Stuyvesant Principal, Now Retired, Mishandled Cheating Case, Report Says

The principal, Stanley Teitel, retired last summer, while the city's Education Department was investigating his handling of the cheating, which involved more than 60 students using smartphones to receive answers for standardized city and state tests.

The report, issued by the department's Office of Special Investigations, said that after Mr. Teitel was tipped off by a student about the cheating, he set up a sting operation to catch the ringleader when he should have tried to pre-emptively thwart the cheating, including by enforcing the citywide ban on phones inside schools.

The report said that Mr. Teitel and an assistant principal, Randi Damesek, took too long to question students involved and did not report the cheating to state officials until eight days after catching the lead student, when reporters began inquiring about what had happened.

"It is the conclusion of this office that due to a lack of foresight, candor and professional judgment, Mr. Teitel and Ms. Damesek failed to efficiently and effectively carry out the administrative duties entrusted to them during their handling of the 'cheating incident' of June 2012," the report said.

It recommended that Mr. Teitel be barred from future employment in city schools, and the Education Department will follow that recommendation, said Erin Hughes, a spokeswoman.

Mr. Teitel said on Friday that he had not seen yet the report and would not discuss its contents.

"No one sent me a copy of it," he said, adding: "I am retired. I have been retired for over a year."

Efforts to reach Ms. Damesek were unsuccessful. The Education Department will bring disciplinary charges against her and seek her firing "or, at the very minimum, a demotion," Ms. Hughes said.

Besides its unflattering portrait of the leadership team at one of the most prestigious high schools in the country, the report also describes a 21st-century example of how students let others peek at their answers.

The ringleader, Nayeem Ahsan, referred to as "Student A" in the report, told investigators he used his iPhone to send answers to other students via text messages to "garner good will" among classmates, the report said, and perhaps get help from them in subjects he was weaker in. The number of students involved who received his texts "grew and grew," according to Mr. Ahsan's account in the report.

During the physics Regents exam, he told investigators, he waited until one proctor left the room and was replaced by a lax one who did not walk around. Eventually, she fell asleep, he said, and he began sending out answers. The proctor denied falling asleep.

On June 16, a student e-mailed Mr. Teitel to say that Mr. Ahsan had "electronically assisted" several students on Regents exams and was set to do so again, the report said. In reaction to that message, Mr. Teitel "showed an extreme lack of judgment," it said. He set up a sting operation for a June 18 language exam, placing a reliable proctor to catch Mr. Ahsan in the act, the report said. When the proctor did so, he notified Mr. Teitel, who took Mr. Ahsan and his phone out of the room.

School staff members copied information from the phone to find out who else had been receiving answers. Shortly after Mr. Ahsan left, the information on his phone suddenly disappeared; he told school staff members that he had just suspended his phone service, which they did not believe, the report said.

Mr. Teitel told Mr. Ahsan and his father, "There's no way I'm keeping him" at Stuyvesant, and told them to request a safety-related transfer to another school, which they reluctantly did, but education officials rejected it, saying his safety was not truly in jeopardy.

Dozens of students were suspended for several days and had to retake exams. Nayeem Ahsan spent his senior year at Forest Hills High School in Queens, and graduated two months ago, officials said.

Though the report is dated Nov. 5, its release was delayed nearly 10 months, until Friday, "because there were allegations of a 'culture of cheating' " at Stuyvesant, Ms. Hughes said.

"We kept the investigation open and monitored until the end of the school year," Ms. Hughes said. "No further evidence was presented that warranted a change in the report, so the report was issued as is."

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7 Baggage Handlers at Kennedy Airport Accused of Pocketing Valuables

The mysterious trickle of disappearing items continued for months, and passengers at Kennedy Airport complained until the airline's officials installed a video camera in the luggage hold. Then, the authorities said, they found the culprits.

Seven baggage handlers working on contract for the airline, which regularly flies between New York and Israel, were seen rifling through the bags that they were hired to load and unload onto the airline's 747 aircraft, officials said.

They filled their pockets and their pant legs with cash, jewelry, cameras and computers — and even stole a $5,000 Seiko watch and a Sony PlayStation, officials said.

"When air travelers check their luggage with an airline, there is an implicit trust that their bags and their contents will meet them at their destination," the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said in a statement on Friday. "It is always disheartening as a traveler to find that trust to be broken."

The baggage handlers were identified as Tristan Bredwood, 22; Udhoo Doodnauth, 27; Julio Salas, 44; Dashawn Schooler, 25; Romaine Smith, 25; Oshaine Christie, 22; and Nkosi Cunningham, 24. None have entered pleas.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Cunningham were released on their own recognizance but ordered to return to court in the fall. The rest remained held, with bail set at $1,000. The authorities said the suspects admitted to stealing many of the items, some of which were later recovered from their homes and cars.

They were all arrested Wednesday, arraigned Thursday night in Queens Criminal Court and variously charged with third- and fourth-degree larceny, third-, fourth-, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, fourth-degree criminal mischief, petty larceny and attempted petty larceny.

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Relief, but Disappointment, for Plaintiffs in N.F.L. Case

Years ago, the symptoms started. Forrest Gregg would drag his left foot when he walked. He would thrash and kick and scream in the night, a nightmare running in his head. He would comb his hair with his right hand while his left hand trembled.

His wife, Barbara, denied it all at first, then took him to a doctor, who diagnosed Parkinson's disease and attributed it to Gregg's football career.

Two years later, Gregg, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, spends his days exercising, reading and resting. He is constantly exhausted. He sleeps 14 hours a day, Barbara said. He cannot sweep the driveway anymore. He cannot fly-fish the way he used to. His children call him every night to converse, to try to keep him sharp.

This year, Gregg joined more than 4,500 other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the N.F.L. over concussions. A $765 million settlement in the case was announced Thursday. When reached by phone Friday, Gregg spoke slowly and sounded tired.

"I'm glad to see it happen," he said. "It serves a lot of purpose, and the people who really need to be taken care of will be taken care of."

He had been worried about his health and his family's future, he said, and the settlement eased that a bit. That seemed to echo the early public sentiment from many former players with degenerative diseases: their time may be short, and the settlement ensures some compensation without a long legal battle.

But others, like Eleanor Perfetto, the widow of the former offensive lineman Ralph Wenzel, were more torn. She said she felt relieved that the suit was ending and that players like Gregg would be helped, but also disappointed that there would be no admission by the N.F.L. regarding a link between the players' concussions and their illnesses.

Perfetto devoted much of her life to her husband, who was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as C.T.E., and Alzheimer's disease. Wenzel deteriorated in the last decade of his life as he argued his case against the N.F.L.

"We'll never know what they knew when," Perfetto said. "There is satisfaction, though, in knowing that they did settle, and it's a sizable settlement, and that tells you there was considerable merit to the suit."

Thomas Jones, one of the youngest plaintiffs at 35, feels similarly. He said he felt lucky that he had not had serious health problems. When he feels down, or has mood swings, or forgets the topic of a conversation, he fears it is because of the countless concussions he sustained during his career, he said.

Jones said he had made arrangements to donate his brain to the Sports Legacy Institute, a Boston nonprofit organization, for research. He is also shopping around a documentary series he produced, "The N.F.L.: The Gift or the Curse?" One of the episodes in the series, which examines off-the-field issues, is about concussions and their effects.

The settlement was fine, he said, but he was still disturbed.

"You can't buy your brain back," Jones said. "That's the problem. Everybody looks at the money — not the actual issue. There are family members dealing with these players that have problems walking, that don't even remember their names."

As part of the settlement, retired players will not have to prove that they had concussions or that concussions led to their neurological problems. They will need to prove only that they have neurological issues. The Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little, who says he has memory problems, told The Post-Standard in Syracuse that it was insulting for players to have to prove their level of disability.

"You have to prove it?" Little asked. "What the heck is that? I have to go humble myself? How can you prove that you've suffered? Guys aren't going to do it."

The settlement does little to change the science of evaluating and addressing concussions. In the proposed deal, the league agreed to spend $10 million on unspecified research, a pittance given the expense of doing large-scale, long-term studies that specialists say are needed to determine critical issues like who might be predisposed to developing neurological problems from head trauma.

"This does not change anything from a medical perspective or how patients are treated or will be treated in the future," said Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, the director of Michigan NeuroSport at the University of Michigan and an associate professor of neurology.

