FOOTAGE OF DEATH TO 2 ARAB STATES WORKED TO …Sep 16, 2020  · EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23 PARIS In...

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Jamelle Bouie PAGE A22

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

PARIS — In the early days ofthe pandemic, President Emman-uel Macron exhorted the Frenchto wage “war” against the corona-virus. Today, his message is to“learn how to live with the virus.”

From full-fledged conflict tocold war containment, France andmuch of the rest of Europe haveopted for coexistence as infec-tions keep rising, summer recedes

into a risk-filled autumn and thepossibility of a second wavehaunts the continent.

Having abandoned hopes oferadicating the virus or develop-ing a vaccine within weeks, Euro-peans have largely gone back to

work and school, leading lives asnormally as possible amid an en-during pandemic that has alreadykilled nearly 215,000 in Europe.

The approach contrasts sharplyto the United States, where re-strictions to protect against the vi-rus have been politically divisiveand where many regions havepushed ahead with reopeningschools, shops and restaurantswithout having baseline protocols

Cases Rise, but Europe Learns to Live With VirusBy NORIMITSU ONISHI Calculating Risk Using

Hard-Won Tools

Continued on Page A6

WASHINGTON — The JusticeDepartment has opened a crimi-nal investigation into whetherPresident Trump’s former na-tional security adviser John R.Bolton unlawfully disclosed clas-sified information in a memoirthis summer, an inquiry that thedepartment began after it failed tostop the book’s publication, ac-cording to three people familiar

with the matter.The department has convened

a grand jury, which issued a sub-poena for communicationsrecords from Simon & Schuster,the publisher of Mr. Bolton’s mem-oir, “The Room Where It Hap-

pened.” The Javelin Agency,which represents Mr. Bolton, alsoreceived a subpoena, according toa person familiar with the investi-gation.

The inquiry is a significant es-calation of the turmoil over thepublication of the book, whosehighly unflattering account of Mr.Bolton’s 17 months in the WhiteHouse prompted Mr. Trump to at-tack him and call for his prosecu-

U.S. Is Said to Open Inquiry Over Bolton’s BookBy KATIE BENNER Looking for Illegal Use

of Classified Data

Continued on Page A13

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It wasearly June, days after the death ofGeorge Floyd, and cities aroundthe country were erupting in pro-tests against police brutality.

In Rochester, the streets wererelatively calm, but behind closeddoors, police and city officialswere growing anxious. A Blackman, Daniel Prude, had died ofsuffocation in March after policeofficers had placed his head in ahood and pinned him to theground. The public had neverbeen told about the death, but thatwould change if police body cam-era footage of the encounter gotout.

“We certainly do not want peo-ple to misinterpret the officers’ ac-tions and conflate this incidentwith any recent killings of un-armed Black men by law enforce-ment nationally,” a deputy Roch-ester police chief wrote in an emailto his boss. “That would simply bea false narrative, and could createanimosity and potentially violentblowback in this community as aresult.”

His advice was clear: Don’t re-

lease the body camera footage tothe Prude family’s lawyer. The po-lice chief replied minutes later: “Itotally agree.”

The June 4 exchange was con-tained in a mass of city documentsreleased on Monday that showhow the police chief, La’Ron Sin-gletary, and other prominentRochester officials did everythingin their power to keep the trou-bling videos of the incident out ofpublic view, and to prevent dam-aging fallout from Mr. Prude’sdeath.

The dozens of emails, police re-ports and internal reviews revealan array of delay tactics — fromciting hospital privacy laws toblaming an overworked employ-ee’s backlog in processing videos— used in that mission.

The documents show how thepolice attempted to frame the nar-rative in the earliest hours, play-ing up Mr. Prude’s potential fordanger and glossing over the tac-tics of the officers who pinned

ROCHESTER POLICEWORKED TO BLOCK FOOTAGE OF DEATH

ARRAY OF DELAY TACTICS

Documents Reveal Fearsof ‘Violent Blowback’

Amid Floyd Anger

By MICHAEL WILSONand EDGAR SANDOVAL

La’Ron Singletary, the formerpolice chief of Rochester, N.Y.

