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* * * * * TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015 ~ VOL. CCLXV NO. 44 WSJ.com HHHH $3 .00

GENEVA—The U.S. and Iran areexploring a nuclear deal thatwould keep Tehran from amassingenough material to make a bombfor at least a decade, but couldthen allow it to gradually build upits capabilities again.

Such a deal would represent asignificant compromise by theU.S., which had sought to restrainTehran’s nuclear activities for aslong as 20 years. Tehran has in-sisted on no more than a 10-yearfreeze.

The possible compromise onthe table appears closer to Teh-ran’s timeline. While it would addsome years in which the Iraniannuclear program continues to beclosely monitored and con-strained, Iran would be able to in-crease its capacity to enrich ura-nium, and thus get closer to bomb-making capability again.

Critics in Congress and in Israelquickly attacked the prospect of a10-year time frame as inadequate.

After four days of talks in Ge-neva, a senior U.S. official onMon-day said there had been welcomeprogress toward a deal, while giv-ing no specifics about its timeline.

The U.S. has been pushing for afreeze that would establish a pe-riod of time during which Iranwould remain at least 12 monthsaway from being able to fuel anatomic bomb—a so-called break-out period. Asked if Iran must ac-cept that breakout period through

Please see IRAN page A8

BY LAURENCE NORMAN

U.S.,IranDiscussShorterNuclearFreeze

TOKYO—Honda Motor Co., al-ready coping with large safetyrecalls over quality glitches andfaulty air bags, said on Mondayits chief executive would stepdown to make way for a low-profile engineer with extensiveinternational experience.

The Japanese auto maker saidTakahiro Hachigo, a 55-year-oldmanaging officer based in China,will succeed Takanobu Ito, 61, aspresident and CEO by June. Thetiming of the news conferenceand the choice of Mr. Hachigo,who was promoted over moreprominent executives, were un-usual for a corporate culturethat frowns on surprises.

The shift comes at a crucialjuncture for Honda, which afterfailing to take advantage of Toy-ota Motor Corp.’s stumbles inthe U.S. five years ago, now isbeing challenged for its top five

position in the U.S. by NissanMotor Co. Last year, Nissan’sshare of U.S. sales was 8.4%, lessthan a percentage point behindHonda, and it has been gainingground in hot-selling sport-util-ity vehicles.

Honda has been hurt by stum-bles in the U.S., Japan andChina. Its popular Civic sedanwas redesigned for 2013 after ayear-earlier revamping receivedpoor reviews in the U.S. for us-ing cheap materials and a lack ofimproved fuel economy. Its Japa-nese sales this year were hurt bydelays with the launch of a new

Fit subcompact. In China,Honda’s 2014 sales were up just4.1% in a market that expandedby 7%, widely missing an earliersales forecast.

In October, Mr. Ito and othertop executives took pay cuts toshow responsibility for qualityproblems with Honda modelssuch as the redesigned Fit,which dented sales. Honda alsois the car maker most affectedby the recall of millions of oldervehicles equipped with air bagsfrom Takata Corp. that havebeen linked to six deaths around

Please see HONDA page A7

BY ERIC PFANNER

Honda Missteps Claim CEOAuto maker chooseslittle-known executiveto face big challenges intwo largest car markets

Death Toll Climbs to at Least 70 in Bangladesh Ferry Disaster

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RIO DE JANEIRO—Praying forwaves? Have faith: the CatholicChurch is considering a surferfor sainthood.

The would-be patron saint ofgood vibes is Guido Schäffer, aBrazilian priest-in-training whowas 34 and about to be ordainedwhen he drowned while surfingnear here in 2009.

After he died, locals startedcalling him the “Surfer Angel”and made pilgrimages to histomb. Some left engraved stoneplaques thanking him for an-swered prayers. Others leftmolds of feet and heads indicat-ing body parts healed throughhis intercession.

The cult of the Surfer Angelgrew so much that priests beganholding a monthly Mass at Mr.Schäffer’s grave. A Portuguesejournalist wrote a book on the

phenomenon. Devotees sprangup as far away as Poland.

