January 14, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Thursday, January 14, 2016

Smooth Sailing

US Navy Sailors Released Unharmed by Iran Secretary of State John Kerry gestures while giving a foreign policy speech, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, at National Defense University in Washington. Less than a day after 10 U.S. Navy sailors were detained in Iran when their boats drifted into Iranian waters, they and their vessels were back safely Wednesday with the American fleet. Kerry tapped the personal relationship he has formed with Iranian FM Mohammed Javad Zarif, speaking with him at least five times by telephone. Kerry credited the quick resolution to the “critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country secure and strong.”

AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Page 3

A2 UP

Thursday 14 January 2016

FRONT

Carter lays out plan to take Mosul, Raqqa from IS LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter laid out broad plans Wednesday to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group’s key power centers in Iraq and Syria. And he announced that a special commando force has now arrived in Iraq. Speaking to troops from the 101st Airborne Division who will soon deploy to Iraq, Carter also said he would meet in Paris next week with his defense counterparts, mainly from Europe, and will challenge them to bring more capabilities to the fight.

He said he will be meeting with defense leaders from France, Australia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

“Each of these nations has a significant stake in completing the destruction of this evil organization, and we must include all of the capabilities they can bring to the field,” he said.

Carter’s broader message signaled the completion of a military plan to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces retake Mosul in northern Iraq and to assist the Syrian moderate forces oust Islamic State militants from their headquarters in Raqqa. He described operations that would send Iraqi forces from the south and Peshmerga forces from the north to encircle and cut off Mosul. But he

warned that taking it back will not be quick or easy.

Carter announced in December that the U.S. would deploy about 200 special operations forces to Iraq to better capitalize on intelligence and put more pressure on the enemy.

“The specialized expeditionary targeting force I announced in December is

along with other key targets,” Carter said.

His speech offered an upbeat assessment of the anti-IS campaign, saying that coalition-backed forces, supported by the airstrikes, are taking back territory and going after the groups finances. This week airstrikes hit an Islamic State cash center in Mosul.

local forces in Iraq and Syria to have lasting success. He said the U.S. must not “Americanize” the conflicts because that would allow militants to accuse the West of occupying the country.

About 500 troops from the 101st Airborne headquarters group will deploy at the end of February and about

Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks to reporters at the Pentagon. Carter laid out broad plans Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, to defeat Islamic State militants and retake the group’s key power centers in Iraq and Syria. And he announced that a special commando force has now arrived in Iraq.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

now in place and is preparing to work with the Iraqis to begin going after ISIL’s fighters and commanders, killing or capturing them wherever we find them,

His remarks came a day after President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, expanding on the message that the U.S. must build and work with

1,300 members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team will deploy to Iraq in late spring.

The brigade will be training Iraqi and Peshmerga forces. q

WEF revokes invite to North Korea for Davos Forum JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Organizers of the World Economic Forum in Davos say they have revoked an invitation to a delegation from North Korea, in what appears to be an international rebuke over the secretive Communist country’s nuclear test this month. The WEF invitation had been extended to North Korea in the autumn “in view of positive signs coming out of the country,” organizers said in a statement. North Korea had accepted to attend the annual high-profile gather-

ing of hundreds of heads of state, CEOs and public figures in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. But after North Korea carried out on Jan. 6 a nuclear test — which it claimed to be of a hydrogen bomb — the WEF said the country’s delegation would be subject to “existing and possible forthcoming sanctions.” Western and other countries have been looking for ways to punish North Korea for its increasingly militaristic tone.

The WEF added that a delegation would still be welcome in the future if North Korea “acts as a re-

sponsible and responsive member of the international community.” It did not elaborate.

WEF officials said that the decision to revoke the invitation came within the last 24 hours, in part because of the growing acceptance that the North Korean delegation, which was to be headed by its foreign minister, would not be open to dialogue.

Philipp Roesler, a member of the WEF managing board, said that when the invitation was extended in the fall, event organizers believed there had been

“convincing, encouraging signals out of DPRK that there maybe is an opportunity for international global dialogue.” “But we have all seen what has happened last week,” he told reporters, as organizers presented this year’s agenda. “We decided after the nuclear test that ... there will be no opportunity for an international global dialogue in the spirit of the World Economic Forum.”

“Therefore we could not maintain our invitation to DPRK,” he added, referring to a common acronym for North Korea. q

Investigators return to dead US woman’s flat in Florence, Italy MILAN (AP) — Crime scene investigators returned Wednesday to the Florence apartment where a 35-year-old American woman was found strangled to death over the weekend, searching for clues to identify her killer.

Ashley Olsen was found nude on her bed in her rented apartment on Saturday after her boyfriend had the owner open the door, alarmed that the young woman had failed to respond to phone calls.

The body had bruises and scratches on the neck, and an autopsy determined that she had been strangled with a cord or a rope. Authorities have not identified a suspect. Italian media reports Wednesday indicated that investigators are narrowing in on a suspect, using video surveillance cameras along the route from the nightclub where she was last seen early Friday to her home, while also searching for clues in the apartment.

The lead prosecutor declined to comment on the case Wednesday, and police officials say they are not authorized to speak to the press during the investigation. Olsen, originally from Summer Haven, Florida, had been living in Florence for three years, an active member of the expatriate community and art scene. She had moved to Italy to join her father Walter Olsen, who teaches in the Renaissance art city.

Walter Olsen issued a statement late Tuesday expressing the family’s grief and confidence that the killer would be found.

“We are devastated that our precious Ashley has passed away resulting from a horrible and senseless crime,” he wrote.

He described his daughter as “a beautiful and creative young woman, with a happy, exuberant and generous soul,” adding: “We are heartbroken she was taken from us.”

He asked that the family be left to grieve in peace and expressed “faith that the perpetrator will be found and sentenced.”q

U.S. NEWS A3

Thursday 14 January 2016

US Navy sailors released unharmed by Iran in less than a day ADAM SCHRECK ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — It turned out to be the international crisis that wasn’t.

Less than a day after 10 U.S. Navy sailors were detained in Iran when their boats drifted into Iranian waters, they and their vessels were back safely Wednesday with the American fleet.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tapped the personal relationship he has formed with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif in the three years of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, speaking with him at least five times by telephone. Kerry credited the quick resolution to the “critical role diplomacy plays in keeping our country secure and strong.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter thanked Kerry after the sailors’ release and couched the incident in humanitarian terms, noting that “the U.S. Navy routinely provides assistance to foreign sailors in distress.”

For Tehran, the Americans’ swift release was a way to neutralize a potential new flashpoint days before it was expected to meet the terms of last summer’s nuclear deal, which will give Iran significant relief from painful economic sanctions.

It is likely that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state, would have had to approve the release, given the immense political sensitivities.

But the rapid resolution also was a victory for moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who has promoted greater openness with the outside world despite strident opposition from deeply entrenched hard-liners at home.

“Rouhani’s policy of interaction is working,” said Iranian political analyst Saeed Leilaz. “Iran and the U.S. have gone a long way in reducing tensions but still have a long way to go in improving their contacts. It was a big step forward.”

The nine men and one

woman were detained Tuesday after at least one of their boats suffered mechanical problems off of Farsi Island, an outpost in the middle of the Persian Gulf that has been used as a base for Revolutionary Guard speedboats since the 1980s. The Americans’ small Riverine boats were sailing between Kuwait and Bahrain on a training mission when theU.S. lost contact. The sailors left the island at 0843 GMT (3:43 a.m. EST) Wednesday aboard their boats, the Navy said. They were picked up by Navy aircraft, and other sailors took control of the vessels for the return voyage to Bahrain, where the U.S. 5th Fleet is based.

Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a 5th Fleet spokesman, said the priority now would be determining “how exactly these sailors found themselves in Iran.”

He declined to say where they were going or give details on their identities, but a senior defense official said they were heading to a U.S. military facility in Qatar. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said they are being debriefed and getting medical exams but were not harmed.

In Washington, a defense official said the Navy has ruled out engine or propulsion failure as the reason the boats entered Iranian waters. Navigation problems, due either to human or mechanical failure, could not be ruled out, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss details of the incident and so spoke on condition of anonymity. The sailors were part of Riverine Squadron 1, based in San Diego, U.S. officials said. When the U.S. lost contact with the boats, ships attached to the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier strike group began a search, as did aircraft from the Truman. The officials also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the incident publicly.

The Revolutionary Guard released images of the U.S. sailors before their release,

This picture released by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, shows detained American Navy sailors in an undisclosed location in Iran. Less than a day after 10 U.S. Navy sailors were detained in Iran when their boats drifted into Iranian waters, they and their vessels were back safely Wednesday with the American fleet.

(Sepahnews via AP)

showing them sitting on the floor of a room. They looked mostly bored or annoyed, although one appeared to be smiling.

The woman had her hair covered by a brown cloth.

The pictures also showed what appeared to be their two boats. State TV later

released more video and photos of the Americans apparently surrendering on their knees, their hands behind their head.q

A4 U.S.

Thursday 14 January 2016

NEWS

House approves greater oversight of Iran nuclear deal RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Less than 24 hours after Iran’s detention and release of U.S. sailors, the House of Representatives approved Republican-backed legislation that amplifies the party’s distrust of Tehran and would give Congress greater oversight of the landmark nuclear agreement.

Lawmakers voted 191-106 Wednesday to approve the Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act, spurning a veto threat from President Barack Obama. The White House said the bill could cause “the collapse” of the July agreement and that the president will reject the legislation if it reaches his desk.

The vote came as the potentially volatile incident in Iran’s territorial waters was swiftly resolved. The 10 U.S. Navy sailors were freed unharmed early Wednesday as the White House cited new lines of communica-

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

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

tion with Iran established during the nuclear negotiations as key to the speedy resolution.

The vote count fell well short

of the number needed to override a veto: Speaker Paul Ryan, determined to keep the House on schedule, had the vote gaveled

to a close even though more than 130 lawmakers hadn’t voted. In an unusual parliamentary move, Republican leaders agreed

Obama, Putin call for tough response to North Korea JOSH LEDERMAN Associated press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined Wednesday in calling for a tough global response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test, even as they remained at odds over Ukraine and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In a wide-ranging phone call, Obama and Putin appeared to speak past one another about the situa-

tion in eastern Ukraine, according to each country’s description of the call. The White House said Obama had called for Russia to fulfill its obligations under a cease-fire deal; the Kremlin said Putin has emphasized the need for Ukraine to meet its commitments under that same deal.

Both leaders voiced support for U.N. talks to resolve the civil war in Syria, in which Assad’s future remains a key sticking point.

The U.S. has been pressing Russia to end its support for Assad and stop bombing the rebel groups fighting Assad’s regime.

The Kremlin said both leaders had also called for a reduction in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have threatened to complicate diplomatic efforts on Syria.

Obama and Putin also broached the topic of increased military contacts between the U.S. and

Russia to bolster the fight against the Islamic State group and other extremists, the Kremlin said.

Although Russia says it’s targeting IS fighters with airstrikes in Syria, the U.S. has accused Russia’s air campaign there of primarily going after U.S.-backed rebels that are fighting Assad.

On North Korea’s claim to have tested a hydrogen bomb, at least, the leaders seemed in agreement. q

to allow members another opportunity to vote on Jan. 26. The measure’s fate is uncertain in the Senate, where it would be certain to face a Democratic delaying tactics..

The House bill would bar the removal of certain individuals and foreign financial institutions on a restricted list kept by the Treasury Department until the president certifies to Congress that they weren’t involved in Iran’s ballistic missiles program or in terrorist activities. The agreement, forged by the United States and Iran and signed by five other nations, commits Tehran to cutting back over more than a decade on nuclear technologies that could be used for weapons-making. In exchange, Iran will have access to about $100 billion in previously frozen assets and fully return to the oil market. Republicans have said sanctions relief will leave Iran flush with cash to fund terrorism.

For most Republicans, the dramatic, whirlwind incident in Iranian waters is another example of Iran’s belligerence and why it can’t be a trusted partner. Since the agreement was reached, Tehran has accelerated its missile program in violation of existing U.N. sanctions, continued to support terrorist groups and hold American hostages, they said. Iran also has remained a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who lawmakers accuse of killing more than 200,000 of his own people in Syria’s civil war.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Thursday 14 January 2016

Governor, House leader offer new Republican answer to Trump

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks to the crowd at the Kemp Forum in Columbia, S.C. Two fresh faces in the Republican Party, Haley House Speaker Paul Ryan are offering messages of openness and diversity that could answer the GOP establishment’s increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

(AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

ERICA WERNER AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Two fresh faces in the Republican Party — House Speaker Paul Ryan and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — are offering messages of diversity and openness to immigrants that could answer

the party establishment’s increasingly desperate search for an antidote to the loud pronouncements of presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

Delivering the Republican rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, Haley, a daughter of

Indian immigrants who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee, called for welcoming legal immigrants to the country as long as they’re properly vetted, and for resisting the temptation “to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.”

She acknowledged

Wednesday that her comments were partly aimed at Trump, telling NBC television’s “Today Show”: “Mr. Trump has definitely contributed to what I think is just irresponsible talk.”

Ryan, the Republican beginning his third month as speaker of the House, has been pledging to offer a bold agenda that will position the party as a positive alternative to Obama and the Democrats. Last weekend he helped convene an anti-poverty summit with some of the party’s presidential candidates — Trump was absent — where he pressed for “a safety net that is designed to help get people out of poverty.”

Such rhetoric from two young and charismatic officeholders cheers establishment Republicans who fear that the rise of Trump and of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — with their frequent strong words on immigrants in the country illegally — could ruin the party for years, eliminating any chance of winning the White House if either is the nominee and turning off swing voters, minorities and women.

“Speaker Ryan and Gov.

