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EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL VIERNES 9 DE ABRIL DE 2021 | Año XLVI | Número 15.970 | EDICIÓN MADRID | Precio: 1,80 euros
La cuestionada autoría del ‘leonardo’ de los 450 millones ARTE
La ciudad perdida de Luxor, hallada bajo la arena EGIPTO
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La primera ley climática pondrá fin a los combustibles fósiles El Congreso aprueba la Los automóviles nuevos El proyecto debe ayudar a norma que fija para 2050 tendrán que ser totalmente canalizar fondos europeos la neutralidad de emisiones limpios a partir de 2040 y crear 300.000 empleos MANUEL PLANELLES, Madrid El Congreso aprobó ayer la Ley de Cambio Climático y Transición Energética, la primera norma en España concebida para dar paso a una gran transforma-
ción económica y social. El objetivo es que España alcance en 2050 la neutralidad de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, lo que implica el abandono casi total de los combustibles fósiles. Los auto-
móviles que salgan a la venta en 2040 no podrán emitir CO2, y en 2050 dejarán de circular los que incumplan ese requisito. El proyecto debe encauzar los fondos europeos y se prevé crear de en-
tre 250.000 y 300.000 empleos. La norma obtuvo el respaldo de la mayoría que apoya al Gobierno y de Cs, la abstención del PP y el rechazo de Vox. PÁGINAS 24 Y 25 EDITORIAL EN LA PÁGINA 10
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Las vacunas del personal esencial, en el limbo sin AstraZeneca El fármaco solo se pinchará a la población de entre 60 y 69 años Alemania abre la vía en la UE para negociar compras de la Sputnik E. DE BENITO / J. MOUZO Madrid / Barcelona El personal esencial menor de 60 años, entre ellos docentes y policías, es el gran afectado por la nueva pauta para la vacuna de AstraZeneca contra la covid, decidida tras hallarse raros casos de trombos. La Comisión de Salud Pública decidió ayer destinar este fármaco a personas de entre 60 y 69 años. El Ministerio de Sanidad no aclaró qué pasará con esos grupos prioritarios que se quedan a medio camino, algunos con la primera inyección recibida. Las comunidades tienen un millón de dosis de AstraZeneca sin administrar. Por su parte, Alemania anunció que está dispuesta a negociar compras de la vacuna rusa Sputnik V, lo que abre la puerta a que los países busquen suministros al margen de la UE. PÁGINAS 20 A 23
Un autobús incendiado el miércoles durante las protestas en Belfast. / JASON CAIRNDUFF (REUTERS)
La violencia callejera en Irlanda del Norte sacude el proceso de paz La comunidad protestante se revuelve contra los acuerdos entre Londres y la UE RAFA DE MIGUEL Derry (Irlanda del Norte) Una semana de violentos disturbios en Irlanda del Norte “preocupa profundamente” al Gobierno británico, en palabras de Boris Johnson, y revela la fragilidad del proceso de paz iniciado hace 23 años con los Acuerdos del Vier-
nes Santo. La comunidad protestante se ha revuelto contra los acuerdos entre Londres y la UE, que mantienen al Ulster en la unión aduanera, una chispa alentada por grupos paramilitares. Johnson envió a Belfast a su ministro para Irlanda del Norte, Brandon Lewis. PÁGINA 2
La igualdad de oportunidades necesita lectores Suscríbete a los hechos
Un jefe militar del Polisario muere atacado por un dron FRANCISCO PEREGIL, Rabat Adaj el Bendir, jefe de la Guardia Nacional del Frente Polisario, murió el martes en un ataque aéreo en el que le alcanzaron los disparos de un dron cuando se retiraba de una incursión en la zona controlada por el Ejército marroquí, informaron fuentes saharauis. Rabat mantuvo silencio sobre el suceso, que llega después de un intercambio de disparos junto a la frontera con Mauritania. PÁGINA 4
ACS ofrece 10.000 millones por la mayor red italiana de autopistas P42
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Late Edition Today, sunshine then clouds, cooler than recent days, high 62. Tonight, mostly cloudy, showers for a few, low 48. Tomorrow, mostly cloudy, high 63. Weather map, Page B10.
