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JUEVES 17 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2020 | Año XLV | Número 15.859 | EDICIÓN MADRID | Precio: 1,70 euros
Azaña, tan intelectual como estadista en la Biblioteca Nacional P30
CULTURA
El Barça derrota 2-1 a la Real y evita descolgarse de LaLiga P33 FÚTBOL
LA PANDEMIA DE CORONAVIRUS REPUNTA A UNA SEMANA DE LAS FIESTAS
Y
34
Las comunidades se plantean endurecer el plan de Navidad
El choque de Sánchez y Casado agrava el bloqueo institucional
Sanidad invita a las autonomías a limitar movilidad, horarios y reuniones. Baleares y Canarias actúan ya; Cataluña, País Vasco y Andalucía lo estudian
El PP lanza su ataque más duro al Gobierno en el último pleno
PABLO LINDE, Madrid Las comunidades revisan sus restricciones frente a la pandemia a solo una semana de la celebración de las fiestas. El Ministerio de Sanidad invitó ayer a los Gobiernos autonómicos a endurecer el plan de Navidad, que retra-
sa el toque de queda, eleva el límite de las reuniones a 10 personas en las fechas más señaladas y permite los viajes para visitar a familiares y allegados. El lehendakari Iñigo Urkullu y el presidente catalán en funciones, Pere Aragonés, avanzaron su disposición a ac-
tuar en este sentido, y Extremadura anunció que anulará el plan si la tasa de incidencia supera los 250 casos. Andalucía reevaluará hoy las medidas que implantó la semana pasada. Baleares, que se ha convertido en la comunidad con más contagios, anunció que
mantendrá en Nochebuena el toque de queda a las 22.00 y el límite de seis personas. En Canarias, Tenerife adoptará la misma medida y estará cerrada durante 15 días. El ministro Illa lanzó a la población el mensaje de que se quede en casa. PÁGINAS 22 Y 23
JAVIER CASQUEIRO, Madrid El presidente Pedro Sánchez y el líder de la oposición, Pablo Casado, exhibieron ayer sus enormes diferencias en un pleno de siete horas cargado de ataques. Sánchez calificó de “lunáticas” las propuestas del PP y Casado culpó al jefe del Ejecutivo de la desastrosa gestión de la pandemia. La fractura entre ambos líderes agrava el problema del bloqueo en la renovación de algunos de los principales órganos institucionales, como el Poder Judicial, el Defensor del Pueblo o el Tribunal Constitucional. PÁGINA 16
Oliu dejará las funciones ejecutivas en Banco Sabadell tras 21 años
La plaza de París en Berlín, con la puerta de Brandenburgo al fondo, desolada ayer al entrar en vigor las restricciones en Alemania. / H. HANSCHKE (REUTERS)
El país que fue ejemplar al contener la primera ola sucumbe ante la segunda
Í. DE BARRÓN / H, GUTIÉRREZ Madrid Josep Oliu, presidente del Banco Sabadell desde hace 21 años, abandonará sus funciones ejecutivas con la incorporación del nuevo consejero delegado, César González-Bueno, quien sustituirá a Jaime Guardiola. Oliu seguirá como presidente no ejecutivo. Los cambios se producen después del fracaso de la fusión con el BBVA. PÁGINA 39
Alemania se confió y ahora tiene que parar
Penas de hasta 30 años para los cómplices de la matanza de ‘Charlie Hebdo’
ANA CARBAJOSA, Berlín Alemania, el país que se consideraba ejemplar por su gestión de la pandemia, registra ahora casi mil muertos al día y una incidencia de 341 casos por 100.000 habitantes en 14 días, tasa por encima de las de Francia o España. Desde ayer, y al menos hasta el 10 de enero, tiendas, colegios, bares y restaurantes estarán cerrados.