BRENDAN McDERMID/REUTERS

Continued on Page A20

WASHINGTON — Israel andtwo Arab nations signed agree-ments at the White House onTuesday to normalize their rela-tions, a step toward a realignmentof the Middle East but one thatfailed to address the future of thePalestinians.

President Trump presided overa South Lawn ceremony wherePrime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu of Israel and the foreign min-isters of Bahrain and the UnitedArab Emirates signed a generaldeclaration of principles theWhite House has named the Abra-ham Accords, after the biblical fa-ther of three monotheistic reli-gions, as well as individual agree-ments between Israel and the twoArab states.

Mr. Trump pronounced it a his-toric moment for their region. “Af-ter decades of division and con-flict, we mark the dawn of a newMiddle East,” Mr. Trump said.

The texts of the agreements de-tail how the three countries willopen embassies and establishother new diplomatic and eco-nomic ties, including tourism,technology and energy. Israel andthe Emirates are beginning com-mercial air travel between theircountries for the first time, andBahrain has opened its airspacefor those flights.

They make scant reference tothe fate of the Palestinians, but in-clude a call for “a just, comprehen-sive and enduring resolution ofthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

The accords are the first suchagreements between Israel andan Arab state since 1994, when theJewish state established diplo-matic relations with Jordan. Theyare also another step toward theformation of a de facto alliance be-tween Israel and the Gulf’s SunniArab monarchies against theircommon enemy, Shiite Iran. Pres-suring Iran has been a centralgoal of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy,and Trump officials have workedto build a common regional frontagainst Tehran in which SaudiArabia has played a major role.

Speaking from the porch abovethe South Portico, just below theTruman balcony, Mr. Trump saidthe accords were just the begin-ning. “Today’s signing sets his-tory on a new course, and therewill be other countries very, verysoon” that make similar agree-ments, ending Israel’s isolation inthe region.

In remarks to reporters beforethe ceremony, Mr. Trump said fivenations could soon take similarsteps — and suggested that onewas Saudi Arabia, in what ana-lysts say would be a far more dra-matic breakthrough. Analysts be-lieve Sudan and Oman are likeliercandidates for normalization inthe short term. But they say thatBahrain most likely acted onlywith Riyadh’s blessing, and thatthe Saudi royals are weighing

ISRAEL CEMENTSDIPLOMATIC LINKSTO 2 ARAB STATES

WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY

Little Said of Palestiniansin Pact With Bahrain

and Emirates

By MICHAEL CROWLEY

President Trump hosted the prime minister of Israel and the foreign ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A9

BAYOU LA BATRE, Ala. — Hur-ricane Sally parked itself over theGulf of Mexico on Tuesday, churn-ing slowly and lumbering at asluggish pace toward land, repre-senting a climate change realitythat has made many hurricaneswetter, slower and more danger-ous.

Sally’s outer bands unleashed arelentless rain that began in themorning and continued unabatedall day and into the night, threat-ening to deluge coastal communi-ties in Alabama and Mississippi.Meteorologists worried — and al-most marveled — as the stormpushed forward at a speed of just 2miles per hour, shifting erraticallyin its path and intensity.

Scientists saw Sally’s stall overthe warm waters of the Gulf as yet

another effect of climate change inthe United States, coming as wild-fires along the West Coast have in-cinerated millions of acres andsent foul air into the atmosphereas far away as Washington, D.C. Ascorching summer — made worseby the burning of fossil fuels, ex-perts say — led to dry conditionsthat helped turn this year’s wild-fires into the worst ever recorded.

Fires were still burning out ofcontrol in Northern California andthe Pacific Northwest on Tuesday,and air quality in the region —some of the worst in the world —prompted the closure of some

schools, parks and beaches.With the authorities pleading

with residents to stay indoors, thehunt for missing people continuedin scorched communities. In NewMexico, scientists were investi-gating whether the deaths of hugenumbers of birds were caused bythe smoke plumes altering theirmigratory routes or poisoningthem in the air.

