Developing Sensitivity Across Cultures

Abstract: Gilbert Ghostine has been president of Diageo Asia Pacific since 2009. He previously served as managing director for Continental Europe for Diageo, a maker of alcoholic beverages, and was president of U.S. major markets and national accounts for Diageo North America. Q. Do you remember the first time you became a manager? A. This takes me back to the war days in Lebanon, in the late 1970s. I was in the military and responsible for a unit. I was young, 18, and nervous, because the people who reported to me were older than me. But I think having been brought up in Lebanon in tough circumstances, dealing with adversity, I had to make tough choices from an early age, and that’s why leadership and decision making was something I was fortunate to pick up from a young age. Q. What did you learn from those early days? A. I’m still learning today, because the leadership journey is an evolution where you keep learning every day. You open your mind and you learn from below you and above you and from life’s experience. Today, I’m definitely more mature and more confident. When I started my journey I was more keen to win for me, I was eager to prove myself; now I’m here to win for others. So it’s less about me, and more about others now. Q. What is leadership for you? A. It’s about setting a simple strategy that can be articulated, or communicated clearly to people, so you can engage them emotionally with the journey, so they can feel valued and go the extra miles. Then, you work with them to make sure that if there are some risks that need to be taken, people stretch out and go the extra miles again. Q. Tell me about your experience managing a work force across cultures. A. I think the base is the same everywhere. Everybody comes to work and wants to add value. They have the same level of commitment, the same level of passion for the company and drive. This is the base. But there are some cultural differences and you need to be able to understand these sensitivities. Americans, for example, can be more outspoken and more engaged; at the same time they will move faster than others. Asians, on the other hand, will be more respectful and less outspoken, and they won’t always move at the same speed as the Americans, so here patience is critical. Q. Do you need to approach communication differently? A. In the U.S., it’s more about “rah rah” — rallying the team — while in Asia it’s more about winning them over, making sure they believe in your strategy. You will get to the same outcome in both cultures, but it’s a different level of engagement. When you address a big group in the U.S., you will get lots of questions because people want to be engaged and at the same time they see this as an opportunity to get exposure with their management. In Asia, you need to tease out people and draw out where they stand to understand their concerns, priorities, issues that need more clarification. I’ve found that in Asia, people are far more engaged in a smaller group — of, let’s say, 20 people. Then you’ll get loads of questions, but in a bigger group of 200 people they will have the tendency not to ask too many questions. Q. In that respect, as a manager, have you adapted your style as you moved from one continent to another? A. You have to. Of course I did. Culturally, the Lebanese are very open people to the rest of the world. This commitment to work with others, to value other cultures, is, I think, a core of my DNA. But honestly, I also like reading about countries and cultures, so before going into a country, I’m very interested in understanding about its history and heritage, and the cultural sensitivities. I don’t hesitate to ask questions to be able to immerse myself better in the culture, and I modify my style to be able to engage people emotionally. Being excited about these new cultures, new behaviors and habits is something that I have lots of energy and passion for. That’s why I feel, yes, it comes naturally, because I’m interested. It’s not something I’m doing as an obligation. What do you think would be a mistake for a new chief executive arriving in Asia? A. I think it’s important to realize you cannot assume that you can inspire the same way across cultures. And leadership is about inspiring people, so you must do some homework to understand the cultural sensitivities and respect these. That understanding can be a very powerful tool. Although today in this world, we are global citizens, people are still very proud of their roots, and this is something you must celebrate. Q. Give me an example. A. Every year, we do our Asia-Pacific leadership team meeting in the region, bringing together our top 500 leaders from the 5,000 employees working for us. Before we start the day, we acknowledge and welcome everyone in their local language. You should see everyone in the room. People take so much pride in their local language and heritage. So that’s what I call celebrating difference, because everyone is very proud of their roots. Q. What have you learned in the three years you have been posted in Asia? A. If I have to summarize it in one word, it would be patience. You need to be patient and show willingness to understand people’s culture and sensitivities. You need to give people respect, regardless of their seniority, and need to give them “face.” People don’t want to lose face. The way people greet you, the way they engage you — even when they want to say no, it’s not a blunt “no,” but a smooth rebuff. Understanding how face is important, being patient to build trust, because if they trust you, you’ve won the extra miles, but they won’t trust you overnight. And that’s why patience is important. Q. How would you describe your leadership style now? A. Fair. Empowering. I strongly believe in teamwork, and I really believe that the best assets a company can have are its people, and there is a very old Chinese proverb that I love. It says, “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grains; if you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees; and if you want 100 years, grow people.” And that’s where I channel all my energy, making sure I help people in our organization fulfill their own aspirations and help them succeed in their own way, and at the same time spot the next leaders. Q. How do you do this? A. The same way people have done with me. I joined my company in Lebanon in a junior marketing position. People believed in me, supported me and helped me fulfill my own aspiration to be the leader that I am today and offered me the opportunity to lead our business. And I find it my obligation today to do the same and be able to identify, nurture, coach and mentor the future leaders of this business. Q. What qualities do you look for in that next leader? A. People who are hungry for success, but at the same time act with the highest level of integrity and values, and will be here for their teams and not for themselves. Definitely team players, because you cannot win alone.

Executives and Management (Theory)
Diageo PLC


19 Car Fires Are Set Around Hollywood

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — The first car fire began on Friday shortly after midnight, in the underground parking garage of a West Hollywood apartment building. Three minutes later, the Fire Department received reports of a similar fire just blocks away. Then another, and another. By 1 a.m., the Los Angeles Fire Department was battling five car fires in and around Hollywood. At 3 a.m., there were half a dozen more, and sirens blared through the area. By dawn, there were 19 fires in the neighborhood, residential blocks lighted by white smoke coming from the burning cars. It was the work of a fast and furious arsonist, the police said, although they had few clues about the suspect and whether the fires were set by one person or several. On Thursday, the police arrested Samuel Arrington , 22, who was accused of setting three fires within five blocks along Sunset Boulevard early that morning and remained in custody. It was not clear whether the fires early Friday morning were set by a copycat or by an accomplice in the earlier fires, officials said. They were scouring surveillance videos from the neighborhood and asking residents to come forward with any information. “We’re hoping that somebody saw something,” said Cmdr. Andrew Smith, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department, which sent several detectives to the scenes. “Chances are whoever did this wanted to watch and would have gone someplace with singed eyebrows. We’re looking at every home security video and anything else we can get.” All through the neighborhood early Friday, people emerged from their homes in their bedclothes, woken by the relentless helicopters buzzing overhead, if not the smell of the blazes. Although several buildings were damaged in the fires, including the former home of Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, there were no injuries. But the police feared that the arsonist would try to light more fires over the holiday weekend, and have deployed more officers to the neighborhood.

Arson
Fires and Firefighters
Hollywood (Calif)
West Hollywood (Calif)
Los Angeles (Calif)
Arrington Samuel


Eagles’ Michael Vick Is Likely to Start Sunday Against Giants

Abstract: The Philadelphia Eagles rookie quarterback Nick Foles has a broken right hand, and Coach Andy Reid said that Michael Vick would probably start against the Giants in Sunday’s season finale. Reid said Monday that Foles broke his throwing hand in the second quarter of a 27-20 loss to Washington, but returned to the game after X-rays were negative. Vick has not played since sustaining a concussion during a loss to Dallas on Nov. 11. He was recently cleared to return. “There’s a pretty good chance Michael will be the starter,” Reid said. “That’s what we’re looking at right now. That’s the direction I’m going as we speak right now.” PAGANO RETURNS Indianapolis Colts Coach Chuck Pagano thanked the interim coach Bruce Arians for taking over and doing a “masterful” job in leading the team to the N.F.L. playoffs. Pagano was back coaching the Colts, making his return the day after the rookie quarterback Andrew Luck helped Indianapolis beat Kansas City and clinch a spot in the postseason. Pagano was on indefinite leave for treatment of leukemia since Oct. 1. The day he left, he had asked Arians to step in. “You carried the torch and all you went out and did was win nine ballgames,” Pagano said at the Colts’ training center. Arians “did it with dignity” and “class,” Pagano added.

Football
Vick Michael
Philadelphia Eagles
Pagano Chuck
Indianapolis Colts
Playoff Games
Leukemia
Coaches and Managers


New E.P.A. Scrutiny Is Set for a Chemical in Plastics

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to add bisphenol-A , or BPA, a plastic widely used in food packaging and plastic bottles, to its list of chemicals of concern because of potential adverse impacts on the environment and human and animal health. The agency will require new studies of concentrations of the plastic in surface water, groundwater and drinking water to determine where it exists in levels requiring action. More than a million pounds of the chemical, used to harden plastics, are released into the environment each year, the agency said. The environmental agency will also require manufacturers that use BPA to provide test data to help evaluate effects on growth, reproduction and development in aquatic organisms and wildlife. The action follows a Food and Drug Administration statement in January expressing concern about the human health risks of BPA, which the agency had declared safe in 2008. The agency said at the time that it would look into the potential effects of BPA on “the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children” and would join other federal agencies in studying the chemical in animals and humans. Monday’s announcement from the environmental agency indicated that the government was looking to reduce the use of BPA in food packaging, plastic bottles and other sources of exposure. “We share F.D.A.’s concern about the potential health impacts from BPA,” said Steve Owens of the environmental agency’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. The moves by the two agencies are part of the Obama administration’s effort to regulate health, food safety and environmental matters more forcefully. But some consumer advocates said the administration was not moving quickly enough to assess the dangers of BPA and other industrial chemicals. This month, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, chided the environmental agency for not including BPA on a list of chemicals that would be more strictly regulated. Legislation is pending to ban or sharply curtail BPA’s use in consumer products. Concerns about BPA are based on studies that have found harmful effects in animals, and on evidence that the chemical seeps into food and baby formula, and that nearly everyone is exposed to it, starting in the womb. Health officials have said there is no proof that BPA is harmful to humans, but are urging people to limit exposure by discarding scratched or worn containers made with it (usually marked with a 7 for recycling), not putting very hot liquids into cups or bottles with BPA and using microwave-safe containers.

