March 8, 2016

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

Bloomberg Bows Out

Former NYC Mayor Will Not Enter 2016 Race Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks in Paris. Bloomberg, the billionaire former three-term mayor of New York City, has decided against mounting a third-party White House bid in 2016.

(AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Page 4

A2 UP

Tuesday 8 March 2016

FRONT

US drone strikes hit Somalia training camp LOLITA C. BALDOR JOSH LEDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. airstrikes bombarded an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia Saturday, killing more than 150 militant fighters who were prepar-

annually in the future, although it will ultimately be up to Obama’s successor to decide whether to continue the practice.

The report will include both combatants and civilians the U.S. believes have died in strikes. It won’t cover

Davis said they could have been the targets of alShabab’s planned attack.

The camp, located about 120 miles (195 kilometers) north of Mogadishu, was destroyed, Davis said, adding that the U.S. believes there were no civilian casu-

Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco speaks in Stanford, Calif. U.S. airstrikes bombarded an al-Shabab training camp in Somalia Saturday, killing more than 150 militant fighters who were preparing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel, the Pentagon said Monday, March 7, 2016.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

ing to launch a large-scale attack, likely against African or U.S. personnel, the Pentagon said Monday.

Multiple drones and manned aircraft launched missiles and bombs on the site, called Raso Camp, which the U.S. had been watching for several weeks, said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

News of the attack comes as the White House announced Monday that it will disclose how many people have been killed by American drones and other counterterrorism strikes since 2009, when President Barack Obama took office.

Lisa Monaco, Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, said the report will be released “in the coming weeks,” casting it as part of a commitment to transparency for U.S. actions overseas. Monaco said the figures would be disclosed

major warzones like Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, but will focus on strikes against extremist targets in other regions such as Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and other locations in North Africa.

“We know that not only is greater transparency the right thing to do, it is the best way to maintain the legitimacy of our counterterrorism actions and the broad support of our allies,” Monaco said at the Council on Foreign Relations.

The Pentagon on Monday provided some details about the Somalia strike, which happened during the early evening there.

Davis said it appeared that the training was about to come to an end, and the operational phase of a suspected attack was about to start. Military forces from the U.S. and the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) are routinely working in the country, and

alties. He said the U.S. estimated that as many as 200 fighters had been at the camp, including a number of trainers.

The al-Qaida-linked alShabab has been linked to a number of attacks, including the detonation of a bomb aboard a commercial passenger jet last month that forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Mogadishu.

While sketchy details often emerge about individual drone strikes, the full scope of the U.S. drone program — conducted by both the Defense Department and the CIA — has long been shrouded from view. And the new report is not likely to answer all of the questions.

The U.S. doesn’t publicly disclose all the places its drones operate, so the report isn’t expected to detail specific countries where people died.q

AP investigation alleges American company bungled Ebola response RAPHAEL SATTER MARIA CHENG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. company assigned a crucial role in the efforts to battle Ebola in Sierra Leone made a series of costly mistakes during the 2014 outbreak, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Staffers with the San Francisco-based company Metabiota Inc. not only misread the epidemic, they contributed to botched lab results, undermined partners and put people at risk of the terrifying virus, according to leaked documents and interviews with international health responders.

The company had been tapped by the World Health Organization and the Sierra Leonean government to help fight Ebola. But internal emails from WHO and other international health agencies obtained by AP show that senior scientists were alarmed at a spate of problems in a lab shared by Metabiota and Tulane University.

“This is a situation that WHO can no longer endorse,” WHO outbreak expert Dr. Eric Bertherat wrote in a July 17, 2014, email to colleagues.

Bertherat relayed reports of “total confusion” in the government lab split between Metabiota and Tulane at the Kenema hospital in Sierra Leone, noting there was “no tracking of the samples” and “absolutely no control on what is being done.” He said the flubbed results were particularly dangerous given suspicion among the local population that international workers were spreading Ebola deliberately.

Lawrence Gostin, director of WHO’s Collaborating Center on Public Health Law and Human Rights at Georgetown University, said it was inexcusable that a company without the required expertise to respond to an outbreak was given such fundamental responsibilities.

“It was a comedy of errors,” he said, adding that WHO was ultimately to blame for allowing the situation to unravel.

“WHO knew that this company was bungling the response and they did nothing,” Gostin said. “In any other context, that would be called a cover-up.”

WHO officials did not return messages seeking comment on the AP story.

Metabiota’s chief executive officer and founder, Nathan Wolfe, said there was no evidence that his company was responsible for the lab blunders.

He added that the reported squabbles were overblown and that any predictions made by his employees who were on loan to the Sierra Leonean government didn’t reflect the company’s position. Metabiota doesn’t specialize in outbreak response, he said, but volunteered its staff and resources to Sierra Leone at a cost to his company of about $500,000.

“We are incredibly proud about everything they did,” he said at an interview in his office Thursday. “These are individuals who took substantial personal risk and worked incredibly long hours.”

Documents show that Metabiota and Tulane blamed each other for the mistakes.

But Metabiota was criticized elsewhere too. The firm’s employees were “systematically obstructing any attempt to improve the existing surveillance system,” WHO Ebola coordinator Philippe Barboza said in an August 8, 2014, email. Another WHO employee, Mikiko Senga, photographed a Metabiota presentation that described the outbreak in Kenema as “stabilizing.”

“They are sending wrong messages,” she said. “The outbreak is clearly not stabilizing.” q

U.S. NEWS A3

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Biden vows US, allies will ‘squeeze the heart’ of IS on trip JON GAMBRELL Associated Press AL-DHAFRA AIR BASE, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden began a Mideast tour Monday vowing that the United States and its allies would destroy and “squeeze the heart” of the Islamic State group, while thanking both American airmen and Emirati troops.

Biden spoke before hundreds of airmen as jets roared down the runway at Al-Dhafra Air Base near Abu Dhabi, a main launching point for operations in Syria and Iraq targeting the Islamic State group.

The Emirates is one of the most important U.S. military and political allies in the Persian Gulf. It is also a major commercial hub that includes the business-friendly port city of Dubai.

Flanked by an F-22 Raptor and an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet, Biden applauded Emirati authorities for their “stepped up and expanded” role in the anti-IS campaign.

“You capture the images that provide us with intelligence we need to target the enemy to protect our forces,” Biden said, as unarmed drones sat and taxied on the runway outside near radar planes and refueling aircraft.

“You control the skies of Iraq and Syria. As a matter of fact, you all control the skies in the whole damn world,” Biden added to cheers from the gathered airmen.

The seven-state Emirates federation, which includes the Gulf commercial center of Dubai, is one of the largest oil producers in OPEC. It hosts regional offices for numerous American companies in industries including aerospace, energy, technology and hospitality. Dubai stateowned airline Emirates is the largest operator of Chicago-based Boeing Co.’s 777 wide-body jet.

Biden’s remarks, however, did not touch on the worries of Emiratis and Saudi Arabia over regional Shiite power Iran. Tensions between allied Sunni Arab

countries and the Islamic Republic have been high since January, when Saudi officials executed a Shiite cleric and protesters later overran two of the kingdom’s diplomatic posts in Iran.

Saudi Arabia and the Emirates also are involved in a war in Yemen against Shiite rebels there who have received Iranian support, raising fears of a regional war. This has drawn some support away from the U.S.led coalition battling Islamic State militants.

Late Monday, Biden met with Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. He is scheduled to meet with Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who is the federation’s vice president and prime minister, on the trip as well. Despite the regional challenges, Biden struck an upbeat tone, applauding the U.S. troops’ sacrifices while vowing to destroy the Islamic State group, which he dismissed as “criminals and cowards.”

“We have to squeeze the heart of Daesh in Iraq and Syria so they can’t continue to pump their poison in the region and around the world,” Biden said, using an Arabic acronym for the group.

The Emirates is the first stop on a regional tour that will also take in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. His wife, Jill, is accompanying him.

The trip will include talks on U.S. economic and energy interests, as well as security concerns about Iran and Syria, the White House said.

Biden is not expected to offer any new initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he travels to Israel and the West Bank.

The White House has said it does not believe either side has the political will for reviving the peace process as the last year of President Barack Obama’s administration winds down.

Earlier Monday, Biden visited Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, pausing outside to remove his black dress shoes in keeping with Islamic custom.q

Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice President shakes hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 7, 2016.

(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

A4 U.S.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NEWS

Bloomberg not to mount third-party bid for White House JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that he will not run for president as an independent, in a move that would have roiled this year’s already extraordinarily unpredictable presidential campaign. The billionaire, who has spent months mulling an independent campaign, made his decision official through an editorial posted by the Bloomberg View. “There is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Sen. Ted Cruz,” Bloomberg wrote. “That is not a risk I can take in good

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg talks with diplomats at U.N. headquarters. Bloomberg said Monday that he will not run for president as an independent.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

conscience.”

Bloomberg was blistering in his critique of Trump, saying

the real estate mogul has run “the most divisive and demagogic presidential

campaign I can remember, preying on people’s prejudices and fears.”

He was similarly critical of Cruz, saying the Texas senator’s “pandering on immigration may lack Trump’s rhetorical excess, but it is no less extreme.”

Bloomberg made only an oblique reference Democrats Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders and did not endorse a candidate.

The former three-term mayor — who had indicated he’d have spent $1 billion of his own money on the run — had set a mid-March deadline for his team of advisers to assess the feasibility of mounting a run, believing that waiting longer would imperil his ability to

complete the petition process needed to get on the ballots in all 50 states.

Those close to the process said Bloomberg had believed the dominance of Donald Trump among Republicans and the rise of Bernie Sanders amid Democrats had opened a centrist lane for a non-ideological, pragmatic campaign. But Hillary Clinton’s string of recent victories has given her a firm grip on the lead for the Democratic nomination and is blocking Bloomberg’s possible path, aides to the mayor said.

The decision concludes Bloomberg’s third and likely final flirtation with a White House run, a possibility that had grown popular among New York’s business class and, the mayor’s aides had believed, could have resonated with moderates and independents across the nation dissatisfied with the polarization in Washington and the rise of the political parties’ fringes.

Aides to Bloomberg, the 74-year-old Democratturned-Republican-turnedDemocrat-turned independent, have said their own polling suggested that Bloomberg had a viable path to the needed 270 electoral votes if Trump, whom had disgusted the ex-mayor with his inflammatory rhetoric, and Sanders were the nominees. But an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted last month suggested that six in 10 Republicans and Democrats alike said that would not consider backing Bloomberg. The path grew murkier after Clinton bounced back from her New Hampshire defeat to win in Nevada, South Carolina and a number of states on Super Tuesday. q

U.S. NEWS A5

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Navy SEALs tell congressman there is a combat rifle shortage

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., center, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill. Navy SEAL teams don’t have enough combat rifles to go around even as these secretive, highly trained forces are relied on more than ever to hunt down members of the Islamic State group and other terrorists, according to SEALs who have confided in Rep. Hunter.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The tip of the spear may be losing its edge.

Navy SEAL teams don’t have enough combat rifles to go around, even as these highly trained forces are relied on more than

ever to carry out counterterrorism operations and other secretive missions, according to SEALs who have confided in Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

After SEALs return from a deployment, their rifles are given to other commandos who are shipping out, said

Hunter, a former Marine who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. This weapons carousel undercuts the “train like you fight” ethos of the U.S. special operations forces, they said.

Hunter said he’s been contacted by several SEALs,

but he declined to provide further information about the weapons they use in order to protect their identities.

U.S. military officials said they were looking into the issue. Sharing rifles may seem inconsequential. It’s not. The weapons, which are outfitted with telescopic targeting sights and laser pointers, are fine-tuned to individual specifications and become intensely personal pieces of gear.

“They want their rifles,” Hunter said. “It’s their lifeline. So let them keep their guns until they’re assigned desk jobs at the Pentagon.”

The problem isn’t a lack of money, according to Hunter. Congress has frequently boosted the budgets of special operations forces in the years since the 9/11 attacks, he said. Rifles also are among the least expensive items the military buys, leading Hunter to question the priorities of Naval Special Warfare Command, the Coronado, California, organization that oversees the SEALs. “There is so much wasteful spending,” he said. “Mon-

ey is not reaching the people it needs to reach.”

Combat rifles can cost up to several thousand dollars depending upon the type of weapon and quality of the sights and other attachments. But the M-4 carbine, the standard combat rifle used by the military branches, cost less than $1,000 each when bought in bulk, according to Defense Department budget documents.

