January 8, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Friday, January 8, 2016

Salt of the Earth

New York Miners Safe After Night Underground The fourth group of workers emerge from an elevator Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, after they were stuck overnight in a shaft at the Cayuga Salt Mine in Lansing, N.Y. Cargill Inc. spokesman Mark Klein said all 17 miners have been rescued.

(Simon Wheeler/The Ithaca Journal via AP, Pool)

MICHAEL HILL JENNIFER PELTZ

Associated Press LANSING, N.Y. (AP) — Seventeen miners spent a frigid night in a broken-down elevator in America’s deepest salt mine, huddling with heat packs and blankets before being rescued early Thursday, a mishap that highlighted the sometimesrisky work of churning out the road salt that keeps traffic moving on ice and snow.

The workers were descending to start their shifts around 10 p.m. Wednesday when the roughly 5-by-6-foot car abruptly stopped about 90 stories below ground in the Cayuga salt mine while heading to a floor nearly deep enough to fit two Empire State Buildings stacked atop one another.

The miners would spend the next 10 hours stuck in a shaft that’s also an air intake, with night air less than 20 degrees rushing in as they tried to stay warm with heat pads, blankets and containers of coffee that were lowered down, officials said.

Ultimately, a crane was brought in from 30 miles away to pull the miners to safety in a cage-like basket, a few at a time, as those gathered up top cheered.

“Their spirits are tremendous. I’m inspired by them, to be quite honest with you,” mine manager Shawn Wilczynski said.

“The first four that came out of the mine waited until the last two came out.”

The rescued miners, who ranged in age from 20 to 60, were checked out and found to be uninjured, and some colleagues who had already descended into the 2,300-foot-deep mine when the lift got stuck emerged safely via another route.

While authorities and mine owner Cargill Inc. were investigating what caused the problem, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-based company said it appeared that the beam that keeps the elevator’s car aligned in the shaft was bent or broken.

The malfunction came five days after a circuit breaker problem briefly knocked the lift out of service during a test trip with no one

underground, according to federal Mine Safety and Health Administration records.

And despite a deadly accident in 2010, mine agency official Neal Merrifield said the mine has a good safety record with a lower rate of violations and accidents than similar facilities.

While it’s not uncommon for mine lifts to get stuck, the problems rarely last as long or strand so many people as happened Thursday, Merrifield said.

But he said overloading wasn’t a concern.

The mine taps into a rock salt formation under a swath of upstate New York.

Continued on Page 4

A2 UP

Friday 8 January 2016

FRONT

Man in fake explosives vest killed in Paris LORI HINNANT ELAINE GANLEY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A man wearing a fake explosives vest and wielding a butcher knife was shot to death by police outside a Paris police station Thursday, jolting an already anxious French capital with a new dose of fear as the nation grimly

tremists burst into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, killing 11 people. Just moments earlier, President Francois Hollande had paid respects to fallen security forces — three of whom were killed last year in terrorist violence — saluting their valor in protecting “this way of life, the one that terrorists want to attack.”

above the station and provided to The Associated Press showed the suspect’s body lying on the ground in a pool of blood as a sniffer dog was called in to check the body, along with a bomb-detecting robot. More video aired later on iTele TV showed a police explosives specialist cutting open the dead man’s

Police officers secure the perimeter near the scene of a fatal shooting which took place at a police station in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2016. French officials say a man armed with a knife was shot to death by officers at a police station in northern Paris. Two officials say the man had wires extending from his clothing, and an explosives squad is on site.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

marked a year of terror that started with the newsroom massacre at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

The assailant — who shouted “Allahu akbar!” or “God is great!”— as he waved the knife at officers, was carrying a document with an emblem of the Islamic State group and “an unequivocal claim of responsibility in Arabic,” the prosecutor’s office said.

The extremist group claimed responsibility for the Jan. 7, 2015, attack at Charlie Hebdo and on a kosher grocery store three days later that killed 17 people. The Islamic State group also claimed the Nov. 13 attacks on Paris cafes, restaurants, a sports stadium and a music hall that killed 130 people.

Thursday’s attempted attack shortly before noon in Paris’ multi-ethnic Goutte d’Or neighborhood came almost one year to the minute after two Islamic ex-

The fallen were killed “so that we can live free,” Hollande said, describing the November attacks as “acts of war.” But there was no reprieve for France.

Scores of police descended Thursday on the northern neighborhood that was the site of the attempted attack, blocking it off to pedestrians and ordering shops to close. Metro stations in the area, which is not far from the Montmartre district that is home to the Sacre Coeur Cathedral, were closed and buses halted, leaving scores of residents, including many elderly, to walk long distances only to find they could not get into their homes.

“It’s like the Charlie Hebdo affair isn’t over,” said Nora Borrias, a 27-year-old waiting for her barricaded street to reopen. She said she no longer feels a sense of safety.

Video shot from a window

jacket to check for live explosives.

Alexis Mukenge, who witnessed the shooting, told iTele that police shouted, “Stop! Move back!” before firing twice at the man, who immediately fell to the ground.

Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect. However, a French security official said police were “working on the hypothesis” that the assailant is a 20-yearold Moroccan who was involved in a minor 2013 robbery in the southern Var region.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said that while the fingerprints of the dead attacker matched those of the robbery suspect, who identified himself at the time as Ali Sallah of Casablanca, the assailant in Thursday’s attack appeared older than 20.q

Britain’s Cameron in Germany, Hungary to pursue EU changes GEIR MOULSON PABLO GORONDI BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to push forward his campaign for changes to the European Union during a visit to Germany and Hungary on Thursday, arguing that his proposals would benefit the bloc as well as the U.K. Cameron was in the Alps for a meeting of the Christian Social Union, the Bavaria-only sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives.

He also met Merkel at the gathering Wednesday evening.

Cameron has committed to holding a referendum on Britain’s EU membership by the end of 2017.

Before that, he is seeking a new deal for Britain, most controversially including welfare limits for other EU nationals intended to control migration.

He hopes to seal a deal at an EU summit next month and hold the referendum later this year. “I’m confident with goodwill — and there is goodwill, I think, on all sides — we can bring these negotiations to a conclusion and then hold the referendum,” Cameron said after meeting with the CSU’s lawmakers.

He said that Britain, like EU heavyweight Germany, believes in the free movement of workers, “but we want to make sure that ... our welfare system is not an unnatural draw to Britain.”

Cameron wrote in an oped for German daily Bild published earlier Thursday that the changes he wants “will benefit the EU too, and Germany can help deliver them.”

Merkel called Wednesday for work toward “decisions that could lead, out of our own interest, to getting a sensible package so that Great Britain can remain part of the EU.” Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands, which holds the EU presidency, said he was hopeful an agreement could be

reached at the Feb. 18-19 summit in Brussels.

“I am relatively optimistic,” Rutte said. “But, still, a lot of work needs to be done.” In Hungary, Cameron got support from Prime Minister Viktor Orban in three of the four reform themes he has been advocating for.

The government of Hungary, an EU member since 2004, has frequently been at odds with Brussels.

“In some, we would go even further,” Orban said, thanking Cameron for his reform proposals such as the goal to cut EU bureaucracy and increase competitiveness. “There is a spiritual and strategic agreement between us.”

Orban also said he agreed with combating abuses in the welfare system, but said figures showed that Hungarian workers in Britain paid more in taxes than what they got back in benefits.

“We will find the solutions ... that are good for Hungarian workers and also serve the objectives of the British government,” Orban said. Up to 200,000 Hungarians are believed to be living in Britain.

Cameron said that his proposal to limit welfare payments to workers from other EU countries during the first four years of their stay in Britain “won’t come off the table unless something equally important is put in its place.”

“We are open to listening to ideas,” Cameron said.

Orban said the members of the so-called Visegrad Group — Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia — wanted to reach a joint agreement with Britain on that topic.

Orban also emphasized that Hungarian workers in Britain should not be seen as migrants.

“We are not migrants in the United Kingdom but citizens of the European Union who can freely choose work everywhere within the EU,” Orban said, adding that Hungarians wanted to work in Britain, not be freeloadersq

U.S. NEWS A3

Friday 8 January 2016

US Republican-led panel passes bill on Iran nuclear deal RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday approved legislation that would give the U.S. Congress greater oversight of the landmark nuclear deal with Iran.

Passage of the bill comes as the United States is poised to begin lifting sanctions against Iran, possibly as early as this month, as Tehran fulfills its obligations under the July 14 agreement.

The Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act would subject an important part of the deal to expanded scrutiny on Capitol Hill.

But several Democrats who opposed the measure called it an 11th-hour attempt to scuttle the agreement after President Barack Obama last year won enough support to prevent Congress from derailing it or forcing him to veto it. The bill would bar the removal of certain individuals and foreign financial institutions on a restricted list kept by the Treasury Department until the president certifies to Congress that they weren’t involved in Iran’s ballistic missiles program or terrorist activities.

Republicans opposed to the nuclear agreement have said sanctions relief will leave Iran flush with

cash to fund terrorism.

The nuclear deal, co-engineered by the United States and Iran and signed by five other nations at the table, commits Tehran to cutting back over more than a decade on nuclear technologies that could be used for weapons-making.

In exchange, Iran will have access to about $100 billion in previously frozen assets and fully return to the oil market.

The committee’s bill targets more than 50 individuals and entities included in an attachment to the nuclear deal that also are on Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals” list, which freezes any assets they may have in the U.S. and generally prohibits anyone in the U.S. from doing business with them. They were added to the SDN list for financing terrorism, committing human rights abuses, or weapons proliferation.

The White House would be prohibited from taking them off the SDN list unless it assures Congress they have not “facilitated a significant transaction” for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a foreign terrorist organization, or anyone sanctioned in connection with Iran’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, according to the legislation.q

Kerry says Iran is possibly ‘days away’ from satisfying nuke deal BRADLEY KLAPPER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that Iran may be “days away” from complying with last summer’s nuclear deal, a step that would compel the U.S. and other Western nations to immediately suspend many sanctions on the Islamic republic. The landmark could usher in a new phase in the budding U.S.Iranian rapprochement.

Kerry told reporters he spoke earlier in the day with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who made it clear that the Iranians intend to satisfy their nuclear obligations

“as rapidly as possible.”

The Obama administration, Kerry said, is “prepared to move on that day” on the nuclear-related sanctions on Iranian oil, banking and commerce that it promised to end as part of the July agreement.

“We are days away from implementation if all goes well,” Kerry said.

Speaking just hours after a House committee advanced a bill that could interfere with the administration’s plans, Kerry said the nuclear accord already has delivered significant results. Iran shipped out most of its stockpile of enriched uranium overseas last week.q

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., left, talks with the committee’s ranking member Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, during the committee’s hearing on the Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act. The GOP-led committee approved legislation that would give Congress greater oversight of the landmark nuclear deal with Iran.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

A4 U.S.

Friday 8 January 2016

NEWS

‘Affluenza’ teen’s mom returned to Texas to face charge

Tonya Couch, second from right, is escorted into Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. Couch, mother of a fugitive teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a deadly drunken-driving case, waived extradition and was sent to Texas from California to face a charge of helping her son evade capture.

(Paul Moseley/Star-Telegram via AP, Pool)

EMILY SCHMALL Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)

— The mother of a fugitive teen who used an “affluenza” defense after killing four

people in a drunken crash was returned to Texas on Thursday to face a charge

of helping her son evade capture.

Tonya Couch, who was deported from Mexico last week, arrived on a flight from Los Angeles and was taken to Tarrant County jail in handcuffs and leg irons.

She is expected to be arraigned Friday on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Her bond was set at $1 million.

Authorities believe Couch and her 18-year-old son, Ethan Couch, fled Texas in November as prosecutors investigated whether Ethan Couch had violated his probation in the deadly 2013 drunken-driving wreck.

They disappeared shortly after a video surfaced showing what appears to be Ethan Couch at a party where people were drinking.

Ethan Couch is being held at an immigration detention center in Mexico City after winning a court re-

New York salt miners safe after night underground Continued from front

With about 200 workers, the mine is one of the few heavy industries in Lansing, a mostly rural town of about 11,000 residents who often commute to jobs at nearby Cornell University and Ithaca College.

The mine processes about 2 million tons of road salt per year, making it one of the nation’s biggest producers. The U.S. is second only to China as a source of all types of salt, and

more than 40 percent of it goes to melting ice on roadways, the U.S. Geological Survey says. At the mine, vertical shafts allow access to the deposits, and workers remove it using a room-and-pillar approach: blasting to loosen the salt, while leaving pillars of salt in place to support the overhead layers. Then vehicles scoop and haul the blasted salt to a miles-long system of conveyor belts.

The miners work in a ghostly world of tunnels and cav-

erns coated in white. An Ithaca Journal reporter who visited the mine in 2002 described “chunks of salt the size of computer monitors and others the size of footballs” and a taste of salt in the air. In general, salt mining is considered less dangerous than underground mining for combustible coal. But salt mines have had problems, including a massive collapse of a salt mine near Rochester in 1994. No one was injured, but aquifer water flowed

into the mine, opening huge sinkholes above, causing a bridge foundation to crumble and sucking wells dry. And in 2010, a 150-ton aboveground salt bin collapsed onto a truck at the Cayuga mine, killing the driver and injuring another man. Federal regulators found the management hadn’t gotten adequate inspections.

After Thursday’s rescue, Cargill made counselors available for families of the miners.q

prieve that could lead to a weeks- or even monthslong legal process in Mexico.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tonya Couch was “cooperative” and respectful as she was being taken into jail. As for Ethan, he said, “it’s not a question of if he’s coming back, it’s a question of when he’s coming back.”

“We’re not concerned at this point,” Anderson told reporters.

Tonya Couch’s attorneys released a statement last week saying she has done nothing illegal.

“While the public may not like what she did, may not agree with what she did, or may have strong feelings against what she did, make no mistake — Tonya did not violate any law of the State of Texas and she is eager to have her day in court,” lawyers Stephanie K. Patten and Steve Gordon said.

After the crash, Ethan Couch pleaded guilty in juvenile court to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.

He received only probation after a defense expert argued that Couch had been coddled too much by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza.”

The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule. q

U.S. NEWS A5

Friday 8 January 2016

NYC settles lawsuits over police surveillance of Muslims NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Police Department will strengthen safeguards against illegal surveillance of Muslims in investigations of terror threats and install a civilian representative on an advisory committee that reviews the probes under the terms of a settlement of two high-profile civil rights lawsuits, lawyers said Thursday.

The announcement of a deal following months of negotiations formally ended litigation over accusations that the nation’s largest police department cast a shadow over Muslim communities with a covert campaign of religious profiling and illegal spying.

“We are committed to strengthening the relationship between our administration and communities of faith so that residents of every background feel respected and protected,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

The suits were among legal actions that followed reports by The Associated Press that revealed how city police infiltrated Muslim student groups, put in-

formants in mosques and otherwise spied on Muslims as part of a broad effort to prevent terrorist attacks.

The settlement modifies and adds restrictions on surveillance set by the courtordered Handschu decree, which was put in place in response to surveillance used against war protesters in the 1960s and ‘70s. The decree was relaxed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to allow police to more freely monitor political activity in public places. Civil rights groups sued in 2013 in federal court in Manhattan, accusing the NYPD of breaking Handschu rules. A second suit filed that year in Brooklyn federal court by mosques, a charity and community leaders alleged that the department was discriminating against Muslims.

