Traffic is at a standstill on Interstate 65 northbound as officials work to clear abandoned vehicles Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 in Hoover, Ala. Overnight, the South saw fatal crashes and hundreds of fender-benders. Jackknifed 18-wheelers littered Interstate 65 in central Alabama. Ice shut down bridges on Florida’s panhandle and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the world’s longest spans, in Louisiana. Some commuters pleaded for help via cellphones while still holed up in their cars, while others trudged miles home, abandoning their vehicles outright.
(AP Photo/Hal Yeager)
Ice storm strands thousands in ill-equipped South
© 2014 New York Times ATLANTA - Thousands of commuters were trapped in cars overnight on highways in the greater Atlanta area, hundreds of students remained inside dozens of
schools Wednesday morning and at least 50 children spent the night on school buses because of an ice storm that is still gripping the deepest parts of the South. People ran out of medi cine, a baby was bom to a stranded mother and pleas for help flooded Twitter and Facebook as a region that rarely deals with ice and snow came to a screeching halt during a meteoro logical event that Wednesday was still icing points as far south as Brownsville, Texas. Although less than 3 inches of snow fell throughout the Atlanta region, the ice was crippling and its im pact unanticipated. Hundreds of students spent the night in Atlanta schools, watched over by teachers, state patrol officers and the National Guard.
Continued on Page 3
US FED TO SLOW BOND PURCHASES BY ANOTHER $1 OB
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LATAM LEADERS DECLARE REGION ‘ZONE OF PEACE’
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THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
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New Jersey:
Cruise ship outbreak sick toll nears 700
Knox opting for absence as Italy nears its ruling
ELISABETTA POVOLEDO © 2014 New York Times FLORENCE, Italy - For six
years, the fate of Amanda Knox has been in the hands of a succession of Italian courts, called on to determine whether on the night of Nov. 1, 2007, she killed her 21-year-old roommate Meredith Kercher, like Knox a foreign exchange student in the picturesque hilltop university town of Perugia. On Thursday, a court in Florence is expected to offer its ruling.
Knox will not be present in the courtroom. She will await the verdict in her hometown, Seattle, where she has lived since an appeals court reversed her murder conviction in October 2011. Last year, the Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court, vacated the appellate court ruling and ordered a new trial, which began last fall, putting Knox - and her former boyfriend and co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito - back in the limelight.
“Nothing will ever take away the experience of being wrongfully imprisoned,” Knox said in an interview last week via Skype, explaining why she had chosen not to attend the trial, as is her right. “It remains that I would be putting myself in the hands of people who very clearly want me in prison for something that I didn’t do. And I can't do that. I just can’t. No. No way, no how.”
The intense media attention that the case has stirred from the day that Kercher was found dead on the floor of her bedroom, her throat slit, is another reason that Knox decided not to come. (Sollecito has been present for some of the proceedings.) Knox and Sollecito were first found guilty of fhe murder in 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively, for their role in what prosecutors described as a drug-fueled sex game that spiraled out of control and ended with Kercher's death. □
BAYONNE, New Jersey (AP)
— A cruise ship on which nearly 700 passengers and crew fell ill has arrived at its home port in New Jersey after a Caribbean voyage was cut short by an outbreak whose cause has not yet been determined.
One woman aboard the Explorers of the Sea yelled, “We made it!” as the ship docked Wednesday. Other passengers, with blankets wrapped around them, stood on deck to watch the ship pull in.
Bill Rakowicz of Canada said he suffered from vom
ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP)— A group of U.N. inspectors visifed a key uranium mine in southern Iran on Wednesday, as part of a deal to allow expanded monitoring of the country’s nuclear sites. Nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told the official IRNA news agency that the three-member team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog
iting, pain and diarrhea and that his experience was simply “awful."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its latest count puts the number of those sickened at 630 passengers and 54 crew members.
The ship was carrying 3,050 passengers.
Health investigators suspect norovirus, but lab results are not expected until later this week.
If norovirus is to blame, it would be one of the largest outbreaks in last 20 years, the CDC said.
— the International Atomic Energy Agency — inspected the Gachin uranium mine, 50 kilometers west of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.
Iran and the IAEA struck a deal Nov. 11 in Tehran granting U.N. inspectors wider access to Iran’s nuclear facilities. The deal was parallel to an agreement reached with world powers Nov. 24 in Geneva
A 2006 norovirus outbreak on a Carnival Cruise Lines ship also sickened close to 700.
Norovirus — once known as Norwalk virus — is highly contagious. It can be picked up from an infected person, contaminated food or water or by touching contaminated surfaces. Somefimes mistaken for fhe stomach flu, fhe virus causes bouts of vomiting and diarrhea for a few days.
The CDC said it recommended to cruise operator Royal Caribbean that peo
to have Iran halt its most sensitive uranium enrichment activities in return for an easing of Western sanctions over its controversial nuclear program. Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said U.N. inspectors were given a “managed access” to Gachin site. The term refers to a level of scrutiny that provides IAEA inspectors
pie who still have symptoms be housed in nearby hotels or seen at medical facilities before traveling home. CDC investigators boarded the ship during its U.S. Virgin Islands Port call on Sunday. They said no single food or water source or other origin has been identified. Explorer of the Seas is on track to depart at its originally scheduled time Friday afternoon on its next cruise, a 9-night trip with port calls in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, a Royal Caribbean spokeswoman saidO
with access to data while at the same time allows the host country to protect some information.
Next to Gachin uranium mine is an associated mill that turns the mined uranium into uranium ore concentrate, a powder known as yellowcake because of its mostly yellowish color. The processing is part of the early stages before actual enrichment of uraniumO
The Explorer of the Seas cruise ship backs into a berth as it arrives, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Bayonne, N.J. The number of passengers and crew reported stricken ill on the cruise ship has risen to nearly 700.
(AP Photo/Mel Evans)
UN inspectors visit key Iran uranium mine
President
PETER BAKER MICHAEL D. SHEAR © 2014 New York Times
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. - President Barack Obama on Wednesday began a two-day, four-state campaign-style swing aimed at promoting an “opportunity agenda” that he said would create jobs, raise incomes, retrain workers and improve education.
At a steel plant here in West Mifflin, Pa., outside Pittsburgh, and at a Costco warehouse in suburban Maryland outside Washington, Obama declared that he would move forward on his priorities even if lawmakers continued to block many of his top initiatives. “I’m hoping Congress goes along with this, but I'm not going to wait,” he told a crowd of steelworkers here as he described his ideas for enhancing retirement security, echoing a refrain from his State of the Union message on Tuesday night. Summing up the litany of small-bore initiatives he plans to enact using his executive authority, he said, “These are real, practical, achievable solutions to help shift the odds back a bit in favor of working Americans."
The tour, which will continue Thursday in Milwaukee and Nashville, is intended to build momentum for a president who has struggled to advance major policies and has lost some support in the polls since his re-election. Aides said he wanted to escape the shackles of being a virtual prime minister, absorbed by what Congress is doing, and demonstrate a broader leadership less dependent on the legislative process. “The president is not president of Washington," said Jay Carney, the White House press secretary. “He's president of America, and there's a lot of acfivify happening around America." Buf he added that the president was not giving up on Congress to focus on his executive power. “He's doing both,” Carney said.
At his stop in Pennsylvania, Obama signed an
U.S. NEWSF
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
takes to road to press ‘opportunity agenda’
executive memorandum and handed it to Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, instructing him to create a new “starter” retirement savings program called MyRa. The program is meant for lower-wage workers who typically do not put money aside for retirement. The new program will allow workers to start a fund with as little as $25 and contribute as little as $5 per pay period. The contributions would come after taxes, but the income built over time would not be taxed until retirement, and there would be a guaranteed return with no risk of losing the investment. After accumulating $15,000, the fund would be converted into a regular Roth IRA. Lew said the idea was to provide an opportunity for people who otherwise would not save.
“We think this fills a space that, very importantly, we can do by our own authority,” he told reporters on Air Force One as the president flew to Pennsylvania on
Wednesday. “When people start saving, they get into the habit of saving."
At his earlier stop in Maryland, Obama focused on his support for raising the
minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, something Congress has resisted amid criticism that it could hurt businesses in a still-fragile economy. □
President Barack Obama talks with a U.S. Steel employee at their Irvin Plant, where he spoke about the economy and signed an executive memorandum, in West Mifflin, Pa., Jan. 29, 2014. Obama left Washington on Wednesday morning to underscore the commitment he made in the State of the Union address to push for action in the face of what he expects will be a year of congressional obstruction.
(Stephen Crowley/The New York Times)
Ice storm strands thousands in ill-equipped South
Continued from front
Cindy Warner, a spokeswoman for the school system in Shelby County, Ala., said in an email Wednesday that 26 schools had housed about 1,500 students overnight.
Three hundred adults stayed to monitor the children in the district, which is near Birmingham.
With much of the region under a coat of ice and temperatures not expected to climb above freezing on Wednesday, it was not clear when those students or the thousands of commuters still stuck on Interstates and side roads would be able to make it home.
Several officials spent time trying to explain how things got so bad so quickly “This came very suddenly,” Craig Witherspoon, superintendent of Birmingham City Schools in Alabama, said Wednesday.
An estimated 600 students in his district spent the night in schools, tended by about 100 staff members. “All reports for the Birmingham area were that we’d
get a light dusting to the south of where we were,” Witherspoon said. “And the flakes started coming, and then it just poured out." Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta was defensive in a briefing Wednesday as he attempted to calm parents whose children were still at school and drivers who were still trapped on road ways.
He acknowledged a bad bit of timing,
when seemingly all of metro Atlanta hit the road in the early afternoon to try to get children from school and get home. “We created a situation from a traffic standpoint that was very challenging,” he said, adding that “people were
making a lot of independent decisions.”
Much of the problem was on state roads, he said.
“If you look at anybody’s street in any community across the entire region,” he said, “there's no one doing a better job than we are in the city of Atlanta."The region knew the storm was coming. □
In this photo taken with a fisheye lens over the city’s perimeter highway known as “Spaghetti Junction,” the ice-covered interstate system shows the remnants of a winter snow storm that slammed the city with over 2 inches of snow that turned highways into parking lots when motorists abandoned their vehicles creating massive traffic jams lasting through, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, in Atlanta. While such amounts of accumulation barely quality as a storm in the north, it was enough to paralyze the Deep South.
(AP Photo/David Tulis)
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
ms. NEWS
After ‘I’ll break you in half,’ Grimm apologizes
SARAH WHEATON MARC SANTORA © 2014 New York Times WASHINGTON - Rep. Michael G. Grimm of Staten Island, once considered a rising star in the Republican Party, touched off a political firestorm after delivering unusually vitriolic threats against a reporter inside the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday, just moments after the State of the Union speech.
Grimm apologized to the reporter on Wednesday and also issued a state became enraged after the reporter, Michael Scotto of NY1, asked him about the investigation. His threats were captured on video that quickly rocketed around the Internet. Grimm became upset and stormed off when Scotto raised the subject of the investigation into his campaign finances, but he then charged back and laced into Scotto.
Although Scotto had finished the segment, the camera continued to roll and Grimm can be seen
you in half. Like a boy.” Initially, Grimm sought to justify his behavior and did not apologize.
“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests,” he wrote in a statement Tuesday. “The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have
which he graciously accepted, and will be scheduling a lunch soon.” Grimm’s actions were quickly picked up by the national media, and Scotto appeared on several cable networks on Wednesday morning to talk about what had happened. “I don't believe the substance of the threat at all,” he said on CNN. “I'm not taking it personal. I just think he was angry by the fact that I asked that question and I think he was even more angry by
House approves farm bill, ending a 2-year impasse
RON NIXON © 2014 New York Times WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill authorizing nearly $1 trillion in spending on farm subsidies and nutrition programs, setting the stage for final passage of a new five-year farm bill that has been stalled for over two years.
Negotiators from the House and Senate spent several weeks working out their differences on issues in the legislation, including cuts to food stamps, income caps on farm subsidies and a price support program for dairy farmers. The bill is expected to save about $16.6 billion over the next 10 years.
The bill passed the House by a vote of 251-166. The Senate is expected to take up the bill later this week. Compared with earlier, more contentious votes on the farm bill, Wednesday's vote was largely bipartisan. Many Democrats who had opposed it because of cuts to the food stamp program supported it Wednesday. A number of Republicans, including many who wanted deeper cuts to the food stamps, also voted for the bill’s passage. House Speaker John A. Boehner and the majority leader, Eric Cantor, R-Va., had endorsed the bill and urged Republicans to support it, even though they said they would have liked to see more changes. “This is legislation we can all be proud of because it fulfills the expectations the American people have of us,” said Rep. Frank D. Lucas, R-Okla., who led House efforts to pass the farm bill.
House leaders are now expected to turn their attention to other issues, including the Affordable Care Act, ahead of the 2014 midterm elections.
It is unclear where the Obama administration stands on the new farm bill. Obama had signaled his opposition to any bill that cut food stamps and expanded crop insuranceO
Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) greets constituents in New York. Grimm, once considered a rising star in the Republican Party, touched off a political firestorm after delivering vitriolic threats against a reporter at the Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, just mo ments after the State of the Union speech.
(Michael Appleton/The New York Times)
ment expressing regret, but the damage to Grimm’s reputation appeared to already have been severe, as his threats became the subject of widespread denunciation and mockery. Grimm, who was first elected with the help of Tea Party support, has been entangled in controversy involving a continuing federal investigation into his campaign fundraising, including assertions by several contributors that Grimm or his chief fundraiser told them that his campaign would find ways to get around the legal limit on donations.
And on Tuesday, Grimm
getting directly in the face of an obviously stunned Scotto.
“What?” Scotto said. Before he could explain that he was just trying to ask him a question, Grimm became unhinged.
“Let me be clear to you," he said in a low voice, before using a profanity and warning that he would hurl Scotto from the balcony. There is some cross talk between the two men which was not audible on the video before Grimm concluded with an insult and another threat.
“No, no, you're not man enough, you’re not man enough,” he said. “I'll break
time to speak off-topic.
“I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor,” he wrote. “I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”
But on Wednesday, Grimm seemed to have had a change of heart.
“I was wrong," he said in a statement. “I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me and lose my cool. I have apologized to Michael Scotto,
the fact that I kind of explained to viewers why he was not going to answer that question.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, joining a chorus of critics, said Grimm’s actions were “absolutely inappropriate" and called on the House to sanction him. This month, the FBI arrested Diana K. Durand, a fundraiser for Grimm, on charges that she illegally tunneled more than $10,000 into his campaign. Grimm has also faced a continuing federal investigation into accusations that he or his campaign illegally solicited money from foreign donorsO
U.S. NEWSI A5
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Clapper condemns Snowden and demands return of data
MARK MAZZETTI © 2014 New York Times WASHINGTON - The nation's top intelligence official on Wednesday delivered a scorching attack on Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, and called on him and his “accomplices” to return the trove of classified documents he took from the NSA.
James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers that Snowden’s disclosures had done grave damage to the country’s security and had led terrorist groups to change their behavior to elude U.S. surveillance. Clapper did not give specifics to bolster his assessment about the damage Snowden had done. He also did not say whom he believed Snowden’s accomplices to be.
Delivering an annual report to Congress about the threats facing fhe United States, Clapper and the heads of the intelligence agencies immediately clashed with Democratic members of the Senate Intelligence Committee over past statements the spy chiefs had made abouf surveillance programs.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has been outspoken in his critique of the growth of the NSA's surveillance activities, said that the dealings between spy agencies and their congressional overseers were crippled by a “culture of misinformation.” Other lawmakers engaged in testy exchanges with John O. Brennan, the CIA director, over a voluminous committee report about the agency's now defunct detention and interrogation program. The report, total US: uptick in Olympic threat reports
LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — There has been an uptick in reports of security threats against next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, but the key concern for an attack centers on locations outside the main event areas, a top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday. Matthew Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that there is extensive security at the sports venues in Sochi.
But, he added, “The greater threat is to softer targets in the greater Sochi area, and in the outskirts, beyond
Sochi, where there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack.”
