10,000 YEAR CAMPOUT, P. 35
Carnival
Might
Calm
Venezuela
Page 37
VOL 23 NO. 240
Friday, February 28, 2014
Veteran politician Marcel Gumbs speaks at the USM public lecture entitled “Before you Postulate, Educate.”
(Rajesh Chintaman photo)
PHILIPSBURG--Know yourself
and learn to control yourself.
Get the support of your family
and friends. Know the Constitution. These were at the top of the
checklist veteran politician Marcel Gumbs gave for people considering a career in politics.
In his public lecture at University of St. Martin (USM), entitled
“Before you Postulate, Educate,”
Gumbs zoomed in on the elections ordinance, the law on the
registration and financing of political parties, the Constitution,
the practical workings of Parliament and the responsibilities and
rights of parliamentarians.
All candidates should know the
content of the laws and scenarios
to which they apply. “You have
to know what’s in the law and be
able to carry a healthy debate. …
Continued on page 8
IN BRIEF
Philipsburg
VESUVIUS
APPEAL
The Joint Court of Justice heard the
appeal of Vesuvius-case accomplice
Andrew Selvin Davis (32) on Thursday. Page 3.
Philipsburg
‘SAME LOVE’ FOR
ST. MAARTEN
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams has called on citizens of the
Dominican Republic who call St.
Maarten home to apply the “same
love they have for their heritage to
their adopted home.” Page 3.
STATIANS
JAILED
The Court of First Instance in Bonaire
sentenced two residents of St. Eustatius for sex with minors. Page 7.
PHILIPSBURG--The
Democratic Party (DP) told their party faithful and newcomers on
Thursday evening, that the “red
thread” that connected them and
St. Maarten for sixty years is still
in place, and the party aims to
move “fast forward” with steadfast leadership in further developing St. Maarten.
At the event held at Sonesta
Great Bay Resort, DP leader and
Prime Minister Sarah WescotWilliams also launched the party’s
Continued on page 8
U.S. 0.75 CENTS / NAf. 1.50 / EC$ 1.75
PHILIPSBURG--The 37 organic
laws stemming from the Constitution, the explanatory memorandum to the Constitution and
a glossary have been translated
into British English. All translated legislations are now available
on government’s website –www.
sintmaartengov.org – along with
Dutch version.
The English translations are not
binding in court. The original
(Dutch) version of the laws will
be used and referred to in court
case as Dutch is the official language used by the court. British
English was used for the translations as it is the same as used by
the Council of Ministers.
Prime Minister Sarah WescotWilliams and Head of the Legal
Continued on page 9
MARIGOT--Some 28 young
people, unemployed and without
qualifications, have been recruited by three associations and one
business into an insertion programme directed by the Collectivité that offers them work and a
chance to reintegrate into society.
They were presented at a press
conference in the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry on
Wednesday.
The Collectivité launched a
bid for interested associations,
described as an insertion programme for the environment, last
October. The young people, who
started work in January, are on
one-year contracts which can be
renewed twice. The State contributes 75 per cent towards the pay
and the Collectivité 25 per cent,
but the associations have to take
care of the social security details.
The objective is to encourage
them also to enter training programmes and hopefully start
their own businesses.
Association Sandy Ground on
the Move Insertion, SXM Horizon, Association de Insertion et
Développement de St. Martin
(AIDSM), and a business EME,
are the four organisations that responded to the bid. The 28 young
people, who were all presented in
their clothes representing their
associations, will be engaged in
the cleaning of the island specifically the beaches, cemetery
of Marigot, main roads, and the
market areas of Marigot and
French Quarter.
President of the Collectivité
Aline Hanson, Vice Presidents
Guillaume Arnell and Ramona
Connor were present to give advice to the 28 recruits. Director of
the Collectivité’s anti-delinquency department Patrick Hénocq
introduced the elected officials.
The work the recruits will be
engaged in fits perfectly with the
Collectivité’s wish for a beautifiContinued on page 10
AIR & OCEAN WE’VE
GOT THE MOTION
Editorial
2
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Once again
Member of the
Inter American Press Association
Published by
The Caribbean Herald NV
Bush Road 22
St. Maarten
Dutch Caribbean
P.O.Box 828
CoC # 6997.0
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President
R.F.Snow
Managing Director
Mary Jane Hellmund
Publisher/ Managing Director
Paul De Windt
Editorial
Gordon H. Snow
(Managing Editor)
Rajesh Chintaman
(Night Editor)
Margaret Brooks
(Email Editor)
Judy Fitzpatrick
Alita Singh
John van Kerkhof
Michael Granger
Thomas A. Burnett Jr. (Sports)
John Halley (photos)
Marie Brown (assis.)
Correction
Saresa Gray
Sharon van Arneman
Lesley Vieira
Clive Hodge
Phyllis Meit
Doran Joseph
Kathren Weeks
Correspondents
Suzanne Koelega (Neth.)
Brenda Carty (Anguilla)
Althea Merkman (Statia)
Teodor Stan (Saba)
Bob Morgan(Saba-photo)
Robert Luckock (St. Martin)
Lay-Out
Richard James
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Operations Manager/
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Steven De Windt
Office Manager
Mijke Stenz
Rosalie Davis (assis.)
Accounting
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Advertising
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Special Editions
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Reception
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CALLING
THE DAILY HERALD
ST. MAARTEN
Telephone
542-5253/542-5597/
542-0931/543-7236
FAX 542-5913
E-Mail:
dherald@sintmaarten.net
advertising@thedailyherald.com
editorial@thedailyherald.com
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ANGUILLA/264-497-3138
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416-2381/416-2881(sales)
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STATIA
318-2401/318-2936/
fax 318-2136
WEATHER
Today: Fair to partly cloudy and breezy, with brief passing showers
possible.
Winds: East to East-Southeast, 10-18mph, with higher gusts possible.
Sea conditions: Light to moderate.
Seas: 3-5 feet.
Forecast high: 28°C 82°F
Forecast low: 24°C 75°F
SYNOPSIS: The Atlantic high-pressure ridge will continue to dominate the weather pattern across the region. Expect fair to partly
cloudy skies with moderate East to East-Southeast winds to prevail
over the local area during this forecast period. Sea conditions will
be light to moderate for the remainder of the week.
Outlook until Saturday evening: Fair to partly cloudy and breezy,
with no significant precipitation.
Sunrise: 6:32am.
Sunset: 6:18pm.
SMART PLAY
SXM DAILY NUMBERS
CURAÇAO
not
received
not
received
not
received
Results displayed are provided as a service to readers of The Daily Herald and are QRWRI¿FLDO.
With the agreed-on five-year evaluation of the new constitutional relations within the Dutch Kingdom per 10-10-10 due
in 2015, particularly politicians on both sides of the Atlantic
Ocean have started discussing what may be the final outcome
of this exercise. The topic also is bound to come up during the
biannual inter-parliamentary kingdom consultations IPOK
this summer, for which St. Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba plan
a preparatory tripartite meeting on the latter island in May.
When considering any meaningful changes in the former Antilles, including the three new overseas special public entities
of the Netherlands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (the BES
islands), it should be kept in mind how much time and effort
went into realising the current setup.
Countless documents were written and meetings held on the
constitutional structure since Aruba gained its separate status
in 1986 almost three decades ago. It took two referenda on all
the other five islands and even one more in Curaçao to reach
this point.
Although there undoubtedly have been problems since the reforms went into effect close to four years ago and one certainly can see room for improvement, most residents appeared
happy the never-ending debate on the issue was over at least
for now. To open up that can of worms again without a really
good reason probably would not meet with overwhelming enthusiasm, unless the alternative is much better – and feasible.
That doesn’t seem likely, especially because the government
in The Hague will have to give its blessings to anything that
entails remaining in the kingdom, which the majority of citizens on all six islands still support also in terms of keeping
their Dutch passports. The bottom line is that any major shift
in status also would require approval of the respective populations and once again “going back to the people” by consulting
the voters.
Agenda St. Maarten / St. Martin
Date Vessel
Feb. 28 Celebrity Equinox
Feb. 28 Oceana
Place Arrival
Pier 8:00
Pier 8:00
ST. MAARTEN
POLICE STATION
Philipsburg tel. 542-2222
Simpson Bay tel. 545-5500
HOT LINE 108
EMERGENCY 911
FIRE DEPARTMENT
Tel. 542-6001 or 919
HOSPITAL
Medical Center, Cay Hill
24-hour Emergency Service
tel. 543-1111 or 910
AMBULANCE
Philipsburg tel. 542-2111 or 912
MEDICAL EMERGENCIES
For medical emergencies after clinic hours,
from 6:00 pm - 8:00 am and during weekends
and holidays, all patients of hereunder mentioned family doctors can go to the emergency
room of the St. Maarten Medical Center, tel.:
543-1111 (ext. 1): Dr. A. Arrindell, Dr. F. Bouman, Dr. F. Bus, Dr. H. Deketh, Dr. A. Herles,
Dr. G. van Osch, Dr. G. Spencer, Dr. P. Arrindell, Dr. G. Bryson, Dr. J. Datema, Dr. G.
Foeken, Dr. L. Knol, Dr. A. Raghosing and Dr.
U. Tjaden.
SXM Animal Welfare Foundation Ambulance Team 520-8887
CRIME STOPPERS ANYMOUS TIP LINE:
543-TIPS(8477)
Departure Agent
17:00
Maduro
17:00
Maduro
TELEPHONE INFO
Tel-em: 542-2211
WEATHER INFO: 123
ST. MAARTEN TOURIST OFFICE
Krippa building, Juancho Yrausquin blvd. #6,
tel. +1 721-5490200, fax. +1 721-542-0664
ST MAARTEN ZOO
Madame Estate: tel. 543-2030
Open daily 10 am - 6 pm.
October-March 9 am - 5 pm.
Admission: Adults: $10, kids $5.
COLE BAY COMMUNITY COUNCIL: meeting 1st. Thursday of month at Sun Flower
Kinder Garten School, Union Rd. Cole Bay
at 7:30pm
SERVICE CLUBS
ROTARY ROTARY meeting at Divi Little Bay,
every Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.(Tuscan Restaurant) Rotary Mid Isle meets every Tuesday
7-9 pm, Mary’s Boon, Simpson Bay.
Rotary Sunrise meets every Tuesday at 6:45
am. at Air Lekkerbek. Rotary club St. Martin
Nord meet at the Grand Case Beach Club
Sunday at 8 p.m.
LIONS meeting at the Upper Princess Quarter
Community Centre Lions Den in Sucker Garden every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month
at 7 p.m.
ST.MAARTEN LEO CLUB meeting at the
Lions Den every 1st, 3rd Saturday every
month at 11:00 am
KIWANIS meets at Wifol Building on Thursday
each month at 7.30pm.
Kiwanis Key Club of the St. Maarten Academy meeting at the St. Maarten Academy every
Friday at 1.30 p.m.
KIWANIS SOUALIGA 1st & 3rd Monday
7:00pm Holland House
JCI St. Maarten (JAYCEES) meeting at
the Philipsburg Jubilee Library every last
Wednesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. Business attire required.
PHILIPSBURG TOASTMASTERS CLUB bimonthly sessions every first and third Thursday of every month at the Library conference
room at 8:00 p.m.
ST MARTIN MUSEUM
Frontstreet 7, Philipsburg, tel 542-4917
Opening hours from March 1st:
Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday & Sundays: closed.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Mon-Sat, 6-7pm, Red Cross Building, Airport
Road. Saturday and Sunday at Mullet Bay
beach next to restaurant 8.30-9:30am. Tel.
552-2120 / 544-3203
St. Maarten AIDS Foundation 55 Welfare
road tel +5532626/ +5884636
www.sxmaidsfoundation.org ; Facebook:
sxmaidsfoundation
NATURE FOUNDATION ST. MAARTEN
Tel. 544-4267, Fax. 544-4268.Email: info@
naturefoundationsxm.org
ANIMALS R. FRIENDS
! "! Email: arf_sxm@yahoo.com, www.arfsxm.org
PHILIPSBURG JUBILEE LIBRARY
Ch.E.W.Vogestr. 12, Tel. 542-2970.
Open: Mo: closed, Tu/We: 9-12.30 / 2-8,
Th: 2-8, Fr: 9-12.30 / 2-5, Sa: 10-1.
WOMEN’S DESK, Frontstreet 141 (opposite
Tel-Cell). Monday - Friday 9am-5pm. Tel: 5427940, Fax: 542-7941.
E-mail: womensdesk@sintmaarten.net
SAFE HAVEN, providing shelter and support
to victims of family violence. POB 636; Hotline:
9333; Office 9277; Fax: 9368
CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT, E.C. Richardson
street 11-b; Tel. 542-1000/542-1008; Fax:
542-1001
FRENCH HONORARY CONSUL, POBox
803, Philipsburg. Tel: (00590) 879989. Fax:
(00590) 879625. E-mail: Stanislas.GRAIRE@
wanadoo.fr
COAST GUARD NA&A, (24 HRS): 113
LEGAL AID CENTER, Law Clinic, open every
Saturday 9:00am - 12.00 noon. Free advise
on personal legal issues. Administration Building, tel. 5422337
THE RED CROSS, ST. MAARTEN, Airport
Road, #34 Simpson Bay, Tel. 545-2333/2304,
Fax. 545-5263. Cell. 586-5330 (24/7) Email:
info@redcross-sxm.org
SALVATION ARMY Union Rd 59 Cole Bay
POBox5184 Tel/fax:5445424 (721)544-5424
/ 5534682 email: jona_augusto@hotmail.com
Facebook: SXM Salvation Army
ST.MAARTEN CHAPTER OF BUSINESS
AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN holds their
general monthly meetings every third Monday
at the Delta Hotel at 7:00 pm.
DIABETES
FOUNDATION
OF
ST.
MAARTEN, Free blood-glucose testing every
Thursday from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. at the Philipsburg Pharmacy Voges street, Philipsburg (opposite library). Tel.: 542-3001
USO St. Maarten/St. Martin (USA military),
contact Janet Lambert 5577616 or 00590 590
294406.
SKALCLUB ST. MAARTEN/ST. MARTIN
meets 1st Tuesday of the month. For location
call: 5424432 (Jennifer).
ST. MARTIN
POLICE MUNICIPALE
tel. (00590) 590 87.61.55
GENDARMERIE
tel. (00590) 590 52.30.00/02
FIRE DEPARTMENT
tel. (00590) 590 52.30.40
AMBULANCE
Tel. (00590) 590 52-00-52
Cell. (00590) 690 57-13-28
Fax. (00590) 590 29-08-11
HOSPITAL tel. (00590) 590 52 25 25
DISPENSAIRE Marigot
8 a.m. - 3p.m. tel. (00590) 590 87.50.93
DISPENSAIRE Orléans
8 a.m. - 3 p.m. tel. (00590) 590 87.37.21
C.R.O.S.S. (Center, Research, Organization,
Rescue, Security) is on stand by 24 hours at
0596 709292.
SERVICE CLUBS
ROTARY Club Sunset restaurant, Grand
Case Beach Club every Thursday at
7:45p.m.
LIONS First and third Tuesday at Nadaillac,
Marigot at 7.30 p.m.
KIWANIS: See St. Maarten.
MUSEUM ST. MARTIN
located Fichot Street nr 7 (behind the Catholic
Church) Open from 9am to 1pm, and from 3pm
to 5pm tel. (00590)590 56.78.92.
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
PHILIPSBURG--The Joint
Court of Justice heard the
appeal of Vesuvius-case
accomplice Andrew Selvin
Davis (32) on Thursday.
The Court of First Instance
sentenced Davis to six years
for the preparation of murder, firearm possession and
for membership in a criminal organisation, on November 15, 2012.
Davis told the three Judges of the Court of Appeals
he had filed for appeal because he was innocent. “All
the charges against me are
false,” Davis stated.
He claimed his nickname
“Ratty” had nothing to do
with a bad reputation, but
was a name given to him on
the soccer fields of his native Jamaica.
The Prosecutor’s office,
which had requested a
nine-year prison sentence
against the defendant at the
Court of First Instance, had
also filed for appeal.
On behalf of the Prosecutor’s Office, Solicitor-Gen-
eral Taco Stein presented
a receipt for the purchase
of four mobile phones and
telephone conversations as
evidence of Davis’ involvement in the attempted murder of Omax Bye and Kennedy Fergus in the vicinity
of Tan Tan supermarket in
Dutch Quarter on April 20,
2011.
Stein said Davis should be
acquitted of involvement
in the murder of Eric Lake
and Kevin Gumbs near
Cat’s shopping mall in Madame Estate on August 17,
2011, for lack of evidence.
For the remaining charges,
the Solicitor-General requested nine years.
Davis was among seven
men suspected of membership in a criminal organisation involved with murder;
manslaughter; trafficking
of cocaine and marijuana;
trade in arms and ammunition and car theft.
Gang leader Omar Jones
and hit man Carlos Richardson were both sentenced
to 29 years and 9 months, on
December 20, 2013. Four
other suspects received four
years.
Davis’ case could not be
handled at that time because of a change in his
legal representation. On
Thursday, Davis presented
his defence with attorneyat-law Jason Rogers at his
side.
Davis, who has been residing in St. Maarten since
2001, did not deny he was
friends with Omar Jones.
Their relationship started
in 2007/2008 via his business, the contractor and
salesman of second-hand
cars explained. Davis said
Jones and him had started
socializing and developed
a close friendship over the
years.
He said Jones had confided in him and had informed
him about his involvement
with murder, among which
the killing of Lake and
Gumbs.
Davis told the Court it was
PHILIPSBURG--Prime
Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams has called on citizens
of the Dominican Republic
who call St. Maarten home
to apply the “same love
they have for their heritage
to their adopted home.”
“For those of you who
have been born here and
who belong here you have
all contributed to the development of St. Maarten, but
one thing is for sure; you
have embraced the opportunities that St. Maarten
has had to offer,” the prime
minister said in a press
statement.
She added, “Independence is not only a political state, but it is a mental
and emotional one, and it
is that type of commitment
that you should apply to
your adopted home of St.
Maarten. We should all be
proud of who we are, but
we all should be proud of
the land that you and I call
home; the land which we
want to prosper for the future St. Maarteners so that
they too can be proud to
call our Sweet St. Maarten
Land home.”
Her call was coupled with
congratulations to the government and people of the
Dominican Republic and
members of the Dominicano community living on St.
Maarten on the country’s
Independence Day from
Haiti that was commemorated on February 27.
“We know the struggle
of the Dominican People
during the 19th century to
achieve their independence
and now generations of
Dominicans can look back
with admiration on the first
leaders who made a country of a once colonized nation,” she said in a press
statement.
difficult to witness Jones’
unburdening. “I told him
I didn’t want to hear no
more. The less I knew the
better it was. I didn’t want
to have to lie for a friend
and go to jail for it.”
The two are embroiled
now, but Davis explained
their former good friendship due to the fact that they
had both lost a brother.
Omar Jones’ brother Amador was shot and killed on
April 16, 2011. The murder
ignited a war over supremacy in the drug world in St.
Maarten, which cost four
lives, among those of brothers Miguel and Rodolfo Arrindell, respectively in May
and July 2011.
Solicitor-General Stein
said that under Jones’ leadership the group had tried
to secure supremacy in the
local drug trade by ripping
off competitors. With the
money derived from these
activities they purchased
weapons to commit murder.
In the Prosecutor’s Office’s
opinion, Davis was closely
involved with the planning
of these activities, as Jones’
main advisor.
Davis laughed this off.
“You can hide from a thief,
but you can’t hide from a
liar,” he said using an old
Jamaican proverb.
Despite his close ties with
Omar Jones, Davis said this
did not mean he also was
involved with crime. “I am
a father of three children. I
am a hard worker. The accusations are based on sto-
ries,” he said.
Davis denied he had anything to do with the shooting at Tan Tan. “I have nothing to do with the crime,” he
said, dismissing statements
provided by a co-suspect as
hearsay. “I was at home at
the time,” he said.
The defendant also did not
play any role in the murder at Cat’s, he claimed. “I
was shopping at Le Grand
Marché and going on with
my daily routine,” said Davis.
A rifle, pistol and revolver
were found in a plastic bag,
buried in the yard outside
his apartment in Mary’s
Fancy, on November 16,
2011.
Davis told the Court he
had become enraged when
he found the weapons while
he was cutting the grass a
few days before his arrest.
He said he had become enraged and had told Jones
to remove the weapons or
he would go to the police.
However, Jones told him
Davis was not to be a snitch,
“or you will have to pay the
price.”
After his arrest, Davis
was separated from his cosuspects. He was detained
in the Netherlands for eight
months, after which he returned to St. Maarten and
was held at the Simpson
Bay Police substation, for
safety reasons.
Davis claimed he was
not only the victim of police brutality but was also
stabbed by fellow-detainees
3
while he was sleeping in the
cell he shared with seven inmates.
He said he was stabbed 13
times in his chest and had to
fight for his life in hospital.
“I was in a coma for three
days,” Davis said, who was
placed in solitary confinement since then.
“Where there is smoke,
there doesn’t have to be
fire,” attorney Rogers said
in pleading for his client’s
full acquittal. He said there
was no evidence of his client’s involvement with murder, and dismissed witness’
statements as based on
hearsay.
The firearms found in his
client’s yard were not his.
Also, Davis was never involved with a criminal organisation, Rogers stated.
As is customary, Davis
spoke the last word. “Omar
was my friend, but I am not
responsible for his actions.
I am a law-abiding citizen
and I know what is right
and what is wrong. This has
nothing to do with me. For
sure I am not a gang member,” he said eloquently.
The Joint Court will give its
decision March 19.
4
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Vision of the Youth (VOY) Co-Founder and Head of Professional Development, Ahilya
Shiwgobind, 15 years old, explains VOY’s methodology of “learning, practicing, teaching,
mastering.”
SOUTH REWARD--Vision of the Youth (VOY),
a programme of the Participant Foundation, held
its induction ceremony last
week at MPC. In attendance were approximately
150 secondary students,
parents, educators and supporters.
True to Participant Foundation’s approach of empowering stakeholders to
define their own solutions
to advance their own interests, VOY was Co-Founded
by 10 Secondary school students, who have been meeting since last summer to
define its mission, pledge,
code of conduct, and programmes. The Co-Founders serve on the VOY Administrative Committee.
VOY’s mission is to help
youth find and achieve
their own vision of success.
To this end, VOY empowers its members to graduate from Secondary School
with the highest marks
possible. Members include
55 Peer Teachers, and 10
Peer Counselors who were
trained over a period of
four weeks to support their
peers.
Induction started with a
preview of VOY’s upcoming feature film, “In My
Shoes,” directed by VOY
Co-Founder and Vice President, Jerrisa Wayland, 15
years old, and produced by
InMotion Films.
VOY’s Administrative
Committee then gave a
power point presentation
explaining their Mission,
Pledge, Code of Conduct,
Methodology, Programme
and Schedule for the year.
The evening concluded
with all VOY members
present standing in a semi
circle in front of their parents and teachers, and declaring in unison the VOY
Pledge. The reading was
led by VOY Co-Founder
and CEO, Janice Forbes,
16 years old, the Pledge’s
composer.
VOY Co-Founder and
President, Manaar Mohammed, 16 years old, who
named the organization
and defined its mission noted, “Seeing the different
students hold hands and
recite the pledge brought
tears to my eyes. It was a
comfort to know that we
completed a part of what
we set out to do this year.”
VOY has established its
first two Chapters at Sundial and Milton Peters College. One of the new members from Sundial school
summed up the feeling of
the night, “Vision of the
Youth gave the students of
Sundial a sense of importance, an opportunity to
share their strengths, their
gifts, to simply give something back to their peers
and community at large.”
PHILIPSBURG--Emergency services joined forces on
Wednesday night to rescue
an elderly man who had
climbed down the rocks towards the sea and could not
climb back up.
The police were called to
Little Bay by the man’s family
at 8:15pm and were told that
the man, who suffers from
Parkinson’s disease, had left
the premises at 4:00pm and
had failed to return.
The Coast Guard and the
Sea Rescue were mobilised
alongside the police patrols
to assist in a search for the
man. Within five minutes of
being informed the Coast
Guard was on scene with
a rigid-hull inflatable boat
(RHIB), followed by two super RHIBS and the Poema.
The Coast Guard search
team eventually found the
The winning baby boy, Kaelen Williams, and winning baby
girl, Arianna van Heyningen of The Daily Herald’s Baby
Boom special supplement are pictured here with their parents at the offices of the newspaper on Thursday. Kaelen
and Arianna along with the runners-up of the cutie contest
received the prizes from the various sponsors on Thursday.
The sponsors, runners-up and winners will all get due credit in the Weekender supplement tomorrow.
man sitting on the rocks between Divi Little Bay Beach
Resort and Sonesta Great
Bay Beach Resort, unable
to climb back up to the road.
The Fire Department was
called to the scene to help
the man back up the rocks.
The Coast Guard RHIB
could not go close enough to
the shore to reach the victim,
so a Coast Guard officer suggested that it would be safer
if the man were brought up
to the ship, rather than have
the Fire Department help
him back up the rocks.
The man was incapacitated
and had trouble walking,
so rather than bring him
through the water to reach
the RHIB, the Coast Guard
officers believed it was safer
to take the RHIB up to a
nearby small beach, despite
the risk of causing damage to
the vessel. RHIBS ordinarily should not be landed on
sand, because sand could be
sucked into the engine.
Three police officers walked
along the coastline to reach
the victim, assisted by members of St. Maarten Sea
Rescue. They then were met
by three Coast Guard officers and the man was helped
onto the RHIB and taken to
Captain Hodge Wharf where
an ambulance was waiting
to take him to St. Maarten
Medical Center for treatment.
A significant amount of initiative was shown during the
rescue effort by the Coast
Guard officers involved, who
put the safety of the man before other considerations.
Coast Guard Head of Operations Wendell Thode, who
was the duty officer at the
time of the incident, praised
his officers’ actions: “They
did a great job. Hats off, I’m
very proud of them.”
In a press release, police
spokesman Inspector Ricardo Henson commented
on the great cooperation
and good working relations
among the emergency services that had led to the victim’s
safe return.
Police Chief Peter de Witte
also commented on this: “By
cooperation of the different
emergency services, we most
likely saved a life on Wednesday. I am incredibly happy
that the man was found. In
addition to what the police
did, the actions of the Coast
Guard were essential in the
rescue. Between us we have
had a few successful rescues
recently.
“I hope this brings it home
to the public that the law
enforcement services such
as the police and the Coast
Guard are not just there to
write out tickets and to fight
crime, but also to help people in need.”
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
PHILIPSBURG--Licensed
fishermen have been assisting Nature Foundation with
tagging and releasing of, in
particular, juvenile shark
species in the country’s territorial waters, as part of
the foundation’s Shark Research Programme.
A fisherman tagged the
first juvenile Caribbean
reef shark as part of a larger project on the protected
shark and ray population
on the island. The Caribbean reef shark is listed as
near-threatened by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature.
A tag was placed in the
juvenile reef shark, which
will provide information
on the length, species, sex
and habitat of the animal.
Subsequent tagging expeditions have also tagged a
relatively rare species for
St. Maarten, the Atlantic
sharp-nose shark (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae).
It is “a large step” for the
project to have fishermen
assisting the foundation
with tagging and releasing
sharks, and providing essential information for the
further protection of the
species.
Nature Foundation and
dive operators have also
been introducing the invasive lionfish to sharks in the
hope that the animals will
control the poisonous fish.
The reputation of sharks,
as blood-thirsty creatures,
is largely exaggerated by
sensationalist reports, and
thousands more people are
killed in dog attacks yearly
than are bitten by sharks,
the foundation said.
“Countries all over the
world have recognised the
importance of sharks, and
here on St. Maarten we
will continue to put shark
conservation as a top priority. Nature Foundation is
grateful for the assistance
of fisherman whose local,
traditional knowledge is
essential in protecting the
ocean.”
The foundation has been
conducting the Shark Research Project, including a
study that established that
a single, live shark is worth
up to US $884,000 to the
economy of the island, as is
opposed to just a few dollars dead. The majority of
divers come to the island to
see sharks in their natural
environment. These divers
also rent cars, stay in hotels,
eat at restaurants and drink
in bars, said the foundation.
Taking all of that into
account and based on research conducted by the
Nature Foundation, a single live shark contributes
thousands of dollars to the
economy of St. Maarten
annually.
Sharks are an apex predator and are essential to the
health of coral reefs. No
sharks mean the loss of
the coral reef ecosystem.
Sharks keep the reefs clean
of unhealthy fish, which in
turn keeps the ecosystem in
balance. They are a critical
component in an ecosystem
that provides a third of our
world with food, produces
more oxygen than all the
rainforests combined, removes half of the atmosphere’s manmade carbon
dioxide (greenhouse gas),
and controls the planet’s
temperature and weather.
Nearly two years after the
historic decision to legally
protect sharks and rays in
St. Maarten’s territorial
waters, sharks and rays are
now also under international protection, becoming
the latest additions to the
Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES).
The foundation has also
been mentioned for its
work to protect the species
on St. Maarten, and is now
spearheading a project to
learn more about shark and
ray behaviour in the marine
park and near coastal waters. The foundation is also
the scientific authority on
CITES for St. Maarten.
