March 15, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Super Suspense

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wipes his cheek as he listens to a question from an audience member at a campaign event in Tampa, Fla., Monday, March 14, 2016. The tumultuous presidential primary season barreled toward a potentially decisive day for both Republicans and Democrats that could transform Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from front-runners to likely nominees.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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2016 Race Heads Toward Potentially Decisive Primary DayÂ

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Tuesday 15 March 2016

FRONT

Palestinian-American IS fighter surrenders to Iraqi Kurds

Jamal Khweis, left, who identified himself as the father of the 26-year-old man fighting with the Islamic State group who gave himself up to Iraqi Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Monday, and who said when he gave up that he is a Palestinian from the United States, reacts with another man as they walk outside a home in Alexandria, Va., Monday, March 14, 2016. The Virginia drivers license that Mohamad Jamal Khweis was carrying when he gave up listed the address in Alexandria.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

BALINT SZLANKO Associated Press IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — A 26-yearold man fighting with the Islamic State group gave himself up to Iraqi Kurdish forces in northern Iraq on Monday and when asked, said he is a Palestinian from the United States.

His driving license, posted on social media, had Alexandria, Virginia, as his home address and though U.S. authorities have yet to confirm whether he is an American citizen, the incident marked a rare voluntary surrender in Iraq of a militant fighting with the extremist group.

The IS fighter had been “lurking near the peshmerga lines” since late Sunday night, according to Maj. Gen. Feisal Helkani of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces who play a key role — along with the Iraqi mili-

tary and Shiite militia forces — in battling the IS extremists.

Helkani said his troops first tried to shoot the man, assuming he was a would-be suicide bomber.

“Then in the morning, he walked across and gave himself up,” Helkani said, adding the man is a Palestinian-American who was fighting with IS in Iraq.

The surrender took place on the front lines near the town of Sinjar, which was retaken by Iraqi forces from IS militants late last year.

Helkani identified the man as Mohammed Jamal Amin and said he was carrying with him a large amount of cash, three cell phones and three forms of identification, including a U.S. driving license. The IS fighter is currently being held by the peshmerga troops for interrogation,

Helkani added.

The Iraqi Kurdish general did not provide further details or a hometown for the man but a photograph of an American driving license said to belong to the IS fighter was posted on social media, identifying him as Mohamad Jamal Khweis, 26, from Alexandria, Virginia. The discrepancy between the fighter’s family name on the license and the one provided by the Kurdish general could not immediately be reconciled. His first name was also spelled differently. In grainy cell phone footage, also posted on social media shortly after the surrender, the man is seen on a hillside, standing with his hands behind his back, head slightly bowed. He is surrounded by Iraqi Kurdish troops and responds to an officer’s questions. He

says he is from the United States and that he is Palestinian. In response to the interrogator’s question, he says he was in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which has been under IS control since the jihadi group blitzed across Iraq to capture much of the country’s north and west in the summer of 2014.

In the Kingstowne neighborhood of Fairfax County, listed as Khweis’ home on the driver’s license, a man who said he is Khweis’ father said he was leaving to meet with authorities to find out what they knew.

He became angry when a reporter tried to ask him about his son and suggested it was unfair to ask him to account for his grown son. “He’s 26. Almost 27.

He’s a grown man, just like you,” he told a reporter.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said he could not verify that the individual is an American or that he defected from IS. “We are aware of the reports, aware that a U.S. citizen allegedly fighting for ISIL has been captured by peshmerga forces in northern Iraq,” he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group.

“We’re in touch with Iraqi and Kurdish authorities to determine the veracity of these reports. I don’t have any further information to share at this time.”

“We’re just learning of it,” Davis added.

Though rare in Iraq, Syrian Kurdish fighters battling the Islamic State in neighboring Syria have told The Associated Press that they are seeing an increase in the number of IS members surrendering following recent territorial losses.

Last week, Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama’s envoy to the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, announced that IS had lost more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of territory in Syria and more than 600 fighters over the past month.

In Iraq, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a series of suicide attacks that have killed more than 170 people over the past few weeks. Officials also say the group has launched a number of chemical weapons attacks.

Local officials in the town of Taza in Iraq’s north say a recent attack injured more than 600 people. The attacks follow a string of advances by Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, including in the western city of Ramadi, which was declared fully “liberated” by Iraqi and U.S.-led coalition officials last month.

Yet despite the U.S.-led airstrikes, the Kurdish peshmerga troops, Shiite militia units and pro-government Sunni fighters, IS still controls large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria, and has declared an Islamic “caliphate” on the territory it holds.

The extremist group also still controls Mosul, as well as the city of Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

“As bad things start to happen, the less motivated, less disciplined, less radical elements of the force break and run,” said U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren. He added that coalition strikes targeting IS leadership and finances have triggered increased desertions.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Brothers accused in recording attack that left officer dead act of the Ford brothers, for their own motives. We have reason to suspect that the Ford brothers did not expect (Michael Ford) to survive his encounter with police,” the chief said.

The police union leader, John Teletchea, was livid that the suspects would coldly watch and record what he said their own cellphone evidence shows was an unprovoked and premeditated attack.

A black band covers the badge of Prince George’s County police chief Henry P. Stawinski as he speaks about the shooting of police officer Jacai Colson, during a news conference at at Prince George’s County Police headquarters Monday, March 14, 2016, in Hyattsville, Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press CHEVERLY, Md. (AP) — An undercover narcotics officer was mortally wounded by one of his colleagues as he responded to an attack on his police station by a gunman with a death wish, their police chief angrily explained on Monday.

And while Officer Jacai Colson lay dying, the gunman’s two brothers coldly recorded Sunday’s firefight on their cellphones, Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said, tapping a podium and trying to contain his emotions.

The gunman, Michael Ford, dictated a “last will and testament” just minutes before his two brothers drove him to the station, where he began spraying bullets at passing cars and even an ambulance to draw officers outside, police said.

Colson arrived at the station after the firing began.

He was wearing civilian clothes without body armor and leaping out of an unmarked car.

“Police officers run to disorder. They run to the sound

of shots,” the chief said.

“It’s my sad duty to have to share with you that, circumstantially, we believe the fired round that led to Detective Colson’s death was fired by one of his fellow Prince George’s County officers reacting to this.”

In the confusion, despite their restraint, one of the other officers’ bullets hit Colson, the chief said. Four other officers fired their weapons, and it is not yet known who fired the fatal bullet, said the chief, who praised their restraint as well as the “extreme heroism” of Colson, who “drew fire to himself and in doing so was mortally wounded.”

Colson was declared dead later in a hospital. Michael Ford, 22, was expected to survive, along with his brothers Malik, 21, and Elijah, 18. All three were arrested and will face dozens of charges between them, the chief said.

Stawinski said federal agents have determined that there was no larger plot behind the ambush.

“This appears to be the

Colson, he said, “reacted to protect his fellow police officers and his community.

And while doing so we had individuals videotaping, as if it’s a game, as if it’s something we’re going to put on YouTube and glorify.’

The chief said there were no outstanding warrants against the gunman, but that information conflicts with a sheriff’s report from Greenville, South Carolina, which said Michael Ford

was being sought for allegedly assaulting his wife there the day before.

The attack at 4:30 p.m. Sunday disrupted a quiet, rainy afternoon in Landover, a suburb northeast of downtown Washington, D.C. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks called it “cowardice” and a “horrific act of evil,” promising an aggressive investigation and prosecution.

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Tuesday 15 March 2016

NEWS

2016 race barrels toward potentially decisive primary day JULIE PACE KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press HANOVERTON, Ohio (AP) — The tumultuous presidential primary season barreled toward a potentially decisive day for both Republicans and Democrats that could transform Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from front-runners to likely nominees.

The biggest prizes are Florida and Ohio, states with a long history of making or breaking White House aspirations. Missouri, Illinois, and North Carolina also offer a crucial cache of delegates to the parties’ national nominating conventions that could help Trump and Clinton pull further away from their rivals.

Trump holds a comfortable lead in the Republican delegate count and could put himself well on his way to securing the nomination if he sweeps Tuesday’s contests. He would cross an important threshold by collecting more than 50 percent of the delegates awarded so far.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton sings during service at Mount Zion Fellowship Church in Highland Hills, Ohio, Sunday, March 13, 2016.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

hoped their home-state primaries —winner-take-all contests with 165 delegates at stake — would give them a boost, while a loss could end their candidacies. Polls show that Kasich seems to have a better chance at defeating Trump in Ohio than Rubio does in Florida.

That makes Ohio likely the

key state in determining whether Trump puts himself on a path to winning the nomination by the end of the primary season on July 7 or the race continues on an uncertain path, possibly resulting in a contested convention.

Among Democrats, Clinton has been itching to look

ahead to the general election but continues to face persistent competition from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. While Clinton maintains a commanding lead in the delegate count, Sanders breathed new life into his campaign with a surprising victory last week in Michigan. If Clinton comes out

of Tuesday’s contests with decisive wins in several states and further pads her delegate lead, it would be difficult for Sanders to catch her because all the Democratic nominating contests allot delegates proportionally.

Tuesday’s contests come at a remarkable moment in the presidential race for Republicans. Animosity toward Trump has risen to the point where he can rarely get through an event without being interrupted by protesters. The front-runner is also under scrutiny for appearing to encourage his supporters to physically confront those protesters, deepening divisions within the Republican Party.

In a lightly veiled jab at Trump, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said candidates “need to take responsibility for the environment at their events.”

Even with the new controversy, Trump was already eying the general election when he appeared at campaign stop Monday in Tampa, Florida, where he was joined by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

“If we win Florida and we win Ohio, we can go and attack Hillary,” Trump said.

Heading into Tuesday, the billionaire businessman is locked in a tight contest in Ohio with Kasich. Seeking a final boost in his home state, Kasich spent Monday campaigning alongside Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee and a fierce critic of Trump.

“This is the guy Ohio has to vote for, and America’s counting on you,” Romney told the crowd at a Kasich event in North Canton.

While Romney has not endorsed Kasich, he’s said he’ll do whatever is needed to help all of Trump’s rivals.

Florida Sen. Rubio also hopes to block Trump in a do-or-die primary in his home state, though polling suggests he’s slipping further behind. The senator tried to stay upbeat Monday, perhaps his final full day of campaigning in the 2016 race.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Amtrak train derails in Kansas, injuring at least 32 ROXANA HEGEMAN MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press CIMARRON, Kan. (AP) — An Amtrak train carrying more than 140 people derailed in rural Kansas early Monday, moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, authorities said. At least 32 people were hurt, two of them critically, authorities said.

A federal transportation official said the investigation would focus on the condition of the rails. Local authorities said they were checking whether a vehicle crash may have damaged the track before the accident.

The engineer of the train known as the Southwest Chief noticed the deformity in the rail and pulled the brakes, said Earl Weener of the National Transportation Safety Board. He put the train’s speed at the normal limit of 60 mph.

Weener said there was some initial indication of a “misalignment” on the rail.

But it was unclear what that was or what caused it. He said the engineer was vigilant and noticed the variation on the track, causing him to brake.

Federal officials also planned to review recorded data from the train.

The train, which had 131 passengers and 14 crew members, was making a 43-hour journey from Los Angeles to Chicago when it derailed shortly after midnight along a straight stretch of tracks in flat farmland near Cimarron, a small community about 160 miles west of Wichita. Eight cars derailed, and four of them ended up on their sides.

Thirty-two people were taken to hospitals for treatment. Four of them remained hospitalized Monday evening, including two people who were airlifted to Amarillo, Texas. The rest

A railroad worker walks past one of the Amtrak cars that derailed west of Dodge City, Kansas early Monday, March 14, 2016, injuring multiple people who were transferred to hospitals in Garden City and Dodge City, according to a release from Amtrak. The Amtrak train carrying 131 passengers derailed in rural Kansas moments after an engineer noticed a significant bend in a rail and applied the emergency brakes, an official said.

(Oliver Morrison /The Wichita Eagle via AP)

had been released.

The tracks run along Highway 50, which has no barrier that would prevent a

vehicle from leaving the roadway and driving near or onto the tracks. The road and tracks are separated

by a shallow depression.

Authorities were examining tire tracks leading to the rails.

A6 U.S.