"This is largely a legal issue," added Kutcher, who directs the N.B.A.'s concussion program. "While $10 million is a nice sum, it is not going to make any significant difference."

A big population study, Kutcher said, would probably cost about $8 million a year for 15 years.

Perfetto, Wenzel's widow, who was formerly a senior director at Pfizer and recently became a professor in the school of pharmacy at the University of Maryland, said $10 million was a "pathetic number."

Perfetto also took offense that the settlement had separate tiers for different disabilities: paying up to $3 million for those with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, up to $4 million for the estates or families of players who committed suicide and were found to have C.T.E., and up to $5 million for those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

"I'm not quite sure how they can differentiate these things from one another," she said, "or why they would ever put a different price tag on one versus another, indicating some different level of devastation. I can't imagine that."

Perfetto, along with some retired players, also worried that there would not be enough money left for younger retirees, like Jones, once those with the most debilitating conditions were paid.

Sol Weiss, a lead counsel on the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee, said that while the amount in the settlement was important, expediency was also critical.

"I've got a lot of clients who are hurting and need the money, a lot of young players who don't have insurance now," he said. "The resolution is a compromise, but all in all, the settlement is fair."

Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 30, 2013

A summary with an earlier version of this article misstated the dollar amount of the settlement in a lawsuit against the N.F.L. over concussions. It was $765 million, not $765.

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Seamus Heaney, Irish Poet of Soil and Strife, Dies at 74

Seamus Heaney, the 1995 Nobel laureate in literature, who was often called the greatest Irish poet since Yeats, died on Friday in Dublin. He was 74.

His publisher, Faber & Faber, announced the death. The Irish poet Paul Muldoon, a longtime friend, said that Mr. Heaney was hospitalized after a fall on Thursday. Mr. Heaney had suffered a stroke in 2006.

In an address, President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland, himself a poet, praised Mr. Heaney's "contribution to the republics of letters, conscience and humanity." Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, said that Mr. Heaney's death had brought "great sorrow to Ireland, to language and to literature."

A Roman Catholic native of Northern Ireland, Mr. Heaney was renowned for work that powerfully evoked the beauty and blood that together have come to define the modern Irish condition. The author of more than a dozen collections of poetry, as well as critical essays and works for the stage, he repeatedly explored the strife and uncertainties that have afflicted his homeland, while managing simultaneously to steer clear of polemic.

Mr. Heaney (pronounced HEE-nee), who had made his home in Dublin since the 1970s, was known to a wide public for the profuse white hair and stentorian voice that befit his calling. He held lectureships at some of the world's foremost universities, including Harvard, where, starting in the 1980s, he taught regularly for many years; Oxford; and the University of California, Berkeley.

As the trade magazine Publishers Weekly observed in 1995, Mr. Heaney "has an aura, if not a star power, shared by few contemporary poets, emanating as much from his leonine features and unpompous sense of civic responsibility as from the immediate accessibility of his lines."

Throughout his work, Mr. Heaney was consumed with morality. In his hands, a peat bog is not merely an emblematic feature of the Irish landscape; it is also a spiritual quagmire, evoking the deep ethical conundrums that have long pervaded the place.

"Yeats, despite being quite well known, despite his public role, actually didn't have anything like the celebrity or, frankly, the ability to touch the people in the way that Seamus did," Mr. Muldoon, a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the poetry editor at The New Yorker, said in an interview on Friday. "It was almost like he was indistinguishable from the country. He was like a rock star who also happened to be a poet."

Mr. Heaney was enraptured, as he once put it, by "words as bearers of history and mystery." His poetry, which had an epiphanic quality, was suffused with references to pre-Christian myth — Celtic, of course, but also that of ancient Greece. His style, linguistically dazzling, was nonetheless lacking in the obscurity that can attend poetic pyrotechnics.

At its best, Mr. Heaney's work had both a meditative lyricism and an airy velocity. His lines could embody a dark, marshy melancholy, but as often as not they also communicated the wild onrushing joy of being alive.

The result — work that was finely wrought yet notably straightforward — made Mr. Heaney one of the most widely read poets in the world.

Reviewing Mr. Heaney's collection "North" in The New York Review of Books in 1976, the Irish poet Richard Murphy wrote: "His original power, which even the sternest critics bow to with respect, is that he can give you the feeling as you read his poems that you are actually doing what they describe. His words not only mean what they say, they sound like their meaning."

Mr. Heaney made his reputation with his debut volume, "Death of a Naturalist," published in 1966. In "Digging," a poem from the collection, he explored the earthy roots of his art:

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests; snug as a gun.

Under my window, a clean rasping sound

When the spade sinks into gravelly ground:

My father, digging. I look down

Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds

Bends low, comes up twenty years away

Stooping in rhythm through potato drills

Where he was digging.

The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaft

Against the inside knee was levered firmly.

He rooted out tall tops, buried the bright edge deep

To scatter new potatoes that we picked,

Loving their cool hardness in our hands.

By God, the old man could handle a spade.

Just like his old man.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner's bog.

Once I carried him milk in a bottle

Corked sloppily with paper. He straightened up

To drink it, then fell to right away

Nicking and slicing neatly, heaving sods

Over his shoulder, going down and down

For the good turf. Digging.

The cold smell of potato mould, the squelch and slap

Of soggy peat, the curt cuts of an edge

Through living roots awaken in my head.

But I've no spade to follow men like them.

Between my finger and my thumb

The squat pen rests.

I'll dig with it.

Though Mr. Heaney's poems often have pastoral settings, dewy rural romanticism is notably absent: instead, he depicts country life in all its harsh daily reality. His poem "A Drink of Water" opens this way:

She came every morning to draw water

Like an old bat staggering up the field:

The pump's whooping cough, the bucket's clatter

And slow diminuendo as it filled,

Announced her. I recall

Her grey apron, the pocked white enamel

Of the brimming bucket, and the treble

Creak of her voice like the pump's handle.

Mr. Heaney was deeply self-identified as Irish, and much of his work overtly concerned the Troubles, as the long, violent sectarian conflict in late-20th-century Northern Ireland is known.

James C. McKinley Jr. contributed reporting.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 30, 2013

In an earlier version of this article, Enda Kenny, the prime minister of Ireland, was described incorrectly. He is a man.

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Hewitt Upsets del Potro; Murray and Djokovic Rebound

Two former United States Open champions, both strong-willed competitors and veterans of the spotlight, carried on late into Friday night in one of the most dramatic contests of the early stages of the Open.

After a day of mostly tidy business as usual, the prime-time matchup of sixth-seeded Juan Martín del Potro and Lleyton Hewitt was highly anticipated, even if it did not have the current brand name figures of the sport. It was still the charismatic del Potro, the winner here in 2009, and Hewitt, a perennial contender whose backward cap and spunkiness fans have come to adore.

Their performance surpassed its billing. Hewitt, 32, from Australia, outlasted del Potro, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1.

"It's an amazing feeling," Hewitt said. "I love being out in that atmosphere, soaking up every second of it."

From the outset, both players seemed to nestle into their comfort zones. Hewitt was serving to win the second set, ahead by 5-4, but he double-faulted to bring the game back to deuce — a severe miscue that cost him. Del Potro wound up winning the game and rallied to take the set, 7-5.

From there, it was back and forth, neither player sustaining momentum for more than a game or even a point. Del Potro struggled with his backhand, but his powerful forehand was crisp. Hewitt, who won here 12 years ago, played like the grizzled bulldog he has become known as.

"He's a great champion and a great fighter," del Potro said of Hewitt. "For the second round, it's a really difficult player."

Two hours and 45 minutes into the match, it could not have been tighter: both players had 105 points. After del Potro won the third set, he fought off two break points to hold serve and even the fourth set at 3-3. Both players wound up exchanging breaks and the set went to a tiebreaker.

There, Hewitt played at his sharpest, jumping ahead, 6-0, before winning, 7-2. He committed only four unforced errors in the fifth set, and del Potro fell flat.

"I just kept fighting and putting it out there," Hewitt said. "I kept coming at him the whole night. I felt like I was seeing the ball well. Felt like I played a good game plan."

Earlier in the evening, the defending champion, Andy Murray, became the highest seed to drop a set at the Open, and for a moment it looked as if Leonardo Mayer of Argentina could push the match to its brink.

But the third-seeded Murray rebounded with a fourth set more typical of him, beating Mayer, 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Against the hard-hitting Mayer, Murray made seven unforced errors, while Mayer was superb with his forehand and turned up the intensity of his serves, notching five aces. The match stretched well past two hours.

