January 27, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Primaries Set to Begin in Rancorous Presidential Race STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans finally begin choosing next week among the Republican and Democratic candidates battling to be their party’s 2016 presidential nominee in a series of state-by-state votes. The White House hopefuls include two highly unorthodox candidates — the politically incorrect billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump for the Republicans,

A woman wears a shirt supporting Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign event on the campus of Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, for the Democrats — both of whom are running strongly in polls of the first two states with nominating contests —

Iowa and New Hampshire.

Trump has rocked the Republican political world with a personality-dominated campaign that quickly overwhelmed expected front-runner former Florida

Gov. Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents. Trump is virulently anti-immigration and has called on barring Muslim from entering the country.

He boasts unspecified plans

to make the United States “great again,” touting his abilities as a deal-maker in the business world.

Continued on page 4

A2 UP

Wednesday 27 January 2016

FRONT

Obama administration loosens Cuba embargo with new measures

Javier Yanez looks out from his balcony where he hung a U.S., and a Cuban national flag, to celebrate the restored full diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Unites States, in Old Havana.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday, Jan. 26 2016, that it would now allow U.S. exports to Cuban government agencies in cases where it believed the Cuban people stood to benefit.

(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

M. WEISSENSTEIN The Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — The Obama administration is loosening the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba with a new round of regulations allowing American companies to sell to Cuba on credit and export a potentially wide range of products to the Cuban government for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

The changes are President Barack Obama’s third attempt to spur U.S.-Cuba commerce despite an embargo that still prohibits most forms of trade with the island.

U.S. travel to Cuba has exploded since Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro declared detente in 2014. But U.S. hopes of building wider trade between American businesses and Cuba’s private sector have been largely frustrated by Congressional reluctance to end the embargo itself and by the island’s labyrinthine restrictions on imports, exports and private business.

Obama says he hopes to visit Cuba before he leaves office but a trip would depend on the progress being made in relations between the two countries.

Tuesday’s move appears designed to jumpstart commerce between the two countries and remove some of Cuba’s biggest excuses for not opening its economy to trade with the U.S. “Just as the United States is doing its part to remove impediments that have been holding Cubans back, we urge the Cuban government to make it easier for its citizens to start businesses, engage in trade, and access information online,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.

Among a host of other measures, the new regulations allow U.S. firms to offer Cuban buyers credit on sales of non-agricultural goods, addressing a longstanding Cuban complaint about a ban on credit.

The vast majority of Obama’s new regulations have been aimed at spurring U.S. trade with Cuban

entrepreneurs instead of with the state-run firms that dominate the economy.

The Cuban government says that U.S. focus on private business is partly responsible for the island not opening its economy in response to the U.S. loosening of the embargo.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that it would now allow U.S. exports to Cuban government agencies in cases where it believed the Cuban people stood to benefit. It cited agriculture, historic preservation, education, food processing and public health and infrastructure as governmentcontrolled sectors that it would not allow to receive goods from the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, potentially opening up a huge new field of commerce between U.S. business and the Cuban government.

“You would expect that this would open up a lot of areas where there should be enhanced trade,” said James Williams, head of the anti-embargo U.S. group Engage Cuba. He said that while Obama’s initial exceptions to the embargo were criticized for not reflecting a deep understanding of Cuba, the new regulations were much more attuned to the peculiarities of Cuba’s state-controlled economy.

Cuban officials issued no immediate comment on the changes and state media made only brief mention of them in the first hours after the U.S. announcement. Anti-Castro figures in the U.S. have long argued against Obama’s opening with Cuba, saying it empowers the state rather than the Cuban people and Tuesday’s announcement gave them ammunition. “These regulations are more proof that the Obama Administration’s intent has never been to empower the Cuban people but rather to empower the Cuban government’s monopolies and state-run enterprises,” said Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a CubanAmerican U.S. senator from Florida.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Wednesday 27 January 2016

At Press Time:

Police search California communities where inmates have ties

AMY TAXIN GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press SANTA ANA, California (AP) — Unlike similar escapes where dangerous inmates fled into rural areas, the three men who broke out of a Southern California lockup escaped into densely populated suburban communities where they have close ties.

Hundreds of officers are focusing on neighborhoods where the trio charged with violent crimes could be hiding among friends, family or fellow gang members, particularly among Orange County’s huge Vietnamese population, authorities said Tuesday, the fourth day of the manhunt.

It is just a few miles from the jail where the trio broke out Friday, and two of the inmates, Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, have deep ties to the community, which is among the largest in the U.S.Tieu, Duong and Hossein Nayeri, 37, are considered dangerous and all were awaiting trial for separate violent felonies, authorities said. They have now each been charged with the escape.

Tieu had been held since 2013, accused of murder and attempted murder.

Duong faced attempted murder and assault charges in the shooting of a man on his front porch. Nayeri was arrested in 2014 on charges including kidnapping and torture. Authorities said he abducted a marijuana dealer, burned him with a blow torch and cut off his penis because Nayeri thought the man had buried money in the desert. Duong was ordered deported to Vietnam in 1998 but remained in the country and racked up a lengthy criminal record, immigration officials said Tuesday. Duong came to the United States legally in 1991 but was ordered removed seven years later, Immigra-

tion and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

The statement did not say why. Duong checked in with federal immigration officials as required until August 2014, the statement said. U.S. officials can’t detain immigrants indefinitely while they await deportation and must release most after six months. Under a 2008 agreement, Vietnam will provide travel documents to help repatriate immigrants but only those who entered the U.S. after July 1995. The three inmates were gone for as long as 16 hours before officials noticed they were missing from the common dorm they share with more than 60 other inmates at Orange County Central Jail. An attack on a guard delayed a Friday night head count by hours.

The trio sawed through a quarter-inch-thick grill on a dormitory wall, got into plumbing tunnels and then sawed through half-inchthick steel bars as they made their way behind walls to an unguarded area of a roof atop a fivestory building. The sheriff’s department has been slow to add more rooftop security cameras at the jail despite a grand jury’s recommendations for eight years straight, according to a report Monday in the Orange County Register (http://bit. ly/1OLYVow ). The department has said since 2008 that budget constraints prevented upgrades to the camera systems at the five county jails.

The escape was eerily similar to one last year in New York, where two inmates cut through a portion of a wall hidden under a bunk bed and used piping and tunnels inside the facility to get out. But the search for the pair focused on nearby woods instead of a dense urban population.

A major question for California investigators will be

This image shows three jail inmates who escaped from the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, Calif.

The men from left are Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu, and Bac Duong.

(Orange County Sheriff’s Department via AP)

how the men could plan and execute their escape with such precision, said

Kevin Tamez, a managing partner for MPM Group, a Philadelphia-based firm

that consults on prison security, management and infrastructure.q

A4 U.S.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

Primaries set to begin in rancorous presidential race Continued from Front Trump is in a tight race in Iowa with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch conservative. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is polling third and hopes to consolidate support among the party establishment. The rest of the field is lagging behind in single digits, including one-time front-runner Bush, the brother and son of former presidents. Polls show Trump and Cruz locked in a very close contest in Iowa, while Trump is far ahead in New Hampshire.

Sanders has captivated younger Democrats and those in the most progressive wing of the party with his message of a bigger government that would protect Americans who are

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, puts his hand on the back of a supporter while posing for photos at a campaign event at High Point Bulls Oswald Barn in Osceola, Iowa.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

losing ground in the country as wealth continues to cluster among fewer and fewer people. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, New York senator and first

lady, still holds a polling lead nationwide, but Sanders has nearly matched the former first lady in Iowa and has eclipsed her in New Hampshire, the tiny New

England state adjacent to his Vermont home. He was elected to the Senate as an independent but votes with the Democrats.

Facing potential upsets in Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton can look to the next contests in Nevada and South Carolina, where she still enjoys strong support among Latinos and blacks who make up a large segment of the Democratic base in those states. Sanders and Clinton have far out-distanced former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The U.S. primary system that usually decides each party’s presidential nominee often skews those choices toward the candidates who voice positions that appeal to voters at the extreme ends in both parties.

History has shown that turnout in the caucuses and primaries typically is dominated by the most motivated party base voters. That reality causes problems for candidates. For example Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 had trouble tracking back to more centrist positions in the general election.

That has become particularly evident this year as voters in both parties voice frustration and anger at the government and the congressional gridlock that has dominated American politics during the eight years of President Barack Obama’s presidency. That is particularly true on the Republican side among members of the ultra-conservative tea party faction, a movment born shortly after Obama took office in 2009. In that climate, Iowa residents go first on Monday in small evening gatherings on what is a typically a frigid winter night to caucus for one of the 11 major Repub-

lican candidates or one of the three Democrats.

By choosing first, Iowans hold outsized influence for a small-population state.

The caucus results can winnow the field and provide momentum for the top finishers ahead of primaries and caucuses in the rest of the U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and overseas territories that run through June.

Next in line on Feb. 9 is the northeastern state of New Hampshire, which holds the first primary election, and it too can have an big impact on the campaign that far outweighs its small population.

The race gains huge momentum on the results from primaries and caucuses held on March 1, known as super Tuesday, when 14 states and one territory all cast ballots or caucus for the candidates.

The primary system is complex and some say arcane.

It amounts to voters actually choosing delegates to the national nominating convention who are pledged to a particular candidate. At the same time a number of delegates are appointed from among both state and national elected officials and the party committees on the state and national levels. But dating back to 1980 the candidate for both parties has clinched the necessary half-plusone delegates, making the conventions little more than a coronation.

The so-called super delegates are not linked to any one candidate but hold huge power in their ability to get behind a candidate during the primary and caucus process, a sort of thumb on the scales that often helps the candidate most favored by the party establishment.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Wednesday 27 January 2016

New Jersey:

Gov. Christie backs state takeover of Atlantic City

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks in Trenton, N.J. Christie said Tuesday the state will assume vast control over Atlantic City’s finances and decision-making, saying the seaside gambling resort is incapable of getting its finances together after years of overspending.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday the state will assume vast control over Atlantic City’s finances and decisionmaking, saying the seaside gambling resort is incapable of getting its finances together after years of overspending.

Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, was joined by the Democratic leader of the state Senate, who has already introduced a takeover bill, and the Republican mayor of Atlantic City, who reluctantly went along with the plan. “Atlantic City’s government has too much debt and it’s too expensive to run for the tax base it has,” Christie said. “Atlantic City’s finances are now the greatest threat to the city’s well-being. The urgency of the city’s current financial predicament cannot be overstated.”

Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney said the takeover bill in the Legislature will be amended to incorporate elements of a financial assistance pack-

age the governor vetoed last week. That includes a provision to let the city’s eight casinos make payments in lieu of taxes and prohibit them from appealing their taxes.

“We have to fix this government,” Sweeney said.

The legislation, which must be approved by the state Legislature, will also let the state negotiate to restructure municipal debt, give it the right to cancel collective bargaining agreements, and sell off city assets and land.

Mayor Don Guardian, who initially opposed a takeover, said Tuesday he decided to accept the state’s help.

“It’s time for some tough decisions and some pain as we move forward,” he told reporters at a Statehouse news conference.

Christie called for the legislation to be introduced and passed before the end of February, and he made a rare promise in advance to sign it. The state takeover would last five years instead of the 15 envisioned in the original legislation.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, a Democrat, said he has serious concerns about the state being given the right to cancel collective bargaining agreements.

Prieto, who was not at the news conference, also cautioned Christie and Sweeney not to ignore him.

“If the Assembly is not involved, then there is no agreement,” he said.

The cash-strapped city has been pondering whether to ask the state for permission to declare bankruptcy — a request that appears less likely to be granted in light of the takeover plan.

The City Council was to discuss a bankruptcy filing Tuesday afternoon, but cannot actually make a filing without state approval.

The struggling seaside gambling resort is still reeling from Christie’s veto of a financial aid package, $160 million in tax appeals from its top casino and the continuing slowdown of its casino industry.

Christie has long been critical of Atlantic City’s municipal government, saying it spends far more than it takes in and repeatedly

turns to the state for bailouts.

Guardian, entering his third year in office, says his administration has cooperated with Christie in making painful budget cuts and is willing to do more.

Atlantic City’s budget woes have been exacerbated by the cratering of its casino industry. In 2014, four of its 12 casinos went out of business. And many of the remaining casinos have successfully appealed their property taxes, convincing a tax court that they are worth less in a diminished market than they were when times were better.

Atlantic City’s casino revenue has fallen from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.56 billion last year.q

A6 U.S.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

American Living:

Factory village’s trail of cancer leads to tap water probe MARY ESCH Associated Press HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — After his factory worker father died a painful death from kidney cancer at age 68 in 2013, Michael Hickey made it his mission to find out why so many people in his hometown along the Hoosic River were getting sick.

Two years later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned residents of Hoosick Falls not to drink or cook with water from municipal wells, and a plastics plant has agreed to install a $2 million carbon filtration system at the village water treatment plant.

Hickey’s campaign began with suspicion about industrial pollution in the factory village near the Vermont border. His father had worked for 35 years at a plant that made high-performance plastics similar to Teflon, so Hickey searched online for “cancer” and “Teflon.”

What he found: PFOA. Perfluorooctanoic acid, a water and oil repellent, had been used since the 1940s in products including non-stick cookware, stainresistant carpeting and microwave popcorn bags.

Manufacturers agreed to phase it out by the end of

Michael Hickey, left, Dr. Marcus Martinez, center, and lawyer David Engel pose for a photo in Hickey’s dining room in Hoosick Fall, N.Y. They formed the grass-roots group Healthy Hoosick Water to press officials to investigate and find a solution after lab tests paid for by Hickey detected the chemical PFOA in the municipal water supply of Hoosick Falls.

(AP Photo/Mary Esch)

2015 shortly after DuPont reached a $16.5 million settlement with the EPA over the company’s failure to report possible health risks associated with PFOA. A scientific panel that conducted health studies as part of a DuPont settlement of a West Virginia classaction lawsuit concluded there was a “probable link” between PFOA exposure and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

In Hoosick Falls, nobody has ever scientifically

documented that the village has an unusually high cancer rate, but Hickey and a local doctor had heard enough anecdotal evidence that they felt it should be addressed.

“There’s always been talk around town about how there’s a lot of cancer,” Hickey said. “When my dad, who didn’t drink or smoke, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, that made it more personal.”

Dr. Marcus Martinez, the family doctor for many of the village’s 3,500 residents, added there certainly seemed to be a high rate

of cancer there, particularly rare, aggressive forms.

The 44-year-old Martinez himself is in remission from atypical bronchial carcinoid tumor, a rare form of lung cancer.

When the two men suggested testing the village water supply, part-time Mayor David Borge at first refused, citing state guidelines. New York state classifies PFOA as an “unspecified organic contaminant” and doesn’t require testing for it.

The EPA has a non-enforceable guidance level of 400 parts per trillion — roughly 4 teaspoons in enough water to fill a 10-mile string of rail tankers.

Hickey used his own money in summer 2014 to have water from his kitchen tap and other sources tested. The results showed PFOA at 540 ppt from Hickey’s home, exceeding the EPA’s guidance. Village officials subsequently tested the municipal supply and found PFOA at similar levels.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, part of a Parisbased global conglomerate, in 1999 became the fifth owner of a plastics factory in Hoosick Falls. It conducted tests in the summer of 2015 and reported a PFOA level of 18,000 ppt in groundwater under its

plant, 500 yards from the village’s main water wells.

“Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is committed to helping the village of Hoosick Falls with this situation,” company spokesman Carmen Ferrigno said. While the source of the PFOA contamination hasn’t been identified, Saint-Gobain has been paying for bottled water for residents since November and has agreed to pay for filtration to remove the chemical from the public water supply, he said.

Hickey and Martinez, along with Albany environmental lawyer David Engel, weren’t satisfied.

They wanted people to be told not to drink the tap water, along with a full investigation and remediation.

Engel contacted Judith Enck, who heads the EPA region that includes New York.

She issued a statement in December warning residents not to drink or cook with village water. Until then, state and village officials had told residents the water was unlikely to cause health problems.

On Jan. 14, Enck and a panel of leading EPA scientists addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Hoosick Falls’ high school auditorium.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Wednesday 27 January 2016

US Financial Front:

American consumers showing more confidence in economy of economic weakness overseas.

“The increase is rather surprising given the volatility in equities in the month,” Derek Lindsey, economist at BNP Paribas, wrote in a research note. “A resilient labor market and low gasoline and utilities prices seem to have offset any negative sentiment stemming

Alana Fusco, left, an employee at Gerald Peters, at the Staten Island Mall in New York, helps a customer choose a bracelet for her niece. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, the Conference Board released the Consumer Confidence Index for January.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong job market and low gasoline prices helped boost U.S. consumer confidence again this month.

The Conference Board on Tuesday said that its consumer confidence index rose to 98.1 in January from 96.3 in Decem-

ber, the second straight monthly gain. The business research group said Americans were more confident about the future, though their assessment of current economic conditions was unchanged from December.

Consumers shrugged off the recent sharp decline in the stock market and signs

US home prices rise in November JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices increased at a faster clip in November, the gains fueled by solid hiring growth, historically low mortgage rates and a shortage of houses on the market.

The Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.8 percent from a year ago, up from a 5.5 percent pace in October, according to a Tuesday report.

Home values nationwide have nearly recovered from their July 2006 peak, as the real estate market has slowly recovered from the housing bust that triggered the Great Recession.

But several metro areas have fully rebounded from the downturn. Four metro areas — Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Portland Oregon — have either matched or eclipsed their all-time highs. And Charlotte, North Carolina is less than 1 percent below its previous high.

Buyers crowded back into the housing market last year. Sales of existing homes rose 6.5 percent over the past year to 5.26 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. More Americans have been able to purchase homes as employers have added 2.7 million jobs and borrowing costs remain low. q

from financial markets.”

The stock market has been rattled by the impact of China’s persistent economic slowdown and a plunge in the prices of commodities, including oil.

From October through December, U.S. employers added a robust average of 284,000 jobs a month.

The unemployment rate

remained at a seven-year low 5 percent in December. The average price of a gallon of gasoline has reached $1.83 from $2 a month ago, according to AAA. The Conference Board said 6.6 percent of survey respondents planned to buy a house in the next six months.q

A8

Wednesday 27 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Russia urges for including Kurds in Syria peace talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

V. ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Tuesday argued strongly against Turkey’s demand to keep a leading Kurdish group out of Syrian peace talks, and said it expects the U.N. envoy to resist “blackmail” by Turkey and others,

reflecting sharp differences that remain ahead of the talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also denied allegations that Moscow had urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and could offer him political asylum.

He specifically shrugged off reports last week claiming that Russia’s military intelligence chief had traveled to Damascus to try to persuade Assad to go. Lavrov said there was no point in such a trip as Assad visited Moscow in the fall and had extensive talks with Presi-

dent Vladimir Putin.

“No one has asked for or offered any political asylum,” he said, adding that Assad had promised Putin he would sit down for peace talks with opposition, including armed groups, and engage the “patriotic” opposition in the fight against the Islamic State group alongside the Syrian army.

Lavrov emphasized that the Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, plays an important role in fighting the Islamic State group and is an essential part of political settlement in Syria.

Turkey sees the PYD and its YPG militia group as branches of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a Kurdish resistance group it has long fought and considers a terrorist group.

Lavrov warned that it would be a “grave mistake” not to invite the PYD. “How can you talk about political reforms in Syria if you ignore a leading Kurdish party?” he said, adding that the Kurds account for

Syria:

Bombings kill 20 as peace talks invitations go out

ZEINA KARAM PHILIP ISSA Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Multiple bombings struck a government-run checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over a hundred amid intense political jockeying ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks scheduled to begin in Ge-

neva on Friday.

The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said it sent out invitations for the talks, but with just three days to go, the opposition is still undecided about whether it will attend.

One opposition official suggested the Saudi-backed opposition delegation may boycott the talks.

Khawla Mattar, a spokeswoman for Staffan de Mis-

tura, told The Associated Press in Geneva that the envoy would not make public the numbers and identities of the invitees until his office gets “feedback from the invited parties” — a sign of the delicacy of his task.

The talks are meant to start a political process to end the conflict that began in 2011 as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad’s

rule but escalated into an all-out war after a harsh state crackdown.

The plan calls for ceasefires in parallel to the talks, a new constitution and elections in a year and a half.

The attack in Homs, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, came as government forces retook a southern town from opposition fighters and other militants.q

15 percent of the population.

Lavrov also warned against Saudi Arabia’s proposal to invite only opposition groups that it hosted at a meeting last month, saying the Syrian peace process should also include other opposition representatives, like those that met for talks in Moscow last year.

The current opposition negotiating team announced in Saudi Arabia last week includes Saudibacked Islamic rebel factions like Jaish al-Islam, or the Army of Islam, which Russia considers terrorists.

The nearly five-year Syrian conflict that began in 2011 with protests against Assad’s rule, has morphed into an all-out war that has killed a quarter-million and displaced millions.

Lavrov’s statement at a news conference reflects the tough posturing ahead of Syria peace talks set to start Friday. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura will be sending invitations amid intense jockeying between countries like Russia and Turkey about who should be invited.

Russia, a key ally of Assad, has called for the inclusion of Kurdish representatives, and the U.S. and others have supported the Kurds in the fight against IS. Russia’s relations with Turkey are at a freezing point after a Turkish fighter jet downed a Russian warplane at the border with Syria in November.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday reiterated Turkey’s opposition to including Syrian Kurdish forces at the Geneva talks. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Clock ticks down on EU passport free travel dream

Migrants walk from the Macedonian border into Serbia, near the village of Miratovac, Serbia, in the early morning Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016.

(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Passportfree travel and hasslefree business in Europe has never been in more danger.

With more than 1 million people streaming into the European Union hoping for sanctuary or jobs, nations have erected fences, deployed troops and tightened border controls.

“What we have worked for,

for so many years, we are seeing it crumbling now in front of us,” Roberta Metsola, a leading EU lawmaker on migration, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

As draconian as they might seem, most attempts to stem the migrant flow have been within the letter, if not the spirit, of the rules governing the European travel haven known as the Schengen area, a jewel in the EU’s integration crown

But as of mid-May, the EU is in uncharted waters.

The legal options for countries like Germany, Austria and Sweden to impose ID checks on everyone who enters, including Europeans, begin to run out.

“Our citizens have a right to feel safe,” Metsola said.

“If that means that we will need to keep stock of who is crossing our borders for a specific amount of time, then we will have to do it.”

The German government has signaled it’s unlikely to ease border controls on May 13, when its temporary border measures legally expire.

If no other mechanism is in place by then, the Schengen rule book could effectively be suspended.

Most EU nations blame Greece for this. Some 850,000 people arrived there last year, many to the Greek islands after a short but often treacherous sea journey in smugglers’ boats from Turkey.

Protests escalate against Greek pension reform ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s leftwing prime minister defended his unpopular pension reform plans Tuesday, pledging to avoid new cuts, as protests against the creditordemanded measures escalated.

Alexis Tsipras told a special parliamentary session that the financially struggling country’s pension system faces collapse unless swift corrective action is taken.

He insisted that the reforms will see no new reductions in core pensions — which have been repeatedly slashed since the start of Greece’s financial crisis.

