january 19, 2012

WASHINGTON (AFP) - USPresident Barack Obama yes-terday rejected the proposedKeystone XL pipeline fromCanada, saying he could notvouch for its safety by a dead-line despite intense election-year pressure.

The rival Republican Partyhad forced Obama to make adecision on whether to ap-prove the 1,700-mile (2,700-kilometer) route through theGreat Plains to Texas, forcinghim to choose between envi-ronmentalists and industry.

The Obama administrationsaid that company Trans -Canada could resubmit theKeystone XL project but thatofficials were not able to as-sess its plan by a February 21deadline put into law by Re-publicans in Congress.

"This announcement is nota judgment on the merits of thepipeline, but the arbitrary na-ture of a deadline that pre-vented the State Departmentfrom gathering the informationnecessary to approve the pro -

Prime Minister and legislatorsto provide their input in thedirection in which Aruba shallbe governed; what they feltwould fulfill the needs of theentire community at all levels.

Mr. Ronald van Trigt, Pres-ident of the Board of ATIA,and Joyce Bartels-Daal, Exec-utive Director, announcedATIA is continuing this socialdialog with two days of semi-nars and workshops on Thurs-day and Friday, January 26thand 27th at the RenaissanceConvention Center in Oran-jestad. The sessions will be fa-cilitated by two experts in this

field from the InternationalLabor Organization, (ILO,)Mrs. Luesette Howell, and Mr.Rainer Pritzer.

Continued on page 4

Aruba Trade & IndustryAssociation Presents:Social Dialog +

In 2010, Aruba’s governmentconducted a Social Dialog:“town meetings” in all the bar-rios which allowed the ordi-nary citizen to interact with the

Stephen Harper expressed"profound disappointment" toObama over the rejection,telling him in a telephone callthat he had hoped this project"would continue given the sig-nificant contribution it wouldmake to jobs and economicgrowth" in both countries.

But environmentalists haveraised fears of an accidentalong the 1,700-mile (2,700-kilometer) proposed route,which would go through theuniquely sensitive terrain ofSand Hills in Nebraska wherethere is wide opposition.

The pipeline would carrycrude oil from Alberta's tarsands, which emit an unusuallyhigh amount of carbon, whichmany scientists blame for theworld's rising temperaturesand chaotic weather.

ject and protect the Americanpeople," Obama said in a state-ment.

"I'm disappointed that Re-publicans in Congress forcedthis decision, but it does notchange my administration'scommitment to American-made energy that creates jobsand reduces our dependenceon oil," said Obama, who ini-tially hoped to make a decisionafter the November election.

The oil pipeline has turnedinto a major issue in US poli-tics, with environmentalistswa ging months of streetprotests against it and the oilindustry funding an advertisingblitz saying the project wouldimmediately create shovel-ready jobs amid a weak econ-omy.

Canadian Prime Minister

Obama rejects contested Canada pipeline See coverage on page 5

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Check it out at: http://www.themorningnewsaruba.com/index.php/photography-contest

Specific attempts are in the worksto improve Public Transportation

Luesette Howell

formation regarding the proj-ect. They also detailed the pro-cedures of the Public Tender,the Request for Proposal, andthe Power Purchase Agree-ment (PPA) concept.

Some 32 companiesshowed serious interest in theproject and purchased the RPFdocument. The companies inquestion were both local andinternational. There were com-panies from Curacao, Holland,the United States, Germany,Denmark and Canada. Pana -ma, England, South Africa,Puerto Rico and Spain alsodemonstrated enormous inter-est in the project. The Pre-Bidmeeting was followed onlineand via ELMAR’s website, aswell as on SKYPE.

The process of Question and

Answers for each interestedcompany has taken place. Nexton the agenda is the “Submis-sion of Date Proposals” whichis scheduled for March 6th. Onthe 13th of March they will in-form those who will participatein the Public Tender that theirproposals have been accepted.On this date they will revealwhich is the best and secondbest proposals submitted basedon the extremely high criteriaset within the context of the Re-quest For Proposal.

ELMAR expects to sign acontract with the winner of thePublic Tender on April 3rd,2012. That will usher Arubainto its very first Solar Parkproject and a major step closerto independence from fossilenergy!

The future Prince of theNetherlands, HRH, WillemAlexander, during his visit toAruba last October 2011 com-plimented Aruba on our visionand Management of alternativeenergy. It is no secret that inthe region, Aruba is way aheadin the use of alternative energysources.

The Aruba electrical distri-bution company, ELMAR N.V.has also embarked on a specialProject, which has been of-fered as a Public Tender, the“Solar Park at Aruba AirportAuthority.” This project is tobe established at the Airportand consists of a design, con-struction, financing, operationand management of a solarpark in the parking area undercontract with ELMAR N.V.

ELMAR N.V. has chosenthe existing parking area of theAruba Airport Authority as thefirst solar park to be con-structed by ELMAR N.V. Ourelectric distribution companyintends to generate a maxi-mum of 4 mega watts of powerto supply her 12kv network. Inthis fashion ELMAR wants tosupply a growing demand withthe generation of clean energyconnecting one or more solarpanels to her network.

On the 6th of December2011 in a Pre-Bid Meeting,ELMAR provided detailed in-

Spotlight is on Solar Park Projectat Airport

Status Aparte, this revised bookis set to go to school and beplaced into the hands of allschool children.

Replete with paintings byartist Sidney Gubsam, usingthe Aruba flag as the back drop,Ruiz-Croes takes a rather ab-stract topic and tells it in thesimplest and concise fashionfor children to understand. Re-portedly, the new book hasbeen received with enthusiasmby our children.

Last Tuesday, Evelyn Ruiz-Croes presented her new bookto the Minister of Educationduring a press conference. Therevised version of the book istitled... “Epa!....un strea y masstrea” (Hi!...one star and morestars).

With the support of Cha -ruba, the new book was printedin hardcover. Special thanksand recognition was directed toDes Croes and Alice van Ro -mondt, artist Sidney Gunsamand Sheila. Also, to UNOCAfor their valuable support.

The author was especiallypleased for the approval re-ceived from the Minister of Ed-ucation to allow the book to“go to school!” Ruiz-Croes re-marked...”It is our hope thateach child will get a copy ofthis book in his own hands sothat they can enjoy and learnfrom it...it is for them that I didthis.”

Back in 1997, Evelyn Ruiz-Croes, with the support ofCharuba, published an interes -ting book for children with theobjective of helping them tounderstand the history of theirisland. She titled the book...“Epa!....Un Strea” (Hi!...a star).Her goal was to help our newgeneration to learn that we didhave a close relationship withCuaraco, Bonaire and the otherwindward islands.

Her book has since been re-vised and adapted to tell thecomplete story of the develop-ments between Aruba and therest of the Antilles. The booknow recounts the separation ofthe islands which took place on10-10-10. In it Ruiz-Croes re-counts the story of the 25 yearsof Apart Status up to the cre-ation of the new Dutch Ca -ribbean. Hence, in connectionwith our 25th anniversary of

2 Thursday, January 19, 2012

New book on Aruba makesits way into Aruba’sclassrooms!

the public; they will allow ac-cess to exposition halls, all of-fices, the storage area ofarcheological material, and thelaboratory.

Continued on page 5

“Open House” of their entirecomplex. In 2008 they hadsuch an Open House whichwas fantastic and they have re-ceived many requests for a re-peat. This time, however, theywill open the entire complex to

Galleries and institutions havebanded together to offer theopportunity for everyone todiscover and appreciate the art,history and the heritage of ourisland.

