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Adiós al humor canalla de Quique San Francisco P30
CULTURA
Un decreto acabará con las carreras de tres años El Ministerio de Universidades prevé fijar un modelo de al menos cuatro cursos de grado y uno de posgrado ELISA SILIÓ, Madrid El Gobierno prepara un decreto para acabar con los grados universitarios de tres años e imponer una duración mínima de cuatro, salvo los estudios sanitarios o
El Govern admite ahora la dificultad de hacer frente a la violencia La Generalitat no prevé pedir ayuda a la Policía Nacional JESÚS GARCÍA, Barcelona El consejero catalán de Interior en funciones, Miquel Sàmper, admitió la “complejidad inaudita” de afrontar una violencia “desmedida y desbocada” en las protestas por el encarcelamiento de Pablo Hasél. Sàmper confió en que no haga falta pedir ayuda a la Policía Nacional. PÁGINAS 14 Y 15
Avance dispar de la inmunización en las autonomías
11 grupos ya reciben la vacuna JESSICA MOUZO, Barcelona Las autonomías avanzan en la vacunación de la covid de forma dispar y solapan a los grupos prioritarios (residencias, sanitarios) con otros preferentes (personal esencial, grandes dependientes). Así, 11 de los 20 colectivos fijados ya reciben la vacuna. PÁGINAS 22 Y 23
técnicos aún más largos y titulaciones conjuntas con otros países europeos. El borrador de decreto de Ordenación de las Enseñanzas Oficiales en el Sistema Universitario Español, al que ha tenido acceso EL PAÍS, prevé que los másteres duren un año o, de forma excepcional, dos. El Ministerio de Universidades que dirige Manuel Castells pretende acabar así con la fórmula conocida como 3+2 (tres cursos de grado y dos de posgrado) que fijó en 2015 el ministro del PP José Ignacio Wert. En España, los grados de tres años son minoritarios, unos 60 títulos, en su mayoría ofrecidos por campus privados o en Cataluña. El Gobierno cree que estos estudios cortos, atractivos para el alumno y pensados para la incorporación inmediata al mercado laboral, carecen del enfoque generalista atribuido a una carrera. Estos grados tendrán que ampliarse en un curso si se quieren seguir ofertando como títulos universitarios. Dado que los posgrados tienen un precio más elevado, el ministerio cree que su formato de dos años penaliza a los estudiantes con menos recursos. PÁGINAS 20 Y 21
Bartomeu y tres de sus directivos, detenidos por el ‘Barçagate’ P32 FC BARCELONA
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La justicia francesa condena a Sarkozy por corrupción El expresidente, sentenciado a tres años de prisión, no tendrá que ir a la cárcel, pero se complican sus ambiciones políticas MARC BASSETS, París La justicia francesa condenó ayer, por segunda vez en una década, a un antiguo jefe de Estado a una pena de prisión. Nicolas Sarkozy, presidente de la República entre 2007 y 2012, fue declarado culpable de corrupción y tráfico de influencias. Su mentor, Jacques Chirac, había sido condenado por malversación en 2011. El
tribunal impuso al conservador Sarkozy una pena de tres años de prisión, de los que solo tendrá que cumplir uno y en la fórmula de vigilancia domiciliaria. La condena complica sus ambiciones políticas, que nunca ha abandonado. El expresidente recurrirá la sentencia. Sarkozy, según el tribunal, ofreció contrapartidas en 2014 a
un fiscal a cambio de informaciones y ayuda en una causa que le afectaba. El tribunal le reprochó que “hubiese utilizado su estatuto de antiguo presidente de la República y las relaciones políticas y diplomáticas que tejió cuando estaba en ejercicio para gratificar a un magistrado que había servido a su interés personal”. PÁGINA 2 EDITORIAL EN LA PÁGINA 10
Sala del Museo del Prado en la que se exponen las seis Poesías de Tiziano.
