Home Runs, and Honors, Just Keep Coming for Yankees’ Gary Sanchez

Abstract: KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Gary Sanchez swings in the batting cage, he uses a 34-inch, 32-ounce bat left behind by Carlos Beltran. It leaned against the side of Sanchez’s locker here at Kauffman Stadium before Monday’s game against the Kansas City Royals, Beltran’s meticulous signature branded on the barrel. As symbols go, the bat was fitting. The Yankees traded Beltran to Texas on Aug. 1, part of a purge of veterans that brought prospects to the farm system and cleared space for rookies in the lineup. Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge hit homers in their first at-bats, but Sanchez has had staying power. “I think it’s hard not to look at Gary Sanchez and be somewhat in awe of what he’s done,” Manager Joe Girardi said. The honors are rolling in so fast that Sanchez cannot receive them before getting new ones. He was named American League player of the week for Aug. 15-21, when he hit .524 with four home runs. On Monday he won it again, after hitting .522 with five homers from Aug. 22 to 28. Players receive a watch for the award, but Sanchez has not seen his yet. Once he does, he will have no wrists to spare. “I thought that there was a chance I would get it again, because of the similar week’s production,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I’m still working really hard. That’s helping me right now.” Image Sanchez after his 10th homer, on Friday. “He’s a really smart kid,” said his teammate Starlin Castro. Credit Kathy Willens/Associated Press Sanchez, 22, is the first rookie to be named player of the week in consecutive weeks. The last American League player to do it before him was Albert Belle of the Chicago White Sox, 18 years ago. Sanchez hit his 11th home run in his 23rd career game on Saturday; no player had ever reached 11 homers so quickly. Sanchez’s success earned him a congratulatory tweet from Pedro Martinez, a Hall of Fame pitcher from his native Dominican Republic. “Keep making us proud,” Martinez wrote, and Sanchez’s statistics clearly qualify: After going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts in Monday’s 8-5 loss, he was hitting .398. “Nothing is easy,” Sanchez said. “But one thing I can say is when they give me the opportunity to play every day, that gives you more confidence as a player.” Sanchez batted third on Monday and made his 15th start at catcher. He has caught seven of 12 potential base stealers, and his assurance behind the plate has helped the pitchers keep the team alive in the American League wild-card race. “He has good suggestions, which is rare for a young catcher,” said C. C. Sabathia, who worked with Sanchez on Aug. 6 in Sanchez’s second game as a catcher. “That makes you feel good and confident that he knows what he wants to call. I’m a guy, I just go with it. We talk before the games. I like to just kind of feed off the catcher’s energy and he has good energy.’’ Sanchez reached the majors late last season for two pinch-hitting appearances at age 21. Salvador Perez broke into the majors at the same age, for the Royals in 2011, and now he is the American League’s premier catcher, a four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner. Perez said young catchers now had the tools to run a sophisticated game plan despite their inexperience. “We’ve got a lot of information here that we don’t have in the minor leagues,” Perez said. “All the video we have, all the reports, that helps.” Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro reached the majors at age 20 with the Chicago Cubs in 2010, and led the National League in hits while batting .307 the next season. Pitchers invariably adjust to new hitters — Castro has not hit .300 since — but Sanchez must resist the urge to do more. “You just keep doing what you’re doing, keep preparing like you prepare,” Castro said. “When you come up and have success like that, you always think of the next level. You’ve got to keep it the same, keep working hard.” Castro said Sanchez often asked him about unfamiliar pitchers, because both are right-handed hitters with power. “He listens,” Castro said. “He’s a really smart kid.” Girardi said he had been most impressed by Sanchez’s instincts, his ability to adjust and detect subtle changes in the way pitchers approach him within an at-bat. Pitch recognition and a calm demeanor, Girardi said, make it seem as if Sanchez is never worried. Of course, first impressions can quickly change. Austin has just five singles in 31 at-bats, without a walk, since his home run. Judge is 8 for 45 with two doubles, a homer and 22 strikeouts since his first-at-bat homer. He fanned in all three of his at-bats on Monday. And the fastest player in major league history to 12 home runs, Kevin Maas of the 1990 Yankees, was out of the majors within five years. Sanchez cannot possibly sustain this pace, but as a highly regarded prospect who commanded a $3 million bonus at age 16, he has a reasonable chance to be a star. If nothing else, Sanchez has injected life into a franchise that had been too dependent, for too long, on veterans long past their primes. “It’s fun to see kids have success,” Girardi said, “and to grow up in front of you.”


2 Ukrainian Fighter Jets Shot Down as Conflict Intensifies

Abstract: SNIZHNE, Ukraine — Two Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jets were shot down on Wednesday in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border. The planes were downed in an area of heavy fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists, near where a Malaysia Airlines jet was blown out of the sky last week, killing 298 people and drawing international dismay. The Ukrainian government said the two fighter jets had been brought down near the village of Dmytrivka, east of Donetsk and about five miles from the Russian border, where government troops have been pushing hard to cut off the flow of fighters and supplies from Russia to the insurgents. The government said the pilots of the fighter jets ejected safely. Government forces and insurgents appeared to be racing on Wednesday to find them. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said the two jets had been hit by fire from the Russian side of the border. “The planes were shot down from Russian territory,” Mr. Lysenko said in a statement on Twitter. The accusation, which could not be independently verified, carries potentially serious diplomatic consequences, given the accusations by Ukraine and the United States that Russia supplied insurgents with the SA-11 surface-to-air missile system that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 . Andrei Purgin, a senior separatist leader in Donetsk, said rebel forces had shot down the two fighter planes using portable shoulder-fired missiles. He said that the planes had been in an active war zone, and that the Ukrainian military had continued to bomb rebel forces despite promises that military activity in the area would cease. “They haven’t stopped for one minute,” he said. Ukrainian officials have said that two other military aircraft — an An-26 transport and another Su-25 fighter — were shot down last week with direct involvement by Russia. They said that the missile that destroyed the transport had been fired from Russian territory, and that the fighter was destroyed in a dogfight with a MiG-29 fighter that crossed into Ukrainian air space to engage Ukrainian aircraft. Russia denied both accusations, and the insurgents insisted that they had brought down the transport on their own. The An-26 had been flying at an altitude of more than 10,000 feet, well beyond the range of the surface-to-air rockets previously fired by insurgents, including the munitions that destroyed an Ilyushin-76 military transport as it landed in Luhansk in mid-June, killing 49. Ukrainian officials said the destruction of the An-26 showed that the insurgents had obtained and were using powerful weapons like the SA-11 that is believed to have been used against the Malaysia Airlines plane. Heavy ground combat on Wednesday made it difficult for journalists to approach Dmytrivka, where the two fighter jets were downed. At a small checkpoint by a cornfield about six miles away, a rebel fighter who identified himself as a 41-year-old coal miner said he saw the two planes come down about noon. He said the fighter jets had been flying low, apparently to drop a payload, when they were hit and the pilots bailed out. The man said rebel fighters were searching for the pilots in the surrounding fields. “It is a hunt,” he said, looking to the east toward the site. “They’re lying in the corn. It could take all night.” As he spoke, more fighter jets buzzed overhead, but they did not drop any bombs. What Happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 An updated summary of what is known and not known about the crash. By contrast, Mr. Lysenko, the Ukrainian military spokesman, said the two fighters that were brought down Wednesday were flying at an altitude of 5,200 meters, or more than 17,000 feet, putting them beyond the typical range of shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles. The loss of the two jets was a significant blow to the Ukrainian military, which has a limited amount of air power, much of it inherited from the breakup of the Soviet Union. The episode was part of a wider intensification of fighting on Wednesday. Government troops retook two cities in the Luhansk region and continued to push aggressively from the north and west, officials said, while rebel forces blew up a road bridge, a railroad bridge and train tracks in the city of Horlivka. Ukrainian forces are struggling hard to seal the porous border with Russia, not just near Dmytrivka, but also farther north at crossings that have been the scenes of fierce battles. The Ukrainian government also said it had shot down a Russian-made Orlan-10 surveillance drone near Amvrosiivka, about 30 miles from Dmytrivka. A similar drone was reported downed by the Ukrainians in late May. Mr. Lysenko said Russia had placed more troops along the border and that cross-border gunfire had increased. The bodies of victims from Flight 17, which were relinquished on Tuesday by the rebels who control the crash site, began arriving on Wednesday at a military base in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Two military transport aircraft, one Dutch and one Australian, landed there at midafternoon carrying 40 wooden coffins, which were greeted with a minute’s silence by dignitaries and others at the base, led by King Willem-Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Two-thirds of the people on board the downed jetliner were from the Netherlands. Victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Among the 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were a renowned AIDS researcher, a Dutch senator and an Australian novelist. The identities of the bodies were not yet known. Ukraine and Malaysia have authorized the Netherlands to identify and repatriate all the recovered remains from the crash, which could take months. Before the remains left the country, officials and foreign diplomats at the Ukrainian air base in Kharkiv mixed tributes to the dead with angry demands that those responsible for the downing of the plane be brought to justice. “This is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions,” an Australian representative, Angus Houston, said at the gathering, flanked by a Ukrainian military honor guard dressed in black uniforms. Four coffins were carried by officers from the Kiev Military Academy, dressed in blue uniforms with yellow braid, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The Ukrainian vice prime minister, Volodymyr Groysman, said, “Those who are guilty for this terrorist act will be punished.” Mr. Groysman left no doubt that Ukraine believed that the guilty parties included not only the insurgents in eastern Ukraine but also the Russian government. “Russian military personnel launched the missile that hit a civilian Malaysian aircraft,” he said. “We are today sending off innocents who were murdered.” Foreign officials at the ceremony in Kharkiv also called for justice, but did not say whom they blamed for the crash. Wreckage Offers Clues on Why Flight 17 Went Down Photographs of a piece of wreckage from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 offer evidence about what could have caused it to crash. The Russian government did not immediately comment on the downed fighter planes. But a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a forceful statement on Wednesday accusing the Ukrainian government of making false accusations against Russia, specifically in relation to the downed passenger jet. “Instead of cooperating with a thorough and unbiased international investigation into the causes of the accident, the results of which would then be made public, with maximum transparency, the Kiev authorities daily and hourly come up with new, absurd and absolutely groundless accusations against Russia,” said the spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich. He also accused Ukraine of obstructing the investigation into the crash, and of killing civilians during its military operations in the east. “Kiev does not want to heed the voice of reason and agree on a cease-fire,” Mr. Lukashevich said. “Strikes using heavy weapons are being delivered on populated areas, including those in the direct vicinity of the plane crash site.” The site was almost completely deserted on Wednesday, according to Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. “There’s no one out here,” he said. Malaysian experts pored over smaller pieces of wreckage for a second day, and expressed surprise “at how much access we have,” Mr. Bociurkiw added, but as for other foreign experts, “it’s not like our door is being broken down.”