FBI Director James Comey told the panel that U.S. cooperation with the Russian Security Service has improved, and officials from the two agencies have discussed the Sochi threat.
In a separate development, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke Wednesday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to discuss Olympic security. Hagel pledged U.S. assistance, if requested. Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Hagel made no specific offer of aid, and Shoigu made no particular requests.Q
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for details about an internal CIA study that they said contradicted the agency's official response to the Intelligence Committee’s report. Both times. Sen. Di anne Feinstein, D-Calif., who is the chairwoman of the committee, cut off the questioning and said the matter would be discussed behind closed doors. □
Code Pink protesters demonstrate behind National Intelligence Director James Clapper while he appears before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014. On Wednesday Clapper delivered a scorching attack on Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, and called on him and his “accomplices””to return the trove of classified documents he took from the NSA.
(Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times)
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Death penalty decision imminent in Boston bombing
Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The
top lawyer for the U.S. this week will make the most high-profile death penalty decision of his career: whether to seek capital punishment in the case of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the defendant in the Boston Marathon bombings last April that killed three people and injured 260.
As attorney general, Eric Holder has approved pursuing the death penalty in at least 34 criminal cases, upholding a long-ago pledge to Congress that he would vigorously enforce federal law even though he’s not a proponent of capital punishment.
Holder has emphasized that his opposition to the death penalty is due in part to what he sees as failures in the legal system.
“The problem is that in too many places, lawyers who are defending poor people don’t have adequate resources to do a good job,” Holder said at the University of Virginia last Thursday. “You end up with these miscarriages of justice.”
“It’s really one of the reasons why I am personally opposed to the death penalty,” Holder added. “As good as our system is, it’s ultimately a system that is filled with men and women who are well intentioned but who make mistakes. And as horrible as it is for somebody to be put in jail for crimes that they did not
commit, it is obviously not as bad as a situation where somebody is executed for a crime that he or she did not commit.”
But Holder’s description of a legal system with inad his older brother, Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police four days after the blasts.
Another factor could complicate the government’s case if it seeks the death
88 capital punishment cases in states that didn’t have a death penalty. Just seven of the defendants wound up on death row, according to data compiled by the Federal Death Penalty
Attorney General Eric Holder testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing oversight hearing on the Justice Department. As attorney general. Holder has approved pursuing the death penalty in at least 34 criminal cases, upholding a long-ago pledge to Congress that he would vigorously enforce federal law even though he’s not a proponent of capital punishment.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
equate resources doesn’t apply to the Boston case. One of the finest death penalty attorneys in the country, Judy Clarke, is leading the legal team defending Tsarnaev. That team may be able to mount a strong defense by arguing that the defendant, just 19 at the time of the bombings, was under the influence of
penalty. Massachusetts hasn’t had a state death penalty law since 1984. History suggests that it can be extremely difficult for federal prosecutors to win capital punishment cases in states that don’t have a capital punishment law of their own.
From 1993 to 2012, the Justice Department brought
Resource Counsel Project. There have been just three federal executions since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1976.
In recent death penalty cases brought by Holder’s Justice Department, one defendant was sentenced to death and six received life sentences, either through a plea or a trial.□
Convicted US airline groper sentenced to 8 years
NEWARK, New Jersey (AP)
— A Turkish-born man convicted of sexually abusing a sleeping woman on a flight has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Bower Aksal was convict ed last summer of sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. A federal judge in Newark sentenced the New Jersey man to 97 months on Wednesday.
The woman testified that the 49-year-old Turkish-born
American citizen groped her as she slept on a United Airlines from Phoenix to Newark in August 2012. She testified that she awoke to find Aksal’s hand on her breast and his other hand in her shorts, penetrating
her with his fingers.
Aksal claimed the woman’s account of the incident contained inconsistencies and that the alleged assault couldn't have happened the way she described it. □
Supreme Court halts execution temporarily
JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to decide whether Missouri can continue with the scheduled execution Wednesday of a death-row inmate whose attorneys are challenging the state's refusal to disclose where it obtains its lethal injection drug.
The high court issued a temporary stay less than three hours before Herbert Smulls was scheduled to be executed at 0501 GMT Wednesday. Smulls, 56, was sentenced to death for killing a jeweler and badly injuring his wife during a 1991 robbery.
Missouri law allows an execution to occur at any time on the day it is scheduled, so the execution could occur if the court sides with the state at some point Wednesday. Witnesses to the execution were told to report to the prison by 1700 GMT.
Smulls’ lawyer, Cheryl Pilate, made last-minute pleas Tuesday to spare his life, focusing on the state’s refusal to disclose the name of the compounding pharmacy that produces the pentobarbital that is used during executions. Pilate contends that the state's secrecy makes it impossible to know whether the drug could cause pain and suffering during the execution process.
“We're happy to get the stay and we’re glad the court is reviewing it,” she said, adding that was hopeful the stay would become permanent.
State prison officials maintain that the compounding pharmacy is part of the execution team and therefore its name cannot be released to the publicO
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US Financial Front:
Fed to reduce pace of bond buying by another $10B
MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Federal Reserve is pushing ahead with a plan to shrink its bond-buying program because of a strengthening U.S. economy. It's doing so even though the prospect of reduced Fed stimulus and higher U.S. interest rates has rattled global markets.The Fed said it will cut its monthly bond purchases starting in February by an additional $10 billion to $65 billion. It also reaffirmed its plan to keep short-term rates at record lows in a statement it issued Wednesday after Ben Bernanke’s final policy meeting. Bernanke will step down Friday after eight years as chairman.
Many global investors fear that reduced Fed bond buying will boost U.S. rates and cause investors to move money out of emerging markets and into the United States for higher returns. Currency values in emerging nations have fallen. India, Turkey and South Africa have raised rates to try to protect their currencies. Most economists expect a string of $10 billion monthly reductions in bond purchases to be announced at each Fed meeting this year, concluding with a final $15 billion cut in December.
The bond purchases have been intended to keep
long-term borrowing rates low to spur spending and growth. The Fed’s decision Wednesday to continue paring its purchases signals its belief that the economy is showing consistent improvement. In its statement, it upgraded it assessment to say “growth in economic activity picked up in recent quarters.”
Stocks fell after the Fed announced its decision. Bond prices rose slightly, and their yields dipped.
Dow Jones industrial average was down 185 points about an hour after the Fed's announcement at 2 p.m. (1900 GMT). It had been down 127 points just before as disappointing earnings from big U.S. companies contributed to a sour mood on Wall Street. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.68 percent.
Some analysts said the Fed's confidence in the U.S. economy appeared to outweigh any concern that the turmoil in emerging market economies might spill over into the United States and other developed nations.
“These economies have not been driven into deep recession," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “Their currencies are weak but not in freefall.”
The Fed made no mention
of the turbulence that has rocked markets for the past week. Its bond purchases have helped fuel a huge stock market rally over the past year as investors shifted money out of low-yielding bonds and into stocks. Now that the Fed is cutting back on those bond
purchases, many investors fear stocks will fall. “Ultimately, the Fed sort of had no choice but to reduce purchases at this meeting,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at BTIG brokerage. “If they had paused, they risked sending a signal to markets that they lacked conviction.”
Janet Yellen, who will succeed Bernanke on Monday, took part in this week's Fed meeting in her role as vice chair. Yellen has been closely aligned with Bernanke's policies.
The action Wednesday was approved on a 10-0 vote. The last time a Fed
policy statement was approved unanimously was June 2011.
The Fed’s statement repeated a phrase it first used in December: That it would hold its benchmark short-term rate near zero “well past” the time unemployment falls below 6.5 percent. That is part of
the Fed’s effort to reassure investors that it will keep supporting an economy that remains less than fully healthy. The Fed noted that government spending cuts and tax increases are less of a drag on growth than last year. It also said businesses and consumers
(AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
are stepping up spending. zThe unemployment rate dipped from 7 percent to 6.7 percent in December, the lowest point in five years. Still, much of the decline was due to an exodus of job seekers who gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.□
Specialist Vincent Surace works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The Federal Reserve is pushing ahead with a plan to shrink its bond-buying program because of the strengthening U.S. economy, even though the prospect has rattled global markets.
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
ms. NEWS
m
To Your Health:
Study says kids’ obesity risk starts before school age
Oumou Balde, 4, left, plays with her teacher Jacqualine Sanchez, right, and some pretend food in a pre-kindergarten class at the Sheltering Arms Learning Center in New York in a program that was produced in conjunction with Sesame Street to educate children about nutrition and health.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AAARILYNN MARCHIONE finds that much of a child’s kids who became obese AP Chief Medical Writer “weight fate” is set by age by the eighth grade were A new study of obesity 5, and that nearly half of already overweight when
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they started kindergarten. The prevalence of weight problems has long been known — about a third of U.S. kids are overweight or obese. But surprisingly little is known about which kids will develop obesity, and at what age.
Researchers think there may be a window of opportunity to prevent it, and “we keep pushing our critical window earlier and earlier on," said Solveig Cunningham, a scientist at Emory University. “A lot of the risk of obesity seems to be set, to some extent, really early in life.”
She led the new study, which was published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine and paid for by the U.S. government. It tracked a nationwide sample of more than 7,700 children through grade school. When they started kindergarten, 12 percent were obese and 15 percent were overweight. By eighth grade, 21 percent were obese and 17 percent were overweight. Besides how common obesity was at various ages, researchers focused on the 6,807 children who were not obese when the study started, at kindergarten entry. Here are some things they found:
WHO BECAME OBESE: Between ages 5 and 14, nearly 12 percent of American children developed obesity — 10 percent of girls and nearly 14 percent of boys.
Nearly half of kids who started kindergarten overweight became obese teens.
Overweight 5-year-olds were four times as likely as normal-weight children to become obese (32 percent versus 8 percent). GRADE LEVELS: Most of the shift occurred in the younger grades. During the kindergarten year, about 5 percent of kids who had not been obese at the start became that way by the end. The greatest increase in the prevalence of obesity was between first and third grades; it changed little from ages 11 to 14. RACE: From kindergarten through eighth grade, the prevalence of obesity increased by 65 percent among whites, 50 percent among Hispanics, almost 120 percent among blacks and more than 40 percent among others — Asians, Pacific Islanders and Native Americans and mixedrace children.
By eighth grade, 17 percent of black children had become obese, compared to 14 percent of Hispanics and 10 percent of whites and children of other races. INCOME: Obesity was least common among children from the wealthiest families and most prevalent among kids in the next-tolowest income category. The highest rate of children developing obesity during the study years was among middle-income families.□
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Ukraine:
5 wounded in scuffles between protesters
Norway officials give Snowden nod for Nobel prize
MARK LEWIS Associated Press STAVANGER, Norway (AP)
— Two Norwegian politicians have jointly nominated former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, saying his disclosures of secret U.S. documents have contributed to making the world more peaceful. Anyone can be nominated for the prestigious award, so the submission Wednesday by Socialist lawmakers Board Vegard Solhjell, a former environment minister, and Snorre Valen just means Snowden will be one of scores of names that the Nobel committee will consider.
“We do not necessarily condone or support all of his disclosures,” the two lawmakers said in their nomination letter.
“We are, however, convinced that the public debate and changes in policy that have followed in the wake of Snowden’s whistleblowing has contributed to a more stable and peaceful world order.”
The five-member Nobel committee won’t confirm who's been nominated. Saturday is the deadline for nominations from a range of people, including members of national parliaments and governments, university professors or previous laureates. Valen agreed that the documents leaked by Snowden “have damaged the security interests of several nations. ”□
ANDREW E. KRAMER © 2014 New York Times
KIEV, Ukraine - Five people were wounded Wednesday in fighting between two factions of anti-government protesters inside one of the city’s occupied government buildings, Ukrainian media reported. The scuffle came as the op position’s more moderate political leadership is coming under pressure to demonstrate greater control on the streets, in exchange for concessions that the government has granted and is promising.
The five were wounded inside the occupied main building of the Ministry of Agriculture, Channel 5 television reported. These included injuries from rubber bullets fired by protesters at
one another from what are known as traumatic pistols, or nonlethal handguns, legally sold for self-defense here, which have previously been used only against the police.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s prime minister, Mykola Azarov, resigned and a progovernment political party.
the Party of Regions, voted with the opposition to repeal most of the laws in a package of legislation that was passed earlier this month limiting freedom of speech and assembly.
The concessions put pressure on the parliamentary opposition leaders associated with the protest to answer with a de-escalation of their own, and could highlight their growing irrelevance if they are unable
to deliver.
Multiple right-wing factions, splinter groups and newly formed associations are now active on the street without organized leadership and are not answering to the political parties. Activists from one such group, Spilna Sprava, or Common Cause, seized
(AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)
the main building of the Ministry of Agriculture on Friday and had resisted surrendering control to a broader group of protesters that included representatives of the parliamentary opposition parties.
The task of taking control fell to activists from Svoboda, the nationalist party in parliament and a onetime ally of Common Cause, although the two organizations have disagreed
before during the protests. After talks overnight failed to bring results, Svoboda activists ejected Common Cause from the building Wednesday.
Control of the buildings is important now for their potential as bargaining chips: Parliament is considering an amnesty law for detained protesters that links an amnesty with the clearing of occupied buildings. “Because we need to free the arrested activists, the decision was taken to clear the territory of the building of the Ministry of Agriculture,” a spokesman for Svoboda, Yuri Syrotyuk, told Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. “Now this decision is being fulfilled.”
Lawmakers are also expected to take up a bill that would form a committee to overhaul the constitution to weaken the power of the president.
Serhei Arbuzov, a former deputy prime minister, assumed the position of acting prime minister Wednesday, replacing Azarov, although other members of the Cabinet remained in their posts in a temporary capacity.
In an opening speech to Cabinet, he expressed regret for the beating of journalists - acknowledging what was probably a tactical mistake by the police, given the challenge now for the government in conveying a positive message through the capital’s media. In the past week alone, 42 journalists were wounded, Channel 5 reported, including many apparently targeted for carrying cameras. □
Ukrainian lawmakers reacts during the parliament session in Kiev, Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. Ukraine’s parliament is considering measures to grant amnesty to those arrested during weeks of protests in the crisis-torn country, but possibly with conditions attached that would be unacceptable to the opposition.
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
EWORLD NEWS
EUROPEAN NEWS BRIEFS Dutch find horsemeat in products
AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch Foods and Wares Authority says it has “preventatively” blocked all shipments from a Dutch slaughterhouse this week after investigators found horse meat in four shipments labeled as beef products. The agency did not identify the slaughterhouse, other than saying it was in Gelderland. The agency has blocked the movement of all 690 tons of meat in the slaughterhouse's freezers and refrigerators until Feb. 3, to give the slaughterhouse time to trace all meat shipments between Jan 1,2012, and Jan. 23, 2014. □
Bulgaria lifting farmland sales ban
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s highest court has overturned parliament's decision to extend a ban on the sale of farm land to EU citizens until 2020, bowing to warnings by the European Commission. The Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that the decision was unconstitutional, thus effectively ending the ban. Last October, lawmakers had voted to extend the ban by seven years, although Bulgaria had pledged when it joined the EU in 2007 that the ban would be lifted in January 2014. The European Commission warned this would have consequences. □
Chobani loses ‘Greek’ legal battle
LONDON (AP) — A British court has ruled that Chobani, a U.S. brand of yogurt, cannot label its products “Greek” in the U.K. because they are made in America. A panel of three judges at the Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's ruling, siding with Chobani’s rival Fage, which sells Greek yogurts under the “Total” brand. Fage, the leading seller of Greek yogurt in Britain, launched the legal battle soon after New York-based Chobani launched their products in the U.K. in 2012. Chobani’s appeal against that decision was dismissed this week. □
Romania bans ‘Nymphomaniac IT
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The Romanian cinema board has declared Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac II” unfit for public viewing, a decision the distributor says is unique in Europe. The movie was due to be released Feb. 7 but the National Center of Cinematography on Wednesday told the distributor the film would be labeled IM 18 XXX — banned to minors and the general public. Distributor Independence Film called it “a case of censorship which is unique in Europe,” and said it would appeal. Chairman of the Senate’s Culture Committee criticized the decision. □
Police hold 4 over fatal bus attack
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian police have arrested four villagers accused of staging a botched armed robbery on a bus in the country’s mountainous south that killed one passenger and injured another. A police statement Wednesday said the suspects, aged between 20 and 32, were under the influence of marijuana during Monday’s attack which they had planned a day earlier. The bus, heading from Athens, Greece, to the Albanian capital of Tirana with 21 passengers on board, was attacked on a highway near the city of Tepelene. □
Geneva:
Movement is seen in Syria talks
NICK CUMMING-BRUCE © 2014 New York Times GENEVA - After days of deadlock and dispute, Syrian peace talks appeared to inch forward Wednesday when a spokesman for the opposition said the Syrian government had agreed to negotiate within
“a positive step forward, because for the first time now we are talking about the transitional governing body.”
