January 13, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Obama Address Warns Against Election Year Cynicism

JULIE PACE AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama, entering the final year of his presidency, urged Americans Tuesday night to rekindle belief in the promise of change that first carried him to the White House, declaring that the country must not allow fear and division to take hold.

Continued on page 4

Vice President Joe Biden, left, and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin applaud President Barack Obama during the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

A2 UP

Wednesday 13 January 2016

FRONT

Pentagon:

2 US Navy boats held by Iran; will be returned

LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two small boats that drifted into Iranian waters after experiencing mechanical problems. Iran accused the sailors of trespassing but American officials said Tehran has assured them that the crew and vessels would be returned safely and promptly.

The sailors, nine men and one woman, were being held overnight at an Iranian base on Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf, and were expected to be transferred to a U.S. ship in the region on Wednesday morning local time. Officials said they believe the U.S. had spoken to one of the crew, and all 10 were fine and uninjured.

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook told The Associated Press that the Riverine boats were moving between Kuwait and Bahrain when the U.S. lost contact with them.

U.S. officials said that the incident happened near Farsi Island in the middle of the Gulf. They said some type of mechanical trouble with one of the boats caused them to drift into Iranian territorial waters near the island, and they were picked up by Iran.

The semi-official Iranian news agency, FARS, said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy has detained 10 foreign forces, believed

to be Americans, and said the sailors were trespassing in Iranian waters.

“We have been in contact with Iran and have received assurances that the crew and the vessels will be

ers.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who forged a personal relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif through three years of nuclear ne-

Department, the official said.

Officials said the sailors were part of Riverine Squadron 1 based in San Diego and were deployed to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet

Riverine Command Boat (RCB) 805 is seen in the Persian Gulf. Iran was holding 10 U.S. Navy sailors and their two boats, similar to the one in this picture, on Jan. 12, 2016, after the boats had mechanical problems and drifted into Iranian waters. American officials have received assurances from Tehran that they will be returned safely and promptly.

(Torrey W. Lee/U.S. Navy via AP)

returned promptly,” Cook said. The incident came amid heightened tensions with Iran, and only hours before President Barack Obama was set to deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress and the public. It set off a dramatic series of calls and meetings as U.S. officials tried to determine the exact status of the crew and reach out to Iranian lead-

gotiations, called Zarif immediately on learning of the incident, according to a senior U.S. official. Kerry “personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome,” the official said.

Kerry learned of the incident around 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) as he and Defense Secretary Ash Carter were meeting their Filipino counterparts at the State

in Bahrain. When the U.S. lost contact with the boats, ships attached to the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier strike group began searching the area, along with aircraft flying off the Truman.

Officials said a radio signal from one of the boats showed that they were on Farsi Island, setting off efforts to contact the Iranians. q

US welcomes ruling on Philippine defense pact M. PENNINGTON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Tuesday welcomed a court ruling on the constitutionality of a defense pact with the Philippines, saying it would allow the allies to strengthen their maritime cooperation amid tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippines accused China of using flashing lights and flares to challenge Philippine military flights over the contested Spratly Islands and said it

wanted to see more U.S. operations to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the region.

The top diplomats and defense officials of the U.S. and the Philippines met at the State Department Tuesday, hours after the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the enhanced defense cooperation agreement, signed by the two governments in 2014, is constitutional. The pact will allows American forces, warships and planes to temporarily base in local military camps.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter described the Philippines as a critical ally as the U.S. looks to boost its presence in the Asia-Pacific.

He said the two sides were discussing how to use the defense pact “to strengthen our maritime security capabilities and our role in keeping a peaceful region, a region without divisions, without tensions, and a region where everyone has freedom to carry out their affairs, including commerce.”

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Philippine Foreign

Secretary Albert del Rosario said they discussed locations where the Philippines can provide access to U.S. forces for “mutual benefit.”

The Philippines has increasingly testy relations with China over their territorial dispute in the South China Sea, where six Asian governments are vying for control of small islands and shoals in seas that a thoroughfare for about onethird of world trade. The U.S. is looking to support the ill-equipped Philippine military and counter assertive Chinese action.q

Italy autopsy: US woman strangled, maybe with rope FANUEL MORELLI FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — An autopsy has determined that an American woman whose naked body was found last week in her Florence apartment was strangled with an object such as a rope or cord, an Italian prosecutor said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo cautioned that more lab results are needed to pinpoint the time of Ashley Olsen’s death.

The 35-year-old had been living in Florence for about three years. Autopsy findings so far indicate that she died roughly in a 36-hourperiod between the morning of Friday and the early afternoon of Saturday. The corpse, with bruises and scratches on the neck, was discovered after her Italian boyfriend expressed alarm he hadn’t heard from her in a few days and asked the landlady to open the apartment door.

Olsen, originally from Summer Haven, Florida, was last seen by friends early Friday at a popular Florence nightclub.

It could be weeks before results of analyses of body tissue and fluid are ready to help experts narrow the time-frame when she was strangled, Creazzo said.

Laboratory results will also help determine whether Olsen had been sexually assaulted, Creazzo said, adding that there were no external signs of sexual attack.

There were reportedly no signs of struggle against whoever killed her.

Creazzo said at this point investigators have no suspects.

Olsen’s friends, in a letter appearing in an Englishlanguage biweekly in Florence, said they are hoping whoever killed her will be brought to justice.

“While we mourn her passing we place our trust fully in the Italian authorities to investigate this tragic episode,” read some of the sentiments in the letter in The Florentine. q

U.S. NEWS A3

Wednesday 13 January 2016

US House okays bill to sanction North Korea after nuke test

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. Speaks to reporters on legislation imposing new sanctions on North Korea on Capitol Hill in Washington. U.S. House Republicans and Democrats joined together Tuesday to overwhelmingly approve legislation that aims to punish North Korea for conducting its latest nuclear test.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. House Republicans and Democrats joined together Tuesday to overwhelmingly approve legislation that aims to punish North Korea for conducting its latest nuclear test.

Just hours ahead of President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address top both chambers of Congress, lawmakers passed the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act by a vote of 418-2. The bill proposes stronger sanctions that deny Pyongyang the money it needs for developing miniaturized nuclear warheads and the long-range missiles to deliver them, according to the legislation’s backers. Cutting off North Korea’s access to cash also makes it difficult for Pyongyang to pay its army and police forces, said Rep. Ed Royce, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “What we are concerned about here is the miniaturization of nuclear warheads that fit onto its most reliable missiles,” Royce said Monday on the House floor. “This threat is unacceptable, and it has to be aggressively challenged.”

The White House does not

oppose the House sanctions bill, said a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the legislation and requested anonymity. The administration is deeply concerned about North Korea’s recent actions, the official said, and will continue to use existing sanctions authorities to prevent financial support for North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

Republicans who have criticized Obama’s foreign policy as feckless used the timing of the vote to demonstrate that they are taking swift action to deal with threats to the U.S. while the president procrastinates.

“When America doesn’t stand up to dictators, problems around the world only get worse,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican. “Foreign aggressors take American inaction as a sign of weakness, and the result is only more instability and insecurity abroad.” The bill would use financial and economic pressure to isolate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his top officials from the assets that they maintain in foreign banks and from the money that sustains their rule, Royce said. These assets are derived primarily from illicit activities, he said,

such as selling their missile technology, counterfeiting U.S. currency, and drug smuggling. “And all of that is used to advance North Korea’s nuclear program,” Royce said.

A similar strategy was used very effectively a decade ago by the Treasury Department, Royce said.

A central part of the House legislation is to make socalled “blocking sanctions” mandatory rather than discretionary as currently permitted through existing regulations.

The sanctions are man-

dated against any country, business or individual that materially contributes to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development, imports luxury goods into North Korea, or engages with Pyongyang in money laundering, the manufacture of counterfeit goods, or narcotics trafficking, according to the legislation. Royce’s committee unanimously approved the sanctions bill in February 2015 and it remained there until last week when North Korea announced it had conducted a fourth

nuclear test — this one detonating a thermonuclear device with massive destructive power.

The announcement was met with doubt North Korea had set off a hydrogen bomb, which would mark a major technological advance for Pyongyang’s limited nuclear arsenal.

But it could take weeks or even longer to confirm or refute the claim. Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee received a classified briefing on North Korea on Monday evening. q

A4 U.S.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

NEWS

Obama address warns against election year cynicism Continued from Front “It’s easier to be cynical, to accept that change isn’t possible and politics is hopeless,” Obama said in

ics who have challenged his economic and national security stewardship, calling it all “political hot air.”

In a swipe at some Republican presidential candidates, he warned against

Obama’s address. Underscoring how the heated campaign rhetoric about immigrants and minorities from Republican front-runner Donald Trump in particular has unnerved some

Seeking to shape his own legacy, Obama ticked through a retrospective of his domestic and foreign policy actions in office, including helping lead the economy back from the

President Barack Obama gives his the State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

his final State of the Union address. “But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future.”

At the heart of Obama’s address to both chambers of Congress and a primetime television audience was an implicit call to keep Democrats in the White House for a third straight term. He struck back at crit-

“voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us or pray like us or vote like we do or share the same background.”

His words were unexpectedly echoed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was selected to give the Republican response to

party leaders, Haley called on Americans to resist the temptation “to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.”

“No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome,” Haley said in excerpts released ahead of her remarks.

brink of depression, taking aggressive action on climate change and ending a Cold War freeze with Cuba. Yet he was frank about one of his biggest regrets: failing to ease the persistently deep divisions between Democrats and Republicans.

“The rancor and suspicion between the parties has

gotten worse instead of better,” he conceded.

“There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”

Mindful of the scant prospect for major legislative action in an election year, Obama avoided the traditional litany of policy proposals. He did reiterate his call for working with Republicans on criminal justice reform and finalizing an Asia-Pacific trade pact, and he also vowed to keep pushing for action on politically fraught issues such as curbing gun violence and fixing the nation’s fractured immigration laws.

Yet Obama was eager to look beyond his own presidency, casting the actions he’s taken as a springboard for future economic progress and national security. His optimism was meant to draw a contrast with what the White House sees as doom-and-gloom scenarios peddled by the Republicans.

“The United States of America is the most powerful nation on earth. Period,” he declared. “It’s not even close.”

The State of the Union address, a kind of annual progress report from the president, represents one of Obama’s last opportunities to claim a large television audience as president.

However, the address has suffered a major drop-off in viewers in recent years.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Texas ‘affluenza’ teen’s mom released from jail

Tonya Couch, center, the mother of a Texas teen who used an “affluenza” defense in a drunken wreck, leaves Tarrant County Jail, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Fort Worth, Texas. She is to be fitted with a GPS monitor before release. A judge decreased Couch’s bond Monday from $1 million to $75,000. Couch is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon after she and her son, Ethan Couch, were caught in a Mexican resort city.

(AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The mother of a fugitive teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was released from a Texas jail on Tuesday, a day after a judge sharply reduced her $1 million bond for allegedly helping her son flee to Mexico.

Tonya Couch declined to speak with reporters when she was released from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth. She posted the $75,000 bond and was ordered to wear an electronic ankle GPS monitor and remain at the home

of another son, 29-year-old Steven McWilliams, except for appointments with her doctor and lawyer.

Her arrest affidavit alleges that she and her 18-yearold son, Ethan Couch, fled the state in December as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in the 2013 wreck that killed four people. Both were taken into custody later that month in Puerto Vallarta, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

Tonya Couch is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon and could face up to 10 years

in prison if convicted. Ethan Couch is still being held in Mexico as he fights deportation.

During Ethan Couch’s trial, a defense witness said the teen was coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called “affluenza.” The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule.

Law enforcement officials said Tonya Couch, 48, and her son fled the U.S. after a video surfaced that appeared to show the teen at a party where people were drinking alcohol. If Ethan Couch was drinking, it would violate his probation and could lead to jail time.q

A6 U.S.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

NEWS

With Democratic race narrowing, Clinton rips into Sanders LISA LERER KEN THOMAS Associated Press AMES, Iowa (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, facing a narrowing primary contest, ripped into rival Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, saying the Vermont senator was offering unrealistic policies and overstating his anti-establishment credentials.

For days, the former Secretary of State has cast Sanders as a less forceful advocate for gun control, targeting a 2005 vote he cast that gave immunity to gun manufacturers.

On Tuesday, she broadened her critique, arguing that if Sanders wouldn’t combat the National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun lobby, he can’t be trusted to take on other special interests.

“If you’re going to go around saying you stand up to special interests then stand up to that most powerful special interest — stand up to the gun lobby,” she said, as she accepted the backing of a major gun control advocacy group.

Sanders campaign spokesman Michael Briggs said the senator had “spent a career standing up to

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pauses while speaking during a campaign event at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

powerful special interests whether they be Wall Street, big banks or Big Oil or the pharmaceutical industry, you name it.”

