January 5, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Tuesday, January 5, 2016

ON THE STUMP

Bill Clinton Kicks Off Tour for Hillary’s Campaign Former President Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole) Page 3

A2 UP

Tuesday 5 January 2016

FRONT

Allies follow Saudis in cutting ties with Iran JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead Monday and scaled back diplomatic ties to Iran after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence sparked by the Saudi execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.

is no limit to how far we will go.’”

The standoff began Saturday, when Saudi Arabia executed Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and 46 others convicted of terror charges — the largest mass execution carried out by the kingdom since 1980.

Al-Nimr was a central figure in the Arab Spring-inspired protests by Saudi Arabia’s

long vied for influence in the Middle East, with their rivalry deepening following the toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, which allowed Iran to assert dominance there, and the chaos of the Arab Spring, which gave rise to proxy wars in Syria and Yemen.

An early battleground was Bahrain, where the Shiite majority staged mass pro-

An Iranian woman holds up a poster showing Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent opposition Saudi Shiite cleric who was executed last week by Saudi Arabia, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

Allies of Saudi Arabia followed the kingdom’s lead and began scaling back diplomatic ties to Iran on Monday after the ransacking of Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic Republic, violence sparked by the Saudi execution of al-Nimr.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Sudan and the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain said they would sever ties with Iran, as Saudi Arabia did late Sunday. Within hours, the United Arab Emirates announced it would downgrade ties to Tehran to the level of the charge d’affaires, while other nations issued statements criticizing Iran.

The concerted campaign

by Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia highlights the aggressive stance King Salman and his son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have adopted in confronting Iran, a longtime regional rival. “What we have seen during the last 24 hours is unprecedented... It shows you Saudi Arabia has had enough of Iran and wants to send a message,” said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a political science professor at Emirates University. “This is the Saudis saying: ‘There

Shiite minority, who long denied advocating violence.

News of his execution has sparked Shiite protests from Bahrain to Pakistan.

In Iran, protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. By late Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom would sever its relations with Iran over the assaults, giving Iranian diplomatic personnel 48 hours to leave his country.

Iran expressed “regret” over the attacks on the diplomatic missions in a letter to the United Nations on Monday and vowed to arrest those responsible. In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Iran’s U.N. envoy Gholamali Khoshroo says more than 40 protesters have been arrested and that authorities are searching for other suspects.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have

tests in 2011 demanding political reforms from the Sunni monarchy. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates sent in troops to help quash the revolt, viewing it as an Iranian bid to expand its influence.

Bahraini officials have since accused Iran of training militants and attempting to smuggle arms into the country, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. In October, Bahrain ordered the acting Iranian charge d’affaires to leave within 72 hours and recalled its own ambassador after alleging Iran sponsored “subversion” and “terrorism” and funneled arms to militants.

Sudan, which has been looking to Saudi for aid since the secession of oilrich South Sudan in 2011, on Monday announced an “immediate severing of ties” over the diplomatic mission attacks. q

US treads warily as Iran and Saudi Arabia tensions ignite MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration tread warily Monday around inflamed tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia that threaten several key U.S. foreign policy objectives.

The White House said Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, while the official Saudi Press Agency reported that Kerry had spoken on Monday with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

U.S. officials said the administration is loath to insert itself into the row between Riyadh and Tehran but wants to ensure the viability of the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, nascent attempts to end Syria’s civil war and the Iran nuclear deal.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest called on both countries to show restraint and avoid further inflaming sectarian tensions between Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Shiite-ruled Iran. And he urged Saudi Arabia and Iran not to let the conflict derail fragile talks aimed at securing a cease-fire and a political transition to end the war in Syria.

“Hopefully they will continue to engage,” Earnest said. “It is so clearly in the interests of both countries to advance a political solution to the situation inside of Syria.”

Kerry is also planning to make a round of calls Monday to the foreign ministers of all the Sunni-led states in the Persian Gulf region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, officials said. Bahrain followed Saudi Arabia’s lead and severed diplomatic ties with Iran, while the UAE downgraded its diplomatic relations with it. In addition to Kerry, other senior U.S. diplomats were in close contact with Saudi and Arab officials over the weekend, according to the U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly to the delicate diplomacy.

The U.S. message to all is to urge calm and warn against overreaction that some fear could lead to a sectarian war, officials said.

Several officials said one of Washington’s primary and most immediate concerns is the potential effect the spat could have on the fragile cooperation in Iraq between the Iraqi security forces, which answer to an Iran-friendly government, and Sunni and Shiite militias that are fighting Islamic State extremists. That cooperation has shown gains in recent weeks, notably with the Iraqi recapture of the provincial capital of Ramadi from the Islamic State group.

Officials were preparing for a high-level U.S. conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to stress the importance of continuing the Iraqi government’s outreach to Sunni militias, the officials said.

Also of concern is the state of the Syrian peace effort, which is supposed to swing into high gear in late January with U.N.-sponsored negotiations between Saudi-backed opposition forces and the Iranian-supported government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A U.S. official said Kerry had spoken on Sunday with the U.N special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, to gauge any impact Saudi-Iranian developments might have on the planned Jan. 25 start of negotiations.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Bill Clinton kicks off tour for wife’s presidential campaign LISA LERER Associated Press NASHUA, New Hampshire (AP) — A subdued Bill Clinton offered a deeply personal endorsement of his wife’s presidential campaign Monday, telling voters that Hillary Clinton’s plans offer the best chance for the U.S. to achieve economic prosperity and a secure future.

The event marked the former president’s debut solo appearance for his wife’s campaign, part of a broader strategy to deploy Bill Clinton publicly in the run-up to early voting next month.

Clinton is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination in the state-by-state primary contests that begin in Iowa and New Hampshire next month. The Republican field remains crowded and unsettled, with several candidates looking to knock billionaire Donald Trump off the front-runner position. In a wide-ranging address that took voters through Hillary Clinton’s work as a young lawyer in Arkansas, ways to combat heroin addiction, the political achievements of President Barack Obama and the failings of America’s fourteenth president, Franklin Pierce, Bill Clinton argued that the Democratic frontrunner offers the best plan to restore “broadly shared prosperity.”

“I do not believe in my lifetime anybody has run for this job at a moment of great importance who was better qualified by knowledge, experience and temperament to do what needs to be done now,” he told several hundred New Hampshire voters gathered in a college auditorium.

His appearance comes after days of attacks over his impeachment and decades-old sex scandal by Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

“I don’t really care about Monica Lewinsky other than I think that Hillary was an enabler and a lot of things happened that were obviously very seedy,” Trump said in an

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for his wife, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in Nashua, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

interview with CNN Monday. “I mean, he was impeached, for heaven’s sake. He was impeached over this stuff.”

So far, Bill Clinton has remained silence about Trump’s slams - following the lead of his wife’s campaign, which believes their candidate comes across as more presidential by rising above what they see as the Republican’s crass political tactics.

He spoke calmly and quietly in New Hampshire on Monday, methodically describing the issues he sees as motivating voters in the next election. Clinton warned voters that the next president could appoint as many as three Supreme Court justices and reverse the health care law and environmental programs of the Obama administration.

Hillary Clinton, her husband said, offers the best path to economic prosperity, dealing with social problems like heroin addiction and foreign policy that doesn’t undermine the American character.

Still, some of Trump’s attacks seem to have struck a nerve. At a campaign event in New Hampshire on Sunday, Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien heckled Clinton about her husband’s sexual history, accusing her of enabling him to mistreat women.q

A4 U.S.

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NEWS

At Press Time:

Feds monitor armed group in Oregon, but keep their distance

Ammon Bundy, center, one of the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, walks off after speaking with reporters during a news conference at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore. Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights told reporters on Monday that two local ranchers who face long prison sentences for setting fire to land have been treated unfairly.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BURNS, Ore. (AP) — An armed anti-government group took over a remote national wildlife refuge in Oregon as part of a decades-long fight over public lands in the West, and federal authorities are keeping watch but keeping their distance.

The group came to the frozen high desert of eastern Oregon to contest the prison sentences of two ranchers who set fire to federal land, but their ultimate goal is to turn over the property to local authorities so people can use

it free of U.S. oversight.People across the globe have marveled that federal authorities have not moved to take back the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Residents say they have not seen a large presence of officers, and the government’s tactic generally is to monitor the situation from afar but leave them be as long as they don’t show signs of violence.

That’s how federal officials defused a high-profile 2014 standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy over grazing rights. Now Bundy’s two sons are leading the push in Oregon.

Ammon Bundy told reporters Monday that the group wants authorities to look into claims that local ranchers have been intimidated by the federal government.

Bundy spoke at the refuge south of Burns, Oregon. He said the group calls itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom and has sent a “demand for redress” to local, state and federal officials.

They want a response within five days. Bundy did not say what the group would do if they get no response.

Reporters have seen roughly 20 people at the remote

national facility.

The latest dispute traces its roots to the 1970s and the “Sagebrush Rebellion,” a move by Western states like Nevada to increase local control over federal land.

While ranchers and others complain of onerous federal rules, critics of the push for more local control have said the federal government should administer the public lands for the widest possible uses, including environmental and recreation.

Residents of the tiny town of Burns are concerned about the potential for violence.

Keith Landon, a longtime resident and employee at the Reid Country Store, said he knows local law enforcement officials who fear their kids will be targeted by the group.

“I’m hoping most of it’s just muscle, trying to push,” he said. “But it’s a scary thing.”

If the situation turns violent, Bundy contends that it will be because of the federal government’s actions.

“I mean, we’re here to restore order. We’re here to restore rights, and that can go peacefully and easily,” he said.

The ranchers whose cause has been the rallying cry also reject the group’s support. Dwight and son Steven Hammond were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006.

They served their original sentences — three months for Dwight and one year for Steven — but a judge ruled

that the terms were too short under federal minimum sentencing laws.

Both men were ordered back to prison for about four years each. They have said they plan to turn themselves in Monday.

Kendra M. Matthews, an attorney for the men, said Monday they will seek clemency from President Obama.

The Bundy brothers say the group plans to stay at the refuge as long as it takes.

They declined to say how many people were at the property where several pickup trucks blocked the entrance and armed men wore camouflage and winter gear.

The FBI is working with local and state authorities to “bring a peaceful resolution to the situation,” the bureau said in a statement late Sunday. It said it is the agency in charge and would not release details about the law enforcement response to ensure the safety of officers and those at the refuge.

Some are criticizing the lack of action, saying it is because those occupying the property are white.

Landon, the longtime Burns resident, said he sympathizes with the Bundys’ frustrations. Landon was a logger until the federal government declared the spotted owl a protected species in the 1980s, damaging the local logging industry.

“It’s hard to discredit what they’re trying to do out there. But I don’t want anybody hurt,” he said.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Obama: Gun actions consistent with 2nd Amendment

Attorney General Loretta Lynch listens as President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, during a meeting with law enforcement officials to discuss executive actions the president can take to curb gun violence. The president is slated to finalize a set of new executive actions tightening U.S. gun laws, kicking off his last year in office with a clear signal that he intends to prioritize one of the country’s most intractable issues.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

JOSH LEDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Monday defended his administration’s plans to tighten the nation’s gun-control restrictions without going through Congress, kicking off his last year in office with a clear signal that he intends to prioritize one of

the country’s most intractable issues.

The president has been looking for ways to work around a Republican-led Congress that has blocked his previous efforts to tighten gun laws in the wake of mass shootings. Obama has accused Republicans — and some Democrats — of being beholden to the

powerful gun industry lobby and opposing some measures he says a majority of Americans support, including expanded background checks on gun sales. But the issue of gun control bitterly divides Americans, with many viewing any attempt to regulate firearms as a possible infringement on their constitutional rights

to own guns.

Flanked by his attorney general and the head of the FBI, Obama insisted Monday that the steps he’ll announce fall within his legal authority and uphold the constitutional right to own a gun but offered few details about the list of recommendations he’s received and will come out with over the next few days.

Behind the scenes, though, Obama’s administration has been preparing an effort to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as federally licensed gun dealers.

“This is not going to solve every violent crime in this country,” Obama said, setting expectations for what he can do on his own. “It’s not going to prevent every mass shooting; it’s not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal.

It will potentially save lives and spare families the pain of these extraordinary losses.”

After all-but ignoring the issue in his first term, Obama changed course after the

December 2012 shooting that killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

The president failed to push a package of gun measures through Congress, including one expanding background checks.

At the same time, Obama took nearly two dozen executive actions to tighten gun laws, but left a major expansion of background checks out of the mix.

But after the shooting at a community college in Roseburg, Oregon in October, a weary and angry Obama ordered his staff to redouble the effort to look for ways to work around Congress.

On Thursday, Obama will take his argument to prime time, participating in a town hall discussion of gun violence on CNN. He’s slated to make his case for changes in his State of the Union address on Jan. 12.

Under current law, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to seek background checks on potential firearm purchasers. q

A6 U.S.

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NEWS

US repeals meat labeling law after trade rulings against it

Meat labels are seen at a grocery store in Washington. It’s now harder to find out where your meat was born, raised and slaughtered. After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress repealed a meat labeling law that required retailers to include the animal’s country of origin on packages of pork and beef.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

MARY JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers will now find it harder to learn where their beef or pork was born, raised and slaughtered.

After more than a decade of wrangling, Congress has repealed a labeling law that required retailers to in-

clude the animal’s country of origin on packages of red meat. It’s a major victory for the meat industry, which had fought the law in Congress and the courts since the early 2000s.

Lawmakers said they had no choice but to get rid of the labels after the World Trade Organization repeat-

edly ruled against them.

The WTO recently authorized Canada and Mexico, which had challenged the law, to begin more than $1 billion in economic retaliation against the United States.

