March 20, 2017

Sublime Federer claims recordequalling Indian Wells win

Monday

March 20, 2017 T: 582-7800 | F: 582-7044 www.arubatoday.com Page 17

Tillerson Lauds China-US Contacts in Meeting with Leader Xi CHRIS BODEEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The United States is looking forward to the first meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday, on the final day of a swing through Asia dominated by concerns over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.

In talks with Xi in Beijing, Tillerson said Trump places a “very high value” on communications with the Chinese president.

Trump looks forward to “the opportunity of a visit in the future,” Tillerson said, in an apparent reference to unconfirmed reports of plans for the two leaders to meet in Florida next month.

While few details of his talks

have been released, Tillerson appeared to strike a cordial tone during his meetings in Beijing, in contrast to Trump’s tough talk on Chinese economic competition during his presidential campaign.

Xi told Tillerson that China considered his meetings Saturday with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and top diplomat Yang Jiechi to have been productive and constructive.

“Both (Trump) and I believe that we need to make joint efforts to advance ChinaU.S. cooperation and we believe that we can make sure the relationship will move ahead in a constructive fashion in the new era,” Xi said.

China’s President Xi Jinping, left, stands near U.S. State of Secretary Rex Tillerson during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sunday, March 19, 2017.

(Thomas Peter/Pool Photo via AP)

Continued on Page 2

A2 UP

Monday 20 March 2017

FRONT

Top economies yield to US, drop no-protectionism pledge DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer BADEN-BADEN, Germany (AP) — The world’s top economic powers dropped a pledge to oppose trade protectionism amid pushback from the Trump administration, which wants trade to more clearly benefit American companies and workers.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 countries meeting in the southern German town of BadenBaden issued a statement this weekend that said only that countries “are working to strengthen the contribution of trade” to their economies.

By comparison, last year’s meeting called on them to resist “all forms” of protectionism, which can include border tariffs and rules that

President of the German Central Bank Jens Weidmann, center, talks to US’ Federal Reserve Board President Janet Yellen, left, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during the G20 finance ministers meeting in Baden-Baden, southern Germany.

(Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

keep out imports to shield domestic companies from competition.

The statement from the G20 finance ministers and central bankers helps set the tone for further global economic cooperation.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, taking part in his first international meeting since being sworn in, sought to downplay the wording issue. He said that the statement needed to reflect the discussion at the

current summit. “The historical language was not really relevant,” he said.

“We believe in free trade: we are one of the largest markets in the world, we are one of the largest trading partners in the world,” Mnuchin said. “Having said that, we want to re-examine certain agreements...

And to the extent that agreements are old agreements and need to be renegotiated we’ll consider that as well.”

He said trade deals need to offer a “win-win situation.” Mnuchin said the administration would be looking at relationships where the U.S. was buying more than it could sell to its partner, and would be more aggressive in seeking enforcement of existing rules that would benefit U.S. workers through the Geneva-based World Trade Organization. The WTO operates a system of negotiated trade rules and serves as a forum for resolving disputes.

China and European countries had pushed for a stronger affirmation of cross-border trade without tariffs or barriers. Ironically, China and some European states tend to intervene more often in private sector business than the U.S. government.q

Tillerson lauds China-US contacts in meeting with leader Xi Jinping Continued from front

Tillerson’s Beijing visit followed his remarks in South Korea on Friday that preemptive military action against North Korea might be necessary if the threat from its weapons program reaches a level “that we believe requires action.”

China, the North’s biggest source of diplomatic support and economic assistance, hasn’t responded directly to those comments, although Beijing has called repeatedly for all sides to take steps to reduce tensions.

China has agreed reluctantly to U.N. Security

Council resolutions sanctioning North Korea, but is adamantly opposed to measures that might bring about a collapse of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime. Beijing fears Kim’s fall would send waves of refugees into northeastern China and see South Korean and American forces taking up positions along its border.

Beijing’s patience with Pyongyang appears to be growing thin, however. Last month, China potentially deprived Kim’s regime of a crucial source of foreign currency by banning imports of North Korean coal for the rest of the year.q

U.S. NEWS A3

Monday 20 March 2017

Intel documents offer no evidence of spying on Trump Tower “We need to get to the bottom of that,” Nunes said.

Nunes and Schiff were among a number of lawmakers who said on Sunday’s news shows they had seen no evidence that the Obama administration ordered wiretaps on Trump during the campaign.

“Was there a physical wiretap of Trump Tower? No there never was,” Nunes said. “The information we House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, RCalif., right, accompanied by the committee’s ranking member, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., talks to reporters, on Capitol Hill in Washington about their investigation of Russian influence on the American presidential election.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

MICHELE SALCEDO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The top two lawmakers on the House intelligence committee said Sunday that documents the Justice Department and FBI delivered late last week offered no evidence that the Obama administration had wiretapped Trump Tower, but the panel’s ranking Democrat says the material offers circumstantial evidence that American citizens colluded with Russians in Moscow’s efforts to interfere in the presidential election.

“There was circumstantial evidence of collusion; there is direct evidence, I think, of deception,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said.

“There’s certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation.”

The House intelligence committee is to begin hearings Monday into Russia’s role in cybersecurity breaches at the Democratic National Committee, as well as President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that his predecessor had authorized a wiretap of Trump Tower. FBI Director

James Comey and Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, are slated to testify.

Intelligence officials have said that Russia was behind the theft of Democratic National Committee emails last summer. The U.S. government later concluded that the Russian government directed the DNC hack in an attempt to influence the outcome of November’s presidential election.

“For the first time the American people, and all the political parties now, are paying attention to the threat that Russia poses,” committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said. “We know that the Russians were trying to get involved in our campaign, like they have for many decades. They’re also trying to get involved in campaigns around the globe and over in Europe.”

Nunes said the committee will also examine whether the Russians were trying to sow doubt in the U.S. electoral system or whether they were trying to help Trump get elected to the White House.

received Friday continues to lead us in that direction.”

Nunes added: “There was no FISA warrant I am aware of to tap Trump Tower.”

FISA stands for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires investigators to seek a warrant from a secret court to wiretap a foreign suspect.

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Susan Collins of Maine also said

Sunday they had seen no evidence that the Obama administration had placed Trump under surveillance at Trump Tower, the Manhattan high-rise that houses Trump’s residence, business office and campaign office. Collins encouraged Trump to turn whatever evidence he has of the surveillance over to the congressional intelligence panels looking into the matter. q

A4 U.S.

Monday 20 March 2017

NEWS

Revelers high-spirited at Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade

Spectators cheer during the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston, Sunday, March 19, 2017.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets for the parade which went off amid high spirits and without a hitch after a dispute over whether a gay veterans group could march.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

TRACEE M. HERBAUGH Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of people lined the frigid streets of Boston on Sunday for the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which went off amid high spirits and without a hitch after a dispute over whether a gay veterans group could march.

There was no shortage of green clothing, shamrock headbands and booze during the annual parade in South Boston. Some parade-goers said they would have attended no matter the outcome of the dispute over the OutVets gay veterans group.

The parade’s organizers, the South Boston Allied War Council, initially had voted against allowing marchers from OutVets, a group representing LGBTQ veterans.

But organizers reversed the decision earlier this month after the stance drew backlash.

John Racker, of Wilmington, Delaware, said he fol-

lowed the headlines on the OutVets dispute, but it wouldn’t have prevented him from taking part in the festivities on his first trip to Boston.

“I want everybody to be included, but I also wanted to see this parade,” he said.Others spectators, including Kendal and Alexa Smith, 17-year-old twins from East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, had not heard of the dispute. Both girls, dressed in green from head to toe, took the train into the city for their first St. Patrick’s Day parade.

“We always heard about this parade,” Alexa Smith said. “Our grandmother is from Ireland. We usually celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with family, decorate the house.”The parade has long been embroiled in legal controversy, including a 1995 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council to exclude gay groups on free speech grounds.q

Federal Judge rejects US request to clarify order halting travel ban HONOLULU (AP) — A federal judge on Sunday rejected the U.S. government’s request to clarify his temporary order blocking President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson said nothing was unclear about his order and the government can’t ask for a distinction that officials failed to make in earlier briefs and arguments, according to online court records.

Watson issued the temporary restraining order Wednesday in response to a lawsuit from the state of Hawaii, concluding there was “significant and unrebutted evidence of reli-

gious animus” behind the travel ban.Two days later, the Justice Department asked Watson to clarify that the order only applied to the ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries and not a global freeze on refugees entering the United States.

Watson asked federal officials and Hawaii on Sunday how they want to proceed regarding a possible extension of his order.Trump has called the Hawaii ruling an example of “unprecedented judicial overreach” and has indicated it will be appealed.Similar cases are being heard in federal courts in Washington state and Maryland. q

U.S. NEWS A5

Big box stores gird for battle with Wisconsin cities

Reusable shopping bags are offered for sale at a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, in the Chinatown district of Los Angeles. A battle pitting big-box retail giants including Menards and Wal-Mart against Wisconsin towns and cities is headed to the Legislature.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut)

SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A battle pitting big-box retail giants including Menards and Wal-Mart against Wisconsin towns and cities is headed to the Legislature.

Republican-backed proposals, written in conjunction with the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, are designed to close the socalled dark store loophole and increase how much the mega-retailers pay local communities in property taxes.

The bills come in reaction to court rulings in Wisconsin and nearby Midwestern states — starting in Michigan — that have helped the retail giants lower the value placed on their stores for levying property taxes.

The retailers have successfully challenged their tax assessments in communities across Wisconsin, and the Midwest, by arguing they are overtaxed and should pay the same rate as a store that is closed and vacant.

That results in a shift of the property tax burden to smaller retail stores and property owners, said Jerry Deschane, executive director of the League of Municipalities.

“We just think that’s fundamentally unfair,” he said.

“The bottom line with the property tax is it has to be uniform.”

The cities will have to overcome opposition from the powerful state chamber

of commerce and deeppocketed retail giants that stand to lose millions from a change in current practice.

Wisconsin Department of Revenue rules require that assessments be based on the fair market value of a property. The stores argue that the value of the underlying real estate should be determined by looking at comparable building sales, prices that usually fall far below the assessment of an operating store.

Assessing the building as if it were empty has long been the standard in Wisconsin for determining its value, said Don Millis, a Madison attorney who has represented Target and other retailers in assessment challenges. Millis is also lobbying for the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce against changes to the law.“You value the sticks, bricks and mud,” Millis said.

Cities have been incorrectly assessing the property based on the potential lease value, he said.

“We don’t think they’re being undervalued,” he said.

“We think assessors are being overly aggressive.”

But Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel, who plans to introduce a bill next month addressing the issue, said the potential lease value of the property should be considered when valuing it for tax purposes. That is what the bill he and others are working on will do, he said.Millis warned that changing

the law “could have longterm unintended consequences” affecting how all property is valued.Big box

Monday 20 March 2017

stores including Menards, Lowe’s and ShopKo have filed more than 20 lawsuits against Wisconsin municipalities in the past year challenging their property assessments.

