3-Year-Old Girl Found in Snow Dies

Abstract: When the police reached the roof, they found one small set of footprints in the snow, leading from the doorway toward the edge — the unmistakable last steps of a 3-year-old girl. With her family asleep and the hallways empty, no one saw the girl, Kyrah Martin, slip out of her apartment at 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday. Some neighbors said they heard an alarm go off when she opened the door to climb onto the roof, but they paid it little heed. Only a security camera was there to capture Kyrah’s movements as she headed up to the roof and then out of the frame. It was 1:10 a.m. before anyone saw her again, when a passer-by noticed her lying face-down in the snow, not breathing, outside the red-brick four-story building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She was pronounced dead half an hour later at Kings County Hospital Center, and the roof alarm was still ringing as police officers began knocking on doors to try to identify her, asking families whether they were missing a child. When they reached Apartment 20R, on the fourth floor, the girl’s mother, Nefertiti Martin, had no idea her daughter was missing. “She put them to bed and she expected to wake up this morning and find all four of her kids,” said Kyrah’s grandmother, Nadine Martin. “She said, ‘Not my kids.’ She didn’t realize one was missing until she pulled the sheets off the bed.” Kyrah’s death was a grim beginning to Christmas in this working-class neighborhood, and as neighbors walked by the stained patch of snow where her body had been found, they wondered how a girl her age had left her home in the middle of the night, pushed open the heavy door leading to the roof, and walked out into the 20-degree night. The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said detectives were still investigating, but said he did not expect any criminal charges to be filed. He called the event “a terrible tragedy.” In 2005, the police said, the Administration for Children’s Services investigated Kyrah’s mother after a newborn baby of hers developed respiratory problems and died. No criminal charges were filed in that case; the agency is investigating the circumstances of Kyrah’s death. Family members and the building’s superintendent said that Ms. Martin and four of her children, all girls, had moved to the apartment at 1517 Park Place days ago. They had been placed in the apartment through the city’s Department of Homeless Services , which leases several units in the building and provides them free to poor families. According to court documents, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development said earlier this year that conditions in the building were so woeful that the agency wanted a court-appointed administrator to take over the premises, collect rent and make repairs. In a petition filed in February 2009 with the Brooklyn housing court, lawyers for the agency contended the conditions at 1517-1527 Park Place “constitute a danger to the life, health or safety of the tenants.” The petition went on to state that the building suffered from damaged joists, rusted fire escape landings, and rusted electric fuse and meter boxes. The front door and intercom system were broken, the papers said, the burner and boiler were in “poor condition” and smoke detectors were missing. Fixing the violations and problems would cost about $640,000, the HPD lawyers wrote. But there were no active violations related to the door leading to the roof, and the family’s apartment had passed an inspection before they moved in. While many roof doors are locked from the outside, residents of apartment buildings must be able to open them in case of a fire. Landlords often rig roof doors with alarms to discourage residents from congregating on the roof, and to serve as an emergency alert in case of a fire. Some tenants speculated that the door may have been left ajar, or suggested that the wind may have helped blow it open. What is known is that Kyrah tripped a motion-sensor alarm that several neighbors reported hearing around 1 a.m. The police and Desmond Bain, the building’s superintendent, said that security cameras at the building recorded what appear to be the last minutes of Kyrah’s life, in which she walks alone out of the apartment and heads to the roof. She was wearing blue jeans, blue socks, a pink long-sleeve jersey and a pink T-shirt over it. The cameras did not record her fall, Mr. Bain said. “The kid went up by herself,” he said. Kyrah’s grandmother, Nadine Martin, said that the family had just moved back to New York from the Poconos, and that they had been placed in the Crown Heights apartment while they sought a permanent home. She said Kyrah was unfamiliar with the building, and was not generally eager to explore her new surroundings. “In Pennsylvania they were living in a house and had a terrace and all that,” Ms. Martin said. “She didn’t venture out on the terrace, she didn’t open the doors.” Ms. Martin said Kyrah and her mother had a warm, loving relationship. Relatives said that Kyrah liked snack foods, and that she loved to dance and sing with her cousins. “Some kids cry, not her,” Ms. Martin said. “She was a joy.” On Wednesday, neighbors and family members grappled to make sense of the girl’s death, and wondered why no one in the building had stirred to see why the alarm was ringing at 1 a.m. Mr. Bain, the superintendent, said he was not in the building at the time. “This is devastating,” said one passer-by, Jennifer Roberts, 24. “I have a 3-year-old myself and I just can’t imagine it. What was the child doing up there? Where was your child at? Where were you at?” Nadine Martin said Kyrah “could have been anybody’s kid.” “Had somebody went to see,” she said, “maybe they could have caught this before it turned into a tragedy.”

Falls
Brooklyn (NYC)
Martin Kyrah
Deaths (Fatalities)
Children and Youth


Muster, 43, Tests the Limits of a Tennis Comeback

Abstract: It has already been quite an October for tennis players in their 40s. Kimiko Date Krumm. 40, struck her latest blow for the middle-aged by reaching the final in Osaka, Japan, this month and nearly became the oldest singles champion in women’s tour history. Now here comes Thomas Muster , with gray stubble on his face at 43 and a wild card into the Vienna tournament this week after more than 11 years away from the ATP Tour. This is certainly an attention grabber, which cynics will argue is exactly the point: Muster’s longtime manager, Herwig Straka, is also the tournament director in Vienna. But it is difficult to imagine tennis’s latest big-buzz comeback becoming the same kind of success story. Date Krumm, the Japanese star who took a 12-year break of her own, has thrived in large part because her compact game — with changes in spin and tactics — is so unusual that her younger, more one-dimensional opponents don’t know quite what to make of it. Muster’s big-ripping baseline style, balanced off both wings, has become today’s standard. He should befuddle no one on court, although history reminds us not to underestimate Muster’s capacity to succeed against nasty odds. “We both know he’s slightly nuts,” said Mats Wilander, the Swedish former champion, who is 46. Muster told the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung last week that “many people will say, ‘What does the old fool want?’ ” “Others will hopefully respect my achievements,” he said. “I am fighting like I did during the best of times, and will give everything for the fans in Vienna.” This is the same driven Austrian left-hander who once hit ground strokes in a specially designed chair to stay fit after his left knee was ruined in an accident in a parking lot at the 1989 Key Biscayne tournament. He returned six months later and went on to dominate the clay-court circuit, win the 1995 French Open and briefly reach No. 1 in the rankings during the deeply competitive era of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. He did it while making tennis look and sound like a grind with his choppy stride and menacing baritone groans and grunts, which were the not-so-musical accompaniment to his baseline exertions. “You just have to listen to him out there,” Sampras told The New York Times in 1996. “He sounds like a bulldog who’s chewing on your leg and will not stop chewing, no matter what.” But Muster’s brutish air masked other interests, like his painting. And he eventually stopped chewing on legs in 1999, walking away from tennis after losing at the French Open. He based himself near the beach in Queensland, Australia, married the former Australian television host Jo Beth Taylor, celebrated the birth of their son, put on plenty of extra weight, divorced, and never bothered to make a formal retirement announcement. Which is why he likes to joke that this is not a bona fide comeback. “Forty-five is his deadline,” said Straka, his manager. “That’s his official retirement age.” Muster, now remarried to an Austrian and living in his hometown, Leibnitz, with their infant daughter, made his surprise return in June and has since played in six challenger events, the tennis equivalent of the minor leagues. “As No. 1, I had a lot of luxury; now I’m at the base,” Muster told Kronen. “It’s crazy. Not long ago, I borrowed a towel at a small tournament and had to leave my car keys as a deposit.” He hasn’t needed too many towels, though. He has lost six of his seven challenger matches, with his lone victory coming against the Slovenian teenager Borut Puc. It was enough to put Muster back into the computer rankings: he is at No. 982 this week. It was also enough to convince Straka that Muster deserved one of his three wild cards. Ronnie Leitgeb, Muster’s former manager and coach during his prime years, who now works with Austria’s leading player, Jürgen Melzer, sounds mystified by it all. “To be quite honest, I don’t understand the sense behind this, because even if he starts to win one of the challengers, which is not going to be very easy, it’s not going to be on his gravestone that after 44 tour titles, he won a challenger,” Leitgeb said. Ego is, of course, the coin of the realm in pro tennis, and exposure generated by his return should be good for Muster’s present and future businesses. But Muster, who has already played senior tennis and been Austria’s Davis Cup captain, says all this is actually about challenging himself to get back in top shape and about plugging back into something simpler than off-court professional life. Straka suggested that Leitgeb was critical out of jealousy because he no longer worked with Muster. But Leitgeb, who said he was on good terms with Muster, said he was concerned about Muster’s damaging more than his legacy. “I think he’s also taking a hell of a health risk, because he was smoking, he was overweight, and now he’s training so hard in such a short period of time,” Leitgeb said. “I’m not sure at age 43 if this is the best thing you can do for your body.” But in an era of redefining physical limits, an era of 40-something Olympians like Dara Torres, it seems unfair to force Muster into an ageist box if he really (really) wants to play elite tennis again. He has to have lost foot speed, but he certainly looks fit enough. Muster said he had stopped drinking alcohol and smoking and is, according to Straka, practicing twice daily on the court and then doing another two hours of off-court training. Once well above 198 pounds during his extended break from tennis, he is now down to about 167 pounds, the same he weighed at 22. But that, it bears remembering as Muster resumes grinding in Vienna on Tuesday, is not nearly the same as being 22.

