February 9, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Magnificent Parades Cap Aruba’s Carnival

Revelers enjoy the Grand Parade of San Nicolas as it winds its way through the colorful streets of Aruba’s ‘Sunrise City.’ This weekend witnessed the grand finale of Aruba’s world famous Carnival in true Caribbean fashion, with all the majestic and colorful sights and sounds that are synonymous with this fabulous annual tradition.

(CSP Photo/Nathalie Winterdaal) Page 13

A2 UP

FRONT Storm Imogen lashes Britain with wind, huge waves Tuesday 9 February 2016

(19-meter) wave was recorded off St. Ives in southwest England.

Sustained winds of up to 121 mph (195 kph) — the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane — were recorded at the Fastnet lighthouse near Ireland’s southwest coast. Met Office forecaster Emma Sillitoe said gusts of 60 to 70 mph (95 to 112 kph) were expected “quite widely” before winds eased Monday evening.

The storm caused cancel-

ations to trains, planes and ferries, and travelers were being warned to take care when driving.

The Severn Bridge between England and Wales was shut because of dangerous winds.

Several buildings were damaged — including a bank that had its roof ripped off — and rescuers said two children suffered serious leg injuries when a stone wall collapsed on them in a central England village.q

Hundreds of thousands celebrate Carnival in Cologne Waves crash over the sea wall at Porthcawl in Wales, Monday Feb. 8, 2016, as winds of nearly 100mph battered Britain after Storm Imogen slammed into the south coast bringing fierce gusts and torrential downpours.

(Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP) — A winter storm with hurricane-force winds and huge waves battered Britain’s coastline Monday, cutting power to thousands and disrupting

travel across the country.

More than 15,000 homes were without power as Storm Imogen hit Ireland, Wales and southern England.

Coastal towns were soaked by sea swells caused by the combination of strong winds and high tides.

Weather forecaster the Met Office said a 63-foot

A reveler celebrates during the traditional carnival parade in Cologne, western Germany, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. The foolish street spectacle in Cologne, normally watched by hundreds of thousands of people, is the highlight in Germany’s carnival season on Rose Monday.

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of Cologne for its annual Rose Monday parade, the culmination of five days of Carnival festivities that took place amid heightened security following robberies and sexual assaults in the city on New Year’s Eve. Police doubled the number of officers they had on hand this year in an effort to reassure the public in the wake of the Dec. 31 attacks primarily targeting women and blamed largely on foreigners.

Through Monday morning, police said they had recorded 542 criminal complaints, including 45 allegations of sexual offenses, including rape. Those numbers were roughly in line with 2015, when police said there were 50 sexual

offenses reported through the full five-day Carnival.

The Rose Monday parade almost didn’t happen at all amid severe weather warnings, but the city decided to go ahead while banning horses, large puppets and flags for safety reasons.

With strong winds predicted over a large swathe of western Germany, other cities, including Duesseldorf and Essen, called off their main Carnival processions entirely.

The migrant crisis was reflected in Monday’s Carnival floats, keeping in the tradition of topical themes.

One featured a caricature of Chancellor Angela Merkel standing in front of her signature quote of recent months, “We will manage it,” and the words “tough nuts.” At her side was a basket of nuts labeled “refugees.”q

U.S. NEWS A3

Tuesday 9 February 2016

US faces shortcomings in coalition-building for anti-IS war ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — To doubters of its strategy for defeating the Islamic State, the Obama administration likes to tout its coalition of 66 nations and claim strength in numbers.

But a year and a half into the war, some administration officials are acknowledging that this supposed source of strength has its own weaknesses.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered a glimpse of his own apparent frustration last week when he referred to “our so-called coalition” and suggested the slackers need to step up.

“We need everybody, and that’s all the Europeans, the (Persian) Gulf states ...

Turkey, which is right there on the border. So there are a lot that need to make more contributions,” he said.

So Carter is leaving Tuesday for Brussels, where he will convene a meeting Thursday of defense chiefs from about two dozen coalition countries, including most NATO members, Iraq and the Gulf states. He indicated he will, behind closed

doors, share with them details of the U.S. strategy for recapturing the main Islamic State group strongholds in Syria and Iraq.

“What I’m going to do is sit down and say, here is the campaign plan ... If you’re thinking World War II newsreel pictures, you think of an arrow going north to take Mosul and another arrow coming south to take Raqqa,” he said last week. And then he will run through a list of military capabilities — “boots on the ground, airplanes in the air,” plus trainers and other support personnel — that will be needed to achieve victory.

“And I’m going to say, ‘OK, guys. Let’s match up what is needed to win with what you have, and kind of give everybody the opportunity to make an assignment for themselves,’” he said. “The United States will lead this and we’re determined, but other people have to do their part because civilization has to fight for itself.”

A few coalition countries have made promises of increased support in recent days. The Netherlands, which has been carrying

Canada will end airstrikes against Islamic State militant group soon C. NORONHA Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s prime minister on Monday announced that the country will end airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq by Feb. 22, saying that “the people terrorized by ISIL every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help.”

Justin Trudeau, following up on campaign promises he made last year, also announced that the government will expand efforts to train local forces and rebuild the war-torn region.

Military personnel in the region will increase to 830 from the current 650 and provide planning, targeting and intelligence expertise.

“As I said many times throughout the campaign in my commitment to

Canadians, this is a noncombat mission,” Trudeau said. The Liberal leader said Canada’s contribution to the U.S.-led coalition’s mission against the Islamic State group is being extended until the end of March 2017.

The U.S. had asked coalition members to boost their military contributions in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State group after the deadly attacks in Paris in November. However, Trudeau’s promise that Canada would pull its jets was already part of his winning campaign.

“While airstrike operations can be very useful to achieve short-term military and territorial gains, they do not on their own achieve long-term stability for local communities,” Trudeau said during a news conference Monday. q

Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon. To doubters of its strategy for defeating the Islamic State, the Obama administration likes to tout its coalition of 66 nations and claim strength in numbers. But a year and a half into the war, some administration officials are acknowledging that this supposed source of strength has its own weaknesses.

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

out airstrikes in Iraq, said on Jan. 29 that it would expand its efforts to Syria.

Saudi Arabia indicated last

week it could send ground troops into Syria, although it was not clear whether the offer was conditioned

on U.S. ground forces participating. Canada announced on Monday that it will quit conducting airstrikes in Syria and Iraq by Feb. 22 but will expand its contributions to training Kurdish and other local forces and provide more humanitarian and developmental aid. Canada also will keep two surveillance planes in the region and conduct aerial refueling missions.

Over the course of a decade and a half of coalition warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. officials have frequently found themselves pleading and cajoling with the Europeans to contribute more, and they generally have responded with pledges to do just a little bit more. q

A4 U.S.

Tuesday 9 February 2016

NEWS

Obama asking Congress for emergency funding to combat Zika KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to fight the Zika virus and the mosquitoes that spread it here and abroad, but says “there shouldn’t be a panic on this.”

The virus is spreading rapidly through Latin America.

While most people experience either mild or no symptoms, Zika is suspect-

ed of causing a devastating birth defect — babies born with abnormally small heads — and pregnant Americans are urged to avoid travel to affected areas.

U.S. health officials say the money is critical for research into the birth defect known as microcephaly.

They also want to speed development of a vaccine and better diagnostic tests, and expand mosquito control programs.

“What we now know is that there appears to be some significant risk for pregnant women and women who are thinking about having a baby,” Obama said in an interview aired Monday on “CBS This Morning.”

And while experts don’t expect large outbreaks in the continental U.S., the emergency funding also would help them prepare for any local transmission as spring and summer approach. The administration

White House Press secretary Josh Earnest, left, and Dr. Anne Schuchat, center, Principal Deputy Director of the CDC, listen as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH/NIAID, answer questions from members of the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

is seeking the Zika money separately from the regular budget for the next fiscal year, which Obama will submit to Congress on Tuesday.

“For the average American, this is not something that will change our dayto-day life,” Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters at a White House briefing.

“Our focus is on protecting pregnant women and trying to control the mosquito.”

Most of the money would go to health officials for such things as improving laboratory testing capacity, education and establishing rapid response teams. About $250 million of assistance would be directed specifically to Puerto Rico though extra Medicaid funding for health services, and $200 million would go toward research and commercialization of new vaccines and diagnostic tests.

The remainder, about $335 million would go to the U.S. Agency for International Development to help affected countries provide training to health workers, stimulate private sector research and help pregnant women gain access to repellant to protect against mosquitoes.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Senator scrutinizes pharma links with government panel M. PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A high-ranking Senate Democrat is scrutinizing links between pharmaceutical companies and government advisers who recently criticized efforts to reduce painkiller prescribing.

Sen. Ron Wyden says he has a “number of concerns” about how panelists were selected and screened for an advisory panel on pain issues that includes government experts, outside academics and patient advocates.

Wyden’s inquiry follows a recent Associated Press story that found nearly a third of panelists at a December meeting of the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee had apparent financial ties to painkiller manufacturers, including the maker of OxyContin.

“These financial and professional relationships raise serious concerns about the objectivity of the panel’s members that deserve additional review,” Wyden writes in a letter Monday to the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. The pain panel attracted attention late last year after several members bashed a federal plan to recommend doctors reduce their prescribing of painkillers for chronic pain. The draft guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are intended to curb deadly overdoses tied to powerful but highly-addictive opioid drugs, including Percocet and Vicodin. Opioid painkillers and heroin — which is also part of the opioid family — caused 28,650 fatal overdoses in 2014, the highest number ever in the U.S.q

No new trial for priest convicted of sex tourism JOE MANDAK Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — A priest who was convicted of sexually assaulting poor street children during missionary trips to Honduras and said federal prosecutors wrongly withheld evidence in his case won’t get a new trial, a judge ruled.

The priest, 70-year-old Joseph Maurizio, was convicted in the sexual tourism case in September.

U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson rejected his appeal, clearing the way for him to be sentenced on March 2, barring further appeals. The Johnstown judge found that an accuser’s statement was wrongly withheld but wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the priest’s trial.

“Given the substantial evidence that exists in this case ... the court finds it unlikely that a jury at a second trial would acquit defendant,” he wrote in the ruling, issued Monday.

The appeal, which prompted a hearing before the judge last week, concerned a statement given by one of the accusers who told investigators he wasn’t “abused” by the priest.

The boy told a federal in-

vestigator that some others “think badly of me” because of his contact with Maurizio, before adding,

the boy’s use of the word “abuse” referred to one act and not to other abuse the priest was accused of

Somerset County Priest Rev. Joseph Maurizio arrives for his evidentiary hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016, at U.S. District Federal Court in Johnstown, Pa. A federal judge heard arguments that prosecutors may have wrongly withheld evidence against Maurizio, convicted of sexually abusing children in Honduras.

(Todd Berkey /The Tribune-Democrat via AP)

“Perhaps they think he really abused me, but that was not the case.”