In January, the Vatican gavepermission to Rio priests togather evidence of Mr. Schäffer’sholiness and present it to thepope, a crucial early step in thesainthood process.

To mark the moment, Mr.Schäffer’s remains were trans-ferred to the Our Lady of PeaceChurch in the beach town of Ip-anema. His surf buddies accom-panied the remains atop a

firetruck in a lively procession.Several held surfboards aloft.One board said “JESUS IS OURWAVE” in large black letters.

“For him, surfing was a mysti-cal experience, like prayer. Hefelt the presence of God in thesea,” said the Rev. Jorge Neves,who mentored Mr. Schäffer atOur Lady of Peace and resemblesthe actor Forest Whitaker. Mr.Schäffer called his hefty mentor“Big George.”

A giant poster of Mr. Schäfferon his board now hangs on theoutside of the Ipanema church.In it, a tanned and athletic Mr.Schäffer has just completed awave and is riding the foam. TheSurfer Angel wears blue boardshorts and stares intently intothe distance. Passersby crossthemselves as they walk the busysidewalk below the poster.

The notion of a surfing saintPlease see SURFER page A10

BY JOHN LYONS

In Brazil, Support Swells for ‘Surfer Angel’i i i

Priest-in-training, who loved to catch waves, is considered for sainthood

Guido Schäffer

GRIEF-STRICKEN: Residents react after finding a relative’s body after a crowded ferry collided with a cargo vessel in central Bangladesh. A7

DJIA 18116.84 g 23.60 0.1% NASDAQ 4960.97 À 0.1% NIKKEI 18466.92 À 0.7% STOXX600 385.08 À 0.7% 10-YR. TREAS. À 23/32 , yield 2.057% OIL (new) $49.45 g $1.36 GOLD $1,200.30 g $4.10 EURO $1.1335 YEN 118.81

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What’sNews

TheU.S. and Iran are explor-ing a deal that would curb Teh-ran’s nuclear program for 10years but could then allow Iranto build up its capabilities. A1Russia offered to sell Iran amissile system, five years af-ter the Kremlin canceled thesale of an earlier version. A8AU.S. jury found Palestiniangroups liable for backing terrorattacks in Israel and orderedthem to pay $218.5 million. A2Senate leaderMcConnellsaid he planned to bring up abill targeting Obama’s immigra-tion policy, separating it fromHomeland Security funding.A4The Obama administrationasked a federal judge to allow itto continue implementing thepresident’s immigration plan.A4Two claimants to an art col-lection sued Germany, allegingtheir Jewish ancestors sold thework under duress in 1935. A6Greece delayed until earlyTuesday a list of proposals itseurozone partners demandedin exchange for funding. A6The Obama administrationhas signaled that it may lift aban on transgender peopleserving in the military. A4 Ukraine’s currency slid toa new low against the dollar,while a cease-fire showedmore signs of unraveling. A14A top Sunni cleric called foreducational reforms in theMuslimworld to fight the esca-lation of extremist violence. A8Republicans are increasingpressure on the FCC to delay avote on net-neutrality rules. A4

Honda’s CEO will stepdown and be succeeded by

a low-profile engineer, a shiftthat comes in the wake of sev-eral stumbles by the firm. A1U.S. officials are investigat-ing banks for possible riggingof precious-metals markets,even though European regula-tors dropped a similar probe.A1 HSBC reported weak re-sults and scaled back its fi-nancial targets, pushing thebank’s shares down 4.6%. C1 J.P. Morgan plans to chargelarge institutional customersfor some deposits, citing newcapital and liquidity rules. C1Apple plans to spend nearly$2 billion to build its first twodata centers in Europe, the lat-est U.S. tech firm to do so. B1Morgan Stanley and Gold-man Sachs are inching closerto settling a mortgage-bondprobe with the government. C3 Existing-home sales fell4.9% last month from De-cember, a reflection of risingprices and tight supplies. A2Dish Chairman Ergenwillreturn to the role of CEO, suc-ceeding Clayton, who will re-tire at the end of March. B4Nasdaq extended its win-ning streak to nine days, itsbest stretch since 2010. TheDow eased 23.60 to 18116.84. C4 Fuel prices are rallying asU.S. refineries close formaintenance and frigidweather boosts demand. C1Obama backed stricterstandards for brokers and oth-ers who recommend retire-ment-account investments. C2