Tennis
Muster Thomas
Association of Tennis Professionals


Tenants Ask to Void Settlement With Pinnacle Group Over Rents

Abstract: A major settlement between rent-regulated tenants and a large New York City landlord may be at risk after some of the tenants complained that they were not eligible for millions of dollars in compensation. The tenants asked a federal appeals court in Manhattan on Monday to overturn the settlement of their class-action lawsuit against the Pinnacle Group , which was originally brought over allegations of illegal rents and harassment. They have obtained new lawyers, who are seeking to renegotiate the settlement or, if new terms cannot be reached, go to trial. In court papers, the new lawyers said the agreement ends up barring most of the approximately 22,000 tenants in Pinnacle buildings who were represented in the class-action suit from receiving payment from the company for rent overcharges. The appellants said Pinnacle was liable for much more than what it had agreed to pay. “They were trying to get us to leave,” said Bernice Starr, an 81-year-old plaintiff who navigated the courthouse steps in Manhattan unsteadily with her walker to attend Monday’s oral arguments. She said the company refused to make repairs to her three-bedroom apartment in a building in Washington Heights. From the outset, the original settlement, which was reached in 2011 and approved by a federal judge last year, drew mixed reactions from tenants, some of whom said they were unsure about who would be eligible. The tenants sued the Pinnacle Group and its principal owner, Joel Wiener, in 2007, alleging that the company illegally inflated rents and “systematically” harassed tenants to force them to move so the company could charge higher rents. While denying the charges, Pinnacle settled the case by agreeing to have a court-appointed administrator hear the tenants’ individual complaints and decide compensation. The company also agreed to follow new procedures in carrying out rent increases and evictions in its buildings, as well as to pay $2.5 million to legal and tenant-rights groups to help the tenants make claims. Image A group of tenants who had settled a lawsuit against the Pinnacle Group, a major New York City landlord, were back on Monday asking the United States Court of Appeals to overturn the settlement. Credit Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times But the new appeal, filed within weeks after the agreement was finalized last summer, has frozen the original settlement. Pinnacle bought hundreds of apartment buildings in the mid-2000s and said it was trying to improve conditions in those that were deteriorating. But housing advocates claimed the company was among the private-equity firms that paid top dollar for rent-regulated buildings during the city’s housing boom and then showered tenants with eviction notices in order to charge higher rents. In court documents, the tenants appealing the agreement said it allowed only tenants who rented their units from Pinnacle during a certain time period to recover illegal rent overcharges. The agreement also excluded tenants who signed leases before Pinnacle bought the buildings, even if the company benefited from illegal rents set by previous owners and had a legal obligation to make sure its rents did not violate housing laws. In all, the appellants argued, the settlement excluded 77 percent of all plaintiffs from getting compensation for rent overcharges. A lawyer for Pinnacle, Mitchell Karlan, called the original agreement “fair and reasonable” and said of the appeal: “We expect that the settlement will be approved just as it was.” Richard F. Levy was the lawyer who negotiated the original class-action settlement for the tenants. In an interview on Monday, he noted that fewer than 1 percent of the plaintiffs objected or opted out of the original deal. In court documents, Mr. Levy said the exclusions were proper and hardly arbitrary — the claims either exceeded the statute of limitations for the case or were primarily based on the bad conduct of other landlords. He defended the agreement as providing benefits to all plaintiffs, beyond the rent refund issue. “It is very sad,” he said of the appeal. “All they have done here is delay the relief for the 22,000 plaintiffs.”

Pinnacle Group
Rent
Lawsuits
Housing
Rent Control
NYC
Real Estate


China Blames Foreigners for Trying to Foment Unrest

Abstract: BEIJING — Chinese and American officials are polishing off scripts for a ritual that is set to unfold in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. During a meeting known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue , they will smile across conference tables and talk about cooperating on a range of issues: trade, currency, North Korea. But that kind of theater seems more removed from events within China than at any time in recent years. In the past three months, some significant foreign groups have been subjected to intensifying pressure from the authorities, reflecting growing fears here about the influence of foreigners and Western liberal ideas. Good will between the United States and China is scarce. At the meetings this week, the Americans are expected to talk bluntly about human rights, while the Chinese government has already increased its criticism of the West, with some officials telling foreign diplomats that they believe the United States is fomenting revolution. At least 60 activities organized by the United States Embassy in Beijing — including cultural forums, school programs, ambassadorial visits — were canceled between February and April because of interference by the Chinese authorities, and some European missions have been similarly pressured. Several university conferences involving foreigners have been canceled, and the Ministry of Education is stepping up warnings to Chinese scholars heading abroad that they not take part in “anti-China” activities or engage with groups that promote democracy. The scrutiny has applied to some nonprofit groups, too, with several — particularly those that receive financing from the United States government or the European Union — being visited more frequently by tax officials. At the same time, China has waged its harshest crackdown on liberal speech in years: hundreds of Chinese have been detained, imprisoned, beaten, interrogated or put under house arrest. The government had for years guarded against Western influences, including blocking sites like Twitter and Facebook , but those restrictions have intensified since revolts began sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. The clampdown is concentrated on foreign groups or activities that have significant ties to foreign governments, run prominent outreach programs, encourage free speech or promote Internet freedom. Senior Chinese officials appear to believe that the United States in particular helped set off and sustain the uprisings that toppled dictators in the Arab world. In mid-February, messages appeared on the Chinese Internet calling for people to hold similar protests across the nation. Some of the people spreading word of the so-called Jasmine Revolution are Chinese who live overseas . One message called for Chinese to protest on Feb. 20 at a McDonald’s outlet on Wangfujing, a popular shopping street in Beijing, and the government became concerned when Jon M. Huntsman Jr., who was then the American ambassador to China, appeared that afternoon outside the restaurant. Embassy officials said Mr. Huntsman , who left his job at the end of April, was not aware of the calls for a protest, but the Chinese government quickly began canceling outreach activities sponsored by the American Embassy. That included one-time appearances by Mr. Huntsman in Chinese cities and regularly scheduled education programs in which American officials meet with Chinese students, according to interviews with foreigners and Chinese. “We have expressed our objections to these measures to senior Chinese officials on multiple occasions,” said Richard Buangan , an embassy spokesman. Although some embassy programs have resumed, few people here expect the government’s attitude to thaw anytime soon. “I think this is a new normal,” said Sara Davis, executive director of Asia Catalyst, a nonprofit group in New York that works with about a dozen grassroots Chinese organizations on issues concerning H.I.V. and AIDS. “I don’t think China has any reason to loosen restrictions. They geared up for a trial run and didn’t get any pushback.” “They’re casting a broader net,” she added, “and targeting anyone willing to speak their minds.” Ms. Davis said her group had not experienced difficulties because its Chinese partners worked quietly. But other foreign nonprofit groups and their employees say they are under a microscope, in an acceleration of a trend that took shape last year. A Chinese worker for one group was recently interviewed by state security officers and told that officials were carefully assessing the effects of foreign nonprofit organizations in China, according to a foreigner who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the situation. The Beijing office of one American nonprofit group was visited three times in three weeks by officials from local tax and commerce bureaus, after having been paid just one such call in the previous eight months, a representative of the group said. The officials characterized the inquiries as routine, but the timing and lines of questioning left little doubt that the visits were linked to the calls for a Jasmine Revolution. Tax and commerce officers asked the representative for details about the group’s source of financing as well as its activities, partners and means of promoting itself. Other American groups have faced a similar increase in scrutiny, the representative said, particularly those that receive money from the State Department. One group had been forced to account for virtually every project it financed, he said. Groups that received money from the E.U. also faced new bureaucratic hassles, he said. Meanwhile, several conferences involving foreigners have been canceled in recent weeks. One theory is that the cancellations were related to new rules posted on a central government Web site on Feb. 14 that were ostensibly aimed at controlling government expenses. But the rules impose severe restrictions on foreign participation: such meetings cannot exceed 100 people, international conferences must be approved by both provincial and central officials, and no “important” foreign guests can be invited without permission. “The cynic in me believes that, given the likely timing of this decision and of the onset of the Egyptian protests, this is not really about money or the value of international conferences, but about minimizing extended face-to-face dialogues with foreigners who might share ideas that were ‘bu shufu,’ ” said one American involved in cultural events, using the Chinese phrase for “discomforting.” Foreign journalists have also faced unusually direct harassment from security officials. Starting in late February, scores of journalists were warned about their coverage and visited at their homes. In meetings in February and March with one American journalist, security officers tried to make the case that American officials, together with foreign journalists and others with ties overseas, were conspiring to stir up chaos in China. They talked about the appearance of Mr. Huntsman at the McDonald’s on Feb. 20, and they mentioned a meeting that the embassy held with foreign journalists on March 10, citing them as proof of the United States’ hand in fanning the flames of revolution.