Bisphenol A (BPA)
Environmental Protection Agency
Environment
Containers and Packaging
Water Pollution
Hazardous and Toxic Substances
Food and Drug Administration


Distant Winds Already Power the Statue of Liberty’s Torch

Abstract: Hailing the Statue of Liberty as the nation’s greatest symbol of freedom, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg warned this week that America’s freedom was being undermined by the country’s dependence on foreign oil. As he outlined a strategy for energy efficiency, the mayor said he envisioned a day when Lady Liberty “not only welcomes new immigrants, but lights their way with a torch powered by an ocean wind farm.” In fact, an answer to the mayor’s vision may already be blowing in the wind. Not directly and not offshore, but close. Since 2006, the federal government has been buying about nine million kilowatt hours of wind power annually from Pepco Energy Services to light the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Pepco, in turn, gets the electricity from wind farms in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The power costs about a half-cent per kilowatt hour more than the government would otherwise pay. “The National Park Service strives for environmental excellence by using alternative energy and fuels at many of our parks,” said Cynthia Garrett, superintendent of the statue and Ellis Island. “Lady Liberty’s green runs more than skin deep.” Stu Loeser, the mayor’s chief spokesman, said that local wind power was still preferable. “Unless we in New York try to build wind farms in our own backyards,” he said, “we’ll continue to have to say, ‘Give us your tired, your poor, your wind power from 400 miles away.’ ” SAM ROBERTS

