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U(D54G1D)y+,!#!,!=!] Two separate grand juries in Manhattan have begun hearing testimony in connection with fed- eral and state criminal investiga- tions into Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign fund-raising, according to several people with knowledge of the matters. It was unclear whether either inquiry would result in criminal charges against the mayor, but the grand jury activity appeared to be the strongest indication since the investigations came to light in April that prosecutors may be moving closer to one or more in- dictments, possibly against some of Mr. de Blasio’s closest aides. The inquiries have centered on Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, and several of his senior aides, accord- ing to the people with knowledge of the matter, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity be- cause grand jury proceedings are secret. The state investigation has fo- cused on whether the mayor, or those acting with him or on his be- half, violated state election law by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars through three upstate county committees and funneling it to Democratic candidates dur- ing the party’s unsuccessful 2014 De Blasio Inquiries Said to Go to Grand Juries By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM Continued on Page A32 RANDALL HILL/REUTERS John Pinckney, a victim’s father, after Dylann Roof was convicted in the church killings. Page A15. Quiet Agony After Charleston Verdict AGADEZ, Niger — The world dismisses them as economic mi- grants. The law treats them as criminals who show up at a na- tion’s borders uninvited. Prayers alone protect them on the journey across the merciless Sahara. But peel back the layers of their stories and you find a complex bundle of trouble and want that prompts the men and boys of West Africa to leave home, endure beat- ings and bribes, board a smug- gler’s pickup truck and try to make a living far, far away. They do it because the rains have become so fickle, the days measurably hotter, the droughts more frequent and more fierce, making it impossible to grow enough food on their land. Some go to the cities first, only to find jobs are scarce. Some come from countries ruled by dictators, like Gambia, whose longtime ruler re- cently refused to accept the re- sults of an election he lost. Others come from countries crawling with jihadists, like Mali. In Agadez, a fabled gateway town of sand and hustle through which hundreds of thousands exit the Sahel on their way abroad, I met dozens of them. One was Bori Bokoum, 21, from a village in the Mopti region of Mali. Fighters for Al Qaeda clash with government forces in the area, one of many reasons making a living had be- come much harder than in his fa- ther’s time. One bad harvest followed an- other, he said. Not enough rice and millet could be eked out of the soil. So, as a teenager, he ventured out to sell watches in the nearest mar- ket town for a while, then worked on a farm in neighboring Ivory Coast, saving up for this journey. Libya was his destination, then maybe across the Mediterranean Sea, to Italy. “To try my luck,” was how Mr. Bokoum put it. “I know it’s diffi- cult. But everyone goes. I also have to try.” This journey has become a rite of passage for West Africans of his generation. The slow burn of cli- Escaping Drought and War on a ‘Road on Fire’ By SOMINI SENGUPTA Migrants riding in a pickup truck on the desert roads outside Agadez, Niger. They were on their way to Libya, like many who risk their lives in search of work. JOSH HANER/THE NEW YORK TIMES CARBON’S CASUALTIES The Sweltering Sahel Continued on Page A10 AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL The nominee is a lawyer aligned with the Israeli far right. PAGE A20 BEIJING — China signaled on Thursday that it had installed weapons on disputed South China Sea islands and would use them like a “slingshot” to repel threats, compounding tensions with the incoming Trump administration. The Chinese message, in a De- fense Ministry statement, sug- gested that China was further wa- tering down a pledge made by its president, Xi Jinping, to not mili- tarize the islands. The comments left little doubt that such installations were part of China’s plan to deepen its terri- torial claim over the islands, which has raised tensions with its neighbors over their rival claims and with Washington over free- dom of navigation in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busi- est commercial waterways. They were also likely to further complicate China’s already testy relations with President-elect Donald J. Trump. China’s rapid creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea, expanding for- mer reefs and outcrops into guarded permanent outposts, has already become a major source of tension with Washington. Repeatedly this year, the Chi- nese have accused the United States of making “provocative” moves by sending warships near some of these islands, known as the Spratlys. The Chinese have been creating harbors, runways and reinforced hangars big enough for military aircraft on the islands. But new satellite images made public this week appeared to reveal weapons China’s Signal On Sea Bases: We’re Armed By CHRIS BUCKLEY Continued on Page A3 RALEIGH, N.C. — There have been four years of civil disobedi- ence, reputation-bruising boy- cotts over bathroom access, and legal battles over voting laws and gerrymanders. The election for governor, fraught with Republi- can challenges, took a month to settle. But if anyone here thought that the Democrat Roy Cooper’s vic- tory in that race would open a new era of cooperation and calm in this bitterly divided state, all they had to do was listen on Thursday to the bellowing voice of Evan Hughes, a lettuce farmer from