The pension overhaul has been demanded by Greece’s bailout creditors,

whose rescue loans have kept the country afloat since mid-2010.

The proposed changes will lead to large increases in social security contributions, mostly affecting selfemployed professionals and farmers, who say that they will end up paying more than three quarters of their income to pension funds and tax authorities.

Unions representing groups as disparate as lawyers, doctors, police and fishermen are protesting the reforms, while farmers are using thousands of tractors to block highways across the country.

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused the year-old

government of “sacrificing future generations to gain popularity today,” and warned in Parliament that the measures will increase tax evasion and non-payment of social security contributions.

Ferry crews walk off the job on Wednesday and Thursday — their second 48-hour strike in a week — while lawyers are also on strike.

State hospital employees scuffled with police outside the finance ministry Tuesday, and thousands of workers took part in two peaceful evening marches to Parliament, called by the civil servants’ union and a Communist-affiliated group.q

Aid groups estimate that Greece has shelter for barely 10,000 people; a little over one percent of those who need it. The Greek coastguard is totally overwhelmed.

Managing the country’s vast maritime border would challenge even an experienced government with a fully equipped public service. Greece, at the moment, is also consumed with a crippling economic crisis.

But, Metsola said, “there is a lack of knowledge as to who is coming in and who is going out, and that automatically increases fear and increases the security concerns.”

Most migrants don’t want to stay in Greece. Many hope to be find sanctuary

in Germany or Sweden, and these countries and their neighbors say they will have to impose border controls if Greece can’t or won’t.

“It’s clear that if we can’t secure the European borders — that means the Greek-Turkish border — then the Schengen border will move to central Europe,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Monday.

With Schengen under threat, few palatable options are available and time is running out.

The EU’s executive Commission is preparing a plan that could allow border checks in some countries to be extended for up to two years.q

A10 WORLD

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS US encourages businesses to explore African opportunities

A man works on construction of the Kingdom Tower, a planned 252-story building, which aims to become the world’s tallest skyscraper when complete, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is racing to attract more investment and overhaul its economy as low oil prices expose it to urgent domestic challenges.

(AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

In overhaul: Saudi races to attract investment, create jobs AYA BATRAWY Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia is racing to attract more investment and overhaul its economy as low oil prices expose it to urgent domestic challenges.

For months, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been working with teams of international consultants, regulators, advisers and government agencies to launch a “National Transformation Program,” or NTP, to help the kingdom better withstand plunging revenues.

When King Salman ascended to the throne a year ago, he thrust his 30-yearold son to the forefront of Saudi decision-making, not only as second-in-line to the throne, but also as defense minister and head of a newly-formed committee to oversee economic policy-making.

The Council on Economic and Development Affairs is still working on the NTP and

only vague outlines have been released. Among its key priorities is job creation and increasing foreign investment in sectors such as transportation, health care and mining, where potentially tens of billions of dollars can be tapped.

“All the consulting houses are here in Saudi Arabia.

The who’s who of Saudis are working on it,” Deputy Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), Prince Saud al-Faisal, told The Associated Press. He said there will be more privatization of public services, with the government hoping to outsource “as much as possible.”

In a sign of the possible changes to come, the deputy crown prince told The Economist magazine this month that the kingdom is studying publicly listing state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco. The company has said any potential listing would not include its oil reserves.

SAGIA wrapped up an an-

nual investment conference in Riyadh on Tuesday as Brent crude traded at just over $31 a barrel in London, down from $115 in mid-2014.

With two thirds of Saudi citizens under the age of 35, participants said there is an opportunity to diversify the economy away from oil and into other sectors like housing, consumer goods and services. Though the kingdom has been working on similar plans for years, oil still accounted for 72 percent of total revenue last year. Saudi Arabia projects a budget deficit of $87 billion this year.

“The historic model will not work for the future,” said Tareq Elmasry, managing director for the Middle East for McKinsey and Company. He said that while household income in Saudi Arabia has increased by 70 percent in the past decade, 70 percent of Saudis work in the public sector.

“That’s not a sustainable number,” he told the conference.q

MICHELLE FAUL Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and a slew of American business executives are meeting in Nigeria to encourage trade they say will create jobs on both continents.

The visit to Nigeria, expected to be among the top 10 economies in the world by 2050, and one of Africa’s smallest but most innovative nations, Rwanda, is designed to transform the perception of Africa from an aid-dependent continent to a region brimming with business opportunities, Pritzker told The Associated Press in an interview.

She said Africa has seven of the fastest 10 growing economies in the world; a burgeoning young population and a rising middle class (50 million in Nigeria alone).

“So the message to Americans is now is the time to come and explore the opportunity in Africa,” Pritzker said.

She announced Tuesday that the second US-Africa Business Forum will take place on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September because many African leaders will be present. It will gather “hundreds of both American and African business figures who want to get together because they see the potential of doing more business in Africa,” Pritzker said of the event co-hosted by her department and Bloomberg Philanthropies. President Barack Obama announced an expanded Power Africa initiative at the first forum in Washington D.C. in 2014.

The figures for Nigeria tell the story: In 2014, U.S. exports to Nigeria topped $5.9 billion and imports from Nigeria totaled $3.8 billion, compared to U.S. aid of $694 million last year.

The latest U.S push comes as Nigeria is hurting from the downturn in the economy of China, which last year overtook the U.S. to become Nigeria’s biggest trading partner. China accounted for 22.5 percent of Nigeria’s imports in the third quarter of 2015, compared to 9.6 percent from the U.S., according to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Nigeria’s current economic woes, including lower prices for oil that produces 80 percent of government revenue and a related slump in the naira currency, are positives for investors, said General Electric’s Jay Ireland, who runs the U.S. multinational’s Africa operations.

“This is the time to come in,” he said, adding American companies should be looking at long-term investments that ride out the cycles of oil prices and currency exchanges. “We’re going to be here for a long time and feel very comfortable investing in Nigeria. ...

(It) provides a tremendous platform for growth.”

GE is investing $200 million in Nigeria to build two facilities to assemble oil and gas and power generation equipment that the company hopes to export to other West African nations. The company employs nearly 500 people in Nigeria.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Health minister: Brazil is ‘losing battle’ against mosquito JENNY BARCHFIELD Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s health minister says the country is sending some 220,000 troops to battle the mosquito blamed for spreading a virus suspected of causing birth defects — but he also says the war is already being lost.

Marcelo Castro said that nearly 220,000 members of Brazil’s Armed Forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito eradication efforts ahead of the country’s Carnival celebrations. Agency spokesman Nivaldo Coelho said Tuesday details of the deployment are still being worked out.

Castro also said the government would distribute mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women who receive cash-transfer benefits.

But the minister also said the country has failed in efforts against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

“The mosquito has been here in Brazil for three decades, and we are badly losing the battle against the mosquito,” the ministers told reporters as a crisis group on Zika was meeting in the capital, Brasilia.

A massive eradication effort eliminated Aedes aegypti from Brazil during the 1950s, but the mosquito slowly returned over the following decades from neighboring nations, public health experts have said. That led to outbreaks of dengue, which was recorded in record numbers last year.

The arrival of Zika in Brazil last year initially caused little alarm, as the virus’ symptoms are generally much milder than those of dengue. It didn’t become a crisis until late in the year, when researchers made the link with a dramatic increase in reported cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect that sees babies born with unusually small heads and can cause lasting developmental problems.

But worry about the rapid spread of Zika has expanded across the nation, and the hemisphere beyond.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women to reconsider travel to Brazil and 21 other countries and territories with Zika outbreaks.

One of them, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, reported 18 new confirmed cases of Zika on Tuesday, though

A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Leo Correa)

none involve pregnant women. One case had been reported earlier.

Officials in El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil have suggested women stop getting pregnant until the crisis has passed.

Repellent has disappeared from many Brazilian pharmacies and prices for the product have tripled or even quadrupled where it’s still available in recent weeks since the government announced a suspected link between Zika

virus and microcephaly Nearly 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil since October, compared with fewer than 150 cases in the country in all of 2014.

Castro’s remarks have proven controversial, both in and outside Brazil.

World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said he hadn’t seen the remarks, “but in general terms I think that this would be a bit of a fatalis-

tic approach because this should mean we could lay down all our approaches now and declare the war lost.

“I don’t think this is the case,” he added at WHO headquarters, in Geneva.

In Brazil, some called for Castro to be fired.

“He is incapable of occupying his position,” wrote Helio Gurovitz, a columnist with G1, the internet portal of the Globo television network.q

US tourist slain on Caribbean island of Grenada LINDA STRAKER Associated Press ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — A machete-wielding man attacked a U.S. tourist couple as they walked along an isolated beach on Grenada, killing the woman, police on the Caribbean island said Tuesday. Jessica Lewis Colker, 39, of Atlanta, was found dead after her husband ran to get help following

the attack, which occurred around noon Sunday on a remote stretch of coast along the island’s southeast, said Sylvan McIntyre, an assistant superintendent with the Royal Grenada Police Force. A suspect was in custody. Colker and her husband, Brian Van Melito, had arrived on Grenada a day before the assault and were staying at a hotel near where the attack oc-

curred in an area of beach and mangrove in St. David Parish, McIntrye said.

They had walked from the more popular La Sagesse beach at the time to a more remote spot. “It is an area where you can go off for a moment of privacy and seclusion,” he said.

Colker worked as a physician’s assistant at a children’s hospital in metro Atlanta. Van Melito is a physi-

cian. The couple, who met at a dance workshop in Costa Rica, married in November 2014, according to an online wedding album.

“Jessica was a valued member of our Children’s team,” Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by this horrific news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this very difficult

time.”

The motive for the attack was unknown. The husband told the police that he fought with the man, managed to get away and call for help. Police and residents of the area launched a search and found Colker’s body about an hour later in the woods.

An autopsy found she died of extensive skull fracture and asphyxia. q

A12 WORLD

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

Haiti leaders seek potential solutions to political crisis DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly would step down on schedule in two weeks, an interim government would take over and a runoff vote would be held within months. These are the contours of a potential solution to Haiti’s political crisis that was beginning to emerge early Tuesday, according to officials taking part in the discussions. The crisis follows the indefinite postponement of elections, which has generated fears of backsliding into instability. Haitian political leaders and others with influence have been meeting behind closed doors to discuss a way out of the impasse.

There were no official announcements, but officials said they were working toward a mediated solution following a surge of violent protests and a looming constitutional crisis.

“We know we have to work fast because we have a very short time to resolve this crisis,” said Senate President Jocelerme Privert, an opposition lawmaker who is a central figure in the talks.

“If Haiti needs anything it is political stability.”

Haiti had been scheduled to hold the runoff vote Sunday. But on Friday, the

A demonstrator chants: “Down with Martelly!” during a protest against President Michel Martelly’s government in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

electoral council canceled it, for a second time, amid protests and suspicion that the first round was marred by massive fraud favoring Martelly’s chosen candidate, Jovenel Moise.

The second-place presidential candidate, Jude Celestin, rejected the firstround results as a “farce” and alleged vote-rigging

by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council. Martelly, who cannot run for a second consecutive term, is required under the Constitution to leave office by Feb.

7. For now, a number of proposals are being discussed in negotiations being held in Haiti’s National Palace and elsewhere. Privert said that Martelly has told him in several recent meetings that that he would step down on schedule early next month.

The Senate president cautioned that negotiations were far from settled. But he said consensus could be building for a plan that calls for an interim government to take power on Feb. 7.

New elections would be

held as soon as possible so a newly elected leader could take office, perhaps this spring.

Others with knowledge of the discussions agreed with his description of the current proposals. One Martelly ally with knowledge of the talks said the president wants the interim government to hold power for the minimum time necessary, just long enough to organize a new election. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly dis-

Cruise line restarts Haiti port calls after recent protest PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. on Tuesday reestablished port calls to its fenced-in site and beach attraction in northern Haiti after suspending visits just over a week ago.

The Miami-based company suspended cruise ship stops to the Labadee port on Jan. 19 when one of its ships encountered people staging a protest in small

boats. There were conflicting reports about the reasons for the recent protest in the bay. Cruise ship passengers don’t leave the fenced-in area, long a source of frustration to area residents.

Spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says the company has been in close communication with Haitian officials and is now “comfortable that there will not be

any significant impact” on passengers.

The massive Allure of the Seas ship arrived Tuesday and tourism ministry officials said more visits are scheduled this week.

Royal Caribbean has provided the largest source of Haiti’s tourism revenue for decades. The visitors are prohibited from leaving the cruise line’s property, which features white-sand

beaches and one of the longest zip lines in the world.

Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin tweeted Tuesday that the government has been working “collaboratively with local people on sustainable projects.” A ministry spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity about the recent protest, saying a full explanation would be provided shortly.q

cuss the negotiations.

There’s growing concern in some quarters that an inability to forge a deal might roll back a decade of relative political stability and scare off foreign investment in the hemisphere’s poorest nation.

“This situation is very worrying because reaching consensus is not going to be easy, knowing Haiti’s political actors,” said Rosny Desroches, a member of a special electoral commission that had unsuccessfully pushed for a political dialogue to ease electoral tensions. While Martelly meets with legislative leaders, the “Group of Eight” opposition alliance, led by Celestin, asserts that Haiti’s new Parliament was installed illegally and can’t provide solutions. Political compromise is a rare thing in Haiti, where elections and power transitions are often accompanied by violence and disorder. In a report on Haiti last year, the World Bank said many observers agree that “Haitians perceive political and economic disputes as a zero sum game with only winners and losers, each with very long memories.”

Oposition-stoked protests have steadily ramped up the tension in Haiti’s capital with window-smashing and burning street barricades. Some opposition militants and pro-government figures are fanning the flames. Senate candidate Guy Phillippe, an exparamilitary who helped lead an uprising against then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and campaigned with ruling party presidential Moise this election cycle, called on supporters in his remote enclave in southwestern Haiti to “defend” against opposition “anarchists.”q

LOCAL A13

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Paseo Herencia Celebrates the National Holiday of Betico Day!

live entertainment in their Plaza Padu nightly at 8:00

PALM BEACH - Paseo Herencia Shopping Mall goes well beyond being just a center for shopping, dining and entertainment by decorating its walls and halls with enlightening information about Aruba, its history, and a number of prominent figures that have contributed to the island’s development. The management particularly enjoys enriching and sharing our national holidays with island visitors, such as January 25th, the cel-

ebration of the birthday of statesman Gilberto Francois “Betico” Croes, a pivotal figure in Aruba attaining autonomy in 1986.

Oranjestad’s main shopping street is named for G.F. “Betico” Croes, who was also instrumental in the introduction of the Aruban flag and national anthem, “Aruba Dushi Terra,” in 1976. Founder of the major political party Movimiento

Electoral di Pueblo, (MEP), He was a key figure in negotiating with Holland for self rule for the island within the Dutch Kingdom. He passed away in 1986. A statue of him stands in the Plaza Betico behind the Cas di Cultura in Oranjestad, and his birthday was declared a national holiday almost two decades ago.

Paseo Herencia hosts free

PM. This past Monday, in celebration of “Betico” Day, they expanded their usual cultural show with additional patriotic folkloric dance by Youth in Action and Kids in Action dance groups. MC Alberto Groenveldt taught the audience filling the Plaza Padu some key phrases in Papiamento, and explained the meaning of this special day to island visitors, who thoroughly enjoyed a lively, authentic insight into Aruban history and culture enormously.q

A14 LOCAL

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Violeta by MANGO:

New Image and New Sizes In The Spring/Summer 2016 Collection -Following several collaborations, the model Candice Huffine becomes the new face of the campaign. What’s more, Violeta by MANGO is extending the size range to 54 and becoming curvier than ever.

worked with the brand on other occasions, has become the new face of the campaign.

The photo shoot, which took place in Mallorca in mid-December, was led by the photographer Sergi Pons, with whom

alongside Candice. The styling was by the Violeta

by MANGO team, while José Carlos González was responsible for hair and make-up. The campaign will hit the streets and the brand’s various advertising platforms

ORANJESTAD/BARCELONA - Violeta by MANGO presents its new Spring/ Summer 2016 collection with the support of Candice Huffine. The American model, who has

the brand has collaborated on numerous occasions. Candice shared the photo shoot with the American model Tara Lynn, who is featured in the brand’s catalogue

from 1 February.

On her collaboration with the brand, Candice Huffine said: It is always a pleasure to collaborate with Violeta! I really identify with the brand and I am delighted to be a part of this project, which is committed to the world of curvy fashion. The garments are incredible and I like the idea that all women have access to the latest trends, something I have always defended.

As a new feature and to mark the second anniversary of the brand’s creation, it has extended its size range to cater for consumers up to size 54, as a result of the numerous requests it has received from them.

The aim of Violeta by MANGO is to dress a young target market with garments designed to be comfortable, feminine and modern. The secret to this project, launched in January 2014, lies in the care tak-

en in the technical pattern details from size to size and in being able to offer a high quality collection for any moment of the day, aimed at a modern and demanding woman who wants to feel attractive, sexy and fashionable.

The brand’s new collection has a clear 70s inspiration running through it. In this decade, denim emerges as a key material, whether in flared trousers, long skirts and overshirts. The golden hues of cognac and mustard merge in garments such as jumpsuits and overalls, offerings that perfectly represent the youthful freedom and optimism of this era.

Visit Mango, exclusively in downtown Oranjestad.q

LOCAL A15

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Loyal Visitors to Aruba Honored as Emerald Ambassadors!

EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a pair of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Aruba Beach Club as Emerald Ambassadors!

The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation for guests who visit Aruba for 35-or-more consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Lyon and Mrs. Linda Howe of Yonkers, New York, who started coming to Aruba 36 years ago!

Lyon and Linda are regular guests of the Aruba Beach Club and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the Casinos, and just about everything else! They say Aruba feels like a second home where the people are like family to them, and the Aruba Beach Club is truly their ‘homeaway-from-home.’ The Emerald Ambassador Certificate and special Commemorative Coin were presented by Mr. Jonathan Boekhoudt representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with friends, family and Mrs. Kenia Brito from the Aruba Beach Club. q

A16 LOCAL

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Loyal Visitors Honored by the Aruba Tourism Authority

EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of

honoring a group of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Costa Linda Beach

Resort as Distinguished Visitors and Goodwill Ambassadors! The symbolic honor-

ary titles are presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as tokens of appreciation for guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 and 20to-34 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Luis and Mrs. Ana Maria Franch and their daughter and son Maria Cecilia and Mariano Franch as Distinguished Visitors, and Mr. Valeri and Mrs. Lina Markovsky as Goodwill Ambassadors.

Families Franch and Markovsky are regular guests of Costa Linda and they love Aruba very much because

of the friendly people, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the Casinos, and just about everything else! They say Aruba feels like a second home where the people are like family to them, and Costa Linda is truly their ‘home-awayfrom-home.’ The certificates were presented by Mr. Ernest Giel representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with Mrs. Gloria Janga and Mrs. Lina Asaytuno of the Costa Linda Beach Resort.q

SPORTS A17

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Courting Repeat

Serena Williams of the United States plays a forehand return to Maria Sharapova of Russia during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Williams beat Sharapova 6-4, 6-1.

(AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Williams beats Sharapova; Djokovic, Federer to meet in semis JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams has never lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Neither has Novak Djokovic.

A key difference between the defending champions is that Williams beat the most-experienced and highest-ranked challenger in her half of the draw when she extended her streak to 18 consecutive wins against Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal

victory on Tuesday.

Williams said she wasn’t aware that she had won the Australian Open all six previous times she won her quarterfinal match, “but that’s good.”

“It’s not a stat that’s set in stone,” Williams said. “I still have to win two matches.”

Five-time champion Djokovic, after beating No. 7 Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, still has a daunting semifinal match against Roger Federer, who has won four of his 17 Grand Slam titles in

Australia.

Federer reached his 12th Australian Open semifinal, and 39th in a Grand Slam event, with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Tomas Berdych. He hasn’t gone past the semifinals at Melbourne Park since winning the title in 2010, but he’s a serious obstacle for Djokovic.

They’re 22-all in career head-to-heads, with Djokovic catching up since usurping Federer in the rankings.

The tiebreaker will be tricky.

Djokovic lost only one of his 28 Grand Slam matches in 2015 — to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final — and has won 37 of his last 38 matches at Melbourne Park, a run that includes four titles. He beat Federer in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals last year, but Federer was back contending for titles.

“Any round feels like finals because of the fact that we are, you know, big rivals, we played so many

times against each other,” Djokovic said. “There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot at stake. I’m expecting a great fight in two days.”

In the women’s semifinals, Williams will be facing fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3. Radwanska has won one of her previous four semifinals at a major, but never won a Grand Slam title.

Continued on Page 20

A18 SPORTS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Jordan Spieth’s international tour continues in Singapore

Jordan Spieth of the United States tees off at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Spieth’s worldwide golf adventure continues this week at the Singapore Open.

(AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil)

SINGAPORE (AP) — Jordan Spieth’s worldwide golf adventure continues

this week at the Singapore Open, where he says the weather reminds him a bit

of his home state of Texas.

Spieth arrived in Singapore on Monday after an eight-

hour flight from Abu Dhabi, where he finished tied for fifth, five strokes behind winner Rickie Fowler in the Abu Dhabi Championship, and said he was exhausted.

Spieth arrived in the Middle East after an eight-shot victory in Hawaii, which followed his 2015 season when he won two majors and the FedEx Cup title, and reached No. 1 in the world.

Over the past two months, he’s also played in South Korea at the Presidents Cup, China, in Sydney where he unsuccessfully defended his Australian Open title, and in the Bahamas.

“This was just a unique offseason,” Spieth said at a media conference Tuesday. “I’m extremely excited to be here. I was very tired on Sunday from a long week there. By the time we

start Thursday, I’ll be ready to go with four full days of my best stuff.”

Spieth spent nearly a halfhour waiting for his luggage at Changi Airport on his arrival, but said he spent Monday “resting, just laying low trying to catch up on sleep, strength and hydration from the long trips.”

“I don’t mind the heat and humidity, I’m used to it from Texas. It’s a bit of a hit at this time of year.”

After the Singapore Open, which will be played at the Sentosa Golf Club, he’ll return to the U.S. to play at Pebble Beach pro-am and the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles in February.

“I was unlucky in the spacing of the tournaments,” Spieth said Tuesday. “And that’s what kind of led to this crazy four-month adventure that we’ve had.”

Oosthuizen, Grace look to maintain South African domination STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer South Africans have won three of the five European Tour events in the 2016 season, and two more of the country’s players seem strong candidates for a victory at the Qatar Masters.

Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen tees up for the first time in 2016 after a seven-week break and will look to continue his remarkable record of results in the opening event of a calendar year. In 2011 and 2012, he won the Africa

Open and had consecutive victories in the Volvo Golf Champions in 2013 and 2014. Last year, when injury prevented him from starting his campaign until March, he placed sixth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

“After a good break, you want to go back out on the golf course again,” said Oosthuizen, who played the Nedbank Golf Challenge in early December and didn’t pick up his clubs again until last week. “I think a lot of times with the schedules we have these days you lose that a bit, to be hungry again just to go out and play. I got a bit of that back again.”

