Liberal Chinese Journal, Claiming Interference by Overseers, Files Lawsuit

Abstract: BEIJING — A liberal Chinese journal whose publisher and top editors were dismissed or demoted this week says it is fighting back with a lawsuit. On Tuesday, the Chinese National Academy of Arts , which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and oversees the monthly journal, Yanhuang Chunqiu , announced on the publication’s website that it was removing Du Daozheng, its founding publisher, because Mr. Du, 92, is “in his advanced years.” He will be replaced by Jia Leilei, a deputy director of the academy. The academy also demoted the journal’s chief editor, Xu Qingquan, to deputy editor and replaced him with Hao Qingjun, a deputy researcher on literature at the academy. Four other people from the academy were assigned to top editorial positions. Calls to the academy on Friday went unanswered. In response to the reshuffle, Yanhuang Chunqiu issued two announcements. The first, released on Thursday, said the academy had violated a 2014 agreement that gave the journal control over personnel issues and that it planned to sue. The second, on Friday, said several academy staff members had moved into the newsroom. “Eating meals and sleeping at the office day and night have disrupted our work,” it said. The magazine also said that the password for managing its official website had been changed, and that it had been unable to publish its announcements there. It called on readers via the WeChat app to help spread word that they had hired lawyers to file a lawsuit against the academy. Mr. Du signed the legal complaint Friday morning, according to Shang Baojun, a lawyer who is helping two colleagues hired by the journal. Ding Xikui, one of the two hired lawyers, said later on Friday that he had delivered the complaint to the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing, which will accept or reject the case within seven days. Yanhuang Chunqiu, which roughly translates as China Annals, was founded in 1991 by Mr. Du, former chief of the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, which regulates print news media. The journal is supported by many retired Communist Party officials who have advocated a more liberal political system. It has won a wide readership for publishing articles on recent history that challenge the official narratives about tumultuous periods like the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward and subsequent famine. “The people Yanhuang Chunqiu depends on, their power and ideas, are waning within the party,” said Wu Si, a former chief editor of the journal. “Meanwhile, ideological controls have become tighter in the past year or two.” Mr. Wu resigned in December 2014, shortly after the academy took charge of the publication. The academy had taken over as Yanhuang Chunqui’s sponsoring institution from the nongovernmental association set up by liberal-minded retired cadres that had overseen the journal for the previous two decades. At the time, an agreement was reached with the party’s Central Propaganda Department, which initiated the takeover, that the academy would not interfere with the journal’s staffing and editorial decisions. But this year, conflicts broke out over three `issues the journal tried to publish, according to Wu Wei, who joined the magazine last month as an executive editor. “The magazine’s articles and its publishing principles don’t please everyone,” Mr. Wu said in a telephone interview. “So some people — conservatives and those on the extreme left and right of the political spectrum — adopt measures at a convenient time to alter it.” “The existence of this magazine at least shows that inside the Chinese Communist Party, there is one publication that advocates the restoration of historical truth, to let it illuminate the future,” said Mr. Wu, who was a member of the central government’s political overhaul team in the 1980s. “This publication, though it has experienced difficulties, has hung in there for 25 years. But now, maybe it can’t go on.” Wu Si, the chief editor, who resigned in 2014, said the academy and the journal’s editors had clashed several times, when the academy tried to prevent the magazine from publishing articles that deviated from the official historical narrative or on other politically delicate issues. “The clashes were pretty serious on several occasions, to the extent that they went to the printing factory to try to stop publication,” he said. “Now, after this blow, it will probably be difficult to adhere to the magazine’s original principles. Reformists, liberals and those who support moderate democracy are losing yet another citadel. It’s a big setback.” At the top of the journal’s official Sina Weibo account on Friday was a post from a year ago. It read: “Yanhuang Chunqiu writes truth without fear or favor, and it takes history as a mirror. This is our enduring value.”

China Academy of Art
China
Yanhuang Chunqiu
Magazine
Du Daozheng
Jia Leilei


Francis Sejersted, 79, Dies; Steered Nobel Peace Prize Into Controversy

Abstract: Francis Sejersted, a Norwegian historian who as the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize committee presided over several controversial awards, including the one shared by the Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat , died on Tuesday at his home in Oslo. He was 79. The cause was cancer, Olav Njolstad, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, said in an email. The Nobel Prizes , first presented in 1901, were fathered by the Swedish chemist, engineer and inventor Alfred Nobel, whose 1895 will established annual awards for surpassing work in chemistry, physics, literature, and physiology or medicine, as well as “for the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” A sixth prize, in economics, was established by Sweden’s central bank in honor of Nobel and first awarded in 1968. The peace prize is distinct in that, in accordance with Nobel’s will, the winner is selected not by a Swedish academic institution but by a five-person committee whose members are chosen by the Norwegian legislature, known as the Storting. The reason Nobel ceded the selection of the peace prize winner to Norway is unknown, though Norway, which did not achieve full independence until 1905, was politically tied to Sweden. Mr. Sejersted, a professor of history, was connected to the Nobel committee for nearly two decades, beginning in 1982 when he was first selected as one of the five committee members. He was the committee’s chairman from 1991 until 1999, and during that time was the main spokesman for the panel’s selections. He was also the author of an essay detailing the history of the peace prize on the Nobel website, in which he acknowledged the various biases that have affected the committee’s choices through the decades, including a tendency to reward “white men of Western origin” and to consider the regional interests of Norway’s politicians. Image Mr. Sejersted announced that Medecins Sans Frontieres had won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. Credit Bjoern Sigurdsoen/Scanpix, via Associated Press The 1994 prize — given to Mr. Peres, Rabin and Arafat in recognition of the first of two peace agreements pointing in the direction of a two-state solution to Middle East hostilities — drew skepticism from some quarters and anger from others. One member of the committee, a supporter of Israel, resigned. Skeptics also noted at the time that the peace negotiations had been conducted in Norway and that the agreement was commonly known as the Oslo accord. Perhaps the most frequent criticism of the peace prize selections has been that they are politically motivated. But rather than attempt to allay such criticism, Mr. Sejersted embraced it in an often-quoted passage from his essay. The prize “is not only for past achievement, although that is the most important criterion,” he wrote. “The committee also takes the possible positive effects of its choices into account. Among the reasons for adding this as a criterion is the obvious point that Nobel wanted the prize to have political effects. Awarding a Peace Prize is, to put it bluntly, a political act — which is also the reason the choices so stir up controversy.” The 1993 award, to Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk, the president of South Africa, for negotiating the end of apartheid, received criticism for, among other things, rewarding Mr. de Klerk, the face of a long-enduring system of cruel inequality. “These are not saints,” Mr. Sejersted said at the time, acknowledging that the committee had expected the controversy. “They are politicians in a complicated reality, and it is the total picture that was decisive.” Francis Sejersted was born in Oslo on Aug. 2, 1936, to Fredrik Christian Steffens Sejersted, a lawyer, and the former Nicoline Harbitz. He studied and taught at the University of Oslo and wrote widely on Norwegian economic and social history. His book, “The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the 20th Century,” was published in English by Princeton University Press in 2011. Known as a free speech advocate, he was the chairman of a Norwegian national commission on free speech from 1996 to 1999. Among the other Nobel Peace Prize laureates during his tenure as committee chairman was Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese human rights advocate and opposition leader, who received the prize in 1991. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines and its founding coordinator, Jody Williams , received the prize in 1997. In 1998, two politicians in Northern Ireland received the award. John Hume , a Roman Catholic who led the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and David Trimble , the Protestant leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, were honored for their part in negotiating what became known as the Good Friday Agreement, bringing a tenuous but mostly enduring calm to the region. In 1999, the prize went to Doctors Without Borders for providing medical assistance in places torn by strife. Survivors include Mr. Sejersted’s wife, the former Hilde Robberstad; his sons, Fredrik and Jorgen; his brothers, Nils and Ole; and seven grandchildren.

Obituary
Nobel Prize
International relations
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
Nelson Mandela
Shimon Peres
Yitzhak Rabin
Yasir Arafat
Oslo
Francis Sejersted