Hunter wrote last month to the Naval Special Warfare Command’s leader, Rear Adm. Brian Losey, about the alleged weapon shortage and also asked him for a full accounting of how the command’s budget was spent last year. Losey has told Hunter to expect a reply by Wednesday.

The congressman said in the Feb. 17 letter that the command’s operation and maintenance account increased by nearly $11 million between 2014 and 2015. Yet it is “suffering from budgetary constraints and lack of funding impacting the ability to equip, train and support the SEALs’ critical needs.”q

Boston Marathon bombing survivor killed in Dubai car crash DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer BOSTON (AP) — A college student who survived serious injuries in the Boston Marathon bombing was killed in a car accident in Dubai over the weekend, a spokesman for Northeastern University said Monday.

Victoria McGrath was killed Sunday, along with her roommate at Northeastern, Priscilla Perez Torres, the Boston school confirmed.

McGrath and Torres were on a personal trip and not studying abroad.

McGrath, 23, received se-

vere shrapnel injuries to her left leg from the first of two bombs placed near the marathon finish line on April 15, 2013. Three people were killed and more than 260 others were injured in the bombing.

Bruce Mendelsohn, who was attending a post-marathon party in a building overlooking the finish line, rushed outside to help and saw McGrath lying on the ground, bleeding heavily from her left leg. Mendelsohn said he tied a scarf or T-shirt he found nearby around her leg as a tourni-

quet to stop the bleeding, a move McGrath’s doctor later told him saved her life.

Mendelsohn flagged down a firefighter, who carried McGrath away from the scene in what became one of the most widely used photographs from the bombing.

McGrath later tracked down her rescuers and formed friendships with them, Mendelsohn said.

“At the time, I was angry that anyone could do such a thing,” Mendelsohn said of the bombing. “Now I’m angry that she’s been tak-

en from us.”

A Northeastern spokesman said McGrath was scheduled to graduate this spring from Northeastern’s school ofbusiness. She was originally from Weston, Connecticut.

The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi declined to comment. Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun sent a letter Monday notifying the Northeastern community of the students’ death.

“She was devoted to helping others through leadership in student organizations and community ser-

vice work,” Aoun said of McGrath.

Torres, who was also scheduled to graduate this spring, came to Northeastern from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and was passionate about travel and working on issues related to nutrition and women’s health, Aoun said.

J.P. and Paul Norden, brothers who each lost a leg in the bombings, posted a photo of McGrath on their Facebook page.

“Life can change in an instant...we know this only too well.q

A6 U.S.

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NEWS

Jurors discuss who is to blame for Erin Andrews nude video

Sportscaster and television host Erin Andrews walks to the courtroom with attorneys Bruce Broillet, left, and Scott Carr, center, Monday, March 7, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. Andrews’ $75 million lawsuit against the franchise owner and manager of a luxury hotel and a man who admitted to making secret nude recordings of her in 2008 was turned over to the jury Monday.

(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

SHEILA BURKE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The key questions jurors are deliberating in Erin Andrews’ $75 million lawsuit are whether two hotel companies bear any responsibility for a stalker renting a room next to the sportscaster and taking a nude video of her, and if so, how much they should pay.

Jurors started their deliberations Monday after two weeks of emotional testimony. They heard directly from the Fox Sports reporter and co-host of the TV show “Dancing with the Stars,” who tearfully testified that she was humiliated, shamed and suffers from depression as a result of the video, which has been viewed by millions of

people online.

Andrews’ parents described for jurors the terror they and their daughter felt after learning of the video but not knowing who took it, where it was shot and if someone was still watching their daughter.

An FBI investigation would later reveal that Michael David Barrett shot videos in hotels in Nashville and Co-

lumbus, Ohio, and posted them online. The trial focuses on the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt and video.

On Friday, Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Hamilton Gayden found Barrett at fault. Now it’s up to jurors to decide if the hotel owner, West End Hotel Partners, and former operator, Windsor Capital Group, should share in some of the blame.

The hotel is a franchise and Marriott is not part of the trial.

Attorneys for the companies argued that while what happened to Andrews was terrible, the convicted stalker should be solely to blame because he was a determined criminal. The attorneys also suggested that Andrews’ rise in her career shows she did not suffer severe and permanent distress.

Andrews said Barrett’s arrest and imprisonment did not make the nightmare go away. She broke down on the stand repeatedly, saying she continues to suffer because people are still watching the videos and taunting her about them.

“This happens every day of my life,” Andrews said tearfully. “Either I get a tweet or

somebody makes a comment in the paper or somebody sends me a still video to my Twitter or someone screams it at me in the stands and I’m right back to this. I feel so embarrassed and I am so ashamed.”

Barrett pleaded guilty to stalking Andrews, altering hotel room peepholes and taking nude videos of her.

He was sentenced to 2½ years in prison.

Barrett was a Chicagoarea insurance company executive who frequently traveled around the country when he took the video of Andrews at the Nashville hotel in September 2008.

He shot about 4 1/2 minutes of nude video of her while she was inside a room that was in an alcove off a main hallway.

Barrett didn’t show up for the trial. In his videotaped deposition, he said that he alone was to blame. He said he correctly guessed that she would be at the hotel — it was the closest one to the Vanderbilt football game Andrews was covering — by calling and pretending to be in a group with Andrews and asking for confirmation of the reservations.q

Hulk Hogan says he was ‘completely humiliated’ by sex video TAMARA LUSH Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan said Monday he was “completely humiliated” by the publication of a video showing him having sex with his then-best friend’s wife.

Testifying in his privacy lawsuit against the Gawker website, Hogan said he didn’t authorize the tape to be made or authorize Gawker to publish it. Hogan said when he realized

that his best friend, radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, was involved in making the tape, he began shaking uncontrollably.

Earlier, Hogan testified that he initially thought it was a joke when Clem said his wife wanted to have sex with Hogan. He testified that the Clems had an open marriage.

Hogan is suing Gawker for $100 million for publishing the sex video.

The trial finished for the day

around 4:30 p.m., when Gawker’s attorneys were cross-examining Hogan.

During cross-examination, an attorney for Gawker questioned Hogan about inconsistencies in testimony and media interviews. Hogan testified that he didn’t watch the video when he discovered its existence; during a media interview he said he did. And Hogan said he didn’t know he was being videoed when he had sex with Heather Clem.

But in media interviews in

2012, Hogan said he asked Bubba Clem if he was being filmed.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, chalked up the inconsistencies to being shell-shocked by the tape and because he routinely put himself in his wrestling character.

“I was probably in the Hulk Hogan mode,” Hogan said.

“It gives you artistic ability, to be a character.”

Both sides in Hogan’s privacy lawsuit have portrayed him as a hero to little kids, a

well-known entertainment figure and an American icon.

The civil trial, which started Monday in downtown St. Petersburg, pits the rowdy wrestling star against a maverick news-gossip website that’s known for pulling no punches with celebrities and other famous figures.

Both sides agree that in 2006, following a messy divorce, Hogan had sex with the wife of his then-best friend.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NY official: 2015 Wall Street bonuses down 9% amid profit slide MICHAEL HILL Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Average Wall Street bonuses were down 9 percent last year to $146,200 as industry profits declined, New York’s comptroller reported Monday.

Industry-wide profits decreased by 10.5 percent, according to the annual estimate from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The comptroller said revenues were weak, especially from trading and underwriting. Profits were at their lowest reported level since 2011.

“This was the third consecutive year of lower profit,” DiNapoli told reporters Monday.

“You do have a very volatile market.”

Pre-tax profits for the broker/dealer operations of New York Stock Exchange member firms declined by about $1.7 billion to $14.3 billion last year. While the first half of the year was strong, the industry reported a loss of $177 million in the fourth quarter. It was the first quarterly loss since 2011, according to the comptroller.

One bright spot: employment in the securities industry in New York City grew by 2.7 percent in 2015, averaging 172,400 jobs for the year. DiNapoli said that marks the first time since the financial crisis that the industry in New York City has added jobs for two years in a row. The industry remains 8 percent smaller than before the financial crisis.

“In terms of employment, the trends at the end of the year were up,” DiNapoli, a Democrat, said. “Whether that trend will continue it’s too early to tell.”

The state comptroller releases an annual estimate of bonuses paid to securities industry employees in New York City. The state and city budgets rely on the securities industry and lower profits can affect tax revenue.q

US Financial Front:

Fed Vice Chair sees hints of too-low inflation moving up

MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said Monday that inflation in the U.S. may be starting to tick up from too-low levels, a key condition for further interest rate hikes.

“We may well at present be seeing the first stirrings of an increase in the inflation rate — something that we would like to happen,” he said in a speech in Washington.

However, another Fed official, Lael Brainard, expressed uncertainty about whether an improving job market would be enough to bolster inflation, given persistently low oil prices and a strong dollar. Inflation has “persistently underperformed” relative to the Fed’s target of annual price gains of 2 percent, she said in a separate speech Monday.

The two Fed officials’ views underscore how the Fed is wrestling with a prolonged period of muted price gains and its timetable for rate hikes. In December, the Fed raised its key rate from record lows.

Policymakers did not raise rates at its January meeting, and officials are expected to leave rates unchanged when they meet again on March 15-16.

Many analysts don’t expect another rate hike until June at the earliest.

During a question and answer session, Fischer noted that prices were being dragged by tumbling en-

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer listens during a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System at the Federal Reserve in Washington. Fischer said Monday, March 7, 2016, that inflation in the U.S. may be starting to tick up from too-low levels, a key condition for further interest rate hikes.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

ergy prices and a strong dollar, which reduces the cost of imports. But he expects those factors to fade soon, enabling inflation to advance toward the Fed’s target. “I think when the dollar stabilizes and oil stabilizes, we will see inflation going very close to 2 percent,” Fischer said in his appearance to receive a lifetime achievement award from the National Association for BusinessEconomics.

Fischer was also asked about the possibility that a weak U.S. economy might force the Fed to reverse course or even introduce negative interest rates, like central banks have done in Europe and Japan.

He said the Fed was studying negative interest rates, but he doubts that it would decide to use them.

“We would prefer not to go there,” Fischer said. “We don’t see any immediate need for that, but we are certainly watching the situation.”

Inflation by the Fed’s preferred measure has been running below target for more than four years. It had risen just 0.7 percent over the 12 months ending in December. In January however, this measure of inflation jumped, rising 1.3 percent over the past 12 months. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, rose 1.7 percent.

In her speech and a later interview, Brainard said she remained concerned about low inflation. She acknowledged the rise in January prices, but she said she wants to see more data.

“I want to see a pattern, some persistence,” she said on CNBC. bIn his speech, Fischer expressed deep concerns about the slowdown in U.S. productivity over the last two decades — a trend that has held down worker pay.

Fischer said “there are few issues more important for the future of our economy” than boosting productivity, the amount of output per hour of work. q

US consumer borrowing growth slows in January JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers bumped up their borrowing in January at the slowest rate pace in nearly three years, as outstanding revolving debt — such as credit cards — slipped from December.

The Federal Reserve said Monday that borrowing rose $10.5 billion in January, an annual increase of just 3.58 percent. That marks

the smallest annual percentage gain since February 2013. Total borrowing was $3.54 trillion.

Borrowing in the revolving category that covers credit cards slipped $1.1 billion, after a strong increase in December that corresponded with holiday shopping. Borrowing in the category that covers auto and student loans increased $11.6 billion last month.

Consumer spending, which

accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, is expected to accelerate in early 2016. Overall economic growth has been tepid even as hiring has been healthy. The economy expanded at a sluggish annual rate of 1 percent in the October-December period, after improving at a 2 percent clip in the prior quarter. Economists expect growth to rebound in the first three months of this

year. The private forecaster Macroeconomic Advisers has projected growth of 2 percent, while the Atlanta Fed anticipates growth of 2.2 percent. In its monthly credit report, the Fed does not break down auto loans and student loans in the seasonally adjusted data.

The report excludes borrowing that is backed by real estate such as mortgage loans and home equity loans.q

A8

Tuesday 8 March 2016

WORLD NEWS

Turkey demands more money to help EU tackle migrant crisis RAF CASERT LORNE COOK The Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders tussled with Turkey over how to control the flow of asylum-seekers from the Middle East in a diplomatic tug-of-war Monday that left the fate of thousands of refugees seeking a way to safety people fleeing war hanging in the balance.

Daylong negotiations between the 28-nation bloc and Turkey edged toward midnight with both sides seeking more as part of any new agreement. Turkey, home to 2.75 million refugees chiefly from neighboring Syria, surprised EU counterparts by demanding a doubling of funding beyond the 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) already pledged.