China
United States International Relations


Sudan Faces Student Protests

Abstract: Security forces beat and arrested student protesters in the Sudanese capital on Sunday as the unrest and antigovernment fervor in Tunisia and Egypt showed their first indication of spreading to the streets of Khartoum, if on a far smaller scale. The protests, organized by groups of university students and graduates, came together as Facebook , Twitter and other Web sites were used to rally several thousand demonstrators in at least four locations in Khartoum and Omdurman, the commercial center across the Nile from the capital, according to news services and activists. “It’s about time we fight for our God-given rights,” a Facebook page announcing the protests exhorted, calling for an end to autocratic government practices that have led to corruption, rising prices and unemployment. More than 16,000 people had indicated they would attend. “Our brothers in Tunisia did it, and so did our brothers in Egypt.” Midhat Afifi, 28, was among the roughly 1,000 demonstrators who gathered on Al-Qasr Street in downtown Khartoum around 11 a.m. As they started to shout slogans like, “We are ready to die for Sudan ,” they were surrounded by riot police officers. Video shot by protesters shows security forces in blue camouflage beating protesters with batons. Representatives of the student groups, calling themselves “The Spark,” “Youth for Change” and “We are Fed Up,” reported that about 50 people were arrested. Albaqir Mukhtar, the director of KACE, a local human rights organization, said that the demonstrations were the first time the pro-democracy youth groups had attempted to organize a demonstration without the broader support of the organized Sudanese political opposition. He said that student leaders said they would rethink the strategy of holding demonstrations on Al-Qasr Street near the heavily guarded Republican Palace, the seat of government. At other locations, the police used tear gas against demonstrators, Reuters reported. About 500 young people also protested in the city of El Obeid in Northern Kordofan, in the west of the country, Reuters reported. By late Sunday, access to the student group Web sites was shut down, Mr. Mukhtar said. “But people speak of it as a spark,” he said, “and the idea is to keep the flame and the demonstrations alive.” Sudan is in a deep economic crisis, and the government recently cut subsidies on petroleum products and sugar, setting off smaller protests throughout the north. The protests also coincided with the first official announcement of results from the referendum in southern Sudan on its secession from the north. The overwhelming vote for independence, more than 99 percent, is adding to anger against the government in the north, where separation was opposed. Demonstrations are not permitted in Sudan without a permit, and permits are seldom given. A police spokesman, Ahmed al-Tuhami, told Reuters that the police did not have figures for any injuries or arrests. “We did not use more violence than necessary,” he said. In Tunisia, meanwhile, the leader of a long-outlawed Tunisian Islamist party returned home on Sunday after two decades in exile, and was welcomed at the airport by thousands of people shouting “God is great,” The Associated Press reported. Rachid Ghannouchi, a theorist known for studying Islam and democracy, and about 70 other exiled members of the Renaissance, or Ennahdha Party , flew home from Britain two weeks after President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power by violent protests. Though the ban on the party has not officially been lifted, the new interim government is more tolerant of it. The party was branded an Islamic terrorist group by Mr. Ben Ali, but scholars widely consider it moderate. In an interview with The A.P., Mr. Ghannouchi said that his Western-looking country has nothing to fear.

Sudan
Twitter
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Social Networking (Internet)
Politics and Government
Computers and the Internet
Facebook.com


Istanbul Suicide Bomber Wounds 32

Abstract: ISTANBUL — A suicide bomber wounded 32 people in an attack on the police in the busiest square in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, government officials said. The victims were 15 police officers and 17 civilians. Officials said none of the injuries appeared to be critical and the only person killed was the bomber. Officials did not identify the bomber or suggest a motive, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. “We do not yet have information on the aim or nature of the attack,” Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the Istanbul governor, said at a news conference. But he called the attack “an act of terror.” Sunday was the last day of a unilateral, two-month cease-fire by the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party , known as the P.K.K., which has been engaged in an armed struggle against the government since the early 1980s and has previously carried out suicide attacks. But other militant groups have also bombed Istanbul, and officials refused to speculate on the bomber’s affiliation. The bomber struck at 10:30 a.m. in Taksim Square, a large plaza in the Beyoglu district that is usually bustling with tourists and local residents and is often the site of public protests and performances. The casualties would undoubtedly have been higher had the attack occurred later in the day, when the square would have been teeming with pedestrians. The Istanbul police chief, Huseyin Capkin, said that the bomber “tried to reach” a police van, part of a mobile police station often based at the square. “We can say that the target was the police,” he said. The bomber’s body ended up close to the foot of the statue of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, at the center of the square. Other explosives with a button detonator were found close to the body, security officials said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in Mardin, in southeastern Turkey, warned that “those who want to stir up Turkey, destroy the air of peace, stability and security, will never be tolerated.” The last suicide bomb attack near Taksim Square, which killed two police officers and the assailant, was carried out by leftist militants in 2001. In 2003, a local Islamist network loyal to Al Qaeda killed more than 60 people and wounded hundreds in attacks on two synagogues, the British Consulate and HSBC, a British bank. The P.K.K. has often staged attacks in busy urban areas, with civilians as the main target, and has carried out numerous attacks against the police and the military. The cease-fire that expired Sunday was one of a number that the rebel group has issued over the years, ostensibly aimed at allowing officials to offer a solution to their claim of autonomy in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. The government has refused to negotiate with the group directly because it is considered a terrorist organization, but there have been reports of a dialogue between the government and people close to the P.K.K. The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives.


Fed Official Says She Favors ‘Prudence’ in Raising Interest Rates

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Lael Brainard, a Federal Reserve governor and a leading proponent of the Fed’s efforts to stimulate the economy, said in a speech on Monday that she still favored “prudence” in raising interest rates despite recent signs of economic progress. The remarks reinforce expectations that the Fed will not raise its benchmark interest rate when its policy-making committee meets on Sept. 20 and 21, and investors celebrated accordingly. Stocks rose and interest rates fell, reversing much of the market movement on Friday, when investors worried the Fed might move toward a rate increase. But pressure continues to build for a rate increase before the end of the year. A few hours before Ms. Brainard spoke, Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, joined a growing list of Fed officials arguing that the economy was strong enough to justify an increase in borrowing costs. He called for a “serious discussion” at the September meeting. The Fed also faced new pressure from Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, who said on Monday on CNBC that the Fed’s chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, was keeping rates low “because she’s obviously political and doing what Obama wants her to do.” Ms. Yellen “should be ashamed of herself,” he added. Mr. Trump’s criticism of Ms. Yellen and the Fed breaks with the general practice of presidents and presidential candidates in recent decades to refrain from criticizing the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, castigated Mr. Trump last week for similar remarks. “Words have consequences,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters. “Words move markets. Words can be misinterpreted. Words can have effects on people’s 401(k)’s, their pension funds, their stock portfolios.” “He should not be adding the Fed onto his long list of institutions and individuals that he is maligning,” she added. Fed officials insist they will not consider the political consequences of increasing rates. They may, however, hesitate to act before the November election out of concern for the economic consequences of political turbulence, the same way they hesitated before Britain’s referendum in June on its membership in the European Union. Ms. Yellen, presiding over an increasingly fractious group of policy makers, has sought to emphasize their common ground. She said in an August speech that the case for raising rates had become stronger in recent months, but she stopped short of saying that it was time to raise rates. Ms. Brainard’s speech Monday was the last before the Fed’s pre-meeting blackout period, effectively giving her the last word in the public debate among Fed officials ahead of the September meeting. Ms. Brainard agreed reluctantly to support the Fed’s first post-recession rate increase in December, but she has stiffened in her concerns . Since then, she has made a habit of laying down markers before important Fed meetings, making the case for patience in March and again in June . On Monday, she once again seized the spotlight to explain why she is still not ready to raise interest rates. Ms. Brainard said recent economic data raised some questions about the strength of growth, and there was certainly no sign of resurgent inflation. “In the presence of uncertainty and the absence of accelerating inflationary pressures, it would be unwise for policy to foreclose on the possibility of making further gains in the labor market,” she told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She added that the context in which the Fed operates had also changed. A global decline in market interest rates means that the force of the Fed’s stimulus campaign has been reduced even without a rate increase. Moreover, she noted that the weakness of the global economy continued to weigh on the United States, contributing to an environment of persistently low growth and low inflation. Finally, she said that she remained more concerned about moving too quickly than waiting too long. The Fed has few tools to ward off fresh weakness in the economy, while it can easily respond to an inflationary resurgence. “This asymmetry in risk management in today’s new normal counsels prudence in the removal of policy accommodation,” Ms. Brainard said. “I believe that this approach has served us well.” Daniel Tarullo, another Fed governor, said in a CNBC interview on Friday that he too favored patience. Mr. Tarullo described himself as a member of the “‘show-me’ camp” that wants to see evidence of stronger inflation before raising rates. So far, he said, there is not enough. “From my personal perspective, I think we have an opportunity to continue to get employment gains,” Mr. Tarullo said. Other officials argue that inflation always follows stronger growth; if the Fed waits for the inevitable increase, they warn, the Fed may need to raise rates more sharply, causing a recession. Mr. Tarullo said in the interview, however, that officials who took this view should still have hesitations about the outlook for growth. He described the recent economic data as a mixed bag. A growing number of Fed officials argue that this caution is misdirected. Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in a speech on Friday that raising rates in the near term could actually help extend the economic expansion, now in its eighth year. The Fed may now be providing too much stimulus, he said, and overheating could end up forcing sharper rate increases. “If we want to ensure that we remain at full employment, gradual tightening is likely to be appropriate,” Mr. Rosengren said in Quincy, Mass. “A failure to continue on the path of gradual removal of accommodation could shorten, rather than lengthen, the duration of this recovery.” Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — and, like Mr. Rosengren, one of the 10 Fed officials with a policy vote this year — has expressed concern that low rates are encouraging excessive speculation, birthing future financial crises. Ms. George is the only Fed official to vote to raise rates this year . Fed officials still could coalesce around a late-year rate increase, as they did last year. After September, the Fed has two more meetings on the calendar, in November and December. Asked what it would take to win her vote, Ms. Brainard said she would like to see more inflation. She also noted recent weakness in some economic measures like corporate profits and investment. “It would be important, I think, to see some of those spending indicators starting to really move in a more positive direction going into the third and fourth quarter,” Ms. Brainard said.

