BITCOIN FALLOUT HOPE AND ANGER AFTER A FAILURE

PAGE 16
|

PRIVATE JETS AIRLINE BETS THE RICH FEEL THRIFTY

PAGE 16
|

SUZY MENKES DRIES VAN NOTEN: OPTICAL ILLUSION

PAGE 15
|

BUSINESS

BUSINESS

FASHION PARIS

....

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014

Putin orders troop drills on doorstep of Ukraine

MOSCOW

Moscows move comes as ethnic Russians protest upheaval in Kiev

BY STEVEN LEE MYERS AND RICK GLADSTONE

SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Brawls erupted Wednesday during rival protests outside the regional Parliament in Simferopol, the Crimean capital. Tatars who support the new authorities in Kiev clashed with ethnic Russians who support the deposed government.

Obama turns to Middle East

WASHINGTON

President plans big pitch for peace plan between Israelis and Palestinians
BY MARK LANDLER

President Obama plans to reprise a high-stakes role that he has not played in any sustained way since his first term, according to White House aides: Middle East peacemaker. In welcoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the White House next Monday, these officials said, Mr. Obama will make a fervent case for him to sign on to a framework for negotiations with the Palestinians being drafted by Secretary of State John Kerry.

Mr. Obama is likely to meet later in March with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to make the same pitch. His goal, officials said, is to secure a kind of roadmap for further talks, by the end of April, the nine-month deadline Mr. Kerry set last July for a final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Now is a very timely opportunity for him to get involved, said a senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. He will strongly encourage both sides to complete it within the nine months. If the two sides sign the interim accord, which sets out general principles on divisive issues like Israels security and the borders of a future Palestinian state, the negotiations could be extended, with a new target of completing a treaty by the end of 2014.

MIDDLE EAST, PAGE 6

Until now, Mr. Obama has left the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations almost entirely to Mr. Kerry, who has made the process one of his top priorities, with a dozen trips to the region and countless meetings with Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas, as he struggles to bridge gaps that have separated the two sides for more than three decades. Mr. Obamas most visible involvement in the peace process came in September 2010, when he gathered Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas, along with the kings of Saudi Arabia and Jordan, at the White House to inaugurate direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He made another highly visible push in May 2011, with a speech proposing to use the pre-1967 borders of Israel, with mutually agreed-upon land swaps, as a basis for negotiating a peace deal. But

Drug cartel doesnt need its kingpin to thrive

Vast global operation transcends its leader, arrested in Mexico raid
BY GINGER THOMPSON AND RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

Tabloid-style, former editor bares her life during trial

LONDON

BY KATRIN BENNHOLD

The Afghan question

CURRENCIES

GEORGES GOBET/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

The NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, at a ministers meeting Wednesday in Brussels. Western officials are weighing Afghanistans strategic value against the intransigence of its president, Hamid Karzai. PAGE 7
NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY 12:30PM PREVIOUS

MEXICO, PAGE 10

To have a crack at an international drug kingpin, undercover officers from Boston and New Hampshire went from the mountains of northern Mexico through the Caribbean to Spain, where they discovered operatives of the powerful Sinaloa cartel setting up new routes and new markets. When it finally ended last year, Operation Dark Water, as the investigation was known, was heralded as a milestone in the fight against the global drug trade. Police officers seized 750 pounds of cocaine and caught four cartel members, including a first cousin to its infamous kingpin, Joaqun Guzmn Loera, known as El Chapo, or Shorty. But for the Sinaloa cartel, a criminal multinational corporation handling billions of dollars, the arrests proved only a minor setback, the authorities acknowledged. The cartel has established channels of cooperation with so many European criminal groups, including Sicilys Cosa Nostra and street gangs in Budapest, that business there continues to boom. On Saturday, the Mexican and American authorities struck even deeper, capturing Mr. Guzmn in a predawn raid on a seaside condominium in the Mexican city of Mazatln. Governments around the world are hailing the capture as a landmark in the fight against organized crime. Yet many officials agree that the arrest will probably not bring an end to the cartels activities, much less make a lasting dent in the availability of illegal drugs. Operation Dark Water and other investigations against the Sinaloa cartel shed light on why. Simply put, said numerous law enforcement officials and scholars, whether Mr. Guzmn inten-