Business&Finance

World-Wide QATAR’S MILITANT TIESSTRAIN ALLIANCE

Gulf state’s relationships in region are both useful and a worry to America

DOHA, Qatar—During President BarackObama’s first term, some members of his Na-tional Security Council lobbied to pull a U.S.fighter squadron out of an air base in Qatar toprotest the emirate’s support of militant groupsin the Mideast.

The Pentagon pushed back, according to for-mer U.S. officials involved in the discussion,saying a regional military command the U.S.maintains at the base was vital to American op-erations in the region. The issue was decided inlate 2013 when the U.S. extended its lease onthe base and didn’t pull out any planes.

The episode, not previously reported, re-flects long-standing divisions within theObama administration over America’s widen-ing alliance with Qatar. The problem is thatthe very traits making the Persian Gulf emir-ate a valuable ally are also a source of worry:

Qatar’s relationships with Islamist groups.Secretary of State John Kerry has formed a

tight partnership with Qatari diplomats, usingthem as conduits for messages to Hamas in thePalestinian territories, to Afghanistan’s Talibanand to jihadist rebel groups in Syria and Libya,according to State Department officials. Mr.Kerry has lauded Qatar’s role in seeking to ne-gotiate an end to Israeli-Hamas fighting lastsummer.

U.S. officials also have praised Qatar for us-ing its channels to broker the release of West-erners held hostage, including U.S. Army Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl, who was swapped last year forfive captured Taliban commanders.

Champions of the U.S.-Qatar alliance, espe-cially in the Defense and State departments, say

Please see QATAR page A10

BY JAY SOLOMON AND NOUR MALAS

PERSONAL JOURNAL | D1

An About-Face OnPeanut Allergies

New research finds thatintroducing peanuts in a baby’sfirst-year diet could help avoid

the allergies later.

BUSINESS & TECH. | B1

MLB Unit TakesThe Extra Base

Baseball’s technology arm isquickly becoming the go-to

vendor for companies lookingto stream TV over the Web.

OPINION | A13

BoycottingNetanyahu

Alan M. Dershowitz on thethreat by Democrats to boycottthe Israeli prime minister’s

speech to Congress.

Inside

U.S. officials are investigatingat least 10 major banks for pos-sible rigging of precious-metalsmarkets, even though Europeanregulators dropped a similarprobe after finding no evidenceof wrongdoing, according topeople close to the inquiries.

Prosecutors in the Justice De-partment’s antitrust division arescrutinizing the price-settingprocess for gold, silver, plati-num and palladium in London,while the Commodity FuturesTrading Commission has openeda civil investigation, these peo-ple said. The agencies havemade initial requests for infor-mation, including a subpoenafrom the CFTC to HSBC Hold-

ings PLC related to precious-metals trading, the bank said inits annual report Monday.

HSBC also said the JusticeDepartment sought documentsrelated to the antitrust investi-gation in November. The twoprobes “are at an early stage,”the bank added, saying it is co-operating with U.S. regulators.

Also under scrutiny are Bankof Nova Scotia, Barclays PLC,Credit Suisse Group AG,Deutsche Bank AG, GoldmanSachs Group Inc., J.P. MorganChase & Co., Société GénéraleSA, Standard Bank Group Ltd.and UBS AG, according to one ofthe people close to the investi-gation.

Bank representatives declinedto comment or couldn’t be im-

Please see METALS page A2

BY JEAN EAGLESHAMAND CHRISTOPHER M. MATTHEWS

Big Banks Face ScrutinyOver Pricing of Metals

Gerald F. Seib on lessons from France...................... A4 U.S. holds war-council meeting in Mideast............. A8

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