“U.S. exporters can now breathe a sigh of relief,” said Republican Sen. Pat

Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee. The longtime opponent of the labels helped add the repeal to a massive year-end spending bill. After the law was passed, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government immediately would stop requiring the labels. Consumer groups say the repeal is a disappointment just as consumers are asking for more information on their food packages.

Advocates say the labels help people make more informed buying decisions and encourage purchases of American meat.

Before repeal, the labels told shoppers that a particular cut of meat was “born in Canada, raised and slaughtered in the United States” or “born, raised and slaughtered in the United States.” Congress first required the labels in 2002 amid fears of mad cow disease from imported cattle. The labels weren’t on most packages until 2009, though, due to delays pushed by the meat industry.

First-of-a-kind drug approvals continued rise in 2015 MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Approvals for first-of-a-kind drugs climbed last year, pushing the annual tally of new U.S. drugs to its highest level in 19 years.

The rising figures reflect an industry-wide focus on drugs for rare and hard-totreat diseases, which often come with streamlined reviews, extra patent protec-

tions and higher price tags.

The Food and Drug Administration approved 45 drugs with never-before-sold ingredients in 2015, edging past the previous year’s tally of 41, which had been the highest number since 1996.

FDA drug approvals are considered a barometer of industry innovation and the government’s efficiency in reviewing new therapies.

While the trend toward specialty medicines is good news for industry and patients, it is likely to stir debate about rising prescription drug prices.

That issue has become a top concern for consumers, a subject of congressional scrutiny and even an issue on the presidential campaign trail.

Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie

Sanders have both outlined proposals designed to curb prices.

The FDA is not allowed to consider prices when approving medicines, though some experts argue it should.

One of the most expensive drugs of the year was Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Orkambi for cystic fibrosis, priced at $259,000 for a year’s supply.q

Repeal became inevitable once the United States lost all its WTO appeals and the retaliation became a possibility. But the consumer groups criticized Congress for repealing the law for ground meat and pork in addition to the fresh cuts of meat that were the subject of WTO concerns.

The bill was “a holiday gift to the meatpacking industry from Congress,” complained the advocacy group Food and Water Watch. Meatpackers who buy Mexican cattle were some of the law’s most aggressive opponents.

The repeal also was a big defeat for lawmakers from northern border states where U.S. ranchers directly compete with Canadian ranchers. Those lawmakers insisted on including the labeling in the 2002 and 2008 farm bills and this year fought to replace it with a voluntary program once the WTO rulings came down. But after years of success, this time they were not able to find enough support.

Roger Johnson of the National Farmers Union, which has heavy membership in those states, said the group was “furious” about the repeal.

“Packers will be able to once again deliberately deceive consumers,” Johnson said.

Still, there was some good news for food labeling advocates in the spending bill. Despite an aggressive push by the food industry, lawmakers decided not to add language that would have blocked mandatory labeling of genetically modified ingredients. q

U.S. NEWS A7

Tuesday 5 January 2016

US Financial Front:

Factory slumps in US, China stoke global economy fears

A worker carries a roll of sub flooring to be installed in a school bus on an assembly line at Blue Bird Corporation’s manufacturing facility, in Fort Valley, Ga. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, issued its index of manufacturing activity for December, on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

(AP Photo/David Goldman)

C. S. RUGABER P. WISEMAN AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Fears escalated Monday that the global economy could struggle more than expected this year — a prospect that contributed to a plunge in financial markets.

The anxiety was heightened by reports that manufacturers extended their slumps last month in the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies. Factory activity contracted for a second straight month in the United States and for a 10th straight month in China.

By midafternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average had sunk more than 400 points — over 2 percent — though the fall was also due in part to rising tensions in the Middle East. Chinese stocks fell 7 percent before trading was halted.

The DAX index in Germany, whose export-led economy is sensitive to China’s prospects, tumbled 4.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 2.4 percent, France’s CAC 40 2.5 percent.

The manufacturing data made clear that the troubles that weighed on U.S. factories last year have yet to ease. Sluggish economies in major markets — from China to Europe to Japan — have depressed U.S. exports. That trend has been worsened by a strong dollar, which has made U.S. goods more expensive for foreigners.

Not all the news was bad. A cheaper euro has helped European manufacturing, which expanded at the fastest pace in 20 months in December, according to data firm Markit.

Still, China’s persistent sluggishness may be causing broader damage than previously thought, analysts say. China’s government is trying to shift its economy toward domestic consumption and away from a reliance on exports and investment in roads, factories and real estate.

Yet that transformation has proved difficult: China’s growth in the July-September quarter fell to 6.9 percent from a year earlier, the slowest pace in six

years.

China’s deceleration has been hugely disruptive for countries that have long exported commodities such as oil, copper and other metals to the Chinese market. China consumes, for example, about 60 percent of the world’s iron ore, which is used to make steel.

China’s declining appetite for such commodities has slowed growth in Australia, Brazil and Malaysia, among other economies.

The U.S. economy has also taken a hit: Its exports to China fell 4 percent in the first 10 months of last year compared with the same period in 2014.

“The global spillovers from China’s reduced rate of

growth ... have been much larger than we would have anticipated,” Maury Obstfeld, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, said in an interview Monday with an IMF publication.

Daniel Meckstroth, chief economist at MAPI, a manufacturing research group, said that many commodity-exporting countries, such as Australia, Malaysia and Chile, have also been forced to reduce their purchases ofU.S. goods as their own economies have slowed.

They “don’t have the export revenue, so they can’t import from the rest of us,” Meckstroth said. “China’s slowdown affects our abil-

ity to export to them.”

Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, said last week that China’s slowdown would likely keep commodity prices low for a “prolonged period.”

Writing in the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Lagarde predicted that “global growth in 2016 will be disappointing and uneven.”

Michael Arone, an investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, said such sentiments have unnerved financial markets.

“Investors were looking for a more hopeful start to 2016,” he said. “What they got were a lot of reminders of the risks that weighed on markets last year.”q

A8 U.S.

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NEWS

Sweden, Denmark:

Border checks introduced to stem flow of migrants

NICOLAS GARRIGA KARL RITTER Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark and Sweden tightened border checks on Monday to stem the flow of migrants com-

said.

The moves were the latest

by European Union countries to suspend an agreement to keep internal borders open after 1 million migrants entered the 28-nation bloc in 2015, most of

to seek asylum.”

To comply with the new rules, passengers on Monday had to show passports or European national ID cards to board trains departing from Copenhagen Airport to Sweden across a

Security staff check IDs at Kastrups train station outside Copenhagen, Denmark, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. Sweden requires train companies with service across a bridge-and-tunnel link from Denmark to refuse passengers without IDs. (Bjorn Lindgren / TT News Agency via AP)

ing in from Germany, dealing fresh blows to the vision of a Europe without national boundaries.

As of midnight Sunday, Sweden demanded that all passengers traveling by train from Denmark show ID, something that hasn’t been required since the 1950s.

Within hours, the Danish government announced it was stepping up controls of its border with Germany, to make sure that migrants headed for Sweden don’t get stuck in Denmark.

“The government doesn’t want Denmark to become a new big destination for refugees,” Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen

them by crossing the Mediterranean to Greece or Italy.

Loekke Rasmussen said if the EU can’t protect its external border “you will see more and more countries forced to introduce temporary border controls.”

Refugee rights advocates warned of a domino effect, with European countries tightening their borders one by one and cutting off the main migrant routes through Europe.

When the new Swedish rules were announced last month, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said they “could have the effect of preventing individuals from exercising the right

bridge-and-tunnel link. The move was meant to deter migrants, many of whom don’t carry travel documents.

The new rules appeared to have an immediate effect.

Swedish police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford said that by midday Monday only one asylumseeker had arrived by train across the bridge. At the height of the migrant crisis a few months ago, more than 1,000 asylum-seekers crossed the bridge daily.

Some commuters said the ID checks were a hassle that would make their life more difficult and hinder efforts to deepen business and cultural ties between

the Danish capital, Copenhagen, and cities in southern Sweden.

“Whether you are in Denmark or Sweden, it doesn’t matter to the people here,” said Richard Johansson, a 29-year-old Swede. “The people in our capital in Stockholm, they don’t realize that.”

Danish officials have suggested Sweden should pay for the cost of the ID checks, carried out by train operators on the Danish side at an estimated daily cost of 1 million kroner ($145,000).

“Some of the cost is due to the ID control. Other costs are due to the loss of income, because we have a decreasing amount of passengers because of this,” said Tony Bispeskov, a spokesman for Danish train operator DSB. Denmark beefed up its border controls with Germany as of noon Monday (1100 GMT, 6 a.m. EST).

The Danish prime minister said the move was necessary because the Swedish ID checks “could lead to more refugees and migrants being stopped on their journey northward, and therefore ending up with us in Denmark.”

He said the Danish measures wouldn’t be as farreaching as the Swedish ones, entailing only “spot checks” on passengers on trains crossing the mainland border on the Jutland peninsula and on ferries arriving in the Danish ports of Gedser and Roedby. He said there would be no problem for “ordinary” Danes and Germans to cross the border.

“We are not talking about controlling everyone coming in from Germany,” he said.

UK’s Cameron labels IS video as propaganda GREGORY KATZ Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday dismissed a new video in which five purported British spies are shot dead by masked Islamic State extremists as propaganda from a group that is losing control of territory in Syria and Iraq.

“It’s desperate stuff from an organization that really does do the most utterly despicable and ghastly acts and people can see that again today,” he said.

“But this is an organization that’s losing territory, it’s losing ground, it’s, I think, increasingly losing anybody’s sympathy.”

The 10-minute video concludes with footage of a young boy of about 4 or 5 wearing camouflage gear who makes a pointing gesture and says, “Go kill the kuffar (non-believer) over there.”

The extremists have frequently used young children in propaganda videos, said Olivier Guitta, director of the consulting group GlobalStrat.

“They are featured in various videos and interestingly are mostly sons of Western jihadists,” he said. “It shows that the new generation is already part of the fight to reclaim the Caliphate.”

British security officials are studying the video for clues about the identity of a masked man who speaks with a British accent on the video before shooting a captive in the head. The man, occasionally pointing a gun at the camera for emphasis, vows the extremists will soon invade Britain and establish Shariah law.

WORLD NEWS 9

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Hezbollah attacks Israeli troops on Lebanon border BRIAN ROHAN Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese militant group Hezbollah struck an Israeli armored patrol with a roadside bomb at the border on Monday and Israel responded by shelling the area, with no immediate word on casualties.

Hezbollah said the attack was carried out by a unit named for Samir Kantar, a prominent Lebanese militant killed in Syria last month. Hezbollah had blamed Israel and vowed to avenge his death, suggesting a possible motivation for Monday’s attack.

Hezbollah said it set off a large explosive device as the vehicles passed in the disputed Chebaa Farms area, destroying a Humvee and causing casualties among the soldiers inside.

The Israeli army said vehicles in the area were hit with an improvised explosive device and that it re-

sponded with targeted artillery fire. It did not say whether there were any casualties.

Hezbollah’s television channel Al-Manar said one of the vehicles targeted was carrying “a senior officer.”Tensions on the border have been high since Kantar, who carried out a notorious attack in Israel and spent nearly 30 years in an Israeli jail, was killed in Syria by an airstrike late last month.

Border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah have quickly escalated into allout war in the past, with one cross-border raid by the group in 2006 touching off a monthlong Israeli offensive that included a ground invasion and airstrikes that reached across all of Lebanon.

But with Hezbollah currently engaged in the Syrian civil war on the side of President Bashar Assad, and Israel free to target the group

IS attacks troops in Iraq, killing 11 SINAN SALAHEDDIN Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Islamic State militants attacked Iraqi troops and allied tribal fighters outside the western town of Haditha on Monday, killing at least 11 and wounding dozens, officials said.

Haditha councilman Khalid Suleiman said 30 troops were wounded in the attacks, which included a suicide car bombing and roadside bombs.

A medical official in Haditha confirmed the casualty figures on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to release information.

The attack comes a week after Iraqi troops backed

by U.S.-led airstrikes and Sunni tribesmen pushed

IS out of central Ramadi, capital of the sprawling Anbar province, which also includes Haditha.

Pockets of IS fighters remain to the east and north of the city and have launched daily counterattacks against Iraqi military positions, mostly using suicide car bombs.

Col. Steve Warren, the Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said most attacks were repelled with a combination of air support and the heavier weaponry Iraqi forces are now equipped with.

“ISIL’s standard tactic now is to go in with car bombs or truck bombs supported by infantry,” Warren said, using an alternative acronym for the group. q

in porous Syrian airspace, both sides seem too occupied elsewhere to opt for a new war in Lebanon.

Later Monday, Lebanese security officials said that more than 50 Israeli shells hit several villages in the

Palestinians stand inside a house that was demolished by the Israeli military in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Mukaber, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. The Israeli military says forces are demolishing and sealing off the Jerusalem homes of two Palestinians involved in deadly attacks against Israelis in the city last year. Both attackers were shot and killed at the scene.

(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

area where the Hezbollah operation was carried out.

Residents along the border said shelling from Israeli tanks and artillery landed in agricultural areas inside Lebanon, but did not report casualties.

The officials said the patrol was hit near an Israeli army position in the Kfar Chouba hills, which Beirut says is Lebanese land occupied

by Israel. The residents requested anonymity, saying they feared for their safety, while the officials did so in line with regulations.

The United Nations force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL said in a statement that it has further reinforced its presence on the ground and intensified patrols in coordination with the Lebanese army. q

A10 WORLD

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NEWS

Abe says summit with Putin needed to resolve territorial row ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin must take place in order for the countries to forge a peace treaty.

Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after World War II because of conflicting claims over islands north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido, which

Japan calls its “Northern Territories.”

When asked about Putin in a news conference, Abe said, “We both recognize that 70 years after the war’s end, to not have concluded a peace treaty is abnormal.”

“But without a summit meeting this Northern Territories problem cannot be resolved,” Abe said.