The Rancho Foundation hasplanned a soft opening for theirexposition located in the West-straat. Their exposition will bededicated to the memory of thedeceased Mr. Sint Jago. Aminiature boat will be on dis-play at the back patio espe-cially in memory of Sint Jago.

Santa Rosa and Aruba willprepare a beautiful gardendecorated by Santa Rosa espe-cially for Betico Day. The Ran-cho Foundation will offer‘dushi’ local treats for thesweet tooth along with colddrinks.

The National ArcheologicalMuseum will again have an

enjoy the history, culture andexpressions of art which is insuch abundance on Aruba.

The two Museums in Playa(the city) and the RanchoFoundation have united to-gether to attract the public toPlaya in order to see the his-tory and culture of Aruba fromclose-up. This year many more

ORANJESTAD -- “Dia diBetico” is January 25th!Everyone is encouraged tospend this day or part of it any-way, in Oranjestad. The Muse-ums, Galleries and otherinstitutions will be open as of10 o’ clock in the morninguntil 2 o’ clock in the after-noon. It is a day that we can

Thursday, January 19 , 2012 3

Betico Day is the day to go to Town!


the perspective of government,employers and trade unions,with a 15 minute presentationby a representative from eachsector. Thursday’s seminar willfinish at 4:30 PM.

Friday’s sessions will befrom 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM.They will begin with a pre -sentation of “How to Preparefor an Effective Social Dia-log,” followed by group dis-cussions and a Q & A on thesubject. The day will finishwith summaries, with steps totake to move forward includ-ing agendas, prioritizing andpreparing.

Those interested in atten -ding should contact the ATIAoffices in Dakota to reserve aplace. Call 582-7593 or con-tact them through their web-site: http://www.atiaaruba. org/

by Rosalie Klein

Africa and the Indian Ocean.His principal duties includedproviding technical advice inthe relevant policy fields to go -vernments and social partners,holding training cour - ses,backstopping technical coop-eration projects, undertakingresearch and supervising pub-lications on social dialogue.

Prime Minister Mike Emanand Mr. van Trigt will open theseminars at 9:00 AM on Janu-ary 26. The morning sessionwill examine Social Dialog ina Global Context: ILO Per-spective on Social Dialog andthe Decent Work Agenda; ex-amples of social dialogs con-ducted in the Caribbean will beprovided.

The afternoon session willbe dedicated to an examinationof the social dialog conductedon Aruba and its potential. Apanel discussion will provide

the University of Bonn, Ger-many and a Post GraduateDiploma in Public Administra-tion from the University ofSpeyer, Germany. He servedfor three years in the Germanjustice system, working in alaw firm, Magistrate’s Court,Court of Appeal and PublicProsecutor’s Office, beforequalifying to become a judge.

He joined the ILO in 1995and worked with the Manage-ment (DGA/DEV) and theTechnical Cooperation(PROPARTEC) Departmentsin ILO, Geneva, before mo -ving to the ILO Regional Of-fice for Europe and CentralAsia. From 2001 onwards, heworked on social dialogue andlabor administration issues,initially in Geneva. From 2005to 2008 he served as the SeniorSpecialist for Social Dialogueand Labor Administration atthe ILO Sub-regional Office inAddis Ababa (Ethiopia), cov-ering 14 countries in East

technical focal point on Smalland Medium Enterprises(SME) Development, GenderIssues, HIV/AIDS, Occupa-tional Safety and Health andcontributed to the first ILOInter-departmental Project onthe Informal Economy. Shealso served as the Employers'Bureau representative on theBoard of the ILO InternationalTraining Centre in Turin, Italy.

In 2001, she transferred tothe ILO Office for theCaribbean in Trinidad and To-bago, as Senior Specialist forEmployers' Activities. A majoraccomplishment has been thesuccessful launch in June 2007of the first Ca ribbean Acad-emy for the Management ofEmployers' Organizations(CAMEO), a capacity-buildingprogram for Caribbean Em-ployers Executives.

Mr. Rainer Francois Pritzerassumed duties as Senior Spe-cialist in Social Dialogue andLabor Administration of theILO Office for the Caribbeanin January 2009. A national ofGermany, Mr. Pritzer holds aMaster’s Degree in Law from

Mrs. Howell is the holder of aBachelor of Arts degree in So-cial Sciences, Psychology andSociology and a Master of Sci-ence degree in Administrationand Organizational Behavior.She has lived and worked in-ternationally for over 30 years,with 17 years in Africa, 8 inEurope, and over 6 years in theCaribbean. Her career has en-compassed the areas of educa-tion, training and managementpositions, and is currently aninternational civil servant spe-cializing in the development oftechnical cooperation pro-grams.

Since 1994, Mrs. Howellbegan serving with the Interna-tional Labor Organization(ILO) at its Headquarters inGeneva, Switzerland where shedesigned and implemen tedtechnical cooperation programstotaling over US$3M for em-ployers' organizations in Africaand in the Ca ribbean. Majorprojects included Enterprise-based Produc tivity Improve-ment, and Promoting GenderEquality through Employers'Organizations. She served as

Aruba Trade & Industry Association Presents: Social Dialog +Continued from page 1

Rainer Francois Pritzer

ORANJESTAD - Upon the re-quest of the government, De-loitte & Touche has begun aninspection campaign regardingour Public Transportation ser -vices.

This inspection entails thatDeloitte will monitor the ser -vice being rendered to the pub-lic. They will also approach thepublic, both local residentswho use the service as well asour visitors, with certain ques-tion concerning their experi-ences with our public trans -portation services.

The answers to these ques-tions will enable them to iden-tify and analyse problem areas.The results of this research canlater be used to improve thequality and the service of ourpublic transportation. Weshould be aware that we maybe approached by an inter-viewer with questions regard-ing the services of ARUBUSN.V. There will also be formsavailable at different locationsthat the public can use to fill inthese questions. Deloitte iscounting on everyone in ourcommunity to respond posi-tively to this important acction.

Anyone who is a user of ourpublic transport, or who is em-ployed in the public transpora-tion business and who wishesto cooperate with this action,can fill out one of the formsand send to Deloitte & Touche.You can send them an email at:[email protected], tell yourpersonal experience as a userof the bus, autobus, taxi, orrental car. Your informationwill be used to help us improvethe service and guarantee thebest possible quality of ourPublic Transportation system.

Thursday, January 19, 2012 5

Specificattempts arein the worksto improvePublicTransportation

will also swing open herdoors on Betico Day to offereveryone the opportunity tovisit her studio, café and in-spirational gallery.

Betico Day is definitelythe day that everyone willwant to take advantage of theopportunity to visit these ex-tremely interesting and edu-cational venues. Let’s all getout there and enjoy the festiv-ities together with family andfriends and be inspired!

weg is also expected to opentheir exposition halls for thisday of celebration. They willdisplay their collections andthose of STICUSA. Every-one is welcome to come inand purchase books. Theywill host other activities, suchas reading, storytelling, chil-dren’s games and muchmore.

The art Studio and ArtGallery, STUDIO O, nextdoor to UNOCA of contem-porary artist Osaira Muyale,

show: MODA. In the largehall they will put on displaythe multi disciplinary exposi-tion of: Me Myself and I.

All of the above will begraced by the sweet tunes ofAngel Wernet’s Caha diOrgel (tingilingi box- musicbox), Betto Faro’s coconutwater stand, Melissa Richard-son’s artworks and a wholelot more. Ateliers ’89 will beanother place to visit onBetico Day!