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Biden Moves To Curb Plague Of Gun Crime
OFFICE BUILDINGS MAY STAY EMPTY, STRAINING CITIES
Orders Restrictions on Homemade Firearms
REMOTE WORK TO GO ON
By ANNIE KARNI
WASHINGTON — President Biden, calling gun violence in the United States “an international embarrassment,” took a set of initial steps on Thursday to address the problem, starting with a crackdown on the proliferation of socalled ghost guns, or firearms assembled from kits. Acknowledging that more aggressive actions like banning assault weapons, closing background check loopholes and stripping gun manufacturers of their immunity from liability lawsuits would have to wait for action from Congress, he said it was nonetheless vital to do what he could on his own to confront what he called an epidemic of shootings that are killing roughly 100 Americans a day. “We’ve got a long way to go — it seems like we always have a long way to go,” Mr. Biden said during an appearance in the Rose Garden, weeks after two mass shootings, in Georgia and Colorado, left 18 people dead and put the administration under intense pressure from the left to take action. While the moves the president announced fall far short of the broad legislative changes long sought by proponents of making it harder to buy guns, especially semiautomatic weapons often
Towers’ Values Plummet 25% in Manhattan as Tax Revenue Sinks By PETER EAVIS and MATTHEW HAAG
JOE BUGLEWICZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Las Vegas Lights Up The city has seen a steady rise in tourism as virus restrictions are lifted across the nation. Above, the Fremont Street Experience.
U.S. Debates From First Sign of Injury to Floyd’s Final Breaths Strengthening Doctor Shows Jury ‘the Moment the Life Goes Ties to Taiwan By SHAILA DEWAN
By MICHAEL CROWLEY
HAVEN DALEY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
“Ghost guns” are built from pieces without serial numbers. used in mass shootings, they addressed narrower issues also of intense concern to many Democrats and supporters of gun regulations. The most substantive of the steps was directing the Justice Department to curb the spread of ghost guns. Kits for these guns can be bought without background checks and allow a gun to be assembled from pieces with no serial numbers. Mr. Biden said he wanted the department to issue a regulation within a month to require that the components in the kits have serial Continued on Page A19 TEXAS SHOOTING A gunman killed one person and wounded four others at a factory. PAGE A19
WASHINGTON — If anything can tip the global power struggle between China and the United States into an actual military conflict, many experts and administration officials say, it is the NEWS ANALYSIS fate of Taiwan. Beijing has increased its military harassment of what it considers a rogue territory, including menacing flights by 15 Chinese warplanes near its shores over recent days. In response, Biden administration officials are trying to calibrate a policy that protects the democratic, technology-rich island without inciting an armed conflict that would be disastrous for all. Under a longstanding — and famously convoluted — policy derived from America’s “one China” stance that supports Taiwan without recognizing it as independent, the United States provides political and military support for Taiwan, but does not explicitly promise to defend it from a Chinese attack. As China’s power and ambition grow, however, and Beijing assesses Washington to be weakened and distracted, a debate is Continued on Page A11
Gaetz Faces Pressure as Lawyers Expect Associate to Plead Guilty This article is by Patricia Mazzei, Katie Benner and Michael S. Schmidt.
ORLANDO, Fla. — A former local official in Florida facing an array of federal charges in an inquiry that is also focused on Representative Matt Gaetz was expected to plead guilty, lawyers said in court on Thursday, an indication that the defendant is likely to cooperate as a key witness against Mr. Gaetz. A cooperation agreement by Joel Greenberg, a former county tax collector north of Orlando, is almost certain to create legal difficulties for Mr. Gaetz, a prominent ally of former President Donald J.