5
Juvenile reef shark tagged before being released.
The Hindu festival Maha Shivratri (the Great Night of Shiva) was celebrated by St. Maarten
Hindu Association with prayers at the temple in Cole Bay on Thursday night. Devotees
of Shiva sang and gave praise to Lord Shiva, many after fasting all day. According to one
legend associated with the celebration, Shiva saved the world from the disastrous effects of
a poison by consuming whole of it. Shiva could stop the poison in his throat by his Yogic
powers and it could not go down his body. His neck turned blue due to effect of the poison
on his throat. The Hindu Association holds prayers at the temple above Blue Point in Cole
Bay on the first and third Sunday of every month. (Rajesh Chintaman photo)
6
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
A STAT interviewer (right) with a homeowner (left), who
pauses a moment during the process of being interviewed
in connection with the Household Listing Survey.
P H I L I P S B U R G - -T h e
Department of Statistics
STAT and its 25 interviewers, after three weeks of the
Household Listing Survey,
have visited twenty per cent
of addresses (3,500) since
February 1. The survey will
continue for the next seven
weeks through to midApril.
Interviewers are pleased
with the generally good
cooperation that is being
received from the community of St. Maarten. STAT
is pleased with the response
so far, and urges all persons not yet reached to expect STAT interviewers on
weekdays up to 8:00pm and
throughout the weekends.
STAT would like to remind the community of
the goals of the Household
Listing Survey, which are
to attain up-to-date information on the population
size of the country, which
enables both STAT and the
Department of Civil Registry to better compare and
explain the differences in
their population numbers.
The questionnaire consists
of a short list of questions
related to the age, gender,
country of birth and nationality of each member of the
household.
Persons will also be asked
to verify their address and
number of units on each
property, as well as if they
are registered at the Department of Civil Registry.
This last question is purely
for comparison purposes
to determine how many of
the registered population is
also resident on the Dutch
side of the island.
STAT informs the gen-
eral public that its internal
staff members are conducting random checks within
neighbourhoods on weekends. This is being done
to verify with households
whether they were indeed
interviewed and to ask
about their experience with
the interviewers.
STAT, therefore, asks that
household members inform
one another once an interview has taken place for the
Household Listing Survey,
in order that everyone in
the home is aware and can
pass on this information to
STAT staff.
STAT falls under the Ministry of Tourism, Economic
Affairs, Transportation and
Telecommunication.
ST.
EUSTATIUS--The
Court of First Instance in
Bonaire sentenced two residents of St. Eustatius for
sex with minors.
R.S. (23) from St. Eustatius was sentenced to 15
months on Tuesday, five of
which were suspended on
three years’ probation, with
deduction of time already
spent. He was found guilty
of sexual intercourse and
lewd acts with a minor between the ages of 12 and 16.
The acts were committed
on Statia between August
2012 and January 7, 2013.
The Prosecutor’s Office
had requested four years,
one of which was to be suspended, for rape, sexual
intercourse and lewd acts
with a minor. The Court,
however, did not find rape
proven.
The judge held it against
the defendant that he had
had sexual intercourse with
a 14-year-old girl for several months without sufficiently verifying her age.
The man was guilty of abusing a minor who needed to
be protected.
The judge took into consideration that the defendant had a clean police
record, took responsibility
for his actions and accepted
the consequences.
The judge also took into
account that defendant will
have to sit out his prison
term in Bonaire, while being deprived of regular visits from family and friends.
This led the Court to impose five months of the sentence conditionally.
The defendant also has to
undergo professional treatment and supervision by
the Rehabilitation Office
for three years.
The Court of First Instance
sentenced R.G.S. (24) from
Statia on Wednesday, to six
years, two of which were
suspended on three years’
probation with deduction
of time already spent, for
rape, sexual intercourse
and lewd acts with a minor
between the ages of 12 and
16. These crimes were committed between January 1,
2013 and October 21, 2013
on Statia. The sentence was
in accordance with Prosecutor’s demand.
The court held it against
the defendant that during
a period of almost a year
he had had regular sexual
intercourse with a minor.
At first, the victim had not
given into his demands. He
had threatened the victim
with publishing pictures of
the naked girl on the Internet, and had subsequently
raped her.
In sentencing, the judge
had taken into consideration that the defendant
had taken responsibility for
his actions. It was also taken into account that he will
have to do his time in Bonaire, which led the Judge
to impose two years conditionally.
Furthermore, the defen-
7
dant has to undergo treatment and Rehabilitation
Office supervision for three
years.
The Prosecutor’s Office for
Bonaire, Statia and Saba issued a statement Thursday,
in which it stressed that
having sex with minors under the age of 16 is punishable by law. Consensual sex
with a minor is also punishable if the age difference is
considerable, the Prosecutor’s Office said.
THE HAGUE--Leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom
PVV Geert Wilders, in Curaçao on vacation, visited the
Parera naval base on Wednesday. The Dutch Caribbean
Defence announced via Facebook.
Wilders received information on the Dutch Caribbean
Coast Guard operations and the tasks of the Dutch military personnel on site from the Dutch Naval Commander
in the Caribbean and several others.
No other information on Wilders’ visit was available. His
spokesperson would not provide any details as is customary when it concerns a private visit. This is not the first vacation of Wilders in the Dutch Caribbean, he has visited
Aruba and Bonaire previously.
Wilders and his party are highly critical of the Dutch Caribbean islands, especially the local politicians, which the
PVV has repeatedly referred to as being corrupt. Wilders
once suggested to sell the islands, then still part of the
Netherlands Antilles, for one euro on the popular website
marktplaats.nl, the Dutch version of eBay.
8
Islands
Marcel Gumbs
Read, read, read, read.”
The law on the registration and financing of political parties has changed
the playing field of politics,
Gumbs said. “Gone are the
days you wake up one morning and tell the boys under
the tamarind tree you’re going to start a political party.”
This law will be utilised for
the first time in the general
elections this year. It calls
for political parties to have
a legal structure with rules
and voting by the general
membership for the party
board and leader, among
other requirements.
Knowledge of the government structure and how it
works are essential for anyone who wants a political
career. The same holds true
for the Constitution.
Candidates, and residents
in general, have it as “a
duty” to read and learn the
Constitution. “If you have
nothing to do and you are
sitting in front of the computer reading the blogs,
read the Constitution. You
don’t have to study it, just
know so you don’t talk only
what you hear.”
Aside from the legal
framework, the former
Netherlands Antilles Parliamentarian urged potential
and new candidates to know
themselves and not to be
carried away with publicity.
“Don’t let your head get big
and you start to float. Floating is not good for humans,
because your foot is not on
the ground; then you are
not in touch with reality.”
Do not be afraid to ask for
advice or guidance is another bit of advice from Gumbs
to those who want to run in
elections.
Potential and new candidates should make sure
their home base support is
firm. “Check at home lunch,
breakfast and dinner and
check before you go to bed.”
When it comes to employers, Gumbs, a member of
the Advisory Council, said
potential and new candidates should speak to their
employers about their intentions, particularly if the candidate is from the private
sector. There is no guarantee in the private sector for
an employee to return after
serving in Parliament or the
Council of Ministers.
This is different for the
public sector. Civil servants, based on regulations,
can return to their posts or
equal ones after serving in
public office.
Political candidates should
not make promises that
have not been worked out
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Continued from page 1.
with the party or do not
form part of the party’s
mandates, Gumbs said.
Gumbs, who has retired
from active politics, urged
all eligible voters to make
use of their right to vote on
Election Day. Reading the
election ordinance on the
allocation of seats in Parliament to political parties, he
said, “Every vote is important, so go out and vote.”
Gumbs also shared some
anecdotes about how parliamentarians should behave.
He called for Parliament
to institute a course on etiquette and “how to eat.” He
recalled an elected official
in the past who had chewed
up the bones of jackfish and
sucked on the fish heads in
the presence of visiting officials. “Yes, it is the way we
eat, but it is not the way we
eat outside.”
USM President Annalies van den Assem thanked
Gumbs for sharing his
knowledge at the university’s first public lecture of
2014. “USM wants to be in
the middle of the debate for
elections,” she said, so to
this end the university has
dedicated its public lectures
for this year to election-related topics.
A cross-section of the gathering stand and applause.
DP Leader Sarah Wescot-Williams speaks to some people in attendance.
DP unveils new logo
Continued from page 1.
new logo. Gone is the symbolic lighthouse, replaced
by a “D” and a “P” adorned
in red, white and blue. The
logo bares a likeness to that
of the campaign “O” of US
President Barack Obama.
Wescot-Williams said the
red in the logo is for the
courage and steady leadership of the party, and the
blue for stability, faith and
truth. In essence, she said,
the party’s forward thinking mantra is depicted in its
new logo.
The party also released
Wescot-Williams’ campaign
song with the tag phrase
“Let’s get it right, vote
Sarah.” Also released was
the party’s campaign song,
which uses the beat and
rhythm of Robin Thicke’s
hit song of 2013 “Blurred
Lines.”
Talking points for the night
included “moving forward
together;” building a community of strong people
which subsequently leads to
a strong country; and, the
fact that the “red thread”
runs through every major
infrastructural undertaking
that government has executed including the Simp-
The new DP logo.
son Bay causeway, Great
Bay Beach Promenade, the
harbour, airport etc.
DP President Michael Ferrier told the gathering that
if it were not for WescotWilliams and the DP team,
none of the aforementioned projects would have
been started or completed.
He said there were reasons
Wescot-Williams has been
prime minister three times,
and assured she will be
prime minister for a fourth
time. He then went on to
list the prime minister’s accomplishments in government since 10-10-10.
Those in attendance were
given T-shirts with the new
logo at the end of the session. Ferrier led parts of the
session with a heavy heart
having lost his mother on
Thursday afternoon; a moment of silence was observed in her honour.
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
9
~ Even though 61 per cent are overweight ~
THE
HAGUE--Three
quarters of the population
of Bonaire, St. Eustatius
and Saba – the Caribbean
Netherlands feel healthy,
despite the fact that 61 per
cent of the people are overweight.
The Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS)
published the results of the
Omnibus survey on Thursday, which was carried out
on all three islands in June
and July, 2013. The CBS
researchers randomly interviewed close to 1,900
people in the Caribbean
Netherlands, 330 persons
in St. Eustatius and 299 in
Saba, about their health,
life style, medical contacts
and other issues that affect
their daily life such as safety, housing and transport.
The data from the survey
was used to determine average figures.
Three in every four persons of 15 years and older,
or 74.4 per cent, indicated
that they generally felt
healthy in 2013. In St. Eustatius and Saba, 80.9 per
cent and 81.8 per cent (respectively) said they felt
healthy; however, 60 per
cent of the people on all
three islands combined are
overweight, while 36.5 per
cent had a normal weight.
In St. Eustatius, 28 per
cent
were
moderately
overweight, in Saba 30.8
per cent; in St. Eustatius
29.5 per cent were severely
overweight and 32.4 per
cent in Saba. In St. Eustatius 38.8 per cent had a normal weight and in Saba 31.9
per cent. In Statia and Saba
there were no differences
between men and women
where it concerns overweight; in Bonaire, more
women than men suffered
from severe obesity.
Overweight is more common among adults, especially persons between the
ages 45 and 65 suffer from
this problem; more than 70
per cent of this age group
was overweight. People
with a higher education are
less overweight than those
who have a lower education.
High blood pressure, migraine/severe headaches,
diabetes and backaches
were the most common ailments; more than 18 per
cent of the people on all
three islands suffer from
high blood pressure and
migraine/severe headaches,
while 8.4 per cent of the
population has diabetes.
Generally, men felt
healthier than women.
Youngsters were more positive about their health than
elderly people. People with
a higher education deemed
their health better than did
those with a lower education level.
Alcohol consumption is a
bigger problem on the islands than smoking; close
to 12 per cent of people in
the Caribbean Netherlands
are heavy drinkers and 7.7
per cent excessive drinkers,
while on all three islands
combined 10.2 per cent of
the population smoked cigarettes on a daily basis.
In St. Eustatius, the percentage of heavy and excessive drinkers is higher than
in Saba. In Statia 14.9 per
cent were considered heavy
drinkers in 2013, whereas
9.9 per cent were indicated
as excessive drinkers. For
Saba these figures were 9.5
per cent and 9.1 per cent.
In Saba, 11 per cent of the
people smoked cigarettes
on a daily basis and in St.
Eustatius 7.4 per cent. The
percentage of occasional
smokers throughout the
Caribbean Netherlands was
a bit higher at 15.6 per cent,
but in Saba this percentage
was much higher: 21.3 per
cent.
Three quarters of the
population in the Caribbean Netherlands visited a
general practitioner at least
once in 2013. In St. Eustatius and Saba more than 70
per cent went to the doctor;
women and elderly visited
a doctor more often than
men and youngsters.
Half of the population
of St. Eustatius and Saba
visited the dentist at least
once in 2013. In Bonaire
and Saba, more women
than men went to the dentist. In St. Eustatius an
equal amount of men and
women visited the dentist.
Youngsters are going to the
dentist more often than elderly people: six in every 10
young people between the
age 15 and 25 went to the
dentist, versus four in every
10 of 65 and older.
The number of people
on the islands going to the
hospital is relatively high.
The average of hospital
overnight admissions in the
Caribbean Netherlands as a
whole stood at 11.9 per cent
in the 12 months preceding
the CBS inquiry.
Twenty-four per cent of the
population in St. Eustatius
spent one or more nights at
a hospital; in Saba this percentage was 10.4 per cent.
In St. Eustatius, 18.4 per
cent of the people went to a
hospital for one day to see a
medical specialist, for Saba
this percentage was much
lower at 5.6 per cent.
The Omnibus survey was
first held for the first time
in the Caribbean Netherlands in 2013, and will be
repeated every four years.
The data will be used for,
among other things, policy
making in areas like healthcare.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and Legal Affairs
Department Head Henk Jan Habermehl.
Organic laws translated
Continued from page 1.
Affairs Department Henk Funding has to be sought
Jan Habermehl symbolically for this project.
launched the series of laws
Habermehl said laws are
with a presentation to repre- not always accessible to “the
sentatives of the high coun- man on the street” even in a
cils of state, secretaries-gen- language he speaks, because
erals and department heads of the legal terms used. The
of government ministries at English translations are
the A.C. Wathey Legislative helpful in St. Maarten’s case
Hall, on Thursday.
as the first language is EngWescot-Williams said the lish and not Dutch, the lancompletion of the transla- guage the laws are written in
tion project is “a proud as well as the language used
moment overall,” and it by the court.
was “extremely important”
The Ministry of General
for the public to know that Affairs, which falls under
the organic laws are now in the purview of Wescot-WilEnglish and are accessible liams, is instructed in the
on government’s website. national ordinance regulatThe laws, she said, is “in ing publications of laws and
our first language that is our decrees to ensure translaEnglish language.”
tions are available “within a
She said the next “hefty reasonable time.”
work” she desires to see
The translation project incompleted by the Legal volved 350,000 words and
Affairs Department is the some 1,000 hours of work
translation of the revised by the Legal Affairs DeCivil and Penal Codes from partment. Those hours do
Dutch to English. The stipu- not include the hours spent
lations in the codes “affect by the external legal transall of us, but they don’t live lators who worked on the
in the community.”
project.
Some 900 more laws and The translation project was
other legal documents are funded by Dutch Funding
still to be translated into Agency USONA.
English by government.
10
PHILIPSBURG--Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Casino and Spa has
launched a butler service
in its 16 one- and two-bedroom suites in the resort’s
Miramar Wing.
Guests are provided with a
cell phone to relay requests
directly to their butlers,
who will handle packing
and unpacking, laundry services, dinner reservations,
booking of tours, spa treatments and special requests
such as dinners en suite or
Islands
on the beach.
The suites feature living
and dining areas, balcony
or terrace and an open
kitchen. The 257-room resort near Philipsburg completed an extensive, resortwide renovation last fall
and reopened Oct. 31 as
an all-inclusive, adults-only
property.
WiFi now is complimentary in all rooms and public
areas. Facilities include the
Golden Casino, three pools,
the Serenity Spa, a dive
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
center, four restaurants and
bars and exchange privileges at a sister resort, the
all-inclusive Sonesta Maho
Beach Resort and Casino in
Maho Bay.
The resort is offering a
special butler promotion
through March 31 for travel
through June 30. Rates in
the butler suites start at US
$278 per person, per night.
Agents must use promo
code “butler” when booking.
The 28 recruits pose with elected officials and representatives from the associations in the
Chamber of Commerce.
Insertion programme
PHILIPSBURG--Always
with an eye on providing improved services to its clients,
APS, the general pension
fund of St. Maarten is simplifying its payment method to
pension beneficiaries.
APS has started using the
online payment application
offered by the Windward
Islands Bank to make payments to over 500 persons
who receive their monthly
pension benefits on an account at the aforementioned
bank.
This new approach affords
beneficiaries the opportunity to receive their pension
benefits a bit earlier on their
respective accounts.
APS says that with less
manual transactions needed,
the pension fund is able to
reduce costs by more than
50 per cent every month on
bank charges as compared
to when transfer instructions
are sent in writing to the
bank.
While there have been a
few glitches in the system (as
evidenced this month), APS
continues to work closely
with representatives of the
bank to resolve any issues
arising.
APS now looks forward to
the online payment system
becoming available for the
bulk of payments to pension
beneficiaries with accounts at
other local banks. This would
also be the case for those clients which APS inherited
from APNA with bank accounts on one of the former
sister islands of the Netherlands Antilles.
Continued from page 1.
cation of the island, noted
the elected officials, one of
the first priorities the Triple
R party mentioned after
their election victory.
The work will be monitored by agents from the
environmental department,
and the Collectivité retains
the right to suspend the
contracts if results are not
up to par.
“You have to make sure
you succeed because you
are of a certain age,” President Hanson told the re-
cruits. “Do your best and
report on time for work.
These days everyone has
cell phones so there is no
excuse for being late. Set a
good example for your children.”
CUPECOY--Popular Barcelona-based casual clothing
brand Desigual has officially
opened a stylish store in
Blue Mall St. Maarten, providing shoppers with a wide
selection of its latest designs
at competitive prices. St.
Maarten’s duty-free status
means that the Blue Mall
location of Desigual has the
lowest prices of the 400-plus
stores around the world with
exception of those located
in Desigual’s homeland of
Spain.
The 84-square-meter store
officially opened on Blue
Mall’s third floor Saturday,
January 15, with a party-like
reception featuring a live
deejay, giveaways, snacks
and Desperado tequilaflavored beer. The Desigual
store adds another dimension to Blue Mall, which
features a wide selection of
brands catering to all tastes
and budgets.
The trendy and colorful
store features more than
3,000 hand-hung bottles in
the ceiling, hand-painted
graffiti walls, colorful lights
and eye-popping bold and
colorful ensembles for women. The shop has four convenient changing rooms with
friendly and professional
staff ready to dress customers with feel-good clothing
that expresses emotions.
More than 150 different items are stocked from
Desigual’s Spring/Summer
2014 collection including
women’s apparel, accessories, bags, light scarves, hats
and footwear. A selection of
men’s apparel will be available in the coming weeks.
Beach lovers will also soon
be able to pick up Desigual
bikinis at the new store.
Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Desigual is known
around the world for its
patchwork designs, intense
prints, innovative graffiti art
and flamboyant splashes of
colour – perfect for Caribbean women and visitors.
The brand was founded by
Swiss native Thomas Meyer
in 1984, and has been experiencing an unprecedented
60 per cent annual growth in
recent years. In addition to
St. Maarten, Desigual shops
are located in more than 60
nations worldwide.
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Cu11a:
Marie-Helene Abrin
Cu11b:
Kizzy Fleming
Cu11c:
Samantha Harris
Cu11d:
Tammy Mauvais
Cu11c:
Cu11e:
Chanica Bryan
MARIGOT--Tonight, Friday, is the big night for the
five Miss Elegant Plus Size
contestants who will be
vying for the 2014 crown
in Carnival Village, Galis
Bay. The show starts at
8:00pm.
As a reminder these lovely ladies are: contestant
number one Marie-Helene
Abrin, number two Kizzy
Fleming, number three Samantha Harris, number four
Tammy Mauvais Hazel, and
number five Chanica Bryan.
Festivités Carnavalesque
de St. Martin (FCDSM)
organisers noted all is in
place for the pageant. The
contestants have had three
months to prepare and the
show will be coordinated
by Claudine, Monique, and
Luciana; dance instructor
Deyon Bovell has organised an introductory dance
that is sure to surprise.
The contestants will be
judged in five segments:
speech, professional wear,
talent, carnival costume,
and evening wear. Tickets
for the show are still available at Levis Store on Rue
de la République for 15
euros or US $15.
FCDSM thanks all the
sponsors who have collaborated to make the
show possible. The public
is reminded that this show
leads into Jouvert morning
starting at 5:00am.
Sunday, March 2, is the
Grand Parade, the highlight of Carnival, starting at 12:00pm from the
Agrément
roundabout.
The route is Rue de Hollande, Rue de La République, Rue de La Liberté,
Rue Kennedy, Rue de
Lowtown, Bellevue roundabout, Rue de Hollande,
Agrément
roundabout,
and the finish at Carnival
Village.
This year 13 troupes will be
taking part including three
guest troupes: Survivors
from the Dutch Side and
two others from the neighbouring islands. Participating troupes from St. Martin
are Association Locomotiv,
Association Happy Days
Bethany Home, Sea Breeze
Crazy Bacchanal, Amicale
Office du Tourisme, Hot
N’ Spicy, Association Les
Dominicains, Grand Case
11
Cultural Association, SOS
Radio, Association des Indiens St. Martin (AISM),
Cameleon, and Explosive
Butterfinger.
There will be live music
on Rue de la République
by DJ Black Boy and entertainment by Ricky Da
Phox from 11:00am.
12
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
AGENDA
ST. EUSTATIUS
Police Station 182333
Emergency 111
Hot Line 108
Fire Department 120
Hospital 182211/182371
Landsradio 182210
Post Office 182207
St. Eustatius Historical
Foundation Museum 182288
Winair Office 182362
Lions Club meets every 1st and 3rd
Wednesday at the “Den” next to the
Airport
Drug Prevention Foundation
meets every Tuesday 5:30pm at the
Golden Era Hotel.
Coastguard NA&A 113
St. Eustatius National parks:
Gallows Bay: 318 2884
SABA
Police Station
The Bottom, tel. 4163237
Emergency 111/112
Hospital
The Bottom, tel. 4163288/4163289
Fire Department Airport
Flat Point tel. 4162210
SATEL
The Bottom, tel. 4163211
WINAIR, Airport
Flat Point, tel. 4162255/2713
Taxi Service Airport
Flat Point, tel. 160
Administration Building
The Bottom, tel.
4163311/4163312/4163313
Tourist Office
Windwardside, tel. 4162231
Harbour Office
Fort Bay, tel. 4163294
Saba Marine Park
Fort Bay, tel. 4163295
Nature & Hike Guide
James Johnson
The Bottom, tel. 4163307
Service Club
Saba Lions Club general meeting
every 1st and 3rd Tuesday 8:00 p.m.
at Eugenius A. Johnson Center.
Coastguard NA&A 113
Red Cross
General meeting every last Monday,
6 p.m, Eugenius A. Johnson Center.
ANGUILLA
EMERGENCY
Police 911
Fire 911
Ambulance 911
Police Station 497 2333
Hospital 497 2551
Dental clinic 497 2343
Radio Anguilla 497 2218
Tourism Department 497 2759
Crimestoppers 0800 7777777
AIRLINES
American Eagle 497 3501
Winair 497 2748
Liat 497 5000
Air Anguilla 497 2643
Trans Anguilla 497 8690
COURIER SERVICE
DHL 497 3400
Federal Express 497 2719
UPS 497 2239
SERVICE CLUBS
Rotary Club of Anguilla
Meets at Da Vida every
Thursday at 6.oo p.m.
Soroptimist International
Day Care Centre
4.30 p.m. 2nd Tuesday
in each month Tel: 497 3509
Lions Club
meets every 1st and 3rd Tuesday
at 5.30 p.m. at the Arts and Crafts
Center. Tel: 264 235 1280
Interact Club of Anguilla
Meets every Friday at 3.15 p.m.
at theAlbena Lake Hodge
Comprehensive School
Toastmaster Club
meets every 2nd and 4th Saturday
at 6.45 p.m. at La Vue,
South Hill
Subscribe to
PHONE 5425253
ST. EUSTATIUS--Commissioner of Economic Affairs
Tearr explained that his executive assistant Natasha Radjouki
had committed gross misconduct concerning the signing of
a document. He said that it became apparent that Radjouki
had misused her power regarding documents pertaining to a
civil servant position.
Tearr said that the situation
unfolded because an investment officer, who was under
contract, was approached
about whether she would like
to become a civil servant or remain on contract. The employee stated that she would prefer
to continue under a contract
agreement.
These options were discussed
again with Zaandam where
they concluded that, should the
contract be extended it would
be done under the condition
that a civil servant be trained
Cu13a:
Commissioners Tearr and Zaandam clarified the situation
to the public.
in the function. However, the
contract renewal did not take
place directly after the expiration date because of circumstances during that period.
During their daily discussions
the topic was addressed as to
whom would be a candidate
that could be trained to fulfil
the function. Natasha Radjouki was mentioned on various
occasions as a possible candidate; however, when Tearr and
Zaandam discussed the situation they dismissed the option
WILLEMSTAD--Representatives of the General Audit
Chamber were unable to answer many questions from Curaçao parliamentarians on its report about the supervision
of and by the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten
(CBCS). The frequent response heard in the conference
room of Parliament was “we have little or no information to
give a negative or affirmative answer.”
The session was a continuation of a Central Committee
meeting last week. The latter was adjourned to give the
chamber time to answer the questions asked.
A presentation by the chamber’s chairman Bertus Vis had
already revealed that the inquiry of 2012 had met with considerable hindrance due to lack of cooperation from the
CBCS-management. A lot of information and files were not
available for inspection because the Central Bank referred to
its secrecy obligation.
Appointments to inspect non-confidential documents
weren’t kept, while the CBCS-management had cancelled an
appointment with the external accountant. The then Minister of Finance George “Jorge” Jamaloodin (MFK) had not
answered the chamber’s questions either.
Several parliamentarians urged the chamber to explain why
it hadn’t used its authority to obtain access to the required
information. The representatives in the meeting stated that
they had decided not to after an evaluation and considering
the scope of the matter.
The chamber emphasised though that it is authorised to
make use of the strong arm of the law. However, this requires
permission from the Dutch Caribbean Court of Justice.
The audit chamber was disappointed in the Central Bank’s
position with this inquiry. Secretary Kessler Ersilia said
CBCS is apparently not aware it must be transparent regarding its own functioning, beside its task as supervisor.
of Radjouki being nominated.
It was the opinion a candidate
could be assigned at a later
time.
Radjouki, as Tearr’s executive
assistant during this time, was
tasked with the preparation
of the documents that would
be submitted to the Executive Council for approval. One
month had already passed
since the expiration date and
there had been no time to find
a suitable candidate before
signing the contract. It was
made clear that the contract
should be signed as soon as
possible providing the clause
was inserted. There were no
discussions regarding this issue
or any other conditions in connection with the contract.
The documents were completed and submitted for review
before being submitted to the
Executive Council. The contract was checked to confirm
that the clause about the training was included. Tearr stated
the contract was checked, seeing that this was the most important element at the time.
The governor advised that the
documents be withheld and reviewed at a later time.
It appears that in addition
to the contract there were additional documents prepared
that included a decision as
well as an advice to complete
the package. The advice that
was included also contained
the name of Radjouki, even
though it had been prepared
by Radjouki herself.
At this time both commissioners were not aware of the
decision and the advice included in the package. Tearr
again stressed that their decision clearly was based on the
renewal of the contract. During the Central Committee
meeting on February 20, 2014,
there was a point added to the
agenda of the meeting with
reference to the contract of the
investment officer.
During the meetings of the
Executive Council, the documents came to the table with
signatures of both commissioners for the renewal of the contract as was signed the week
before.
While in Holland, on the 20th,
Tearr became aware of the
situation concerning the investment officer. He could only
reply that at no time had there
been discussions about any decision of any kind that would
include naming Radjouki for
the position. However, when
viewing the paperwork it appeared that there was indeed
13
a decision signed that named
Radjouki as candidate to be
trained.
This situation caused a major
concern among the coalition
leaders in addition to both
commissioners at the time. It is
clear that the additional signing
of documents did not happen
under a consensus from either
commissioner.
Seeing that Radjouki was the
person directly responsible
for the package, this matter
was then looked into and addressed internally, where as a
result Ms. Radjouki tendered
her resignation.
During the executive council
meeting the decisions taken of
the functioning of the investment officer and the training of
Radjouki have been retracted
and annulled.
Tearr apologised on behalf of
himself and his cabinet to the
general public as well as to his
colleagues in government for
any inconveniences or misunderstandings that this situation
caused and he promised to
work in the best interest of the
people going forward.
Commissioner Zaandam said
that at all times transparency,
honesty and integrity are some
of the things they stand for.
He thanked his colleague for
taking steps to have things corrected on behalf of the government and people of the island.