Wind
Energy and Power
Ellis Island (NYC)
Bloomberg Michael R


Things to Do in Connecticut, April 23 Through May 1

Abstract: A guide to cultural and recreational events in Connecticut. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to ctcal@nytimes.com. Comedy GOSHEN “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” 37 plays in 97 minutes. Through May 7. $22. Goshen Players, at Old Goshen Town Hall, 2 North Street. goshenplayers.org; 860-491-9988. MANCHESTER Nick Griffin. April 24. $15. Bruce Bruce. April 29 and 30 at 7:30 and 10 p.m. $25. The Hartford Funny Bone, 194 Buckland Hills Drive. hartford.funnybone.com; 860-432-8600. MASHANTUCKET Katt Williams. April 24. $38 to $79. Brian Regan. May 6 at 9 p.m. $44.50 and $54.50. Wayne Brady. May 7 at 7 p.m. $47 and $57. Fox Theater, Foxwoods Resort Casino, 350 Trolley Line Boulevard. 800-200-2882; foxwoods.com. OLD SAYBROOK Ladies of the Boston Comedy Festival, featuring Kendra Cunningham, Bethany Van Delft and Carolyn Plummer. April 30 at 8 p.m. $25 and $30. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street. 877-503-1286; thekate.org. UNCASVILLE Dave Attell. April 29 and 30 at 8 and 10:30 p.m. $30 to $65. Greg Fitzsimmons. May 5, 6 and 7. $20 to $50. Silly Sunday: Mother’s Day Edition, featuring Mike Koutrobis, Kyle Crawford and Carolyn Plummer. May 8 at 8 p.m. $10 to $30. Comix Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard. comixcomedy.com; 860-862-7000. Film GREENWICH Belle Époque Film Series, exploring Paris at the turn of the century. Subjects include: Degas, Seurat, the Eiffel Tower, Toulouse-Lautrec, Vuillard and Debussy. May 4 through June 1. Free with admission. Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. brucemuseum.org; 203-869-0376. HARTFORD “Close-Up” (1990), directed by Abbas Kiarostami. April 28 at 11:30 a.m. $4.50 to $7. Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street. 860-232-1006; realartways.org. OLD SAYBROOK “Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments” (2007), directed by Edgar B. Howard and Tom Piper. April 26 at 4 p.m. $15. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street. thekate.org; 877-503-1286. For Children BRIDGEPORT “The Princess and the Pea.” Through May 22. $23. Downtown Cabaret Theater, 263 Golden Hill Street. 203-576-1636; dtcab.com. FAIRFIELD “Goodnight Moon” and “The Runaway Bunny,” performed by Mermaid Theater of Nova Scotia. April 24 at 3 p.m. $15. Quick Center for the Arts, Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road. quickcenter.fairfield.edu; 203-254-4010. STAMFORD Astronomy Nights: “Jupiter, From Galileo to the Juno Mission.” May 6 at 7:30 p.m. Free for members. Adults, $5; children 5 through 17, $3. Guided Sunday Explorers hike, animal meet-and-greet. Sundays through May 22. Free with admission. Stamford Museum & Nature Center, 39 Scofieldtown Road. stamfordmuseum.org; 203-322-1646. STAMFORD “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” Stories about the life of a preschooler using musical strategies based on the work of Fred Rogers, of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” April 29 at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. $15 to $50. The Palace Theater, 61 Atlantic Street. palacestamford.org; 203-325-4466. WESTPORT KidsCreate: introduction to painting, drawing and collage. Through June 3. $155 to $185. Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Avenue. westportartscenter.org; 203-222-7070. Music and Dance BRIDGEPORT David Maiocco reprises Liberace. April 30 at 8 p.m. $25 and $75. David Friedman with Broadway stars. May 7 at 7:30 p.m. $35 and $45. The Bijou Theater, 275 Fairfield Avenue. 203-332-3228; thebijoutheatre.com. Image GROTON “NYC: Photo With Orange and White” (2014), photograph, papers, acrylic, ink and pencil by Diane Englander, is on view in “Spring Exhibition,” a group show, through June 4 at Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art, University of Connecticut, 1084 Shennecossett Road. For further information: 860-405-9052 or averypointarts.uconn.edu . Credit Diane Englander BROOKFIELD “The Fantasticks,” musical with book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt. April 29 through May 21. $15 to $20. Brookfield Theater for the Arts, 182 Whisconier Road. 203-775-0023; brookfieldtheatre.org. COLLINSVILLE Women of Folk, featuring Lara Herscovitch, Caroline Doctorow and Kate Callahan. May 6 at 8 p.m. $30 and $75. Bridge Street Live, 41 Bridge Street. 860-693-9762; 41bridgestreet.com. HARTFORD “Cinderella,” presented by Connecticut Ballet. May 7. $48 and $63. “Riverdance,” 20th Anniversary Tour. May 6, 7 and 8. $24 to $65. Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Avenue. 860-987-5900; bushnell.org. MIDDLETOWN Chinese Music Ensemble, traditional and contemporary. May 1 at 7 p.m. Toneburst Laptop and Electronic Arts Ensemble, new works for live electronics. May 6 at 8 p.m. Free. Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University, 283 Washington Terrace. 860-685-3355; wesleyan.edu/cfa. NEW HAVEN Clarence Penn and Penn Station, jazz. April 29 at 8:30 and 10 p.m. $15 and $20. Firehouse 12, 45 Crown Street. 203-785-0468; firehouse12.com. NEW LONDON Shemekia Copeland, blues. April 28. $38. Garde Arts Center, 325 State Street. 860-444-7373; gardearts.org. OLD LYME Delfeayo Marsalis, jazz. April 24 at 8 p.m. $48.50. Christian Sands Trio, jazz. April 29 at 8:30 p.m. Dave Liebman Expansions, jazz. April 30 at 7:30 p.m. $38. The Side Door, 85 Lyme Street. 860-434-0886; thesidedoorjazz.com. OLD SAYBROOK Kim Richey, singer-songwriter. April 27 at 7:30 p.m. Dala, folk. May 6 at 8 p.m. $25. The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, 300 Main Street. 877-503-1286; thekate.org. STAMFORD Big Daddy Weave, rock. April 27 at 7 p.m. $33 to $73. Wynton Marsalis Quintet, jazz. April 30 at 8 p.m. $35 to $117. “The Great White Way, Our Way: Songs of New York City,” performed by Theater Barn Kids. April 29 through May 7. The Palace Theater, 61 Atlantic Street. palacestamford.org; 203-325-4466. STORRS Dover Quartet, classical. April 24 at 3 p.m. $28 to $36. Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, 2132 Hillside Road. 860-486-4226; jorgensen.uconn.edu. UNCASVILLE “Nashville” in concert, featuring Clare Bowen, Chris Carmack, Charles Esten, Jonathan Jackson and Sam Palladio. May 7 at 8 p.m. $35. Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard. mohegansun.com; 888-226-7711. WALLINGFORD Steely Dan, rock. April 27 at 7:30 p.m. $45 to $105. Oakdale Theater, 95 South Turnpike Road. oakdale.com; 203-265-1501. Outdoors ANSONIA Earth Day Celebration: hikes, live animals and environmental exhibitors. April 30, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Ansonia Nature Center, 10 Deerfield Road. 203-736-1053; ansonianaturecenter.org. FAIRFIELD Early morning bird walk. Thursdays, through May 12. Connecticut Audubon Society, 2325 Burr Street. 203-259-6305; ctaudubon.org. HAMDEN Early bird-watchers’ hike. May 1 at 8 p.m. Sleeping Giant Park, 200 Mount Carmel Avenue. 203-789-7498; sgpa.org. Image OLD LYME “Not Mondrian 01” (2016), initialed verso on cut paper with colored pencil and graphite by Joan R. Brownstein, is on view in “Painting With Paper” through May 28 at the Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme Street. For further information: 860-434-8807 or cooleygallery.com . Credit Nancy Pinney MILFORD Bird Club field trip: Bent of the River Wildlife Sanctuary. May 1 at 7:30 a.m. Bird Club field trip: Housatonic River. May 8 at 7:30 a.m. Free. New Haven Bird Club. newhavenbirdclub.org; 860-389-6508. Spoken Word GREENWICH “Raising Whales: How the Recovery of Cetaceans Can Help Restore the Oceans,” lecture by Joe Roman of the University of Vermont. Floren Family Environmental Center at Innis Arden Cottage, Greenwich Point Park, Old Greenwich. May 1 at 2 p.m. Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. 203-869-0376; brucemuseum.org. HARTFORD The Food Network’s Alton Brown: “Eat Your Science.” April 24 at 8 p.m. $35 to $55. Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Avenue. 860-987-5900; bushnell.org. Theater BRIDGEPORT “American Idiot,” with lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong, directed by Lance Gray. April 29 through May 15. $28. Downtown Cabaret Theater, 263 Golden Hill Street. 203-576-1636; dtcab.com. EAST HADDAM “Anything Goes,” musical by Cole Porter and Guy Bolton. Through June 16. $34 to $79. Goodspeed Opera House, 6 Main Street. goodspeed.org; 860-873-8668. HARTFORD “Matilda the Musical.” April 26 through May 1. $27.50 to $89.50. Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Avenue. 860-987-5900; bushnell.org. HARTFORD “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years,” play by Emily Mann. Through April 24. $25 to $85. Hartford Stage, 50 Church Street. hartfordstage.org; 860-527-5151. IVORYTON “The Road: My Life with John Denver,” musical directed by Randal Myler. Through April 24. $17 to $44. Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main Street. ivorytonplayhouse.org. 860-767-7318. NEW HAVEN “Lewiston,” drama by Samuel D. Hunter. Through May 1. $30.50 to $55.50. Long Wharf Theater, 222 Sargent Drive. 203-787-4282; longwharf.org. NEW HAVEN “Mary Jane,” written by Amy Herzog. April 28 through May 20. Yale Repertory Theater, 1120 Chapel Street; yalerep.org; 203-432-1234. NEW HAVEN “Jersey Boys.” May 3 through 8. $35 to $115. Shubert Theater, 247 College Street. 203-562-5666; shubert.com. NORWALK “The Last Five Years,” musical by Jason Robert Brown. Through April 24. $35 to $55. Music Theater of Connecticut, 509 Westport Avenue. musictheatreofct.com; 203-454-3883. STORRS Monty Python’s “Spamalot,” starring Richard Kline and Mariand Torres. Through May 1. $27. Connecticut Repertory Theater, 802 Bolton Road. crt.uconn.edu; 860-486-2113. WEST HARTFORD “Wit,” a drama by Margaret Edson, directed by Stevie Zimmerman. Through May 8. $15. Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road. playhouseonpark.org; 860-523-5900. Museums and Galleries CENTERBROOK “Text Messages,” group exhibition. Through May 15. Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sundays, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spectrum Gallery, 61 Main Street. 860-767-0742; spectrumartgallery.org. Image HARTFORD The film “My Golden Days (Trois Souvenirs de Ma Jeunesse)” (2015), directed by Arnaud Desplechin and starring Quentin Dolmaire and Lou Roy-Lecollinet, will be shown May 1 through 5 at Cinestudio, 300 Summit Street. Tickets: $7 and $9.Information: 860-297-2463 or cinestudio.org . Credit Magnolia Pictures COS COB “Close to the Wind: Our Maritime History,” exhibition on Greenwich history. Through Sept. 4. $8 and $10; members and children under 6, free. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Greenwich Historical Society, 39 Strickland Road. greenwichhistory.org; 203-869-6899. DANBURY “Off Peak,” photographs by Phyllis Crowley. Through May 27. Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gallery at Still River Editions, 128 East Liberty Street. stillrivereditions.com; 203-791-1474. FAIRFIELD “Look at Me! Recording and Sharing Ourselves,” group show. Through May 1. “Fabulous Animals: The Illustrated World of Robert Lawson,” solo exhibition. Through Sept. 18. $3 and $5; members and children 5 and under, free. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fairfield Museum and History Center, 370 Beach Road. 203-259-1598; fairfieldhistory.org. GREENWICH “And Still We Rise: Race, Culture and Visual Conversations,” Forty quilts from artists of the Women of Color Quilters Network. Through April 24. “Mianus River Gorge: Photographs by William Abranowicz.” Through June 5. “Wild Reading: Animals in Children’s Book Art.” Through July 3. $6 and $7; members and children under 5, free. Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive. brucemuseum.org; 203-869-0376. GREENWICH “Wildlife Art: Field to Studio,” group exhibition. Through May 4. Mondays through Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Flinn Gallery, 101 West Putnam Avenue. 203-622-7947; flinngallery.com. GUILDFORD Artists of Gallery One, featuring David Brown, Ashby Carlisle, Catherine Christiano, Bette Ellsworth, Gray Jacobik and more. Through May 15. Guildford Art Center, 411 Church Street. 203-453-5947; guilfordartcenter.org. HAMDEN “The Seed of the People: 1916 Remembered,” Irish history exhibition. Through Sept. 30. Quinnipiac University, 275 Mount Carmel Avenue. 203-582-7809; quinnipiac.edu. HARTFORD “Desperate Cargo,” sculptures by Mohamad Hafez. Through April 24. “Vestiges From a Dream Pool,” sculpture by Heidi Lau. Through April 28. “Alina Gallo: Keleti Station.” Through May 21. Suggested donation, $3; members and cinema patrons, free. Daily, 2 to 9 p.m.; and by appointment. Real Art Ways, 56 Arbor Street. 860-232-1006; realartways.org. HARTFORD “The End of Innocence: Childhood Torments in the Contemporary Art Collection.” Through June 12. “Gothic to Goth: Romantic Era Fashion and Its Legacy.” Through July 10. “Forty Acres: The Promise of a Black Pastoral.” Through Oct. 1. $5 to $15; members and children under 12, free. Wednesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, 600 Main Street. thewadsworth.org; 860-278-2670. LITCHFIELD “Navigating the Human Landscape,” sculptures by Susan Clinard. Through June 25. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wisdom House, 229 East Litchfield Road. 860-567-3163; wisdomhouse.org. MYSTIC “New Horizons in Modern Maritime Art,” group show of paintings, drawings and sculptures of the sea. April 30 through July 17. Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maritime Art Gallery at Mystic Seaport, 47 Greenmanville Avenue. 860-572-5388; mysticseaport.org/gallery. NEW BRITAIN “New/Now: Clinton Deckert.” Through June 7. “Cycle of Life in Print: Salvador Dalí.” Through June 26. $10 to $15; members and children under 12, free. Sundays through Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington Street. 860-229-0257; nbmaa.org. NEW CANAAN “Evidence of Nature,” mixed media works by Constance Kiermaier. Through May 8. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. New Canaan Library, 151 Main Street. 203-594-5003; newcanaanlibrary.org. NEW CANAAN “Vivid,” works by Teodora Guererra and Carol Young. Through May 16. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Sorelle Gallery Fine Art, 84 Main Street. 203-920-1900; sorellegallery.com. NEW HAVEN “Gloria Laposka — Life Stories (1922-2015),” realist paintings. Through May 1. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Da Silva Gallery, 899 Whalley Avenue. dasilva-gallery.com; 203-387-2539. Image UNCASVILLE Jason Aldean will perform on April 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun, 1 Mohegan Sun Boulevard. Tickets are $79 and $99. For more information: mohegansun.com or 888-226-7711. Credit Matt Sayles/Invision, via Matt Sayles, via Invision, via Associated Press NEW HAVEN “Common Ground,” paintings by Farrell Brickhouse. Through May 14. Free. Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and by appointment. Fred Giampietro Gallery, 1064 Chapel Street. giampietrogallery.com; 203-777-7760. NEW HAVEN “From Clocks to Lollipops: Made in New Haven.” Through Sept. 3. $2 to $4; children under 12, free. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m.; first Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. New Haven Museum, 114 Whitney Avenue. newhavenmuseum.org; 203-562-4183. NEW HAVEN Works by Stacey Alickman and Michelle Benoit. Through April 30. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and by appointment. Reynolds Fine Art, 96 Orange Street. 203-498-2200; reynoldsfineart.com. NEW HAVEN “Meant to Be Shared: Selections From the Arthur Ross Collection of European Prints at the Yale University Art Gallery.” Through April 24. “Everything Is Dada,” group show. Through July 3. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; weekends, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel Street. 203-432-0600; artgallery.yale.edu. NEW LONDON “Time and Again,” paintings by Michael Peery. Through April 24. “Dark Water, Deep Treasures: The Art of Discovery.” “Beyond Three Hundred Fathoms: Life at the Extremes.” Through May 16. “Herman Leonard: Jazz Memories.” Through May 29. $5 to $10; members and children under 12, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Lyman Allyn Art Museum, 625 Williams Street. lymanallyn.org; 860-443-2545. OLD LYME “Friends in the Fields,” featuring paintings by Allen Butler Talcott, Frank A. Bicknell, William S. Robinson and Wilson H. Irvine. Through May 28. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cooley Gallery, 25 Lyme Street. 860-434-8807; cooleygallery.com. OLD LYME “Ten/Forty: Collecting American Art at the Florence Griswold Museum.” Through May 29. $8 to $10; children under 12, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Florence Griswold Museum, 96 Lyme Street. 860-434-5542; flogris.org. OLD LYME “Body Language” and “95th Annual Elected Artist Exhibition.” Through June 3. $5 suggested donation. Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.; and by appointment. Lyme Art Association Gallery, 90 Lyme Street. lymeartassociation.org; 860-434-7802. RIDGEFIELD Works by Kim Jones, David Brooks, Peter Liversidge and Virginia Overton, ranging from sculpture to drawing and performance-based works. May 1 through Feb. 5. $5 and $10. Members, teachers of kindergarten through 12th grade, active-service military families and children under 18, free. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main Street. aldrichart.org; 203-438-4519. SHARON “How the West Was Won,” exhibition of works by Matt Magee. Through May 1. Thursdays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Darren Winston, Bookseller, 81 Main Street, darrenwinstonbookseller.com; 860-364-1890. SOUTHPORT “Pages From Pequot: Uncovering Shakespeare,” exhibition featuring items from Pequot Library’s special collections of rare books and materials. Through May 6. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Pequot Library, 720 Pequot Avenue. pequotlibrary.com; 203-259-0346. STAMFORD “Discovering John Singer Sargent,” group show. Through May 1. Free. Weekends, 1 to 4:30 p.m. Loft Artists Association, 575 Pacific Street. 203-247-2027; loftartists.com. STORRS M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition. Through May 10. Guerrilla Girls Exhibition. Through May 22. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; weekends, 1 to 4:30 p.m. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, 245 Glenbrook Road. benton.uconn.edu; 860-486-4520. WASHINGTON DEPOT “Made Realities, Real Situations,” group show featuring Neil Callander, Russell Horton and Marc Roder. Through May 7. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Washington Art Association, 4 Bryan Memorial Plaza. 860-868-2878; washingtonartassociation.org. WATERBURY “Legacy in Wood,” furniture exhibition by Thos Moser. Through May 22. “What! Not White? The Victorian Bride.” Through May 29. “Making Her Mark,” multimedia group show. Through June 5. $6 and $7; members and children under 16, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Mattatuck Museum, 144 West Main Street. mattatuckmuseum.org; 203-753-0381. WESTPORT “Noir,” paintings, prints and drawings by Ann Chernow. April 23. “Two Steps Forward: Contemporary Cuban Art.” April 29 through June 4. Free. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Avenue. westportartscenter.org; 203-222-7070. WINDSOR “Soulful Journeys,” works from the Connecticut Fiber Artists Collective. April 23. Thursdays, 6 to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Windsor Art Center, 40 Mechanic Street. 860-688-2528; windsorartcenter.org.