Branden Grace is the defending champion in Doha and showed his form last week with a fifth-place finish — tying with topranked Jordan Spieth — in a strong field at the Abu

Dhabi Championship. The No. 11-ranked Grace could break into the world’s top 10 for the first time after this week. “It’s something you dream about as a young player, being in the world’s top 10, so it would be huge for me to achieve that,” said Grace, who finished in the top four in two majors in 2015. “My career has excelled ever since (winning in Qatar last year). It really put me back on the map again and it’s a week I’ll never forget.”

Charl Schwartzel, Brandon Stone and Haydn Porteous are the South African winners so far this season, all in events on home soil.

SPORTS A19

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Broncos heap praise on Panthers leading up to Super Bowl 50 PAT GRAHAM Associated Press ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Nothing but compliments for Cam Newton after completely bashing Tom Brady.

And no, this nasty Denver Broncos defense hasn’t suddenly turned soft.

They’re simply playing nice with the Super Bowl still two weeks away.

The pleasantries seem tame after all the trash talking Denver did before the New England game. The Broncos called Brady a crybaby for complaining to the officials over calls. They also accused tight end Rob Gronkowski of constantly pushing off to get open.

On Sunday, they backed up their words by constantly harassing Brady in a 2018 win over the Patriots to earn a spot in Super Bowl 50 against Carolina (17-1).

Now, the Broncos (14-4) are pulling out the respect card, especially when it comes to Newton.

“He’s probably the most dangerous quarterback in the NFL right now,” Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib said.

Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware heaped plenty of praise on Newton, too.

“You can’t rush timid because if you do that, he’s one of those pocket quarterbacks that can get the ball deep down the field,” said Ware, whose team will wear their white road uniforms on Feb. 7 in their

record-tying eighth Super Bowl appearance. “You have to be able to get pressure on him, but you have to be decisive on how you’re rushing. You can’t be a wild rusher.”

The Broncos certainly went wild against Brady, hitting him 23 times, all the more amazing given how quickly Brady usually gets rid of the ball.

And no one was in his face more often than Von Miller, who had 2 1/2 sacks and an interception on a pass intended for Gronkowski.

“We go out there and the scoreboard talks for itself,” Miller said.

So good was defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ scheme that after the game, coach Gary Kubiak felt he had to give out several game balls.

“We’ve got to come up with a great game plan against them like we did against New England,” Talib said. “We may switch it up here and there a little bit, but for the most part, we’re going to get pressure on the quarterback and cover.”

The Broncos are facing a different kind of QB in Newton. He’s not like Brady, who will find seam after seam for big play after big play. Instead, Newton will take off if the pressure is too intense. In a 49-15 win over Arizona during the NFC title game, Newton rushed for two TDs and threw for two more.q

NFL conducting probe of Manning DENVER (AP) — The NFL says it is conducting a comprehensive review of allegations that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had human growth hormone delivered to his house.

There’s no timetable to complete the investigation, but it’s not expected before the Denver plays Carolina in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.League spokesman Brian McCarthy says the inquiry, which began weeks ago, involves reviews of records, interviews and coordination with other agencies.

Al Jazeera reported last month that an intern at an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic was secretly recorded suggesting that Manning’s wife received deliveries of HGH, which is banned by the league.

Manning, then with the Colts, was rehabbing from shoulder surgeries.

The intern, Charles Sly, has since recanted his story.

Manning angrily denied using performance-enhancing substances and called the report “complete garbage.”q

Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton celebrates after the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers won 49-15 to advance to the Super Bowl.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

20 SPORTS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Williams beats Sharapova; Djokovic, Federer to meet in semis Continued from Page 17

Williams is 8-0 against Radwanska, including their meeting in the 2012 Wimbledon final.

Williams said she couldn’t explain her 11-year domination of Sharapova — she has won 19 of their 21 meetings overall — except to say she rises to the big challenges.

“When I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game,” said Williams, a 21-time major winner. “I think that makes me play better.

“When I’m forced to play better, I do well.”

Williams attacked Sharapova’s strength, targeting the five-time Grand Slam winner’s improving serve.

Sharapova had a careerhigh 21 aces in her previous win against No. 12 Belinda Bencic. Against Williams, she had three, and seven double-faults. Williams had 13 aces, hit 31 winners to 11, and broke Sharapova’s serve four times.

“She played quite explo-

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand return return to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Djokovic beat Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

sive,” Sharapova said. “She was really explosive off the return. Yeah.”

Sharapova hasn’t given up hope of breaking a drought against Williams that goes

back to 2004.

“It’s motivating because she’s at a different level,”

AP Source:

Review coming of tennis’ anti-corruption group

HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Responding to reports that possible evidence of match fixing was not properly investigated, tennis’ governing bodies are setting up an independent review of the sport’s anticorruption group, a person familiar with the plans tells The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the review of the Tennis Integrity Unit had not yet been announced.

The official word is supposed to come at a news conference on the grounds of the Australian Open on

Wednesday. ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode, International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty and Wimbledon Chairman Philip Brook are scheduled to attend. Those three are members of the Tennis Integrity Board, with Brook as chairman, a rotating position.

The review will be run out of London, according to the person familiar with the plans.

As the year’s first Grand Slam tournament began last week, the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports saying tennis au-

thorities failed to thoroughly pursue evidence of match fixing involving more than a dozen players who have ranked in the top 50 over the past decade. No players were named.

At a news conference in Melbourne, Australia, when the reports first emerged, Kermode rejected the notion that there was unchecked match fixing in tennis or that any evidence might have been suppressed. He added that the Tennis Integrity Unit remained “constantly vigilant and not complacent” when it comes to tackling corruption.

The Tennis Integrity Unit began work in 2008, when the sport’s four main oversight groups — the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee — adopted an anti-corruption code to make sure the same rules and penalties are applied across tennis.

The year before, three players were suspended for betting on matches and an online site voided wagers on a match involving then-fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns. q

Sharapova said.

“She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players. She makes you work. That’s inspiring.”

Federer also has some inspiration in his next match against Djokovic, namely the recent losses.

The 34-year-old Federer used a full array of shots, including some vintage backhands, in his 48 winners to avenge losses to Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 and the 2012 U.S. Open. “Tomas has caused me a lot of problems over the years,” said Federer, who improved to 16-6 against Berdych. “He’s one of those guys who make you a better player, he’s beaten me on the biggest courts around the world.”

Djokovic has caused his share of pain for Federer since overtaking him in the rankings.

After his long five-setter against Gilles Simon, when he made a startling 100 unforced errors, Djokovic cut that down 27 in a fasterpaced, shorter-rally encounter against Nishikori, a U.S. Open finalist in 2014.

He came up with the big plays while facing break points in the first two sets, and only dropped serve in two exchanges of breaks in the third.

“That was a goal, to decrease the unforced errors ratio,” Djokovic said, smiling. “In important moments I stayed composed. Overall it was a very solid performance.

“I have to be satisfied, I reached (the) semifinals. I won against a top-10 player in straight sets. Comparing to the fourth-round match, this was much better. That makes me confident and encourages me for the next one.”q

SPORTS A21

Wednesday 27 January 2016

French Roundup: Lille tops Bordeaux 5-1 to reach French League Cup final PARIS (AP) — Lille thrashed Bordeaux 5-1 to reach the French League Cup final on Tuesday.

Lille will meet either Cup holder Paris Saint-Germain or Toulouse.

Striker Yassine Benzia opened the scoring with a slightly deflected shot, and hit a volley just wide as Lille totally controlled the first 30 minutes, during which it also had a goal disallowed for offside.

Bordeaux midfielder Clement Chantome equalized, but Lille scored twice in quick succession before the break to take control.

A superb instinctive finish from midfielder Eric Bautheac and a fine finish from substitute Sofiane Boufal three minutes into injury time capped a resounding win, and ended Bordeaux’s 11-match unbeaten run.

PSG, which is unbeaten in domestic competition this season, hosts Toulouse on Wednesday.

“This will do the team a lot of good,” said Lille midfielder Florent Balmont, referring to the side’s precarious position of 14th in the league.

Bordeaux equalized following a defensive error from center half Adama Soumaoro. He tried a dragback inside his own penalty area and got tackled by Chantome, who drilled the ball into the corner.

Lille missed a chance shortly after when midfielder Rony Lopes shot too close to goalkeeper Jerome Prior after going clean through.

But there was another defensive mishap just before halftime as Bordeaux center-half Lamine Sane scored an own goal when trying to tackle Lopes.q

English Roundup:

Liverpool beats Stoke; reaches League Cup final STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool beat Stoke 6-5 on penalties to reach the English League Cup final on Tuesday, with Joe Allen scoring the decisive spot kick in the second leg.

Stoke won the match 1-0 after extra time through Marko Arnautovic’s firsthalf goal, and the semifinal finished 1-1 on aggregate.

Both sides missed one of their first five penalties to take the shootout to sudden death. Stoke defender Marc Muniesa saw his effort saved by Simon Mignolet, and Allen converted high in the right corner before being mobbed by teammates.The final is at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 28. Stoke won at Anfield after 90 minutes for the first time since 1959 but the victory proved in vain for the midlands club, which was looking to reach its third final in this competition.

Instead, Liverpool — the most successful team in League Cup history — will look to add to its eight titles, with the possibility of an all-Merseyside final like in 1984. Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will be back at Wembley for the first time since he led

Liverpool’s players celebrate after winning the English League Cup semifinal second leg soccer match between Liverpool and Stoke City at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Borussia Dortmund there in the all-German Champions League final in 2013, won

by Bayern Munich.

Liverpool beat Norwich 5-4 in a Premier League classic on Saturday but its inconsistency under Klopp resurfaced here.

Stoke signaled its intent to make the game scrappy — and life uncomfortable for Liverpool — by starting with tall striker Peter Crouch and a hard-working fellow frontman in Jon Walters. The team has refined its playing

style under Mark Hughes to make it more pleasing on the eye, but this was the Stoke of the Tony Pulis years.

The switch paid off.

Crouch was a constant menace and Liverpool’s ball-playing midfielders were harried into basic mistakes. The distribution from both sides was very poor.

Arnautovic’s goal was out of keeping with what went on previously in the first half.

Bojan Krkic was played in behind isolated center

back Mamadou Sakho, and the forward crossed for Arnautovic — arriving from an offside position — to sweep home a low finish.

Klopp sent on Christian Benteke to replace captain Jordan Henderson early in the second half to give Liverpool more presence up front but it made little difference, and Stoke continued to look more dangerous, especially when Arnautovic got the ball, and from set-pieces using Crouch’s height.q

Italian Roundup:

Balotelli penalty helps AC Milan to win in Cup semis TURIN, Italy (AP) — Mario Balotelli converted a firsthalf penalty and AC Milan beat third-division Alessandria 1-0 in the opening leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

Getting his first start after several months out with an injured pelvis, Balotelli calmly scored from the

spot shortly before halftime after Luca Antonelli was fouled inside the area as he slalomed between defenders.

As usual, Balotelli did not celebrate.

A few minutes earlier, Balotelli wasted a great chance after being set up

by Keisuke Honda with only

the goalkeeper to beat.

Milan substitute M’Baye Niang, who replaced Balotelli midway through the second half, hit the post near the end.

The match was at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico because the stadium in Alessandria, outside Turin, wasn’t big enough.

It’s the first time a third-division club has reached the last four since Bari 32 years ago. Alessandria eliminated Serie A clubs Palermo and Genoa.

Juventus hosts Inter Milan in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

The return legs are scheduled for March 1, 2 or 3.q

A22 HEALTH

Wednesday 27 January 2016

By: Dr. Carlos Viana

As strong as your house might be, if the foundation of the structure is collapsing the dwelling will not last long. A strong foundation supports a strong building. The lower back is truly the foundation of our body’s structure and an agonizing lower back means your body cannot stand upright. In our clinic we have seen patients with excruciating lower back transported to us in the back of station wagons, SUVs, and hatchbacks.

The parts of the lower back include the bony structure of your spine and pelvis; areas of motion which are the joints of soft pads-discs, the supportive structures that initiate motion are the muscles, ligaments which are the straps that hold bone to bone and the electrical system supplied by the nerves. As the center of the body, dancers and other athletes realize that all sustainable movement in your body originates in your body’s core or center, which includes the lower back.

Lower back pain can be a combination of the parts of the back. Injuries are caused either by one major trauma or by many minor traumas that occur over time. If there is an energy imbalance, such as a rotated pelvis, a short leg or an increased or decreased curve in the low

Crumbling Foundation

back, there will be areas of heightened tension that will be more vulnerable to irritation and injury. When an injury takes place, there will usually be a muscle spasm and swelling indicating inflammation of the discs or nerves. This is why it is common to feel multiple types of pain when injured. Muscles cause dull aches while nerves cause sharp pains.

Low back pain is the most prevalent cause of disability in people under age forty five. If you have any of the following symptoms, you need medical attention. Pain is worse when you cough or sneeze; pain or numbness travels down one or both legs; pain awakens you from sleep; you are finding it difficult to or loose control of urine or bowel movement.

There are several symptoms of lower back problems. Nearly all lower back problems present with numbness, weakness, sciatica pain, stiffness, or tightness. When nerve impulses aren’t traveling properly from the skin to the brain you will feel numbness.

Weakness happens when signals don’t travel properly from the brain to the muscles or from problems in the muscles themselves. I see many patients suffering from Type II diabetes with these leg problems.

Patients who awaken early in the morning with stiffness are likely to be suffering from an inflammatory condition. Since there could be a more serious problem, and a physician should rule out infection and severe psychological problems.

Tightness in the back, neck, arms and legs is most often due to changes

in the muscles. Most neck and back problems are a result of tight, achy muscles brought on by years of bad posture. Additionally, joint stiffness and pain, could mean you are at risk for degenerative osteoarthritis.

Poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle have shown to increase the risk of the condition in later years.

Sciatica refers to pain that begins in the hip and buttocks and continues all the way down the leg. This pain is also in the lower back. The term “sciatica” indicates that the sciatic nerve, which travels from the lower back into the leg, is where this pain is moving.

While we treat this condition successfully with acupuncture I check the health of the prostate in male patients and screen women in child bearing ages for urinary tract or vaginal infections.

In the postmenopausal female low back pain, difficulty initiating stool or urination, urinary incontinence, and pelvic pain or pressure is usually from a weakening of the supporting structures of the vagina and uterus. During the childbearing years the female hormones have continuously stimulated the sexual organs. Without a replacement physical stimulation, the muscles and ligaments weaken and are no longer able to hold the organs in place. Many times I get a complaint from a menopausal woman that “something” from the vagina is protruding rather than any pain or pressure feelings. A series of ten to fifteen acupuncture treatment are usually all that is needed for these women to walk nor-

mally again.

In the many years that we have provided primary care to our community, every new case of lower back pain has come to us with a diagnosis from an allopathic doctor that there is a “disk problem”.

Either the disk is herniated, which would mean that a rupture in the wall of a disk, between two vertebras or because nerves are being “pinched”. Of course, pain medication is provided along with trite advice to “take some time off to relax”.

It is important to tract down the source of your lower back problems if your pain is spontaneous or regularly recurring. My mother, Nora, suffered for years from low back problems; directly related to a somewhat serious automobile accident in the years before belt restraints and airbags. At her eightieth birthday she walked effortlessly and confidently to her birthday celebration and honored me with her first of many dances. A living testament that lower back pain needs not be a life sentence.

Get The Point!

Anne Frank, the seventeen year old Dutch girl caught hiding from the Nazis said “I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... I think... peace and tranquility will return again”. She was not writing about the same foundation, but her words ring true for what you are going through suffering from back pain. The negative effects of back pain on family relationships, your job, loss of self esteem, guilt, fear, and an-

ger are very real. Accepting the sentencing that the structure of your back has crumbled and your choices are to “live with it, or get an operation” is ridiculous.

There are more options. Call to make an appointment if you are ready to rebuild your foundation for some peace and tranquility.

CARLOS VIANA ta un Docter (Ph D) den Antropologia Medico, e ta un Doctor den Medicina Tradicional Oriental studia na Shanghai, China; nutricionista clinico certifica. Tambe miembro di directiva di e Asociasion di Professionalnan den tratamiento di adiccion ytoxicologia, Presidente di e comite pa America Latino di e Academia Internacional di Medicina Oral y Toxicologia. Dr. Viana tin un programa di radio tur siman , ta scirbi y duna lecturanan extensamente . Pa mas informacion di e servicionan na VIANA NATURAL HEALING CENTER NV, Kibaima 7, Tel 585 1270, Web sight: www.vianaheal.com “Prescriptions from Paradise” ta optenible na Aruba na Viana Healing Center, Tur libreria, Gift shops y centro nan di salud di calidad. tambe ta disponibel den forma do print y pa Kindle download pa nos amigo nan pa fo di Aruba na www.amazon.com Pa anuncio nan acerca di mas evento nan y firmamento di buki check , check corant nan local, radio y television tambe como riba www. vianaheal.com y join e discusion riba nos Facebook pagina: www.facebook. com/prescriptionsformparadise q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Wednesday 27 January 2016

New hockey app debuts with help of MLB baseball AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball is debuting a new website and apps — for ice hockey.

Under a deal reached last summer, baseball’s digital business has taken over streaming and app development for the National Hockey League. On Monday, the NHL will start offering a cheaper subscription package, NHL Premium, with six-minute recaps and live video for the final five minutes of most games, plus any overtime and shootouts. Premium will cost $3 a month, compared with $25 for full games. In both cases, hometown games will typically be unavailable to preserve television rights.

The NHL is also boosting video quality to 60 frames per second, double the standard 30 frames, though you’ll need a streaming TV device, a game console, an iPad or one of the larger, Plus models of the iPhone.

Officials say that 60 frames will be ideal for fast-moving action such as hockey, as it will make puck movement look smoother. Bob Bowman, baseball’s president of business and media, says he plans to bring that to baseball, too.

Among other features: — Beyond choosing a team or two as favorites, you’ll be able to “follow” rival teams. Those teams will show up higher on league scoreboards, but you won’t clutter the screen with as much news about those teams as you would for favorites.

— Composite views will mix the main action with alternative angles, such as cameras looking straight down on each goalie.

Gone will be the ability to choose alternative angles individually, as video didn’t always sync correctly. Officials are hoping to address that by offering the composite view with preselected angles as a single stream. Although baseball is now running hockey’s digital services, you won’t get the type of real-time tracking available for baseball. q

Apple’s iPhone success may be reaching its peak BRANDON BAILEY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple could soon face one of its biggest challenges to date: Peak iPhone.

Most analysts believe Apple surpassed its own record by selling more than 74.5 million units of its flagship product in the final three months of 2015. But there are signs that iPhone sales in the first three months of 2016 will — for the first time ever — show an abrupt decline from the same period a year earlier.

That could mark a pivotal moment for the Silicon Valley giant.

Apple is the world’s biggest company, in terms of stock value, thanks to the iPhone’s surging popularity around the world. In business terms, Apple makes most of its money from iPhone sales.

But concerns about slowing growth have sent the stock into a months-long slump, fueling debate about what kind of company Apple will be in the future.

The iPhone contributed nearly two-thirds of Apple’s $234 billion in revenue last year. None of the other new products Apple has launched in recent years have emerged as blockbusters. That’s led some critics to suggest Apple has lost its innovative touch, while others say it’s evolving to depend on a broader base of related tech products and services.

One thing is clear, said analyst Angelo Zino at S&P Capital IQ: “Last year was an unprecedented year for Apple and the iPhone....

You’ll never see that type of growth from the iPhone again.”

When CEO Tim Cook re-

ports Tuesday on Apple’s sales for the last three months of 2015, investors will be watching closely for any hints about how Apple’s signature smartphone is faring in the current quarter. Sales usually fall somewhat after the holiday

lysts are expecting around 55 million.

An estimated 500 million people own iPhones now, which means Apple can rely on a significant number to upgrade each year. But some have put off buying a new model because they

a similar cycle a few years ago, when iPhone sales growth slowed to 7 percent in the final months of 2013.

The next year, Apple introduced new models with significantly bigger screens.

That sent sales skyrocketing, especially in Asia, where

Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at an event in San Francisco.

Most analysts believe Apple surpassed its own record by selling more than 74.5 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015. But there are signs that iPhone sales in the first three months of 2016 will show an abrupt decline from the same period a year earlier.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

shopping season. But analysts say it appears Apple has cut production orders from key suppliers in recent weeks, suggesting it’s lowered its own forecasts.

Apple hasn’t commented on iPhone sales since last fall, when Cook struck an upbeat tone. In part, Zino and other experts say, the company is suffering from its own success. Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the March quarter of 2015, or 40 percent more than it did a year earlier. To match that growth rate, Apple would need to sell more than 85 million in the current period. Instead, ana-

didn’t see a strong reason to upgrade.

Despite some new features, “people are feeling like there hasn’t been anything that’s really new” in the latest iPhone models, known as the 6S and 6S Plus, which came out last fall, said market researcher John Feland of Argus Insights.

Apple will likely make significant changes in the next major iPhone release, expected in September, which could fuel another surge in sales. Some tech blogs have reported a new model might even be coming this spring.

The company went through

consumers had previously flocked to buy big-screen phones from rival Samsung.

But there may no more equally dramatic changes left to jump-start sales like that again. “Apple really pulled the big lever they had left un-pulled, up to then,” said tech analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. “That was sort of a one-off event.”

While iPhone sales may be slowing, Apple has launched other products and services tied to the iPhone — from the Apple Watch to the digital payments service known as Apple Pay.q

Marvin Minsky, pioneer of artificial intelligence, dies CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) — A pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who saw parallels in the functioning of the human brain and computers has died. Marvin Minsky was 88.

The university says Minsky died Sunday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Minsky viewed the brain as a machine whose functioning can be studied, and replicated in a computer

and considered how machines might be endowed with common sense.

Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, says Minsky “helped create the vision of artificial intelligence as

we know it today.”

Minsky served in the Navy during World War II, before earning mathematics degrees from Harvard and Princeton. He joined MIT’s faculty in 1958.

He is survived by his wife and three children.q

A24 BUSINESS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Stock rise, driven by a turn higher in crude oil prices MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks jumped Tuesday as the price of oil made another abrupt reversal, this time rising almost 4 percent after falling sharply the day before.

Energy stocks climbed along with the price of oil, and Chevron and Exxon Mobil made major gains.

Strong fourth-quarter results from beleaguered wireless provider Sprint gave telecom stocks a boost. Quarterly earnings also sent several stocks higher, including Post-it Notes maker 3M, Procter & Gamble, which makes Crest toothpaste, and luxury handbag maker Coach.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 282.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to

16,167.23. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 26.55 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,903.63. The Nasdaq composite index added 49.18 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,567.67.

Energy stocks gained ground as the price of U.S. crude rose $1.10, or 3.7 percent, to close at $31.45 a barrel in New York. It fell almost 6 percent Monday.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose $1.30, or 4.3 percent, to $31.80 a barrel in London.

Despite the rebound, U.S. crude is down almost 18 percent this month.

Exxon Mobil picked up $2.72, or 3.7 percent, $76.70 and Chevron rose $3.23, or 4 percent, to $84.12.

