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SUZYMENKES
IT’SMAXIMALIST
VS. MINIMALIST
PAGE 10
|
FASHION LONDON
HIP-HOP STATUS
EXPANDING
THE SLANG
PAGE 8
|
CULTURE
DAVID POGUE
A SMALL CAMERA
FOR THE PROS
PAGE 19
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BUSINESS ASIAWITH
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
GLOBAL.NYTIMES.COM
Low-cost test
offers hope
for stopping
leprosy early
Obama adds
pressure on
Republicans
over impasse
WASHINGTON
Kit is expected to detect
infections long before
damage is permanent
If an accord isn’t reached
on spending, he warns,
many ‘will lose their jobs’
BY DONALD G. MCNEIL JR.
A simple, fast and inexpensive new test
for leprosy offers hope that, even in the
poorest countries, patients can be found
and cured before they become perma-
nently disabled or disfigured like the
shunned lepers of yore.
American researchers developed the
test, and Brazil’s drug-regulatory
agency registered it last month. A
Brazilian diagnostics company, Orange-
Life, will manufacture it on the under-
standing that the price will be $1 or less.
‘‘This will bring leprosy management
out of the Dark Ages,’’ said Dr. William
Levis, who has treated leprosy patients
at an outpatient clinic inNewYork for 30
years.
Many consider leprosy, formally called
Hansen’s disease, a relic of the past, but
annually about 250,000 peopleworldwide
get it; Brazil is among the hardest-hit
countries, as are India, the Philippines,
Indonesia and the Democratic Republic
of Congo. TheUnited States has 150 to 250
new diagnoses each year, mostly in im-
migrants. Leprosy is curable, so better
detection may mean that someday it
could join the short list of ailments, like
polio and Guinea worm disease, on the
brink of eradication, experts say.
The new test gives results in under 10
minutes and is far simpler than the cur-
rent diagnostic method of cutting open
nodules, often in the earlobe, and look-
ing for the bacteria under a microscope.
‘‘It works like a pregnancy test and
requires just one drop of blood,’’ said
MalcolmS. Duthie, who led the test’s de-
velopment at the Infectious Disease Re-
search Institute in Seattle. ‘‘I can teach
anyone to use it.’’
Evenmore important, he said, it is ex-
pected to detect infections as much as a
year before symptoms appear. And the
earlier treatment begins, the better the
outcome. Leprosy is caused by a bac-
terium, Mycobacterium leprae, related
LEPROSY, PAGE 5
BY JACKIE CALMES
Days away from another fiscal crisis
and with Congress on vacation, Presi-
dent BarackObama has begunmarshal-
ing the powers of the presidency to try
to shame Republicans into a compro-
mise that could avoid further self-inflic-
ted job losses and damage to the fragile
recovery. But so far, Republicans were
declining to engage.
To turn up the pressure on the absent
lawmakers, Mr. Obama warned in
calamitous terms of the costs tomilitary
readiness, domestic investments and
vital services if a ‘‘meat cleaver’’ ap-
proach of indiscriminate, across-the-
board spending cuts takes effect March
1. Surrounding him in a White House
auditorium as he spoke Tuesday were
solemn, uniformed emergency respon-
ders, invited to illustrate the sort of crit-
ical services at risk.
The president plans to keep up the
pressure through next week for an alter-
native deficit-reduction deal that in-
cludes both spending cuts and new rev-
enue through closing tax loopholes. He
will have daily events underscoring the
potential ramifications of the automatic
cuts, aides said, and next weekwill travel
outside Washington to take his case to
the public, as he did late last year in an-
other fiscal fight on which he prevailed.
In stern tones, Mr. Obama said that
t
he automatic cuts, known in budge
t
EDWRAY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
The Marunda public housing complex in North Jakarta. The government is trying to persuade people living in flood-prone areas to move by offering them subsidized apartments.
Jakarta struggles with how to stay dry
It seems unlikely that people would
line up to live here. But since last month,
when the worst flooding in six years hit
Jakarta, killing at least 40 people and
displacing tens of thousands, occu-
pancy at Marunda has jumped.
‘‘We have piped water; it’s safe and
clean,’’ said Sarif Hidayat, a 28-year-old
fisherman from a flood-prone area the
government has slated for a river-
dredging project. ‘‘The government
said, ‘Just try it, the first twomonths are
free.’ If we don’t like it, we can leave.’’
Marunda has been plagued by prob-
lems since the government began build-
ing it in 2006 to provide alternative
housing for people living in Jakarta’s
slums. Now it is undergoing upgrades to
— are responding to the disaster.
The flooding has exposed persistent
problems of inadequate infrastructure
and unabated growth in the capital of
one of Asia’s fastest-growing econo-
mies. It has also provided a test of Mr.
Joko, whose record of achievement as a
mayor in Central Java and campaign
promises of a ‘‘new Jakarta’’ raised
high expectations.
Jakarta is a low-lying city surrounded
by mountains and subject to annual
monsoons. Trash clogs drainage sys-
tems, and developers often ignore build-
ing codes that require water-absorption
wells. Poor maintenance of existing
flood defenses, deforestation that in-
JAKARTA
Infrastructure problems
exposed by flooding are
test for city’s new leaders
Mr. Obama once again finds
himself in a budget showdown.
BY SARA SCHONHARDT
At the Marunda housing projects in
North Jakarta, weeds push up through
cracks in concrete foundations and
grimy facades beg for paint. The rent-
subsidized apartments have little ac-
cess to public transportation, and drain-
age ditches that ring each building
smell of sewage.
BAGUS INDAHONO/EPA
Joko Widodo promised a ‘‘new Jakarta.’’
terms as a sequester, would ‘‘affect our
responsibility to respond to threats in
unstable parts of the world’’ and ‘‘add
thousands of Americans to the unem-
ployment rolls.’’
He framed the debate in the way that
he hopes will force Republicans into ac-
cepting some higher tax revenue, some-
thing they so far refuse to do.
‘‘Republicans in Congress face a
simple choice,’’ Mr. Obama said. ‘‘Are
they willing to compromise to protect
vital investments in education and
health care and national security and all
the jobs that depend on them, or would
they rather put hundreds of thousands
of jobs and our entire economy at risk
just to protect a few special-interest tax
loopholes that benefit only the wealthi-
est Americans and biggest corpora-
tions?’’
Mr. Obama once again finds himself in
a budget showdown with the opposing
party, and numerous polls show his po-
sition to be more popular than Republi-
can calls for spending cuts only, includ-
ing cuts in Medicare. Mr. Obama and
senior aides hardly disguised their
sense of political advantage.
Still, the president’s leveragemight in
fact be limited, since by all appearances
he seems to want a deal far more than
Republicans do.
encourage new residents to stay on and
has become a showcase for how the
city’s new leaders — Governor Joko
Widodo and his deputy, Basuki Tjahaja
Purnama, who took office last October
JAKARTA, PAGE 3
Isn’t it good?
Norwegians would say so
OSLO
stacking in the program,’’ said Lars
Mytting, whose best-selling book, ‘‘Sol-
id Wood: All About Chopping, Drying
and Stacking Wood — and The Soul of
Wood-Burning,’’ inspired the broadcast.
‘‘Fifty percent complained that the
bark was facing up, and the rest com-
plained that the bark was facing down.’’
He explained: ‘‘One thing that really
divides Norway is bark.’’
One thing that does not divide Nor-
way, apparently, is its ability to discuss
Norwegian wood. Nearly a million
people, or about 20 percent of the popu-
lation, tuned in at some point to the pro-
gram, which aired on the state broad-
caster NRK.
In a country where 1.1 million house-
holds have fireplaces or wood stoves,
the subject naturally lends itself to tele-
vision, said Rune Moeklebust, NRK’s
head of programs in Bergen, a city on
the west coast.
‘‘My first thought was, ‘Well, why not
make a TV series about firewood?’ ’’ Mr.
Moeklebust said in an interview. ‘‘And
that eventually cut down to a 12-hour
show, with four hours of ordinary pro-
duced television, and then eight hours of
showing a fireplace live.’’
There is no question that it is a popu-
lar topic. ‘‘Solid Wood’’ outsold every
other book in Norway in 2011 and 2012,
including, as proof that thrills come in
many forms, E.L. James’s Norwegian
hit ‘‘Fifty Shades Bundet.’’ Sales have
exceeded 150,000 copies.
‘‘National Firewood Night,’’ as the
Friday program was called, opened
NORWAY, PAGE 4
Citizens bond over show
on firewood — just don’t
ask them how to stack it
BY SARAH LYALL
The TVprogram, on the topic of firewood,
consisted mostly of people in parkas
chatting and chopping earnestly in the
woods and then eight hours of a fire burn-
ing in a fireplace.
Yet no sooner had it begun, on prime
time on Friday night, than the angry re-
sponses came pouring in.
‘‘We received about 60 text messages
from people complaining about
MOHD RASFAN/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Displaced in Malaysia
Residents of Tanduo village on Borneo at the home of a
relativeWednesday in a nearby community. Their village is being occupied by scores
of armed Filipinos angered by a peace deal betweenManila andMuslim rebels.
the
OBAMA, PAGE 5
WORLDNEWS
China considered drone strike
A discarded plan to use a drone to kill a
Myanmar drug lord wanted in the
murders of 13 Chinese sailors
highlights China’s increasing capacity
in unmanned aerial warfare.
PAGE 3
BUSINESS ASIA
China points finger back at U.S.
Chinese officials denied that an army
unit in Shanghai had engaged in
cyberattacks against U.S. corporations
and said that China had been the victim
of hacking by the United States.
PAGE 15
VIEWS
Thomas L. Friedman
Democracy isn’t easy. Just look at how
Egypt today is even more divided than
ever. Either the MuslimBrotherhood
changes, or it fails — and the sooner it
realizes that, the better.