UNOCA in the Stadion-

tad. The kitchen and bar willalso have food and drinks onsale for those interested inpurchasing great local food.

Ateliers ’89 will present anew exposition on BeticoDay of works of art recentlycompleted here on Aruba.This will be replete withworks from Rem van denBosch and Ni cole Bianchet….paintings by Ni cole and ex-pert photography by Rem. Inthe video room they willshow the ultimate moda

This will give everyone acomplete view of exactlyhow the building is beingused.

The Aruba Historical Mu-seum will present a fantasticatmosphere in the flare of amini Bon Bini Festival withmusic, folklore show, standsselling souvenirs and localde licacies. What’s more,everyone will have an oppor-tunity to climb the historicFort Zoutman Tower to get apicturesque view of Oranjes-

Betico Day is the day to go to Town!Continued from page 3

to take over property in andaround Jerusalem's Old City.

The report, which is circu-lated among the EU's 27 mem-bers, says that settlement ineast Jerusalem "accelerated" in2011, a year which also saw anuptick in attacks allegedly car-ried out by extremist settlerson Palestinians and their pro -perty.

Palestinians have also re-ported increased attacks onolive groves, with the attackerssetting fire to and uprootingtrees.

The EU has asked its mem-bers to share information onviolent settlers in the past,though it is not known to haveactively implemented a policyof blacklisting such individu-als

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The EUhas urged its member states toshare information on "violent"settlers in east Jerusalem whocould be barred from EU coun-tries, according to an internalreport seen yesterday by AFP.

The European Union's"Jerusalem Report 2011" callson member states to "share in-formation on violent settlers ineast Jerusalem to assesswhether to grant entry into EUmember states."

Authored by EU heads ofmission in Jerusalem and Ra-mallah, the report accuses Is-rael of "systematically under -mining the Palestinian pres-ence in the city through thecontinued expansion of settle-ments."

And it points to the work ofprivate settler groups working

Leon state investigationsagency, declining to be named.

A message left on theschool wall criticized the Zetasdrug gang, the official said.

Authorities blame turf warsbetween the Gulf drug gangand its former hitmen the Zetasfor a rise in violence in the in-dustrial hub of Nuevo Leon,near the US border, in recentyears.

Three dismembered bodieswere meanwhile found Tues-day in different parts of the Pa-cific resort city of Acapulco,which has seen a hike in gang-land-style killings in recentyears.

Around 50,000 people havedied in suspected drug vio-lence since President FelipeCalderon began a militarycrackdown on organized crimein December 2006, accordingto media counts and officialfigures.

MONTERREY (AFP) - Me -xican police found two dis-membered, beheaded malebodies dumped outside a highschool in the northern city ofMonterrey yesterday, a dayafter three dismembered bo -dies were found in Acapulco.

The torsos were dumpedwrapped in blankets in front ofthe school in a working-classdistrict of the Monterrey, saidan official from the Nuevo

AFP photo shows people gathered yesterday at a protestby the technology organization New York Tech Meetupagainst proposed laws to curb Internet piracy outsidethe offices of US Democratic Senators from New YorkChuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand on Third Avenuein New York. Schumer and Gillibrand are co-sponsors ofthe Senate bill PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act).SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is the US House version.Wikipedia and Google joined hundreds of other websitesyesterday in a sprawling online protest against legisla-tion in the US Congress intended to crack down on In-ternet piracy.

Websites strike back againstonline piracy bills

co-founder of Level Globalhedge fund. Todd Newman, ar-rested in Boston, was a formertrader with the DiamondbackCapital Management hedgefund.

Jon Horvath, arrested inNew York, was a technologystocks analyst, while DannyKuo, a fund manager, was ar-rested in Pasadena, California.

A crucial link in the allegedscheme was Sandeep Goyal,who had previously workedfor Dell, before going on to aglobal asset management firmin New York. There, he al-legedly continued to receiveinsider information from a so-far unnamed source withinDell, the complaint said.

According to the SEC,Level Global made about $72.6million in the trades, while Di-amondback made $3.9 million.

phone records and aid to pro -secutors from the three whopleaded guilty in hopes of re-ceiving a lighter sentence.

The Federal Bureau of In-vestigation is in the midst oftackling what Bharara calls"rampant" insider trading onWall Street. More than 50 peo-ple so far have been prose-cuted.

The highest profile target todate is Raj Rajaratnam, the bil-lionaire founder of Galleonhedge fund, who was sen-tenced to a record 11 years inprison in 2011.

His friend Rajat Gupta, aformer director of GoldmanSachs and head of McKinsey& Co, faces trial this year oninsider trading charges.

In yesterday's arrests, An-thony Chiasson, who surren-dered in New York, was the

NEW YORK (AFP) - US au-thorities announced yesterdaythe break-up of an alleged $78million hedge fund insidertrading scheme and said they'dcharged seven people acrossthe country.

Speaking in Manhattan, thechief federal New York prose-cutor, US Attorney PreetBharara, called the ring "a clubwhere everyone scratchedeveryone else's back."

Four people were arrestedand charged and three morehave already entered guiltypleas and are cooperating withinvestigators, according to acriminal complaint.

Financial employees as farafield as New York, Boston,Connecticut and Californiawere targeted in the sweep.

The seven -- financial ana-lysts and money managers --were charged with securitiesfraud and conspiracy. In addi-tion to criminal charges, they,and two of the hedge fundcompanies, also face chargesfrom the Securities and Ex-change Commission.

The seven allegedly madealmost $62 million dollars inprofits on trades made after il-legally sharing non-public in-formation about Dell computergiant in 2008-2009. Illicittrades in Nvidia, another com-puter company, allegedly net-ted more than $15.7 million.

The case described in thecomplaint is built on email and


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Seven charged in US insidertrading probe

Two dismembered bodiesdumped outside Mexico school EU mulls blacklisting

'violent' Israeli settlers

Ostick told AFP."Their cases aren't compa-

rable and the Cuban five wereconvicted in federal court andare serving their sentences," hesaid. "Alan Gross is not a spy."

"We continue to call on theCuban government to releaseAlan Gross," he said.

Gross was found guilty inMarch of "acts against the in-dependence or territorial in-tegrity" of Cuba and sentencedto 15 years in prison for deli-vering laptops and communi-cations equipment to Cuba'ssmall Jewish community undera State Department contract.

WASHINGTON(AFP) - TheUnited States yesterdday re-jected the idea of freeingCuban nationals in return forcontractor Alan Gross, sayingthat the jailed American heldby Havana was not a spy.

A Cuban diplomat, in a let-ter released Tuesday, said thatCuba was ready to find a "hu-manitarian solution" on Grossin return for a "reciprocal" ges-ture of releasing five Cubansimprisoned on charges of spy-ing in the United States.

"An exchange for any of themembers of the Cuban five isnot possible," State Depart-ment spokesman William

spilled but said efforts wereunderway to control the da -mage and prevent contamina-tion of the Catatumbo river.

The area has seen severalattacks in recent days by theRevolutionary Armed Forcesof Colombia (FARC), a Mar -xist group fighting the govern-ment for decades.

The government contendsthe rebels in the region are in-volved in the smuggling ofdrugs and fuel and other crimes.

BOGOTA (AFP) - Unknownattackers blew up a section ofan oil pipeline in northeastColombia near the Venezuelanborder, the company Petro -norte said yesterday.

"We cannot say who didthis but we know it was an at-tack, an explosion" at the RioZulia-Ayacucho pipeline,Petronorte spokesman RenzoCoronado told RCN Radio.