But the judge agreed with Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Larson, who argued

committing.

The judge agreed with the prosecutor that the boy later clarified his statement to investigators, confirming the priest fondled him,

which Larson said was consistent with his trial testimony. Defense attorney Steven Passarello argued he could have used the statement to cross-examine the boy, which he opted not to do absent the statement, and the priest deserved a new trial as a result.

Passarello said he’s unsure whether he’ll appeal or ask the judge to delay the priest’s sentencing until another appeal plays out.

But the defense attorney said he was “very disappointed” in the ruling and puzzled that the judge agreed with the defense on so much but still refused to grant the new trial.

The judge agreed with Passarello that the statement favored the defense, could have been used to impeach the accuser, was wrongly withheld by prosecutors and was relevant to whether the priest was guilty or innocent.

Passarello said that, based on those findings, “I thought the ending of the opinion would be different.”

But the judge said the rest of the evidence, including testimony that another boy witnessed the fondling, was strong enough to warrant conviction.q

Vermont AG drops probe of environmentalist

DAVE GRAM Associated Press MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The state attorney general’s office has dropped its criminal investigation into whether an environmental activist operated as a lawyer without a law license in her advocacy for critics of large-scale wind and solar power projects before state regulators.

The office said on Monday it had examined the claims against Annette Smith and decided to take no action.

News of the investigation

had prompted a public outcry from Smith’s supporters and others, including newspaper editorial writers, upset by what they saw as a legal action designed to quash someone’s free-speech rights.

Smith, who is executive director for a group called Vermonters for a Clean Environment and is not a lawyer, held a news conference on Monday at the Statehouse before a crowd of nearly 100 cheering supporters. She sharply criticized Vermont’s system for

renewing energy projects.

She and her supporters maintain the backdrop for the complaint against her is a Public Service Board review process that is too legalistic and unfriendly to average citizens who want their concerns heard.

“What this has done is to expose what an undemocratic process we have for siting renewable energy projects,” said Smith, who lives in Danby. “It has also, I think, brought attention to the playbook and tactics of the wind industry in par-

ticular.”

Attorney Ritchie Berger, who represents major wind and solar power developer David Blittersdorf, confirmed on Monday that he was the source of the complaint letter to the attorney general.

He said the complaint was not an attempt to chill Smith’s advocacy.

“Rather, Vermont, like all states, prohibits non-lawyers from providing legal advice or preparing legal filings,” Berger said in an emailed statement.q

A6 U.S.

Tuesday 9 February 2016

NEWS

American Living:

Reborn Maine mill town offers lessons amid refugee crisis

Students and parents watch a high school basketball game between Lewiston High School and Edward Little High School in Auburn, Maine. The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in Lewiston, a former mill city in the nation’s whitest state, sparked a backlash. Fifteen years later, though, Somali shops, restaurants and mosques serve as an example of how far the city of Lewiston has come.

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

DAVID SHARP Associated Press LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in this former mill city in the nation’s whitest state sparked a backlash at first, complete with a rally of white supremacists and a pig’s head rolled into the local mosque.

Fifteen years later, the Somali newcomers are solid members of the community, as evidenced by its proliferation of shops, restaurants and mosques — and a championship-winning high school soccer team featuring players from Somalia and other African countries.

Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, a general store that caters to the African community, said she and her fellow newcomers have won respect

from residents through hard work. “When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think we need welfare, but we don’t need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education,” said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business.

As the U.S. prepares to accept thousands of refugees from war-torn Syria in coming months and years, this riverside community illuminates the challenges such newcomers can face — and shows that integration can be slow and painful, but ultimately successful.

Since February 2001, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500 on the Androscoggin River, in a prime example of what scholars call “rapid ethnic diversifica-

tion.” The first Somalis found Lewiston after a refugee resettlement program was established in Portland, Maine’s largest city.

Because of a housing shortage in Portland, they looked 30 miles to the north, where aging apartments that once housed Lewiston’s mill workers provided plenty of low-cost homes.

Despite the bitter winters, Somalis saw a safe place with good schools that was walkable and not too big.

There was no formal plan. It just happened.

At first, Lewiston residents didn’t know what to make of these newcomers who spoke no English, providing a challenge for schools.

Many knew little of Somalia beyond news coverage of a soldier from a nearby town who was killed in a Somali firefight that became the basis for the movie

“Black Hawk Down.”

Some locals resented so many black Muslims moving to a Roman Catholic community where the twin spires of the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul dominate the skyline. Rumors spread that the newcomers were getting perks like better housing and even free cars.

Then came a letter from the mayor to the Somali community in 2002, asking them to discourage their friends and family from moving to Lewiston, saying “our city is maxed-out financially, physically and emotionally.”

An out-of-state white supremacist group seized upon the discord to hold a rally.

Residents were bewildered to find their community painted as racist in the national news, and that low point became a turning point. They began to embrace the Somali community, and thousands staged a support rally far larger than the handful of people with the white supremacists.

“That was definitely eyeopening, to see that they support and accept us,” said Abdirahman Mohamud, Abasheikh’s son, who grew up in Lewiston.

Three years after the rally, when someone rolled the pig’s head into the mosque, swift condemnations followed. The governor at the time visited Lewiston to denounce the act, and police quickly charged the perpetrator.

Today, the smell of deepfried samboosa fills a store in Lisbon Street, and the aroma of basmati rice and goat meat emanates from

another. Shops feature colorful clothing and African staples like fufu flour.

Somalis have taken jobs with L.L. Bean, Maine’s iconic outdoors retailer, and other local employers.

The city’s unemployment and crime rates have dropped since the Somalis’ arrival, said Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau.

Refugees and asylum seekers will account for about half the city’s general assistance spending in the coming year, but overall spending is the same as it was in 1990, he said.

The success flies in the face of a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide that’s fueled by concerns over recruitment by Muslim extremists, something that could cause problems for Syrian refugees, said Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at the Boston College School of Social Work.

Immigration opponents include Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wants to ban Muslims, and several governors who have rejected the president’s call to accept Syrian refugees.

“Syrians, like all newcomer groups, will face both a warm welcome and serious opposition,” Egmont said, “depending on where they end up being placed.”

In Lewiston, which isn’t expecting Syrian refugees, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do — a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Tuesday 9 February 2016

After Rubio stumbles, rivals see opening in New Hampshire

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., works to charge up a crowd during a campaign stop in a high school cafeteria in Londonderry, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (AP) — Marco Rubio’s uneven debate performance just days before Tuesday’s pivotal New Hampshire primary has emboldened a trio of governors seeking to stem his rise in the Republicanrace for president. But if Rubio’s rivals can slow him in New Hampshire, they are likely to leave the Republicanrace with a muddled mix of establishment contenders and no clear favorite to challenge outsiders Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton found herself trailing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by large margins in New Hampshire polls after narrowly winning last Monday’s lead-off Iowa caucuses. Clinton aides worry that a big Sanders victory in the state could help him make headway among women and minority voters, important parts of the coalition that twice elected Barack Obama as president. Sanders’ strength with younger voters only heightens the threat he poses to what was once Clinton’s decisive national lead.

Clinton took a detour Sunday to Flint, Michigan,

which continues to deal with the fallout from a leadcontaminated water system. She called the water crisis in the predominantly black city “immoral” and demanded that Congress approve $200 million in emergency aid to fix the pipes. Clinton said she was making a “personal commitment” to help Flint in a message delivered not only to the congregants at a local Baptist church but also a more heavily-minority electorate in upcoming Southern primary contests that could help her build a foundation for accumulating enough delegates to secure nomination at the party’s national convention. Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, tried to prevent Clinton from cutting into his lead in New Hampshire. He drew another large crowd Sunday in Portsmouth, where he reprised his indictment of a “rigged economy” and “corrupt campaign finance system.”

New Hampshire traditionally hosts the first presidential primary election on the campaign calendar, offering a clue into what Americans want in their next president. The winners

will gain momentum heading into the next contests in South Carolina and Nevada which have markedly more diverse populations.

Among the Republicans, Rubio was downplaying his rough outing in Saturday night’s debate, while touting his overall campaign momentum after his thirdplace finish in Iowa, hoping to use that momentum to boost his chances in Tuesday’s contest.

Trump, who finished second to Cruz in Iowa, was pleased with his debate performance and place atop New Hampshire’s Republican polls, and he doubled down Sunday on his call for the U.S. to reinstitute waterboarding and even harsher treatment for interrogating foreign prisoners.

On NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday, Trump said waterboarding, accepted as torture internationally and now forbidden by U.S. law, is “peanuts” compared to what Islamic State group members practice.

Rubio is trying to fend off challenges from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. In the debate, Christie unleashed withering attacks on the first-term Florida senator, questioning whether Rubio has the experience and policy depth to serve as president — or whether he’s simply a wellspoken lightweight. Christie tripped up Rubio by calling him out in real-time for his reliance on rehearsed talking points.

The morning after, Christie declared the Republican contest a changed race.

“There was a march amongst some in the chattering class to anoint Sen. Rubio,” Christie said on CNN’s State of the Union.

“I think after last night, that’s over.” Christie and his fellow governors need that to be the case, given that they’ve staked their White House hopes on New Hampshire. Without a strong showing, each will face enormous pressure to drop out of the race from Republican Party leaders eager to rally around a single candidate more acceptable to the party establishment who can challenge Cruz and Trump, the top-two finishers in the Iowa caucuses.q

A8

Tuesday 9 February 2016

WORLD NEWS

Italy urges Egypt to help find Germany, Turkey vow effort to end violence who tortured, killed student

Migrant crisis:

SUZAN FRASER GEIR MOULSON Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — As

was “not just appalled but horrified” by the suffering caused by the bombing in Syria, primarily by Russia.

Monday that another 27 migrants had died after their boat capsized in the Bay of Edremit while trying

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shake hands during a welcoming ceremony in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. Merkel is meeting Davutoglu and other Turkish officials for talks on reducing the influx of migrants to Europe. Turkey, a key country on the migrant route to Europe, is central to Merkel’s diplomatic efforts to reduce the flow.

(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing violence massed at Turkey’s border, Turkish and German leaders pledged Monday to redouble diplomatic efforts to end the fighting around the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo and prevent more refugees making their way into Europe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after talks with Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, that she

Merkel said Turkey and Germany would push at the United Nations for all sides to adhere to a U.N. resolution passed in December that calls for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians in Syria.

Merkel was in Ankara for talks on how to reduce the influx of migrants into Europe, mostly via a perilous boat crossing from Turkey to Greece.

Turkey’s coast guard said

to reach the Greek island of Lesbos.

Her visit came after a Russian-backed Syrian government offensive around Aleppo sent up to 35,000 Syrians fleeing toward the border with Turkey in recent days.

Turkey has taken in 2.5 million Syrian refugees since the conflict began, and authorities say the country has reached its capacity to absorb refugees. q

FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy kept pressure on Egypt Monday to cooperate in finding who tortured and murdered an Italian student doing research in Cairo, insisting it wouldn’t accept convenient answers in the case.