The Gloomsayers Should Look Up

Abstract: BEFORE I start on this little tour d’horizon, I just want to say that a good, fresh Taco Supreme from Taco Bell is more tasty than just about anything at any fancy-pants restaurant anywhere in the world. And they didn’t pay me, and they don’t even know me. Just for perspective. And really, the whole story about the economy, credit, morality and rescues is about perspective. Start with the good news about perspective: The economy is basically in fine shape. Not perfect, but darned good. Almost all mortgages are not in default. Almost all workers in the labor force who care to work are not unemployed. The largest percentage ever of American household units, what were called “families” in the old days, own their own homes. The stock market, in both absolute terms (the number on the Dow) and relative terms (the relationship of price to earnings), reflects optimism and an extraordinary, robust level of profits. On a more sophisticated note of analysis, the spread between the interest rate paid on risk-free Treasury issues and on the Merrill Lynch master junk-bond index is far, far less than it was in the dark days of the tech meltdown from 2000 to 2002. (This data comes from Marty Fridson of FridsonVision, le dernier cri when it comes to junk.) This is a sign of less than horrific fear about high-risk debt. Newspapers (which often sell on fear, not on fact) talk frequently about a mortgage freeze. However, for all but the least qualified buyers, mortgage money is plentiful, and in fact the potential borrower is bombarded with offers. Hotels and airplanes are full. Casinos in Las Vegas are jam-packed. There is still a long waiting list for Bentleys in Beverly Hills. This country does not look like a country in economic trouble. Nevertheless, some extremely worrisome things have happened and are now being revealed, and worse are to come. As everyone knows, we have a housing correction on a large scale. True, it’s a correction from a high level, but it’s still a big correction. There has been a spectacular upsurge in mortgage delinquencies among subprime borrowers. While the sums involved are tiny, compared with the dimensions of our lusciously huge economy, they are unfortunate in many ways, as we will see. There has been a stupendous wave of fear washing over Wall Street and the large “money center” banks because of commitments to finance mergers and leveraged buyouts that now look questionable. The large banks and investment banks are committed to lend hundreds of billions of dollars for deals that looked sweet when deal guys were playing musical chairs but look dicey now that the music has stopped. Some people think that the game won’t start again for a while (although I happen to think it will restart very, very soon — the fees are just too good for this game to stop). In recent weeks, there has been another tsunami of fear about money tied up in so-called conduits. These are basically incredibly risky and foolish instruments in which money is borrowed short to be lent long. Every finance student in the world is taught to be wary of this deal because when it goes bad, it goes really bad, but nevertheless, there are many big players in Europe and the United States who have done these deals. There is deep worry that lenders caught up in bad loans to subprime borrowers, failed conduits and Wall Street deal makers will have to take big losses that will impair the capital of the lenders and shake the foundations of the nation, credit-wise. Now comes the “and there is worse to come” part. It certainly looks to little me as if the top dogs on Wall Street made some staggering mistakes. They took on very risky loans. They tried to juice returns in a low-interest-rate world by maneuvers so dicey that the maneuvers would not survive scrutiny and had to be hidden on off-balance-sheet entities, sometimes outside the country. All those titans of the Street at Merrill Lynch , Citigroup and elsewhere can fire their underlings and blame them for their losses. But the C.E.O.’s are paid big bucks to know what’s happening and to run their companies prudently (as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan apparently did). Clearly, with immense losses in a wide variety of investments, prudence was not used in the last several years at some of our most esteemed money houses. As I have said for 20 years, it’s basic when you are lending to subprime borrowers to take substantial reserves for likely defaults. Obviously, this was not done. When you borrow short and secure and lend long and risky, you take huge reserves for the day when the trade turns sour. This was apparently not done. If it had been done, there would be no problem. Those at the top can blame anyone they like for their companies’ imprudence, but they are ultimately responsible. Why are they still in their jobs? Not one C.E.O. of a major commercial or investment bank has lost his job despite some staggering write-downs. Why? Is this the board of directors’ old buddy system at work? Sure looks like it. Now, the ultimate Wall Street player and insider, Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, has bestirred himself to take serious notice of the credit problems faced by some very big lenders. He wants to create a bailout fund in which banks that still appear sound buy some of the debt of the troubled players like Citigroup. THE deal, as far as I can tell, is that they buy the most secure levels of debt that Citigroup and others own, get large fees and allow Citigroup and the others to keep the debts off their balance sheets. But there are at least two giant issues here. One is that it’s a bit too predictable that Mr. Paulson would basically pooh-pooh the subprime problems until major Wall Street powers got in trouble and then — presto! — swing into action. It might have been inspiring had he stepped up to the plate when smaller players like home buyers were getting burned, but that’s not really his style. The other is that it’s hard to see what good the maneuver would do. Suppose Citigroup or some other lender has a perfectly good loan to sell. Why does Citigroup need a big Treasury-sponsored organization to sell it? They can sell it to anyone right now. The problem is with the questionable loans. And they seemingly are not part of the plan from the Treasury. The Treasury plan is either just plain foolish (an explanation not to be sneered at) or it’s the thin edge of the wedge: what may follow is to have a government fund to buy the slightly less fragrant parts of the portfolio. Indeed, that would seem inevitable to me, and I’ll tell you why. The goal is to keep Citigroup and others from taking large losses on bad loans. If the loans are sold to supershrewd buyers of debt like Leon Black or David Tepper or our resident megagenius, Warren E. Buffett, those buyers will demand a big haircut on the deal. Losses will have to be taken. The only buyers who might step in to pay full price are — drumroll, please — you and I, the taxpaying suckers. I could easily be wrong, but I suspect that at the end of the day, you and I will be bailing out the hundred-million-a-year finance titans who messed this up in the first place. This is what happened with the savings-and-loan disaster. The S.& L. chieftains — very often connected with Michael R. Milken and Drexel’s junk-bond world — became multimillionaires and billionaires by wheeling and dealing with government-insured money. When the loans went bad, you and I picked up the bill while the bankers went shopping for their Bentleys. NOW, let me go back to my role as Little Benjy Sunshine. None of this will sink our glorious economy. The losses are nothing compared with the losses in the tech debacle. They will be nothing like the numbers bandied about in the fear-mongering media. If there is a questionable $200 billion pool of loans, that means a small percent will be lost, not all of it. This big, strong economy will sail on through. But the vicious, cruel truth is that some very greedy, selfish and, yes, stupid men made fortunes on deals that were economically and/or ethically wrong. (Why else hide them off balance sheet or abroad?) They got immense fees, stunning paychecks and the inheritance of maharajahs. Their great-grandchildren will be rich from their deeds and misdeeds. As far as I can tell, they are not being called to account in any major way. The ones at the top aren’t fired or, if they are fired, are fired very rich. (Never mind that silly mouth music from Citigroup about “the year of no excuses.”) Despite what looks to me like a breathtaking lack of disclosure, I have not seen any lawsuits by the Securities and Exchange Commission against any of these big money-center princes or principalities — not to mention criminal investigations from other law enforcement authorities. And we stockholders and taxpayers foot the bill, of course. But even this is not the worst part: there are still lots of people who can say with a straight face that the world of finance is overregulated, that we should trust the power players to do the right thing, that if we put finance under a microscope, or allow financial miscreants to be sued for misconduct, America will be harmed. There are still people, and I know many of them well, who believe that old myth that you can trust the markets to fix everything — that old magical thinking that some thieves will stop other thieves from robbing the sheep like us. That’s the really sad part. Some babies never learn. But in the meantime, try that Taco Supreme. It’s awfully good. Wall Street hasn’t figured out how to ruin that one yet.

United States Economy
Economic Conditions and Trends


Untangling Pileup of Miscues in Giants’ Loss

Abstract: Sometimes football can seem so simple: Throw the ball, catch the ball, kick the ball. Then there are the moments when a fundamental goal of the game — run the ball into the end zone — is entangled by a morass of risk-aversion strategies and overcooked tactics that warp the game into a convoluted series of split-second decisions under pressure. Faced with the real and perceived intricacies of a medley of choices, groups of players and coaches frequently read all the signals wrong and blunder badly. Sometimes it happens simply because no one on the field or the bench — except the referee — understands an obscure rule that proves pivotal. That is essentially the only way to explain what happened to the Giants in the final minutes of their shocking loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, when a wise coach in his 28th year patrolling the N.F.L. sidelines and an astute quarterback in his 12th season under center both bungled a straightforward situation and squandered certain victory. As bad as the Giants’ collapse and ill-conceived decision-making appeared at the close of the team’s 27-26 loss, it became considerably more baffling and implausibly tortuous on Monday. New details revealed that the Giants were not even on the same page when it came back to that fundamental premise of the game — let’s run the ball into the end zone. Tom Coughlin, whose first job as an N.F.L. assistant was in 1984, was calling running plays near the Dallas goal line hoping that his running back Rashad Jennings would plunge into the end zone and put the Giants ahead by 10 points. On the field, unbeknown to Coughlin, Eli Manning, a scion of American football royalty, was telling Jennings to fall down before he got to the goal line. It got worse. Manning seemed to think that the Giants would be running four plays trying to score the touchdown, which affected his decision-making on the key third down. Coughlin was planning on kicking a field goal on fourth down, but he never told Manning. And then there’s the vague rule that set the whole fiasco in motion. Which brings us to the final two minutes, when the Giants were about to pull off an upset that would have been their biggest victory in three seasons. When Odell Beckham Jr. caught a 16-yard pass for a first down and was tackled at the Cowboys’ 4-yard line, the crowd inside AT&T Stadium was beginning to concede that the game was over. Manning saw Dallas call timeout with 1 minute 54 seconds left. The Cowboys had been offside on the play, but the Giants declined the penalty. Manning assumed Dallas had nonetheless used the second of its three allotted timeouts in the second half. But the referee Bill Vinovich told both benches that a largely overlooked rule that was instituted to produce more plays, and perhaps more drama, in the final five minutes of games required that the game clock stop after every penalty, even if it is declined. Manning did not know the rule. It did not sound as if Coughlin knew the rule, either. But at least during the game, the referee had informed Coughlin that Dallas still had two timeouts. Manning, however, thought Dallas had only one timeout, and he was determined to make the Cowboys use it. Worrying that the Cowboys might allow Jennings to score quickly so they could get the ball back with more time on the clock, Manning told Jennings to stop short of the end zone on first down. Image Manning and Coach Tom Coughlin late in the Giants’ 27-26 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday. Credit Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press Jennings picked up 2 yards, and Dallas stopped the clock with a timeout with 1:50 left. So Manning told Jennings to fall down short of the end zone again, which Jennings did at the 1-yard line. Manning thought the clock would run down by an additional 40 seconds afterward, since he assumed Dallas was out of timeouts. Then the Giants could either try to score on third down or even run the clock down to 10 or 15 seconds with a fourth-down try, which might have all but sealed the game even if the Giants did not score. Manning thought the Giants’ coaches were thinking the same thing. It was the kind of sophisticated timing ploy they had discussed before, even tried to do at the end of their last Super Bowl victory over the Patriots. But that situation was different, and even though Manning went to the sideline during the Dallas timeouts, he never double-checked with Coughlin about what strategy was being employed. “A mistake on my part,” Manning said Monday. “That’s not my decision to make.” Manning came to understand that Dallas had one more timeout after second down. A third-down pass was called by the offensive coordinator, Ben McAdoo, but Coughlin did not overrule the decision, something Coughlin was ruing as soon as the game ended. No one told Manning that if he could not safely throw the football to an open receiver in the end zone on the third-down pass, he should fall down and take a sack, which would have taken another 40 seconds off the clock before the Giants kicked the field goal that made the score 26-20. Manning was still under the impression that the coaches might want to run a fourth-down play, so he was eager to keep the ball at the 1-yard line. Under pressure and flushed to his right, Manning could not look toward Beckham or wide receiver Rueben Randle to his left. With no teammate open, he heaved the ball out of bounds. The clock stopped with 1:43 remaining. The Cowboys eventually took over and marched down the field for the winning touchdown, which they scored with seven seconds left. Coughlin was trying to take as much blame as he could, even if so much of the confusion happened because of a lack of communication between a coach and quarterback who have been tethered to each other since 2004. “It’s never happened before,” Coughlin said. “Eli’s mind was in the right place; he just didn’t have all the facts right.” In a meeting Monday with offensive players, Manning in essence apologized for his mistakes. “I need to be smarter,” said Manning, whose football acumen has never before been questioned. Maybe it was just easier when the game was throw the ball, catch the ball, kick the ball.