The spokesman did not in-dicate how much oil was

She said Schettino hadmade no "serious attempt" toget back on board his ship, "oreven close to it", after leavingduring the evacuation.

She also noted that once hehad left the ship, he remainedfor hours on the rocks withcrew members watching therescue operation.

Explaining her ruling, shesaid she did not think Schettinoposed a flight risk but she didbelieve he could try to concealevidence, which is why heneeded to be under house arrest.

Schettino arrived at hishome in Meta di Sorrento nearthe southern city of Naplesaround 2:00 am accompaniedby police officers.

Inhabitants of the villageclosed ranks around the seacaptain. They lashed out atphotographers and cameramengathered outside Schettino'shome, accusing them of"media lynching" of the cap-tain who "saved thousands oflives."

Under Italian law he willnot be allowed to leave hishome or communicate withanyone apart from his lawyerand very close family.

Mario Monti said during a visitto London: "Any such disastercould and should be avoided."

He added that the Italiangovernment was trying to limitany damage to the environ-ment from the ship, lying on itsside off the Tuscan island ofGiglio.

The 114,500 ton, 17-deckbehemoth was insured for 395million euros ($507 million),industry sources said.

An insurance industrysource who did not want to benamed said it is already possi-ble to speak of the Costa Con-cordia as "the biggest maritimedisaster ever for the transportof passengers or goods."

Schettino -- described byone Italian newspaper as "themost hated man in Italy" --faces years in prison oncharges of multiple man -slaughter and abandoning ship.

The fact that other crew andofficers stayed on board to tryto evacuate the passengers re-futed the captain's claim thathe could not oversee the ope -ration from the vessel, Italianmedia quoted the judge as say-ing after she questioned him atlength on Tuesday.

GIGLIO ISLAND (AFP) - Thejudge investigating Italy'sCosta Concordia disaster saidyesterday the captain hadshirked his responsibilities, asdivers halted the search forsurvivors on the increasinglyunstable wreck.

Judge Valeria Montesarchioreleased captain FrancescoSchettino from police custodyinto house arrest despite notinghe had made no "serious at-tempt" to rejoin the strickenvessel to take charge of evacu-ating the remaining passen-gers.

Rescuers were forced tosuspend their search yesterdayas the vessel shifted. Emer-gency workers fear that theship could slip from its restingplace on a rocky shelf and slideinto 100 meter (330 feet) deepwaters.

"Instruments indicated theship had moved, we are in theprocess of evaluating if it hasfound a new resting point toallow us to resume. For themoment we cannot even gonear it," emergency servicesspokesman Luca Cari said.

A German woman listedamong the missing is aliveafter returning home in the im-mediate aftermath of the disas-ter, an Italian official saidyesterday.

Divers, mountain rescueteams and marines have reco -vered 11 bodies from the turbidwaters of the half- submergedhulk in the days since Friday.

Another 20 passengers andcrewmen are unaccounted for,their relatives huddled in ho-tels in the area anxiously wait-ing for news of their lovedones.

"We will not stop as long aswe are certain that no-one isremaining aboard the ship,"coastguard spokesman FilippoMarini told AFP.

In his first comments on thedisaster, Italian Prime Minister


INTERNATIONAL NEWS Italy cruise wreck rescue halted,captain under house arrestBlast hits oil pipeline in

Colombia

US rejects Cuba prisoner swapUnderwater photo taken released by the Italian CoastGuard on January 16, 2012 shows the inside of the CostaConcordia, after it ran aground. (AFP)

markedly increase the risk fornoncommunicable diseasessuch as diabetes, coronary ar-tery disease, stroke, and de-mentia," said the article.

"Conflict, displacement,poverty, gender-based vio-lence, and other social deter-minants of ill health increasethe risk for MNS disorders," itadded.

"MNS disorders are, in turn,associated with worsening ofsocial and economic circum-stances, setting up a viciouscycle of poverty and illness."

A majority of world govern-ments would have to agree thatthe issue is important enoughthat it deserves a special ses-sion at the UN General Assem-bly.

"The fact that MNS disor-ders affect people in all coun-tries should offer considerableincentive for investments byboth public and private sectorsin this initiative," the authorswrote.

be enshrined in a "People'sCharter for Mental Health" ac-counting for input from policymakers, families, researchersand other advocates.

The article said neuropsy-chiatric disorders will accountfor the loss of some $16.1 tril-lion US dollars globally overthe next two decades, with"dramatic impacts on produc-tivity and quality of life," par-ticularly as the populationages.

About 25 million peoplehave dementia worldwide, anumber set to skyrocket to 80million by 2040, with close tothree quarters of dementia pa-tients concentrated in low andmiddle income countries.

Meanwhile, suicide claimsat least one million lives peryear and nearly four percent ofall deaths around the world areattributable to alcohol.

Mental illness can also boostrisky behaviors that result indisease.

"Depressive disorders

scribed by doctors to reduceperiod pain, and many womenattest to its effectiveness, butthe scientific verdict has so farbeen mixed.

Two big reviews of the evi-dence, carried out in 2007 and2009, said there had been alack of randomised controlledtrials to provide a clear an-swer.

Randomised control trialsare the gold standard of clini-cal research.

They entail enrolling vol-unteers who are randomly as-signed either to a group thatuses the genuine treatment orto a comparison group whichuses dummy pills as a com-parison.

The new paper could helpprovide a definitive answer,its authors hope.

The probe is unusually longand uses each volunteer as apersonal benchmark to meas-ure the impact of the Pill andageing on period symptoms.

Menstrual pain, known asdysmenorrhoea, has been es-timated to account for 600million lost working hoursand two billion dollars in lostproductivity annually in theUnited States alone.

PARIS (AFP) - An exception-ally long-running investiga-tion has backed use of the Pillto ease menstruation pain, ac-cording to a study publishedWednesday.

The findings come fromhealth research spanning 30years, gathering more than1,400 Swedish women bornin 1962, 1972 and 1982.

They filled out a lengthyquestionnaire when they wereenrolled in the probe at theage of 19, and did the sameagain five years later at theage of 24.

Those who took oral con-traceptives reported signifi-cant drops in twoacknowledged measurementsof pain.

Age was also a factor. As awoman aged, the severity ofperiod pain decreased some-what, but this effect was inde-pendent from the Pill, andsmaller.

The investigation, led bygynaecologist Ingela Lindh atGothenburg University's In-stitute of Clinical Sciences, ispublished online by the Euro-pean journal Human Repro-duction.

The Pill is sometimes pre-


Health & Living

Study boosts useof Pill to easeperiod pain

vote a special session to thematter, global health expertssaid on Tuesday.

Every country in the worldis affected by the burden of

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Men-tal illness and drug abuse canwreak havoc in global societiesand economies, and the UNGeneral Assembly should de-

mental, neurological and sub-stance use (MNS) disorders,but often sufferers face dis-crimination and human rightsabuse, said the article in PLoSMedicine.

"The time has come forrecognition at the highest lev-els of global development,namely the UN General As-sembly, of the urgent need fora global strategy to address theglobal burden of MNS disor-ders," said the article.

Lead authors were VikramPatel from the London Schoolof Hygiene and Tropical Med-icine and Judith Bass fromJohns Hopkins School of Pub-lic Health in the United States.

Investment is needed inthree key areas, they argued:expanding knowledge aboutmental health disorders, betteraccess to evidence-based pro-grams of care and treatment,and protection of humanrights.

A list of key needs to be ad-dressed and steps to take could

World experts urge UN to take up mental health


SYDNEY (AFP) - Three anti-whaling demonstrators havebeen injured after Japanesecrew members used grapplinghooks and bamboo polesagainst them in a high seasclash, activist group Sea Shep-herd said Wednesday.

