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CONTENTSAbreast of the Market C1Corporate News B2,3,7Global Finance............ C3Heard on the Street C6Law Journal................ B4Markets Dashboard C4

Media............................... B6Moving the Market C2Opinion................... A11-13Sports.............................. B8U.S. News................. A2-5Weather Watch........ B7World News........... A6-9

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What’sNews

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World-Widen The U.S. military has pre-pared options for a tough re-sponse to any future Chineseprovocations in the South andEast China seas, reflectingconcerns by allies in Asia. A1n Pro-Russia rebels in east-ern Ukraine paraded Westernmilitary observers as hostagesas they raised the stakes intheir battle with Kiev. A6n The U.S. and Europewilltarget people in Putin’s innercircle as they ramp up sanc-tions against Russia. A6n South Korea’s premierresigned over the govern-ment’s handling of the re-cent ferry sinking. A8nObama pledged to pushMalaysia for human-rightsprogress but declined to meetwith the opposition leader. A8n The Afghan Taliban saidits top military commander,an opponent of peace talkswith Kabul, has resigned. A9nPalestinian President Abbascalled the Holocaust the “mostheinous”modern crime, in oneof the strongest denunciationsever by an Arab leader.A9nMuslimswere evacuatedfrom the Central African Re-public’s capital as religious vio-lence splits the country.A9nTwo 20th century popes,John Paul II and John XXIII,were proclaimed as saints in anelaborate ceremony.A7n The Senate is expectedthis week to take up a bill toraise the federal minimumwage to $10.10 an hour. A4nThe FAA is proposing a pol-icy change to focus on poten-tial hazards near runways. A5

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S iemens offered to buyAlstom’s energy assets,

disrupting GE’s planneddeal, after Paris intervenedto keep jobs and decision-making in France. A1, B1n Pfizer plans to pursue abid for U.K. rival AstraZen-eca, a pact that would createa drug giant and come amida rush of deal-making, par-ticularly in health care. B1nHedge fund Och-Ziff dis-closed that it faces scrutinyfrom U.S. authorities for help-ing finance controversial Afri-can oil and mining deals. C1n Big U.S. banks are chang-ing terms of some of theiroffshore units’ swap agree-ments so they don’t getcaught by U.S. regulations. C1nMicrosoft warned of a se-curity flaw affecting its In-ternet Explorer browser,posing particular problemsfor Windows XP users. B3nThe planned merger ofPublicis and Omnicom hasbeen complicated by Europeangovernments’ tax agendas. B7n Toyota plans to roll out arestructuring of its U.S. mar-keting operations in Califor-nia as early as today. B3n Chinese video websitesdropped four U.S. TV showsbecause of government rules,state-run media said. B6n Essar’s minority investorssought legal advice to block abid by the U.K. firm’s Indianmajority shareholders. B7n “The OtherWoman” ledthe weekend movie box office,grossing $24.7 million. B6

Business&Finance

TODAY IN JOURNAL REPORT

Inside the Executive BrainMARKETPLACE The Great Superhero Battle

BlendIm

ages/G

etty

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PARIS—Siemens AG of Ger-many barged in on Alstom SA’splans to sell its energy assets toGeneral Electric Co. Sunday, pro-posing a counteroffer that wouldforge a global behemoth whilekeeping a symbol of French in-dustry firmly rooted in Europe.

Helping Siemens crash theparty was France’s sharp-el-bowed economy minister, Ar-naud Montebourg, who cleared apath for the German firm by re-minding Alstom Chairman andChief Executive Patrick Kronthat no major deal in France Inc.happens without his input.

On Thursday, Mr. Kron hadjust landed in Paris after a flightfrom the U.S.—where he wasclosing in on a deal to cede Al-stom’s huge energy operations toGE for more than $12 billion—when he got an urgent message.

Mr. Montebourg ordered the60-year-old executive to come tothe ministry immediately to ex-plain why Alstom was negotiat-ing without his knowledge.

Since taking office in 2012, Mr.Montebourg has wielded his influ-ence to cajole, prod and, if neces-sary, bend the will of some of theworld’s biggest companies andbusiness leaders. His status shows

PleaseturntopageA5

BY STACY MEICHTRYAND DAVID GAUTHIER-VILLARS

New BidDisruptsAlstom,GE DealFrench GovernmentTaps Brakes asSiemens Steps In

WASHINGTON—The U.S. mili-tary has prepared options for amuscular response to any futureChinese provocations in theSouth and East China seas, rang-ing from displays of B-2 bomberflights near China to aircraft-carrier exercises near its coastalwaters, officials said.

The menu of options, de-scribed by officials briefed onthe action plan, reflects concernsthat U.S. allies in Asia have ques-

tions about the Obama adminis-tration’s commitments to its se-curity obligations, particularlyafter Russia’s seizure of the Cri-mean peninsula.

The security question hasclosely followed President Ba-rack Obama in recent days dur-ing his four-country Asian trip.

Washington’s closest allies inAsia have told American coun-terparts that Crimea is seen as apossible litmus test of whatWashington will do if China at-tempted a similar power grab inthe South China and East China

seas, according to current andformer U.S. officials.