MARC BASSETS, París La justicia francesa impuso ayer penas de entre 4 y 30 años de cárcel a los 14 acusados de complicidad con los ataques terroristas contra el semanario satírico Charlie Hebdo y el supermercado judío Hyper Cacher en enero de 2015. El tribunal ofreció a las víctimas y a la sociedad un primer acto de justicia frente a una amenaza islamista que sigue viva. PÁGINA 2
Los expertos señalan la excesiva confianza en que el país sortearía la segunda ola como uno de los factores del repunte. “El problema es que las medidas adoptadas en octubre fueron muy suaves”, afirma Clemens Wedntner, jefe médico de un hospital. “Actuaron tarde; llevamos semanas avisando”, añade. Estas Navidades serán difíciles de olvidar. PÁGINAS 24 Y 25
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latimes.com
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020
© 2020
Congress closes in on pandemic aid agreement Package reportedly will include direct checks to Americans but no help for state, local governments. By Sarah D. Wire
Francine Orr Los Angeles Times
A PATIENT is taken to the ICU to be intubated and placed on a ventilator Tuesday at Providence Saint
John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. In Southern California, just 0.5% of ICU beds remain available. COLUMN ONE
Blows to head changed her life
State hospitals in critical condition Beds fill up, workers burn out and patients are in hallways as COVID surge grinds on By Hayley Smith
Hayley Hodson, a Stanford volleyball star, had it all. Then it all spiraled downward. By Patrick Hruby
omething was wrong with Hayley Hodson. She had come to Stanford as the country’s top volleyball recruit, an Olympic hopeful whose high school mornings in Newport Beach were self-scheduled down to the minute, the better to start classes early so she could lift weights before afternoon practice. 6 a.m. — Wake up 6:03 a.m. — Brush teeth 6:07 a.m. — Drink coffee, eat Greek yogurt 6:13 a.m. — Get backpack Now Hodson could barely get out of bed. It was late September 2016, and the Cardinal were in Washington state. Hodson, a sophomore captain, was a returning All-American and national freshman of the year. She also was in pain. Her shins had been aching for months. Her swollen left foot was in a walking boot. Those were the visible problems. Since late 2015, Hodson had suffered migraines and insomnia, anxiety and exhaustion. A diligent student who learned calculus [See Hodson, A6]
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State population grows slower The rate of increase is 0.05%, officials say. Housing costs and the pandemic are blamed. CALIFORNIA, B1
Recognition for Negro Leagues MLB says the historic groups from the 1920s to the ’40s will be elevated to major league status. SPORTS, B6
David Hockney gets creative The artist is enjoying one of his most productive periods while in lockdown in France. CALENDAR, E1
Weather Mostly cloudy. L.A. Basin: 65/48. B10
When Erick Fernandez’s alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m., the stress begins. As an emergency-room nurse at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, Fernandez said his 6 a.m. shift marks the start of a long day. The hospital is home to one of the busiest ERs in the state, and like many, it has been overrun by COVID-19. “The surge is definitely in full force,” Fernandez said. “Sometimes we come in in the morning, and a lot of the areas are just full of COVID patients already.” In the last week, California has averaged more than 32,000 coronavirus cases
each day, according to The Times tracker. That’s a 129% increase from two weeks ago. What’s more, those figures are also contributing to higher hospitalization rates than at any other point during the pandemic. To the outside world, the numbers may be little more than statistics, but inside Southern California’s hospitals, conditions are rapidly deteriorating as beds fill up and workers burn out. Annel Meza, an emergency-room nurse at Riverside University Health System, said hospitalizations are increasing so quickly that the staff has resorted to putting patients’ beds in the hall- [See Struggles, A12]
WASHINGTON — After months of impasse, House and Senate leaders were on the brink Wednesday of announcing an economic aid package of about $900 billion, which is expected to add $300 a week to state compensation for the unemployed and provide a one-time direct payment of at least $600 for most Americans. The compromise is also expected to include another round of Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses as well as money for vaccine distribution, food assistance, rent payments, child care and schools. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor early Wednesday that the leaders had made “major headway” toward getting a
“targeted relief package” and have committed to not leaving Washington until a deal is reached. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) seemed to agree, saying: “As we race the clock to reach a final accord before the end of the year, we are close to an agreement. It’s not a done deal yet. But we are very close.” The news was welcomed Wednesday at the Federal Reserve Board, where Chairman Jerome H. Powell has urged passage of additional federal relief. “The case for fiscal policy right now is very, very strong,” he told reporters. “With the expiration of unemployment benefits, the expiration of eviction moratoriums, with the virus spreading the way it is, there’s a need for households and businesses to have fiscal support. “Getting through the next four, five, six months — that is key,” Powell added. “Clearly there’s going to be need for help there, and my sense and hope is that we’ll be getting that.” Many of the deal’s details have not been made public, [See Relief, A7]
China turns bank into financial whip Hong Kong pastor is among government foes whose accounts at HSBC are frozen. By David Pierson
Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times
ANNEL MEZA, an ER nurse at Riverside University Health Systems, hugs
daughter Naima Villa, 11. Meza is six months pregnant with her second child.
