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YELLOW VOL. CCLXV NO. 37 ******** SATURDAY/SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14 - 15, 2015 HHHH $3.00 WSJ.com prototypes for some things that it won’t ever sell. Any car would take several years to complete and obtain safety certifications. But the size of the project team and the senior people in- volved indicate that the company is serious, these people said. Ap- ple executives have flown to Aus- tria to meet with contract manu- facturers for high-end cars including the Magna Steyr unit of Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc. A Magna Please turn to page A4 a vehicle that resembles a mini- van, one of the people said. An Apple spokesman declined to comment. Apple ultimately could decide not to proceed with a car. In ad- dition, many technologies used in an electric car, such as ad- vanced batteries and in-car elec- tronics, could be useful to other Apple products, including the iPhone and iPad. Apple often investigates tech- nologies and potential products, going as far as building multiple Apple Inc. has revolutionized music and phones. Now it is aim- ing at a much bigger target: au- tomobiles. The Cupertino, Calif., com- pany has several hundred em- ployees working secretly toward creating an Apple-branded elec- tric vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter. The project, code-named “Titan,” ini- tially is working on the design of BUENOS AIRES—A federal prosecutor here asked a judge on Friday to charge Argentine Presi- dent Cristina Kirchner and other officials with conspiring with Iran to obstruct a probe into a 1994 bombing, reviving an explosive case that has gripped this nation. The judge must now decide whether to start a full investiga- tion and pursue an indictment in the case, which was first brought by another prosecutor, who was found dead the day before he was to present evidence in the Argen- tine Congress last month. “This conspiracy [to obstruct the investigation] would have been orchestrated and set up by high-ranking government offi- cials,” wrote federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita, supporting the allegations made by his late col- league Alberto Nisman. Mrs. Kirchner’s government re- newed its denials of the coverup allegations. “I never, ever received an or- der from the president, Cristina Kirchner, to sabotage the investi- gation,” Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, who the prosecutors cited as another alleged partici- pant in the obstruction, told The Wall Street Journal. Constitutional experts say the new move against Mrs. Kirchner, whose presidency ends in 10 months, is unlikely to lead to her impeachment. Her allies control the Senate and complex cases of this kind take years to complete in Argentina. But the latest twist to the mys- terious case is a political blow to Mrs. Kirchner’s Peronist move- ment and the leader herself, who is struggling with a stagnant Please turn to page A8 BY TAOS TURNER AND RYAN DUBE Argentine President Accused Of Coverup WASHINGTON—Iran’s para- mount political figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has responded to overtures from President Barack Obama seeking better relations by sending se- cret communications of his own to the White House. The Iranian cleric wrote to Mr. Obama in recent weeks in re- sponse to an October presiden- tial letter that raised the possi- bility of U.S.-Iranian cooperation in fighting Islamic State if a nu- clear deal is secured, according to an Iranian diplomat. The su- preme leader’s response was “re- spectful” but noncommittal, the diplomat said. A senior White House official declined to confirm the existence of that letter. But it comes as the first details emerge about an- other letter Mr. Khamenei sent to the president early in his first term. That letter outlined a string of abuses that in the supreme leader’s view the U.S. had com- mitted against the Iranian people over the past 60 years, according to current and former U.S. offi- cials who viewed the correspon- dence. The White House official con- firmed that the president re- ceived that letter in 2009, but declined to comment on the con- tent of any presidential corre- spondence. Neither the White House nor the Iranian government has offi- cially confirmed any correspon- dence between the two. Iranian officials, in recent months, though, have told Tehran’s state media that some of Mr. Obama’s letters were answered, without specifying by whom. “The letters of the American president have a history of some years, and in some instances, there have been responses to these letters,” said Ali Sham- khani, secretary of Iran’s Su- preme National Security Council, in November. He added that there were “contradictions” be- tween policies laid out in the let- ters and U.S. actions, according to a translation of Mr. Sham- Please turn to page A7 BY JAY SOLOMON AND CAROL E. LEE Ayatollah Sent Messages to Obama Iran’s Leader Secretly Communicated With White House Amid Nuclear Talks, but Significance Unclear DJERBA, Tunisia—By the hundreds, they gathered for a pre-wedding party on a resort island in Tunisia. Here, in the heart of the Muslim world, the crowds were speaking Ara- bic. The band was Arab too, playing boisterous Arabic melodies. But the revelers were Orthodox Jews—as devout as they come. Per custom, the bride-to-be, Oshrit Uzan, had quit her job running her own beauty salon to prepare for her new life. She might return to work, she mused, but her husband must ap- prove: “I will need permission,” she said. Isolated on a small niche of North Africa’s largest island, the Jews of Djerba have been called the last Arab Jews—and it is hardly an exaggeration. Across the rest of the Middle East, Jewish communities have been vanishing over the past half century, since the creation of Israel. Before then, there were more than 850,000 Jews living in the Arab world. Today, there are between 4,000 to 4,500, according to Justice for Jews from Arab Countries, a nonprofit advocacy group. Some countries, such as Algeria and Libya, which once had sizable Jewish populations, have virtually no Jews within their borders. Egypt, which through the late 1940s had 75,000 Jews active in the country’s economic and social life, is down to a few dozen. Only Morocco, once home to 265,000 Jews, has a community of 2,500 left. Many are elderly or middle-aged. As other Tunisian Jews moved away to Is- rael and France for fear of persecution, the Jews of Djerba stubbornly clung to the prom- ise of their own future. A community that had dwindled to fewer than 700 Jews by the mid-1990s—from a high of about 5,000 in Please turn to page A9 BY LUCETTE LAGNADO THE LAST OF THE ARAB JEWS Jewish Enclave Weathers Revolt, Terror, But Can It Survive Girls’ Education? BY DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI AND MIKE RAMSEY Apple Secretly Gears Up to Create Car STINSON BEACH, Calif.