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What’sNews

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World-Widen The U.S. believes mem-bers of Hezbollah are smug-gling advanced guided-mis-sile systems into Lebanonfrom Syria, using the civilwar in Syria as cover. A1n A car bomb ripped througha Hezbollah stronghold in acrowded district of southernBeirut, killing five people. A5n Iraqi forces and allied tribes-men battled al Qaeda-linkedgunmen who ran rampant intwo main Sunni cities. A6n Afghan security forceshave come out on top in Hel-mand province, which foryears cost the U.S. dearly. A1n Three U.S. senators urgedAfghanistan’s Karzai to signa security pact and warnedagainst a detainee release. A6n Expanded Medicaid cov-erage in Oregon led to an in-crease in emergency-roomvisits, a new study found. A1n Consumers began test-driving insurance coverageunder the health-care law, insome cases hitting snags. A4n The U.S. warned that crudeoil from North Dakota’s Bak-ken Shale may be more flam-mable than other crude. B3n An illegal immigrant whopassed California’s bar examwas granted a law license bythe state’s highest court. A3n Former Pakistani rulerMusharraf suffered a heartproblemwhile going to his trialand was taken to a hospital. A7

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The dollar jumped as expec-tations of a resurgent U.S.

economy lured investors fromaround the globe. The euro wasthe most high-profile victimof the greenback’s rise. A1 Stocks kicked off the newyear with a selloff. The Dowindustrials shed 135.31 pointsto close at 16441.35. C1n U.S. factories finishedthe year on a high note andlooked to be building mo-mentum going into 2014. A2n A new enforcement teamwill focus on brokers withrepeated customer com-plaints and rule violations. C1nMacau’s gambling reve-nue rose 19% in 2013, furthercementing its position as theworld’s casino capital. B1n Cox bought back a stake inAutoTrader in a deal that im-plies a value of about $7 billionfor the auto marketplace. B1n FireEye is paying nearly$1 billion to buy Mandiant, acomputer security firm knownfor outing Chinese hackers. B5n U.S. airlines are bracingfor new restrictions on thehours pilots can put in be-hind the cockpit controls. B3n Fannie and Freddie col-lected $7.9 billion in 2013 insettlements with seven ma-jor financial institutions. C3n General Mills has startedproducing Cheerios free of ge-netically modified content. B1

Business&Finance

U.S. officials believe membersof Hezbollah, the militant groupbacked by Iran, are smugglingadvanced guided-missile systemsinto Lebanon from Syria piece bypiece to evade a secretive Israeliair campaign designed to stopthem.

The moves illustrate how bothHezbollah and Israel are usingSyria’s civil war as cover forwhat increasingly is seen as acomplex and high-stakes race toprepare for another potentialconflict—their own—in waysthat could alter the region’s mili-tary balance.

Some components of a power-ful antishipmissile system have al-ready beenmoved to Lebanon, ac-cording to previously undisclosedintelligence, while other systemsthat could target Israeli aircraft,ships and bases are being stored inexpanded weapons depots underHezbollah control in Syria, saycurrent and former U.S. officials.

Such guided weapons wouldbe a major step up from the“dumb” rockets and missilesHezbollah now has stockpiled,and could increase the group’sability to deter Israel in any po-tential new battle, officials say.

The movements appear toserve two purposes.

Iran wants to upgrade Hezbol-lah’s arsenal to deter future Israelistrikes—either on Lebanon or onIran’s nuclear program, U.S. andIsraeli officials say. In addition,

PleaseturntopageA6

By Adam Entous,Charles Levinson

and Julian E. Barnes

MilitantsUpgradeMissileThreatTo Israel

The dollar soared on the firsttrading day of 2014, as expecta-tions of a resurgent U.S. econ-omy lured investors fromaround the world.

The euro was the most high-profile victim of the greenback’ssurge. Its 0.6% drop, to $1.3670,was the biggest one-day per-centage decline against the dol-lar since November.

Emerging markets’ curren-cies also came under pressure,as investors took a dim view oftheir economic growth pros-pects. The Turkish lira sank to arecord low against the dollar,

partly because of political prob-lems in the country, while theSouth African rand tumbled toits weakest level against theU.S. currency since November2008. The Brazilian real fell to afour-month low.

Driving the greenback’s re-newed strength is anticipationthat U.S. economic growth thisyear will outpace the recoveryin Europe and other regions,which would boost the dollar’svalue by attracting more cash toU.S. shores. As the economyheals, the Federal Reserve is ex-pected to continue reducing, or“tapering,” its postcrisis stimu-lus program, a move that also

helps the dollar because itslows the injection of newmoney into the financial sys-tem.

Many investors made similarbets on the dollar’s strength atthe start of 2013, only to seethe U.S. currency slide as theeconomic recovery moved infits and starts. But as the yeardrew to a close, U.S. employ-ment data and housing figurespainted a rosier picture. TheFed, which shocked marketswhen it opted not to begin ta-

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BY NICOLE HONG

Investors Get Behind DollarAsHope Springs for Economy

SANGIN, Afghanistan—Aftermonths of hard fighting, Afghan se-curity forces have come out on topin a key province that for yearscost the U.S. and its allies dearly.

Helmand province, in the coun-try’s south, was once a major focus of Americantroops, an area thick with insurgents and theopium poppies that finance them.