The Sea Shepherd Conser-vation Society, which annuallyshadows and harasses theJapanese whaling fleet,claimed two activists werestruck in the shoulder withiron hooks and one was hittwice in the face with a longbamboo pole.

The Yushin Maru No. 2(YS2) is tailing the SteveIrwin anti-whaling ship in theSouthern Ocean and the inci-dent happened about 300 nau-tical miles north of MawsonPeninsula in Antarctica, ac-cording to Sea Shepherd.

"Our small boats were at-tempting to slow down theJapanese harpoon vesselYushin Maru No. 2, which isaggressively tailing the SteveIrwin," Captain Paul Watsonsaid on the Sea Shepherd web-site.

During the incident, he saidAmerican Brian Race wasjabbed twice in the face with abamboo pole, receiving lacer-ations above his right eye andon his nose.

South African RussellBergh, a cameraman for cabletelevision channel AnimalPlanet, was struck in the rightarm and shoulder with an irongrappling hook, resulting indeep bruising.

Watson said French pho-tographer Guillaume Colletwas also hit in the right armand shoulder by a grapplinghook and injured.

Japan's Fisheries Agencydisputed the account, accusingthe activists of starting theconflict by using ropes to tryto disable the ship's rudder andpropeller and hurling at least30 bottles containing paint.

The Agency called SeaShepherd's actions "extremelydangerous acts which threatenthe safety of our country's ves-sel and the life of its crew."

Three whaling ships, led bythe 720-tonne Yushin MaruNo. 2, were seen leaving theJapanese port of Shimonosekion December 6 for the annualhunt, with security measuresbeefed up after clashes in pre-vious years.

Their mission is officiallysaid to be for "scientific re-search", with the fleet aimingto catch around 900 minke andfin whales, according to a plansubmitted by the governmentto the International WhalingCommission.

Watson said two of thethree Japanese harpoon vesselsin the area were tailing SeaShepherd boats as they closedin on their hunting grounds, ef-fectively preventing them fromkilling whales.

"We are almost at the limitof the eastern boundary of theirself-assigned hunting area,"Watson said. "We should begetting close."

A second Sea Shepherdvessel, the Bob Barker, is inthe area but a third, BrigitteBardot, was damaged in highseas and forced to return toAustralia earlier this month.

The Brigitte Bardot was es-corted back to port by theSteve Irwin, with the ShonanMaru No. 2 in close pursuit.

Three activists from the en-vironmental group Forest Res-cue Australia boarded theShonan Maru as it followedthe Steve Irwin back out ofport off Australia's west coaston January 7, sparking a diplo-matic incident.

Japan only agreed to handthe men over after interventionfrom Canberra, and they werereturned to Australia on Mon-day by a border protection ves-sel.

2009 that water resources inthe capital may face depletionin 50 years unless prompt ac-tion is taken.

The emirate, which sits onsome 95 percent of the coun-try's oil, aims to be a centre forrenewable energy, throughprojects such as Masdar City,which is to be powered solelyby renewables.

Masdar, a government ini-tiative established in 2006 toadvance renewable energy andsustainable technologies, isbuilding the zero-carbon cityas an example of future eco-friendly cities.

But the development hasslowed down, pushing its com-pletion date from 2016 to be-tween 2020 and 2025.

The estimated cost of thecity has also dropped from $22billion to no more than $19.8billion.

Three injured as Japanwhalers use hooks:activists

ABU DHABI (AFP) - AbuDhabi will host an interna-tional summit on water nextyear, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber,the head of a project to build azero-carbon city on the out-skirts of the UAE capital, saidWednesday.

"It gives me a great pleasure

to announce (the) launch of theInternational Water Summit2013 that will take place inAbu Dhabi next January,"Jaber told reporters at theWorld Future Energy Summitin the Emirati capital.

"As countries... seek toprosper to raise their standardof living and provide theircommunities with health andsecurity, we are all facing seri-ous challenges," he said.

The Middle East and NorthAfrica are home to 6.3 percentof the world's population buthave just 1.4 percent of theglobe's renewable fresh water,Jaber told the conference.

"We have to launch studiesin order to find new solutionsto satisfy the needs of our fu-ture generations," said theUAE's environment and waterminister, Rashed Ahmad binFahd.

The Environment AgencyAbu Dhabi (EAD) warned in

UAE to host global waterconference next year

Sci-Tech

file photo of Japanese Whaling


JAN 14 - JAN 21

O’stad :’ Botica Serv. Noord ’ - S.N : ‘ San Lucas.’

FREE Coverage on our website:

www.themorningnewsaruba.com

global economy."We would only act with

others, not just as part of a eu-rozone measure," said Came -ron, reaffirming a positionBritain took at a G20 summitin November.

"But above all we want tosee the eurozone standing be-hind its own currency," headded.

Britain currently provides4.5 percent of the IMF's funds.

LONDON (AFP) - Britain isready to boost its contributionto the International MonetaryFund to help countries in trou-ble, not to support a specificcurrency, Prime MinisterDavid Cameron said yesterday.

"We believe the IMF has al-ways lent to countries, not cur-rencies," Cameron commentedafter the IMF said it wouldseek up to $500 billion in newfinancial firepower as the Eu-ropean debt crisis threatens the

available funds.IMF managing director

Christine Lagarde said that thediscussion was held at the re-quest of the membership andthe "general support" of theGroup of 20 major economies.

Lagarde said the board hadrecognized the importance ofmaking sure the Fund hadenough resources "to help de-fuse the current global eco-nomic weaknesses andregional challenges."

"The biggest challenge is torespond to the crisis in an ade-quate manner and many exec-utive directors stressed thenecessity and urgency of col-lective efforts to contain thedebt crisis in the euro area andprotect economies around theworld from spillovers," shesaid in a statement.

Prodded last year by theGroup of 20 major economiesto increase the money it has forintervening in financial crises,the IMF has been exploring in-formally the issue for months.

Eurozone leaders pledgedin December to provide theIMF with bilateral loans worth150 billion euros ($192 bil-lion).

The United States, theFund's biggest stakeholder, hasadamantly refused to con-tribute more funds.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - TheInternational Monetary Fundsaid yesterday it would seek upto $500 billion in new financialfirepower as the Europeanpublic debt crisis increasinglythreatens the global economy.

With several Europeancountries veering on recessionand Greece on the brink of de-fault, the IMF said it lacks theresources to be the planet'slender of last resort.

"Based on staff's estimateof global potential financingneeds of about $1 trillion in thecoming years, the Fund wouldaim to raise up to $500 billionin additional lending re-sources," it said in a statement.

The IMF said the $500 bil-lion includes the recent Euro-pean commitment to add about$200 billion to its resources.

"At this preliminary stage,we are exploring options onfunding and will have no fur-ther comment until the neces-sary consultations with theFund's membership have beencompleted," the 187-nation in-stitution said.

The IMF statement cameafter an IMF executive boardmeeting Tuesday to discuss theadequacy of its resources --currently about $385 billion in

IMF aims to raise $500

bn as euro crisis rages

mation to the MROS.In addition, since July

2011, the Egmont Groupt,represen ting 127 financialintelligence units, has threat-ened to suspend Switzerlandbecause it is the only mem-ber that does not share infor-mation with partnerauthorities.