The two sides were scheduled to meet separately in the afternoon with Lakhdar Brahimi, the special U.N. envoy for Syria. Talks involv ment, but Safi's remarks received some corroboration from Syrian state television. It said, according to Reuters, that the government side had announced its “full readiness” to discuss “paragraph by paragraph” the framework for the talks, which was set out
A UN security person tries to control journalists who jumped out of their chairs to get their questions answered by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Montreux, Switzerland. In the hallways of the U.N.'s European headquarters and on the manicured lawns outside, tempers flare between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad.
a framework that calls for it to give way to a transitional government.
The spokesman, Louay Safi, spoke to reporters after emerging from a two-hour meeting with the delegation representing President Bashar Assad at the U.N. headquarters here.
He said the talks had made
Philippines:
Dozens killed
FLOYD WHALEY © 2014 New York Times MANILA, Philippines - More than 40 people were killed in incidents around the island of Mindanao, days after a landmark peace deal was struck with the largest Muslim insurgency group in the Philippines, officials said Wednesday.
The bloodiest battles involved a group opposed to the peace deal, but military commanders said the timing of the fighting
ing both delegations were scheduled to continue Thursday and Friday, when the opposition intends to discuss issues like the size and responsibilities of a transitional government, Safi said.
The Syrian government delegates in Geneva did not immediately com
after peace
was not related to the announcement of the peace agreement and was initiated by police officers and soldiers trying to arrest rebel fighters.
“There is no direct link between the signing of the peace agreement and this operation,” Col. Ramon Zagala said in a phone interview. “But it has an effect on the peace process. We consider this group to be a spoiler to the peace agreement.”
in the communique issued at the end of the first Geneva conference on Syria. That appeared to represent an advance from the position staked out by the Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, when the current conference opened in Montreux, Switzerland, last week. □
deal is struck
On Saturday, the Philippine government finalized the details of a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that would give the group control over an autonomous area of Mindanao and let it share the wealth from the area's resources in return for the rebels gradually giving up their weapons. The deal seeks to end decades of violence in the area and bring economic growth to the struggling region. □
20 Al-Jazeera journalists to face trial in Egypt
SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Egypt said 20 journalists, including four foreigners, working for AlJazeera will face trial on charges of joining or aiding a terrorist group and endangering national security - an escalation that raised fears of a crackdown on freedom of the press.
It was the first time authorities have put journalists on trial on terror-related charges, suggesting authorities are expanding the reach of a heavy-handed crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood since the military’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi on July 3.
A trial date was not set, and the full list of charges and names of defendants not yet issued. But they are known to include three men working for Al-Jazeera English - acting bureau chief Mohammed Fahmy, a Canadian-Egyptian, award-winning correspondent Peter Greste of Australia and producer Baher Mohamed, an Egyptian. The three were arrested on Dec. 29 in a raid on the hotel suites in which they were working.
The charges are based on the government’s designation last month of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization. Authorities have long depicted the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network as biased toward Morsi and the Brotherhood. But police largely targeted its Arabic service and its Egyptian affiliate, which remained one of the few TV stations to provide a platform for the Brotherhood after the government crackdown. While journalists have been detained the decision to refer cases to trial is unprecedented, experts said.
Al-Jazeera denies bias and has demanded the release of its reporters, whose arrest sparked an outcry from rights groups and journalist advocacy organizations. Authorities have also denied the network’s reporters accreditation.
The prosecutor’s office said Wednesday that 16 Egyptians in the case are accused of joining a terrorist group, while an Australian, a Dutch citizen and two Britons were accused of helping to promote false news benefiting the terrorist group. If found guilty,
the defendants could face sentences ranging from three years for spreading false news to 15 for belonging to a terrorist group.
The 20 journalists allegedly set up a media center for the Muslim Brotherhood in two suites in a luxury hotel. The statement said the defendants “manipulated pictures" to create “unreal scenes to give the impres sion to the outside world that there is a civil war that threatens to bring down the state” and broadcast scenes to aid “the terrorist group in achieving its goals and influencing the public opinion.”
An official from the high state security prosecution team investigating the case said Fahmy, the acting bureau chief, was an
alleged member of the Muslim Brotherhood, led the media operation that “fabricated footage” and broadcast it with the “aim of harming Egypt’s reputation.” The official said equipment confiscated included editing equipment, microphones, cameras, computers, Internet broadcasting equipment and money. □
Mohammed Badr, a cameraman for Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, appears at a court in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt’s chief prosecutor has referred 20 journalists who work for the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network, including four foreigners, to a criminal trial on charges of joining or assisting a terrorist group and spreading false news that endangers national security.
(AP Photo/Ahmed Omar)
North Korea warns over US-South Korea war games
ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) —
North Korea's propaganda machine is churning out near-daily denunciations of the United States and South Korea for a series of soonto-start military maneuvers, warning nuclear war could be imminent and saying it will take dramatic action of its own if further provoked. Sound familiar?
North Korea’s increasingly shrill opposition to the an nual joint drills named Foal Eagle looks very similar to the kind of harsh language that preceded the start of the same exercises last year and led to a steep rise in tensions on the Korean Peninsula. That round of escalation culminated in threats of a nuclear strike on Washington and the flattening of Seoul before the maneuvers ended and both sides went back to their corners.
It appears the first stages
of this year's battle have already begun — though some experts say they don't think it will be as highpitched as last year's.
In the latest of North Korea’s increasingly frequent salvos against the exercises, it said through its state-run media that the United States is building up its military forces in Asia so it can invade the country — formally called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK — and take
control of the whole region. “It is the strategic goal of the U.S. to invade the DPRK, bring its neighboring countries under its control with it as a stepping-stone and, furthermore, dominate the whole Asia-Pacific region,” the ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun said in an analysis this week. “The U.S. is working hard to kick off largescale joint military drills this year, too, for the purpose of mounting a pre-emptive nuclear attack upon the
DPRK."
The invectives against the exercises began earlier this month, when North Korea's powerful National Defense Commission proposed the rivals halt military actions and “mutual vilification” to build better relations. The North, however, strongly hinted it would maintain its nuclear weapons program while urging South Korea to cancel the drills with the United States, set to begin in late February. Q
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
EWORLD NEWS
LatAm leaders declare region a ‘zone of peace’
PETER ORSI Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean signed a resolution declaring the region a “zone of peace” on Wednesday, pledging to resolve their disputes as respectful neighbors without the use of arms.
The joint declaration came on the final day of a summit of Western Hemisphere nations minus the United States and Canada. The grouping, conceived as a vehicle for regional integration independent of Washington’s influence, was born in 2011.
The 33 nations gathered in Havana committed to nonintervention in each other’s internal affairs, to cultivate cooperation and friendship and to respect “the inalienable right of every state to choose its political, economic, social and cultural system,” Cuban President Raul Castro said, reading from the text of the resolution.
Leaders have called the summit an attempt to seek unity amid diversity — both of which were evident in their remarks Tuesday. Heads of state gave speeches highlighting the need to solve urgent problems such as regional insecurity and economic struggles, and backing Argentine sovereignty over the British-controlled Falkland Islands, known in the Spanish-speaking world as the Malvinas.
Some left-leaning presidents railed against U.S. domination of world lending organizations, cultural imperialism, consumerism
and “savage capitalism.” Conservative Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, however, spoke of free trade’s potential to spur economic growth. Uruguay’s famously casual Jose Mujica delivered an
impassioned denunciation of the business suit, one of the light moments of an otherwise sober gathering. “We are sure that by sharing experience between the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean, we will be able to enrich public policy in every one of our nations,” said outgoing Chilean President Sebas tian Pinera, who sat next to his elected successor and political rival Michelle Bachelet at the summit. Cuba is handing off the rotating presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States, or CELAC, to Costa Rica, which will host the next summit.
The Central American nation’s ambassador to Cuba met for about a half-hour Wednesday morning with two independent human rights activists to hear their concerns.
“We asked that under the pro-tempore presidency of
Costa Rica, Cuba be encouraged to begin a process of gradual reforms on the issue of human rights,” Elizardo Sanchez, head of the non-governmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said after he and his group’s communications director met with the envoy.
The previous day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had spoken to Cuban leadership during a visit and pressed them on human rights, free expression and freedom of assembly.
Cuba considers its small community of outspoken government opponents to be treasonous “mercenaries” bent on undermining the island’s political system at the behest of foreign interests.
Dissidents have reported increased detentions and harassment during the summit.
Earlier Wednesday, Castro, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other leaders attended the inauguration of a museum dedicated to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, one of CELAC’s staunchest proponents.
The two-room museum in a Spanish colonial fortress in Havana covers the history of Venezuela and of Chavez, who died of cancer last March.
Permanent exhibits display personal effects including a military uniform and shoes. Every month on the 28th — the day of Chavez’s birth — a Communist youth group is to hold a public act in his honor. □
Police:
US tourist killed by watercraft in Negril, Jamaica
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP)
— An American man vacationing in Jamaica died Tuesday after being struck in the head by a personal watercraft off a popular western beach town, police said. Constable Carla Francis of the Jamaican police force’s communications office identified him as Thomas Torres, 63, of Las Vegas, Nevada. Torres was swimming in the placid sea off the beach in the resort town of Negril when he was hit by the watercraft, Francis said. Witnesses told police the operator sped off as beachgoers jumped into the water to pull Torres to shore. Torres was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Investigators detained one person, but no charges had been filed, Francis said. A few months ago. Tourism Minister Wykeham McNeill announced in Parliament that regulations on the safe usage of personal watercraft would be strengthened and enforced. He made the announcement amid growing concern about accidents as well as the environmental impact and noise pollution from the machines.
He also imposed a sixmonth ban on the importation of new watercraft and said all personal watercraft activities in resort areas would be conducted beyond swimming areas and away from piers and shops. Kingsley Roberts, communications director for Jamaica’s tourism ministry, said officials were awaiting a full report on Tuesday’s incident and had no immediate comment other than they regretted the death. In August, another deadly personal watercraft accident made headlines on the Caribbean island. A 7-year-old Jamaican girl was killed while playing in the sand in the northern resort town of Ocho Rios when a watercraft operator lost control and skidded up the beach, slamming into her. □
Anti-corruption law takes effect in Brazil
SAO PAULO (AP) — An anticorruption law that makes companies liable for bribes paid by their employees and for acts of corruption with public officials went into effect Wednesday in Brazil. Previously, only individuals could be punished for bribery and corruption. Under the new law, liability extends to a company’s directors, officers and em ployees involved in unlawful acts, whether in Brazil or abroad.
Companies that resort to bribes face fines of up to 20 percent of their gross annual revenue or a maximum of 60 million reals ($25,000). They could also be unable to receive credit from public financial institutions for up to five years, have their assets confiscated and
forced to end their operations in the country. President Dilma Rousseff, who ratified the law in August , is expected to sign the enabling legislation needed to enforce the law by the end of the week. Congress passed the law in the wake of the wave of violent protests that swept Brazil in June in which demonstrators took to the streets
to protest against corruption, transportation fare hikes, high taxes, poor services and high World Cup spending. With the new law, Brazil complies with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Anti-Bribery Convention that criminalizes bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions. □
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro addresses the CELAC Summit on the second day of its meeting in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean signed a resolution declaring the region a “zone of peace” on Wednesday, pledging to resolve their disputes as respectful neighbors without the use of arms.
(AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, Cubadebate)
Back To The Roots At Radisson
trance to be enjoying this event is completely free of charge and open to everybody; young and old! The “Biba Aruba festival” is being held every Tuesday afternoon from 5 PM to 9PM. Food is widely available for the price of $ 20, -- and consists out of; BBQ chicken, ribs, Aruban style potatoes, corn on the cob, seafood rice and chorizo. Happy Hour is from 4PM to 6PM and the drinks are being served with a 50% discount.On Sunday the famous brunch is from 11.30 AM to 2.30PM. This Sunday brunch will be filled with
PALM BEACH - The carnival show at the Radisson Resort is a comeback attraction
of how Aruba used to be in the old days with local vendors selling handmade arts
and crafts.
This spectacular carnival show consists out of a “fire
and limbo show" and a live brass and steel band around the pool. The en a combination of soups, salads, desserts, fish, meaf and shrimps and of course live music. The food is ouf of fhis world. On fop of all fhis you will also be able fo choose champagne, juices or soff drinks. The total price of this super brunch is only $29.50
(excl. service charge and tax)
In case you like to get a “real’ drink or a tropical cocktail, the place to go is the bar, called ‘Mira Solo”. Come and try it out for yourself. Feel and tasfe the great service provided to our visiting guest from all over the world and of course to our local customers as well. □
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
fl1 *l LOCAL
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drea van hoof 5 Leila Arends & Isa Chan
5 Jamie DiChiara & Marrit
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5 Maddv harnas & Meike
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chelle Boset
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2 John Zimmerman & Der
rick looez
3 Bertrand Coulet & Randv
helaers
3 Fabrizio Battaglia & Ar
mando Wester
Open women doubles:
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2 Yentl Lieuw & Rianne Rid
derbos
3 Trudi Claassen & Melissa
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Fun women doubles:
1 Hanke van der Laan &
Roos van Ginkel
2 Susan & Annemijn Diik
stra
3 Monique in ‘t Veld &
Ivonne Celaire 3 Lvdi Haaens & Svlvia
Wolter
Intermediate men doubles:
1 Muk van Ewijk & Ronald
Wijnaaarde
2 Cor Klappers & Randv vd
Heuvel
3 Gioshua Maduro & Ama
ro Maduro
3 Hessel & Thiis de Poot
Advanced men doubles:
300 participants, 15 courts set up on a sunny Eagle beach, this was a great kick off of the first ranking tournament of 2014!
Lots of new players came and won great prizes from Bose including a raffle under all participants.
The next ranking tournament is the ITF G4 Alno/ Euro kitchen event on February 22 & 23.
If you wanf fo fry the fastest growing sport on the island, go to Tropicana beach tennis club.
A really nice facility with 10 lighted courts, bar with F & B, dressing rooms and plenty shaded seating space. BTA (Beach Tennis Aruba) offers a full program wifh court rental $5.- per hour including paddle and ball, lessons. Leagues and tournaments.
More info @ www. beachtennisaruba.com or www.facebook.com/ beachfennisaruba.
Results >
Youth
Bovs 10 & Under:
1 Plat Roosen & Jorrit Vaes
Thtiry are from New York.
We wish them a pleasant stay here In Aruba!
LOCAL!*!?
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Support Chula and the Aruba Donkey Sanctuary!
BRINGAMOSA - We would like to introduce Chula to you, one of the donkeys that has found a home at the Aruban Donkey Sanctuary. She is still a baby, born at the end of 2012. Her mother Coco came to live at the sanctuary early in 2012; she appeared to be pregnant after ten months. Our volunteers had noticed her rounded form, but they never suspected a pregnancy.
Everyone was overjoyed when a cute little donkey was the result: Chula looks adorable with her dark brown fur and white legs. She also has white circles around her eyes. She is a cuddly donkey, who loves attention and petting. So beware: before you know it, she's jumping on your lap!
