A Road Show in Pursuit of Global Growth

Abstract: As the 2015 Formula One season begins this weekend with the 20th edition of the Rolex Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne — and the 30th in Australia, since it began in 1985 in Adelaide — the series continues to expand its global presence. This season , Formula One has race dates on every continent except Africa (and Antarctica), regardless of politics or popular opinion with only a twofold goal in mind: The series seeks to live up to its name as a world championship, while continuing to enhance the financial benefits for its owners and the 10 teams that provide the show. “As a business it has gone where the money is and shunned where the money isn’t,” writes Mark Gallagher, who has worked in Formula One in various capacities for 30 years, in his book “ The Business of Winning ,” published last year. “The internal customers of the sport, the sponsors, the brands that require a return on investment as never before, have also demanded more events, new markets and fresh audiences.” Last year’s new market was Russia , with an inaugural Grand Prix in Sochi added to the calendar. This season the series adds Mexico, where it has not raced since 1992. There are now four Grands Prix in the Americas, four in Asia, two in the Middle East, seven in Western Europe, two in Eastern Europe and one in Australia. But since the acceleration of Formula One’s worldwide expansion began a decade ago, so-called racing purists have bemoaned the loss of traditional tracks in countries where the series has deep historic roots and fan bases. A close look shows, however, that since its founding in 1950 the elite racing series has had a tradition of expanding to new countries, and in the process it has dropped almost none of the so-called traditional venues. Over all, only 31 countries have ever hosted a Grand Prix. This season there will be 20 races for only the second time. (The other 20-race season was 2012.) The 11 Grands Prix that have been dropped, at least for now, are Argentina, France, India, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey. There is often talk of a return for France, India, South Africa and South Korea, and maybe Portugal, but only France — where Grand Prix racing was born early last century and where 59 Formula One races have been run, the last in 2008 — can be called a mainstay. More potential host countries are being considered, including Azerbaijan and Qatar. A race in Africa remains perhaps the most glaring absence. Australia, although not geographically in the series’s West European cradle, is very much a traditional Formula One country, its race having existed through nearly half of the sport’s history. Malaysia, which has staged races every year since 1999, is rarely considered a traditional country, even though its total of 18 races places it 18th in the all-time list and 14th among the countries on the 2015 calendar. This may be the last race for Malaysia, though, as it is weighing whether to renew its contract with Formula One. Belgium, Britain, Italy and Monaco are the only races on the calendar this season that were also part of the first Formula One season, in 1950. There were just seven races that year, including the Indianapolis 500, which counted for the championship. Throughout the following three decades, new races were added (sometimes dropped) including some that are still present today: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain and the United States . In 1986, a year after Australia joined, Hungary provided the series with its first race in what was still the Soviet bloc. Image A practice session before the inaugural Russian Grand Prix on the Sochi Autodrom circuit in October. It became the second East European Formula One race. Credit Valdrin Xhemaj/European Pressphoto Agency No other new country joined until the Malaysian Grand Prix was added in 1999 . There then followed a vast, global expansion unparalleled in the history of the series, with races added in China in 2004, Turkey in 2005, Singapore in 2008, Abu Dhabi in 2009, South Korea in 2010, India in 2011, a return to the United States in 2012, and Russia last year. “Each new territory brings with it multiple benefits,” Gallagher wrote. “New audiences, more media, potential new sponsors from among the domestic, regional and global brands and the increased prestige that comes with the cumulative effect of racing in the largest economies combined with the most important developing ones.” The Australian Grand Prix is one of the sport’s most popular races. Despite having paid its highest amount ever in public funding for the 2014 race — an estimated 60 million Australian dollars, or $46 million — the country last year extended its contract until 2020. While attendance is always high in Australia, other races are struggling. Among them is the German Grand Prix, which is experiencing difficulty even though a German team — Mercedes — is world champion and the German driver Sebastian Vettel is a four-time world champion. Last year attendance fell drastically: The Hockenheim race drew only 52,000 spectators, compared with 122,000 for the British Grand Prix two weeks earlier at Silverstone. It has not been confirmed which track — Nürburgring or Hockenheim — will stage the race scheduled for July 19, and it could be cancelled if the German organizers are unable to pay the host’s fee. Meanwhile, some newer races, such as those in Abu Dhabi and Singapore, are among the most popular. The Singapore Grand Prix provides a night-time race experience, in a major Asian financial hub with plenty of off-track action and spectators from around Asia. With its street track running through the city, the race is sometimes called the Monaco of the East. “The whole point of the Singapore Grand Prix is that it takes place right in the heart of one of the most dynamic and most vibrant cities in the world,” said Colin Syn, the Singapore Grand Prix deputy chairman in an article in the International Automobile Association’s Auto magazine. Singapore has renewed its contract to hold the race until 2017. The Singapore Tourism Board said the race and related tourism bring in 560 million Singapore dollars, or about $404 million, to the local economy. The Grand Prix draws roughly 400,000 spectators, the board said, 40 percent of them from other countries. Mexico has for years been seeking a return to the calendar as the country has undergone rapid economic growth. The Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has helped fund the careers of Mexican drivers, including Sergio Pérez and Esteban Gutiérrez, and is backing the return of the Grand Prix in Mexico City. A real test of tradition will be whether Monza, the home of the Italian Grand Prix since the 1920s, signs an extension with Formula One beyond the end of its contract this year. The Italian promoters are facing a local tax issue that could cost them millions of dollars, and Ecclestone has spoken of a possible loss of the race. “Monza is the oldest circuit in Formula One, a record that we don’t want to lose,” Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the president of the Automobile Club d’Italia, said last month. “The matter is complex and difficult. There is no room for mistakes.”

Formula One
Australia
Melbourne
Car Racing
Bernie Ecclestone
Carlos Slim Helu
Monza Italy


F.A.A. Bans Antismoking Drug, Citing Side Effects

Abstract: The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday it would no longer permit pilots or air traffic controllers to use the smoking cessation drug Chantix, citing potential side effects that could pose a threat to the safe operation of aircraft. The Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory in February, saying that some Chantix users had developed a variety of serious psychiatric symptoms, and that some had committed suicide. An F.A.A. spokeswoman, Laura Brown, said the agency had approved the use of Chantix for airline pilots and flight controllers last year, but was notifying 150 pilots and 30 air traffic controllers known to be using it that the drug was no longer acceptable and should be discontinued. Ms. Brown said the decision was based on emerging data on the drug, including a report from a watchdog group, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, linking Chantix to a wide array of health and safety problems. They include accidents and falls, potentially lethal heart rhythm disturbances, heart attacks, seizures, diabetes and various psychiatric disturbances. The institute’s findings, which were based on an analysis of adverse events reported to the F.D.A., said that from May 2006 through December 2007, there were 227 reports of suicide attempts or suicides, 397 cases of possible psychosis and 525 reports of hostility or aggression. Those reports included 28 suicides and 41 mentions of homicidal thoughts, 60 cases of paranoia and 55 cases of hallucinations. The data, the report said, “provide a strong signal” that the risks of treatment with varenicline, the active chemical in Chantix, have been underestimated. This year, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, another consumer watchdog organization, had called for a black-box warning — F.D.A.’s strongest drug alert — on Chantix. Chantix, made by Pfizer, was approved in 2006 for sale in this country and the European Union. Worldwide sales of the drug were $883 million last year, and an estimated 6.5 million people have used it. Pfizer issued a statement Wednesday saying that the current labeling for Chantix reflected the product’s safety profile, including warnings that it had the potential to cause psychiatric problems and might impair driving. “There are few things that provide greater health benefits than quitting smoking,” said the Pfizer statement, issued by a company spokesman, Francisco Gebauer. “When considering the use of Chantix for their patients, health care providers should discuss the risks of smoking, the health benefits of quitting smoking, and the product’s efficacy and safety profile.” In after-hours trading Wednesday, Pfizer’s shares fell 22 cents, to $19.79, a 1.1 percent decline. Dr. Timothy Anderson, a pharmaceutical analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, responded to Wednesday’s report by downgrading estimates for Chantix sales in 2012, to $700 million, from $1.6 billion. Chantix, taken in pill form, partly blocks and partly stimulates a nicotine receptor in the brain and in clinical studies was shown to help smokers quit. Potential problems associated with Chantix were first publicized last September when a Dallas musician, Jeffrey Carter Albrecht, was shot to death after he began behaving bizarrely while taking Chantix. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices study noted that some of the reports of adverse events it analyzed could have been spurred by that publicity and by a November 2007 early warning about the drug from the F.D.A. An F.D.A. spokeswoman, Susan Cruzan, said the agency was also conducting a special safety review of Chantix and was requiring pharmacists to distribute a medication guide to patients, warning of the potential side effects. The F.A.A. was also planning to notify associations representing both commercial and private pilots that Chantix was no longer permitted, Ms. Brown said.