/ OLMO CALVO
El Prado reúne las seis obras mitológicas del autor italiano cuatro siglos después
El reencuentro de las ‘Poesías’ de Tiziano IKER SEISDEDOS, Madrid El Museo del Prado ha reunido las seis Poesías mitológicas de Tiziano, que el autor pintó por parejas para Felipe II entre 1553 y 1562, y que llevaban cuatro siglos sin verse juntas, salvo en una exposición en Londres frustrada por la pandemia. Las obras aparecen en la plenitud de su belleza, sensualidad y crueldad como el
gran reclamo de la exposición temporal Pasiones mitológicas. El museo acompaña el extraordinario conjunto con 23 obras de Poussin, Ribera o Rubens en torno a la idea de la pasión: la del coleccionista Felipe II, la que despertó Tiziano en otros artistas y la que gobernaba las vidas de los dioses griegos, según el director del Prado, Miguel Falomir. PÁGINA 25
Nxxx,2021-03-02,A,001,Bs-4C,E1
CMYK
Late Edition Today, sunny skies, colder, windy at times, high 36. Tonight, mostly clear, low 30. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, becoming much milder, high 52. Weather map appears on Page B10.
VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,985
$3.00
NEW YORK, TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021
© 2021 The New York Times Company
STATE ECONOMIES LARGELY FEND OFF HARM FROM VIRUS BUOYED BY FEDERAL AID Rebound in Revenues — More Resilience Than in Past Downturns By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
ANDREW TESTA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
ON FRONT LINES OF AN UNRELENTING BATTLE Tending to a coronavirus patient at Homerton Hospital in London. The British government has plotted a slow reopening as vaccinations continue at a rapid pace, but intensive care units — and mortuaries — are still teeming. Page A5.
A Digital Arsenal of Repression Far-Right Groups Splinter Amid Rifts and Blame tial election. Crushes Resistance in Myanmar The shake-up is driven in part By NEIL MacFARQUHAR
By HANNAH BEECH
During a half century of military rule, Myanmar’s totalitarian tools were crude but effective. Men in sarongs shadowed democracy activists, neighbors informed on one another and thugs brandished lead pipes. The generals, who staged a coup a month ago, are now back in charge with a far more sophisticated arsenal at their disposal: Israeli-made surveillance drones, European iPhone cracking devices and American software that can hack into computers and vacuum up their contents. Some of this technology, including satellite and telecommunications upgrades, helped people in Myanmar go online and integrate with the world after decades of isolation. Other systems, such as spyware, were sold as integral to modernizing law enforcement agencies. But critics say a ruthless mili-
tary, which maintained a dominance over the economy and powerful ministries even as it briefly shared power with a civilian government, used the facade of democracy to enable sensitive cybersecurity and defense purchases. Some of these “dual-use” technologies, tools of both legitimate law enforcement and repression, are being deployed by the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, to target opponents of the Feb. 1 coup — a practice that echoes actions taken against critics by China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and other governments. In Myanmar, they are the digital weapons of repression for an intensifying campaign in which security forces have killed at least 25 people and detained more than 1,100, including the ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. On Continued on Page A11
Just eight weeks after the Capitol riot, some of the most prominent groups that participated are fracturing amid a torrent of backbiting and finger-pointing. The fallout will determine the future of some of the most high-profile farright organizations and raises the specter of splinter groups that could make the movement even more dangerous. “This group needs new leadership and a new direction,” the St. Louis branch of the Proud Boys announced recently on the encrypted messaging service Telegram, echoing denunciations by at least six other chapters also
Fallout From Infighting Creates Conditions for Lone Attacks
rupturing with the national organization. “The fame we’ve attained hasn’t been worth it.” Similar rifts have emerged in the Oath Keepers, a paramilitary group that recruits veterans, and the Groyper Army, a white nationalist organization focused on college campuses and a vocal proponent of the false claim that Donald J. Trump won the 2020 presiden-