Tuesday 15 March 2016

American Living:

NEWS

Study questions impact of NYC students’ weight report cards

Students enter MS88, a public middle school in the Brooklyn borough of New York. When New York City public schools began giving students report cards on their weight in 2005-2006, officials hoped the information would help fight an obesity epidemic in the nation’s largest school system.

But a new study finds being labeled fat does not spur weight loss, at least among students near the threshold for being flagged.

(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When New York City public schools began giving students report cards on their weight a decade ago, officials hoped the information would help fight an

obesity epidemic in the nation’s largest school system.

But a new study finds being labeled fat doesn’t spur weight loss, at least among students near the threshold for being flagged.

The study, released Monday in the Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences, adds to the debate over the effects of student body-mass index reports now issued in many schools nationwide.

“It’s not enough just to get the information out there,” said one of the authors, Syr-

acuse University education and economics professor Amy Ellen Schwartz. “You have to get it to people in a way that’s actionable.”

After weighing and measuring its 1.1 million students, the school system gave each reports including a BMI number, weight percentile and, until last year, a designation: “underweight,” ‘’healthy weight,” ‘’overweight” or “obese.” Those outside “healthy weight” were advised to consult a health professional.

After the study ended, the school district tweaked the language, substituting “needs improvement” for “overweight” or “obese.”

The reports aim “to spark conversations about eating habits and levels of physical activity needed for good health,” spokeswoman Toya Holness said in a statement.

Using four years of measurements for all New York public school students, Schwartz, Columbia University economist Douglas Almond and Columbia graduate student Ajin Lee compared boys and girls

New Jersey to vote on new casinos in November WAYNE PARRY Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Voters will be asked in November whether to approve two new casinos in the northern part of the state under a ballot question authorized Monday by the Legislature.

It will mark the first time in 40 years that the state’s voters will have a say about expanding casino gambling in New Jersey.

And it could have farreaching consequences for Atlantic City, which

has already lost more than half its casino revenue to competitors in neighboring states.

On a packed general election ballot that also will include presidential candidates, voters will be asked whether to amend the state constitution to repeal a provision that limits casinos only to Atlantic City. It would authorize two new casinos in separate counties at least 72 miles from Atlantic City.

It doesn’t specify locations,

but the two most-talkedabout proposals are in the Meadowlands sports complex in East Rutherford, where the NFL’s Jets and Giants play, and in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

“This is a very historic day for New Jersey,” said Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, an Essex County Democrat and former casino worker.

“In 1976, casinos were approved for Atlantic City. It was a monopoly that existed for many, many years;

many people benefited.

But conditions change, and when conditions change and you don’t adapt, you become a dinosaur and you become extinct.”

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, a Republican, predicted that three of his city’s eight remaining casinos will close because of new in-state competition; other officials and Wall Street analysts say as many as four could go under because of the new competition.q

just over the “overweight” or “obese” threshold for their age.

The researchers found no indication that those over the lines lost weight. In fact, the average overweight girl gained a bit more than did her cohort just below the threshold.

Although U.S. childhood obesity rates have leveled off in recent years, even declining among preschoolers, more than onethird of children and adolescents nationwide were overweight or obese as of 2012, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Proponents see the readouts as inexpensive, relatively unobtrusive tools to apply to a major public health problem.

Critics feel the approach stigmatizes children and fuels unhealthy anxieties about weight, based on a measurement that can mistake a muscular kid for a flabby one. Massachusetts abandoned its BMIreporting requirement in 2013, though parents still can request the information.

Research has found mixed results. Child obesity rates leveled off in Arkansas in the first four years of school screenings, but they were implemented alongside other anti-obesity measures. A study published last year in the Journal of Adolescent Health found the BMI reports alone had no impact on Arkansas juniors and seniors, who had already learned their measurements in earlier grades.

Studies in California, Massachusetts and Mexico also have found school BMI reports don’t have significant effects on students’ waistlines. q

U.S. NEWS A7

Tuesday 15 March 2016

US Financial Front:

Big Easy Airbnbs mushroom, sparking debate over city’s soul

Baba Ken Amen, an artist and vegan caterer, poses for a photo at his home in Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans. Amen says he makes ends meet renting his art-filled, solar-powered home on Airbnb.

(AP Photo/Cain Burdeau)

CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — For years, tourists in New Orleans mostly stayed in the French Quarter. They did their drinking there, gawked at raunchy shows on Bourbon Street and gorged themselves at exquisite restaurants.

But that’s changing, partly thanks to a mushrooming of short-term rentals through websites like Airbnb. Now tourists — some of whom come to party — are found in neighborhoods around the city, and locals are divided about whether that’s a good thing.

Some say the rentals help residents — including artists and young entrepreneurs — bolster income in a city where many still struggle 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Others say the spread of tourism to residential areas hurts the quality of life.

Anti-Airbnb signs declaring “neighbors, not tourists” are common. Meetings on the topic are passionate. Com-

plaints against the rentals have doubled. Hotel and bed-and-breakfast owners have joined neighborhood groups to press for restrictions. The state is looking to tax them like motels.

Brittanie Bryant is so fed up with bachelor parties at the townhouse-turned-hotel next door that she and her husband are considering moving.

“Guests vomit on our cars, pee on our cars, throw up in our yard, throw trash in our yard, rip out our flowers,” said Bryant, who lives on Esplanade Avenue, a charming street outside the French Quarter with gabled and balconied 19thcentury Creole townhouses and sprawling live oaks hung with Spanish moss.

Across the city, in predominantly black Pontchartrain Park, Baba Ken Amen says he makes ends meet renting his art-filled, solar-powered home on Airbnb. “This is how we can afford to pay the taxes,” said Amen, an artist and vegan cater-

er. “I’m not getting rich off this.”

For $165 a night, guests can get a “down-home experience” in what he advertises as “Pontchartrain Park Paradise,” with its jazz collection, books and African masks. Amen says his guests help the area: “They support our local grocery stores ... they’re trying things in the neighborhood.”

Airbnb and other sites like HomeAway offer up to 4,000 private properties for rent nightly around New Orleans: from former slave quarters and artists’ lofts, to Cotton Kingdom-era mansions, sunny Creole cottages and brightly painted “shotgun” houses — narrow homes with rooms connected like railroad cars.

Technically, most of these rentals are illegal. The City Council expects to adopt new rules this year to legalize the practice while regulating it and balancing neighborhood needs. In January, city planners suggested limiting the rentals

in some historic neighborhoods and revoking licenses of bad operators while requiring insurance, property managers and guest logs.

Nationally the issue isn’t new. Portland, Oregon, legalized short-term rentals in 2014. San Francisco, where Airbnb is headquartered, legalized them last year. In New York City, renting out an extra room or couch is fine, but it’s illegal to rent most apartments for fewer than 30 days. New York’s state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in 2014 that three-fourths of New York City Airbnb listings were illegal. The company said it removed many of those listings, but some New Yorkers blame Airbnb for helping to drive rents up.

In New Orleans, many also blame the rentals for exacerbating post-Katrina housing shortages, skyrocketing rents and the exodus of less wealthy residents from the city center.

“The full-time residents aren’t as plentiful as they used to be,” griped Louis Matassa, a white-haired grocer at a French Quarter grocery store that opened in 1924. “The staples: They don’t sell. The animal food, the milk, the cartons of eggs.”

The store harks back to an era when the quarter was populated by artists and musicians crammed into dilapidated apartments.

“My business has fallen off and for the first time in almost a century, the future is uncertain,” he wrote to the city. “The community is my customer base, and the community is dying.”

But supporters say Airbnb enhances one of the city’s biggest industries: tourism.

“The economics are very clear that we need to embrace tourists, and wherever they want to stay, we let them,” said Christian Galvin, who rents out several properties nightly and serves on the Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity, a pro-Airbnb group. “Shortterm renters use the post office; they use dry cleaners; they use the grocery stores; they don’t go in just for cigarettes.”

Airbnb says its rentals contributed $140 million to New Orleans’ economy in a year and disputes the claim that short-term rentals drive up housing costs.

Airbnb spokeswoman Alison Schumer also said in a statement that Airbnb supports the “city’s ongoing efforts” at regulation.

Whether or not Airbnb is the cause, locals say neighborhoods are changing. Rick Mathieu, a longtime resident of Treme, said his neighborhood is nearly empty of families. Pointing to a house, he said a woman who lives in San Francisco “bought it and made it into a money-making thing.” But he defended her right, as a property owner, “to do anything you want.”

Jamie Ruth, who sells art and runs a tattoo parlor on St. Claude Avenue, a rundown corridor that’s become a hipster hangout since Katrina, says Airbnb is good for business, but can hurt neighborhoods.

“I get a lot of walk-ins staying in Airbnbs,” she said. But she called it “obnoxious” for people to buy homes and turn them into tourist rentals. “It really messes with the neighborhood,” she said, “and also drives up the rent for people who actually live here.”

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Tuesday 15 March 2016

WORLD NEWS

Putin orders start of Russian military pullout from Syria

V. ISACHENKOV J. KEATEN Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, timing his move to coincide with the launch of Syria peace talks Monday — an end game that allows the Russian leader to cash in on his gains and reduce his risks in the conflict.

The start of the negotiations in Geneva offers Putin an opportune moment to declare an official end to the 5½-month Russian air campaign that has allowed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army to win back some key ground and strengthen his positions ahead of the talks.

With Russia’s main goals in Syria achieved, the pullback will allow Putin to pose as a peacemaker and help ease tensions with NATO member Turkey and the Gulf monarchies vexed

by Moscow’s military action.

At the same time, Putin made it clear that Russia will maintain its air base and a naval facility in Syria and

Russian President Vladimir Putin heads a meeting of the State Council on traffic safety issues in Yaroslavl, Russia, Monday, March 14, 2016.

(Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

keep some troops there.

Syria’s state news agency also quoted Assad as saying that the Russian military will draw down its air force contingent but won’t leave the country altogether.

The Syrian presidency said Assad and Putin spoke on the phone Monday and jointly agreed that Russia would scale back its forces

in Syria. It rejected speculation that the decision reflected a rift between the allies and said the decision reflected the “successes” the two armies have achieved in fighting terrorism in Syria and restoring peace to key areas of the country.

The Syrian army said it would continue its opera-

tions against the Islamic State group, the Nusra Front and other terrorist organizations “with the same tempo.”

Announcing his decision in a televised meeting with Russia’s foreign and defense ministries, Putin said the Russian air campaign has allowed Assad’s military to “radically” turn the tide

was in accordance “with administrative and legal measures after the training ended.”

But the Serbian public prosecutors’ office said Monday in a statement emailed to The Associated Press it was investigating findings by border police that the packages “are suspected to contain explosive materials.” It said the investigation also focused on where the missiles came from and what was their final destination.

“We hope that our expertise will be finished this week,” prosecution spokesman Ivan Markovic said,

adding that the final report could take time “because some of the information is located in foreign countries.”

Serbia’s N1 television has said the packages, with two guided armor-piercing missiles, were discovered Saturday by a sniffer dog after an Air Serbia flight landed at Belgrade airport from the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

The U.S. port of entry for the training version of the AGM-114 Hellfire missiles was supposed to be Portland, Maine, but the final destination was a company affiliated with the

manufacturer, U.S. federal officials said.

The American-made projectiles can be fired from air, sea or ground platforms.

They are also launched from drones in the U.S. fight against terrorism. The practice version of Hellfire is fitted with an inert warhead without explosives.

A U.S. official familiar with the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the case, said the missiles are “inert training dummies.”

“There was no explosive residue, no warhead and no engine,” he said.q

Lebanon: Missiles on Serbian flight were for training D. STOJANOVIC B. MROUE Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Two U.S.-bound missiles found on a passenger flight from Lebanon to Serbia were used for training and did not contain any explosives, the Lebanese army said Monday. Serbian investigators remain unconvinced, saying police found traces of suspected explosive materials on the cargo.

The Lebanese army said the missiles were being sent from Beirut to the American company that produced them. It said the return

of war and helped create conditions for peace talks.

“With the tasks set before the Defense Ministry and the military largely fulfilled, I’m ordering the Defense Minister to start the pullout of the main part of our group of forces from Syria, beginning tomorrow,” Putin said.