"I was a bit frustrated at points in the match," Murray said. "I was doing quite a lot of the running for a lot of it, and wasn't getting quite as much depth on my returns. You don't feel like you're dictating the match. It can be a little frustrating."

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic needed a tiebreaker to win the first set in a 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-2 victory over Benjamin Becker of Germany. Djokovic admitted he had trouble adjusting to the winds and conditions early in the match, but it hardly sounded like cause for alarm.

"It was very tough," he said. "It was a lot of unforced errors, very windy conditions. You couldn't really read and predict where the ball is going to go, so you have to be very alert. At the start I had difficulty with my footwork. But, you know, I won the set, and after that, it was much, much better."

Also advancing was No. 12 seed Tommy Haas, who beat the qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Haas, 35, is playing in the rare over-30 crowd, now enthusiastically joined by Li Na.

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DealBook: JPMorgan Hiring Put China’s Elite on an Easy Track

The program was originally called "Sons and Daughters." And although it was supposed to protect JPMorgan Chase's business dealings in China, the program went so off track that it is now the focus of a federal bribery investigation in the United States, interviews and a confidential government document show.

JPMorgan started the program in 2006 as the friends and family of China's ruling elite were clamoring for jobs at the bank, according to the interviews with former bank employees and financial executives in China and the United States. The program's existence, which has not been previously reported, suggests that the bank's hiring of such employees was widespread.

Saying they wanted to weed out nepotism and avoid bribery charges in the United States, JPMorgan employees in Asia started the program to hire well-connected candidates on a separate track from ordinary applicants, the employees and executives said. Without the program and its heightened scrutiny of the candidates, the employees argued, JPMorgan might improperly hire the children of Chinese officials to win business.

But in the months and years that followed, the two-tiered process that could have prevented questionable hiring practices instead fostered them, according to the interviews as well as the confidential government document. Applicants from prominent Chinese families, interviews show, often faced few job interviews and relaxed standards. While many candidates met or exceeded the bank's requirements, some had subpar academic records and lacked relevant expertise.

JPMorgan, which declined to comment, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. And no one has indicated that the children of Chinese officials helped the bank secure business deals. Furthermore, public documents do not offer a concrete link between the bank's hiring practices and its ability to secure business deals.

Yet, according to the interviews, which were conducted on the condition of anonymity, JPMorgan employees in Asia recognized the benefit of hiring Chinese officials' children. In an internal document, the employees linked the hires to the "revenue" JPMorgan obtained from companies run by those same officials.

It is unclear why and when the "Sons and Daughters" program shifted from a safeguard into a liability. But the results were clear: Children with elite pedigrees faced lower standards. In one instance, according to the interviews, the bank continued to employ the son of Tang Shuangning, the chairman of a state-controlled financial conglomerate, even though some JPMorgan officials questioned the younger Mr. Tang's financial expertise.

The son, whose résumé included impressive stints at other global banks, is one of two former JPMorgan employees to surface in an antibribery investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the confidential agency document sent to the bank and reviewed by The New York Times. The S.E.C. document — a May 2013 letter to JPMorgan that outlined the scope of the agency's inquiry — sought "documents sufficient to identify all persons involved in the decision to hire" the employees.

The S.E.C. did not inquire about the daughter of Ning Gaoning, the chairman of China's giant state run food company, Cofco. However, according to a review of securities filings and public records, she was an intern at JPMorgan during the summer of 2012. JPMorgan won business from Cofco, or a subsidiary, before she joined the bank. Yet after she arrived, a subsidiary of Cofco also hired JPMorgan to advise on its plan to raise about $580 million through an issuance of shares, a deal that could draw interest from the S.E.C.

The S.E.C. is coordinating its civil investigation with federal prosecutors and the F.B.I., officials said on Thursday, though the criminal authorities have not yet contacted the bank. Hong Kong authorities are also investigating the hiring practices, according to people briefed on the matter.

According to the interviews, an internal JPMorgan investigation into its hiring practices across the globe has so far identified more than 250 well-connected hires in Asia alone. That number included the sons and daughters of private Chinese companies, a hiring practice that would not violate United States law but could cause regulatory problems overseas.

At the heart of the S.E.C.'s investigation is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, which essentially bans United States companies from giving "anything of value" to a foreign official to win "an improper advantage" in retaining business.

According to legal experts, there is nothing inherently improper about hiring well-connected people. To run afoul of the law, a company must act with "corrupt" intent, or with the expectation of offering a job in exchange for government business.

It is unclear whether the S.E.C. will find such a link in JPMorgan's case. Still, according to securities filings and the confidential S.E.C. document, some of the bank's hiring came at an opportune time.

One striking example was the hiring of Tang Xiaoning, whose father is the chairman of the China Everbright Group, the state-controlled financial conglomerate.

Before the hiring in 2010, the bank's business with China Everbright was limited, if not nonexistent, based on a review of securities filings and news reports. Since then, though, JPMorgan won a steady flow of business. In 2011, China Everbright's banking subsidiary picked JPMorgan as one of 12 financial advisers on its decision to become a public company, a common move in China for businesses affiliated with the government. While that deal was delayed amid global economic turmoil and questions about China's banking system, JPMorgan has since secured other coveted business from China Everbright.

In 2012, for example, JPMorgan was the sole bank hired to advise China Everbright International, a subsidiary focused on alternative energy businesses, on a $162 million sale of shares, according to Standard & Poor's Capital IQ, a research service. JPMorgan also advised the China Everbright Group on its role in what was, according to the research firm Dealogic, the largest-ever private equity deal in China.

With those relationships in mind, the S.E.C. asked the bank for "all documents" relating to the younger Mr. Tang's "recruitment, hiring" and application.

The S.E.C. is also examining the hiring of Zhang Xixi, whose father is Zhang Shuguang, the former deputy chief engineer of China's railway ministry. She joined JPMorgan around 2007. In the months and years to come, the bank nestled closer to the railways business in China.

The government agency has never hired JPMorgan directly, securities filings and news reports suggest. Still those records indicate that the China Railway Group, the construction company whose largest customer is thought to be the Chinese government, picked JPMorgan to advise it on plans to become a public company in 2007.

JPMorgan scored desired business about four years later when Ms. Zhang was an associate at the bank. The operator of a high-speed railway from Beijing to Shanghai picked the bank to guide it through its own initial public stock offering, according to news reports. In the S.E.C. document, the agency requested that JPMorgan turn over documents related to the public offering.

Ms. Zhang's father, the document noted, was detained on suspicion of corruption. To date, he has not been prosecuted.

David Barboza contributed reporting.

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DealBook: Verizon in Talks to Buy Vodafone’s Stake in Its Wireless Unit

Updated, 8:27 p.m. | With a majority of Americans using Verizon Wireless for their cellphone service, it may not seem obvious that almost half of Verizon is owned by a company overseas.

That could soon change. Vodafone, the British telecommunications giant, has confirmed that it is in talks to sell to Verizon Communications its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless, a deal that analysts say could be worth at least $125 billion.

For Verizon, this has been a long-sought deal, one that would rank among the biggest purchases in history. With complete ownership of its wireless business, the company would be able to shift from receiving dividends to being able to fully incorporate all of its profit. And it will have full control over what it does with that profit, especially as advertisers, content distributors and wireless carriers increasingly use smartphones, mobile data and information services.

In theory, having complete ownership of the wireless venture would allow Verizon to integrate its businesses more tightly, which might lead to better deals on bundles with wireline and wireless products.

At least in the short term, Verizon customers would be unlikely to see much difference in their service. "The impact from a consumer perspective will be negligible," said Jan Dawson, a telecom analyst for Ovum.

But it is clear why Verizon would want complete ownership of its wireless division. The lucrative wireless industry, already worth $1.6 trillion, is expected to become a multitrillion-dollar market in the next decade, said Chetan Sharma, an independent telecom analyst who does consulting for carriers.

With 10 billion connections worldwide, the number of cellular subscriptions is on track to outgrow the human population. That is because in addition to cellphones, many other devices, like tablets, video game devices and even home security systems, are now all relying on cell towers to deliver information, entertainment and media to consumers.

Verizon is still the No. 1 cellphone carrier in the United States by market share, but it faces formidable competition from AT&T, the No. 2 carrier. The smaller carriers, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, offer lower-cost phone and data plans to try to compete, but to little avail — AT&T and Verizon still account for two-thirds of overall subscribers.

