributed any criticism of his tenure to disgruntled former employees and said that staff turnover is typical with any change of administration. Reshaping the Office It was in the fall of 2002 when Mr. Cruz, then living in Washington, heard about the opening for solicitor general. At the time, his political career was stalled. After being part of the legal team that helped hand George W. Bush his victory in the recount in 2000, he had failed to land a senior position in the White House and had been relegated to the Federal Trade Commission. Image Greg Abbott, who was then the attorney general of Texas and is now the governor of the state, with Mr. Cruz, in Austin, Tex., in 2006. Credit Harry Cabluck/Associated Press In his memoir, “Ted Cruz: A Time for Truth,” Mr. Cruz writes that he never thought he would get the solicitor general’s job, which handles all appellate litigation on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. While his credentials were unimpeachable — he had graduated from Harvard Law School before serving as a clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist — he had very little practical legal experience. He had argued just two cases, neither one at the Supreme Court. And he had never really held an executive position. But Mr. Abbott decided to take a risk and hire him. Mr. Cruz was not only young and untested, he was arriving on the heels of the deeply respected Gregory S. Coleman, who had set the tone for the office before being succeeded briefly by his deputy, Julie Parsley. A former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, Mr. Coleman collaborated closely with his small staff, most of whom had left much higher-paying jobs in the private sector to work alongside him. They divvied up the cases and shared the responsibilities of writing briefs and preparing oral arguments, often working weekends and even pulling all-nighters in the office when deadlines were approaching. Mr. Coleman was also personally beloved; he and his wife were known for sending monogrammed baby blankets to the young lawyers when they had children. Mr. Cruz struck a starkly different posture, telegraphing a new set of priorities to his staff. Not long after Mr. Cruz started, he had a television installed in his office that was tuned to cable news throughout the day, the workers in the office recalled. He spent very little time discussing legal strategies with his team of lawyers. When he did visit his attorneys, he had a habit of hoisting a cowboy boot onto their desks. Mr. Cruz decorated his own office with a large portrait of himself arguing before the Supreme Court. Hierarchy seemed important to Mr. Cruz. He instructed his secretary to refer to him on the telephone not as Ted, but as Mr. Cruz. Mr. Cruz’s predecessors filed only occasional friend-of-the-court briefs at the Supreme Court, perhaps three a year. Mr. Cruz filed more than 70 in his five-and-a-half-year tenure, from supporting Nebraska’s right to ban a late-term abortion procedure to opposing an effort to restrict the ownership of handguns in Washington. The focus on Supreme Court cases that did not directly involve Texas dismayed some of the lawyers on the staff, who felt the office was losing its legal and ethical rigor in favor of politics and seeking headlines. A Trusted Adviser One incident that a couple of Mr. Cruz’s lawyers found especially troubling arose during Medellín v. Texas, which he has described as the biggest case of his tenure. In a sense, it was a relatively minor issue — one including a cartoon character — but it was memorable to those who worked in the office. The case involved two teenage girls in Houston who were raped and murdered. One of the victims was wearing a watch featuring Goofy, the Disney character. According to two lawyers who worked in the office at the time, Mr. Cruz wanted to describe it as a Mickey Mouse watch in his brief to the Supreme Court because he thought it would make for a more powerful image for the justices. The two lawyers requested anonymity because they remain active in the Texas legal community, where Mr. Cruz has great influence. “People were really shocked,” said one of the lawyers. “He wanted to misrepresent the record — to lie — for rhetorical or dramatic effect.” The office’s first brief before the Supreme Court, filed in 2005, describes the grisly scene of José Medellín and his fellow gang members dividing up the money and jewelry taken from the two dead girls: “Medellín’s brother kept one of the girls’ Mickey Mouse watch.” When the case returned to the court two years later, Mr. Cruz apparently had a change of heart. The reference in his brief was now to a “Disney-brand Goofy watch.” Mr. Cruz said through his spokeswoman that he had no recollection of the episode. While Mr. Cruz devoted little time to winning over the lawyers on his staff, he devoted himself to deepening his relationship with Mr. Abbott. When he first took the job, the offices of the solicitor general were a few blocks from that of the attorney general. Eager to be closer to the center of power, Mr. Cruz lobbied successfully to have his offices moved into the same building. He kept a corner office on the seventh floor with his team of lawyers, but took a second office one floor up, down the hall from the attorney general, displacing its occupant. 2016 Delegate Count and Primary Results According to the Associated Press, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton have each won enough delegates to claim their party’s nomination for president. Mr. Cruz’s spokeswoman said that Mr. Abbott had requested that Mr. Cruz move closer to him. Over time, Mr. Cruz became one of Mr. Abbott’s most trusted advisers. “Politically, they were very much aligned,” said Edward D. Burbach, a deputy attorney general during those years. After the Supreme Court agreed to hear a lawsuit over whether the state could display the Ten Commandments on a monument at the Capitol, Mr. Cruz urged Mr. Abbott to argue the case, and helped him prepare for it. “He really was a very senior and trusted adviser,” said Daniel Hodge, who worked for Mr. Abbott at the time and is now his chief of staff. Mr. Abbott has since endorsed Mr. Cruz’s presidential bid. As his profile in Austin rose, Mr. Cruz made no secret of his intention to run for office. He had grown up in Texas, but he had not lived there since leaving for college at Princeton. He asked Mr. Burbach and others to introduce him to deep-pocketed conservative Texans, and he spent a lot of his time away from the office speaking at conservative legal and political events around the state. He was defining himself not simply as a conservative, but as a thorn in the side of the Republican establishment, most notably suing the George W. Bush administration in the Medellín v. Texas case. The suit challenged an order issued to Texas by the president to review the conviction of Mr. Medellín, the Mexican citizen who had been accused of raping and killing the two teenage girls in Houston, because he had not been granted his right to contact the Mexican Consulate as guaranteed by the Vienna Conventions. It would have been easy enough for Texas to comply with the president’s ruling, which merely required that Mr. Medellín be given a hearing to try to prove that his case had been hurt by this omission. But for Mr. Cruz, the case provided an opportunity to take the federal government to court on behalf of Texas’ sovereignty. He won, 6 to 3. Angering Bush Allies When Mr. Cruz left the solicitor general’s office in the spring of 2008 to join a law firm in Houston, just about everyone who knew him figured it was only a matter of time before he ran for office. As it happened, it was a matter of months. Mr. Cruz began campaigning at the start of 2009 to replace Mr. Abbott, who was planning to run for lieutenant governor, as Texas’ attorney general. Mr. Cruz’s timing initially seemed ideal. Texas was moving sharply to the right. What is more, his campaign coincided with the emergence of the Tea Party , whose raucous, antigovernment crowds provided a natural constituency for a politician who could cast himself as a crusader for liberty against an overreaching government. “The most fundamental ethos in the state of Texas is, ‘Give me a horse and a gun and an open plain, and I can conquer the world,’ ” Mr. Cruz told people at a Tea Party rally in East Texas on July 4, 2009. “That’s the spirit that’s under assault right now today in Washington.” That summer, Mr. Cruz flew to Maine in search of the support of at least one establishment Republican, former President George Bush. In his memoir, Mr. Cruz writes that Mr. Bush, who was 85 at the time, enthusiastically agreed to endorse him, but that when he returned to Texas, he received an angry phone call from Karl Rove, the Republican political consultant. According to Mr. Cruz, some major donors to the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas were supporting one of Mr. Cruz’s opponents for attorney general and were furious at Mr. Rove for allowing the 41st president to support Mr. Cruz. Mr. Rove disputes this account. He said Mr. Cruz deliberately misled Mr. Bush, failing to mention that he would probably face Republican opponents in the primary who were close friends of the Bush family. “He didn’t shoot straight with the former president,” Mr. Rove said in an interview. Mr. Cruz abandoned his bid for attorney general in late 2009, when Mr. Abbott decided to run for re-election. But he had jump-started his political career, raising more than $1.5 million in less than a year. Many of these same contributors are now donating large sums to his presidential campaign. “In the end, it worked out for the best,” said John Drogin, who worked on Mr. Cruz’s campaign for attorney general. “Just about a year later, we filed to run for the Senate.” | Ted Cruz;Texas;2016 Presidential Election;Tea Party movement;Political endorsement;Supreme Court,SCOTUS;Greg Abbott;George Bush |
ny0160017 | [
"sports",
"basketball"
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| 2006/03/18 | With an Improbable Finish, Crawford Buries the Pistons | Larry Brown spent the early part of last evening marinating in a virtual nightmare of his own creation: on one bench were the Detroit Pistons, the team he led to a title before relationships soured. On his own bench were the Knicks, where souring relationships now overshadow a sour record. The evening ended well enough for Brown, with his Knicks pulling out a 105-103 upset of the Pistons at Madison Square Garden. Jamal Crawford scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and hit the game-winning jumper with 2.2 seconds left as the Knicks (19-45) won for the third time in six games. It was Brown's first victory in three tries against Detroit (51-13), the team that dumped him last summer. And yet even in (rare) victory there was discontent. Stephon Marbury, who openly feuded with Brown all week, was left on the bench for all but 3 minutes 24 seconds of the fourth quarter. Marbury was visibly upset about the move, which came two nights after he was benched for the final 22 minutes of the Knicks' double-overtime victory over Atlanta. "I'm going to play the guys that I think are going to help us, and the guys that want to get better," Brown said. "I was encouraged with everybody's effort." Of Marbury's lengthy benching, Brown explained, "Stephon said he was tight." Marbury acknowledged as much, but with clear irritation over the reason. "I was sitting for 11 minutes," Marbury said. Asked if that was a problem, he said: "I mean, I don't have no choice. I've got to be fine with it. That's a decision that he chose to make." Marbury did not play in the fourth quarter until the 3:47 mark, with the game tied at 92-92. Brown pulled him in favor of Nate Robinson with 41.7 seconds left and the Pistons leading, 101-99, then put Marbury back in with 18.3 seconds left. So the shaky truce Brown and Marbury forged with a 30-second meeting Thursday appeared shakier still. Detroit lost the starters Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton to ejections early in the third quarter but nearly