Federal Aviation Administration
Chantix
Drugs (Pharmaceuticals)
Smoking and Tobacco
Accidents and Safety
Recalls and Bans of Products


Service to Israel Tugs at Arab Citizens’ Identity

Abstract: NAZARETH, Israel — Three young Palestinian women sat on the floor at a summer camp this week surrounded by Legos and 3-year-olds. As the toddlers played, the women taught them the color of each block, repeating the words in Arabic, azrak for blue or akhdar for green. But the seemingly simple scene here in the Galilee was actually caught up in some of the most contentious issues confronting Israeli society: How do Arabs reconcile their identity as citizens of a Jewish state? What is the appropriate role for a growing Arab minority in a state determined to be democratic and Jewish? The young women are volunteers in Israel’s national service program, an alternative to the military that comes with the same financial benefits and similar advantages for future education and employment. That program is now the focus of a searing national debate over plans to draw up a law that will no longer exempt categories of citizens. Some Arab-Israeli leaders see the young women’s service as a betrayal of their national struggle, and call them traitors. “I will not deny or forget my identity,” said one of the counselors, Nagham Ma’abuk, 19, who grew up in Nazareth, a northern city known as the Arab capital of Israel. “But this can help me in the future. We need to live together in coexistence. You can’t determine equality according to what’s convenient for you.” With a looming Aug. 1 deadline to rewrite a law invalidated by the Supreme Court that exempted thousands of yeshiva students from the draft, Israel’s government and populace have been in turmoil for weeks over how to integrate the country’s minority populations into the military and civilian service programs. While most of the attention has been focused on how many ultra-Orthodox men should be drafted, the parallel issue of Arab service has revived the raw, decades-old conundrum of what it means to be both Arab and Israeli — citizens of a state whose defining philosophy most find alienating at best, often considered enemies within, with a list of complaints about discrimination in employment, education and housing. This state of affairs cannot continue, some argue. “The 1948 paradigm is collapsing,” said Elie Rekhess, a historian of Arab-Jewish relations who retired from Tel Aviv University and is now co-chairman of the Middle East Forum at Northwestern University. “It’s not that every Arab wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Oh, which part of the hyphenated identity will I be identifying with today?’ But as far as leadership is concerned, they are challenged by the contradictions and the impossibility of this situation of being Arabs in a Jewish state.” When modern Israel was created 64 years ago, its Declaration of Independence promised “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants,” and in 1952 citizenship was granted to about 150,000 Palestinians living within its borders. Today, 1.6 million Arabs live in Israel, making up about 20 percent of the population, with an average income less than two-thirds that of Jewish residents, according to statistics compiled by Professor Rekhess, and a poverty rate nearly three times as high. The conundrum over national service is hardly the first such identity crisis. Many Arab citizens observe Israel’s Independence Day by mourning what they call the Naqba — the catastrophe. They attend separate schools, where last month many protested a new curriculum focusing on Menachem Begin and David Ben-Gurion. Even the nomenclature has caused disputes: After decades of calling themselves Israeli Arabs, which in Hebrew sounds like Arabs who belong to Israel, most now prefer Palestinian citizens of Israel. A dozen of Parliament’s 120 members are Arab. So is one of the 15 Supreme Court justices. His recent refusal to sing the national anthem , which refers to the “yearning of the Jewish soul,” caused much soul-searching. When a Bedouin professor was chosen last month as the first non-Jewish president of a college, some on campus questioned how he could uphold its tradition of contributions to the state. Ehab Helo, a 25-year-old architecture student, confronted a personal version of the problem two years ago when he designed a minimalist chair that won a student contest, but refused to compete internationally under the Israeli flag with its Star of David. “I said to them, ‘This is the Jewish flag, not the Israeli flag,’ ” Mr. Helo recalled as he sat at a cafe on Ben-Gurion Street in Haifa. “I am angry that I didn’t have the opportunity to be in Italy in a bigger competition; I’m also happy that I said no to be who I am.” The current focus is on national service, with a proposal expected to be submitted to the cabinet by Sunday that includes a goal of doubling by 2016 the 2,400 Arabs now participating — still a small fraction of the 30,000 eligible each year. (Palestinians have never been required to serve in Israel’s military, though about 250 were enlisted last year. The Druse, another Arab minority, are subject to the draft, while the Bedouin, who are also exempt, tend to join in greater numbers.) Many who support expanding or even requiring service by Arabs note that about three-quarters of current Arab volunteers serve in Arab community institutions like the Nazareth summer camp. Like soldiers, they receive small monthly stipends and a lump sum upon completion that can be used for education, weddings, mortgages or business development. Prof. Sammy Smooha of Haifa University, who has studied the issue for years, said support for national service had dropped among Palestinian citizens, even as participation had increased tenfold since 2005-6. Forty percent of Arab youths said last year that they would be willing to serve, down from 53 percent in 2009, and 62 percent of the Arab public backed the program, down from 78 percent in 2007. “You have to compare it with blacks in the U.S. during World War II ,” Professor Smooha said. “Why did they want to serve? Because they identified themselves with the state and they saw this as a vehicle to change their status. The Arab leaders do not see it this way. They see it as a means of repression of Arabs in Israel.” A leading Arab community group recently had a poster contest opposing the program. Entries included a large soiled foot captioned, “National Service: A Dirty Business,” and a headless woman in an Army uniform over the slogan, “Civilian Service: The Way to Erase Identity.” Hanin Zoabi, a Parliament member from Nazareth, called the proposal to expand service “a trap.” “In order for us to get our natural right, we have to be loyal to the country,” she said in an interview. “They are talking about dividing the burden. All the country’s burdens are on my back. Six million Jews are living on my land. We ask Israel to withdraw the definition of a Jewish state, and maybe then it will turn into a democratic country.” In Wadi Nisnas, a Haifa neighborhood — where a sign for Hadad Street notes, in Hebrew, that it is home to Israel’s oldest Arab families — four teenagers training a makeshift summer camp marching band on Wednesday pronounced themselves “against, against, against and against” national service for Arabs. “It’s against our people,” said Rozeen Kanboura, 18, who works at a McDonald’s. “We are betraying our homeland, our origins, our history.” Ayan Abunasra, articulate beyond her 13 years, said, “I don’t feel part of this country.” “Put yourself in our place,” she said. “You’re going to serve a country that occupied your land and your great-grandparents died because of it?” Moments later, she and the others stood in front of two lines of children, 15 of them with red drums around their waists, one little girl holding a pink stuffed bunny. A Palestinian flag flew from an apartment overhead. They are volunteers, just like Ms. Ma’abuk in Nazareth — only with no connection to the state, and none of its attendant pluses and minuses.

Israel
Arabs
Draft and Recruitment (Military)
Jews and Judaism
Volunteers and Community Service


Executions Debated as Missouri Plans One

Abstract: KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officials in this state are preparing to execute a prisoner for the first time since 2005, when criticisms about the state’s lethal injection method emerged and one doctor who carried out executions acknowledged being dyslexic and sometimes “improvising” when it came to the amounts of chemicals he administered. That doctor will no longer take part, and a United States Supreme Court ruling last year upheld a lethal injection procedure similar to the one Missouri will use, but some lawmakers, including some prominent Republicans, say they have lingering questions about the state’s system of capital punishment. The focus of those questions has shifted some, no longer centering on the method of execution but turning toward which prisoners are condemned and which are not, and whether those choices make sense. “I still favor the death penalty, but I just want to make sure we put the right people to death,” said State Representative Bill Deeken, a Republican, explaining why he last week proposed delaying the death penalty for two years more until a study can determine whether it is meted out fairly in this state. “At this point, we just do not know.” In 2006, a federal judge had found the state’s methods so chilling that he ordered a stop to executions — and a remaking of the system here — until state officials issued a protocol for lethal injection that satisfied him. At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Dennis J. Skillicorn is to be executed for his role in the murder of Richard Drummond, a businessman who had offered help to Mr. Skillicorn and two others when he saw their car broken down on the side of a road one night in August 1994. Mr. Drummond was forced to drive to a remote area, then was shot and killed, and the men drove away in his car. In the final days of the state legislative session in Jefferson City last week, a death penalty moratorium was rejected, but the House, which Republicans control, passed a provision calling for a commission to study the question. The Senate, also controlled by Republicans, did not vote on the issue. House leaders say their chamber’s vote sent a signal to Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat in his first term, who has yet to issue a decision on Mr. Skillicorn’s request for clemency. People here are deeply split over Mr. Skillicorn. His supporters say that while he participated in robbing Mr. Drummond and was convicted of murder, another man (now also awaiting execution) was the one who fired the gun that killed Mr. Drummond. They point to Mr. Skillicorn’s work in prison leading a hospice program, editing a magazine for death row inmates, and, in the view of even some prison workers, helping to create a calmer, safer atmosphere behind bars. “He is not the one who actually killed the person, and that just says to me: ‘Whoa! Let’s take a step back,’ ” said State Representative Steven Tilley, the Republican leader. “Look, I’m not soft on crime, but we can’t redo this once we’ve executed this person,” Mr. Tilley said, adding that he has been a supporter of the death penalty, but fears it is flawed as it is being carried out. But State Representative Bob Nance of Excelsior Springs, the community not far from Kansas City where Mr. Drummond had lived, said Mr. Skillicorn “should hardly be held up as a poster child for what’s wrong with the death penalty.” Mr. Skillicorn was implicated for his involvement in other murders — though never, he says, as the gunman. He was convicted of second-degree murder in a 1979 burglary with accomplices in which a farmer was killed. And in the days after Mr. Drummond’s death, he and his accomplice went on a cross- country spree and, the authorities say, his accomplice shot and killed an Arizona couple. Mr. Skillicorn pleaded guilty to murder in that case. “When we look back on our lives, it is the sum of all the stories,” Mr. Nance said, “and frankly, it’s hard to believe someone would be at the wrong place at the wrong time so many different times.” On Monday, the State Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay, and lawyers for Mr. Skillicorn filed a similar request with the United States Supreme Court. They have three other appeals pending in the federal courts, and met on Monday with counsel to Mr. Nixon, who previously served as attorney general. Mr. Nixon declined interview requests. His aides said he was giving Mr. Skillicorn’s clemency request “a full and fair review.” Mr. Skillicorn, 49, had by last week been transferred to the facility at Bonne Terre where executions take place. In a telephone interview, he said he was sorry for his drug-addled behavior of years past, but that he considered his death sentence arbitrary in a way, and said that he was not the worst of the worst. “I was there,” he said, “But in my case, I didn’t kill anybody.” He said he was drawing strength from his wife, a former reporter for The Kansas City Star who met him after he was behind bars, and from his religious faith, a notion he was quick to note some people will find phony. “What good would it do me now,” Mr. Skillicorn said of his faith, “if it wasn’t real to me?”