“We won’t settle for purported truths, as we have said on the occasion of the two arrests initially linked to the death of Giulio Regeni,” Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni insisted in an interview published in La Repubblica newspaper.

“We want those who are really responsible to be found out, and be punished on the basis of law,” the minister said.

Italian media have honed in on the hypothesis that elements in Egypt’s security force, which have been criticized by human rights champions, had arrested the young man before his death because he was in contact with Egyptian labor activists as part of his research.

But Egypt’s interior minister retorted that his country’s investigators are working hard to solve the case and insisted Regeni had never been arrested, let alone picked up by his country’s security forces.

Asked at a Cairo news conference if Regeni had been detained, Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar re-

plied: “It didn’t happen.

We stressed that to many officials. We stress it once again.”

Asked if Regeni was a spy, the Egyptian minister replied: “Not at all. We are dealing with a crime committed against a foreign national.”

“There were rumors and talk in the press hinting and linking the security apparatus to the incident,” the minister said. “This is rejected.

This is not the policy of the Egyptian security service.”

Gentiloni’s remarks about “purported truths” referred to statements last week by some Egyptian authorities later denied - that two suspects had been picked up for questioning in the case.

An Italian Justice Ministry undersecretary, Gennaro Migliore, had even sharper words for Egypt’s authorities Monday as gruesome details emerged about the 28-year-old student’s brutal end.

Regeni’s “massacre is a very grave stain on a fundamentally authoritarian regime,” Migliore said.

The Cambridge University doctorate candidate had been living in Cairo for a few months, doing research into Egyptian labor movements and other social issues.

Regeni vanished on the evening of Jan. 25, as he traveled by subway after telling friends he was going to a birthday party. q

IRA faction says it attacked Dublin boxing event, killed man S. POGATCHNIK Associated Press DUBLIN (AP) — An Irish Republican Army faction claimed responsibility Monday for killing a reputed member of a drug-dealing gang in a machine gun attack on a Dublin boxing event — and threatened to kill more criminal rivals as part of a long-running underworld feud.

The outlawed Continuity IRA said its members killed 33-year-old David Byrne in retaliation for a 2012 kill-

ing of a senior IRA figure in Dublin.

That claim drew skepticism in police and political circles, where speculation has focused instead on welldocumented tensions between rival drug-trafficking gangs. However, members of IRA splinter groups run their own criminal rackets, have done business with both sides in that deadly feud, and have issued previous threats to retaliate for any attacks on their supporters.

Police have yet to arrest anyone following Friday’s daylight assault on fans attending the weigh-in ceremonies for a Dublin boxing event that attracted criminal figures from Ireland and Spain.

Witnesses say Byrne, a reputed lieutenant in a trafficking gang overseen by Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, was singled out by gunmen and riddled with bullets beside the reception desk of the Regency Hotel. Two other men were wounded.

Detectives leading the 100-officer murder investigation say the attackers were three men armed with assault rifles and dressed as police emergency response officers with balaclavas, body armor and helmets; a thin young man disguised as a woman and a heavy-set older man, both armed with handguns; and a getaway driver. Most of the suspects were photographed either during the attack or when fleeing on foot from the

hotel. Police say they have identified some attackers but suspect that some or all have fled Ireland.

The Continuity IRA statement, issued to the BBC in Belfast using an authenticating code word, said Byrne and his associates in the hotel were targeted in retaliation for the 2012 killing of Alan Ryan, Dublin leader of a sister faction called the Real IRA. “Continuity IRA units have been authorized to carry out further operations. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Saudi offer to send troops to Syria comes with uncertainty

Saudi security forces take part in a military parade in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia’s offer to put boots on the ground to fight Islamic State in Syria is as much about the kingdom’s growing determination to flex its military might as it is about answering U.S. calls for more help from Mideast allies.

(AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

ADAM SCHRECK ZEINA KARAM Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s offer to send troops to fight Islamic State in Syria is as much about the kingdom’s growing determination to flex its military might as it is about answering U.S. calls for more help from its allies in the Middle East.

A Saudi deployment runs the potentially explosive risk of confrontation between one of the Arab world’s most powerful militaries and forces keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in power. That’s if the Saudi proposal even gets translated into action.

Just putting the offer on the table gives the Saudis an opportunity to show leadership in addressing U.S. concerns that its regional allies aren’t doing enough to fight IS. It also puts pressure on Washington to do more as Defense Secretary Ash Carter and allied defense ministers gather in Brussels this week for talks on confronting the extrem-

ists.

Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, the Saudi military spokesman, made clear the kingdom’s offer is contingent on the support of the U.S.-led coalition battling the militant group in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which also has offered to deploy ground forces, are part of the coalition but have eased up on their contributions to the air campaign after earlier, high-profile sorties over Syria.

In Washington, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir implied Monday that his country’s willingness to send special forces to Syria was contingent on the U.S. leading the ground effort.

“The coalition will operate the way it has operated in the past, as an international coalition, even when there is a ground-force contingent in Syria,” alJubeir told reporters after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

“The U.S. is leading the international coalition against ISIS in Syria,” he said, declining to discuss

potential Saudi troop numbers, deployment dates or

targets. “There would be no international coalition against ISIS in Syria if the U.S. did not lead this effort.”

Saudi Arabia is far more focused on another war even closer to home. In Yemen, a Saudi-led coalition heavily supported by the Emirates is battling Iranianbacked Shiite rebels and a former president’s supporters who control the capital of Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country.

The Yemen intervention highlights Saudi Arabia’s growing assertiveness since King Salman’s ascension to the throne just over a year ago, along with the rise of his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The 30-yearold prince was named by his father as defense minister and second-in-line to

be king.

Prince Mohammed has announced the creation of a Saudi-based Islamic military alliance intended to fight terrorism. The bloc includes much of the Sunni Arab world, several African and Asian countries, as well as NATO member Turkey.

Not included are IS front lines Syria and Iraq, or Saudi Arabia’s chief rival, Shiite powerhouse Iran.

“The Salman doctrine is about projecting power and military strength,” said Dubai-based geopolitical analyst Theodore Karasik, who believes the Saudis’ offer for troops in Syria could portend other military expeditions in the region. “It may be looking for leverage, but it’s also very serious,” he said.q

A10 WORLD

Tuesday 9 February 2016

NEWS

Chinese visit temples, fairs to ring in Year of the Monkey BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and others around Asia flocked to temples and fairs to pray for good health and fortune on Monday, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

In Beijing, hundreds of thousands of people visited traditional fairs held in parks, as well as Buddhist and Taoist temples offering singing and dance performances and open-air markets selling handicrafts. Ethnic Chinese people in other countries celebrated the holiday as well.

Monday marks the first day of the Year of the Monkey — the ninth animal on the Chinese zodiac calendar.

The weeklong holiday, known as the Spring Festival in China, is focused on family reunion and is a time when students and migrant workers return to their hometowns. It is the

Chinese prayed in Jakarta, and the Sydney Opera House was lit red.

Performers participate in a lion dance at Ditan Park to mark the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. Millions of Chinese began celebrating the Lunar New Year, which marks the Year of the Monkey on the Chinese zodiac.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

country’s most important holiday.

Dancers dressed in lion costumes entertained the

crowds in Manila’s Chinatown, Indonesia’s ethnic

Travel agent Meng Su was lining up to burn incense at the Tibetan Buddhist Lama Temple in central Beijing, which is regarded as a popular tradition that brings good luck to those praying.

“Chinese people revere the power of nature and believe in gods, so we hope to express our blessings and that the gods can hear us,” said Meng, 39.

“It’s also a way for us to find some comfort.”

Another Beijing resident, Yan Xiaying, 29, said her mother had a clear target as the pair visited the temple.

“I guess my mother hopes that I get married soon,” Yan said, with her mother agreeing.q

Survivors pulled out from building days after Taiwan quake GLADYS TSAI Associated Press TAINAN, Taiwan (AP) — At least four people, including an 8-year-old girl, were rescued Monday from a high-rise Taiwanese apartment building toppled by a powerful quake two days earlier, as frustration grew among families waiting for searchers to reach their buried loved ones.

More than 100 people are believed to still be under the debris in a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar — the Lunar New Year.

Saturday’s quake killed at least 38 people in Tainan city in southern Taiwan,

all but two of them in the collapse of the 17-story building. Even though the 6.4-magnitude quake was shallow, few buildings were reported to have been damaged, which experts said was because Taiwan’s building standards are high.

Authorities have managed to rescue more than 170 people — the vast majority in the immediate hours after the quake — from the folded building using information about the building layout and the possible location of those trapped.

Five survivors were believed to have been pulled out on Sunday, and at least four on Monday. One of them, Tsao Wei-ling, called out

“Here I am” as rescuers dug through to find her, Taiwan’s Eastern Broadcasting Corp. reported.

She was found under the body of her husband, who had shielded her from a collapsed beam, the government-run Central News Agency reported. Tsao’s husband and 2-year-son were found dead, and five other members of the family remained unaccounted for, it said.

Teams also rescued on Monday a 42-year-old man from the building, and, later, an 8-year-old girl, who had been trapped for more than 61 hours.

Mayor Lai Ching-Te told reporters he briefly ex-

changed words with the girl, Lin Su-chin.

“She is awake, but looks dehydrated, lost some temperature but she’s awake and her blood pressure is OK,” he said.

Shortly afterward, rescue workers also pulled out a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman, identified as Chen Mei-jih, who had been trapped on what was the building’s fifth floor.

Family members of the missing flooded into the information center in search of their loved ones or to wait anxiously.

Tensions rose as some relatives, losing patience, demanded to speak to rescue workers directly to get

the latest information.

“Does that mean we are here to wait for bodies?” grandfather Liu Meng-hsun cried out angrily.

Outside, a woman stood at the edge of the rubble shouting, “Your grandma is here!”

Rescuers had detected life within the area where the 16th-floor apartment of her son and his family was thought to be, and were said to have heard the sound of a child.

Her son, surnamed Wu, got out of the building soon after the quake, but his wife and their 4-year-old girl remained trapped, according to volunteers assisting the family.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Pope’s visit to violent Mexican city highlights broader ills

A banner hanging at the entrance to a gated low-income housing development warns: “Thief! If we catch you we will lynch you. Yours, United Neighbors” in Ecatepec, a rough neighborhood on the outskirts of Mexico City. Pope Francis has already denounced corruption, violence and drug-trafficking in Mexico ahead of his visit this week, and he is expected to address those same themes when he delivers his homily in Ecatepec.

(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

MARIA VERZA Associated Press ECATEPEC, Mexico (AP) — One evening in September 2014, Mariana Yanez left her home in this crimeplagued Mexico City suburb saying she was going to make some photocopies. Then she vanished.

