Mark Reynolds Guides Orioles on Strange Path Toward Playoffs

Abstract: Because of Mark Reynolds, certain notions about the Baltimore Orioles may need to be reconsidered. The Orioles arrived in New York having been outscored by 44 runs over all, and then proceeded to outscore the Yankees , 17-8, to win two of three games this weekend. They left trailing the Yankees by only two games in the American League East race. Reynolds drove in 7 of those 17 runs, hitting four home runs to help the young, happy-go-lucky Orioles continue their hunt for a playoff spot, seemingly defying mathematics along the way. “You look at a lot of the young guys in here, they don’t even know they’re in the middle of a playoff race, probably,” he said. “Everyone in here is having fun and going out and playing hard.” He added, “We’re right where we want to be.” Reynolds, 29, has been in this type of situation before. The last team to make the playoffs despite a negative run differential was the 2007 Arizona Diamondbacks. Reynolds played 111 games for the Diamondbacks that season and hit 17 home runs. The current Orioles team has the capacity for power, he said, but shows it only in flashes. “I think our offense is streaky, more than anything,” Reynolds said. “But when I was in the playoffs with the Diamondbacks, we were outscored that year, too. We had the same deal.” Reynolds, who hit two home runs during the Orioles’ 6-1 win Friday night, belted his first on Sunday with his team trailing by 2-0 in the fifth. Leading off the inning, he blasted a high fastball from Phil Hughes several rows into the left-field stands, slicing the Orioles’ deficit in half. The next inning, as he strolled to the plate with two runners on, the Yankees, who led then, 3-2, might have been expected to take certain precautions. But they did not. There was no pitching change, no conference on the mound, and Reynolds delivered again, crushing a hanging curveball from Hughes into the left-field seats for a go-ahead three-run homer. “I was looking for something I could elevate, try to get a sac fly, bring that run in,” Reynolds said. “He hung a curveball. I was just trying to hit a fly ball and just got lucky enough to carry it out of the park.” The performance continued a hot run for Reynolds, who was hitting .208 with eight home runs from April through July. In 23 games since Aug. 6, he has five doubles, eight home runs and a .320 average. Reynolds acknowledged that the weekend would provide another mental boost, but insisted that it was not something to dwell upon. “It’s the past,” Reynolds said of the series, minutes after it ended. “Obviously, it helps some with my confidence, but I’m just going to go tomorrow and just play like it’s a new day. That’s what it is.” He added, “You can’t rest on your laurels and you can’t think about yesterday, because it’s gone.” In Reynolds’s career, the past has been colorful and rather curious, loaded with statistical foibles. In 2008, he became the first player to exceed 200 strikeouts in a season — a feat he repeated the next two seasons, before striking out 196 times in 2011. His 223 strikeouts in 2009 remains the single-season record. Reynolds has also made 119 errors in the field since the start of the 2008 season, leading his league in that category three times. Reynolds’s fielding problems, though, have generally occurred at third base, and he looked nimble enough while playing first base this weekend. He robbed Russell Martin of a hit with a diving stop around first base Friday night. And on Sunday afternoon, he splayed his frame onto the dirt and snagged a wide throw from second baseman Robert Andino to secure a double play that ended the sixth inning. And Reynolds’s past, for all its quirkiness, may also serve as a reminder to the Orioles that they can succeed despite what the statistics or the critics say. “The Baltimore Orioles’ winning means a lot to Mark,” Manager Buck Showalter said. “He talked to me earlier in the year about being in the playoffs with Arizona and what that was like. He wants to be a part of that.” Reynolds, with a big weekend in New York, brought them a small step closer to it.


Sports-Talk Radio in Barcelona Has Its Own Distinct Flavor

Abstract: BARCELONA, Spain — Before the big game that night, the radio caller wanted to talk about his team. He wanted to rant and to plead, to rationalize and to predict. He wanted, perhaps most of all, to complain. But this was not Benny from the Bronx on the line, not Ira from Staten Island, either. He was Rafa from Gracia, and on Tuesday afternoon, he had his say broadcast throughout much of Catalonia, where no doubt many listeners shared similar views before Barcelona’s Champions League semifinal against Chelsea. The host of the program, Fèlix Monclús, listened amiably. Monclús sometimes plays games with his listeners, challenging them with trivia, but much of his show is similar to the usual sports-talk radio format throughout the United States. He gives his opinion. The callers give theirs. And every few minutes, everyone takes a break to listen to a jingle (though, perhaps thankfully, it appears that Brad Benson’s Hyundai dealership ads have not yet made it to these shores). “Radio here faces the same challenges as radio everywhere,” Axel Torres, a popular Spanish sports radio and television personality, said in an interview. “There is television, there is Internet — but people always want to talk sports. They still listen in their cars.” Torres hosts “Marcador Internacional,” which focuses on popular soccer leagues throughout Europe. The show is broadcast on Radio Marca, which is believed to be the only all-sports-talk radio network in Spain. Radio Marca, Torres said, has its main office in Madrid but also operates several studios throughout the country, including the one here where he and Monclús do their shows. Not unlike American radio, many of the shows that are broadcast nationally, like Torres’s, rarely take calls from listeners, choosing instead to read aloud text or Twitter messages. the local shows like Monclús’s often take more calls and — as in the United States — can become fixated on a single topic. Mets fans, for example, who are furious when WFAN-AM in New York is overrun with Yankees talk in July, should know they are not alone. Fans of Espanyol, the other team in Barcelona, can relate. “It is Barça, Barça, Barça here,” Torres said. “It does not matter the month. Barça, Barça, Barça and more Barça. That is what they talk about.” Over coffee at a cafe on Avinguida Diagonal, Torres traced a rough history of Spanish sports radio, an industry that has changed considerably. Decades ago, Torres said, the sports radio landscape here was dominated by José María García, an abrasive personality who was so popular he was known as Super García. García was “like a god,” Torres said, and he is credited with pioneering several aspects of Spanish sports journalism that fans might now take for granted. The notion of sideline reporting was advanced by García, Torres said, and García was also the first person to report on a cycling race from a helicopter. As a well-connected trailblazer, García grew famous, his stature in Spain giving him clout that American sports radio personalities like Mike Francesa or Jim Rome can only dream about. “If García called the president, the president would be on the phone in one minute,” Torres said. It did not matter that García’s show was broadcast on a multiple-format station at midnight — many stayed up to listen so they could talk the next morning about what Super García had said. But as García’s dominance faded, new personalities developed. García retired about 10 years ago after waging an often bitter war with a rival host, José Ramón de la Morena, Torres said. Radio Marca, which is owned by the same company that operates a sports newspaper and television channel, began its all-sports-radio format nationally about 12 years ago and opened its studio here about four years later. Now, Radio Marca in Barcelona runs much like an American station. Its offices are on the third floor of a modest building with an elevator so narrow it barely fits three people. On a recent weekday afternoon, the control room for Locutori No. 2 smelled of French fries as Blai Iniesta, a producer, regulated the sound levels while scrolling through audio clips on a computer screen. Instead of file names like “A-Rod homer” or “Manning postgame,” though, many of the file names began with “Messi,” for the revered Barcelona striker Lionel Messi. In the hallway, memorabilia on the walls includes soccer jerseys from several teams (one is signed by England’s Alan Shearer) and, near the entrance, a prized possession: a Messi shirt, autographed and inscribed, “Para Mis Amigos de Radio Marca.” “ You know Messi , right?” Iniesta asked a visitor. “Everyone loves him.” Not all the players love listening to the radio, however. Ivan San Antonio, a reporter for the newspaper Sport , often participates in radio roundtables, or tertulias, in which commentators have spirited debates about sports issues and personalities. Some players, like Messi, San Antonio said, do their best to block out what is being said about them on the radio. Others, like Xavi or Dani Alves, are known for following more closely. Barcelona Coach Pep Guardiola, who stepped down Friday despite having won 13 trophies since taking over the team in 2008, could share tips with many N.F.L. coaches about the news media. Guardiola often says that he does not routinely track the coverage of him and his team, but he somehow knows everything that has been said or written (as well as who said it or wrote it). He has been said to ban cameras from training sessions just before Spanish League games to avoid tipping off the opponent to any strategies. “He knows everything,” San Antonio said of Guardiola. “And what I know is that most of the players know, too. Even if they don’t listen, they have people who do it for them and tell them about it.” That, too, is a common approach for athletes in the United States, though the most striking similarity between American sports radio and the Spanish variety lies in the listeners. Hysteria, it seems, crosses all geographic (and linguistic) boundaries. Early last week, Torres considered what might happen on the radio if Barcelona — seeking its third title in four years — did not beat Chelsea and fell one match short of the Champions League final, which is what happened Tuesday night at Camp Nou. “It would be bad, bad, bad,” Torres said. “But for radio, sometimes, that is good.”

