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A match between Iraq and Saudi Arabiawas the first major game on Iraqi soilsince 1990, when international matchesin Iraq were banned, mainly because ofsecurity issues. Basra Journal. PAGE A12

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

Soccer Diplomacy in IraqFor over a century, major teacherstrikes, like the one that ended on Tues-day in West Virginia, have come aseducators have been asked to deal withsome of society’s greatest ills. PAGE A15

NATIONAL A13-19

Facing More Than ChalkboardMore than a year after his death, thepoet and singer-songwriter LeonardCohen has become something of a secu-lar saint in the city of his birth. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

St. Leonard of Montreal

Chris Mullin, the Red Storm men’s bas-ketball coach, shared his story of alcoholaddiction as he preached the power oftaking life one day at a time. PAGE B9

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B9-12

A Simple Mantra at St. John’s Thomas L. Friedman PAGE A27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

SEOUL, South Korea — NorthKorea’s sudden willingness to bar-gain with the Trump administra-tion over scrapping its atomic ar-senal surprised the world on Tues-day, setting in motion an unpre-dictable diplomatic dance with theUnited States and South Korea,but raising hopes that one of themost dangerous confrontations ofthe nuclear age could be defused.

South Korean envoys who metwith the North Korean leader, KimJong-un, conveyed his position ina statement after a two-day visitto North Korea. They also said hewould suspend all nuclear andmissile tests if such talks tookplace.

“The North Korean side clearlystated its willingness to denucle-arize,” the statement said. “Itmade it clear that it would have noreason to keep nuclear weapons ifthe military threat to the Northwas eliminated and its securityguaranteed.”

The statement said North Ko-rea had made clear that it wishedfor “a heartfelt dialogue with theUnited States on the issues of de-nuclearization and normalizingrelations with the United States,”and that “while dialogue is con-tinuing, it will not attempt anystrategic provocations, such asnuclear and ballistic missiletests.”

The two Koreas also agreed tohold a summit meeting betweenMr. Kim and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea on the countries’border in late April and establish atelephone hotline before then,linking the two leaders directly,Mr. Moon’s office said.

North Korea, which has beensaying its nuclear weapons arenonnegotiable, did not immedi-ately provide its own version ofwhat Mr. Kim had offered. Thatinitial silence fed cautions that hewas raising premature optimism,or perhaps strategizing to buytime.

But it seemed unlikely that theSouth Korean delegation wouldhave publicized such an offer

Offer From North KoreaTo Enter Nuclear Talks With U.S. Raises Hopes

By CHOE SANG-HUN and MARK LANDLER

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, left, met with a South Korean envoy on Monday in Pyongyang, the North’s capital.KOREAN CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY

Continued on Page A10

South Korea Says Kim Would Halt

Missile Tests

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,894 © 2018 The New York Times Company WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2018

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Gary D. Cohn, PresidentTrump’s top economic adviser,said on Tuesday that he would re-sign, becoming the latest in a se-ries of high-profile departuresfrom the Trump administration.

White House officials insistedthat there was no single factor be-hind the departure of Mr. Cohn,who heads the National EconomicCouncil. But his decision to leavecame as he seemed poised to losean internal struggle over Mr.Trump’s plan to impose large tar-iffs on steel and aluminum im-ports. Mr. Cohn had warned lastweek that he might resign if Mr.

Trump followed through with thetariffs, which Mr. Cohn had lob-bied against internally.

“Gary has been my chief eco-nomic adviser and did a superbjob in driving our agenda, helpingto deliver historic tax cuts and re-forms and unleashing the Ameri-can economy once again,” Mr.Trump said in a statement to TheNew York Times. “He is a rare tal-ent, and I thank him for his dedi-cated service to the Americanpeople.”

Mr. Cohn is expected to leave inthe coming weeks. He will join astring of recent departures bysenior White House officials, in-cluding Mr. Trump’s communica-tions director and a powerful staffsecretary.

Yet the departure of Mr. Cohn, afree-trade-oriented Democratwho fended off a number of na-tionalist-minded policies duringhis year in the Trump administra-tion, could have a ripple effect onthe president’s economic deci-sions and on the financial indus-try.

It leaves Mr. Trump surroundedprimarily by advisers with strongprotectionist views who advocatethe types of aggressive trade

Top Economic Adviser to Quit After Tariff DisputeBy KATE KELLY

and MAGGIE HABERMAN

DEEPENING DIVIDE OVER TRADE

Gary D. Cohn’s exit is a blow tofree-trade proponents close to thepresident. News Analysis. Page A7.

Continued on Page A7

SALISBURY, England — Thegentle stroll from Zizzi’s, a restau-rant in the center of this sleepy ca-thedral town, to Sainsbury’s, apopular nearby supermarket,could scarcely be less remarkable.Turn right past the town library,

through a covered alleyway, pastthe gym on the left, over a bub-bling mill stream and — 90 sec-onds later — you have arrived.

Yet, on Sunday afternoon, thismost brief and benign of walksmay have been the setting for anattempted assassination reminis-cent of the most far-fetched ColdWar skulduggery.

It was the route that Sergei V.

Skripal, a former intelligence offi-cial freed from a Russian prison aspart of a celebrated 2010 spy ex-change, is believed to have takenwith his daughter before bothwere found in a catatonic state ona bench outside Sainsbury’s.

The British foreign minister,Boris Johnson, said the episodehad “echoes of the death of Alex-

In Quiet English Town, Echoes of Poisonings Past

By PATRICK KINGSLEYand RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA

A tent covered the bench where Sergei V. Skripal, an ex-spy, and his daughter were discovered.DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A6

WASHINGTON — As theUnited States and China look toprotect their national securityneeds and economic interests, thefight between the two financialsuperpowers is increasingly fo-cused on a single area: technol-ogy.