PAGE 7
Hopes rise higher in euro zone
While an untimely credit squeeze has
resulted in a couple of dreary months
for the euro zone, investor optimism
reflected in new surveys may not be
misplaced, Mike Dolan writes.
PAGE 18
Russian furor at adoptee’s death
Russian officials have accused a Texas
woman of fatally beating a 3-year-old
boy she had adopted fromRussia,
setting off a newwave of anger in a
country focused on the issue.
PAGE 4
Prime minister quits in Tunisia
Hamadi Jebali has resigned as
promised after failing to form a new
government amid continuing turmoil
that was set off by the assassination of
a leftist opposition leader.
PAGE 4
Apple struck by cyberattack
Malware infected some computers at
Apple after employees visited a
software developers’ forum, the
company said. Facebook and Twitter
have also been hit recently.
PAGE 15
Malaise in E.U. carbon trade
The United States is considering a cap-
and-trade system to reduce polluting
gas emissions. But the lessons from
Europe show that such programs do not
always have the desired effect.
PAGE 20
Backing China’s solar makers
As the European Union considers tariffs
against Chinese manufacturers, solar
panel installation and servicing
companies in the region say 242,000 jobs
could be lost over three years.
PAGE 17
Greenland and China
China may have a growing interest in
Greenland’s riches, but that does not
mean Greenland will break from
Denmark anytime soon, write Martin
Breum and Jorgen Chemnitz.
PAGE 6
INDIA INK
The family of the deceased
Muhammad Afzal Guru was
executed this month in a NewDelhi
prison, having been convicted and
sentenced to death for his role in a
bloody attack on Parliament in 2001. On
Tuesday evening, his widow sat
huddled in the dark in a room at his
family’s home, surrounded by grieving
relatives. ‘‘I just want his body back,’’
she said.
nytimes.com/indiaink
STEFANO LANCIA/EPA
SPORTS
Musical chairs works in soccer
The Italian forward Antonio Di Natale
plays for Udinese, one of three teams
owned by the Pozzo family, which likes
to shuttle players among them.
PAGE 12
PAGE TWO
Mali tests minister’s mettle
Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French defense
minister, did not expect to be managing
an African war, but he is learning.
NEWSSTAND PRICES
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
page two
Ensnared
in the trap
of memory
telephone from theUnitedStates,
‘‘Theyare in denial.’ ’
Rape happenedduring the Cultural
Revolution, she said. She stands by her
statementthat shewas told to leave,
though she agrees‘‘deported’’ wasn’t a
goodchoiceof word.
And Ms. Fu has since said thatthe
quartering by horsewas an ‘‘emotional
memory,’ ’ something Ms.McCarthy ex-
plored. There may be more admissions
to come. ‘‘If I have made any factual er-
rors, I’dbe morethan happy to correct
theminthe next printing,’ ’ she said.
Her critics will be glad to hear that.
Perhaps what’sneeded to calm the
storm is for Penguin, herpublisher,to
appoint a fact-checker.
Yet the difficultyisthatthe instant
something sounds bizarre, closerinves-
tigation finds kernels ofpossibletruth.
Shewrites that state agents abducted
herafter theyheard about her infanti-
cide paper and that shewas detained
for three days in stinking conditions.
Such things still happen in China.
Ms. Fu sent me a scannedcopy of
what she said wasaletterfromafellow
student, dated May 1982. In the hand-
writtenletter, he mentions thatMs. Fu
leftuniversity abruptly,without gradu-
ating, as all theothers were finishing
their theses—undermysterious cir-
cumstances that classmatesgossiped
about but didn’t understand.
Hewrites that collegeofficials were
saying thatMs. Fu had anervousbreak-
downafterbeing jilted.Aclassmate was
namedasthe formerboyfriend.
Ms. Fu said in the interview thatthis
wasacover-up and that in realityshe
was in political trouble, that her thesis
had beensecretly passed by a sympa-
thetic teacher to anewspaper and
traveled up the chain. Eventually, she
said, it causedanational and interna-
tional scandal about the abuses of the
one-child policy.
In the letter,the classmate wonders
if the story about the jilting was true.
Hewrites that he spoketothe jilter
‘‘forabout an hour’’ about Ms. Fu, but
the man was distant and ‘‘He says he
was also a victim.’ ’
By 1983, state newsmedia were re-
porting onfemale infanticide. ‘‘At
present, the phenomena ofbutchering,
drowning and leaving to die female in-
fants and maltreating women who have
given birth to female infantshave been
very serious. It has become agrave so-
cial problem,’ ’ People’s Daily reported
on March 3 of that year, according to a
New York Timesarticle dated April 11.
If it’s difficulttoestablish thetruth,
there’sareason: 37 years after the Cul-
tural Revolution, it’sstill impossibleto
research, discuss orpublish about it
freely in China. Censorship is harsh —
there arewell-knownpeoplewho have
much to hide about whatthey did, some
say. Guilt lingers. The result is confu-
sion, despite adeep well ofpersonal
memory (memory again!). The field is
openfordenial,exaggeration and
shame. ‘‘Proof’’ is oftenmerely recollec-
tion,Ms.McCarthy’s unreliable friend.
Is Ms. Futelling thetruth, but people
just don’t know it? Orare ‘‘nightin-
gales’’ singing in a self-dramatizing
narrative? Until China opens its
archives and permits opendebate, we
won’t know. Not forsure. Becauseeven
‘‘experts’’ on China areoften wrong.
The factsjust aren’t available.
E-MAIL:
pagetwo@iht.com
Didi Kirsten
Tatlow
LETTER FROM CHINA
BEIJING
‘‘I remember we heard a
nightingaletogether,on the boulevard
near the SacredHeart convent. But
there are no nightingalesinNorth
America.’ ’ Sowrote Mary McCarthy in
‘‘Memories ofaCatholic Girlhood,’ ’
challenging the reliability ofmemory.
Reviewing the bookin1957 in The
New York Times, Charles Poore said,
‘‘We all add to ourmemories of child-
hood appropriate bits of whatwehave
read orheard sincethen.’ ’
The fallibility ofmemory may partly
explain the fracas surrounding ‘‘Bend,
Not Break,’ ’ arecently publishedbusi-
ness-cum-personal memoir by Ping Fu,
born in 1958,ofgrowing up in China
during the Cultural Revolution, moving
to theUnitedStates and founding a
successfulsoftware company called
Geomagic.
Ms. Fu, too, has her ‘‘nightingale’’
moment, in Nanjing. RedGuards, she
writes, had sent her there fromher
childhoodhomeof Shanghai (where
shewas staying without aresidence
permit, withrelatives)tolive atthe
university where herfather taught. (In
her narrative, her parents were ban-
ished to the countryside soonaftershe
arrived.) There shewas forcedbyRed
Guards to watch a teacher‘‘quartered
by fourhorsemen on the soccerfield.’ ’
Details likethat have produceda
storm of oppositionfromsome
Chinese, especially in theUnited
States,who accuseMs. Fuof lying.
The Cultural Revolution was bad for
many,they agree, but it’s importantto
be accurate. Ms. Fu’sstory simply isn’t.
‘‘I personally feel that it is very im-
portanttouse facts and rigid analysis
instead of fabricatedstories to bridge
variousknowledge and cultural gaps
between China and the outsideworld,’ ’
Kevin Tu, who is Chinese and livesin
theUnitedStates,wrote in an e-mail.
‘‘While Icaneasily enjoyreading
books such as ‘Mao’sGreat Famine’ ’’
— Frank Dikötter’saccountof the bru-
tality of the Great Leap Forward — ‘‘I
just couldn’t acceptthe fact someone
like FuPing intentionally misbehaved
forpersonal gain,’ ’ Mr. Tuwrote.
Accusations are flying in online for-
ums. Calm voicesare hard to find.
Other things the critics don’t believe:
that shewas ‘‘quietly deported’’ to the
UnitedStatesin1984 for writing a uni-
versity thesis about female infanticide;
that shewas gang-rapedbyRedGuards.
On that last point, Ms. Fu said by
JOE PENNEY/REUTERS
A Malian soldier checking the identity of a bus passenger. French troops have joined the conflict at the request of the government, and France may find it difficult to extricate itself.
Baptism
of fire for newminister
Mr. Le Drian,who in a public career of
many decadessatonnumerousdefense
committees, spoke aboard a small,eleg-
ant jet of the French fleet. Hewas re-
turning from two days ofanofficial visit
in Qatar,thetiny emirate that has
played a large role in Libya and now in
Syria, and that created the powerful
cable channel AlJazeera.
Mali was his topic,Mr. Le Drian said,
as France looks forhelp in supporting
African troops who are supposed to take
overfrom Paris. But theQataris were
more interested in discussing Syria, and
how to shiftthe balanceof the long,
bloody civil war againstPresident
Bashar al-Assad by arming the nonrad-
ical opposition.
The longer victory takes, he said the
Qataris had told him, ‘‘the morethe
most radical groups are strengthened.’ ’
And the stability ofLebanon, another
formerFrench colony, remains ofdeep
concern to bothcountries.
But it is Mali,where French troops
are doing nearly all the fighting,that
preoccupies Mr. Le Drian. Theeffort
has begunwell, but it mustendwell, too,
he said,unlikethe chaos in Libya,where
a weak central government cannot con-
trolregional militias and arms are flow-
ing freely across borders, including to
the IslamistsinMali.
The intervention in Libya did not fin-
ish properly, he said. ‘‘We can’t allow
ourselves this inMali.’ ’
Two French soldiers have diedso far
—the first shot on the first day, and the
second onTuesday in a clash withIs-
lamistsinMali’snorthern mountains.