Quarterly earnings contributed to many of the biggest moves of the day.

Trader Mark Puetzer works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Higher oil prices and some positive earnings news from U.S. companies are helping to send the stock market higher.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Procter & Gamble reported a larger profit in the fourth quarter as it raised prices and cut costs. The maker of Pantene shampoo, Crest toothpaste and Charmin toilet paper added $1.96, or 2.6 percent, to $78.81.

Coach reported a greater profit than analysts had expected, and its stock rose $2.98, or 9.8 percent, to $33.33. Even with that big gain, however, it’s down 10 percent over the last 12 months.

3M, which makes industrial coatings and ceramics, reported a greater profit and more revenue than ana-

lysts expected. It rose $7.21, or 5.2 percent, to $144.78.

The Dow had its best day since early December.

Many of the companies making the biggest gains, including Exxon, Chevron and 3M, are Dow components. The Nasdaq made smaller gains because tech stocks didn’t rise as much as the broader market.

Huntington Bancshares agreed to buy competitor FirstMerit Corp for $3.4 billion. The deal would create the largest bank in Ohio, and the companies would have about $100 billion in combined assets. FirstMerit

added $2.82, or 18.3 percent, to $18.19 and Huntington lost 75 cents, or 8.5 percent, to $8.50.

Sprint, the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S., posted a smaller loss in its third quarter and said its aggressive promotions lured in more users. The company raised its outlook for the year.

Sprint’s stock rose 47 cents, or 18.7 percent, to $2.99.

The stock, which hit an alltime low last Wednesday, has been on a wild ride the last few days, jumping almost 15 percent Friday and then falling 12 percent Monday, when Sprint said it had cut about 2,500 jobs since last fall, or 8 percent of its staff. Other telecom stocks also jumped Tuesday. Verizon Communications gained $1.22, or 2.6 percent, to $48.25.

While the market made broad gains and undid most of Monday’s losses, it’s still down substantially this year and there are signs investors have big worries about the global economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2 percent from 2.01 percent and the yield on the twoyear Treasury note dipped to 0.84 percent from 0.86 percent. q

Chase planning rollout of card-free ATMs KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Soon, losing your ATM card won’t be the financial life-stopping event it used to be.

Just don’t also lose your phone.

JPMorgan Chase customers will soon be able to withdraw cash or initiate other transactions using their cellphone at Chase ATMs being upgraded later this year.

The move will include new cash machines that don’t require a card and upgrades to existing machines that will allow customers to withdraw more money and in different denominations, said Chase spokesman Michael Fusco. The withdrawal limit will also be substantially higher, up to $3,000

during branch hours.

The first generation of these new ATMs will allow customers to access the machine by inputting a code found on their Chase mobile app, Fusco said. Future upgrades of machines will allow customers to use their cell phone’s near-field wireless communication feature to access their accounts, using the technology that enables shopping checkout features such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Customers will still be able to use their ATM cards if they want to, Fusco said.

The cell phone technology will just be an option.

Chase and other banks have been rolling out new and upgraded ATMs in a continuing effort to replace

the fleets of bank tellers at each branch once needed to handle routine customer transactions. Fusco said Chasenow does more transactions each month via ATMs than with tellers.

Tellers will still be in branches, however, to help with specialized customer transactions, Fusco said. Chase is also moving tellers from behind the counter to the branch floor to help customers navigate the new machines.

Other features being rolled out with the new machines eventually, the company announced Monday, will allow customers to cash checks, and pay Chase credit card bills and mortgages at the ATM. Those features will arrive within the next two years.q

BUSINESS A25

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Johnson & Johnson beats 4Q profit views despite lower sales

Johnson & Johnson products are displayed in Orlando, Fla. Johnson & Johnson’s reported quarterly financial results, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)

LINDA A. JOHNSON AP Business Writer (AP) - Johnson & Johnson posted a 28 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as the sale of part of its now-restructuring medical devices business offset the strong dollar

and multiple charges. The results pushed up shares of the Dow component more than 3 percent.

J&J’s consumer business, hammered by an embarrassing stretch of dozens of recalls dating to 2009, finally has nearly all its products back in stores, the com-

pany said. However, its prescription drugs segment turned in the best performance and was the only segment with higher sales.

The world’s biggest health care product company said on Tuesday that net income was $3.2 billion, or $1.15 per share, up from $2.53 billion, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted net income was $4.04 billion, or $1.44 per share, which was 2 cents better than Wall Street analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.

J&J posted a $1.21 billion gain, mainly for its October divestiture of its Cordis heart devices unit. Cordis had accounted for about a quarter of device sales.

Revenue for the maker of baby shampoo, prescription medicines and medical devices fell 2.4 percent to $17.81 billion, hurt by the dollar that has weighed on

Weight Watchers stock gains as Oprah loses

NEW YORK (AP) — Weight Watchers stock is gaining again, thanks to Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss.

The company’s shares soared Tuesday after a new commercial starring Winfrey aired where she says she has lost 26 pounds on Weight Watchers. Winfrey said during an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that she started on the plan in August.

Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in the weight-

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loss company in October.

Its stock is up more than 90 percent since then. Winfrey is a natural fit for the company: Her struggle with weight was a frequent topic of her former talk show.

“I love bread!,” Winfrey says in the new commercial. “That’s the genius of this program.

I lost 26 pounds and I have eaten bread every single day.”

Winfrey posted the ad online Tuesday to her nearly

31 million Twitter followers.

Weight Watchers has also made changes to its plans recently to better fit in with Winfrey’s message of living a healthy and happier life, and not just focusing on weight loss.

Shares of New York-based Weight Watchers International Inc. rose 21 percent to $13.44 in afternoon trading. But they are still down about 21 percent from a year ago.

other U.S. multinationals as well. The total missed analyst projections for 17.94 billion.

“The quarter was pretty solid,” said Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans, adding that over the long term, profit will be driven more by launches of new prescription drugs than medical devices or consumer products. For example, she said recently approved Darzalex, for the blood cancer multiple myeloma, eventually could produce billions in annual sales.

Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, expects full-year adjusted earnings, which excludes one-time items, of $6.43 to $6.58 per share,

with revenue of $70.8 billion to $71.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $71.9 billion in sales and earnings of $6.37 per share.

“We’re pleased with the results,” CEO Alex Gorsky told analysts during a conference call. “We’re optimistic about the opportunities in health care and the strength of our business.”

He noted J&J plans by 2019 to apply for approval of 10 new products that each could generate $1 billion in annual sales.

Last week, Johnson & Johnson said it plans to restructure its underperforming medical devices business, which includes the reduction of about 3,000 jobs over the next two years.

A26 COMICS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Wednesday 27 January 2016

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A28 SCIENCE

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Scientists: Good evidence for 9th planet in solar system MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists reported recently they finally have “good evidence” for Planet X, a true ninth planet on the fringes of our solar system.

The gas giant is thought to be almost as big as Neptune and orbiting billions of miles beyond Neptune’s path — distant enough to take 10,000 to 20,000 years to circle the sun.

This Planet 9, as the two California Institute of Technology researchers call it, hasn’t been spotted yet.

They base their findings on mathematical and computer modeling, and anticipate its discovery via telescope within five years or less.

The two reported on their research Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal because they want people to help them look for it.

“We could have stayed quiet and quietly spent the next five years searching the skies ourselves and hoping to find it. But I would

rather somebody find it sooner, than me find it later,” astronomer Mike Brown told The Associated Press.

“I want to see it. I want to see what it looks like. I want

against Pluto’s planetary status in 2006. (It’s now officially considered a dwarf planet.)

His colleague in this latest Planet 9 report, also from

California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown points to a yellow dot simulating Planet 9 on a computer video simulation view of Planet 9 in the solar system at the CalTech USGS Media center in Pasadena, Calif.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

to understand where it is, and I think this will help.”

Once it’s detected, Brown insists there will be no Pluto-style planetary debate.

Brown ought to know; he’s the so-called Pluto killer who helped lead the charge

Caltech in Pasadena, is planetary scientist Konstantin Batygin.

“For the first time in more than 150 years, there’s good evidence that the planetary census of the solar system is incomplete,”

Batygin said, referring to Neptune’s discovery as Planet 8. The two shaped their prediction on the fact that six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt, or Twilight Zone on the far reaches of the solar system, appear to be influenced by only one thing: a real planet.

Brown actually discovered one of these six objects more than a decade ago, Sedna, a large minor planet way out there on the solar system frontier.

“This is a prediction. What we have found is a gravitational signature of Planet 9 lurking in the outskirts of the solar system,’ Batygin said.

“We have not found the object itself,” he stressed, adding that the actual discovery when it happens will be “era-defining.”

Added Brown: “We have felt a great disturbance in the force.”

Depending on where this Planet 9 is in its egg-shaped orbit, a space telescope may be needed to confirm its presence, the researchers said. Or good backyard telescopes may spot it,

they noted, if the planet is relatively closer to us in its swing around the sun. It’s an estimated 20 billion to 100 billion miles from us.

The Caltech researchers prefer calling it Planet 9, versus the historical term Planet X. The latter smacks of “aliens and the imminent destruction of the Earth,” according to Brown.

The orb — believed to be 10 times more massive than Earth and 5,000 times more massive than dwarf Pluto — may well have rings and moons.

The last real planet to be discovered in our solar system was Neptune in 1846.

Pluto, discovered in 1930, was once the 9th planet but is now considered a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It was visited by Earth for the first time last July; NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft accomplished the first-ever flyby.

The spacecraft, unfortunately, is in the opposite direction of Planet 9, according to the researchers, and thus unable to help in its detection.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Wednesday 27 January 2016

In Oscars crisis, Chris Rock and a microphone loom large JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When Chris Rock first hosted the Oscars in 2005, the four black actors nominated that year — Morgan Freeman, Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo and Jamie Foxx (twice!) — didn’t escape his notice.

“It’s like the Def Oscar Jam!” Rock exclaimed.

The story will be slightly different this time around.

When Rock strides onto the

race smack dab in the middle of a storm that could hardly suit anyone better. It’s safe to say that no Academy Awards opening monologue has ever been more anticipated.

The spotlight on Oscar night will be trained on no one — not Leonardo DiCaprio or Jennifer Lawrence — like it is on Rock.

“This could be a defining moment for Chris Rock,” Cheadle told The Associated Press. “And I hope it is.”

ing a new show.”

“And, yes, the academy is ready for him to do that,” Hudlin said. “They’re excited about him doing that.”

But Rock’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, on Monday shot down Hudlin’s remarks, saying the comedian “has made no decisions about the content of the show.”

The point was clear: No one is going to speak for Rock except Rock himself. “All will be revealed on February 28th,” said Sloane, omi-

Chris Rock appears onstage at the Beacon Theatre in New York. When Rock first hosted the Oscars in 2005, four black actors were nominated that evening. When Rock strides onto the Dolby Theatre stage on Feb. 28, 2016, he’ll see no nominated African-American actors before him.

(Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Dolby Theatre stage on Feb. 28, he’ll see no nominated African-American actors before him. He’ll instead be greeted by a Hollywood beset by a crisis over diversity that has led to calls for a boycott of the broadcast, spurred the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to rewrite its membership bylaws and even sparked pleas for Rock, himself, to pull out.

In the ongoing fallout, Rock has loomed on the horizon like Judgment Day. But it’s unclear just what awaits the academy and Hollywood come show time. A reckoning? A catharsis?

Awkward fits of laughter?

Probably all of the above.

What is certain is that a confluence of events has placed one of America’s most perceptive and sharptongued commentators on

Cheadle is far from alone.

In the turmoil that has enveloped the Academy Awards since a second straight year of white nominees filled the acting categories, everyone from Spike Lee to George Clooney has had their say on the issue.

But despite constant clamoring — and TMZ cameras chasing him outside a comedy club over the weekend — Rock has been mum. Other than a tweet in which he unveiled his first promo for the show —and referred to the Oscars as “the White BET Awards” — he has stayed quiet amid uproar all around him.

Reginald Hudlin, who’s co-producing this year’s broadcast, sought to assure viewers, telling “EntertainmentTonight” that Rock is “hard at work” and that he had thrown out preparations and was now “writ-

nously.

His silence hasn’t stopped others from chiming in. R&B singer Tyrese Gibson and rapper 50 Cent have said Rock should step down.

Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais encouraged Rock to start the show “in a KKK hood, then whip it off & say, ‘Sorry, it’s the only way I could get in.’”

Whoopi Goldberg has defended him: “Boycotting doesn’t work and it’s also a slap in the face of Chris Rock,” she said. And Arsenio Hall, who helped give Rock his start, said: “It’s so important that he’s on the mic that night.”

As one of the top stand-ups in the country, the 50-yearold Rock has long weaved uncommonly frank and provocative discussions about race into his act, movies and TV shows. His first comedy album, “Born

Suspect,” was about being presumed guilty of any crime because of his skin color. One of his most divisive routines was when he drew a contrast between “black people” and “n-----” in his special “Bring the Pain.”

In 2014, as he was releasing his last movie, “Top Five,” which he wrote and directed, Rock turned to Hollywood in a widely hailed essay in which he was both

critical and sanguine about what he called “a white industry.”

“Just as the NBA is a black industry,” he wrote. “I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. It just is.”

He continued: “They don’t really hire black men. A black man with bass in his voice and maybe a little hint of facial hair? Not going to happen. It is what it is. I’m a guy who’s accepted it all. q

A30 PEOPLE

Wednesday 27 January 2016

& ARTS

Broadway and Hollywood mix for hybrid musical ‘Grease: Live’ SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Fox is gearing up to give Broadway a serious dose of the Hollywood treatment.

“Grease: Live,” airing Sunday (7 p.m. EST), goes beyond other made-for-TV live musicals such as “The Sound of Music” and “The Wiz,” both of which were huge hits for NBC. This hybrid of the stage and movie musical blends theater with film, with dynamic camera movements capturing the dance and drama on multiple sets housed in two massive soundstages. “The scale is insane,” said TV director Alex Rudzinski. “It’s almost half a kilometer from one end of the site to the other.”

Cast and crew members will rely on golf carts — or fast feet — to get between the stages during commercial breaks.

“Grease: Live,” which stars Julianne Hough as Sandy

Aaron Tveit, left, and Julianne Hough rehearse for “Grease: Live,” airing live Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 (7:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), on FOX. (Kevin Estrada/FOX via AP)

and Broadway veteran Aaron Tveit as Danny, has taken over Warner Bros. studios with its many sets and stages.

Here’s a look at this ambitious Paramount Television production by the numbers: — 412: The number of times “Grease: Live” director Thomas Kail can listen to

consecutive replays of the song “Hand Jive.”

Fresh off the success of his Broadway production “Hamilton” and his Tony Award for “In the Heights,” Kail is bringing his theater talents to the production of “Grease: Live,” and he’s not daunted by its scope and scale.

“The spirit of theater that’s

captured so many of us for so long is you do what you do to make the show,” he said. “Our job is to capture that and see if we can put it through some tubes and send it into people’s homes.”

— 208: And that’s just the number of costumes for the show’s 52 extras. Hundreds more outfits were needed for the dozen main cast members, most of whom change outfits at least four times each, said Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, who commandeered an entire empty soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot just to house the show’s collection of clothing.

Creating costumes for this live TV production is different than working onstage, he said, where outfits have to be built “super-duper, eight-shows-a-week for a year.” Because of this show’s more cinematic approach to photography,

costume details near the face take on new significance. Long has also been excited to incorporate real vintage pieces into the stars’ wardrobes — items that would be too delicate to hold up to the rigors of theater.

Because stars have to do quick changes during commercial breaks, many of the costumes are held together with magnets.

Some stars will also be wearing layers of outfits on top of each other for what Long calls “magical transformations that were not in the Broadway musical and were not in the film either.”

— 45: The number of camera positions needed to shoot scenes in disparate locations from multiple angles. Using 20 cameras, Rudzinski is doing something almost unprecedented in live TV: taking cameras offline so they can be moved and reset for the various scenes.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A31

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Abe Vigoda, sunken-eyed character actor, dead at 94 HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunkeneyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series “Barney Miller” and the doomed Mafia soldier in “The Godfather,” died Tuesday at age 94.

Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs’ home in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

The cause of death was old age. “This man was never sick,” Fuchs said.

Vigoda worked in relative obscurity as a supporting actor in the New York theater and in television until Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the 1972 Oscar-winning “The Godfather.” Vigoda played Sal Tessio, an old friend of Vito Corleone’s (Marlon Brando) who hopes to take over the family after Vito’s death by killing his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). But Michael anticipates that Sal’s suggestion for a “peace summit” among crime families is a setup and the escorts Sal thought were taking him to the meeting turn out to be his executioners.

“Tell Mike it was only business,” Sal mutters to consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) as he’s led away.

The great success of the film and “The Godfather Part II”

made his face and voice, if not his name, recognizable to the general public and led to numerous roles, often as hoodlums. But it was his comic turn in “Barney Miller,” which starred Hal Linden and ran from 1975

jog. “You know, you look like you might have hemorrhoids,” Arnold said. “What are you — a doctor or a producer?” Vigoda asked.

He was cast on the spot.

“The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and

In a 2006 photo, actor-comedian Abe Vigoda attends the Friars Club celebrity roast of legendary comedian Jerry Lewis in New York City. Vigoda died in his sleep Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, at his daughter’s home in Woodland Park, N.J. He was 94.

(AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

to 1982, that brought Vigoda’s greatest recognition.

He liked to tell the story of how he won the role of Detective Fish. An exercise enthusiast, Vigoda had just returned from a fivemile jog when his agent called and told him to report immediately to the office of Danny Arnold, who was producing a pilot for a police station comedy.

Arnold remarked that Vigoda looked tired, and the actor explained about his

Cable TV Shows,” a reference book, commented that Vigoda was the hit of “Barney Miller.” ‘’Not only did he look incredible, he sounded and acted like every breath might be his last,” it said. “Fish was always on the verge of retirement, and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down.”

Vigoda remained a regular on “Barney Miller” until 1977 when he took the character to his own series,

“Fish.” The storyline dealt with the detective’s domestic life and his relations with five street kids that he and his wife took into their home. The show lasted a season and a half. Vigoda continued making occasional guest appearances on “Barney Miller,” quitting over billing and salary differences. But he remained a popular character actor in films, including “Cannonball Run II,” ‘’Look Who’s Talking,” ‘’Joe Versus the Volcano” and “North.” His resemblance to Boris Karloff led to his casting in the 1986 New York revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” playing the role Karloff originated on the stage in the 1940s. (The murderous character in the black comedy is famously said by other characters to resemble Boris Karloff, a great joke back when the real Karloff was playing him.)

Born in New York City in 1921, Vigoda attended the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall. In the early 1950s, he appeared as straight man for the Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn TV comedies. For 30 years, he worked in the theater, acting in dozens of plays in such diverse characters as John of Gaunt in “Richard II” (his favorite role) and Abraham Lincoln in a shortlived Broadway comedy “Tough to Get Help.”

Vigoda attributed his high percentage in winning roles to his performance in auditions. Instead of

delivering the tired soliloquies that most actors performed, he wrote his own, about a circus barker. At a surprise 80th birthday party in New Jersey in 2001, he gave a spirited recital of the monologue to the delight of the 100 guests.

Reflecting on his delayed success, Vigoda once remarked: “When I was a young man, I was told success had to come in my youth. I found this to be a myth. My experiences have taught me that if you deeply believe in what you are doing, success can come at any age.”

“Barney Miller” became his first steady acting job.

“I’m the same Abe Vigoda,” he told an interviewer.

“I have the same friends, but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before.

I have never had a house before, so now I would like a house with a nice garden and a pool. Hollywood has been very kind to me.”

He was married twice, most recently to Beatrice Schy, who died in 1992.

He had his daughter with his first wife, Sonja Gohlke, who has also died. Vigoda is survived by his daughter, grandchildren Jamie, Paul and Steven, and a great-grandson. Reruns of “Barney Miller” and repeated screenings of the two “Godfather” epics kept Vigoda in the public eye, and unlike some celebrities, he enjoyed being recognized. q

‘60 Minutes’ Bowie interview 15 years of missed connections DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A brief “60 Minutes” piece on the late David Bowie that aired Sunday was the result of a 15-year journey of missed connections involving three of the newsmagazine’s correspondents and a rock star gone underground.

Bowie talked about his artistry and getting old in interview clips from 2003 that were never aired before Sunday on “60 Minutes.”

The rock star died of cancer at age 69 on Jan. 10.

Robert Zimet, an editor at “60 Minutes,” proposed an in-depth profile of Bowie for the newsmagazine in 2000, and correspondent Ed Bradley was assigned.

Before much was done, the 2001 terrorist attacks happened. Then the Iraq War. A rock-star profile wasn’t a priority.

The idea was resurrected as Bowie prepared his “Reality” album and tour in 2003, and Zimet and producer Peter Klein traveled to Woodstock, New York, to record some material and

conduct preliminary interviews. Bradley was to follow but the correspondent, who died in 2006, became ill and had to cancel.

Zimet convinced Mike Wallace to take over the story and arrangements were made for an interview in Poughkeepsie, New York, where Bowie was performing in advance of his tour.

Wallace, who was in his mid-80s at the time, fell on vacation and doctors ordered him to take it easy.

“60 Minutes” got yet another correspondent involved

— Lesley Stahl — and she spoke with Bowie. There wasn’t enough time to do the in-depth interview that the show wanted before Bowie had to leave for his European tour, however.

It was on this tour, in 2004, when Bowie suffered a heart attack and receded from public view. He stopped giving interviews.

When Bowie surprised his fans with the 2013 album, “The Next Day,” Zimet approached his camp to complete the profile but was rebuffed. It was the

same thing late in 2015, when Zimet learned that the “Blackstar” disc was coming.

The 2003 footage remained on a shelf at CBS until Zimet took it out to include in an online story about Bowie’s death. His bosses took notice and the material was used on “CBS This Morning” and in the brief piece introduced by Bill Whitaker on Sunday.

“I had never given up hope that at some point we would be able to complete this,” Zimet said.q

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Primaries Set to Begin in Rancorous Presidential Race STEVEN R. HURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans finally begin choosing next week among the Republican and Democratic candidates battling to be their party’s 2016 presidential nominee in a series of state-by-state votes. The White House hopefuls include two highly unorthodox candidates — the politically incorrect billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump for the Republicans,

A woman wears a shirt supporting Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a campaign event on the campus of Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, for the Democrats — both of whom are running strongly in polls of the first two states with nominating contests —

Iowa and New Hampshire.

Trump has rocked the Republican political world with a personality-dominated campaign that quickly overwhelmed expected front-runner former Florida

Gov. Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents. Trump is virulently anti-immigration and has called on barring Muslim from entering the country.

He boasts unspecified plans

to make the United States “great again,” touting his abilities as a deal-maker in the business world.

Continued on page 4

A2 UP

Wednesday 27 January 2016

FRONT

Obama administration loosens Cuba embargo with new measures

Javier Yanez looks out from his balcony where he hung a U.S., and a Cuban national flag, to celebrate the restored full diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Unites States, in Old Havana.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday, Jan. 26 2016, that it would now allow U.S. exports to Cuban government agencies in cases where it believed the Cuban people stood to benefit.