He also said it was crucial that Russia play a constructive role in fighting terrorism

and in the crises in Iran and Syria.

Since taking office in late 2012, Abe has sought to make progress on improved relations with Russia, but the conflict in Ukraine and other issues have complicated that effort.

Several tentative plans for a visit by Putin to Japan have been put off due to western concerns over Russia’s involvement in such crises.

Tokyo views this as a good

time to seek negotiations with Moscow over the territorial dispute, given Russia’s desire to boost foreign investment in its Far East region and its currency economic straits, local media have reported recently.

The four disputed islands were seized by the Soviet Union in 1945.

Earlier speculation suggested a compromise might allow the countries to split control of the islands: Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and

the Habomai islet group.

Over the past few years, both countries have sought to encourage more development of the resource rich area, with limited success.

Outlining his achievements over the past few years, Abe also said Japan’s often tense relations with China and South Korea are “normalizing” following a summit in Seoul and he hopes for further progress. q

Missing booksellers have Hong Kong leader ‘highly concerned’ KELVIN CHAN Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader said Monday that he was “highly concerned” about the recent disappearances of people associated with a publishing company in the city that specializes in titles critical of mainland China’s leadership.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying told reporters there’s no evidence so far to support suspicions that mainland security agents were involved.

Five people associated with Hong Kong publisher Mighty Current and its Causeway Bay Bookstore have vanished in recent months.

The disappearances have raised fears that Beijing is tightening its grip on Hong Kong, a semiautonomous

A woman walks past a book featuring a photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and former Politburo member and Chongqing city party leader Bo Xilai on the cover, at the entrance of the closed Causeway Bay Bookstore which is known for gossipy titles about Chinese political scandals and other sensitive issues that are popular with visiting tourists from the mainland in Hong Kong.

(AP Photo/Vincent Yu)

territory that enjoys civil liberties such as freedom of the press that don’t exist on

the mainland.

The latest and most startling case came last week,

when the publisher’s chief editor, Lee Bo, failed to return home after visiting a

book storage warehouse.

Four other people linked to the company went missing in October, but they were last seen either in mainlandChina or Thailand.

In Lee’s case, his wife told local media that he had called her from a number that indicated he was in Shenzhen, the mainland Chinese city next door to Hong Kong. That has led many to suspect that Chinese agents crossed over into Hong Kong, snatched Lee and spirited him to the mainland.

Late Monday, police issued a statement saying the missing person’s report involving Lee had been withdrawn, but that police would continue to investigate. It was not clear if that meant Lee had been located, and his wife could not be reached for comment. q

At least 1 gunman still remains at Indian air force base CHANNI ANAND MUNEEZA NAQVI Associated Press PATHANKOT, India (AP) — A fifth gunman was killed Monday on the third day of a siege at a heavily fortified Indian air base near the border with Pakistan and at least one attacker remained as troops worked to secure the sprawling compound, a military official said. Seven troops have been killed.

The search operations at Pathankot air force base will continue until all areas have been completely se-

cured, Maj. Gen. Dushyant Singh, from India’s elite National Security Guard, told reporters.

The attack has dragged on since early Saturday morning as government troops struggle to contain the heavily armed attackers. At least twice over the weekend it appeared that the attack had ended but fresh gunfire and explosions erupted both times.

Four attackers were reported killed by Saturday evening, and at least two were said to have been exchanging gunfire with

troops as of Monday morning. By evening one had been shot dead, Singh said.

Defense officials have said authorities had been alerted about a potential attack in the area on Friday, and that aerial surveillance at the base spotted the gunmen as they entered the compound, leading to criticism of the handling of the situation.

Singh told reporters in Pathankot that it will take a “long time” to declare the base completely secure because of its size and geography. It is spread over

more than 2,000 acres, including forests and tall grass.

The commanding officer of the base, Lt. Col. J.S. Dhamoon, described it as a “mini-city” with homes and a school for the children of the personnel stationed there.

An army statement said the last gunmen were firing from a building that is part of the living quarters on the base.

The base has a fleet of India’s Russian-origin MiG-21 fighter jets and Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters,

along with other military hardware. Officials have said no military hardware has been damaged in the fighting.

Military funerals were held Monday for the soldiers who were killed in the attack. Their killings inside a military base despite intelligence alerts have angered many in India.

“The biggest problem is the multiplicity of command and control. Nobody knows who is really in charge,” said Rahul Bedi, an analyst for Jane’s Information Group.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Combative Venezuela opposition leader will head congress

The General Secretary of Opposition coalition Jesus Torrealba, center, rise the arms of Venezuela National Assembly President candidates Julio Borges, left, and Henry Ramos Allup, right, in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. Newly-elected opposition lawmakers voted in Ramos as National Assembly president.

(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

HANNAH DREIER Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — An outspoken opposition leader known for embracing confrontation was chosen to head Venezuela’s new congress when it opens this week as a counterweight to the socialist administration.

The newly elected opposition majority voted to make Henry Ramos Allup the president of the National Assembly when it is seated Tuesday. The new session will be the first time foes of the administration have had control of any government institution in more than a decade.

Ramos, 72, is a divisive figure that government supporters love to hate as much for his acerbic tongue as for his leadership in the once-hegemonic Democratic Action party that co-governed Venezuela for decades before the late President Hugo Chavez won power in 1998 and began his leftist program.

Ramos’ rival for the legislative presidency was Julio Borges, 46, a member of the Justice First party, a newer, moderate movement that won the biggest

bloc of opposition seats.

Although Ramos hasn’t joined in street protests against the government, he won with the help of opposition hard-liners who favor such demonstrations and other confrontation with President Nicolas Maduro’s administration.

Borges’ party advocates a focus on negotiation and elections.

“We ask the people to watch us, to demand more of us, and keep an eye on what we do to make sure that we honor our commitment,” he said.

Ramos’ supporters praise him as an experienced operative well-positioned to wrangle the dozens of parties that make up Venezuela’s opposition coalition and stand up to what is sure to be an offensive by the administration.

Skeptics say Ramos is too prone to spouting off and plays into the government’s attempts to paint the opposition as entitled snobs nostalgic for the days when elites ran Venezuela.

The opposition won a crucial two-thirds legislative “super-majority” by a single seat in the Dec. 6 elections and it will need to corral every lawmaker to get

through the most dramatic policies.

But policy and strategy disagreements within the opposition will make it hard to get the most highstakes votes through, said R. Evan Ellis, a professor of Latin American studies at the United States Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

“I suspect that the government will also use a combination of personal inducements and legal intimidation to try to coopt some of the members of the new congress,” he said.

The opposition has long been split between mod-

erates and hard-liners, and the two sides have exchanged barbs since their coalition’s landslide victory over the socialists.

Even as the scale of the victory was still settling after polls closed, some opposition members began talking jubilantly about taking steps to remove Maduro and rewrite the constitution while others cautioned that the voters wanted economic reforms rather than a political fight.

Justice First leader Henrique Capriles, a governor who narrowly lost to Maduro in the last presidential election in 2013, called the op-

position’s legislative victory a vindication of his party’s focus on building electoral support district by district.

His party won 33 of the opposition’s 112 seats in the new congress.

In recent weeks, Capriles has lambasted opposition leaders who have advocated street activism, particularly a wave of protests that shut down parts of Venezuela in 2014 and resulted in dozens of deaths.

Carpriles said that if the opposition had continued to pursue open confrontation in the streets, the coalition would never have won congress.q

A12 WORLD

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NEWS

Dominican migrant law helps some, strands others EZEQUIEL LOPEZ Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Cresnel Ceus no longer lives in the shadows. For the first time in 15 years, the Haitian migrant can move about this country without fear of being detained at any

ribbean just north of Haiti’s capital.

All this is possible because Ceus is one of about 184,000 people, mostly of Haitian descent, who were able to secure legal Dominican residency papers this year under an initiative that has been fraught

A much larger group, estimated at more than 300,000, faces a more uncertain future. These are people who either didn’t meet criteria to gain formal residency or couldn’t get the necessary paperwork such as a Haitian birth certificate or documents prov-

A deported Haitian man holds up his document that confirms he turned in paperwork to apply for legal residency in the Dominican Republic during a march to the prime minister’s office to protest the DR’s deportation of Haitians in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The sharply uneven situation for non-citizens stems from a 2013 ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court in a decades-long dispute over who is entitled to citizenship.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

moment. He can get a formal job and perform such routine acts as opening his own bank account and getting his own phone.

Perhaps most important to Ceus, he can pack up his fruit stall and take his two children across the border to his native Haiti for the first time in their lives without the fear that he won’t be allowed to return to the Dominican Republic.

“My kids are going to get to know Haiti,” the broadshouldered 37-year-old said as he looked forward to a Christmas holidays journey to his hometown of St. Marc, a town on the Ca-

with controversy and heartache.

For the lucky ones who managed to meet the criteria for residency, and to prove it in a place where documentation is a challenge, life has become easier.

Ceus, whose stall is on a corner near the home of Dominican President Danilo Medina, there is no more fear that he could be taken into custody and deported at any moment or that he will suddenly lose his job as he has before.

“Everything is good now,” he said, brandishing his new migrant card.

ing they had been in the Dominican Republic since before October 2011.

Chiara Ligouri, a researcher with Amnesty International, said the organization is concerned about the fate of those born in this nation of about 10 million people but lack residency.

“These people are still in an undocumented situation; they do not have any type of nationality,” Ligouri said.

Among those now in danger of deportation is Martina Quezada. She was born in Haiti in 1975 but has lived in the Dominican Republic with her family since she was a child.

Quezada couldn’t get the papers she needed for herself from the Haitian government or the Dominican documents that the government required for four of her five children. Only one child, who was enrolled by a Dominican father, is a citizen in the country where all were born.

The sharply uneven situation for non-citizens stems from a 2013 ruling by the Dominican Constitutional Court in a decades-long dispute over who is entitled to citizenship. The court said people born to noncitizens were not automatically entitled to citizenship.

The decision was extended back to 1929, retroactively stripping people of the right they believed they had since birth.

The ruling prompted international outrage. Human rights advocates said the decision left hundreds of thousands of people effectively stateless since many had never been to their supposed homeland across the border in Haiti.

As a compromise, the Dominican government offered to recognize the nationality of those who already had a Dominican birth certificate. It also launched a program to provide legal residency to foreigners who could prove they had been living in the country since before October 2011.

The government said about 288,000 people applied for residency, waiting in long lines at offices across the country. Of those, 239,000 submitted sufficient documents.

The government issued renewable permits to 184,000 people such as Ceus and says an additional 55,000 will receive them in the coming weeks. q

Haiti probe finds problems, but says vote can go ahead PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A commission probing Haiti’s disputed presidential election reported this wek that a first-round vote was plagued by irregularities, but indicated a final run-off can take place as scheduled in two weeks.

The report says the Oct. 25

contest between 54 candidates was “stained by irregularities,” in which poll watchers intervened to help several candidates, whom it doesn’t name. It recommends possible legal action against poll workers and others involved.

It also urges measures to improve the transparency of the election, saying the dispute over the October vote shows “clearly that the electoral institution no longer enjoys the credibility that permits it to continue with the process without

the danger of sinking the country into a still-moreserious crisis.” But it did not indicate that the problems were serious enough to affect the outcome of the October vote or force further delay of the planned Jan. 17 run-off.q

Governor says Mexico mayor’s killing a warning by drug gang

MARK STEVENSON Associated Press Writer MEXICO CITY (AP) — The governor of the southern Mexican state of Morelos said Monday that a drug gang killed a newly inaugurated mayor to convince other officials to reject state police control of local cops and allow cartels to co-opt low-paid local police.

Governor Graco Ramirez sent a post on his Twitter account blaming the murder of Temixco Mayor Gisela Mota on the Rojos gang, which has been fighting a bloody turf battle with the Guerreros Unidos gang across the neighboring state of Guerrero.

Their rivalry may have played a role in the worst mass disappearance in recent memory, that of 43 students in Guerrero in 2014. Some suspects told investigators that the Guerreros Unidos mistook the students for members of the Rojos and used local police under their control to capture them.

Ramirez said at a news conference Sunday that the killing was a warning to local officials not to accept unified state control of police forces, a new system aimed at combatting corruption in local police forces. “This is a message and clear threat to the mayors who have recently taken office not to accept the coordination plan and police framework that we have been promoting,” Ramirez said. Ramirez said the state police plan has led to a decrease in the wave of kidnappings, extortions and drug gang killings that swept the state in recent years. Many critics have questioned whether the unified command will be cleaner or more efficient than the local forces and the state government has struggled to convince mayors to give up control of officers who are a source of influence, protection and often income from bribes. q

LOCAL A13

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Aruba Officially Opens Carnival Season With the Torch Parade!

ORANJESTADSaturday Oranjestad was filled with people who came together to celebrate the official start of Carnival Season with the Torch Parade (or as the locals call it, the “Fakkel Parade”).

Although there aren’t torches to be seen, it is still called the Torch Parade.

Thousands of people came together to dance to the tunes of the bands playing. It started around 8 o’clock, and the last band reached the end of the route around 1 o’clock in the morning.

The 62nd Carnival Season has officially started!q

A14 LOCAL

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Aruba Human Resources Association Celebrates Successful Year!

PALM BEACH - The Aruba Human Resources Association celebrated their Holiday Brunch recently at Windows on Aruba.

All the AHRA Members attended together with their guests to enjoy a day filled with great music, great food and great prizes!

The Aruba Human Resources Association wanted to celebrate together with its members for a successful 2015 and also toast to an even more successful 2016.

