March 5, 2016

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

Bargaining Chip

Clinton Urges Rivals to Present ‘Credible’ Economic Plan Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton speaks at the Detroit Manufacturing Systems plant, Friday, March 4, 2016, in Detroit. Clinton said Friday the nation needs a “new bargain” for the economy and called upon all the presidential candidates to offer a “credible strategy” for raising wages as her primary race against rival Bernie Sanders shifts to a series of Rust Belt contests.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Saturday 5 March 2016

FRONT

Syria opposition:

Circumstances not suitable for peace talks BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrians in rebel-held areas took advantage Friday of a week-long cease-fire to rally against President Bashar Assad, demanding his resignation, while a top opposition figure said his side believes it is “not suitable” for peace talks to resume in Geneva next week.

Meanwhile, France’s presi-

Riad Hijab, who heads the opposition High Negotiations Committee, said that circumstances were not suitable to resume the talks, adding that the United States has “made many concessions” to Russia, one of the main backers of Assad. Despite the truce, Syrian military operations are still ongoing, detainees have not been released

by Damascus and little aid

organizations by the United Nations.

British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, also in Paris, said the hope is that ultimately a cease-fire would allowSyria’s moderate opposition and backers of the Assad government to work out a solution and fight the extremists together.

Syria’s indirect peace talks broke down in Geneva on Feb. 3, amid a government

Syrian soldiers pose for a picture in Maarzaf, about 15 kilometers west of Hama, Syria. Local leaders and elders signed a declaration pledging to abide by a truce in Maarzaf. The Russian military has helped mediate signing the document.

(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

dent expressed optimism, saying discussions about a political transition in Syria will “accelerate” with the truce holding across the war-wracked country.

The rallies in rebel-held areas were small — hundreds protested in the eastern sector of the city of Aleppo, in the western Waer neighborhood of Homs and in Idlib province — but they reflected a sense of relief amid the cease-fire that has mostly held since it went into effect across the country last Saturday.

The protesters called on Assad’s government to release detainees from prisons and lift several sieges on opposition areas — issues that have been key demands of the opposition ahead of peace talks planned to resume in Geneva next Wednesday.

In a blow to those plans,

is entering rebel-held besieged areas, Hijab said in Paris. He spoke shortly after French President Francois Hollande, after speaking with the leaders of Russia, Germany, Britain and Italy, said from Paris that there was agreement to take advantage of the truce to coordinate humanitarian aid and open a process of political transition in Syria — though he cautioned about advancing too quickly.

High-level international discussions about Syria have intensified since the ceasefire went into effect, although the truce does not encompass the whole of the country. The “cessation of hostilities” deal does not include the Islamic State group and al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, as well as other militant factions designated terrorist

offensive under the cover of Russian airstrikes.

The partial truce has dramatically reduced overall violence across the devastated country — a remarkable accomplishment in a war that has killed at least 250,000 people, displaced half the population and decimated towns and villages. Because the ceasefire agreement excludes areas held by the Islamic State group and the Nusra Front, some of the continuing violence is not technically a breach of the truce. Also, civilian casualties have dropped sharply since the cease-fire went into effect. “This ceasefire, cessation of hostilities, is by no means perfect but it has reduced the level of violence. It has created an opportunity for some humanitarian access,” said Hammond.q

North Korea, on defensive after sanctions, makes nuclear threat HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military to be ready to launch nuclear strikes at any time, state media reported Friday, an escalation in rhetoric targeting Seoul and Washington that may not reflect the country’s actual nuclear capacity.

The threats are part of the authoritarian government’s ramped-up propaganda push to signal strength at home and abroad in the face of what it portrays as an effort by South Korea and the United States to overthrow its leadership.

In North Korea’s first official response to the U.N.’s recent adoption of harsh sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, the North also warned Friday it will bolster its nuclear arsenal and make unspecified “strong and merciless physical” measures. A government statement called the U.N. sanctions the “most heinous international criminal act” aimed at isolating and stifling the country.

“The only way for defending the sovereignty of our nation and its right to existence under the present extreme situation is to bolster up nuclear force both in quality and quantity,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said, paraphrasing Kim. It said Kim stressed “the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defense always on standby so as to be fired any moment.”

North Korea has threatened nuclear war in the past, but it is unclear just how advanced the country’s nuclear program really is. It is thought to have a handful of crude atomic bombs, but there is considerable outside debate about the state of its arsenal.

Most experts say it’s highly unlikely that North Korea currently has a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching U.S. shores, let alone the ability to arm it with a miniaturized nuclear warhead.

But North Korea can probably place nuclear warheads on its shorter-range Scuds and its 1,300-kilometer-range Rodong missiles, which can strike targets in South Korea and Japan, said Lee Choon Geun, an analyst from South Korea’s state-funded Science and Technology Policy Institute. Other analysts, however, question this.

Kim issued the nuclear threat while guiding the testfiring of a new large-caliber multiple launch rocket system, in a likely reference to six short-range projectiles that Seoul says North Korea fired on Thursday.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the projectiles, fired from the eastern coastal town of Wonsan, flew about 100 to 150 kilometers (60 to 90 miles) and landed in the sea. Ministry officials said they couldn’t confirm whether they were fired by the weapons system referred to by the North Korean news agency.

The report did not say when the test-firing occurred.

Thursday’s firings were seen as a “low-level” response to the U.N. sanctions, with North Korea unlikely to launch any major provocation until its landmark ruling Workers’ Party convention in May, according to Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

The U.N. Security Council sanctions, the toughest of their kind in two decades, include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by land, sea or air; a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to the North; and the expulsion of North Korean diplomats who engage in “illicit activities.”q

U.S. NEWS A3

Saturday 5 March 2016

Think Trump was crude? The Founding Fathers were just as bad

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, reacts as businessman Donald Trump speaks during a Republican presidential primary debate at Fox Theatre, Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Detroit.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

BETH J. HARPAZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — You could say politics has reached a new low with the “small hands” remarks from the Republican debate.

But the exchange over the size of Donald Trump’s, um, hands is merely the most recent vulgarity in American politics. The history of crude remarks goes back to the Founding Fathers.

In the 18th century, John Adams called Alexander Hamilton a “bastard brat” and wrote that Hamilton had “a superabundance of secretions which he could not find whores enough to draw off,” according to historian Ron Chernow.

One difference between then and now: “These were words written or spoken in private, not in public,” said Chernow, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Alexander Hamilton helped inspire the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.” (Chernow says the comments were quoted in letters that survived the centuries.)

In the 1880s, rumors of Grover Cleveland’s out-ofwedlock child led to a song from his Republican opponents: “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” When Cleveland won the presidency, the response came: “Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!”

“Old-fashioned American politics was full of those kinds of vile comments,” said Arnold Shober, who teaches government at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. “We’ve

kind of lost that over the last 70 years, and I think it’s just coming back.”

Not that 20th century politicians shied away from vulgarities. Here’s President Bill Clinton describing his 1970s El Camino pickup truck: “I had Astroturf in the back.

You don’t want to know why, but I did.”

And Clinton’s Secretary of State Madeleine Albright proved that she could talk dirty when she said: “This is not cojones. This is cowardice,” after Cuba shot down Cuban-American exiles flying civilian planes.

Fast-forward to the Republican presidential campaign. A week ago, Sen. Marco Rubio, talking about Trump, said: “And you know what they say about men with small hands.” In Thursday’s GOP debate, Trump said of his hands: “If they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem.”

Trump also has called Rubio “little Marco.”

Sex therapist Judy Kuriansky said sex talk among men “is their way of comparing themselves and evaluating their influence and their power over each other. Certainly that was the allusion” at the debate.

“Everything is related to potency and power in direct relationship to size,” she added. “I’m taller than you and my penis is bigger than you and therefore I’m more powerful than you.”

What do voters think?

Those who like Trump seem to give it a pass. Those who don’t are disgusted.

“There’s too much political

correctness,” said Trump supporter Carol Ebright at a Trump rally in Cadillac, Michigan, on Friday.

“I want to see the ‘Get things done!’ not the ‘Did you hear what he said?’”

She carried a sign that said: “The silent majority stands with Trump.”

But Amy Woody, a self-described moderate-to-liberal voter from eastern Tennessee, said Trump’s crude language is “completely inappropriate.”

“I have extremely thick skin,” said Woody, who spent 16 years in the U.S. Air Force in squadrons that were typically less than 20 percent female.

“I served in the military for a long time. We probably joked much more inappropriately than your standard workplace. It’s not

done with any malice or disrespect. Male, female, it doesn’t matter. You all just wear a uniform. We all dish out the same comments to each other.”

But in a presidential campaign, she said, “it’s tacky and trashy, and I think all politicians, especially someone running for president, should have at least a trace of class and dignity.”

Just because Trump can get away with it, though, doesn’t mean the rest of us can. Using crude language or mocking others in the workplace can get you reprimanded, fired or sued.

“That type of comment in the workplace could be viewed as offensive and creating a hostile work environment,” said Richard Corenthal, a labor and

employment lawyer with Meyer Suozzi English & Klein in New York. “An employer may be liable if put on notice about these types of comments and if they allow them to continue.”

Whether legal or not, whether appropriate or not, one thing is clear: Trump’s comments don’t represent some grand fall in decorum. Political mudslinging has gone on for centuries and our tolerance for vulgarities has built up over time.

“Politics has emerged as essentially a reality TV show, and that’s why Trump is able to use it so deftly: He understands the format. He built his campaign around it,” said Andrew Ricci, vice president of Levick, a Washington, D.C. public relations firm.q

A4 U.S.

Saturday 5 March 2016

NEWS

Clinton urges candidates to present ‘credible’ economic plan KEN THOMAS Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Hillary Clinton said Friday the nation needs a “new bargain” for the economy and called upon all the presidential candidates to offer a “credible strategy” for raising wages as her primary race against rival Bernie Sanders shifts to a series of Rust Belt contests.

Clinton’s address at Detroit Manufacturing Systems, a manufacturer of instrument panels for cars, offered her the opportunity to contrast herself with both Sanders and business mogul Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate.

“Anyone running for president owes it to you to come up with real ideas, not an ideology, not an old set of talking points but a credible strategy designed for the world we live in now,” Clinton said in remarks pointed at both rivals. Sanders, who is trying to stage an upset in next week’s Michigan primary, has accused Clinton of supporting trade deals that have had “disastrous” consequences for workers.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Detroit Manufacturing Systems plant, Friday, March 4, 2016, in Detroit.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

And he has sought to diminish Clinton’s standing by implying she waffled when she initially called the Trans Pacific Partnership trade

as the “gold standard” as secretary of state but later opposed the deal.

Clinton made clear to differentiate with Republi-

cans, saying there were “so many insults” at Thursday night’s Republican debate “it was hard to keep track.” She said the “biggest insult of all was to the American people” and the economy was an “afterthought” during the Republican debate. Republicans shot back, with the Republican National Committee accusing Clinton of promising a “trillion-dollar tax hike” and “four more years of Obamanomics.” In the address, Clinton called for a so-called “clawback” of tax benefits for companies that ship jobs overseas, rescinding tax relief and other incentives intended to encourage domestic investment. Revenue raised by this “clawback” would then be used to support investment in the United States. The Democrats’ focus on manufacturing jobs and trade policy is forming the backdrop for Michigan’s primary and contests on March 15 in Ohio, Illinois and Missouri amid global economic weakness.

President Barack Obama’s decision to rescue the U.S. automakers still reverberates through the nation’s manufacturing belt, but many communities have struggled with the shift of factory jobs to Mexico and

Asia. Trailing Clinton in the chase for delegates, Sanders has ratcheted up his criticism of her past support for trade deals, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and normalizing trade relations with China. Both were signed by President Bill Clinton while she was first lady.

Responding to Clinton’s speech Friday, Sanders said in a statement that “the American people are sick and tired of establishment politicians who promise to create manufacturing jobs during campaign season, but support trade policies that make it easier to outsource these jobs the day after they get elected.”

Clinton said on trade the next president would need “judgment and experience” and she would not support any deal unless it creates good jobs, raises wages and protects the nation’s security. She also sought to undercut Sanders’ credentials on the economy, accusing the senator of failing to produce a detailed plan to promote manufacturing and pointed to his past opposition to the federal Export-Import Bank, which makes and guarantees loans to help foreign customers buy U.S. goods.

U.S. NEWS A5

Saturday 5 March 2016

LA investigates knife purportedly found at OJ Simpson home LOS ANGELES (AP) — Detectives are investigating a knife purportedly found some time ago at the former home of O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, a police spokesman said Friday.

The knife was supposedly found by a citizen, possibly during demolition the home years ago, and turned over to a now-retired police motorcycle officer who was working as a filming location security guard, police Capt. Andy Neiman said.

The knife came to light in the last month, but Neiman did not say how that occurred. He stressed that the authenticity of the story was not confirmed.