Haley provide an important contrast, particularly with independent voters, to show what the Republican Party is really about, and it’s not about Donald Trump,” said Brian Walsh, a Republican strategist. “The key, though, is continuing to shine a light on leaders like the two of them, and that will depend in part on who we nominate.”

Whether Haley or Ryan can do anything to sideline Trump or Cruz remains to be seen. That’s not their explicit goal, and Haley, in particular, drew a backlash from some conservatives for her State of the Union rebuttal.

And at the Capitol, Haley’s comments on immigration were being interpreted by House conservatives including Rep. Steve King, a Cruz supporter, as a call for unlimited legal immigration into the country, something they reject.

“I keep trying to remember when a principled conservative has been given the opportunity to provide that rebuttal,” King told reporters, adding that Haley’s comments would indicate she’s not one.q

1st black US attorney general endorses Clinton for president BILL BARROW Associated Press CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — Hillary Clinton has secured an endorsement from the nation’s first black attorney general as she works to maintain an advantage among African-American voters in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Clinton campaign announced Eric Holder’s support in a statement to The Associated Press.

Holder, who served as President Barack Obama’s

top law enforcement appointee for more than five years, said Clinton “is the candidate that we need in the White House” to continue “the progress of President Obama.”

The country’s former top lawyer will campaign for Clinton in an upcoming swing to South Carolina.

African-American voters favor Clinton by a wide margin according to preference polls, and they will likely make up a majority of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina’s Feb.

27 primary and potentially in other Southern primaries that follow in March.

Holder said the former secretary of state “has bold plans to address police brutality, fight for common sense reforms to our gun laws.”

He did not name fellow Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, instead focusing on Republicans he said would “tear down our progress on civil rights, health care and curbing gun violence.”

South Carolina is the only

one of the initial four states to vote where black voters anchor the Democratic Party base of support. Polls in overwhelmingly white Iowa and New Hampshire show Sanders either leading or nearly deadlocked with Clinton. Clinton has emphasized her support for tougher gun laws, trying to paint Sanders as an ally of gun manufacturers based on some of his previous votes in the Senate.

Sanders supports Obama’s recent executive action to expand background

checks on certain gun purchases, but he has argued that rural communities, like those he represents in Vermont, rightfully view gun restrictions more skeptically than many urban residents, including many AfricanAmericans. Gun violence is particularly important to black voters in South Carolina. In June, a white gunman entered a historically black church in Charleston and killed the minister and eight others, drawing a national outcry.q

A6 U.S.

Thursday 14 January 2016

NEWS

US Financial Front:

Oil price keeps falling. And falling. How low can it go?

DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer DALLAS (AP) — The price of oil keeps falling. And falling. And falling. It has to stop somewhere, right?

Even after trending down for a year and a half, U.S. crude has fallen another 17 percent since the start of the year and is now probing depths not seen since 2003.

“All you can do is forecast direction, and the direction of price is still down,” says Larry Goldstein of the Energy Policy Research Foundation, who predicted a decline in oil in 2014.

On Tuesday the price fell another 3 percent to $30.44 a barrel, its lowest level in 12 years. Oil had sold for roughly $100 a barrel for nearly four years before beginning to fall in the summer of 2014.

Many now say oil could drop into the $20 range.

The price of crude is down because global supplies are high at a time when demand for it is not growing very fast. The price decline, already more dramatic and long-lasting than most expected, deepened in recent days because economic turmoil in China is expected to cut the growth in demand for oil further.

Lower crude prices are leading to lower prices for gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and heating oil, giving drivers, shippers, and many businesses a big break on fuel costs. The national average retail price of gasoline is $1.96 a gallon.

On Tuesday the Energy Department lowered its expectations for crude oil and most fuels for this year and next. The department now expects U.S. crude to average $38.54 a barrel in 2016.

But layoffs across the oil industry are mounting, and oil company bankruptcies are expected to soar. BP announced layoffs of 4,000 workers on Tuesday. Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co, says as many as half of the independent drilling compa-

nies working in U.S. shale fields could go bankrupt before oil prices stabilize.

THERE’S LOTS OF OIL A boom in U.S. oil production thanks to new drilling technology helped push global supplies higher in recent years. Other major oil producers and exporters in the Middle East and else-

in world oil demand over the past several years has come from China, but signs are pointing to much slower economic growth there, which in turn reduces demand for fuels made from crude.

Disappointing reports last week about China’s manufacturing sector and a fall in the yuan’s value triggered

its, and shippers and other businesses are also saving from cheaper energy.

But workers in the oil patch have paid the price.

About 17,000 oil and gas workers in the U.S. lost their jobs in 2015, but if you include oilfield support jobs the number is about 87,000, according to Michael Plante, an economist at the

In this Monday, Jan. 11, 2016, photo, Josh Kasper takes advantage of a price of $1.99 per gallon of regular unleaded to fill his tank at the Petroleum Service Corporation gas station, South Main Street, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The price of oil continues to fall, extending a slide that has already gone further and lasted longer than most thought, and probing depths not seen since 2003.

(Mark Moran/The Citizens’ Voice via AP)

where have declined to reduce their own output in an attempt to push prices back up.

Iran, trying to emerge from punishing economic sanctions, is looking to increase exports in the coming months, which could add further to global oil stockpiles.

The Energy Department said U.S. crude oil inventories “remain near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.” It says global supplies exceed global demand by about 1 million barrels per day on average. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas believe excess inventories won’t begin falling until 2017.

The higher supplies and lower prices haven’t stimulated a sharp rise in demand. Most of the increase

a global stock sell-off and an even more dramatic decline in the price of oil and other commodities.

The first five days of the year marked the worst start of a year for oil in history, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, and oil has only fallen further since.

WINNERS AND LOSERS Motorists are saving every time they fill up. The Energy Information Administration figures that the average U.S. household saved $660 on gasoline in 2015 compared the year before, and gasoline is expected to fall another 16 percent in 2016.

Tuesday the EIA forecast that gasoline will average $2.03 a gallon for 2016, the lowest since 2004, from $2.43 last year.

Airlines, big users of jet fuel, have posted record prof-

Dallas Fed who has written about the effect of oil prices on the economy.

Even so, economists say low oil prices are still a net benefit for the U.S. economy.

“Consumers have more money in their pocketbooks,” says Amy Myers Jaffe, an energy consultant who teaches at the University of California, Davis. And for businesses, “I can hire more people or buy new equipment because I no longer have to spend that money on energy.”

WHEN DOES IT END? Oil traders and Wall Street analysts expect further declines in oil prices in the coming weeks. Several have predicted that prices will fall below $30 a barrel and even approach $20 a barrel. q

Frack leases for state lands yield $18million; none from production J. MATTISE Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia has brought in $18 million by leasing the right to drill for oil and natural gas deep below state wildlife management areas and waterways, including beneath the Ohio River.

But as natural gas prices stay low, no companies with the state leases have begun extracting gas, as far as state Department of Commerce officials know. As a result, officials say they have received up-front checks, but no royalties from the unearthing of resources from the deep shale deposits, a process generally known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The department first put horizontal drilling opportunities out to bid in the fall of 2014 and has since struck leases in the northern counties of Marshall, Tyler and Wetzel.

They include parts of wildlife management areas at Conaway Run Lake, The Jug, Underwood, Burches Run Lake and Lewis Wetzel; Fish Creek and Middle Island Creek; and a few miles of the Ohio River.

Given the uncertainty about natural gas prices, West Virginia Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said the state is treating the leases as one-time cash that will bolster the parks system and wildlife programs, hopefully creating more revenue sources through the improvements.

Under state and federal requirements, about $5.4 million has to be doled out to state Division of Natural Resources projects, and $12.6 million must go back into wildlife management.

Burdette said the state plans to spend a few million dollars to renovate 34 cabins, including adding heat and air conditioning to some cabins that aren’t currently year-round rentals.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Thursday 14 January 2016

In US, Asian night markets bring taste of the old and new

Customers sit and eat at the Asian Garden Mall night market in Westminster, Calif. Since about 2010, night markets have opened in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities. Several were started by young Asian Americans who wanted to recreate the frenetic, fast-paced spectacle of an Asian night market in their families’ adopted hometowns.

(AP Photo/Christine Armario)

C. ARMARIO Associated Press WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) — Beneath the giant red sign illuminating the Asian Garden Mall in Southern California, slabs of jumbo, white squid are seared on a smoky grill. Nearby, children pluck fried potato slices off a stick and couples dance to Vietnamese ballads.

It reminds Audrey Dinh of the stories of night markets her Vietnamese grandmother used to tell her as a child, and of those the 28-year-old encounters on business trips throughout Asia. But this one is much closer to home, in the city of Westminster in Orange County, where vendors sell everything from giant prawns and coconut waffles to home curtains and flashing toy pinwheels.

“This is what I see in Asia,” Dinh said as she waited for an order of banh tom khot, a rice flour cake filled with shrimp. “It’s very close to Asia.”

During the past five years, similar night markets have popped up in major cities throughout the United States, a byproduct of both the nation’s expanding Asian-American population — the country’s fastest growing racial minority, numbering some 19.4 million — and a growing culinary curiosity for authentic East Asian flavors.

Since about 2010, night markets have opened in Chicago, Cleveland, the Los Angeles metro area, New York City, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Several were started by young Asian-Americans who wanted to recreate the frenetic, fast-paced spectacle of an Asian night market in their families’ adopted hometowns. Not all of have remained exclusively Taiwanese or Vietnamese: Instead, many have evolved into a hodge-podge of cultures and foods reflecting their mixed communities.

“It’s been a key decision for us not to try and be like

the ones in Taiwan anymore,” said Jonny Hwang, 35, founder of the 626 Night Market in the San Gabriel Valley, about 10 miles east of Los Angeles. “We want our own identity.”

Night markets date back to at least the Tang dynasty in China around the year 600.

By the Song dynasty in the 12th century, they had developed into sophisticated, well-organized centers selling grilled meats, stuffed buns and dried fruit.

“The Chinese had a flourishing commercial food scene long before Europe,” said Fuchsia Dunlop, an English writer and specialist in Chinese cuisine.

Night markets have continued to proliferate throughout Asia, with one study finding 95 operating on any given week in the city of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

In cities like Bangkok, street food remains the heart and soul of local cuisine, sold day and night from carts and makeshift stands. The classic Bangkok night mar-

ket has evolved from catering mostly to club-goers looking for a late-night eat to offering real shopping opportunities for the city’s large, young and relatively affluent middle class.

In the U.S., the emergence of night markets — some of which attract tens of thousands of people — is seen by organizers as a reflection of how Asian-American communities have assimilated to local culture while also reinterpreting their own.

Hwang recalled how when he was a Taiwanese-American teenager growing up in suburban Los Angeles, his and other families strived to fit in.

“While we enjoyed our foods, we didn’t really embrace it,” said Hwang, whose 626 Night Market features classic Taiwanese favorites and fusion dishes like pho tacos and ramen burgers. “I didn’t force my friends to check out stinky tofu.” These days, he said, “Asians are starting to embrace the fact that ‘Hey, we have really delicious food. And other people are interested in that food.’”

Some U.S. markets are a distant echo of the cheap, raucous places that inspired them. Celebrity chef and food adventurist Anthony Bourdain is creating a huge New York City market he has said will be open late and have the feel of an Asian night market, but also have prepared food stalls by celebrated chefs like April Bloomfield. Others tilt higher end, charging $50 or more to enter and sample food and drinks from top local chefs.

Danielle Chang, author of the cookbook “Lucky Rice” — a collection of night market recipes — was born in Taipei and funneled a passion for Asian food into her own night market-like events, including a cocktail-themed market party in Las Vegas.

“I think that the interest in Asian food ... stems from the growing awareness of Asia through the lens of food,” she said. “Through travel. Through a new generation of chefs getting classical French training and then returning to their heritage.”

A8

Thursday 14 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Istanbul bomber registered as refugee before attack

MEHMET GUZEL SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — The suicide attacker who detonated a bomb that killed 10 German tourists in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district had registered as a refugee just a week earlier, Turkish officials said Wednesday, raising questions over whether extremists are posing as asylum-seekers to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment in Europe.

Turkish authorities identified the assailant in Tuesday’s attack as a Syrian man who was born in 1988, and said he was affiliated with the Islamic State group. Turkish media, including some close to the government, identified him as Nabil Fadli and said he was Saudiborn.

The extremist group has not so far claimed the attack.

Meanwhile, Turkish police arrested five people suspected of direct links to the bomb attack which took place just steps from the historic Blue Mosque in Istanbul’s storied Sultanahmet district.

The suspects were not identified.

The bomber had recently entered Turkey, authorities said, and Interior Minister Efkan Ala confirmed reports he had registered with an Istanbul branch of the Migration Management Authority, providing fingerprints that allowed officials to quickly identify him. Ala said the bomber wasn’t on any Turkish or international watch lists for IS militants.

“This person was not someone who was being monitored,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “It is a person who entered nor-

mally, as a refugee, as an asylum-seeker.”

The attack wounded 15 people, including nine Germans and citizens of Norway, Peru and South Korea.

Six of the victims remained hospitalized on Wednesday.

seekers, said Firas Abi-Ali, an analyst with the security consultancy IHS Country Risk.

“It seems to make it less likely this was anything but a centrally commanded operation by the Islamic State,” he said.

have repeatedly threatened those who leave, saying they will regret their journey to Europe.

The Soufan security firm said in an analysis Wednesday that IS was not short on volunteers for suicide missions and the migrant crisis

Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, right, accompanied by his wife Sare, 2nd left, and German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, left, visit the site of Tuesday’s explosion, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(Bulent Kilic, Pool Photo via AP)

Although not as deadly as two attacks in Turkey last year that were blamed on IS, Tuesday’s bombing had heightened resonance 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.