by the large number of arrests in the aftermath of the Capitol riot and the subsequent crackdown on some groups by law enforcement. As some members of the far right exit more established groups and strike out on their own, it may become even more difficult to track extremists who have become more emboldened to carry out violent attacks. “What you are seeing right now is a regrouping phase,” said Devin Burghart, who runs the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, a Seattle-based center that monitors far-right Continued on Page A19
Wedding Guest 2 Black Rivals Asserts Cuomo Collide in Race Unsettled Her For N.Y. Mayor By MATT FLEGENHEIMER and JESSE McKINLEY
Biden’s Infrastructure Package May Be Trickier Than Aid Bill By ANNIE KARNI and JIM TANKERSLEY
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s two immediate predecessors had ambitious goals to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, but both left office having made little progress in fixing the nation’s bridges, roads, pipes and broadband. President Donald J. Trump announced so many meaningless infrastructure weeks that the term became a running joke of his administration. As a candidate, Mr. Biden went further than either Mr. Trump or President Barack Obama by promising to pass a multitrilliondollar package intended to create jobs and help the United States compete with China. And if anything, his first month in office, in which a power crisis in Texas left
millions of people in need of water and electricity, has underscored the urgency of upgrading the nation’s aging structural underpinnings. But while the goal of addressing the United States’ infrastructure is bipartisan, the details are not. That includes how much to spend, what programs count as “infrastructure” and, most important, whether to raise taxes to pay for it. As a result, Mr. Biden could have an even tougher time gaining Republican support for an infrastructure bill than what he has faced in his first big legislative push, a $1.9 trillion economic aid package that passed the House on Saturday with every Republican Continued on Page A16
INTERNATIONAL A10-13
Throughout the debate over stimulus measures, one question has repeatedly brought gridlock in Washington: Should the states get no-strings federal aid? Republicans have mostly said no, casting it as a bailout for spendthrift blue states. Democrats have argued the opposite, saying that states face dire fiscal consequences without aid, and included $350 billion in relief for state and local governments in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill, which narrowly passed the House this past weekend. It faces a much tougher fight in the Senate. As it turns out, new data shows that a year after the pandemic wrought economic devastation around the country, forcing states to revise their revenue forecasts and prepare for the worst, for many the worst didn’t come. One big reason: $600-a-week federal supplements that allowed people to keep spending — and states to keep collecting sales tax revenue — even when they were jobless, along with the usual state unemployment benefits. By some measures, the states ended up collecting nearly as much revenue in 2020 as they did in 2019. A J.P. Morgan survey called 2020 “virtually flat” with 2019, based on the 47 states that report their tax revenues every month, or all except Alaska, Oregon and Wyoming. A researcher at the UrbanBrookings Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank, found that total state revenues from April through December were down just 1.8 percent from the same period in 2019. Moody’s Analytics used a different method and found that 31 states now had enough cash to fully absorb the economic stress of the pandemic recession on their own. “You can see it’s just a completely different story this time,” said Louise Sheiner, a Brookings Continued on Page A18
THE JACOB AND GWENDOLYN KNIGHT LAWRENCE FOUNDATION, SEATTLE/ ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK; AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Lightning Strikes Twice “Immigrants admitted from all countries,” a second missing Jacob Lawrence panel, surfaced just blocks from the first. Page C1.
