PARIS FAIRS FROM PHOTOS TO OLD MASTERS NO SPONSOR TOO RISKY TO BE REWARDED OPEN NET ISSUE FOCUSING ON ARCANE DETAILS PAGE 11 PAGE 13 BACK PAGE | CULTURE | SPORTS | BUSINESS .... MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2014 Russia finds tough words from G-20 on Ukraine ISIS claims execution of American aid worker BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA GAZIANTEP, TURKEY Obama delivers warning to Putin, but says current sanctions are working U.S. official says video, which differs from other beheadings, appears real BY MARK LANDLER AND JENNY ANDERSON BY RUKMINI CALLIMACHI President Obama edged closer to describing Russia’s military incursions in Ukraine as an invasion, saying Sunday that the Western campaign to isolate Moscow would continue, though additional sanctions were unnecessary for now. He was one of several Western leaders in Brisbane for the annual meeting of the Group-of-20 industrialized economies to strongly criticize the Russian role in Ukraine. At the end of the G-20 meeting, Mr. Obama said the Russians were supplying heavy arms to separatists in Ukraine in violation of an agreement Moscow signed with Ukraine a few weeks ago. ‘‘We’re also very firm on the need to uphold core international principles,’’ he said, ‘‘and one of those principles is you don’t invade other countries or finance proxies and support them in ways that break up a country that has mechanisms for democratic elections.’’ Mr. Obama, who met with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at an economic meeting in Beijing last week and again at a summit meeting here this weekend, said he warned him that if the Russians did not change course in Ukraine, ‘‘the isolation that Russia is currently experiencing will continue.’’ He described the exchanges as ‘‘businesslike and blunt.’’ The president’s words were among the toughest he has used about Russia’s actions during the Ukraine crisis. But after meeting with European leaders to discuss any future steps, it was unclear that the allies had the stomach for another round of sanctions. ‘‘At this point, the sanctions that we have in place are biting plenty good,’’ he said. Mr. Obama’s comments came at the end of a hectic weeklong trip to Asia that produced a landmark climate change agreement with China, progress on a number of trade negotiations, and a return visit for the president to Myanmar, in which he admonished its militarydominated government that it needed to keep the reform process on track. ‘‘If you ask me, I say that’s a pretty good week,’’ he said. ‘‘I intend to build on OBAMA, PAGE 5 Oil vs. environment URIEL SINAI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Getting water from Lake Edward in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A British company wants to drill there. PAGE 4 Spanish land fight rakes up past excess CASTELLAR DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN Critics of state plan to sell estate to developers say it promotes speculation BY RAPHAEL MINDER La Almoraima, a farming estate nestled at the edge of a nature reserve, is prized by environmentalists. Home to one of Europe’s largest cork forests, it is a rare place where deer and boar roam wild within sight of the Rock of Gibraltar. The Spanish state, which owns the land, wants to sell it for as much as 300 million euros, or about $375 million, pitching it as a perfect spot for a luxury resort, including a five-star hotel, a small airport, two golf courses and a polo ground. The proposed sale is part of a rise in public land deals that politicians around the country hope will fill their treasuries and revive the economy. But they are meeting strong opposition from environmentalists and others who say the deals evoke the kinds of excesses that got Spain in trouble in the first place. After its real estate bubble burst in 2008, the country was left littered with unsold condominiums, empty arts centers and unused highways. Now that the economy appears to be recovering, it is back to business as usual, they say. ‘‘The government hasn’t learned any lesson from the property bubble,’’ said Alejandro Sánchez Pérez, a founder of Equo, the environmentalist political party. ‘‘Its goal is still to promote specu- lative property deals, with a strong focus on tourism, even if that involves handing over patrimony like La Almoraima that should clearly belong to all Spaniards, as it has genuine ecological rather than financial value.’’ There have been no allegations of corruption in the proposed sale of the land. But opposition is fed in part by a proliferation of corruption cases in the aftermath of Spain’s economic crisis that showed the real estate boom and bust to be more than the result of reckless investment alone. Instead, it was fueled by a lucrative, three-way relationship in which builders acquired construction permits from politicians and financing from banks, often also supervised by the politicians. From 2000 to 2008, Spain added about four million houses along its coastline, despite accusations by environmental groups that the building frenzy amounted to an illegal privatization of Spain’s shores. In addition to the new land sales, the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and the chiefs of regional governments are being criticized for helping to regularize such deals, particularly along coastal lands. The Socialist administration of Andalusia, Spain’s largest region, recently introduced legislation to regularize as many as 25,000 houses built illegally before the crisis. Many were acquired by sun-seeking pensioners from Northern Europe, who claim to have never suspected irregularities. Spain’s politicians see the new sales of public lands as a chance to shed unproductive assets, replenish their coffers, stimulate tourism and get the con- SPAIN, PAGE 5 In latest Napoleonic war, collectors vie for artifacts FONTAINEBLEAU, FRANCE BY PATRICK REEVELL Surveying the glittering collection of Napoleonic objects laid out in an auction hall near Paris, Bruno Ledoux said he had a good reason for his interest in a set of baby clothes belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte’s son. ‘‘You see, I have a palace,’’ said Mr. Ledoux, who indeed owns the palace of Napoleon II, Napoleon’s son, on the outskirts of Paris. Mr. Ledoux, one of France’s biggest Napoleon collectors and owner of the newspaper Libération, had come here on BURY Saturday to one of the largest auctions of Napoleon memorabilia ever held, looking for items for a museum he is creating. Hundreds of people packed the auction house for the event opposite the Château de Fontainebleau on Saturday and Sunday, just across from the gingerbread walls of the chateau, where Napoleon abdicated in 1814. Nearly 1,000 objects were for sale, including weapons, portraits, letters, the emperor’s cologne bottles, a knife used in a foiled assassination attempt, and even his stockings. The pieces come from a collection belonging to Monaco’s royal family, which sold them to raise money for a palace renovation. The star attraction was one of Napoleon’s trademark black bicorn hats, one of 19 known to be in existence. Although mostly worn by Napoleon’s chief veterinarian, who received it as a gift, the hat still went for 1.9 million euros, or about $24 million, bought by a South Korean food company, Harem. Napoleon’s bejeweled hunting rifle sold for ¤250,000; a gilded crib for ¤200,000. The auction houses Orsenat and Binoche & Giquello, which ran the sale, said the sale took in about ¤10 mil- Reverse migration INSIDE TO DAY ’S PA P E R 2 classes and tragedy in Hong Kong Taking flight in a simulated world NEWSSTAND PRICESINFORMATION, CALL: FOR SUBSCRIPTION Cameroon CFA 2.500 Ecuador US$ 3.35 Hungary HUF 800 00800 Canada 44C$ 4.5048Egypt78 27 EGP 15.00 Israel NIS 13.00/Eilat NIS 11.00 Andorra ¤ 3.50 Antilles ¤ 3.50 Argentina US$ 5.00 Austria ¤ 3.00 Bahrain BD 1.20 Belgium ¤3.00 Bermuda US$ 3.50 Bolivia US$ 2.75 Bosnia & Herzegovina KM 5.00 Bulgaria ¤ 2.55 Lithuania LTL 15 Luxembourg ¤ 3.00 Macedonia Den 150.00 Malta ¤ 3.00 Montenegro ¤ 2.00 Morocco MAD 25 Mexico N$ 26.00 Moscow Roubles 110 Nigeria NGN 390 Northern Ireland £ 1.50 or e-mail us at [email protected] Cayman Is CI$ 2.00 Chile Ps$ 1,550 Colombia Cps 1,875 Costa Rica US$ 2.50 Croatia KN 20.00 Cyprus ¤ 2.90 Czech Rep CZK 110 Denmark DKr 26 Estonia ¤ 3.20 Finland ¤ 3.00 France ¤ 3.00 Gabon CFA 2.500 Great Britain £ 1.80 Greece ¤2.50 Germany ¤ 3.00 Gibraltar £ 1.35 Italy ¤ 2.80 Ivory Coast CFA 2.500 Jordan. JD 1.50 Kazakhstan USD 3.50 Kenya K. SH. 200 Kosovo ¤ 2.50 Latvia ¤ 3.25 Lebanon LP 4,000 ’:HIKKLD=WUXUU\:?b@l@b@h@k" DIEGO IBARRA SANCHEZ FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES A Pakistani farmer, one of thousands who have fled to Afghanistan during a military offensive. PAGE 6 The deaths of two women found in a British banker’s apartment cast a spotlight on how impoverished housemaids are drawn to the city’s seedy bars for money. WORLD NEWS, 6 Of all the praise heaped upon Oculus, the virtual-reality company that Facebook acquired for $2 billion this year, perhaps the most significant has been this: nonnauseating. The Oculus Rift doesn’t make you vomit. BUSINESS, 15 NEWSSTAND PRICES A video game celebrity at 22 Norway NkrFrance 28 Senegal 2.500 ¤ CFA 3.00 Oman OMR 1.250 Serbia Din 250 Peru US$ 3.50 Slovakia ¤ 3.30 Andorra ¤ 3.50 Poland ZI 12.20 Slovenia ¤ 2.50 Antilles ¤ Spain 3.50 Portugal ¤ 3.00 ¤ 3.00 Qatar QR 10.00 Sweden Skr 28 CFA 2.500 Republic of Cameroon Ireland ¤3.00 Switzerland SFr 4.30 Reunion ¤ 3.50 Syria US$ 3.00 Gabon CFA 2.500 Romania Lei 11.50 The Netherlands ¤ 3.00 Saudi ArabiaIvory SR 13.00Coast Tunisia Din 4.300 CFA 2.500 Turkey TL 6 Ukraine US$ 5.00 United ArabMAD Emirates25 AED 12.00 Morocco Venezuela US$ 2.75 Senegal CFA 2.500 United States $ 3.00 Other US$ 2.00 Tunisia Din(Europe) 4.300 U.S. Military US$ 1.75 Reunion ¤ 3.50 IN THIS ISSUE No. 40,957 Books 11 Business 15 Crossword 14 Culture 11 Opinion 8 Sports 12 KASSIG FAMILY, VIA REUTERS Peter Kassig disappeared in northeastern Syria while delivering medical supplies. U.S. agencies increasingly go undercover BY ERIC LICHTBLAU AND WILLIAM M. ARKIN NAPOLEON, PAGE 5 The new Republican senators blossomed inside the political bureaucracy that many love to loathe. WORLD NEWS, 7 ISIS, PAGE 4 WASHINGTON A knife used in a foiled assassination attempt against Napoleon was up for auction. G.O.P. tilts back toward the insiders A senior American official said Sunday that the United States government was increasingly convinced of the authenticity of a video released by the Islamic State showing a black-clad executioner standing over the severed head of a man it identified as the American aid worker Peter Kassig. In recent days, American intelligence agencies had received strong indications that the Islamic State had killed Mr. Kassig. But without a body or other corroborating evidence, officials could not be certain. After the video was released and intelligence analysts conducted an initial assessment, the senior American official said the government believed that Mr. Kassig was dead. Mr. Kassig, a former Army Ranger, disappeared over a year ago at a checkpoint in northeastern Syria while delivering medical supplies. The footage is significantly different from the execution videos of four other Western hostages, whose televised deaths were carefully choreographed. Those videos were shot with several cameras from different vantage points to give the appearance of a professional production. But the footage of Mr. Kassig’s death is shot with a single camera and appears amateurish, with the Three years ago, Matt Haag was flipping burgers at McDonald’s. Today he makes his living playing video games and has 1.5 million YouTube subscribers. BUSINESS, 18 Back problems halt Federer Roger Federer’s quest to win the ATP Finals title on Sunday in London ended because of back problems. An hour before he was to play Novak Djokovic, he announced to the crowd that he was ‘‘not match fit.’’ SPORTS, 14 In India, growth breeds waste Indians are getting dirtier as they get richer, and we can no longer keep up: There’s too much stuff being made now, thanks to the backwash of globalization, Jerry Pinto writes. OPINION, 8 ONLINE AT INY T.COM More frustrations on health site HealthCare.gov opened again over the weekend and performed much better than last year, but some consumers reported long delays in trying to buy insurance. nytimes.com/politics Logging town looks for new growth In Sweet Home, Ore., the old logging jobs are long gone and the food bank has a more secure future than remaining industry. nytimes.com/us The federal government has significantly expanded undercover operations in recent years, with officers from at least 40 agencies posing as business people, welfare recipients, political protesters and even doctors or ministers to ferret out wrongdoing, records and interviews show. At the Supreme Court, small teams of undercover officers dress as students at large demonstrations outside the courthouse and join the protests to look for suspicious activity, according to officials familiar with the practice. At the Internal Revenue Service, dozens of undercover agents chase suspected tax evaders worldwide, by posing as tax preparers, accountants, drug dealers, yacht buyers or others, court records show. At the Agriculture Department, more than 100 undercover agents pose as food stamp recipients at thousands of neighborhood stores to spot suspicious vendors and fraud, officials said. Undercover work, inherently invasive and sometimes dangerous, was once largely the domain of the F.B.I. and a few other law enforcement agencies at the federal level. But outside public UNDERCOVER, PAGE 7 In Times Square, bigger is better At more than $2.5 million a month, a megascreen in Times Square that stands eight stories tall and spans a city block ranks as one of the most expensive pieces of outdoor ad real estate on the market. nytimes.com/business A secret mission to North Korea The director of national intelligence described his mission to secure the release of two Americans, saying he had no certainty they would be freed until hours before he left. nytimes.com/us
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