January 28, 2016

On Top Of The News Email:news@arubatoday.com website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Thursday, January 28, 2016

Capitol Gains

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, following a meeting with President Barack Obama.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Page 4

Sanders Meets with Obama at the White House

A2 UP

Thursday 28 January 2016

FRONT

US, China discuss North Korea, South China Sea MATTHEW LEE CHRIS BODEEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Top U.S. and Chinese officials sparred Wednesday over how to deal with North Korea’s latest nuclear weapons test and ease tensions over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met for more than four hours and

Kerry said.

Wang said China, which is North Korea’s most important ally, chief trading partner and a key source of economic assistance, agreed on the need for a new resolution.

But he suggested that Beijing would not support new penalties even though it has condemned the testing. “Sanctions are not an end in themselves,” he said.

“The new resolution should

strong new resolution on North Korea, but also to accelerate talks on what that would entail.

“It’s good to agree on the goal.

But it’s not enough to agree on the goal, we believe we need to agree on the meaningful steps necessary to get to the achievement of the goal to the negotiations that result in denuclearization,” Kerry said.

Wang also took umbrage

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, poses with Chinese President Xi Jinping prior to their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Kerry is in China on the final leg in his latest round-the-world diplomatic mission.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

said their discussions were “constructive” and “candid.” But at a joint news conference, they presented sharply opposing positions on the two issues.

Kerry acknowledged that “our differences will continue to test us.” Still, he stressed that the world benefits when the United States and China are able to work together, including on the Iran nuclear deal and climate change.

On North Korea, Kerry said the United States wanted new U.N. Security Council action that would impose “significant new measures” to punish Pyongyang for its test this month and boost pressure on the North to return to disarmament talks.

“There’s been a lot of talk about North Korea through these past years. Now we believe is the time for action that can bring North Korea back to the table,”

not provoke new tension in the situation, still less destabilize the Korean Peninsula,” Wang said.

Later Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, told reporters that countries “need to accelerate progress” on negotiating a U.N. resolution.

Kerry noted that sanctions had brought Iran to the nuclear negotiating table.

“More significant and impactful sanctions were put in place against Iran, which did not have a nuclear weapon than against North Korea, which does.”

“All nations, particularly those who seek a global leadership role, or have a global leadership role, have a responsibility to deal with this threat,” he said, referring to China.

Kerry said the sides agreed both on the need for a

at U.S. complaints that China is not doing as much as it can with the leverage it has on North Korea. He noted that China’s position has been consistent in opposing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and supporting a diplomatic resolution to the matter.

“For many years China has been working hard to implement these,” he said.

“We have delivered on our obligation.”

Kerry said China is North Korea’s main link to the outside world, and that it could do more to limit cross-border transactions that benefit North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his government.

Kerry also called on China to halt land reclamation and construction of airstrips in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Those steps have alarmed its smaller neighbors.q

Analysis: Student arrest renews scrutiny for North Korean tours ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — An American university student’s arrest in North Korea has rekindled questions about whether a small but steady trickle of U.S. tourists who go to the country are unwittingly offering themselves up as valuable pawns in a political game with Pyongyang that can have serious repercussions for officials back in Washington who have to bail them out when things go wrong.

U.S. tourism to North Korea is legal and virtually all Americans who make the journey return home without incident.

But the detention of Otto Warmbier (WORM-bir), a 21-year-old University of Virginia economics major who had chosen to spend his New Year’s vacation in North Korea, comes at a particularly difficult, or opportune, time, depending on how you choose to interpret it.

Just days after he was arrested, North Korea conducted what it said was its first H-bomb test. As Warmbier sits in detention, the United Nations Security Council is mulling a new round of what are expected to be heavy sanctions in response to that test.

According to Warmbier’s tour agent, Young Pioneer Tours, he was almost on his plane home when officials pulled him aside, took him into a special room at the Pyongyang airport and placed him under arrest for allegedly committing an as-yet-undisclosed hostile act against the state.

He is still under lock-and-key, possibly in the relative comfort of the Yanggakdo, a tourist hotel where his group had stayed that has previously been used to keep detainees until they are deported or more formal legal measures are taken. North Korea says he is under investigation and acted with the “tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.”

That is an ominous detail for North Korea to offer.

Initial announcements by North Korea rarely say much about the actual crime, and linking it to the U.S. government in their first statement to the world through state-run media is highly uncommon. Though not a tourist, one more American, missionary Kim Dong Chul, believed to be a naturalized citizen of Korean descent, is reportedly in North Korean custody along with a Canadian-Korean missionary who is serving a life sentence. “We can’t comment on Mr. Warmbier’s case at this time as we don’t feel it would be in his interests, but every arrest that has occurred has, to our knowledge, been with context,” Troy Collings, one of the directors of Young Pioneer Tours, said in an email Wednesday.

Without more information on the charges, it’s impossible to gauge North Korea’s motives for throwing the book at Warmbier or speculate about how difficult his release might be. Despite the headlines and attention they garner, especially compared with problems involving Chinese visitors, who are far more numerous but rarely if ever jailed, actual arrests of U.S. tourists in North Korea are extremely rare. And while North Korea might be lowering the bar for cases it chooses to pursue, arrests are by no means random — virtually all have come after violations of well-known North Korean regulations on how tourists must conduct themselves.

But the real problems kick in over what happens next.

That’s when things tend to get political.

North Korea and the United States are still technically at war and have no diplomatic relations. So gaining an American’s freedom can and often does require a senior U.S. official or well-known statesman to fly to Pyongyang, hat in hand, to personally bail the detainee out.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Thursday 28 January 2016

US restricts access to Oregon refuge after fatal standoff KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BURNS, Oregon (AP) — Authorities in the U.S. were restricting access on Wednesday to an Oregon refuge being occupied by an armed group after one of the occupiers was killed during a traffic stop and eight more, including the group’s leader Ammon Bundy, were arrested.

The group, which has included people from as far away as Arizona and Michigan, seized the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Jan. 2. They want federal lands turned over to local authorities.

The confrontation came amid increasing calls for law enforcement to take action against Bundy for the illegal occupation of the wildlife refuge.

Details of the fatal encounter were sparse. It happened as Bundy and his followers were heading to a community meeting late Tuesday afternoon in John Day, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Burns.

Arianna Finicum Brown confirmed that her father, Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, was the man killed, the Oregonian reported. The 55-year-old was a frequent and public presence at the refuge, often speaking for the group at news conferences.

“This is where I’m going to breathe my last breath, whether I’m 90, 95 or 55,” Finicum told The Associated Press on Jan. 5. “ ...

I’m going to not spend my days in a cell.”

The FBI and Oregon State Police would only say the man killed in the police shooting was wanted by federal authorities, and said no more information would be released pending identification by the medical examiner.

Jason Patrick, one of the leaders of the occupation, told radio station Oregon Public Broadcasting that five or six group members remain inside the refuge.

For weeks law enforcement vehicles have been noticeably absent from the roads surrounding the refuge. Wednesday,

however, marked law enforcement cars are dotted throughout the region. The FBI and Oregon State Police said they were setting up checkpoints and only allowing ranchers who own property in specific areas to pass.

Police and news media have converged on the nearby town of Burns, where most hotels are booked to capacity.

Brand Thornton, one of Bundy’s supporters, said he left the refuge Monday and wasn’t sure what those remaining would do.

“The entire leadership is gone,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“I wouldn’t blame any of them for leaving.”

Thornton called the arrests “a dirty trick” by law enforcement.

Each defendant will face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats, authorities said.

Law enforcement previously had taken a hands-off approach, reflecting lessons learned during bloody standoffs at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, during the 1990s.

Many residents of Harney County, where the refuge is located, have been among those demanding that Bundy leave. Many sympathize with his criticism of federal land management policies but opposed the refuge takeover.

“I am pleased that the FBI has listened to the concerns of the local community and responded to the illegal activity occurring in Harney County by outside extremists,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley said in a statement.

The Bundys are the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a high-profile 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights.

The group, calling themselves Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, came to the frozen high desert of eastern Oregon to decry

Kim Rollins, 64, of Burns, stands outside the Harney County Community Center in Burns, Oregon, before the start of a news conference by officials Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Authorities on Tuesday arrested the leaders of an armed group who had been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters to protest federal land policies.

(AP Photo/Keith Ridler)

what it calls onerous federal land restrictions and

to object to the prison sentences of two local ranch-

ers convicted of setting fires.q

A4 U.S.

Thursday 28 January 2016

NEWS

Sanders, Obama talk foreign policy, economy, and politics

Media is reflected in the glasses of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as he speaks outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, after meeting with President Barack Obama.

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

K. HENNESSEY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-

dent Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders talked foreign policy, the economy

and “a little bit of politics,” Sanders said Wednesday after their first extended sit-

down since the senator’s presidential campaign jolted the race for the Democratic nomination.

The long-discussed meeting between Obama and his sometime critic was a moment for the president to display public neutrality in the heated and unexpectedly tight primary race to replace him — refuting suggestions that he favors Sanders’ rival Hillary Clinton. For Sanders, it was a chance to show he’s got some sway with a president still popular among Democrats. Clinton, Obama’s former secretary of state, and Sanders are locked in a close contest in the state of Iowa where Democrats meet next week to cast the first votes in a series of state contests aimed at lining up delegates who formally nominate a party’s candidate at a summer convention. Sanders leads Clinton in the state of New Hampshire. Clinton is portraying herself as an experienced leader ready for the nation’s top job while Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has struck a chord with the party’s liberal activists.

Talking to reporters in the White House driveway, Sanders acknowledged he and the president have had differences, but he

said he has largely backed Obama’s agenda. Sanders said the president has been “even handed” in his treatment of the candidates vying to replace him, and he showed no interest in trying to strike any sharp contrast with his host.

“We have got to do a lot better to protect the middle class and working families,” Sanders said. “But it’s also important to remember how far we’ve come in the last seven years under the leadership of President Obama and Vice President Biden.” The White House said the president considered the 45-minute meeting a chance to discuss ways the two could work together, to reminisce about the thrill of campaigning in Iowa and to talk broadly about the state of the 2016 race. “That ability to engage Democrats and excite them and inspire them will be critical to the success of Democrats up and down the ballot, whether Senator Sanders is the nominee or not,” Earnest said.

But the White House isn’t suggesting Obama and Sanders are kindred spirits, or even close political allies. White House officials says the men lack much of a personal relationship and have markedly different approaches to politics.

US defends use of Russian engine to launch satellites RICHARD LARDNER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Pentagon officials on Wednesday sought to defend the use of Russianmade rocket engines to send U.S. military satellites into space, telling exasperated lawmakers they are moving quickly to end the practice and rely on American-made rockets for the launches.

But Air Force Secretary Deborah James and Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall failed to stem sharp criticism from several members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who view Russia as the chief geopolitical threat to

the United States.

Led by the committee chairman, Republican Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, they said using the Russian engines enriches President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and puts U.S. national security in jeopardy.

McCain, his voice rising at times, asked James and Kendall if they knew the names Sergey Chemezov and Dmitry Rogozin. Both are Russians targeted by U.S. sanctions, he said, yet their positions in Russia’s space and defense industry allows them to personally profit from the sales of the Russian RD-180 engines.

Each engine costs roughly $30 million.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Thursday 28 January 2016

LIFE

is Beautiful

Coffee - Kitchen - Drinks

Voters conflicted on relevance of Clinton’s family marriage dramas NANCY BENAC Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The long-running drama of Hillary Clinton’s marriage — her husband’s infidelity and how she dealt with it — is back as a subtext in this year’s U.S. presidential race.

The issue has a new, sharper edge this time: Voters are processing old events in an era of heightened concern about sexual assault and after Republican Donald Trump characterized Democratic candidate Clinton as an “enabler” of her husband’s indiscretions and alleged that she had helped to discredit his accusers.

Both Clintons have tried not to engage, each uttering the identical “I have no response” when questioned separately about the matter.

And plenty of Americans are right there with them on that: Bring up Bill’s behavior and Hillary’s coping techniques and they suddenly become monosyllabic and start glancing around for the exits.

But Hillary Clinton has plopped the question squarely in Americans’ laps days before the Iowa caucuses Monday open voting in the 2016 campaign.

“I’m going to let the American voters decide what’s relevant and what’s not relevant,” she said when asked about Trump’s accusations during a recent Democratic debate.

It’s no small matter for Clinton, who draws a lopsided share of her support from female voters and for decades has made advocacy for women a big part of her persona. It’s especially important as she tries to attract a generation of younger women who only learned about the Clinton

presidency in history class and have come of age in a time of different attitudes toward sexual harassment and abuse.