In one, Menards successfully argued last year that the value of its store in Fond du Lac assessed by the city at $9.2 million should be no more than $5.2 million.

A similar lawsuit from Target argues that Fond du Lac should reduce its taxes on the retailer by about a third.The dilemma for small cities is that the cost of defending lawsuits can equal or exceed the amount of property tax revenue at play, so they are more inclined to settle than fight it, said Deschane, who’s with the League of Municipalities. q

A6 U.S.

Monday 20 March 2017

NEWS

American Living:

Ban on Irish butter sparks fight in butter-loving Wisconsin

CARA LOMBARDO Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin resident Jean Smith snatches up entire stocks of her beloved Kerrygold Irish butter from stores when visiting family in Nebraska, thanks to an antiquated law in her dairy-obsessed state that bans it and any

other butter that hasn’t been graded for quality.

“We bring back 20 bricks or so,” Smith said, noting she plops a tablespoon of the Ireland-made butter into her tea each morning. “It’s creamier, it doesn’t have any waxy taste and it’s a richer yellow.”

Tired of trekking across

state lines to stock up, she and a handful of other Wisconsin butter aficionados filed a lawsuit this week challenging the law, saying local consumers and businesses “are more than capable of determining whether butter is sufficiently creamy, properly salted, or too crumbly.” No govern-

ment help needed, they say.

On the books since 1953, the law is strict: It requires butters to be rated on various measures — including flavor, body and color — by the federal government or people licensed as butter and cheese graders with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Wisconsin’s grading scale dictates that the highestgraded butter must “possess a fine and highly pleasing butter flavor.” Graders might describe a butter as “crumbly,” ‘’gummy” or “sticky,” and its color as “mottled,” ‘’streaked” or “speckled.”

Anybody convicted of selling unlabeled or ungraded butter is subject to a fine between $100 and $1,000 and six months in jail.

Wisconsin is the only state in the nation with such a stringent butter provision, which the lawsuit argues amounts to an unconstitutional “government-mandated ‘taste test.’” The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative legal group representing the plaintiffs, said the grading process is subjective

PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) — The expanding market for lobsters in China is continuing to grow, with the country setting a new record for the value of its imports of the crustaceans from the United States.

American lobster was almost unheard of in most of China until 2010, when the value of imports grew 250 percent to about $7.4

million. Last year, China imported more than $108 million in lobsters from America, surpassing the previous high of about $90.2 million in 2014.“We’ve opened new markets in Asia, which is booming,” said Dave Cousens, president of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association. “Everything is clicking now.”Chinese importers took in more than 14 million pounds of U.S. lobsters last year, which was also a re-

cord. The previous high was about 13.1 million pounds the previous year.

Interest in American lobster has grown in other countries in Asia as well, such as South Korea, which grew from less than $5 million in 2010 to nearly $28 million last year. Vietnam’s imports grew from $142,940 to more than $31 million in that time.

One of the factors spurring the growth of lobsters in China appears to be

the growth of the country’s middle class, said Stephanie Nadeau, owner of The Lobster Company, in Arundel, Maine, which is a key player in the export business. American lobsters tend to be less expensive in China than other live seafood, such as spiny lobsters and geoduck clams, she said.“It’s kind of an affordable luxury,” Nadeau said.

“One of my customers said our lobsters are one of the

A supply of Kerrygold Pure Irish Butter sits amidst other butters on a store shelf Friday, March 17, 2017 in Edina, Minn. Wisconsin consumers tired of trekking across state lines to buy a popular Irish butter are taking their fight to court. A 1953 state law bans the sale of Kerrygold butter in Wisconsin, along with any other butter that hasn’t been locally graded for quality. A handful of butter aficionados filed the lawsuit, saying it’s unconstitutional to require butter sold in the state to undergo a government-mandated taste test.

(AP Photo/Jim Mone)

and doesn’t protect consumers. The real issue, the group argues, is personal freedom.

Institute attorney Jake Curtis acknowledged it’s a light-hearted case, “but economic liberty is a civil right.”Department spokesman Bill Cosh released a statement saying his consumer-protection agency has to uphold state law, but noted that enforcement “has been limited to notifying retailers of what the law says.”Ornua, the company that markets Kerrygold, isn’t part of the lawsuit and declined to comment on the case. The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

Curtis said he’s also heard from residents frustrated they can’t buy their favorite Danish and Icelandic varieties near home.

Smith said Kerrygold butter, which uses milk from grassfed and hormone-free cows, occasionally shows up in stores near her home in Waukesha, but its availability is unpredictable.

“If I couldn’t get Kerrygold, I would use the other butter,” Smith said. “It just doesn’t taste as good.”q

cheapest things in the live tanks.”The uptick came in a record year for lobster catch in Maine, where most of America’s lobster catch comes ashore. Fishermen caught more than 130 million pounds of lobster in Maine last year, an all-time record and more than double the 2007 total.

Atlantic Canada also has a large lobster fishery and sends the same species of lobster to China.q

Lobster-crazy China sets record for US crustacean imports

U.S. NEWS A7

Monday 20 March 2017

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who have been raising it outside in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maine.

The Mennonite church had been looking for a way to preserve its small farms, said Peter Johnson, of the Amish-Mennonite Center of Sustainable Agriculture, in Wenham, Massachusetts.

“We are convinced that this is the crop that will keep our young kids on the farms,” he said at the workshop.

University of Vermont graduate student Agrin Davari displays saffron plants during a university workshop, in Burlington, Vt. The university researchers have been raising the exotic spice now grown primarily in Iran and are encouraging growers to tap into what they hope will be a cash crop.

(AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

LISA RATHKE The Associated Press BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — As spring crocus blooms approach, some growers have visions of a fall-flowering crocus that produces saffron, the world’s most valuable spice.

University of Vermont researchers have been raising the exotic spice now grown primarily in Iran and are encouraging growers to tap into what they hope will be a cash crop.

It’s not a hard sell, particularly in the short growing season of the Northeast. A crop harvested in the late fall, when other crops have died off, that tolerates extreme climates and yields an average of $19 per gram.

“Is this the red gold we’ve been looking for?” said Patricia Fontaine, of Palmer Farm in Little Compton, Rhode Island. She, her mother and brother attended a sold-out workshop this month on growing saffron hosted by the University of Vermont that drew growers from New England and as far away as Indiana and California.

The family had been searching for a crop to grow in their high tunnel, a greenhouse-like structure without heat like one UVM also used to raise the spice.

“We were like looking into everything and then all of a sudden this came up, and we were like, ‘This can’t be real,’” said Fontaine’s brother Ryan Golembeske.

UVM researchers said the yields amounted to $4.03 a square foot, compared to $3.51 a square foot for tomatoes, and $1.81 a square foot for winter leafy greens.

They estimate an acre of saffron grown in high tunnels could bring in $100,000 a season.

The seasoning comes from the dried red threads, or stigmas, of the plant’s purple flower, enhancing dishes like paella, bouillabaisse and risotto. It’s also prized as a natural dye, for medicinal purposes and was used by Cleopatra in warm baths.

UVM is not the first in the U.S. to raise saffron. There are other small growers around the country, including Mennonite and Amish farmers,

Ara Lynn, of Amazing Flower Farm in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, has already planted some saffron to supplement her business of raising annuals and perennials.

“It gives a potential income stream at a time when we’re doing nothing, or if we are, we’re just paying workers and all the money’s going out and nothing’s coming in, so it makes a lot of sense,” she said at

the workshop.

But she worries about marketing.“If we can’t find a way to market it and get that kind of money that they’re talking about then it’s just another endeavor that doesn’t work,” she said.UVM researchers believe the more growers, the better. “How can you start encouraging a market for saffron if you only have a few growers growing it?” said Margaret Skinner.q

A8

Monday 20 March 2017

WORLD NEWS

Autopsy to learn if Paris airport attacker was intoxicated JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French officials completed an autopsy Sunday to determine whether a suspected Islamic extremist was drunk or high on drugs when he took a soldier hostage at Paris’ Orly Airport and was shot dead by her fellow patrolmen.

The suspect, Ziyed Ben Belgacem, stopped at a bar in the wee hours Saturday morning, around four hours before he first fired bird shot at traffic police. Then, 90 minutes later, he attacked the military patrol at Orly, causing panic and the shutdown of the French capital’s second-biggest airport.

A subsequent police search of his flat found cocaine, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. Blood samples taken during Sunday’s autopsy were to be screened for drugs and alcohol, the prosecutors’ office said.

In an interview Sunday with French radio Europe 1, a

man identified as the suspect’s father said Belgacem wasn’t a practicing Muslim and drank alcohol.

“My son was never a terrorist. He never attended

prayer. He drank. But under the effects of alcohol and cannabis, this is where one ends up,” said the father.

Europe 1 did not give his name.

The Paris prosecutor’s office, which is in charge of the probe, said Sunday that Belgacem’s father was released from police custody overnight. His brother

and a cousin also were released later Sunday.

In a news conference late Saturday, Molins said Belgacem called his father and brother early that morning, minutes after he fired bird shot at a police traffic patrol, injuring an officer in the face, to say that he’d made a stupid mistake.

“He called me at seven, eight in the morning and said, ‘there you go, Papa.’

He was extremely angry, even his mother couldn’t understand him,” the man identified as the father said on Europe 1. “He told me, ‘I ask for your forgiveness.

I’ve screwed up with a gendarme.’”

The 39-year-old Frenchman had a long criminal record, with multiple jail terms for drugs and robbery offences.

Molins said Belgacem was out on bail, banned from leaving France and obliged to report regularly to police, having been handed preliminary charges for robberies in 2016.q

ing Likud party regarding all media regulation matters.

The conflict centers on the fate of the struggling staterun Israel Broadcasting Authority. Netanyahu initially ordered it shut down and replaced with a new corporation, only to reverse course once the emerging personnel of the new body

did not seem favorable as hoped to his administration.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, head of the centrist Kulanu party, insists the corporation start broadcasting next month as planned.

The crisis has sparked speculation that the coalition could fall apart, and new elections called.Before de-

parting on a weeklong visit to China, Netanyahu said Kahlon’s insistence was “unacceptable” and there was no need for the new corporation to be established when the current authority could be reformed.

Netanyahu has long tried to curb his many detractors in the media, which he con-

siders biased against him.

Netanyahu recently confirmed for the first time that he called an early election in 2015 to block legislation aimed at curtailing the distribution of Israel Hayom, a free daily financed by billionaire backer Sheldon Adelson that largely serves as his mouthpiece. q

A member of the RAID, (Research, Assistance, Intervention and Deterrence), France’s elite police force, patrols at Orly airport, south of Paris. Soldiers at Paris’ busy Orly Aiport shot and killed a man who wrestled one of their colleagues to the ground and tried to steal her rifle Saturday, officials said.

(AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu)

Israeli coalition crisis raises threat of new elections

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister backed out of an agreement to establish a new broadcasting authority Sunday, creating a coalition crisis with one of his key partners that could lead to early elections.Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his coalition partners were required to side with his rul-

WORLD NEWS A9

Monday 20 March 2017

Clashes break out in Syrian capital after insurgents attack PHILIP ISSA Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Fierce clashes broke out in the Syrian capital on Sunday after insurgents infiltrated government-held parts of the city through tunnels overnight, a rare if brief advance after months of steady losses at the hands of government forces elsewhere in the country.

It was a surprising breach of Damascus’s security perimeter, where the government has effectively walled itself off from opposition forces encamped in two enclaves in the eastern parts of the city.

President Bashar Assad’s government has endeavored to maintain a veneer of normalcy inside the capital as his forces bomb opposition areas on the edges and suburbs of the city. Outside Damascus, hundreds of thousands of civilians are living under government siege and bombardment.

Residents said artillery shells and rockets were landing inside the heart of the city, and the activist-run Damascus Today Facebook group reported government air raids over the area of the clashes.

Infantry and tank reinforcements arrived on the government side to repel the attack in the afternoon, the group said.

With its military depleted from six years of fighting and defections, the Syrian government relies on a blend of official and semi-

Gunmen carrying their weapons and family members leave the al-Waer neighborhood bound for a town on the Turkish border, in Homs, Syria, Saturday, March 18, 2017. Fierce clashes broke out in the Syrian capital on Sunday after insurgents infiltrated government-held parts of the city through tunnels overnight, a rare if brief advance after months of steady losses at the hands of government forces elsewhere in the country.

(AP Photo)

official forces to defend its territory, including Shiite militias from Iran, Iraq, Leb-

anon, and other Middle Eastern countries.The clashes centered on a govern-

ment-held gap between two besieged opposition enclaves, the Jobar and

Qaboun neighborhoods.

The ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham rebel faction said fighters had “liberated” the area.The Levant Liberation Committee — an al-Qaida-linked group — and the independent Failaq al-Rahman faction also participated in the attack.

Syrian state media said the military had repelled an attack by an al-Qaida-linked group after “terrorists” infiltrated through tunnels in the middle of the night.

Rebels detonated two large car bombs at 5:20 a.m. Sunday close to the Jobar neighborhood. The Levant Liberation Committee claimed the attack.

The government has been trying to pressure the rebels to surrender the pockets they hold in Damascus following victories in the northern city of Aleppo, the central city of Homs and other Damascus suburbs.q

Tax hike, stagnant wages spark protests in Beirut BEIRUT (AP) — Demonstrators in downtown Beirut pelted Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s car with water bottles on Sunday as protests against new taxes and a stagnant public wage scale jolted the city.Hariri got out of his armored convoy behind the police line at the demonstration facing the government’s headquarters but could get no closer as protesters began throwing bottles and harrying him with cries of “Thieves!”

With water bottles falling around him and his bodyguards shielding him with their arms, Hariri told TV cameras: “It’s true there is waste and corruption in the country, but we will fight it.”

He then left the area on foot.Thousands of people came to the city center to protest a broad tax hike they say is unfairly targeting the working class.Demonstrators said the government has squandered public funds through shady public-private contracts

and should plug the budget deficit by addressing corruption instead. Parliament approved some tax hikes on Wednesday.The government is paralyzed over a budget proposal that would hike over a dozen tax rates to fund a salary increase for teachers and civil servants. Parliament has not authorized a new budget since 2005.The demonstrations are the latest display of mounting discontent with Lebanon’s political elite. The politicians,

many of whom led the militias that tore the country apart in the 1975-1990 civil war, are widely seen as corrupt and out of touch.

Demonstrators poured into the streets in 2015 to protest a collapse in the country’s waste management sector that left trash piling up across the capital district.

Sunday’s demonstration was called by the Communist and Phalangist parties, and joined by civil activists campaigning against corruption. q

A10 WORLD

Monday 20 March 2017

NEWS

North Korea tests newly developed high-thrust rocket engine ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — North Korea has conducted a ground test of a new type of high-thrust rocket engine that leader Kim Jong Un is calling a revolutionary breakthrough for the country’s space program, the North’s state media said Sunday.

Kim attended Saturday’s test at the Sohae launch site, according to the Korean Central News Agency, which said the test was intended to confirm the “new type” of engine’s thrust power and gauge the reliability of its control system and structural safety.Kim called the test “a great event of historic significance” for the country’s indigenous rocket industry,

People watch a TV news program showing an image, published in North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper, of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the country’s Sohae launch site, at Seoul Railway station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, March 19, 2017. North Korea has conducted a ground test of a new type of high-thrust rocket engine that leader Kim Jong Un is calling a revolutionary breakthrough for the country’s space program.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

the KCNA report said.

He also said the “whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries” and claimed

the test marks what will be known as the “March 18 revolution” in the development of the country’s rocket industry.

The report indicated that

the engine is to be used for North Korea’s space and satellite-launching program.

North Korea is banned by the United Nations from conducting long-range missile tests, but it claims its satellite program is for peaceful use, a claim many in the U.S. and elsewhere believe is questionable.

North Korean officials have said that under a five-year plan, they intend to launch more Earth observation satellites and what would be the country’s first geostationary communications satellite — which would be a major technological advance.

Getting that kind of satellite into place would likely require a more powerful engine than its previous ones. The North also claims it is trying to build a viable space program that would include a moon launch within the next 10 years. q

Duterte: Philippines can’t stop China moves in disputed sea

JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Sunday that his militarily inferior country can’t stop China’s actions in contested waters, responding to a reported plan by Beijing to construct an environmental monitoring station in a disputed shoal off the northwestern Philippines.

Duterte, however, warned that he would invoke a July 12 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea if the Chinese “start to tinker with the entitlement,” apparently meaning when Beijing starts to tap the off-

shore area’s resources.

“We cannot stop China from doing his thing, the Americans were not able to stop it,” Duterte said in a news conference at the airport in southern Davao city before flying to Myanmar.“Sir, what will I do? Declare a war against China?” he asked, without saying who he was addressing his question to. “I can, but we’ll all lose our military and policemen tomorrow, and we are a destroyed nation.”Duterte’s remarks differed slightly from those of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which said that it was trying to verify the news reports about China’s construction plans on Scar-

borough Shoal and that it would refrain from commenting while doing so.

In the past, the Philippine government routinely filed protests or expressed its concern whenever China took aggressive actions to assert its sovereignty in contested territories, but Duterte did not mention any planned protest.

The top official in Sansha City, which has administered China’s island claims in the South China Sea since 2012, was quoted by the official Hainan Daily newspaper as saying that preparations were underway to build an environmental monitoring station on Scarborough Shoal.q

WORLD NEWS A11

Monday 20 March 2017

Death toll rises to 72 in Peru rains, flooding, mudslides

FRANKLIN BRICENO Associated Press LIMA, Peru (AP) — The intense rains, overflowing rivers, mudslides and flooding being experienced in the country are the worst seen in two decades, Peruvian authorities said this weekend, affecting more than half the nation as the death toll since the beginning of the year hit 72.

The highly unusual rains follow a series of storms that have struck hard along Peru’s northern coast, with voracious waters inundating hospitals and leaving some small villages isolated.

The storms are being caused by a warming of the surface waters in the Pacific Ocean and are expected to continue for another two weeks.

Peru’s government said that 374 people were killed in 1998 during a similar period of massive rains and flooding caused by rains blamed on the El Nino climate pattern.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Fernando Zavala updated the number of dead from the latest flooding to 72.

The rains have overwhelmed the drainage system in the cities along Peru’s Pacific coast and the health ministry has started fumigating around the pools of water that have formed in the streets to kill mosquitoes that carry diseases like dengue.

Lima has been without water service since the beginning of the week. The government has deployed the armed forces to help police control public order in the 811 cities that have

declared an emergency.

“The prices for lemons have gone up, as well as for potatoes and cooking oil,” said Sara Arevalo, a mother of five who was shopping at a market in northern Lima.

The government has acknowledged that prices have shot up some 5 percent because of the flooding.

In the Lambayeque region, 22 inmates at a juvenile detention center took advantage of the rains to escape.

And in the city of Trujillo, rains flooded a cemetery with the waters carrying bones through the streets.

Even Peru’s capital city of Lima, where a desert climate seldom leads to rain, police on Friday had to help hundreds of residents in an outskirt neighborhood cross a flooded road by sending them one-byone along a rope through choppy waters. The muddy

A group of people, stranded in flood waters, hold onto a rope as they wade through flood waters to safety in Lima, Peru. Intense rains and mudslides have wrought havoc around the Andean nation and caught residents in Lima, a desert city of 10 million where it almost never rains, by surprise.

(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

current channeled down the street after a major river overflowed. Some residents

left their homes with just a single plastic bag carrying their belongings.

The presidents of Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela offered to send help to Peru.q

Brazil city on edge after man dies from yellow fever YESICA FISCH Associated Press CASIMIRO DE ABREU, Brazil (AP) — This small city in the state of Rio de Janeiro is on high alert after authorities confirmed the death of one man by yellow fever and said they were investigating several other possible cases.

Health authorities this weekend confirmed that 38-year-old Watila Santos died from the illness on March 11.

A neighbor of Santos, Alessandro Valenca Couto, was infected and sent for

treatment to a hospital in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where he is recovering.

Authorities are investigating possible cases involving four relatives of Santos, including a 13-year-old and a 9-year-old.

In the city center and rural areas of Casimiro de Abreu, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) from Rio de Janeiro, a large tent has been set up to vaccinate people. Authorities say around 30,000 of the city’s 42,000 people have been vaccinated in recent days.

“I’m really scared,” said

Tais da Silva Almeida, a mother of two who arrived Friday to get vaccinated.

“If adults can’t deal with the illness, imagine the children.”

Yellow fever is transmitted by mosquito and causes fever, body aches, vomiting and sometimes jaundice. Rio de Janeiro’s state Health Department has announced plans to vaccinate its entire population as a preventative measure.

It says it will need 12 million doses to reach a 90 percent vaccination rate by year’s end.

The vaccinations come as cases continue to be confirmed in several areas nationwide.

Brazil’s Health Ministry says that at least 424 people have been infected with yellow fever in the largest outbreak the country has seen in years.

Of those, 137 have died, and more than 900 other cases are under investigation. The vast majority of confirmed cases and deaths have been in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, which borders the state of Rio de Janeiro.q

A12 WORLD

Monday 20 March 2017

NEWS

Nobel laureate Derek Walcott, Caribbean poet, dies at 87 GUY ELLIS DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press CASTRIES, St. Lucia (AP) — Derek Walcott, a Nobel prize-winning poet known for capturing the essence of his native Caribbean, died Friday on the island of St. Lucia. He was 87.

“Derek Alton Walcott, poet, playwright, and painter died peacefully today, Friday 17th March, 2017, at his home in Cap Estate, Saint Lucia,” said a family statement. It said the funeral would be held in St. Lucia and details would be announced shortly.

The prolific and versatile poet received the Nobel Prize in literature in 1992.

The academy cited the “great luminosity” of his writings including the 1990 “Omeros,” a 64-chapter Caribbean epic that it praised as “majestic.”