Interest rate
Lael Brainard
Federal Reserve
US Economy


Feeble Inflation and Lending Persist in Euro Zone

Abstract: PARIS — Dangerously low inflation in the euro zone persists while lending to the private sector continues to shrink, official data showed on Monday, problems that will confront European Central Bank officials as they meet this week to plot monetary policy. Consumer prices in the 18-nation currency bloc rose 0.5 percent in June from a year earlier, in line with expectations and unchanged from May, Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union, reported from Luxembourg. That was far below the central bank’s target of keeping inflation at a rate just below 2 percent, a level it has not reached since early 2013. The “core” rate, which strips out food and energy prices, rose 0.8 percent. The data are preliminary and subject to revision over the next month. With concerns mounting about the slow pace of economic growth and with prices hovering not far above outright deflation, the European Central Bank last month took the extraordinary step of setting its deposit rate at minus 0.1 percent, a move that, in effect, charges lenders for holding money at the bank instead of loaning it. The central bank also cut interest rates closer to zero and announced more low-cost loans to encourage banks to lend to the real economy. The need for such measures was underscored by a separate report by the central bank on Monday that showed lending to the private sector contracted again in May, shrinking 2 percent from a year earlier. Loan growth has been shrinking since March 2012. “What the E.C.B. has done is to provide some help in a situation that needs other elements to fall into place,” said Derek Halpenny, senior currency economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in London. Notably, he added, “They’ve kept the euro from shooting higher.” The central bank would like to see the euro, which currently trades at around $1.36, decline, because that would help to push up the prices of imported goods that are priced in other currencies. Mr. Halpenny noted that with the central bank carrying out detailed analyses of banks’ books and subjecting their portfolios to stress tests, a fully fledged recovery in lending would probably come about only if those tests helped restore confidence in the financial sector. An improvement in the American economy, which shrank at an unexpectedly large 2.9 percent pace in the first quarter, could also help the bank’s cause, he said. But even in the best case, a full recovery in lending was not likely before next year, Mr. Halpenny added. Downward pressures on prices and lending are symptoms of the “deleveraging” of indebted businesses and households, as well as weakness in demand. Government spending has been curtailed by austerity policies, and a weak job market has left consumers in limbo. The euro zone’s jobless rate has stood near the current 11.7 percent for months. Deflation is poisonous for borrowers, because the cost of loan repayment rises in real terms. And European banks, which are trying to meet new capital standards, do not need any more soured loans on their balance sheets. Although there have so far been no signs of a self-sustaining, downward spiral in prices — the stuff of central bank nightmares — the International Monetary Fund has warned that even the current ultralow inflation is dangerous, both for its effects on lenders and borrowers and, for its contribution to unemployment. A report last week based on a survey of businesses by Markit Economics, a data analysis firm, showed that the euro zone economy continued to expand slowly. Economists expect second-quarter growth of around 1.2 percent on an annualized basis, accelerating from the 0.7 percent rate in the first quarter of the year. While Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, said that more measures were coming, analysts expect the bank’s governing council, which meets on Thursday, to give its new measures time to be felt before taking further action.

Inflation
Euro
European Central Bank
Mario Draghi
European Monetary Union


Corruption in New York: A Brief History

Abstract: The bidding price for a bribe to get a gun permit in New York City was quoted at $6,000 this week in a federal criminal complaint. A regular visitor to the Police Department’s licensing bureau claimed that he had gotten licenses 150 times over the last year, waving the prospect of $900,000 in future cash under the nose of a police officer wearing a tape recorder. In one instance, the visitor had gotten a gun license for a man who had been the subject of four domestic violence complaints and a forgery arrest, and involved in multiple car accidents. With political campaigns sweeping in billions, with major banks tricking their customers out of vast fortunes, a $6,000 bribe seems quaint. But the human scale of graft, through history, helps us understand the synergy of greed and appetite, hassle and necessity. That said, past results, of course, are no indication of future performance. Driver’s licenses and car titles: Clerks at a Bronx office of the Department of Motor Vehicles once sold a license for driving heavy trucks to a man with no legs. They also sold two licenses to another man, one in which he was photographed wearing a wig, and the other without it. Car titles and registrations, handy for thieves, ran $1,500; driver’s licenses could go for $100, more or less, depending on the desperation of the customer. During a 1991 case, the entire Bronx office was shut down for employee arrests. Things have tightened up over the years. Moreover, a visit to the motor vehicles office, while not a trip to the ice cream parlor, no longer involves hours of torment. Aggravation: a leading economic driver of bribery. Building inspections: Construction rules in New York are supposed to keep people safe inside and around buildings. They are, of course, a hassle. For all this, there is the job of expediter: At its most legitimate, this role is played by a person who stands in line and files the right paperwork, saving time. But with a real estate boom, one expediter in Brooklyn greased a Buildings Department supervisor, according to a report last year by the city’s Investigation Department and the Manhattan district attorney. The expediter, the report said, paid a $200,000 mortgage for the city official, bought him and his wife two sport utility vehicles, and sent them on an $8,000 Royal Caribbean cruise. How risky is this? A crooked inspector who was part of the scheme let a Borough Park synagogue add two floors without proper support, the authorities said. The existing roof jutted through a new floor. The facade cracked. Issuing fake building permits is like giving a gun license to a person with a history of domestic violence. An article in The New York Times in 1871 declared, “Disgraceful Corruption in the Department of Buildings.” Nearly a century later, in 1966, the buildings commissioner proposed that inspectors wear uniforms without pockets. The inspectors union fought it, the City Council was against it and the buildings commissioner quit. Karaoke bar protection: A police officer in Flushing, Queens, was accused in December of collecting $2,000 a month from the JJNY Karoke Club for tipoffs on police raids and to quash drug arrests. Bootleg Cream: Back in the 1920s, a health department boss seized 56 cans of cream shipped into the city from Newark by a wholesale dealer on the grounds that bringing them from out of state amounted to bootlegging. The wholesaler testified that he had to bring $2,000 to a bagman in the lobby of the Hotel Pennsylvania to get the cream back, even though it was worth only $1,500; he said he worried that if he didn’t pay, he would lose his license. Food inspections: Restaurant owners dreaded seeing health inspectors drive up in Cadillacs and wearing Rolex watches, the head of the F.B.I. in New York said in 1988. The inspectors charged $50 to $1,400 — sometimes to overlook violations in the kitchen, but also to not hit restaurants with phony ones. Restaurants paid so that their names would not run in the city newspapers on the weekly “Rat List,” a rundown of places that been cited for violations, real or fake. Now, restaurant inspectors wear baseball caps and shirts from the health department, and are shifted around the city to avoid falling into a rut. In the gun permit case, the authorities said, the man offering the bribes actually frisked the police officer but missed the tape recorder. As a result, this exchange was taped: “I want to repeat myself: I’m not bribing you,” the man said. “Of course you’re bribing me,” the officer said. Think of it as an offering to the gods of Official Paperwork.

Corruption
Bribery and Kickbacks
NYC
Buildings Department NYC
Department of Investigation NYC