Trump. Investigators are said to be examining their involvement with women who were recruited online for sex and given cash payments, as well as whether Mr. Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old. Mr. Greenberg, who already faces one count of sex trafficking involving the girl, would be able to give prosecutors a firsthand account of their actions. Mr. Greenberg faces other charges, including stalking a political rival and trying to bribe a federal official; he has pleaded not guilty. Investigators suspect he met the women through a website that connects people willing to go on dates in exchange for gifts and Continued on Page A21
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a video everyone in the courtroom has been shown repeatedly, of George Floyd facedown on the street with Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck. But this time, it was slowed down so the jury could see the briefest widening of Mr. Floyd’s eyes — what the expert witness on the stand on Thursday said was his last conscious moment. “One second he’s alive, and one second he’s no longer,” said the witness, Dr. Martin Tobin, adding, “That’s the moment the life goes out of his body.” Dr. Tobin, a pulmonologist who specializes in the mechanics of breathing, presented the prosecution’s first extended testimony on
Out of His Body’ a central question in the murder trial of Mr. Chauvin: how George Floyd died. “You’re seeing here fatal injury to the brain from a lack of oxygen,” Dr. Tobin said. Dr. Tobin said that Mr. Chauvin and other police officers had restricted Mr. Floyd’s breathing by flattening his rib cage against the pavement and pushing his cuffed hands into his torso, and by the placement of Mr. Chauvin’s knees on his neck and back.
The doctor pinpointed the moment he said Mr. Floyd had shown signs of a brain injury, four minutes before Mr. Chauvin lifted his knee from his body. After two days of sometimes tedious law enforcement testimony on procedures and policy, jurors appeared to be riveted by Dr. Tobin’s ability to break down complex physiological concepts, at times scribbling notes in unison. Leaning into the microphone, tie slightly askew, Dr. Tobin used his hands and elbows to demonstrate how people breathe. He gave anatomy lessons by asking jurors to palpate their own necks, and showed an artist’s rendering of how three officers, including Mr. Chauvin, had been positioned Continued on Page A18
Manhattan | A 59-year-old man Fresno, Calif. | A family Queens | A 47-year-old man and his 10-year-old son Midland, Texas | A family with a 2-year-old baby Manhattan | A woman on the subway Miami Beach | An elderly woman Chicago | A 60-year-old man on a jog San Diego | An Uber driver Brooklyn | A 26-year-old on a subway San Angelo, Texas | A 23-year-old exchange student Bronx | A 52-year-old woman Cleveland, Ohio | A Thai-American woman Queens | A 37-year-old woman Edison, N.J. | A 55-year-old woman Queens | A 36-year-old woman Manhattan | A 30-year-old man Manhattan | A 30year-old nurse Stevens Point, Wis. | Grocery shoppers Manhattan | A 36-year-old woman Philadelphia | A couple at a stoplight Seattle | A couple Philadelphia | A 32-year-old lawyer Albany, N.Y. | A 27-year-old Korean shop employee San Jose, Calif. | An elderly couple Queens | A 23-year-old man St. Petersburg, Fla. | A sports reporter Carmel Valley, Calif. | A family celebrating a birthday Mt. Tam, Calif. | A family on a hiking trail Los Altos, Calif. | A U.S. Postal Service worker Brooklyn | A man driving Bronx | A 30-year-old woman Philadelphia | A pregnant mother Los Angeles | A woman waiting for her lunch Newport Beach, Calif. | A Korean-American entrepreneur Fremont, Calif. | A woman and her 10-year-old daughter Los Angeles | A man in traffic Washington, D.C. | A tea shop owner Manhattan | A man in a car accident Pineville, N.C. | A real estate agent San Diego | A man working out in a gym Manhattan | A 32-year-old woman Orange County, Calif. | A woman at a shopping mall Seattle | A woman at a crosswalk Seattle | A couple taking money from an A.T.M. Portland, Ore. | A 44-year-old woman and her son Salem, Ore. | A 21-year-old student Los Angeles | A woman walking down the street Manhattan | A 27-year-old man Los Angeles | A 27-year-old Air Force veteran Seattle | A Japanese-American high school teacher Manhattan | A 56-year-old man Brooklyn | A woman in a parking lot San Francisco | An Uber driver Los Angeles | A Filipino Uber driver Brooklyn | A gym manager Miami | A woman riding a bus Queens | A 25-year-old mother and her baby Oakland, Calif. | A gas station owner San Jose, Calif. | A 26-year-old woman Manhattan | A young couple Queens | A 13-year-old boy Manhattan | A 41-year-old woman Manhattan | A 68-year-old man Manhattan | A 66-year-old man Brooklyn | An Asian-American laundromat owner Manhattan | A 37-year-old woman Manhattan | A 54-year-old woman Los Angeles | A Korean man Queens | A 35-year-old woman Houston | A Korean-American beauty store owner Manhattan | A 65-year-old woman Manhattan | A 37-year-old woman Manhattan | A 65-year-old woman