Briggs added, “He has also stood up to the National Rifle Association,” noting that Sanders lost a 1988 congressional race in part because he supported a ban on assault weapons.

The fresh critique marks an effort by Clinton to undermine the central argument of Sanders’ campaign—

that the Vermont Senator is an outsider offering liberals a “political revolution.”

With a touch of sarcasm, Clinton said President Barack Obama’s work to pass an overhaul to the nation’s health care system was a major accomplishment and derided Sanders’ plans for a single-payer system.

Clinton also touted her foreign policy credentials, drawing another, more implicit, contrast with Sand-

ers, who has made tackling economic inequality the focus of his campaign.

“I’m prepared to do all parts to the job,” she said, after offering voters a detailed account of her time in the Situation Room during the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Though Clinton has the backing of Democratic leaders and top donors, polls show a narrowing contest in the lead-off Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 and

Obama accuses Trump of campaigning by ‘scapegoating’ WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Donald Trump is waging a White House campaign based on “simplistic solutions and scapegoating.”

In an interview Tuesday on NBC, Obama says Trump is appealing to people’s fears

and uncertainty about the future. Asked how seriously the front-running Republican candidate should be taken, Obama says, “Talk to me if he wins.”

But Obama concedes the country is more divided than he promised. When

asked if he felt responsible for that, he said, “It’s a regret.” But he said he “could not be prouder” of his accomplishments.

Vice President Joe Biden, who also appeared on the show, said “I think it’s possible” that Trump could win

the presidency.

If that happens, Biden added, “I hope that he gets a lot more serious about the issues, a lot more serious about gaining knowledge about how this nation functions in foreign policy and domestic policy.”q

Sanders with a slight lead in New Hampshire, which borders his home state of Vermont. Losses in both early voting states would set off alarms among Democrats about her strength against Sanders, who started the campaign as an obscure senator polling in the single digits.

A poll released on Wednesday by Quinnipiac University showed Sanders winning 49 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa, compared to 44 percent for Sanders.

The same survey showed Clinton leading in a 51-40 percent match-up just a month ago.

Clinton has long resisted directly targeting Sanders, fearing that such attacks would alienate his passionate supporters. Should she win the nomination, Clinton will need that kind of liberal enthusiasm to boost her to victory in the November general election.

Her fresh assault came as she picked up the backing of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence — an endorsement that came just a day after Clinton won support from leading gun control advocate Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman and her husband Mark Kelly.

Sanders has expressed his support for President Barack Obama’s use of executive actions to curb gun violence and has said he would revisit his position on the liability issue. But in a Democratic forum on Monday night, he doubled down on his defense of his vote on the controversial bill.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Wednesday 13 January 2016

US border agents begin inspecting US-bound trucks in Mexico

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, right, gestures alongside Mexican Secretary of Finance Luis Videgaray, fourth from left, and Baja California Gov. Francisco Vega de la Madrid, second from left, during an inauguration ceremony for a new border truck inspection station built for both Mexican and U.S. customs Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Tijuana, Mexico.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — U.S. authorities began working Tuesday on Mexican soil for the first time to inspect trucks bound from Tijuana to the United States as part of a new enforcement program intended to reduce congestion and speed cargo across one of the nation’s busiest border crossings.

The joint inspections by U.S. and Mexican officials were launched after Mexican lawmakers overcame resistance and approved changes to the country’s firearms law to permit foreign customs and immigration officials to be armed on the job.

“The benefit is very simple — avoid double inspection,” Mexican Treasury Secretary Luis Videgaray said at the joint facility in Tijuana’s Mesa de Otay section, a few blocks from the crossing.

The impact was difficult to gauge as U.S. and Mexican officials marked the occasion by letting a shipment of strawberries head to San Diego.

Trial runs last week cut wait-

ing times in half, said Arazeli Penilla, compliance officer at Driscoll Strawberry Associates Inc. Inspections by U.S. officials initially will be limited to agricultural products deemed low risk for carrying pests or disease.

Truckers arriving at the former electronics plant stop at separate windows staffed by Mexican and U.S. inspectors who decide if they must pull aside to have cargo scanned.

If cleared, they can drive through a walled area into San Diego.

In October, Mexican officials began inspecting Mexico-bound electronics, automotive and aerospace parts alongside U.S. counterparts at Laredo International Airport in Texas.

Later this year, U.S. authorities plan to begin inspecting trucks of U.S.-bound computers in San Jeronimo in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, near the border cities of Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

Cargo has long been inspected in the U.S. and in Mexico — an exercise that can take several hours. The new “pre-inspection” fa-

cilities effectively meld two stops into one.

“It just makes an awful lot of sense,” said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who hopes to expand the program to other crossings with Mexico and Canada.

The latest demonstration of closer border ties came a month after a group of U.S. and Mexican investors opened an air terminal

in San Diego with a bridge that crosses a razor-wire border fence to Tijuana’s airport, believed to be the only cross-border airport outside the European Union.

The larger significance of joint cargo inspections is that U.S. and Mexican officials will work under the same roof, sharing intelligence and other information, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the

Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars’ Mexico Institute.

“They’re going to get to know each other better than ever before,” Wilson said. “This is really joint border management in its early stages.”

Plans for the joint inspection facilities have been in the works for a long time but faced resistance in Mexico over allowing armed U.S. agents to do the work.q

A8

Wednesday 13 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Germany to ease deportation rules after Cologne attacks FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany will make it easier to deport criminal foreigners following public outrage over the New Year’s Eve assaults in Cologne, officials said Tuesday.

Authorities say 561 criminal complaints have been filed in connection with the assaults, with about 45 percent involving allegations of sexual offenses, and most of the suspects identified so far are foreign nationals. Many asylum-seekers who commit crimes currently avoid deportation because the danger they face in their home country is considered greater than the reason for deporting them.

“With this proposal we are significantly lowering the hurdles for the possible expulsion of foreigners who have committed crimes in Germany,” Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters in Berlin.

The changes, which have to be approved by the Cabinet and Parliament, would mean that even

a suspended prison sentence would be grounds for deportation if someone is found guilty of certain crimes. These include homicide, bodily harm, sexual assault, violent theft and serial shoplifting. Youth sentences would be covered too.

A sentence of more than one year would further increase the likelihood of deportation, de Maiziere said.

“That’s a hard but right response by the state to those who are seeking protection here, but think they can commit crimes” without consequences for their right to remain in Germany, he said.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that public pressure following the Cologne assaults had played a role in getting the plan agreed so quickly.

“We owe this to the victims of these serious crimes,” he said, adding that the measures were also necessary “to protect the overwhelming majority of innocent refugees in Germany.

They don’t deserve to be lumped together with crim-

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, left, and Justice Minister Heiko Maas arrive for a statement on a planned reform of the laws on deportation and sexual offenses at the Reichstag Building, in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

inal foreigners.”

Maas said that changes also would be made to Germany’s sex crime laws to ensure that victims who are caught by surprise, or who fear greater physical harm if they resist assault, are better protected.

“This too is the kind of situation we had in Cologne, where people were confronted with a horde of men,” he said.

Police say most of the suspects in Cologne are believed to be foreigners, including at least some

asylum-seekers. Many were described as being of “Arab or North African origin.”

On Tuesday they appealed for anyone with photo or video material taken that night to upload it to them so that they could evaluate it as part of their investigation.

The assaults have heightened tensions over Germany’s migrant influx. Nearly 1.1 million asylum-seekers arrived last year.

Cologne police say they have identified 23 possible

suspects. Separately, federal police have identified 32 suspects, including nine Algerians.

Algeria’s prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, said during a visit to Berlin on Tuesday that “we as the Algerian state and people say that, if this is confirmed, it is unacceptable for us.”

Beyond the question of foreigners who commit crimes, Germany is keen to ensure that migrants who aren’t granted asylum leave the country as quickly as possible.q

France:

Jewish leader asks faithful to forego kippa PARIS (AP) — A leading Jewish authority in Marseille, in southern France, asked fellow Jews on Tuesday to refrain from wearing their traditional skull cap to stay safe after a machetewielding teen attacked a Jewish teacher.

Zvi Ammar, head of the Israelite Consistory of Marseille, said he is asking Jews to go without the kippa “until better days.” His call came a day after a 15-year-old Turkish Kurd attacked and wounded a Jewish teacher on a street in Marseille — France’s second-largest city — then told police after his arrest that he acted in the name of the Islamic State group.

Ammar said his decision to ask Jews not to wear the kippa was the hardest of his life. But he said he prefers “being criticized for making this decision than regretting one day if by misfortune something very grave occurs.” Ammar spoke on TV stations BFM and iTele.

Some Jewish leaders disagreed with Ammar’s advice, with one calling it “defeatist” and the Grand Rabbi of France, Haim Korsia, tweeting that “we must not cede to emotion,” remarks he made in an interview on TV5.

After the attack, an investigation was opened by the anti-terrorism section of the prosecutor’s office in the

French capital, where the teen will be questioned.

The knife attack came four days after a man armed with a butcher’s knife was fatally shot after authorities said he went after police at a station in central Paris.

German authorities say the man had lived at a shelter for asylum-seekers in the western city of Recklinghausen.

France is still reeling from a series of attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people and just marked the anniversary of attacks on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery store which killed 17 people. In each case, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility.q

WORLD NEWS 9

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Suicide bomber kills 10, wounds 15 in Istanbul tourist area

MEHMET GUZEL SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners — most of them German tourists — and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.

The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by IS to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world.

Davutoglu described the assailant as a “foreign national,” and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he was a Syrian citizen born in 1988. However, the private Dogan news agency said the bomber was Saudi-born. Kurtulmus said the attacker was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not among a list of poten-

tial bombers wanted by Turkey.

“Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step,” Davutoglu said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. “This terror organization, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.”

Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners. The wounded also included citizens of Norway, Peru, South Korea and Turkey.

Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a telephone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences.

“I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Merkel pledged Germany would continue its fight against terrorism.

Policemen secure the historic Sultanahmet district after an explosion in Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. An explosion in a historic district of Istanbul popular with tourists killed 10 people and injured 15 others Tuesday morning, the Istanbul governor’s office said.

(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

“Today Istanbul was the target, before Paris, Copenhagen, Tunis, and so many other areas,” she told reporters in Berlin. “International terror changes the places of its attacks but its goal is always the same — it is our free life, in free society. The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, indeed, the enemies of all humanity, whether in Syria or Turkey, in France or Germany.”

The impact of Tuesday’s attack, while not as deadly

as two others last year, was particularly far-reaching because it struck at Turkey’s $30 billion tourism industry, which has already suffered from a steep decline in Russian visitors since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November.

Its apparent links to Syria also threatened to have implications in a country that is already dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other

countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.

“By striking in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, which has many ... tourists, but few Turks, (IS) is targeting Turkey’s lucrative tourism industry,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute.

Cagaptay said that by targeting Germans, Islamic extremists also seemed to be aiming to heighten an anti-refugee backlash in Europe and deepen the anti-Islam sentiment there.

Iran official denies report of nuclear reactor being sealed NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s deputy nuclear chief on Tuesday denied a report that the core of the country’s nearly finished heavy water reactor has been dismantled and filled it with concrete as part of Tehran’s obligations under the nuclear deal with the West.

Ali Asghar Zarean, in remarks to state TV said that

Iran will first sign an agreement with China to modify the Arak reactor, a deal that is expected next week.

“Definitely, we will not apply any physical change in this field until a final agreement is finalized,” Zarean added, without specifically mentioning the Fars news agency report.

On Monday, Fars said that technicians had dismantled the core of the Arak

reactor and filled it with concrete.

The agency, which is close to Iranian hard-liners, cited unnamed sources for the report.

Under the landmark nuclear deal that commits Tehran to significant limits on its nuclear activities for over a decade in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions, Iran must redesign the Arak reactor

so it can’t produce plutonium for nuclear weapons — though it will still produce small amounts of plutonium and heavy water.

Iran has insisted it needs the heavy water reactor for production of medical isotopes.

Hard-liners in Iran, who oppose Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the nuclear deal with world powers, argue that the so-

called “disabling” of Arak is a slap in the face of Iran and allegedly evidence of Rouhani having given too many concessions to the West in return to little.

It’s not clear what the modification process at Arak will involve, but officials in the past have said that some parts of the reactor need to be filled with cements because of safety concerns.

A10 WORLD

Wednesday 13 January 2016

NEWS Sieges, starvation left Syrian town in ‘grim’ state, UN says

People gather at the scene of a car bomb explosion in commercial area of New Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. Gunmen stormed into a Baghdad mall on Monday after setting off a car bomb and launching a suicide attack at its entrance in the city’s mainly Shiite east, Iraqi officials said.