Verizon's core strategy has been to invest more in network infrastructure to attract customers with the best technology. For instance, it is leading the industrywide race in building a faster fourth-generation wireless network, called LTE. Verizon has LTE covering 500 markets; AT&T has LTE in about 370 markets.

Verizon, one of the last so-called Baby Bells that trace their origins to the breakup of AT&T, has banked on wireless as a central part of its future. Today, a majority of Verizon's revenue comes from its wireless business. In the second quarter this year, Verizon Wireless brought in $20 billion of Verizon's total $29.8 billion in revenue.

For the most part, Vodafone has been an unseen partner all these years, happily taking in its cut of the profits via the dividend that its 45 percent stake in the wireless venture has provided. The relationship is one that dates back to the telecom mergers in the 1990s. Bell Atlantic had merged with GTE to become Verizon Communications. Vodafone had acquired AirTouch, an American wireless company. Verizon merged its wireless business with Vodafone's acquired assets of AirTouch so that combined, they could become a bigger player.

For years, there was speculation that Vodafone would want to get out of the business so it could concentrate on its European operations, but the right price and tax implications of any deal had always held up any definitive agreement.

This year, however, Verizon said it could structure any potential transaction to limit Vodafone's tax liabilities. Despite speculation this year about a potential deal, no acquisition for Verizon Wireless materialized, and Verizon said in April that it did not have plans to merge or make an offer for all of Vodafone.

Analysts said any prospective deal now would likely involve a cash-and-stock offer that would give Vodafone roughly a 30 percent stake in Verizon.

Vodafone's chief executive, Vittorio Colao, has previously said that he was open to selling the holding in Verizon Wireless, though the company confirmed only on Thursday that it was in talks about a potential deal. A final deal could be announced as early next week, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

If Verizon and Vodafone were to reach an agreement, each company would have to take on a different outlook for the American phone business, said Craig Moffett, an analyst for Moffett Research.

To justify the billions it would have to pay, Verizon would have to be confident that the growth of Verizon Wireless would remain strong, he said. By contrast, Vodafone would have to believe that the American wireless business is stagnating and that Verizon Wireless cannot grow much more.

"For investors, the pertinent question is therefore: Which outlook do you believe?" Mr. Moffett said in a research note.

At least initially, investors seemed to support the news of the talks. Shares in Vodafone closed up 8 percent in trading in London on Thursday. Its stock price, however, has fallen around 40 percent since the Verizon Wireless partnership was established in 1999.

Verizon's shareholders, too, seemed enthusiastic about the prospect of a deal. Its shares were up about 2.7 percent, even though it would have to pay, and borrow, billions, to make the purchase happen.

A Vodafone spokesman declined to comment further. A representative for Verizon was not immediately available for comment.

The potential deal would be one of the biggest in the last two decades, trailing only Vodafone's $202.8 billion takeover of the German cellphone operator Mannesmann in 2000 and the $181.6 billion merger of AOL and Time Warner in 2001, according to Thomson Reuters. (Both figures include the assumption of debt.) And between fees for advising the two companies and for lending money to support the deal, a transaction would be a bonanza for advisers to Verizon and Vodafone.

For Vodafone, the world's second-largest cellphone operator behind China Mobile, an influx of cash would let it strengthen its core European operations, which have struggled because of the Continent's financial woes. It would also allow Vodafone's investors to benefit through share buybacks.

"Vodafone investors are expecting a fairly material payout," said Paul Marsch, an analyst at Berenberg Bank in London. "They have been waiting for a very long time."

The healthy earnings at Verizon Wireless stand in contrast to those of Vodafone, which has experienced anemic growth in Europe.

Vodafone reported a 3.5 percent fall, to $15.7 billion, in its so-called joint service revenue — a measure of its continuing services that does not include handset sales — in the three months that ended June 30.

The decline was the fourth consecutive quarterly drop in revenue, and highlighted persisting weaknesses in the company's crucial German and British markets.

"Vodafone faces a strategic challenge in its European business," said Mr. Marsch of Berenberg Bank. By selling its stake in Verizon Wireless, Vodafone could receive a large war chest to finance potential acquisitions and renewed investment in so-called fourth-generation wireless networks.

Vodafone remains either the No. 1 or No. 2 operator in eight of its nine Western European markets, but it is facing increased competition from cable companies like John C. Malone's Liberty Global, which are offering bundled service packages that include high-speed broadband and telephone services.

Despite its strong market share in mobile phone offerings, analysts say Vodafone needs to improve its operations, particularly in cable, to defend against the ramped-up investment plans of its rivals.

"Vodafone needs to improve its bundled services for its customers," said Gyanee Dewnarain, a research director at the analyst firm Gartner in London. "People are looking for more value for their money."

Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Britain’s Rejection of Syrian Response Reflects Fear of Rushing to Act

LONDON — The stunning parliamentary defeat on Thursday for Prime Minister David Cameron that led him to rule out British military participation in any strike on Syria reflected British fears of rushing to act against Damascus without certain evidence.

By just 13 votes, British lawmakers rejected a motion urging an international response to a chemical weapons strike for which the United States has blamed the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.

The vote, and Mr. Cameron's pledge to honor it, is a blow to President Obama. Like nearly all presidents since the Vietnam War, he has relied on Britain to be shoulder-to-shoulder with Washington in any serious military or security engagement.

But Mr. Obama's efforts to marshal a unified international front for a short, punitive strike raised concerns about the evidence, reawakening British resentment over false assurances from the American and British governments that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Even on Thursday, a British summary of intelligence could say only that it was "highly likely" Mr. Assad's forces were responsible for the use of chemical weapons. And many questions were raised, both Thursday night and in the days before, about whether the American assurances could be taken at face value, whether the expected riposte would accomplish any serious strategic or policy aim, and whether it might set off a worse regional conflict.

The government had seemed only days from joining the United States and France in cruise-missile strikes on Syrian targets, even though a United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing force was out of reach, because of Russia and China.

Mr. Cameron had yielded to the opposition Labour Party's demands for a separate, second vote to authorize military force, to be held only after United Nations weapons inspectors finish their work in Syria. It was widely expected that Mr. Cameron would win Thursday night's relatively meaningless vote on a motion supporting the notion that the chemical attack required an international humanitarian response that could involve military action. Instead, it was rejected, 285 to 272.

After the shocking defeat, Mr. Cameron was clear. "I strongly believe in the need for a tough response to the use of chemical weapons," he said. "While the House has not passed a motion, it is clear to me that the British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action. I get that, and the government will act accordingly."

The defeat, a sign of Mr. Cameron's weakness, was also a tactical victory for the often-criticized Labour leader, Ed Miliband. But in larger terms, it is also a measure of Britain's increasing isolation from its allies — both inside the European Union and now with Washington.

A strong anti-European wave on the British right led Mr. Cameron to promise a referendum on continued British membership in the European Union. And there is deep skepticism of Washington's foreign policy, especially after the long, costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The prime minister knew that the well had been poisoned by Iraq, but I don't think he realized how much that was the case," a Conservative legislator said, asking for anonymity. "They trust Cameron but not necessarily the advice he is being given."

The vote took Britain into new constitutional territory, the lawmaker added, with Parliament effectively vetoing military action. Political recriminations are likely. But there was little disguising the humiliation for Mr. Cameron, who recalled Parliament specifically for a motion that he first watered down, then lost.

There is also a deep wariness here of using military force without the explicit backing of international law, expressed most clearly in a Security Council resolution, though without one, Britain participated fully in the NATO campaign to unseat Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya.

Mr. Miliband argued that, absent a resolution, the evidence should at least be put before the Security Council before any military action. The days of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who cited "humanitarian intervention" as a casus belli, seem long gone in a country that now widely disparages him and his record.

Mr. Cameron's troubles may not deter Mr. Obama from acting with the support of France, where legislative consultation is important but approval is unnecessary. But though President François Hollande appears ready, the French public, too, has doubts.

In the British Parliament on Thursday, the theme of doubt was foremost.

Paul Flynn, of Labour, said that prior uses of chemical weapons, as against the Kurds, had not drawn such a response. "Is not the real reason we are here today not the horror at these weapons — if that horror exists — but as a result of the American president having foolishly drawn a red line, so that he is now in the position of either having to attack or face humiliation?" he asked.