Ukraine
Russia
Malaysia Airlines 17
Plane Crashes and Missing Planes
Kharkiv Ukraine
Netherlands


How Fuel Subsidies Drag Down a Nation

Abstract: WHEN countries adopted bad economic policies in decades past, only their own citizens paid a price. In today’s globalized economy, however, the burden falls more broadly. A case in point is the use of fuel subsidies to protect citizens of developing economies from rising prices. As Keith Bradsher reported in The New York Times last month, many emerging economies employ subsidies that keep domestic fuel prices far below the world price. As a result, these countries consume far more fuel than they would otherwise. By one estimate, countries with fuel subsidies accounted for virtually the entire increase in worldwide oil consumption last year. Without this artificial demand stimulus, world oil prices would have been significantly lower. Earlier this summer, for example, world oil prices fell by $4 a barrel on news that reduced subsidies would increase Chinese domestic fuel prices by about 17 percent. It would surely be unrealistic to expect other governments to abandon subsidies just so Americans who drive S.U.V.’s and live in big houses could benefit from lower world energy prices. But those governments might want to reconsider their policy in the light of overwhelming economic evidence that the subsidies create net losses even for their ostensible beneficiaries. To be sure, higher fuel prices produce economic suffering. The unfortunate reality, however, is that when the price of an imported resource rises in the world market, buyers must take a hit. Subsidizing fuel does nothing to reduce the inevitable suffering, and actually makes it worse. The problem is that when the price of a good is below its cost, people use it wastefully. In the case of a gallon of gasoline, the cost to a country is the value of every additional sacrifice that its use entails. That includes not just the price of buying the gallon in the world market — say, $4 — but also external costs, like dirtier air and increased congestion. The external costs are often hard to measure but are nonetheless substantial. With reasonable estimates factored in for them, the true cost of using a gallon is clearly greater than $4. By contrast, the price of gasoline to users is simply the amount they pay at the pump. With a $2-a-gallon subsidy in effect, gasoline bought in the world market at $4 would sell for $2, or more than $2 less than its true economic cost. Consider how this difference might affect a trucker’s decision about whether to accept a hauling job. A rational trucker will apply the basic cost-benefit test, which says that something is worth doing if, and only if, its benefit is at least as great as its cost. Suppose the job in question requires 1,000 gallons of fuel, available at the subsidized price of $2 a gallon, for a total fuel outlay of $2,000. If the cost of the trucker’s time and equipment are, say, $1,000 for the trip, his narrow interests dictate accepting the job if the shipper is willing to pay at least $3,000. Suppose the shipper is willing to pay that amount but not more. The problem is that if the trucker accepts the job at that price, the country as a whole will be worse off by more than $2,000. Although the $3,000 fee would cover his own costs, the government would end up paying $2,000 in additional subsidies for the 1,000 gallons consumed. On top of that, the trip would generate additional pollution and congestion costs. So the fact that the subsidy encouraged him to accept the job means that its net effect is equivalent to throwing more than $2,000 onto a bonfire. Waste is always bad. Anyone who doubts it need only remember that when the economic pie grows, it is always possible for everyone to have a larger slice than before. Using fuel for activities whose costs exceed their benefits makes the economic pie smaller. Subsidy proponents cite the firestorm of political protest that would erupt if fuel were to sell at the international market price. That fuel subsidies are wasteful, however, implies that there must be less costly ways to keep the peace. Consider again our trucker who accepted a job that barely covered the cost of his time, equipment and subsidized fuel. Instead of paying $2,000 to subsidize his fuel, the government could give him a tax cut of, say, $1,000, and use the remaining $1,000 to help pay for public services. Because the trucker’s earnings from the hauling job were only enough to cover his costs at the subsidized fuel price, he would be $1,000 better off with the tax cut alone than with the fuel subsidy. The additional support for public services would augment this benefit. In short, a tax cut is always a better way to keep political protest at bay because, unlike a fuel subsidy, it does not encourage shipments whose costs exceed their benefits. IF a United States president urged developing economies to eliminate fuel subsidies because they result in higher energy prices for Americans, the conversation would probably end very quickly. But this conversation might be reframed. A good place to start would be to heed the same advice we’d like others to follow. Emerging economies are not the only ones in which prices at the pump substantially understate the true social cost of fuel. For instance, although the United States doesn’t have direct fuel subsidies, existing fuel taxes significantly understate the pollution and congestion costs associated with additional fuel use. Adopting some variant of a tax on carbon, as both leading presidential candidates have proposed, would help eliminate this discrepancy. That would set the stage for our next president to explain to other leaders why eliminating fuel subsidies would make the overall economic pie larger. Because the resulting efficiency gains can be redistributed so that everyone gets a bigger slice than before, the idea should be fairly easy to sell.

Economic Conditions and Trends
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Economics


They’ll Shake His Hand, but They Aren’t Passing His Bills

Abstract: ALBANY — Why isn’t the Legislature passing Gov. David A. Paterson ’s bills? The predicament is surprising, considering that the governor, a Democrat, has emphasized his warm relations with the Legislature and even struck a political truce with Senate Republicans. And it raises questions about how seriously the Legislature is taking Mr. Paterson, who took over as governor after the fiery political demise of Eliot Spitzer. The governor still has eight working days in the legislative session left to close deals, so the ultimate judgment will be what happens by then. But consider the numbers so far. Mr. Paterson, right, has sent 18 bills to the Legislature since taking office in mid-March, according to records provided by his administration late last week. Of those, three were budget bills that demanded attention and two more simply outlined the result of contract negotiations with public-sector labor unions. Those five were swiftly passed. None of the remaining 13 bills, however, have been passed. Seven of them have not even been introduced in either chamber, though four of the seven were sent over at various points last week. Still, by comparison, Mr. Spitzer’s first five bills were all passed by both chambers within three months of his taking office, even though he had a fractious relationship with lawmakers. Mr. Paterson sent his first bill to the Legislature shortly after taking office on March 17 — a version of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. Despite the new governor’s support, the plan died in the Legislature. The next bill, outside of budget-related bills, was an initiative the governor sent over in late April that would bolster efforts to resuscitate polluted lands known as brownfields. That measure has not been introduced in either house. Bills introduced in May would limit the gifts that drug companies can give to doctors, tighten regulations relating to recalled toys, and strengthen laws aimed at preventing identity theft and the proliferation of illegal guns, among other things. The Paterson administration and lawmakers said they would push to reach agreement on the proposals by the end of the legislative session, on June 23. “The Legislature has been very responsive to our legislative proposals,” said Risa B. Heller, the governor’s communications director. “We’re not concerned at all. We’re in active negotiations. They have been responsive and we’re confident.” Daniel Weiller, a spokesman for the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, the Legislature’s top Democrat, said: “Many of these issues are still being negotiated or moving through the committee process. “It’s premature to make any judgment about any of this, because the session is not over,” he added. John McArdle, a spokesman for the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, concurred. “The governor came in under extraordinary circumstances,” he said, adding that several of the bills were being actively negotiated. “These program bills are a test of the governor’s softer approach,” said Blair Horner, the legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “He believes that working quietly will get more done. We’ll know in eight session days. “The public sends the governor and the Legislature to Albany to get things done,” Mr. Horner said. “The measure of success is legislation that is passed, not simply introduced.” A Cuomo Sees Strength in Unity To many Democrats, the notion of a unity White House ticket this fall — featuring Barack Obama as the presidential candidate and Hillary Rodham Clinton as the vice presidential candidate — seems like a stretch, given the enmity the two camps displayed during the nominating contests. But the idea has one prominent public backer: the former New York governor Mario M. Cuomo . In recent weeks, Mr. Cuomo, below, has aggressively pushed a potential unity ticket in an e-mail message to friends, in an op-ed article in The Boston Globe, and in appearances on CNN, National Public Radio and elsewhere. “I am more strongly committed to the idea than ever, just by analyzing the negatives that are proposed,” Mr. Cuomo said in a recent interview. “If you go through the negatives one at a time, you see how weak the case is. ‘Well, they don’t like one another.’ That’s in an insult to both of them, that they would let their personal feelings outweigh what would be the best ticket to win in November.” But some in Albany suspect that Mr. Cuomo might have an additional concern: the political future of his son, Andrew M. Cuomo, the attorney general of New York. The younger Mr. Cuomo has built up a powerful head of steam in his first in his year on the job and is widely thought to be aspiring to higher office, as his father did before him. But with Mrs. Clinton remaining in the Senate and Gov. David A. Paterson planning on running to keep his office in 2010, Mr. Cuomo would probably have to wait years — perhaps many years — before moving up the ladder. On the other hand, should Mrs. Clinton join Mr. Obama’s ticket and should they win in November, Mr. Paterson could appoint Mr. Cuomo to her Senate seat — or appoint himself to the job, leaving Mr. Cuomo free to run for governor without risking a bloody primary battle against a Democratic incumbent. Asked about all that, the elder Mr. Cuomo gently brushed it off. “That hadn’t occurred to me,” he said, noting that if Mr. Paterson appointed himself senator, the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican, would become governor. “I have such a hard time producing any logic for myself,” he said, “if I can make one point for myself, that’s all I am looking to do.” NICHOLAS CONFESSORE A Change of Heart, but Is It Sincere? Assemblyman David F. Gantt has made it a point as chairman of the Assembly’s Transportation Committee to oppose cameras that monitor traffic for violations like running red lights. They were just too Big Brother for him, he said. But Mr. Gantt, who represents Rochester, has quietly introduced a bill that would allow cities and towns across the state to install such cameras. Now, they are permitted only in New York City. What could be the reason for his abrupt about-face? According to The Buffalo News, a former senior aide to Mr. Gantt is a lobbyist for a company in Latham, N.Y., that distributes traffic-monitoring equipment. What’s more, according to The News, Mr. Gantt’s bill calls for a specific type of traffic-monitoring technology that the company, CMA Consulting Services, distributes. The lobbyist, Robert Scott Gaddy, served as counsel for Mr. Gantt’s Transportation Committee and was being paid $80,000 to lobby on the company’s behalf. But after the matter became public, Mr. Gantt appeared to back off his newfound support for traffic cameras. According to the ABC affiliate in Rochester, WHAM-TV, he said he is still against them. “I submit bills all the time that don’t go anywhere,” he told the station. When asked why he would do that, he said, “That’s for me to know, and for you to find out.” Calls to Mr. Gantt and Mr. Gaddy were not returned. JEREMY W. PETERS