Radio
Spain
Soccer
Radio Marca
Marcador Internacional (Radio Program)
Torres Axel
Garcia Jose Maria


This Time, Nets Beat a Lowly Opponent

Abstract: With the Atlantic Division-leading Knicks slogging through a Western trip, the second-place Nets are in Brooklyn with a chance to cut the Knicks’ lead in the standings before they begin their own long Western swing next week. On Tuesday, one day after a dismal defeat to lowly Philadelphia, the short-handed Nets rebounded with a thorough and systematic 108-98 victory over another last-place team, the New Orleans Hornets. In an entertaining game that featured a matchup between twins, Brook Lopez at center for the Nets and Robin Lopez at the same position for the Hornets, the Nets triumphed at what may be a pivotal juncture in their season — just before four consecutive days off and one game before an eight-game, 17-day trip. “Bounce-back wins after disappointing losses are huge,” said Deron Williams, who had a stellar game playing without his backcourt mate Joe Johnson, who sat out to rest a sore left heel. “It’s a nice setup to our little break, and it keeps some of the momentum we’ve been building going.” The Nets have won four of their last five games and will host Atlanta on Sunday before heading West. The game within the game Tuesday was between the Lopez brothers, and the result was a resounding victory for Brook, who not only had a game-high 26 points to his brother’s 15 points, but came through with the highlight play of the game. With the Nets clinging to a 5-point lead late in the third quarter, Lopez took a pass just inside the foul line and soared over his brother for a powerful, in-your-face dunk that brought the Barclays Center crowd to its feet and gave the Nets a 72-65 lead. Asked if he would talk to his brother about it after the game, Brook said: “I might try, but I don’t think he’ll put up with me for too long. We don’t talk on the court. I will expect the rest of my family to talk trash to him.” Image Deron Williams against the Hornets. Williams had a strong fourth quarter and finished with 21 points. Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times Brook Lopez’s performance was one obvious story line, but the response by Williams and the Nets’ bench to the absence of Johnson was as pivotal. Williams controlled the game nearly from start to finish, scoring 21 points with 13 assists and only 2 turnovers. Where Williams left off, the Nets’ bench picked up, outscoring the Hornets’ bench, 38-25. The backup center Andray Blatche scored 18 points, and the swingman MarShon Brooks added a critical 14 points. Coach P. J. Carlesimo had Blatche and Lopez on the court together in the second half, and it proved effective, improving the defense and opening lanes for the guards. “Having two guys with big bodies and long arms is good defensively, and on offense, they can set a lot of picks and move people around,” Williams said. “It’s a good combo.” The Nets held a comfortable lead through most of the game, although the Hornets tied the score at 78-78 with 20.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But Blatche, whose energy off the bench gave the Nets a boost throughout the game, made a layup at the buzzer. Brooks opened the fourth quarter with a 15-foot jumper that also drew a foul. When Brooks made that free throw, the Nets’ lead was 5 points; it grew throughout the final quarter. The Nets led by 9 points at intermission, but lost some of their defensive intensity in the third quarter, which allowed New Orleans guard Eric Gordon, who led the Hornets with 24 points, to get free for some open jumpers. But every time the Hornets fought back, the Nets answered. After the game, Carlesimo was relieved. “I like where we’re at,” he said, and then with a nod to the upcoming schedule, he added: “After Sunday we start the merry-go-round of the rest of our trip.”

Brook Lopez
Andray Blatche
Basketball
Brooklyn Nets


Historic Medal for U.S. Is Also a Personal Triumph

Abstract: BEIJING — A few weeks ago, Ronda Rousey called her mother and asked for a favor. She wanted the American flag that had been draped over her father’s coffin, to help her celebrate should she win an Olympic medal. Her mother, AnnMaria De Mars, had kept the flag folded in a closet in her Southern California home, but she proudly unfurled it in celebration of Rousey’s becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo since it became a medal sport for women in 1992. Rousey beat Germany’s Annett Boehm, 10-0, for the bronze at 70 kilograms. She won with a 10-point yuko, also called a sleeve throw. Rousey wept openly, covering her face with her hands before falling to the mat. She rose to have her arm raised by the judge and then fell down again to kiss the mat. “I was definitely surprised that a bronze could make me so happy,” she said. Rousey has emerged as a compelling character at these Olympics. She has dealt with the suicide of her father, two years of bulimia and a severe speech impediment. She is so engaging and outgoing that she blogs about intimate details of her life. Asked how she overcame a tough loss earlier in the day, she said, “I drank an iced tea.” Rousey said she was going to take a year off from judo, but hoped to participate in the 2012 Games. Her Olympic training has left her with a long to-do list: buy a surfboard, drive a Toyota Prius and attend college at Southern California, Pepperdine or Loyola Marymount. “It’s too late to go to prom,” she said.


Arizona: Sheriff to Face Civil Rights Suit Over Claims That Include Profiling

Abstract: The federal authorities said Wednesday that they planned to sue Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County and his office over claims of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos. The Justice Department has been seeking an agreement requiring the sheriff’s office to train officers in how to make constitutional traffic stops, collect data on people arrested in traffic stops and reach out to Latinos to assure them that the department is there also to protect them. Sheriff Arpaio has denied the claims of racial profiling and has said that allowing a court monitor would mean that every policy decision would have to be cleared through an observer and would nullify his authority. Justice officials told a lawyer for the sheriff on April 3 that his refusal of a court-appointed monitor was a deal-breaker that would end settlement negotiations and result in a federal lawsuit. A “notice of intent to file civil action” came Wednesday from Thomas Perez, an assistant attorney general, in a letter to a lawyer for the sheriff.

Arizona
Racial Profiling
Arpaio Joseph M
Suits and Litigation
Police
Minorities
Hispanic-Americans
Discrimination
Illegal Immigrants


Henry Carries Red Bulls Past Impact in Shutout

Abstract: Thierry Henry had a goal and two assists to give the Red Bulls a 4-0 victory over the Montreal Impact in Harrison, N.J. Eric Alexander, Tim Cahill and Peguy Luyindula also scored for the Red Bulls (9-7-4, 31 points), who climbed into a second-place tie with the Impact in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer.

Thierry Henry
Soccer
New York Red Bulls Soccer Team
Montreal Impact Soccer Team


Gilead Ordered to Pay Merck $200 Million in Patent Dispute

Abstract: A federal jury on Thursday ordered Gilead Sciences to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringing two Merck patents related to a lucrative cure for hepatitis C. The damages award is far less than the $2 billion Merck had demanded. On Tuesday, the same jury in San Jose, Calif., upheld the validity of the patents, which lie at the heart of the dispute over Gilead’s blockbuster drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni. Together, the medicines had more than $20 billion in United States sales in 2014 and 2015. Merck is trying to catch up to Gilead, which dominates the market on a new generation of hepatitis C drugs that can cure well over 90 percent of patients with the liver disease. Merck, which in January won approval on its own hepatitis C drug, Zepatier, is also asking for a 10 percent royalty on Gilead’s sales going forward. That issue will be argued in a separate nonjury trial starting next week.

Gilead Sciences
Hepatitis
Pharmaceuticals
Inventions and Patents


In Glasgow, a Most Bitter Rivalry Takes Root Again

Abstract: GLASGOW — The police and the courts were still dealing with the depressingly familiar aftermath of a meeting between Celtic and Rangers — identifying suspects, filing charges, hearing cases — as the finishing touches were being put on the 40-yard mural that now runs along one side of London Road. The work of a collective of local graffiti artists, the mural covers a wall in the shadow of Celtic Park. Its iconography is beautifully rendered, if a little muddled: a lion and a buffalo, a fire-breathing dragon, two dinosaurs, Batman and the Joker. The message it sends, by contrast, is perfectly clear. “Sectarianism divides,” it reads. “Fear, anger. They all fight, it’s not right; it’s your choice, it’s your voice. Respect each other’s view: the green and white, the white and blue.” In the middle sits a badge adorned with three words: “Rivals Not Enemies.” When it was unveiled, two days after the two biggest teams in the city — and the country — had met in a bilious, spiteful Scottish Cup semifinal, it seemed like a slogan of forlorn hope. Of the 18 people arrested that day in April, half were charged with sectarian offenses or under Scotland’s Offensive Behavior at Football Act. Still, it seemed, Rangers and Celtic could not escape the poison of the past. Image Rangers fans waving flags in the stands at the Scottish Cup semifinal against Celtic in April at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Credit Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Many expect Saturday to be no different. The two teams have not met in the Scottish Premiership for four years, ever since years of financial mismanagement and misdeeds caught up with Rangers and led to their liquidation. The club was dissolved and forced to start again, in the country’s fourth tier. Since then, Celtic and Rangers have encountered each other only twice: both in Scottish cup competitions, both on neutral territory. The city, then, is crackling with anticipation for the teams’ first league meeting at Celtic Park. As early as Tuesday, The Evening Times was devoting six pages to the game. A slew of former players, from both sides, have spent the week being wheeled out for sound bites. With that excitement, though, comes trepidation. This is an enmity with roots that run far deeper than mere sport: Rangers and Celtic is not soccer, it is religion and politics and history. It is Protestant and Catholic, Unionist and Irish Nationalist, the Union Jack and the Tricolor: two sides of several unbridgeable divides. There was a feeling, in 2012, that perhaps the two clubs might somehow come to realize they were locked, however unwillingly, in a mutually beneficial arrangement. As Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, has admitted, Rangers’ demise has cost his club £40 million ($53 million) in lost revenue. Celtic, and Scottish football in general, were supposed to wither and die without one of the league’s twin titans. Stewart Regan, then in charge of the Scottish Football Association, even predicted “social unrest” if Rangers were not immediately readmitted to the top flight. Such concerns do not seem to have permeated the fan base. “I didn’t miss them at all,” said Matt McGlone, editor of the Celtic fanzine Alternative View. “I understand there has to be competition, but it didn’t bother me.” Across the world, Rangers and Celtic have always been known as the Old Firm. To many on the Celtic side, that label no longer applies. The Old Firm, they say, died when Rangers did, in 2012. “The game on Saturday,” as McGlone said, “is just the Glasgow derby.” At the root of this debate is what happened to Rangers four years ago. When the old club was liquidated, overwhelmed by its debts and its then-owners accused of running an illegal tax avoidance scheme, its place in the Scottish league was taken by a new company, known then as Rangers Sevco. Image Andy Halliday, left, of Rangers battling Tomas Rogic of Celtic during the teams’ Scottish Cup semifinal in April, which led to 18 arrests. Credit Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images On the blue side of the city, the old and the new are one and the same; they support a team, not a holding company. On the other side of the divide, the view is very different. McGlone simply said, “They are Sevco, no doubt about it.” Stephen Murray, a Celtic fan and author of “Ten Men Won the League,” said he believed that “you cannot cherry-pick what you get to keep.” The Scottish Professional Football League’s line — voiced by Neil Doncaster, its chief executive last year — is that the matter was “put to bed” by a commission on Rangers’ fall. “The club continues, albeit owned by a new company,” he said. Celtic fans contest that claim. UEFA and FIFA have, tangentially, been drawn into the fight, with their interventions cited by some on each side as victories. It has, in other words, become another unbridgeable divide. It is this argument, over what precisely this team that looks like Rangers, plays in the same stadium as Rangers and calls itself Rangers actually is, that has been the “main source of heat” between the two clubs for the last four years, said Raymond Boyle, a professor of communications at Glasgow University. Image Celtic fans at a Scottish Cup semifinal against Rangers in April. Celtics and Rangers, known as the Old Firm, play Saturday at Celtic Park in their first league meeting in four years. Credit Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images “The league has been on hiatus,” he said. “Celtic has won the title virtually unchallenged. There has not been the normal stuff to get into around games, because they have not played each other, so the debate around what the club is has superseded everything else. For some, it is now the driver of the rivalry. If the idea of most arguments is to change someone’s mind, then this is a dialogue of the deaf. It’s sustained the rivalry, at the very least, if not made it worse.” The Old Firm rivalry has always been a mixture of the poisonous and the petty, the menacing and the melodramatic. The rivalry’s new, updated version is no different. If anything, because it is largely cast through social media, it has developed a particularly vindictive edge. Seventy-eight people, for example, complained to the Advertising Standards Authority last year about an advertisement for Rangers season tickets that described Ibrox Stadium as home to “Scotland’s most successful club.” Websites staffed by lawyers and accountants have pored over the various historic financial accusations against Rangers in minute, obsessive detail. “Celtic supporters have had a lot of spare energy in the last four years,” said Chris Graham, a veteran of several Rangers fan groups. “The more active among them have directed that into things that are not really anything to do with Celtic, but are about hurting Rangers. That has become the outlet for the rivalry.” If that sense of seeking what they perceive to be justice for Rangers’ offenses has provided a focus for Celtic supporters, Boyle suggested that their rivals had been “sustained” by the “deeply ironic” belief in their own victimhood. “In a football sense, they had as big a punishment as they could have had,” he said. “But this idea they were wrongly or harshly punished, I do not see as being the case. That has become the narrative, though, a way of identifying themselves not by who they are but by who they are against.” In both cases, supporters claim Scottish soccer’s establishment has been arrayed against them. Fans of both sides have indulged in this endless game of claim and counterclaim for the last four years. If that is to be the root of the hostility in the New Firm, and the sectarian divide increasingly abandoned as a relic of the old, many would consider that progress.