And all this amid a hurricaneseason that is among the most ac-tive on record. Last month, Hurri-cane Laura tore across southwestLouisiana, leaving a trail of de-struction and cutting electricitythat has yet to be restored to manycommunities.

Climate change has made hurri-canes wetter and slower, scien-tists have found. Recent researchsuggests that global warming —specifically in the Arctic, which is

Emergency From Climate Change on Two CoastsThis article is by Richard Fausset,

Rick Rojas and Henry Fountain.A Slower, Wetter Type

of Hurricane Imperilsthe Gulf Region

Timothy Brannon in Bayou La Batre, Ala., a fishing town drenched by Hurricane Sally on Tuesday.WILLIAM WIDMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A17

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Aftermonths of protests that turnedBreonna Taylor’s name into a na-tional slogan against police vio-lence, city officials agreed to payher family $12 million and insti-tute changes aimed at preventingfuture deaths by officers.

The agreement, announcedTuesday, settled a wrongful-deathlawsuit brought by the youngwoman’s family. As her mother,her lawyers and leading activistswalked into the council chamberalongside the mayor, there was amomentary show of unity, aftermonths of nightly, sometimes vio-lent demonstrations that have leftKentucky’s largest city boardedup. It comes six months after thedeath of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-oldemergency room technician, in abotched drug raid, but before thestate’s attorney general has saidwhether the officers involved inthe shooting would be criminallycharged — a key demand of pro-testers.

“My administration is not wait-ing to move ahead with needed re-forms to prevent a tragedy likethis from ever happening again,”Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Whenyou know what the right thing todo is you do it. Why wait?”

The agreement, which did notrequire the city to acknowledgewrongdoing, was sizable, with herfamily receiving more than doublethe amount paid to the relatives ofEric Garner, the New York manwho died in a police chokehold in2014. While a few cases resulted inlarger payments — from $13 mil-lion to a whopping $38 million,some of them came only afteryears in court battles. By contrast,the Louisville agreement was

Louisville Deal Tightens ReinsOn City’s Police

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI

Continued on Page A21

Michael R. Caputo, an assistant secre-tary of health, told his boss that he wassorry for a bizarre outburst and said hemay take a leave of absence. PAGE A6

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-6

Official Apologizes for DiatribeLetter delivery slowed this summer,tracking data show. It dipped with thepandemic. But it dipped more under thenew postmaster general. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A12-21

28 Million Little Pieces of Mail

Berlin Art Weekend became the firstmajor art world gathering since thepandemic lockdowns began. PAGE C2

ARTS C1-6

Great Art at Any DistanceMovie theaters are opening, but peopleare shunning them, prompting studiosto postpone some big releases. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-10

Hollywood in RetreatMany of the chefs pushed out of workby the pandemic are using their time to plant their own vegetable patches.Now harvest time is near. PAGE D4

FOOD D1-8

From Kitchens to Gardens

In his new book, Bob Woodward arrivesat a grave conclusion about the leader-ship of President Trump. PAGE C1

A Reporter’s VerdictDespite vows to include more ethnicand racial groups, companies havemade few gains over five years. PAGE B1

Scant Diversity at Board Level

A celebration of the group’s accomplish-ments has been overshadowed by thepandemic and global strife. PAGE A7

INTERNATIONAL A7-11

The United Nations Turns 75

The world is failing to address a bio-diversity collapse that endangers hu-man life, a U.N. report warns. PAGE A10

A ‘Crossroads’ for Humanity

Bill Gates Sr., a lawyer and the father ofMicrosoft’s co-founder, guided his son’scharity, supporting education andhealth and fighting poverty. He was 94.

OBITUARIES B14

Navigator of Gates Foundation

Late Edition

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,818 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Today, mostly sunny, becoming a lit-tle warmer, high 75. Tonight, clear,low 63. Tomorrow, periodic sunshineand clouds, warmer, high 80.Weather map appears on Page A24.

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