The city had begun settlement talks last year, and a tentative deal in the Brooklyn case had been reached in June. Although it doesn’t require the NYPD to admit any wrongdoing or the city to pay monetary damages, the agreement “will curtail practices

People walk below a New York Police Department security camera, upper left, which was placed next to a mosque on Fulton St. in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York. On Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, a pair of civil rights lawyers and attorneys for New York City announced that two high-profile lawsuits accusing the New York Police Department of discriminating against Muslims with illegal surveillance have been settled. The civil rights lawyers said the deal requires the NYPD to modify guidelines to prohibit investigations based on race, religion or ethnicity.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

that wrongly stigmatize individuals” while making investigations “more effective by focusing on criminal behavior,” said Arthur Eisenberg, legal director for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Under the deal, the Handschu guidelines will specifically ban investigations based on race, religion or ethnicity. Other provisions require the department to try to use the least intrusive investigative techniques possible and to consider “the potential effect on the political or religious activity of individuals, groups or organizations and the potential effect on persons who, although not a target of the investigation are affected by or subject to the technique.” Police officials insisted the agreement, while requiring more specific guidelines and transparency, mostly formalizes safeguards that were already in place.

The head of NYPD’s intelligence and counterterrorism operations, John Miller, will still make the final call on when and how to investigate terror threats, they said.q

US man pleads not guilty to threatening FBI, judge AMI FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man who’s charged with tweeting threats against FBI agents and a judge after his friend was arrested on a terrorism charge pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges outlined in a new indictment, and he was ordered held pending further proceedings.

Khaalid Adam Abdulkadir, 19, of Minneapolis, was in-

dicted this week on one count of threatening to murder a federal judge, one count of threatening to murder a federal law enforcement officer, and one count of interstate transmission of a threat to injure another person. He previously faced just one count and has been in custody since last month.

Authorities say Abdulkadir posted two tweets within hours of his friend’s Dec.

9 arrest for allegedly conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Court documents show that one included the words “kill them FBI” and the other said, “I’m kill them FEDS for take my brothers.”

Abdulkadir’s attorney, Chris Madel, said the indictment doesn’t specify whom Abdulkadir allegedly threatened and he argued the charges should be dismissed. He also said his cli-

ent, a pre-nursing student at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, has family in Minnesota and should be released on home monitoring.

“He’s a 19-year-old kid who, at best, screwed up one night then deleted the tweets,” Madel said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Docherty said deleting the tweets doesn’t diminish the threats.

He also said evidence shows

Abdulkadir expressed an interest in going to Syria to join the Islamic State group himself and used social media to seek advice from others who have joined terror groups, including one man who left Minnesota to join al-Shabab in Somalia in 2008. Abdulkadir also tried to communicate with a man who left Minnesota last year to join the Islamic State group in Syria, Docherty said.q

A6 U.S.

Friday 8 January 2016

NEWS

Big-dollar baby formula thefts stump US police MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The recent arrests in Utah of three people accused of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of baby formula is the latest example of a problem that officials say is vexing stores and police nationwide as thieves systematically swipe the mixture from shelves and resell it to unsuspecting parents.

Baby formula is a major expense for many new parents, with small canisters starting around $20 and special or prescription

stores in Logan and three other northern Utah cities, and officers are looking for ties to similar recent thefts in Idaho cities about 150 miles away, Police Capt.

Curtis Hooley said.

In Pleasanton, California, thefts of large amounts of formula are reported at least once a month, with thieves frequently hitting multiple stores around the San Francisco Bay Area, according to police Lt. Kurt Schlehuber.

He doesn’t think the culprits are parents trying to feed their kids.

fered more than $2 million in formula annually.

Investigators working on that sting — called “Operation Hot Milk” — said thieves were paid between $100 and $300 a day and used multiple lookouts while filling bags with formula. They hit 15 or more stores a day and later repackaged the formula and sold it in other states, authorities said.

The Infant Nutrition Council of America, an association of baby formula manufacturers, does not keep statistics on the thefts but said it’s a continuing problem

This photo provided by the Logan, Utah, Police Department shows baby formula seized as evidence in a police department storage room in Logan. Police say they’ve arrested two women and a man they believe stole more than $5,200 worth of baby formula and a few other items from northern Utah stores. Logan Police Capt. Curtis Hooley says the three were arrested Monday, Dec. 28, 2015 and are being held in the Cache County jail on suspicion of theft and other charges.

(Logan Police Department via AP)

blends costing two or three times that.

It’s also widely used. More than a third of infants receive formula in addition to breastmilk in their first six months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. Often, babies who are weaned of breastmilk will continue to drink formula into their toddler years.

The high price and broad demand make it an enticing target for thieves, who typically sell the stolen formula at flea markets or list it on websites like Craigslist and eBay. In late December, police in Logan, about 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, confiscated 422 cans of stolen formula worth $8,000 to $10,000. It came from

“There are people that are making money off of selling the stuff,” Schlehuber said.

In April, Pleasanton police arrested two people suspected of stealing dozens of containers of the product. Officers happened to see the pair running from the store with shopping baskets full of formula. But arrests can be rare when police often have only an anonymous face captured by a surveillance camera, Schlehuber said.

Around the country, law enforcement agencies in recent years have reported heists ranging from thousands to several million dollars’ worth of baby formula.

In 2009, Florida authorities arrested 21 people accused in an elaborate theft ring that officials say pil-

nationwide.

“We’re not talking about petty shoplifting,” said Jennifer Hatcher, a senior vice president for government and public affairs at the Food Marketing Institute, which represents supermarket chains, small grocery stores, pharmacies and other food retailers.

Large thefts can be a particularly costly problem for many such stores, which are required to keep a minimum amount of formula on their shelves to accept customers spending money dispersed through the federal Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, known as WIC. Hatcher said the industry has been working to combat the thefts for about 15 years.q

Job cuts at Macy’s signal hard time ahead for some retailers A. D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s is slashing jobs, a harbinger of hard times for retailers after a holiday season that saw a noticeable shift to online shopping and away from physical stores.

The nation’s largest department store chain, which also operates Bloomingdale’s, said late Wednesday it is cutting up to 4,800 jobs and trimming its profit outlook after a miserable holiday season.

“I think Macy’s is likely to be a canary in a coal mine,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics, a retail research firm. He said retailers witnessed an acceleration of the shift toward online and mobile holiday spending in 2015.

About 2,110 of the job cuts at Macy’s will come from reducing staffing at stores, eliminating duplications in back-office operations and consolidating regional store groups. The remaining 2,710 job cuts will come from the store closings that Macy’s announced last fall, spokesman Jim Sluzewski said.

As of Wednesday, Macy’s had about 163,000 workers.

The moves are part of Macy’s ongoing campaign to position itself to compete in a retail world where increasingly demanding shoppers are going back and forth between stores and their mobile devices. Analysts expect more retailers to announce they’re shrinking their store counts further and making other moves to make their organizations leaner.

With store traffic down, stores had to discount more.

Mother Nature also hurt holiday sales too, particularly at clothing stores. Unseasonably warm weather in some regions in the U.S. squelched shoppers’ demand for cold-weather goods. Perkins expects fourth-quarter earnings to increase a meager 0.3 percent for the 119 retailers he tracks, compared with a 12.5 percent increase a year ago.

Macy’s, which has corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, says sales at existing stores and excluding licensed departments fell 5.2 percent in November and December. It said that the warm weather was the biggest culprit. That forced Macy’s to step up discounts to clear out mounds of merchandise. Business was also hurt by lower spending by international tourists.

But, like other retailers, Macy’s is also contending with broader changes in spending habits.

Macy’s had been a stellar performer since the recession as it localized merchandise, cut costs and developed exclusive brands that set itself apart from others.

But increasingly, Amazon.com and other online rivals are becoming a threat. It also has acknowledged that customers are spending more of their money on experiences like eating out and spas, instead of on clothing.

And when they do buy fashions, they are more likely to buy name brands at fat discounts at such stores like T.J. Maxx.

In response, Macy’s has been working hard to expand its online services while pursuing new growth opportunities. It purchased upscale beauty brand Bluemercury last year and made its first foray into discount stores under Macy’s Backstage to go head-to-head with T.J. Maxx.

“In some cases, there will be short-term pain as we tighten our belt and realign our resources,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive at Macy’s Inc. in a statement. “But our eye is on a long-term vision of Macy’s Inc. as a dynamic retailer that serves existing customers and acquires new ones through innovative approaches.”q

U.S. NEWS A7

Friday 8 January 2016

US Financial Front:

Workers are saving more for retirement, led by Millennials

STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Workers are saving more for retirement, and the youngest — not exactly known for squirreling money away — are boosting their savings rates faster than any other age group.

Millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 are saving a median of 7.5 percent of their pay for retirement, including whatever match they get from their jobs, according to a survey by Fidelity Investments of 4,650 households with at least $20,000 of annual income.

That’s up from 5.8 percent two years ago, when the last survey was conducted, and it is the largest jump among all age groups.

That’s still not enough, but at least the trend is getting better. Financial advisers suggest socking away 15 percent of pay, and more if workers haven’t saved in their earlier years.

Younger workers had the most room for improvement, because they were saving such a pittance. Older workers were already saving more of their paychecks. Workers aged 35 to 50 are now socking away 8.2 percent of their income, up from 7.7 percent two years ago. The oldest workers, aged 51 to 69, are saving 9.7 percent, up from 8.1 percent.

Several reasons are behind the rise, said John Sweeney, executive vice president of retirement and investment strategies at Fidelity, including an improving job market and economy. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 2008, and workers are feeling more comfortable in their jobs and with their finances.

Some workers are also saving more without knowing it, because their 401(k) and other retirement

plans are automatically enrolling them and increasing how much they contribute each year.

Those programs tend to put contributions into a targetdate mutual fund, one that takes care of how much to invest in stocks versus bonds based on how close an investor is to retirement.

That means workers also generally have more appropriately balanced accounts than a couple years ago, Fidelity says. A target-date fund prevents a 20-something worker — who has the luxury of decades to go before retirement — from investing only in bonds, which are safer but have historically offered lower long-term returns.

The survey was Fidelity’s attempt at measuring how prepared workers are for retirement. Fidelity looked at how much workers make, spend and save, as well as when they expect to retire, among other factors.

It found that 45 percent are likely to afford at least their essential expenses in retirement, up from 38 percent two years ago.

Older workers are the most prepared for retirement, and not just because they’ve had longer to save. One reason is that older workers are more likely to have access to pensions, which guarantee income in retirement but have become rare in the workplace.

Older workers also seem to have more realistic expectations than those fresh out of school.

“The further you are from retirement, the more you still hold aspirations of retiring early,” Sweeney said.

“Boomers are saying it may make sense to continue to work and extend that retirement date from 62 to 65 or 67.”q

This photo shows workers at the Target Technology Innovation Center office in San Francisco.

According to a survey by Fidelity Investments, millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 are saving a median of 7.5 percent of their pay for retirement, including whatever match they get from their jobs.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A8

Friday 8 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Syria government agrees to let aid into beleaguered villages BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government has agreed to allow humanitarian assistance into three beleaguered villages following reports of deaths from malnutrition in that part of the country, a U.N. official said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the aid group Doctors Without Borders said 23 patients have died

of starvation at an MSFsupported health center in one of the three villages since Dec. 1 — including six infants under 1 years of age and five adults over the age of 60.

A statement from Yacoub El Hillo, U.N.’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, said aid will begin entering the villages in the coming days.

Two of the villages in ques-

tion are the adjacent Shiite villages of Foua and Kfarya in the country’s north, which have been besieged by anti-government militants for more than a year. The third is the village of Madaya near the border with Lebanon, which has been under siege by government forces since early July.

“The UN welcomes today’s approval from the govern-

ment of Syria to access Madaya, Foua and Kfarya and is preparing to deliver humanitarian assistance in the coming days,” said El Hillo.

Activists have said that several people have died over the past weeks in both areas because of malnutrition. There are currently some 30,000 people in the two Shiite villages and an even higher number in Ma-

daya.

“Almost 42,000 people remaining in Madaya are at risk of further hunger and starvation,” El Hillo warned.

El Hillo said the U.N. is particularly concerned about the plight of nearly 400,000 people besieged by parties to the conflict in areas including the eastern city of Deir el-Zour as well as the Damascus suburbs known as eastern Ghoua.q

Iran says Saudi strike hits embassy in Yemen; no damage seen

Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, hold posters of late Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in Saudi Arabia, during an anti-Saudi protest outside the Saudi embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

(AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

NASSER KARIMI AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Thursday accused a Saudiled coalition of hitting its embassy in Yemen in an airstrike and even though no

damage was visible on the building from the outside, the allegation highlighted how the two countries’ standoff could endanger the greater Middle East.

Hours later, in Saudi Arabia’s eastern Shiite heart-

land, a memorial service was held honoring Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution Saturday by the kingdom sparked regional protests culminating in attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in Iran.

While armored personnel carriers rumbled through the area and smoke from burning tires rose into the air, the service for the cleric who advocated for Shiite rights in the Sunni-ruled kingdom passed without violence. But anger could be felt in the hall, as videos showed mourners shouting: “Death to the Al Saud,” a reference to the royal family.

The airstrike claim by Iran came on Thursday afternoon, when its state-run news agency said a Saudiled airstrike the previous night had hit the Iranian embassy in Sanaa, citing Iran’s Foreign Ministry. However, an Associated Press reporter who reached the site just after the announcement saw no damage to the building, which sits in a neighborhood near a presidential palace that’s seen many previous strikes.

Iran vowed to file a report about their claim to the United Nations, while the Saudi military issued a statement through the king-

dom’s state news agency, dismissing the allegation as false.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, was later Thursday quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that a Saudi “rocket hit near our embassy and one of the embassy guards was seriously injured.” He said further details would come in a note to the United Nations. Earlier, IRNA had said that shrapnel hit a wall of the embassy and injured several staff there.

Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy crown prince, widely thought to wield considerable power in the monarchy, said he didn’t believe war would break out with Iran. “It is something that we do not foresee at all, and whoever is pushing towards that is somebody who is not in their right mind,” Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi defense minister and 30-yearold son of King Salman, told The Economist magazine. q

Libya truck bombing kills at least 60 policemen, wounds 200 ESSAM MOHAMED Associated Press TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A massive truck bomb exploded near a police base in the western Libyan town of Zliten on Thursday, killing at least 60 policemen and wounding around 200 others, officials said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but a local Islamic State affiliate has been trying to gain a foothold in Zliten, spreading westward from its central stronghold

in the city of Sirte along the North African country’s coast. The U.N. special envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, denounced the attack and urged Libyans to “put their differences aside and unite to confront the scourge of terrorism.” The bombing was yet another reminder for Libyans that “urgent progress is required” toward empowering a unity government and rebuilding state bodies, Kobler said in a statement.

Hours after the blast, res-

cue crews at the scene had only managed to extract 60 bodies out of the wreckage, said a hospital spokesman, Moamar Kaddi. Libyan officials said they believed there might be dozens more dead.

The police base, where about 400 recruits were training, was used by Libya’s border police, a Zliten security official said. Border police foiled numerous human smuggling attempts off the coast of Zliten last year. The official spoke on

condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that the U.S. has not yet determined who is responsible for carrying out a “cowardly act of terrorism” and extended condolences to the victims and the families of those who were killed, and to the Libyan people. Earnest said the U.S. remains “deeply concerned” about Islamic State-inspired militants car-

rying out acts of violence in Libya. Smugglers operating in Libya are notorious for responding with violence to any attempt to disrupt their lucrative operations, but there have been no reported incidents in which they used car bombs, suggesting that Islamic militant are more likely to have been behind Thursday’s attack.