Sir Edward Leigh, a Conservative, said Britain should not allow American assurances to influence its decisions. He was particularly concerned with "the fate of the Christians" in Syria should Mr. Assad fall. And he asked whether the impact of military action would be sufficient to justify the likely deaths.

However, Malcolm Rifkind, a former foreign and defense secretary who is chairman of Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, said, "There is no guarantee that a military strike against military targets will work, but there is every certainty that if we do not make that effort to punish and deter, these actions will indeed continue."

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

DealBook: Swiss Agree on Penalties for Banks That Aided Tax Cheats

Switzerland and the United States reached a watershed deal on Thursday to punish Swiss banks that helped wealthy Americans stash money in hidden offshore accounts, closing the door on an era of bank secrecy and tax evasion.

The formal agreement, which was announced on Thursday by the Justice Department in Washington and will be presented by Swiss authorities on Friday, outlined formulas for Swiss banks to pay up to billions of dollars in fines and disclose information about American account holders, a joint statement said.

The deal calls for stiff measures that lift the veil of Swiss secrecy. Banks will be required to provide the details on accounts in which American taxpayers have an interest through treaty channels, inform on other banks that transferred money into secret accounts or that accepted money when secret accounts were closed, disclose all cross-border activities, and close the accounts of Americans who are evading taxes.

Significantly, the deal does not cover 14 Swiss banks and Swiss branches of international banks that are under criminal investigation by the United States authorities, including Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and several regional banks. Instead, it effectively covers the rest of the Swiss banking industry, home to a tradition of bank confidentiality and laws that have not considered tax evasion a crime. By some estimates, Switzerland is home to more than $2 trillion in overseas deposits.

"This program will significantly enhance the Justice Department's ongoing efforts to aggressively pursue those who attempt to evade the law by hiding their assets outside of the United States," Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, said in a statement.

He added that the program, outlined over 11 pages, "is intended to enable every Swiss bank that is not already under criminal investigation to find a path to resolution."

The agreement said that Swiss banks that follow the program will be eligible to enter nonprosecution agreements that do not involve guilty pleas or criminal penalties.

Mr. Holder's statement suggested that some unidentified Swiss banks were not cooperating and thus could face indictment. The agreement, he said, "creates significant risks for individuals and banks that continue to fail to cooperate, including for those Swiss banks that facilitated U.S. tax evasion but fail to cooperate now, for all U.S. taxpayers who think that they can continue to hide income and assets in offshore banks, and for those advisers and others who facilitated these crimes."

The agreement will also turn up the heat on American clients who have not already entered voluntary disclosure programs with the Internal Revenue Service.

Banks that enabled tax evasion after the United States authorities began their investigation will face more severe punishment. Banks that held accounts as of Aug. 1, 2008, will pay a fine equal to 20 percent of the top dollar value of all nondisclosed accounts. The fine increases to 30 percent for secret accounts opened after that date but before March 2009, and to 50 percent for accounts opened after that.

American officials were angered that some Swiss banks accepted clients who were fleeing UBS, the largest Swiss bank, about 2009, when it averted indictment by reaching a $780 million deferred prosecution agreement with United States officials.

The Justice Department has not put a final tally on the amount that Swiss banks will pay in fines under the deal, an American government official said, in part because it does not yet know the number. Both sides signed the final deal after the Swiss Federal Council on Wednesday instructed the country's finance officials to put the finishing touches on the agreement.

Switzerland has been locked in thorny negotiations with Washington over the tax evasion issue since 2009. Scores of Swiss bankers, lawyers and American taxpayers have been indicted in recent years, including Wegelin & Company, the oldest Swiss bank, which went out of business. Negotiations took a turn for the worse in recent years amid conflicts between Justice Department officials and Michael Ambuehl, the former top Swiss negotiator who stepped down in May.

A previous attempt by the Swiss government to arrange a deal failed in June when Parliament balked, reflecting concerns about privacy and complaints that the agreement was being negotiated in secret. Legislators then called on Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, the Swiss finance minister and president of the Federal Council, to work out an agreement with Washington.

A stumbling block may still exist. The deal calls for both sides to use information exchange channels outlined in existing treaties. But the United States has not yet ratified a 2009 treaty protocol that would ease that disclosure, with Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, blocking approval, arguing that it would give the I.R.S. too much power and violate Americans' right to privacy.

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Monfils Wins Crowd by Charming It, but Isner Takes the Match by Force

The highest-seeded American male at the United States Open, John Isner, left the court after the third set of his second-round match Thursday to resounding cheers for his opponent, Gaël Monfils.

The crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium had undoubtedly turned — chanting the name of the Frenchman Monfils, while Isner fumed over calls he considered questionable. A two-set lead looked suddenly precarious, and the jocular Monfils basked in the adoration of fans on foreign soil.

"I noticed it," Isner said of the crowd's turning. "He's a fun-loving guy and an exciting guy to watch, no matter where he's playing."

Still, Isner acknowledged it was a bit disappointing.

"I know New York fans like to see long matches and fifth sets or whatnot," he said. "It's not like there was no one cheering for me. But I was a little bit disappointed in that, actually. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. If I was playing in France, it certainly wouldn't be like that, I'll tell you that."

All night it was a matchup between two opposites. The springy Monfils, a blur of limbs and length, against the heavy-handed Isner. Brawn versus bounciness. Plodding stoicism versus a walking Red Bull commercial.

In the end, Isner overwhelmed Monfils to win in a fourth-set tiebreaker, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4). But not before Monfils got the crowd to start cheering for an upset.

He won them over with energy and enthusiasm, a wink here, a smile there, a slide on his knees across the asphalt to return a blistering serve. Monfils never lost the emotional edge over Isner, playing to the crowd's delight at his expressiveness. Even as he went down by two sets, he merely turned up his pestering defensive game — and spent more time diving after balls on the concrete — to the growing irritation of Isner.

Isner also began getting flustered by calls against him on his serves, at one point boiling over to scream at the chair umpire, James Keothavong, after an outside serve he thought was in. Cameras caught Monfils even smirking at the call, perhaps because the serve zipped by too quickly for him to judge.

But Isner's focus continued to crumble, and Monfils pounced to break Isner's serve as the crowd began to chant his name. He screamed and hopped into his chair, up five games to four, with the players seemingly heading in opposite directions.

After the set, Isner went to the locker room to refresh more than his outfit. He took a while to return, as Monfils lingered on the court. When Isner returned, his focus seemed refined; he began the fourth set with a blistering ace, one of 23.

"I needed to change clothing; I was soaking wet," he said. "That's it."

But Monfils remained a near-impossible opponent to wear down. He had a chance for a break and came within two points of winning in the fourth set, but Monfils held serve to even the set at 5-5.

In the fourth-set tiebreaker, as the match approached three hours, Isner's serve remained 139 miles per hour, and a blistering forehand winner gave him a 6-4 lead. He gambled and volleyed on the next point and won, as Monfils hit it into the net.

"In the tiebreaker, I played great," Isner said. "I hit two massive serves, and I hit the best forehand I hit all night at 5-4. I'm just so happy I'm still not out there playing right now."

Isner's victory capped another late night of day matches. The match did not begin until close to 9 p.m. because the players had to wait until the doubles pairing of Serena and Venus Williams vacated Louis Armstrong Stadium. The Williamses beat Silvia Soler-Espinosa and Carla Suárez Navarro, 6-7, 6-0, 6-3.

By then, at Arthur Ashe, sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had already finished her second-round match against Chanelle Scheepers, a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Rafael Nadal also advanced, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0, over Rogério Dutra-Silva.

Earlier, Sam Querrey, considered the second-best American player behind Isner, lost in a close match to Adrian Mannarino, which featured three tiebreakers, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Querrey would have faced Federer in the third round, a matchup that would have been highly anticipated.

"It's a bummer," Querrey said. "I wanted to make the third round. It would have been fun to play Roger. Really bummed that it happened."

Querrey struggled with his serve and made 60 unforced errors, a result, he said, of how Mannarino kept the ball low and flat, below Querrey's comfortable strike zone. After the match, Querrey seemed to take exception to inquiries about why he has struggled advancing further than the fourth round in major tournaments.

"It's my life and my career," Querrey said. "Whatever makes me happy is fine."

12.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sports of The Times: The Influence of Remaking the Racial Composition of a Sport

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Venus Williams lost in three sets to Jie Zheng of China, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5), Wednesday night at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Maybe Venus Williams has been trying to tell us something with her braided purple hair this week, 16 years after she first appeared on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court with colorful beads flowing and a fascinated world watching. Could she be subliminally tying a ribbon around her storied tennis career?