The Aruba Human Resources Association also installed 14 new Members on this day, including IsharaFluonia of SABA; Thalina Joanne Willems of The Mill Resort & Suites; Gabriela Kock Helder of Cristal Mechanical Services; Meredith Giel of Visser; Zain Canelones Acosta of RIU; Gilberth Wernet of DRH; Andreina van Romondt of Top Start; Elizabeth Maduro of GenAir; Maritza Giel of Caribbean Overseas; Esther Baaij of Deloitte Caribbean; Nathalie da Costa of Divi Village; SheirlaCiliĂŠ of Pasadia; Arlene Croes of Wine & Dine; and Sandra Cacusan fo La Cabana.

It is an honor to have such great professionals join the Aruba Human Resources Association which is dedi-

force Planning and Exposition with both International and Local Speakers and Workshops.

The Aruba Human Resources Association has big plans for 2016 and will be committed to take the Human Resources Management of our island to the next level!

A special thanks to all the sponsors for their beautiful raffle prizes and to Los Pica Flores for their wonderful musical performance during the Brunch and the staff and personnel of the Windows on Aruba Restaurant for their great service.

For more information of the Aruba Human Resources Association go to: www. humanresourcesaruba.comand on Facebook:www. f a c e b o o k . c o m / humanresourcesaruba/.q

cated to enhance the quality of professional Human Resources Management.

The Aruba Human Resources Association had a very successful year with many different successful workshop by great speakers such as: Natasha Felix, Esther Baaij from Deloitte, Ryan Peterson and students from the University of Aruba, his Excellency Minister drs. Paul Croes, Mr. Henry Does, MD, FAIS and

Karen Bosman.

The Aruba Human Resources Association topped the

year off with the incredibly successful Seminar & Exposition titled: Strategic Work-

LOCAL A15

Tuesday 5 January 2016

This Year With a Traditional Cunucu House Theme:

Aruba Marriott Resort Showcases a Majestic Handmade Sugar Village

PALM BEACH - As an annual holiday tradition, the Aruba Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino showcased a beautiful holiday display in the resort lobby made of powdered sugar.

This year once again Executive Chef Teddy Bouroncle together with his team Senior Sous Chef Charles Wagner, Executive Sous Chef Miguel Garcia and Executive Sous Chef Romeo Penacino created a

unique handmade sugar village for guests to enjoy during the holiday season. Constructed with 400 pounds of powdered sugar, the 5.76 square meters display features 18 colorful cunucu houses, the California lighthouse, the Fort Zoutman Tower, the Mill and the white beaches of Aruba. The sugar village took a month to create and one day to set up in the lobby.

The cunucu house is a part of the history of the island as they were originally made by native families who found ways to survive by building houses primar-

ily consisting of mud and grass.

The Aruba Marriott Resort invited guests to pass by and take a photo with the sugar village and hashtag

#arubasugarvillage and #arubamarriott when sharing the photos on social media – Check it out online!

Happy Holidays!q

A16 LOCAL

Tuesday 5 January 2016

As With Local Tradition:

The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba Bids Farewell to 2015 with ‘Pagara and Dande’ PALM BEACH - As part of the their New Year’s celebrations, the Ladies and Gentlemen of The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba and guests came together to celebrate the end of a successful and memorable 2015 with ‘Pagara y Dande,’ a traditional Aruban New Year’s celebration. The firework ‘Pagara’ was launched by Mr. Steven Redkoles, General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba.

“We are honored to celebrate this very special Aruban tradition as we bid farewell to 2015,” said Redkoles.

“2015 was a successful and exciting year for the island, and we look forward to 2016 and are hopeful it will be the island’s very best year, yet. The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba is very proud to be part of the Aruban community and to have contributed to the tourism of the island during 2015.”q

SPORTS A17

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Giant Legacy

Tom Coughlin Steps Down as Giants Head Coach New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin answers questions during a news conference after the Giants lost 35-30 to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. Tom Coughlin, who returned the Giants to NFL prominence by winning two Super Bowls, resigned Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

TOM CANAVAN, EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Tom Coughlin, who returned the Giants to NFL prominence by winning two Super Bowls, resigned Monday after missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

The Giants announced the decision one day after the Giants (6-10) capped their third straight losing season with a 35-30 defeat against Philadelphia, their third straight and sixth in seven games.

“I met with (owners) John Mara and Steve Tisch this afternoon, and I informed them that it is in the best interest of the organization

that I step down as head coach,” Coughlin said in a statement. “I strongly believe the time is right for me and my family, and … the Giants organization.”

The move may signal the end of a 20-year NFL head coaching career for the 69-year-old Coughlin, one of 13 coaches to win multiple Super Bowls.

The league’s oldest active coach and third-longest tenured among the 32 who finished the season, Coughlin came into 2015 knowing he had to get the Giants back to the post-season to keep his job. It didn’t happen. “Obviously, the past three years have not been

what any of us expect, and as head coach, I accept the responsibility for those seasons,” he said.

In a what-might-havebeen season in the mediocre NFC East, the Giants’ failures came down to, as Coughlin often said, “finishing.” New York lost five games in the final 74 seconds of regulation, including four in the final 7 seconds.

In a loss to the local rival Jets, the Giants yielded a late tying score and then lost when Josh Brown missed his first field goal of the season in overtime on a kick that would have extended the game.

Actually, this might have been one of Coughlin’s best years as a coach. He didn’t have a lot of talent on the roster, and his defence spent the first two months with defensive star Jason Pierre-Paul sidelined by a July 4 fireworks mishap that mangled his right hand.

Coughlin posted a 110-93 record in 12 seasons with the Giants, winning three division titles in addition to his two league crowns. He was 72-64 in eight seasons with the then-expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, winning two division titles and taking them to two conference championship games

in their first five seasons.

Coughlin came to the Giants in 2004 after Jim Fassel was fired. The no-nonsense coach vowed to restore Giants pride and it didn’t take long. They won the division the following season and shocked the football world by knocking off the then-undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl in February 2008.

Coughlin’s lessons have been passed on: Dom Capers, Kevin Gilbride, Dick Jauron, Lane Kiffin, Bobby Petrino, Tony Sparano and Steve Spagnuolo, his current defensive co-ordinator with the Giants, all moved into NFL head coaching positions.q

A18 SPORTS

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NFL Roundup:

Vikings beat Packers to NFC North title in wild Week 17

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (AP) — The NFL’s regular season came to its climax on Sunday as Minnesota clinched the NFC North title with a win at Green Bay and Denver wrapped up the top seed in the AFC playoffs while the New York Jets ruined their own playoff hopes with a loss against Buffalo.

Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson ran for a touchdown and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn returned a fumble 55 yards for a score as the Vikings won 20-13 at Green Bay to secure their first division title since 2009.

The Vikings will host the Seattle Seahawks in a wildcard playoff game next weekend while the Packers will travel to Washington after watching their four-year reign atop the NFC North end.

Minnesota hung on despite a shaky finish. The defense knocked away a desperation pass to the end zone from Aaron Rodgers as time expired.

Denver’s veteran quarterback Peyton Manning replaced Brock Osweiler in the third quarter and led the Broncos to a 27-20 victory over San Diego that clinched the top seed in the AFC. The Broncos were facing the possibility of tumbling into the wild-card round because of Kansas City’s win over Oakland, but Manning came to the rescue.

The Chargers wrapped up what might have been their final season in San Diego as ownership tries to move the team to Los Angeles.

New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw interceptions on each of his team’s final three drives, triggering a 22-17 loss to

Green Bay Packers’ Richard Rodgers gets into the end zone for a touchdown catch past Minnesota Vikings’ Harrison Smith (22) and Xavier Rhodes during the second half an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, in Green Bay, Wis. The Vikings went on to defeat Green Bay 20-13.

(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)

Buffalo, destroying the Jets’ playoff hopes.

The Jets would have made the postseason for the first time since 2010 with a win, but the defeat combined with Pittsburgh’s win at Cleveland ended those hopes.

New York had a five-game winning streak stopped, and the loss came against former Jets coach Rex Ryan — fired by New York and hired by the Bills.

Pittsburgh advanced at the Jets’ expense after winning 28-12 at Cleveland.

Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes and Pittsburgh’s defense dominated to secure a place in the wild-card round at Cincinnati next weekend.

Shortly after the defeat, the Browns fired coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer following a 3-13 season.

New England missed a chance to clinch the top seed in the AFC with a 2010 loss at Miami.

Tom Brady was sacked twice and knocked down at least half a dozen times, and watched the final drive from the sidelines as the Patriots saved him for the playoffs.

New England ends up as a No. 2 seed behind Denver.

Houston secured the AFC South title with a 30-6 victory over Jacksonville.

J.J. Watt — who had three sacks — and Whitney Mercilus led the defense and Jonathan Grimes scored with a pass reception and a rush as the Texans got on top early.

Houston will host Kansas City next weekend in the a wild-card game.

Cincinnati beat Baltimore 24-16 to notch its 12th win of the season and match a franchise record.

Quarterback A.J. McCarron overcame a rough start and threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Bengals, who will host Pittsburgh next week in the wild-card round.

Carolina captured the NFC’s top seed for the first time as Cam Newton ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to lead the Panthers to a 38-10 win against Tampa Bay. Newton tied Steve Young’s NFL record for most career TDs rushing by a quarterback with 43. Young took 15 seasons to reach that plateau; Newton did it in five.

Newton completed 21 of 26 passes for 293 yards as Carolina (15-1) overcame a slow start to build a 31-3 lead in the third quarter to set up their 11th straight home win.

Kansas City extended its winning streak to a fran-

chise-best 10 games by defeating Oakland 23-17.

Alex Smith threw two touchdown passes for the Chiefs, who head to Houston for the wild-card game next weekend; a fate that seemed highly unlikely when they started the season 1-5.

Kansas City’s defense sacked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr six times, including with 1:34 left to seal the result.

Seattle’s Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes in a second-quarter burst, leading the Seahawks to a 36-6 win against Arizona.

Seattle will play at Minnesota in the wild card round next weekend.

It was a sour end to the regular season for the NFC West champion Cardinals (13-3), who had won their previous nine games and already had clinched the NFC’s No. 2 seed and a firstround playoff bye.

Washington’s Kirk Cousins threw for three touchdowns before leaving late in the first half as the Redskins tuned up for the playoffs with a 34-23 win against Dallas.

The Redskins (9-7) won four straight to finish the season and will host Green Bay in the wild-card round next weekend.

The New York Giants suffered another tough loss, 35-30 against Philadelphia, in what may have been Tom Coughlin’s final game as coach. The Giants finished outside the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Coughlin, who led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles in his 12 seasons, has a year left on his contract but it is expected the 69-yearold will either retire or be moved on.q

SPORTS A19

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Serena Williams skips Hopman Cup opener with knee injury

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams withdrew from her opening match at the Hopman Cup on Monday because of inflammation in her left knee, an early setback in her preparations for an Australian Open title defense.

The top-ranked Williams practiced ahead of her scheduled season-opener against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the international mixed-team competition at Perth Arena, but withdrew from the match and was replaced by Vicky Duval.

Duval lost 6-4, 6-1 to Svitolina and Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Jack Sock 6-4, 6-2 to clinch the best-of-three Group A match for Ukraine before the U.S. pair won the mixed doubles 6-2, 6-3.

Williams said she expected to be able to join Sock in the U.S. team to play the Australia Gold team on Tuesday.

Hopman Cup tournament director Paul Kilderry said Williams reported feeling pain in her knee on Sunday. “She wanted to give herself every chance to play, she warmed up this morning but common sense prevailed and she just thought today she can’t do it,” Kilderry said.

After winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles in 2015, Williams narrowly missed completing a season Grand Slam when she lost to Roberta Vinci in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

For the 20-year-old Duval, who returned to tennis in August after overcoming Hodgkin’s lymphoma, filling in for Williams was a great opportunity.

“I was kind of nervous because I was filling in big shoes. But I had a really fun time today,” Duval said. “I have a whole new outlook on life. I’m just really grate-

ful to be back and do what I love.”

Later Monday, Britain beat France 2-1 with Andy Murray winning his singles match and teaming up with Heather Watson to win the doubles.

Murray beat Kenny De Schepper 6-2, 6-2 but Caroline Garcia evened the score by defeating Watson 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Murray and Watson then beat the French duo 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 in the deciding match.

At the Brisbane International, 2015 finalist Grigor Dimitrov needed six match points before beating fifthseeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 7-6 (10) to move into the second round.

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka returned from a layoff with foot and leg injuries with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina in her first competitive match since September, setting up a secondround match against No. 2-ranked Simona Halep.

In other women’s singles, No. 6-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro advanced to a second-round match

Angelique Kerber of Germany plays a shot in her first round match against Camila Giorgi of Italy during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

(AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

with local favorite Sam Stosur, the former U.S. Open champion who recovered from early service breaks in each set to beat Slovakian qualifier Jana Cepelova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Also advancing in Brisbane were with No. 7 Belinda Bencic, who beat Sara Er-

rani 6-1, 6-2, and Vinci, who overcame former No. 1-ranked Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

At the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, fourthseeded Svetlana Kuznetsova progressed to the second round, leading 6-2, 1-1 when Mona Barthel of

Germany retired from their first-round match because of a stomach ailment.

Fifth-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States beat Polona Hercog of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 and Irina Falconi ousted No. 6-seeded Coco Vandeweghe 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.q

Nadal fed up of talking about subpar 2015 season

Spain’s Rafael Nadal partnered by Fernando Verdasco of Spain, successfully returns the ball during the men’s doubles match against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia and Albert Ramos of Spain at the Qatar Open in Doha, Qatar, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.

(AP Photo/Alexandra Panagiotidou)

SANDRA HARWITT Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — After a disappointing season last year, Rafael Nadal’s goal for 2016 is simple. “The most important thing — play better,” the Spaniard said Monday, citing the physical and mental struggles he went through in 2015.