Glasgow
Soccer
Celtic Soccer Team
Rangers Soccer Team


Harvard Names Investment Chief as Yale Reports 20% Return

Abstract: As Harvard named a new management chief in its bid to improve the returns on its huge portfolio, Yale University reported on Wednesday that its fund had earned a 20.2 percent return for the fiscal year, a big payoff for a strategy that was criticized in the wake of the financial crisis. The developments intensified the spotlight on the investment practices of the Ivy League colleges and the high stakes for their endowments. The new manager at Harvard, Stephen Blyth, succeeds Jane L. Mendillo as chief executive of the Harvard Management Company, the university’s investment arm. Harvard, which on Tuesday reported a gain of 15.4 percent for the fiscal year, still has the largest endowment, at $36.4 billion. But it suffered significantly during the financial crisis and was forced to sell some assets, like private equity holdings, at distressed prices. Ms. Mendillo largely inherited those problems when she took over as chief of the endowment in 2008. But as its returns lagged those of many top universities, Ms. Mendillo announced recently that she would step down . Yale, too, came under pressure during the financial crisis, leading to second-guessing of its strategy — a heavy allocation to nonliquid assets, including private equity and real estate — while smaller institutions were reaping bigger returns by largely investing in public stocks and bonds. Nonetheless, Yale remains committed to the strategy, pioneered by its chief investment officer, David F. Swensen. And over the longer term, its results have been strong. “Someone once said that diversification protects us from our own ignorance,” Mr. Swensen said in an interview. Its result for the fiscal year that ended June 30, which brings the fund’s value to $23.9 billion, outpaced the mean return of 16.2 percent for colleges and universities that have reported so far, according to preliminary estimates from Cambridge Associates, an institutional-investment adviser with a large number of endowment clients. Yale’s statement also noted that over 10 years, its average return was 11 percent, while domestic stocks had returned an average of 8.4 percent and bonds returned 4.9 percent. For that same period, the average annual performance for 138 schools was 7.6 percent, according to Cambridge Associates. If Yale and some of the larger endowments have done well, noted Daniel W. Wallick, an institutional investment strategist at Vanguard, they have had several advantages over smaller funds: larger staffs and more expertise, pricing power and better access to funds. Image Yale’s endowment fund earned a 20.2 percent return, outpacing Harvard’s. Credit Jessica Hill/Associated Press Of the larger endowments that have reported to date, Yale’s has outperformed M.I.T.’s and Dartmouth’s in the one-year returns; each posted a return of 19.2 percent. The University of Pennsylvania returned 17.5 percent. Harvard, once a leading endowment fund manager, lagged those rivals in the most recent year. The university has a unique hybrid approach to running the endowment funds: Some are managed internally and some are managed externally. There had been some speculation among endowment managers that Harvard might switch to a strategy that relied entirely on external managers — closer to the approach taken at Yale, Princeton and other schools. But the appointment of Mr. Blyth, who has been at the Harvard Management Company since 2006, indicated that Harvard intended to continue on its existing course. He is currently managing director and head of public markets at the endowment and is responsible for investments in public equity, credit and fixed-income markets, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the endowment and other assets. In the highly competitive world of endowments, managers are now curious to see the returns for Columbia University, whose results in 2010 and 2011 were the strongest among the Ivy League schools. That performance helped Columbia tie Yale in 2013 for the best 10-year results. But where Columbia is almost alone in not releasing any asset allocation figures, Yale broke out its investment categories. Its holding in private equity has increased to 31 percent, from 20 percent, while its hedge fund investment has dropped to 20 percent of the portfolio, from 25 percent. Its domestic equity holdings are at 6 percent where they were 10 percent of the assets six years ago, and foreign equities represent 13 percent of the portfolio, or 2 percent less than they did. In 2008, the endowment had roughly 29 percent in real assets. Today, that allocation is 17 percent real estate and 8 percent natural resources. Private equity was one of the hardest-hit sectors during the financial crisis, but this year, Mr. Swensen said, “our returns were really driven by private equity and natural resources.” Some long-term investments have paid off handsomely over the years. For example, a $90 million investment by Yale in Antero Resources, an oil and natural gas company, has grown since 2007 to about $600 million. Looking at the results since the financial crisis, Mr. Swensen said that the portfolio had to overcome $7 billion in losses in the crisis and provided $5 billion to the university for its operations. But he added that Yale was not leveraged and had sufficient liquidity to meet its needs. That left it free to hold on to illiquid investments that have since paid off. And Mr. Swensen said he had no compunction about keeping Yale’s portfolio deeply invested in illiquid markets. “My regret is that we did not have more liquidity to play offense,” he said.

Harvard
Yale
College
Endowments
Private equity


White Sox Defeat Tigers Twice After Suspending Chris Sale, Their Ace

Abstract: Melky Cabrera drove in Adam Eaton with a game-ending single in the ninth inning after White Sox closer David Robertson gave up three home runs in the top half of the inning, and host Chicago edged the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, on Sunday afternoon, hours after the White Sox suspended their ace, Chris Sale, for five days. The White Sox defeated the Tigers, 4-3, earlier in the day on a single by Eaton in the ninth after play was suspended because of rain the previous night. Robertson got the win in that one, and he picked up another victory in the scheduled game despite a rough ninth inning. The left-handed Sale was suspended and fined a day after he was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday and sent home. The punishment came after he destroyed collared throwback uniforms the team was scheduled to wear. He is eligible to return Thursday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, though White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn would not say if Sale would start that game. FanRag Sports first reported that Sale was protesting the 1976-style jerseys, which were navy and sported unusual collars on a hot and humid night. Sale cut up an unknown number of jerseys before the game and was told to leave the stadium. Without enough usable 1976-style jerseys available, the White Sox wore throwback uniforms from the 1983 season. PORCELLO REMAINS UNBEATEN AT FENWAY Rick Porcello became the first Boston pitcher in 55 years to open a season 10-0 at Fenway Park, Hanley Ramirez and Travis Shaw each hit three-run homers, and the Red Sox edged the Minnesota Twins, 8-7. PADRES STUN THE NATIONALS Visiting San Diego hit back-to-back home runs off Shawn Kelley in the eighth inning and scored four runs off closer Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth to win in Washington, 10-6. ROYALS FALL BELOW .500 Delino DeShields homered in the seventh inning to break a tie, and the Texas Rangers defeated Kansas City, 2-1, at Kauffman Stadium. The loss dropped the Royals’ record to 48-49, the first time the World Series champions have been below .500 since May 15. ALTUVE LEADS AN ASTROS SWEEP Jose Altuve hit two of Houston’s season-high five home runs and had a career-high six R.B.I. to lead the host Astros to a 13-3 rout of the Los Angeles Angels and a three-game sweep. GOLF Venezuelan Claims the Canadian Open Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela rallied to win the Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario, for his second PGA Tour victory, birdieing the final three holes at Glen Abbey for an eight-under-par 64 and a one-stroke victory. Vegas, 29, began the day five strokes behind the leader, Brandt Snedeker of the United States, and four behind the United States Open champion Dustin Johnson and the Canadian amateur Jared du Toit. Vegas finished with a 12-under total of 276. The American Johnson, the Spaniard Jon Rahm and the Scot Martin Laird tied for second. UNITED STATES WINS L.P.G.A. TOUR EVENT Cristie Kerr held on for a 3-and-2 victory over England’s Melissa Reid to give the United States the UL International Crown title in Gurnee, Ill. Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller each closed out victories before Reid missed a birdie putt on No. 16, giving Kerr the decisive victory. ENGLISHMAN TRIUMPHS AT SENIOR BRITISH OPEN Paul Broadhurst of England was victorious at the Senior British Open in Carnoustie, Scotland, claiming his first senior major title after closing with a four-under-par 68 for a two-stroke victory over Scott McCarron of the United States. AUTO RACING Hamilton Takes Hungarian Grand Prix The Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of England won the Hungarian Grand Prix for a record fifth time in Budapest and took the championship lead from his teammate Nico Rosberg of Germany, who finished second. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo of Australia was third, followed by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen of the Netherlands. Hamilton now has five Formula One victories this season for 192 points, with Rosberg second at 186 and Ricciardo third with 115. Rosberg won the first four races this year, while Hamilton has won five of the past six. Verstappen is the only non-Mercedes driver to win a race in 2016. Hamilton completed the 70 laps of the Hungarian circuit in 1 hour 40 minutes 30.115 seconds, at an average speed of 113.7 miles per hour. He beat Rosberg by 1.977 seconds. TENNIS Ailing Williams to Miss Rogers Cup Serena Williams pulled out of this week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal because of shoulder inflammation. Williams, a three-time Rogers Cup champion, was seeded first in the hardcourt tournament and was set to have a bye in the first round. Williams is coming off her seventh Wimbledon title earlier this month. The win tied Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam titles. FRENCHMAN PREVAILS IN WASHINGTON Gaël Monfils of France claimed his first title in two and a half years, erasing a match point and breaking Ivo Karlovic of Croatia twice in four service games to win the Citi Open, 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-4. COLLEGES Two Kickers Die in Crash; Another Is Hurt Nebraska punter Sam Foltz and the former Michigan State punter Mike Sadler died in a car crash in Wisconsin after coaching at a kicking clinic, a sheriff’s department official said. Louisiana State kicker Colby Delahoussaye was injured in the crash. Lt. Thom Moerman of the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department said speed was likely a factor in the single-vehicle crash that occurred around 11:45 p.m. Saturday. Foltz was 22, while the driver, Sadler, was 24. Foltz was a three-year starter for Nebraska, and last year, he was named the Big Ten Conference’s punter of the year. He was on the watch list for the Ray Guy Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s best punter. Sadler was a four-year starter and a four-time academic all-American at Michigan State. He finished his college career after the 2014 season.