"I've had a tough set of circumstances to work through this year, especially this year, last year and the year before," she said, combining a smile with a sigh.

The years have flown by like the blur her forehand can still be when she has enough energy to crank it up. But Williams, 33, has struggled with an autoimmune disease that saps her strength and a chronic back injury that compels us to approach her every United States Open match as if it could be her last.

She went out of this year's tournament after missing an easy volley at 5-5 in a third-set tiebreaker and losing a 3-hour, 2-minute second-round match to Jie Zheng of China, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5), on Wednesday night in the Louis Armstrong Stadium. She gave it the good fight, but early exits have become the norm. For now, possibly forever, Williams's best chance of getting back on Ashe may be with her sister, Serena, in the doubles draw.

Instead of dwelling on what comes next, it would seem timely to take a contextual look back to when she first showed herself in New York — and was just what Arthur Ashe would have ordered on the day the stadium named for him opened for business.

August 25, 1997. Williams played the second match, defeating Larisa Neiland of Latvia in three sets. At 17, she wasn't the only African-American woman on tour — Chanda Rubin, in fact, lost the first match played on Ashe.

But this was before Serena bounded onto the Grand Slam scene and when Venus alone was heralded as tennis's untapped resource, its socio-economic game-changer.

Her mother, Oracene, said that day that her daughter was not overly thrilled with the prospect of being cast as the great urban athlete crashing the coveted country club. Venus, she added, had even called Althea Gibson to ask for advice on how to avoid the inevitable onslaught of clichés.

"She's going to have to handle it," Oracene said, "because that's the way it's going to be."

That is how it has been as Venus — and Serena in her take-no-prisoners-entitled-kid-sister way — came to be the reflection of women's tennis for a decade and a half. In the process, it has become increasingly clear that they have helped to remake the racial composition of their sport at home in the way it was once hoped Tiger Woods would for golf.

These days, when people think about the future after the still-dominant Serena, it is typically a woman of color who is mentioned first. The talk is about Sloane Stephens, 20, and ranked No. 15; and Madison Keys, who lost in the first round but may have the most potential of all because of her (5 feet 11 inches) size and serve. And it will now be about Victoria Duval, a 17-year-old Haitian-American, who on Tuesday sent home the 2011 champion, Samantha Stosur.

Another African-American, 18-year-old Sachia Vickery, won her first match on Tuesday and later said she took up tennis after watching the Williams sisters when she was 5.

Preparing to step on a practice court on Wednesday morning, 17-year-old Taylor Townsend — who won the Australian Open junior girls' title and was a finalist at Wimbledon — said she, too, had grown up on Venus and Serena:

"It was great to see African-American people in the sport, especially when you found out that there was at one point only Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson," said Townsend, a lefty who was treated last year for a severe iron deficiency and is playing doubles this week. "I've been looking up to them for so long, and now the best thing is that they are still here so a young player like me can learn from them."

It's only fair warning that Serena may not always be in the giving mood — witness her middle school feuding after Stephens beat her this year at the Australian Open. Stephens reported that Serena stopped following her on Twitter.

That's Serena, who, at 31, is competing with the sport's all-timers now as much as she is with contemporary opponents. Venus is only 16 months older but has become tennis's grande dame. She would feel even older if she'd heard Townsend do the quick math when told that Venus had played the day Ashe opened.

"I was, like, 1," Townsend said.

She did recall watching Venus play Serena on television in one of those made-for-Williams Saturday night finals, in 2001 or 2002 — "the greatest match I ever watched."

Of course it was. It was a spectacle that convinced her — a black girl in Atlanta — that tennis was a potential career choice.

Asked about her historical role, Venus said, "It makes me motivated to do more and also makes me happy that, you know, a whole new set of people and demographics all over the world are being introduced to this game."

Given a chance, she didn't go much further with the theme. It's a complicated subject, just as it was in 1997. Tennis remains a sport that demands daunting financial investment, and Richard Williams's home schooling of his daughters remains an anomalous story for the ages.

When Taylor Townsend and the others first tuned in, what they saw was the height of an amazing sisters' rivalry that would later become one-sided as Serena surged and Venus's Grand Slam trophy count stopped at seven. But the measure of Venus's career must also include the young girls whose childhood visions of her no doubt compare to how she recalled Ashe — whom she had met once — on that unforgettable day in 1997.

"Tall, graceful," she said. Right to the end.

12.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Britain to Wait on Weapons Report Ahead of Syria Strikes

Facundo Arrizabalaga/European Pressphoto Agency

Protesters against Western intervention in Syria outside Downing Street in London last week.

LONDON — The prospect of an imminent Western military strike on Syrian government targets appeared to encounter a delay on Wednesday when Britain signaled it would first await the findings of a United Nations inquiry into the suspected use of chemical weapons in an attack that killed hundreds near Damascus last week, and then hold a separate parliamentary vote, which could be days away.

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain, who runs a coalition government, is facing political difficulties from legislators mindful of the experience in Iraq, when assurances from Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction proved inaccurate and a false pretext for war.

Mr. Cameron bowed on Wednesday to pressure from the opposition Labour Party and to some within his own coalition who want to allow United Nations weapons inspectors a chance to report their findings and for the United Nations Security Council to make one more effort to give a more solid legal backing to military action against Damascus.

As Mr. Cameron ran into difficulties, the Syrian government, which has denied accusations by a range of Western and Arab countries that it used chemical weapons in the Aug. 21 attack, moved abruptly to prolong the inspectors' visit, announcing that it had evidence of three previously unreported chemical weapons assaults that it said had been carried out by insurgents and should be investigated by the inspectors.

If they look into those accusations, the inspectors could remain in Syria well past this weekend, beyond their original mandate.

The developments slowed the momentum the United States and Britain had been building for military intervention in the Syrian conflict, which began more than two years ago as a popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and has since become a civil war that has left more than 100,000 people dead and destabilized the Middle East.

The American and British governments have said that the evidence is already persuasive that Mr. Assad's forces used chemical munitions on civilians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta last week, committing what the Obama administration has called a moral atrocity that cannot go unanswered.

The United States could still act without Britain's support, but the Obama administration has actively sought to build a consensus for a military strike, and Britain is America's closest ally. While expectations had been building that a strike could happen by the weekend, another few days may make no difference to what has been advertised as a short, sharp punishment for the use of chemical weapons, not an effort to oust Mr. Assad.

The British signal that it would not rush to military action came late Wednesday when Mr. Cameron's government, aware of the sensitivities created by the legacy of the run-up to the Iraq war a decade ago, said unexpectedly in a motion to be voted on by Parliament on Thursday that a separate vote on military action would be required. That vote may not take place until next week.

The text of the motion states that "a United Nations process must be followed as far as possible to ensure the maximum legitimacy for any such action," and that the secretary general "should ensure a briefing to the United Nations Security Council immediately upon the completion of the team's initial mission."

Mr. Cameron's pullback came as Britain moved to introduce a Security Council resolution that would authorize military action in Syria — a measure that Russia, the Syrian government's most important backer, quickly signaled it would block, as it has done several times.

After an informal meeting among the five permanent Council members at United Nations headquarters in New York, no further action on the resolution was taken. "This isn't going anywhere," a Western diplomat said.

The Russians argued that it was premature to even talk about such a resolution while United Nations inspectors were on the ground in Syria.

Stephen Castle and Steven Erlanger reported from London, and Rick Gladstone from New York. Reporting was contributed by Michael R. Gordon from Washington, Alan Cowell from London, Steven Lee Myers from Moscow, Nick Cumming-Bruce from Geneva and Marlise Simons from The Hague.

12.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Concussion Case Nears Key Phase for N.F.L.

Before the N.F.L. regular season begins next Thursday, the league will get a clearer picture of what may be its biggest worry: the lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 retired players alleging that the N.F.L. intentionally misled them about the dangers of head injuries.

In the coming days, Judge Anita B. Brody of United States District Court is expected to rule on the league's motion to dismiss hundreds of cases that were consolidated. Brody, from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, could toss out some of the claims of negligence and fraud. She could disqualify some plaintiffs, including retirees with advanced dementia and other problems, as well as the families of stars like Junior Seau, who committed suicide.