This matter has been a subject
of discussion on radio and TV
programmes.
14
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
ST.EUSTATIUS--The Secretary General of the Ministry of Home Affairs and
Kingdom Relations Richard van Zwol arrived on the
island of St. Eustatius on
Tuesday afternoon, where
he was met at the FDR airport by Acting Island Governor Kenneth Lopes.
Van Zwol held talks with
Lopes at his office. Meetings with the Executive
Council as well as with Acting Kingdom Representative Julian Woodley and
personnel of the RCN were
also held.
The Secretary General
had a brief meeting with
the press on Wednesday afternoon, at the Governor’s
office grounds. He outlined
his responsibilities at the
ministry during that meeting.
Van Zwol spoke of the
relationship between Statia and The Hague and
the island’s constitutional
Cu13b:
The minister and some of his delegation paused for a photo with National Park Quill in
the background.
status. He was asked if his
meeting with the Executive
Council was a constructive discussion and he said
that he had “very fruitful discussions with the
acting governor and the
commissioners,” in which
they talked about the possibilities of a new medical
school, housing, constitutional matters, the further
development of the island
and employment.
The majority of time during the discussions was taken up with talking about
the laws that have been
instated since 10-10-10.
Asked what his influence
is on changing the laws
brought in since 10-10-10,
that are deemed not to be
in the interest of the people of Statia, Van Zwol explained that the First and
Second Chambers of Parliament are responsible for
amending laws, but that he
can advise Minister Ronald Plasterk to put forward
proposals to Parliament.
Van Zwol said this is his
fifth visit to the island since
he became Secretary General to Minister Jan Pieter
Balkenende.
Pertaining to healthcare
as dealt with at the ZVK
office on the island and
the many discussions and
feedbacks on the island
15
about the administrative
referrals, he said that he
is happy to see that the
overall healthcare has improved after 10-10-10, but
that, of course, further improvements, better spending and better patient care
are aimed at.
Everyone agreed that if
a patient has to travel far
away for treatment, it is
not ideal for the patient
or for the family. Together with the Ministry of
Health, his ministry has
formed a work group with
the former governor of the
Netherlands Antilles Frits
Goedgedrag to look into
all these issues.
The minister and his delegation left the island to
go to Saba. Travelling in
the minister’s delegation
were Jan Bonnet, Susanne
Caarls, Bart Bongers,
Manon van Tidelen and
protocol officer Tico Balentien.
16
Islands
15a
Pipe-laying platform “Castoro 10” moored at Caracasbaai in Curaçao again. The 139-metre long vessel that can accommodate a crew of 200 came to bunker ahead of its next job
in the Gulf of Mexico and is scheduled to depart on Saturday.
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
WILLEMSTAD--The
female M.A.A. (28) was arrested in the Wiels-case
early February in Curaçao
also in connection with one
of the other murders that
was solved within the investigation into the paid assassination of PS-leader Helmin
Wiels at the beach of Marie
Pampoen on May 5 last year.
It involves the murders
of Lionel “Layo” Arnaud
in June 2012, Raikel Conception in January 2013
and Raúl “Bolle” Martinez in May 2013. Prosecution spokesperson Guillano
Schoop refused to say for
which murder A., the partner
of Elvis “Monster” K. who is
believed to have shot Wiels,
is being held.
The 48-year-old male A.S.B.
was the latest to be arrested
on Tuesday near Koraal
Specht for blackmail and
money-laundering,
within
the framework of the “Magnus-investigation.” Schoop
confirmed the man’s arrest,
but did not wish to elaborate.
B. is the sixth person in custody with a direct or indirect
link to the murder of the late
politician and Member of
Parliament (MP). The four
men Carlos P. (31), Burney
“Nini” F. (42), “Monster”
(36) and Dangelo “Panchek”
D. (26) were also put behind
bars several months ago
among others for the murder
of Wiels.
The court session revealed
that Burney F. allegedly gave
the order and that he and the
late Luigi “Pretu” Florentina
-who later committed suicide
in his cell at the Barber police station- prepared the
murder of Wiels. Florentina
had supposedly given weapons to Elvis K., who shot
Wiels dead later on at Marie
Pampoen.
The murdered Martinez
had driven the escape car.
According to the Public
Prosecutor’s Office, D. had
shot Martinez in the head
and dumped him in the sea a
month later.
F. is also accused of the
murders of Conception and
Arnaud.
Witnesses had seen Carlos
P. right after the Wiels-killing
at the residence of the later
released co-suspect Monica
Bergonje in Berg Altena.
Also suspects D., P., K. and
the murdered Martinez had
been seen there.
The investigation into the
intellectual perpetrators is
still ongoing. Prosecutor
Gert Rip, who is entrusted
with the case, stated earlier
at the court session that authorities are trying to get several persons to talk.
WILLDEMSTAD--Volunteers of the US Forward Operating Location (FOL) in Curaçao have been active for
various organisations on the island.
Twenty-five personnel of the airbase helped refurbish a
playground at the Siloam Children’s Orphanage/Hospice.
Brother Herman Gijsbers, who runs Siloam, said it saved
him weeks of work.
Additionally, over twenty airmen and -women supported
the afterschool programme’s Sports Day of “Amigunan
Di Christu” by assisting school staff in coordinating and
managing the event for the children.
Also, volunteers repaired and painted kennels, and prepared cats and dogs for adoption at the Parera Animal
Shelter. FOL-personnel regularly participate in service
projects for various non-profit organisations around Curaçao as a way of saying “thank you” to their island hosts.
14e
A wake was held at the Aureus School of Medicine on Aruba
for American student S.S.H. (21), who was beaten in the entertainment area of The Village late Sunday night and died
in the hospital early Tuesday morning as result of his injuries.
Bouncer R.J.V. of nightclub “Gusto” had been arrested right
after the incident around 2:00am on Monday. The suspect told
police he pushed the victim after the latter had been kicked out
of the club for causing problems, but tried to come back in.
The bouncer said the young man fell to the ground and lost
consciousness. However, surveillance video of the club shows
it was a hard blow rather than a push. Other medical students
present tried to help their friend, but apparently dropped him
in the process, causing his head to hit the floor hard.
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao
Airport Partners (CAP) is
simply standing by its Development Operation and
Management Agreement
(DOMA) regarding the
operation of Hato airport.
This agreement between
CAP and government outlines what CAP is to invest
during its thirty-year concession. Company spokesperson Diana Martis reacted to statements by Minister
of Economic Development
Stanley Palm (PAIS).
Palm told the Amigoe
newspaper he’s considering
to terminate this concession from 2003 ahead of
time, because he does not
think the current structure
is good for Curaçao. According to him, CAP is delaying the process of renovating and expanding the
airport, while it certainly
made money during the
first ten years of the concession period.
However, according to
Martis, CAP is simply
standing by the agreements
and will invest US $10 million also this year. She did
not wish to comment directly on Palm’s idea to
terminate the concession
ahead of time.
Martis: “We’ll cross that
bridge when we get there
and I don’t want to speculate. We have an open relationship with government
though and are constantly
in contact with the minister
and the Curaçao Airport
Holding (CAH).”
Maurice Adriaens is director of CAH, the government entity that owns the
airport. According to him
it’s not easy to terminate
the concession ahead of
time.
He mentioned that the
contract does not include
such a clause. This means
a full buyout of CAP, which
he estimates will cost over
NAf. 100 million. Among
other things this is based on
what CAP paid to buy the
concession, the investments
made and the estimated
lost profit on the “not completed” twenty years.
Adriaens: “Apart from
the buyout, government itself will be confronted with
the investments planned.
Perhaps it could borrow
money through the Central
Bank by means of a bond
loan, just like Aqualectra at
the time, but that leaves the
question of repayment. The
airport’s rates would then
have to increase.”
The CAH-director does
agree with the minister that
it’s not ideal for Curaçao
to have a commercial
party manage the airport.
“Of course the latter manages such from a business
point of view and perhaps
government is willing to
do much more. However,
there’s a price tag attached
to a beautiful airport.” He
said it’s ultimately up to
government to decide.
CAP pays a percentage of
its revenues from airport
users to CAH on an annual basis, which according to Adriaens totals approximately NAf. 9 million.
CAH subsequently pays
the government a dividend,
which Palm says is only a
small amount.
The minister also thinks
CAH did not invest much
in the airport although it
received approximately US
$47 million from CAP in
the first ten years.
Adriaens: “In the past
years we spent US $2 million to get Air Berlin to
the island and bought busses and moveable sleeves
[gangways-Ed.]. On the
other hand, we’ve had a different government almost
every year with varying visions, thus making it impossible for us to pursue a
structural policy.”
He explained that government itself had maintained
and managed the airport
before 2003. “After incurring substantial losses it was
decided to contract out the
operation to a commercial
company. CAH was founded as supervisory holding.
With the proceeds of the
first year CAH had paid the
previous debts of millions
of guilders.”
One of the complaints
mentioned by Palm was
that the air-conditioning
in the check-in hall re-
mains forthcoming despite
the promise this would be
ready in December 2013.
According to CAP, the
work will begin in the second quarter of this year and
the air-conditioning will be
a fact this summer.
A previous study had delayed the process slightly,
also due to a six-metre outward expansion for which
the sewerage and drainage
must also be repositioned,
according to CAP.
17
14b
The new building of the Guardianship Council in Bonaire was officially opened on
Wednesday by former director Esther Pourier-Thodé. The festive gathering for invited
guests also included an art auction. It was possible to bid on art works of students of
“Liseo Boneriano.” With the proceeds the students can pay a part of their study trip to New
York/The Netherlands.
18
Islands
ST. KITTS--A workshop
designed to motivate teachers of single-sex classrooms
in St. Kitts proved a great
source of inspiration to participants over the one-day
event held on February 20.
Director of Gender Affairs Edsue Bradshaw
Caines is working along
with the ministry of education to provide professional
development for teachers.
“We know that there is
the concern that girls are Cu18a:
outperforming boys, so it Teachers in the single-sex classroom training session.
means that the onus lies
on us to find methods to
The director stated that discussed the pedagogy as
bridge that gap. The answer the group had done a case it relates to the way that
we know is differentiation.” study which provided some the brains of boys work.
Caines stated.
insight for the teachers and She said that without that
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
knowledge it would not
be possible for teachers to
create the appropriate lesson plans and find the appropriate tools for instruction.
A key component of
teaching boys was the elimination of a lot of “teacher
talk” and the use of posters, icons and other visual
aids.
In connection with the
teachers’ reception of the
workshop, Caines said the
teachers had warmed up
to the activity once they
realised that they were active participants being given practical tools to help
them function better from
their very next classroom
session.
“We [teachers-Ed.] are
a tough audience. When
you undertake a project to
conduct professional development with teachers
you have to be on the ball
and I got feedback from a
few, who at the outset had
questions in their minds as
to whether their participation was necessary,” Caines
stated, adding that the end
result was overwhelmingly
positive.
Senior Education Officer
Dr. Tricia Esdaille told the
Education Media Unit,
“One of the things we are
beginning to lay a founda-
tion on is the concept of
differentiated instruction.
A challenge for any teacher
locally or internationally
is how to effectively reach
students that have different levels in the same age
group.”
She explained further that
the workshop had focused
on individuation, a strategy
in which individual students
are reached using multiple
methods
simultaneously
so that teachers become
flexible and improve their
multi-tasking skills.
The Senior Education Officer also applauded the
high level of participation
exhibited by the teachers.
Cu17a:
Chef Marc Alvarez and Chef Nick Dellinger.
ANGUILLA--A dinner at Straw Hat Restaurant raised
US$14,000 for Anguilla’s young sailors of the Anguilla
Youth Sailing Club (AYSC). Two outstanding chefs, Mark
Alvarez and Nick Dellinger prepared the special fourcourse dinner for some 100 persons. All proceeds from the
event went to AYSC that has taught over 320 Anguillian
children and young adults sailing and life skills since 2006.
Anne and Peter Parles, the owners of Straw Hat, donated
exclusive use of the restaurant and its staff for the evening,
as well as bringing former Straw Hat Chef Marc Alvarez
back to Anguilla to cook alongside their resident Chef
Nick Dellinger. They wanted to assist AYSC in raising the
much needed funds to keep the programme vibrant and
accessible to all children of Anguilla.
In his welcome speech Chairman of AYSC Donald Curtis
described the work of the association, and how its policy of
not refusing any child who wants to sail has meant a large
number of scholarships for local children. He explained
how learning to sail was not just a fun activity, but also a
way to teach the students incredibly important life skills
like responsibility, patience, teamwork and pride in themselves and their teammates.
Curtis said that AYSC needs to raise at least US $54,000
a year to employ a full-time instructor and to maintain and
update its fleet of 21 boats, as well as sending young sailors
to compete in international regattas. He thanked all who
had contributed to the event concluding with, “Most importantly, I would like to thank Peter and Anne and the
wonderful Straw Hat staff who have been amazing in their
support and their generosity.”
Your leading newspaper in the Northeastern Caribbean
Tel: +1(721)54-25253 / 54-25597 Fax: 54-25913
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THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
AMSTERDAM-- Most of
the teenagers who spent
time in a young offenders’
psychiatric institution reoffend on their release, the
Volkskrant said on Thursday.
Of the youngsters who
were released from detention in 2000, 80 per cent
were again in trouble with
the police within 10 years,
and around 50 per cent
within just two years, Jus-
tice Ministry figures show.
At the same time the cost
of the treatment has gone
up from some 300 euro a
day in 2007 to 563 euro in
2012, the Volkskrant stated.
The paper looked at juvenile detention after it
emerged Antonio van der
Ploeg, who was arrested in
Germany on Wednesday
after a cross-border manhunt, spent years in a youth
clinic.
Islands
19
20
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
ST. KITTS--The Ministry
of Justice and Legal Affairs
has begun plans to separate
the Land Registry from the
Registry of the High Court.
The disclosure has come
from Attorney General
Jason Hamilton, who said
that the Ministry of Justice
and Legal Affairs takes
its role seriously and is an
important facilitator in the
overall economic development of St. Kitts and Nevis.
In the area of financial services, Hamilton, presenting
on behalf of Minister of
Justice and Legal Affairs
Patrice Nisbett, noted that
legislation passed last year
was aimed at improving the
country’s standing on the
doing business report.
“That is essential, because
it gives persons in the wider world the opportunity
to see how quick we turn
around matters in the federation. We have also started plans for the separation
of the Land Registry from
the Registry of the High
Court where it is presently
housed. That is in an advanced stage,” said Hamilton, who added that there
are reports in relation to
that separation.
He said funding had been
secured to provide a consultant to go over that process in detail.
“I anticipate that the consultant will be hired within
the next month and that the
process will start in earnest
at that time,” said Hamilton, who expressed the view
that transformation of the
land registry would assist in
the country’s economic development.
“Persons will be able to get
titles in a quicker time, to
register caveats and so it all
fits into the government’s
formula of making business
easier to be conducted in
the federation,” said Minister Hamilton.
He also disclosed that
more suitable accommoda-
W I L L E M S TA D - -A l ready for the sixth time
JCI IOBA Curaçao and
Banco di Caribe are organising the election of
the most creative young
entrepreneur of Curaçao this year. Entry for
the “Creative Young Entrepreneur Award 2014”
is now possible.
JCI IOBA wants to
stimulate
youngsters
with the award. As in
previous years, main
sponsor Banco di Caribe
will make NAf. 10,000
available for the winner
to invest in his/her business.
This year’s theme is
“Inject the Entrepreneurial DNA.” Creative
young
entrepreneurs
between eighteen and
forty years of age who
have started a business
or implemented a positive change in an existing company are invited
to enter their name.
The participants will
then attend information meetings and follow trainings. A jury of
well-known and successful persons from the
business community on
Curaçao will choose the
winner on June 5.
For more info go to
www.iobacyea.com.
tions and staffing were being sought for the Intellectual Property Office.
“Without boasting about
it, that office is perhaps one
of the quiet revenue earners within the federation.
There is a lot of potential
in intellectual property,
especially in an era where
creative thinking and intellectual property rights
are more in vogue, so we
have to give that department more of the resources
necessary so that they can
properly capitalise on its
potential,” said the Attorney General.
Patrice Nisbett (left) and Jason Hamilton. Photo by Erasmus Williams.
21
22
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
NEVIS--Brazilian Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis
Douglas Vasconcellos plans
to envisage new ways that
would promote cooperation between St. Kitts and
Nevis as he seeks to assist
Nevis in areas of need.
The Ambassador, who is
based in Basseterre, made
the comment in a brief
statement at the end of his
courtesy call on Premier of
Nevis Vance Amory at Bath
Plain on February 27.
“We had occasion to put
forward and briefly scan a
wide array of possibilities
that we could develop: onthe-job training, on-the-job
performing. I have to try
to foster that art form that
really delivers concrete results and specifically with
Nevis.
“I have to keep in mind
that my representation is in
the Federation of St. Kitts
and Nevis. So on a daily
basis on my routine work,
I have to contemplate the
needs of Nevis and try to
envisage new ways, creative
alternatives to promote this
cooperation. This is my role
here and I hope to fulfil
that during my tour of duty
at the Embassy of Brazil
in St. Kitts and Nevis,” he
said.
The Brazilian Ambassador noted that his assignment in the federation was
his first ambassadorial position, an appointment of
which he is proud.
Meantime, Premier Amory welcomed the Ambassador to Nevis and stated that
Brazil was known to Nevis
mainly due to its dominance in world affairs as a
new developing country as
one of the Brazil, Russia,
AMSTERDAM-- So far
the sexual abuse scandal
has cost the Dutch Catholic
Church over eight million
euro in research costs and
compensation payments to
victims. Most of the money
has gone to the massive research project led by Wim
Deetman into the scale of
the problem.
The report, published in
2011, concluded that at
least 800 Roman Catholic
priests and monks were involved in abusing children
in their care between 1945
and 1985.
From left: Premier of Nevis Vance Amory, Brazilian Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis
Douglas Vasconcellos, Principal Assistant Secretary in the Premier’s Ministry Wakely Daniel and Vice Consul of Brazil in St. Kitts and Nevis Emilio Raro.
India, China and South Africa (BRICS) member nations.
“I think this is very commendable and I want to
congratulate you and your
president and your government and people on
the strides you have made
in your development,” he
said.
Amory also thanked the
Brazilian Ambassador for
his visit to Nevis and the
interest shown in the development of the federation.
“Your Excellency I want
to thank you for coming
to visit us today as representative of your country,
Brazil…I want to thank you
also for coming to discuss
with us some of the ways
in which your country can
be of assistance to St. Kitts
and Nevis, but specifically
about Nevis.
“We’ve dealt with some
matters today, which I
In total, three million euro
has been paid in compensation to victims, according
to the church’s annual accounts and quoted by news
agency ANP. It is the first
time the church has published its annual accounts
and the figures cover 2012,
ANP says.
The report also shows the
church is in financial difficulty in the Netherlands,
and made a loss of 4.3m
euro in 2012, partly due to
declining income from individual churches.
think would be of social
and economic help to Nevis
and our young people, especially as we’re looking for
opportunities for them and
I know we will be in further
communication,” he said.
During his one-day visit
to Nevis, the Brazilian
Ambassador, who was ac-
companied by Emilio Raro,
Vice Consul of Brazil in St.
Kitts and Nevis, also paid
courtesy calls to Deputy
Governor General Eustace
John and Leader of the Opposition Mark Brantley before his return to St. Kitts
via the ferry service from
Charlestown.
23
24
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Islands/Dutch Kingdom
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Is Amsterdam losing its appeal to foreign students?
AMSTERDAM--Amsterdam might attract 1.2 million young tourists a year,
but it lacks the ambition to
attract foreign students and
is missing out on talent and
income, according to a new
report out Thursday.
The Dutch capital is the
bottom of a list of nine
European student cities in
a comparison study. Just
6,750 of the city’s students,
or 6.6 per cent, come from
outside the Netherlands,
the report says. By contrast,
34 per cent of students in
Brussels come from outside
Belgium as do 31 per cent
of London students and 20
per cent of those in Berlin.
Amsterdam also performs
poorly compared with other Dutch universities. Some
10 per cent of Groningen’s
student body comes from
abroad, as does 14 per cent
of Delft students and 38 per
cent of those in Maastricht.
The situation is likely to
worsen stated the report
The Class of 2020 by the
higher education research
institute. It points to the
lack of English-language
courses in the city and a
lack of international educational ambition. “This
means the city is missing
out on talent, thousands
of jobs and millions of euros in income,” spokesman
Frank Uffen said.
The lack of affordable accommodation for international students is another
contributing factor, he said.
Uffen is also a director at
the Student Hotel group.
THE
HAGUE--Military
and harbour police will
carry out random checks at
the Dutch sea and land borders, as well as at airports
from March 14 to 28, as
part of the security package
surrounding the nuclear
summit in The Hague.
Junior Justice Minister
Fred Teeven told Parliament on Thursday, the
checks will be carried out
on the basis of “information and threat levels.”
The information will come
from the Dutch and foreign security services and
international organisations,
Teeven said. The German
and Belgian police will also
be involved.
The Netherlands is part of
the Schengen group within
the European Union (EU)
which means border controls have largely been removed. Nevertheless, the
border police do still carry
out spot checks on rail pas-
sengers and on cross-border road traffic.
“Travellers from other
EU countries can also
be checked and they will
have to get used to this,” a
spokesman told news agency ANP.
A large number of world
leaders are expected to attend the summit on March
24-25. US President Barack
Obama is expected for the
final session.
ROTTERDAM--Erasmus
University Hospital said on
Thursday, it will not comply
with new legislation requiring it to publish death rates
on its website. The new
rules come into effect on
March 1, but the Erasmus
Medical Centre has “objections” to publication in
principle, officials said on
Thursday.
Erasmus believes publica-
tion will not allow for the
fair comparison of death
rates in different hospitals
because they do not take
the difference in patients
into account. For example,
patients with heart failure are often transferred
from ordinary hospitals to
teaching hospitals and are
more likely to die, Chief
Medical Information Officer Jan Hazelzet told the
NRC. “But that says nothing about the quality of our
care,” he told the paper.
Health Minister Edith
Schippers said last June
that hospitals would have
to start publishing their
death rates for different
treatments. This will make
the quality of care more
transparent for patients,
she said.
25
26
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday February 28, 2014
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday February 28, 2014
27
28
Regional
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-The United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agency says 20 individuals, including ringleaders, straw
buyers, sellers, real estate
agents and an accountant
have been arrested in 10
different
municipalities
here for bank fraud and
money laundering.
ICE said the charges
stemmed from a scheme to
obtain money from mortgage lending institutions
and resulted from an investigation conducted by its
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Federal
Bureau of Investigations
(FBI), the Internal Rev-
enue Service (IRS) and US
Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
“These arrests are a reflection of the success that
comes when federal, state
and local law enforcement
agencies work together to
target criminal organizations and individuals in
Puerto Rico,” said Angel
Melendez, special agent in
charge of HSI San Juan.
“At HSI, we follow the
money trail to identify,
disrupt and dismantle the
most complicated financial
schemes and seize criminal
assets,” he added.”We will
continue to aggressively
investigate fraudulent financial schemes that put
KINGSTON, Jamaica--In an effort to diversify and develop new markets for the tourism industry, the government
has waived the visa requirements for Chinese visitors.
On Wednesday, Tourism Minister Dr. Wykeham McNeil
said China has been added to a list of countries including Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Hungary and Poland,
where visa requirements for travel to Jamaica have been
relaxed.
“Last year we attracted 2,420 Chinese tourists – an increase of 15.1 per cent over the previous year. The fact is
that the numbers are small, but the market has potential
for significant growth. In all the efforts to ease the difficulties experienced and to harness the market potential of China, Cabinet has now approved the conditional
waiver of visa requirements for nationals from China who
travel to Jamaica for tourism purposes for periods of 30
days or less,” he said.
The new visa regime will come into effect in a few weeks.
McNeil added that the Ministries of National Security
and Foreign Affairs would make the necessary arrangements for implementation. ~ Caribbean360 ~
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
in jeopardy the integrity of
our financial system and
are often a gateway to further criminal activity.”
As part of the fraudulent
scheme, ICE said the defendants purchased properties through straw buyers by
obtaining mortgage loans
from US federally-insured
financial institutions “in
amounts substantially exceeding the sales price of
the properties.”
The defendants would receive the excess amount of
the loans. Then, they would
default on payment of the
monthly mortgage premiums, ICE said.
“In order to ensure loan
approval, the participants
of the conspiracy created
and submitted false supporting
documentation
such as financial statements, bank statements,
employment
verification
letters and tax returns,
among other items, with
the loan application,” the
statement said.
According to the indictment, the defendants “aided and abetted each other
and knowingly made false
statements to various financial institutions to obtain
mortgage loans.”
The financial institutions
are Banco Santander de
Puerto Rico, Doral Bank,
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, and RG Premier
Bank of Puerto Rico.
The defendants face up to
30 years in prison and fines
of up to US$1 million.
Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
TRINIDAD--The Central
Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) says it has
pumped half a billion US
dollars into the domestic
foreign exchange market,
saying it is aware of the
difficulty some businesses
and the public have been
experiencing in obtaining
foreign currency.
In a statement, the CBTT
said that it has been “actively and aggressively”
taking steps to address the
situation and that in the last
three and a half months it
has sold US $500 million to
the banking sector to alleviate tensions in the domestic
foreign exchange market.
The CBTT said that it typically supplies 25 per cent of
the total foreign exchange
needs of the market, with
the remaining 75 per cent
supplied by the banking
system.
“The Central Bank is as-
suring the public that other
initiatives are currently being pursued to strengthen
the operational efficiency
of the domestic foreign exchange market. The Bank
continues to monitor developments in the foreign
exchange market and will
take appropriate action
as needed,” the statement
added.
The bank gave no reasons
as to the shortage of US
currency on the domestic
foreign exchange market.
~ Caribbean360 ~
PARAMARIBO--Foreign Minister Winston Lackin dialled
back a bit Thursday on provocative statements President
Desi Bouterse had made on February 25 regarding US Ambassador Jay Anania. The minister told journalists in a press
briefing that the president was only expressing his concerns
about things he had heard when he threatened to have the
ambassador expelled from the country. He said Bouterse’s
intention was to safeguard Suriname’s good name.
Speaking at last Tuesday’s commemoration of his February 25, 1980, military coup, Bouterse spoke in a somewhat
confrontational manner about ambassador Anania. The US
diplomat had visited the minister of home affairs and the Independent Elections Bureau last week, inquiring on how the
preparations for the elections are progressing, which Bouterse took as his meddling in internal affairs. He hinted that
Anania was trying to obstruct the preparations for the May
25, 2015, general elections.
“There are people planning all sorts of stuff, because their
favourite presidential candidate is not ready yet for the elections; but nobody should think that I do not know what is
going on behind the scenes,” he said, announcing that Anania would be summoned to come explain his actions. “If he
cannot explain himself he may pack his bags and leave the
country,” Bouterse had said.
Foreign Minister Lackin said Bouterse’s statement should
be taken in the right context; he said that in his speech at
the commemoration, the President was expressing himself
about things that he had heard and that he found disturbing.
Lackin promised that more information about these “matters” would be released soon.
This, he said, would happen after the talk with Ambassador
Anania. At his press briefing – during which journalists were
not allowed to ask questions – the minister said that the ambassador had not been “summoned” but rather invited for a
dialogue. He said Anania, who is traveling, has meanwhile
responded via a diplomatic note that he accepts the invitation.
Lackin did not mention Ernst Noorman, the Dutch chargé
d’affaires who Bouterse had also accused of interfering in
internal matters. Bouterse charged that the Dutch were trying to delay the elections to give the presidential candidate
they preferred (Chandrika Santokhi of VHP) a chance to
close the gap with his (Bouterse’s) MegaCombination party.
The Netherlands denied these accusations on Thursday,
though. “Any postponement of the elections is a matter that
regards Suriname in which the Netherlands does not interfere,” a spokesperson of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Regional
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Labour Minister Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados-A senior Barbados government Minister Tuesday said
every citizen must play a role
in the turning around the ailing economy warning “if you
are not part of the solution
you are part of the problem”.
Labour Minister Dr. Esther
Byer Suckoo, addressing the
Productivity Council’s Week
of Excellence, said that
whilst the Freundel Stuart
government was fully conscious of the challenges and
has a mandate to seek and
implement solutions which
will engender economic recovery, “we all have a role to
play in the recovery process.
“We know that there is no
panacea for all the challenges which we encounter,
whether it be at the level of
Government, social partnership, the workplace or even
in our personal lives; but
whatever the solutions we
decide upon, ingenuity, proactivity and fortitude would
make them attainable,” she
said.
Noting that the adage “if
you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the
problem” was appropri-
ate in these circumstances,
Byer Suckoo explained that
the ongoing recovery programme, though difficult,
was necessary if some of the
current problems were to be
resolved.
“Government is actively
working on solutions in the
19-month recovery programme that we’re all aware
of, which includes reducing
its expenditure and starting
projects such as the Barbados Water Authority’s mains
laying programme, which
was started last week.
“And yes, the retrenchments
are part of that as well. A
painful prescription, I know,
and like surgery it hurts, even
while you know that there’s
healing going on the inside.