Turkey insisted that any agreement would require Europe to advance Turkey’s long-delayed hope of joining the bloc. As an additional step, Turkey said it expects EU nations to ease its visa restrictions on Turkish citizens within months.

“Turkey is ready to work with the EU, and Turkey is ready to be a member of the EU as well,” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davatoglu told reporters in

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, center, speaks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, left, and European Council President Donald Tusk at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, March 7, 2016. European Union leaders are holding a summit in Brussels with Turkey to discuss the current migration crisis.

(Emmanuel Dunand, Pool Photo via AP)

Brussels.

“Our objective is to rescue the lives of the refugees (and) to fight against human smugglers,” he said.

For its part, the EU sought to gain stronger commitments from Turkey to take back refugees who have reached European shores and ease a crisis that has left an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 souls encamped in the wintry cold on the Greece-Macedonia bor-

der.

“To stop refugees arriving in Greece, we have to cooperate with Turkey,” French President Francois Hollande said.

In a draft statement prepared for the talks, seen

by The Associated Press, the leaders said they were seeking an agreement to return to Turkey any newcomers who could not qualify for legal refugee protection.

The draft statement said the EU and Turkey would pursue “comprehensive, large scale and fast track returns to Turkey of all irregular migrants not in need of international protection.”

But Davutoglu upped the ante Monday, calling for another 3 billion euros in EU aid for Turkish-based refugees by 2018 on top of the 3 billion already pledged to arrive by 2017.

The aid would be designed

to improve the quality of life in their often crowded, squalid camps.

In Ankara, the Turkish capital, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the EU of failing to provide enough of the already pledged funds. He also criticized Europe for refusing to accept asylum seekers more readily, linking that policy to needless deaths as thousands opt to cross illegally by sea from the Turkish coast to offshore Greek islands.

“We are not sending them.

They are going by sea and many of them are dying.

We have rescued close to 100,000 from the sea,” Erdogan said in a speech.

Turkey is seeking a new EU commitment to take Syrians and other high-percentage refugee applicants via safe travel routes, such as at the land border between Turkey and Greece, to reduce drowning deaths in the Aegean Sea. Overshadowing the summit diplomacy is Turkey’s questionable human rights record. On Friday, Turkish police stormed the headquarters of an anti-government newspaper to enforce a court order placing the paper and its sister outlets under new management. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Tunisia bloodied: 53 dead in clashes near Libyan border

Tunisian police officers take positions during clashes with militants in Ben Guerdane, 650 km away from Tunis, Monday, March 7, 2016. At least 53 people were killed Monday near Tunisia’s border with Libya in one of the deadliest clashes seen so far between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers, the government said.

(AP Photo)

BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Exceptionally deadly clashes between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers left at least 53 people dead Monday near Tunisia’s border with Libya, the government said, amid growing fears that violence from Libya could destabilize the whole region.

Gunmen attacked the city of Ben Guerdane at dawn Monday and fighting continued past nightfall. Tunisia

closed its border with Libya and the Tunisian interior and defense ministers traveled to the town to oversee the operation, according to a joint statement from their ministries.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hassid Essid said on Wtaniya television that the attack was an Islamic State attempt to carve out a stronghold on the border.

No group claimed immediate responsibility, but two IS-affiliated websites said Islamic State group militants

Syrian opposition coalitions undecided over peace talks BASSEM MROUE BEIRUT (AP) — The main Syrian opposition coalition will decide later this week on whether to take part in peace talks scheduled to resume Wednesday in Geneva, the head of the group said Monday, while violence across the north of the Syria claimed the lives of over a dozen people, despite a partial cease-fire.

Riad Hijab, head of the Higher Negotiations Committee, acknowledged in a teleconference with journalists that Russian bombardment has decreased following the “cessation of hostilities,” which came into effect Feb. 27.

Yet he added that Presi-

dent Bashar Assad’s government has not released any detainees and said the flow of aid to besieged rebel-held areas was too small. These were among the main preconditions for the opposition to attend the indirect peace talks.

The most recent round collapsed last month as the Syrian government launched a new ground offensive.

Hijab said that while the Russian airstrikes have become less frequent, the Syrian government has continued to attack rebels.

“The Russians and the Iranians have caused a catastrophic humanitarian situation that is killing Syrians,”

were engaged in the fighting.

“This is an unprecedented attack, planned and organized. Its goal was probably to take control of this area and to announce a new emirate,” Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi said.

At dawn Monday, gunmen targeted a police station and military facilities in Ben Guerdane, Tunisian Interior Ministry spokesman Yasser Mosbah told The Associated Press. A night curfew was ordered in Ben Guerdane until further notice.

The attack and ensuing fighting left 35 attackers, seven civilians and 11 members of Tunisia’s security forces dead, according to the joint government statement.

A 12-year-old girl was among those killed.

Corpses lay in the street and gunmen hid in homes as darkness fell, gunfire sporadically ringing out, according to resident and local journalist Raoudha Bouttar.

Another witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of repercussions from the attackers, said the gunmen spoke of creating a caliphate and “liberating” the town.

Tunisian forces have repeatedly clashed with extremists on the borders of Libya and Algeria in recent years, but Monday’s fight-

ing was unusually bloody.

Tunisia has been as a model of relative stability for the region since an uprising five years ago ushered in democracy and inspired Arab Spring protests against dictatorships across the region.

An uprising in neighboring Libya led to the ouster and killing of longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, but since then the country has fallen into chaos, allowing the Islamic State group to take control of several cities. The divided country is ruled by two parliaments: an internationally recognized body based in the eastern city of Tobruk and a rival government, backed by Islamist-allied militias, that controls the capital, Tripoli.

Tunisia is especially worried about the IS presence in Libya after dozens of tourists were killed in attacks in Tunisia last year. IS extremists claimed responsibility for those attacks, and Tunisian authorities said the attackers had been trained in Libya.

A10 WORLD

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NEWS

Cuban entrepreneurs build network of private schools M. WEISSENSTEIN Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — “This is a conversation between two children,” Graciela Lage Delgado tells a rapt class of third-graders, tightly enunciating each English word from a textbook called “Welcome to America.”

“Is it a TV?” Lage asks in a girl’s voice, pointing to an illustration of a boxy silver robot.

“No, it’s not!” the kids shout back in English. “It’s a robot!”

Lage’s class has an air conditioner and a computer with speakers for watching videos, unimaginable in a Cuban state school.

And unlike most Cubans their age, the children can hold simple conversations in English, thanks to fastmoving, profound change in an important pillar of Cuba’s six-decade-old socialist system.

Cuba touts its free, public kindergarten-to-post-grad schools as one of the jewels of its revolution, a force for social equality that virtually wiped out illiteracy across the island and gave even the poorest citizens a shot at educations often superior to wealthier countries’. As the government has allowed an explosion of private businesses ranging from restaurants to car washes, the school system, like health care, has remained under state control. Private schools remain illegal except for children of diplomats and foreign business people. Even the

Catholic Church cannot open parochial schools.

Yet against the odds, Cuba’s blooming entrepreneurial system has quietly created something that looks much like a private education sector, with thousands of students

where artists and tourism industry workers can feed their families far more easily than the average state employee. English is also vital for Cubans migrating to the United States, their numbers nearly doubled since the two countries de-

Students attend an English class at the Cuban School of Foreign Languages, in Havana, Cuba. Despite ideological and legal hurdles, Cuba’s blooming entrepreneurial system has quietly created something that looks very much like a private education sector over the last half-decade, with thousands of students across Cuba enrolled in dozens of afterschool and weekend foreign language and art schools.

(AP Photo/Desmond Boylan)

across Cuba enrolled in dozens of afterschool and weekend foreign language and art schools. The schools are entirely legal because they function as cooperatives of licensed private language teachers, one of the hundreds of new categories of self-employment authorized under Cuba’s economic reforms.

For upper- and middleclass parents, the schools are filling gaps in subjects such as English, dance, painting, music and theater — invaluable in a country

clared detente in late 2014.

The economic reforms of the last five years have created a large class of private entrepreneurs with lifestyles most Cubans can only dream of. That class has been flooded with cash from a 17 percent surge in the number of tourist visits and a wave of private investment from Cuban emigres launched after detente was announced.

The special schools mean the children of the privileged are increasingly getting a leg up, threatening

to root inequality deeper and more broadly in a society where it isn’t supposed to exist at all.

“It’s just splintering the collective identity, stratifying society more and making the gap between the haves and have-nots great,” said educational anthropologist Denise F. Blum, author of a 2011 study of Cuban education titled “Cuban Youth and Revolutionary Values: Educating the New Socialist Citizen.”

“I think it’s changing what socialism means for Cuba,” Blum said.

President Barack Obama travels to Cuba this month to push for such changes — a loosening of state control that allows a middle class to develop independently from the single-party government and the centrally planned economy it controls.

“The diversification of the economy is ultimately a source of a change for the Cuban people because they have more control over their own lives,” Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, one of the architects of Obama’s new policy, told The Associated Press.

Parents with the means are spending about 250 Cuban pesos ($10) a month, around half the average state worker’s salary, to give their children early advantages in English and the arts.

Continued on page 27

Authorities:

American man held in girlfriend’s death in Mexico

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — A U.S. man is being held in the death of his American girlfriend in the Caribbean resort city of Playa del Carmen, Mexican authorities said Sunday. Federal police identified him as John Loveless, 59, but did not give his hometown. A police statement said he was detained at the Cancun airport before he was to board a flight to Atlanta.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico

City confirmed the death in Playa del Carmen of an American citizen it identified as Tamra Turpin, but also would not give her hometown. It offered condolences and said it was providing consular assistance in the case.

The embassy said it was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained, but referred further questions to Mexican authorities.

According to the prosecutors’ office in Quintana Roo

state, where both Playa del Carmen and Cancun are located, Loveless faces a criminal homicide investigation in the death of the woman. It said the suspect was in a relationship with the victim. The woman was found dead Wednesday in a condo the couple had rented, and a forensic examination concluded she died of asphyxia by strangulation.

The suspect was in custody in Playa del Carmen. Ap-

pearing before a judge Friday, he declined to make an official declaration in the case, and it was not clear whether he had a local attorney.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Turpin, 36, was from Union, Missouri, which is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of St. Louis. The newspaper quoted family members as saying she had gone to Mexico on vacation with her boyfriend, a lawyer.

CARIBBEAN News Briefs Floridian killed in Puerto Rico drug store parking lot SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A 32-year-old man from Florida was shot to death early Monday in a popular tourist district of Puerto Rico’s capital, police said.

Authorities said Richard McDonald Diaz was getting into his car with his girlfriend early Monday when he was killed before dawn in a drug store parking lot in Condado. Police say 26-year-old Meralis Calderon Rivera also was shot and is hospitalized.

Authorities said it is unclear what led to the shooting, but noted that McDonald had been accused of firstdegree murder in a 2013 double killing in Puerto Rico. The charges were dropped, however.

Police said the unidentified gunman Monday was wearing a mask and did not say anything.

Guyana plans to end overcrowding after prison riot GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The South American country of Guyana says it will hire more guards and take steps to ease overcrowding at its main prison, where 17 inmates died in a three-day riot.

Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan said Monday that prisons in rural western Guyana are being upgraded to house additional prisoners now being held in the capital of Georgetown. He said the number of guards in the country’s interior also needs to be boosted from 54 to 100.

The government recently promised that it also would improve food, speed up trials and increase the number of telephone calls to families.

The uprising occurred last Thursday when inmates set mattresses on fire to protest prison conditions.

WORLD NEWS A11

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Mexican president: Trump language like that of Hitler

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto gives an address in Houston. Pena Nieto compared the language of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump to that of dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in an interview published Monday, March 7, and said it has hurt U.S.-Mexico relations.

(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto compared the

language of Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump to that of dicta-

Venezuelan officials investigating possible slaying of 28 gold miners HANNAH DREIER Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan officials said Monday they are investigating the alleged killing of 28 miners in the southeastern jungle state of Bolivar.

Families say the wildcat miners were murdered Friday by members of a gang seeking to control a disputed gold claim. They say the gang threw the miner’s dismembered bodies in a truck and took them away.

“We will conduct an objective, independent and impartial investigation,” Venezuelan ombudsman Tarek William Saab said Monday, echoing a promise by the public prosecutor’s office.

State Gov. Francisco Rangel, a staunch ally of the ruling socialist administration, denied that any massacre took place, saying local police investigated reports of a shootout, but found no bodies at the mine.