Swelling Anti-Asian Violence: Who Is Being Attacked Where Over the past year, The Times found dozens of episodes of race-based hate. Page A16.
French Men Are Finally Put on Notice as #MeToo Gains Ground By NORIMITSU ONISHI
PARIS — When Sandra Muller started France’s #MeToo social media campaign in 2017, tens of thousands of women responded to her calls to “#ExposeYourPig.” But the backlash was overwhelming. Some of the most prominent women in the country, led by Catherine Deneuve, denounced the movement in a letter
that came to define France’s initial response to #MeToo. In 2019, Ms. Muller lost a defamation case against a former television executive she had exposed on Twitter, with France appearing immune to the larger global forces challenging the dominance of men. Last week, Ms. Muller won her appeal. Though there were no new facts, a significant ruling by the appeals court underscored how things have changed in the past
Changes to a National Culture of Seduction two years. “Before the ruling, I thought there were stirrings,” Ms. Muller said in a phone interview from New York, where she now lives. “Now, I have the impression that
NATIONAL A15-21, 24
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9
BUSINESS B1-5
Overcoming Trump’s Wrath
‘Risks’ Cited at Vaccine Maker
More Diners, Fewer Workers
Gov. Brian Kemp, who resisted the former president’s election demands, sees Georgia’s voting law as a way to regain standing with the G.O.P. base. PAGE A15
A report in June flagged concerns at an Emergent BioSolutions plant. It recently had to discard millions of doses. PAGE A9
Restaurant owners are competing with one another for a shrunken pool of job applicants as customers freed from lockdown are flocking to eating establishments across the country. PAGE B1
A Democrat’s Plea to Biden Senator Joe Manchin III suggested that to win over his critical swing vote, the president must first reach out to Republicans. News Analysis. PAGE A20
Same Class, Different Country Some students are taking remote learning to extremes: In one New Jersey school district last month, computers were traced to 24 countries. PAGE A17
As office vacancies climb to their highest levels in decades with businesses giving up office space and embracing remote work, the real estate industry in many American cities faces a potentially grave threat. Businesses have discovered during the pandemic that they can function with nearly all of their workers out of the office, an arrangement many intend to continue in some form. That could wallop the big property companies that build and own office buildings — and lead to a sharp pullback in construction, steep drops in office rents, fewer people frequenting restaurants and stores, and potentially perilous declines in the tax revenue of city governments and school districts. In only a year, the market value of office towers in Manhattan, home to the country’s two largest central business districts, has plummeted 25 percent, according to city projections released on Wednesday, contributing to an estimated $1 billion drop-off in property tax revenue. JPMorgan Chase, Ford Motor, Salesforce, Target and more are giving up expensive office space, and others are considering doing so. Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, the largest private-sector employer in New York City, wrote in a letter to shareholders this week that remote work would “significantly reduce our need for real estate.” For every 100 employees, he said, his bank “may need seats for only 60 on average.” And just as Coca-Cola’s profits would take a seismic hit if consumers abruptly cut back on sodas, owners of office buildings, many of which are owned by pension funds, insurance companies, individuals and other investors, could be pummeled if many businesses rent less space. “The pandemic has proven that work from home is viable,” said Jonathan Litt, chief investment officer of Land & Buildings, a real estate investment firm that has taken a bearish view of the New York office market. “It’s not going away; businesses are going to adjust, and office real estate is going to take it on the chin during that adjustment period.” Across the country, the vacancy rate for office buildings in city centers has steadily climbed over the past year to reach 16.4 percent, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the highest in about a decade. That number could climb further, even as vaccinations allow some people to go back to work, if companies keep giving up office space because of hybrid or fully remote work. So far, landlords like Boston Properties and SL Green have not suffered huge financial losses, having survived the past year by Continued on Page A21