Football
Tom Coughlin
Eli Manning
Rashad Jennings
Odell Beckham Jr.
Dallas Cowboys
Giants


Donald Trump Finds Ally in Delegate Selection System, Much to G.O.P.’s Chagrin

Abstract: Join us for live updates and analysis of Super Tuesday . _____ Memo to Republican leaders: Be careful what you wish for. Hoping to avoid a repeat of the messy fight for the Republican nomination in 2012 , the party drew up a calendar and delegate-selection rules intended to allow a front-runner to wrap things up quickly. Now, with Republicans voting in 11 states on Tuesday, the worst fears of the party’s establishment are coming true: Donald J. Trump could all but seal his path to the nomination in a case of unintended consequences for the party leadership, which vehemently opposes him. “Trump has significant advantages, and that’s the way the system is designed,” said Joshua T. Putnam, a political science lecturer at the University of Georgia with an expertise in delegate selection. “It’s right in line with what the folks designing these rules wanted. It’s just not the candidate they preferred.” Image Supporters listened to Senator Marco Rubio in Purceville, Va., on Sunday. Credit Gabriella Demczuk for The New York Times As the calendar flips, March brings a whirlwind of states voting on the same days and in quick succession. By the middle of the month, 58 percent of the total delegates will have been awarded, and Mr. Trump could be unstoppable in getting the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. With the exception of Texas, the home state of Senator Ted Cruz , recent polls show Mr. Trump leading in the so-called Super Tuesday states that vote this week, including Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Virginia. Though Texas has the most delegates of states voting on Tuesday, 155, they all award delegates proportionally, so that Mr. Cruz will most likely have to share the haul. The Southern states, with many evangelical Christians, have been the linchpin of Mr. Cruz’s strategy. But after Mr. Trump trounced him in South Carolina on Feb. 20, winning all 50 delegates , Mr. Cruz’s prospects are not as bright. Mr. Trump carries “enormous momentum,” Mr. Cruz admitted on Friday, and if he sweeps Super Tuesday, when more delegates are awarded than on any other day, “he could easily be unstoppable.” For Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who ferociously challenged Mr. Trump last week in a debate and on the stump, mocking the real estate mogul’s “ spray tan ” and calling him a “con man,” the path forward is narrowing. The Cold Hard Math of How Trump Can Win, and How Rubio Can Stop Him An interactive delegate calculator simulates how the G.O.P. nomination race might unfold. The Rubio campaign is hoping for several things in the coming weeks: that Mr. Cruz will withdraw after a poor finish on Super Tuesday; that Mr. Rubio will carry the moderate states of Minnesota and Virginia that day; and that on March 15 — the first day of voting in big winner-take-all states — Mr. Rubio will sweep the 99 delegates in his home state of Florida. The likelihood of Mr. Rubio’s or Mr. Cruz’s holding a winning hand after Super Tuesday depends on many wild cards built into the delegate rules. A majority of the 595 delegates at stake are awarded by congressional districts, with the stinger that, in some circumstances, only the top two finishers receive any at all. The winner of each district gets two delegates, the runner-up gets one and everyone else goes home. This rule was intended by party leaders to turbocharge the campaign of a front-runner. In effect, a candidate who wins a district with a plurality of only about 33 percent, as Mr. Trump has in earlier states’ primaries, ends up with 66 percent of the delegates. Image A rally for Senator Ted Cruz in Oklahoma City on Sunday. Credit Cooper Neill for The New York Times Mr. Rubio could be all but shut out in Texas if he does not finish higher than third in any of its 36 districts, and if he falls short of 20 percent of the vote statewide, which he needs to qualify for at-large delegates. The high threshold of 20 percent for at-large delegates also applies in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. If Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz do well in those deeply conservative states, they could deprive Mr. Rubio of much-needed support. That inhospitable math has left Mr. Rubio hunting for delegates in select congressional districts that favor his center-right conservatism, such as the affluent suburbs of Nashville, Atlanta and in Northern Virginia, where he campaigned on Sunday. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Ben Carson, a retired surgeon, could be entirely shut out from many Super Tuesday states. Mr. Kasich hopes to hold on until Ohio’s winner-take-all primary on March 15, a state that Mr. Rubio also covets. How States Jockey for Position in Presidential Primaries Republicans have pushed primaries to be more concentrated in early March, which may result in delegates so spread out among the crowded field that a nominee isn’t decided until the July convention. “The quest for Rubio or Cruz is to keep Trump’s delegate lead below 200 to 250” on Super Tuesday, said Mr. Putnam, the University of Georgia lecturer. “If they can do that, a scenario where Rubio is able to sweep both Florida and Ohio — that’s 165 delegates — really cuts into a 200-delegate lead and may flip the narrative.” Conversely, he added, “if Trump is pushing a 300-delegate lead after Super Tuesday, he’ll have a better chance in Florida and Ohio and make it that much more unlikely another candidate will sweep those states.” The rules this year, intended to bring the race to a swift conclusion, emerged from the ashes of Mitt Romney’s 2012 defeat. Republican officials said the candidate’s campaign had been damaged by too many debates and by a drawn-out nomination fight that kept alive the hopes — and the attacks — of underfunded challengers. In 2014, the Republican National Committee rolled out changes compressing the primary calendar and moving up the date of winner-take-all primaries to March 15. Many states, eager for a place in the spotlight, rushed to hold their votes in the first two weeks of March, when delegates are awarded proportionately. Republican leaders were trying to satisfy two wings of the party: In theory, a shorter calendar favors a well-funded establishment candidate, while proportional delegate selection can bolster a grass-roots conservative. Above all, party officials hoped to avoid an underdog challenger hanging on until the national convention in July and stealing attention from the presumptive nominee. Paradoxically, this may be the fate of Mr. Rubio, who said on Saturday that he would remain in the race all the way. “This whole thing is a really messy mixture of unintended consequences,” said Benjamin L. Ginsberg, a Republican lawyer in Washington who was national counsel to the Romney campaign. “The R.N.C. put in a system that was designed to let either an establishment figure or a very popular conservative grass-roots figure wrap up the nomination early. And Donald Trump rewrote the rules.” The intense stop-Trump sentiment in the party establishment, along with a possibility that a front-runner might fall short of the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination, has raised the once-remote possibility of a contested convention. “I think the establishment will do anything in their power to try to stop Donald Trump at the national convention,” said John Patrick Yob, the former delegate strategist for Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who dropped out of the race on Feb. 3. That could include changing rules that bind delegates to candidates, said Mr. Yob, One of the first orders of business at the national convention in Cleveland in July will be a meeting by the rules committee to determine guidelines for the proceedings. Delegates may not personally support the candidates they are bound to represent, based on their state’s primary or caucus results. If they are “unbound” by a rule change, or after a first ballot in which no candidate wins a majority, the nominating fight could crack wide open on the convention floor.

2016 Presidential Election
Donald Trump
Republican National Convention,RNC
Primaries
Republicans
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz


With Help of Missed Penalty Kick, British and Irish Lions Win

Abstract: BRISBANE, Australia — It was a match that lived up to the hype. An intense, heady mix of power, X-factor and, in the end, luck. The British and Irish Lions won, 23-21, in the first test Saturday against Australia, thanks to Kurtley Beale’s missing a penalty kick in the final minute, though the Lions acknowledged they would need to do better this coming weekend in Melbourne if they were to wrap up the three-test series against the Wallabies with a game to spare. “It’s a relief to get a win like that, but you know in your heart of hearts you can play better,” said Lions winger George North, who scored a superb solo try in the first half to give the Lions a lead they never relinquished. “We spoke afterwards that it was great to get the first test win, but we need to tidy up our game,” North said. “We know as a squad we can play better than that.” One area the Lions will be eager to reassert themselves is the scrum. They started off impressively by shoving the Australian pack back a few meters. But by the end of the game, when the replacement front-rowers Mako Vunipola, Dan Cole and Richard Hibbard were on, Australia had gained the upper hand and won the penalty kick that Beale missed because the Lions were judged to have collapsed the scrum under pressure. It was the second kickable penalty that Beale, who recently returned to rugby after a stint in rehabilitation for alcohol-related issues, missed in the final six minutes. But Australia captain James Horwill refused to point any fingers. “Kurtley did as well as he could. No one is blaming anyone,” said Horwill, who walked over and spoke to Beale immediately after the final whistle. “I said ‘Look mate, don’t worry about it. These things happen. You’ve just got to get on with it. Everyone in the team still loves you. Just get on with it and we’ll get back next week.”’ For the Welsh contingent on the Lions team, it was a heart-stopping moment when Beale lined up a kick that he would usually slot between the posts with ease. Wales has been denied victory three times in similar circumstances against Australia over the past 12 months. “It’s happened way too many times before, but when it’s taken out of your control, all you can do is watch,” said Lions captain Sam Warburton, who is also captain of Wales. “It was one of the worst minutes of my life. I thought it was going to go over, to be honest.” Beale’s misses and three earlier failures by Wallabies flyhalf James O’Connor highlighted just how valuable Leigh Halfpenny is to this Lions team. The amazingly composed fullback missed just one shot at goal all game — only his second miss of the tour — and the 13 points he kicked proved to be the difference in the end. The Lions will also have to improve their work at the breakdown after being on the wrong end of a 13-8 penalty count. Lions Coach Warren Gatland was unhappy with the way Chris Pollock refereed that area of the game and thought his side had been “crucified.” “He penalized Mako Vunipola for coming in from the side when he had made a tackle, and he did Brian O’Driscoll early in the game when he was on his feet,” Gatland said. “Brian said to me that he was then afraid to go into the ruck in case he got a yellow card.” The South African referee Craig Joubert is in charge of the second test in Melbourne, and Gatland expects the way he rules at the ruck will allow the Lions the opportunity to win some quick ball. But that will also apply to Australia, and the Lions are now well aware of what the Wallabies can do when they get quality ball into the hands of Israel Folau. He, along with North, provided the biggest moments in the bruising encounter that brought loud cheers from the record 52,499 fans at Suncorp Stadium. Folau, who has now played rugby league, Australian Rules football and rugby union at the highest level, showed his full array of skills in scoring two tries on debut. He gathered a grubber kick from Will Genia to surge down the wing to get the opening try. He then stood up Lions flyhalf Jonathan Sexton, who had an otherwise good game, to claim his second just before halftime. Folau also eased any concerns about his defensive work on the wing by denying North a try in the corner. “He’s a freaky talent,” Horwill said. “The crowd lights up when he gets the ball and defenders get worried when he gets the ball. He’s got a big talent.” North’s try was one for the highlight reel. Having fielded a Berrick Barnes kick, the Welshman beat three defenders on a gliding run to score in the corner. His countryman Alex Cuthbert showed similarly strength and footwork for his try in the second half, although by then Australia had lost Christian Leali’ifano, Barnes and Pat McCabe to injuries, forcing openside flanker Michael Hooper to play at inside center. The injury list does not stop here. Australia is also concerned about center Adam Ashley-Cooper (shoulder) and winger Digby Ioane (shoulder). The injury list prompted Wallabies Coach Robbie Deans to add the experienced flanker George Smith, fullback Jesse Mogg and center Ben Tapuai to the squad as it heads into the Melbourne game. Horwill will have to wait to see if he will be available next weekend after being cited for stamping or trampling on Lions lock Alun Wyn Jones. The Wallabies captain was due to face a disciplinary hearing in Melbourne on Sunday night. It leaves Deans with plenty to think about with the series — and potentially his job — on the line. Australia’s game plan was disrupted by the early injury to Leali’ifano, who was knocked out in the first minute of his debut. Aside from missing his accurate goal kicking, he would also have provided extra attacking options outside of O’Connor, who did not provide the impact that Deans was hoping for. It was left to Will Genia, easily the best scrumhalf in the world at the moment, to provide the direction and attacking spark for the Wallabies. Deans could be tempted to move Beale to flyhalf for the second test to provide more of an attacking threat. Beale found success at flyhalf on the Wallabies’ tour at the end of last year, and when he came in against the Lions on Saturday, he found gaps to exploit, albeit from fullback. While Australia’s injury list grows, the Lions are welcoming back their star players from injury. Winger Tommy Bowe (broken hand) and center Jamie Roberts (hamstring) will both be available for the second test, while center Manu Tuilagi will start against the Melbourne Rebels in the final midweek game of the tour on Tuesday.


Woods, Starting Fresh, at Peace With Himself and His Game

Abstract: SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods returned to familiarity on Wednesday, to the fairways and greens of Torrey Pines Golf Course, comfortable confines that are etched in his mind like the layout of his childhood home some 90 miles north in Cypress. Whether this will be the week he returns to normalcy on the golf course where he has won seven times as a professional will depend on what happens in the Farmers Insurance Open, his first PGA Tour event of the year. But he could not have picked a better place to find out. Relaxed, rested and seemingly at peace after a winless and tumultuous year, Woods, 35, said his game was in good shape and that he was prepared to resume his climb to the top of golf’s Mount Olympus. He said it with a smile and a self-assured tone that were absent from his public appearances last year. He left little room for doubt that, despite all the changes in his life, the audacious goal he set before his first professional tournament in 1996 — to win every tournament he enters — was intact. “The goal’s still the same,” he said. “Try to beat all their butts. It hasn’t changed.” Many things have changed, though, since Woods last played here, beating Rocco Mediate in a Monday playoff to win the 2008 United States Open . Among the oft-recited litany of losses, fallout from the off-course scandal in his personal life, are his ranking as the No. 1 player in the world; his marriage; multiple corporate endorsements; millions of dollars; and the on-course focus that made him the most prolific winner of golf tournaments (71) in the fewest number of years (14) in golf history. Coming off a year in which he failed to win a tournament for the first time since he began playing competitively, Woods said he had balance in his life and that the memory from last year that was clearest in his mind was of the second shot he hit into the 72nd hole of the Chevron World Challenge. “That was it,” he said. “All the changes I made in my swing, when I needed it the most. I needed to hit the 8-iron with that kind of shot, and I pulled it off. So under the most intense pressure I hit the shot I needed to hit when I needed to hit it. “I needed to hit that fade. I needed to hit the 8-iron flush. I needed to get it there. I needed to hit it through the wind. And I did all those things and hit it to two and a half feet.” Not one to rhapsodize about a shot unless it happens to meet his standards, and rarely one to recall a shot that did not lead to a victory, Woods chose to single out that one because it signaled that his work with the teacher Sean Foley had taken root and that his confidence in himself to execute under pressure was back. Graeme McDowell won the tournament by making two long putts, the first to tie and the second to win a playoff, but Woods had proved a larger truth to himself. And now his peers see him coming back to where he was. Phil Mickelson, whose comedic timing is sometimes on a par with his short game, was asked what he expected to see from Woods this year. He started with what he had noticed toward the end of last year, at the BMW Championship and during the Ryder Cup singles. “His speed was back up,” Mickelson said. “He was hitting it long. His touch was coming back, and I expect that he’ll be the Tiger that we’ve known for over a decade.” Then Mickelson paused theatrically for effect before adding, “Unfortunately.” That got a big laugh. Because what Mickelson realizes is the same as what the commissioner of the PGA Tour, Tim Finchem, knows and what television executives, fans and every tour player knows. A competitive Tiger Woods, focused on winning and not on discussions with lawyers, will help put the focus back on the sport. And this week at Torrey Pines, there will be an intense competition that is likely to heat up again. An invigorated Woods and a golf course full of fearless young players who have been emboldened by his absence could be a recipe for entertainment that was missing last year. Those who have written off Woods will be pulling hard against him. The fans who missed the single-minded pursuit of excellence that was absent from the distracted and somewhat wounded Woods will be pulling the other way. And Woods is ready to see if what he believes he is bringing to the course will, in fact, be what he brings.

Golf
Woods Tiger
Torrey Pines Golf Course


N.F.L. Forms Committee to Oversee Any Potential Return to Los Angeles

Abstract: Amid concerns about multiple teams moving willy-nilly to Los Angeles without league approval, Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the N.F.L. , has formally established a committee of owners to oversee the process of putting a team in the country’s second-largest market. The committee includes some of Goodell’s closest allies: Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs; Robert K. Kraft of the New England Patriots; John Mara of the Giants; Bob McNair of the Houston Texans; Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers; and Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Committee on Los Angeles Opportunities will evaluate the stadiums available in the region, “oversee the application of the relocation guidelines in the event that one or more clubs seek to move to Los Angeles” and “confirm that all steps taken in Los Angeles are consistent with the Constitution and Bylaws and N.F.L. policies,” according to a memo Goodell sent to owners Monday. Goodell reminded the owners that any team relocating to Los Angeles would require a three-fourths vote of approval by the owners. Last month, Stan Kroenke of the St. Louis Rams announced plans to build an 80,000-seat stadium south of downtown Los Angeles, even as officials in St. Louis unveiled their own plans to build a new stadium to keep the Rams from moving. On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri said that two companies would move existing infrastructure to make way for a stadium, assuming a financial plan is approved.

Football
Los Angeles
Roger Goodell
Relocation
NFL
Super Bowl
Super Bowl 2015
Rams