White Sox
Chris Sale
Detroit Tigers
Baseball


Now Arriving at Pittsburgh International: Fracking

Abstract: PITTSBURGH — Where 600 flights used to take off and land every day here at Pittsburgh International Airport, there are now about 300. Partway down Terminal B, the moving sidewalk that used to lead to a dozen gates now stops abruptly at a plain gray wall. Pittsburgh’s airport is struggling financially and mired in debt, with sharply lower traffic ever since US Airways began phasing it out as a bustling hub in 2004. Long gone are the days when British Airways flew 747s to London, and TWA flew to Frankfurt. For salvation, airport officials are looking down — about 6,000 feet. The quiet runways, it turns out, are sitting on enough natural gas to run the whole state of Pennsylvania for a year and a half, and this month, Consol Energy will drill its first well here to tap the gas, which county officials say will bring them nearly half a billion dollars over the next 20 years. The well is outside the airport fence but, with horizontal drilling, will extract the rich deposits that lie under the terminals and runways. “It’s like finding money,” said Rich Fitzgerald , the county executive of Allegheny County, which owns the airport. “Suddenly you’ve got this valuable asset that nobody knew was there.” The discovery could not have come at a better time for the airport, which devotes 42 percent of its annual budget to pay off its large debt, much of it incurred to build out the gates it no longer uses. The airport has 75 gates; 62 are still available, but many of those are actually vacant, marked with the airport logo and not an airline’s. After the drilling, which uses hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, begins in earnest and the natural gas royalties kick in, the airport will receive about $20 million a year, a hefty portion of an operating budget currently below $91 million. Pittsburgh is not the only airport with oil or gas exploration on its grounds. Dallas-Fort Worth has done it for years, and there were oil and gas wells at Denver International even before the airport was there. But no other airport relies on oil and gas revenue the way Pittsburgh will. Dallas-Fort Worth, by comparison, earns $8 million from the 100 wells on its property, a fraction of its annual revenue of $650 million. And Denver International brought in $6.2 million in 2012, about 1 percent of its revenue, from its 76 wells. Mr. Fitzgerald and others have recognized for a while that their chunk of southwestern Pennsylvania lies atop the vast Marcellus Shale, a fracker’s paradise that is among the most productive in the world. But it wasn’t until the last few years that airport officials got serious about extracting the gas. The airport offers conditions just about ideal for fracking. For example, the airport sits above four separate layers of shale, each containing natural gas and related liquids. All of it can be reached by a single set of drilling pads, delivering their gas to the same pipelines, using a single set of roads. With a single well, drillers can bore down a few thousand feet, turn sideways and drill lateral wells up to two miles long. In other areas of Pennsylvania, that can mean having to secure permission from hundreds of property owners. The airport, though, is 9,000 acres with a single landlord. Image Natural gas deposits should provide welcome revenue for Pittsburgh’s airport, which is struggling with debt and declining traffic. Credit Jared Wickerham for The New York Times The need for new revenue would not be so great had it not been for the relentless consolidation in the airline industry, something Allegheny County did not anticipate when the airport was expanded. Kent George, head of the airport authority from 1998 to 2007, said that when US Airways, then known as USAir, told county officials that it wanted to build a hub in the 1980s, the reply was, “We’ll do whatever you need.” Mr. George said that the local government acted “without taking a look at what the long-term exposure was,” and soon, “the airport was fat, dumb and happy with 600 flights a day.” But then came consolidation, leaving the surviving airlines with too many hubs. A wave of bankruptcies followed, allowing airlines like US Airways to break their long-term leases. The result was a decline in landing fees, gate rentals and passenger spending. “A million passengers here, a million passengers there, and before you know it, we had dropped considerably,” said Jay Kruisselbrink , vice president of Airmall, which manages the airport’s retail space. The terminal was built for 30 million passengers a year. The peak was just under 21 million, in 1997. Last year, there were eight million. In response, the airport, like others, has sought to increase revenue from sources that have nothing to do with aviation. Just about anything will be considered, as other airports have found. “It could be warehouse development,” said Bob Hazel, a former vice president for US Airways and now a consultant. “It could be grazing.” At Pittsburgh, one focus has been on retailing, which has suffered under the decline. Airmall pulled its stores into the busier center of the airport and brought in chains that had no presence in the Pittsburgh area. Bottega dei Sapori, an Italian specialty food store, does a lively business here. Desigual , a Spanish clothing store, and Furla, an Italian clothing and accessories shop, also draw traffic. Mr. Kruisselbrink said the new strategy was showing promise; typical retail sales per departing passenger at an airport are $5 to $7, he said, but Pittsburgh’s were about $14. And the retailers themselves are trying new things. Bar Symon, opened by the celebrity chef Michael Symon, put electric outlets at almost every seat so patrons can recharge their laptops and smartphones. “Will it give us another two or three beer sales?” Mr. Kruisselbrink said. “Probably.” There are also plans to develop the airport-owned land outside its boundaries, with tenants paying rent to the airport. Already, Dick’s Sporting Goods has a headquarters there as well as a hangar. But the real action is about a mile south of Pittsburgh International’s parking lots, where bulldozers created a pancake-flat gravel pad of about eight acres nestled in the wooded rolling hills. This month, a drilling rig will poke six holes more than a mile down and a second rig will drill horizontal offshoots that will extend 8,000 feet or more. Work proceeds normally as airliners soar past, although everyone looks up when an Air Force C-5 cargo plane roars overhead at low altitude. Mark Stebbins, the district operations superintendent for Consol Energy, described it as a modest-size project for his company. All of the work, which faced minimum opposition, was approved by the airport and the Federal Aviation Administration, he said as he unfolded a map on the hood of his pickup. “Not that we don’t know where we’re at,” he said. “We have a very comprehensive plan.”

Pittsburgh
Fracking
Pittsburgh International Airport
Airport
Natural gas
Pennsylvania
Marcellus Shale


Nephew Is Convicted in the Death of Trevor Berbick

Abstract: KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A nephew of the former heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick was convicted along with another man of killing Berbick. A jury Thursday found Harold Berbick, 21, guilty of murder and Kenton Gordon, 19, guilty of manslaughter in the death of Berbick, who was 54. The judge ordered both men jailed pending their Jan. 11 sentencing. The authorities said Harold Berbick and Gordon beat Trevor Berbick to death in October 2006, leaving his body in a church courtyard in Portland, Jamaica. Harold Berbick had been involved in a land dispute with his uncle. Trevor Berbick was the last fighter to face Muhammad Ali in the ring. He briefly held the World Boxing Council heavyweight title before losing it to Mike Tyson in 1986. Berbick fought from 1976 to 2000, finishing with a record of 50-11 with a draw and 33 knockouts. He later had legal problems, including convictions for sexual assault, grand theft and burglary, that led to his being deported from the United States to his native Jamaica.

Boxing
Berbick Trevor
Ali Muhammad
Robberies and Thefts
Murders and Attempted Murders


Mongolia: Ex-President Convicted

Abstract: Former President Nambar Enkhbayar was sentenced to four years in jail for corruption and the proceeds of his dealings were ordered confiscated, Chinese state media said Friday. The Xinhua news agency said a Mongolian court had convicted Mr. Enkhbayar and sentenced him to seven years in prison with three years pardoned. Mr. Enkhbayar accused prosecutors of twisting facts and said the case was politically driven, Xinhua said.

Mongolia
Decisions and Verdicts
Sentences (Criminal)
Enkhbayar Nambar


Murdoch Vows to Stay Head of News Corp.