won anyway. They forged their last tie at 103-103 with 13.6 seconds left. Crawford lost Chauncey Billups with a crossover dribble and hit an open 18-footer for the decisive score. There was one final scare for the Knicks. With less than a second left, Antonio McDyess missed a long jumper, and the referee, Bennett Salvatore, called Malik Rose for a shooting foul. McDyess, the former Knick, missed the first free throw. He missed the second intentionally, Jerome James grabbed the rebound and the Knicks had their improbable victory over the N.B.A.'s best team. The minutes before tip-off were instructive. Marbury crossed the court to hug Detroit Coach Flip Saunders, who coached him in Minnesota. Brown, who has found little love in his own locker room, got hugs from Wallace, Billups and Hamilton. Brown and Marbury called a half-hearted truce Thursday, but not before Brown warned Marbury that he could have him traded. Brown also said he did not want to do so. Yet it is a foregone conclusion that the Knicks will shop Marbury this summer -- a decision made easier by their acquisition of Steve Francis last month. When the Knicks made the trade with the Orlando Magic, they touted Francis as a complement to Marbury, not a replacement for him. But Brown's decisions since then have sent a different message. Marbury and Francis have started together only four times in 11 games -- the last two because Quentin Richardson was hurt. When they have played together, they have done so for spurts, and usually with poor results. Heading into last night's game, Marbury and Francis had played as a tandem for just 16.5 minutes a game over 10 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The results, as defined by a plus-minus ratio, were dismal. In the minutes Marbury and Francis played together, the Knicks were outscored by 46 points, translating to a minus-13.3 points per 48 minutes, according to Elias. For comparison, the Knicks as a whole were outscored by 5.58 points per 48 minutes over that 10-game span. And when the Knicks were not using the Marbury-Francis tandem (using just one of them, or neither one), the figure was just minus-1.6 points per 48 minutes. When the Knicks acquired Francis -- at Brown's behest -- Brown called him "a full-time starter." Although Francis and Marbury play similar styles, Brown said they were not only compatible, but potentially great together in the backcourt. Yet it is clear now that Brown is uncomfortable playing Marbury and Francis together for long stretches. "They've been all right," Brown said. "It's been hard, I think, to figure out who has to have the ball." Francis started last night but was left on the bench for the fourth quarter. He and Marbury had a good stretch to open the third quarter, spearheading a 20-7 run. Francis had 7 points in the spurt, which was aided by the ejections of Wallace and Hamilton. Francis finished with 15 points in 24 minutes. Marbury had 12 in 31. "They looked as comfortable as at any time," Brown said. Brown said the improved play of Crawford and Richardson -- whom he called the Knicks' best defender -- has prevented him from using the Marbury-Francis backcourt more often. With the season down to 18 games, Brown arguably should play Francis and Marbury together as much as possible, to build cohesion for next season. That he has not raises logical skepticism about whether the Knicks truly intend to have a Francis-Marbury backcourt at all. "I thought we were going to be playing together all the time," Marbury said earlier in the day. "I didn't know that we wouldn't be on the court at the same time." Although Brown has concerns about their defense together, Marbury said, "It's not going to hurt to try." Marbury added: "I want it to work. We didn't trade for him just to be trading for him." | DETROIT PISTONS;NEW YORK KNICKS;NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS;BASKETBALL |
ny0035507 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
]
| 2014/03/20 | Strong Start for Ivan Nova | Ivan Nova allowed two hits while working into the seventh inning for the first time this spring, and the Yankees beat Atlanta, 7-0. Nova struck out five in six and a third innings in his fifth spring start and lowered his earned run average to 3.66. | Baseball;Yankees;Ivan Nova;Braves |
ny0251322 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2011/02/24 | Greek Protest of Austerity Drive Erupts in Violence | ATHENS — Violent clashes between protesters and the police broke out here in the capital on Wednesday, as the two main labor unions staged the first general strike of the year against the government’s austerity drive, paralyzing public services and disrupting transportation. Demonstrators estimated that 20,000 to 30,000 protesters turned out at two rallies that converged outside Parliament in the early afternoon. The numbers were not particularly large by Greek standards, but the mostly peaceful gathering was shaken when groups of youths broke off from the main body and fought with the police outside Parliament and Athens University. Dozens of youths threw stones and firebombs at the police, who responded with tear gas. Zougla , a news Web site, said two demonstrators were hurt and one police officer was burned when self-styled anarchists threw a firebomb at him, setting him alight. A police spokesman said 25 people had been detained for questioning, including a man carrying a rucksack containing a bow and arrows, an ax and leaflets with anti-establishment slogans. The spokesman said three police officers had been wounded, including the one whose face was burned when he was hit by the firebomb. The number of injured demonstrators was unclear, the spokesman said. Despite the skirmishes, the demonstration got “a good turnout,” said Vassilis Xenakis, a senior official at the civil servants’ union. “People are not scared to come out onto the streets, despite the risk of violence.” Mr. Xenakis said he had seen police officers on motorcycles shouting at demonstrators to go home. “This is a message that people won’t go home,” he said. “They’re exasperated with the cuts to their income, and they can’t take it anymore.” As dusk fell and helicopters circled over the city center above clouds of tear gas, riot police officers remained in front of Parliament and on main roads to contain any new violence. Demonstrators, rolling up banners reading “We are dying,” retreated from the square in groups. The strike on Wednesday shut down schools and hospitals and all government offices. Many small businesses closed, too, protesting tax increases and attacks by self-styled anarchists on their store facades. Some public transportation was running, allowing demonstrators to join rallies in the city center, and flights were canceled for four hours in the afternoon. Mr. Xenakis, the union official, said such walkouts would be repeated until the Greek government reviewed its agreement with its international creditors, who pledged about $150 billion in loans to Greece last May if the country pushed through a raft of austerity measures, trimmed the public sector and changed the pension and tax systems. “It is not just the unions and the people who are objecting, it’s the politicians, too,” said Mr. Xenakis, referring to recent objections by some members of the governing Socialist party to some of the structural changes demanded by Greece’s creditors. One main reform aimed at opening up so-called closed professions — a group that includes pharmacists and lawyers — was watered down after several Socialist members of Parliament, some of them lawyers, threatened to vote against the bill. | Greece;Strikes;Attacks on Police |
ny0251083 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2011/02/01 | Author Thanks Mice in Her Old Apartment - The Appraisal | “Some girls chart the chapters of their lives by jobs or guys or haircuts; I do it by real estate.” So starts Jill Kargman’s love letter to her former apartment in her new book, “Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut: Essays and Observations.” The apartment, a one-bedroom on East 76th Street, is where she lived between breaking off an engagement in 1998 and meeting her husband. The book also has her essay about the apartment where she and her husband lived, beginning in 2002, when they were starting their family. For Ms. Kargman , a fiction writer known for exploring the lives of hedge fund wives and Upper East Side power mommies, these two apartments have become characters in her own true story, sometimes more influential than the nannies peppering her childhood and the dates shaping her single years. “I used it as an incubator to figure out who I was and what I wanted,” Ms. Kargman said of her first apartment. She certainly does not want to move back. In the book, being published Tuesday by HarperCollins, she described how “hot Israeli movers” shepherded her, “tear-stained,” from her former fiancé’s “hipster gigantor luminous loft” into the dark third-floor walk-up. She learned quickly that she would not find romance among the building’s 10 units: Her neighbors included eight single women, one family and a retiree with a $300-a-month rental who swore “they’ll be taking me out of here in my coffin.” She credited the mice in her place with propelling her from her “dates with Orville Redenbacher and Time Warner Cable” to socializing more. With time, she met her husband-to-be, got married and found herself needing more space to start a family. That led to a chapter about a larger, railroad-style apartment on East 70th Street. The building had a brothel that had been shut down before she moved in, she writes. Still, plenty of patrons had not heard the news. So Ms. Kargman learned as a new parent to shoo away men taking their dogs for nocturnal walks, ringing her buzzer at 3 a.m. and requesting a prostitute named Josie. She and her husband finally left when they tired of the “cat-sized rats.” On a recent snowy morning, Ms. Kargman, 36, returned to both buildings. Workmen told her that a wealthy renovator had bought the building on East 76th Street and was combining it with a neighboring building to form a single home. She said that her 70th Street building felt more like the way it used to, because the snow outside it had not been shoveled. Visiting these haunts made her strangely wistful. “Just like that girl is gone, so is the apartment,” Ms. Kargman said. “How nice it would be to tell her everything is going to be O.K.” Awkward Stage The Web site Curbed offered readers a guide on how not to market an apartment by citing a listing for a $12,950-a-month rental at 27 West 96th Street. Photos of the less-than-tidy penthouse showed three water bowls for pets and at least three garbage cans lined up in the kitchen; one or more used towels on the bed; a bathroom cluttered with toiletries; and chairs blown over on the terrace. “It would be nice,” Curbed said, “if it didn’t look like a tornado just swept through the place.” On Second Thought Luigi Mazzel, a 39-year-old graphic designer, agreed to buy a 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom at 115 Norfolk Street for $1.25 million, with guidance from the broker Stuart Sussman of Core. But it is still a buyer’s market, and so Mr. Mazzel put the apartment before a panel of judges: a half-dozen of his friends. One friend, who lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, called the space “small.” Another friend, who lives in a 2,000-square-foot apartment in Chelsea, called it “cute.” Two friends from work said the second-floor unit was too close to the street. Another friend who works in design criticized the layout. Mr. Mazzel backed out. “I was spending all of this money,” he said. “So I was looking for validation that it was a good investment.” Mr. Sussman said he had arranged to show Mr. Mazzel the property five times. “I understand it’s the biggest purchase decision in one’s life,” Mr. Sussman said. He said he hoped the reconsideration ultimately paid off for Mr. Mazzel, as it had with other indecisive buyers for whom “patience prevailed.” Broker Fatigue Frank Davi spent the past year trying to sell the Minetta Lane town house he bought from the estate of the floral designer Robert Isabell . After losing patience with brokers, he tried a new plan. He took it off the market and hired Robert and Cortney Novogratz , stars of the Bravo program “9 by Design,” to spruce up the place and find a taker. On Thursday night, the Novogratzes opened the house to friends and a television crew. Two guests expressed interest. But the event brought Mr. Davi back to mingling with his least favorite species: Some guests were not prospective buyers, but brokers checking out the space. | Kargman Jill;Novogratz Robert;Novogratz Cortney;Upper East Side (NYC);Sometimes I Feel Like a Nut: Essays and Observations (Book);Books and Literature |