Put the Bleach Down INTERNATIONAL A10-14
The Neighbors Are Boars Wild boars, albeit relatively tame, have become ubiquitous in Haifa, Israel. Reactions are mixed. PAGE A10
Violence in Northern Ireland Brexit and Covid have brought longtime grievances to the surface and, in recent days, rioting to the streets. PAGE A14
This week, the C.D.C. agreed with scientists: The risk of catching the coronavirus from surfaces is low. PAGE A4 SPORTSFRIDAY B6-10
English Golfer Leads at Masters Justin Rose shot a 65 at Augusta National, which played meekly in November but regained its ornery form for most of the field on Thursday. PAGE B6
Forged Vaccine Cards on Rise Hundreds of online sellers are offering false and stolen Covid-19 vaccine cards, as businesses and states weigh proof of inoculations for getting people back to work and play. PAGE B1 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
Dan Gross
PAGE A23
there’s been a leap forward.” Since the beginning of the year, a series of powerful men from some of France’s most prominent fields — politics, sports, the news media, academia and the arts — have faced public accusations of sexual abuse in a reversal from mostly years of silence. At the same time, confronted with these high-profile cases and a shift in public opinion, French lawmakers Continued on Page A12
WEEKEND ARTS C1-16
The Shock and Menace of Joy At MoMA PS1 and Salon 94, the artist Niki de Saint Phalle gets long overdue attention for her boundary-defying architecture and sculptures. PAGE C1
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FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 82
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Business & Finance
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eneral Motors will halt production at several North American factories and extend shutdowns at others because of a chip shortage that has been worsening for U.S. auto giants. A1
New factories affected as supply problem rips through the industry; strong sales at risk
P&G helped develop an advertising technique being tested in China to gather iPhone data for targeted ads, a step intended to give companies a way around Apple’s new privacy tools. A1
SoftBank is investing $500 million in mortgage lender Better as the Japanese conglomerate seeks to ride a wave of swelling startup valuations. B1 The S&P 500 gained 0.4% to close at a record. The Dow and Nasdaq rose 0.2% and 1%, respectively. B11 GameStop said it is nominating Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen to be chairman, as the videogame retailer continues its turnaround. B1 An SEC official warned companies going public through deals with SPACs against issuing enticing but misleading statements about their future growth. B10 Netflix reached a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment for domestic streaming rights to the studio’s theatrical movies. B4
World-Wide The Biden administration offered new proposals on taxing multinational companies in a bid to secure an international agreement aimed at reducing tax avoidance, particularly by big pharmaceutical and tech firms. A2 Biden outlined a series of actions he said would help curb gun violence, as the White House seeks new ways to work around congressional Republicans who have objected to most Democratic gun proposals. A4 More countries restricted the rollout of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, a day after European regulators said there might be a link between the shot and rare but sometimes deadly blood clots. A10 George Floyd died because he couldn’t breathe as officers restrained him while he lay prone and handcuffed, medical experts said in testimony at the trial of Derek Chauvin. A3 A former tax collector in Seminole County, Fla., is in talks with federal prosecutors to plead guilty in an investigation that involves Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.). A8 The battle over voting rules has shifted to Texas following recent legislation in Georgia that led to a backlash from civil-rights groups and some major corporations. A3 Federal officials counted votes in a union election by Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Ala., with results expected on Friday. A3 Died: Isamu Akasaki, 92, Nobel-winning physicist. B5 CONTENTS Arts in Review A12-13 Banking & Finance B10 Business News B3,5-6 Crossword.............. A13 Heard on Street. B12 Mansion............. M1-14