Also, it was not immediately clear whether the attack was a suicide bombing, a hallmark method of Islamic militants. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Friday 8 January 2016

German Muslims condemn Cologne attacks, fear consequences

A woman with a headscarf walks past a Turkish food store at Venloer street in Cologne, Germany, on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

Cologne’s large Muslim community, many of them ethnic Turks who have lived in the city for decades, have joined in the chorus condemning the string of assaults on women at New Year and calling on police to prevent such attacks in future.

(AP Photo/Frank Jordans)

FRANK JORDANS Associated Press COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Members of Cologne’s large Muslim community have joined the chorus condemning a string of assaults on women on New Year’s Eve that have shocked Germany.

But some are also voicing concern that pointing the finger of blame at Muslims in general — and North African immigrants in particu-

lar — is unfair when most migrants are law-abiding and the full facts of what happened on the night remain unclear.

In Ehrenfeld, a multi-ethnic neighborhood where streets are lined with colorful Turkish grocery stores and halal butchers, few can believe that those who allegedly carried out the assaults amid the crowds ringing in the New Year may share their religion.

Spain: Police visited US couple’s home prior to finding dead child CIARAN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spanish police officers visited an American couple days before they found the badly decomposed body of their 7-year-old son at the family’s rented apartment in the northeastern city of Girona, police said Thursday.

A police spokesman said officers were called to the apartment on New Year’s Eve to check if the father was all right after the U.S. embassy contacted them, saying the man’s colleagues were concerned

after not hearing from him in some time.

The spokesman said the man did not open the door but insisted that he was fine and would get in contact with the U.S. embassy.

The spokesman said the officers noticed nothing suspicious and left.

Police on Tuesday arrested the couple — a 39-yearold man and a 38-year-old woman — on suspicion of reckless homicide after they found the child’s body on a bed under several blankets at the house.q

Police said Wednesday that 121 women have filed criminal complaints for robbery and sexual assault — including two allegations of rape.

They said the attackers were among a group of some 1,000 men described as being of “Arab or North African origin” who gathered in front of the Cologne’s main train station and gothic cathedral that night.

Although there is little solid information so far on who committed the assaults, the incident has put a spotlight on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcoming stance toward those fleeing conflict, and has been seized on by Germany’s far right, which opposes most forms of immigration.

“It’s really sad what happened,” said one woman wearing a Muslim headscarf, who only gave her last name, Ozap. She rejected the suggestion by some German politicians that the Muslim attitudes toward women might have played a role in the attacks.

“Everywhere it says that this has something to do with Muslims. What I read and learned in the Quran is completely different.

“I’ve been here for 30 years myself and I’ve never seen anything like this,” she added.

Hassan Akdogdu, a 34-year-old businessman and a second-generation Turkish immigrant, agreed.

He accused police of not doing enough to prevent the attacks.

“It’s nothing to do with religion,” he said. “Lack of respect for women isn’t a religious problem, as a Muslim I can say that.”

Akdogdu also questioned whether the issue might have triggered greater outrage because of an ongoing debate in Germany over how to integrate the nearly 1.1 million refugees who came to the country last year, many of them Muslims from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Refugees are an important political issue at the moment but I don’t believe, I don’t want to believe, that it was really refugees,” said Akdogdu. “Harassment and suchlike isn’t just something you need to talk about with refugees, but with everyone.”q

A10 WORLD

Friday 8 January 2016

NEWS

Jamaica homicides jump 20 pct, to highest level in 5 years KATE CHAPPELL Associated Press KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Violent rivalries among Jamaica’s lottery scam rings have helped drive the Caribbean island’s homicide rate to the highest level in five years, according to police. The Jamaica Constabulary Force said the country had at least 1,192 slayings in 2015, a roughly 20 percent increase from the previous

year. There were 1,005 killings in 2014, the lowest annual total since 2003 in this country that has long struggled with violent crime.

Jamaica had about 45 slayings per 100,000 people in 2015, keeping it ranked among the most violent countries in the world. In recent years, the U.N. listed the island as having the world’s sixth worst homicide rate. The World Bank

ranked Jamaica in the top five in 2013. By comparison, Chicago, which has roughly the same population as Jamaica at 2.7 million, had 468 killings in 2015.

Last year’s total is a long way from National Security Minister Peter Bunting’s goal of reducing the annual homicide numbers to 320 killings by 2017. He first stated this goal shortly after starting as national security

minister in early 2012.

Bunting, who had called the reduction in 2014 a breakthrough in the fight against crime, said officials “will not be deterred or daunted by this setback.”

Authorities attribute the rise in killings to clashes among lottery scam rings fighting over money and “lead lists” containing identity information about targets living abroad, mostly in

the United States. Fighting between gangs has long been blamed for the majority of Jamaica’s homicides. Herbert Gayle, an anthropologist of social violence at Jamaica’s University of the West Indies, said Wednesday that authorities have not addressed the root cause of violence in Jamaica so it was only a matter of time before killings ticked upward.q

Haiti candidate needs major changes to participate in runoff DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A spokesman for Haitian presidential contender Jude Celestin said Thursday that the second-place candidate will participate in an upcoming runoff only if sweeping changes recommended by a special commission are adopted to improve voting.

Campaign spokesman Gerald Germain said Celestin has been urging Haiti’s outgoing president to ensure that the commission’s recommendations are put in place before the two-candidate presidential runoff. They include major changes to the electoral machinery, with investigations and possible resignations of those accused of corruption, and political dialogue to achieve consensus about the next round. “Only when the recommendations are implemented would Mr. Celestin take part,” German said in a phone interview.

While Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has

In this November, 2015 photo, presidential candidate Jude Celestin, from the LAPEH party, gives a press conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A spokesman for Celestin said on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 that the second-place candidate will only participate in an upcoming runoff if sweeping changes recently recommended by a special commission are adopted to improve the vote.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

pledged to improve transparency for the final round, commission spokesman Rosny Desroches said he has seen very little progress to solve electoral tensions since the special panel’s recommendations were released Sunday.

For instance, he noted that

President Michel Martelly this week issued a decree making Jan. 24 the new date for the postponed runoff without first holding a political dialogue with those involved in the electoral impasse, a key recommendation.

“For now, there is appar-

ently no will to hold even a minimal dialogue,” Desroches said.

The United Nations, the U.S. government and representatives of other nations making up the “Core Group” that monitors Haiti have urged state institutions and political actors to

“take all steps necessary to ensure a peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected president” by the Feb. 7 constitutional deadline.

On Wednesday, U.S. State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon and the U.S. special coordinator for Haiti visited the country and met with a number of people, including the two presidential candidates slotted for the Jan. 24 runoff. It is unclear what, if anything, was accomplished. The pair departed Thursday.

U.S. Ambassador Peter Mulrean, who participated in the meetings, said that he would not divulge specifics but that conversations with both presidential candidates focused on the challenges facing Haiti, their visions for the future and “a bit about where they stood on moving ahead with the second round.”

“I can tell you that we certainly hope that he (Celestin) will participate and that the elections will move forward,” Mulrean told The Associated Press. q

US to help Guyana crack down on gold smuggling BERT WILKINSON Associated Press GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The U.S. government is helping Guyana crack down on a massive smuggling operation that ships gold to New York, Miami, Europe and other countries in South America, authorities said Thursday.

Guyanese Mining Minister Raphael Trotman said the FBI and the U.S. Depart-

ment of Homeland Security are helping track down the money generated by the smugglers. Guyana estimates that some 15,000 troy ounces of raw gold are smuggled out of the country each week via planes and boats, representing roughly 50 to 60 percent of production mined by its small- and medium-scale miners. Gold is Guyana’s main export.

Trotman said the U.S. agen-

cies reached out after they noticed large amounts of gold were being declared at American ports but not in Guyana.

Sydney James, who oversees Guyana’s Special Organized Crime Unit, said several suspects have already been prosecuted and that several more cases will be filed soon.

“We are now getting information we had always wanted from the federal

agencies,” he said. “All the relevant departments are cooperating with us.”

Miners Association spokesman Colin Sparman blamed the smuggling operation on buyers who fly to jungle mining camps with large suitcases of cash and offer miners higher prices than the government’s gold board.

“Sometimes miners do sell to them in a hardship situation where they need fuel

or cash, but we tell miners to sell to the board or to licensed buyers,” Sparman said.

Small miners earned $500 million from 451,000 ounces sold to the government board last year.

Guyana’s gold exports generated nearly $1 billion in revenue in 2013. However, the price of gold slid to a six-year low in 2015 amid a sluggish global economy. q

WORLD NEWS A11

Friday 8 January 2016

South Korea to resume anti-North propaganda broadcasts FOSTER KLUG HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In response to North Korea’s latest nuclear test, South Korea on Thursday announced it would resume cross-border propaganda broadcasts that Pyongyang considers an act of war.

Seoul also began talks with Washington that could see the arrival of nuclear-powered U.S. submarines and warplanes to the Korean Peninsula.

From Seoul to Washington, Beijing to the United Nations, world powers are looking at ways to punish Pyongyang for the test of what it called a new and powerful hydrogen bomb.

The loudspeaker broadcasts, which will start Friday, believed to be the birthday of young North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, are certain to infuriate authoritarian Pyongyang because they are meant to raise questions in North Korean minds about the infallibility of the ruling Kim family. South Korea stopped earlier broadcasts after it agreed with Pyongyang in late August on a package of measures aimed at

easing animosities that had the rivals threatening war.

Experts, meanwhile, are trying to uncover more details about the detonation that drew worldwide skepticism and condemnation.

It may take weeks or longer to confirm or refute the North’s claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, which would mark a major and unanticipated advance for its still-limited nuclear arsenal.

Even a test of an atomic bomb, a less sophisticated and less powerful weapon, would push its scientists and engineers closer to their goal of building a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile that can reach the U.S. mainland.

Statements from the White House said President Barack Obama had spoken to South Korean President Park Geun-Hye and to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.

The statements said the countries “agreed to work together to forge a united and strong international response to North Korea’s latest reckless behavior.”

Obama reaffirmed the “unshakeable U.S. commitment” to the security of South Korea and Japan,

South Korean protesters with defaced photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stage a rally during a rally against North Korea’s announcement that it had tested a hydrogen bomb in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. The letters reads “Punish North Korea for its threats and provocations! and denounce North Korean’s fourth nuclear test.”

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

according to the statements.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he spoke with Wang Yi, foreign minister of China, North Korea’s main ally, about ways of working together on the issue.

“We agree that there cannot be business as usual, and we agreed that we will work very closely together to determine the steps that

we can take in order to address our increasing concerns about that nuclear test,” Kerry said in Washington.

Park’s office said she also spoke with Abe over the phone and that they vowed cooperation to ensure that the U.N. Security Council imposes strong and effective measures against the North.

South Korean and U.S. mili-

tary leaders also discussed the deployment of U.S. “strategic assets” in the wake of the North’s test, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Ministry officials refused to elaborate about what U.S. military assets were under consideration, but they likely refer to B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighters and nuclear-powered submarines. q

Young socialist hardliner will lead Venezuela’s economy HANNAH DREIER Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolas Maduro is doubling down on his existing economic policies with the appointment of a young leftist hardliner to head the country’s cratering economy, setting the stage for confrontation between the ruling socialist party and the newly powerful opposition.

Luis Salas, the new 39-year-

old vice president for the economy, has scant administrative experience, but champions the same theories of price and currency controls that have defined Venezuela’s leftist economic policy for 17 years.

Like Maduro, Salas says the country is suffering from the world’s worst recession and triple-digit inflation because business interests are colluding with the U.S. to

sabotage the economy.

He even goes further than Maduro in arguing that many of the country’s problems are the result of being too capitalist.

A professor at the Bolivarian University, an institution created by the late president Hugo Chavez, Salas was relatively unknown before this week.

Now, the country is poring over his large body of pamphlets and letters.

“Inflation doesn’t exist in real life,” he wrote last year.

He added that prices go up not because of scarcity, but because of “capitalist economies that are driven by the desire for personal gain through the exploitation of others; by selfishness.”

Along with shortages, inflation has become the No. 1 concern among Venezuelan voters, many of whom spend hours each week

waiting in line for goods that are increasingly impossible to afford.

After the opposition swept Dec. 6 legislative elections, Salas wrote an open letter in which he attacked as “pragmatists” those people within the socialist camp who were floating the possibility of a currency devaluation, a move that outside economists agree is a necessary first step for righting the economy.q

A12 WORLD

Friday 8 January 2016

NEWS

Chinese market aftershocks may last for months JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) - The latest trigger was currency jitters, but Thursday’s plunge in Chinese stocks was just one in a series of aftershocks from last year’s boom and bust that could shake markets for months to come.

Investor anxiety over economic weakness and a possible glut of unwanted shares flooding the market have complicated Beijing’s

half of this year, according to financial analysts. Even after the latest declines, the Shanghai index is up 36 percent from October 2014.

The turmoil in China triggered a sell-off in Asian and Western stocks. Beijing keeps its markets sealed off from global capital flows, but due to the vast size of China’s economy, foreign investors watch them closely and react to volatil-

the U.S. currency since the central bank adopted a mechanism in August it said would make the stateset exchange rate more market-oriented.

The yuan’s link to the dollar meant it soared as the U.S. currency climbed over the past year, making it overvalued by 10 to 15 percent against those of other developing countries. But the prospect Beijing would close such a large gap fu-

A security guard looks out near a display showing the security features of the new 100 Yuan note in Beijing, China, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016. This week’s plunge in Chinese stocks was fueled by concern Beijing is letting China’s currency, the yuan, weaken too fast against the U.S. dollar.

(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

efforts to withdraw emergency controls imposed after Chinese stock prices collapsed in June.

On Thursday, trading halted for the day after a stock index fell 7 percent a halfhour into the trading day.

It was this week’s second daylong suspension after a plunge in prices Monday tripped the same “circuit breakers” that were introduced Jan. 1.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index more than doubled between late 2014 and June, then dived 30 percent. Supported by a multibillion-dollar government intervention, the market rose almost 25 percent in the final months of 2015, only to collapse in the new year. That left the main index down 15 percent from its December peak.

Wild price swings could continue through the first

ity.

“The market still is trying to find a bottom, and that takes time,” said Chen Yong, a strategist at Lianxun Securities. “The key is to be able to resume normal daily trading, and during that time volatility is inevitable.”

Economic growth fell to a six-year low of 6.9 percent in the July-September quarter and is forecast by the International Monetary Fund to decline further to 6.3 percent this year. Monday’s stock price plunged was triggered by surveys that showed manufacturing in December was weaker than expected.

The latest bout of selling was fueled by concern Beijing is letting China’s yuan weaken too fast against the dollar.

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, has drifted down by 6 percent against

eled fears it might lead to an outflow of capital, weakening China’s economy and reducing the supply of money to support share prices.

Thursday’s exchange rate of 6.5646 yuan to the dollar was the lowest since March 2011.

“The government hopes to see the yuan depreciate to stimulate exports and the economy, but the speed of depreciation went too fast,” said analyst Zhang Gang of Central China Securities.

The White House said the U.S. was closely monitoring China’s currency. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the U.S. approach to the uncertainty was to continue pressing China to speed up the pace of economic reforms he said would benefit China longterm and help the global economy. q

Eurozone set for better economic growth in 2016 - China permitting PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — It’s not ideal timing. Just as the eurozone economy finally appears to be picking up speed, its future is clouded by concerns over China and the world economy.

The gyrations in Chinese financial markets this week have been stoked by worries over the scale of the slowdown in the world’s number 2 economy, leading investors to scale back expectations for global growth this year.