ny0053453 | [
"world",
"asia"
]
| 2014/07/16 | Hong Kong Leader Says ‘Mainstream’ Opposes Direct Nominations | HONG KONG — Presenting a major report on revamping the electoral system, Hong Kong’s top leader, Leung Chun-ying, said on Tuesday that “mainstream opinion” in the city opposed a key proposal of many pro-democracy groups: that voters win the power to directly nominate candidates for his job. The dismissal of the idea, while not surprising, brought the city closer to fresh confrontation over its political future, experts said. The report from Mr. Leung , Hong Kong’s chief executive, to China’s national legislature, along with an accompanying document , summed up proposals from politicians, residents and organizations about how the chief executive should be elected starting in 2017, when the Chinese government has said the city’s 3.5 million registered voters can receive universal suffrage. Mr. Leung noted that the debate over the electoral system had been contentious, and he held back from offering any definitive proposals, but he said Hong Kong was ripe for change. Mr. Leung, however, also said that “mainstream opinion” in Hong Kong stood with him and the Chinese government in opposing as illegal changes that could override a nominating committee as the final arbiter of who may run for chief executive. “Such power of nomination must not be undermined or bypassed directly or indirectly,” Mr. Leung said in the report to the Standing Committee of the Chinese legislature, the National People’s Congress. The prevailing public view in Hong Kong supports the opinion that only the nominating committee “has a substantive power to nominate,” he said. That conclusion angered pro-democracy groups and politicians, who have said that the universal suffrage promised by Beijing could be fatally undercut by procedural hurdles. They have saidthe Chinese government could ensure that a committee dominated by loyalists, based on one that now appoints the chief executive, acts as gatekeeper for candidates, thus engineering outcomes favored by Beijing. “The report today confirmed all the worries,” said Emily Lau, a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council and chairwoman of the Democratic Party, which supports demands for popular nomination of candidates for chief executive. “The ball is in Beijing’s court,” she said. “For my party, the trigger is when they rule out a genuine universal suffrage. Hong Kong’s a very tense city. The confrontations, contradictions are sharp.” Hong Kong’s chief executive is currently chosen by an elite committee with 1,200 members. Many are appointees approved by Beijing or elected by narrow bands of Hong Kong voters from the trade, financial and business world that favor accommodation with Beijing. Pro-democracy groups want a thoroughly representative committee, and many also support giving voters nominating rights that could override the committee, through write-ins or party nominations. Although the two reports were not conclusive, their wording suggested that the authorities would introduce limited changes to the election committee and nomination rules for chief executive, said Danny Gittings, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong. Joseph Yu-shek Cheng, a political science professor, said, “We are worried that this may allow the Chinese authorities to control the entire list of candidates for the chief executive elections.” Professor Cheng, who is also a leading member of the Alliance for True Democracy, a group that supports broad public participation in elections, including direct nominations, added: “This obviously means maintenance of what ordinary Hong Kong people call a small-circle election. We cannot accept this.” The issue of how to elect Hong Kong’s chief executive has been the focus of months of campaigning by pro-democracy groups, exposing widening rifts between the pro-Beijing establishment and residents who fear that growing mainland influence is eroding the city’s traditions of free speech and judicial independence, which they say were guaranteed as part of an agreement before Britain returned the territory to China in 1997. The main pro-democracy umbrella group, Occupy Central With Love and Peace, has said it will hold sit-in protests in the city’s main financial district, Central, if the proposed electoral changes authorized by Beijing fail to live up to international standards. Benny Tai, a founder of Occupy Central, said he expected the Chinese government to give its proposals in August. In June, Occupy Central organized an unofficial referendum that invited Hong Kong residents to choose between three proposals for overhauling the system, each of which allowed voters to nominate candidates for the chief executive. The exercise attracted votes from 787,000 Hong Kong residents , a number equal to more than one-tenth of the city’s population and more than one-fifth of its registered voters . An annual protest march on July 1 by democratic groups and opposition organizations drew more than 500,000 people, according to the organizers, although the police estimate indicated a much lower turnout. Now the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress must decide what package of electoral changes to offer Hong Kong. That package will be followed by more public consultations in Hong Kong. “We are not optimistic, certainly, with the final outcome,” said Professor Cheng. “We are still willing to talk, but we are also making preparations for nonviolent civil disobedience actions when it is made clear that there will be no genuinely democratic electoral system.” | Election;Occupy Central,Umbrella Movement;Leung Chun-ying;C.Y. Leung;Beijing;Hong Kong |
ny0096122 | [
"world",
"europe"
]
| 2015/01/24 | Court Upholds France’s Move to Strip Citizenship of Man Jailed on Terror Charge | PARIS — France’s top court ruled on Friday that it was legal for the French government to strip a French-Moroccan man of his citizenship, reinforcing the country’s right to employ the antiterrorism tool as it tries to tighten its security after deadly terrorist attacks. The ruling by the court, the Constitutional Council, involved Ahmed Sahnouni, a Moroccan man who became a French citizen in 2003 and held dual nationality. Mr. Sahnouni was stripped of citizenship last year by the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, after he was sentenced to seven years in prison for participating in “a criminal conspiracy with a terrorist undertaking.” He was expected to be released at the end of 2015. This month, Mr. Sahnouni’s lawyer, Nurettin Meseci, challenged the law before the Constitutional Council, and argued that it does not treat equally those who are born in France and those who became citizens. He also said that stripping his citizenship would result in his client’s being expelled to Morocco, where he would face a 20-year jail sentence on similar charges. Under French law, the authorities are authorized to strip French citizenship from a person who has dual nationalities if he has been convicted on charges of terrorism either before becoming a citizen, or within 15 years of becoming a citizen. According to Le Monde, authorities have stripped eight people of their citizenship since 1973. The ruling bolsters France’s standing as it considers a measures to heighten security after the three-day onslaught in which 17 people were killed in and around Paris. One of the three attackers, Amedy Coulibaly, was buried early Friday in Thiais, a Paris suburb, police officials said. Mr. Coulibaly, a 32-year-old French citizen of Malian descent, died in a police assault on a kosher supermarket on Jan. 9 after he took several hostages, killing four of them, and a day after he fatally shot a police officer in Montrouge, just south of Paris. A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said that state officials had buried Mr. Coulibaly on Friday in an area designated for Muslims in one of the city’s cemeteries. The site of the burial was kept secret for security reasons. Mr. Coulibaly’s funeral took place after the two brothers who killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were buried last week in cities near Paris. One of the brothers, Saïd Kouachi, was buried last Friday in Reims, where he settled several years ago. The body of Mr. Kouachi’s brother Chérif was placed in a Muslim plot on Saturday in Gennevilliers, a suburb north of Paris, at the request of his wife, Izzana Hamyd. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Coulibaly, who lived with his companion, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, in the nearby city of Fontenay-aux-Roses, was buried in Thiais. A Muslim watchdog group said on Friday that tensions continue to run high in parts of France. The National Observatory Against Islamophobia, part of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, France’s main Muslim authority, cited a surge of anti-Muslim acts following the Paris attacks. The group said that 128 anti-Muslim incidents had taken place over the last two weeks. These incidents included 33 acts and 95 threats against the Muslim community, compared to 78 threats in all of 2014. In its statement, the group called on French politicians to “denounce these hideous acts” and “bring a reassuring support” to Muslim citizens. | France;Terrorism;Ahmed Sahnouni;Citizenship;Manuel Valls;Murders and Homicides;Paris France;Amedy Coulibaly;Funerals;Charlie Hebdo |
ny0244234 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2011/04/03 | At Castle Gardens, the Super Is an Ex-Con | IN a nod to hue, not heft, Chris Carney christened his 600-pound Treadlok safe “the Leprechaun.” It is nearly the same color as the tattoo of a four-leaf clover on the knuckle of the middle finger of his right hand — a tattoo his mother threatened to scrub off with steel wool after he got it as a defiant ninth grader. “Back in the day,” which is how he refers to his criminal past, Mr. Carney kept guns, drugs and money in the safe. The guns were for protection and ego, souvenirs of a misbegotten boyhood near Boston that included family hunting trips and the drill team at military school. The money was for a Stuyvesant Town apartment, a Corvette, trips to the Caribbean, top-shelf alcohol, gambling and cocaine. He supplemented his salary as a union painter by stealing from drug dealers and bookies, as a sort of low-life Robin Hood. “I guess I was another criminal’s worst nightmare,” Mr. Carney said. After nine years in prison, he retrieved the Leprechaun from storage in 2008. Today, it hulks impressively in the corner of his tiny office at Castle Gardens, an environmentally conscious apartment building in Harlem that serves a fallen-between-the-cracks clientele. The safe holds nothing but pristine keys, hundreds of them, one for every door at the $44 million building where Mr. Carney, 41, a multiple offender and multiple substance abuser in his angry-young-man 20s, became the primary caretaker — and first tenant — last summer. The reincarnation of the Leprechaun is fitting for Castle Gardens, a place of redemption: more than half of the building’s 114 units are reserved for the formerly incarcerated or the formerly homeless. A project of the Fortune Society , a nonprofit organization devoted to helping ex-convicts re-enter society, Castle Gardens is next to Fortune Academy, a 62-bed halfway house on Riverside Drive for offenders fresh from prison. It got