“In him, West Indian culture has found its great poet,” the Swedish academy said in awarding the $1.2 million prize to Walcott.

St. Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said flags throughout the island would be lowered to halfstaff to honor Walcott, one of the most renowned figures to emerge from the small country.

“It is a great loss to Saint Lucia,” he said. “It is a great loss to the world.”

Walcott, who was of African, Dutch and English ancestry, said his writing reflected the “very rich and complicated experience” of life in the Caribbean.

His dazzling, painterly work earned him a reputation as one of the greatest writers of the second half of the 20th century.

In this Tuesday April 1, 2014, file photo, the recipient of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature Derek Walcott attends a news conference in Mexico City. Walcott, known for capturing the essence of his native Caribbean and became the region’s most internationally famous writer, died early Friday, March 17, 2017, on the island of St. Lucia, according to his son, Peter.

(AP Photo/ Berenice Bautista)

With passions ranging from watercolor painting to teaching to theater, Walcott’s work was widely praised for its depth and bold use of metaphor, and its mix of sensuousness and technical prowess. He compared his feeling for poetry to a religious avocation.

Calling the poet “the great lyric voice of the Caribbean,” Soviet exile poet Joseph Brodsky, who won the Nobel literature prize in 1987, once complained that some critics relegated Walcott to regional status because of “an unwillingness ... to admit that the great poet of the English language is a black man.”

Jonathan Galassi, president of Farrar, Straus & Giroux who was Walcott’s

friend and longtime U.S. publisher, praised the poet as “the great lyric voice of the Caribbean.”

“He was a brilliant thinker about human predicaments, historical and personal, really the last English language poet with the gift to match what feels like 19th century ambitions,” Galassi said.

Walcott himself proudly celebrated his role as a Caribbean writer.

“I am primarily, absolutely a Caribbean writer,” he once said during a 1985 interview published in The Paris Review. “The English language is nobody’s special property. It is the property of the imagination: it is the property of the language itself. I have never felt inhibited in trying to write as well as the greatest English

poets.”

Walcott was born in St. Lucia’s capital of Castries on Jan. 23, 1930 to a Methodist schoolteacher mother and a civil servant father, an aspiring artist who died when Walcott and his twin brother, Roderick, were babies. His mother, Alix, instilled the love of language in her children, often reciting Shakespeare and reading aloud other classics.

In his autobiographical essay, “What the Twilight Says,” he wrote: “Both the patois of the street and the language of the classroom hid the elation of discovery. If there was nothing, there was everything to be made. With this prodigious ambition one began.”

Walcott once described straddling “two worlds” during his childhood in St.

Lucia, then a sleepy outpost of the British empire.

“Colonials, we began with this malarial enervation: that nothing could ever be built among these rotting shacks, barefooted backyards and moulting shingles; that being poor, we already had the theater of our lives. In that simple schizophrenic boyhood one could lead two lives: the interior life of poetry, and the outward life of action and dialect,” he wrote.

Early on, he struggled with questions of race and his passion for British poetry, describing it as a “wrestling contradiction of being white in mind and black in body, as if the flesh were coal from which the spirit like tormented smoke writhed to escape.” But he overcame that inner struggle, writing: “Once we have lost our wish to be white, we develop a longing to become black.”

At 14, he published his first work, a 44-line poem called “1944,” in a local newspaper. While still in his teens, he self-published a collection of 25 poems. At 20, his play “Henri Christophe” was produced by an arts guild he co-founded.

He left St. Lucia to immerse himself in literature at Jamaica’s University College of the West Indies. In the 1950s, he studied in New York and founded a theater in Trinidad’s Port-ofSpain.

For much of his life, Walcott, who taught at Boston University for many years, divided his time between the United States and the Caribbean.q

LOCAL A13

Monday 20 March 2017

Authentic Peruvian Dining Experience Awaits at ‘Asi Es Mi Peru’

the food that made Peru famous: Lomo Saltado (a stewed beef), Aji de Gallina (a creamy chicken dish), and a number of typical preparations for potatoes, with Papas a la Huancaina and Causa, topping

EAGLE BEACH - Inspired by Peruvian-born Roxanne Salinas, the latest culinary triumph at Paradise Beach Villas is ‘Asi Es Mi Peru,’ which features a genuine Peruvian Cevicheria where you can sit at the bar and watch the chef make your ceviche from scratch and to order.

Ceviche, with fresh fish marinated in lime juice, is the Peruvian national dish

and it’s prepared with an assortment of just-caught seafood, tomatoes, tostada chips, crisp onion, salt and hot pepper, the world famous aji amarillo.

The tart and salty ceviche is accompanied by sides of boiled corn or creamy sweet potatoes, and/or crunchy toasted corn, creating a symphony of tastes.

The Cevicheria also serves Tiradito, a variation of cevi-

che and reminiscent of Japanese sushi, deliciously marinated with a smoky aji amarillo.

The restaurant gazebo features a genuine, colorful Peruvian marketplace where you can buy typical Peruvian crafts, with a portion of the proceeds donated to Aruba’s cancer foundation. Inside, the restaurant is a more formal dining room featuring

the list.

On the second floor a private dining room for special functions flaunts just one long community table, with fourteen seats, great for birthday parties or family gatherings.

Plans are to develop a Chefs Table menu featuring Peru’s Costa (coast), Sierra (mountains) and Selva (Forest) through live cooking for small gatherings here in July 0f 2017.

Asi es mi Peru restaurant is located at Paradise Beach Villas and is accessible from the street adjacent to la Cabana.

Reservations by calling 588-3958, or 525-4000 ext.

172 or through reservations@asiesmiperuenaruba.comq

A14 LOCAL

Monday 20 March 2017

Mrs. Pearl Druss Honored by ATA at the Divi Village ORANJESTAD - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a very special island guest who is a loyal and friendly visitor of Aruba at the Divi Village Beach Resort as an Emerald Ambassador. The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 35-or-more consecutive years.

The honoree was Mrs. Pearl Druss, celebrating 35 consecutive years visiting Aruba!

Mrs. Druss is a regular guest of the Divi Village Beach Resort, and she loves the island very much because of the friendly people, the safety, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants and the diversity of the island.

Aruba feels like a second home to this special guest and the people here are like a family to her. The certificate and commemorative Emerald Coin were presented by Mr. Ricardo Cores representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with her dear friends General Manager Mr. Geritt Griffith, Mr. Franssen, Ms. Maureen Connor, Ms. Iona de Windt and Ms. Gloria Defoe from the Divi Village Beach Resort. q

Loyal Guests Honored at the Barcelo Resort and Casino PALM BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a very nice couple who are loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Barcelo Resort and Casino as Distinuished Visitors. The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Joseph Zambuto and Mrs. Rose Mansuco.

Joseph and Rose are regular guests of the Barcelo Resort and Casino, and they love the island very much because of the friendly people, the safety, the weather, the beaches, the restaurants and the diversity of the island. Aruba feels like a second home to these special guests and the people here are like a family to them. The certificate was presented by Mr. Ricardo Cores representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with Jenny from the Barcelo Resort and Casino.q

LOCAL A15

Monday 20 March 2017

Loyal Visitors Honored at the Marriott Surf Club PALM BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring a family of loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba at the Marriott Surf Club as Distinguished Visitors.

The symbolic honorary title is presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. Francis and Mrs. Cynthia Mullens.

These special guests say they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, the climate, beaches, and restaurants.

They say the people on Aruba are like a family to them and that the island is their ‘home-away-fromhome.’ The certificates were presented by Mr. Ricardo Croes representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with Jenny from the Marriott Surf Club.q

A16 LOCAL

Monday 20 March 2017

A call for Random Acts of Kindness:

International Social Work Day 21st March 2017

ORANJESTAD - Every year Social Workers around the world celebrates International Day of Social Work.

On Tuesday 21st March 2017, the Department of Social Work and Development at the University of Aruba invites everyone to use this day to do Random Acts of Kindness (RAK).

Random Acts of Kindness is a selfless act performed by persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or group. RAK can also be done to the animal kingdom and to the natural environment.

According to the research, there are numerous scientific benefits to practicing

RAK. These include reduction in pain, anxiety stress and blood pressure. It increases love hormones, happiness, lifespan, pleasure and serotonin. In fact,

by doing RAK, it contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals No. 3: ‘Good Health and Well-being.’

Moreover, it is link to the theme for Social Work Day

2017, i.e., Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability.”

Through RAK, we can continue to build on our Aruban community that is well known for its hospitability, happiness, kindness and clean environment.

Some examples of RAK include open a door for someone, let someone jump the queue at the bank; complement a colleague for a job well done; give another driver your parking spot; allow someone to cross the road; take your neighbour’s dog for a walk; pay the groceries for someone behind you at the cashier; treat a friend

to the movies for no reason; tell all your family members how much you appreciate them and smile a lot.

Kindness also mean using caring words such as thank you; I forgive you; being compassionate; loving; gentle; amiable; friendly and generous. Let us all strengthen the feeling of belonging to our community and give a greater sense of purpose to our lives as we all strive to leave the planet better than we found it for our next generation.

Follow us on Facebook: Social Work & DevelopmentUniversity of Arubaq

ECLAC Will Hold XXIX Regional Fiscal Policy Seminar

-The traditional event will be held on March 23-24, 2017 in Santiago, Chile, and will be attended by finance ministers and undersecretaries and other authorities from countries in the region.

CHILE

-

The

Economic

Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) will hold its traditional Regional Fiscal Policy Seminar at its central headquarters in Santiago, Chile on March 23-24, drawing ministers and undersecretaries of finance from countries in the region.

The meeting, carried out uninterruptedly for 29 years, has become a point of reference for fiscal debate among authorities, policymakers, economists and academics throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. It has the support of the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), along with sponsorship from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AECID) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The seminar will be inaugurated on Thursday, March 23 at 09:00 in Chile (-3 UTC/ GMT) by Alicia Bárcena, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary; Beate Stirø, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Chile; Rolf Schulze, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chile; and Alejandro Micco, Chile’s Undersecretary of Finance. Ministers and Undersecretaries of Treasury and Finance for Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras and Uruguay are also expected to attend, among other authorities.

Event participants will debate the fiscal policy chal-

lenges posed by the current regional context, tax policy in Latin America, the allocation of public resources and financing for education, territorial disparities, the provision of public goods and financing.

Furthermore, ECLAC’s Executive Secretary will present the document Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2017: Mobilizing resources for the financing of sustainable development during the meeting.

The 2017 version of Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean, a joint report by the OECD, ECLAC, IDB and the InterAmerican Center of Tax Administrations (CIAT), will also be launched.

The media are invited to attend this seminar. Journalists should have their media credentials or identity documents with them to gain access.

The event will be broadcast live via the Internet.q

SPORTS A17

Monday 20 March 2017

Federer beats Wawrinka for tying 5thIndian Wells title

EAGLE SPOTTING

Roger Federer, of Switzerland, celebrates his 6-4, 7-5 win over Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, in the men’s final of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 19, 2017, in Indian Wells, Calif.