‘UNDER SIEGE’ IN L.A. COUNTY: The region sees record daily tallies of deaths and new infections, and “the worst is still before us.” CALIFORNIA, B1
SINGAPORE — During the height of Hong Kong’s protests last year, Pastor Roy Chan led a ragtag crew of middle-aged and elderly church volunteers who would turn up at prodemocracy demonstrations wearing yellow vests with Chinese characters on the back that read, “Protect the children.” They’d form human chains to try to block police from reaching the mostly teenage and college-age protesters, shouting: “Beat us, don’t beat the kids!” At times, the authorities obliged. Many of the volunteers, including an 83-yearold known as Uncle Wong, were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed. Chan and his church say they now are paying a price for that activism. Last week, while in Britain, the 39-year-old pastor went online and discovered
Vincent Yu Associated Press
HONG KONG leader
Carrie Lam says she has no banking access because of U.S. sanctions. that bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and the Good Neighbor North District Church had been frozen. The next day, he learned police had raided the church’s two locations and arrested a staffer and a former director. Chan and his wife are accused of fraud and money laundering for underreporting millions in church donations — charges he denies. “We are a registered charity organization. We’ve done everything lawfully,” said Chan, who is living in an [See Hong Kong, A4]
For visits with Santa, it’s ‘Look but don’t touch’ Socially distanced St. Nick gets creative with appearances in person and via video. By Andrea Chang Elusiveness has always been part of the Santa Claus brand. He comes and goes in the night, leaving little trace but Christmas presents and cookie crumbs. He lives at the North Pole, of all places. The only way to contact him is by snail mail. Only during the holiday season does Santa become accessible, offering up his lap while he poses for pictures and listens to wish lists. In this pandemicplagued year, he’s doing his best to maintain a presence
at malls, family gatherings and Christmas tree lots, but like the rest of us, he has had to adjust. Socially distant St. Nick comes in many forms, among them face-shield Santa, drive-by Santa, Plexiglas Santa and, inevitably, $750-an-hour Zoom Santa. At the Westfield Century City mall, he’s tucked away inside an ornate Cinderellaesque carriage. At South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, he’s available for distanced visits by appointment. Over at the Grove, he’s riding atop the shopping center’s emerald-green trolley twice a night, waving to customers below. You can still take photos with Santa at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark, but don’t try to climb onto his lap: A red-ribbon-fes[See Santa, A9]
Mel Melcon Los Angeles Times
GRIFFIN HODGE , 5, his sister Delaney, 7, and brother Wyatt, 10, sit near Santa
(Joseph Polselli) this month at the Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks.
BUSINESS INSIDE: Vaccines and pent-up demand bode well for economy, Fed says. A8
Nxxx,2020-12-17,A,001,Bs-4C,E1
CMYK
Late Edition Today, snow, ending during the day, travel remaining difficult, high 30. Tonight, partial clearing, cold, low 21. Tomorrow, partly sunny, cold, high 32. Weather map, Page B14.