(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Iraq:

Attacks shatter relative calm after IS losses S. GEORGE S. SALAHEDDIN Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Deadly attacks in Baghdad and a nearby town have shattered the relative calm far from the front lines of the war against the Islamic State group, raising concerns Tuesday that the extremists may focus once again on attacking civilians after a string of battlefield losses.

In recent months, Iraqi and Kurdish forces backed

by U.S.-led airstrikes have forced IS out of Sinjar in the north and the provincial capital of Ramadi west of Baghdad.

But the extremist group has proved resilient after previous defeats, often seizing territory on other frontiers of its amoeba-like caliphate.

In the days after IS fighters were driven out of Ramadi, the group launched a co-

ordinated assault on the western town of Haditha which was repulsed by Iraqi forces.

On Monday, the Sunni extremist group went after softer targets in Baghdad and the town of Muqdadiyah to the northeast, with attacks that appeared to be aimed at killing Shiite civilians and aggravating sectarian tensions -- a strategy pursued with horrifying results by the group’s predecessor, al-Qaida in Iraq.

Gunmen targeted the entrance to the Jawhara mall in a mainly Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad late Monday with a car bomb and a suicide bomber before storming in and opening fire. They killed 18 people and wounded more than 50 before Iraqi forces landed on the roof and battled their way inside, killing two attackers and arresting another four. A sep-

arate car bomb elsewhere in the city killed five people and wounded 12.

Later that night, back-toback suicide attacks on a cafe frequented by government-allied Shiite militiamen killed at least 24 people and wounded 52 in the Shiite-dominated mixed town of Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (90 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.

The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed both major attacks.

Angry Shiite mobs responded to the Muqdadiyah bombings by attacking several Sunni mosques, completely destroying two of them and killing an imam, said Sheikh AbdulLatif al-Himaim, Iraq’s head of Sunni Religious Endowments. “Organized gangs were behind the attack (on the mosques), seeking to inflame sectarian tensions,” he said. q

BEIRUT (AP) — Siege and starvation have left the rebel-held Syrian town of Madaya in a nightmarish state not seen elsewhere in the country, a U.N. official who traveled there said Tuesday, as some 300 residents fled and desperately needed humanitarian aid arrived.

The former mountain resort, besieged since last summer by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, came to international attention in recent weeks as reports of starvation emerged and activists shared images of emaciated children and old men widely on social media.

Sajjad Malik, the U.N. refugee agency’s chief in Damascus, told journalists that the “very grim” picture was the result of a blockade of food, medicine and other supplies that left the town in a “desperate situation.”

“There is no comparison to what we saw in Madaya,” he said from Damascus by telephone to Geneva. “It is a place where you could see there are people, but there is no life... What we saw is something that was pretty horrible.”

Malik described seeing shivering, malnourished children and young adults, saying “most of them had not had bread or rice or vegetables or fruit for months.” He said a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice would sell there for $300, and noted one account of one person selling a motorcycle to buy 5 kilos of rice.

A day earlier, the U.N. said that about 400 people in the town’s hospital needed to be evacuated immediately for medical treatment as starvation and other factors had left them on the brink of death. Syrian authorities, rebels and aid groups have yet to respond. The U.N. goal was to obtain safe passage to evacuate the 400 later on Tuesday.

U.N. officials said it was too early to determine whether anyone had died of hunger. But the aid group Doctors Without Borders has said that 23 people died of starvation at a health center it supports in Madaya since Dec. 1, including six infants and five adults over 60.

Various U.N. officials have described how locals had been forced to forage for food, such as risking walks in minefields to collect grass or cooking up “leaf soup,” and were burning cardboard to stay warm in their homes.

Madaya is not the only place in Syria suffering from siege, an ageold tactic of war that belligerents continue to use despite international laws banning it. The U.N. says some 15 municipalities across Syria are currently blockaded, with no one able to get in or out.

Two Shiite villages in the north, under siege by rebels, face similar circumstances, with food and medicine scarce.

Residents are said to be eating grass to survive and undergoing surgery without anesthesia.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Mexico ruling may jeopardize case of missing students MARIA VERZA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — An appeals court ruling is threatening to derail Mexico’s effort to prosecute suspects in one of its most notorious crimes of recent years: the disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students in Guerrero state.The injunction, issued late last year but not yet publicized, orders the state judge overseeing the case to correct flaws in its case against 22 police officers who are accused of killing four people on the night the students vanished.

The case of the 43 teachers’ college students is one of the most widely protested and troubling examples of human rights abuses in Mexico’s recent history — one that has shaken faith in all levels of government.

Federal prosecutors say the local police killed several people, rounded up the students and handed them over to a drug cartel, which killed them, possibly suspecting they were linked to rivals.

But the bodies have not been found, the motives are in dispute and outside investigators have suggested that state and perhaps even federal agents may have played a role in the disappearances.

The injunction, which came in response to an appeal of the charges by lawyers for the 22 police officers, found prosecutorial errors including inconsistent testimony and scant evidence.

If those can’t be fixed, the case would be thrown out.

The appellate ruling shows the entire case was built on “foundations of mud,” said Sayuri Herrera, the lawyer for the family of Julio Cesar Mondragon.q

Mexico mounted huge manhunt to catch “El Chapo” K. CORCORAN Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The capture of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman followed the most intensive manhunt in modern Mexican history, with at least 2,500 security and intelligence agents dedicated to getting a man whose escape had personally embarrassed the nation’s president.

The government says the hunt involved piecing together information from intelligence, data, interrogations and raids — as well as monitoring actors Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo as they came to interview the world’s most wanted trafficker.

While Mexican authorities had spent decades chasing Guzman, the chase following his July escape from a top-security prison was different for two reasons, said a former government intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case.

“One, El Chapo stopped being clandestine. He left the mountain. He met with people, as we now know. That made it easier for intelligence units to find him,” said the ex-official, who maintains sources inside security operations.

“The other factor: there were, from the time of the escape, 2,500 people from various security agencies exclusively dedicated ... to mount a successful operation.”

President Enrique Pena Nieto’s office and the attorney general’s office didn’t respond to attempts by The Associated Press to confirm the number, but others who had been briefed said it was at least 2,500.

Even so, it took six months to catch him, with Mexican news media carrying repeated reports of marine raids into the mountains of Guzman’s native Sinaloa state. Guzman was nabbed early Friday morning after a shootout in the

ment Administration, who also was briefed on the operation. “The only way was by saturating the area where he was.

“It caused him to go to a safe house in Los Mochis.

He knew that was going to make him vulnerable, but

and striking a relationship there,” Vigil said, citing intelligence sources.

Four days after Penn’s Oct. 2 interview, soldiers staged fierce operations in the area of Tamazula, Durango, where the meeting with Penn and Del Castillo took

Bullet holes riddle the walls of the second floor of the home that marines raided in their search for Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in Los Mochis, Mexico, Monday, Jan. 11, 2016.

(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

city of Los Mochis that killed five of his men and wounded one marine.

The former official interviewed Guzman when he was arrested the first time in 1993 and led operations over the years in the remote mountains of Sinaloa and Durango states, known as the Golden Triangle, after Guzman first escaped a maximum security facility in 2001. He said the size of those operations involved only around 60 troops, not hundreds.

“It was obviously expensive, but they knew they had to flush Chapo Guzman out,” said Michael Vigil, former head of international operations at the Drug Enforce-

he had no choice.

Every phone call or text, every movement in the region was analyzed, the exofficial said, including Guzman’s Oct. 2 meeting with Penn and del Castillo.

He and Vigil said that Del Castillo’s phone calls, texts and other communications must have been monitored since she had her first real contact with Guzman last year, while he was still in prison. Everyone wanted to tell his story, but he said he would only work with the Mexican actress, who the ex-official called “Mexico’s Sharon Stone.”

“The movie was secondary. The first motivation was meeting Kate del Castillo

place. The ex-official said it took that time to put together the intelligence and mount a raid.

In the end, Guzman narrowly escaped.

Security teams had kept watch on several properties related to Guzman in and around Los Mochis since October, he said. But it was only last week that they started noticing a flurry of activity in one of the houses in an upscale neighborhood. Intelligence indicated that Guzman’s wife, Emma Coronel, had arrived with their twin daughters to celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings, a major Christmas-season holiday for Mexican children. q

A12 WORLD

Wednesday 13 January 2016

NEWS

Haitians remember dead on 6th anniversary of earthquake

A woman walks near the ruins of the National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, on the sixth anniversary of the 7.0-magnitude quake that left much of the Haitian capital and surrounding areas in ruins. Haitians gathered at prayer services Tuesday to remember those who lost their lives.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Many Haitians gathered Tuesday at prayer services and private homes to mark the sixth anniversary of the country’s devastating earthquake and remem-

ber loved ones who died.

The Haitian government has said more than 300,000 people died in the 2010 disaster, but the exact toll is unknown because there was no systematic effort to count bodies amid the chaotic confusion.

Joseph Philistin brought his two sons to the grounds of the Sacred Heart Catholic church, one of thousands of buildings reduced to rubble when a magnitude-7.0 quake hit Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. He came to mourn five rela-

tives who were killed when their concrete home collapsed in the hard-hit Carrefour area.

“The memories of that day can’t ever be erased,” Philistin said as he joined a group of churchgoers walking to the church shortly after dawn.

Nearby, Yvesrose Andre dressed entirely in white, a color associated with mourning in Haiti.

She said she came to Tuesday’s Catholic Mass to honor quake victims, including two cousins.

“This is like our true day of the dead. It’s a day when people cried a lot,” Andre said quietly, turning rosary beads.

Tuesday was not a holiday in Haiti, as some quake anniversaries have been in the past, and Port-au-Prince’s streets were bustling with people and clogged with traffic as usual.

At a government ceremony on arid hills outside the capital President Michel Martelly placed a bouquet of white flowers at a mass burial site that’s been

Official:

Puerto Rico power company lacks $1B due creditors DANICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s troubled power company does not have the money to make more than $1 billion in payments due to creditors through July unless a restructuring deal is approved, officials said Tuesday.

The warning came during a hearing in Washington, D.C., by the congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on the financial situation of Puerto Rico’s Electric Pow-

er Authority, the largest U.S. public power utility.

Lisa Donahue, the company’s chief restructuring officer, said the $700 million due on fuel lines of credit and roughly $428 million due in principal and interest on outstanding bonds represent more than twice the amount of cash the company currently has available. “(The company) will not be able to make up the difference with revenue from operations during this period,” she said.

Puerto Rico recently de-

faulted on $37 million in interest on bonds and faces its first lawsuit over diverting funds to meet other bond payments amid an economic crisis.

Donahue said the power company already would have run out of money if it hadn’t reached a restructuring deal in December with 70 percent of those who hold its debt. That deal still requires Puerto Rico legislators to approve a bill that would reform the company. Critics warn that would hurt cash-strapped clients by giving the agen-

cy too much power to hike rates, among other changes.

Puerto Rico’s power bills are on average almost twice those in the U.S. mainland and have contributed to the island’s economic crisis by scaring away potential investors and forcing some businesses to close or lay off workers.

Government officials including Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s representative in Congress, urged Congress to provide Puerto Rico with a restructuring mechanism.q

turned into an official memorial for those killed.

As he walked out of the memorial surrounded by a scrum of journalists, Martelly said that a “lack of seriousness and planning helped this disaster magnify itself.”

“All of us Haitians everywhere have to see things differently and understand that it is our responsibility together to change our country,” said Martelly, who is constitutionally due to leave office Feb. 7.

Outside the memorial, Antoinise Excelet, one of roughly 250,000 displaced people who have settled precariously in the unregulated sprawl called Canaan surrounding the burial site, said she had expected more progress toward reconstruction six years after the quake.

“I don’t think anything has changed in Haiti.

It’s still the same hard place,” she said, carrying a bottle of moonshine and selling the occasional shot to the dozens of Canaan residents who gathered outside the memorial to catch a glimpse of Martelly, Prime Minister Evans Paul and other officials before they sped off in a motorcade.

As the nation of 10 million marked the anniversary, an electoral crisis threatened to undermine the troubled country’s stability.

A presidential and legislative runoff is scheduled Jan. 24, but one of two presidential candidates is saying he won’t participate due to allegations of fraud and vote-rigging in an October vote. Electoral officials say candidate Jude Celestin’s name will still appear on ballots because he hasn’t officially withdrawn. q

LOCAL A13

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Azure: Your Ultimate Waterfront Residence on Aruba

EAGLE BEACH - Azure offers a luxurious resort-style living that is perfect for part time residents. Azure is located along Eagle Beach in Aruba, one of the most beautiful islands of the Caribbean. Eagle Beach Aruba is famous for its white sands, turquoise waters, fofoti trees and nesting sea turtles. It is a place where you will always want to come back! A tropical paradise with its amazing natural beauty, crystal clear blue waters, sunny skies and miles of whitesand beaches combine to make Aruba one of the most attractive spots in the Caribbean.