Nadal managed to recapture some confidence toward the end of the year, posting a 17-5 record following theU.S. Open. The late push enabled him to finish the year ranked No. 5, keeping his top five seasonending ranking streak alive

for an 11th year. Nadal, winner of 14 Grand Slam championships, is getting fed up of being asked about his subpar 2015 that only delivered three minor titles. It was the first time in a decade he failed to win a Grand Slam title. His best results in majors last year were quarterfinal finishes at the Australian and French Opens. “Seriously, I’m a little bit tired of talking every day about 2015,” Nadal said. “We are in 2016 already, no? We talked enough about 2015, and I talked enough about all the things that happened.”

20 SPORTS

Tuesday 5 January 2016

NBA Roundup:

Butler breaks Jordan’s record as Bulls beat Raptors

The Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Chicago’s Jimmy Butler broke Michael Jordan’s team record for points in a half, scoring 40 of his 42 after the break to lead the Bulls to a 115-113 win against Toronto on Sunday.

Jordan had 39 in the second half of a game against Milwaukee in 1989.

Among other results, Arron Afflalo led New York to victory over Atlanta and Miami dominated an undermanned Washington.

Chicago notched a fourth successive win as Butler shot 14 of 19 in the final two quarters after a 1-for-4 start.

Pau Gasol had his 17th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds as Chicago beat Toronto for the seventh straight time.

DeMar DeRozan led the way for the Raptors with 24 points.

Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler, right, dribbles away from Toronto Raptors’ Luis Scola, second from left, and DeMarre Carroll, left, as Bulls’ Taj Gibson looks on during first-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016.

(Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

New York’s Afflalo scored a season-high 38 points to lead the Knicks to a 111-97 win against Atlanta.

Afflalo was 14 for 17 from the field and 7 for 8 from 3-point range, making his

first seven attempts and nearing his career best of 43 points.

The Knicks are 8-2 when Afflalo scores 15 or more points and 8-17 when he doesn’t.

Paul Millsap scored 19 points for the Hawks.

Miami cruised to a 97-75 win against a Washington team that was as inaccurate as it was undermanned.

With just nine healthy players, Washington was outscored in the second quarter 25-7. The Wizards missed 20 of their 22 field goal attempts as the Heat took a 50-31 halftime lead.

John Wall, who led Washington with 14 points, hit just six of his 21 field goal attempts. The Wizards shot just 34.1 percent and their 75 points were a season low. Chris Bosh scored 23 points and Goran Dragic had 18 for the Heat, who conceded the fewest points of their season.

Portland’s C.J. McCollum had 25 points and seven assists to lead the Trail Blazers to a 112-106 win over Denver, which has lost six straight.q

NHL Roundup: Islanders win 6-5, hand Stars to backto-back defeats

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Islanders sent leagueleading Dallas to its first back-to-back losses of the season, winning 6-5 on Sunday, led by two goals and an assist from Kyle Okposo.

Also Sunday, Florida stretched its winning streak to nine by beating Minnesota 2-1.

New York’s Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, Anders Lee had a goal and an assist and Mikhail Grabovski also scored for the Islanders, who are 4-0-1 in their past five against the high-flying Stars.

New York trailed 2-1 in the first period before scoring the next four goals and then held off Dallas in the third to improve to 12-4-1 against Western Conference teams.q

SPORTS A21

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Zach Johnson among eight players moving to PXG DOUG FERGUSON Associated Press KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -- Bob Parsons conducts business to an extreme, and that now includes golf clubs.

The people he hired to build his golf clubs have no limitations and no deadlines. Money is no object, either, and that better be the case for the consumers. Parsons, the billionaire founder of GoDaddy, is selling his PXG clubs at about $5,000 for the entire set. ‘’Making money is not what I have in mind,’’ Parsons said. ‘’My goal with this is to build some very incredible clubs without regard to cost, without regard to the process. I’ve been telling people what I’m doing and I’ve heard many times, ‘You’re nuts.’

That’s a very good sign.’’

Ryan Moore last year became the first PGA Tour to put them in play.

Now, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company is hopeful of making a big splash in 2016 by signing an additional eight players, men and women, to staff contracts at PXG. Topping the list is British Open champion Zach Johnson, who had been with Titleist his entire PGA Tour career that includes 12 victories and two majors.

Johnson, who is in the field this week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, did not want to discuss his switch ahead the announcement at Kapalua.

He said in a release that he did not make the change lightly. ‘’My entire team, from caddie to coach, was part of the discernment process,’’ Johnson said. ‘’We all agree that PXG is undeniably the best equipment to help me achieve my

United States’ Zach Johnson watches his tee shot at the Presidents Cup on the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, in Incheon, South Korea. Johnson is among eight players who have signed to play PXG golf clubs this year. PXG is owned by GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, who thinks there is a market for clubs that cost $5,000 for a full set.

(AP Photo/Woohae Cho)

goals on the course.’’

PXG also signed Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, James Hahn and Charles Howell III on the PGA Tour, along with Cristie Kerr, Alison Lee and Gerina Piller on the LPGA Tour. Already on board with the clubs were Moore, Rocco Mediate

(Champions Tour), Sadena Parks and Beatriz Recari.

Parsons describes himself as a golf fanatic and an equipment junkie. He didn’t start playing seriously until he was in his 30s because he was too busy with work, first with Parsons Technologies for 10 years

(which he sold in 1994 for $64 million) and then with the GoDaddy Group. He stepped down as GoDaddy executive chairman in 2014, though he remains on the board and is the largest shareholder.

By then, an affinity for golf turned into an addiction.

‘’It got to the point three or four years before I started the PXG venture that I would spend about $250,000 to $300,000 a year on equipment,’’ he said. ‘’I bought pretty much everything and would hit it. I could tell you which irons, woods and all that ... were real and what wasn’t. Most of it is gimmicky. You take any manufacturer and they say, ‘This will give you an extra 10 yards and 15 yards.’ If all that were true, we’d be hitting it a mileand-a-half.’’

Eventually, Parsons was intrigued by building his own clubs. PXG stands for ‘’Parsons Xtreme Golf,’’ though a running joke in the industry is that it also stands for ‘’Ping X-Guys.’’ Among the Ping employees he hired were two engineers, former Bay Hill winner Mike Nicolette and Brad Schweigert, and Parsons turned them loose. ‘’We have no constraints on our engineers, no cost constraints, no time constraints,’’ Parsons said. ‘’The only they must do is the performance must be there before we release it. ... q

Browns fire coach Mike Pettine, GM Ray Farmer CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Browns fired Mike Pettine and the San Francisco 49ers dismissed Jim Tomsula as their head coaches on Sunday, paying the price for disappointing seasons.

Pettine went 10-22 in two years, dropping 18 of his final 21 games after a promising 7-4 start in 2014. Owner Jimmy Haslam also announced the firing of Ray Farmer as general manager.

Pettine was the team’s sev-

enth full-time coach since 1999, and the team has changed coaches and GMs five times since 2008.

“We’ve made this decision because we don’t believe our football team was positioned well for the future,” Haslam said.

“We are all disappointed with where we are and we take full responsibility.”

Following Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh, just before the decision was made, the 50-year-old Pettine said he understood change was in-

evitable.

“It is a bottom-line business and you guys don’t have a column in the newspaper for moral victories,” Pettine said. “Our record is that we have won three of our last 21 games. That is just not good enough.”

One of Farmer’s biggest mistakes over the past two years appears to be the drafting of quarterback Johnny Manziel. The former college star hasn’t lived up to expectations on the field and continues to be a

headache off it.

He spent 73 days in a rehab facility during the offseason, got benched by Pettine for two games during the year for misbehavior and missed Sunday’s game with a concussion.

While his teammates finished the season, Manziel was reportedly in Las Vegas.

Tomsula was dismissed just two hours after the 49ers ended the regular season with an overtime victory over St. Louis.q

A22

Tuesday 5 January 2016

SPORTS

‘Stokelona’ eyes another upset in League Cup semifinals STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Think of Stoke City over the last past decade, and what immediately springs

After dismantling the two Manchester giants at home and Everton away in impressive Premier League victories in December, Stoke was tagged with a

ine contender when the League Cup semifinals begin this week with the first-leg matches: Stoke vs.

Liverpool on Tuesday, and Everton vs. Manchester

Stoke City’s Bojan Krkic , right, and Everton’s Gareth Barry vie for the ball, during the English Premier League match between Everton and Stoke City, at Goodison Park, in Liverpool, England, Monday Dec. 28, 2015.

(Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

to mind is a physical, powerful team, route-one football and Rory Delap’s long throw.

That’s all been consigned to the past during a season in which the transformation of Stoke’s playing approach rivals Leicester’s rise and Chelsea’s decline as the story of the 2015-16 campaign in English soccer.

nickname few can ever have imagined the team getting — “Stokelona,” in reference to Spain’s Barcelona.

Stoke has a long way to go to match the level of the current European champions but, in relative terms, there’s a comparison to be made.

And it makes the central English team a genu-

City on Wednesday.

The reshaping of onceunfashionable Stoke under manager Mark Hughes, who had a spell at Barcelona during his playing career, has seen former Barca players Bojan Krkic, Ibrahim Afellay and Marc Muniesa join the club since 2014, bringing a new mentality to the Britannia Stadium. The style of play has changed,

too, from a long-ball game to an emphasis on passing and possession.

Then there’s the creation and blossoming of a lively front three comprising Bojan, another diminutive attacker in record-signing Xherdan Shaqiri and onetime enfant terrible Marko Arnautovic — Stoke’s answer to the Lionel MessiNeymar-Luis Suarez triumvirate.

The change has been startling. Man City and Man United were blown away when they visited Stoke last month, with their 2-0 losses potentially being much heavier. Stoke then went to Everton and won 4-3 in a devastating display of attacking football.

“Compliments are fine and we take them,” Hughes has said of the “Stokelona” tag, “but probably doesn’t sit too comfortably with us at the moment because we usually slip under the radar and others get the plaudits.

“If the profile of what we are doing is raised, it’s what we have to deal with.”

Stoke, which won the League Cup in 1972, is up against a Liverpool team that has won the competition a record eight times.

Here’s a look at both semifinal match-ups: STOKE VS. LIVERPOOL Liverpool’s form continues to oscillate under recently hired manager Juergen Klopp, as shown by a 2-0

Benitez fired as Real Madrid coach, replaced by Zidane HAROLD HECKLE Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid fired coach Rafa Benitez after only seven months on Monday and replaced him with its former star player Zinedine Zidane.

Club president Florentino Perez announced the decision at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Monday, a day after Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia deepened a crisis that started with an embarrassing 4-0 home loss to rival Barcelona in November.

“We have to do our best so that the team is able to win something,” said Zidane.

“I’m going to put all my heart into Real Madrid.”

Madrid has won seven of nine matches since the demoralizing defeat to Barcelona but fans continued to demand the departure of Benitez, whose Liverpool side won the Champions League in 2005.

Real Madrid is third in the Spanish league, four points behind leader Atletico Madrid and two behind Barcelona, which has a game in hand.

France soccer great Zidane, who was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant in 2014 when Real Madrid won the Champions League, has

been coaching Madrid’s “B’’ team in the third division.

Zidane was at the Bernabeu with his wife and four kids. “I’m more emotional now than when I signed as a player,” said Zidane, who ended his career at Madrid in 2006.

It will be the first major coaching job for the former playmaker, whose career was marked by greatness on the field but also by his head-butting of an Italian defender in the 2006 World Cup final.

“He is clearly conscious of how tough this job is,” Perez said. “Zidane doesn’t know

the word impossible.”

Zidane leaves Real Madrid Castilla in second place in the third division, with 37 points from 19 games.

Perez had supported Benitez since the Barcelona loss, saying the Spaniard “was the solution, not the problem,” to Madrid’s crisis.

But fans kept showing their discontent even in an 8-0 win over Malmo in the Champions League and a 10-2 rout of Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league.

They also were not happy with the team’s embarrassing elimination from the Copa del Rey for using an ineligible player.q

loss at West Ham that came on the back of solid victories over Leicester and Sunderland.

Klopp’s biggest concern is getting the best out of expensive offseason signing Christian Benteke, a big striker with limited movement who struggles at times to fit into the highenergy style favored by Klopp.

Injuries to Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge have allowed Benteke an extended run in the team, although Sturridge could be available against Stoke.

Sturridge scored twice in Liverpool’s 6-1 demolition of Southampton in the quarterfinals.

Stoke’s American defender, Geoff Cameron, is available for the match after a successful appeal against his sending off in a Premier League game against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

EVERTON VS. MANCHESTER CITY City is still involved in four competitions this season, with manager Manuel Pellegrini seemingly making the League Cup one of his priorities judging by the strong teams he has fielded in earlier rounds.

After a busy festive schedule of Premier League matches, Pellegrini may rotate and has more options to do so compared to his Everton counterpart, Roberto Martinez.

The likes of Jesus Navas, Wilfried Bony and Fabian Delph could therefore get starts for City, which won the League Cup for the third time in 2014.

Everton picked up only one point from its last three games in the Premier League and relies on the goals of striker Romelu Lukaku, the league’s top scorer with 15.

City won 2-0 at Goodison Park in August. The teams also play in the league this month, meaning they’ll be facing each other three times over the next three weeks.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Tuesday 5 January 2016

The smart-tech future beckons to us from the CES gadget show RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Look around. How many computing devices do you see? Your phone, probably; maybe a tablet or a laptop. Your car, the TV set, the microwave, bedside alarm clock, possibly the thermostat, and others you’ve never noticed.

Much of that computing isn’t doing much while segregated into individual devices. But many of these gadgets have the potential to get smarter by connecting to their fellows, which in turn could open the door to a brave new “Internet of Things.”

To see where that might be taking us, there’s no better place than the annual gadget extravaganza formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show — and now simply as CES. The show, which starts Wednesday in Las Vegas, is the place for companies large and small to show off new connected devices.