VOL. CLXX . . . . No. 58,910
$3.00
NEW YORK, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020
© 2020 The New York Times Company
Lawmakers Near Deal To Speed $900 Billion In Relief to Americans Shift in Talks After Months of Gridlock — Economists Say Aid Falls Short By EMILY COCHRANE
ANNA MONEYMAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
Snow Sweeps Up the Coast The first major winter storm of the season shut down virus testing sites and schools from Virginia through New York. Page A21.
$1 Billion Spent on Virus Gear, Inoculations at Nursing Homes Now New York Wants a Refund Face an Obstacle Over Consent By MICHAEL ROTHFELD and J. DAVID GOODMAN
As the coronavirus ravaged New York this spring, state officials faced a terrifying prospect: Casualties were mounting, and the reserve of ventilators and masks was dwindling. As doctors considered rationing lifesaving treatment, the state rushed into $1.1 billion in deals for supplies and equipment. Now, New York wants much of that money back. State officials are trying to get at least partial refunds on a third of that spending, by clawing back millions paid to vendors that they said failed to deliver on time, and working to extricate the state from deals now that stockpiles are sufficient, an analysis by The New York Times shows. The same is true in New York City, where officials have canceled $525 million in agreements for virus-related goods — more than a quarter of the total virus spending for the city’s primary procurement agency — and are trying to recover nearly $11 million from
A Scramble for Supplies Leads to Hasty Deals and Disputes vendors they said did not deliver. The reversals follow a frantic buying spree during the virus’s ferocious surge through New York. After Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio suspended normal rules for bidding and oversight, their administrations sometimes turned to companies with colorful résumés and claims of access to manufacturers, but little experience. “We were scouring the world to find every company that could provide the critical supplies and equipment needed to save lives and keep people safe,” said Adam Buchanan, the chief contracting officer for New York City’s primary procurement agency. On the chance these suppliers might deliver, officials made quick agreements with a used car seller, Continued on Page A5
By REBECCA ROBBINS and JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
In the coming days, squads of CVS and Walgreens employees, clad in protective gear and carrying small coolers, will begin to arrive at tens of thousands of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to vaccinate staff members and residents against the coronavirus. It promises to be a crucial milestone in America’s battle against a pandemic that has inflicted especially severe carnage on nursing homes. At least 106,000 residents and staff members of long-term care facilities have died from the virus, accounting for 38 percent of the country’s Covid-related fatalities. But even before it begins, the mass-vaccination campaign is facing serious obstacles that are worrying nursing home executives, industry watchdogs, eldercare lawyers and medical experts. They expect nursing homes to be the most challenging front in the mission to vaccinate Americans. Some residents and staff mem-
Some Residents and Staff Members Balk at Vaccinations bers are balking at taking the vaccine. Short-staffed facilities are concerned about workers calling in sick with side effects, straining resources just as some frail residents are likely to experience fever and fatigue from the shots. Most nursing home employees work in shifts; will it be possible to vaccinate everyone over the course of just a few visits from CVS and Walgreens? While some states began vaccinations in nursing homes this week, the broader nationwide effort will start over the next few days. And there remains widespread confusion about a key eleContinued on Page A6 FIRST DOSES Gloom began to lift
at some nursing homes as the vaccine arrived. PAGE A6
WASHINGTON — After months of stalemate, congressional leaders were on the verge on Wednesday of cementing a roughly $900 billion stimulus deal to deliver emergency aid to individuals and companies devastated by the toll of the worsening pandemic, racing to finish the details and stave off a government shutdown on Friday. The measure, which has been under discussion for months as the coronavirus has ravaged the economy, is expected provide a new round of direct payments to millions of Americans as well as additional unemployment benefits, food assistance and rental aid. It would prop up sputtering businesses with federally backed loans and provide funding for schools, hospitals and the distribution of a just-approved vaccine. While the agreement was not yet final, Republicans and Democrats alike signaled that they were ready to coalesce around the main elements, marking an extraordinary shift from just weeks ago, when both sides were issuing ulti-