Affidavit and DNA Crucial in Appeal of ’93 Conviction

Abstract: LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sixteen years ago, during a triple-murder trial that transfixed this region with accusations of Satanic rituals, the jury foreman had conversations with his private lawyer that suggest the jury’s guilty verdict was unjust, the lawyer now says in a sworn affidavit. The reported conversations between the lawyer, Lloyd Warford, and the jury foreman, Kent Arnold, and DNA evidence are expected to be at the center of oral arguments before the Arkansas Supreme Court here this week in the case of Damien Echols, who was convicted with two other men of the slayings of three 8-year-old boys. The three defendants, now in their 30s, have become widely known as the West Memphis 3, thanks to documentaries and books about the case, Web sites put together by volunteers, and actors, musicians and other celebrities who have lent their names to the cause. “It’s not like we’re saying ‘exonerate them, they’re innocent,’ although many of us feel that way,” said Capi Peck, a Little Rock restaurateur who helped form Arkansas Take Action to support the three men. “All we want is a new trial. We’re convinced that no jury today would convict them.” Mr. Echols’s appeal is based on a 2001 Arkansas law that allows DNA evidence not available at the time of the original trial to be considered on appeal in conjunction with other evidence in the case. According to the Innocence Project , an organization in New York that assists prisoners nationwide, 259 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing since it was first used, including 17 who served time on death row. The State of Arkansas, through Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, opposes the motion for a new trial. “Our office knows there are concerns about this case, but rest assured that we take the utmost care in handling the appeals of death sentences handed down by Arkansas jurors,” Mr. McDaniel said in a statement. “Though some celebrities have brought more attention to this case than to the dozens of other pending death row appeals in this state, every one is an extremely serious matter. We are committed to fairness and justice not just for the inmates but also for the three little boys who didn’t live to see middle school.” Last month the actor Johnny Depp, the Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder and the Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines held a concert to raise awareness for the case a few blocks from where the State Supreme Court will hear arguments, beginning Thursday. A vigil in this city’s historic Quapaw Quarter is scheduled for Wednesday night. The case dates to May 5, 1993, when three 8-year-old boys from West Memphis, Ark. — Steve Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore — were reported missing. Their naked, hogtied bodies were found submerged in a drainage ditch the next day. Nearly a month later, the police arrested Mr. Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr. and Jason Baldwin after Mr. Misskelley confessed to police that he had watched the other men sexually abuse and then kill the boys. At the time of their arrests, Mr. Echols was 18, Mr. Misskelley, 17, and Mr. Baldwin, 16. Mr. Echols, the alleged leader of the three, was sentenced to death, while Mr. Misskelley and Mr. Baldwin were sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Misskelley, who later recanted his confession, was tried separately because the law forbade his statement to be used against the other two defendants. At the trial, prosecutors presented testimony that Mr. Echols had been seen with his girlfriend near the scene of the crime on the night the boys disappeared, that he and Mr. Baldwin had admitted their guilt to several people, and that a serrated hunting knife that could have been used in the killings was found near Mr. Baldwin’s trailer. An expert on cults gave his opinion that the defendants were members of a Satanic cult who murdered the victims as part of a ritual. In 2007, testing by experts hired by the convicted men’s supporters showed that they could not be linked to any DNA recovered from the crime scene or the victims’ bodies, and that no sperm was present on swabs taken from the victims, as might be expected in cases of sexual assault. The testing, however, showed that hair found at the scene could have belonged to Steve Branch’s stepfather and a friend. Mr. Echols has also presented statements from forensic pathologists who said that nearly all the victims’ wounds were caused by animals after their deaths, and that the victims did not appear to have been sexually assaulted. Defense claims of juror misconduct are based on Mr. Warford’s account of his conversations with Mr. Arnold. In a 2008 affidavit, Mr. Warford said Mr. Arnold had hired him to represent his brother in an unrelated case. During “at least a dozen” conversations while the West Memphis trial was under way, Mr. Warford said, Mr. Arnold indicated that he was part of the majority of jurors who had been ready to convict the defendants, “from virtually the beginning” of the trial. Later, Mr. Arnold said, “This prosecutor has not done his job, and if the prosecution didn’t come up with something powerful the next day there was probably going to be an acquittal,” according to Mr. Warford’s affidavit. Mr. Arnold asked how he should go about being elected foreman of the jury and what he should say to convince other jurors of the defendants’ guilt, Mr. Warford said. During the trial, a police officer mentioned Mr. Misskelley’s statement to the police, a comment that the judge ordered jurors to disregard. According to Mr. Warford, Mr. Arnold “told me that if the confession had not been mentioned in court then he might not have been able to convince the swing jurors to convict.” Mr. Warford said he did not reveal his conversations with Mr. Arnold earlier because he thought they were covered by attorney-client privilege. The existence of the affidavit, originally filed under seal, was reported by Mara Leveritt, a freelance journalist who wrote “Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three,” published by Atria in 2002. The case became widely known mostly as a result of “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills,” a documentary shown on HBO in 1996. The film made something of a celebrity out of Mr. Echols, now 35, who since arriving on Arkansas’ death row has collaborated on a song with Mr. Vedder, written a book and married a former New York landscape architect, Lorri Davis. Ms. Davis, who moved to Arkansas and married Mr. Echols in 1999, said she appreciated the work of the celebrities who had brought attention and money to the case. “I don’t look at them as celebrities,” she said. “I look at them as people who have an ability to reach people and have an audience. They’re very well-educated on the case. Whenever I hear elected officials complain about outsiders, I wonder what they’re trying to hide.”

Little Rock (Ark)
Decisions and Verdicts
Forensic Science
Murders and Attempted Murders


Historic Randolph Houses in Harlem Finally Set for Renovation

Abstract: The tenement buildings known as A. Philip Randolph Houses take up a block along West 114th Street in Harlem and stand as a relic from the 1800s, clashing with the condos, yoga studios and cookie shops encroaching all around. But inside some of those buildings, residents have been anxiously waiting for modern day New York to reach them. Told almost a decade ago that a rebuilding was planned by the New York City Housing Authority, some tenants relocated to public housing projects elsewhere in the city while other residents were told to sit tight in their apartments and wait for the first rebuilt units. Image The buildings have decayed and many residents have been relocated to other public housing as they await renovations. Credit Bryan Thomas for The New York Times Then years passed. “We were like stuck,” one of the neighbors who stayed, Elizabeth Williams, 57, said of the wait. “We felt like nothing was working out for us.” But a rebirth is now on the way, officials said. The city plans to announce on Monday the start of the construction project that will transform Randolph Houses into a mixed-income development of public and private housing. The work is to be financed with a combination of federal, city and private money, officials said, though the housing authority said it could not provide an estimate for the total cost. The renovations are expected to be completed in two phases over the next four years. And last week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding the 36 buildings of Randolph Houses to the State and National Registers of Historic Places in light of their significance to the evolution of Harlem and of working-class New York. It is welcome news, but the long delay and the partnership with a private developer also reflect a difficult reality for public housing. With far less federal funding coming in, the Housing Authority has struggled to maintain its 334 developments, which collectively house more than 400,000 people. Randolph Houses is one of the most distinctive properties in the authority’s portfolio. The five-story, Renaissance Revival style structures along both the north and south sides of West 114th Street, between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, were built in the 1890s to attract workers willing to commute on the new elevated trains along what was a stretch of Eighth Avenue and is now Frederick Douglass, state officials said. The first residents were white, they said, but black families began moving into the buildings in the 1920s, reflecting Harlem’s emergence as a center of black culture. Image The buildings on West 114th Street, as they looked in 1928. Credit Percy Sperr/The New York Public Library The buildings were rehabilitated in the 1960s and 1970s, and the Housing Authority acquired the properties in the 1970s, adding more than 450 apartments to the city’s public housing stock. But by the 2000s, the buildings’ state of disrepair led to plans to demolish and rebuild. By 2006, the city emptied 22 of the buildings on the south side of the street and moved 159 families to other public housing. Another 130 households remained across the street in Randolph buildings on the north side. But state preservation officials objected and forced the city back to the drawing board. In 2011, housing officials came up with a new design for a gut renovation that preserved the exteriors. Under the plan, the buildings’ 452 apartments will be reconfigured into 314 apartments. Of those, 147 will remain public housing while 167 will be private apartments available to households at different income levels no higher than $68,700 for a family of four. The units designated to remain public housing will be the first to be renovated. Kenan Bigby, vice president of Trinity Financial in Boston, the developer chosen for the project, said the interiors of the buildings would be transformed to bring apartments up to current building standards and to add connecting corridors and common entrances. The interiors of the walk-up buildings, Mr. Bigby said, will have more spacious apartments and amenities like elevators, laundry rooms on each floor and a basement with community space, including a gym. Image A detail from the exterior of the Randolph Houses on the north side of West 114th Street. Credit Bryan Thomas for The New York Times The renovation will preserve stoops and facades, maintaining the 19th-century New York streetscape. The Housing Authority is contributing $40 million in federal capital funding to the $95.5 million cost of the first phase of the project. The rest of the money comes mostly from tax credits, including state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits. (The historic district designation also includes the city’s first public girls’ high school, Wadleigh High School for Girls, built in 1902 next to today’s Randolph Houses.) The Housing Authority chairwoman, Shola Olatoye, said this was an example of a development project that mixed federal capital dollars with other resources to help preserve public housing and create privately-owned affordable units. “What’s so exciting about this development is the opportunity to rebuild public housing for low-income New Yorkers and contribute to a dynamic and diverse Harlem,” she said. After so many years of waiting, some Randolph Houses tenants have died and apartments continue to deteriorate. That point was driven home last week when a leak from the ceiling sent a torrent of water down to the first floor, flooding the area where a group of tenants monitoring the renovation plans was meeting with the developer. The tenants said water leaks were common throughout the housing project. One of the residents, Lydia Gadsden, a 66-year-old retired bank receptionist, said she just prays she lives long enough to leave the second-floor apartment where she raised three children, cross the street and step into the future. “To put one foot in and say, ‘Thank God,’ ” she said. “If I only live to see that day, it will be a rejoicing day for me.”