The fact that the bomber had registered as a Syrian refugee suggests central planning by Islamic State leaders, either to cover their tracks or provoke a backlash in Europe against legitimate Syrian asylum-

It is not the first time the group has taken advantage of the chaos caused by the huge influx of asylum-seekers into Europe by ensuring that suicide bombers were registered and fingerprinted — and would thus be identified as refugees after their deaths.

Two of the suicide bombers who died Nov. 13 at France’s national stadium had registered in Greece — and their forged Syrian passports were found on their bodies.

Thousands of Muslims have fled the territory under Islamic State control in Syria and Iraq and the extremists

was posing a security challenge for Europe.

“Given how much time the Islamic State has had to administer explosives training in Raqqa, Mosul, and elsewhere, the group is likely not running low on bombmakers or suicide mission volunteers,” the firm said.

“The chaos on Europe’s southern borders, involving a combination of overwhelming numbers of refugees, inadequate screening processes, and untold numbers of false travel documents, is a security challenge of the highest order.”q

Eyeing a presidency again, Sarkozy urges Arab troops in Syria

AYA BATRAWY Associated Press ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday called on Arab governments to deploy troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State group, describing the conflict against extremism as a “Third World War”.

Sarkozy’s tough talk comes as the political survivor sets his eyes on another bid for the presidency in 2017. Sarkozy, who leads the conservative party The Republicans and was France’s president in 2007-2012, is considered among the favorites to win the party’s primary in November, his main rival being former Prime Minister Alain Juppe.

Speaking at a policy center in the United Arab Emirates, Sarkozy said the Nov. 13 attack on Paris that killed 130 people and was claimed by the Islamic State group showed “there can be no such thing as a compromise between us and them.” “I would describe this as a Third World War,” he said before adding there can be nothing short of a “total annihilation of extremists, jihadists and terrorists.”

“We have to wage a total war and wage it now,” Sarkozy said. “We need to wipe these savages from the face of the earth.”

Sarkozy spoke in front of a packed audience in the UAE, which has helped lead a crackdown against opposition Islamists throughout the region and is part of the Saudi-led war in Yemen against Iranianallied Shiite rebels and a member of the U.S.-led coalition striking IS fighters in Syria and Iraq.q

Fra the of tio ho an Bu ag in en “W air the “A gro He clo stra co Ara Sa op Ba in lied ov tim Ga the mu “Th no

WORLD NEWS 9

Thursday 14 January 2016

LIFE

is Beautiful

Coffee - Kitchen - Drinks

Germany charges 4 with forming far-right terror group

Right-wing demonstrators march in Cologne, Germany. German prosecutors have charged three men and one woman with forming a far-right terror group and planning to bomb a refugee shelter, officials said Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Juergen Schwarz)

FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have charged three men and one woman with forming a far-right terror group and planning to bomb a refugee shelter, officials said Wednesday.

The four are alleged to have created a group two years ago that went by the name Oldschool Society, using social media to recruit new members and promote far-right ideas, federal prosecutors said.

The group became increasingly radical and, in mid-November 2014, members discussed how to manufacture explosives and the possibility of attacking Islamic extremists and asylum-seekers in Germany.

The four — identified only as Andreas H., 57; Markus

W., 40; Denise Vanessa G. 23; and Olaf O., 47, in line with German privacy rules — are accused of forming and being members of a “terrorist organization” and planning an explosion, prosecutors said.

Andreas H. and Markus W. were described as the group’s president and vice president.

“There was a concrete plan to carry out an explosives attack on an inhabited refugee shelter near Borna in connection with their second meeting from May 8-10, 2015,” prosecutors said. The town is southeast of Leipzig in the eastern state of Saxony, which has been a hotbed of antiforeigner sentiment.

Markus W. and Denise Vanessa G. allegedly traveled to the Czech Republic in

May 2015 to purchase fireworks and the group discussed how to make them more dangerous by wrapping nails around them.

They were arrested May 6 as part of nationwide raids, before the attack could take place. All four are in prison pending trial.

Separately, Hannover prosecutors said Wednesday they charged two men, aged 25 and 31, and a 24-year-old woman with attempted murder and attempted arson for allegedly throwing a gasoline bomb through a window at an asylum-seekers’ home in northwestern Germany.

The three are alleged to have thrown the improvised device in August through a ground-floor window in a school in Salzhemmendorf that had been

converted to house about 30 asylum seekers, setting fire to a mattress and a rug in an unoccupied room.

The early-morning blaze was quickly extinguished.

Prosecutors said the three have admitted to the attack, but not to their motivation.

German authorities have recorded a rise in attacks against refugees over the past year amid an unprecedented influx of asylumseekers. While most of the attacks are believed to have been carried out by people with no previous affiliation to far-right groups, authorities believe neo-Nazi groups could stage violent attacks ever since the existence of the self-styled National Socialist Underground came to light four years ago. q

Serbian official to Russian: Mind own business over EU bid DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s deputy prime minister denounced her Russian counterpart on Wednesday for suggesting Serbia should be careful about its EU membership bid — a rare spat between the two traditional Slavic allies.

Russian deputy premier Dmitry Rogozin said during his visit to Serbia this week that if Serbia harmonizes its foreign policy with the European Union “you will have another Cologne here.” He was referring to New Year’s assaults against women in the German city that have been blamed largely on foreigners, some of whom are recently arrived asylum-seekers.

“You should be careful with this harmonization, not to find yourselves in a situation when newcomers behave as though they have a free hand, while your women are afraid to go outside,” Rogozin said.

Serbian deputy premier Zorana Mihajlovic retorted Wednesday: “Regarding the scenario Rogozin is predicting, I think he should take care of his own country and we will take care of ours.” During his three-day visit, Rogozin said Russia is ready to arm Serbia with sophisticated weapons, which could be at odds with Belgrade’s desire to join the EU. He also tried to discourage Serbia from membership in the 28-nation bloc.

“There is nothing more terrifying than the European bureaucracy,” Rogozin said. “Soviet-era bureaucrats are just kids compared with Europe’s.q

A10 WORLD

Thursday 14 January 2016

NEWS IS branch attacks a Pakistani mission in Afghanistan, kills 7

U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, center, speaks after a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to discuss a variety of bilateral and multilateral responses to the North Korea’s nuclear test in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

South Korea fires machine gun warning shots after North Korean drone seen HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea on Wednesday fired 20 machine gun warning shots after a North Korean drone briefly crossed the rivals’ border, officials said, the first shots fired in a Cold War-style standoff between the Koreas in the wake of the North’s nuclear test last week.

The North Korean drone was flying dozens of meters (yards) south of the border and turned back to the North after the South fired the shots, South Korean defense and military officials said, requesting anonymity because of office rules. The shots did not hit the drone.

North Korean drone flights across the world’s most heavily armed border are rare, but have happened before.

North Korea has in recent years touted its drone program, a relatively new ad-

dition to its arsenal. In 2013, state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had watched a drone attack drill on a simulated South Korean target.

In 2014, Seoul officials discovered what they called several North Korean drones that had flown across the border.

Those drones were crude and decidedly low-tech, but were still considered a potential new security threat.

Animosity has been high since the North’s claim on Jan. 6 that it tested a hydrogen bomb. There is widespread skepticism over the H-bomb claim, but whatever the North detonated underground will likely push the country closer toward a fully functional nuclear arsenal, which it still is not thought to have. The North previously conducted atomic bomb tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Since Friday, South Korea has been blasting antiPyongyang propaganda and K-pop songs from huge speakers along the border.

The North, which calls the broadcasts an act of war meant to threaten its system of government, is using speakers of its own in an attempt to keep its soldiers from hearing the South Korean messages.

Seoul said Wednesday that thousands of North Korean leaflets, likely sent across the border by balloons, have been found in the South. Some described South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her government as “mad dogs.”

North Korea’s propaganda machine is using the nuclear test to glorify Kim’s leadership and describing it as a necessary step to fight against what it calls a U.S.led attempt to overthrow the North’s system.q

LYNNE O’DONNELL Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A branch of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday on Pakistan’s Consulate in eastern Afghanistan that killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces.

The attack in Jalalabad, the capital of the volatile Nangarhar province that borders Pakistan, started when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest outside the diplomatic mission, said Attaullah Khyogani, spokesman for the province’s governor.

The explosion triggered a gunbattle between Afghan security forces and the militants. Along with the policemen killed, seven people were also wounded in the attack, Khyogani added.

He said all three attackers were killed, including the suicide bomber. The two gunmen, who later took positions in a guesthouse close to the consulate, were killed hours later, Khyogani said.

The U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant trafficking, said the affiliate known as the “Khorasan Province of the Islamic State” claimed three of its “soldiers” attacked the consulate and allegedly killed “dozens” of the mission’s staff.

Hazrat Hussein Mashraqiwal, the spokesman for the provincial police chief, said three police and two intelligence officers were among the killed and three civilians were among the wounded.

It was the first insurgent-style attack on a Pakistani diplomatic mission in Afghanistan, an official at the Pakistani Embassy said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Pakistani government properties have come under attack in the past during protests by Afghans angry at Islamabad’s perceived support for the Taliban, who have waged war on the Kabul administration for more than 14 years.

The scene of the attack is close to a hospital and schools as well as the Indian Consulate. The schools were evacuated, officials said.

The Pakistani Consulate is usually busy during morning rush hour as people queue for visas. The suicide bomber joined the visa queue before blowing himself up, officials said. All consular staff were quickly evacuated.

In Islamabad, the foreign affairs ministry condemned what it called “the terrorist attack” on its consulate and requested a thorough investigation. One official at the consulate was slightly injured by broken glass, it said.

The office of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani telephoned him to guarantee enhanced security for Pakistani diplomats in Afghanistan.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Thursday 14 January 2016

Head of Venezuela’s new opposition congress ready to fight HANNAH DREIER Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Leaning back in the mahogany chair that belonged to his imposing socialist predecessor, new congress boss Henry Ramos doesn’t seem worried about being branded an out-of-touch conservative intent on burying the memory of late President Hugo Chavez and ousting his successor.

On the contrary, he’s ready for a fight.

“If you call me a dinosaur, you’re saying a dinosaur is what voters want. I didn’t get here falling from a parachute,” said Ramos, 72, who last week became president of the first opposition congress Venezuela has seen since Chavez launched his socialist revolution nearly two decades ago.

“We’re not seeking confrontation, but if they insist....” he added with an arch of his eyebrow.

A veteran politician, Ramos was sworn in on Jan. 5 to replace outgoing legislative leader Diosdado Cabello, a former army officer widely seen as the revolution’s enforcer.

Now second in the line of succession after President Nicolas Maduro’s vice president, he promises to be just as much of a polarizing figure as Cabello.

During his first tumultuous days on the job, Ramos swore in three opposition lawmakers despite a Supreme Court order barring them from taking office.

On Wednesday, those lawmakers were expected to leave their seats after the court said their presence made all congressional acts null.

Ramos was also recorded on videotape telling workers to remove all portraits

of Chavez from the neoclassical capitol and take them to presidential palace “or the trash.”

Ramos came under fire for the video, distributed by his own press chief, which infuriated the socialist government.

The move also rankled some allies who want the opposition to keep the focus on an economic crisis marked by triple-digit inflation and widespread shortages.

He makes no secret of his swanky tastes.

While top socialist officials dance to salsa music on live TV and proclaim their devotion to Venezuela’s rice, beans and shredded beef dish, Ramos expounded on his love for expensive whisky, classical music and haute cuisine as smoke from his assistants’ cigarettes curled toward the chandeliers in his office during an interview with The Associated Press.

The always-factious opposition coalition was widely expected to pick a moderate from the new generation to head congress after sweeping Dec. 6 legislative elections.

But Ramos, trained as a lawyer, claimed the leadership gavel by doing what even his detractors say

President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Henry Ramos Allup, center, leaves the floor after a suspended session, in Caracas, Venezuela. The National Assembly of Venezuela suspended the third session due to lack of quorum.

(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

he does best: negotiating behind closed doors, in this case aligning with opposition hardliners who have adopted a six-month deadline to recall Maduro from office.

He’s never been known for his personal grace.

In a 2006 diplomatic cable, then-U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield called Ramos “repellent” as well

as “crude, abrasive, arrogant, and thin-skinned.” In the same memo, he compares Ramos’ style to that of Chavez.

Like the late populist leader, Ramos excels at playing to his base and driving his opponents to act in anger.

Members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela responded to his removing of all images of

Chavez from the congressional compound by vowing to plaster every corner of Caracas with posters of the late leader.

Maduro has also doubled down on hardline policies in recent days.

He left moderates spluttering last week when he appointed a new economic czar who says inflation does not exist in real life. q

Venezuela’s first lady: DEA kidnapped nephews CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s first lady this week broke her silence on the arrest of her two nephews on drug trafficking charges, saying they were kidnapped by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Cilia Flores, who serves in congress, told Venezuelan weekly Tal Cual that the U.S. was seeking revenge and trying to force the so-

cialists from power in the South American country.

She said the government had proof that the DEA had conducted an illegal operation on Venezuelan soil and “violated our sovereignty.”

Two of Flores’ nephews were arrested in November in Haiti and transferred to New York.

They are being held on charges of conspiring to

smuggle cocaine into the U.S. “The DEA committed the crime of kidnapping,” Flores said.

U.S prosecutors have investigated several top Venezuelan officials for drug charges, but November’s arrests marked the first time President Nicolas Maduro’s inner circle was directly implicated.

Flores had refrained from

addressing the case. But that’s been increasingly hard to do after the opposition won control of congress and allowed reporters to enter the congressional chamber for the first time in years.