its nickname, “the Castle,” because it resembles one. Mr. Carney landed at the Castle within weeks of his release in 2008, and eager to stay out of jail but spurned by the painters’ union, he started mopping floors and cleaning toilets there and at the Fortune Society’s offices in Long Island City, Queens. He moved out of the halfway house, to Jackson Heights, Queens, and then to the South Bronx. He was promoted to superintendent at the Castle. He got off parole. Be it ever so humble, it was a start, and it was legal. A year later, Mr. Carney stood among officials at the Castle Gardens dedication ceremony, all of them holding shovels he had spray-painted a festive shade of gold for the occasion. He had been named superintendent of the new building, with a base salary of $33,000 a year, a staff of four and a rent-free two-bedroom apartment. “If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told the crowd that September day. “But sometimes you need a second chance to get your priorities straight.” Mr. Carney saved a few of the shovels; they are in his office, leaning against the Leprechaun. EARLY on, a new tenant took Mr. Carney aside and asked, conspiratorially, whether there were former prisoners living on her floor, a thought that was making her nervous. The super kept a poker face and told her that there were probably a few, but that confidentiality kept him from disclosing identities. He also advised her not to stress out about it; they had been screened by the Fortune Society and were relieved, just as she was, to be living in a clean, secure building. He did not mention that he, too, was among the formerly incarcerated. Mr. Carney was nervous that his background might come up at the first monthly tenant get-together, but the conversation was taken over by complaints that the laundry room closed too early. Later, when a couple of tough-guy tenants, irked by his nagging them about constantly misplacing their apartment keys, jokingly asked if Mr. Carney knew what it was like to live without privacy or keys, he stunned them by revealing that he did, indeed. “At first, I obviously didn’t advertise that I was formerly incarcerated, because I was meeting people who needed to feel like they could rely on me,” he recalled. “But after a while, everyone seemed to know.” One raw March afternoon, Mr. Carney, his eyes the same washed-out shade of blue as his jeans, stood in the small parking lot behind the building’s garage smoking his umpteenth cigarette of the day. He was coatless despite a rank breeze, ever the stocky bruiser who won East Coast body-building titles as a teenager but quit after following his ambition to Venice Beach, Calif., and finding women who were brawnier. He has preserved the Boston accent that makes an “ah” of every “r”: when he knocks on a tenant’s door, he hollers “Supah!” before entering. And when he wears a baseball cap, it bears a Red Sox logo. “I run the building with a big heart and a strong fist,” Mr. Carney said, groggy from lack of sleep, after shuttle diplomacy on a late-night noise dispute. “The front desk got a complaint about noise and called me,” he said. “I gave a quick call to the apartment that was causing the trouble; end of noise. “Believe me, nobody wants to get kicked out of here,” he added. “This place is like winning the lottery.” Sixty-three of the apartments at Castle Gardens are set aside for ex-convicts and people who were once homeless; the others are for those earning less than $46,080 a year. Two-thirds of the units qualify for Section 8 vouchers, in which tenants pay 30 percent of their income as rent; the remainder go for far-below-market rates: $775 for a studio to $1,130 for a three-bedroom. More than 2,000 applicants sought 50 such units last year. Mr. Carney shares his 816 square feet on the second floor with his girlfriend, Jennifer Cummings, and her 11-year-old daughter, Amanda. The couple met in 2003 at Attica Correctional Facility , where he was serving time for armed robbery and she was visiting a relative. His heart and fists are in equal demand at the 11-story, red-brick Castle Gardens. He can break down an illegally locked door or gingerly reposition a ruffled curtain and devotional votives after shinnying out a tenant’s eighth-floor window to check a leak. He can explain the difference between a kitchen vent and the air-conditioning system to someone who has lived in a prison cell for decades and has no clue how a gas stove or a double-flush toilet operates. He discreetly refers the jobless to the building’s computer room to scan help-wanted ads. “I have a lot of sympathy for people whose last time living in an apartment in the outside world may have been before I was even born,” Mr. Carney said. “God forbid you walk out of prison at 75 or 80; it has to be like walking into a ‘Star Wars’ movie.” In his old life, a knock on the door in the middle of the night meant trouble: an angry drug dealer, perhaps, or a police officer. At Castle Gardens, the one time Mr. Carney’s sleep was disrupted by a knock on the door was when a tenant needed a toilet plunger. He had one at the ready. INSIDE Attica, the wake-up alarm blared at 6 a.m., a sustained inflictor of shock to the eardrums and psyche. Mr. Carney, doing nine and a half years after negotiating a plea on an armed robbery charge, learned fast that the best way to endure the bell was to anticipate it. He always woke up a few minutes ahead to brace himself for the noise, he said, and used the time to think about how to stay alive one more day. He also did some sobering math. “I figured out that I did a day in prison for every dollar I stole, and it could have been worse,” he said. “When I was arrested, it was the Giuliani era, where every bullet could get you a year. I had 48 rounds on me.” In July of 1999, drunk and in search of a quick influx of cash, Mr. Carney stole $4,000 from a bookie at a liquor store on the Lower East Side while carrying a loaded .357 Magnum that he said he had “borrowed without permission” from an uncle, a detail that made his crime a felony that could have carried a life sentence. It was to be his second prison stint. The first was from age 18 to 23, after an arson conviction for burning down a barn in Massachusetts. The last six years of the robbery sentence were spent at the mild-by-comparison Auburn Correctional Facility , where he enrolled in psychology, engineering and creative writing courses offered by Cornell University. Shortly before his release, he came across a brochure for “The Castle/Fortune Academy” and held onto it. He knew he had nobody waiting for him in New York City. His ex-girlfriend was out of his life; their daughter, Dianna, was a teenager living with his parents in Duxbury, Mass. His first night out, Mr. Carney was dropped at the men’s shelter at Bellevue Hospital Center. His father sent him enough money to last two weeks at the Y.M.C.A.; when his application to move into the Fortune Academy was accepted, he started his second life. MR. CARNEY’S alarm still rattles him awake by 6. He grabs a cup of coffee and a monster set of keys, steps into a hallway with occupancy-sensor lighting and takes the elevator to the roof, where the building has a rainwater harvest system and a steamy boiler room that he jokes is his private sauna. Also, the view across the Hudson River is spectacular at dawn as he smokes his first Newport. By 7 a.m., it’s time to check the vital signs of the sophisticated boiler and its back-up system. Each pipe has its own identification tag, the better to troubleshoot water leaks (one burst the first day he turned on the heat last fall). “Now my life-and-death moment happens every morning when I unlock the door to the boiler room and pray that everything’s running,” he said, using a blue-handled wrench to adjust the temperature of a mixer valve. “Actually, I don’t have to pray: it’s all under warranty. If I can’t fix it myself, I’ve got a list of experts on call.” Castle Gardens, which also has aluminum solar shades above the south windows and separate trickle vents and air conditioners for each apartment, has gained national recognition and has an application pending for the highest ranking by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a k a LEED gold certification, a status usually reserved for high-end residential projects. Mr. Carney took several green engineering courses at John Jay College and through Phipps Housing Services, which manages the property, before being hired, on the Fortune Society’s say-so. “He can talk to regulators or bankers, and he can also get dirty and fix a boiler,” said Douglas Hanau, a vice president at Phipps. “I would put him and his maintenance staff up against the staff of any building in New York despite what their history is. Chris either fixes it himself or he gets it fixed.” JoAnne Page, the Fortune Society’s chief executive and motivating spirit behind Castle Gardens, said Mr. Carney stood out from the beginning both because of his carpentry skills “and because of the way he pitched in.” “He’s kind of the Pied Piper of the building,” Ms. Page said. “His people skills are as important as his handyman skills.” THERE are a plethora of rules at Castle Gardens, but it is apparently permissible to hug the superintendent. One tenant who does so regularly is 76-year-old Johnny DeVincenzo, a wizened, excitable, jockey-size man who does not speak about his prison record but revels in his aspiration to the Guinness Book of Records. Mr. DeVincenzo’s specialty involves punching steel posts, hence his nickname, Johnny Knuckles. He has extracted a promise from Mr. Carney to put his antics on YouTube. He also persuaded Mr. Carney to run interference for him with Con Edison over high utility bills. “You sure you aren’t running a tanning salon up there?” Mr. Carney asked. The other day, Mr. DeVincenzo summoned Mr. Carney to his tiny but tidy studio apartment to complain about the windows: he wanted to clean them on the outside to improve the view. Mr. Carney showed him how to maneuver the pane, then accepted a cleaning rag and wound up doing the job himself. “Look at you,” Mr. Carney said. “You’ve got the super cleaning your windows for you even though this super doesn’t do windows. Now you can tell it’s not cloudy outside. And remember what to use the next time you clean your window? Vinegar and water: it’s the green way to clean.” Mr. DeVincenzo beamed. Then he hugged his super. Off-duty, Mr. Carney unlocked his apartment, poured a glass of apple juice and hunkered on the sofa with Ms. Cummings, 30, Amanda, and Mickey, an elderly teacup Yorkshire terrier Mr. Carney adopted from a Fortune Society client. Amanda recounted the high point of a school field trip to New York University — lunch at McDonald’s — and Mr. Carney groaned about the culinary destination of the $10 he had shelled out for the trip. In his bedroom there is a full-size antique mirror, bordered in oak, that his mother gave him when he was a teenager, post-tattoo but prior to his criminal dalliances. “She told me to look in the mirror to see the man I would become,” he said. “And I’m just now finding out what she meant.” Mr. Carney’s parents, who are retired (his father was an insurance executive, his mother an antiques dealer) visited Castle Gardens for the first time last month. His mother has promised to return this spring to watch her son’s performance in “The Castle 2,” a new play being produced by David Rothenberg, the founder of the Fortune Society. As in the original 2008 version, which has been made into a documentary, four ex-convicts sit onstage and relate the genesis of the transgressions that prefaced their prison terms. “Up until now, she hadn’t wanted me to do it,” Mr. Carney said of the play. “I come from the sort of family where you don’t air your dirty laundry in public. “I’d love to become an actor,” he added. “Hey, a guy can dream.” Then, with baseball cap realigned, he slipped out the door at dusk to monitor the progress of a contractor repairing the latest leak on the roof. | Ex-Convicts;Housing and Real Estate;Harlem (NYC) |
ny0268323 | [
"us"
]
