Christie Leaning on Tax Subsidies in Hunt for Jobs

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Panasonic received $102.4 million in tax credits to move its headquarters nine miles within New Jersey. Goya Foods picked up $81.9 million in credits to build offices and a warehouse in Jersey City, two miles from its current complex. Prudential Insurance obtained $250.8 million to move a few blocks to a new tower in Newark.

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Published: April 4, 2012

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Gov. Chris Christie

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Prudential Insurance, now in the Gateway complex in Newark, will receive $250.8 million in tax breaks to move a few blocks.

Since taking office in 2010, Gov. Chris Christie has approved a record $1.57 billion in state tax breaks for dozens of New Jersey's largest companies after they pledged to add jobs. Mr. Christie has emphasized that these are prudent measures intended to help heal the state's economy, which lost more than 260,000 jobs in the recession. The companies often received the tax breaks after they threatened to move to New York or elsewhere.

The generous distribution of subsidies in New Jersey has come under fire from government-reform groups, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City and some New Jersey landlords, who contend that the programs are an expensive and ineffective form of assistance to wealthy corporations.

The critics pointed out that even when the promised jobs have not materialized, the Christie administration has merely reduced, not withdrawn, the subsidies. And they say that the administration is mortgaging the state's future by forgiving so much tax revenue for the next 10 to 15 years.

"Christie has taken this to a whole different level; it's become a feeding trough," said Deborah Howlett, executive director of New Jersey Policy Perspectives, a liberal policy organization. "It seems ridiculous to steal jobs from one city in the state and move them to another city a couple miles away. There just doesn't seem to be any benefit to taxpayers."

Mr. Christie, who has portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative, has in particular used a new program, the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program, for the subsidies. The program, which is intended to encourage development around nine cities, offers tax credits equal to 100 percent of some capital investments.

"This is another success story about one of our largest businesses choosing to stay in New Jersey, continue to grow and invest in our state and people," Mr. Christie said at Panasonic's groundbreaking in October. "This project directly benefits New Jerseyans by keeping over 800 jobs here, creating up to 200 new, permanent positions, and spurring private investment."

Under the program, the Christie administration has granted more than $900 million in state tax credits over 10 years to 15 companies, including Panasonic, Goya, Prudential and Campbell's Soup. The companies have promised to add 2,364 jobs, or $387,537 in tax credits per job, over the next decade.

The most controversial of those deals is also the largest.

The state approved up to $250 million in tax credits last year for Prudential, Newark's most important corporate citizen, to build a new office tower. The company acknowledged that the jobs were not "at risk" of leaving the state and that renewing its leases at three buildings in the nearby Gateway complex were the "low-cost options by a wide margin when compared to the cost of new construction."

The $250.8 million in tax credits, however, made the office tower project possible. In return, Prudential claimed it would create 400 new jobs, including 100 coming from outside New Jersey. The other new jobs were based on the company's past growth patterns, which presumably would occur at either location.

The three landlords at Gateway filed a lawsuit in December to block the tax credits, arguing that the loss of Prudential, which leased a combined 922,000 square feet, would have a "devastating financial impact" on both Gateway and Newark, as the office vacancy rate shot up.

They contended that Prudential would have renewed its lease if not for the state's intervention in the form of tax credits. The state's decision, the landlords said, amounted to "corporate welfare at its worst."

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Two Arrested for Shootings of Black Residents in Tulsa

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Authorities in the central U.S. plains city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, have charged two men with murder in connection with shootings Friday that left three black people dead and two others wounded. Bail for the two suspects was set at $9.1 million.

Photo: AP

This photo combo of images provided by the Tulsa Police Department via the Tulsa World shows Jacob England, left, and Alvin Watts.

Police arrested the two suspects without incident early Sunday morning, putting an end to two days of anxiety in Tulsa's black community. The two suspects are 19-year-old Jake England and 32-year-old Alvin Watts.

Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham tells VOA that the arrest of the two suspects has brought relief to a city where black residents in particular were worried about more violence. "Obviously there is still a lot of investigation to do, there are still a lot of questions that we are looking for, so we are not done; but having these two guys in custody really helps," he said.

On Sunday, ministers from African-American churches gathered with ministers and representatives of other communities in a service to commemorate the shooting victims. The Reverend Warren Blakney said such incidents are a threat not only to blacks, but to the entire city. "When one person is lost in our community, it diminishes all of us. We are affected by the death. We are affected by the shooting. We are affected by what happened," he said.