Real Estate
Housing
Affordable housing
Harlem
Historic preservation
Restoration and Renovation
A Philip Randolph
Housing Authority NYC


A Teenager Is Killed in a Drive-By Shooting in New Jersey

Abstract: A high school basketball player was killed and at least three other people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in Paterson, N.J., on Saturday. The victims were standing near a liquor store in the area of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Godwin Avenue around 8:30 p.m., the authorities said, when a burst of gunfire came from a vehicle that quickly fled the scene. Killed in the shooting was Armoni Sexton, 15, a top scorer and rebounder on the varsity team at the Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. There has been a spate of shootings in Paterson in recent days, but it was not clear if this incident was related to any of the other shootings.

Murders and Homicides
Paterson NJ
Armoni Sexton


A Fluttering Boost to Flickering Hopes

Abstract: BALTIMORE — Standing in the outfield before a May game in Anaheim, Calif., Orioles Manager Buck Showalter did not like what he saw in Zach Clark, but it had little to do with Clark’s mechanics or repertory. Showalter noticed that Clark had gnawed his fingernails, hardly ideal for an aspiring knuckleballer. “You may want to stop doing that,” Clark recalled Showalter telling him. Clark eventually had acrylic nails applied to the middle three fingers of his right hand, so he could dig into the ball and release it as if it were a balloon. “Trying to explain it was weird,” Clark said of his visit to a Maryland salon. Although the Orioles did not put a manicurist on the payroll, they did sign a consultant for 2013, Phil Niekro, who won 318 games in a 24-year career, riding the knuckleball from the moment the Milwaukee Braves signed him in 1958. Niekro’s assignment is to help the Orioles transform three pitchers into full-time knuckleballers: Clark, 30, now with Class A Frederick, Md.; Zach Staniewicz, 27, in the rookie Gulf Coast League; and Eddie Gamboa, 28, of Class AAA Norfolk, Va. Baltimore’s approach may be unconventional, but leaders in the organization are well aware of how effective the knuckleball can be. While managing the Texas Rangers in 2005, Showalter persuaded a flailing pitcher , R. A. Dickey, to take up the knuckleball. Last year, Dickey won 20 games for the Mets and earned the National League’s Cy Young Award. Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president for baseball operations, also has experience with a successful knuckleballer. When he ran the Red Sox, Duquette signed Tim Wakefield after the Pittsburgh Pirates released him in 1995. Wakefield pitched for 17 seasons with Boston. The Orioles’ strategy is a lifeline to pitchers trying to salvage their careers, and a low-risk, high-reward proposition for the organization. It involves identifying prospects who are likely to remain in the minor leagues or to reach the majors only briefly. But Duquette, Showalter and the Orioles’ pitching coach, Rick Adair, said that even middling candidates for conversion must fit basic criteria. A player must sublimate his ego to embrace an unorthodox pitch; stick with it despite inevitable poundings when the knuckleball refuses to dip, dart and flutter; and be athletic enough to field squib hits when a batter makes contact. He must also limit base stealers, using a quick delivery from the stretch to offset the pitch’s slower journey to the plate. Above all, Showalter said, “you have to have failed at a very high level.” The Orioles’ approach, if it works, could prompt a reassessment of pitchers’ development in the short and long terms. Throwing knuckleballs puts far less strain on the shoulder and arm than throwing conventional pitches, possibly extending innings pitched and careers. Image Acrylic nails help Zach Clark dig into the ball. Credit Jared Soares for The New York Times “You forget everything you learned about pitching when you throw a knuckleball,” Niekro said in a telephone interview. But it is hard to trust a pitch whose speed is not the object and whose destination is unpredictable. “With the knuckleball, you have to make the commitment,” Niekro said. “You’ve got to throw it in all situations.” Making that adjustment is not so simple. Charlie Haeger, a pitcher in the Red Sox organization who estimated that he throws the knuckler about 85 percent of the time, said, “As a kid, you don’t think of becoming a knuckleball pitcher.” Sitting in his office at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Duquette made a case for developing more knuckleballers. “I’m not sure why there aren’t more out there, because every time you throw the pitch, you have a chance to get an out,” he said. “Look at the money the industry spends on conventional pitchers, and most of them end up on the disabled list, not even working. You’re not putting as much stress on your shoulder because you’re trying to get the ball to float, not throw it past the backstop.” He added: “About half our players are pitchers on a given team. Why not knuckleballers — why not? Our goal is to have them pitch until they collect Social Security, or at least their major league pension.” To tutor Wakefield, Duquette once hired Niekro and his brother Joe, another knuckleballer. Wakefield consulted with Charlie Hough, who had recently retired, and Tom Candiotti, who was also learning the pitch. And when Dickey began to focus on the knuckleball, first with Texas and then with the Seattle Mariners and the Minnesota Twins, he sought out Wakefield. Wakefield, who retired with 200 wins, now works as a Red Sox broadcaster while advising Haeger, 29, and another knuckleballer, Steven Wright, 28. Haeger and Wright adopted the pitch on their own, as members of other organizations. Despite Duquette’s and Showalter’s pivotal roles in developing the major leagues’ two most recent successful knuckleballers — Wakefield and Dickey, who now pitches for the Toronto Blue Jays — coincidence rather than design underlies the Orioles’ approach. In June 2012, Staniewicz, then an inspector of cargo planes at Pope Field near Fayetteville, N.C., visited Camden Yards to be honored as a member of a military all-star team. At the batting cage before the Orioles played, Staniewicz told Duquette that he had developed a knuckleball. Duquette urged him to work on it. In January, at the Baseball Writers’ Association of America dinner in New York, Niekro told Duquette that Staniewicz had visited him. Image From left, the retired knuckleballers Wilbur Wood, Phil Niekro, Tim Wakefield and Charlie Hough. The Orioles hired Niekro, a 318-game winner, to work with Clark and other pitchers. Credit Charles Krupa/Associated Press “Phil said to me, ‘The guy’s got enough of a knuckleball that you should sign and train him,’ ” Duquette said. Duquette went further, signing Staniewicz and Niekro to one-year contracts. At spring training in Sarasota, Fla., Niekro was working with Staniewicz when he glimpsed Gamboa throwing and added him as a pupil, too. When Niekro observed Gamboa at Class AA Bowie, Md., Clark’s pregame tossing of knuckleballs caught his eye. Clark then climbed aboard the Niekro bandwagon. “Phil’s the pied piper,” Duquette said. The players, like the pitch itself, have had ups and downs. In consecutive starts for Bowie in June, Gamboa allowed one hit in seven and a third innings and threw seven no-hit innings. But he is 1-3 with a 5.87 earned run average since being promoted to Norfolk in July. This season, Clark has been rocked for a 2-13 record and an 8.71 E.R.A. while pitching for four minor league teams and in one game with the Orioles. Haeger, who took up the knuckleball in 2004, has pitched in parts of five seasons for three major league teams, most recently with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010. He missed last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. After being signed by the Red Sox, he has posted a 6-7 record with a 4.70 E.R.A. for Class AA Portland, Me., and Class AAA Pawtucket, R.I. Then there is Wright, who has shuttled between Pawtucket and Boston this year. He gave up five runs and six hits in three and two-thirds innings of relief in his major league debut, but he was solid in his next outing, allowing no runs and three hits in five and two-thirds innings. Last Tuesday, facing Houston in his first major league start, Wright lasted one inning. He allowed three runs and one hit, walked two, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch, and his knuckler had much to do with catcher Ryan Lavarnway’s four passed balls. Wright was sent back to Pawtucket two days later. None of that concerns Niekro. “I remember when I was with Richmond, my stats weren’t great, but they brought me up and it changed my life completely,” said Niekro, who checks in occasionally with his protégés. The difficulties in controlling the knuckleball, let alone mastering it, are hardly lost on Duquette. “We knew this wasn’t a short-term project,” he said, adding, “We were willing to invest some time in them if they were willing to spend some time on the knuckleball.” These Orioles and Red Sox players are dedicated to mastering the pitch, although Clark acknowledged that he was not comfortable with relying on his knuckleball. He throws it about half the time, he said, and feels he has to “protect it with my conventional stuff”: a sinker, a two-seam fastball and a curveball. As the pitchers develop, it becomes more likely that knuckleballers will once again face each other in the major leagues. A knuckleball matchup could materialize in Baltimore or Boston, with postseason implications. But it would be tough to match the Atlanta Braves’ unusual achievement on Sept. 30, 1969, when they defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2, on a combined seven-hitter by the knuckleballers Niekro and Hoyt Wilhelm. The win clinched the first National League West crown, and Niekro and Wilhelm were eventually voted into the Hall of Fame. For now, the prospects would probably be happy just to earn an extended stay in the majors, even if they had to hang on by their fingertips.