Looking the Part of a Mets Starter, Robert Gsellman Performs

Abstract: To pitch in the Mets ’ rotation these days, it seems, being at least 6 feet 4 inches and having hair down to the shoulders is a necessity. Jacob deGrom is 6-4 with flowing locks, and Noah Syndergaard is two inches taller and also has long hair. So in that sense, Robert Gsellman, also 6-4, fit right in before he threw his first pitch in the major leagues. “I like this for now,” Gsellman said, pointing to the long hair tied behind his head, as he keeps it when he is not on the mound. “Until it gets annoying.” While Gsellman’s physical attributes make him a good fit for the Mets’ rotation, his pitching earned him the spot in a time of need. Making his second major league start Saturday, Gsellman, 23, tossed six impressive innings in a 3-1 victory over the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Curtis Granderson delivered a two-run single in the third inning after the Nationals intentionally walked Yoenis Cespedes to face him. James Loney contributed a run-scoring double in the sixth. The bullpen tossed three scoreless innings. But it was Gsellman, an unheralded prospect, who did the heavy lifting. “You can almost tell when he goes out there, he’s got that confidence about him,” Loney said. “Nothing fazes him.” Gsellman’s rise to the majors was sparked by a solid 2016 minor league season. He began this season at Class AA Binghamton and advanced to Class AAA Las Vegas after posting a 2.71 E.R.A. He had a 5.73 E.R.A. at Las Vegas, a difficult pitching environment, before his call-up. Injuries have come to define this Mets season, and the starting rotation has been hit hard. Matt Harvey is done for the season. Zack Wheeler will not pitch at all. Steven Matz is rehabbing from shoulder tightness. Rafael Montero is likely to start on Tuesday because deGrom has forearm soreness. But the Mets have surged to a game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild-card spot in the National League race partly because the rotation fill-ins Gsellman and Seth Lugo have done well. “We’ve asked a lot of some young players, and they’ve stepped up,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. The Mets plucked Gsellman in the 13th round of the 2011 draft out of Westchester High in Los Angeles. He was a two-sport star, playing baseball and basketball, which he still considers his favorite sport. He was Westchester’s shooting guard when it won a state title his junior year. He was 6-4 even then, but leaner. Gsellman began focusing on baseball because he was better on the diamond as a pitcher and slugger. Although he said his fastball in high school was a pedestrian 85 to 88 miles per hour, the Mets liked his potential and athleticism. “I thought this might be a better path,” he said. “I also wasn’t tall enough for basketball. I’m a little small.” Image Curtis Granderson hitting a two-run single in the third inning to give the Mets a 2-1 lead on the Nationals. He finished 1 for 4. Credit Rich Schultz/Getty Images Two years into his professional baseball career, Gsellman picked up a two-seam fastball, the sinking pitch that has helped vault him to the majors, courtesy of his off-season pitching coach, Keith Ramsey, a former minor league pitcher. Gsellman added a slider to his repertoire last season. The Mets called up Gsellman on Aug. 23 to pitch out of the bullpen when Matz went on the disabled list. But when Jon Niese’s knee gave out after four batters that day, Gsellman tossed three and two-thirds innings in a 7-4 win over the Cardinals. “It really doesn’t surprise me when I see him have success up here,” said Mets outfielder Michael Conforto, who came up through the minors with Gsellman. “I’m thrilled for him.” Five days after his debut, Gsellman made his first major league start. On Saturday, he flashed his poise again, allowing nine base runners but only one run. After escaping a two-on, no-out jam in the sixth, he smacked his glove in delight as he walked off the field. “I’m definitely proud of myself,” Gsellman said of his success. “I’ve come a long way to get here. My work is not done yet. I just have to keep going out there and have fun.” The Mets traded away many pitching prospects last season to build their World Series team, but pitching depth was such a strength that some options remained in the minors. Lugo was rated the 22nd-best prospect in the Mets’ minor leagues by MLB.com before his call-up, and Gsellman was 14th. “I’m not surprised, I’m proud,” Lugo said of Gsellman. “Playing with G the last few years, that dude can pitch. We kind of catch ourselves competing against each other. I know he’s got good stuff.” Collins added, “We’re very, very lucky that he wasn’t one of those guys we had to move last year.” As Gsellman pitched on Saturday, his long black hair flapped around under his hat. Lugo, who is also 6-4 but with short hair, disdains Gsellman’s long locks. “I’ve been trying to talk G into cutting that for a couple years now,” he said. Gsellman grew out his hair as part of a bet with his close friend John Gant, one of the pitching prospects used by the Mets last season to acquire Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe in a trade. The two vowed in 2014 to grow their hair out, and the first to cut it would buy the other a pair of cleats. When Gant was traded in July 2015 to the Atlanta Braves, he had to cut his hair per team policy. Gsellman, who kept his long hair, said he had better locks anyway. “He’d probably think otherwise,” Gsellman said.

Mets
Robert Gsellman
Washington Nationals
Baseball


World Cup 2014: Argentina Defeats Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract: RIO DE JANEIRO — Lionel Messi can never be the man Argentina wants him to be, since that man is Diego Maradona, and in their eyes not even Messi — no matter what genius he conjures — will ever measure up to Maradona. So Messi’s best hope to win over his countrymen is with victories. The first came Sunday night at Estádio do Maracanã, where Argentina opened Group F play with a 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. The game seemed a microcosm of Messi’s Argentina career, in which he has for years been his country’s best player but rarely its favorite. His jersey was well represented in the boisterously pro-Argentina crowd, and the cheers were deafening when he was introduced and when, less than three minutes later, he created the opening goal with a driven free kick. But in between ovations he was hectored by defenders, cajoled by the masses and, at one point, even roundly booed after wasting a scoring chance in a 1-0 game. Still, with one shimmering run across the top of the penalty area and a rocketed shot, Messi won back the fans. How We Play the Game Every team plays in distinct ways. To understand their style, one must learn a bit about each country’s history. The move took only a moment, but it reminded everyone of what Messi can offer with a tiny bit of space and a burst of speed. Taking the ball on the right wing he accelerated past one defender, dropped another and then nudged the ball around a couple more. Before anyone could yell for him to shoot the ball, it was gone, pinging in off the left post behind Bosnia goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. As Messi tugged on his jersey and shouted with joy, the fans danced in Maracanã’s concrete bowl. As he walked back to midfield for the restart, tens of thousands of them bowed toward his back. At least two Bosnians picked themselves up off the turf where he had left them behind. Bosnia threw a late scare into Argentina and its fans when Vedad Ibisevic scored in the 85th minute, but that merely paused the adoration of Messi. There was no stopping it. “It is hard to play against Messi,” Bosnia Coach Safet Susic said in what will no doubt be the understatement of the World Cup. “I had thought of man-marking him for 90 minutes, but that is impossible. But all of my players knew that whenever he had the ball we had to be close to him.” Bosnia’s first night at the World Cup could not have started much worse. A foul won far out on the left gave Argentina an early free kick, and Messi soon curled it toward his teammate Marcos Rojo at the penalty spot. Rojo flicked it on in the general direction of a teammate, but the ball landed instead at the feet of Bosnia defender Sead Kolasinac and was awkwardly redirected into his net. Image Argentina’s Sergio Agüero, left, and Ermin Bicakcic of Bosnia and Herzegovina battled at Estádio do Maracanã. Credit Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Less than three minutes in, Bosnia had been staggered. The team slowly steadied itself by coolly working the ball around, if only to keep it away from Messi, and went on to create some of the half’s best chances: Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero dashed off his line to stop Izet Hajrovic in the 13th minute and dived to his left to stop a point-blank header in the 40th. Argentina, meanwhile, was struggling with a five-back formation that, though designed to press forward on the wings, struggled to support Messi when he attacked. The introduction at halftime of a second striker, Gonzalo Higuaín, was an admission by Coach Alejandro Sabella that Messi needed some better options as well as, as he put it, something to give the Bosnian defenders “more company.” Argentina had qualified with ease in the revised 4-3-3 formation, and it soon went to work. Sergio Agüero found space on the left with increasing regularity, and that began to open the middle. After Agüero won a free kick in the 63rd minute, Messi skied it over the bar, and his fans booed. But when he scored minutes later on his dazzling run, all was forgiven. Argentina is hoping this tournament finally brings out the best in Messi, who made his debut in the event with a goal in 2006 and then struggled under Maradona in 2010, when the team’s cluttered attacking formations never brought out his best, and he failed to score even once. Argentina bottomed out a year later at the Copa América, where Messi was mercilessly booed by his home fans, but he has had a revival under Sabella. Sabella immediately named Messi his captain, and he seems to have made it his top priority to put Messi at ease. (His daughter has been less supportive, reportedly telling a radio interviewer this spring that Messi “lacks some of the heart and soul” to play for Argentina, a notion that is rather common there.) “I believe that Messi knows perfectly what his responsibility is with the national team,” Alejandro Sabella told the Spanish newspaper Marca before the World Cup. “We all have pressure for being there. We have to leave him relaxed.” Coaches have said and tried this before. José Pékerman, who is coaching Colombia at this World Cup, ushered a then-teenage Messi onto Argentina’s national team in 2005, at a time when Spain was recruiting him, and coached him in 2006. Pékerman’s face brightened last week when he recalled those days, and he said, “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing” when he first brought in Messi. Pékerman predicted that Messi, now in his prime at 26 despite a disappointing season at Barcelona, was ready to deliver the prize both the player and his country covet: a World Cup in Brazil to match the one Maradona brought home from Mexico in 1986. “Without doubt,” Pékerman said of Messi, “he and the team can give Argentina another World Cup.”