“You may not all agree with
the measures that have been
outlined…but now is not the
time to sit around arguing
about what Government is
doing or not doing. The fact
is, government is now a part
of the solution – (but) are
we? Meaning ‘we’ at the individual level...what are you
doing for the sake of your
country that has done so
much for you?,” she said.
KINGSTON, Jamaica--A
policeman attached to the
Lucea Police Station in
the western end of the island has been charged with
manslaughter.
The Independent Commission of Investigations
(INDECOM) - the body assigned to undertake investigations concerning actions
of members of the security
force, on Tuesday, arrested
and charged Constable Ricardo Whittaker for the
fatal shooting of a civilian
– Cassius Mullings.
The police report that on
the night of January 23,
2011, Mullings and several
others, including Whittaker
were playing dominoes outside a grocery store when
Whittaker’s gun fell from
his waist as be got up from
the table. In an attempt to
catch the gun, it reportedly
went off and shot Mullings,
killing him on the spot.
The policeman appeared
in Court to answer to the
charge and was offered bail
in the amount of J$500,000
(One Jamaica dollar =
US$0.01 cents).
The preliminary enquiry
for this matter is set for
June 17, 2014.
The Stuart administration
has implemented a retrenchment programme that would
result in an estimated 3,000
public servants being made
redundant as it seeks to reverse the economy.
The Labour Minister said
country’s attitude to these
and other challenges was
not only crucial, but for various industries and sectors to
thrive.
“Poor attitudes have the potential not only to undermine
the quality of work relationships, but they can create
tension and conflict and undermine leadership and foster customer dissatisfaction,
while undeniably hindering
employee productivity.
“And if there’s one solution
that we can identify for every Barbadian, it would be
to adopt, not only a positive
attitude to our challenges…
but also a good attitude to
our work,” she noted.
Meanwhile, the Deputy
General Secretary of the
Barbados Workers’ Union
(BWU), Toni Moore, says
while much emphasis has
been placed on the financial impact of the economic
downturn and the resulting
job losses, the impact on
health should not be forgotten.
“There has been little attention given to the fallout
of crises such as this one,
(and the impact) on human
health…the current economic downturn has serious human costs (such as) suicide
and depression.”
Lamenting the lack of research to highlight the impact of mental health in the
workplace in the Caribbean,
Moore explained studies
from the United Kingdom
indicated that “mental health
problems cost employers
about 30 billion pounds a
year.
“I’m sure if we had statistics
for Barbados and the region,
it may not be in that amount
but per person, (but) the impact would be similar.”
29
PARAMARIBO--Police
will as of today be bringing
in the help of the army to
face the increase in crime,
it was announced yesterday. The announcement
came shortly after a meeting between the Ministers
of Defence and Justice
that was also attended by
Army Commander Ronnie
Benschop and Police Chief
Humphrey Tjin Liep Sjie.
Justice Minister Edward
Belfort said that as of Friday evening, police officers will patrol the streets
together with soldiers. He
said extra measures were
necessary, because crime
has roughened in recent
weeks.
Police Chief Tjin Liep
Sjie chimed in, saying that
criminals have no qualms
about using firearms. He
mentioned the recent violent stick-ups during which
robbers killed their victims:
a businessman who rob-
bers left to die at his house
tied up in a pool of blood;
a man of Chinese descent
who died at the hospital
where he was dropped off
by unknown people after
receiving a severe beating;
and a gold miner who was
shot and killed by a band of
Brazilians in the hinterland.
“These incidents cause police to be concerned,” the
top cop said.
Tjin Liep Sjie said the joint
police/army patrols would
focus not just on Paramaribo, but also on the districts.
He urged citizens to make
sure to always have valid ID
papers on them in case they
were stopped by the patrol
units.
Defence Minister Lamure
Latour said that if the situation called for it, the soldiers deployed to aid the
police would respond ruthlessly.
Justice Minister Belfort
brushed off recent informal
calls for a reinstatement of
the death penalty, saying
he is not a giver of life and
would therefore not want
to take one. “I am not going to respond to that noise.
We will deal with this with
the means the law provides
us. Every murder is one too
many. We will deal with
this problem drastically,
but conform to the law,” he
said.
The minister said the
most important results that
should come from the cooperation between army and
police should be that the
surge in crime is dealt with
and that the community’s
sense of safety improves.
He stressed that there have
been clear agreements between police and army: the
patrols should make the
armed forces visible in the
community, which should
also work in a preventive
sense.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent-The St. Vincent and the
Grenadines government says
it will provide a number of
concessions, including an
US$100,000 loan, to passenger ferries operating between the mainland and the
Grenadines.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph
Gonsalves said that the
US$100,000 loan would go to
the owners of the MV Jaden
Sun, after it had announced a
suspension of its services until further notice. The money
would be used to replace a
damaged engine.
“The fast ferry is an important service, and the fast ferry is very expensive to run,”
Gonsalves said announcing
concessions on fuel for all
passenger ferries operating
within the island.
“Of course, the fuel has
to be bought through the
bonded warehouse system,
so that you have a reputable
dealer you are dealing with.
That will save the fast ferry
just over $1,000 a day,” Gonsalves said.
Prime Minister Gonsalves
said that discussions had
also been held with owners
of other ferries and that the
loan would be re-payed at
four per cent interest per annum over a 10 year period.
Gonsalves said that a similar
offer is open to Jeffery King,
owner of Barracuda, which,
he said, had to replace one of
its two engines and two gearboxes recently.
The monies for the loan
come from PetroCaribe, the
oil alliance of some Caribbean states with Venezuela
to purchase oil on conditions
of preferential payment.
“We have done a lot of
work in the Grenadines. …
But when you see a government goes out of its way like
this and acts in this manner
concerning an issue of transportation — sea transportation, you know that this is a
government which wants to
see our multi-island state to
be one always, and the links
must be solid,” Gonsalves
said.
“Now, hopefully, we would
not see the rapid increase
in fares that we have been
seeing in some of the ferry
services,” Gonsalves said,
adding that the assistance to
the ferries were similar to the
government’s move to invest
in the regional airline, LIAT.
“I think it is a good use of
government resources to
help with something which
is of vital importance to us,
in the same way that we use
resources to help St. Vincent
link with the rest of the region through LIAT. It is the
same principle. Different
context, but same principle,”
he said.
30
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
31
32
WASHINGTON-Packaged foods sold in the
United States would display calorie counts more
prominently and include
the amount of added sugar
under a proposal to significantly update nutritional
labels for the first time in
20 years as health officials
seek to reduce obesity and
combat related diseases
such as diabetes.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday its proposal would also
ensure that the amount of
calories listed per serving
reflects the portions that
people typically eat. That
change may result in perserving calorie counts doubling for some foods such
as ice cream.
First lady Michelle Obama,
who has used her White
House position to launch
the “Let’s Move” campaign
to fight childhood obesity,
announced the proposal
alongside the FDA.
The principle behind the
update is “very simple,” she
said in a statement. “You
as a parent and a consumer
should be able to walk into
your local grocery store,
pick up an item off the
shelf, and be able to tell
whether it’s good for your
family.”
While the FDA already requires companies to list the
amount of sugar in a product, the proposal requires
them to list the amount of
added sugar. Natural sugar
is contained in fruits. Added sugar includes corn syrup and concentrated juice
as well as white and brown
sugar.
The FDA, which has been
discussing proposed label
changes with the industry
for nearly a decade, estimated the cost to industry
of updating the labels will
be about $2 billion while
the benefit to consumers is
estimated at between $20
billion to $30 billion.
The updates would take
about three years to take
effect. After a 90-day public
comment period, the FDA
will draw up final rules.
Once finalized, companies
will have two years to comply with the regulations.
When labeling was first
introduced,
companies
fought it “tooth and nail,”
said Dr. David Kessler,
who was commissioner of
the FDA when the original
labels were created. “They
will certainly put up a fuss
here, but at the end of the
day they will learn to live
with it and thrive and make
US/World
better products because of
it.”
The reaction from food
makers was subdued.
“It is critical that any
changes are based on the
most current and reliable
science,” Pamela Bailey,
president and chief executive of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said
in a statement. “Equally
as important is ensuring
that any changes ultimately
serve to inform, and not
confuse, consumers.”
The trade group represents food, beverage and
consumer products companies.
Lanie Friedman, a spokeswoman for ConAgra Foods
Inc, whose brands range
from Healthy Choice to
Reddi-wip to Hebrew National, said in an email that
while the company “applauds efforts to make nutrition panels more useful
to consumers, such as placing more prominence on
calorie information, other
changes proposed are significant and will take time
to implement.”
General Mills, the maker
of cereals Cheerios and
Wheaties and products
ranging from Haagen-Dazs
ice cream to Yoplait yogurt,
said it has long been an advocate of communicating
clear nutritional information on products.
“That’s especially true of
calories and serving sizes,
but also true of important
benefits that consumers are
seeking, like calcium and
whole grain,” Kris Patton,
a company spokeswoman,
said in an email.
More Calories For Chubby
Hubby?
The proposal comes days
after a federal health survey showed a 43 percent
decline in obesity among
children aged 2 to 5 years,
though overall obesity rates
remain unchanged.
Calories will be displayed
in larger font, and consumers may get a wake-up call
with proposed changes to
serving sizes.
By law, serving sizes must
reflect the amount consumers typically eat, yet serving
sizes listed on many packaged goods often differ
wildly from what people actually eat. A serving of ice
cream, for example, is currently listed as half a cup.
Yet few people stop there.
Under the FDA’s proposal, a serving of ice cream
would be a cup, doubling
the calorie count and po-
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
added the hope that “once
consumers decide to implement changes in their
diet that lead to healthier
lifestyles it will provide
them with the tools to be
successful.” The proposal
requires companies to list
the amount of total fat,
saturated fat and trans fat
in a product, as is currently
the case, but they would no
longer have to list calories
from fat since the type of
fat consumed is more important than the amount,
the FDA said.
In November, the agency
proposed banning artificial
trans fats, long associated
with an increased risk of
heart disease, in processed
foods.
The new proposal would
also reduce the recommended daily amount of
sodium to 2,300 milligrams
from 2,400 milligrams,
though some would like
that reduction to go further.
“There is strong scientific
evidence that indicates lowering sodium can result in
significant reductions in
blood pressure,” the American Heart Association said
in a statement, adding that
it will continue to recommend that daily sodium
intake be limited to 1,500
milligrams.
In addition, companies
would be required to list
the amount of potassium
and vitamin D. Currently,
they are required to list
vitamin A and vitamin C.
Those listings in future
would be optional. The
FDA said people are more
likely to be deficient in vitamin D and potassium.
The proposed changes
would affect all packaged
foods except certain meat,
poultry and processed egg
products, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food
Safety and Inspection Service.
TOTOWA, NJ-- A group
of 32 men was charged on
Thursday with running an
international carjacking ring
that stole luxury vehicles in
New York and New Jersey
and shipped them to West
Africa for resale, state authorities said.
More than 160 cars, worth
more than $8 million, have
been recovered, most of
them at ports in New York
and New Jersey where they
were set to be shipped out
of the country, New Jersey
acting Attorney General
John Hoffman announced
at a news conference at the
Totowa, New Jersey, State
Police station.
Prosecutors said the suspects, working in crews,
would take vehicles at gunpoint or steal them from suburban neighborhoods using
electronic keys or key fobs.
For more than a year, they
have worked largely in northern New Jersey, they said.
The ring targeted high-end
vehicles, especially luxury
sports utility vehicles, such as
Land Rover, Mercedes Benz,
BMW, Honda, Porsche, Jaguar and Aston Martin, they
said.
The stolen cars were sold
in West Africa at prices well
above their new market value in the United States.
The carjackers sometimes
would target victims by
bumping their vehicles on a
highway and, when the victim would pull over, taking
the vehicle by force, prosecutors said.
They also would steal vehicles at car washes and at
airport terminals where drivers might leave their engines
running while they unloaded
luggage, they said.
Some cars were stolen from
dealerships, they said.
“This ring we took down was
a double threat,” Hoffman
said. “Its members committed carjackings that put the
public in grave danger, while
at the same time, through
their fencing and shipping
operations, they created demand that motivated others
to commit carjackings.”
Authorities said the ring had
no known connection to a
high-profile local carjacking
in December at the Mall at
Short Hills, where a 30-yearold attorney was murdered
while holiday shopping with
his wife. Four men have been
charged in that case.
Of those charged on Thurs-
day, 26 men were arrested
and warrants were issued
for six men who remain fugitives, authorities said.
Most of the suspects live in
or near Newark, New Jersey.
Seven were accused of being leaders of the ring and
charged with racketeering,
money laundering, fencing
and other charges.
The racketeering and money laundering charges carry
potential prison sentences of
20 years.
Others were charged with
carjacking, racketeering or
receiving stolen property.
Authorities did not provide
any information on attorneys
for the accused.
The ring was busted following a 10-month investigation
called Operation Jacked,
led by the New Jersey State
Police and state Division of
Criminal Justice with help
from the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey
Police Department, federal
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, state police
in Massachusetts, Delaware
and Connecticut, U.S. Customs & Border Protection,
the U.S. Marshals Service
and local county prosecutors
and police.
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama unveils proposed updates to nutrition facts labels during remarks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, February 27. According to the
White House, the proposed label updates are intended to reflect the latest scientific information about the link between diet and chronic diseases such as obesity and heart disease.
tentially giving consumers
pause as they survey their
options. The number of calories in a serving of Ben &
Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice
cream, for example, would
be about 660 instead of the
current 330.
By contrast, the serving
size for yogurt would fall
from the current level of 8
ounces to the more commonly consumed 6 ounces,
the FDA said.
In the case of packages
that can be consumed in
multiple sittings, such as
family-sized bags of potato
chips, manufacturers would
have to provide two labels,
one to show nutritional
information “per serving”
and the other to provide
“per package” information.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the
proposed label change
reflects what “has been
learned about the connection between what we eat
and the development of serious chronic diseases impacting millions of Americans.”
The extent to which nutritional labels affect consumer behavior is unclear.
“The evidence is thin and
highly variable,” said Alice
Lichtenstein, a professor of
nutrition science and policy
at Tufts University.
Studies analyzing the impact of menu labels has
been mixed. Recent research from Carnegie Mellon University showed that
recommended calorie intake information did not
help consumers use menu
labeling more effectively.
Hamburg conceded that
the new food labels alone
will not “magically change
how America eats,” but
International
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine-The United States told
Russia to demonstrate in
coming days that it was sincere about its promise not
to intervene in Ukraine,
after armed men seized
the regional parliament in
a mainly ethnic Russian region and raised the Russian
flag.
Crimea, the only Ukrainian region with an ethnic
Russian majority, is the last
big bastion of opposition to
the new leadership in Kiev
since pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich
was ousted at the weekend.
The region also provides a
base for the Russian navy’s
Black Sea Fleet. Kiev’s new
rulers said any movement
by Russian forces beyond
the base’s territory would
be tantamount to aggres-
sion.
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry said Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov had assured him
by telephone that Moscow
would not intervene militarily in its neighbour.
“We believe that everybody now needs to take a
step back and avoid any
kind of provocations,” Kerry said at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier.
“We want to see in the
next days ahead that the
choices Russia makes conform to this affirmation we
received today.”
Yanukovich, who fled Kiev
after scores of demonstrators were killed last week,
was expected to hold a
news conference in Russia
WASHINGTON- - Unauthorized video footage of a
protester that disrupted a
U.S. Supreme Court proceeding on Wednesday has
been posted online.
The shaky, low-quality video,
just over two minutes long,
shows a brief disruption that
occurred in a courtroom during an oral argument in a patent case.
(http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=2K-8FJ114kU)
Video cameras, along with
any other electronic devices, are not allowed in the
courtroom. Spectators are
screened by police officers
before they are allowed entry
to the courtroom.
On Wednesday, Noah
Newkirk of Los Angeles,
California, stood up in the
courtroom and spoke out on
an unrelated case, objecting to the Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission
ruling from 2010 that cleared
the way for increased independent corporate and union
spending during federal elections.
Newkirk can be partially
seen and heard in the footage, which appears to have
been shot by someone he was
with.
The video ends with the logo
for a group called 99Rise,
which says on its website
(http://www.99rise.org) that
its aim is to “get big money
out of American politics.”
Police officers removed
Newkirk after a brief scuffle.
He has been charged with
violating a law that prohibits
“loud threatening or abusive
language” in the Supreme
Court building.
A court spokeswoman said
in an email on Thursday that
she was aware of the video.
“Court officials are in the
process of reviewing the video
and our courtroom screening
procedures,” she said.
on Friday. He has declared
he is still Ukraine’s president, but has lost support
even in regions where the
ethnic Ukrainian population mainly speaks Russian
as he does.
Crimea, which was administered as part of Russia within the Soviet Union
until it was transferred to
Ukraine in 1954, is a more
tendentious
question.
Separatism there has often
flared up at times of tension between Moscow and
Kiev.
The apparent armed siege
of the Crimean parliament
by unidentified gunmen
created a bizarre scene:
there was no official explanation of who the gunmen were, and they issued
no demands. Police hardly
seemed to treat the event
as a major security incident.
Instead, they casually
guarded the building below its Russian flag while
hundreds of pro-Russian
demonstrators assembled,
including elderly people
who danced cheerfully to
recordings of Soviet martial
music.
The regional parliament
even managed to hold a
session inside the building on Thursday despite
the siege, where it voted
to stage a referendum on
“sovereignty” for Crimea.
By the early hours of Friday, police guarding the
building would not say
what had happened to the
gunmen or whether they
were even still there. Russia’s flag still flew from its
roof and lights were on in
the windows of its top floor.
Oleksander Turchinov,
Ukraine’s acting president,
warned Russia not to move
personnel beyond areas
permitted by treaty for
those using its naval base:
“Any military movements,
33
A man waves a Russian flag in front of a local parliament building during a pro-Russian rally
in Simferopol, Crimea February 27. Armed men seized the parliament in Ukraine’s Crimea region on Thursday and raised the Russian flag, alarming Kiev’s new rulers, who urged Moscow
not move troops out of its navy base on the peninsula.
the more so if they are
with weapons, beyond the
boundaries of this territory
will be seen by us as military aggression,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly
declared it will defend the
interests of its citizens in
Ukraine, and on Wednesday announced war games
near the border involving 150,000 troops on high
alert. Kerry said Lavrov
told him the war games
were pre-planned.
Although Moscow says it
will not intervene by force,
its rhetoric since the removal of its ally Yanukovich has echoed the runup
to its invasion of Georgia in
2008, when it sent its troops
to protect two self-declared
independent regions and
then recognised them as independent states.
Witness accounts suggest
those who captured the
Crimean parliament building in the early hours of
Thursday were pro-Russian
gunmen of some kind.
“We were building barricades in the night to protect parliament. Then this
young Russian guy came
up with a pistol ... we all
lay down, some more ran
up, there was some shooting and around 50 went in
through the window,” Leonid Khazanov, an ethnic
Russian, told Reuters.
“I asked them what they
wanted, and they said ‘To
make our own decisions,
not to have Kiev telling us
what to do’.”
Ukraine’s new interior
minister, Arsen Avakov,
said the attackers had automatic weapons and machine guns.
The regional prime minister said on Thursday he
had spoken to the people
by telephone, but they had
not made any demands or
said why they were there.
They had promised to call
him back but had not done
so, he said.
With the siege apparently still under way, the
regional parliament met in
another part of the building and voted to hold its
referendum on May 25, the
day Ukraine plans to elect
a new president to replace
Yanukovich. The measure,
if passed, would declare
Crimea sovereign, with its
relationship to the rest of
Ukraine governed by treaty.
The pro-Russian crowd
outside cheered the news.
“In three months we will
have a chance to choose
our future,” said Yuri Lukashev, 58, a carpenter
standing in a group of other
ethnic Russian men outside
the building late at night.
“We’re celebrating our victory. It’s a chance for peace
in Crimea, guaranteed by
Russia.”
However, elsewhere there
was some anger at the invasion of the regional parliament and the flying of the
Russian flag.
Alexander Vostruyev, 60,
in a leather cap and white
beard, said: “It’s disgrace
that the flag of a foreign
country is flying on our parliament ... It’s like a man
coming home to find his
wife in bed with another
man.”
34
International
RABAT/PARIS -- Morocco
has halted judicial cooperation with France, blocking
procedures from prisoner
transfers to joint investigations, officials said on Thursday, in a growing dispute
with its former colonial ruler
over allegations of human
rights abuses.
French President Francois
Hollande spoke to the Moroccan king this week to try
to defuse the rare row with
Rabat, an ally under fire
from rights groups over police abuses, press freedom
and judicial independence.
Rabat on Saturday summoned the French ambassador after French police went
to the Moroccan Embassy in
Paris seeking to question the
head of the domestic intelligence service (DRT) over
torture allegations, following
lawsuits filed against him in
France by French-Moroccan
activists.
“We haven’t received any
explanation regarding the
seven French police officers
who went to question the
head of the territorial surveillance,” Moroccan government spokesman Mustapha Khalfi told reporters.
“That damaged the integrity of the Moroccan judiciary system ... That is why
we decided to suspend the
whole judicial cooperation
with France until an update
of those agreements.”
Lawyers and officials said
the move affected cooperation on penal matters such
as joint investigations, prisoner transfers and extraditions. Also blocked will be
civil procedures for dual
French-Moroccan nationals,
who number almost 700,000,
such as marriages, custody of
children issues and divorces.
There are about 170 French
citizens held in Moroccan
prisons.
Morocco’s justice ministry
had earlier said it had recalled one of its judges who
had been liaising on judicial
matters.
France’s foreign minister
had said on Wednesday he
hoped the dispute was in
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
the past after speaking to
his Moroccan counterpart.
“We are continuing our close
dialogue with the Moroccan
authorities to overcome the
recent difficulties,” France’s
foreign ministry said in a
statement on Thursday.
France, Morocco’s top economic partner, is keen to resolve the dispute as quickly
as possible, officials said.
TORTURE CLAIMS
In 2012, the United Nations
said torture against people
suspected of national security crimes in Morocco was systematic and urged it to end
ill-treatment of detainees.
U.S.-based Human Rights
Watch has urged Morocco to
investigate accusations that
police tortured pro-democracy activists.
Joseph Breham, a lawyer
for one of those who filed
a complaint in Paris, said
the suspension would block
prisoner transfers to France.
Several of his clients had
been jailed on drug-trafficking charges and had asked
for transfers to France after
making claims of torture following arrest, he said.
“The Moroccans have realised that prisoners file legal complaints once they get
back to France,” he said.
But analysts said the diplomatic row may also be linked
to the long-running Western
Sahara dispute.
One of Africa’s oldest territorial feuds, it has been a
sensitive issue for Morocco
since the United Nations
brokered a ceasefire in 1991
that ended a war between the
North African kingdom and
the Algerian-backed Polisario movement.
The United Nations will
vote in April on extending
the mandate of a U.N. mission in Western Sahara for
another year.
France has long supported
Rabat’s position on Western Sahara. Last year, Paris
pushed the United States to
modify a draft resolution that
aimed to have U.N. peacekeepers monitor human
rights in the territory. The
draft prompted Morocco to
cancel joint U.S.-Moroccan
military exercises.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem angered Morocco by
quoting a French ambassador as saying Paris chose to
ignore human rights abuses
in Western Sahara, a former
Spanish colony that Morocco
annexed in 1975.
Foreign Ministry spokesman
Roman Nadal acknowledged
on Wednesday that Bardem
had met France’s U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud in
2011 to discuss Western Sahara, but said: “Our U.N.
representative ... did not say
what was attributed to him.”
International
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
WASHINGTON-- When
it comes to camp-outs, this
one was epic.
On the way from Asia into
the Americas, the ancestors of Native Americans
hunkered down for about
10,000 years during a particularly frigid period of the
Ice Age in territory called
the Bering Land Bridge
that once linked Siberia to
Alaska.
That’s the argument advanced on Thursday by
scientists who said that fossil evidence showing that
shrubby lowlands there
could have supported human habitation fits nicely
with DNA data about the
ancestors of today’s Native
American population.
Perhaps several thousand
people lived in the territory
now submerged under the
Bering and Chukchi Seas
from about 25,000 years
ago to 15,000 years ago be-
fore crossing into Alaska
and dispersing throughout
North and South America,
they said.
“It’s staggering when you
think about people living in
temporary shelters - probably something like a tent
- in the Arctic, especially
in winter,” paleoecologist
Scott Elias of Royal Holloway, University of London
said in a phone interview.
“These are extremely rugged people. I’m sure they
were very well adapted to
living in the cold in terms
of their physique, their
physiology, their ability to
withstand
temperatures
that would make most of us
be absolutely miserable or
die,” he said.
Previous DNA research
indicated that the ancestors of Native Americans
became isolated from rest
of the human race long
enough to acquire their
own distinctive genetic
blueprint.
As a result, most Native
Americans share genetic
traits not seen in the Asian
populations from which
their ancestors arose.
Elias and two colleagues,
archaeologist John Hoffecker of the University of
Colorado and anthropologist Dennis O’Rourke of
the University of Utah,
wrote in the journal Science that evidence suggests
this isolation took place on
the land bridge.
They cited their own work
and the findings of other
scientists to back up their
ideas.
During the Ice Age, this
massive land bridge - twice
the size of Texas - connected the two continents
at a time when ocean levels were substantially lower
than they are today.
People trekking onto the
BAGHDAD-- At least 52
people were killed Wednesday as a motorcycle rigged
with explosives detonated
in Baghdad’s Sadr City and
militants targeted mostly
Shi’ite
neighbourhoods
around the country.
The motorcycle was
parked in a second-hand
bike market in the Shi’ite
Muslim
neighbourhood
that was filled with people,
mostly young men, when
it exploded late Thursday
afternoon, killing 31 and
wounding 51 others, Iraqi
medical and police sources
said.
Blood covered the ground,
storefront windows were
shattered and shoes and
motorcycle parts were
strewn around the market,
according to a Reuters correspondent at the scene.
Dozens of people were
screaming for information
about their relatives.
A wounded man, who
identified
himself
as
Ahmed, rested in a nearby
hospital. “I was about to
leave the market when a
huge explosion happened,”
Ahmed said. “I was hit in
my face and my hands and
when I got up, everyone
was screaming and running
towards me away from the
blast.”
It was not clear who was
behind the bombing but
violence against Shi’ites is
often blamed on the Sunni
Muslim Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),
an al Qaeda-linked group.
Baghdad has been hit by
wave after wave of bombings since April as the precarious peace enjoyed since
the end of Iraq’s sectarian
war in 2008 has unravelled.
Explosives and suicide
bombs have been favoured
by Sunni extremists as they
seek to target Shi’ite areas
and intimidate their own
religious community.
The latest bloodshed
comes as Prime Minister
Nouri Maliki wages a war
against Sunni militants in
western Anbar province
neighbouring Syria, and
has become a base for ISIL.
Despite the offensive, the
pace of attacks around the
country goes on undiminished.
manned checkpoint in the
town of Shirqat was hit by a
bomb that killed two fighters and wounded four others, police said.
A suicide car bomber piled
into the greeting house of a
prominent tribal leader in
Haditha in western Anbar
province, killing Sheikh
Said Fleah al-Usman and
six of his guests and wounding 22 others, police said.
Usman had been a leader of the pro-government
“Awakening” paramilitary
force and a member of Haditha’s municipal council.
The manner of his death
reflected the bloody struggles taking place within the
Sunni community in Anbar
as some support the government, others back alQaeda linked groups and
some factions are opposed
to both.
To the north in Tuz Khurmatu, a bomb in an outdoor
marketplace frequented by
Shi’ite Turkmen killed two
people and wounded 11
others.
In Diyala province to the
east, which has been roiled
by tit-for-tat violence between Sunnis and Shi’ites,
gunmen shot dead three
members of a Sunni family in Khallis as they drove
home, police said. No reason was given for the killings.
Violence Around The
Country
In other violence Thursday, four people died from
bombs on two different
mini-buses in Shi’ite sections of Baghdad.
A militant smashed his
explosives-packed vehicle
into a checkpoint, killing
three soldiers and wounding six others in Mushaada,
a Sunni district, in northern
Baghdad, police said.
In Salahuddin province,
a pro-government Sunni-
land bridge were blocked
from entering North America by huge ice sheets covering large parts of the
continent during one of the
coldest periods on Earth.
As the planet warmed,
ice sheets retreated, opening up routes into North
America. The land bridge
disappeared amid rising
sea levels caused by surging
global temperatures.
Some experts have felt
that the conditions on the
land bridge would have
been too harsh and barren
to sustain people. But Elias
said the central part of the
land bridge may have provided a proper refuge.
Campfire Wood
Though it is now under
water, scientists have been
able to analyze what life
may have been like on the
land bridge. The U.S. Geological Survey drilled into
the seafloor in the 1970s
and 1980s to check for oil
and gas deposits, and those
core samples included the
surface of the submerged
land bridge.
This revealed fossil pollen,
plant and insect material
that indicated the region
had a tundra environment
with woody plants and trees
like birch, willow and alder.
This wood supply, the scientists said, may have been
a source of fuel for campfires.