Last week, Flores was filmed ignoring direct questions from reporters on the topic, which local press has dubbed the “narconephews” scandal.q

A12 WORLD

Thursday 14 January 2016

NEWS

Cubans begin pilot transfer from Costa Rica to Mexico

SONIA PEREZ D. JAVIER CORDOBA Associated Press PEDRO DE ALVARADO, Guatemala (AP) — After more than three months stranded in Costa Rica,

from Costa Rica’s Daniel Oduber airport in the northern city of Liberia late Tuesday night as part of a regional agreement to overcome Nicaragua’s refusal to let them through by

a busload of Salvadoran migrants headed the other way after being deported back from the United States.

The Cubans won’t have to worry about that due to a

Cuban migrants hug goodbye as one prepares to board a government organized bus that will take him and a select group of fellow Cuban migrants to the airport in La Cruz, Costa Rica, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016.

(AP Photo/Enrique Martinez)

180 of the 8,000 Cuban migrants trapped there finally began their long-awaited trip north toward the U.S. border, flying to El Salvador and then traveling by bus to Guatemala on Wednesday.

The first pilot flight took off

land.

The migrants appeared to get special treatment along the way: They were greeted by El Salvador’s foreign minister upon arrival in that country even as, when they got to the Guatemalan border, they saw

U.S. immigration policy that lets them stay if they reach the United States. That special status initially raised some resentment in Central America nations whose citizens are often deported from the U.S. if they enter without visas.

But the Cubans’ trip was smooth so far. Private chartered transportation and transit visas had already been arranged for them.

“It has all been very quick, thank God,” said Ruben Chil Cruz, who left his wife and two children behind in Cuba.

But Chil Cruz said he wasn’t sure exactly how he would cross Mexico, known for vicious attacks on and kidnappings of migrants, especially those from Central America. He said he didn’t plan to use a smuggler in Mexico and hoped immigration officials there could give him advice on how to travel to the U.S. border.

From there, he said, he plans to travel to Miami.

But he expected the trip to be quick. “I think I will get to the United States by Sunday,” he said.

For most Central American migrants, the trip takes weeks or sometimes months.

Cuban migrants previously got through even faster by traveling a well-established route through Ecuador — which until December did not require they secure entry visas — and then north through Central America.

But close Havana ally Nicaragua closed its southern frontier to the Cubans Nov. 13, creating a logjam

Cuba to attend security forum with US for first time BEN FOX Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — A delegation from Cuba will take part for the first time in an annual Caribbean regional security conference co-sponsored by the U.S. military’s Southern Command, a senior official said this week, portraying the participation as a significant step in the ongoing thaw between the long-hostile neighbors.

The Cuban government’s decision to accept an invitation to the Caribbean Nations Security Conference in Jamaica this month follows other relatively small but symbolic forms of military engagement between countries that normalized relations

in December 2015, said Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, the commander of Southern Command.

“We’ve normalized now and, regardless of how we think of each other in terms of politics, we have very, very common challenges,” Kelly said in an interview two days before he ends his tenure as commander of U.S. military operations in the Southern Hemisphere.

The conference takes place over three days starting Jan. 27 in Kingston, Jamaica. Senior military and other security officials are expected from 16 Caribbean countries as well as the U.S., Canada, France, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. Cuba has not

yet said who it will send and its government had no immediate response to a request for comment by The Associated Press. Venezuela, which has a chilly relationship with Washington, won’t be there, Kelly said.

In the past, the conference has focused on cooperative efforts to combat drug trafficking as well as the smuggling of people and weapons. It is not clear if Cuba would take the opportunity to again raise its vehement objection to the presence of the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The administration of President Barack Obama has said it wants to close the Guantanamo detention

center, where it holds 103 men, but has said discussion of the future of the base, which occupies 45 square miles (117 square kilometers) on the southeastern corner of the island, is not on the table.

Kelly said he believes the facility remains strategically valuable, a deepwater port in the Caribbean, and he would like to see it remain open even if the detention center closes. He suggested it could be run jointly with the Cubans, offering employment to the local population as it once did. But the general says he hasn’t discussed it with anyone in the Castro government. “It wouldn’t be appropriate,” he said.

of thousands stuck in Costa Rica.

Central American nations and Mexico later reached an agreement on the pilot program to help the Cubans leapfrog Nicaragua by air. Mexico’s Interior Department issued a statement Wednesday vowing to quickly issue temporary transit papers giving them 20 days to leave the country.

Emigration from Cuba has spiked dramatically in the year since Havana and Washington announced they would restore diplomatic relations. Many Cuban migrants say they’re making the journey now for fear that detente could bring an end to the U.S. policies that given them privileged treatment.

Cubans selected for the first flight said they were relieved to finally be on their way.

“They told me four days ago and I still don’t believe it. I didn’t expect to be in the first group,” said Lislenia Fernandez, who arrived in Costa Rica from Panama on Nov. 8 with her husband, Yordani Casanova.

“I’m happy because I can travel with my husband.”

Fernandez said she hopes to get to Miami, where her brother-in-law is, but she had to leave behind her sons aged 4 and 8: “We are going to look for a way to bring them over.”

Arnobis Tellez also left behind three children and a grandchild in Cuba.

Like Chil Cruz, he wasn’t sure how he would cross through Mexico.

“These last months have been terrifying, because nobody thought this was going to happen,” Tellez said. “We thought that by this time we would all be in the United States.”

Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez said he wished all migrants in the region had such a happy story.

“With this action (for the Cubans) we are showing dignified treatment and respect for human rights,” he said, “which are things that the administration of El Salvador’s president ... is asking for our own migrants.”

LOCAL A13

Thursday 14 January 2016

With a Deep Love for the Island;

Don and Susan Hearn Celebrate Coming to Aruba for 43 Years

EAGLE BEACH - Aruba is really a home away from home for Don and Susan Hearn from Canada.

They’ve been coming to the island since 1973. They didn’t know it only as an island, but as a beautiful island.

“We fell in love with it and have been coming ever since during Christmas time and other times for over 43 times,” Mr. Hearn fondly recalls.

“The first years we stayed at the Manchebo Beach Resort and when they started building La Quinta Beach Resort we purchased pre construction in 1988 and we moved in the next year.” “Our three sons have been coming since 1978. After our sons married, their wives started coming and as you can see in the pictures, all dressed in white, our Grandchildren right from when they could

travel! They all have been coming for over 10 years, except 20 month old Charlie. This is his first year.”

This year was a special one, since they’ve been celebrating Grandma Susan’s 70th Birthday. She had

many birthday celebrations and this one was a very happy one. January is a busy birthday month

for the Hearns. Grandma is January 2nd, son Donald, January 6th and Grandson Conner, January 12th.

So Don, Susan and family hope this tradition keep on going for many years on the island.q

A14 LOCAL

Thursday 14 January 2016

Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

ARASHI - It is hard to imagine this happening today, but years ago people dumped all kinds of refuse straight into the ocean, including old cars, and their household garbage, which of course included lots of glass.

Over the next 30 years the pounding waves cleaned the beach, by breaking down everything but glass and pottery.

The pounding waves washed the trash up and down, back and forth.

Tons of polished, broken

glass pieces were created by the pounding surf.

These smoothened, colored glass particles then settled along the sea shore in millions, and that is why you can find these beautiful and colorful pieces on the north shore beaches of Aruba. Especially on the strip on white sand between the famous Natural Bridge” and the huge red anchor close to “Grapefield” beach you will be able to find your own pieces of sea glass.

The sea glass that was cre-

ated is the product of a very long and interesting process.

It can take anywhere from 10 to 30 years to make sea glass.

The name for any piece of glass that finds its way to the ocean and tumbles around in the water long enough is “Sea glass.

The colorful pieces of glass are being used for decoration, handcrafts and jewelry!

Once glass makes its way into the ocean, the glass is broken up into shards and is

tumbled around in the water, where sand and other rocks act like sandpaper to smooth out its rough edges.

Sometimes as the sea glass is passed through fire, it becomes fire glass, the rarest of sea glass with certain inclusions, just like precious gems.

For years, the water beat against the different kinds of trash being dumped.

Glass, household appliances and even motor parts were discarded on the beach. The waves and weather conditions wore

The most common and the easiest to find are the brown (Amstel & Polar beer), green (Heineken & Balashi beer) and clear glass which are the soft much loved “soft drink” bottles.

If you like to see the sea glass for yourself, and be in awe of the power of nature, rent a car or jeep and go explore our deserted beaches on the north side of the island. Make it a fun family day!

Even if we didn’t mean to pollute the Beaches how

down the overwhelming amount of garbage in the water, creating millions of beautiful smooth rocks.

It’s hard to believe the short-sighted mistakes we were making that could have potentially ruined these beautiful beaches.

But thanks to natural processes, the ocean transformed the trash into the sea glass.

Each colored gem on the beach has its own story.

The ruby red glass stones are typically from old car tail-lights.

Then, the sapphire rocks are the remnants of broken apothecary bottles.

we did, it is inspiring to see just how the earth can correct our mistakes.

Funny, how trash can change into treasures!

Everybody knows that you are not allowed to take local shells home, but the people working at the airport have no problem you taking sea glass home. A few of those pieces make great souvenirs.

You can place them in a wine glass or large bottle for decoration and every time you look at it a smile will light up your face thinking back of your unforgettable Aruba vacation!q

LOCAL A15

Thursday 14 January 2016

Tango lovers Deanna and Jim are just crazy about the churasco and filet mignon Dinner at Tango Argentine Grill in the Arawak Garden is always high on the to-do list of Deanna and Jim Watts from Washington, DC. The couple has been coming to Aruba for the past 15 years; they discovered Tango on the hi-rise strip 9 years ago. Nestled between Salt & Pepper and Fishes & More Restaurant, Tango of-

fers the most delicious steaks, but also a lot more than that. Deanna and Jim, however, went for the tenderloin churasco and the filte mignon. They love dining `al fresco’ on the terrace and the nightly live music at the Arawak Garden. To finish off their meal, they ordered the mouthwatering Tango crepes. Good taste, guys!q

A16 LOCAL

Thursday 14 January 2016

Caribbean & Co. Analysis:

Aruba Tops Digital Marketing Index 2015 and Social Media Rankings!

ORANJESTAD (PRNewswire) - In addition to being one of the most popular islands to visit in the Caribbean, Aruba ranks the most popular digital destination in the Caribbean -- according to Caribbean & Co., an expert source on Caribbean lifestyle and luxury brands.

Caribbean & Co. reports the One happy Island of Aruba ranks No. 1 of 35 Caribbean islands for overall “destination marketing index 2015” and No. 1 of 10 Caribbean islands for Instagram reach, boasting 23,000 followers, double its runner up. The marketing index ranking was derived by a proprietary weighting of various data, including social media followings, website inbound links, 3rd party rankings and more.

“Caribbean destinations like most throughout the globe spend millions each year to attract new and

returning tourists to the region. Many of the marketing campaigns are via traditional television and print media, but we are starting to see more marketing activity online,” reported Ursula Barzey, founder of Caribbean & Co. The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), who welcomed a record 1.07 million annual stay-over visitors to Aruba in 2014, attributes much of the island’s success to digital marketing. “Our commitment to strategic and savvy digital marketing directly impacts Aruba’s GDP, which is more reliant on travel and tourism than any other nation, relative to size, in the world,” said Ronella TjinAsjoe Croes, CEO of ATA. “Aruba’s target audience visits more than 20 websites before booking their vacation, so it is essential for us to maintain a presence throughout that process

with a timely, persuasive message at each stage. By engaging the best strategists and leveraging targeted technologies, we can ensure our marketing dollars are spent effectively against desired consumers in-market for vacation travel.”

Solidifying its positioning as

the most digitally innovative DMMO, the ATA recently launched The Happiness Builder -- a contentrich planning experience where travelers can explore nearly 100 videos featuring adventure, relaxation, romance and cultural activities in Aruba, before creating a personalized “Short-

cut to Happiness” video that can be easily shared socially. Create a shortcut on aruba.com/shortcuts.

For more information on the One happy island, visit www.aruba.com. Engage with Aruba via social media at www.facebook. com/ArubaFans or @Aruba on Twitter.q

SPORTS A17

Thursday 14 January 2016

Up Down Under

Halep, Dimitrov Win at Australian Open Tune-Up in Sydney Simona Halep of Romania plays a shot to Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during their match at the Sydney International tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

SYDNEY (AP) — Top-seeded Simona Halep has booked a semifinal berth at the Sydney International, while fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov advanced to the men’s quarterfinals of the Australian Open tune-up event.

Halep beat last year’s Sydney runner-up Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 7-5 and will next play two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Sara Errani of Italy 7-6 (1), 6-0 on Wednesday.

Dimitrov advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas. Joining him in the men’s quarterfinals are Nicolas Mahut of France, who beat Andreas Seppi 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, and Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who advanced when second-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria retired with an injury while trailing 7-6 (2) 2-2.

At the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament in Melbourne, Nick Kyrgios also retired with a foot injury

from his match against David Goffin of Belgium.

Kyrgios, who led Australia to the Hopman Cup team event title last week, won the first set 7-6 (7-5) and was trailing 3-2 in the second when he said he couldn’t continue. The Australian Open begins Monday in Melbourne.

“Hate withdrawing, so sorry to everyone ...” Kyrgios said on Twitter. “I just have to make sure I’m right for next week & I will be.”

In New Zealand, four-time

champion David Ferrer beat Australian qualifier Matthew Barton 6-2, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of Auckland’s ASB Classic for the 10th time in 11 appearances.

Fourth-seeded South African Kevin Anderson beat another qualifier, Robin Haase of the Netherlands, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5). Eighth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain defeated American Donald Young 6-4, 7-6 (3).