China’s turmoil is a threat the 19-country eurozone could do without. The health of its trading partners is crucial for the region, which spreads from Ireland in the northwest to Cyprus in the southeast. China has been a key buyer of European goods and services over the past few years. Without China, the eurozone would have suffered even more than it did during its debt crisis of the past six years.

On the plus side, the eurozone is in a better place than it has been for years. Growth is solid, unemployment is falling and — whisper it quietly — concern that Greece might fall out of the euro has dropped off the radar.

A series of reports on the eurozone economy this week have provided a clearer picture of a region on the mend — the global economy permitting.

HOPES GROW The transition to 2016 has been marked by positive economic data that has raised hopes of a more buoyant economic recovery. In the two and a half years since the eurozone recovered from its longest-ever recession, growth has been tepid, and that’s kept unemployment high. In 2015, growth picked up to a quarterly rate of between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent. That’s still not enough to quickly generate more jobs.

Now, there are indications of a step-change.

On Wednesday, a survey of the manufacturing and services sectors by financial information company Markit showed growth in the fourth quarter running at its highest level in 4-1/2 years. Its chief economist, Chris Williamson, said the region is “well placed to enjoy a year of robust expansion” and noted that many firms are set to take on staff in increasing numbers.

Similarly good news came Thursday from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, which said its economic sentiment indicator for the region is also running at a 4-1/2 year-high. And the EU’s statistics agency found that unemployment across the eurozone fell by 130,000 in November to below 17 million for the first time in four years. There’s still a long way to go, though: the jobless rate stands at 10.5 percent, around double the rate in the United States.

NOT ALL IT SEEMS The worry would be if the eurozone weren’t showing signs of improvement. After all, it has enjoyed strong tail winds in recent months. Sliding oil and commodity costs have given consumers and businesses more to spend while the lower euro has been a boon to exporters. And the European Central Bank has embarked on a monetary stimulus program that is designed to keep a lid on borrowing rates. Whether those advantages continue this year will largely determine whether burgeoning optimism in the eurozone translates to higher growth. One disappointing point is that retail sales have dipped modestly for three straight months through November. That’s been a surprise, given that consumers’ disposable incomes have been swelled by lower prices at the pump.q

LOCAL A13

Friday 8 January 2016

At The Ritz-Carlton Aruba:

Talented Local Artists on Exhibition at the HArt Gallery

PALM BEACH –4 of Aruba’s most talented artists unveiled expositions recently at a Trunk show for the HArt Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton, and how they put together their creative concepts with the mediums they use.

You see their artwork and you know who they are.

The exhibition features 7 paintings by the four Artists, and 1 sculpture by Frank Croes. Their works showcase their artistically unique styles, and represent the best of Aruba’s talents!

The creative magical minds and colors of Aruba can be appreciated through their artworks.

Come and visit the HArt Gallery at The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba and see these fine Aruba. Elisa Lejuez-Peters, Elvis Tromp, Frank Croes, and Stan Kuiperi are all very well-known and talented local artists and loved for their own style of paintings.

After the Trunk show at the lobby, those artworks were moved to HArt Gallery!

The HArt Gallery usually showcases South American collections, but they

were excited to introduce Aruba’s creative talents in an exposition that will be viewable through January 2016.

According to Michiko Takatsu of ‘Curators on the Go!’ there are many good artists/painters here on Aruba, One Happy Island, yet what makes them stand out from the rest is their professionalism

pieces yourself!

While select pieces have been sold already, the exhibition continues through January, 2016.

HART Contemporary Art Gallery located at the lobby level in The Ritz-Carlton Aruba.

The gallery opens every day from 10am - 7pm.

For more information and contact, please call: 6604913 or 741-0490, or Email: artattheritz@gmail.com.

About the Artists: -ELISA LEJUEZ-PETERS was born on April 15th 1973, and is the daughter of a Caribbean mother and a Dutch father. She has been living and working in Aruba since 1999.

Her art consists predominantly of contemporary ‘neo pop’ painting elaborated with bright colors, mixed media elements and silkscreen printing.

Being extremely versatile, she also works in textile design, fashion design, bookmaking and installations.

She completed her MFA degree in 1995 at the University of fine arts Arnhem, the Netherlands.

Her travels as a textile designer for several companies gave her the opportunity to experience Asia on several occasions which caused for a strong influence on her artistic career.

Continued on Page 14

A14 LOCAL

Friday 8 January 2016

Continued from Page 13

“I love to mix the Caribbean culture with other cultures, like the Asian or African. These are my roots, reflected in my works”.

Lejuez- Peters has participated in numerous exhibitions in the Dutch Caribbean, as well as in Miami and Amsterdam. She had soloexhibits in Aruba, Curacao and New York City.

Her art is widely purchased by banks, restaurants, inter-

national hotels chains and a growing number of private collectors all over the world.

More information on the artist, her work and art studio is available at www. elisalejuez.com and for USA www.sohotelartspace. com.

-ELVIS TROMP, a self- taught Aruban-born painter and graphic designer. Working mostly in oils, Elvis painted the charming Aruban landscapes that fascinate so

many art-lovers for over 4 decades. Tromp has been painting Aruban landscapes since he was a child and enjoys making each scene a personal interpretation. He also finds time to paint portraits of friends and family.

Because Elvis is a selftaught artist, he had the opportunity to discover his environment, his style and technique in his own was.

Although this was very hard and slow in the beginning, it was very positive and helped him working his way through life to become a respected and exhibited artist.

During the last decade, Elvis has been experimenting with abstract and figurative paintings.

-FRANK CROES: After getting his preparation as an artist at the “Akademievoor Beeldendevorm-

ing” in Tilburg, The Netherlands, he returned to his native island, Aruba. Here he worked as Graphic Designer and later as Teacher/Principal of a primary school. In 2001 he became Head of “Instituto di Cultura”, since then he has been practicing his art more intensively.

His artwork characterized itself by powerful compositions and use of colors.

He works mostly in acrylic. Lately he is also doing sculptures, mostly in stone and wood. Besides painting and sculpting he also writes poems and short stories. In 2004 he won first prize in a short story competition organized by “Grupo Corector di Papiamento” and the Department of Culture.

In 2009 he finally held his first solo exposition which made him the well known artist he is today. He also participated in many group expositions; La Cabana Resort Exposition, Westin Art Gallery, Cas di Cultura Aruba, Aruba Wine, Food & Art Festival and Caribbean Sea Jazz Festival Art Exposition.

-STAN KUIPERI is one of the foremost Aruban visual artists with an international career. After living and studying in Puerto Rico, the USA and the Netherlands, he worked in his art studio in France and exhibited his work with much success in France and the Netherlands. He has shown his work in more than sixty local and international exhibitions, including five international art biennials. His

work has been published widely and reviewed by renowned art critics. In 2012 Stan Kuiperi received the Dutch ‘Royal Knighthood Decoration in the Order of Orange-Nassau’ for his extensive work in the arts and culture.

Stan Kuiperi has pioneered the abstract Aruban landscape in art since the 1980’s through his personal and unique expressive language. His landscapes integrate the tall cactus as a prominent symbol of the resiliency of the Aruban flora and fauna in today’s harsh environment. Since the early 1990’s he has also focused on depicting ageold authentic native Aruban petrographs in a conscious effort to raise general awareness about these cave drawings. His work also promotes legal action to properly conserve these unique and authentic cultural icons.

The artist is also well known for pioneering the inclusion of Caiquetio petrographs in contemporary art. Stan Kuiperi comments: “I’m intrigued by the mystery still surrounding the meanings and functions of these drawings. Also, as visual elements they are very powerful and surprisingly modern. So I integrate the designs in my paintings to breathe new life into them, and to arrive at a modern, truly Aruban interpretation of a thousand-year old native art”. stankuiperi@gmail.com/ facebook.com/artstankuiperiq

LOCAL A15

Friday 8 January 2016

Aruba Chamber of Commerce to Host Business Plaza-Step Forward!

ORANJESTAD - Attention all entrepreneurs! Are you thinking of adding new products and/or services, restructuring your company or maybe you are considering international

trading? Then you have to attend Business Plaza-Step Forward! to set your goals!

Business Plaza–Step Forward! will take place on Saturday, January 16, 2016 from 9:00 am till 3:00 pm at

the Chamber and is aimed at the existing entrepreneur focusing on any type of business expansion. Admission is free!

Business Plaza-Step Forward! is sponsored by Ban-

co di Caribe!

The morning program consists of several presentations on business expansion related topics. After a refreshment break, which includes networking opportunity, the afternoon program covers a Social Media workshop from 1.00 till 2.30 pm.

As usual, one-on-one information sessions are available with the Chamber’s business advisors and the Department of Economic Affairs. In order to assist at

the presentations and the workshop, pre-registration is required.

You may register by sending your name and phone number to: businessinfo@ arubachamber.com until Friday January 15.

For more information on the program details, questions or remarks please contact the Chamber at: 582-1566, ext. 30/27/35.

We hope to see you Saturday, January 16 at the Aruba Chamber!q

A16 LOCAL

Friday 8 January 2016

Tedxaruba and Sir Edward Cheung to Run LED Sneaker Project (TEDxAruba Admin) ORANJESTAD - In 2016, TEDxAruba Foundation and Sir Edward Cheung will be collaborating on a cool wearable technology project for a select group of younger students. The project entails wiring electronics – and gluing strips of LED lights onto sneakers (or shoes) in order to ‘pimp’ the shoes with programmable LED lights. It’s like those light-up shoes that you had when you were a kid — the ones that blink and flash, activated by the pressure of your tread — but 200 percent cooler.

The central goal of the project is to teach kids new skills such as; computer programming and building with electronics. What better way to introduce

younger students to these new concepts than combining it with something cool they can wear and display.

The project is set to begin in February and an initially estimated 15-20 students will be able to participate.

TEDxAruba speaker Sir Edward Cheung – Chief Engineer at NASA and a wearable technology enthusiast himself – will be guiding this project along with two of

into the sneakers and gluing the LED light strips onto the sneaker, and a final session where students are taught how to program the chip sets that power the LED light – making the lightup as they walk, moving in different patterns, etc.

For the real nerds out there who are interested in learning more about what we will building, visit the following website for more details: https://learn.adafruit.

TEDxAruba Foundation’s own staff-member engineers Dagmara Avanindra (Electrical Engineering background) and Marlon Kock (Computer Science background and Lead Web Developer at TEDxAruba). It’s a small-sized pilot project, which is bound to be repeated when successful, allowing more students to participate. These students will be randomly selected from various schools and must be between ages 9 and 17.

The project will consist of three Saturday sessions; one introduction session, another session focusing on wiring the electronics

com/firewalker-led-sneakers We are very excited to work on this project for kids. It will undoubtedly be a learning opportunity for everyone involved. It is the first project of TEDxAruba Foundation, where TEDxAruba speakers will directly contribute in teaching new skills to a group of Aruban younger students, arguably the next generation of TEDxAruba speakers.

For more information, please contact Marlon Kock through the contact form on this website.

We will provide more updates about the project as they become available.

Stay tuned!q

SPORTS A17

Friday 8 January 2016

Sweet Spot

Federer Opens 2016 Season With Cozy Brisbane Win Roger Federer from Switzerland plays a shot in his match against Tobias Kamke from Germany during the Brisbane International tennis tournament held in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

(AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Roger Federer recalled the celebrations and the festive atmosphere of his 1,000th match victory on tour as soon as he returned to the Brisbane International to fine-tune his preparations for the Australian Open.

He achieved the milestone in the final here last year, when he beat Milos Raonic and shared the podium with some of the players he revered from a previous era.

His first practice was positive, he said, then he picked up an illness from one of his four kids — the whole family had it — and his attempt at a title defense was shaky for a while.

On the fifth day of the tournament, Federer finally opened his 2016 season with a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win over German qualifier Tobias Kamke, and advanced to a quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov, who beat Viktor Troicki 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-2 earlier Thursday.

“It was a big deal for me (the 1,000th win). I didn’t

expect it to be as big of a deal as it actually ended up being,” Federer said. “It was very special because it was a final ... plus, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson were on the court to hand me the trophy and be in the picture with me and the number 1,000. I was happy I didn’t mess it up.”

The 17-time major winner converted five of his six breakpoint chances and saved the only one he faced against Kamke, finding his touch quickly and dispelling pre-match rumors that he might be car-

rying an injury.

Raonic, also back in action for the first time this season, defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4 and will next meet Lucas Pouille, who upset sixth-seeded David Goffin 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3.

While the top-ranked women have succumbed to injuries or inconsistency in the first week of the season, Victoria Azarenka has maintained her surge in form.

The two-time Australian Open champion reached the Brisbane International semifinals by beating

eighth-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-2.

She has dropped just 10 games en route to the semis, where she’ll meet Samantha Crawford, a U.S. qualifier who beat Andrea Pektovic 6-3, 6-0.

Azarenka, who was limited to 23 tournaments across the last two seasons because of injuries, was broken once in each set but converted seven of her 11 breakpoint chances against Vinci, who ended Serena Williams’ bid for a true Grand Slam in the U.S. Open semifinals.q

A18 SPORTS

Friday 8 January 2016

Buccaneers fire coach Lovie Smith after 2 losing seasons FRED GOODALL AP Sports Writer TAMPA, Florida (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tripled their victory total from the previous year, and new quarterback Jameis Winston had a strong rookie season. Still, it wasn’t enough to save coach Lovie Smith’s job.

Smith was fired this week after going 6-10 this season and 8-24 overall in two years running a team that has missed the NFL playoffs eight consecutive years.

The late-night announcement came as a surprise because Smith’s job was not considered to be in danger after the Bucs improved from two wins last season and briefly contended for a wild-card playoff berth with Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, starting every game.

“This decision was difficult on a variety of levels,” Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said in a statement.

“I am disappointed that we were not more successful these past few seasons, but we are committed to doing what is necessary to give our fans the winning team they deserve. “ General manager Jason Licht will oversee the search for a new coach.

Smith led the Chicago Bears to the NFC title in 2006 before losing to Indianapolis in the Super Bowl.

He was 84-66 in nine seasons with Chicago.

The Bucs showed some improvement this season with

Winston joining Andrew Luck and Cam Newton as the only players since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger to throw for 4,000 yards as rookies.

But they lost five of their last six games, including

quite there.”

For the first time, the Bucs ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in total offense and defense, but they struggled to get the ball into the end zone, ranking 20th in total points scored.

Nevertheless, Smith reiterated his belief that the team is headed in the right direction.

“Our football team isn’t a finished product yet, but I think it’s safe to say that we’re in pretty good shape

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith walks off the stage after his end of the season news conference Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, in Tampa, Fla. The Buccaneers finished with a 6-10 record. The Buccaneers tripled their victory total from the previous year, and new quarterback Jameis Winston had a strong rookie season. Still, it wasn’t enough to save coach Lovie Smith’s job.

(AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

the final four to finish last in the NFC South for the fifth straight season.

“You’d like to have a quick fix, but that just wasn’t part of the process,” Smith said earlier this week. “When you get to 6-6 in a season, it makes you think that maybe you’re a little bit further along and we can get it done.

But in the end, we weren’t

They were also 26th in scoring defense, allowing 24 or more points 10 times.

The Bucs gained over 500 yards twice and averaged a team-record 375.9 yards per game.

Martin finished second to Adrian Peterson for the NFL rushing title, and Mike Evans had another big year with 74 receptions for 1,206 yards, but only three TDs.

going forward with (Winston) leading us, on and off the field,” he said.

But the Bucs will move ahead without Smith, the team’s third coach since Jon Gruden was fired after the 2008 season.