People could have used
wood to start a fire, then
placed
large
mammal
bones on it to ignite fats
inside the bones, the scientists said. Large mammal leg bones could have
burned for hours, keeping
people warm through frigid
winters, they said.
“A wood supply may have
been critical as a supplement to bone fuel,” Hoffecker said by telephone.
With a meat-heavy diet,
people may have fished
and hunted water birds,
35
elk, deer and caribou in
their shrubby lowlands,
Hoffecker said. A nearby
steppe-tundra region supported bigger grazing mammals like mammoths, bison
and horses but lacked the
shrubs and trees needed for
long-term human habitation.
Hoffecker said that people
may have made temporary
hunting forays into those
regions during warmer
months.
These researchers said the
weakest link in their case
is a lack of archaeological
evidence that people were
actually on the land bridge
at the time. After all, the
ancient land bridge is now
under 160 to 200 feet (50 to
60 meters) of water.
O’Rourke said that archaeological research in
the few coastal areas in
Alaska or Siberia that have
remnants of the ancient region might yield evidence
of human habitation.
36
International
The Yahoo logo is shown at the company’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, California in this
file photo taken April 16, 2013. Britain’s spy agency GCHQ intercepted millions of people’s
webcam chats and stored still images of them, including sexually explicit ones, the Guardian
newspaper reported on Thursday.
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
LONDON-- Britain’s spy
agency GCHQ intercepted
millions of people’s webcam chats and stored still
images of them, including
sexually explicit ones, the
Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday.
GCHQ files dating between 2008 and 2010 provided to the newspaper
by the former U.S. National Security Agency
(NSA) contractor Edward
Snowden, revealed that the
surveillance programme,
codenamed Optic Nerve,
saved one image every five
minutes from randomly selected Yahoo Inc webcam
chats and stored them on
agency databases.
Optic Nerve, which began
as a prototype in 2008 and
was still active in 2012, was
intended to test automated
facial recognition, monitor
GCHQ’s targets and uncover new ones, the Guardian said. It said that under
British law, there are no
restrictions preventing images of U.S. citizens being
accessed by British intelligence.
GCHQ collected images
from the webcam chats of
more than 1.8 million users globally in a six-month
period in 2008 alone, the
newspaper reported.
“It is a long-standing policy that we do not comment
on intelligence matters,” a
GCHQ representative said
on Thursday.
In another sign of the
widespread informationsharing between U.S. and
British spy agencies which
has riled public and politicians on both sides of the
Atlantic, the webcam information was fed into the
NSA’s search tool and all of
the policy documents were
available to NSA analysts,
the paper said.
It was not clear, however,
whether the NSA had access to the actual database
of Yahoo webcam images,
the Guardian reported.
Yahoo said it had no
knowledge the interceptions.
“We were not aware of
nor would we condone
this reported activity. This
(Guardian) report, if true,
represents a whole new level of violation of our users’
privacy that is completely
unacceptable,”
company
spokeswoman
Suzanne
Philion said in an emailed
statement.
Snowden, now in Russia
after fleeing the United
States, made world headlines last summer when he
provided details of NSA
surveillance
programs
to the Guardian and the
Washington Post.
For decades, the NSA
and GCHQ have shared
intelligence under an arrangement known as the
UKUSA agreement. They
also collaborate with eavesdropping agencies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand in what is known as the
“Five Eyes” alliance.
Under Optic Nerve,
GCHQ tried to limit its
staff’s ability to see the
webcam images, but they
could still see the images
of people with similar usernames to intelligence targets, the Guardian said.
GCHQ also implemented
restrictions on the collection of sexually explicit images, but its software was
not always able to distinguish between these and
other images.
“Discussing efforts to
make the interface “safer
to use”, it (GCHQ) noted
that current “naïve” pornography detectors assessed the amount of flesh
in any given shot, and so
attracted lots of false positives by incorrectly tagging
shots of people’s faces as
pornography,” the newspaper said.
The spy agency eventually excluded images in
which the software had not
detected any faces from
search results to prevent
staff from accessing explicit
images, it added.
WASHINGTON-The
World Bank on Thursday
said it postponed a $90
million loan to Uganda’s
health system over a law
that toughened punishment for gays, an unusual
move for an institution that
usually avoids wading into
politics.
“We have postponed the
project for further review
to ensure that the development objectives would not
be adversely affected by
the enactment of this new
law,” World Bank spokesman David Theis said in an
email.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed an anti-gay bill earlier this week
that strengthens already
strict legislation against homosexuals, and makes it a
crime to fail to report anyone who breaks the law.
Homosexuality is a taboo
in almost all African countries and illegal in 37, including in Uganda where it
has been criminalized since
British colonial rule.
The World Bank, a poverty-fighting institution based
in Washington, typically refrains from getting involved
in countries’ internal politics or in contentious issues
such as gay rights in order
to avoid antagonizing any
of its 188 member countries.
International
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
CARACAS-- Venezuelans
began a week-long national holiday on Thursday
as some protests still simmered but President Nicolas Maduro’s government
was hoping the break will
take the heat out of the
nation’s worst unrest for a
decade.
The 51-year-old successor
to Hugo Chavez brought
forward by two days a long
weekend national holiday
for Carnival when Venezuelans traditionally abandon
cities and head for Caribbean coast beaches to relax
and party.
There will be another day
off for the March 5 anniversary of Chavez’s death from
cancer, meaning a weeklong break that officials
hope will dampen studentled street protests against
the government.
In the capital Caracas,
which has seen most of the
at least 13 fatalities from
this month’s unrest, opposition supporters gathered in
wealthy eastern neighborhoods.
In familiar scenes from
the last two weeks, when
one group of demonstrators tried to block a six-lane
highway that runs nearby,
security forces fired teargas
to disperse them.
“How can you enjoy carnival when people are dying?” read one banner
waved by students at drivers in eastern Caracas as
many people began to hit
the highways for the coast.
In the city center, red-clad
Maduro supporters rallied
in remembrance of deadly
price riots 25 years ago,
which the president says
helped propel Chavez to
power a decade later.
The students want Maduro to quit over grievances
ranging from high inflation
and shocking crime rates to
shortages of basic food and
alleged repression of political rivals.
Though they have presented the biggest challenge to
his 10-month-old administration and the worst unrest
since street rallies against
Chavez a decade ago, there
is no sign Maduro could be
ousted. (For full coverage,
click: )
On the contrary, he seems
to be regaining the initiative by offering dialogue
with foes and consolidating
his leadership of the Socialist Party by uniting factions
against a common enemy.
Injuries, Arrests
About 150 people have
been injured during the
two-week crisis, and more
than 500 people arrested,
authorities say.
Of those, 55 remain behind bars. They are mostly
protesters but also include
seven intelligence agents
and security officials accused over the shooting of
two people in downtown
Caracas after a Feb. 12
rally that sparked the worst
trouble.
The government recognizes security forces were
involved in three of the
13 fatalities. It says about
50 people have died in total due to the protests, including indirectly linked
cases such as people unable
to reach hospital due to
blocked roads.
Venezuela’s volatile western region, in the Andean
foothills on the Colombian
border, has seen the worst
unrest, with students and
security forces facing off
day after day.
In one middle-class neighborhood of San Cristobal
city, demonstrators manning a barricade on ThursContinued on page 38
37
An opposition demonstrator runs with a makeshift shield during clashes with police at Altamira square in Caracas February 27. Venezuelans began a week-long national holiday on
Thursday as some protests still simmered but President Nicolas Maduro’s government was
hoping the break will take the heat out of the nation’s worst unrest for a decade.
38
International
NEW DELHI-- Iran is willing to address international
concerns about its atomic
activities but will keep its
nuclear programme “intact”, not close it down,
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on
Thursday.
His remarks signalled that
Tehran will not agree to
dismantle any of its atomic
facilities in talks with six
world powers on a final
settlement of the decade-
old dispute over its nuclear
activity.
Those negotiations got
under way in Vienna last
week, with both sides saying
they made a “good start”
but conceding that their
plan to achieve a long-term
deal in the coming months
was very ambitious.
By late July, Western governments hope to hammer
out an accord that would
lay to rest their suspicions
that Iran is seeking the ca-
pability to make a nuclear
bomb, an aim it denies,
while Tehran wants a lifting
of economic sanctions.
Zarif, speaking to reporters during a visit to New
Delhi, said he hoped a deal
would be reached by the
July deadline, although
talks could be extended by
another half year if both
sides agreed.
“I am hoping by the first
deadline we will reach a final deal and to start imple-
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
menting it,” he said. “And I
can assure you that Iran has
that political will and good
faith that is required in order to achieve that.”
However, he also said
there was a “problem in
terms of both substance
and approach”, apparently
referring to the other side
in the talks.
Iran and the powers the United States, Russia,
France, Germany, China
and Britain - aim to build on
an interim accord reached
in November under which
Tehran curbed its most sensitive nuclear work, highergrade uranium enrichment,
in exchange for some sanctions easing.
Diplomats and analysts
acknowledge that it probably will be even more difficult to reach a final agreement as the Western powers would likely press for a
significant scaling back of
Iran’s nuclear programme,
including of the number of
centrifuges that it uses to
refine uranium.
Iran says it is enriching
uranium to low levels for a
planned network of nuclear
power plants. But uranium
can also be used to assemble bombs if refined further
to a high fissile concentration, which the West fears
may be Iran’s ultimate aim.
U.S. officials have made
clear Iran’s planned Arak
heavy water reactor - which
could yield bombb-grade
VENEZUELA
day in an upper-middleclass neighborhood said
National Guard troops had
fired teargas at them but
failed to dislodge their protest.
A Reuters reporter saw
them reinforcing the barrier, winding wire around
tree branches to strengthen
the structure of chain-link
fencing and corrugated
metal sheets.
“How long are we going to let them abuse us?”
said one man, his shirt tied
around his face.
He accused protesters
in Caracas of lacking the
strength of their counterparts in San Cristobal and
elsewhere. “The Caraquenos are only interested in
parties, and not in getting
rid of this joke of a government,” he complained.
‘Spoiling Carnival’
Maduro accused foes of
trying to wreck Venezuelans’ cherished Carnival
celebrations and mocked
opposition leaders as part
of a wealthy elite flying out
for the break.
“There’s not a single flight
out left. They’re all going
abroad while they try and
deprive the farm worker,
the laborer, the student,
of their Carnival,” Maduro
thundered in a speech to
supporters late on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to allow
it. Carnival 2014 is going
ahead!”
In an attempt to calm
tensions, Maduro hosted
business and church leaders, and some opposition
politicians, at a “peace conference” in his presidential
palace on Wednesday night.
Shown live on state TV,
the occasion gave Venezuelans the unusual sight of
businessmen, whom Maduro frequently excoriates
as “savage capitalists” and
ringleaders of an “economic war” against him, debating with the president.
The attendees were each
allowed five minutes to
speak, with the head of
Venezuela’s main business
chamber Jorge Roig criticizing Maduro’s “failed”
economic model.
Major opposition figures
did not attend, however.
The main opposition leader Henrique Capriles said
he did not want to take part
in a “photo op” without
plutonium once operational - must be dealt with
under any settlement and
Washington has also questioned Iran’s need to have
a uranium enrichment site
buried deep underground
at Fordow.
Zarif said Iran was “prepared to make sure that the
programme is exclusively
peaceful and create the
necessary understanding
for the West. I believe there
are multiple ways of doing
that and we are willing to
entertain those ways.”
But, he added: “I can tell
you that Iran’s nuclear programme will remain intact.
We will not close any programme.”
Continued from page 37.
signs Maduro was serious
about making concessions
or addressing real problems.
Firebrand protest leader
Leopoldo Lopez, who leads
a radical wing of the opposition, is in jail on charges
of fomenting this month’s
unrest. And the umbrella
Democratic Unity opposition organization’s executives declined to attend
what they called a “pretend
dialogue.”
With calls for both sides
to talk pouring in from
the Vatican to the White
House, the opposition’s
strategy could backfire in
terms of wider international opinion.
Maduro has received
strong support from leftist
allies such as Bolivia and
Cuba, and only some relatively muted criticism from
other nations including
Chile and Colombia.
Regional heavyweight Brazil, whom Latin American
governments increasingly
look to for a lead, has kept
quiet, saying Venezuela’s
problems are for it alone to
resolve. “The Maduro government is on a P.R. mission and initial indications
are that it is winning,” the
London-based Latinnews
newsletter said in an analysis on the crisis.
“The ‘Exit’ movement
seeking Maduro’s resignation has lost momentum
and, at the end of the day,
it didn’t appear to offer ordinary citizens anything politically tangible, other than
a vent for their extreme
frustration with the social
and economic crisis,” it
said. “There doesn’t appear
to be a ‘Plan B’.”
Business
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
TOKYO-- Any regulation
of the bitcoin crypto-currency should involve international cooperation to
avoid loopholes, Japanese
vice finance minister Jiro
Aichi said on Thursday.
Commenting on the closure this week of Tokyobased Mt. Gox, once the
world’s biggest exchange
for the bitcoin virtual currency, Aichi said the ministry would respond to the
problems “if necessary”, after finding out exactly what
happened.
“It’s not just the Ministry of Finance; many other
agencies are related,” Aichi
told a news conference. “As
for its legal position, a currency (under Japan’s jurisdiction) would be coins or
notes issued by the Bank of
Japan. At the very least, we
can say bitcoin is not a currency.”
U.S. Federal Reserve
Chair Janet Yellen, appearing on Thursday before a
Senate committee, said the
Fed has no jurisdiction over
bitcoin but that Congress
should consider ways to
regulate such virtual currencies.
The Mt. Gox website and
Twitter feed went blank
on Tuesday after weeks of
turmoil. It suspended withdrawals on Feb. 7 following
a series of cyber attacks,
leaving customers unable
to recover their funds.
A document circulating
on the internet saying that
more than 744,000 bitcoins
- worth around $423 million at current rates - were
missing from Mt. Gox was
created by a Tokyo-based
consulting firm, said Ryan
Selkis, a blogger who initially leaked scans of the
document. Selkis, who uses
the handle “twobitidiot”,
said in an email that the
“Crisis Strategy Draft” had
been written by consulting
firm Mandalah in meetings
with Mt. Gox CEO Mark
Karpeles.
A director at Mandalah
told Reuters the firm had
never been contracted by
Mt. Gox to do “strategic
planning” but declined to
comment further.
On Wednesday, Karpeles
had sought to assure investors that he was working
with others to solve the
problems. “As there is a
lot of speculation regarding Mt. Gox and its future,
I would like to use this opportunity to reassure everyone that I am still in Japan,
and working very hard with
the support of different
parties to find a solution to
our recent issues,” he said
in a statement posted on
the Mt. Gox website.
Mt. Gox Rebranding?
While proponents of bitcoin hail its anonymity and
lack of ties to traditional
banking, regulators have
become increasingly interested in the digital currency
due to its volatility and usage by criminal elements.
Bitcoins are created, or
“mined”, in a process using a network of computers
that solve complex mathematical problems as part
of a process that verifies
and permanently records
the details of every bitcoin
transaction that is made. At
current prices, the bitcoin
market is worth about $7
billion.
The document leaked this
week by Selkis - who says
he sold all his bitcoins - said
744,408 bitcoins, or about 6
percent of the 12.4 million
bitcoins in circulation, were
“missing” due to thefts that
exploited “malleability” in
the code governing transactions, which the Bitcoin
Foundation and others
have blamed on Mt. Gox’s
customised software.
“Mt. Gox has been broken
and it was obvious there
was something really bad
going on there for nearly
a year. They were processing withdrawals very slowly
and generally being very
opaque about what was going,” said Mike Hearn, a
bitcoin developer in Switzerland.
The leaked crisis plan proposed that Mt. Gox reduce
its liabilities, switch off the
exchange for a month while
bringing in transition advisers, and reset all social
network channels while rebranding under a different
CEO.
Karpeles told Reuters in
April 2013 that Mt. Gox
was seeing daily inflows
of $5-$20 million. He told
Forbes his company hadn’t
been able to keep up with
all the changes as it became
the largest exchange in the
world.
The crisis plan said Mt.
Gox had liabilities of $174
million, based on an assumed exchange rate of
$160 per bitcoin - well
below the $550 or so offered for bitcoins at other
exchanges on Thursday
- against assets of $32 million. A financial statement
included in that document
said Mt. Gox was expected to make $2 million in
A smartphone display shows the average bitcoin exchange rates against the U.S. dollar, British sterling pound, and the euro during a media opportunity at the Tokyo Bitcoin weekly meeting at a restaurant in Tokyo February 27. Any regulation of the bitcoin crypto-currency should
involve international cooperation to avoid loopholes, Japanese vice finance minister Jiro
Aichi said on Thursday. Commenting on the closure this week of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once
the world’s biggest exchange for the bitcoin virtual currency, Aichi said the ministry would
respond to the problems “if necessary”, after finding out exactly what happened.
net income in the year to
end-March, a sevenfold increase on the previous year.
It also said Mt. Gox turned
a profit in its second year of
existence, banking $286,000
in net income. Those figures match a 2013 report
by credit research firm Tokyo Shoko Research, which
was reviewed by Reuters. It
said Mt. Gox “had a strong
start”.
Mt. Gox had 600,000
customers at the time, the
research report said - 30
percent from the United
States, 10 percent from
Britain and just 300 in Japan. Given that most users are overseas, any court
case to retrieve missing
funds would be more likely
in the United States than
Japan, said Ken Kiyohara,
a lawyer at Jones Day. “It
probably comes under the
(Japanese) Financial Services Agency’s (FSA) remit,
but giving a reason for that
in one sentence is impossible,” he said.
Officials at the FSA and
Finance Ministry each told
Reuters bitcoin does not
fall within their purview,
while the Bank of Japan
says only that it is studying
the bitcoin phenomenon,
which Governor Haruhiko
Kuroda has called “interesting.”
People who had bitcoins
at Mt. Gox are more definitive.
“It was the only place you
could buy bitcoin directly
with yen, so it hurts that it’s
gone,” said Ryoichi Taga, a
fellow at the Japan Digital
Money Association.
Nobody Home
Manhattan U.S. Attorney
Preet Bharara has sent subpoenas to Mt. Gox, other
bitcoin exchanges and businesses that deal in bitcoins
to seek information on
how they handled recent
cyber attacks, a source familiar with the probe said.
A spokesman for Bharara
declined to comment.
Mt. Gox is under investigation by the U.S. federal
law enforcement, according
to a second source familiar
with the case, while a third
said the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation was
monitoring the situation.
The federal probe was
spurred by information
provided by the Bitcoin
NEW YORK- - The S&P
500 closed at a record on
Thursday and ended in
positive territory for the
year after Federal Reserve
Chair Janet Yellen said
harsh weather seems to be
to behind recent U.S. economic softness.
That gave some relief to
investors who supported
the view that heavy snowstorms and unusually cold
weather - and not worsening fundamentals - were to
blame for weak U.S. employment, retail sales and
other data.
The advance lifted the
S&P 500 above its 2013
year-end closing level of
1,848.36, which has served
as resistance in recent sessions.
“The market was worried.
She could have excluded
weather and perhaps talked
more about the soft patch,”
said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential
Financial, which is based in
Newark, New Jersey.
“I think she gave the market some comfort that she
thought it was probably
mostly due to weather-related issues.”
Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee,
Yellen also said the Fed
would watch carefully to
make sure weather was
indeed behind the recent
weakness. But she said it
would take a “significant
change” to the economy’s
prospects for the central
bank to put plans to reduce
its bond-buying program on
hold.
Some retailers scored
sharp gains for a third session, with the shares of J.C.
Penney Co Inc and others
jumping after the companies posted strong results.
Mylan Inc gave one of
the biggest boosts to both
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
Mylan’s shares shot up 9.4
percent to end at $56.27
after the U.S. generic drugmaker gave a 2014 forecast
above Wall Street’s esti-
39
Foundation, an advocacy
group for the digital currency, Bloomberg reported. The foundation could
not be reached immediately for comment. Karpeles,
a founding member of the
foundation, resigned from
its board on Monday.
In Singapore on Thursday, Tembusu Terminals
set up what it said was the
city-state’s first automated
tele-exchange
machine
(ATM) for buying bitcoins
- at the downtown Spiffy
Dapper bar - a week after
the finance minister said
bitcoins weren’t regulated
by the ministry or the central bank.
Karpeles’ whereabouts in
Japan were still unclear.
The main Mt. Gox office remained deserted on
Thursday, with bubble wrap
inside the windows. The
company said last week it
was moving back to a previous office for “security
reasons”. The company’s
cubicle in the other office
in Tokyo’s Shibuya area was
inaccessible.
A concierge at Karpeles’
home - an upscale apartment near Shibuya - appeared to speak to someone on the intercom before
saying there was nobody
home.
mates. Mylan also said it
plans to make a “substantial” transaction this year
that would add to future
earnings.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 74.24
points or 0.46 percent, to
end at 16,272.65. The S&P
500 gained 9.13 points or
0.49 percent, to finish at
1,854.29, surpassing its previous record closing high
set on Jan. 15.
The Nasdaq Composite
added 26.869 points or
0.63 percent, to close at
4,318.933.
For the year, the S&P 500
index is now up 0.3 percent.
After the bell, Gap Inc
shares slid 1 percent to
$43.24 after the clothing
retailer reported results.
Shares of Deckers Outdoor
Corp tumbled 12.5 percent
to $74.05 after the company, whose brands include
UGG boots and Teva sandals, posted earnings.
During the regular session,
Continued on page 41
40
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Regular: one insertion $5 /full week (6x) $25.
Highlighted (border around ad): one insertion $7 /full week (6x) $35.
Commercial rate (grey block): $65 for one full week.
(1) 2008 12 seater gray Hyundai
Van, for sale as is by owner. $9,000
negotiable. Call:523-1084.
2003 Toyota Matrix, automatic,
red, in very good, need body work,
$3,700. Grand Am Pontiac, automatic, $600, in driven condition.
Call:523-4601/527-6928.
2006 Daihatsu Sirion, gold, newly
inspected, good engine, reliable,
remote, alarm, fuel sufficient, priced
at $3,300 or best offer. Including license plates to be changed before
March 7th. Call:(1721)522-5131.
Decorative items for $5, recently
purchased Blackberry Bold 5, 2 night
lamps and wooden side table, party
wear ladies clothing for sale, in good
condition. Contact:523-3099.
For sale:Inflatable 2 man kayak.
New, never used, L.L. Bean with
carrying case, paddles and life preservers, $400 firm. Call:544-5189
for viewing.
Cole Bay, Diamond Hill, very big
and nice house with 5.5 bedrooms,
great lagoon and sea view, high design furniture’s with pool. Possibility
for 2 apartments. Price $845,000.
Call:581-6418.
Econoline
Cargo van, V8, white with
aluminum rims, engine not
working. Best offer. Call:5247604.
warehouse, houses, apartments
1-5
bedrooms.
Commercial/Residential.
Business with N.V. licenses
(Corporation).
Call:Euro
Caribbean
Linkup
N.V.
(E.C.L.) Leopold J. Gumbs
O w n e r / D i r e c t o r
Tel:1(721)522-6513/5501952/543-0536.
Email:
eclnv@car ibser ve.net,
www.eclsxm.com
2007 Mazda CX7 Grand Touring 32k miles, gray, leather seats,
sunroof, 6 disc changer, back up
camera, fully loaded! USD$10,000
Call:522-0955 for more information.
1/4 acre land Northside Anguilla,
next to Kool FM AXA, 2 minutes from The Valley. Infrastructure, beautiful view of capital and
St.Maarten, US$25,000 negotiable.
Contact:(1721)522-8684 or Bevon
Brooks(Kool FM AXA).
2008 Nissan Almera, perfect
condition, power everything, new
tires, low mileage. For only $6,800
negotiable. 2003 Chrysler Sebring
luxury vehicle, leathers seats, convertible, manual. Call:587-7840 or
526-7815.
2 buildings with 2 apartments
on each. Possibility to build 2 extra apartments. Within 3 minutes
driving distance from Philipsburg.
Great investment opportunity.
Please call:586-3375.
2009 Toyota Yaris, new tires, fully
loaded, automatic, very cold A/C,
in excellent condition and well
maintained. For more information
call:524-7470.
model. New
shocks, breaks, wheels,
seats, roof and radio.
$10,000 or nearest cash
offer. Call Tracy 523-6681.
Exclusive properties with breath
taking views and more. Want to
rent, sell or purchase property?
Enthusiastic agent is willing to assist you! Become a property owner
today. Contact:germaine@carbonacquisitiongroup.com. Tel:(1721)
527-0729/544-3091.
bedroom,
three bath, town house with
spectacular views. Located
near the medical school with
excellent
rental
income
potential, deeded land, security, and large community
pool. Price reduced to
$310,000.
Contact:
(1721)526-7129
Oysterpond French side for sale by
owner, Villa 180m2, 3 bedroom with
terrace 250m2, land 2005m2. Information: www.digi-post.com/hugo
Pelican Key:2 bedroom, 2 bath
waterfront townhouse, 1500 sq.ft,
private parking, common pool,
hurricane shutters, garden/sea
view. Possible expansion 3rd bedroom, very private, great condition.
Call:(1)721-586-6570.
Hyundai
Accent for sale. Bronze color,
beautiful car. Only 27km,
$13,500. Interested parties
please call:520-7514.
Selling a 2004 Toyota Sienna
Caravan, white, automatic. Please
call:524-0984, 550-4438 or 5538005.
Custom made 2006 mega yacht
tender motor boat(24.ft) center console. 2x Yamaha 4-stroke 250hp.
Like new, VHF, waterski pole, nice
seating, great sound system, water tank, shower. US$35,000 o.b.o.
Call:580-0638.
Quick sale by owner. Rice Hill
Garden 1909m2. Excellent view.
Ideal place for a dream house.
Price $175,000 negotiable. Please
contact:580-2184, 553-1184 or
586-3509.
Bakery,
great
business
opportunities
$675,000
negotiable.
Philipsburg
Restaurant on the Boardwalk
renovated with all new
equipments $220,000 negotiable. Fly Real Estate N.V.
Mimi 588-7667.
Simpson Bay Yacht Club, phase
#2. Magnificent 2 bedroom waterfront apartment, corner unit with
two parking spaces. Possible boat
lift/2 slip, brand new. Sold by owner
$699,000. Call:580-8802.
Simpson Bay Yacht Club: Magnificent 2 bedroom waterfront apartment, corner unit with two parking
spaces. Possible boat slip. Magnificent view. Sold by owner $599,000.
Call:580-8802.
200
sq.meters with large terrace,
ocean view. 4 bedroom, 1
office, pool, storage and
laundry room. Studio downstairs, large garden 1000
sq.meters, generator $830K.
Email:marleo2659@icloud.c
om, call after 5pm, 5229594.
(1)Bedroom, SBYC, fully furnished, security, parking, internet,
cable TV, washer/dryer. No pets/
children, smoking. Beautiful. April
1 to December 1, 2014. Boatslip
use possible. $1,300 plus utilities.
Call:554-8342.
Pricing Classifieds with photo: personal: $40 per week
(max. 30 words with one picture)
Commercial: $85 per week (max. 30 words with one picture)
Apartments for rent. Quiet area,
close to Philipsburg. Ready to
move in, fully furnished. 2 bedroom
$1,650/month. Free satellite TV
and internet, private parking, gated,
intercom, nice view! Tel:554-8979.
Pelican Key for rent:Single house
with infinity pool, big lounge fully
equipped kitchen, master bedroom/master bath, office. Upper
level 2 bedroom, 2 bath, big storage
place, US$2,800. Tel:587-2205.
Beautiful and elegant:1 bedroom,
patios, kitchen and porch, A/C, fully
furnished. Private entrance, garden,
parking, sea view, quiet residential
area, easy access, next to Almond
Grove. 585 Euros p/m. Phone:5263600/590-690-22-07-87.
Pelican Key:Single house for rent
with private pool and garden, partially furnished. US$3,000 a month.
Please call:587-2205. (No agents
please).
Cul-de-Sac/Cay
Hill. (6x)2 bedrooms/2 baths
apartments. Newly built,
completely furnished, $1,350
per
month.
Pointe
Blanche:(2x)2
bedroom/2
bath apartment, semi furnished,
gated
parking,
$1,100. And much more for
rent and sale.
Call:Euro
Caribbean
Linkup
N.V.
Tel:1(721)522-6513/5501 9 5 2 / 5 4 3 - 0 5 3 6 .
Email:eclnv@caribserve.net,
www.eclsxm.com
Philipsburg:2 luxury split level
penthouses. Prime location! 2 bedroom/2 bath, $1,300 per month. 3
bedroom/2 bath $1,300 per month,
2 months deposit, all connections.
Tel:1-721-526-5005.
fully
furnished one bedroom,
ground floor apartment in a
small well kept waterfront
complex, designated off road
parking. $750 p/m. Call John
520-5194.
Pointe Blanche:Fantastic deals,
great view! Gated 2 bedroom/2
bath apartment, unfurnished, fully
at Sea Breeze For rent in Lower Princess Quar- equipped, aircos, 2 walk-in closets,
Hotel, $650 monthly, room ter, new apartment, beautiful view. beautiful kitchen, balconies, genservice included. $500 with- 2 bedroom/bath, $800/month. 1 erator, free Internet $1,180. 1bedout air condition. Call:542- bedroom/bath, $550/month. Park- room/1 bath, fully furnished $980.