At the WTA’s Hobart Inter-

national, former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova defeated Kimberly Birrell 6-1, 6-0 and 2012 Hobart champion Mona Barthel of Germany beat Naomi Osaka 7-6 (2), 6-2.

“Today it was just like a little present to go on to the quarterfinals, but I still had to be there and play well, she didn’t just give it to me,” Cibulkova said.

On Thursday, she’ll play Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens, who beat Annika Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-1.q

A18 SPORTS

Thursday 14 January 2016

LA ends 21-year NFL drought as Rams return GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — When the Rams announced their return to the Los Angeles area Tuesday night after 21 years away, hundreds of their long-faithful fans celebrated in the streets from downtown to Inglewood.

Winning over the rest of the Los Angeles area’s 18½ million people is going to take a bit longer, but the Rams

ers gathered at the site of Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s proposed stadium, which is expected to open in 2019.

Those supporters waved yellow and blue flags and chanted “LA Rams!”

One fan at the rally waved a giant cut-out of the head of Kroenke, which has become a talisman for Rams fans since the team’s visit to Southern California for two days of training camp

cetti, a major proponent of the city’s 2024 Summer Olympics bid. “We cannot wait to welcome the Rams, and perhaps others soon, as they join a storied lineup of professional franchises, collegiate powerhouses, and sports media companies.”

The city’s enthusiasm is likely to be tempered at least until the Rams take the field at their temporary home at

Football fans cheer for the return of the Rams to Los Angele,s on the site of the old Hollywood Park horse-racing track in Inglewood, Calif. NFL owners voted late Tuesday night to allow the St. Louis Rams to move to a new stadium at the site just outside Los Angeles, and the San Diego Chargers will have an option to share the facility.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

have a head start on rebuilding something special when they restore NFL football to the nation’s secondlargest market this fall.

The NFL officially approved the Rams to return to the city where they played for 49 years before leaving after the 1994 season, and Los Angeles should know soon whether the Chargers will join them this fall.

After two decades of false starts and wrong turns on the NFL’s road back, Los Angeles wasn’t exactly filled with citywide joy — but true Rams fans celebrated.

“It’s something that I never thought I’d see again,” said Rodney Lusain, 44, of Inglewood. “You know, 21 years is a long time. You lose hope from time to time, but the dream stayed alive.”

In suburban Inglewood, a large group of steadfast Los Angeles Rams boost-

last year. Kroenke plans to use private funds to build a sprawling, $2.66 billion complex at Hollywood Park centered on a domed stadium that will host the Rams and perhaps another team. The Rams have moved to this town before: In January 1946, Cleveland Rams owner Dan Reeves overcame other NFL owners’ objections and moved his team to the West Coast, citing losses at home and the boundless opportunities in L.A. Almost exactly 70 years to the day later, Kroenke used some of the same reasoning to justify the reversal of the decision made by the late Georgia Frontiere to move her late husband’s team to St. Louis.

“With the NFL returning home, Los Angeles cements itself as the epicenter of the sports world,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Gar-

Los Angeles Coliseum for their exhibition opener in August. After all, any Angelenos currently old enough to buy alcohol were alive when Frontiere and Raiders owner Al Davis ripped their teams out of town almost simultaneously after years of declining attendance and fan interest.

NFL apathy still exists among many fans with long memories, while younger fans have grown to love other franchises while watching the NFL’s best teams on television every weekend.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott is an Inglewood native, but he grew up as a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers before adopting the San Francisco 49ers.

Like many Angelenos, he isn’t converting to blue and gold right away, although he plans to root for the Rams when they’re not facing his favorite teams. q

Browns hire Hue Jackson as coach, team’s 8th since TOM WITHERS Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) -- Hue Jackson has experience as a head coach, knows the AFC North and has fixed quarterbacks.

Just what the Browns were looking for.

The Bengals offensive coordinator, who waited four years for his second crack at leading an NFL team, has been hired as Cleveland’s next coach the struggling franchise’s eighth since 1999 and sixth since 2008.

The 50-year-old Jackson finalized his deal on Wednesday, swiftly ending the Browns’ search which began on Jan. 3 when owner Jimmy Haslam fired Mike Pettine after two losing seasons.

Jackson had also interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers and was scheduled to meet later this week with the New York Giants, but Haslam was not going to be outbid for a coach he coveted.

Haslam said Jackson has all the qualities that will provide strong leadership for the team. ‘’He is highly experienced, deeply passionate about winning, and relentless in trying to find ways to put his players in the best position to succeed,’’ he said. ‘’He possesses that unique ability to reach the entire locker room in a way that demands accountability while getting the buy-in and team-first mentality that leads to positive results. I think our players will love playing for him.’’

The team will introduce Jackson at an evening news conference at their facility in Berea, Ohio.

The Browns were drawn to Jackson because of his one season as Oakland’s head coach, his deep knowledge inside their division and his strong record working with quarterbacks like Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton.

Cleveland owns the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft and will likely use it on a quarterback - possibly

California’s Jared Goff or Memphis’ Paxton Lynch.It remains to be seen what plans Jackson might have for Johnny Manziel, the troubled QB whose two seasons in Cleveland have been filled with controversy and more chaos than the Browns needed.

Manziel’s recently ended his second season by missing a scheduled medical treatment amid reports he was spotted in Las Vegas.

Jackson spent the past two seasons overseeing Cincinnati’s offense.

A former college quarterback at Pacific, Jackson pushed Dalton to his best statistical season and was known for his creative flair with unbalanced lines and unorthodox formations. The Bengals were among the league’s most exciting offenses with a solid balance and quickstrike capability.

Jackson replaces Pettine, fired after going 10-22.

Landing Jackson is a coup for the Browns, who have been overmatched against the Bengals in their three most recent games.

It’s been a whirlwind few days for Jackson.

After the Bengals were beaten 18-16 by Pittsburgh in a memorable AFC wild-card game on Saturday night, Jackson spent five hours meeting with the San Francisco 49ers and then four with Cleveland’s search committee, which included recently-promoted director of football operations Sashi Brown and Paul DePodesta, a former baseball executive considered one of the best analytics experts in pro sports.

On Tuesday, Haslam skipped the owner’s meetings in Houston so he could have a second meeting with Jackson, a sit-down that escalated into a contract offer.

As they reboot again, the Browns are hoping Jackson’s experience in Oakland - another franchise with its share of dysfunction - and his work with QBs will help them get back to relevancy quickly.q

SPORTS A19

Thursday 14 January 2016

Steve Stricker feeling rejuvenated about the new year DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer HONOLULU (AP) — Steve Stricker decided three years ago to start cutting back on his schedule. Now he can’t wait to get started.

That’s why he left Wisconsin for the California desert the day after Christmas for six days of hard work, followed by a trip to the North Shore of Oahu for a week of work and play before starting his season at the Sony Open.

At first, he barely beat his daughter. Bobbi Maria, a senior in high school who devoted the fall to tennis, shot a 79. Her dad, a 12time winner on the PGA Tour, shot 73.

“And then I shot 8 under and 10 under the next two days. I beat her by 20 after that,” Stricker said with a laugh.

He turns 49 next month. He helped bring a Champions Tour event to his home state of Wisconsin this year.

On the practice green Tuesday at Waialae, he was surrounded by players who had not even started kindergarten when Stricker began his PGA Tour career.

And he’s not ready to stop just yet.

“I feel younger this year than I did at times last year,” Stricker said.

The Sony Open is the first full-field event of the new year, and this won’t be a

Steve Stricker watches his tee shot on the 12 hole during the first round of the Greenbrier Classic golf tournament at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. Steve Stricker decided three years ago to start cutting back on his schedule. Now he can’t wait to get started. That’s why he left Wisconsin for the California desert the day after Christmas to get ready for the Sony Open.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

cameo appearance for Stricker. He still plans a limited schedule. Being home for his wife and two daughters remains a priority. He also wants to give himself a fair chance at winning.

“My No. 1 goal is to win again,” he said. “I’m hitting the ball not much differently from five years ago. It’s about getting it in the hole, and I’ve been grinding on my putter for the last five months.”

Stricker, who had surgery on his back on Christmas Eve in 2014, didn’t play until the Masters last year and

tied for 28th. He played only nine more times and didn’t fare much better, and he faced the harsh reality of a player in semi-retirement.

He wasn’t eligible for any of the World Golf Championships, and he wasn’t in the U.S. Open for the first time in five years. This year, he isn’t guaranteed a spot in any of the big events.

His world ranking, which reached as high as No. 2 in September 2009, has dropped all the way to No. 245. It’s about the world ranking. It’s not about the money. It’s not even about

Clark hopes to have solution for long putter DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer HONOLULU (AP) — Tim Clark hopes he has found the solution to the anchoring ban for longer putters, even if it makes it feel as though he is starting over.

“I feel like this is my rookie season because I don’t know what to expect,” Clark said Tuesday at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open.

Clark is using a putter from BioMech called “AccuLock” in which the shaft leans forward and allows the grip to rest against the forearm during the stroke.

It’s a large, square head with a hole the size of the golf ball in the middle, and the shaft is attached to the

rear to give it a forward lean.

He said he has worked with it off and on for about six months and it still feels different.

“I could have gone with a shovel and it would have felt the same,” he said.

“I went with what felt the most comfortable. This method felt the best.”

No player was more vocal against the ban on the anchored stroke than Clark, whose six victories worldwide include The Players Championship and the national opens in Australia, Scotland, Canada and South Africa.

For 19 years, the American golfer used a long putter

that he anchored to his chest. Clark has a congenital problem with his arms in which he can’t supinate his wrists, and the long putter was the perfect solution. Instead using it like a pendulum, he used a short putting stroke with the long putter.

Frustrated by the U.S. Golf Association’s lack of empirical evidence that an anchored putting stroke created an advantage, he traveled to San Diego on his own for a players meeting and gave an elegant speech that helped shape of the opinion of several players. A month later, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said the tour opposed the rule.q

hanging on.

Stricker didn’t mind easing his way back into golf last year, especially after back surgery. And he concedes to feeling older than he really was. Maybe it was the time away from the competition that rekindled his excitement.

Whatever the case, he plans to compete 15 times and play enough to get into a rhythm. He played back-to-back weeks only one time last year. His plan is to head from Honolulu to La Quinta, California.

He’ll go to the AT&T Pebble

Beach National Pro-Am (with country singer Toby Keith as his partner), and he might play Riviera if the forecast is right.

“I’m excited to play,” he said. Jordan Spieth, who won by eight shots last week on Maui, is taking the week off. Brandt Snedeker is the only player from the top 5 at Kapalua who is playing the Sony Open, a traditional course just beyond the shores of Waikiki with smaller greens and tighter fairways.

The field also includes Adam Scott, who at No. 11 is the highest-ranked player in the field, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Kevin Kisner from the top 20.

Stricker spent an hour on the putting green. There were no chalk lines on the grass, tees in the ground or anything else to help with his alignment. He putts for feel, and that carried him to a remarkable resurgence that took him from no PGA Tour card to three Ryder Cup teams and contending in majors again.

Can he get back to that?

Stricker already has signed up as a vice captain for Davis Love III in the Ryder Cup. And he is aware of the huge generation shift on the PGA Tour, particularly among Americans such as Spieth and Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka.q

20 SPORTS

Thursday 14 January 2016

Peterhansel wins decisive 10th stage to lead Dakar Rally

Peugeot driver France’s Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean Paul Cottret, race during the the 2016 Dakar Rally, in Belen, Argentina.

(AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)

LA RIOJA, Argentina (AP) — Stephane Peterhansel, the most successful pilot in Dakar Rally history, gained decisive control of the race when he flew through the Fiambala dunes and mainly avoided the problems his rivals suffered on Wednesday.

A 12th championship, a

sixth in a car, was on the cards for Peterhansel this weekend after winning the 10th stage on soft sand and grabbing a lead of an hour on his nearest rival, defending champion Nasser AlAttiyah.

The Frenchman could yet lose his lead in an appeal hearing. Peterhansel sur-

vived a complaint by Mini that he refueled in an unauthorized area on Monday, but Mini filed an appeal on Wednesday to motorsport governing body FIA which will be heard before the end of the race. Peterhansel could be penalized six hours or disqualified.

He began the day sec-

ond overall, and panicked outside Belen when he lost time looking for the first waypoint en route to La Rioja, then got a flat tire.

That made him push his Peugeot harder.

“We took risks and threw caution to the wind,” he said. “We pushed very hard because we knew today was the decisive stage. It was a stage with very tricky navigation, off-track sections, drainage channels ... everything that makes rally raid hard.”

What he didn’t know was his rivals were faring even worse.

Carlos Sainz, who grabbed the overall lead on Tuesday, two minutes up on Peterhansel, couldn’t find the first waypoint, punctured, got stuck in the sand, then stopped 30 kilometers from the finish after a strut broke under his engine. He had to wait hours for assistance, bringing an end to the 2010 champion’s hope of a second title.

Al-Attiyah rolled his Mini

soon after the start and broke his ceiling and cooling system. Not prepared to take more risks, the Qatari finished 14th and more than 50 minutes down in the stage, but managed to rise to second overall.

Giniel de Villiers of South Africa finished sixth in the 245-kilometer stage, which was shortened by 30 kilometers because of a rio swollen by overnight thunderstorms, and climbed to third overall, 72 minutes behind.

Sebastien Loeb, the ninetime world rally champ, endured a car roll, getting stuck in the sand, and two punctures, and still managed to finish fifth in the stage to rise into the top 10.