Gruden led Tampa Bay to its only Super Bowl win; none of his successors have had an overall winning record in Tampa.q

Oklahoma State DE Ogbah declares for draft CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah announced via Twitter this week that he has declared early for the NFL draft.

The AP’s Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year led the conference in sacks and tackles for loss and set a school record with 19 quarterback hurries while helping the Cowboys reach the Sugar Bowl. The 6-foot-4,

275-pound junior finished his career with 28 sacks. In his best game this season, he scored a touchdown, forced two fumbles, recovered a fumble and had a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry in an overtime win at West Virginia.

Ogbah thanked Oklahoma State’s coaching staff in his announcement.

“I am very humbled to be in the position I’m in today

and none of it would have been possible without your guidance and leadership,” he said.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said during the season he expects Ogbah to excel on the next level.

“Someday, whenever that may be, this year or next year, somebody’s going to get a big-time player,” Gundy said. “They’re going to be glad they have him on the roster.”

The decision wasn’t much of a surprise — Ogbah participated in the Senior Day ceremony before the home finale against Oklahoma. The Nigerian-born star said he is on track to earn his degree in May. “Oklahoma State will always be my home and I promise to represent our university with respect, class, character and dignity,” he said.q

Chargers, Raiders, Rams file for Los Angeles relocation SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams filed this week for relocation to the Los Angeles area, boosting the prospect of the NFL returning to the nation’s second-largest market after a 21-year absence.

The Chargers want to partner with the AFC West rival Raiders on a stadium in Carson.

The Chargers ownership have had the right to leave San Diego since 2008, but the long, contentious efforts to replace aging Qualcomm Stadium only sparked a proposed L.A. shift after Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced plans to build a stadium in Inglewood.

The NFL confirmed it received the applications to move for the 2016 season. They will be reviewed ahead of a meeting next week when all team owners are expected to vote on whether to allow any of the teams to move. A team wanting to move needs 24 of 32 votes.

Los Angeles has been without the NFL since after the 1994 season, when the Raiders moved back to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis. The Rams had been in the L.A. area since 1946.

The Chargers and St. Louis’ City Hall have been at odds since 2000, when team owner Alex Spanos said the team needed a new stadium. That was just three years after the stadium was expanded.

In a video posted on the team’s web site, Dean Spanos blamed “the inability of the city at the political level to get any kind of public funding or any kind of vote to help subsidize a stadium.”

The team did not negotiate finances, but it has said in the past that it expects a public contribution of at least 60 percent.

Under the city and county’s proposal, public funding would be capped at 32 percent, with the team being responsible for overruns.q

SPORTS A19

Friday 8 January 2016

NFL playoffs start with Texans-Chiefs, Bengals-Steelers NEW YORK (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL’s version of a family car.

Practical. Efficient. Responsible. Occasionally boring.

Still, they get the wild-card playoffs started this weekend as the NFL’s hottest team, ripping off 10 straight wins following a 1-5 start.

The one early win was a season-opening 27-20 victory at Houston, where the Chiefs go on Saturday to face J.J. Watt and the Texans. Following them, the Cincinnati Bengals have a shot at postseason payback a decade later against visiting Pittsburgh.

The resilient Steelers, meanwhile, are eyeing a familiar path to a frequent destination.

The Chiefs take care of the ball (they are plus-16 in turnover margin during their current run), and keep opponents out of the end zone. It’s a formula as basic as coach Andy Reid’s game-day demeanor, yet a style that has arguably made Kansas City the least-flawed team in an AFC where weaknesses abound. The Texans have plenty of them. They captured the AFC South division crown by being the best of a mediocre bunch.

Watt did Watt things, finishing with a league-high 17 1/2 sacks while turning each celebration into a dance-off. Whitney Mercilus had a career-high 12 sacks, and Jadeveon Clowney became healthy and disruptive again. The defense allowed just 12.7 points over the final nine games. Meanwhile, coach Bill O’Brien made an offense that couldn’t seem

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant (10) is tackled by Cincinnati Bengals outside linebacker Vontaze Burfict (55) in an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Cincinnati.

(AP Photo/Frank Victores)

to keep a quarterback healthy work anyway. The merry-go-round has come full circle, with Brian Hoyer back in control of the huddle, as Houston seeks to improve to 3-0 in the wild-card round. Still, they haven’t really replaced running back Arian Foster since he got hurt, and they lost left tackle Duane Brown to a season-ending thigh injury last Sunday. They face a ferocious Chiefs pass rush.

How long will the Chiefs’ luck hold? They won close games during their remarkable franchise-best winning streak, taking advantage of a soft late schedule. But

there are no soft opponents in the playoffs.

“I couldn’t honestly care less about what anybody says outside of this locker room,” tight end Travis Kelce says. “We know that when we line up against anybody, we’re confident that we’re going to get the job done.”

The Bengals were on the rise in 2005 when they hosted the Steelers in the wildcard round. Then Pittsburgh defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen crashed into quarterback Carson Palmer’s left leg in the first quarter, shredding Palmer’s knee. Cincinnati struggled

behind backup Jon Kitna, and the Steelers rolled to a 31-17 victory on their way to a fifth Super Bowl title.

Cincinnati won the division with backup A.J. McCarron after Andy Dalton broke his right thumb in a home loss to Pittsburgh last month.

McCarron is a respectable 2-1 in Dalton’s absence, but he was three months old the last time the Bengals won a playoff game, a drought that turns 25 this month and includes six straight postseason losses.

The Steelers haven’t gone more than five years between playoff wins since Richard Nixon was the U.S.

president.

Pittsburgh has injury problems of its own with running back DeAngelo Williams nursing a sprained right ankle. The Steelers are already without star Le’Veon Bell, lost for the year after injuring his knee against Cincinnati in November. The injury stemmed from a hit by linebacker Vontaze Burfict that spurred a war of words with Steelers linebacker Vince Williams that spilled over into social media and pregame warmups last month.

The teams split their matchups in the regular season, with each winning on the road.q

20 SPORTS

Friday 8 January 2016

PGA Potpourri:

Knox knows Laettner - and his place as PGA Tour winner

DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Russell Knox knows he is in good company at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions because only PGA Tour winners are at Kapalua.

pingpong table, and Knox was playing when another guest arrived.

“All of a sudden, this gorilla of a man walks in,” Knox said. “He says, ‘Oh, you’re good at pingpong.’ That was it. He didn’t even say hello. He said, ‘I’m Christian

ment and told his friend, “Man, I can’t believe I’m in Fred Funk’s house. This is so cool.”

“He said, ‘Well, the guy you just played pingpong with for the last four hours is called Christian Laettner, and he’s probably a big-

Russell Knox signs autographs on the 18th green during the Tournament of Champions golf proam, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at Kapalua Plantation Course on Kapalua, Hawaii.

(AP Photo/Matt York)

That wasn’t always the case, though Knox can be forgiven.

Years ago, when the 30-year-old Scot was still grinding in golf’s minor leagues, a friend who looked after Fred Funk’s home in Florida invited Knox over for a few beers and to watch a fight on pay-per-view. Funk’s house had everything, including a

Laettner,’ and I thought, ‘Who the hell is that?’ I thought he must be a basketball player because he was 7-foot tall, but I didn’t know who he was.”

One game led to 20. A few minutes turned into a few hours. The Duke great and NBA All-Star got the best of Knox, but not by much. As he left that night, Knox took one last look at his environ-

ger deal than Fred Funk,’” Knox said. “So then I went home and googled him.

Oh, man, he was on the Dream Team.”

Knox still isn’t in that league yet, though he good a giant step just by making it to Kapalua.

That 12-hour flight from Florida to paradise was nothing like his journey from a middling amateur in Scot-

land to a small college (Jacksonville University) to working in the cart barn to save cash for the mini-tours and eventually a card on the PGA Tour.

And now he is part of a winners-only field alongside Jordan Spieth and Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.

Knox started his PGA Tour career in 2010 at No. 963 in the world.

Now he’s No. 30.

“I always hoped I would be a top-50 player. At every level of golf, I’ve always thought I could do it, but I needed to prove it to myself before I really felt I could do it. Before you always hoped you could,” he said. “I’ve still got to play incredible to do well, but at least I know I can stand on a tee and say, ‘I’ve won a tournament before, and it was a big one.’”

All he did was become the first player since the inception of the World Golf Championships to win in his debut, beating a field that included Spieth, Johnson, Rory McIlroy and a host of others who have known they were good all their lives.

Knox was selected to play for Scotland in an amateur event in Spain during his junior year in college.

It opened his eyes to the standard of golf around the world, and he knew it wouldn’t include him if he didn’t work harder.

“I can’t believe out of all the Scottish guys on that

Van Zyl tops leaderboard in first round at SA Open GAUTENG, South Africa (AP) — Jaco van Zyl shot a 7-under 65 Thursday to top a South African-dominated leaderboard in the first round of the SA Open, the European Tour’s first event of 2016.

Van Zyl maintained the form that put him in ties for eighth and 13th at the season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship and Nedbank Golf Challenge before Christmas, hitting six birdies and an eagle.

It was the 36-year-old Van Zyl’s first round of golf with-

out the assistance of knee braces since he underwent surgery to both knees in March 2014.

Shaun Norris was alone in second place after a 66, and Jbe Kruger and Keith Horne were tied for third at 5 under at Glendower Golf Club as South Africans filled the top four places. Two more were in a six-way tie at 4 under — Justin Walters and 2006 winner Retief Goosen — on a low-scoring day when the rough was less penal after a recent drought and heatwave.

Defending champion Andy Sullivan of England shot 3 over and was 10 strokes off the pace.

Play was suspended for the day because of the threat of lightning, with 33 players still to finish their rounds.

Nicolas Colsaerts (shoulder) and Richard Finch (Achilles) retired in the first round.

Van Zyl has 13 victories on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour but is yet to win on the European Tour, with the most recent of his four runner-up finishes coming at the Turkish Airlines Open in Novem-

ber.

“I’ve had a couple of weeks off, spending time with the family,” Van Zyl said. “I’ve had my fair share of whisky and Christmas pudding so it was really nice to get off to a good start.”

Starting at No. 10, Van Zyl picked up four shots on his front nine, and moved to 7 under after an eagle 3 at the par-5 second hole. He made up for his only bogey of the round, on No. 7, by making a birdie from three feet on the next hole. q

team, I’ve done the best,” he said. “Because I was the worst by a mile.”

He still rates a Hooters Tour event in Mississippi as highly as a World Golf Championship. He had a one-shot lead in the 18th fairway when he hit 6-iron into the water and lost by one.

He was distraught driving back to Jacksonville. One year later, with a one-shot lead on the 18th hole in the same tournament, in nearly the identical spot in the fairway, he hit 6-iron onto the green and won his first event as a pro.

He received $33,500 for that victory at Dancing Rabbit Golf Club.

“I bought myself a car — a Toyota Highlander,” he said. “And it was pretty much the whole check.”

Knox won $1.4 million for his victory in China, and he won $545,600 for a playoff loss to Graeme McDowell a week later in Mexico. He is going to the Masters for the first time in April, and if he plays reasonable well this year will get into the other majors and WGCs. He also has joined the European Tour with hopes of making the Ryder Cup team.

Knox already has played the Nedbank Challenge.

He will play Abu Dhabi, the Irish Open, Wentworth and the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, close to where he grew up in Inverness. He looks forward to that nearly as much as the Masters. It will be a great feeling for the local kid who left home and made good.

He’s a PGA Tour winner.

He’s in the top 50 in the world.

And he knows who Christian Laettner is.q

SPORTS A21

Friday 8 January 2016

Ken Griffey Jr, Mike Piazza elected to Baseball Hall of Fame RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ken Griffey Jr. was considered Mr. Clean during 22 years in Major League Baseball, untainted by accusations of drug use as he climbed the home-run list during the height of the Steroids Era. He nearly made a clean sweep in the Baseball Hall of Fame voting, too.

Griffey received 437 of 440 votes in his first appearance on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot, a record 99.3 percent.

“It’s real simple,” he explained after Wednesday’s announcement. “I’ve always said that I’ve got to look my kids in the eyes and you want to play fair.”

Mike Piazza, the top offensive catcher in MLB history, was elected, too, and will be inducted along with Griffey in Cooperstown, New York, on July 24. Among the many muscled sluggers whose accomplishments were questioned during a time when chemists preyed on clubhouses, Piazza was made to wait to be inducted until his fourth appearance on the ballot. After falling 28 votes shy last year, he was selected on 365 votes.

He wouldn’t say whether he was upset about being sullied by suspicions.

“That’s the freedom we have,” Piazza said. “You can say these things, and that’s the country we live in.”

Former Seattle Mariners Ken Griffey Jr., left, and former New York Mets Mike Piazza pose for a photograph after a press conference announcing their election to baseball’s Hall of Fame, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, in New York. Both men will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Griffey topped the previous high voting percentage of 98.84, set when Tom Seaver appeared on 425 of 430 ballots in 1992.

A player needs to appear on 75 percent of ballots to gain election. Jeff Bagwell missed by 15 votes and Tim Raines by 23. Trevor Hoffman, second on the career saves list and appearing on the ballot for the first time, was 34 short.

Total ballots dropped by 109 from last year after writers who have not been active for 10 years were eliminated under a rules change by the Hall’s board of directors. With a younger average electorate, Roger Clemens rose to 45 percent and Barry Bonds to

44 percent, both up from about 37 percent last year.

Clemens has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and Bonds said he never knowingly took any banned substances.

“They were Hall of Famers before all this stuff started,” Griffey said.

Mark McGwire, who admitted using steroids, received 12 percent in his 10th and final ballot appearance.

Half of MLB’s top 10 homerun hitters are not in the Hall of Fame: Bonds (762), Alex Rodriguez (654), Jim Thome (612), Sammy Sosa (609) and McGwire (583).

Rodriguez, who served a yearlong drug suspension in 2014, remains active.

Thome’s first appearance

on the ballot will be in 2018.

Griffey believes drug-testing, which began in MLB in 2003, should eliminate the possibility of stigma for the current generation of players. “There won’t be any questions and you’ll know from here on out,” he said.

Some players who admitted using steroids claimed they chose the needle because of pressure to compete. Griffey said he never was tempted.

“I also had a dad that said you’re never going to be the biggest, you’re never going to be the strongest and you’re never going to be the fastest,” he said.

“There’s always going to be someone in each of those categories, but the

one thing they can’t do is outwork you.”

Griffey and Piazza had contrasting paths to stardom. Griffey was selected first in the 1987 amateur baseball draft and became the first No. 1 to make the Hall. Piazza was taken by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 1,390th pick on the 62nd round in 1988; since the MLB draft started in 1965, the lowest draft pick elected to the Hall had been John Smoltz, taken with selection 574 on the 22nd round in 1985.

“It crystalizes how special this game is,” Piazza said.

“It separates it from other sports. Athletic talent definitely helps, but it’s not the only thing that can make you successful.”

Griffey was known simply as “Junior” by many as a contrast to his father, threetime All-Star outfielder Ken Griffey, who played alongside him in Seattle during 1990 and ‘91. The younger Griffey became a 13-time All-Star outfielder and finished with 630 homers, sixth on the career list.

Wanting to play closer to his home in Florida, he pushed for a trade to Cincinnati — his father’s old team and the area he grew up in— after the 1999 season. But slowed by injuries, he never reached 100 RBIs again after his first season with the Reds, and he moved on to the Chicago White Sox in 2008 before spending his last season with the Mariners. q

MLS expansion LAFC picks black and gold, unveils wing crest GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shortly after LAFC revealed its black-and-dark-gold colors and eye-catching new crest in a gala ceremony, Will Ferrell carried a director’s chair onstage and sat down between co-owner Peter Guber and Mayor Eric Garcetti.