“Once again, irresponsible politicians are trying to sow

chaos in Bolivar state with FALSE information about murdered miners,” he wrote on Twitter, accusing opposition politicians of trying to discredit the government’s campaign to root out illegal mining.

Families and people who said they witnessed the attack accused law enforcement agents of participating in the killings. Protesters on Monday continued to block the main road connecting the region to the border with Brazil.

Juan Jose Coello said he last spoke with his son on Friday, shortly before he left for the mine.

“I’m not asking for justice.

Right now, I’m just asking that they return the body of my son, so I can give him a Christian burial,” he told The Associated Press.

Henry Ramos, the president of Venezuela’s oppositioncontrolled Congress, joined the families in accusing the state government of a cover-up.

tors Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in an interview published Monday, and said it has hurt U.S.-Mexico relations.

Asked about Trump, Pena Nieto complained to the Excelsior newspaper about “these strident expressions that seek to propose very simple solutions” and said that sort of language has led to “very fateful scenes in the history of humanity.”

“That’s the way Mussolini arrived and the way Hitler arrived,” Pena Nieto said.

Pena Nieto until now had avoided direct comments on Trump, who has

pledged to build a wall along the two countries’ borders. Trump also has said Mexican immigrants bring crime and drugs to the U.S. and are “rapists.”

But as the New York businessman has built a lead in the GOP primary, current and former Mexican officials have begun to publicly express alarm. Former Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon also have alluded to Hitler in describing Trump.

In the interview with Excelsior, Pena Nieto said “there is no scenario” under which Mexico would pay for the

border wall, as Trump proposes.

But he said he would work with whoever eventually wins this year’s U.S. presidential election and to maintain a climate “of mutual respect and joint agreements.”

In another interview published Monday, with the newspaper El Universal, the president said he would be “absolutely respectful” of the U.S. political process, but said, “It appears to me that (Trump’s comments) hurt the relationship we have sought with the United States.”

A12 WORLD

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NEWS

AP Exclusive:

From calm to chaos: A reporter’s escorted visit to Syria

V. ISACHENKOV Associated Press LATAKIA, Syria (AP) — At first glance, the Mediterranean port of Latakia doesn’t look like a city at war. Its streets are jammed with traffic, stylish women chat under palm trees, and idyllic orange groves stretch for miles.

But the signs become apparent on closer inspection: a man in camouflage shopping with a Kalashnikov slung on his shoulder, the occasional military checkpoint, and rows of unfinished cottages and apartment buildings whose construction was interrupted by Syria’s 5-year-old civil war.

For a group of international reporters on a five-day trip to Syria organized by the Russian Foreign and Defense ministries, the contrasts were stark.

From our military-escorted bus, we rode through a relaxed and sun-splashed Latakia, located in the heart of President Bashar Assad’s Alawite homeland.

We passed burned-out tanks, armored personnel carriers and a shattered bus in areas of recent battles.

And we came under fire in a mountain village, with shells falling around us as we scrambled up a street to an armored truck and safety. ___ Portraits of Assad and his father, Hafez, looked down from billboards, walls and windows on Latakia’s busystreets, packed shops and cafes serving kebabs and humus.

But the front lines of the civil war that since 2011 has killed a quarter-million people and displaced half of Syria’s population were only about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) away.

As our group approached those lines, half-finished construction projects gave way to houses damaged by fighting. Many had walls riddled by shrapnel, a missing balcony or a roof blown off. In some places, cardboard replaced missing walls, and clothes hung out

to dry across empty sections — signs of life amid the devastation.

Troops at checkpoints appeared increasingly tense as we got closer to the fighting, their look purposeful and fingers on triggers.

Our bus was escorted across central Hama prov-

with the residents reaching for candy, and one halfseriously loaded his rifle to fend off some particularly pushy boys.

But there was more curiosity than danger. A female press officer from the Russian Defense Ministry instantly became the focus

Russian airstrikes.

An indifferent-looking Syrian general said the ceasefire was largely holding despite some shelling by militants of the Nusra Front, al-Qaida’s branch in Syria, which is excluded from the cease-fire. The Russian officers weren’t so calm, and

Syrian soldiers and Russian soldiers, who escort a group of journalists in the background, stand near a car covered by collage showing photos of faces of Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and a Syrian general, President’s Assad brother, Maher Assad, center, in Maarzaf, about 15 kilometers west of Hama.

(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

ince by a pickup truck with a heavy machine gun mounted on top, with a soldier in a black bandanna scouring the surrounding landscape.

At an intersection outside Hama, we transferred to armored trucks of the Russian military — a clear indication of the danger ahead.

Reporters clumsily climbed up the ladders, and we continued under Russian army escort.

We were greeted in the village of Maarzaf, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) west of the city of Hama, by scores of heavily armed men from the private militia of Sheikh Ahmad Mubarak, an influential leader in the province. We saw him sign a deal pledging to respect the cease-fire that began Feb. 27.

Some of his troops were in their early teens, and they looked proud of their weapons and fatigues.

When a Russian truck unloaded humanitarian aid, the sheikh’s troops mixed

of attention, with Syrian men elbowing each other to get a photo taken with her. ___ A visit to mountain villages near the border with Turkey was more harrowing.

Most of the homes in Ghunaymiyah, recently seized by the Syrian army from militants, were empty shells, their windows and doors missing and walls riddled by shrapnel. Residents who returned to inspect the damage reacted with shock.

A few knelt to pray at a Christian church, its walls half-ruined and the floor covered with rubble and broken glass. The devastation seemed incongruous with the blossoming trees and bright blue sky.

We then went to nearby Kinsibba, which sits on a steep hill overlooking a strategic road leading to Idlib and Aleppo, Syria’s onetime commercial capital that has been the focus of a recent government offensive backed by intense

they nervously urged reporters not to stand at the edge of a cliff overlooking the hills controlled by the militants.

Reporters paid little attention, snapping pictures of the idyllic landscape and later moving down a street to chat with residents.

Suddenly, an explosion and a puff of gray smoke rose from the mountain slope about 200 meters (yards) below. At first, I didn’t understand what had happened, but a Russian officer next to me immediately yelled: “All down! We are under fire!”

As I tried to hide behind a nearby low concrete barrier on the street, I saw another puff of smoke from a nearby explosion and reached for my camera.

That’s when another blast forced me to get down.

More shells fell, and I realized the next one might land on us.

A Russian APC rushed forward to shield us from shrapnel. Under its cover,

we ran up the steep hill and around a corner to where our armored trucks were parked.

I felt I was losing my breath after running in my heavy flak jacket, and others stumbled and fell, with the Russian troops helping them up. We frantically climbed aboard, the nervous Russian officers shouted our names to make sure all were safe, and the trucks sped away over a bumpy road. We could see little through the small armored windows, and the feeling of danger was intense.

But the trucks soon reached a spot where our bus was waiting for us — a sign the immediate peril had eased.

Medics treated those who scraped their arms and legs after falling on the asphalt. ___ On another day, a Russian military plane flew us to the capital of Damascus, where we saw entire neighborhoods wiped out by fighting, with barely a single apartment building intact.

Just a few miles away, however, other neighborhoods bore no sign of damage, with streets filled with traffic and busy shops.

We were taken to al-Tall, on the northern outskirts, where hundreds of people gathered on the streets.

Children chanted “Bashar!”

Portraits of Assad and army heroes were everywhere.

The atmosphere seemed relaxed, but Syrian military snipers patrolled the rooftops.

We went farther north to the Christian hamlet of Maaloula, which has changed hands several times in the war. Set into a mountainside with breathtaking views, the town is overlooked by the Catholic monastery of St. Sergius, locally known as Mar Sarkis and dating back to Byzantine times. A narrow gorge leads to the Greek Orthodox convent of St. Takla, a place of worship since the early days of Christianity.

Some people in Maaloula and other nearby towns still speak a version of Aramaic, the language Jesus is believed to have used.q

LOCAL A13

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Loyal Guests Honored at the Marriott Ocean Club

PALM BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a very loyal group of guests as Emerald Ambassadors at the Marriott Ocean Club. The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister

of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for an amazing 35-or-more consecutive years. The guests are honored with an official plaque from the Government of Aruba, as well as with a lovely Commemorative

Coin designed especially for Emerald Ambassadors of Aruba!

The honorees for Emerald Ambassadors were Mr. James and Mrs. Patricia Parisi, and Mr. Tony and Mrs. Linda Racioppo.

James and Patricia and

Tony and Linda are all loyal members of the Marriott Ocean Club and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the climate, beaches, restaurants, relaxation and being on Aruba and staying at the Marriott Ocean Club is

like being home for them.

The certificate was presented by Mr. Ricardo Croes representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with family and friends of the honorees and associates form the Marriott Ocean Club.

A14 LOCAL

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Ling and Sons Launches Its Easter Campaign!

EAGLE - Ling and Sons, the largest American-style supermarket launched their Easter Campaign where you can win incredible prizes! The more you shop, the greater chance you have of winning one of

these fabulous prizes!

1st prize: ALL INCLUSIVE TRIP TO PUNTA CANA. 2nd prize: WEEKEND STAY AT THE MARIOTT. 3rd prize: TICKETS FOR 4 TO PALM ISLAND. How to participate? Simply

shop at Ling and Sons and get a raffle ticket with every purchase of 50 awg. in store.

Winners will be announced on March 29.

Another great surprise Ling and Sons has for everyone is their annual Easter Food Show, which takes places

on Monday, March 21st from 6pm to 9pm.

Ling and Sons is known for its grand Food Shows, organized every year.

During the Easter Food Show the store has a great variety of food presentations, food and drink tastings to celebrate

the Easter Season. Aside from the great food, the store has fun activities for kids, live music and not to forget a unique shopping experience for everyone.

For more information visit www.lingandsons.com or www.facebook.com/ lingandsons.q

LOCAL A15

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Every Thursday Fresh Oysters are on Tap at Papillon

PALM BEACH - From now on, Papillon is offering their guests fresh oysters on Thursdays. Surely something that Henri Charrière “Papillon” would have loved!

Henri Charrière, one of the world’s most famous prisoners, would surely have had the time of his life at Papillon Restaurant in The Village, across from the Hilton.

Nicknamed Papillon because of the butterfly

tattoo on his chest, the Frenchman was the first convict to escape from Devil’s Island, something that nobody had ever done before. Charrière’s thrilling, gripping autobiography has been the concept behind Papillon Restaurant. The décor, the decorations and especially the restrooms wink at the thirteen terrible years Papillon spent in prison in French Guyana.

Some Pearls of wisdom

about Oysters....

1. To taste the nuances of an oyster’s flavor, chew it rather than swallow it whole. Try eating it plain or with just a couple of drops of fresh lemon juice to balance the salinity, we recommend.

“If you want to really experience the oyster, you need to taste it naked.”

2. Dry white wines pair well with oysters. “A pinot

grigio, chenin blanc and fume blanc (sauvignon blanc) are all well suited”.

“Of course, some people like them with a little bub-

bly.”

For reservations: reservations@papillonaruba.com Or call: 586 5400

A16 LOCAL

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Raise Money During “Yappy Hour” at MVC Eagle Beach EAGLE BEACH - It is with great pleasure to announce that the 2nd Silent Auction of the Animal Relief Foundation Aruba (ARF) will be held during Yappy Hour.

The idea behind this Yappy Hour is to have a laid back scene of furry fun where canine friends come together to unleash and unwind while enjoying such amenities as an H2O bar, puptails and pupitizers.

The Yappy Hour will be organized by a non-profit organization working towards the well-being of the stray pets on the island of Aruba. The Animal Relief Foundation (ARF) will hold its 2nd Silent Auction on March 11th, ’16 at MVC Eagle Beach. You are invited to join some furry fun, “unleash & unwind” from 4 p.m. thru 7 p.m. Enjoy Yappy Hour prices and free hors d’oeuvres while contributing to the benefit of the street dogs and cats.

There will be an array of very impressive items for our Silent Auction and besides this ARF will be selling tickets, at Fls 5/$ 3.00, at the door (no need to be present to claim your prize) to raffle incredible prizes like restaurant gift certificates, wind-surfing gift certificates and much more.

The money raised will be used for veterinary care, boarding, neutering, transportation and foster cost for the street dogs and cats on the island of Aruba.

Let’s meet and greet for a worthy cause, and have a “tail’ gate party. Well behaved pets are welcome, provided they are on a no retractable leash and as mentioned before water & treats served to our furry friends.

SPORTS A17

Tuesday 8 March 2016

OMAHA Tennis star Maria Sharapova speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, March 7, 2016.