matums and refusing to budge from long-held positions. The momentum indicated that relief could soon be on its way for individuals and businesses who have waited for months as economists have clamored for another robust infusion of federal aid, warning that Congress’s failure to act could do long-lasting damage. “We’re making good progress,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, in a brief interview on Wednesday afternoon as staff exchanged offers and counteroffers. “No one gets everything they want, but we’re feeling pretty good.” But even as lawmakers moved toward striking an elusive deal, the package pointed to troubles on the horizon for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who had pressed for at least some compromise on emergency pandemic aid before year’s end. To break the logjam, Democrats appeared to have dropped their demand for a dedicated funding stream for states and cities that are facing fiscal Continued on Page A9
Inauguration Donors Can Expect V.I.P. Perks but No Fancy Balls By KENNETH P. VOGEL and ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON — Presidentelect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s allies have begun an ambitious campaign to raise millions of dollars from corporations and individuals by offering special “V.I.P. participation” in reimagined inaugural festivities that will be largely virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic. Far fewer tickets than normal are being distributed for people to attend the actual swearing-in ceremony outside the Capitol on Jan. 20, which is organized and funded by the government. To create an air of celebration, Mr. Biden’s inaugural committee said it was raising private funds to pay for virtual events that will echo the Democratic convention this year, which featured a 50state roll call from spots around
the nation. There are also plans for a “virtual concert” with major performers whose names have not yet been released — and possibly for an in-person event later in the year. The contrast between the constraints of putting on inaugural festivities in the midst of a public health crisis and fund-raising as usual underscores how donations to an inaugural are not just about getting good seats for the swearing-in or tickets to the glitziest black-tie balls. They are also a way for corporations and wellheeled individuals to curry favor with a new administration, a reality that prompted liberal groups on Wednesday to ask Mr. Biden’s inaugural committee to forgo corpoContinued on Page A17
China Takes Rivalry With U.S. Righting a Wrong, Baseball Elevates Negro Leagues to the Majors One Step Farther: To the Moon By STEVEN LEE MYERS and KENNETH CHANG
China may have been a latecomer to the moon, but when its capsule full of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth early Thursday, it set the stage for a new space race over the coming decades. This time, it will be a competition over resources on the moon that could propel deeper space exploration. The country’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft gathered as much as 4.4 pounds of lunar samples from a volcanic plain known as Mons Rümker in a three-week operation that underlined China’s growing prowess and ambition in space. It was China’s most successful mission to date. The United States and the Soviet Union competed for supremacy in a space race in the 1960s and ’70s, during which they brought back lunar samples, but that was a different era. Now China is in the fray, and today’s competition — once seemingly the realm of sci-
If baseball somehow reflects America, as romanticists like to believe, then it also shares in its blemishes. The National and American leagues were segregated until 1947, and the decades since have been marked by a halting kind of reckonON ing. BASEBALL On Wednesday, Major League Baseball took one of its biggest steps to redress past racial wrongs: It formally recognized several of the Negro leagues as on par with the American and National leagues, a distinction that will alter the official record books to acknowledge a quality of competition that the long-excluded players never doubted. With the change, more than 3,400 players from seven distinct Negro leagues that operated between 1920 and 1948 will be recognized as major leaguers. And the statistical records will be updated. “All of us who love baseball have long known that the Negro Leagues produced many of our