But there have beenlong nights of anxi-
ety, too. When the French sent 200 para-
chutistsinto Timbuktu, itwas about
4:30 a.m. in Paris.Aides wokeup Mr. Le
Drian to tell him the news; hewaited
until 6 to call Mr. Hollande.
There are already concerns about
‘‘missioncreep’’ — Francewants to
hand off as soonaspossibletotheWest
African regional groupEcowas and al-
lies like Chad,whosetroops, beingmore
light-skinned like heArabs and
Tuaregs of Mali’snorth, are more ac-
ceptabletoresidents therethan the
darker-skinned Malian Army. France
wantsanewU.N. SecurityCouncil reso-
lution to rebadgetheAfrican force as
blue-helmetedpeacekeepers and has
beenpushing fornew elections in Mali,
now scheduledforJuly 7.
But the French are alsowaiting for
European Union military trainers to
help restorethe broken Malian Army, a
mission approvedbyBrussels only on
Monday, and the collapsedstate itself
must be rebuilt. Partof that process
him from Mali,Mr. Le Drian said,was
the lack ofFrench surveillance drones,
which he called ‘‘incomprehensible.’’
France has only two dronesintheater,
he said. ‘‘A country withaeronautical
skills,that makesgood airplanes and
that did not anticipatewhat surveillance
and intelligencewill look liketomorrow
—or evencombat!’’ he said. France
‘‘did not anticipate and refused to make
this choice—but this doesn’t date from
today but from5or10 years ago. Ihave
asked that someoneexplain the story to
me so I understand why we didn’t do it,
since, really,weshould have.’’
Perhaps the problem was national
pride and a refusal to buy American?
‘‘I’m trying to remedy this impasse and
this pride,’’ he said. ‘‘It’sareal question
for us.’ ’
Similarly, he said, France lacks ad-
equate air refueling capacity, for which
again hethanks theUnitedStates,which
aftersome hesitation agreed to provide
refueling planes.Asfor air transport,
Francewould always rely onitsalliesin
NATO, he said. ‘‘That issue we finally
fixed without too much trouble because
we were supportedbythe British,the
Americans, but alsothe Spanish,the
Germans and the Canadians.’ ’
But France must consider, he said,
whetherit can continue to rely onsuch
burden-sharing,orstrive forself-suffi-
ciency—highly unlikely givenausterity
measures.
Sothe question arises, he agreed, for
Europeans, too — will there be areal
European CommonSecurity and De-
fensePolicy capableofacting separate-
ly fromNATO, as France has always
favored? Afterall,there is supposed to
be aEurocorps of rapid-reaction troops
ready to fly at amoment’snotice, but no
oneever calls on them.
In theend,Mr. Le Drian said,the fu-
ture may simply look likeMali and
Libya — acoalition of willing nations,
using at least some NATO assets.
The new government has ordereda
study of military requirementsinanage
oflowerspending; the lastonewas in
2008,under Mr. Sarkozy. ‘‘The principal
questioninthewhite paperishow to ad-
apt defensetoa financial crisis — de-
fense is a matter ofsovereignty, and so
is the security of the public accounts,’ ’
he said. But some new investments
‘‘now seem to me inevitable, like intelli-
gence and special forces.’ ’
Mr. Le Drian accompanied Mr.
HollandetoMali two weeks agoto
thank thetroops and bethankedbythe
Malian government. In the plane, the
two menlaughedabout a placard that
read: ‘‘Merci Papa Hollande, Merci
TontonLe Drian’’ — ‘‘Thank you, Papa
Hollande, thank you, Uncle Le Drian.’ ’
Itwas a happy moment for a military
rescue operationdecidedsuddenly and
withgreat risk.
PARIS
Conflict in Mali raises
broader questions for
French defense chief
BY STEVEN ERLANGER
Jean-YvesLe Drian, a lifelong Socialist,
remembers vividly the day Nicolas
Sarkozycalled to offer him the postof
defense minister.
Itwas in the spring of2007, just after
Mr. Sarkozy was electedpresidentof
France. Mr. Le Drian had decided to
give up Parliament and remain head of
Brittany — an important naval and mil-
itary area — and hewas handing out
anti-Sarkozyliteratureon the street. He
took the call from the new president in
theentryway ofabuilding.
‘‘And therewasadog there, which
was trying to pee onmewhile I was on
thetelephone,’’ he said, laughing. ‘‘And
Iyelled, ‘Get away! Get lost!’ ’’
Hewas flattered to be asked,Mr. Le
Drian said in an interview, but not per-
suaded —even when Mr. Sarkozylater
offered him the job again.
Mr. LeDrian, 65, has the jobnow, asked
to serve by his friend of30 years,the cur-
rent French Socialist president, François
Hollande. But it is not the job Mr. Le Dri-
an expected — France is atwar in Mali,
far away,without Western allies on the
ground.And critics are quick to suggest
that having decided to gotowar so
quickly, afteranappeal forhelp from
Mali’s transitional president, Francewill
have a hard timeextricating itself.
Mr. Le Drian knew hewould have to
manage France’s early pullout from Af-
ghanistan,which did not pleaseWash-
ington or otherNATO allies. But he did
not expecttomanage a war.
‘‘I had always been the boss ofregion-
al councils, but not in a situation to de-
cide a war,’ ’ he said. ‘‘I had neverinmy
life beenconfronted withsuch a situ-
ation.’ ’ AsaBreton, he said, ‘‘I come
from very modest and local beginnings,
fromaregion that has been excludedfor
along time, and I have thetendency to
be discreet and reserved, not to show
too much.’ ’ He considers himself Mr.
Hollande’s ‘‘goodsoldier.’ ’
In theweeks since Jan. 11,when
Francewenttowar in Mali,Mr. Le Dri-
an said, he has learnedalot about him-
self and those around him. He has had to
go beforethe public,the Legislature and
the newsmedia to explain, justify and
describethewar. He has also dis-
coveredintheseweeks, he said, ‘‘that I
have become stronger.’ ’ Being respon-
sible for the lives of others atwar ‘‘is not
aburden, but apermanenttension,’ ’ he
said. ‘‘I don’t see it asaburden, but as a
duty. That’sahelp.’ ’
Of being responsible for
the lives of others, he says:
‘‘I don’t see it as a burden, but
as a duty. That’s a help.’’
must be anegotiatedreconciliationbe-
tween Bamako and Tuaregnationalists
who had sided with the Islamists and
must agree to give up their demand for
independence in return foranun-
definedautonomy orfederal state.
All this will take months and require
stability,Mr. Le Drian concedes, and
whilethe French express hopethatAfri-
can forces will pursue the Islamistsinto
themountains and deserts of the north, it
is highly likely that French special forces
will have to continue to operate on their
own and alongsidetheAfricans,with the
help of U.S. surveillance drones.
Oneof the most shocking lessons for
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Europe moves to cap bank bonuses
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capital requirements and you automatically reduce profits, and in turn, pay.’’
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1913 Paris Cattle Show Opens
PARIS
Crowds ofpeople attended theParis
Cattle Showwhich openedinthe Grand Palais
des Champs-Elyséesyesterday.Withrespectto
the quality of theexhibits,the 1913 show eclipses
all thoseofpreviousyears. Not only are cattleon
show, but the central nave of the Grand Palais is
reservedforahorticultural exhibition. Special
mentionmust be madeof the model gardenfor
the instruction of school children, shownbythe
Ministry of Agriculture.
1938 Eden Quits; Reichstag Cheers Hitler
BERLIN
A few hours today [Feb. 20] before Euro-
pean chancelleries were stirredbythe resigna-
tion of Anthony Eden as British Foreign Secre-
tary, Chancellor Adolf Hitler made his scheduled
speech beforethe cheering Reichstag here, in
which hetaunted this foreign statesman. Hitler
announcedfurther increasesinthe strength of
German fighting forces and that hewould estab-
lish a ‘‘protectorate’’ overGerman minoritiesin
foreign statesnear the Reich frontiers.
1963 Ben-Gurion Prevails in Close Vote
JERUSALEM (ISRAELI SECTOR)
PremierDavid
Ben-Gurionrode out astorm today [Feb. 20]
when the Knesset narrowly defeatedfourmo-
tions to abolish military government in predom-
inantly Arab areas ofIsrael. The 57-to-56 vote
came after Mr. Ben-Gurion, replying to charges
that military governmentviolated theArabs’
civil rights, said the institution was essential to
counter the ‘‘nests ofhostility, subversion and in-
citement’’ among theArab minority.
How do
 ..
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
|
3
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
Wor
ld News
asia-pacific
BRIEFLY
Asia-Pacific
Cameron
pays tribute
to Indians
killed in 1919
NEW DELHI
SEOUL
North Korea attributes gains
in nuclear efforts to the U.S.
NorthKorea has releasedanew propa-
ganda video that shows President
Barack Obama and U.S.troops in
flames and credits Washington with
leading the country to becoming a
proudnuclear power.
Thevideo, ‘‘Thanks to theAmeri-
cans,’ ’ is a 90-second production that
was uploaded onSunday on YouTube
by an official NorthKoreanWebsite,
Uriminzokkiri. ‘‘It is not incorrectto
say thattheUnitedStates’ gangster-
like policy ofhostilityprompted us to
become amost strong military power,’ ’
says thetextthat scrolls across the
screen. ‘‘Thusit can be said that itwas
‘thanks to’ theAmericans thatwe
conductedanuclear test.’’
In thevideo, flamesare superimposed
onfootageof Mr.Obama in Congress
and U.S.troops and on screenshots of
SouthKorean televisionreporting the
nuclear test. Thevideo ends withanan-
imated simulation ofanuclear device
exploding in an underground test site.