Paterson David A
Legislatures and Parliaments
Cuomo Mario M
Gantt David F
Law and Legislation


Mets Receive Rings of Their Own, for Being N.L. Champions

Abstract: After enduring two ceremonies in Kansas City, Mo., this week honoring the Royals ’ World Series victory, the Mets gathered on Thursday at Citi Field for their own ceremony. It was a private, intimate affair to hand out their own rings, for being the National League champions in 2015. The only sign that it might have been an important day was that the injured pitchers Zack Wheeler and Josh Edgin and the newly retired Michael Cuddyer flew in for the occasion, and that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was also on hand. “I’m very proud,” third baseman David Wright said. “We got an opportunity to get our rings today, and I think all of us will wear that proudly. But at the same time, it’s time to move on. After we get the rings, it’s officially — last year’s over. We need to start worrying about this year.” The Mets had repeated that message all week, but their opening week has been so quirky it has been difficult to get into the rhythm of the season. Because the Mets played on the first day of the season, their first five days consisted of two games and three days off. On top of that, they were unsure if Jacob deGrom would start the home opener, on Friday against the Phillies, because his wife was due to give birth. Also, with snow in the forecast, their game on Saturday could be in jeopardy. As of Thursday afternoon, during the Mets’ workout at Citi Field, deGrom said that he still planned to make the start, unless his wife went into labor. During the first two games in Kansas City, he had given his wife the trainer’s phone number so she could call and tell someone to alert him during the game. A reporter asked deGrom what he would do Friday if his wife went into labor during the game. “Whenever I get the call,” he said, “I’m going to go ahead and leave.”

Baseball
David Wright
Kansas City Royals
Mets


John Holdren’s Influence Seen in Obama Policies

Abstract: Speaking to a friendly audience of environmental advocates last week, President Obama mocked members of Congress who “duck the question,” as he put it, of whether climate change is real by saying that they are not scientists. “I mean, I’m not a scientist either,” the president told the League of Conservation Voters in Washington. “But I’ve got this guy, John Holdren. He’s a scientist.” The line got a laugh, in part because Mr. Holdren, a physicist and the White House science adviser since the beginning of the administration, is hardly just a “guy” — he has had one of the more prominent careers in academia and policy making of any scientist in the land. But it also acknowledged a truth: Mr. Holdren has this president’s ear, perhaps more than any White House science adviser in recent memory, at a time when climate change has been thrust to the forefront of national politics and could help shape Mr. Obama’s legacy. Mr. Holdren’s influence can be seen in many of the administration’s policies, including its biggest on climate change — the plan to cut power plant emissions of carbon dioxide, the main contributor to global warming. “John was right at the heart” of the deliberations, said the White House chief of staff, Denis R. McDonough. For much of his four-decade career, Mr. Holdren, 70, has focused on climate change and its perils, and he has not been shy about voicing his opinions. “He’s somebody that people want to hear from,” Mr. McDonough said. “And even if he weren’t, he’d be sure he was heard from.” Mr. Holdren, whose views and pivotal role in the administration have put him in the cross hairs of critics, also spearheaded the most recent National Climate Assessment report , which painted a stark picture of the impact climate change is having on the nation. “That was a very substantial project for him,” said John D. Podesta, a chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and now a counselor to Mr. Obama. “Both in terms of ensuring the quality and validity of the report, as well as trying to explain it first to the president and then to the public.” But even some people who admire his intelligence and ability to explain the science of climate change say his passion for the issue can work against him. “He is a zealot,” said John W. Rowe, the former chief executive of the energy company Exelon, who was a co-chairman with Mr. Holdren of a panel on energy policy in the 2000s. “If you start off skeptical of his science because of the eminence of his zeal, you can be confirmed in your skepticism.” Mr. Holdren’s zeal, and his tendency to present somewhat alarming visions of the future, have stirred controversy. During his Senate confirmation hearings in 2009, critics pointed out a textbook of which he was an author in the 1970s that examined the threat of overpopulation and discussed potential ways to avoid it, including forcing pregnant single women to undergo abortions and adding chemicals to drinking water to make people infertile. Video At the League of Conservation Voters’ Capital Dinner, President Obama spoke out against members of Congress who say that climate change is “a liberal plot.” Credit Credit Mark Wilson/Getty Images “Compulsory control of family size is an unpalatable idea, but the alternatives may be much more horrifying,” the book said . It continued, “A far better choice, in our view, is to expand the use of milder methods of influencing family size preferences, while redoubling efforts to ensure that the means of birth control, including abortion and sterilization, are accessible to every human being on Earth.” At the hearings, Mr. Holdren said that he had not endorsed any coercive population-control measures and that such activities were not a proper role of government. He was confirmed unanimously , but the issue has been kept alive on conservative talk radio and blogs. Confronted on the subject during a question-and-answer session at a speech last year, Mr. Holdren responded testily: “I’m kind of tired of that question. Folks should go back and look at the book.” Last winter, Mr. Holdren was featured in a short video meant to rebut claims that a recent spell of extreme cold weather disproved global warming. He cited “a growing body of evidence” that he said suggested such cold spells could increase as the Arctic grows warmer. The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington research group that is skeptical about climate change, demanded a correction, arguing that several recent scientific papers had disproved Mr. Holdren’s statement. In fact, among climate scientists the issue of a link between Arctic warming and cold spells is still far from resolved. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, which Mr. Holdren leads, said it stood by the accuracy of the video but added, “there will be continuing debate about exactly what is happening.” Mr. Holdren is not reluctant to defend himself. At a hearing in February, Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, confronted him with earlier testimony by Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist, that Mr. Holdren had issued misleading statements about the link between climate change and Western droughts. Mr. Holdren responded that Mr. Pielke’s comments “were not representative of mainstream views,” and a few days later went further, issuing a rare point-by-point rebuttal that accused Mr. Pielke of being the misleading one. Mr. Holdren, whom the White House declined to make available to be interviewed for this article, has been the head of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among other public-policy appointments, and as a leader of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs he delivered the acceptance speech when the group shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for its work on nuclear disarmament. During the Clinton administration, he served on the president’s council of advisers on science and technology, but he refused all entreaties to become the science adviser. When Mr. Obama was elected, however, he persuaded Mr. Holdren to take the job. One thing that caught the Obama team’s attention, according to some who were there at the time, was a 2008 appearance on “Late Show With David Letterman” in which Mr. Holdren discussed the science behind climate change. Mr. Holdren meets with the president regularly, but he also advises on a less formal basis. Mr. McDonough said the president often reads about scientific subjects in the newspaper or online and sends his staff notes that say, “I need to know what Holdren thinks on this.” Despite all the involvement in policy, Mr. Holdren can still be a geeky scientist. Rosina M. Bierbaum, a professor at the University of Michigan who sits on the president’s council, recalled that during the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, “he would actually sit down and try to do some of the calculations” to better understand the unfolding disaster. “He likes to get into the weeds and check the numbers,” Ms. Bierbaum said. “But he can also think strategically.” He also likes to apply scientific analysis to some of his favorite activities, like saltwater fly-fishing, colleagues say. Despite disagreeing with Mr. Holdren on some climate issues, Mr. Rowe, the energy panel co-chairman, said they worked well together. “He knows the studies backwards and forwards, and is as articulate on them as anyone I’ve ever met,” he said. “And he tolerates others reasonably well, and laughs at himself at least a little.”