Argentina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lionel Messi
Diego Maradona
Vedad Ibisevic
2014 World Cup
Soccer
Sergio Aguero
Gonzalo Higuain


In Quest for Global Presence, Netflix Acquires Rights to 3 More Shows

Abstract: Netflix is trying to persuade TV companies that it’s a friend, not a foe. Some media executives and industry analysts are growing skeptical that licensing shows to Netflix makes sense, because it can cannibalize traditional ratings and ad revenues. So Netflix is turning up the volume on its pitch that the streaming service is a valuable partner in the fast-evolving global television industry. To that end, the company plans to announce on Monday that it has landed global streaming rights to “Jane the Virgin,” the critically acclaimed CW telenovela about a virgin who ends up accidentally pregnant; “Zoo,” the CBS thriller about violent animal attacks; and the post-apocalyptic drama “Colony” from USA and Legendary Television. The deals follow Netflix’s announcement this month that it acquired the exclusive global rights for ABC’s hit drama “How to Get Away With Murder.” “Why sell?” asked Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer. “We are a big buyer, and these guys are in the business of making and monetizing content.” There’s no question that Netflix has opened its checkbook, especially as it pushes to build its library of global rights to make its service available around the world by the end of 2016. The company has said that it expects to spend more than $6 billion in cash in 2016 on feature films, television series, documentaries, stand-up specials and other content, up about 62 percent from $3.7 billion in 2014. But after contending with steep ratings declines and an uncertain advertising market, some top media executives have said that they are evaluating how they think about licensing content to Netflix and other streaming outlets. James Murdoch, chief executive of 21st Century Fox, said during a recent investor conference, for example, that the business rules for these kinds of deals are changing. He said that while Fox has had a long partnership with Netflix, it is also doing more business with Netflix’s rival Hulu, which is jointly owned by Fox, Comcast and Disney. In the meantime, Hulu recently announced that it had landed a streaming deal with the premium cable network Epix, a joint venture of Viacom, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. (Epix previously had an agreement with Netflix, which expires at the end of this month. Its programming also is available on Amazon and cable television.) That has led some analysts to predict that media companies will hold back their content from Netflix and instead distribute it on their own apps or Hulu. “The industry is wising up,” said Ken Sena, an analyst with Evercore. “It means Netflix moves more into the role of production.” Netflix’s original productions — such as its new “Narcos” drama, about the Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar, and its first feature film, “Beasts of No Nation” — have captured most of the attention, especially as the company devotes a larger share of its content budget to originals. But the company’s deals for “Jane the Virgin,” “Zoo, “Colony,” and “How to Get Away with Murder” underscore the vital role that programming from other outlets continues to play for the service in the United States and, increasingly, around the world. While original productions help Netflix distinguish its service, popular movies and television shows keep subscribers happy with more viewing options. “Every piece of content has a value,” said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst with BTIG Research. “For Netflix, it is about figuring out the proper mix.” Mr. Sarandos said media companies are cautious about the future, but he disputed the notion that networks and studios would stop selling content to Netflix, pointing to the recent string of deals. He questioned how media companies would have fared had they stopped selling movies for distribution on TV or DVD. “Every revolution has had the naysayers,” Mr. Sarandos said. One new complexity is that Netflix is increasingly seeking the global rights for movies and shows. That changes the calculation for studios, which need to evaluate whether they will make more money by striking a global deal with Netflix or making individual deals market by market with the streaming services that are proliferating across the globe. Armando Nuñez, chief executive of the global distribution group at CBS, said that each show requires careful consideration. Beyond price, the company also evaluates how a streaming deal could affect a show’s success on the traditional television network. (CBS owns both “Zoo” and “Jane the Virgin.”) “We don’t have a cold, hard-and-fast rule of, this is the way we are going to monetize all of our content,” Mr. Nuñez said. For its global offering, Netflix is focused on scooping up the rights to top programming, both from the United States as well as international outlets, Mr. Sarandos said. He said that the company had found that tastes in TV and movies were similar across the globe and that several common preconceptions, such as the idea that American comedies do not travel well, were false. “Television gets in the way of itself,” Mr. Sarandos said.

Netflix
TV
Jane the Virgin
Zoo
CBS
Colony
CW Television Network
Fox Broadcasting


Little Vision in Elections Full of Blame

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The United States midterm elections have had almost everything, except a vision for governing. The Republicans ran on hating Obamacare and accusations that President Obama displayed a lack of leadership on the Islamic State’s terrorism and Ebola. Scott Brown, the Republican candidate for Senate in New Hampshire, even tried to blame his opponent, the incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, for the possibility that terrorists infected with Ebola might come across the Mexican border. Democrats leveled charges that hard-hearted Republicans would slice Granny’s Social Security and throw her off the Medicare rolls while denying younger women access to contraception. Republican critics refer to Senator Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, as Mark “Uterus” for his emphasis on women’s issues. A national campaign that will cost about $4 billion, thanks to outside money unleashed by a Supreme Court decision, has featured little discussion of issues that the next Congress will face. The absent agenda is tax reform, a new shape for the Affordable Care Act, or a long-term deficit measure dealing with entitlements and taxes or much-needed major infrastructure projects or whether and how to wage war against Islamic State. An election in which neither party advances ideas usually augurs poorly for getting much done. The probability is that Republicans will win a slight majority in the Senate and add about 10 seats to their House majority. That means constant clashes between a Republican-run Congress and a lame-duck Democratic president. (The outlook isn’t much different, except for appointments, if Democrats retain a slim Senate majority subject to the whim of the minority.) The president complains that congressional Republicans’ only interest is opposing him; the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has said as much. Mr. Obama seems disengaged. Republicans dismiss arguments they are too negative; they seem to be in the driver’s seat now. Yet there are incentives for each side to temper these attitudes. Republicans don’t relish the prospect of losing the White House again in 2016; that would give Democrats control in 20 of the last 28 years. Preventing that outcome is complicated by the Republicans’ image with voters. “Just say no” works in midterm elections for the opposition party; it usually doesn’t in presidential contests. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House majority leader, observed last week that if Republicans become the majority party in both houses of Congress, they would have to govern, and he offered some specific suggestions. He also tossed out notions such as a major infrastructure bill paid for by drilling fees on public lands. That won’t fly, but alternatives might. House Speaker John A. Boehner hopes he can pick up more than 10 seats, in part so he won’t have to cater as much to the Tea Party element in his caucus. He’ll have to roll the right wing on some issues and cut a few deals with Democrats. To achieve anything substantive in the Senate will require bipartisan support, which would mean Mr. McConnell and his Democratic counterpart, Harry Reid, would have to start talking to each other. As for the president, his final two years will be part of any legacy. His leverage is limited, and foreign policy crises will be central to that assessment. Mr. Obama can ill afford to stay in a funk and ignore the domestic front. He should perhaps consider a political trade-off to keep the guts of his Affordable Care Act — while chipping away at some of the little stuff — in return for giving the Republicans more on corporate tax overhauls, trade, infrastructure and even an immigration bill that’s a bit to the right of the bipartisan measure passed by the Senate. A substantive down payment on immigration changes would help Mr. Obama’s legacy, and Republicans can ill afford another presidential election as the anti-immigration party. “It may be possible to get some things done,” said Tom Daschle, a former Senate Democratic leader. “It’s not probable, but possible.”

Republicans
Senate
Democrats
Congress
Congress
2014 Midterm Elections
House of Representatives
Barack Obama


Devils Fall in Overtime to Stars in Season Opener

Abstract: An overtime gamble backfired on the Devils. Loui Eriksson and the Dallas Stars made them pay for the mistake. Eriksson scored two goals, including the winner 1 minute 36 seconds into overtime, to give the Stars a 4-3 victory over the host Devils on Friday night in the season opener for both teams. The Devils pressed for the winner as defenseman Andy Greene abandoned his blue-line post to try an offensive play, attempting a cross-ice pass to Ilya Kovalchuk that did not connect. Eriksson picked up the puck and skated the length of the ice to beat goalie Martin Brodeur from the right circle. “We were trying to score a goal, and we had everybody in the crease,” said Brodeur, who extended his N.H.L. record of consecutive season-opening starts by a goalie with one team, to 16. “We made a good play but couldn’t put it in. They capitalized.” Devils Coach John MacLean, making his debut after the retirement of Jacques Lemaire, said he would have preferred a more cautious approach. Kovalchuk, whose 15-year, $100 million contract was approved in September , assumed the role of playmaker, picking up assists on two first-period goals. HURRICANES 2, WILD 1 Cam Ward made 41 saves, the rookie Jeff Skinner scored the only goal of the shootout, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Minnesota Wild for a sweep of their two season-opening games in Helsinki, Finland. SHARKS 3, BLUE JACKETS 2 Logan Couture scored on a power play midway through the third period to help the San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in Stockholm. RED WINGS 4, DUCKS 0 Mike Modano scored on his first shot with the Red Wings, 24 seconds after Johan Franzen’s goal early in the first period, and Detroit went on to beat the visiting Anaheim Ducks. SABRES 2, SENATORS 1 Derek Roy scored his second goal of the game on a power play midway through the third period to send the Buffalo Sabres to a victory over the host Ottawa Senators. THRASHERS 4, CAPITALS 2 After watching their goalie, Ondrej Pavelec, inexplicably collapse to the ice in the opening minutes, the Atlanta Thrashers bounced back to beat the visiting Washington Capitals behind two goals from Evander Kane. Pavelec, 23, was taken to a local hospital, where preliminary tests were negative and he regained consciousness.