Clinton’s Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, complains about being asked about the Clintons’ “personal stuff” when he’d rather focus on issues. But he’s also made clear he considers Bill Clinton’s past behavior “totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable.” Interviews with dozens of potential voters around the country reveal strong and opposing views about how — and whether — Clinton should be measured by how she dealt with her husband’s behavior.

“The personal stuff is irrelevant,” pronounces Brian Brown, a 56-year-old former professor and Democrat from Antrim, New Hampshire.

“I don’t like how she swept it under the rug, but then again, you don’t know what goes on behind the scenes,” says Jeff Daignault, a 46-year-old independent from Largo, Florida.“Hillary was an accomplice,” says Amy Stricker, a 57-year-old conservative from Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Clinton’s campaign has rejected the notion that she was actively involved in aggressive efforts by her husband’s presidential campaign and the Clinton White House to discredit women who claimed to have had affairs with her husband or to have been sexually assaulted by him.

“These are attempts to draw Hillary Clinton into decades-old allegations through fabrications that are unsubstantiated,” campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said Wednesday. q

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the University of Iowa Field House, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 in Iowa City, Iowa.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Trump debate boycott threat reverberating

JILL COLVIN Associated Press IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump refused to back down Wednesday from his threat to boycott this week’s Republican presidential debate in the U.S., leading rival candidate Sen. Ted Cruz’ campaign to mock him as “Ducking Donald.”

Meanwhile, Democratic candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders met with Barack Obama at the White House in what was widely seen as a chance for the president to display public neutrality in the heated and unexpectedly tight primary race to replace him — refuting suggestions that he favors Sanders’ rival Hillary Clinton.

The dual developments created new ripples of uncertainty days before voting in the presidential race begins Monday in this leadoff state. Both parties were bracing for close contests in Iowa that will determine which of their two leading candidates will carry the momentum from a victory

into the New Hampshire primary election the following week and beyond.

The Iowa voting will be the first test of whether political newcomer Trump’s unorthodox campaign can get the thousands of enthusiastic supporters who show up at rallies to turn out when it matters.

Cruz, a blunt-spoken Texan widely disliked by his colleagues in the U.S. Senate, is believed to have assembled a strong get-out-thevote operation.

Among the Democrats, Sanders is counting on enthusiastic younger voters to boost turnout to offset Clinton’s organizational strength. The two were locked in a close contest in Iowa.

Talking to reporters in the White House driveway, Sanders acknowledged he and the president have had differences, but he said he has largely backed Obama’s agenda. Sanders said the president has been “even handed” in his treatment of the candidates vying to replace him, and he

showed no interest in trying to strike any sharp contrast with his host.

“We have got to do a lot better to protect the middle class and working families,” Sanders said. “But it’s also important to remember how far we’ve come in the last seven years under the leadership of President Obama and Vice President Biden.”

The White House said the president considered the 45-minute meeting a chance to discuss ways the two could work together and to talk broadly about the state of the 2016 race.

Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, raised the prospect of skipping Thursday’s Republican debate as he blasted Fox News Channel for “playing games” and including anchor Megyn Kelly as a debate moderator. Trump’s campaign later said he definitely will not participate.

Trump said he would hold his own event in Iowa during the debate to raise money for wounded veterans. q

A6 U.S.

Thursday 28 January 2016

NEWS

American Living:

Few neighborhoods affordable, walkable with good schools

People view the Seattle skyline from the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. Across the country, just 14 percent of neighborhoods manage to be at once affordably priced, walkable and near decent schools. And many of those neighborhoods exist in only two cities: Washington and Seattle, according to a new analysis released Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, by the real estate brokerage Redfin.

(Jordan Stead/seattlepi.com via AP)

JOSH BOAK AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Few neighborhoods can match the perks of Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C. — a reality that reflects a broader problem for the U.S. housing market.

Residents of Adams Morgan enjoy a bevy of bars, restaurants, exercise studios

and shopping, just steps from their row houses and condo buildings. Home values are reasonable relative to neighborhood incomes.

And in general, the area schools rate as better than average nationally.

Across the country, just 14 percent of neighborhoods manage to be at once affordably priced, walkable

and near decent schools.

And many of those neighborhoods exist in only two cities: Washington and Seattle, according to a new analysis released Wednesday by the real estate brokerage Redfin.

The findings suggest a substantial mismatch between the neighborhoods where people say they want to

Challenger disaster:

Christa McAuliffe’s students go on to teach KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, New Hampshire (AP) — Thirty years after the Concord High School class of ‘86 watched social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe and six astronauts perish when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on live TV, a number of them have gone into teaching — and some wonder if, indirectly, the tragedy affected them enough that they wanted to make a difference, as she did.

One of them, Tammy Hickey, didn’t like social studies at all, but she enjoyed McAuliffe’s law class.

McAuliffe took Hickey and fellow students to courtrooms and conducted

mock trials in class. Hickey remembers how personable she was, and how she shared her enthusiasm and experiences when she was in the running to be the first teacher in space. Hickey, now a junior high physical education teacher in Bradenton, Florida, just knew McAuliffe would be picked from more than 11,000 applicants.

“As a teacher now, I know that I want to show respect and show my students that I care,” Hickey says. “I can say to emulate how she was, would be a service to these kids for sure.”

Hickey joins a number of members of the class of ‘86 in Concord who became teachers and guid-

ance counselors in the 30 years since they and other students of all ages nationwide watched with disbelief and horror as the shuttle broke apart 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, becoming a generational touchstone.

“I try to be very mindful,” says Joanne Walton, who teaches grades four through six in Fairfax, Virginia. She says she sometimes goes through a “What would Christa do?” mantra in her teaching.

“She knew that teaching was way more than just imparting information and that it was really important to know students,” Walton says.

Holly Merrow, a math

live and the homes actually available to them.

“Cities have not kept up with consumer tastes,” said Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist.

The analysis examined 170 neighborhoods in 20 cities, comparing home sales and income data with rankings from the organizations Walk Score and GreatSchools. Some cities, such as Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia, contained balanced neighborhoods — where people of different income classes could afford to live — but their schools performed poorly.

Others, such as Phoenix, San Antonio and Columbus, Ohio, enjoy aboveaverage neighborhood schools. But their communities pretty much require cars for doing basic errands.

Homebuyers have long sought high-quality

schools. But a rising emphasis on walkability reflects a generational shift.

Compared with older generations, millennials, ages 18 to 34, disproportionately prefer walking, according to a survey released in July by the National Association of Realtors and the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University.

Nearly a third of millennials commute to work or school by foot, compared with 13 percent for the post-World War II baby boom generation.

The popularity of walkable neighborhoods has led to higher prices for certain residential and commercial real estate. A 2012 report by researchers at the Brookings Institution found higher retail sales and home values per square foot in the most walkable neighborhoods in Washington D.C.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Thursday 28 January 2016

US Financial Front:

Economists see more growth for US economy, housing in ‘16 ALEX VEIGA AP Real Estate Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — A robust U.S. economy and job market, plus low mortgage rates, should help keep the recovery in the new-home market going at a modest pace this year, but a return to pre-housing boom sales and construction levels isn’t imminent.

That’s the forecast that David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, delivered recently during a panel of economists at the trade association’s latest industry convention in Las Vegas.

And despite the U.S. economy’s mixed track record of growth in 2015, Crowe projects that the economy will expand 2.7 percent this year, the strongest gain since before the Great Recession in 2008, as consumer spending continues to grow.

“There are a number of positive indicators out there that make me believe ... this will be a good year for the economy and for housing,” Crowe said.

“Not only is housing finally driving some of that, hous-

ing is finally moving at a much faster pace than the economy.”

U.S. homebuilders are entering 2016 feeling better about their sales prospects than they have in years, thanks to rising home prices and gradually improving sales.

New-home sales climbed nearly 15 percent through the first 11 months of last year, while construction of single-family homes hit an eight-year high in November. The trends have helped lift construction hiring: Construction companies added 215,000 jobs last year, a 3.4 percent gain.Even so, sales and construction have yet to rebound fully from the housing bust nearly a decade ago. Whether that progress continues this year will depend largely on the U.S. economy continuing to improve. That’s come increasingly into doubt lately. Faltering growth in countries like China, the world’s second-largest economy, and financial market turmoil have heightened concerns that the U.S. economy could be in for a

Builders work on a home under construction in the Briar Chapel community of Chapel Hill, N.C. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo released a positive January 2016 index of builder sentiment.

(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

stumble.

There aren’t any major signs pointing to that, however, argued another panelist, David Berson, chief economist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance’s Nationwide Economics.

“All of the economic data we look at in the last 50 to 100 years is not flashing warning signs right now,”

Berson said. “The stock market is not a very good leading indicator of the economy. I’m not terribly concerned that the economy is going to fall into recession.”

He also predicted broad sustained growth for housing this year. The exception: Some of the markets where prices have been rising

much faster than income, such as Dallas, or cities that have been reliant on the oil industry for jobs and are now being squeezed by the steel drop in oil prices.

The residential construction sector is still recovering from the housing bust and the Great Recession, which officially ended more than six years ago.q

A8

Thursday 28 January 2016

WORLD NEWS

Europe opens its arms _ mostly _ to Iranian leader Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani leaves after a meeting in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

Rouhani says his first visit to Europe since the nuclear accord was signed has proven that there are “great possibilities” for economic, academic, scientific and cultural cooperation and that “today we are in a win-win situation” after years of mutual losses due to sanctions.

(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

ELAINE GANLEY NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press PARIS (AP) — After years of tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Europe is ushering in a new era of relations with the once-pariah state, welcoming Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Italy and France with high expectations that he

can set in motion lucrative business deals and regional peacemaking.

But there’s also a note of caution, notably about Iran’s human rights record and geopolitical goals.

The end of economic sanctions after six nations struck a deal to curb Iran’s nuclear activities means the country of 80 million will

soon be flush with funds, allowing Tehran to spend and, some Europeans hope, end its isolation from the West.

The visits to Italy and France are also part of efforts by Iran to reach out to its old partners to balance its diplomatic reach with eastern partners like China and Russia.

Iran signed billions of euros in deals during Rouhani’s first stop in Italy — which also prompted controversy when officials covered up naked statues in a Rome museum in an apparent effort to avoid offending the Iranian leader. Italy’s culture minister called the move “incomprehensible.”

At a press conference Wednesday in Rome, Rouhani invited American businessmen to join their European counterparts in investing in Iran and taking advantage of the new era of “win-win” collaboration after years of mutual losses.

“It’s possible, but the key is in Washington, not in Tehran,” he said. “At the same time today, if American investors and the heads of the American economy want to come to Iran and invest in my country, there are no problems from our point of view.”

Rouhani, a relative moderate elected in 2013, flew to France later Wednesday and was meeting with Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron and a group of French business leaders.

He’s expected to oversee the signing Thursday of a bevy of contracts, including a possible deal with Airbus to renew Iran’s fleet

AP Exclusive:

Putin aide: Syrian vote must include refugees V. ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Syrian refugees should be given an opportunity to cast their ballots in the country’s future elections, Russia’s security chief has told The Associated Press, adding that the international community should focus on creating conditions for a free vote in Syria.

However, demands for the immediate departure of Syrian President Bashar Assad would be counterproductive, said Nikolai Patrushev, a longtime associate of President Vladimir Putin who serves as the executive secretary of the presidential Security Council. “Let’s remember the sad experience of Iraq and Libya,” Patrushev told

the AP in a written reply to questions Tuesday — his first remarks ever to a foreign news organization.

“Have they succeeded in stabilizing the situation there following a foreign intervention and physical removal of those countries’ leaders?” Russia has recently joined forces with the United States and a dozen other nations to help

broker Syrian peace talks set to start in Geneva on Friday, which are intended to pave the way for a new constitution and new elections in a year and a half.

The nearly five-year Syrian conflict began in 2011 with protests against Assad’s rule and has morphed into an all-out civil war, involving a myriad of opposition units. q

of passenger jets as Tehran looks to push tourism.

Iran’s aviation industry has suffered due to sanctions over the past three decades. Out of Iran’s 250 commercial planes, only about 150 are flying.

Oil giant Total, engineering group Alstom and carmakers PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Renault-Nissan, with a past presence in Iran, are among companies that could clinch deals, too.

In Italy, the government and private companies inked more than a dozen accords with Iran covering the metals industry, oil services, rail transport and shipbuilding. Decades of sanctions have starved the Iranian economy and isolated Iran. The last Iranian head of state to visit France was moderate President Hassan Khatami in 1999 — and he was the first since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

France showed its eagerness to take up where it left off in Iran as soon as the July nuclear deal was signed.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius visited Tehran, as did an important delegation of France’s main business group, known as Medef.