In Aruba the Pering Group, developers of Oceania Resort Residences and Blue Residences, have introduced a luxurious beachclub way of life surrounded by the sparkling panorama of Eagle Beach Bay and the Caribbean Sea. Azure will feature two 10-story towers with 106 exquisite waterfront residences, where leading-edge design and artistry, elevate beach living to a newer more modern level.

Perfectly located along the shores of Eagle Beach Bay, Azure provides a peaceful atmosphere, free from busy crowds and with exclusive beach-club services and unparalleled amenities. Yet, is just min-

utes away from golf and country clubs, watersports, casinos, high-end shopping, gourmet restaurants, entertainment, and more.

Azure also offers a unique resort-style living that’s perfect for part time residents seeking the ultimate benefit of a property, managed and maintained by a renowned hotel operator.

Azure’s whole ownership residences are condos from 2 to 5 bedroom, as well as detached villas. All units are offered in 6 distinct floor plans, and are designed to suit a variety of tastes. Regardless of which you choose, all of

them have an open plan modern design with floor to ceiling windows, 9-foot high ceilings and spacious balconies overlooking the

azure skies and the Caribbean Sea. The beautiful kitchen will feature high end appliances and Eurostyle cabinets. High qual-

ity porcelanato tiles are included in every room and in every bathroom. Furthermore, residents will enjoy state-of-the-art in-suite technology including highspeed internet access, WiFi, HD TV capabilities, as well as individual climate control.

Both towers have direct stunning water views of Eagle Beach Bay. Azure includes an array of amenities and services that recreate paradise living. A place to impress, boasting expansive green lawns, beautiful ocean front pools and a state of the art fitness center are just some of the features that will make your Azure unique experience.

Amenities include: Beach Services, Ocean-view Fitness Center, Waterfront pool deck and infinity pool, Restaurant, Poolside snack bar, Rooftop, Residents-only, Club Room, Tennis Court, Gated Property, Children’s Playground, Smart building technology, high capacity communications and green innovations, Concierge Services, 24 hour Security, Secure reserved parking.

Azure is steps from the ocean and world-renowned Eagle Beach.

Hotels, Casinos & fine dining are within walking distance, and owners can also enjoy water sports at nearby Eagle Beach or play a round of golf at the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Championship Golf Course at Tierra del Sol. Visit our sales office at Blue Residences at J.E. Irausquin Boulevard 266, Eagle Beach, Oranjestad, Aruba.

You may also contact us by calling 297-742-9703 (Aruba) or 58-212-286-0584 (Venezuela).

Email: sales@azure-aruba. com, or visit our website www.azure-aruba.com.q

A14 LOCAL

Wednesday 13 January 2016

In Relation to the Caribbean Region;

Experts Emphasize Integration’s Potential as a Driver of Development

-During a seminar at ECLAC, the lessons and challenges of the integration process carried out in Central America were ad-

dressed.

ORANJESTAD/SANTIAGO Integration is a basic component of productive transformation and of strategies

for growth with equality, as well as a necessary instrument to promote countries’ development, authorities and experts from various

nations agreed while gathered at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, during a high-level seminar recently.

At the gathering entitled “The Potential of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in Latin America and the Caribbean,” participants analyzed the lessons and challenges that the Central American integration experience has provided to the rest of the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The seminar was inaugurated by Hugo Beteta, Director of ECLAC’s Subregional Headquarters in Mexico, who welcomed those in attendance on behalf of the institution’s Executive Secretary, Alicia Bárcena.

Also present at the opening session were Vinicio Cerezo, former President of Guatemala and President of the Esquipulas Foundation; Víctor Manuel Valle, El Salvador’s Ambassador to Chile in its role as holder of the SICA pro tempore presidency; and Alberto Cortés, Director for Costa Rica of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).

In his speech, Hugo Beteta presented an overview of the current economic and social situation in Central America, which is marked by vulnerability to external shocks. He reminded that even though 4% growth was expected for 2015, the social challenges continue to be imposing, considering that one in every two Central Americans is poor and one in every four is indigent.

“Integration must have a substantial role if we want the region to have its own voice on the world stage.

In that sense, the road traversed by Central America offers very important lessons,” Beteta said.

Ambassador Valle made a presentation in which he reviewed the main milestones of the Central American integration process, which culminated in

the creation of the SICA in 1991. With 56 million inhabitants in its eight member countries, the SICA has become a strategic contact point with other blocs, such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), among others, he highlighted.

Alberto Cortés stressed the importance of the environmental variable in all Central American projects and enumerated the challenges that must be addressed, such as the weakening of the public sector and of the State’s regulatory capacity as well as problems related to transparency, corruption and safety that recently surfaced and have undermined the credibility of institutions.

“This is a critical time to rethink what can be done with integration so that it truly fuels economic growth in the region,” the CABEI representative stated.

In his speech, former Guatemalan President Vinicio Cerezo explained how the Central American peace process allowed for a regional political decision— “to put an end to the domestic armed conflict”— transformed into a relevant institution for all of Central America’s inhabitants: the SICA. In this sense, the Esquipulas Agreements provide important lessons for the whole region, he said.

He also underscored the importance of “Latin America’s Internal Sea,” the Caribbean Sea, in the configuration of large trade blocs in the world.

“The story of the end of domestic armed conflicts in Central America is a good example of how integration can work. We have legal and representative institutions, and a development bank. All of this could constitute a new development model for the region (…) The potential that we Latin Americans have in terms of taking action together is truly impressive,” Cerezo said.

More information at www. cepal.org.q

LOCAL A15

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Special to Aruba Today: Local Artist Cado de Lannoy Capturing Our Heritage in a Different Perspective CAROLINA BULOS (www.bondia24.com) ORANJESTAD – Cado de Lannoy is an artist dedicated to doing art/photography work of the Aruban heritage and presenting this in a different perspective. “Aruba is known for its beaches, palm trees etc., but I want to show that there is much more than that, there is a history that can be shown through our monumental buildings”.

-NAME The artistic name that is used to present his work is “Cadosbla” and as he puts it, is a very “random” name that just sort of happened.

“There was a time when I used to make some T-shirts with black & white photography, so it was Cado’s Black & White T-shirt edition, and I showed my friend Ash from Tangerine, the tag and he read the first part only and a piece of the another, and asked me ‘Ca-

dos bla?’ and I told him to keep reading. But after that day the name just kind of stuck” Cado tells us.

Cado receives his material all over the island of Aruba.

He explains that he is a very outdoors person and loves to surf and he sees everything as an opportunity to find something new and different. “Around Aruba there are plenty of old

houses or new ones with nobody living in them yet, and they all have a story to tell”, he continues telling us that he was recently in New York where he took part in a photography course to continue improving his skills.

He always taught himself everything he knows, but then decided to take things more seriously to really become more professional in

digital photography, which he thinks is a very important step in the aspect of a business and as an artist as well.

He took part in an exhibition to display his work that he had done in Aruba as well as New Jersey and had great feedback. In Aruba the support is huge since everyone knows each other in a way.

Which is why he also wanted to display his work internationally to see what the reactions would be, and the perfect places for doing so being New York & New Jersey that are known to be art hubs and having his girlfriend living in New Jersey as well, who is one of his biggest supporters.

“They were very interested and they thought my style was unique.

There are some photographs that look like a painting, and they really liked that concept.”

-AVAILABLE

Something unique that is also available in Cado’s work is his collection of antique mosaic of Aruba which he photographs and then prints it on objects that are used on a daily basis, for example coasters.

These are available for purchase at Korteweg (held every month at various locations on the island) or at Cosecha which is right in Downtown, behind the parliament building.

Meanwhile he is also working with the high-rise area to have his work be displayed in a hotel, and also in San Nicolas where they recently opened up a new gallery/store.

They approached Cado since they wanted to sell and expose international as well as local work. Internationally he has his work displayed in New Jersey.

Continued on page 16

A16 LOCAL

Wednesday 13 January 2016

LocalArtist

Continued from page 15 “At the moment I’m experiencing different possibilities to print and present my photography in a very different way, because usually photography is available in a very simple way.

Right now I’m printing on wood, and getting great reactions and it’s different.” In the past Cado was part of a team that designed a brand of clothing called “Ducks & Robots” that was very well known on the island. When asked what inspired him to take this direction of art, he explained that while working with Ducks & Robots he would take pictures of the merchandise, and would always scout locations to do the photoshoots. So his inspiration always came from this. “Everyone always told me I had to do what I love, but I wasn’t really sure about it and always did it as a hobby. Up until a few years back that I really started focusing solely on photography, I can say that I went deep into it and made it into more than just a hobby. After my Beach Tennis career here, I decided to just continue photographing.” A challenge he

says is that his career is still not a “for sure thing” which is a scary aspect of the job.

But he believes in doing what you love every day and he is very motivated for it.

Aruba is definitely opening up more to art as well as local artists, especially in events like Korteweg which is promoting this more and more and also Cosecha.

“There are artists that definitely live off of their art. I want to inspire entrepreneurship, you can live as an artist but you can also make use of your art to make something and sell it” -KORTEWEG Recently... “I was nomi-

nated for “Talented Youth 2015” in the category of ‘Entrepreneurship & Culture’ which was really great. And Korteweg which Cado has also been a part of is receiving a ‘prestige award’.

Korteweg exists since May/ June and consists out of 4 guys who came together, Cado, Ashlin, Frankie and Mario” he explains.

“Ash has his brand of bags that he makes called “Tangerine”, Frankie makes natural drinks like Taki Aruba and Mario is an all-around handy-man that can make just about anything. The group initiated this idea since at the time there were some activities going on in Main Street and approached the Minister of Culture about their idea in displaying art works in Main Street to attract more people. “I asked the Minister to give me an opportunity to present this idea and to see how it goes. He gave me the green light and told me to pick a location and so I chose Korteweg. I arrived with wooden pallets, asked some artists to come together and to see how

we could sell some stuff together and the result was a success. That’s when I told my friends that we should do this again but on a bigger scale.

We received help from Unoca and they helped us in every cultural event that we organized. We believe in presenting with a good atmosphere, not just putting things on a table, but a whole experience for locals as well as tourists.

We asked Cado if there

were any other projects on the way and what we could expect from him.

Laughing he replied: “I have too much things going on, so I had to drop a few. A lot of people have approached me and asked me to be a part of something. So right now I’m thinking about what is best for me as well, instead of being everywhere.” Cado is currently working part time at Cosecha helping with the social media and improving their art promotion.

To conclude he says: “The best part of my job right now is doing what I love. I work with all types of people, if something needs help creatively and I get called I’m there. My job varies a lot, I can make use of my artistic side by making use of pallets, interior design, photography and more.

To check out some of his work you can go to his website: www.cadosbla. com or check him out on Instagram: cado297 q

SPORTS A17

Wednesday 13 January 2016

What a Rush

Alabama-Clemson Joins List of Epic Title Games Alabama’s Derrick Henry runs for a touchdown during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. Alabama beat Clemson 45-40.

(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

R. ROSENBLATT AP Sports Writer GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Welcome to the epic national championship club Alabama and Clemson.

Your game is a unanimous choice to join the short list of some of the most dramatic, exciting, fantastic finishes to a college football season.

With one big play after another — by both teams — Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 on Monday night in the College Football Play-

off title game.

An instant classic. And no doubt, this one will last for a long time.

The game was a thrill-aminute. Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry ran for three touchdowns, including a 50-yarder to open the scoring.

A daring onside kick with the score tied 24-all led to an Alabama points explosion, with quarterback Jake Coker throwing for two long touchdowns to tight end O.J Howard. Oh, and

Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards for another score.

Clemson didn’t flinch. Dual-threat quarterback Deshaun Watson threw four touchdown and had 478 total yards — 403 passing.

He was virtually a one-man show in keeping the Tigers ahead for a while.

In the end, it was too much Alabama, and the Tide won their fourth national crown in the past seven years. When the game ended, the entire crowd

of 75,765 — the majority of them Clemson fans — stood and cheered. Not only for their team, but for the fabulous game they had just witnessed.

Here’s a few other epic games that belong in the club: NOTRE DAME 10, MICHIGAN STATE 10 (1966) A tie is an epic? When it comes to this one, it tops the list. Ara Parseghian’s Notre Dame team came into the game unbeaten

and ranked No. 1. Duffy Daugherty’s Michigan State team also was unbeaten and ranked No. 2. The game, sometimes referred to as the “Game of the Century,” ended in controversy as Notre Dame, playing at Spartan Stadium, elected not to try for a score on the final series. The not-so-Fighting Irish ended up No. 1 in the final AP poll.

Continued on page 18

A18 SPORTS

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Alabama-Clemson joins the list of epic title games

Continued from page 17

The game featured Terry Hanratty getting knocked out of the game after a sack by Michigan State’s Bubba Smith. The Irish had the ball with 1:01 left after rallying to tie the score, and needed about 40 yards to get into Joe Azzaro’s field goal range.