Carolina Hurricanes
Minnesota Wild
Hockey Ice
National Hockey League
Ward Cam


Bouncer Dies After Trying to Break Up a Fight in Queens

Abstract: A bouncer at a Queens restaurant died after he was beaten by two men who turned on him when he tried to break up a brawl, the police said. The bouncer, Elsworth Reid, 43, was working at Johnny’s Restaurant & Bar in Ozone Park at 1:15 a.m. on Saturday when a group of men started fighting in a hallway, the police said. When Mr. Reid tried to break apart the fight, Deonarine Deoraj, 31, and Harrydatt Nandalall, 48, took turns punching Mr. Reid in the face, the police said. Mr. Reid fell on his back, and the two men kept punching him as he lay on the floor. A woman also stepped in and kicked Mr. Reid’s arms and legs. He lost consciousness soon after and was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the police said. Mr. Nandalall and Mr. Deoraj, both of Queens, were charged with manslaughter and gang assault. Mr. Deoraj was also charged with possession of marijuana. The investigation is continuing, the police said.

Murders and Homicides
bars,nightclubs
Ozone Park Queens
NYC


British Leader Vows End to ‘Heavy-Handed State’

Abstract: BIRMINGHAM, England — As the government prepares to drastically scale back its operations with steep across-the-board budget cuts, Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday used the occasion of the annual Conservative Party conference here to make an earnest, impassioned call for a fundamental change in the relationship between the state and the people. “We are the radicals now, breaking apart the old system with a massive transfer of power from the state to citizens, politicians to people, government to society,” Mr. Cameron declared. Gone will be the “the old ways of doing things: the high-spending, all-controlling, heavy-handed state,” he said. In its place will come a total transformation, he said, “from unchecked individualism to national unity and purpose, from big government to the big society.” Mr. Cameron has spoken often about his notion of the “big society,” a new way of thinking about government that underpinned his campaign in last spring’s election, but polls show that many voters either have not heard of it or do not understand it. Wednesday’s speech, then, was a chance for the prime minister to explain what he means. He foresees a country in which volunteers perform tasks previously carried out by the state; in which local groups take on more responsibility for areas like health and education; in which people move off welfare and into jobs; and in which citizens are defined “not by what we consume, but by what we contribute.” “Too many people thought, ‘I’ve paid my taxes — the state will look after everything,’ ” he said. “But citizenship isn’t a transaction in which you put your taxes in and get your services out. It’s a relationship — you’re part of something bigger than you.” For most of the speech, Mr. Cameron avoided discussing the impending budget cuts, the issue preoccupying much of the country. In two weeks, the government is set to announce the details of how it plans to make sharp reductions, of an average of 25 percent, in almost every Whitehall department. Unions, local governments, charities, companies with government contracts, construction firms, retailers — all are waiting nervously for what is to come. Some analysts have predicted that 500,000 public-sector jobs might be lost as departments scale back their activities, and that perhaps twice as many private-sector jobs could go as the effects of the cuts begin to take hold. Self-assured, easygoing, a man who seems sincere, idealistic and capable, Mr. Cameron has managed to sell his message that Britain ’s budget deficit is so bad that the cuts are essential. But while many Britons applaud the idea of reducing the deficit and support the cuts in theory, the reality is likely to be another matter. Earlier this week, for example, the government learned to its peril that every potentially cut program has a potentially angry constituency when it announced that it intended to stop providing the child benefit — state money paid annually to the parents of every British child — to families in which either parent earned more than about $70,000 a year. The move provoked a barrage of anger from middle-income families and their champions in the right-leaning, usually Conservative-supporting press, who said the families relied on the money to make ends meet. And critics pointed out that families with two working parents earning a combined salary of, say $138,000, would still get the money, while a family with a single parent earning a little over $70,000 would not. Mr. Cameron hastily scheduled a television appearance to defend the move; George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, hastily sent an explanatory letter to every Conservative member of Parliament; and the government threw out a family-friendly bone by saying it would make good on its promise to give a tax break to married couples. The prime minister alluded to the matter in his speech, pointing out that “I’m not saying this is going to be easy.” But, he added, “it’s fair that those with broader shoulders” — that is, people earning more than $70,000 a year — “should bear a greater load.” But that cut is just a drop in the bucket compared with what is to come. “Everything is in a state of flux, and I think the government has really misread this,” said Mendora Ogbogbo, who runs a firm that provides public-relations training to organizations, and who was at the conference. As soon as the government set out its midyear cuts in an emergency budget in June, she said, business started falling off. “The U.K. Film Council used to be a big client; they’ve been abolished,” she said. “We used to train various regional business agencies; they’re gone.” She accused the government of using the cuts as an excuse to impose its philosophy on the country. “A lot of these cuts are ideological,” she said. “But in the middle of a bad economy, ideology should take a back seat.” Samantha Windett, the parliamentary officer for Action for Children , a charity financed by donations and by public money, said that she applauded the notion that charitable organizations should play a big role in the big society. But how will they do that, she asked, when their sources of revenue, particularly from local government, are being squeezed so tightly? “There’s an idea that communities will have more power to decide what they want,” she said. “But really they’ll have more responsibilities, and less money to do it.” Mr. Cameron acknowledged in the speech that tough times lay ahead. But he is an optimist. “I promise that if we pull together to deal with these debts now,” he said, “then just a few years down the line, the rewards will be felt by everyone in our country.”

Cameron David
Politics and Government
Conservative Party (Great Britain)
Great Britain


House Members Opt to Sleep in Their Offices

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Hansen Clarke, a newly elected Democrat from Michigan, is coming to Washington with a “warrior’s mentality” to help stave off unemployment and foreclosures in metro Detroit. He plans to hole up in his “bunker” — his Longworth House office, where he will work (“practically around the clock”), eat (“healthy options” like microwaved sweet potatoes) and sleep (most likely on a mattress and sleeping bag combination). “Washington is not going to be a home for me — I’m only there to work,” Mr. Clarke said. “I need to be able to work up to 20 hours a day and still get some decent sleep, and if I sleep in my office I’ll be able to do that.” Mr. Clarke is one of as many as a dozen freshman House members who plan to bunk in their offices when Congress is in session. Though no one has hard numbers, anecdotal evidence suggests that at least 40 to 50 House members, both new and old, will be sleeping at work. For many of them, joining the unofficial Couch Caucus is a practical way to save money and a symbolic gesture that they are both fiscally conservative and serious about changing how business is done in Washington. “It just seemed like sleeping in my office, just focusing totally on my work when I’m here, made the most sense,” said Joe Walsh, Republican of Illinois. “I don’t want to think about where I’m living, I don’t want to think about what I’m eating; I want to get in, do my work and then get home and talk to the people who sent me here.” For Todd Rokita, Republican of Indiana, and James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, the choice came down to money. Mr. Rokita simply found it unpalatable to pay $2,000 for the 600-square-foot basement apartment that his wife begged him to at least consider. “I am much too fiscally conservative, not only with the people’s money but with my own, to pay that much money,” Mr. Rokita said. The group of office sleepers, which stretches across party lines, is a male-heavy crowd. No one knew of any women who had gone public with plans to sleep in their offices, although Kristi Noem, a Republican from South Dakota, toyed with the idea before ultimately renting a small basement apartment near the Capitol. Ms. Noem is “not afraid of roughing it,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I’ve gone on weeklong elk hunting trips with my brothers, after all, but sleeping on a couch four nights a week for the next two years is a little much,” she said. “The rent is more than I’d like to pay, but getting a good night’s sleep will hopefully mean I’m more productive in the work for my constituents for the few days I am in Washington each week.” There are logistical hurdles to consider. Every new member’s office comes equipped with basic furniture and a couch, but the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer said it did not provide futons, sleeper-sofas or air mattresses. Every office also includes a bathroom and sink, but when it comes to showers, members will find themselves heading to the members’ gym in the Rayburn House Office Building. “A robe?” asked Mr. Walsh, who admitted that he is “not a real solid details guy” and that he had not yet puzzled out all the specifics of his living situation. “I’m a big sweats guy, so I imagine I’ll sneak down in my sweats and a T-shirt, because I’m going to want to work out.” Sleeping in Capitol Hill offices, which is not a new practice, became especially popular when Dick Armey decided to bunk near his desk, said Kirsten Fedewa, who worked on the Hill as a press secretary in the 1990s. “When members realized he was doing it, he made it really in vogue,” Ms. Fedewa said. “It was kind of like, wow, the icon is doing it, it makes a lot of sense.” These makeshift sleeping arrangements do provoke some grumbling. Skeptics argue that the arrangements do not actually save the taxpayers money — if anything, they say, members should have to pay Congress a small stipend for the added resources they use at night. They also complain that the practice can feel like a macho boys club, that it promotes a fierce anti-Washington sentiment that hurts bipartisanship and that, frankly, it just seems weird. New members considering the option are not lacking in role models. John Sullivan, Republican of Oklahoma, moved into his office when first elected in 2002, switched to a town house, and then changed back to sleeping at work four years ago. (In 2008, he even ran a campaign ad that showed him blowing up an air mattress as he explained: “I don’t even spend money on an apartment in D. C. Just keep an inflatable bed in my office closet. I watch your pennies, and I watch mine.”). Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who came to Congress in 2008 carrying a cot wrapped in duct tape under his arm, said he had been asked for advice by a dozen or so new representatives. “As the freshmen come in, in particular the spouses, they want to see the cot, they want to see how you get back and forth to the gym,” he said. “The profile is usually the married ones. They’ve got a young family at home, trying to save some money; they don’t come to Congress as millionaires.” The few single folks, he said, prefer “a bachelor pad.” Mr. Chaffetz is happy to share his own time-tested tips — tape a “Member Resting: Do Not Disturb” sign on the door before turning in, keep a ready stash of Pop-Tarts and popcorn for late-night hunger, and avoid the vending-machine cheeseburger at all cost. Oh, and beware of the mice. “You need some d-Con and mousetraps,” he said, cheerfully. “We’ve got a mouse problem up here.”