In the motorbikes, Toby Price of Australia, the leader since Monday, rode cautiously to avoid mistakes after his KTM took a thrashing on Tuesday. He finished six minutes behind stage winner Stefan Svitko of Slovakia, but still led the latter by 23 minutes overall.q

SPORTS A21

Thursday 14 January 2016

Liverpool scores late for 3-3 draw vs Arsenal in EPL

STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Joe Allen capped a chaotic game with a 90thminute equalizer for Liverpool to salvage a 3-3 draw against Arsenal, whose Premier League lead was wiped out on Wednesday.

After four goals in 15 minutes in an error-strewn but thrilling first half, it looked like Olivier Giroud’s excellent solo goal in the 55th minute would preserve Arsenal’s two-point advantage at the top.

But two substitutes combined for Liverpool’s equalizer as snow fell at Anfield, with Christian Benteke heading a long ball back across the penalty area for Allen to meet with a firsttime shot into the bottom corner.

It provoked a wild celebration from Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp on the touchline.

Brazil forward Roberto Firmino twice gave Liverpool the lead with his first goals at home for the club, only for Aaron Ramsey and Giroud to bring Arsenal level as both defenses were found wanting.

At one point around the half-hour mark, the rival managers — Klopp and Arsene Wenger — came together in the technical area and engaged in deep conversation, seemingly venting their frustration at the state of their teams’ defending.

It was chaotic at times, especially Liverpool’s axis of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, and central defenders Kolo Toure and Mamadou Sakho that was all over the place.

Mignolet might have been at fault for both of Arsenal’s first-half goals, and the Belgian received ironic cheers at one stage in the first half when he collected the weakest of shots.

Liverpool started at a furious pace and took a 10thminute lead when Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech parried Emre Can’s fierce, angled shot straight to Firmino. q

Spanish Roundup:

Barcelona beats Espanyol 2-0 to reach Copa quarter JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Munir El Haddadi scored both goals as Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 on Wednesday to ease into the Copa del Rey’s quarterfinals with a 6-1 victory on aggregate.

Lionel Messi, two days after collecting his record fifth Ballon d’Or award, played El Haddadi through with a long pass to score Barcelona’s opener in the 32nd minute.

The 20-year-old El Haddadi netted his second with two minutes left.

“This is good for Munir, the fact that he participated in many facets today,” coach Luis Enrique said about the little-used forward. “He has a knack for scoring.”

After two ill-tempered derbies in the past two weeks— a 0-0 draw in the Spanish league before Barcelona’a 4-1 first-leg win that featured 20 yellow cards and two reds— the return match at RCDE Stadium was a tame affair, only brought to life by Messi.

“Today we saw a much calmer match, perhaps in part because the result was difficult to overcome, but this has been talked about too much,” Luis Enrique said.

While the defending champions moved on, so did last year’s finalist, Athletic Bilbao.

Bilbao got a first-half goal from Inaki Williams to win 1-0 at Villarreal and advance 4-2 on aggregate.

Celta Vigo finished off thirdtier Cadiz 2-0 to advance with a 5-0 victory over two legs, while Las Palmas beat Eibar 3-2, matching the score from its first-leg victory.

In Barcelona, almost all the players who participated in the most heated exchanges from the first leg — which Espanyol ended with nine men and was followed with a verbal confrontation in the Camp Nou tunnel — didn’t start on Wednesday.

Barcelona was already without Luis Suarez, suspended for two matches for his insults directed at Espanyol’s players, and Luis Enrique left Neymar

FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, left, duels for the ball against Espanyol’s Joan Jordan during a Copa del Rey soccer match at RCDE stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

and Gerard Pique on the bench. Pique had taunted Espanyol’s fans after the first leg. Neymar, meanwhile, was rested hours after a judge summoned him for questioning in an investigation into the Brazil striker’s transfer from Santos to Barcelona in 2013.

Messi had the game’s first two shots on goal, both turned back by Francesco Bardi.

But the Italian goalkeeper could do nothing to stop El Haddadi after he received

Messi’s pass, dribbled past him and chipped the ball home.

Tempers briefly flared when Felipe Caicedo stepped on the foot of Barcelona goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but calm was restored shortly before Ter Stegen saved Caicedo’s shot in a one-on-one opportunity before halftime.

El Haddadi capped a lifeless second half when he steered in Aleix Vidal’s cross after Ardau Turan had played the winger wide.q

Chelsea concedes late to draw 2-2 with West Brom in EPL LONDON (AP) — Chelsea remained unbeaten under new coach Guus Hiddink after conceding a late equalizer to draw 2-2 at home to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Unmissable with a protective black mask, Cesar Azpilicueta put Chelsea ahead after 20 minutes, turning in a low cross from Branislav Ivanovic.

West Brom hit back and was rewarded with an equalizer when Chelsea gave the ball away and Craig Gardner fired home from 25 yards (meters) in the 33rd minute.

Chelsea’s pressure paid off in the 73rd minute when West Brom’s Gareth McAuley turned the ball into his own net as he tried to intercept a low cross by Willian.

But victory slipped through Chelsea’s grasp at the end, when James McClean pounced to score an

Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta celebrates scoring a goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

equalizer in the 86th minute to end the Blues’ hopes of a third consecutive victory in all competitions.

Chelsea is unbeaten in six games since the departure of former coach Jose Mourinho. But Hiddink’s chances of securing a topfour finish receded further

in front of owner Roman Abramovich and ahead of Saturday’s clash with Everton. Chelsea began well.

Diego Costa glided by Jonny Evans but shot wide and Willian fired off target either side of a chance for McClean, who headed offtarget from Darren Fletch-

er’s cross.

Azpilicueta is less than prolific, but likes scoring against West Brom.

There were holes aplenty in the visiting defence, but Chelsea’s rearguard was porous too.

West Brom exposed those frailties when Pedro gave the ball away to Fletcher, who was influential for the visitors. Fletcher prodded it to Gardner, who did the rest, shooting into the bottom corner from distance.

Costa ballooned an effort over and Salomon Rondon shot just wide as both sides had chances to take an interval lead.

Pedro made his debut at The Hawthorns and inspired Chelsea to a first win of the season, but his star has faded since. The subdued Spain winger was withdrawn for Kenedy at halftime and the Brazilian gave Chelsea much-needed pace and penetration.q

A22

Thursday 14 January 2016

SPORTS

Valcke dismissed as FIFA secretary general ROB HARRIS AP Sports Writer LONDON (AP) — FIFA has fired Jerome Valcke for the second time, cutting ties with the secretary general four months after he was suspended while under investigation for wrongdoing at the scandal-scarred governing body.

FIFA’s emergency committee, consisting of representatives the regional confederations, decided

last week with accepting gifts, conflicts of interest, breaches of confidentiality and loyalty, and failing to cooperate with investigators. Valcke, whose main duty at FIFA was overseeing organization of the World Cup, denies wrongdoing.

The Frenchman was rehired by as secretary general in 2007 despite being fired the previous year over his role in a sponsorship controversy.

was preparing to suspend Valcke two days before the revelations about tickets, which hastened his departure rather than being the trigger, the person said.

Since then, the FIFA cases into Valcke have hardened and now he will not be returning to the governing body he ran on a dayto-day basis from 2007.

“The employment relationship between FIFA and Jerome Valcke has ... been

FC Barcelona’s Neymar celebrates scoring against Espanyol during a Copa del Rey soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. Neymar will appear before a judge to testify in an investigation into alleged irregularities involving his transfer to Barcelona, Spain’s national court said Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Neymar ordered to appear in court over Barcelona transfer

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke attends a press conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. FIFA said Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016 that Valcke was dismissed.

(AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

to dismiss Sepp Blatter’s top aide over the weekend.

Valcke’s firing stemmed from a report by accountancy firm KPMG that was commissioned some six months ago following suspicions about world football’s top administrator, a person with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case in public.

Valcke’s personal conduct, including accusations about his expenses and private jet use, is the focus of the KPMG report, rather than matters concerning the integrity of games or tournaments, the person said.

In a separate FIFA ethics investigation, Valcke is also facing a nine-year ban from working in world soccer after being charged

Coming less than a month after Blatter was banned for eight years by FIFA, Valcke’s second dismissal completes the downfall of the two men who had traveled the globe on private jets and were entertained by national leaders as they ran international soccer.

Valcke was banished from FIFA in September when he was put on leave within hours of a FIFA ticketing partner alleging that the former television presenter and marketing executive sought to profit from a 2014 World Cup black market ticket deal that later fell through. Valcke had been in talks earlier in September to make an early exit from FIFA but the discussions to pay-up his multi-million dollar contract collapsed, the person with knowledge of the case told the AP. Then, based on interim information from KPMG, FIFA

terminated,” FIFA said in Wednesday’s statement.

Markus Kattner will continue to serve as acting secretary general amid unanswered questions about some of his FIFA work.

For legal reasons, Kattner said last month “I am not allowed to answer” when asked about his role of finance director and why FIFA authorized a 2 million Swiss franc ($2 million) payment to Michel Platini, which led to the UEFA president being banned from soccer for eight years along with Blatter. Kattner has not been accused of wrongdoing in any cases and is leading preparations from FIFA’s side for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

As marketing director at the start of the last decade, Valcke was implicated in misleading World Cup sponsor MasterCard during contract renewal talks. q

TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Neymar will appear before a judge to testify in an investigation into alleged irregularities involving his transfer to Barcelona, Spain’s national court said Wednesday.

Neymar’s parents, former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and current president Josep Bartomeu also will have to appear before a judge, according to court documents.

The Brazil striker is set to testify on Feb. 2, while Rosell and Bartomeu are expected to be in court on Feb. 1.

The national court last year rejected the request by Neymar and other defendants to throw out a probe into the irregularities. The court is looking into a complaint made by a Brazilian investment group which claims it was financially harmed when Barcelona and Neymar allegedly withheld the real amount of the player’s transfer fee from Brazilian club Santos in 2013, in part to avoid paying the full amount of taxes.

Santos’ former presidents, Luis Alvaro de Oliveira and Odilio Rodriguez Filho, also have been asked to appear in court, as well as club representatives of both Barcelona and Santos.

The complaint, made in June by investment group DIS, names Neymar, his father and Barcelona as de-

fendants, along with Rosell and Bartomeu.

The court analyzed the complaint and said there were indications of illegal acts by some of the involved parties in an attempt to disguise the total amount that was paid to the Brazilian club.

The Brazilian investment group was entitled to 40 percent of Neymar’s transfer from Santos, but it claims it received smaller compensation than it should have because part of the transfer fee was concealed.

Santos officially received a payment of 17.1 million euros ($18.5 million) for Neymar’s transfer, but investigations in Spain later showed that Barcelona spent nearly 83.3 million euros ($90 million) to acquire the Brazilian.

A separate court in Madrid is hearing a similar lawsuit against Rosell because of Neymar’s transfer fee.

Rosell resigned from Barcelona because of the allegations.

FIFA recently said it was also analyzing a complaint related to the transfer. Santos claimed that Neymar and his father broke the terms of the player’s contract by starting negotiations with Barcelona without the Brazilian club’s consent.

The 23-year-old Neymar has also encountered problems with Brazil’s tax office.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Thursday 14 January 2016

Review: New ways to get cable without an ugly cable box TALI ARBEL AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Getting cable service no longer requires a technician who’ll come and install an ugly cable box.

Instead, cable companies are starting to offer slimmed-down bundles of channels that you can stream to your TV over your Internet connection — sort of like Netflix, although mostly not as convenient.

Dish’s Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue paved the way with innovative online services nearly a year ago. Last fall, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and its buyer-in-waiting, Charter Communications, followed suit with their own online bundles.

These now represent the latest gambit from the quasi-monopolistic cable industry, which continues to shed TV customers as more people watch online video from a variety of new outlets. The bundles make good business sense, since cable companies save money on technician visits.

For customers, the new plans mean cheaper access to popular channels like NBC, ESPN and HBO, with no monthly fee for a cable box. The online services range from about $50 and up for Vue, which won’t save you that much money, to $10 a month, before taxes and fees, for local networks from Time Warner Cable.

But channel selection is limited, and some services don’t let you skip commercials or save shows to watch later, the way cable boxes do with digital video recorders. And there are hidden costs and annoyances.

IS IT FOR YOU? If you primarily watch live TV from a small group of popular channels and have broadband at home, you could save money on monthly charges and installation for a cable box.

You don’t have to wait for new episodes to arrive on Hulu or Netflix. But this isn’t a replacement for such services. Cable services

This photo shows the Amazon Fire TV, a product for streaming popular video services, apps and games in high-definition, in Decatur, Ga. Moving the traditional cable bundle online, stripped down to fewer channels and freed from ugly cable boxes, is all the rage these days. Sony’s PlayStation Vue started nearly a year ago. For the Vue, you need a PlayStation or Amazon Fire TV gadgets and have to live in one of seven big cities.

(AP Photo/Ron Harris)

won’t give you access to original shows from the likes of Netflix or Amazon, and you can’t binge-watch past seasons of network and premium-cable series.

Online cable bundles also probably aren’t for rabid sports fans committed to a particular team, although they might satisfy you if you only watch a few football games a week. Sony’s Vue has regional sports networks available, while Sling has sports and soccer bundles, each for $5 extra over the $20-a-month base price.

If aesthetics are important, going online won’t clunk up a wall-mounted flatscreen TV as much as a cable box would.

WHO CAN GET IT? Sling is available nationwide. For Sony’s Vue, you need a PlayStation or Amazon Fire TV gadgets and have to live in one of seven big cities.

Time Warner Cable, Charter and Comcast require you to subscribe to their Internet services — you’re not, say, going to stream Comcast over Verizon’s Fios. Their services are still being rolled out and are available only in certain areas. Time Warner’s is only around New York City, while Comcast is in the Boston and Chicago areas.

Charter has a streaming-

only service in St. Louis; Madison, Wisconsin; and some other markets.