“They’re concerned. But it’snot only about Crimea. It’s a cre-scendo that’s been building,” asenior U.S. defense official said,citing skepticism in Asia thatWashington is prepared to backup its word and carry throughon its renewed strategic focus onAsia.

Just before Mr. Obama landedin the Philippines on Monday,U.S. and Philippine officials fi-nalized an agreement allowingfor the return of U.S. forces,

more than two decades afterPhilippine opposition forcedWashington to abandon its mili-tary network there.

Similarly, Mr. Obama in a visitto Japan stood side-by-sideThursday with Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe and calledthe U.S. treaty commitments toJapan’s security “absolute.”

On each stop in Asia, includ-ing South Korea and Malaysia,Mr. Obama’s trip was accompa-nied by concerns over aggres-sion by Moscow and its militant

PleaseturntopageA8

BY ADAM ENTOUSAND JULIAN E. BARNES

U.S. to Flex Military MuscleTo Reassure Allies Over China

QARA TEPE, Iraq—Even as an al Qaeda-linkedmilitant group celebrated a major victory in West-ern Iraq last month, militants from the same jihad-ist group launched another operation clear acrossthe country.

In coordinated predawn attacks, gunmen blewup two bridges in a village outside the easterntown of Qara Tepe. They detonated a fuel tanker ata police base close to nearby Injana, shot 12 sol-diers and incinerated their bodies. By afternoon,militants had attacked four other police and armycheckpoints.

Instead of bolstering their ranks, some police

and military checkpoints simply packed up andleft. Lacking protection, hundreds of villagers fledtheir homes for larger towns.

“The security forces are weak, and they are put-ting the responsibility for their weakness on us,”says Aziz Latif, a farmer who fled the village ofNew Sari Tepe after it was attacked on March 21.“They are not professional.”

More than two years after the last U.S. troops leftIraq, as the country prepares for its first post-occupa-tion parliamentary elections on Wednesday, its de-moralized, underequipped military is losing the fightagainst Islamist militants, who are better armed, bet-ter trained, and better motivated, according to Iraqi

PleaseturntopageA10

BY MATT BRADLEY AND ALI A. NABHAN

‘ALMOST HELPLESS’

In Iraq, Fledgling ArmyIs Outmatched on Battlefield

The Taobao online market-place, run by Chinese e-com-merce giant Alibaba Group Hold-ing Ltd., is one of the world’slargest shopping sites, with 7million sellers offering 800 mil-lion items—ranging from Colum-bia Sportswear fleece jackets toDahon folding bicycles.

But there are some hitches: Ofthe roughly 58,000 folding bikesfor sale on Taobao, for instance,up to half are knockoffs or infringeon Dahon’s intellectual property,says David Hon, chief executive ofthe Duarte, Calif., company.

The number of fake Dahons onTaobao has increased 10- to 20-fold in the past two years, Mr.Hon estimates, costing the com-pany a few million dollars insales each year and forcing it toramp up its fraud-fighting re-

PleaseturntopageA8

BY KATHY CHUAND LAURIE BURKITT

AlibabaSiteThrives,But So DoKnockoffs

Separatists Parade Western Hostages as Ukraine Tensions Escalate

CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: The pro-Russia self-appointed mayor of Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, right, met reportersSunday alongside abducted Western military inspectors. Hostage-taking by militants is raising the stakes in their conflict with Kiev. A6

GlebGaranich/Re

uters

SINGAPORE—Fourteen yearsago, a Hello Kitty sales promo-tion here spiraled out of control,threatening to disrupt the peacein this order-obsessed Asiancity-state.

Historians called what hap-pened a “fever,” whilelawmakers debatedwhat should be doneto end the plushypussy mayhem.

Now a new set ofthe famous Japanesecartoon characters arecoming—and Singa-pore’s ability to playnice with its HelloKitty toys is about tobe put to the test.

Starting thisMonday, customersordering food at McDonald’s res-taurants here will have the chanceto buy limited-edition Hello Kittytoys dolled up in various costumes.

The stuffed choices include “Bad

Badtz-Maru,” a “mischievous littlepenguinwho doesn’t like anythingbut himself,” according to promo-tionalmaterials, and “PomPomPu-rin,” a boy golden retriever with abrown beret who “lovesmilk, any-thing soft and his mama’s creamcaramel puddings.”

Yet already the offer is unset-tling some Singapor-eans, who rememberwhat happenedwhen asimilar deal was un-veiled in 2000.

At the time, tens ofthousands swarmedrestaurant outlets toget their hands on themouthless mascot kit-ten,whichwaspaired inthe promotionwith herboyfriend Daniel. Both

were attired in wedding outfits.Schoolchildren skipped class

and parents ditched work to get inline. Profiteers scooped up sup-plies and promptly resold them for

PleaseturntopageA8

BY CHUN HAN WONG

Singapore Braces for Kitty RiotAs Fast-Food ‘Fever’ Again Grips City

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Will This Year’sMcDonald’s PromotionBe Catty, orWill Civility Prevail?

Hello Kitty asOsaru No Monkichi

Day of Four Popes

HISTORIC MOMENT: Pope Francis, right, embraces Pope EmeritusBenedict XVI during the canonization mass of Pope John Paul II andPope John XXIII in Vatican City on Sunday. A7

Osservatore

RomanoPressOffice

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