Months later, authorities called her mother to say her 18-year-old daughter’s head and thighs had been found in a sack in a

sewage-choked canal, but provided no other details.

Yanez’s disappearance is a story shared by all too many in Mexico and nowhere more so than Ecatepec, where Pope Francis is to hold the largest public event of his visit to Mexico when he celebrates Mass on an outdoor esplanade here on Sunday just miles (kilometers) from that canal.

“It’s not just one daughter,”

Mexican gang hangs banners, claims is “New Family” cartel MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A dozen people who were transporting banners proclaiming that a new crime gang was taking control in the western state of Michoacan have been detained, officials in western Mexico said Monday.

A state official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the banners announced the appearance of “La Nueva Familia,” or “New Family.” The official was not authorized to be quoted by name.

The name of the group suggests it is a successor of the Familia Michoacana drug cartel that was largely crushed in 2010 when the Knights Templar gang chased it out of Michoacan.

The Knights Templar was, in turn, displaced by armed vigilantes in 2013.

Photos published by local media showed banners hung in two Michoacan cities that featured crossed assault rifles, a shield bearing the letters “LNF” and the signature of “La Nueva Familia.”q

said Guadalupe Reyes, Yanez’s mother. “It’s thousands.” Francis has already denounced corruption, violence and drug-trafficking in Mexico ahead of his Feb. 12-17 visit, and he is expected to address those same themes when he delivers his homily in Ecatepec, a sprawling, dangerous, disastrously mismanaged suburb of 1.6 million people.

The pontiff’s decision to stop here shines an uncomfortable spotlight on the government’s failure to solve entrenched social ills that plague many parts of Mexico — inequality, ram-

pant gangland killings, extortion, disappearances of women, crooked cops and failed city services — even as President Enrique Pena Nieto has sought to make economic reform, modernization and bolstering the middle class hallmarks of his administration. One of Mexico’s most shocking crimes in recent years was the 2014 mass disappearance of 43 students in the southern state of Guerrero.

“His Holiness will be in the country’s violent, poor and miserable places,” and government officials will not be able to gloss over those ills, said a recent editorial

in Desde la Fe, a weekly publication by the Archdiocese of Mexico. “The trash remains below the red carpet, and Francis is not coming for the tidy and whitewashed trumpery of the event, nor the colorful confetti.” Known for his work ministering to slums as a cleric in his native Buenos Aires, the Argentine-born pontiff is no stranger to places like Ecatepec.

It’s the most heavily populated municipality in the country and part of Mexico state, where Pena Nieto was governor from 2005 to 2011 before leaving office to run for president. q

A12 WORLD

Tuesday 9 February 2016

NEWS

Haiti:

Martelly departs to make way for interim government

Haiti’s outgoing President Michel Martelly delivers a goodbye salute to supporters before tucking into his vehicle outside the parliament building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. Martelly made his farewell address to Parliament Sunday, leaving office with no leader yet chosen to fill the void left by his departure. Lawmakers are beginning a process to patch together a shortterm interim government.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — President Michel Martelly made his farewell speech to Haiti as he departed office late Sunday with no successor yet chosen because a runoff election was delayed for a second time last month amid violent protests and deep suspicions about vote rigging.

In a nearly 20-minute speech before a joint session of Parliament, Martelly said his “biggest regret is that the presidential elec-

tion was postponed.” Addressing the Haitian people, he said he worked as hard as he could to improve the country and was “ready to answer before the court of history.”

Martelly, who took office in May 2011, is departing on what was scheduled as the first day of Port-au-Prince’s annual three-day Carnival celebration. However, authorities called off Sunday’s festivities because of a tense atmosphere amid the political uncertainty.

Lawmakers are beginning

a process to patch together a short-term interim government to smooth political divisions and fill the void left

by Martelly’s departure.

Prime Minister Evans Paul remains in office for now, awaiting a provisional president to be chosen by Parliament in the coming days.

Haiti last created a transitional government in 2004.

That interim administration, which lasted for two years, took power in the chaotic days after President Jean Bertrand-Aristide was ousted by a rebellion and a

U.N. peacekeeping force came to stabilize the country.

This time, with quarrelling political factions throwing Haiti into an electoral and constitutional crisis, a lastminute deal was forged

by Martelly and lawmakers less than 24 hours before his scheduled departure from office. A special mission from the 35-nation Organization of American States was in Haiti to observe last week’s negotiations and help foster dialogue.

The deal announced Saturday says an interim government will rule until an elected leader can take office May 14. The twice postponed presidential and legislative runoff is rescheduled for April 24.

Martelly expressed satisfaction with the agreement, saying lawmakers “gave me a guarantee that the country is going to be stable.”

He handed over his presidential sash after his address and embraced many of the 23 senators and 86 deputies in the National Assembly. The senators wore black suits and hats while the deputies wore white.

Seven legislators were absent.

Senate President Jocelerme Privert said Parliament will accept nominations for a provisional president over the next five days. q

Tattoos rebound in Cuba after years underground ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Bent in concentration beneath the vaulted ceiling of his Old Havana studio, Mauro Coca draws a tropical bird in blue ink down the length of Julivic Marquez’s arm.

“That’s really good,” the 21-year-old art student says, and Coca presses his electric needle to her forearm. She winces as the needle buzzes across her skin, inking the first centimeters of what will take nine hours to become a red, blue and green quetzal, the brilliantly colored national bird of

Guatemala.

During the sinful heydays of the 1950s, tattoos were for the sailors prowling Havana’s waterfront and boozy tourists lurching from sex shows to gambling dens.

The socialist revolution drove tattooing even further underground, with health inspectors and police raiding studios seen as health hazards and vestiges of capitalist immorality.

Now skin art is on the rebound in Cuba, with hundreds of tattoo parlors operating largely unmolested across the country.

The studio where Coca works, La Marca, or The Brand, is the most salient example of Cuba’s new acceptance of tattooing.

The studio sits on two floors of a refurbished colonial building in the middle of Old Havana, the government-restored heart of the city, giving it the clear if tacit endorsement of the City Historian’s Office, the agency overseeing every aspect of development in Havana’s most important tourist attraction.

La Marca opened a year ago on one of Old Havana’s busiest streets and

has done some 600 tattoos for a mix of Cuban and foreign clients. It’s been used as a space for governmentsponsored art events and its managers say they’ve never had any trouble with the state despite their lack of a license explicitly permitting tattooing.

Like so many other activities in Cuba, tattooing is neither illegal nor explicitly permitted and regulated, leaving it operating in the gray area Cubans refer to as “alegal,” meaning simply that something lacks any legal status, positive or negative. q

Police: 2 dead, 6 hurt at political rally in Jamaica DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Two men were killed and six others were wounded when gunfire broke out at a rally of Jamaica’s main opposition party during the opening of this year’s campaign season, island police said Monday.

The Jamaica Constabulary Force has not released a motive but said there was no sign that the violence at the crowded rally in the northern city of Montego Bay was politically motivated. No shots were fired at a podium where Jamaica Labor Party leader Andrew Holness was speaking at the time.

“Based on our investigations so far, there is no evidence to suggest that the incident was politically motivated. The shooting resulted from a dispute among known persons who were in attendance at the public meeting,” said Police Commissioner Carl Williams.

One of the dead men was identified by police as a gang member from Flankers, a troubled community near the resort town’s international airport.

When the gunshots rang out, Holness was hustled off the stage in a city square as many of those who attended the late Sunday rally scattered in a panic.

Jamaica is awash in illegal guns and has long been ranked as among the most violent countries in the world.

Local media has reported that three people were killed, but investigators were putting the fatalities at two late Monday morning.

Jamaica will hold early general elections on Feb. 25. The contest will pit the ruling People’s National Party of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller against the faction led by Holness, who led Jamaica for just over two months before his party lost 2011 elections by a 2-1 margin.q

LOCAL A13

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Magnificent Twin Parades Cap Aruba’s Carnival 62!

ORANJESTAD/SAN NICOLAS –This weekend witnessed the grand finale of Aruba’s world famous Carnival, bidding farewell to Carnival 62 in true Caribbean fashion, with all the majestic and colorful sights and sounds that are synonymous with this fabulous annual tradition.

CONTINUED Next Page

A14 LOCAL

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Carnival 62 LAST LAP! CONTINUED

On Saturday, revelers enjoyed the Grand Parade of San Nicolas, which wound its way all day through the colorful streets of Aruba’s ‘Sunrise City,’ downtown San Nicolas. Before partygoers could catch their breath, the last parade of the season, the Grand Parade of Oranjestad, roared through the main boulevard in downtown Oranjestad on Sunday all afternoon until the sun set into the Caribbean Sea!

CONTINUED Next Page

LOCAL A15

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Carnival 62 LAST LAP! CONTINUED

And finally, last night revelers took care of the official business of ‘Burning the Momo,’ the symbolic final act of the Carnival festivities, where bad spirits are chased away, clearing the way for a healthy and prosperous new season.

CONTINUED Next Page

A16 LOCAL

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Carnival 62 LAST LAP! CONTINUED

The island’s enthusiastic revelers and traditionalists don’t take a timeout after the event, as many have already began planning for Carnival 63 on Aruba, which will kick off officially in November this year, and following tradition, will close the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday in 2017!

As we here on the island have already begun preparing for Aruba’s Carnival 63, we hope you have already begun making your travel arrangements to return to join in the fun next year!

(CSP Photos/Nathalie Winterdaal)

SPORTS A17

Tuesday 9 February 2016

GOING OR STAYING?

New York Knicks interim head coach Kurt Rambis talks to reporters after a practice in Greenburgh, N.Y., Monday, Feb. 8, 2016.

Associated Press

Knicks fire coach Fisher; Rambis gets interim job

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Basketball Writer GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) -- Derek Fisher had just finished a long playing career when Phil Jackson picked him to coach the New York Knicks. Just 1 1/2 seasons later, Jackson decided he needed someone else.

Fisher was fired Monday, with his team having lost five straight and nine of 10 to fall well back in the Eastern Conference playoff race. ‘’It’s time for us to make a change, turn this team around and move forward and get some wins and keep going down the road we had started here at the beginning of the year,’’ Jackson said at the team’s practice facility.

Associate head coach Kurt Rambis was promoted to interim head coach at least through the rest of the season. Rambis, like Fisher an ex-Laker player and a former assistant under Jackson, went 56-145 in two seasons as Minnesota’s coach.

Continued on page 20

Either way star QB can retire in style Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning (18) holds up the trophy after the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Santa Clara, Calif. The Broncos beat the Panthers 24-10.

Associated Press Page19

A18 SPORTS

Tuesday 9 February 2016

French Cuisine Daily chef’s specials Exclusive wines Free WIFI Located at The Village (across from Radisson) T: +297 586 5400 | www.papillonaruba.com| Open daily from 5 pm – 10.30 pm

Slalom champion Shiffrin returns to racing next week PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer Olympic and world slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin said she will return to World Cup ski racing next week in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, after a knee injury sidelined her for two months.