John P Holdren
Climate Change
Global Warming
Greenhouse gas
US Politics
Barack Obama
Carbon dioxide


A Dream Restored

Abstract: SOWETO, South Africa — Unnoticed by the outside world, part of Arthur Ashe ’s legacy — a tennis center for black South Africans — descended into decay and ruin long before his death in 1993. Not long after its opening in 1976, vandals tore down fences and ransacked the clubhouse. Neighbors dumped garbage onto the grounds. The country was in turmoil over the violent repression of blacks by the minority white government. Soweto descended into lawlessness. In March 1977, a month after their wedding, Ashe and Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe stood on the dilapidated site and surveyed the damage. Their dream of a tennis center at the core of Africa’s largest black township had turned into a nightmare of crime and disorder. But today, still largely unseen by outsiders, the Arthur Ashe Tennis Center has been brought from the grave to the brink of revival. Behind its rebirth are two men: Ian Smith, a mild-mannered, conservatively dressed white sports executive; and Bongani Zondi, a bold, leather-jacket-clad black political activist who goes by the nickname Wire. Their teamwork, assisted by top South African political and sports figures, reflects, in a modest way, the kind of racial collaboration Ashe dreamed of. When it was built, the Ashe Center was intended to inspire black Africans to emulate a black American. Ashe’s victory at Wimbledon in 1975 was a catalyst. But within months of a fanfare dedication of the center’s eight courts, South Africa headed into dark days of repression. On June 16, 1976, the Soweto student uprising began. Twenty-three students, according to official totals, were killed in a hail of gunfire while protesting a requirement that they be taught in Afrikaans, the language of the rulers. In 1984, tennis-playing residents restored the courts, but vandals struck again and the property fell back into decay and disrepute. “It became a dumping ground, a place for dead dogs,” said Zondi, a Johannesburg city councilor who represents the Jabavu neighborhoods of Soweto, where he was born in 1959. “It was a place of crime, a problem for the community,” Zondi said. He added: “During those days, people didn’t care about facilities, they didn’t care if they were vandalized or not. We were intensifying our struggle to resist the government.” For Zondi, the fight was personal. He went underground in the 1970s to recruit members for the banned African National Congress, which sought to end apartheid. “I was never arrested,” he said. “I always managed to run away, but it was very difficult.” When the country staged a peaceful election and transition to majority rule in 1994, Zondi became a bodyguard, first to protect Nelson Mandela, then Thabo Mbeki, the current president. In 2000, after Zondi won a seat on the city council, developers tried to buy the site of the Ashe Center for a shopping mall. “I refused,” Zondi said. “I wanted to recognize the late Arthur Ashe, to honor his contributions.” Zondi had a broader purpose than simple homage to Ashe. A revival of the tennis center, he reasoned, could revitalize the township’s battered social and athletic infrastructure. When Ashe visited South Africa for the first time, in 1973, an event resisted for four years by the Afrikaner government, his appearance had an electrifying impact. “His condemnations of apartheid made him one of us,” Mark Mathabane wrote of Ashe in “Kaffir Boy,” his 1986 memoir of growing up in minority-ruled South Africa. Ashe, wrote Mathabane, “did not pretend he was a white man erroneously painted black.” For a young black tennis player like Mathabane, the way out was to go in the manner of Ashe. In 1978, when a college tennis scholarship arrived from the United States, he took it to escape poverty and repression. To Zondi, the memory of Ashe among South Africans gave him a vehicle to develop a complex for sports, scholarship and vocational training that would be open to all in the community. As a start, he went to see the man whose life he once guarded. Mandela, the nation’s revered father figure, suggested a meeting with Ali Bacher, who ran the country’s world-class cricket establishment. “He didn’t know me,” Zondi said, “but he was willing to meet and talk.” And act. With Zondi at their side, Bacher and Smith, then the deputy director of the cricket association, approached the national lottery and the provincial government. The three men wrote letters, met with public officials and won a lottery grant of 3.5 million rand (about $475,000 today). Using Bacher’s name, Zondi also raised 4 million rand (about $543,000) from the province’s public works ministry to build two vocational training facilities and a library. Still, even with money in hand, Zondi faced appalling conditions at the tennis center. “The fences were gone, even the net poles were taken; it was terrible,” said Smith, who left the cricket association in March 2004 to become chief executive of the South African Tennis Association. A month after Smith arrived, Zondi wrote a letter asking for help. Four years earlier, the association ignored a similar request. “I telephoned him straight away,” said Smith, a former professional cricket player. Somehow, a bond formed between Smith, who was born in Zambia and reared in the privileged precincts of the white world (his family moved to South Africa when he was 12), and Zondi, born and reared in the seedy, twilight world of Soweto. Within months, they persuaded the black-ruled city of Johannesburg to contribute 1 million rand (about $136,000) to rebuild the tennis center. “I sold it to the people in my district with the promise that 90 percent of the labor would come from the community” of Soweto, Zondi said. Construction began two years ago. On March 31 this year, the center held an official opening. Among the guests was Ashe’s widow. “She was crying,” Zondi said. Accompanied by officials from the United States Embassy, Moutoussamy-Ashe brought a collection of books from Ashe’s 3,000-volume collection, pledged to send a large photo of Ashe to be mounted in the clubhouse and promised to donate some of his trophies, Zondi said. “It was a very emotional visit for me,” said Moutoussamy-Ashe, who praised Smith and Bacher for their enthusiasm and called Zondi “incredible and inspiring.” From the clubhouse, she saw an astonishing renaissance. The eight tennis courts had been resurfaced and restored to mint condition, with rows of new spectator benches. A modern yellow-and-red-brick library building, for which Zondi raised an extra nine million rand (more than $1.2 million), had risen near the front security gates. Inside, the visitors saw bays for computers and compact disc players, a wall of 50 lockers beside a play/study area for younger children and space for about 120 adults to hold meetings and to read or study. Seeing the library, Moutoussamy-Ashe said, was the “most satisfying and inspiring part of the visit.” She said she was stunned to find a library so close to “the exact same spot Arthur had built the courts 30 years before.” She said: “I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to Arthur or to the people of Soweto. Arthur would have been so honored and extremely proud.” For the future, Zondi and Smith are seeking money to hire a professional tennis coach and a development director, looking for sponsors to finance a major African regional tennis tournament and searching for funds to stage Davis Cup or Federation Cup competitions. Zondi insists that with the equivalent of $100,000 in donations, the center can develop young black South Africans into world-class tennis players within six years. For Ashe, a voracious reader and student of foreign affairs, watching young South Africans use the new library would be reward enough, and a true testament to his legacy.

Tennis
Ashe Arthur
South Africa
Race
Blacks
Libraries and Librarians
Moutoussamy-Ashe Jeanne
Smith Ian
Zondi Bongani
Soweto (South Africa)


Dutchess County to Pay Brooklyn Native $7.5 Million for Wrongful Murder Conviction

Abstract: The prize for this fight will be $7.5 million, but Dewey Bozella did not win it in a boxing ring. In 2009, a State Supreme Court judge found that the Brooklyn-born Mr. Bozella had been wrongfully convicted of the murder in 1977 of a 92-year-old woman in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. During his 26 years in prison Mr. Bozella sharpened his boxing skills, became the light heavyweight champion of Sing Sing and, after his release, won his only professional match in Los Angeles, at age 52. As a free man, Mr. Bozella sued Dutchess County — which includes Poughkeepsie — and its officials in Federal District Court in White Plains for wrongfully locking him up, seeking $25 million in restitution. Hours before a jury was to be picked for a civil trial in early January, the county agreed to a settlement whose sum was not revealed at the time. This week, the County Legislature voted to authorize the payment of $7.5 million to Mr. Bozella, now 55. It did not, however, admit any fault or liability on the part of any of its officials. Mr. Bozella’s lawyer, Ross E. Firsenbaum, had contended that prosecutors and police officers had withheld four pieces of significant evidence from the defense that pointed to another man as the murderer. To pay for the settlement, the county voted to issue bonds that will be paid back over five years by county taxpayers. The $7.5 million would otherwise have been a big chunk of a county budget that for 2015 has been estimated at roughly $169 million. Neither Mr. Bozella nor his lawyers would comment on the award because the wrongful incarceration lawsuit will not technically be withdrawn until the money is turned over, which could take several more weeks. Because Mr. Bozella’s lawyers at the firm WilmerHale took his case as a pro bono project, the entire $7.5 million will be paid to Mr. Bozella. Mr. Bozella was twice convicted — in 1983 and at a 1990 retrial — of beating and suffocating the woman, Emma Crasper, when she returned home from a night of church bingo. He was sentenced to life. A judge later found that prosecutors relied on the testimony of two men who changed their stories to get favorable treatment for their own crimes. The judge also found that prosecutors did not turn over to the defense crucial evidence, including a neighbor’s account of hearing rustling in the alleyway near a window where the police had found the fingerprint of a man named Donald Wise who had been convicted of killing an elderly woman in similar fashion. Prosecutors always contended that Mr. Bozella had walked through the building’s front door.