He also informed President Barack Obama of his move in a phone call, emphasizing the importance of U.S.Russian coordination “for preserving the cease-fire, ensuring humanitarian aid deliveries to the blockaded settlements and conducting an efficient struggle against terrorist groups,” according to the Kremlin, which added that the conversation was “business-like and frank.”

Putin didn’t specify how many planes and troops would be withdrawn. The number of Russian soldiers in Syria has not been revealed. U.S. estimates of the number of Russian military personnel in Syria vary from 3,000 to 6,000.

Russia has deployed more than 50 jets and helicopters to its Hemeimeem air base, in Syria’s coastal province of Latakia, and they have operated at a frenetic pace, each flying several combat sorties on an average day.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that thanks to the Russian air support the Syrian military has extended its control to 400 towns and villages over an area of 10,000 square kilometers.

State TV quoted Assad as saying that the collaboration between Russian and Syrian forces has secured “victories against terrorism and returned security to the country.”q

WORLD NEWS 9

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Migrants defy rain, rivers and Europe’s border closures C. KANTOURIS K. TESTORIDES Associated Press HAMILO, Greece (AP) — Defying Europe’s border closures, more than 2,000 migrants and refugees stranded in Greece braved torrential rain and waded across a fast-flowing river to walk into neighboring Macedonia.

In dramatic scenes, refugees held children, baby strollers and their belongings over their heads as they crossed thigh-deep in the water, while elderly migrants clutched ropes placed by volunteers to help them across.

But their time in Macedonia and planned journey onward toward Western Europe might be short-lived.

Macedonian soldiers and police detained hundreds of people after they had just crossed from Greece and put them into trucks, authorities said. Their fate remained uncertain, and police refused to give further details.

Monday’s events were the biggest challenge to border closures since the route from Greece to central Europe was sealed off 10 days ago, leaving more than 40,000 people stranded in Greece — and it came days before European Union leaders try to hammer out a deal with Turkey to try and hold more refugees there.

The migrants walked out of the overcrowded camp of Idomeni on the GreekMacedonian border Monday, traveling west on foot.

Syrian Ibrahim al-Almad said he had been stuck in Greece for a month.

“My brother is in Stuttgart, in Germany, and I want to join him,” he said, pointing toward other refugees.

“Look at what they are

making us do — look at all these women and children.”

Al-Almad also walked from Idomeni, where 14,000 people remain camped out.

In chaotic scenes at the nearby border village of Hamilo, Greek and international volunteers helped migrants across the river, using ropes to make sure they weren’t swept away by the rapids.

Macedonia’s border was closed following transit restrictions imposed by EUmember Austria.

Underscoring the risks, police in Macedonia said the bodies of one man and two women, all Afghans, were found Monday in the Suva Reka river near the border with Greece. Twenty migrants crossed safely and another three were hospitalized, authorities said.

“This is the situation in which people have become desperate and frustrated,” said Ljubinka Brasnarska, a spokeswoman in Macedonia for U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. “The border restrictions imposed by the countries have forced people to take desperate actions.”

Parts of Macedonia’s border fence is made up solely of coils of razor wire, while breaks in the barrier also occur at rivers and mountain slopes on the border, mainly to the west of Idomeni.

A cap on migrants imposed

by Austria last month set off a domino effect of border closures across the Balkans, leaving thousands stranded in Greece.

Despite the closures, more 8,500 refugees and migrants traveled to the Greek islands from Turkey last week, according to the UNHCR.q

A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river as migrants attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, Monday, March 14, 2016. Hundreds of migrants and refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Monday, determined to use a dangerous crossing to head north.

(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A10 WORLD

Tuesday 15 March 2016

NEWS Yemeni rebels signal openness to have peace talks with Saudis

Police forensic officials work at the Sunday’s explosion site in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, March 14, 2016. A senior government official told The Associated Press that authorities believe the attack was carried out by two bombers, one of them a woman, and was the work of Kurdish militants. It was the second deadly attack blamed on Kurdish militants in the capital in the past month.

(AP Photo)

Turkey launches airstrikes after bombing SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey lashed out Monday at Kurdish targets, bombing military positions in northern Iraq and rounding up dozens of militants at home after a suicide car bombing in the heart of the capital drew the country even deeper into the complex Syrian conflict.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said there were “strong indications” that Sunday’s attack was carried out by the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Davutoglu added that authorities had detained 11 people directly connected to the suicide bombing near a line of bus stops that killed 37 people. DNA tests were underway to identify the bomber and another body believed to be that of a person who assisted,

he said, while a senior government official has said the bomber was a woman.

“There are very serious, almost-certain indications that point to the separatist terror organization,” Davutoglu said, referring to the PKK. The attack further complicated Turkey’s place in the region as it battles a host of enemies across its borders including the Syrian government, Kurdish rebels in both Iraq and Syria, and the Islamic State group, even after being forced to absorb 2.7 million refugees from the conflict.

Turkey is also battling the PKK, a Kurdish group fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for three decades. A fragile, 2½year peace process broke down in July. Turkey blames the PKK, saying it was inspired by the success of the Kurdish militia forces in Syria against IS in the city of Kobani and elsewhere. The PKK blames Turkey for fail-

ing to deliver on promises.

More than 200 people have died in five suicide bombings in Turkey since July that were blamed either on the Kurdish rebels or IS. Sunday’s attack was the second suicide bombing in the capital: a Feb. 17 attack for which a PKK offshoot claimed responsibility killed 29 people.

“All five attacks are linked to the fallout of the Syrian civil war,” said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute.

“Ankara’s ill-executed Syria policy ... has exposed Turkey to great risks.”

Bill Park, a lecturer on Turkish foreign policy and security at King’s College London, said Ankara’s aggression toward the Kurds in Syria has angered Kurds inside Turkey and inspired attacks.

“Bombings in Turkey now look like a campaign and we have to assume that there will be more,” he said.

AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebels on Monday confirmed carrying out a prisoner exchange with Saudi Arabia and said they were open to negotiating a peace deal with the Saudi-led coalition that has been fighting them for a year.

“We will not turn our backs on any understandings or initiatives that could lead to the halt of aggression and lifting the suffering from the Yemeni people,” Saleh al-Sammad, head of the Houthis’ political wing, said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page.

He said the exchange of a captive Saudi army officer for seven fighters earlier this month came as part of an “initial and preliminary” stage of negotiations, which would be followed by “gradual steps” if Riyadh is willing to pursue a deal that would halt its operations.

Saudi Arabia announced the swap last week without mentioning the Houthis’ involvement.

The war pits the Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, against an internationally-recognized government largely confined to the southern city of Aden. The government is backed by a loose array of militias as well as the coalition of mainly Gulf Arab countries.

The fighting has killed more than 6,000 people and pushed the Arab world’s poorest country to the brink of famine. The battle lines have hardly shifted in recent months.

A powerful al-Qaida affiliate has meanwhile exploited the chaos to seize a large swath of territory across the country’s south and east, while an upstart Islamic State branch has carried out a series of attacks targeting government forces and the Houthis.

Both groups maintain strongholds in Aden, the first city to be fully taken back from the Houthis and the de facto capital of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s government. The extremists’ growing presence in the city has embarrassed the government and raised questions about its ability to govern the country. In recent days the coalition has begun carrying out airstrikes against the two groups, causing thousands of residents to flee.

The conflict is widely seen as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, which supports the Houthis. The Houthis have always denied receiving weapons from Iran, and have recently expressed anger with Tehran, accusing it of exploiting the conflict for its own ends.

Earlier Monday, an Emirati fighter jet suffered a “technical malfunction” and crashed near Aden, killing the plane’s two pilots, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said.

WORLD NEWS A11

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Al-Qaida focuses attention on soft targets in West Africa PAUL SCHEMM Associated Press ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The attack on an Ivory Coast beach resort by an al-Qaida affiliate is the latest sign it is shifting its focus to soft targets associated with foreigners in an effort to destabilize economies and gain the group credibility among jihadis in its rivalry with the so-called Islamic State group.

The three gunmen who burst into the Grand-Bassam beach resort and killed 18 people were part of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, a group that grew out of the Algerian civil war in the 1990s and used to restrict itself to operations deep in the desert, hundreds of miles away.

In recent months, however, it has carried out devastating attacks against luxury hotels frequented by foreigners: first in Mali in November, then in Burkina Faso in January, and now even farther south in an Ivorian resort popular with tourists and locals alike.

“They are essentially shifting their strategy from operating in northern Mali and southern Algeria and parts of Libya to much more commercially relevant areas,” said Robert Besseling, director of the Exx Africa risk advisory group.

“Therefore it undermines the whole region’s economy and the business confidence surrounding these economies.”

Al-Qaida’s North Africa branch was once known for striking military posts in Algeria and neighboring countries, but such attacks were often difficult and made little impact internationally.

The group has now taken its cue from other, more brutal

organizations around the world and turned to civilian targets linked to its enemies — principally the French.

“They’ve realized how easy it is and how much fear you can spread by doing this,” said Sean Smith, the Africa analyst at Verisk-Maplecroft Risk Consultancy. “You can spread much more fear by attacking capital cities and tourist complexes than the Malian army.”

The shift comes as AQIM is under unprecedented pressure from the Frenchled Operation Barkhane, a wide ranging campaign in the Sahara that has killed a number of jihadi commanders.

According to Andrew Lebovich, an expert on the group, one of its commanders said in a recent interview that all political and security partners of France and the West were now considered valid targets. \The violence at the hotels also comes as one of the al-Qaida’s most feared commanders, Moktar Belmoktar, the architect of a 2013 attack on an Algerian gas plant, has rejoined the group with his followers and apparently expanded its capabilities dramatically.

“It is a way of showing that they can and will strike far away from the areas that had previously been regarded as security threats, while still maintaining operations in northern Mali and central Mali in particular,” Lebovich said.

The merger of al-Qaida splinters in this region also comes as the group is under increasing pressure from the dramatic success of the Islamic State, which has carried out high-profile attacks in Libya and Tunisia and is in danger of peeling away al-Qaida followers.

Bullet holes are seen on a wall, center, outside of the Nouvelle Paillote hotel, one of the three hotels involved in an attack at Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, Monday, March 14, 2016. Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort area.

(AP Photo/Christin Roby)

A12 WORLD

Tuesday 15 March 2016

NEWS

Brazil government tries to regroup after huge protests JENNY BARCHFIELD Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A day after huge protest rallies urged the ouster of President Dilma Rousseff, her chief of staff on Monday acknowledged popular discontent with Brazil’s political class but said the flagging economy was the main reason behind the turnout.

Jaques Wagner’s comments came at a news conference after Rousseff met with her closest advisers early Monday as the government sought to explain what leading newspapers called the biggest political demonstration in Brazilian history.

An estimated 3 million people took part in more than 100 protests nationwide, meaning Sunday’s antiRousseff demonstrations were larger than mass protests in 1984 demanding direct presidential elections amid the country’s military dictatorship, according to the respected newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.

Analysts agreed that the dissatisfaction demonstrated by the protests complicates Rousseff’s already difficult position.

She’s fighting impeachment proceedings in Congress amid the worst recession in decades and a sprawling corruption investigation closing in on key figures in her Workers’ Party.

Demonstrators demand the impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff during a rally in Brasilia, Brazil. Rousseff’s chief of staff on Monday acknowledged popular discontent with Brazil’s political class but said the flagging economy was the main reason behind the turnout.

(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

“The fact is that Sunday can be seen as a watershed moment, which frightens the government (and) pressures Congress,” Folha said in an editorial Monday. “Surprised by the strong turnout on Sunday, the government has been put on alert that it needs to act quickly” to avoid Rousseff’s impeachment.

Lower house Speaker Eduardo Cunha, a Rousseff foe, is expected to form a commission to begin impeachment proceedings sometime this week.

Wagner said the government was interpreting the Sunday’s high turnout as a sign that “the people are sick and tired of the political class.”

But while “everything contributed” to pushing people onto the streets, “the main thing is people’s lives, meaning the economy,” he said.

“If everything is great, citizens aren’t even looking,” he was quoted as saying

by Globo television network’s G1 Internet portal.

Although Rousseff has seen

her approval ratings dip into the single digits, she has ruled out resigning, saying last week that it was objectionable to demand the resignation of an elected president without concrete evidence the leader had violated the constitution.