Parseghian chose to run out the clock. Alabama finished the same season 11-0-0.

MIAMI 31, NEBRASKA 30 (1984 ORANGE BOWL) Miami, which considered shutting down its program due to lack of interest several years earlier, pulled off one of the greatest upsets to win its first national title.

Led by gawky yet efficient quarterback Bernie Kosar,

Miami built an early lead and the hometown crowd rocked the Orange Bowl.

The potent Cornhuskers needed a trick play — a “fumblerooski” TD by lineman Dean Steinkuhler — to stay in the game. They pulled within a point with less than a minute left, but instead of kicking the extra point that would have assured a championship, coach Tom Osborne decided to go for the win with a 2-point try. Turner Gill’s pass was swatted away

by Ken Calhoun, and Miami benefited when higher ranked teams lost in earlier bowl games and rose from fifth to No. 1 in the final AP poll.

OHIO STATE 31, MIAMI 24, 2 OT (2003 FIESTA BOWL) Miami was poised for an-

Clemson’s Hunter Renfrow catches a touchdown pass in front of Alabama’s Minkah Fitzpatrick and Eddie Jackson during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. Alabama beat Clemson 45-40.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

other perfect season. They were a unanimous No. 1 choice riding a 34-game winning streak. Ohio State also was unbeaten, ranked No. 2, but appeared to be no match for the speedy ‘Canes. Led by freshman running back Maurice Clarett, though, Ohio State outplayed Miami for much of the game. But it was a still debated pass interference call in overtime that gave the Buckeyes another chance, and they won 31-24 in double OT. With his team down 24-17 and facing fourth down in OT, Craig Krenzel’s pass into the end zone was called incomplete by one official, but another ruled interference against Miami. Ohio State then tied it, and won it in the second OT for its first national crown in 34 years.

TEXAS 41, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 38 (2006 ROSE BOWL)

This game was like Alabama-Clemson for excitement, but had an even wilder finish. It was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game, and USC was loaded — with two Heisman winners in running back Reggie Bush and quarterback Matt Leinart.

Like Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Texas QB Vince Young piled up over 400 total yards, but his Longhorns came out a winner when he scored on fourth down in the closing seconds.

FLORIDA STATE 34, AUBURN 31 (2014 ROSE BOWL) The Tigers stormed to a 21-3 lead before Heisman winner Jameis Winston led the Seminoles back. The lead went back and forth with the Tigers going ahead 3127 with 1:19 left. But Winston led them to victory — and the national title — with a short TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds to go.q

SPORTS A19

Wednesday 13 January 2016

English Roundup:

Boring United? Van Gaal’s team in 3-3 thriller at Newcastle opening day, beating Crystal Palace 1-0 courtesy of a goalkeeper error by Wayne Hennessey. The Wales international let Joleon Lescott’s header slip through his grasp and over the line, ending Villa’s 19-game winless run and giving the team renewed hope of surviving relegation.

Villa provisionally is eight points from safety.

Newcastle United’s Ayoze Perez, right, vies for the ball with Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini, left, during the English Premier League soccer match between Newcastle United and Manchester United at St James’ Park, Newcastle, England, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2015.

(AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer MANCHESTER, England (AP) — So much for Manchester United being boring.

In one of the most entertaining matches of the English Premier League, United squandered a twogoal lead, went back in front through an exquisite shot from Wayne Rooney, and then conceded a 90th-minute goal to draw at Newcastle 3-3 on Tuesday.

The thriller at St. James’ Park might briefly silence the many critics who have been criticizing United’s often ponderous style of play, but that will come as little comfort to under-pressure

manager Louis van Gaal, whose side slipped to sixth place in the standings.

“It feels like a defeat,” said Van Gaal, who acknowledged before the game that even he was “very bored” during some United matches. “We have given it away.”

A positive for United was the performance of Rooney, who scored twice, set up the other goal by Jesse Lingard, and put in an impressive all-round performance. He has four goals in three matches in 2016, having struggled for form in the first half of the season.

Last-place Aston Villa collected its first win since the

Also, West Ham came from behind to beat Bournemouth 3-1, with Enner Valencia scoring twice and fit-again playmaker Dimitri Payet scoring the other goal for the visitors.

West Ham moved into fifth place, above Man United.

With Newcastle struggling for goals of late and United seemingly restricted by Van Gaal’s suffocating ap-

proach, few would have foreseen their end-to-end match. It was a throwback to many of the exciting games in Alex Ferguson’s reign at United.

Rooney’s ninth-minute goal from the penalty spot set the tone, before the England striker led a counterattack that ended with Lingard scoring from a low shot.q

20 SPORTS

Wednesday 13 January 2016

On The Fringe:

Spieth uses Tiger comparisons to stay grounded

Jordan Spieth hits on the 18th fairway during the final round of the Tournament of Champions golf tournament, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, at Kapalua Plantation Course on Kapalua, Hawaii. Spieth finished 30 under par for the tournament win.

(AP Photo/Matt York)

DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer HONOLULU (AP) — To compare Jordan Spieth with Tiger Woods is not a mistake because Spieth does it all the time.

That’s what keeps him grounded.

And don’t be shy about throwing Phil Mickelson into that conversation. Spieth thinks a lot about Lefty, too.

As he walked toward a Maui sunset with a lei around his neck and the silver trophy in his hand from an eight-shot victory in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Spieth was asked what kept him from getting a big head.

It would be hard to fault him. In the last 10 months, the 22-year-old Texan has

won the Masters and the U.S. Open, pursued the calendar Grand Slam like no one before, crossed $20 million in career PGA Tour earnings and established himself as No. 1 in the world.

He has the golf world at his feet.

He keeps Woods and Mickelson on a pedestal.

“The more you look at Tiger, you look at Phil, you start realizing how far away you are from one of the best players to ever play the game,” Spieth said. “And if you look at that, it keeps your head small.

“Now hopefully, you have a chance to ask me that when there’s a possibility of it getting big,” he added. “But for now, I think the more I look at, ‘What have

they done?’ and ‘What are they thinking about how I’m talking?’ when they’re sitting there with 45 and 79 wins and major championships ... you look at guys I come in contact with, my peers on the golf course who are just so much more accomplished, and it keeps me a little smaller.”

The comparisons with Woods are largely about age.

Since 1970 when the PGA Tour began keeping more thorough records, Spieth and Woods are the only players with seven victories at age 22. Woods was about a month younger when he picked up his seventh tour victory, and he had not quite completed two full years as a pro. Spi-

eth is in his fourth PGA Tour season.

Woods won seven of his first 38 starts. Spieth won seven of his first 77 starts.

Spieth wasn’t doing the math when he walked off the 18th green at Kapalua and was asked about comparisons with Woods.

He heard “Tiger” and thought about a decade of dominance and numbers that will be tough for anyone to match.

“Nowhere near,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any reason to compare. It’s awfully early. We’re excited about where we’re at to start our career. What Tiger’s done I can’t image ever being done. But it’s nice to be in that company.”

Spieth isn’t the first player to be compared with Woods.

Just over four years ago, Rory McIlroy was 22 when he won his first major at Congressional by smashing the U.S. Open scoring record in an eight-shot victory. One major, and the comparisons with Woods had already begun.

For all his success, for the magic of his wedges and the pureness of his putting, comparing Spieth with Woods is based on projections and predictions while the kid is preaching patience.

“I just think it’s premature, but I’ll say that probably my entire career,” Spieth said.

“There’s just such an age gap that I understand the comparisons are going to be there. I hope they continue to be there. That means I’m still being in the same ballpark as he is.”

For now, that’s not a bad place to be.q

Europeans using EurAsia Cup to prep for the Ryder Cup STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer Europe captain Darren Clarke was keen to stress that the Ryder Cup in September wasn’t in his thoughts heading into the second edition of the EurAsia Cup this week.

“There’s no Ryder Cup stuff going on in the back of my mind,” Clarke said on Tuesday. It seems his players see it differently.

“One of the main reasons I wanted to play the EurAsia Cup so much was to get invaluable team experience in a Ryder Cup year,” said Irish player Shane Lowry, making it clear where his priorities lay going into the match against Asia starting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

“A lot of the lads on our team next week are looking to qualify for the Ryder Cup this year and (this week) gives us a great chance to show Darren what we are capable of and hopefully impress him.”

Lowry is one of a number of Europe’s new breed looking to take their opportunity this week in the absence of the continent’s star names — Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, and Graeme McDowell.

Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson, and Stephen Gallacher all played in the first EurAsia Cup, which finished tied at 1010 in 2014, and went on to make their Ryder Cup debuts later that year in Gleneagles.

For maybe half of the 2016 team, the same reward is there.q

SPORTS A21

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Kerber withdraws from Sydney International with illness SYDNEY (AP) — Eight of the top 10 women in tennis are injured or have become sick in the lead up to the Australian Open, the latest being Angelique Kerber after she withdrew from the Sydney International on Tuesday with a stomach illness.

Kerber lost in the final of last week’s Brisbane International to Victoria Azarenka and beat Elina Svitolina in the first round in Sydney before falling ill and pulling out of her second-round match against Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday.

“I’m very sorry I can’t go on court today but I’m not feeling 100 percent,” Kerber said. “I don’t want to risk my health before Melbourne, of course, but I love to come back to the Apia International Sydney and always have good results here - semifinals last year and the final two years ago.”

The Sydney tournament has already lost fourthranked Agnieszka Radwanska to a leg injury and defending champion Petra Kvitova, ranked No. 6, to a stomach virus, along with Daria Gavrilova of Australia, winner of last week’s Hopman Cup, who has an abdominal strain.

Last week, four other topranked women either retired or withdrew from tournaments because of injuries: No. 1 Serena Williams (Hopman Cup/knee), sec-

ond-ranked Simona Halep (Brisbane/ankle), No. 3 Garbine Muguruza (Brisbane/foot) and No. 5 Maria Sharapova (Brisbane/ forearm).

Ninth-ranked Lucie Safarova has already withdrawn from the Australian Open with a bacterial infection, leaving No. 10 Venus Williams as the only active member of the women’s top 10 without an injury concern or illness ahead of the tournament, which starts Monday.

Halep showed signs of improvement, shrugging off the Achilles tendon problem that forced her out of the Brisbane International to beat Caroline Garcia 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the second round and move into the quarterfinals in Sydney, where she is seeded No. 1.

Earlier Tuesday, Sara Errani rallied from 5-1 down in the second set, saving seven set points, to beat former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) to advance to the quarterfinals.

“Yeah, it was 5-1, but I had

Angellque Kerber of Germany stretches to play a shot at the Sydney International Tennis tournament in Sydney. Kerber fell ill and pulled out of her second-round match against Ekaterina Makarova on Tuesday.

(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

many games with 40-Love, 40-15, and advantage, and so it didn’t really feel like 5-1,” Errani said. “I was just thinking that I was near my best level, and to just try to keep going, play all the points, and finally was 5-all,

and 5-5, 6-all, and really tough the tiebreaker.”

Fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-0 and eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic defeated Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3.

Samantha Stosur also reached the Sydney quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years when she beat Slovakian veteran Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2. Stosur was runner-up at the tournament in 2005.q

Slovak Zuzulova wins WCup slalom for 3rd victory FLACHAU, Austria (AP) — Slovak skier Veronika Velez Zuzulova overcame snowfall and a softened course to end a three-year wait for her third World Cup win on Tuesday. Holding on to a commanding first-leg lead in a night slalom, Velez Zu-

zulova avoided risks in her final run, and screamed for joy with both arms in the air after finishing. “I am really happy,” she said. “I had to wait a long time to have this feeling again.”

Three years ago, Velez Zuzulova won two races with-

in three days — a slalom in Semmering, Austria, and a city event in Munich.

On Tuesday, Velez Zuzulova finished in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 46.58 seconds on the floodlit Hermann Maier World Cup Course to beat Sarka Stra-

chova of Czech Republic by 0.31. Frida Hansdotter finished 1.05 behind in third and retained her lead in the discipline standings.

The Swede has 425 points, followed by Strachova with 351, and Velez Zuzulova with 320.q

A22 HEALTH

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Dr. Viana’s 3 Steps to Health -Step 2,

Our Biocompatible or “life friendly” protocol has three, easy to understand steps, for guiding you back to health. The steps are: 1) GET the poison OUT; 2) BRING IN what the body needs and 3) BALANCE your lifestyle. If you follow these steps in the order outlined above, you most probably will enjoy health.

Last week, in Step 1, we explored what the saying; “Cleanliness is close to Godliness” is really talking about.

It refers to keeping clean your God given temple, your body. Once we identify and eliminate toxic elements in your body, you are on the road to better health and are ready for the next step.

