CMYK Nxxx,2020-01-08,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

Late Edition
Today, windy, sunshine, some
clouds, couple of flurries, high 41. To-
night, clear to cloudy, colder, low 23.
Tomorrow, partly sunny, chilly, high
34. Weather map is on Page B12.

VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,566 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2020 $3.00

Part of the Immaculate Conception church collapsed in Guayanilla, P.R., when a 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck early on Tuesday.
Temblors Jolt Senate Moves Closer to Trial With No Witnesses
Puerto Ricans
Torn by Storm Mitch
WASHINGTON — Senator
McConnell, the majority
This article is by Edmy Ayala, Pa-
tricia Mazzei, Frances Robles and
Sandra E. Garcia.
PONCE, P.R. — The auditorium
where Lenda Torres Rodríguez
and some of her neighbors sought
refuge on Tuesday after the latest
in a series of earthquakes con-
vulsed Puerto Rico seemed al-
most as unreliable as the houses
they had abandoned. Every time a
new aftershock hit, the windows
made ominous cracking sounds.
So they huddled outside on
beach chairs, or hunkered down in
their cars, waiting for help from
the government that by Tuesday
evening had still not arrived.
“This is scarier than the water
Maria brought,” said Ms. Torres,
44, recalling the last epic disaster
that drove her from her home,
Hurricane Maria in 2017.
The deadly government fail-
ures that left the island in a state of
chaos for months after the 2017
storm robbed Puerto Ricans of
any belief that their leaders could
manage another natural disaster.
With a sense of doomed inevitabil-
ity, people have braced in the two
years since for the next emer-
gency that would once again leave
them feeling unprepared and
abandoned.
What they did not expect was
for the menace to come from the
earth rather than the sky.
The strong 6.4-magnitude
earthquake that rocked Puerto
Rico on Tuesday plunged almost
the entire island into a blackout
Continued on Page A18
France Winked at Author’s Sex With Minors, Until Victim’s Tell-All
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
PARIS — The French writer
Gabriel Matzneff never hid the
fact that he engaged in sex with
girls and boys in their early teens
or even younger. He wrote count-
less books detailing his insatiable
pursuits and appeared on televi-
Mr. McConnell shared his inten-
‘We Have the Votes,’ tions
By NICHOLAS FANDOS with senators over lunch in
the Capitol, declaring that he had
McConnell Declares the votes he needed — including
leader, said Tuesday that he
planned to move forward with
President Trump’s impeachment
trial without committing to calling
witnesses or hearing new evi-
dence, foreshadowing a partisan
vote to kick off a divisive proceed-
ing.
His decision deepened a stand-
off over the shape of a Senate trial
that has gripped the Capitol in the
Chaos in Caracas
Juan Guaidó, leader of Venezuela’s opposition, at the National Assembly on Tuesday. Page A6.
sion boasting about them. “Under
16 Years Old,” was the title of an
early book that left no ambiguity.
Still, he never spent a day in jail
for his actions or suffered any re-
percussion. Instead, he won ac-
claim again and again. Much of
France’s literary and journalism
elite celebrated him and his work
for decades. Now 83, Mr. Matzneff
RICARDO ARDUENGO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
weeks since the House voted to
impeach Mr. Trump. But hours lat-
er, Speaker Nancy Pelosi indi-
cated it may not persist much
longer, saying that she would
“soon” transmit the two articles of
impeachment, though not before
Mr. McConnell made public the
rules for the process.
CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES
was awarded a major literary
prize in 2013 and, just two months
ago, one of France’s most presti-
gious publishing houses pub-
lished his latest work.
But the publication, last Thurs-
day, of an account by one of his vic-
tims, Vanessa Springora, has sud-
denly fueled an intense debate in
France over its historically lax at-
among moderate Republicans —
to steamroll over Democratic ob-
jections and proceed with the trial
that puts off final decisions on
whether to consider evidence.
That would mean the Senate
would tackle those questions only
after representatives of the House
and the president make opening
arguments and senators question
Continued on Page A16
titude toward sex with minors. It
has also shone a particularly
harsh light on a period during
which some of France’s leading lit-
erary figures and newspapers —
names as big as Foucault, Sartre,
Libération and Le Monde — ag-
gressively promoted the practice
as a form of human liberation, or
Continued on Page A6
IRANIANS ATTACK
U.S. FORCES IN IRAQ
IN ACT OF REVENGE
Democrats Press for 2 Bases Are Targeted
Details on Threats After the Killing of
Cited by Trump a Commander
This article is by Julian E. Barnes,
Catie Edmondson, Thomas Gib-
bons-Neff and Rukmini Callimachi.
WASHINGTON — Under in-
creasing pressure to defend the
killing of a top Iranian general in
Iraq, senior Trump administra-
tion officials offered new justifica-
tions but little detail on Tuesday,
citing threats to the American
Embassy in Baghdad and intelli-
gence suggesting other imminent
attacks that helped prompt the
strike.
Democrats stepped up their
criticism of intelligence that the
administration provided immedi-
ately after the drone strike last
week that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim
Suleimani, the leader of Iran’s Is-
lamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps. The administration’s for-
mal notification to Congress,
which remains classified, pro-
vided no information on future
threats or the imminent attack, of-
ficials who have read it said.
Several said it was improperly
classified, and Senator Richard
Blumenthal, Democrat of Con-
necticut, called it “vague and un-
acceptably unspecific.” Lawmak-
ers pressed for more answers on
Tuesday at an intelligence brief-
ing by administration officials.
Iranian forces or their proxies
were days from attacking Ameri-
can personnel when President
Trump decided to strike General
Suleimani, Defense Secretary
Mark T. Esper told reporters at
the Pentagon. Mr. Esper added
that General Suleimani had trav-
eled to Baghdad to coordinate at-
tacks following up on a two-day
siege of the United States Embas-
sy there last week by pro-Iranian
demonstrators. He declined to
elaborate but called the intelli-
gence “exquisite.”
Mr. Trump was more forceful
but no more specific. General Su-
Continued on Page A8
ELIZABETH WURTZEL, 1967-2020
‘Prozac’ Memoirist Got Nation
To Talk Frankly on Depression
By NEIL GENZLINGER
Elizabeth Wurtzel, whose star-
tling 1994 memoir, “Prozac Na-
tion: Young and Depressed in
America,” won praise for opening
a dialogue about clinical depres-
sion and helped introduce an un-
sparing style of confessional writ-
ing that remains influential, died
on Tuesday in Manhattan. She
was 52.
The writer David Samuels, a
friend since childhood, said the
cause was metastatic breast can-
cer, which in her case had resulted
from the BRCA genetic mutation.
Ms. Wurtzel had a double mastec-
tomy in 2015. After her diagnosis,
she became an advocate for BRCA
testing — something she had not
had — and wrote about her cancer
experience in The New York
Times.
“I could have had a mastectomy
with reconstruction and skipped
This article is by Alissa J. Rubin,
Farnaz Fassihi, Eric Schmitt and
Vivian Yee.
BAGHDAD — Iran attacked
two bases in Iraq that house
American troops with a barrage of
missiles early Wednesday, Irani-
an official news media and United
States officials said, the start of
what Tehran had promised would
be retaliation for the killing of a
top Iranian commander.
“The fierce revenge by the Rev-
olutionary Guards has begun,” the
Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps said in a statement on a
Telegram messaging app channel.
American officials in Washing-
ton said that Iran had fired more
than a dozen ballistic missiles at
two military bases in Iraq where
American troops are stationed.
The Pentagon said it was assess-
ing whether any American troops
had been killed or injured in the
strikes. United States officials
said there were no immediate in-
dications of American casualties.
After the strikes, President
Trump, who has vowed a strong
response to any Iranian attack on
American targets, met at the
White House with his top national
security advisers, including De-
fense Secretary Mark T. Esper
and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, to discuss possible retalia-
tory options.
On Twitter a few hours later, Mr.
Trump struck an upbeat tone and
promised to make a statement on
Wednesday morning. Some aides
said they believed that Mr. Trump
wanted to find a way to de-esca-
late the crisis.
“All is well!” he wrote. “Missiles
launched from Iran at two military
bases located in Iraq. Assessment
of casualties & damages taking
place now. So far, so good! We
have the most powerful and well
Continued on Page A10
SUZANNE DE CHILLO/THE NEW YORK TIMES
Elizabeth Wurtzel in 2007.
the part where I got cancer,” she
wrote. “I feel like the biggest idiot
for not doing so.”
Writing about her final illness
was a natural choice for Ms.
Wurtzel, who had for a quarter-
century scrutinized her life in re-
lentless detail, becoming a hero to
some, especially to many women
of her generation and younger, but
Continued on Page A12