Shiffrin moved up her comeback plans when a slalom event was organized for next Monday at Crans-Montana. The American racer announced Monday on her Facebook page: “See ya in a week!”

Originally, she was targeting a return for the World Cup finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in March. With only three slaloms left, the three-time defending champion won’t be able to retain her crown in the discipline.

Shiffrin won two slalom races this season — both in Aspen, Colorado, and both by big margins — before tearing a ligament and bruising a bone in her right knee while training for a giant slalom race in Sweden two months ago. Her right ski slipped and then her knee buckled, before hitting some grippy snow that caused her to hyperextend her knee and skid into the protective netting.

“I never thought that I would have an injury because I have always worked as hard as I can to prevent injuries,” Shiffrin said in a release through

In this Nov. 28, 2015 file photo, United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin waves on the podium after winning the women’s World Cup slalom ski race in Aspen, Colo.

Associated Press

her ski sponsor, Atomic. “I rarely fall when I’m skiing.

If I’m scared in a situation, training or racing, I would tend to slow myself down before taking the risks and crash hard.

“I am lucky that I hurt two of the things in my knee that can heal on their own really well. If I had hurt my ACL or meniscus and needed surgery, I think this would have been a lot more difficult for me. But

I have thought about my knee like a big cut on my leg or something.”

While away, she said she watched every men’s and women’s World Cup race.

“I would pretend that I was skiing it and figure out how I might ski it differently than the other girls,” said Shiffrin, who turns 21 on March 13.

Shiffrin returned to snow in late January, with some easy drills. Steadily, she ramped up her training

and recently went through gates.

“I had to keep my speeds really slow so I didn’t put too much force through the joint,” explained Shiffrin, who will train in Colorado until later this week before flying to Switzerland. “We just wanted to see how my knee responded to being on skis and snow before putting energy into the ski.”

She said she never really considered sitting out, even though it could’ve protected her starting position for 2016-17.

“No matter how it effects my start order, I would really regret knowing that I was 100 percent and ready to race and decided not to anyway,” Shiffrin said. “I’m a racer at heart. I belong in the starting gate.”q

SPORTS A19

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Manning not confirming, but likely to retire on high that flew 10 yards out of the end zone but drew a defensive holding call that set up the game-clinching touchdown. On the positive side, he completed 13 passes for 141 yards and got the Broncos moving to start both halves.

Those small wisps of offense set up a few field goals, kept the Broncos in good field position — then allowed the defense to maintain the lead by making seven sacks and four turnovers.

Manning became the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl with two franchises. He joined his brother, Eli, and 10 other quarterbacks as multiple Super Bowl winners.

He’s been taking it week by week this year, insisting he’s not thinking about what he’ll do after the season. Now that it’s over, he’ll Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning holds up the trophy after the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Santa Clara, Calif. The Broncos won 24-10.

Associated Press

EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer SANTA CLARA, California (AP) — The best thing for Peyton Manning is that he won the Super Bowl.

A close second is that he never has to lace ‘em up again. Probably.

Constantly harassed, never quite comfortable, Manning walked away with his second Super Bowl title Sunday, thanks chiefly to Denver’s defense in a 2410 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Manning wouldn’t budge on whether this was, in fact, his last game.

“I got some good advice from Tony Dungy,” Man-

ning said of the first of four coaches with whom he’s been to the Super Bowl.

“He said, ‘Don’t make an emotional decision.’ This has been an emotional week, an emotional night.

I’m going to take some time to reflect.”

On Sunday, he looked all of his 39 years and more.

He was creaky, off-target at times. He got bamboozled into his first interception of this year’s playoffs and could’ve thrown a few more had the Panthers’ defenders had better hands.

Manning lost a fumble, as well.

His most important throw might have been the pass

have to decide whether he wants to walk away on top — same as his boss, John Elway, did after he won his second title back in 1999.

“He’s gone through a tough year with all the injuries and the other things that have gone on,” Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas said.

Manning spent the first three years with Denver rewriting the record book.

But this year, he missed six games with an injured foot, then came back as a diminished game manager.

On Sunday he had a modest passer rating of 56.6 that wasn’t that much lower than what he compiled this season.

He won by handing off a lot. The Broncos ran 28 times, including on thirdand-9 late in this game while nursing a lead. That never would have happened in earlier in his 18year career. Denver’s 11 first downs were the same as Manning would’ve racked up in a quarter a few years back.q

Biography of Brett Favre coming out in November

Former NFL quarterbaCk Brett Favre, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2016, speaks in the Hall of Fame press room in the the fifth annual NFL Honors at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, in San Francisco.

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Favre, selected last weekend for the NFL Hall of Fame, will be the subject of a biography coming out in November.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced Monday that it had acquired Jeff Pearlman’s “Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre. ” According to the publisher, Pearlman will draw

upon hundreds of interviews, including friends and family members.

The retired quarterback himself is not participating, but he did allow access to many close to him.

Favre spent much of his long and colorful career with the Green Bay Packers, winning three consecutive NFL MVP awards from 1995-97 and a championship in the 1997 Super Bowl.q

20 SPORTS

Tuesday 9 February 2016

NBA Capsules

Celts hold off Kings for ninth win in 10

BOSTON (AP) — Avery Bradley scored 25 points, Isiah Thomas had 22 and the Boston Celtics held off the Sacramento Kings 128-119 on Sunday for their ninth win in 10 games.

an 11-2 spurt that put the Nuggets in control after the game was tied at 86-all.

Kristaps Porzingis had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost five in a row and nine of 10 since they were 22-22 and looking like a realistic playoff team.

Jared Sullinger matched his season high with 21 points and reserve Tyler Zeller had a season high 17 with seven rebounds for Boston, which committed a season high 24 turnovers but shot 56 percent.

DeMarcus Cousins led Sacramento with 31 points.

Marco Belinelli and Darren Collison each had 16 points. The Kings have lost seven of eight.

NUGGETS 101, KNICKS 96 NEW YORK (AP) — Rookie Emmanuel Mudiay scored nine of his 15 points during a decisive fourth-quarter run, and Denver beat the fading Knicks.

Former Knicks forward Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton each had 19 points to lead the Nuggets, who won for the third time in four games.

Knickd

Continued from page 17 The Knicks have fallen to 23-31, dropping Fisher’s overall record to 40-96.

Jackson hired Fisher in June 2014, just weeks after Fisher was done playing. ‘’It’s a huge transition from being a player to a coach at any point in time, let alone the season after you retire from playing. So it was a very difficult situation, regardless of where he coached,’’ Rambis said. ‘’This is a historic franchise and this is a franchise and a fan base that’s used to winning and he started the process, and it won’t be finished and it may not be finished with the next two coaches that are coming in, but I think he was laying the foundation of doing things the right way and turning this franchise around.’’

But Fisher wasn’t winning

Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner (11) tries to drive past Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein (00) in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Boston.

Associated Press

But it was Mudiay, who was just 2 for 12 through three

lately, and though Jackson praised his work ethic, he had seen enough of the Knicks’ slow starts and faulty finishes.

Jackson also questioned whether Fisher took advantage of the experienced assistants Jackson hired to work with him, such as Rambis and Jim Cleamons.

Jackson, who won an NBA-record 11 championships as a coach, also told Fisher he may not have mentored him as well as he could have. ‘’There wasn’t really a consensus in our staff. We decided we need to have really good consensus in the working staff, interchanging of ideas and communication,’’ Jackson said.

The Knicks went 17-65 last season but upgraded their roster during the summer with the drafting of Kristaps Porzingis and the signing of veterans Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez.

Fisher then got off to an embarrassing start this sea-

quarters, who delivered nearly all the points during

Carmelo Anthony returned to face his former team after missing a game to rest his sore left knee, finishing with 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

CLIPPERS 100, HEAT 93 MIAMI (AP) — Chris Paul had a game-high 22 points, Jamal Crawford added 20 off the bench and the Clippers beat the Heat.

J.J. Redick scored 14 points, Wesley Johnson had 10 and DeAndre Jordan and Cole Aldrich grabbed 11 rebounds each for the Clippers, who won despite missing 14 consecutive shots in the first quarter and swept the two-game season series with Miami.

Paul started 0 for 9, but made two 3-pointers late

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson takes questions from reporters, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 at the team’s practice facility in Elmsford, N.Y. Associated Press

son during training camp.

He was involved in a fight with Memphis Grizzlies forward and former teammate Matt Barnes when he was at the home of Barnes’ estranged wife in California. ’No one’s happy about how that happened and what came out of that,’’ Jackson said. ‘’That was embarrassing for us and for Derek, but that had no nothing to do with what’s

happened here today.’’

The Knicks had the look of a playoff team most of the season but are stumbling into the All-Star break. Fans loudly booed when they fell behind by 19 points Sunday during a 101-96 loss to Denver. Fisher became the fifth coach to be fired this season and the second in New York. Brooklyn had already dumped Lionel Hollins. ‘’This is a very

to help seal it for the Clippers.

Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic all scored 17 points for Miami, which missed a chance to finish the day fourth in the Eastern Conference standings.

MAGIC 96, HAWKS 94 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Nik Vucevic hit an 18-footer at the buzzer and the Magic beat the Hawks.

Elfrid Payton, who set up Vucevic’s winning shot with an inbounds pass, scored or assisted the Magic’s final six baskets as they won for only the third time in 18 games in 2016.

The Magic had gone scoreless since Payton’s jump shot with 3:41 left, squandering a 94-86 lead.

Vucevic led Orlando with 22 points and nine rebounds and Evan Fournier, starting in place of the injured Tobias Harris, added 21 points. Payton had 12 points and 12 assists.

Jeff Teague scored 24 for the Hawks.q

talented team with strong character and I am confident they will succeed,’’ Fisher said in a statement. ‘’Obviously, I’m disappointed, but have learned an immense amount from this experience and hope to grow from it.’’

Fisher was a five-time champion playing under Jackson with the Lakers and known as one of the league’s smartest players. Jackson turned to him after Steve Kerr chose to take the Golden State Warriors’ job after he was on the verge of accepting the Knicks’ offer.

Former head coaches Tom Thibodeau, Mark Jackson and Brian Shaw all are available. Or Jackson could wait and perhaps make at a run at another of his former players - Luke Walton, who led Golden State to the best start in NBA history while Kerr was recovering from back surgery.q

SPORTS A21

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Hideki Matsuyama beats Rickie Fowler in Phoenix Open playoff JOHN NICHOLSON AP Sports Writer SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Rickie Fowler broke down in tears in the media center after his playoff loss Sunday in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, overcome by emotion talking about his family.

“The hard part is having all my friends and family and grandpa and my dad who haven’t seen me win,” Fowler said. “But I will be able to kind of hang with them tonight. I’ll be all right.”