Imagine being told by your father, that there is a lot that contains the plans, workers and materials to build a grand church. You are to take charge as the master builder. You get there and see that indeed the first step, cleaning the land has taken place.

The plans are there, the people ready to work. However, are the building materials adequate and of the finest quality, or are they insufficient or inferior to do a good job? A great building is only as good as the materials used to construct it.

Stone and cement alone, do not, strong concrete make. You need a third element, water. Your body is no different. Clean water is essential to keep the body healthy. We consider water the first nutrient for health.

Water is essential for digestion, absorption of nutrients and elimination of waste.

Water acts like a medicine

when dehydrated. It helps prevents chronic inflammation, enhances, and moistens lung surfaces enhancing breathing. Water aids in regulation of body temperature and supports communication between cells, organs and all parts of the body. Water is even in bone, and solid material.

Many people drink very little or no water, relying instead on sugary or caffeinated drinks that can actually rob the body of its necessary water. Even natural juice, with the exception apple juice dries out the body. A body deficient in water is dehydrated.

Dehydrated people fail to absorb good fats like omega oils important for the brain; their face wrinkles and habits become odd.

Symptoms of water deficiency in the body include stiff bones and joints, sluggish colon, difficulty hearing, faulty eyesight, irritated nerves and brain ailments.

In clinic, we have seen arthritic symptoms disappear after several month of adequate water intake. Adequate intake is, for every 70lbs/30kg, you need to drink one Qt/lt. of water.

The next thing you need to build a strong body is quality food. Any mason knows that when you mess too much making concrete you spoil the batch. Food is the same. The best food has not been “messed with.”

The more you process food, the less value it has nutritionally. Similarly, if you wait too long to use the concrete, it will become useless. Even healthy food that is old becomes less nutritious to your body.

The definition of food is “anything which when taken into the body, serves to nourish or build up the tissues or to supply body heat” (Dorlands Medical Dictionary). Anything is a broad statement. Healthy food, not “anything” provides life.

The modern paradox is that the “freedom from preparing fresh meals” has provided us with ill health, filling doctor’s waiting rooms.

Especially in developed countries, millions of people are dying of heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes. More have arthritis, asthma, bronchitis, hypoglycemia, venereal disease, dental problems and mental illness. With all the medical technology, life expectancy has increased by only two years since 1914.

Food either sustains health or tears it down.

We have genetically altered food, painted food, frozen food, junk food, fast food, canned food, instant dinners, microwave specials and they are all nutritionally deficient. When foods that started as complex, carbohydrates are “modified” into convenient simple carbohydrates, the “life” has been removed. Simple carbohydrates like white sugar, white flour, table salt, soft drinks, coffee, alcohol, high fructose corn syrup HFCS and other civilized amenities are responsible for eighty percent of our medical problems.

Marketing “experts” bombard us constantly in every form of media to buy and use these products, promising irresistible sex, beauty and a “now” lifestyle. Many

of these foods are also addicting and professional help from certified nutritionists, doctors and counselors may be needed to break the cycle of use and abuse just like alcohol and drugs.

We help our patients break the cycle and understand how to eat, healthy, natural food, like whole grains.

Whole wheat is the most popular grain, but a large percentage of the population is wheat intolerant or sensitive.

Additionally, the gluten in wheat is not healthy for the growing number of people with diabetes or insulin problems.

Brown rice is easy readily available, easy to cook and is a staple in our diet. Quinoa is a supergrain from Peru that abounds in absorbable B vitamins, protein, calcium and more that is good for all types of people.

Be prepared to pay more for whole grains because growers cannot sell the skins to vitamin companies.

Include fresh vegetables, fruit and lean protein for a healthy diet. Unfortunately, even the healthiest, organic food still may be nutritionally deficient, that is why I always recommend including some basic supplements like vitamin C, Magnesium, Zinc and Lecithin.

Get the Point!

Whether a cathedral or our body, the materials used make a difference. Quality food and water are the building blocks of health. We can help you identify and get the poison out then educate you about eating “live” foods specific for you metabolic type. Sickness is not natural. Our natural or God given temple, our

By: Dr. Carlos Viana

bodies, were made to be healthy. However, to be healthy, we have to nourish ourselves with the natural, pure and whole. In Step 3, we will discuss lifestyle choices for living healthy.

CARLOS VIANA, Ph. D. is an Oriental Medical Doctor (O.M.D.) having studied in China; a US Board Cert.

Clinical Nutritionist (C.C.N.), an Addiction Professional (C.Ad.), Chairperson of the Latin American Committee of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), a Rejuvenating Cell Therapist specializing in Age Management, has a weekly radio program, writes and lectures extensively.

For information: VIANA HEALING CENTER, Kibaima 7, St Cruz TEL: 585-1270 Web Site: www.vianaheal.com “Prescriptions from Paradise” - Dr. Viana’s Award Winning BOOK: Prescriptions from Paradise, Introduction to Biocompatible Medicine – Available at local Bookstores, Hotel Gift shops and Boticas. Signed copies at Viana Healing Center, EBooks: Amazon kindle, Nook, Itunes check for Events at: facebook. com/vianahealingcenter.

Join the discussion: www. facebook.com/prescriptionsformparadise q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Chinese drone maker unveils human-carrying drone

The EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is seen at the EHang booth at CES International in Las Vegas. The drone is large enough to fit a human passenger.

(AP Photo/John Locher)

RYAN NAKASHIMA AP Business Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chinese drone maker Ehang Inc. on Wednesday unveiled

what it calls the world’s first drone capable of carrying a human passenger.

The Guangzhou, Chinabased company pulled

the cloth off the Ehang 184 at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the CES gadget show. In a company video showing it flying,

it looks like a small helicopter but with four doubled propellers spinning parallel to the ground like other drones.

The electric-powered drone can be fully charged in two hours, carry up to 220 pounds and fly for 23 minutes at sea level, according to Ehang. The cabin fits one person and a small backpack and even has air conditioning and a reading light. With propellers folded up, it’s designed to fit in a single parking spot.

After setting a flight plan, passengers only need to give two commands, “take off” and “land,” each controlled by a single click on a Microsoft Surface tablet, the company said.

It is designed to fly about 1,000 to 1,650 feet off the ground with a maximum altitude of 11,500 feet and top speed of 63 miles per hour.

U.S. authorities are just start-

ing to lay out guidelines for drone use, and a humanpassenger drone seems certain to face strict scrutiny.

Federal Aviation Administration administrator Michael Huerta was at CES but could not immediately be reached for comment through a spokesman.

Ehang co-founder and Chief Financial Officer Shang Hsiao said the company hopes to sell the device for $200,000 to $300,000 beginning this year but acknowledged it occupies a legal “grey area.”

“The whole world never had something like this before,” he said.

A passenger would have no controls as a backup, he said. In the event of a problem the company plans a remote control center that would take over the vehicle and ensure it lands safely, he said.

Powerful replacement in works for climate-modeling computer

This photo shows the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) “Yellowstone” supercomputer, among the 60 fastest in the world, used to study weather, climate, oceanography, and other areas of earth science in Cheyenne, Wyo. “Yellowstone” will be replaced in 2017 by an even faster machine, officials announced Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The new supercomputer, to be named Cheyenne, will be at least 2 1/2 times more powerful, the National Center for Atmospheric Research said.

(Alan Rogers/Casper Star-Tribune via AP)

MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) — One of the most powerful computers in the world dedicated to climate change, weather and other earth science research will be replaced in 2017 by an even faster machine, officials announced Monday.

The Yellowstone supercomputer in Wyoming currently ranks among the 60 fastest

in the world. The new supercomputer, to be named Cheyenne, will be at least 2 1/2 times more powerful, the National Center for Atmospheric Research said.

Capable of 5.3 quadrillion calculations, or petaflops, per second, Cheyenne will be some 100,000 times faster than a typical home computer. The speed provides unprecedented detail in climate-change predictions, including regional

modeling of effects, the center said.

A more powerful computer will allow researchers to see results in higher resolution, like a higher density of pixels sharpens images on a television or a stronger telescope brings a greater number of far-off galaxies into focus, explained Rich Loft, the center’s director of technology.

Scientists since 2012 have been using the Yellowstone supercomputer near Cheyenne for a range of research that also includes modeling air pollution and ocean currents.

The atmospheric research center plans to install Cheyenne later this year and put it to work early next year. Questions it might help answer include: — Is the California drought a fluke or due to global climate change?

— Can scientists predict the intensity of solar flares — streams of radiation released by the sun that can endanger satellites and astronauts — during an upcoming solar cycle?

— How might climate change increase the like-

lihood of drought and change the extent of arc-

tic sea ice from decade to decade?

A24 BUSINESS

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Canada mining firm suspends most work, cuts jobs in Greece D. GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Canadian mining company Eldorado Gold said Tuesday it is suspending work at a site in Greece and laying off 600 workers following protests by local residents and a spat with the country’s leftwing government.

The Vancouver, Canadabased company said it was halting operations at a gold mine at Skouries, on the Halkidiki peninsula, one of four major Greek sites where the company is involved.

CEO Paul Wright said a further 500 jobs were also likely to be cut later in the year.

Wright accused the government of holding up permits and using the mining project as a “political toy” but insisted the company had no plans to pull out of Greece and hoped to restart work at Skouries at a later date.

“It’s not dissimilar to building a kitchen and putting in the floor and furniture but not being allowed to put in a wall and roof over it. It’s a bit silly,” Wright told a news conference in Athens.

Wright said his company had invested $700 million (645 million euros) and created 2,000 jobs, but added that it was willing to negotiate royalty payments for gold being extracted that were not included in the original agreements made with the Greek state.

Elected a year ago, the leftwing government has expressed support for protest groups near Skouries who oppose the project on environmental grounds and fear it will hurt tourism.

The protests included road blockades, violent confrontations with police and a 2013 arson attack on Eldorado facilities at Skouries.

Environment Minister Panos Skoutletis said Wright had made the announcement after rescheduling meetings with the government for later in the week.q

Stocks rebound after early slide; techs lead gains ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer A volatile day on Wall Street ended in upbeat fashion Tuesday as a lateafternoon rally led by technology stocks pushed the market to a modest gain.

percent this year.

“We saw a little bit of weakness in oil and the selling just continued,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade.

All told, the Dow Jones industrial average gained

kets has also kept traders on edge after sharp losses last week.

The steep downturn in crude oil prices has also weighed on the market.

The three major U.S. stock indexes are all down for the

Specialist Stephen Naughton, right, works with traders at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. A volatile day on Wall Street ended in upbeat fashion Tuesday as a late-afternoon rally led by technology stocks pushed the market to a modest gain.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The turnaround helped snap an eight-day trading slump for the Nasdaq composite, which is heavily weighted with technology stocks.

Energy stocks slumped as much as 2 percent during the day, then recovered in late trading to eke out a slight gain.

Crude oil prices declined for the seventh day in a row, the longest losing streak since July 2014. Oil has now fallen nearly 18

117.65 points, or 0.7 percent, to 16,516.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 15.01 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,938.68.

The Nasdaq composite climbed 47.93 points, or 1 percent, to 4,685.92.

Investors have been wrestling with fears about a protracted slowdown in China’s economy and the potential fallout for corporate earnings. Uncertainty about Beijing’s ability to manage its financial mar-

year, with the Dow and S&P 500 index off about 5 percent, while the Nasdaq is down 6.4 percent.

Trading looked to take a more positive turn early Tuesday as the major U.S. stock indexes opened higher and oil prices rose. That trend didn’t last, as oil prices turned lower once more, weighing on energy stocks.

The market looked like it was headed for a lower close before it reversed course in the final hour of

trading.

“You’re seeing very oversold conditions,” said Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management. “People here are basically buying the dip.”

Eight of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500 index rose. Technology companies gained 1.2 percent.

Health care and consumer discretionary stocks also notched gains of 1 percent. Utilities and telecommunications services stocks fell.

Chipmaker Intel added 62 cents, or 2 percent, to $32.68, while and Apple gained $1.43, or 1.5 percent, to $99.96. Among health care companies, UnitedHealth Group climbed 2.4 percent, the biggest gainer in the Dow Jones industrial average. It added $2.68 to $112.26.

Energy stocks rose 0.4 percent. The sector remains down 8.5 percent this year.

U.S. crude oil fell 97 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $30.44 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, fell 69 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $30.86 a barrel in London.

Traders continued to take their cue from oil prices by parting with stocks in energy and mining companies.

Freeport-McMoRan lost 20 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $4.11. Consol Energy shed 30 cents, or 4.3 percent, to $6.70.

“The trading in oil is particularly precarious, and because of that, everybody is selling energy-related stocks,” Kinahan said.q

Wal-Mart’s Asda:

More price cuts to come as grocery wars heat up A. D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s going to be another challenging year for supermarket retailers in the United Kingdom.