The government hopes that pro-government demonstrations scheduled for Friday will help shore up Rousseff’s position.

But, in a statement Monday, the U.S.-based Eurasia Group political and economic risk consulting firm

Venezuela recovers remains of 4 missing miners FABIOLA SANCHEZ Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Officials have recovered the remains of four people belonging to a group of over 20 missing miners believed to have been killed by a gang seeking control over a wildcat gold claim in southeastern Venezuela.

Police investigating the massacre made the grisly discovery on Monday in an area of jungle in Bolivar state near where the miners went missing a week ago, Attorney General Luisa Ortega said Monday in an interview with Globovision.

A banner with photos of several missing miners hangs on a tree near Tumeremo, Venezuela. Officials have recovered the remains of four people belonging to a group of over 20 missing miners believed to have been killed by a gang seeking control over a wildcat gold claim in southeastern Venezuela.

(Fabiola Ferrero/El Estimulo via AP)

The massacre last week rocked Venezuelans ac-

customed to morbid tales of violence in a country

with one of the world’s highest murder rates and widespread impunity. Fearing unrest after the state’s governor denied the massacre took place and outraged relatives blocked a highway to Brazil in protest, President Nicolas Maduro’s government has dispatched more than 1,000 soldiers and cabinet officials to search for the missing miners.

The circumstances behind the massacre remain unclear, however. Ortega said she believes 21 people were killed by a criminal gang led by an Ecuadorean.

estimated there is 65 percent probability that Rousseff will not serve out her term, which ends in 2018.

“We now think an impeachment vote will occur

by May, and Rousseff will not survive it,” the statement said.

Francisco Fonseca, a political science professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation university in Sao Paulo, believes Rousseff still has “a few cards.”

“There is a situation of ungovernability, and that gives more room to a narrative that her removal is inevitable. But it isn’t that simple. There will be protests in her defense on Friday and she still needs a little more than 170 votes out of 513 deputies to survive,” he told The Associated Press. Eurasia Group’s statement said Sunday’s turnout was fanned by the “ballooning” corruption probe at the state-run energy company Petrobras and the “highly polarized environment” after Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was taken to a Sao Paulo police station for questioning in the Petrobras case.

Among other issues, federal investigators say they are trying to determine if Silva sold his influence in the current administration in exchange for speeches and donations to his nonprofit foundation, Instituto Lula. The more than 100page transcript of Silva’s questioning was released Monday. In it, Silva denies having asked for money for his foundation from any of the construction companies ensnared in the Petrobras scandal but acknowledged that his aides may have made such requests.

Silva also explicitly states his intention of running for office again in 2018.

Three days before Sunday’s protests, Sao Paulo state prosecutors requested Silva’s arrest in a separate case. They accuse the former president of money laundering for allegedly being the secret owner of a beachfront flat in the city of Guaruja.

LOCAL A13

Tuesday 15 March 2016

ARUBA DOET… Turtugaruba is “On”

ORANJESTAD - Aruba enjoyed a big volunteer event last Friday and Saturday : Aruba Doet. Turtugaruba went to Boca Grandi and Bachelor’s Beach at the South East Coast of our island with 50 volunteers to clean the beach, a nesting habitat for the Leatherback Sea Turtle. The participants - a team of colleagues, a group of friends, some individuals and the first Grade of Schakel College - removed a lot of marine debris together with volunteers of Turtugaruba.

wood and trunks on the beach. This can form an obstruction for the sea turtles to find a good nesting site. On Bachelor’s Beach the wooden material was taken away from the sea side and relocated on the inside of the beach, also to prevent quad racers and 4WD’s from driving on this nesting beach. Please friends, do not drive on the Plastic bottles, cups, bags, straws, foam, tooth brush, flip flops….but also taps and very small parts of plastic. It takes a lot of time and patience to fill a trash bag with such small pieces.

And last but not least, all bags have to be removed from the beach to the big container. At the end of the morning the beach is beautiful and clean. A big turtle showed up to lay here eggs.

Besides of the plastic trash there was a lot of drift-

white sand , driving compacts the sand and will damage the nests.

Thanks a lot to all participants and sponsors (Oranje Fonds, Cede Aruba, Panaderia del Pueblo, Romar Trading, Meteoro, Serlimar, Artmando Multimedia) who make this event a big success. More info and pictures : www.facebook. com/Turtugaruba.q

A14 LOCAL

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa Working Together with Aruba Doet

MANCHEBO BEACH - On Friday March 11 2016, Manchebo Beach Resort & Spa and Aruba Doet teamed up together for the fourth time in a row. The team organized a special day for the elderly folks of Centro di Cuido SABA and the

ELIEZER Foundation, namely clients of Alianza Nobo stichting ELIEZER. The event started at 10:00 am with coffee and cake followed by a nice lunch together with musical entertainment from Robert Thiel. This fun get-together took place at the intimate boutique resort’s beach pavilion overlooking the

beautiful turquoise colored ocean. Main goal was to socialize and enjoy themselves.

The success of ARUBA DOET is made possible by the commitment and assistance of a large amount of participants; individual volunteers and families, companies, schools and foundations/institutions.

ARUBA DOET has also become successful thanks to the commitment and organizational skills of all coordinators.

Institutions benefit greatly from the manpower and also the donations that most of them have received.

ARUBA DOET is organized

by CEDE ARUBA in partnership with Oranje Fonds.

CEDE Aruba is a development and co-financing organization that supports programs and projects in the field of welfare in Aruba. The Oranje Fonds is the biggest national fund in the social area and showcases the best of the Kingdom has to offer. Every year the foundations support organizations and initiative that

strengthen social cohesion in the Netherlands and Caribbean. The Prince of Orange and Princess Máxima are the protectors of the foundation.

Manchebo’s Voluntary contributions are the heart and soul of many charitable events held at the Resort and shows how much FUN IT CAN BE!

LOCAL A15

Tuesday 15 March 2016

CHTA Caribbean Performance & Outlook Study Shows Tourism Growth Driving Increases In Employment and Investments; 2016 Promising

Deadline for CHTA Education Foundation Scholarships is on March 31, 2016: Apply Now! ORANJESTAD - The deadline is fast approaching to apply for the CHTA Education Foundation (CHTAEF) scholarships. Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2016. CHTAEF provides academic, professional development, tourism and hospitality teachers, work experience placements and internship

awards to Caribbean nationals who demonstrate a strong commitment to the industry. CHTAEF scholarships range, on average, from $500 - $5,000 and are exclusively used towards tuition costs. For the guidelines and application, visit: http://caribbeanhotelandtourism.com/CHTAEFapplication.php.

ORANJESTAD - CHTA has released the results of the first annual Industry Performance and Outlook survey, indicating a cautious, but positive assessment as reported by the region’s hospitality and tourism indus-

try stakeholders. Growth in occupancies and revenue stimulated job growth and increased capital expenditures by hoteliers throughout the region. The majority of respondents indicate a strong to moderate per-

formance throughout 2015 with optimistic forecasts for 2016 despite prevalent concerns over profitability due to increased costs outpacing average daily rate (ADR) growth in a globally competitive industry.

A16 LOCAL

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Wednesday, March 16, 6:30 - 8:30pm:

2nd Annual Zumbathon Fundraiser for Imeldahof Children’s Home!

NOORD - Come dance for the children! The 2nd Annual Zumbathon Fundraising Event for Imeldahof Children’s Home will be held on Wednesday, March 16th, 2016, from 6:30 to 8:30pm at Noord 2, next to the St. Anna Church. The minimum donation to partici-

pate in the event is $5.

Come and enjoy an exciting fiesta with Zumba Instructors, DJ’s and Raffles …for only $5 per person! Doors are open at 6pm, so come and grab your spot on the dance floor.

Dance with Zumba Instructors: Diony Lopez, Dwayne

Wever, Entony Dirks, Gladys Duarte Fragoso, Haysem Winteraal, Marilu Erasmus, Michael Goldstein From New York, and Rose-Ann Ruiz.

DJ’s rocking it just for you, provided by 3XL ProductionzDj’s For more information call us at: 587-6085.q

SPORTS A17

Tuesday 15 March 2016

PUBLIC EYE

The finish line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is seen Monday, March 14, 2016, in Nome, Alaska.

Associated Press

No extra security planned as Iditarod nears Nome finish MARK THIESSEN Associated Press NOME, Alaska (AP) — No extra security is planned at the finish line of the world’s most famous sled dog race, just days after a man on a snowmobile purposely drove at a high speed into two mushers’ teams, killing one dog and injuring several others.

Nome officials on Monday said they plan normal security measures as this Bering Sea coastal community celebrates the end of the nearly 1,000 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska, an event Mayor Richard Beneville has compared to “Mardi Gras with dogs.”

“I’m alarmed and upset and saddened, but I don’t think this is a cause for a movement,” Beneville said Monday inside the Polar Cafe, which offers diners views of the frozen Bering Sea. Beneville, wearing an “Iditarod” stocking cap, called the attacks on mushers Aliy Zirkle and Jeff King an aberration.

Continued on page 22

Spieth’s fish bowl feels even smaller Jordan Spieth hits back onto the fairway on the 11th hole during the first round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament Thursday, March 10, 2016, in Palm Harbor, Fla. Associated Press

A18 SPORTS

Tuesday 15 March 2016

NBA Capsules Cavs hit 18 3s to rout Clips 114-90 The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored 27 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers buried the Los Angeles Clippers with 3-pointers in a 114-90 victory Sunday, tying their season high with 18 from long range.

J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving added 17 points each and Channing Frye had 15 on a season-high-tying five 3-pointers for the Eastern Conference leaders.

The Cavaliers won their third straight and improved to 7-2 against the Clippers at Staples Center since the 2006-07 season. Cleveland is 20-6 against the West, including 10-4 on the road.

J.J. Redick scored 19 points, and Chris Paul added 17

points and 10 assists for the Clippers. They outscored the Cavs 17-7 to start the game but James tied it on a 3-pointer and Tristan Thompson’s hook gave the Cavs the lead for good by the end of the quarter.

KNICKS 90, LAKERS 87 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jose Calderon hit a 3-pointer with two-tenths of a second left to lift New York past Los Angeles.

Carmelo Anthony scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter for New York.

He shot 10 for 20 and had 12 rebounds.

Kobe Bryant had 14 points in his 29th and final headto-head matchup in the regular season with Anthony. The Lakers had a com-

NFL exec admits to ctefootball head trauma link WASHINGTON (AP) -- NFL executive Jeff Miller acknowledged a link between football-related head trauma and the brain disease CTE, the first admission by a league official that there is such a relationship.

Appearing before a congressional committee Monday, Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety, was asked about a connection between hits in football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. His answer was “certainly yes.”

The NFL has not previously linked playing football to CTE directly.

Miller appeared at a roundtable discussion of concussions before the House Committee on Energy & Commerce and cited the work of Boston University neuropathologist Dr. Ann McKee. She has found CTE in the brains of 90 former pro football players.

CTE can only be detected after death. Among the players found to have CTE in their brains was Hall of Famer Junior Seau.

ESPN first reported the story.

Milwaukee Bucks’ Miles Plumlee, top, hits a reverse dunk in front of Brooklyn Nets’ Thaddeus Young, left, during the second half of the NBA basketball game at the Barclays Center, Sunday, March 13, 2016 in New York. The Bucks defeated the Nets 109-100.

Associated Press

bined 16-13 record in those games against the Knicks and Denver Nuggets.

BUCKS 109, NETS 100 NEW YORK (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, nearly getting his fourth triple-double in the last 11 games by halftime as Milwaukee beat Brooklyn. Antetokounmpo already had 12 points, nine assists and eight rebounds by the half on his way to becoming the first Bucks player with four triple-doubles in a season. All of them have come since Feb. 22.

Jabari Parker added 23 points, and Khris Middleton had 19 points to help the Bucks win their third straight game. Brook Lopez scored 20 points for the Nets.

HAWKS 104, PACERS 75

ATLANTA (AP) — Al Horford and Paul Millsap each scored 18 points and Kyle Korver added 14 as Atlanta used a blistering third quarter to rout Indiana.