"Such a suspension coulddamage the reputation ofSwitzerland as a financialcentre," say Swiss authori-ties who want to "dismantlethe obstacle of secrecy in ex-ecuting administrative assis-tance."

and the financing of terror-ism" and "strengthen the in-tegrity of Switzerland as afinancial centre," it said.

The draft law aims to ex-tend the powers of theMoney Laundering Report-ing Office of Switzerland(MROS) so it can demandinformation from third-partyintermediaries after a suspi-cious transaction has beencarried out.

Bern yesterday approvedthe draft amendment bill tobe submitted for consultationby April 20 this year. In theinterim period, cantons andpolitical parties are to estab-lish their positions on thesubject.

The MROS has not beenable to provide foreign part-ners with financial informa-tion such as bank accountnumbers because such infor-mation is covered by provi-sions on "banking secrecy orofficial secrecy," the Swissdepartment said.

This has had a negativeimpact on Switzerland, offi-cials said, since many coun-tries apply the principle ofreciprocity and thus do notprovide any financial infor-

GENEVA (AFP) - Switzer-land is considering new leg-islation to ease bankingsecrecy in a bid to fightmoney laundering, the policeand justice department saidyesterday.

The Federal Councilwants to amend the the lawon money laundering toallow authorities to send"specific financial informa-tion such as bank accountnumbers, information ontransactions and capital oraccount balances," to foreignpartners, the department saidin a statement.

This will help in "the fightagainst money laundering

thursday, January 19, 2012 11

Finance

YEStERDAY’S

Crossword Answer

U.S.A.

Dutch Antilles

Canada

Britiain

Switzerland

Netherlands

Sweden

Denmark

Norway

Japan

(per 10,000)

USD

ANG

CAD

GBP

CHF

EUR

SEK

DKK

NOK

JPY

1.77

98.00

1.74

2.67

188.88

226.46

24.91

29.77

28.69

229.84

1.78

100.00

1.76

2.72

189.60

228.53

25.63

30.49

29.41

231.94

1.80

100.20

1.78

2.78

190.40

230.82

26.43

31.29

30.21

234.27

Currency

Code

Buyingrate

banknotes

Buying

ChequesSelling

Rate

Current as of:

01/18/2012

All rates for amounts up to AWG 100,00 per item.

Switzerland wants to ease

banking secrecy

Cameron: Britain not readyto boost IMF to help euro

The spokeswoman said the

complaints were limited to one

cinema.

Nicola Shearer, 25, told the

Daily Telegraph newspaper

that box office staff at the cin-

ema had double-checked that

she knew it was silent.

Of course I knew it was and

I asked the usher why she

wanted to know," Shearer told

the paper on Tuesday.

"She then told me some

people complained and asked

for refunds because there is no

sound and the screen is

smaller. I thought it was really

funny and laughed."

LONDON (AFP) - Cinemago-ers in the British city of Liver-pool demanded refunds ontickets for Oscar favourite"The Artist" because they didnot realise it is a silent movie,a cinema chain said.

The French-directed picturewon three Golden Globes andthe most nominations forBritain's BAFTAs this week,and is widely tipped for gloryat next month's Oscars.

But several cinemagoers inLiverpool, a port city in north-west England, were apparentlynot so impressed and stormedout in objection to the lack ofdialogue and the smaller-than-usual screen.

Wednesday night TOB Carnaval Group presented to the public its costumes for Car-naval 2012. Theme fo the group is “Wings of Life.” The event took place in Drop ‘nNuts in Dakota. Minister of Tourism and TOB Carnaval Group Leader, Otmar Oduber,was also present for the presentation. Entertainment was by “Biggie Boy” who per-formed, among others, his latest hit ‘Nosa asi voce me mata.’ Needless to say it was avery fun event, with everyone dancing and jumping. Photos are of three different ver-sions of the costume.


TOB Carnaval Group presents“Wings of Life”

'It's silent?': Britons demand

refunds for 'The Artist'


which you can spoon yourmain course, as well. Poori iscrispy fried naan, and most def-initely worth the extra two dol-lars to sample with your meal.

Our group also added an ap-petizer of crunchy Samosas, theIndian form of a potato knish,served with either cilantro orsweet and sour sauce. A platterof their Jhinga, large, crispy-fried shrimp in a delicate batteris ample enough to serve as amain course, though featuredon their appetizer menu.

As we mentioned, maincourses are served family style,in beautiful little pots that situpon a candle to keep themwarm. Our group sampled the“Mutton Saagwala,” alsoknown as “Lamb Shag” whichis cooked in a thick sauce ofyogurt and spinach, and the“Fish Hara Masala,” moist,tender chunks of fish in a richsauce featuring cilantro as themain flavoring. This is offeredin mild, medium and veryspicy, we found the mediumquite spicy enough for us; it lefta tingle on the tongue.

The family style service al-lows everyone at the table tosample a bit of this and that,and we heartily recommendyou do, to truly appreciate thisauthentic bit of India in Aruba.Open for lunch and dinner, TajMahal sports a cozy and inti-mate air-conditioned diningroom and a small outdoor ter-race for those that enjoy diningal fresco. They have an exoticdessert menu to match, but ourgroup was too stuffed to par-take; there was even enoughleft to box up and provide alunch next day for the luckyfirst person to get to it!

Located behind the RoyalPlaza Mall, across fromAruba’s Numismatic Museum,Taj Mahal offers a dining ex-perience that is truly out of theordinary; they feature an excel-lent and tasty selection for veg-etarians too. If you are a fan ofIndian food, or have been toy-ing with trying it, Taj Mahal isthe place for a very affordabledining experience and the realdeal! Call 588-4494 for reser-vations.

When Bharat Shah, originallyfrom India, but now a success-ful businessman in California,put on a spectacular wedding inAruba for his daughter Lisa andher groom Kalpesh, they wel-comed hundreds of friends andrelatives from around theworld, including the “old coun-try.”

When all the weddingguests had finally arrived inAruba, Bharat hosted an offi-cial welcome party along theshore in Palm Beach, and hechose to have it catered by TajMahal restaurant, he was thatimpressed by their cuisine.

If you like your Indian foodauthentic, or are looking for anew and unique dining experi-ence, an evening at Taj Mahalwill deliver a memorable meal.A seemingly endless menu of-fers scores of choices for fish,chicken, lamb and vegetariandishes that are “the real deal;”discover that Indian food goesway beyond curry!

A taste-testing crew fromTHE MORNING NEWS chosea selection of their singularstarters and two main courseswith saffron rice, served familystyle, which provided a fine ex-ample of the versatility of theirchef.

Taj Mahal’s Tai Choice is agreat way to start the meal andbe initiated into the joys of In-dian cuisine, offering a diverseselection of traditional fa-vorites. It contains hearty por-tions of Pakoras, crispyvegetarian fritters, Aloo Tikki,potato cutlets, Chicken Tikka,tender chicken breast piecesseasoned just right, and shapedand seasoned ground lamb,charmingly dubbed “Sheik Ke-babs.” All is served on a bed ofsliced onions and brought toyour table on a sizzling platter,and you will want to dish thosesautéed onions on to one oftheir tasty Indian breads calledNaan, leaving behind not a sin-gle crumb. Main dishes are ac-companied by a choice of rice,mixed vegetables rich with gar-lic, or Naan, plain, buttered,onion or garlic, and you willwant to order an extra basket ortwo of this tasty delight, on

Taj Mahal Restaurant, anauthentic culinaryexcursion

birthday party, the complexoffers terrific packages thatwill make it an event to re-

member at a reasonable price. All the family will find

Flowrider and Fun Cityadding an exciting new as-pect to their Aruba vacation

and now you have an answerwhen you teenagers ask “Arewe having fun yet?”

tainment. Another sec-

tion of the thirdfloor of the shop-ping center run byFun City has babyrides, video gamesand air hockeyscaled to pint-sized players and arock climbing walland other fun for

teenagers. For a

fee of $20 per hour,parents can rest as-sured their youngstersare well caredfor and hav-ing a greattime in a se-cure, con-t r o l l e denvironment.Parents and

children are pho-tographed at check in,and children are notreleased to anyone buttheir parents. Both re-ceive ID tags with barcodes which mustmatch up when coming to re-trieve your children and adultsalso are provided a beeper sothey may be summoned atanytime, if ne cessary. Couplesare then free to relax and enjoy

Palm Beach’smany grown-upattractions, suchas shopping andfine dining, withpeace of mind.