This beautiful donkey has been provided with a chip, just like all the other donkeys. On the chip is informa tion about the donkey and its medical history. The donkeys at the sanctuary have a lot of friends with whom they can play all day long. And they love living there:
they are well-cared for, they are fed and watered and when they are sick the vet is called. Yes, they are expensive customers for the sanctuary.
The volunteers are trying to cover the various costs with all kinds of activities and the sale of great donkey memorabilia in the shop. Fortunately, there are also visitors who wish to adopt a donkey, who buy something at the donkey shop or who make a donation. Thus they help support us. Everyone is welcome to visit the sanctuary, which has opening hours from 9 am until 4 pm and in the weekend from 10 am until 3. Entry is free of charge
and one can enjoy a soft drink, a cup of coffee or a refreshing ice cream.
The volunteers of the sanctuary are hoping that somebody will adopt this friendly, lovely donkey. Of course the donkey will keep on living at the sanctuary; you only need to pay AWG. 30,- per month for the donkey’s keep. With this amount you help support the sanctuary as well as your own donkey. And you will receive a beautiful certificate and a super T-shirt and your name and photo will be posted on our website. So please call the sanctuary at 593-2933; you can also register via the website www.arubandonkey.org or donate money on bank account number 40.03.025 at the Aruba Bank! Just do it! Would you like to follow the donkeys on Facebook: surf to Donkey Sanctuary Aruba pleaseO
Super 4-Card BINGO starting at I pm!
$6 for 4-cSd BINGO * 8 Games to Play !
$1,000 in Cash Prizes!
Additional $500 Cash Prize in our Monthly Early Bird Drou/ir^ when you purchase your card prior to i2 noon!
to pirn/
Open daily 10am to 4am • LL Irausquin B-lvd #47 * 583-5000 ■ www.casinoalhambra.com
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CASINO AND SHOPS
•California
Santo Grandi California
Malmok
AJLTO VISTA CAPEL / ALTCWISTA
Noord Kaap
Boca Mahoa
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SabnAJuribana Cerca \ /
roe Cristal
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SABANA
LIBER
Rooi Fluit
PALM
BEACH
Sabania
Abao/
Montana
Noord
Arikok National Park —
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Tanki
Leendert
Indian
Cave
Urataca
Cunuco
Abao
a Lamar
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Serroe
Patrishi
Judiht
SAN
FUEGO
Pos Abao Bushiri
Canachito
Serroe
Viento
Macuarima
Mountain Panorama
Cumana
Palo Marga
Wela
to Frenchmano Poss
Serroe
Blanco
Mahuma
Queen Beatrix International Airport
Buena
Vista
kibaim;
Balashi
Rooi
Master
Sabana
Basora
Barcadera
orto
Tele Aruba
Rooi Koochi fmm
Pos Chiquito
Coastal^
Refenery
Nicolas
CAPRIMA
Druif
Urirama
x.Boca Grande L_Boca Curi
ArashiX Beach \ Boca Catalina
Boca di Poos Di Noord
^~^-vv^ca Chiquito
Malmok
Andicurari
PALM
BEACH
DOS PLAYA
EAGLE
BEACH
Refo S e Santo
MANCHEBO
BEACH
Punta
Brabo
ORANJESTAD
^^0
Seaport Oranjestad^ ^S - ^ ^^—^
Mangel Halto Isla de 0ro Bird Beach
Largo
Beach
Cura Cabai
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Rodgers Beach
Baby
Lagoen
Beach
Boca Grandi
IMPORTANT TRAFFIC SIGNS
One way road
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All traffic prohibited
0 No stopping or parking
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s End of right of way road
A Right of way at intersection
(Jj) Oncoming traffic has right of way
@ Stop. Right of way ahead — Do not pass ® No Left turn © No Right turn
1. Promenade 2. DUFRY
B
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DUFRY
Please visit our Dufry Duty Free stores located at the Airport and Duty Paid stores located in the Mainstreet and the Royal Plaza for the best prices on the Island.
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
DISPORTS
NBA Capsules
Rockets rally for 97-90 win over Spurs
HOUSTON (AP) — Dwight Howard scored 23 points and Terrence Jones had 21 as the Houston Rockets held on for a 97-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before scoring 33 in the third quarter to go on top. San Antonio closed to 90-88 in the final minutes, but Howard and Jeremy Lin helped Houston hold on for the win.
Boris Diaw scored a season-high 22 points for the Spurs, and also had 11 rebounds. Tony Parker added 17 points and Tim Duncan had 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. The Rockets were without leading scorer James Harden (bruised left thumb), who is averaging almost 24 points a game this season. GRIZZLIES 98, TRAIL BLAZERS 91
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Zach Randolph scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds, and Mike Conley added 19 points and seven assists to lead Memphis. Marc Gasol had 15 points and eight rebounds and Courtney Lee scored 12 points for the Grizzlies (2320), who have won three
San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan tries to hold off Houston Rockets' Dwight Howard (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Houston. The Rockets won 97-90.
Associated Press
straight and seven of eight. Lamarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 16 rebounds as the Blazers (33-13) slipped three games behind Northwest Division-leading Oklahoma City and had their home winning streak snapped at five.
Randolph, the former Blazers forward, registered his 27th double-double of the season as well as his franchise-leading 190th for the Grizzlies, who shot 51.8 percent and led from start to finish.
PACERS 104, LAKERS 92 LOS ANGELES (AP) — David West scored 19 points, Lance Stephenson had 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Indiana wrapped up a five-game road trip by beating the spiraling Lakers.
George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight.
Continued on page 22
Denver Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway answers a question during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII football game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Newark, N.J.
Associated Press
Elway: Manning can’t really seal legacy Sunday
ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) —
John Elway says Peyton Manning cannot stamp himself as the greatest quarterback in NFL history even if he wins the Super Bowl on Sunday. Elway told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he's come to realize the ar gument over who's the best QB ever is a lot like beauty: It’s in the eye of fhe beholder. “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a ‘very best.’ I think there’s always going to be a conversation,” said Elway, the Broncos’ Hall of Fame quarferback-turnedexecutive vice president who lured Manning to Den ver after his release from Indianapolis two years ago. Manning has the chance to become the first starting quarterback to lead two franchises to Super Bowl titles when the Broncos play the Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.
Continued on page 20
SPORTSI"?
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Martin: Dolphins’ language made him feel trapped
In this Dec. 16, 2012 file photo, Miami Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin (71) watches from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in Miami. Associated Press
STEVEN WINE AP Sports Writer
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — NFL tackle Jonathan Martin says the persistence of vulgar language around the Miami Dolphins made him feel trapped, so he left the team before lodging allegations at the root of a bullying scandal.
Owner Stephen Ross said he’s proud of the way the franchise responded to the case.
Martin's comments, which aired Tuesday on “NBC Nightly News,” came in his first interview since the scandal broke. He left the Dolphins in October and alleged he was harassed daily by teammates, including guard Richie Incognito, who was suspended for the final eight games.
“I’m a grown man,” said Martin, 24. “I’ve been in locker rooms. There’s vulgar language used in locker rooms. One instance doesn’t bother me. It’s the persistence of it. I wish I would have had more tools to solve my situation. I felt trapped, like I didn’t have a way to make it right. It came down to a point where I thought it was best to remove myself from the situation." New York attorney Ted Wells be gan a league investigation in November, and his report will be released after the Super Bowl.
Ross, speaking at a news conference to introduce the Dolphins' new general manager, said he spoke with the NFL and Wells to get a sense of what will be included in the report.
“I have an idea what will be in it,” Ross said Tuesday. “I haven’t seen the report. I don’t know exactly what his conclusion is. When it comes out, we’ll do what has to be done. In my mind, I know what direction we’re going. ... The respect that we gained by how we handled the situation that took place here says a lot about this organization and the people that are running it.”
Following a season tainted by the scandal, Ross decided to keep coach Joe Philbin and part with general manager Jeff Ireland. Dennis Hickey was introduced as Ireland’s replacement Tuesday, and Ross talked briefly about the case that rocked the franchise af midseason.
Incognito becomes a free agenf this winter. When asked if he or Martin will play for the Dolphins
again, Ross equivocated.
“I don't believe so — well, I can't say that,” Ross said, adding with a chuckle, “Therefore I retract that." Wells’ report is expected to address the roles of Philbin, his staff
and Miami management in the case. One issue is whether anyone on the coaching staff ordered Incognito to toughen up Martin.
The case inspired a national debate about workplace bullying.Q
Catch your own dinner with Driftwood!
Motto at Driftwood Restaurant: “from the pier to your plate!”
ORANJESTAD - The downtown marina is home of Driftwood Fishing Charters, the successful fisherman of the established seafood restaurant Driftwood in Oranjestad. Driftwood owner Herby
Merryweater has a love and passion for fishing.
A fisherman who knows about fish, what our local waters have to offer, and what the words :fresh seafood” really mean.
What Herby catches will be served in his restaurant on the same day. Herby loves to share his fishing passion with the many visitors to the island. His fleet of a 35ft. Twin Engine Bertram yacht and a 50ft. Twin Engine Post yacht, appropriately called “Driftwood I and II, is available for charters on 12 noon and from 1pm to 5pm.
Winners of Inti. LUHRS Marina Group Blue Marlin Release Tournament 2009
Catch your own dinner
A charter includes: captain, mate all fishing equipment, bait, sodas and bottled water. On a full day charter sandwiches and snacks are also included.
You can call Herby directly at (297) 592 4040 or go to www.drftwoodaruba.com
Driftwood Restaurant. This authentic Aruban seafood restaurant is located in characteristic downtown Oranjestad. Their
extended menu has been jubled by many. Driftwood offers daily specials, as well as a delicious 4-course menu for just $25.95 Charter deep sea fishing rates: $400 - 1/2 day • $760 - full day. Rates per boat Max. 6 people. Driftwood Restaurant Authentic Aruban Seafood Restaurant; Klipstraat #12, Downtown Oranjestad. Tel: (297) 583 2515 www. d riftwood a ru ba. com Open hours: every day, from 5pm till 10:30pm. Sunday Closed.
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
DISPORTS
m
Sharapova thrashes Daniela Hantuchova at Open GDF Suez
Maria Sharapova of Russia follows through on a shot to Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia during their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 20, 2014.
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — Top-seeded Maria Sharapova of Russia maintained her dominance over Daniela Hantuchova,
thrashing the Slovak player 6-0, 6-1 to reach the Open GDF Suez quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has beaten Hantuchova nine straight times, with the Slovak’s only
win coming when they first played 10 years ago.
“I had a tough first opponent who can play extremely good tennis,” Sharapova said.
“I wanted to start the match off well. It was extremely important to put that pressure on her from the beginning. I think I did that really well today." Sharapova hit 10 aces, saved all seven break points she faced, and broke Hantuchova's serve six times. She awaits eighthseeded Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium or Yvonne Meusburger of Austria in the next round.
Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany and Russia's Anastasia Pavly
uchenkova also reached the last eight.
Kerber beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-5, while Pavlyuchenkova had a tougher time getting past seventhseeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
In remaining first-round matches, there were two upsets as and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic beat No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania, 7-6 (1), 6-4, and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ousted sixth-seeded Roberta Vinci 6-3, 0-6, 7-5;
Also, Flipkens beat Mona Barthel 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; while Galina Voskoboeva rallied to beat Stefanie Voegele 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (3) in nearly three hours.
Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning answers questions during media day for the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII football game Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Newark, N.J.
Associated Press
Elway
Continued from page 18
When Manning signed with the Broncos on March 20, 2012, Elway declared, “My goal is to make Peyton Manning the best quarterback that's ever played the game.”
But at the team hotel on the Hudson River on Wednesday morning, Elway said he now realizes that question will never truly be answered “even though when he walks away Peyton may well have broken every single record.”
“So, you're going to always have your detractors, but he may have a large percentage of ‘who's the best,' you know what I mean?" Elway said. “Yeah, all he can do is he can continue to cement his legacy, especially if he continues to keep going like the year he had this year. And I’m going to try to make sure he has all the weapons to be able to do that.”
Manning has brushed off all questions about his legacy this week.
With Manning leading the huddle and Elway the front office, Denver is back
in the big game for the first time since the Broncos won back-to-back titles in 1998 and ‘99, after which Elway tried his hand at running restaurants and car dealerships.
Those businesses “don’t have scoreboards on Sundays," so Elway returned to his beloved Broncos in 2011 to rescue the foundering franchise after a slow descent under Mike Shanahan and a nosedive under Josh McDaniels. Tebowmania quickly came and went and with Manning throwing for 99 touchdowns, the Broncos have gone 28-6 the last two
years.
Elway looked more relaxed in his suit and tie than he ever did during the weeks preceding the five Super Bowls he played in, wins over Green Bay and Atlanta after losses to the Giants, Redskins and 49ers.
That’s because Super Bowl week is way more stressful on a quarterback, he said. “Well, I'm finally at the stage where I worry about what I can and can’t control,” Elway said.
This is quite the contrast from Jan. 12, when the Broncos fended off a fourth-quarter rally for a 24-17 win over San Diego
that avoided a repeat of their crushing loss to Baltimore exactly a year earlier. Elway said he was “absolutely miserable” watching that game and “it took me four hours to get the pit out of my stomach afterward.” “San Diego was different because that was a hump we had to get over because of Baltimore,” Elway said. “So, that was something that we had to put in our rearview mirror because if we hadn’t done it, then we’re going to be talking about it for another full year. Then, we're dealing with another year of the same thing."
That 38-35 double-overtime loss to the Ravens, helped along by Rahim Moore's infamous gaffe that allowed Jacoby Jones to haul in a 70-yard touchdown pass in the final minute of regulation, haunted the Broncos for 365 days — and might return to burden them anew if they don’t beat Seattle on Sunday night.
As Terrance Knighton put it, “Our goal wasn’t to get here. Our goal was to get out of here — with the Lombardi Trophy.”
That's been Elway’s message since last January, delivered both subtly and forcefully at times. Man ning said Elway created an “uncomfortable atmosphere” at Dove Valley last offseason.
Elway used Denver’s sloppy 40-10 preseason loss at Seattle in mid-August as an opportunity to send a message about effort and expectations.
“John pretty much laid it on us," Manning recalled Wednesday. “He was not happy with that game. It was a butt-kicking, and whether it’s preseason or regular season, he was just sharing his thoughts that that won’t be accepted.” So unusual was Elway’s exasperation that Manning took notes, which he said he reviewed this week in preparing for the Seahawks.
“He talked about what he thought our potential could be and didn’t want to see that wasted,” Manning recounted. “So, I think guys got the message. If I was reading it the right way, he might've been giving the message to some coaches as well. ... I think it was a challenge, too, that he saw some real potential in this team. He thought it had the makings of a special team and just wanted to be sure we were going to max out.”
SPORTSlfO
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Bruins get 6 again, spoil Thomas’ return
The Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Milan Lucie scored twice and the Bruins spoiled goalie Tim Thomas’ first game in Boston as a visitor with a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.
It was the third straight sixgoal game for the Bruins, known more for their defense, following road wins of 6-1 and 6-3. The Atlantic Division leaders improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games.
NHL Capsules
Thomas won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2011 when the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. He spent one more season with them, took last season off and then joined the Panthers.
Zdeno Chara, Reilly Smith, Shawn Thornton and David Krejci also scored for Boston, which led 4-0 until Brad Boyes connected for Florida with 2:33 left in the second period.
Dmitry Kulikov added a power-play goal for the Panthers 4 minutes into the third.
CAPITALS 5, SABRES 4, OT BUFFALO, New York (AP) — Alex Ovechkin capped a four-point night by setting up Mike Green’s goal a minute into overtime to give Washington a win over Buffalo.
Ovechkin had two goals and two assists for his 14th multipoint game of the season. Green had two goals and an assist, and Troy Bouwer also scored in a game the Capitals never trailed.
Cody Hodgson had two goals and Christian Ehrhoff and rookie Phil Varone, with the first of his career, scored for Buffalo. The Sabres dropped to 1-4-3 in their past seven.
FLAMES 5, BLACKHAWKS 4, OT
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) —
T.J. Brodie scored at 2:26 of overtime to give Calgary a victory over slumping Chicago.