The shootings in Tulsa's black neighborhoods came at a time when questions were being raised about the shooting of a black teenager in Florida by a Hispanic man who was part of a neighborhood watch group. Although Tulsa has not had any major racial problems in recent years, the city does have a stain in its history from a 1921 riot, in which mobs of white men attacked blacks, who fought back. Unofficial tallies of the dead run as high as 300, with blacks making up the majority of victims.

But Jason Willingham says the legacy of that tragedy has spurred the community to promote racial harmony and to act quickly to deal with incidents like last week's shooting spree. "Certainly the 1921 race riot is something that, obviously, we are not proud of; however, because those events occurred, we are a better community today. I would not even come close to describing Tulsa, Oklahoma, as a hotbed for racial tension. While we have our problems, just like any community, I would say it is a peaceful community and racial tension is minimal," he said.

Although both suspects appear to be white, an acquaintance of Jake England describes him as being of Cherokee Indian descent. A large percentage of people in eastern Oklahoma have Native American blood because the area was used for relocation of eastern tribes in the 19th century before Oklahoma became a state.

England's father died two years ago after being shot by a black man, and police say revenge may have been a motive in this case. Friends of the 19-year-old suspect also say he was emotionally distraught by the suicide of his fiance in January. In postings England reportedly made on Facebook last week, he used a racial slur in referring to the man who killed his father.

African-American community leaders say they believe the shooters were motivated by racial prejudice, given the fact that all the victims were black, but they praise the police for having responded quickly to stop further violence.

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China Rights Group Missing Dissidents Relatives Arrested

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A U.S.-based China rights organization says blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng is under U.S. protection but that two of his realtives have been arrested.

Photo: VOA Chinese Kuofu

A rally in California supporting Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng.

Listen to Ira Mellman's interview with Bob Fu.

Speaking to VOA late Sunday, ChinaAid President Bob Fu said Chen is safe and at a location far from his home, but the only option left for him might be to flee to the United States.

Citing sources close to Chen, Fu said more than two dozen military police reportedly arrested Chen's elder brother and nephew Friday morning, the same day Chen allegedly went into U.S. protection.  Chen's wife, daughter and mother reportedly still are under very tight house arrest.

The United States has expressed concern about Chen's fate, but refused all comment on his whereabouts, amid reports he fled to the U.S. embassy in Beijing.

In an interview with Fox News Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan, said Mr. Obama will do whatever he thinks is in the best interest of the United States, as well as the individuals involved.  Brennan would not confirm when Chen was in U.S. custody, but reiterated the importance of U.S -China relations.

Chen, a lawyer and activist, was arrested after documenting abuses in China's policy on restricting the size of most families.  He disappeared Sunday from Dongshigu village in the eastern province of Shandong, although authorities did not realize he was missing until Thursday.  It is not clear where he went, but his friend and fellow activist Hu Jia said he believed that Chen was admitted into the embassy Friday.

U.S. diplomats there declined any comment and a spokesman for the Chinese government said he knew nothing of the reports.

The development comes days before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are due to visit Beijing for talks.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said at a briefing in Beijing Saturday on the upcoming talks that he had no information on Chen's case.

In Washington, U.S. Republican Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, told VOA he is relieved that Chen has escaped. Smith chairs a commission on China that includes members of Congress and presidential appointees, the Congressional-Executive Commission on the People's Republic of China.

But Smith expressed concern about the safety of Chen's family and supporters in China.

A relative of Chen told VOA that many police officers, some armed, have converged on his home in Dongshigu.

In a video posted online Friday, Chen detailed the abuses he and his family have allegedly suffered in his year-and-a-half under house arrest.  He also called on Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to investigate human rights abuses in China.

Chen, who campaigned against forced abortions under China's "one child" policy, had been held under house arrest since he was released from a four-year prison sentence in September 2010.

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General Orders Review of Military Schools After Class Is Told U.S. Is at War With Islam

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WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has ordered military schools to make sure they are not including anti-Islamic themes in training courses, the Defense Department said on Wednesday, after complaints surfaced about the curriculum in a course dealing with terrorism and radicalism.

By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr.

Published: April 25, 2012

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The chairman, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey , ordered the review after students questioned some of the teachings in a class called Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism, which was being taught to midlevel officers at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va.