KABUL
Afghans seize senior figure
in the Pakistani Taliban
TheAfghan authoritieshave captured
aseniormember of thePakistani
Taliban in the mountains near the fron-
tierbetween Afghanistan and Paki-
stan,Afghan and Pakistani officials
said this week.
OneAfghan official said Tuesday that
the militant, Maulvi Faqir Muhammad,
had been arrestedafter U.S. airstrikes,
some carried out via drones, had
flushed him out ofamore remote haven.
AlthoughMr.Muhammad, seized over
theweekend, had lost much of his
standing in thePakistani Taliban over
the past few years, his arrest is likely to
pleasePakistani officials and further
improve the already warming relations
between Kabul and Islamabad.
Afghan officials, including members
of the intelligence agency,the National
Directorate ofSecurity, said itsagents,
aidedbyAfghan Army special forces,
capturedMr.Muhammad onSunday
along withfour other militantsinthe
Mohmand Dara district, in theeastern
Afghan provinceof Nangarhar.
MANILA
Communist guerrillas attack
major pineapple plantation
Morethan 100 Communist guerrillas
have stormed oneof theworld’s largest
pineapple plantations in the southern
Philippines, killing a guard, burning
farm equipment and seizing firearms
in their biggest attack this year, ac-
cording to Philippineofficials.
The police said two otherguards
were shot and wounded onTuesday
night by about 100 NewPeople’s Army
guerrillas who bargedinto aresidential,
recreational and office complex on the
plantation ofDel Monte Philippinesin
Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon Province.
Lt. Col. EugenioOsias, a Philippine
Army officer, saidWednesday thatthe
insurgents had also attackedanofficeof
another pineapple plantationinBukid-
non and blocked traffic in two nearby
towns to prevent moretroops fromre-
sponding to the attack onDel Monte.
(AP)
WELLINGTON
Anti-whaling group accuses
Japanese of ramming its ships
Ananti-whaling activist group on Wed-
nesday accused a Japanesewhaling
vessel ofintentionally ramming two of
its ships in waters near Antarctica. But
the Japanese Fisheries Agency in-
sisted thatthe protesters were respon-
sible for the collisions.
Paul Watson, founder of the Sea
Shepherd ConservationSociety, said he
was aboard the ship Steve Irwin when
the Japanesevessel,the NisshinMaru,
collided withit;anotherSeaShepherd
ship,the Bob Barker; and a tanker used
to refuel the Japanesewhaling fleet. Mr.
Watson said the Japanese ship deliber-
ately rammed the SeaShepherd vessels
to try to move them aside and get to the
refueling tanker. He said the Japanese
ship also accidentally hitthetanker.
The Fisheries Agency blamed the
SeaShepherd boats, saying they had
taken theoffensive and had hitthe Nis-
shinMaru at least four timesduring re-
fueling despite verbal warnings. Noone
was injured,the agency said.
(AP)
JAKARTA
Smuggling of asylum seekers
results in prison for Afghan
AnIndonesian courton Wednesday
sentencedanAfghan man to six years
in prisonforsmuggling asylum
seekers to Australia.
The defendant, Dawood Amiri, 20,
was found guilty of violating Indonesia’s
immigrationlaw and conspiring withan
international syndicate that smuggled
asylumseekers fromIndonesia to Aus-
tralia. The ruling, by the East Jakarta
District Court, said hewas involvedin
organizingaboatof asylumseekers that
sank onavoyagetoChristmas Island
last year, killing about 90 people.
(AP)
Regrets for massacre
by British are first from
serving prime minister
BY GARDINER HARRIS
Britain’s prime minister laid a wreath
Wednesday atthe site ofanotorious
1919 massacrethat costthe lives ofhun-
dreds of Indians and has long beenseen
as oneof the British Empire’smost
shameful episodes.
David Cameron was the first serving
prime minister to voice regret about the
Jallianwala Baghmassacre in Amritsar,
although Queen Elizabeth II made a
similar appearance in 1997 that atthe
time causedanoutpouring of painedre-
flections about India’scolonial history
under Britain.Mr. Cameron’s trip, per-
haps because Britain’srole in India has
become relatively less important, has
caused far less comment and consterna-
tion.
‘‘This wasadeeply shameful event in
British history —onethatWinston
Churchill rightly describedatthattime
as monstrous,’ ’ Mr. Cameron wrote in
thevisitors’ notebookatthe memorial.
Like he queenbefore him,Mr.
Cameron did not offerafull apology, a
factthatwas duly noted by Indian news
media. British officials have quietly
worried that an apology for oneepisode
from the imperial period might lead to
an outpouring ofdemands for similar
apologiesallover theworld.
In 1919, Brig. Reginald Dyer, a British
officer administering martial law,
ordered50 soldiers to openfireona
crowd ofabout 10,000 unarmed Indians
protesting a postwar extension of World
WarIdetentionlaws.ABritish inquiry
concluded that 379 peoplewere killed
and 1,100 wounded, but an Indian in-
quiry estimated that 1,000 died.
Fortunately for Mr. Cameron,Prince
Philip was not on this trip.When the
queen visited theAmritsar memorial in
1997, herroyal consortwas overheard
complaining thatthe memorial’s official
signage ‘‘vastly exaggerated’’ the
death toll,which he said he had learned
fromBrigadierDyer’ssonwhen the two
men were cadetsinthe Royal Navybe-
foreWorldWar II.
The remark touched offastorm of
commentary, littleofit beneficial to the
visitors. The massacre is seenbymany
Indian historians as a crucial moment in
the country’sstruggle for independence.
Mr. Cameron’s trip is intended to bol-
ster the two countries’ business and
tradeties and perhaps strengthen his
support among 1.5million British voters
of Indian descent. OnTuesday,Prime
MinisterManmohan Singh askedfor his
assistance in an increasingly embar-
rassing bribery investigationinto In-
dia’spurchaseof12AgustaWestland
helicopters made at a plant in Britain.
AgustaWestland’s parent company,
Finmeccanica, is basedinItaly, and the
company’s chairman and chief execu-
tive, GiuseppeOrsi,was arrestedre-
cently oncorruption and fraud charges
afterinvestigators charged that Fin-
meccanica had engagedinanelaborate
schemetobribe Indian generals to win
the contract, charges that at leastoneof
thetopgenerals has firmly denied. The
case has become a black eye for Mr.
Singh’sgoverning coalition.
While stressing that Finmeccanica is
‘‘an Italian company,’ ’ Mr. Cameron
promised to ‘‘respond to any request for
information.’ ’
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY EDWRAY FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Residents displaced from a heavily flooded area in their new apartment in the Marunda housing complex, which is undergoing upgrades to encourage new residents to stay on.
Jakarta renews efforts against fl
ooding
JAKARTA, FROMPAGE 1
‘‘Simple efforts in dredging
the canals that exist would
reduce the incidents of
flooding by 40 percent.’’
creases waterrunoff and subsidence
causedbyoverdevelopment also make
it increasingly vulnerabletoflooding.
Mr. Joko’s challenge, analystssay,
will be finding solutions to problems
that previous administrations failed to
address becauseofcorruption orpolitic-
al infighting.Additionally, despite gov-
ernment promises to increase spending
on infrastructure in recent years, proj-
ectshave beenheld upbyproblemswith
land acquisition orbypublic resistance.
Pastefforts to relocate riverside com-
munities to allow fordredging, forin-
stance, have met fierceoppositionfrom
residents who say a move would be
costly and takethem far away from
their workplaces.
‘‘Simpleeffortsindredging the canals
thatexistwould reducethe incidents of
flooding by 40 percent,’’ said Stefan G.
Koeberle, country directorforIndone-
sia attheWorld Bank.
But evenseemingly simple projects
can fall victim to a mix ofbureaucracy
and foot-dragging.
‘‘Essentially,these arevery complex
undertakings in a denseurban environ-
mentwith big social,environmental and
economic consequences,’ ’ Mr. Koeberle
said.
Mr. Joko says he is not fazed. ‘‘Myfo-
cusisflooding,traffic and improving
public spaces,’ ’ he said after listening to
aproposal fora$725 millionmonorail
project. ‘‘I am full ofhope and optimism.
These problems can be settled.’ ’
Already there are signs ofprogress.
In April,with assistance from theWorld
Bank,the city will begin a $189 million
flood-mitigationdredging project aimed
at reducing sedimentary buildup
causedbypoor maintenance and solid
waste management.
In the meantimeMr. Joko has been
meeting withriverside residents,trying
to persuadethem to move out. Last
Thursday, he replaced20 senior offi-
cials, including the head of the public
ment has to tacklethe social problems,
not justthetechnical ones, and for that
we have some hopewithJokowi.’ ’
In Surakarta,the midsize city where
Mr. Jokowas mayorbefore becoming
Jakarta’sgovernor, community organ-
izers say his soft-spoken approach
helped himwin over opponents ofarelo-
cationproject involving morethan 1,000
households.
His work creating green space and up-
grading traditional markets there led the
CityMayors Foundation, an internation-
al research institute, to rank him third on
its listof theworld’sbest mayors in 2012.
But even Mr. Joko’ssupporters in
Surakartawonderifhe is capableof tack-
ling the problems ofamuch larger, more
economically important megalopolis.
‘‘Jakartaiscrazy,’ ’ said Ahmad Rifai,
executive director ofSolo KotaKita, an
organizationinSurakarta thatencour-
agesresidents to interactwithlocal offi-
cials oncity planning. ‘‘We needmore
than justone person to change it.’’
Change is desperately needed,
however,urban planners say, not only to
make Jakartamore livable, but to ensure
the futureofacountry that registered
economic growth of6.2percent last year.