TYLER KEPNER
CHINA GLOBAL TELEVISION NETWORK
The Chang’e-5 spacecraft, with lunar rocks, returned to Earth. ence fiction — could be equally intense and more mercantile. The Chinese are eager to flaunt their technical skills and explore the solar system. Like the United States, the country has a broader goal to establish a lunar base that could exploit its potential resources and serve as a launching pad for more ambitious missions. Beijing has not “staked out some sort of declarative statement where they want to replace Continued on Page A15
BUSINESS B1-8
INTERNATIONAL A10-15
NATIONAL A16-21
BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES
From left, John Stanley, Frank McAllister and Gene Smith of the New York Black Yankees in 1942. game’s best players, innovations and triumphs against a backdrop of injustice,” Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, said in a statement. “We are now grateful to count the players of the Negro Leagues
where they belong: as Major Leaguers within the official historical record.” The adjustments to the statistics will almost assuredly result in a new single-season record for batting average. But the impact
on other records will be fairly small as a result of the shorter schedules played in the Negro leagues, most of which played only 80 to 100 games, as compared to the 154 per season that Continued on Page A21
THURSDAY STYLES D1-8
New Lockerbie Charges Seen
Windfall for Smaller Colleges
Undone by Zoom Transgression
A Libyan bomb expert may be charged by the Justice Department in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight that killed 270 people. PAGE A14
The gifts — tens of millions of dollars each — went to dozens of schools that serve many minority and lower-income students. PAGE A21
How Jeffrey Toobin, a star of legal journalism in books, on TV and at The New Yorker, lost his sweetest gig. PAGE D1
TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9
Executions in U.S. Decline
A Pandemic Growth Industry
Conspiracists Shift Gears
Americans are buying Christmas trees in droves, and tree farms are struggling to meet the demand. PAGE B8
As election falsehoods fade, coronavirus vaccine claims are surging, often spread by the same people. PAGE A8
States carried out fewer executions, but the federal government did more than it had in over a century. PAGE A20 SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-11
10 States Sue Google
In Britain, Christmas Is On
Judging N.C.A.A. Rules
The plaintiffs accuse the tech giant of abusing its monopoly over its highprofit online-ad technology. PAGE B1
Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has stuck by a vow to lift curbs on gatherings, despite rising cases. PAGE A7
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide a case about how much college athletes can be compensated. PAGE B9
The Endless Oreo Variations ARTS C1-8
Needlework of Racial Injustice The Women of Color Quilters Network’s members create symbols of liberation, resistance and empowerment. PAGE C1
Irish Studio Dreams Big With “Wolfwalkers,” Cartoon Saloon completes a hand-drawn trilogy based on Celtic mythology. PAGE C1
The brand’s strategy of flavor innovations is stunning in its simplicity, boosting sales of the classic variety. PAGE D7 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23
Jamelle Bouie
PAGE A22
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020 ~ VOL. CCLXXVI NO. 143
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DJIA 30154.54 g 44.77 0.1%
NASDAQ 12658.19 À 0.5%
STOXX 600 396.08 À 0.8%
10-YR. TREAS. unch , yield 0.920%
OIL $47.82 À $0.20
GOLD $1,856.10 À $3.80
Business & Finance he holiday shopping season got off to a muted start as U.S. consumers reined in November spending amid a surge in coronavirus infections and new business restrictions in some states. A1
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Amazon workers at an Alabama warehouse won approval to hold a unionization vote, the first such election since 2014 at the company. B2 Roku reached a deal with AT&T’s WarnerMedia to carry the HBO Max streaming service, ending an eight-month standoff. B3 The U.S. Treasury labeled Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators. A8 MSCI will strip its indexes of stocks in seven Chinese companies that the U.S. government says help China’s military. B4
BY HARRIET TORRY
BETTMANN ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES
Facebook said it would assist the company behind videogame “Fortnite” in its high-profile legal battle with Apple. B1