Afghanistan Is Pledged $16 Billion for Civilian Needs

Abstract: TOKYO — An international donors’ conference on Sunday pledged $16 billion for the economic development of Afghanistan in the next four years, but for the first time made it a condition that the Afghan government reduce corruption before receiving all of the money. The agreement, called the Tokyo Framework of Mutual Accountability, says that foreign governments will ensure Afghanistan a steady stream of financing in exchange for stronger anticorruption measures and the establishment of the rule of law. Up to 20 percent of the money would depend on the government meeting governance standards, according to the document, which was released here on Sunday. The money pledge, along with the plans for the Afghan security forces laid out at a NATO summit meeting in May in Chicago, represent a diplomatic success for American officials, who have lobbied for long-term international support for Afghanistan. There had been concerns that the economic crunch in the West and donor fatigue would leave President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and his American backers scrambling to come up with the money needed to run and secure Afghanistan, where the government’s expenses far outstrip its revenues. Addressing the conference here in Tokyo , Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the lives of all Afghan civilians needed to improve after a decade of war. To accomplish that goal, a number of steps are needed, she said. “That must include fighting corruption, improving governance, strengthening the rule of law, increasing access to economic opportunity for all Afghans, especially for women,” she said. Mr. Karzai, who is under increasing pressure from international donors to fight corruption , including within his extended family, acknowledged in his own speech to the conference that corruption had undermined the legitimacy of his government. But Afghans are not the only ones responsible for corruption, he said: “We will fight corruption with strong resolve where it occurs and ask the same of our international partners.” Representatives of more than 70 countries attended the conference. Mrs. Clinton did not specify how much the United States would contribute to the $16 billion, saying that Washington would maintain its level of financing. The Obama administration request to Congress for Afghan civilian assistance for 2013 was $2.5 billion, slightly more than the $2.2 billion that lawmakers approved for 2012. Congress, given budget constraints and public weariness with the war in Afghanistan, would almost certainly appropriate less than the $2.5 billion requested, American analysts said. The United States is the biggest donor to Afghanistan’s economic development programs. Japan, the host of the conference, announced a pledge of $5 billion over five years. Germany, another large contributor, would give an estimated $550 million for the next four years, said Dirk Niebel, the minister for economic cooperation and development. Diplomats at the conference said they were pleased with the pledge of $16 billion. The Japanese government said international donors had spent $35 billion on economic development in Afghanistan in the past decade, about twice that committed on Sunday for the next four years. With recession in Europe and war fatigue in the United States, the possibility of cutbacks in aid for infrastructure projects, schools and health clinics seemed real, several diplomats said. Before the Tokyo conference, the Afghan government trimmed estimates of what it said it needed in order to fit the outcome on Sunday. The governor of the Afghan Central Bank said several weeks ago that up to $7 billion annually would be needed to accelerate economic development. Last week, Mr. Karzai said $4 billion would be sufficient, and the World Bank estimated that Afghanistan needed $3.9 billion a year through 2024 to boost development. Money for the Afghan Army and police forces is separate from that raised in Tokyo. Financing for the Afghan security forces after 2014 is expected to total about $4.1 billion a year. Beyond the $16 billion, other financing that has been pumped into the Afghan economy through the decade of war would be reduced as countries withdraw military and diplomatic personnel in the next few years, said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for national security at the Center for American Progress in Washington . “With many countries heading for the exits and drawing down both military and diplomatic personnel in the next few years, the Afghan government is going to see a reduction in the amount of money it gets from the international community in any case,” Mr. Katulis said. If the Afghan authorities fail to do a better job curbing corruption, “then the whole framework for international support could collapse,” he said. After addressing the conference Mrs. Clinton met with the Pakistani foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, for a one-on-one discussion, their first meeting since Pakistan, seven months ago, closed down the route that the United States military uses to transport supplies to Afghanistan. Last week, the route was reopened after Mrs. Clinton issued a statement saying that the United States was “sorry” for the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers in American airstrikes last November. The route’s closing forced Washington to redirect supplies at a cost of more than $1 billion, and threatened to hurt the United States’ counterterrorism efforts. In the meeting with Ms. Khar, and at a later session with Ms. Khar and the Afghan foreign minister, Zalmai Rassoul, Mrs. Clinton emphasized again the need for Pakistan to shut down the Haqqani terrorist network that has mounted attacks in Afghanistan against American and NATO targets, a senior State Department official said.

International Relations
Afghanistan
United States International Relations
Clinton Hillary Rodham
Karzai Hamid
Corruption (Institutional)
Economic Conditions and Trends


Eli Manning Has Surgery on Ankle He Injured in Season Finale

Abstract: Giants quarterback Eli Manning had arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle Thursday to relieve pain associated with a sprain he sustained in the last game of the season. The procedure to clean out his ankle was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. Manning said that he expected to take part in the team’s off-season program April 21 but that he would not start running until late May. “I will be in the weight room and in the meeting rooms so we can all learn the new offense,” Manning said in a statement, alluding to some changes made in the off-season after the Giants’ disappointing 7-9 finish. “I got some good work in this week at Duke, and I think it’s smart to get this procedure done now so the ankle isn’t an ongoing issue.” Manning, who has started 151 consecutive N.F.L. games, left the season finale against the Washington Redskins after he sustained a high ankle sprain on a play when he was nearly sacked by Chris Baker. Manning got up after the play but was unsteady on his feet. He returned to the line of scrimmage on the next play, but he hardly dropped back in throwing a pass which was intercepted. He then limped off the field. “I was still experiencing some discomfort as I began my normal off-season preparation, and after consultation, we felt the right thing was to have Dr. Anderson clean out the ankle,” Manning, 33, said. Removing calcium deposits, scar tissue and bone chips from the high ankle area is uncommon, according to Dr. Steven Weinfeld, an orthopedic surgeon and the chief of the foot and ankle service at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. However, the surgery suggests that Manning has had issues with pain rather than with instability. Surgically stabilizing the ankle is a more complicated procedure with a longer rehabilitation period. Pat Hanlon, a team spokesman, said Manning’s surgery was “successfully completed.” But Weinfeld said it would take months to determine whether the injury had completely healed. Manning will most likely wear a protective boot for weeks and only begin running after about six weeks. Several more weeks of activity will be needed to find out if Manning can move without pain. “Once you start running, you won’t know right away,” he said. “Getting hit by a 300-pound lineman is certainly different than someone twisting their ankle.” Manning has been remarkably healthy during his 10-year N.F.L. career. He appeared in nine games as a rookie in 2004 and has started every game since then. Last season, though, was one of his worst. He threw for only 18 touchdowns, his fewest since he became a starter, and was intercepted a franchise-record 27 times. The Giants had their first losing season since 2004 and failed to make the playoffs. The team’s poor performance led to a series of changes in the off-season. Ben McAdoo became the new offensive coordinator, and Danny Langsdorf was hired to coach the quarterbacks. “I’m eager to get to work with our new offensive coaches and system,” Manning said.


Carroll’s Charm Takes Seahawks Along for the Ride

Abstract: Seattle Quick: Who is the N.F.L.’s second-oldest head coach? Did you guess Pete Carroll? Tom Coughlin turned 64 in August; Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks’ first-year coach, is next, having celebrated his 59th birthday in September. You might be surprised by Carroll’s age. He has the exuberance of someone 20 years younger. If there is a word that perfectly fits Carroll, it is charming. He has lived a charmed coaching life, with Exhibit A being the 7-9 Seahawks’ playoff game against New Orleans on Saturday. In a season that may now officially be described as a fairy tale, Seattle knocked the defending champion Saints out of the playoffs with a 41-36 victory . Marshawn Lynch’s meandering 67-yard touchdown run sealed Seattle’s remarkable victory. Something this crazy could happen only to Carroll. By rights, he should have been on vacation with 19 other teams, watching the playoffs. If his team were in the N.F.C. East, Seattle would have been third and out of the playoffs; if he were in the N.F.C. North, the Seahawks would also be third and out. If he were in the N.F.C. South, Seattle would be fourth. But Carroll coaches in the pathetic N.F.C. West, where 7-9 is a ticket to ride. The Seahawks were the first losing team to host a playoff game as a division winner. While critics like me criticized the unfairness of it all, Carroll, typically bubbly, is hugging this moment. “This was a day to remember,” Carroll said after the game. “The day was just an unbelievably energetic, electric day at the stadium, I’m sure around the town, too.” Only in Carroll’s zany universe, where the rah-rah of college meets the violent sis-boom-bah of the N.F.L., could losing become winning. But here it is: the N.F.L.’s worst nightmare and Carroll’s greatest inspirational dream. The Seahawks, emboldened by last week’s victory over St. Louis and now by a victory over New Orleans on an even bigger stage, are headed to Atlanta or Chicago for the divisional round. “You’re wondering where we get that confidence from after the season we put up,” Carroll said, acknowledging the Seahawks’ peculiar playoff run. “They’re feeling it. They know what it takes to play good football, and it doesn’t matter who we’re playing right now.” Who wouldn’t love this? Carroll lost nine games, and 11-5 New Orleans has to fly across the country to play at noisy and unpredictable Qwest Field. Carroll has piled up 10 times more miles than his youthful looks suggest. Jets fans knew Carroll as the boy wonder who as coach played hoops with his players in the parking lot of the team’s practice facility. The Jets finished 6-10 and Carroll was fired after one season. A few years later, Carroll was hired by New England to replace Bill Parcells as the coach. He lasted three seasons, and despite a combined 27-21 record, he drew the label that he was more suited to college. This, along with the sting of not being able to cut it as a professional player, is a deep-seated motivation for Carroll. He wants to prove that he can coach and win in the N.F.L. At Southern California, Carroll turned a moribund program around, splitting the national championship in the 2003 season, winning the outright title in the 2004 season and claiming seven straight Pacific-10 Conference titles. As a result of an N.C.A.A. investigation, the Orange Bowl victory that produced U.S.C.’s 2004 Bowl Championship Series national title was vacated, and the football program was put on a two-year bowl ban and lost 30 college scholarships over three years. Aside from the oddity — and, frankly, embarrassment — of a 7-9 team hosting a playoff game, a bizarre component of Saturday’s game was the reunion between Reggie Bush and Carroll. Bush was Carroll’s star running back at U.S.C. When the Seahawks lost at New Orleans earlier in the season, Bush was injured and did not play. I searched the index of Carroll’s new book, “Win Forever,” to see what he had to say about Bush or the scandal. The N.C.A.A. investigation determined that Bush had received lavish gifts from a pair of sports agents. While Carroll talks about leaving U.S.C. and joining Seattle, no mention is made of the scandal that led to shame for Bush. Bush became the face of the scandal and endured the shame of returning his Heisman Trophy and watching his career erased from the U.S.C. record books. On Saturday, Carroll added to the insult by eliminating Bush’s Saints. Carroll not only escaped from U.S.C.’s burning house without so much as a scratch, he was rewarded: more money, greater authority, better athletes. And now this gift: a division title, a playoff berth and a victory over the defending Super Bowl champion — all earned with a 7-9 record. “We’re not going to be intimidated by whomever we play, wherever we go,” Carroll said. “It’s not going to happen.” He is an effervescent coach, leading the Seahawks with boyish charm and Teflon good fortune. From New York to New England, Los Angles to Seattle, Pete Carroll is the one who always escapes.