Yet there are sticking points like Iran’s poor human rights record, which is marked by hundreds of executions. Iran is also an active supporter of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who France firmly opposes.

France wants Iran to play a “positive role” in the Syrian war and become a partner in peace to resolve the conflict, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

Rouhani was originally scheduled to visit Paris in November but the trip was called off after Nov. 13 Islamic extremist attacks that killed 130 people. q

WORLD NEWS 9

Thursday 28 January 2016

Holocaust victims honored 71 years after Auschwitz liberated VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Dozens of elderly Holocaust survivors lit candles at Auschwitz on Wednesday, exactly 71 years after the Soviet army liberated the death camp that has become the most powerful symbol of the human suffering inflicted by Nazi Germany during World War II. The commemoration at the former death camp in southern Poland, an area under Nazi occupation during the war, is part of the U.N.-designated International Remembrance Day, marked by politicians, survivors and others in ceremonies and events across the world.

At Auschwitz some of the survivors wore sashes or scarves that recalled the striped pajama-style clothing that prisoners were forced to wear.

They placed candles and wreaths at a wall where many prisoners were executed before gathering with the presidents of Poland and Croatia for official ceremonies.

The Nazis killed more than 1 million people at Auschwitz, most of them Jews but also Roma, non-Jewish Poles and others.

This year’s commemorations come as a resurgence of anti-Semitism casts a shadow over a new gen-

in our ‘civilized’ European Union,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s top foreign affairs represen-

of security previously felt

by Europe’s largest Jewish population.

In Germany, where hun-

Israeli Ambassador to Hungary Ilan Mor lights a candle at the Victims’ Memorial Wall, during a commemoration marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Budapest, Hungary, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. The remembrance day coincides with the 71st anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp.

(Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)

eration of European Jews, something that is driving thousands of them each year to leave the continent.

“We must be honest enough to admit that more than 70 years after the Shoah, anti-Semitism is still alive

tative, said in a statement.

Jewish immigration to Israel from Western Europe grew last year due to a rise in anti-Semitic attacks.

Most — nearly 8,000 — were from France, where Islamic extremist attacks have destroyed the sense

dreds of thousands of Muslim refugees have arrived in the past year, Jews feel threatened from both the far right and people coming from countries like Syria.

A rise in anti-Muslim hostility amid the migrant crisis is — irrationally — also fueling

anti-Semitism as a growing number of people lash out in fear at anyone they perceive as different.

On Saturday, neo-Nazis paraded in the center of the English city of Newcastle doing Nazi salutes and carrying a banner that said: “Refugees Not Welcome.

Hitler Was Right.”

And late last year in Poland, far-right extremists at an anti-migrant demonstration in Wroclaw burned the effigy of an Orthodox Jew. At a ceremony Wednesday morning at the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke out against a “rising tide of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of discrimination” around the world, and he used the occasion to once again call for all parties in Syria’s conflict to allow the unimpeded delivery of aid to millions.

“Starvation as a weapon of war and the deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime,” he said.

World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said in a statement sent to The Associated Press: “Many anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers are not afraid any more to spread their hateful messages.

EU probe finds serious problems in Greek border control LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — A European Union investigation found major flaws in Greece’s border management that could pave the way for other EU nations to isolate Athens and introduce long-term ID checks to restrict the entry of migrants further into the continent.

Backing up the suspicions of several EU nations, sur-

prise inspections by expert teams in Greece, including on its Aegean islands near the coast of Turkey, found that Greek authorities were failing to properly register and fingerprint people or correctly check their travel papers.

The EU’s top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said Wednesday that their “report shows that there are serious deficiencies in the management of the

external border in Greece.”

The government in Athens has three months to fix the problems.

More than 850,000 people are thought to have entered Greece last year seeking sanctuary or jobs in Europe but Greece only has shelter for about 10,000 people. The Greek coast guard is simply overwhelmed, and thousands of migrants have moved north, hoping to find a

home in wealthy EU countries like Germany or Sweden.

The report is important because Germany has temporarily reintroduced border controls in its part of the passport-free Schengen area until May 13 after around 1 million people applied for asylum in Germany last year. Beyond that date, Berlin has no legal means of maintaining ID checks.

But if the EU’s executive Commission rules that Greece has demonstrated “serious deficiencies in carrying out external border control,” countries like Germany, Austria and Sweden could possibly keep their border controls on for up to two years. EU nations would have to vote in favor of the move by around a two-thirds majority, but Greece alone could not stop them.q

A10 WORLD

Thursday 28 January 2016

NEWS Vietnam’s Communist party boss is re-elected, cements hold on power

Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, right, greets visiting Japanese Emperor Akihito before a start of their meeting inside the presidential palace in Manila, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(Romeo Ranoco/Pool Photo via AP)

Philippine leader welcomes Japan’s emperor JIM GOMEZ TERESA CEROJANO Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Benigno Aquino III gave a red-carpet welcome to Japan’s emperor Wednesday in a sign of blossoming ties between the two nations, both mired in territorial disputes with China, while further moving past painful memories of Japan’s World War II aggression.

Aquino and Emperor Akihito held talks at Manila’s Malacanang presidential palace, where Philippine and Japanese flags were displayed side by side and Filipino troops fired cannons in a traditional salute.

Aquino later hosted a state banquet for Akihito, whose visit marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations.

Aquino and Akihito dis-

cussed robust sales of Japanese-made cars that have contributed to Manila’s heavy traffic and the entry of Japanese retail store Uniqlo, presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma Jr. said.

Akihito, a revered symbol of Japanese unity who plays no political role in his country, did not discuss contentious security issues such as the territorial disputes or demands for an apology

by Filipino women who accuse Japan’s wartime army of forcing them into sexual slavery, according to the emperor’s press secretary, Hatsuhisa Takashima.

At the state banquet, the emperor recalled the fierce battles between Japanese and American forces in the Philippines that resulted “in the loss of many Filipino lives” and left many others injured.

“This is something we Japanese must never forget and we intend to keep this engraved in our hearts throughout our visit,” Akihito said, expressing hope that his trip will help deepen Japanese ties with the Philippines.

Aquino said the emperor was apprehensive when, as crown prince, he first visited the Philippines in 1962 because of what happened during Japan’s wartime occupation of the country. But Akihito’s anxieties eased then because of the warm Philippine reception he and his wife received, he said.

“I am held in awe, recognizing the burdens you have borne, as you have had to live with the weight of the decisions made by others during the dark episodes in the history of our nations,” Aquino said.q

VIJAY JOSHI Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam’s Communist Party Wednesday re-elected its 71-year-old chief for a second term, an expected outcome that sees the conservative pro-China ideologue cementing his hold on power.

The party’s congress elected Nguyen Phu Trong (pronounced Noo-yen Foo Chong) to a 19-member Politburo, the all-powerful body that handles the day-to-day affairs of the government and the party.

In a subsequent vote, he was immediately chosen as the general-secretary, the de facto No. 1 leader of the country.

The announcement was made on the official Vietnam News Agency’s website.

Officials said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc was also elected to the Politburo, and he is now expected to become the prime minister. He will replace Nguyen Tan Dung, who had had led economic reforms over the last 10 years and had harbored ambitions for the top job. His challenge, however, was snuffed by Trong’s supporters during the weeklong party congress that ends Thursday.

The third most important member elected to the Politburo was Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, who will be the country’s new president, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The general secretary, the prime minister and the president, along with the chairman of the National Assembly, are the four key members in the collective leadership represented by the Politburo, and the 180-member Central Committee, which handles policy. The renewal of the leadership means little change for Vietnam.

Trong is expected to continue to push Dung’s economic reforms. Despite having a reputation for being pro-China he is not likely to be totally subservient to Beijing as that would risk massive anger from ordinary Vietnamese who harbor a deep dislike and historical suspicion of China.

“Many people were afraid that a conservative trend would prevail if Mr. Trong is re-elected. But ... whoever they may be, and however conservative they may be, when they are at the helm they are under pressure to carry out reforms,” Le Hong Hiep, a visiting Vietnamese fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore, told The Associated Press.

The Communist Party is entitled by the constitution to govern and Vietnam’s 93 million people have no direct role in electing the leaders of the 4.5 millionmember party.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Thursday 28 January 2016

Foes from Mozambique’s war spar as energy windfall looms C. TORCHIA Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A bronze statue of a former president looms in Mozambique’s capital, but the likeness of Samora Machel — imposing in military uniform and with pointed finger — is a symbol of division for some in a resource-rich nation shadowed by a civil war legacy.

Far from history-steeped Maputo, dotted with faded Art Deco buildings made

by Portuguese colonizers and streets named after Karl Marx and other revolutionaries, fresh reports of violence between old battlefield adversaries suggest a 1992 peace deal never quite took hold.

Several thousand people in Mozambique’s Tete province, which has large coal reserves, recently fled into neighboring Malawi, alleging violent persecution by government troops — a charge that the govern-

ment denies. Last week, Manuel Bissopo, general secretary of the main opposition movement Renamo, was seriously injured when gunmen fired on his car in Beira city, Mozambican media reported.

The backstory is the rivalry between Frelimo, a former Marxist guerrilla movement led by Machel that took power after independence from the Portuguese in 1975, and Renamo, the force that fought Frelimo for more than 15 years in a conflict that killed up to 1 million. They are now rivals in the political arena, with Frelimo coming on top in national elections. A return to war seems remote: the two sides have engaged in dialogue, and Renamo is no longer a formidable military power. Yet the fact that Renamo, once backed by white-minority rulers in then-Rhodesia and apartheid South Africa, still has weapons unsettles

A boy is photographed with armed guards in front of a mural of the late president Samora Machel at ‘Armed Forces Day’ celebrations in the capital Maputo. But the mural of Machel in military uniform is a symbol of division for some in a resource-rich nation shadowed by a civil war history.

(AP Photo)

a country expecting a financial windfall in coming years from natural gas finds off the northern coast.

The tension between Renamo (the Portuguese acronym stands for Mozambican National Resistance) and Frelimo (Mozambique Liberation Front) partly reflects jockeying for cuts

of the fledgling energy industry, according to some analysts.

“Everybody is lining up to figure out how to get it,” said Brigit Helms, who advised on trade policy in Mozambique for the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Before leaving her post,

she said in an interview in her Maputo office in October that the benefits of an expected “tsunami of money” in a decade or so could be undercut by corruption, poor planning and protectionist policies that hurt free trade.

Italian energy firm Eni SpA and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of the United States are developing the Rovuma reserves in Mozambique, which could become the world’s thirdlargest exporter of liquefied natural gas after Qatar and Australia, according to the International Monetary Fund. Total investment is projected to exceed $100 billion, the IMF said.

Poor infrastructure and lower commodity prices hamper Mozambique. Poverty is widespread among the 27 million people even though the economy is one of the fastest-growing in Africa, averaging 7 percent annually.q

A12 WORLD

Thursday 28 January 2016

NEWS

Brazil: 270 of 4,120 microcephaly cases confirmed RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil’s Health Ministry said Wednesday that in recent months it has recorded 4,120 suspected cases of a rare brain defect in babies that officials fear may be linked to the spread of the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

But so far, only 270 of the cases have been confirmed by lab tests as microcephaly involving brain damage, and the defect was ruled out in 462 cases, the ministry said. Researchers are still investigating 3,448 of the cases, which were recorded from Oct. 22 to Jan. 23.

The ministry said laboratories are trying to determine a link between the Zika virus and microcephaly, which also can be caused by factors such as herpes, rubella and syphilis. The rare birth defect causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and can cause lasting developmental problems.

Brazilian health officials es-

A municipal worker gestures during an operation to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmits the Zika virus in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.

(AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

timate they had 150 cases of microcephaly in all of 2014 and the surge in suspected cases and the possible link to Zika have caused worries across Latin America’s biggest nation and in other countries in the Western Hemisphere.

On Tuesday, Brazil’s health minister, Marcelo Castro, announced that 220,000 military personnel were being deployed to bolster efforts to eradicate the Aedes aegypti mosquito that transmits Zika, dengue, chikungunya and yellow

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

The arrival of Zika in Brazil last year initially caused little alarm as the virus’ symptoms are generally much milder than those of dengue. Then late last year, Brazilian researchers reported they suspected Zika was linked to the dramatic increase in reported cases of microcephaly.