Mikael Backlund scored twice for the Flames, who have won three straight games for the first time this season. Matt Stajan had a
goal and an assist, Lance Bouma also scored and Lee Stempniak set up three goals.
Marian Hossa scored twice for the Blackhawks (32-1013), who are 0-2-3 in their last five games. Patrick
Kane and Ben Smith also scored for the defending Stanely Cup champions. Both starting goalies were replaced.
BLUES 3, DEVILS 0 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alexander Steen gave St. Louis
Boston Bruins left wing Loui Eriksson (21) gets tangled up with Florida Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau (11) as they go for the puck during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. The Bruins won 6-2.
Associated Press
Veteran F Vaclav Prospal retires after 16 NHL seasons
In this Nov. 8, 2008, file photo, Tampa Bay Lightning center Vaclav Prospal, of the Czech Republic, lifts his stick as he celebrates his goal in an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia.
Associated Press
TORONTO (AP) — Czech forward Vaclav Prospal has retired after a 16-year
NHL career.
Prospal appeared in 1,108 games with Anaheim, Columbus, Florida, the New York Rangers, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. He registered 255 goals and 765 points.
The move wasn’t a surprise. Prospal was scheduled to join Vancouver’s secondtier AHL affiliate last weekend. But after talking with his family, the NHL club said the 38-year-old had decided to retire.
The NHL Players' Association made it official Tuesday.
Philadelphia selected Prospal No. 71 overall in the 1993 NHL draft. He had his best season with Tampa Bay in 2005-’06, when he had 25 goals and 55 assists.Q
the early lead and Jaroslav Halak earned his fourth shutout of the season in a victory over New Jersey. Brenden Morrow added a power-play goal midway through the third period and Maxim Lapierre scored into an empty net with 2:08 left. The Blues have won three straight and tied the Blackhawks atop the Central Division.
The Blues cleaned up on defense a week after getting whipped 7-1 in New Jersey when Halak gave up four goals on 14 shots after relieving Brian Elliott.
Halak has started all three games since, allowing a total of four goals.
The Blues are an NHL-best 17-3-1 against the Eastern Conference, and 9-0 at home.O
...
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lOCTDigital HD
JANUARY 30 - FEBRUARY 5
immm
JOAQUIN PHOENIX | AMY ADAMS
A SPIKE JONZE LOVE STORY
MON - THURS 4:00 | 6:40 | 9:20 FRIDAY 4:00 | 6:40 | 9:20 | 11:55 SAT 4:00 | 6:40 | 9:20 | 11:55 SUN & HOL. 4:00 | 6:40 | 9:20
ALLISON MILLER | ZACH GILFORD
DEVIL’S
DUE
MON - THURS 5:15 | 7:25 | 9:35 [r]
FRI 5:15 | 7:25 | 9:35 | 11:45 SAT 3:05 | 5:15 | 7:25 | 9:35 | 11:45 SUN & HOL 3:05 | 5:15 | 7:25 | 9:35
KELLAN LUTZ | GAIA WEISS
THE LEGEND
Hercules
3D VERSION
MON - THURS 4:50 | 7:10 | 9:30 [P&i3l FRI 4:50 | 7:10 | 9:30 | 11:50 SAT 2:30 | 4:50 | 7:10 | 9:30 | 11:50 SUN & HOL 2:30 | 4:50 | 7:10 | 9:30
KATE WINSLET | JOSH BROUN
Labor Day
MON - THURS 4:15 | 6:45 | 9:15 [p&131 FRI 4:15 | 6:45 | 9:15 | 11:45 SAT 1:50 | 4:15 | 6:45 | 9:15 | 11:45 SUN & HOL 1:50 | 4:15 | 6:45 | 9:15
LEONARDO Dl CAPRIO | JONAH HILL
gm ACADEMY AWA RD *NOMINATIONS
O BEST MOTION PICTURE |
THE WOLF
OF WALL STREET®
WITH DUTCH SUBTITLES MON - SUN & HOL 8:20
VINCE VAUGHN | CHRIS PRATT
MON - THURS 4:40 | 7:00 | 9:20 FRI 4:40 | 7:00 | 9:20 | 11:35 SAT 2:20 | 4:40 | 7:00 | 9:20 | 11:35 SUN & HOL 2:20 | 4:40 | 7:00 | 9:20
CHRIS PINE | KEVIN COSTNER
JACK RYAN:
SHADOW RECRUIT
MON - THURS 4:40 | 7:05 | 9:30 [PGT3l FRI 4:40 | 7:05 | 9:30 | 11:55 SAT 2:15 | 4:40 | 7:05 | 9:30 | 11:55 SUN & HOL 2:15 | 4:40 | 7:05 | 9:30
WILL ARNETT | BRENDAN FRASER
NUT JOB
3D VERSION
MON - THURS 4:30 | 6:30 | 8:30 FRI 4:30 | 6:30 | 8:30 | 10:35 SAT 2:30 | 4:30 | 6:30 | 8:30 | 10:35 -11. 2:30 | 4:30 | 6:30
[pgI
SUN & HOL
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KRISTEN BELL | IDINA MENZEL
|ACADEMY AWARD* NOMINATIONS
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SAT, SUN & HOL 3:00
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MON - SUN & HOL 5:25
rSTARTING NEXT WEEK FEBRUARY 61 THE LEGO MOVIE: 3D • THE MONUMENTS MEN
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Palm Beach Plaza I Aruba I 586-0074
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
m SPORTS
Washington Wizards’ Nene Hilario, right drives the ball into Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Bogut (12) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, in Oakland, Calif.
Associated Press
NBA Capsules
Continued from page 18
All-Star selection Paul George had his second straight rough game for Indiana, scoring 14 points on 4-for-21 shooting.
Pau Gasol had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Lakers, who returned from a two-week road trip for their 17th loss in 20 games. WIZARDS 88, WARRIORS 85 OAKLAND, California (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, and John Wall had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Washington.
Washington’s terrific tandem outplayed and outhustled Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson when it mattered most in a matchup of two of the NBA's best young backcourts.
Beal, who was 1 -of-7 shooting in the first half, finished 8 of 19 from fhe floor fo go wifh seven rebounds and four assists. Wall hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining, and the Wizards forced fhe Warriors into several difficult shots in the closing moments. Stephen Curry scored 23
points before missing a contested left-handed 3-pointer as time expired, and Thompson had 13 points and six rebounds for the streaky Warriors PELICANS 100, CAVALIERS 89
CLEVELAND (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 30 points with eight blocks and seven rebounds and Eric Gordon scored 20 to lead New Orleans.
Davis, one of three No. 1 overall picks in the game, was dominant at both ends of the floor as the Pelicans won their third straight. He injured fingers on his left hand in the final minutes, but got taped up during a timeout and stayed in.
New Orleans scored 16 straight points to close the first half and opened a 22-point lead in the third, causing some fans to boo the listless Cavaliers.
Kyrie Irving scored 23 and Dion Waiters 21 for the Cavs, who had a 1-4 homestand after a 3-2 trip out West.
Cavs rookie Anthony Bennett, the first pick in last year’s draft, scored a season-high 15.
KNICKS 114, CELTICS 88 NEW YORK (AP) — Carmelo
Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes as New York avenged an embarrassing home loss. Jeremy Tyler added a career-high 17 points and fellow reserve J.R. Smith also scored 17 for the Knicks, who lost by 41 last time the Celtics came to Madison Square Garden but led this one by 35. New York won its third straight to even its record at 3-3 on its eightgame homestand, with games remaining against Cleveland on Thursday and Miami on Saturday. New York is only a halfgame out of the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spof despife ifs 18-27 record Jeff Green scored 14 points for the Celtics, who have lost three straight and six of seven. Rajon Rondo had seven points and five assists, shooting 3 of 13 in his sixth game of the season after returning from a torn ACL.
PISTONS 103, MAGIC 87 AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (AP) — Andre Drummond had 13 points and 17 rebounds as Detroit snapped a four-game losing streak. Drummond bounced back from a poor outing at Dal las over the weekend, and the Pistons led comfortably throughout the second half. Detroit has struggled to close out games at home this season, but this time the Pistons turned a double-digit lead into a rout.
Brandon Jennings had 20
points and eight assists for Defroit, and Josh Smith added 16 points. Victor Oladipo scored 19 points for the Magic.
Detroit finished with 17 offensive rebounds — 12 in the first half — and outscored Orlando in the paint 44-22.
New hope to add 3-on-3 basketball at Rio Olympics
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, left, speaks with Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff during a meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. The city of Rio de Janeiro will host the Olympics in 2016.
Associated Press
GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — The international basketball federation has renewed hope its street-inspired 3-on-3 game could yet be played at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Reports in Brazil suggested new medal events could yet be added after IOC President Thomas Bach visited last week.
“If this matter is re-opened, 3-on-3 is ready,” FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday. “We know that the organizing committee in Rio would not mind.”
The half-court version of basketball was strongly favored to debut at the Rio Olympics until the International Olympic Committee leadership closed a program review last July.
That unexpected decision
followed widespread protests against Brazil's government and FIFA during the Confederations Cup. The warm-up tournament one year ahead of the World Cup was overshadowed by anger at major spending on sports events instead of public services
such as schools, hospitals and transport.
Baumann said the IOC’s assessment of 3-on-3 had been “a positive review, we know that for a fact.” Street basketball was the hit at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore and seemed to fit the IOC’s goal of mod ernizing the games and appealing to younger viewers. “In Rio there is a very strong street culture. It fits extremely well there," said Baumann, who cautioned that Bach did not guarantee a fresh program review. Brazilian media picked up on state president Dilma Rousseff’s written suggestion to the IOC to consider adding the Star sailing class in Rio. “The Brazilian press said that there is an opportunity, not the IOC. There is a bit of a difference,” Baumann said. “I can imagine the IOC sports director, executive director of fhe games and the president have much bigger mountains to climb than 3-on-3, but we are there.”
The IOC board meets Sunday and Monday in Sochi ahead of the three-day assembly, which will fulfill Bach's promise since his election last September to evaluate how the Olympics
Games should develop and decide on the event program.
“We know there will be a very deep discussion," said Baumann, an IOC member from Switzerland. “We have always been optimist because we knew why the (review) process has stopped. We haven't really stepped back from our push.”
FIBA is also prepared to help the Rio organizers finance and stage Olympic 3-on-3 tournaments.
“We have the know-how, the resources to do so, that they don’t have to really bother much with that,” Baumann said.
FIBA had already identified potential venues in Rio, and could share a stage with another sport. It proposed bringing 96 athletes to the Summer Games, with 12 teams in each of the men's and women's medal events playing across eight days.
TECHNOLOGY!* 23
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Review: Beats Music proves it has some heart
RYAN NAKASHIMA
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
There’s no shortage of music subscription services that offer unlimited streaming for a monthly fee. The conceit of the latest offering, Beats Music, is that its playlists and other recommendations are curated by warm-blooded humans, not robots.
As CEO Ian Rogers proclaims, “Algorithms can do ‘sounds like.’ They can’t do ‘feels like.’”
Beats Music comes from Beats Electronics, the headphone-maker backed by hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and former music executive Jimmy lovine.
For $10 a month, you get unlimited streaming and song downloading for offline listening. Downloaded songs expire once you cancel the subscription. AT&T customers are also eligible for a $15-a-month family plan for as many as five family members. You can sign up for a 90-day free trial, but there's no free, ad-supported version like some of its rivals.
Beats Music has its roots in the MOG streaming service, which Beats Electronics bought in 2012. Beats Music has a more playful interface than MOG, which was mostly utilitarian. Beats also introduces a few ways to discover both new and old material. Apps for Apple and Android devices are available now, with a Windows Phone version promised soon. Computer users can listen through their Web browser. And like other streaming services, you
can choose specific songs, albums or artists on your own. Beats Music has a catalog of more than 20 million songs, which is comparable to its rivals.
I began by going through a get-to-know-you sequence for new users, picking a few genres and artists I like. Somewhat flustered by the scarcity of choices, I picked “Sting,” "Katy Perry" and “Harry Connick Jr.” and the genre “Pop.” I’m glad I was discerning about these choices (redoing them several times), because eventually I was presented with something I liked.
The Beats Music app tries to take the information you enter in order to present you with a variety of albums and playlists that are “Just For You.”
Another section for recommendations, dubbed “The Sentence,” prompts you to fill in blanks to establish what you’d like to hear, but you end up with silly sentences like “I'm in the shower & feel like ordering in with my family to Indie.” It's reminiscent of Allrecipes' “Dinner Spinner” except I’m not sure what ingredients I’m adding in. I mostly skipped this game because I found the resulting choices to be far too random.
Another “Highlights” section made more sense, like a playlist of the “2014 Grammy Winners.”
One recommendation I liked from the “Just For You” section was a playlist called “Young Lovers Heartbreak Mix.” If you have a rainy day — or in droughf-plagued Los An geles, at least a few hours wifh nothing better to do
— it’s worth a listen.
The 25-song, 96-minute playlist starts off slowly with the piano ballad “Say Something” by A Great Big World. It builds gradually, ramping up with the rise-from-the-ashes fourth song “Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato. It hits a crescendo between songs 13 and 14, when “Don’t Speak,” Gwen Stefani’s 1996 hit with her band, No Doubt, crashes into Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” from last year. Somewhat appropriately, the playlist ends with Taylor Swift's power recovery song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”
The app says the playlist was created by “Beats Pop,” but the curator was actually Arjan Timmermans, the popular blogger behind ArjanWrites.com. Hired as the head of pop and dance programming at Beats Music last year, Timmermans is one of nine real people who puf some 5,000 playlisfs together for Beats Music. (Neither Dre nor lovine are among them).
The playlist was designed tor “a teenager who got their heart broken for the first time,” Timmermans said in an interview. The songs
— a mix of hifs by current teen idols and breakup classics like “Don't Speak”
— are meant to work together emotionally, he said, telling the listener, “It's OK to be sad, but I can move through this.”
The playlist has a beginning, middle and an end and runs about as long as
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This screenshot shows a frame grab of Beats Music. Beats Music comes from Beats Electronics, the headphone-maker backed by hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and former music executive Jimmy lovine. Associated Press
a movie. And I found fhat some songs’ lyrics work together back-to-back, like thewayStefani's line “don’t tell me ‘cause it hurts” runs into Cyrus’ “don't you ever say I just walked away, I will always want you." That’s a link I don’t see a machine making these days. For people, it’s probably a
subconscious connection buried deep down there somewhere.
I am no teenager anymore, am happily married and am not the playlist's presumptive audience. But as a sampling of whaf Beats Music has to offer, if shows me this app has a soul.Q
Angry Birds site hacked after surveillance claims
MATTI HUUHTANEN Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) —Angry Birds creator Rovio Entertainment Ltd. says the popular game’s website was defaced by hackers Wednesday, two days after reports that the personal data of ifs customers might have been accessed by U.S. and British spy agencies. “The defacement was caught in minutes and cor rected immediately,” said Saara Bergstrom, a spokeswoman of the Finnish company. “The end-user data was in no risk at any point.” Reports earlier this week said that documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden suggested the NSA and Britain’s GCHQ had been able to extract information through numerous smart phone apps, including Google Maps and the Angry Birds game franchise. Rovio denied the claims, saying it does not “share data, collaborate or collude” with any spy agencies and that it would strive to ensure that user privacy is protected. Rovio CEO Mikael Hed said the personal details of customers could have been accessed from informafion gathered
by third-party advertising agencies. “In order to protect our end users, we will, like all other companies using third-party advertising networks, have to re-evaluate working with these networks if fhey are being used for spying purposes,” he said. Angry Birds, an addictive birdsversus-pigs game that has been downloaded more than 1.7 billion times world wide, is one of the latest examples of how everyday pieces of software can be turned into instruments of espionage. According to The New York Times and ProPublica, a U.S.-based nonprofit journalism group, a 2012 British intelligence report demonstrated how to extract Angry Bird users' information from phones running the Android operating system.Q
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
^BUSINESS
Stocks slide on weak earnings. Fed cuts
STEVE ROTHWELL AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stock investors had plenty to dislike on Wednesday. Disappointing earnings from big U.S. companies, ongoing jitters in emerging markets and more cuts to the Federal Reserve's economic stimulus combined to push stocks lower for the fourth day out of the last five.