Dewey Bozella
Murders and Homicides
False arrest
Poughkeepsie NY
Dutchess County NY
White Plains NY


Barclays Names New Mergers Head for Europe, Middle East and Africa

Abstract: LONDON — The British bank Barclays on Tuesday named Pier Luigi Colizzi, its banking head in Italy, as the new head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Colizzi joined Barclays in 2012 as head of banking for Italy and has more than 20 years experience in the investment banking industry. He will be based in London. He replaces Matthew Ponsonby, who will focus on his existing role as co-global chief operating officer of banking and also has been appointed vice chairman of banking. Mr. Ponsonby joined Barclays as co-head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2009 and was named sole head in July 2014 when Mark Warham left for Rothschild, where he serves as executive vice chairman. Alessandra Pasini will assume the role of head of banking for Italy. She joined Barclays as deputy head of banking for Italy in 2013 after a 16-year career at Citigroup.

Appointments and Executive Changes
Barclays
Pier Luigi Colizzi


Gowanus Canal Repairs Collapse Brooklyn Slaughterhouse

Abstract: Some of the neighbors had been heard to express the wish over the years that a divine hand would smite Yeung Sun Live Poultry. Clucking chickens went into its storefront. Dead ones came out, bound for Chinatown restaurants. So did blood, and entrails, and putrid odors that wafted past the fancy lofts and dark-wood bars of an up-and-coming neighborhood near the Brooklyn waterfront, a place that prefers its industrial grit to look a bit more picturesque and smell a tad less gritty. So it was with a mix of schadenfreude and guilt that locals greeted the news that the poultry shop had been felled by a freak accident late last week, as city workers dug a tunnel to remedy an even more celebrated stench — that of the Gowanus Canal. “Thank God,” was the reaction of Mary Gaglio, a real estate agent, upon hearing that one of the abbatoir’s walls had collapsed and that it had been forced, for now, to close. (No one was hurt.) “Get rid of the old and bad,” Ms. Gaglio said, “and build the new.” Yet the still-uncertain fate of the poultry shop seems to have touched every nerve in the neighborhood — especially the love-hate tension between the area’s utilitarian past and its gentrified future. Ms. Gaglio, 61, has spent decades promoting the area, sometimes called the Columbia Street Waterfront District: a tiny enclave between shipping docks and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that abuts Red Hook, Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill but is not quite claimed by any of them. Apartments she said she remembered pricing at $175,000 now sell for more than $1 million. But some residents — even some newer ones — said they were irritated by neighbors who seemed to view themselves as too posh for poultry. “My opinion is, don’t buy an apartment overlooking a chicken coop if you don’t like the smell of it,” said Florry Shadletsky, who moved in about 12 years ago, before a recent building boom brought a new crop of residents. “It’s an entitled view to try to relocate a business that has been there 50 years.” (Incorporation records suggested it had been more like 20 years. Still, the shop predated many nearby businesses and residences.) “There are all these new people who want it to be new and different; I don’t like that,” said Corey Patrick, 34, who was walking his dog past the site and said he had moved to the neighborhood about four years earlier. “I’ve lived in a lot of places in New York,” he said. “I know what I’m getting into.” He said that the blood and feathers sometimes spooked his dog, but that workers usually washed them away quickly. “You don’t really hear any death,” he added. The Columbia Street chicken kerfuffle started decades ago, long before markets that sell and slaughter live animals began their spread across the city, driven by immigrant demand; their number has doubled to 90 over the past 15 years . But the backlash against that growth could now spell doom for Yeung Sun: a 2008 state law bans new slaughterhouses within 1,500 feet of a residence — making it near-impossible for the business to relocate anywhere in the city. The fight has festered in a neighborhood that is protective of its character, even if it cannot completely agree on what that is. West of the B.Q.E., Cobble Hill’s Brooklyn-Heights-South ambience fades to something scruffier. A dozen blocks of brownstones, brick houses and garden gnomes slope down to shipping yards overlooked by giant cranes. Storefronts of a recent, artsy vintage — a lingerie boutique, a coffee bar screening Japanese movies — stand alongside bodegas. Craig Hammerman, the district manager for Brooklyn Community Board 6, said he recalled being flooded with complaints 20 years ago, before gentrification took off, about what were then three slaughterhouses that were grandfathered in as the district became more residential. The complaints peaked about 10 years ago, he said. Someone brought him a peanut butter jar filled with “ooze and goo that was ponding on the street” near the market, he said, with feathers and entrails floating in it. He tried to relocate the businesses with city help, but found no sites close enough to their Chinatown wholesale customers. The conflict ebbed, perhaps because the businesses cleaned up — or perhaps because a shop on Union Street, considered the worst offender, met with misfortune. It burned down and did not reopen. Lately, it was Yeung Sun that traumatized the sensitive. One family saw a man chase down a fleeing duck, grab it by the neck and drag it to its fate. Victoria Hagman, a real estate agent who moved into the neighborhood nine years ago, said she hated seeing rabbits dash from the shop only to cower in traffic; she raised bunnies as a girl. More important, she said, she lost buyers to chicken stink, particularly in a lavishly renovated building with an enormous circular window looking down on the sometimes-bloody sidewalk. Then, on Dec. 23, workers began digging a new sewer under Degraw Street, near Columbia Street. They were working to improve the Gowanus flushing tunnel, a century-old, mile-long and seldom effective waterway designed to sluice fresher harbor water into the stagnant, sewage-tinged Gowanus. Something went wrong. According to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, as machinery broke through underground rock, water seeped in, eroding land beneath 183 Columbia Street, a one-story building that held the poultry shop’s walk-in freezer and other equipment. A wall buckled and collapsed. City agencies ordered the building demolished, and closed the building next door, 185 Columbia Street, to assess its stability. Yeung Sen, which occupied both storefronts, had to close. Last week, as wind whipped between harborside warehouses across the street, the steel claw of a backhoe ripped through the tar paper and timbers of 183 Columbia, exposing scores of plucked chickens still stacked like firewood in their plastic bags. Tony Ni, who owns the business, stood forlornly outside the fence, filming the scene. “I lose my business,” Mr. Ni said. His five employees were out of work. He was not sure how much the catastrophe would cost him, whether he would receive compensation or if he would be able to reopen. According to the city planning department, if the Buildings Department determines that 50 percent or more of the site has been destroyed, he will lose his grandfathered right to run a slaughterhouse there. Asked about neighborly relations, Mr. Ni laughed bitterly. “The neighborhood don’t like me,” he said. Many neighborhood businesspeople — even chicken-shop haters — said they had found themselves newly empathetic. “He didn’t have a lot of friends in the neighborhood,” said Margaret Palca, wearing an apron smudged with pink icing at Margaret Palca Bakes, a few doors down. “A lot of us are into neighborhood beautification and not ugly chicken places.” But, she said, “He didn’t deserve this.” Besides, the poultry workers bought coffee from her, she said. The last slaughterhouse standing, on Sackett Street, kept a low profile last week, its corrugated shutters pulled down tight. A knock at the steel door brought Jenny Li, in a white apron. She said her uncle founded the business decades ago. “They complain, but we were here before them,” she said. “There was nothing here.”

Slaughterhouses
Gentrification
Brooklyn (NYC)
Demolition
Relocation of Business
Yeung Sun Live Poultry


Australia Reacts to U.N. Decision on Julian Assange

Abstract: SYDNEY, Australia — Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign minister, has sought legal advice on the implications of a United Nations decision on Friday that the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, an Australian, has been unlawfully held by Sweden and Britain for more than five years. Ms. Bishop met with Mr. Assange’s lawyers in London on Thursday, before the report was made public. “I have now read the report and I am seeking legal advice on its implications for Mr. Assange, as an Australian citizen,” she said in a brief statement issued from London. Ms. Bishop said Australia had offered Mr. Assange consular assistance, should he need it. Mr. Assange, 44, sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced an allegation of rape. He believes that if he travels to Sweden he could be extradited to the United States to face charges and possibly a lengthy jail term for publishing thousands of classified government cables that embarrassed both the Australian and the United States governments. Many of those cables came from Chelsea Manning, a United States Army soldier formerly known as Bradley Manning who in 2013 was sentenced to 35 years in prison for passing classified military documents to WikiLeaks. How Julian Assange and WikiLeaks Became Targets of the U.S. Government Here are key points in his case since WikiLeaks burst onto the scene in 2010. On Thursday, Mr. Assange said via a video link that he had been held in the United Kingdom without charge for five and a half years. He described the United Nations working group’s decision as a vindication. “This is a serious finding,” he said. “There is no ability to appeal the decision of the United Nations. The lawfulness of my detention, or otherwise, is now a matter of settled law.” The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention criticized a lack of diligence in the Swedish prosecutor’s office and concluded Mr. Assange’s detention should be bought to an end. Mr. Assange said in the video link that he understood what he called a domestic “political imperative” of both governments to look like they had made the correct decision around his detention, but went on to say that it had been unlawful. He described the United Nations ruling as a significant victory, and said that during confinement he had missed his family. “I have had great difficulty seeing my family and seeing my children.” Ms. Bishop was in London to address a conference of government officials about aid to Syria. She said Australia would provide an extra $17.6 million for Syria and Iraq to help those affected by continuing violence there.