Durham. Around noon, Mr. Hughes, 35, was in front of North Carolina’s legisla- tive offices with a child in his arms, berating the executive di- rector of the state Republican Party for the group’s gambit to strip Mr. Cooper of many of his powers as governor before he even takes office. “We’re talking about changing the rules at the last minute,” Mr. Hughes said. “The people of North Carolina are sick and tired Partisan Gulf Grows Deeper In N. Carolina By RICHARD FAUSSET and TRIP GABRIEL Governor-elect Roy Cooper assailed state Republicans. CHRIS SEWARD/THE NEWS & OBSERVER, VIA A.P. Continued on Page A16 WASHINGTON — When a sus- pected Russian cybercriminal named Dmitry Ukrainsky was ar- rested in a Thai resort town last summer, the American authori- ties hoped they could whisk him back to New York for trial and put at least a temporary dent in Rus- sia’s arsenal of computer hackers. But the Russian authorities moved quickly to persuade Thai- land not to extradite him, saying that he should be prosecuted at home. American officials knew what that meant. If Mr. Ukrainsky got on a plane to Moscow, they concluded, he would soon be back at work in front of a computer. “The American authorities con- tinue the unacceptable practice of ‘hunting’ for Russians all over the world, ignoring the norms of inter- national laws and twisting other states’ arms,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The dispute over Mr. Ukrain- sky, whose case remains in limbo, highlights the difficulties — and at times impossibilities — that the United States faces in combating Russian hackers, including those behind the recent attacks on the Democratic National Committee. That hack influenced the course, if not the outcome, of a presidential campaign and was the culmina- tion of years of increasingly brazen digital assaults on Ameri- can infrastructure. The United States has few op- tions for responding to such hacks. Russia does not extradite its citizens and has shown that it will not easily be deterred through public shaming. At times, the American authorities have en- listed local police officials to arrest suspects when they leave Russia — for vacation in the Maldives, for example. But more often than not, the F.B.I. and Justice Department investigate and compile accusa- tions and evidence against people who will almost certainly never stand trial. “You can indict 400 people. They don’t care,” said Robert E. Anderson Jr., who until last year HURDLES FOR U.S. IN BID TO THWART RUSSIAN HACKERS INQUIRIES ARE COMPLEX Few Options to Deter or Detain Those Who Strike Networks By ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO Continued on Page A22 Thursday, adding that he recently had a conversation with the presi- dent of Argentina. “You end up getting a better sense of what the modus operandi will be.” Mr. Ozkural is one of several high-profile bidders in a feverish competition to win time with one of Mr. Trump’s children. Other bid- ders include the owner of a Tex- Mex restaurant chain from Hous- ton who wants to press Mr. Trump, WASHINGTON — Ozan M. Ozkural, a London-based invest- ment manager, found a creative way to gain one-on-one access to the new first family: He bid nearly $60,000 to have a cup of coffee with Ivanka Trump for a charity event she was hosting. Mr. Ozkural wanted to meet with Ms. Trump — who is consid- ering playing an informal role in her father’s administration — to gain insight into topics like Presi- dent-elect Donald J. Trump’s pos- sible future dealings with Turkey and other nations where Mr. Ozkural invests, he said. “The nature of my business, we talk to a lot of different govern- ments, a lot of politicians and law- makers across the world,” Mr. Ozkural said in an interview on ‘Going Once’: Bids for Coffee With Ivanka Trump By ERIC LIPTON and MAGGIE HABERMAN Continued on Page A19 RUSSIAN HACKING President Obama pledged that the U.S. would retaliate. PAGE A22 Scientists have gained powerful insight into aging and the possibility of rejuve- nating human tissues after developing a technique that lengthened the life spans of mice by 30 percent. PAGE A16 NATIONAL A15-24 Turning Back the Body’s Clock Mexico has refused to release an inter- nal review that found investigators broke the law in their search for 43 missing students. PAGE A14 INTERNATIONAL A4-14 A Botched Case in Mexico Some 3,000 people were evacuated from the remaining rebel-held districts of Aleppo, Syria, and President Bashar al-Assad claimed victory. PAGE A8 Evacuation of Aleppo Begins Architects have changed the city this year, some with cozy refittings, others with skyline-altering drama like this bold structure at 57th Street. PAGE C23 WEEKEND ARTS C1-36 It’s a Hyperbolic Paraboloid! Facebook has begun introducing a series of experiments to limit misinfor- mation and false articles on its site, including partnerships with outside fact-checking organizations. PAGE B1 BUSINESS DAY B1-7 Facebook vs. Fake News A cybersecurity firm says three buyers each paid about $300,000 for a complete copy of the stolen Yahoo database, and the price is dropping. PAGE B1 Hacked Yahoo Data Was Sold The deeply knowledgeable, exuberant and often outlandishly dressed basket- ball broadcaster was 65. PAGE A25 OBITUARIES A24-25 Craig Sager, Sideline Reporter A state football title game is an emo- tional balm for a Texas town that is still reeling after a deadly bus crash almost two weeks ago. PAGE B8 SPORTSFRIDAY B8-11 Comfort on a Football Field Bill Keller PAGE A35 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A34-35 Late Edition VOL. CLXVI . . . No. 57,448 © 2016 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2016 Today, mostly sunny, cold, high 27. Tonight, cloudy, periodic snowfall late, low 24. Tomorrow, snow, 1 to 3 inches, then rain, milder, high 45. Weather map appears on Page B12. $2.50