The Hawks went on a 20-0 run and finished the third period with seven 3s, the last coming by reserve forward Kris Humphries to make it a 34-point lead. Atlanta has won five of its last six. Indiana rookie Myles Turner, who scored a teamhigh 19 points, was the only starter for either team to play in the fourth. AllStar starting forward Paul George finished with just seven points for the Pacers, almost 19 below his teamleading average, on 3-for15 shooting.

JAZZ 108, KINGS 99 SACRAMENTO, California

(AP) — Derrick Favors had 28 points and 14 rebounds and Gordon Hayward scored 27 points in Utah’s victory over Sacramento.

The Jazz won their second straight game by setting the tone early, coming out with energy against the lethargic Kings and leading by 18 points after one quarter. The lead remained in double figures for much of the game before the Kings made it somewhat close in the fourth.

DeMarcus Cousins had 31 points and 10 rebounds for Sacramento in his return from being suspended for one game by the team.

Cousins was disciplined following a tirade directed at coach George Karl Thursday night during and after a loss to Cleveland.

SPORTS A19

Tuesday 15 March 2016

MLS Roundup

Quakes hand defending MLS Cup champion Portland 1st loss The Associated Press SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Chris Wondolowski and Quincy Amarikwa each scored goals as the San Jose Earthquakes beat the Portland Timbers 2-1 on Sunday, handing the defending MLS Cup champions their first loss since October last year and snapping a 10-game unbeaten streak.

Wondolowski scored the 111th goal of his career, leaving him just three behind Ante Razov for fourth on the all-time MLS scoring list, when he redirected Anibal Godoy’s cross into the net after 30 minutes.

Amarikwa doubled the lead with a spectacular stroke in first-half stoppage time.

Starting from inside his own

half, Amarikwa outsprinted three Portland defenders down the right side of the field before launching an angled chip kick from 35 yards out that floated over the outstretched arms of Portland’s Ghanaian goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey and into the net.

“Once I made contact with it, I knew I hit it how I wanted to it,” Amarikwa was quoted as saying on MLS. com. “So I thought it was in unless the keeper could move his feet well enough to get a touch to it.”

Jack McInerney scored a consolation goal for the Timbers in the 89th winner as San Jose held on to make it two straight wins this season.

Toronto FC 2, NYCFC 2 Spanish World Cup winner

San Jose Earthquakes forward Quincy Amarikwa (25) is mobbed by teammates after scoring against the Portland Timbers during the first half of an MLS soccer match Sunday, March 13, 2016, in San Jose, Calif.

Associated Press

David Villa scored twice in four minutes in New York City’s 2-2 draw with Toronto at Yankee Stadium.

The 34-year-old converted from the penalty spot in the 24th minute after Tommy

McNamara was brought down in the box then added a second shortly after following a goalmouth scramble.

Toronto pulled one back in first-half stoppage time

when Damien Perquis deflected a free kick from Italian international Sebastian Giovinco, who scored the equalizer with a fine solo effort midway through the second half.q

20 SPORTS

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Fame is making Spieth’s fish bowl seem even smaller

BY DOUG FERGUSON AP GOLF WRITER PALM HARBOR, Fla. (AP) -This was always going to be a challenging year for Jordan Spieth, and not just on the golf course.

Spieth knew it would be tough to repeat the results of a year in which he won the Masters and U.S. Open, chased a Grand Slam and won the FedEx Cup to cash in on the most lucrative season ($22 million) in golf. And he knew there would be scrutiny over every round, even before the majors began.

That’s not unusual. Rory McIlroy faced it two years ago. Tiger Woods dealt with it his entire career.

What makes Spieth’s fish bowl feel even smaller is the attention from the public.

His appeal was undeniable

Jordan Spieth waits to hit his tee shot on the first hole during the third round of the Valspar Championship golf tournament Saturday, March 12, 2016, in Palm Harbor, Fla. Associated Press

at the Valspar Championship. Whether it was Friday afternoon or Saturday

NFL referees support NHL officials on Wideman suspension The Associated Press The NFL Referees Association says it agrees with its NHL counterpart in objecting to the reduction of Dennis Wideman’s suspension for knocking down a linesman.

NFLRA executive director Jim Quirk said Monday that any time an athlete makes unnecessary physical contact with an official, “there needs to be swift and certain punishment.” An independent arbitrator reduced Wideman’s suspension from 20 games to 10 after ruling that the Calgary Flames defenseman did not intend to injure linesman Don Henderson in Jan. 27 game.

Quirk says arbitrator James Oldham’s decision to reduce the suspension “sends a horrible message about sportsmanship and the behavior of athletes” and calls it a sad day when an athlete is given leniency for violating the code of conduct.q

Belgian quits cyclo-cross in motorized bike scandal BRUSSELS (AP) — The Belgian cyclist at the heart of the sport’s first mechanical doping scandal says she will not defend herself at a disciplinary hearing this week and is quitting the sport.

Femke Van Den Driessche, 19, was accused of using a concealed motor in her bike during the Under-23 cyclocross world championships in January in Belgium.

She says in a statement released Monday that the costs of defending herself before the sport’s governing body, the UCI, would be too expensive.

The rider says she has “decided to quit cyclo-cross” and that “acquittal would be impossible.”

The motorized bike was found in her competition area at the championships. She claimed the bike belonged to a friend.q

morning, fans had a tough time getting a clear view of Spieth because the crowd was so big. That has never happened at Innisbrook in its 16 years on the PGA Tour schedule.

Under Armour, his clothing sponsor, sold various shirts in the clubhouse, some with a silhouette of Spieth, others with only his last name in block letters. They were easy to see in the gallery because there were a lot of them.

As the defending champion, his image was on a large sign that hung from the back of the grandstands on the opening tee. Late in the afternoon on Saturday, a woman climbed to the top of the bleachers and reached down over the sign so that her arms cradled the image of Spieth’s face as a friend took her picture.

Most interesting was a 75yard walk after the pro-am through a corridor of fans packed two-deep behind the ropes, screaming and reaching for autographs.

Spieth had his caddie, Michael Greller, walk in front of him and collect items for him to sign, avoiding the obvious collectors in it for the money. It was strange to hear the fans yelling out, “Michael, Michael, over here,” instead of Spieth’s

name. But it was a smart move.

It’s been like that all year, from Kapalua to Pebble Beach, from Los Angeles to Florida.

That’s what happens to the No. 1 player in the world, especially a player so young (22). And it doesn’t hurt to be an American.

Is he filling the void of Woods? Not even close.

Spieth, McIlroy and Rickie Fowler combined couldn’t set off the frenzy that followed Woods through the inaugural phase of Tigermania in 1997 and still does even as injuries have kept him from playing.

Whether the public attention has a bearing on Spieth’s golf, only he would know. But it’s on his mind.

That much was clear after he played an 18-hole practice round at Pebble Beach last month with a group of fans following him for four hours. Spieth was asked that day if he felt he had a target on his back because of his two majors and No. 1 ranking. He spoke more about the fans than the players trying to beat him.

“Things have changed,” he said. “I still find myself struggling with what’s the right thing to do. Oftentimes I come off the course and I hit it poorly that day. And it’s a frustrating feeling try-

ing to look for answers, knowing you need to go work on it, and then you’ve got all the people asking for something. And if you don’t do it, they give you a bad rap. On the other side, how great is it to have fans? How great is it to be able to influence people in a positive way? Why wouldn’t you want to flip that switch?

“I’m trying to do a better job this year of putting a smile on my face and showing who I think I really am,” he said. “I have a light sense of humor. A lot of times on the golf course, I’m intense. I’m trying to flip the switch more while remaining as competitive as possible.”

The moment Spieth regretted from Innisbrook was having enough spare time to look at social media.

Two-time Bay Hill winner Matt Every said so aptly last year, “There’s nothing social about social media.” Spieth was reminded of that when someone posted to his Instagram account that his wedge game was garbage. Far more innocent was a tweet from the PGA Tour account that quoted one comment from Spieth that was out of context, though it was no less irritating.

His mistake was responding to both of them.

“I should never respond to any of that.

Just let it go and by the time the next tournament rolls around, no one even remembers it anyway,” Spieth said. “There’s going to be plenty of people that don’t like the way I play the game or handle things.

I’ve got to be confident in what I’m doing and know that many more do appreciate it.”

Spieth isn’t as consumed with social media as other players from his generation. Still, he spoke at the start of the year about trying to “quiet the noise” of the comments posted to his account. Those will always be there no matter how he plays.q

SPORTS A21

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Longtime rivals race fair in Harvick’s thrilling win

BY MIKE CRANSTON ASSOCIATED PRESS AVONDALE, Ariz.

(AP) -- When Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards started bumping side-by-side on the final lap Sunday, many NASCAR fans had to recall the image of Edwards grabbing Harvick’s throat in a 2008 garage altercation.

Or maybe they thought about the time two years later when Harvick called Edwards “fake” and Edwards responded by saying he had “no respect” for Harvick.

Six years later, there was no wild wreck and ensuing brawl between the longtime rivals. Just a clean, thrilling finish that left Harvick on top for a record eighth time at Phoenix International Raceway.

“I don’t think there’s any real love lost between the two of us,” Harvick said after Sunday’s 0.01-second Sprint Cup victory over Edwards. “I knew I was going to get hit, and I’m going to hit him in the same type of manner.”

Harvick, working on old tires on the overtime restart after Kasey Kahne hit the wall, turned into the charg-

ing Edwards first to try to slow his momentum.

Edwards, who went from fourth to second on the restart with two fresh tires, returned the favor and got into Harvick’s door. But as they came to the checkered flag at the mile oval, Harvick had his fifth win in six Phoenix races.

“I don’t want to spin him out, but you definitely want to rough him up because that’s not the guy that I want to lose to,” Harvick said. “And I know he doesn’t want to lose to me.”

It was NASCAR’s second photo finish in a month, the same margin of victory as Denny Hamlin over Martin Truex Jr. at the Daytona 500.

There have only been six closer finishes since NASCAR began using electronic scoring in 1993.

And this time, there was no throat-grabbing or namecalling.

“Just a lot of fun,” Edwards said. “I really wish it would have worked out a little bit differently, but it was a good race.”

Hamlin recovered from an early pit penalty to finish third. Kyle Busch, his Joe

Kevin Harvick (4) and Carl Edwards, top, run side-by-side into the second turn during a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Phoenix International Raceway Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Avondale, Ariz. Harvick defeated Edwards at the finish line.

Associated Press

Gibbs Racing teammate, started from the pole and led the first 77 laps before ending up fourth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who ended Harvick’s four-race winning streak at Phoenix with a rain-shortened victory in November, was fifth.

Harvick’s weekend started slow when he qualified 18th on Friday. But he had the fastest car at the end of Saturday’s last practice and meticulously worked his way to the front on Sun-

day. He took the lead for good in the No. 4 Chevrolet when he immediately passed Edwards on a restart with 77 laps to go. Harvick, who led a race-high 139 of 313 laps, built a lead approaching 3 seconds before the final caution.

Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers decided to stay on the track while Edwards and others took on two tires.

“I knew that he had been saving his stuff and thought

we’d be OK,” Childers said.

“But every time, there’s always seven or eight that stay out in that situation.

And when there was only three, that turned into a little bit of panic mode for me.”

Harvick, though, found a way to win at what’s become almost his personal track. By all-but-clinching a spot in the season-ending playoffs, he gave NASCAR four winners in four races from four race teams.q

NHL Capsules

Short-handed Penguins surge past Rangers The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Conor Sheary scored twice and Matt Cullen had the goahead goal in the third period in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday.

The Penguins star Evgeni Malkin is out six to eight weeks after sustaining an upper-body injury Friday night in a victory at Colum-

bus. He is second on the team with 27 goals and 31 assists in 57 games.

Patric Hornqvist also scored, Sidney Crosby added an empty-netter for his 29th of the season and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the Penguins.

Derick Brassard scored his team-leading 25th goal for the Rangers. Ryan McDonagh and Chris Kreider

also scored and Derek Stepan had two assists.

LIGHTNING 4, BLUE JACKETS 0 COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ben Bishop made 37 saves, Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist as the Tampa Bay beat Columbus to stop a three-game losing streak.

