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International New York Times số ra ngày 24/2/2014
SUZY MENKES THE ROMANTIC SIDE OF THINGS ART IN MADRID GLOBAL FAIR GAINS RESPECT E-CIGARETTES AN ON-RAMP TO TOBACCO ROAD? PAGE 11 | FASHION MILAN PAGE 10 | CULTURE PAGE 16 | BUSINESS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 Lawmakers take control in Ukraine KIEV, UKRAINE President’s allies fired; Parliament speaker gets power to act in his stead BY DAVID M HERSZENHORN JAMES HILL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Olympic finale At the closing of the Winter Games at Sochi on Sunday, dancers whirled and Russia celebrated its contributions to the world of culture PAGE 13 As golden spell ends, Sochi faces reality SOCHI, RUSSIA BY DAVID SEGAL Now comes the hard part After the closing ceremony Sunday, Sochi is confronting life after the Olympics and the aftermath of a building boom that, for a time, made it the world’s largest construction site The area is now home to more than 40,000 hotel rooms, four ski resorts, dozens of restaurants and retailers, five sports arenas, one stadium, and enough roads and railways to handle 20,000 visitors an hour That made sense during the Games, SOCHI OLYMPICS but what will happen when fans and athletes leave? This question confronts every Olympic city, but it seems acutely problematic in Sochi, experts say, in part because the scale of overbuilding vastly exceeds what occurred in Vancouver, London and elsewhere, and in part because the area will face competition from resort towns in other countries It also seems that few people in the upper echelons of the Russian government have given the future of Sochi much thought ‘‘I don’t think anyone is sure what to with it,’’ said Sufian Zhemukhov, coauthor of a coming book on the Sochi Games ‘‘I say that because President Putin and Prime Minister Medvedev have changed the concept many times First, it was going to become a kind of capital of southern Russia Then they talked about dismantling the arenas and taking them north A few months ago, Medvedev said they were going to open casinos there.’’ Virtually everything about the Sochi Games has been improvised, it seems, and their aftermath will not be any different Russia’s primary goal in 2007 was to submit the winning bid to the International Olympic Committee, and one of the appeals of Sochi to the I.O.C was that the area was largely undeveloped, meaning that Russia would have to produce lots of spiffy new buildings and infrastructure SOCHI, PAGE 13 CANADIAN MEN GLIDE TO GOLD A 3-0 victory over Sweden in hockey capped an undefeated run in Sochi for Canada, which defended its title PAGE 13 Veteran Alpine skiers held their own at the Sochi Games, but a youthful group is showing clear advances PAGE 14 BY ELLEN BARRY Latha Reddy Musukula was making tea on a recent morning when she spotted the money lenders walking down the dirt path toward her house They came in a phalanx of 15 men, by her estimate She knew their faces, because they had walked down the path before After each visit, her husband, a farmer named Veera Reddy, sank deeper into silence, frozen by some terror he would not explain Three times he cut his wrists He tied a noose to a tree, re- INDIA, PAGE Deposed president finds a tug of war in his native eastern Ukraine BY ALISON SMALE ANDREA BRUCE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Latha Reddy Musukula’s husband killed himself because of debts, which have passed to her She has promised the money lender to repay what she owes by April I NS IDE TO DAY’S PA PER O NLI N E AT I N Y T.CO M Mexicans capture No cartel chief Dozens of Mexican marines and police officers, who were aided by information from the United States, seized Joaquín Guzmán Loera over the weekend in the beach resort of Mazatlán without firing a shot WORLD NEWS, An industry behind asylum fraud Recently unsealed court filings offer a look at asylum fraud among Chinese in New York, where applicants are regarded with suspicion WORLD NEWS, Yahoo steps up advertising efforts Marissa Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo, is trying to make the company’s ads more compelling and to integrate them with the news and information people seek from the company’s websites and mobile applications BUSINESS, 17 JOE KLAMAR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE A MESSAGE FOR CHINA A Japanese officer monitoring maneuvers in Southern California last week as Marines and Japanese soldiers held an annual joint exercise The forces practiced how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces WORLD NEWS, FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, CALL: 00800 44 48 78 27 NEWSSTAND PRICES France Ô 3.00 or e-mail us at inytsubs@nytimes.com Andorra Ô 3.00 Morocco MAD 25 :HIKKLD=WUXUU\:?k@m@c@e@a" Antilles ¤ 3.00 Senegal CFA 2.500 Cameroon CFA 2.500 Tunisia Din 3.900 Gabon CFA 2.500 Reunion Ô 3.50 Ivory Coast CFA 2.500 IN THIS ISSUE No 40,730 Books 10 Business 16 Crossword 15 Culture 10 Opinion Sports 13 Stakes high as E.C.B tests banks A lot is riding on the cleanup of euro zone banks, and clarity is needed to ensure that lenders really get a good scrubbing — and are able to support the fragile economic recovery BUSINESS, 20 What many Scots really want David Cameron’s praising the United Kingdom to Scotland missed the point that for many Scots, independence is not about nationalism, but democracy, Kathleen Jamie writes OPINION, DAVID MDZINARISHVILI/REUTERS Yulia V Tymoshenko in Kiev, Ukraine She addressed her audience as ‘‘heroes.’’ THE OPULENCE YANUKOVYCH LEFT BEHIND His compound included a golf course, a private zoo, classic cars and a restaurant in the form of a pirate ship PAGE East and West clash in leader’s hometown DONETSK, UKRAINE lenting when the family surrounded him, weeping In the end he waited until Ms Musukula stepped out, and then he hanged himself from a pipe supporting their roof, leaving a careful list of each debt he owed to each money lender She learned the full sum then: 400,000 rupees, or about $6,400 A current of dread runs through this farmland, where women in jewelcolored saris bend their backs over watery terraces of rice In Andhra Pradesh, the southern state where Ms Musukula lives, the suicide rate among farmers is nearly three times the na- UKRAINE, PAGE NEXT GENERATION IS ON THE MOVE From farmers’ suicides, a legacy of debt in India BOLLIKUNTA, INDIA A day after President Viktor F Yanukovych fled the Ukrainian capital and was removed from power by a unanimous vote in Parliament, lawmakers moved swiftly on Sunday to dismantle the remaining vestiges of his government by firing top cabinet members, including the foreign minister With Parliament, led by the speaker, Oleksandr V Turchynov, firmly in control of the federal government — if not yet the country as a whole — lawmakers began an emergency session on Sunday by adopting a law restoring state ownership of Mr Yanukovych’s opulent presidential palace, which he had privatized Parliament voted to grant Mr Turchynov authority to carry out the duties of the president of Ukraine, adding to his authority to lead the government that lawmakers had approved on Saturday On Saturday, after signing a peace deal with the opposition that he had hoped would keep him in office until at least December, Mr Yanukovych fled Kiev to denounce what he called a violent coup His official residence, his vast, colonnaded office complex and other once-impregnable centers of power fell without a fight to throngs of joyous citizens stunned by their triumph While Mr Yanukovych’s archrival, former Prime Minister Yulia V Tymoshenko, was released from a penitentiary hospital, Parliament found the president unable to fulfill his duties and exercised its constitutional powers to set an election for May 25 to select his replacement A pugnacious Mr Yanukovych appeared on television Saturday afternoon, apparently from the eastern city of Kharkiv, near Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, saying he had been forced to leave the capital because of a ‘‘coup,’’ and that he had not resigned, and had no plans to The president’s departure from Kiev capped three months of protests and a week of frenzied violence in the capital that left more than 80 protesters dead It turned what began in November as a street protest driven by pro-Europe chants and nationalist songs into a momentous but still ill-defined revolution Ms Tymoshenko, who was jailed by Mr Yanukovych after losing the presidential election in 2010, was released Saturday evening from the hospital in Kharkiv where she had been held and quickly made her way to Kiev Many Ukrainians — and virtually all of the pro-Western protesters — believe her conviction was politically motivated and regard her as something of a martyr to their cause Late Saturday she appeared on the stage in Independence Square in a wheelchair and delivered a speech that was greeted by cheers and chants of ‘‘Yulia! Yulia!’’ She addressed her audience as ‘‘heroes,’’ and told them, ‘‘I was dreaming to see your eyes I was dreaming to feel the power that changed everything.’’ Depending on her health, Ms Tymoshenko, who has complained of chronic back problems since she was jailed in 2011, may run for president in vote scheduled for May, and many of New push against gay marriage Opponents of same-sex marriage have a new chance this week to play one of their most emotional and, they hope, potent cards: the claim that having parents of the same sex is bad for children nytimes.com/us Defining the crunch factor How should General Mills gauge the texture of its granola bars? A young inventor has come up with the answer: He calls it an organoleptic analyzer nytimes.com/technology Test case: Is college football a job? In a hearing before the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago, Northwestern players have laid out an argument that they are employees entitled to unionize nytimes.com/sports Robots as U.S border sentinels Drug smuggling has remained stubbornly common along the United States-Mexico border, where robots are a new tactic in the battle nytimes.com/us Taliban launch bold attack Taliban insurgents overran an Afghan Army base on Sunday and killed 21 soldiers, one of the worst single blows to government forces nytimes.com/asia A few hundred fearful pro-democracy activists turned out on Sunday in this hardscrabble city in eastern Ukraine, the region where the deposed president, Victor F Yanukovych is believed to have fled Within an hour, they were jeered by mobs, mostly young men, masked and carrying clubs Eventually, the police maneuvered between the two groups, escorting away the activists and cor- ralling but not arresting their haranguers, some clearly inebriated The two gatherings illustrated the forces still tugging at Ukraine’s future and which have yet to be reconciled — Ukraine’s pro-European west and its Russian-leaning east — even now that Mr Yanukovych has been removed from office Mr Yanukovych hails from the mean streets of Donetsk, where in his youth he went to prison twice for assault Where he is now is not known He went into hiding Sunday, a day after a senior aide of the border protection forces, Sergey Astakhov, announced that a charter plane had been prevented from taking off Saturday night at Donetsk airport Mr Yanukovych was spotted leaving the plane DONETSK, PAGE | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES page two Turmoil in Ukraine All I’ve read about the Ukrainian people during their crisis has impressed me Their bravery, pride, discipline and focus on their ideals have been incredible The fact that there was no looting, wanton destruction or further violence after they’d achieved their goals earns my lasting respect I wish these fine people the very best in their new future as a productive and successful nation Cheering for the home team Right sets its sights on a U.N treaty TO MM Y 2TON E, I am American, and I have lived in Ukraine for 20 years Almost everybody I know is shocked and many appalled by Yulia Tymoshenko’s being freed, and that her first action was to go to Independence Square and say she will run for President Yulia Tymoshenko is not a martyr for freedom As prime minister, she was as corrupt as Yanukovych and his team Everybody I know agrees that the charges were political — but she deserved to be in jail — and should be joined by Yanukovych and his henchmen Ukraine needs new leaders There are many deserving a chance Albert R Hunt L E T T E R F R OM WA S H IN GTON A ND RE W KI N S E L, I’m afraid that if Tymoshenko gets to become president, we’ll be here again in five years talking about protesters in the streets of Kiev, protesting her corrupt government LO U A N DRE WS , This is only the first act I wish these people well, living in the midst of such corruption But I’m afraid for their lives as this tragedy continues to spiral Poor Ukraine, so far from God and so close to Russia L BR AV ERMA N , Who would have dreamed that this could have happened during Putin’s PR extravaganza, the Sochi Olympics? Oh, he must have a very bad taste in his mouth C DC, See what readers are talking about and leave your own comments at inyt.com 1914 Storm Drives Cruiser Ashore A terrific gale raged over the western Mediterranean during the early hours of yesterday morning Considerable damage was caused to shipping, the force of the hurricane being such that many vessels dragged their anchors, while others were driven ashore or dashed against the quays near which they were lying The French armored cruiser WaldeckRousseau was driven ashore at Golfe Juan, near Cannes, off which the French Mediterranean squadron is anchored The cruiser is lying in a sheltered position in nearly two fathoms of water 1939 Machado, Spanish Writer, Dies COLLIOURE, FRANCE Antonio Machado, Spanish poet and playwright, died yesterday [Feb 22] in the tiny hotel of this French village which was his home in war-enforced exile He was 64 years old A month ago M Machado, with his family, had fled from Barcelona with thousands of other Spanish Loyalists and had taken refuge here With his brother, M Machado wrote ten plays, including ‘‘Phoenix’’ and ‘‘Juan de Manana.’’ Two volumes of poetry, ‘‘Soledades’’ and ‘‘Campos de Castilla,’’ won him a European reputation Throughout the civil war in Spain he fought with his pen for the Loyalist government PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES HILL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Olympic fans traveled to the Sochi Games from all over Russia A few wore bear costumes and capes — as much for the television cameras as for the tourists — and they were usually sporting the national colors DONNING THE COLORS — AND FUR Find a retrospective of news from 1887 to 2013 in The International Herald Tribune at iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com sochi2014.nytimes.com/photos Horst Rechelbacher, 72; founded natural cosmetics company BY PAUL VITELLO Horst Rechelbacher, an Austrian-born hairstylist who went on to found Aveda, a company whose pledge to eliminate toxic chemicals from its products helped give rise to a vast market for so-called natural cosmetics in the United States, died on O B I T U A RY Feb 15 in Osceola, Wis He was 72 The cause was complications of pancreatic cancer, a family spokesman said Mr Rechelbacher championed campaigns to raise public awareness of potentially cancer-causing ingredients in beauty supplies He started Aveda in 1978, when making fragrances and hair-care products from herbs and other plants was widely seen as an ephemeral pursuit, doomed to vanish with the receding tide of the counterculture He made batches of his first product, a clove shampoo, in his kitchen sink in Minneapolis By 1997, when he sold the company to Estée Lauder for a reported $300 million, Mr Rechelbacher had ‘‘put natural cosmetics on the map in the United States,’’ said Geoffrey G Jones, a Har- vard Business School professor and the author of ‘‘Beauty Imagined,’’ a 2010 history of the beauty industry Mr Rechelbacher’s line of luxury products ultimately included lip gloss, hair conditioners, mascara, fragrances, herbal teas, coffee beans, nontoxic household cleaners, nutritional supplements, jewelry and books, all carried by 25,000 stores and salons worldwide He did not originate the idea of organic cosmetics; they had been manufactured since the late 1950s by niche firms like Yves Rocher But with a few other ‘‘really good entrepreneurs,’’ Professor Jones said, including Anita Roddick, who founded The Body Shop in Britain in 1976, Mr Rechelbacher helped make ‘‘natural’’ health and beauty products ‘‘totally cool, fashionable and expensive’’ and the fastest-growing sector of the industry After selling Aveda, Mr Rechelbacher started Intelligent Nutrients to produce cosmetics with organic ingredients He grew most of the ingredients on his 570-acre organic farm in Osceola Horst Martin Rechelbacher was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, on Nov 11, 1941, the son of Rudolf and Maria Rechelbacher His father was a shoemaker His mother was an herbalist and apothecary whose work inspired Mr Rechelbacher’s interest in medicinal plants At 14, facing diminished opportunities in Austria after World War II, Horst was apprenticed to a local hairdresser’s shop He proved talented; by 17, he was working in a hair salon in Rome After that, he moved to salons in London and then New York Mr Rechelbacher was attending a hairstyling competition in Minneapolis in 1965 when he was seriously injured in a car accident After a six-month recovery, he decided to settle there and open a salon It grew to become a small chain known as Horst & Friends His childhood interest in herbal medicine was rekindled in 1970 by an Indian guru he had met in Minneapolis when he attended his lecture on the ancient practice of Ayurvedic medicine, which uses herbs and plants (The name Aveda was derived from the Sanskrit word Ayurveda, which means ‘‘science of life.’’) The encounter, he told interviewers, inspired him to spend six months in India, where he learned about the herbs, oils and plants used in the Ayurvedic tradition of health care and aromatherapy — skills he later applied in formulating his clove shampoos, cherry-bark hair conditioners and lip glosses of aỗaớ JENN ACKERMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Horst Rechelbacher raised awareness about potentially toxic beauty supplies berry and purple corn Mr Rechelbacher’s signature pitch was, ‘‘Don’t put anything on your skin that you wouldn’t put in your mouth.’’ At sales conventions and in videotaped interviews, he often demonstrated that principle by drinking hair spray and other products made by his company Hair spray made by some major manufacturers can contain solvents, glues, polymers and propellants, said Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy at the Breast Cancer Fund, one of a dozen nonprofit environmental and health groups that joined forces in 2004 to start the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Mr Rechelbacher helped finance it ‘‘Horst was in many ways the father of safe cosmetics,’’ Ms Nudelman said ‘‘He took action to address the problem long before most of us knew there was anything to even worry about.’’ Since the 1990s, consumer groups have raised alarms about scant government oversight of cosmetics made with risk-laden ingredients like formaldehyde resin (used as a nail strengthener in polish), camphor (a common ingredient in aromatherapy products), dibutyl phthalate (a solvent in nail products) and parabens (compounds used as preservatives in fragrances) The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently helped persuade Johnson & Johnson to remove two ingredients linked to cancer from its baby shampoo ‘‘Horst believed so deeply in our work,’’ the group said in a statement after his death ‘‘Much to the chagrin of his more mainstream peers,’’ it added, he often handed out copies of the campaign’s literature at industry meetings Its headline: ‘‘Free gift of toxic chemicals with every cosmetic purchase.’’ Any suspicion that the political right, after suffering a defeat on the debt ceiling and facing threats from business donors, is losing its clout can be dismissed by the fight over the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities The treaty has been ratified by 141 countries In the United States, it is backed by the White House, former President George H.W Bush, the major disability and veterans’ advocacy groups and many businesses Senate Republicans, however, already defeated the treaty in 2012, and it now faces an uphill slog to get the two-thirds vote needed for ratification Right-wing critics — led by former Senator Rick Santorum, the Heritage Foundation and some home-schoolers — said that adopting it would allow global enforcers to determine the treatment of Americans with disabilities and the permissibility of home schooling, and that it would ease access to abortion In reality, In reality, the the treaty is treaty is modeled on based on the the Americans With Americans Disabilities Act of With Disabil1990 It states that nations must ensure ities Act that people with disabilities get the same rights and are treated with the same dignity as all others It might well pressure other countries to adopt American standards Proponents say American leadership is important, a demonstration of the soft power of ideals and values If passage emboldens other nations to elevate their standards, it will make life easier for Americans with disabilities when traveling outside the United States Despite strong opposition from Senate Republicans, led by Bob Corker of Tennessee, the treaty has a distinctively Republican flavor The Americans With Disabilities Act was the signature domestic achievement of Mr Bush’s presidency, and the treaty was negotiated and supported at the United Nations by his son’s administration The most important champion of the treaty is the former Senate Republican leader Bob Dole, a disabled World War II veteran; it is supported by another former party leader, Bill Frist, a physician Its chief backers in the current Senate are John Barrasso of Wyoming, another physician who is one of the most conservative members of the chamber, and John McCain of Arizona, a disabled veteran Veterans’ groups backing the treaty include the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Wounded Warrior Project It is embraced by the United States Chamber of Commerce and companies like Nike, Walmart Stores, Coca-Cola and IBM The opposition from Mr Santorum, the Heritage Foundation, a slice of the home-schooling movement and a few right-wing Catholic organizations would seem a mismatch Yet these groups are vocal, and they capitalize on many Republicans’ fears of challenges from the right The disabilities community is not that well organized, nor does it rank among the big campaign contributors Mr Corker says his opposition is based solely on the dangers the treaty would pose to national sovereignty and the threat that it would supersede United States law and states’ rights He cites a 1920 Supreme Court ruling on a migratory-bird treaty as precedent In the Senate, supporters are writing in ‘‘reservations, declarations and understandings,’’ attesting that nothing in the treaty would affect current law This is a common practice, The Economist magazine notes, for treaties ratified by the United States and other countries It makes the Corker argument specious, says Richard L Thornburgh, who was attorney general during George H.W Bush’s administration and is an advocate of the treaty ‘‘These reservations attached to a treaty are part of the treaty,’’ he said ‘‘There is nothing in this treaty that would allow what critics allege.’’ Mr Dole says that when he ran the Senate, ratification ‘‘would have passed by voice vote.’’ He remains optimistic that it will pass, though he says he is worried because ‘‘a few senators aren’t returning my calls.’’ This astounds Tim Shriver, the chairman of the Special Olympics ‘‘What values here these opponents not believe in?’’ he asked ‘‘This treaty brings to the table a place where America is the shining light on the hill.’’ (BLOOMBERG VIEW) EMAIL: pagetwo@nytimes.com Printed in ATHENS | BALI | BANGKOK | BEIRUT | BELGIUM | DHAKA | DOHA | DUBAI | FRANKFURT | GALLARGUES | HONG KONG | ISLAMABAD | ISTANBUL | JAKARTA | KARACHI | KUALA LUMPUR | LAHORE | LONDON | MADRID | MALTA | MANILA | MILAN | NEPAL NAGOYA | OSAKA | PARIS | SÃO PAULO | SEOUL | SINGAPORE | SYDNEY | TAIPEI | TEL AVIV | TOKYO | U.S | YANGON • Subscription Inquiries: Europe 00 800 44 48 78 27 (toll-free) Other countries +33 41 43 93 61; E-mail inytsubs@nytimes.com; Fax +33 41 43 92 10 Advertising Inquiries: +33 41 43 92 06; Fax +33 41 43 92 12 • Printer: Paris Offset Print, 30, rue Raspail, 93120 La Courneuve MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES World News middle east europe Forensics help Naples battle sidewalk nuisance BY JIM YARDLEY Problems? Yes, conceded Tommaso Sodano, the vice mayor here, Naples has problems Debts have reportedly topped $2 billion Many streets are pocked with potholes The police department is underfinanced, organized crime operates like a shadow state, and illegal dumps are scattered around what is still a grittily beautiful port city And then there is what dogs leave behind on the sidewalks Naples has no shortage of that, either Yet to the surprise of some people, including more than a few Neapolitans, the municipal administration is trying to stake out a reputation as a civic innovator by positioning Naples at the cutting edge of dog-waste eradication By taking DNA samples Of dogs ‘‘I know some people find it funny,’’ Mr Sodano said, smiling, ‘‘that with all the problems the city has, we would focus on dog poop I know that.’’ Well, yes, maybe it is a bit funny But another thing also appears to be true: For the Neapolitans who navigate the city’s sidewalks, the initiative is not unwelcome In the affluent neighborhood of Vomero, which is serving as a testing ground for the cleanup campaign, many residents are quite pleased, if surprised, that it is happening in Naples ‘‘This seems more German or Finnish than Italian,’’ said Virpi Sihvonen, a Finn who moved to Naples in the late 1980s after marrying a local man In the mornings, Ms Sihvonen said, she often watches a man release his three dogs into the streets to run off to their business He whistles, the dogs return, and their waste is left behind ‘‘He’s not the only one,’’ she added The problem is as universal as cockroaches, and seemingly as unsolvable Urban dog ownership demands a balance of love and duty, and not everyone is dutiful about cleaning up after a walk Cities have tried everything from the postal service (a Spanish mayor mailed the stuff back to dog owners) to shaming (some cities have publicized the names of offending owners) to bribery (some parks in Mexico City offered free Wi-Fi in exchange for bags of waste) Naples has opted for science and technology The idea is that every dog in the city will be given a blood test for DNA profiling to create a database of dogs and owners When an offending pile is discovered, it will be scraped up and subjected to DNA testing If a match is made in the database, the owner will face a fine of up to 500 euros, about $685 The DNA initiative might seem a tad Syrian rebels backed by West face disarray ANTAKYA, TURKEY Replacement of general underscores Supreme Military Council’s chaos BY BEN HUBBARD AND KARAM SHOUMALI It appeared to be a huge step forward for the scattered rebel groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad of Syria: the creation of a central body of top insurgent commanders who would coordinate military campaigns, direct foreign support and serve as a unifying force for their diverse movement But 14 months after its creation, the body, the Supreme Military Council, is in disarray Islamist groups have seized its weapons storerooms, its members have stolen or sold its supplies, and one commander it armed and equipped has publicly joined an offshoot of Al Qaeda The council’s full dysfunction spilled into public view recently when a group of its members decided at a secret meeting to remove its chief of staff, Gen Salim Idris, and put another man in his place While the opposition’s exiled leadership, the Syrian National Coalition, quickly congratulated the new leader, the move baffled many in the opposition, including the new leader himself, who had not even known he was in the running for the top job ‘‘My friend called and told me, ‘Congratulations,’’’ the new leader, Brig Gen Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir, said in an interview after his appointment ‘‘I asked him, ‘Good news?’ He said to turn on the television.’’ ‘‘I swear to God, no one was in touch with me,’’ he added ‘‘I knew nothing about it.’’ The chaos within the opposition council reflects the wider mistrust and internal rivalries between Syria’s rebels and their powerful foreign backers that have consistently undermined their ability to form a united front against Mr Assad While rebels across Syria share the goal of regime change and often cooperate in battle, recent interviews with nearly 20 rebel commanders, fighters, activists and logistics officers paint a picture of a movement handicapped by infighting, with many players accusing their colleagues of choosing the expansion of their own power over the fight against the government The new chaos in the rebel leadership comes as internationally backed talks aimed at ending the war have failed to make progress and as the Obama administration searches for ways to put more pressure on Mr Assad The disorder within the council, the umbrella group for moderate, Westernbacked rebels, leaves the United States and its allies with one fewer reliable partner to work with to try to affect the course of the war Since its formation in December 2012, the Supreme Military Council has never lived up to its name Although it served as a conduit for foreign military support flowing into Syria, it never received enough aid to fully equip its brigades This left fighting groups scrambling for support and developing independent networks of wealthy Syrians or Persian Gulf patrons, granting them independence from the council’s leadership Throughout the war, the Syrian government has called the rebel movement a terrorist plot backed by foreign powers The Supreme Military Council’s operations lend some credence to this argument Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the uprising’s two largest backers, pushed for the body’s creation and provided most of its support And Tur- ambitious for Naples, a city that struggles to collect the garbage Apartment complexes and condo associations across the United States are increasingly using similar programs, but Naples represents a much bigger canine population, with estimates of more than 80,000 dogs in the city Mr Sodano and other city employees are confident that the program will work, noting that a similar campaign has been successful on the nearby resort island of Capri In Naples, the campaign so far is limited to Vomero and the adjacent neighborhood of Arenella, and costs more than $27,000 Teams of police officers and health workers started joint patrols in January to spread awareness of the program and hand out a few fines At the city’s veterinary hospital, technicians have taken blood samples from about 200 dogs, many of them accompanied by owners who were appalled by the problem One drizzly morning, Capt Enrico Del Gaudio of the Municipal Police led a patrol down Via Luca Giordano, a major commercial street in Vomero, where several residents were walking their dogs before work Dressed undercover in jeans and hiking boots for the patrol, Captain Del Gaudio is diplomatic — he describes dog waste as ‘‘presences’’ — and finds nothing silly about the cam- GIANNI CIPRIANO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES The cutting edge of dog-waste eradication: a ‘‘vet card’’ that stores a dog’s DNA paign At his children’s school, he is known as the dog-waste cop ‘‘I’m a hero,’’ he said, laughing Captain Del Gaudio was especially proud of the condition of Via Luca Giordano, which was unscathed for blocks Even though the city is still building its DNA database and has yet to start testing what it finds, he said, the program is already influencing public behavior ‘‘Now, when I walk the streets, the presences have greatly diminished,’’ Captain Del Gaudio said ‘‘Before, it was like an obstacle course Every day, a child would walk into school with a little gift under her shoe.’’ Daniele Minichini, an official with an independent police union, is not amused by this use of policing resources, espe- cially in a city that is the headquarters of the Camorra mafia For two decades, Officer Minichini has argued that money should be spent on better equipment or even uniforms for officers He said Naples must improve the sewage system, the roads and other infrastructure — not focus on what dogs leave behind He also predicted that costs would rise sharply once the program was expanded to other parts of the city ‘‘When you have a house to restore, you first build a parquet floor?’’ he asked ‘‘Or you repair the walls and the windows?’’ Mr Sodano, the vice mayor, said the concerns about finances and administrative focus were understandable but misplaced He said city officials were already trying to claw out of debt and address the city’s major problems But Mr Sodano said the cleanup enforcement program was a chance to demonstrate municipal problem solving and to remind citizens that they have responsibilities, too ‘‘The main goal is respect for the rules,’’ he said Nor, he added, should the city’s huge problems preclude Naples from doing the small things that keep it beautiful ‘‘Governing Naples,’’ he said, ‘‘certainly requires a sparkle of madness.’’ Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting Renzi, taking office, vows a stable Italy ROME THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Matteo Renzi was sworn in over the weekend as Italy’s youngest prime minister, and he promised a new era of stable government after engineering the removal of Enrico Letta, a fellow Democratic Party member he deemed too timid to revive the country In a Twitter message before being sworn in on Saturday, Mr Renzi, 39, said accomplishing his goals would be tough, but ‘‘we’ll it.’’ The main challenge for Mr Renzi’s broad coalition is the ailing economy, which is just beginning to show signs of rebounding after several years of stagnation Youth unemployment is hovering around 40 percent Mr Renzi resigned as the mayor of Florence this month to take up his first national government job He has vowed to push electoral changes through Parliament in hopes of ending chronic political instability by reducing the influence of Italy’s tiny parties cartier.com NAPLES, ITALY key has allowed fighters and regular weapons shipments to cross its southern border But many rebels said foreign support has often exacerbated tensions between groups Persian Gulf states earmarked portions of each shipment for their preferred brigades, making others jealous and giving the council little control The Supreme Military Council ‘‘became nothing more than a storeroom,’’ said Col Ziad Obeid, a council member who helped receive foreign support ‘‘It was a distribution point, not a military institution operating on its own.’’ As the council failed to turn the tide against Mr Assad, many rebels blamed General Idris, accusing him of failing to prevent rebel losses and the rise of groups with links to Al Qaeda Ibrahim al-Hamwe, an arms coordinator for the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, said, ‘‘There was no battle you could point to and say, ‘The S.M.C did this,’ or a force you could say was funded by the S.M.C.’’ Others accused the group’s members of distributing arms to their friends or selling them Safi al-Safi, who leads a rebel brigade near Hama, said he had bought 22,000 bullets and 80 assault rifles from a Supreme Military Council member and sold them for a profit of more than $20,000 ‘‘How else was I supposed to feed my men?’’ he said Even prominent council members sometimes helped themselves to its arms Last summer, fighters loyal to Jamal Maarouf, a rebel commander based in Idlib, seized a shipment of weapons from the council’s storehouses on the Turkish border, according to people present at the time While Mr The council’s disorder leaves Washington and its allies with one fewer reliable partner in confronting Damascus Maarouf did not respond to requests for comment, one of his allies, Mohammed Zaatar, confirmed the account Notable defections have also marred the council’s image Late last year, Saddam al-Jamal, a commander who had received arms from the group, publicly announced that he had joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, an offshoot of Al Qaeda General Idris’s aides declined to make him available for an interview, but Col Fateh Hassoun, his deputy, acknowledged the criticisms ‘‘All of that talk is 100 percent true,’’ he said ‘‘The S.M.C didn’t give the fighters what they needed because it never got enough support.’’ For now, the future of the Supreme Military Council remains unclear Last week, a group of its members met while General Idris was abroad and made the announcement that he had been replaced, citing the ‘‘dysfunction that the S.M.C has gone through in recent months.’’ General Idris called the move ‘‘illegal’’ and a ‘‘coup.’’ The move was backed by Ahmed alJarba, the president of the Syrian National Coalition, and his supporters have said it will pave the way for a restructuring of the council to make it more effective After his appointment to replace General Idris, General Bashir said he would cooperate with anyone fighting to topple the regime But he had no concrete plans that might turn the council’s fate around ‘‘We’ll what we can,’’ he said, ‘‘and we’ll talk to the fighters on the ground and, God willing, we’ll live up to our responsibilities.’’ Haute Joaillerie ring, L’Odyssée de Cartier | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES world news europe Ukraine lawmakers move fast to cement power UKRAINE, FROM PAGE her supporters are eager to build a campaign In a sign of her still formidable political influence, Ms Tymoshenko spoke by telephone on Sunday with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, as well as with Stefan Fule, a top European Union official, and with Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, Richard J Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Christopher S Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut Ms Tymoshenko also met with ambassadors from the United States and European Union countries In Kiev, Ms Tymoshenko received an enthusiastic but not overly exuberant reception from the crowd in Independence Square The response demonstrated her continued popularity and status as a symbol of opposition to Mr Yanukovych but also underscored the apprehension that many Ukrainians feel toward politicians deeply connected to a government with a long history of corruption and mismanagement Mr Yanukovych, meanwhile, whose whereabouts remained unknown, appeared to be losing the support of even his former allies On Sunday, his Party of Regions, which days ago enjoyed a majority in Parliament, released a statement blaming him for the recent violence In the statement, the Party of Regions said it strongly condemned what it called ‘‘criminal decrees,’’ which resulted in ‘‘human casualties, emptied coffers, huge debts and shame in the eyes of the Ukrainian people and the whole world.’’ ‘‘All attempts to convince the president to act differently were ignored,’’ the statement said ‘‘The party was virtually the hostage of one corrupt family.’’ While Parliament has dismissed a number of senior officials, the defense minister, Pavlo Lebedev, told Ukraine’s Channel 24 that he intended to remain in his post, and the military issued statements that seemed to offer assurance that no steps would be taken to interfere with the provisional government A statement posted on the Defense Ministry website on Saturday, after Mr Yanukovych’s departure, and attributed to the ministry and the military, reaffirmed the military’s commitment to the Constitution and expressed sorrow over the deaths in Kiev last week ‘‘Please be assured that the Armed Forces of Ukraine cannot and will not be involved in any political conflict,’’ the statement said It is not yet clear whether Ukrainians in the southern and eastern regions of the country, which host the bulk of the country’s industrial infrastructure as well as the heaviest concentration of pro-Russian sentiment, would resist the change of government in Kiev In several cities, including Donetsk and Kharkiv, pro-Russian demonstrators took to the streets on Sunday, and there have been scattered reports of clashes between pro-Russian Ukrainians and supporters of the protests in Kiev Several lawmakers expressed rising alarm over Ukraine’s perilous economic situation The Russian government in December had come to Mr Yanukovych’s rescue with a $15 billion bailout and an offer of cheaper prices on natural gas A $2 billion installment of that aid was canceled as part of the deal reached on Friday between Mr Yanukovych and opposition leaders Western officials have said they hope to offer assistance, but it is unclear how quickly that help might arrive Among the reasons Mr Yanukovych turned away from signing political and trade accords with Europe in November was his unwillingness to carry out painful austerity measures and other reforms that had been demanded by the International Monetary Fund in exchange for a large assistance package On Sunday, the Fund’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, said that there was concern about the political instability in Ukraine and that the fund could only provide assistance in response to a formal request Speaking at the end of a meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Sydney, Australia, Ms Lagarde said, ‘‘If the Ukrain- SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Bouquets and candles adorned barricades in Kiev, Ukraine, on Sunday, a day after the president’s departure capped three months of protests and a week of deadly violence in the capital ian authorities were to ask for I.M.F support, whether it is policy advice, whether it is financial support together with economic reform discussions, we would be ready to that.’’ But, she said, ‘‘We need to have somebody to talk to because any discussion takes two.’’ Susan E Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser, said Sunday that the United States was prepared to work with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, as well as Russia, to shore up Ukraine’s nascent government Speaking on the NBC News program ‘‘Meet the Press,’’ Ms Rice said that the United States hoped to see constitutional change and democratic elections in Ukraine ‘‘in very short order,’’ and she added that it ‘‘would be a grave mistake’’ for Russia to interfere militarily ‘‘It’s not in the interests of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or of the United States to see the country split,’’ she said ‘‘It’s in nobody’s interest to see violence return.’’ Oksana Lyachynska contributed reporting from Kiev, Michelle Innis from Sydney and Brian Knowlton from Washington For deposed leader, a home region but not a rallying point DONETSK, FROM PAGE and getting into one of two armor-plated vehicles that drew up to the craft Rumors that the president, who fled Kiev overnight Friday, was in a local dacha also appeared untrue, said Oleksiy Matsuka, editor in chief of the newspaper Donetskiye Novosti While this region, a bastion of support for his pro-Russian policies, might be a good place to hide, it still seemed unlikely that the president could use the area as a rallying point The exact stance of the army and security forces is murky But influential politicians were turning away from Mr Yanukovych The head of his party’s parliamentary faction denounced mistakes The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, called him history, according to the Interfax news agency A senior Donetsk member of the president’s Party of Regions broke publicly with Mr Yanukovych, while Donetsk’s mayor, Alexander Lukyanchenko, a Yanukovych ally who has railed against ‘‘fascists’’ and even ‘‘Nazis’’ battling riot police in Independence Square in Kiev, put on his own, very east Euro- URIEL SINAI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Supporters of Viktor F Yanukovych rallying on Sunday in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine pean display of strength Striking a note of a benign city father, the mayor appeared near a monument to the poet Taras Shevchenko as crowds dispersed, plunging in to shake hands, reassure a man waiting years for a new apartment that the problems would be solved and warning against a breakup of Ukraine in the pattern of Yugoslavia in the 1990s It was the final act in an elaborate two-hour drama, carefully managed by the police, that included the twin rallies First, about 300 activists gathered for a wreath-laying ceremony at noon at the memorial to Shevchenko, one of Ukraine’s most revered heroes In a statement, they emphasized that they would neither try to storm administrative offices, as in Kiev, nor tear down other memorials The Ukrainian media have reported 16 Lenin statues have been torn down across the center and east of the country in recent days, though on Sunday in this coal-mining town a Communist flag flew defiantly over a bust of Lenin Just an hour later, the second scene unfolded Hundreds of men massed on a sidewalk, separated from the memorial crowd by various police units, from black-clad riot units to militia in navy uniforms The taunting crowd chanted ‘‘glory’’ — not to the ‘‘heroes of Maidan’’ as the Kiev masses but to the Berkut, the elite police units widely held responsible for violence against Kiev demonstrators After the police separated the groups, some of the rowdy young men ran down the street to ‘‘protect’’ the monument of Lenin Vsevolod Volosnoi, a 53-year-old doctor watching the scene with his wife, Svetlana, a nurse, mirrored this general ‘‘We want to live in a civilized place, with the leaders of the democratic movement of all the world.’’ confusion, which clouds so much of Ukraine’s politics On the one hand, he assured a reporter, ‘‘We want to live in a civilized place, with the leaders of the democratic movement of all the world.’’ But ‘‘not all that came from Kiev is the voice of the people,’’ he added And for sure, he said, in this heavily Russian-speaking region adjoining Russia, one cannot be deprived of one’s own language That was an allusion to the move already voted by Parliament in Kiev to cancel the official status of the Russian language Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian Parliament’s committee on dealing with former Soviet lands, told Interfax: ‘‘They are trying in every possible way to tear Ukraine away from Russia,’’ while counseling caution — for now Moves to deprive various peoples of their languages over centuries of shifting government in Eastern Europe have always sparked the fiercest of disputes — as, say, in the Balkans in the 1990s In a sign that Ukraine’s political turbulence is dividing even families, a welldressed doctor, who identified herself only as Yelena, confided that her husband and mother-in-law were strongly opposed to her attendance at the pro-democracy protests here, muted as they are compared with those in Kiev She hovered nervously on the edge Sunday Two friends, both teachers, and, like her, in their 40s, came up and joked ‘‘Fascism won’t advance!’’ chanted their opponents ‘‘I ask you,’’ said one of the trio, a teacher, also named Yelena, and wrapped in a lilac parka ‘‘Are we three fascists?’’ Ukrainians take stock of the opulence that a president left behind KIEV, UKRAINE BY ANDREW E KRAMER An eerie calm and a light mist shrouded President Viktor F Yanukovych’s sprawling residential compound just outside the capital over the weekend as street fighters from the center of Kiev made their way inside, gingerly passing a wrought-iron gate and cautioning one another about booby traps and snipers They found neither on Saturday morning but discovered instead a world just as surreal as the charred wasteland of barricades and debris on the central plaza that they have occupied for months It was a vista of bizarre and whimsical attractions on a grand scale, a panorama of waste and inexplicable taste They saw about a half-dozen large residences of various styles, a private zoo with rare breeds of goats, a coop for pheasants from Asia, a golf course, a garage filled with classic cars and a private restaurant in the form of a pirate ship, with the name ‘‘Galleon’’ on its bow and stern One man in the 31st Lviv Hundred, the small band of antigovernment militants that took control of the compound, a Ukrainian flag on a lamp post A few dozen others walked about, seemingly dazed by what was happening Some raised their clubs, pipes and bats into the air and yelled, ‘‘Glory to Ukraine!’’ and ‘‘Glory to its heroes!’’ Whether it was the toppling of Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines or of Col Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya, the breaching of the presidential palace gates is a milestone of a revolution But Kiev on Saturday was unusual in one sense There was no sacking The oppo- sition unit that took control of the president’s complex, called Mezhigorye, kept it intact, at least for now On Saturday the president fled and the presidential guard melted away But members of the Lviv Hundred, who had repeatedly confronted Mr Yanukovych’s security forces on the streets, posted guards around his residential compound and prevented looting even as swarms of gawking Kiev residents strolled through its grounds The reason, the street fighters said, was to preserve evidence of the deposed leader’s lavish lifestyle for his prosecution One of the Lviv militants walked onto a gazebo ringed with plaster urns, removed his green military helmet and gazed out at the park and the Dnieper River Two others, in fetid, sootsmeared clothing from the square and carrying baseball bats, walked into an outbuilding, sat in chairs with plush blue and gold upholstery, pulled large yellow drinking glasses from a cabinet and began to photograph one another on their cellphones as if raising toasts ‘‘We hoped for this but didn’t expect it,’’ said one, Roman Dakus Mr Dakus said he had been in Kiev at Independence Square, or Maidan as it is known here, off and on for three months ‘‘It was very, very difficult to stay on the square in the cold at night But we warmed one another with our hearts and our souls He added: ‘‘People really changed their mind-set because of these events Before, people thought, ‘Nothing really depends on me.’ They preferred to say that and to think like that But after this situation, they think differently They believe in their struggle when they are all together.’’ Within a short time, a crowd gathered outside the gates The street fighters SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Near Kiev, the golf course at the former residence of Viktor F Yanukovych was considered open to the public over the weekend threw them open, and Ukrainians, who were arriving by the thousands by early afternoon, flowed into the compound ‘‘What a nightmare,’’ one man said in disgust, looking at the dining room of Mr Yanukovych’s pirate ship, moored at the river bank, all oak and brass trim The complex was once a modest government site that Mr Yanukovych turned into a private residence and then expanded, saying acquaintances had built or paid for many amenities Previous Ukrainian presidents had not lived at the residence The street fighters decided not to open the buildings, saying they would wait for prosecutors and experts on valuable art to arrive and assess their contents Autocrats seem to have a propensity for private zoos, and Mr Yanukovych’s palace complex contained multiple enclosures for exotic animals Rare pheasants with magnificent, iridescent red tails scratched about in their cages, nervous from the crowds walking past and snapping pictures The labels on the cages identified them as ‘‘Diamond pheasant’’ and ‘‘Japanese long-tailed pheasant.’’ Other cages held dogs, and there were pens for goats and what appeared to be rare breeds of pigs The street fighters also found a heap of ash from burned documents, and used a raft to fish others from where they had been thrown into the river, laying them out carefully to dry The complex extended well over a mile along the river and was immaculately landscaped with hedges, lawns and birch trees, and a golf course of graceful swales, sand traps and pools of crystalline water Even as the crowds grew, there was no sign of looting By evening, a vast traffic jam formed on the highway from the capital, and people walked along the road’s shoulder to see the open palace The grounds filled with Ukrainians who said they were awed by what they saw ‘‘I’ve never seen luxury like this,’’ one man said Speaking of Mr Yanukovych, Ihor Knyazov, a cook, said: ‘‘He couldn’t stand up and tell the people, ‘I give up.’ So he just ran away, the coward.’’ Svetlana Gorbenkova, a real estate agent walking about, said: ‘‘It’s beautiful here It’s so peaceful But why all this for just one person? This was all stolen from us It’s obvious now how much he stole Why didn’t he give anything to the people? When he was running for president, one of his slogans was, ‘I will listen to every one of you.’ But he didn’t listen to any of us.’’ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES asia americas world news Mexicans capture No cartel chief MEXICO CITY Troops and police, aided by U.S intelligence, seize leader of Sinaloa group BY RANDAL C ARCHIBOLD AND GINGER THOMPSON Just before a.m., dozens of soldiers and police officers descended on a condominium tower in Mazatlán, Mexico, a beach resort known as much as a hangout for drug traffickers as for its seafood and surf The forces were following yet another tip about the whereabouts of one of the world’s most wanted drug kingpins, Joaquín Guzmán Loera — known as El Chapo, or ‘‘Shorty’’ — who had eluded such raids for 13 years since escaping from prison in a laundry cart With an army of guards and lethally enforced loyalty, he reigned over a worldwide, multibillion-dollar drug empire that supplied much of the illicit cocaine and marijuana to the United States despite a widespread, yearslong manhunt by American and Mexican forces This time, however, Mr Guzmán, believed to be in his mid-50s, did not slip out a door, disappear into the famed mountains around his home in northwestern Mexico, or prove to be absent, as he had in so many previous attempts to apprehend him He apparently had no time to reach for the arsenal of guns and grenades he had amassed or dash into a storm drain or specially dug tunnel, as the authorities said he recently did minutes ahead of pursuers Mexican marines and the police, aided by information from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, immigration and customs officials and the United States Marshals Service, took him into custody on Saturday without firing a shot, according to American and Mexican officials Mexico’s attorney general, Jesús Murillo Karam, said a later forensic exam made it ‘‘100 percent’’ certain the man was Mr Guzmán; the tests were done to avoid the kind of embarrassment Mexican officials faced in June 2012 when they announced the arrest of Mr Guzmán’s son, only to later discover it was not him He faces many drug trafficking and organized crime charges in the United States, which had offered $5 million for information leading to his arrest Mr Guzmán’s organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, is considered the largest and most powerful trafficking operation in the world, with a reach as far as Europe and Asia, and has been a main combatant in a spasm of violence that has left tens of thousands dead in Mexico ‘‘Big strike,’’ said a Twitter posting by former President Felipe Calderón, who had made cracking down on drug gangs a hallmark of his tenure But it was the forces under the control of President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has sought to steer the image of Mexico away from drug violence, that produced the biggest arrest in a generation While Mr Peña Nieto has not allowed American law enforcement officials the kind of broad access in Mexico that Mr Calderón had permitted, the United States and Mexico have continued to work together on big cases Eduardo Medina Mora, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said the two governments had been working together on the case for months But whether Mr Guzmán would be extradited to the United States has not been worked out Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, on Sunday welcomed the arrest of Mr Guzmán as a ‘‘huge event’’ akin to the capture or killing of the Colombian drug king Pablo Escobar or that of the Chicago gangster Al Capone ‘‘This is an exceptional case,’’ he said on the ABC news program ‘‘This Week.’’ ‘‘This is the largest, biggest drug lord Big rally is held in Caracas after Kerry’s remarks CARACAS, VENEZUELA BY WILLIAM NEUMAN Antigovernment demonstrations continued to grow over the weekend in Venezuela after Secretary of State John Kerry markedly stepped up his criticism of the government over its response to more than two weeks of protests ‘‘I am watching with increasing concern the situation in Venezuela,’’ Mr Kerry said in a statement on Friday night ‘‘The government’s use of force and judicial intimidation against citizens and political figures, who are exercising a legitimate right to protest, is unacceptable and will only increase the likelihood of violence.’’ On Saturday, thousands of people in Caracas attended one of the largest opposition rallies yet, a sign that the protests, which began this month with student demonstrations against high crime, might continue to gain strength we’ve ever seen in the world.’’ Mr McCaul praised the antidrug efforts of Mr Peña Nieto, saying: ‘‘This is a significant victory for both Mexico and the United States — this is the world’s most notorious drug lord that got taken down; he’s really the godfather, if you will, of the cartels.’’ Noting that Mr Guzmán had escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001, however, Mr McCaul said he favored Mr Guzmán’s extradition to the United States, where he could be kept in a highly secure prison It remains to be seen if the arrest will interrupt Mexico’s thriving drug trade The capture or killing of a drug lord sometimes unleashes more violence as internal feuds break out and rivals attack And given the efficiency of the Sinaloa Cartel, it is possible that the group will manage a smooth transition to a new leader and continue with business as usual Over time, as Mr Guzmán eluded capture, his legend and the mystery of his whereabouts grew But in the end, he was captured not long after doing what so many cartel bosses do: having a party in Mazatlán In the years since he escaped arrest, Mr Guzmán took on near-mythic status He landed on the Forbes list of the world’s richest people He picked up the tab for entire restaurants, or so the stories go, to ensure that diners would remain silent about his outings According to a leaked diplomatic cable, he surrounded himself with an entourage of 300 armed men for protection Although Mr Guzmán had remained the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, security analysts have long suspected that much of the day-to-day management fell to subordinates still at large Still, Mr Guzmán’s fall carried a potent, symbolic boost for Mexican security forces, which have killed or captured 25 of the 37 most-wanted organized crime leaders announced in 2010 Mr Guzmán was born in poverty in the foothills of the Sierra Madre in Sinaloa State and dropped out of school by third grade His first foray into drug smuggling came in the late 1980s, when, the State Department said, he began working for Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, once Mexico’s biggest cocaine dealer, as an air logistics expert Mr Guzmán astutely exploited the cocaine boom in the United States at the time, making valuable contacts along the transport chain from Colombia to Arizona By the time the Mexican authorities captured Mr Félix Gallardo in 1989, Mr Guzmán had already begun forming his own cartel In 1993, he was charged in the United States with money laundering and racketeering, and three months later, he was arrested and convicted in Mexico on drug and homicide charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison Then, in January 2001, Mr Guzmán’s criminal career took a stunning turn with his escape in the laundry cart that was wheeled out of the prison In what was considered further proof of his broadbased power, the authorities suspected that prison officials helped him escape Randal C Archibold reported from Mexico City, and Ginger Thompson from New York Damien Cave, Paulina Villegas and Karla Zabludovsky contributed reporting from Mexico City, and Brian Knowlton from Washington EDUARDO VERDUGO/ASSOCIATED PRESS Joaquín Guzmán Loera had evaded arrest since escaping from prison in January 2001 ANDREA BRUCE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Anitha Amgoth, center, at the funeral in Gundenga, India, of her husband, who committed suicide A market overhaul in the 1990s reduced subsidies and increased risk for small farmers A legacy of debt after farmers’ suicides INDIA, FROM PAGE tional average; since 1995, the number of suicides by India’s farmers has passed 290,000, according to the national crime records bureau, though the statistics not specify the reason for the act India’s small farmers, once the country’s economic backbone and most reliable vote bank, are increasingly being left behind With global competition and rising costs cutting into their lean profits, their ranks are dwindling, as is their contribution to the gross domestic product If rural voters once made their plight into front-page news around election time, this year the large parties are jockeying for the votes of the urban middle class, and the farmers’ voices are all but silent Even death is a stopgap solution, when farmers like Mr Reddy take their own lives, their debts pass from husband to widow, from father to children Ms Musukula is now trying to scrape a living from the four acres that defeated her husband Around her, she sees a country transformed by economic growth, full of opportunities to break out of poverty, if only her son or daughter could grasp one But the trap that closed on her husband is tightening around her Like nearly every one of her neighbors, she is locked into a bond with village money lenders — an intimate bond, and sometimes a menacing one No sooner did they cut her husband’s body down than one of them was in her house, threatening to block the cremation unless she paid Her appeals to officials for help have been met with indifference Lately, her fear has been getting the better of her ‘‘Sure, they will pay, otherwise it would be as if someone has broken into our house and stolen our money,’’ said Sudhakar Ravula, a slight man who lives in a village about two miles away He introduces himself as a fisherman, but, under questioning, fishes out a pair of goldrimmed reading glasses and unfolds a promissory note signed by Veera Reddy Four years ago, he said, he used borrowed money to lend Mr Reddy $800, at an annual interest rate of 24 percent Reminded of Mr Reddy’s suicide, Mr Ravula looked impatient ‘‘I always feel sad for the man,’’ he said, ‘‘but committing suicide is not the right way to go about it.’’ Stories of farmers committing suicide may prompt shudders in gatherings of sociologists, but the local officials have heard it all before When market reforms were introduced in 1991, the state scaled down subsidies and import barriers fell, thrusting small farmers into an unforgiving global market Farmers took on new risks, switching to commercial crops and expensive, genetically modified seeds, paying more to educate their children in the hopes they would land government jobs They found themselves locked in a white-knuckle gamble, juggling everlarger loans at exorbitant interest rates, always hoping a bumper harvest would allow them to clear their debts, so they could take out new ones This pattern has left a trail of human wreckage On a recent afternoon, Ms Musukula was one of 18 women waiting outside a pale-green government building Nearly every woman carried a police report, identifying debt as the cause of a farmer’s suicide — a fact that should entitle them to a one-time payment of 150,000 rupees, to be split between the money lenders and the bereaved family, pledged by the state government around election time in 2004 To receive it, they needed a designation from the district revenue officer They had come to see one of the officer’s subordinates, a local revenue officer who might act as a gatekeeper They crowded into the back of his office and took a good look at him: P Bhiksham, a middle-aged man in rimless glasses, a green towel tucked behind his back to soak up sweat Mr Bhiksham listened to two women recite the details of their husbands’ deaths, and then began to speak The real problem, he said, was that their husbands drank too much ‘‘In India we have a lot of problems, and we have to live with them,’’ he replied ‘‘You have problems, and you have to live with them Drinking is a major problem for most of the families One has to learn to run the family with whatever resources one has.’’ He went on to say that he had never in his career encountered a genuine case of farmer suicide ‘‘We all have freedom to choose our own livelihoods,’’ he said, primly, ‘‘and the land here is fertile.’’ The women listened silently and filed out They were disappointed by what 800 km CHINA PAKISTAN TAN AN A INDIA INDIA Bolliku Bollikun a ikun unta ANDHR DHR DHRA PRA RADESH Mr Bhiksham had said, but not surprised Many local officials blame farmers for mismanaging their finances ‘‘The family will always tell you it’s a farmer suicide,’’ said G Satyanarayana, the chief inspector at the precinct that had registered Veera Reddy’s suicide in 2012 After glancing through the case file, he said Mr Reddy had been undone by ‘‘his bad habits,’’ by which he meant drinking The real problem, he said, was that local farmers were overspending on their children’s education ‘‘Some of the farmers are getting unreasonably aspirational,’’ he said ‘‘These are small farmers from villages, but they don’t send their kids to government schools, but to private schools They are going for false prestige, they don’t really take note of their own financial status The mother, instead of going out to the fields at a.m., she is waiting for the school bus at a.m.’’ As for money lenders harassing widows after a suicide, he said the police had never received any reports of this happening, so were powerless to take any action Probably, he said, villagers not go to police about money lenders because they are afraid they will need a loan in the future ‘‘Nobody approaches the police,’’ he said ‘‘You always wish they would come and complain.’’ Latha Musukula is beginning to be undone by fear On the morning when the money lenders had come to her doorstep, she tried to what her husband had always done — chitchat, put them off for a month or two But then one of the money lenders described the house he planned to build on Ms Musukula’s land, and addressed her as ‘‘whore.’’ Ms Musukula was so thrown off balance that she repeated the words the money lender asked her to say, promising to repay the whole amount by April She had no idea how she was going to it Selling the farmland, as Mr Ravula is urging, would leave the family without a source of income, and force her to return penniless to her brother’s household Because they cannot repay their loans, Ms Musukula said, only one family in the village is willing to talk to them Fingers of fear climb up her neck as she walks to her cornfields in the morning The corn is shriveling for lack of water, she can see that, and one of the farm’s two generators was just disconnected for nonpayment When she went to the doctor the other day, she said, he ‘‘told me that my nerves may break soon.’’ Something similar happened in the months before her husband killed himself, when he suddenly seemed frightened to leave the house Always a drinker and an expansive host, he seemed to retreat into himself ‘‘He told me, ‘I am going to die I don’t know how you are going to take care of the loans, because I am going to die,’’’ she recalled A week before he killed himself, he said, ‘‘How will you manage things if I die? Will you cry a lot? You’ll be harassed by everyone.’’ We’ll scrape by, she told him then A couple of good harvests and we can pay them all off These days it is she who disappears into silences, and her son and daughter who watch from a distance, uncertain of the exact amount that the family owes Ms Musukula tries to shield them from this information, telling them to focus on their studies, but Srilekha is 18, and she knows ‘‘Mommy hopes to delay the loans and repay what we make from the farm, but we suffer losses almost every year,’’ she said ‘‘My brother and I wish that the money lenders would wait until we finish school and get a job, but it is not possible.’’ She added: ‘‘The money lenders will not stop What has to happen, will happen.’’ Harsha Vadlamani contributed reporting from Hyderabad, India Planned Pentagon cuts would take military off war footing WASHINGTON BY THOM SHANKER AND HELENE COOPER Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the Army to its smallest force since before World War II and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets in a new spending proposal that officials describe as the first Pentagon budget to aggressively push the military off the war footing adopted after the terror attacks of 2001 The proposal, described by several Pentagon officials on the condition of anonymity in advance of its official release Monday, takes into account the fiscal reality of an era of government austerity and the political reality of a president who pledged to end two costly land wars The result will be a military capable of defeating any adversary but too small to carry out protracted foreign occupations, officials said ‘‘You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can’t carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war,’’ a senior Pentagon official said The official said that despite budget reductions, the military would have the money to remain the most capable in the world and that Mr Hagel’s proposals, which have the endorsement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were designed to protect money for a continued American presence in Asia and the Middle East Money saved by reducing the number of personnel also would assure that those remaining in uniform would be well-trained and supplied with the best weaponry, they said The new American way of war will be underscored in Mr Hagel’s budget, as money for Special Operations forces and cyberwarfare is protected And in an indication of the priority given to overseas military presence that does not require a land force, the proposal will — at least for one year — maintain the current number of aircraft carriers, sidestepping another potential area for budget cuts Over all, Mr Hagel’s proposal, the officials said, is designed to allow the American military to fulfill President Obama’s national security directives: to defend American territory and the nation’s interests overseas, to deter aggression — and to win decisively if ‘‘You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can’t carry a large land-war Defense Department when there is no large land war.’’ again ordered to war ‘‘We’re still going to have a very significant-sized Army,’’ the official said ‘‘But it’s going to be agile It will be capable It will be modern It will be trained.’’ But Pentagon officials acknowledge that budget cuts will impose greater risk on the armed forces if they are again ordered to carry out two largescale military actions at the same time: Success would take longer, they say, and there would be a larger number of casualties Officials acknowledge that a smaller military also risks inviting adventurism by adversaries The defense secretary’s budget plans, subject to Congressional approval, most significantly reshape America’s land forces, both active-duty soldiers and those in the National Guard and Reserve The Army, which took on the brunt of the fighting and the casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, already was slated to drop to 490,000 troops from a post9/11 peak of 570,000 Under Mr Hagel’s proposals, the Army would drop over coming years to between 440,000 and 450,000 That would be the smallest Army since 1940, a year before the United States joined World War II The cuts proposed by Mr Hagel fit the Bipartisan Budget Act reached by Mr Obama and Congress in December to impose a military spending cap of $496 billion for fiscal year 2015 However, if steeper spending reductions kick in again in 2016 under the sequestration law, then even more significant cuts would be required in later years The budget to be presented on Monday will be the first sweeping initiative that bears Mr Hagel’s full imprint Although Mr Hagel has been in office one year, most of his efforts in that time have focused on initiatives and problems that he inherited In many ways his budget provides an opportunity for him to begin anew Outlines of some of the budget initiatives had surfaced in advance of Mr Hagel’s budget unveiling, an indication that even in advance of its release, the budget is certain to come under political attack Veterans’ organizations are expected to argue against efforts to rein in personnel costs; arms manufacturers and some in the services will probably work to reverse weapons cuts; some members of Congress will seek to block base closings in their districts Although consideration was given to retiring an aircraft carrier, the Navy will keep its fleet of 11 — for now The George Washington would be brought in for a overhaul and nuclear refueling — a lengthy process that could be terminated in future years under tighter budgets Lawrence Korb, former assistant defense secretary in the Reagan administration, and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, noted that the budget can be viewed as realistic given guidance from the White House — but he is among those who said the cuts are truly not that significant Mr Hagel ‘‘basically is a team player,’’ Mr Korb said ‘‘Before he came into office he talked about the bloated defense budget But even with this number, we’re still spending in real terms more than we spent on average in the Cold War.’’ | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES world news asia Asylum fraud in Chinatown: A New York industry BY KIRK SEMPLE, JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN AND JEFFREY E SINGER A Chinese woman walked into a law office in New York’s Chinatown and asked to see her lawyer She had applied for asylum, claiming that she had been forced to get an abortion in China to comply with its family-planning laws, and she was anxious about her coming interview with immigration officials She had good reason to be worried: Her claim, invented by her lawyer’s associates, was false But the lawyer, John Wang, told her to relax The process, he said, was straightforward, and as long as she memorized a few details, everything would be fine ‘‘You are making yourself nervous,’’ he said in Mandarin Chinese ‘‘All you would be asked is the same few rubbish questions.’’ ‘‘Just make it up,’’ the lawyer added The conversation, in December 2010, was secretly recorded by federal officials conducting a wide investigation of immigration fraud in New York’s Chinese population The inquiry has led to the prosecution of at least 30 people — lawyers (including Mr Wang), paralegals, interpreters and even an employee of a church, who is accused of coaching asylum applicants in basic tenets of Christianity to prop up their claims of religious persecution All were charged with helping hundreds of Chinese immigrants apply for asylum using false tales of persecution The transcript of the conversation in Mr Wang’s office, which was disclosed in a court filing, offered a rare look at the hidden side of the Chinese asylum industry in New York More Chinese immigrants apply for asylum in the United States than any other immigrant group, with the Chinese population in New York leading the way Over the past six years, about half of all applications filed by Chinese immigrants not facing deportation were submitted in New York City (Comparable data for asylum applications from those in deportation proceedings was not available.) In fiscal year 2012, Chinese immigrants filed more than 62 percent of all asylum cases received by the federal asylum office in New York, which in recent years has received more Chinese applications than the next 10 nationalities combined Although the prevalence of fraud is unknown, federal officials appear to re- gard the applicant pool in New York with considerable suspicion In fiscal year 2013, asylum officers around the country granted 40 percent of all Chinese asylum requests, according to government data In New York City, asylum officers approved only 15 percent Peter Kwong, a professor at the City University of New York and an expert on the Chinese population in the city, said it was an open secret in the Chinese community that most asylum applications were at least partly false, from fabricated narratives of persecution to counterfeit documents and invented witness testimony To asylum seekers, he said, ‘‘it’s not an issue of right or wrong It’s an issue about whether they can get it and their means to get it.’’ The growth in the Chinese asylum industry over the past decade has coincided with an increase in Chinese migration to the United States and in the number of Chinese arriving on temporary visas, some with the intention of staying Many have made New York City their primary destination From 2000 to 2011, the foreign-born Chinese population in New York City grew by a third, to more than 350,000 from about 261,500, and is now on the verge of overtaking Dominicans as the city’s largest immigrant group, according to the city’s Planning Department As an increasing number of Chinese have sought permanent immigration status here, asylum has become a popular way to achieve it: Asylum recipients are granted immediate permission to work and can apply for a green card a year later Amid this rising demand, an ecosystem of law offices and other businesses specializing in asylum — not to mention a darker subculture of forgers and fake lawyers — has flourished in the crowded office buildings of Manhattan’s Chinatown and above storefronts along the bustling streets of Chinese enclaves in Flushing, Queens, and Sunset Park, Brooklyn The trade has generated healthy revenues Some firms ask $1,000 to handle a case, then they add incremental fees that might total more than $10,000 — steep for most of the applicants, many of whom are restaurant and construction workers, nannies and manicurists But some involved in the business say they are motivated more by politics and moral principles than by money HIROKO MASUIKE/THE NEW YORK TIMES A federal agent at a New York law office during a raid in December 2012, when the F.B.I arrested lawyers and other employees of the firm ‘‘We are doing work like the last stop on the Underground Railroad,’’ said David Miao, the owner of an immigration law office in Chinatown, referring to the network of routes that helped slaves in the American South escape to free states in the 19th century He was among those indicted in the investigation that also implicated Mr Wang; the case became public with the unsealing of nine indictments and a series of raids in December 2012 He has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud ‘‘If we didn’t this, they will be sent back to China,’’ he said in an interview ‘‘We save lives.’’ The United States has a long tradition of offering refuge to foreigners fleeing persecution Whether in the country legally or not, immigrants can petition for asylum within one year of arriving They must show they are unable or unwilling to return to their country because they have ‘‘a well-founded fear of persecution’’ based on their race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social or political group In fiscal year 2012, about 56,400 asylum applications were filed in asylum offices or in courts across the United States In the same year, about 29,500 people were granted asylum, the most since 2002, when 37,000 received it False asylum petitions are among the most common forms of immigration fraud, in part because they are difficult to detect, experts said Since many claims are based on events that took place amid armed conflict or political turmoil, the narratives and supporting documents can be hard for the American authorities to verify And while the Chinese asylum pool has drawn increasing scrutiny in recent years, asylum fraud cuts across all immigrant groups, officials said, cropping up among populations from societies in turmoil such as Guineans seeking refuge from political upheaval, Afghans fleeing war, Russians looking for sanctuary from homophobia and Mexicans running from drug violence Among the Chinese, the vast majority of applicants claim they were either forced to endure abortions or sterilization under China’s family planning laws or that they fear persecution based on their adherence to Christianity or their participation in banned groups like the Chinese Democracy Party and Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that has been labeled a cult by the government And while many such claims are legitimate, officials and industry specialists said, an untold number are not Mr Kwong said the cases were easy to fake Sometimes the fraud consists of little more than embellishing stories to make them seem more believable Other times, the accounts are complete fiction Narratives and documents are re- cycled from client to client, with the names and dates changed — though sometimes the lawyers forget to even that Several immigrants said in interviews that while their cases were based on true stories of persecution, some of the documents supporting their claims were false (Many Chinese immigrants interviewed for this article agreed to talk only on the condition of anonymity.) The dozens of people rounded up in 2012, including employees of at least 10 law firms, were accused of ‘‘weaving elaborate fictions’’ on behalf of hundreds of clients and coaching them on how to lie during their asylum interviews and in court One of the lawyers would sign blank asylum petitions and let others fill them out with stories he never reviewed, prosecutors said Victor You, a star witness for the prosecution who worked as an assistant at several law firms and pleaded guilty to immigration fraud, said he would craft a story based on characteristics like clients’ ages and schooling He would feed the Falun Gong narrative to uneducated immigrants because it was easiest to remember, he said in court testimony this month Christianity claims went to young immigrants with at least a high school education When clients veered off-script during interviews with asylum officers, prosecutors said, some interpreters would falsely translate the client’s words Of the eight lawyers indicted, officials said, Mr Wang was one of the most prolific From 2010 to 2012, his office filed more than 1,300 asylum petitions with the New York asylum office His methods were revealed in the recording of his discussion with the Chinese client, who was preparing to tell immigration officials that she had been forced to get an abortion because she had become pregnant out of wedlock Mr Wang and a paralegal briefed her on the sequence of fictitious events she had to memorize: the missed period, the knock at the door, government officials hauling her to a clinic, the feeling of a medical tool inside her, the dates of her trip to the United States He said asylum was nearly a foregone conclusion: Cases like hers were getting approved without a problem ‘‘It’s too easy,’’ he said More than half of the defendants have pleaded guilty, including Mr Wang, who was sentenced in December to two years of probation Explosions U.S.-Japan exercise serves notice to China near protest WINTER GAMES CELEBRATION SALE FOR 26 WEEKS SCORE ON A DIGITAL 50% OFF SUBSCRIPTION LIMITED TIME OFFER | SALE ENDS FEB 26 Celebrate the Winter Games with this special offer for a digital subscription to the International New York Times Discover a wealth of exclusive stories, opinion, video and multimedia as well as insight and inspiration from the finest reporters, editors and columnists in news bureaus around the globe Get started now at inyt.com/celebrate Offer expires 2/26/14, a.m E.T Smartphone and tablet apps are not supported on all devices Does not include e-reader editions, Premium Crosswords or The New York Times Crosswords apps Other restrictions apply CAMP PENDLETON, CALIF Tokyo sends bigger force to annual military drills in Southern California BY HELENE COOPER In the early morning along a barren stretch of beach here this month, Japanese soldiers and American Marines practiced how to invade and retake an island captured by hostile forces Memo to Beijing: Be forewarned One Marine sergeant yelled for his men, guns drawn, to push into the right building as they climbed through the window of an empty house meant to simulate a seaside dwelling The Marines had poured out of four amphibious assault vehicles as another group of smaller inflatable boats carrying Japanese soldiers landed in an accompanying beachhead assault There were shouts in Japanese There were shouts in Marine English There was air support, from Huey and Cobra helicopters hovering above Then Navy hovercraft roared in, spitting up a spray of seawater before burping out Humvees and more Japanese troops, their faces blackened with camouflage paint American military officials, viewing the action from a nearby hillside, insisted that the annual exercise, called Iron Fist, had nothing, nothing to with last fall’s game of chicken between Tokyo and Beijing over islands that are largely piles of rocks in the East China Sea But Lt Col John O’Neal, commander of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said that this year, the Japanese team came with ‘‘a new sense of purpose.’’ ‘‘There are certainly current events that have added emphasis to this exercise,’’ Colonel O’Neal said, as Japanese soldiers made their way up into the rocks before disappearing into the hills above the beach ‘‘Is there a heightened awareness? Yes.’’ In the United States military, commanders are increasingly allied in alarm with Japan over China’s flexing of military muscle Capt James Fanell, director of intelligence and information operations with the United States Pacific Fleet, recently said in San Diego that China was training its forces to be capable of carrying out a ‘‘short, sharp’’ war with Japan in the East China Sea In a sign of continuing concern, Gen Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, was in China over the weekend seeking to improve the limited relationship between the American and Chinese militaries, perhaps through exchanges of top officers In recent years, the Pentagon has worried about the buildup of China’s military and a lack of transparency among its leaders The islands at the center of the dispute, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, are a sevenhour boat ride from Japan, and even farther from China Japan has long administered the islands, but they are also claimed by China and Taiwan Last year, China set off a trans-Pacific uproar when it declared that an ‘‘air defense identification zone’’ gave it the right to identify and possibly take military action against aircraft near the islands Japan refused to recognize China’s claim, and the United States defied China by sending military planes into the zone unannounced — even as the Obama administration advised American commercial airlines to comply with China’s demand and notify Beijing in advance of flights through the area A few weeks later, Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, approved a five-year defense plan that took his pacifist nation further toward its most assertive military posture since World War II This year, when Japanese troops showed up for the exercise with the Marines at Camp Pendleton, they came bulked up Instead of the platoon of 25 soldiers they sent to the exercise in 2006, the first year it was conducted, nearly 250 arrived They brought along their own Humvees, gear and paraphernalia for retaking islands — or, in Marine parlance, ‘‘amphibious assault with the intent to seize objectives inland.’’ The monthlong exercise, which ends on Monday, has been spread over a wide section of Southern California There was the amphibious assault at Camp Pendleton, mortar shoots at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms and live firing exercises at San Clemente Island There was a nighttime raid at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, presumably out of sight of guests sipping Champagne on the verandas of the Hotel del Coronado a short distance away This year’s Iron Fist, Colonel O’Neal said, is the most involved operation so far The exercise included drones and the kinds of air support that would be needed to protect Japanese and American troops retaking an island For Japan, the exercise is a ‘‘valuable opportunity where we can learn techniques from the U.S forces,’’ Col Matushi Kunii, commander of the Western Army Infantry Regiment, said at the opening ceremony last month ONLINE: SEEKING BETTER MILITARY TIES As tensions rise in Asia, an American general is working on improving contacts with China’s military nytimes.com/asia sites kill in Thailand BANGKOK BY THOMAS FULLER Three people were killed near antigovernment protests in Thailand over the weekend as the country’s protracted power struggle devolved further into violence Two attacks — one on Saturday in an eastern province bordering Cambodia, which left one person dead, and the second on Sunday in one of this city’s busiest shopping areas — were carried out with what the authorities said were military-grade weapons, including grenades Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra condemned the attacks as ‘‘terrorist acts for political gains’’ while protesters issued a statement saying that the attacks were an attempt to justify the government’s continuation of the emergency security measures it imposed last month The explosions here on Sunday, which killed two people and wounded 22, were set off near a major intersection that protesters have blocked for several weeks A courthouse here was also the target of an attack, but the grenade that was used failed to detonate The protest movement, which is seeking to overthrow Ms Yingluck’s government, is allied with shadowy armed groups whose members engaged in gun battles with the police last week A United Nations statement issued after that round of violence said it was ‘‘alarming that armed clashes with high-powered weaponry can occur in the middle of Bangkok.’’ It called on both sides to ‘‘disassociate themselves from armed groups.’’ Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister who is the main protest leader, warned government supporters, the so-called Red Shirts, that they would be ‘‘served popcorn’’ if they came too close, a reference to a gunman allied with the protesters who fired an assault weapon at government supporters this month that he had partially concealed inside a corn-seed bag Charupong Ruengsuwan, the head of Pheu Thai, the governing party, told a gathering of Red Shirts on Sunday that in the ‘‘fight this time death will be real.’’ Mr Charupong, the government’s interior minister, said 10 million guns are registered in Thailand ‘‘These are guns for self-defense,’’ he said ‘‘If anyone underestimates the power of the people, you’ll know about it.’’ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Education Concern grows over academic freedom in Egypt CAIRO Political scientists say they face prosecution for criticizing government BY URSULA LINDSEY THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION The indictment here of a well-known professor on charges of espionage has sparked new concerns about academic freedom in Egypt The military-backed government is carrying out a widespread crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group that until last year governed the country Some political scientists say they can no longer speak freely for fear of being accused of supporting the Brotherhood That is what Emad el-Din Shahin, a professor of public policy at the American University in Cairo, said happened to him Mr Shahin, editor in chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics and a former visiting professor at the Constitution, preventing state institutions and the authorities from performing their functions, harming national unity and social harmony, and trying to change the government by force ‘‘It was a shock I never thought they would go this far,’’ Mr Shahin told The Chronicle from the United States, where he was attending a conference when news of the charges became public, in late January The professor, who has remained abroad ever since and who denies all the charges, said the accusations were payback for his criticism of the military-backed government ‘‘It is part of a deliberate attempt to stifle any type of independent or critical position with regard to the coup,’’ said the professor ‘‘They are widening the scope of the crackdown against any type of opposition.’’ The Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America issued a statement this month calling on the Egyptian government to drop the charges ‘‘The members of our committee know Dr Shahin to be a person of the utmost in- COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO (LEFT); HANAFY/DEMOTIX, VIA CORBIS (ABOVE) Amr Hamzawy, above, has been charged with ‘‘insulting the judiciary’’ for a post on Twitter criticizing a court ruling Emad el-Din Shahin, left, has been indicted on charges of espionage Harvard University, is a defendant in what prosecutors have dubbed ‘‘the greatest espionage case in the country’s modern history.’’ Mr Shahin’s co-defendants are mostly senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood, including former President Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the army following mass protests last summer Among the specific charges against the professor are espionage, leading an illegal organization, providing a banned organization with information and financial support, calling for the suspension of tegrity and an Egyptian patriot who would never harm his home country,’’ the statement said The case has raised concerns among Western academics who study the Middle East, said Nathan J Brown, the association’s president, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University ‘‘When someone like Emad is treated like a threat to the state, you wonder what kind of a state it is,’’ he said ‘‘Academics are beginning to think twice about visiting Egypt,’’ he added ‘‘They think they can be harassed for who they meet with and for public statements.’’ Last year two Canadian academics were detained for nearly two months after being accused by Egyptian prosecutors of ‘‘participating with members of the Muslim Brotherhood’’ in an attack on a police station While neither is a political scientist, their case showed the risks facing visiting professors Mr Shahin’s case has drawn the most public attention, but other academics also face prosecution for public statements Amr Hamzawy, a professor of political science, also at the American University in Cairo, has been charged with ‘‘insulting the judiciary’’ for a post on Twitter criticizing a court ruling Mr Hamzawy has played a prominent political role in the last three years, winning a seat in Parliament and leading a liber- al party He has also criticized the military’s ouster of Mr Morsi last summer and the crackdown on Islamists that has left more than 1,000 dead and tens of thousands in prison Faculty members and students at the American University in Cairo have circulated a statement in support of Mr Shahin, saying that he ‘‘advocates for a free and democratic Egypt ‘‘He, like all Egyptians, has a right to his opinions and beliefs,’’ it adds ‘‘The Egyptian government responded to Dr Shahin’s beliefs by charging him with crimes he did not commit.’’ Egyptian academics at other institutions have been less outspoken Hassan Nafaa, a professor of political science at Cairo University, brushed aside questions about the charges against Mr Shahin and Mr Hamzawy, saying he was not aware of the particulars of their cases Drawing boundaries around internships TORONTO Students and lawmakers say exploitation is being sold as work experience BY ELAINE R SMITH Student internships have come in for criticism in Canada, as elsewhere, over the past year, drawing fire for putting pressure on students to work long hours for little or no pay Matthew Ferguson, the brother of an Alberta man who died while driving home from an unpaid internship, began a grass-roots campaign last summer to protect interns from exploitation His brother, Andrew Ferguson of St Albert, Alberta, a student at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, died after a 16hour day at a radio station where he was doing his internship, supplemented by additional paid shifts In another case, Jainna Patel, a student who was an unpaid intern with Bell Mobility in 2012, filed a complaint with the federal government, alleging that the terms of the internship had violated labor laws Ms Patel sought back pay, claiming that the company had provided her with no educational benefit and had required her to the same work as paid employees The complaint was rejected in October and Ms Patel has since filed an appeal Meanwhile, her case and that of Mr Ferguson have touched a nerve among students and employers nationwide Brent Rathgeber, a member of Parliament for Edmonton-St Albert, supports Mr Ferguson’s campaign to close the federal regulatory gap and presented Mr Ferguson’s petition in Parliament last fall Mr Rathgeber maintains that the total hours of work, paid and unpaid, should be considered when using student labor Paying a student makes him or her an employee, so the Employment Standards Act would need revision to provide interns with the same protections as other employees ‘‘We should amend the federal regulations,’’ he said ‘‘Once an employeremployee relationship exists, the total hours of work should be covered.’’ Unpaid internships are another matter As an offshoot of post-secondary education, they fall under provincial jurisdiction While Mr Rathgeber has no direct oversight, he said he would be reluctant to see unpaid internships disappear entirely because of the learning opportunities they provide ‘‘I don’t want to see too much regulation that would result in a lack of available internships,’’ he said ‘‘but there should be some regulation required regarding how hard employers work these young men and women ‘‘There should be some sort of rules or contract in place between the sponsoring employer and the institution that prevent indentured servitude.’’ Jessica McCormick, who heads the Canadian Federation of Students, which represents about 600,000 students across Canada, said that her organization supported the idea of paid internships, especially since many students were already working to help pay for tuition ‘‘When students are expected to pay higher tuition fees and work for free, it’s increasingly difficult for them to take on that burden,’’ she said ‘‘I would say it’s exploitative for students to give their labor for free, especially given the climate where post-secondary education is increasingly unaffordable.’’ The economic climate has helped draw attention to the injustices created by unpaid internships, said Angella MacEwen, a senior economist with the Canadian Labour Congress, an umbrella organization for Canadian labor unions and provincial federations ‘‘Employers are able to exploit youth because the situation is so dire that people are literally willing to work for free to get into the Canadian labor market,’’ said Ms MacEwen ‘‘It’s a symptom of broader problems.’’ The University of Waterloo in Ontario is renowned for its system of co-op programs that offer students work experience and remuneration Students in Waterloo’s cooperative education program have an entire organization supporting them Co-ops are not the same as internships, said Peggy Jarvie, the executive director of cooperative education and career action at Waterloo The two terms ‘‘are often used interchangeably, but I think they are quite different,’’ she said ‘‘Internships are one-time wonders, but a co-op is a repeated experience in a program that is part of an academic program.’’ The university has been offering cooperative work experience to its students since its founding in 1957 The founders, a group of forward-thinking business and industrial leaders, chose a co-op model to allow students to alternate classroom terms with work terms The model helped to meet Canada’s need for engineers at the time, while giving students on-the-job experience ‘‘Co-op first and foremost was created UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO A student, Payal Gandhi, learning on the job The University of Waterloo builds paid work experience into its study courses ‘‘Employers are able to exploit youth because the situation is so dire that people are literally willing to work for free to get into’’ the labor market as a learning methodology,’’ Ms Jarvie said ‘‘The students learn what they study better if they get to practice it a few times They see the relevance and are more engaged in subsequent terms.’’ All six faculties at Waterloo offer coop programs, with 123 to choose from in total, she said The whole system is accredited by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education Of Waterloo’s 30,000 undergraduates, 58 percent are involved in the co-op programs, which call for them to allocate at least 30 per cent of their schooling to work experience courses There are more than 19,000 work terms scheduled for 2014, and Ms Jarvie points to the practical benefits that this choice provides to the university’s students ‘‘They learn about the type of work they want to after graduation and the environment that makes them most satisfied, from huge multinationals to tiny start-ups and everything in between,’’ she said ‘‘They also make an enormous network of wonderful connections at the workplace and among other students by the time they graduate.’’ Co-op students are eased into the workplace by many helping hands During the academic term leading up to their first work term, they are required to take an online cooperative fundamentals course that teaches them how to search and apply for jobs and how to ensure success once they’ve entered the workforce ‘‘It coaches them on typical things like organizational culture, workplace norms, understanding expectations and being part of a team,’’ said Kerry Mahoney, Waterloo’s director of career action and international employment During each work term, the students are also required to take an online professional development course that addresses useful workplace skills such as problem solving and project management Weian Zhao, an assistant professor of stem cell biology at the University of California, Irvine, has seen the benefits of all this coaching firsthand He first encountered Waterloo co-op students during a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University When he set up his own research lab, he advertised available co-op positions on JobMine, a web app where Waterloo students can post resumes and search for jobs posted by employers ‘‘They’re dedicated, smart and they work hard,’’ he said ‘‘They start doing co-ops from their first year, so when we get students in their third year, they are mature and professional The school really prepares them well.’’ Mr Zhao, a native of China who graduated from Shandong University in 2000 and earned a doctorate at McMaster University, in Ontario, said he tried to give students whom he took on a valuable career experience ‘‘I prefer to assign them individual projects, just like I for Ph.D students,’’ he said: ‘‘For most of the kids, it’s a very good investment for their future careers It builds their C.V.’s nicely and helps them really make their career decisions.’’ Akash Kapoor, now a master’s degree student in accounting at Waterloo, finished his undergraduate studies there with three work terms under his belt ‘‘I’m grateful for the program for sure,’’ he said ‘‘We actually get to graduate with experience that will help us attain full-time positions.’’ ONLINE: MORE COVERAGE Past articles and education news: nytimes.com/education ‘‘In this moment the country is facing an exceptional situation,’’ Mr Nafaa said ‘‘The university is not really busy with so-called academic freedom.’’ The priority, said Mr Nafaa, is ending the chaos on Egyptian campuses, where Islamist students have led protests and tried to disrupt examinations, and have been violently repressed by the police The deep divisions in Egypt have made some political scientists hesitate to speak publicly on current events Mr Shahin said one Egyptian colleague decided not to attend a Georgetown University conference in late January — entitled ‘‘Egypt and the Struggle for Democracy’’ — for fear of reprisals ‘‘At least Mubarak’s regime was aging, less centralized, so there was room for dissent,’’ he said, referring to former President Hosni Mubarak ‘‘This regime is very brutal and trying to consolidate power and assert its control over the political arena.’’ ‘‘I won’t publish anything critical while I’m here,’’ said a political scientist currently working in Egypt who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals from the authorities The foreign researcher, who had previously done work on the Muslim Brotherhood, said that under Mr Mubarak, even though the Islamic group was an illegal organization, the authorities did not object to academics meeting with its members Now ‘‘they don’t want anyone to present anything that is sympathetic or humanizing’’ of the Islamist group, which the government has officially designated a terrorist organization, the researcher said www.chronicle.com Swiss referendum poses threat to study programs Cross-border exchanges become bargaining chips in European Union talks BY CHRISTOPHER F SCHUETZE This month’s Swiss referendum vote for tighter immigration laws is already affecting the country’s role in, and access to, some European education programs Erasmus+, the newest iteration of the popular European student exchange program, and Horizon 2020, an 80-billion-euro, or about $110 billion, research program led by the European Union that started in January, have become bargaining chips in bilateral negotiations between the Union and Switzerland that have taken place on the heels of the Feb Swiss vote A week after the referendum, the Swiss government backed away from an agreement to allow citizens of Croatia, which joined the Union in July, to work freely in Switzerland Last week, the Union suspended planned talks on Swiss participation in Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 ‘‘For the moment, negotiations that would have extended Horizon 2020 and Erasmus to Swiss researchers and students are put on hold,’’ said Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, has a series of interlinked bilateral agreements with the bloc, signed over the past few decades, that provide for reciprocal freedoms of movement and trade, and access to labor markets, education and other services Immigration quotas, mandated by the referendum vote, would contravene some of those freedoms Under a mutual dependency clause, a breach of any of the treaties would require all of them to be renegotiated While the details of Switzerland’s future immigration laws are still being hashed out, any curtailment of the existing bilateral agreements for free crossborder movements may jeopardize the country’s participation in the European Union’s higher education programs Swiss universities hosted some 41,809 foreign postsecondary students in 2011, according to the most recent figures from Unesco, including 27,940 from European Union countries Of these, about 3,000 were in Switzerland as Erasmus exchange students, while about the same number of Swiss students were studying elsewhere in Europe under the program On Jan 1, Erasmus was beefed up with more funding to become Erasmus+ Switzerland, an associate member of Erasmus, was expected to segue into the successor program Horizon 2020, the latest iteration of a Europe-wide research program, also officially started last month As with Erasmus, it was assumed that Swiss participation would be sealed in formal talks this month That is assumed no longer Horizon 2020 is important as a source of European funding for research and as a catalyst for cross-border academic collaborations Swiss researchers are already less present in such collaborations than other European researchers, Antonio Loprieno, the president of the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities, told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in an interview after the referendum ‘‘If, because of the withdrawal of Horizon 2020, the dialogue is reduced even further, it could become quite difficult,’’ Mr Loprieno said Some foreign students already living and studying in Switzerland fear that when the immigration overhaul is finalized they may not be able to stay on for further degrees, or to work ‘‘In the long term, it all depends on how it is implemented,’’ said Carl Thomas Bormann from Germany, a third-year chemistry student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich Mr Bormann said that like many of his foreign classmates, he could have imagined a future working in Switzerland after completing his degrees His future is less certain now ‘‘I can’t say what it is going to look like for me in 10 years,’’ he said The European Students Union, an umbrella organization that represents 47 national student unions in 39 countries, has publicly demanded that the immigration overhaul exclude students ‘‘Switzerland is on a slippery slope of isolating its students and academics from the outside world,’’ said Elisabeth Gehrke, the vice chairwoman of the European Student Union, in a statement Ms Gehrke said that the union would everything to support Swiss members, but added: ‘‘We will stand behind the E.U if they take a strong stance on this.’’ | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Opinion What the West must for Ukraine ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., Publisher JILL ABRAMSON, Executive Editor STEPHEN DUNBAR-JOHNSON, President, International DEAN BAQUET, Managing Editor PHILIPPE MONTJOLIN, Senior V.P., International Operations TOM BODKIN, Deputy Managing Editor ACHILLES TSALTAS, V.P., International Conferences LAWRENCE INGRASSIA, Deputy Managing Editor Ulrich Speck CHANTAL BONETTI, V.P., International Human Resources RICHARD W STEVENSON, Editor, Europe JEAN-CHRISTOPHE DEMARTA, V.P., International Advertising PHILIP McCLELLAN, Deputy Editor, Asia CHARLOTTE GORDON, V.P., International Marketing & Strategy ANDREW ROSENTHAL, Editorial Page Editor TRISH HALL, Deputy Editorial Page Editor TERRY TANG, Deputy Editorial Page Editor PATRICE MONTI, V.P., International Circulation RANDY WEDDLE, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific SUZANNE YVERNÈS, International Chief Financial Officer MARK THOMPSON, Chief Executive Officer, The New York Times Company STEPHEN DUNBAR-JOHNSON, Président et Directeur de la Publication TURKEY’S INTERNET CRACKDOWN A new curb on free expression is an assault on democracy President Abdullah Gul, Turkey’s head of state, has now joined Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the government’s assault on free speech On Tuesday, Mr Gul approved a new law, passed earlier by Parliament, that is intended to help protect Mr Erdogan and his allies from a widening corruption scandal by tightening government control of the Internet It would allow the authorities, without a court order, to block web pages under the guise of protecting personal privacy, and to collect users’ browsing histories Even before Mr Gul acted, Turkey already had tough laws blocking thousands of websites, including gay dating sites and news portals considered favorable to Kurdish militants According to Reuters, Google reported in December that requests from Turkish authorities to remove content from its sites had risen nearly 10 times during the first half of 2012 In the first six months of 2013, Google was asked to delete more than 12,000 items, making Turkey the No country seeking to excise Google content The new law is a transparent effort to prevent social media and other sites from reporting on a corruption scandal that reportedly involves bid-rigging and money laundering In one audio recording, leaked last month to SoundCloud, the file-sharing site, Mr Erdogan is said to be heard talking about easing zoning laws for a construction tycoon in exchange for two villas for his family The law is just the latest blow to Turkey’s democracy After more than a decade in power, Mr Erdogan has become more authoritarian and, as a result, increasingly embattled The legislature has done little to stop him Last Saturday, the Parliament, in a 20-hour session that involved a bloody fistfight, approved a bill that would tighten the government’s grip on the judiciary On Thursday, Reuters reported that Mr Erdogan had drafted a new law that would expand powers for his intelligence agency, including eavesdropping The European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have spoken out against these developments The United States has also weighed in but not strongly enough President Obama, who once had a close relationship with Mr Erdogan, finally spoke to him on Wednesday after months of indirect communication It was unclear from a White House statement, however, whether Mr Obama had explicitly pointed out the perilous course Mr Erdogan is on, a message he needs to hear BRUSSELS Thanks in part to the coordinated efforts of Germany, Poland, France and the United States, irrevocable change has finally come to Ukraine, with President Viktor F Yanukovych’s flight from Kiev and Parliament’s vote to call for new elections in May But the powers still have urgent work to Ukraine could either descend into chaos or right itself on a path toward a new democratic stability The European powers and the United States must offer the country all possible support to move toward the latter The first and most urgent step for Western leaders is to send unequivocal messages to Moscow that any support by Russia for the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine to break away from the rest of the country would be met harshly, and result in a general reconsideration of relations with Russia on all levels In parallel, they must make sure that their own resources, and those of the European Union institutions in Brussels, are available to political leaders in Kiev to assist them in their transition to a new regime Moreover, Ukraine’s crisis isn’t just political: The country faces economic default without support It had been relying on Russia for that help, and now Europeans and Americans must quickly work with the International Monetary Fund to provide a financial lifeline to Kiev and to prepare longer-term eco- nomic-assistance programs; they must also be ready to give direct emergency aid by themselves, if needed Simply by announcing a readiness to commit to these steps, they would be providing enormous help to the forces committed to change in Ukraine Besides getting through the first days and weeks, there are two great political risks the West must help Ukraine to address One is the inevitable attempt to undermine an emerging order The protest movement that began last November, centered in Kiev’s Independence Square, has won But it is quite possible that the forces that supported the former regime, especially in the east and south of the country, are going to contest the new order And it is questionable whether the Kremlin will accept a loss of influence in Ukraine Mr Putin had high hopes of making Ukraine a key ally in his planned Eurasian Union He may have decided that Mr Yanukovych was too unreliable an ally, but that does not mean he will accept a revolution against him (Mr Yanukovych, who reportedly fled to the eastern city of Kharkiv, near the border with Russia, said he had been forced to leave the capital because of an illegal ‘‘coup d’état.’’) The second risk is that the new regime will look like the one installed after the Orange Revolution in 2004: years of painful stalemate, political institutions blocking each other, permanent infighting and no clear separation between political and economic power It is primarily up to the Ukrainian people to put their still-young country on a new path Many have demonstrated incredible courage over the last weeks But a post-Yanukovych Ukraine will still be a fragile state with weak institutions Since it declared independence from the collapsing Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has lived uncomfortably between the European Union and Russia Despite some progress, it failed to build stable and trustworthy institutions That’s why so much of the country has put its hopes in the European Union; Ukrainians saw that their neighbors who had joined it — Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia — were doing very well All the bloc offered last year was The E.U an ‘‘association,’’ should offer which does not infull memberclude the promise of ship to membership, and a Ukraine, and free-trade agreement Because the offer Germany must take the was so weak, the door was open for lead Mr Putin to sabotage it and for Mr Yanukovych to reject it Now the European Union needs to come back with a better offer — not just association, but membership Doing so would unleash a new dynamic It would embolden a new leadership in Kiev and give them enough authority to push through painful but necessary economic and government reforms A process of transformation would kick off Urgently needed foreign investment would rush in It would signal to the entire country that a better future is possible The key to this approach lies in Berlin In the 1990s, it was Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Angela Merkel’s mentor, who pushed through the enlargement of the European Union to include former members of the Soviet bloc as a way to stabilize Germany’s Eastern neighborhood His successor, and Ms Merkel’s predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, continued on that path But Ms Merkel, in office since 2005, has been reluctant to follow in their steps so far Wary of Russian opposition and unwilling to press a more active foreign policy, Berlin in recent years has been reluctant to provide leadership in eastern