“I want in,” LAFC’s 25th and newest co-owner declared.

This is a common sentiment in downtown Los Angeles, where the Major League

Soccer expansion club is already attracting plenty of attention more than two years before anybody officially kicks a ball.

LAFC unveiled its colors and crest Thursday at Union Station amid cheering and singing from several dozen fans of a team that has no players or stadium yet. The club will join MLS for the 2018 season, but it already has an identity built around those colors and a logo featuring a wing incorporated into an Art Deco-inspired “LA” monogram.

“Our promise is to unite the world’s city with the world’s game,” LAFC President Tom Penn said.

LAFC managing partner Henry Nguyen said the colors and crest are a major part of the club’s aspiration to create an internationally known brand. While black has been part of LAFC’s identity from the start, the club’s shade of dark gold appears to be unique in the league, and LAFC also plans to incorporate red as an accent to its schemes and uniforms.

“The wing is such a special symbol of what this city is, in terms of meaning, flight, dynamism,” Nguyen said.

“This is the City of Angels.

And it’s every type of wing.

It’s an Aztec eagle wing.

It’s a dragon wing. It’s an angel wing.

It’s whatever wing you want it to be.”

Garcetti, who envisions Los Angeles as “the sports capital of the world” while it competes for the 2024 Olympics, heralded the next step in the evolution of LAFC, which was for-

mally granted MLS entry 15 months ago. The club is building Los Angeles’ first open-air stadium since 1962, playing a part in the Olympic bid and adding even more energy to the city’s revitalized downtown.

“We’re not going to wait for any other league to make a decision, because football is here today,” Garcetti said, jokingly referring to the NFL’s protracted decision about returning to the nation’s second-largest media market.q

A22

Friday 8 January 2016

TECHNOLOGY

CES gadget show:

Devices connect us from the crib to old age K. PIERCEALL Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Umbilical cord? These days, it’s more like a USB cord.

Whether in the womb or in one’s twilight years, our lives are becoming ever more connected.

Nowhere has that been more evident than at the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas, where everything from pregnancy tests to beds to

And it doesn’t stop once the test is done, as it can track a potential due date, add that to a woman’s phone calendar and offer to share the news with selected friends and relatives via email or text.

SMART FRIDGE, SMART BED No need to open the fridge door to know what’s left inside. LG Electronics will let you peek through an

sheet and are supposed to measure your heart rate, respiration and restless tossing and turning throughout the night.

MAN’S BEST BLUETOOTH-ENABLED FRIEND Call it torture or training, but the creators behind Clever Pet hope their $299 light-up dog dish can teach critical thinking to canines. The bowl dishes out portions of

David VanderWaal, vice president of marketing for LG Electronics USA, knocks on the door of a new LG Signature refrigerator during a news conference preview for CES International, in Las Vegas. LG Electronics lets you peek through an opaque glass window on one of the double-doors that lights up from the inside with a tap, saving electricity and maybe keeping you from making a poor decision about a late night snack.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

dog bowls now come with apps at the ready, collecting valuable data along the way.

BLUETOOTH FOR BABIES Until now, that three-minute wait for a home pregnancy-test result comes with no built-in distraction beyond staring at the stick to see if one line or two is fading in.

No longer. First Response will start selling a Bluetoothenabled test in the spring that links with a woman’s smartphone, recommending BuzzFeed quizzes and videos or health-related articles to pass the time while a clock ticks down the seconds to her result.

The test, which could cost $14.99 or $21.99 depending on the retailer, also claims to tailor itself to the test-taker from the very first yes or no question: Do you want to have a baby?

opaque glass window that lights up from the inside with a tap, saving electricity and possibly preventing your next poor late-nightsnack decision. With a different fridge, stocking up wouldn’t require a grocery run; one from Samsung and Mastercard comes equipped with an installed ordering app in the appliance.

Another company contends you don’t need a smart fridge to make yours a thinker. The company Smarter expects by summer to begin selling mats with sensors and in-fridge cameras that can remotely tell you what’s left in your fridge.

They’ll set you back $130 to $150 each.

Making beds smarter is Beddit’s goal. The company’s thin belt-length sensors sold for $149 go under the

food if the pet paws at the correct light; if all goes well, it might eventually train them not to inhale a bowl of food all at once.

The company created several games with the lights that get progressively more difficult the better the dog gets at winning the food.

The dog’s owner gets all the data. “A persistent dog will always get food,” said Philip Meyer, the company’s product officer. “A motivated dog will get it faster.”

BIG MOTHER The mother hub is watching. Sen.se’s Silver Mother hub, that is, which aims to help adult children or caregivers make sure that an elderly person living alone takes his or her pills, drinks enough water and goes about other daily routines.q

Twitter appears ready to expand beyond its 140-character tweets MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter appears ready to loosen its decade-old restriction on the length of messages in a bid to make its service more appealing to a wider audience accustomed to the greater freedom offered by Facebook and other forums.

CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey telegraphed Twitter’s intentions in a tweet posted Tuesday after thetechnology news site Re/Code reported the company is exploring increasing its limits on text from 140 characters to as many as 10,000.

Dorsey didn’t directly address the Re/Code report that cited unnamed people, but he made it clear that Twitter isn’t wedded to the 140-character limit.

He illustrated his point by posting a screenshot of a text consisting of 1,325 characters.

If Twitter were to allow tweets to span 10,000 characters, it could produce 1,700-word dissertations, based on the size of Dorsey’s extended post.

San Francisco-based Twitter Inc. declined to comment on its plans.

In his message, Dorsey wrote that Twitter has already noticed that many of its roughly 300 million users already have been including screenshots of lengthy texts in their tweets. He indicated Twitter is examining ways to give people more room to express themselves without polluting the service with gasbags.

Imposing some restraint “inspires creativity and brevity. And a sense of speed. We will never lose that feeling,” Dorsey pledged.

At the same time, Dorsey said Twitter isn’t “going to be shy about building more utility and power into Twitter for people. As long as it’s consistent with what people want to do, we’re going to explore it.”

Analysts said Dorsey is probably trying to avoid a backlash among long-time Twitter users who consider the 140-character tweeting limit sacred. At the same time, he needs to respond to company shareholders pining for a bigger audience that would generate more advertising revenue. More revenue eventually could help Twitter turn a profit for the first time in its history. Twitter can’t afford “to become stagnant, they need to get bigger if they want to build a more relevant advertising platform,” said Topeka Capital Markets analyst Blake Harper.

After a long streak of robust growth that turned it into one of the Internet’s hottest companies, Twitter’s growth has slowed dramatically during the past year-and-half to leave it scrambling to catch up with social networking leader Facebook and its 1.5 billion users.

Twitter’s malaise resulted in the departure of Dick Costolo as the company’s CEO last July and ushered in the return of Dorsey, who had been ousted as the company’s leader in 2008.

The pressure has been building on Dorsey to take drastic measures to accelerate user growth as Twitter’s stock has sunk further below its November 2013 initial public offering price of $26. The shares shed 64 cents Tuesday to close at $21.92, a decline of nearly 40 percent from where they stood from when Dorsey became CEO last summer.

Dorsey helped invent Twitter in 2006 and imposed a 140-character limit on messages so the service would be easy to use on cellphones that had 160-character limits on texts at that time. Those texting limits on phones faded away several years ago as the advent of smartphones enabled people to use other Internet messaging services, making Twitter’s restrictions look increasingly antiquated.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Friday 8 January 2016

Digital Life:

How an end to phone discounts will help customers

ANICK JESDANUN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — AT&T will no longer offer discounted phones with two-year contracts starting Jan. 8. Before you rush out to beat the deadline, consider that you might be better off paying full price for the phone.

That’s because phone companies also reduce the monthly bill for voice, text and data services when you buy your own phone or bring a used one.

Some may pay a bit more, some a bit less, but the overall bill is roughly the same. What you get in return is more flexibility in which phone you buy and how long you stay with the carrier.

AT&T’s decision comes as no surprise. In the third quarter, only 1 in 5 customers chose a contract plan when they signed up with AT&T or upgraded their phones. T-Mobile broke away from contracts completely nearly three years ago, and Verizon stopped offering contracts to new customers in August. Sprint also has been weighing dropping contracts completely.

Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure told The Associated Press in September that discounted, contract phones — including his company’s — amount to “a gimmick, a trick. You tell people I’m going to give you a free phone, but really the cus-

tomer pays in a more expensive service plan.”

Indeed, phone discounts mask the true costs of phones and phone services.

Here’s an explanation of the changes:

WILL I PAY MORE? Not necessarily so, even though you now have to pay the full price for a phone.

When you got a discounted phone under contract, you were already paying the balance in the form of

your monthly bill for voice, text and data is typically reduced by $15 or $25 a month. The $25 discount applies for higher data plans — usually ones you share with family members.

In such cases, you’re actually better off buying the

An AT&T logo is displayed on a store in Dedham, Mass. AT&T will no longer offer discounted phones with two-year contracts starting Jan. 8, 2016.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS NOW? Most people now buy and pay for phones in monthly installments, though you can also pay the full price upfront. You can also bring a used device, such as one from a friend or family member who has upgraded to a newer model. Sprint and T-Mobile also have leasing options — you pay less each month, but you don’t get to keep or resell the device in the end.

fees. For instance, the full cost of an iPhone 6s is $650.

Although you pay just $200 at the contract rate, the phone company passes along the remaining $450 in higher monthly fees for voice, text and data. Over two years, the $450 comes to $18.75 a month. Put another way, your phone company is subsidizing your phone by $18.75 a month and tacking that on to the phone bill for voice, text and data.

If you forgo the contract,

phone yourself, as you’re getting a $25 bill reduction but giving up only $18.75 in subsidies.

If your discount is only $15, and you’re giving up $18.75 in subsidies, then technically your bill is going up slightly. What you get instead is flexibility.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY FLEXIBILITY? Because phone companies were subsidizing phones, there was an incentive to get the most

expensive model, even if you didn’t need that. These days, there are many midrange Android phones that do what high-end phones did just a few years ago. If you choose one of those models, you keep the savings. That’s also the case if you get a friend or relative’s old phone. You no longer feel that you’re losing out by not claiming the most expensive phone in a contract renewal.

And if your phone lasts longer than two years, there’s no longer the pressure to upgrade just to claim the phone subsidies. You simply pocket the savings.

More important, you’re no longer tied to two-year contracts.

DOES THIS MEAN I CAN SWITCH WHENEVER I LIKE? Yes and no.

If you buy a phone under an installment plan, you’re still stuck with the phone company until you pay off the phone. That said, rival companies often have promotions to pay off the balance for you. And if you pay the full cost of the phone upfront, you own the phone and can switch whenever you like. Just be aware that certain phones work on limited number of networks, so it’s still not total freedom.

WHAT IF RATES INCREASE ONCE I PAY FULL PRICE FOR A PHONE? q

Netflix expands into 130 more countries in surprise move MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix has already crossed off the biggest item on its New Year’s list of resolutions. The Internet video service debuted in 130 countries Wednesday in a surprise move likely to reel in millions of new subscribers.

CEO Reed Hastings revealed the scope of Netflix’s expansion at the end of a presentation in Las Vegas at CES, one of the tech-

nology industry’s marquee events.

“You are witnessing the birth of a global TV network,” Hastings crowed on stage.

The news caught almost everyone off guard because Netflix had previously set a goal of being available in most of the world by the end of this year. It looked like the Los Gatos, California, company had plenty of work ahead it because it ended December in 60 countries.

Now, Netflix is available in 21 different languages and streaming in just about every market that it had in its sights, with the notable exception of China, the world’s most populous country.

Entering China may be a formidable challenge requiring potentially prickly negotiations with a government that blocks its citizenry from seeing material it considers objectionable or incendiary.

In an interview, Hastings

said the company will try to a partner in China while it tries to appease the country’s Communist government, a process that he hopes to complete by the end of this year.

“The key in approaching the Chinese business is really working on relationships,” Hastings told The Associated Press. “In the rest of the world, we are racing ahead.”

Netflix currently has no plans to push into North Korea, Syria or Crimea be-

cause of restrictions on U.S. companies operating in those countries. The company’s service also may not be an immediate hit in several other major countries, including Russia, Turkey and Poland, where it will only be available in English.

Nevertheless, investors were delighted with Netflix’s quantum leap across the globe. Its stock climbed $10.02, or 9 percent, to close at $117.68 on a grim day in the rest of the market.q

A24 BUSINESS

Friday 8 January 2016

Stocks slump the most in 3 months on China worries

MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks and oil prices plunged again Thursday on spreading fears that China’s economy, a major engine of global growth, is sputtering.

It was the worst one-day drop since late September, and the main U.S. benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, has now had its worst four-day

30 minutes.

The malaise spread across continents, sending indexes sharply lower in the U.S. and Europe. The price of U.S. crude oil plunged to its lowest level since 2004 as traders worried that weakness in China would translate into lower global demand for energy.

The selling in the U.S. has been concentrated in technology stocks, which could suffer if demand for

en for six days straight.

China could be in store for more declines after that country’s market regulator suspended automatic trading halts that were put in place Jan. 1. Those halts, which were triggered twice this week, are increasingly seen as inadequate measures to prevent volatility.

“The management of the Chinese economy is the real concern,” said John Canally, chief economic

Trader Gregory Rowe works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks and oil prices plunged again Thursday on spreading fears that China’s economy, a major engine of global growth, is sputtering.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

opening of a year in history.

The latest bout of market volatility came after China allowed its currency to weaken further, a dangerous omen for the world’s second-largest economy.

That helped set off a 7 percent plunge in China’s main index, causing trading to be halted after just

iPhones and other electronics weakens. Apple sank 4 percent and has now fallen 27 percent since July.

Thursday’s drop pushed the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index into what market watchers call a “correction,” or a drop of 10 percent from a recent peak. The Nasdaq has fall-

strategist at LPL Financial.

“All that matters for markets right now is ‘China can’t get their act straight.’ “ The Dow Jones industrial average sank 392.41 points, or 2.3 percent. At one point it was down 442 points, or 2.6 percent.

The S&P 500 index gave up 47.17 points, or 2.4 percent.

The Nasdaq composite index dropped 146.34 points, or 3 percent, to 4,689.43.

While the Nasdaq is so far the only major U.S. index to enter a correction, the other two are getting close.

The Dow average is down 9.8 percent from its peak in May, and the S&P 500 index has lost 8.8 percent since then.

European markets also dropped. Germany’s DAX slid 2.3 percent, France’s CAC 40 gave up 1.7 percent and Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 2 percent.

The price of U.S. crude oil dipped to 12-year lows as investors worried worldwide demand will fall even further. It sank 70 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $33.27, its lowest close since February 2004. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, lost 48 cents to $33.75 a barrel in London.

Brent is trading at 11-year lows.

Apple, the world’s largest publicly traded company, had its biggest loss in four months and fell to its lowest price since October 2014. Financial stocks also slumped. Citigroup gave up $2.56, or 5.1 percent, to $47.56.

Aerospace company Boeing fell $5.82, or 4.2 percent, to $133.01 and railroad operator Union Pacific felt $1.75, or 2.3 percent, to $73.08.

2016 has started with a series of warning signs about China’s economy. Those worries about China have drowned out signs that the economies of the U.S. and Europe are doing fairly well.q

Constellation Brands tops Street 3Q forecasts VICTOR, N.Y. (AP) — Shares of beer and wine maker Constellation Brands rose nearly 5 percent on Thursday after reporting fiscal third-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its earnings outlook for the year.