Brody could also order the sides to continue working with a mediator, as they have been since July, to reach a settlement, although the league and the retired players are unlikely to reach an agreement until they get more clarity from Brody about the scope of the case, legal experts said.

Regardless of Brody's decision, the case, the most visible of its type, may provide a framework for similar lawsuits brought by football players and other athletes who say that a league failed to protect them adequately.

And given the stakes — billions of dollars in potential damages, a risk of lasting harm to the N.F.L.'s image and a possibility of Congressional intervention — her ruling will be widely watched and most likely appealed, perhaps by both sides.

"It has to be in the Mount Rushmore of things that keep Roger Goodell awake at night," the lawyer Scott A. Andresen said, referring to the N.F.L.'s commissioner.

Andresen, who teaches sports law at Northwestern University, added that he would not be shocked if the case eventually went to the Supreme Court.

But the dispute is a long way from reaching that point. Possible appeals could take many months. A potential discovery period could take even longer, involving depositions of key league officials and an extensive search for documents that might illustrate what the league knew, and when, about the dangers of concussions.

It is also a thorny case that in some ways echoes suits brought against the tobacco industry and settlements paid to New York workers who developed respiratory illnesses after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The N.F.L. has denied accusations that it deliberately misled players about head injuries, saying that it relied on the best science available at the time to create policies on concussions. The N.F.L. has also argued that any disputes should be governed not by the courts but by the collective bargaining agreements signed by the league and its players union.

If the judge lets any of the claims proceed, the plaintiffs still must prove that their medical problems were at least partly the result of head hits sustained in the N.F.L. That is a high hurdle given that almost all of them played football at the youth, high school and college levels, where they could have also sustained concussions.

The players involved in the suit vary widely in age and professional experience. Some played on practice squads and never participated in a game. Many were linemen, linebackers or running backs; others were punters or kickers.

The plaintiffs signed a variety of contracts and played under different rules on head injuries. Some played part or all of their careers when collective bargaining agreements were not in effect. Some have Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or advanced dementia, while others have symptoms that they say may worsen without proper medical monitoring.

Brody could dismiss negligence claims by players who were in the league while collective bargaining agreements were in effect. She could also allow players with only substantial injuries to pursue claims. The fraud claims may be the hardest to justify dismissing, legal experts said, because they focus on decisions the N.F.L. made, not a player's medical history.

The complexity of the case "would be a really good reason for the court to engage in behavior to encourage a settlement," said Paul Haagen, a director of the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Duke University. If the case balloons, Congress could weigh in by calling for stricter safety standards, he added.

The chances of a quick settlement, though, are complicated by the plaintiffs' competing agendas. Some older retirees may want money as soon as possible, while younger players facing many more years of medical bills might want to hold out for more.

"Unfortunately, there's a lot of us that don't have 10 years to find out what the decision is," the former fullback Kevin Turner said in April after oral arguments in the case were heard. Turner, 44, who played for the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, was found to have A.L.S., also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in 2010.

The N.F.L. still must clarify how much of any settlement its insurance companies will cover. Several of them have argued in court that they do not have to indemnify the N.F.L. because of the policies they wrote. Larry Schiffer, a lawyer representing Alterra America Insurance, which wrote one policy for one year for the N.F.L., told the judge that a settlement could cost $2.5 billion, a figure some legal experts consider conservative.

The cases involving the insurers' obligation to indemnify the league are unlikely to be resolved until after the underlying case with the retired players is clarified. But the league may be reluctant to settle with the players before it knows how much of any settlement its insurers might cover.

"If the N.F.L. knows its insurers would pay most of it, they're more likely to settle," said Mark Conrad, the director of the sports business program at Fordham. "But if the insurers try to opt out and the league has to pay most it themselves, they're less likely to settle."

12.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

U.S. Facing Test on Data to Back Action on Syria

Reuters

United Nations chemical weapons experts on Wednesday met with residents of a neighborhood that was said to be the target of a chemical attack last week.

WASHINGTON — The evidence of a massacre is undeniable: the bodies of the dead lined up on hospital floors, those of the living convulsing and writhing in pain and a declaration from a respected international aid group that thousands of Syrians were gassed with chemical weapons last week.

And yet the White House faces steep hurdles as it prepares to make the most important public intelligence presentation since February 2003, when Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made a dramatic and detailed case for war to the United Nations Security Council using intelligence — later discredited — about Iraq's weapons programs.

More than a decade later, the Obama administration says the information it will make public, most likely on Thursday, will show proof of a large-scale chemical attack perpetrated by Syrian forces, bolstering its case for a retaliatory military strike on Syria.

But with the botched intelligence about Iraq still casting a long shadow over decisions about waging war in the Middle East, the White House faces an American public deeply skeptical about being drawn into the Syrian conflict and a growing chorus of lawmakers from both parties angry about the prospect of an American president once again going to war without Congressional consultation or approval.

American officials said Wednesday there was no "smoking gun" that directly links President Bashar al-Assad to the attack, and they tried to lower expectations about the public intelligence presentation. They said it will not contain specific electronic intercepts of communications between Syrian commanders or detailed reporting from spies and sources on the ground.

But even without hard evidence tying Mr. Assad to the attack, administration officials asserted, the Syrian leader bears ultimate responsibility for the actions of his troops and should be held accountable.

"The commander in chief of any military is ultimately responsible for decisions made under their leadership," said the State Department's deputy spokeswoman, Marie Harf — even if, she added, "He's not the one who pushes the button or says 'go' on this."

Administration officials said that communications between military commanders intercepted after Wednesday's attack provided proof that the assault was not the result of a rogue unit acting against orders. It is unclear how much detail about these communications, if any, will be made public.

In an interview on Wednesday with the PBS program "NewsHour," President Obama said he still had not made a decision about military action. But he said that a military strike could be a "shot across the bow, saying 'stop doing this,' that can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term."

The bellicose talk coming from the administration is unnerving some lawmakers from Mr. Obama's party, who are angry that the White House seems to have no inclination to seek Congress's approval before launching a strike in Syria.

"I am still waiting to see what specifically the administration and other involved partners have to say about a potential military strike, but I am concerned about how effective such an action could be," said Representative Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "I am worried that such action could drag the United States into a broader direct involvement in the conflict."

Despite the Obama administration's insistence that the graphic images of the attack go far in making a case for military action in Syria, some experts said that the White House had its own burden of proof.

Anthony H. Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said that whatever evidence the administration put forward would be the American intelligence community's "most important single document in a decade."

The Obama administration, Mr. Cordesman said, needs to use intelligence about the attack "as a key way of informing the world, of building up trust in U.S. policy and intelligence statements, and in moving U.S. strategic communications from spin to convincing truth."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 28, 2013

An earlier version of this article reversed the percentage of respondents in a Quinnipiac University poll last month who said they were in favor of, and opposed to, providing weapons to rebel forces in Syria. Twenty-seven percent were in favor of providing the weapons, and 59 percent were opposed to it.   

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Where an Iraqi Artist Can Paint, and Exhale

PHOENIX — First, the men cursed him, loyalists of Iraq's Mahdi Army militia furious at the slender barber who dared to sketch pictures of nude women. Then, they spat on him, blindfolded him and punched him as they took him through a busy neighborhood market in his native Baghdad, where someone grabbed a pair of scissors and cut his long hair.

The abuse did not end there for the barber, Bassim al-Shaker, who was beaten so badly that he spent two weeks recuperating in a hospital. But he is much more than a barber. In June, he was in Italy, his oil paintings gracing the Iraq Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale. In July, he arrived here in the American West, one of six foreign artists plucked from their countries to share their knowledge and create.

For Mr. Shaker, 28, the experience is as much about liberation as it is about escape.

In Baghdad, he used to paint in the middle of the night to avoid the unnerving cacophony of sirens, horns and explosions that punctuates the city's daytime rhythms. He dreaded walking the streets, a stage for deadly suicide bombings. He feared for his life, as the men who tortured him got out of prison this year and vowed to go after him to seek revenge, thinking it was because of him that they had wound up behind bars.

Mr. Shaker's journey from Iraq to Arizona began on a clear spring morning in Baghdad, when he found himself racing through an alley, jumping across rooftops and climbing over fences to escape his pursuers, eventually finding temporary harbor in a house behind an Iraqi Army blockade. Artists here and there came to his rescue, rekindling old connections to figure out a way to keep him alive.