General Dempsey's order was first reported by Danger Room , the national security blog of Wired magazine. It quoted his deputy for training, Lt. Gen. George Flynn, as calling the course "inflammatory" for including the message that Islam was at war with the United States.

"Our concern is there are some unprofessional things being taught to students in professional military educational curriculum," Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Wednesday.

The review comes at a time of heightened sensitivity over the American military's stance toward Islam, driven by events in Afghanistan like the inadvertent burning of Korans and the desecration of militants' remains by troops.

The Pentagon asked for a curriculum review last year, in response to similar complaints about training by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on countering extremism, as well as related Defense Department lectures. General Dempsey's new order seemed to reflect his irritation that the latest complaints "caused me to question whether all parties understood the spirit and intent" of the earlier effort.

He said that military instructors and guest lecturers appeared to be "advocating ideas, beliefs and actions that are contrary to our national policy, inconsistent with the values of our profession and disrespectful of the Islamic religion."

Captain Kirby said that Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta "completely endorses the chairman's intention to look at joint professional military education across the board to make sure we have done an adequate scrub on the content of this type of curriculum."

Among the course materials was a slide that said that "the United States is at war with Islam, and we ought to just recognize that we are at war," Captain Kirby said.

"That's not at all what we believe to be the case," Captain Kirby added. "We're at war with terrorism, specifically Al Qaeda, who has a warped view of the Islamic faith. That's just one example.

"These assertions are not in keeping with our principles or ideas," he said. "We believe the right thing to do was to suspend the course due to some of the things that were presented in the course."

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: May 1, 2012

An article on Thursday about the Pentagon's review of anti-Islam themes taught in military classrooms gave an outdated name for a Defense Department school where students complained about the curriculum. It is the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., not the Armed Forces Staff College.

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Corrections April 30

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An article on Thursday about the shooting death of an unarmed young black man in Georgia gave an unofficial height from the Toombs County Sherriff's Office for Norman Neesmith, who killed the young man. While the authorities said Mr. Neesmith is 6-foot-2, that was the height he gave them. As a height chart in an accompanying picture taken during his booking showed, he is closer to 5-foot-11.

Published: April 30, 2012

NATIONAL

•

An article on Friday about a magnetic sense that helps birds navigate misidentified an iron-containing substance found in a recent analysis of beaks. It is ferrihydrite, not magnetite. (The study found that the cells containing the substance were not involved in navigation.)

BUSINESS DAY

The listing of magazine ad pages in the Most Wanted chart last Monday included incorrect percentage-change figures for three magazines. Texas Monthly had an increase of 25.6 percent, not 157.8 percent, from May 2011 to May 2012; Chicago magazine had a decline of 9.3 percent, not a gain of 70.9 percent; and People en Español had a decline of 14.7 percent, not a gain of 97.9 percent. A corrected chart can be found at nytimes.com/media .

SPORTS

An article on April 20 about safety concerns in ocean racing events in the wake of five recent deaths in the Full Crew Farallones Race off San Francisco misstated the number of sailors who died during the 1982 Doublehanded Farallones race, which took place in the same area. Four sailors, not eight, died in the race.

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Burmese Democracy Party Skips Parliament Opening

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Burma's parliament held its opening session Monday, without Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 of her newly elected colleagues from the National League for Democracy.

Photo: AP

Lower House lawmakers attend a regular session of parliament in Naypyitaw, Burma, April 23, 2012.

The main opposition party campaigned on pledges to amend the country's constitution. They are now holding up their participation in government over objections to the oath that all parliament members swear at the opening of each legislative session.

NLD party spokesperson Nyan Win and Aung San Suu Kyi herself have insisted they do not intend to boycott the parliamentary session, and that they believe the objection to the wording of the oath is an issue they can solve quickly.

They say they want the oath changed to say parliamentarians will "respect" rather than "safeguard" the constitution, which was drafted by the former military government.

U Thein Nyunt, former NLD member, political prisoner, and founder of the New National Democracy Party, has been a member of parliament since he was elected in 2010.  He said he is saddened not to be joined by other members of the opposition in parliament on Monday.

He said he expected to see the NLD leaders with whom he has worked since 1990, and also some young leaders who have very good prospects to do good work for the country, but it did not happen.

Thein Nyunt said he worries the NLD decision could harm voter confidence.

Visiting fellow at Australia National University Trevor Wilson pointed out that the NLD had previously objected to the wording of the oath as it appeared in the election law, which was changed by the government and the parliament so that the NLD could participate in the by-election.