These range from the seemingly trivial — for instance, smart umbrellas that message you if you leave them behind — to the undeniably helpful, such as navigation devices that display driving directions onto your windshield so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, a division of the consulting giant McKinsey & Co., the value created by connecting the world’s devices could hit $11 trillion annually by 2025, a mind-boggling sum that

represents over half of U.S. economic output in a year.

Most of the value comes from industrial uses — like cleaner air from smarter energy use and fewer factory shut-downs due to smarter maintenance. But trillions in benefits are expected to come from consumer-bought products: safer streets because of better-driving cars, robots that take care of household chores and health and fitness trackers that let us know when our bodies need medical attention.

“There’s a big value in avoiding pain and suffering,” says report co-author Michael Chui.

Of course, people have been making big projections for the Internet of Things for years, yet progress remains halting and fragmentary. Major technology companies can purposefully make it tougher to interact with other companies’ gadgets for business reasons. More data can mean less privacy.

In recent years, CES has begun catering more heavily to startups hoping to break through the noise. The sprawling show has sections for wearable fitness gadgets, drones, autonomous vehicles, education, virtual reality, video games, robots, 3-D printers and smart homes.

That’s largely a reaction to the fact that many of technology’s biggest names have been no-shows for some time. Apple Inc. has skipped the show since the 1990s, and Microsoft Corp.’s then-CEO Steve

Ballmer gave the company’s last CES keynote in 2012. Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Amazon. com Inc. hold their own

mow your lawn.

It’s worth bearing in mind that CES is first and foremost a venue for promoting the tech industry — at

they hacked into and took control of a Jeep Cherokee via its cellular connection to the Internet. Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 gave a fail-

Attendees sit in the self-driving Mercedes-Benz F 015 concept car at the Mercedes-Benz booth at the 2015 International CES, in Las Vegas. The 2016 International CES will have a panoply of vendors showing off such connected devices, from smart umbrellas that will notify you if you’ve left them behind, to navigation devices that project directions on car windshields so you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

events to release products.

And the Consumer Technology Association that runs CES is aiming for attendance this year at or below last year’s record 176,000.

Shawn DuBravac, the CTA’s chief economist, argues the show’s maturity is a good thing, its focus transforming over the last two decades from what was “technologically possible” to what’s “technologically meaningful.” It’s no longer about a robot that can walk up steps. It’s about robots that actually

least the non-Google/Apple/Amazon/Microsoft part of it. Sometimes the promotion falls flat; 3-D screen technology unveiled at CES in 2010 went from the next big thing to a mostly unused feature. Netbooks introduced in 2009 took a back seat to the iPad released a year later. And concepts such as the smart home have taken a really long time to materialize.

For all we know, the Internet of Things could be next on that list. Last summer, two researchers described how

ing grade to eight of nine popular baby monitors for simple and obvious weaknesses like failing to encrypt Internet-streamed video to prevent eavesdropping or using unchangeable passwords that malicious types could easily find online.

Such issues point to a deeper problem: Many would-be connected devices max out their capabilities doing one thing well, leaving little headroom for security protection that wasn’t ever necessary in an unconnected world.

T-Mobile exempts streaming video from some data caps ANICK JESDANUN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Streaming video from Netflix, HBO and other leading services will no longer count toward data limits under T-Mobile’s higher data plans.

T-Mobile already exempts many streaming music services from data limits, but audio doesn’t use as much data as video. Video is among the leading uses of data on phones.

A few hours of video can quickly eat up an entire

month’s allotment under some plans.

The data exemption, dubbed Binge On, applies to 24 services, including most of the major ones, plus two from T-Mobile’s competitors, Verizon and AT&T. But not YouTube. TMobile said YouTube isn’t covered because the company couldn’t reliably tell yet that it’s video. Also not covered is video shown on Facebook feeds, as TMobile has no good way of distinguishing video traffic

from musings about lunch.

T-Mobile says there are no financial arrangements with video providers to be included, and any service can qualify by meeting technical requirements the company is posting online.

Unlimited video streaming is restricted to those who have data plans of at least 3 gigabytes, which are a step up from the most basic plans.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere said those with smaller plans probably weren’t

streaming much video anyway.

But all customers will benefit from T-Mobile’s new videooptimization technology, which the company says means three times as much video for the same amount of data. Streams will maintain DVD-level quality on a phone without transmitting as much data.

Although DVD quality is short of high definition, which many phones are capable of displaying, the company doesn’t believe

most people will notice.

Normally, “data is wasted because on smaller-screen devices, you don’t need to get all that data to get a great picture,” Andrew Sherrard, T-Mobile’s chief marketing officer said recently.

Higher-resolution video, he said, is more important for larger TV screens. Viewers who want that higher quality can turn the feature off, but the data exemptions wouldn’t apply.q

A24 BUSINESS

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Global woes sink stocks on first day of 2016 BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The new year got off to an inauspicious start on Wall Street as stocks tumbled Monday in a global sell-off triggered by new fears of a slowdown in China and rising tensions in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones industrial average clawed back from a steep early decline but still ended down 1.6

cleric, prompting Iranian protesters to set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran on Sunday. The price of oil swung wildly.

In the U.S., the Dow slumped 276.09 points to 17,148.94. It was down as much as 467 points earlier in the day.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 31.28 points, or 1.5 percent, to 2,012.66.

The Nasdaq composite fell 104.32 points, or 2.1 per-

A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing contracted last month at the fastest pace in more than six years as factories cut jobs and new orders shrank.

In China, the Caixin/Markit index of manufacturing fell in December for the 10th straight month. The resulting stock drop markets in Shanghai and Shen-

Specialist Meric Greenbaum works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016. U.S. stocks opened 2016 on a grim note, dropping sharply after a plunge in China and declines in Europe.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

percent, its biggest loss in two weeks. Markets in Asia and Europe were down more.

The wave of selling on the first trading day of 2016 served as a reminder that worries over the fragile global economy that weighed on financial markets last year are not going away anytime soon.

“It’s going to be a turbulent year,” said Kevin Kelly, chief investment officer of Recon Capital Partners.

“This isn’t a blip.” The trouble started in China, where weak manufacturing figures in the world’s secondlargest economy sent the Shanghai Composite Index plunging 6.9 percent before Chinese authorities halted trading.

Investors were also unnerved by heightened tensions between Saudi Arabia, a huge oil supplier, and Iran. Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shiite

cent, to 4,903.09.

The selling in China spread quickly across markets in other Asian countries, then to Europe. The DAX index in Germany tumbled 4.3 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 2.4 percent, while France’s CAC 40 dropped 2.5 percent.

Huang Cengdong, an analyst for Sinolink Securities in Shanghai, said he expects more turmoil in the Chinese stock market ahead of corporate earnings reports.

“There will be heavy selling in the near future,” Huang said.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled 3.1 percent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 2.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi closed 2.2 percent lower.

In the U.S., investors were also worried about data suggesting that slow overseas growth and low oil prices are continuing to hurt U.S. manufacturers.

zhen led authorities to halt trading under a “circuit breaker” mechanism announced late last year.

It was the first time China used the system.

The slowdown in China is worrisome around the globe because the country’s manufacturers are huge buyers of raw materials, machinery and energy from other countries. Also, many automakers and consumer goods companies are hoping to sell more to increasingly wealthy Chinese households.

Chinese authorities have been trying for months to restore confidence in the country’s market after a plunge in June rattled global markets and prompted a panicked, multibilliondollar government intervention. Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer of Bryn Mawr Trust, warned that investors shouldn’t overreact to Monday’s drops.q

Q&A about the stock market turmoil in China and beyond The Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — After the Chinese stock market started 2016 with a plunge that unnerved investors globally, here are some questions and answers about the turmoil.

WHAT HAPPENED? China’s main stock index, which tumbled nearly 7 percent on Monday before trading was halted under a new emergency measure, has been volatile for months.

The latest drop appears largely due to the same concerns: a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, greater investor caution after markets hit dizzying heights last year, and Beijing’s attempts to unwind controls on trading.

A report showing a further decline in manufacturing, a huge sector that has fueled China’s economic surge in past years, prompted investors to sell on Monday. China is in the midst of a massive plan to shift its economy away from its traditional reliance on industry and exports toward consumer spending.

Another concern is an expected decline in the Chinese currency, the yuan. A drop in the yuan could make foreign debt held by Chinese companies harder to bear and encourage investors to pull money out of the country.

Stocks had more than doubled in the 12 months leading up to the first of a series of plunges, as state media encouraged the public to invest. Prices started to fall in mid-June after regulators imposed limits on the amount of money brokerages could lend to customers to trade shares. That prompted concern among investors that authorities would no longer support share prices.

GLOBAL IMPACT? China’s stock market is one of the world’s biggest, but most investors in the United States and elsewhere own very small amounts, if any, of the stocks at the center of the tumult. Markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen are slowly opening to foreign investors, but many barriers to direct ownership remain.

The Chinese stocks that most U.S. and other foreign investors own directly or through mutual funds trade instead in Hong Kong. These stocks have also fallen, but they’ve largely been steadier. They also tend to make up relatively small portions of the diversified funds available in many employer-sponsored retirement accounts.

The bigger worry for investors outside of China may be the spillover effect that a tumbling Chinese market could have. The turmoil in China’s market helped pull other global stock markets lower on Monday.

WHY SUCH ALARM? China is the world’s second-largest economy and has been a key driver of global growth for several years. But its growth has been fading recently. In the quarter ending in September it fell to a six-year low of 6.9 percent.

The country’s manufacturing sector is a huge buyer of raw materials and energy from countries like Australia, Brazil, Chile and Russia, as well as machines from the likes of Germany. Many consumer goods companies and automakers are also hoping to sell more to increasingly wealthy Chinese households.

The potential risks are reflected in the global market drop on Monday. Germany’s stock market was down a whopping 4 percent. In the U.S., the Standard and Poor’s 500 index lost 2.6 percent in morning trading.

RELIABLE INDICATOR? Not as much as in the U.S. or Europe.

Chinese stock markets have little connection to the rest of the government-dominated economy. The biggest companies are state-owned and their health is decided by official policy.

Traders respond more directly to government cues and the availability of credit. Stock prices can rise when the economy is weakening or fall even though conditions are improving. q

BUSINESS A25 Ferrari completes spinoff with stock listing in Milan Tuesday 5 January 2016

COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Sports carmaker Ferrari is following up its successful Wall Street listing with a stock market launch in Milan, as it begins a new era as a stand-alone company free of the mass-market associations of its former parent, Fiat Chrysler.

The company famed for its Formula 1 racing machines

and coveted red roadsters began trading Monday morning, the first business day of the year, at 43 euros ($47) under the RACE ticker. After a volatile day, the shares closed at 43.24 euros.

The listing, which comes after Ferrari made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange in October, completes the company’s separation from Fiat

Chrysler Automobiles SpA. The new company is controlled by Exor SpA, the Agnelli family holding company that also controls Fiat Chrysler, with a 23.5-percent share, and Piero Ferrari, founder Enzo Ferrari’s son, who retains a 10-percent stake.

Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne, who is also CEO of Fiat Chrysler, called the entry onto the Milan

exchange “a new starting line” for the prestigious brand.

But he is treading carefully with plans to expand the Ferrari brand, whose value relies on its exclusivity.

Marchionne wants to turn Ferrari into a luxury goods company in order to profit more from the brand’s prestige.

Ferrari is “probably the most difficult brand extension” to

develop, Marchionne told a news conference, and so the company intends to avoid doing “anything big and stupid.”

“If you put a Ferrari sticker on a toaster it doesn’t go faster,” said Marchionne.

Back in October, for the NYSE listing, Fiat Chrysler listed a 10 percent stake at $52 a share, valuing the company at nearly $10 billion.q

General Motors invests $500m in Lyft, forms partnership

DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. and ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. are forming an unprecedented partnership that could help them beat their rivals to the self-driving future.

Lyft said Monday that GM invested $500 million in the company as part of a round of a $1 billion round of fund-raising.

GM gets a seat on Lyft’s board and access to the three-year-old company’s software, which matches riders with drivers and automates payments. It also becomes a preferred vehicle provider, with the chance to get many more people behind the wheel of a Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac. San Franciscobased Lyft gets the expertise of a 108-year-old automaker with decades of experience in making connected and autonomous vehicles.

Detroit-based GM also has an enviable global reach; it sells almost 10 million cars each year

This photo shows the General Motors logo at the company’s world headquarters in Detroit. On Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, General Motors Co. announced it is investing $500 million in ride-sharing company Lyft Inc. GM gets a seat on Lyft’s board as part of the partnership, which could speed the development of on-demand, self-driving cars.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

in more than 100 countries.

Lyft operates in 190 U.S. cities, although it recently formed partnerships with ride-sharing services in China and India. Together, the companies plan to open a network of U.S. hubs where Lyft drivers can rent GM

vehicles. That could expand Lyft’s business by giving people who don’t own cars a way to drive and earn money through Lyft. It will also give GM a leg up on competitors like Daimler AG and Ford Motor Co., who are developing their

own ride-sharing services.

Longer term, GM and Lyft will work together to develop a fleet of autonomous vehicles that city dwellers could summon using Lyft’s mobile app. Partnering with GM could give Lyft a boost over its arch-rival,

Uber Technologies Inc., which is working on its own driverless cars.

Lyft Co-Founder and President John Zimmer and GM President Dan Ammann say the two companies began serious discussions about three months ago.

Both see big changes coming in the traditional model of car ownership, and they had similar ideas about how to address it.

“It felt very natural very quickly,” Zimmer said.

Ammann said the resulting partnership is unlike any other in the auto and tech industries. “Do we want to deploy the resources and people to do everything ourselves, or get there faster by working in partnership?” Ammann said.

“We see a really compelling, complimentary set of capabilities.” Following its latest round of fund-raising — which also included a $100 million investment from Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Holding Co. — privately-held Lyft set its value at $5.5 billion. q

Insurer: 2015 saw lowest natural disaster losses in 6 years BERLIN (AP) — Last year saw the lowest financial costs from natural disasters worldwide since 2009 as the El Nino weather phenomenon reduced hurricane activity in the North Atlantic, a leading insurer said Monday.