Abstract: While defending his company as it faces accusations of widespread phone hacking in Britain, Rupert Murdoch insisted on Wednesday that he had the backing of News Corporation ’s board and would stay on as its chief executive for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, his company reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit but a gain for the year. Buoyed by strong advertising growth at its television division, particularly from the broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on Fox, News Corporation said its net income from April through June was $683 million, down from $875 million a year earlier. The otherwise strong results were sapped by a $254 million loss on Myspace, the social networking site, which the company sold for just $35 million in June, a small fraction of the $580 million it paid for the site six years ago. For the full fiscal year, which ended June 30, News Corporation earned $2.7 billion, up from $2.5 billion the year before. “We have the most robust balance sheet in our history,” Mr. Murdoch declared in a conference call with financial analysts and reporters that drew considerably more attention than usual because Mr. Murdoch had not spoken publicly since his testimony before the British Parliament last month. The earnings report — which showed growth across News Corporation’s vast holdings in film, television, publishing and satellite broadcasting — was a testament to the company’s size and diversity. Yet Mr. Murdoch spent much of his time on Wednesday answering for malfeasance in a small corner of his media empire: The News of the World, the Sunday tabloid he recently closed in Britain after widespread voice mail hacking by its employees was revealed. He pressed the point that none of the issues at The News of the World had affected the other parts of News Corporation. “There’s been no material impact on our operations outside the closure of News of the World,” he said. And he once again insisted that the acts were an aberration and not the kind of behavior that he or the company would ever condone. “We’re all committed to doing the right thing,” he said. “We have taken decisive actions to hold people accountable and will do whatever is necessary to prevent anything like this from occurring ever again.” As he tried to end speculation that he would be forced to give up his job, Mr. Murdoch also dismissed the suggestion that his son James was at risk of losing his job as a deputy chief operating officer. “Chase and I have full confidence in James,” he said, referring to Chase Carey, News Corporation’s chief operating officer. “I think that’s all I need to say about it.” Mr. Murdoch blithely addressed questions about who would replace him, joking that Mr. Carey would succeed him should he meet an untimely demise. “I’m sure he’d get it immediately if I run under a bus,” Mr. Murdoch, 80, said. Analysts raised what has become a perennial issue for News Corporation: what would it do with its underperforming publishing division, which includes money-losing newspapers like The New York Post and The Times of London. After the hacking scandal erupted, word that News Corporation might spin off its newspapers spread on Wall Street. Mr. Murdoch rejected the notion outright. “No,” he said. “I’m feeling very confident.” Except for The News of the World, he added, referring to the newspapers, “Everything else is fine.” Cable television remained an especially powerful engine of growth for the company, accounting for $631 million of its operating income for the quarter and $2.8 billion in operating income for the year — more than its 20th Century Fox Films, the Fox Network and satellite broadcasting divisions combined. Advertising at its domestic cable channels, which include Fox News, FX and the National Geographic Channel, grew 23 percent over the fourth quarter last year. Operating income at the film division was helped by strong performers like the computer-animated “Rio,” and grew by 53 percent, to $210 million. But for the year, operating income in film was down 31 percent to $927 million, largely because of the success in 2010 of “Avatar,” which made for difficult comparisons.

Wiretapping and Other Eavesdropping Devices and Methods


Hot on the Trail of Olympic Souvenirs

Abstract: It is hard to buy junk at these Olympics. Outside some of the stadiums and arenas there are stands selling small Chinese flags and flags bearing the likeness of the inescapable fuwa, the Olympic mascots. Human-propelled versions turn up at most of the events, wobbling and waving to an annoying techno theme song. The Fuwa suits at the Water Cube are inflatable, and resemble giant beach toys. But there are no T-shirts on sale near the venues or on any of the long pedestrian boulevards that bisect the main complex, the Olympic Green. No Yao Ming bobbleheads, no Liu Xiang key chains, no Chairman Mao soap-on-a-rope. No thong underwear, with or without the red star logo. These may be the least schlocky games since the ones back in Olympia. In the shopping areas downtown, of course, you can buy souvenirs of the usual touristy sort — paper fans, jade figurines, ceramic incense burners, miniature pagodas — and the Great Wall is overrun with tchotchkes. But little of this stuff is specifically tied to the Olympics. The Chinese must not understand the cheesy side of capitalism yet, because someone has clearly missed a big chance to cash in. There is a souvenir shop at the Olympics, but you have to know about it — there is no signage or advertising — and from the Bird’s Nest, say, it is a sweaty trek of a half-mile or so, past a gantlet of corporate pavilions more interested in entertainment than salesmanship. There is the China Mobile building, for example, whose facade features giant athlete figures bursting through the walls. Inside, there is a more or less continuous show of acrobats, traditional Chinese dancers and a hip-hop crew who spin on their heads. In a neighboring room a young man wearing a shirt that lights up demonstrates a gizmo that appears to be an update of the old theremin, and makes Chinese music if you blow or wave your hand over it. Next door is the pavilion of the Volkswagen auto group, and more acrobats, except that these run along the walls. There are also cars in big glass vitrines with waterfalls in back, and a symbolic exhibit of a giant gas nozzle squeezing out a single drop of oil while next to it another nozzle, made of straw, gushes out a clear fluid that is apparently the fuel of the future. The souvenir shop, called the Super Store, is pretty tasteful as such places go. There are T-shirts for sale, but not many, and none of them have slogans of the “Swimmers Do It in the Water” variety. There is a modest selection of caps, but none, as there were at the Atlanta Olympics, with beer cans attached. Fuwas can be purchased small medium and large; singly or in a five-pack; and in plush, cloth, or as beanbags. There are Olympic backpacks, dishtowels, wristwatches, key chains, “jewelries” and “eyeswear,” or sunglasses, and none of this stuff is particularly inexpensive. An Olympic medallion set in plexiglass will set you back $100 or so. As at any Olympics, there are pin-traders bartering those little enameled insignia that for some collectors take on inestimable value. Anything with a dragon or a panda on it is particularly sought after at these Games, and so is the pin from CCTV, the Chinese television network. But several veteran traders complained there is no central designated trading site, as there has been at other Olympics, and that as a result, bartering had not reached the frenzied intensity of say, the Barcelona or Nagano Games. The best spot is probably right outside the gate leading to the news media center, where a half-dozen or so traders squat on camp stools or overturned buckets, their wares laid out before them. On Tuesday, one of them, Timm Jamiesen, an architect from Roanoke, Va., said he had been trading Olympic pins for 20 years. “It’s passion,” he said. “We’re spreading good will and having fun.” But he added, “There isn’t the big fever here, concentrated in one place. The fever has broken into smaller pods.” Janet Grissom, a psychiatrist from Salt Lake City, had her bulletin board of pins balanced on a trash bin outside the Coca-Cola building. “I’ll never be an Olympic swimmer, but I can trade,” she said, and she added that her hobby was not unconnected to her professional life. “A lot about pin trading is about what you have with the other person. It’s not so much the pin you get — it’s the experience that makes for a good trade.” It is also impossible to find junky food at these games, or even interesting food of the sort you find at the Night Market or the Wanfujing Snack Street: kebabs and dumplings, candied fruit, grasshoppers and starfish and something called “Delicious Lamb’s Tummy.” The menus at all the concession stands are the same” ice cream, yogurt, popcorn, fruit cup.” Beer is available at many stands, but doesn’t seem to produce the kind of boozy, noisy crowds that have turned up at other Olympics. Late on Monday afternoon a young man wearing a Union Jack as a cape, with two smaller Union Jacks attached to his head, was wandering around a little glassy-eyed. But he may have just been overtired.


Organizing Your Thoughts With Note-Taking Apps

Abstract: MANY of us use our phones to jot down notes, whether we’re in a class, at an interview or trying to remember a shopping list. And many apps are available to help. One fabulous option for both students and professionals is Noteshelf . The app functions as a library of notebooks, letting you create a new book for each class or business meeting. You can title the notebooks and customize their covers to help identify them later. You can choose from different types of paper, including squared, lined, plain, and specialized designs intended for sports scores or music notation. When making notes in a book, you can type into text blocks, create freehand text, make diagrams and insert photos and audio. These elements can be combined on one page, and when one page is full you simply move to the next. Image With Noteshelf, you can mix written or typed notes with photos and audio recordings. Using Noteshelf feels similar to writing in a real notebook, with the advantages that the notes are tidier and stored digitally. The app is easy to use and compatible with several types of styluses if you prefer to write with a penlike tool. Searching among notes can be difficult because of the way that searchable typed text is mixed with handwritten notes and drawings. But if you are smart about titling your notebooks, it is less of a problem. Finished notebooks can be shared using email or services like Dropbox, or exported as PDFs. Noteshelf is for iPad only and costs $8. Android users looking for an app similar to Noteshelf should check out LectureNotes , which allows more free-form handwritten notes and sketches. LectureNotes also replicates notebooks on shelves, and each page of notes can combine handwriting, typing and photos. It can also import and export PDFs, and record and play audio and video. Image Notebook users can create stacks of cards for text, audio, video, photo and list messages. The app is aimed at students, but professionals may find it helpful in business meetings or for other uses, like keeping a design diary. The app costs $3.60 but you can try out a limited version for free. No list of note-taking apps would be complete without the best-known one: Evernote (free on iOS , Android and Amazon Appstore ). This is a full-featured app that stores all of its information in the cloud. That means your note files can be easily made available on multiple devices, with many options for collaborating on notes with multiple people. For a long time, Evernote was the best note-taking app available. But recently, the features in the app’s free-access level have been limited, to drive people to pay for access. And the app’s design can look confusing compared with newer rivals. Evernote’s paid features are available for $4 and up. The makers of Evernote also created Penultimate , an excellent iOS app for digital note taking via handwritten words or sketches. It’s easy to use and includes features like numerous background paper designs (including ones to aid young writers). Image Penultimate is a stylus-friendly note-making app that will appeal to students and business users. The app is free , but you have to pay for additional features like the full range of backgrounds. For a simpler note-taking experience, download Notebook by Zoho. The app, free on iOS and Android , seems aimed at those who favor brief notes and sketches. It files notes in the form of cards resembling digital Post-its, and you can pile lots of cards about the same topic together into notebooks. Each card has a main purpose. You can create a text card that you can type words on, an audio card that is an audio recording, a photo card or a shopping list-like card. Where you may separate different sections of a note-taking session with a space or a new page in other apps, in Notebook the idea is that you use a new card. Because the text in Notebook is all typed, you can also search through previous notes for specific words. This is useful, but if you want to scribble down a more visual note, like a mathematical formula, you have to use a different app. Quick Call Amity is a new, free instant messaging app trying to rival established names like WhatsApp and iMessage by including neat features that make chatting a more dynamic experience. The features include animated emoticons and interactive buzzes that make your iPhone shake. Amity is fun and free on iOS and Android .