Sharapova says she has failed a drug test at the Australian Open.

Associated Press

Sharapova says she failed drug test; penalty unknown GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tennis star Maria Sharapova says she failed a drug test at the Australian Open.

The five-time major champion took full responsibility for her mistake when she made the announcement at a news conference Monday in Los Angeles.

The former world No. 1 could face a lengthy ban from the International Tennis Federation.

“I know that with this, I face consequences,” Sharapova said. “I don’t want to end my career this way, and I really hope I will be given another chance to play this game.”

The 28-year-old Sharapova said she tested positive for meldonium, which she said she has been taking for 10 years for numerous health issues. Meldonium, which is thought to be widely used by Russian athletes, became a banned substance this year under the WADA code, and Sharapova claimed she didn’t notice its addition to the banned list.

Continued on Page 19

Manning says emotional goodbye after historic NFL career Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, unbuttons his jacket as he sits down before a news conference where he announced his retirement from professional football, in Englewood, Colo., Monday, March 7, 2016. Manning finished a record-breaking 18 year career by leading the Broncos to the team’s Super Bowl 50 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Feb. 2016.

Associated Press Page 20

A18 SPORTS

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Mushers set off from Alaska Kane steers town as Iditarod race begins Blackhawks to 4-1

win over Red Wings

Four- time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey prepares his sled ahead of the official start of this year’s race on Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Willow, Alaska. Mackey said his pain level has decreased a little from last year, when blood circulation problems made it difficult for him to finish the race.

Associated Press

MARK THIESSEN Associated Press WILLOW, Alaska (AP) — Eighty-five mushers set off to conquer the toughest terrain this nation has to offer, vying to become the first to reach Alaska’s western coast with their dog teams.

Scott Janssen, an undertaker from Anchorage who is known as the Mushing Mortician, was the first to leave across Willow Lake in the staggered start to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race Sunday.

Dallas Seavey was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt as he packed his sled under blue skies and warm temperatures. He said it felt just like another day for him and his dogs, doing their thing.

That could be bad news for the field as Seavey has won three out of the last four races.

“If we have a good race, we should have a good finish. If we can maximize this team, we’ll get there fast,” he said of the dash for the finish line under the burled arch in Nome. The winner is expected in about nine days after traveling over two mountain ranges, the Yukon River and battling

the fierce winds along the Bering Sea coast.

He said there are “a lot of really good teams, there’s a lot of people who could win. There’s a lot of people that maybe should win that won’t. That’s actually why we go run the race, and we’ll figure it out in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Besides Seavey, there are six other former champions in the race, including four-time winner Lance Mackey. Last year, Mackey struggled to finish the race.

The cancer survivor also has a condition which affects blood circulation in his hands, and he had problems caring for his dogs last year. His brother, musher Jason Mackey, helped with dog care so Lance could finish the race.

When asked Sunday if his hands were good, Lance Mackey said, “Well, to a degree.”

He has had continued treatment on his hands, including a surgery last month that took out a nail bed on one finger. He said the pain level has been reduced a bit, and he was ready to get the race started.

“If we don’t have a good run this year, it’s not the

dogs’ fault. This team, in my opinion, and I know what kind of dogs it takes, this team has what it takes. It’s up to me now to show the world, and they deserve it,” he said.

Also in this year’s race is two-time champion Robert Sorlie of Oslo. He leads a large Norwegian contingency among the mushers.

But Mats Pettersson will tell you there are eight Norwegians in the race, and not nine.

“I feel a little bit lonely,” he said because everyone believes he’s Norwegian, too.

“I have to tell every guy I’m Swedish.”

Adding to the international flair of the race is Kim Franklin, a 49-year-old musher from Herts, England.

This is her second race to Nome, but she’s still considered a rookie after being withdrawn at the Rohn checkpoint in 2008. She had to qualify for the Iditarod last winter.

“It sounds like it’s going to be a hard, fast trail and it’s going to be a rough start to the race, I think,” she said, adding her goal is to keep everything under control.

“I just want to run a slow, steady, safe race,” Franklin said.q

The Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane scored his 38th goal on the first shot of the game to steer the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League on Sunday.

Jonathan Toews also scored for the defending Stanley Cup holders as the Blackhawks (41-21-5) joined the Dallas Stars on top of the Western Conference with 87 points.

“We’ve got a lot of division games coming up,” Toews said. “Those aren’t going to be easy ones. It’ll be good preparation for the end of the year.”

Antoine Roussel scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period to lead Dallas past the Ottawa Senators 2-1.

Jason Spezza also scored for the Stars, and Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves.

Zack Smith scored the lone goal for Ottawa. Andrew Hammond turned aside 23 shots in the loss, which left the Senators six points behind the Red Wings for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

In New York, Cal Clutterbuck scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:28 remaining in the third period as the Islanders defeated the Rangers 6-4.

Johnny Boychuk had two goals for the Islanders, Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist, Brock Nelson also scored and Frans Nielsen added an empty-netter with 1:01 remaining.

Across the Hudson River, Evgeni Malkin scored two goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins took advantage of a couple of defensive lapses by the New Jersey Devils to win 6-1.

Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino, Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson also scored. Backup Matt Murray made 17 saves as the Penguins rebounded from a dismal performance

Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane celebrates after scoring his goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings Sunday, March 6, 2016, in Chicago.

Associated Press

against Calgary 24 hours earlier.

Kyle Palmieri scored his 25th goal of the season for New Jersey, which played without injured All-Star goaltender Cory Schneider, who had limited Pittsburgh to six goals in the last six meetings.

Lauri Korpikoski scored the winner late in the second period as the Edmonton Oilers edged the Winnipeg Jets 2-1.

Patrick Maroon also scored for Edmonton, which moved out of last place in the Western Conference — one point ahead of Calgary and tied with Winnipeg with 59 points.

Jori Lehtera, back following a three-game absence after being hit in the face by a puck, scored in his return to the lineup as the St. Louis Blues held on to beat the Minnesota Wild 4-2.q

SPORTS A19

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Sharapova Continued from Page 17

“I take great responsibility and professionalism in my job, and I made a huge mistake,” Sharapova said.

“I let my fans down. I let the sport down that I’ve been playing since the age of 4, that I love so deeply.”

Meldonium, also known as mildronate, is a Latvian-manufactured drug popular for fighting heart disease in former Soviet Union countries. Meldonium treats ischemia, or lack of blood flow, but can be taken in large doses as a performance-enhancer that increases exercise capacity.

Sharapova’s penalties could range from a multiyear ban to a minimal sanction with no suspension if officials believe she made an honest mistake.

WADA President Craig Reedie told The Associated Press that any athlete found guilty of using meldonium would normally

face a one-year suspension.

The ITF’s anti-doping program announced in a statement that Sharapova will be provisionally suspended starting this weekend while her case is examined.

WADA spokesman Ben Nichols said the organization “will refrain from commenting further until a decision has been issued by the ITF. Following that, WADA will review the reasons for the decision and subsequently decide whether or not to use its independent right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration forSport.”

Sharapova said she tested positive in an in-competition test at the Australian Open, where she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals on Jan. 26. Sharapova hasn’t played since then while recovering from a forearm injury, and she had already dropped out of the BNP Paribas Open in

Indian Wells, which begins this week.

Several athletes have tested positive for meldonium since it was banned in January, including two Ukrainian biathletes and Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov. Earlier Monday, Russia’s Ekaterina Bobrova, a European champion ice dancer, told local media she had tested positive for meldonium.

Sharapova said she began taking meldonium for “several health issues I had back in 2006,” including a magnesium deficiency, regular influenza, “irregular” heart test results and early indications of diabetes, of which she has a family history. Sharapova and her attorney declined to say where Sharapova was put on the drug or where she gets it now, citing the ongoing process with the ITF. Sharapova and all players were notified of the changes in the WADA banned substances list shortly before Christmas,

In this Jan. 20, 2016, file photo, Maria Sharapova of Russia reaches for a backhand return to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Associated Press

but Sharapova said she simply missed the change, failing to click on a button that listed the new substances in the email.

“I have to take full responsibility for it,” Sharapova said. “It’s my body, and I’m responsible for what I put into it.”

Reedie said he was unaware of Sharapova’s case until she announced it at the news conference.

“I understand the drug is

sold particularly in Eastern Europe,” he told the AP in a telephone interview.

“You can almost get it over the counter. For stronger versions, you might need a prescription. There has been a whole rash of these cases since the 1st of January when it appeared on the banned list. This might not be happening if athletes would be taking more care of the things that are on the list.”

20 SPORTS

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Manning jokes, chokes up during retirement remarks ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — His voice cracking with emotion, Peyton Manning said good bye to the game he loved at a news conference packed with friends, family and laughter.

He threw in some Scripture, some fond memories and even a dig at Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller, whom he thanked for taking a break “from your celebrity tour to be here today.”

He ended it with his signature “Omaha!” and then posed for pictures with more than a dozen of his former teammates with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, each of whom he helped win a Super Bowl.

Manning, who turns 40 this

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, center, joins head coach Gary Kubiak, left, and team general manager John Elway after Manning’s retirement announcement at team headquarters Monday, March 7, 2016, in Englewood, Colo.

Associated Press

month, said the timing was simply right to call an end to his 18-year NFL career.

“I thought about it a lot, prayed about it a lot ... it was just the right time,” Manning said. “I don’t throw as good as I used to, don’t run as good as I used to, but I have always have had good timing.”

He came to Denver on March 20, 2012, for the chance to win another title in the twilight of his career and GM John Elway had the blueprints.

Four years later, he hobbles away a champion just like his boss did 17 years ago.

Elway thanked Manning for coming to Colorado for the second chapter of his brilliant career, saying he made his own job easier, noting that with Manning living here, free agents were basically asking Elway “where do I sign?”

Manning went 50-15 in Denver, leading the Broncos to four AFC West titles, two Super Bowl trips, one championship and in 2013 guided the highest-scoring offense in league history — all after retraining himself to throw after a series of neck fusion surgeries forced him to miss all of the

2011 season and led the Colts to cut him.

Team president Joe Ellis told Manning, “If there is a list of achievements needed to attain greatness you’ve checked every box. ... We will miss watching you play quarterback.

You have been a joy.”

Elway was equally emotional when he walked away from the game after winning his second championship in 1999, and on Monday he said, “Having been through it, I know it’s a hard day for him.”

Indeed, Manning choked up several times, especially when he listed all the things he’d miss about football, the flights home after a big win, his teammates.

Coach Gary Kubiak talked about how Manning missed six weeks with a foot injury and how he worked his way back to regain his starting job in time to lead Denver on its historic playoff run.

Manning said if there’s one thing he learned in his most trying season was how to be a good teammate in trying times. He said it’s easy to be a good teammate when you’re the starter and things are going well, but when you’re trying to regain your health and your starting job it’s tougher.

Manning declined to address in detail a recent rehashing of a sexual harassment claim from his days at Tennessee.

“This is a joyous day and nothing could overtake this day. I think it is sad that some people don’t understand the truth and the facts. I did not do what has been alleged. And I am not interested in relitigating something that happened when I was 19 years old.

Kind of like my dad used to say when I was in trouble, ‘I can’t say it any plainer than that.’ So, this is a joyous day. It’s a special day.

And like Forrest Gump said, ‘That is all I have to say about that.’”q

SPORTS A21

Tuesday 8 March 2016

NBA Capsules

Lakers win 112-95, hand Golden State its 6th loss of season

The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan Clarkson scored 25 points, D’Angelo Russell added 21 as the Los Angeles Lakers stunned the Golden State Warriors 11295 on Sunday, handing the defending NBA champions just their sixth loss of the season, all on the road.

Kobe Bryant added 12 points in helping the Lakers earn one of the biggest upsets in NBA history and their biggest victory in a downtrodden farewell season for Bryant, who spent the fourth quarter on the bench resting his aching right shoulder.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 18 points on a day when they were awful offensively. Klay Thompson added 15 points but the Splash Brothers were a combined 1 of 18 from 3-point range. In all, the Warriors missed 26 of 30 attempts from long range.

Golden State fell to 55-6 and the Lakers improved to 13-51.

The loss snapped Golden State’s seven-game winning streak and was their first since a 32-point blowout defeat at Portland on Feb. 19.

ROCKETS 113, RAPTORS 107 TORONTO (AP) — James Harden had 40 points and 14 assists to help Houston end Toronto’s franchise-record, 12-game home winning streak.

The Raptors lost at home for the first time since Jan. 3 against the Chicago Bulls.