Wal-Mart’s United Kingdom operation Asda, is investing another 500 million pounds ($721.9 million) in price cuts as the grocery discount wars escalate.

The investment is on top of the one billion pound in-

vestment ($1.44 billion) in price cuts begun in 2013 that Asda planned until late 2018.

Wal-Mart’s Asda also said Sunday it has joined the European Marketing Distribution, which pools the collective buying power of 250 supermarket chains, so it can realize the savings.

The moves come as Asda and the country’s other top traditional grocery rivals —

Tesco PLC, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons —have been cutting prices to respond to the increased competition from Germany-based nofrills discounters Aldi and Lidl. The German discounters offer sharp discounts every day but with limited assortment.

“There is currently no growth in the food market, and the rise of the limitedassortment discounters

means that we must take radical action to win back our customers,” said Andy Clarke, Asda’s president and CEO in a statement.

ASDA is expected to release fourth-quarter figures next month when Wal-Mart announces results. Asda saw a key sales figure — revenue at stores open at least a year — fall 4.6 percent in the third quarter.q

BUSINESS A25

Wednesday 13 January 2016

US job openings rose in November; hiring, quits rise JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers advertised slightly more jobs in November as overall hiring edged up and more Americans quit their jobs in signs of a healthier environment for workers.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the number of job postings rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjust-

ed 5.4 million. That figure has slipped after peaking at a record 5.7 million in July, but stands 11 percent higher than a year ago.

“The labor market will continue to improve, but that we will see some moderation in job growth,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan Chase.

The annual increase shows that employers remain confident despite the fi-

nancial turmoil in China, lower oil prices and a European economy tenuously emerging from its recent struggles.

Only manufacturers have pulled back on job openings over the past 12 months, a reflection of the stronger dollar and weak international growth hurting sales abroad.

The picture looks healthier for jobs insulated from the

global economy. Advertisements for health care jobs have surged 34 percent over the past 12 months to more than a million. Postings for hotel and restaurant jobs have climbed 22 percent to 698,000.

Overall hiring picked up 3.4 percent to 5.2 million from a year ago.

The number of people quitting their jobs, a sign of confidence that people can

find better-paying work, rose 6.3 percent over the past year to 2.83 million.

Rising quits can also help broadly lift wages.

That’s because most people quit their jobs when they have another one lined up, usually at higher pay. More quitting also forces companies to provide raises for their existing workers to keep them from jumping ship.q

Pfizer, Allergan CEOs: Tie-up aims for growth, not cost cuts

The Allergan logo appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Pfizer and Allergan are joining in a $160 billion stock deal that will create the world’s largest drugmaker. Speaking at an industry health care conference, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, Pfizer CEO Ian Read and Allergan CEO Brett Saunders both said that Pfizer’s purchase of Allergan is aimed at helping the combined company grow faster.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

LINDA A. JOHNSON AP Business Writer TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The heads of drugmakers Pfizer and Allergan said Tuesday that the record $160 billion combination they’re planning is meant to produce more medicines and boost revenue, not to just slash

jobs and other costs as the companies previously have done.

The deal announced last November would move Pfizer’s official headquarters for tax purposes from New York to Allergan’s base in Ireland. The strategy, called a tax inversion,

would sharply decrease Pfizer’s income tax bill compared to current U.S. tax rates, though the drugmaker’s operations would still be run from New York.

Pfizer has a history of making such huge acquisitions of other drugmakers, then closing some facilities and

eliminating thousands of jobs to boost profit quickly, though usually just temporarily.

Over the last 15 years, along with many smaller acquisitions, Pfizer has gobbled up Top 20 drugmakers Warner-Lambert, Pharmacia and Wyeth, paying $68 billion for Wyeth alone in 2009.

Speaking at the 34th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco Tuesday, Pfizer CEO Ian Read and Allergan CEO Brett Saunders both said that Pfizer’s purchase of Allergan is aimed at helping the combined company expand faster.

“This isn’t about cost-cutting.

This is about leadership and growth,” said Saunders, adding the companies have “lots of new drugs” they plan to launch in the next few years.

His company, which mostly made generics until recent years, likewise has grown quickly from a surge of ac-

quisitions.

In the last few years, the former Actavis PLC has bought Watson Pharmaceuticals, Forest Laboratories and Warner Chilcott, all multibillion-dollar deals.

Buying Warner Chilcott allowed Actavis to do its own tax inversion, moving its headquarters from Parsippany, New Jersey, to Warner Chilcott’s Dublin home.

Actavis then bought Allergan Inc. last March, later changing its name to the better-known Allergan.

Read said Pfizer and Allergan have little overlap in their operations and both have removed considerable excess costs.

That means their integration, already in the early steps, will focus on factors such as where best to invest research dollars and how to create value for shareholders, he said.

“This is going to be a powerhouse company with a strong dividend,” Saunders predicted, “and the best pipeline in the industry.” q

Airbus tops Boeing in jet orders, but both face China risk ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Airbus overcame technical toilet troubles and engine delays to win hundreds more plane orders in 2015 than rival Boeing, but a bigger problem may cloud this year for both companies: China’s economic slowdown.

Airbus SA and Boeing Co. are battling to win market share in China, forecast to become the world’s biggest air travel market in a little more than a decade.

But concerns about China’s plunging financial markets and slowing growth are rippling throughout Asia, where a growing middle class has driven demand for new airplanes in recent years.

Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier largely shrugged off the recent market turmoil on Tuesday, insisting that his Toulouse, France-based company is sticking to plans for a new facility in Tianjin next month and to its overall strategy in China.

“We should not mix up problems we can see on the financial markets and the real economy,” he told reporters in Paris, in presenting Airbus’ annual orders and forecast for the year.

Bregier predicted that new U.S. visa policies would boost Chinese air travel, and that Asian middle class demand would continue to grow.

As its economy slows, China is trying to shift its focus away from manufacturing toward consumer spend-

ing. That could help increase air travel, but only if the economy does not suffer a sharp drop.

Chicago-based Boeing reached a deal last year to build an assembly plant in China, as the U.S. company tries to match Airbus’s presence in the world’s secondlargest economy.

China, too, is trying to get in on the industry. Chinese state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. has unveiled the first plane produced by a Chinese initiative to com-

pete in the market for large passenger jetliners, the C919. Bregier downplayed the potential Chinese challenger.

Airbus executives remain upbeat about the overall aviation industry despite signs that aircraft demand is slowing. Industry association IATA recently lowered its long-term air traffic forecast and warned that low oil prices have hurt prospects in key emerging markets such as Russia and Brazil. q

A26 COMICS

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Wednesday 13 January 2016

‘Making a Murderer’ subject Steven Avery files for new appeal

Classifieds

GREG MOORE Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — A convicted killer who is the subject of the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” filed a wide-ranging appeal claiming authorities used an improper warrant and that a juror was out to get him, among other things.

Steven Avery, who’s seeking to be released on bond, was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of photographer Teresa Halbach a decade ago. Avery had been wrongfully convicted years earlier in a rape case and served 18 years in prison. He had sued Manitowoc County for tens of millions before he and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, were arrested in Halbach’s death.

The appeal, filed Monday in an appeals court in Madison, bears Avery’s signature and contains numerous spelling and grammar errors. His new attorney’s name doesn’t appear on it.

Manitowoc County Sheriff Robert Hermann said Tuesday he hasn’t seen the appeal, but he has said in the past that the investigation was proper.

The filmmakers behind “Making a Murder” cast doubt on the legal process used to convict Avery and Dassey, and their work has sparked national interest and conjecture. Armchair investigators have flooded Twitter and message boards, and key players in the case have appeared on national news and talk shows.

Authorities involved in the case have called the 10hour series biased. Filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, meanwhile, have stood by their work.q

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A28 SCIENCE

Wednesday 13 January 2016

To Your Health:

Q&A on UK’s new drinking guidelines, alcohol link to cancer

MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — British health officials say drinking alcohol regularly increases the risk of cancer.

And they’ve issued tough new guidelines that could prove hard to swallow in a nation where having a pint is a hallowed tradition.

Britain’s chief medical officer says in recommendations published this weekend that men and women should not drink more than 14 units of alcohol — about six pints of beer or four large glasses of wine — per week, and consuming below that amount still carries a low risk of liver disease or cancer.

Alcohol is a known carcinogen. In the United States, experts estimate about 3.5 percent of all cancer deaths are alcohol-related. People who have more than about four drinks daily run up to triple the risk of contracting cancers of the head and neck than nondrinkers. Here are questions and answers about the British guidelines and their likely effect: WHAT’S NEW?

For women, the guidelines remain unchanged, recommending no more than 14 units a week.

Men, however, had previously been told they could drink up to 21 units a week.

That now drops to the same limit as for women. The original guidance was published in 1995, before many links between alcohol and cancer were detected.

Friday’s updated guidance clarifies advice to pregnant women, recommending they avoid alcohol “as a precaution.” The recommendations say “the risk of harm to the baby is likely to be low if a woman has drunk only small amounts of alcohol before she knew she was pregnant or during pregnancy.”

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption for women who are trying to get pregnant or already in pregnancy.

WILL BRITONS GO TEETOTAL? Almost certainly not in a nation known for its ales and its pubs. Lax control of retail

A man walks by a wines and spirits shop in central London. British health officials say that drinking any alcohol regularly increases the risk of cancer, in tough new guidelines that could be hard to swallow for a nation where having a pint is a hallowed tradition. In recommendations released on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, Britain’s Chief Medical Officer advised both men and women not to drink any more than 14 units of alcohol, or about six pints of beer a week _ that still carries a low risk of liver disease or cancer.

(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

sales and cheap alcohol has fueled a rise in bingedrinking, which Prime Minister David Cameron once declared a national scandal. Even the new guidance acknowledges that people are unlikely to give up drinking and does not call for abstinence.

To help Britons avoid binge drinking, the government recommends that people spread their drinking over at least three days a week.

It warns that the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat and breast increases with any amount drunk on a more regular basis.

“This is not a crackdown on alcohol,” said Dr. Niamh Fitzgerald, a lecturer in alcohol studies at the University of Stirling, who was not involved in drafting the government guidelines. “It is about supporting people to make up their own minds.”

HOW DOES THIS COMPARE

WITH OTHER COUNTRIES? Each country measures alcohol consumption differently. Brtiain’s guidelines are stricter than those of other European countries in Europe, notably Ireland and Spain, but similar to U.S. expert recommendations.

According to American dietary guidelines, women should drink no more than one drink a day and men should have no more than two.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE SUPPOSED BENEFITS OF ALCOHOL? While some studies suggest that drinking moderate levels of red wine is good for the heart, British officials say that applies only to women over the age of 55, particularly those who drink no more than about two glasses a week. The British report said it “concluded that there is no justification for drinking for health reasons.”

WHAT’S THE VIEW DOWN AT THE PUB? “This won’t change a thing,” said David Evans, an engineer enjoying a pint at a north London pub.

He said he regularly exceeds the new limit of about six pints of beer a week in a single day and has no intention of changing his drinking habits. “A lot of people will let their own body tell them what’s right and what’s wrong,” he said. U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said the advice was “over the top” and called for a mass protest against such “nannying.”

“We all know there is a big problem with excessive alcohol consumption in this country,” he told LBC radio.

“But frankly, if we choose to enjoy a few drinks four or five nights a week after a hard day at work, whether it slightly shortens our lives or not, so what?”q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Wednesday 13 January 2016

What’s on TV:

John Ridley’s splendid ‘American Crime’: no easy answers

FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — No one should come to “American Crime” expecting easy answers to the tough questions it poses.

Viewers learned that during season one of the celebrated ABC drama, when murder and drugs in a California town sparked a troubling look at race, class and a broken legal system.

Viewers will learn it anew as “American Crime” airs the second hour of this season’s saga Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST. Lurid photos

messy, pressing issues at a painfully personal level.

“The point is not solving them but watching people endure them,” he says.

“There are resolutions, but in terms of solving anything, like many times in life, we’re never gonna know exactly what took place. The actors would ask me, ‘Will I find out at the end if I did this?’ or ‘Did a certain thing happen or not?’ I would tell each of them, ‘Your truth is your truth.’”

It’s not the typical drama series, certainly not on a broadcast network where

adds, “There was a freedom of doing what we wanted to do in the pilot, because we thought no one was ever going to see it.”

But then, in a sense, ABC called his bluff, not only ordering the series, but also bringing it back for a second year.

It’s just the latest milestone for Ridley, an African-American born in Milwaukee 50 years ago who describes his distinguished and diverse career as a “journey of opportunities.”

A quarter-century ago he

In this image released by ABC, Regina King, left, and Andre Benjamin appear in a scene from “American Crime,” airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. (Ryan Green/ABC via AP)

of an Indianapolis teenager have gone viral after a school party where he claims to have been sexually assaulted. But he will not be the only victim in a clash between students, parents and educators at two very different high schools.

