c m y k - static01.nyt.com · flict with russia or iran. yet a more restrained operation might not...

DAY TWO As Mark Zuckerbergagain faced House questioning,calls for oversight of social mediatechnology mounted. PAGE B4

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,930 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018

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YOLA, Nigeria — The list had morethan 200 names.

Martha James. Grace Paul. Rebecca Jo-seph. Mary Ali. Ruth Kolo. And so manyothers.

It took Nigerian officials agonizingweeks to publish the names of all the stu-dents Boko Haram kidnapped from aboarding school in the village of Chibokfour years ago, on the night of April 14.

Once they did, the numbers were stag-gering.

The list quickly circulated among thegrieving parents searching for theirdaughters, some setting out on motor-bikes to confront the Islamist militantswho had stormed the school, loaded thegirls into trucks and hauled them away atgunpoint.

Soldiers used the list, too, as theycombed the countryside for the missingstudents, marching through the forest,dispatching jets and enlisting the help offoreign militaries.

Negotiators checked the names as theybartered with militants for the girls’ re-lease. And the list became an inspirationfor protesters hundreds of miles away inthe capital, who kept marching for thegirls’ return, day after day.

“As I began to read each name, my re-solve strengthened,” said Oby Ezekwesili,a former education minister who led pro-tests. “They were not just statistics.These were real human beings.”

Far away in America, France, South Ko-

Rahab Ibrahim, one of the abducted schoolgirls, now attends a private university with other freed students.

The Girls Brought Back

‘Bring back our girls,’ the world demanded when Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 Nigerian students in 2014. These are some of the lucky ones.

By DIONNE SEARCEYPhotographs by ADAM FERGUSON

Continued on Page A11

On Texas’ border with Mexico, NationalGuard troops in combat fatigues try toto stand out and blend in. PAGE A16

NATIONAL A16-23

Extra Eyes and Ears

WASHINGTON — Fifteenmonths after Republicans tookfull control of Washington, theman long seen as central to theparty’s future is abandoning oneof the most powerful jobs in thecapital, imperiling the G.O.P. gripon the House and signaling thatthe political convulsions of theTrump era are taking a grave tollon the right months before Elec-tion Day.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’sretirement announcement onWednesday blindsided manyHouse Republican candidates and

their campaign leaders who werecounting on him to lead them tovictory in the November midtermelections. His decision to leaveCongress at 48 sent an undeniablypessimistic message to Republi-cans: that stable, steady leader-ship is lacking in their deeply di-vided party as they head into acampaign season defined by thewhims of President Trump.

And for a White House bracingfor a potential Democratic im-peachment inquiry, the ominousimpact of Mr. Ryan’s retirementwas unmistakable. He has made itmore difficult to stave off Demo-crats’ taking control of the House,where Republicans currently holda 23-seat majority.

As many as 50 House Republi-can seats are at risk in competi-

RYAN WILL RETIRE,SCATTERING HOPESOF G.O.P. FOR 2018

LOSS OF TOP FUND-RAISER

Announcement ImperilsRepublicans’ Shaky

Grip on House

By JONATHAN MARTINand ALEXANDER BURNS

Continued on Page A20

House Speaker Paul D. RyanTOM BRENNER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump made clear on Wednesdaythat missiles “will be coming” atSyria at any moment, telegraph-ing a military operation as he haspreviously said he would neverdo. But the real suspense re-mained — how many missiles, forhow long, at what targets and towhat end.

The strike that Mr. Trump waspreparing as retaliation for a sus-pected chemical attack carries allsorts of perils that worry militaryplanners and diplomats alike. Afresh intervention in one of themost combustible battlegroundson the planet — one already crawl-ing with Syrian, Russian, Iranian,American, Turkish and Kurdishforces — could easily bring unin-tended consequences.

The more expansive the strike,officials and experts said, thegreater the risk of accidental cas-ualties that could deepen the con-flict with Russia or Iran. Yet amore restrained operation mightnot inflict enough damage on thegovernment of President Basharal-Assad to change his calcula-tions.

If Mr. Trump goes beyond mis-siles and authorizes the use ofmanned aircraft even from out-side Syrian airspace, they face thedangers of a modern air defensesystem provided by Moscow. AndMr. Trump’s warning, along withthe delay in acting, has given theSyrians as well as their Russianand Iranian allies days to prepare.

Two Defense Department offi-cials said the Syrian military hadmoved some of its key aircraft to aRussian base, assuming theAmericans would be reluctant tostrike there. Russian command-ers have also moved some of theirmilitary forces in anticipation ofAmerican action.

“You want to hit military tar-gets, military equipment as muchas possible, because it’s the Syrianmilitary that’s carrying out theseatrocities,” said Andrew J. Tabler,a Syria scholar at the WashingtonInstitute for Near East Policy.“You want to make sure that youdeliver a message and that youdegrade their military capabili-ties.”

At the same time, he added, “the

Risks AboundWith Any PlanTo Strike Syria

Diplomats and MilitaryFear Consequences

This article is by Peter Baker,Thomas Gibbons-Neff and HeleneCooper.