Otherdeveloping countriesstruggle
withflooding. In 2011, majorfloods hit
Thailand, setting off panic among in-
vestors. Businesspeople in Jakartasay
they worry the samething could hap-
pen.
‘‘It’sreally about political will,’ ’ said
Marco Kusumawijaya, director of the
Rujak Centerfor Urban Studies, anon-
governmental organization. ‘‘Tokyo
subsided until the 1960s, but they man-
aged to stopit. Jokowi has the capacity
to dothe same.’’
Workmen mixing cement outside the Marunda housing complex. Past attempts to ease
flooding have been held up by corruption, political infighting and public resistance.
works agency,tohelp shakeup the
city’ssluggish bureaucracy.Mr. Basuki,
his deputy, has promisedriverside com-
munitiessubsidized apartments like
those in Marunda and has helpedstart
upwater taxis to providetransportation
along the city’snorthern coast.
Theteam is relying onapopulist ap-
proach that many creditwithhaving
helped them win theelection last
September. Inacountry where politi-
cians oftencome fromatight-knitelite
or the military establishmentthatonce
controlled the country,Mr. Joko, widely
knownasJokowi, has convinced many
Jakartans that he is the sortofleader
who cares whatthey think.
‘‘Listening to people’s oncerns,
that’sagoodstart,’’ said Jonatan Lassa,
afellow atthe Institute ofResource
Governance and Social Change, an In-
donesian research organization that has
publishedseveral reports on Jakarta’s
vulnerability to flooding. ‘‘The govern-
China weig
hed using drone to kill Mekong murd
er suspect
Laos,Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Chinese lawenforcementofficials
wereunderpressure fromanoutraged
public to take actionafter 13 Chinese
sailors on two cargo ships laden with
narcotics were killedinOctober2011 on
theMekong River.Photos of the dead
sailors,their bodies gagged and blind-
folded and somewithhead wounds sug-
gesting execution-style killings, circu-
lated on the Internet in China.
Itwas oneof the most brutal assaults
on Chinese citizens abroad in recent
years. Naw Kham, amember of Myan-
mar’s ethnic Shan minority and a major
drug trafficker,was suspectedinthe
killings.
Amanhunt by theChinese police in the
jungles of the Golden Triangle areapro-
ducedno results, and security officials
consideredadrone strike asapossible
solution. The suspectwas thencaptured
in April in Laos and extradited to China.
China’sg obal navigation system,
Beidou, would have been used to guide
the drones to thetarget, Mr. Liu said.
China’sgoal is for the Beidou system to
compete with theU.S. Global Position-
ing System,the Russian Glonass and
the European Union’s Galileo, Chinese
expertssay.
Mr. Liu’scomments on theuseof the
Beidou system with the dronesreflects
the rapid advancement in that naviga-
tion systemfromitshumble beginnings
morethan a decade ago.
Theexperimental navigation system
was startedin2000 and has sinceexpan-
ded to 16 navigationsatellites over Asia
and thePacific Ocean, according to an
article published Wednesday in China
Daily, an English-language state-run
newspaper. The Chinese military is now
conducting patrols and training exer-
cises using Beidou, the newspaper said.
Asanexample, China Daily quoted
the information chiefatthe headquar-
ters of the NorthSeaFleet, Lei Xiwei,
saying a fleet with the missile destroyer
Qingdao, along with the missile frigates
Yantai and Yancheng,entered the South
China Sea onFeb. 1 using the Beidou
navigation system to provide position-
ing, security and protectionfor the fleet.
As China has been vastly improving
itsnavigation system, it is also making
fast progress withdrones, and many
manufacturers for the Chinese military
boast research centers devoted to un-
mannedaerial vehicles, according to a
report last year by the Defense Science
Board of thePentagon.
Two Chinese drones, apparently
modeled on theU.S. Reaper and Predat-
BEIJING
China has acknowledged a
program that uses drones for
surveillance of coastal areas.
Reported plan indicates
Beijing’s proficiency in
unmanned aerial warfare
Aerospace Science and Technology Cor-
poration said attheZhuhai air show.
China has acknowledged that a pilot
program thatusesdronesispartofits
stepped-upsurveillanceofitscoastal
areas, as well as in the South China Sea
and the East China Sea.
By 2015,the State Oceanic Adminis-
tration has said it planned to use drones
along China’scoastlineonapermanent
basis and would establish monitoring
basesfordronesincoastal provinces.
Asfor Mr. Naw Kham, hewas cap-
turedinApril attheMekong Riverport
of Mong Mo, Laos, after a six-month
hunt by the combinedpolice forces of
China,Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
He has received the deathsentence
from a Chinese court in Yunnan
Province and is awaiting execution, ac-
cording to Chinese newsreports.
‘‘We didn’t use China’s military, and
we didn’t harm a single foreign citizen,’ ’
Mr. Liu braggedafter the arrest.
Bree Feng contributed research.
BY JANE PERLEZ
China considered using a drone strike in
amountainousregion ofSoutheastAsia
last year to kill a Myanmar druglord
wantedinthe killings of13Chinese sail-
ors, but decided instead to capture him
alive, according to an influential state-
runnewspaper.
The plan to use adrone, described to
the daily Global Timesbyaseniorpub-
lic security official, highlights China’s
increasing capacityinunmannedaerial
warfare, a technology dominatedbythe
UnitedStates and used widely by the
Obama administrationfor thetargeted
killing of terrorists.
LiuYuejin, director of theMinistry of
Public Security’santi-drugbureau, told
the newspaper thatthe plan calledfor us-
ingadrone carrying explosives to bomb
the suspect’s hide-out in theopium-grow-
ing area of Myanmar in the so-called
Golden Triangle atthe intersection of
CHINA DAILY, VIA REUTERS
Naw Kham in a Chinese court in Novem-
ber. He was captured in Laos last spring
after a six-month hunt by police forces.
or unmannedaerial vehicles,wereun-
veiledattheZhuhai air show in Novem-
ber.Alargerd one hatWestern
experts say is akin to theAmerican RQ-
4Global Hawk is also known to be in the
Chinese arsenal.
One Chinese drone, the CH-4, has a
rangeof3,500 kilometers,orabout 2,200
miles, and is ideal forsurveillance mis-
sions over islands in the East China Sea
that arethe subjectof a dispute between
China and Japan, an official of the China
 ..
4
|
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
world news
europe middle east africa
BRIEFLY
Europe
Prime mi
nister in Tunisia honors vow to quit
TUNIS
Failure to form cabinet
adds to turmoil since
opposition leader’s killing
Bulgarian prime minister
submits cabinet resignation
Bulgaria’s primeminister, Boiko Bor-
isov, submitted his government’sresig-
nation onWednesday afteratumultu-
ous week ofpublic anger over rising
electricity prices, corruption and auster-
itymeasures that ignited mass protests
nationwide and led to violent clashes
with the policeonTuesday night.
‘‘The people gave uspower, and
today we are returning it,’’ Mr. Borisov
said, according to local newsreports.
Tsetska Tsacheva,the speaker of the
Parliament, said that she had received
theofficial letter ofresignationbut that
itwould not takeeffectuntil legislators
voted onitonThursday.
DUBLIN
Ireland’s leader apologizes
for Catholic laundry abuse
Ireland ignored the mistreatmentof
thousands of women whowere incar-
cerated within laundries operatedby
Roman Catholic nuns and must pay the
survivors compensation,PrimeMinis-
ter Enda Kenny said this weekinan
emotional state apology for the de-
cades ofabusesinthe so-called Mag-
dalene Laundries.
‘‘By any standards itwasacruel, piti-
less Ireland, distinctly lacking in a qual-
ity ofmercy,’ ’ he said Tuesdayasdozens
offormerMagdalenes watched tearfully
fromParliament’spublic gallery.
Mr. Kenny said a seniorjudge had
been appointed to recommend an aid
program for the approximately 1,000
womenstill living from the residential
workhouses,the lastof which closedin
1996.
(AP)
MOSCOW
A top Russian lawmaker quits
after reports on U.S. property
A seniorlawmakerfromRussia’sgov-
erning party,who is alsothe chairman of
Parliament’s ethics committee, resigned
from the legislatureonWednesday after
oppositionbloggers revealed that he
ownedmorethan $1.3 millioninluxury
real estate in Florida,which he did not
listonrequired disclosure forms.
The lawmaker,Vladimir A. Pekhtin,
said he did not wantthe scandal to taint
his partycolleaguesinUnitedRussia
and announced his departure at amorn-
ing session of Parliament. He said that
he had not brokenanylawbut that ‘‘ob-
viouslegal misunderstandings’’ needed
to be cleared up.
LONDON
No verdict for ex-wife of former official
A British jury was dismissed on Wed-
nesday after failing to reach a verdict
in thetrial of Vicky Pryce, the former
wifeofaformer cabinet minister who
resignedafter lying foryears about a
speeding ticket. Ms.Pryce had pleaded
not guilty to the chargeof obstruction
ofjustice for taking the speeding pen-
altyin2003for Chris Huhne, herhus-
band then.
(AP)
BY KAREEM FAHIM
AND FARAHSAMTI
The prime minister ofTunisia has
resignedafter failing to form a new gov-
ernment, saying the country’spolitical
leaders, including those in his govern-
ing Islamist party, had ‘‘disappointed’’
Tunisians withsquabbling that had led
the country into apolitical crisis.
In a televisedspeech Tuesday that
struckmany in the country as a rare dis-
play ofaccountabilitybyapolitician,
PrimeMinister Hamadi Jebali said he
was following through onapromiseto
resign if his initiative failed. ‘‘Our
people are looking forcredibility,’ ’ he
said. ‘‘It is important for ourpeopleto
have aclearer vision of the future.’’
