NEWS Day after day, the grim drudgery of digging for bodies had progressed at Rana Plaza. Talk of rescuing survivors had faded. This was the recovery phase, and what was being recovered were corpses, the numbers spinning remorselessly forward: 700 dead became 800, then 900, with no end in sight. By Friday morning, the number had pushed above 1,000. And then, late in the afternoon, a soldier from the Bangladeshi Army, standing atop the rubble of the wrecked building, noticed an iron rod that seemed to be moving. There was a noise, a voice. Rescuers hurriedly carved a hole through a concrete pillar. Television stations in Bangladesh cut to the scene: a woman, gasping, was alive in the wreckage, nearly 17 full days after Rana Plaza had collapsed. A new number was announced: One. A female garment worker named Reshma. A survivor. A miracle. “Save me!†rescuers heard her shout, before they pulled her into the afternoon light, her face powdered in dust as she was placed on a stretcher. Julfikar Ali Manik reports from Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jim Yardley reports from New Delhi.
In a continent faced with an economic crisis, soaring unemployment and bursts of nationalist populism, an elementary school in eastern Slovakia is a microcosm of one of Europe’s biggest challenges: how to keep old demons of ethnic scapegoating at bay and somehow bring the Roma people into the mainstream. Many Europeans associate Roma with crime, particularly well-organized gangs of young Roma pickpockets who prey on local residents and tourists alike in the Continent’s wealthier cities. Now, an energetic band of civil rights activists is spearheading a desegregation drive in towns and villages across wide stretches of Europe that has stirred angry opposition from defenders of the status quo. Andrew Higgins reports from Sarisske Michalany, Slovakia.
Angelos Delivorrias has led the Benaki Museum in Athens for almost 40 years. Now, in the face of steep budget cuts, he is fighting to protect what he helped build. In the fat years, the museum, which is run by a board of directors that includes three descendants of the Benaki family, could rely on the Greek government to pay for most of its operating costs. But with the crisis, it has faced abrupt and steep cutbacks. Suzanne Daley reports from Athens.
ArcelorMittal on Friday reported a net loss of $345 million for the first three months of 2013, as the world’s largest steel company continues to struggle while demand for steel remains at depressed levels. The loss contrasts with a $92 million profit in the similar period of 2012. Sales for the first quarter of 2013 were down 13 percent year on year, to $19.8 billion. There were some signs that the company, which relies on demand from heavy industries like automobile manufacturing and construction, may be reaching the bottom of a several-year slide. Stanley Reed reports from London.
ARTS The auction sales this week of Impressionist and Modern art forcefully brought out the dangers that arise in the market when the sense of aesthetic hierarchy vanishes because relevant points of comparison become too scarce. In seeming paradox, Sotheby’s sales on Tuesday and Wednesday â€" which represented a time capsule and briefly created the illusion that abundance was back â€" illustrated the erratic price patterns that develop when buyers lack perspective. Souren Melikian reports.
SPORTS The death of a leading British sailor, the Olympic champion Andrew Simpson, shows how technology and modern danger have found their way into the America’s Cup. Sailors, even weathered veterans, have been genuinely on edge even as they embrace the new thrill of the new-age boats for the Cup. On Thursday Artemis’s AC72 capsized in San Francisco Bay while bearing away, or turning from the wind, during a training exercise. Christopher Clarey reports.