Now, as U.S. and allied forces depart and leavethe local army and police in charge of security, theAfghans have emerged from the warm-weatherfighting season in nominal control of every heavilypopulated district of Helmand—a result that U.S.and Afghan commanders say should inject opti-mism into the often-gloomy debate over the coun-try’s future.

It is too early to declare victory in Helmand,says Col. B.J. Fitzpatrick, chief of staff for U.S. Ma-

rine forces in the province. But“what I will tell you,” he says, isthat in 2013, “the Afghans took leadresponsibility.”

In places such as Sangin, an im-portant Helmand province district,

“the Taliban threw a lot at them. Some would evensay they threw their best at them. And the secu-rity forces are still there,” he says. “The Talibancan’t beat them on the battlefield.”

The bulk of the U.S.-led international forces—perhaps all of them—are expected to have left Af-ghanistan by the end of this year. That will leavethe outcome of the 12-year war and the effort toleave a pro-Western country in this volatile part ofthe world in the hands of local forces.

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By Michael M. Phillipsin Sangin, Afghanistan,and Nathan Hodge

in Kabul

SELF-DEFENSE

Afghan Forces Score GainsAs U.S. Starts to Pull Back

Some supporters of PresidentBarack Obama’s health-careoverhaul say that putting unin-sured Americans on Medicaidwill reduce costly emergency-room visits by giving them moreaccess to care in other settings.

But a new study found the re-verse: A group of 10,000 low-in-come Oregon residents who re-cently obtained Medicaidcoverage visited ERs 40% moreoften than those without insur-ance.

The new Medicaid recipientsused ERs more often for all kindsof health issues, including prob-lems that could have beentreated in doctors’ offices duringbusiness hours, according to thestudy published Thursday in thejournal Science. Earlier studieshad found the same patientsused more of other medical serv-ices as well.

“Now we know—the hope thatMedicaid will save money turns

out not to be correct, at least inthe first two years,” said AmyFinkelstein, a Massachusetts In-stitute of Technology economistand a principal investigator ofthe study.

On average, the Medicaid re-cipients visited ERs in 12 Port-land-area hospitals 1.4 timesduring an 18-month period, com-pared with 1.02 visits for thecontrol group without insurance.Using $435 as the average costof an ER visit, the researcherscalculated that Medicaid in-creased annual ER spending by$120 a covered person. Hospitalsoften end up footing the bill foruninsured patients.

States are sharply divided byMedicaid expansion, the one partof the 2010 health-care law thatthe Supreme Court ruled op-tional in 2012. To date, 25 statesand the District of Columbiahave accepted the Obama admin-istration’s offer to finance ex-tending the Medicaid program to

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BY MELINDA BECK

Medicaid ExpansionDrives Up Visits to ER

Catching Some Air as Storm Barrels Down

DOUBLE DIAMOND: Milo Bloom, 10, skis over a snowbank next to a parked car in Portland, Maine, on Thursday. The Northeast braced for snow andfrigid temperatures on Friday, and airlines canceled at least 2,300 flights. The storm dropped 18 inches of snow over parts of Illinois earlier this week. A3

Robert

F.Bu

katy/A

ssociatedPress

As Christopher Vogel ap-proached a hot spot for Louisi-ana waterthrushes in a New Jer-sey state forest one spring day,the professional ornithologistcould hear the bird’s complexcrescendo of “CHEE-CHEE-CHEE-titi-WEE.”

But something didn’t seemquite right.

Then he spotted the trouble.The warble wasn’t coming froma bird. Rather, he said, a largeman in full birding regalia—khaki field vest, floppy sun hatand expensive binoculars—wasstanding there on a bridge, hisiPhone chirping away. It wasloudly playing the bird’s song,seemingly on a loop, in an effort

to lure the bird into view.“He thought he was alone. He

was being on the sly,” recalledMr. Vogel, 41 years old. “Andthen somebody caught him.”

“I told him, ‘You know that’s

exactly what you’re not sup-posed to be doing.’ ” Mr. Vogelthen snapped a photo of theman and threatened to post itonline for public shaming. Thebirder blanched, said nothing,went back to his car and left.

An otherwise peaceful pas-time has been roiled by conflictas digital field guides, and thesong recordings they include,have made birding easily acces-sible for anyone with a smart-phone and, sometimes, a porta-ble speaker. In a hobby wherereward has come from years ofquietly, patiently waiting out-doors and diligently studyingtechnical tomes, there is deepresentment of birders who arerelying on these easy-to-use—or

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BY SARAH PORTLOCK

High-Tech Tweets: That Lilting Lark May Be an iPhonei i i

Birders Squawk Over Increased Use of Apps in the Field

Louisiana waterthrush

Gambling’s Big Payoff in MacauGAMBLING REVENUE

IN BILLIONS

The Wall Street JournalSources: UNLV Center for Gaming Research;Nevada State Gaming Control Board

*Figure for 2013 is as of November

$50

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LasVegasstrip*

$45Macau

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BANKROLL: Analysts expect Macau, the only place in China wherecasino gambling is legal, to widen its lead this year on the Las VegasStrip. Macau’s numbers have defied concerns about China’s economy. B1

Sinking SpellSome currencies have tumbledagainst the dollar since December

The Wall Street Journal

Source: ICAP

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Turkish lira

Beirut bombing fuels tension... A5 Kerry seeks a Mideast deal... A5

U.S. factories show growth.... A2 Virtual ‘sucre’ targets dollar... C1

U.S. senators press Karzai on security accord...... A6

For the Journal’s new homefor tech news and reviews,visit WSJ.com/Tech.

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