Fun City pro-vides two greatenvironments forthe family to sharesome quality time,Laser Tag andDesperado, a “5-

Dimensional” interactive en-tertainment experience thatwill delight the young and theyoung at heart; an absolutebargain at only $5 for eitheradventure. If you want to or-ganize a unique and thrilling

How many parents chasingafter their little ones while onvacation have had that phrasecross their minds? “Are WEhaving fun yet?” Watching outfor the kids on vacation andkeeping them entertained canmake many a parent wonder ifthe trip was worth it, but nowthere is an all encompassinganswer at Palm Beach PlazaShopping Mall that will pro-

vide hours of exciting enter-tainment for all ages andpeace of mind for anxious par-ents.

The Flowrider/ Fun Citycomplex in Palm Beach takesup the area of a full size resortand offers great activities atreasonable prices for everymember of the family. Every-one will love spending time inthe only Flow rider surfing en-vironment in the Caribbean,

while parents can leave theiryoungest at Fun City undercareful security and supervi-sion to relax and enjoy a bit ofshopping, or a delightful dinnerfor just the two of them.

Fun City offers 3 age-ap-propriate environments foryoungsters from 1 year to 12,with trained group leaders see-ing to all the children’s needsand providing educational funfor the little ones. There is theBaby Gym for ages 3 or 4 andComfyland for kids up to 10,which was named “Best Play-ground of 2010” by the Inter-national Association ofAmuse ment Parks and Attrac-tions; both provide great waysfor energetic young bodies toget a workout while also beingguided through learning enter-

Are we having fun yet?

All ages will enjoy Flowrider and

Fun City

Share the fun on Flowrider

Learning activities to stimulate young

minds

Award winning Comfyland environ-

ment

course to learn.The event will be played

over the Nicklaus and Palmercourses at the PGA West re-sort, which ranked as two ofthe three least difficult courseson the PGA Tour last year, aswell as La Quinta CountryClub. All are par-72 layouts.

David Duval fired a 59 onthe Palmer course 13 yearsago with four 61s beingrecorded in 2009 and therehave been 14 62s in the pastfour years.

Mickelson, a winner of the

event in 2002 and 2004, makes

his first start since the Singa-

pore Open last November. The

US left-hander ends a four-

year absence from the tourna-

ment.

Wagner, who has three ca-

reer PGA titles, has seen his

dream of qualifying for the US

Ryder Cup team boosted after

a victory that also grabbed him

a place in the field for the

Masters next April.

late US comedian Bob Hopefor the past 47 years, now hasan eight-year link with thefoundation of former US Pres-ident Bill Clinton.

Clinton's name on the eventas the format changes haveboosted the quality of the fielda bit. Australian legend GregNorman will make a rare start.

Four-time major championPhil Mickelson will open his2012 season at La Quinta. Sowill another US star, eighth-ranked Dustin Johnson.

"I think that what kept peo-ple from coming maybe in thepast was the five days, the 12different amateurs -- it's notfor everybody, for sure,"Kuchar said. "I think the newformat is much more appeal-ing to everybody."

It definitely is for JohnsonWagner, an American comingoff a victory last week inHawaii in the first full-fieldevent of the 2012 US PGAseason. He's happy to have onemore day to rest and one less

team, Freire was ditched fromtheir Tour de France squad asthey focused on RobertGesink's ultimately disastrousyellow jersey campaign.

Freire is now eyeing a re-turn to the world's biggest racein July, where he will come upagainst a formidable field, in-cluding 20-time stage winnerMark Cavendish.

Before then, Milan-San-Remo -- the first major classicof the season and a race he haswon three times -- is Freire'smain objective in late March.

"Milan-SanRemo is the pri-ority, but I also hope to do wellat Tirreno-Adriatico beforethen and I'll also be doing (Ital-ian race) Eroica for the firsttime."

Having suffered throughouthis career from injury andsinus problems which requiredsurgery, Freire says that thisyear there will be no reversalof his decision to retire.

"Every year it's gettingmore difficult. But two yearsago, for example, I had a reallygood season, I won Milan-SanRemo and Paris-Tours --the most important sprints ofthe year.

"I hope to have similar suc-cess this year. After that, it willbe over. I don't know whetherI will stay in cycling but let'ssay I will have plenty of timeto consider my options."

SanRemo, before resuminghis love affair with the Tourde France.

Just a week after the Julyshowpiece Freire -- whohelped Samuel Sanchezcapture Olympic road racegold in Beijing four yearsago -- hopes to be amongthe medal contenders at thesprinters' course at the Lon-don Games.

It's all a far cry from lastyear when Freire consid-ered retirement for theumpteenth time, afterRabobank left him off theirTour de France squad andillness during the Tour ofSpain dampened his late

season ambitions.Lured by Russian team Ka-

tusha for one final campaign inthe pro peloton, a revivedFreire hopes to make hisfarewell year one to remember.

"Last year wasn't particu-larly lucky for me. I didn't dothe Tour de France and also Iwas sick in the Vuelta (Tour ofSpain)," Freire told AFP.

"My physical condition wasokay, but I just didn't get op-portunities to show what Icould do.

"This is my final year. Ihope to be a little bit better,and a bit more lucky."

Despite his loyalty toRabobank over seven success-laden years with the Dutch

ADELAIDE (AFP) - Formerworld champion Oscar Freiresaid there will be no goingback on his decision to end hisillustrious career at the end ofthe season.

Spanish sprint specialistFreire is one of only a handfulof riders to have won the worldroad race title three times.

And, with this year's worldchampionships being held on achallenging hilly course in theNetherlands, the Spaniard hasset his sights on success else-where.

In his 13th and final season,Freire is hoping to keep ayounger, hungrier bunch ofsprint rivals at bay in hisfavourite classic the Milan-


Cycling: Former world champFreire vows to retire

LA QUINTA (AFP) - A newname, a shorter tournamentand fewer courses give thisweek's US PGA HumanaChallenge something of a newfeel compared to the event'sprior history as the Bob HopeClassic.

What had been a 90-holetournament since its inceptionin 1960 has been reduced to 72holes and will be played overonly three courses rather thanfour when the $5.6 milliontournament tees off on Thurs-day.

"I think everybody's goingto like the new format evenbetter," American veteran MattKuchar said. "It has been greatto see the tour make thesetweaks."

Pros will play with differ-ent amateur partners for eachof the first three rounds ratherthan a group of amateurs eachday before a pros-only finalround in quest of the $1 mil-lion top prize.

The event, named for the

Golf: No Hope but plenty of change

for PGA event -

SPORTS

cording to the WBA.The sanctioning

body said Cooper'smoves impacted theoutcome of the fight.Had Khan not beendocked the point in thefinal round, judgesscores would havemade the fight a drawand Khan would havekept his titles.