“This whole story is possibly bogus from the get-go,” he said.

The knife is being analyzed by a Los Angeles Police Department crime lab.

Neiman said investigators didn’t know the identity of the person who handed it over and asked him or her to come forward.

The weapon used in the killings has been a mystery for decades.

The killings on June 12, 1994, led to the “Trial of the Century” in which the former football star was acquitted in October 1995 by a jury that deliberated only four hours.

In 1997, a civil court jury found Simpson liable for the slayings and awarded millions of dollars in damages to families of the victims.

Neiman did not believe that Simpson could be charged again with murder if the knife is linked to the killings, citing double jeopardy.

Los Angeles Police Capt. Andy Neiman talks during a new conference at police headquarters in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, March 4, 2016. Detectives are investigating a knife purportedly found some time ago at the former home of O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted of murder charges in the 1994 stabbings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, Neiman said Friday.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

“I’m not an attorney, but it’s my understanding from being a police officer for nearly 30 years that double jeopardy would be in place here,” he said.

Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who is a longtime ob-

server of the Simpson case, agreed.

“If they were going to find this knife and make it useful in the murder trial they should have found it 20 years ago, and they didn’t,” she said. “It will just raise more questions about the incompetence of the

investigation and probably lead to more books and more movies.”

Simpson is imprisoned in Nevada for a 2008 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction.

The account of the knife’s discovery was first reported

by TMZ.

The department was looking into whether criminal charges could be filed against the ex-officer who held onto the knife, according to Neiman. An officer who comes into contact with evidence is required to turn it over to investigators, he said.

Jury convicts man of lewd acts on child he later married GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press FULLERTON, California (AP) — It was a case that made headlines: A woman who disappeared a decade earlier at age 15 resurfaced and said her current husband had actually abducted her, raped her and forced her to marry him.

But in a trial, the husband’s attorney claimed the truth was far more nuanced — and much less damning.

Isidro Garcia’s attorney showed photos of his client, now 42, and the woman at

their wedding and smiling with their young daughter, who was conceived using fertility treatments.

On Friday, a jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of rape and acquitted Garcia of kidnapping. They convicted him of lewd acts with a minor after his attorney acknowledged he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with the girl when she was a teen.

Garcia at first rested his head on the table as the verdict was read and later

fell to his knees and repeatedly said “Gracias!” while raising his hands to the ceiling.Outside court, several jurors said they were deeply divided and troubled by the difference between the alleged victim’s account and Garcia’s account. At least two jurors said they were haunted by the deadlock on the rape charge, while the jury forewoman said she and others felt the alleged victim lied on the witness stand.

Garcia faces a maximum of four years and four months,

but could receive only probation at sentencing next month with credit for two years of time served. The rape count was dismissed Friday.

“I’m disappointed. I knew that this was a difficult case when I filed it, but I really did believe (the alleged victim), and I felt I could prove it,” prosecutor Whitney Bokosky said.

The case drew national attention in May 2014 after the woman contacted her sister on Facebook and said she wanted to reunite.

A6 U.S.

Saturday 5 March 2016

NEWS

American Living:

Oregon teen pursues ballerina dream at Russia’s Bolshoi academy

LYNN BERRY Associated Press OREGON/MOSCOW (AP) — Among the dozen 15-yearold girls in lavender leotards in Tatyana Galtseva’s class at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, one is different. And it’s not just because of her long, swan-like neck.

She is Harper Ortlieb, an

are alike in some way in how they approach what they do.”

The Bolshoi took notice of Harper during a summer program it held in Connecticut and offered her a place in the Moscow academy. She knew her teachers would be tough and that it would be a

U.S.-Russian relations and the strong anti-American sentiments in Russian society.

Harper, though, says she feels accepted by her classmates. Her teacher concurs, noting that just that morning some of the other girls had brought her a skirt to wear over her leo-

In this photo taken on Thursday, March 3, 2016, Harper Ortlieb, from Mount Hood, Oregon, warms up for a performance at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia. Among the dozen 15-yearold girls in lavender leotards in Tatyana Galtseva’s class at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, one is different. She is Harper Ortlieb, an American, who left her small town in Oregon to move to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming a prima ballerina.

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

American, who left her small town in Oregon to move to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming a prima ballerina.

The prestigious academy has 84 foreigners among its 721 students, but few are accepted when they are as young as Harper and few are integrated into the regular Russian program.

“She is a very gifted girl. She is all ballet, all inspiration,” Galtseva said. “When children are talented, regardless of their nationality, they

challenge to be so far away from home, but it has been even harder than she expected.

“It’s been very difficult, but with that comes strength and with that I improve,” Harper said. “I feel like I came here to get better, to improve, not only technically but emotionally so when I dance people see something.”

One concern for her parents in the decision to send their daughter, then 14, to Moscow was the strain in

tard because they were expecting a visit to the class by foreign journalists.

In her Moscow neighborhood, the women in her favorite grocery store have taken a shine to the delicate American teen, helping her pick out fresh fruit and keeping her favorite almond butter stocked.

And in the local Starbucks they have learned to spell her unusual name on her cup.

A total of 17 Americans study at the Bolshoi acad-

emy, outnumbered among the foreign students only by the 28 from Japan, with the rest coming from 22 other countries. Some of the foreign students took part in the spring concert on Thursday evening, and Harper was among the few girls from her class chosen for two of the dances.

“Preparing for a performance, it’s all you think about. It kind of overtakes your mind,” she said. “Preparing for exams, I’m always very nervous. There’s a lot of stress. But with that stress, you know, comes happiness and you feel overjoyed when you’re dancing, you forget about everything, you forget about the sacrifices you make, you forget about the pain, or the tears. Dancing is what makes me happy, no matter how much you have to sacrifice.”

Her teacher believes Harper has what it takes to be a classical ballerina, possessing not just the necessary physical and aesthetic qualities but the will to learn.

“She is extraordinarily attentive,” Galtseva said.

“She is always smiling. Such a sweet, wonderful girl.”

If Harper wants to be one of those rare foreigners who receive a diploma from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, she has three more difficult years ahead. But now she has her mother back by her side.

Harper’s mother, Layne Baumann, made two trips to Moscow after she and her husband, Tim Ortlieb, dropped off their only child in September. In February, Baumann decided to move to Moscow at least for the rest of the school year, and she now rents an

apartment two blocks from the academy, which has allowed Harper to move out of the dormitory.

At the end of each day, Baumann talks to her daughter about what she learned in class and logs onto Skype so Harper’s father can join the conversation from their home in Mount Hood, Oregon, 11 time zones away.

In addition to her dance classes, Harper has Russian language lessons every day at the academy. For her other subjects, she does online classes in the evenings and on weekends.

On Sundays, her only day off, she and her mother often explore their new city.

They also have already seen more performances at the Bolshoi Theater than most Russians see in a lifetime.

Harper started ballet at a local dance school when she was 3 years old. When she turned 11, she was accepted to the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre in Portland, a three-hour roundtrip journey that she and her mother made six days a week.

“Being 3 in ballet class, it’s fun and games,” Harper said, smiling at the recollection. “My teacher was wonderful, it was so much fun. And then once I got more professional I realized how much you have to sacrifice, and how difficult it is.”

She talks about learning to deal with the pain of wearing pointe shoes and the constant feeling of doubt that she’s not good enough.

“And I’m not good enough.

I mean, I’m not,” Harper said. “We have to wait. I have to work harder.”

U.S. NEWS A7

Saturday 5 March 2016

US Financial Front:

Strong job growth in February helps dispel recession fears

A restaurant posts a sign indicating they are hiring, in Miami. Voters and economists hold sharply divergent views on U.S. economic growth. According to a majority of economists surveyed by The Associated Press, the United States is resilient enough to defy the global economic slowdown and the sinking stock markets that have fanned fears of a new U.S. recession.

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A robust February jobs report showcased a resilient U.S. economy just as fears of a new recession had begun to surface.

Economic reports in recent weeks had fueled anxieties about a looming downturn: Manufacturers were slumping. Stocks had plummeted. China was slowing sharply along with other emerging markets. The rising dollar had crushed exports.

But last month, U.S. employers sent a clear message of confidence. They added a healthy 242,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate held at a low 4.9 percent, the government said Friday. The gains showed that the economy is surmount-

ing its challenges without suffering much damage.

“Neither global headwinds, financial turbulence nor political uncertainty has dimmed American business’ enthusiasm for hiring,” said Sal Guatieri, an economist at BMO Capital Markets. “The solid jobs report should allay recession fears.”

Retailers, restaurants, construction firms and health care providers — the core of consumer demand and vital fuel for economic growth — drove much of the hiring.

Worker pay did slip last month after having picked up in January. But more Americans began searching for jobs and found them. That lifted the job market’s participation rate — the proportion of adults

either working or looking for work — to a 13-month high of 62.9 percent.

Friday’s jobs report will factor into an increasingly tense presidential race.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has cast herself as the logical successor to President Barack Obama and his stewardship of the economy. The Republican hopefuls have spotlighted what they call the economy’s failures, blaming tax rates and Obama’s signature health care program for stagnant incomes and the loss of blue-collar jobs.

February’s job growth could also give the Federal Reserve a path to raise interest rates again as early as June, according to many economists. Prior solid job growth had led

the Fed to raise rates from record lows in December before it paused at its January meeting in the face of global pressures, falling oil prices and subpar inflation.

“It’s probably a better than a 50 percent proposition that they will raise the rates in June,” said Kevin Logan, chief U.S. economist at the bank HSBC. Stock investors appeared to cheer last month’s job growth. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 1 percent in late afternoon trading.

Retailers added 54,900 jobs last month. Restaurants and bars added 40,200, the health care sector 38,100 and construction companies 19,000.

Hiring by employers that are directly linked to consumers has more than offset layoffs at manufacturers and fossil fuel companies — two sectors squeezed by the pressures of uncertainty in China, sluggishness in Europe, declining oil prices and a stronger dollar.

Job losses in mining — which includes the battered energy industry — have totaled 140,400 in the past 12 months. And manufacturing has added just 12,000 jobs over that time.

Consumers have provided the foundation for much of the job market’s improvement in what’s become something of a self-sustaining cycle. The nearly 2.7 million workers who have been added over the past 12 months have bolstered spending on autos, housing and meals out.

That spending has sustained U.S. economic growth, even as other indicators have signaled a possible drop-off. China,

the world’s second-largest economy, is struggling with high corporate debts and slower growth. Oil prices have tumbled amid relatively low demand. The strong dollar has eaten away at exports.

With unemployment remaining low, economists say more companies should begin to raise pay to attract workers, thereby fueling more hiring and increasing people’s ability to spend, invest and save.

For years, tepid pay growth was one of the key weaknesses of the economic recovery. Many of the jobs created in the wake of the Great Recession were in lower-paid occupations — from cashiers, waiters and store clerks to home health aides and temporary workers.

But in recent months, wage gains started to tick up. The increases bolstered hopes that a lower unemployment rate had prompted companies to raise pay.

Yet between January and February, earnings fell slightly in a clear setback.

Economists were searching for explanations for the sudden reversal given the otherwise strong jobs report.

Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, noted that wages might have slipped last month because of the timing of the survey for the jobs report.

It occurred before Feb. 15, possibly missing a payday for workers who are paid semimonthly.

Wage growth is often weak when the jobs report survey week doesn’t include the 15th of the month, Shepherdson noted.

A8

Saturday 5 March 2016

WORLD NEWS

Attacks in German town blamed on far-right ‘guerrilla’ FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A string of attacks in the eastern town of Nauen near Berlin was likely committed by an anti-immigrant “guerrilla” group led by a local member of Germany’s biggest far-right party, officials said Friday.

Their alleged crimes included an arson attack in August on a gym intended as temporary housing for refugees. Nobody was injured in the fire but the building was destroyed in what authorities described as the worst attack on a refugee shelter in the state for over

20 years.

Police on Tuesday arrested a local councilman for the National Democratic Party who is suspected of forming a “criminal organization” intent on committing crimes against migrants and foreigners, according to prosecutor in the eastern

state of Brandenburg.

“One gets the impression that a kind of ‘right wing urban guerrilla’ was active in Nauen over the past year,” said Karl-Heinz Schroeter, Brandenburg’s interior minister. The group is also suspected of setting alight a Polish man’s car, storming a

local council meeting and damaging offices of a leftwing party.

The alleged ringleader, 29-year-old NPD councilman Maik Schneider, was arrested the same day Germany’s highest court opened hearings on a bid to outlaw the party. q

IRA-style booby trap bomb wounds prison officer in Belfast S. POGATCHNIK Associated Press DUBLIN (AP) — Irish Republican Army die-hards tried to kill a Belfast prison officer with an under-car booby trap bomb and are plotting to kill Northern Ireland security forces as the 100th anniversary of an Irish rebellion against British rule approaches, a police commander warned Friday.