The World Health Organization has stressed that a link remains circumstantial and is not yet proven scientifically.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising pregnant women to reconsider travel to Brazil and 21 other countries and territories with Zika outbreaks. Officials in El Salvador, Colombia and Brazil have suggested women stop getting pregnant until the crisis has passed. q

Venezuela doctors fume at official silence on Zika HANNAH DREIER JORGE RUEDA Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s medical community is demanding the government publish statistics about the Zika virus and warning that the South American country, which borders nations that are hotbeds of the illness, could already be facing an epidemic.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Health has so far limited itself to confirming the presence of the mosquitoborne illness suspected of causing birth defects.

It used to publish weekly data on all epidemic dis-

eases, but stopped making those statistics public last year.

Meanwhile, other Latin American countries are stepping up mosquito eradication efforts and officials in some, including neighboring Colombia and Brazil, have been so concerned that they have recommended women consider postponing pregnancies.

“The Ministry of Health must be the first to issue warnings about the existence of a public health threat; they cannot be the last one to speak,” said Jose Oletta, who was formerly Venezuela’s health minister and

now works with the Network to Defend National Epidemiology.

“We already have a weakened health care system, which tends to make these problems spread more rapidly. Add to that the lack of information and it’s a perfect storm.”

Zika, which is spread by the same mosquito that transmits dengue and yellow fever, hit Brazil last year at the same time the country saw a sudden, dramatic jump in cases of microcephaly, in which people are born with unusually small heads.

Investigators are also studying a possible link to Guillain-Barre syndrome, which

can cause temporary paralysis.

Brazilian officials estimate that there have been hundreds of thousands of Zika cases there. Colombia says it has seen more than 16,000 suspected or confirmed cases and expects that number to multiply.

The Venezuelan Society of Public Health has chastised the socialist administration for remaining silent. It said a study by non-governmental organizations that sought reports of fevers found a rise in cases of acute fever in the past six months that could correspond to 400,000 cases of Zika here. q

Suspect charged in murder of Georgia woman in Grenada LINDA STRAKER Associated Press ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada (AP) — A man accused of killing a tourist from Georgia in a machete attack on an isolated beach in Grenada made his first appearance Wednesday before a judge on the Caribbean island to face a charge of capital murder.

Dave Martin Benjamin did not enter a plea and was not given an opportunity to speak in the brief hearing. A lawyer has not yet been appointed to represent him. The 27-year-old could get the death penalty if convicted.

Hundreds of Grenadians gathered outside the courthouse to get a glimpse of Benjamin, who was wearing a checkered shirt, jeans and sneakers.

He stood in silence during the hearing after having turned himself into police on Monday. His picture had been widely circulated on social media.

Benjamin is suspected in Sunday’s machete attack on Jessica Colker and her husband, Brian Melito along a beach on the southeast of the island.

Authorities have not disclosed a suspected motive in the attack that killed the 39-year-old physician’s assistant who lived in Atlanta.

Colker had graduated from Tabb High School in the Yorktown, Virginia, area in 1994, according to WAVY-TV in Virginia.

“Jessica could fill the room with laughter in a second,” friend and high school classmate Kristin McManus told WAVY-TV. “And her smile just glowed, and she was such a caring person, an open person.”q

LOCAL A13

Thursday 28 January 2016

More a brand than a souvenir....

Meet the local guys behind Aruba Rocks!

ORANJESTAD - Aruban designer Calvin Maduro and branding expert Jaymir Janga launched a musthave product line of shirts, caps, tumblers and stickers named Aruba Rocks!

Calvin explains “We wanted to differentiate ourselves from other merchandise on the market by presenting a changing design concept with local motif that visitors could enjoy every vacation” Their cool designs launched in April of 2013 depict the shoco (burrowing owl, Aruba’s national bird) donkey, pelican, marlin and goat in a whimsical colorful manner.

All animals sport colorful Ray-ban-style shades and a mohawk hairstyle.

Since Aruba is known to be the Caribbean destination with the highest return guest rate, fresh designs of the multi colored, crackled prints are continuously introduced creating a dynamic product line for our rocking friends. According to Jaymir, “Our aspiration is to combine locally branded products with a worthy cause that will benefit the

entire community. In order to aid in reducing trash and marine debris, we started selling Aruba Rocks reusable and recyclable tumblers to many resorts and beach bars particularly for beach-goers, to reduce waste from disposable plastic and styrofoam cups.” Aruba Rocks recently opened their first official store in Paseo Herencia mall where all their designed items are displayed. When you buy an Aruba Rocks product you help protect Aruba’s valuable natural resources and

maintain the attractiveness of Aruba’s beaches. This will allow all who consider Aruba their home-awayfrom-home to contribute to the protection of the island’s environment in a really effortless manner.

Aruba Rocks have found a way to express their passion for their island and design while contributing to the protection of the island’s environment.

For more information you can follow them on Facebook.com/arubarocks365 and on Instagram @ arubarocks365q

A14 LOCAL

Thursday 28 January 2016

Social Network Lounge – Our Monthly Social Event at CILO

ORANJESTAD - Every last Friday of the month we have Social Network Lounge at CILO, every time a new theme or brand is presented. The finest cocktails and specials to offer the diversity guests are searching for.

CILO likes to make people

connect this night, under the enjoyment of good music by DJ Oscar Booy, and an exclusive offer of beverages - sip, eat, talk, dance, enjoy.

We daily offer a 3-course early bird menu for $25, an early bird breakfast for

$12.50, a Dinner & Movie menu for $30 including a movie ticket!

Besides our fine food options, CILO is the perfect place to relax and to enjoy the Aruban scenery at the harbour.For real relaxation we even offer the chance

to try out our Hookah and just sit back and relax in one of our lounges!

Make sure you will drop by to experience the luxurious vibes, at CILO. We have Happy Hour on Fridays from 5-7 PM, and daily from 5-6 PM!

(*The special cocktail offer is excluded from this Happy Hour).

If you would like to make a reservation, please contact us: Info@cilo-aruba.com +297 588-7996 www.cilo-aruba.comq

LOCAL A15

Thursday 28 January 2016

Loyal Visitors Honored at the Divi Tamarijn Resort EAGLE BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a pair of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Divi Tamarijn Resort as Distinguished Visitors. The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 consecutive years.

The honorees were Ms. Victoria Mullen and Ms. Linda Dalton of Massachusetts.

Victoria and Linda are regular guests of the Divi Tamarijn 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 Divi Tamarijn is truly their ‘home-away-from-home.’ The certificates were presented

by Mr. Jonathan Boekhoudt representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with friends and family and Paula from Guest Relations at the Divi Tamarijn. q

A16 LOCAL

Thursday 28 January 2016

Today at 11am:

CHTA Hosting Webinar on Zika and Mitigating its Impact

ORANJESTAD - Further to our communications to CHTA members last week regarding the Zika virus, we urge all national hotel and tourism associations and members in the region to diligently work to mitigate the problem. An aggressive vector control program by hotels and Governments is essential as is public awareness and training directed towards our employees, businesses and Governments.

CHTA and CTO are working collaboratively with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and this week will begin to roll out additional initiatives to support your on-the-ground efforts.

We are scheduling a Webinar for today, Thursday, January 28th, at 11 AM, titled “The Facts About Zika and How to Mitigate Its Impact”.

TO REGIS-

TER FOR THE WEBINAR, VISIT: https://attendee. gotowebinar.com/register/3662556067674825985 The virus is receiving considerable media attention and CHTA has had reports of some cancellations attributed directly to fear of the virus. While precautions and due diligence are absolutely essential when dealing with a matter such as this, we advise members to delicately address the matter with the media should it come up.

NHTAs are asked to monitor the impact of the virus and keep track of cancellations.

Public-Private sector collaboration is essential in successfully addressing this.

CHTA, CTO and CARPHA are working together, and we urge all NHTAs and industry stakeholders to collaborate at the local level, particularly on vector con-

trol and public education.

We are also reaching out to CARICOM and the OECS to be part of a coordinated regional effort.

Governments, as well as hotels and other businesses, will need to allocate time and resources towards mitigation.

The US Center for Disease Control has issued a Level Two Alert (practice enhanced precautions) for travelers to the Caribbean and specifies those countries which have confirmed cases to date. Five Caribbean countries are listed on the site and several more are expected to be added this week. The alert and other preventive and helpful information for hotels and travelers can be found at: http://www.cdc. gov/zika/ STATEMENT BY CTO AND CHTA ON THE ZIKA VIRUS: “Public health authorities in

the Caribbean are working diligently to mitigate the effects of the Zika virus.

Zika, also known as ZIKV, is spread primarily by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

The public-sector-led Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) and its private sector counterpart, the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) are in close contact with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to monitor and research the Zika cases that have now surfaced in some Caribbean destinations, and to communicate prevention and control measures to resi-

dents and visitors.

The CTO and CHTA are in communication with their respective stakeholders and are observing national, regional and international health protocols in dealing with mosquitoborne viral diseases which can be found in tropical countries.

With more than 700 islands in 30 territories in the Caribbean, conditions will vary from one nation to another. CTO and CHTA will continue to monitor all developments related to mosquito-borne viral diseases and to support appropriate communication, education and prevention initiatives. Please visit www. caribbeanhotelandtourism.com to download the two attachments which outline measures that both visitors and hotels can take to help mitigate the mosquito problem.”q

SPORTS A17

Thursday 28 January 2016

BRITISH INVASION Johanna Konta of Britain hits a forehand return to Zhang Shuai of China during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Konta, Murray Win on Distracting Day in Melbourne DENNIS PASSA AP Sports Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — In keeping with the way this Australian Open has been going, Andy Murray was asked following a quarterfinal win Wednesday about the state of his game. And then, invariably, about the integrity of his sport.

Murray and a much lesserknown British player, Johanna Konta, advanced to the semifinals Wednesday.

Murray beat David Ferrer 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals at a Grand

Slam for the 18th time. The 24-year-old Konta had a 6-4, 6-1 win over Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.

It’s the first time since the Australian Open in December 1977 that that two British players (John Lloyd and Sue Barker) have advanced to the final four of any major.

Konta is playing in her first Australian Open main draw, after losing in qualifying rounds three years in a row. She had a first-round win over No. 8 Venus Williams and beat No. 21 Ekaterina Makarova in straight

sets in the fourth round.

She has won fans at Melbourne Park with her athleticism and mental composure on the court and good humor and a polite humility in interviews after winning.

Born in Australia but living in Britain since her early teens, Konta also has Hungarian citizenship and calls herself a “tri-citizen.”

Asked about her parents’ reaction back home in Britain, Konta apologized for making them stay up so late.

“I’m pretty sure they have jet lag because of the time

difference. They’ve been staying up all ridiculous times of the morning,” Konta said.

Murray is impressed.

“She’s done incredible,” he said. “Another very comfortable and solid win today. Not easy either. She created that chance by beating the seeds, and she deserves to be where she is.”

Konta, the first British woman to reach a Grand Slam semifinal since Jo Durie at the 1983 U.S. Open, will play Angelique Kerber, who beat two-time cham-

pion Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 7-5.

The No. 2-ranked Murray, who has lost four finals at Melbourne Park, will meet Milos Raonic in the semifinals. The 25-year-old Canadian beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a night match, continuing his strong form that saw him beat Roger Federer in the Brisbane International final and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round here.

Continued on page 21

A18 SPORTS

Thursday 28 January 2016

Panthers not content just going to Super Bowl STEVE REED Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina coach Ron Rivera remembers turning to Dave Gettleman following a training camp practice this summer, and asking the Panthers general manager, “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?”

Rivera wanted verification that this Panthers team was

up the Feb. 7 Super Bowl against the AFC champion Denver Broncos.

“One of the things coach Ditka emphasized to us was to enjoy the moment,” Rivera said.

“The moment doesn’t come very often. It’s hard.

It’s hard to get to where we are right now.”

The Panthers have remained a loose, confident

We’ve been slated; all of the above, but yet when you have turnouts like (Sunday) it makes it all worthwhile,” Newton said after the win against the Cardinals.

Added wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery: “Everyone can try to find something when they doubt us, but we just try to go out there and put our ball on display.”

Carolina Panthers NFL football head coach Ron Rivera speaks to the media during a news conference in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers will face the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016.

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

clearly the most talented he’s coached in five seasons — one he thought had Super Bowl potential.

Well, turns out Rivera was right.

And now that the Panthers have realized those expectations, the fifth-year coach believes they’re capable of bringing home the organization’s first Vince Lombardi trophy.

“The thing we’ve got to remember is what we’re playing for, and that’s to win it,” Rivera said Monday. “It’s not about getting there. It’s not about being a part of it. It’s about winning it. And that will be our main focus.”