(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

M. WEISSENSTEIN The Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — The Obama administration is loosening the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba with a new round of regulations allowing American companies to sell to Cuba on credit and export a potentially wide range of products to the Cuban government for the first time, officials said Tuesday.

The changes are President Barack Obama’s third attempt to spur U.S.-Cuba commerce despite an embargo that still prohibits most forms of trade with the island.

U.S. travel to Cuba has exploded since Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro declared detente in 2014. But U.S. hopes of building wider trade between American businesses and Cuba’s private sector have been largely frustrated by Congressional reluctance to end the embargo itself and by the island’s labyrinthine restrictions on imports, exports and private business.

Obama says he hopes to visit Cuba before he leaves office but a trip would depend on the progress being made in relations between the two countries.

Tuesday’s move appears designed to jumpstart commerce between the two countries and remove some of Cuba’s biggest excuses for not opening its economy to trade with the U.S. “Just as the United States is doing its part to remove impediments that have been holding Cubans back, we urge the Cuban government to make it easier for its citizens to start businesses, engage in trade, and access information online,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said.

Among a host of other measures, the new regulations allow U.S. firms to offer Cuban buyers credit on sales of non-agricultural goods, addressing a longstanding Cuban complaint about a ban on credit.

The vast majority of Obama’s new regulations have been aimed at spurring U.S. trade with Cuban

entrepreneurs instead of with the state-run firms that dominate the economy.

The Cuban government says that U.S. focus on private business is partly responsible for the island not opening its economy in response to the U.S. loosening of the embargo.

The U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday that it would now allow U.S. exports to Cuban government agencies in cases where it believed the Cuban people stood to benefit. It cited agriculture, historic preservation, education, food processing and public health and infrastructure as governmentcontrolled sectors that it would not allow to receive goods from the U.S. on a case-by-case basis, potentially opening up a huge new field of commerce between U.S. business and the Cuban government.

“You would expect that this would open up a lot of areas where there should be enhanced trade,” said James Williams, head of the anti-embargo U.S. group Engage Cuba. He said that while Obama’s initial exceptions to the embargo were criticized for not reflecting a deep understanding of Cuba, the new regulations were much more attuned to the peculiarities of Cuba’s state-controlled economy.

Cuban officials issued no immediate comment on the changes and state media made only brief mention of them in the first hours after the U.S. announcement. Anti-Castro figures in the U.S. have long argued against Obama’s opening with Cuba, saying it empowers the state rather than the Cuban people and Tuesday’s announcement gave them ammunition. “These regulations are more proof that the Obama Administration’s intent has never been to empower the Cuban people but rather to empower the Cuban government’s monopolies and state-run enterprises,” said Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, a CubanAmerican U.S. senator from Florida.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Wednesday 27 January 2016

At Press Time:

Police search California communities where inmates have ties

AMY TAXIN GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press SANTA ANA, California (AP) — Unlike similar escapes where dangerous inmates fled into rural areas, the three men who broke out of a Southern California lockup escaped into densely populated suburban communities where they have close ties.

Hundreds of officers are focusing on neighborhoods where the trio charged with violent crimes could be hiding among friends, family or fellow gang members, particularly among Orange County’s huge Vietnamese population, authorities said Tuesday, the fourth day of the manhunt.

It is just a few miles from the jail where the trio broke out Friday, and two of the inmates, Jonathan Tieu, 20, Bac Duong, 43, have deep ties to the community, which is among the largest in the U.S.Tieu, Duong and Hossein Nayeri, 37, are considered dangerous and all were awaiting trial for separate violent felonies, authorities said. They have now each been charged with the escape.

Tieu had been held since 2013, accused of murder and attempted murder.

Duong faced attempted murder and assault charges in the shooting of a man on his front porch. Nayeri was arrested in 2014 on charges including kidnapping and torture. Authorities said he abducted a marijuana dealer, burned him with a blow torch and cut off his penis because Nayeri thought the man had buried money in the desert. Duong was ordered deported to Vietnam in 1998 but remained in the country and racked up a lengthy criminal record, immigration officials said Tuesday. Duong came to the United States legally in 1991 but was ordered removed seven years later, Immigra-

tion and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.

The statement did not say why. Duong checked in with federal immigration officials as required until August 2014, the statement said. U.S. officials can’t detain immigrants indefinitely while they await deportation and must release most after six months. Under a 2008 agreement, Vietnam will provide travel documents to help repatriate immigrants but only those who entered the U.S. after July 1995. The three inmates were gone for as long as 16 hours before officials noticed they were missing from the common dorm they share with more than 60 other inmates at Orange County Central Jail. An attack on a guard delayed a Friday night head count by hours.

The trio sawed through a quarter-inch-thick grill on a dormitory wall, got into plumbing tunnels and then sawed through half-inchthick steel bars as they made their way behind walls to an unguarded area of a roof atop a fivestory building. The sheriff’s department has been slow to add more rooftop security cameras at the jail despite a grand jury’s recommendations for eight years straight, according to a report Monday in the Orange County Register (http://bit. ly/1OLYVow ). The department has said since 2008 that budget constraints prevented upgrades to the camera systems at the five county jails.

The escape was eerily similar to one last year in New York, where two inmates cut through a portion of a wall hidden under a bunk bed and used piping and tunnels inside the facility to get out. But the search for the pair focused on nearby woods instead of a dense urban population.

A major question for California investigators will be

This image shows three jail inmates who escaped from the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana, Calif.

The men from left are Hossein Nayeri, Jonathan Tieu, and Bac Duong.

(Orange County Sheriff’s Department via AP)

how the men could plan and execute their escape with such precision, said

Kevin Tamez, a managing partner for MPM Group, a Philadelphia-based firm

that consults on prison security, management and infrastructure.q

A4 U.S.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

Primaries set to begin in rancorous presidential race Continued from Front Trump is in a tight race in Iowa with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a staunch conservative. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is polling third and hopes to consolidate support among the party establishment. The rest of the field is lagging behind in single digits, including one-time front-runner Bush, the brother and son of former presidents. Polls show Trump and Cruz locked in a very close contest in Iowa, while Trump is far ahead in New Hampshire.

Sanders has captivated younger Democrats and those in the most progressive wing of the party with his message of a bigger government that would protect Americans who are

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, puts his hand on the back of a supporter while posing for photos at a campaign event at High Point Bulls Oswald Barn in Osceola, Iowa.

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

losing ground in the country as wealth continues to cluster among fewer and fewer people. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, New York senator and first

lady, still holds a polling lead nationwide, but Sanders has nearly matched the former first lady in Iowa and has eclipsed her in New Hampshire, the tiny New

England state adjacent to his Vermont home. He was elected to the Senate as an independent but votes with the Democrats.

Facing potential upsets in Iowa and New Hampshire, Clinton can look to the next contests in Nevada and South Carolina, where she still enjoys strong support among Latinos and blacks who make up a large segment of the Democratic base in those states. Sanders and Clinton have far out-distanced former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The U.S. primary system that usually decides each party’s presidential nominee often skews those choices toward the candidates who voice positions that appeal to voters at the extreme ends in both parties.

History has shown that turnout in the caucuses and primaries typically is dominated by the most motivated party base voters. That reality causes problems for candidates. For example Republican nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 had trouble tracking back to more centrist positions in the general election.

That has become particularly evident this year as voters in both parties voice frustration and anger at the government and the congressional gridlock that has dominated American politics during the eight years of President Barack Obama’s presidency. That is particularly true on the Republican side among members of the ultra-conservative tea party faction, a movment born shortly after Obama took office in 2009. In that climate, Iowa residents go first on Monday in small evening gatherings on what is a typically a frigid winter night to caucus for one of the 11 major Repub-

lican candidates or one of the three Democrats.

By choosing first, Iowans hold outsized influence for a small-population state.

The caucus results can winnow the field and provide momentum for the top finishers ahead of primaries and caucuses in the rest of the U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and overseas territories that run through June.

Next in line on Feb. 9 is the northeastern state of New Hampshire, which holds the first primary election, and it too can have an big impact on the campaign that far outweighs its small population.

The race gains huge momentum on the results from primaries and caucuses held on March 1, known as super Tuesday, when 14 states and one territory all cast ballots or caucus for the candidates.

The primary system is complex and some say arcane.

It amounts to voters actually choosing delegates to the national nominating convention who are pledged to a particular candidate. At the same time a number of delegates are appointed from among both state and national elected officials and the party committees on the state and national levels. But dating back to 1980 the candidate for both parties has clinched the necessary half-plusone delegates, making the conventions little more than a coronation.

The so-called super delegates are not linked to any one candidate but hold huge power in their ability to get behind a candidate during the primary and caucus process, a sort of thumb on the scales that often helps the candidate most favored by the party establishment.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Wednesday 27 January 2016

New Jersey:

Gov. Christie backs state takeover of Atlantic City

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks in Trenton, N.J. Christie said Tuesday the state will assume vast control over Atlantic City’s finances and decision-making, saying the seaside gambling resort is incapable of getting its finances together after years of overspending.

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

WAYNE PARRY Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Tuesday the state will assume vast control over Atlantic City’s finances and decisionmaking, saying the seaside gambling resort is incapable of getting its finances together after years of overspending.

Christie, a Republican presidential candidate, was joined by the Democratic leader of the state Senate, who has already introduced a takeover bill, and the Republican mayor of Atlantic City, who reluctantly went along with the plan. “Atlantic City’s government has too much debt and it’s too expensive to run for the tax base it has,” Christie said. “Atlantic City’s finances are now the greatest threat to the city’s well-being. The urgency of the city’s current financial predicament cannot be overstated.”

Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney said the takeover bill in the Legislature will be amended to incorporate elements of a financial assistance pack-

age the governor vetoed last week. That includes a provision to let the city’s eight casinos make payments in lieu of taxes and prohibit them from appealing their taxes.

“We have to fix this government,” Sweeney said.

The legislation, which must be approved by the state Legislature, will also let the state negotiate to restructure municipal debt, give it the right to cancel collective bargaining agreements, and sell off city assets and land.

Mayor Don Guardian, who initially opposed a takeover, said Tuesday he decided to accept the state’s help.

“It’s time for some tough decisions and some pain as we move forward,” he told reporters at a Statehouse news conference.

Christie called for the legislation to be introduced and passed before the end of February, and he made a rare promise in advance to sign it. The state takeover would last five years instead of the 15 envisioned in the original legislation.

Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, a Democrat, said he has serious concerns about the state being given the right to cancel collective bargaining agreements.

Prieto, who was not at the news conference, also cautioned Christie and Sweeney not to ignore him.

“If the Assembly is not involved, then there is no agreement,” he said.

The cash-strapped city has been pondering whether to ask the state for permission to declare bankruptcy — a request that appears less likely to be granted in light of the takeover plan.

The City Council was to discuss a bankruptcy filing Tuesday afternoon, but cannot actually make a filing without state approval.

The struggling seaside gambling resort is still reeling from Christie’s veto of a financial aid package, $160 million in tax appeals from its top casino and the continuing slowdown of its casino industry.

Christie has long been critical of Atlantic City’s municipal government, saying it spends far more than it takes in and repeatedly

turns to the state for bailouts.

Guardian, entering his third year in office, says his administration has cooperated with Christie in making painful budget cuts and is willing to do more.

Atlantic City’s budget woes have been exacerbated by the cratering of its casino industry. In 2014, four of its 12 casinos went out of business. And many of the remaining casinos have successfully appealed their property taxes, convincing a tax court that they are worth less in a diminished market than they were when times were better.

Atlantic City’s casino revenue has fallen from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.56 billion last year.q

A6 U.S.

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

American Living:

Factory village’s trail of cancer leads to tap water probe MARY ESCH Associated Press HOOSICK FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — After his factory worker father died a painful death from kidney cancer at age 68 in 2013, Michael Hickey made it his mission to find out why so many people in his hometown along the Hoosic River were getting sick.

Two years later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned residents of Hoosick Falls not to drink or cook with water from municipal wells, and a plastics plant has agreed to install a $2 million carbon filtration system at the village water treatment plant.

Hickey’s campaign began with suspicion about industrial pollution in the factory village near the Vermont border. His father had worked for 35 years at a plant that made high-performance plastics similar to Teflon, so Hickey searched online for “cancer” and “Teflon.”

What he found: PFOA. Perfluorooctanoic acid, a water and oil repellent, had been used since the 1940s in products including non-stick cookware, stainresistant carpeting and microwave popcorn bags.

Manufacturers agreed to phase it out by the end of

Michael Hickey, left, Dr. Marcus Martinez, center, and lawyer David Engel pose for a photo in Hickey’s dining room in Hoosick Fall, N.Y. They formed the grass-roots group Healthy Hoosick Water to press officials to investigate and find a solution after lab tests paid for by Hickey detected the chemical PFOA in the municipal water supply of Hoosick Falls.

(AP Photo/Mary Esch)

2015 shortly after DuPont reached a $16.5 million settlement with the EPA over the company’s failure to report possible health risks associated with PFOA. A scientific panel that conducted health studies as part of a DuPont settlement of a West Virginia classaction lawsuit concluded there was a “probable link” between PFOA exposure and kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

In Hoosick Falls, nobody has ever scientifically

documented that the village has an unusually high cancer rate, but Hickey and a local doctor had heard enough anecdotal evidence that they felt it should be addressed.

“There’s always been talk around town about how there’s a lot of cancer,” Hickey said. “When my dad, who didn’t drink or smoke, was diagnosed with kidney cancer, that made it more personal.”

Dr. Marcus Martinez, the family doctor for many of the village’s 3,500 residents, added there certainly seemed to be a high rate

of cancer there, particularly rare, aggressive forms.

The 44-year-old Martinez himself is in remission from atypical bronchial carcinoid tumor, a rare form of lung cancer.

When the two men suggested testing the village water supply, part-time Mayor David Borge at first refused, citing state guidelines. New York state classifies PFOA as an “unspecified organic contaminant” and doesn’t require testing for it.

The EPA has a non-enforceable guidance level of 400 parts per trillion — roughly 4 teaspoons in enough water to fill a 10-mile string of rail tankers.

Hickey used his own money in summer 2014 to have water from his kitchen tap and other sources tested. The results showed PFOA at 540 ppt from Hickey’s home, exceeding the EPA’s guidance. Village officials subsequently tested the municipal supply and found PFOA at similar levels.

Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, part of a Parisbased global conglomerate, in 1999 became the fifth owner of a plastics factory in Hoosick Falls. It conducted tests in the summer of 2015 and reported a PFOA level of 18,000 ppt in groundwater under its

plant, 500 yards from the village’s main water wells.

“Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics is committed to helping the village of Hoosick Falls with this situation,” company spokesman Carmen Ferrigno said. While the source of the PFOA contamination hasn’t been identified, Saint-Gobain has been paying for bottled water for residents since November and has agreed to pay for filtration to remove the chemical from the public water supply, he said.

Hickey and Martinez, along with Albany environmental lawyer David Engel, weren’t satisfied.

They wanted people to be told not to drink the tap water, along with a full investigation and remediation.

Engel contacted Judith Enck, who heads the EPA region that includes New York.

She issued a statement in December warning residents not to drink or cook with village water. Until then, state and village officials had told residents the water was unlikely to cause health problems.

On Jan. 14, Enck and a panel of leading EPA scientists addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Hoosick Falls’ high school auditorium.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Wednesday 27 January 2016

US Financial Front:

American consumers showing more confidence in economy of economic weakness overseas.

“The increase is rather surprising given the volatility in equities in the month,” Derek Lindsey, economist at BNP Paribas, wrote in a research note. “A resilient labor market and low gasoline and utilities prices seem to have offset any negative sentiment stemming

Alana Fusco, left, an employee at Gerald Peters, at the Staten Island Mall in New York, helps a customer choose a bracelet for her niece. On Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, the Conference Board released the Consumer Confidence Index for January.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong job market and low gasoline prices helped boost U.S. consumer confidence again this month.

The Conference Board on Tuesday said that its consumer confidence index rose to 98.1 in January from 96.3 in Decem-

ber, the second straight monthly gain. The business research group said Americans were more confident about the future, though their assessment of current economic conditions was unchanged from December.

Consumers shrugged off the recent sharp decline in the stock market and signs

US home prices rise in November JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices increased at a faster clip in November, the gains fueled by solid hiring growth, historically low mortgage rates and a shortage of houses on the market.

The Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 5.8 percent from a year ago, up from a 5.5 percent pace in October, according to a Tuesday report.

Home values nationwide have nearly recovered from their July 2006 peak, as the real estate market has slowly recovered from the housing bust that triggered the Great Recession.

But several metro areas have fully rebounded from the downturn. Four metro areas — Dallas, Denver, San Francisco and Portland Oregon — have either matched or eclipsed their all-time highs. And Charlotte, North Carolina is less than 1 percent below its previous high.

Buyers crowded back into the housing market last year. Sales of existing homes rose 6.5 percent over the past year to 5.26 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. More Americans have been able to purchase homes as employers have added 2.7 million jobs and borrowing costs remain low. q

from financial markets.”

The stock market has been rattled by the impact of China’s persistent economic slowdown and a plunge in the prices of commodities, including oil.

From October through December, U.S. employers added a robust average of 284,000 jobs a month.

The unemployment rate

remained at a seven-year low 5 percent in December. The average price of a gallon of gasoline has reached $1.83 from $2 a month ago, according to AAA. The Conference Board said 6.6 percent of survey respondents planned to buy a house in the next six months.q

A8

Wednesday 27 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Russia urges for including Kurds in Syria peace talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attends his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

V. ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Tuesday argued strongly against Turkey’s demand to keep a leading Kurdish group out of Syrian peace talks, and said it expects the U.N. envoy to resist “blackmail” by Turkey and others,

reflecting sharp differences that remain ahead of the talks.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also denied allegations that Moscow had urged Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and could offer him political asylum.

He specifically shrugged off reports last week claiming that Russia’s military intelligence chief had traveled to Damascus to try to persuade Assad to go. Lavrov said there was no point in such a trip as Assad visited Moscow in the fall and had extensive talks with Presi-

dent Vladimir Putin.

“No one has asked for or offered any political asylum,” he said, adding that Assad had promised Putin he would sit down for peace talks with opposition, including armed groups, and engage the “patriotic” opposition in the fight against the Islamic State group alongside the Syrian army.

Lavrov emphasized that the Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, plays an important role in fighting the Islamic State group and is an essential part of political settlement in Syria.

Turkey sees the PYD and its YPG militia group as branches of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a Kurdish resistance group it has long fought and considers a terrorist group.

Lavrov warned that it would be a “grave mistake” not to invite the PYD. “How can you talk about political reforms in Syria if you ignore a leading Kurdish party?” he said, adding that the Kurds account for

Syria:

Bombings kill 20 as peace talks invitations go out

ZEINA KARAM PHILIP ISSA Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Multiple bombings struck a government-run checkpoint in the central Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding over a hundred amid intense political jockeying ahead of U.N.-backed peace talks scheduled to begin in Ge-

neva on Friday.

The office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said it sent out invitations for the talks, but with just three days to go, the opposition is still undecided about whether it will attend.

One opposition official suggested the Saudi-backed opposition delegation may boycott the talks.

Khawla Mattar, a spokeswoman for Staffan de Mis-

tura, told The Associated Press in Geneva that the envoy would not make public the numbers and identities of the invitees until his office gets “feedback from the invited parties” — a sign of the delicacy of his task.

The talks are meant to start a political process to end the conflict that began in 2011 as a largely peaceful uprising against Assad’s

rule but escalated into an all-out war after a harsh state crackdown.

The plan calls for ceasefires in parallel to the talks, a new constitution and elections in a year and a half.

The attack in Homs, which was claimed by the Islamic State group, came as government forces retook a southern town from opposition fighters and other militants.q

15 percent of the population.

Lavrov also warned against Saudi Arabia’s proposal to invite only opposition groups that it hosted at a meeting last month, saying the Syrian peace process should also include other opposition representatives, like those that met for talks in Moscow last year.

The current opposition negotiating team announced in Saudi Arabia last week includes Saudibacked Islamic rebel factions like Jaish al-Islam, or the Army of Islam, which Russia considers terrorists.

The nearly five-year Syrian conflict that began in 2011 with protests against Assad’s rule, has morphed into an all-out war that has killed a quarter-million and displaced millions.

Lavrov’s statement at a news conference reflects the tough posturing ahead of Syria peace talks set to start Friday. U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura will be sending invitations amid intense jockeying between countries like Russia and Turkey about who should be invited.

Russia, a key ally of Assad, has called for the inclusion of Kurdish representatives, and the U.S. and others have supported the Kurds in the fight against IS. Russia’s relations with Turkey are at a freezing point after a Turkish fighter jet downed a Russian warplane at the border with Syria in November.

In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday reiterated Turkey’s opposition to including Syrian Kurdish forces at the Geneva talks. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Clock ticks down on EU passport free travel dream

Migrants walk from the Macedonian border into Serbia, near the village of Miratovac, Serbia, in the early morning Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016.

(AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Passportfree travel and hasslefree business in Europe has never been in more danger.

With more than 1 million people streaming into the European Union hoping for sanctuary or jobs, nations have erected fences, deployed troops and tightened border controls.

“What we have worked for,

for so many years, we are seeing it crumbling now in front of us,” Roberta Metsola, a leading EU lawmaker on migration, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

As draconian as they might seem, most attempts to stem the migrant flow have been within the letter, if not the spirit, of the rules governing the European travel haven known as the Schengen area, a jewel in the EU’s integration crown

But as of mid-May, the EU is in uncharted waters.

The legal options for countries like Germany, Austria and Sweden to impose ID checks on everyone who enters, including Europeans, begin to run out.

“Our citizens have a right to feel safe,” Metsola said.

“If that means that we will need to keep stock of who is crossing our borders for a specific amount of time, then we will have to do it.”

The German government has signaled it’s unlikely to ease border controls on May 13, when its temporary border measures legally expire.

If no other mechanism is in place by then, the Schengen rule book could effectively be suspended.

Most EU nations blame Greece for this. Some 850,000 people arrived there last year, many to the Greek islands after a short but often treacherous sea journey in smugglers’ boats from Turkey.

Protests escalate against Greek pension reform ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s leftwing prime minister defended his unpopular pension reform plans Tuesday, pledging to avoid new cuts, as protests against the creditordemanded measures escalated.

Alexis Tsipras told a special parliamentary session that the financially struggling country’s pension system faces collapse unless swift corrective action is taken.

He insisted that the reforms will see no new reductions in core pensions — which have been repeatedly slashed since the start of Greece’s financial crisis.

The pension overhaul has been demanded by Greece’s bailout creditors,

whose rescue loans have kept the country afloat since mid-2010.

The proposed changes will lead to large increases in social security contributions, mostly affecting selfemployed professionals and farmers, who say that they will end up paying more than three quarters of their income to pension funds and tax authorities.

Unions representing groups as disparate as lawyers, doctors, police and fishermen are protesting the reforms, while farmers are using thousands of tractors to block highways across the country.

Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused the year-old

government of “sacrificing future generations to gain popularity today,” and warned in Parliament that the measures will increase tax evasion and non-payment of social security contributions.