Stephen Martin, assistant chief constable of the Northern Ireland police, issued his threat assessment hours after a 52-year-old prison officer was wounded when a small bomb partly detonated under his van.

The man had just left his home in Protestant east Belfast to go to work when police believe the bomb fell off of the vehicle as it drove over a speed bump.

The officer, a 28-year veteran of the prison service, underwent surgery for unspecified wounds and was reported in stable condition.

For decades, IRA factions have used bombs attached to a vehicle’s undercarriage to target politicians, judges, off-duty police, soldiers and prison officers while they’re driv-

Assistant Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Stephen Martin addresses media at PSNI headquarters in Belfast, as they investigate the attempted murder of a prison officer in Northern Ireland Friday March 4, 2016.

(David Young/PA via AP)

ing personal vehicles. Such bombs typically detonate under the driver’s seat when the vehicle travels uphill or downhill.

Easter has been a focal point for Irish republican militancy dating to 1916, when 1,500 rebels seized key Dublin buildings in a bid to overthrow British rule. The Easter Rising, though militarily futile, inspired a 1919-21 war with Britain that won

independence for the predominantly Catholic south of Ireland but kept the fledgling state of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom.

The Republic of Ireland government plans major public commemorations and cultural events in Dublin for the 100th anniversary later this month, when government leaders don the traditional symbol of Irish rebellion on

their lapels, the Easter lily.

Martin said he expected IRA splinter groups still active in Northern Ireland to mark the approach of Easter “in an entirely more sinister way ... by killing police officers, prison officers or soldiers.” He said police were raising their threat level anticipating more attacks to “the upper end of severe.”

The British domestic anti-

terrorist agency MI5 has maintained Northern Ireland’s terror alert rating at “severe,” the second-highest level, for several years, meaning the next attack is highly likely soon.

The British Parliament lawmaker for East Belfast, Gavin Robinson, said the linkage of today’s IRA attacks to the bloody rebellion a century ago “once again demonstrates the dangers of glorifying such past violence.”

While the major IRA faction, the Provisionals, has observed a cease-fire since 1997 and officially disarmed in 2005, smaller rival groups all styling themselves as the “true” IRA continue to plot gun and bomb attacks in hopes of undermining the British territory’s 1998 peace accord and its CatholicProtestant government.

“There are still people out there who hate the peace process, who don’t want to see our society moving forward, who pursue a hopelessly futile cause,” said Martin McGuinness, who once commanded the Provisional IRA and today is the senior Irish nationalist in the Northern Ireland government. q

Germany, France push for joint EU solution to migrant crisis PARIS (AP) — Independent national measures to tackle the migrant crisis are counterproductive, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday as she met with her French counterpart in Paris to push for a joint European solution to the problem.

Border slowdowns and closures along the migrant route through Europe have just meant that people are now piling up in Greece, overwhelming the coun-

try’s resources, Merkel said at a joint news conference with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.

The two leaders met ahead of a summit of EU and Turkish leaders to discuss the migrant crisis Monday. The Balkan countries and Austria have recently introduced tight restrictions to stem the flow of migrants.

That has resulted in thousands of refugees and other migrants being stranded

by Greece’s border with

Macedonia.

“Unilateral solutions do not help us,” Merkel said, adding Europe needs to work closely with Turkey to stop the flow of migrants, and also to secure its outer borders. Germany and France agree that the EU has to protect its external border to preserve freedom within Europe, get away from internal border controls and for security reasons, Merkel said.

Hollande said France will

provide a ship to the NATO force deployed in the Aegean Sea — between Turkey and Greece — to help Europe’s external border control.

As temporary controls between several member states are reimposed to deal with the migrant crisis, some fear a full collapse of the borderless Schengen zone through most of the EU. The EU’s head office, the European Commission, has estimated that the

cost of fully restoring border controls between EU member states would be as high as 18 billion euros ($20 billion) a year.

More than 1.2 million people applied for asylum for the first time in the EU last year, more than double the number in 2014. The EU’s statistics agency said Friday that most people applying in the 28 EU countries were Syrian, Iraqi or Afghan nationals. It said 362,800 Syrians applied for asylum. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Saturday 5 March 2016

4 Catholic nuns, 12 others killed in Yemen retirement home AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Gunmen in southern Yemen on Friday stormed a retirement home run by a charity established

by Mother Teresa, killing 16 people, including four Catholic nuns, officials and witnesses said.

The killing spree began with two gunmen who first surrounded the home for the elderly in Aden. Meanwhile, four others entered the building on the pretext they wanted to visit their mothers at the facility, according to the charity, Yemeni security officials and witnesses. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The gunmen then moved from room to room, handcuffing the victims before shooting them in the head.

A nun who survived and was rescued by locals said that she hid inside a fridge in a storeroom after hearing a Yemeni guard shouting, “Run, run.”

Khaled Haidar told The Associated Press that he counted 16 bodies, including that of his brother, Radwan. All had been shot in the head and were handcuffed. He said that in addition to the four nuns, one Yemeni cook, and Yemeni guards were among those killed.

He said that his family was the first to arrive at the house and that he spoke to the surviving nun, who was crying and shaking.

Haidar said that his family later handed her over to a group of southern fighters in charge of security in the local Aden district of Sheikh Osman.

Sunita Kumar, a spokeswoman for the Missionaries of Charity in the Indian city

of Kolkata, said the members of the charity were “absolutely stunned” at the killing.

“The Sisters were to come back but they opted to stay on to serve people” in Yemen, she added.

She also said that two of the killed nuns were from Rwanda and the other two were from India and Kenya.

Earlier, Yemeni and Indian officials reported that all four killed nuns were Indian but such conflicting information on casualties is not unusual in the chaos of Yemen’s civil war. India’s foreign ministry had initially cited information it got from its embassy in Yemen.

Vikas Swarup, the spokesman of India’s External Affairs Ministry, said the attackers had asked the guard to open the gate on the pretext of visiting their mothers at the retirement home.

“On entering inside, (they) immediately shot dead the gatekeeper and started shooting randomly,” he said, adding that the assailants escaped soon after the attack.

The bodies were transferred to a police station and then a hospital run by the aid organization known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF. An official with MSF confirmed that 15 bodies had arrived at the hospital. Haider said his family took his brother’s body for burial.

There were around 80 residents living at the home, which is run by Missionaries of Charity, an organization established by Mother Teresa. Missionaries of Charity nuns also came under attack in Yemen in 1998, when gunmen killed three nuns in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida.

Aden descended into law-

Yemeni security forces gather outside an elderly care home after it was attacked by gunmen in the port city of Aden, Yemen, Friday, March 4, 2016. Unidentified gunmen stormed a retirement home run by Catholic nuns in the southern city of Aden on Friday shooting more than a dozen people to death, including several Indian nuns, Yemeni security officials and witnesses said.

(AP Photo/Wael Qubady)

lessness after a Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city from Shiite Houthi reb-

els last summer.

Yemen’s civil war has split the country in two. The

northern region, where Shiite rebels are in control, has been struck by an extensive air campaign by a Saudi-led coalition. The southern region, which is controlled by the internationally-recognized government backed by Saudi Arabia, is suffering from a power and security vacuum.

The Islamic State group and Yemen’s al-Qaida affiliate have exploited the lawlessness and created safe havens in the south.

Al-Qaida controls several southern cities while IS has claimed responsibility for a wave of deadly attacks in Aden, including a suicide bombing that killed the city’s governor and several assassination attempts on top officials.

A10 WORLD

Saturday 5 March 2016

NEWS

Japan PM suspends work on US base on Okinawa

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga, left, talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo Friday, March 4, 2016. Abe said Friday he has decided to temporarily suspend preliminary work on moving a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa and will resume talks on the contentious relocation plan. The central government and Okinawa’s prefectural government have been locked in a legal battle over relocating the base, with both sides suing the other. Onaga last year issued an order to suspend permission for the reclamation work.

(Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)

MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday he has decided to temporarily suspend preliminary work on moving a U.S. Marine Corps base on Okinawa and will resume talks on the contentious relocation plan.

The central government and Okinawa’s prefectural government have been locked in a legal battle over relocating the base,

with both sides suing the other.

Abe said that his government is accepting a court proposal not to force the reclamation work over Okinawa’s objections. The court in February made the proposal as an interim step allowing talks. Details of the proposal were not made public. The sudden reversal of his policy to continue with the reclamation work is seen as an attempt to win votes ahead of this

summer’s parliamentary elections.

Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga last year issued an order to suspend permission for the reclamation work. Then the central government sued to reverse the order, to which Okinawa counter-sued, seeking a court injunction.

The work involves filling in part of a bay to create offcoast runways for Futenma air station, which is now in a more densely populated

Nigeria:

area on the island.

Onaga later flew in to Tokyo and held talks with Abe at his office, both confirming to follow the court proposal and abide by any subsequent court decisions related to their legal dispute. Onaga welcomed Friday’s decision by both sides as “very significant.”

Abe said the plan to eventually move the base to the town of Henoko is unchanged. The relocation is based on a 20-year-old bilateral agreement to reduce the burden of the U.S. military presence on Okinawa. Opponents want the base moved off Okinawa entirely, and a prospect for a compromise is still unclear, though Okinawa is expected to drop the lawsuit. Abe said he wants to avoid leaving the situation deadlocked “for years to come, a development that nobody wants to see.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday that the U.S. understands that the Japanese government took its decision after careful consideration.

He said the allies remain committed to the planned base relocation.

America’s top military official in the Pacific said last month that the relocation plan has been pushed back by two years until 2025 from the current target, because of delays from the disputes.

Military shuts cattle market ‘financing’ Boko Haram

ISMAIL ALFA MICHELLE FAUL Associated Press MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s military has closed one of Africa’s biggest cattle markets, charging sales of stolen animals is helping finance Boko Haram’s Islamic insurgency, according to angry residents who say thousands of people have lost jobs, beef is no longer available and animals are dying in a sealed abattoir.

The three-week-old closure of the market in Maiduguri, the main city in northeast Nigeria, is piling on ten-

sions and economic strain in a city overrun by war refugees, and is increasing animosity toward the military, according to people interviewed by the AP. Some 20,000 cattle and goats locked into the main abattoir are dying from lack of water and food, according to Abubakar Abba of the Livestock Traders’ Union.

The closure is affecting markets as far away as Lagos, the commercial capital more than 1,500 kilometers (940 miles) southwest of Maiduguri, where cattle prices are rising daily, said

Umar Adamu, chairman of the United Butchers’ Association.

Maiduguri’s was the last major cattle market operating in the region, where the insurgency has closed at least eight others, said Musa Abdullah of the Cattle Traders’ Union. Traders came from southern Nigeria as well as West and Central African nations.

“This clampdown has affected thousands of truck drivers, loaders, butchers, even water sellers ... the consequences will be devastating,” Abdullah warned, saying his organi-

zation has 12,000 members and the butchers’ more than 200,000.

A senior military officer said butchers and traders were involved in “shady deals” with Boko Haram. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters.

Resident Abubakar Maina, who has not eaten meat for days, said the military should target suspects, not punish everybody.

Beef is a major source of protein in Nigeria. In Maiduguri, those who can afford it are buying fresh and frozen fish at inflated prices.

Tibetan in India immolates self in protest of China NEW DELHI (AP) — A 16-year-old Tibetan living in India has died in a New Delhi hospital three days after he set himself on fire in a protest against Chinese rule, a hospital official said Friday. The Tibetan suffered burns over 98 percent of his body and died late Thursday, said Pankaj, an official at New Delhi’s government-run Safdarjung hospital. Pankaj uses one name.

The Tibetan set himself on fire on Monday in the northern Indian city of Dehradun and was brought to New Delhi for treatment. It was the second such protest this year, seen as an extreme expression of the anger and frustration felt by many Tibetans living under heavy-handed Chinese rule. A Tibetan Buddhist monk self-immolated and died on Monday near the Retsokha monastery in western Sichuan province’s traditional Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Kardze, Radio Free Asia reported.

It said the monk called out for Tibetan independence while he burned, and died on the way to a hospital in the provincial capital of Chengdu. Tibetan exile sources say at least 114 monks and laypeople have self-immolated over the past five years, with most of them dying. Radio Free Asia puts the number of self-immolations at 144 since 2009. Tibetan monks and nuns are among the most active opponents of Chinese rule in the region and the strongest proponents of Tibet’s independent identity, prompting the authorities to subject them to harsh and intrusive restrictions. Beijing blames the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and others for inciting the immolations and says it has made vast investments to develop the region’s economy and improve quality of life. The Dalai Lama says he is against all violence. He fled Tibet to India in 1959 amid an abortive uprising against Chinese forces who had occupied the Himalayan region a decade earlier.