The company also said it would build a new brewery in Mexicali, Mexico as demand for imported Mexican beer remains strong.

Constellation owns Co-

rona, Negra Modelo and Pacifico beers.

“Today’s third quarter results continue to reflect positively for the future of Constellation’s beer segment,” wrote Citi analyst Wendy Nicholson. But she added “we stand by our assertion that the stock is relatively expensive at its current valuation and we maintain our Neutral rating.”

On a per-share basis, the

Victor, New York-based company said it earned $1.33. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $1.42 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.29 per share.

The wine, liquor and beer company posted revenue of $1.64 billion in the pe-

riod, also beating Street forecasts.

Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.62 billion.

Constellation Brands expects full-year earnings in the range of $5.30 to $5.40 per share.

Its shares rose $4.94, or 3.5 percent, to $148.09 in afternoon trading Thursday.

Its shares are up 44 percent from a year ago.q

Saudi Arabia says it may launch IPO for Saudi Aramco

NEW YORK (AP) — Saudi Arabia may launch an initial public offering for the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., according to a report.

Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman told The Economist that a decision will be made in the next few months. The crown prince is widely thought to hold considerable power in the monarchy and also heads the defense ministry.

“I believe it is in the interest of the Saudi market, and it is in the interest of Aramco,” he said.Saudi Arabia is dealing with the economic punch declining oil prices have taken on the country. On Thursday pricing fell below $35 per barrel, its lowest point since 2004.

There’s also rising tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the execution of a Shiite cleric and attacks on Saudi diplomatic posts in the Islamic Republic.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s market value is more than $300 billion, and Saudi Aramco produces three times as much oil, Gheit said. He figures Aramco could sell off a 20 percent minority interest and raise $200 billion.

The Economist said that options under preliminary consideration for Saudi Aramco range from listing some of its petrochemical and other refining operations to selling shares in the parent company.

But not everyone considers the IPO a done deal.

Larry Goldstein of the Energy Policy Research Foundation believes that the Saudis will back away from an IPO but that merely raising the possibility sends signals to their own people and the outside world.

“They are willing to explore things that they haven’t been willing to seriously consider before, including for the first time raising internal prices” for gasoline and diesel, Goldstein said.

Within Saudi Arabia, the IPO comments are a signal “to those who have been living very comfortably off the government that things have to change,” he said.q

BUSINESS A25

Friday 8 January 2016

Hudson Bay’s online push, snaps up luxury deal site Gilt A. D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Hudson Bay has purchased the luxury deal site Gilt Group Holdings Inc. for $250 million as traditional retailers follow shoppers, and their money, online.

The Toronto retailer, which owns stores under its own brand as well as Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, and

Saks Off 5th, will at the same time integrate the online company into some of its physical store locations. Gilt concept shops will open at Saks Off 5th, Saks Fifth Avenue’s off-price division.

And Gilt shoppers will be able to return merchandise bought online at Gilt at Saks Off 5th.

Gilt has cultivated a loyal base of affluent millenni-

als, a demographic shared with Saks Off 5th. It has more than 9 million members and about 50 percent of its orders come from mobile devices.

Hudson Bay CEO Jerry Storch points to the success at Gilt of personalizing offers for its customers.

“We are a huge believer of an all-channel retail model,” said Storch.” Gilt is a

very cool brand. This opens up a whole new world for Hudson Bay.” The deal is expected to close Feb. 1. The addition of Gilt Group Holdings Inc. is expected to contribute $500 million to revenue in fiscal 2016.

A deal between Hudson Bay Co. and Gilt has been rumored since December and comes as the populari-

ty of flash sites like Gilt fade.

Yet Storch told The Associated Press that he believes these types of businesses can thrive in stores.

Storch said that he is using as a model Nordstrom’s acquisition in 2011 of the flash site HauteLook. Nordstrom’s discount division Nordstrom Rack learned from Haute Look’s customers following that deal.q

Walgreens beats 1Q profit forecasts, narrows 2016 forecast TOM MURPHY AP Business Writer Walgreens trumped Wall Street earnings expectation for its fiscal first quarter, and the nation’s largest drugstore chain started 2016 cautiously by narrowing its forecast for the new year.

The Deerfield, Illinois, company said Thursday that it hiked the bottom end of a forecast it laid out in October by 5 cents per share. It now expects full-year earnings to range from $4.30 to $4.55 per share.

Analysts expect, on average, earnings of $4.44 per share for fiscal 2016, according to FactSet. Walgreens earned $1.11 billion in the quarter that ended Nov. 30, with adjusted results totaling $1.03 per share.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 97 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.

The company posted revenue of $29.03 billion in the period, which missed analyst expectations for $29.56 billion.

This photo shows a Walgreens retail store in Boston. Walgreens trumped Wall Street’s profit expectation its fiscal first quarter, but the nation’s largest drugstore chain started 2016 cautiously by narrowing its earnings forecast range for the new year. The Deerfield, Illinois, company said Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, that it had raised by 5 cents per share the bottom end of a forecast it laid out in October. It now expects full-year earnings to range from $4.30 to $4.55 per share.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

In October, Walgreens also said it will spend $9.41 billion to take over rival drugstore chain Rite Aid in a deal that could create a drugstore chain with more than 12,700 U.S. locations, far more than the nearest

competitor, CVS Health Corp.

Walgreens said Thursday it still expects the deal to close in the second half of this year. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission asked for more informa-

tion about the acquisition, a request Walgreens said it expected.

The Rite Aid deal came less than a year after Walgreens bought European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots, which runs the

largest pharmacy chain in the United Kingdom. That deal closed at the end of 2014, which alters yearover-year comparisons of Walgreens financial results for its fiscal first quarter.

Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina told analysts Thursday morning that his company is interested in making more moves, even though it is still working on or digesting these deals.

In particular, Walgreens would like to return to the pharmacy benefits management business, which involves running prescription drug coverage for big customers like employers and insurers. Pessina said that could happen through a merger, partnership or promotional agreement.

Walgreens runs more than 13,000 drugstores in 11 countries, including around 8,100 in the United States, where it also operates Duane Reade locations.

Sales from established locations in the U.S. climbed 5.8 percent compared to a year ago.

Revenue from established

Apple stock slumps amid renewed iPhone sales worries BRANDON BAILEY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple fans keep buying iPhones, but Wall Street keeps worrying the company won’t be able to match last year’s blistering sales pace. Shares in the world’s most valuable company have fallen more than 15 percent over the last month, amid a drumbeat of news reports that some Asian parts suppliers are ex-

pecting Apple to trim orders for its signature smartphone this winter. Those fears were compounded Wednesday when the Wall Street Journal said one of Apple’s most important contractors is sending some workers home on “early holiday” before the Chinese New Year in February.Even an upbeat report from Apple announcing that its online App Store set a sales record last week failed to boost

the stock. Its shares fell just under 2 percent Wednesday and closed at $100.70.

Apple Inc. declined comment Wednesday. But top executives at the Cupertino, California, company said last fall they expected to sell more iPhones during the last three months of 2015 than they did a year earlier, when the company sold a record 74.5 million.

As evidence for his optimism, CEO Tim Cook said

in October that a growing number of consumers were switching from rival Android phones to iPhones, while many current iPhone owners had not yet upgraded to newer models. Cook has also cautioned against drawing conclusions based on reports from individual contractors, since the company has an extensive supply and production network. The iPhone is crucial for Apple, since it provides

almost two-thirds of its revenue. The latest iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models, introduced last fall, have several new features, but analysts say they aren’t dramatically different from previous 6 and 6 Plus phones that went on sale in late 2014. Experts also say the global smartphone market isn’t growing as fast as it did a few years ago, because many people already own one. q

A26 COMICS

Friday 8 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Classifieds

Friday 8 January 2016

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Colleges to students: leave hoverboards at home

COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — One of the holiday’s hottest presents is now considered contraband at many U.S. colleges.

At least 20 universities have banned or restricted hoverboards on their campuses in recent weeks, saying the two-wheeled, motorized scooters are unsafe.

Beyond the risk of falls and collisions, colleges are citing warnings from federal authorities that some of the self-balancing gadgets have caught on fire.

“It’s clear that these things are potentially dangerous,” said Len Dolan, managing director of fire safety at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. The public school of 14,000 students issued a campus-wide ban effective on Monday, telling students in an email that any hoverboards found on campus would be confiscated.

“These things are just catching fire without warning, and we don’t want that in any of our dorms,” Dolan said.

Outright bans also have been issued at schools such as American University and George Washington University, both in Washington, D.C. Other schools said they will forbid the scooters in dorm rooms or campus buildings, a pol-

icy adopted at colleges including Louisiana State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Arkansas.

After banning hoverboards from dorms in December, officials at the University of Hartford in Connecticut are now considering a full ban because of concerns over how to store them safely, said David Isgu, a school spokesman. Some of the reported fires have occurred while the boards were being charged, authorities say.

At Ohio State University

and Xavier University in Cincinnati, students were told they can bring a hoverboard only if it came with a seal showing that the board meets certain safety standards.

Bryce Colegrove, a sophomore at Shawnee State University in Ohio, got an email from his school on Tuesday telling students to leave their hoverboards at home after the holidays.

It was bad timing for Colegrove, who had just received one as a gift from his girlfriend and had even plotted his new routes to class.q

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Seattle Seahawks wide receiver B.J. Daniels rides on an electric self-balancing scooter commonly called a “hoverboard” in Seattle. Since December 2015, several universities have banned or limited hoverboards on their campuses, saying the two-wheeled, motorized scooters are unsafe. Beyond the risk of falls and collisions, colleges are citing warnings from federal authorities that some of the self-balancing gadgets have caught on fire.

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

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A28 SCIENCE

Friday 8 January 2016

Meteorologists: El Nino ties record for strongest seen SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. meteorologists say the current El Nino has stormed its way into the record books, tying 1997-1998 as the strongest recorded.

Mike Halpert, deputy director of the federal Climate Prediction Center, said initial figures for October-November-December match the same time period in 1997 for the strongest El Nino.

Meteorologists measure El Nino based on how warm parts of the central Pacific for three consecutive months. Records go back to 1950.

El Nino is the natural warming of the central Pacific that changes weather worldwide, including bringing more rain to California.

Halpert said what really matters is what El Nino

These false-color images provided by NASA satellites compare warm Pacific Ocean water temperatures from the strong El Nino that brought North America large amounts of rainfall in 1997, right, and the current El Nino as of Dec. 27, 2015, left. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the strong El Nino in the Pacific Ocean shows no sign of weakening. The Pasadena lab said that the Dec. 27 image of ocean warming produced by data from its Jason-2 satellite is strikingly similar to one from December 1997 during a previous large El Nino event.

(NASA via AP)

does during January, when its impact peaks.

Weather Underground

meteorology director Jeff Masters said “Darth Nino may finally have Califor-

nia in its sights,” as a series of storms may dent record drought. q

Shrinking Amazon may lose thousands of trees species AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A first-of-its-kind examination of the Amazon’s trees found that as many as half the species may be threatened with extinction or heading that way because of massive deforestation.

Among the more than 5,000 tree species in deep trouble: the ones that produce Brazil nuts and mahogany. An international team of 158 scientists found that depending on the de-

gree to which deforestation comes under control in the next 35 years, between 36 and 57 percent of the 16,000 tree species in the tropical rainforest area would be considered threatened. Their study was published recently in ScienceAdvances. The range rests on whether cutting down the region’s forest continues at the rate of the late 20th and early 21st centuries or slows down to lesser levels proposed in

2006, study authors said.

If deforestation continues at the same pace, nearly 8,700 tree types are in trouble, but the number of species at risk could be as low as 5,500 if nations are able to cut back as planned, said study co-author Nigel Pitman from the Field Museum in Chicago.

“We’ve never had a good idea of how many species are threatened in the Amazon,” Pitman said Friday.

“Now with this study, we

have an estimate.”

About 15 years ago, the Amazon was losing about 11.6 million square miles (30 million sq. kilometers) of forest a year, said Tim Killeen, a scientist from Agteca Amazonica in Bolivia.

But that figure has dropped to about 3.8 million square miles (10 million sq. kilometers) a year, he said.

Killeen said the tree that produces Brazil nuts is seriously under threat, while “mahogany is commercially extinct throughout the Amazon.” He said that means there’s no more industry harvesting the wood, but some trees exist.

Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm, who was not part of the study, praised the work as sensible and important.q

AP: Yeast infection drug-miscarriage link hinted in new study AP Medical Writer CHICAGO (AP) — A prescription drug for yeast infections may increase chances for miscarriages when used early in pregnancy, a large study in Denmark suggests. The 17year study involved oral versions of fluconazole, available in pills or liquid. It doesn’t provide any proof of harm, although the drug has been linked with other problems when used in high doses in pregnancy.

The researchers looked at more than 1 million pregnancies in Denmark, comparing outcomes among women who used oral fluconazole and those who didn’t. Women who used the drug during the first six months of pregnancy were almost 50 percent more likely than nonusers to have a miscarriage.

Women at increased risk included those on a low 150-milligram dose; those on higher doses faced greater miscarriage risks.

While fewer than 10 percent of women in each group had miscarriages — they totaled 710 — the researchers said doctors should use caution in prescribing the drug early in pregnancy. The study, by researchers at State Serum Institute in Copenhagen, was published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Yeast infections are common among women and occur more often in pregnancy because of hormonal changes. Over-thecounter creams and suppositories, and prescription fluconazole, in pills or liquid, are among treatments.

Fluconazole is available in generic versions and under the brand name Diflucan, typically prescribed in a single dose. q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Friday 8 January 2016

Golden Globes to offer a galaxy of stars, if not the Force

JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer The 73rd annual Golden Globes will hope its assemblage of Hollywood stars, from Jennifer Lawrence to Leonardo DiCaprio, will be enough to offset the absence of a different kind of star. Though “Star Wars” is again packing movie the-

December. That, surely, will be one of the things host Ricky Gervais needles the Hollywood Foreign Press Association about at the Beverly Hills, Calif., ceremony, which kicks off at 8 p.m.

EST, telecast live on NBC. Gervais will host for the third time, returning after a much-lauded three-year

Golden Globes, which have worked to shed an image of eccentric selections made by a group of little-known international journalists.

The Globes have instead grown into one of the most popular award show broadcasts of the year, thanks to increasingly credible nominees,

Miss Golden Globe 2016 Corinne Foxx turns back for photographers after helping to roll out the red carpet at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards Preview Day at the Beverly Hilton on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The annual awards show encompassing film and television will be held on Sunday.

(Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

aters and smashing box office records, J.J. Abrams’ “The Force Awakens” will be a conspicuous outsider at Sunday night’s Globes, which announced nominations a few days before the film was screened in mid-

stint by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. After a 10-year ratings high three years ago, viewership has dipped slightly since, with an audience of 19.3 million tuning in last year. That, though, is still very strong for the

its trademark laid-back atmosphere and its unique position as a major awards show that honors both film and television.

Going into Sunday night, Todd Haynes’ 1950s romance “Carol” leads all

‘Star Wars’ Monopoly to add Rey after complaint MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The “Star Wars” version of Monopoly will add a game piece based on the female character Rey after an 8-year-old girl wrote to game maker Hasbro complaining about the omission and telling them: “Girls matter.”

Carrie Goldman, of Evanston, Illinois, posted a letter on Twitter this week written by her daughter, Annie Rose, asking why Hasbro left out Rey when she is a main character of the lat-

est movie in the series, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

The letter begins by asking the company why it would exclude the heroine of the story.