6055 or 542-6056.
Email ing space, automatic gate and inter- Call:(1721)522-5131.
seabreezehotel@aol.com.
com. Call for an appointment:(1721)
Simpson Bay Regatta crew ac559-8177.
1 bedroom apartments with
commodation:Fully furnished stuexterior spaces, from $625-$650, For rent:1 bedroom apartment. dio/rooms walking distance to Yacht
utilities excluded. Two bedroom/ Pumpkin Road, South Reward. $650 Clubs bridge, shops. $25/19euros,
one bathroom $750. Two bath- utilities included. Call:586-7669.
ppp night $135/99euros per week
rooms/two bathrooms with large
or $350/269euros p/m, private
front/back porch, $800, with fantas- For rent:Belair with a great sea room $59/45euros p/n. Central lotic views, utilities excluded, South view, very nice 3 bedroom, 2.5 cation. Call:550-6820.
Reward. Call:526-0139.
bath, semi furnished, big garden
with fence, private pool and private Simpson Bay Yacht Club, very
1 bedroom, Belair Kangaroo Road parking. Call:581-6418.
nice and totally renovated 1 bedwith living & bathroom, semi furroom, 1 bath with spectacular
nished, A/C, with spacious room.
lagoon view with 24/7 security.
Grills, safe & quiet area, utilities includ- space 1100 square feet. $1,800 unfurnished or $2,000 fured, $900 p/m and 1 month deposit. across from Bobby’s Marina nished. Call:581-6418.
2 min from the Harbour. For
Contact Mike:587-5073/542-8142.
retail, office, car/scooter
Club:Waterfront,
available
1 studio semi furnished apart- rental, beauty salon or storMay 1. Furnished 1 bedment, $550 per month, utilities, age. Call:523-3154 or 554room/1
bath
corner
unit,
boat
6655.
Archimedes Street #90, Cole Bay
(across from Ace). Tel:520-1593 or Large, upstairs 2 bedroom fully slip, electric hurricane shutters,
24
hours
security,
544-5363.
air conditioned house. Located in pools, tennis courts, $1,650/
a secure, private, enclosed yard/ month. Call:587-7372/5882 bedroom apartment for rent, private parking. Location:Middle
3809.
The Keys, Suckergarden, Please Region on the main road. $1,200
call:527-0444, 542-4487, 542- p/m negotiable. Serious callers only.
3167 or 524-0918.
Call:520-4372.
Simpson Bay, Puerta Del Sol,
great studio with very nice furni2 bedroom house for rent with Little Bay Divi for rent, 2 bedroom, ture’s, balcony, lagoon view, priown yard, Gibbs Drive, Dutch 1 bath, partially furnished, park- vate parking and security, $1,500
Quarter. $675 per month including ing, nice view, available April 1st, monthly. Call:581-6418.
utilities. Call:522-0435.
$1,100. Tel:587-2205.
Simpson Bay:Gorgeous 3 bed2 bedroom/2 bath condo apartLovely apartment, 2 bedrooms, room/3 bath (350 sq.m), fully furment, Maho, La Terrasse, $2,700,
A/C, Kitchen, living, bathroom, cold nished with a wonderful lagoon and
water, electricity, maid service, and
& hot water, beautiful view. Parking, sea view, parking, private pool, priparking included. Call:588-5109
hurricane shutters, quiet neighbor- vate elevator, generator and secubed- hood, located on L.B.Scott Road, rity, $4,200 monthly. Call:581-6418.
room apartment, furnished, Cul-de-Sac (before Cake House).
2 min from Juliana, cable Call:550-2876/553-2575.
Simpson Bay:Student housing,
ready, A/C, large porch overprivate air conditioned units with
looking lagoon. All utensils, Maho:Large one bedroom, top common area, fully furnished, utiliappliances, linens included. floor, fully furnished, equipped, ties, cable, Wi-Fi, cold/hot showers,
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immediately. washer/dryer, internet, satellite washer/dryer, safe in unit, 2 minCall:586-8575/520-4462. TV, balcony, electric shutters, king utes from the beach, short term
sxmapt@yahoo.com.
size bed, 2 sofa’s beds, private available. Call:553-2706.
parking, security, $1,300 p/m.
Almond Grove for rent:Single 2 Call:(1721)581-4494.
Simpson Bay:Wow! At the
bedroom house with private pool
beach! 3 bedroom/2,5 bath, huge
and garden. Unfurnished, covered Mary’s Fancy:2 bedroom apart- living room, $1,800. Close to
terrace of 100 sq.m, security 24/24. ment downstairs, quiet area, pri- school:2(small)bed/1 bath apartBeautiful view! Rent US$3,000. vate parking, hot & cold water, ment, nice price $980! Both newly
Please call:587-2205.
burglar bars, $800 none negotiable. renovated, unfurnished, new kitchens. Call fast:(1721)522-5131.
Call:527-0049.
Almond Grove, New 3 bedroom,
3.5 bath, electric shutter, all ap- One bedroom, one bath apartment, South Reward:3 bedroom/2 bathpliances, security 24/7, common Middle Region. $390 per month, 1 room, very spacious home, hot/cold
pool, 2 parking places, common month deposit. Call:523-1084.
water, A/C, ceiling fans, big yard,
garden, terraces and small priprivate parking and gated. Ocean
vate garden USD$2,600. Please Oyster Pond (1 unit) one bedroom view excellent, neighborhood and
call:587-2205.
apartment with washer & dryer, air- very quiet. Available immediately.
co, microwave and security alarm. $1,300/monthly. Call:522-0888.
Almond Grove:Spacious open US$700 or furnished $800 monthly.
living area, new kitchen, 2 bed- Call:527-6112 or 520-8658.
St. John’s 4 bedroom/2 bath, sparoom/2 bath, beautiful ocean view
cious living/dining & kitchen. Nice
from privacy of large covered Pelican Key for rent:New 2 bed- yard with porch with separate launterrace. Airco, full laundry, shut- room, 2 bath, 50 sq.m of terrasse, dry room. Excellent hurricane proof
ters, 2 car parking. $2,500/month. furnished and equipped. US$2,000 home. Call Rita at 542-2176.
C a l l : ( 7 2 1 ) 5 2 3 - 0 9 1 0 , monthly. Please call:587-2205.
palmvillasbc@yahoo.com
Weymouth Hill:Spacious semifurnished 3 bedroom house.
Amazing view! 2 bathrooms, Gebe
included, $1,800. St. John’s:3 and
4 bedroom, unfurnished family
house, private porch for each room!
From $1,800. Call:526-3631.
front space,
405 sq.ft. Located at #43
Welfare Road, Cole Bay. For
further
information
call:(721)523-4675
or
(721)526-8600.
Bay is looking for a cook,
kitchen helper and waiters,
20 years and older need to
apply, must have valid
papers. Call between 8am to
5pm, 581-7777.
is
looking for a dynamic office
manager and sales persons.
Great
package
offered.
Email:marineresumes@
gmail.com
or
phone
(721)588-1588.
Cash-Buyer Fisherman’s Wharf.
I am looking for 1 bedroom apartment for $75,000, as I am a cashbuyer, the seller could have the
$75,000 with 7-10 days in his/her
account. Call:(011)590-690-28-9382.
Jamaican lady is seeking a job
in housekeeping or to care for an
elderly person. Please call:5504596.
Looking for nannies to babysit
children. Call:553-8005 or 5504438.
Need a woman cook with experience and very flexible? Call after
5pm, 581-6791.
FOR ONLY
$175
FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR
$95
FOR 6 MONTHS
Business
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
SYDNEY
Whether
through error or circumstance, Qantas Airways
Ltd’s spectacular fall from
grace is giving chief executive Alan Joyce his best
chance of steering the airline toward long-term salvation.
Joyce has called on the
Australian government to
help the national flag carrier in its hour of need. If
Canberra is convinced Qantas is in peril, it may have
little option but to abandon
decades of resistance and
provide state aid.
The executive needs little
help making a convincing
case: losses from a domestic
price war and international
competition are piling up;
Qantas is now worth only
half what it was when Joyce
took the helm in 2007; and
its credit rating is now junk
across the board.
The A$2 billion cost savings and 5,000 job cuts
Joyce announced on Thursday represent the airline’s
most radical shake-up since
it was privatised in 1995.
As yet, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott appears unmoved by Joyce’s plea for
the government to offer a
debt guarantee that would
lower Qantas’s costs. A
change in laws to allow
more foreign investment to
flow into Qantas, as it has
done to rival Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, is a longer-term proposition.
Yet Qantas still has plenty of cash to keep it afloat
pending changes, as well
as inevitable disputes with
trade unions over cutting
15 percent of the carrier’s
workforce.
As Joyce’s calls for state
support grow louder, so too
does criticism of the way
he has run the airline. The
spotlight on his management has spurred some to
call for his resignation.
“The only way for Qantas
to get out of this nosedive
is for Alan Joyce and the
board to resign,” said lawmaker Nick Xenophon.
HAND TIED
There’s no sign of that happening. The Irish-born executive, 47, promoted from
Qantas’s low-cost Jetstar
LONDON-- Britain’s farmland prices hit a record high in
the second half of 2013 on the
back of strong commodity prices and as a rebounding housing
market pushed up demand for
homes in the countryside, a
survey showed on Friday.
Floods which swept parts of
southern England in January may have damaged some
of the land available, further
hurting supply as farmers seek
to expand their businesses, the
Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS) said.
The average cost of farmland
jumped 14.3 percent from the
same period in 2012 to 7,754
pounds ($12,900) per acre
across England and Wales - a
record for the ninth consecu-
S&P
J.C. Penney shares surged
25.3 percent to $7.47, a day
after the U.S. department
store chain forecast more
improvement in its comparable sales and gross profit
margin this fiscal year.
The S&P retail index has
climbed 4.2 percent for the
week so far, including its
slim gain of 0.1 percent on
Thursday.
Among other retailers,
Best Buy Co Inc reported a
better-than-expected profit
on Thursday. The stock
rose as high as $28.19 before ending at $25.57, down
1 percent.
Sears Holding Corp reported a quarterly loss
that narrowed from the
year-ago period, sending
its stock up 6.5 percent to
$43.01. Kohl’s Corp said it
Continued from page 39
expected modest sales gains
in its new fiscal year and reported a lower fourth-quarter profit. Shares of Kohl’s
rose 2.4 percent to $55.74.
The day’s economic data
added to the positive tone,
with orders for long-lasting
U.S. manufactured goods
excluding transportation,
or durable goods excluding
transportation, and a gauge
of business spending unexpectedly rising in January.
About 6.5 billion shares
changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 7 billion
average so far this month,
according to data from
BATS Global Markets.
Advancers beat decliners
on the New York Stock Exchange by a ratio of 2 to 1.
On the Nasdaq, 17 stocks
rose for every nine that fell.
Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce gives a news conference at Qantas headquarters
in Sydney in this file photo. Australian carrier Qantas Airways Ltd plans to cut 15 percent of
its workforce, sell older jets and reduce capital spending after reporting a first-half loss amid
growing competition in both international and domestic operations.
unit seven years ago, likes
to say that the struggling
carrier is fighting lavishly
funded competitors “with
one hand tied behind our
back”, citing the unfettered
foreign funds provided to
tive period, according to the
survey.
While the rise was largely
commercially driven, residential demand also picked up
in the last six months of 2013
for the first time in over three
years.
Britain’s housing market has
seen a fast rebound, prompting
the Bank of England in November to say it would remove
mortgage lending incentives
from the Funding for Lending
Scheme it launched in August
2012 to encourage banks to
lend to households and businesses. However, the market
is still supported by record-low
interest rates and another government scheme to aid homebuyers.
Britain’s Co-operative Group
said on Wednesday it was selling its farming business in a
bid to revitalise its operations
- a move which could help
bring more farmland onto a
squeezed market.
“Farmland price growth
has been enormous in recent
years,” said Jeremy Blackburn,
RICS head of UK policy.
“With commodity prices now
having remained strong for
some time, many farmers have
been looking to expand their
businesses and, with so little
actually coming up for sale,
competition for good land is
fierce.”
Virgin Australia and others.
The law authorising Qantas’s privatisation contains a
provision that foreign investors may not hold more than
49 percent of the company:
Though officially a domestic airline, Virgin Australia
is nearly two-thirds owned
by non-Australian carriers
- Etihad, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand
- whose investments have
provided funds for growth.
Others say Qantas’ troubles rest squarely with the
airline - and in part with
Joyce himself.
Analysts point to what
they say are a number of
key errors by Joyce, notably
the fight to retain Qantas’s
share of an already crowded domestic market and the
failure to get proper lift-off
for low-cost subsidiary Jetstar.
“Alan Joyce came from
Jetstar, his performance
in Jetstar was pretty good,
but Jetstar is a cheap airline
and the cheap airlines were
quite popular during the
global financial crisis,” said
Biyi Cheng, head of Asia
Pacific dealing at City Index.
“Since he took over the role
at Qantas I haven’t seen too
much improvement for the
company structure or commercial plans to improve
the revenue.”
Joyce has dug in his heels
in the Australian market,
spending on planes and
staff to keep Qantas’ domestic market share at 65
percent or above. That has
locked the airline in to a
deeply unprofitable price
war with Virgin Australia. .
Joyce defended that strategy on Thursday after unveiling A$252 million ($226
million) for the six months
ended Dec. 31. The domestic arm remained profitable
but earnings of just A$57
million were a quarter of
the A$218 million it made
the previous year.
“We are very clearly protecting our position in the
domestic market,” he told
reporters, noting Qantas’s
dominance of flight schedules gave it a significant
advantage. “It would be
remiss of us to weaken that
product in any way,” he
added.
Joyce does have supporters, who credit him with
decent stewardship through
competitive times in the
Asian airline business, the
most attractive in the world
with passenger numbers
growing faster than in any
other region.
“I think Joyce has done a
solid job,” said Geoff Wilson at Wilson Asset Management. “It’s a lot easier
when you are running a
company and things are going forward. I don’t necessarily think he’s the wrong
man for the job.”
GROUNDED
Still, analysts say, the
brand was weakened in an
incident in 2011 when Joyce
grounded the entire airline
in an attempt to win an industrial dispute, stranding
passengers and creating
headlines around the world.
The incident cost shareholders some A$70 million
and allowed Virgin Australia, under the stewardship
of Joyce’s former rival for
the top Qantas job, John
Borghetti, to ramp up its
business, adding lounges
and routes and building up
an international alliance
41
network.
The A$262 million firsthalf loss in Qantas’s international division was greater than analysts anticipated,
raising concern that an
alliance it signed last year
with ambitious Gulf carrier
Emirates is not yet paying
off.
“The leakage out of the
international business is really surprising and we think
that Qantas will find it very
hard to articulate how it
plans to stop this,” Peter
Esho, chief market analyst
at Invast Financial Services.
Meanwhile, the Jetstar
brand, launched 10 years
ago, has sputtered after
its strong start amid wellleveraged competition. Jetstar recorded a pre-tax loss
of A$16 million for the six
months to Dec. 31 compared with a A$128 million
profit the previous year,
largely blaming regional
operation Jetstar Asia for
the result.
Joyce said Jetstar Asia had
suspended further expansion until market conditions
improved. At home, Jetstar
is competing with its parent
as well as Virgin.
“Expansion into Asia is
a long-term plan and it
doesn’t seem like it is paying off anytime soon,” Invast Financial’s Esho said.
The change to a law dating
back to Qantas’s privatisation that restricts how much
money foreign investors can
put into the carrier would
make a significant difference.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has suggested he is in
favour of amending the
Qantas Sale Act privatisation legislation, to lift the
current 49 percent foreign
ownership limit, as well as
alter restrictions on smaller
shareholdings for foreign
airlines.
Such a move may be some
time coming. It will require
the government to win over
the major opposition parties which have vowed to
block any bill in the Upper
House of parliament, preventing it from becoming
law.
Still, if the opposition is
eventually won over, Joyce
and his management team
will score a big win.
Relaxing the foreign ownership rules, as well as providing a potential direct
funding injection, would
allow the capital- intensive
group to move offshore,
outsourcing parts of its operation.
42
By Eugene Robinson
WASHINGTON -- “My
Brother’s Keeper” has a
much nicer ring than “Stop
and Frisk.” It also promises
to be a more effective, less
self-defeating way to address the interlocking social
Opinion
and economic crises afflicting young men of color.
I’ll go out on a limb and
predict that President
Obama gets some heat for
launching a program whose
benefits are aimed solely at
African-American and Hispanic men and boys. The
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
nation’s first black president gets slammed by critics
who accuse him of “playing
the race card” every time
he acknowledges that race
and racism still play a role
in determining opportunities and outcomes.
But obviously they do. My
Brother’s Keeper, which
Obama announced Thursday, is the kind of targeted
public-private
initiative
that might actually do some
good, even without tons of
new federal money thrown
in.
I suppose other critics might ask what took
Obama so long. The president bristles at this line of
questioning, pointing to the
fact that his most ambitious
achievements – including
the Affordable Care Act –
have their greatest impact
among disadvantaged minorities.
Obama also understands
that even if he had a Con-
gress that would give him
carte blanche, solving the
problems that face young
men of color would take
many years of sustained effort.
You’d have to fix broken schools and broken
families. You’d have to
eliminate the racial bias
in policing and the justice
system that makes AfricanAmerican and Hispanic
men far more likely to be
stopped, arrested and sent
to prison than whites who
engage in similar illegal
behavior. You’d have to
somehow bring enough
commerce and industry
back into hollowed-out
neighborhoods to provide
decent jobs. You’d have to
convince millions of young
men that the odds are not
stacked against them, despite copious evidence to
the contrary.
Where do you even start?
Down in the trenches.
“We have credibility on
these issues because we’ve
been working on the
ground,” La June Montgomery Tabron, president
and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, told me
over lunch this week.
Kellogg is one of 10 major foundations that have
agreed to join with business leaders and the federal government in the
Brother’s Keeper initiative.
Collectively, the foundations are already spending
more than $150 million on
programs aimed at young
men of color. They are now
pledging to invest at least
another $200 million, coordinating their efforts to
channel the funds toward
approaches that deliver
measurable results.
The other participating foundations deserve
a shout-out: the Annie E.
Casey Foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, the
California Endowment, the
Ford Foundation, the John
R. and James L. Knight
Foundation, the Kapor
Center for Social Impact,
the Open Society Foundations, the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and
the Bloomberg Philanthropies. Thanks and kudos to
all.
As the foundations identify factors that either create or destroy opportunity
for young men of color,
Obama has pledged to adjust federal policy accordingly. One example is the
disparity in school suspensions. The Department of
Education recently issued
new guidelines for enforcing “zero tolerance” school
disciplinary policies after
studies found that minorities were more likely than
whites to be suspended for
infractions.
Students who miss class
time due to suspensions are
less likely to graduate. And
in the case of far too many
young men of color, during the suspensions – when
they’re not in the relative
sanctuary of school – they
are more likely to find
themselves in potentially
dangerous situations.
As Montgomery Tabron
reminded me, Trayvon Martin’s home was in Miami,
far from the central Florida
town where he died. At the
time of his fatal encounter
with George Zimmerman,
Martin was staying with his
father for a few days because he had been suspended from school. Authorities
had found what they said
was marijuana residue in
his backpack.
No one is arguing that
young men of color are all
angels. Obama has consistently preached the need
for at-risk youth to take
personal responsibility for
their lives. Some commentators have criticized him
– unfairly, he feels – for
“blaming the victims” rather than the societal forces
that work against them.
But the reality is that if
you’re male and AfricanAmerican or Hispanic, you
can’t afford to make the
same youthful mistakes that
your white counterparts
get to make. For example,
blacks and whites are equally likely to smoke weed,
according to surveys. But
blacks are four times more
likely to be arrested and
jailed on marijuana charges.
That’s one of the many
reasons why this race-specific initiative is so badly
needed. My Brother’s
Keeper isn’t a solution. But
it’s a start.
Opinion
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
By Charles Krauthammer
WASHINGTON--Henry
Kissinger once pointed out
that since Peter the Great,
Russia had been expanding at the rate of one Belgium per year. All undone,
of course, by the collapse
of the Soviet Union, which
Russian President Vladimir
Putin called “the greatest
geopolitical catastrophe of
the [20th] century.”
Putin’s mission is restoration. First, restore traditional Russian despotism
by dismantling its nascent
democracy. And then, having created iron-fisted “stability,” march.
Use the 2008 war with
Georgia to detach two of its
By Fareed Zakaria
NEW YORK -- As America
navigates a changing world,
the people who seem to
be having the greatest difficulty with the adjustment
are the country’s pundits.
Over the last few weeks, a
new conventional wisdom
has congealed on the op-ed
pages – that America is in
retreat and that this is having terrible consequences
around the world.
The Washington Post’s
Richard Cohen presents
the usual parade of horrible things happening
around the world – chiefly
Syria – for which President
Obama is to blame and
adds a few new ones for
good measure, like Scotland’s and Catalonia’s possible moves toward secession. In the face of all these
challenges, Cohen asserts,
Obama refuses to be the
world’s policeman or even
its “hall monitor.” Yes, if
only the president would
blow a whistle, the Scots
and Catalans would end
their centuries-old quest
for independence!
Forget the Federal Reserve’s “taper,” Niall Ferguson tells us in The Wall
Street Journal, the much
greater danger is Washington’s “geopolitical taper.”
He presents as evidence of
President Obama’s disastrous policies the fact that
more people have died in
the “greater Middle East”
under Obama than under
George W. Bush. But there
is a huge difference in the
two cases. In the Bush
provinces, returning them
to the bosom of mother
Russia (by way of Potemkin
independence). Then late
last year, pressure Ukraine
to reject a long-negotiated
deal for association with
the European Union, to
draw Ukraine into Putin’s
planned “Eurasian Union”
as the core of a new Russian mini-empire.
Turns out, however,
Ukraine had other ideas.
It overthrew Moscow’s
man in Kiev, Viktor Yanukovych, and turned to the
West. But the West – the
EU and America – had no
idea what to do.
Russia does. Moscow denounces the overthrow as
the illegal work of fascist
bandits, refuses to recognize the new government
created by parliament,
withholds all economic assistance and, in a highly
provocative escalation, mobilizes its military forces on
the Ukrainian border.
The response? The EU
dithers and Barack Obama
slumbers. After near total
silence during the first three
months of Ukraine’s struggle for freedom, Obama
said on camera last week
that in his view Ukraine is
no “Cold War chessboard.”
Unfortunately, this is exactly what it is for Putin. He
wants Ukraine back.
Obama wants stability, The
New York Times reports,
quoting internal sources.
He sees Ukraine as merely a crisis to be managed
rather than an opportunity
to alter the increasingly
autocratic trajectory of the
region, allow Ukrainians
to join their destiny to the
West and block Russian
neo-imperialism.
Sure, Obama is sympathetic to democracy. But it must
come organically, from internal developments, you
see. Must not be imposed
by outside intervention, but
develop on its own.
But Ukraine is never on its
own. Not with a bear next
door. American neutrality
doesn’t allow an authentic
Ukrainian polity to emerge.
It leaves Ukraine naked to
Russian pressure.
years, the numbers were
high because of the war in
Iraq, a conflict initiated by
the Bush administration.
In the Obama years, the
numbers are high because
of the war in Syria, a conflict that the Obama administration has stayed out
of. If this logic were to be
followed, Bush is directly
responsible for the tens of
thousands of deaths in Sudan and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo during his presidency.
Most of the critiques
were written before the
fall of President Viktor Yanukovych in Ukraine, so
they tend to view Ukraine
as another example of the
weak and feckless Obama
administration. Events in
Ukraine actually illustrate
how the world has changed
and how American leadership is better exercised in
this new era.
First, America was not the
most important player in
the crisis. Ukraine wants
to be part of the European
Union, and it is the EU that
will make the crucial set of
decisions that will affect the
fate of Kiev. (That’s why
Washington was understandably frustrated with
the EU’s slow and fitful
diplomacy, as evidenced in
Assistant Secretary of State
Victoria Nuland’s profane
phone criticism.) By staying relatively quiet and
working behind the scenes,
the Obama administration
ensured that the story was
not about America’s plans
to steal Ukraine from Russia but rather about the
Ukrainian people’s desire
to move West. (Nationalism, that crucial force, is
not working against American interests for a change.)
Now, America can play a
key role in helping to deter Russia from derailing
Ukraine’s aspirations. That
will require some firmness
but also careful negotiations, not bluster.
The world is not in great
disorder. It is mostly at
peace with one zone of instability, the greater Middle East, an area that has
been unstable for four decades at least – think of the
Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, the Lebanese civil
war, the Iran-Iraq War, the
Gulf War, the Iraq War,
the Sudanese civil war,
the Afghan Wars, and now
the Syrian civil war. The
Obama administration has
not magically stopped this
trail of tumult.
It is ironic that Ferguson,
a distinguished economic
historian, does not even
mention the Obama administration’s
ambitious
trade projects in Asia and
Europe – certainly the most
important trade initiative
to come out of Washington in two decades and one
that could have a powerful
stabilizing effect in Asia.
But in this respect, he reflects the views of most
commentators who believe
that American leadership
consists of muscular rhetoric and military action; if
only Obama would bomb
someone somewhere, the
world would settle down
and stop changing.
The fact that people can
make these pleas for more
intervention right after a
decade of aggressive (and
costly) American wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan is
surprising. On the other
hand, think back to the
1950s. A few years after
the long, bloody stalemate
in Korea, cries for American intervention popped
up everywhere. The French
pleaded for American
support in Vietnam, the
French and the British
begged for intervention
during the Suez crisis,
Washington’s staunch allies the Taiwanese twice
requested American support as tensions rose in the
Taiwan Strait. In all these
crises, senior military leaders wanted to intervene,
even, by some accounts in
the Taiwanese case, using
nuclear missiles. Commentators warned that the danger of American inaction
would be chaos, communist
advances and freedom’s retreat.
President Eisenhower
turned down every plea,
refusing to inject American troops into complex
conflicts without clear missions and paths to victory.
Imagine if a different president, less able to exercise
courage, wisdom and restraint, had listened to the
armchair interventionists
and the United States had
jumped into all those conflicts. Imagine the disorder
abroad and the erosion of
American power at home.
What Obama doesn’t
seem to understand is that
American inaction creates
a vacuum. His evacuation
from Iraq consigned that
country to Iranian hegemony, just as Obama’s writing
off Syria invited in Russia,
Iran and Hezbollah to reverse the tide of battle.
Putin fully occupies vacuums. In Ukraine, he keeps
flaunting his leverage. He’s
withdrawn the multibilliondollar aid package with
which he had pulled the
now-deposed
Ukrainian
president away from the
EU. He has suddenly mobilized Russian forces bordering Ukraine. His health
officials are even questioning the safety of Ukrainian
food exports.
This is no dietary hygiene
campaign. This is a message to Kiev: We can shut
down your agricultural exports today, your natural
gas supplies tomorrow. We
can make you broke and we
can make you freeze.
Kissinger once also said
“in the end, peace can be
achieved only by hegemony
or by balance of power.”
Ukraine will either fall to
Russian hegemony, or finally determine its own future – if America balances
Russia’s power.
How? Start with a declaration of full-throated American support for Ukraine’s
revolution. Follow that with
a serious loan/aid package – say, replacing Moscow’s $15 billion – to get
Ukraine through its immediate financial crisis. Then
43
join with the EU to extend
a longer substitute package, preferably through
the International Monetary
Fund.
Secretary of State John
Kerry says Russian intervention would be a mistake.
Alas, any such declaration from this administration carries the weight of
a feather. But better that
than nothing. Better still
would be backing these
words with a naval flotilla
in the Black Sea.
Whether anything Obama
says or does would stop
anyone remains questionable. But surely the West
has more financial clout
than Russia’s kleptocratic
extraction economy that exports little but oil, gas and
vodka.
The point is for the U.S.,
leading Europe, to counter
Russian pressure and make
up for its blandishments/
punishments until Ukraine
is on firm financial footing.
Yes, $15 billion is a lot of
money. But it’s less than
one-half of one-tenth of 1
percent of the combined
EU and U.S. GDP. And expending treasure is infinitely preferable to expending
blood. Especially given the
strategic stakes: Without
Ukraine, there’s no Russian empire.
Putin knows that. Which is
why he keeps ratcheting up
the pressure. The question
is, can this administration
muster the counterpressure
to give Ukraine a chance to
breathe?
44
Comics
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
By Nancy Black
Today’s Birthday (February 28) – Focus, persistence and determined action wins this year. Creativity percolates through
August, sparking a career leap. Manage a busy work and home
schedule with organized structures, streamlined routines, and
communication. Strengthen partnerships, and delegate. Harvest delicious romance over summer and autumn. Balance
physical, spiritual and emotional health with regular practices.
Include time for play, rest and happiness. Grow your love.
To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest
day, 0 the most challenging.
Aries (March 21-April 19) – Today is a 7 – It’s easier to advance with Mercury direct. There’s brilliance in the chaos
with both Sun and Moon in Pisces. Journal your emotions
onto a hidden page. Pay attention to dreams and intuition.
