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The Quest for a Perfect T-ShirtPLUS War on Lost Luggage

CONTENTSBusiness Tech..............B4Corp. News............B2-3,7Global Finance.............C3Heard on Street.......C10In the Markets.............C4Leisure & Arts.............D4

Opinion....................A13-15Small Business...........B5Sports................................D5Style & Travel......D1-3,6U.S. News...................A2-8Weather Watch..........B8World News............A9-11

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What’sNews

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World-WidenThe exchange of five Talibanleaders for a U.S. soldier hassparked dismay amongmanyAfghans. The Taliban releaseda video of the handover. A1, A8n France is preparing totrain Russian seamen to run awarship it has agreed to sell toMoscow, defying oppositionby the U.S. and other allies. A1n Ukraine is consideringimposing martial law in thecountry’s east as two basesfell to separatist rebels. A10nObama reaffirmed U.S.support for Eastern Europe onthe 25th anniversary of Po-land’s first free elections. A10nTens of thousands rallied inHong Kong tomark the anni-versary of China’s 1989 Tianan-men Square crackdown. A9nHouse GOP leaders calledon theWhite House to over-haul the VA, citing misman-agement and waiting times. A4n The NTSB suspects a faultyflight-control system likelyled to the crash that killedLewis Katz and six others. A3nNew York’s high court to-day will consider one of thefirst challenges to laws thatmake cyberbullying illegal. A4n Sen. Thad Cochran is theunderdog as he heads into alikely runoff campaign in Mis-sissippi’s GOP primary. A4n Syrian President Assadwasdeclared victor by a landslidein a controversial vote held inregime-controlled areas. A11nThe contractor hired to findthemissingMalaysian jet willhave 300 days to search. A11nDied: Don Zimmer, 83, vet-eran baseball player, manager.

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Sprint and T-Mobile haveagreed on the broad out-lines of amerger valuing T-Mo-bile at around $32 billion thatcould occur this summer. A1n An internal probe of GM’sdelay in recalling defectivecars is expected to cite cul-tural failures at the companybut clear top executives. B1n An appeals court said ajudge erred in rejecting a Citi-group settlement with theSEC because the bank didn’tacknowledge wrongdoing. C1nA rift among BNP officialshas deepened amid the pros-pect of massive fines for alleg-edly violating U.S. sanctions. C1n The U.S. trade gap grew7% in April, with a drop in ex-ports standing as the latestobstacle to robust growth. A2nRising demand for skilledworkers could push up salariesacross more sectors of theeconomy, a Fed survey said. A2n U.S. stocks rose, pushingthe S&P 500 to a record1927.88. The Dow edged up15.19 points to 16737.53. C4n Trading businesses at thebiggest investment banks areexpected to suffer job losses inthe thousands by year-end. C1n Trading volume on U.S. ex-changes tumbled last monthto the lowest level for Maysince the financial crisis. C1n Sterling agreed to sell theL.A. Clippers to ex-MicrosoftCEO Ballmer and drop a law-suit, his lawyer said. B3n Dozens of firms disclosedin reports on conflict miner-als that their products maycontain North Korean gold. B1

Business&Finance

Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston is one ofthe strangest places to play in international soccer.The track that surrounds the field is pristine, but thepitch is marked with patches of bare dirt. There is ascoreboard, but it has no clock.

The U.S. national team came here to face Jamaicalast June in a crucial World Cup qualifier they werewidely expected to win. But after the U.S. took a 1-0lead deep into the second half, Jamaica took advan-tage of a free kick and a sleeping U.S. defense tosneak a header past the U.S. goalkeeper and equalizethe score.

In the convoluted math of World Cup qualifying,

a tie against Jamaica was as good as a loss for theU.S.—one that could seriously damage its chances ofeven making it to Brazil for the World Cup. TheAmericans desperately needed a quick score.

But without a scoreboard clock, none of the play-ers knew howmuch time was left. U.S. defender BradEvans asked the referee, but he just ran on by. Fi-nally, an official on the sidelines held up a card. Fourminutes to go.

A crisis was looming at a pivotal moment in thisWorld Cup campaign—and to some extent for soccerin America. Team USA needed to strike fast. It was

PleaseturntopageA12

BY MATTHEW FUTTERMAN

SOCCER, MADE IN AMERICA

A German Coach BuildsA Different Kind of U.S. Team

For Those in UPS’s ‘Circle of Honor,’Safe Driving Is the Total Package

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After 25 Years Without an Accident,You Get a Patch, Jacket; Watch Out for Bears

Chadd Bunker says his friendsand relatives tell him he driveslike an old man. Roll through astop sign? He would never dothat. Exceed the speed limit? Noton your life. He makes threeright turns toavoid a left. He canbe annoying.

But Mr. Bunker,who is only 48years old, is no or-dinary driver. Herecently becameone of the proud,lucky few to reachthe delivery driverequivalent of EagleScout—the UnitedParcel Service Inc.’s Circle ofHonor.

The award goes to those whomanage to drive their big browntrucks without having an “avoid-able” accident, for years andyears.

That isn’t easy since UPS con-siders nearly every kind of acci-dent avoidable. A scratch on thetruck while backing up, or a treebranch hitting the vehicle andbreaking a mirror, they bothcount as accidents that mighthave been avoided.