African rand fell against the dollar despite efforts by central banks in those countries to stem the declines by raising interest rates. Investors say those tighter credit policies, which can restrict lending, come with risks.
“If the central banks out there continue to hike interest rates, they are going to destroy economic activity,” said Peter Cardillo,
earnings news. The market added to its declines after the Fed’s announcement at 2 p.m. Eastern time.
The Fed said it will lower its monthly bond purchases by $10 billion to $65 billion because of a strengthening U.S. economy. The Fed is cutting back its bond purchases, which have held down long-term interest rates, even though the prospect of reduced
to stop that process, which should be viewed as a positive."
The S&P 500 has dropped nearly 4 percent since concerns about developing the emerging market jitters first surfaced last Thursday. That’s when a survey showed that manufacturing in China, the world’s second-biggest economy, was slowing in January. Stocks have extended their declines as emerging market currencies have been battered in recent days. The Turkish lira has been at the center of an emergingmarket sell-off that prompted jitters in global stock markets over the past week. The currency surged against the U.S. dollar late Tuesday after Turkey’s central bank raised its benchmark lending rate to fight rising inflation.
The lira traded at 2.26 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday afternoon, slightly lower than it was before the central bank raised interest rates. South Africa also raised its interest rates Wednesday but the move failed to shore up its currency. The South African rand dropped 3.2 percent against the dollar to 11.26 rand per dollar.
After a year of big gains, U.S. stock traders are now seeing red figures on their screens more often.
The S&P 500 index has fallen 4 percent this month, putting it on track for its biggest monthly decline since May 2012. That's a big contrast from last year, when the index rose 5 percent in JanuaryO
A specialist works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. The U.S. stock market stumbled briefly on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to
further reduce its economic stimulus.
Boeing slumped after the plane maker said its 2014 revenue and profit would fall short of analysts’ expectations as its defense business slows and it delivers more of its 787 planes, which are less profitable. AT&T, the largest U.S. telecommunications company, fell after its outlook for the year disappointed investors.
Currencies including the Turkish lira and the South
chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. “That will impact the global economy as well.”
The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 18.30 points, or 1 percent, to 1,774.20. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 189.77 points, or 1.2 percent, to 15,738.79. The Nasdaq composite dropped 46.53 points, or 1.1 percent, to 4,051.43. Stocks opened lower in response to the lackluster
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
stimulus has rattled global markets. The move was largely anticipated by analysts and investors. Investors should view the Fed’s move as a vote of confidence in the economy because it means the central bank sees the recovery as more entrenched, said Dan Genter, chief investment officer at RNC Genter Capital Management.
Fed policymakers are “not seeing enough bad news
Demand for planes boosts Boeing 4Q profit
JOSHUA FREED AP Business Writer
Boeing's fourth-quarter profit rose 26 percent as it delivered more commercial airplanes — a speedup that it says will continue this year.
However, Boeing shares dropped in premarket trading Wednesday after it said 2014 revenue and profit would be lower than analysts have been expecting.
Boeing finished 2013 with
a fourth-quarter profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.61 per share, well ahead of the expectation of analysts surveyed by FactSet. Profits grew in both its commercial airplane and defense businesses.
Revenue rose 7 percent to $23.79 billion.
Orders from airlines around the world have pushed both Boeing and competitor Airbus to build more planes than ever before. Boeing says it will deliver
715 to 725 planes this year, an increase of at least 10 percent from last year. Boeing has sped production of both its workhorse 737, as well as its new 787. It expects to deliver 110 787s this year, up from 65 last year. Earlier this month Boeing said it began building 787s at a rate of about 10 per month.
Boeing's profits are benefiting from fhe surge in deliveries, but not as much as analysts had hoped.
On Wednesday it said socalled “core" earnings, which exclude certain items, would be $7 to $7.20 per share, with revenue of $87.5 billion fo $90.5 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a profit of $7.52 per share on revenue of $92.72 billion. For all of 2013, Boeing earned $5.96 per share on revenue of $86.62 billion.
In premarkef trading, Boeing shares fell $3.36, or 2.5 percent, to $133.730
Oil flat as Fed offsets heating oil supply drop
The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The price of oil was flat Wednesday as a big drop in heating oil supplies was offset by a decision by the Federal Reserve to further reduce its stimulus program. Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery slipped 5 cents to close at $97.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Supplies of distillate fuels, including heating oil, declined sharply last week as the U.S. Northeast shivered through a cold spell. The Energy Department said distillate supplies dropped by 4.6 million barrels, twice what analysts expected. With cold weather expected to dominate forecasts for fhe next few weeks, refiners will be demanding more crude to produce heating oil.
The supply report helped push oil slightly higher in the afternoon. But that gain disappeared when the Fed, as expected, said it will cut its monthly bond purchases by an additional $10 billion to $65 billion because of a strengthening U.S. economy.
Oil prices have been underpinned by the Fed’s stimulus because it has kept the dollar from strengthening, making oil more affordable for traders using other currencies. The low interest rates created by the bond buying have also attracted investors to commodities like crude oil in search of higher profits. The rough winter weather in much of the U.S., including ice storms in the South, gave another boost to natural gas. Futures rose 52 cents, or 10 percent, to $5.56 per 1,000 cubic feet. Brent crude, used to set prices for infernational varieties of crude, rose 44 cents at $107.85 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading in New York:
— Wholesale gasoline gained 3 cents to $2.66 a gallon.
— Heating oil advanced 6 cents to $3.18 a gallonO
BUSINESS!^!
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Novartis Q4 net profit sees $2.0 billion in gains
JOHN HEILPRIN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Swiss drug maker Novartis AG reported a 2 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday, helped by delays in generic competition to its blockbuster drugs.
The Basel, Switzerlandbased company said it had a net profit of $2,029 billion
attributable to shareholders in the final three months of 2013, up from a restated $1,985 billion in the same period the previous year. Chief Executive Joseph Jimenez said Novartis delivered a strong performance in 2013, growing both net sales and core operating income in constant currencies while absorbing patent
expirations.
“We maintained good momentum in innovation,” he said in a financial statement. “Our growth products continued to expand, rejuvenating our portfolio and reinforcing our growth prospects.”
Full-year net profit fell 1 percent to $9,175 billion attributable to sharehold ers, down from $9.27 billion in 2012. Net sales were up 4 percent despite the generic competition and core operating income grew 3 percent, both measured in constant currencies, Novartis said.
The financial statement was delivered before trading opened on the Zurich exchange, where shares
closed at 71.3 Swiss francs ($79.3) Tuesday. Shares are up 14 percent from a year ago. The company confirmed its outlook for 2014 sales growth is in the low to mid-single digits, assuming that the launch of a generic contender to the Novartis blockbuster blood-pressure drug Diovan is delayed until the second quarter. □
Nintendo profit falls on sluggish Wii U sales
Shoppers take escalators painted with the logo of Nintendo and Super Mario characters at an electronics store in Tokyo. Japanese maker of Super Mario video games reported Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014, a 10.2 billion yen ($99 million) profit from April to December, down from 14.55 billion yen a year earlier. It did not break down quarterly numbers.
YURIKO NAGANO Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Profit at Nintendo Co. fell 30 percent in the first nine months of the fiscal year as sales of Wii U home consoles, 3DS devices and game software languished. Top executives announced they would take pay cuts.
The Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokemon video games reported Wednesday a 10.2 billion yen ($99 million) profit from April to December, down from 14.55 billion yen a year earlier. It did not break down quarterly numbers. Nintendo's president, senior managing director, managing director and directors said they will take a pay cut for five months starting in February to take responsibility for the poor performance.
President Satoru Iwata’s
DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP)
— Deutsche Bank’s coCEO said Wednesday the bank's fourth-quarter earnings were “inadequate,” but vowed the bank was on track to strengthen its finances for the long term. Germany’s biggest bank had a surprise loss of 965 million euros ($1.32 billion) in the fourth quarter, as earnings were burdened by 528 million in costs for court settlements and investigations into alleged past miscon
pay will be halved, two representative directors including reputed game creator Shigeru Miyamoto, were hit with a 30 percent cut. The other seven board members will lose 20 percent of their pay, according to the company.
The popularity of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets has been drawing consumers away from consoles devoted to games. Nintendo has resisted changing its business to incorporate such devices.
“It would be a positive surprise if Nintendo comes out with an online game strategy for smartphones, although the market doesn't expect that move,” said Tomoaki Kawasaki, senior analyst at IwaiCosmo Securities Co.
Consumers will still buy Nintendo games if they are wowed by them, but that
duct in the fourth quarter. Co-CEO Anshu Jain said at the bank’s annual news conference that “this management team is not happy with these results.” He said they represented “an inadequate return to our shareholders.” Jain said the bank had put some of its biggest legal issues behind it and has continued to strengthen its capital buffer against losses by shedding risky investments. The company lost 3.2 billion euros last year as it sold off assets that it has set aside for dis
hasn't been happening, he said.
The Kyoto-based company this month forecast a
posal. However, Jain said that boosted the bank’s effective capital reserve by removing possible losses.
He said the bank was still dealing with litigation from past issues, but that some of its biggest legal woes are behind it. In December, it was fined 725 million euros by the European Union over fixing interestrate benchmarks. It also agreed to pay $1.9 billion to settle a lawsuit by U.S. housing finance authorities over mortgage-backed securities. □
(AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)
loss of 25 billion yen ($242 million) for the fiscal year through March 2014. It had earlier forecast a profit of 55 billion yen ($532 million). Nintendo had profit of 7 billion yen last fiscal year. Nintendo slashed its annual forecast for Wii U sales from 9 million units to just 2.8 million, fewer than a third of its earlier estimate.
The company said it sold
2.4 million units in April through December, a slower pace than 3 million units in the same period of 2012.
“In the fourth quarter, we expect sales to decrease significantly due to seasonal factors as the year-end sales season concludes," Nintendo said in a statement.
Nintendo also cut the sales forecast for its hand-held 3DS video game devices to 13.5 million units from 18 million units for the fiscal year.
The company is expecting software sales to struggle as well.
Nintendo’s philosophy is to take the road less traveled and “they have been steadfast in sticking to that strategy,” said Eiji Maeda, senior analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.
Nintendo hits a home run once in a while, said Maeda, noting that the Wii and DS devices were hits.
The weak yen, which is generally a plus for exporters such as Nintendo, was not enough to offset the damage from sluggish sales. □
FOR SALE BY OWNER Caribbean Palm Village Resort Deeded Property
must sacrifice do to health issues
1 bedroom 2 bath week 9 every year
2 bedroom 2 bath week 12 odd year 1 bedroom 2 bath week 14 odd year
1 bedroom 2 bath week 17 every year
2 bedroom 2 bath week 26 even year
1 bedroom 2bath week 43 every year
2 bedroom 2 bath week 44 even year 2 bedroom 2 bath week float every year $7,000 $1,300 call ore-mail don [emailprotected]
USA 856-906-9007 or Aruba 526-2702
sale rent $4,900 $1,100 $3,500 $1,300 $1,800 $1,100 $1,500 $1,100 $1,750 $950 $1,500 $1,100 $1,800 $1,100
Deutsche Bank CEO says Q4 earnings ‘inadequate’
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
^ICOMICS
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ACROSS
1 Africa’s _ of Good Hope
5 Soviet labor camp
10 Edinburgh man
14 Corrupt
15 Dwelling
16 Akron’s state
17 Puts on
18 Not quite, but almost
20 Female sheep
21 Down the eventually
22 Breaks into a computer
23 Take undo
25 Facial twitch
26 Subjects
28 Actor James
31 More than adequate
32 _ tree; source of chocolate
34 Scottish cap
36 Formal dance
37 Roly-poly
38 "Mother children’s game
39 That woman
40 Cheek coloring
41 Most terrible
42 Have ambitions
44 Actress Kidder
45 Brewed drink
46 Reddish dye
47 Come after as a result of
50 Soil
51 Hit with a stun gun
54 Consoling
57 Refuse to allow
58 Autry or Wilder
59 Prolonged attack
60 Press clothes
61 _ and ends; potpourri
62 Deadly snake
63 Catch sight of
DOWN
1 Relinquish
2 State openly
3 Tropical fruits
4 Rail systems in some cities
5 Zsa Zsa & Eva
6 German sub
7 Actor Jack _
8 Find a total
9 “_whiz!”
10 Comfort
11 In style
12 Cry from a sty
13 Foot digits
19 Horned beast, for short
21 Marathon
24 Aspirin or Advil
25 Pitfall
26 Keep _ on; watch closely
27 Nebraska city
28 Highest point
29 Astrologers
30 Authority to decide
32 Helpful hint
33 Summer month: abbr.
35 Barack’s 2012 opponent
37 Tiny skin opening
38 Dawn, for short
40 Vexes
41 Desire
43 Stops briefly
44 Combining of businesses
46 Door hanger’s metal piece
47 Consequently
48 Require
49 Beach surface
50 Passed away
52 Perched upon
53 Small horse
55 Neighbor of Mexico: abbr.
56 Get _ of; shed
57 Compete
CLASSIFIED !* 27
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Classifieds
FOR SALE La Cabana
Wk4,1 Bdr/IBth
Pool/Ocean View
US $ 5,500.00
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FOR SALE Divi Phoenix
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FOR SALE Marriott Surf Club
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situated near Eagle Beach & La Quinta Resort 2 Br fully furnished short & long term starting from $130 e-mail:
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wk 8 su-su $7,500 wk 9 sa-sa $6,000 wk 5-6 (each) $7,000 other weeks available Pis call 744-4534 [emailprotected]
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Resales
Occidental Grand
Studio wk 2/17 $1 OK Jr Suite wk 2/17 $14K
1 Br dlx Wk 2/17 $16K wk 16 Ibdrdlx$14K
2 Br O. front wk 2/17 $30K
3 Br O. front Wk 2/17 $40K All of the above are non mandatory all inclusive info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
202136
RED/WEEK Resales Marriott Surf Club
2x2Br Platinum O.V.$16K 3X2 Br Garden view $15K Marriott Ocean Club IBr Platinum O.V. $11,5K 2Br Platinum O.F. $29K info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
_202136
RED/WEEK Resales Casa del Mar
2Br 2 bath wk 5 Room #2501 O.V. Price $25K La Cabana Beach Resort Studio wk 4 and 5 Room #241A O.V. $18K both info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
202136
RED/WEEK Resales Aruba Divi Phoenix
1 Br 1 14 bath Room # 605 wk 2 O.V. 31 week remain on the contract $9000
Divi Links
IBr wk4 Rm 2360 $8000 Stu wk 4 Rm 2359 $7000 Golf and O.V. top floor info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
_ 202136
RED/WEEK Resales Paradise Beach Villas
1 Br 1 wk 2 Room #322 O.V. Price $9500
1 Br wk 3 Room # 324 O.V. Price $9500 info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
_202136
RED/WEEK Resales Eagle Beach Front
Amsterdam Manor all 52 weeks 2 br, 2 bath Room# 213 $450K Free listing! Free inf.
28 years experience info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
202136
FOR SALE Kia Sorento 2006
Very good condition Automatic power lock, CD player.
Call: 594-9069 569-0125
202133
FOR RENT OR SALE Paradise Beach Villas
weeks 1,4,5, one bedr
weeks 8,9,31,32, two bedr
Casa del Mar
week 28 two bedr
All Gorgeous Pool-Beach-Ocean
Sunset views!
wks can be switched call
:941 -343-1088 USA
201068
FOR SALE Casa del Mar
Rm. 1111, Presidential Suite wks. 1&2 - $15,000 per wk.