It was Bishop’s fourth shutout of the season and No. 16 for his career. Ondrej

Palat had a goal and an assist while Vladislav Namestnikov also scored.

Tampa Bay moved into a tie with Florida for second in the Atlantic Division with 85 points but Nikita Kucherov and Valtteri Filppula left with injuries.

MAPLE LEAFS 1, RED WINGS 0 DETROIT (AP) — Jonathan Bernier made 38 saves for

his 12th career shutout to lead Toronto past Detroit.

It marked the Maple Leafs’ second shutout of the Red Wings in the last 30 years.

The last time was Curtis Joseph’s 3-0 victory on Dec. 6, 2000, in Detroit.

Michael Grabner scored with 30 seconds left in the second.

Petr Mrazek made 26 saves for the Red Wings.q

A22

Tuesday 15 March 2016

SPORTS

Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns a shot to Bjorn Fratangelo at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 13, 2016, in Indian Wells, Calif.

Associated Press

Top-ranked Djokovic, Serena Williams advance in Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Novak Djokovic opened his bid for a third straight BNP Paribas Open title Sunday night by surviving an unexpected challenge from American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo, 2-6, 6-1, 6-2.

“All credit to Bjorn on playing a great match, but I wasn’t feeling comfortable at all on the court,” the top-ranked Djokovic said after extending his winning streak at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to 12 matches. “I was just trying to find a way, trying to hang in there and make it through.”

The 22-year-old Fratangelo was the French Open boys’ champion in 2011 and turned pro in 2012, but has been playing almost exclusively on the satellite tours.

He’s ranked No. 149 and his first-round win Friday was his first in four matches on the ATP World Tour.

He took a 4-0 lead in the opening set and kept the match interesting until Djokovic got back-to-back service breaks en route to winning the final five games.

“He deserved every point he got,” Djokovic said. “He played a great match, especially in the first set.”

Djokovic, who has a 17-1 record this season, took the court after top-ranked Serena Williams moved into

the women’s fourth round with a ragged 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

Later, fourth-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.

Simona Halep of Romania capped the night with a 64-minute 6-2, 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. Nadal got a tenuous grip on the match when a backhand passing shot gave him a 30-0 lead with Muller serving in the final game, and Muller doublefaulted to make it 40-0.

Nadal gave two points back on errant forehands, then won it with a forehand return that handcuffed Muller as he moved to the net.

“He’s a very, very difficult player, especially in these conditions,” Nadal said of his left-handed opponent.

“It’s very, very difficult to play.

You have to be focused all the time and put as many balls in the court as you can and wait for your moment.”

In the opening set, Williams showed the effects of a six-week layoff since losing the Australian Open final.

The two-time tournament champion made 29 unforced errors and seemed completely out of a rhythm against Putintseva, who

played aggressively and challenged every close line call.

“I was just trying to find my rhythm out there, trying my best to not get off to a slow start,” Williams said. “Then I got broken really early and I couldn’t manage to break back. I was just trying to fight out there and do what I could. “I found it (Putintseva’s style) good to play. I just wasn’t finding my rhythm. I hadn’t played someone like her, so I was just trying to get my bearings there. I made a lot of errors in that first set. I went for a lot and I usually make those, but I kept missing.

Even in the first game. Even though I won, I made some simple errors that just kept going for the first set.”

Williams had to break Putintseva’s serve to force the tiebreaker and then finally began to impose herself on the 56th-ranked Putintseva, winning the final five points.

“My intensity was higher and I started making my shots,” Williams said. “I was going for it. I just kept missing it either in the net or missing it out. Really, really close. I started making them, and then I started getting more confidence to continue to go for it, and that kind of helped me out.”q

This photo provided by KTUU shows Arnold Demoski, who was charged with colliding his snowmobile with Iditarod trail sled dog race teams Saturday, March 12, 2016, near Nulato, Alaska.

Demoski, 26, of Nulato, was arrested on suspicion of assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and multiple counts of criminal mischief.

Associated Press

Iditarod

Continued from page 17 The winner is expected into Nome sometime early Tuesday morning. Threetime winner Dallas Seavey was the first musher into the checkpoint in White Mountain, 39 minutes ahead of two-time winner Mitch Seavey, who is also his father. Brent Sass was third into the checkpoint, where mushers must take an eight-hour rest before the last 77-mile stretch to Nome.

The crash happened early Saturday morning near the checkpoint in Nulato.

Arnold Demoski of Nulato is accused of intentionally driving a snowmobile into Zirkle’s team and then the team of four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King. One of King’s dogs, Nash, was killed, and at least two other dogs were injured.

Demoski has said he was returning home from a night of drinking when he struck the teams. He was going about 100 mph when he crashed into King’s team and about 40 mph when he struck Zirkle’s team, court documents say.

He was charged with assault, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

His bail was set at $50,000, the Fairbanks Daily NewsMiner reported.

Fairbanks District Court Magistrate Dominick DiBenedetto said during Sunday’s hearing that if the allegations are proven true, they could amount to

an act of terrorism. DiBenedetto also said he would have likely approved bail that 10 times the amount requested, KTVA-TV reported.

Demoski’s attorney, Bill Satterberg, declined comment to The Associated Press on Monday.

The end of the Iditarod is a huge economic driver in this community of about 3,600. Many events are tied to race.

Among them is a huge arts and crafts sale, where Summer Larsen was selling homemade soaps and creams. She said the crash appears to be an isolated incident and isn’t casting a pallor over the finish.

“It’s disappointing to hear, for sure, but I don’t think it’s specific to the race, really,” said Larsen, who moved to Nome 20 years ago from Kona, Hawaii. “I think it’s just an issue of alcohol and bad judgment.”

Nome Police Chief John Papasodora said it will be “all hands on deck” for his force when the mushers begin to hit town, but that’s normal every year.

“I don’t anticipate anything on this end that we’re going to run into,” he said.

“It’s a historical event, but it’s also a cultural event since it’s been going on for so long. So I’d be very, very surprised if we had an incident similar to that.”

When a musher is one mile outside of Nome, the town’s siren sounds, alerting people to head to the finish line. q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Tuesday 15 March 2016

New virtual reality app Timelooper takes you back in history JAMES BROOKS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Imagine watching frantic shopkeepers busily extinguish the Great Fire of London, or sheltering from Nazi bombing raids during the Blitz.

Now, thanks to a new virtual reality app, you can travel back in time to be immersed in these events.

The Timelooper app allows users to experience key moments in London history with just a smartphone and a cardboard headset.

For example, when Timelooper cofounder Andrew Feinberg visits the Tower of London, a historic castle on the banks of London’s Thames River, he doesn’t queue up with hordes of tourists to catch a glimpse of the royal family’s crown jewels. Instead, he uses Timelooper’s time travel tourism app to experience the tower over 750 years ago, in 1255.

Instead of seeing a busy London tourist site, Feinberg sees a medieval marketplace, a formidable fortress, even an elephant being led down a path.

“We actually overlay the current infrastructure with what the infrastructure of the tower and the surrounding environment was like in 13th century London,” explained Feinberg.

“So for example, now you see a Starbucks and now you see the tower as it looks today with the moat

This Feb. 2, 2016 image made from video shows Timelooper co-founder Yigit Yigiter looking through a Google cardboard virtual reality headset as he sees a recreation of the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Associated Press

drained. When we take you back in time, you actually see the historically accurate representation of the tower in its heyday.”

Not far away at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Timelooper users travel back to the Great Fire of London 350 years ago, in 1666. The fire burned for four days, destroying over 13,000 houses.

The smartphone’s built-in motion detection allows time travelers wearing a cardboard headset to move their gaze around the virtual world, seemingly exploring London centu-

ries ago. The videos are location-based, meaning visitors must visit the sites to unlock the historical experiences.

Feinberg and his cofounder, Yigit Yigiter, were frustrated with current tourism technology, which they say hasn’t evolved much since the introduction of audio guides. In 2014, Yigiter’s wife brought home a Google cardboard VR headset, and he began thinking about an immersive virtual reality tourism experience. By September 2015, he’d quit his job in pri-

vate equity and moved to the British capital to begin work on the first incarnation of the app.

The first version was launched in July 2015 and featured three sites.

While Timelooper uses VR to offer a unique historical perspective, the technology has been exploding in many directions throughout the tourism industry.

Carnival Cruise Line uses it to market cruises, the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee uses it to show off a new rollercoaster, and the Seattle Space Needle

uses it to help visitors appreciate the view from its sky-high observatory. The Dali Museum in Florida created a virtual reality experience that lets visitors walk through a landscape painting by the Surrealist master Salvador Dali. And a company called YouVisit has created over 300 VR experiences for destinations from Vatican City to Mexico.

Timelooper is a member of the Travel Tech Lab, an incubator space for travel technology start-ups, partly created by London & Partners, the city’s official promotional company. Following the launch last year, Feinberg and Yigiter were contacted by destinations from China to Spain.

“Nothing replaces the experience of being on site, but you don’t always know what the stories are about those sights,” Yigiter said.

Timelooper’s travel app is also used by those working in London’s booming tourism industry. Blue Badge tourist guide Ruth Polling pulls her cardboard headset out as she escorts visitors to Trafalgar Square and lets them see what happened on Sept. 23, 1940, when a bomb dropped by Nazi Germany exploded near Nelson’s Column, a famous landmark and iconic part of the victory celebrations held five years later to mark the end of the war in Europe.

Durability tests: Samsung phones survive water, not falls The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — You can dunk Samsung’s new smartphones in water, but don’t drop them on a sidewalk, a new study finds.

SquareTrade, a company that offers extended-protection plans for gadgets, said the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge still functioned after being submerged in water for 30 minutes. Audio was “permanently muffled and distorted” after the dunking, but the Samsung phones still outlasted Apple’s iPhones in SquareTrade’s water tests.

The study, released Mon-

day, also found that Samsung’s new phones are more prone to breaking than the iPhone 6S, which survived 30 seconds in a tumbling test chamber, similar to a dryer without heat. The test is meant to mimic repeated drops phones often face. Both Samsung models had minor cracks on the screens and significant damage to their backs. The iPhone 6S Plus, a larger version of the 6S, did worse. Its screen completely shattered in SquareTrade’s tests.

The screens of all four phones cracked when

In this Feb. 22, 2016 file photo, a waterproof Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge mobile phone is submersed in water during a preview of Samsung’s flagship store, Samsung 837, in New York’s Meatpacking District.

Associated Press

dropped face down on a sidewalk. The Samsung phones also cracked when dropped on their corners, while the iPhones had only cosmetic damage, according to SquareTrade.

Samsung Electronics in Seoul, South Korea would not comment on the study.

The new Samsung phones came out Friday. They’re not designed to be used underwater — the touch screens don’t function until dry — but Samsung promises that the phones can still work after spending up to 30 minutes in up to five feet of water.

A24 BUSINESS

Tuesday 15 March 2016

US stocks end nearly unchanged ahead of Fed meeting MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks barely budged Monday, finishing mixed as lower oil prices pulled energy companies down while hotels and travel-related

“Lately (the market) seems to quiet down ahead of the Fed,” said BlackRock portfolio manager Peter Stournaras.

U.S. stocks missed out on a global rally that lifted stocks in Europe and Asia. The

1.81 points to 4,750.28.

Starwood Hotels jumped after a consortium led by China’s Anbang Insurance Group offered to buy the hotel chain for $14 billion.

Last year Marriott International agreed to buy Star-

Trader Luke Scanlon, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, March 11, 2016. Stocks are opening broadly higher on Wall Street following a rally in Europe and an upturn in energy prices.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

companies rose.

Trading was quiet Monday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting later this week, which is expected to shed some light on the possibility of a future increase in benchmark interest rates.

Standard & Poor’s 500 fell for just the second time this month. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 15.82 points, or 0.1 percent, to 17,229.13. The S&P 500 lost 2.55 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,019.64. The Nasdaq composite index gained

wood for $12.2 billion. Starwood said it will examine the new offer and its stock gained $5.51, or 7.8 percent, to $75.93.

Marriott stock rose $2.04, or 3 percent, to $70.93. It will get a $400 million payment if Starwood backs out of their agreement.

The news lifted other travel-related companies. TripAdvisor gained $2.84, or 4.5 percent, to $66.54 and Expedia rose $1.46, or 1.3 percent, to $116.39.