"The NLD is being perfectly consistent in what they're saying, but they don't seem to have acknowledged that there is a legal process that has to be negotiated with the parliament about changing the oath of office as there would be with any parliament," Wilson said.

Wilson suggested that the NLD might have to take a more conciliatory approach, to build a coalition in parliament that can pass reforms.

President Thein Sein told reporters in Tokyo Monday that he does not intend to change the constitutional oath, but he is still committed to the country's ongoing political reforms.

Aung Thaung, a member of the USDP, the ruling government party, is one of the chief negotiators in talks aimed at ending conflicts with armed ethnic groups in border areas. Many ethnic groups see Aung San Suu Kyi as key to resolving the long-running conflicts.

Aung Thaung says the government will continue with peace talks with ethnic groups - with or without the NLD leader.

Leaders of the National League for Democracy say they are hopeful the standoff over the oath can be resolved within 10 days.

Sanctions on Burma

United States Apr. 17, 2012: U.S. Treasury allows U.S. based groups to do charity and humanitarian work in Burma. Apr. 4, 2012: Announced sanctions will be further eased. Arms embargo, bans investment in Burma and most imports.	Europe Apr. 23, 2012: Suspends trade and economic sanctions for one year. Apr. 13, 2012: British Prime Minister David Cameron called for further easing of sanctions during a visit to Burma. Feb. 2012: Lifted visa restrictions on some top officials. Bans weapons sales, restricts exports, imports and investments.
Australia Apr. 16, 2012: Lifted travel restrictions, except on senior military officers and human rights abuse suspects. Imposed sanctions against members of Burma's leadership in 2007.	Canada Apr. 12, 2012: Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said sanctions are under review. Banned exports of arms and all non-humanitarian goods in 1988.
Japan Announced it would resume full development assistance in February 2012 after nine-year freeze.

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Vietnam, RoK enhance financial cooperation

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During his meeting with Minister of Strategy and Finance Bahk Jae-wan on March 27 as part of his visit to the RoK, Minister Hue expressed his hope that the growing cooperation between the two ministries will foster bilateral economic and trade relations.

The Finance Ministry of Vietnam will actively work with the RoK Strategy and Finance Ministry, as well as RoK investors in Vietnam, to build an open, transparent and friendly business environment for investors to carry out long-term operation.

Minister Bahk Jae-wan thanked the Vietnamese Government and the Finance Ministry in particular for their support for RoK agencies and enterprises operating in Vietnam.

He spoke highly of new cooperative contents between the two sides, showing his belief that comprehensive cooperation will see further developments, contributing significantly to the two countries' strategic partnership.

At his talks with President of Korea Eximbank Kim Dong-soo, Minister Hue praised the bank's positive contributions and effective operation in Vietnam, especially the comprehensive cooperation between the Finance Ministry and Korea Eximbank.

They also reviewed Vietnam-RoK cooperative activities in preferential loan provision and talked about orientations for future cooperation.

Minister Hue called for Korea Eximbank's further support given Vietnam's high demand for investment in infrastructure.

The bank executive informed that the RoK government will continue to invest in infrastructure, green growth projects and climate change programmes in Vietnam.

The same day, Finance Minister Hue also met with National Tax Service Commissioner Lee Hyun-dong to evaluate the two agencies' cooperative programme.

Lee Hyun-dong affirmed that the RoK National Tax Service is willing to cooperate effectively with the Vietnam General Department of Taxation, contributing to the development of the Vietnam-RoK strategic partnership.

The RoK is one of the most important partners of Vietnam in the fields of economics, investment, culture, education and labour, while Vietnam is an important partner of the RoK in Southeast Asia.

It is always among the top three investors in Vietnam. In 2011, the country committed 411.8 million USD to Vietnam, a year-on-year increase of 39 percent.-VNA

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43,000 children access eye care in Ba Ria Vung Tau

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Around 1,500 children from 68 schools in the districts of Xuyen Moc and Dat Do will receive free glasses while the project will also provide eye care training courses for 1,814 teachers and 68 eyecare workers.

BA RIA-VUNG TAU–

The project is part of the Viet Nam Australia Vision Support Program which is a component of a AUD $45 million(US$47million) project between the Australian Agency for International Development and the Avoidable Blindness Initiative to reduce incidents of and improve quality of life for people with vision impairment and blindness in South East Asia and the Western Pacific Region.