By JEFFERY C. MAYS
Anna Ruch had never met Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo before encountering him at a crowded New York City wedding reception in September 2019. Her first impression was positive enough. The governor was working the room after toasting the newlyweds, and when he came upon Ms. Ruch, now 33, she thanked him for his kind words about her friends. But what happened next instantly unsettled her: Mr. Cuomo put his hand on Ms. Ruch’s bare lower back, she said in an interview on Monday. When she removed his hand with her own, Ms. Ruch recalled, the governor remarked that she seemed “aggressive” and placed his hands on her cheeks. He asked if he could kiss her, loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. Ms. Ruch was bewildered by the entreaty, she said, and pulled away as the governor drew closer. “I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” said Ms. Ruch, Continued on Page A20
Just a few days after Raymond J. McGuire officially joined the New York City mayor’s race in December, a courtesy call came in from one of his Democratic rivals, Eric Adams. Mr. Adams, who, like Mr. McGuire, is Black, offered some provocative words of wisdom. “Being in politics is just like being in a prison yard,” Mr. Adams said, according to several people familiar with the video call. “You need to put a wall around your family because you might get shanked.” Mr. Adams’s campaign described the sentiment as “friendly advice.” Several people in Mr. McGuire’s campaign saw it differently, characterizing it as a “veiled threat” from a front-runner trying to intimidate a new challenger. For two years, Mr. Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, had been regarded as one of the favorites in the 2021 mayor’s race. He was a former police officer who had nuanced views of how soContinued on Page A21
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9
BUSINESS B1-5
SCIENCE TIMES D1-8
ARTS C1-6
Biden Reaches Out to Mexico
In This County, Vaccines for All
Anime’s Dark Secret
Listening to Patients
Unstoppable Tonys
As the president looks to undo his predecessor’s immigration policies, he will seek help across the border. PAGE A12
A rural area outside Phoenix is one of the first places in the U.S. to open vaccinations up to the general public. This is what success looks like. PAGE A9
The workers who make the Japanese shows the world is binge-watching may earn as little as $200 a month. Many are reassessing their careers. PAGE B1
Narrative medicine programs teach doctors “sensitive interviewing skills” to improve patient care. PAGE D6
Even with no date for a ceremony yet chosen, the voting for the awards show has gotten underway. PAGE C1
Digging Into the Red Planet
Evaluating the Globes
NATIONAL A14-21
China’s Digital Currency
Abductions in Nigeria The country’s kidnap-for-ransom industry is booming, regularly targeting children at boarding schools. PAGE A10
A Letterman, 63 Years Late A New Jersey high school gave “past due” recognition to the track exploits of a well-known gay activist. PAGE A14
The electronic Chinese yuan is now being tested in cities such as Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. PAGE B1
The Perseverance rover and its sibling, the Ingenuity helicopter, will be on the prowl around a Martian crater. PAGE D4
Amid some moving moments, the show included technical glitches and puzzling celebrity Zoom backgrounds. PAGE C1 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
SPORTSTUESDAY B6-7, 10
Texas Utilities Official Resigns
Against Baseball’s Grain
The regulator was caught in a tide of fury that swelled after millions were left without power during a storm. PAGE A18
Unlike other losing major league teams, the Royals seek to improve, not tear down, Tyler Kepner writes. PAGE B7
Michelle Goldberg
PAGE A23
U(D54G1D)y+=!z!$!$!#
TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2021 ~ VOL. CCLXXVII NO. 49
* * * * * *
DJIA 31535.51 À 603.14 1.9%
NASDAQ 13588.83 À 3.0%
STOXX 600 412.44 À 1.8%
10-YR. TREAS. À 5/32 , yield 1.444%
OIL $60.64 g $0.86
GOLD $1,722.50 g $5.60
France’s Ex-President Sarkozy Is Convicted in Bribery Case
What’s News Business & Finance
G
reensill headed toward a rapid unraveling after Credit Suisse suspended $10 billion of investment funds that fueled the SoftBank-backed startup. A1
Ant’s executive chairman said in an internal memo that the company will eventually go public and that it would look for ways to help workers monetize some of their shares. B1
RULING: Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives at court Monday in Paris, where he was convicted and sentenced for corruption. The court said he should serve one year under house arrest and suspended the rest of the three-year sentence. A8
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is getting a major overhaul that will expand the number of companies it covers and give more sway to fast-growing tech stocks. B9
SoftBank-Backed Lender Faces Insolvency With Funds Blocked
Zoom Video said that revenue this year would rise more than 41% after more than quadrupling in the fiscal year ended in January. B3
Specialty finance firm Greensill Capital headed toward a rapid unraveling after Credit Suisse Group AG suspended $10
Texas power co-op Brazos filed for bankruptcy, saying it is overwhelmed by sudden bills stemming from last month’s deep freeze. A6
By Julie Steinberg, Duncan Mavin, Ben Dummett and Maureen Farrell
Twitter is expanding the use of its strike system to include users who spread misleading information about Covid-19 and its vaccines. B5
YEN 106.76
