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February 04, 2012 | | RETURNS As Facebook’s IPO approaches, one venture capital firm—Accel Partners—is poised to land what’s likely the biggest payoff in history. Gary Rivlin on their 800-to-1 return. RALLY The bitter cold in Moscow didn’t deter protesters Saturday, as an estimated 100,000 marched against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the largest protest yet while smaller protests were organized across the country. At the same time, thousands of others staged a Moscow rally in support of the embattled leader. Police said 90,000 were at the pro-Putin rally. But some were suspicious of the large numbers of Putin supporters since many trade unions have been known to pressure their members to attend.The protests are timed one month ahead of the country’s March 4 presidential election, which Putin is expected to win. IN THE BAG Mitt Romney is looking to clean up in Saturday’s caucus in Nevada—he won the state with 51 percent of the vote in 2008. A survey commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow reported that Romney had 45 percent support of likely caucus-goers, with 25 percent going for Newt Gingrich, 11 percent for Santorum and Ron Paul coming in fourth with 9 percent. Part of Romney’s success comes from the state’s large Mormon population, which accounted for 25 percent of his voters in 2008 and could be a huge factor this time round. Despite the low poll numbers, Paul is hoping to come in second as the Texas congressman hopes to pick up votes in the rural Nevada counties, where he has been aggressively campaigning. TRAGEDY An estimated 260 people had been killed and hundreds others were injured by Syrian security activists in Homs on Saturday, according to opposition leaders in the country. “They’re ready to kill us all,” said Homs resident Abu Abdo Alhomsy. Activists said that the army used tanks, mortars and machine guns in the Khaldiyeh neighborhood, in what was believed to be an attack launched in retaliation after the opposition group Free Syrian Army attacked the government checkpoints and killed an estimated 10 soldiers. Reports were hard to get out of the city, and the Syrian government denied the high death toll. Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council will meet on Saturday in New York to discuss Syria—and could vote on a draft resolution that would pressure the government to end the deadly crackdown. NFL We ignore it for petty, selfish reasons—and this must stop, says Ken Sepkowitz. | | 
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