Julian P Assange
Australia
WikiLeaks
Julie Bishop


New York City Teachers Vote for Raise and a Nine-Year Contract

Abstract: New York City teachers have approved a nine-year labor contract, their union announced on Tuesday, a deal that raises pay by 18 percent but leaves questions about the future of their health benefits. The agreement, which includes billions of dollars in back pay, is likely to set the standard for several other municipal unions that, like the teachers’ union, were left without contracts in the final years of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration. The contract, brokered between city and union officials, passed with more than 77 percent of the roughly 90,000 votes cast, union officials said Tuesday night. Michael F. Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, spent the last month lobbying hard for his members to accept the deal, saying it was the best they could expect. He faced the most skepticism over two facets of the deal: that the retroactive raises, which total about 8 percent, would be paid out over several years, instead of immediately; and that it promised to reduce health care costs by $1.3 billion. The union said that it could reach that goal by finding more efficient ways to deliver care. But many teachers said they worried about a provision in the contract that could require them to contribute to their premiums for the first time should the savings come up short. But few expected the deal would be voted down. The union has rejected a contract only once before, in 1995, when they were asked to accept a two-year wage freeze. After some modifications, teachers approved that deal. On this contract, teachers mostly agreed with Mr. Mulgrew that this was the best they could get. Some who voted yes also described it as an embrace of Mayor Bill de Blasio , whom they consider friendlier to labor than Mr. Bloomberg, whose emphasis on test scores and pay freezes had raised their ire. “The last mayor was not very pro-teacher and wasn’t interested in our well being,” said Suzette Freedman, a third-grade teacher at Public School 75, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, who voted for the contract. “There’s not really another option.” A fourth-grade teacher at the school, Elizabeth Jarrett, said she voted no, as a sort of protest, because there seemed to be so many outstanding questions, particularly about the financing. “But do I think we’re going to get anything better?” she said. “Absolutely not.” The financial aspects of the deal also worried some observers . Moody’s, the bond-rating agency, said the contract resolved long-standing budgetary uncertainty but that its costs would add to future deficits and its health savings could face “roadblocks.” The city comptroller discovered basic accounting problems with the deal the de Blasio administration struck, asserting that certain costs in the contract be accounted for in earlier city budget years. The results of the vote were tabulated by the American Arbitration Association, which collected anonymous ballots that had been distributed to 106,000 unionized workers, including 80,000 teachers. “We are going to help good educators stay and grow in this profession, and usher real reform that will lift up kids across the whole system,” the mayor said in a statement after the results were announced. “At the same time, we are securing unprecedented health care savings, which make this a fiscally responsible contract that protects our budgets and our taxpayers.” The contract holds the workday to 6 hours and 20 minutes, and raises the starting salary to $56,709 by the end of the contract, from $45,530, the union said. It raises the top salary to $119,471 from $100,049. Teachers nominated by principals to be mentors for other teachers are eligible for bonuses of $7,500 to $20,000. The contract allows some schools, with teachers’ consent, to adopt more flexible work rules, an attempt to mimic successful charter schools. It also replaces time set aside for tutoring struggling students with time for more teacher training and parent-teacher communication, a change the administration says will improve student and teacher performance over all. It will also give the Department of Education more authority to fire some of the 1,200 teachers who draw full salaries but have no permanent positions, from the so-called absent teacher reserve, the bulk of whom are casualties of the Bloomberg era’s moves to close and reorganize schools. “The new agreement gives teachers and parents a larger voice in how their schools are run, and how they can better serve their students,” Mr. Mulgrew said in a statement Tuesday. “We now have to work together — teachers, parents and the D.O.E. — to make these innovations successful.” In its review of the contract, Educators 4 Excellence, an advocacy group of teachers that often was aligned with the Bloomberg administration’s goals, gave the contract a barely passing grade and said it “overlooked several critical issues,” such as class sizes and a tenure-granting process that the group believes ought to be more closely linked to teacher performance. Still, the review said, the contract “leaves room for optimism,” for a work force thirsty for a new deal.

Teachers
UFT
Bill de Blasio
NYC
Labor Unions
K-12 Education


PPR Foresees Another Solid Year as 2012 Profit Rises

Abstract: PARIS — PPR, the French group that owns Gucci, said Friday that its luxury division had led a sharp increase in annual sales and profit, and it forecast further growth for 2013. The company, whose brands include Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, said its net profit increased 28 percent last year, to €1.3 billion, or $1.74 billion. Sales rose nearly 21 percent from the previous year, to €9.7 billion. The luxury division posted operating profit of €1.6 billion, up about 28 percent. Rogerio Fujimori, a luxury analyst at Credit Suisse Securities in London, said it had been “a very strong performance in the luxury division,” with a healthy profit margin. “It was reassuring.” Shares of PPR closed 7.6 percent higher in Paris on Friday. The company, formerly known as Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, said regions outside the euro zone accounted for nearly 79 percent of its revenue last year, with about 38 percent of sales in fast-growing markets. Despite the mediocre outlook for the global economy over all, the luxury sector has held up relatively well as people continue to buy expensive handbags, clothing, wines and perfumes. Other top luxury houses, including Richemont, Hermès and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, have already announced fairly solid sales growth last year. PPR, which is based in Paris, expressed optimism about the business outlook, saying it was “confident that 2013 will be another year of robust revenue growth and enhanced operating and financial performances.” James Lawson, director at Ledbury Research in London, said there was “a sort of cautious optimism” in the luxury sector at the moment, adding: “The PPR results have reinforced that to a degree.” “But I’m not as confident as PPR that 2013 will be as good,” he said, noting the concerns about demand from European consumers and the heightened focus on inequality and graft in China, which has somewhat dampened conspicuous consumption there. “I see more downside risk for 2013 at the moment,” Mr. Lawson said. François-Henri Pinault, the PPR chairman and chief executive, said in a statement that the luxury division’s results had been “excellent” across the board. “We are striving,” he added, “to achieve the same dynamic in the sport and lifestyle division” — a reference to the problems at Puma, the German sportswear brand, where operating profit fell 13 percent in 2012. PPR owns 82 percent of Puma. Puma said Thursday that it expected 2013 to be a “transitional year,” with little growth in sales. The company is in the midst of a restructuring under which it is closing about 90 unprofitable stores in developed countries to focus more on emerging markets. Mr. Pinault’s strategy is to emphasize the company’s luxury and sporting-goods brands. To that end, he is planning to hold a public offering of PPR’s Fnac entertainment retailing chain and is seeking to sell its Redcats online clothing and furniture business. The company said Friday that it had written down €288 million of good will on the two units, and recorded restructuring charges of €149 million as it prepared to dispose of the companies this year. Virginie Blin, an analyst at Alphavalue in Paris, said that in addition to the strong performance of the luxury division, PPR’s shares were lifted Friday by indications that the company was moving closer to divesting itself of those units and addressing the problems at Puma, which have been a drag on earnings.

PPR
Luxury good
Earnings Reports
Francois Pinault
Hermes International
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton
China
Consumer behaviour


Talks Reaching Tipping Point in N.H.L. Lockout

Abstract: Negotiations to end the N.H.L. lockout faced a tipping point Wednesday, as the players’ association made another offer and negotiated with the league while the union’s executive board considered whether to dissolve by a self-imposed midnight deadline. The deadline passed — an indication that the union chose to continue talks. The union membership voted last month to authorize the leadership to disclaim interest, but only until midnight Wednesday. A disclaimer of interest would effectively dissolve the union and allow individual players to file antitrust suits against the N.H.L. for continuing the lockout, which reached its 110th day. The union’s latest offer was the fourth exchanged by the two sides since Dec. 27, when the N.H.L. extended a proposal that jump-started the current round of talks. “All I’ve said, and all I will say, is that the players retain all their options, and it’s an internal matter,” Donald Fehr, the union’s executive director, said Wednesday afternoon. Even if the union declined to disclaim interest, the leadership could still do so at a later date, but only if the rank and file authorized it in another vote. The pension issue could hold up a quick resolution to the lockout, which Commissioner Gary Bettman has said he wants settled by Jan. 11 so a 48-game schedule could begin no later than Jan. 19. The union has proposed that players finance the pension plan, but owners would be responsible for covering any potential shortfalls that might arise. The owners appeared to be balking at assuming that risk. “The way it works is the players are still funding the pension,” Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Westgarth, a member of the negotiating committee, said in an interview last month. “The only issue is if there is a possible underfunding at some point — owners don’t want that on their books.” Last month, Westgarth said an improved pension plan was the players’ biggest gain in the negotiations. “I think the fact that we sold it as extremely important to players may have worked against us,” he said, citing the owners’ reluctance to bail out the pension fund in case of a shortfall. Under the collective bargaining agreement that expired in September, 75 percent of the players’ pension fund was financed by the owners and 25 percent by the players. Negotiators are haggling over the salary cap for the 2013-14 season, which the owners wanted to drop from $70.2 million to $60 million, while the players sought a cap closer to $67 million.


São Paulo May Lose Cup Games

Abstract: São Paulo, South America’s largest city, could lose its right to stage matches at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil because of delays in building its stadium, soccer’s governing body, FIFA, warned. Secretary General Jerome Valcke said FIFA would not accept any failure to meet the December deadline for the completion of Itaquerao stadium, which is to stage six matches, including the opening game. Builders have said the stadium would not be ready until the end of February.