Biden, Senate Press Bill Without Pay Boost BY KRISTINA PETERSON AND ANDREW DUEHREN
GONZALO FUENTES/REUTERS
Exxon added two new directors to its board as the energy giant tries to fend off calls for change from a pair of activist investors. B1
EURO $1.2049
President tries to keep Democrats aligned after backup plan on wage floor is scrapped
U.S. stocks jumped as a weekslong advance in government-bond yields stalled. The S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq rose 2.4%, 1.9% and 3%, respectively. B1, B9 United Airlines said it is buying 25 new Boeing 737 MAX jets and bumping up its orders for dozens more as the carrier positions its fleet for a travel rebound. B1
HHHH $4.00
WSJ.com
billion of investment funds that fueled the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed startup. With a key source of financing frozen, Greensill appointed Grant Thornton to guide it
through a possible restructuring, and it could file for insolvency, the U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy, within days, according to people familiar with the company. Greensill is in talks with private-equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc. to sell its operating business for about $100 million, according to people familiar with the talks. Though a deal wouldn’t be for all of Greensill’s assets, the amount represents a sliver of its peak valuation of $4 billion.
U.K.-based Greensill is the brainchild of former Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley financier Lex Greensill. Founded in 2011, Greensill specializes in an area known as supply-chain finance, a form of short-term cash advance that lets companies stretch out the time they have to pay their bills. Greensill packages those cash advances into bondlike securities that give investors a higher return than they could get from bank deposits. Credit Suisse’s funds were a major
buyer of those securities. Greensill’s problems came to a head Monday after Credit Suisse said it would stop investors from buying or selling four private investment funds that rely exclusively on securities created by Greensill. Credit Suisse froze the funds because some assets in them are “currently subject to considerable uncertainties with respect to their accurate valuation,” according to a notice the bank sent to investors. Please turn to page A2
WASHINGTON—President Biden and Democratic lawmakers worked to iron out the remaining disputes over the coronavirus relief package that they hope to push through the Senate this week, despite left-wing frustrations that they scrapped an increase in the minimum wage. Senate Democrats, who had tried over the weekend to salvage a more limited wage increase through the tax code after it was deemed out of bounds in the current legislation, abandoned that backup plan late Sunday. With that off the table, Mr. Biden spoke with a group of Senate Democrats on Monday about advancing the rest of the bill, as the party works to pass its agenda with narrow majorities in both chambers. Some members of the Democratic caucus who met virtually with Mr. Biden said the discussion focused on targeting some of the bill’s aid. “There really isn’t a lot of dispute about the overall size of the bill,” Sen. Angus King (I., Maine) said after the meeting. “The question is whether it can be targeted in such a way as to better serve the people who Please turn to page A4 Many businesses back higher wages............................................. A4
World-Wide Biden and Democratic lawmakers worked to iron out the remaining disputes over the coronavirus relief package that they hope to push through the Senate this week, despite left-wing frustrations that they scrapped an increase in the minimum wage. A1 The Biden administration said it would use “all available tools” to respond to alleged unfair trading practices by Beijing as it conducts a comprehensive review of its trade policy with China. A2 The oil industry’s top lobbying group, the American Petroleum Institute, is preparing to endorse setting a price on carbon emissions. A6 Sarkozy was convicted on charges of influence-peddling and corruption. A lawyer for the former French president said he would appeal. A8 Two Americans accused of helping Ghosn escape from Japan were handed over to Japanese authorities and put on a flight to Tokyo. B3 New evidence from the U.K. showed that Covid-19 vaccinations sharply reduced serious illness and deaths among elderly people after just one dose. A8 The Biden administration will look to offer options for reunification inside the U.S. of parents and children separated under the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy on illegal immigration. A3 Police in Myanmar filed two new charges against Suu Kyi, who has been detained in her home since the military seized power. A18 CONTENTS Arts in Review... A12 Business News.. B3,5 Capital Journal...... A4 Crossword.............. A12 Heard on Street. B10 Markets...................... B9
Opinion.............. A15-17 Personal Journal A10-11 Sports....................... A14 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-7 Weather................... A12 World News...... A8,18
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Stocks Rise as Rate Fears Ease The S&P 500 marked its best day in nearly nine months and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite also jumped, as an increase in government-bond yields stalled. B1 MONDAY
Daily percentage change
Inflation Risk: Little Now, But Some See Danger Ahead
Dow Industrials 1.9%
2%
They say pressure to maximize employment could test Fed’s resolve –2
Jan.