Associated Press

BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Forget the comeback talk. Roger Federer is back.

He defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 to win a recordtying fifth BNP Paribas Open title in an all-Swiss final Sunday to go with his record 18th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January after missing most of last year with various injuries.

Federer kept reminding everyone during the ATP Masters 1000 event that he was “on the comeback” and, wanting to see how he felt, hadn’t planned beyond the first three months of year He might want to think bigger now.Federer tied the tourney record of Novak Djokovic, who lost in the fourth round, while winning his 90th career title, keeping him third behind Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl on the all-time list in the Open era.

Continued on page 18

Leishman fends off the field at Bay Hill Marc Leishman, of Australia, holds the championship trophy as his son Oliver, 3, jumps up to slap it after Leishman won the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, March 19, 2017.

Associated Press Page 20

A18 SPORTS

Monday 20 March 2017

Continued from previous page

At 35 years and seven months, Federer became the oldest champion in the desert tournament’s history, surpassing Connors, who was 31 years and five months when he won in 1981.

His twin daughters cheered and jumped up and down in a box above the court when Federer put away a high forehand volley while keeping Wawrinka pinned deep behind the baseline on match point.

Federer dropped serve just once in five matches, losing the first game of the second set against No. 3 seed Wawrinka. He saved one break point against Rafael Nadal in the fourth round, and never lost set in the tournament. No. 9 seed Federer advanced to the semifinals via walkover when Nick Kyrgios withdrew.In an all-Russian women’s final, Elena Vesnina defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-4.

Federer will move up four spots to No. 6 in the ATP world rankings on Monday.

He hit 23 winners, including 16 off his backhand in the 80-minute match. Wawrinka had 17 winners and 21 unforced errors in front of the announced crowd of 17,382 that didn’t fill the stadium.

Vesnina had never advanced beyond the third round in singles and just last year she lost in the first round of qualifying, al-

though she has won three doubles titles at the tournament. She beat No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber and No. 12 Venus Williams on her way to the biggest final of her career at age 30.

in sweeping the final four games of the match.

Kuznetsova served one of her nine aces to lead 4-1 in the second, prompting Vesnina to bring out her coach-father Sergey Vesn-

Elisha Barno, of Kenya, crosses the finish line as he wins the men’s Los Angeles Marathon, Sunday, March 19, 2017, in Santa Monica, Calif.

Associated Press

Elena Vesnina, of Russia, celebrates her win against Svetlana Kuznetsova, of Russia, in the women’s final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Sunday, March 19, 2017, in Indian Wells, Calif.

Associated Press

Kuznetsova is 0-3 in finals here, also finishing runnerup in 2007 and 2008.

At age 31, Kuznetsova was the fifth-oldest women to reach the final. But the two-time major champion struggled playing with the lead as the No. 8 seed in front of hundreds of empty seats.“I didn’t feel good today because she was very aggressive and I was a little bit out of my game,” Kuznetsova said. “I couldn’t figure out a lot the wind and stuff like that. But still, I give a lot of credit to her because she was aggressive.”

Kuznetsova led 4-2 in the third before 14th-seeded Vesnina broke her twice

budgetaruba@setarnet.aw

in for a chat.

It worked.

Vesnina reeled off four straight games to lead 5-4.

Her forehand error led to Kuznetsova’s break in the 10th game that tied it 5-all.

But Vesnina broke back and served out the set 7-5.

“She had so many break points on my serve,” Vesnina said. “She was 30-love up couple of times on her serves, and I always keep coming back.”Kuznetsova had luck on her side early, winning the first set on a net cord in the tiebreaker.

She gave the traditional wave acknowledging her good fortune to Vesnina, who had blown leads of 2-0 and 4-2.q

Kenyans Barno, Jepkurgat win titles at L.A. Marathon SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Kenyans Elisha Barno and Hellen Jepkurgat have won the men’s and women’s titles at the Los Angeles Marathon.

Barno pulled away from 2015 winner Daniel Limo of Kenya in the final mile of Sunday’s race, crossing the finish line at the Santa

Monica Pier in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 53 seconds.

Limo finished third last year in the 26.2-mile race that begins at Dodger Stadium and finishes at the Pacific Ocean.Jepkurgat won the women’s race in 2:34.23, nearly 2 minutes ahead of fellow Kenyan Jane Kibii, who finished in 2:36.14. q

Ethiopian Feyisa Lilesa, American Molly Huddle win NYC Half NEW YORK (AP) — Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia ran the fastest time in five years in winning the NYC Half, and Molly Huddle of the United States won her third straight women’s title in the 13.1mile race Lilesa, the silver medalist in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics, was timed in 1 hour, 4 seconds Sunday and finished ahead of Britain’s Callum Hawkins (1:00:08) and fellow Ethiopian Teshome Mekonen (1:00:28). Lilesa outsprinted both in the final stretch for his first win in 2017.

Huddle finished in 1:08:19 over the course from Central Park to Lower Manhattan. Emily Sisson, Huddle’s training partner, was second (1:08:21) and Burundi’s Diane Nukuri was third (1:09:13).Huddle’s time was the third-fastest in the 12year history of the event, which drew 20,000 runners.

South Africa’s Ernst van Dyk, a two-time New York City Marathon champion in the wheelchair event, won the men’s race in 47:28.

U.S. Paralympian Susannah Scaroni won the women’s race in 55:06.q

Davis leads pelicans past Timberwolves, 123-109

BY BRETT MARTEL AP SPORTS WRITER NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Anthony Davis had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the struggling Minnesota Timberwolves 123-109 on Sunday.DeMarcus Cousins added 15 points and 11 rebounds in his return from a one-game absence because of left knee and rib soreness. Reserve guard Jordan Crawford scored a season-high 22 points in 21 minutes for the Pelicans, who have won four of five.

Jrue Holiday had 21 points and shot 4 of 5 from 3-point range.Karl-Anthony Towns scored 33 for the Timberwolves, who lost their third straight. Andrew Wiggins added 25 points and reserve Shabazz Muhammad had 20 for Minnesota.

Ricky Rubio chipped in with 10 points and 14 assists for the Wolves, who built a 13-point lead in the second quarter only to fade late as New Orleans closed the game on a 21-10 run.

Minnesota shot 53.8 percent in the first half and led 50-37 on Wiggins’ putback

with less than five minutes remaining in the second.

New Orleans managed to cut it to 54-48 by halftime, scoring the last six points of the period on Holiday’s 3, Solomon Hill’s free throw and Davis’ dunk.

The Pelicans then shot 71.4 percent (15 for 21) in the third quarter, briefly taking their first lead of the game when Davis slammed down Holiday’s short alleyoop lob.Towns, who shot 14 of 27, responded with one of his four 3s to give the Wolves the lead right back, but New Orleans kept coming.

Crawford hit a pair of pullup jumpers late in the period and Cousins added a 3, helping New Orleans take an 88-84 lead into the fourth.

Crawford added eight quick points to start the quarter, hitting consecutive 3s followed by a tough turnaround fade from 13 feet.Minnesota briefly pulled to 102-99 on Towns’ dunk, but Holiday’s turnaround jumper sparked a decisive 12-0 run that included 3s from Hill, who

finished with 13 points, and E’Twaun Moore, who scored 14.

TIP-INS Timberwolves: Tom Thibodeau was called for a technical foul by official James Williams when the Minnesota coach held his arms out and appeared to complain after Davis converted a transition layup in the third quarter. ... Minnesota fell to 23-24 when scoring 100 points. ... The Wolves got only six points from reserves other than Muhammad, and their bench was outscored 4626.

Pelicans: New Orleans swept the three-game season series, winning each by double digits. ...

SPORTS A19

Monday 20 March 2017

New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) holds his shin in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in New Orleans, Sunday, March 19, 2017.

Associated Press

A20 SPORTS

Monday 20 March 2017

Late eagle carries Leishman to victory at Bay Hill DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Marc Leishman kept shifting his eyes toward the glare coming from the silver Arnold Palmer Invitational trophy at his side.

Beyond the shiny prize, between two images of Palmer, was a black banner with six words that defined how Palmer approached the game.

“You must play boldly to win.”

Leishman followed that script Sunday to a one-shot victory at Bay Hill.

He didn’t flinch over three key par putts over the last four holes. And even after his most disappointing shot down the stretch, a 9-iron on the par-5 16th hole that settled 50 feet away from the flag, the 33-year-old Australian knocked it in for an eagle that allowed him to jump past Rory McIlroy, Kevin Kisner and Charley Hoffman into the lead alone.

He never gave back, and no one could catch him.

The timing couldn’t have been better for Leishman, except at the end.

“It’s sad not to have him up there walking off the 18th green, to be that first guy to walk off and not be greeted by Arnold Palmer,” Leishman said. “But he’s left such a great legacy, and I’m sure he will be proud of how everything has gone this week.”

Graeme McDowell, left, of Northern Ireland, and Sam Saunders, right, grandson of Arnold Palmer, help put a sweater on Marc Leishman, of Australia, during the trophy presentation after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, March 19, 2017.

Associated Press

The occasion was no less joyous. Leishman’s final act was a 45-yard pitch from short of the 18th green that ran out to 3 feet, a putt that looked a lot closer when he saw the replay on television.

He calmly knocked that in for a 3-under 69.

Onto the green ran his two sons, ages 5 and 3, as wife Audrey waited for him. Just two years ago, Leishman worried he wouldn’t have her. He was called away during practice at Augusta National upon learning his wife was suffering toxic

shock syndrome. Doctors put her in a coma to help fight the infection.

“It’s been a wild ride and it makes golf ... I want to do it well, but it makes it less important. It’s not life and death,” Leishman said.

“It’s just great to be able to share this with someone.”

The oldest boy, Harvey, kept asking him when he was going to bring home the trophy. This was a big one.

To honor Palmer, who died in September, the PGA Tour now awards a threeyear exemption and raised

the purse to $8.7 million, meaning Leishman won $1,566,000 — just $295,857 less than what Palmer won in his PGA Tour career.

Leishman finished at 11-under 277.

Kisner and Hoffman, tied for the 54-hole lead, each closed with a 73 and had their chances.

Kisner had a three-shot lead at the turn, but he didn’t make a birdie over his last 11 holes. Hoffman shot 39 on the front nine, rallied to get back into a share of the lead when Kisner faltered with a pair

of bogeys and then threeputted for par on the 16th and made bogey from the back bunker on the 17th.

“I had it right there in the palm of my hand to win, and I didn’t get it done,” Kisner said.

Rory McIlroy had as good a chance as anyone, storming into a share of the lead by hooking a wedge around a tree, over the water and over the green on the 16th, then nearly holing the eagle chip. He had a 30-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead on the 18th, and after seeing that Leishman had made eagle on the 16th, gave it a good run.

The putt went 8 feet by and three-putt for a 69 to finish two shots back.

“These things happen,” McIlroy said. “But I’m pleased with how I went.