Markets..................... B11 Opinion.............. A15-17 Sports....................... A14 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-8 Weather................... A13 World News..... A9-10
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CLASH: Police patrol the streets in Belfast on Thursday following a night of rioting. Dozens of police officers have been injured in more than a week of unrest in Northern Ireland amid tensions over Brexit and the pandemic’s impact. A9
P&G Worked With China Firms To Dodge Apple’s Privacy Rules Procter & Gamble Co. helped develop an advertising technique being tested in China to gather iPhone data for targeted ads, a step intended By Sharon Terlep, Tim Higgins and Patience Haggin to give companies a way around Apple Inc.’s new privacy tools, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is part of a broad effort by the consumer-goods
giant to prepare for an era in which new rules and consumer preferences limit data available to marketers. P&G, among the world’s largest advertisers, is the biggest Western company involved in the effort, the people said. The company joined forces with dozens of Chinese trade groups and technology firms working with the state-backed China Advertising Association to develop the technique, which would use technology called device fingerprinting,
the people said. Dubbed CAID, the advertising method is being tested through apps and gathers iPhone user data. Through an algorithm, it can track users for the purposes of targeting ads in a way that Apple seeks to prevent. Apple is planning a software update in the coming weeks that will require app users to choose whether they want their activity to be tracked across other companies’ apps and websites. Apple touted the software as an im-
Developing Economies Lag Behind On Upturn
How Obscure Fertilizer Deal Enriched a Mexican Tycoon Salinas Pliego gained control of struggling firm via shell companies BY SANTIAGO PÉREZ AND ROBBIE WHELAN
Powered by the U.S. and China, the global economy is set to make a stunning comeback this year from its deepest contraction since the Great Depression, economists said. By Gabriele Steinhauser in Johannesburg, Saeed Shah in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Ryan Dube in Lima, Peru For many developing countries, though, 2021 is shaping up to look a lot like 2020, with the pandemic still raging and poverty deepening. “Here in Washington, D.C., people are literally talking about the Roaring ’20s and, you know, letting the doors fly off the U.S. economy,” said Geoffrey Okamoto, the International Monetary Fund’s first deputy managing director. “But the harsh reality is for the poorest countries, they’re not looking at vaccines being delivered to them until well into next year,” which means slower economic recoveries and more pain for the poor. José Luís Rosas, a guide at Peru’s Machu Picchu ruins, survived 2020 by drawing down his pension and transferring his two young daughters from private to public school. Now, with foreign tourists unlikely to return this year, a slow vaccination drive and surging Covid-19 infections, Mr. Rosas said he might have no choice but to move his family to his parents’ remote village to farm avocados, mangos and limes. “I work only to eat, to buy cooking gas, a little bit of meat,” he said. “There isn’t anyPlease turn to page A10 Investors sour on emerging markets.......................................... B1
portant step for putting privacy controls in users’ hands. Device fingerprinting runs afoul of Apple’s rules, and the company said it would ban any app that violates its policies. “The App Store terms and guidelines apply equally to all developers around the world, including Apple,” an Apple spokesman said. “We believe strongly that users should be asked for their permission before being tracked. Apps that are found to disregard the Please turn to page A2