INTERNATIONAL A4-10 NEW YORK A19-21, 24

E.U.’s Connection to Eritrea Spotted Pig Case Is Settled

As it aims to stem the flow of migrants
from Africa and bring change to the
dictatorship in Eritrea, the European
Union is spending millions on projects
built with forced labor. PAGE A4
Ken Friedman, the gastro pub’s chief
owner, will pay $240,000 and a share of
profits to 11 ex-workers who accused
him of sexual harassment. PAGE A20
FOOD D1-8
SPORTSWEDNESDAY B8-10

A Giants Surprise Flavors of Bangkok

Pete Wells finds a cantaloupe-coconut
The normally staid Giants shook up the
dessert, above, and other tasty dishes
N.F.L. by agreeing to hire the 38-year-
at Thai Cook in Queens. PAGE D4
old Joe Judge, a little-known Patriots
assistant, as their new coach. PAGE B8
NATIONAL A11-18

ARTS C1-8 Churches Fortify for the Worst

BUSINESS B1-7
After the police thwarted a planned
Battle of the Buzzers
Sonos Picks Its Adversary attack, members of a small black
Three of biggest “Jeopardy!” winners church took action, working out a tactic
The maker of home speakers said
(from left, James Holzhauer, Ken Jen- to protect the congregation. PAGE A11
Google and Amazon stole its technol-
nings and Brad Rutter) face off. PAGE C1
ogy, but it could risk suing only one. It
is taking on Google. PAGE B1 EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

Frank Bruni PAGE A23

A Billion-Dollar War for .Org
A private equity firm’s move to buy the salesforce.com/learnmore

U(D54G1D)y+"!$!@!?!"
internet domain used by nonprofits set
off protests and led to a new plan for
cooperative ownership. PAGE B6