Evernote
Instant messaging
Mobile Apps
Computer data storage


Season Is in Doubt for Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski

Abstract: Rob Gronkowski’s season is most likely over, with the New England Patriots tight end scheduled to have surgery for a herniated disk in his lower back, the team said in a statement. He is likely to be out for eight weeks or more. The Super Bowl is scheduled for Houston on Feb. 5, should the Patriots get that far. Gronkowski sat out practice Wednesday with what was listed as a back injury. He was absent from practice again on Thursday. INJURY ENDS CUTLER’S SEASON Bears Coach John Fox announced that quarterback Jay Cutler will have season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, the latest blow in a lost year for the team. The operation will take place Saturday and could mark the end of Cutler’s time in Chicago. Cutler injured his shoulder during a loss to the Giants on Nov. 20 but finished the game.

Patriots
Rob Gronkowski
Jay Cutler
Chicago Bears
Football
Sports injury


Richard Goldstone Regrets Saying Israel Purposely Killed Gazans

Abstract: JERUSALEM — The leader of a United Nations panel that investigated Israel ’s invasion of Gaza two years ago has retracted the central and most explosive assertion of its report — that Israel intentionally killed Palestinian civilians there. Richard Goldstone, an esteemed South African jurist who led the panel of experts that spent months examining the Gaza war, wrote in an opinion article in The Washington Post that Israeli investigations into the conflict “indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.” “If I had known then what I know now,” he wrote, “the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.” His article, which was posted on The Post’s Web site on Friday night, follows a report submitted two weeks ago by a committee of independent experts led by Mary McGowan Davis , a former New York judge, that said that Hamas had not conducted any internal investigations of its own but that Israel had devoted considerable resources in looking into more than 400 accusations of misconduct. Mr. Goldstone’s article fell like a bomb in Israel, where many people considered the 2009 publication of the Goldstone report as one of the most harmful events in recent years. It was viewed as offering spurious justification for damaging accusations, which Israelis considered to be part of a campaign to delegitimize the state and label it as a war criminal. “We face three major strategic challenges,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last year, “the Iranian nuclear program, rockets aimed at our citizens and Goldstone.” On Saturday night, Mr. Netanyahu called on the United Nations to retract the entire Goldstone report . “Everything we said has proven to be true,” he said. “Israel did not intentionally harm civilians. Its institutions and investigative bodies are worthy, while Hamas intentionally fired upon innocent civilians and did not examine anything.” “The fact that Goldstone backtracked,” Mr. Netanyahu added, “must lead to the shelving of this report once and for all.” The Goldstone report documented numerous examples of the mistreatment of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers, and he did not back away from those findings in his article in The Washington Post. Efforts to reach Mr. Goldstone by telephone and e-mail on Saturday were unsuccessful. Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesman for the United Nations, said it was up to member nations to decide whether to re-evaluate the report. Israel carried out its military campaign after years of rocket fire by Palestinian militants in Gaza against southern Israel. As many as 1,400 Gazans were killed during the three-week offensive in December 2008 and January 2009, including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis were also killed. During the invasion, graphic images of human suffering were broadcast around the world, and after the fighting ended, the United Nations Human Rights Council asked Mr. Goldstone, who is Jewish, to head an investigation into Israel’s actions. He said he would do so on the condition that he could broaden his mandate to include Hamas’s conduct as well. Israel considers the Human Rights Council to be deeply hostile to its interests and refused to cooperate with Mr. Goldstone or allow him into Israel to carry out his work. He said in The Washington Post article that the restrictions hampered his efforts, although he added that the council’s “history of bias against Israel cannot be doubted.” He and his investigators spent weeks in Gaza under Hamas’s auspices. The panel’s report said that the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza — a flour mill, sewage plant, chicken coops, water wells, a cement plant and about 4,000 homes — and the deaths of hundreds of noncombatants could only be understood as intentional. The report also said that Israel waged “a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population, radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself, and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability.” In his Washington Post article, Mr. Goldstone retracted that assertion, saying, “The allegations of intentionality by Israel were based on the deaths of and injuries to civilians in situations where our fact-finding mission had no evidence on which to draw any other reasonable conclusion.” Now, he said, Israeli investigators had presented evidence “that civilians were not intentionally harmed as a matter of policy.” Israel had tried in the past year and a half to counter the Goldstone report. In January 2010, Israel sent a 40-page letter to the United Nations defending the credibility of its internal military investigation into the army’s conduct during the war. In July, the Israeli military said it had indicted a number of officers and soldiers for their actions in the Gaza war. The army said in a statement that the chief military prosecutor had decided to take disciplinary and legal action in four separate cases, including against a staff sergeant accused of deliberately shooting at least one Palestinian civilian who was walking with a group of people waving a white flag. It was a case that was included in the Goldstone report. In addition, the chief military prosecutor ordered a criminal investigation by the military police into an airstrike on a house that killed 29 members of the Samouni family in Zeitoun, a district of Gaza City. Mr. Goldstone referred to that case in his article, saying that a commander had apparently misread a drone image and that an officer was still under investigation in the matter. The report by Ms. Davis, the former judge, was more critical of Israel than Mr. Goldstone acknowledged in his article. “Given the scale of this undertaking, much remains to be accomplished,” she wrote, “we noted that a number of investigations reportedly remain open.” In addition, she noted, “there is no indication that Israel has opened investigations into the actions of those who designed, planned, ordered and oversaw Operation Cast Lead,” which was Israel’s name for the military operation. In February, a group of Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to take further action on the Goldstone report’s findings to ensure justice for the war’s victims. The Goldstone report upset not only the government in Israel but also many on the left who said the harsh critique made it impossible for them to raise other concerns. After the report, Mr. Goldstone was ostracized by Jewish communitites in South Africa and elsewhere, even though he had long expressed devotion to Israel. A year ago, protesters from Jewish groups threatened to demonstrate outside his grandson's bar mitzvah in Johannesburg and the judge said he would not attend as a result, but an agreement was reached that allowed him to attend the ceremony after all.

War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity


Review: From Scratch, in Ridgewood, Focuses on Italy’s Simple Pleasures

Abstract: A pool of creamy mozzarella spilled out of the grilled zucchini wrapped around the thick round of cheese. With every pleasurable bite, I had to remind myself that I was in Ridgewood and not Campania, Italy. The restaurant, From Scratch , has that kind of transporting affect. The dishes are simple but use the highest quality ingredients, including local vegetables and seafood. Oils, cheeses and cured meats arrive weekly from the motherland (the mozzarella had indeed traveled from Campania to Ridgewood just days before I savored it). And, as the name suggests, everything — from the pastas and breads to the sauces and desserts — is prepared from scratch. The husband-and-wife owners, Roberto Santagati and Claudia Rovegno, both 51, immigrated to Ridgewood from Rome about three years ago in search of more opportunity. “We were both working in family businesses, but there was no room for growth, so we came to America in search of a new life,” Ms. Rovegno said in a phone interview after my visits. Image The mozzarella with grilled zucchini. Credit Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times They found a new life in the kitchen. Ms. Rovegno grew up learning to cook with her grandmother, so the couple decided to start a catering business. It was such a success that they added a restaurant in less than a year. Ms. Rovegno does the cooking while Mr. Santagati manages the front of the house. “I like to think of myself as a mother preparing the best food for her children that she possibly can,” Ms. Rovegno said. Her menu was not expansive, but several daily specials gave diners more options. One of them was burrata, a cheese with a luscious interior of cream and mozzarella. The baseball-size ball came surrounded by roasted red peppers and eggplant slices, and was devoured within minutes. Salads were bright and fresh, including one with crunchy romaine lettuce, sliced green apples and walnut halves tossed with mustard dressing, and another that glistened with olive oil and had arugula, walnuts, Bosc pears and Parmesan shavings. Also a hit was the shareable tagliere misto, a platter of Italian meats and cheeses. The selections depend on the restaurant’s weekly shipment from Italy. On our night, they included pecorino, goat and taleggio cheeses, and slices of an Italian sausage called mortadella, along with prosciutto and bresaola, or salted beef. Accompaniments of wild fig and red chili pepper jams complemented the artfully composed plate, and a drizzle of aged balsamic added a touch of sweetness. Main courses were just as lively. Seafood entrees, in particular, stood out. A special of cod stew — a halved filet braised in a sauce of tomatoes, Ligurian black olives, sliced potatoes and pine nuts — was warming without being heavy; the sautéed sole, accentuated with lime zest, offered a touch of summer; and the salmon, baked with Sicilian capers, diced tomatoes and olives, could not have been more moist. Image A special of cod stew, braised in tomatoes, Ligurian black olives, sliced potatoes and pine nuts. Credit Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times Comfort food entrees did not disappoint either. Meatloaf, for me, dredges up memories of tasteless mystery meats served in my middle school, but Ms. Rovegno’s, made of ground prime beef that she first sautéed in butter and white wine and then baked, was tender and flavorful. Eggplant Parmesan — layers of mozzarella, aged Parmesan, diced tomatoes and grilled eggplant — was an elevated version of the classic, and all the pastas we tried were musts. Both the calamarata, shaped like baby calamari and tossed in a smooth tomato sauce, and the linguine, which came with pesto, green beans and sliced potatoes (a family recipe from Liguria), are staples that I could eat again and again. There is no certainty when it comes to the dessert menu because Ms. Rovegno bakes different sweets each day. But expect each offering to taste good. Looking for flaws in the airy tiramisù, the not-too-sweet strawberry tart with a buttery crust and the flourless chocolate cake dotted with almonds was like trying to find fault where there was none. My only gripe came on my most recent visit. By then, I knew a leisurely meal was in store; dishes are prepared to order, and the owners believe that each course should be enjoyed at a relaxed pace, as is customary in Italy. This time, however, I could not understand why the apple cake we had ordered still had not shown up after nearly 20 minutes. When I asked about the delay, Mr. Santagati told me that his wife was almost done making the accompanying whipped cream. I told him I was surprised that the cream was made to order. “Of course, it is,” he said. “Everything is from scratch just like our name says.”