Hismoderate Islamist party, Ennahda,
which leads the coalitiongovernment,
said it intended to renominate him as
prime minister.Mr. Jebali said in his
speech that hewould serve only if certain
conditions were met, including that any
new government set adate for elections.
The resignation was partof the con-
tinuing turmoil following the assassina-
tion two weeks agoofaleftistopposition
leader, Chokri Belaid, by unknowngun-
men outside his home in Tunis. The
killing stokedfears that political vio-
lence could threaten oneof the region’s
more hopefulpolitical transitions two
years afterarevolt deposed the auto-
cratic president, Zineel-Abidine Ben Ali,
and set off the so-called Arab Spring.
Tens of thousands ofpeople marched
in Mr. Belaid’sfuneral, many express-
ing angerat Ennahda for failing to con-
front periodic episodes of violence by
hard-line Islamistsknown as Salafis
and othergroups.More broadly,the
killing focused angerat agovernment
seenasmore adept at squabbling than
at solving pressing issues likethe crip-
pling economic crisis or the reform of
security institutions.
In an efforttocontain that anger,Mr.
Jebali,who is also his party’ssecretary
general, had publicly defied the party
and said hewas pushing ahead witha
long-delayed cabinet reshuffle and re-
placingministers tied to political parties
with technocrats. The street violence
calmed, but negotiations over the past
ZOUBEIR SOUISSI/REUTERS
Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, center, before his resignation in Tunis. He said that the country’s leaders had ‘‘disappointed’’ Tunisians with squabbling that fostered the current crisis.
the political crisis worse.
In his speech,Mr. Jebali said he had
made his proposal to ‘‘save the country
and stop theviolence.’’ Aneutral govern-
ment, ‘‘free frompolitical fights,’ ’ wou ld
serve the people, he said, adding, ‘‘I am
still convinced this is the bestway.’ ’
Najib Gharbi, an Ennahda spokesman,
said the party was not to blame for the
latest impasse, adding thatwhile he ap-
preciated Mr. Jebali’s efforts,the party
had long held that apolitical coalitionwas
better thanagovernmentof technocrats.
‘‘Politicians who fought fora ong
time and worked hard for the revolution
are also qualified to be partof the gov-
ernment,’’ Mr. Gharbi said. ‘‘I guess Je-
bali doesn’t agree anymore.’’
Evenso, he said,the partyintended to
nominate Mr. Jebali to bethe prime
minister ofanew government, if Mr. Je-
bali consented.Analysts said the party
was considering several othermembers
as candidates, including the interior,
justice and health ministers.
Radwan Masmoudi,who leads the
Washington-basedCenterfor the Study
of Islam and Democracy and is closeto
Ennahda’sleaders, said an agreement
to formanew governmentwas ‘‘prob-
ably close’’ but facedseveral chal-
lenges.Among them, he said, is the Is-
lamist group’s insistenceonretaining
keygovernment portfolios,
the Interior Ministry. Opposition
partieshave singled out thatministry as
sorely in need ofreform.
The speech leftMr. Jebali’spositionin
his party unclear.Mr.Masmoudi said
thatwhilethe speech had been‘‘states-
manlike,’’ the prime minister was in
danger oflosing his base. ‘‘He can’t be a
leaderifhe doesn’t have apolitical
partybehind him,’ ’ he said.
But Noomane Fehri, amember of
Tunisia’sconstituent assembly who be-
longs to a liberal opposition party, said
he had found the speech refreshing.
‘‘He did what he said hewould do,’’
Mr. Fehri said. ‘‘He continued to be a
man you can trust.’’
‘‘It is important for our people
to have a clearer vision
of the future.’’
week failed to achieve an agreementon
what anew governmentwould look like.
Mr. Jebali and fellow Ennahda leaders
tried to smooth over their differences,
but the spat, along withpublic anger,
wasablow to a party that had con-
sidereditself an exampletoother Islam-
ist groups in the regionseeking to navi-
gate mainstream politics. Lastweek,
Abdelfattah Mourou, afounder ofEn-
nahda, criticizeditsleaders for making
including
Adoptee’s death in U.S.
stirs outrage i
n Russia
MOSCOW
would stress once again, from theAmer-
ican authorities — is shocking,’ ’ Kon-
stantinDolgov, theRussianForeignMin-
istry’shuman rightscommissioner,told
theVoiceofRussia radio station. ‘‘The 3-
year-old boy has beenrepeatedly beaten
by his American mother, and when the
autopsy was performed,theyfound that
his entire body was coveredinbruises.’ ’
Hewenton to say thatMax had been
givenanantipsychotic medication that
is prescribedfor‘‘very advancedforms
of schizophrenia in adults.’ ’
‘‘We hopethat if the investigation
finds that his American parentsare
guilty of his killing — his assassination
—wehopethat, ofcourse, they will be
broughttojustice,’’ he said.
The authoritiesinTexas were more
cautiousintheir remarks, saying they
were awaiting the results ofaninvesti-
gation.Patrick Crimmins of the Texas
Departmentof Family and Protective
Services said his agency had not re-
ceivedanypreviousaccusations of
abuse againstthe Shatto family, and he
declined to offeranydetails about signs
of physical neglectorabuse.
‘‘We may wanttowait foramedical
examiner’sreport and/or toxicology re-
sults,’ ’ he said in a statement. In the
meantime, he said,Max’syounger
brotherremains in the Shatto home.
‘‘We are monitoring the household to
ensure his safety,’ ’ he said.
Whateverled to the boy’sdeath, itwas
an appalling end to an adoption. Natalia
Vishnevskaya,the head doctoratthe
orphanage in Pskov wherethe boys
were adopted,toldRussia’s Channel One
thatthe boys’ biological mother tookno
interest in the boys’ lives and that her
parental rights had beenstripped when
hersons were 1and2years old.
She said the Shattos had visited the
brothers repeatedly atthe facility and
neverarousedanysuspicions among
the staff.
The Shattoshave not givenapublic
accountof the boy’sdeath.
Russia counts19 children who have
diedbecauseofabuseorneglect atthe
hands of American adoptive families.
U.S.officials have madethe casethat
these outcomesareexceedingly rare,
saying that morethan 60,000 Russian
childrenhave beenadoptedbyAmeri-
can families over the past 20 years.
The idea of banning adoption ofRus-
sian childrenbyAmericans was not
fully embracedbyRussian leaders until
late last year,when theywere searching
foratough responsetotheMagnitsky
Act, a U.S. measuretargeting Russian
officials accused ofcorruption and
rightsabuses.
Manny Fernandez contributed report-
ing fromHouston, and Staci Semrad
fromGardendale.
Moscow opens inquiry,
accusing Texas woman
of abusing 3-year-old
BY ELLEN BARRY
Russian officials have accusedaTexas
woman offatally beating a 3-year-old
boyshe had adoptedfromRussia, setting
offanew wave of outrage inacountry
already focused on U.S. adoptions that
have culminatedinneglectorabuse.
Max Shatto and his youngerbrother
left aRussian orphanage late last year
with their adoptive parents, Laura and
Alan Shatto, who live in theWest Texas
community of Gardendale.
OnJan. 21,the day Max died,the
Texas child welfare authoritiesreceived
areportof his death, as well as accusa-
tions of physical abuse and neglect. A
spokesman for the Texas Departmentof
Family and Protective Services said
Tuesday thatthe death was being inves-
tigated. Senator Mary L. Landrieu,
DemocratofLouisiana, said thatthe in-
vestigation would be completedin
about two weeks and that appropriate
actions would betaken.
The boy’sdeathshot to thetop of the
national newsinRussia onTuesday,
whenRussia’sprosecutorial investiga-
tive committee opened a criminal in-
quiry into what it called‘‘the murder of
a3-year-old Russian boy,Maksim
Kuzmin, by his adoptive motherinthe
U.S.’ ’ Last year,PresidentVladimir V.
Putin signedinto law a ban onalladop-
tions by Americans, and scores of famil-
iesare still hoping to complete adop-
tions thatwere in their final stages.
TheU S. Embassy in Moscow re-
leasedastatementwarning that ‘‘it
would be irresponsibletodraw conclu-
sions about the death or assign guilt be-
fore autopsy resultsare analyzed and
an investigation is carried out.’’
But few seemed inclined to wait in
Russia,where a prime-time newsan-
chor called the boy‘‘the 20thRussian
child killedintheU.S.A. by his adoptive
parents.’ ’ Po liticians described the reac-
tion of U.S.officials as callous.
‘‘Unfortunately,the death ofaRussian
child was not a tragedy for American
congressmen,American senators, and in
general itwas not a tragedy foranyone
in the States,’ ’ OlgaBatalina, alawmaker
with the governing party,UnitedRussia,
said in remarks to Parliament. ‘‘I pro-
posethatwepay tribute to a small Rus-
sian boy withamomentof silence.’’
The boy’sdeath was reported in pain-
ful etail
BRIEFLY
Middle East
WASHINGTON
Israel not among 9 nations
on Kerry’s first official trip
Secretary ofState John Kerry will by-
pass Israel on his firstofficial trip to
theMiddle East, U.S.officials said this
weekasthey announcedanitinerary
through nine nations, including several
in Europe.
Mr. Kerry’sfirsttrip in his new post
is to begin onSunday. His itinerary lists
Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the
United Arab Emirates. His diplomacy
will focus on the conflictsinAfghanis-
tan,Mali and Syria,Victoria Nuland,
the State Department spokeswoman,
said Tuesday.
But therewill be no stops in Israel or
thePalestinian territories,which to-
getherhave beenacenter of U.S. diplo-
matic efforts over the past six decades.
The announcement is likely to dampen
any lingering hopes thattheObama ad-
ministration mightunveil a fresh initia-
tive to revive the stalledMiddle East
peaceefforts.