The tabloids Rebekah Brooks once edited might have paid six figures or more for the details she has been divulging about her personal life, which she has called a car-crash in her trial for alleged illegal phone hacking: the celebrity husband, the adultery, the infertility, the surrogate daughter. As she rose to the top of Britains prurient press and Rupert Murdochs newspaper empire here, Ms. Brooks followed advice she got early from Mr. Murdoch, her father-figure boss and mentor: Keep your head down. Do not court publicity. Friends described her as fiercely private. It was almost like she had no past, one former colleague said. But spilling her guts, tabloid-style, appears to be part of the legal strategy for Ms. Brooks, the most prominent defendant in one of the most prominent criminal prosecutions of recent years. She counts Prime Minister David Cameron and two of his predecessors among her friends, but if convicted, she could go to jail. She has denied all the charges. For over a week now Ms. Brooks has been in the witness box answering personal questions from her lawyer, Jonathan Laidlaw, as her second husband, Charlie Brooks, a race horse trainBRITAIN, PAGE 4

President Vladimir V. Putin ordered a surprise military exercise of ground and air forces on Ukraines doorstep Wednesday, intending to demonstrate the countrys military preparedness at a time of heightened tensions with Europe and the United States over the turmoil gripping its western neighbor. Russias military put tens of thousands of troops in western Russia on alert at 2 p.m. for an exercise scheduled to last until March 3. The minister of defense, Sergei K. Shoigu, also announced unspecified measures to tighten security at the headquarters of Russias Black Sea Fleet on Ukraines Crimean peninsula. The orders came as thousands of ethnic Russians gathered outside the regional parliament in Crimeas capital, Simferopol, to protest the political upheaval in Ukraines capital, Kiev, that felled the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovych over the weekend and turned him into a fugitive. Crimea was a part of Russian territory until the Soviet Union ceded it to the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine in 1954, and Russians there have already pleaded for the Kremlins intervention to protect the region and its population from Ukraines new leadership. Crimea is Russian! some of the protesters screamed as brawls erupted with rival demonstrations by Crimeas ethnic Tatars supporting the new interim authorities. The latest developments elicited new expressions of worry from Western leaders. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and avoid confrontation, asserting that Ukraine should be able to enjoy fruitful relations with East and West. We are making it clear that every country should respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, Mr. Kerry said in an interview on MSNBC. Russia said it will do that, and we

POOL PHOTO BY MIKHAIL METZEL

President Vladimir V. Putin at a meeting at his home outside Moscow on Wednesday.

RUSSIA, PAGE 4

think its important that Russia keeps its word. The economic and political crisis confronting Ukraine was deepening as the interim leaders scrambled on Wednesday to form a new government able to find ways out of an impending default. The national currency, the hryvnia, plunged to 10 cents, near a previous low from 2008. The leaders also announced the dissolution of the widely despised riot police, the Berkut, whose officers were blamed for shooting demonstrators last week in Kievs Independence Square. Berkut is gone, the acting interior minister, Arsen Avakov, announced in a posting on Facebook. General Shoigu announced the military exercise at a meeting of Russias general staff, citing the need to test the readiness of Russias armed forces to respond to a crisis situation, includ-

TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS

During her trial, Rebekah Brooks has described her personal life as a car crash.

A mansion that was being built for former President Viktor F. Yanukovych sits unfinished on the coast. PAGE 4