The clash erupted in public onTuesday after the United Statesgovernment, citing national secu-rity concerns, called for a full in-vestigation into a hostile bid tobuy the American chip stalwartQualcomm — a review that is of-ten a death knell for a corporatedeal.

The proposed acquisition by theSingapore-based Broadcomwould have been the largest dealin technology history, creating amajor force in the development ofthe computer chips that powersmartphones and many internet-connected devices. But a govern-ment panel said the takeovercould weaken Qualcomm and giveits Chinese rivals an advantage.

“China would likely compete ro-bustly to fill any void left by Qual-comm as a result of this hostiletakeover,” a United States Treas-ury official wrote in a letter callingfor a review of the deal.

The fight over technology is re-defining the rules of engagementin an era when national securityand economic power are closelyintertwined.

China, under President Xi Jin-ping, has started an ambitiousplan to dominate mobile technol-ogy, supercomputers, artificial in-telligence and other cutting-edgeindustries, putting huge re-sources behind an effort that itconsiders crucial to the country’sgovernment, military and econ-omy. Beijing wants to build its owntechnology champions and is en-couraging companies to acquirethe engineering, expertise and in-tellectual property from big rivalsin the United States and else-where.

The aggressive push has set off

U.S. and ChinaBattle for Edge

In TechnologyBy CECILIA KANG

and ALAN RAPPEPORT

Continued on Page A14

WASHINGTON — An adviserto the United Arab Emirates withties to current and former aides toPresident Trump is cooperatingwith the special counsel, Robert S.Mueller III, and gave testimonylast week to a grand jury, accord-ing to two people familiar with thematter.

Mr. Mueller appears to be ex-amining the influence of foreignmoney on Mr. Trump’s political ac-tivities and has asked witnessesabout the possibility that the ad-viser, George Nader, funneledmoney from the Emirates to thepresident’s political efforts. It is il-

legal for foreign entities to con-tribute to campaigns or for Ameri-cans to knowingly accept foreignmoney for political races.

Mr. Nader, a Lebanese-Ameri-can businessman who advisesCrown Prince Mohammed bin Za-yed Al-Nahyan, the effective rulerof the Emirates, also attended aJanuary 2017 meeting in the Sey-chelles that Mr. Mueller’s investi-gators have examined. The meet-ing, convened by the crownprince, brought together a Rus-sian investor close to PresidentVladimir V. Putin of Russia withErik Prince, the founder of Black-water and an informal adviser toMr. Trump’s team during the pres-

Adviser to U.A.E. Is CooperatingIn Mueller’s Inquiry Into Russia

This article is by Mark Mazzetti,David D. Kirkpatrick and AdamGoldman.

Continued on Page A18

In the seemingly endless strugglebetween automation and artisanship,members of the bricklaying trade saythey are not worried about losing out torobots — at least for now. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-8

Fending Off the Machines The borough that produces so manylocal beers and spirits is pouring a newproduct at Brooklyn Kura, the first sakebrewery in New York State. PAGE D4

FOOD D1-8

Sake, Brooklyn-Style

It sounds unlikely, but getting compa-nies to pay for the data they reap frompeople’s online lives could have salutaryeffects, Eduardo Porter writes. PAGE B1

Paid for Your Puppy Posts?

The Justice Department sued Californiaover state laws it says make it impossi-ble for immigration officials to deportforeign-born criminals. PAGE A14

Sanctuary Laws at Issue

For decades, Alan Gershwin insistedthat he was the unacknowledged (andlook-alike) son of George Gershwin.Despite the skeptics, he made a careerout of that claim. He was 91. PAGE A24

OBITUARIES A24-25

A Claim to a Famous Father

WASHINGTON — From theday he took office, PresidentTrump has vowed not to repeatwhat he regarded as the cardinalerror of his predecessors indealing with North Korea. Hewould not get drawn into alengthy negotiation in which theUnited States offers concessionsthat keep the North Koreanregime alive, while the NorthKoreans retain the key elementsof their nuclear arsenal.

“Whether you look at theClinton administration, or theBush administration or theObama administration, it neverworked out,” he said in the OvalOffice on Tuesday. “That was thetime to have settled this problem— not now.”

Whatever one thinks of Mr.Trump’s version of history, henow faces a prospect uncannilysimilar to that confronted by BillClinton, George W. Bush andBarack Obama. North Korea’soffer to put its nuclear weaponson the bargaining table opens thedoor to negotiations of unpredict-able length and inevitable com-plexity.

And Mr. Trump will surely bepressured to make concessions,starting with North Korea’sperpetual demand that theUnited States withdraw allAmerican troops from the Kore-an Peninsula.

Mr. Trump would also be nego-tiating alongside South Korea, aclose ally that is hungry for adiplomatic rapprochement withthe North. That could constrainthe maneuvering room for apresident who has oscillatedbetween issuing bellicose threatstoward North Korea and voicingvague hopes that he and itsleader, Kim Jong-un, could sitdown and broker a deal.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Mr.Trump leavened his familiarcomplaints about the situation heinherited from his predecessorswith the hope that the latestNorth Korean overture might bedifferent.

NEWS ANALYSIS

Trump Is in FamiliarPredicament

Continued on Page A10

By MARK LANDLERand DAVID E. SANGER

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Variably cloudy north and east.Spotty morning snow showers. Amix of clouds and sunshine else-where. Highs in lower 20s north to40s south. Weather map, Page A20.

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