Ten under for the weekend around here is good scoring, and I can take a lot of positives from it going into next week.”Leishman was lurking all day, and a 6-foot putt to save par from a bunker on the 15th kept his hopes going. The turning point came on the par-5 16th, playing only 515 yards with the wind, and Leishman’s tee shot left him only a 9-iron to the green that he tugged to the left.

Standing over the putt, he backed off and recalled the same putt from a practice round Tuesday. q

Anna Nordqvist wins Founders Cup in college homecoming

Anna Nordqvist, of Sweden, tees off on the eighth tee during the final round of a LPGA golf tournament on Sunday, March 19, 2017, in Phoenix, Ariz.

Associated Press

JOHN NICHOLSON AP Sports Writer PHOENIX (AP) — Anna Nordqvist caught up with some college friends — and left everyone else behind on another hot afternoon at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. The 29-year-old former Arizona State player shot a 4-under 68 on Sunday to hold off fellow major champions Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis

and In Gee Chun by two strokes in record 96-degree heat at Desert Ridge.

Nordqvist finished at 25-under 263, two strokes off the LPGA Tour record that Sei Young Kim matched last year at Desert Ridge.

The 6-foot Swede had a tournament-record 61 on Saturday to take a twostroke lead into the final round.

Jutanugarn and Lewis also shot 68, and Chun had a

66.

Nordqvist won her seventh LPGA Tour title and first since successfully defending the ShopRite LPGA Classic title last June.

In the U.S. Women’s Open in July, she lost a threehole playoff to Brittany Lang after being penalized two strokes for touching the sand with her club in a fairway bunker on the second extra hole.q

SPORTS A21

Monday 20 March 2017

Stanton’s homer, Jones’ leap carry U.S. into WBC semifinals BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — The United States is going to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic for the second time thanks to another impressive home run

by Giancarlo Stanton at Petco Park and a spectacular catch at the fence by hometown favorite Adam Jones.

Stanton hit a go-ahead, two-run shot into the thirdlevel balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner in the fourth inning and Jones robbed Baltimore Orioles teammate Manny Machado of a home run in the seventh to help the Americans beat the Dominican Republic 6-3 on Saturday night, eliminating the defending champions.

Team USA will face Japan on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium for a spot in the championship game.

A number of big-name players declined to play for the United States.

Manager Jim Leyland appreciates those who did sign up.

“There were a lot of people that respectfully declined and we’re not going to throw anybody under the bus,” Leyland said.

“We’re going to honor the people that accepted and are here. So we’re moving forward and that’s all we’re talking about. ...

And right now that’s the only team I care about.

And these players that are here are the only players I care about right now.”

Those who were with Team USA certainly put on a show.

Stanton’s homer gave the United States a 4-2 lead and put a charge into the sellout crowd of 43,002.

U.S. outfielder Adam Jones grabs a catch above the wall for the out on the Dominican Republic’s Manny Machado during the seventh inning of a second-round World Baseball Classic baseball game Saturday, March 18, 2017, in San Diego.

Associated Press

The slugger’s shot was reminiscent of his Home Run Derby victory at Petco Park on July 11, when he peppered the far reaches of the big downtown ballpark, including hitting one onto the top of the 108-year-old brick warehouse.

“Yeah, it did kind of feel like the Home Run Derby,” Stanton said.

Three innings later, Jones leaped and reached over the fence in the deepest part of the park in rightcenter to rob Machado of a home run. Machado tipped his helmet to Jones.

“I’m still in kind of shock that I even got to that ball,” said Jones, who played at Morse High about 8 miles east of Petco. “I mean, off the bat I’m just like, ‘This ball’s hit really far, so just keep going, keep going.

You know this California air’s going to slow it down and just never quit.’

That’s just the style I play with. I don’t mind running into a wall or two. I just kept going after the ball.

“I saw the replay after the game. It was a hell of catch,” he added.

Robinson Cano then homered to left to pull the Dominican Republic to 4-3.

Andrew McCutchen gave Team USA some breathing room with a two-run double in the eighth, and Luke Gregerson pitched a perfect ninth to close it out.

This is the second time in four editions of the WBC that the United States has advanced to the semifinals. It lost to Japan in 2009.

The Dominican players, who rallied to beat the United States one week earlier in Miami in the first round, will disperse back to big league camps. They finished 1-2 in the second round after going 3-0 in the opening round.

Earlier on Saturday, Puerto Rico completed a 3-0 run through Pool F by beating Venezuela 13-2. Puerto Rico clinched first place in the pool with a 6-5 victory against the United States on Friday night and will play the Netherlands in the semifinals Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

The championship game is Wednesday night.

Brandon Crawford hit a two-out single to left-center ahead of Stanton’s homer, which was estimated at 403 feet and chased Dominican starter Ervin Santana.The Dominicans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on an RBI double

by Cano and an RBI single

by Carlos Santana. One run was unearned due to Crawford’s throwing error at shortstop. Crawford threw out Nelson Cruz trying to score on Starling Marte’s grounder, though.

The United States tied it in the third on Ian Kinsler’s RBI grounder and Christian Yelich’s run-scoring double.

The Dominicans had three more scoring chances but failed each time.

Gregory Polanco singled and Welington Castillo doubled to open the second before Danny Duffy retired the side.

They threatened again in the fifth when Machado hit a leadoff single to chase Duffy. Cruz hit a one-out double off Pat Neshek, who then retired Carlos Santana on a popup and struck out Marte.

Neshek pumped his fists as he walked off the mound.

“This was a very difficult game,” Dominican Republic manager Tony Pena said.

“You have (eight) players on base and we couldn’t do the best. I feel very proud of each one of them.

I won’t point to any one of them. Simply the U.S. team (made) the right pitches at that particular time frame and that’s what cost us the game.”

Duffy allowed two runs, one earned, and six hits in four-plus innings. He struck out one and walked one.

Ervin Santana gave up four runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked none.q

A22

Monday 20 March 2017

SPORTS

GGG has options, options, options

BARRY WILNER AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Options, options and more options.

All the talk if Gennady Golovkin successfully defended his middleweight titles against Danny Jacobs was centered on GGG finally getting in the ring with Canelo Alvarez. Now, there might be another big-money possibility after Saturday night’s close decision win: a rematch with Jacobs.

Actually, Golovkin most likely will next fight England’s Billy Joe Saunders, who owns the only belt in the weight class not in the Kazakh’s possession, the WBO’s version in the alphabet soup of championships. That could happen in Golovkin’s home country in June during the EXPO 2017 - a world’s fair type event .

Golovkin likes that idea, though it wouldn’t be a lucrative payday. The idea of completely unifying all the middleweight crowns is enticing for the 34-yearold power puncher who, for the first time in 24 fights did not stop an opponent.

He outpointed a crafty Jacobs at Madison Square Garden.

“My goal is all the belts in the middleweight division,” he said after winning 115112 on two cards, 114-113 on another. “Of course, Billy Joe is the last one. It is my dream.”

GGG hasn’t fought at home since 2010, when he won the WBA crown against Nilson Julio Tapia. It simply hasn’t been a profitable place for boxing, though his handlers think there potentially could be a bigger purse during the expo.

The Alvarez matchup, should the Mexican beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in

Gennady Golovkin, of Kazakhstan, celebrates after winning a middleweight boxing match against Daniel Jacobs, left, ealry Sunday, March 19, 2017, in New York.

Associated Press

May, is where the big bucks are. That’s been true, however, for several years, and putting together such a fight has been elusive.

Tom Loeffler, GGG’s promoter, repeated many times after the Jacobs fight that he believes Golovkin-Alvarez can happen before the end of 2017.

Several of his listeners responded, basically, with a “We’ve heard that before” mantra.

“I believe both sides want this fight and we are getting closer to it,” Loeffler said.

His boxer was asked in the ring Saturday night after the exhausting bout with Jacobs to discuss meeting Alvarez, the super welterweight champion whose

only defeat in 43 fights was to Floyd Mayweather in 2013.

“Of course I am ready to fight Canelo. Of course I want that fight,” Golovkin said. “I am like an animal for that fight.”

The elephant in the ring, though, could be Jacobs.

Nicknamed “Miracle Man,” after overcoming bone cancer in 2011-12 to win 10 straight fights, he nearly pulled off the huge upset.

In doing so by keeping GGG off-balance — Jacobs’ periodically switching to a left-handed style was a very effective tactic — and closing with a flourish, He put himself in the mix for another go with Golovkin.

“They want the big fight

and Daniel Jacobs got X’d out,” he said. “I am looking forward to the future; I think I gained a lot of fans.

My style is good, I am a fanfriendly guy, and I thought I won the fight.”

Jacobs didn’t, barely. But he won tons of support, particularly after getting off the canvas in the fourth round and not just surviving but prospering. He won the last three rounds with two of the judges, and two of three on the other card.

“After the knockdown, I told him he had to kill me,”

Jacobs said. “When I got up I thought, ‘This is all he has?’ There were many times during the fight I went toe to toe because I knew I could.”

Going toe to toe with GGG again is not in Jacobs’ control. But at least he remains in the conversation.

“He’s my best opponent, he is very smart, he had very good boxing skill,” Golovkin said. “He don’t mind fighting, he doesn’t lose control.

“I am ready for anybody.

It’s my job.”q

TECHNOLOGY A23

Monday 20 March 2017

Telecom policy tilts in favor of industry under Trump’s FCC TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Trumpism is slowly taking hold on your phone and computer, as newly installed federal regulators begin chipping away at hard-fought protections on privacy and competition.

These protections, put in place during the Obama administration, had upset the phone and cable industries. The new regime at the Federal Communications Commission says consumers win if businesses face less regulation and have more incentives to invest. But consumer advocates worry these changes give broadband providers that own media businesses more power to favor their own services, among other things.

The changes are small and easily overlooked.

But they’re the first shots in what could turn into a fullfledged war over Obamaera “net neutrality” rules, which were designed to keep phone and cable giants from favoring their own internet services and apps. Overturning these rules would also likely reverse a privacy measure meant to keep broadband providers from using and selling customer data without permission.

“Death by a thousand cuts is a constantly overused cliche, but that’s sort of what they’re aiming for right now,” said Matt Wood, the policy director of consumer group Free Press, referring to the Republicans now in power at the FCC. The agency has five commissioners appointed by the president and oversees internet services and the broadcast industry.

DEATH TO NET NEUTRALITY

It’s no secret President Donald Trump’s hand-picked FCC chief, Ajit Pai, wants to cut regulations that he believes are holding back faster, cheaper internet.

Pai takes special aim at net neutrality rules, which regulate broadband as a utility and bar providers from playing favorites by offering speedier access to, say, their own streaming-video services. Pai considers these rules a mistake that slows investment in internet infrastructure. His goal is to expand internet access, especially in rural areas where choices are limited.

But an aggressive overhaul of net neutrality could be politically and legally difficult. For a telecom policy, net neutrality is popular with consumers, drawing attention from comedian John Oliver and spurring people to flood the FCC with roughly 4 million comments (not all in support, of course). A federal appeals court upheld the rules in June. This may explain why the FCC has so far opted for a piecemeal attack — an approach that may continue for a while.