You may discover something.
Taurus (April 20-May 20) – Today is a 7 – Practical methods
work best. It’s easier to get what you want with Mercury direct. Barriers in communication, with equipment and transportation dissolve. Step up a level. Maintain objectivity. Talk
about what you love with friends today and tomorrow.
Gemini (May 21-June 20) – Today is an 8 – Big expenditures
are not required. Creative efforts take a leap forward, with
Mercury direct. Career matters most now. Study recent developments. Set inspiring goals, and remain committed to
your own health. Take time for exercise and rest.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) – Today is a 7 – Get lost in introspection and studies with the Sun and New Moon in Pisces.
Your imagination’s especially fertile. Travel to a new culture
with Mercury direct. Transportation and communication
flow again. Discover something extraordinary.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) – Today is an 8 – Take time for peaceful reflection, with a new direction in the road ahead. A dream emerges in the process. Things work better with Mercury direct. Handle
financial matters, sign contracts, and invest in high quality.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) – Today is a 9 – Let your sensitive
side play freely. Ask someone else to handle your chores,
please. Catch up on correspondence, and let your network
know how much they mean to you. Communication and travels flow with renewed ease.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) – Today is a 7 – Today and tomorrow
issues of service, health and well being have your attention.
The workload’s getting intense. Equipment works better now
that Mercury’s direct. Take time for rest, good food and exercise. Let somebody else challenge the status quo.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) – Today is a 6 – Delegate your responsibilities, and play with folks you love and admire today and tomorrow. Travel flows with renewed ease, now that
Mercury’s direct. Explore the emotional undercurrent of a
creative project with the Sun and New Moon in Pisces.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) – Today is a 7 – Sensitive words
come easily at home, with both Sun and Moon in Pisces. Take
time to pay attention and participate. Clean up a mess. Communications flow with new power, now that Mercury’s direct.
Take advantage. Share good food.
Capricorn (Dec 22-Jan. 19) – Today is a 9 – Talk about your
dreams with both the Sun and New Moon in Pisces. Inspiration and imagination swirl today and tomorrow, and a new
seed gets planted. Reveal a secret. Entertain yourself with
words rather than action.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) – Today is a 9 – Let your creative light
shine, and illuminate your income higher. Work’s fun, with money
both coming and going. Everything works better with Mercury direct. Tune your domestic environment to lower costs by conserving
energy. Consider LED light bulbs, insulation or gray-water.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) – Today is a 6 – You’re the star,
with both Sun and New Moon in your sign. Your strength
and confidence get a power boost. Push to realize a dream,
and leap ahead. Your message travels easily, now that Mercury’s direct. Launch your next phase.
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Community
Old Licence Plates
Please donate your old licence plates to the St. Maarten Animal Welfare Foundation. Our logo shop is located at Chesterfield’s parking lot or call Inez at 553-3020. Thank you for
helping us to help the animals of the island.
Dear Queenie,
Our children (all middle-aged) are always coming to us for
“loans” which they never pay back. They spend the money on
expensive cars and clothes, dining out and all sorts of other
stuff they don’t really need. They buy us expensive gifts we
don’t want for Christmas and our birthdays and then come to
us again for help to pay their rent or mortgage.
We don’t expect them ever to pay us back, but we are retired
and we can’t keep helping them forever or we won’t have any
money to live on.
Queenie, how can we get them to be more responsible
about money?—Not an ATM
Dear Not an ATM,
Even an ATM will not give anyone money unless they have
money in their account to draw on.
To answer your question: Just say “NO!” and stick to it. In
fact, the next time they come to you for money, you even
could tell them, “We are glad you are here. We need to borrow (X amount of money) from you to tide us over.” That
should stop them in their tracks.
You also should encourage them to consult a financial expert to learn how to manage their money better, and/or to
take one of the budgeting courses offered by several community service organisations.
Only notices of fund-raising events for non-profit or educational organisations will be placed in the Events/Notices
column. Notices/Events should be sent to
notices@thedailyherald.com in the format used on this
page. Do not send fliers or press releases to this address.
EVENTS
Friday, February 28
GOSPEL COMEDY NIGHT
Organised by New Testament Baptist Church (NTBC) Youth
Group
Place: NTBC, located next to KFC in Philipsburg
Time: 7:30pm
Free but snacks and drinks will be on sale.
Saturday, March 1
FAMILY FUN DAY
Organised by Methodist Agogic Center PTA
Venue: Browlia Maillard Campus St. Johns Estate
Time: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Food and attractions for all ages
NOTICES
Women’s Retreat
Ladies prayer group “God Answers Prayer” is now registering women for an All-day Women’s Retreat on Good Friday,
April 18, at the Belair Community Centre from 10:00am to
4:00pm. All women are invited to attend this event. Speaker: Sharon van Arneman. Register now until March 9: $20;
March10 until April 2: $25; after April 2: $30. Call 554-9590
or email allbecauseofgrace@hotmail.com to register.
Donate Your Plates
St. Maarten National Heritage Foundation, located at Front
Street 7 (Speetjens alley) is accepting old license plates
during opening hours on weekdays between 10:00am and
4:00pm. Proceeds are used to finance museum educational
projects. For more information call 542 4917
Call: (011) 336 4088 3586
Reistration for cycling schools
Comité de Cyclisme Territorial de St. Martin (CCTSM) is
calling on parents to inscribe their children into a cycling
school. Clubs and contact persons: Velo Club de Grand Case
(VCG), St. Elmo Arnell (0690) 58.24.21; Jeunesse Cycliste de
La Savane, Dany Dormoy (0690) 88.00.54 in French Quarter;
SXM Sport Evasion, Jean Paul Rousseau (1-721) 580-6176
in Marigot; Association Sportif de Marigot, Steve Galvani
(0690) 10.03.73; and Mo Trouble Cycling Club, Robert Benders (1-721) 522-8433 in Dutch St. Maarten; or Cycling Committee President Rigobert Benjamin (0690) 22.82.35.
45
Carnival Parades
Festivités Carnavalesque de St. Martin (FCDSM) informs all
that registration for the 2014 Carnival parades on the French
side is now open. For more information contact Ricaldo
Gumbs (0690) 30.98.38 (for adult parades) and Kathy Africa
(0690) 73.03.38 (children’s parades).
Boys/Girls Meeting
Boys’ and Girls’ Brigade companies at the Philipsburg Methodist
Church invite boys and girls ages 5-18 to be a part of their programmes. Meeting times are Mondays, 5:30-6:45pm, ages 5-11;
and Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, ages 12-18. All meetings will be
held at the Brick Building on the Philipsburg Methodist Church
grounds. Call 550-8971 or 526-7307 for further information.
Sailing lessons
St. Maarten Yacht Club Sailing School (SMYC) invites persons to register for sailing lessons. For more information
contact smycsailingschool@gmail.com or call 586-0850
Household Survey
Department of Statistics (STAT) is currently visiting every
household/dwelling unit to gather basic information from Badminton Club
the occupants. For more information call tel. 549-0235 or Orion Badminton Club is starting badminton practice at St.
Maarten Academy Gym Hall, every Monday and Wednesemail: statinfo@sintmaartengov.org
day, 7:00-9:00pm.
Swimming Classes
Mr. Busby Swim Instructor is now registering children and adults Jiu Jitsu Classes
for swimming classes at Divi Little Bay on the beach. For more Renzo Gracie St Maarten is now registering children and
adults for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and self defence classes. Locainformation call 524-5137 or email rawlybusby @gmail.com.
tion: Megaplex Cinemas, Cole Bay. For more information
call 580 3894 or email info@sxmbjj.com
Pre-Selection Practice
St. Martin PONY League reminds all players that pre-selection
practice session have begun. Players are reminded that all selec- Dance School
tions will have to be formed by April 30. May 1, is the confirma- Dance and Arts Dimensions Academy is registering students
tion date of our participation to the Caribbean Zone Tournament. for the new school year for Dance, Piano, Vocals or GuiPractice will take place at John Cooper/Jose Lake Sr. Ballpark tar. For more information contact the office at 522-5801 or
every Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 3:00-6:00pm. Practice for email: dance.da85@gmail.com
players on the French side will be at Louis Vanterpool Stadium
in Marigot on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4:00-6:00pm. All players Dance Classes
are reminded that only players in full practice uniform will be al- Dance Theater of St. Maarten will be registering students
lowed on the field and only players who attend practice regularly ages 3+ for classes. For detailed schedule and new tuition
stand a chance to form part of the final selection. Players are also rates, visit our website www.dancesxm.com, e-mail us at
reminded to take a copy of their passport to the Pony League of- info@dancesxm.com or call 520-6914.
fice at Cannegieter Street 93, Philipsburg.
Volunteers Needed
The St. Maarten AIDS Foundation is looking for volunteers
Homework Guidance
Study Buddy Homework Guidance Program is accepting with graphic design experience to design flyers, posters and brostudents in need of assistance with their studies. Especially chures for their events and activities. They are also looking for
Milton Peters College and Sundial School students, primary Spanish and Creole speaking volunteers with a good command
school fifth and sixth grade pupils. Students of other high of English. For more information please contact Kimberley
Meijers via k.meijers@sxmaidsfoundation.org or call 588-4636.
schools can apply Contact: 522-0952/ 580-6862.
Registration/Volunteers
The ITCL Foundation is now registering students who have difficulty coping with or who are at risk of prematurely leaving the
current school system. Students who are in need of special attention in a small setting are welcome to apply. For more information
and registration call 524-6067 or 526-4232. The foundation also is
looking for volunteers interested in assisting with different groups
Female Soccer Team
Oualichi Women’s Soccer Association is recruiting experi- of children ages 4-15 years, in different programmes and capacity.
enced or new female soccer players. The Association has a
youth team (age 6-12) and a women’s team (age 12 and up). Free HIV testing
For more information on practice days and possibilities: oua- St. Maarten AIDS Foundation is offering free and confidenlichisoccer@gmail.com, mobile: 587-9180. Facebook: Oual- tial HIV testing at its office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9:00am to 12:00pm. Results are available in 15 minutes.
ichi Women’s Soccer Team.
If these hours are not convenient call 553-2626 or 588-4636 to
make an appointment. The office is on the second floor of the
Learn Something New
Kid Connect Activity Center in Cole Bay is, in addition to Bluepoint building in Cole Bay (across from Tropicana Caour regular After-School programme, now offering “Learn sino). Parking and entrance at the back of the building.
Something New” After-School Programmes. Introduction to
Cooking, Gardening and Table Manners are available afterschool on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and on Saturdays.
Cooking for adults is also now available. Call 522-8928, 5266152 or 581-4110. Email us your questions to fun@kcsxm.
com and visit our site www.kcsxm.com for more information.
Afterschool Programme
No Kidding With Our Kids Foundation has availability in
different age groups at its Retreat and Sucker Garden locations. For more information and registration, call 542-4910
or 542-4925, or e-mail: nokasa@caribserve.net .
After School
Joann’s After School is now registering children ages 4-16
years for its afterschool programme. For more information
call 524-0401 or email: joaan38@hotmail.com
People
46
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
VIENNA-- At 24, Olga
Goreglyad is a veteran of
society balls around Europe
but her ambition will not be
fulfilled until she dances on
Thursday night as a debutante at Vienna’s Opera Ball
- something celebrity guest
Kim Kardashian will not be
doing.
Almost every social group
and profession in Austria,
from confectioners to firefighters and pharmacists to
refugees, holds its own ball,
but the Opera Ball is the
most elite, with a presidential
opening and top-class music
and ballet.
“It’s an event where the opera can present itself. It’s an
important platform,” opera
director Dominique Meyer
told Reuters.
But each year, the fine classical performances of the Vienna Philharmonic and State
Ballet are overshadowed in
the Austrian media by the
paid celebrity guests invited
by Viennese millionaire mall
developer Richard Lugner.
Lugner’s past guests have
included singer Geri Halliwell and actors Larry Hagman and Pamela Anderson.
This year, reality-TV star
Kardashian is his main guest.
“Dancing is not my thing,”
she said at an autograph and
question session on Thursday
when asked whether she was
having waltz lessons. Asked
how she kept in shape, she
replied: “Armenian genes
JAKARTA/MADIUN, Indonesia-- A chilling documentary about one of the worst
massacres since World War
Two is up for an Academy
Award this weekend. If it
does win, don’t expect the
Indonesian co-director to go
on stage to receive an Oscar:
he’s worried for his life.
The nearly three-hour “Act
of Killing” centres on one
of the killers in Indonesia’s
bloody purge of what was
then the biggest communist
party outside China and the
Soviet Union, as he re-enacts
for the camera, with no apparent sign of remorse, the
way nearly 50 years earlier he
had dispatched his victims by
strangling them with a loop
of wire.
It touches on the darkest
period of Indonesia’s already
violent early years as an independent state and which
even after almost half a century is so raw a memory that
it remains largely brushed
from mainstream debate.
The version in school textbooks still adhere to the line
propagated by the autocratic
leader Suharto who initiated the purge and who was
forced to step down 15 years
ago.
At least 500,000 people
are thought to have died in
the rampaging violence that
started in late 1965 after
then-general Suharto and
the military took power following an abortive communist coup. A million or more
people were jailed.
“It’s a tragedy and we, just
like anybody else, despise
those in the movie and the
reenactment of the atrocities. These people don’t belong in Indonesia today,”
said presidential spokesman
Teuku Faizasyah.
He added: “It requires a
lot of revisiting but ... I don’t
think we are mature enough
(yet) as a nation.”
In a sign of how sensitive
the topic remains, the Indonesian co-producer of the
documentary and the other
Indonesian members of the
film crew say they do not
want their names to be made
public.
“Maybe we are too paranoid, but we discussed with
various
activists
groups
about the risk, the possibility of going from a threat to
a real attack on our lives, and
we really don’t know what
would happen if we revealed
our names,” the co-director
told Reuters in a telephone
interview.
Triggered in the midst of
the Cold War when the West
feared that communism was
sweeping through decolonis-
ing Asia, much of the slaughter was in the populous main
island of Java and the nowresort destination of Bali.
Initially, it was the military
that led efforts to crush the
communist party. The operation was headed by a general,
Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, the
father of the country’s current first lady, and whose son
is thought to have an eye on
the presidency.
TeleCuraçao
Channel 130 SXM Cable
Channel 8 WTN
Friday, February 28
6:30am
Moru Bondia
9:30am
Ban Halsa e Standarte
10:00am
Tosti
11:00am
Di Tur un Poko (r)
11:30am
Entre Nos (r)
12:00pm
Boletin di Merdia
1:00pm
Bo Tra’i Merdia
3:30pm
Teatro te den bo kas
5:00pm
Hoben Positivo
6:00pm
KPEK (r9)
7:00pm
Telenotisia
7:30pm
Teener Parade di Karnaval
9:00pm
Wega di Number Korsou
9:10pm
Partisipashon di Morto
9:15pm
Teener Parade ta sigui
11:00pm
Telenotisia (r)
“Still Divisive”
The campaign mushroomed
into an orgy of killing that
saw the country’s biggest
Muslim group, landowners, paramilitary organisations and those simply with a
grudge against a neighbour,
go after communist party
members and their supposed
sympathisers.
“To this second, I don’t
know what I did wrong, why
I was held, why I was beaten
every night for six years, why
they tore out my nails and ...
electrocuted me,” Parmoen
Soedjarwo told Reuters, sitting in his simple, red-roofed
house in Madiun in the agricultural heartland of East
Java where much of the violence occurred.
“The military asked me if I
belonged to the (Communist
Party of Indonesia). Whatev-
Continued on page 47
and squats.”
The 144 debutants and
debutantes who will open
the ball, on the other hand,
have spent weeks in intensive
rehearsals for a performance
that lasts just three or four
minutes but has a huge audience on television at home
and abroad.
Protests And High Prices
“I’m actually addicted to
dancing,” said debutante
Goreglyad, who works as
a commercial producer in
Moscow.
“I figured it was about time
to stop being a debutante,
but where to stop? It had
to be the highest point, the
Opera Ball,” she told Reuters during a get-together
at a vineyard in the Vienna
Woods.
The tradition so admired by
viewers from afar is not universally appreciated in Vienna. In past years, it has attracted large protests against
its perceived decadence, as
well as against some of the
guests.
But much of the protesters’
attention has switched to the
so-called Academics’ Ball
organised by the far-right
Freedom Party (FPOe). Opera Ball organiser Desiree
Treichl-Stuergkh said she
had hired some former Opera Ball protesters as DJs as
part of a careful modernisation.
Treichl-Stuergkh said she
was careful to maintain traditions treasured by guests able
to afford prices that range
from 250 euros ($340) for a
regular ticket to 1,850 euros
for a box - and that’s before
even a single glass of champagne.
She said the event was still
a rite of passage for modern
debutantes, even if it is no
longer the formal entree into
society it once was.
“Today a young girl of 18
has done almost everything,”
she said, “apart from opening the Opera Ball.”
TV 15 (local)
Channel 115 SXM Cable
Friday, February 28
8:00am AVS News
8:30am Prime Time with Beverly Hyman
9:00am Caribbean Newsline
9:30am Caribbean Workout
10:00am Program on HIV
11:00am Music Videos
5:00pm Music Videos
5:30pm Caribbean Newsline
6:00pm Music Videos
7:00pm DComm
7:30pm AVS News
7:58pm Medical Edge
8:00pm Music Videos
9:00pm Music Videos/Robbie’s Lottery
10:00pm Caribbean Passport/Carib Lottery
10:30pm Transparence Kompa
11:00pm AVS News
11:30pm Caribbean Newsline
U.S. television personality Kim Kardashian watches the Opera Ball in Vienna February 27, 2014. The traditional ball
is opened by the Austrian president and features a musical
programme with soloists and artists from the Vienna Philharmonic and State Ballet before the 144 debutants and debutantes lead into the festivities with a Strauss waltz. Tickets
start at 250 euros ($340) and a box costs as much as 18,500
euros ($25,000).
TV-CARIB (local)
Channel 10 WTN
Friday, February 28
6:30am
Facing the Day
7:00am
TV Carib Informer (r)
7:20am
AVS News (r)
7:40am
Noticias en Español
Program Rotation
12:05pm
Viewpoint PJD2
Program Rotation
5:00pm
Playtime
6:30pm
In Depth
7:00pm
Fitness with Bella
7:30pm
Talk Art
8:00pm
TV Carib Informer
8:20pm
AVS News
9:00pm
Live Lottery Drawings
10:00pm
Noticias en Español/Qué Farándula!
BVN (Dutch/Flemish) TV
Channel 122 SXM Cable
Channel 23 WTN
Friday, February 28
12:00pm
VRT Journaal
12:35pm
Café Corsari
1:20pm
Recht in de regio
1:50pm
Twee voor Twaalf
2:20pm
Tijd voor MAX
3:05pm
NOS Journaal
3:10pm
Sesamstraat
3:30pm
Wie is de Mol Junior
3:40pm
Kwiskwat
4:00pm
Het Klokhuis
4:25pm
Blokken
4:50pm
Thuis
5:15pm
Dagelijkse kost
5:30pm
EenVandaag
5:55pm
NOS Sportjournaal
6:00pm
VRT Journaal
6:45pm
De Wereld Draait Door
7:40pm
NOS Journaal
8:00pm
Weerbericht Europa/Afrika
8:05pm
Johan
8:55pm
Café de Liefde
9:45pm
Nieuwsuur
10:35pm
Weerbericht Amerika & Cariben
10:40pm
Pauw & Witteman
11:30pm
Studio Sport Eredivisie
11:45pm
Iedereen Beroemd
People
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
AUSTIN-- At no other time
of year is Austin - the selfstyled live music capital of
the world - so celebrated
than in March, when the
throngs pour into the Texas
city for the 12-day music,
film and interactive festival
known as South by Southwest.
One of the most influential
music events on the planet,
South by Southwest marks
its 26th year on March 7-16
and draws some 25,000 industry pros and musicians
to see at least 2,000 performances at more than 100
venues.
And that’s just the official
music portion of the festival.
Austin is a city of many
superlatives,
consistently
ranked among the best places to live for everyone from
job-seekers to singles and
health nuts to hipsters.
There is much to enjoy for
those seeking vast outdoor
spaces, world-class eateries
and vibrant nightlife.
Austin was recently named
by Forbes as the fastestgrowing U.S. city, showing
that the draw of the quirky
capital of Texas far surpasses
its signature South by Southwest event.
The renown prompted
a Chamber of Commerce
campaign to “Keep Austin
Weird” - a mantra as ubiquitous as the “Hook ‘Em” sign
of Austin’s beloved University of Texas Longhorns.
Here are tips for getting the
most out of a trip to Austin
DOCUMENTARY
er they asked me, I just said
‘yes, yes, yes’ to everything,
even though I didn’t understand what they were asking.
I would have said anything to
survive and be freed quickly.”
Soedjarwo, who served in
the military before he was
detained, was finally released
in 1978.
Like many other victims and
their families, he found himself shut out of the system.
He was unable to get a job in
the public sector or secure a
bank loan to start a business.
He said he got by for years
on handouts from his community. Now 70, he has saved
enough to start a small fish
farm.
For decades, children of
alleged communists were
kept at arm’s length by the
government. One of Suharto’s closest advisers at the
time even sent his daughter
abroad after she developed a
relationship with the son of a
supposed communist.
Some observers worry the
film does little to show the
political context of the pe-
from Reuters, whose 2,600
journalists in all parts of the
world offer visitors the best
local insights.
Austin Edibles
The food truck craze has
rolled across the United
States in recent years but in
trend-setting Austin, these
bastions of creative edibles
are a long-held tradition making it nearly impossible
(thankfully) to find a corner
or a bar without one.
Paul Qui, winner of the
ninth season of the “Top
Chef” TV show, got his start
in Austin with his East Side
King Asian-fusion truck
tucked into the backyards of
dive bars on the city’s hipster
East Side.
The gluten-free Thai
Chicken Karaagé from the
truck behind the Liberty Bar
at 1618 1/2 East 6th Street
costs $8 for a deep-fried
chicken thigh with sweetspicy sauce, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion and jalapeño.
Food trucks enjoy such
wide support that several
have been able to turn into
full-service restaurants.
Easily the most unique is
Gourdoughs at 1503 South
1st Street, which serves its
dinners on doughnuts. The
Boss Hog features pulled
pork, potato salad and barbecue sauce atop a fried
doughnut for $5.50.
Austin also has myriad
brick-and-mortar
restaurants to satisfy the cravings
Continued from page 46.
riod and the tension at the
grassroots level between religious groups and landowners
and the communists which
was already seething before
the attempted coup.
“The issue is still divisive in
society and nobody has ever
really tried to reconcile,”
said Agus Widjojo, a retired
army lieutenant-general who
heads a think-tank on policy
and strategic issues.
“Indonesian society is not
brave enough to start the
endeavour to face the truth
of the past ... But it’s the
only way we can learn lessons about what we have
done wrong and to correct it
so that we can assure future
generations of Indonesia
that those mistakes will not
be repeated.”
For the film’s Indonesian
crew, the anonymity will not
end any time soon, according
to the co-director.
“Revealing our identities
would need a genuine structural change in Indonesia ...
and that genuine reconciliation will take a long time, but
the time to start that is now.”
47
East Side Show Room at
1100 East 6th Street, with
its
modern/anachronistic
steampunk theme, has playful small-plate dishes and
one of the most interesting
cocktail menus in town. Try
the $13 Laveau made with
overproof bourbon, apple
brandy, Rossa Vermouth,
Allspice Dram and lemon
oil.
Austin is the capital of Texas. It is the 11th-largest city in the United States and the fourthlargest city in the state of Texas
of those not into street-side
dining.
Sunday brunch is a tradition at the one of Austin’s
most influential eateries,
Fonda San Miguel, where
roughly $50 per plate gets
you a buffet of classic Mexican cuisine and a modern
take on ancient recipes. It’s
at 2330 West North Loop
Boulevard, northwest of
downtown.
The Pink Dome
One of the nation’s most
beloved liberals, the late
Texas columnist Molly Ivins,
once described Austin as
a blueberry floating in tomato soup, a statement of
the city’s liberal leanings in a
sea of conservative red that
dominates Lone Star State
politics.
But no matter who’s in
charge, Austin does love its
Capitol building, the largest domed statehouse in the
United States and the centrepiece of downtown.
Affectionately known as the
Pink Dome for the colour of
its granite, the 130-year-old
Capitol and its expanses of
lush grounds with venerable
trees is a relaxing respite.
Take the free tour or just enjoy a picnic outside.
If you’re in Austin during the first half of an oddnumbered year, head to the
Capitol’s chamber galleries
to watch the lawmakers in
action during their biennial
session. The 181 fiery Texans create the sort of human
drama that Ivins lived for and that you couldn’t invent
if you tried.
Keeping It Weird
Even if you don’t count the
politicians, Austin does a
great job of living up to its
motto.
Why else would anyone
cram inside a sweaty, windowless dive on a Sunday
afternoon and bet that a
chicken walking on a giant
bingo card will defecate on
your number?
But that’s what thousands
of Austinites, for more than
a decade, have done at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon
at 5434 Burnet Road.
Also check out the world’s
largest urban bat colony, in
the heart of downtown Austin, where up to 1.5 million
Mexican free-tail bats live
under the Congress Avenue
bridge.
Their numbers are greatest
in the summer and fall, when
their sunset exit to find food
blackens the sky and shows
up on the local weather radar. Thousands of people
flock to the bridge every
night to catch the spectacle.
The best part? It’s a free
show.
More Than Just 6th Street
With so many venues, Austin’s nightlife can be a challenge, even for the most
decisive. Luckily, there’s the
website Do512 - as in what
to do in the area code 512 that is an excellent resource
for residents and visitors
alike.
For decades, Austin’s reputation for world-class nightlife rested on the storied 6th
Street - and it’s still the musical soul of the city.
Skip the shot bars if you
dare and go to Esther’s Follies, where a $24 general admission ticket gets you entry
to hilarious magic, musical
and political satire shows
that have been a mainstay
on 6th for nearly 40 years.
(www.esthersfollies.com/)
With more than 200 live
music venues - including
City Hall, where the city
council meetings open with
live music - exciting nightlife
can be found in all corners of
Austin.
For a true Texas honkytonk experience, head south
to Broken Spoke, a historic
dance hall at 3201 South Lamar Boulevard. Once frequented by swing kings Bob
Wills and the Texas Playboys,
the Spoke is a beloved venue
for the hipster rockabilly set
to take a spin on its wooden
floor alongside old-timers
who have been two-stepping
here for 50 years.
Back downtown, catch a
band at The Belmont, a
Brat-pack inspired stunner
of a two-storey venue at 305
West 6th Street in the Warehouse District.
On the southeast edge of
downtown is Rainey Street,
a previously residential road
now crammed with bars and
food trucks. Bangers Sausage House and Beer Garden is a favourite spot with
an off-leash dog park and
130 beers on tap.
Cross the I-35 and head to
the East Side, which plays
host to some of the city’s
funkiest bars and restaurants.
Hikes And Bikes
Poke your head outside
the bar and you’ll see that
the sun shines in Austin for
some 300 days a year.
Go swimming, tubing,
climbing or snooze under
a shady tree at the Barton
Creek Greenbelt, southwest
of downtown. The nearby
Barton Springs Pool is
spring-fed and stays between
68 and 71 Fahrenheit (20
and 22 Celsius) year round.
Downtown, kayak rentals
on Lady Bird Lake start at
around $10 an hour or walk
for free along the hike and
bike trail that rings the lake.
Rent a bike from one of
the dozens of shops in the
city. The low-tech cruisers start at around $7.50 an
hour at Barton Springs Bike
Rental and the electric bikes
at Rocket Electrics rent for
similar rates.
Don’t miss the Thursday
Night Social Ride, one of
the nation’s largest weekly
social rides that draws up to
400 cyclists when the weather is good.
Sunshine or not, you can always enjoy the serenity and
beauty of some 650 species
of Texas plants and flowers
at the Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center.
Or head to the Austin Zoo
and Animal Sanctuary to see
the tigers, bears, lemurs and
hundreds of other creatures
removed from bad conditions and brought to this
peaceful, kitsch-free, natural setting for rehabilitation.
Tickets are $9 for adults and
$6 for kids under 12.
48
Sports
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Williams Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland test drives his car during the second
Formula One testing in Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, south of Manama, February 27.
BAHRAIN-- Formula One
teams began their final preseason test in Bahrain on
Thursday with champions
Red Bull and engine partners Renault still struggling
as Mercedes-powered rivals racked up the laps.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel’s
new team mate at Red Bull,
started off with a promising 32 laps in the morning
but an attempt at a longer
run in the afternoon was
aborted.
He told reporters that the
team were still playing catch
up after a difficult first two
tests in Spain and Bahrain:
“We’re definitely not up
to scratch with where we’d
like to be in terms of programme,” he said.
“It’s clear we probably
won’t come out to Melbourne and dominate as
the team did last year, but
it’s still very early to say.
We’re getting there. The
morning was definitely bet-
FEDERER
Continued from page 52.
knocked Rafa Nadal out of
the second round at Wimbledon in 2012, losing his
opening service game for
an early 0-2 deficit.
Any hopes of the Czech
pulling off another huge
shock were short-lived with
the Swiss reeling off the
next six games.