SETTING IT UP Pretty easy. Comcast, Sony and Sling let you sign up online.

Time Warner sent a Roku streaming device in the mail the day after I called to ask for it. I’m not good at setting things up, so it took me about an hour to connect the Roku to the TV. Make sure you switch the TV’s input to the correct HDMI port. The Roku box, which also lets you watch Netflix, Amazon and other services, is smaller and slightly less unsightly than a cable box typically is. It also makes the Time Warner app easy to navigate.

Charter has a similar setup.

With Sling and Comcast, you download an app.

With PlayStation Vue, you sign up from a PlayStation or through a website if you’re using Amazon devices.

USING IT None of these are a perfect replacement for cable, with its DVR, hundreds of channels and, generally, pain-free delivery to TVs. There are limits on which devices you can watch on and how many different streams you can run.

They also could congest your Internet connection and eat into a data cap, if you have one. But Time Warner Cable and Comcast insist that their new TV services are on their “managed networks” rather than the regular Internet.

That means it shouldn’t slow you down on the

Web. Sling has had issues with streaming quality for live TV. And for Comcast customers, its service won’t count toward an Internet data cap; using Netflix, Sling or other online services will.

Time Warner Cable and Charter don’t have data caps.

There are also more blackout issues than cable. For example, if you have Sling, NFL games are blocked on smartphones because Verizon has exclusive rights, and some online channels won’t deliver every show or movie their cable counterparts do.

Sony and Comcast give you a DVR that lets you skip commercials; others don’t.

COMPARSIONS WITH TRADITIONAL CABLE The cable company’s average monthly take for TV service is $89.40, according to market research firm SNL Kagan. So you’d typically pay less with the streaming options, but you still have to pay for high-speed Internet, which costs at least $30 a month.

And for some services, the hassles traditionally associated with the cable industry persist. For example, with Time Warner, I couldn’t watch much TV outside my home. Different customer service reps gave me different monthly fees; I eventually paid about $13 for a service advertised at $9.99. q

A24 BUSINESS

Thursday 14 January 2016

Stocks plunge; S&P 500 down 10% from November peak

ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer It’s been a turbulent ride for stock market investors this year and it got worse Wednesday.

A broad downturn in U.S. stocks on another volatile day for crude oil prices knocked the Standard & Poor’s 500 index down 10 percent from its November peak.

That’s known as a correction on Wall Street, and it’s the second time in less than five months for the S&P 500 index, which is regarded as the bellwether for the stock market.

The Dow Jones industrial average also tumbled, losing more than 300 points before closing within 25 points of its own correction level.

The rocky start to the year reflects mounting worries on Wall Street about a slowdown in the global economy, plunging oil prices and the implications for U.S. companies. It also deepens the pain for many investors after a flat year of returns for the stock market last year.

The S&P 500 index is now down 7.5 percent this year, while the Dow is off 7.3 percent. The Nasdaq is deeper in the red, down 9.6 percent. The Russell 2000, which is comprised of small-company stocks, is now down 20 percent from its June peak. That big a plunge is defined as a bear market. “At the very core of this there’s a bull-bear debate,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. “Whether or not we’re headed into a recession. That’s the de-

bate. Are we gaining the momentum in the economy to justify the valuation in the market?”

Energy and consumer stocks bore the brunt of the selling on Wednesday.

The price of U.S. crude oil closed slightly higher, but remains near $30 a barrel, a level that investors fear could force many oil and gas company to go bankrupt. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2 percent. Some of the biggest winners from last year, such as Netflix and Amazon, both of which doubled in value in 2015, also fell sharply. “The momentum names that drove this market higher have just been clobbered,” Krosby said.

All told, the Dow lost 364.81 points, or 2.2 percent, to 16,151.41. The S&P 500 index fell 48.40 points, or 2.5

500 index ended sharply lower, with consumer discretionary stocks faring the worst, down 3.4 percent.

Biotechnology stocks also took a drubbing. The Nasdaq Biotechnology index lost 5.3 percent and is down 17.2 percent this year.

The market was coming off its best day this year and appeared to be headed for more gains early in the day. A report showing that China’s exports fell less than expected in November helped lift the market.

The price of crude oil rebounded more than 3 percent in the first hour of regular trading. The trend didn’t

looks from Ford Motor and auto parts supplier BorgWarner. Ford fell 65 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $12.20.

BorgWarner lost $3.56, or 9.5 percent, to $33.84.

Railroad operator CSX and supermarket chain SuperValu also ended lower after the companies reported their latest quarterly results. CSX slid $1.35, or 5.7 percent, to $22.35. SuperValu fell 93 cents, or 15.5 percent, to $5.08.

Benchmark U.S. crude edged up 4 cents to close at $30.48 a barrel in New York. U.S. crude is down 18 percent so far this year. q

NEW YORK (AP) — MetLife plans to carve off a substantial portion of its U.S. life insurance business via a sale, spinoff or an initial public offering as the parent company challenges harsher regulatory oversight.

The New York company has been disputing its designation by federal regulators as a “systemically important” entity that’s deemed “too big to fail.”

That categorization makes it subject to greater government oversight and, MetLife says, exorbitant costs. It has taken the Financial Stability Oversight Council to court over the assessment. The case is ongoing. Metlife said this week it believes the independent new U.S. life insurance company would compete more effectively and allow MetLife to benefit from reduced capital

requirements.

It said the potential standalone business would have about $240 billion in total assets and represent about 20 percent of its operating earnings. For the nine months ended in September, MetLife Inc. posted operating income of $4.11 billion.

MetLife Executive Vice President Eric Steigerwalt was tapped to lead the new company, with the

rest of the management team to be named over time. MetLife would keep its property-casualty, foreign and other businesses under the proposed plan. It said it would remain a leader in the U.S. market in employee benefits and a major provider of pension and retirement products.

In after-hours trading, MetLife Inc. shares jumped almost 8 percent to $45.21.q

percent, to 1,890.28. It was the worst day for the index since Sept. 28.

The Nasdaq slid 159.85 points, or 3.4 percent, to 4,526.06.

All the sectors in the S&P

hold for long, however, as oil prices began to swoon following a report showing that demand for fuels slipped last week. Investors also began size up to discouraging earnings out-

Trader George Ettinger, right, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016. It’s been a turbulent ride for stock market investors this year and it got worse Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

MetLife mulls IPO of life insurance business

CSX predicts 2016 a tough year for railroad industry JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — CSX Corp. expects lower profits in 2016 as weak demand for coal and crude oil persists and the strong U.S. dollar continues to limit exports.

The railroad discussed its outlook for lower freight volume and a difficult year on Wednesday — one day after releasing its fourthquarter results.

Chairman and CEO Michael Ward said the railroad will continue working to improve productivity and cut about $200 million in expenses in 2016, but it’s hard to predict what the industrial economy will do this year.

CSX also plans to reduce its capital spending this year by $100 million to $2.4 billion.

“2016 will be a more challenging year,” Ward said.

“Volume in the first quarter and for the full year will decline as growth in some markets continues to be offset by the significant impact of continued coal declines, low commodity prices and a strong US dollar.”

The Jacksonville, Floridabased railroad said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit declined 5 percent to $466 million, or 48 cents per share, on $2.78 billion revenue.

The quarterly results were helped by a one-time property sale that added $80 million, or 5 cents per share, to CSX’s profit. Analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected adjusted earnings of 46 cents per share.

Citi analyst Christian Wetherbee said the railroad’s results were better than he expected thanks to tight cost controls.

Coal demand has fallen significantly over the past several years because of environmental concerns and because cheap natural gas prices prompted some utilities to switch fuels. Coal carloads fell 32 percent in the fourth quarter.q

BUSINESS A25

Thursday 14 January 2016

Treasury to track some real estate deals in NY and Miami J. BOAK M. CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department will begin tracking sales of high-end real estate in two of the country’s most expensive markets — Miami and Manhattan — to try to crack down on money laundering.

The department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Wednesday that it will temporarily require

certain title companies to identify individuals behind companies that buy properties exceeding $3 million in these two markets with all-cash transactions.

The government said it’s concerned that some of these real estate deals are made by corrupt foreign government officials or international criminals who use expensive real estate to launder dirty money. By using holding companies, some buyers may be able

to disguise their identities.

The disclosure requirements would apply for 180 days beginning in March, according to the announcement.

Under federal law, the government can demand these geographically targeted disclosures for up to six months but can then seek an extension.

High-end home prices in both Manhattan and Miami have soared over the past year. The median

Manhattan home sold for $1.15 million at the close of 2015 — a 17.3 percent leap from a year ago, according to the real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman.

That price put it at highs last glimpsed before the financial crisis erupted in 2008.

The median sales price for a luxury unit in Manhattan was $6 million, a 25 percent jump from a year ago.

Nearly half the purchases were all-cash.

Douglas Elliman reported

that the entry point for luxury single-family homes in Miami Beach exceeds $6 million.

Buyers are also flocking to the chic condo towers that increasingly line the region’s most expensive avenues.

Of the $100 billion spent on real estate transactions in Florida last year, nearly a quarter came from international buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors.q

Report: Apple defies industry trend as PC sales fall again BRANDON BAILEY Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple keeps defying a PC industry trend: While other major computer-makers saw shipments fall in 2015, Apple increased the number of Macs it shipped worldwide last year, according to estimates from two research firms this week. Total PC shipments have been declining, industrywide, for the last four years, as consumers are waiting longer to buy new models and many are turning to smartphones or tablets. Even last summer’s release of Windows 10 — Microsoft’s new operating software — failed to boost overall sales. All told, manufacturers shipped a total of 288.7 million PCs last year, down 8 percent from 2014, according to researchers at Gartner. Analysts at International Data Corp., using different methodology,

put the total at 276 million and the decline at 10.4 percent.

Apple, however, saw an increase of roughly 6 percent, according to both firms. While other major PCmakers have seen ups and downs, Apple alone has enjoyed gains in each of the last three years.

Big manufacturers like Lenovo, HP and Dell still sell far more computers than Apple. Industry leader Lenovo shipped 57 million PCs last year, while estimates for Apple are just under 21 million.

Still, analysts say Apple benefits from its reputation as a premium brand in the United States and Europe. It’s also been making inroads in Asia. Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa noted that Apple has been opening retail stores in China, which is now the second-largest PC market in the world.

Experts trace the PC in-

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of marketing, talks about the pricing of the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in San Francisco. Apple keeps defying a PC industry trend: While other major computer-makers saw shipments fall in 2015, Apple increased the number of Macs it shipped worldwide last year.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

dustry’s slump to the introduction of more powerful smartphones and tablets in recent years. Even Apple saw a slight decline in

Mac shipments in 2012, when some buyers opted for iPads instead. The slump has also hurt chipmakers like Intel and other com-

panies that make PC components, while forcing software makers to re-design their products for smaller, mobile devices. q

US budget deficit rose in December, totaling $14.4 billion M. CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal budget deficit increased in December and for the third month is running ahead of last year’s pace.

The deficit totaled $14.4 billion in December, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday. That compares to a small surplus of $1.9 billion in December 2014.

For the first three months of this budget year, the deficit

stood at $215.5 billion, an increase of 22 percent over the same period a year ago. For the entire year, private economists are forecasting a slight improvement from last year’s deficit of $438.9 billion, which had been the lowest annual deficit in eight years.

Continued gains in employment are expected to boost federal tax receipts.

Economists at JPMorgan Chase are predicting that the deficit for this budget year will total $425 billion.

The Congressional Budget Office, which will update its forecast later this month, had predicted in August that the deficit this year would shrink even more to $414 billion but then begin rising for the rest of the decade and will top $1 trillion again by 2025.

The higher deficits will be driven by growth in Social Security and health care benefits as more baby boomers retire.

Last month, Congress approved a budget package

that increased spending by $1.14 trillion this year and will provide $680 billion in tax cuts over the coming decade as part of a compromise agreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration. The measure included many of the domestic spending increases that President Barack Obama had been seeking, while Republicans won greater funding for the military and permanent tax cuts for businessinvest-

ment. The government had been operating under a stop-gap spending measure that gave Congress and the administration time to find a compromise on a number of budget and regulatory issues.

In the budget deals struck late last year was an agreement to suspend the limit on government borrowing, allowing it to increase without any cap until March 2017, two months after the next president takes office. q

A26 COMICS

Thursday 14 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

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Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

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Thursday 14 January 2016

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A28 SCIENCE

Thursday 14 January 2016

FDA panel favors approval for drug-oozing addiction implant

This illustration shows theropods engaged in scrape ceremony display activity, based on trace fossil evidence from Colorado. The scientists who discovered the long grooves say they were dug by the feet of dinosaurs during a frenzied ritual to attract mates.

(Lida Xing/Yujiang Han via AP)

Scrape marks linked to dinosaur mating ritual MALCOLM RITTER AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists say they’ve discovered evidence of a frenzied mating ritual by dinosaurs: long grooves in the ground etched by the pawing of clawed feet.

Such behavior is seen nowadays in some birds, and the discovery suggests that two-legged, meat-eating dinosaurs called theropods did it about 100 million years ago, the researchers said.

Martin Lockley of the University of Colorado Denver said the dinosaurs, probably males, apparently gathered in groups and “went crazy scraping” with their clawed, three-toed

feet to attract mates.

The beasts were built roughly like smaller versions of a T. rex. Footprints near the grooves suggest a variety of body lengths, up to about 16 feet (4 meters) from snout to tip of the tail.

The grooves they carved are up to 6 feet long.

The ritual would have been entertaining to watch, Lockley said in an interview. “These animals would have been really frenzied.”

Lockley, an emeritus professor of geology, is an author of a paper on the discovery released last week by the journal Scientific Reports. The grooves were found at four sites in Colorado.