Returning from last season are Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Lily Taylor and Regina King (who won an Emmy the first go-around), although in brand-new roles.

Also back onboard: creator and executive producer John Ridley, the Oscarwinning writer of “12 Years a Slave” whose focus for “American Crime” remains that of examining broad,

right-and-wrong is usually spelled out for the audience and ethical debates are usually clear-cut.

“American Crime” calls for viewers to unlearn wellentrenched expectations bred by decades of TV custom. It’s challenging and rewarding. And unlikely.

So how did this show ever get on the air?

Sure, ABC had invited Ridley to cook up a new drama. But despite what he says was continuing encouragement, the network simply had to be surprised at the result.

“I don’t think any of us, including the cast, thought the series would get picked up (for series),” Ridley admits with a laugh, then

landed a writing job on comedian Martin Lawrence’s sitcom, “Martin,” then moved to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” which starred a TV newcomer named Will Smith. From there he went to the ambitiously bittersweet “The John Larroquette Show,” then to the mainstream cop drama “Third Watch.”

He published a half-dozen novels and wrote and directed “Jimi: All is by My Side,” a 2014 feature about Jimi Hendrix. Before “12 Years a Slave” was released to critical and audience acclaim, ABC signed him to develop “American Crime.”

ABC has now extended its deal with Ridley, includ-

ing a pilot for a new series, “Presence.”

“The last couple of years I’ve been really, really blessed,” he says over tea while in New York for a “Presence” casting session.

This prospective new drama — about a female Army veteran who becomes an unlicensed private eye in Los Angeles — has a lighter tone than “American

Crime” (it would have to!), says Ridley, perhaps befitting his origin as a comedy writer and, as his show-biz entry point, a stand-up comic whose peak 20 years ago was appearing on the “Late Show with David Letterman.”

One joke he planned to deliver that night targeted the U.S. war policy with a certain bite.

A30 PEOPLE

Wednesday 13 January 2016

& ARTS

Bowie lauded as artist who made it OK to be different JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s perhaps not so surprising that the word “androgynous” was spiking on the Merriam-Webster online dictionary after David Bowie’s death was announced, as people looked up a word so commonly mentioned in connection with the rock star’s blazingly unique style.

But while the word aptly describes much of Bowie’s chameleon-like appeal, there was another, deeper association being mentioned by some in the aftermath of Bowie’s death: the idea that the singer was a crucial source of support — perhaps even to the point of saving lives — for youngsters uncertain about their identity or sexuality in an era when gender fluidity was much less accepted than it is today.

“David Bowie showed this queer kid from Baton Rouge that gender outlaws are cool,” wrote singer-songwriter Mary Gauthier on Twitter.

“Androgyny=rock&roll, not a reason to kill myself.”

Gauthier, 53, explained in an interview that she’d stumbled upon Bowie’s famous Ziggy Stardust persona — the flame-haired, body-suited, bisexual alien rock star from his 1972 album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” — when she was 14 or 15. “I was clearly aware that I was a gender outlaw,” she said.

“Being androgynous didn’t sit well in Baton Rouge in 1974 or 1975. I hung out with outsiders. Bowie gave them hope, and me hope.

“I do think his work saved thousands of gender-different kids,” Gauthier said.

She added: “It wasn’t a matter of what he was saying or arguing, it was a matter of how he was appearing. It may have been a show, but it was authentic.”

“He showed us there was a bigger world out there,” Gauthier said.

While the specific words may have been different, similar thoughts — the idea of Bowie making those who

felt somehow different feel more welcome — came from far and wide on Monday, a day after Bowie died at age 69 following a very private 18-month battle with cancer.

One of those expressing such thoughts was Madon-

cious thing. He changed the world forever.”

In Berlin, where Bowie lived for a while in the 1970s and recorded the three albums known as his Berlin Trilogy, musician Mark Reeder spoke of how the rock star especially loved the city

Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD, in an email message. “He was a beacon for all those who felt alienated because of their gender identity or sexual orientation, helped many to understand and accept themselves, continually

In this September, 1995 photo, David Bowie performs in Hartford, Conn. Bowie, the innovative and iconic singer whose illustrious career lasted five decades, died Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, after battling cancer for 18 months. He was 69.

(AP Photo/Bob Child)

na, who spoke of Bowie’s androgynous image as easing the way for her as a young person.

“I never felt like I fit in growing up in Michigan,” the pop star wrote on Facebook. “Like an oddball or a freak. I went to see him in concert ... We got caught after, and I was grounded for the summer. I didn’t care. I already had many of his records and was so inspired by the way he played with gender confusion. Was both masculine and feminine. Funny and serious. Clever and wise.”

Actress Evan Rachel Wood wrote on Twitter that Bowie “always made me feel less alone in this crazy world.”

And filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, also on Twitter, wrote that “Bowie existed so all of us misfits learned that an oddity was a pre-

because “it was different.

Because it was full of artists and full of transvestites and full of weird people who didn’t fit in to normal society. And I think he really enjoyed his time here, it was really important for him, because he could be himself, he could find himself.”

As many pointed out, it wasn’t about Bowie’s own orientation (he gave a couple of varying answers early in his career when asked whether he was bisexual; the father of two was married to wife Iman for more than two decades at his death, and earlier to Angela Bowie) but the sense of liberation he gave others.

“David Bowie will always hold a special place in the hearts of many LGBT people,” said Sarah Kate

challenged gender norms, and proved that being different is not only OK — it is something to be proud of.”

Gauthier, the singer, noted that for her, Bowie’s key message was about gender, not sexual orientation.

“He shattered the binary idea of gender — as being male or female — and he created that middle,” she said. “He showed us what a man looked like in a dress, and it was beautiful. There was an inner femininity, but it was masculine, too.”

And he was the essential outsider, she said; in fact, he gave the impression of coming from outer space, so other-worldly was his ethereal appearance.

“But he was MORE than human,” Gauthier added, “and not less than human.

That’s an important difference.” q

Outback pub toasts David Bowie, their most famous visitor ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Drinkers at a dusty Outback pub raised their beer glasses Tuesday to the pub’s most famous visitor, David Bowie.

More than three decades ago, the mercurial musician made the 650-kilometer (400-mile) drive from Sydney to the tiny outpost of Carinda in parched western New South Wales state to shoot the video for his 1983 hit “Let’s Dance” at Carinda’s only pub.

The pub’s current owner, Malcolm George, said the town of fewer than 200 people hadn’t known that Bowiewas coming.

And they have never been allowed to forget the visit, which took their rustic watering hole to a global audience.

“People still come in asking, Is this is the pub where Bowie sang?” George said.

George said that only one of the local extras who appeared in those smoky bar scenes still lives in the town. But news late Monday (Australian East Time) that Bowie had died immediately boosted business.

“It’s been nonstop,” George said.

He said that when he bought the pub a year ago, it was in disrepair.

Many of the brown and green tiles had fallen from the wall that had formed a blond Bowie’s backdrop as he sang and strummed his guitar. But George stripped tiles from elsewhere in the pub to restore that iconic surface.

Marie Draper, who works behind the bar, said a week rarely goes by without a tourist gravitating to that wall.

“We do get quite a few tourists who come through,” Draper said.

“They ask where the spot is and stand in front of the tiles and get their photos taken.”

Draper has lived in Carinda all her life, but wasn’t Bowaround when ie visited.q

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Ridley Scott, Adam McKay among Directors Guild nominations JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Adam McKay, Tom McCarthy and George Miller landed their first nods from the Directors Guild of America in a group of nominees that spanned genres from comedy to science fiction.

Nominations for outstanding achievement in directing went to McKay for the finance romp “The Big Short,” McCarthy for his

Boston Globe investigative drama “Spotlight” and Miller for the post-apocalyptic sequel “Mad Max: Fury Road.” They are joined

by Ridley Scott for the science-fiction blockbuster “The Martian” and Alejandro Inarritu for the frontier thriller “The Revenant” — who are both celebrating their fourth DGA nod.

The DGA Awards are a closely watched indicator of which directors will be

likely Oscar nominees on Thursday, and which films have the strongest support from filmmakers. In an awards season lacking a clear front-runner, the only films to win the top nominations from producer, actor and director guilds are “Spotlight” and “The Big Short.”b Notably left out by the directors’ group were Todd Haynes for the period romance “Carol” and Steven Spielberg for

his Cold War tale “Bridge of Spies.” Being overlooked by the DGA doesn’t mean that neither could land an Academy Award nod (the two groups haven’t aligned perfectly since 2010), but at least four of the DGA nominees are likely to hear their names read on Thursday.

Last year, the overlooked Bennett Miller (“Foxcatcher”) went on to replace Clint Eastwood (“American Sniper”) at the Oscars,

where Inarritu won best director for “Birdman.” This year, Haynes could be the selection subbed in by the directors’ branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures, which is a much smaller collection of filmmakers: about 400 members to the DGA’s approximately 16,000.

A DGA nod is also good news for the best-picture chances of the five nominees.q

China’s Wanda buys Legendary Entertainment for $3.5 billion JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Wanda Group said Tuesday it is buying Hollywood’s Legendary Entertainment, the maker of films such as “Batman,” for $3.5 billion in the first Chinese acquisition of a major U.S. film company.

Wanda, whose chairman, Wang Jianlin, is one of China’s richest businesspeople, has expanded rapidly into the film industry.

It bought the U.S. cinema chain AMC in 2012 and is developing an $8 billion studio complex in eastern China.

New but cash-rich Chinese companies are on a buying spree abroad in industries from finance to yacht building for assets that can speed their development at home and help them expand in global markets.

With its latest acquisition, Wanda’s film businesses will include a full range of production, distribution and exhibition, Wang said in a statement. The company, headquartered in the northeastern port city

of Dalian, also has interests in hotels, retailing and real estate. Legendary’s productions include the “Batman” trilogy, “Inception” and “The Hangover.” The company says its movies have grossed more than $12 billion worldwide.

“Wanda will help Legendary increase its market opportunities, especially in the fast-growing China market,” said Wang.

Wanda’s latest purchase is the fourth-largest Chinese investment in the United States, according to Dealogic, a financial information provider. It ranks behind WH Group Ltd.’s $7 billion acquisition of pork packer Smithfield Foods in 2013, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund’s 2007 purchase of a 9.9 percent stake in Morgan Stanley for $5.6 billion and Unisplendour Corp.’s offer of $3.7 billion this year for 15 percent of Western Digital Corp.

Global film, music and television companies see China and its increasingly prosperous population of 1.3

A Chinese moviegoer walks into the Wanda Cinema at the Wanda Group building in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. Wanda Group announced Tuesday it is buying Hollywood’s Legendary Entertainment, the maker of films such as “Batman,” for $3.5 billion in the first Chinese acquisition of a major U.S. film company.

(AP Photo/Andy Wong)

billion potential viewers as one of their most promising markets. Even as economic growth slows, China’s consumer spending is expanding faster than that of the United States and other Western markets.

Ticket sales in China, already one of the world’s biggest movie markets, rose nearly 50 percent last year to 44 billion yuan ($6.8 billion), according to Nomura. It said in a Jan. 7 report that total revenue is

forecast to rise another 25 percent this year.

Wang, 62, ranked as China’s richest businessperson last year, with a net worth of $34 billion, according to the Hurun Report, which follows China’s wealthy. q

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, model Jerry Hall engaged LONDON (AP) — Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is engaged to Jerry Hall, the American actress and former supermodel who had a long-time relationship with Mick Jagger.

Murdoch, 84, and Hall, 59, placed a classified ad in the Births, Marriages and Deaths section of Tuesday’s Times newspaper, which is owned by Murdoch’s News

Corp. Murdoch, the executive chairman of News Corp., and Hall have been dating since late summer after being introduced by one of Murdoch’s sisters and his niece in his native Australia, the Times reported in a story posted online. They made their relationship public in October when they appeared together at the Rugby World

Cup Final in London and got engaged last weekend while attending the Golden Globes Awards in Beverly Hills, California.

“They have loved these past months together, are thrilled to be getting married and excited about their future,” a spokesperson for the Murdoch family told the Times. Murdoch has six children from his three

previous marriages. He was married to Patricia Booker, an Australian, and then to Scottish-born journalist Anna Torv. He later married Chinese-born Wendi Deng, whom he divorced in 2013.

Hall, a Texas native, moved to Paris as a teenager to pursue a modeling career.

She was one of the most photographed supermodels in the 1970s and dated

Roxy Music’s lead singer Bryan Ferry. She entered a long-term relationship with the Rolling stones frontman in the late 1970s.

Hall and Jagger had an unofficial private Hindu marriage ceremony in Bali, Indonesia, in 1990, but during divorce proceedings in 1999 a British court declared the marriage invalid. q