Carroll Pete
Seattle Seahawks
Coaches and Managers
Football


Bolt Leaves Rivals Trailing and Fans Gasping

Abstract: BERLIN — The disparity between the length of the prologue in the 100 meters and the length of the main event is like nothing else in sports. All that buzz, all that speculation, and in the age of Usain Bolt, all that preening, and then BANG! goes the starter’s gun and in less than 10 seconds it is over and the epilogue — dancing (we must!) and interviews (must we?) — begins. It is not much raw material for the chattering classes to work with, and in the age of Bolt, raw material is even harder to come by. The Jamaican is taking huge bites out of the world record as if someone has somehow shortened the course or surreptitiously rewritten the rules. In May 2008, when most of the planet had not yet heard of Bolt or seen his signature pose of the same name, the record, held by fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell, stood at an impressive 9.74 seconds. In little more than a year, Bolt has broken it three times, lopping 16/100ths of a second off the total and saving the biggest cut for Sunday night here, when he knocked 11/100ths off his record time from the Olympics last year in Beijing with a start-to-finish effort that gave him a convincing victory over Tyson Gay of the United States. Gay, the defending world champion, had to settle for a national record of 9.71 seconds. Jamaica is the cradle of sprinting now, and all those curious to know just how fast Bolt might have gone if he had not stopped sprinting 20 meters before the finish in Beijing now have a much clearer answer. Assuming ratification, the time to beat is a game-changing 9.58 seconds. For now, only one man appears capable of playing this game. It is not an optical illusion, at least as long as Bolt’s doping tests remain negative. At 1.95 meters, or 6-foot-5, he is a tall man with a long, track-gobbling stride and a shorter man’s turnover rate. At age 22, with his birthday looming on Friday, he is improving year to year, adding strength and cleaning up his once-raw technique even in a season like this one. It was disrupted by the demands of his Olympic-fueled celebrity and the effects of a minor car accident in Jamaica in April that left him with an injured left foot after he stepped on thorns when he stepped out of his vehicle into a ditch. Unable to train normally for the 200 because of the curve’s effect on his foot, he clearly was still able to put in sufficient training for the 100, and the bad news for veteran rivals like Gay and Powell and for the next generation who are surely practicing their signature moves in the shadows is that Bolt, according to certain experts, ran far from a perfect race on Sunday. Yes, he sprinted through the finish line for a change, even if he did turn his head to look at the clock before he crossed it. Yes, his reaction time out of the starting blocks was better than in Beijing and yes he was in the lead after just 20 meters, which is good work for a man of his height who usually loses the start to more compact sprinters. But according to former world-record holder Donovan Bailey, Bolt straightened up too early on Sunday, thereby losing early propulsion. “In Beijing, of all the finalists, he was the worst technically,” Bailey said. “He’s improved a lot, but he can still go faster and improve his first 30 meters.” Guy Ontanon, a French sprint coach, analyzed the final Sunday for the French sports daily L’Equipe and also remarked on Bolt’s premature rise out of the drive phase. “He really gave it what he had, which explains the time gain,” Ontanon wrote of the race. “But he can still pick up five or six hundredths of a second. It’s monstrous to do what he did in this race despite that error.” Five or six hundredths more would take Bolt into the low 9.5s, but he himself likes his chances of eventually getting into the 9.4s. “I think it will stop at 9.4, but you never know,” he said Sunday. “We’ll just keep racing.” That is clearly welcome news for a once-mighty sport that has been losing market share with youth and getting hammered by doping scandals for too long. It is no coincidence that the I.A.A.F. president, Lamine Diack, made the unusual gesture of sharing the head table with the 100-meter medalists at a news conference Sunday (even if no one directed any questions at him). Diack knows that Bolt is a potential one-man renaissance, both by his actions and his antics, which might not please traditionalists but certainly seem to strike a chord with young fans and even his own competitors. The once intense and intimidating buildup to the 100 is fast turning into a series of vaudevillian shorts as the camera pans across the finalists. Even the once-deadpan Powell came up with a stunt: putting his hip number on his lips and shaking his face for the camera. But all has not been fun and games for the Jamaicans in Berlin. Powell, who took the bronze medal on Sunday in 9.84 seconds, was banned from the team briefly last week after choosing not to attend a team training camp. Diack and the IAAF later convinced Jamaican officials to relent and reinstate him, but there have been other thorny issues. Jamaica, for the first time, has had doping cases to process this year, with five athletes from the country testing positive for a stimulant with the penalties still unclear. The 100-meter world record has a checkered history of its own, with Ben Johnson of Canada and Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin of the United States all being stripped of the record since 1988 for doping offenses. But Bolt has not failed a test. Like other sports icons of this generation, including Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, Bolt has decided to focus on history as well as his direct rivals and has repeatedly said he wants to become a legend by enduring. “I think it’s getting there, but for me I don’t think two seasons can do it,” he said. “I think I have to keep doing this year after year, and it’s going to take a lot of hard work, because these guys are going to be coming next season and the season after that.” Bolt said that his priority on Sunday was not the record, which deserves a spot on the short list of the greatest track-and-field performances if Bolt’s drug tests are and remain negative. “For me, it was all about going and winning, because I knew these guys were ready,” he said. “Tyson was doing well all season.” Bolt’s three gold medals and three world records in Beijing transformed him into a global figure and also turned him into an expensive buy for the game’s meet promoters. The barrier-busting sprint Sunday came in the same sober, stone oval of a stadium where American Jesse Owens became a symbol by winning four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics. Bolt said he wanted to do something great, here, too. Mission accomplished, and it’s only day two of these nine-day championships where Bolt still has the 200 and 4x100 relay to run. “I think 9.5 is definitely a big thing,” he said. “I’m proud of myself, because I’m the first man to do that.” The scary part for Bolt’s rivals is that he is, on the brink of his 23rd birthday, still well short of the traditional prime age for sprinters. “I knew it was humanly possible for someone to run that fast,” Gay said on Sunday. “Unfortunately it wasn’t me.”

International Assn of Athletics Federations


China Bans Two Rights Lawyers for Life

Abstract: BEIJING — Two lawyers who represented a follower of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement have had their licenses permanently revoked, a move that prevents them from ever practicing law in China , the lawyers said Monday. The ban on the two, Tang Jitian and Liu Wei , was the latest incident in a wide crackdown by the Chinese government on human rights lawyers. The lawyers were summoned to a hearing at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice last month, where they were accused of having “disrupted the order of the court and interfered with the regular litigation process.” The charge was based on a trial that took place in April 2009 in Sichuan Province, where the lawyers defended Yang Ming, the Falun Gong practitioner. Ms. Liu and Mr. Tang said in separate telephone interviews on Monday that they learned Friday that the Beijing authorities had decided to revoke their licenses and had made an announcement on the Internet, although officials had declined to deliver the decision in writing to the lawyers. “They do everything illegally, even in announcing this decision,” Ms. Liu said. Both lawyers said they would appeal. Foreign scholars of Chinese law said it was rare for lawyers to have their licenses permanently revoked over a disruption-of-court charge. The two lawyers said they never disrupted the trial of Mr. Yang and said the judge badly mishandled the case in court. The punishments of Ms. Liu and Mr. Tang are part of a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers. In May 2009, judicial authorities withheld a stamp from the licenses of 53 lawyers in Beijing that the lawyers needed to keep practicing. Ms. Liu and Mr. Tang were among the 53, and while some of the lawyers eventually got the stamp, Ms. Liu and Mr. Tang did not. Still, they managed to hold on to their licenses. In July 2009, the government shut down the offices of Gongmeng , a prominent legal research organization in Beijing. Also known as the Open Constitution Initiative, lawyers at Gongmeng had been taking on increasingly controversial projects, including representing parents whose children died from tainted milk and putting out a report that questioned the central government’s policies in Tibet. Mr. Tang and Ms. Liu had done some work with Gongmeng. “They’re afraid of the human rights lawyers who work,” Mr. Tang said on Monday of the decision to revoke the licenses. “It’s revenge for what we have done. It’s to scare our friends who are doing the same things. It has a chilling effect on them.” Representing Mr. Yang was one of the riskiest cases the two lawyers could have taken on. In 1999, after Mr. Yang’s followers staged a silent protest and surrounded Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership’s compound in Beijing, the Falun Gong movement was branded an “evil cult” and was banned. Practitioners said they were quickly subjected to imprisonment and torture. Mr. Tang said that in China there is no possibility for a just hearing in any court on Falun Gong or about issues involving China’s territorial sovereignty, meaning cases involving Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan. “Independence issues and the Falun Gong — if you were to be a lawyer for that, they want you to do it their way, to act out a part in their theater,” he said. He added: “If you cannot protect the rights of the people, the most basic rights, then why do you even exist as a lawyer? The entire profession might as well be extinct.”


Xerox Misses Estimates; Pricing Pressure Is Blamed

Abstract: Correction Appended The Xerox Corporation, still struggling to become as much an undisputed leader in digital imaging machines as it was in old-style copiers, said yesterday that high training costs, pricing pressures and slow sales had combined to drive its earnings below analysts' expectations. Xerox, which is based in Stamford, Conn., said it earned $200 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $210 million, also 20 cents a share, in the first quarter of 2004. Revenue was $3.69 billion, compared with $3.77 billion in the year-earlier period. Analysts had expected Xerox to earn 21 cents. The company's shares fell 80 cents, or 5.4 percent, to close at $14 yesterday. "It was definitely a disappointing quarter," said Shannon S. Cross, an analyst with Cross Research/Soleil Investments who rates Xerox shares a buy. "They made all the right decisions for making customers happy, but it really impacted their costs." The quarter did have bright spots. Xerox sold more service contracts and supplies like ink and paper than it did last year. And the number of color pages made on Xerox equipment was up 41 percent in the quarter -- a significant number, analysts say, because color printing is the most lucrative part of the imaging market. Still, Anne M. Mulcahy, Xerox's chief executive, made no attempt to sugarcoat the quarter. "Clearly, I am disappointed in our gross profit decline," she told analysts on a conference call yesterday. Several factors contributed to the shortfall. Xerox sharply cut prices on some black and white copiers, which increased sales but hurt margins. Gross margins were 40.2 percent for the quarter, a drop of 1.6 percentage points from last year. In addition, many senior maintenance people took voluntary buyouts last year, and Xerox invested heavily in training less experienced workers to service high-end equipment. Xerox also signed several contracts to manage document flow for other companies. The revenue from those contracts will start coming in next quarter, but Xerox has already incurred the costs of hiring workers to fulfill the contracts. Nuvera, a printer that Xerox introduced last year that can print 144 pages a minute, got off to a slow start, in part because it did not have the binding, stapling and other finishing abilities that book publishers normally require. Xerox has just introduced the finishing ability, and expects its sales to increase accordingly. Ms. Mulcahy reassured analysts that Xerox will meet earnings expectations of $1 to $1.10 for the year. But investors may be a hard sell. "The sales aren't there, and there are just too many moving parts on the cost side," said Ulysses A. Yannas, who follows Xerox for Buckman, Buckman & Reid and is avoiding Xerox shares. Xerox was helped in the first quarter by a lower tax rate than expected, and several analysts said they worried that Xerox would meet its numbers for the year through low taxes and share repurchases rather than increased sales. "Xerox is operating in a competitive environment that is not just intense, but intensifying," said Timothy M. Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management, who is steering clear of Xerox shares. "Maybe they will make their numbers for the year, but it may not be with quality earnings." The big unknown is whether customers will step up their purchases of office equipment. A growing number of companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Kodak and Canon, are actively looking for slices of the printing and copying pie, yet the pie as a whole is not getting bigger. "The office equipment market doesn't seem to be getting a big share of the recovery in capital spending," said Jack L. Kelly, an analyst with Goldman Sachs who is neutral on Xerox shares. "So it's not like the other guys are hitting the cover off the ball, either." MARKET PLACE Correction: April 26, 2006, Wednesday The Market Place column in Business Day on Tuesday about first quarter earnings for the Xerox Corporation misstated its estimate for how much it would earn for the year. It is $1 to $1.07 a share, not $1 to $1.10 a share.