Europe Ms Merkel must now show courage and strategic competence If Eastern Europe becomes unstable, Germany will be affected too — and deeply so Only Berlin has the necessary weight and connections to bring all key players on board to make significant change possible Seen by many as the European Union’s leading power, Germany can bring France on board, a necessary condition for getting the bloc fully behind a new approach to Ukraine Moreover, Berlin, with its strong economic ties with Moscow, is able to keep the West’s relations with Moscow on track And Berlin pulls enough weight in Washington to put together a common trans-Atlantic strategy In the last weeks and days in Ukraine we saw how fast things can deteriorate in Eastern Europe Germany and the European Union must significantly step up their engagement and be ready to take more risks If Berlin does not take the lead, nobody else will a foreign policy expert, is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, the European center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ULRICH SPECK, A PICASSO IN TROUBLE A developer wants to get rid of a famous bullfighting scene The largest and most endangered Picasso many of us have never seen lives on Park Avenue, in the Seagram Building To get to it, walk to East 52nd Street, past the idling Town Cars, through the door of the Four Seasons restaurant Give a nod to the friendly coat-check guy, then head up the stairs, into the soaring space of the Grill Room, where the city’s uppermost crust is having lunch or drinks Keep going into the corridor that leads to the Pool Room Look right, and up ‘‘Le Tricorne,’’ a bullfighting scene painted in 1919, was part of a stage curtain for the Ballets Russes It is 19 feet by 20 feet and has in that space since the Four Seasons opened in 1959, though for how much longer, nobody knows Aby Rosen, the developer who controls the building, wants to get rid of it There’s not much he can to the rest of the restaurant’s interior, a masterwork of Modernism designed by Philip Johnson and declared a landmark in 1989 But the Picasso is not protected, because it is not considered integral to the architecture Mr Rosen does not own the curtain — the New York Landmarks Conservancy does — but he may be able to evict it Mr Rosen, saying the curtain needed to go so he could repair the limestone wall around it, tried to have the curtain taken down on Feb The conservancy sued, arguing that removing the brittle 95-year-old curtain would likely destroy it A State Supreme Court judge agreed to halt any move pending a hearing on March 11 The conservancy and its supporters may not have the legal grounds to defeat Mr Rosen, but they are clearly hoping that public sentiment will soften his heart They fear not just harm to the curtain, but aesthetic damage to Johnson’s magnificent space, which critics note was designed as a Gesamtkunstwerk, an artistic whole dependent upon all its parts, from the walls and lights down to the flatware and plates A writer in The New York Review of Books, sharply questioning Mr Rosen’s taste and decency, recently rhapsodized about the Picasso’s ‘‘dusky mauve and ochre tonalities’’ and ‘‘palpable Iberian duende,’’ which — so you don’t have to look it up — is what flamenco music and Javier Bardem also have REUTERS Why Russia won’t interfere Dmitri Trenin MOSCOW Viktor F Yanukovych of Ukraine and the Ukrainian opposition leaders signed an agreement on Friday that ended the deadly protests in Kiev by promising a new constitution and early elections But the Russian president’s envoy to Kiev refused to co-sign it While Moscow welcomed an end to the violence, it basically viewed the agreement as a diktat by the Westernbacked Ukrainian opposition The opposition has seized power in Kiev, and Moscow is wary that the crisis will not end anytime soon Some radical groups remain well-armed; there are deep political, cultural and regional cleavages in Ukrainian society; the country’s elites are in disarray; and its economic situation is rapidly deteriorating The mess is very much Ukraine’s own, and Russia has far less influence on it than is commonly appreciated The most popular myth about Moscow’s role in the Ukrainian crisis is that Mr Yanukovych has been but a puppet of President Vladimir V Putin In reality, Mr Putin has been very frustrated with his Ukrainian counterpart To Mr Putin, Mr Yanukovych is unreliable, forever vacillating between the European Union and Russia; and now, a totally spent force, he has fled from Kiev to Kharkiv, a Russian-speaking city in eastern Ukraine Moscow knows that the Ukrainian oligarchs, most of whom used to support Mr Yanukovych, are largely anti-Russian Though they in effect rule Ukraine, they fear being taken over by the richer business giants next door Even those who made their money in Russia, like the protestfunder Petro Poroshenko, prefer to keep it in the West The protests erupted when Mr Yanukovych refused to sign the so-called association agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which would have established a free-trade area, among other things Despite what he claims, it wasn’t the Kremlin that made him that Moscow had clearly signaled it did not want Kiev to sign the deal when it introduced de facto sanctions on Ukrainian products last year, Moscow but ultimately Mr Yashould stand nukovych was guided back from the by his own calculamess in tions, rather than Mr Ukraine Putin’s admonitions or advice The fundawhile quietly mental reason Mr Yafavoring the nukovych demurred country’s decentralization was fear that he would not be re-elected in 2015 if he signed the agreement At some point he realized that the deal would bring no financial support from the European Union and so no way to offset the inevitable drop in trade with Russia or cushion the blow to Ukraine’s Soviet-era heavy industry During the months of standoffs in Kiev, Russia’s actual role was much more modest than advertised by the international media or the rumor mill in Kiev The Russian ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, was conspicuously absent from public view The Kremlin ordered all Duma members to stay out of Ukraine Dmitry Rogozin, a deputy prime minister and a former Russian ambassador to NATO with a knack for making in-your-face comments about the West, has largely remained silent on Ukraine The only Russian official to display any continuous interest in Ukraine was Sergey Glazyev, Mr Putin’s adviser for Eurasian integration, who spoke at conferences and wrote articles about the high costs of Ukraine’s turn to the European Union Mr Putin did receive Mr Yanukovych several times, in Sochi and Moscow And in December Russia did offer to buy $15 billion in Ukrainian-government bonds — dwarfing any conditional aid the European Union could cough up via the International Monetary Fund — and lower by one-third the price of its gas shipments to Ukraine This financial support was extended without any strings attached, with the dual purpose of helping Ukraine avoid a likely default and building goodwill for closer economic relations in the future But it was a risky proposition, given the political uncertainties in Kiev And the move may be ineffectual Moscow’s gesture of support was built on the belief, which Mr Putin himself has expressed, that Ukrainians and Russians are one people This obviously is not true, if only because Ukrainians themselves are not — at least not yet — one people Just compare Lviv and Sebastopol: Western Ukraine, which was annexed by the Soviet Union only under Stalin, is vehemently anti-Russian; the east and the south are Russophone, with the Crimea mostly Russian ethnically To the vast majority of the elite in Ukraine, the country’s independence from the Soviet Union meant, above all, independence from Russia There are virtually no Ukrainian politicians who can be called pro-Russian: This simply goes against the grain of Ukraine’s national idea Thus Mr Putin’s offer that Ukraine and Russia forge closer economic integration by way of a customs union are not very compelling to many Ukrainians The idea also is potentially hazardous for Russia Under that scheme, Moscow would need to pump a lot more money into Ukraine and give it a large say in joint bodies such as the Eurasian Economic Commission, with little guarantee that Ukraine wouldn’t break away again once it recovered from its current financial crunch Ukraine’s ‘‘February Revolution’’ may be a blessing in disguise for Moscow, as it could help debunk the notion that Russia cannot be a great power without Ukraine as its junior partner Moscow does not need to govern more people; it needs to raise the health, education and work standards in its own people’s lives Despite what some Ukrainians suspect, Moscow is unlikely to try bringing about the breakup of Ukraine in order to annex its southern and eastern parts That would mean civil war next door, and Russia abhors the idea Moscow’s best option at this point is to stand back and wait, while quietly favoring decentralization in Ukraine Although federalization is seen in Kiev and western Ukraine as a step toward ultimate partition, it could in fact help hold Ukraine together With more financial and cultural autonomy, the country’s diverse regions could more easily live and let live, and keep one another in check Promoting decentralization in Ukraine would be a realistic long-term strategy for Russia, something Moscow has lacked so far is director of the Carnegie Moscow Center DMITRI TRENIN Immeuble le Lavoisier, 4, place des Vosges, 92400 Courbevoie France POSTAL ADDRESS: CS 10001, 92052 Paris La Défense Cedex Tel: +33 41 43 93 00 E-Mail: inyt@nytimes.com Internet address: inyt.com Subscriptions: inytsubs@nytimes.com Tel: +33 41 43 93 61 Classified: +33 41 43 92 06 Regional Offices: Asia-Pacific: #1201, 191 Java Road, Hong Kong Tel +852 2922 1188 Fax: +852 2922 1190 U.K.: New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1NU Tel +44 20 7061 3500 Fax: +44 20 7061 3529 The Americas: 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y 10018 Advertising Tel +1 212 556 7707 Fax: +1 212 556 7706, Circulation Tel (toll free) +1 800 882 2884 or +1 818 487 4540 Fax: +1 818 487 4550 ihtus@espcomp.com IHT S.A.S au capital de 240.000 Ô RCS Nanterre B 732021126 Commission Paritaire No 0518 C 83099 ©2014, The New York Times Company All rights reserved ISSN: 2269-9740 Material submitted for publication may be transferred to electronic databases To submit an opinion article, email opinion@nytimes.com To submit a letter to the editor, email inytletters@nytimes.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES opinion The Swiss wake-up call Sylvie Kauffmann Contributing Writer The games Putin plays Ross Douthat The last time geopolitics intruded into an Olympics, during the 2008 Beijing Games, Vladimir Putin was the crisis’s winner: his military delivered a decisive spanking to Russia’s neighbor Georgia, whose government had fatally overestimated the West’s willingness to intervene on its behalf The mini-war sent a clear message: after a long period of retrenchment, the Russian bear still had an appetite for power politics, and the claws to satisfy it Today the Olympics are on Russian soil, and violence is convulsing another nation in Moscow’s traditional orbit But the crisis in Ukraine is sending a rather different message So far, events in Kiev have been a lesson in the limits of Russian influence, and the implausibility of Putin’s claim to offer a rival civilizational model to the liberal democratic West That such a rivalry is Putin’s goal seems clear enough After a century in which Russia styled itself a revolutionary power fighting the West’s reactionary capitalists, the former K.G.B man has sought a return to the ideological role his nation played under the czars — as a conservative bulwark against the West’s revolutionary liberals As The Week’s Michael Brendan Dougherty has pointed out, this back flip has been visible across the post-9/11 era But it’s been thrown into relief by Putin’s recent domestic gambits — the blasphemy trial for Pussy Riot, the crackdown on gay rights, the rhetoric contrasting Russia’s ‘‘traditional values’’ with American and Western Euro- pean relativism Crucially, this rhetoric isn’t just for domestic consumption: it’s also pitched to the developing world In the British Spectator, Owen Matthews argues that just as it did in the Communist era, ‘‘Moscow is again building an international ideological alliance,’’ with Putin offering himself up as a potential leader for ‘‘all conservatives who dislike liberal values,’’ no matter what country they call home But there is a vast difference between Putin’s grand strategy and both its Czarist and its Soviet antecedents The czars sought a ‘‘Holy Alliance’’ to defend a still-extant ancien régime — a rooted, hierarchical system that still governed many 19th-century European societies But today’s Russia, brutalized by Communism and then taken over The events in Ukraine offer by oligarchs and grifters, is not a traa lesson in ditional society in the limits of any meaningful Russia’s grand sense of the term, and the only thing it strategy has in common with many of its potential developing-world allies is a contempt for democratic norms In the Romanov era, the throne-and-altar idea still had a real claim to political legitimacy But there is no comparable claim Putin can make for his own authority, and no similar mystique around his client dictators, be they Central Asian strongmen or Bashar al-Assad The Soviets’ claim to be in history’s vanguard, meanwhile, earned them allies and fellow travelers not only in Latin America, Asia and Africa, but among the best and brightest of the liberal West No comparable Western fifth column seems likely to emerge to enable Putin’s goals A few voices on the American right have praised his traditionalist rhetoric — but only a few As beleaguered as America’s social conservatives sometimes feel, we’re a long distance from signing up as useful idiots for a thuggish, obviously opportunistic ‘‘family values’’ crusade Which is not to say that Putin’s geopolitical approach is all folly On the contrary, he often plays the great game far more effectively than his European and American counterparts But the weakness of Russia, its government’s corruption and the unattractiveness of its alleged traditionalism all combine to foreclose his grandest ambitions This is basically what we’re watching happen in Ukraine Despite the blunders of the European Union — which courted Kiev without seeming to realize that Russia might make a counteroffer — Putin is struggling to win a battle for influence in a country that both the Romanovs and the Soviets dominated with ease And the struggle is particularly telling given that the Great Recession exposed the E.U as a spectacularly misgoverned institution, whose follies consigned many of its member states to economic disarray Yet even that record hasn’t persuaded the majority of Ukrainians to warm to Moscow’s embrace instead It takes much more than mere misgovernment to make the European project less attractive than Putin’s authoritarian alternative For an interesting parallel to Putinism’s problems, consider what’s happening halfway around the world, in Venezuela, where the laboratory Hugo Chávez built for ‘‘Bolivarian Revolution’’ is descending into the same kind of violence as in Ukraine Like Putin’s traditionalism, Chávez’s neosocialism was proposed as an ideological challenger to the American-led world order (And Chávez had more American cheerleaders than does Putin.) But like Putinism, Chavismo lacks basic legitimacy absent the threat of violence and repression The lesson in both cases is not that late-modern liberal civilization necessarily deserves uncontested dominance But 25 years after the Cold War, from Kiev to Caracas, there is still no plausible alternative The disunited kingdom Kathleen Jamie ORKNEY, SCOTLAND With a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom only seven months away, political rhetoric is escalating, and so is fear-mongering In recent weeks George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, warned that an independent Scotland might not be able to use the British pound as its currency, and the European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, suggested that it would be ‘‘extremely difficult, if not impossible’’ for Scotland to remain in the European Union These assertions are highly contestable Other leaders are trying for a softer touch Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron entered the fray, with a speech intended to remind Scots of the many virtues of staying in the United Kingdom He called on the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland to urge us Scots not to leave ‘‘Get on the phone, get together, email, tweet, speak Let the message ring out from us to the people of Scotland — let the message be this: We want you to stay.’’ The address has been called the ‘‘love-bomb’’ speech, but even though it was directed to the Scottish people, it wasn’t delivered on Scottish soil It came from the Olympic velodrome built for the 2012 Summer Games in London Mr Cameron chose the stadium as his venue because of its symbolism: The cyclist Chris Hoy, a Scot, won two gold medals here in 2012 as part of ‘‘Team G.B.’’ This sporting triumph unleashed something Mr Cameron calls ‘‘patriotism.’’ And there we have it: Team G.B., ‘‘patriotism’’ and U.K flags This was his pro-Union stall, belatedly set out But the trouble with addressing Scotland from London is that you have to shout very loud And many of us Scots have grown weary of being shouted at by ministers of governments we have emphatically not elected and whose policies we have rejected over and over again Mr Cameron told us that a move by Scotland for independence would undo ‘‘centuries of history.’’ Actually, it’s only three: England and Scotland entered into a political union in 1707 Mr Cameron also appealed to something he called ‘‘fusion of bloodlines,’’ as if we were racehorses He reminded the citizens of the U.K that we are united by family ties Of course we are, but that won’t change if Scotland becomes independent My own family is typical: My husband is English (and plans to vote an enthusiastic ‘‘yes’’ for Scottish inCameron’s dependence); my ‘‘love-bomb’’ sister-in-law is speech missed Welsh; my brother the point For and his family are many Scots, settled in the Repubindependence lic of Ireland, which is of course an indeis not about pendent state — and nationalism, so what? it’s about The prime minister democracy also appealed to the security of being part of ‘‘something bigger’’ and argued that a disunited United Kingdom would no longer be a ‘‘major global player.’’ We would no longer have ‘‘the finest armed forces on the planet.’’ We would no longer be ‘‘world-beating’’ — whatever that means Many Scots believe an alternative narrative: That even though the referendum was brought about by the Scottish Nationalist Party, it is less about nationalism than about a crisis of democracy that has built up over the last 30 years Scotland gets what the south of England wants, regardless of its own aspirations and its own votes (Currently that means a government domi- nated by Conservatives, even though only one of the 59 Scottish MP’s is a Conservative) Westminster imposes policies that many Scots consider irrelevant at best, and self-serving and cruel at worst Many believe that under ‘‘Team G.B.’’ our industries have been swept away (under a Cameron predecessor, Margaret Thatcher), our social contract torn up, the fabric of our communities assaulted, our poor demonized, our immigrants deported, and our social services starved, withdrawn, privatized I’m writing from the Orkney islands in the far north of Scotland, a place of sea and hills, with a dynamic economy based on agriculture and oil, with as many links to Norway as to London Here the terms ‘‘British’’ and ‘‘United Kingdom’’ already feel remote It is odd to hear them used as rallying cries; they awake no sentiment any more Those of us who want Scotland’s independence want it because we have no further interest in being part of a U.K ‘‘brand’’; we no longer want to punch above our weight We seek a fresh understanding of ourselves and our relationships with the rest of Europe and the wider world If Scotland were independent, we would have control over our own welfare and immigration policies, look more to our Scandinavian neighbors and rid ourselves of nuclear weapons We want independence because we seek good governance, and no longer think the Westminster government offers that, or social justice or decency We find the prospect of being a small, independent nation on the fringe of Europe exciting, and look forward to making our own decisions, even if that means having to fix our own problems We’ll take the risk is a poet and essayist and the author, most recently, of ‘‘Sightlines.’’ KATHLEEN JAMIE Brussels may call them the villains, but we should be grateful for the Swiss Their Feb vote in favor of reintroducing immigration quotas for citizens from the European Union, by a very narrow margin of 50.3 percent, could well prove to be a salutary shock The trouble over migration within Europe has been brewing for months, but it finally took a small, very rich country outside the union, with a dreamlike unemployment rate of 3.5 percent and a tradition of politically incorrect referendums, to force us to take a hard look at this crucial issue In fact, the Swiss have succeeded where David Cameron failed The British prime minister tried to kick-start a debate in the European Union when he called last November for immigration restrictions, but he framed it in the wrong terms When Europeans talk about immigration, it can be confusing Immigrants are people arriving from outside the European Union, mostly from Africa and Asia; their movement is heavily regulated by the union’s member states Migration refers to citizens of the European Union moving from one member state to another Free movement of people is a cornerstone of the European Union; Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, even described it as one of the union’s ‘‘greatest successes.’’ Latvian electricians can live and work in Britain, Spanish engineers can move to Germany and Dutch pensioners can retire to the south of France And they have, by the millions Free movement worked beautifully as long as the European Union was small and prosperous With a big wave of enlargement in 2004, when eight former east bloc nations joined the union, came the first tide of migrants, as Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians and others began to move around in search of better wages In 2007, two more countries, Romania and Bulgaria, were allowed in, on the condition that their citizens wait another five years, until Jan 1, 2014, to look for work elsewhere At the time, nobody paid much attention Then came the sovereign debt crisis, changing everything As recession hit several euro-zone countries and unemployment soared, foreigners no longer felt as welcome as before Native anxiety began to spread The extreme right became more vocal Anti-immigrant and Euroskeptic movements took off Mainstream political parties panicked Under pressure from the U.K Independence Party, Mr Cameron pledged to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership in the European Union This is how one of Europe’s ‘‘major successes’’ turned into a political liability Politically speaking, the Swiss referendum is a disaster because elections to the European Parliament are just three months away, and fears are growing that anti-European If the overdue Union parties could collect as much as debate on mione-third of the vote gration finally Just look at who rehappens, joiced first after the European Swiss poll: Nigel Farage, the U.K Indepoliticians should eschew pendence Party leadan all-or-noth- er; Marine Le Pen, head of the National ing mind-set Front in France; and Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands (A tweet by Mr Wilders said it all: ‘‘What the Swiss can do, we can too: cut immigration and leave the EU.’’) In a way, the free movement of people is like the euro: an achievement of historic proportions but politically illconceived On a continent where 70 years ago people were still slaughtering one another, today 500 million citizens can live wherever they wish in 28 countries Yet, even if the free movement of people was rightly seen as a pillar of a new European community, its proponents could not foresee either the fall of the Iron Curtain or the euro crisis, both of which put millions of people on the move Like the common currency, free movement is an attribute of federal systems — but the European Union is not a federal state Many of the arguments used by politicians opposed to immigration are not supported by the facts Last month the British government shelved a report on ‘‘benefit tourism’’ for lack of evidence The Financial Times reported government statistics showing that the number of European Union migrants moving to Britain were balanced by those of Britons living abroad When Mr Cameron calls for rules to stop ‘‘vast migrations’’ within the union, he has in mind the 600,000 Poles living in Britain But he forgets to mention the 2.2 million Britons living in Europe, nearly 800,000 of whom chose Spain Mobility, after all, is a two-way street As regards benefits, migration experts have found that citizens from Eastern Europe who move to Western Europe are mostly young and trained — and so less likely to use national health or social services, and more likely to work and pay taxes A new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development study shows that, since the beginning of the financial crisis, mobility inside the European Union has been even higher than in the United States Migration has in effect become an adjustment mechanism in response to labor market shocks This is why Germany has welcomed not only cheap factory workers from the East but also unemployed graduates from Southern Europe, whom Der Spiegel dubbed ‘‘The New Guest Workers.’’ And why the British, French and German public health systems, hit by shortages of physicians, have welcomed Romanian doctors, 14,000 of whom have left their country since it joined the union The Romanian and Bulgarian invasion of Britain after Jan predicted by Mr Farage hasn’t materialized: Those people left their countries years ago, mostly for Italy and Spain Bulgaria saw its population drop from million in 1989 to million in 2012 as people either moved away or stopped having children But perceptions matter, and the Swiss vote can’t be dismissed If the overdue debate on migration finally happens, European politicians should eschew an all-or-nothing mind-set and focus on correcting the migration imbalances within the union As for the euro, they may well find that the solution is more integration, not less And any discussion about the consequences of the free movement of people within the union can’t be a substitute for a new and much-needed approach to external immigration which, judging by the number of boats tragically sinking off Lampedusa, shows no signs of abating SYLVIE KAUFFMANN is the editorial director and a former editor in chief of Le Monde Pakistan mustn’t surrender Haider Ali Hussein Mullick WASHINGTON Last week, a Pakistani Taliban commander reported the execution of 23 Pakistani frontier troops held hostage; two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed nine Shiite Muslims in Peshawar In response, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has conducted retaliatory airstrikes but has only suspended, not abandoned, its foolhardy strategy for peace: keep trying to talk the Pakistani Taliban into disarming, in exchange for halting military operations against them These peace talks will fail They are an effort to surrender, and they ignore what most Pakistanis want: to regain control of their country from this deadly insurgency So Mr Sharif should end the talks definitively and have the army mount a strong land offensive to drive the Pakistani Taliban out of their mountainous stronghold south of Peshawar once the snows melt this spring It is there that the group poses the greatest risk to Pakistan’s people, and to America’s supply line to Afghanistan The United States should help the army prepare In the last decade, the Pakistani Taliban and associated groups, operating from the northwest, have terrified much of Pakistan They have killed more than 18,000 civilians, including more than 2,000 Shiites and 5,500 police officers and soldiers A sense of siege prevails west of the Indus River, even though that area is garrisoned by Pakistan’s military Much of the problem can be laid at the feet of Pakistan’s leaders For decades, with government acquiescence, Pakistan’s military and its intelligence agency have used radical Islamist groups to foment insurgencies in Afghanistan and Kashmir The groups recruit and train ideologues and fighters; raise funds; run seminaries and businesses; broadcast hatred of their political and religious enemies; and get hospital treatment when they are wounded The military’s original goal was to counter Indian regional influence, but the cost to Pakistanis has been the failure of their state Now the extremists increasingly target the very military that armed and encouraged them In other words, Pakistan’s luck has run out You can sway an insurgent to fight ‘‘injustice’’ in a neighboring country like India, but once his leaders feel they have impunity, you can’t stop them from acting independently or exploiting local grievances These days, as much as the Pakistani Taliban hate Indians and Americans, they hate other Pakistanis MOHAMMAD SAJJAD/ASSOCIATED PRESS Women near the site of a Peshawar attack more Acting in tandem with Al Qaeda, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other lethal groups, the Pakistani Taliban has slaughtered Shiites, Christians, Indians, Americans, Afghans and polio prevention workers, often with the state looking the other way Pakistan’s decade-long response has been based on a fallacy: that the military could target ‘‘bad’’ insurgents (those fighting Pakistan’s army and citizenry), while it worked with ‘‘good’’ ones (those fighting India) In reality, the two types are increasingly indistinguishable and have killed a great many times more Pakistanis than Indians For example, With terrorist killings rising, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group responsible for Pakistan must the 2008 Mumbai atstop talking to tacks, also has supthe Taliban ported anti-Shiite death squads And and attack it the Haqqani network, instead which has fought Indian influence in Afghanistan, has also helped Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban kill Pakistanis Last year, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project found that 93 percent of Pakistanis said terrorism was a big problem, while only 45 percent worried that much about Indian influence in Afghanistan Nevertheless, peace efforts have kept chasing the dream of compromise In 2004, 2006 and 2008, Pakistan’s army signed deals that gave insurgents territory, amnesty, reparations, exemption from constitutional rules — along with time to rearm, regroup and resume their attacks The record of mayhem, which has included attacks on major military headquarters, has left one mediator defending the current talks with this logic: ‘‘If America, with all its might, couldn’t win in Afghanistan, how can we win against the Pakistani Taliban? They have scores of suicide bombers We must negotiate.’’ But that is nonsense Of course Pakistan’s army can’t expect to win the war by simply killing enough of the enemy It must also focus on winning over the local populace by assuring their safety But the army showed in 2009 that it could this: After the Taliban seized the peaceful Swat Valley and proceeded to behead policemen, flog women and keep girls like Malala Yousafzai from attending school, the army swept in Aided by new training and tactics, and with an infusion of American dollars and equipment, the troops took back the area and then kept control of it — a first for them since 9/11 And most of the two million displaced residents returned home Today, most Pakistanis want to apply the ‘‘Swat Valley model’’ to North Waziristan, the nerve center of the Pakistani Taliban Prime Minister Sharif, in a Jan 29 speech defending negotiations, admitted as much ‘‘I know if the state today decides to use force to eliminate the terrorists, the entire nation will support it,’’ he said What he should have added was that peace talks would make the most sense after Pakistan’s troops took the area from the insurgents Today, the Taliban demand nothing less than blanket immunity, a return of prisoners, the exit of all Pakistani troops, an end to American drone strikes, the abandonment of secular education and the severance of ties between the United States and Pakistan Defeating them in battle might allow Pakistan to demand, instead, that the Taliban accept the rule of law That outcome would benefit the United States We need Pakistan as a strategic ally, and we need both its stability and a good working relationship with its leaders to help keep its 100 or so nuclear warheads from falling into terrorist hands Nevertheless, our relationship has been strained for decades by mutual distrust — largely traceable, on the American side, to Pakistan’s reluctance to directly confront the dangerous partners it has coddled for so long So in preparation for a spring offensive, America should now offer Pakistan intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, as well as humanitarian assistance for those citizens whom fighting would inevitably displace It is an opportunity to start building trust between our two countries by helping Pakistan take on its worst internal threat, one that menaces the democracy that Pakistanis crave an adjunct professor at the Naval War College, is editor in chief of The Fletcher Security Review HAIDER ALI HUSSEIN MULLICK, 10 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Culture art books Tragedy and farce in Putin’s Russia Russians The People Behind the Power By Gregory Feifer Illustrated 372 pages Twelve $28 Words Will Break CementThe Passion of Pussy Riot By Masha Gessen 308 pages Riverhead Books Paper, $16 BY JOSHUA RUBENSTEIN Gregory Feifer’s ‘‘Russians: The People Behind the Power’’ joins a list of classic books by Western correspondents who have covered the politics and culture of what was once the Soviet Union Hedrick Smith, Robert G KaisBOOK REVIEW GÉRARD JULIEN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Above, a sculpture by the Venezuelan artist Manuel Mérida at the Arco art fair in Madrid Below, figure studies by Peter Paul Rubens for his painting ‘‘Samson and Delilah.’’ Global reach for smaller fairs MADRID Arco Madrid extends influence with focus on Latin American market during the early stages of Arco This week brings another smaller fair, Art14 in London, and the Armory Show in New York follows the next The art fair merry-go-round keeps turning, and for the moment at least, there’s no sign of it slowing down BY SCOTT REYBURN Demand for drawings There are, according to the latest reliable estimate from The Art Newspaper, 278 art fairs in the world For cash-rich, timestrapped contemporary art buyers, fairs have an obvious appeal: New artists can be discovered in an afternoon; hundreds of dealers can be met in just a few days But most buyers can’t get to all of them ‘‘Must attend’’ fixtures — like Art Basel, Frieze London and Art Basel Miami Beach — remain locked in the busy collectors’ electronic diaries, leaving a mass of ‘‘might attend’’ fairs competing for the attention of the art world’s globe-trotting clientele Arco Madrid, whose 33rd edition opened to V.I.P visitors on Tuesday, is one of the more highly regarded The fair has the challenge of taking place not only in a soulless exhibition multiplex on the outskirts of the Spanish capital, but in an economy that’s still battered by recession, stifling domestic demand Arco’s solution, under the directorship of Carlos Urroz, has been to internationalize its exhibitor list and program — this year the focus was on Finland — and to spend 4.5 million euros, or about $6.2 million, on inviting 500 selected collectors and curators from all over the world to the event Even though the fair pays for the trips, plenty of international megagallerists and their billionaire clients still give Madrid a miss Yet Spain’s links to the emerging economies of Latin America have encouraged a growing number of dealers and collectors from that region to attend, and the fair is growing in stature ‘‘We sell mostly to museums and foundations at Arco,’’ said Marina Buendia, a director of Vermelho, one of 10 São Paulo dealers among the 219 exhibitors at the fair Her cutting-edge contemporary gallery also exhibits at Frieze ‘‘We’ve been at Arco for six years and things are getting better,’’ she said ‘‘Otra Frontera,’’ a 2013 conceptual wall sculpture made out of a sieve by the Argentinian artist Nicolás Robbio, was among Vermelho’s early sales, to a Colombian collector for $4,000 (Dealers at art fairs can choose in which currency to price their works Vermelho opted for U.S dollars, the international currency of the art market.) Arco is ‘‘an important event for Latin American dealers,’’ said the São Paulobased gallerist Luciana Brito, who was showing 2009-2010 landscape photocollages by the German-trained Brazilian artist Caio Reisewitz, priced from Ô4,000 to Ô20,000 ‘‘We get to meet a lot of museum curators and directors.’’ Early purchases at the five-day fair, which ended on Sunday and which last year attracted 100,000 visitors, tended to be at modest price-points Galería Elvira González, from Madrid, sold the 1984 Robert Mapplethorpe photograph ‘‘Pheasant’’ to a Spanish foundation for Ô13,000 On the second day of the fair Gonzỏlez sold the 2008 Miquel Barcelo canvas, ‘‘Dogon - 2,’’ reminiscent of a cave painting, for about Ô430,000, one of the few confirmed bigger ticket sales Drawings are becoming an unlikely hot stock these days Long regarded as a slightly arcane category of art collecting, they’ve nonetheless sparked some exceptional auction prices during the last 18 months The New York-based private equity magnate Leon Black paid 29.7 million pounds, or about $49.5 million, for Raphael’s ‘‘Head of a Young Apostle’’ at Sotheby’s London in December 2012 Earlier this month, the Jan Krugier collection of 19th- and 20th-century drawings raised £74.8 million, almost three times the modest low estimate (also at Sotheby’s London) With big-beast collectors like Mr Black spending millions at the top end of the market, now is as good a time as any to announce the sale of the collection of I.Q van Regteren Altena (1899-1980) Mr Altena was head of the department of prints and drawings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam from 1948 to 1962 CHRISTIE’S Spain’s links to Latin America’s emerging economies have drawn a growing number of dealers and collectors from that region to sell for at least £1.5 million It will be the most highly valued lot in a 70-lot sale at Christie’s in London on July 10 of Dutch and Flemish drawings from the collection A pen-and-ink study of a mutilated hand by the 16th-century Dutch Mannerist artist Hendrick Goltzius is another desirable trophy, priced at £300,000 to £500,000 Goltzius, at the age of 1, burned his hands on burning coals, and the after-effects were also recorded in a similar, much-admired drawing in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, in Holland ‘Mona Lisa’ of philately GALERIA VERMELHO ‘‘Otra Frontera,’’ a 2013 conceptual wall sculpture by Nicolás Robbio, which the Brazilian gallery Vermelho sold at Arco for $4,000 Before and after that appointment he was an active private buyer himself, putting together his own ‘‘Kabinet van tekeningen,’’ or cabinet of drawings About 1,000 of Mr Altena’s purchases will be sold by his family at Christie’s in a series of four auctions in London, Amsterdam and Paris this year and next, estimated at £10 million ‘‘Altena was one of those collectors who had an amazing reputation as a connoisseur,’’ said the London-based specialist dealer Stephen Ongpin, who underbid Mr Black on the Raphael drawing ‘‘He was buying when there were hundreds of auctions and he could easily make discoveries.’’ One of Mr Altena’s discoveries, back in the 1920s, was Peter Paul Rubens’s only known drawing for his 1609-10 painting, ‘‘Samson and Delilah,’’ now in the National Gallery in London That early masterpiece, produced in Antwerp soon after he returned from Italy in 1608, shows what an innovative artist Rubens could be before he made a fortune out of decorating the royal palaces of Europe The pen-and-ink drawing is estimated Though they’re no longer collected in quite the same quantity as they once were by short-trousered schoolboys, stamps can still be worth serious amounts of money The British Guiana One-Cent Magenta is among the most valuable This British colonial penny issue from 1856, resembling a hexagonal red blob, became the most expensive stamp in the world in 1922 when it sold at auction for $35,000 It has remained the Mona Lisa of philately since then, selling to the American chemical heir John E du Pont for a record $935,000 in 1980 Du Pont died in prison in 2010, after being convicted in 1997 of the murder of an Olympic wrestling champion The One-Cent Magenta will be sold by Du Pont’s estate at Sotheby’s New York on June 17 with an estimate of $10 million to $20 million, far in excess of the current auction record of about $2.2 million for a single stamp No work of art has consistently broken auction records in this way er, David K Shipler and David Remnick, among others, wrote acclaimed accounts of what they witnessed as the Soviet Union first challenged the West and then gradually collapsed under the weight of a sclerotic regime In August 1991, Mr Feifer was a university student spending a summer in Moscow when a group of hard-line Communist officials tried to carry out a coup in a last-ditch effort to prolong Soviet rule Their failure only sped up the process of dissolution and led to an initial period of such euphoria that many people inside and outside the country believed — as did Mr Feifer himself — that ‘‘the U.S.S.R would be a part of the international community, enjoying the West’s previously unimaginable freedom and prosperity.’’ It was not to be Boris Yeltsin, who succeeded Mikhail Gorbachev and intended to preside over a democratic renaissance, failed to hold the Communist Party accountable for its crimes, to create institutions guaranteeing the rule of law and to ensure that the country’s vast mineral and energy resources would be administered for the benefit of the entire Russian people His failures gave democracy a bad name and sapped whatever confidence a majority of Russian citizens might once have entertained about the virtues of a more Western-oriented political system It seemed like a miracle when the Soviet Union fell apart with hardly a whiff of violence, but the first Chechen war, which Yeltsin initiated in December 1994, was only a harbinger of the continuing ethnic violence and acts of terrorism that have marred the Russian political landscape ever since — all of which made it easier for a former K.G.B officer like Vladimir Putin to assume power and pick up the pieces Mr Feifer returned to Russia in 1999 as a journalist and stayed for eight years, many of them as the Moscow correspondent for the radio station NPR His upbringing — his father is a distinguished writer and historian and his mother a rebellious Russian-born bohemian — instilled in him a deep attachment to the country’s culture and history Mr Feifer’s fluency in Russian and his academic training in history prepared him well for his work The particular strength of his account is how he places his reporting of the country’s myriad and devastating problems within a broad understanding of Russian (and not just Soviet) history Mr Feifer loves Russia, making his depressing account all the more poignant: He records a relentless decline in population; a staggering level of alcoholism and domestic violence; increasing rates of AIDS and tuberculosis It is hardly surprising that Russian men have a life expectancy of only 64 years, on a par with Belarus and Ukraine and among the lowest in Europe But in the face of these demographic and societal challenges, Mr Putin focuses on the assertion of geostrategic influence ‘‘Putin has used control over the energy sector to pursue his goal of restoring Russia to the ranks of the great powers,’’ Mr Feifer writes This pursuit of international prestige, including the holding of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, cannot substitute, however, for democratic reform As Mr Feifer details corruption from Moscow to Kamchatka and Vladivostok, he concludes that ‘‘Putin is chief among a collection of officials whose roles more closely resemble those of Mafia dons than public servants.’’ The exploitation of Russia’s mineral and energy reserves has made a number of people extraordinarily wealthy, including government and corporate bureau- crats, but the prevalence of Bentleys on Moscow streets — Mr Feifer observes that ‘‘displays of extravagance can be as appalling as Communist deprivation was grim’’ — cannot camouflage the decay that is undermining society at large Mr Feifer writes that ‘‘the wealthy also know in their bones that their power is fragile, as the rulers about their own.’’ But there is room for disagreement here: Mr Putin, his associates and the compliant oligarchs around them continue to behave with overbearing confidence The Russia of Yeltsin provided a modicum of hope for the country’s future But Mr Putin has been pressuring groups that monitor elections or human rights, branding them as ‘‘foreign agents.’’ Mr Feifer concludes his book by introducing a lonely group of democracy activists who continue to document abuses and challenge the Kremlin Masha Gessen complements Mr Feifer by concentrating on some of these Russian activists — the ones who employ humor and street theater to challenge officialdom The significance of ‘‘Words Will Break Cement’’ — the title is drawn from the work of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — is its demonstration that Pussy Riot’s rambunctious confrontations with the authorities are the result of several years of growing frustration with Mr Putin’s rule Not for them the respectful protests, vigils and appeals by dissidents like those of the Brezhnev era The genius of the Russian punk band ‘‘The wealthy also know in their bones that their power is fragile, as the rulers about their own.’’ and the performance art group Voina (meaning War), to which some of Pussy Riot’s members also belonged, has been to employ guerrilla street theater and a sense of humor along with unbridled profanity — all the better to skewer the pretensions of power and privilege that Mr Putin insists are his due Who is to say that the action of Voina in June 2010, when it painted the image of an erect phallus on a drawbridge in St Petersburg, which pointed to the headquarters of the secret police, was any less effective an expression of moral outrage than a book by Solzhenitsyn? In the case of Pussy Riot, their protests culminated in February 2012, when five women dressed in balaclavas and colorful clothing danced and sang inside the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, calling for Mr Putin to go They chose this Moscow church because Russian Orthodox leaders had grown close to the Kremlin The ‘‘performance’’ lasted hardly a minute, was poorly videotaped and left the band discouraged about its success But when the regime issued an indictment against them five days later, they went into hiding It took another week or so for security officials to track them down If the Kremlin had not decided to prosecute members of the band so severely — two of the women were sentenced to two years in a labor camp — it would have been easy to dismiss their performance as a sophomoric prank But the overreaction of the regime and the church hierarchy put them on the world stage ‘‘Words Will Break Cement’’ makes clear that Pussy Riot is more than just a small group of disorderly anarchists akin to the American Yippies of the late 1960s, who once dropped dollar bills onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange To understand their courage and thoughtfulness, you need only to read their statements in court or the ones they issued after their early release from prison last December With humor, passion and no small risk to themselves, they intend to continue confronting the Putin regime, pressing for the release of other political prisoners With the irrepressible band on hand, the dour and autocratic Vladimir Putin can expect to have his hands full Joshua Rubenstein was a longtime staff member of Amnesty International USA His latest book is ‘‘Leon Trotsky: A Revolutionary’s Life.’’ ONLINE: THE LITERARY LIFE Read reviews, profiles of authors and more at nytimes.com/books JASON SZENES/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY Maria Alyokhina, left, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot With humor, passion and no small risk, the group intends to continue confronting the Russian government MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES =IDEE= SUZY MENKES special report Realists vs romantics Take the water or the wine — the transparent freshness of And Milan fashion’s long weekend was divided between a fast-running stream or the lush richness of a bottle of red the two approaches, even as fabric research and subtle Realists versus romantics is that choice in fashion terms use of color brought the sides together EMILIO PUCCI MARNI BOT TEG A VENETA Taking a scalpel to all that is fancy, yet controlling pattern in a defined space It sounds so easy Yet only a designer of the caliber of Tomas Maier at can pull off such a combination His show went against most of the trends for winter 2014: only the smallest sprinkling of coats; no pants at all for his purposeful, modern woman, but a DOLCE & G ABBANA few skirts and sweaters, which are a fashion story of this new season Yet the Bottega Veneta show was exceptional and striking because the designer worked with geometric lines to turn soft into sharp, and vice versa The collection was built on dresses: slim, over the knee, just a pair of boots or REALISTS, PAGE 12 11 There was not a church, a cross or a Sicilian landscape in sight as sent out its winter 2014 show on Sunday Instead, falling snow, the bare branches of winter trees and Tchaikovsky’s soaring music started a fashion fairy tale GIO STAIANO, GUILLAUME ROUJAS/NOWFASHION.COM It had all the magical elements of traditional children’s books: appliqués of cats on their way to the moon, patterns of keys to the castle door and gilded ‘‘handsome prince’’ clothes with embedded jewels They created a costume scenario that was both whimsical and charming because the story line fitted ROMANTICS, PAGE 12 www.dior.com 12 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES FASHION MILAN special report The Romantics ROMANTICS, FROM PAGE 11 AGNONA Agnona going global Zegna had a little lamb, its face as white as snow — or any other color from shocking pink through mauve to turquoise, chosen by Stefano Pilati for the cashmere brand Gildo Zegna, chief executive of his family company, turned to Mr Pilati, the design force behind Zegna men’s wear, to transform Agnona into a range of rational and functional clothes Add the actress Dree Hemingway, great-granddaughter of the American author, as the face of Agnona — pressing her wild hair and soft skin against a newborn lamb in the advertising campaign — and you have a striking push forward for this first real collection, following the ‘‘zero’’ line, his debut, last season ‘‘It is very exciting for Stefano to be able to play around with the archive fabrics from lightweight cashmere to mohair in fantastic colors Plus, we have accessories and we are making Agnona into a global brand,’’ said Mr Zegna, talking about store openings as well as the brand’s focus on craft, shown in the wave pattern effects worked in wool The executive emphasized the importance of artisanal work, all of which was ‘‘made in Italy.’’ Mr Pilati’s skill is in creating intricate cuts and shapes that appear so simple: a navy double-faced coat, roomy and elegant; or a first stab at evening wear in beautifully draped long back dresses A new series of handbags, led by the ‘‘Cara,’’ poised on a display table supported by a faux goat’s leg, showed just how seriously Mr Zegna is taking the development of his brand SUZY MENKES ONLINE: INTERNATIONAL STYLE Suzy Menkes talks about the Agnona line with Gildo Zegna of Ermenegildo Zegna inyt.com/style right in with the duo’s romantic vision, from furry bonnets to flat shoes laced with gilding ‘‘Every woman wants to be a fairy,’’ chorused Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce backstage The two had proved that they could enlarge their repertoire beyond digital prints and Sicilian images The clothes may have been fancy but they were surprisingly wearable, even when coats and dresses were decorated to the hilt Long, light gowns wafted the show into evening (always supposing woven embellished shoes and bags count as day wear) Just in case the spell was too powerful, the designers slipped in one of their iconic, squarenecked shapely black dresses And the finale featured a corps de ballet with silver winking on brief, black modern sportswear The knitwear effects at were as enticing as they were unexpected A brand founded in Florence and based on the colors of the Mediterranean suddenly looking north? But by going back to his own Norwegian roots, with Nordic knit patterns melded into his body-conscious clothes, the designer Peter Dundas found a winning formula ‘‘It was going home I looked to the north,’’ he said backstage ‘‘But when I started looking at Eskimos and Navajos, Lapps and American Indians — they were all alike.’’ The result was a powerful and credible meld of cultures The show openers were intensely printed dresses with matching boots or with pattern treatments on fur and wool By the time an Inuit knit patterned jacket with a snow white color had appeared the message was clear: Northern Lights But Mr Dundas made a fine job of ensuring that his inspirations were global and local He balanced the Nordic knits with Florentine flourishes, including evening dresses of wafty chiffon in Emilio Pucci’s spirit While there were plenty of the designer’s familiar dresses with cut-away backs for a sexy exit line, two standout pieces were velvet pantsuits: papal crimson with an orange blouse for Florence, dark green with a yellow top for the north The best of both worlds ’s show was hot, red hot, flames licking from a circle in the center of a runway that a moment be- ROBERTO CAVALLI fore had been doused with water And so it was with the collection: a light start with silver gray jackets, trimmed with fur, set above skinny pants — the materials embossed with a metallic sheen With horsy accessories, they looked like a Cavalli cavalry on forward march Then came a surge of fiery red, dropping down to dark embers within one outfit, but the colors mostly burning bright, especially for the furs The designer took his bow leaning on a rhinestone-embellished walking stick after recent hip surgery Maybe it was wishful thinking that prompted him to call the collection ‘‘a dance of energy,’’ as the more sporty pieces and narrow pants switched to a 1920s feel: flat-front dresses with geometric patterns and the inevitable flapper fringe at the hem The collection was stronger before the models climbed down from their horses and took to the dance floor SUZY MENKES JIL SANDER .and the realists REALISTS, FROM PAGE 11 shoes with flame-shaped cutouts licking the ankle Those same flames might climb from the hemline of a beige dress in an extraordinary piece of craftsmanship But it was the way that optical illusion lines raked through the dresses that needed a mathematician to understand Here was a zigzag creating a sense of long and short; there, a firework of exploding lines And often these graphic additions unfolded into pleats to loosen the cloth away from the flesh, while others used eye-popping geometry that looked like Op Art from the 1960s ‘‘Optical illusions, David Bowie,’’ Mr Maier said backstage, bringing the singer into this mix, without giving away what led him to create such a confident and convincing show The difference between streamlined complexity and perplexing the audience is everything at a fashion show Unfortunately, ’s woman-into-bird collection fell into the latter category Of course there were more than applications of feathers and fur from the waist downward on a tailored coat Some of the swings of compass and square to create geometric shapes showed splendid tailoring skills And the art of craft was glorified both on the bare walls blotched with arty markings and on dresses splodged with color But what did it all add up to on the hanger or, more important, on the body? Some of the fur, which was this company’s starting point, was bold and beautiful: a coat flagged with vertical stripes of red, white and royal blue fox Remove the ginger fur collar and it would have been perfect So the story went Smart tailoring, if only the ballooning raglan sleeves on the jacket had not been paired with puzzling flaps and folds on the skirt; a sleek camel colored jacket, but shown with a skirt that looked like unraked hay, and then the other way around for a grassy cape top and camel skirt Consuelo Castiglioni’s fertile imagination is admirable But the show needed an injection of that vital fashion quality: simplicity A hard/soft collaboration at , using color to sweeten the plain shapes, was worked efficiently by the design team that is again without Ms Sander’s guidance after yet another of her walkouts The show started on an unfortunate note, a pale blue coat that pulled awkwardly across the model’s miniscule hips But, in general the clothes were slightly sporty with loose coats and simple dresses The result was streamlined but not minimalist Color was more than a saving grace It was a beautiful addition to the clean lines and artful simplicity The palette seemed to have been taken from semi-precious stones: the watery amethyst or aquamarine, deepening to turquoise; and a tourmaline that was the ginger shade of whiskey The colors took the collection in a fresh different direction, without any major statement SUZY MENKES GUILLAUME ROUJAS, REGIS COLIN/NOWFASHION.COM; COURTESY OF AGNONA MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Sports 13 olympics Powerhouse: Canadian men glide to a gold medal HOCKEY SOCHI, RUSSIA BY KEN BELSON Canada’s men’s hockey team was one of the favorites to win the gold medal here when the Winter Games began, and throughout the tournament it lived up to the billing, steamrolling Norway and Austria before winning battles over Finland, Latvia and the United States The Canadians had so many weapons that it was easy to overlook Sidney Crosby, their captain and perhaps their most talented player Before the gold medal game against Sweden on Sunday, he had no goals and just two assists But with a flair for the dramatic, Crosby made his presence felt on Sunday when he scored a breakaway goal in the second period that seemed to deflate the Swedish team that struggled to keep up with the Canadians for much of the game Canada won, 3-0, and defended its Olympic title Canada is the first team to repeat as Olympic champions since the Soviet Union in the 1980s Sweden, which won the gold medal in 1994 and 2006, settled for the silver medal here Finland won the bronze medal by beating the United States, 5-0, on Saturday Canada also won the gold medal in the women’s tournament Crosby was one of 11 teammates who also played on the men’s gold medal team in Vancouver He had four goals and three assists in that tournament Crosby has regained his form with the Pittsburgh Penguins after several seasons battling injuries, including a serious concussion In the gold medal game, as always, he remained a major threat With less than five minutes left in the second period, as Canada poured on the shots and stifled Sweden’s momentum, Crosby raced down the left side, shifted to his right and flipped a backhand shot beyond the left skate of Sweden’s sprawling goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist Crosby’s first goal of the tournament put Canada up, 2-0, and brought loud cheers from the sizable Canadian contingent in the Bolshoi Ice Dome It also turned an otherwise tight game into one dominated by the Canadians ‘‘It was nice to get that one and get the cushion,’’ Crosby said ‘‘We all knew the U.S game was our best game, and we all felt if we played the exact same way, we’d get the same result.’’ Crosby said Canada’s victory here was not as dramatic as the gold medal the team won four years ago Indeed, before the game Sunday, Canada and Sweden were evenly matched, both with 5-0 records The teams skated with energy and purpose in the first period before Canada broke through at the 12:55 mark when Jeff Carter fired a pass to Jonathan Toews, who was in front of the net and tipped it between Lundqvist’s legs, for his first goal of the tournament ‘‘It’s a big disappointment, obviously, being this close to a gold medal,’’ Lundqvist said ‘‘But I think Canada definitely deserved to win tonight They were the better team.’’ Lundqvist said injuries played no part in his team’s performance Sweden played without the star forward Nicklas Backstrom, who did not dress for the game after reportedly testing positive for a banned substance, which his Olympic committee said was in an allergy medication he has been taking for years BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS The bad news is behind the Sweden goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist With this goal, Chris Kunitz of Canada drove the third and final nail into Sweden’s 3-0 loss on Sunday Canada retained the gold it had won in the 2010 Games As gold moments dim, Sochi faces reality SOCHI, FROM PAGE The country delivered Ultimately, more than 220 miles of roads and bridges were built, along with 700 sports grounds and overhauls and renovations to the power grid, the airport and sewage system The committee got its wish, Russia got its Games and now Sochi is at risk of becoming a gold-rush town that just ran out of gold A recent report by Moody’s Investors Service said that the area would need to double its flow of visitors, to at least five million a year to keep those hotels full, and that is highly unlikely The report said real estate company estimates were that occupancy rates could fall to 35 percent to 40 percent It is unclear where additional tourists will come from Like many hoteliers here, Brian Gleeson, the general manager of the Radisson Blu Beach Resort and Spa, is not looking to the United States market, and he has written off Europeans for at least a year The reason is that many Europeans have better options closer to home, and they must have visas to visit Russia ‘‘What we need to is focus on getting the home market up and running,’’ he said on a recent afternoon ‘‘That’s 145 million people, and we need to get very creative about giving those people a reason to choose Sochi.’’ One obvious asset is the Olympics itself and the objects and buildings it has left behind But hotels have to be a bit coy about promoting this particular attraction An intellectual property law passed in Russia, at the behest of the I.O.C., puts certain words — like Olympics and representations of the Olympic rings — out of bounds in advertising ‘‘So here’s our campaign for the wedding market,’’ said Gleeson, opening a ring binder filled with print ads in Russian ‘‘It says, ‘Add your ring to our collection in Sochi.’ Here’s one for families: ‘Bring out the champion in your child.’’’ What about those tourists who want summer sun or winter snow? Many in the moneyed class of Russia prefer foreign destinations A flight from Moscow to Sochi is two hours You can spend another hour in the air and go to Innsbruck, Austria, where you are unlikely to encounter the weather anxieties that led Russia to stockpile millions of cubic feet of snow in preparation for the Games During the summer, Sochi’s traditional peak, it competes for upper-class rubles with beach towns like Cesme, Turkey As for the middle and lower classes, they may be priced out of Sochi, where one-star hotels start around $140 a night The strange truth about these Olympics is that little has been built with long-term profits in mind, said Martin Müller, a professor of geography at the University of Zurich, who spent five years studying the area At the start of the planning of the Games, private investment was meant to contribute more than half of the costs As more projects turned out to be unprofitable, the Russian government stepped in Now, Müller estimates that the public is paying more than 90 percent of the Games’ reported $51 billion cost Much of ‘‘They told me there is no quality to assure Quality wasn’t an issue It wasn’t demanded by investors.’’ what has been built is not regarded here as an investment at all, but rather as a kind of national project for the people When taxpayers were not footing the bill directly, they were paying indirectly, courtesy of outlays by companies like Gazprom, the natural gas behemoth The vast majority of the company is owned by the state, and it was tasked with bankrolling the construction of the Laura Ski Resort, which has more than nine miles of trails The resort, along with the site for the biathlon and cross-country competitions, only a gondola ride from the base of the Laura Resort, cost close to $3 billion It is unclear what plans Gazprom has for continuing to advertise and operate Laura center Emails to the company were not returned Adding to the sense that Sochi was not built for long-term prosperity are the dozens of businessmen who won contracts for other projects, large and small Müller said that profits in these cases were often pocketed soon after bids were won One upshot is that many buildings were constructed on the cheap Müller said that he met with engineers in charge of quality assurance and that ‘‘they told me there is no quality to assure.’’ ‘‘Quality wasn’t an issue,’’ Müller said ‘‘It wasn’t demanded by investors, and nobody asked for it.’’ That means many of these hotels will incur huge upkeep costs far sooner than well-built structures Add in the problem of enormous overcapacity of hotel rooms, and you understand why Müller is predicting losses and bankruptcies Not everything in Sochi was built with such seemingly limited ambitions The Rosa Khutor ski resort, which held ski and snowboard events like aerials and halfpipe, has 18 ski lifts, 48 miles of slopes, six hotels in operation and four others near completion Take one look at it — a cross between an Alpine nirvana and a chalet-theme strip mall — and you know this is supposed to be a destination with legs But Rosa Khutor is only one part of Sochi For the place to thrive more broadly, many here believe that the Russian government needs to promote it That does not seem to be happening ‘‘The government has the intention to promote Sochi as a destination, but there is no specific plan about how to that,’’ Ekaterina Shadskaya, a director at the Russian Union of Travel Industry, said in an email ‘‘President Vladimir Putin declared that Sochi will not be included in the government program of tourist development in Russia, because all the infrastructure is already implemented.’’ A Formula One track is under construction, and some of the arenas could be converted into exhibition halls or used by professional teams for practice When Russia hosts soccer’s World Cup in 2018, some games will be played here But those events will use only a fraction of the capacity Müller thinks that Sochi has a good chance to become, in effect, a ward of the state, subsidized for the sake of warding off accusations that the Olympics were a multibillion-dollar mistake But that future is hardly guaranteed ‘‘Economic forecasts predict low growth for Russia in coming years,’’ he said, ‘‘and there will be more urgent projects as well.’’ After cost questions and security worries, a proud Russia closes Games SOCHI, RUSSIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Flushed with pride after a spectacular showing at the costliest Olympics ever, Russia celebrated 17 days of sportsdriven global unity on Sunday night with a farewell show that handed off the Winter Games to their next host, Pyeongchang in South Korea ‘‘Russia delivered all what it had promised,’’ the head of the International Olympic Committee said Raucous spectators chanted ‘‘Ro-ssiya! Ro-ssi-ya!’’ — ‘‘Russia! Russia!’’ — before being surrounded by multicolored fireworks and carried through a visually stunning, sometimes surrealistic panorama of Russian history and culture The crowd was in a party mood after the high-security Games passed without feared terror attacks ‘‘This is the new face of Russia — our Russia,’’ said Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Sochi organizing committee He called the Games ‘‘a moment to cherish and pass on to the next generations.’’ In a charming touch, the Sochi organizers used the ceremony to make a joke at their own expense Dancers in shimmering silver costumes formed themselves into four rings and a clump in the center of the stadium That was a wink at a technical glitch in the Feb opening ceremony, when one of the five Olympic rings in a wintry opening scene failed to open The rings were supposed to join together and erupt in fireworks This time, it worked: As the Russian president, Vladimir V Putin, watched from the stands, the dancers in the clump waited a few seconds and then formed a ring of their own, making five, drawing laughs from the crowd The closing ceremony, a farewell from Russia, with pageantry and protocol, started at 20:14 local time — a nod to the year that Putin seized upon to remake Russia’s image with the Olympics’ power to wow and concentrate global attention and huge resources ‘‘Now we can see our country is very friendly,’’ said Boris Kozikov of St Petersburg, Russia ‘‘This is very important for other countries around the world to see.’’ The $51 billion investment — topping even Beijing’s estimated $40 billion layout for the 2008 Summer Games — transformed a decaying resort town on the Black Sea into a household name All-new facilities, unthinkable in the Soviet era of drab shoddiness, showcased how far Russia has come in the two decades since it turned its back on communism But the Olympic show didn’t win over critics of Russia’s backsliding on democracy and human rights under Putin JOSH HANER/THE NEW YORK TIMES The Russian flourishes as the Games closed Sunday included a ballet of grand pianos and its institutionalized intolerance of gays While security was a potential problem going in, it appeared to be a big success coming out: Feared attacks by Islamic militants who threatened to target the Games didn’t materialize Despite the bumps along the way, the I.O.C president, Thomas Bach, used the closing ceremony to deliver a robustly upbeat verdict of the Games, his first as I.O.C president He was particularly enthusiastic about the host city itself ‘‘What took decades in other parts of the world was achieved here in Sochi in just seven years,’’ Bach said in declaring the Games closed As dusk fell, Russians and international visitors streamed into the stadi- um for the ceremony featuring the extinguishing of the Olympic flame Day and night, the flame became a favorite backdrop for ‘‘Sochi selfies,’’ a buzzword born at these Games for the fad of athletes and spectators taking do-it-yourself souvenir photos of themselves Russia celebrated itself and its rich gifts to the worlds of music and literature in the ceremony Performers in smart tails and puffy white wigs performed a ballet of grand pianos, pushing 62 of them around the stadium floor while the soloist Denis Matsuev played Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No There was, of course, also ballet, with dancers from the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky, among the world’s oldest ballet companies The winners of Russia’s record 13 gold medals marched into the stadium carrying the country’s white, blue and red flag, which was raised alongside the Olympic flag Putin smiled as he stood beside Bach, and he had reason to be pleased Russia’s athletes topped the Sochi medals table, both in golds and total — 33 That represented a stunning turnaround from the 2010 Vancouver Games There, a meager golds and 15 total for Russia seemed proof of its gradual decline as a winter sports power since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Russia’s bag of Sochi gold was the biggest haul ‘‘What took decades in other parts of the world was achieved here in Sochi in just seven years.’’ ever by a non-Soviet team Russia’s golden run started with Evgeni Plushenko leading Russia to victory in team figure skating Putin was on hand for that, one of several times that he popped up at venues across the Games Russia’s last gold came Sunday in four-man bobsled The Games’ signature moment for home fans was Adelina Sotnikova, cool as ice at 17, becoming Russia’s first gold medalist in women’s Olympic figure skating Not all of the headlines out of Sochi were about sports Organizers faced criticism going in about Russia’s strict policies toward gays, though once the Games were underway, most every athlete chose not to use the Olympic spotlight to campaign for the cause An activist musical group and movement, Pussy Riot, appeared in public and was horsewhipped by Cossack militiamen, drawing international scrutiny During the last days of competition, Sochi competed for attention with violence in Ukraine, Russia’s neighbor and considered a vital sphere of influence by the Kremlin 14 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES sports olympics Roundup BOBSLED Russian claims his 2nd gold, giving his country13 over all Alexander Zubkov was given a daunting assignment for his home Olympics His task: Take to Russian ice and make history, against drivers who have been beating him for years No problem Zubkov drove Russia to victory in the four-man bobsled race Sunday, adding that gold to his twoman from earlier in the Sochi Games and making him the sixth pilot to sweep those events at an Olympics Until now, no one had ever achieved that feat on home ice, but this track was built for Zubkov and he proved to be its master Zubkov’s victory was Russia’s 13th gold of the Sochi Games, two more than the next-closest country, Norway Russia, with 11 silvers and bronzes, also led in total medals, with 33 The United States had a total of 28 medals, secondbest (AP) C RO SS - CO U N T RY Norwegian wins 6th gold, a career mark for women Marit Bjorgen became the most decorated female Winter Olympian in history, leading a Norwegian sweep in the women’s 30-kilometer cross-country ski race Bjorgen won her sixth Olympic gold medal, to go with three silvers and a bronze Her career total of 10 puts her ahead of the Russian cross-country skier Lyubov Egorova, who won six gold medals and three silver ones Two other women have 10 medals in cross-country, but fewer golds Therese Johaug took the silver medal and Kristin Stoermer Steira was third on Saturday (AP) FABRICE COFFRINI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Record setter Mario Matt of Austria, who turns 35 in April, became the oldest Olympic Alpine gold medalist by winning the men’s slalom He had never finished higher than 34th in three earlier Olympic races ARMANDO BABANI/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY Toward 2018: The next generation on the move ALPINE SKIING KRASNAYA POLYANA, RUSSIA Veteran skiers hold their own, but a youth group is showing clear advances BY BILL PENNINGTON One of the earliest images of the 2014 Winter Olympics Alpine competition was Bode Miller streaking down the treacherous downhill course far ahead of the field in training Miller, an Olympian since 1998, was somehow turning back the clock and had made himself the clear favorite in the first ski racing event of the Sochi Games Two weeks later, the 36-year-old Miller, hobbled by two sore knees, withdrew from the concluding men’s event, the slalom, which almost certainly was his last chance to create a final Olympic impression in a long and record-setting career But by then, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin had won the women’s slalom, 24- year-old Anna Fenninger had rescued a struggling Austrian ski team with two gutsy medal performances and another Austrian, the 23-year-old Matthias Mayer, had defeated Miller in the downhill The Alpine races of the Sochi Olympics were not strictly a youth movement — Tina Maze of Slovenia, 30 years old and in her prime, proved why she was the best women’s skier in the world last year with two gold medals, and the 29-year-old Maria Höfl-Riesch of Germany continued her climb toward the Olympic women’s record for most Alpine medals with a gold and a silver But there was an evident advance of the next generation of dominant skiers Other recent Olympics featured Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Aksel Lund Svindal and Julia Mancuso, who combined for 10 medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, but the Sochi Games were the showcase for other faces, from Switzerland’s Lara Gut, who won her first Olympic medal, to Austria’s Nicole Hosp, who won two medals, to Christof Innerhofer, who was a surprising twotime medalist for Italy Looking ahead four years, the early story line is whether Vonn, Höfl-Riesch and Mancuso, who will all be 33 years old in 2018, will still be threats to skiers like Shiffrin, Fenninger and Gut, who is only 22 Miller will most likely be retired by 2018, as will Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, another medalist at the Sochi Games Will the American Ted Ligety, the gold medalist here in the giant slalom, still be a force four years from now when he is also 33? Or will it be the 22-year-old Alexis Pinturault’s turn? The French tech event specialist won his first Olympic medal in the Sochi Games Or will the 2018 Winter Olympics make a star of Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, who at 19 years old became the youngest male Alpine Olympic medalist on Saturday with a bronze in the slalom There is ample time to ponder these questions, but clearly a changing of the guard is looming Miller — whose six Olympic medals are the second most in Alpine history, after Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who had eight — may hold on until 2015, but it is hard to see him competing past that Svindal was expected to medal in one or two events but instead, the 31-year- old, five-time world champion was kept off any podium Vonn, who did not compete here because of a knee injury, has set the 2018 Olympics as a goal — and she’s good at goal setting — but first she has to re-establish herself after a second major reconstructive knee surgery She may not return to racing until January Mancuso hinted that she would be back in 2018, but it was more telling that after she was a surprising bronze medalist in the super combined, she skied without much dynamism in her next three events here It was as if the Olympic spirit had run out on the fourtime Olympic medalist Höfl-Riesch had the best 2014 of her age class among the women, with two medals But in the end, Höfl-Riesch also looked like a veteran caught in the buzz saw of a youthful revolt during the final women’s event of the Sochi Alpine competition Shiffrin had stormed to a commanding lead halfway through women’s slalom on Friday Höfl-Riesch, the defending Olympic champion in the event and a three-time Olympic gold medalist, was in second place In the final sequence of the race, the How Stalin paved the way for Sochi Games OLYMPICS SOCHI, RUSSIA BY KEN BELSON The absurdity of the juxtaposition of the capitalistic orgy known as the Olympics, and the dacha of Josef Stalin, a leader of the proletariat, became jarringly apparent at a security gate here in the hills overlooking the Black Sea On a sunny day recently, a guard in military fatigues refused to let a visitor in to see the summer home, which is now a museum Calls to the curator offered no relief Then a tour bus packed with dignitaries from Samsung, the electronics giant and Olympic sponsor, pulled up They had rented the dacha for the afternoon No other visitors were allowed A champion of collectivism, Stalin would no doubt have frowned on a corporation’s renting his summer home But that was then Vladimir Putin’s Russia spent $51 billion to stage these Winter Games, a two-week extravaganza that provides a platform for the world’s best athletes as well as corporations that want to wrap their soda and cellphones in the feel-good cloak of international sport Yet lost in the blizzard of dollar signs is a historical twist: Sochi might not have won the bid for the Winter Games if it were not for Stalin From 1937 until his death 16 years later, Stalin visited his dacha for long stretches to soak in Sochi’s fresh air, mild weather and hot springs and to help soothe his many aches and pains, physical and psychic The country’s political elite took their cue from Stalin and also built homes here Putin has a presidential residence not far from where Stalin stayed, and his love for Sochi is one reason he pushed hard for the city to host the Olympics ‘‘Stalin turned this place into a resort and, indirectly, he played a role in attracting the Olympics,’’ Natalia Medvedeva, a guide at the dacha, said the day after Samsung had left ‘‘As we say these JAMES HILL FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Stalin’s bed and coat are on display at his dacha in the mountains near Sochi, Russia days, he was a lobbyist for the city.’’ Of course, being a lobbyist was not Stalin’s main mark on history Under his iron-fisted rule of nearly three decades, millions were killed, starved and sent into exile In light of this history, the magnitude of the moneymaking at the Olympics made a visit to Stalin’s dacha, about 20 miles from the Olympic Park, somewhat incongruous Though designed as a hideaway safe from assassins and prying eyes, the dacha is now part of a complex of highend sanitariums known as Green Grove Befitting a man like Stalin, who was shrouded in mystery during his life, there are multiple legends about the place According to one telling, the dacha had no rugs because Stalin thought they were too luxurious In another, Stalin wanted to be able to hear the footsteps of anyone approaching (He supposedly fired staff members for walking too quietly.) The architect, Miron Merzhanov, included a bubbling fountain in the courtyard of the dacha, only to be told by Stalin’s security chief that the leader, who was set to arrive for the first time the next day, hated noise The fountain was covered over, they say Money is being spent to fix the dacha, but it is still a bit of a mess Paint is peeling, fabric is threadbare and the furniture is beaten up Desks and cabinets are stuffed in spare bathrooms Tables and chairs from modern times fill rooms Stalin had a movie viewing room, where he liked to watch westerns and Charlie Chaplin while sitting in a highbacked sofa that he had filled with horsehair because he believed it would stop an assassin’s bullet Stalin’s simple bed and a wardrobe are next to the sofa Behind his desk is a life-size wax figure with a pipe in his right hand Blink twice and it looks like Saddam Hussein Below a glass plate on the desk is a front page from Pravda, the party paper that he helped create Behind the wax Stalin is a map of the Soviet empire that he helped build The principal sentiment of the dacha’s 9,000 square feet, which was in Stalin’s Empire style, is modesty and sturdiness The architect’s design was meant to evoke Stalin himself, Medvedeva said ‘‘It reflected the appearance and role of Stalin in this dacha: It’s a bit short, strong, and sitting on top of a mountain,’’ she said These are modern times and the company running the dacha has a business to promote Visitors can rent one of the 12 bedrooms for about 16,000 rubles, or about $450 a night Three meals a day are included The larger question is what Stalin would have thought of the Olympics coming to Sochi Unlike Putin, who likes to flex his muscles and go shirtless, Stalin was not much of an athlete Unable to swim and feet inches tall, he walked in his indoor pool, which was filled with only five feet of seawater He played billiards with his right hand because of a deformed left hand, and apparently took offense if friends let him win His main activities were playing chess and taking walks, smoking a pipe and watching movies Medvedeva, the guide, said Stalin appreciated mass culture, so perhaps he would have understood the utility of hosting the Olympics The Soviet Union joined the Olympics only in 1952, the year before Stalin died ‘‘I’m not sure he would have liked it because he did everything according to Soviet principles, and he never liked private business,’’ said Galina Semenowa, a researcher at the Sporting Glory of Sochi Museum ‘‘He didn’t build anything for sports His aim was to build a health resort for the Soviet people.’’ From left: Therese Johaug, Marit Bjorgen and Kristin Stoermer Steira swept the podium DOPING two would make consecutive runs down a pitched slalom course with dicey snow conditions The powerful, 5-foot-11 Höfl-Riesch went first and appeared out of sync from the start She slid off her intended line several times, fought to regain her rhythm but then lurched through a series of arduous turns She completed the second run with the ninth-best time and a look of bewilderment on her face Shiffrin, who was years old when Höfl-Riesch won her first international ski race, roared down the same course, and, though she made a significant mistake, she finished more than a second ahead of the defending Olympic champion Höfl-Riesch, always magnanimous, complimented her adolescent rival afterward ‘‘Mikaela is going to win many, many races,’’ she said ‘‘I’m sure this is only the beginning.’’ It may be only the beginning but the rest of the story, and rivalry, is far from over The next day Shiffrin announced that she wanted to win each of the five Alpine events at the 2018 Winter Olympics Austrian skier tests positive for EPO The Austrian cross-country skier Johannes Dürr was been kicked out of the Sochi Games after testing positive for EPO, a blood booster, the country’s Olympic committee said Sunday It was the fifth doping case of the Olympics, but the first serious one The four other cases involved minor stimulants that can be found in food supplements None of the five athletes won medals in Sochi (AP) MEDALS STANDINGS WOMEN’S MASS START (30KM) P R OT EST S French trio to keep ski cross medals The three Frenchmen who swept the podium in the Winter Olympics freestyle ski cross event will keep their medals after the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, on Sunday dismissed a protest by officials form Canada and Slovenia (REUTERS) S P E E D S K AT I N G Dutch take both team pursuit events The Netherlands capped a dominant speedskating performance with gold medals in the men’s and women’s team pursuit on Saturday, raising the nation’s haul to golds and 23 medals over all entering Sunday (AP) SATURDAY SUNDAY COUNTRY G S B TOTAL Russia United States Norway Canada Netherlands Germany Austria France Sweden Switzerland China South Korea Czech Republic Slovenia Japan Italy Belarus Poland Finland Britain Latvia Australia Ukraine Slovakia Croatia Kazakhstan 13 11 10 8 4 3 2 1 0 1 0 11 10 4 2 0 12 10 5 2 2 1 2 1 0 33 28 26 25 24 19 17 15 14 11 8 8 6 4 1 (AP) Marit Bjoergen, Norway, 1:11:05.2 Therese Johaug, Norway, 1:11:07.8 Kristin Stoermer Steira, Norway, 1:11:28.8 Kerttu Niskanen, Finland, 1:12:26.9 Eva Vrabcova - Nyvltova, Czech Republic, 1:12:27.1 Aurore Jean, France, 1:12:27.5 Coraline Hugue, France, 1:12:29.5 Emma Wiken, Sweden, 1:12:31.6 Seraina Boner, Switzerland, 1:12:35.0 10 Laura Orgue, Spain, 1:12:37.3 ICE HOCKEY MEN’S GOLD MEDAL SUNDAY Canada 3, Sweden (AP) SNOWBOARDING MEN’S PARALLEL SLALOM SATURDAY GOLD MEDAL W, (3) Vic Wild, Russia, (0.00, 0.00) L, (7) Zan Kosir, Slovenia, (+0.12, +0.11) BOBSLED BRONZE MEDAL W, (1) Benjamin Karl, Austria, (0.00, 0.00) MEN’S FOUR-MAN WOMEN’S PARALLEL SLALOM SUNDAY GOLD MEDAL Russia (Alexander Zubkov, Alexey Negodaylo, Dmitry Trunenkov, Alexey Voevoda), 3:40.60 Latvia (Oskars Melbardis, Daumants Dreiskens, Arvis Vilkaste, Janis Strenga), 3:40.69 United States (Steven Holcomb, Curt Tomasevicz, Steve Langton, Chris Fogt), 3:40.99 Russia (Alexander Kasjanov, Ilvir Huzin, Maxim Belugin, Aleksei Pushkarev), 3:41.02 Britain (John James Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker, Joel Fearon), 3:41.10 Germany (Maximilian Arndt, Marko Huebenbecker, Alexander Roediger, Martin Putze), 3:41.42 Germany (Thomas Florschuetz, Joshua Bluhm, Kevin Kuske, Christian Poser), 3:41.51 Switzerland (Beat Hefti, Alex Baumann, Juerg Egger, Thomas Lamparter), 3:41.75 Canada (Lyndon Rush, Lascelles Brown, David Bissett, Neville Wright), 3:41.76 10 Germany (Francesco Friedrich, Jannis Baecker, W, (13) Julia Dujmovits, Austria, (+0.72, 0.00) L, (9) Anke Karstens, Germany, (0.00, +0.12) (AP) CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING MEN’S MASS START (50KM) SUNDAY Alexander Legkov, Russia, 1:46:55.2 Maxim Vylegzhanin, Russia, 1:46:55.9 Ilia Chernousov, Russia, 1:46:56.0 Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Norway, 1:46:56.2 Sergei Dolidovich, Belarus, 1:47:09.5 Robin Duvillard, France, 1:47:10.1 Anders Soedergren, Sweden, 1:47:13.0 Daniel Richardsson, Sweden, 1:47:19.6 Johan Olsson, Sweden, 1:47:27.3 10 Iivo Niskanen, Finland, 1:47:27.5 BRONZE MEDAL W, (5) Amelie Kober, Germany, (0.00, 0.00) (AP) SPEEDSKATING MEN’S TEAM PURSUIT SATURDAY GOLD MEDAL (W) Netherlands (Jan Blokhuijsen, Sven Kramer, Koen Verweij) (OR) (L) South Korea (Joo Hyong Jun, Kim Cheol Min, Lee Seung Hoon) BRONZE MEDAL (W) Poland (Zbigniew Brodka, Konrad Niedzwiedzki, Jan Szymanski) (L) Canada (Mathieu Giroux, Lucas Makowsky, Denny Morrison) WOMEN’S TEAM PURSUIT GOLD MEDAL (W) Netherlands (Marrit Leenstra, Jorien ter Mors, Ireen Wust) (OR) (L) Poland (Katarzyna Bachleda - Curus, Katarzyna Wozniak, Luiza Zlotkowska) BRONZE MEDAL (W) Russia (Olga Graf, Yekaterina Lobysheva, Yuliya Skokova) (L) Japan (Misaki Oshigiri, Maki Tabata, Nana Takagi) (AP) ONLINE: COMPLETE SPORTS RESULTS sochi2014.nytimes.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES 15 rugby soccer sports Rugby title going down to the wire A star player proves his worth RUGBY TWICKENHAM, ENGLAND England’s victory keeps teams in contention for Six Nations champion Rob Hughes BY HUW RICHARDS Some years, the Six Nations championship is like a procession In 2014 it more closely resembles a cavalry charge, with four teams tied for the lead with two wins apiece and two games to go There will be no Grand Slam this year, since every team has already lost a game But England still can win the Triple Crown — when one of the four British and Irish teams beats the other three — if it defeats Wales on March But welcome as that would be — England’s last Triple Crown was in 2003 — it would be merely a step toward the greater prize of winning the championship As Ireland Coach Joe Schmidt said after his team fell Saturday at England, 13-10, ‘‘The Six Nations is still the overriding piece of silverware.’’ The loss ended Ireland’s hopes of a Slam to mark the final season of its longtime icon, Brian O’Driscoll, who on Saturday tied a record with his 139th international match With one more cap, he will pass George Gregan of Australia England kept its title hopes alive with the best match yet in this season’s tournament Both teams played with ferocious intensity, and the low scoring reflected brilliant defense rather than any lack of attacking intent There were long passages of unbroken play, as each team sought a rare opening A gripping first half somehow ended with only a single score, Owen Farrell’s 24th-minute penalty that gave England a 3-0 lead After the break, Ireland took control Fullback Rob Kearney scored from a brilliantly worked move, and then Jonny Sexton added the conversion and a penalty to take the visitors to a 10-3 lead Victory would have given Ireland its fifth Triple Crown since 2004, and England briefly threatened to capsize in front of its own fans Instead it struck back Farrell landed another penalty, and then the feisty fullback Mike Brown made a stunning clean break to create a try for scrumhalf Danny Care, whose supporting run was perfectly timed That ended the scoring, but not the action, as Ireland pressed hard in the last 24 minutes Nobody could begrudge Brown his Man of the Match award, but it might equally have gone to Joe GLO BA L S OC C E R EDDIE KEOGH/REUTERS Danny Care on his way to scoring a try for England in its 13-10 victory over Ireland Launchbury, the young lock at the heart of a fine display by England’s forwards ‘‘We’ve learned to absorb pressure and not panic,’’ said England Coach Stuart Lancaster, who praised his team’s ability to ‘‘ride those momentum shifts and come out the other side still ready to play.’’ Conclusive wins over Scotland and Wales in the opening rounds mean that Ireland leads England, Wales and France on the tiebreaker — points difference Victories in its remaining matches at home against Italy and then at France would probably make Ireland the champion France, the other team to have won its first two matches, lost its unbeaten record when it went down to Wales, 27-6, in Cardiff ‘‘Wales did not have to anything special to win,’’ said France Coach Philippe Saint-André He was not being a graceless loser, merely bemoaning the litany of errors by his own team, which meant the match was effectively decided in the first 10 minutes Friday night Two cheaply conceded penalties were all that the surefooted Welsh marksman, Leigh Halfpenny, needed to claim points, while a defensive slapstick by France — scrumhalf Jean-Marc Doussin and fullback Brice Dulin bodychecked each other into the ground — let Welsh center George North add five more points with a simple opportunist’s try France never recovered, and the final margin of defeat was its heaviest NON SEQUITUR against Wales since 1931 ‘‘We’re back in contention, with a big match to come in a couple of weeks,’’ said Wales Coach Warren Gatland, who saw his biggest lineup decision — dropping the veteran scrumhalf Mike Phillips — pay off as Rhys Webb’s quick moves gave fresh life to the Welsh attack Gatland’s captain, Sam Warburton, subdued so far this year, was back to his very best, although he was fortunate to be awarded a second-half try after an interminable video review ‘‘We won’t need any extra motivation with England next,’’ said Gatland ‘‘If anything I may have to bring them down a little.’’ While the leaders are closely packed, there is daylight at the bottom of the standings Italy looks set for its 10th last-place finish in 15 Six Nations after losing Saturday at home, 21-20, to the competition’s other perennial struggler, Scotland Duncan Weir, Scotland’s midfield playmaker, dropped a goal in the final seconds of a fluctuating contest to steal the victory ‘‘I had plenty of doubts he would it,’’ said Scotland’s interim coach, Scott Johnson ‘‘I’ve watched him for the last three weeks and he never looked like kicking one.’’ Had Scotland lost, it might have blamed one of its own Tommaso Allan, the dual national who played for Scottish junior national teams before opting for Italy, scored the first of his team’s two tries and claimed 13 points in all LONDON The day after Manchester United made Wayne Rooney the highest-paid player in Britain, a fan (or fans) of an opposing team threw coins at him as he prepared to take a corner kick Rooney’s reaction was measured and mature He picked the loose change off the turf, handed it to the referee, and got on with his game For good measure, Rooney later scored the goal of the game in United’s 2-0 victory at London’s Crystal Palace The pittance hurled at the player is no laughing matter Coins thrown in anger or derision can blind It was at this same ground 19 years ago where Eric Cantona launched a kick into the face of a fan who had taunted him The Crystal Palace is no palace It is a throwback to how older stadiums used to be, with the front tier of spectator seats almost within touching distance of the players on the field Rooney did well not to respond with anger or aggression In fact, he channeled his own mercurial mix of the belligerence and beauty into the class act of the game when he scored the second conclusive goal of Saturday’s match Manchester United had by then worn down the well-organized defiance to its patently greater talents Palace had played on the back foot, until a clumsy tackle by Marouane Chamakh upended United fullback Patrice Evra just inside the penalty box With consummate ease and might, Robin van Persie dispatched the penalty kick That was the second-best kick of the match Six minutes later, Rooney topped it Juan Mata and Evra set up the incisive attack down the left before Rooney let fly with a line of four defenders retreating in front of him It was the kind of skill that might make Rooney worth his wages Balanced like a ballerina on the toes of his PEANUTS SUDOKU Wayne Rooney has shown year after year that he can thrive He was replying not just to the question about what comes into his head when such an opportunity presents itself The real and ongoing questions surrounding Rooney have been about his protracted negotiations before he signed a new contract on Friday that ties him to United until 2019 The haggling had been going on all season long, following attempts by Chelsea to entice him away José Mourinho returned as Chelsea team manager last summer, and as he had done in a previous spell there, Mourinho indulged in public debate about the best player of an opposing team Chelsea tried, and ultimately failed, to lure Steven Gerrard from Liverpool in 2005 It tried, and failed, to get Rooney The end result on both occasions was that Mourinho destabilized CALVIN AND HOBBES WIZARD of ID left foot, he let the ball come across his body before applying a touch with his right foot that sent it powerfully and precisely into the corner of the net Very few players can pull off a volley as sweet as that It is not a skill that can be taught It is born of rare instinct and technique, and it allows Rooney to swipe his foot across the ball so that it rises and arcs beyond the reach of the goalkeeper ‘‘I’ve been trying to let my football the talking,’’ Rooney later said on television DOONESBURY GARFIELD CARL COURT/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Wayne Rooney signed a contract that made him the highest-paid player in Britain two opposing clubs, which were made to spend time, energy, and vastly more money to keep their key player Gerrard stayed, and he still is captain of Liverpool Rooney’s agent held United to ransom, not for the first time, to keep its own player The old contract, which had 18 months left, was replaced by a new one that is reportedly worth 300,000 pounds per week, or about $26 million per year There might be some leeway in those figures Rooney and United neither confirm nor deny the sums They tried to manage the news through packaged releases via the Manchester United TV outlet that has broadcast rights over what amounts to news conferences On one hand, it suits the club to show its ambition to hold on to a star player On the other, the salary figures are between the club, the player and the tax authorities The best guess is that Rooney is guaranteed slightly less, about $21 million a year But the club will use its commercial muscle to get him top dollar from personal sponsors like Nike and Samsung The deal — besides being the envy of Crystal Palace fans — reinforces United’s intentions not to be outbid for a star player The club is expected to reap about 420 million pounds of income in the current financial year It would have to pay considerably more, in both transfer fee and wages, if it tried to find an adequate replacement for Rooney Now 28, Rooney has shown year after year that he has the muscle, the aptitude and the team spirit to thrive in the physical intensity of English soccer Right now, Mesut Ozil, Arsenal’s record-setting acquisition, is omitted from the team because his skills and confidence have waned in his first season in the Premier League Ozil will come back He has even more vision, a more refined soccer brain, than Rooney Whether he could slog through 10 seasons, as Rooney already has, is a gamble And so, in a sense, is whether Rooney can it for another five seasons There are a lot of miles on Rooney’s engine He runs 10 kilometers every game and is heavily built; there is a reason why Saturday’s goal was his first in the league since Christmas Rooney had been a frequent visitor to the trainer’s table for a deep groin strain Throwing money at him cannot put that right DILBERT No 2402 Created by Peter Ritmeester/Presented by Will Shortz (c) PZZL.com Distributed by The New York Times syndicate 3 5 BRIDGE | Frank Stewart Fill the grid so that Solution every row, column 3x3 box and shaded 3x3 box contains each of the numbers to exactly once CROSSWORD | Edited by Will Shortz 10 11 12 13 36 37 38 57 58 59 No 2202 9 3 9 7 9 Michael Rosenberg owns a reputation as West Dealer a superb declarer At the ACBL Fall Neither side vulnerable Championships in Phoenix, he was at the North helm in today’s deal in a Board-a-Match äK952 event, where overtricks were vital × 10 Against four hearts West led the queen µ K 10 of diamonds Rosenberg played low from å82 dummy, ruffed and led the king of clubs West East to West’s ace He won a spade shift with ä Q 10 äJ6 his ace, took the queen of clubs, ruffed a ×76 ×J93 club in dummy and led the king of diaµQJ842 µA976 monds: ace, ruff That play transferred åA7 å J 10 the defenders’ diamond guard to West, South who was also likely to have spade length ọA83 for his double ìAKQ54 Fifth Club None Declarer ruffed another club and drew åKQ943 trumps When he cashed his good fifth West North East South club at the 11th trick, West had to reduce Pass Pass Pass 1× to one spade to keep the jack of diaDbl(!) 2× Pass 4× monds; dummy still had the ten RosenAll Pass berg discarded the diamond and won the Opening lead - µ Q last two tricks with the K-9 of spades, making six West might have found a trump lead Then South would have had to guess well for 11 tricks This week: Phoenix action Daily Question: You hold: ä Q 10 4; ì 6; Q J 2; å A The dealer, at your left, opens one heart Your partner doubles, you jump to two spades and he raises to three spades What you say? Answer: Your two spades promised a good nine points to an unappealing 11 points and invited game Partner’s raise gives you a chance to make the final error Although your high-card values are limited, your distribution is attractive If you’re vulnerable, bid four spades Tribune Content Agency Across Knocked off Parsley bit 11 German auto known by its manufacturer’s initials 14 Online publication 15 Maine university town 16 Vote for 17 Isn’t serious 19 Hosp areas for lifesaving operations 20 Suffix with lemon or orange 21 Pick up the tab for someone 22 News item of passing concern? 23 Compete 24 Computer memory unit 27 Weapons depot 31 French girlfriend 32 Cheech’s partner in 1970s-’80s movies 33 Writer _ Rogers St Johns 36 Lucy of “Charlie’s Angels,” 2000 39 Author who created the characters named by the starts of 17-, 24-, 49- and 61-Across 42 Ensign’s org 43 Spittin’ _ 44 Actor MacLeod of old TV 45 Romantic outing 47 Having sides of different lengths, as a triangle 49 Maryland home of the Walter Reed medical center 53 Mrs., in Marseille Solution to February 21 puzzle T R I O S C H R I S T O R E N E E A B I D E G R E E N T E A C O E D D O R M S M A G I J A B S P R O P C O M I C A L L E G E C Y C L O T R O N S C A P R D E R E A K E P E D T S O A B S O R E L O G D W E I D R E E D A O B S R G O H T M O O H A K E S T E M I D A R S K I T E B S R S P A R S P E N D U L C U O M N S S M H O I O D S E E O N C E M O R E T H E R E S A B A S E S A N K L E 54 Newswoman Logan 55 Three-time A.L batting champion Tony 57 Not bright 60 Smart _ whip 61 Chemical compound in “poppers” 64 Nov follower 65 Centuries-old object 66 Roof overhangs 67 Antlered animal 68 Justice Kagan 69 Considers Down _ vu Sport shirt brand It holds back the water in Holland Suffix with serpent Place to lay an egg Peeved Like some televised tourneys What a travel planner plans Quaint lodging 10 The Almighty 11 1957 Everly Brothers hit with the repeated lyric “Hello loneliness” 12 Deserve 13 Trash 18 Kind of rug or code 22 Geisha’s sash 14 15 17 18 20 19 21 22 23 27 28 24 29 25 30 32 33 39 26 31 34 35 40 42 41 43 45 49 16 44 46 47 50 51 54 55 52 48 53 56 60 61 62 64 65 66 67 68 69 PUZZLE BY ADAM G PERL 23 “ _, vidi, vici” 25 Black-tie party 26 United, as corporations or labor unions 27 Rights org 28 Greek R’s 29 Film score 30 Dalai _ 34 _ Hammarskjöld, former U.N secretary general 63 THE NEW YORK TIMES 35 Hurricane centers 51 Holmes’s creator 52 Tuckered out 56 Ancient Peruvian 38 _ Reader (alternative magazine) 57 Action from a springboard 40 Iowa State’s home 58 Thing 41 Racer Yarborough 59 Pigsty 46 “I’ve got it!” 61 “What _ the 48 The year 906 chances?” 49 Bit of grass 62 Singer Tormé 63 “Norma _” 50 Artist’s stand 37 “Put _ writing!” 16 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Business In digital, giants get lion’s share Economic View ROB E RT H F R ANK It’s clear that the lives of many artists are being transformed by digital technology But competing schools of thought cite the very same technology in support of strikingly different conclusions One group, for example, says the ability to distribute the best performers’ products widely at low cost portends a world where even small differences in talent command huge differences in reward That view is known as the ‘‘winner take all’’ theory In contrast, the ‘‘long tail’’ theory holds that the information revolution is letting sellers prosper even when their offerings appeal to only a small fraction of the market This view foresees a golden age in which small-scale creative talent flourishes as never before These dueling theories strike close to home My personal intellectual bets have given me a strong rooting interest in the winner-take-all view But even the most flint-eyed economist has a romantic side That part of me wants the Superstars long-tail outlook to dominate prevail, and not just sales, but because of its hopeful there are message for undermore ways for dogs My youngest sons newcomers to make up two-thirds of display their the Nepotist, a band talents in the hypercompetitive indie music scene of New York City I’d love to see them make it But I fear that the evidence supports the winner-take-all theory’s prediction that they face almost prohibitive odds That theory has a venerable history The British economist Alfred Marshall was among the first to describe how 19th-century advances in transportation enabled the best producers to extend their reach Piano manufacturing was once widely dispersed, for example, simply because pianos were so costly to transport But with each extension of canal, rail and road systems, shipping costs fell sharply, and at each step production became more concentrated Worldwide, only a handful of piano makers remain, as producers with even a slight edge have ultimately captured most of the industry’s income Inspired by Marshall, the Duke economist Philip Cook and I argued in our 1995 book, ‘‘The Winner-Take-All Society,’’ that superstars have been dominating markets as never before Analogous forces help explain the surge in income inequality that began in the late 1960s In ECONOMIC VIEW, PAGE 18 E-cigarettes: A path to tobacco, or from it? BY SABRINA TAVERNISE Dr Michael Siegel, a hard-charging public health researcher at Boston University, argues that electronic cigarettes could be the beginning of the end of smoking in America He sees them as a disruptive innovation that could make cigarettes obsolete, as the computer did to the typewriter But his former teacher and mentor, Stanton A Glantz, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, is convinced that e-cigarettes may erase the hard-won progress achieved over the past half-century in reducing smoking He predicts that the modern gadgetry will be a glittering gateway to the deadly, old-fashioned habit for children and that adult smokers will stay hooked longer, now that they can get a nicotine fix at their desks These experts represent the two camps now at war over the public health implications of e-cigarettes The devices, intended to feed nicotine addiction without the toxic tar of conventional cigarettes, have divided a normally sedate public health community that had long been united in the fight against smoking and Big Tobacco The essence of their disagreement comes down to a simple question: Will ecigarettes cause more or fewer people to smoke? The answer matters Cigarette smoking is still the single largest cause of preventable death in the United States, killing about 480,000 people a year Dr Siegel, whose graduate school manuscripts Dr Glantz used to read, says e-cigarette pessimists are stuck on the idea that anything that looks like smoking is bad ‘‘They are so blinded by this ideology that they are not able to see e-cigarettes objectively,’’ he said Dr Glantz disagrees ‘‘E-cigarettes seem like a good idea,’’ he said, ‘‘but they aren’t.’’ Science that might resolve questions about e-cigarettes is still developing, and many experts agree that the evidence so far is too skimpy to draw definitive conclusions about the long-term effects of the devices on the broader population ‘‘The popularity is outpacing the knowledge,’’ said Dr Michael B Steinberg, associate professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University ‘‘We’ll have a better idea in another year or two of how safe these products are, but the question is, will the horse be out of the barn by then?’’ This high-stakes debate over what ecigarettes mean for the nation’s 42 million smokers comes at a crucial moment Soon, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue regulations that would give the agency control over the devices, which have had explosive growth virtually free of any federal oversight In the Europe Union, lawmakers last autumn rejected a proposal to regulate e-cigarettes as pharmaceuticals, leaving the decision up to individual countries But e-cigarette sales were confined to adults, and manufacturers were CHRIS POLYDOROFF/ST PAUL PIONEER PRESS, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS Enjoying an e-cigarette at a store in Woodbury, Minn American sales of the tar-free devices more than doubled last year, to $1.7 billion required to adhere to the same advertising and marketing rules that apply to conventional cigarettes But the restrictions may be tightened In December, the European Union and its executive arm, the European Commission, agreed to a ban e-cigarettes across Europe if any three of the Union’s 28 member countries decided to prohibit them So far no country has, although France is considering prohibiting their use in all public areas where traditional cigarettes are banned In the United States, the new federal rules will have broad implications for public health If they are too tough, experts say, they risk snuffing out small ecigarette companies in favor of Big Tobacco, which has recently entered the business If they are too lax, sloppy manufacturing could lead to devices that not work properly or even harm people And many scientists say e-cigarettes will be truly effective in reducing the death toll from smoking only with the right kind of federal regulation — for example, rules that make ordinary cigarettes more expensive than e-cigarettes, or that reduce the amount of nicotine in ordinary cigarettes so smokers turn to e-cigarettes for their nicotine ‘‘E-cigarettes are not a miracle cure,’’ said David B Abrams, executive director of the Schroeder National Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies at the Legacy Foundation, an antismoking research group ‘‘They need a little help to eclipse cigarettes, which are still the most satisfying and deadly product ever made.’’ Nicotine, the powerful stimulant that makes cigarettes addictive, is the crucial ingredient in e-cigarettes With ecigarettes, nicotine is inhaled through a liquid that is heated into vapor American ales of e-cigarettes more than doubled last year from 2012, to $1.7 billion, according to Bonnie Herzog, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities Ms Herzog said that in the next decade, consumption of e-cigarettes could outstrip that of conventional cigarettes Public health experts like to say that people smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar And the reason e-cigarettes The scientific uncertainties have intensified the public health fight, with each side seizing on scraps of new data have caused such a stir is that they take the deadly tar out of the equation while offering the nicotine fix and the sensation of smoking For all that is unknown about the new devices — they have been on the American market for only seven years — most researchers agree that puffing on one is far less harmful than smoking a traditional cigarette But then their views diverge Pessimists like Dr Glantz say that while e-cigarettes might be good in theory, they are bad in practice The vast majority of people who smoke them now also smoke conventional cigarettes, he said, and there is little evidence that much switching is happening E-ciga- India’s ambitious answers in the online market BANGALORE, INDIA Snapdeal and Flipkart hope to mimic success story of China’s Alibaba BY MARK SCOTT KAINAZ AMARIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Flipkart.com parcels Snapdeal and Flipkart are the two leading online retailers in India, and both said they were considering I.P.O.s As the projections have grown rosier, technology investors have poured in funds In a report last May, Allegro Advisors, an investment bank, said 53 ecommerce companies in India had secured $853 million in venture capital funds in the previous three years But now, financing is slowing, and several online retailers are shutting down ‘‘The e-commerce landscape in India is becoming clearer,’’ said Deepak Srinath, a partner at Allegro ‘‘It’s a twohorse race: It’s Snapdeal and Flipkart.’’ Flipkart has netted $540 million in funding since it began in 2007, including a $160 million investment in October (In 2012, a government agency began investigating whether Flipkart, which had received venture funds from American firms, had violated foreign investment laws.) Flipkart’s marketplace has 1,000 sellers and 14 million registered users, well below Snapdeal’s totals For the financial year that ended last March, Flipkart posted revenue of $190 million But Mr Srinath said Flipkart was leading in name recognition — a crucial category in India, where brand and service matter immensely When Motorola Mobility introduced its newest phone in India, on Feb 6, it chose Flipkart as its exclusive vendor for early sales ‘‘It’s almost like e-commerce is synonymous with Flipkart,’’ Mr Srinath said Likewise, Flipkart has broadcast its desire to file an I.P.O., although it has no ‘‘fixed timelines,’’ a spokeswoman wrote by email The company expects to hit $1 billion in sales by 2015 To warrant a large valuation, either company would need to mimic Alibaba’s spectacular success in China and quickly reach 100 million shoppers in their home market This is unlikely, said a technology industry adviser, because while Indian ecommerce companies may be increasing their sales, they are not adding new users as quickly as they claim The ad- viser asked for anonymity because his data on the companies was not public Until either company goes public, parsing their financial data is difficult, said Aditya Rath, an associate director at PricewaterhouseCoopers India ‘‘I would not be overly enthusiastic about sales,’’ he cautioned In 2007, Mr Bahl, a graduate of the Wharton business school at the University of Pennsylvania, was settling into corporate life in the United States, first with Deloitte, then Microsoft But then his visa renewal was rejected, leading him to return to India ‘‘It was a blessing in disguise,’’ he said in an interview After starting Snapdeal, he became a poster boy for the faults of America’s visa policy and was the center of a USA Today article in 2011 on the technology brain drain in the United States At that time, the New Delhi-based Snapdeal had about 400 employees ONLINE, PAGE 18 Liz Alderman contributed reporting For complicated cellular needs, operators tap simple streetlight BARCELONA, SPAIN BY MARK BERGEN Snapdeal, the online marketplace that has become known as the eBay of India, is now drawing parallels with another e-commerce powerhouse, Alibaba of China India, with its lower incomes, credit card use and Internet penetration, lags well behind China in online shoppers But that also means India’s e-commerce market has room to grow, and the industry’s leaders are trying to convince the financial world that Alibaba’s success can be replicated in their country Kunal Bahl, the 30-year-old chief executive of Snapdeal, recently toured Silicon Valley, where the company is seeking investments Since 2011, Snapdeal has raised more than $200 million from investors, including Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of the chip maker, and Nexus Venture Partners, an Indian fund In June, eBay, the American online auction company that Snapdeal is most often compared with, led a $50 million round of strategic funding in the Indian company Mr Bahl said Snapdeal planned to go public but would not specify a date In an interview with VentureBeat, a technology Web site, he said he was planning an initial public offering in the United States An I.P.O would come after the company reached $1 billion in sales, Mr Bahl said in an interview with The New York Times ‘‘We’ll be there in a matter of months,’’ he added The brokerage firm CLSA forecasts that Indian e-commerce will expand from $3.1 billion now to $22 billion in five years Flipkart, a company similar to Amazon.com that sells books, clothes and electronics online, predicts a market of $70 billion by 2020 rettes may even prolong the habit, he said, by offering a dose of nicotine at times when getting one from a traditional cigarette is inconvenient or illegal What is more, critics say, they make smoking look alluring again, with images on billboards and television ads for the first time in decades Dr Glantz said, ‘‘I feel like I’ve gotten into a time machine and gone back to the 1980s.’’ Researchers also worry that e-cigarettes could be a gateway to traditional cigarettes for young people The devices are sold on the Internet The liquids that make their vapor come in flavors like mango and watermelon Celebrities smoke them: Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Leonardo DiCaprio puffed on them at the Golden Globe Awards A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2012, about 10 percent of high school students said they had tried an e-cigarette, up from percent in 2011 But percent of those who had tried e-cigarettes said they had never smoked a traditional cigarette, prompting concern that e-cigarettes were, in fact, becoming a gateway E-cigarette skeptics have also raised concerns about nicotine addiction But many researchers say that the nicotine by itself is not a serious health hazard Nicotine-replacement therapies like lozenges and patches have been used for years Some even argue that nicotine is a lot like caffeine: an addictive substance that stimulates the mind ‘‘Nicotine may have some adverse health effects, but they are relatively minor,’’ said Dr Neal L Benowitz, a pro- fessor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who has spent his career studying the pharmacology of nicotine Another ingredient, propylene glycol, the vapor that e-cigarettes emit is a lung irritant, and the effects of inhaling it over time are a concern, Dr Benowitz said But Dr Siegel and others contend that some public health experts, after a single-minded battle against smoking that has run for decades, are too inflexible about e-cigarettes The strategy should be to reduce harm from conventional cigarettes, and e-cigarettes offer a way to that, he said, much as giving clean needles to intravenous drug users reduces their odds of getting infected with the virus that causes AIDS Solid evidence about e-cigarettes is limited A clinical trial in New Zealand, which many researchers regard as the most reliable study to date, found that after six months about percent of people given e-cigarettes had quit smoking, a slightly better rate than those with patches ‘‘The findings were intriguing but nothing to write home about yet,’’ said Thomas J Glynn, a researcher at the American Cancer Society In Britain, researchers say that trends are heading in the right direction ‘‘Motivation to quit is up, success of quit attempts are up, and prevalence is coming down faster than it has for the last six or seven years,’’ said Robert West, director of tobacco studies at University College London It is impossible to know whether e-cigarettes drove the changes, he said, but ‘‘we can certainly say they are not undermining quitting.’’ The scientific uncertainties have intensified the public health fight, with each side seizing on scraps of new data to bolster its position One recent study in Germany on secondhand vapor from e-cigarettes prompted Dr Glantz to write on his blog, ‘‘More evidence that e-cigs cause substantial air pollution.’’ Dr Siegel highlighted the same study, concluding that it showed ‘‘no evidence of a significant public health hazard.’’ That Big Tobacco is now selling e-cigarettes has contributed to skepticism among experts and advocates Cigarettes went into broad use in the 1920s — and by the 1940s, lung cancer rates had exploded More Americans have died from smoking than in all the wars the United States has fought Smoking rates have declined sharply since the 1960s, when about half of all men and a third of women smoked But progress has slowed, with a smoking rate now of about 18 percent ‘‘Part of the furniture for us is that the tobacco industry is evil and everything they has to be opposed,’’ said John Britton, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Nottingham in England, and the director for the U.K Center for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies ‘‘But one doesn’t want that to get in the way of public health.’’ Cellphone operators worldwide are struggling to keep pace with individuals’ growing demand for mobile data The rise of smartphones like Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S4 has allowed consumers to stream videos and download large files onto their handsets, putting increased strain on carriers’ networks In response, mobile operators and network infrastructure providers are looking for ways to beef up cellular coverage On Monday, Ericsson of Sweden and Philips of the Netherlands plan to announce their own solution to this problem, when the two European technology companies announce a project that combines city street lighting with mobile phone infrastructure Under the plans, the companies will incorporate cellular network antennas into energy-efficient LED streetlights that can be placed in parts of cities where carriers want to enhance their network coverage By combining their infrastructure with streetlights, operators can expand ‘‘This is the best way to strengthen mobile networks This allows us to reuse existing infrastructure.’’ their networks in built-up urban areas where they might find it difficult to get approval to install cumbersome hardware like cellular base stations Philips and Ericsson also say they plan to offer cash-strapped city governments a new source of income in the form of payments from carriers that want to rent out space on the streetlights The companies add that the energyefficient LED streetlights offer around 50 percent in cost savings compared with traditional lighting ‘‘This is the best way to strengthen mobile networks,’’ Hans Vestberg, Ericsson’s chief executive, said in an interview ‘‘We can’t get any big sites for mobile equipment anymore This allows us to reuse existing infrastructure.’’ The two companies have been working with Verizon Wireless on a pilot project in the United States over the last year Ericsson and Philips now want to roll out the idea globally, and are currently in talks with representatives of American and European cities about how to modify the streetlights to meet local needs The companies declined to say with which cities they are in discussions ‘‘This is a concept that has resonance in all parts of the world,’’ Frans van Houten, Philips’s chief executive, said in an interview ‘‘You can’t have a single design for all cities The look and feel of the streetlights are very important.’’ As carriers like Deutsche Telekom of Germany and China Mobile spend billions of dollars to upgrade their networks, analysts say telecommunications companies have looked to partner with other industries and with local governments to find new locations for mobile phone infrastructure Such partnerships offer a chance to reduce costs, as multiple companies can share the price of installing high-speed mobile data equipment everywhere from in bus stations to trash cans The deals also allow carriers to gather additional information on customer habits, analysts said With expanded coverage, operators can build up a better picture of how individuals use their networks ‘‘Collaboration can lead to new business models It offers carriers the chance to get real-time data on consumers,’’ said Sylvain Fabre, a telecommunications analyst at the research firm Gartner in London ‘‘If you can get close enough, you can get real insights into users’ activities.’’ MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES 17 technology business Chief renews Yahoo’s perennial battle to bolster ad revenue SUNNYVALE, CALIF BY VINDU GOEL To Marissa Mayer, the chief executive of Yahoo, fashion magazines like Vogue and InStyle have achieved the holy grail of advertising ‘‘The ads in those magazines are as interesting as the photo shoots and the articles,’’ she said in an interview last week at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters ‘‘I miss the ads when they are not there I feel less fulfilled.’’ This year, her goal is to start making the ads on Yahoo just as compelling and just as integrated with the news and information people seek from her company’s websites and mobile applications Ms Mayer, who oversaw Google’s signature search products for several years, also hopes to develop new search tools and ads geared to mobile users — Yahoo’s first steps to innovate in its original business since 2010, when it began a 10-year deal to outsource its search function to Microsoft ‘‘We’re not sure that a list of links that people have to pick through is the right experience on the phone, and we’re going to start to play with context, applications, other ways to address those search needs,’’ she said Better, more useful ads would certainly make Yahoo’s 800 million monthly users and its legions of advertisers happier all around But for Yahoo, much more is at stake New ad formats that go beyond the company’s traditional banner and search ads are its best hope of finding fresh sources of income, which is badly needed to reverse years of decline Rebuilding Yahoo’s advertising business is an immense challenge that has toppled several previous chief executives of the company ‘‘They’ve just hemmed and hawed over the last couple of years, and it doesn’t help that they have had executive turnover,’’ said David Cohen, chief investment officer of Universal McCann, an advertising agency that is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies Last month, Ms Mayer fired her top ad executive, Henrique de Castro, who was widely considered ineffective despite his hefty paycheck She said she would lead advertising efforts herself while continuing to run the rest of the company Competitors like Facebook and Twitter, the masters of so-called stream ads, and Google, the king of search, aren’t JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES-AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE Marissa Mayer, the chief executive of Yahoo, is seeking compelling new ad formats that harmonize with the editorial content of the company, which badly needs fresh sources of income waiting for her to catch up ‘‘They are taking share from Yahoo,’’ said Brian Wieser, a senior analyst at Pivotal Research Group ‘‘The window of time isn’t going to last much longer.’’ Yahoo’s rivals are particularly strong on mobile devices, where Yahoo earns virtually no revenue despite the fact that about half its users access its services that way Ms Mayer seems undaunted ‘‘We have had really great success over the course of 2013 in getting in place a tremendous team as well as building and launching new products And we’ve got traffic up,’’ she said Ms Mayer noted the release of popular apps like Yahoo Weather and Yahoo News Digest, as well as new versions of Flickr and Yahoo Mail — though users were critical of changes to both ‘‘We’re very focused on revenue now,’’ she continued ‘‘The path to revenue is really about delivering for advertisers ads that perform in whatever format or setting our users are working in and making those ads really enhancing for the user experience.’’ In the last few months, Yahoo has laid out several new advertising initiatives Some of them make it easier for marketers to use computers to buy traditional ads and to take better advantage of Yahoo’s data on its users to target their pitches However, the company is also beginning to push into two of the hottest areas of Internet advertising: stream ads, in which marketing messages are mixed in with the feed of news headlines and other information, and so-called native ads, which are sponsored articles or photos that resemble regular editorial content One early example: Recipes from Knorr, the soup brand owned by Unilever, are sprinkled amid regular articles from Yahoo writers, food magazines and blogs on Yahoo Food, the digital magazine the company introduced about six weeks ago On Yahoo Food, the Knorr ads, with headlines like ‘‘Dear Mac and Cheese: A Love Letter,’’ don’t look much different than surrounding articles like ‘‘Foods You Didn’t Know You Could Fry.’’ Ms Mayer, who said the digital food and tech magazines have already attracted more than 10 million unique visitors since their relaunch in early January, said she planned to extend the approach to other Yahoo topic channels like news, finance, sports, travel and style Yahoo is also using Tumblr, the blogging site it acquired last year, to help brands easily build their own promo- tional sites with content that can be promoted and shared among Tumblr users The artificial sweetener Splenda, for example, is dishing up daily ideas for cutting down on calories, like eating oatmeal instead of granola or using Splenda instead of sugar to sweeten chicken wings When stream and native ads are done well, they can be quite effective But too many of Yahoo’s stream ads are unrelated to the content around them, said Dan Greenberg, chief executive officer of Sharethrough, a software company that integrates brand content from companies like Intel, Pepsi and McDonald’s into the feeds of publishers like Forbes and Time Inc ‘‘They’ve made it native in form but not in function,’’ he said ‘‘You’re going to erode consumer trust.’’ Ms Mayer also intends to create new mobile tools for consumers and advertisers, taking advantage of a provision in the company’s search contract with Microsoft that permits Yahoo to go its own way on mobile On Wednesday, the company introduced Gemini, a platform that allows advertisers to buy mobile search ads, web ads and mobile stream ads through a single marketplace And last month, Yahoo bought Aviate, a start-up working on an Android app that tries to anticipate the needs of phone users based on their location, the time of day, and their past habits Although the Microsoft partnership is a significant part of Yahoo’s business, accounting for nearly one-third of Yahoo’s revenue, Ms Mayer said that mobile opens up opportunities to try different approaches Creating new revenue streams from scratch is difficult for any company, although Facebook, which turned itself into a mobile advertising juggernaut in little more than a year, proved it can be done After recent meetings with Yahoo executives, ‘‘we’re encouraged by the kind of direction they’re heading in,’’ said Mr Cohen, whose ad agency works with major brands like Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and Chrysler So far, investors have also cut Ms Mayer some slack because of the soaring value of Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company But Yahoo’s own financial performance has been disappointing Revenue fell percent last year, and a key measure of the company’s operating profits fell 11 percent Ms Mayer has felt the pain in her pocketbook In early February, the company’s board of directors forced her to give up stock options with a paper profit of $4.5 million for failing to meet performance targets, according to securities filings Yahoo’s chief financial officer, Kenneth Goldman, had to forfeit options with a profit of $1.5 million (The givebacks were a small portion of their Yahoo stock and option holdings.) Ms Mayer said the board’s decision was fair ‘‘We made a deliberate decision to invest, and that ultimately caused our operating income to decline somewhat,’’ she said ‘‘But we’re motivated by making the right decisions for the company to get us on a long-term path for healthy growth,’’ she added A big bet on intimate friendships In buying WhatsApp, Facebook sees future in limited communications BY JENNA WORTHAM The address book is making a billiondollar comeback Weary of noisy social networks filled with mundane updates from the most remote acquaintances, millions of people have turned to their smartphone address books — and the diverse array of messaging services that rely on them, like Snapchat, Secret, Kik and WhatsApp — for more intimate social connections Now the stampede toward those messaging services has Silicon Valley’s giants scrambling to catch up Being able to tap into this addressbook messaging is a major reason Facebook decided that WhatsApp, the most popular of these services, was worth as much as $19 billion in a deal announced last week In buying WhatsApp, Facebook is betting that the future of social networking will depend not just on broadcasting to the masses but also on the ability to quickly and efficiently communicate with your family and closest confidants — those people you care enough about to have their numbers saved on your smartphone Facebook has long defined the digital social network, and the average adult Facebook user has more than 300 friends The company’s strategy has mostly been about making that circle of friends even bigger, cajoling users into combining their friends, former friends, co-workers, second cousins and everyone they’ve ever met into a single, ballooning social network But the average adult has far fewer friends — perhaps just a couple in many cases, researchers say — whom they talk to regularly in their real-world social network ‘‘The prominence of the address book simply reflects the shift in relevance on the Internet to cater to the most universal and basic human need: communication,’’ David Byttow, a founder of a new messaging application called Secret, said in an email ‘‘The address book is a simple, reusable list for any application, and simplicity always wins.’’ Services like Instagram, Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook encourage users to share from the rooftop every life event and moment as material to be viewed and commented on The Internet enabled that sort of broad outreach as never before, and the services continue to grow; more than a billion people have signed up on Facebook alone Yet the popularity of privatemessaging applications like WhatsApp, which has more than 450 million users, suggests that despite all the technological advances in recent decades, people still crave to communicate in small groups and often just with one other person at a time ‘‘There’s a very human need for intimate, one-to-one communications,’’ said Susan Etlinger, an analyst with Altimeter Group, who studies social technologies While the original ideas behind services like Facebook and Twitter may have been to connect people, Ms Etlinger said, they have ‘‘evolved into a news feed,’’ one that is increasingly clogged by advertisements, brands and near-strangers, all competing to be seen and heard In addition, many people may be growing tired of worrying about how an image or status update will be perceived by their broader social network of employers, in-laws and ex-flames ‘‘Contacting someone on Facebook is the equivalent of opening up the phone book and calling someone,’’ said Scott Feinberg, 22, a user of WhatsApp ‘‘With WhatsApp you’ve given me your number and actually want me to contact you.’’ Facebook and other major tech companies have tried several times to DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS Mark E Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, said that WhatsApp would complement the social media giant’s services roll out their own messaging applications, but none have caught on like the products introduced by start-ups Messenger, Facebook’s flagship chat product, was originally conceived as an alternative to email but is primarily used by people on Facebook to send notes to their friends within the network Mark E Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, acknowledged those shortcomings in a call to investors and analysts after the WhatsApp announcement He also said his interest in WhatsApp came from realizing that ‘‘it’s a service for very quick and reliable real-time communication with all your contacts and small groups of people.’’ Some analysts took Mr Zuckerberg’s move to buy WhatsApp as a signal that Facebook was vulnerable despite its huge user base For the most part, though, the new so- cial networks that focus on smaller groups of people are being used in addition to services like Facebook and Twitter, not instead of them, a point that Mr Zuckerberg made on the call with investors ‘‘WhatsApp also complements our services and will add a lot of new value to our community,’’ he said Whether the two kinds of social networks can coexist and thrive remains to be seen It could well be that younger Facebook users, who tend to have more friends on the service than older users, have more of a need for a separate service But with the addition of WhatsApp, Facebook has positioned itself to be ready if the move away from its core offerings is swift It could turn out that the dominant messaging platform has still not emerged David Lee, an investor who is one of the founders of the prominent Silicon Valley firm SV Angel, said that he was watching the next-generation messaging category with intense interest But he said it was not yet clear which ones would have long-term staying power According to Mr Lee, these apps take off because people can quickly import their friends But once people get bored or distracted by the latest hot app, ‘‘it’s just easier to switch and move on to the next one.’’ The services that stick around, he said, will be the ones that people return to every day Adam Ludwin, a serial entrepreneur who is working on a new messaging application, Ether, said that Facebook was future-proofing itself for a coming sea change in social media: In the near term, a person’s mobile number will be as tied to their digital identity as their Facebook, Google or Twitter account ‘‘The address book is a very unique thing that sits on the phone and isn’t available to the desktop world,’’ Mr Ludwin said ‘‘It allows you to build services that have the potential to grow very fast.’’ Chiqui Matthew, 35, who works in finance, said he preferred services like WhatsApp ‘‘I fear all communication in the digital age is being reduced to shouting in a crowded theater,’’ he said in an email ‘‘Everything is absolute, declarative, exclaimed, public and generally lacking in the nuance of face-to-face conversation I like the digital version of a ‘cocktail party whisper.’ An intimation meant to be intimate.’’ But even Mr Matthew has not given up on Facebook completely He made his comment after responding to a Facebook post GRAND VISIONS OF MAGIC NUMBERS Onlookers in Silicon Valley technology circles are redefining what it means to be rich, Nick Bilton writes PAGE 20 THE SUCCESSES OF SOCHI DON’T MISS A SPECIAL REPORT WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 IN THE INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Also online at SOCHI2014.NYTIMES.COM 18 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES business media technology Briton finds CNN crowd is a tough fit In digital, giants get lion’s share ECONOMIC VIEW, FROM PAGE 16 David Carr T HE ME DI A EQ UAT ION There have been times when the CNN host Piers Morgan didn’t seem to like America very much — and American audiences have been more than willing to return the favor Three years after taking over for Larry King, Mr Morgan has seen the ratings for ‘‘Piers Morgan Live’’ hit some new lows, drawing a fraction of viewers compared with competitors at Fox News and MSNBC It has been an unhappy collision between a British television personality who refuses to assimilate — the only football he cares about is round, and his lectures on guns are rife with snobbery — and a CNN audience that is intrinsically provincial After all, the people who tune in to a cable news network are, by their nature, deeply interested in America CNN’s president, Jeffrey Zucker, has lots of problems, but none bigger than Mr Morgan and his plum p.m time slot For a cable news station, major stories are like oxygen When something important or scary happens in America, many of us have an immediate reflex to turn on CNN When I find Mr Morgan telling me what it all means, I have a similar reflex to dismiss what he is saying He just got here Given his lack of history in this country and his incuriosity now that he is here, there is no way that Mr Morgan can speak credibly on the meaning of The only significant American football he events It’s an untencares about is able situation that round, and will be resolved soonhis lectures er rather than later I received a return on guns are call from Mr Morgan rife with and was prepared for snobbery an endless argument over my assumptions Not so His show, he conceded, was nearing its end ‘‘It’s been a painful period, and lately we have taken a bath in the ratings,’’ he said ‘‘Look, I am a British guy debating American cultural issues, including guns, which has been very polarizing, and there is no doubt that there are many in the audience who are tired of me banging on about it,’’ he said ‘‘That’s run its course, and Jeff and I have been talking for some time about different ways of using me.’’ Mr Morgan said that his show, along with much of the rest of CNN, had been imprisoned by the news cycle and that he was interested in doing fewer appearances to greater effect — big, major interviews that would be events in themselves It was the first time that both he and the CNN executives I talked to had acknowledged that his nightly show was on the way out CHESTER HIGGINS JR./THE NEW YORK TIMES Piers Morgan on the set of his show, which he said was ending: ‘‘It’s been a painful period, and lately we have taken a bath in the ratings.’’ Because of the absence of news and competition from the Winter Olympics, this has been a rugged week ratingswise — just 274,000 people were watching during all of CNN’s prime-time shows and only 64,000 in the 25-to-54 age group that advertisers care about — with ‘‘Piers Morgan Live’’ on the bleeding edge of that spiral On Tuesday, his ratings in that demographic would not have filled up Yankee Stadium Mr Zucker, the former chief of NBC, inherited Mr Morgan from Jonathan Klein, his predecessor, but it is now his problem to fix In the year he has been there, CNN has introduced promising shows around the edges and will be unveiling documentaries along the lines of the very successful ‘‘Blackfish’’ to run on Thursday in the 10 p.m slot But the chronic troubles of prime time remain Sometime before the network ‘‘upfront’’ events in April, when advertisers buy commercial time for the fall season Mr Zucker will signal how he will fix CNN’s prime-time problem, and that will begin with Mr Morgan, whose contract ends in September Mr Morgan is not without skills While working as a newspaper editor and television personality in Britain, he was involved in a number of controversies but developed a reputation as a talented, probing interviewer In his current role, he has shown an ability not only to book big guests — the former president Bill Clinton, Warren Buffett and the real Wolf of Wall Street among them — but to dig in once they are on the set ‘‘I think I can credibly news and the ratings reflect that, but it is not really the show that I set out to do,’’ he told me ‘‘There are all kinds of people INYT Classifieds who can news here I’d like to work — interviews with big celebrities and powerful people — that are better suited to what I well and fit with what Jeff is trying to with the network.’’ Old hands in the television news business suggest that there are two things a presenter cannot have: an accent or a beard Mr Morgan is clean shaven and handsome enough, but there are tells in his speech — the way he says the president’s name, for one thing (Ob-AA-ma) — that suggest that he is not from around here There are other tells as well On Friday morning, criticizing the decision to dismiss a cricket player, he tweeted, ‘‘I’m sure @StuartBroad8 is right and KP’s sacking will ‘improve performance’ of the England team Look forward to seeing this at T20 WC.’’ Mr Morgan might want to lay off the cricket references if he is worried about his credibility with American audiences Insular as it seems, best to pay some attention to the country you purport to cover People might point to Simon Cowell as a man with an accent and a penchant for slashing discourse that Americans have loved, but Mr Cowell is dealing with less-than-spontaneous musical performances, not signal events in the American news narrative There was, of course, the counterexample of David Frost, who did important work in news, but Mr Frost did popular special reports and was not a chronic presence in American living rooms Mr Morgan had the misfortune of sliding into the loafers of Mr King, who, for all his hard news shortcomings, was a decent and reliable stand-in for the average Joe In a sense, Mr Morgan is a prisoner of two islands: Britain and Manhattan While I may share his feelings about the need for additional strictures on guns, having grown up in the Midwest, I know that many people come by their guns honestly and hold onto them dearly for sincere reasons Mr Morgan’s approach to gun regulation was more akin to King George III, peering down his nose at the unruly colonies and wondering how to bring the savages to heel He might want to recall that part of the reason the right to bear arms is codified in the Constitution is that Britain was trying to disarm the citizenry at the time He regrets none of it, but understands his scolding of ‘‘stupid’’ opponents of gun laws was not everyone’s cup of tea ‘‘I’m in danger of being the guy down at the end of the bar who is always going on about the same thing,’’ he said ‘‘I’m sure there are plenty of people in the heartland who are pissed off about this British guy telling them how to lead their lives and what they should with their guns.’’ In the current media age, no one is expected to be a eunuch, without values or beliefs, but Mr Morgan’s lecturing on the evils of guns have clanked hard against the CNN brand, which, for good or ill, is built on the middle way We don’t look for moral leadership from CNN, or from a British host on a rampage Guns, along with many other great and horrible things, are knit into the fabric of this country There are folkways peculiar to America that Mr Morgan is just learning, including the fact that if you want to stick out, you first have to work on fitting in domain after domain, we reasoned, technology has enabled innovative business models to serve broader markets Local accountants have been displaced by tax software, brick-and-mortar shops by Amazon.com and other online retailers And now, there is even worry that live, in-theater HD broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera performances could displace local opera companies across the land But similar advances in production and distribution methods also exert countervailing effects As the former Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson explained in his 2006 book, ‘‘The Long Tail’’ (the title refers to a property of statistical distributions), digital technology has made music, books, movies and many other goods economically viable on a much smaller scale than before For example, films once generated revenue only by mustering largeenough audiences to justify screenings in theaters Many niche offerings, like Hindi-language movies in medium-size American cities, were simply not viable Services like Netflix, however, changed all that Because digital movies cost next to nothing to ship, people can now watch them without having to assemble a posse of ticket buyers Long-tail proponents often portray best-selling entertainment as lowestcommon-denominator compromises whose only real advantage is lower cost made possible by large-scale distribution and sales If technology makes scale less important, they argue, people will turn to the more idiosyncratic offerings that they really prefer In principle, at least, this creates exciting new possibilities for small-scale sellers In practice, however, winner-take-all effects still appear to dominate Longtail proponents predict that the leastpopular offerings should be capturing market share from the most popular But as Anita Elberse, a professor at the Harvard Business School, recounts in her 2013 book ‘‘Blockbusters,’’ the entertainment industry’s experience has been the reverse Digital song titles selling more than one million copies, for example, accounted for 15 percent of sales in 2011, up from percent in 2007 The publishing and film industries experienced similar trends What’s happening? One possibility is that today’s tighter schedules have made people more reluctant to sift through the growing avalanche of options confronting them Many consumers sidestep this unpleasantness by focusing on only the most popular entries The growing supply of social information may also be enhancing our opportunities for discussing films and books with friends Consuming best sellers has always made it easier to have such conversations, and the expansion of social media has reinforced that tendency But most important, winner-take-all forces may be strengthening because better-informed consumers are rejecting the long-tail premise that popularity means low quality It’s easy to offer examples of blockbusters that were utterly mediocre — think ‘‘Transformers,’’ perhaps, or Milli Vanilli — yet they’re surely exceptions to the general tendency for popularity and quality to go hand in hand Films like ‘‘The Godfather’’ and bands like the Beatles were not lowest-common-denominator compromises Still, the growing market share of top sellers doesn’t invalidate the promise of small-scale creative energy Using big data, producers can now take aim at highly idiosyncratic buyers, and online searches help many such buyers find just the quirky offerings they’re seeking Creative people have never had better opportunities to display their talent Websites and YouTube links now place their songs and stories within easy reach of almost everyone These channels are the new minor leagues for producing tomorrow’s superstars And because the cost of access is so low, markets for creative endeavor are becoming more meritocratic If something really good comes along now, it’s far more likely that people will discover it No doubt, I’m biased, but I think that my sons are good enough to break out in today’s music market Yet a stark reality persists: Because there are thousands of talented bands today, their odds of stardom are vanishingly small ROBERT H FRANK is an economics professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University India’s answers in online market ONLINE, FROM PAGE 16 Now, its staff of 1,300 coordinates deliveries to 4,000 towns and cities in India In 2010, Snapdeal.com began operations primarily as a website for restaurant discounts A year later, the company received its first significant investment, from Nexus Venture Partners, and changed into its current form, a marketplace for Indian sellers and buyers to find one another Today, it lists goods from 20,000 merchants in a variety of categories and has 20 million registered users Mr Bahl, whose father ran a small automotive parts business, casts Snapdeal as a champion of tiny enterprises in the country ‘‘Irrespective of who you may be, you have a level playing field against anyone in the market,’’ he said At the moment, India’s online retail- ers are sheltered from competition abroad, thanks to the government In 2012, India’s cabinet opened the retail sector to foreign direct investment but excluded e-commerce India’s market, furthermore, is diverse and complex, traits that give local companies a leg up A total of 65 percent of Snapdeal’s customers pay in cash, and other companies see even higher rates India’s poor roads and highways make logistics difficult Mr Bahl said Snapdeal had adapted enough to the peculiarities of India to handle competition When asked about his better-funded rivals, he said: ‘‘It’s not about the money that you have in the bank; it’s how you spend it This is a game of execution India’s not an easy market to execute in.’’ The World’s Daily Marketplace TO PLACE AN AD CALL The Americas +866 459 1121 INYT@mediasalesplus.com Asia +601 2697 4088 inyt@drumediaplc.com Continental Europe +33 41 43 92 06 vboyle@nytimes.com UK +44 (0)20 7061 3533 cchambers@nytimes.com International Recruitment GE R A R D DA N I E L S ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA THE AMERICAS Chief Executive Officer – Walk Free Foundation An opportunity to become the CEO of a world leading organization to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking Walk Free, along with The Australian Children's Trust, Generation One and Hope for Children are a part of Minderoo Minderoo is proudly Australian, and encompasses the Minderoo Foundation (which was founded in 2001 by Andrew and Nicola Forrest) and the private business holdings of the Minderoo Group To date over $270 million has been contributed by the Forrest family to charitable causes, which support those objectives The organization is based in Perth, Western Australia Backed by a commercially driven philanthropic foundation and partnering with some of the most influential global organizations, Walk Free will identify countries and industries most responsible for modern slavery, implement prevention and intervention strategies in those countries and industries that will have the greatest impact on modern slavery, and critically assess our impact We are seeking an outstanding CEO to lead our team to fulfil this mission Walk Free Foundation aims to end modern slavery through: • The fastest growing social movement in the world already exceeding million people; • Research and measurement by the Global Slavery Index; • Testing slavery intervention and prevention strategies by the Freedom Fund; International Executive Search and Board Consulting www.gerard-daniels.com gd@gerard-daniels.com • Launching a Global Fund to end slavery; and • Business engagement to eliminate slavery from supply chains The successful candidate will drive a range of agendas and engage with international leaders of government, community and business They will also continue to develop initiatives with the G20, the world's faith leaders as well as other prominent global philanthropists Previous NGO experience, whilst highly regarded is not essential Crucial are proven success, the ability to engage and influence at a global level as well as lead, mentor and develop a diverse, driven team To discuss this unique opportunity further, please contact Lloyd Smith or Brad Kerin on +61 9322 0882 or via email bradk@gerard-daniels.com To place an ad from Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina Please contact Mark Rodiqi +377 44 18 61 51 or markrodiqi@dioklecian.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 | INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES 19 technology economy business Shopping list signals path Apple hopes to tread BY BRIAN X CHEN One company used sensors to read body movements Another recommended TV programs Several others offered location and mapping services All of them had at least one thing in common: They were among the more than 20 relatively small companies Apple says it has bought within the past 15 months As fellow tech giants have reached billion-dollar deals in recent years to add significant new arms to their businesses — like Facebook buying WhatsApp for as much as $19 billion, and Microsoft buying Nokia’s handset business for more than $7.1 billion — Apple has ventured down a different path The company has avoided jaw-dropping takeovers in favor of a series of smaller deals, using the companies to buttress or fill a gap in products that already exist or are in development Still, in the past few years, Apple has gradually increased its overall spending on these acquisitions In the last quarter, for instance, Apple spent $525 million on acquisitions, nearly double what it spent in the same period a year ago And while the deals may be small — particularly given Apple’s nearly $160 billion cash hoard — they offer a unique window into where the secretive company is headed and which products and services it is trying to build or improve Apple’s biggest acquisition last year was PrimeSense, a company with about 150 employees that Apple bought for $300 million to $350 million, according to reports PrimeSense developed sensors that helped Microsoft let Xbox owners control games using body movements, and some analysts say Apple could eventually apply PrimeSense’s skills and technology to a television set Apple also bought Matcha.tv, a service that recommended things to watch on TV, another acquisition that signals its strong interest in the living room And Apple’s purchase of location data services like Locationary, HopStop and Embark suggests a steadfast interest in Internet services — especially mapping, where Apple has been harshly criticized for lacking the competence of two competitors, Google and Nokia ‘‘They’re pre-emptively investing in areas where they think there are opportunities to grow,’’ said Ben Bajarin, a consumer technology analyst for Creative Strategies who follows Apple ‘‘Without doubt Apple is a bit more focused and lean in their approach and JAMES BEST JR./THE NEW YORK TIMES disciplined about the things they buy.’’ But as the growth of Apple’s profit has slowed in the past couple of years, some pundits and analysts have called for the company to break into other markets and create new revenue streams through a game-changing deal Investors and analysts have suggested that Apple should buy Tesla to build cars, Facebook to get into advertising, Netflix to get deeper into the entertainment industry and even Yahoo to get into the search business Apple declined to comment for this article, but none of those possibilities appear close to coming true Still, Timothy D Cook, the company’s chief executive, has said in the past that Apple would have no problem paying billions for another company if it would help Apple make more quality products And the company is well aware how a blockbuster deal can help In 1996, Apple acquired NeXT, the computer company ‘‘They’re pre-emptively investing in areas where they think there are opportunities to grow.’’ founded by Steven P Jobs after he had been forced out of Apple, largely to bring Mr Jobs back to the company It turned out to be one of the most transformative tech acquisitions in history: With Mr Jobs back at the helm, Apple rose from near-bankruptcy into a dominant company But in general, spending huge amounts of money to buy another company comes with major risks, said Brent Thill, an analyst for UBS, a financial services company that has clients in the tech industry For one, the founders of an acquired company — the star talent who receive the most money in a high-paying acqui- sition — often tend to take the money and run to another new venture For another, there can be cultural disagreements: A small company that is focused on introducing new technologies may not line up with the interests of its owner, which is to rake in greater profit Also, when a small company merges with a bigger business, it becomes less nimble because it is tied to legacy technologies of a larger corporation, and it can no longer innovate as quickly to keep up with competitors The history of the tech industry is littered with big deals that turned out poorly In 2010, Hewlett-Packard bought Palm, the struggling mobile device maker, for $1.2 billion — and shuttered Palm’s operations after releasing the TouchPad, a tablet that was on sale for about seven weeks before it was killed Similarly, last year Google bought the legacy handset maker Motorola Mobil- ity for $12.5 billion and, after sales of its first flagship smartphone were disappointing, reached a deal to sell it to Lenovo for $2.9 billion ‘‘A lot of the tech acquisitions, in my opinion, have gone way off the tracks,’’ Mr Thill said Apple has kept the stakes low in recent years Many of the companies it has bought had as few as one or two people, like SnappyLabs, a one-man developer of a camera app The founder, John Papandriopoulos, an electrical engineer, had developed an app to make the iPhone’s camera take high-resolution photos at a faster frame rate than Apple’s built-in camera software Apple bought the company this year and made Mr Papandriopoulos a software engineer These tiny acquisitions, made in large part to add the skills of an individual as much as the company, are known as acquihires in Silicon Valley Most other major tech companies make them frequently as well Facebook has been especially keen about buying small companies, as in its acquisitions of Beluga, a group messaging app, to improve Facebook’s messaging services, and of Push Pop Press, a digital book maker, to make its newsreader Paper When Apple buys a start-up with more than a couple of people, it is often looking for groups with specific skills who work well together as a team, according to a person who worked at a start-up Apple acquired last year, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media Apple then takes these small teams and assigns them to new projects or pairs them with older teams at Apple Other deals are made in an effort to quickly blend new technology into existing products For example, its 2008 purchase of PA Semi, a chip maker, helped Apple design more advanced processors for iPhones and iPads And its 2012 acquisition of AuthenTec helped enable the fingerprint-sensing technology that eventually wound up in new iPhones Other deals are clearly part of Apple’s effort to play catch-up in one particular area: maps In 2012, Apple updated the built-in maps software for its mobile devices to replace Google’s mapping data with its own Apple’s maps, which were lackluster compared with Google’s, quickly drew scrutiny To help the company catch up, last year it bought Embark and Hopstop, which provide public transit directions, and WiFiSlam, a company that provided maps for indoor areas G-20 vows $2 trillion lift to economy SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA REUTERS The world’s top economies have embraced a goal of generating more than $2 trillion in additional gross domestic output over five years while creating tens of millions of new jobs, signaling optimism that the worst of crisis-era austerity was behind them The final communiqué on Sunday from the two-day meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in Sydney said they would take concrete actions to increase investment and employment, among other overhauls The group accounts for about 85 percent of the global economy ‘‘We will develop ambitious but realistic policies with the aim to lift our collective G.D.P by more than percent above the trajectory implied by current policies over the coming years,’’ the communiqué read ‘‘We are putting a number to it for the first time — putting a real number to what we are trying to achieve,’’ Joe Hockey, the Australian treasurer and host for the meeting, told a news conference ‘‘We want to add over $2 trillion more in economic activity and tens of millions of new jobs.’’ The deal was something of a feather in the cap of Mr Hockey, who spearheaded the push for growth in the face of some skepticism, notably from Germany ‘‘What growth rates can be achieved is a result of a very complicated process,’’ Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, said after the meeting ‘‘The results of this process cannot be guaranteed by politicians.’’ The International Monetary Fund has forecast global growth of 3.75 percent for this year and percent in 2015 There was a nod to concerns by emerging nations that the Federal Reserve consider the effects of its policy tapering — its gradual reduction in economic stimulation efforts — which has led to some capital flight from more vulnerable markets Mr Hockey said that there had been honest discussions among members on the effects of tapering and that Janet L Yellen, the newly installed Fed chairwoman, had been ‘‘hugely impressive’’ when dealing with them Markets await euro zone inflation data Teamwork at the top is mirrored below Economic Outlook Corner Office PHI LI P B LE NKINSOP REUTERS BRUSSELS Euro zone inflation figures to be released Friday will be firmly in the sights of financial markets eager to establish whether the European Central Bank has enough ammunition to quickly ease monetary policy Inflation in the 18-member zone unexpectedly slowed to 0.7 percent year on year in January, matching a four-year low set last October and confounding expectations for an increase to 0.9 percent The E.C.B cut its main refinancing rate to a record low of 0.25 percent in November and decided this month to keep it at that level, though the bank could signal a possible move in March, when the governing council next meets Mario Draghi, president of the central bank, said the governors had not acted because of the complexity of the situation and the need to have more information By the next meeting, on March 6, they will have forecasts extending into 2016 The February inflation figure coming out on Friday could influence those forecasts ‘‘The big issue is whether they are comfortable with their medium-term trajectory That’s obviously something that’s going to get revised down a bit,’’ said David Mackie, chief European economist at JP Morgan ‘‘Next week’s reading will in some sense influence their thinking.’’ Further data on individual countries could lead to the January inflation figure being revised up to 0.8 percent on Monday, but the consensus view is for a 0.7 percent reading for February Commerzbank, which predicted the 0.7 percent figure in January, sees a further drop to 0.6 percent for February Christoph Weil, economist at the German bank, said this would prompt the E.C.B to reduce its 2014 and 2015 inflation forecasts each by 0.2 percentage points from already low levels of 1.1 and 1.3 percent respectively ‘‘It’s a close call, but we see the E.C.B cutting interest rates,’’ Mr Weil said The market consensus is for no further cut Inflation data will arrive at the same time as unemployment figures The typically lagging indicator is expected to show no improvement in January from the 12.0 percent rate of December Across the Atlantic, the debate continues about whether the U.S economy’s apparent weakness at the start of this year is purely a temporary blip caused by an exceptionally cold winter or something longer-lasting The chairwoman of the Federal Re- Global economic indicators Top economic releases expected this week, including the median forecast of analysts surveyed by Reuters and the last reported figure MEDIAN FORECAST PRIOR PERIOD DAY COUNTRY INDICATOR Mon Tue Tue Wed Thu Thu Thu Fri Fri Fri Fri Fri Fri Fri Fri Fri Germany S Africa U.S U.S Spain Germany Germany Japan Italy Euro zone Euro zone India U.S Canada U.S U.S Ifo business climate for February 110.6 110.6 Gross domestic product‡ for Q4 0.7% Consumer confidence for February 80.3 80.7 New home sales for January 400,000 414,000 Gross domestic product final‡ for Q4 0.3% 0.3% Unemployment rate sa for February 6.8% 6.8% Inflation preliminary† for February 1.1% 1.2% C.P.I.† core nationwide for January 1.2% 1.3% Unemployment rate for January 12.7% 12.7% Inflation rate flash† for February 0.7% Unemployment rate for January 12.0% 12.0% Gross domestic product‡ for Q3 4.9% 4.8% Gross domestic product preliminary‡ for Q4 2.5% 3.2% Gross domestic product‡ annualized for Q4 2.5% 2.7% Chicago P.M.I.* for February 57.0 59.6 Reuters/Univ of Mich sentiment final for February 81.2 81.2 ‡Quarter on quarter †Year on year * Purchasing managers' index Economy watch A snapshot of key figures for the world’s largest economies G.D.P in billions in 2012 COUNTRY United States Euro zone China Japan Germany France Brazil Britain Italy Russia India Canada Mexico South Korea †Harmonized G.D.P GROWTH Year over year $16,245 12,199 8,221 5,960 3,430 2,614 2,253 2,477 2,014 2,030 1,842 1,821 1,177 1,130 3.2%‡ 0.5 7.7 1.1‡ 1.3 0.3 2.2 2.8 –0.8 1.2 4.8 2.7‡ 1.3 3.9 CURRENT ACC’T/G.D.P in 2012 INFLATION Year over year –2.7% 1.9 2.3 1.0 6.9 –2.2 –2.4 –3.8 –0.7 3.7 –4.8 –3.4 –1.2 3.8 1.5% 0.7 2.5 1.6 1.2† 0.8 5.6 2.0 0.6† 6.1 5.1 1.2 4.5 1.1 JOBLESS 6.6% 12.0 4.1§ 3.7 6.8 10.9 4.3 7.1 12.7 5.6 n.a 7.0 4.3 3.2 figures § Urban end June ‡Quarter on quarter annualized Sources: Governments, International Monetary Fund, World Bank serve, Janet Yellen, will testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, two weeks after she told the House Financial Service Committee that the central bank would keep on reducing its stimulus Lawmakers may ask whether she has a different view on the weather question, though few expect an abrupt change After a week featuring a promising survey of U.S manufacturers, but a decline of housing starts, factory activity ONLINE: LATEST MARKET NEWS Indexes, stock quotes and currency rates inyt.com/business REUTERS and home sales, there will be more data on home prices and sales, consumer confidence and durable goods orders In China, meanwhile, the economy really is weakening Activity in China’s factories shrank again in February, a survey showed, the minor slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy enough to upset markets across the region In Japan, data due Thursday are expected to show factory activity accelerated in January, after disappointing fourth-quarter growth figures cast doubt on the effectiveness of the aggressive stimulus of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s year-old government AD AM BRYA N T DAVID ROSENBLATT Q Were you in leadership roles early on? A I was president of my class and copresident of my debating society in high school But leadership was never my goal I studied liberal arts, and majored in East Asian studies in college My father was in Foreign Service roles, and I always assumed I would end up in the Foreign Service After I graduated, I lived in Asia for a few years My first real work experience after school was in investment banking I learned pretty quickly that that wasn’t a world I wanted to be a part of What I love about the Internet is the ability to create or change an industry as opposed to simply participate in one that already exists Q Tell me more about your parents A My father had a lot of work in the Pacific I traveled quite a bit with him, which kind of stoked my interest in Asia in particular He’s a lawyer by training, and he’s very much a linear thinker My mother’s a psychotherapist, author and teacher, and she’s much more of an intuitive and empathetic thinker I probably skew more to her side than I my father’s Leadership is about people, so having that sensitivity is important There’s a story about my mother that had a big impact on me When I was a kid growing up in Washington, I used to take the same bus home every day One day, my mother happened to take the bus with me, and the place we were going to was between two stops She’s Israeli, so she has the same healthy disregard for rules that many Israelis have She walked up to the bus driver and said, ‘‘Excuse me, but would it be possible to stop the bus in between these two stops so we can get out?’’ The bus driver agreed to it, and probably two-thirds of the other people on the bus got out I just remember thinking that all these people are taking the bus every single day of their lives, and two-thirds of them really wanted to get off at a spot other than the bus stops Yet it took someone to ask the bus driver a question to something different, and many people benefited from it That story has always stuck in my mind as an example of the importance of not taking things as a given That’s sort of the philosophy of the Internet as a whole Q Other important lessons you’ve learned over your career? A When I was first promoted to C.E.O., the hardest thing to figure out was, how I spend my time? On any given day, a C.E.O could almost anything or nothing, and it would likely have little or no impact on the company, at least in the short term So I had to develop a set of rules to figure out how to manage my time I learned Rule No from Irv Grousbeck, who teaches an entrepreneurship class at Stanford Business School And that is, very simply, ‘‘You can hire people to everything but hire people.’’ Rule No that I think about feeling is that companies are like families, in the sense that if the parents get along, then it’s likely that the rest of the family will be relatively harmonious But if the parents don’t get along, it’s highly likely that there’s going to be conflict in the rest of the family that, to some degree, mirrors the conflict between the parents And if the executive team is talented and unified in their approach, treats each other with respect and communicates openly, their behavior will be mirrored by everybody in the company Q How you hire? What questions you ask? A My approach is pretty straightforward I like to ask people to walk me through their lives from the time they were young through the present I pay particular attention to transitions, because I think that says a lot about EARL WILSON/THE NEW YORK TIMES David Rosenblatt stressed the importance of hiring to offset your own limitations every day is, ‘‘Only the things that only I can do.’’ So if it’s someone else’s job to it, I try not to it If I find myself doing too many of those things that are actually someone else’s job, then it relates back to Rule No — I probably don’t have the right person in that role But just like anyone in any role, it’s important to understand, where is my comparative advantage? What am I better at than almost anyone else? To the extent that there is something you’re better at than most other people, you should it, and then you should just make sure that your team complements you The hard thing for many C.E.O.s, because this job requires a certain level of confidence, is to figure out what you’re not good at and acknowledge that, and then hire to offset your own limitations Q What else about your leadership approach? A I try to invest quite a bit of time in developing chemistry and sense of team among my direct reports Generally my people’s values and judgment, and the basis on which they make decisions Why did you pick this school instead of that school? Why was this the right first job? Why did you take two years off? When you left that company, what choices did you have, and why did you pick Door No instead of Door No 4? I find that if you listen to the narrative of people’s lives, you get a better sense of them as people and as professionals than any other approach I’ve taken It can also uncover whether there might be problems People are creatures of habit, and they tend to repeat patterns, even in different contexts Do they have a pattern of jobhopping? That is a particularly deadly characteristic, in my point of view It’s O.K — in fact, it’s a positive — to make mistakes in judgment at some point in your life But did the person understand it? Did they take the time to figure it out? Did they then repeat it? It’s not really what they did that is important to me It’s how they reached those decisions 20 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES IN DIGITAL, IT’S THE GIANTS WHO GET THE LION’S SHARE business PAGE 16 | BUSINESS FRONT Stakes high as E.C.B tests banks R.B.S likely to refocus, after years of loss Hugo Dixon POL I TI C A L ECO NOMY A lot is riding on the cleanup of euro zone banks that is being overseen by the European Central Bank The progress so far is encouraging But clarity is needed on a few points to ensure that lenders really get a good scrubbing and so are able to support the zone’s fragile economic recovery The E.C.B is in the midst of a socalled comprehensive assessment of euro zone banks This has two elements: an ‘‘asset quality review,’’ or A.Q.R., to determine whether the loans and other assets held on their balance sheets are valued properly, and a ‘‘stress test’’ to check whether they could withstand a severe economic downturn To pass the test, banks are supposed to have a ‘‘common equity tier capital ratio,’’ a measure of balance sheet strength, of percent in the baseline scenario and 5.5 percent in the adverse scenario The whole exercise is supposed to be finished by October before the E.C.B officially takes over from the national authorities in November as the lead supervisor for the zone’s banks The hope is that investors will at last have confidence that the numbers in bank balance sheets are accurate and will lend to banks more freely Banks would also lend to each other With the money markets functioning normally again, banks would have more confidence to lend to companies and consumers, giving a lift to economic activity That is what happened when the United States and Britain put their banks through severe stress tests five years ago Unfortunately, the euro zone put its lenders through a series of sham ANGELOS TZORTZINIS FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES A closed branch of Bank of Cyprus Euro zone banks are undergoing a so-called comprehensive assessment by the European Central Bank tests They gave clean bills of health to Irish, Spanish and Cypriot banks, which virtually blew up soon afterward There are several reasons why things may be different this time For a start, this is the first stress test the E.C.B has overseen It knows that if it flunks this exercise, its own credibility will be shot to bits What’s more, this is the first time the zone has put banks through an asset quality review Previous exercises just had a stress test and so did only half the job Then there’s the fact that the E.C.B is using multicountry teams to minimize the risk that national supervisors might turn a blind eye to problems at their local champions It has also employed outside consultants to avoid groupthink Skeptics still fear the E.C.B will pull its punches because governments have not yet spelled out what they will if banks fail the test and need rescuing Given that, the central bank will not want lots of lenders to fail, as that could set off a panic, or so the argument goes Although all euro zone countries have promised to provide backstops if needed, many have not given the details That’s regrettable But fears that this will undermine the validity of the tests are exaggerated because the amount of money that might need to be provided by governments is probably quite small Note, first, that banks that fail the stress test will not necessarily have to raise capital, so long as they pass the asset quality review They may, instead, be able to repair their balance sheets by selling assets and retaining earnings But even if they need capital, many banks should be able to sell equity in the markets Conditions are much improved since the peak of the crisis two years ago Even Monte dei Paschi, the troubled Italian lender, was able to get an equity issue underwritten last year, although its largest shareholder ultimately vetoed the plan Of course, some banks may be so weak that they cannot issue equity But that does not mean governments have to ride to the rescue They could force banks’ junior bondholders to convert their debt into equity or even close them down Admittedly, in some cases, shutting banks may be too risky, meaning governments may have to bail them out But not expect a flood of rescues After all, the main problem cases — Spain, Ireland and Greece — have all had megabailouts If recapitalization is needed, the sums will not be as big What’s more, Greece, perhaps the biggest worry, still has cash in its bank rescue fund that could be used for the job Meanwhile, other countries where banking problems could be exposed, such as Germany, are mostly rich enough to fend for themselves Even Italy can borrow money in the market at attractive rates Still, there are concerns One is that the adverse scenario against which banks will be tested will be too soft The details will not be published until late April Another worry is that banks will respond to the assessment by deleveraging their balance sheets If many lenders this simultaneously, that could curtail lending to the real economy and so hold back the recovery There is evidence that banks did precisely this late last year, knowing that the assessment would be performed on their end-2013 balance sheets Those that fail the test may continue to deleverage if they decide this is better for shareholders than raising equity It will be hard for the E.C.B to handle this risk, because there could be a conflict between what is good for individual banks and what is good for the macro economy Managing the conflict will require considerable judgment That’s why the bank that will be undergoing the severest test in the coming months is the central bank itself Hugo Dixon is editor at large of Reuters News Royal Bank of Scotland has finally wised up The British bank is likely to announce that it is shrinking its investment bank further when it releases its full-year results on Thursday In 2007, the bank’s operation, known then as Global Banking & Markets, employed more than 24,000 people The final count could be about a quarter of that British taxpayers, who still own 80 percent of R.B.S., may wonder why it has taken six years to restructure the investment bank When R.B.S was bailed out in 2008, it did not require much foresight to realize that citizens who had paid the bailout bill would not be eager to continue supporting a bloated investment bank and its ways, like high salaries and bonuses that persist even when profits are scarce After the rescue, though, the government had a different idea It told the entity created to supervise the government’s bank holdings, UK Financial Investments, to ‘‘maximize the value of the taxpayer stake.’’ R.B.S., which had trillion pounds, or $3.3 trillion, worth of assets on its balance sheet and the former investment banker Stephen Hester as chief executive, seemed destined to become a British version of JPMorgan Chase At first, it seemed plausible The investment bank contributed more than 80 percent of R.B.S.’s operating profit in 2009, and a third in 2010 But even before Mr Hester resigned last year, it was clear that something had gone awry While Mr Hester made brisk progress shrinking R.B.S.’s balance sheet, the investment bank kept losing staff and money Politicians gradually changed their perspective as they realized that shares in a bank that could not pay a dividend would be difficult to sell Mr Hester’s successor, Ross McEwan, was given a different mandate: Create a bank whose business is more about lending Mr McEwan has already announced that the bank will set aside £7.5 billion to cover potential fines for misconduct and has set about dropping noncore businesses That is a retreat from the vision of becoming the next JPMorgan But taxpayers have probably lost out because of the government’s slow awakening GEORGE HAY Italy needs to be ruthless on bad loans Italian banks need to shed their bad debts to start lending again The classic solution — selling poor loans to a national ‘‘bad bank’’ — would require Italian taxpayers to pay a bigger bill at a time when state debt is already 133 percent of gross domestic product Matteo Renzi, who was sworn in Saturday as prime minister, should try something different Italy has managed to create a nonperforming-loans headache without the property booms that occurred in Spain or Ireland According to the Bank of Italy, nonperforming loans in 2013 totaled 156 billion euros, or $214 billion, up 25 percent from the year before With banks more averse to risk, corporate lending has contracted every quarter since early 2012 Mr Renzi could follow the examples of Spain and Ireland, establishing a bad bank, partly state funded, to buy lenders’ worst assets at steep discounts But Italy’s private sector should be able to bear the costs Healthier lenders might be able to set up internal bad banks That would keep the loans on their balance sheets but in a discrete silo But the cleanest solution is to sell the bad loans This has been hard in the past: With Italy’s tortuous legal system, potential investors have offered low prices, and banks have lacked capital to take the hit Yet investors in nonperforming loans may settle for lower returns, partly as Italy’s own perceived creditworthiness has improved Meanwhile, banks are starting to raise capital, with Ô5.8 billion of rights issues due this year The past government also helped banks by giving them tax breaks for recognizing losses and restructuring the Bank of Italy’s reserves, which increased profits for the lenders that own stakes in the central bank Mr Renzi should be ruthless Italy’s weak loan growth and low interest rates have left it with too many unprofitable banks, and consolidation is long overdue The euro zone’s nascent single resolution mechanism means politicians have the cover to wind down banks not worth saving Mr Renzi should seize the opportunity NEIL UNMACK For more independent commentary and analysis, visit www.breakingviews.com After the big deal for WhatsApp, grand visions of magic numbers Disruptions N I CK B I LTON SAN FRANCISCO ‘‘What’s your number?’’ That’s a question you keep hearing in technology circles these days It asks how much money it would take for you to sell your start-up, quit your job or close your venture capital fund — and maybe, just maybe, walk away from it all What’s your number? We now know the answer to that question for Brian Acton and Jan Koum, the pair behind WhatsApp After insisting that they would not sell their mobile messaging company to a behemoth like Google or Yahoo, they are selling to Facebook for what could add up to a mind-bending $19 billion That means WhatsApp, a five-year-old business with 55 employees, is worth more than Alcoa, Campbell Soup, Coach, Gap, Harley-Davidson, Kohl’s, Macy’s, Southwest Airlines and Xerox, to name a few Nineteen Billion Dollars It seems surreal But these are heady times in technology — and everyone, it seems, is rethinking his or her number David Traveler’s forecast Sh Showers S Sun Sn Snow SS Snow showers T Thunderstorms W Windy Monday ˚C ˚F Abu Dhabi 28/17 Almaty -9/-16 Athens 14/9 Bangkok 34/24 Barcelona 14/7 Beijing 11/2 Belgrade 10/3 Berlin 11/2 Boston 0/-7 Brussels 12/7 Buenos Aires 27/15 Cairo 23/13 Chicago -7/-12 Frankfurt 12/4 Geneva 12/1 Hong Kong 21/18 Istanbul 9/6 Jakarta 29/23 Johannesburg 23/15 Karachi 30/15 Kiev 3/-3 Lagos 31/25 Lisbon 14/9 London 12/7 Los Angeles 22/12 Madrid 12/3 Manila 30/23 Mexico City 25/9 Miami 29/21 Moscow 2/-5 Mumbai 31/21 Nairobi 29/15 New Delhi 24/10 New York 3/-4 82/63 16/3 57/48 93/75 57/45 52/36 50/37 52/36 32/19 54/45 81/59 73/55 19/10 54/39 54/34 70/64 48/43 84/73 73/59 86/59 37/27 88/77 57/48 54/45 72/54 54/37 86/73 77/48 84/70 36/23 88/70 84/59 75/50 37/25 Tuesday ˚C ˚F S Sn R PC PC S C S PC H PC PC PC S S C Sh Sh R PC S C PC PC PC PC S S PC C PC PC PC PC 28/18 -4/-12 14/7 34/24 15/8 13/2 13/5 12/4 -1/-7 11/4 22/15 22/11 -8/-19 13/6 11/4 22/19 7/5 30/23 23/14 30/16 1/-3 31/25 15/7 11/5 21/12 13/3 31/24 26/10 28/21 1/-7 31/21 29/16 25/10 0/-4 82/64 25/10 57/45 93/75 59/46 55/36 55/41 54/39 30/19 52/39 72/59 72/52 18/-2 55/43 52/39 72/66 45/41 86/73 73/57 86/61 34/27 88/77 59/45 52/41 70/54 55/37 88/75 79/50 82/70 34/19 88/70 84/61 77/50 32/25 PitchBook Data, a database of private equity deals and industry players, said that 10 years ago, entrepreneurs were more down to earth about their numbers He pointed to Plumtree Software, which went public in 2002 and raised $42 million in its initial public offering ‘‘The founders of Plumtree probably made $5 to $10 million each from the I.P.O.,’’ Mr Gabbert said ‘‘That looked like success back then That’s pretty good money You could live forever on that.’’ Which brings us back to WhatsApp Mr Koum will personally make about $6.8 billion on this deal — the rough equivalent of San Francisco’s annual budget However this acquisition plays out for Mark E Zuckerberg — whether it propels Facebook to new heights by powering its mobile and international ambitions, or ends up looking like a topof-the-market clunker — even many people who follow technology were floored by the price For that much money, Mr Zuckerberg could have bought all 30 National Basketball Association teams ‘‘It doesn’t matter how you look at this number, it’s an outrageous amount of money,’’ said Glen Allmendinger, president of Harbour Research, an Internet strategic consulting and research firm T-STORMS High/low temperatures, in degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit, and expected conditions C Clouds F Fog H Haze I Ice PC Partly cloudy R Rain Karp sold Tumblr for $1.1 billion, but Evan Spiegel turned down $3 billion for Snapchat Lesser lights are redefining what it means to be rich, at least here in the insulated bubble of the tech scene It is little wonder that the private buses that ferry employees of Apple, Facebook and Google to Silicon Valley have, for some, become symbols of income inequality in this city For most people, and in most places, asking someone, ‘‘What’s your number?’’ would be like asking ‘‘What superpower would you like?’’ Not in Silicon Onlookers in Valley in 2014 the insulated A few weeks ago, technology over dinner with half scene are a dozen entrepreredefining neurs and venture what it means capitalists, the question came up again to be rich The table, which included a few people already worth more than $100 million, went quiet One man in his late 30s twirled the stem of his wine glass as he thought Then he tipped back his head, downed his pinot noir and said, ‘‘one billion,’’ his glass landing back on the table with a thud ‘‘That’s it That’s my number One billion dollars.’’ The others nodded John Gabbert, chief executive of FLURRIES 0-5 SWEDEN RAIN MOSTLY CLOUDY RUSSIA 10-15 ICE LITH Meteorology by AccuWeather Weather shown as expected at noon on Monday 10-15 LOW BELARUS 15-20 POLAND S S PC PC S PC S S PC R PC S PC Sh C PC R Sh C S C C C C PC PC S PC T S S C PC Sn UPSCALE WEEKEND TOURS CATER TO AMBITIOUS THRILL SEEKERS LATVIA 10-15 HIGH GERMANY 5-10 10-15 CZECH REP SLOV FRANCE SWITZ 20-25 15-20 AUSTRIA HUNGARY ITALY 15-20 20-25 20-25 MOROCCO 20-25 TUNISIA JORDAN 25-30 SAUDI ARABIA ALGERIA 25-30 30-35 EGYPT LIBYA 30-35 Nice Osaka Paris Riyadh Rome San Francisco Sao Paulo Seoul Shanghai Singapore 14/6 11/4 14/6 26/15 14/4 19/9 30/21 10/2 13/9 31/24 57/43 52/39 57/43 79/59 57/39 66/48 86/70 50/36 55/48 88/75 S S PC PC S PC T S C PC 14/9 11/-1 10/3 27/15 14/6 18/11 29/20 11/1 11/10 31/24 57/48 52/30 50/37 81/59 57/43 64/52 84/68 52/34 52/50 88/75 PC PC R S PC C T S R PC 23, apparently thought $3 billion was not enough for a company that, as yet, does not turn a dime of profit But here’s another question: When is your number big enough? The most expensive homes in the Bay Area top out at around $30 million Pick up a few fancy COLD 5-10 SNOW Still, Mr Allmendinger said he did not think the deal would pop the tech bubble To the contrary: It will affect what other tech companies will be willing to sell for in the future ‘‘This sets a new bar for other start-ups,’’ he said Over at Snapchat, Mr Spiegel, who is STATIONARY COMPLEX WARM 0-5 SHOWERS PETER DASILVA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Brian Acton, left, and Jan Koum, the co-founders of WhatsApp, at the company headquarters in Mountain View, Calif Mr Koum stands to make $6.8 billion on the Facebook deal cars at $100,000 a pop Throw in a Bentley for $175,000, a weekend place in Sonoma for $5 million, a modest pied-àterre in Manhattan for around $5 million — fine, make it $10 million And a top-of-the-line private jet for around $50 million With expenses, taxes and what not, you’re barely past $100 million Of course, you could give away a lot of your number money But Silicon Valley billionaires, with the exception of Mr Zuckerberg, are not known for their philanthropy And giving away millions or billions isn’t as easy as it sounds (although this is a problem many of us would love to have) ‘‘You can’t just give a billion dollars away,’’ said Kevin Kelly, a co-founder of Wired magazine and an influential technology theorist ‘‘You need an infrastructure to give it away You need a staff and support and you need to make sure it gets to the right people Spending a billion dollars is really, really hard.’’ Mr Kelly said that Bill Gates had to start the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has 1,194 employees — about 22 times as many as WhatsApp — to figure out how to give his part of his fortune away So what’s your number? In Silicon Valley, people often laugh when I tell them mine I’ll say this much: It’s a lot less than $1 billion Stockholm Sydney Taipei Tel Aviv Tokyo Toronto Tunis Vienna Warsaw Washington 8/1 28/20 22/15 20/13 9/4 -7/-15 18/6 11/4 6/-2 6/-4 46/34 82/68 72/59 68/55 48/39 19/5 64/43 52/39 43/28 43/25 C PC PC PC PC SS S S PC PC 6/1 28/20 24/16 18/12 13/5 -7/-17 19/7 12/4 5/0 5/-2 43/34 82/68 75/61 64/54 55/41 19/1 66/45 54/39 41/32 41/28 PC PC PC PC PC C C S S C Epic Tomato, a London-based bespoke travel company specializing in adventure trips, recently started mini-expeditions, called Epic Weekends, designed for time-pressed but thrill-seeking travelers Among the choices are a three-night skiing and trekking expedition in the remote fjords of Norway, where guests will sleep on a traditional Scandinavian yacht and sail around the Lofoten archipelago; a three-night getaway to Morocco’s Sahara desert region, where they will sleep at a Berber camp, take a quad bike trip in the desert and have the chance to ride a zip line in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains; and a three-night climbing trip to the summit of the 13,000-foot Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia CHEF PLAYS HOST ON BIKE CIRCUIT SAMPLING CUISINE OF SARDINIA Ciclismo Classico has enlisted the skills of a James Beard Award-winning chef (and former competitor on the American television show ‘‘Top Chef Masters’’) to entice tourists into a culinary- focused bike tour through Sardinia The tour will be a combination of eating and exercise, with the chef, Jody Adams, as host Ms Adams, owner of the restaurants Rialto and Trade and an avid bicyclist who has pedaled across the state of Massachusetts on several occasions, will guide this seven-day, almost 200mile cycle trip through the Mediterranean island, stopping to taste local wines and cuisine Riders will begin in Tresnuraghes, in the west, continuing along the coast to the Sinis peninsula and Cabras, and then turn southeast to end in Pula at the island’s southern tip Riders on the tour will be stopping for samples along the way at vineyards, olive groves, markets and local restaurants But they will also visit some of the island’s historic sites, like mining towns, ancient Phoenician and Roman settlements and archaeological dig sites The first trip runs Sept 30 to Oct 6, at a starting rate of $5,395 CALIFORNIA CLUB OFFERS TASTINGS FOR CONNOISSEURS OF AGAVE A resort in Southern California is capitalizing on the recent proliferation of mezcal and other agave-derived liquor distilleries to draw new devotees to a members-only club The Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa, near San Diego, recently started its All Agave Project, a series of seminars and tastings for the cocktail crowd The project, created by Chris Simmons, the hotel’s certified catador, or taster, offers guests and visitors several options to get to know more about Mexican liquors — in particular, exotic tequilas and their more potent country relatives, mezcal, bacanora and sotol, many of which were banned from sale until the 1990s The All Agave Tasting Tour, hosted in the resort’s Pony Room lounge, teaches guests about the history of the craft Banking and government offices may be closed or services curtailed in these countries and their dependencies because of national and religious holidays MONDAY Estonia TUESDAY Kuwait WEDNESDAY Kuwait THURSDAY Mauritius, Sri Lanka FRIDAY Taiwan SATURDAY Bosnia and Herzegovina, South Korea (REUTERS) ... terms more than we spent on average in the Cold War.’’ | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES world news asia Asylum fraud in Chinatown: A New York industry BY KIRK SEMPLE,... REPORT WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 IN THE INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES Also online at SOCHI2014.NYTIMES.COM 18 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES business media technology Briton... MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2014 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES page two Turmoil in Ukraine All I’ve read about the Ukrainian people during their crisis has impressed me Their bravery, pride, discipline