—Time has always been elastic for Grate- ful Dead fans in thrall to tunes that last more than 45 minutes and shows that go on for hours. So when the group announced it would mark its 50th anniver- sary in the summer of 2015 with three final performances, Dead- heads took the old-school route, flooding the band’s ticket service here with handcrafted requests rather than clicking online. Since the shows were an- nounced a month ago more than 60,000 envelopes—many pains- takingly adorned with the Dead’s typical psychedelic skulls and skeletons—have poured into a post office box in this picturesque Marin County spot a half-hour from the Golden Gate Bridge. The post office usually receives 7,000 letters a week. “It was a big shock to us,” Jim Harvey, the Stinson Beach postmaster, said of the vivid No. 10 envelopes festooned with Magic Marker sketches and fanciful lettering. “It indicated that the Grateful Dead culture is alive and well.” The response to the three shows at Soldier Field in Chicago over the July Fourth weekend also blindsided the Dead’s ticket Sven- gali, Frankie Accardi-Peri. For more than 30 years, Ms. Accardi- Peri has fulfilled the band’s mail- order ticket requests. In January, when envelopes started pouring in, she stored the mail trays in her 24-year-old son’s bedroom. (“I had to use quite a bit of acrobatics in order to get to my bed,” Jesse Peri said.) With more than 100 Please turn to the next page BY MIKE AYERS AND JARRARD COLE The Dead’s Letter Office: Long, Strange Trip Ends in Sea of Mail i i i For Band’s Final Shows, Grateful Fans Go Retro to Snag Tickets; Psychedelic Envelopes The late Jerry Garcia Oshrit Uzan, a member of the Orthodox Jewish community in Djerba, Tunisia, returns home after a ritual bath on the eve of her wedding. Oregon Governor To Resign Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said he would resign, amid a probe stemming from alleged ethical breaches involving his fiancée. She had allegedly been paid to represent interest groups while helping craft administration policies affecting those groups. Secretary of State Kate Brown is set to replace him. A4 Daniella Zalcman for The Wall Street Journal WEEKEND IN TODAY’S PAPER WSJ. MAGAZINE SprING fAShIoN ISSuE The Truth About Romantic Love REVIEW n Apple has several hundred employees working secretly toward creating an electric vehicle, with an initial design that resembles a minivan. A1 n CEO Tim Cook defended privacy at a White House sum- mit amid concerns over gov- ernment data collection. A4 n A pickup in Germany boosted eurozone growth, but parts of the area were close to stagnation or contraction. A6 n U.S. stocks rose, with the Dow gaining 46.97 points to 18019.35, the S&P 500 setting a record and the Nasdaq ad- vancing to a 15-year high. B1 n Oil prices rose, with Brent jumping above $60 for the first time this year. B5 n Import prices posted their biggest drop in six years, pushed down by cheap oil and a stronger dollar. A2 n Visa and MasterCard are ramping up security of cus- tomer data as cyberattack con- cerns continue to mount. B2 n Talks on a labor dispute at West Coast ports faced an- other setback, fueling fears of a complete port shutdown. B3 n Sotheby’s said it won’t pay a special dividend while it searches for a CEO. B1 What’s News i i i Business & Finance World-Wide i i i CONTENTS Books................. C5-10,14 Corporate News.. B3-4 Eating & Drinking D6-7 Heard on Street .... B14 In the Markets......... B5 Letters to Editor... A12 Opinion.................. A11-13 Sports........................... A10 Stock Listings.......... B12 Style & Fashion... D1-3 Travel.......................... D8-9 Weather Watch..... B14 Weekend Investor B7-9 s Copyright 2015 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved > Inside NOONAN A13 An Honest Reporter, and His Antithesis I ran’s Ayatollah Khamenei has responded to over- tures from Obama seeking better relations with his own secret communications. A1 n A prosecutor wants Ar- gentina’s president charged with conspiring with Iran to obstruct a bombing probe. A1 n Affordable Care Act sup- porters are urging young peo- ple to sign up for insurance ahead of a Sunday deadline. A3 n The USDA approved the first genetically modified ap- ple for sale in the U.S., reignit- ing a food-safety debate. A3 n Oregon Gov. Kitzhaber resigned after alleged ethical breaches involving his fiancée prompted an investigation. A4 n Islamic State militants attacked an Iraqi air base where U.S. advisers are training security forces. A7 n Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, killing at least 19 and wounding over 41. A8 n Kiev and separatists clashed in eastern Ukraine before a cease-fire was due to come into effect. A6 n Nigeria’s president said he has asked the U.S. to dis- patch troops to the nation’s north to fight Boko Haram. A8 Notice to Readers WSJ.com will publish through the holiday weekend. The Wall Street Journal print edition won’t be published on Washington’s Birthday, or Presidents Day, on Monday. Associated Press C M Y K Composite Composite MAGENTA CYAN BLACK P2JW045000-8-A00100-1--------XA CL,CN,CX,DL,DM,DX,EE,EU,FL,HO,KC,MW,NC,NE,NY,PH,PN,RM,SA,SC,SL,SW,TU,WB,WE BG,BM,BP,CC,CH,CK,CP,CT,DN,DR,FW,HL,HW,KS,LA,LG,LK,MI,ML,NM,PA,PI,PV,TD,TS,UT,WO P2JW045000-8-A00100-1--------XA