He hit two balls into the water on the par-4 17th hole — the first in regulation and the second on the fourth and final extra hole — to give Hideki Matsuyama an unexpected victory.

“This one hurts,” Fowler said.

He blew a two-shot lead on the 317-yard 17th in regulation when he blasted a driver through the green and into the water, with the ball traveling nearly 360 yards.

“I’m hitting a chip-cut driver,” Fowler said. “Usually,

don’t expect it to hit on the downslope and then go 360.”

Using a 3-wood on the hole in the playoff, he pulled his drive into the lake just short of the green.

“Hit it solid,” Fowler said.

“Just hit it a little high on the face and it just got up and left a little quicker than I was expecting and wanted.”

Matsuyama birdied the hole in regulation to tie for the lead, chipping to 2 1/2 feet. In the playoff, he chipped to 6 feet and twoputted for the win after Fowler missed his 10-foot par putt.

“Surprised and sad that Rickie finished that way, but all I can do is my best,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “I was lucky to come out on top.”

Fowler forced the playoff with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th after Matsuyama made an 18-footer. They each shot 4-under 67 to finish at 14-under 270 at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course.

“The putt I made there was probably the best putt I have ever made in my life,” Matsuyama said.

The playoff was just as dramatic.

On the par-4 10th on the third extra hole, Fowler saved par with a 12-foot putt after driving into the left rough and skulling his approach long and right. Matsuyama made a 5-footer to extend the playoff.

They played the 18th hole twice to open overtime.

On the first extra hole, Fowler chipped to a foot to set up a par after leaving his wedge approach short and right. Matsuyama rolled his 25-foot putt inside a foot. On the second playoff hole, Matsuyama matched Fowler’s 15-foot birdie putt to extend it.

“Maybe from the outside it looked calm, but then I was nervous inside,” Matsuyama said.

The crowd of 65,330 pushed the week total to a record 618,365, shattering the mark of 564,368 set last year. The event broke its own golf record Saturday at 201,003 after drawing a Friday-record 160,415.

“It was a blast playing in front of all these people,” Matsuyama said. “I’d say probably 99 percent were cheering hard for Rickie, but that gave me the motivation to go out and do it and win.”

Matsuyama won the 2014 Memorial for his only other PGA Tour title, beating Kevin Na on the first extra hole.

The 23-year-old Japanese player tied for second last year in Scottsdale, a stroke behind Brooks Koepka.

Hideki Matsuyama holds the trophy after winning the Phoenix Open golf tournament, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Associated Press

Fowler missed a chance for his fifth worldwide win in nine months. He started the run in May at The Players Championship, and won the Scottish Open the week before the British Open, the Deutsche Bank Championship in September and the European Tour event two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi.

“With how good I’m playing, I know I can win,” Fowler said. “That’s the hard part.”

Fowler chipped in from 50 feet for birdie on the par4 10th to take the lead and added birdies on the par-5 13th and 15th holes to pull two shots ahead.

He missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th, the tournament’s signature sta-

dium hole, before giving Matsuyama a chance with the long tee shot on 17.

“It didn’t look very good,” Matsuyama said. “Then Rickie opened the door for me, and I was able to walk through it.”

Harris English shot a 66 to tie for third at 12 under.

Third-round leader Danny Lee had a 73 to drop to fourth at 11 under. The South Korean-born New Zealander began the day three strokes ahead of playing partners Fowler and Matsuyama.

Phil Mickelson followed his third-round 65 with a 71 to tie for 11th at 8 under. The 45-year-old former Arizona State won the event in 1996, 2005 and 2013.q

A22

Tuesday 9 February 2016

SPORTS

Top Cuban player slips away with brother to join U.S. majors DIONISIO SOLDEVILA Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Star Cuban infielder Yulieski Gourriel and his younger brother slipped away from their hotel in the Dominican Republic early Monday in an apparent effort to launch careers in Major League Baseball.

The departure of Yulieski and his brother Loudes was confirmed by Granma, the Communist Party newspaper in Cuba that serves as an outlet for official government statements.

The paper said on its website Monday morning that the Gourriel brothers had “abandoned” their hotel in “an open attitude of surrender to the merchants of professional baseball for profit.”

The elder Yulieski has been one of the Cuban players most highly praised by MLB scouts since he played in his first World Baseball Classic in 2006. His brother also is considered a good prospect.

His departure was a blow not just to the effort to keep talented players from fleeing overseas but to

In this July 19, 2013 file photo, Cuba third baseman Yulieski Gourriel warms up prior to an exhibition baseball game against the United States in Papillion, Neb. Associated Press

thesport overall on the island given his prominence,

said Ismael Sene, a Cuban baseball historian.

“Nobody was expecting this,” Sene said. Since the start of the flight of Cuban players more than a decade ago, “there hasn’t been a departure that’s hit baseball as hard as this,” he said.

Cuban sports officials contacted Dominican police for help in locating the 31-year-old Yulieski and his younger brother, Lourdes, said a baseball official, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue.

The brothers did not publicly disclose their plans and were in the Dominican Republic to play for the Ciego de Avila Tigers, who lost to a Mexican team Saturday and were eliminated In the past, Cuban players have established residency in the Dominican Republic in order to become free agents and not be subject to Major League Baseball’s amateur draft.

Yulieski Gourriel’s departure from Cuba is a defeat for the country’s attempt to prevent flight of baseball talent by allowing players to sign professional con-

tracts with leagues in third countries such as Mexico and Japan.

Gourriel was the most prominent example of the experiment that began in 2013, making $1 million playing for the Yokohama Dena Baystars, then returning to play a season with his pro team in Havana. After accounting for Japanese taxes, he paid 10 percent to Cuba’s baseball federation (which acted as his agent).

The Japanese team canceled his contract last spring after saying Gourriel had told them he was injured and needed to recuperate in Cuba.

Cuban and U.S. baseball officials are working to create a legal framework for Cuban residents to join the major leagues, but for the moment both Cuban law and U.S. law contain restrictions that make it impossible.

Cuban baseball experts say more than 200 adult players have left over the last two years, with many more junior players heading to other countries in hopes of an eventual major-league career.q

NHL Roundup

Ovechkin reaches rare milestone as Caps down Flyers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s Alex Ovechkin became the third player in NHL history to reach 30 goals in each of his first 11 seasons as the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 on Sunday.

Ovechkin joined Wayne Gretzky and Mike Gartner in the record books and moved within two goals of Chicago’s Patrick Kane for the league lead. Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen also scored for Washington.

Braden Holtby was stellar in net, especially on the penalty kill, as he improved to 3-0-0 in the second half of back-to-back starts this season. It didn’t matter that Washington went 0 for 2 on the power play to extend its season-worst drought to 0 for 17.

Michael Del Zotto and Nick

Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19), of Sweden, is upended as he battles for the puck against Philadelphia Flyers center Nick Cousins, right, during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, in Washington.

Associated Press

Schultz scored for Philadelphia.

CANADIENS 2, HURRICANES 1 MONTREAL (AP) — Sven Andrighetto was the only player to score in a five-

round shootout, leading the Montreal Canadiens past the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ben Scrivens stopped all five Carolina shooters, including Eric Staal on the fi-

nal attempt, to secure the win.

Max Pacioretty scored in regulation for Montreal, which swept a pair of weekend afternoon games after beating Edmonton 5-1 on Saturday.

Jeff Skinner scored for Carolina.

ISLANDERS 8, OILERS 1 NEW YORK (AP) — Kyle Okposo scored a hat trick after the Islanders opened a commanding early lead with three first-period goals as New York routed the lastplace Edmonton Oilers.

Thomas Greiss made 30 saves for the Islanders, who moved within three points

of the Rangers for secondplace in the Metropolitan Division.

Johnny Boychuk, John Tavares and Nikolay Kulemin scored in the opening period, chasing former Islanders goalie Anders Nilsson, who was replaced by Cam Talbot after Kulemin’s goal.

Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck also scored for New York.

Oilers rookie sensation Connor McDavid scored the lone goal for Edmonton.

In other NHL games it was Montreal 2, Carolina 1, SO; Washington 3, Philadelphia 2; and N.Y. Islanders 8, Edmonton 1.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Tuesday 9 February 2016

TV producers may start making you wait for new shows online ANICK JESDANUN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Golden Age of Online Television may be in peril.

Streaming TV has gotten popular as several online services such as Netflix make past seasons of TV shows available for bingewatching, while Hulu offers episodes from the current season.

Now, some television companies are balking at giving them timely access to shows.

The big worry: Making streaming TV too pleasant might encourage viewers to cut back or drop their cable service. Cable and satellite companies now pay TV networks billions of dollars a year to carry their channels. In turn, TV production companies make a lot from licensing fees paid by the networks.

Cord-cutting could jeopardize all of those arrangements, and the audience and ad revenue boost from the Internet might not be enough to make up for any revenue losses from traditional TV. Time Warner Inc., which has both networks and a production business, has been exploring the possibility of holding back some of its DC Comics superhero shows such as “The Flash” and “Supergirl.” If it took that step, viewers might have to wait years to watch the most recent episodes online; now, they’re typically available no more than a year after airing.

Hulu may be next. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Time Warner is in talks to invest in Hulu and has told Hulu’s owners that it wants to curtail currentseason TV episodes, which Hulu now makes available as early as the next day.

It’s not yet clear what such restrictions might look like.

Time Warner and Hulu didn’t respond to requests for comment, though Time Warner may reveal more of its digital strategy when it reports quarterly earnings Wednesday.

The tremors emanating from Time Warner are just the latest instance of es-

The apparent anxiety at television companies is common to any industry that’s faced what Harvard business professor Clayton Christensen calls “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” That’s when established companies find their big, lucrative businesses undercut by innovative rivals with cheaper — and, at least at first, less profitable — alternatives. The big companies can’t embrace the new approaches without helping cannibalize their own cash cows.

Viewed through that prism, Hulu has been a mostly successful half-measure. Its biggest accomplishment may have been to help accustom people to paying for TV over the Internet. GivIn this Friday, Jan. 17, 2014, file photo, a person displays Netflix on a tablet in North Andover, Mass. en that it was established Associated Press when piracy was rampant, tablished media compathat’s no small feat. nies looking to protect their Though Hulu still offers adestablished partners and supported shows you can deals, whether viewers like watch for free, more viewit or not. ers are paying at least $8 Hulu already has pulled a month for viewing on back in recent years. When mobile and streaming-TV it launched nearly a dedevices and for full current cade ago, the service ofseasons of some shows. As fered most shows from its of last April, the last time network parents the mornHulu disclosed figures, it had ing after they aired. These 9 million paying subscribers, days, many Fox and ABC a 50 percent increase from shows require a Hulu or the previous year. Netflix, cable subscription for nextmeanwhile, had 45 million day viewing. Otherwise, U.S. streaming subscribers viewers have to wait eight at the end of 2015, a 14 days — or a month in the This Saturday, June 27, 2015, file photo, shows the Hulu logo on percent increase. a window at the Milk Studios space in New York, where a replica case of Fox’s “So You Think Yet the traditional TV busiof the “Seinfeld” set was on display.