Sleep
House of Representatives
United States Politics and Government
Housing and Real Estate


Hong Kong Activists Kept From Flying to Beijing

Abstract: HONG KONG — A group of pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong were prevented Saturday from boarding a flight to Beijing, where they had hoped to lobby the Chinese government to heed their calls for free elections. The plan by the three activists, leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, to talk directly with Prime Minister Li Keqiang and other officials had been certain to be rejected by the Chinese government. But the attempt to fly to Beijing represented another round in a battle of images and rhetoric that has pitted the protesters against the Hong Kong government and Beijing. Image Alex Chow after he and two other student leaders were prevented from boarding a flight to Beijing. Credit Tyrone Siu/Reuters In the end, the three student leaders — Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Eason Chung — did not even leave Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific, the airline whose subsidiary, Dragonair, operates the flight to Beijing that they planned to board, told them that the Chinese authorities had rescinded their entry permits, which Hong Kong residents need to go to mainland China, according to Lester Shum, another student leader. Dozens of cheering and singing supporters gathered in the airport’s departure area , many holding up yellow umbrellas, which have been an emblem of the protests since demonstrators used umbrellas to ward off police pepper spray. “I’m mystified why a great country like China would dread students entering to request a dialogue with central officials,” Mr. Chow said at a news conference after the failed attempt to board the flight. “Public opinion in Hong Kong is clear, but the government has repeatedly avoided facing up to it.” Earlier, the student federation had written an open letter to Mr. Li, who first rose in politics through Communist Party-controlled student organizations. “We believe that democracy is the aspiration not only of Hong Kong, but also of contemporary China,” the letter read . “We hope that you can hear directly the heartfelt wishes of hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong people.”

Hong Kong
Hong Kong Federation of Students
Li Keqiang
China
Civil Unrest


Opposition Candidate Briefly Held Before Uganda’s Presidential Vote

Abstract: KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s leading opposition figure was arrested on Monday, three days before the East African country’s presidential elections. The opposition leader, Kizza Besigye , who was once a personal physician to President Yoweri Museveni but is now challenging him for the presidency, was arrested around noon as he was holding a rally in this capital city. Mr. Besigye was traveling along Jinja Road, Kampala’s main street, when his convoy was blocked by police vehicles, witnesses said. By early evening, Mr. Besigye had been released, but he was blocked again trying to organize another rally. The police said that they returned Mr. Besigye to his home a second time, but that the situation remained tense. At least one person was killed in the disturbances, the police said, and there were reports of several people injured. Conflicts over rally schedules and routes between opposition parties and the police have often led to arrests in Uganda. By early afternoon, supporters of the opposition party had surrounded the local police station where Mr. Besigye was detained, chanting his name. The riot police patrolled streets as residents watched from balconies. Image Credit James Akena/Reuters Mr. Besigye is running against Mr. Museveni in what will be the fifth presidential vote since Mr. Museveni took power in 1986, after a coup that overthrew his predecessor, Milton Obote . During that time, the nation has become a close United States ally, but observers and human-rights groups have also asserted that the government has cracked down on freedom of expression and political rights, particularly in the prelude to the election. A 2013 law effectively banned the freedom to assemble, ordering organizers of “public meetings” to notify the police three days beforehand with details about time, place, route and attendance. The law granted the inspector general discretion over approval, and it banned evening assemblies. A local radio station was shut down last month after airing an interview with Amama Mbabazi , a former prime minister and senior spy, who is also running for president, and Uganda’s police have called for the recruiting and training of volunteers to help safeguard Election Day. Mr. Besigye, 59, who challenged Mr. Museveni in elections in 2001, 2006 and 2011, staged street demonstrations after losing the 2011 election. He was shot by the military police and detained several times . In October, he was temporarily placed under house arrest to prevent him from holding opposition rallies. Uganda’s police have called for the recruitment of civilian security guards for the election. If he is re-elected, Mr. Museveni, 71, would be poised to step down after his next term, as Ugandan law bars anyone over 75 from running for president.

Uganda
Kizza Besigye
Kampala Uganda
Coups D'Etat


Tigers’ Verlander Wins His 19th Game

Abstract: The Tampa Bay Rays were expecting a tough game against Justin Verlander, and that’s exactly how it played out. Verlander became the first 19-game winner in the majors, Alex Avila hit his 15th homer and the American League Central-leading Detroit Tigers beat the Rays , 5-2, on Monday night in St. Petersburg, Fla. “He’s just not out there throwing, trying to throw 100 m.p.h.,” Tampa Bay Manager Joe Maddon said. “He pitches. He has a definite idea of what he’s doing. He’s blessed with a very good arm, but he’s also a pitcher.” Verlander (19-5) won his seventh consecutive start, giving up one run and three hits in seven innings. The 19 wins match his career high, set in 2009. “Do I know where I’m at?” Verlander said. “Of course I do, but I’ve said time and time again, those things, totals, season stats, are meant to be looked at at the end of the season.” The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the second when Avila hit a two-run shot off Jeff Niemann (8-5). Jhonny Peralta made it 4-1 in the eighth on a two-out, two-run single off reliever Juan Cruz. RANGERS 4, RED SOX 0 C. J. Wilson threw six and two-thirds scoreless innings for his 13th victory and Mike Napoli hit a three-run homer as A.L. West-leading Texas returned home with a victory over Boston. Wilson (13-5) struck out four while limiting the Red Sox to four singles. MARINERS 3, INDIANS 2 Franklin Gutierrez lifted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth and visiting Seattle scored the go-ahead run without getting a hit. Cleveland, swept by Detroit over the weekend, lost its fourth in a row. ORIOLES 4, TWINS 1 J. J. Hardy homered against the team that traded him in the off-season, Zach Britton won for the first time in 10 weeks and Baltimore snapped a five-game losing streak by winning at Minnesota. BREWERS AND PIRATES SPLIT Ryan Doumit homered and drove in two runs as host Pittsburgh ended more than a year of futility against Milwaukee with a 9-2 win in the second game of a doubleheader. The Brewers took the opener, 8-1, for their 13th straight victory over Pittsburgh, but the Pirates pounded the Milwaukee ace Zack Greinke (12-5) in the second game. The defeat was just the fourth in the last 23 games for the National League Central-leading Brewers. BRAVES 3, CUBS 0 Jair Jurrjens (13-5) pitched into and out of trouble for six and a third innings, Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman homered and visiting Atlanta beat Chicago for its fifth straight win. Uggla’s two shots gave him 30 home runs for the fifth straight season. NATIONALS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer, Ross Detwiler took a four-hitter into the seventh inning and host Washington extended Arizona’s losing streak to a season-high six games. DODGERS 2, CARDINALS 1 Aaron Miles’s run-scoring triple fueled a two-run, ninth inning rally and Los Angeles came from behind to win at St. Louis. ROCKIES 9, ASTROS 5 Jhoulys Chacin threw seven solid innings and had a two-run double while Carlos Gonzalez homered for host Colorado.

Tampa Bay Rays
Detroit Tigers
Baseball
Pittsburgh Pirates
Milwaukee Brewers


John Major Says Murdoch Sought Policy Changes

Abstract: LONDON — As the judicial inquiry into the British press sifts painstakingly through competing claims about the influence of Rupert Murdoch ’s newspapers, former Prime Minister John Major disclosed on Tuesday, for what he said was the first time, that Mr. Murdoch withdrew his newspapers’ support for the Conservatives after Mr. Major refused a demand for changes in his policies on Europe. The assertion, which came during a morning of testimony, offered some clues to the extent of Mr. Murdoch’s perceived influence on British public life — a crucial issue under scrutiny by Lord Justice Sir Brian Leveson’s inquiry into a phone hacking scandal involving Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers. There was no immediate response from Mr. Murdoch, who has told the inquiry that he never asked for anything from British prime ministers. But it was the second time in two days that a former prime minister had given an account of his relationship with Mr. Murdoch that differed diametrically in tone and content from that given by Mr. Murdoch, who testified before the panel in April. On Monday, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown flatly denied Mr. Murdoch’s account of a telephone conversation, saying it never took place. Mr. Murdoch’s News Corporation said he stood by his version of events. Mr. Major coupled his revelation with sharp criticism of the role played by Mr. Murdoch’s newspapers, saying some parts of his media empire “have lowered the general quality of the British media.” “I think they have lowered the tone,” he said. “The interaction that there has been with politicians has done no good either to the press or to the politicians.” He described Mr. Murdoch’s influence “whether he exercises it or not” as “unattractive.” “It does seem to me an oddity that in a nation which prides itself on one man one vote, we should have one man who can’t vote with a large collection of newspapers and a large share of the electronic media outlets,” he said of Mr. Murdoch, who is not a British citizen. Mr. Major was among several political leaders past and present set to testify before the inquiry over four days this week. The concentration of high-ranking figures at the inquiry has provoked speculation that the hearings will be among the most politically charged so far in the investigation. The hearings will culminate on Thursday with a daylong appearance by Prime Minister David Cameron . Mr. Major said he had met Mr. Murdoch three times in his seven years in office. On the last occasion, he said, in February 1997, Mr. Murdoch told him that if the governing Conservatives did not change their policies toward the European Union, his newspapers would not maintain their long-running support for Mr. Major’s party. “He wished me to change our European policies,” Mr. Major said. “If we couldn’t change our European policies, his papers could not, would not support our Conservative government.” He added, “It’s not very often someone sits in front of a prime minister and says to a prime minister, ‘I would like you to change your policy, and if you don’t change your policy my organization cannot support you.’ ” Shortly after that meeting, Mr. Murdoch’s flagship tabloid, The Sun, switched allegiance to Tony Blair ’s Labour Party, which won the general election in May 1997, ending 18 years of Conservative rule. Mr. Blair testified before the inquiry in late May. “I haven’t talked about this conversation at any stage over the past 15 years, but now I am under oath. I was asked the question, and I have answered the question,” Mr. Major said. News International, the British newspaper subsidiary of News Corporation, rebutted Mr. Major’s remarks in a statement, saying its British titles “did not act in unison” in the 1997 vote, with The Sunday Times supporting Mr. Major , The Times of London neutral, and The Sun and The News of the World supporting Labour. Mr. Murdoch’s sway over British politics emerged in a more textured light when Mr. Brown, a Labour politician, leveled thinly veiled charges that the Conservatives had struck a kind of compact with Mr. Murdoch to secure his support in the 2010 elections, which thrust Labour from power. Within hours of Mr. Brown’s testimony, the serving chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, a senior Conservative, took the stand at the inquiry to dismiss such notions as “nonsense.” The exchange illustrated some of the tripwires: no politician of any party wants to allow an impression of being, or having been, in Mr. Murdoch’s pocket. Accusations of complicity with him have thus come to resemble a weapon, deployed by both sides of a political elite that, testimony has shown, was acutely aware of the tycoon’s potential influence. In testimony on Tuesday after Mr. Major’s three-hour appearance, Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour opposition, said there had been “a failure to get to grips with” issues raised by the phone hacking scandal “by the press; the police, who did not investigate properly; and I think politicians, who were aware of some of what was going on and did not speak out.” He added: “Organizations like News International had huge power, and I think politicians were reticent to speak about some of these practices that were exposed. I include myself in that.”