XEROX CORP
DEUTSCHE CLAUDIA H
COMPANY REPORTS


Surprise Profit at KB Home as New Orders Rise

Abstract: KB Home , the house building company, posted an unexpected quarterly profit on Friday and said its backlog of revenue from houses under construction rose to its highest level since the peak of the financial crisis. KB Home earned $3.3 million, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $425 million, in the third quarter. Analysts on average expected a loss of 16 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters. A year earlier, KB Home lost $9.6 million, or $13 cents a share, on sales of $367 million. The company said potential future housing revenue in its backlog as of Aug. 31 rose 33 percent, to $744.7 million. Net orders at KB Home increased 3 percent for the second consecutive quarter, to 1,900 homes in the three months ended in August, and rose 16 percent in value to $493.3 million. Stock in KB Home, which is based in Los Angeles, rose $2.15, or 16 percent, to $15.26 a share.

KB Home
Building (Construction)
Company Reports


Before a Larceny Arrest, a ‘Cry for Help’ on Facebook

Abstract: On the screen, a young woman, just awake, smiled and rose from bed, chatting to her audience about starting her day, pausing occasionally to take long drags from an electronic pipe, pronouncing herself to be high. She was using Facebook Live, the new feature that invites friends to watch a user “go live.” Her name was Shaniah Lord, 19, from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and she was a frequent and enthusiastic chronicler of the mundane (“Sunday, fun day, nothing better to do. I’m bored.”) who sometimes tried to scare up some excitement (“Let’s go get drinks,” “I’m by mad bars.”) On this day, March 26, her live feed took some strange turns. Looking back, her sister, Shaquana Lord, 28, called it “a cry for help.” In the video, Ms. Lord reached for something off-camera. It was a woman’s New Jersey driver’s license, and she held it up to the screen. “Anybody know a white girl that looks like this?” she asked. “We could get money.” Several minutes later, she approached the camera again, this time with a black purse, and pulled out a handful of gift cards. “Holler at me,” she sang, “if you need a giftie.” Then she seemed to catch herself, saying: “I don’t need to be on Facebook like this. I’m not that type of person.” She added, “People don’t like me because I get money.” There is no mention of theft in the video, or of how the cards and the license came to her. Ms. Lord, who grew up in Queens and sometimes lived with her grandmother on Stanton Street in Manhattan, had been arrested before, in January, and was charged with stealing a purse from a boutique a few blocks away. That case was pending. But her family hoped she had turned things around. Her sister said the pictures Ms. Lord frequently posted suggesting a glamorous life — a new ring, new nails, selfies in boutiques — hid a need for attention. She was running around with the wrong crowd, her sister said, and her actions in the video may have been for show. “Just because she had them doesn’t mean it was hers,” Shaquana Lord said. When, a few days after the video, Ms. Lord was arrested again, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. A woman had stolen a wallet from the Once Upon a Tart cafe in SoHo, but after Ms. Lord was arrested, it became obvious from security video that the thief was a different, much taller woman. Ms. Lord returned home and to Facebook as if nothing had happened. On the day she was released from jail, she seemed to have celebrated an older cousin’s birthday, posting a picture and adding, “It ain’t over yet thoooo!” A few days later, she wrote, “Life is really beginning to pick back up for me. I love it.” But away from Facebook, things were very different, the police said. In fact, life seemed more to resemble the March 26 video, with the gift cards and license, than the posts expressing hope. Looking back, that video seemed to all but announce, like an overture to a concert, the direction in which she was headed. On April 21 around 2 a.m., a woman in the Greenwich Treehouse bar in the West Village realized her purse was gone, her iPhone with it, the police said. The woman used the Find My iPhone app and tracked it to an address on West 14th Street — another bar, McKenna’s Pub. She went there and recognized a woman from the first bar, she told the police. She told a doorman, who alerted the police. The suspect was arrested. It was Ms. Lord. The police recovered the woman’s purse and more. There was a backpack that had been reported missing two hours earlier from Bill’s Bar and Burger on Ninth Avenue, with a laptop and wallet. Its owner had been eating, the bag on the floor, and looked down to find it missing. Officers also found property from a purse that had been taken from a couch at Gaslight Lounge in the meatpacking district the night before, the police said. Ms. Lord was charged with grand larceny . She remained at Rikers Island last week, her Facebook page dormant and her sister hoping her life stabilizes. “In the family, she’s the one that’s full of life,” Shaquana Lord said. “She got a whiff of the outside world, and she was going to do what she was going to do.” Ms. Lord would seem to agree. In that video, she raised one more item to the camera: a passport. She flipped through the pages and sang, “Come see the world with me.”

Robbery
Shaniah Lord
Manhattan
Facebook
Lower East Side Manhattan


Tunisia: Soldiers Die in Attack on Bus

Abstract: Four Tunisian soldiers were killed Wednesday and 11 others were wounded in an attack on a bus carrying soldiers in Kef near the Algerian border, according to the Defense Ministry, which blamed terrorists. The attack came as Tunisia was preparing for a presidential election on Nov. 23 and only 10 days after parliamentary elections won by a secular party, Nida Tounes. Tunisia has struggled to subdue hard-line Islamists opposed to the transition to democracy.


Euro Solution Being Argued by 27 Disparate Voices

Abstract: PARIS — As Europe considers a leap toward closer integration to try to save the euro , it resembles the biblical Tower of Babel: unable to complete an ambitious project because the residents do not speak the same political and economic language. The spotlight is on the wrestling by Germany, France, Italy and Spain, the euro area’s four biggest economies, over proposals for a banking union, joint euro zone bonds and handing more control over national budgets and economic policy to the European Union . But the European Babel features 27 often-fierce national debates in member states, each of which has the power to block any change to E.U. treaties. Among them are 10 countries that are not members of the currency union. Each national argument uses a different political vocabulary and historical context, making them hard to reconcile at the best of times and harder still when the going gets tough. While investors are looking for quick, bold solutions to restore confidence in the euro, Europe’s patchwork politics make rapid strides fearsomely difficult, if not impossible. Each major step is subject to ratification by national parliaments or referendums, which can easily trip up the project. How the debate is framed may determine the outcome. In Germany, it is a morality play about making profligate “deficit sinners” atone and do their “homework,” instilling a “stability culture” (low inflation, low debt) and enforcing a “savings policy” (austerity). It is no accident that “Schulden,” the German for “debt,” doubles as the word for “guilt.” To Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose frugal caution is lauded at home as embodying the virtues of a “Swabian housewife,” the key to the euro’s survival is to enforce the rules of budget discipline strictly and make Europe more competitive through economic overhauls, not to dilute responsibility by sharing debt. In France, it is all about “saving the euro” by showing more “solidarity” with southern countries, seen largely as “victims” of “speculation” rather than as fiscal villains. The French see the euro above all as a political rather than an economic project — a geopolitical status symbol rivaling the dollar , a potential trade weapon and a way of ensuring that Europe punches its weight in a multipolar world. In recent weeks, the slogan of the nationalist French right after World War I — “L’Allemagne paiera” (Germany will pay) — has again been whispered in Paris, this time mostly on the left. This struggle for the soul of Europe was encapsulated in an exchange between Ms. Merkel and the French president, François Hollande, after talks with Italian and Spanish leaders in Rome last week. “Where solidarity is given, control must also be possible,” Ms. Merkel said. “Liability and control belong together.” Mr. Hollande replied: “There can be no transfer of sovereignty if there is not an improvement in solidarity.” Franco-German tensions are nothing new in the history of European integration. They were intense before the creation of Economic and Monetary Union at the 1991 Maastricht summit meeting, shortly after Germany was reunited. But the balance of power has tilted toward Berlin, while the proliferation of new member states and institutions has multiplied the checks and balances at the risk of fatally slowing European decision making. In Italy and Spain, the refrain is that the debt crisis is a problem for the whole euro area, not just for Rome or Madrid, and that it can only be solved by mutualizing Europe’s debts, rather than imposing ever tougher austerity on debtors. Spanish and Italian leaders seem at times to be trying to capture Ms. Merkel’s attention by threatening economic suicide and warning that they could take the euro down with them. With such different narratives, it is hard to see how the deep political commitment to preserving the euro zone, and even a growing awareness of the economic catastrophe that might follow a break-up, can generate decisive action to arrest the crisis. A virtual tour of some smaller euro zone countries, whose voices are often heard only when they throw wrenches in the works or need bailouts, illustrates how hard it will be to build a consensus for a more federal system. From Amsterdam to Athens, the political builders of monetary union and business leaders still believe in it wholeheartedly, and many lament the fact that construction stopped halfway. But a significant chunk of the electorate has turned against the euro, making it harder for governments to endorse any major leap in European integration. Mainstream politicians are adjusting as they look nervously over their shoulders at the rise of forces like Geert Wilders’s Freedom Party and the hard-left Socialists in the Netherlands, the anti-euro Finns Party in Finland, the maverick Five Star Movement in Italy and the far-right Austrian Freedom Party. A first attempt to create an anti-euro party is under way in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and the main contributor to euro zone bailouts, but pollsters doubt the Bavaria-based Free Voters will make it into the federal parliament in October 2013. Even in historically europhile Italy — a country that long regarded “more Europe” as a desirable alternative to its own shortcomings in governance — the fast-growing protest movement led by the comic Beppe Grillo is outspokenly anti-euro. Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who still heads Italy’s main conservative party, has turned more skeptical since being ousted from power last November, saying on his Facebook page last week that “leaving the euro is not a blasphemy.” Paul Taylor is a Reuters correspondent.