WORLD NEWS A11

Saturday 5 March 2016

Uribe: Colombia President Santos ordered brother’s arrest BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is accusing his successor of orchestrating the arrest of Uribe’s brother to squash dissent.

The two politicians were once close but are now bitter rivals.

Friday’s tweet is the former leader’s first public response after the arrest of Santiago Uribe on Monday.

The brother is accused of involvement in murders and forced disappearances while helping form a far-right death squad in the

Thousands of Puerto Rico inmates cast votes for Republican primary DANICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Thousands of inmates lined up in prisons across Puerto Rico on Friday to cast early ballots in the U.S. territory’s Republican primary, some saying they hoped the elections can help lift the island out of an economic crisis.

At least 6,500 of the island’s 11,500 prisoners are registered to vote, and government officials said this year’s turnout was strong. Even prisoners not registered are allowed to participate in the open primaries, which are held two days ahead of the vote for the general population.

The Republican primary is Sunday while Democrats vote in June.

Some said they were prompted to vote by Puerto Rico’s decadelong economic woes and concerns for relatives who have left for the U.S. mainland, seeking jobs.

“I wanted to take action this time,” said Omar Quintana, 37, a first-time voter who is serving a sixyear sentence for robbery at Institution 1072 in Bayamon, just southwest of the capital of San Juan.

“Maybe this will improve if we become a U.S. state.”

Like others, he declined to say who earned his vote, but said he made up his mind after watching two televised debates and

talking with other inmates.

“The deficit we have right now is incredible,” he said after ducking into a cardboard structure covered with a plastic curtain to cast his vote.

“Something needs to be done, or otherwise we’ll sink.”

One man in his 30s told poll workers he could not read and asked them to read the names aloud until he recognized his choice.

Puerto Rico has allowed inmates to vote since the 1980s, though they make up a tiny share of the overall electorate. On the mainland, only the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont let inmates vote.

“This is a democracy, and everyone should be able to exercise their right to vote,” said Edgardo Rodriguez, 46, another first-time voter.

“Puerto Rico needs help. ...

The crisis is choking us.”

Puerto Rico residents cannot participate in general presidential elections but can do so in primaries. Puerto Rico sends 20 delegates to the Republican convention, three of them super delegates already backing Marco Rubio, who visited the island in September and plans to do so again briefly on Saturday.

None of the inmates interviewed revealed their choice of candidate, but they all agreed on one thing:

This photo shows Santiago Uribe, brother of former President Alvaro Uribe, in Medellin, Colombia. Santiago Uribe was arrested on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 on charges that he created and led a death squad in the 1990s.

(AP Photo/Luis Benavides)

1990s.

The death squad allegedly

plotted dozens of slayings from an Uribe family cattle

ranch in northern Antioquia state. Santiago Uribe has long denied any involvement in the murders while former President Uribe has long asserted his brother’s innocence and accused his successor, Juan Manuel Santos, of wielding the threat of prosecution against his brother to stymie the rise of his conservative Democratic Center movement.

President Juan Manuel Santos said on Thursday that the times when government institutions were used for political persecutions had passed and would not come back.

A12 WORLD

Saturday 5 March 2016

NEWS

Murder trial of Suriname president resumes, then halts again PIETER VAN MAELE Associated Press PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — The long-stalled murder trial of Suriname President Desi Bouterse for the deaths of political opponents in 1982 briefly reconvened Friday — only to be put on hold again until at least May. Prosecutor Roy Elgin told the court that there were no legal bases to proceed with the trial of Bouterse and 25 co-defen-

dants despite a November ruling to the contrary by the high court. He said that an amnesty law passed in 2012 remains in force and could only be revoked by parliament or by convening a constitutional court.

“The law is hard, but it is the law,” Elgin said. The presiding judge, Cynthia ValsteinMontnor, said she would rule on the argument on May 6. Bouterse and 25 allies from his time as a mili-

tary dictator in the 1980s avoided trial until November 2007 on charges stemming from the abduction and summary execution of 15 prominent political opponents, an event known locally as the “December killings” that stunned the lightly populated nation on the northern tip of South America. The former strongman returned to power in 2010 when he was elected president by

parliament. Two years later, lawmakers passed an amnesty law and proceedings were put on hold in a decision that outraged human rights activists. Bouterse, who was re-elected by parliament last year, has accepted what he called “political responsibility” for the killings by the military of the well-known journalists, lawyers and union leaders but said he was not present when the executions took

place. Witnesses in the trial have disputed that claim.

In November, the Court of Justice agreed with a challenge to the applicability of the amnesty law filed by relatives of the slain opponents and it directed the attorney general to resume proceedings.

Hugo Essed, a lawyer for the families of the victims, said there was no legal basis to halt the case once again. q

Brazilian police question ex-president in corruption probe MAURICIO SAVARESE JENNY BARCHFIELD Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police pulled former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in for questioning and searched properties connected to the leader and his family on Friday, drawing the country’s most towering political figure closer to the sprawling corruption case centered on the oil giant Petrobras.

Police turned up early Friday at addresses belonging to Silva, including his residence near Sao Paulo and the Instituto Lula, his nonprofit organization.

Acting on a summons, police took Silva to the federal police station at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, where he was questioned for about four hours and released.

Silva reacted with indignation, denying any wrongdoing and saying the Petrobras corruption case has become a political witch hunt targeting him and his governing Workers’ Party.

Silva, referring to himself by

Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during a press conference at the Workers Party headquarters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, March 4, 2016. Brazilian police acting on a warrant questioned the former president and searched his home and other properties, in the most recent development yet in the sprawling corruption case at the oil giant Petrobras.

(AP Photo/Nelson Antoine)

his nickname, suggested that the country’s elite is out to “criminalize the Workers’ Party, criminalize Lula (since) they could want to continue in power.”

Silva said he already answered investigators’ ques-

tions on three occasions and would have done so again without a police escort, if asked.

“I felt like a prisoner this morning,” he said. “I think I deserved more respect than that.”

In a statement, Silva’s successor, President Dilma Rousseff, expressed her “total non-conformity” with the police action, which she called “unnecessary.”

Officials said they were looking into 30 million Bra-

zilian reais ($8.12 million) in payments for speeches and donations to the Instituto Lula by construction firms that have been crucial players in the Petrobras corruption scheme.

They were also looking into whether renovations and other work at a country house and beachfront apartment used by Silva and his family constituted favors in exchange for political benefit.

“No one is exempt from investigation in this country,” said public prosecutor Carlos Fernando dos Santos Lima. “Anyone in Brazil is subject to be investigated when there are indications of a crime.”

The so-called Car Wash investigation targets a corruption scheme at Petrobras which saw construction companies and others pay billions in bribes to score contracts from the oil company. It already has ensnared some of Brazil’s richest and most powerful businessmen, as well as top politicians from across the political spectrum.q

Deadly prison unrest in Guyana ends in truce with inmates BERT WILKINSON Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Prisoners in the capital of Guyana agreed Friday to end disturbances that led to the deaths of 17 inmates in a fire after the government agreed to improve conditions in the facility. The truce followed a third straight day of unrest inside what is known locally as the Camp Street Prison in

Georgetown. Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan and State Minister Joseph Harmon met with a dozen prisoners, who said their fellow inmates would agree to stand down in exchange for basic improvements, officials said.

“We have agreed to keep our end of the bargain and they have agreed to keep theirs,” Harmon said after meeting with prisoners for

more than an hour.

Authorities agreed to improve the food and increase the number of telephone calls allowed to families and to work with the judiciary to speed up trials for prisoners who often wait years for their cases to be heard, Ramjattan said.

In turn, the prisoners agreed to cease rioting, setting fires to beds, hurling rocks and objects at guards and gen-

erally causing disturbances at the facility in the heart of the city. “This was a very useful meeting with the prisoners,” Harmon said. “A prison is not a five-star hotel but we have to have some minimum standards.”

The government has set up a board of inquiry to look into the circumstances of the deadly fire on Thursday.

Authorities raised the death toll to 17. At least seven

prisoners remained hospitalized. Ramjattan said the board would also look into overcrowding and other conditions at the facility.

Officials say the unrest began Wednesday when inmates set fires during a riot as guards seized drugs, cellphones and other items.

On Friday, before the truce, five police officers and guards were hospitalized after clashes with prisoners.

LOCAL A13

Saturday 5 March 2016

Carnival Cruise Line Awards De Palm Tours as Leading Tour Operator

ORANJESTAD – For the second year in a row De Palm Tours has received the prestigious award for “The Caribbean’s Leading Tour Operator” from Carnival Cruise Line which makes De Palm the leading provider of shore excursions for Carnival Cruise passengers visiting Aruba.

Every season Carnival Cruise Lines recognizes the

company that receives the highest ratings from both their passengers and onboard shore excursion staff for shore excursions conducted the previous season.

“Carnival ships call yearround to Aruba so you have to be on top of your game constantly and consistently. All credit to our cruise planning and opera-

tions staff as well as to our guides and other frontline staff who are responsible for delivering the experiences to our customers.

Without them this would have been possible”, says Warren Stanley, General Manager of De Palm Tours.

A ceremony will be held on board one of the Carnival ships where representatives of de Palm will receive the

actual award from Carnival.

Carnival Cruise Lines’ Vice President Amilcar Cascais and Director Product Development, Erika Tache said, “Your company’s position as a leading provider of shore excursions and your reputation for firstclass service are attributed

to your strong leadership and the sense of direction that you provide. There is no doubt that your company’s recent achievement will be spoken of for some time to come and that the admiration for your accomplishments will be felt by all within the cruise industry.”q

A14 LOCAL

Saturday 5 March 2016

Aruba Reports Nearly 15% Increase in 2015 Stay-Over Arrivals

ORANJESTAD (CNN) - Following a record-setting year of 1.07 million stayover visitors in 2014, The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) has reported total arrivals in 2015 increased by an additional 14.3 percent, totaling 1.22 annual stayover visitors.

This global growth included a 7.7 percent increase in

arrivals from the US market and 0.9 percent increase in arrivals from Canada, as well as notable increases from Venezuela, United Kingdom, Argentina, Germany and Italy.

Most Caribbean islands saw a 3-10 percent increase in annual stay-over arrivals from 2014 to 2015.

“2015 was a monumental

year for Aruba, not only in tourism performance but also in innovation and creativity,” said Ronella Tjin Asjoe-Croes, CEO of ATA. “The launch of our awardwinning Happiness Builder, a content-rich planning experience on aruba.com where travelers can build and share a custom video itinerary from 100+ video

vignettes, paired with airport and island-wide hotel/ product renovations and our famous Aruban hospitality, all contributed to the continued success of our beautiful destination.”

Asjoe-Croes explained Aruba’s commitment to strategic and savvy digital marketing directly impacts

ADR increased by 2.7 percent to $237.39 and RevPar increased by 1 percent to $185.20.

In addition to receiving more visitors, Aruba saw an increase in their spending in 2015. Tourism receipts increased in Q1 by 7.2 percent, in Q2 by 3.1 percent and in Q3 by 0.4 percent,

Aruba’s GDP, which is more reliant on travel and tourism than any other nation, relative to size, in the world.

Aruba’s hotel sector also showed growth last year.

Total visitor nights grew by 8.3 percent in 2015, while

as compared to the same periods in 2014.

“Aruba’s record-breaking tourism performance, coupled with the dozens of awards received this year for our island’s innovation, proves the creative marketing and dedication of the government, ATA, industry partners and locals are successful in making Aruba one of the most desirable travel destinations in the world,” said Otmar Oduber, minister of tourism, transportation, primary sector and culture.

Aruba remains one of the most revisited destinations in the Caribbean, with half of all visitors returning year after year.

Aruba was also recognized as the most awarded destination in 2015, with national and global achievements ranging from the most digitally-savvy island in the Caribbean to the most sustainable destination in the world.

Most recently, Aruba received one of only six available Platinum Adrian Awards for its “One Happy Selfie” advertising campaign, honoring travel marketing excellence under the authority of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing International (HSMAI).

LOCAL A15

Saturday 5 March 2016

Loyal Guests Honored at the Holiday Inn Beach Resort PALM BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a pair of very loyal couples as Distinguished Visitors at the Holiday Inn Beach Resort.

The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Edmund and Mrs. Florence Cabral and Mr. Angelo and Mrs. Silvana Addonizio.

Edmund, Florence, Angelo and Silvana are regular guests at the Holiday Inn and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the climate, beaches, restaurants, relaxation and being on Aruba and staying at the Holiday Inn is like being home for them. The certificate was presented by Mr. Jonathan Boekhoudt representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with family and friends and associates from the Holiday Inn Beach Resort.q

A16 LOCAL

Saturday 5 March 2016

Loyal Guests Honored by the Aruba Tourism Authority EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a very loyal couple as Goodwill Ambassadors at the Aruba Beach Club. The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 20-to-34 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Michael and Mrs. Rosemary Emigh.