News Corporation
News and News Media
Blair Tony
Major John
Labour Party (Great Britain)
Conservative Party (Great Britain)
Great Britain
Osborne George
Brown Gordon
Murdoch Rupert


German Energy Push Runs Into Problems

Abstract: BERLIN — It is Germany’s national goal: to have the bulk of its energy supplied by renewable power sources by 2050, without endangering the country’s powerful industrial sector or an export-based economy that is the envy of other Europeans. This energy push, known as the Energiewende, or energy transformation, took on new urgency with the decision to speed up the phasing out of nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. But the question of whether Germany can meet its 2050 goal has been hotly debated. And the issue has taken on added importance with the Russia-Ukraine crisis threatening Germany’s largest single source of natural gas. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government plans to revamp the energy law to focus on wind turbine parks and solar energy as the most cost-effective renewable sources, in the hope of reining in runaway electricity prices. But international energy experts, who recently completed a study of the German energy sector, say the country cannot meet its future needs solely through renewable sources. They say the plan must also include a climate-friendly — even if not renewable — option, like domestic natural gas. Energy will be on the agenda when European Union leaders convene in Brussels on Thursday, with member countries’ heavy dependence on Russian gas almost certain to galvanize the discussion. Leaders are also to discuss recent changes to the bloc’s climate agenda. Germany hopes that a deal can be reached to end a dispute with the union over Berlin’s exemption of some energy-intensive industries from the country’s environmental surcharges. The German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported this week that a proposal had been floated that would allow Berlin to grant surcharge reductions for companies in approximately 65 sectors. During a visit to Berlin last month, Joaquín Almunia, the European Union’s competition commissioner, said that aluminum and steel industries would be among those exempted. Experts say they expect the industrial gas, cement and electronic components sectors also to be included. About 11 percent of Germany’s energy is provided by natural gas, of which 35 percent comes from Russia. Despite the German government’s assurances that reserves of natural gas held in storage tanks are sufficient to ensure continued supply, there are fears of shortages should Moscow decide to retaliate to Western sanctions by reducing the flow of natural gas to the West. Germany has almost no natural gas of its own — at least not gas that can be extracted through conventional drilling techniques. It does have potentially promising reserves of gas in shale rock. But extraction of that shale gas through the technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, does not feature in Germany’s current plans. Germany, by 2030, would be able to produce the equivalent of 25 percent of the natural gas that it currently consumes, if it were to tap shale resources within the country, according to the international study conducted by IHS Energy, a research and consulting firm. That could rise to 35 percent, equivalent to what Germany currently imports from Russia, in subsequent years, IHS predicted. But Berlin’s firm belief remains that only by uncoupling from a dependence on gas and other fossil fuels through the expansion of power generated by renewable sources can Germany secure its energy future. “The energy transformation in Germany will be carried out by two main sources — those are wind and solar,” Rainer Baake, a deputy energy minister, said this week. The unexpected drop in global energy prices through the emergence of abundant, low-cost natural gas in the United States has posed a threat to the energy transformation, according to a study by the IHS research group presented in Berlin this week. “There has been a kind of waking up to the fact that the premises of the Energiewende, however well-intentioned they are, no longer hold because the world has changed,” said Daniel Yergin, an energy industry analyst and historian who helped carry out the study. The Renewable Energy Act in Germany has been amended several times over the last 13 years. The latest changes are to be voted on by Parliament before its summer recess, and crucial points have already been approved by Ms. Merkel’s government. Revisions to the law concentrate on managing the expansion of renewable sources by focusing on technologies that have proved to be the most cost-effective over the last decade. These changes reflect lessons learned since Germany first decided to phase out its nuclear reactors in favor of energy generated by renewable resources, which until now have all been promoted equally through government subsidies. Berlin’s nearer-term goals have not changed, aiming for 40 to 45 percent of all energy to come from renewable sources by 2025, rising to 55 to 60 percent by 2035. But the mix of technologies has been revised, with the focus now on large onshore wind parks and solar energy farms. “With the Renewable Energies Act that we created in 2000, we financed a learning curve that was expensive,” said Mr. Baake, the deputy energy minister, who is considered by some to be the grandfather of Germany’s energy transition. “But the good news is that we have learned in only 13 years to produce electricity with wind power and large solar facilities at the same price as if we were to build new coal or gas power stations,” he added. In Britain, the government is also responding to complaints from its businesses and consumers about the cost of green taxes and other environmental measures. In a parliamentary speech on Wednesday outlining his budget for 2014 to 2015, the chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, noted that industrial energy prices in the United States were half those of Britain. “We need to cut our energy costs,” he said. Mr. Osborne said he would take measures to reduce energy bills, which would include capping Britain’s tax on carbon dioxide at 18 pounds, or about $30, a ton — although not until after next year’s national elections. The tax, which is now about £5 a ton, would otherwise have increased to about £36 a ton by the end of the decade, analysts say. The freeze would cut a midsize manufacturer’s electric bill by £50,000 a year and a household’s by £15 annually, Mr. Osborne said. Electricity prices in Germany are already among the highest in the world. The price of industrial electricity has risen about 37 percent since 2005, according to the Federation of German Industries. The price in the United States has fallen by 4 percent over about the same time. The rise in energy prices has already cost Germany $52 billion in net exports and could prove even more damaging if steps are not taken to keep prices in check, according to the IHS study. IHS asserts that adding domestic shale gas into the mix would keep prices down. A decision by the European Commission this year made it possible for member countries like Britain and Poland which are interested in pursuing their shale gas reserves to do so. The Federal Environmental Agency in Germany is conducting its own study into the impact that tapping those gas reserves through fracking would have on the environment. The study is to be completed in May. But political support for the practice all but died last June, when the chancellor’s center-right government withdrew a bill that would have furthered progress on the use of fracking. Thus far, there has been no talk in Berlin of seeking to revive that proposal. Stanley Reed contributed reporting from London.

Germany
Angela Merkel
Renewable energy
Crimea


Argentina: Ex-President, Reynaldo Benito Bignone, Gets 15 Years

Abstract: Argentina ’s last military president has been found guilty of more crimes against humanity, this time getting 15 years for setting up a secret torture center inside a hospital during the 1976 military coup. The leader, Reynaldo Benito Bignone, oversaw the takeover of the Posadas de Haedo hospital in provincial Buenos Aires 35 years ago. Dozens of people were kidnapped, and doctors and nurses were among the torture victims. General Bignone, 85, was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison for involvement in illegal raids, kidnapping and torture involving 56 people from 1976 to 1978 at the Campo de Mayo detention centers at a military base on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity


A Keyboard and Mouse Set Made to Match the Mac Mini

Abstract: When Steven P. Jobs introduced the Mac Mini, he expected customers to bring their own keyboard and mouse. But many keyboards -- salvaged from old family PC's -- clash with the look of Apple's austere products. The Logitech S530 addresses that issue handily. This three-quarter-inch-thick keyboard and mouse combo comes in blinding white and is cordless. Both the mouse and the keyboard connect to the computer via an unobtrusive U.S.B. receiver. Logitech has included some nice features just for Mac users, including separate iTunes, iPhoto and Spotlight search buttons. There is also a dedicated Mail button, as well as dedicated scroll buttons for viewing Web pages. The S530 is available online and at most stores for about $99. The mouse has five programmable buttons and a scroll wheel that tilts from side to side for easier Web browsing and document editing. The mouse requires two AA batteries and the keyboard requires two AAA batteries. Battery life is about six months. When they begin to fail, the keyboard and mouse both flash, and they will last 10 days before dying completely. JOHN BIGGS