General Motors Co. will halt production at several North American factories and extend shutdowns at others because of a chip shortage that has been worsening for U.S. auto giants and poses a threat to a strong sales rebound. GM said Thursday that three plants previously unaffected by semiconductor supply problems will be idled or have output reduced for one or two weeks, including a factory in Tennessee and another in Michigan that make popular midsize sport-utility vehicles. Models affected include the Chevrolet Traverse SUV and the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 SUVs. The moves follow news last week that Ford Motor Co. would deepen production cuts in North America, including idling for two weeks a factory near its headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., that makes the F-150 pickup truck, its biggest moneymaker. Auto makers since late last year have been grappling with a shortage of semiconductor chips, which go into software modules used to control everything from brakes to dashboard touch screens. The companies have been cutting production for months as they move to line up chip supplies, with executives saying the Please turn to page A4
MEXICO CITY—It was the kind of sophisticated inside deal, complete with threats from a politically connected emissary, that only the boldest of Mexico’s oligarchs might pull off. In 2007, a Mexican legislator approached local executives of Dutch insurer ING Groep NV and delivered an ultimatum: Pay tens of millions of dollars on a claim by a struggling fertilizer company or face a “media and legal war beyond all previous dimensions,” according to an internal ING memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Soon after, a Mexican television network began running stories about people allegedly
DIGITIZING THE MARKETS R1-8
duped by the Dutch insurer. And the fertilizer company, Grupo Fertinal, filed criminal complaints against a dozen of the insurer’s local executives, prompting them to flee Mexico. Within months, ING paid Fertinal $120 million on the claim, sold its Mexican operations and left the country. Behind the pressure campaign, according to the ING documents and people involved with the situation, was Ricardo Salinas Pliego, a billionaire who controls a retail and broadcasting empire that has made him the country’s second-richest person after telecom mogul Carlos Slim. Mr. Salinas Pliego owns TV Azteca, the network that ran the negative stories about ING. The emissary Please turn to page A11
Business Sees Risk in New York Tax Plan BY EMILY GLAZER AND HEATHER GILLERS
and lockdowns that have spurred remote work. Business leaders say the increases—which would result in top earners in New York City being charged the highest combined tax rate in the U.S.— drive away the very people and companies the city relies on for its revenue.
New York this week agreed to increase taxes on its most affluent residents and raise corporate franchise taxes, aiming to boost public finances without further hobbling an economy hit by the pandemic
A Bagel on a Flag? Ideas for Yiddish Symbols Spark Kvetching i
i
The $212 billion state budget plan, passed by the Democrat-run legislature and backed by unions and advocacy groups, includes more aid for schools, tenants and small businesses. It also funnels billions into other progressive causes, including investment in renewable energy, money to
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Designing an icon for the language proves difficult; a violin-playing peacock BY MIKE CHERNEY To access courses in French or Japanese, users of language website Duolingo click an image of the French or Japanese flags. When the website decided to develop a course in Yiddish, it found itself in a pickle: What flag should represent a language whose speak-
boost nonprofit arts and cultural centers and payments to workers who don’t qualify for federal aid because of their immigration status. New York is having a slow recovery. The state’s unemployment rate of 8.9% in February, the most recent data, is Please turn to page A6
ers have long been spread around the globe? An online survey collected ideas from the public. Some of the recommendations seemed a little meshuga. “We did get suggestions of Jewish foods, like, ‘Oh, just put a bagel on it,’ which I just thought was a bit kitschy,” Please turn to page A11
YURI HASEGAWA FOR WSJ
Florida sued U.S. health authorities to force the restart of cruise sailings, asking a court to set aside the CDC’s conditional-sailing order. B1
BY MIKE COLIAS
JASON CAIRNDUFF/REUTERS
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 last week to 744,000, the Labor Department said. A2
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BUSINESS & FINANCE Florida sues U.S. health officials to restart cruise sailings halted in pandemic. B1