Said quarterback Cam Newton: “We’re not finished.”

Rivera, who won a Super Bowl ring with the 1985 Chicago Bears as a linebacker, said he’ll rely on his former coach Mike Ditka, among others, for advice leading

team throughout the season.

They’re also a tightknit group, regularly hanging out off the field together, and seem to thrive playing the underdog role — even though they opened as a 4-point favorite against Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

That harkens back to when some believed Carolina was the worst of the 5-0 teams in October.

The Panthers would prove doubters wrong, winning 14 straight games to open the season before suffering their only loss at Atlanta.

They finished the season as the No. 1 scoring offense in the league and led the NFL on defense in takeaways.

They’re rebounded from that Atlanta loss to win three straight, including home playoff games against the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals.

“We’ve been doubted.

Rivera has said he loves his team’s personality — and doesn’t want players to change.

He doesn’t mind Newton’s touchdown celebrations, his players posing for pictures on the sideline when the game is in hand or even lip-syncing to Drake’s lyrics, “We got a really big team; we need some really big rings” in a video they’ve posted on social media.

“We are who we are,” Rivera said.

Right now, what the Panthers are is a championship team looking for the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

Rivera doesn’t plan to change a thing.

“Do what you’ve done,” Rivera said. “Some of my experiences in coaching, you get to certain experiences like the playoffs, and sometimes you get a little bit of panic. Am I doing enough?

Should I do more? Should I change this? q

Peyton Manning to Belichick: ‘This might be my last rodeo’ ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer DENVER (AP) — Peyton Manning isn’t saying that Super Bowl 50 is his grand finale, he’s just saying it could be.

NFL Network cameras caught an intriguing exchange between Manning and New England coach Bill Belichick after Denver’s 20-18 win over the Patriots in the AFC championship game on Sunday.

When they embraced, Manning leaned in and told Belichick, “Hey listen, this might be my last rodeo. So, it sure has been a pleasure.”

Belichick responded, “You’re a great competitor ...”

Neither spoke of their exchange afterward.

Earlier this month, Manning said, “I’d be lying if I said I’m not thinking about that,” when asked if this could be it for him.

The five-time MVP’s season ends Feb. 7 in the Super Bowl against Carolina.

There are other signs that Manning is preparing as if he could ride into retirement next month.

He let his little boy stand beside him during his news conference after the AFC championship, just as he had taken him to the sideline before one of the games he missed in December.

These are things the manically focused Manning never had done before.

Long after the delirious crowd disappeared Sunday night, Manning walked through the north end zone atSports Authority Field with his family, picked up pieces of thin blue and orange confetti and took in the scene, including the giant scoreboard in the south end zone that read, “Next Game: Super Bowl 50.”

Pushing 40, Manning will be the oldest quarterback to start a Super Bowl when he takes the field for his 293rd career game, including 27 postseason appearances.

It’s a chance for Manning to cap his most maddening season by becoming the first starting QB to win Lombardi Trophies for two different teams.

No. 18’s 18th NFL season was his most trying. It included a rash of injuries and insults and saw him serve as a scout team quarterback for the first time ever and a backup QB for the first time since his freshman college year at Tennessee.

Bothered by a left foot injury, Manning threw just nine TD passes and 17 interceptions in nine starts, but he was 7-2 in those games, one of the losses coming against Kansas City on Nov. 15 when he left the game injured.

He missed the next seven starts but won his starting job back from Brock Osweiler on Jan. 3 when he entered in the third quarter against San Diego and ignited a stagnant, mistake-prone offense.

Manning led four scoring drives and the Broncos’ 27-20 win earned them the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

Manning was methodical in a 23-16 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round.

It was Manning’s third win in four conference championship games against his rival, Tom Brady, who is 10-3 against Manning in the regular season.

While Manning was sidelined, several unsubstantiated reports painted the face of the league as a bad teammate or a cheat. The NFL Network alleged he would refuse to serve as Osweiler’s backup once healthy and Al Jazeera reported Manning obtained HGH from an anti-aging clinic in Indianapolis, although his accuser recanted.

The NFL said it’s conducting a comprehensive review of the HGH allegations, a probe that’s not expected to be complete until after the Super Bowl.

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

SPORTS A19

Thursday 28 January 2016

Golf Notes:

Paul Dunne, another member of the Class of 2011

Ireland’s Paul Dunne plays at the British Open Golf Championship at the Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland, in July, 2015.

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — The high school class of 2011 has another member this week at the Farmers Insurance Open, although Paul Dunne is different from the others. For starters, he’s from Ireland. And it’s not like he grew up playing junior golf against Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Emiliano Grillo, Daniel Berger or the others.

“I played the Junior Players Championship. That was the only AJGA event I played,” Dunne said Tuesday. “I played all my junior golf mostly in Ireland or around Europe with the Irish national team. So I didn’t travel to America too much, so I didn’t really get exposed to those kind of people.”

Dunne rose to a measure of fame last summer at St. Andrews when he became the first amateur since Bobby Jones in 1927 to have at least a share of

the 54-hole lead in the British Open. He closed with a 78 and wound up fourth among amateurs.

He stayed an amateur to play in the Walker Cup, and then earned his European Tour card at qualifying school. Because he has a low priority, and the European Tour events are strong in the Middle East, Dunne took a sponsor’s exemption and will make his

PGA Tour debut at Torrey Pines.

Dunne went to AlabamaBirmingham, the alma mater of former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, so he knows players from his class. Thomas stands out because he went to Alabama, and they played several events together. He just hasn’t played in the same group as Thomas or Spieth.

Also in the field this week is Ryan Ruffels of Australia, the 17-year-old who recently turned pro.

Dunne is 22.

“I think he’s more advanced than I was at 17, Dunne said. “He’s obviously proven that he can play well and compete at high levels. So if he feels like he can come out and do well straight away, then I have absolutely no issue with his decision to turn pro. But for me, I always wanted to go to college. My parents always instilled kind of academic excellence in the family, so they were always big on me getting a college degree and then make my own decisions after that.”

BACK TO SCHOOL: Beau Hossler was in good shape to be low amateur at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club until he closed with a 76, making a double bogey on the 18th hole. That meant low amateur went to Texas sophomore Jordan Spieth, who closed with a 70.

They will be featured together as teammates in two weeks at the North-

ern Trust Open Collegiate Showcase at Riviera, when 14 college players will team with a PGA Tour player from their school and two amateur boosters.

Hossler is a junior at Texas.

Spieth is No. 1 in the world with over $21.6 million in career earnings.

The exhibition is Feb. 15, and while the pros and amateur boosters compete for a $50,000 donation to the school’s golf program, the college player with the best score earns a spot in the Northern Trust Open. A year ago, Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest was the only college player to break par (67) in the Collegiate Showcase, and then he had rounds of 76-71 to miss the cut.

Other PGA Tour players taking part are Jim Furyk (Arizona), Paul Casey (Arizona State), Jimmy Walker (Baylor), Hudson Swafford (Georgia), J.B. Holmes (Kentucky), Luke Donald (Northwestern), Bronson Burgoon (Texas A&M), Kevin Chappell (UCLA), Charley Hoffman (UNLV), Jamie Lovemark (USC), Kyle Reifers (Wake Forest) and Nick Taylor (Washington).q

Oosthuizen shares lead with Larrazabal in Qatar

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Louis Oosthuizen made another fast start to his first tournament of the year, shooting a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Qatar Masters to share the lead with Pablo Larrazabal on Wednesday.

The 2010 British Open champion has won his first event of the calendar year in four of the last five years, and is in a good position already in Qatar after rolling in seven birdies in a bogey-

free round.

“I don’t know the reason why I always play well in January — probably because I’m well rested after a long break and a holiday.

I should take more eightweek breaks,” said Oosthuizen, who is bidding to become the fourth South African winner in six events so far in the 2016 European Tour campaign.

“I enjoy the time away from the course and not touching my clubs, and af-

terwards I’m ready to go again and hungry to get back playing.”

Larrazabal also made seven birdies and no bogeys after the Spaniard hit 17 greens in regulation at Doha Golf Club, where 36 players broke 70 despite the windy conditions.

Andrew Johnston and Nicolas Colsaerts are a shot behind along with Swedish Challenge Tour graduate Bjorn Akesson, who was 7 under after 11 holes but

bogeyed No. 8 — his 17th hole.

“I changed my grip a little bit this morning on the driving range, and it worked out really well today,” Akesson said. “So I would say that’s the key.”

Colsaerts, a big-hitting Belgian playing only his second event since mid-October, had six birdies.

Defending champion Branden Grace and 2014 winner Sergio Garcia shot 70s.q

20 SPORTS

Thursday 28 January 2016

Australian Open Semifinals: Worlds collide as Federer faces Djokovic again JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Novak Djokovic has a larger than life presence at the Australian Open.

His face smiles at fans from sponsor’s billboards. His voice gives inspirational advice over center-court speakers between matches.

There’s even a new addition to Melbourne Park called “Novak’s World,” where fans can slip on vir-

final at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, both of which Djokovic won in thrilling nail-biters.

It will be their 15th matchup at a Grand Slam tournament, more than any other pair of men in tennis’ Open era, which dates to 1968.

Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have played each other 13 times at majors, Federer and Nadal 11 and John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl 10.

But more than just num-

Federer hasn’t won a major since Wimbledon in 2012 despite repeatedly coming close. He was runner-up in 2014 at Wimbledon and in 2015 at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — beaten all three times by Djokovic.

The 28-year-old Djokovic finished 2015 as the No. 1 player for the fourth time in five years. The Serb won three Grand Slams — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open — and reached the final at

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Switzerland’s Roger Federer participate in an exhibition event on Rod Laver Arena ahead of the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia.

Djokovic faces Federer in the semifinals at the Australian Open.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

tual reality goggles and feel as if they’re walking in Djokovic’s shoes — as he stretches in the locker room and then walks out onto the court as the crowd roars.

A few years ago, the Australian Open and the other majors could have been called “Roger’s World” — when Roger Federer was No. 1, still dominating men’s tennis and the favorite face of sponsors.

On Thursday, the two players’ worlds collide. Again.

The top-ranked Djokovic will play No. 3 Federer in a blockbuster semifinal match at the Australian Open. It will be the 45th installment in a riveting rivalry that is so equally split that they are tied with 22 wins each.

It’s a rematch of last year’s

bers, it is a tantalizing rematch that holds great importance to both players as they try to cement their place in history.

For Federer, who owns a record 17 Grand Slam titles, it offers a chance to prove that his best is not entirely behind him. He is 34, which means that time really is running out.

“It would mean a lot to me, no doubt about it,” Federer said Tuesday when asked about the significance of winning one more major in the era of Djokovic. “It’s part of the reason why I guess I’m still playing. I feel like I’m competitive at the top. I can beat all the guys on tour.”

That is true, but the problem for Federer has been making it happen in the last round of a major.

the French Open.

Djokovic is considered the best baseliner in the game, contorting his body as he stretches and slides between defense and offense.

In Melbourne, Federer has been playing a brilliant brand of attacking tennis, ushering him comfortably through the draw and past No. 6 Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.

Djokovic and other players have commented that he’s playing as well as ever, if not better, deploying well-honed new skills and aggressiveness at net.

“Roger is playing really terrific tennis,” Djokovic said after his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal win over No. 7 Kei Nishikori. “He’s got great defense, amazing offense.

He’s very complete. q

Australian Open:

What to Watch on Thursday, Day 11

JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A blockbuster Australian Open semifinal between No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 3 Roger Federer will be the latest installment in the tennis rivalry that has come to define recent seasons.

It will be a rematch of last year’s final at the U.S. Open and at Wimbledon, both of which Djokovic won.

“We are, you know, big rivals,” said Djokovic, the defending champion. “We’ve played so many times against each other. There’s a lot of tension. There’s a lot at stake, I’m expecting a great fight.”

It will be the 15th time Djokovic and Federer meet in a Grand Slam, extending their own record for the most matchups at the majors in the Open era, which started in 1968.

It will be the 45th matchup overall between the two players who are tied at 22 wins each.

For Djokovic, it offers a chance to re-assert his dominance after finishing the best season of his career. He finished 2015 at No. 1 for the fourth time in five years, after winning at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and reaching the final at the French Open.

He has won 10 Grand Slam titles and is gaining on Federer’s record 17.

For Federer, it offers a chance to prove that his best is not entirely behind him. He hasn’t won a major since Wimbledon 2012, where he beat Djokovic in the semifinals.

At 34, Federer is playing remarkable tennis. But at 28, Djokovic is still in his prime with many years to go.

Federer was asked how meaningful it would be to win another major in the Djokovic era.