C. Patrick Scholes, analyst for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, said investors in Expedia and TripAdvisor are hoping Starwood will be sold to Anbang instead of competitor Marriott. He said if Marriott and Starwood were to combine, they would have more power to negotiate lower commissions with the online travel agencies. “If there’s no deal, that strength and bargaining power is taken away,” he said. q

With no rate hike foreseen, Fed outlook for economy is awaited M. CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The financial world is awaiting the Federal Reserve’s response to a critical question: How stable are the world’s economies and financial markets?

Whatever picture the Fed sketches will help shape expectations of when it will resume the interest rate increases it began in December. That’s when the Fed raised its key rate from record lows to reflect an economy finally strong enough 6½ years after the Great Recession ended to withstand higher loan rates.

Yet in the ensuing weeks, stocks and oil prices tumbled and China struggled to manage a sharp slowdown. Now, with investors having regained some of their losses, with the U.S. job market improving and major overseas economies still-weak but stable, the Fed may be inching closer to raising rates again.

Just not yet.

Most Fed watchers think the central bank wants more time to assess the financial landscape. Resuming its rate hikes too soon could slow growth or rattle investors again. In a policy statement and a news conference Chair Janet Yellen will give after its latest meeting ends Wednesday, the Fed will likely nod to improvements since it met in January but also stress uncertainties that still loom.

“Financial markets have stabilized a bit, but the situation abroad still looks worse than in the United States,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist of DS Economics.

“The Fed will give some signals that they feel better about where things are now compared to January but also signal that they don’t have an itchy trigger finger in terms of raising rates.”

The Fed has two mandates: To maximize employment and keep prices stable. It has essentially met just one: In February, the United States added a robust 242,000 jobs — roughly the monthly average for the past six months. And the unemployment rate is a low 4.9 percent, close to the rate the Fed associates with full employment.

But inflation has been stuck below the Fed’s 2 percent target rate for nearly four years. Too-low inflation tends to lead people to postpone purchases, which slows consumer spending, the economy’s main fuel.

Subpar inflation also makes the inflation-adjusted cost of loans more expensive.

Before further raising rates, the Fed wants to see more evidence that inflation is picking up. Its preferred inflation gauge did rise in January to a 12-month increase of 1.3 percent, faster than the scant 0.7 rise over the 12-month period that ended in December. But that’s still well below the Fed’s target.

Recent comments from Fed officials indicate that they differ on how to interpret inflation prospects.

Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said last week that the Fed may “be seeing the first stirrings of an increase in the inflation rate — something that we would like to see.”

Fischer suggested that two factors that have been depressing inflation — lower oil prices and a strong dollar, which reduces import prices — may be starting to wane.

But another Fed board member, Lael Brainard, said last week that she saw “troubling indications” that inflation could dip again. She also said she worried that weakness in China, Japan and other places could slow the U.S. economy.

In December, when the Fed raised rates for the first time in nearly a decade, it signaled the likelihood of four additional hikes in 2016. q

BUSINESS A25

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Of Mutual Interest:

A wheezing, unloved bull market tries to keep running

STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s been seven years since one of the stock market’s best-ever runs began, but the anniversary is passing without a party yet again.

This bull market is the thirdlongest in history, and investors in mutual funds that track the broad U.S. market have more than tripled their money since a 6 percent jump seven years ago last week marked the start of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index’s run.

Investors still don’t believe in it. This bull market has been mistrusted and unloved from the start, even though it has managed to stagger higher amid a government shutdown, a debt crisis in Europe that nearly tore apart the European Union and a growth slowdown in China, the world’s economic engine.

At times, even as the market stayed strong, regular investors were pulling money out of stocks instead of investing more as in past bull markets. Now, worries are high that the market has already topped out, and that a recession may be coming to knock the S&P 500 down again.

The index is down about 7 percent from its peak in May, and other investments like oil and emerging-market stocks have crashed in recent months, turning from bull to bear by falling 20 percent in value from recent highs.

It’s an indication of what a strange bull market this has been, and another reminder of how important it is to stay diversified. Nearly three quarters of retirement savings in 401ks and similar plans is in stocks, according to a survey of plans at Vanguard, one of the largest retirement account administrators.

HOW THIS BULL MEASURES UP This bull market may soon become the second-longest since World War II. Yes, stocks have been weak this year, and at one point last month the S&P 500 was down as much as 14 percent from its peak. But

the index has so far managed to avoid a drop of 20 percent, the arbitrary line where market watchers say a bull market morphs into a bear market. If that were to happen, traders would say the bull market ended on May 21, when the S&P 500 set its last record high.

If the bull market does

S&P 500 dropped nearly 20 percent from late April 2011 into early October 2011, coming close to falling into a bear market before recovering.

Even when the stock market was doing well, like in 2013 when the S&P 500 returned 32 percent, investors were slow to embrace

ket. It started so early in the economic recovery, which began in June 2009, that “double-dip recession” became a common phrase.

The worries now focus on the slowdown in China, which is the world’s second-largest economy and for years was its main engine of growth. Economies

People pose with the “Charging Bull” sculpture, by artist Arturo Di Modica, in New York’s Financial District. It’s been seven years since one of the stock market’s best-ever runs began, but the anniversary is passing without a party yet again.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

manage to stay alive, it would join only two others that made it into an eighth year. One of those, in the 1950s, petered out less than two months after passing the milestone. The other became the longest bull market, extending from late 1990 into 2000, according to S&P Capital IQ. UNLOVED BULL This bull market had to overcome the challenges and doubts that haunted the nation after the 2008 financial crisis, which helped wipe out more than 8 million jobs and half of stock investors’ holdings.

At first, investors didn’t trust the bull because the job market was so slow to recover. Later, in 2011, it was concerns about the stillweak economy combined with worries about political tensions around the world.

Fear spiked that the U.S. government could default on its debt and that the European Union could unravel due to its debt crisis. The

the bull. Some thought the market’s gains hinged on unprecedented stimulus from the Federal Reserve that could evaporate or lose its power at any moment.

At times money went into U.S. stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, but never with the fervor that gripped investors during the dot-com boom or other bull markets. Over the last year, investors withdrew a net $66 billion from U.S. stock funds, even as they invested elsewhere. Just over $205 billion went into foreign stock funds over the same time, and nearly $8 billion entered taxable bond funds.

WHY ALL THIS DISTRUST STILL? One word: recession. Investors are worried again that the economy, which has been growing only modestly, is about to go into reverse. The same fear has gripped investors repeatedly through the bull mar-

in Europe and elsewhere are also still growing only modestly, if at all, which pressures U.S. exporters.

And the Federal Reserve has almost no room to cut rates to stimulate the economy because rates are still close to a record low.

All that is against the backdrop of an economic recovery that, like the bull market, is also geriatric at

nearly seven years old. The average economic expansion has lasted less than five years, going back to 1945, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research.

YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY Investors may be uninspired by the broad U.S. market, but it has demonstrated its value to investors by holding up better than many other investments in recent months and years.

Oil has lost nearly two thirds of its value over the last two years, a result of a global oversupply. That’s dragged down the value of energy companies in the S&P 500 by 30 percent. China’s struggles have hurt stock markets across the developing world. Emergingmarket stocks have lost 26 percent since a recent peak in April.

Even portions of the U.S. stock market outside the energy industry, like small U.S. company stocks, fell into a bear market, though they have recovered somewhat in recent weeks.

Many strategists on Wall Street say they expect the bull market for the S&P 500 to persevere, even if few expect huge gains.

U.S. companies — and the stock market — have so far weathered a lot, strategists from Deutsche Bank wrote in a recent research report.

“In our view, this increases the chances of this being a slow but long expansion that rivals the 10-year record,” they said.q

A26 COMICS

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Tuesday 15 March 2016

A28 SCIENCE

Tuesday 15 March 2016

In Atlantic salmon fight, Greenland proves a sticking point PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Preventing the long-imperiled Atlantic salmon from disappearing from American waters will require the U.S. to put pressure on Inuit fishermen in Greenland to stop harvesting a fish that has fed them for hundreds of years, federal officials say.

The salmon were once found from Long Island Sound to Canada, but their population has cratered in the face of river damming, warming ocean waters, competition for food with non-native fish and, officials say, continued Greenlandic fishing.

Now, federal officials have outlined an ambitious plan to try to save the Atlantic salmon that they say will require removing dams, creating fish passages and fostering cooperation from Inuit fishermen some 2,000 miles away from Maine, where most of America’s last wild Atlantic salmon spawn.

“We’ve tried everything possible to negotiate with Greenland to find alternatives to find out how they can lessen impacts on U.S. fish,” said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. “This is part of their culture, this is part of who they are, this is something they’ve always done.

We are trying to work with

In this undated file photo wild Atlantic salmon swim at a fish hatchery in Orland, Maine.

Associated Press

them to realize the fish they are fishing for originate in Canada, in U.S. waters, in Europe, and these populations are in decline.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said the final remnants of the wild Atlantic salmon population in U.S. waters live in a handful of rivers and streams in central and eastern Maine. A 2014 count found less than 300 salmon in the Penobscot River, which has the largest wild Atlantic salmon population in the country.

Federal authorities listed the Gulf of Maine’s Atlantic salmon population as endangered in 2000. They were once found in almost every river north of the Hudson, but since the 18th century they have declined to just 11 rivers, NOAA has said. The Atlantic salmon

and the Pacific Chinook salmon are the largest salmon species.

Atlantic are the most commonly farmed species of salmon, and demand has grown exponentially since the 1990s. Farms produced more than 2 million tons of the salmon, prized for its high protein content and omega-3 fatty acids, for the first time in 2012.

The wild fish leave Maine rivers in the spring, and most eventually end up off Greenland, an autonomous country that is part of the Danish Realm, along with Denmark and the Faroe Islands. NOAA issued a report in February that identified the salmon as one of a handful of species listed under the Endangered Species Act that need “immediate, targeted efforts” to stabilize their

populations and stave off extinction.

NOAA’s report states that a critical negotiating point will be the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization, scheduled for June in Germany. National leaders and non-governmental organizations will attend the meeting. NOAA’s plan states that the U.S. and other nations need to negotiate with Greenland’s government to establish measures to minimize the country’s impact on salmon of U.S. origin. It also states that more Maine dams need to be removed so salmon can spawn in rivers, and that watershed areas need to be restored so young salmon can thrive.

Greenland decided on a 45-ton quota for 2015, 2016 and 2017 during an interna-

tional summit last year — a reduction in catch from the previous 57 tons, but nowhere near as dramatic a rollback as U.S. officials wanted. Some U.S. conservationists have said the only sustainable salmon quota for Greenland is zero.

That doesn’t sit well in Greenland, where officials said they are happy to continue working with the U.S., but they disagree that a halt to Inuit fishing would save the fish. Katrine Kærgaard, a spokeswoman for the country’s ministry of fisheries, said Greenland has “continuously reduced” its salmon fishery over the past two decades, and the fish population’s status has not improved.

Greenland’s salmon fishery is conducted close to shore and is mostly based out of small dinghies with nets, Kærgaard said. The fishing is solely for local use, and the salmon can’t be exported. Taking salmon fishing away would devastate the Inuit population, which makes up 90 percent of Greenland, Kærgaard said. “Surviving off the resources that nature can offer has been the way that the tough Inuit of Greenland has survived for thousands of years, and it is still the way that a large part of the people survive today — and here the salmon plays a vital part of the history and culture,” Kærgaard said.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Newport Jazz Festival gets new leader, $10M promise MICHELLE R. SMITH Associated Press PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (AP) — Jazz impresario George Wein took another step to secure the future of his 62-year-old Newport Jazz Festival on Thursday, as the nonprofit foundation that runs it named Grammy-winning bassist Christian McBride as artistic director.

Wein, who is 90, also told The Associated Press that he planned to donate the bulk of his estate, around $10 million, to the foundation upon his death so that the jazz festival and its sister Newport Folk Festival can continue for years to come. Wein produced this year’s festival completely, but recognizes he’s old and his hearing and health have started to diminish even as he remains mentally sharp.