Nguyen Viet Giap, director of the provincial eye centre said they had a high rate of blindness for people over 50, while many school children were not aware of impaired vision.

May Ho, ICEE Programme Manager for Viet Nam said "about nine million people in Viet Nam are affected by eye problems, but access to eyecare is difficult for those living in rural and remote areas."

In 2008, the ICEE began working with the Viet Nam National Institute of Ophthalmology with the aim of assisting the development of optometry training in the country. – VNS

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Report Disputes Christies Basis for Halting Tunnel

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Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey exaggerated when he declared that unforeseen costs to the state were forcing him to cancel the new train tunnel planned to relieve congested routes across the Hudson River, according to a long-awaited report by independent Congressional investigators.

By KATE ZERNIKE

Published: April 10, 2012

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Gov. Chris Christie said he canceled a project because of cost concerns.

Related

• M.T.A. Chief Rules Out Subway Line to New Jersey (April 4, 2012)

• Christie Halts Train Tunnel, Citing Its Cost (October 8, 2010)

• Times Topic: Trans-Hudson Passenger Rail Tunnel (ARC)

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In North Bergen, N.J., the entrance to the Hudson River rail tunnel that was being built.

The report by the Government Accountability Office , to be released this week, found that while Mr. Christie said that state transportation officials had revised cost estimates for the tunnel to at least $11 billion and potentially more than $14 billion, the range of estimates had in fact remained unchanged in the two years before he announced in 2010 that he was shutting down the project. And state transportation officials, the report says, had said the cost would be no more than $10 billion.

Mr. Christie also misstated New Jersey's share of the costs: he said the state would pay 70 percent of the project; the report found that New Jersey was paying 14.4 percent. And while the governor said that an agreement with the federal government would require the state to pay all cost overruns, the report found that there was no final agreement, and that the federal government had made several offers to share those costs.

Canceling the tunnel, then the largest public works project in the nation, helped shape Mr. Christie's profile as a rising Republican star, an enforcer of fiscal discipline in a country drunk on debt. But the report is likely to revive criticism that his decision, which he said was about "hard choices" in tough economic times, was more about avoiding the need to raise the state's gasoline tax, which would have violated a campaign promise. The governor subsequently steered $4 billion earmarked for the tunnel to the state's near-bankrupt transportation trust fund, traditionally financed by the gasoline tax.

A spokesman for the governor, Michael Drewniak, said Mr. Christie's statement of costs had included $775 million to build a new portal bridge, which was required as part of the project. The 70 percent, he said, included the costs that would have been paid for by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is run by both states, as well as federal highway and stimulus funds earmarked for New Jersey. Counting those costs, which the report does not do, would put the state's share at 65.5 percent.

As for the state's share of the overruns, Mr. Drewniak said the federal government "offered no significant increase in outright funding that would significantly mitigate the costs to New Jersey."

"The bottom line is that the G.A.O. report simply bears out what we said in the fall of 2010 and say to this day: the ARC project was a very, very bad deal for New Jersey," he added, using the acronym for the project, known as Access to the Region's Core.

Martin E. Robins, the founding director of the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University and an early director of the ARC project, criticized the governor. "In hindsight, it's apparent that he had a highly important political objective: to cannibalize the project so he could find an alternate way of keeping the transportation trust fund program moving, and he went ahead and did it," he said.

Shutting down the tunnel project extinguished the best hope to relieve the increasing congestion not only between New Jersey and Manhattan, but also along the popular high-speed route between Boston and Washington. Now, Amtrak and New Jersey trains share two 100-year-old single-track tunnels under the Hudson. As the report notes, those tracks now operate at capacity, and demand for mass transit between New Jersey and Manhattan is expected to grow 38 percent by 2030.

One 15-minute disruption, the report said, ripples out to affect 15 other Amtrak and New Jersey trains. Last month, problems on the two tracks on two consecutive days sent delays rippling out along the Northeast.

The governor said when he canceled the project that he hoped New York City or federal officials would find another solution But last week, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said one of those, a proposed extension of the No. 7 subway line to New Jersey, was not going to happen "in anybody's lifetime." Congress gave Amtrak $15 million to study a tunnel that would expand capacity by about half as much as the ARC project, but the money to build the tunnel is uncertain.