AN ILL-FATED PALACE IN UKRAINE

STOCK INDEXES

WEDNESDAY

INSIDE TODAYS PA P E R
+0.22% 0.46% 0.54% +$1.30

A soccer header could be harmful

ONLINE AT INY T.COM

t t t t

Euro Pound Yen S. Franc

1= 1= $1= $1=

$1.3670 $1.3750 $1.6640 $1.6680 102.350 102.220 SF0.8920 SF0.8860

s The Dow 12:30pm 16,215.29 t FTSE 100 close 6,799.15 t Nikkei 225 close 14,970.97 s Light sweet crude
NEWSSTAND PRICES
Northern Ireland 1.50 Saudi Arabia SR 13.00 France 3.00 Norway Nkr 28 Senegal CFA 2.500 Oman OMRAndorra 1.250 Serbia Din 250 3.00 Peru US$ 3.50 Slovakia 3.30 Antilles Slovenia 3.00 2.50 Poland ZI 12.20 Portugal 3.00 Spain 3.00 Cameroon CFA 2.500 Qatar QR 10.00 Sweden Skr 28 Republic of Ireland 3.00 Switzerland SFr 4.30 Gabon CFA 2.500 Reunion 3.50 Syria US$ 2.50 Romania Lei 11.50 Coast TheCFA Netherlands 3.00 Ivory 2.500 Tunisia Din 3.900 Turkey TL 5 Ukraine US$ 5.00 25 Morocco MAD United Arab Emirates AED 12.00 Senegal 2.500 VenezuelaCFA US$ 2.75 United States $ 3.00 Tunisia Din 3.900 Other US$ 2.00 U.S. Military (Europe) US$ 1.75

OIL

NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY 12:30PM

Full currenc y rates Pa ge 19

$102.78

NEWSSTAND PRICES FOR SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, CALL:

Andorra 3.00 Antilles 3.00 Argentina US$ 5.00 Austria 3.00 Bahrain BD 1.20 Belgium 3.00 Bermuda US$ 3.50 Bolivia US$ 2.75 Bosnia & Herzegovina KM 5.00 Brazil R$ 10.00

or e-mail us at inytsubs@nytimes.com

2.55 DKr 26 Gibraltar 1.35 00800 Bulgaria 44 48Denmark 78 27 Cameroon CFA 2.500 Ecuador US$ 3.35 Hungary HUF 800 Canada C$ 4.50 Cayman Is CI$ 2.00 Chile Ps$ 1,550 Colombia Cps 1,875 Costa Rica US$ 2.50 Croatia KN 20.00 Cyprus 2.90 Czech Rep CZK 110

:HIKKLD=WUXUU\:?a@m@c@r@a"

Lebanon LP 4,000 Lithuania LTL 15 Egypt EGP 15.00 Israel NIS 13.00/Eilat NIS 11.00 Luxembourg 3.00 Estonia 3.20 Italy 2.50 Macedonia Den 150.00 Finland 3.00 Ivory Coast CFA 2.500 Malta 3.00 France 3.00 Jordan. JD 1.50 Montenegro 2.00 Gabon CFA 2.500 Kazakhstan USD 3.50 Morocco MAD 25 Great Britain 1.80 Kenya K. SH. 200 Mexico N$ 26.00 Greece 2.50 Kosovo 2.50 Moscow Roubles 110 Germany 3.00 Latvia 3.25 Nigeria NGN 390

Reunion 3.50

No. 40,733 Business 16 Crossword 12 Culture 13 Sports 11 Opinion 8

IN THIS ISSUE

Members of a U.S. Senate panel expressed incredulity on Wednesday that Credit Suisse officials did not know about their banks abetting of tax evasion by Americans. BUSINESS, 16

Senate panel accuses Credit Suisse

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as C.T.E, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head in violent collision sports such as football and boxing, may also be found in soccer players. SPORTS, 12 If governments want to recover untold billions in stolen assets, they must join together to create an anticorruption force along the lines of Interpol, Alexander Lebedev writes. OPINION, 9

Democrats want Clinton, poll finds

More than 8 in 10 say they want Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, a level of interest no other potential candidate can match. WORLD NEWS, 10

Create a world corruption police

Children born to older men are more likely than those of young fathers to develop at least one of a range of mental difficulties, a comprehensive study has found. nytimes.com/health

Study finds risk with older fathers

Russia plans to invest $15 billion to build European-style ski resorts in the region, hoping to lure tourists and foreign investors to an area better known for sheltering Islamic militants than skiers. nytimes.com/world There are dozens of ways to send text messages from a phone. Facebooks deal to buy WhatsApp for $19 billion raises the stakes in the fight to become the go-to platform. nytimes.com/bits

New future for Caucasus

Two is now O.K, but one is enough

Many Chinese families say they will not take advantage of new rules allowing a second child because of the rising cost of child-rearing. nytimes.com/world

The text-messaging wars