NIBBLING AROUND THE EDGES A broad attack on the landmark 2015 net neutrality rules is expected. But under Pai, the FCC has made only some tweaks to the agency’s approach. These rules have barred broadband providers from blocking and slowing some websites and creating faster access for their own services. But the rules also gave the FCC broader powers to stop telecom companies from hurting competition and consumers in other ways that weren’t spelled out.

When Barack Obama was

president, the FCC used those broader powers to go after “zero-rating” plans, which give subscribers free data so long as they stick with their carrier’s own streaming-TV service, like AT&T’s DirecTV Now .

Zero rating may be popular with consumers — hey, free data! — but the FCC under Obama had argued that letting internet providers play favorites undermines streaming-video competition and ultimately leaves consumers worse off. After Pai took office, the FCC reversed that stance and gave a thumbs-up to AT&T and other carriers with zero-rating policies.

The agency also exempted additional smaller broadband providers from a net neutrality regulation that required companies to spell out their pricing, such as specifying how long promotional rates last and whether services capped monthly data usage.

Until the FCC or Congress goes full-bore on net neutrality, the agency will likely “stand down” from enforcing it unless there’s a “really extreme” violation, said Marc Martin, technology and telecom attorney with Perkins Coie.

ONLINE PRIVACY REDO The agency has also blocked part of a broadband privacy measure that requires companies like Comcast and Verizon to take “reasonable measures” to secure customer information like financial data or web browsing histories.

The remaining privacy rules, which aren’t in effect yet, are now under threat. Under these rules, phone and cable companies must ask permission

In this Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, file photo, Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Ajit Pai speaks during an open hearing and vote on “Net Neutrality” in Washington.

Associated Press

before using or selling your data. Phone and cable companies have complained that these rules are tougher than what internet-advertising behemoths like Google and Facebook face. Pai says he wants to work with the Federal Trade Commission, another D.C. regulator, to come up with broadband privacy rules that are more in line with the laxer standards for internet companies.

Republicanlawmakers have proposed spiking them completely. Democrats say that would leave consumers vulnerable and allow companies like Verizon or AT&T able to sell consumer information to advertisers. There are vaguer privacy requirements that still apply under the net neutrality rules, but the agency may be loath to enforce them, Martin said. And the net neutral-

ity rules are expected to be undone in any case.

BROADBAND ACCESS AND PRISON PHONE RATES Other efforts that were intended to address inequities, like the high cost of prison phone calls and broadband for lower-income people, are seen as endangered.

The agency refused to defend in court an FCC rule that capped rates for instate calls made to people in prison. And it has limited the availability of government-subsidized internet service for poorer Americans by pulling nine providers from a program called Lifeline. The agency cited concerns about fraud and waste. The FCC says Lifeline still had dozens of companies offering discounted broadband as of December. The FCC may be open to reconsidering its decision.q

A24 BUSINESS

Monday 20 March 2017

Smart Money:

Coming soon, paying your tab without giving your credit card

KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s 1 a.m. You’ve had a few too many at a crowded bar and walk out without paying the tab. Your credit card and driver’s license sit behind the cash register, leaving your personal info widely accessible while you sleep off those vodka tonics.

There’s a new option that might lessen the pain. Not the hangover pain — for that, you’ll need aspirin.

But if you’ve ever left your credit card at a bar by mistake, or spent several minutes trying to flag down a harried bartender to close you out, there may be a new option.

An upgrade being rolled out this summer to Mastercard’s mobile payments service will let people open, manage and close their tabs at participating bars and taverns completely through their phones, without having to hand over a credit card. The Open Tab feature, available in the U.S. and the U.K., will be an upgrade to Mastercard’s

This photo demonstrates some of the new features of the Qkr with Masterpass mobile payments service. The upgrade being rolled out during the summer of 2017 will let people open, manage and close their tabs at participating bars and taverns completely through their phones, without having to hand over a credit card.

(Courtesy of Mastercard via AP)

existing Qkr mobile payment service.

“We heard from so many bars and pubs who always have a number of credit cards left at the end of the evening, and we thought, ‘we know how to address this,’” said Betty DeVita, the business head of Mastercard’s Qkr platform. De-

Vita also cited Mastercard survey data that it takes on average 12 to 15 minutes to close out a bill, time that could be used to serve more tables and customers.

The service will be free to customers and the service will cost the same for bars and restaurants as their normal credit card processing costs, DeVita said.

While Mastercard is rolling out the feature, Qkr will work with any major credit card as long as the merchant accepts it.

Popular apps like Venmo, Square Cash and bankspecific versions like Chase QuickPay have already changed the dynamic in how some people are paying for things. The payment services that let people

send each other money for free via their phones mean you can quickly pay a friend back for a drink or divide the dinner check instead of just hoping that someday soon the friend will take a turn.

Those have the benefit of working at any restaurant, but don’t have the ability to split bills until after the fact.

The new bar tab option on Qkr is fairly straightforward.

Customers can open the Qkr or the bar’s app, and set up a tab, entering their credit card information if they hadn’t already done so. Once the tab is ready, customers would get a table number, which they’d give to the bartender each time they order a drink.

When they’re ready to go, customers can close out their tabs in the app. There are options to add other people to the tab, much like how a person can split a fare on Uber, as well as the ability to pay for individual drinks or pay for rounds of drinks.q

BUSINESS A25

Monday 20 March 2017

L.L. Bean’s sales level in 2016 as company weathers boycott

An early version of the Maine Hunting Shoe is displayed at the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine, Friday, March 17, 2017. The company reported a slight increase in sales for 2016 and said this weekend that employees will be given a 3 percent annual bonus. The family-owned company said annual net sales last year were $1.6 billion.

(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — Outdoors specialty retailer L.L. Bean says sales were flat for a second straight year in 2016 — a year in which the family-owned

company weathered a boycott over a relative’s political contributions in support of President Donald Trump.

Revenues reached $1.6

billion for the fiscal year.

The Freeport-based company had been on a run of five consecutive years of growth before 2015.

The L.L. Bean family and

board of directors approved a 3 percent cash performance bonus to its approximately 6,000 workers, the company announced this weekend.

“While it has been a challenging year in the retail environment, our employees delivered world class service and products to our customers,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO. The year marked continued growth in sales of the company’s iconic boot — but also controversy surrounding an L.L. Bean board member’s political contributions.

The Federal Election Commission questioned whether a $60,000 donation by Linda Bean, founder Leon Leonwood Bean’s greatgranddaughter, to a political action committee supporting Trump exceeded limits.

But the PAC’s chairman cited a paperwork error and said it was supposed to be registered as a super PAC

with unlimited donations.

Updated reports indicated that her donations were overstated and that she actually gave $25,000.

The reports and an ensuing call for a boycott amounted to unwanted attention for a 105-year company that tries to be apolitical.

The company had declined to say if the publicity hurt sales.

Looking ahead, L.L. Bean plans to cut costs by freezing pensions and offering voluntary early retirements, and company officials say they are going to re-examine its generous shipping and return policies. The company expects to trim the workforce by about 500 workers through early retirement incentives next year, officials have said.

It’s part of a broader look at all aspects of the business. Smith said the company is trying to return to the stronger growth that it experienced in the 1980s and 1990s so it can invest.q

Asia remains the crown jewel for Tiffany during strong 4Q NEW YORK (AP) — Profits at Tiffany & Co. slipped 3 percent in the fourth quarter due to flagging U.S. sales, but strong demand in China and Japan pushed the luxury jeweler past Wall Street expectations and its shares rose sharply in trading Friday.

Tiffany has struggled with weakening sales in its biggest market as Americans and tourists spend less at U.S. locations, including its flagship store on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue next to Trump Tower.

CEO Frederic Cumenal, who was brought in to revitalize the brand, resigned last month after less than two years on the job.

Tiffany’s fourth-quarter sales in the Americas fell 3 percent compared with the same period last year.

Sales at the 5th Avenue location tumbled 7 percent.

The location, a must-stop for many tourists and New Yorkers looking to spend, has been impeded by the security barricades around

President Donald Trump’s personal home, according to Tiffany.

On the flip side, sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 9 percent, thanks to stronger demand in China. And sales in Japan jumped 15 percent.

Overall, the company

reported net income of $157.8 million, or $1.26 per share, in the three months ending Jan. 31, compared with $163.2 million, or $1.28 per share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Adjusted for asset impairment costs, per-share earns were $1.45, beating the

per-share earnings of $1.37 that industry analysts had expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue rose 1 percent to $1.23 billion, just edging out industry analyst projections.

For the year, the New York company had a profit of

$446.1 million, or $3.55 per share. Revenue was $4 billion. For fiscal year 2017, the company expects its earnings and revenue to rise, but did not provide specific numbers.

Its stock rose $2.44, or 2.7 percent, to close Friday at $92.42.q

A26 COMICS

Monday 20 March 2017

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Saturday’s puzzle answer

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

CLASSIFIED A27

Monday 20 March 2017

Canadian wins $1M teacher prize for work with Inuit AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Canadian school teacher who encourages hope and acts of kindness in an isolated corner of Quebec won a $1 million prize Sunday in what has become one of the most high-profile awards for teaching excellence.

Maggie MacDonnell was awarded the annual Global Teacher Prize during a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, beating out thousands of applicants from around the world.

She has worked for the past six years in a remote Arctic village called Salluit teaching middle and high schoolers. According to her biography, Salluit is home to the second-northernmost Inuit indigenous community in Quebec, with a population of just over 1,300, and can only be reached by air.

Speaking to The Associated Press after her win, MacDonnell said she plans to use the prize money to continue helping the community in Salluit by establishing an environmental stewardship program to reconnect youth with many of their cultural traditions.

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Canadian school teacher Maggie MacDonnell receives the Global Teacher Prize from Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 19, 2017. MacDonnell whose teaching philosophy underscores hope and acts of kindness in an isolated corner of Quebec won a $1 million prize in what has become one of the most-coveted and high-profile awards for teaching excellence.

MacDonnell beat out thousands of applicants from around the world.

(AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil)

ally that they be treated with the dignity that they deserve.”Her perseverance to continue teaching in the remote area, where many teachers leave their post midway through the year, made her a standout for the award. MacDonnell created a number of programs for boys and girls, including job mentorship and funds to assist with healthy meals. Her approach focuses on encouraging “acts of kindness,” such as running a community kitchen and attending suicide prevention training.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al

Maktoum was on hand to present the prize to MacDonnell. Her name was announced by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet in a video message from the International Space Station.

The prize was established three years ago to recognize one exceptional teacher a year who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, employs innovative classroom practices and encourages others to join the teaching profession.

MacDonnell was among many finalists flown to Dubai to attend the ceremony. q

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A28 SCIENCE

Monday 20 March 2017

To aid ferrets, vaccine treats planned for prairie dogs MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Feeding peanut butter kibbles to millions of prairie dogs — by flinging the treats from four-wheelers and dropping them from drones — could be the next big thing to help a spunky little weasel that almost went extinct.