Sao Paulo Brazil
2014 World Cup
Soccer
FIFA


Abdi Abdirahman Runs in Memory of His Best Friend

Abstract: BEIJING — The black rubber wristband hangs loosely on Abdi Abdirahman. “ Ryan Shay ,” it reads. “Believe in yourself.” Abdirahman says he never takes it off. “Those are the last words I told him,” Abdirahman said. “I’ve been wearing it since Ryan’s funeral.” The wristband is a constant reminder that he lost his best friend last November at the Olympic trials marathon in Central Park, where Shay collapsed and died of a heart ailment at 28. Abdirahman was also in the race and did not know until several hours later that Shay had died. Now that Abdirahman has made it to the Olympics in the 10,000 meters — the event he won at the United States trials in July — he carries a dream for two. When Abdirahman would become nervous before his big races, he used to call Shay for reassurance. On Sunday night before his race, he will simply look skyward and think of Shay. “Ryan believed so much in Abdi,” Alicia Shay, Ryan’s widow, said in a telephone interview from her home in Flagstaff, Ariz. “He was always telling him that. He’d say: ‘Abdi, when are you going to break the American record? When are you going to win a medal?’ ” Abdirahman, 31, said he had even more motivation to win one now that Shay is no longer around to ask him those questions. Abdirahman and Shay were friends, training partners in Flagstaff when Alicia and Ryan met in 2006 at the New York City Marathon and fell in love. The couple shared their house for half the year with Abdirahman, who lives the rest of the year in Tucson, and he helped fill it with laughter and his childlike sense of fun. “He was like the third wheel,” said Mary Wittenberg, president of the New York Road Runners, and a friend of Abdirahman’s and Shay’s. “They were so close. You know where Abdi’s heart is.” Abdirahman spoke passionately at Shay’s funeral, which was a blur of grief for Alicia. But as time wore on, Abdirahman struggled to bring himself to visit her in Flagstaff. “I wish I could have done more,” Abdirahman said. “I wish I could stay with her at the house, but I could not because the house has bad memories.” Finally, Abdirahman in his usual spur-of-the-moment style, showed up, and Alicia had her friend back. “He brought laughter back to the house,” she said. “We don’t talk about what happened. But I know he has Ryan close to his heart.” Alicia has moved to a new house. It is surrounded by a big meadow and ringed by trees with mountains in the distance. Abdirahman plans to stay there again as he trains for the New York City Marathon in November. He is part of a group called Team Shay that will run in Ryan’s memory. But Abdirahman will not wait that long to run for him. He said he talks to Shay every day. “When I’m running out there, a lot of people don’t realize it, but Ryan was always there for me,” Abdirahman said. “I always think about him when I’m running, especially when the Olympics come up. I know how hard he trained and how much he wanted to be an Olympian.” Alicia wanted to be in the Olympics too, a realistic goal, particularly after she finished third at the national championships in the 10,000 in 2007. But grief got the better of her. She said she tried to train through it, believing she simply had to be strong and keep pushing forward, pretending she could shove the pain aside. But in June, Alicia, 26, was overcome with exhaustion. She was dizzy and nauseous. Doctors diagnosed adrenal fatigue and prescribed complete rest. She has just started running again. “I learned that I just have to let life be hard when it’s hard,” she said. Alicia will get some joy out of watching Abdirahman in the Olympics, running for all three of them. On paper, he does not seem to have a chance at a medal in the 10,000. His best time — 27 minutes 16.99 seconds, run this year — is nowhere near the times run by the Ethiopian superstars Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele. Bekele’s world-leading time this year is 26:25.97. Abdirahman finished 15th at this distance in the 2004 Olympics and 10th in 2000. But Abdirahman can hope that the heat and humidity will sap the speed of the top runners and make it a more tactical race. He has been training with Bernard Lagat, the defending world champion at 1,500 and 5,000 meters, learning to be a better tactical racer. Abdirahman showed his determination at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., taking control of the 10,000 and storming away for the victory. Abdirahman celebrated with a lap of pure joy, slapping hands with the fans at Hayward Field and finally diving into the steeplechase water jump. “Abdi is the most carefree guy, just like a little kid,” Wittenberg said. “But now I think he understands the preciousness of the moment. He’s always had the talent, he has the heart. Now, he finally has the drive.” To find it, he simply has to look at his wrist, or inside his heart.

Shay Ryan
Running
Olympic Games (2008)
Abdirahman Abdi


Key Return for Giant Trying to Take Positive Steps

Abstract: Sunday’s Giants game against the Detroit Lions was shaping up like so many others this season. A good start by the Giants was being undone by myriad gaffes, including another prominent lapse by the punt-return team. The Giants had not picked up a first down in the second half. Eli Manning had been sacked for a safety. With about five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Lions, who had scored 17 straight points, had the ball and a 7-point lead. “Things didn’t look good for us,” Coach Tom Coughlin said Monday. “The clock was running down.” Then a Matthew Stafford pass glanced off a receiver’s hands and deflected into the air. Giants fans know all too well the usual outcome of a tipped pass because it has happened repeatedly this year when the Giants were the ones doing the passing. Interceptions after a deflection have ruined many a Giants game in 2013. But this time, the ricochet settled into the arms of Giants safety Will Hill, who ran 38 yards into the end zone with a game-tying touchdown. The Giants still had to weather some of their usual late-game blunders — a Manning interception halted a promising drive at the end of regulation and Andre Brown fumbled to wreck another opportunity in overtime. But in the end, the Giants found a way to persevere and won with a 45-yard Josh Brown field goal. It was the kind of close, if sloppy, game that the Giants have been losing all season. But this time, the random bounce of a pass reversed the course of the game. “It was the boost we needed,” Coughlin said of Hill’s interception. “It was a huge lift.” Hill’s contribution concluded a weekend that began with his arrest Friday in New Jersey on a warrant related to unpaid child support. On Sunday, Hill, 23, called his arrest a private matter. He missed the first four games as he served a suspension for violating the N.F.L.’s substance-abuse program, an offense that Hill said was related to marijuana use. It was Hill’s second suspension. In 2012, he sat out four games for using a performance-enhancing substance that he blamed on the prescription use of Adderall . Among the Giants, Hill is viewed as a talented player who has struggled to overcome a difficult upbringing in a rough section of East Orange, N.J. With the Giants’ help, Hill has spent time in a Boston rehabilitation clinic and continued to regularly see a New Jersey-based therapist. “I know right versus wrong,” Hill said this summer. “I’m getting help and I’m learning. I don’t fight it any longer.” Asked about Hill after the game, Coughlin answered: “We support him in every way we can. He’s trying like heck to meet all of his responsibilities. I don’t know any more than that. It is a private matter and it’s something he has taken care of. We, again, support him as best we can. He tries to meet all of his obligations.” Teammates have rallied around Hill, a second-year player who has become a valued contributor in an injury-riddled secondary. When asked about Hill, cornerback Prince Amukamara, who is a measured and thoughtful presence in the locker room, said Monday that he thought Hill was maturing and called him “a rising leader.” “He’s not easily shaken,” Amukamara said. “In the huddle during the game, when it seemed like Detroit was doing whatever they wanted to do with the run game and moving the chains, Will told us to all huddle up and he said to us, ‘This isn’t us. Let us turn this around.’ “And then a couple of plays later, he made a big play, and I think that speaks volumes.” Amukamara said that Hill, who led the team with 11 tackles Sunday, was not usually vocal. “He speaks when he has to,” Amukamara said. “And that makes it more meaningful. He has done it a few times.” Hill has been playing for the starter at free safety, Stevie Brown, who was lost for the season with a knee injury during the preseason. The Giants’ season ends on Sunday against Washington. If he can continue to manage his off-the-field issues, Hill will probably figure in the Giants’ future, although the staid Giants are usually averse to controversy. “It means the world to me to have a coach, a staff and a team that is going to back me,” Hill said Sunday. “And I’m just trying to focus on football.” EXTRA POINTS The Giants lost three more players to injury Sunday, and their status for the season finale is uncertain. A concussion sustained in the second half knocked running back Andre Brown out of the game and left the team with one healthy running back, the rookie Michael Cox. Asked if Cox was ready to assume the full-time duties of a starter, Coach Tom Coughlin answered: “He certainly will have to.” Guard Brandon Mosley, who made his first career start, broke his right hand in the first quarter. Tight end Adrien Robinson, who made his season debut Sunday, was sidelined with a knee injury.