OUT, THEN IN: Major League Baseball said it was elevating the Negro Leagues from 1920-48 to major-league status, a move that recognizes the sport’s long-excluded Black pioneers, such as Josh Gibson, shown being tagged out in 1944. A14
States Allege Google Cut Deal With Facebook to Rig Ad Market BY JOHN D. MCKINNON AND RYAN TRACY WASHINGTON—Ten states sued Google, accusing the search giant of running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly and enlisting rival Facebook Inc. in an ad auction-rigging deal code-named after characters from “Star Wars.” The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Texas on Wednesday, alleges Facebook emerged in 2017 as a powerful
The Nasdaq rose 0.5% to a record close, and the S&P added 0.2% while the Dow slipped 0.1%. B11 Bitcoin surged above $20,000 for the first time in its 12-year history. B11
World-Wide Congressional leaders were closing in on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief deal expected to include another round of direct payments to households feeling the pain of the pandemic’s battering of the economy. A1 U.S. prosecutors are expected to unseal charges against a suspect they allege assembled the device that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988. A1 The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether the NCAA violated federal antitrust law by maintaining tight limits on compensating college athletes. A3 Federal prosecutors charged a Kenyan man with plotting an attack in the style of Sept. 11 at the direction of a terrorist group. A3 A former Trump administration cybersecurity official told a Senate panel that allegations that voting equipment was manipulated during the election are baseless. A4 The FDA said more doses of the Covid-19 vaccine than expected can be extracted from each vial, boosting the supply. A7 A French court convicted 14 people of helping carry out the 2015 terrorist attacks on a satirical weekly and a kosher grocery. A8 China said its space vehicle returned to Earth with moon fragments it gathered on its mission. A9 Germany moved closer to allowing the use of Huawei’s technology in 5G mobile networks. A9 CONTENTS Business News...... B3 Crossword.............. A14 Equities....................... B9 Heard on Street. B12 Markets..................... B11 Opinion.............. A15-17
Personal Journal A11-13 Sports....................... A14 Streetwise................. B1 Technology............... B4 U.S. News............. A2-7 Weather................... A14 World News....... A8-9
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YEN 103.46
November data show 1.1% drop on month, suggesting recovery is slowing from summer
Ten states sued Google, accusing the search giant of running an illegal digital advertising monopoly and enlisting rival Facebook in an ad auction-rigging deal. A1 Massachusetts regulators alleged trading platform operator Robinhood marketed to inexperienced investors and failed to implement controls to protect them. B1
EURO $1.2201
Shoppers Cut Back Spending As Covid Spreads
Negro Leagues Finally Reach a Major Milestone
What’s News
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Congress Gets Close To Deal for Virus Aid
new rival to Google, challenging the Alphabet Inc. unit’s established dominance in online advertising. Google responded by initiating a deal in which Facebook would curtail its competitive moves, in return for guaranteed special treatment in Google-run ad auctions, the lawsuit claims. Google’s internal code name for Facebook deal referenced characters from Star Wars, according to the suit, which redacted specifics. A person fa-
INSIDE
Californians balk at new lockdown orders....................... A3 Vaccine takers undeterred by side effects................................. A7
BY JENNIFER MALONEY AND LAUREN WEBER
LIFE IN COVID People adjust their holiday traditions to cope with the pandemic. A12-13 YEAR IN REVIEW A look back at the events of 2020 and thoughts on what’s ahead. R1-20
Twenty years ago, Coca-Cola Co. agreed to pay $192.5 million to settle a race-discrimination class-action lawsuit, one of the largest such settlements in U.S. history. Though the company didn’t admit the allegations had merit, Steve Bucherati, the soda giant’s first director of workplace fairness after the lawsuit, said the facts were irrefutable. “Make no mistake about it,” the former human-resources executive said. “Coke was 100% discriminating against Black employees.” In November 2000, Coke agreed to implement far-reaching changes to its hiring, promotion and compensation practices. It also vowed to become what it called the “gold standard” of fairness, with a workplace that offered opportunities for all.