Rm. 1117 Presidential Suit wks 3&4-$15,000 wk. contact (Aruba) 560-1288 until 1/31/14 (USA) 203-483-5700 E-mail:[emailprotected]
201097
FOR SALE
Caribbean Palm Village (deeded)
E 107 first floor pool side
(renovated)
week 1 thru 5
1 bedroom 2 bath $8,000 p/week
e-mail: [emailprotected] phone: USA 440-428-4631
202104
RED/WEEK Resales Aruba Divi Phoenix
2 bedroom lock-out wk 5 Room 631 34 weeks remain on contract $26K wk 6 Studio Room 752
33 weeks remain on contract $14K
info: (297)562-0712 [emailprotected]
202136
FOR RENT Tropicana Resort
IBr Mar2-9 $850
Pis call 744-4534 [emailprotected]
202134
FOR RENT
Paradise Beach Villas
1 Br Feb 15-22 $850 IBr Mar 1-8 $850
1 Br Mar 16-23 $850 Pis call 744-4534 [emailprotected]
202134
FOR SALE Condo in Gold Coast
Everything’s included in this 2 Br 2 14 bath unit check it out now at www.arubarental.info
or call 562-0735 free pick up
202110
RENAISSANCE Aruba Beach Resort
week #2, Unit #2309 Pool and Ocean View (508)224-7575 (USA) e-mail: [emailprotected]
202129
FOR SALE BY OWNER Tropicana ArubaRenovated Units
2 Bedroom Condo Unit 2544 Weeks 1,2,3,4 sun-sun
2 Bedroom Condo Unit 3544 Weeks 5,6,7sun-sun
3 Bedroom Condo Unit 3548 Week 8 sun-sun
Mini enhanced rooms
1 bedroom first floor unit 1570 weeks 7 & 8 fri-fri
2 bedroom first floor unit 1566 weeks 5 & 6 fri-fri
1 bedroom 5th floor unit 5562 week 17
Email: [emailprotected] Tel: 297-566-4608
201079
TIMESHARE FOR SALE Casa del Mar
wk 2 ocean front
Room 1224...25K
wk 3 ocean, pool view Room
1318...20K
e-mail:[emailprotected]
201071
FOR SALE
Paradise Beach Villas
For Sale week 2 & 4
Week 2 $6000 1 bedr
pool/ocean view
Week 4$8500 1 bdr
Call Room 207-after January 18
Call 920-788-2750
201098
TIMESHARE FOR SALE Casa del Mar
wk 3 Room 1511 $ 20,000
e-mail:[emailprotected]
201072
Timeshare FOR SALE
Casa del Mar
weeks 4 and 5 1508 sunset view $24,000 per week e-mail: [emailprotected]
DOCTOR ON DUTY
Oranjestad
r
9f. Dennert
POLIS
100
POLIS
581-1100
ORANJESTAD
582-4000
NOORD
587-0009
STA. CRUZ
585-4710
SAVANETA
584-7000
SAN NICOLAS
584-5000
FIRE DEPT
115
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582-1108
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11141
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527-4000
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582-1234
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O'STAD: Santa Anna Tel: 586-8181
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118
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587-5900
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588-0035
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587-2300
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583-3232
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Tel: 584-6440
Alcoholism & Drug Addiction, Anonymity guaranteed
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(FADA) Tel: 583-2999
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Teh 583-3808 _
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Tel: 583-3345/586-6976
Women in Difficulties
Foundation
Tel: 583-5400
Bloodbank Aruba Tel: 587-0002
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
^SCIENCE
Mexico’s ‘water monster’ may have disappeared
MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) —
Mexico’s salamander-like axolotl may have disappeared from its only known natural habitat in Mexico City’s few remaining lakes. It’s disturbing news for an admittedly ugly creature, which has a slimy tail, plumage-like gills and mouth that curls into an odd smile.
The axolotl is known as the "water monster” and the "Mexican walking fish.” Its only natural habitat is the Xochimilco network of lakes and canals — the “floating gardens” of earth piled on reed mats that the Aztecs built to grow crops but are now suffering from pollution and urban sprawl.
Biologist Armando Tovar Garza of Mexico’s National Autonomous Univer sity said Tuesday that the creature "is in serious risk of disappearing” from the wild.
Describing an effort last
year by researchers in skiffs to try to net axolotls in the shallow, muddy waters of Xochimilco, Tovar Garza summed up the results as
“four months of sampling — zero axolotls.”
Some axolotls still survive in aquariums, water tanks and research labs, but ex perts said those conditions aren’t the best, because of interbreeding and other risks. Growing up to a foot long (30 centimeters), axo lotls use four stubby legs to drag themselves along the bottom or thick tails to swim in Xoxhimilco’s murky channels while feeding on aquatic insects, small fish and crustaceans. But the surrounding gardenislands have increasingly been converted to illicit shantytowns, with untreated sewage often running off into the water.
The Mexican Academy of Sciences said in a statement that a 1998 survey found an average of 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer, a figure that dropped to 1,000 in a 2003 study, and 100 in a 2008 survey. Tovar Garza said it is too early to declare the axolotl extinct in its natural habitat. He said that in early February, researchers will begin a three-month search in hopes of finding what may be the last free
roaming axolotl.
The searches “on almost all the canals have to be repeated, because now we are in the cold season, with lower temperatures, and that is when we ought to have more success with the axolotls, because it is when they breed,” Tovar Garza said.
Alarmed by the creature’s falling numbers in recent years, researchers built axolotl "shelters” in Xochimilco.
Sacks of rocks and reedy plants act as filters around a selected area, and cleaner water is pumped in, to create better conditions. The shelters also were intended to help protect the axolotls from nonnative carp and tilapia that were introduced to the lake system years ago and compete with axolotls for food. □
In this Sept. 27, 2008 file photo, a salamander-like axolotl, also known as the “water monster” and the “Mexican walking fish,” swims in a tank at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City.
Associated Press
Ivory Coast pilots novel elephant rescue
In this photo taken Monday, Jan. 20, 2014 and distributed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a tranquilized elephant is loaded onto a truck near the town of Daloa in western Ivory Coast. Associated Press
ROBBIE COREY-BOULET Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) —
After being tranquilized and loaded onto trucks with cranes, elephants that have been squeezed out of their traditional habitat in Ivory Coast are being relocated by conservationists in what is reportedly the first such operation attempted in Africa’s forests.
Ivory Coast is so enamored of elephants that its national soccer team is nicknamed after them. A tusker is prominently displayed on the national coat of arms. The country is even named after the ivory trade, underscoring how the giant mammals
once proliferated in the West African nation.
Ivory Coast has not conducted a recent census to determine how many forest elephants are left in the country, but conservationists estimate there only are a few hundred. In Central Africa, their populations have been devastated by poaching in recent years.
The elephants being relocated were forced out of the Marahoue National Park by human migration possibly related to the West African country's 2010-11 postelection violence, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare. This week, the group began tran
quilizing elephants outside the western town of Daloa, then locking them in a crate for the 10-hour drive to Assagny National Park on the country's southern coast.
The dozen or so elephants targeted for relocation moved near Daloa two years ago and began wreaking havoc, destroying crops and killing two people including a small boy who accidentally stumbled upon elephant calves, prompting their mother to attack, IFAW said.
One calf is among those to be tranquilized and moved, the organization said. People gathered around in the red-dirt village of Daloa on Monday to watch the spectacle of an elephant being loaded onto the back of a large red truck.
Forest elephants are smaller than the savannah elephants found in Africa’s eastern and southern regions. They have more oval-shaped ears and straighter tusks.
and occupy dense forests stretching from Central African Republic to Liberia.
Elephants are widely cherished as Ivory Coast’s national animal, and the government contacted the animal welfare organization for help to solve the problem without hunting the elephants down and contributing to the ongoing decline of forest elephant populations throughout the region, said Celine Sissler-Bienvenu, IFAW’s director for Francophone Africa.
“This relocation solves a major conservation problem by contributing to the safety and well-being of
both the animals and humans,” Sissler-Bienvenu said.
Similar projects have been undertaken for savannah elephants in southern Africa, but until this week relocation had not been attempted for the forest elephants of West and Central Africa, the Washington D.C.based organization said. Lack of visibility in the forests increases the risks as elephants become harder to find and approach safely, Sissler-Bienvenu said. IFAW said relocating the 12 or so elephants around Daloa would take about a week and cost $250,0000
and ea-corl service
Pick-it Sr 24/7
Starving Men^CcupIcs- Women All Genders
Red Light lour
The besE in the Guribbeaun
This Nov. 11,2009 file photo shows recording artist Barbara Mandrell at the 43rd Annual Country Music Awards in Nashville, Tenn.
Associated Press
12 artists inducted into Musicians Hall of Fame
KRISTIN M. HALL Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — The Musicians Hall of Fame inducted 12 new members across the genres, including bluesman Buddy Guy, British rock guitarist Peter Frampton and pedal steel player and country singer Barbara Mandrell.
Also inducted during Tuesday's ceremony in Nashville were Randy Bachman from The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive, country musician Jimmy Capps, bass guitarist Will Lee, rhythm guitarist Corki Casey O'Dell and country guitarist Velma Smith. Posthumous inductions went to Stevie Ray Vaughan, along with his band Double Trouble, and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith.
The Musicians Hall of Fame also gave their first Iconic Riff Award posthumously to Roy Orbison for his guitar work on “Pretty Woman,” and their first Industry Icon Award to Mike Curb, the founder of Curb Records.
Performers for the awards show included Neil Young, Duane Eddy, Brenda Lee, The Oak Ridge Boys and Chris Isaak. This was the first induction since the Musicians Hall of Fame moved to its new permanent museum location inside Nashville's Municipal Auditorium.
“I don’t like the word ‘rockstar’ or ‘superstar,’” said Bachman after the induction ceremony.
“I am a guitar player, a songwriter who got lucky because I stayed at it and didn’t give up, long enough that people noticed me.”
“A lot of the people like myself and other fellow inductees are in here, without a name on the marquee, that actually made the sounds that you hear when you hear some of your favorite things that you find yourself humming from day to day," said Lee, who is best known for performing in the CBS Orchestra on the “Late Show With David Letterman."
Barbara Mandrell, who was the first artist to win the CMA Entertainer Of The Year for two consecutive years, said learning how to play the steel guitar and the saxophone helped to launch her career while still a teenager.
“It opened the doors for me, ‘cause there weren’t a lot of little girls playing steel guitar,” Mandrell saidO
PEOPLE & ARTSI“?
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Newlyweds tackle playing Yankee icons on Broadway
This image released by Polk & Co. shows Peter Scolari, left, and his wife, actress Tracy Shayne, portraying baseball legend Yogi Berra and his wife Carmen Berra in a scene from the play, “Bronx Bombers,” which examines the rich history of the New York Yankees.
Associated Press
MARK KENNEDY AP Drama Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After marrying this summer, Peter Scolari and Tracy Shayne skipped the honeymoon to somewhere exotic like Fiji or the Seychelles. They've gone nowhere.
The two veteran actors chose Broadway stage work over sandy beaches and these days find themselves backstage in the comfy — yet industriallooking — Circle in the Square Theatre.
“Sorry about that, honey,” says Scolari to his bride as they sit in plastic chairs in her dressing room as he sips soup on a freezing day. “It's the best I could do." Shayne takes in the fluorescent bulbs overhead and gray cinderblocks that bring to mind a mediumlevel lockup.
“Well, who could ask for anything more?” she asks, cheerfully. “This is wonderful.”
They are sharing a stage for the first time — in the role of husband and wife — in “Bronx Bombers,” which examines the rich history of the New York Yankees. Scolari, 58, plays Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra while Shayne plays Berra’s spouse, Carmen. Scolari and Shayne are in three of the play’s four scenes together and seem to be elevating each other's game.
“He's really such a master and so I feel like I’m learning a lot. He’s helped me to rise to a new level,” says Shayne, 56, a veteran of “A Chorus Line,” "The Phantom of the Opera,” "Les Miserables” and “Chicago.”
“Oh, I'm not sure about that," says Scolari, who has been on Broadway in “Hairspray" and opposite his old “Bosom Buddies” co-star Tom Hanks in “Lucky Guy.” “No, it’s true,” his wife insists. “And I think I’ve helped him, too.”
The couple met nine years ago at Alcoholics Anonymous. They make their home in a studio apart ment on the Upper West Side near Lincoln Center. It’s small — only a little more than 500 square feet — but they have figured out how to do it. One will wear headphones to watch TV while the other is reading. Scolari, married twice before, is generous with foot rubs. Shayne, married once before, walks on his back every night.
“We just make it work,” she says. “The fact that we’re together a lot is wonderful. I don’t need to be apart. I’ve waited so long for this." “Bronx Bombers" is the third sports-related play to make it to Broadway from producing team Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, following “Lombardi,” about football icon Vince Lombardi, and “Magic/Bird,” about the friendship between basketball legends Earvin “Magic” Johnson
and Larry Bird.
Scolari, who plays the father of Lena Dunham’s character on HBO’s “Girls,” was in “Magic/Bird” and friendly with the producers. He urged them to check out his soon-to-be wife in “Chicago," where she was a steamy Roxie.
The producers then came up with the idea of Scolari and Shayne jumping aboard “Bronx Bombers” when it made the leap to Broadway following an off-Broadway tryout. Writer and director Eric Simonson signed off after Shayne auditioned.
The couple also had to audition, in a way, for the real Berras, which they did one day during a visit to the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center at Montclair State University. They went seeking approval from the Berras. □
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
A3 °|PE0PLE & ARTS
For Winslet, motherhood mingles with ‘Labor Day’
This Oct. 14, 2013 file photo shows British Actress Kate Winslet at the Gala screening of “Labor Day,” as part of the 57th BFI London Film Festival, in London.
JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer
TORONTO (AP) — Before a reporter has barely entered the room, Kate Winslet has defused any formality. After shedding her heels, she announces her exasperation about actors (especially herself) talking about themselves.
“Don’t you find yourself nodding off and going, ‘Here they go again’?” she asks. “I know that I love my job. I (expletive) hate talking about how much I love my job because how can you talk about that without sounding really indulgent?"
She may be a regular honoree at awards shows and a constant presence in prestigious projects from “Sense and Sensibility” to “The Reader.” But Winslet, who grew up in a large, working-class family outside London, has an uncommon candor and easy uninhibitedness that has made her both an engagingly down-to-earth personality and a naturalistic actress with quick access to deep emotions.
Winslet was seven-months pregnant at an interview last September at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she debuted “Labor Day,” a Jason Reitman-directed drama opening in theaters Friday.
In December, she gave birth to a boy, her third child and first with her third husband, Ned Rocknroll, the nephew of billionaire Richard Branson. (Winslet has a child with each previous husband, Sam Mendes and Jim Threapleton.) Parenthood was a particularly obvious conversation subject for Winslet, not just because she was pregnant at the time, but because she has recently strung together a series of
Associated Press
memorable, varied portraits of motherhood. It's no coincidence, she says. “I have been a parent since I was 25,” says the 38-year-old Winslet. “That's a large chunk of my adult life. Mother or father, it transforms you completely.”
In “Labor Day,” based on the Joyce Maynard novel, she plays a single mom, Adele, with a 13-year-old son (Gattlin Griffith) in a small New England town.
An escaped convict (Josh Brolin) upends their domestic life when he kidnaps them and hides out at their house. But it’s not terror that follows: The convict is a gentle, welcome presence in a home that has lacked for a man. Left by her husband after several miscarriages, Adele had turned into a virtual shutin, but is slowly awakened again by an unlikely love. It’s a clear career pivot toward drama for Reitman. But he also sees a commonality in a tale of a kindhearted convict following films about a big-tobacco lobbyist (“Thank You for Smoking”), a pregnant teenager (“Juno”) and a guy who fires people for a living (“Up in the Air”). “These apparently are my heroes,” he says.
Reitman wrote the screenplay from Maynard’s novel with Winslet specifically in mind, and waited a year for her schedule to open up. (He filled the gap with “Young Adult.”)
“I don't know another actress who knows how to deal with this kind of brokenness and vulnerability and make it so sensual,” says Reitman. “There’re a lot of actresses who can play broken people, but she does it without judging them. She does them and allows them to bloom at
the same time.”