Ferry crews walk off the job on Wednesday and Thursday — their second 48-hour strike in a week — while lawyers are also on strike.

State hospital employees scuffled with police outside the finance ministry Tuesday, and thousands of workers took part in two peaceful evening marches to Parliament, called by the civil servants’ union and a Communist-affiliated group.q

Aid groups estimate that Greece has shelter for barely 10,000 people; a little over one percent of those who need it. The Greek coastguard is totally overwhelmed.

Managing the country’s vast maritime border would challenge even an experienced government with a fully equipped public service. Greece, at the moment, is also consumed with a crippling economic crisis.

But, Metsola said, “there is a lack of knowledge as to who is coming in and who is going out, and that automatically increases fear and increases the security concerns.”

Most migrants don’t want to stay in Greece. Many hope to be find sanctuary

in Germany or Sweden, and these countries and their neighbors say they will have to impose border controls if Greece can’t or won’t.

“It’s clear that if we can’t secure the European borders — that means the Greek-Turkish border — then the Schengen border will move to central Europe,” Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said Monday.

With Schengen under threat, few palatable options are available and time is running out.

The EU’s executive Commission is preparing a plan that could allow border checks in some countries to be extended for up to two years.q

A10 WORLD

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS US encourages businesses to explore African opportunities

A man works on construction of the Kingdom Tower, a planned 252-story building, which aims to become the world’s tallest skyscraper when complete, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is racing to attract more investment and overhaul its economy as low oil prices expose it to urgent domestic challenges.

(AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

In overhaul: Saudi races to attract investment, create jobs AYA BATRAWY Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia is racing to attract more investment and overhaul its economy as low oil prices expose it to urgent domestic challenges.

For months, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been working with teams of international consultants, regulators, advisers and government agencies to launch a “National Transformation Program,” or NTP, to help the kingdom better withstand plunging revenues.

When King Salman ascended to the throne a year ago, he thrust his 30-yearold son to the forefront of Saudi decision-making, not only as second-in-line to the throne, but also as defense minister and head of a newly-formed committee to oversee economic policy-making.

The Council on Economic and Development Affairs is still working on the NTP and

only vague outlines have been released. Among its key priorities is job creation and increasing foreign investment in sectors such as transportation, health care and mining, where potentially tens of billions of dollars can be tapped.

“All the consulting houses are here in Saudi Arabia.

The who’s who of Saudis are working on it,” Deputy Governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), Prince Saud al-Faisal, told The Associated Press. He said there will be more privatization of public services, with the government hoping to outsource “as much as possible.”

In a sign of the possible changes to come, the deputy crown prince told The Economist magazine this month that the kingdom is studying publicly listing state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco. The company has said any potential listing would not include its oil reserves.

SAGIA wrapped up an an-

nual investment conference in Riyadh on Tuesday as Brent crude traded at just over $31 a barrel in London, down from $115 in mid-2014.

With two thirds of Saudi citizens under the age of 35, participants said there is an opportunity to diversify the economy away from oil and into other sectors like housing, consumer goods and services. Though the kingdom has been working on similar plans for years, oil still accounted for 72 percent of total revenue last year. Saudi Arabia projects a budget deficit of $87 billion this year.

“The historic model will not work for the future,” said Tareq Elmasry, managing director for the Middle East for McKinsey and Company. He said that while household income in Saudi Arabia has increased by 70 percent in the past decade, 70 percent of Saudis work in the public sector.

“That’s not a sustainable number,” he told the conference.q

MICHELLE FAUL Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and a slew of American business executives are meeting in Nigeria to encourage trade they say will create jobs on both continents.

The visit to Nigeria, expected to be among the top 10 economies in the world by 2050, and one of Africa’s smallest but most innovative nations, Rwanda, is designed to transform the perception of Africa from an aid-dependent continent to a region brimming with business opportunities, Pritzker told The Associated Press in an interview.

She said Africa has seven of the fastest 10 growing economies in the world; a burgeoning young population and a rising middle class (50 million in Nigeria alone).

“So the message to Americans is now is the time to come and explore the opportunity in Africa,” Pritzker said.

She announced Tuesday that the second US-Africa Business Forum will take place on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in September because many African leaders will be present. It will gather “hundreds of both American and African business figures who want to get together because they see the potential of doing more business in Africa,” Pritzker said of the event co-hosted by her department and Bloomberg Philanthropies. President Barack Obama announced an expanded Power Africa initiative at the first forum in Washington D.C. in 2014.

The figures for Nigeria tell the story: In 2014, U.S. exports to Nigeria topped $5.9 billion and imports from Nigeria totaled $3.8 billion, compared to U.S. aid of $694 million last year.

The latest U.S push comes as Nigeria is hurting from the downturn in the economy of China, which last year overtook the U.S. to become Nigeria’s biggest trading partner. China accounted for 22.5 percent of Nigeria’s imports in the third quarter of 2015, compared to 9.6 percent from the U.S., according to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Nigeria’s current economic woes, including lower prices for oil that produces 80 percent of government revenue and a related slump in the naira currency, are positives for investors, said General Electric’s Jay Ireland, who runs the U.S. multinational’s Africa operations.

“This is the time to come in,” he said, adding American companies should be looking at long-term investments that ride out the cycles of oil prices and currency exchanges. “We’re going to be here for a long time and feel very comfortable investing in Nigeria. ...

(It) provides a tremendous platform for growth.”

GE is investing $200 million in Nigeria to build two facilities to assemble oil and gas and power generation equipment that the company hopes to export to other West African nations. The company employs nearly 500 people in Nigeria.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Health minister: Brazil is ‘losing battle’ against mosquito JENNY BARCHFIELD Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s health minister says the country is sending some 220,000 troops to battle the mosquito blamed for spreading a virus suspected of causing birth defects — but he also says the war is already being lost.

Marcelo Castro said that nearly 220,000 members of Brazil’s Armed Forces would go door-to-door to help in mosquito eradication efforts ahead of the country’s Carnival celebrations. Agency spokesman Nivaldo Coelho said Tuesday details of the deployment are still being worked out.

Castro also said the government would distribute mosquito repellent to some 400,000 pregnant women who receive cash-transfer benefits.

But the minister also said the country has failed in efforts against the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.

“The mosquito has been here in Brazil for three decades, and we are badly losing the battle against the mosquito,” the ministers told reporters as a crisis group on Zika was meeting in the capital, Brasilia.

A massive eradication effort eliminated Aedes aegypti from Brazil during the 1950s, but the mosquito slowly returned over the following decades from neighboring nations, public health experts have said. That led to outbreaks of dengue, which was recorded in record numbers last year.

The arrival of Zika in Brazil last year initially caused little alarm, as the virus’ symptoms are generally much milder than those of dengue. It didn’t become a crisis until late in the year, when researchers made the link with a dramatic increase in reported cases of microcephaly, a rare birth defect that sees babies born with unusually small heads and can cause lasting developmental problems.

But worry about the rapid spread of Zika has expanded across the nation, and the hemisphere beyond.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women to reconsider travel to Brazil and 21 other countries and territories with Zika outbreaks.

One of them, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, reported 18 new confirmed cases of Zika on Tuesday, though

A health worker stands in the Sambadrome as he sprays insecticide to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Leo Correa)

none involve pregnant women. One case had been reported earlier.

Officials in El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil have suggested women stop getting pregnant until the crisis has passed.

Repellent has disappeared from many Brazilian pharmacies and prices for the product have tripled or even quadrupled where it’s still available in recent weeks since the government announced a suspected link between Zika

virus and microcephaly Nearly 4,000 suspected cases of microcephaly have been reported in Brazil since October, compared with fewer than 150 cases in the country in all of 2014.

Castro’s remarks have proven controversial, both in and outside Brazil.

World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said he hadn’t seen the remarks, “but in general terms I think that this would be a bit of a fatalis-

tic approach because this should mean we could lay down all our approaches now and declare the war lost.

“I don’t think this is the case,” he added at WHO headquarters, in Geneva.

In Brazil, some called for Castro to be fired.

“He is incapable of occupying his position,” wrote Helio Gurovitz, a columnist with G1, the internet portal of the Globo television network.q

US tourist slain on Caribbean island of Grenada LINDA STRAKER Associated Press ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — A machete-wielding man attacked a U.S. tourist couple as they walked along an isolated beach on Grenada, killing the woman, police on the Caribbean island said Tuesday. Jessica Lewis Colker, 39, of Atlanta, was found dead after her husband ran to get help following

the attack, which occurred around noon Sunday on a remote stretch of coast along the island’s southeast, said Sylvan McIntyre, an assistant superintendent with the Royal Grenada Police Force. A suspect was in custody. Colker and her husband, Brian Van Melito, had arrived on Grenada a day before the assault and were staying at a hotel near where the attack oc-

curred in an area of beach and mangrove in St. David Parish, McIntrye said.

They had walked from the more popular La Sagesse beach at the time to a more remote spot. “It is an area where you can go off for a moment of privacy and seclusion,” he said.

Colker worked as a physician’s assistant at a children’s hospital in metro Atlanta. Van Melito is a physi-

cian. The couple, who met at a dance workshop in Costa Rica, married in November 2014, according to an online wedding album.

“Jessica was a valued member of our Children’s team,” Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by this horrific news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this very difficult

time.”

The motive for the attack was unknown. The husband told the police that he fought with the man, managed to get away and call for help. Police and residents of the area launched a search and found Colker’s body about an hour later in the woods.

An autopsy found she died of extensive skull fracture and asphyxia. q

A12 WORLD

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEWS

Haiti leaders seek potential solutions to political crisis DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haitian President Michel Martelly would step down on schedule in two weeks, an interim government would take over and a runoff vote would be held within months. These are the contours of a potential solution to Haiti’s political crisis that was beginning to emerge early Tuesday, according to officials taking part in the discussions. The crisis follows the indefinite postponement of elections, which has generated fears of backsliding into instability. Haitian political leaders and others with influence have been meeting behind closed doors to discuss a way out of the impasse.

There were no official announcements, but officials said they were working toward a mediated solution following a surge of violent protests and a looming constitutional crisis.

“We know we have to work fast because we have a very short time to resolve this crisis,” said Senate President Jocelerme Privert, an opposition lawmaker who is a central figure in the talks.

“If Haiti needs anything it is political stability.”

Haiti had been scheduled to hold the runoff vote Sunday. But on Friday, the

A demonstrator chants: “Down with Martelly!” during a protest against President Michel Martelly’s government in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

(AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

electoral council canceled it, for a second time, amid protests and suspicion that the first round was marred by massive fraud favoring Martelly’s chosen candidate, Jovenel Moise.

The second-place presidential candidate, Jude Celestin, rejected the firstround results as a “farce” and alleged vote-rigging

by Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council. Martelly, who cannot run for a second consecutive term, is required under the Constitution to leave office by Feb.

7. For now, a number of proposals are being discussed in negotiations being held in Haiti’s National Palace and elsewhere. Privert said that Martelly has told him in several recent meetings that that he would step down on schedule early next month.

The Senate president cautioned that negotiations were far from settled. But he said consensus could be building for a plan that calls for an interim government to take power on Feb. 7.

New elections would be

held as soon as possible so a newly elected leader could take office, perhaps this spring.

Others with knowledge of the discussions agreed with his description of the current proposals. One Martelly ally with knowledge of the talks said the president wants the interim government to hold power for the minimum time necessary, just long enough to organize a new election. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to publicly dis-

Cruise line restarts Haiti port calls after recent protest PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. on Tuesday reestablished port calls to its fenced-in site and beach attraction in northern Haiti after suspending visits just over a week ago.

The Miami-based company suspended cruise ship stops to the Labadee port on Jan. 19 when one of its ships encountered people staging a protest in small

boats. There were conflicting reports about the reasons for the recent protest in the bay. Cruise ship passengers don’t leave the fenced-in area, long a source of frustration to area residents.

Spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says the company has been in close communication with Haitian officials and is now “comfortable that there will not be

any significant impact” on passengers.

The massive Allure of the Seas ship arrived Tuesday and tourism ministry officials said more visits are scheduled this week.

Royal Caribbean has provided the largest source of Haiti’s tourism revenue for decades. The visitors are prohibited from leaving the cruise line’s property, which features white-sand

beaches and one of the longest zip lines in the world.

Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin tweeted Tuesday that the government has been working “collaboratively with local people on sustainable projects.” A ministry spokesman did not immediately respond to an email seeking clarity about the recent protest, saying a full explanation would be provided shortly.q

cuss the negotiations.

There’s growing concern in some quarters that an inability to forge a deal might roll back a decade of relative political stability and scare off foreign investment in the hemisphere’s poorest nation.

“This situation is very worrying because reaching consensus is not going to be easy, knowing Haiti’s political actors,” said Rosny Desroches, a member of a special electoral commission that had unsuccessfully pushed for a political dialogue to ease electoral tensions. While Martelly meets with legislative leaders, the “Group of Eight” opposition alliance, led by Celestin, asserts that Haiti’s new Parliament was installed illegally and can’t provide solutions. Political compromise is a rare thing in Haiti, where elections and power transitions are often accompanied by violence and disorder. In a report on Haiti last year, the World Bank said many observers agree that “Haitians perceive political and economic disputes as a zero sum game with only winners and losers, each with very long memories.”

Oposition-stoked protests have steadily ramped up the tension in Haiti’s capital with window-smashing and burning street barricades. Some opposition militants and pro-government figures are fanning the flames. Senate candidate Guy Phillippe, an exparamilitary who helped lead an uprising against then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004 and campaigned with ruling party presidential Moise this election cycle, called on supporters in his remote enclave in southwestern Haiti to “defend” against opposition “anarchists.”q

LOCAL A13

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Paseo Herencia Celebrates the National Holiday of Betico Day!

live entertainment in their Plaza Padu nightly at 8:00

PALM BEACH - Paseo Herencia Shopping Mall goes well beyond being just a center for shopping, dining and entertainment by decorating its walls and halls with enlightening information about Aruba, its history, and a number of prominent figures that have contributed to the island’s development. The management particularly enjoys enriching and sharing our national holidays with island visitors, such as January 25th, the cel-

ebration of the birthday of statesman Gilberto Francois “Betico” Croes, a pivotal figure in Aruba attaining autonomy in 1986.

Oranjestad’s main shopping street is named for G.F. “Betico” Croes, who was also instrumental in the introduction of the Aruban flag and national anthem, “Aruba Dushi Terra,” in 1976. Founder of the major political party Movimiento

Electoral di Pueblo, (MEP), He was a key figure in negotiating with Holland for self rule for the island within the Dutch Kingdom. He passed away in 1986. A statue of him stands in the Plaza Betico behind the Cas di Cultura in Oranjestad, and his birthday was declared a national holiday almost two decades ago.

Paseo Herencia hosts free

PM. This past Monday, in celebration of “Betico” Day, they expanded their usual cultural show with additional patriotic folkloric dance by Youth in Action and Kids in Action dance groups. MC Alberto Groenveldt taught the audience filling the Plaza Padu some key phrases in Papiamento, and explained the meaning of this special day to island visitors, who thoroughly enjoyed a lively, authentic insight into Aruban history and culture enormously.q

A14 LOCAL

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Violeta by MANGO:

New Image and New Sizes In The Spring/Summer 2016 Collection -Following several collaborations, the model Candice Huffine becomes the new face of the campaign. What’s more, Violeta by MANGO is extending the size range to 54 and becoming curvier than ever.

worked with the brand on other occasions, has become the new face of the campaign.

The photo shoot, which took place in Mallorca in mid-December, was led by the photographer Sergi Pons, with whom

alongside Candice. The styling was by the Violeta

by MANGO team, while José Carlos González was responsible for hair and make-up. The campaign will hit the streets and the brand’s various advertising platforms

ORANJESTAD/BARCELONA - Violeta by MANGO presents its new Spring/ Summer 2016 collection with the support of Candice Huffine. The American model, who has

the brand has collaborated on numerous occasions. Candice shared the photo shoot with the American model Tara Lynn, who is featured in the brand’s catalogue

from 1 February.

On her collaboration with the brand, Candice Huffine said: It is always a pleasure to collaborate with Violeta! I really identify with the brand and I am delighted to be a part of this project, which is committed to the world of curvy fashion. The garments are incredible and I like the idea that all women have access to the latest trends, something I have always defended.

As a new feature and to mark the second anniversary of the brand’s creation, it has extended its size range to cater for consumers up to size 54, as a result of the numerous requests it has received from them.

The aim of Violeta by MANGO is to dress a young target market with garments designed to be comfortable, feminine and modern. The secret to this project, launched in January 2014, lies in the care tak-

en in the technical pattern details from size to size and in being able to offer a high quality collection for any moment of the day, aimed at a modern and demanding woman who wants to feel attractive, sexy and fashionable.

The brand’s new collection has a clear 70s inspiration running through it. In this decade, denim emerges as a key material, whether in flared trousers, long skirts and overshirts. The golden hues of cognac and mustard merge in garments such as jumpsuits and overalls, offerings that perfectly represent the youthful freedom and optimism of this era.

Visit Mango, exclusively in downtown Oranjestad.q

LOCAL A15

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Loyal Visitors to Aruba Honored as Emerald Ambassadors!

EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a pair of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Aruba Beach Club as Emerald Ambassadors!

The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation for guests who visit Aruba for 35-or-more consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Lyon and Mrs. Linda Howe of Yonkers, New York, who started coming to Aruba 36 years ago!

Lyon and Linda are regular guests of the Aruba Beach Club and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the Casinos, and just about everything else! They say Aruba feels like a second home where the people are like family to them, and the Aruba Beach Club is truly their ‘homeaway-from-home.’ The Emerald Ambassador Certificate and special Commemorative Coin were presented by Mr. Jonathan Boekhoudt representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with friends, family and Mrs. Kenia Brito from the Aruba Beach Club. q

A16 LOCAL

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Loyal Visitors Honored by the Aruba Tourism Authority

EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of

honoring a group of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Costa Linda Beach

Resort as Distinguished Visitors and Goodwill Ambassadors! The symbolic honor-

ary titles are presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as tokens of appreciation for guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 and 20to-34 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Luis and Mrs. Ana Maria Franch and their daughter and son Maria Cecilia and Mariano Franch as Distinguished Visitors, and Mr. Valeri and Mrs. Lina Markovsky as Goodwill Ambassadors.

Families Franch and Markovsky are regular guests of Costa Linda and they love Aruba very much because

of the friendly people, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants, the Casinos, and just about everything else! They say Aruba feels like a second home where the people are like family to them, and Costa Linda is truly their ‘home-awayfrom-home.’ The certificates were presented by Mr. Ernest Giel representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with Mrs. Gloria Janga and Mrs. Lina Asaytuno of the Costa Linda Beach Resort.q

SPORTS A17

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Courting Repeat

Serena Williams of the United States plays a forehand return to Maria Sharapova of Russia during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Williams beat Sharapova 6-4, 6-1.

(AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Williams beats Sharapova; Djokovic, Federer to meet in semis JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams has never lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Neither has Novak Djokovic.

A key difference between the defending champions is that Williams beat the most-experienced and highest-ranked challenger in her half of the draw when she extended her streak to 18 consecutive wins against Maria Sharapova with a 6-4, 6-1 quarterfinal

victory on Tuesday.

Williams said she wasn’t aware that she had won the Australian Open all six previous times she won her quarterfinal match, “but that’s good.”

“It’s not a stat that’s set in stone,” Williams said. “I still have to win two matches.”

Five-time champion Djokovic, after beating No. 7 Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, still has a daunting semifinal match against Roger Federer, who has won four of his 17 Grand Slam titles in

Australia.

Federer reached his 12th Australian Open semifinal, and 39th in a Grand Slam event, with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 6 Tomas Berdych. He hasn’t gone past the semifinals at Melbourne Park since winning the title in 2010, but he’s a serious obstacle for Djokovic.

They’re 22-all in career head-to-heads, with Djokovic catching up since usurping Federer in the rankings.

The tiebreaker will be tricky.

Djokovic lost only one of his 28 Grand Slam matches in 2015 — to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final — and has won 37 of his last 38 matches at Melbourne Park, a run that includes four titles. He beat Federer in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals last year, but Federer was back contending for titles.

“Any round feels like finals because of the fact that we are, you know, big rivals, we played so many

times against each other,” Djokovic said. “There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot at stake. I’m expecting a great fight in two days.”

In the women’s semifinals, Williams will be facing fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1, 6-3. Radwanska has won one of her previous four semifinals at a major, but never won a Grand Slam title.

Continued on Page 20

A18 SPORTS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Jordan Spieth’s international tour continues in Singapore

Jordan Spieth of the United States tees off at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Spieth’s worldwide golf adventure continues this week at the Singapore Open.

(AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil)

SINGAPORE (AP) — Jordan Spieth’s worldwide golf adventure continues

this week at the Singapore Open, where he says the weather reminds him a bit

of his home state of Texas.

Spieth arrived in Singapore on Monday after an eight-

hour flight from Abu Dhabi, where he finished tied for fifth, five strokes behind winner Rickie Fowler in the Abu Dhabi Championship, and said he was exhausted.

Spieth arrived in the Middle East after an eight-shot victory in Hawaii, which followed his 2015 season when he won two majors and the FedEx Cup title, and reached No. 1 in the world.

Over the past two months, he’s also played in South Korea at the Presidents Cup, China, in Sydney where he unsuccessfully defended his Australian Open title, and in the Bahamas.

“This was just a unique offseason,” Spieth said at a media conference Tuesday. “I’m extremely excited to be here. I was very tired on Sunday from a long week there. By the time we

start Thursday, I’ll be ready to go with four full days of my best stuff.”

Spieth spent nearly a halfhour waiting for his luggage at Changi Airport on his arrival, but said he spent Monday “resting, just laying low trying to catch up on sleep, strength and hydration from the long trips.”

“I don’t mind the heat and humidity, I’m used to it from Texas. It’s a bit of a hit at this time of year.”

After the Singapore Open, which will be played at the Sentosa Golf Club, he’ll return to the U.S. to play at Pebble Beach pro-am and the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles in February.

“I was unlucky in the spacing of the tournaments,” Spieth said Tuesday. “And that’s what kind of led to this crazy four-month adventure that we’ve had.”

Oosthuizen, Grace look to maintain South African domination STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer South Africans have won three of the five European Tour events in the 2016 season, and two more of the country’s players seem strong candidates for a victory at the Qatar Masters.

Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen tees up for the first time in 2016 after a seven-week break and will look to continue his remarkable record of results in the opening event of a calendar year. In 2011 and 2012, he won the Africa

Open and had consecutive victories in the Volvo Golf Champions in 2013 and 2014. Last year, when injury prevented him from starting his campaign until March, he placed sixth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

“After a good break, you want to go back out on the golf course again,” said Oosthuizen, who played the Nedbank Golf Challenge in early December and didn’t pick up his clubs again until last week. “I think a lot of times with the schedules we have these days you lose that a bit, to be hungry again just to go out and play. I got a bit of that back again.”