U.S. Prepares to Charge Lockerbie Bomb Suspect BY SADIE GURMAN AND ARUNA VISWANATHA WASHINGTON—U.S. prosecutors are expected to unseal charges against a suspect they allege was a top bomb maker for the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and assembled the device that blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, opening a new chapter in one of the world’s longest and most sprawling ter-
i
rorism investigations. The Justice Department is expected to unseal a criminal complaint against Abu Agila Mohammad Masud, who is currently held by Libyan authorities, in the coming days and to seek his extradition for trial on charges in U.S. federal court, senior department officials said. The bombing, just before Christmas 1988, killed 270 people, including 190 Americans, Please turn to page A6
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Remote classes go on, despite weather, causing flurry of complaints Children have long sought to summon a snow day when storms are in the offing, acting on superstitions such as wearing pajamas inside out, hiding spoons under their pillows or flushing ice cubes
Facebook joins fight against Apple............................................... B1
U.S. growth decelerates but remains solid.............................. A2 Heard on the Street: A bridge for retailers until spring.... B12
Coke’s Elusive Goal: Boosting Its Black Employees
The Pandemic Melts the Snow Day BY LESLIE BRODY
tech giants, each of which face federal antitrust lawsuits filed in recent weeks. Facebook had no immediate comment on the allegations. Google denied engaging in any anticompetitive behavior and repeated its stance that it operates in highly competitive markets. “Attorney General Paxton’s Please turn to page A4
Two decades after historic lawsuit, its diversity efforts have lost ground
BY KRISTINA PETERSON AND ANDREW DUEHREN WASHINGTON—Congressional leaders closed in on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus-relief deal that includes another round of direct payments to households, said lawmakers who aimed to pass the aid package before the week’s end. After months of gridlock, the emerging agreement represented a breakthrough at a critical time in the pandemic, with distribution of a vaccine under way but hospitalizations hitting records and a new round of business restrictions weighing on the economy. The package under discussion was expected to include, along with direct checks, $300 a week in enhanced unemployment insurance, funding for vaccine distribution, schools, small businesses, health-care providers and rental assistance, and other relief measures. Its size, at just under $900 billion, marked a compromise between the two parties’ stances: more than the roughly $500 billion Republicans had Please turn to page A4
miliar with the matter said the code name was “Jedi Blue,” after the imaginary Jedi knights. “Google is a trillion-dollar monopoly brazenly abusing its monopolistic power, going so far as to induce senior Facebook executives to agree to a contractual scheme that undermines the heart of [the] competitive process,” said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who led the suit. The accusations opened up a fresh front of criticism for both
The holiday shopping season got off to a muted start as U.S. consumers reined in November spending amid a surge in coronavirus infections and new business restrictions in some states. U.S. retail sales, a measure of purchases at stores, restaurants and online, dropped a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in November from the prior month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. October sales were revised to a decline of 0.1% from an earlier estimate of a 0.3% increase. Sales were up by 4.1% in November when compared with the same month a year ago. Restaurants, department stores and car dealerships reported sharp sales declines in November. Clothing and furniture sales fell, too. Purchases of groceries and building materials increased, along with online sales. The November and October drops marked the end of several months of growth in retail spending after sharp declines this year when the coronavirus pandemic triggered widePlease turn to page A2
down the toilet. Now, many fear the traditional snow day may be melting away. Remote learning need not stop for the snow storm expected to wallop the Northeast this week. Kids who returned to school buildings this
fall can switch back to online classes if the weather becomes too hazardous. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said students in the nation’s largest district will have school online, “whether they’re happy about it or not.” Please turn to page A10
One decade after the settlement, Coke’s effort looked like an unqualified success. By 2010, Black employees held 15% of executive roles in the U.S., up from 1.5% in 1998, shortly before the lawsuit was filed. Two decades after the settlement, that progress has reversed. The share of Black executives is back down to 8%, according to company data. And the representation of Black employees among Coke’s U.S. salaried staff is now 15%, or 5 percentage points lower than where it stood in 2000. “We didn’t keep our eye on the North Star,” said Valerie Love, who joined Coke last year to lead HR for North America. In the wake of protests that swept across the country this year after George Floyd was killed in police custody, more companies, inPlease turn to page A10
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