“It would mean a lot to me, no doubt about it,” Federer said. “It’s part of the reason why I guess I’m still playing.”

Both Djokovic and Federer are bidding to become the first man in the Open era to reach six Australian Open finals — of which Djokovic has won five and Federer four.

Some things to watch in the women’s semifinals: WILLIAMS VS. RADWANSKA: William has a serious winning record against Radwanska, eight wins and zero losses. The last time they met in a Grand Slam was the Wimbledon final in 2012, when Williams won in three sets. Radwanska was ranked in the 30s back then, and she’s now No. 4 in the world. Williams, meanwhile, has continued to be a dominant No. 1. “It will be a good match. She’s been playing really well towards the end of the year, and already this year she’s been very consistent,” Williams said of Radwanska, who won a warmup event in Shenzhen. “She presents a completely different game, an extremely exciting game. So I think it will be a long match and it will be a good match to see where I am.”

KERBER VS. KONTA: These are two players not used to getting this far in a Grand Slam tournament — No. 7-seeded Kerber has done it twice, once each at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, and Konta never.

No surprise, then, they haven’t played each other as most of the 24-year-old Konta’s successes have come in lower-tier tournaments, not on the main WTA tour.

Konta was born in Sydney, Australia but took British citizenship in 2012 after having lived there since 2005.

She also carries a Hungarian passport because her parents are from there, so she refers to herself as a “tri-citizen.” q

SPORTS A21

Thursday 28 January 2016

Roger Federer has wisdom on tennis and life for his kids JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Over the course of his celebrated career, Roger Federer has acquired wisdom on the tennis courts that translates to life lessons which he hopes his children can learn from.

A father of four, Federer has two sets of twins. The girls are 6 and the boys are just 18 months and everyone travels together for his job. Young Myla and Charlene have joined their mother, Mirka, in Federer’s box at matches, their heads buried in books, as their famous dad has expertly navigated his way into the second week of his 36th consecutive Grand Slam — one of his many records.

The No. 3-ranked Federer says it might be an untraditional family life with a lot of time on the road, but he wants to keep his loved ones close.

“We’re used to this life. It’s the only thing they know and I know really for the last 20 years,” said Federer.

He faces No. 1 Novak Djokovic in a semifinal Thursday that is the latest installment in their long rivalry. During on-court interviews, the 34-year-old Federer has spoken of the pride he feels knowing that his girls are old enough now to have life-long memories of watching him play, and in post-match news conferences he has shared what he hopes they learn from him.

“I have had those conversations with them, that hard work brings you somewhere,” said the Swiss star who has won a record 17 Grand Slams.

“I told them the other day they can be anything they would want to be as long as they work hard at it,” he said, adding that he has no strong opinion whether his offspring inherit his passion for tennis, although he has started his daughters on lessons. “I think they need to know whatever they choose, they have to work hard at it.”q

Murray, Konta win on distracting day in Melbourne

Andy Murray of Britain makes a forehand return to David Ferrer of Spain during their quarterfinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Continued from page 17 Defending champion Novak Djokovic and Federer will contest the other semifinal on Friday.

Since Day 1, the Australian Open has been overshadowed by media reports alleging tennis authorities had failed to thoroughly investigate match-fixing.

On Wednesday, Day 10, the governing bodies of tennis announced they will commission an inde-

pendent review of their anti-corruption unit to restore “public confidence in our sport.”

In announcing the review, ATP chairman Chris Kermode said the reports had “caused damage to the sport,” which compelled the major stakeholders in tennis — the International Tennis Federation, ATP and WTA tours, and the four Grand Slams — to take quick action to address the issue.

A BBC and Buzzfeed News report which coincided with the start of the Australian Open alleged 16 players — all ranked at some stage in the top 50 — had been flagged for being involved in matches where suspicious betting activity was detected.

Murray was asked about developments to the match-fixing claims, as have many players in the last 10 days.

“Yeah, that’s positive,”

Murray said of the independent review.

“Surely. I think in these situations I think people become skeptical when it’s sort of kept in-house. So getting someone independent to look into it is positive for sure.”

The review will be funded by the Tennis Integrity Board, which oversees the anti-corruption unit set up by thesport in 2008 to combat match-fixing.

It will be led by Adam Smith, a London-based lawyer.

Murray and Raonic, who advanced to his second Grand Slam semifinal after losing to Federer in the final four at Wimbledon in 2014, are 3-3 in career meetings.

“I think just the perseverance throughout it, I had a lot of opportunities even in that set I lost,” Raonic said of his win over Monfils. “I just said to myself keep making opportunities and hopefully they’ll go my way.”

Kerber went down a break in the second set before winning five consecutive games and saving five set points before beating Azarenka, her first win in seven matches against the Belarussian. Six-time champion Serena Williams and No. 4-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska will meet in the other women’s semifinal, also on Thursday.q

Tennis to review integrity unit to restore confidence JUSTIN BERGMAN Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Tennis leaders are taking steps at damage control as they grapple with allegations of match-fixing in recent media reports, which have cast a shadow over the first Grand Slam of the year and shaken confidence in the integrity of the sport.

An independent review of tennis’ anti-corruption unit was announced Wednesday at the Australian Open in the wake of allegations that officials had failed to properly investigate suspected cases of matchfixing.

ATP Chairman Chris Kermode said immediate ac-

tion was needed to “restore public confidence in our sport” and that “nothing is off the table.”

“I think this is a very bold step. We need to address the perception, public confidence, hit it head on.

We don’t have anything to hide at all.”

The creation of the review, which was earlier reported

by The Associated Press, came 10 days after the BBC and BuzzFeed News published stories alleging that tennis authorities had suppressed evidence of match-fixing and failed to thoroughly investigate possible cases of corruption involving 16 players who have ranked in the top 50 over the past decade. No

players were named in the reports.

The review will be funded by the Tennis Integrity Board, which oversees the anti-corruption unit set up by thesport in 2008 to combat match-fixing.

It will be led by Adam Smith, a London-based lawyer who is an expert in sports law. thing any“The last one wants is another sports body investigating itself,” Kermode said.q Andy Murray agreed that having an outsider conduct the inquiry would give it added credibility.

“Yeah, that’s positive. Surely. I think in these situations I think people become skeptical when it’s sort of

kept in-house a little bit,” he said after his quarterfinal win over David Ferrer on Wednesday.

Kermode said the review panel would have an open-ended deadline and budget and that its findings would be made public. He also said tennis’ governing bodies were committed to acting on every recommendation of the panel.

Among the issues the panel is expected to examine is whether the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) needs additional resources to do its job, how it can improve transparency without compromising its investigations, and whether the sport needs to expand its integrity education programs. q

A22

Thursday 28 January 2016

SPORTS

FIFA candidate Champagne fires at UEFA over corruption cases GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — FIFA presidential candidate Jerome Champagne has criticized how corruption allegations were handled by UEFA, whose top administrator is a rival to lead world soccer.

Champagne did not name Gianni Infantino in comments at a European Parliament news conference on Wednesday, but he cited examples that happened

during his opponent’s time as UEFA general secretary.

A Cypriot whistleblower in 2010 alleged bribery in UEFA’s 2012 European Championship bidding contest, and match-fixing cases from 2011 in Turkey and 2015 in Greece have both angered fans who believe top clubs are protected from tougher sanctions.

“Was there an investigation for the vote in 2007 for the Euro 2012? No,” said

FIFA Presidential candidate Jerome Champagne attends a mini-forum on the future of FIFA at the EU parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Champagne, noting that UEFA does not have an independent ethics committee which can pursue its own cases.

“Look at the controversies regarding the way matchfixing is dealt with in Greece and Turkey. So we need to open that,” said the onetime FIFA international relations director.

UEFA launched a defamation action in Switzerland against the whistleblower, who withdrew his claims several weeks later, and also made a criminal complaint to state prosecutors in Cyprus.

Champagne was the only one of five FIFA candidates who took up the invitation from European lawmakers and campaigners for FIFA reform to attend the event in Brussels.

Infantino has spent a successful week meeting voters in Central and South America ahead of the Feb. 26 poll in Zurich, and sent a video message about this

campaign.

Since the five candidates were officially confirmed in November, there have exchanged little criticism in public.

Champagne did not accuse Infantino of wrongdoing though recalled a bribery allegation that was overshadowed at the time by FIFA’s controversial 2018-2022 World Cup bidding contests.

In October 2010, a whistleblower in Cyprus alleged some UEFA voters shared bribes totaling around 10 million euros (then around $13 million) in the Euro 2012 hosting vote won by Poland and Ukraine in an unexpected victory over Italy.

UEFA said in an October 2010 statement that its criminal complaint was “to establish whether any of the claims made ... have any substance to them, and therefore to make available any tangible elements in order to substanti-

ate these claims. And secondly, to protect the integrity and the good name of UEFA and European football, in general, which have been seriously damaged by these allegations.”

In the match-fixing cases referred to Wednesday, UEFA pressured its Turkish member federation in 2011 to withdraw title holder Fenerbahce from the Champions League and later imposed a ban from the competition in additional seasons.

In Greece, Olympiakos was allowed by UEFA to play in this season’s Champions League despite the club president being implicated in a fixing scandal last year linked to organized crime.

UEFA entry rules require clubs not to have been involved in fixing matches.

Fans in Greece then suggested a conspiracy because Infantino’s deputy at UEFA has close family ties to Olympiakos.q

Aguero sends Man City into League Cup final STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Sergio Aguero clinched Manchester City a place in the English League Cup final by scoring the decisive final goal in a 3-1 win over Everton on Wednesday, sealing a 4-3 victory on aggregate.

Protecting a 2-1 lead from the first leg, Everton went further ahead on aggregate in the semifinal when Ross Barkley scored from long range in the 18th minute. City responded immediately through Fernandinho’s deflected strike and substitute Kevin De Bruyne leveled up the semifinal in

the 70th minute.

The match was heading for extra time, only for Aguero to head in a cross from De Bruyne in the 76th and set up a match against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on Feb. 28.

Liverpool beat Stoke in a penalty shootout to win the other semifinal.q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Thursday 28 January 2016

Utilities see a huge potential in drones to inspect lines, towers

Scientists:

BY MARY ESCH ASSOCIATED PRESS BLENHEIM, N.Y. (AP) -- U.S. utilities see great potential in the use of remote-controlled drones to do the oftendangerous work of inspecting power lines and transmission towers but strict regulations have so far slowed adoption of the technology.

The remote-controlled devices make the work of linemen safer, more efficient and less expensive, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, which recently held workshops to help nearly a dozen utilities choose the best machines for the job. Miniature helicopter-like drones, some equipped with cameras and other sensors, conducted demonstration inspections of transmission lines at a hydroelectric plant in the Catskill Mountains.

“We want to start using drones this spring when the inspection season begins,” said Alan Ettlinger, research and technology director for the New York Power Authority, who attended the workshop.

Utilities spend millions of dollars inspecting power lines, which are often in hard-to-reach places. The industry has been interested in the potential use of drones for years, but has been slower than European companies to adopt the technology because of U.S. regulatory restrictions.

While hobbyists can fly drones without certification, the Federal Aviation Administration requires special certification for commercial users. There are numerous conditions and limitations: The drone operator needs a pilot’s license, the aircraft must weigh less than 55 pounds, flights can go no more than 200 feet above the ground, and the drone must be operated in the pilot’s line of sight.

The FAA treats the operation of drones like any other aircraft for safety reasons and commercial operators face strict rules for getting permission to use them, according to the agency.

Seven U.S. utilities were granted FAA approval for testing drone technology in 2015. Consumers Energy in Michigan conducted a series of tests over the summer using its own eight-rotor drone and unmanned aerial vehicles operated by outside vendors to inspect wind turbines, utility poles and transformers. The utility is part of a UAV task force under the Edison Electric Institute, the association representing U.S. investor-owned electric companies.

“When you look at the amount of information we can gain to make accurate decisions about our systems, and look at the cost and time savings, this is a huge opportunity for us,” said Andrew Bordine, a Consumers Energy executive.

The UAV system Consumers Energy uses starts at about $10,000, Bordine said. Sensor attachments range from a few thousand dollars to upward of $100,000, he said.

But the cost savings are far greater than the investment.

Consumers Energy spends several hundred thousand dollars a year to send people out in the field to do mapping and measuring of its electrical system, Bordine said. A UAV equipped with “lidar,” the sensor technology used to develop driverless cars, can collect the same data and more at a small fraction of the cost and time.