The Rockets also snapped their eight-game losing streak north of the border, winning in Toronto for the

first time since the 2006-07 season.

Corey Brewer had 23 points off the bench for the Rockets, who trailed by as many as 18 points in the second quarter. Dwight Howard added 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Luis Scola led the Raptors with 21 points, while DeMar DeRozan had 19.

THUNDER 104, BUCKS 96 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kevin Durant had 32 points and 12 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook posted his 10th triple-double of the season as Oklahoma City built a big early lead and held off Milwaukee.

Westbrook finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Thunder, who led by 21 with six minutes left in the third quarter before nearly getting overrun by the Bucks.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo picked up his third triple-double of the season with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Khris Middleton scored 18 points, including 10 straight during a 24-5 run between the third and fourth quarters that drew the Bucks within 84-82 with 11:23 left.

But the Thunder withstood the Bucks from there, holding Milwaukee without a field goal for about a seven-minute stretch of the fourth quarter.

PISTONS 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 103 AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AP) — Reggie Jackson scored 30 points in another big game against Portland as Detroit beat the Trail Blazers.

Jackson scored 40 points

when Detroit beat Portland on Nov. 8, including 26 in the fourth quarter. He picked up right where he left off in Sunday’s rematch, scoring 11 points in the first quarter as the Pistons took a 30-16 lead.

Andre Drummond had 14 points and 18 rebounds for Detroit, and Marcus Morris added 19 points. Jackson had nine assists along with all of his scoring.

Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 26 points but shot 8 of 22 from the field.

Detroit led 58-51 at halftime, then scored the first nine points of the third quarter, taking a 16-point lead on Jackson’s driving layup.

NUGGETS 116, MAVERICKS 114, OT DENVER (AP) — D.J. Augustin scored Denver’s last eight points of overtime, including two free throws with 0.9 seconds left as the Nuggets beat Dallas.

Augustin finished with 12 points to help the Nuggets get payback after an overtime loss in Dallas on Feb. 26.

Kenneth Faried had 25 points and a season-high 20 rebounds for the Nuggets, who rallied from four down in the last 10 seconds of regulation. Will Barton added 20 points.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points and Deron Williams had 17 for the Mavericks, who have lost two straight.

The game was tied when Williams missed a layup with 16.8 seconds left in overtime. After a timeout, Augustin drove the lane and was fouled by Raymond Felton. He calmly sank both

Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young, right, attempts to shoot while Golden State Warriors guard Brandon Rush, left, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Sunday, March 6, 2016.

Associated Press

free throws and Emmanuel Mudiay blocked Wesley Matthews’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.

SUNS 109, GRIZZLIES 100 MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — Devin Booker had 27 points and nine assists, Alex Len added 19 points and 16 rebounds as Phoenix beat Memphis.

Mirza Teletovic added 18 points for the Suns, who won their second straight.

Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds as Phoenix won for only the third time in the last 18 games. Two of those wins have come against the Grizzlies.

Mike Conley led Memphis with 22 points while Matt Barnes and JaMychal Green each had 17 points.

Mario Chalmers scored 14 points and Lance Stephenson finished with 13.

The Suns connected on 52 percent of their shots, including 12 of 28 from outside the arc. Memphis, meanwhile, was limited

to 40 percent and stayed close by going 10 of 22 from 3-point range.

HEAT 103, 76ERS 98 MIAMI (AP) — Hassan Whiteside had seven blocked shots, including a pivotal one late as Miami won their fifth in a row, beating Philadelphia.

The Sixers were shorthanded and endured their 12th consecutive loss but they were a handful for the Heat. Ish Smith had 21 points and five assists to lead Philadelphia.

Goran Dragic had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Dwyane Wade also had 23 points for the Heat. Whiteside had 14 points and 13 rebounds off the bench.

The Heat missed 10 consecutive shots in the second half and went nearly eight minutes without a basket as the 76ers took a 72-69 lead and the margin reached 79-73 before Miami rallied.q

A22

Tuesday 8 March 2016

SPORTS

Manfred waits on Reyes decision, explains lifting Utley ban MIKE CRANSTON Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred won’t decide on discipline for Jose Reyes until after the domestic violence case involving the Colorado shortstop plays out in court.

Speaking Monday during the Rockies’ exhibition game against the Chicago Cubs, Manfred also said he met with the players’ association last week to begin collective bargaining for an agreement to replace the one that expires Dec. 1. He also said the decision to rescind Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Chase Utley’s two-game suspension stemmed from the new sliding rules announced last week.

Manfred placed Reyes on paid suspension ahead of spring training under the domestic violence agreement reached last August.

Last week, Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman agreed to a 30-game suspension.

“It depends on the circumstances of each case,” Manfred said. “I can imagine a scenario where you’re able to get all the information and put yourself in a position to make a decision. On the other hand, I think the single-biggest mis-

In this Aug. 13, 2015, file photo, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks to members of the media after the owners meetings in Chicago.

Associated Press

take you can make here is to make a decision quickly and then have additional facts come out afterwards and undermine the quality of that decision.”

Reyes is scheduled for a trial April 4 on a charge he abused his wife at a Hawaii resort on Oct. 31. Reyes has pleaded not guilty.

“Once that process plays

out, I think we’ll be in a position to have access to all the facts and be in a position to act quickly,” Manfred said.

Manfred explained each domestic violence case is different. “And they’re not just what you think the facts are, it’s also what facts you can prove,” Manfred said.

“We’re just not in a position

to have a great grasp of the facts quite yet. I think we’ll be in a much better position once the legal process plays out.”

Manfred indicated he’s preparing for frequent meetings with the union on a new labor contract.

“We’ve had one meeting already, and they will continue during spring train-

ing,” he said. “I don’t talk about the substance of those other than to say we got a nice early start, and that’s a good thing for everybody.”

The commissioner said the new sliding rule played a role in the decision to rescind the suspension of Utley, originally penalized two games for a hard takeout slide that broke a leg of New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada during last season’s NL Division Series.

The penalty was put on hold while Utley appealed.

“Given that you can’t go back to the World Series and alter him playing or not playing in that World Series, it seemed like a good result to move on and focus on the new rule going forward.”

Manfred also said his office consulted with the union before submitting a proposal to the U.S. Treasury Department that would allow teams to sign Cuban players without them having to establish residence outside the communist island nation.

“We did have a conversation about it. It’s pending,” Manfred said. “It’s really in the government’s hands at this point, and I don’t necessarily expect quick action there.”q

Brad Keselowski passes Kyle Busch late to win at Las Vegas GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with five laps to go Sunday and surged to his second win in three years in the NASCAR race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway under weird and windy weather conditions.

Keselowski got past teammate Joey Logano and then tracked down Busch, whose right front wheel vibrated and struggled down the stretch. Keselowski, who overcame an early speeding penalty, drove his Team Penske Ford to his first Sprint Cup Series victory of the season and his first

in nearly a full year since Fontana in March 2015.

This is really, really great,” Keselowski said.

“It seemed like there were plenty of challenges, whether it was pit road or the weather or cautions.

They threw everything they had at us today ... but we were able to fight them off and get to Victory Lane.”

Logano finished second and Jimmie Johnson came in third.

Busch finished fourth in the opener of NASCAR’s threeweek Southwest swing, falling a few laps shy of completing a weekend sweep.

The defending Sprint Cup champ dominated the Xfinity Series race on Satur-

day. Keselowski gambled on fuel to win. He also persevered through a lurking storm that blew gale-force winds and light rain onto the desert track.

The wind regularly blew debris into the drivers’ grills, getting pole-sitter Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson in the opening laps.

Later, the wind picked up sharply while an apparent dust storm rose on the outskirts of the track, obscuring the view of nearby Nellis Air Force Base and briefly dropping more rain.

“I guess that’s the Wild Wild West, right?” Logano asked. “It was just dusty, grainy, windy. Crazy.”

After Matt Kenseth spun

into Chase Elliott in a late wreck that sidelined both cars, Kyle Busch confidently stayed in front off the restart with 35 laps to go.

But Busch reported problems with his wheel, and the Team Penske teammates calmly stalked him before Keselowski surged in front to stay. “(Kyle Busch) had a really good short-run car, but it fell off on the long run,” Keselowski said.

“That is part of this new (low-downforce) package. Some are good on short run and some are good on long run, and we had a really good long-run car today.”

Kenset couldn’t explain what caused his wreck with Elliott, but he noticed the wind gusts picking up off the restart.

Kenseth, who said he “spun out before I had any idea what happened,” continued his rotten run of luck in a season that he began by losing the Daytona 500 on the last lap.

All three manufacturers have a Cup win through the first three races: Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing won at Daytona, while Johnson paced Chevrolet and Hendrick Motorsports to victory at Atlanta before Keselowski won for Ford and Team Penske at Las Vegas.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Tuesday 8 March 2016

China looks to ramp up Internet growth, and its controls GERRY SHIH Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has highlighted big data, encryption technology and “coretechnologies” such as semiconductors as the key elements of its push to grow into a tech powerhouse, according to a new five-year plan released Saturday that envisages the Internet as a major source of growth as well as a potential risk.

Even as it highlighted the need to improve Internet infrastructure to rural areas and unlock the digital economy’s potential, Chinese economic planners called for a more secure and better managed Web, with enhanced Internet control systems, Internet security laws and real-name registration policies.

Chinese officials including Internet czar Lu Wei have played down concerns over what critics have described as China’s expanding Web censorship, saying that it is the Chinese government’s sovereign prerogative and a necessary

tic product in the five years through 2020, which he said would mark a “remarkable achievement.”

Delegates read the work report delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during the opening session of the annual National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Saturday, March 5, 2016.

Associated Press

measure to maintain domestic order.

China’s development plan calls for a better cybersecurity approval system and more “precise” Web management to “clean up illegal and bad information.”

The plan also calls for a multilateral, democratic,

transparent and international governance system and active participation in international Internet governance efforts.

Premier Li Keqiang highlighted the promise of the Internet, saying Saturday that various traditional sectors, ranging from manu-

facturing to government to health care, need to connect to the Web and raise their efficiency as part of an overarching national strategy called “Internet Plus.” He vowed to raise research and technology spending to account for 2.5 percent of gross domes-

The five-year plan calls for all families in large cities to have access to 100 megabyte-per-second Internet service and broadband coverage reaching 98 percent of the population in incorporated villages.

At the same time, Chinese leaders, wary of over-relying on foreign technology, will seek to boost China’s homegrown industry and cut down on imports — a strategy that has drawn complaints from trade partners like the United States.

Similar to previous years, when Chinese leaders highlighted industries such as e-commerce as a growth focus, the new draft of China’s development plan specifically elevated big data and cloud computing, relatively new and promising fields that Chinese industry experts view as not yet cornered by U.S. companies that dominate other parts of the technology market.q

Amazon reverses course, will allow local encryption NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is reversing course and will let customers resume encrypting locally stored data on their Fire tablets.

Amazon removed the ability to encrypt local data in September because it said customers weren’t using the service.

That decision came under new scrutiny last week as Apple squares off against the FBI over access to the encrypted iPhone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook.

Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handaly said Saturday that a full encryption option will be offered in a Fire software update coming this spring.

She said the company had no further comment on the issue.

Encryption protects user data by scrambling it and only allowing access with a password.

Amazon removed device encryption, but communication between Fire devices and Amazon’s cloud,

and data stored within the cloud, is still encrypted.

Amazon is one of 15 companies, including Google, Facebook and Microsoft, who filed court papers backing Apple in its fight with the FBI. Farook and his wife killed 14 co-workers in San Bernardino County on Dec. 2.

The government says Farook’s encrypted, workissued iPhone could contain information about accomplices or other details about the case. But Apple

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

Associated Press

says unlocking Farook’s phone would make all other iPhones more vulnerable to future attacks.

Apple is scheduled to ask the judge to reverse her order on March 22.q

A24 BUSINESS

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Stock market posts meager gains, led by energy companies BERNARD CONDON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks wavered throughout the day but managed to eke out modest gains Monday as oil prices rose.

Investors bought drillers, refiners and other energy companies as the threeweek rise in crude continued. Six of 10 industry sectors in the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose, helping the index extend its winning streak to a fifth day.

The ride up was bumpy, though, and the gains were slight. The S&P 500 gained just 0.09 percent.

That was its smallest increase in seven weeks.

“Today’s volatility is mostly about a little profit-taking and taking a pause after such a strong advance in recent days,” said Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital.