Continued on Page A8

DIVISIONS Paul D. Ryan took thehelm to heal a fractured G.O.P. Hewill leave with its fault linesclearly visible. PAGE A21

HOW IT HAPPENED Details arebeing pieced together about asuspected chemical attack on aSyrian town. PAGE A8

When I downloaded a copy ofmy Facebook data last week, Ididn’t expect to see much. My

profile is sparse, Irarely post any-thing on the site,and I seldom clickon ads. (I’m whatsome call a Face-book “lurker.”)

But when I opened my file, itwas like opening Pandora’s box.

With a few clicks, I learnedthat about 500 advertisers —

many that I had never heard of,like Bad Dad, a motorcycle partsstore, and Space Jesus, an elec-tronica band — had my contactinformation, which could includemy email address, phone numberand full name. Facebook also hadmy entire phone book, includingthe number to ring my apart-ment buzzer. The social networkhad even kept a permanentrecord of the roughly 100 people Ihad deleted from my friends listover the last 14 years, includingmy exes.

There was so much that Face-book knew about me — morethan I wanted to know. But afterlooking at the totality of what theSilicon Valley company hadobtained about yours truly, Idecided to try to better under-stand how and why my data wascollected and stored. I also

sought to find out how much ofmy data could be removed.

How Facebook collects andtreats personal information wascentral this week when MarkZuckerberg, the company’s chiefexecutive, answered questions inCongress about data privacy andhis responsibilities to users.During his testimony, Mr.Zuckerberg repeatedly saidFacebook has a tool for down-loading your data that “allows

Remember Those Friends You Deleted Long Ago? Facebook Does

Continued on Page A22

BRIAN X.CHEN

TECH FIX

A woman who said Bill Cosby sexuallyassaulted her when she was 17 gave heraccount at his retrial. PAGE A23

‘You Remember, Don’t You?’Camden’s troubled schools are surgingafter a state takeover, but PaymonRouhanifard is moving on. PAGE A25

NEW YORK A24-27

A Superintendent Steps Down

Mike Pompeo undertakes a charmoffensive before a Senate vote to be-come secretary of state. PAGE A10

INTERNATIONAL A4-15

Pompeo Makes the RoundsWhile saying President Trump is rightto highlight China’s offenses, manytrade experts say his planned tariffswould backfire. PAGE B7

BUSINESS DAY B1-8

Taking a Dim View of Tariffs

The Trump administration is pushingfor a quick ending to the trade talks, butit has not ceded much ground. PAGE B1

Wrinkle in Nafta Talks

A raid on the International BiathlonUnion’s headquarters serves to escalatethe Russian doping scandal. PAGE B12

SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-12

Raid Widens Doping Scandal

A rumor that Anna Wintour would leaveVogue took flight; Condé Nast denied it.But it’s still buzzing. PAGE D1

THURSDAY STYLES D1-8

Imagining a World After Anna

At home with the couple who ran one ofSoHo’s most chic stores and offeredblowtorched Eames chairs. PAGE D1

Men of No Markdowns

Many artists apply to spend their gold-en years at Casa Verdi, a Milan man-sion filled with instruments. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

A Harmonious Retirement

A book by the TV news host Alex Wagnerblends memoir and journalism to traceher roots and see just who she is. PAGE C1

Digging Into Her Family’s Past

Nicholas Kristof PAGE A31

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A30-31

President Trump has long hadties to the nation’s major mediaplayers. But his connections withthe country’s largest tabloid pub-lisher, American Media Inc., rundeeper than most.

A former top executive of Mr.Trump’s casino business sits onA.M.I.’s four-member board of di-rectors, and an adviser joined themedia company after the election.The company’s chairman, DavidJ. Pecker, is a close friend of thepresident’s.

And in the Trump era, A.M.I.’sflagship tabloid, The National En-quirer, has taken a decidedly poli-tical turn, regularly devoting cov-ers to the president’s triumphsand travails with articles head-lined “Trump’s Plan for WorldPeace!” and “Proof! FBI Plot toImpeach Trump!”

Since the early stages of hiscampaign in 2015, Mr. Trump, hislawyer Michael D. Cohen and Mr.Pecker have strategized aboutprotecting him and lashing out athis political enemies.

Now the tabloid company hasbeen drawn into a sweeping fed-eral investigation of Mr. Cohen’sactivities, including efforts tohead off potentially damagingstories about Mr. Trump duringhis run for the White House. Inone instance, The Enquirerbought but did not publish a storyabout an alleged extramarital re-lationship years earlier with the

Headline a Tabloid Didn’t RunCatches the Investigators’ Eyes

This article is by Jim Rutenberg,Emily Steel and Mike McIntire.

Continued on Page A19

Investigators are looking intowhether Michael D. Cohen tried toquash negative stories about hisclient, Donald J. Trump. Page A18.

Behind the F.B.I. Raid

The crash of a military transport planeabout 15 miles southwest of the capital,Algiers, was the nation’s deadliest. Ahandful of people survived. PAGE A4

Algerian Air Disaster Kills 257

Late EditionToday, morning clouds, showers, af-ternoon sunshine, milder, high 60.Tonight, partly cloudy, low 55. To-morrow, sunshine and clouds, high76. Weather map is on Page A26.

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