Branden Grace is the defending champion in Doha and showed his form last week with a fifth-place finish — tying with topranked Jordan Spieth — in a strong field at the Abu

Dhabi Championship. The No. 11-ranked Grace could break into the world’s top 10 for the first time after this week. “It’s something you dream about as a young player, being in the world’s top 10, so it would be huge for me to achieve that,” said Grace, who finished in the top four in two majors in 2015. “My career has excelled ever since (winning in Qatar last year). It really put me back on the map again and it’s a week I’ll never forget.”

Charl Schwartzel, Brandon Stone and Haydn Porteous are the South African winners so far this season, all in events on home soil.

SPORTS A19

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Broncos heap praise on Panthers leading up to Super Bowl 50 PAT GRAHAM Associated Press ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Nothing but compliments for Cam Newton after completely bashing Tom Brady.

And no, this nasty Denver Broncos defense hasn’t suddenly turned soft.

They’re simply playing nice with the Super Bowl still two weeks away.

The pleasantries seem tame after all the trash talking Denver did before the New England game. The Broncos called Brady a crybaby for complaining to the officials over calls. They also accused tight end Rob Gronkowski of constantly pushing off to get open.

On Sunday, they backed up their words by constantly harassing Brady in a 2018 win over the Patriots to earn a spot in Super Bowl 50 against Carolina (17-1).

Now, the Broncos (14-4) are pulling out the respect card, especially when it comes to Newton.

“He’s probably the most dangerous quarterback in the NFL right now,” Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib said.

Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware heaped plenty of praise on Newton, too.

“You can’t rush timid because if you do that, he’s one of those pocket quarterbacks that can get the ball deep down the field,” said Ware, whose team will wear their white road uniforms on Feb. 7 in their

record-tying eighth Super Bowl appearance. “You have to be able to get pressure on him, but you have to be decisive on how you’re rushing. You can’t be a wild rusher.”

The Broncos certainly went wild against Brady, hitting him 23 times, all the more amazing given how quickly Brady usually gets rid of the ball.

And no one was in his face more often than Von Miller, who had 2 1/2 sacks and an interception on a pass intended for Gronkowski.

“We go out there and the scoreboard talks for itself,” Miller said.

So good was defensive coordinator Wade Phillips’ scheme that after the game, coach Gary Kubiak felt he had to give out several game balls.

“We’ve got to come up with a great game plan against them like we did against New England,” Talib said. “We may switch it up here and there a little bit, but for the most part, we’re going to get pressure on the quarterback and cover.”

The Broncos are facing a different kind of QB in Newton. He’s not like Brady, who will find seam after seam for big play after big play. Instead, Newton will take off if the pressure is too intense. In a 49-15 win over Arizona during the NFC title game, Newton rushed for two TDs and threw for two more.q

NFL conducting probe of Manning DENVER (AP) — The NFL says it is conducting a comprehensive review of allegations that Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had human growth hormone delivered to his house.

There’s no timetable to complete the investigation, but it’s not expected before the Denver plays Carolina in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.League spokesman Brian McCarthy says the inquiry, which began weeks ago, involves reviews of records, interviews and coordination with other agencies.

Al Jazeera reported last month that an intern at an Indianapolis anti-aging clinic was secretly recorded suggesting that Manning’s wife received deliveries of HGH, which is banned by the league.

Manning, then with the Colts, was rehabbing from shoulder surgeries.

The intern, Charles Sly, has since recanted his story.

Manning angrily denied using performance-enhancing substances and called the report “complete garbage.”q

Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton celebrates after the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers won 49-15 to advance to the Super Bowl.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

20 SPORTS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Williams beats Sharapova; Djokovic, Federer to meet in semis Continued from Page 17

Williams is 8-0 against Radwanska, including their meeting in the 2012 Wimbledon final.

Williams said she couldn’t explain her 11-year domination of Sharapova — she has won 19 of their 21 meetings overall — except to say she rises to the big challenges.

“When I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game,” said Williams, a 21-time major winner. “I think that makes me play better.

“When I’m forced to play better, I do well.”

Williams attacked Sharapova’s strength, targeting the five-time Grand Slam winner’s improving serve.

Sharapova had a careerhigh 21 aces in her previous win against No. 12 Belinda Bencic. Against Williams, she had three, and seven double-faults. Williams had 13 aces, hit 31 winners to 11, and broke Sharapova’s serve four times.

“She played quite explo-

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays a backhand return return to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Djokovic beat Nishikori 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

sive,” Sharapova said. “She was really explosive off the return. Yeah.”

Sharapova hasn’t given up hope of breaking a drought against Williams that goes

back to 2004.

“It’s motivating because she’s at a different level,”

AP Source:

Review coming of tennis’ anti-corruption group

HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Responding to reports that possible evidence of match fixing was not properly investigated, tennis’ governing bodies are setting up an independent review of the sport’s anticorruption group, a person familiar with the plans tells The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the review of the Tennis Integrity Unit had not yet been announced.

The official word is supposed to come at a news conference on the grounds of the Australian Open on

Wednesday. ATP Executive Chairman and President Chris Kermode, International Tennis Federation President David Haggerty and Wimbledon Chairman Philip Brook are scheduled to attend. Those three are members of the Tennis Integrity Board, with Brook as chairman, a rotating position.

The review will be run out of London, according to the person familiar with the plans.

As the year’s first Grand Slam tournament began last week, the BBC and BuzzFeed News published reports saying tennis au-

thorities failed to thoroughly pursue evidence of match fixing involving more than a dozen players who have ranked in the top 50 over the past decade. No players were named.

At a news conference in Melbourne, Australia, when the reports first emerged, Kermode rejected the notion that there was unchecked match fixing in tennis or that any evidence might have been suppressed. He added that the Tennis Integrity Unit remained “constantly vigilant and not complacent” when it comes to tackling corruption.

The Tennis Integrity Unit began work in 2008, when the sport’s four main oversight groups — the ATP and WTA tours, the International Tennis Federation and the Grand Slam Committee — adopted an anti-corruption code to make sure the same rules and penalties are applied across tennis.

The year before, three players were suspended for betting on matches and an online site voided wagers on a match involving then-fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns. q

Sharapova said.

“She makes you go back to the drawing board, not just for me, but for many other players. She makes you work. That’s inspiring.”

Federer also has some inspiration in his next match against Djokovic, namely the recent losses.

The 34-year-old Federer used a full array of shots, including some vintage backhands, in his 48 winners to avenge losses to Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 and the 2012 U.S. Open. “Tomas has caused me a lot of problems over the years,” said Federer, who improved to 16-6 against Berdych. “He’s one of those guys who make you a better player, he’s beaten me on the biggest courts around the world.”

Djokovic has caused his share of pain for Federer since overtaking him in the rankings.

After his long five-setter against Gilles Simon, when he made a startling 100 unforced errors, Djokovic cut that down 27 in a fasterpaced, shorter-rally encounter against Nishikori, a U.S. Open finalist in 2014.

He came up with the big plays while facing break points in the first two sets, and only dropped serve in two exchanges of breaks in the third.

“That was a goal, to decrease the unforced errors ratio,” Djokovic said, smiling. “In important moments I stayed composed. Overall it was a very solid performance.

“I have to be satisfied, I reached (the) semifinals. I won against a top-10 player in straight sets. Comparing to the fourth-round match, this was much better. That makes me confident and encourages me for the next one.”q

SPORTS A21

Wednesday 27 January 2016

French Roundup: Lille tops Bordeaux 5-1 to reach French League Cup final PARIS (AP) — Lille thrashed Bordeaux 5-1 to reach the French League Cup final on Tuesday.

Lille will meet either Cup holder Paris Saint-Germain or Toulouse.

Striker Yassine Benzia opened the scoring with a slightly deflected shot, and hit a volley just wide as Lille totally controlled the first 30 minutes, during which it also had a goal disallowed for offside.

Bordeaux midfielder Clement Chantome equalized, but Lille scored twice in quick succession before the break to take control.

A superb instinctive finish from midfielder Eric Bautheac and a fine finish from substitute Sofiane Boufal three minutes into injury time capped a resounding win, and ended Bordeaux’s 11-match unbeaten run.

PSG, which is unbeaten in domestic competition this season, hosts Toulouse on Wednesday.

“This will do the team a lot of good,” said Lille midfielder Florent Balmont, referring to the side’s precarious position of 14th in the league.

Bordeaux equalized following a defensive error from center half Adama Soumaoro. He tried a dragback inside his own penalty area and got tackled by Chantome, who drilled the ball into the corner.

Lille missed a chance shortly after when midfielder Rony Lopes shot too close to goalkeeper Jerome Prior after going clean through.

But there was another defensive mishap just before halftime as Bordeaux center-half Lamine Sane scored an own goal when trying to tackle Lopes.q

English Roundup:

Liverpool beats Stoke; reaches League Cup final STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool beat Stoke 6-5 on penalties to reach the English League Cup final on Tuesday, with Joe Allen scoring the decisive spot kick in the second leg.

Stoke won the match 1-0 after extra time through Marko Arnautovic’s firsthalf goal, and the semifinal finished 1-1 on aggregate.

Both sides missed one of their first five penalties to take the shootout to sudden death. Stoke defender Marc Muniesa saw his effort saved by Simon Mignolet, and Allen converted high in the right corner before being mobbed by teammates.The final is at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 28. Stoke won at Anfield after 90 minutes for the first time since 1959 but the victory proved in vain for the midlands club, which was looking to reach its third final in this competition.

Instead, Liverpool — the most successful team in League Cup history — will look to add to its eight titles, with the possibility of an all-Merseyside final like in 1984. Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will be back at Wembley for the first time since he led

Liverpool’s players celebrate after winning the English League Cup semifinal second leg soccer match between Liverpool and Stoke City at Anfield stadium in Liverpool, England, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Borussia Dortmund there in the all-German Champions League final in 2013, won

by Bayern Munich.

Liverpool beat Norwich 5-4 in a Premier League classic on Saturday but its inconsistency under Klopp resurfaced here.

Stoke signaled its intent to make the game scrappy — and life uncomfortable for Liverpool — by starting with tall striker Peter Crouch and a hard-working fellow frontman in Jon Walters. The team has refined its playing

style under Mark Hughes to make it more pleasing on the eye, but this was the Stoke of the Tony Pulis years.

The switch paid off.

Crouch was a constant menace and Liverpool’s ball-playing midfielders were harried into basic mistakes. The distribution from both sides was very poor.

Arnautovic’s goal was out of keeping with what went on previously in the first half.

Bojan Krkic was played in behind isolated center

back Mamadou Sakho, and the forward crossed for Arnautovic — arriving from an offside position — to sweep home a low finish.

Klopp sent on Christian Benteke to replace captain Jordan Henderson early in the second half to give Liverpool more presence up front but it made little difference, and Stoke continued to look more dangerous, especially when Arnautovic got the ball, and from set-pieces using Crouch’s height.q

Italian Roundup:

Balotelli penalty helps AC Milan to win in Cup semis TURIN, Italy (AP) — Mario Balotelli converted a firsthalf penalty and AC Milan beat third-division Alessandria 1-0 in the opening leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday.

Getting his first start after several months out with an injured pelvis, Balotelli calmly scored from the

spot shortly before halftime after Luca Antonelli was fouled inside the area as he slalomed between defenders.

As usual, Balotelli did not celebrate.

A few minutes earlier, Balotelli wasted a great chance after being set up

by Keisuke Honda with only

the goalkeeper to beat.

Milan substitute M’Baye Niang, who replaced Balotelli midway through the second half, hit the post near the end.

The match was at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico because the stadium in Alessandria, outside Turin, wasn’t big enough.

It’s the first time a third-division club has reached the last four since Bari 32 years ago. Alessandria eliminated Serie A clubs Palermo and Genoa.

Juventus hosts Inter Milan in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

The return legs are scheduled for March 1, 2 or 3.q

A22 HEALTH

Wednesday 27 January 2016

By: Dr. Carlos Viana

As strong as your house might be, if the foundation of the structure is collapsing the dwelling will not last long. A strong foundation supports a strong building. The lower back is truly the foundation of our body’s structure and an agonizing lower back means your body cannot stand upright. In our clinic we have seen patients with excruciating lower back transported to us in the back of station wagons, SUVs, and hatchbacks.

The parts of the lower back include the bony structure of your spine and pelvis; areas of motion which are the joints of soft pads-discs, the supportive structures that initiate motion are the muscles, ligaments which are the straps that hold bone to bone and the electrical system supplied by the nerves. As the center of the body, dancers and other athletes realize that all sustainable movement in your body originates in your body’s core or center, which includes the lower back.

Lower back pain can be a combination of the parts of the back. Injuries are caused either by one major trauma or by many minor traumas that occur over time. If there is an energy imbalance, such as a rotated pelvis, a short leg or an increased or decreased curve in the low

Crumbling Foundation

back, there will be areas of heightened tension that will be more vulnerable to irritation and injury. When an injury takes place, there will usually be a muscle spasm and swelling indicating inflammation of the discs or nerves. This is why it is common to feel multiple types of pain when injured. Muscles cause dull aches while nerves cause sharp pains.

Low back pain is the most prevalent cause of disability in people under age forty five. If you have any of the following symptoms, you need medical attention. Pain is worse when you cough or sneeze; pain or numbness travels down one or both legs; pain awakens you from sleep; you are finding it difficult to or loose control of urine or bowel movement.

There are several symptoms of lower back problems. Nearly all lower back problems present with numbness, weakness, sciatica pain, stiffness, or tightness. When nerve impulses aren’t traveling properly from the skin to the brain you will feel numbness.

Weakness happens when signals don’t travel properly from the brain to the muscles or from problems in the muscles themselves. I see many patients suffering from Type II diabetes with these leg problems.

Patients who awaken early in the morning with stiffness are likely to be suffering from an inflammatory condition. Since there could be a more serious problem, and a physician should rule out infection and severe psychological problems.

Tightness in the back, neck, arms and legs is most often due to changes

in the muscles. Most neck and back problems are a result of tight, achy muscles brought on by years of bad posture. Additionally, joint stiffness and pain, could mean you are at risk for degenerative osteoarthritis.

Poor posture and a sedentary lifestyle have shown to increase the risk of the condition in later years.

Sciatica refers to pain that begins in the hip and buttocks and continues all the way down the leg. This pain is also in the lower back. The term “sciatica” indicates that the sciatic nerve, which travels from the lower back into the leg, is where this pain is moving.

While we treat this condition successfully with acupuncture I check the health of the prostate in male patients and screen women in child bearing ages for urinary tract or vaginal infections.

In the postmenopausal female low back pain, difficulty initiating stool or urination, urinary incontinence, and pelvic pain or pressure is usually from a weakening of the supporting structures of the vagina and uterus. During the childbearing years the female hormones have continuously stimulated the sexual organs. Without a replacement physical stimulation, the muscles and ligaments weaken and are no longer able to hold the organs in place. Many times I get a complaint from a menopausal woman that “something” from the vagina is protruding rather than any pain or pressure feelings. A series of ten to fifteen acupuncture treatment are usually all that is needed for these women to walk nor-

mally again.

In the many years that we have provided primary care to our community, every new case of lower back pain has come to us with a diagnosis from an allopathic doctor that there is a “disk problem”.

Either the disk is herniated, which would mean that a rupture in the wall of a disk, between two vertebras or because nerves are being “pinched”. Of course, pain medication is provided along with trite advice to “take some time off to relax”.

It is important to tract down the source of your lower back problems if your pain is spontaneous or regularly recurring. My mother, Nora, suffered for years from low back problems; directly related to a somewhat serious automobile accident in the years before belt restraints and airbags. At her eightieth birthday she walked effortlessly and confidently to her birthday celebration and honored me with her first of many dances. A living testament that lower back pain needs not be a life sentence.

Get The Point!

Anne Frank, the seventeen year old Dutch girl caught hiding from the Nazis said “I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... I think... peace and tranquility will return again”. She was not writing about the same foundation, but her words ring true for what you are going through suffering from back pain. The negative effects of back pain on family relationships, your job, loss of self esteem, guilt, fear, and an-

ger are very real. Accepting the sentencing that the structure of your back has crumbled and your choices are to “live with it, or get an operation” is ridiculous.

There are more options. Call to make an appointment if you are ready to rebuild your foundation for some peace and tranquility.

CARLOS VIANA ta un Docter (Ph D) den Antropologia Medico, e ta un Doctor den Medicina Tradicional Oriental studia na Shanghai, China; nutricionista clinico certifica. Tambe miembro di directiva di e Asociasion di Professionalnan den tratamiento di adiccion ytoxicologia, Presidente di e comite pa America Latino di e Academia Internacional di Medicina Oral y Toxicologia. Dr. Viana tin un programa di radio tur siman , ta scirbi y duna lecturanan extensamente . Pa mas informacion di e servicionan na VIANA NATURAL HEALING CENTER NV, Kibaima 7, Tel 585 1270, Web sight: www.vianaheal.com “Prescriptions from Paradise” ta optenible na Aruba na Viana Healing Center, Tur libreria, Gift shops y centro nan di salud di calidad. tambe ta disponibel den forma do print y pa Kindle download pa nos amigo nan pa fo di Aruba na www.amazon.com Pa anuncio nan acerca di mas evento nan y firmamento di buki check , check corant nan local, radio y television tambe como riba www. vianaheal.com y join e discusion riba nos Facebook pagina: www.facebook. com/prescriptionsformparadise q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Wednesday 27 January 2016

New hockey app debuts with help of MLB baseball AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball is debuting a new website and apps — for ice hockey.

Under a deal reached last summer, baseball’s digital business has taken over streaming and app development for the National Hockey League. On Monday, the NHL will start offering a cheaper subscription package, NHL Premium, with six-minute recaps and live video for the final five minutes of most games, plus any overtime and shootouts. Premium will cost $3 a month, compared with $25 for full games. In both cases, hometown games will typically be unavailable to preserve television rights.

The NHL is also boosting video quality to 60 frames per second, double the standard 30 frames, though you’ll need a streaming TV device, a game console, an iPad or one of the larger, Plus models of the iPhone.

Officials say that 60 frames will be ideal for fast-moving action such as hockey, as it will make puck movement look smoother. Bob Bowman, baseball’s president of business and media, says he plans to bring that to baseball, too.

Among other features: — Beyond choosing a team or two as favorites, you’ll be able to “follow” rival teams. Those teams will show up higher on league scoreboards, but you won’t clutter the screen with as much news about those teams as you would for favorites.

— Composite views will mix the main action with alternative angles, such as cameras looking straight down on each goalie.

Gone will be the ability to choose alternative angles individually, as video didn’t always sync correctly. Officials are hoping to address that by offering the composite view with preselected angles as a single stream. Although baseball is now running hockey’s digital services, you won’t get the type of real-time tracking available for baseball. q

Apple’s iPhone success may be reaching its peak BRANDON BAILEY AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple could soon face one of its biggest challenges to date: Peak iPhone.

Most analysts believe Apple surpassed its own record by selling more than 74.5 million units of its flagship product in the final three months of 2015. But there are signs that iPhone sales in the first three months of 2016 will — for the first time ever — show an abrupt decline from the same period a year earlier.

That could mark a pivotal moment for the Silicon Valley giant.

Apple is the world’s biggest company, in terms of stock value, thanks to the iPhone’s surging popularity around the world. In business terms, Apple makes most of its money from iPhone sales.

But concerns about slowing growth have sent the stock into a months-long slump, fueling debate about what kind of company Apple will be in the future.

The iPhone contributed nearly two-thirds of Apple’s $234 billion in revenue last year. None of the other new products Apple has launched in recent years have emerged as blockbusters. That’s led some critics to suggest Apple has lost its innovative touch, while others say it’s evolving to depend on a broader base of related tech products and services.

One thing is clear, said analyst Angelo Zino at S&P Capital IQ: “Last year was an unprecedented year for Apple and the iPhone....

You’ll never see that type of growth from the iPhone again.”

When CEO Tim Cook re-

ports Tuesday on Apple’s sales for the last three months of 2015, investors will be watching closely for any hints about how Apple’s signature smartphone is faring in the current quarter. Sales usually fall somewhat after the holiday

lysts are expecting around 55 million.

An estimated 500 million people own iPhones now, which means Apple can rely on a significant number to upgrade each year. But some have put off buying a new model because they

a similar cycle a few years ago, when iPhone sales growth slowed to 7 percent in the final months of 2013.

The next year, Apple introduced new models with significantly bigger screens.

That sent sales skyrocketing, especially in Asia, where

Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus at an event in San Francisco.

Most analysts believe Apple surpassed its own record by selling more than 74.5 million iPhones in the final three months of 2015. But there are signs that iPhone sales in the first three months of 2016 will show an abrupt decline from the same period a year earlier.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

shopping season. But analysts say it appears Apple has cut production orders from key suppliers in recent weeks, suggesting it’s lowered its own forecasts.

Apple hasn’t commented on iPhone sales since last fall, when Cook struck an upbeat tone. In part, Zino and other experts say, the company is suffering from its own success. Apple sold 61 million iPhones in the March quarter of 2015, or 40 percent more than it did a year earlier. To match that growth rate, Apple would need to sell more than 85 million in the current period. Instead, ana-

didn’t see a strong reason to upgrade.

Despite some new features, “people are feeling like there hasn’t been anything that’s really new” in the latest iPhone models, known as the 6S and 6S Plus, which came out last fall, said market researcher John Feland of Argus Insights.

Apple will likely make significant changes in the next major iPhone release, expected in September, which could fuel another surge in sales. Some tech blogs have reported a new model might even be coming this spring.

The company went through

consumers had previously flocked to buy big-screen phones from rival Samsung.

But there may no more equally dramatic changes left to jump-start sales like that again. “Apple really pulled the big lever they had left un-pulled, up to then,” said tech analyst Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research. “That was sort of a one-off event.”

While iPhone sales may be slowing, Apple has launched other products and services tied to the iPhone — from the Apple Watch to the digital payments service known as Apple Pay.q

Marvin Minsky, pioneer of artificial intelligence, dies CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (AP) — A pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who saw parallels in the functioning of the human brain and computers has died. Marvin Minsky was 88.

The university says Minsky died Sunday at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston of a cerebral hemorrhage.

Minsky viewed the brain as a machine whose functioning can be studied, and replicated in a computer

and considered how machines might be endowed with common sense.

Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, says Minsky “helped create the vision of artificial intelligence as

we know it today.”

Minsky served in the Navy during World War II, before earning mathematics degrees from Harvard and Princeton. He joined MIT’s faculty in 1958.

He is survived by his wife and three children.q

A24 BUSINESS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Stock rise, driven by a turn higher in crude oil prices MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks jumped Tuesday as the price of oil made another abrupt reversal, this time rising almost 4 percent after falling sharply the day before.

Energy stocks climbed along with the price of oil, and Chevron and Exxon Mobil made major gains.

Strong fourth-quarter results from beleaguered wireless provider Sprint gave telecom stocks a boost. Quarterly earnings also sent several stocks higher, including Post-it Notes maker 3M, Procter & Gamble, which makes Crest toothpaste, and luxury handbag maker Coach.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 282.01 points, or 1.8 percent, to

16,167.23. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 26.55 points, or 1.4 percent, to 1,903.63. The Nasdaq composite index added 49.18 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,567.67.