You Can Dance.” And for ness remains sizable — and Fox, Hulu now has just the can’t put the genie back war,” said John Buffone, an will remain so for years. Even past four episodes — not in the bottle,” said Anthony analyst at the NPD Group. with a 1 percent drop over five — for free.

DiClemente, an analyst at As services like Netflix and the past year, 98.3 million All online services, mean- Nomura Securities. “Once Hulu boom, he said, televi- U.S. households subscribe while, have been dabbling people are accustomed to sion companies are look- to a cable or satellite TV in creating their own televi- it, that’s going to be the ex- ing for ways they can hold service, research firm Mofsion shows. Netflix won ac- pectation.” onto more of those stream- fettNathanson estimates. colades for such original Traditional cable and satel- ing revenues themselves.

As a result, expanded shows as “House of Cards,” lite TV services have been The changes are especially streaming deals might not while Hulu commissioned in slow decline for years, noticeable at Hulu, which make up for what TV coma fourth season of “The in part because younger is owned by parents of the panies might lose if that big Mindy Project” when Fox audiences aren’t signing very television networks business continues to shrink. canceled it. Original shows up and are turning to on- — Fox, ABC and NBC — The fees that cable and help services set themselves line options instead. The threatened by changes in satellite companies pay apart from each other and decline isn’t big enough to the way we watch TV. Hulu television networks and stacould ease the impact of threaten cable and televi- has set itself apart by offer- tions to carry their channels any pullback in traditional sion companies immedi- ing new TV episodes faster are estimated at $60 billion TV shows. But for now, these ately, but they are taking than its rivals; making view- this year, up 6 percent from services are mostly about notice. And the numbers ers wait longer could limit its 2015, according to media giving viewers a chance to hide the fact that many appeal. research firm SNL Kagan. catch up on what’s been subscribers are opting for “Hulu’s DNA has been re- From that standpoint, Howshown on traditional TV — cheaper packages with cent episodes of TV shows,” er said, it makes sense to and giving viewers less of a fewer channels. said Glenn Hower, an ana- cling to older, well-estabreason to tune in.

“What we’re seeing is a lyst at the research firm lished partners — the cable “To a certain degree, you constant game of tug-o- Parks Associates. companies.q

A24 BUSINESS

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Stocks fall sharply as banks, tech sector take a beating

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. Wall Street rode another wave of selling Monday that sent U.S. stocks sharply lower, before a late-afternoon pullback stemmed some of the losses.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

AP Business Writer Wall Street rode another wave of selling Monday that sent U.S. stocks sharply lower, before a late-afternoon pullback stemmed some of the losses.

Investors unloaded materials, financials and other

stocks, briefly knocking the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 400 points. Technology shares, which soared last year, were targeted for especially aggressive selling, bringing the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index down

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almost 20 percent from its record high last year. The losses left major market indexes down for the second day in a row, extending what has been a dismal beginning of 2016 for the stock market, its worst start to a year on record.

European markets also fell sharply, with the worst losses coming in weaker economies such as Greece, Spain, and Italy. Traditional safe harbor investments like gold and U.S. government bonds were among the few bright spots in a market awash in red.

“Traders are worried that the financial market weakness that we’re experiencing is going to lead to weakness in the real economy,” said Jim McDonald, chief investment strategist at Northern Trust. The Dow fell 177.92 points, or 1.1 percent, to 16,027.05. The Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 26.61 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,853.44. The Nasdaq composite dropped 79.39 points, or 1.8 percent, to 4,283.75. The index is within 110 points of being in what Wall Street considers a bear market, or a 20 percent drop from its high.

For the year, the Dow is now down 8 percent, while the S&P 500 is down 9.3 percent. The Nasdaq has lost 14.5 percent this year.

The stock market has been

in a slump for much of this year after a lackluster 2015.

Several factors have kept investors in a selling mood, including falling crude oil prices, the impact of a stronger dollar on U.S. company earnings, and heightened concern that economic growth is slowing in China and elsewhere.

Fears of a global economic downturn are now heightening concerns that the U.S. economy could slide into a recession later this year. The market anxiety helped push bond prices higher, pulling down the yield on the 10-year Treasury note to 1.75 percent from 1.84 percent late Friday, a large move.

Investors looking for some positive outlooks for 2016 aren’t finding much in the latest wave of company earnings, either. Many of the companies that have reported quarterly results in recent weeks also gave weak earnings outlooks for this year, noted Bill Northey, chief investment officer at the Private Client Group at U.S. Bank. q

Apollo Education to go private in $1.1B deal NEW YORK (AP) — Apollo Education is being taken private in a $1.1 billion deal by a consortium led by private investment firm The Vistria Group.

Shares jumped more than 24 percent in trading Mon-

day morning.

The announcement comes about a month after the owner of the University of Phoenix and Western International University among others signaled that it may be looking for a buyer.

Apollo Education has had several lackluster quarters as enrollments at for-profit schools fell amid increased government scrutiny of the industry.

Shareholders of Apollo Education Group Inc. will receive $9.50 per share, a 37 percent premium to the Phoenix-based company’s $6.95 Friday closing price.

Vistria is joined in the buyout by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC and Najafi Cos. Tony Miller, chief operating officer of Vistria and a former deputy secretary of the Department of Education, would be Apollo’s chairman.

The acquisition, already approved by Apollo’s board, is expected to close by August. It still needs approval from the Department of Education, the Higher Learning Commission and state regulatory and programmatic accreditation bodies.q

BUSINESS A25 How to fix the euro: Top bankers urge closer ties

Tuesday 9 February 2016

DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The top central bankers from France and Germany are joining in an appeal to fix longstanding flaws in the euro currency by more closely integrating their economies and putting more authority over financial policies at the European level.

Francois Villeroy de Galhau and Jens Weidmann argue in an article Monday in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily that the 19 member countries must get moving on measures to make the shared currency work better and keep trouble in one country from infecting others. Those measures include increasing cross-border shareholding in companies, which would spread the burden of downturns as losses from a troubled company would be shared by investors in different countries. Such shareholding is a major factor in smooth-

ing recessions in the United States, but is less common in Europe. They also advocate completing a system of Europe-wide banking regulation and oversight.

The EU has implemented some aspects of the socalled banking union, aimed at preventing bank bailouts from overwhelming national budgets, but the scheme still lacks fullfledged deposit insurance at the EU level.

Such measures, combined with a new EU-wide investment program, could encourage investors to shift money out of savings and toward productive use in the economy, Weidmann and Villeroy de Galhau wrote. Ultimately, they said, the EU should decide whether to create a European finance ministry and fiscal council that would be subject to parliamentary control.

The finance minister idea has been proposed before but gained little politi-

The President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi waits for the beginning of a news conference in Frankfurt, Germany. The top central bankers from France and Germany are joining in an appeal to fix longstanding flaws in the euro.

(AP Photo/Michael Probst)

cal traction. The European Commission, however, is already working on a plan to expand companies’ opportunities to link up with investors through share mar-

Chesapeake: no plans to file for bankruptcy NEW YORK (AP) — Chesapeake Energy sought to assure investors Monday that it is not planning to file for bankruptcy protection. The announcement came after a news report that said it hired a law firm spooked investors and sent its stock plummeting.

The natural gas producer said it is working with Kirkland & Ellis to “strengthen its balance sheet” and currently has “no plans” to file for bankruptcy. Chesapeake said the law firm has advised the company for about 6 years. On its website, Kirkland & Ellis says it works with clients to help with litigation, taxes, intellectual property and restructuring matters.

Chesapeake has struggled as natural gas prices have declined. The Oklahoma City company has slashed spending, sold assets and cut jobs to save money.

Last month, it also ended dividend payments for its preferred stock, a move that saves the company $170 million per year.

The company is scheduled

People walk past one of the entrances to the Chesapeake Energy Corporation campus in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake Energy sought to assure investors Monday, Feb. 8, 2016, that it is not planning to file for bankruptcy protection.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

to report quarterly results later in February. For the nine months ended Sept.

30, Chesapeake Energy lost $12.63 billion, or $19.07 per share, compared with a year-earlier profit. Results were weighed down by hefty asset impairment charges. Revenue was $8.69 billion, down 45 percent from the same ninemonth period in 2014.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. fell $1.05, or 34 percent, to $2.01 in after-

noon trading Monday. Its shares are down about 90 percent in the last year.

kets. The shared currency, set up in 1999, was shaken by a crisis starting in 2009 over excessive government and bank debt in member

countries such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain, all of which needed bailout loans from the other member states.

A26 COMICS

Tuesday 9 February 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.

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A28 SCIENCE

Tuesday 9 February 2016

An icky new hero: Roach-like robots may help in disasters SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — When buildings collapse in future disasters, the hero helping rescue trapped people may be a robotic cockroach.

Repulsive as they may be, roaches have the remarkable ability to squish their bodies down to one quarter their normal size, yet still scamper at lightning speed. Also, they can withstand 900 times their body weight without being hurt.

The amazing cockroach inspired scientists to create a mini-robot that can mimic those feats of strength and agility.

The researchers hope swarms of future roach-like robots could be fitted with cameras, microphones and other sensors and then used in earthquakes and other disasters to help search for victims. The skittering robots could also let rescuers know if the rubble pile is stable.

Cockroaches “seem to be able to go anywhere,” said University of California at Berkeley biology professor Robert Full, co-author of a

This photo provided by PolyPEDAL Lab UC Berkeley, shows the compressible robot, CRAM with a real cockroach.

Associated Press

study about the prototype cockroach robot. “I think they’re really disgusting and really revolting, but they always tell us something new.”

The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The palm-size prototype, called the Compressible

Robot with Articulated Mechanisms, or CRAM, looks more like an armadillo and walks sort of like Charlie Chaplin when it’s compressed. It’s about 20 times the size of the roach that inspired it. And it’s simple and cheap.

Co-author Kaushik Jayaram, a Harvard robotics researcher, said the

most difficult part was the design, but after that he used off-the-shelf electronics and motors, cardboard, polyester and some knowledge of origami.

All told, the prototype probably cost less than $100, Jayaram said. He figures if mass-produced, with sensors and other equipment added on, the robots could

eventually cost less than $10 apiece.

In the past, when engineers looked at trying to create robots that could get into tight places, they thought about shape-changing soft animals like worms, slugs or octopuses, Full said. But the cockroach, which already is studied by roboticists for other abilities, has certain advantages, including crush-resistance and speed.

With nothing in its way, the American cockroach can travel 50 body lengths in a second, which would be the equivalent of a human running more than 140 mph (225 kph), Full said. When compressed, the cockroach slows to 20 body lengths per second.

Full and colleagues found roaches used a newly identified type of locomotion to ooze through cracks and crevices based on the ideal amount of belly friction.