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National Briefing | Mid-Atlantic

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Pennsylvania: Nun Testifies About Being Fired

By JON HURDLE

Published: April 9, 2012

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A Roman Catholic nun testified Monday that she was fired from her job as director of religious education at a Pennsylvania parish after reporting her suspicions about a priest who had been convicted of receiving child pornography . Sister Joan Scary said at the landmark sexual abuse trial of two priests from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia that she reported her suspicions about another priest, Edward M. DePaoli, to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua in 1996. Father DePaoli, who was convicted on child pornography charges in 1986 and sentenced to probation, had been receiving magazines of a sexual nature at an office where Sister Scary worked. In May 1996, she said she sent one of the magazines to Cardinal Bevilacqua with an anonymous note expressing her concern. She told the court that the Rev. James Gormley, the pastor of the parish where she was working, later fired her. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she allowed prosecutors to refer to other abuse cases to allow jurors to understand the church's pattern of response.

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Tonino Guerra, Poetic Italian Screenwriter, Dies at 92

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Tonino Guerra, a prolific Italian screenwriter and poet whose roster of film collaborators, including Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Andrei Tarkovsky and Theo Angelopoulos, amounted to a who’s who of European cinema’s golden age, died on Wednesday at his home in Santarcangelo di Romagna, in northern Italy near the Adriatic coast. He was 92.

By DENNIS LIM

Published: March 23, 2012

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Tonino Guerra, center, with Wim Wenders and Jeanne Moreau, being honored at the European Film Awards in 2002.

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His death was announced on the Web site of the Tonino Guerra Cultural Association.

In a screenwriting career covering a half-century, Mr. Guerra earned three Academy Award nominations and had a long partnership with Antonioni. Their first collaboration, the enigmatic "L’Avventura" (1960), was also the film that put Antonioni on the world cinema map and forever linked him with the quintessential modernist theme of alienation.

In the fruitful decade that followed, Mr. Guerra and Antonioni worked together on "La Notte" (1961), "L’Eclisse" (1962) and "Red Desert"(1964), then ventured abroad to capture the restless energy of youth-culture epicenters: swinging London in "Blow-Up" (1966) and radicalized, disillusioned California in "Zabriskie Point" (1970).

They collaborated on 10 films in all, including Antonioni’s final one, a short called "The Dangerous Thread of Things." Part of the 2004 omnibus "Eros," it appeared along with short films by Steven Soderbergh and Wong Kar-wai.

Most major film careers in Italy from the second half of the 20th century intersected at some point with Mr. Guerra’s. He wrote three films with Fellini, including "Amarcord" (1973), which drew on their shared memories of growing up in the Emilia-Romagna region. He worked with several generations of his countrymen, including Francesco Rosi ( "Lucky Luciano" ), Mario Monicelli ("Casanova ’70"), the Taviani brothers ("The Night of the Shooting Stars"), Marco Bellocchio ("Henry IV") and Giuseppe Tornatore ( "Everybody’s Fine" ). And he played a key role as Italian cinema moved away from the neo-realism of the postwar years to incorporate stylization and artifice.

His Oscar-nominated screenplays were for "Casanova ’70," "Blow-Up" and "Amarcord." Outliving many of his best-known collaborators, he received numerous honorary awards in his later years, including lifetime achievement awards at the Venice Film Festival in 1994, the European Film Awards in 2002 and the David di Donatello Awards (the Italian Oscars) in 2010. He also received the Writers Guild of America West’s Jean Renoir Award for Screenwriting Achievement in 2011.

In the second half of his career Mr. Guerra’s affiliations with Tarkovsky and Angelopoulos — who could be considered Antonioni’s spiritual heirs — sealed his reputation as a writer with a questing, poetic sensibility, a hand-in-glove fit for directors who specialized in existential matters and the mysteries of interior life.

His close friendship with Tarkovsky led to one co-written screenplay, for the 1983 film "Nostalghia," which describes the meeting between a Russian poet and an Italian madman, and one co-directed documentary, "Voyage in Time" (1983).

Mr. Guerra’s long association with Angelopoulos began with the 1984 film "Voyage to Cythera," which won the best screenplay award at Cannes, and continued until Angelopoulos’s last completed film, "The Dust of Time" (2008). It was also the last film Mr. Guerra worked on, at age 88. (Angelopoulos died in January.)

Antonio Guerra was born to a peasant family on March 16, 1920, in Santarcangelo di Romagna, near Rimini. His father was a fisherman and fishmonger. In an autobiographical essay published in 1985, he wrote that his mother was illiterate and that he taught her to read and write.