The Dow Jones industrial average increased 67.18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,073.95. The S&P 500 edged up 1.77 points to 2,001.76. The Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks, gave up 8.77 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,708.25.

Shares of consumer products and technology companies fell. Chipmaker

Specialist Vincent Surace, center, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks wavered throughout the day but managed to eke out modest gains Monday as oil prices rose.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Micron Technology fell 30 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $11.58.

With no big U.S. economic or earnings announcements, news from abroad appeared to drive much of the trading.

The price of iron ore jumped 17 percent on news over the weekend that China plans to run up its deficit to stimulate its economy.

China is the world’s largest buyer of this raw material for steel, and mining companies soared on the news.

Cliffs Natural Resources rose 54 cents to $3.43, a gain of 19 percent.

China also lowered its official growth target this year to 6.5 to 7 percent.

The slowdown has been rattling markets, although fears that the trouble could

spill over into the U.S. economy have eased in recent weeks as encouraging U.S. data suggest growth is solid. On Friday, the government reported that employers added 242,000 jobs to their payrolls last month, more than had been expected.

“The market is correctly pricing in a lower chance of global recession or U.S.

Activist investor pushes Shutterfly to pursue a sale MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Activist investor Ancora Advisors is stepping up the pressure on photo sharing service Shutterfly to negotiate a sale of the company or reshuffle its board of directors if a deal can’t be quickly worked out.

Ancora outlined its demands in a letter sent Monday to Shutterfly’s interim CEO, Philip Marineau.

The Cleveland investment fund wants Shutterfly Inc. to reach out to potential bidders following the company’s disclosure last month that it had received an unsolicited offer from an unnamed private equity firm.

Ancora’s letter identified the suitor as Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity firm in Boston.

Shutterfly declined to comment on Ancora’s letter.

Thomas Lee Partners also declined to comment.

When it revealed the overtures about a potential sale, Shutterfly said that its board wasn’t negotiating a deal.

“We believe it would be extremely irresponsible of the board to dismiss this unsolicited bid and eschew a strategic review,” Ancora CEO Fred DiSanto wrote in the letter. Ancora sent its letter a week after another Shutterfly shareholder, Eastbay Asset Management, urged the company to explore a sale.

Eastbay Asset is among Shutterfly’s largest shareholders with a 5.4 percent stake, according to FactSet. Ancora owns a 0.3 percent stake.

This photo shows the Shutterfly headquarters in Redwood City, Calif. Activist investor Ancora Advisors is stepping up the pressure on Shutterfly to negotiate a sale of the company or reshuffle its board of directors if a deal can’t be quickly worked out.

(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Shutterfly is currently looking for a new CEO after its longtime leader, Jeff Housenbold, stepped down last month.

Ancora contends the tran-

sition to a new CEO makes it an ideal time for Shutterfly’s board to gauge how much the Redwood City, California, company might fetch in a sale. q

recession,” said Brian Nick, head of tactical asset allocation at UBS Wealth Management Americas.

Investors are anxious over a policy meeting of the European Central Bank on Thursday as inflation across the 19-country eurozone has fallen back below zero. They expect further stimulus from the central bank, possibly including a cut in deposit rates further into negative territory. The Bank for International Settlements, which helps coordinate monetary policy around the world, warned on Monday of a “gathering storm” as central banks run out of room to stimulate their economies.

European markets were mostly lower, with France’s CAC-40 and Britain’s FTSE 100 each losing 0.3 percent.

Germany’s DAX dropped 0.5 percent.

Benchmark U.S. crude added $1.98, or 5.5 percent, to close at $37.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The 10 biggest gainers in the S&P 500 were drillers and other energy-related companies. Murphy Oil rose $2.99, or nearly 13 percent, to $26.69.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei retreated 0.6 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent. Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.1 percent. In other energy trading, Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose $2.12, or 5.5 percent, to $40.84 a barrel.

Wholesale gasoline rose 6.1 cents to $1.393 a gallon, heating oil rose 6.1 cents to $1.223 a gallon and natural gas rose 2.4 cents to $1.69 per 1,000 cubic feet.

U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.90 percent from 1.87 percent on Friday. The euro rose to $1.1013 from $1.0999 and the dollar fell to 113.27 yen from 114.02 yen.

Precious and industrial metals futures ended mixed.

Gold fell $6.70 to $1,264 an ounce, silver slipped six cents to $15.63 an ounce and copper rose a penny to $2.28 a pound.q

BUSINESS A25

Tuesday 8 March 2016

State, Wells Fargo charged with fraud for 38 Studios deal MICHELLE R. SMITH JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged Rhode Island’s economic development agency and Wells Fargo with defrauding investors in the state’s disastrous $75 million deal with 38 Studios, the failed video game company started by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

The civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Providence, accuses the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Wells Fargo Securities of making materially misleading statements when they sold the bonds used to fund the deal.

Schilling moved his company from Massachusetts to Rhode Island in 2010, after the agency agreed to give it a $75 million loan guarantee. The deal was financed through bonds offered to investors. Less than two years later, 38 Studios ran out of money and closed its doors, filing for bankruptcy.

Schilling is not accused of wrongdoing in the SEC action, but he and others, including Wells Fargo, are being sued by the economic development agency in state court. That case has so far netted nearly $17

A buyer looks through his auction catalogue while standing in a room full of computers during an auction of the remnants of 38 Studios, former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s video gaming company, in Providence, R.I. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, March 7, 2016, charged Rhode Island’s economic development agency and Wells Fargo with defrauding investors in the state’s disastrous $75 million deal with the gaming company.

(AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

million in settlements. Schilling has blamed state officials for failing to support his business venture.

A spokesman for Wells Fargo disputed the SEC’s allegations and said the company will respond in court.

Also named in the SEC complaint are former agency officials Keith Stokes and Michael Saul, and Peter Cannava, a Wells Fargo banker on the transaction. Stokes and Saul agreed to settle the SEC charges without

admitting or denying the allegations and must each pay a $25,000 penalty.

The SEC complaint says the officials knew that 38 Studios needed at least $75 million to bring its game, code-named “Project Copernicus,” to completion.

But under the deal with the state, the company would receive only $50 million of proceeds from the bond offering. Despite that, the bond offering documents failed to disclose the fund-

ing gap, the complaint alleges.

“38 Studios’ funding gap was known at the time the Bond Placement Memo was sent to investors. It was not speculative. It was an existing risk that should have been disclosed to potential investors in the offering,” the complaint says.

Wells Fargo also had a “dual role” in the offering, the SEC alleged, representing both the state agency and 38 Studios, a potential

conflict of interest it didn’t disclose to investors.

Cannava’s lawyer, Brian Kelly, disputed the SEC’s contention that Cannava was the lead banker on the matter and said he would fight the action vigorously.

“The SEC is trying to scapegoat a mid-level banker instead of focusing on the mistakes of Rhode Island politicians,” he said.

Stokes’ lawyer, Scott Morvillo, said the settlement represents what his client hopes is the final chapter in the matter.

Other representatives for those named in the action didn’t immediately comment.

In a separate but related action Monday, the SEC announced it settled charges with the bond offering’s financial adviser, First Southwest Company, which agreed to pay $192,400 and didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing. First Southwest is among those being sued in the state court lawsuit. The company’s spokeswoman, Patti Doyle, characterized the SEC case as a “very minor administrative matter” and said it shouldn’t affect the state lawsuit.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said she wasn’t sure how the SEC action would affect the state lawsuit.q

Verizon to pay $1.4M in ‘supercookie’ FCC settlement NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon will pay a $1.35 million fine over its “supercookie” that the government said followed phone customers on the Internet without their permission. Verizon will also have to get an explicit “yes” from customers for some kinds of tracking.

The supercookies landed their name because they were hard, or near-impossible, to block. Verizon uses them to deliver targeted ads to cellphone customers. The company wants to expand its advertising and mediabusiness and bought AOL for its digital ad technology in 2015.

The Federal Communications Commission said Mon-

day that it found that Verizon began using the supercookies with consumers in December 2012, but didn’t disclose the program until October 2014. Verizon updated its privacy policy to disclose the trackers in March 2015 and gave people an option then to opt out.

The FCC settlement says consumers now must opt in to letting Verizon share data with a third party. But for data-collection and sharing within Verizon itself, the company can choose to have customers either opt in or automatically do it and give consumers the option to stop it, a less stringent requirement.

The New York company has already changed some practices that critics considered most invasive.

In an emailed statement, the company said that the FCC settlement recognizes that it had already made adjustments to its ad programs that give consumers more choices.

Nate Cardozo, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy watchdog that had been critical of the supercookies, said the settlement was an “unqualified win” for consumers.

“Today’s order will mean that other companies contemplating similar involun-

tary tracking will think twice before proceeding with-

out explicit consumer consent,” he wrote in an email.

A26 COMICS

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Cuban entrepreneurs Continued from page 10

Math and science are also taught privately, in less formal settings that more closely resemble group private tutoring.

“It’s a sacrifice for every Cuban but we try to do it for them, for their future, so that they can get ahead in life,” said Doralkis Vinas, a homemaker whose husband works in a private automobile body shop.

Their son Julito takes Eng-

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lish at the Cuban School of Foreign Languages, which opened five years ago and now has four branches in Havana and two opening in western Pinar del Rio province.

The network, known by its Spanish acronym ECLEX, has hired a staff of moonlighting or retired public school teachers like Lage, who retired from the University of Havana last year after 37 years teaching English. The project has about 800 students across Cuba, said Yureibys Perez Blanco, the school’s director-general, making it among the biggest of about 30 private English institutions in Havana. Besides elementary English, it is starting to offer specialized courses for law, accounting, management, medical English and tourism, she said.

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A28 SCIENCE

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Revamped satellite data shows no pause in global warming SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Climate change doubters may have lost one of their key talking points: a particular satellite temperature dataset that had seemed to show no warming for the past 18 years.

The Remote Sensing System temperature data, promoted by many who reject mainstream climatescience and most recently

by Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, now shows a slight warming since 1998. Ground temperature measurements, which many scientists call more accurate, all show warming in the past 18 years.

“There are people that like to claim there was no warming; they really can’t claim that anymore,” said Carl Mears, the scientist who runs the Remote Sensing System temperature data tracking.

The change resulted from an adjustment Mears made to the fix a nagging discrepancy in the data from 15 satellites.

well supported in a study in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate.

In this May 24, 2015 file photo, a man pours water on his face during a hot summer day in Hyderabad, India.

Associated Press

The satellites are in a polar orbit, so they are supposed to go over the same place at about the same time as they circle from north to south pole. Some of the satellites drift a bit, which changes their afternoon and evening measurements slightly. Some satellites had drift that made

temperatures warmer, others cooler. Three satellites had thrusters and stayed in the proper orbit, so they provided guidance for adjustments.

Mears said he was “motivated by fixing these differences between the satellites. If the differences hadn’t been there, I

wouldn’t have done the upgrade.”

NASA chief climate scientist Gavin Schmidt and Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M, said experts and studies had shown these problems that Mears adjusted, and they both said those adjustments make sense and are

The study refutes the idea of a pause in global warming, “but frankly common sense and looking at how Earth was responding over the past 18 years kind of makes this finding a ‘duh’ moment,” wrote University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.

Chip Knappenberger of the Cato Institute, who doesn’t doubt that human-caused climate change is happening but does not agree with mainstream scientists who say the problem is enormous, said this shows “how messy the procedures are in putting the satellite data together.”

The other major satellite temperature data set, run

by University of Alabama Hunstville professor John Christy, shows slight warming after 1998. But if 1998 is included in the data, it sees no warming. But that should change with a warm 2016, Christy said.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Tuesday 8 March 2016

Celebs take to social media to cut trolls down to size JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — When Rick Ross posted a photo of himself on Instagram posing with Diddy, a woman joked on his page about the burly, bearded rapper wearing shades inside a nightclub.

Ross noticed — and didn’t take kindly to it. In retaliation, he replied with an insult about the size of the woman’s nose.

He’s not alone in responding to unflattering comments with vitriol. From Rick Ross to Rihanna to the Kardashians, celebrities are going out of their way to “clap back” at regular folk who have the audacity to come for them on social media.

“It’s for people to say ‘Oohh and aahh,’” said the rapper, who’s had his fair share of clap back battles on social media, mostly against 50 Cent. “Sometimes it makes you laugh at something that someone said. Social media is an avenue to say what’s on your mind.”

Clapping back is a way for someone to instantly gain the upper hand against an adversary who disrespected them, their family members or close friends. Most use social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram to fire back at someone (it’s not clear when the phrase originated or resurfaced. In 2003, Rapper Ja Rule released the song “Clap Back,” a diss track directed toward 50 Cent and Eminem).