Michael and Rosemary are regular guests at the Aruba Beach Club and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the climate, beaches, restaurants, relaxation and being on Aruba and staying at the Aruba Beach Club is like being home for them. The certificate was presented by Mr. Jonathan Boekhoudt representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with Ms. Kenia Brito from the Activities Department of the Aruba Beach Club.q

SPORTS A17

Saturday 5 March 2016

In this photo taken, Wednesday, March 2, 2016, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm talks with reporters during open workouts for UFC 196 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Holm takes on Miesha Tate in UFC 196 on Saturday.

Associated Press

CADILLAC MAN

Holly Holm, Conor McGregor couldn’t wait for UFC 196 GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Holly Holm could have kicked back and prepared for the rematch while Ronda Rousey regroups from the beating Holm gave her four months ago.

Conor McGregor could have played it safe and waited for another title fight after Rafael Dos Anjos dropped out of their bout last week.

Instead, Holm and McGregor eagerly accepted matchups at UFC 196 that more cautious champions would have avoided.

Their hunger to fight allowed the UFC to create a blockbuster pay-per-view card on Saturday night headlined by two of its biggest stars taking unnecessary risks.

“I’m here because I’m passionate about fighting,” Holm said. “I don’t want to do anything because it’s more strategic. I just want to fight. ... I told myself when I got in this sport, ‘Passion first. Everything else falls into place.’”

Continued on page 20

Scott hits the front at Doral

Adam Scott, of Australia, reacts to his putt on the 18th green during the second round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament, Friday, March 4, 2016, in Doral, Fla. Associated Press Page 19

A18 SPORTS

Saturday 5 March 2016

Bud Collins, U.S. voice of tennis in print and on TV, has died

In this June 30, 1993, file photo, NBC tennis commentator Bud Collins displays a pair of brightly-colored trousers as he sits overlooking the outside courts at Wimbledon, England .

Associated Press

HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Bud Collins, the tennis historian and American voice of the sport in print and on TV for decades, has died. He was 86.

His wife, Anita Ruthling Klaussen, said in a telephone interview that Collins died Friday at home in Brookline, Massachusetts, after suffering from Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1994, Collins was wellknown for creative player nicknames and turns of phrase that were as colorful as his trademark bow ties and one-of-a-kind pants created from cloth he collected around the world.

Collins contributed to tennis’ popularity and paved the way for newspaper reporters moving into broadcasting, becoming a familiar face to U.S. television

audiences waking up for “Breakfast at Wimbledon” on NBC. Collins spent 35 years on that network’s annual coverage from the All England Club and also worked as a tennis analyst for PBS, CBS, ESPN and Tennis Channel.

“A legend and a gentleman with a unique style, Bud’s analysis and on-court interviews were must-see TV for millions of American tennis fans,” NBC Sports said in a statement Friday.

Arthur “Bud” Collins was born on June 17, 1929, in Lima, Ohio, and went to Baldwin-Wallace College, followed by graduate school at Boston University. He coached tennis at Brandeis University, worked for the Boston Herald, then began writing for the Boston Globe in 1963.

Collins described himself as a “scribbler and a babbler,” and he mastered both forms. His writing style was unique, filled with fan-

ciful adjectives and apt metaphors, spot-on references to art and history.

Among the monikers he’s credited with bestowing on star tennis players: “Fraulein Forehand” for Steffi Graf, and “Sisters Sledgehammer” for Venus and Serena Williams.

He also wrote about other sports, including baseball and boxing.

When Collins was inducted into the tennis hall, he quipped: “I’ve been hanging around there so much, they figured they had to let me in.”

Collins authored several books, including “Bud Collins’ Tennis Encyclopedia,” and won the Red Smith Award for sports journalism presented by The Associated Press Sports Editors in 1999. The National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame inducted Collins in 2002.

The International Tennis Writers Association hands out a Bud Collins Award to recognize assistance to the media.

Last September, the U.S. Tennis Association named its Grand Slam tournament’s press room the “Bud Collins U.S. Open Media Center” to honor him.

In a statement Friday, the USTA said: “Bud was larger than life, and his countless contributions to the sport helped to make it the global success that it is today. Bud was a mentor to many, and a friend to many more. Our sport was most fortunate to be associated with a man of such character and class. ... He will be sorely missed by all of us who loved him — and by the sport he loved so dearly.”

Reaction from around the tennis world poured in.

“Few people have had the historical significance, the lasting impact and the unqualified love for tennis as Bud Collins,” Billie Jean King said. “He was an outstanding journalist, an entertaining broadcaster and as our historian he never let us forget or take for granted the rich history of our sport.”

SPORTS A19

Saturday 5 March 2016

Scott leads, McIlroy, Johnson chase at Cadillac Championship TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer DORAL, Fla. (AP) — A rare instance of Adam Scott seeming less than pleased Friday came after his first putt on the par-4 16th, when he miscalculated the speed and left the 30-footer well short.

Of course, that was after he drove the green on the 315-yard hole and had to merely settle for a two-putt birdie.

Otherwise, there wasn’t much for Scott to dislike during the second round of the Cadillac Championship. His 6-under round of 66 got him to 10 under for the tournament and put last week’s winner of The Honda Classic two shots clear of Rory McIlroy and defending champion Dustin Johnson at the midway point of the first World Golf Championships event of the season.

“Overall, it was a lot of good stuff,” Scott said.

“Enough quality shots and enough quality putts to negate a couple of mistakes out there, but they can easily happen on this golf course. So I’m glad there was enough of the good stuff to keep me up on top and kind of setting the pace after halfway.”

Scott made eight birdies, including three straight on holes 15, 16 and 17 to strengthen his grip on the lead.

“I’m probably a little more relaxed this week leading going into the weekend than if I hadn’t won last week,” Scott said.

“A 36-hole lead doesn’t mean that much, unless it’s by about 10. I could tee off tomorrow and not be leading. I’m going to have to play a good couple of days and try to keep moving in the right direction while the conditions are allowing us to.”

He’s right — with relatively gentle breezes, the Blue Monster wasn’t exactly defenseless but scores were there to be had Friday, as in the opening round. There were 25 rounds where a player went under 70 at Doral last year; so far this

year, the count is already at 21 with the weekend left to go.

Johnson shot a flawless 64, eight birdies and no dropped shots on the way to the best round of the day. McIlroy shot a 65 for his share of second place after two rounds, and Danny Willett (66) was alone in fourth at 7 under.

“I think the golf course is fantastic,” Johnson said.

“It’s in great shape. The greens are perfect. It’s not an easy golf course.”

McIlroy announced his arrival with a four-hole barrage of birdies on the front side, but the catalyst to all that, he said, was what came immediately before that streak. Going with a left-hand-low grip this week on the greens, McIlroy made a testy 7-footer to save par at the par-3 fourth hole — and that’s when the run of birdies started.

“There was a lot of big momentum putts in there that I have not been holing,” McIlroy said. “So to see those drop today and to be as comfortable as I was, it feels really good and obviously I’m very happy with where I’m at going into the weekend.”

Phil Mickelson got to 9 under at one point, leading by three — until the two shortest holes on the course led to his undoing.

Mickelson three-putted from 55 feet for bogey on the 191-yard 13th, and made an enormous blunder at the 139-yard 15th by putting his tee ball into the water.

That led to double-bogey, the only one made on the hole all day and essentially costing him nearly 2 1-2 strokes against the rest of the field. Mickelson made a 5; on average, everyone else made 2.68.

“I just kind of lost my train of thought,” Mickelson said.

“I’ll be fresh and ready for the weekend. I feel like I’m driving the ball extremely well and my iron game is sharp. And even though that back nine wasn’t what I wanted, it was kind of an anomaly. It’s going to be a good weekend.”q

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, tees off on the third hole during the second round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament, Friday, March 4, 2016, in Doral, Fla. Associated Press

20 SPORTS

Saturday 5 March 2016

UFC196

Continued from page 17 Holm (10-0) takes on veteran title contender Miesha Tate (17-5) for the bantamweight belt shortly before McGregor (19-2) faces hard-hitting brawler Nate Diaz (19-10) in a non-title welterweight bout — 25 pounds heavier than the usual limit for McGregor, the UFC’s featherweight king. Neither champion needed to take the fights they’re facing, but neither betrays any sign of worry about stepping into the MGM Grand Garden Arena cage. The fans clearly appreciate it: Thousands lined up outside the arena several hours before Friday’s weigh-in for a card that ranks among the UFC’s hottest tickets in re-

In this photo taken, Wednesday, March 2, 2016, UFc featherweight champion Conor McGregor, right, kicks striking coach Owen Roddy during open workouts for UFC 196 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. McGregor takes on Nate Diaz in UFC 196 on Saturday.

Associated Press

cent years.

Holm spent the past few

months in a whirlwind of publicity and attention

after her stunning headkick knockout of Rousey, the most popular fighter in mixed martial arts. But when Rousey decided she couldn’t fight again until the fall, Holm agreed to a showdown with Tate, a gritty wrestler who hasn’t lost since Rousey beat her for the second time in 2013.

“I feel like this is a really tough fight for me, but what else am I supposed to be doing here?” Holm asked.

“I want to fight all the girls that are the best, because that’s what makes the best victory. Obviously this is a really big challenge for me to take, and a lot of people think it was even silly.”

When Holm violently dethroned Rousey, she cleared a path for McGregor to rise atop the sport. The Irishman with a 15-fight winning streak seized that chance with both fists, winning the 145-pound title with a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo in December.

And while Holm and Tate are willing promoters of their fight, nobody can match McGregor’s showmanship. His presence on a card guarantees huge attention and revenue when fans and cameras behold his verbal gifts, which were in sharp form at this week’s news conference.

“You’re like a gazelle,” McGregor said to Diaz. “I’m a

lion in there, and I’m going to eat you alive. Your little gazelle friends are going to be staring through the cage looking at your carcass getting eaten alive, and they can do nothing.

All they can say is they’re never going to cross this river again.”

Holm and Tate grinned as they watched from the stage while McGregor and Diaz lobbed insults at each other.

“They’re over here flipping each other off under the table, and Holly and I are making each other friendship bracelets,” Tate said.

“I’m having a great time.”

McGregor planned to become a two-division champion this week, but Dos Anjos hurt his foot late last month. Rather than waiting for the lightweight champ, McGregor agreed to a non-title showdown with Diaz, one of the sport’s most entertaining fighters and an awfully good foil for McGregor’s verbal jousting.

“I’m certainly going to toy with the young boy,” the 27-year-old McGregor said of the 30-year-old Diaz.

“I’m going to play with him.

His entries and his exits, his retreats, his feints are all identical. He can’t break out of his patterns, out of his set routines, so he is very, very predictable.”

Diaz is the biggest man McGregor has ever fought, with advantages in height and reach. McGregor’s extra weight should give him added punching power, but it could also affect his quickness — not that it worries McGregor, who took on his “Mystic Mac” persona to predict that he’ll stop Diaz late in the first round.

“Skill-wise, I made a big, big jump from the (Chad) Mendes performance to the Aldo performance, but I didn’t get to show a lot of that because the fight was so quick,” McGregor said. “Part of me wants to stretch it out to show that, and to show the fans some new sequences, some new movements, some new forms of attack and defense. I just hope Nate can last.”q

SPORTS A21 Warriors match record with 44th straight home win Saturday 5 March 2016

The Associated Press OAKLAND, California (AP) — Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors matched one record set

by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls as they closed in on the bigger mark.

Curry scored 33 points in his return from an ankle injury and the Warriors tied Chicago’s NBA record by winning their 44th straight regular-season home game, 121-106 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

“That’s an amazing accomplishment,” Curry said.

“It’s a compliment to us as a team, our coaching staff and obviously our fans who bring that atmosphere every night to give us the ultimate home-court advantage.”

Five days after tying the NBA record with 12 3-pointers in an overtime win at Oklahoma City, Curry went 5 of 15 from long range in the rematch. But he got more than enough help from his bench to help the Warriors (55-5) move 50 games above .500 in their quest to break the Bulls’ single-season mark for victories.

The Bulls won 44 consecutive home games from March 30, 1995, until April 4, 1996. That helped them set the record with 72 wins in 1995-96, a mark the Warriors remain on pace to surpass after beating the Thunder for the third time in as many tries this season.

Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Russell Westbrook had 22 and Serge Ibaka added 20 for the Thunder, who have lost six of eight since the All-Star break.

SPURS 94, PELICANS 86 NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, (AP) — Kawhi Leonard capped a 30-point, 11-rebound performance with a huge 3-pointer in the final minute as the San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to seven games with a 94-86 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and Danny Green scored 11 for the Spurs, who trailed 86-82 before closing the game on a 12-0

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) scores past Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Oakland, Calif.

Golden State won 121-106.