Baseball
Orioles
Phil Niekro
Tim Wakefield
Dan Duquette
Buck Showalter


Ahead of U.N. Vote, a Possible Return to Mideast Talks

Abstract: JERUSALEM — Intensive efforts are under way to stave off a Palestinian bid for United Nations membership in September, with diplomats trying to lure Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to negotiations on the basis of President Obama’s formula of a state based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have told American and European officials who have been here repeatedly in recent weeks that they want to return to talks. But with numerous moving parts, neither side desperate about the status quo and no agreement on the terms, success is far from assured. The Israeli government was livid about Mr. Obama’s reference to the 1967 lines and swaps in a speech in May. It considers those boundaries indefensible and does not want to commit in advance to giving up land within Israel in exchange for keeping settlement blocs in the West Bank . But Israeli officials acknowledge that they have little choice but to work within that formula as a negotiating basis if they want to stop the move in the United Nations. A successful General Assembly vote for the Palestinians could increase boycott and sanctions pressure on Israel as well as international legal proceedings in forums like the International Criminal Court . “The goal is to get something on the table that keeps September from happening and that is an initiative Israel can live with,” a top Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the secretive and sensitive nature of the diplomacy. “For us, that would be an acknowledgment of Jewish sovereignty.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel referred to the same issue in a speech here on Thursday night. Mr. Netanyahu said that the end of the conflict with the Palestinians would begin when their leaders uttered six words: “I will accept the Jewish state.” Two other issues that would mollify the Israelis are an assertion that Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war of independence would be permitted to settle in a future state of Palestine but not in Israel itself, and a reference to an Israeli security presence along the Jordan River. For their part, the Palestinians have said they need two conditions to restart talks — a reference to the 1967 lines as the basis for their state and at least a short stoppage of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank. Having received the first from President Obama , some Palestinian officials are saying they might drop the second. But they say they will not accept Israeli soldiers on their future land, or call Israel a Jewish state, or give up in advance any Palestinian refugee right of return to their original homes inside Israel. To do so, they say, would be to prejudice the rights of Israel’s 1.4 million Arab citizens and walk away from the rights and interests of millions of Palestinians abroad. “No Palestinian leader can abandon the right of return,” Muhammad Shtayyeh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee and an adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority , said in a telephone interview. American officials are examining the possibility of inviting the two sides to talks in a document that lays out a number of these conditions as American goals while allowing each to accept the invitation without signing off on every condition, but they acknowledge that would be a weak basis for talks. Some Palestinian officials say that even if peace talks get going this summer, the move toward United Nations recognition will proceed . But American and European officials believe that Mr. Abbas is having second thoughts. This is because American officials have told him that Washington would veto any Palestinian membership bid in the Security Council and work to reduce the number of supporting votes there and in the General Assembly. Some European states — Germany , Italy and several from Central Europe — have expressed their opposition and hope to pressure the Palestinians back into negotiations. Canada , which is also strongly opposed, has been lobbying smaller countries to tell the Palestinians that they will not to vote with them in September. Catherine Ashton , foreign policy chief for the European Union , told the newspaper Haaretz this week that the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood was far from a done deal . As a result, what looked several months ago like near-certain Palestinian victory and Israeli defeat at the United Nations seems less clear today, officials from several countries say, and the Palestinians are reconsidering. Mr. Abbas and his aides also worry that their people could build up unreasonable expectations over a move at the United Nations and wake up frustrated and angry the day after a vote to discover that little had changed on the ground. They fear the possibility of violence erupting. But another issue threatening the current effort is the possibility of a Palestinian unity government being formed between Mr. Abbas’s Fatah and Hamas , which rules in Gaza . Even though such a government would be made up of technocrats without affiliation to either group, a Hamas sponsorship of a new Palestinian government could prompt the United States and possibly Europe to cut off aid because both consider Hamas a terrorist group. Israeli officials say that if the unity deal goes through, it would end any chance of talks and that they feel confident that Washington will back them on that decision. Since relations between Fatah and Hamas are strained and Mr. Abbas is worried about aid being cut off, the unity talks have stalled and seem likely to stay that way until it is clear whether the effort to get the Palestinians and Israelis back into negotiations will succeed or fail.

Israel
Politics
First Arab Israeli War
International relations
Al Fatah
Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu
Mahmoud Abbas
Israeli settlement


Romanian Denies Burning Stolen Art

Abstract: BUCHAREST, Romania — Olga Dogaru, the Romanian woman who told investigators that she had incinerated seven works of art by Matisse, Picasso and other modern masters in an effort to protect her son, denied in court on Monday that she had burned the works. Standing alongside her son, Radu, 29, who has admitted stealing the paintings in October from the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam, Mrs. Dogaru, 50, told a panel of three judges that her earlier account of destroying the works in a stove at her house in the tiny village of Carcaliu was untrue. “I did not burn them,” she said in a soft voice. Alarm swept the art world last week when it appeared that the theft in the Netherlands had ended with a spasm of wanton destruction in a remote corner of Romania. The head of Romania’s National History Museum, Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, described the supposed burning as a “barbarian crime against humanity.” The artworks — paintings and drawings signed by Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Gauguin, Lucian Freud and Meyer de Haan — were stolen from the Kunsthal in a brazen nighttime robbery led, according to prosecutors, by Mrs. Dogaru’s son, who was arrested in Romania in January. Mrs. Dogaru told investigators in May that months earlier, in February, she had shoved the stolen artworks into a stove used to heat a sauna at her family home and then set them alight, in a desperate attempt to destroy evidence and save her son from going to jail. News of her account circulated widely last week, along with reports that forensic scientists had found trace evidence to support it. In the hearing on Monday, though, she said she had made it all up. “I believed that what I said before was the best thing at the moment, that this was the right thing to do,” Mrs. Dogaru said in court, dressed in a blue T-shirt and baggy white pants. When she was asked what had become of the stolen art, she stuttered and then denied that any burning of artwork had occurred. Art World Fears Fate of Missing Masterpieces 7 Photos View Slide Show › Image Rotterdam Police, via Associated Press The purpose of the hearing on Monday was to review a defense lawyer’s request that Mrs. Dogaru, who was arrested in March, and her son be released from detention while awaiting the start of their trial, scheduled for next month. A lawyer for another defendant in the case, Eugen Darie, also requested the release of her client. Prosecutors opposed the requests. Mrs. Dogaru’s son, who wore a tight black T-shirt and bluejeans, stood silently throughout the proceedings, flexing his biceps as defense lawyers and a state prosecutor argued. Radu Catalin Dancu, Mrs. Dogaru’s lawyer, said after the hearing that his client had invented the story about burning the artworks “to protect her son and under pressure from prosecutors.” He said it was unclear what had become of the stolen works. “We might never find out what happened to the paintings,” he said. The most serious charge against Mrs. Dogaru arose from her earlier claim to have destroyed the artworks, which are valued at tens of millions of dollars. Under Romanian law, the crime of “destruction with very serious consequences,” one of three charges against Mrs. Dogaru, carries a sentence of 3 to 10 years — far longer than the punishment for her two other alleged crimes, “supporting a criminal group” and “assisting criminals.” Relatives and friends in the village of Carcaliu have long insisted that Mrs. Dogaru invented the incineration story, but fears that it might be true were bolstered last week when the National History Museum in Bucharest announced that forensic scientists had found ash material consistent with burned paintings, including copper tacks and pigments used by artists of the relevant periods. Mr. Dancu, the lawyer, challenged the findings and said he had not seen a final report by the forensic scientists. He added that he wanted the ash to be sent to the Louvre in Paris for further analysis by experts with better equipment and more experience in artwork. Of his client’s earlier story, he said bluntly: “She was lying. What she said before was 100 percent untrue.”

Art
Robbery
Olga Dogaru
Romania
Kunsthal Museum Rotterdam Netherlands
Radu Dogaru


E.U. Telecom Companies Look for Room to Grow

Abstract: Just weeks before the new European Commission starts work, the lobbying efforts from the region’s telecommunications operators are already hard at work. On Wednesday, senior executives of many of Europe’s largest telecoms, including Orange of France and Deutsche Telekom of Germany, called on local regulators to cut back on red tape and allow consolidation within the sector as a way to jump-start Europe’s economy. “We desperately want growth in Europe,” said Dominique Leroy, head of the former Belgian monopoly Belgacom, at an industry conference in Brussels on Wednesday. “Industry players are willing to invest billions of euros. But we can’t do it because we can’t monetize our investments.” The push to persuade the new European Commission, which takes over as the European Union’s new executive arm on Nov. 1, to cut back on regulation follows a lengthy stand-off between consumer groups and industry trade bodies over how to promote investment in Europe’s telecommunications sector. Unlike in the United States, where national carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless now dominate, Europe has more than 100 telecommunications operators that often compete within national borders. Consumer groups and some national regulators assert that this domestic competition has kept prices low and given Europeans greater choice. The average European pays $38 for a monthly cellphone contract, or roughly half of what the typical American pays, according to GSMA, an industry group. But telecommunications executives say the cutthroat national competition among carriers has limited the investment that companies can make to upgrade their networks. Tough antitrust regulations have limited the ability of companies to buy competitors in other areas of Europe to create pan-regional mobile and broadband networks, according to analysts. “There’s a very different way of approaching competition in the U.S. compared to Europe,” David Bailey, global head of telecommunications, media and technology at HSBC, said at the conference in Brussels. “Competition, however irrational from a corporate perspective, is seen as something that will continue forever in Europe.” As part of efforts to lift investment, the new European Commission is expected to finish new rules as soon as early next year to create a single European market for electronic communications — called the “Connected Continent” proposals. The long-awaited changes could potentially increase consolidation in Europe’s telecom sector. It may also create a central E.U. regulator; each of Europe’s 28-member states now regulate the sector. A new round of consolidation also has started to take shape. The likes of Telefónica of Spain and Vodafone of Britain have spent billions of euros recently to acquire mobile carriers and cable providers from Germany to Spain to strengthten their pan-regional networks. Europe’s telecommunications operators also got a helping hand on Wednesday from Lowell C. McAdam, chief executive of Verizon Communications, who said at the Brussels conference that the creation of one set of American rules had helped the country’s carriers invest billions in mobile and cable infrastructure. “The digital economy isn’t limited by geographical borders,” Mr. McAdam said. “Regulation must protect consumers and enable investment, while avoiding regulation that tries to outsmart the dynamic ecosystem.” Yet while Europe’s telecom executives are unified in their goal to reduce the region’s strict rules on market consolidation and investment, the same cannot be said about their approach to Internet companies like Google and Facebook. Pierre Louette, deputy chief executive at Orange, the French carrier, on Wednesday took a swipe at these American companies, which have faced fewer regulations and greater freedoms to expand across Europe compared to traditional carriers. “We always pay taxes in Europe,” said Mr. Louette, in a jibe at the likes of Google, which have used complicated tax structures to reduce their tax global burdens. “We can’t be put together in the same categories. We can’t continue to be over-regulated, while they are not regulated.”