Drivers whomake it through 25years are honoredwith a little cere-mony, a patch ontheir sleeve docu-menting the num-ber of accident-free years and theultimate king-of-the-road statussymbol: a bomberjacket.

UPS is driven by its safety cul-ture. New drivers at the 107-year-old company are required toattend intensive, weeklong train-ing courses, informally dubbed“Quaker boot camps” that em-

PleaseturntopageA6

BY LAURA STEVENS

Tom Fowler

PARIS—France is preparing totrain hundreds of Russian seamento operate a powerful French-made warship this month, defyingcalls from the U.S. and otherWestern allies to keep the vesselout of the Kremlin’s hands, peoplefamiliar with the matter say.

More than 400 Russian sailorsare scheduled to arrive on June22 in the French Atlantic port ofSaint-Nazaire to undergo monthsof instruction before piloting thefirst of two Mistral-class carriersback to Russia in the fall, said oneof these people.

The training is a pivotal stepthat deepens France’s commit-ment to fulfilling the $1.6 billioncontract to supply Russia with thecarriers, which are built to launchamphibious attacks.

The U.S. and other allies havecalled on the government of Pres-ident François Hollande to cancelthe contract, arguing the shipswill significantly enhance Russiannaval power at a time when theUkraine crisis has raised tensionswith the Kremlin to their highestlevels since the Cold War.

The contract loomed large asPresident Barack Obama conveneda Group of Seven summit in Brus-sels—a forum intended to excludeRussian President Vladimir Putinfrom the table of world leaders.

French officials say Mr. Hol-lande is expected to discuss thecontract with Mr. Obama whenthe leaders meet for dinner inParis on Thursday, the eve of D-Day commemorations. The Frenchleader has also scheduled a sec-ond—and separate—dinner thatevening with Mr. Putin.

PleaseturntopageA10

BY STACY MEICHTRY

French SaleOf WarshipTo RussiaSteams On

In Flickers of Candlelight, a Reminder of the Dark Days of Tiananmen

SOLEMN GLOW: A Hong Kong rally Wednesday commemorated the 25th anniversary of Beijing’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. A9

KinCh

eung

/AssociatedPress

Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile USInc. have agreed on the broad out-lines of a merger valuing T-Mobileat around $32 billion, as recentregulatory developments con-vinced executives at both telecom-munications companies that theyhave an opening to get a deal ap-proved, according to people famil-iar with the matter.

The terms involve Sprint pay-ing around $40 a share for T-Mo-

bile in an acquisition that couldhappen early this summer, thepeople said. The companies arestill working toward a formal con-tract, and the effort could fallthrough. But if completed, themerger would combine the coun-try’s third- and fourth-largestwireless operators, creating a big-ger competitor to market leadersVerizon Communications Inc. andAT&T Inc. while leaving consum-ers with fewer choices for service.

A deal between Sprint and T-

Mobile would extend a wave ofconsolidation that is uniting someof the biggest companies in thetelecom andmedia industries, andis expected to face strong opposi-tion from regulators and a lengthyantitrust review.

A deal would need the approvalof the Federal CommunicationsCommission and the Justice De-partment. Sprint will be making abig bet that it can win. Under theterms discussed, Sprint would payT-Mobile more than $1 billion in

cash and other assets if the deal isrejected, the people said.

The gamble is a risky one forSprint, which is already heavily in-debted and has posted losses forthe past seven years. But execu-tives believe recent developmentsat the FCC—including a conten-tious debate over so-called netneutrality and new spectrum-auc-tion rules that aren’t as friendly tosmaller carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile—have created an opening

Pleaseturntothenextpage

BY RYAN KNUTSON

Sprint, T-Mobile Near DealBoth Sides Now Convinced $32 Billion Combination Can Clear Regulatory Hurdles

SHEYKHAN, Afghanistan—Taliban forces led by MohammedFazl swept through this villageon the Shomali plain north ofKabul in 1999 in a scorched-earth offensive that promptedsome 300,000 people to flee fortheir lives.

Fifteen years later, local resi-dents here are responding withfear and dismay to the U.S. re-lease of the notorious com-mander, along with four otherTaliban leaders in exchange forSgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the onlyAmerican prisoner of war whowas held by the Taliban. Thegroup released a video onWednesday showing the hurriedhandover a few days earlier ofthe American captive, lookinggaunt and dazed.

The villages of Shomali wereonce the orchard of central Af-ghanistan, and the plain’s care-fully tended vineyards were fa-mous for their grapes.

When the Taliban seized con-trol of this area from theirNorthern Alliance rivals in 1999,they systematically demolishedentire villages, blowing uphouses, burning fields and seed-ing the land with mines, accord-ing to two comprehensive stud-ies of war crimes and atrocitiesduring wars in Afghanistan andhuman rights reports. Mr. Fazl

PleaseturntopageA8

BY NATHANHODGE

DetaineeReleaseAlarmsAfghans

Obama reaffirms solidaritywith Eastern Europe................ A10

Martial law in Ukraine?.......... A10

In Friday’s Arena: A 10-Page Guide to the World Cup

Behind the search forBergdahl................................. A8

White House’s legalstandoff with Congress... A8

New role sought for NATOin Afghanistan..................... A8

GM Probe to Cite Culture

SILOS: A report on GM’s ignition-switch recall, to be presented byCEO Mary Barra, is expected tohighlight poor communications. B1

Reuters

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