The year’s most devastating disaster was the earthquake in Nepal in April, but only a fraction of the resulting losses was insured.

Insurer Munich Re said in

an annual survey that both insured losses and overall costs resulting from disasters were the lowest since 2009.

It said that there were some $27 billion in insured losses, while overall costs — including losses not covered by insurance — totaled $90 billion.

Those figures were down from $31 billion and $110 billion respectively in 2014.

The costliest single event for

the insurance industry was a series of winter storms that hit the northeastern U.S. and Canada in February.

They generated insured losses of $2.1 billion and total losses of $2.8 billion.

In contrast, the earthquake in Nepal caused total damage valued at $4.8 billion, but only $210 million of that was insured.

That underlined the fact that, in developing countries, the level of insurance

coverage remains very low.

In several other years, hurricanes hitting North America in particular have caused significant costs to the insurance industry.

However, “in terms of financial losses, we were somewhat fortunate in 2015: strong tropical cyclones frequently only hit sparsely populated areas or did not make landfall at all,” said Peter Hoeppe, the head of Munich Re’s risk research

unit. “In the North Atlantic, El Nino helped to curtail the development of heavy storms.”

El Nino is caused by the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean that causes changes in rainfall patterns.

Hoeppe cautioned that scientists believe the phenomenon may be followed by its twin sister, La Nina, which would encourage the formation of North Atlantic hurricanes. q

A26 COMICS

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

CLASSIFIED A27

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Classifieds Time Share Resale Marriott Aruba Surf Club RENAISSANCE 2 BR,O.F.Plat.Plus WK 51&52 Week room price Price:$150,000 wk 38 room 529 $4,750 2 BR ,O.V Plat Plus WK 51 wk 40 room 336 $3,750 Price:$46000 wk 40 room 105 $5,000 2 BR ,O.V.Plat Plus WK 52 wk 42 room 338 $4,000 Price:$54000 2 BR ,O.V. Plat.$16000,2BR,O.S. wk 43 room 329 $3,250 Plat,$17500 wk 49 room 144 $5,500 For Sale wk 50 room 546 $6,000 GOLD COAST PROPERTY 2BR,O.F.Plat.$27000,3BR,O.V. Plat,$29000 wk 49 room 2571 $3,750 1 Towhouse 2 floors, 2 bath 2BR,G.V.Plat$15000 wk 48 room 517 $3,750 2 bedrooms. Pools. Security More Info Call:(297)630-1307 wk 48 or 49 room 119 $4,750 Sunset Residences info@arubatimetravel.com wk 48 or 49 room 551 $5,500 1 apartment 2 bedrooms, www.arubatimetravel.com wk 49 or 50 room 203 $5,500 _____________________________ 2 baths, Social area, pool 204312 wk 21 or 22 room 347 $4,000 Time Share Resale For info call 594-1496 wk 1or2 room 517 $9,500 each ____________________________ 204309 Marriott Ocean Club 1Bedroom O.V. Price:$11,000 wk 1or2 room 117 $7,000 each Time Share Resale 2Bedroom O.V. Price:$17,500 Contact Brian Cell: 593-0200 Paradise Beach Villas 2Bedroom O.F. Price :$29,000 vr.realty@mac.com One Bedroom wk 2 rm #322 More Info Call:(297)630-1307 203667 ____________________________ One Bedroom wk 3 rm #324 info@arubatimetravel.com Pool/Ocean view www.arubatimetravel.com Price:$8.500 each _____________________________ 204312 More Info Call:(297) 630-1307 Time share Resale Tropicana Resorts info@arubatimetravel.com 3 Bedroom week 51&52 Room www.arubatimetravel.com #2548 204312 _____________________________ Renovated Room, Check in Sunday.

Price:$40,000 both weeks Renaissance Suites 1Bedroom week51 Room#2548 Harbor and Ocean View Price:$8500 More Info Call:(297)630-1307 Selling, Listing, Renting for over 30 Years info@arubatimetravel.com NO UPFRONT FEE FREE APRAISAL, www.arubatimetravel.com 204312 _____________________________ Time Share Resale 2 Bedroom week1&3 Room #751/752 31 weeks remain on the contract info@arubatimetravel.com-www.arubatimetravel.com Price:$22,000 each Studio WK 1 RM #1304 35 weeks remain on the contract Price:$8000 1Bedroom 1 1/2 Bath WK 2 RM#605 32 weeks remain on the contract, Price:$9500 More Info Call:(297)630-1307 info@arubatimetravel.com www.arubatimetravel.com 204312 _____________________________ Time Share Resale Divi Links Golf 2 Bedroom WK 2 RM#2317/2318 32 week remain on the contract Price:$15,000 Paradise Beach Villas 1 BR WK 2 RM#322 P.O.V. 1 BR WK 3 RM#324 P.O.V. Price:$8500 each More info Call:(297)630-1307 info@arubatimetravel.com www.arubatimetravel.com 204312 _____________________________

TIMESHARE FOR SALE

Time -Share for sale by owner Marriott Surf Club week #51 plat plus 2 br, ocean view $39,000 Allan (Owner) Call. 917 445 0077 allan@ratafia.com _______________________ 204239

ARUBA TIME TRAVEL TIME SHARE RESALE

For more info call the experts!

(297)630-1307

FOR SALE Condo in Gold Coast Everything’s included in this 2 Br 2 1/2 bath unit check it out now at www.arubarental.info or call 562-0735 free pick up

DOCTOR ON DUTY Oranjestad

Dr. van Trigt Tel. 582-2991 San Nicolas Dr.Luchmun Tel: 584-0299

EMERGENCIA

911

204217 ___________________________

POLICE

100

Time Share For Sale by Owner Divi Golf week 51, x-mas wk, unit 4206, 2 rm suite, lock off master. sleep 4, 2 baths, elegant furnishing, granite kitchen, washer dryer, steps to priced below market, $5900 26 wks left on contract, equity value $13,500 rmwjmw@aol.com Phone: 508 651 0016 204201 __________________________

ORANJESTAD NOORD STA. CRUZ SAN NICOLAS POLICE TIPLINE FIRE DEPT. FIRE DEPT. HOSPITAL DENTAL CLINIC AMBULANCE CENTRO MEDICO

527-3140 527-3200 527-2900 584-5000 11141 115 582-1108 527-4000 587-9850 582-1234 523-8833

Time Share For Sale/ Rent Tropicana week 3, 1/17/16 2 Queen beds, couch rent $860 buy $2075 check in date can be changed for a fee and La Quinta special sale unit 2304, 1 br, 12/12 $1675 or best offer rmwjmw@aol.com Phone: 508 651 0016 204234 __________________________ Time Share Resale Divi Phoenix Studio WK 1 RM#1003 One Bedroom RM#1006, 35 weeks remain on the contract 10 can be accelerated.

Price:$8000 More Info Call:(297) 630-1307 info@arubatimetravel.com www.arubatimetravel.com 204306 ____________________________ FOR SALE Occidental Royal Club 1 Bedroom (Sat-Sat) week 52 fixed US$48,000.00 Occidental First Club week 1 fixed US$30,000.00 Lifetime Ownership Plus 28 Bonus days p/y Call 734-7777 ken@buyarubatimeshares.com 204307 ____________________________

Marriott Aruba Ocean Club 1 bedroom Gold O.V. Price :$7000 1Bedroom Gold O.F. Price :$8500 2Bedroom Gold O.V. Price :$9500 2 Bedroom Gold O.F. Price:$14500 1 Bedroom Platinum O.V. Price:$12000 2 Bedroom Platinum O.V. Price:$18000 2 Bedroom Platinum O.F. Price: $30000 more info call:(297) 630-1307 info@arubatimetravel.com www.arubatimetravel.com 204212 _____________________________

PHARMACY Oranjestad: Central Tel: 585-8077 San Nicolas: Seroe Preto Tel: 584-4833 INFORMATION TAXI-TAS PROF. TAXI TAXI D.T.S. SERVICE ARUBA

118 587-5900 588-0035 587-2300 583-3232

CRUISESHIP

January 6 Monarch Vision of the Seas Thomsom Celebration Pacific Princess

Aruba Aiport American Airline Avianca Aruba Airlines Jet Blue Surinam Tiara Air Venezolana

524-2424 582-2700 588-0059 583-8300 588-2244 582-7896 588-4272 583-7674

Aruba Foundation For those Visually Incapasitated Tel: 582-5051

FUNDACION Anti-Droga Aruba (FADA) Tel: 583-2999

FUNDACION Respetami Tel: 582-4433

Centro Diabetic Arubano Tel: 524-8888

Narcotics Anonymous Tel: 583-8989

QUOTA Club Tel: 525-2672

Women in Difficulties Foundation Tel: 583-5400

Bloodbank Aruba Tel: 587-0002

A28 SCIENCE

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Mexico hopes to see more monarch butterflies MARK STEVENSON Associated Press PIEDRA HERRADA, Mexico (AP) — The number of monarch butterflies reaching their wintering grounds in central Mexico this year may be three to four times higher than the previous season, authorities said recently.

Speaking during a visit to a monarch reserve with U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, Mexican Environment Secretary Rafael Pacchiano said initial reports suggest the butterfly population is rebounding.

“We estimate that the butterfly population that arrives at the reserve is as much as three and could reach four times the surface area it occupied last season,” Pacchiano said.

He did not explain how the government made the calculation, but authorities conduct informal tracking of monarch butterflies as they enter Mexico from the United States.

The population of orangeand-black butterflies making the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilometer) migration from the United States and Canada declined in recent years before recovering slightly in 2014, when the insects covered about 2.79 acres (1.13 hectares) in the mountains west of Mexico City.

The monarchs cluster so closely in trees that their numbers are measured by the area they cover. They once blanketed as much as 44 acres (18 hectares).

Pacchiano said the butterfly colonies could cover 3 or 4 hectares (7.8 to 9.9 acres) this year, and officials hope to reach 6 hectares (14.8 acres) in the reserves by 2020.

“The United States is very committed to protecting the monarch butterfly, but we need the help of Mex-

ico and Canada,” Jewell said before hiking an hour into the mountains to see the trees where the monarchs roost.

She said the United States is working to reintroduce milkweed, a plant key to the butterflies’ migration,

Illegal logging more than tripled in the monarch butterflies’ wintering grounds last year, reversing several years of steady improvements.

Pacchiano said the reserve’s buffer area lost more than 20 acres (9 hect-

find their way back to the same patch of pine forest each year.

Some scientists suggest the butterflies may release chemicals marking the migratory path and fear that if their numbers fall too low the chemical traces will not

A guide holds up a damaged and dying butterfly at the monarch butterfly reserve in Piedra Herrada, Mexico. The number of monarch butterflies reaching their wintering grounds in central Mexico this year may be three or four times higher than the previous year, authorities said recently. The population of orange-and-black butterflies, which migrate to Mexico from the U.S. and Canada, has declined in recent years.

(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

on about 3 million hectares (1,160 square miles) within five years, both by planting and by designating pesticide-free areas.

Milkweed is the plant the butterflies feed and lay their eggs on, but it has been attacked by herbicide use in the United States.

“Our agricultural practices must be adapted. ... We have to look at our use of pesticides,” Jewell said.

“We have the goal of 225 million monarch butterflies returning right here, to Mexico, every year. We believe we can get there by working together.”

Mexico, too, still has problems.

ares) due to illegal logging in one area this year, but the tree cutting was detected and a number of arrests were made.

Loggers cut down 47 acres (19 hectares) of trees in San Felipe de los Alzati in Michoacan state last year, the biggest loss since 2009.

Illegal logging had fallen to almost zero in 2012.

The forest canopy acts as a sort of blanket against the cold for butterflies that form huge clumps on tree branches during their winter stay in Mexico.

The migration is an inherited trait: No butterfly lives to make the full round trip, and it is unclear how they

be strong enough for others to follow.

Two years ago the butterflies reached a low point, covering only 1.65 acres (0.67 hectares), the lowest since record-keeping began in 1993.

At their peak in 1996, the monarchs covered more than 44 acres (18 hectares). But since then, each time the monarchs have rebounded, they have done so at lower levels. The species is found in many countries and is not in danger of extinction, but experts fear the migration could be disrupted if very few butterflies make the long trip.q

Feds: 2015 Lake Erie algae bloom most on record JOHN SEEWER Associated Press TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The algae bloom that spread across Lake Erie in the warmer months of 2015 was the largest on record and left behind a thick, paint-like scum that covered an area roughly the size of New York City, government scientists said recently.

The bloom fueled by heavy summer rains surpassed the record-setting algae outbreak in 2011 that stretched from Toledo to Cleveland, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Scum from the bloom covered about 300 square miles in early and mid-August, the agency said.

But the actual bloom was much larger. Just how big is still being determined, though it was clearly bigger than anything measured so far, said Richard Stumpf, a NOAA researcher.

The massive algae colony this year stayed toward the center of the lake between Canada and Ohio and away from the shoreline, which lessened the impact on boaters and drinking water plants, he said.

Toxins from a much smaller bloom in August 2014 contaminated the tap water for 400,000 people in the Toledo area and a sliver of southeastern Michigan.

Algae blooms — linked to phosphorus from farm fertilizers, livestock manure and sewage treatment plants — have taken hold in the western third of the lake over the last decade and colored some of its waters a shade of green that looks like pea soup.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Seeso, a new comedy channel, pledges more and better laughs FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Evan Shapiro thinks you deserve to laugh more. Wherever you are. With hot- and cold-streaming comedy from any screen in reach.