Captured and sent to a German concentration camp during World War II , Mr. Guerra started writing poetry in the Romagnole dialect. His first collection of poems was published in 1946 under the title "I Scarabocc" ("Scribblings").

After working as a teacher for a few years, he moved to Rome in 1952 and fell into film circles through a friend, Elio Petri, who would himself become a writer and director.

Mr. Guerra’s first screenplay credit, shared with Petri and several others, was on "Men and Wolves," a 1956 film by Giuseppe De Santis. Mr. Guerra devoted most of his energies to screenwriting in his 30s and 40s, but after turning 50 he resumed writing and publishing poetry (in his local dialect) and occasionally fiction (in standard Italian).

He is survived by his second wife, Lora, and a son, Andrea Guerra, a film composer.

Mr. Guerra was sometimes asked to reconcile his roles as poet and screenwriter. "My poems were an essence of images," he said in an interview when he was 80. "They had the cinema inside them before I started working for it."

In a preface to a collection of his screenplays, Antonioni described his collaborative process with Mr. Guerra as one of "long and violent arguments," which he found "helpful." Their rapport, he added, allowed him to "keep quiet as long as I wish without feeling embarrassed."

"And for this he’s even more helpful," Antonioni wrote.

Angelopoulos likened Mr. Guerra to a devil’s advocate and a psychoanalyst. But the most tangible record of Mr. Guerra’s collaborative role can be found in "Voyage in Time," which chronicles his travels through Italy with Tarkovsky, scouting landscapes and exchanging thoughts on life and cinema, as the screenplay for "Nostalghia" took shape in their heads.

Mr. Guerra’s own ideas about screenwriting were modest. He described a script in utilitarian terms, as "something dead," "a structure you need for a film." But he also admitted, "I believe I have given a little bit of poetry to all the directors I worked with."

He continued to write into his 80s but also found time to paint and create sculpture. And he became a household face in Italy as the star of a series of commercials for an electronics retailer, delivering the catchphrase "Optimism is the perfume of life."

A trailer for a documentary in progress on his life and work, titled "3XTonino," opens with a quote from Mr. Guerra on screen. It reads: "Death isn’t that awful. After all, it comes only once."

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Indias Defense Minister Dismisses Reports India Not Battle Ready

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Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony waves while sitting in the cockpit of an Indian Air Force Mi-17 V5 helicopter during its induction ceremony in New Delhi, India, Feb. 17, 2012.

Photo: AP

India's defense minister has dismissed reports that the country is not battle ready. The assurances follow recent concerns expressed by India's army chief about the country's defense preparedness.

Defense Minister A.K. Antony denied on Tuesday news reports that ammunition for tanks in the Indian army was down to four days of reserves. He was speaking in New Delhi on the sidelines of a conference of the Indian Air Force.

"They are all rumors. They are all rumors you see," said Antony.

Antony said there are some shortcomings, but authorities are working toward improvements. He said India cannot expect 100 percent requirements to be fulfilled. The minister stressed, however, that the country is battle ready.

"India is in a much, much better strong position compared to the past. On the whole, Indian armed forces are now well prepared and they are in a much more better position to meet any challenges to our integrity," said Antony.

Questions have been raised about India's defense preparedness since the letter by the army chief to the prime minister turned the spotlight on what he called glaring weaknesses in the country's defense capabilities. In the leaked confidential letter, the army head said India's armored regiments were devoid of critical ammunition to defeat enemy tanks and that essential weapons are in short supply.

A parliamentary panel has summoned the heads of the army, navy and air force, later this month, to seek their opinion on the state of India's defense readiness. Domestic news reports say the panel is concerned about a shortage of critical ammunition.

In recent years, authorities have undertaken a massive modernization drive to upgrade defense equipment of the armed forces.

But, as a strategic affairs specialist with New Delhi's Center for Policy Research, Bharat Karnad, explained, enough attention may not have been given to stockpiles of ammunition, as the focus remains on buying military hardware.

"So, between replenishment of stores and spares, and that kind of stockpile that will help you sustain war fighting, and maybe the services sometimes overstress the acquisition of hardware rather than ensuring they have war fighting capabilities, which is what stockpiles of spares and so on helps you do," said Karnad. "Perhaps that is where the Indian services generally go wrong. But the correction is very easily put into place and is being done."

India has the world's third largest army, which is largely equipped with Soviet-era military equipment.

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