Mitt Romney’s Campaign Adopts A Harder Message

Abstract: TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney is heading into his nominating convention with his advisers convinced he needs a more combative footing against President Obama in order to appeal to white, working-class voters and to persuade them that he is the best answer to their economic frustrations. Having survived a summer of attacks but still trailing the president narrowly in most national polls, Mr. Romney’s campaign remains focused intently on the economy as the issue that can defeat Mr. Obama. But in a marked change, Mr. Romney has added a harder edge to a message that for most of this year was focused on his business and job-creation credentials, injecting volatile cultural themes into the race. Some elements of that revised strategy will be evident at the Republican convention, which was set to open here on Monday but will be delayed until Tuesday because of safety concerns from Tropical Storm Isaac. The Romney campaign was hastily rearranging the schedule, but officials said the convention would still amplify the conservative arguments against the president with speakers like Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. “We will absolutely be able to get our message out,” said Russ Schriefer, a senior campaign adviser. “We still have an opportunity to tell the story of the last four years of how President Obama has failed the country.” The strategic shift in the campaign message that has been unfolding in recent weeks reflects a conclusion among Mr. Romney’s advisers that disappointment with Mr. Obama’s economic stewardship is not sufficient to propel Mr. Romney to victory on its own. Republican strategists said that many middle-class voters had proved reluctant to give up entirely on Mr. Obama, and that they still needed to be convinced that Mr. Romney would look out for their interests. Steven J. Law, the president of the conservative group American Crossroads, said some swing voters in focus groups had helped explain why support for Mr. Obama had not collapsed despite his poor marks on the economy. “They’re somewhat seduced by the thought, ‘If the guy had more time, maybe he’d be able to turn it around,’ ” said Mr. Law, whose group is spending tens of millions of dollars to change that. Republicans are nervously monitoring the pivotal battleground of Ohio, where Mr. Romney has had trouble making headway against Mr. Obama. Mr. Romney visited the state on Saturday and previewed the themes of his convention by offering faint praise of his rival, saying: “He says marvelous things. He just hasn’t done them.” Mr. Obama, unwilling to cede the stage fully to his opponents this week, leveled a counterattack in an interview released Saturday by The Associated Press, painting Mr. Romney as beholden to “extreme” House Republican policies harmful to the middle class. “He has signed up for positions, extreme positions, that are very consistent with positions that a number of House Republicans have taken,” Mr. Obama said. “Governor Romney’s policies would make things worse for middle-class families and offer no prospect for long-term opportunity for those striving to get into the middle class.” The battleground map has remained remarkably stable in recent months, which leaves Mr. Obama with more paths to winning 270 electoral votes and places a burden on Mr. Romney to break through in states where he so far has not. But Republicans suddenly see encouraging signs in Wisconsin after the selection of Representative Paul D. Ryan as his running mate. Mr. Romney’s chances hinge to a large degree on running up his advantage among white voters in swing states who show deep strains of opposition to Mr. Obama but do not yet trust Mr. Romney to look out for their interests, Republican strategists say. Many of those voters are economically disaffected, and the Romney campaign has been trying to reach them with appeals built around an assertion that Mr. Obama is making it easier for welfare recipients to avoid work. The Romney campaign is airing an advertisement falsely charging that Mr. Obama has “quietly announced” plans to eliminate work and job training requirements for welfare beneficiaries, a message Mr. Romney’s aides said resonates with working-class voters who see government as doing nothing for them. The moves reflect a campaign infused with a sharper edge and overtones of class and race. On Friday, Mr. Romney said at a rally that no one had ever had to ask him about his birth certificate, and Mr. Ryan invoked his Catholicism and love of hunting. Democrats angrily said Mr. Romney’s remark associated him with the fringe “ birther ” camp seeking falsely to portray Mr. Obama as not American. The convention will focus on a dual fire-Obama-hire-Romney message that will be presented in an abbreviated fashion from Tuesday through Thursday. Party leaders said Saturday evening that the themes of the convention would be preserved, despite the disruption from Tropical Storm Isaac. Through videos, speeches and carefully staged programming, the convention will amplify what will constantly be described as Mr. Obama’s failures, with a focus on accusations that he has undercut middle-class workers and small-business owners. But with Ann Romney, Mr. Romney’s wife, taking the stage on Tuesday night, the Republican gathering will be as much about presenting Mr. Romney as a warm-blooded family man who understands the tribulations of everyday people. The campaign, after spending months arguing that the family’s Mormon faith was off limits, invited speakers from Mr. Romney’s church to testify how he had helped them when they were in need. Those concurrent themes reflect a realization by strategists inside the Romney campaign and its allies at outside groups in recent weeks: Republicans need to do more than critique Mr. Obama’s economic record for Mr. Romney to win. With the race entering its final, decisive phase, strategists on both sides agree that Mr. Obama maintains a razor-thin edge. That, several Republican officials said in interviews, is the result of a stubborn affinity for Mr. Obama among key swing voters who otherwise say they are disappointed in his job performance — a dynamic the Romney campaign and its allies are seeking to change. Mr. Law said his group, Crossroads, had reserved roughly $35 million in advertising for the rest of the campaign and planned to spend more on efforts speaking to their other perception, that Mr. Obama had not been able to deliver. “These folks know they are not happy with what Obama has done, but they are struggling between, ‘I voted for him, I liked him, but he’s not getting the job done,’ ” said Carl Forti, political director for American Crossroads. “That’s where Mitt needs to take advantage.” But, strategists acknowledge, Mr. Romney still has work to do before those critical swing voters will view him as that alternative, particularly with polls showing that voters see him as less attuned to their needs and values than Mr. Obama is. While he hopes to improve his standing among women, strategists say Mr. Romney’s chances hinge to a large degree on running up his edge among white voters who do not yet trust Mr. Romney. “Right now the perceptions of him are allowing Barack Obama to stay in this race and keep a slight lead in spite of all the environmental factors that lead you to think he should be gone,” said Matthew Dowd, a pollster for George W. Bush’s campaigns. “If he can change perceptions about himself, then the environment takes hold, and if the environment takes hold, they win.” Mr. Romney’s team is hoping to change perceptions starting with the Republican convention and, more important, with full access to the $186 million he and the Republican National Committee have on hand and can use as soon as Mr. Romney accepts the party’s nomination. It will give him his first real financial advantage over Mr. Obama this year. Here and in Boston, Mr. Romney’s team is poised to sift through post-convention polling before pressing its new advantage with final advertising bets in key states. “For undecided voters, Obama’s job performance weighs more heavily than Mitt’s current image,” said Neil Newhouse, the pollster for Mr. Romney. “They can measure what Obama has done, and his job performance numbers among those voters are extraordinarily weak.” Central to the weeks ahead, strategists from both parties said, will be the perceptions of voters in battleground states like Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. Both sides agree that Mr. Romney’s choice of Mr. Ryan has given Mr. Romney a new opportunity in Wisconsin. But, even Republicans say, the bigger electoral prize of Ohio, as of now seems to be tilting in Mr. Obama’s direction. With Crossroads and like-minded groups providing critical backup, Mr. Romney’s campaign is freer to concentrate on building its candidate up and trying to repair the damage done to his image over the summer.

Romney Mitt
Republican National Convention
Presidential Election of 2012
Polls and Public Opinion


Rays Try to Promote Way Out of Attendance Skid

Abstract: ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In their endless quest to get more people to show up for their games, the Tampa Bay Rays recently announced that they were revisiting one of their most popular fan giveaways: a figurine of Manager Joe Maddon dressed as a gnome. It turned out to be wildly successful once again, as an announced crowd of 31,969 packed Tropicana Field on Aug. 3 for the Rays’ game against the San Francisco Giants. Who knew the Rays had been going about their business all wrong? Joe Gnome proved more than capable of doing what Evan Longoria, David Price and one of baseball’s top teams could not: rouse people in the Tampa Bay area from their summer slumber and get them to the ballpark. “I think we have moments where we’re a little frustrated or a little disappointed,” outfielder Sam Fuld said. “We know the framework for a good fan base is here. But I also think we’re all aware of the circumstances at this point and try to make the most of it.” Making the most of it means playing very good baseball in a half-empty stadium on a near nightly basis. The Rays average 18,476 fans a home game, the fewest in the American League. Only the Miami Marlins, one of the National League’s worst teams, play in front of smaller crowds. It underscores a fundamental disconnect between the Rays’ on-field success — they are in second place in the A.L. East, with a 66-49 record — and their abject failure at the turnstiles. Fans and team officials cited a host of reasons, like a tough economy; the absence of baseball tradition; and an aging, antiseptic stadium in an isolated neighborhood across the bay from Tampa. “I think people give lip service about this being a bad location,” said Shannon Hillier, 58, who arrived for Joe Gnome Day with five family members, all of whom dressed in matching gnome hats. “I live in Tampa, and the drive’s not so bad. As for the stadium, is that why people come to games? For the stadium? That’s not why I come to games. I come to watch baseball.” At the All-Star Game last month, Commissioner Bud Selig said he was frustrated with the team’s struggles luring fans to The Trop. “It’s very disappointing and very worrisome,” Selig told reporters. “The first thing I do every morning is look at the attendance at every game. It’s beyond disappointing.” He praised the Rays as having done a “marvelous job,” but said the situation was “economically not tolerable.” There is no ready-made solution on the horizon. The Rays are locked in a lease with the city to remain at Tropicana Field until 2027, though Mayor Bill Foster of St. Petersburg, in a recent interview with The Tampa Bay Times, said for the first time that he was open to letting the Rays explore new stadium options in Tampa. Any move would be a protracted process, however. Matt Silverman, the Rays’ president, said the team would love to find a better location “someday,” and that day still appears far away. The issue for now, and for the indefinite future, is that the team depends heavily on ticket sales to subsidize player payroll. The formula is simple, really: when fewer people pay to see the team play, the Rays have less money available to retain marquee stars like Price, the team’s Cy Young Award-winning pitcher. In that sense, Tampa Bay’s baseball and business sides are intertwined. It has become one of baseball’s thorniest problems, though one familiar to the Rays, who have had trouble attracting fans since their inaugural season, in 1998, when they averaged 30,942 per home game, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The novelty wore off. The Rays averaged 19,294 the next season and have not averaged more than 23,148 in any season since. Last year, they ranked 29th out of 30 teams in attendance, edging only the Marlins. It has cost them. The Rays’ $62 million player payroll is the lowest in the A.L., according to Baseball Prospectus. The Yankees, who benefit from a lucrative cable television deal, are in line to pay their players $228 million this season. Silverman acknowledged that the Rays had learned to embrace the annual challenge of being outspent, largely because they have no choice. It has become part of their ethos — that they must win by being smarter than everyone else. Whether that means making solid selections in the amateur draft (the Rays almost never misfire) or trading high-priced assets for up-and-coming talent (the current roster is filled with the results of such moves), the Rays have become highly adept at spending their money in the most efficient ways possible. Image A capacity crowd turned out at Tropicana Field for backpack and photo day on Aug. 4. Credit Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images “Joe has been the one who gets the players hungry for the challenge of playing in the bright lights of the American League East,” Silverman said. “And we’ve had success. But it’s hard to imagine that continuing without some relief from baseball.” Silverman referred specifically to the market for international players. Though baseball has sought to restrict how much teams are allowed to spend — there is now a sliding scale that favors the poorest-performing teams — Silverman said it was not enough. For example, the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs still spend multiples of what the Rays do on free agents from baseball-rich countries like the Dominican Republic, Japan and Venezuela. “Baseball’s economic system is stacked against lower-revenue teams,” Silverman said, “and where we really see it is in access to talent.” So the Rays are left to make tough choices. The team cracked open its piggy bank last winter to extend the contract of Longoria, its star third baseman, through 2023. The deal calls for Longoria to collect an average of $12.5 million a season, a big-time splurge for a team with bargain-bin resources. By locking up Longoria, though, the Rays also left themselves vulnerable: What if he gets hurt? What if his performance declines? “Greater resources would give us a margin for error,” Silverman said. “And we don’t have that today.” As a result, the Rays have to be spot on with their personnel decisions. A bad signing runs the risk of being an albatross; the team cannot afford to replace its mistakes. Tampa Bay caught a glimpse at one such doomsday possibility when Longoria labored through July with a .194 batting average. For one month, at least, the Rays were able to compensate for his slump. They won 21 of 26 games by leaning on an emerging core of rookies. Outfielder Wil Myers, 22, who was acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Royals in December, hit .352 with 4 homers and 18 runs batted in. The right-hander Chris Archer, 24, went 4-0 and allowed three earned runs in 37 innings pitched. Still, small crowds turned out to watch. It is a continuing battle. The Rays’ marketing department has done yeoman’s work: discounted tickets, postgame concerts, lunchbox giveaways. On Sept. 21, the Rays will host Star Wars Night, compete with a limited edition “Jedi Zo” bobblehead of the outfielder Ben Zobrist wielding a light saber. Zobrist said he would have preferred to be “Zobi-Wan Kenobi,” not that he was complaining. “I think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “I have some friends who are big “Star Wars” fans, and they think it’s even cooler.” The Rays’ community outreach includes various grass-roots efforts by Maddon, who moonlights as the custodian of a quotation contest on Twitter. The fan who submits the best line of the day — typically inspirational — receives a Friend-O-Rays T-shirt in the mail. Maddon also includes the quotation on his lineup card. The only reason he maintains a Twitter account, he said, is to help sell the team to the public. “I think it’s good for the Rays, period,” he said. “I have no other agenda.” Maddon said he would love for his team to play in front of more fans, and not just because it would increase revenue and enhance the team’s ability to sign top talent. On a more fundamental level, Maddon believes that large crowds improve player performance. “Everyone talks about it in New York, and I think it’s a definite advantage,” he said. “You’re held to a high standard, which really should draw out the best of each athlete on a daily basis. There’s no moment when you can take any time off. You can’t try to sneak by, because everybody is watching.” For now, the Rays will continue to do what they have always done: their very best even when no one is around.