Feb.
March
S&P 500 2.4%
2%
–2
Nasdaq Composite 3.0% 2%
–2 Source: FactSet
What’s Gin With No Alcohol? i
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Debate is spirited over how to label botanical beverage BY SAABIRA CHAUDHURI Nicholas Cook isn’t looking to gin up controversy, but he will fight for the sanctity of his favorite drink. The spirit is in fashion, driven by cocktail culture and an interest in botanical flavors. Varieties have proliferated, including gins that change color when mixed with tonic and others flavored with Brussels sprouts, seaweed, fresh cream and beef. Mr. Cook, director general of Britain’s Gin Guild, which was spun off from the centuries-old Worshipful Company of Distillers, has been willing to accept all of those. But there’s a simple Please turn to page A9
BY GREG IP Inflation is near a decade low and well below the 2% level the Federal Reserve targets as ideal. The usual conditions for rising inflation—tight job markets and public expectations of rising prices—are glaringly absent. Yet anxiety about inflation is at a fever pitch, among economists and in markets, where long-term interest rates have been grinding higher since President Biden unveiled plans for huge new fiscal stimulus. Behind this dichotomy is a clash of forces. In the near term, plentiful unused capacity and decades of habits are likely to keep inflation low. After years of undershooting 2%, the Fed would like inflation to slightly overshoot. That, it hopes, would banish the specter of
deflation and stagnation that has haunted advanced economies for a decade. “The kind of troubling inflation that people like me grew up with seems far away and unlikely,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in late January. But in the longer term, some economists and investors see a shifting political climate more conducive to inflation rising well past 2%. They argue the Fed’s pursuit of over-2% inflation, Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan and new goals such as narrowing racial economic disparities reduce the priority that policy makers will place on inflation. “The prevailing zeitgeist is all about accepting and even being enthusiastic about higher inflation,” said Larry Summers, the Please turn to page A9
Nigeria Schoolgirls Hid As Gunmen Swarmed BY JOE PARKINSON AND KABIRU ANWAR JANGEBE, Nigeria—Suwaida Sani was one of the lucky few. When dozens of heavily armed gunmen stormed through the gates of her boarding school spraying bullets into the air in the early hours of Friday morning, they demanded every student file into the courtyard or be shot. Suwaida ran in the other direction, crouching beneath a mosquito net and trembling as flashlight beams traced the wall above her head. When the 13-year-old emerged from her hiding place the next morning, the gunmen had abducted more than 300 of her schoolmates between the ages of 11 and 17 and marched them into a nearby forest. It was the largest abduction of schoolgirls in the history of a country where such kidnappings are becoming increas-
ingly familiar. “They were searching for anyone hiding, but thank God they didn’t see me,” said Suwaida, safely sitting between her parents in the living room of their single-story home. “So many of my friends have been taken. I can’t even count the number,” she said through tears. “May God spare them.” The abduction from the Government Girls Secondary School in the small town of Jangebe is the second in a little over a week in Nigeria’s northwest, where a surge in armed militancy has led to a worsening breakdown of security and where kidnap for ransom has become a lucrative industry. Friday’s abduction was bigger than that of 276 girls in 2014 from the town of Chibok, which ignited the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign that prompted a U.S. intervention. Please turn to page A6
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