Slinky with a robber-like black mask across its eyes, the endangered blackfooted ferret is a fierce predator. The up to 2-footlong weasel feeds almost exclusively on prairie dogs, rodents that live in vast colonies regularly decimated by plague outbreaks.

The disease keeps threatening the food supply of ferrets bred in captivity and reintroduced on the landscape. Biologists are increasingly optimistic that feeding plague vaccine to prairie dogs can improve the ferrets’ success rate.

Starting this fall, they hope to ramp up recent plague vaccination experiments to cover as much as 40 square miles of prairie dog

In this Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, file photo, Federal Communication Commission Commissioner Ajit Pai speaks during an open hearing and vote on “Net Neutrality” in Washington.

Associated Press

colonies in several states in the West. “We’re not attempting to eradicate it.

That would be very, very difficult at this point. We’re just trying to manage it on selected colonies,” said Tonie Rocke, who researches animal diseases with the U.S. Geological

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Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin. They plan to treat prairie dog colonies with blueberry-sized vaccine pellets made with peanut butter, using a specially made “glorified gumball machine” to fling the pellets from all-terrain vehicles. They might also drop pellets from drones to avoid trampling the countryside. “Prairie dogs love it.

They gobble it up as fast as they can,” said John Emmerich, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish Department deputy director who chairs Black-Footed Ferret Friends, a group working with the U.S. Fish and Wild-

life Service on the project.

At a rate of 40 to 50 pellets per acre, Emmerich figures they will need 1 million or more pellets for the job. A U.S. Department of Agriculture supply depot in Pocatello, Idaho, that also makes rodent poison for farmers will manufacture the pellets. Plague, which killed millions of people in medieval Europe, wasn’t a problem for prairie dogs until it arrived in the U.S. over a century ago. The disease now routinely cycles through prairie dog colonies across the ferrets’ 12-state historical range.

Habitat loss to farming and poisoning by ranchers also

has taken a toll on prairie dogs — and by extension the black-footed ferret, which lives in the rodents’ burrows. The ferrets were believed extinct until a ranch dog brought home a dead one near Meeteetse, Wyoming, in 1981.

Beginning in the 1990s, efforts to breed black-footed ferrets at a facility near Fort Collins, Colorado, and release them into the wild have been successful in the sense that the blackfooted ferret is no longer teetering on the brink.

Black-footed ferrets recently have been introduced at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver and to the Meeteetse ranch where scientists collected the last known wild ferrets to start the captivebreeding program. Descendants of those ferrets have been reintroduced at 28 sites and eight states, Canada and Mexico.

But plague, which is spread by fleas, remains a threat to the prairie dog colonies where ferrets live, said Fish and Wildlife spokesman Ryan Moehring.

Biologists often treat the colonies with insecticide to combat fleas. Plague vaccine likewise would need to be applied regularly — once a year, because prairie dogs typically don’t live more than a few years, and new ones are born every year. q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Monday 20 March 2017

‘Beauty and the Beast’ roars with monstrous $170M debut JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Disney’s live-action “Beauty” was a beast at the box office, opening with an estimated $170 million in North American ticket sales and setting a new high mark for family movies.

“Beauty and the Beast” blew past the previous record-holder for G- or PGrated releases, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Last year, Disney’s “Finding Dory” debuted with a then-PG-best $135 million.

“Beauty and the Beast” felled many other records, too. It’s the year’s top opening so far and a new best for March releases, and it ranks seventh alltime, not accounting for inflation.

The film, made for about $160 million, is the latest effort by Disney to re-create one of its animated classics with live action and digital effects. The makeover of the 1991 Oscar-winning film follows previous live-action remakes such as “Alice in Wonderland,” ‘’Cinderella,” ‘’Maleficent” and last year’s “The Jungle Book.”

Many more are on the way, too, including those for “Dumbo,” ‘’Mulan,” ‘’Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”

“Nostalgia is a very powerful driver for these films,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney.

“What’s exciting here is there is an opportunity to see these beloved stories in a way that’s never been seen before, but you get to build that on the foundation of something that’s very familiar.

“But you don’t get to $170 million because of nostalgia,” Hollis added. “You have to ultimately make these movies great.”

“Beauty and the Beast,” directed by Bill Condon and starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, found widespread acclaim and some backlash for including what has been called Disney’s first openly gay character. Josh Gad plays Gaston’s sidekick, LeFou, who has a very brief “exclusively gay moment,” as

This image released by Disney shows Dan Stevens as The Beast in a live-action adaptation of the animated classic “Beauty and the Beast.”

Associated Press

Condon described it, late in the film.

Though many applauded the character’s subtle twist as overdue progress, some

derided it.

An Alabama drive-in theater canceled showings before owners screened the film. And after Malay-

sian censors required an edit of the scene, Disney pulled the film from release in the predominantly Muslim nation. An appeal is to

be heard this week.

None of that dragged down the movie’s massive opening. It took in $180 million overseas, including $44.8 million in China, Disney said.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore, said any backlash may have only helped “Beauty and the Beast,” which he predicts will eventually top $1 billion globally.

“As quote-unquote controversies go, this was a real tempest in a teapot,” Dergarabedian said. “This obviously had zero impact on the movie. In fact, those who raise awareness of a movie for whatever reason are generally only helping that movie do better business.q

A30 PEOPLE

Monday 20 March 2017

& ARTS

Jimmy Breslin, chronicler of wise guys and underdogs, dies VERENA DOBNIK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Breslin scored one of his best-remembered interviews with President John F. Kennedy’s grave-digger and once drove straight into a riot where he was beaten to his underwear.

In a writing career that spanned six decades, the columnist and author became the brash embodiment of the street-smart

New Yorker, chronicling wise guys and big-city power brokers but always coming back to the toils of ordinary working people.

Breslin, who died Sunday at 88, was a fixture for decades in New York journalism, notably with the New York Daily News, and he won a Pulitzer Prize for pieces that, among others, exposed police torture in Queens and took a sympathetic look at the life of an

In this Nov. 2, 2004, file photo, author-columnist Jimmy Breslin poses for a photo in his New York apartment.

Associated Press

AIDS patient.

“His was the triumph of the local, and to get the local right, you have to get how people made a living, how they got paid, how they didn’t get paid, and to be able to bring it to life,” said Pete Hamill, another famed New York columnist who in the 1970s shared an office with Breslin at the Daily News. “Jimmy really admired people whose favorite four-letter word was work,” said Hamill, speaking from New Orleans.

Breslin died at his Manhattan home of complications from pneumonia, according to his stepdaughter, Emily Eldridge.

It was the rumpled Breslin who mounted a quixotic political campaign for citywide office in the 1960s; who became the Son of Sam’s regular correspondent in the 1970s; who exposed the city’s worst corruption scandal in decades in the 1980s; who was pulled from a car and nearly stripped naked by Brooklyn rioters in the 1990s.

With his uncombed mop of hair and sneering Queens accent, Breslin was a confessor and town crier and sometimes seemed like a character right out of his own work. And he didn’t mind telling you. “I’m the best person ever to have a column in this business,”

he once boasted. “There’s never been anybody in my league.”

He was an acclaimed author, too. “The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight” was his comic account of warring Brooklyn mobsters that was made into a 1971 movie. “Damon Runyon: A Life” was an account of another famous New York newsman, and “I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me” was a memoir.

Breslin was “an intellectual disguised as a barroom primitive,” wrote Jack Newfield and Wayne Barrett in their book “City for Sale.”

He acknowledged being prone to fits of bad temper.

After spewing ethnic slurs at a Korean-American coworker in 1990, Breslin apologized by writing, “I am no good and once again I can prove it.”

But under the tough, belligerent personality was someone else — a son whose hard-drinking father left home when he was 6 to get a loaf of bread and never returned, Hamill said.

Breslin’s mother supported the family by working as a welfare system administrator, raising the boy along with her two sisters.

“The gruff personality was a mask a guy would don to get through the day,” Hamill said. “Under the mask, what you found at his core

was being raised by women, so life is more complicated than a punch in the jaw.” In the 1980s, he won both the Pulitzer for commentary and the George Polk Award for metropolitan reporting. The Pulitzer committee noted that Breslin’s columns “consistently championed ordinary citizens.” A few days after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, he wrote of the dwindling hopes for families. “The streets have been covered with pictures and posters of missing people,” he wrote. “The messages on the posters begging for help. Their wife could be in a coma in a hospital. The husband could be wandering the street. Please look. My sister could have stumbled out of the wreckage and taken to a hospital that doesn’t know her.

Help. Call if you see her. But now it is the ninth day and the beautiful sad hope of the families seems more like denial.” In other columns, Breslin presented an array of recurring characters — Klein the Lawyer, Shelly the Bail Bondsman, Un Occhio the mob boss. They seemed to blur the line between fact and fiction, until the first pair became key figures in Breslin’s 1986 exclusive on the multimilliondollar Parking Violations Bureau scandal.q

PEOPLE&ARTS

A31

Monday 20 March 2017

Friend: Chuck Berry’s 1st album in decades is ‘sensational’

In this Nov. 13, 2007 file photo, legendary U.S. musician Chuck Berry performs on stage at the Avo Session in Basel, Switzerland.

Associated Pres

JOSH FUNK Associated Press Chuck Berry’s death came just weeks before the debut single off his first new studio album in nearly four decades was scheduled to go on sale, a friend of the rock ‘n’ roll legend said.

Joe Edwards, the owner of the Blueberry Hill club in St. Louis where Berry per-

formed regularly, said the tracks he has heard off the upcoming album, titled “CHUCK,” are “sensational.”

“What a genius,” Edwards said Saturday. “I just miss him like crazy. I miss his laugh.”

While studios often release tribute albums of classics or unused material after

an artist dies, Berry’s upcoming album featuring mostly original songs was announced in October.

His last new studio album, “Rock It,” was released in 1979.

The 90-year-old Berry died Saturday at his home near St. Louis. Berry’s classic songs “Johnny B. Goode” and “Roll Over Beethoven” echoed throughout The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Sunday as it paid tribute to the musician.

“Anybody who’s picked up a guitar has been influenced by him,” said rock hall CEO Greg Harris, who remembers playing the opening riff of “Johnny B. Goode” over and over again as budding teen guitarist.

In addition to Berry’s notes, Harris said his lyrics spoke about teenage life and social issues in the 1950s.

“It’s why when we think of the greats and the fore-

fathers, his name is right there,” Harris said.

Berry drew praise all corners after his death including a tweet from former President Barack Obama.

“Chuck Berry rolled over everyone who came before him - and turned up everyone who came after.

We’ll miss you, Chuck. Be good,” Obama wrote.

Berry was the first artist in the inaugural 1986 class to go into the rock hall, and

he closed out its concert in 1995 to celebrate the building’s opening in Cleveland.

The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards said at Berry’s induction ceremony that Berry was the one who started it all.Funeral arrangements hadn’t been announced Sunday. One of Berry’s representatives, Matt Hanks, said he didn’t have any new information about the release plans for the “Chuck” album.q