Deutsche Telekom
Telecommunication
Competition law
EU


Dortmund Gains Quarterfinals

Abstract: Host Borussia Dortmund beat Shakhtar Donetsk by 3-0 to reach the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time since it won the competition in 1997. ¶ Brad Davis scored in the 89th minute to give the host Houston Dynamo a 1-0 lead over Santos Laguna after the first leg of their Concacaf Champions League quarterfinal series.

UEFA Champions League
Soccer
Shakhtar Donetsk Soccer Team


Panel to Create Plan to Reduce Number of Mentally Ill People in New York City Jails

Abstract: Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked several of his commissioners and aides to provide him with a plan by September to reduce the rate of incarceration among New Yorkers with mental illness. The effort, which City Hall will announce on Monday, is the administration’s first major criminal justice initiative. Named the Task Force on Behavioral Health and the Criminal Justice System, it will include recommendations from the police and correction commissioners, the Manhattan district attorney, hospital administrators and judges. The initiative comes at a time when the city’s jail system is struggling to manage a large number of mentally ill inmates. The Department of Correction is investigating the death of a mentally ill homeless veteran in February who had been left unattended for hours as the temperature in his cell climbed above 100 degrees. “For far too long, our city’s jails have acted as de facto mental health facilities,” Mr. de Blasio said in a statement, in which he explained that he was directing the task force to develop “innovative strategies to transform, reform and update this city’s criminal justice system” and figure out how “we can provide real, lasting mental health and addiction treatment for those in need.” While the task force will look at the treatment of mentally ill inmates on Rikers Island, it will also seek ways to reduce the number of people with mental illness who end up in the criminal justice system in the first place. Elizabeth Glazer, the mayor’s criminal justice coordinator and one of the task force leaders, said that the group would seek ways to encourage alternatives to arrest and prosecution. “If someone picks up the phone and calls 911 because they see someone acting out on the street, then what does the police officer do?” Ms. Glazer said. “Is this criminal behavior? And a lot of things can be described as criminal behavior, but the best intervention is not necessarily an arrest. What’s the best way to make a diagnosis? Is it up to the officer to make that diagnosis?” Ms. Glazer said the task force would weigh a number of possible changes, such as teaming officers with social workers or other mental health professionals and providing more intensive training to officers on identifying and dealing with individuals with mental illnesses. Part of the goal, she said, would be to provide police officers with more options when they respond to the 100,000 calls received each year regarding “emotionally disturbed persons,” a catchall term that covers a range of mental health issues. The task force’s review of the Police Department’s interactions with the mentally ill is likely to examine its handling of so-called quality-of-life offenses, generally low-level infractions that have been aggressively enforced under the leadership of Commissioner William J. Bratton. These offenses account for a significant percentage of arrests. “It’s something we have to look at — how these two things intersect,” Ms. Glazer said. The task force, she said, will also examine ways to provide better mental health care following release from the city’s jails to decrease recidivism. Dr. Ramanathan Raju, a member of the task force and the president of the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, said public hospitals have to explore how to better engage “with the mentally ill after they leave the criminal justice system, so they stay connected to the hospital and the treatment component, and so they don’t regress back to their illness.” There are “a lot of things we can do better,” he said. One proposal that could receive consideration from the task force, Dr. Raju said, would be to track the medication history of some patients to see whether they are filling prescriptions they need as part of their mental health treatment. Another proposal would be to send a social worker to the addresses of mentally ill patients after their release from jail to check up on them, he said. “When they go back to their communities, do we engage them to seek care?” Dr. Raju asked.

Mental Health
Prison
Bill de Blasio
Hospital
Elizabeth Glazer
NYC


Obama, ‘Appalled’ by Beheading, Will Continue Airstrikes

Abstract: EDGARTOWN, Mass. — President Obama declared on Wednesday that the entire world was “appalled” by the videotaped beheading of an American journalist by Islamic militants, speaking as American warplanes conducted 14 airstrikes in Iraq and the State Department asked the Pentagon to send as many as 300 more American troops to Iraq for security. “The United States of America will continue to do what we must do to protect our people,” the president said from Martha’s Vineyard, where he was vacationing. “We will be vigilant, and we will be relentless.” Mr. Obama’s remarks came hours before administration officials said that the president had authorized a secret mission in July to rescue the American, James Foley, and other American hostages in a remote area of Syria. But when commandos arrived, the hostages were not there, American officials said. Mr. Obama’s harsh remarks, the failed rescue mission and Wednesday’s military action reflected new pressure on the administration not to step back from the assault on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as a recognition of the grim reality that other American hostages held by ISIS face a similar threat. Image An image from a video posted by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which the group said was the execution of James Foley. The events were also a shift in the complexion of the American confrontation with the terrorist group — until now an abstraction to most Americans — after its release of a gruesome video depicting the beheading of Mr. Foley, which ISIS militants said was in retaliation for the American airstrikes in Iraq. ISIS threatened to kill another American journalist held hostage, Steven J. Sotloff, if the airstrikes continued. Within an hour after Mr. Obama’s remarks, in which he pronounced ISIS a “cancer” that had to be expelled from the Middle East, the United States Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, announced it had carried out 14 more airstrikes around the Mosul Dam and destroyed more ISIS military vehicles and equipment. There have been 84 American airstrikes so far since Mr. Obama first announced the offensive against the militants on Aug. 7. Secretary of State John Kerry stepped up the administration’s tough tone. “Make no mistake: We will continue to confront ISIL wherever it tries to spread its despicable hatred,” he said in a statement, using an alternative acronym for ISIS. “The world must know that the United States of America will never back down in the face of such evil. ISIL and the wickedness it represents must be destroyed, and those responsible for this heinous, vicious atrocity will be held accountable.” The graphic video of Mr. Foley’s beheading — released Tuesday night and verified by intelligence officials on Wednesday as authentic — spurred renewed debate about American objectives in Iraq, where the Pentagon’s warplanes unleashed a barrage of bombs this week in an expansion of the limited goals of protecting Americans and providing humanitarian aid initially set forth by Mr. Obama. Despite the attacks, ISIS continued its sweep across Iraq and laid siege to Amerli, a small town in the nation’s center, where residents and an Iraqi Army unit stuck inside are running low on food, medicine and water. Aid dropped by Iraqi army helicopters has failed to meet the town’s needs. Video Saying that the United States would be vigilant and relentless in protecting its people, the president called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria a “cancer” that must be extracted. Credit Credit Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images “The situation here is going from bad to worse because we are running out of all things needed for life,” said Adel al-Bayati, a local official reached by phone in the town on Wednesday. The plight of Amerli — home to members of Iraq’s Turkmen minority, who are Shiite Muslims considered infidels by ISIS — has raised alarm in Iraq and abroad because it bears similarities to other areas where the Sunni militant group has committed mass killings as they have seized territory across northern and western Iraq. On Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. Obama said he had spoken by phone to Mr. Foley’s parents, telling them that Americans “are all heartbroken at their loss.” He described Mr. Foley as a journalist, a son, a brother and a friend who was “taken from us in an act of violence that shocked the conscience of the entire world.” He made no mention of Mr. Sotloff, whose life, according to the masked executioner standing by his side in the video, hinges on Mr. Obama’s “next move.” Video The president gave a statement on the beheading of an American journalist by militants in Syria in which he denounced the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and vowed to stay on course in Iraq. Credit Credit Kevin Lamarque/Reuters At the State Department, Marie Harf, a spokeswoman, said American plans for additional airstrikes would not change even though other American hostages were being held by the militants. “We don’t make concessions to terrorists,” she said. Mr. Obama’s fear that ISIS militants would massacre Yazidis, another religious minority, as they fled across the rugged Sinjar mountains was one of his stated reasons for authorizing American airstrikes on Aug. 7. “Let’s be clear about” the Islamic State, Mr. Obama said in his remarks Wednesday. “They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery.” Republican lawmakers who have been pressing for a more aggressive strategy against ISIS seized on the beheading as evidence that Mr. Obama had not done enough to confront the Sunni militants and acknowledge them as a direct threat to Americans. “Just as Al Qaeda’s initial killings of Americans abroad foretold the carnage they would unleash within our borders,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said in a statement after the video’s release, “this barbaric beheading of a defenseless hostage is the clearest indication to date that ISIL has declared war on the United States, on the American people, and on freedom-loving people everywhere.”

James Foley
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State
Barack Obama
Hostage
Murders
Iraq
Syria


Humanitarian Workers Detained in Myanmar

Abstract: GENEVA — The United Nations and several humanitarian agencies that operate in Myanmar said Thursday that a number of their staff members had been detained by the government in a part of the country where sectarian violence erupted this month, and that they were trying to secure their release. The police and intelligence services have been cracking down in Rakhine State, in western Myanmar, since a state of emergency was declared there in early June. Dozens of people have been killed in the area, and tens of thousands have been driven from their homes. The aid agencies have been working to deliver food and supplies to refugees. About six members of the United Nations’ refugee agency and the World Food Program and the same number from Doctors Without Borders have been detained on various dates and in various locations over the past few weeks, the agencies said in Geneva. The agencies had unconfirmed reports that one of the United Nations employees had been released. Joe Belliveau, the operations manager for the medical group in the Netherlands, said it was not clear on what grounds the workers had been detained. United Nations officials met with Myanmar’s foreign minister, U Wunna Maung Lwin, in the country’s capital, Naypidaw, on Tuesday, according to Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the United Nations refugee agency in Geneva.

