IHT Quick Read: Feb. 4

NEWS A secret legal review on the use of the United States’ growing arsenal of cyberweapons has concluded that President Barack Obama has the broad power to order a pre-emptive strike if the United States detects credible evidence of a major digital attack looming from abroad, according to officials involved in the review. David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker report from Washington.

As a Russian loan runs out and Cyprus seeks aid, Germany finds itself in a fierce debate over whether to help bail out the island nation. Liz Alderman reports from Paris.

Accounts from captives held in the siege of a Saharan gas plant in Algeria last month reveal tat militants sought to orchestrate a spectacular, deadly explosion. Adam Nossiter reports from Tiguentourine, Algeria, and Nicholas Kulish from Berlin.

A sometimes frustrated figure who prized her role as a team player, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s instincts were often more activist than those of a White House that has kept a tight grip on foreign policy. Michael R. Gordon and Mark Landler report from Washington.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain is pledging to make public this week his tax returns and financial assets to refute what he described over the weekend as ‘‘apocryphalâ! €™â€™ documents showing that he and other senior conservative politicians had received payouts from a secret account maintained by their party. Raphael Minder reports from Madrid.

In the aftermath of the financial crash, Britain’s politicians acknowledged that they had put too much faith in a bloated financial sector that plunged the country into crisis. But rebalancing the skills of the British labor force may require a shift that is as much social and cultural as it is economic. Stephen Castle reports from North Shields, England.

In France, companies have their wings clipped by onerous social charges paid to the government and severance packages that make copanies think twice before hiring and firing- but some entrepreneurs are still figuring out ways to succeed. Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura reports from Paris.

ARTS With wit and ingenuity, the British graphic designer David Pearson is rekindling interest in paperbacks. Alice Rawsthorn reviews from London.

SPORTS The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII. For the latest, visit http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/football/index.html.

The Six Nations rugby tournament kicked off with Ireland getting a hard-earned victory over the reigning champion Wales, while England scored a home victory ove! r Scotlan! d and Italy beat France. Huw Richards reports.

In China\'s Most-Watched Divorce Case, 3 Victories, 1 Defeat

BEIJING â€" For over a year, Chinese society has been riveted by the case of Kim Lee, an American woman who did something extremely unusual: go public with accusations of domestic violence against her wealthy and famous husband, Li Yang.

On Sunday, in a major victory for feminists and the rule of law, a Beijing court granted Ms. Lee a divorce on grounds of abuse and made history by issuing a three-month protection order against her ex-husband - a first in the nation’s capital, Beijing, according to lawyers and the Chinese media.

“It’s a very important case. All of society was paying attention,” Guo Jianmei, a leading rights lawyer, said in a phone interview. “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

The high-profile case was played out on microblogs and through the media. A multimillionaire, Mr. Li argued on televiion that domestic violence was acceptable in China, angering ordinary people. The father of the couple’s three daughters, he is the founder of “Crazy English,” a way of learning the language that involves shouting loudly to overcome inhibitions. Ms. Lee, a former public school teacher in the United States, worked closely with Mr. Li in his business. She said he threatened her, and failed to appear in court for the verdict.

Ms. Guo listed what she said were the case’s three victories - and one defeat.

“Firstly, the court granted a protection order. Secondly, it acknowledged domestic violence as the grounds of divorce,” something still too rare, she said.

“Thirdly, it ordered Li Yang to pay 50,000 renminbi in compensation for the violence, which although it’s a small amount is important in saying ‘it’s not acceptable,’” she said.

Yet Ms. Guo said that the financial term! s of the settlement - Ms. Lee will receive 12 million renminbi ($1.9 million) and a fixed sum annually until her daughters reach 18 - showed that Chinese courts failed to uncover Mr. Li’s true assets and make him pay commensurately.

“He hid almost all his money from the court,” said Ms. Guo. “And the court didn’t force him to reveal it. So in reality the settlement was very unjust.”

At the bottom lies the failure of the state to protect the weaker and poorer against the stronger and richer, she said.

“It’s a huge flaw in the system,” she said. “The state doesn’t intervene to force rich men like Mr. Li to reveal their true assets, and it doesn’t allow lawyers like us to do it either, it doesn’t give us the rights. This is a society that doesn’t control those with money or power. It doesn’t see things through to the end.”

But Ms. Lee is relieved. In an interview, she explained what drove her through painful days and months, as she documented the abuse an threats with reluctant police officers, when some men on the streets cursed her (though many people encouraged her), when the court seemed to delay, and people in positions of authority told her to give up, as many Chinese women do.

“In the beginning, I did it for my daughters. I wanted to show them I was strong,” the 41-year-old woman said.

But after her situation became public in 2011, the letters and emails started arriving, from abused women and their children, describing their fear and suffering. By last Friday, two days before the divorce, she had received 1,141 such messages from strangers, she said.

“It quickly became a matter of the other women and their stories,” she said. “No one else was speaking out. I just felt I had to.”

“I hope people will use me as an example of success,” she said. “Now I can say, ‘use your rights, these are the laws and it’s painful and they could be better but you can succeed.”

The difficulty in getting help co! ntinues t! o drive many abused women to desperate measures, she said.

“You can pick up the law or you can pick up a fruit knife. But it’s still easier for people to pick up a knife than the law, and that’s what’s happening,” she said, pointing to the case of Li Yan, a woman in Sichuan province sentenced to death for murdering her abusive husband in 2010, a sentence feminists are frantically fighting to stop. “She’s an example of someone who tried to pick up the law and she failed,” said Ms. Lee.

“When I went to the police once they said, ‘this isn’t America,’” she said. “But I didn’t use anything but Chinese law. I stayed on this long road. That’s why I think it’s really hopeful.”

The Face of America\'s Illegal Immigration

WASHINGTON â€" In my latest Letter From Washington, I write about the “Kumbaya” moment that immigration reform seems to be enjoying â€" and the certainty that it will not last as the hard work of writing laws gets underway. But who are the illegal immigrants

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that in 2011, the last year for which there are estimates, 6.8 million of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States were from Mexico. The Pew Hispanic Center, which often has the most reliable immigration data, says the number has dropped to 6.1 million, from 7 million five years before.

The combined effects of the economic slowdown in the United States, with fewer jobs, and much more aggressive border-control efforts and stepped-up deportations by the Obama administration explain the decline.

After Mexico, l Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are the countries of origin of the largest numbers of unauthorized immigrants, with more than 1.5 million combined, according to the Homeland Security figures. Next are four Asian countries â€" China, the Philippines, India and South Korea â€" which accounted for a little more than 1 million between them.

Not surprisingly, the government estimates that the majority of these immigrants live in California, Texas and Florida. Next, however, are two non-border states: New York and Illinois, with more than 500,000 each.