“Without her THERE IS NO FORCE AWAKENS! It awakens in her! And without her, the bad guys would have won! Besides, boys and girls need to see that women can be as strong as men!” she wrote. “Girls matter!”

The original game includes just four pieces, all modeled on male characters: Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Finn and Kylo Ren. The

decision to exclude Rey led to a social media debate, with many fans tweeting under the hashtag #WheresRey. Goldman, an author who has written about toys and gender issues, included the hashtag as she tweeted a picture of her daughter’s letter to Hasbro.

Hasbro responded in a tweet of its own two days later. “We love your passion for Rey and are happy to share that we are including her in the Monopoly: Star Wars game, available later this year,” it said.q

nominees with five nods, including best picture (drama) and best actress for both of its leads, Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. In the best picture category, it will compete with “Spotlight,” ‘’The Revenant,” ‘’Room” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Adam McKay’s finance farce “The Big Short” tops the comedy side with four nominations, includ-

ing best picture (comedy) and nods for Steve Carell and Christian Bale. The category’s favorite, though, may be Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure “The Martian.”

The two films are nominated alongside “Joy,” ‘’Spy” and “Trainwreck.”

The Golden Globes have little correlation with the Academy Awards, which will announce their nominees next Thursday. q

A30 PEOPLE

Friday 8 January 2016

& ARTS

‘Orange’ star trades jumpsuit for designer denim NICOLE EVATT Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Now sought-after for her edgy, androgynous style, actress Ruby Rose initially struggled to find her niche.

“When I first started in the industry back home in Australia at 18 there was a lot of push and shove as to how I should dress, if I was allowed to cut my hair short, if I had too many tattoos,” Rose said in an interview Tuesday. “If I didn’t get a campaign or if I didn’t get a role, they would always come back to ‘well, she dresses like a boy.’”

Times have changed for the “Orange is the New Black” breakout star, who recently swapped her Litchfield

Prison uniform for distressed overalls and cutoff shorts as the face of Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren.

Rose, who counts Vivienne Westwood, Annie Lennox and Madonna among her style icons, teamed with model Hailey Baldwin for the brand’s latest social media and global ad campaign.

She credits her hit Netflix series along with Amazon’s “Transparent” for sparking a dialogue about gender identity and acceptance in the entertainment industry and beyond.

“People were waiting to start this conversation,” said Rose. “Someone had to ignite it and once that happened, it was just a

snowball effect where you had celebrities and all different people coming out and saying, ‘I’m gender fluid’ or ‘I’m transgender,’ and people feeling more comfortable in their skin.”

The 29-year-old also praised Louis Vuitton’s latest womenswear campaign featuring actor-rapper Jaden Smith.

“I mean he’s so amazing but the reason that’s so special is because that’s how he dresses,” said Rose.

“It’s not like they just went ‘OK, we’re going to grab a guy that’s popular, that people like, and we’re going to put him in a dress.’

It’s not done in a tasteless way. It’s just this is who he is.”q

Actress Eva Longoria participates in AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series to discuss her new NBC comedy “Telenovela,” at AOL Studios in New York. Longoria is among several L’Oreal brand ambassadors participating in a “WorthSaying” promotion on Twitter during the Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 10.

(Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Actress Ruby Rose poses for a portrait in Los Angeles. The “Orange is the New Black” actress Rose trades her Litchfield jumpsuit for distressed overalls in a new campaign for Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren. Rose stars alongside model Hailey Baldwin in the brand’s spring 2016 social media videos and global ads.

(Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

DiCaprio happy leaders taking climate seriously JOHN CARUCCI Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Leonardo DiCaprio feels optimistic that the debate over climate change has begun to wane and world leaders are finally starting to take it more seriously.

“The scientific community has been screaming out loud. Ninety-nine per cent of the scientific community is in agreement that man is contributing to (climate change),” DiCaprio told The Associated Press on the red carpet for his new

film, “The Revenant” on Wednesday.

“The argument is over. Anyone that doesn’t believe that climate change is happening doesn’t believe in science,” said DiCaprio, who has remained an active player for the issue.

The actor previously has addressed the United Nations on climate control, donated millions of dollars to environmental causes, and narrated the 2014 short film, “Carbon,” which presents ideas for climate change solutions.

But after the U.N. Climate Conference in Paris, which ended last month, he feels world leaders are finally willing to address the issue more seriously.

“No one has the answer what the future is going to look like, and no one can foresee the dramatic effect that climate instability will have on our planet and the biodiversity in it, but I’m just very proud for the first time we’ve taken a step in the right direction,” Dicaprio said.q

L’Oreal looking to change chatter on the red carpet NEW YORK (AP) — Those in Hollywood looking to broaden the red carpet conversation beyond the inevitable “Who are you wearing?” have a powerful new ally: beauty giant L’Oreal Paris.

The company is promoting use of the hashtag “WorthSaying” on Twitter during Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards and will break out the best posts for use in digital advertising.

Kristen Comings, a company vice president, said Tuesday the idea is to urge women everywhere to expand the red carpet chatter beyond pretty dresses.

“We really wanted to be part of that conversa-

tion,” she said. “It’s really about engaging beyond beauty and fashion to more substantive questions on the red carpet. These are amazing women who should be known for more than just a beautiful face.

Many of the actresses become frustrated by those conversations.”

Brand ambassadors Julianne Moore, Karlie Kloss, Eva Longoria, Freida Pinto and Liya Kebede are among those who plan to participate. L’Oreal has been a broadcast sponsor of the Golden Globes for 13 years. The new hashtag is a play on the company’s 40-year-old tagline, “Because You’re Worth It.”q

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Friday 8 January 2016

Q&A: A look at Netflix’s documentary ‘Making a Murderer’ GREG MOORE CARRIE ANTLFINGER Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — The 10part Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer,” which casts doubt on the legal process in the case of convicted killers Steven Avery and his then-teenage nephew Brendan Dassey, has prompted celebrities to armchair sleuths to flood online message boards and Twitter feeds.

Authorities involved with the Wisconsin case are saying the series is slanted and omits crucial facts that led to Avery and Dassey being found guilty in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach.

The filmmakers, meanwhile, are standing by their work that spans nearly a decade and largely concentrates on the defense and perspective of Avery and Dassey’s relatives.

The rush of attention has left many wondering: How did we get here? And what’s next?

Q: SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? A: Avery made national headlines in 2003 when he was released after spending nearly two decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted of rape. Two years later, Avery and Dassey were charged with killing Halbach, who visited the Avery family sal-

vage yard to take photos of a minivan on Halloween.

Her bones and belongings were found burned near Avery’s trailer. Both were convicted and sentenced to life terms, but only Dassey is eligible for parole — in 2048.

other media outlets that the documentary ignores the majority of the physical evidence. The omissions include the fact that Avery’s DNA was found on the hood latch on Halbach’s SUV, which was hidden on the salvage lot. Kratz has also said a bullet fired from Avery’s gun was found in his garage with Halbach’s DNA on it.

Q: WHY HAS THE DOCUMENTARY BEEN SO POPULAR? A: Its release was impeccably timed. It was released before Christmas, while much of the nation was on holiday break and had time to delve into a 10-hour series. Also, it comes on the heels of the popular podcast “Serial,” which lays out a complex legal case and has generated intense social media participation.

Q: WHAT EXACTLY IS IN THE DOCUMENTARY? A: The documentary strongly suggests the possibility that Manitowoc County sheriff’s deputies planted evidence against Avery, including a key found in his bedroom and blood found in the victim’s vehicle. But Sheriff Robert Hermann denied that Tuesday. “They did not plant evidence,” Hermann said. “I trust them 100 percent. Quite frankly, I think justice was served in this case.” He said he watched the series, and added: “I call it a film. It’s missing a lot of important pieces of evidence.”

Q: WHAT DO THE FILMMAKERS SAY? A: Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos have stood by their work. They said in an email to the AP through Netflix representatives that critics who might say they intentionally omitted or underplayed key evidence to make the series more entertaining or tragic are wrong.

“Those accusations are untrue and unfounded,” the statement said.

In this 2007 photo, Brendan Dassey is escorted into court for his sentencing in Manitowoc, Wis. The Netflix documentary series “Making a Murderer” tells the story of a Wisconsin man wrongly convicted of sexual assault only to be accused, along with his nephew, of killing a photographer two years after being released. Steven Avery and his then 17-year-old nephew Dassey were accused of killing Teresa Halbach, a photographer who visited the Avery family salvage yard to take photos of a minivan on Halloween and was never seen alive again.

(Herald Times Reporter/Eric Young/AP)

Q: WHY DO AUTHORITES SAY IT’S BIASED? A: The series spends much of its time detailing the perspective of Avery and

Dassey family members.

The case’s special prosecutor, Ken Kratz, refused to comment to The Associated Press, but he has told

Q: THERE’S AN ONLINE PETITION SEEKING A PARDON — COULD IT WORK? A: It seems unlikely for a lot of reasons. For one thing, the request posted on Change.org started by petitioning President Barack Obama, who has no such authority in this type of case, since it’s not a federal matter. The petition, which recently was rewritten to include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and remove the word “presidential” from the text of the appeal.

Why ‘Bachelor’ Ben Higgins refrained from kissing on night 1 ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — With 28 women vying for one man’s attention on ABC’s “The Bachelor,” it would be easy for Ben Higgins to get an ego boost, but the 26-year-old says he purposely didn’t kiss anyone on the season’s premiere episode.

“It was important for me to set standards on night one,” he said. “I knew at the end of the night I was going to have to say goodbye to seven women and I wanted to make sure that I was getting the most out of our time together. ... The physical part, I thought,

could wait. It comes, I’m not going to say it doesn’t.

It is part of a relationship, right? It is important in a relationship, but on night one, it was important for me to take advantage of that time.”

Higgins, a 26-year-old business analyst who lives in Denver, competed on the last season of “The Bachelorette.” He finished in third place.

He credits his strong faith for giving him perspective while dating so many women at one time.

“I think God has continued to remind me from day one that I am not the biggest thing out there, no matter

what people say or what I read,” Higgins said.

He says it has also reminded him to think about the bigger meaning, which he believes “is love and not just romantic love but just loving other people and that really helped me as I had to say goodbye to some of these women as well. To just try to love them as best as I could as I said goodbye.”

Higgins talked about maintaining a career while on reality television, secrecy and whether props on the show, which airs Monday at 8 p.m. EST, hurt or help in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

Associated Press: Between

“The Bachelorette” and “The Bachelor,” how are you able to take so much time off from work?

Higgins: The company I work for has been incredible to me this last year.

When I first asked them to take time off for ‘The Bachelorette,’ they said, ‘You know what? This is an experience you can’t pass up on. You need to do it.’

They’re still supportive and say, ‘When you’re ready, come back.’ I still have a job, I still have a career.

AP: Is it difficult to keep the show’s outcome a secret from the people in your life?

Higgins: A lot of my life is a

secret right now. ... That is not easy, I leave for so long and then I come back.

And they don’t necessarily know what happens or what my life has been like or where I’ve gone, or what I’ve done or the people I’ve met, or the women I’ve dated. It’s hard and I am excited to get this season started, (the premiere episode) was a big night for me because it means that my family and friends are going to know more about me again. I like to be a pretty transparent person, I don’t like to hide too many things from people and I have had to hide a lot right now.

A32 FEATURE

Friday 8 January 2016

Gadgets around us will keep getting smarter, like it or not ANICK JESDANUN DAVID HAMILTON AP Technology Writers Our cars, our homes, our appliances and even our toys: Things around us are going to keep getting smarter. In 2016, we’ll entrust even more of our lives and their intimate details to machines — not to mention the companies that run them.

at understanding what you want it to do. Or maybe it retains everything it hears for some other hidden purpose.You may never know for sure. At best, you can hope the company keeps its promises on privacy.

More important, you have to trust that its computer systems are really secure, or those promises are suddenly worthless. That part

with them. Doing otherwise would be like turning off your phone’s location services, which disables many of its most useful features.

The consequences aren’t restricted to phones and TVs: — Kids will be able to talk to more toys and get personalized, computer-generated responses. Does the “don’t talk to strangers”

— Home security cameras are getting cheaper and more plentiful, but they’re sometimes insecure themselves, especially if you set them up clumsily. There’s already a website devoted to showing video from cameras with no passwords. Though they are mostly outdoor or business cameras, one was trained on a baby’s crib, and an-

This shows Amazon’s Echo, a digital assistant that continually listens for commands such as for a song, a sports score or the weather.

The company says Echo transmits nothing to Amazon’s data centers until you first say “Alexa” or press a button. A blue light also comes on to let you know it’s active.

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Are we ready for that?

You might, for instance, like the idea of turning on your TV with a spoken command — no more fumbling for the remote! But for that to work, the TV needs to be listening all the time, even when you’re not watching. And even when you’re discussing something extremely personal, or engaged in some other activity to which you’d rather not invite eavesdroppers.

How much should you worry? Maybe your TV never records any of your casual conversations. Or maybe its manufacturer is recording all that, but just to find ways to make the TV better

is increasingly difficult to guarantee — or believe — as hacking becomes routine.

And here’s the chief quandary: Every technological benefit comes with a cost in the form of a threat to privacy. Yet not paying that price has its own cost: an inability to participate in some of technology’s greater achievements. Because smart gadgets thrive on data — data about you and your habits, data about what large numbers of people do or say or appear to want in particular situations — it’s difficult not to share pretty much everything

rule apply if the stranger is the Hello Barbie talking doll or Dino, the dinosaur powered by IBM’s Watson artificial-intelligence system?

— Cars will work with GPS technology and sensors in parking meters, roads and home appliances to help route you around traffic and turn on your living-room lights as you approach the driveway. But that can also generate a detailed record of your whereabouts.

— Thermostats from Nest and others will get smarter at conserving energy when you’re away. Potential burglars might find that information handy.

other in a living room.

— Wearable health devices will track your heart rate, fitness levels and more — and share achievements with friends and family.

But slacking off may carry a heavier cost than those extra holiday pounds, particularly if your insurance company yanks discounts for meeting fitness goals.

— Software from Google and Facebook will get even more refined to help you cut through the noise.

That’s great if Facebook is showing you posts from friends you already interact the most with, but will a long-lost friend’s plea for help go unanswered be-

cause you don’t see it?

The pending onslaught of privacy trade-offs might seem trivial when it comes to a talking — and listening — Barbie. But maybe it’s less so when your phone knows enough about you to remind you it’s time to leave for an important interview (if the alternative would be losing a shot at that job) or your smart home can really tell you if you turned off the oven before leaving for an international trip. “The encroachments on our privacy are often self-inflicted in the sense that we will accept the trade-off one bit at a time,” says John Palfrey, co-author of “Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems.

And these trade-offs can be quite subtle. Technological advances typically offer immediate, tangible benefits that, once you’ve put enough of them together, can indeed revolutionize daily life. Can you imagine living your life without a smartphone? A few years from now, you might goggle at the thought of managing your day without constant advice from Siri or “OK Google.”

As for the risks, they’ll tend to be diffuse, abstract and often difficult to ascertain even if you’re paying attention — and most people won’t. In a study released Wednesday, the Pew Research Center says about half of American adults have no confidence that they understand what’s being done with their data, and about a third are discouraged by the amount of effort needed to get that understanding.

In short, convenience usually wins. Shiny new things are inherently attractive, and it takes a while for some of us to get uneasy about the extent to which we may be enabling our own surveillance.

Humans have made this bargain with technology for some time. When cameras were invented, legal scholars debated how far you can go snapping pictures of people in public. q