Associated Press

run during the final 3:10.

Leonard was 12-of-22 shooting, including 6 for 10 from 3-point range.

The Pelicans missed their last six shots and allowed the Spurs to grab a pair of critical offensive rebounds that led to five second-

chance points during San Antonio’s game-ending run.

HEAT 108, SUNS 92 MIAMI, Florida, (AP) — Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Goran Dragic added 25 against his former team and Miami never trailed on

the way to beating Phoenix for its third straight victory.

Luol Deng scored 12 and Hassan Whiteside grabbed 11 rebounds for Miami, which led by as many as 21 in the first half.

Rookie guard Devin Booker kept the Suns in the game,

scoring 15 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter. Alex Len had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Phoenix, which tied a club record by losing its 17th consecutive road game. The Suns have dropped 30 of 33 overall.

KINGS 104, MAVERICKS 101 DALLAS, Texas, (AP) — Rajon Rondo had 18 points and 12 assists in his first game in Dallas since an ugly split with the Mavericks last season as Sacramento ended a 22-game regularseason losing streak on his old home floor.

Booed almost every time he touched the ball, Rondo was the steady hand the Kings needed late. He missed a January loss at Dallas when Sacramento blew a lead in double overtime to keep alive the Mavericks’ longest home winning streak against one opponent.

DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Kings snapped a fourgame losing streak with just their fifth win in the past 17 games.

Chandler Parsons scored 28 to lead the Mavericks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped in the finale of a six-game homestand, their longest of the season.

United States wins women’s team pursuit in London LIZ BYRNES Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The United States won its first medal of the track cycling world championships on Friday, beating Canada to take gold in the women’s team pursuit. The quartet of Sarah Hammer, Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert and Jennifer Valente led from start to finish to cross the line in 4 minutes, 16.802 seconds.

“It’s my eighth world title but my first team title, I have been waiting my whole career to get a team title,” Hammer said. “Being a world champion is great but doing it in a team, there is nothing like that. No one is on the track by themselves, there is someone in front of you, there is someone behind you, we are all one unit working together.”

Hammer was almost lost to the sport, quitting in 2003 with burnout before being inspired to return by watching her former teammates at the Athens Olympics.

In 2006, she won her first world medal with gold in the individual pursuit in Bordeaux, France.

Ten years on and her medal at Lee Valley VeloPark - the scene of her two Olympic silvers in 2012 - was her 13th at a world championships.

Rio de Janeiro will be her third Olympics but she is uncertain of what the future holds after that.

“I am not sure but I am not going to go for that much longer and that is a cool thing.

“These girls are starting their careers and I get to be a part of that which is pretty special. This is great and

we are going to relish this but we want Olympic gold in Rio.” Canadian rider Georgia Simmerling took up endurance cycling less than two years ago but, should she be selected, Rio will be her third Olympics in three different sports.

Originally a skier, Simmerling raced in the Super-G at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Four years later, in Sochi, she competed in the skicross — an event in which she is a five-time World Cup medalist. Looking to crosstrain, she took up rowing and then endurance cycling and now Simmerling is on the brink of a third Olympics at age 26 with the team announced early April.

“It’s been a roller coaster,

it’s been an amazing experience,” Simmerling told The Associated Press. “I have worked so hard to get to where I am today.

I am so honored to be a part of such a successful team and such a professional and positive culture in Canada cycling.”

The past few days were tough mentally despite the team emerging with a silver medal. “It’s been incredible. Racing in front of this amount of people,” Simmerling said. “I never ski raced in front of this amount of people - except the Olympics - but I am using that as my strength, using my mental experience in sport at an elite level to excel.” She added: “I am trying to be a sponge and learn as quick as I possibly can.”

A22

Saturday 5 March 2016

SPORTS

European stars adapt to life in MLS before 2nd season GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.

(AP) — Andrea Pirlo and his girlfriend can walk nearly unnoticed on New York’s High Line elevated park after dinner at a quiet Italian restaurant.

Steven Gerrard can take his family to Disneyland without hordes of fans blocking his path through Fantasyland.

When the best European soccer players reach a certain age, relative anonymity is just one of many reasons to migrate to North America. Their wealth and fame don’t vanish, but they can live and play in Major League Soccer without spending their everyday life under a spotlight.

“It is refreshing, and it’s peaceful,” said Gerrard, who left Liverpool last summer for the LA Galaxy and a rented mansion in Beverly Hills.

“I go about my day-today business pretty much unrecognized,” he added. “The odd few people who are football — soccer — fans pull me aside from time to time, which is fine. But at home, it’s very intense. It’s very grueling when you’re the captain of Liverpool and England.

It’s nonstop.”

The two-decade flow of mature talent into MLS hit another high in 2015 with a remarkable influx of prominent players from Europe.

David Villa, Frank Lampard and Pirlo teamed up with deep-pocketed NYCFC. Didier Drogba left Chelsea for the Montreal Impact, and Italy’s Sebastian Giovinco joined Toronto FC. In addition, Brazil’s Kaka and Mexico’s Giovani Dos Santos left European careers for lucrative stateside moves.

The league’s growing international profile and deeppocketed owners make it more attractive than ever to players hoping to end their careers with comfortable living and regular playing time in a relatively benign fan culture and media climate.

While some superstars adjusted to the league’s

In this Aug. 23, 2015, file photo, Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard, left, of England, battles for the ball with New York City FC midfielder Andrea Pirlo, of Italy, during the first half of a MLS soccer match in Carson, Calif.

Associated Press

heat, altitude, sub-optimal fields and lengthy travel more quickly than others, the big names are back for the start of the league’s 21st season this weekend, all determined to justify their hefty contracts with improved play.

The game is a challenge, but the lifestyle is a dream for Gerrard and Pirlo, who have embraced their op-

posite ends of the continent.

“I thought it would be more difficult to move to New York and live there, but actually it was really easy,” said Pirlo, the revered Italian midfielder who arrived near midseason. “I picked a rather quiet area of Manhattan to live, and it was very easy to adjust because with my lifestyle,

it’s fine. New York is so accommodating. You can do anything, anywhere, whenever you want. Not a problem.”

The stars head into the new season better equipped to handle the quirks of their new league and its enormous geographic footprint.

For instance, the North American summer heat is the tradeoff for avoiding frigid European winters, and only mad dogs and Englishmen go outside in a Texas summer without preparation.

“When I turned up here, I didn’t know there was humidity in Houston,” Gerrard said. “I didn’t know there was altitude in Salt Lake.

There was a lot about the league that was a bit of a shock to me at the time.”

A multi-hour flight to a road game is usually only a Champions League problem in Europe, but it’s a regular occurrence in MLS. Rather than chafing against the travel challenge, some stars choose to embrace it as part of the lifestyle they’ve chosen.

“Part of the experience for me coming here is to travel and see places the way we did last season,” said Lampard, the longtime Chelsea star. “Vancouver was fascinating for me. As a player, you have to overcome the difficult sides of it, preparing for the game and getting off the plane after a long journey, but I like it.”

Giovinco made the great-

est impact on MLS, which got an Italian star in his ostensible prime. The 5-foot4 scorer was even better than expected during his MVP season, even though he needed about six weeks to adjust to the time changes and long flights.

“At the moment, a lot of my friends are calling me,” Giovinco said. “They want to come here and play in the MLS, but unfortunately that’s not my call. I can’t sign them up. The MLS game is growing. Everyone in Europe looks at MLS in a different way.”

When they arrived at midseason, Pirlo and Gerrard didn’t immediately stand out among the best players in MLS, as Giovinco or Drogba did.

While Pirlo had periods of effective playmaking in midfield, he also struggled at times in 13 goalless games while NYCFC missed the playoffs. Gerrard scored in his debut, but also searched for top form and connections with his new teammates.

Both expect to improve this year after a full training camp with their new clubs and their added familiarity with their exciting new world.

“Coming to Los Angeles was fine for me, and settling in off the pitch is not a problem,” Gerrard said.

“It’s just a shame that press don’t grade you on performance off the pitch, because I’d be getting 10 out of 10.”

Ducks set new straight games mark The Associated Press GLENDALE, Arizona (AP) — Corey Perry had a goal and two assists and Jamie McGinn and Rickard Rakell scored on Anaheim’s first two shots as the Ducks tied a franchise record with their 10th straight victory, routing Arizona 5-1 on Thursday night.

Cam Fowler and Josh Manson also scored, and Frederik Andersen stopped 27 shots as Anaheim stayed atop the Pacific Division.

The Ducks matched the

2013-14 team’s winning streak despite injured captain Ryan Getzlaf’s absence.

Anthony Duclair scored, and Niklas Treutle allowed five goals on 16 shots in his first NHL start for the Coyotes in their seventh straight loss.

LIGHTNING 4, SENATORS 1 OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Ben Bishop made 33 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning tied a franchise record with their eighth straight victory.

Cedric Paquette, Ondrej

Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos — into an empty net — scored for the Lightning, who wrapped up a four-game road trip.

Marc Methot scored the lone goal for the Ottawa Senators. Andrew Hammond, making his first start since February 11, made 25 saves.

PENGUINS 4, RANGERS 1 PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist each scored in the final 2:13 of the second period, lead-

ing the Pittsburgh Penguins past the New York Rangers.

Malkin added two assists and Phil Kessel scored into an empty net for the Penguins, who frustrated Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist midway through the second and chased him with a three-goal flurry at the end of the period.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots for the Penguins and is one away from becoming the 20th goalie in NHL history to reach 350 wins.

TECHNOLOGY A23

Saturday 5 March 2016

College hackers compete to shine spotlight on cybersecurity COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Students from MIT and Britain’s University of Cambridge will spend the weekend hacking one another’s computers, with the blessing of their national leaders.

The two schools are competing in a hacking contest that U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron announced last year among other joint cybersecurity projects between the two nations. The White House billed it as a showdown between the two prestigious schools, both known as heavyweights in the world of computer science.

But the colleges opted to make it a friendlier match. Instead of facing off against each other, the schools assigned their top hackers to six teams made up of students from both institutions. Teams will gather at MIT on Friday and then, for a frenzied 24 hours, try to hack into their opponents’ computers and steal a trove of files.

“This isn’t us versus them,” said Howard Shrobe, a principal researcher at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which is hosting the event. “It’s the best of both schools working together.”

Along with bragging rights, winners will receive cash prizes of more than $20,000.

It’s intended to be the first in a series of global cybersecurity competitions.

After a summit in Washington last year, Obama and Cameron jointly called for wider collaboration on cybersecurity. It was only weeks after the U.S. government accused North Korea of hacking computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. The leaders also agreed to form a joint “cyber cell” among their national security agencies, among other measures.

Major breaches like the Sony hack have underscored what experts say is a shortage of cybersecurity professionals. An industry group reported last year that 86 percent of its

members believe there is a shortage of skilled workers. The contest at MIT aims to spark interest in the field and to promote cooperation among academics.

“It is essential for us to work together and compare notes,” said Frank Stajano, leader of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research at the University of Cambridge, which is sending 10 students to the competition. “If you’re not at least as good as the bad guys, then you have no chance against them.”

Hacking competitions have been gaining popularity in recent years, both as sport and to train students for jobs in cybersecurity. By carrying out attacks, students learn to uncover weak spots in security systems and, in turn, build better defenses. On Friday, students will use computers that have hidden vulnerabilities already built-in.

“You have to identify them and patch them before other competitors notice them,” said Rahul Sridhar, a sophomore competitor from MIT. The event is styled after other so-called “capture the flag” hacking competitions, including an annual contest at the Def Con hacking conference that draws top professionals.

For the competition Friday, teams are encouraged to use any means necessary to retrieve the files they’re hunting for. They can stick to hacking or try to trick opponents into divulging key information. It’s meant to replicate a real cyberattack, with students thrown into the middle. Side events will let students tackle other challenges, including a lock-picking contest.

“Part of cybersecurity is physical security, too,” Shrobe said. “Plus it’s fun to learn how to pick a lock.”

Both schools provided training to their students in recent weeks to sharpen their hacking skills. At the University of Cambridge, Stajano is already planning to add that training to the broader curriculum.

Meanwhile, organizers

In this Jan. 28, 2016 file photo, Defense Secretary Ash Carter gestures during a news conference at the Pentagon. The Pentagon is looking for a few good computer hackers. Screened high-tech specialists will be brought in to try to breach the Defense Department’s public Internet pages in a pilot program aimed at finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Associated Press

are already talking about arranging a sequel next year, perhaps with other

institutions from around the world.

“The bad guys are orga-

nized,” Stajano said, “so the good guys have to be organized as well.”q

Amazon confirms local data encryption gone on Fire tablets MAE ANDERSON AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has confirmed it removed the ability to encrypt locally stored data on its Fire tablets, saying that customers weren’t using the service.