(AP)
DAMASCUS
Shelling near soccer stadium
in city center kills player
Two mortar shells exploded on Wed-
nesday nexttoasoccerstadiumincen-
tral Damascus, killing one player and
wounding several others, Syria’sstate-
runnewsagency said.
The attack was the second in two days
in the capital.OnTuesday, two mortar
shells explodednear oneof President
Bashar al-Assad’s palaces. That attack
causedmaterial damageonly, but itwas
the first confirmedstrike closetoapres-
idential palace and another sign thatthe
civil war was moving closer to the heart
of Mr.Assad’sseatofpower and into
areas once considered safe.
(AP)
KYRRE LIEN FOR THE NEWYORK TIMES
‘‘You can tell a lot about a person from his firewood stack,’’ said Lars Mytting, whose book ‘‘Solid Wood’’ inspired the fireplace broadcast.
Norway’s burning issue: Fire logs
NORWAY, FROMPAGE 1
with the host, Rebecca Nedregotten
Strand, promising to ‘‘try to get to the
coreofNorwegian firewoodculture—
because firewoodisthe foundation of
ourlives.’ ’ Variouspeople discussedits
historical and personal significance.
‘‘We’ ll be sawing,we’ll be splitting,
we’ll be stacking, and we’ll be burning,’ ’
Ms. NedregottenStrand said.
But the real excitement camewhen
the actionmoved, fourhours later,toa
fireplace in a Bergen farmhouse.
Perhaps you have seenalogfire burn-
ing on televisionbefore. But itwould be
foolish to confuse Norway’s eight-hour
fireplaceextravaganza on Friday with
theYule Logbroadcast in theUnited
Statesat Christmastime.
WhiletheYule Logfire plays onacon-
stant repeating loop,the fireon ‘‘Nation-
al Firewood Night’’ burned all night
long, in suspensefully unscriptedconfig-
urations. Freshwoodwas added through
the hours by an NRK photographer
named Ingrid Tangstad Hatlevoli, aided
by viewers who sent advicevia Face-
book on whereexactly to place it.
Formostof thetime, theonly sound
came from the fire. Ms. Hatlevoli’s face
never appeared on screen, but occasion-
ally her hands could be seenputting
logs in the fireplace, orcooking saus-
ages and marshmallows onsticks.
‘‘I couldn’t gotobedbecause I was so
excited,’ ’ a viewercalledniesa36 said on
the Daglabednewspaper Webs te.
‘‘When will they add new logs? Just be-
fore I managed to tear myself away,
theymust have opened the flue alittle,
because justthen the flamesshot alittle
higher.
‘‘I’mnot being ironic,’ ’ theviewer
continued. ‘‘Forsome reason, his
broadcastwas very calming and very
exciting atthe sametime.’’
To be fair,the program was not uni-
versally acclaimed.OnTwitter, a viewer
named AndreUlveseter said: ‘‘Wentto
throwalog on the fire, gotmixed up, and
smashedit right into the TV.’ ’
But DerekMiller, an expatriate Amer-
ican and author of the novel ‘‘Norwegian
by Night,’’ said the broadcast appealed
t
o Norwegians’ nostalgia for a simpler
‘‘What I’ve learnedisthat you should
not askaNorwegianwhat he likesabout
firewood, but how he doesit—because
that’s theway he reveals himself,’ ’ said
Mr.Mytting. ‘‘You can tellalot about a
personfrom his firewoodstack.’ ’
The book has proved particularly pop-
ular as a gift for hard-to-shop-formen.
‘‘People buyit for their dads,their
uncles — ‘I don’t know whattoget him,
but he has always liked wood,’ ’ ’ said
William Jerde, aclerk atthe Tanum
bookstore in central Oslo. Tobias Seder-
holm, aclerk in a different store, said
thatone customercame in after Christ-
mas having receivedcopiesfromseven
different family members.
Petter Nissen-Lie, 44, alawyerinOslo
whoevery day beforework lightsafire
with woodhe has chopped himself, said
heunderstoodperfectly what all the fuss
was about. Theotherday, he said,oneof
his three axesbroke at his vacationhome
in the mountains, and he tookit back to
the storewhere he had bought it ade-
cadeearlier.Whenhetried to pay forre-
pairs, he said,the storekeeperdeclared
that ‘‘this sortof thing should not happen
to ourax,’ ’ and insisted ondoing it free.
Where does Mr. Nissen-Lie stand on
the important bark-in-the-woodpile
question? (Do you have an hour?)
‘‘I liketohave the bark facing down,’ ’
heexplained, in summary.
‘‘That’s thewayIlearnedfrommy
grandfather, and I believe it’s drier that
way. But Irespectthatthere are differ-
entways to do it—and basically the
most importantthing is how much air
you leave around the logs.’ ’
‘‘One thing that really divides
Norway is bark.’’
time as well as demonstrated the impor-
tanceoffirewoodintheir lives.
‘‘The senseofcreating warmth, both
symbolically and literally,toshare con-
versation,toshare food,toshare si-
lence, is essential to the Norwegian
identity,’ ’ he said in an interview.
‘‘Solid Wood,’ ’ thetitleof Mr.Myt-
ting’sbook, has a double meaning in
Norwegian, also signifying a person
withastrong, dependable character. Its
publication appears to have given older
Norwegianmen, a traditionally taciturn
group, permission to reveal their deep-
estthoughts while seemingly discuss-
ing firewood. In this way,theyare akin
to passionate fishermenrousedfrom
monosyllabic stupors by topics like
which fly to use and how to really under-
stand what a trout is thinking.
onRussian
television
throughout the day.
‘‘The information we received — I
 ..
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013
|
5
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
africa americas
world news
BRIEFLY
United States
U.S. general
chosen to
lead NATO
is retiring
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON
Supreme Court will consider
campaign contribution limits
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear
a challenge to U.S. campaign contribu-
tion limits, in what may turn out to be
the most important such case since its
2010 decision in Citizens United, which
struck down limits on independent
campaign spending by corporations
and unions.
The latest case is an attack on the
other main pillar of national campaign
finance regulation: limits on contribu-
tions made directly to political candi-
dates and some political committees.
WASHINGTON
Biden advises shotgun for self-defense
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s ad-
vice for self-defense: Buy a shotgun,
not an assault rifle. Mr. Biden, who is
spearheading a push for President
Barack Obama’s gun control proposals,
dispensed this off-the-cuff tip for pro-
tecting life and property during an on-
line question-and-answer session on
Facebook on Tuesday. The vice presi-
dent has two shotguns.
(REUTERS)
Cleared of wrongdoing
in e-mail scandal, Allen
cites his wife’s health
BY THOM SHANKER
ANDMICHAEL D. SHEAR
Gen. John R. Allen, the four-star Marine
Corps officer who served until earlier
this month as the top commander in Af-
ghanistan, will retire from the military
to focus on ‘‘health issues within his
family,’’ President Barack Obama has
announced.
General Allen was caught up in the
scandal that led to the resignation of
David H. Petraeus as the director of the
C.I.A. But last month, the Pentagon offi-
cially cleared him of misconduct after
an investigation into his exchange of e-
mails with Jill Kelley, a woman in
Tampa, Florida, who was also a friend of
Mr. Petraeus’s. General Allen had got-
ten to knowher when hewas in a leader-
ship role at the Central Command in
Tampa.
Mr. Obama had nominated General
Allen to be the supreme commander of
NATO, but in the intervening weeks the
general decided to retire.
‘‘I told General Allen that he has my
deep, personal appreciation for his
extraordinary service over the last 19
months in Afghanistan, as well as his
decades of service in the United States
Marine Corps,’’ Mr. Obama said Tues-
day in a statement. ‘‘John Allen is one of
America’s finest military leaders, a true
patriot, and a man I have come to re-
spect greatly.’’
After the announcement, General Al-
len released a statement through Penta-
gon officials saying that ‘‘the reasons
for my decision are personal.’’
‘‘I did not come to it lightly or quickly,
but given the considerations behind it, I
recognized in the end it was the only
choice I could make,’’ he said. ‘‘While I
won’t go into the details, my primary
concern is for the health of my wife, who
has sacrificed so much for so long.’’
But there is little doubt that an unex-
pected obstacle to General Allen’s new
assignment at NATOwas the inquiry by
the Pentagon inspector general.
General Allen had strong support
among members of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, and confirmation
seemed certain. But officials noted that
in a confirmation process, a senator
could have officially requested the e-
mails between the general and Ms. Kel-
ley, and that they might have become
public.
Leon E. Panetta, the departing defense
secretary, disclosed last week that he had
met with General Allen and had urged
him to take some time off with his family
before deciding whether to accept the
nomination to the NATO post.
Pentagon officials said that General
Allen’s wife, Kathy, has had long-term
health problems, including an autoim-
mune issue, and that a move to Belgium
for the NATO job would have been ex-
tremely difficult.
Officials noted that General Allen has
not served a full three years in a four-
star position, and thus would require a
presidential waiver to retire with full
benefits earned by that rank.
Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. succeeded
General Allen as the commander of U.S.
and international military forces in Af-
ghanistan on Feb. 10. The president’s
statement did not saywhowould be nom-
inated to be the supreme NATO com-
mander, a post now held by Adm. James
G. Stavridis, who is set to retire this
spring after a career that included lead-
i
ng the military’s Southern Command.
Eric Schmitt and Michael R. Gordon
contributed reporting.
BRIEFLY
Africa
MARTINMEJIA/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Getting some long-awaited closure in Peru
People carried to a church in Cuzco, Peru, the coffins containing the remains of people whose bodies were excavated.
The authorities in Peru’s southern mountains have returned to families the remains of 26 people killed in fighting between the army and Shining Path rebels in the 1980s.