“With wind turbines, you’ll have a couple of guys hanging off the blades by a rope a couple hundred feet in the air to do inspections visually, at a cost upwards of $10,000 per site,” Bordine said. “We can get the same results with a UAV for $300, without putting workers in danger.”q

S. THANAWALA Associated Press STANFORD, California (AP) — Rising tension between Russia and the U.S., North Korea’s recent nuclear test and a lack of aggressive steps to address climate

“Doomsday Clock” reflects threat to world and uncertainty that the Paris accord will lead to concrete action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The scientists behind the bulletin adjusted the clock from five minutes-to-midnight to three minutes-to-

jury is out as to whether the Paris agreement will make a significant difference,” he said. “The key is whether countries over the next couple of years are able to agree on some important details that were left out.”

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry, second from left, speaks next to former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, from left, Gov. Jerry Brown, and Jerry Seelig after the unveiling of the “Doomsday Clock,” which measures the likelihood of a global cataclysm, at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif.

(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

change are putting the world under grave threat, scientists behind a “Doomsday Clock” that measures the likelihood of a global cataclysm said this week.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced that the minute hand on the metaphorical clock remained at three minutesto-midnight.

The clock reflects how vulnerable the world is to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change and new technologies, with midnight symbolizing apocalypse.

“Unless we change the way we think, humanity remains in serious danger,” said Lawrence Krauss, chair of the bulletin’s Board of Sponsors.

Krauss said the Iran nuclear agreement and Paris climate accord were good news. But the good news was offset by nuclear threats, including tension between nuclear-armed states India and Pakistan,

midnight last year. They cited climate change, modernization of nuclear weapons and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals as “extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity.” The clock was previously at three minutes-tomidnight in 1984, when the bulletin said talks between the U.S. and Russia virtually stopped.

From a climate change perspective, if midnight on the clock represents the disappearance of humanity, three minutes-tomidnight is overly dire, said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University who is not affiliated with the bulletin. On the other hand, Oppenheimer said if midnight means humans have emitted so much greenhouse gas that dangerous climate change is inevitable, then three minutes is a “fair analysis.”“I think the

Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine examining social and scientific controversies, said in an email that the Doomsday clock is “an exercise in pessimism and PR with little connection to the reality of moral progress made in the past half century.” Shermer cited reductions in the number of nuclear weapons since the 1980s and the absence of war between Europe’s great powers since World War II. California Gov. Jerry Brown joined former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry for a discussion at Stanford University after the unveiling of the clock.

Perry raised concerns about rhetoric from Russia about the use of nuclear weapons and said the threat of nuclear disaster was greater today than during the Cold War. Shultz said the U.S. needs to engage Russia and China. q

A24 BUSINESS

Thursday 28 January 2016

Norfolk Southern 4Q profit falls 29 percent as volume slows

A Norfolk Southern locomotive is seen on Chicago’s south side. Norfolk Southern reported financial earnings Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Norfolk Southern Corp.’s fourth-quarter profit slid 29 percent as the railroad delivered 6 percent less freight. It plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or 4 percent of the workforce, as it fends off a

takeover bid from rival Canadian Pacific.

The Norfolk, Virginia, railroad said Wednesday it will cut about 1,200 jobs this year and the rest by 2020.

It also plans to reduce overtime costs, eliminate about 1,500 miles of littleused track and improve efficiency by upgrading its locomotive fleet.

“We have the right team and the right plan to address the current headwinds and deliver superior value as we move through 2016 and beyond,” said Jim Squires, who took over as Norfolk Southern’s top executive last summer.

In the fourth quarter, the railroad reported net income of $361 million, or $1.20 per share. That’s down from $511 million, or $1.64 per share, a year earlier.

The analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected earnings of $1.28 per share.

Fourth quarter revenue fell 12 percent to $2.52 billion.

Analysts expected $2.59 billion.

Norfolk Southern said restructuring costs of $31 million weighed down fourth-

quarter profit 10 cents per share.

The additional cuts it plans should save about $130 million in 2016 and create more than $650 million in annual cost savings by 2020, the railroad said.

Norfolk Southern executives have said they believe the railroad and its investors will fare better if it remains independent, so it has rejected Canadian Pacific’s roughly $30 billion offers.

Canadian Pacific officials have said they could create a more efficient railroad by combining with Norfolk Southern. They predict roughly $1.8 billion in annual cost savings if the railroads merged with most of the savings coming from Norfolk Southern’s operations.

Norfolk Southern officials say they think the cuts Canadian Pacific envisions would go too deep and hurt customer service.

“This plan will enable us to achieve significant annual expense savings beginning in 2016 without compromising the company’s ability to capitalize on volume and revenue growth opportunities,” Squires said.

“We are making progress despite a challenging operating environment.”

S&P Capital IQ analyst Jim Corridore said even if Norfolk Southern achieves all the goals in its improvement plan, it will still lag behind the performance of other major freight railroads.

For the year, Norfolk Southern reported profit of $1.56 billion, or $5.10 per share.

That was down from $2 billion, or $6.39 per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell nearly 10 percent to $10.51 billion.

Norfolk Southern shares gained $1.61, or 2.3 percent, to sell for $70.51 in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Norfolk Southern shares have dropped 19 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has fallen nearly 7 percent. The stock has declined 35 percent in the last 12 months.

BUSINESS A25

Thursday 28 January 2016

Anthem 4Q profit falls 64 pct, misses expectations

The Anthem logo hangs at the health insurer’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. Anthem reported financial results, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

TOM MURPHY AP Business Writer Anthem’s fourth-quarter earnings tumbled 64 percent as the health insurer absorbed some sizeable expenses and booked fewer customers than it expected through the Affordable Care Act’s public insurance exchanges.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer continued to expand its business from government programs like Medicaid and reaffirmed its forecast for the new year. But earnings fell short of Wall Street expectations, and its stock price fell more than 2 percent in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Overall, fourth-quarter earnings totaled $180.9 million, down from $506.7 million in the previous year’s quarter.

Adjusted results totaled

$1.14 per share, while operating revenue, which excludes investment gains, rose more than 6 percent to around $20 billion.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of $1.21 per share on $19.91 billion in revenue, according to a survey by the data firm FactSet. Anthem operates plans in big markets like California, New York and Ohio. It also sells coverage on public insurance exchanges in 14 states.

The insurer said Wednesday that it booked in the fourth quarter $51.5 million in costs tied to its pending acquisition of rival insurer Cigna Corp. and a charge of $42.3 million related to changes in tax calculations for California.

Operating revenue from the insurer’s govern-

ment business, which also includes privately run Medicare plans, jumped 17 percent to more than $10.6 billion. Anthem made its name nationally as a provider of private Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage, but it pegs more of its future growth on government business.

Many states are expanding eligibility for Medicaid programs, which cover poor and disabled patients, under the ACA, and they also are asking insurers to run those programs.

“We expect to be frontand-center supporting these states’ initiatives,” Chairman and CEO Joseph Swedish told analysts during a Wednesday morning conference call.

The company also expects to expand its government business even more once it completes its $48-billion acquisition of Cigna and adds that company’s Medicare Ad-

vantage customers. That acquisition is undergoing regulatory review, and it has drawn concern from doctor groups and some members of Congress over how it may affect consumers. Anthem said Wednesday it still expects the deal to close in the second half of this year.

The insurer covered 791,000 people through the ACA’s public exchanges at the end of last year. Unlike other insurers, Anthem said that business has been profitable, but enrollment came in about 30 percent lower than it expected.

Larger rival UnitedHealth Group Inc. and other insurers have said their exchange business has struggled in particular with customers who have been allowed to sign up outside open enrollment periods.

Those customers tend to generate more claims than those who sign up during open enrollment.q

A26 COMICS

Thursday 28 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

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A28 SCIENCE

Thursday 28 January 2016

Study questions link between teen pot usage and IQ decline MALCOLM RITTER AP Science Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A new analysis is challenging the idea that smoking marijuana during adolescence can lead to declines in intelligence. Instead, the new study says, pot smoking may be merely a symptom of something else that’s really responsible for a brainpower effect seen in some previous research.

It’s not clear what that other factor is, said Joshua Isen, an author of the analysis. But an adolescent at risk for smoking pot “is probably going to show this IQ drop regardless of whether he or she is actually smoking marijuana,” said Isen, a lecturer in psychology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

The study was released earlier this month by the Proceedings of the Nation-

A person holds a freshly-rolled marijuana joint in Seattle. A new analysis released earlier this month, is challenging the idea that smoking marijuana during adolescence can lead to declines in intelligence.

(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

al Academy of Sciences.

Some prior research has led to suggestions that the developing adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to harm from marijuana.

Studying the topic is difficult because children can’t ethically be randomly chosen to either take illicit drugs or abstain for years so that their outcomes can

be compared. Scientists have to assess what people do on their own.

For the new work, the researchers examined data that had been collected for two big U.S. studies of twins. They focused on 3,066 participants who were given a battery of intelligence tests at ages 9 to 12 — before any of them had used marijuana — and again at ages 17 to 20.

They tracked changes in the test scores and studied whether those trajectories were worse for marijuana users than for non-users.

Most tests revealed no difference between the two groups, but users did fare more poorly than abstainers in tests of vocabulary and general knowledge.

If smoking pot harmed test scores, the researchers reasoned, people who’d smoked more pot should

show poorer trends than those who’d smoked less.

But that’s not what the data revealed. Among users, those who’d smoked more than 30 times or used it daily for more than a six-month stretch didn’t do worse.

The study also looked at 290 pairs of twins in which one had used marijuana and the other had not. The members of each pair had grown up together and 137 sets were identical twins so they shared the same DNA. Again, the pot users did not fare worse than their abstaining twin siblings.

So, the researchers concluded, pot smoking itself does not appear responsible for declines in test scores. Isen noted, however, that the work says nothing about other potential harmful consequences of smoking marijuana in adolescence.q

Research begins into possible vaccine for Zika virus L. NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is beginning research into a possible vaccine for the mosquito-borne Zika virus that is suspected of causing an unusual birth defect as it spreads in Latin America.

Don’t expect protection anytime soon — vaccine development typically takes years.

“This is not going to be over-

night,” Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said in an interview this week.

But there are vaccines in various stages of development for other viruses in the same family — dengue, West Nile and chikungunya — that offer a pattern for creating something similar against Zika, said Fauci, who directs NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

NIH researchers have begun some initial work, and the agency also plans to boost funding to some Brazilian scientists to accelerate Zika-related research, he said.

President Barack Obama met this week with his senior health advisers, including Fauci, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Centers for Disease Control Director Thomas Frieden. The

White House said Obama urged them to accelerate research into diagnostic tests, vaccines and therapeutic drugs, and work to inform Americans about the Zika virus and ways to protect against infection.

The Zika virus, first discovered decades ago in Africa, was long thought to be more of a nuisance illness, with symptoms generally much milder than its

cousin dengue. But amid a large Zika outbreak in Brazil, researchers began reporting an increase in a rare birth defect named microcephaly — babies born with abnormally small heads. While scientists try to prove if Zika is the cause, 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 outbreaks.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Thursday 28 January 2016

Newcomer James Bay is ready Tracy Morgan: to rock at the Grammy Awards Back from the edge and returning to stage

James Bay poses for a portrait in New York. Bay is nominated for three Grammy Awards for his debut album “Insane.”

(Drew Gurian/Invision/AP)

MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For rock singer James Bay, receiving not one or two — but three — Grammy nominations for his debut album is “insane.” That’s because Bay, 25, remembers how scary it was to finally record music after performing around Europe for more than 10 years.

“It’s one of those situations ... (where) there’s as much anxiety as there is excitement,” Bay said in a recent interview. “Recording it was a kind of a scary thing because it was very unknown. ... I did my first show when I was 14 ... (and) recording is not something I’m familiar with.”

Enter Jacquire King, the Grammy-winning producer-engineer-mixer who worked on Kings of Leon’s colossal hit “Use Somebody” as well as songs for Tom Waits, Norah Jones and others. Bay had put King at the top of his list of dream producers to help him not only craft good songs, but also develop his own style and sound.

“Literally I opened up a couple of his demos ... about five minutes into them ... I was totally onboard,” King said. “I loved his voice.”

At the Grammys, airing live Feb. 15 from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Bay is being recognized for a wide range of his talents: There’s his songwriting (best rock song for “Hold Back the River”); his full body of work (rock album

for “Chaos and the Calm”); and his overall artistry as a singer-to-watch on the music scene (best new artist).

“Awards are fun, but the Grammys are pretty damn special,” said Bay, who grew up in England and regularly rocks a fedora. “I didn’t think about awards too much growing up, I really, really didn’t, but I always recognized the Grammys and thought, ‘Wow, that would be fun one day to get nominated for one of those.’ It’s a bit of a dream come true.”