| 2016/04/03 | Crime Spike in St. Louis Traced to Cheap Heroin and Mexican Cartels | ST. LOUIS — Clara Walker, a mother of nine and grandmother of eight, was peering out the window of her home three years ago after hearing what she initially thought were gunshots from a television crime show. But at that moment, Anthony Jordan, who the authorities say was a gang enforcer known as “Godfather,” was spraying gunfire on the street outside, and two bullets struck Ms. Walker, killing her. “St. Louis is a dangerous place right now,” Johnny Barnes, Ms. Walker’s longtime boyfriend, said during a recent interview. “It’s all around us.” The death of Ms. Walker was linked by the authorities to a violent St. Louis street gang with ties to a Mexican drug cartel that in the past has supplied marijuana and cocaine throughout the Midwest. In recent years, however, Mexican traffickers have inundated the St. Louis area with a new, potent form of heroin, drastically reducing prices for the drug and increasing its strength to attract suburban users. The dispersal of the cheap heroin has led to a surge in overdoses, addiction and violence in cities across the country. Besides St. Louis — where the problem is particularly acute — Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Philadelphia have attributed recent spikes in homicides in part to an increase in the trafficking of low-cost heroin by Mexican cartels working with local gangs. “The gangs have to have a lot of customers because the heroin is so cheap,” said Gary Tuggle, the Drug Enforcement Administration ’s chief in Philadelphia, who observed the same phenomenon while overseeing the agency’s Baltimore office. ”What we are seeing is these crews becoming more violent as they look to expand their turf.” Image Clara Walker, a mother of nine and grandmother of eight. Credit via Johnny Barnes To attract customers, the cartels — usually through a local surrogate — instruct gangs to sell the drug at prices as low as $5 for each button (about one-tenth of a gram of powdered heroin, which could last a novice user an entire day). At times, the gangs distribute free samples, according to agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The purity level of heroin seized by drug agents on the streets of American cities has grown significantly in recent years, federal officials say, rising to 50 percent from 5 percent in St. Louis in the past several years, and as high as 90 percent in Philadelphia. In a trend mimicked in large cities nationally, many of the heroin consumers in St. Louis are young whites in their 20s, who drive into the city from suburbs and distant rural areas, the police say. And while most heroin overdose victims here are white, nearly all of the shooting victims and suspects in St. Louis this year have been African-American men and boys, police data shows . “What I’m seeing at street level are violent disputes about money owed around heroin debts, with sometimes the dispute being about money, and sometimes about drugs,” said D. Samuel Dotson III, the police chief of St. Louis. In 2014, St. Louis had the highest homicide rate of any city with more than 100,000 people. Its 157 homicides that year increased by 18 percent in 2015 to 188, and while the rate has slowed in the initial months of this year, St. Louis is again on pace to be among the nation’s most dangerous big cities. The heroin problem has been difficult for the city’s leaders to ignore. Those who have succumbed to the drug include a nephew of Steve Stenger’s , the St. Louis County executive, who died from an overdose in 2014. A brother of Mayor Francis Slay’s was arrested on a charge of heroin possession in 2012, and the stepson of Jennifer Joyce’s , the city’s top prosecutor, was arrested on the same charge last month. “These heroin addicts are daughters, sons, husbands, wives or, in my case, a brother,” Mr. Slay told reporters last month. Image Clara Walker’s former apartment in North St. Louis. A mother of nine and grandmother of eight, she was killed three years ago while looking out her window by gunfire sprayed by a gang member. Credit Whitney Curtis for The New York Times Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, which dominates the supply of illegal drugs throughout the Midwest, have generally not engaged directly in violence in St. Louis, law enforcement officials here say. But cartel lieutenants have sought to incite rivalries among street crews, the authorities say. The drug syndicate that federal authorities say mistakenly killed Ms. Walker four days after Christmas in 2013 was led by José Alfredo Velazquez, a Mexican-born businessman who speaks little English, and Adrian Lemons, who has a drug arrest record in St. Louis dating to the 1990s, according to a federal indictment and other court records. Officials say that Mr. Velazquez has been linked to the Sinaloa cartel, long headed by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the drug kingpin known as El Chapo, who has repeatedly escaped from Mexican prisons only to be caught again. The partnership between Mr. Velazquez, 55, and Mr. Lemons, 38, began around 2012, primarily as a cocaine dealing operation, officials said. But as tastes in the area changed, the operation began to sell more heroin. For four years, the enterprise proved nearly unstoppable, law enforcement officials contend. While Mr. Velazquez and Mr. Lemons focused on the logistics — racking up millions of dollars in heroin and cocaine sales — their street crew, including Mr. Jordan, 30, protected their turf by killing at least 17 people, including Ms. Walker, federal prosecutors say. After a two-year investigation, the enterprise was finally dismantled in January, when 18 members of the gang — including Mr. Velazquez, Mr. Lemons and Mr. Jordan — were indicted on a variety of charges, including murder and drug trafficking. Trial dates have not yet been set. When he fatally shot Ms. Walker, 51, Mr. Jordan was apparently aiming at a member of a rival gang, the authorities say. Two bullets struck Ms. Walker — one in the neck, the other in the shoulder. Several other rounds fatally wounded a man sitting in a parked sport utility vehicle nearby. Ms. Walker, who felt unsafe in the neighborhood and had wanted to move, had been cooking pig’s ears and cleaning the house while her children were watching a crime drama on a Sunday afternoon, said Mr. Barnes, 54, her boyfriend for more than 12 years. Image A memorial for two sisters who were killed last May on Vandeventer Avenue in St. Louis. St. Louis is again on pace this year to be among the nation’s most dangerous big cities. Credit Whitney Curtis for The New York Times “She was just an innocent person,” he said. Federal officials have so far seized 65 firearms, including several assault rifles, and confiscated more than $1 million from the group, according to court records. “As we kept peeling away at it, we kept finding there was more and more to it that ultimately connected St. Louis to Texas and Mexico,” Chief Dotson said. Federal officials say that the Sinaloa cartel manufactures the heroin in the mountains of northwestern Mexico and transports it across the border, where operatives like Mr. Velasquez are responsible for ensuring it gets to St. Louis. Chief Dotson said the local gang had been responsible for so much violence in the city that the arrests might lead to a significant reduction in violent crime, which rose by 7.8 percent in 2015, including an 18.2 percent increase in homicides. Lawyers for Mr. Velazquez and Mr. Lemons declined to comment. Despite the indictments, heroin continues to be sold openly in the mainly African-American neighborhoods of North St. Louis once dominated by the group. “They call and we tell them what time and this spot,” said a lanky 17-year-old who was selling heroin recently, and who gave his nickname as “B.” “If they have the right money, it’s right.” On one recent afternoon, young men moved quickly from parked car to parked car as part of prearranged meetings. They passed small packages wrapped in wax paper through open windows in exchange for handfuls of cash. In fewer than five minutes, the line of cars — some with Illinois and Kentucky license plates — and the dealers were gone. On the neighborhood’s neatly tended front lawns, signs erected by weary residents had a simple, if frequently ignored, plea: “We must stop killing each other.” | Heroin;Gang;St Louis;Drug Abuse;Drug cartel;Murders and Homicides;Sinaloa Cartel;DEA |
ny0009667 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
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| 2013/02/27 | Balloon Explosion in Egypt Kills at Least 19 Tourists | CAIRO — The explosion of a hot-air balloon over the ancient temples at Luxor killed at least 19 sightseers Tuesday, delivering a grim blow to Egypt’s critical tourism business just as it had begun to show signs of recovery from the shock of the revolution two years ago. All of those killed were tourists, including nine Chinese from Hong Kong, four Japanese, two French, two Britons, a Hungarian and an Egyptian, Health Ministry officials said. The balloon’s pilot and a British passenger survived by jumping from the balloon’s basket. But the surviving passenger’s wife, also British, died in the blaze. “It is just another nail in tourism’s coffin,” Hisham A. Fahmy, the chief executive of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt , which represents international companies here, said of the crash. “They were probably the only tourists in Luxor as it was.” Even Egyptians trying to minimize the disaster’s potential effect on the tourist business compared it to the 1997 massacre of 62 people, 58 of them tourists, at one of Luxor’s temples by a group of Islamist militants. At least this was an accident and not terrorism, Egyptian officials said Tuesday. Others noted hopefully that tourism had eventually recovered after 1997. “I thought that would be the end of tourism,” said Heba Handoussa of the Economic Research Forum here. “But to my surprise, the next year it was back. People seem to take it in stride.” Image The wreckage of a hot-air balloon that burst into flames Tuesday over the ancient temples at Luxor. Credit Reuters The tombs and temples of Luxor and the nearby Valley of the Kings are among Egypt’s premier attractions, and hot-air balloon rides over the valley at dawn are a staple of the local tourist trade. In 2008 and 2009, balloons collided with utility poles and crashed to the ground, injuring passengers. But few visitors had raised safety concerns, tour operators said. The disaster unfolded in just minutes, shortly after 7 a.m., as the balloon was preparing to land in a field of sugar cane. The pilot was pulling a rope to stabilize the balloon when a gas hose ripped and a fire started, security officials said. The pilot and the passenger who survived quickly escaped over the side of the basket, risking a 30-foot fall. Then escaping gas or hot air from the fire evidently sent the balloon soaring back skyward. Some reports said it had climbed as high as 1,000 feet before a gas cylinder exploded and it burst into flames. State media reported that some of the dead had been “cremated” in the fireball. The Health Ministry said it would use DNA testing to identify the remains. The ministers of aviation and tourism said they were traveling to Luxor. Officials started investigations into the crash as well as an examination of the permit for the balloon and the license for its pilot. Some in Luxor faulted regulators. Tharwat Agami, the chairman of the Luxor tourist industry trade group, accused the aviation ministry of renewing licenses for the balloon operator and others despite their failures to meet safety requirements. Like other forms of law enforcement, balloon regulation and inspection have deteriorated sharply since the revolution, he told the state newspaper Al Ahram. “As if tourism can take any more!” Mr. Agami said, according to the newspaper. “Where is the inspection of each balloon before takeoff by civil aviation?” Image Paramedics moving one of the bodies. Credit Nasser Nasser/Associated Press Tourism typically accounted for about 11 percent of