YAOUNDÉ, CAMEROON
Officials press their search
for kidnapped French tourists
The president of Cameroon has
ordered that tight security measures
be used to rescue the seven French
tourists kidnapped by armed gunmen
in the West African nation’s northern
region.
Aministry statement released late
Tuesday said the president said that ur-
gent steps must be taken to seek the
hostages, and that the Cameroonian
government is in contact with the Nige-
rian and French authorities.
A French family of seven— including
four children—was kidnapped on
Tuesday in northern Cameroon. Offi-
cials suggested that one of Nigeria’s Is-
lamic extremist sects was involved. A
Cameroonian government official said
military helicopters were being used in
the search. The French gas group GDF
Suez identified the captives as an em-
ployee working in the Cameroon capital
of Yaoundé and his family. It said the
f
amily was vacationing in the north.
(AP)
Obama goads Republ
icans over
impasse
OBAMA, FROMPAGE 1
Contributing to Republican calcula-
tions is the fact that at least in the short
term, an impasse over the sequester is
not as potentially catastrophic as the
threats that loomed in past partisan
showdowns, like a full shutdown of gov-
ernment or the nation’s first default on
its global debt obligations.
The potential impact is potentially haz-
ardous nonetheless, both economically
and politically. As Mr. Obama noted, the
prospect of the sequester has already af-
fected military deployments and hiring
by military contractors, and threatens
year by nearly a quarter, 0.6 percent, and
cost roughly 700,000 civilian andmilitary
jobs through 2014, with heightened un-
employment lingering for several years.
‘‘By far the preferable policy,’’ the
analysis said, ‘‘is a credible long-term
plan to shrink the deficit more slowly
through some combination of revenue
increases within broad tax reform’’ as
well as ‘‘more carefully considered
cuts’’ in spending programs, including
Medicare and Medicaid. That prescrip-
tion for both long-term spending reduc-
tions and revenue increases, as an alter-
native to immediate deep spending cuts
that inhibit job growth, generally tracks
Mr. Obama’s approach.
Mr. Obama has proposed $1.5 trillion
in spending cuts over 10 years and rev-
enue increases that would build on the
roughly $2.5 trillion over the decade
that he and Congress have agreed to in
the past two years.
The total, $4 trillion, is the minimum
reduction that many economists say is
necessary to stabilize the growth of the
nation’s debt at a time when the popula-
tion is aging and health care costs are
rising, driving projected costs to entitle-
ment programs to unsustainable levels.
That approach, mixing spending cuts
and increased revenue, got an endorse-
ment on Tuesday, when the chairmen of
Mr. Obama’s 2010 debt-reduction com-
mission — former Senator Alan K.
Simpson, a Republican, and Erskine B.
Bowles, a Democrat and former chief of
staff toPresident Bill Clinton—released
a revised fiscal plan that would reduce
the annual deficit by $2.4 trillion in a de-
cade through spending cuts, including
in Medicare and Social Security bene-
fits, and an overhaul of the tax system.
But Republicans say they will not con-
sider more tax increases since in Janu-
ary Mr. Obama won more than $600 bil-
lion over 10 years in higher revenue from
the wealthiest taxpayers. ‘‘The revenue
debate is now closed,’’ the House speak-
er, John A. Boehner, said in a statement
reacting to the president’s remarks.
The president’s leverage might
in fact be limited, since he
seems to want a deal far more
than Republicans do.
Despite the risks of an impasse for
Republicans, those who control the
House have all but forfeited this battle
to Mr. Obama and seem poised to let the
automatic cuts take effect. Many Re-
publicans, particularly newer members
elected with Tea Party support, have
pushed party leaders to accept the se-
quester and lock in the spending cuts
rather than compromise. The leaders
seem to have decided to wage battle
later this spring in the larger fight over
the annual government budget.
layoffs of teachers, air traffic controllers
and researchers, among others.
Hours after the president’s remarks,
economic forecasters atMacroeconomic
Advisers, based in St. Louis, Missouri,
projected that sequestration would re-
duce the firm’s forecast of growth this
CORRECTIONS
•
The Letter from Europe on Tuesday
misstated the name of an Organization
for Economic Cooperation and Develop-
ment unit. It is the National Contact
Points office, not Contacts.
•
The Media Equation column Monday,
about the genesis of a photograph that
went viral on the Web, misquoted Mat-
thew Hansen, a columnist at The
Omaha World-Herald who tracked
down the photographer. Mr. Hansen
said the author of a profile on the crime
writer Edna Buchanan was Calvin Tril-
lin, not Gay Talese.
•
An article Wednesday about Morgan
Stanley’s efforts to coordinate its retail
and investment bank units misstated
the contribution of wealth management
to the company’s financial results. It ac-
counts for almost 52 percent of revenue,
not almost 52 percent of profits.
•
An articleWednesday about the use of
DNA sequencing to identify rare genet-
ic diseases misstated the name of a
medicine taken by two teenagers who
have a rare gene mutation. The drug is
5-hydroxytryptophan, not 5-hydroxy-
tryptamine.
DOUGMILLS/THE NEWYORK TIMES
President Barack Obama spoke sternly while surrounded by uniformed emergency responders, invited to illustrate the sort of services at
risk if spending cuts take effect March 1. Over the next week, he will have daily events underscoring the potential ramifications, aides said.
Hope for stopping leprosy ea
rly in new, ine
xpensive test
LEPROSY, FROMPAGE 1
to the one that causes tuberculosis, but
reproducing so slowly that symptoms
often take seven years to appear.
‘‘We’re definitely excited about this,’’
said Bill Simmons, president of the
American Leprosy Missions, a Christi-
an medical aid group that has been
fighting the disease since 1906.
M. leprae is transmitted only after
prolonged, close contact. The bacteria
spread under the skin in the coolest
parts of the body: the hands,
IHT Classifieds
risk of developing ulcers that can be-
come infected. The standard antibiotics
are provided free through the World
Health Organization.
The disease has historically been
hard to diagnose, despite the popular,
but inaccurate, image of fingers and
toes dropping off patients. As the bac-
teria kill nerves, muscles atrophy and
those digits curl into claws. After disuse
and repeated injuries, the body reacts
protectively by absorbing the bone cal-
cium in the bones, shrinking the digits.
For centuries, some observant doc-
tors have noticed early signs: the numb
skin patches, missing eyebrows, droop-
ing earlobes, bulging neck nerves, the
flat ‘‘lion face’’ caused by nasal cartil-
age dissolving.
Since nothing could be done for them
before the age of antibiotics, those with
leprosy lost the use of their hands and
had to beg. Some also went blind as the
blinking muscles degenerated and their
eyes dried out.
In the Middle Ages, some towns
banned lepers, while others required
them to ring bells to warn of their ap-
proach. Religious
rare in the rural areaswhere the disease
persists. It is simple: one drop of blood
goes into a well on a plastic test strip fol-
lowed by three drops of solution.
It took a long time to develop, Dr.
Spencer said, because researchers
needed a steady supply of the bacteri-
um, and no way to grow it in a laborato-
ry has ever been found.
It grows vigorously in one animal: the
armadillo, a fact discovered in the 1970s
at a U.S. laboratory in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana. But armadillos come with
their own complications. After a year of
harboring the slow-growing bacteria,
they must be killed for their livers and
spleens — and armadillos do not breed
in captivity.
‘‘Luckily,’’ Dr. Duthie said, in Louisi-
ana and Texas, ‘‘they’re everywhere,
and they’re easy to catch.’’
Armadillo hunting is not risk-free,
however. Some Southerners hunt them
for food and their armored skins, and
some wild armadillos harbor strains of
leprosy bacteria. Two years ago, U.S. re-
searchers estimated that about a third of
the human cases discovered in the
United States each year are caught from
armadillos—which have the honor of be-
ing one of the state mammals of Texas.
The test, which is expected to
sell for $1 or less, gives results
in under 10 minutes and is far
simpler than the current
diagnostic method.
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States. A few elderly residents have
chosen to stay on in Carville, Louisiana,
and Kalaupapa, Hawaii, despite having
been cured. Several thousand live at one
in northeast Brazil, said John S. Spen-
cer, a leprosy researcher at Colorado
State University who has worked there.
‘‘People say things like ‘People outside
won’t understand what’s wrong with
my face,’ ’’ he said.
Nowadays, he said, most patients are
cured before their faces are severely
disfigured. Still, he said, he had read a
survey in which health experts asked
Brazilians whether they would rather
have the human immunodeficiency vi-
rus or leprosy. Most chose H.I.V. —even
though leprosy does not kill, can be
cured, and does not make a patient risky
to have sex with. ‘‘The stigma is that
strong,’’ he said.
A new test was crucial because
trained microscope diagnosticians are
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feet,
cheeks and earlobes.
The first visible signs are usually
numb, off-color patches of skin, which
are often misdiagnosed as fungus,
psoriasis or lupus. The person may get
repeated cooking burns or cuts. Feet de-
velop sores from something as simple
as a stone they cannot feel in a shoe.
‘‘Finally, when it gets bad enough,’’
Mr. Simmons said, ‘‘they go to a big city.
And that’swhere they get the bad news:
‘Yes, you have leprosy — and we wish
you’d come here six months ago.’ ’’
After about six months, nerve dam-
age is permanent. So even if a patient is
cured — and a cure normally requires
taking three kinds of antibiotics for six
to 12 months — there is still a lifelong
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READER
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Tribune has endeavored to
ensure, to its satisfaction, the
legitimacy and accuracy of
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the newspaper at the time of
publication, it cannot accept
liability for loss or damage that
any of its readers may directly
or indirectly suffer or incur as
a result of relying on such
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dealings with any party placing
such advertisements.
charities
created
‘‘leper colonies.’’
And they still exist, even in the United
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