“Not many people can engineer their own demise,” Wein said. “I’ve been working on this a few months with Christian. Nobody knew about it. I wanted to make sure Christian was the right person.”

McBride will work side-byside with Wein and take the reins for the 2017 festival.

From then on, McBride will choose who plays at the festival and have final say on festival programming, Wein said.

“He will be as creative as he chooses to be. It’s an opportunity for him to make his mark that will last forever,” Wein said, adding that he may “stick my nose in” from time to time.

McBride is a bassist, composer and educator. The Philadelphia native attended Juilliard and has performed on recordings with musicians including Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Sting, The Roots and Paul McCartney.

He has won five Grammys.

He also hosts and produces radio shows on SiriusXM and NPR. He has played regularly at Newport since 1991.

McBride, speaking via Skype following a performance in Oslo, Norway, on Thursday, said he was

In this Feb. 12, 2012, file photo, Christian McBride, of the Christian McBride Big Band, poses backstage with the award for best large jazz ensemble for “The Good Feeling” at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles; and in this Aug. 4, 2013 file photo, Newport Jazz Festival producer and founder George Wein appears on stage before at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I. Associated Press

humbled to be appointed to lead the “granddaddy of all music festivals” and excited to learn at Wein’s elbow as an understudy.

Wein swore him to secrecy when they began discussions in October and told him he would never want McBride to stop being a musician to sit behind a desk to run the festival. He told McBride he chose him because of his credibility as a musician and curator.

McBride has served as artistic director and adviser for several other groups.

McBride said Newport is deeply rooted in jazz yet dedicated to musically diverse styles and artists, and that’s what makes the festival so special. He recalled when Mos Def performed at the festival, backed by a New Orleans jazz band.

“You saw this cross-cultural thing with hip-hop and New Orleans jazz. It was abso-

lutely brilliant,” he said.

The Newport Jazz Festival was the first outdoor jazz festival and is among the most respected, having hosted some of the most famous acts and memorable performances in jazz.

Wein, a jazz pianist, came up with the idea after Newport socialite Elaine Lorillard asked him to bring jazz to the seaside resort town to liven things up. He later founded the folk festival.

Wein sold the festivals in 2007 and they almost went under. He reassumed control in 2009 and named Jay Sweet to produce the folk festival, then established the foundation in 2010. Sweet was promoted last year to executive producer of the foundation.

Also getting a promotion Thursday is Danny Melnick, associate producer of the jazz festival who will now be producer and will run the business end of the jazz festival.

Wein said McBride is wellliked and relates both personally and musically to many different kinds of musicians, from John Zorn to traditional players.

And he’s now comfortable that the foundation will have the money and leadership it needs to remain a viable, contemporary festival after he’s gone.

“I never worry about legacy.

People forget. I know so many musicians that I worshipped, nobody knows now. I know it will be the same thing with me,” Wein said. “But the Newport festivals will go on. Maybe somebody will remember I created it.”q

Q-Tip joins Kennedy Center as hip hop director BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hip hop is heading to the Kennedy Center — this time, to stay.

Fresh off last year’s critically acclaimed performance

by Kendrick Lamar with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that veteran rapper and producer Q-Tip will join the institution as its artistic director for hip hop culture. Hip hop also will be added to the center’s core programming.

The announcement was made as the Kennedy Center released details of the more than 2,000 perfor-

mances that will be staged there during the 2016-2017 season.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Renee Fleming also are taking on new roles at the Kennedy Center. Both will serve as at-large artistic advisers.

The center, which is a memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the nation’s busiest performing arts venue, also will mark the 100th anniversary of Kennedy’s birth with programming that honors his ideals and legacy.

Q-Tip is a founding member of the seminal hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, known for its genrebending music and socially conscious lyrics. He’s also

worked as a solo artist and producer and has become

an elder statesman of sorts for the genre.q

In this July 11, 2011 file photo, Q-tip performs in New York. Hip hop is heading to the Kennedy Center, this time, to stay.

Associated Press

A30 PEOPLE

Tuesday 15 March 2016

& ARTS Queen Latifah, Paula Patton eager to see Saldana as Simone

In this June 14, 2015 file photo, Zoe Saldana attends the Los Angeles Premiere of “Infinitely Polar Bear” held at Regal Cinemas L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles.

Associated Press

NICOLE EVATT AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Queen Latifah and Paula Patton are putting aside the controversy surrounding the Nina Simone biopic, “Nina,” and waiting to see how Zoe Saldana does in the title role.

While critics say it was wrong of producers to cast a lighter-skinned actress to portray Simone, who celebrated her dark skin and traditionally African features, Latifah and Patton are reserving judgment until the film’s release next month.

“I think Zoe Saldana’s a great actress so I am looking forward to it,” Latifah said Monday at the premiere of “The Perfect Match,” which she produced. “And you know she is of African descent. I don’t see why

she shouldn’t get to play the role, you know. But I just want to see it — you know, get rid of the hype and let’s go watch the movie.”

Simone’s daughter and others have decried Saldana’s casting since she took the part in 2012. Her skin was apparently darkened for the role, and she wears a prosthetic nose.

The Simone estate, which cooperated in making the Oscar-nominated documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?”, recently tweeted: “Hopefully people begin to understand this is painful. Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, nauseating, soul-crushing.”

Patton, though, said she’s “not into negativity like that,” especially since the film has yet to be released.

“I think it’s a horrible thing to put that on somebody,”

she said Monday. “Clearly someone thought she was perfect for it. She’s an amazing actress, she’s beautiful and you haven’t even given her a chance and you haven’t seen it yet...

“Imagine being in her shoes and enduring that,” Patton said. “It’s not cool and it’s not right. I think we have to be in a place where we celebrate each other and are kind to one another and say there’s all different versions of the story and versions of an idea.”

In “Nina,” Saldana plays the Grammy-winning singer and outspoken civil rights activist, who struggled with depression and alcoholism after finding fame. David Oyelowo co-stars as her stalwart friend Clifton Henderson, who helped her return to music.q

‘Deep Blue’ by Randy Wayne White is fast-paced thriller

This book cover image released by G.P. Putnam’s Sons shows “Deep Blue,” a release

by Randy Wayne White.

Associated Press

BRUCE DESILVA Associated Press Since he first appeared in “Sanibel Flats” in 1990, Doc Ford, the hero of a series of thrillers by Randy Wayne White, has been living a double life. His quirky, fun-loving neighbors in the hamlet of Dinkin’s Bay on Florida’s Gulf Coast know

him as a marine biologist who sells specimens to schools and laboratories.

What most of them don’t know is that he’s part of a shadowy black ops agency — the go-to guy when a threat to national security needs to be gunned down, blown up or “disappeared.”

For a quarter century, Ford has managed to keep his two worlds separate, but they finally collide in “Deep Blue,” endangering the lives of everyone in Dinkin’s Bay. The trouble starts when Ford is dispatched to the Yucatan to assassinate an American Muslim convert turned terrorist. The assignment goes wrong from the get-go. Somehow, the terrorist and his allies knew Ford was coming and laid a trap for him. Ford figures that out in time, goes for the kill anyway and botches the job.

He slips away and returns to his quiet life. But when armed drones buzz Din-

kin’s Bay, Ford realizes his enemies have tracked him down and are out for revenge.

A former Florida fishing guide, White is no stranger to a fish story, and every Doc Ford novel reads like an old salt telling a whopper. In this one, he manages to work in, among other things, terrorist beheadings, a great white shark, a cleverly concealed bomb, an evil genius, a boat chase, a violent storm and a submarine.

As always, the story is populated by familiar Dinkin’s Bay regulars including, most prominently, Ford’s hard-drinking, pot-smoking, Buddhist pal Tomlinson.

And as with every Doc Ford story, the writing is tight and the story fast-paced.

This series isn’t for readers who prefer their plots to be at least a tad plausible, but fans of far-fetched thriller heroes from James Bond to Jason Bourne will find a lot to like.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A31

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Review: In ‘Eye in the Sky,’ drone warfare gets its close up JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer Omniscient high-definition views from above have done nothing to penetrate the fog of war in Gavin Hood’s drone drama “Eye in the Sky.” It’s a lean, Lumet-like thriller that puts the moral calculus of drone warfare in its crosshairs. Playing out compellingly in real time, a strike against Somali terrorists in Nairobi is plotted by the hawkish, U.K.-based Col. Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren), whose operation involves pilots, politicians and military command in various digitally linked remote locations, from the boardroom to the toilet. Drones have begun to reshape the war movie, and will doubtless continue to proliferate on our screens just as they have over Middle Eastern skies. “Eye in the Sky” follows last year’s very solid “Good Kill,” starring Ethan Hawke as a drone pilot based in Las Vegas.

Director Andrew Niccol’s aim was principally about the psychological toll such disconnected battles take on its far-removed soldiers.

Hood more thoroughly utilizes the new perspectives drones afford to filmmakers. While much of the it is composed of faces in front of computer screens,

This image released by Bleecker Street shows Helen Mirren in a scene from “Eye In the Sky. Associated Press

some of the film’s most remarkable images come from the view of a hovering drone or — most impressively — a remote-controlled beetle that flutters right into the suspects’ lair, alighting on the rafters to provide a staggering closeup, whether Mr. DeMille is ready or not.

With such supreme powers of surveillance, Powell and her colleagues (including the ever-droll Alan Rickman, in one of his last per-

formances, as a British general) have become accustomed to a previously unmatched level of certainty — or so they would like to think.

The mission is to apprehend a handful of highly ranked terrorists, but when the trio — two radicalized British nationals and an American — are seen preparing vests for a suicide attack, the plan is ratcheted up from “capture” to “kill.”

The clash of “Eye in the Sky”

isn’t on the battlefield but in the chain-of-command debate over the rules of engagement that pingpongs around politicians and lawyers who are pressured by Powell and Rickman’s general to give their OK. The collateral damage calculations and emotional stakes are changed significantly when a young girl sits outside the walls of the target to sell bread.

An American pilot (Aaron Paul), tasked to bring “hell-

fire” on the target, lays off the trigger, and numerous levels of nervous government officials “refer up” the decision to their superiors while an agent on the ground (Barkhad Abdi, of “Captain Phillips”) attempts to chase the girl away. The plotting in Guy Hibbert’s screenplay, along with the quick cutting of Hood (the South African filmmaker of “Tsotsi” and a “X-Men,” who previously dove into the subject of CIA interrogation in 2007’s “Rendition”), push the movie’s intensity, making “Eye in the Sky” more riveting than preachy.

The film might have hit home more if the tick-tock of its plot allowed us to better know its characters, who sometimes come off as mere mouthpieces of different philosophies of modern warfare. But “Eye in the Sky” is nevertheless a compelling case of how moral precision doesn’t necessarily match technical accuracy.

The debate that rages in “Eye in the Sky” is perhaps more than is always spent over the fate of a single civilian casualty. But it could hardly seem more topical.

On Monday, more than 150 Shabab militants were killed in Somali in a strike partially carried out by drones.q

Leader of Eagles of Death Metal apologizes for comments The Associated Press Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes has apologized for suggesting that security guards at a Paris concert venue were complicit in the assault by Islamic militants there in November that left 89 people dead.

Hughes told the Fox Business Network last week that six guards at the Bataclan venue never came to work the night of the attack, and “it seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up.”

On Friday, Hughes apologized: “I humbly beg forgiveness from the people of France, the staff and security of the Bataclan, my fans, family, friends and anyone else hurt or offended by the absurd accusations I made.”

“My suggestions that anyone affiliated with the Bataclan played a role in the events of November 13 are unfounded and baseless — and I take full responsibility for them,” he said in a statement.

The band’s performance at

the Bataclan concert hall was turned into a bloodbath when suicide bombers stormed in as part of near-simultaneous attacks on cafes and a stadium around Paris.

Hughes blamed the lingering effect of the attack for his accusations that the security team may have been in on the attack.

“I’ve been dealing with non-stop nightmares and struggling through therapy to make sense of this tragedy and insanity. I haven’t been myself since Nov. 13,”

In this Feb. 13, 2016 file photo, singer Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal performs at Debaser Medis in Stockholm, Sweden.

Associated Press

he wrote. “I realize there’s no excuse for my words, but for what it’s worth: I

am sincerely sorry for having hurt, disrespected or accused anyone.”q