He thinks Seeso, his new

Seeso may be a homegrown part of the Comcast empire, but its indie vibe is reflected in its offices on Manhattan’s lower Broadway, many blocks removed from Rockefeller Center’s Comcast headquarters, in an airy loftlike space where

season of “The Kids in the Hall.” Next-day episodes of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers” will be available, as well as all 40-plus years of “Saturday Night Live,” ‘’Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and

This image released by Seeso shows Amy Poehler, from left, Matt Walsh, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser from the comedy series “The UCB Show,” premiering on the new streaming channel Seeso.

The ad-free service, which officially launches on Thursday, will be available by subscription for $3.99 per month.

(Seeso via AP)

streaming comedy channel, will do the trick.

“We want to give you more and better laughter,” he says, adding that when you log on to Seeso, a dose of comedy content is served to you with barely a moment’s delay, “because we also want you laughing FASTER.” Shapiro is a former president of IFC and Sundance channels and was an executive producer of such laugh generators as “The Onion News Network,” ‘’The Whitest Kids U’Know” and “Portlandia.”

A year ago he became executive vice president of NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises, and, jumping onto the OTT (over-the-top) video bandwagon, “We’re launching this brand-new product, direct to the consumer, with 2,500 hours of content, 20 original series and a brand-new platform built from scratch. And we are doing it organically, from within, as opposed to making an acquisition.”

affirmations are scribbled on the walls alongside a sprawling humor taxonomy of planned Seeso content ranging from the British chat show “Man to Man with Dean Learner” to New York stand-up on “Night Train with Wyatt Cenac.”

The ad-free Seeso, which officially launches Thursday, will be available by subscription for $3.99 per month. But if you’re seeking laughs before then, a beta version is available for sampling. “Seeso is not exclusively for a younger audience,” says Shapiro, explaining that Seeso targets no particular demographic, but instead is aimed at a “psychographic”: comedy fans of all kinds.

Its span of programming seems to bear him out.

Old favorites include “30 Rock,” ‘’Fawlty Towers,” ‘’Parks and Recreation,” ‘’Saved by the Bell,” ‘’The IT Crowd,” both the British and U.S. versions of “The Office,” and every

Python movies “The Meaning of Life,” ‘’Holy Grail” and “Life of Brian.”

Initially, original fare will include “The UCB Show,” from Upright Citizens Brigade founders like Amy Poehler; a dating/sketchcomedy series, “Dave & Ethan: Lovemakers”; “Sammy J & Randy in Ricketts Lane,” a musical comedy about mismatched housemates (one an attorney, the other a puppet); and the animated “Cyanide & Happiness Show,” based on the Web comic.

Shapiro promises a brandnew helping of stand-up every day and three to five new pieces of long-form content every week.

With this constant replenishment, Seeso is designed for regular check-ins, which might range from a burst of stand-up during your morning commute to an evening’s film festival at home on your big screen.

“We’re aiming to be a habit,” he says.

The name for the channel was sparked during a brainstorming session when Shapiro and his colleagues nailed down the Seeso mission: Comedy concierges finding the good stuff and bringing it to you on whatever device you prefer.

“Then,” recalls Shapiro, “someone said, ‘How will they KNOW this is the good stuff?’ I said, ‘Come and SEE SO for yourself.’”

The timing for Seeso could

be ideal: Viewers who long flocked to broadcast and pay-TV networks are now embracing big-tent streaming channels like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. CBS All Access, a subscription source for recycled CBS network programming, seized viewers’ attention with its recent announcement that in January 2017 it will be the exclusive outlet for a brand-new “Star Trek” series.q

A30 PEOPLE

Tuesday 5 January 2016

& ARTS

Exhibit captures evolving styles of Harlem-born Norman Lewis NATALIE POMPILIO Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — There are two questions Ruth Fine has heard repeatedly from visitors emerging from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts’ comprehensive retrospective of work by artist Norman Lewis.

“Those who don’t know his work ask, ‘How is it possible we didn’t know this painter?’” said Fine, a visiting curator, retired from Washington’s National Gallery of Art, who spearheaded the exhibition. “And those who did know of him ask, ‘How is it possible we didn’t know him better?’”

Many of the works in “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis,” which runs through April 3, are on public view for the first time. The exhibition in the Academy’s main gallery includes 95 paintings and prints and is loosely chronological with six thematic sections: Into the City, Visual Sound, Rhythm of Nature, Ritual, Civil Rights and Summation. “I think people are surprised by what they see, the variety,” Fine said. “This is the first chance many people have to get a sense of what this artist did.”

The Harlem-born Lewis,

A woman views work in the exhibit titled, “Procession: The Art of Norman Lewis,” in December, 2015, at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Lewis was the first major African-American abstract expressionist. The show is scheduled to run through April 3, 2016.

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

who died in 1979 at the age of 70, first gained attention in the 1930s for his figurative and literal depictions of struggles facing his urban African-American community. He then began to experiment with abstract impressionism, the realm of painters like Jackson Pollack and Willem De

Kooning, whom he later befriended.

Some African-Americans artists tried to discourage Lewis’s change in style, seeing it as “a betrayal of what they felt a black artist was supposed to do,” said Moe Brooker, a well-known African-American artist.

“His friends said: ‘You can’t

do this. You’re supported to talk about the difficulties.

You’re supposed to talk about the oppression,’ but he refused,” Brooker said.

“He said: “I’m black, yes, but I’m an artist. I will not be limited to doing the kind of work that you think I should be doing.’ He’s interested in being a human being.”

“He continued to search and struggle to find ways to communicate human issues, which is what art is really about,” Brooker said.

“Whenever I see his work, I’m introduced to something new and exciting and different. I constantly come and find inspiration.”

While Lewis did find success during his lifetime — in 1955, he was the first African-American artist to be awarded the Carnegie International Award in Painting, and New York’s respected Marian Willard Gallery represented and exhibited his work — he did not get the same recognition many of his white peers enjoyed.

One item on display at the Academy is a 1977 letter Lewis wrote to powerful art dealer Leo Castelli, in which he noted others of lesser talent were enjoying greater success. “I’m a good painter,” he wrote.

“I have talent. . I could be an asset to your gallery.”

There is no indication Castelli responded.

In addition to race, Fine believes Lewis may have fallen off the art world’s radar because he does not have a signature image and can’t be pigeonholed.q

Diana Athill, 98, offers enchanting new memoir ANN LEVIN Associated Press “Alive, Alive Oh! And Other Things That Matter” (W.W. Norton & Co.), by Diana Athill Diana Athill, 98, still has a few things to teach us about growing old with dignity and humor and grace.

Her latest memoir, “Alive, Alive Oh!” follows the unlikely literary celebrity she achieved at age 90 with the publication of the prize-winning best-seller “Somewhere Towards the End.” In this collection of astute and sparkling essays, Athill tries to identify “the things that matter” after living to almost 100.

It’s not her love affairs,

This book cover image released by W.W. Norton & Co. shows “Alive, Alive Oh! And Other Things That Matter,” by Diana Athill.

(W.W. Norton & Co.via AP)

though she had plenty.

“About halfway through my 70s I stopped thinking

of myself as a sexual being,” she writes. “It was like coming out onto a high plateau, into clear, fresh air, far above the antlike bustle.”

What remains are “memories, thoughts and reflections”: of her grandparents’ garden, where an apple tree provides “the nearest I ever came to a mystical experience.” Of women’s changing fashions — even for a girl born in 1917, “pinkness and sparkle” were everything. And of her reluctant decision to move into a retirement home, an essay that includes a hilarious account of a day spent planting rosebushes with a few other nonagenarian residents, one of them blind.

“One good thing about being physically incapable of doing almost anything is that if you manage to do even a little something, you feel great,” she observes.

One of the most powerful essays recounts a pregnancy in her 40s, a brush with death that left her profoundly grateful to be alive. Another chapter, titled “Lessons,” offers up a few: “Avoid romanticism and abhor possessiveness,” she says. In her case, that meant no children, and affairs with married men.

But she has few, if any, evident regrets.

Rather, the life she describes is one of abundance — although not material — where every sorrow is offset by sweetness of all

kinds — friends, food, fashion, art, literature, travel and rambles in nature.

The book’s title recalls the lyrics of a popular song about a Dublin street vendor, Molly Malone, who wheels her wheelbarrow “through streets broad and narrow, crying cockles and mussels alive, alive oh!”

It’s an odd image for Athill, who was born into privilege, educated at Oxford and had a distinguished career at the BBC and in British publishing.

And yet it isn’t. Both the fictional Molly and the real Diana are out there in the thick of things, mixing it up, acutely aware that all living things, whether mussels or humans, are destined to die. q

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Tuesday 5 January 2016

Review: Moore ‘invades’ Europe to teach us all some lessons

This image provided by Dog Eat Dog Films shows director Michael Moore in a scene from his documentary, “Where to Invade Next.” The movie opens in U.S. theaters on Feb. 12, 2016.

(Dog Eat Dog Films via AP)

JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer Of course Michael Moore exaggerates. Of course he engages in cheerful, unabashed cherry-picking. Of course he sees black and white where most of us see shades of gray.

That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong.

It just means he’s being Michael Moore — and in his latest documentary, “Where to Invade Next,” it’s a more impishly entertaining Moore than usual, using comedy and even a bit of fantasy to prove his point.

Which is, basically, that Europe has some ideas on how to run a society that

Americans should plunder and pillage — er, adopt! — forthwith. But lest that seem an overly harsh indictment of the United States, Moore also seeks to remind us that many of these admirable ideas originated in America in the first place.

A jocular tone is set from the start, when Moore is “sum-

moned” to the Pentagon.

In this fantasy, U.S. military leaders beg him for help.

“Michael, we don’t know what the (expletive) we’re doing,” they say. “We’ve lost all the wars since World War II.” Can Moore help? Why yes, Moore replies. Yes he can.

Here’s the plan: Moore himself will “invade” other countries to bring home what’s useful. The first “target” is Italy. “Have you ever noticed that Italians all look like they’ve just had sex?”

Moore begins. In his opening camera shot, they sure do.

He zooms in on a workingclass Italian couple that seems to truly have it all: good jobs, plenty of leisure time, and the money to enjoy it, thanks to seven weeks of paid vacation, an extra month’s pay each year, and oh, two-hour lunch breaks. Maternity leave, you ask? Five months paid.

To twist the knife, Moore reminds us there are only two countries in the world that

don’t have mandated maternity leave: Papua New Guinea, and, yes, the USA. Next stop: France. “As usual, the French offered little resistance,” Moore quips.

But soon you won’t be laughing at France’s expense — not when you see how well they feed their schoolchildren. An average district in Normandy serves four-course lunches with scallops to start, followed by lamb on skewers and a cheese course — camembert is just one option — before dessert. Moore brings a can of Coke. Nah, the kids say.

On to Finland, where a forward-looking education system sees excessive homework as a hindrance to learning, and even eschews multiple-choice questions. Getting the picture? In Slovenia, which looks here like a fairytale kingdom, university tuition is free —even for Americans, some of whom come over to avoid the burden of student debt back home. q

Review: Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Anomalisa’ will break your heart LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer In “Anomalisa” everyone looks and sounds the same.

They have the same face (Caucasian, bland, nondescript). They have the same voice (Tom Noonan’s). They bore our protagonist Michael Stone (voiced by David Thewlis) to death. And this feeling that he’s the only individual on the planet among all these clones might be the cause of his unravelling.

In this very R-rated stopmotion animated feature, scripted by Charlie Kaufman (writer of “Adaptation.” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson, we spend one day with this sad sack narcissist on an overnight trip to Cincinnati. He’s there to give a lecture about his book, “How May I Help You Help Them,” a top selling manifesto on the art of customer service. It’s successful enough that people in the hotel recognize him immediately.

But he’s still sad. He has a stilted conversation with his wife and son who stayed behind in Los Angeles. He calls an ex-girlfriend to see if she’ll meet him for a drink.

Their breakup was fraught, and so is this encounter.

Back in his room, Michael sinks into himself, bereft of an easy hookup. It’s just him and his Belvedere martinis with a twist until he hears an alarming sound from the hotel hallway — a voice that’s not Tom Noonan’s.

It’s Jennifer Jason Leigh’s.

Michael bursts out of his room like the owner of this voice is his last chance for survival, frantically knocking on random hotel room doors to find her.

The woman has travelled from Akron, Ohio, (over 200 miles) to hear him speak.

She’s a big fan, as is her coworker. And this woman is different in voice and face.

Her name is Lisa. She’s an anomaly. Leigh’s nuanced vocals bring what could have been a slip of a character to life. It’s a stunning, emotionally truthful performance that makes you wish more awards would

This photo provided by Paramount Pictures shows, David Thewlis voices Michael Stone, in the animated stop-motion film, “Anomalisa,” by Paramount Pictures. The film opens in U.S. theaters in Jan. 2016.

(Paramount Pictures via AP)

recognize voice acting.

Lisa has the confidence of a middle school girl (read: none). Her levels might even be in the negative numbers. She is sweet and excitable and good-natured, but cripplingly selfconscious. She secondguesses everything she says. She ends sentences with “shut up Lisa!” She thinks she’s ugly, dumb and unsophisticated. Actually, Lisa is basically a girl in an adult woman’s body. She is gawky and awkward. She

stumbles over her own feet and really likes to press the buttons in the elevator. But she still goes back to Michael’s room when he asks her to after a few drinks, knowing full well what that means. The story doesn’t willfully hide details from the viewer, but it does evolve in surprising ways. Even after two viewings, I can’t settle on a single thesis. That’s probably what makes it valuable. You can feel for Michael and empathize with his existential solitude,

or you can roll your eyes at him. I did. He’s fairly insufferable, and it takes a while to realize that perhaps the problem isn’t everyone else — it’s him. He’s unable to see outside himself and condescends to others with abandon while profiting off of a customer service ideology that he clearly doesn’t believe — that everyone deserves to be loved, that everyone is an individual, that a smile costs nothing and can make a person’s day.q