The second set started
where the first ended with
Federer breaking Rosol twice in his opening
three service games as the
32-year-old
comfortably
reached his third semi-final
in his three tournaments so
far this season.
ter and we definitely made
a step forward in terms of
power.”
With the season starting
in Australia on March 16,
the four Mercedes-powered teams - Mercedes,
McLaren, Force India and
Williams - have looked well
ahead of the four using Renault engines.
The works Mercedes team
of Lewis Hamilton and
Nico Rosberg alone completed 3,073 km over the
first eight days of testing
in Spain and Bahrain while
the four Renault teams together managed only 4,019
km.
The Red Bull spent much
of the afternoon in the garage before Ricciardo, who
has replaced compatriot
Mark Webber, managed
seven more laps.
Red Bull’s race engineering coordinator Andy Damerum said the afternoon
run had been cut short
when the sensors reported
some issues that turned out
to be a problem with the
exhaust.
Mercedes teams were the
only ones to have carried
out race simulations before the final test with four
times world champion Vettel’s Red Bull risking heading for Melbourne without
having gone a full race distance in one stint.
Perez Fastest
Mexican Sergio Perez,
in a Mercedes-powered
Force India, was quickest
on Thursday with a time of
one minute 35.290 seconds
ahead of Valtteri Bottas in
a Williams, also powered by
the German unit.
Bottas put down the most
mileage, 128 laps of the
5.412km circuit compared
to Perez’s 105, with a race
simulation in the afternoon
as well as tyre work for
Pirelli without any issues.
McLaren rookie Kevin
Magnussen also had a
productive day in his Mercedes-powered car with 109
laps, including a full race
distance, and the sixth best
time.
Ferrari had Kimi Raikkonen third on the
timesheets, with 54 laps under his belt.
The Renault teams filled
four of the bottom five
places with a total of 145
laps between them compared to 431 for Mercedes
rivals.
Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi
did the fewest (19) in the
Caterham while Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado, who
left Williams at the end of
last year, managed only 31
for Lotus after being sidelined by problems with a
new specification exhaust.
“It wasn’t what we wanted
today but we are all working very hard to make progress and I’m sure we’ll have
solutions quite soon as a
team,” said Maldonado.
“It’s clear we have good
potential and the car is not
bad.”
Renault F1 deputy managing director Rob White had
said after last week’s test
that the manufacturer had
made progress but were
some weeks behind where
they had wanted to be.
“We are not back on
schedule but we are moving in the right direction,”
he had said, adding that the
team at the Viry factory was
“working night and day to
solve our problems.”
DUBAI-- England’s dressing room will be a better
place without Kevin Pietersen after the controversial batsman was sacked
following the dismal Ashes
tour of Australia, wicketkeeper Matt Prior said on
Thursday.
Prior, the tour vice-captain, said Pietersen’s ability
should have made him “the
best England cricketer to
ever walk this planet” and
the decision to dispense
with him would not have
been taken lightly.
When asked if the dressing room would be a better
place without the South African-born batsman, Prior
replied: “Yes, it will.
“I think one of the biggest
things they (the ECB) want
to rediscover is the value
of playing cricket for England, the honour and the
pride you need to show as
an England cricketer.
“And they only want people in that dressing room
that are going to be passionate about England winning and performing,” said
Prior during a Q&A session at a cricketing event in
Dubai.
Pietersen was released
from his ECB (England
and Wales Cricket Board)
contract earlier this month
in the aftermath of the 5-0
test whitewash by Australia.
The ECB said captain
Alastair Cook needed to be
able to trust and rely on the
support of all his players.
Pietersen scored 8,181
runs in 104 tests and 4,440
runs in 136 one-day internationals but was never far
from controversy.
He was briefly dropped
in 2012 following media
reports he had sent “provocative” text messages
about England players to
members of the South Africa squad during a series
involving both teams.
Heart Wrenching
More reports surfaced
about Pietersen’s divisive
role in the squad after the
latest Ashes series.
Prior, who has played in
75 tests and hit 3,920 runs
at an average of 40.83,
missed the last two tests of
the Ashes series after being
dropped because of poor
form.
He said that being omitted
when he was vice-captain,
in the middle of a big series,
“quite literally wrenched
my heart out” but added he
was determined to regain
his place for the home series against Sri Lanka and
India later this year.
“I have more passion now
than I have ever had to
get back in that team, turn
things around and get back
to winning ways,” Prior explained.
The wicketkeeper also
predicted
that
opening batsman Cook would
bounce back in style from
England’s humbling in Australia.
“He will break records and
he’s a phenomenal cricketer,” said Prior. “He will
score the most runs for an
Englishman in test cricket,
no doubt, and he’s a phenomenal bloke as well.
“To read some of the criticism he’s got has just been
incredible, as anyone who
knows him respects him.
“When it comes to captaincy he’s a big enough
bloke to admit he’s not the
finished article yet. He’s
still very young in his captaincy and he needs to learn
and needs to grow into the
position,” said Prior.
“There are certain things
I think a captain needs.
I think being such a nice
person is one of the things
which doesn’t stand him in
good stead as a captain and
the best thing about him
is he accepts that and he
knows he has to improve.”
England begin their limited-overs tour of the Caribbean when they meet West
Indies in the opening game
of the three-match series of
one-day internationals in
Antigua on Friday.
ATLANTA-- The injury-hit
Atlanta Hawks have signed
forward/center Mike Muscala to a contract, the National Basketball Association club’s general manager
Danny Ferry announced on
Thursday.
Muscala played this season in Spain, averaging 14.6
points on .546 shooting
and a league-leading 7.8
rebounds for the Rio Natura Monbus of the ACB
League before the Hawks
bought out his Spanish
League contract.
The NBA rights to the
6-foot-11 Muscala, who
shot 87 percent from the
free throw line, were acquired by Atlanta last year
from the Dallas Mavericks,
who selected him in the
second round of the NBA
Draft out of Bucknell.
Hampered by a string of
injuries that left them undermanned at center, the
(26-31) Hawks have lost 10
of 11 games to drop from
third to eighth place in the
Eastern Conference standings.
Avenir Sportif Club’s Sareena Carti will defend her 400metre title she won last year as Champion of France in the Cadette category, at the Youth Championships in Val de Reuil
on March 8. Last year she clocked 56:92 for the distance
and hopes to better that time. First up however is the athletics meet on March 1 between between France, Germany, and
Italy in Halle, Germany, where Speedy Plus Club’s Derisha
Jeffers is also competing. These two events will be followed
by the Carifta Games in Martinique in April and the Olympic
Youth Festival in China in August.
Sports
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Tiger Woods on the 12th tee at PGA National GC Champion Course. (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY
Sports.)
FLORIDA-- Tiger Woods
lamented inconsistent putting after he battled to a
one-over-par 71 that left
him six strokes off the
early lead in Thursday’s
first round at the $6 million Honda Classic in Palm
Beach Gardens, Florida.
While South African Rory
Sabbatini and American
William McGirt had few
problems on the way to
opening 65s, Woods, in just
his third tournament of the
year, said he had trouble
adapting to the slow greens.
“I hit it probably good
enough to shoot at least
three or four lower than I
did,” the 14-times major
champion told reporters
after playing in relatively
benign morning conditions
at PGA National in Palm
Beach Gardens.
“First four holes, I had
good looks (at birdie putts)
and didn’t make any of
them. I hit it good starting
out, scrappy in the middle
and good at the end.”
World number one
Woods, who is playing the
Honda Classic for only the
third time as a professional,
said he had misread several
putts after being “fooled”
by the speed and grain of
the greens.
He began his round on
the back nine and negotiated that without too many
problems, a nine-foot birdie putt at the par-five 18th
putting him at one under by
the turn.
It was not until the parfour second, his 11th hole
of the day, that he finally
had a blemish on his card.
After a poor drive, he had
tree trouble with his second
shot, found a bunker with
his third and was unable to
get up and down from there
en route to an ugly six. He
then offset two birdies with
two bogeys to end the day
at one over.
The Honda Classic signals
the start of Woods’ serious
preparation for the Apr.
10-13 Masters, and the
greens at PGA National are
vastly different to the slick,
heavily contoured surfaces
at Augusta National.
NEW YORK- An arrest
warrant was issued for former NFL defensive back
Darren Sharper and an
acquaintance after New
Orleans authorities expanded an investigation to
include the alleged rapes of
two women there and nine
rapes in five states.
The 38-year-old Sharper
was previously being investigated for one alleged rape
in New Orleans last September before police confimed an additional alleged
victim on Thursday.
Sharper and Erik Nunez,
26, each face two counts
of aggravated rape in New
Orleans.
Sharper, who was suspended by the NFL Network
from his analyst job, pleaded not guilty last week in
Los Angeles to charges that
he raped two women there.
He also is now suspected
by authorities of allegedly
raping women in Arizona,
Nevada and Florida.
brought it to their attention on Wednesday afternoon. He said the Dolphins
guard took responsibility
when police contacted him
Thursday.
Pictures on the TMZ celebrity website show the
Ferrari, valued around
$300,000, smashed on the
hood and grill with a baseball bat lying nearby.
Eagles
Wide receiver Riley Cooper and center Jason Kelce
signed long-term extensions with the Philadelphia
Eagles on Thursday.
Cooper signed a five-year
deal worth $25 million and
Kelce, the first 2011 draft
pick to sign a significant
second contract, received a
seven-year deal worth more
than $37 million.
Cooper had a breakout
season with 47 receptions
for 835 yards and eight
touchdowns. He became a
favorite downfield target
of quarterback Nick Foles,
overcoming self-inflicted
character damage in the
2013 preseason when he
was caught on camera using a racial slur at a country
music concert.
tum going”.
The Honda Classic field is
the strongest on the PGA
Tour this year, though it is
missing two former major
winners in Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and
England’s Justin Rose due Dolphins
Offensive lineman Richie
to injury.
Oosthuizen, who clinched Incognito, who was at the
the 2010 British Open, center of the Miami Dolpulled out on the eve of the phins bullying scandal,
tournament due to a lin- smashed his own Ferrari in
Putting Tips
gering back problem while a fit of rage, the Scottsdale
If Woods needed any put- U.S. Open champion Rose (Arizona) Police Depart- Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens,
ting tips after taking 30 is recovering from tendini- ment confirmed Thursday.
Sgt. Mark Clark said the looking to create more salstrokes on the greens on tis in his right shoulder.
police became aware of ary cap room, terminated
Thursday, he needed look
this situation after TMZ the contracts of fullback
no further than at former
Masters champion Zach
Johnson, his playing partner on the day.
Johnson made a damaging start with a quadruplebogey on his second hole,
where he put two balls
into a hazard guarding the
green, but then displayed
admirable patience and a
positive attitude as he recovered to shoot a 67.
“It was easy to put that
behind me,” said American
Johnson, who clinched his
11th PGA Tour victory at
the Hyundai Tournament
of Champions in Hawaii in
January.
Johnson ended his day two
strokes behind 2011 champion Sabbatini and McGirt.
“I gave myself some good
opportunities and the putter was really good to me
today,” South African Sab- Australia’s Alexander Edmondson reacts as he competes for gold in the Men’s Individual
batini told PGA Tour Ra- Pursuit final race at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Cali February 27.
dio.
“Anytime you come into
this golf course and shoot
under par you’re walking
away a happy camper.”
McGirt had a tap-in birdie
at the par-five third and
what he described as “some
good par-saves in the middle that kept the momen-
49
Vonta Leach and linebacker Jameel McClain, general
manager Ozzie Newsome
announced Thursday.
The team saved nearly $5
million in cap space by cutting the vested veterans $1.75 million for Leach and
$3.2 million for McClain.
Leach, a 10-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro
Bowl selection, spent the
past three seasons with the
Ravens, earning All-Star
honors twice (2011-12).
McClain, a six-year veteran,
was signed by the Ravens as
a rookie free agent in 2008.
A first-round draft pick
in 2013, Baltimore Ravens
safety Matt Elam has a fulltime job that paid him $3.7
million as a rookie. But
starting Thursday, he was
hard at work at the Finish
Line sports apparel store
as a part-time employee in
their Gainesville, Fla., mall
location.
“I just need to get retail
knowledge,” said Elam in
an interview with the Ravens’ team website. “I’m
getting that knowledge for
when it’s time.”
Redskins
The Washington Redskins re-signed defensive
lineman Chris Baker to a
three-year contract worth
$12 million, including $4
million guaranteed.
The team announced the
signing on Thursday and
Baker’s agents confirmed
the deal to ESPN.
Last season he appeared
in 15 games with three
starts and was credited by
coaches with 46 tackles (26
solo) and his first career
sack.
49ers
The San Francisco 49ers
signed guard/center Daniel
Kilgore on Thursday to a
three-year contract extension through the 2017 season.
Originally selected by the
49ers in the fifth round of
the 2011 NFL Draft, Kilgore has appeared in 33 regular-season games during his
three-year career, including
all 16 regular-season games
and all three postseason
contests in 2013.
50
NEW YORK --Yankees
shortstop Derek Jeter made
his Grapefruit League debut on Thursday and went
0-for-2 at the plate while
playing five innings in the
field in an 8-2 loss to the
Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 39-year-old Jeter, who
played in only 17 games
last season because of a
fractured ankle and leg
problems, grounded into
a double play his first time
up against Pirates starter Charlie Morton and
grounded out to third base
against left-hander Jeff
Locke in his second at-bat.
Jeter batted second in the
order behind outfielder
Brett Gardner.
In the field, Jeter’s only
action was a tag at second
base on a stolen base attempt.
Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun wasted
no time letting everyone
know that he is back. Af-
Sports
ter serving a 65-game suspension at the end of the
2013 season as part of the
Biogenesis performanceenhancing drugs scandal,
Braun smacked a two-run
homer in his first at-bat
on Thursday in the Brewers’ Cactus League opener
against the Oakland Athletics in Phoenix.
The 30-year-old Braun,
who played in just 61 games
last year because of the
suspension and injuries,
smacked an 0-and-1 pitch
from Oakland starter Tommy Milone over the wall in
the left-field corner in the
first inning.
Reds
New Cincinnati manager
Bryan Price plans to have
the Reds run more, and
he is not just talking about
leadoff man Billy Hamilton.
“What we’re going to do
is open things up in spring
training,” Price said.
The Reds were 10th in
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
the National League stolen
bases last year. With Hamilton in the lineup, that
is going to go up given he
stole 155 bases in the minors two years ago.
But Price wants shortstop Zack Cozart and third
baseman Todd Frazier to
run as well. Cozart, who
stole 30 bases in 34 attempts in Triple-A in 2010,
did not attempt a steal last
year. Frazier, who stole 17
in 21 attempts in 2011 at
Triple-A, stole six in 11 tries
last year.
Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals lefthander Jaime Garcia, who
has missed significant time
in the last two seasons because of shoulder problems, leading to labrum
and rotator cuff surgery
last May, probably will not
be ready at the start of this
season either.
Garcia, after experiencing discomfort following a
throwing session before the
exhibition season began,
saw two doctors and then
got a cortisone shot for his
shoulder before returning
to camp. But when he will
pitch again is uncertain.
The 27-year-old Garcia
is 39-25 in his Cardinals
career, including 5-2 last
year before he went on the
disabled list, and is in the
midst of a four-year con-
tract that will pay him $7.75
million this year, $9.25 million next year, with team
options of $11.5 million and
$12 million for 2016-17.
NEW
YORK-The
Brooklyn Nets likely will
re-sign center Jason Collins for the remainder of
the season, according to a
New York Post report on
Thursday.
Collins’ 10-day contract expires next week.
The Nets signed him last
week as the first openly
gay athlete in one of the
four major North American professional sports
leagues.
The 7-footer has played
in two games since he
signed and has one rebound and no points. He
was on the floor for seven
minutes in a loss to the
Portland Trail Blazers on
Wednesday and played 11
minutes in a win over the
Los Angeles Lakers on
Sunday.
In addition, Cousins was
fined for verbally abusing
a game official and failing to leave the court in
a timely manner after his
ejection with 8:21 left in
the third quarter of the
same game.
Cousins will serve his
suspension on Friday
when the Kings visit the
Los Angeles Lakers. He
leads the Kings with an
average of 22.3 points,
11.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals
and 1.2 blocks per game
this season.
Meanwhile, the Kings
and
guard
Jimmer
Fredette have mutually
agreed to a contract buyout.
Through 41 games off
the bench, Fredette averaged 5.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and
11.3 minutes per game.
The 31-year-old averaged 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists on
.425 shooting in 19.0 minutes in 31 games0 with the
Knicks this season before
being waived on Feb. 24.
Kings
Sacramento Kings center
DeMarcus Cousins has
been suspended one game
without pay and fined
$20,000 for his actions in
separate incidents, the
league announced Thursday.
Cousins was suspended
for punching Houston
Rockets guard Patrick
Beverley in the stomach
with 9:44 left in the first
quarter of the Kings’ 129103 loss to the Houston
Rockets on Tuesday.
Grizzlies
The Memphis Grizzlies claimed guard Beno
Udrih off waivers on
Thursday.
Udrih joins Memphis
with career averages of
8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds
and 3.6 assists on .461
shooting in 23.3 minutes
in 659 games over 10 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento
Kings, Milwaukee Bucks,
Orlando Magic and New
York Knicks.
Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers assigned guard Xavier
Henry to the Los Angeles
D-Fenders on Thursday.
The 6-foot-6 guard was
originally selected in the
first round (12th selection) of the 2010 NBA
Draft by the Memphis
Grizzlies. The Belgian
native has appeared in 31
games this season for the
Lakers, averaging 10.1
points, 2.8 rebounds and
1.2 assists in 21.8 minutes.
Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks
assigned forward Jae
Crowder, center Bernard
James and point guard
Shane Larkin to the Texas Legends of the NBA
Development League on
Thursday.
The Mavericks also recalled guard Ricky Ledo
from the Legends. Ledo
most recently joined the
Legends on Jan. 31 and
has seen action in 27 total games with averages
of 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco (74) stretches as Toronto Blue Jays right
fielder Moises Sierra (14) runs to first before losing the ball in a spring training exhibition
game at Florida Auto Exchange Park in Florida. Jays won 7-5. David Manning-USA TODAY
Sports.)
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) dribbles the ball as Milwaukee Bucks center Zaza
Pachulia (27) defends at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis yesterday. Pacers won 10196. In other games Wizzards beat Raptors 134-129 and Heat clobbered Knicks 108-82.(Brian
Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports.)
Sports
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
LONDON-- West Bromwich Albion forward Nicolas Anelka has been banned
for five matches and fined
80,000 pounds ($133,400)
for making an alleged antiSemitic gesture in a match in
December, the Football Association said on Thursday.
The Frenchman, who made
a “quenelle” salute after
scoring in a 3-3 draw against
West Ham United on Dec.
28, has also been ordered to
complete a compulsory edu-
cation course.
“An Independent Regulatory Commission has found
an aggravated breach of FA
Rule E3 against Nicolas Anelka proven and has issued a
five-match suspension and a
fine of 80,000 pounds, pending appeal,” the FA said in a
statement.
The punishment will not be
implemented until the outcome of any appeal or until
the player informs the FA of
his decision not to appeal.
EUROPA
ble the lead.
Two second-half headers
from defender Eliaquim
Mangala made it 2-2 and
levelled the tie 4-4 on aggregate.
Eintracht regained the advantage through Meier but
Ghilas latched on to a loose
ball when keeper Kevin
Trapp could only parry a
shot and slid the ball into
the empty net to give the
visitors an away-goal victory.
Ludogorets had won the
first leg against Lazio 1-0
but were quickly behind
in the return game when
Balde Diao Keita bundled
the ball into the net after a
minute and Brayan Perea
converted an Ogenyi Onazi
pass to make it 2-0 on the
night early in the second
half.
Goals from Roman Bezjak
and Hristo Zlatinski made
it 2-2 but the Italians again
looked set to advance when
Miroslav Klose poked in a
rebound with eight minutes
remaining.
Quixada then pounced on
a long pass to flick the ball
over the on-rushing Lazio
keeper and put the hosts
into the last 16.
Napoli scored early
through Lorenzo Insigne’s
dinked finish but Swansea
equalised through Jonathan de Guzman.
Gonzalo Higuain’s predatory instincts then came to
Benitez’s rescue as the Argentine swivelled and volleyed home with 12 minutes
remaining before Napoli
keeper Jose Reina pulled
off a remarkable reflex save
from Dwight Tiendalli’s
header.
Gokhan Inler netted deep
into injury time to take the
tie out of Swansea’s reach.
Serie A champions Juventus comfortably beat Trabzonspor 2-0 in Turkey to
progress after winning by
the same scoreline in Italy
last week while Benfica
scored three goals in nine
second-half minutes to beat
West Brom, however, have
suspended the player immediately until the conclusion of the governing body’s
disciplinary process and will
carry out their own internal
investigation, they said in a
statement.
“The club cannot ignore
the offence that his actions
have caused, particularly to
the Jewish community, nor
the potential damage to
the club’s reputation,” they
added.
The FA found Anelka
guilty of making a gesture
that “was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/
or improper.”
They also found it to be an
“aggravated breach” in that
it included “a reference to
ethnic origin and/or race
and/or religion or belief.”
The FA added in their
statement that they “did not
find that Nicolas Anelka is
an anti-Semite or that he
intended to express or pro-
mote anti-Semitism by his
use of the quenelle”.
Anelka had denied he was
anti-Semitic or racist and
claimed the gesture, which
has been described as an
inverted Nazi salute, was
a tribute to his French comedian friend Dieudonne
M’Bala M’Bala who invented it.
West Brom said they were
now awaiting the written
reasons for the panel’s decision, from which time Anel-
51
ka has seven days to decide
whether to appeal.
The gesture has already
had repercussions for the
club.
Zoopla, a property market
search engine co-owned by
Jewish businessman Alex
Chesterman, has said it
would not renew its three
million pounds ($4.93 million) West Brom shirt sponsorship deal after this season
because of Anelka’s actions.
Continued from page 52.
PAOK Salonika 3-0 on the
night, 4-0 overall.
Salzburg, who won all six
group matches earlier in
the competition, thrashed
Ajax Amsterdam 6-1 on aggregate after winning 3-1 in
Austria in the second leg.
Spanish club Real Betis
secured a 3-1 aggregate victory over Russians Rubin
Kazan, winning 2-0 away
with Nono and Ruben Castro on target.
Sevilla beat Slovenians
Maribor 2-1 with goals
from Jose Antonio Reyes
and Kevin Gameiro to go
through 4-3 on aggregate
while Viktoria Plzen defeated Shakhtar Donetsk
2-1 to advance 3-2 overall.
Alexandre Lacazette
scored in the 80th minute
for Olympique Lyon against
Chernomorets Odessa to
progress 1-0 on aggregate
and Fiorentina drew 1-1 at
home to Esbjerg but went
through 4-2 overall.
AZ Alkmaar’s Viktor Elm (R) fights for the ball with Slovan Liberec’s Douglas Djika during
their Europa League soccer match in Alkmaar February 27. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
AZ Alkmaar advance 2-1 on aggregate.
Olympique Lyon’s Gueida Fofana (L) challenges Oleksiy Antonov of Chernomorets Odessa
during their Europa League soccer match at the Gerland stadium in Lyon February 27. Lyon
won 1-0 and advance 1-0 on aggregate.
52
THE DAILY HERALD, Friday, February 28, 2014
Tottenham Hotspur’s Kyle Naughton (C) and Sandro (R) challenge Dnipro’s Yevhen Konoplyanka during their Europa League soccer match at White Hart Lane in London February 27.
Tottenham Hotspur won 3-1 and advance 3-2 on aggregate.
ARIZONA- The Texas
Rangers will add a player
with a championship pedigree to their spring training
roster on Monday with Super Bowl-champion quarterback Russell Wilson set
to join the club in Surprise,
Arizona.
However, do not expect
to see the former minor
league second baseman
grab a bat and step to the
plate in the preseason game
against the Cleveland Indians at Surprise Stadium.
“The guy’s a Super Bowl
champ,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said
Thursday, according to
ESPN.com when asked
whether Seattle Seahawks
quarterback Wilson might
get an at-bat.
“You think they want him
to come down here and get
hurt? The guy hasn’t seen a
pitch. I’m not running him
up there.”
Wilson, whose Seahawks
won Super Bowl 48 earlier
this month, is expected to
participate in the Rangers’
workout on Monday before
suiting up for the game at
Surprise Stadium.
The NFL title-winning
quarterback was selected
in the Rule 5 draft by the
Rangers in December, but
has not played baseball
since 2011, when he was in
Class A for the Colorado
Rockies.
Wilson hit .228 with three
homers, 15 RBIs, 40 runs
scored and 15 stolen bases
in 61 games that final season. He then went to the
University of Wisconsin
for his final collegiate season before being taken by
the Seahawks in the NFL
Draft.
Texas skipper Washington said the Rangers believe Wilson can impact
his American League West
team.
“Our intentions are to
bring him in and see if
there’s anything he can
say that may help anyone
DUBAI-Five-times
champion Roger Federer
brushed aside Lukas Rosol on Thursday to set up a
mouthwatering semi-final
clash with Novak Djokovic
in the Dubai Championship.
Federer eased through 6-2
6-2 while holder Djokovic
enjoyed a walkover when
quarter-final
opponent
Mikhail Youzhny withdrew
through illness.
Third seed Tomas
Berdych, who finished runner-up to Djokovic in 2013,
faces seventh seed Philipp
Kohlschreiber in the other
semi-final.
Berdych overcame fifth
seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
6-4 6-3 while Kohlschreiber
beat Tunisian wildcard
Malek Jaziri 6-2 6-3.
Federer holds a 16-15 lead
in head-to-head matches
with Djokovic but the Serb
has won their last three
meetings, including their
most recent match at the
ATP World Tour Finals in
London in November.
“We know each other very
well, and we’ve played each
other everywhere and all
the surfaces, you name it,”
Federer told atpworldtour.
com.
“I think we always play
the match-up actually very
good, because we play explosive, aggressive tennis,
so there is always some
shot-making going on.
“I’m looking forward to
the match. One match, best
of three sets on a court like
this, it’s a bit of ‘let’s see
what happens’, anyway. We
both know that.”
Federer started slowly
against Rosol, the man who
Continued on page 48
LONDON-Emmanuel
Adebayor scored twice in
four minutes as Tottenham
Hotspur overturned a twogoal aggregate deficit to
beat 10-man Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3-2 over two
legs on Thursday to reach
the last 16 of the Europa
League.
It was a painful return to
London for Tottenham’s
former coach Juande Ramos whose side took the
lead on the night through
Roman Zozulya.
Forward Zozulya was then
sent off in the 62nd minute,
around here that has on a
baseball uniform,” Washington said.
“This guy is a winner. He
has tremendous character.
He has attitude and undoubtedly has a lot of commitment to what he does.”
The Rangers are striving
to return to the World Series after back-to-back trips
in 2010-2011 with some
new faces on the club.
“The guy has had a lot of
success and he has a championship attitude,” Washington said. “We’re going
to give him a chance to talk
to our young kids and see
what happens.”
six minutes after Christian Eriksen had levelled,
and Adebayor grabbed his
quickfire double to give
twice UEFA Cup winners
Spurs a 3-1 second-leg victory.
Nabil Ghilas, of twice
former champions Porto,
netted in the 86th minute
to secure a 3-3 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt, the Portuguese side going through
on away goals after the tie
ended 5-5 on aggregate.
Napoli, with coach Rafa
Benitez attempting to
win back-to-back Europa
Leagues after picking up
the trophy with Chelsea
last season, and Ludogorets also came out on top in
thrilling second-leg matches.
The Serie A team scored
two late goals to beat Swansea City 3-1 on the night
and on aggregate while Bulgarians Ludogorets ousted
Lazio after an 88th-minute
goal from Juninho Quixada
gave them a 3-3 home draw
and a 4-3 win overall.
Ramos looked on course
for revenge over the club
that sacked him five years
ago when his Dnipro team
took the lead on the night
through Zozulya who headed in unmarked early in the
second half.
Joy soon turned to despair for the Spanish coach,
who led Tottenham to their
last trophy when they won
the English League Cup
in 2008, as Eriksen scored
with a free kick and Zozulya saw red for appearing
to head-butt defender Jan
Vertonghen.
Tottenham were then firmly in command and Adebayor converted an Eriksen
cross from close range on
65 minutes before grabbing
his second after collecting a
long-ball and finishing with
a clever flick.
The Togo striker now has
11 goals from his last 15
games, making it harder to
see why he was left out earlier in the season under former manager Andre-Villas
Boas before being brought
back into the fold by new
boss Tim Sherwood.
“I’m very glad to be back
scoring goals and happy
with my team,” Adebayor
told ITV Sport.
“I have to keep focused
and keep going. I want to
say thank you to the new
manager who came in and
gave me my stage to perform.”
Meier Double
Porto looked to be heading out when they trailed
2-0 in Frankfurt, Stefan
Aigner prodding the German side ahead from close
range and Alexander Meier
converting a cross to douContinued on page 51
Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic during
their men’s singles match at the ATP Dubai Tennis Championships, February 27. Federer
brushed aside Rosol 6-2 6-2.