Egypt’s gross domestic product before the revolution, economists say. More important, tourism is Egypt’s second-largest source of hard currency, after remittances sent home by Egyptians working abroad. It helps reduce the trade imbalance, supporting the sagging value of the Egyptian pound. But in the two years of unrest since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted, tourism revenue has plummeted to just a quarter of its former level, said Ms. Handoussa, the economist. She said government figures, widely believed to understate the malaise, put unemployment at 14 percent, up from 8 percent before the revolt, while the number of Egyptians officially considered to be living in poverty has risen to 25 percent from 20 percent. Two major European tour operators, TUI of Germany and Thomas Cook of Britain, said around the beginning of this year that they saw signs of recovery in the demand for vacations to North Africa, including Tunisia and Egypt. Tour operators and travel agents say the Red Sea beach resorts, farther from the unrest in Cairo, have suffered far less than other destinations. But then at the end of January, vandals in Cairo capitalized on the chaos surrounding a street protest to loot and ransack the lobby of the historic Semiramis InterContinental Hotel. It was the first time since Mr. Mubarak’s exit that the unrest had so directly affected a tourist institution. Now the balloon accident may add new concerns about safety to the continuing fears of political instability. Mina Agnos, a vice president of Travelive, a high-end tour operator based in Athens and Montclair, N.J., said it had stopped marketing trips to Egypt. Each fall in the last two years, seasonal demand would pick up, and then violence would erupt again, as it did around the American Embassy here last September over an online video mocking Islam. “Something would happen,” she said. “We found that a lot of people who were thinking of going to Egypt ended up going other places.” | Luxor;Balloon;Plane Crashes and Missing Planes;Fatalities,casualties;Accidents and Safety;Egypt |
ny0265429 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2016/03/02 | Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Say No to Klan (but Maybe to Donald Trump) | WASHINGTON — Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday forcefully denounced Donald J. Trump ’s refusal to distance himself from the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. But Mr. Ryan did not shift from his position that he would support Mr. Trump if he became the Republican Party ’s presidential nominee, a perplexing contradiction that reflects the growing anxiety on Capitol Hill over the billionaire businessman’s ascent. “If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party , there can be no evasion and no games,” Mr. Ryan told reporters in Washington after his weekly meeting with House Republicans. “They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices. We appeal to their highest ideals. This is the party of Lincoln.” Mr. Ryan, who did not mention Mr. Trump by name, brought into sharp relief the intense struggle facing congressional Republicans — especially those in tough re-election fights — as they move to simultaneously run from Mr. Trump’s positions and largely proclaim fealty to his increasingly possible rise to the top of their ticket. “Let me make it perfectly clear, Senate Republicans condemn David Duke and the K.K.K., and his racism,” Senator Mitch McConnell , Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said Tuesday on Capitol Hill. “That is not the view of Republicans that have been elected to the United States Senate, and I condemn his comments in the most forceful way.” Mr. McConnell stopped short of saying what only a very few congressional Republicans have said: that he will not pull the lever for Mr. Trump if he is the nominee. The inherent paradox of renouncing a candidate you also provisionally support was raised Tuesday to near contortionist levels. For instance, Republicans now repeatedly say they must support any Republican nominee over a Democrat largely to protect the Supreme Court seat that opened up with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a position that Mr. McConnell says they will not agree to fill until after the election. “Any Republican nominee is going to have a better Supreme Court nominee,” said Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, moments after he said his first job was to show America that “Trump is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” But Republicans acknowledge that they have no proof that Mr. Trump would pick the conservative jurist they crave. To wit: Mr. Trump has repeatedly embraced policies and political figures disliked by his party. He once said that Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose policies fueled the recession in President Ronald Reagan’s first term and who then became a trusted economic adviser to the presidential candidate Barack Obama, was a great pick for the nation’s central bank job. Congressional Republicans — dominated by the party’s conservative wing — dislike many of Mr. Trump’s policies, are out of step with their front-runner on social issues and are embarrassed by his antics. Yet they insist that at the end of the long, arduous day, none of those traits would be disqualifying. Image Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday before a meeting with House Republicans. Credit Drew Angerer/Getty Images “We will have to work on changing some of his ideas,” said Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, smiling weakly. “He’s a good businessman.” And many said that while his views were at odds with voters in their states, Mr. Trump’s overall candidacy was not, and so they would support him — if for no other reason than they will need his voters, too. “I have a primary,” said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, who added he would not endorse anyone in the race. It is almost as if Republicans are dating someone they will not introduce to their mother, but have reluctantly agreed to marry because they cannot do better. “For a group with 9 percent favorables telling people how to vote,” said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump, “I don’t think that’s going to work.” One exception is Senator Ben Sasse, the freshman Republican from Nebraska, who began a one-man attack on Mr. Trump on social media , explaining why he would never vote for him. A House Republican, Representative Scott Rigell of Virginia, did proclaim Tuesday that “love for our country eclipses my loyalty to our party” as he declared he would never support “a nominee so lacking in the judgment, temperament and character needed to be our nation’s commander in chief.” But Mr. Rigell has already announced his retirement at the end of the year. Yet for all the wishful thinking about Mr. Trump’s imminent demise — they said repeatedly that even if he cleaned up in Tuesday’s primaries, he could still lose the nomination fight — Republicans have not strongly coalesced around an alternative. Many Senate Republicans were behind the now-failed campaign of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. Support for other candidates has been scattered. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has the endorsement of about a dozen senators, while Senator Ted Cruz has none. Still, they press on. “It’s not going to be Donald Trump ,” snapped the usually affable Mr. Gardner, who is trying to elevate Mr. Rubio. Mr. McConnell, who has spent much of his public life pressing against the most flagrant bigotry in politics, is in a particularly tough spot by not fully dismissing Mr. Trump’s candidacy over the David Duke episode. And while Mr. Ryan has been careful to try to ignore Mr. Trump’s garden-variety outbursts and name calling, he becomes agitated over remarks that he feels violate the inclusiveness of the party. “This is fundamental,” Mr. Ryan said. “And if someone wants to be our nominee, they must understand this. I hope this is the last time I need to speak out on this race.” Democrats are using the issue to pummel Republicans. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader, was sharply critical of Mr. Ryan on Tuesday and his refusal to say he would not support Mr. Trump. “Talk is cheap,” Mr. Reid sneered. | 2016 Presidential Election;Republicans;Mitch McConnell;Paul D Ryan Jr;Donald Trump;KKK;David E Duke |
ny0218182 | [
"world",
"asia"
]
| 2010/05/11 | Aquino Son Takes Lead in Philippines | MANILA — Senator Benigno S. Aquino III, whose parents wrested the Philippines from autocratic rule a generation ago, took a commanding lead early Tuesday morning in the race to become the country’s next president, according to incomplete results from Monday’s election. With ballots tallied from nearly 60 percent of the precincts nationwide, Mr. Aquino , who ran on a theme of anticorruption, had won more than 40 percent of the votes. He had double-digit leads over his two main rivals, Joseph Estrada, a former president impeached for corruption, and Manuel Villar, a senator and businessman widely perceived as having exploited his political power to benefit his real estate empire. Mr. Villar conceded on Tuesday. Violence, fraud and malfunctions in a new automated voting system marred balloting, as tens of millions of voters went to polling stations to elect thousands of officials in addition to the president. The use of new computerized vote-counting machines visibly increased turnout, but created extremely long delays and other difficulties that could give losing candidates a reason to contest results. Here in Manila, the capital, many voters waited hours to cast their ballots, usually in extremely crowded and hot public schools; the news media reported that many people nationwide gave up and left without voting. The Commission on Elections reported a voter turnout of 75 percent, lower than the 85 percent that had been predicted. Violence was reported in several regions but especially on the southern island of Mindanao, where extensive fraud was said to have tipped the previous presidential election in 2004. Firefights there between supporters of rival politicians led to the deaths of at least five people on Monday and the suspension of voting in several precincts. Amid reports of widespread vote-buying, one local politician was seen handing out money to potential voters walking along a highway. The Commission on Elections said it might declare a “failure of elections” in several areas in and around Mindanao, where voting could not be held because of violence, including fighting between the military and Islamist insurgents. The affected areas included three towns in Basilan, an island where American counterinsurgency troops have been operating for years. Despite the delays, the commission was expected to announce the results of the presidential race within two days, while those for the other positions could come earlier. Mr. Aquino — who decided to run for president because of an outpouring of sympathy following his mother’s death last year — appeared to benefit from his reputation for honesty. “He’s a good person who seems to want to help other people,” said Reymond Quizong, 19, a textile worker, after casting his ballot at a high school in Tondo, a poor neighborhood in Manila. But other voters supported none of the main presidential contenders, underscoring what analysts have described as a weak pool of candidates. Maria Rosalina Liwanag, a 31-year-old private tutor, said she voted for a minor presidential candidate, rejecting Mr. Villar and Mr. Estrada for ethical questions and Mr. Aquino for having done nothing in the Senate. “He’s popular only because of his mother and father and his sisters,” Ms. Liwanag said, mentioning as an example Kris Aquino, a younger sister of Mr. Aquino’s who is an entertainer often described as this country’s Oprah. Despite the delays, most voters interviewed expressed excitement about using the new machines. Many said that the machines, which electronically compile and transmit vote tallies, will help prevent the manipulation of ballots of past elections. “It’s a clean booth,” said Passion Bernardo Obana, 41, a security guard at a bank. But supporters of some candidates appeared to be trying to circumvent the machines by buying votes before they were cast. In the Malate district of Manila, Noel Carual, 38, and his mother, Cora, 64, said a neighbor had received 1,500 pesos, about $32.75, from supporters of a presidential candidate they would not identify. Mrs. Carual said she was disappointed she was not offered the money, which she would have gladly accepted. “But I would then vote for my own candidate anyway,” she said. Her son added, “Accept the money but go with your heart.” In Mindanao, some candidates were less discreet about trying to buy votes. On a highway leading to Tugaig, a village in Barira district, a candidate for town councilor stopped his pickup truck countless times to hand out money to people along the road. The candidate then went to Ibra Bulyog Elementary School, where some voters said his supporters were doling out money to people waiting in line to cast their ballots. | Philippines;Elections;Aquino Benigno S III |