Dinosaur expert Thomas

Holtz Jr. of the University of Maryland, who didn’t participate in the work, said it’s reasonable to think that theropods created the grooves. But was it for mating?

Holtz said he wasn’t convinced that the new paper had sufficiently ruled out other explanations. But he added that there’s no particular evidence for rejecting the mating idea.

“Whatever behavior is being recorded here, it is an expression of the fact that dinosaurs_like all animals_ did more than hunt and attack and devour and fight and all that limited set of behaviors that popular culture often portrays,” Holtz wrote in an email. q

M. PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers recommended approval this week for an experimental implant designed to treat patients recovering from heroin and painkiller addiction.

Despite shortcomings in company studies, a majority of Food and Drug Administration advisers said the implant offers important benefits not currently available. The drugoozing device is intended to be a safer, more reliable approach to controlling cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

“Overall the data did have some problems,” said Dr. Thomas Grieger, of the Maryland Department of Health. “But I think clearly there was no evidence of significant risk with this agent and there is evidence of significant benefit and hopefully great promise.”

The advisers voted 12-5 in favor of the device from Braeburn Pharmaceuticals. The FDA is scheduled to make its formal decision by Feb. 27.

The matchstick-size implant, dubbed Probuphine, slowly releases a low dose of buprenorphine over six months.

Currently buprenorphine is available as a pill or film that dissolves under the

tongue. It is considered a safer, more palatable alternative to methadone, the decades-old standard for controlling opioid addiction. Opioids are a powerful family of drugs that mimic the opium poppy, including medications like oxycodone and illicit narcotics like heroin.

More than 2.5 million Americans are addicted to opioids, according to federal estimates. But less than half are receiving medication-based treatment to help control the problem.

Braeburn executives told panelists Tuesday that its implant could help reduce cases of relapse among chronic drug abusers.

Many recovering addicts struggle to stick with their daily medication, putting them at risk of returning to illicit drug use and overdosing.

But panelists questioned whether Braeburn’s studies accurately predict Probuphine’s success. They cited shortcomings in the company’s research including missing urine samples from some study participants. Additionally, many patients received additional drug therapy to control their cravings and symptoms, clouding the picture of the implant’s performance.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Thursday 14 January 2016

‘Sesame Street’: Now brought to you by the letters HBO

This image released by the Sesame Workshop shows the cast of “Sesame Street.” The popular children’s show begins its 46th season on HBO on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016.

(Zach Hyman/Sesame Workshop via AP)

FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With the extension of “Sesame Street” into a high-price neighborhood — HBO, where it premieres Saturday morning — it has signaled significant urban renewal.

“Sesame Street” grew out of the socially progressive ethos of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society of the 1960s. Premiering on public television as a breakthrough in children’s TV on Nov. 10, 1969, it was conceived primarily to help prepare underprivileged preschoolers for their entry into the classroom. And this “Street” could be visited toll-free.

Needless to say, the Sixties are long gone.

Now “Sesame Street” is setting off for its 46th season of making kids “smarter, stronger, kinder” (the show’s motto) at its new HBO address.

Those 35 new half-hours won’t begin rolling out on PBS until fall.

In the meantime, the continuing PBS version of “Sesame” has been retrofitted from its traditional hour’s length to “best-of” halfhours drawn from the past few seasons (check local listings for air times).

The five-season deal with HBO, which provides the program with what its pro-

ducers have called “critical funding,” will make the show available on HBO and related platforms, including HBO GO and HBO on Demand, in both English and Spanish.

The changes afoot reflect the current flood of children’s programming (by contrast, “Sesame” originally filled a niche almost no other kids’ show even recognized), as well as the new ways this umpteenth generation of “Sesame” fans practices viewing habits vastly different from decades ago.

“Sesame” will premiere on HBO on Saturday at 9 a.m.

EST with two new half-hours.

Episodes will air simultaneously on HBO Latino, and an hour of repeats will air on HBO Family daily at 8 a.m.

This new “Street” represents the “boldest” changes in the program’s history, says Sesame Workshop.

Based on the first two episodes available for preview, those changes go beyond the added media outlet and scaled-down length. The show, perhaps more beautifully produced than ever, is now efficiently packaged in a single theme per episode, rather than the magazine format of its past.

One of this week’s shows addresses “Exploration” (including a sequence

with actor Alan Cumming as Mucko Polo, a “grouch explorer” who leads Elmo and fellow Muppets on escapades using their five senses to track down yucky things). The other episode’s theme is “Bedtime,” as Elmo and Abby Cadabby get help in adopting a calm-down bedtime routine from a new human character, Nina (played by the enormously appealing Suki Lopez).

Expected elements remain Elmo’s Letter of the Day (“B’’ is for Bedtime) and the Count saluting his Number of the Day. Cookie Monster has a brand-new feature, “Smart Cookies,” where he and a team of crime-fighting cookie friends thwart the efforts of the villainous

Crumb.

As always, star turns are part of “Street” life. Besides “The Good Wife’s” Cumming, bold-face names include Sara Bareilles, Ne-Yo, Tracee Ellis Ross and Gina Rodriguez.

But the biggest star, by far, remains Elmo, who headlines most of the segments and, joined by legions of his fellow Muppets, dominates to the near-exclusion of any human “Sesame” inhabitants. And even moving beyond the physicality of puppets, the episodes make generous use of digital imagery in a seamless abstract integration.

Bottom line: The easygoing pace in the neighborhood of old seems to have fallen prey to a newly revved-up virtual world. q

A30 PEOPLE

Thursday 14 January 2016

& ARTS

Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena wins Pritzker Prize EVA VERGARA JOCELYN NOVECK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena has won the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize for work that “epitomizes the revival of a more socially engaged architect.”

The award was announced on Wednesday by Tom Pritzker, chairman and president of the Chicagobased Hyatt Foundation,

which sponsors the prize.

Aravena, 48, is the first Pritzker laureate from Chile, and the fourth from Latin America. In its citation, the jury noted that “few have risen to the demands of practicing architecture as an artful endeavor, as well as meeting today’s social and economic challenges.

Aravena ... has achieved both, and in doing so has meaningfully expanded the role of the architect.”

This undated image released by ELEMENTAL shows the interior of the Innovation Center in Santiago, Chile, designed by Alejandro Aravena and Juan Cerda. Arevena was named 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016.

(Nina Vidic/ELEMENTAL via AP)

The jury cited, among others, five buildings Aravena has designed for his alma mater, the Universidad Catolica de Chile, including its mathematics school, its medical school and, in 2014, its Angelini Innovation Center, an opaque concrete structure with a lightfilled glass atrium inside.

“A powerful structure from a distance, it is remarkably humane and inviting,” the jury said, noting that the unique design ensures that energy consumption is minimal. The design also includes “many spaces for spontaneous encounters and transparency that enables viewing activity

throughout,” it said.

Aravena’s resume includes private, public and educational commissions. He has designed in the United States — a residence and dining hall at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas — and in Shanghai, China, a building for the pharmaceutical company Novartis.Speaking in Santiago, Aravena said he felt “huge gratitude” upon receiving the award, which he said was tantamount to a Nobel Prize in his field. He noted the collaborative nature of architecture.

“Architecture is a collective discipline,” he said.

“It is done, to begin with,

with the hands of others, the workers that build the designs, as opposed to a sculptor that makes it with his own hands.”

Aravena mused about what the award would allow him to do in the future. “It gives you a sensation of great freedom,” he said. “The road to the future is not written, and that sensation of going on adventures to unexplored territory is in some way the spirit that’s inside this office these days — what are we going to do now? We can risk whatever we want, we can take unprecedented challenges, and that really excites us.”q

‘Fifty Shades,’ ‘Pixels’ among Razzies nominees DERRIK J. LANG AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Fifty Shades of Grey” is all tied up with “Pixels,” ‘’Jupiter Ascending” and “Paul Blart Mall Cop 2” for the most nominations at this year’s Golden Raspberry Awards celebrating the worst in cinema.

The films led the Razzies lineup Wednesday with six nods each, including worst picture and worst actor for Jamie Dornan in the sexy thriller “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Kevin James in the comedy sequel “Paul Blart

Mall Cop 2,” Channing Tatum in the sci-fi film “Jupiter Ascending” and Adam Sandler in the video game mash-up “Pixels” and fantasy-comedy “The Cobbler.”

The other worst picture nominee is the superhero flop “Fantastic Four,” which is also up for worst remake, screen combo, director for Josh Trank and screenplay for Simon Kinberg, Jeremy Slater and Trank.

The announcement of the Razzies, which launched in 1980 as a spoof of Hollywood’s awards season,

comes ahead of Thursday’s Oscar nominations.

The “winners” for the 36th annual Razzies will be announced Feb. 27, the night before the 88th annual Academy Awards.

They will be selected by 900 voting members from 47 states in the United States and 21 foreign countries.

While far less star-studded than other award shows, past recipients such as Halle Berry and Sandra Bullock, have actually shown up in person to claim their gold spray-painted prizes.q

PEOPLE & ARTS

A31

Thursday 14 January 2016

Review: Maggie Smith in her wheel house in ‘Lady in the Van’

JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer There are cozy, innocuous pleasures to Nicholas Hytner’s adaption of Alan Bennett’s “The Lady in the Van,” but chief among them is watching two grand old talents — Maggie Smith and Bennett, himself — operating firmly in their selfcreated wheel houses.

Smith plays the ornery vagrant Mary Shepherd who one day turns up in her dilapidated van on the playwright’s North London block, where she stubbornly remains for 15 years.

After taking squalid turns parked in front of different neighbors, she’s allowed

by Bennett to settle in the driveway to his townhouse.

She’s a mysterious and cantankerous figure. Sharing her name with few, she explains that she’s “in an incognito position, possibly.”

When not impinging on Bennett for a visit to the lavatory, she chases singing school children, paints her rundown van yellow and skulks around, a cranky ball of rags and plastic bags.

There are hints of a past as

a nun, as well as an old sin that haunts her.

In short, Shepherd’s irascible peculiarities are tailor made for Smith, who’s given all manner of things at which to disgustfully wiggle her nose — the trademark power of Smith’s that’s no less potent as a foul homeless woman than as the dignified dowager of “Downton Abbey.” She can condescend, magnificently, from any height.

Smith played the role before in the 1999 play “The Lady in the Van,” which was also directed by Hytner, a regular hand of Bennett movie adaptations (“The History Boys,” ‘’The Madness of King George”).

But the play wasn’t the start of “The Lady in the Van.” It comes from Bennett’s own life. The story is mostly true: Shepherd really did turn up on Bennett’s Camden block, like a pre-packaged story for the playwright. He wrote about her first as diary entries for the London Review of Books, then as a short memoir.

Bennett turning the experience into art is a central

British actress Dame Maggie Smith in London, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2015. Smith has shed her “Downton Abbey”-era corsets and hats to play an eccentric elderly vagrant in the film “The Lady in the Van”, in which Smith plays Miss Shepherd, a real-life homeless woman who parked in the driveway of writer Alan Bennett’s London house, and stayed for 15 years.

(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

part of “The Lady in the Van,” too. He has split himself into two (both played

by Alex Jennings): “The writer is double,” he narrates. “There is the self who does the writing. And there is the self who does the liv-

ing.” The film was even shot on location, on Bennett’s actual driveway.

It’s all a very twee setup and not exactly the sort of thing that sets the world ablaze. But at least until the fanciful finale, there are

few false notes in the sturdy, pleasantly entertaining “The Lady in the Van.” It unfolds as an investigation into Shepherd’s unexpected past and a reflection on Bennett’s own motivations as a writer.q

Review: Forgettable horror ‘The Forest’ wastes star Dormer

This photo provided by Gramercy Pictures shows, Natalie Dormer, left, as Sara Price, and Taylor Kinney as Aiden in Jason Zada’s “The Forest,” a Gramercy Pictures release.

(James Dittiger/Gramercy Pictures via AP)

LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer The January movie has long had a reputation for being among the worst that Hollywood has to offer, as though everyone collectively acknowledges that they need a month

to catch up on the glut of prestige offerings and awards hopefuls that hit at the end of December.

There are always exceptions of course, but unfortunately “The Forest,” a rotten horror film about twin sisters and the spooky Japanese

woods where people go to kill themselves, is not one of them.

It’s rife with unbearable dialogue, cheap jump scares, and far too familiar imagery which makes the whole experience instantly forgettable.

The story starts when Sara (Natalie Dormer), a young, wealthy professional living with a blandly handsome husband (Eoin Macken), discovers that her expat twin sister has disappeared in a forest in Japan. This isn’t any forest, though. It’s Aokigahara, also known as the suicide forest. Everyone she talks to assures her that her sister is definitely dead by now. But Sara knows better. In “The Forest” being a twin means that you have a spidey sense that your other half is around and living. There’s a buzz, or something, and one time when Jess (also played by Dormer) took too many pills, the hum stopped.

That’s Sara knew something was wrong and knew to call the police to check on her. Fine, whatever.

So Sara hops on a plane to Japan to search for Jess in the spooky suicide forest.

Her dreams and eventually visions get creepier the

closer she gets. There some elderly Japanese women around to warn her not to go into the forest, too — it’s haunted by the spirits of the dead, she’s too sad, and it’s too dangerous.

Thankfully that night at the bar, she meets a handsome American travel writer from Australia, Aiden (Taylor Kinney) who offers to let her accompany him and a park ranger, Michi (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) into the forest. Michi does “off the books” treks through the woods to try to save people from killing themselves.

And, of course, there things go crazy, especially after Sara decides to stay overnight. This forest apparently really is popular among suicidal people — so much so that there’s a sign at the entrance urging visitors to think of their families. That fact on its own is truly horrifying and possibly worthy of a cinematic interpretation of why that is.q