He left his home country for a city that is home to one of the largest Iraqi communities in the United States — most of them refugees to whom this is a first stop, the rest transplants who chose to move here because of its familiar desert climate and reasonable cost of living. Mr. Shaker came as neither. He is an artist on a business visa, fueled by the freedom to put on canvas "whatever is in my heart," he said.

Much of it is colored by a lifetime of wars, repression and sanctions, which is pretty much all that he has known. From an apartment in the building where he has been staying — close to the light-rail train that takes him to the Arizona State University Art Museum, the international artists' host in neighboring Tempe — he has been working on a portrait of a wrinkly man wearing a kaffiyeh, the traditional headdress of men in Iraq. He is using black and white oil paints "because life in Iraq is black and white," lacking the joy that, to him, bright colors would represent.

On a recent morning, stylish in blue sunglasses and skinny jeans, Mr. Shaker said he made his living cutting hair in Baghdad, but art has always been his calling. His father tools leather. Some of his uncles are musicians — one plays percussion and another plays oud, the pear-shaped guitar. When he was in elementary school, he used to lose himself in the arts-and-crafts room, drawing his "expression of life," he said.

He spoke through an interpreter, Layal Rabat, 30, who was born into a Christian family in Syria and who, like Mr. Shaker, has uneasy feelings about religion. Mr. Shaker is a Sunni Muslim by virtue of his blood ties and tradition, but, by self-definition, "I'm not Muslim, I'm not Christian, I'm not anything," he said, and that is as much as he was willing to say about it.

To Mr. Shaker, Ms. Rabat has been the safe bridge into a world of new discoveries, like happy-hour drinks at the Lost Leaf, a bar, gallery and concert hall off Roosevelt Street, the aorta of this city's arts scene.

"Anything that's forbidden is desired," he said, a nod to the types of things he could not do in Baghdad, but always wanted to, like having a beer with friends or setting his imagination free to take his art wherever he wants.

Mr. Shaker said he had just returned to Baghdad from Cairo this spring when three men began chasing him after they spotted one another in a busy alley.

The drawings that got him in trouble were sketches of the Venus de Milo, practice for the entrance exam at Baghdad University's College of Fine Arts. He kept them on a notepad next to the barbershop's water cooler, where the militiamen found them when they stopped by for haircuts.

In Cairo, Mr. Shaker was one of eight budding artists attending a series of workshops sponsored by Sada (Echo) for Contemporary Iraqi Art, a nonprofit project founded in 2010 to foster artistic practices in a country whose arts scene has been choked by rising religious fundamentalism and years of unrest.

Once he was back in Baghdad, his pursuers forced him into hiding in the house behind the army blockade. He was there for about a month, confined to a small second-floor room, "eating and sleeping," he said, "like a prison."

Concerned about Mr. Shaker's safety, Sada's founding director, Rijin Sahakian, an Iraqi expatriate who had hired him in 2010 to manage the group's activities in Baghdad, contacted Gordon Knox, director of the university art museum, for whom she had worked curating an exhibition of Iraqi artists in California. She knew Mr. Knox had started a residency program for foreign artists in Phoenix and wondered if Mr. Shaker could join.

"He's obviously very talented," Ms. Sahakian said in a telephone interview from Beirut, Lebanon, where she lives, "but we were also focused on saving his life."

Mr. Shaker is unique among the artists in the residency program because of his past and circumstances. Other residents, current and former, have come from places like Portugal, England, Denmark and Mexico.

They live and work in the same building downtown, called Combine Studios, and they meet graduate students at Arizona State's school of arts for an exchange of sorts — "enriching to both," Mr. Knox said.

Mr. Shaker is finishing an installation for a gallery, and he is plotting his next project: painting an American flag on the side of a shipping container that sits on an empty lot nearby, replacing the stars with the black-and-gold eagle in the Iraqi coat of arms. It is, he said, the ultimate symbol of the countries he carries under his skin.

His visa expires at the end of the year, but he has tried not to dwell on it. Once he goes back to Baghdad, he will move to a different neighborhood, he said, hoping that a new address in a new part of town will be enough to keep him safe.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 29, 2013

An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect name and location of a bar and gallery that Bassim al-Shaker visits. It is the Lost Leaf, not the Loose Leaf, and is off Roosevelt Street, not Roosevelt Avenue.

12.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

A Finicky Thief of the Finest Silver Is Arrested Again

ATLANTA — Even before someone carefully removed a windowpane from a secluded Buckhead home here one rainy June night and slipped away with a 1734 silver mug that had belonged to George II, it was clear to detectives that a meticulous thief with a singular obsession was stealing the great silver pieces of the Old South.

Courtesy of Lonnie Mason

Blane Nordahl after his arrest in Hilliard, Fla., Monday morning. He was charged with burglaries in Atlanta.

Mark Makela for The New York Times

Lonnie Mason, a retired New Jersey detective, suspected that a series of thefts in the South might be the work of an old nemesis.

For months, exquisite sterling silver collections had been disappearing, taken in the dead of night from historic homes in Charleston, S.C., and the wealthy enclaves of Belle Meade, Tenn. Nothing else was touched.

The police in different states did not at first connect the thefts, some of which initially went unnoticed even by the owners. But as the burglaries piled up, a retired New Jersey detective watching reports on the Internet recognized a familiar pattern.

He called an Atlanta detective and said, "Let me explain how your burglaries occurred."

Early Monday, outside an apartment building in the tiny northern Florida town of Hilliard, the police arrested Blane Nordahl, 51, the man they believe is connected not only to the recent Southern silver burglaries but also to 30 years' worth of antique silver thefts in several states.

He was charged with burglaries in Atlanta and will most likely face charges in other states.

"I'm just relieved it's over," said Lonnie Mason, the retired New Jersey detective who made a career out of chasing — and twice capturing — Mr. Nordahl, whose skill as a thief is so notorious it has earned him his own Wikipedia page and the nickname "burglar to the stars."

In one of the biggest recent hauls in which Mr. Nordahl is a suspect, a thief disabled the alarm at the Cooleemee Plantation House in North Carolina and walked away with silver spoons forged by Paul Revere and a coffee and tea set that a slave had once buried for safekeeping when Union soldiers moved through during the Civil War.

Detectives who chased Mr. Nordahl for decades say he is responsible for crimes that have had him in and out of prison since the 1980s. He might ultimately be responsible, they say, for more than 500 burglaries that netted him several million dollars' worth of some of the best domestic silver pieces in the country.

They include 120 pairs of salt and pepper shakers taken from Ivana Trump's Greenwich, Conn., home in 1996 and the priceless collection of period silver in the Edgewater mansion in the Hudson Valley where Richard Hampton Jenrette, a Wall Street financier and restorer of historic homes, was robbed in 2002.

Mr. Nordahl's first burglary arrest was in New Jersey in 1983. He has had dozens since.

"He doesn't abuse drugs and he doesn't abuse alcohol," said Mr. Mason, in an interview Monday from his home near the Jersey Shore. "This is his high. This and trying to beat the police."

One of a string of girlfriends whom the police persuaded to help them pursue Mr. Nordahl told Mr. Mason that "he would be 80 years old and still running down the street with his cane and a piece of silver in his hand. He is just fascinated with this stuff."

Mr. Nordahl is barely 5 foot 4 with a muscular build and the ability to squeeze into homes through small spaces. Over the years he developed a routine that he rarely varied, the police say, tracking his targets through architectural magazines, in libraries and by scouting rich neighborhoods.

He learned to gently pry the putty from windows and disable alarms, the police say, often stacking molding from a door neatly nearby or replacing the glass so victims would sometimes not know they were burglarized until a holiday rolled around and it was time to pull out the good silver.

Mr. Nordahl, whose father, David, is a noted painter, has a deep knowledge of the artistic and cultural value of silver, the police said. In previous cases, he was specific about his haul, leaving behind other valuables and knives with hollow silver handles or trays made of silver plate.

Those signatures are what made Mr. Mason think that the nation's most notorious silver thief had gotten back into the game after being released on parole in 2010.

Mr. Nordahl, who had been in prison six years, had headed to Florida, where he had a sister. So Mr. Mason would occasionally search for reports of silver thefts in Florida.

When he found nothing, he expanded his search to other states in the South and in February found a rash of silver thefts in the Atlanta area and other states. He set to work.

By the end of March, Mr. Mason had become the adviser to a team of 24 members of law enforcement agencies in six Southern states who worked on the case through the summer.

Alan Blinder contributed reporting.

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