United States Advances to Copa América Semifinals

Abstract: SEATTLE — The first time the United States men’s national soccer team played in the Copa América was in 1993 in Ecuador. In its second game of that tournament, the hosts soundly defeated a United States team that was still largely composed of former college players. Nearly a quarter century later, with the United States playing host to the tournament for the first time and featuring a team laden with experienced professionals, the Americans reversed the outcome and beat Ecuador, 2-1, in a contentious quarterfinal that reflected how far the United States has progressed in soccer over the past two decades. On a night when both teams were shown red cards, and Ecuador Coach Gustavo Quinteros was ejected in the final minutes, it was the American players who celebrated by jumping into one another’s arms and dancing in the center circle, having secured a vital win on a grand stage. The victory propelled the United States into the semifinal stage of the Copa América for the first time since 1995, in Uruguay, and it will play the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between Argentina and Venezuela. This was arguably the biggest result for the United States on home soil since it defeated Colombia in the 1994 World Cup. The Copa América is an irregularly contested championship of South American teams, older than the World Cup and the European Championships, and features some of the world’s most formidable national teams. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Copa came to the United States, and the home team’s coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, said before it began that the goal was to reach the semifinal stage. Image The United States’ Bobby Wood, left, and Ecuador’s Arturo Mina fighting for the ball. Credit Elaine Thompson/Associated Press Clint Dempsey, who plays locally for the Seattle Sounders, helped make that possible when he scored in the 22nd minute to give the Americans the lead, heading home his 52nd goal for the national team, five shy of Landon Donovan’s record. Gyasi Zardes scored in the 65th minute, poking home a ball played across the goal mouth by Dempsey while both teams were playing with only 10 men each. Ecuador finally scored in the 74th minute, setting the stage for a nerve-racking finish. The first goal was executed with clinical precision, and it seemed that the Americans might take an easy path to victory. With the United States forcing the action on a swift counterattack, the ball was fed back to Jermaine Jones outside the 18-yard area to the left of Ecuador’s goal, and he lifted a perfectly placed ball back into the box. Dempsey split two defenders and redirected the ball into the back corner of the goal. “This performance tonight from him was unbelievable, obviously, in front of his home crowd,” Klinsmann said. “He is special and he deserves every compliment.” The announced attendance was 47,322, almost all of whom appeared to be supporting the home team. Later, the teams were reduced to 10 men each after a brief skirmish resulted in two red cards. Antonio Valencia, who plays for Manchester United, tripped Alejandro Bedoya after the whistle, igniting a minor fracas involving a number of players. During the pushing and shoving, the referee, Wilmar Roldán of Colombia, appeared to have judged that American defender Jones had slapped Ecuador midfielder Michael Arroyo in the face. Roldán showed Jones a red card and then presented a second yellow card to Valencia, who had also been carded in the first half. Because of the accumulation of cards, Jones, Bedoya and Bobby Wood will not be able to play in the semifinal. “It was an absolute joke,” Klinsmann said of the ruling against Jones. “I was right there, and the fourth referee made that decision, not the referee. The referee didn’t see it. He followed the advice of the fourth official out there. It’s a disgrace, a decision like that.” With more room to operate, the game opened up, at first for the Americans and then for Ecuador. In the 65th minute, the Americans pushed the ball into the Ecuadorean area, with Zardes heading back down to the right of goalie Alexander Domínguez. Dempsey fought to retain possession and then sent a low shot under the left hand of Domínguez. The ball might have crossed the line for a second Dempsey goal, but Zardes was taking no chances and slotted it home. “It’s the striker’s mentality,” Zardes said with a smile. But in the 74th minute, Ecuador struck back with a goal off a unique set piece. The ball was placed just outside the box to the left of American goalie Brad Guzan, and it seemed that he and the rest of the United States defenders seemed to be expecting an elevated cross in front of the goal. But instead, Walter Ayoví passed it along the ground back through the penalty area, where Arroyo drove a low shot with his right instep into the goal to Guzan’s right. Then things began to get very hectic as Enner Valencia missed a chance to equalize on a header that barely missed the goal. “In the first half, the U.S. dominated,” the Ecuador assistant coach Luis Suárez said. “In the second half, it was all Ecuador.” That might have been a slight exaggeration, but Ecuador was pushing the action and Klinsmann began waving his arms to pump up his players and the crowd, and then got into a shouting match with some of the Ecuadorean players along the touchline. Things became even more chaotic in the 90th minute when the Ecuador bench became enraged at a foul call and a bottle was thrown onto the field. Quinteros, who was yelling and waving his arms frantically while running along the sideline, paid the price and was sent to the tunnel, the final indignity on a wild night. The United States, which had played the patsy 23 years ago in Ecuador, was left on the field to celebrate and share the moment with its fans, some of whom may be too young to remember the last time their country reached this stage at the Copa América. “This was a huge step forward tonight,” Klinsmann said. The next step is a semifinal of a major tournament in Houston on Tuesday.

Soccer
Ecuador
US Men's Soccer Team
Copa America


Israel Appears to Raise New Peace Talks Issue With U.S.

Abstract: JERUSALEM — Days after suspending American-brokered Middle East peace talks because of a reconciliation pact reached between the Palestine Liberation Organization and its rival Hamas, the Islamic militant group, Israel on Monday raised a new source of potential tension with the United States over Washington’s approach to the unity government planned by the Palestinians. Israel has stated that it will not resume negotiations with any Palestinian government that is supported by Hamas, even if that government is made up of political independents and apolitical technocratic figures who meet international conditions for acceptance. An Israeli official said on Monday that Israel had in the past received “a specific commitment from the American administration” backing that position — a claim that appeared to be at odds with some more recent signals from Washington. A senior State Department official said Monday that the administration was “not going to reveal the details of private conversations.” The Israeli official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s diplomatic delicacy, said that the commitment had been given to Israel during President Obama’s first term in office and that it had been restated since his re-election. The official would not specify whether the commitment had been given in writing or by the president himself. But he insisted that the Obama administration had backed Israel’s position against negotiating or dealing with such a unity government unless Hamas accepted the principles laid down by world powers after the Islamic group won Palestinian elections in 2006: to recognize Israel’s right to exist, to renounce all violence and to accept all previous signed agreements. Hamas continues to refuse those conditions. Taher al-Nounou, an adviser to Ismail Haniya, the group’s prime minister in Gaza, reiterated on Sunday that Hamas would not recognize Israel. In the absence of such recognition, Washington, like Israel, has classified Hamas as a terrorist group and forbids direct dealings with it. But since the Palestinian factions announced the agreement to heal their schism last Wednesday, including plans to form a unity government of technocrats within five weeks and to hold elections six months later, the American administration’s position toward a unity government has appeared less clear-cut. In an initial reaction last week, Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, called the Palestinian move “disappointing” and the timing “troubling,” coming days before the April 29 expiration date for the American-brokered peace talks that have been a focus of Secretary of State John Kerry’s tenure, and as the negotiators worked feverishly on a formula to try to extend them. Ms. Psaki said that “any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties,” without making any mention of Hamas. She added, “It’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to negotiate with a government that does not believe in its right to exist.” Later, when asked whether the demand was for Hamas to change its long-held positions, Ms. Psaki said that if President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority “were to continue to pursue reconciliation, Hamas would need to abide by these principles in order to be a part of the government.” “So if it’s a unified government, yes, they would need to abide by these principles,” she said. But her statement did not appear to address Israel’s concerns about a unity government in which Hamas did not play a direct part. The reconciliation deal is meant to heal a political and geographical rift between President Abbas, whose administration is based in the West Bank, and Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007. Mr. Abbas, who is also the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the mainstream Fatah party that dominates it, has reached several unity accords with Hamas in recent years, including plans for a transitional unity government and elections, but the agreements never succeeded. This latest deal, which appeared to have more substance, took Israelis and officials in Washington by surprise. There is no certainty that it will turn out to be any different from the failed accords that preceded it, possibly contributing to the cloudiness in the American position. “The odds are against the formation of this technocratic government,” one American official said recently, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “We have seen this movie four times before.” The Israeli government suspended the American-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians a day after the unity pact was announced. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said, “Whoever chooses the terrorism of Hamas does not want peace.” Dore Gold, a senior adviser to Mr. Netanyahu and a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated that Israel would not deal with a Palestinian unity government so long as Hamas did not accept the international principles. “We are not overwhelmed by a group of gentlemen wearing suits while in the back room the real control is with Fatah and Hamas,” Mr. Gold said in a recent interview. “The technocrats will be under the clear direction of the two movements,” he added. Saeb Erekat, the chief negotiator for the P.L.O., said in an interview on Monday that throughout the negotiations the Israelis constantly asked the Palestinians how they would deal with Gaza. Mr. Erekat said he told the Israelis: “You are right. We should have one authority, one gun and one rule of law. So in accordance with Abbas’s program we go forward with reconciliation. Then they say no, you have chosen Hamas and not peace.” Israel’s decision to suspend the negotiations, Mr. Erekat said, was “the most shortsighted decision” Israel could have taken. Although Israel’s negotiating partner has been the P.L.O. and not the government of the Palestinian Authority, Naftali Bennett, Israel’s minister of economy and leader of the right-wing Jewish Home party, described such distinctions as “intellectual somersaults.” “Abbas is the president of the Palestinian Authority," he told reporters in Jerusalem on Sunday. “The world recognizes him as such. Now the government will include Hamas, and we will not speak to it.” He added: “This is precisely the point where we expect the world to show more clarity and to do the right thing. Asking us to negotiate with a government backed by Hamas is like asking the United States to negotiate with a government backed by Al Qaeda, even if that government said it recognized the United States. Would anyone ever consider that?”

Hamas
PLO
Israel
US Foreign Policy
International relations
Barack Obama


Montoya’s Win at Watkins Glen Erases Team’s Recent Mistakes

Abstract: Finally running a whole day without a mistake, Juan Pablo Montoya erased 113 races of futility Sunday by winning a duel with Marcos Ambrose and the Nascar Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International. “It’s about time,” Montoya said after celebrating with his crew in victory lane. “We’ve lost a lot of them, gave away a lot of them. It gets frustrating, everybody fighting. There’s so many things I have to learn. I still make a lot of mistakes.” Frustration had mounted for Montoya and his team when the pit strategy of the crew chief Brian Pattie backfired at the previous two races. A late four-tire call most likely cost Montoya a victory at the Brickyard 400. And he finished 16th a week ago at Pocono after starting second; another questionable pit call was the culprit, leading to harsh words over the radio. A prerace talk at Watkins Glen with the team co-owner Chip Ganassi helped clear the air, and Montoya withstood repeated stalking and challenges from Ambrose to win going away. Montoya led 74 of 90 laps and beat Kurt Busch to the line by nearly five seconds for his second career victory. The other came in 2007 on Nascar’s other road course, Sonoma, 113 races ago. Montoya’s win was only the third of the season for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. It was the first career victory for Pattie, who fought back tears after watching Montoya take the checkered flag. “The Brickyard was my fault,” Pattie said. “Hope this makes up for it.” FRANCHITTI WINS IN OHIO Dario Franchitti used two excellent pit stops to overtake the series points leader Will Power and win the IndyCar race at Lexington, Ohio. Franchitti moved to 41 points behind Power with five races to go as he tries to repeat as series champion. Helio Castroneves was third.

Montoya Juan Pablo
Automobile Racing
Franchitti Dario