Toblerone Alters Shape of 2 Chocolate Bars, and Fans Are Outraged

Abstract: LONDON — The peaks are slimmer and the valleys are wider, but the price hasn’t changed. The maker of Toblerone, the Swiss chocolate bar, has reconfigured the unique appearance of two of its milk-chocolate versions, with narrower triangles and a larger gap between peaks. The price for the new bars is the same as the old ones, but the changes to the smaller one — which is sold mainly in Britain at the discount retailer Poundland — were so pronounced that Toblerone’s Facebook page was filled with outrage from aggrieved consumers, even though only a relatively small number were likely to be affected. “Toblerone is all about the triangle,” Stephen Mason said on Facebook. “Why couldn’t you just lose a triangle at the end or make the triangles smaller?” The 170-gram and 400-gram milk chocolate bars (about six ounces and 14 ounces) have been cut down to 150 grams and 360 grams to reduce costs, because of rising prices for ingredients, said Mondelez International, which makes the bars. The altered shape is visible only once the box is opened. The effect of the alterations on the signature shape of the 400-gram bar, which is sold across Europe, was less noticeable, a company spokeswoman said. The change, which was announced on the Toblerone Facebook page last month, is in keeping with a common strategy for companies trying to avoid price increases by reducing the contents of a product without changing the packaging. Most consumers are unaware of the changes because the product usually looks and is priced the same — there is simply less of it — but the newer, gappier Toblerone bar felt treasonous to the brand’s loyal consumers. “The key part of a Toblerone is the Alpine shape of peaks,” Fiona Prince said on Facebook. The change to the 400-gram bar was made early this year, and the 150-gram version appeared in British discount stores last month. Gemma Pryor, the head of external affairs for Britain at Mondelez International, said the company had to choose between changing the shape of the bar and raising prices — a significant issue in Britain, where the economy is facing uncertainty and the value of the pound has weakened after voters backed leaving the European Union in a June referendum. “We need to make sure it remains on shelves and it’s still affordable,” Ms. Pryor said, adding that, “it would be disingenuous to make the link between this and ‘Brexit.’ ” The triangular milk chocolate bar, sold in a yellow package with red letters, has been around since 1908. The founder, Theodor Tobler, combined his family name with “torrone,” the Italian word for nougat, and patented his recipe of chocolate mixed with milk and honey. The Matterhorn in the Alps is said to be the inspiration behind the pointed bar, and is featured on some of the packaging, but Mr. Tobler’s sons have said their father was inspired by a line of dancers at the Folies Bergères cabaret in Paris. Mondelez International noted that while the overall look of the bar is different, the recipe remains the same and the chocolate is still made in Switzerland.

Chocolate
Mondelez International
Great Britain


Spotify Seeking Video Deals With Media Companies

Abstract: Spotify made its name in digital media by appealing to people’s ears. Now it is going after their eyes, too. The company has recently had discussions with an array of media companies, including major television networks, online video producers and magazine publishers, to bring short video clips to Spotify as soon as this month, according to people with knowledge of the talks. These clips would be easily accessible on Spotify’s mobile platform and, along with the millions of songs the service streams, serve as additional sources of entertainment to keep its viewers engaged for longer periods of time — behavior that could help Spotify sell more advertising, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Among the television companies that Spotify has approached are NBCUniversal, Fox and Viacom, the owner of MTV and Comedy Central. Spotify has also approached the other major networks, according to multiple television executives. It has also talked to potential partners as diverse as the media company Vice and Condé Nast, the publisher of magazines like Vogue and The New Yorker, according to executives with knowledge of the talks. Spotify has offered some of these partners millions of dollars in guarantees, along with the potential for more shared revenue, to provide short clips like late-night television comedy skits that can be watched in all-you-can eat form and arranged into playlists, according to these people, who added that the financial terms of the deals were still being worked out. One strategy for Spotify is audience retention. According to a media executive briefed on its plans, the music service knows that people leave its platform to view clips on YouTube, so having more video on its own platform would keep users around. Spotify already has video ads. While Spotify is pursuing video aggressively, its discussions with potential media partners are said to be at an early stage, and it was unclear whether the company had completed any deals. Spotify declined to comment, and representatives of the other companies either declined to comment or did not respond to inquiries. The news that Spotify was planning a move into video was first reported on Thursday by The Wall Street Journal . By adding video, Spotify would expand its portfolio of content and move into the growing ranks of digital media companies challenging YouTube’s dominance. Among those other players are Vessel, a new site that sells early glimpses of new videos for $3 a month, and Snapchat, which offers a daily diet of short videos from the likes of Vice, CNN and Warner Music. The move to video could bring other advantages for Spotify, including making a splash ahead of Apple, which is expected to unveil its plans for a new streaming music service next month. Spotify is also in the middle of tense licensing renegotiations with record companies, and the addition of video could lessen the service’s dependence on the labels, however slightly. Spotify has been raising significant amounts of new investment money in advance of what is widely expected to be an initial public offering of stock at some point soon. Last month it emerged that Spotify was close to raising $400 million in investments, which would value the company at more than $8 billion.

Spotify
Video Recordings
Downloads and Streaming
advertising,marketing
Online advertising
Mass media


Mets and Pelfrey Avoid Arbitration

Abstract: Mike Pelfrey and the Mets agreed to a one-year contract worth $3,925,000, a deal that avoided salary arbitration. Pelfrey made $500,000 last year, when he was one of the team’s few bright spots. He was 15-9 with a 3.66 earned run average in 33 starts and one relief appearance. As part of the deal, Pelfrey can earn $50,000 in performance bonuses: $12,500 each for 200 and 205 innings, and $25,000 for 210. The Mets have two players still eligible for arbitration: the right-hander R. A. Dickey and outfielder Angel Pagan. Dickey, who made $700,000 last year, asked for $4.7 million while the team countered at $3.35 million. Pagan, who earned $1,662,500 last season, requested $4.2 million and the Mets offered $3,062,500.


A Big Step in Roger Federer’s Comeback, but a Gantlet Awaits Him

Abstract: MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer, with his 17 Grand Slam singles titles, is playing for gravy. Tomas Berdych is still chasing the main course. But no matter how much the powerful Berdych might want to change his lot in tennis, no matter how many new coaches and consultants he hires, there were higher forces at work in Rod Laver Arena on Friday. The reasonable expectation when Federer and Berdych clashed in just the third round of the Australian Open was that Federer would have to dig deep to have a chance after his six-month break from the game and his sometimes scratchy performances in the opening two rounds. He had not faced anyone in the top 10 since he slipped up against Milos Raonic in the semifinals at Wimbledon in July. Image At age 31, 10th-ranked Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic is trying to win his first major tennis title late in his career. Credit Andy Brownbill/Associated Press But center courts remain Federer’s natural habitat, even at age 35, even with four young children and a postoperative knee. And on Friday, after just a few early jitters, he shifted into a gear that was all too familiar to the 10th-seeded Berdych and to many other lesser talents through the years who have been the canvas to Federer’s brush. Final score: 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, in favor of Federer, in just 90 frequently sublime minutes. “The tennis ball doesn’t know how old you are, and it certainly didn’t recognize that he was 35 years old out there at all,” Jim Courier, the former Australian Open champion, said as he headed back to his Melbourne hotel. “That was pretty sweet. Magical actually.” The numbers were eloquent. Federer had 40 winners and 17 unforced errors. He won 70 percent of the points against Berdych’s second serve and 20 of 23 points at net. He also faced no break points and won a remarkable 95 percent of the points on his first serve. But it would be a missed opportunity to let the statistics do all the talking. To the spectators, who included Rod Laver himself in the front row of Laver Arena, Federer also delivered his trademark blend of deftness and punch, flowing to the ball wherever it bounced and then striking it with precision and a dash of venom. Call it a blast from the past if you like, but the quality of the performance also opened up some real possibilities in the present. “I mean, it’s just crazy how quick I got out of the blocks,” Federer said. “That’s what I was hoping for, because I wasn’t able to do that in the first two matches. Today I was able to. What a difference it was in the feeling afterward. Yeah, it’s a big relief. But like I said at the beginning of the tournament, any result was going to be a good result for me just because I can test myself in a match situation against professional tennis players. That’s what it’s about for me this week.” To extend his stay into next week, he will need more excellence — and quickly — because he will face fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori in the fourth round and then maybe No. 1 Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and possibly No. 4 Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals. Get through that gantlet somehow and reach the final, and only then would he be in a position to benefit from Denis Istomin’s upset on Thursday night of the No. 2 seed, Novak Djokovic. “Roger’s got a murderers’ row of a draw,” Courier said. “Djokovic was on the other side of the fence, but Roger still has so much ground to cover with Kei and Murray and most likely Stan. If Roger plays like that, of course he’s got a real shot. But we’ll see.” Bouncing back physically at age 35 should not be a major challenge after Friday’s rout, but it could certainly be a challenge if and when the duels get closer and the rallies longer. The fact that playing conditions are quick this year — or, at least, Federer keeps insisting they are — might help keep those second-week rallies shorter than usual. Image Federer, left, beat Berdych, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, on Friday night in a match that took only 90 minutes. Credit Andy Brownbill/Associated Press “I knew from the start I could be dangerous,” Federer said. “In terms of the tournament, I felt the road was long and very difficult, but for one match, I thought before the tournament that I could do something against nearly anybody. Now, can I do it match after match? I still doubt it, but in any case, this result gives me confidence. And we know how important confidence is in tennis and sport. “I hope I can sleep well tonight because the first two matches it was good and I was happy, but I knew the sensations were not quite there. Today, I was concentrated, and it was like I’d never been away. It was great to be able to experience that again.” Seeded 17th after playing little in 2016, Federer would have fallen out of the top 30 in the rankings if he had lost to Berdych, who has beaten him at the Olympics, Wimbledon and the United States Open. But Federer now has won their last six matches, and though Berdych remains a fearsome ball striker, he has not won a Grand Slam singles title for a reason. His nerves have sometimes been suspect at the biggest moments, but his movement has always been suspect at the biggest moments. Federer did a masterly job on Friday of keeping Berdych off balance and on the run: carving acute angles with his groundstrokes and serves, varying topspin and slice and launching surprise attacks on the net from unexpected court positions. He also looked particularly sharp in the forecourt, coming up with half-volley drop-shot winners that Berdych could not put back in play. Such shot-making generated some wide-eyed looks and appreciative nods from Berdych’s new coach, Goran Ivanisevic, the former Wimbledon champion who won his lone major title late in his career and is trying to help the 31-year-old Berdych do the same thing. That will be quite a challenge with a promising younger generation on the rise; Murray, Djokovic and Wawrinka still in their prime; Rafael Nadal still lurking; and Federer still capable on any given night of making a racket look more like a wand.