His debut album, released last March and recorded with King in Nashville, Tennessee, is a rock adventure that explores elements of indie rock, soft rock, Americana, folk, blues and pop rock — all with the guitar at the forefront. “Best Fake Smile” and “Hold Back the River” are thumping, passionate tunes; “If You Ever Want to Be in Love” is a sweet mid-tempo love song; “Let It Go,” which is rising on Billboard Hot 100 chart, is a winning slow burner.

“I got trapped into too may bar jobs in the same small town. As you mature and you grow and you sort of develop new tastes for new things, I didn’t want any of that anymore, and I wanted something different. And it was all spurred on by wanting to play music,” Bay said.

“Chaos and the Calm” became one of the top-selling albums last year in the U.K., where it debuted at No. 1. Bay is nominated for four Brit Awards — including British album and single of the year — at the Feb. 24 awards show.

But Bay isn’t only being recognized with awards: The budding singer has been praised by rock vets Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, whom Bay has performed with.

“It’s really hard to put into words, but it makes me feel like things are on a whole other level,” he said of the love from The Rolling Stones members. “It’s an amazing, surreal experience.”q

FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A gruesome highway accident followed by months of pain and rehab. That’s no laughing matter.

Not unless you’re comedian Tracy Morgan, who’s mining this ordeal for laughs with his “Picking Up the Pieces” stand-up tour. After its current warm-up phase, the tour officially launches Feb. 5 at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, and continues through May. Among other dates, he will perform three shows in New Jersey, including a New Brunswick theater about 20 miles from where the accident occurred.

“I’m in a good place in my life,” says Morgan during a recent phone conversation. “When I first got back on the stage, I had to work on my confidence. But I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t nervous. I was excited!”

It was June 7, 2014, when a Wal-Mart truck slammed into the limousine Morgan was riding in. The crash killed a close friend and fellow comedian, and left Morgan with broken bones and brain damage. He was in a coma for two weeks.

“I was basically knocking on The Door,” he says, but adds with undisguised gratitude, “I came back. That’s the spirit moving me.”

That was plenty impressive.

But still it held no promise that Morgan, who has long scored laughs in concert, on “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live,” would ever be able to perform again.

On the “Today” show last June, in his first public appearance since the accident, Morgan sat clutching a cane and, with a tear streaking down his cheek, acknowledged he wasn’t “100 percent yet.”

“When I’m there, you’ll know it,” he said. “I’ll get back to making you laugh, I promise you.”

He made good on that promise three months later with a surprise appearance on the Emmy telecast.

By then he had made good on a promise to himself to wed his fiancee, Megan

Wollover, on his own terms: walking her down the aisle with no cane.

Then, in October, he returned triumphantly as guest host of “SNL,” where he had been a cast member from 1996 to 2003.

“I felt so good going back home to ‘SNL,’” he says. “It was like the first day I was there many years ago. That first time was crazy, but to

things that happen in your life that weren’t funny — tragedy turned inside out.

If you don’t laugh about it, you’ll cry about it. And I’m tired of crying.

“But comedy doesn’t just come from pain,” he adds.

“It comes from joy, too.”

Chief among his joys are his wife and their 2 1/2-yearold daughter, who, as Morgan speaks, can be heard

Tracy Morgan poses in Los Angeles. Morgan will officially launch his “Picking Up the Pieces” standup tour Feb. 5, 2016, at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind., continuing through May. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

have the opportunity to have the feeling all over again — wonderful, man!

And I said, ‘I want to (tour) again.’ That was the end” of any doubts.

He admits to grave doubts during his long convalescence and therapy.

“I remember being visited by a good friend I’ve known all my life, and I said, ‘Why did God let this happen to me?’ And with the meanest look, she said, ‘Never question God!’ “I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ And she said, ‘OK, baby. That’s all right.’

“Tough times don’t last.

Tough people do,” Morgan sums up. “We’re ALL here ‘cause we’re tough.”

Morgan, 47, has made amusing use of a lifetime of tough challenges, including a harsh childhood and health issues that included a kidney transplant in 2010.

So it’s no surprise that he’s dressing his latest wounds in humor.

“The accident was a setback, but, you know, in my world, a setback is a setup,” he says. “You use

chiming in with, “Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse,” as she addresses Mickey’s image on her iPad. “Now you see what’s important and what’s not,” declares Morgan. “I’ve learned a lot, man. I learned about life, about the things I used to stress out about, things we worry about on a day-to-day basis but aren’t important — not when it comes down to life and death. I talk about all that onstage.

“But I talk about things that are happening right now, too. I look back. But I look forward, too!”

One thing he’s looking forward to is a pilot deal for a prospective series that he would star in. To be developed in partnership with Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”), the new FX comedy would cast Morgan as a career criminal released from prison after 15 years who finds himself flummoxed by the modern world he’s re-entering.

It could begin production as soon as this summer. q

A30 PEOPLE

Thursday 28 January 2016

& ARTS

Fergie applauds Jean Paul Gaultier’s couture homage to ‘80s THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — It was probably before the time of his front row stars singers Fergie and Beth Ditto — but they laughed and applauded nonetheless at Jean Paul Gaultier’s fashion homage to the Palace club, France’s answer to New York’s once-famous Studio 54.

Here are the highlights of Wednesday’s spring-summer 2016 couture collections in Paris.

THE PALACE PARTY The glamorous, underground theater was the hippest place in Paris from its inauguration in 1978 by Grace Jones, who famously serenaded guests with her version of “La Vie en Rose” all the way to its end in 1983.

The converted theater represented a golden age in French disco culture and saw Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall

A model wears a creation for Jean Paul Gaultier’s Spring-Summer 2016 Haute Couture fashion collection presented in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.

(AP Photo/Francois Mori)

and Andy Warhol rub shoulders with designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, and, yes, Gaultier himself. It was immortalized in a song by disco-queen — and Salvador Dali muse — Amanda Lear, who sat at the Gaultier show as her music boomed in the

soundtrack.

Model Farida Khelfa, also a famed Palace regular, laughed and clapped from the front row.

GAULTIER’S ‘80s THEATRE At Wednesday’s show by Gaultier, the fashion dial was first turned to the be-

ginning of ‘80s.

Sequined pill box hats, strong shouldered tuxedos, jumpsuits, silken pajama suits, and big, big hair dazed guests at the highenergy show delivered with a funky 1980s soundtrack.

The litany of stars that graced the famed Palace venue were the inspirations for the designer’s myriad 69 looks.

Grace Jones was reimagined in a dull shimmering black-and-brown sequined jumpsuit and brown lace robe. Khelfa was spotted on the catwalk in a black perfecto jacket with bloodred nails, lips and shirt.

And one look, big blond hair against a black crepe bustier dress with fuchsia satin, must surely have been the glamorous Hall.

GALLIANO’S COLLAGE COUTURE John Galliano demonstrates a seemingly effortless flair in anything he

does. For Maison Margiela’s spring show, the former Dior man explored the process of couture through the construct of collage and spontaneous fusion.

It made for the wackiest styles seen this season — but possibly also the most artful. Twenty-five creations played on billowing volumes, contrasting fabric and styles, and pieces of clothing stitched together in unexpected places. If this sounds like a recipe for a fashion mess, in the hands of Galliano it blossomed.

An off-white trench coat in triple georgette and baggy black riding boots meshed with a layered, pleated skirt, cutting a beautiful feminine silhouette.

A silk dress with Chantilly lace was covered at the front with an enveloping layer of sheer black silk that wrapped the entire look — as if blown on the model accidently by the wind.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A31

Thursday 28 January 2016

Review: Third time’s a charm for the witty ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’

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

(DreamWorks Animation via AP)

JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer Three stars out of four.

If you’re one of those people — and I’m with you — who roll your eyes when handed a pair of 3D glasses at the multiplex, wondering if all this rigmarole is REALLY necessary, then take heart: The lovely, color-popping visuals in “Kung Fu Panda 3” are well worth those

darned glasses.

And the evocative DreamWorks Animation visuals are accompanied by just enough heart, witty dialogue and kid-friendly humor — anything about gorging on dumplings, for example — to make this an all-around extremely satisfying third installment in the popular series. Like a well-made dumpling, it’s

not too heavy but not too light, has the right amount of spice, and leaves one with some appetite for the next time. Much of the appeal of the “Panda” films is, of course, the starry cast of voices, and it’s fun to try to figure out who they are, rather than informing yourself beforehand (but if you do, stop reading here). Of course, you’ll already know

that Jack Black is back, and in fine shape, as Po, our rotund panda hero and reluctant Dragon Warrior.

Black’s goofy persona is perfect for lines like, when he discovers other pandas don’t use chopsticks to slow them down: “I always KNEW I wasn’t eating up to my full potential!” That was my personal favorite, but the kids in the audience were overwhelmingly partial to this one, hurled mockingly by the overmatched Po at his taunting, evil opponent: “Chitty, chitty, chat, chat. Chat, chat, chat.”

The film, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alessandro Carloni, begins in the spirit realm, where Oogway, the ancient kung fu master (and tortoise), is suddenly attacked by the villainous bull Kai, a former friend. Kai has been spending the last few centuries collecting all the “chi” power from kung fu masters and storing it in amulets. His goal is to bring his supernatural army to the mortal world and defeat Po, his anointed opponent.

But the important thing to know about Kai — Master of Pain, Beast of Vengeance, Maker of Widows — is that he’s voiced by Simmons, the Oscar-winning “Whiplash” actor who terrorized poor Miles Teller as a nightmarish jazz band conductor. This guy knows from cruelty.

Luckily, Po feels totally confident and up to the task. NOT! But first, an update: Our roly-poly friend has been busily goofing around, as usual, when the old master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) informs him he must take over the task of teaching kung fu. “ME teach?” Po asks. Shifu replies: “If you only do what you CAN do, you will never be more than what you are now.” If that weren’t enough drama, Po’s biological father, Li, has turned up, causing consternation for Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping (the very funny James Hong). “How do we know he’s even related to you?” Mr. Ping — a goose, of course — says angrily, as the pandas happily bump bellies.q

Review: Waves and nostalgia wash over ‘The Finest Hours’ JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer Two and a half stars out of four.

Waves of water and nostalgia wash over the drenched and drippy “The Finest Hours,” a Norman Rockwell painting tossed into stormy CGI seas.

The disaster drama, directed by Craig Gillespie (“Lars and the Real Girl,” ‘’Million Dollar Arm”), is a movie of curious contrasts: an unabashedly old-fashioned and overwhelmingly vanilla tale of awe-shucks-ing, double-dating 1950s seamen, told with the modern 3-D effects of your average end-of-the-world movie.

It’s about the 1952 rescue mission — a true story — of a four-man boat of Coast Guardsmen sent from Cape Cod to save the crew of the USS Pendleton, an oil tanker that a brutal winter storm has broken in half off the coast of Nantucket.

“The Finest Hours” provides more working-class New Englanders bobbing in churning nor’easter currents for those who have been patiently waiting for another wave to catch since 2000’s “The Perfect Storm.” Here again is that formula of maritime adventure and Massachusetts accents (some believable, some that sink).

This one has an Affleck.

Playing the assistant engineer Ray Sybert on the Pendleton is Casey Affleck, who moodily skulks over pipes and valves in the engine room for much of the film. More knowing than his fellow shipmen, he attempts to convince them how to steer what’s left of the tanker to safety.

On land is Chris Pine’s Bernie Webber, a timid, dogooding Guardsman stationed in Chatham. The setting could hardly be more innocent; early scenes show Bernie’s courtship of

Chris PIne, left, and Holliday Grainger appear in a scene from, “The Finest Hours,” a heroic actionthriller based on the true story of the most daring rescue in the history of the Coast Guard.

(Claire Folger/Disney via AP)

the red-haired Miriam (the radiant Holliday Grainger): seeds of sentimentality to fuel the action to come.

It’s just when they’re making their wedding plans that the storm sets in, news of the tanker’s distress spreads and Eric Bana’s illinformed commanding officer dispatches Bernie into

the freezing surf to search for survivors. His most notable companion is a near-silent sailor played by the arresting Ben Foster, who appears to have made a bet to say as few words as possible throughout the film.

The central foe to the rescue is the crushing waves at the sand bar (“Tha Bah-

hh”) that Bernie must miraculously navigate.

Parallels between Bernie and Ray mount as the film toggles between them; both are intelligent workers — card-carrying members of “the greatest generation” — thrown into impossible situations by foolhardy supervisors. q