ny0012190 | [
"world",
"asia"
]
| 2013/11/20 | Chinese Nobel Winner Appealing Subversion Conviction | HONG KONG — Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese dissident who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize , will challenge his 2009 conviction on subversion charges in court, his lawyer said on Tuesday. A court in Beijing sentenced Mr. Liu to 11 years in prison in December 2009 after he helped organize Charter 08, a petition calling for wide-ranging political changes in China that would have amounted to replacing Communist Party rule with a multiparty democracy. The peace prize the following year infuriated the Chinese government, which blamed the Norwegian government for the decision, although the prize was awarded by an independent committee. Since then, Mr. Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, has also lived in confinement, kept under informal house arrest by the police and guards around her apartment in Beijing. Ms. Liu visited her husband in prison last month and carried his written request to formally challenge his sentence to his representatives afterward, Mo Shaoping, a lawyer acting for Mr. Liu, said in a telephone interview. “This is requesting that a court retry the case,” Mr. Mo said. “The appeal here means he doesn’t accept the verdict already in effect that was reached by the court in the initial and second trials.” Mr. Mo said he was preparing to submit papers to the Beijing Municipal High People’s Court contesting the verdict, which found Mr. Liu guilty of “inciting subversion of state power.” Mr. Mo said he or a colleague also hoped to visit Mr. Liu, who is in a prison in northeast China. “The basis for the appeal is the same argument we raised earlier — writing essays, participating in drafting Charter 08, are all part of a citizen’s right to freedom of expression,” said Mr. Mo. “When we appeal, they will have to accept our documents, assess the case, and decide whether to hold a retrial.” Mr. Liu’s decision was first reported by Radio Free Asia, a service based in Washington that receives funding from the United States government. Mr. Mo would not comment on Mr. Liu’s chances of success. China’s courts rarely overturn verdicts, and to do so in a politically contentious case like Mr. Liu’s would be unheard-of. A court rejected an earlier appeal by Mr. Liu in February 2010. A writer and literary critic, Mr. Liu, 57, won prominence in the 1980s as a critic of censorship and political restrictions, and was imprisoned for a first time for his role in the student-led protests of 1989. Last Friday, the Communist Party leadership published a program of economic, social and legal reforms, including plans to abolish re-education through labor — a form of imprisonment that does not depend on a trial and conviction. The program also promises to make China’s courts less susceptible to meddling by local officials. But there are no signs that these measured changes will bring about a major political relaxation. The party leadership under President Xi Jinping has instead overseen a widespread clampdown on political dissident, criticism and rumors spread on the Internet, and ideological currents seen as threatening one-party rule. | Liu Xiaobo;China;Criminal Sentence;Political prisoner |
ny0196471 | [
"technology"
]
| 2009/10/26 | Big Cellphone Makers Shift to Android Platform From Google | Since 1996, Microsoft has been writing operating systems for little computers to carry in your pocket. It was a lonely business until the company’s perennial rival, Apple , introduced the Web-browsing, music-playing iPhone . But now that smartphones are popular, Microsoft’s operating system, Windows Mobile, is foundering. More cellphone makers are turning to the free Android operating system made by Microsoft’s latest nemesis, Google . Cellphone makers that have used Windows Mobile to run their top-of-the-line smartphones — including Samsung, LG, Kyocera, Sony Ericsson — are now also making Android devices. Twelve Android handsets have been announced this year, with dozens more expected next year. Motorola has dropped Windows Mobile from its line entirely in a switch to Android. HTC, a major cellphone maker, expects half its phones sold this year to run Android. Dell is using Android for its entry into the cellphone market. All four of the largest carriers in the United States have now agreed to offer Android phones. When the first Android handset, the G1 from HTC, was introduced last fall, only T-Mobile offered it. Now, Verizon, the largest carrier, is putting a huge promotional push behind the Droid from Motorola, set to be introduced this week. Even AT&T, the home of the iPhone, recently said it would join the Android party next year. Google is rapidly introducing updates to Android, each named after a bakery sweet. Version 1.5 (cupcake) came out in April, version 1.6 (donut) appeared in September. Version 2.0 (éclair) is expected to appear on the Droid. “A lot of manufacturers are walking into our office and talking about how important Android is becoming to them,” said Cole Brodman, the chief development officer of T-Mobile, the first carrier to sell phones with Google’s software. “Android is ramping with more manufacturers and more price points. It is going to have a pretty significant impact.” Android is on only 1.8 percent of smartphones worldwide, according to Gartner, and Windows Mobile software still dwarfs Android. But Microsoft is slipping. The percentage of smartphones using the Windows Mobile system has plummeted to 9.3 percent, from 12 percent in the second quarter of 2008. Microsoft fell behind Apple, which shot up to 13.3 percent, from 2.8 percent. (Nokia’s Symbian operating system is the world leader, followed by Research In Motion’s OS for its BlackBerrys.) Android does have its share of doubters. “The industry has decided that Android is going to be a huge hit, but I’m skeptical,” said Tero Kuittinen, an analyst with MKM Partners. “To have legs, you have to be a hit. The first three Android devices didn’t connect with the mass market.” Nevertheless, Android is free, while Windows Mobile costs manufacturers $15 to $25 a phone. Google’s software is intended for modern screens you tap with a finger, while Windows Mobile was built for use with a stylus. Android has attracted far more applications for consumers in the first year than Windows Mobile has in a decade. As a result, Android is winning over the world’s largest cellphone makers. One part of the appeal is that, unlike other operating systems, Android is open source software, so anyone can use or change it. “We have access to the source code,” said Sanjay Jha, the co-chief executive of Motorola. “To do that on any other platform would be very difficult.” HTC, the Taiwanese cellphone company that has grown quickly in recent years making only Windows Mobile phones, also finds the customization attractive because Android phones allow users to add apps. “Customers are really embracing personalization, and Android brings that to the forefront,” said Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s vice president for North America. Windows Mobile, by contrast, appeals more to corporate computing managers who like how it connects to Microsoft’s e-mail and office software. “A year ago, we significantly changed our strategy,” said Andrew Lees, Microsoft’s senior vice president for the Windows Mobile effort. “Our value proposition is you can get your business and your consumer scenarios on the PC, and in a relevant way for you on the phone.” But Microsoft has not announced a release date for Windows Mobile 7. “You will see a speedy set of innovation for us in the next 6, 12, 24 months,” said Robert J. Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division at a news media event in New York to introduce a quick revision of the operating system called Windows Mobile 6.5. “Should we have picked up on the trends a little sooner? It’s hard not to say we should have,” he added. So far, Microsoft has not been able to answer critics who say its operating system is old, slow and hard to use. “Windows Mobile is simply dated, and that hasn’t changed in this release,” said Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices at Current Analysis. Indeed, a J. D. Power & Associates survey found that Windows Mobile had the lowest satisfaction rating among customers of any smartphone operating system. The iPhone has by far the most satisfying software, the study found. Android is a distant second, followed closely by BlackBerry’s operating system. Windows Mobile scored below average on every attribute, said Kirk Parsons, director of the study, especially in ease of operation, speed and stability. Android’s supporters say that in contrast, Google’s software and the devices that run it are evolving very quickly. “They started with the base layer of capabilities,” Kevin Packingham, senior vice president for product and technology development at Sprint. “What was missing from the first generation was the user interface that really gets to consumers.” Mr. Packingham said he was confident that Android phones would gain popularity. “In the next year, there is the potential for Android to have huge growth and market share,” he said. | Smartphones;Google Inc;Microsoft Corp;Google Phone;Cellular Telephones;Software;Wireless Communications;Computers and the Internet;Apple Inc |
ny0089984 | [
"nyregion"
]