Energy stocks gained ground as the price of U.S. crude rose $1.10, or 3.7 percent, to close at $31.45 a barrel in New York. It fell almost 6 percent Monday.

Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, rose $1.30, or 4.3 percent, to $31.80 a barrel in London.

Despite the rebound, U.S. crude is down almost 18 percent this month.

Exxon Mobil picked up $2.72, or 3.7 percent, $76.70 and Chevron rose $3.23, or 4 percent, to $84.12.

Quarterly earnings contributed to many of the biggest moves of the day.

Trader Mark Puetzer works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. Higher oil prices and some positive earnings news from U.S. companies are helping to send the stock market higher.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Procter & Gamble reported a larger profit in the fourth quarter as it raised prices and cut costs. The maker of Pantene shampoo, Crest toothpaste and Charmin toilet paper added $1.96, or 2.6 percent, to $78.81.

Coach reported a greater profit than analysts had expected, and its stock rose $2.98, or 9.8 percent, to $33.33. Even with that big gain, however, it’s down 10 percent over the last 12 months.

3M, which makes industrial coatings and ceramics, reported a greater profit and more revenue than ana-

lysts expected. It rose $7.21, or 5.2 percent, to $144.78.

The Dow had its best day since early December.

Many of the companies making the biggest gains, including Exxon, Chevron and 3M, are Dow components. The Nasdaq made smaller gains because tech stocks didn’t rise as much as the broader market.

Huntington Bancshares agreed to buy competitor FirstMerit Corp for $3.4 billion. The deal would create the largest bank in Ohio, and the companies would have about $100 billion in combined assets. FirstMerit

added $2.82, or 18.3 percent, to $18.19 and Huntington lost 75 cents, or 8.5 percent, to $8.50.

Sprint, the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S., posted a smaller loss in its third quarter and said its aggressive promotions lured in more users. The company raised its outlook for the year.

Sprint’s stock rose 47 cents, or 18.7 percent, to $2.99.

The stock, which hit an alltime low last Wednesday, has been on a wild ride the last few days, jumping almost 15 percent Friday and then falling 12 percent Monday, when Sprint said it had cut about 2,500 jobs since last fall, or 8 percent of its staff. Other telecom stocks also jumped Tuesday. Verizon Communications gained $1.22, or 2.6 percent, to $48.25.

While the market made broad gains and undid most of Monday’s losses, it’s still down substantially this year and there are signs investors have big worries about the global economy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2 percent from 2.01 percent and the yield on the twoyear Treasury note dipped to 0.84 percent from 0.86 percent. q

Chase planning rollout of card-free ATMs KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Soon, losing your ATM card won’t be the financial life-stopping event it used to be.

Just don’t also lose your phone.

JPMorgan Chase customers will soon be able to withdraw cash or initiate other transactions using their cellphone at Chase ATMs being upgraded later this year.

The move will include new cash machines that don’t require a card and upgrades to existing machines that will allow customers to withdraw more money and in different denominations, said Chase spokesman Michael Fusco. The withdrawal limit will also be substantially higher, up to $3,000

during branch hours.

The first generation of these new ATMs will allow customers to access the machine by inputting a code found on their Chase mobile app, Fusco said. Future upgrades of machines will allow customers to use their cell phone’s near-field wireless communication feature to access their accounts, using the technology that enables shopping checkout features such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Customers will still be able to use their ATM cards if they want to, Fusco said.

The cell phone technology will just be an option.

Chase and other banks have been rolling out new and upgraded ATMs in a continuing effort to replace

the fleets of bank tellers at each branch once needed to handle routine customer transactions. Fusco said Chasenow does more transactions each month via ATMs than with tellers.

Tellers will still be in branches, however, to help with specialized customer transactions, Fusco said. Chase is also moving tellers from behind the counter to the branch floor to help customers navigate the new machines.

Other features being rolled out with the new machines eventually, the company announced Monday, will allow customers to cash checks, and pay Chase credit card bills and mortgages at the ATM. Those features will arrive within the next two years.q

BUSINESS A25

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Johnson & Johnson beats 4Q profit views despite lower sales

Johnson & Johnson products are displayed in Orlando, Fla. Johnson & Johnson’s reported quarterly financial results, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016.

(AP Photo/John Raoux)

LINDA A. JOHNSON AP Business Writer (AP) - Johnson & Johnson posted a 28 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit, beating Wall Street expectations, as the sale of part of its now-restructuring medical devices business offset the strong dollar

and multiple charges. The results pushed up shares of the Dow component more than 3 percent.

J&J’s consumer business, hammered by an embarrassing stretch of dozens of recalls dating to 2009, finally has nearly all its products back in stores, the com-

pany said. However, its prescription drugs segment turned in the best performance and was the only segment with higher sales.

The world’s biggest health care product company said on Tuesday that net income was $3.2 billion, or $1.15 per share, up from $2.53 billion, or 89 cents per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted net income was $4.04 billion, or $1.44 per share, which was 2 cents better than Wall Street analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.

J&J posted a $1.21 billion gain, mainly for its October divestiture of its Cordis heart devices unit. Cordis had accounted for about a quarter of device sales.

Revenue for the maker of baby shampoo, prescription medicines and medical devices fell 2.4 percent to $17.81 billion, hurt by the dollar that has weighed on

Weight Watchers stock gains as Oprah loses

NEW YORK (AP) — Weight Watchers stock is gaining again, thanks to Oprah Winfrey’s weight loss.

The company’s shares soared Tuesday after a new commercial starring Winfrey aired where she says she has lost 26 pounds on Weight Watchers. Winfrey said during an appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that she started on the plan in August.

Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in the weight-

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loss company in October.

Its stock is up more than 90 percent since then. Winfrey is a natural fit for the company: Her struggle with weight was a frequent topic of her former talk show.

“I love bread!,” Winfrey says in the new commercial. “That’s the genius of this program.

I lost 26 pounds and I have eaten bread every single day.”

Winfrey posted the ad online Tuesday to her nearly

31 million Twitter followers.

Weight Watchers has also made changes to its plans recently to better fit in with Winfrey’s message of living a healthy and happier life, and not just focusing on weight loss.

Shares of New York-based Weight Watchers International Inc. rose 21 percent to $13.44 in afternoon trading. But they are still down about 21 percent from a year ago.

other U.S. multinationals as well. The total missed analyst projections for 17.94 billion.

“The quarter was pretty solid,” said Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans, adding that over the long term, profit will be driven more by launches of new prescription drugs than medical devices or consumer products. For example, she said recently approved Darzalex, for the blood cancer multiple myeloma, eventually could produce billions in annual sales.

Johnson & Johnson, based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, expects full-year adjusted earnings, which excludes one-time items, of $6.43 to $6.58 per share,

with revenue of $70.8 billion to $71.5 billion. Analysts were expecting $71.9 billion in sales and earnings of $6.37 per share.

“We’re pleased with the results,” CEO Alex Gorsky told analysts during a conference call. “We’re optimistic about the opportunities in health care and the strength of our business.”

He noted J&J plans by 2019 to apply for approval of 10 new products that each could generate $1 billion in annual sales.

Last week, Johnson & Johnson said it plans to restructure its underperforming medical devices business, which includes the reduction of about 3,000 jobs over the next two years.

A26 COMICS

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Wednesday 27 January 2016

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A28 SCIENCE

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Scientists: Good evidence for 9th planet in solar system MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists reported recently they finally have “good evidence” for Planet X, a true ninth planet on the fringes of our solar system.

The gas giant is thought to be almost as big as Neptune and orbiting billions of miles beyond Neptune’s path — distant enough to take 10,000 to 20,000 years to circle the sun.

This Planet 9, as the two California Institute of Technology researchers call it, hasn’t been spotted yet.

They base their findings on mathematical and computer modeling, and anticipate its discovery via telescope within five years or less.

The two reported on their research Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal because they want people to help them look for it.

“We could have stayed quiet and quietly spent the next five years searching the skies ourselves and hoping to find it. But I would

rather somebody find it sooner, than me find it later,” astronomer Mike Brown told The Associated Press.

“I want to see it. I want to see what it looks like. I want

against Pluto’s planetary status in 2006. (It’s now officially considered a dwarf planet.)

His colleague in this latest Planet 9 report, also from

California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown points to a yellow dot simulating Planet 9 on a computer video simulation view of Planet 9 in the solar system at the CalTech USGS Media center in Pasadena, Calif.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

to understand where it is, and I think this will help.”

Once it’s detected, Brown insists there will be no Pluto-style planetary debate.

Brown ought to know; he’s the so-called Pluto killer who helped lead the charge

Caltech in Pasadena, is planetary scientist Konstantin Batygin.

“For the first time in more than 150 years, there’s good evidence that the planetary census of the solar system is incomplete,”

Batygin said, referring to Neptune’s discovery as Planet 8. The two shaped their prediction on the fact that six objects in the icy Kuiper Belt, or Twilight Zone on the far reaches of the solar system, appear to be influenced by only one thing: a real planet.

Brown actually discovered one of these six objects more than a decade ago, Sedna, a large minor planet way out there on the solar system frontier.

“This is a prediction. What we have found is a gravitational signature of Planet 9 lurking in the outskirts of the solar system,’ Batygin said.

“We have not found the object itself,” he stressed, adding that the actual discovery when it happens will be “era-defining.”

Added Brown: “We have felt a great disturbance in the force.”

Depending on where this Planet 9 is in its egg-shaped orbit, a space telescope may be needed to confirm its presence, the researchers said. Or good backyard telescopes may spot it,

they noted, if the planet is relatively closer to us in its swing around the sun. It’s an estimated 20 billion to 100 billion miles from us.

The Caltech researchers prefer calling it Planet 9, versus the historical term Planet X. The latter smacks of “aliens and the imminent destruction of the Earth,” according to Brown.

The orb — believed to be 10 times more massive than Earth and 5,000 times more massive than dwarf Pluto — may well have rings and moons.

The last real planet to be discovered in our solar system was Neptune in 1846.

Pluto, discovered in 1930, was once the 9th planet but is now considered a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It was visited by Earth for the first time last July; NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft accomplished the first-ever flyby.

The spacecraft, unfortunately, is in the opposite direction of Planet 9, according to the researchers, and thus unable to help in its detection.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Wednesday 27 January 2016

In Oscars crisis, Chris Rock and a microphone loom large JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When Chris Rock first hosted the Oscars in 2005, the four black actors nominated that year — Morgan Freeman, Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo and Jamie Foxx (twice!) — didn’t escape his notice.

“It’s like the Def Oscar Jam!” Rock exclaimed.

The story will be slightly different this time around.

When Rock strides onto the

race smack dab in the middle of a storm that could hardly suit anyone better. It’s safe to say that no Academy Awards opening monologue has ever been more anticipated.

The spotlight on Oscar night will be trained on no one — not Leonardo DiCaprio or Jennifer Lawrence — like it is on Rock.

“This could be a defining moment for Chris Rock,” Cheadle told The Associated Press. “And I hope it is.”

ing a new show.”

“And, yes, the academy is ready for him to do that,” Hudlin said. “They’re excited about him doing that.”

But Rock’s publicist, Leslie Sloane, on Monday shot down Hudlin’s remarks, saying the comedian “has made no decisions about the content of the show.”

The point was clear: No one is going to speak for Rock except Rock himself. “All will be revealed on February 28th,” said Sloane, omi-

Chris Rock appears onstage at the Beacon Theatre in New York. When Rock first hosted the Oscars in 2005, four black actors were nominated that evening. When Rock strides onto the Dolby Theatre stage on Feb. 28, 2016, he’ll see no nominated African-American actors before him.

(Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Dolby Theatre stage on Feb. 28, he’ll see no nominated African-American actors before him. He’ll instead be greeted by a Hollywood beset by a crisis over diversity that has led to calls for a boycott of the broadcast, spurred the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to rewrite its membership bylaws and even sparked pleas for Rock, himself, to pull out.

In the ongoing fallout, Rock has loomed on the horizon like Judgment Day. But it’s unclear just what awaits the academy and Hollywood come show time. A reckoning? A catharsis?

Awkward fits of laughter?

Probably all of the above.

What is certain is that a confluence of events has placed one of America’s most perceptive and sharptongued commentators on

Cheadle is far from alone.

In the turmoil that has enveloped the Academy Awards since a second straight year of white nominees filled the acting categories, everyone from Spike Lee to George Clooney has had their say on the issue.

But despite constant clamoring — and TMZ cameras chasing him outside a comedy club over the weekend — Rock has been mum. Other than a tweet in which he unveiled his first promo for the show —and referred to the Oscars as “the White BET Awards” — he has stayed quiet amid uproar all around him.

Reginald Hudlin, who’s co-producing this year’s broadcast, sought to assure viewers, telling “EntertainmentTonight” that Rock is “hard at work” and that he had thrown out preparations and was now “writ-

nously.

His silence hasn’t stopped others from chiming in. R&B singer Tyrese Gibson and rapper 50 Cent have said Rock should step down.

Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais encouraged Rock to start the show “in a KKK hood, then whip it off & say, ‘Sorry, it’s the only way I could get in.’”

Whoopi Goldberg has defended him: “Boycotting doesn’t work and it’s also a slap in the face of Chris Rock,” she said. And Arsenio Hall, who helped give Rock his start, said: “It’s so important that he’s on the mic that night.”

As one of the top stand-ups in the country, the 50-yearold Rock has long weaved uncommonly frank and provocative discussions about race into his act, movies and TV shows. His first comedy album, “Born

Suspect,” was about being presumed guilty of any crime because of his skin color. One of his most divisive routines was when he drew a contrast between “black people” and “n-----” in his special “Bring the Pain.”

In 2014, as he was releasing his last movie, “Top Five,” which he wrote and directed, Rock turned to Hollywood in a widely hailed essay in which he was both

critical and sanguine about what he called “a white industry.”

“Just as the NBA is a black industry,” he wrote. “I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. It just is.”

He continued: “They don’t really hire black men. A black man with bass in his voice and maybe a little hint of facial hair? Not going to happen. It is what it is. I’m a guy who’s accepted it all. q

A30 PEOPLE

Wednesday 27 January 2016

& ARTS

Broadway and Hollywood mix for hybrid musical ‘Grease: Live’ SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Fox is gearing up to give Broadway a serious dose of the Hollywood treatment.

“Grease: Live,” airing Sunday (7 p.m. EST), goes beyond other made-for-TV live musicals such as “The Sound of Music” and “The Wiz,” both of which were huge hits for NBC. This hybrid of the stage and movie musical blends theater with film, with dynamic camera movements capturing the dance and drama on multiple sets housed in two massive soundstages. “The scale is insane,” said TV director Alex Rudzinski. “It’s almost half a kilometer from one end of the site to the other.”

Cast and crew members will rely on golf carts — or fast feet — to get between the stages during commercial breaks.

“Grease: Live,” which stars Julianne Hough as Sandy

Aaron Tveit, left, and Julianne Hough rehearse for “Grease: Live,” airing live Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 (7:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), on FOX. (Kevin Estrada/FOX via AP)

and Broadway veteran Aaron Tveit as Danny, has taken over Warner Bros. studios with its many sets and stages.

Here’s a look at this ambitious Paramount Television production by the numbers: — 412: The number of times “Grease: Live” director Thomas Kail can listen to

consecutive replays of the song “Hand Jive.”

Fresh off the success of his Broadway production “Hamilton” and his Tony Award for “In the Heights,” Kail is bringing his theater talents to the production of “Grease: Live,” and he’s not daunted by its scope and scale.

“The spirit of theater that’s

captured so many of us for so long is you do what you do to make the show,” he said. “Our job is to capture that and see if we can put it through some tubes and send it into people’s homes.”

— 208: And that’s just the number of costumes for the show’s 52 extras. Hundreds more outfits were needed for the dozen main cast members, most of whom change outfits at least four times each, said Tony Award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, who commandeered an entire empty soundstage on the Warner Bros. lot just to house the show’s collection of clothing.

Creating costumes for this live TV production is different than working onstage, he said, where outfits have to be built “super-duper, eight-shows-a-week for a year.” Because of this show’s more cinematic approach to photography,

costume details near the face take on new significance. Long has also been excited to incorporate real vintage pieces into the stars’ wardrobes — items that would be too delicate to hold up to the rigors of theater.

Because stars have to do quick changes during commercial breaks, many of the costumes are held together with magnets.

Some stars will also be wearing layers of outfits on top of each other for what Long calls “magical transformations that were not in the Broadway musical and were not in the film either.”

— 45: The number of camera positions needed to shoot scenes in disparate locations from multiple angles. Using 20 cameras, Rudzinski is doing something almost unprecedented in live TV: taking cameras offline so they can be moved and reset for the various scenes.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A31

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Abe Vigoda, sunken-eyed character actor, dead at 94 HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Character actor Abe Vigoda, whose leathery, sunkeneyed face made him ideal for playing the over-the-hill detective Phil Fish in the 1970s TV series “Barney Miller” and the doomed Mafia soldier in “The Godfather,” died Tuesday at age 94.

Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died Tuesday morning in his sleep at Fuchs’ home in Woodland Park, New Jersey.

The cause of death was old age. “This man was never sick,” Fuchs said.

Vigoda worked in relative obscurity as a supporting actor in the New York theater and in television until Francis Ford Coppola cast him in the 1972 Oscar-winning “The Godfather.” Vigoda played Sal Tessio, an old friend of Vito Corleone’s (Marlon Brando) who hopes to take over the family after Vito’s death by killing his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). But Michael anticipates that Sal’s suggestion for a “peace summit” among crime families is a setup and the escorts Sal thought were taking him to the meeting turn out to be his executioners.

“Tell Mike it was only business,” Sal mutters to consigliere Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) as he’s led away.

The great success of the film and “The Godfather Part II”

made his face and voice, if not his name, recognizable to the general public and led to numerous roles, often as hoodlums. But it was his comic turn in “Barney Miller,” which starred Hal Linden and ran from 1975

jog. “You know, you look like you might have hemorrhoids,” Arnold said. “What are you — a doctor or a producer?” Vigoda asked.

He was cast on the spot.

“The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and

In a 2006 photo, actor-comedian Abe Vigoda attends the Friars Club celebrity roast of legendary comedian Jerry Lewis in New York City. Vigoda died in his sleep Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, at his daughter’s home in Woodland Park, N.J. He was 94.

(AP Photo/Stephen Chernin)

to 1982, that brought Vigoda’s greatest recognition.

He liked to tell the story of how he won the role of Detective Fish. An exercise enthusiast, Vigoda had just returned from a fivemile jog when his agent called and told him to report immediately to the office of Danny Arnold, who was producing a pilot for a police station comedy.

Arnold remarked that Vigoda looked tired, and the actor explained about his

Cable TV Shows,” a reference book, commented that Vigoda was the hit of “Barney Miller.” ‘’Not only did he look incredible, he sounded and acted like every breath might be his last,” it said. “Fish was always on the verge of retirement, and his worst day was when the station house toilet broke down.”

Vigoda remained a regular on “Barney Miller” until 1977 when he took the character to his own series,

“Fish.” The storyline dealt with the detective’s domestic life and his relations with five street kids that he and his wife took into their home. The show lasted a season and a half. Vigoda continued making occasional guest appearances on “Barney Miller,” quitting over billing and salary differences. But he remained a popular character actor in films, including “Cannonball Run II,” ‘’Look Who’s Talking,” ‘’Joe Versus the Volcano” and “North.” His resemblance to Boris Karloff led to his casting in the 1986 New York revival of “Arsenic and Old Lace,” playing the role Karloff originated on the stage in the 1940s. (The murderous character in the black comedy is famously said by other characters to resemble Boris Karloff, a great joke back when the real Karloff was playing him.)

Born in New York City in 1921, Vigoda attended the Theater School of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall. In the early 1950s, he appeared as straight man for the Jimmy Durante and Ed Wynn TV comedies. For 30 years, he worked in the theater, acting in dozens of plays in such diverse characters as John of Gaunt in “Richard II” (his favorite role) and Abraham Lincoln in a shortlived Broadway comedy “Tough to Get Help.”

Vigoda attributed his high percentage in winning roles to his performance in auditions. Instead of

delivering the tired soliloquies that most actors performed, he wrote his own, about a circus barker. At a surprise 80th birthday party in New Jersey in 2001, he gave a spirited recital of the monologue to the delight of the 100 guests.

Reflecting on his delayed success, Vigoda once remarked: “When I was a young man, I was told success had to come in my youth. I found this to be a myth. My experiences have taught me that if you deeply believe in what you are doing, success can come at any age.”

“Barney Miller” became his first steady acting job.

“I’m the same Abe Vigoda,” he told an interviewer.

“I have the same friends, but the difference now is that I can buy the things I never could afford before.

I have never had a house before, so now I would like a house with a nice garden and a pool. Hollywood has been very kind to me.”

He was married twice, most recently to Beatrice Schy, who died in 1992.

He had his daughter with his first wife, Sonja Gohlke, who has also died. Vigoda is survived by his daughter, grandchildren Jamie, Paul and Steven, and a great-grandson. Reruns of “Barney Miller” and repeated screenings of the two “Godfather” epics kept Vigoda in the public eye, and unlike some celebrities, he enjoyed being recognized. q

‘60 Minutes’ Bowie interview 15 years of missed connections DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A brief “60 Minutes” piece on the late David Bowie that aired Sunday was the result of a 15-year journey of missed connections involving three of the newsmagazine’s correspondents and a rock star gone underground.

Bowie talked about his artistry and getting old in interview clips from 2003 that were never aired before Sunday on “60 Minutes.”

The rock star died of cancer at age 69 on Jan. 10.

Robert Zimet, an editor at “60 Minutes,” proposed an in-depth profile of Bowie for the newsmagazine in 2000, and correspondent Ed Bradley was assigned.

Before much was done, the 2001 terrorist attacks happened. Then the Iraq War. A rock-star profile wasn’t a priority.

The idea was resurrected as Bowie prepared his “Reality” album and tour in 2003, and Zimet and producer Peter Klein traveled to Woodstock, New York, to record some material and

conduct preliminary interviews. Bradley was to follow but the correspondent, who died in 2006, became ill and had to cancel.

Zimet convinced Mike Wallace to take over the story and arrangements were made for an interview in Poughkeepsie, New York, where Bowie was performing in advance of his tour.

Wallace, who was in his mid-80s at the time, fell on vacation and doctors ordered him to take it easy.

“60 Minutes” got yet another correspondent involved

— Lesley Stahl — and she spoke with Bowie. There wasn’t enough time to do the in-depth interview that the show wanted before Bowie had to leave for his European tour, however.

It was on this tour, in 2004, when Bowie suffered a heart attack and receded from public view. He stopped giving interviews.

When Bowie surprised his fans with the 2013 album, “The Next Day,” Zimet approached his camp to complete the profile but was rebuffed. It was the

same thing late in 2015, when Zimet learned that the “Blackstar” disc was coming.

The 2003 footage remained on a shelf at CBS until Zimet took it out to include in an online story about Bowie’s death. His bosses took notice and the material was used on “CBS This Morning” and in the brief piece introduced by Bill Whitaker on Sunday.

“I had never given up hope that at some point we would be able to complete this,” Zimet said.q