Tampa Bay Rays
Joe Maddon
Baseball
Tampa FL


U.S. Overpowers Grenada in Gold Cup Opener

Abstract: After reaching the final of the Confederations Cup, the United States national team used a young lineup Saturday night in Seattle, where it opened its defense of the regional championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean with a 4-0 rout of Grenada in the Concacaf Gold Cup. Freddy Adu gave the United States a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute and Stuart Holden added a goal in the 31st, both set up by Robbie Rogers. Rogers scored in the 60th minute and Charlie Davies, one of the few players who also played in the Confederations Cup, finished the scoring in the 68th. The United States, ranked 12th in the world, is seeking its third straight Gold Cup title. The team outshot No. 88 Grenada, 25-3. Seven of the United States starters entered the match with a combined 11 international appearances; goalkeeper Troy Perkins was playing in only his second match for the national team. Holden, who turns 24 next month, became the first American to score in his international debut since Eddie Robinson did against Sweden in January 2008. Grenada, making its first Gold Cup appearance, had faced the United States only twice before, losing both in 2004 during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. Adu excited the crowd of 15,387 after Rogers sent a cross from the left and he beat Grenada goalkeeper Desmond Noel. Holden scored on a leaping header from 6 yards that went in off the bottom of the crossbar. Rogers beat Noel from the top of the arc, and Davies slotted the ball in off a pass from Heath Pearce. Right back Steve Cherundolo, sidelined for most of the past six months with a hip injury, was the only regular starter in the lineup. Pearce, Adu and Davies, frequent national team backups, also started. Most regulars were not included in the initial 23-man roster, allowing them either to take time off before the start of the European season or to return to their Major League Soccer teams. Concacaf then decided to allow the United States to expand its roster by seven, meaning some regulars may be called in later in the tournament. The United States, 22-0-1 in group play in the Gold Cup, will play Honduras on Wednesday in Washington. The Americans will close the first round Saturday against Haiti in Foxborough, Mass. HONDURAS 1, HAITI 0 Carlo Costly headed in a free kick by Walter Martinez in the 76th minute for Honduras in open-group play in the Concacaf Gold Cup in Seattle. Martinez took the free kick from the left of the penalty area, about 2 yards from the goal line. He drove it into the box, where Costly went up and headed it into the right corner of the net, beyond the reach of Haiti goalkeeper Jean Dominique Zephrin. Costly, who has four goals in World Cup qualifying, nearly scored again four minutes later. But his 35-yard shot toward a wide-open net was kicked off the line by Haiti’s Pierre Richard Bruny. Fabrice Noel had two good scoring chances for Haiti, but Honduras goalkeeper Donis Escober dived to grab the ball off his foot in the 19th minute and Noel’s 25-yard shot went just wide of the left post in the 32nd minute. Honduras will face the United States in the second of its three Group B games, while Haiti will play Grenada. Both games will be Wednesday in Washington. F.C. DALLAS 2, RED BULLS 1 Jeff Cunningham scored twice in a two-minute span of the first half in a victory for F.C. Dallas. The Red Bulls extended their winless streak on the road to 23 games. F.C. Dallas (4-7-5) is unbeaten in its last three games. The Red Bulls have gone 10 games without a victory, dating to May 8 against San Jose. The Red Bulls (2-13-4) are also 0-17-6 during their road losing streak. Cunningham scored in the 15th and 17th minutes. Juan Pablo Angel scored from inside the goalie’s box in the 43rd minute for the Red Bulls, his sixth goal of the season. Cunningham nearly had a third goal in the 80th minute, but he was called offside after knocking in a missed shot by Eric Avila. Cunningham, fourth on the M.L.S. career goals list with 107, started in place of striker Kenny Cooper, who was with the United States team for the Concacaf Gold Cup. Cooper had started 47 consecutive games at forward.

Confederations Cup
Soccer
Gold Cup (Soccer)
Adu Freddy


Times Names Berlin Chief and Editor for Europe

Abstract: The New York Times on Tuesday announced changes to its European operations, saying that Alison Smale would become Berlin bureau chief and Richard W. Stevenson would become Europe editor. The changes come as The Times moves to create a fully integrated global newsroom. Later this year, The International Herald Tribune, which The Times has owned outright since 2003, will become The International New York Times. Mr. Stevenson, who is currently the chief Washington correspondent, will oversee coverage of European news for The Times across all platforms, including the re-branded I.H.T. He has previously served as politics editor, deputy bureau chief in Washington, an economics reporter and a correspondent in London and Los Angeles. Ms. Smale has served as executive editor of the I.H.T. since 2009. She joined The Times in 1998 as an editor on the foreign desk and later became the deputy foreign editor. Before joining the paper, she served as the Associated Press bureau chief in Vienna, responsible for coverage throughout Eastern Europe, including the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 1990s wars in the Balkans. She was posted in Moscow from 1983 to 1987. Mr. Stevenson will be based in Paris. Both he and Ms. Smale will assume their positions later this year. Jill Abramson, executive editor of The Times, said in a statement that Mr. Stevenson’s “deep understanding of politics and economics and his embrace of digital journalism make him especially well suited to the role.” Ms. Abramson said of Ms. Smale: “Her deep knowledge of Germany will enable The Times, both the domestic edition and The International New York Times, to cover Germany and Europe’s place in the world — one of the most important stories anywhere — with the unparalleled sophistication and insight that The Times and I.H.T. have long provided to readers.”