Though playing a mother in movies often means being relegated to the outskirts of the drama, Winslet’s characters have had lives that aren't defined solely by children, but remain passionate, complicated individuals.
In “Little Children,” she played an unhappy stayat-home suburban mom drawn to a neighborhood father. “Revolutionary Road,” too, dealt with a loveless marriage in the suburbs, with a kid on the way. The play-adaptation “Carnage” presented a pair of Brooklyn parents arguing over their sons' schoolyard fight, an evening that steadily dissolves into chaos. (The parents are no better, or are perhaps even worse, than the children.)
But the HBO miniseries “Mildred Pierce" was Winslet's greatest examination of motherhood. She played a striving. Depression-era woman separated from her husband and heartbroken by a spoiled teenager daughter.
“That film kind of almost saved my life,” says Winslet. “It came along at a time when I was going through my divorce with Sam. Anyone who's been through divorce will know that every day is really hard. □
Miley Cyrus duets with Madonna for MTV special
Miley Cyrus performs with Madonna for MTV Tuesday Jan. 28, 2014.
Associated Press
SANDY COHEN AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Miley Cyrus mashes it up with Madonna, twerks with her
tongue out and drops a bunch of F-bombs on her upcoming MTV special, and she’s in fine voice while doing it. While her whittled
stomach and occasional crotch-grabs compete for attention, Cyrus really can sing, and it shows on her episode of “MTV Unplugged,” airing Wednesday.
Cyrus taped the acoustic concert Tuesday on a Hollywood soundstage, performing stripped-down versions of selected songs from her latest album, “Bangerz,” and closing with a booty-slapping duet with Madonna. “So, it sounds super lame, but as a pop star it’s pretty cool performing with Madonna,” the 21-year-old said after
singing a mash-up of Madonna’s 2000 track “Don’t Tell Me” and Cyrus’ hit “We Can’t Stop.” Cyrus spanks the 55-year-old Queen of Pop during the duet, which made Madonna’s Britney Spears kiss feel like it was way more than 10 years ago. This is Cyrus' show, and it’s a hoedown. Backed by a seven-piece band on a stage decorated with hay bales, Cyrus gives her acoustic songs a country touch, adding a twang to “4x4” and “Bangerz.”
“I’m from Nashville," she said. “And since I couldn’t
make all of you guys go back home with me, I tried to bring Nashville here for the night.” Cyrus also includes elements from her more recent shows: a little person, a giant woman and two men in a horse costume. She works in a fair amount of curse words, tongue extensions and sultry moves as she performs songs including “Wrecking Ball,” “’Adore You” and “Drive.”
“I feel like I’m at karaoke, but it’s only my turn,” she said, “which is what I really like.’O
Glenn Beck Repent
CHARLES M. BLOW © 2014 New York Times
Last week Glenn Beck said something I agree with. (Now, there’s a line I never thought I’d write.) During an interview Tuesday with Megyn Kelly of Fox News, Beck reflected on his time at Fox this way:
“I remember it as an awful lot of fun, and that I made an awful lot of mistakes, and I wish I could go back and be more uniting in my language. Because I think I played a role unfortunately in helping tear the country apart. And it’s not who we are. I didn’t realize how really fragile the people were. I thought we were kind of a little more in it together. And now I look back and I realize if we could have talked about the uniting principles a little more, instead of just the problems, I think I would look back on it a little more fondly. But that’s only my role.”
That’s not exactly a Damascus Road conversion, but it is a meaningful confession.
And I applaud Beck for his candid assessment. That doesn’t undo the damage - Beck’s list of sins is long, and some of those sins are beyond absolution - but admitting a mistake is always an admirable act.
I hope Beck’s confession shines a light on the underbelly of punditry.
Many media personalities are far from noble. As in any field, there are those consumed by ambition and possessed of dubious ethical bearings.
And in an arena where influence is measured by ratings, views and followers, the pressure to increase those metrics can get the better even of men and women with weather vane convictions.
It simply becomes an issue of wealth and power, two of the oldest corrupters in the human experience. Part of the job of opinion makers is to be provocative. One could express it this way: illuminate, elucidate and agitate.
But chasing provocation is a dangerous thing. It often leads you further out on a limb than is wise or safe. Columnists aren’t immune to this problem, either. In his farewell column, my former colleague Frank Rich lamented the pressures of the pacing of column writing, say ing, ‘‘That routine can push you to have stronger opinions than you actually have, or contrived opinions about subjects you may not care deeply about, or to run roughshod over nuance to reach an unambiguous conclusion.”
I agree with his assessment, and most of us try diligently to steer clear of the hazards.
But few columnists, least of all the masterly Rich, have ever or could ever come close to the willful recklessness exhibited by Beck.
Among Beck’s greatest hits was his assertion that President Barack Obama is a ‘‘racist” who has ‘‘a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.” This is the same Obama who was born to a white mother and raised in part by his white grandparents.
Beck also joked about wanting to kill Michael Moore, said he had started ‘‘hating the 9/11 victims’ families” and called some victims of Hurricane Katrina ‘‘scumbags.”
Beck is in a class all his own.
He built a career out of trolling for attention. It was the media equivalent of twerking with a giant foam finger. There seemed to be nothing too outrageous or spurious. And it worked for him. The problem is that viewers and readers don’t always know that they’re being hustled.
Beck and his colleagues at Fox did their viewers and the country a tremendous disservice, not only riling folks up but outrightly misinforming them.
In 2012, the year after Beck left his Fox show (which at the time was one of the highest-rated shows in all of cable news), a Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll found that people who watched or listened to no news were better informed than those who watched Fox. According to the report, ‘‘The largest effect” of a news source ‘‘is that of Fox News: all else being equal, someone who watched only Fox News would be expected to answer just 1.04 domestic questions correctly - a figure which is significantly worse than if they had reported watching no media at all.”
(It should be noted that watching MSNBC also had a ‘‘negative impact on people’s current events knowledge,” according to the poll, although it was not as large as the effect of watching Fox.) This study is not the only study that has pointed out that misinformation is consumed by Fox News viewers.
Beck practiced a particular brand of dangerous “info-tainment” that reduced complexity and facts to a smelly chum of hyperbole and invectives that did immeasurable damage. Let’s hope he and his fans understand that now. □
THE NEWYORK TIMESF 1
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Paranoia Of The Plutocrats
PAUL KRUGMAN © 2014 New York Times
Rising inequality has obvious economic costs: stagnant wages despite rising productivity, rising debt that makes us more vulnerable to financial crisis. It also has big social and human costs. There is, for example, strong evidence that high inequality leads to worse health and higher mortality. But there’s more. Extreme inequality, it turns out, creates a class of people who are alarmingly detached from reality - and simultaneously gives these people great power. The example many are buzzing about right now is the billionaire investor Tom Perkins, a founding member of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In a letter to the editor of The Wall Street Journal, Perkins lamented public criticism of the ‘‘one percent” - and compared such criticism to Nazi attacks on the Jews, suggesting that we are on the road to another Kristallnacht. You may say that this is just one crazy guy and wonder why The Journal would publish such a thing. But Perkins isn’t that much of an outlier. He isn’t even the first finance titan to compare advocates of progressive taxation to Nazis. Back in 2010 Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive of the Blackstone Group, declared that proposals to eliminate tax loopholes for hedge fund and private-equity man agers were ‘‘like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”
And there are a number of other plutocrats who manage to keep Hitler out of their remarks but who nonetheless hold, and loudly express, political and economic views that combine paranoia and megalomania in equal measure.I know that sounds strong. But look at all the speeches and opinion pieces by Wall Streeters accusing President Barack Obama who has never done anything more than say the obvious, that some bankers behaved badly - of demonizing and persecuting the rich. And look at how many of those making these accusations also made the ludicrously self-centered claim that their hurt feelings (as opposed to things like household debt and premature fiscal austerity) were the main thing holding the economy back. Now, just to be clear, the very rich, and those on Wall Street in particular, are in fact doing worse under Obama than they would have if Mitt Romney had won in 2012. Between the partial rollback of the Bush tax cuts and the tax hike that partly pays for health reform, tax rates on the 1 percent have gone more or less back to pre-Reagan levels. Also, financial reformers have won some surprising victories over the past year, and this is bad news for wheeler-dealers whose wealth comes largely from exploiting weak regulation. So you can make the case that the 1 percent have lost some important policy battles. But every group finds itself facing criticism, and ends up on the losing side of policy disputes, somewhere along the way; that’s democracy. The question is what happens next. Normal people take it in stride; even if they’re angry and bitter over political setbacks, they don’t cry persecution, compare their critics to Nazis and insist that the world revolves around their hurt
feelings. But the rich are different from you and me. And yes, that’s partly because they have more money, and the power that goes with it. They can and all too often do surround themselves with courtiers who tell them what they want to hear and never, ever, tell them they’re being foolish.
They’re accustomed to being treated with deference, not just by the people they hire but by politicians who want their campaign contributions. And so they are shocked to discover that money can’t buy everything, can’t insulate them from all adversity. I also suspect that today’s Masters of the Universe are insecure about the nature of their success. We’re not talking captains of industry here, men who make stuff. We are, instead, talking about wheelerdealers, men who push money around and get rich by skimming some off the top as it sloshes by.
They may boast that they are job creators, the people who make the economy work, but are they really adding value? Many of us doubt it - and so, I suspect, do some of the wealthy themselves, a form of self-doubt that causes them to lash out even more furiously at their critics. Anyway, we’ve been here before. It’s impossible to read screeds like those of Perkins or Schwarzman without thinking of FDR’s famous 1936 Madison Square Garden speech, in which he spoke of the hatred he faced from the forces of ‘‘organized money,” and declared, ‘‘I welcome their hatred.” Obama has not, unfortunately, done nearly as much as FDR to earn the hatred of the undeserving rich. But he has done more than many progressives give him credit for - and like FDR, both he and progressives in general should welcome that hatred, because it’s a sign that they’re doing something right. Q
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY
^FEATURE
Thug Notes: Homies in Verona, Gangstas in Elsinore
NEIL GENZLINGER © 2014 New York Times
In 1848, a reviewer for Graham's Magazine described “Wuthering Heights” as “a compound of vulgar depravity and unnatural horrors, such as we might suppose a person, inspired by a mixture of brandy and gunpowder, might write for the edification of fifth-rate blackguards." Presumably, this grumpy writer would have cared even less for the Thug Notes version. That Emily Bronte novel is among the latest subjects tackled on Thug-Notes, com, a website where fine literature is reduced to its hip-hop essence. A genial fellow using the moniker Sparky Sweets, Ph.D. serves up video summaries of classics in the language of the street, throwing in a minute or two of analysis for good measure. Dr. Sweets, a black man whose wardrobe leans toward shorts, tank tops and assorted do-rags and caps, sits in a somber-looking library worthy of PBS and holds forth about a new volume each week. The site's motto: “Classical Literature. Original Gangster."
In the world of Dr. Sweets (who is actually a comedian named Greg Edwards), Queequeg from “MobyDick” is “some tatted-up harpooner.” Jay Gatsby is “a rich playboy with that mad Mitt Romney money.” And the characters of a beloved Shakespeare play include “Romeo’s homieos, Benvolio and Mercutio."
SparkNotes and others, of course, have been summarizing the classics for years, but their cheat sheets have merely made literature’s dusty volumes drastically shorter, not less boring for the lazy and unappreciative. Edwards, speaking in character as Dr. Sweets in an interview with The Tampa Bay Times last fall, described Thug Notes as “my way of trivializing academia’s attempt at making literature exclusionary by showing that even highbrow academic concepts can be communicated in a clear and open fashion."
The site manages to turn “Wuthering Heights,”
“Pride and Prejudice” and other tomes into bite-size fun (the videos are generally under five minutes) while conveying a certain respect toward the source material.
The good doctor's summary of “Romeo and Juliet” may be full of unpublishable slang, but it ends with a discussion of the clashes of opposites in the work and whether it can rightly
be labeled a tragedy. He may dismiss the core of “Moby-Dick” as “about 500 pages of Ishmael going off about whaling" (finishing that phrase with an expletive), but he has thesisworthy thoughts about the symbolism of the whale, of the quest and of the ship the Rachel - that rescues Ishmael.
“Keep floating, homies,” he concludes, ‘“cause somewhere out there, we all got our own Rachel that's there to save us.” Thug Notes is a deliciously executed example of a trend that has been around for years: the application of street sensibility to high-culture, high-concept areas and, more generally, any place where it’s not expected. Shakespeare was getting the hip-hop treatment (“The Bomb-itty of Errors") back in the last century. Teachers seeking to boost their cool quotient have been assigning rapbattle debates and giving
hip-hop lectures about this or that for years.
Use of the technique seems to be increasing. Put “rap” and any high-culture term into a search engine and you’re bound to get multiple hits. Yes, someone has turned the “Ring” cycle into “Gangsta Wagner.”
A little of this gimmick goes a long way, which is why the Internet, land of the short video, is its natural
home. And some of the current practitioners are getting the formula just right.
The artist Jayson Musson's “Art Thoughtz” videos, made by his alter ego, Hennessy Youngman, have taken up subjects like Damien Hirst's worldwide Gagosian Gallery exhibition in 2012 (“some perfect storm of banality”) with a drollness grounded in knowledge. Baba Brinkman has made a wellreceived stage show out of raps about evolution, but his short videos on the same subject (“Creationist Cousins” is one; “I'm a African” another) are amusing in their own rapid-fire way. Kate McAlpine, a science writer whose 2008 “Large Hadron Rap” video attracted all kinds of attention, has added a “Black Hole Rap” and a “Rare Isotope Rap” to her resume. Epic Rap Battles of History has drawn tens of millions of viewers with its
ridiculous, raunchy verbal slugfests (“Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison," “Cleopatra vs. Marilyn Monroe”). And if you can stand the irreverence, BubalaPlease. com mashes up gangsta and Judaism hilariously (Episode 4: “We Doin’ Purim”; Episode 7: “Gangsta Bris”).
This isn’t just a hip-hop/ gangsta thing. Incongruity is a versatile tool. Take, for
instance, Yelping With Cormac, tongue-in-cheek dining reviews written in the style of Cormac McCarthy. But the language of the urban streets dominates the field.
Practically anyone can try this sort of thing, and it seems as if practically anyone has. No creativity is even required, since there are Web tools like Gizoogle.net that will give any phrase you care to type in a gangsta incarnation. Racist? Some people seem to think so. In any case, here’s how Gizoogle renders the opening sentences of the prepared text of Tuesday’s inaugural address by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey: “Today, once again, tha playaz of New Jersey have given me tha opportunitizzle ta serve to' realz. And I give props ta each n’ every last (expletive) playa hater to' dat honor.” Anyway, as good as Thug Notes is, we don’t want this trend to go much fur ther than it already has, especially educationally. Apparently, almost everything in schools these days is taught in rap. “Civil War rap," “integer rap," “geography rap” or any similar search gets you to someone’s classroom video. Seems harmless. But picture yourself going in for neurosurgery.
“Doc, you read all the latest texts on brain surgery
in medical school, didn’t you?”
“Read them? No. But I did see the major points of ‘Advanced Neurosurgical Navigation’ debated in a rap battle."
The phenomenon is also creeping way too far into the mainstream. This month, Alex Trebek rapped, sort of, an entire category's worth of clues on “Jeopardy!" We have to put a stop to inappropriate hip-hop appropriation before we get the Fox News “Rap the Headlines Hour" or “Gangsta 60 Minutes.”
Yes, that means new laws mandating that only skilled professionals like Dr. Sweets try this kind of stuff. That may sound like a civil liberties infringement, but chill. The Bill of Rights ensures “tha right of tha playas peaceably ta assemble, n’ ta petizzle tha Posse to’ a redress of grievances." It doesn’t say anything about the right to rapO
In an undated handout image, the comedian Greg Edwards, as Sparky Sweets, Ph.D., summarizes Oscar Wilde’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” on the website Thug-Notes.com. The site, whose motto is “Classical Literature. Original Gangster,” is part of a growing trend where hip-hop sensibilities are applied to unexpected high-culture areas. (Handout via The New York Times)