Still, the robot designers have no love for the bug that inspired them.

“I’m still creeped out by them,” Jayaram said. “I don’t want them in my house.”q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Tuesday 9 February 2016

‘Good Wife’ creators welcome show’s end; possible spinoff?

LYNN ELBER AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) “The Good Wife” creators Robert and Michelle King say they welcomed CBS’ decision to end the series, allowing them to write its final chapter.

The Kings already had decided to exit as executive producers after this season, the seventh, leaving CBS to weigh whether to keep the critically acclaimed show afloat without them.

On Sunday, the network used its Super Bowl telecast to announce that “The Good Wife” was heading

into its final nine episodes, with the series finale to air May 8.

The Kings had just learned of the decision in the past week, they told a phone news conference Monday.

“We felt very fortunate and flattered that we’re being allowed to end the show .... the way we hoped it would end,” Michelle King said.

“The Good Wife” airs 9 p.m.

EST Sunday.

CBS may have faced the loss of series star Julianna Margulies as well. At an event last month honoring the Kings, Margulies joked in her speech that she’d only shown up because she would soon be out of work and needed the exposure.

The actress “was kind of up in the air” about returning as lawyer Alicia Florick, Michael King said. Margulies has won two Emmys for the role.

But after conversations in

recent days involving her, CBS, the studio and the Kings, the conclusion was that everybody “really wanted to go all together,” Michelle King said.

The couple, who are moving on to a new series for CBS, the comic political thriller “BrainDead,” said they had long envisioned “Good Wife” as lasting seven years.

To avoid spoilers, the Kings spoke in broad strokes about how their critically acclaimed drama will conclude.

Robert King said he likes shows that “end with some resonance,” citing “Breaking Bad” and “Six Feet Under” as memorable examples.

“What I admire an ending that feels inevitable and surprising,” Michelle King said.

There will be a return of characters who have been

offstage, including Gary Cole’s Kurt McVeigh, but viewers won’t see private investigator Kalinda Sharma, played by Emmy-winner Archie Panjabi.

Kalinda chose to disappear and “it wouldn’t make any sense to bring her back,” Michelle King said.

Asked about a possible “Good Wife” spinoff, she said “nothing’s off the table but there’s nothing formal. ... We’re not saying ‘no’ to anything at this point.”

Robert King said such a spinoff likely would be an ensemble drama focusing on characters who haven’t gotten as much attention, such as Elsbeth Tascioni, played by Carrie Preston, or Martha Plimpton’s Patti Nyholm.

“The Good Wife,” initially built on the response of Margulies’ character to a scandal involving her politi-

In this March 7, 2015 file photo, show creators Robert King, left, and Michelle King arrive at the 32nd Annual Paleyfest : “The Good Wife” in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

cian husband (Chris Noth), was centered on the world of Chicago law and politics.

In early January, CBS programming chief Glenn Geller told reporters that the network hadn’t decided the show’s future without the Kings.q

A30 PEOPLE

Tuesday 9 February 2016

& ARTS

‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ tops Super Bowl weekend at box office JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Coen brothers’ “Hail, Caesar!” and the Jane Austenmonster mashup “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” followed distantly behind “Kung Fu Panda 3,” which remained on top of

the box office over Super Bowl weekend.

DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda” sequel earned an estimated $21 million in its second weekend of release, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Joel and Ethan Coen’s ‘50s Hollywood satire “Hail,

This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows characters Po, voiced by Jack Black, left, and his long-lost panda father Li, voiced by Bryan Cranston, in a scene from “Kung Fu Panda 3.”

Associated Press

Caesar!” opened in second place with an estimated $11.4 million in North American theaters for Universal Pictures.

The two other major new releases struggled.

The Nicholas Sparks’ romance “The Choice” debuted with $6.1 million for Lionsgate. Despite expectations of a No. 2 opening, “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” bankrolled by Cross Creek Picture and released by Sony’s Screen Gems, eked out a meager $5.2 million.

Though the majority of weekend grosses are made on Fridays and Saturdays, Hollywood generally seeks to avoid competing with the football broadcast and instead sticks largely to counterprogramming.

The best Super Bowl weekend remains the 2008 concert film “Hannah Montana

and Miley Cyrus” ($31.1 million) followed by an earlier Sparks adaption, 2010’s “Dear John” ($30.5 million).

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, called Super Bowl weekend a trade-off for studios that sacrifice a day of moviegoing for the promotional benefit of the game’s mass audience. A number of movie previews were set to play during the broadcast.

“It’s one of those weekends that Hollywood braces for but they know how to course correct before it happens,” Dergarabedian said.

Playing in 2,232 theaters, “Hail, Caesar!” is one of the Coen brothers’ more wide-opening movies, but it earned a dismal C-minus CinemaScore from audiences. Starring Josh Brolin as a studio fixer in the

classic Hollywood era and featuring George Clooney and Channing Tatum as ‘50s stars, “Hail, Caesar!” is the Coens’ most broad comedy since their 2008 “Burn After Reading.” That film opened with $19.1 million.

Alejandro Inarritu’s Oscarnominated “The Revenant” continues to roll. Its global total is up to $325 million, and “The Revenant” led overseas business with $24 million internationally over the weekend. On Saturday, Inarritu also won best director from the Directors Guild Awards.

In its eight week of release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” celebrated a pair of milestones over the weekend.

It surpassed $900 million at the North American box office and crossed $2 billion globally.q

Super Bowl gets 111.9 million viewers, down from last year

BY DAVID BAUDER AP TELEVISION WRITER NEW YORK (AP) -- Setting television viewership records with the Super Bowl has become almost routine, but this year’s average of 111.9 million viewers for Denver’s victory over Carolina is down from the past two years.

That makes Sunday’s game the third most-watched event in U.S. television history, the Nielsen company said Monday.

Last year’s down-to-the-

wire contest between New England and Seattle keeps the record with 114.4 million viewers. The Super Bowl had seemed to know no ceiling in popularity, setting viewership records in six of seven years until this one.

CBS, the nation’s mostwatched network, had pushed the event hard the past few months, playing up the historical nature of the 50th Super Bowl game.

But Denver’s 24-10 victory wasn’t a sizzler, with defenses dominating the mar-

quee quarterback matchup between Peyton Manning and reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton.

Even more than television, social media reflected far less engagement in the game than there was last year, when the result was decided on a last-minute, goal-line interception.

Twitter said that there were 16.9 million tweets about the game, sharply down from last year’s 25.1 million. q

PEOPLE & ARTS A31

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Beyonce’s Super Bowl show bringing both praise and criticism JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press A day after the Super Bowl, people are still parsing over each frame from Beyonce’s halftime performance, trying to glean the messages, both subtle and overt, that made for a stunning display of unapologetic blackness and political activism during one of the most-watched events of the year.

The halftime show — seen by an estimated 112 million people — is drawing praise from her fans and consternation from critics.

While Beyonce hasn’t commented on the specifics of the show, the imagery speaks for itself. Beyonce’s dancers donned berets, sported Afros and wore all black, similar to the style of the Black Panther party, founded in 50 years by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in the Bay area — the location of this year’s Super Bowl. At one point during their routine, the dancers formed an “X’’ on the field, which some people are taking as a tribute to slain black activist Malcolm X. In addition, Beyoncé and her dancers raised a fist to the sky, reminiscent of the black power salutes of the 1960-70s, made popular internationally by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who raised their fists to the sky after winning gold and bronze at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Several people applauded her embracing the history of black activism and of her own identity. Her new song “Formation,” which she sang during her performance, includes the lyrics “I like my baby hair, with baby hair and Afros. I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils.”

“I think that you’re hardpressed to find that demonstrative an example of performative blackness on stage, on such a high profile stage,” said Damon Young, editor in chief of the websitewww.verysmartbrothas.com , on Monday. “Between the dancers coming out dressed as Black Panthers to the lyrics to the song, again ... I can’t

recall another time you saw that unambiguousness with a performance on a large scale.”

Melina Abdullah, a Black Lives Matter activist and leader in California, said it’s wonderful that artists like Beyonce “are willing to raise social consciousness and use their artistry to advance social justice.”

But not everyone appreciated Beyoncé’s performance.

Republican Congressman Peter King of New York immediately condemned Beyoncé for her performance, saying on Facebook “her proBlack Panther and anti-cop video ‘Formation’ and her Super Bowl appearance is just one more example of how acceptable it has become to be anti-police.”

(While there were no direct references to police on the Super Bowl field, the video, released Saturday, features a young black child in a hoodie dancing in front of a line of police officers, and graffiti that reads “Stop Shooting Us.”) And all of this comes during heightened racial tensions across the country, particularly in regards to allegations of police brutality.

Hollywood is grappling with issues of race as well, with Spike Lee, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith planning to skip the Academy Awards after no actors of color received Oscar nominations for a second year in a row.

Lakeyta Bonnette, a Georgia State University political science professor, said more and more celebrities like Beyonce are moving toward public activism.

In 2014, basketball superstar LeBron James and other NBA players wore “I can’t breathe” T-shirts to their basketball games: “I can’t breathe” were the last words of Eric Garner, a black man who died after a physical altercation with police in New York City.

But some people have complained that Beyonce injected politics into a sports event. On Monday’s Fox & Friends, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani slammed her trib-

In this Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 file photo, Beyonce performs during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl 50 football game in Santa Clara, Calif.

Associated Press

utes to black activism during the halftime show when performers are “talking to Middle America.”

“I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and pro-

tect us, and keep us alive,” said Giuliani, who said he would have preferred “decent wholesome entertainment.”

To be fair, it wasn’t just Beyoncé that the 71-year old Giuliani didn’t like. He called the whole halftime

show “ridiculous.”

“I don’t know what the heck it was. A bunch of people bouncing around and all strange things. It was terrible,” he said. “Actually don’t even know why we have this. I mean, this is football.”q

Gerson, scribe of ‘Monsters, Inc.,’ ‘Big Hero 6’ dies at 49 The Associated Press Daniel Gerson, who cowrote several Walt Disney animated films including “Monsters, Inc.” and “Big Hero 6,” has died. He was This July 12, 2010 photo released by Disney shows Dan Gerson. Gerson, who cowrote several Walt Disney animated films including “Monsters, Inc.” and “Big Hero 6,” died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, after battling brain cancer He was 49.

Associated Press

49.

Gerson’s family said in a statement that he died at his Los Angeles home on Saturday after battling brain cancer. Gerson was a frequent contributor for Pixar Animation, co-writing

both 2001’s “Monsters, Inc.” and its 2013 sequel, “Monsters University.”

Along with Robert L. Baird and Jordan Roberts, Gerson co-wrote Disney’s Oscar-winning “Big Hero 6,” an animated superhero

tale.

The New York-born Gerson got his start as a writer for the NBC comedy “Something So Right.”

Gerson is survived by his wife, Beau Stacom, and two children.q