The New York Times
Alison Smale
International New York Times
Appointments and Executive Changes
Richard W Stevenson


Bonds’s Denial, Baseball’s Problem

Abstract: Barry Bonds had virtually no peers in his chosen sport, but in the court of law he had 12 of them. On Wednesday, those peers convicted Bonds of one count of obstruction of justice, which will stay with Bonds forever. This huge decision, with three other counts ending in a hung jury, points to Bonds’s evasiveness before a grand jury about the use of a needle -- that is to say, cheating -- involving his line of work. He was probably convicted of that one count because of those words and also because of the tears of a confidante , his former personal shopper, Kathy Hoskins, who clearly did not want to be in that courtroom in San Francisco. “Barry was like, ‘Just do it right here,’ ” Hoskins testified last week, saying she had seen Bonds with his personal trainer, Greg Anderson. “Barry just lifted his shirt up and he said: ‘This is Katie. She’s my girl. She’s not going to say nothing to nobody.’ ” Hoskins said that Anderson then gave Bonds an injection in the abdomen and that Bonds told her: ‘That’s a little somethin’ somethin’ when I go on the road. You can’t detect it.” Bonds, 46, will appeal and try to avoid prison time, which is his right, but baseball also has to figure out what to do about the slugger who retired after the 2007 season. Even the one count of obstruction implicates the entire industry, for engaging in omertà during the home run frolics of the late 1990s and early in this decade. Yes, the country has bigger problems, and yes, the trial was expensive, but people should care about this one conviction because of Bonds’s denial of the needle. There are rules against performance-enhancing drugs in sport, partly to ensure a level playing field and partly because those drugs can be unhealthy for young people. By his own behavior, Bonds acted as if he knew he was breaking rules. He did not care, but we must. There are precedents for prominent people in sports who break rules. George M. Steinbrenner was suspended for several years for making illegal campaign contributions and narrowly escaped jail. Pete Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame because he lied about gambling while managing the Reds. Baseball now has a legal reason for making Bonds ineligible for the Hall. It’s a shame, in a way, because Bonds was one of the greatest mixtures of speed and power ever to put on a baseball uniform. He was on his way to a Hall of Fame career in his mid-20s, long before he bulked up and began hitting home runs at a record pace . Baseball is now stuck with more than a guilty verdict for Barry Lamar Bonds. It is also stuck with a stretch limousine full of the biggest sluggers of this generation: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and that admitted partaker of steroids, Alex Rodriguez, who is 145 homers behind Bonds after a homer Wednesday, to say nothing of Manny Ramirez, who retired last week facing a 100-game suspension for testing positive for banned drugs. Baseball cannot very well negate Bonds’s 762 career home runs or his 73 homers in 2001. He hit them. This is not one of those N.C.A.A. deals in which a basketball team “vacates” its place in the Final Four for one violation or another. Besides, Bonds undoubtedly hit some of those home runs off pitchers who were bulking up — although none off Roger Clemens, the great pitcher who got himself in trouble in 2008 when he testified in front of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform . Perhaps lulled by the blatant fawning by some members of the committee, Clemens came off as a blowhard as he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. Apparently, the counsels later advised committee members that Clemens’s story did not add up: he was indicted in 2010 and he will go to trial in July. There is some commonality between Bonds and Clemens, in that both relied on a trainer. Bonds’s man, Greg Anderson, chose to go to jail rather than testify, whereas Clemens’s man, Brian McNamee — once lauded as a genius who knew how to get Clemens and his sidekick Andy Pettitte into great shape — has been encouraged to sing against his old pal. Bonds and Clemens also seem to have learned the lesson of big-time sports, which is that athletes tend to feel they are above the standards of ordinary citizens. This ambiguous verdict on Bonds comes six years after a Congressional hearing at which McGwire fumbled around with the question of whether he had used illegal steroids or another disreputable substitute. He has since admitted he juiced up — but only for health and recuperation, never for an edge — and has not come close to being voted into the Hall of Fame. On Wednesday evening, Commissioner Bud Selig released a statement praising baseball’s rules and testing for drugs but referring only obliquely to “allegations about the conduct of former players.” This was no allegation; this was a conviction of the career home run leader for obstruction of justice. Major League Baseball will have to deal with it. Barring some further ruling, both Bonds and Clemens become eligible for the Hall after the 2012 season, when they will have been retired five seasons. They must receive 75 percent of the votes from certified baseball writers. With that mixed decision on Wednesday, Barry Bonds’s career may be judged by the testimony of a friend with tears in her eyes, who said she saw him injected by his trainer. One needle, one count, one reputation.

Baseball
Steroids
Major League Baseball
Decisions and Verdicts
Bonds Barry
Anderson Greg
Perjury
Doping (Sports)


Beating Cancer Bonds Yanks’ Curtis to Ex-Teammate

Abstract: Chris Malec received mail from across the country after learning he had testicular cancer, but a handwritten note from a survivor named Colin Curtis stood out. When Malec, then an infielder at the University of California, Santa Barbara , received the diagnosis in 2005, it created a ripple in college baseball. Curtis, an outfielder at Arizona State who beat testicular cancer when he was a teenager, wrote to assure Malec that he would also conquer the disease. The Yankees drafted Malec in the 16th round in 2005 and Curtis in the fourth round in 2006. They met for the first time at spring training in 2007. Now, Malec is playing independent baseball, and Curtis has been an impressive reserve for the Yankees. Although the Yankees inadvertently brought them together, Malec and Curtis have forged a bond derived from the shared hardship of cancer and a similar love of baseball. “It’s something that not many people can relate to, but it was something we could build our relationship off of,” Malec said in a recent telephone interview. “An 0-for-4 day isn’t that bad when you have that type of perspective.” Malec, who briefly played with Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2009, was released by the Yankees this spring. He is playing for the Camden Riversharks of the Atlantic League. Curtis has made tough plate appearances since being called up in June. He had only 34 at-bats through Sunday, but one was a pinch-hit, three-run homer last Wednesday in a win over the Los Angeles Angels. He was in the starting lineup Friday and Saturday. As Saturday’s nonwaiver trading deadline approaches, the Yankees are concerned with adding depth to their bench, but reserves like Curtis and infielder Ramiro Pena, mainly with his defense, have contributed. “We’ve been extremely pleased with Colin Curtis and the way he’s helped out,” Manager Joe Girardi said, adding: “He is a young man that has adapted to his role and is ready to play whenever we put him in there. He’s a guy that’s also still developing.” For Curtis, 25, and Malec, 27, age belies life experience. Malec was a college senior when he discovered his tumor after noticing swelling and feeling discomfort in his groin. He learned his diagnosis April 11, 2005, and had surgery a few days later. The cancer had reached Malec’s lymph nodes, so he needed four three-week cycles of chemotherapy. “Everything ached,” said Malec, who hit his five-year remission mark July 1. “I wanted to sleep a lot. I lost my hair. From an emotional standpoint, I took this attitude that I was going to beat this.” Curtis received his diagnosis in 2000, when he was 15. He had complained about discomfort in his groin, and his parents noticed him grimacing when he performed tasks like picking up his backpack. Curtis played baseball hours after the diagnosis and had surgery the next day to remove a testicle and connective veins. Curtis did not have chemotherapy because the cancer had not attacked his lymph nodes. Instead, he met with doctors for blood work and CT scans — first every few weeks, then every month, then every few months — to ensure the cancer did not return. “What that meant is the anxiety would build every 30 days,” his father, Jed, said in a telephone interview. “We’d have to go in there and it breaks your heart to see a 15-year-old kid walking through the cancer ward.” Now Curtis is cancer-free. In a filing cabinet in their home in Issaquah, Wash., the Curtises keep a doctor’s letter, dated Oct. 3, 2002, and addressed to the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, that declares Colin healthy to play baseball. “You can kind of appreciate everything a little bit more,” Curtis said. “I think I’ve been really blessed with the opportunities I’ve had in life, and with what I’ve been given, to take advantage of it while it’s here.” Malec saw Curtis’s name among the Yankees’ draftees in 2006 and thought back to the note he received upon his diagnosis. “I said, ‘That’s the name — that’s the guy who sent me the card,’ ” Malec recalled. At the subsequent spring training, Malec introduced himself to Curtis. They went their separate ways but reunited as teammates, playing together at Class AA Trenton in 2008 and part of 2009. They were roommates part of that time, golfing together and play video games. They also consulted each other about various bruises and pains, always fearing the cancer might return. If they could not remember receiving an injury on the field, they would have it checked out. Since Curtis was called up, Malec has sent text messages of congratulations. Malec said he hoped to schedule a trip to see Curtis play at Yankee Stadium. “I told him I hope he stays up all year,” Malec said. “I want to come up and watch and then have a beer with him.” And now, with both free of cancer, they can drink to health.