| 2015/09/30 | Chinese Magnate Is Accused of Lying About Millions in Cash He Brought to U.S. | When Ng Lap Seng, a Chinese real estate magnate, travels to the United States, he tends to do so in style — either flying commercial or on one of his private jets. And, the authorities say, he often comes with cash. Federal prosecutors say that on 11 such trips since 2013, Mr. Ng brought more than $4.5 million into the United States, with some stays lasting just a few days. What did Mr. Ng do with the money? Prosecutors are not saying. But they have charged the businessman with lying to the authorities about the cash. Mr. Ng, whose name surfaced in a 1990s Democratic campaign fund-raising scandal, declared the cash on his arrivals, in amounts ranging from $200,000 to $900,000, and said the money would be used to buy art, antiques and real estate, or to gamble, according to a federal complaint. But, the complaint says, investigators surveilled Mr. Ng during his trips and reviewed records of his purchases and activities and they say the money was rarely used for such purposes. Mr. Ng’s crime involved “the deception of United States authorities,” a prosecutor, Janis Echenberg, told a federal magistrate judge in Manhattan at his bail hearing on Sept. 21. Mr. Ng, who is in his late 60s, has a net worth of about $1.8 billion, earns about $300 million annually, owns private airplanes and has passports from at least three countries, Ms. Echenberg told the judge, Sarah Netburn. When he was arrested on Sept. 19, he was wearing a gold watch, encrusted in diamonds, worth about $200,000, the prosecutor added. “This defendant is exceptionally wealthy, I think beyond what we are even used to seeing in this court,” Ms. Echenberg said at the bail hearing. Mr. Ng had so much money, she said, that no amount was enough to ensure he would return to court. The judge ordered Mr. Ng held without bond, and on Tuesday, she ordered his personal assistant, Jeff C. Yin, 29, detained on the same charge. Mr. Ng remains a mysterious figure in the United States, perhaps best known for his role in the campaign finance scandal. A 1998 report of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs said that Mr. Ng and a former Little Rock, Ark., restaurateur, Yah Lin Trie, “collaborated” in a scheme to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign funds to the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Trie, known as Charlie, pleaded guilty to a false statements charge and a lesser misdemeanor count. The donations were returned; Mr. Ng was not charged. The report also said Mr. Ng visited the White House 10 times between 1994 and 1996. He was also photographed with President Clinton, investigators found. During those investigations, the prosecutor told Judge Netburn, Mr. Ng stopped visiting the United States. “We think that is indicative of his unlikeliness to return now that he himself has been charged,” Ms. Echenberg said. In an unrelated investigation in 2014, Mr. Ng was subpoenaed by the government and failed to appear or to respond, according to the complaint, which is signed by Ryan Carey, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Ng and Mr. Yin are each charged with one count of conspiracy to obstruct the function of and to make false statements to Customs and Border Protection. Under the law, individuals must declare if they are bringing into the country, or leaving with, more than $10,000, the complaint said. Mr. Ng’s lawyer, Kevin Tung, argued at the Sept. 21 bail hearing that the charge stemmed from a “misunderstanding.” “If you look at this complaint on its face,” Mr. Tung said, “people carrying money in or out without filling out a form, may be in violation of something, but this is not really a crime.” Mr. Ng’s wealth had no relevance, he continued, and did not make his client “a criminal.” He suggested his client’s bond could be partially secured by a $3.8 million apartment Mr. Ng owned in New York. Judge Netburn, in denying bail, said, “Obviously, being wealthy is not, in and of itself, a crime, and I don’t think anybody is accusing your client of criminal activity merely because of his wealth.” But his resources, she said, included citizenship in various countries, some of which might not cooperate with the United States government if Mr. Ng were to flee and take refuge there. “I don’t believe I can release your client and be satisfied that he will appear in court,” she said. Mr. Ng’s co-defendant, Mr. Yin, a naturalized American citizen from China, served as Mr. Ng’s “right-hand man in all of his American-based operations,” another prosecutor, Daniel C. Richenthal, told the judge in a hearing on Sept. 19. “They are practically at each other’s hip at all times.” Judge Netburn originally imposed a $1 million bond on Mr. Yin. But on Friday, she ordered his release stayed until after hearing further arguments. The office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, told her on Tuesday that a search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of a safe deposit box to which Mr. Yin had a key had found more than $430,000 in cash as well as figurines and pottery, apparently of great value. Mr. Yin’s lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, argued that the money was Mr. Ng’s, had been declared to the government and that her client had no lawful access to it. But in denying bail, Judge Netburn cited a newly discovered Chinese passport that Mr. Yin had not initially disclosed, and said that even if he were a “low-level player” in a broader scheme, there was incentive for him to flee if he were released. | Ng Lap Seng;Jeff C Yin;China;Campaign finance;Fraud;NYC |
ny0284089 | [
"us"
]
| 2016/07/14 | Where Is D.B. Cooper? F.B.I. Ends 45-Year Hunt | It remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in the United States, a startling crime that captured the American imagination, inspiring songs, movies, TV shows and books. In 1971, a man who called himself Dan Cooper hijacked a passenger plane from Oregon to Seattle where he freed the 36 passengers in exchange for $200,000 in cash. As the nearly empty flight took off again, flying south, he parachuted out of the airplane with the ransom, and was never seen again. But after 45 years in which hundreds of leads were probed and discarded, the F.B.I. said this week it was no longer actively pursuing what it called one of the longest and most exhaustive investigations in its history. Who was D.B. Cooper? No one knows. Or someone does, but is not telling. The F.B.I. has described him as a “nondescript” man. He appeared to be in his mid-40s, which if true would make him about 90 years old by now. As the caper became widely known, he was referred to as “D.B. Cooper” in media reports. How did he pull it off? On Nov. 24, 1971, the man calling himself “Dan Cooper” approached the counter of Northwest Orient Airlines in Portland, Ore., dressed in a business suit and carrying a briefcase. He paid cash for a one-way ticket on Flight 305 to Seattle. “Thus began one of the great unsolved mysteries in F.B.I. history,” the F.B.I. said. A “quiet” man, he ordered a bourbon and soda while waiting for takeoff. In midair just after 3 p.m., from seat 18C, he handed the flight attendant a note saying he had a bomb in his briefcase and showed her a glimpse of wires and red sticks. She wrote down his demands — four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills — and passed them to the captain. In Seattle, the passengers were exchanged for the money and parachutes. The flight resumed with “Mr. Cooper” and the crew en route for Mexico City, with the plane flying no higher than 10,000 feet, as he demanded. After 8 p.m., somewhere between Seattle and Reno, he jumped out of the back of the plane into a wooded area with a parachute and the ransom, and disappeared. How did the story affect American culture? The high-flying exploit of the man known as D.B. Cooper infused American popular culture. The parts of his story that were known were dramatic enough to inspire writers, directors and musicians, but the unanswered questions had to be patched up with guesswork. The 2004 movie “Without a Paddle” was about three friends who headed into the wilderness in search of the lost ransom money and ended up finding his skeleton. In 1981, the movie “The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper” opened with Treat Williams in the lead role as a former Green Beret named J.R. Meade. The movie was based on J.D. Reed’s 1980 book, “Free Fall.” Other fictional books included “D.B.” by Elwood Reid in which “Cooper” is actually a Vietnam vet named Phil Fitch, and James M. Cain’s “Rainbow’s End” in the 1970s, which had similarities. Artists from Todd Snider to Chuck Brodsky have written and performed songs about him. “They say that with the wind chill, it was 69 below,” Mr. Brodsky sings. “Not much chance that he’d survive, but if he did where did he go?” The Ariel General Store and Tavern, an archive of Coopermania in the Washington State town of Ariel, where he is believed to have landed, has kept the story alive with an annual get-together that toasts Mr. Cooper as a hero. Its next annual D.B. Cooper festival is planned for Nov. 26, including a look-a-like contest. What happened to the money? In 1980, a boy found a rotting package of twenty-dollar bills along the Columbia River worth $5,800 that matched the ransom money serial numbers. Using an inflation calculator , the ransom of $200,000 in 1971 would be equivalent to demanding about $1.2 million today. It is unclear what happened to the rest of the money. Image The man known as D.B. Cooper was wearing a black J.C. Penney tie, left, which he removed before jumping. The $20 bills at right were found by a young boy along the Columbia River in 1980. The cash, totaling $5,800, matched serial numbers from bills in the original ransom. Credit FBI Who were some of the suspects? The F.B.I. has said it interviewed hundreds of people, tracked leads across the nation, and scoured the aircraft for evidence. By the fifth anniversary of the hijacking, it had looked into 800 suspects. As The New York Times reported in 2011 , the F.B.I. file on the case, available in an online vault, measures 40 feet long, cataloging more than 1,000 suspects, some supplied by psychics, some turned in by people suspicious of a family member, some coming in deathbed confessions. One of the suspects interviewed was a man named Richard Floyd McCoy. He carried out a similar hijacking and escape by parachute less than five months after the Cooper flight, the F.B.I. said. But Mr. McCoy was ruled out because he did not match descriptions provided by flight attendants, and for other undisclosed reasons, the F.B.I said. Here is the original New York Times article about the search. The agency was not sure, even by 1972, that he was alive. Did the case influence the way the government handled hijackings? Hijackings during the Cold War were often desperate attempts at escape from the Iron Curtain, but during the 1970s criminals used them as leverage in ransom negotiations. The D.B. Cooper case became a storied example of an era of hijacking. By the mid-1970s, at least 150 planes had been “skyjacked” in the United States alone, as The Times wrote in a report . Geoffrey Gray, a journalist who has contributed to The Times and who wrote the 2011 book on the investigation, “Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper,” said in an article published after the F.B.I. announcement this week that the case was legally still open. He said it had initially been deemed a case of air piracy, a felony that carried a statute of limitations of five years. However, a grand jury indicted the hijacker in absentia for violating the Hobbs Act, another federal statute aimed to prevent extortion that carried no statute of limitations. “In theory, if Cooper were to walk out of the woods today, he could theoretically be charged with a crime,” he wrote. Image F.B.I. agents scoured the sand along the Columbia River after the cash found by an 8-year-old revived the case nine years after the hijacking. Credit Reid Blackburn/Associated Press Why did the F.B.I. decide to shelve the investigation? The agency said it was redirecting resources because “every time the F.B.I. assesses additional tips for the Norjak case,” referring to the name it gave the D.B. Cooper probe, “investigative resources and manpower are diverted from programs that more urgently need attention.” The F.B.I. said that the “countless items” it has examined over the years would be preserved for historical purposes at its headquarters. The agency did say people could still contact the bureau if they had specific leads. Mr. Gray said, “Hundreds if not more Cooper sleuths continue to harangue the office with their leads.” Reassigning the lone agent on the case, he said, “is really an attempt by the bureau to spare the office from irritating calls, wacky emails and more.” | Airlines,airplanes;Hijacking;FBI;D B Cooper |
ny0258773 | [
"us",
"politics"
]
| 2011/01/08 | Government to Recommend Less Fluoride | The federal government said Friday it planned to lower the recommended levels for fluoride in water, the first such change since 1962. Fluoride in drinking water has been credited with drastically cutting tooth decay , but too much of it causes spots on some children’s teeth. The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing changing the level to 0.7 milligrams per liter of water, and the Environmental Protection Agency will review whether the cutoff of 4 milligrams per liter is too high. The standard has been 0.7 to 1.2 milligrams per liter. | Fluorides;Water;Medicine and Health;Environment |
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