Myanmar
Doctors Without Borders
United Nations
Humanitarian Aid
Refugees and Displaced Persons
Wunna Maung Lwin


Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Rarely Mentioned in Campaigns

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have dominated American foreign policy for the past nine years, but debate about them is all but absent from this year’s midterm election campaigns. From Wilmington to Cleveland to Seattle, as Republicans try to wrest control of Congress from Democrats, the subjects barely come up. Ditto for President Obama’s stump speech as he zigzags around the country. He often alludes to Iraq, albeit briefly. “Because of you, there are 100,000 young men and women who are returning home from Iraq — because of you,” Mr. Obama said Monday in Providence, R.I. But he does not mention Afghanistan on the campaign trail — nor, for the most part, do his Republican opponents. Both Democrats and Republicans appear to have decided that talking about the wars is not in their best interest. Democrats are divided on the war, and do not want to air internal divisions in a year when they have so many other problems. Republicans are unified in support of the war in Afghanistan and Mr. Obama’s decision to send more troops there, but see no need to stress an issue on which they are more or less allied with him. In any case, Republicans certainly do not want to distract attention from the economy, which is working for them as an issue. In addition, Democrats and Republicans have spent more than $1 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 — not the ideal topic to bring up on a campaign trail that is dominated by concern about the budget deficit and the unemployment rate. The lack of focus on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is a big shift from the 2008 and 2006 election cycles. In 2006, Democrats used voter unhappiness with the Bush administration’s conduct of the Iraq war to help them gain control of Congress. In 2008, Mr. Obama stood out from the Democratic field for his early opposition to the Iraq war and his position that the United States should focus more on Afghanistan, and the wars played a key part in the general election campaign until the economy became dominant in the closing stages. “The big strategic consideration is that the electorate is energized over jobs, not over the war right now,” said Peter D. Feaver, a former national security aide to President George W. Bush. Even in 2006, when the war in Iraq was foremost on the minds of the voting public, Mr. Feaver said the White House assessment was that the economy had as big an impact on how Americans were thinking as the Iraq war. For the White House, the lack of a real foreign policy issue to fight with Republicans about during this campaign season is both a blessing and a curse. Republicans sided with Mr. Obama’s decision to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan, though not necessarily with his call to begin bringing them home next summer. And while liberal Democrats are unhappy with Mr. Obama’s decision to escalate the fight in Afghanistan, they have yet to challenge the White House over the issue in a concerted way. “I think the president is an ironic beneficiary of the success of Bush’s Iraq war surge,” said Charles Cook, publisher of The Cook Political Report and an independent analyst of Congressional races. At the time that Mr. Bush ordered more troops to Iraq, many foreign policy experts argued that it was a move bound to fail. It did not. “So the Afghan surge is getting a honeymoon of some time,” Mr. Cook said. But Afghanistan, political analysts say, will almost certainly be a campaign issue in 2012. By then, it will be clear whether Mr. Obama’s troop surge in Afghanistan, and his decision to begin bringing troops home next summer, have worked. The president will probably have to fend off challenges from both the right and the left on Afghanistan. From the right, some Republicans — possibly backed by the president’s own military commanders — may argue for staying the course in Afghanistan, and for holding off on withdrawing American troops. Meanwhile, from the left, some Democrats may push the opposite way, arguing that the United States should abandon its troop-heavy counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan that seeks to protect the population, and move instead to a counterterrorism strategy that focuses on pounding Al Qaeda and other insurgents, using far fewer troops. In Missouri, Tommy Sowers, a Democrat who is a former Green Beret, has made pulling out of Afghanistan war a major part of his battle to unseat Representative Jo Ann Emerson, a Republican. For Mr. Obama, “if you have any problems with your flank going into re-election, it becomes a big problem,” said Mr. Cook, recalling that Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s primary challenge in 1980 helped to undermine President Jimmy Carter.

United States Defense and Military Forces


IPhone’s Hold on Users Not Exclusive

Abstract: Nearly half of iPhone users changed carriers in order to use the device, according to a survey of 460 iPhone users by Rubicon Consulting, a technology consulting firm. The survey found that the average iPhone user was paying $19 more in phone bills than before. “The numbers are big enough that clearly this thing is profitable for AT&T ,” said Michael Mace, a principal at Rubicon. “The big financial leverage is on the people who switch carriers. It’s not like you have to add new cell towers for them; they’re almost all profit. And those people are hard to come by, because you have to switch them off somebody else’s network.” The survey also found that 36 percent of iPhone users regularly carried another mobile phone as well, most often a BlackBerry. “I can easily picture somebody carrying both an iPhone and a RIM device,” Mr. Mace said, referring to BlackBerry’s maker, Research In Motion. “Even though it sounds really geeky, to them it makes sense.” ALEX MINDLIN

AT&T Corp
iPhone
Wireless Communications
Surveys and Series


Ruins in a Center of Syria’s Uprising

Abstract: BEIRUT, Lebanon — Little by little, the central Syrian city of Homs is losing its infrastructure and its landmarks. The national hospital lies in ruins. Rebel-held neighborhoods stretch for blocks without an intact building. Many government offices are closed. The silver-domed mosque of Khalid bin al-Waleed — named for an early Islamic warrior particularly revered by Sunnis — stands pockmarked and perforated. Abandoned cars rust beneath piles of rubble and downed wires. Homs was an early bellwether of what Syria would become. One of the first cities to rise up in rebellion, it was home to mass demonstrations. As protests turned to armed revolt, the city began to split, largely along sectarian lines, with much of the Sunni majority supporting the uprising and members of President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect joining pro-government militias. Now, after more than a year of siege, bombardment and clashes, which have intensified recently as the government has renewed its assault on rebel strongholds, Homs may well be the site of the most concentrated destruction in the country. “For two years, the regime couldn’t retake Homs,” said a man who identified himself as Abu Nizar, 55, a resident of the Ensha’at district. “Now they want to retake it, but after changing its demographic and sectarian fabric.” For many months, Homs has been a city divided. Several central areas have been gradually flattened as they have changed hands, with the army briefly retaking control, only to lose it again. Government-held areas continued to function, with shops and restaurants open, preserving a rhythm of daily life. But recently, the government sought to break what amounted to a stalemate. The army began raining rockets and shells onto rebel areas in and around the old city center as pro-government fighters vowed to retake control and open a route to the north. On a recent visit, the city seethed with fear and antagonism. “This time we will clean Homs completely and will not leave any germs behind us,” said a pro-government fighter who called himself Abu Haidar. “Homs should be cleaned forever from all traitors.” Mr. Haidar, a large, muscular man with a shaved head and a tattoo of an Alawite symbol, the sword of Imam Ali, said he led a unit of the National Defense Forces, one militia that the government has brought under a formal structure in recent months. He said he had clear orders and strong support from the leadership of the army’s toughest unit, the Fourth Division, headed by Mr. Assad’s brother, Maher, to rid Homs of what he called terrorists and Wahhabis, followers of a rigid Sunni ideology that the government broadly ascribes to rebels. He described a tough fight. Rebels, he said, are using churches and mosques, including the revered Waleed mosque, as bases, “so we have the right to attack them inside.” In the narrow streets of the old town, he said, tanks cannot penetrate, and soldiers must go house to house. Rebels have dug tunnels and cut through walls, he said, popping out to shoot soldiers in the back. “We will retake Homs,” he said, “whatever the cost and whatever weapons we use.” A persistent rumor among rebels — an indication of the sectarian fears pervading the city — is that government forces plan to spirit away the warrior’s remains from the tomb inside the mosque. Lying in an underground makeshift hospital near the intensely contested neighborhood of Khalidiya, a fighter, Bilal, who like most people gave only his first name for safety, said he cried when he saw the damage at the Waleed mosque. Image Children in a besieged area of Homs. Some of the fighting has been from house to house. Credit Yazan Homsy/Reuters “Homs has two nicknames, the city of al-Waleed and the city of jokes,” he said, his face sallow as he recovered from a leg wound. “The killer Bashar al-Assad killed the smiles and the jokes from Homs, and now he wants to destroy the mosque.” The rebels have no trouble finding fighters, he said, but they have so little ammunition that some fighters have left because they have nothing to shoot with. A doctor, Mohammed, 28, looked exhausted. He was juggling 20 patients with only eight beds, no clean water and what few supplies could be smuggled in by a colleague who, because he is Christian, could pass checkpoints more easily. He said he had received patients in recent days burned over their entire bodies with what he believed were incendiary chemicals. Several thousand people remain trapped in the besieged neighborhoods, he said, including Sunni and Christian families, elderly people and mothers unable to nurse because they have nothing to eat. Hungry families respond to food with a touch of Homsi humor, another resident said: one joyfully celebrated the harvest of a single tomato; another, excited to find a live chicken, ensconced it in luxurious privacy in the soft bed of a newlywed couple, hoping for eggs. The fathers of those families, the doctor said, were fighting. “They fight to live, not to die.” In the rebel districts, shops and malls stand open and looted. Hills of garbage line the streets. Water and sewage pour from broken pipes in bombed buildings. Rebel fighters have forced residents from their homes, using them as barracks. Snipers are everywhere, and the army’s armored vehicles can be seen pushing closer. As the government moves its offices to districts it controls, antigovernment activists have established their own registries for births, deaths and marriages. The government is relocating electricity, water and telephone service centers; banks; and exams for high school students. That way, said Abu Jaber, 50, a taxi driver, there is “no need for the rest of Homs.” Crossing into the government-held districts, the anti-Assad graffiti and Islamic slogans on the walls are replaced by pictures of Mr. Assad, the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and army flags. Residents say the government is installing Alawite families in apartments abandoned by Sunnis, and burning property records to prevent the owners from returning. The Alawite-majority district of Ekrima could be entered by an outsider only with the help of an Alawite government employee, past three checkpoints overseen by security officers and soldiers. Inside, women in camouflage uniforms, carrying rifles and radios, inspected cars and checked IDs. Over tea and a water pipe, Abu Haidar, 40, a former cigarette-shop owner turned pro-government militiaman, described the fighting. At a checkpoint between Homs and Damascus, there was less zeal. Soldiers asked for bribes as small as a bottle of juice or a pack of cigarettes. One soldier from the Druse-majority province of Sweida, in southern Syria, said he had had no leave for 10 months, and he had missed his brother’s wedding. New recruits are scarce, he said; there have been none from the almost entirely Sunni eastern provinces in five months. Like the rebels, he said he was running out of ammunition. “The government,” he said, “saves the bullets for the hot areas.”

Arab Spring
Homs Syria
Bashar al-Assad
Free Syrian Army
Syria