European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- )
Economic Conditions and Trends
Language and Languages
European Union


Pennsylvania: Three Are Charged in Beating of Gay Couple on Street

Abstract: Three suburban Philadelphia defendants charged in the beating of a gay couple during a late-night encounter two weeks ago turned themselves in Wednesday. Prosecutors said the defendants — Philip Williams, 24, Kathryn Knott, 24, and Kevin Harrigan, 26 — were being charged with criminal conspiracy, two counts each of aggravated and simple assault, and reckless endangerment. The victims told the police that a group had uttered gay slurs and beaten them when the two parties passed on the street on Sept. 11. One man sustained serious facial injuries, including an orbital fracture, and had his jaw wired. Lawyers for Mr. Williams and Ms. Knott denied that the dispute had been motivated by anti-gay bias. A lawyer for Mr. Harrigan said his client would be pleading not guilty. The case gained attention when the police posted a video of the well-dressed suspects, and online sleuths used social media sites to help identify them.

Gay and Lesbian LGBT
Assault
Philadelphia
Philip Williams
Kevin Harrigan
Kathryn Knott


Iraqi City Poised to Become Hub of Shiite Power

Abstract: NAJAF, Iraq — A millennium after Najaf first became a magnet for Shiite pilgrims, leaders here are reimagining this city, long suppressed by Saddam Hussein, as a new hub of Shiite political and economic power, not just for Iraq but for the entire Middle East. That shift would further weaken the Iraqi central government and complete Najaf’s transformation from a dusty, conservative town known mostly for its golden-domed shrine and soaring minarets into the undisputed center of a potentially semiautonomous Shiite region, with some of the country’s richest oil reserves. And although Najafis will say little about it, Iran is playing a significant role in the plan, helping to improve the city and its holy sites, especially the golden- domed shrine to Imam Ali, the figure most associated with the founding of the Shiite sect, who is said to be buried here. Money from Iran is financing some of the shrine expansion projects as well as contributing to the construction of a major electrical power-generating plant whose output will be shared between Najaf Province and its neighbor, Karbala, which is also the home of two important Shiite shrines. “What we have tried to do is put in place a plan to allow Najaf to recover its political and strategic position in Iraq and the region, the Asharq al-Awsat, Iran and the Middle East,” said Abdul Hussain Abtan, the deputy chairman of the Najaf Provincial Council, referring to the city’s role historically as a center of pilgrimage and Shiite learning. “We have made contacts with countries which have large Shia communities, Iran and Bahrain, to encourage them to send their visitors here,” he said. American officials say they want Iraq to remain united, but they are not averse to the formation of semiautonomous regions as long as Iraqis abide by the Constitution, which requires a referendum before a province joins a regional bloc. Increasingly, officials have come to understand the provinces’ difficulties in getting the central government to deliver services and money for local projects. Shiite pilgrims are Najaf’s lifeblood, supporting local businesses and leaving behind valuable donations, which give the province a source of income that helps in its effort to gain a measure of independence from Baghdad, the capital. More than a million pilgrims come each year — a number that the city fathers would like to see multiplied to three million or four million over the next decade, shrine officials said. Najaf’s governor, Asaad Abu Gulal, says his mission is to prepare the city to become the premier place in southern Iraq. “If we happen to have a southern region, Basra may be the commercial capital, but Najaf would be the political capital,” he said. “We have the political leadership, and we have the religious authority.” Behind the decision to expand the shrine is the implicit goal of raising Iraq’s profile as a Shiite state. An expansion of the shrine to Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law, would be the most visible symbol of the Shiite victory over Mr. Hussein, whose government persecuted the sect. Under Mr. Hussein, Najaf was kept a provincial backwater, and the number of pilgrims was strictly regulated because Mr. Hussein feared that the charismatic power of the Shiite ayatollahs could inspire a popular revolt against him. Now Shiites call the shots across Iraq, and Najaf is the center of Shiite religious power, which, in the case of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, cannot be entirely separated from political power. Kurdish and Sunni political leaders, as well as Shiites, regularly come here to discuss their moves with the grand ayatollah before making them public. Furthermore, the most powerful Shiite Party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, led by the cleric Abdul Aziz Hakim, runs the city. The council has been the most vigorous proponent of creating a semiautonomous southern superregion similar to the Iraqi region of Kurdistan, even though its political ally, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, has been trying to head off the diffusion of Baghdad’s power. “Now still we have a problem with centralization, with the government ministers,” Mr. Gulal, the governor, said, echoing Mr. Hakim’s views. “We need good, decent decentralization for local government in Najaf and in Iraq. We want to make Najaf self-sufficient so that it would not have to depend on Baghdad.” The mantra of independence from Baghdad — heard over and over on a recent visit — indicates a profound change in Iraq: the capital was once seen as a magnet; now it is more of a millstone. “I suffer nowadays from Baghdad because any decision I want to take I have to return to Baghdad,” Mr. Gulal said. “I don’t like this. Now I have had three years in Najaf and I have suffered from the centralized situation.” The depth of the city’s sense of its separate identity becomes clear when a driver enters the greater city limits. The security controls are akin to crossing an international border. “The Islamic State of Najaf,” joked one driver recently as he waited in one of five lines where a phalanx of local and national policemen checked each car for bombs and illegal guns. Anyone with a “foreign” license plate, meaning a plate from outside the Najaf Province, is subject to a thorough search and is required to go to a nearby police station to register. In pursuit of self-sufficiency, Najaf is building an airport, an electrical plant to increase the city’s power, hospitals and small refineries to help increase the city’s supply of fuel for automobiles and cooking. Construction of the $75 million power plant will begin this month and will take two years to complete. Much of the financing for the project has been donated by the Iranian government, said Iraq’s minister of electricity, Karim Wahid. One project already completed, with help from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Health Ministry in Baghdad, was the overhaul of the Sadr Hospital, now one of two well-equipped medical centers in the city. The five-story hospital, with 300 doctors and 448 beds, has sophisticated technology and is cleaner and offers more services than almost any hospital in Baghdad. But it is the shrine that stands at the center of Najaf’s expansion plan, bringing the city not only its mystique, but also its money. It is often described as the third most visited site in the Muslim world, behind Mecca and Medina. The latest proposal by the shrine authorities and the city fathers would triple the area of holy space over the next 10 years: adding two buildings, vastly expanding the space for pilgrims and adding rest houses and courtyards surrounded by shops, said Salah Hassan al-Saraf, director of the shrine’s Intellectual and Cultural Affairs Department. According to sketches, many of the hotels and markets will be knocked down to make room for the expanded shrine. The central government has allocated $25 million to compensate property owners, whose investments will be wiped out. New hotels will be built a little farther away. The role of the Iranians in helping the province is largely unacknowledged by Najaf’s politicians, most of whom are members of the Supreme Council. Although the party’s roots are in Iran, it has forged a strong allegiance with the United States and appears eager to keep at arm’s length — at least publicly — from its former sponsor. Najaf officials said they had refused most of the help the Iranians offered, because they felt it could be too controversial politically. They did say they had made a deal with Iran to organize tours that would bring several million more pilgrims to the city each year. “Iran would like to help us with many things, but we are not giving them the chance because of the tensions with America,” said Mr. Abtan, the Provincial Council chairman. “We don’t really want to shift the battle between Iran and America to Najaf. We want Najaf to become a very powerful commercial city, and this policy means you have to stay out of sensitive positions.” However, Iranian engineers have helped build two large new wells at one of the shrine’s entries so that many more pilgrims can complete the ritual washing before praying and drink pure water. They are also constructing expanded restroom facilities for them, according to hotel keepers near the shrine who housed the Iranian engineers working on the project. It was not clear whether the Iranian engineers were from a private firm or associated with the Iranian government. Despite the Iranian support there appears to be genuine ambivalence about Tehran’s role. Twice, when reporters for The New York Times produced video cameras and telephoto lenses outside Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s office, the cleric’s security detail pounced immediately, demanding to know: “Are you Iranians?” Even with much of the construction just now getting under way, the city is already a showcase for the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which controls Najaf’s governorship and Provincial Council. In the relatively short time it has been in power, the party appears to have largely eradicated security problems and erased public signs of strife with the Shiite faction led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr. His militia occupied the shrine and battled American and Iraqi troops in 2004. Mr. Sadr remains a formidable populist force elsewhere in the south. Despite all the politics, the shrine has the mystical aura of great places of worship the world over. It is most unmistakable at dusk, when the fading light reflects off the colored tiles, making the whole place shimmer as if it were a jewel box. Even those who work in the shrine every day occasionally stop as they walk through the courtyards, struck by the way the light falls on a mosaic or a doorway. In the minds of Najafis, their city is already a capital. Riadh al-Najafi, an earnest young man who works for the administrative office that manages the shrine, walked visitors through the enormous complex on a recent day, pointing out architectural details and recounting stories of Imam Ali. As the visitors turned to go, Mr. Najafi, in a tone full of confidence, said, “You have never seen anything like this, have you?”

Iraq
Shiite Muslims
Iran
Politics and Government