The change comes as Apple squares off against the FBI over access to an encrypted iPhone. Apple says giving the government access would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to hacks.

But the encryption that Amazon has removed is somewhat different than the security involved in the Apple case. And Amazon made the change well before the brouhaha started.

Amazon made the switch when it introduced its new Fire OS 5 in September with new Fire tablets. But it was brought to light this week as older versions of the tablets get operating system updates.

In this Sept. 16, 2015, file photo, Amazon’s Fire tablet is displayed in San Francisco.

Associated Press

Encryption helps protect user data by scrambling it and only allowing access with a password. Amazon removed device encryption, but communication between Fire devices and Amazon’s cloud, as well as data stored within the

cloud, is still encrypted.

“All Fire tablets’ communication with Amazon’s cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security including appropriate use of encryption,” said Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly.q

A24 BUSINESS

Saturday 5 March 2016

Jobs data keeps Wall Street winning streak alive MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wobbled to the finish Friday but salvaged a four-day winning streak after the U.S. government said employers added more jobs than

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 62.87 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,006.77.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 6.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,999.99.

The Nasdaq composite index edged up 9.60 points,

pects continued job and economic growth for the U.S. “The worries that we’ve been hearing recently about the economy sliding into recession aren’t warranted,” she said. Com-

Trader Peter Mancuso works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks wobbled to the finish Friday but salvaged a four-day winning streak after the U.S. government said employers added more jobs than expected in February.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

expected in February. That was another vote of confidence in the economy.

Mining companies made the biggest gains as metals prices climbed.

The jobs report showed that construction, retail and health care companies are still hiring more workers. Energy companies also rose with the recovering price of oil. Stocks fell back from an afternoon peak as investors sold telecommunications companies, which have been the best-performing sector of the market this year.

or 0.2 percent, to 4,717.02.

The Labor Department said employers added 242,000 jobs last month. Consumer demand was solid, and the government also said employers hired more people in December and January than it had previously estimated. More people also looked for work.

This week stocks rose after reports on hiring, construction spending and manufacturing suggested that the U.S. economy is doing fairly well. Kate Warne, investment strategist for Edward Jones, said she ex-

bined with low inflation rates, she said that’s good news for investors.

Metals and energy prices kept climbing on the continued signs of life for the economy.

Gold, which is trading at its highest price in a year, rose $12.50, or 1 percent, to $1,270.70 an ounce. Silver jumped 55 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $15.69 an ounce and copper rose 7 cents, or 3 percent, to $2.27 a pound. The price of U.S. oil jumped $1.35, or 3.9 percent, to $35.92 a barrel.

Brent crude, the bench-

mark for international oils, rose $1.65, or 4.5 percent, to $38.72 a barrel in London.

Oil prices climbed about 10 percent this week and have risen for three weeks in a row, which hadn’t happened since May. Brent crude is now higher than it was at the beginning of the year, although U.S. crude is still lower.Energy stocks also kept rising. Drilling rig operators did the best as investors were pleased they keep closing rigs to cut costs. Transocean climbed $1.88, or 17.4 percent, to $12.71. Ensco rose $1.43, or 13.1 percent, to $12.36.

The market has now erased most of its losses after a painful start to the year. But there are signs investors are still worried: investors keep buying utility and telecom stocks, which are considered safe bets when the market is troubled, and the price of gold has surged to its highest levels in more than a year. And while stocks have risen the last three days, the gains were small and came in choppy trading. Warne said investors still feel uneasy about problems ranging from shaky economies outside the U.S., low oil prices, and uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and what effect that will have on the economy. “I think we’re going to continue to see a lot of market volatility,” she said. AMC Theaters, owned by Wanda Group of China, is buying Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion. The deal will create the biggest movie theater chain in the world.q

US trade gap widens to $45.7 billion in January PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit rose in January as American exports fell for a fourth straight month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

The gap between exports and imports climbed to $45.7 billion in January from a revised $44.7 billion in December. Exports of goods and services fell 2.1 per-

cent in January to $176.5 billion, lowest since June 2011. Exports of industrial equipment and supplies were down.

American exporters have been hurt by weakness around the world and by a strong dollar that makes U.S. products more expensive overseas.

The high dollar should be helping imports by making them cheaper in America.

But imports slid 1.3 percent $222.1 billion in January, lowest since April 2011.

Lower oil prices explain part of the drop. Petroleum imports of $11.2 billion were the lowest since November 2003. But January imports of autos and auto parts hit a record $30.6 billion.

The deficit in the trade of goods with China rose to $31.1 billion in January from $29.7 billion. The goods gap

with the European Union dropped to $12.6 billion from $13.3 billion in December.

Increasing trade deficits drag down U.S. gross domestic product — the broadest measure of economic output. Last year, the gap between exports and imports shaved more than 0.6 percentage points off annual GDP growth of 2.4 percent.q

AP: Factory activity shrinks in America, China in February PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Factory activity in the United States and China — the world’s top two economies — slowed in February, reflecting and contributing to worldwide economic weakness.

In the United States, the Institute for Supply Management said this week that its manufacturing index rose to 49.5 last month from 48.2 in January. But anything below 50 signals a decline.

Manufacturing has now contracted in the United States for five straight months. Two Chinese surveys of manufacturing activity released separately Tuesday showed deterioration in February.

The global economy has been lackluster, partly because the Chinese growth has decelerated sharply.

Internationally, manufacturers have endured much of the fallout from sluggish worldwide growth.

The ISM reported that U.S. manufacturing employment and exports fell, but new orders and production increased.

Some economists say the February ISM index reading —the highest since September — signals that American manufacturing might have hit bottom.

Nine of 18 manufacturing industries reported growth in February.

“It’s reaching for 50,” said Bradley Holcomb, chair of the ISM’s manufacturing survey committee. “I feel the momentum.”

American manufacturers have been hurt by cutbacks in the energy industry, following a sharp drop in oil prices, and by a strong dollar, which makes U.S. goods more expensive in foreign markets.

“The worst is over, but don’t expect a strong rebound,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a report. The ISM, a trade group of purchasing managers, surveys about 200 U.S. companies each month.q

BUSINESS A25

Saturday 5 March 2016

HP Enterprise shares surge 14 percent after strong report BRANDON BAILEY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s stock rose nearly 14 percent on Friday, a day after the commercial technology vendor reported solid earnings in its first quarter as an independent company.

Analysts said the results were better than expected, showing the new company can increase sales and be-

come more profitable after spinning off from the old Hewlett-Packard last fall.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. sells commercial tech products and services, while another spin-off, HP Inc., is focused on personal computers and printers.

While total sales were down 3 percent from a year ago, HP Enterprise said revenue from computer servers, data storage systems and networking gear all in-

creased after adjusting for currency fluctuations and one-time costs. All told, computer hardware contributed more than half of the company’s $12.7 billion in revenue for the quarter that ended Jan. 31.

The company also reported revenue from technology services was flat, after excluding the effects of a strong dollar. But analysts said the company should be able to increase profits

from that segment in future quarters, as CEO Meg Whitman carries out previously announced plans to cut staffing and move some jobs overseas. The results show “operating margins improved and we believe it will likely continue, due to improved (an)business mix as well as restructuring benefits,” said Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um in a note to clients Friday.

Credit Suisse analysts said

the results provide “continuing evidence” of a turnaround for the company, after several years in which the old Hewlett-Packard struggled with internal problems and changes in tech industry buying patterns. HP Inc., the other spinoff, disappointed investors last week by reporting a 12 percent revenue drop amid signs that PC and printer sales are still sluggish.q

Wanda’s AMC theater chain to buy Carmike for $1.1 billion RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — AMC Entertainment is acquiring rival Carmike Cinemas to create the world’s largest movie theater chain.

AMC, which Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group bought in 2012, said this week it is paying $1.1 billion including debt for Carmike.

The combined company will be the dominant theater chain in North American and signals Wanda’s further expansion into the entertainment industry.

Just two months ago, it said it would spend $3.5 billion to acquire mid-level studio Legendary Entertainment, the co-financier of blockbusters like “Jurassic World” and “The Dark Knight.”

Wanda is also behind a multibillion-dollar studio complex being built in eastern China that was used to shoot the upcoming movie, “The Great Wall.”

AMC will pay $30 in cash per share, about 19 per-

cent higher than the $25.11 Carmike shares closed at Thursday.

The acquisition will boost AMC’s theater locations by more than 70 percent to well over 600 and increase its screen count by half to nearly 8,400. Regal Entertainment Group, the current leader, runs nearly 7,400 screens in about 570 theaters.

The boards of both companies approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year following a review by government competition authorities.

AMC CEO Adam Aron said he hopes the combination will boost profits in 2017 and enable about $35 million in annual savings, while bringing upscale amenities like alcohol service, reclining chairs, and expanded food offerings to more venues.

He said the cost of upgrading would be “reasonable” and profitable. He also said Wanda, which owns 75

A patron walks into a Carmike Cinemas movie theater, in Atlanta. AMC Entertainment, the movie theater chain bought by Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group in 2012, is acquiring rival chain Carmike Cinemas for $1.1 billion including debt.

(AP Photo/David Goldman)

percent of AMC, was supportive of the deal, but he declined to speak on behalf of Wanda.

“Clearly, they are supportive of what AMC is doing, and what AMC is doing is we’re growing our business,” Aron said.

Aron said any possible the-

ater closures would “depend on a conversation with the Justice Department.”

He noted there are only a few markets where the companies’ theaters overlap and where closures might occur. AMC is focused on larger cities while

Carmike is in smaller markets.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is based in Leawood, Kansas, which will be the combined company’s new headquarters.

Carmike Cinemas Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Georgia.q

Costco hikes entry level wages for first time since 2007 A. D’INNOCENZIO JOSEPH PISANI AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — Costco is raising entry-level wages for its hourly workers for the first time since 2007 as the warehouse club operator fights to compete in a tighter labor market.

The company told investors this week that it will pay workers $1.50 more per hour in the U.S. and Canada effective this month. Workers will now earn at least $13 or

$13.50 per hour, up from a minimum of $11.50 or $12 per hour. The move will squeeze profits for the third quarter and beyond.

The steps come as other major retailers have been increasing the minimum wages for their entry-level workers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, increased wages last month for more than 1.2 million workers. It’s part of a $2.7 billion investment

over two years in its workforce that also includes better training. Entry-level Wal-Mart workers now get paid at least $10 per hour.

In its first round of wage increases, implemented last year, Wal-Mart raised entry level wages to $9 per hour.

With an improving economy, it’s becoming tougher to hold on to workers who can easily jump to another job. Craig Rowley, global leader of consultancy Hay Group’s retail practice, es-

timates that the turnover rate— the percentage of part-time workers who leave within a year— is now 67 percent for the retail industry. That’s up from 50 percent during the recession.Wal-Mart has already seen sales perk up in its U.S. business as customer experience improves in the store. But those investments are also squeezing profits. Kohl’s last month also referred to its increase in wages putting pressure on

profits.

Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said that the increase will hurt its earnings for the current quarter by a penny per share, and 2 cents per share each quarter for the following three quarters.

Galanti said he wants to offer top salaries at all levels, noting that Costco pays premium wages at the top of the scale. For entry-level workers, he described the work as tough. q

A26 COMICS

Saturday 5 March 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

Saturday 5 March 2016

Egyptian student arrested after Trump threat agrees to leave US AMY TAXIN Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Egyptian flight student who was arrested after he wrote on his Facebook page that he would be willing to serve a life sentence for killing Donald Trump agreed Friday to leave the United States by July.

Immigration authorities will allow Emadeldin Elsayed, 23, to return home voluntarily instead of deporting him, as long as he departs

by July 5.

His lawyer, Hani Bushra, told Immigration Judge Kevin Riley in Los Angeles that he may seek another bond hearing for the aspiring pilot from Cairo because he believes Elsayed’s detention is illegal.

Bushra said after the hearing that he understands why the Feb. 3 Facebook post led to his client being investigated.

But in the absence of criminal charges, Elsayed should

Classifieds

be freed, the attorney said.

“He’s being detained, I think, primarily because he’s a Muslim and he’s a Middle Easterner,” Bushra said, adding that social media sites are teeming with similar comments. “This kid is going to become a poster boy for hating America.”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Elsayed at his Los Angeles-area flight school on Feb. 12, eight days after the Secret Service interviewed him about his post on the Republican presidential frontrunner.

U.S. officials often use immigration laws to quickly remove people from the country who are suspected of crimes rather than drag out a lengthy prosecution, said Claude Arnold, a recently retired special agent in charge of ICE’s homeland security investigations in Los Angeles.

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A28 SCIENCE

Saturday 5 March 2016

Astronomers spot record distant galaxy from early cosmos SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Astronomers say they have discovered a galaxy that is farther away than any previously detected, from a time when the universe was a mere toddler of about 400 million years old.