The WBA alsopointed to an unautho-rized person, Ameen,handling the officialscoring slips used by

judges during the bout thenposing with Peterson for pic-tures after the fight.

However, Ameen told theBBC that he was innocent ofany wrongdoing and claims heonly pointed out mistakesmade by Michael Welsh, whohad said he was unwell.

"I noticed one error and asubsequent error. I assistedhim in correcting it withouttouching anything," he said.

Ameen said that his appear-ing alongside Peterson postfight was simply a case of himhelping out a fellow IBF offi-cial, 85-year-old Paul Artiist,with the championship beltand had it been Khan who wonhe would have done the same.

noticed while sitting behindhim at the December 10 fightin Washington DC.

He insisted that he was notdoing anything sinister asclaimed by the Khan camp andadded he was looking for anapology from the Britishboxer's camp.

While Khan lost the fightand his titles his complaints af-terwards struck a chord withthe WBA who ordered a re-match based on what they sawas bad refereeing decisions.

Referee Joe Cooper de-ducted points from Khan inthe seventh and 12th roundsfor pushing, a rare call, and didnot credit Khan with whatshould have been a knock-down in the first round, ac-

Mustafa Ameen, right, pictured withthe WBA supervisor, Michael Welsh,during Amir Khan's controversialbout against Lamont Peterson.

World number one Wozni-acki came through in a sec-ond-set tiebreaker withGeorgia's Tashvili, while Ag-nieszka Radwanska, DanielaHantuchova and JelenaJankovic were among theother seeds to progress.

And third seed VictoriaAzarenka shrugged off crowdjibes about her unusualscreaming as she thrashedlocal hope Casey Dellacquafor the loss of just one gameto remain unbeaten this year.

Away from the action,men's tour chief BradDrewett admitted there were"frustrations" among playersbut played down swirling talkof a strike after several spokeout over pay and conditions.

The new Association ofTennis Professionals (ATP)boss was speaking after anunprecedented groundswellof discontent prompted strikerumours and a brief rift be-tween Nadal and Federer.

Juan Martin del Potro setup a third-round match withTaiwan's Lu Yen-hsun,Ukrainian hotshot AlexandrDolgopolov also wentthrough and Bernard Tomicdelighted home fans by beat-ing American Sam Querreyin four sets.

In the women's draw, Cli-jsters brushed past France'sStephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0,6-1, while French Open win-ner Li dispatched Australianwildcard Olivia Rogowska 6-2, 6-2 to stay on track for afourth-round meeting withthe Belgian.

But Italy's Francesca Schi-avone followed US Openchampion Samantha Stosurout of the tournament whenshe was shocked by 80th-ranked compatriot RominaOprandi, who won 6-4, 6-3.

"I think it was a really badmatch for me," Schiavonesaid. "I couldn't play like Iwas trying to play."

greater cultural understandingbetween nations.

"I'm excited and honored,"Abdul-Jabbar said. "I reallyappreciate the opportunity. Iremember when Louis Arm-strong first did it back forPresident (John) Kennedy, oneof my heroes, so it’s nice to befollowing in his footsteps."

Abdul-Jabbar will partici-pate in youth basketball clin-ics in Rio de Janeiro, host cityof the 2016 Olympics, andSalvador, and stress education,social and racial tolerance,cultural understanding andsports as a means of empow-erment.

Since retiring from theNBA in 1989, Abdul-Jabbarhas focused on African-Amer-ican history and socio-eco-nomic justice.

"We're thrilled that youhave agreed to do this," Clin-ton said. "I'm just very grate-ful to you for taking the time."

WASHINGTON (AFP) -NBA all-time scoring leaderKareem Abdul-Jabbar, a leg-endary retired center, wasnamed a global cultural am-bassador on Wednesday byUS Secretary of State HillaryClinton.

Abdul-Jabbar, born LewAlcindor befiore changing hisname after leading Milwaukeeto the 1971 NBA title, scored38,387 points in 1,560 gamesover a 20-year NBA careerand was named the NBA MostValuable Player in 1971 and1985.

In a week-long trip toBrazil that starts on Sunday,Abdul-Jabbar will begin hisnew role to meet with youngpeople and promote diplo-macy and opportunities for

LONDON (AFP) - MustafaAmeen whose mysterious be-haviour ringside at the AmirKhan and Lamont PetersonWBA and IBF light welter-weight world title bout pro-voked a furore from the Khancamp told the BBC onWednesday he had not beentrying to influence the out-come.

Instead Ameen - who iscredentialled by the IBF - toldthem he was helping the su-pervisor Michael Welsh cor-rect a mathematical error onhis scorecard which he had


Boxing: I'm innocent of anywrongdoing in Khan fight:Ameen

NBA: Legend Abdul-Jabbarnamed US cultural amabassador

Tennis: Nalbandian rant ...

continued from page 16


MELBOURNE(AFP) - A fu-rious rant by David Nalban-dian stirred up the AustralianOpen Wednesday, as RafaelNadal made a timely return toform and Roger Federerreached the third round with-out picking up his racquet.

Women's champion KimClijsters raced through in just47 minutes to stay on trackfor a clash with China's LiNa, and top seed Caroline

Wozniacki survived a sec-ond-set fightback by formerjunior doubles partner AnnaTatishvili.

Nadal, who has grumbledabout injuries and has ap-peared jaded in recentmonths, was smiling againafter his 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 defeatof Tommy Haas, which puthim into the third round with-out dropping a set.

The Spaniard, moving

freely despite a heavily band-aged right knee, was brokenin the first and third sets buthe always looked in controlagainst the injury-hit Ger-man, who has reached thesemi-finals on three occa-sions.

"He's a fantastic playerand he's had a lot of injuriesover the last couple of yearsand it's great to see himback," said Nadal, who suf-fered a dramatic flare-up inhis long-troubled knee on theeve of the tournament.

"It's much better and I'mhappy with how the knee isimproving and I played todaywithout any problems,"added the 10-time grand slamwinner, who plays LukasLacko in the next round.

Federer, seeking his firstgrand slam win in two years,received a boost when Ger-many's Andreas Beck with-drew from their match with aback problem, giving theSwiss free passage to thethird round.

The rest will be welcomefor Federer, 30, who wasforced out of this month'sQatar Open with backspasms and will break JimmyConnors's record of 233

grand slam wins if he reachesthe final. He will next faceIvo Karlovic.

But the major talkingpoint was an on-court bust-upinvolving the combative Nal-bandian, who was incensedwhen a chair umpire refusedto allow a critical video chal-lenge near the end of his 4hr41min marathon loss to JohnIsner.

Nalbandian said the offi-cial, Kader Nouni of France,was not capable of umpiringmen's grand slam matchesafter making the contentiouscall late in the gripping five-setter, which ended 4-6, 6-3,2-6, 7-6 (7/5), 10-8.

Holding a break point at

8-8 in the deciding set, Nal-bandian, a former top-10player and the 2002 Wimble-don runner-up, asked for aHawk-Eye video reviewwhen umpire Nouni over-ruled a fault call on Isner'sserve.

But Nouni told him hewas "too late" to request thechallenge, according to Nal-bandian, who argued for sev-eral minutes and called thematch supervisor on court.

"I mean, it's ridiculousplaying this kind of tourna-ment with this kind of um-pires. What is this? Why didthe ATP do this?" Nalbandianfumed later.

continues on page 15

Tennis: Nalbandian rant stirs up Australian Open

David Nalbandian of Argentina reacts during his men's

singles match against John Isner of the US.

january 19, 2012

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