APPLE COMPUTER INC
COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET


Cuomo Administration Looks to Sell 4 Trains From Failed Rail Project

Abstract: GLENVILLE, N.Y. — On sagging train tracks in an industrial park sit four rusting passenger trains, once the cornerstone of an ambitious plan to create a high-speed rail line between New York City and Albany. But the necessary track improvements never happened. Trains that the state paid $70 million to refurbish did not work. Then the state accused Amtrak of stealing several of them by towing them to Delaware and never bringing them back. Four trains remain as monuments to the disastrous project . For years, the state paid more than $150,000 annually to rent a space to house the trains in Glenville, as well as a warehouse for spare parts in a Rotterdam industrial park. “This is New York State’s $70 million train to nowhere,” said Howard B. Glaser, the director of state operations, who called the abandoned trains a glaring example of “waste and incompetence.” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, has made a priority of consolidating government offices and trying to sell surplus state property, from automobiles to state prisons . His administration says it has already netted more than $1 million via an eBay store . On Thursday, his aides said they would now try to sell the unused trains and their spare parts, probably for scrap. Even by Albany standards, the high-speed line offers a reminder of how a much-heralded government project can fall apart — literally, in the case of the boarded-up, weed-infested trains. The state is still paying off bonds that financed a portion of the train project, even though it never succeeded, said Robert L. Megna, the state’s budget director. It was not meant to be that way. Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, heralded his 1998 deal with Amtrak to build the high-speed line as “historic,” saying it would “take train service in New York State to a new and higher level” while creating hundreds of jobs. The plan called for refurbishing seven high-powered Amtrak trains called Turboliners, which were built in the 1970s with unusual gas turbine engines. Running up to 125 miles per hour, they would shave at least 20 minutes off the trip between New York City and Albany, which now takes about two and a half hours. But various problems, technical and financial, doomed the project. Amtrak pulled out in 2004, and later agreed to pay $20 million to the state to settle a contract dispute and a lawsuit stemming from the failed partnership. After Amtrak took three of the trains to Delaware, four remained in New York, each with two engines, a cafe car and two passenger cars. In 2005, a spokesman for the State Transportation Department said they would be stored at the industrial park here “to ensure that they are kept in good condition.” But the trains now look like something out of a science-fiction movie. Some are covered in white plastic, others are rusting and all are overcome by weeds. “Today these trains may be the most expensive planters in the world,” Mr. Glaser said. Mr. Glaser, wearing a navy work shirt from the Transportation Department, served as tour guide on Thursday for a small group of reporters invited by the Cuomo administration to travel via bus to the Glenville industrial park, about 20 miles northwest of Albany, where the governor’s office promised to “reveal the latest example of government waste.” The governor’s office set up a ladder so reporters could climb onto one of the trains, which was littered with paper cups, yellowed newspapers and a forlorn can of Milwaukee’s Best. Some seat cushions were missing, but reading material — the September/October 2002 issue of Amtrak’s magazine — was still plentiful. In Rotterdam, the bus pulled up to a cinder block warehouse, its paint peeling. The building was filled with spare train parts, including crates of seat cushions, arm rests and tray tables. Mr. Megna inspected a set of metal train wheels, which were piled all around the warehouse in sets of four. “Every taxpayer dollar is a scarce resource,” he said. “If you use it for this, you can’t use it for something else. And this is just crazy.”

New York State
High-Speed Rail Projects
Transportation Department (NYS)
Budgets and Budgeting
Railroads


Wait, What’s That Noise? Cicadas, the New Batch, to Sound Siren Song in 5 States

Abstract: After a 17-year wait to mate, expect a lot of noise from the next brood of cicadas, which will start to emerge next month in parts of five states. Western Maryland, eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, northwestern Virginia and most of West Virginia are expected to see the ascension of the so-called Brood V . There are six species of periodical cicada, three with a 17-year cycle and three with a 13-year cycle. Periodical cicada populations — called broods — are identified by Roman numerals . “We think of them as the Methuselah of the insect world,” said Gregory Hoover , an ornamental entomologist at Pennsylvania State University. This particular generation of insects last emerged in 1999 (a year filled with anxiety about a different kind of bug, the computer-based Y2K ). What are cicadas? The periodical cicada is native to North America and exists nowhere else in the world, Mr. Hoover said. Researchers have been tracking the broods for more than 100 years. In the late 1800s, American entomologists created the first good maps of the insects’ ranges. Relying on a form of crowdsourcing, they sent circulars to postmasters in the Eastern United States each year and recorded their responses. Image Cicada casings on the leaves at a park on Staten Island in 2013. Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times The insects are about one and a half inches long, with red eyes and orange veins in their wings. They are smaller than the dog-day cicadas, which are usually heard in late summer. How do they make that buzz? The periodical cicadas — the males in particular — will be the noisiest. Individually, a cicada’s song sounds like a tiny maraca shaken at high speed that then fades into a noise resembling an electric buzz. In a swarm, the cicada’s high-pitch hum can reach 85 decibels , or slightly louder than a passing diesel train . Males begin their singing shortly after they emerge, while the females are mostly silent, Mr. Hoover said. The sound comes from their tymbals, the corrugated exoskeleton on their torso that they contract and release. The insects cover their own hearing organs to avoid doing damage. As the website Cicada Mania noted: “A cicada applied directly to the ear (do not do that) gets in the range of a loud rock concert and ambulance siren, which will cause hearing damage. Again, do not put cicadas in or around your ears, and avoid seeing Metallica live in concert.” How does this brood compare with others? There are many broods of periodical cicadas, with different geographic ranges and life cycles. In 2013, the arrival of Brood II was most evident in places like Staten Island and parts of the Hudson Valley. Brood V’s population will number in the billions, but the distinction of “Big Brood” goes to Brood X , which saw cicadas in more than a dozen states in 2004, Mr. Hoover said. In general, development in forested areas that remove trees, which are the habitat for periodical cicadas, has drastically reduced their populations, he said. Should I be worried? Although adult cicadas are harmless to people, they can cause some damage to shade and fruit trees, Mr. Hoover said. They can also cause a mess and discomfort for humans. In addition to the eerie noise cicadas emit, they leave behind casings that can coat decks and patios, prompting some homeowners in the past to get power washers to remove them. If you have a phobia about insects , this will be a time of high anxiety. Dog owners have discovered the undigested remnants of the insects from the upset stomachs of their pets. But for some other animals, such as birds and fish, the emergence of the periodical cicada means a bumper crop of food. Trout, bass and carp “will literally gorge themselves” on the adult insects, Mr. Hoover said. How do they know when to emerge? The lead-up to cicadas’ emergence is a prolonged, low-key process. Cicada nymphs spend 17 years underground, where they “await an undetermined signal for emergence,” Mr. Hoover said. A combination of soil temperatures reaching 64 degrees and light rain seems to trigger their ascension, he said. The nymphs climb trees and within an hour, they shed their skins and become adults. Ten days later, the mating begins. Each female lays up to 400 eggs in the twigs of more than 75 species of trees. Nymphs hatch in six to eight weeks and then drop to the soil for a period longer than four presidential administrations before they re-emerge and the cycle continues.


In Colorado, Gay Rights May Shape Campaign

Abstract: DENVER (AP) — Minutes after President Obama announced that he supported same-sex marriage , the Democratic governor of Colorado choked back tears as he ordered state lawmakers to reconsider a civil unions measure that Republicans had defeated the day before. In the week that followed, the debate over equal rights for same-sex couples consumed the State Capitol. And while Republicans ultimately succeeded in killing the measure, lawmakers in both parties acknowledged that the emotional standoff over the issue could help shape the presidential campaign in this battleground state. “Go back to your communities, go back to your neighborhoods, go back to your churches and let them know that the fight continues,” Speaker Frank McNulty, a Republican, implored opponents of same-sex marriage who had gathered outside the Capitol on Tuesday. Democrats, in turn, predicted that their loyalists, as well as independents, would rally behind Mr. Obama, who plans to visit the state on Wednesday to deliver a commencement address at the Air Force Academy before attending fund-raisers in Denver. “That will have a positive impact on the chances of the president being re-elected and winning Colorado in November,” said State Representative Mark Ferrandino, a Democrat who is gay and co-sponsored the civil unions legislation. Since 2008, the issue of equal rights for same-sex couples has flared in just a handful of the dozen or so battleground states where the presidential race will be decided. Two of those states, Iowa and New Hampshire, now recognize same-sex marriage, while North Carolina recently voted to strengthen its ban. But the fight in Colorado was especially bitter, and feelings on both sides are raw. So Republicans and Democrats are bracing for social issues like same-sex marriage and civil unions to factor into voters’ calculations for November. The economy is certain to dominate the race in the state. But with joblessness falling, social issues like civil unions could well become more of an issue in voters’ minds. Just six years ago, Coloradans overwhelmingly voted to change the State Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. By this spring, though, there was enough bipartisan support in the legislature to approve civil unions. And yet Republican leaders twice used legislative maneuvers to stop the measure, most recently last Monday. Some Republicans fear that their stand on civil unions in Colorado could harm the party with independent voters. Others doubt the issue’s potency come the fall. Among them is Kirk Fordham, the executive director of the Gill Action Fund, based in Denver. The organization is financed by Tim Gill, a nationally prominent gay rights advocate. “By the time we get to November,” Mr. Fordham predicted, “the attention will largely have shifted back to economic issues.”

Same-Sex Marriage Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships


Why Fish Came Ashore

Abstract: About 365 million years ago, the fins of some fish evolved into limbs, creating a class of animals known as tetrapods that left the water to dwell on land, giving rise to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. But just how fins turned to limbs has been a subject of great interest in evolutionary biology. A new study in the journal Nature reports that a genetic defect in certain fish may have stunted fin growth and led to the development of limbs and the emergence of land dwelling creatures. Using zebrafish, researchers inhibited the activity of a set of genes in developing embryos. Fin growth was greatly reduced, leaving room for limbs to develop. “If this kind of gene expression happened in an ancestral fish that may have led to limb development,” said Marie-Andree Akimenko, a biologist at the University of Ottawa in Canada and one of the study’s authors. The set of genes seem to code for the proteins that lead to the development of actinotrichia, fibers that provide structural support for the formation of fin rays, the rigid bones that make up a fin. The absence of these genes, found in other fish but not in any land-dwelling animals, may have allowed for limb development. Next, Dr. Akimenko hopes to introduce this set of genes into mice embryos to see what happens. Fossils of some early land dwellers show eight digits at the ends of each limb, rather than the five that most tetrapods have today. Further research may shed more light on how and why this occurred, she said.

Fish and Other Marine Life
Evolution
Science and Technology