By employing a different technique, one that that has raised some skepticism, a team of astronomers exposed a time period they’d thought was impossible to observe with today’s technology.

They used the Hubble Space Telescope and found the light wave signature of an extremely bright galaxy 13.4 billion lightyears away, according to a study published Thursday

by Astrophysical Journal. This image provided by the Space Telescope Science Institute, taken with the Hubble Space TeleThe margin of error is plus or scope, shows a hot, star-popping galaxy that is far, far away, farther than any previously detected, minus 5 million light-years. A from a time when the universe was a mere toddler of about 400 million years old.

Associated Press light-year is about 5.8 trillion miles. really bright about 580 million years afIt shatters old records for And that fuzziness masks an stunning, young stars” and all around ter the Big Bang. For a long incredible rate of star fordistance and time and may us would be “very messy time, competing teams of mation that’s 10 times more remain the farthest that looking objects” that are astronomers were just tryfrenetic than our Milky Way, can be seen for years, until galaxies just forming, not ing to reach a redshift of 9, said study co-author Gaa new space telescope is the large bright spirals we about 550 million years afbriel Brammer, an astronolaunched, the team of asmer at the Space Tele- think of as galaxies, said ter the Big Bang. tronomers said. study co-author Garth Ill- But the new discovery blew With that light signature, scope Science Institute. is star-bursting,” ingworth at the University of all that out of the water, “It really astronomers were able to Brammer said.

“We’re getCalifornia Santa Cruz. surprising the team that produce a photo of this ting closer and closer to Astronomers measure the found it, said study lead augalaxy that’s fuzzy and all when we think the first stars distance an object by calthor Pascal Oesch of Yale. too deceptive in color. It formed ... culating how much the The way they did it was difappears darkish red and There’s not a lot of actual light changes from blue ferent than the old methindistinct, when in reality it’s so hot it is bright blue, time between this galaxy to red, called redshift. This ods of using a standard discovery is of a galaxy light wave signature markbut the light has traveled and the Big Bang.”

If we were back in time and with redshift of 11.1; until er, with the spectrum measo long and far that it has near this galaxy (named this discovery, the previous sured precisely by ground shifted to the very end of GN-z11), we’d see “blue, highest redshift was 8.68, telescope. Instead, the the color spectrum.

team looked beyond that bright line to a longer but messier light wave spectrum, using what’s considered a rougher tool, Illingworth said.

Competing astronomer Richard Ellis at the European Southern Observatory, who found the previous farthest galaxy, was skeptical.

He said the light signatures used by Oesch’s teams are “noisier and harder to interpret” and may overlap with competing nearby stars or galaxies.

And for GN-z11 to be that visible it would have to be three times brighter than typical galaxies, he said in an email.

Oesch said the team made sure “this was as clean as possible a measurement” with little contamination.

He said the technique they used is starting to become standard.

But Oesch, Brammer and Illingworth said not to expect new discoveries farther and older than this one, because they have pushed Hubble to its limit. Only when the next NASA space telescope is launched and operating, probably in 2019, will astronomers see farther.

Astronomer Dimitar Sasselov at Harvard, who wasn’t part of the research, called the discovery exciting and interesting: “Seeing and understanding the first galaxies and the first stars is an essential part of our origins story.”q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Saturday 5 March 2016

Autopsy: Unclear if Bobbi Kristina’s death was accidental that left her in a coma, and she ultimately died from pneumonia, the autopsy report says.

“The underlying cause of death is the condition which starts the downhill course of events leading to death and in this case is the immersion associated with drug intoxication,” the medical examiner’s office said.

She likely used the drugs

In this Aug. 16, 2012, file photo, Bobbi Kristina Brown attends the Los Angeles premiere of “Sparkle” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

KATE BRUMBACK JEFF MARTIN Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — An autopsy determined Bobbi Kristina Brown had a mix of drugs in her body when she went underwater in a bathtub, but a medical examiner couldn’t tell whether her death was a homicide, making the criminal investigation tougher.

The medical examiner’s report released Friday showed that Brown, the daughter of singers Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, had morphine, cocaine, alcohol and prescription drugs in her body.

The report, released after months of speculation about how she died, said the medical examiner’s office couldn’t figure out if it was a suicide, a homicide or accidental so it classified the manner of death as “undetermined.”

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard is investigating whether criminal charges should be brought in Brown’s death, but has said very little about the probe.

Brown’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her partner, Nick

Gordon, accusing him of giving her a “toxic cocktail” and putting her face down in water. Gordon has not been charged and his attorney said the report should put to rest “all the negativity surrounding” him.

“He’s always maintained his innocence,” attorney Randy Kessler said.

Brown was found facedown in a bathtub in her suburban Atlanta townhome Jan. 31, 2015. Gordon and a friend were listed on the police report as being in the home when investigators arrived. The wrongful death suit says other people were there when Brown was initially found unresponsive.

She was in a coma for six months before dying in hospice care at age 22.

Charges could still be brought even though the medical examiner couldn’t declare the death a homicide, said Georgia State University law professor Jessica Gabel Cino, who teaches forensic evidence.

She noted prosecutors have succeeded in getting convictions without even having a body.

“You’ve got to basically

comb through all of the victim’s interactions with the defendant and build this entire sequence of events based upon the medical evidence that is available,” Cino said.

The autopsy report had been sealed by a judge at the request of prosecutors, for “public safety and investigative reasons,” Howard said Thursday.

However, two television stations sued for its release and a judge ruled in their favor Thursday.

The medical examiner didn’t find really high levels of any drug, and the combination of drugs found in her system is not unusual, said Dr. Paul Wax, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who reviewed the autopsy report at the request of The Associated Press.

“She’d used a bunch of drugs, she went into the bath and she basically drowned in the bathtub,” he said. “That’s pretty much all you can tell from this report.”

Medical personnel were able to revive her but she suffered brain damage

within 24 to 48 hours before she entered the bathtub, but it’s not possible to say when she took each one or whether multiple drugs were taken at the same time, Wax said.

Bobby Brown said in a statement that it was “mind blowing” to him for news outlets to seek the autopsy report. He also noted that Friday is his late daughter’s birthday.q

A30 PEOPLE

Saturday 5 March 2016

& ARTS

Casting Saldana as Simone inflames ideas of race, beauty SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — If there was any doubt about how Nina Simone’s family and fans feel about the upcoming biopic starring Zoe Saldana, recent social media posts make it clear they are not pleased.

A fresh round of criticism for the film erupted after the trailer and poster for “Nina” were unveiled Wednesday.

Saldana posted a quote from the singer and civil rights activist on Twitter, and Simone’s estate responded with: “Cool story but please take Nina’s name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.”

Simone’s daughter and others have decried the choice to cast a lighterskinned actress as the African-American activist since Saldana took the part in 2012. Her skin was apparently darkened for the role, and she wears a prosthetic nose.

At the time, Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, said: “Appearance-wise this is not the best choice.”

“My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide, her skin was too dark,” Kelly told the New York Times in a 2012 interview.

Simone’s dark complexion and traditionally African features were central to her identity and concept

In this June 14, 2015 file photo, Zoe Saldana attends the Los Angeles Premiere of “Infinitely Polar Bear” held at Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

In this June 27, 1985 file photo, singer Nina Simone perfroms at Avery Fisher Hall. Actress Zoe Saldana will star in the upcoming Nina Simone biopic, “Nina.”

Associated Press

of black beauty, so casting someone with Saldana’s more European appearance is galling, said Miriam J. Petty, an assistant professor in the radio-televisionfilm department at Northwestern University.

“It’s disrespectful and demonstrates the depth of the ignorance of the person making the film of the very subject of the film,” she said.

The Simone estate tweeted Wednesday: “Hopefully

people begin to understand this is painful. Gutwrenching, heartbreaking, nauseating, soul-crushing.”

The estate is urging fans to hold listening parties on the film’s release date rather than watching “Nina.”

Petty, also a devoted Simone fan, also encourages fans to stay away.

“I think it’s important not to support this film financially, because the problem with biopics is they become the last word,” she said.

“Whatever can be done to discredit this film as not the definitive one, by virtue of the philosophical problem, the very blatant philosophical problem of this casting.”

The singer’s estate cooperated with producers of the Netflix documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?” which was nominated for an Oscar this year.

BET Founder Robert L. Johnson, founder and chairman of the studio releasing “Nina,” describes Saldana’s performance as “an exceptional and mesmerizing tribute.”

“She gave her heart and soul to the role and displayed her extraordinary talent,” he said in a statement Thursday. “The most important thing is that creativity or quality of performance should never be

judged on the basis of color, or ethnicity, or physical likeness.”

Petty asked: “Then why put Zoe Saldana in brown-face makeup?”

The casting choice follows a Hollywood tradition of hiring lighter-skinned actors to play people who would naturally have brown skin.

Filmmakers apologized months before “Gods of Egypt” was released for casting Scottish actor Gerard Butler and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as mythical Egyptian gods.

Representatives for Saldana and the Simone estate did not respond to requests for comment Thursday from The Associated Press.

RLJ Entertainment will release “Nina” in theaters, digital HD and video on demand on April 22.q

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall wed in London

News Corp Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall leave Spencer House, London, after getting married, Friday March 4, 2016.

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Media mogul Rupert Murdoch and model-actress Jerry Hall married Friday at an aristocratic palace in London.

They were photographed emerging with smiles Friday from Spencer House, which was built in the 18th century by ancestors of the late Princess Diana. The 84-year-old groom wore a business suit; the bride, 59, was in a navy skirt and a trench coat.

Murdoch’s News U.K. confirmed Murdoch and Hall, who announced their engagement in January, had married.

Murdoch — a prolific tweeter on topics including British and American politics — tweeted: “No more tweets for ten days or ever!

Feel like the luckiest AND happiest man in world.”

It is the fourth marriage for Murdoch, who owns Fox News Channel, movie studio Twenty-First Century Fox, publisher HarperCollins and newspapers in Britain and the United States. Murdoch has six children from his three previous marriages.

It is the first marriage for Texas-born Hall, a former supermodel and long-term partner of Rolling Stones

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Saturday 5 March 2016

Amy Adams: ‘I knew I was being paid less’ than male co-stars LOS ANGELES (AP) — Amy Adams says she knew she was receiving less money than her male “American Hustle” co-stars.

The actress told British GQ magazine that she agreed to play a con artist opposite Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner despite being paid less than them for the 2013 film.

Adams’ co-star Jennifer

Lawrence wrote in an essay published last year that she blamed herself for failing as a negotiator when she learned from leaked Sony emails that her male co-stars were paid more.

“I knew I was being paid less and I still agreed to do it because the option comes down to do it or don’t do it,” Adams said. “So you just have to decide if it’s worth it for you. It doesn’t mean I

New collection of Kendrick Lamar music appears online

In this Feb. 15, 2016, file photo, Kendrick Lamar performs at the 58th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off his Grammy triumph, Kendrick Lamar has released a new batch of old music.

The eight-song collection titled “untitled unmastered.” was made available Friday on iTunes, Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify and GooglePlay. None of the songs has a title, just what seem to be dates, ranging from 2013 to 2016.

Top Dawg Entertainment, the independent hip-hop label Lamar is signed to, said the collection “features studio versions of the untitled songs” that Lamar performed on “The Colbert Report,” ‘’The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” and last month’s Grammy Awards.

Many of the songs have a spacy, groovy feel and sound highly produced, in-

cluding the standout funky “untitled 08 09.06.2014.” But “untitled 07 2014-2016” is a meandering, eight-minute song that ends with artists collaborating in a studio, complete with jokes and laughing.

The collection, which totals 34 minutes of music, was publicized around midnight from Lamar’s Twitter account. Lamar won best rap album for “To Pimp a Butterfly” as well as rap performance, rap song, rap/ sung performance and music video. Along with his wins, Lamar also had a show-stopping moment when he took the stage to perform “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright.”

Lamar went three years before releasing his impressive sophomore effort in “To Pimp a Butterfly” last year.q

liked it.”

Adams and Lawrence were nominated for the best actress and supporting actress Oscars, respectively, for their roles in “American Hustle.”

“I’m really proud of Jennifer,” Adams said. “What I liked is that it was not necessarily about getting paid, or not getting paid ... It’s like we have been conditioned to not be controversial, to not cause problems. It’s about finding your voice.”

Adams, who has also been nominated for Academy Awards for her roles in “Doubt” and “The Master,” said in the magazine’s April issue that “American

In this Feb. 28, 2016 file photo, actress Amy Adams arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Associated Press

Hustle” filmmaker David O. Russell made her cry during production.

“I was really just devastated on set,” said Adams. “I mean, not every day, but most. Jennifer doesn’t take

any of it on. She’s Teflon.

And I am not Teflon.”

Adams is reprising her “Man of Steel” role as reporter Lois Lane in the upcoming movie “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”q