Roger Federer
Tomas Berdych
Tennis
Australian Open


Lebanese Firms Launder Drug Money and Finance Militant Groups, U.S. Says

Abstract: WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The United States accused two Lebanese money exchange houses on Tuesday of helping launder funds for an international drug trafficking ring and of financing the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The Treasury Department labeled the exchange houses, Kassem Rmeiti and Halawi Exchange, “primary money laundering concerns,” which will most likely cut them off from the American financial system. The Treasury and the Drug Enforcement Administration said that tens of millions of dollars in drug proceeds and other illegal funds moved through the exchange houses, which do mostly cash transactions. The move is part of a multiyear inquiry that has exposed what the government says are links between South American drug traffickers and Middle Eastern militant groups like Hezbollah. “Drugs and terrorism coexist across the globe in a marriage of mutual convenience,” said Derek Maltz, who heads the D.E.A.’s Special Operations Division. South American drug traffickers are eager to expand into lucrative markets in Europe and the Middle East via new shipment routes through West Africa, he said. And militant groups like Hezbollah have found it harder to get money directly from governments since the Sept. 11 attacks, when the United States cracked down on financing. American officials say Hezbollah gets money from Iran, which has been hit with financial sanctions over its nuclear program. “Hezbollah is both a full-fledged terrorist organization, lavishly funded over the years by Iran, and an enterprise that increasingly turns to crime to finance itself as the economic pressure on Iran mounts, and Iran’s financial situation becomes more tenuous,” said David Cohen, Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

Hezbollah
Money laundering
Drug Abuse
Lebanon
DEA


Matt Kenseth’s Victory Drought Ends in Rain at Daytona 500

Abstract: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Matt Kenseth ’s voice wavered, the emotion pouring out as the rain poured down on Daytona International Speedway. Kenseth, the 2003 Cup champion, had lost the way to victory lane in the past year. But he found it again on Sunday at the most opportune moment, in the most important race of the year. After going an entire season without a win, Kenseth was suddenly the Daytona 500 champion. “It’s going to be really wet out here because I’m crying like a baby,” Kenseth said moments after Nascar declared an end to the race with 48 of the 200 laps to go. “Just to win a race after last year, I didn’t know if I was ever going to do that again, and then to pull off the Daytona 500, it’s just unbelievable.” Kenseth snapped a 36-race winless streak and gave the team owner Jack Roush his first Daytona 500 victory after 21 years in Nascar’s premier series. Kenseth started the race at the back of the field after a wreck in Thursday’s qualifying event forced him to use a backup racecar. When the race was over, Kenseth was not the only driver overcome by emotion. Elliott Sadler’s voice wavered after coming so close to victory. He had taken the lead on Lap 122 during a pit stop and held it through 2 caution periods and 24 laps. Sadler knew the rain was coming. It just did not come quickly enough. Kenseth made his move with 54 laps to go, using a push from Kevin Harvick to get past Sadler. Moments later, Aric Almirola crashed on the backstretch, bringing out a caution. The rain came shortly after that, ending the race. “It’s funny,” Sadler said. “My crew chief told me for the last 45 minutes that it’s raining on the radar. You know, this is his first race with me as a crew chief. I said, ‘Welcome to Elliott Sadler’s world.’ It’s probably raining all around the racetrack. When I need it, in the lap where I get passed, it starts raining in Turn 3.” Harvick, who used a push from Kenseth to win the Daytona 500 two years ago, finished second. Of course, there was plenty of anguish to go around after the race, as is typical at Daytona. Kyle Busch, the driver who had perhaps the best racecar, was long gone by the time the race ended. Busch led a race-high 88 laps, only to become caught up in the major wreck that always seems to come here. It occurred on Lap 124, and it included the three top contenders for the Sprint Cup title this season: the three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, Busch and Carl Edwards. All were at the front of the pack and part of a nine-car wreck that was touched off by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers. The crash occurred after a caution period, after Earnhardt Jr. dropped from third to 35th and one lap down because of a pit-road miscue. After a restart, Earnhardt was in the inside lane, as Nascar rules require for lapped cars, and just behind the No. 83 Toyota of Vickers on the backstretch next to the leaders. Earnhardt went down to the bottom of the racetrack to try to make a pass. Vickers blocked, bringing his racecar below the yellow line where passing is not allowed and forcing Earnhardt to stay behind. Earnhardt then put his front bumper into Vickers’s racecar, sending it sideways in the middle of the pack and taking out many of the leaders. “It’s kind of sad to wreck some guy intentionally like that in front of the entire field,” said Vickers, who criticized Nascar for not penalizing Earnhardt for causing the wreck. Actually, Nascar had penalized Earnhardt moments earlier, assessing a penalty on him after a mistake on pit road. It was one of two critical errors that cost Earnhardt a chance at victory. He had earlier brought the crowd to life when he got by Busch for the lead on Lap 53. Three laps later, he was in third place when a blunder took him out of contention. After a wreck sent the field to pit road, Earnhardt somehow failed to stop when he reached his stall. He had to go back around the track and try again, which cost him valuable position and left him 35th at the restart. Earnhardt recovered quickly, moving back into the top 10 near the scheduled midway point. But yet another pit road mistake put him a lap down. During a pit stop on Lap 121, Earnhardt stopped his car with the right front tire on the outside line of his pit box. That is officially out of bounds, and Earnhardt was penalized for pitting out of his stall. He was held on pit road for a lap, once again dropping from the top five to 35th, one lap down with 77 to go. It was on that restart that Earnhardt and Vickers set off the big wreck. “Yeah, it was accidental,” Earnhardt said. “I didn’t want to wreck the field. I mean, he drove me down almost into the grass. I was trying to get back up on the racetrack.” That was little consolation for Busch. “It was just unfortunate that two guys got together that were a lap down and were fighting over nothing,” said Busch, who finished 41st in the 43-car field. “It cost the winning car the chance to win the race.” NOTES The highly acclaimed rookie Joey Logano, at 18 the youngest driver to start the Daytona 500, exited early when he crashed hard into the inside wall coming off Turn 4 on Lap 80. Logano said he was forced to slow because of traffic in front and was tapped by Greg Biffle’s No. 16 Ford. Logano was not injured, but his No. 20 Toyota was damaged beyond repair. He finished 43rd. Logano, of Middletown, Conn., has taken over the racecar that Tony Stewart raced to two championships before becoming a team owner-driver this season. “Not the way we want it to end,” Logano said. “Still feel like I learned a lot, but not what we wanted.”

Daytona 500 (Auto Race)
Kenseth Matt
Automobile Racing
National Assn of Stock Car Auto Racing


HNA Seeking Direct Bridge to Washington

Abstract: HNA Group, a Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate, is hoping to buy a bridge directly to the White House with its latest deal. HNA is taking a stake in SkyBridge Capital, the hedge fund of the newly minted presidential adviser Anthony Scaramucci. The business fit is a stretch, but the rationale of HNA making a friend on Donald J. Trump’s team as it tries to expand in the United States is hard to avoid. Neither SkyBridge nor HNA nor RON Transatlantic, its partner in taking a majority stake, has revealed the terms of the deal. HNA probably paid less than $200 million, making it little more than an amuse-bouche for the deal-hungry company. It gobbled up more than $17 billion in overseas assets in 2016, including hotels, golf courses and the American cloud-computing company Ingram Micro, according to Thomson Reuters data. Last week, HNA spent $460 million on the New Zealand-based leasing and investment company UDC Finance. That will help expand its nascent financial empire, which domestically spans asset management, life insurance and peer-to-peer lending as well as aircraft leasing. There’s a big difference, though, between the services offered by its fledgling finance unit and the fund of hedge funds business for which SkyBridge is best known. And it’s not as if HNA can suddenly offer its new acquisition’s services to Chinese investors: Beijing’s recent imposition of tighter capital controls, including limiting outflows, has put that to rest, possibly for several years. The potential return on the SkyBridge deal looks far more political than financial. Congress has long been wary of Chinese deal makers; of late, even private companies like HNA have been tarred with the same brush as state-run concerns. President-elect Trump has raised the ante by courting Taiwan and threatening to brand China a currency manipulator. If buying a chunk of Mr. Scaramucci’s business has even a chance of offsetting that, HNA may consider it money well spent. Using government connections, after all, is how Chinese businesses often get their deals over the finish line at home. Granted, currying favor with one presidential adviser won’t suddenly clear a path through Congress, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and a host of other regulators, but every advantage helps.

HNA Group
Skybridge Capital
Anthony Scaramucci
Mergers and Acquisitions
Donald Trump