Baseball
Major League Baseball
New York Yankees
University of California Santa Barbara
Arizona State University
Girardi Joe


Nations Start to Collaborate in the Search

Abstract: SYDNEY, Australia — China, Japan and Britain joined the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner in the southern Indian Ocean on Friday, while Australian search aircraft used human spotters to scan the waters for floating debris that might be wreckage from the plane. The expansion of the multinational operation in the remote stretch of deep ocean illustrated how the increasingly bleak search for the jet was prompting some Asian nations to set aside regional tensions. China and Japan are locked in a dispute over islands in the East China Sea, but their forces will work in tandem in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, along with ships and planes from Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Scrutiny of an area about 1,500 miles southwest of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, intensified after satellite images during the week appeared to show large pieces of floating debris there. Nothing had been found by Saturday morning local time, two weeks after the plane disappeared. Image This handout from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows the satellite images of the two objects that officials say could possibly be related to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Credit Australian Maritime Safety Authority The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, coordinating the search of the southern Indian Ocean, said Saturday that a private jet, a Gulfstream G5, had been commissioned for the search, joining a Bombardier Global Express and a Royal Australian Air Force P-3 Orion. The planes left Perth for the search site early Saturday. Hishammuddin Hussein, the defense minister of Malaysia, which is in charge of the overall search, said on Friday that it was “very, very” difficult to talk with the families of those on the plane about the possibility that the 227 passengers and 12 crew members had died. Their most important question — where are their loved ones? — cannot be answered, he said at a news conference near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where the plane took off for Beijing in the early hours of March 8. The Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, speaking from Papua New Guinea, where he is holding wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, said Friday that he had spoken by telephone with President Xi Jinping of China, whom he described as devastated “as are so many people in China.” He added, “This has been a gut-wrenching business for so many people, not least those who are charged with the responsibility of keeping their citizens safe.” Video Royal Australian Air Force members, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia and the Malaysian defense minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, gave updates on the search for Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean. Credit Credit Richard Wainwright/European Pressphoto Agency Mr. Hishammuddin, who is also Malaysia’s acting transport minister, called the satellite images of the indistinct floating objects the best lead available, and announced that more ships and surveillance planes would help scour the area, alongside an American P8-A Poseidon aircraft, P-3 Orions from Australia and New Zealand and other aircraft and vessels. He said that Britain would send a naval hydrographic survey ship, the Echo, and that Japan would send two more Orions. The Chinese government said it would send three military aircraft to Australia, joining a Chinese polar exploration vessel and merchant ships that are already on the way. “This crisis has put a heavy burden on Asian countries to cooperate,” said Bridget Welsh, a political scientist at Singapore Management University. “But there’s still the issues of wariness and lack of trust between them and some other partners,” she said, notably between China and the United States. Areas of Search for Malaysian Jet Satellite imagery captured near the Australian search areas shows objects that officials said could be related to the missing Malaysian plane. Mr. Hishammuddin said he planned to call Chuck Hagel, the American defense secretary, to seek more “help with the search and rescue efforts, including remotely operated vehicles for deep-ocean salvage.” John Young, the Australian official directing the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said that the Australian search planes would, for the moment, abandon radar scanning and rely instead on human spotters, a method he said was slower but more likely to yield results. “Noting that we got no radar detections yesterday, we have replanned the search to be visual,” Mr. Young said on Friday in a video posted online by the Maritime Safety Authority. Mr. Young is general manager of the agency’s emergency response division. “The aircraft are spaced more closely together, and we will need more aircraft for a search of that type,” he said. “Although this search area is much smaller than we started with, it nonetheless is a big area when you’re looking out the window and trying to see something by eye. We may have to do this a few times to be confident about the coverage of that search area.” Cmdr. William J. Marks, the spokesman for the Seventh Fleet of the United States Navy, said in an email that the American Poseidon aircraft would continue to search using radar and other electronic sensing devices. “Even when the weather is bad, we don’t give up the radar search and exclusively switch to visual,” he said. “The radar is pretty amazing, in that you can adjust for sea clutter to optimize the search.” Mr. Young said on Friday that investigators were looking for more clues to the current location of the floating objects seen in the satellite images. “We want to find these objects,” he said, “because they are the best lead to where we might find people to be rescued.” David Griffin, an oceanographer studying currents in the southern Indian Ocean, said that satellite monitoring and computer models could help predict where objects might drift. “Assuming they stay floating, we can say to some extent where they are going in the future and where they came from in the past,” he said, though he added that the shape of the objects, and especially how deep they are in the water, could make a difference.

Australia
Malaysia
Malaysia Airlines
Indian Ocean
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Plane Crashes and Missing Planes


Harold M. Schmeck Jr., Times Science Writer, Dies at 89

Abstract: Harold M. Schmeck Jr., a science writer for The New York Times for more than 30 years who specialized in covering medical research, from the space age to the era of genetic medicine, died on April 1 in Hyannis, Mass. He was 89. He died after a heart attack, said his son, Peter. Mr. Schmeck, who worked at The Times from 1957 to 1989, filed exclusive articles on the health of some of the first American astronauts in the 1960s as well as on the beginning of the effort to map the human genome in the 1980s. He wrote extensively about organ transplants, AIDS and the federal agencies involved with public health. Mr. Schmeck wrote with conversational clarity on complicated subjects. “Two American astronauts are expected to come back to Earth tomorrow tired and badly in need of shaves and showers but carrying with them the answer to one of the most important questions facing the whole United States program of space exploration,” he wrote in a 1965 article about the Gemini 5 space mission, at the time the longest manned spaceflight. “The question is: What are the effects on a man of a spaceflight long enough to have taken him to the moon and back?” The answer: probably nothing serious. In 1987, he described advances in identifying genetic markers on human chromosomes: “Before the discovery of markers, chromosomes were like unnumbered avenues; the markers are like cross streets that enable a gene to be placed, say, between 15th Street and 16th Street along the avenue of the chromosome.” Harold Marshall Schmeck Jr. was born on Sept. 29, 1923, in Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, he graduated with a degree in English from Cornell in 1948 and quickly found work as an editor with the university’s Alumni News. He then worked briefly for a small paper in Illinois before joining The Rochester Times-Union. It was there that he began his science writing career. Just three years later, he won a Nieman fellowship to Harvard. He joined The Times in 1957. Mr. Schmeck, who lived in Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod, is survived by his son and a grandson. His wife of 59 years, the former Lois Gallo, died in 2010. Mr. Schmeck was the author of “The Semi-Artificial Man — A Dawning Revolution in Medicine,” which was published in 1965 and explored the use of artificial organs in humans, and “Immunology: The Many-Edged Sword,” from 1974, which focused on immunology research.

The New York Times
Harold M Schmeck Jr
Obituary


Seeing Oil Bubble, a Contrarian Bets on an Indian Airline

Abstract: NEW DELHI — Wilbur L. Ross Jr. ’s latest deal, an $80 million investment in the flailing Indian airline SpiceJet, announced on Tuesday, is hardly earth shaking, but the idea behind it is typically contrarian. Mr. Ross has decided that high oil prices have hit bubble territory, a bubble that should pop in the next 12 months. “We’re looking at everything that has been hurt by fuel” for deals, he said in a phone interview. To that end, his firm, W.L. Ross & Company, which has an estimated $7.9 billion in assets under management, has bought stakes in railroad freight companies in Europe. It is looking at refineries, gas station chains and even the struggling United States airline industry. “The fundamentals don’t justify an oil price over $100” a barrel, Mr. Ross said. “It is the nature of bubbles that they expand farther and last longer than anyone logically imagined” he said, but “they always reverse.” Exactly when the oil price bubble will burst is still unclear, but it could be within the next year, he said. On Tuesday, SpiceJet said that Mr. Ross’s firm would invest 3.45 billion rupees, or $80 million, in the company, a three-year-old, low-cost airline whose stock has dropped more than 50 percent this year. Mr. Ross will take a seat on SpiceJet’s board and said he could invest more if necessary. SpiceJet’s shareholders include the Dubai investment company Istithmar and banks including BNP Paribas, HSBC and UBS. Rising fuel prices are crippling India’s airline industry, which had been one of the world’s fastest growing. Until this year, India’s airline passenger traffic was rising more than 20 percent a year, quadruple the world average, because of new, low-cost carriers that competed aggressively for passengers and a booming economy that put more money in consumers’ pockets. But oil prices have forced airlines to raise fares at the same time that inflation and higher gas prices are eating into fliers’ wallets. Some passengers are going back to rail travel as prices rise. In June, domestic airline passenger numbers fell by 4 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, the first drop in three years, according to India’s aviation ministry. Whether or not oil prices are in a bubble, the influence of financial investors to calm markets is debatable as prices traded above $146 a barrel this week before retreating slightly. Many oil analysts and economists predict that prices will continue to climb because of rising demand from emerging markets, while a handful contend that a rush of investment cash is artificially inflating prices. Opinions in the market are sharply divided. In May, the Goldman Sachs oil analyst Arjun N. Murti said oil might hit $200 a barrel in the next two years, while economists at other banks, like Lehman Brothers, are predicting that prices will drop. On Tuesday, oil prices fell sharply, closing down $6.44 a barrel, in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Mr. Ross cited several factors as signs that prices are artificially high, including the lack of lines at gasoline stations, falling consumption in the United States and steady but low worldwide growth in oil demand that he says will fall as subsidies collapse. “I just don’t see this as a long-term phenomenon,” he said of the elevated prices. Mr. Ross has made his reputation on contrarian calls. For example, he bought into the steel industry in the United States when almost no investor would touch it. He sold his consolidated steel company for $4.5 billion, about twice what he paid for the assets. He also snapped up a Japanese bank when it was saddled with bad loans in 2000 and sold it for a profit. Recently, Mr. Ross has been looking at financial companies in the United States and paid $1 billion in March for a stake in a bond insurance company. The airline industry is in the midst of a merger boom, as deep-pocketed carriers buy weaker rivals. The India market has had too many players, Mr. Ross said, and further consolidation is coming. “That will be constructive for the industry and for SpiceJet,” he said.

SpiceJet
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Ross Wilbur L Jr
Airlines and Airplanes


California: No Damage After Magnitude-6.8 Quake

Abstract: One of the largest earthquakes to hit California in decades rattled its northern coast, but its depth and distance from shore reduced the impact on land. There were no reports of injuries or damage. The magnitude-6.8 quake struck at 10:18 p.m. Pacific time on Sunday and was centered 50 miles west of Eureka, about 10 miles beneath the Pacific seabed, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Since 1980, there have been 10 quakes above magnitude-6 in the area, the authorities said.