Chris Brown is a repeat clap back offender. Nicki Minaj cursed out an Instagram troll who criticized the rapper’s supportive post of the N.W.A. biopic film “Straight Outta Compton.” Kim Kardashian pointed out the

poor grammar of someone who came on her page to criticize her.

It’s become such a regular occurrence that gossip outlets like The Shade Room regularly highlight the best celebrity clap backs in separate social media posts.

The woman who was the butt of Rick Ross’ insult, Holly McKelvey, said she was surprised by Ross’ unflattering response to her joke. Even though she saw a substantial increase of 1,400 followers after her spat with him, she endured enormous backlash from countless numbers of the rapper’s fans.

“I was shocked,” said McKelvey, a Texas native. “That was odd to me. It’s not often that celebrities come to somebody’s page. But oh my God, it was insane.

People were going to every single picture, any video I made, criticizing me.

They called me stupid, talking about my skin because I have really sensitive skin.

It was the meanest stuff ever.”

Rihanna is notorious for showing low tolerance toward anyone who dares to express negativity her way.

Last year, the singer responded harshly when she was criticized for not donating enough to a cause.

“My Prada shoes that I spent nothing on cant stop anyone from dying!” Rihanna wrote in response.

“However the $100,000 I just sent to the Philippines will!

Now eject reject witcho ratchet (explicit), begging for purses!”

Rapper The Game went on a verbal assault on Instagram in response to someone who made a homophobic slur about his son, called his other children ugly and the mother of his children old. The rap-

per boldly told the critic: “Tonite when you go to sleep I hope pitbull fleas infest your armpits ...”

R&B singer K. Michelle said she doesn’t try to stress over comments too much, but much like others, she is ready to respond when she feels compelled to put someone in check. She recently clapped back at someone for making fun of her post of the late singer David Bowie.

“I clap back for fun,” K. Michelle said. “I really don’t clap back because of anything else. It’s for fun. People say, ‘Oh, you’re hurt.’

No, not really. I’m really hurt for you because you’re pathetic.”

Even though K. Michelle doesn’t take it too seriously, some believe she and other entertainers should.

Jesse Mills, who runs an Atlanta-based branding agency, said clapping back on social media could benefit or hurt stars.

He said celebs shouldn’t let regular people or other celebrities get under their skin.

“You shouldn’t let anyone know they can penetrate your psyche,” Mills said. “Once someone sees that you are responding, it opens up a Pandora’s box for others who will try to antagonize you to see if you react to them emotionally.

It can create a vicious cycle.”

Usher, who is rarely combative on social media, echoed those sentiments.

“Be careful what you say and don’t take anything personal,” the Grammywinning singer said. “Don’t get me wrong. I have emotions just like any other person. I tweet little bitty humorous things, because I think it’s funny. But you have to be impeccable with your words.”q

In this Dec. 5, 2015 file photo, Rick Ross performs during Hot 97’s “Busta Rhymes & Friends: Hot For The Holidays” in Newark, N.J. Associated Press

A30 PEOPLE

Tuesday 8 March 2016

& ARTS

Will ‘Downton Abbey: The Movie’ be next?

LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Downton Abbey,” the TV series, is over, leaving us with a hollow ache that nothing can relieve.

Nothing but “Downton Abbey,” the film, which remains under serious consideration by series creator Julian Fellowes and executive producer Gareth Neame.

“Julian and I would like to make the movie. We’re having detailed thinking about it all,” Neame said.

“But there’s a lot to be worked out. Turning a TV show into a movie is not straightforward, it doesn’t happen very often and it’s not uncomplicated.”

Reassembling the large ensemble cast, many of whom have moved on to other projects, is one challenge.

“That can sometimes take a while. But in principle, those of us who have given

many years of our lives over to the show would be keen to do it if we could make it work,” Neame said.

Fellowes, who wrote every episode of the hit PBS drama in its six seasons, would have to carve time out of his schedule. He’s busy now with “The Gilded Age,” NBC’s series about well-heeled 19th-century Americans that’s expected to debut in 2017.

Neame, as managing director of NBC Universalowned British production company Carnival Films, has responsibilities including the TV series “The Last Kingdom.”

Then there’s the challenge of how to revisit the “Downton” saga. For starters, Neame said, there would be no drastic fast-forward in the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and those who serve them. The series ended Sunday with the arrival of 1926.

“If you jump 20 years and

This image released by PBS shows Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary in a scene from the final season of “Downton Abbey.” The series finale airs in the U.S. on Sunday.

Associated Press

you have the children as adults, the fans are going to watch new actors and

Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) is going to have to wear a gray wig,” Neame

C.J. Box writes another stellar entry in Joe Pickett series JEFF AYERS Associated Press After the events of the previous novel “Endangered,” Nate Romanowksi has been living off the grid. He uses his survival skills to stay off the radar to protect both himself and the people he cares about.

One morning, men from a top-secret government agency arrive to recruit him for a mission. If he’s successful, his record will be expunged and he can go back to his normal life. The assignment involves chasing down a journalist who is believed to be planning a terrorist attack.

Joe Pickett’s daughter Sheridan, a college student, decides to go with her roommate to a nighttime rally out in the middle of the wilderness. Joe is investigating another case, but when it leads to the Red Desert of Wyoming, it will clash directly with both Sheridan and Romanowski.

Pickett and Romanowski each have a dream in which they are alone and about to die, but they know the other one is there to assist and save the day. They are brothers in spirit, and it’s compelling to follow their two separate stories up to the inevitable crash when they have to rely on each other to survive.

Picking up a new C.J. Box thriller is like spending quality time with family you love and have missed. The author knows how to create an exciting reading experience for both loyal fans as well as newcomers who have never heard of Pickett or Romanowski, and he does it once again in “Off the Grid.”

It’s a rare thriller series that has characters grow and change without becoming stale.q

This book cover image released by G.P. Putnam’s Sons shows “Off the Grid,” by C.J. Box. Associated Press

said. “That’s too far removed from what people love. So we have to give them the same characters but in a new scenario, a fresh kind of story.”

Kevin Doyle, who played butler-turned-teacher Mr. Molesley, said he’s discussed the possibility of a film with other cast members and found “a sort of general acceptance that it might well get made.”

But, he added, “I’m not convinced it’s necessary.

I think the story has kind of been told. I’m not sure what more we could tell or should tell about those characters.”

A movie based on a characterdriven TV drama, period or not, is a true rarity. Shows that have jumped to the big screen, with mixed success, are either comedies (“Entourage,” ‘’Sex and the City”), police or action dramas (“The Untouchables,” the “Mission: Impossible” franchise) or in the sci-fi genre (“The X-Files,” ‘’Star Trek”). If a “Downton Abbey” film does come to pass, Neame said, it would probably happen in the next couple of years.

So what to do while we wait and hope? Watch every “Downton” episode again, of course. And again.q

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Tuesday 8 March 2016

How Matt Damon may kickstart China’s global movie ambitions RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — China has a new ally in its campaign to turn itself into a global cultural superpower: Matt Damon. And, behind him, a good chunk of Hollywood as well.

Chinese leaders have long sought international cultural influence, aka “soft power,” commensurate with the nation’s economic might. That’s brought us official Confucian institutes scattered across the world, billions of dollars in development aid and awe-inspiring Olympic ceremonies. But China’s own film industry remains a mere flicker on the global screen.

Which is where Damon comes in. Early next year, the star of “The Martian” will headline “The Great Wall,” a historical epic filmed in China with Chinese and American stars, a famous Chinese director, a cast and crew of roughly 1,300, a $150 million budget and some nasty monsters. (Not to mention the support of the Chinese government.) If all goes according to plan, the film could be China’s first international blockbuster — one that might presage a wave of similar films intended to present a new face of China to the world.

That’s a lot to expect from a decidedly unusual action flick. In “The Great Wall,” Damon plays a wandering European mercenary in the pre-gunpowder era who stumbles across the titular structure and learns what it’s really for. (Hint: Those monsters might be involved.)

But film-industry types on both sides of the Pacific believe this kind of joint venture could open huge new opportunities for all sides. For Hollywood, it’s about expanding markets and investment; for the Chinese government and private companies alike, it’s about harnessing American stars and storytelling to help movies based on Chinese history, myths and cultural icons break out onto a global stage.

Chinese authorities “have

In this July 2, 2015, file photo, movie director Zhang Yimou, right, speaks next to actor Matt Damon during a news conference of their latest movie “The Great Wall” held at a hotel in Beijing. If all goes according to plan, the film could be China’s first international blockbuster, one that might presage a wave of similar films intended to present a new face of China to the world.

Associated Press

not made any secret of their desire to spread and to encourage and to develop soft power,” says Rance Pow, president of Artisan Gateway, a Shanghai-based research firm that tracks the Chinese box office. Regaling the world with made-in-China blockbusters, he says, is one way to do so.

Hollywood naturally welcomes Chinese investment to help fuel its voracious movie-making machine.

One Chinese company — conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group — snapped up an entire Hollywood studio, Legendary Entertainment, for $3.5 billion. Legendary just happens to be the studio behind “The Great Wall.”

Working with Chinese partners also offers a shortcut past rules that limit the distribution of foreign movies in China’s booming film market. That could open up a vast new territory to U.S. studios — at least so long as they play by China’s rules.

“For U.S. industry, these concessions are really about market access,” says Thilo Hanemann, an economist with Rhodium Group,

a research firm focused on global trade flows and government policies.

Of course, plenty could still go wrong. There’s no guarantee that either “The Great Wall” or another halfdozen or so would-be Chinese blockbusters will wow either Chinese or global audiences. Some previous efforts along these lines have been global flops.

This time, both Chinese and American movie executives think they’ve got the formula right. The most successful attempt so far is “Kung Fu Panda 3,” which has pulled in $314 million, including an outsized $149 million in China. Unlike its predecessors, the third movie in the series was produced by a joint venture between the series’ original studio, DreamWorks Animation and Chinese investors, including state-backed China Media Capital.

The biggest draw for Tinseltown is China’s huge and expanding film market.

Cinema attendance in the U.S. and Canada has been flat for a decade, but Chinese moviegoers are on a tear, snapping up tickets worth $6.8 billion in 2015, up

nearly 50 percent from a year earlier. At that pace, China could eclipse the U.S. as the world’s largest film market as early as next year.

But tapping that market has been a challenge. Chinese regulators allow no more than 34 foreign films to screen in China every year — far fewer than filmmakers release in the U.S. every month — and impose multiple “blackout” periods during which none at all can be shown. Regulators vary the length of the blackouts so that Chinesemade films eke out a majority of the market every year, Artisan Gateway’s Pow says.

Films like “Kung Fu Panda 3” and “The Great Wall,” however, get ushered to the front of the line. Because of their Chinese backers, the films qualify for prime release dates. Their backers also get to keep a bigger share of the box office than they ordinarily would.

So Hollywood has eagerly welcomed Chinese partners. From 2000 to 2015, Chinese direct investment in U.S. entertainment firms amounted to $4 billion,

according to Rhodium Group. That pace then skyrocketed in January with Wanda’s purchase of Legendary, which almost doubled that total by itself.

Chinese studios and investors have pledged another several hundred million dollars for Hollywood film slates. Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation and Universal have linked up with state-owned enterprises and private companies such as electronics maker LeEco and Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent.

That flood of Chinese cash makes possible epic films like “The Great Wall,” helmed by internationally acclaimed director Zhang Yimou and filmed at a multi-billion-dollar production facility still under construction in Qingdao on China’s eastern seaboard.

Legendary plans eight more Chinese-themed projects with similar budgets, says Peter Loehr, CEO of Legendary’s wholly owned subsidiary Legendary East.

“We’re hoping this is a model that works and that we can recreate it often,” he says.

But the Western appetite for China-centric films remains uncertain. Consider “The Flowers of War,” a 2011 film about the Japanese army’s vicious 1937 sack of Nanking. Despite star Christian Bale and a $94 million budget, the movie pulled in less than $500,000 in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo.

The brutality portrayed in the film turned off foreign audiences as a “kind of propaganda,” says Peter Li, managing director of CMC Capital Partners, a unit of China Media Capital.

Foreign co-productions could suffer a similar fate if they grow too heavy handed in an attempt to satisfy Chinese censors, who oversee all films released domestically. “If you promote socialist core values, you’re not going to succeed overseas,” says Stan Rosen, a University of Southern California political scientist.q