january 4, 2012

about 3%, but today they canrejoice over the remarkable5.6% growth in tourism!

The government applaudedeveryone for the significantpart they played in the successof Aruba’s tourism for 2011.

After the official part of thegathering they lit the tradi-tional end-of-the-year fire-works (the pagara), which wasblessed by some rainfall. Thiswas followed by a delightfultime of socializing in a pleas-ant ambiance as they contin-ued to celebrate the positiveresults of their efforts for theyear 2011.

The ATA indicated that theyare intent on continuing thispositive trend into 2012 andvows to make 2012 just as po -sitive as was 2011.

ORANJESTAD -- Last Friday,the Aruba government togetherwith the Aruba Tourism Au-thority, their Board of Com-missioners, employees andtourism Partners met togetherfor a festive end of the year gettogether. They came togetherto bid good bye to 2011 whichwas a very positive year forAruba’s tourism!

The Minister reminisced abit about the process of the pri-vatization of the ArubaTourism Authority and recalledthe uncertainty that most feltabout the changes. However,today the ATA with its ownbudget, own management,own Board of Commissionershas succeeded in movingahead successfully. They hadenvisioned an increase of

below the national average -- isalso an unreliable predictor ofpresidential fortunes: SenatorJohn McCain, the eventualnominee in 2008, came infourth that year.

caucus was 10,000 votes out ofjust 120,000 cast -- a fractionof Iowa's two million regis-tered voters.

Unpredictable Iowa --where unemployment is well

DES MOINES (AFP) - Iowafired the first shot of the 2012war for the White House yes-terday with a keenly watchedbut unpredictable vote onwhich Republican should takeon President Barack Obamacome November 6.

The caucuses in Iowa cameagainst the backdrop of a sour,job-hungry US economy thatweighs heavily on the embat-tled Obama's bid for a secondterm four years after he pro -mised his historic 2008 victorywould offer "hope andchange."

"He's out!" Romney, a for-mer Massachusetts governorand millionaire venture capi-talist, told cheering supportersin a kick-off rally in downtownDes Moines, Iowa's capital,hours before the caucus. "I willget America working again!"

At 7:00 pm (0100 GMTWednesday), Iowans from thestate's 1,774 precincts allheaded to school gymnasiumsand cafeterias or church base-ments to hear speeches fromtheir neighbors on behalf of thecandidates and then vote.

The quirky process'sstrength lies in its timing: Asthe first nominating vote, it canset the tone for the rest of thestate-by-state battle, lift orbury a sagging campaign andadd luster to a shining presi-dential prospect.

The candidates made a finalblitz across Iowa, mindful thatthe winning margin in the 2008

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Iowa opens 2012 WhiteHouse contest

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (C) greetssupporters during a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa,yesterday. (AFP)

Texas Governor and Republican presi-dential candidate Rick Perry speaking atthe Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa. (AFP)

Republican presidential candidate, formerSpeaker of the House Newt Gingrichs-peaks at a campaign stop. (AFP)

ATA celebrates positivetourism results for 2011

those patients who were al-ready suffering from bedsores.

Decubitis is a wound that apatient could get from lyingdown for great lengths of timein the same position, or it maybe caused by other factors aswell. This, according to hospi-tal information, occurs mostoften at the heel of the foot aswell as at the tail bone.

In 2009 they discoveredthat the incidence of bedsoreswas rather high. This causedthe hospital to start an actionplan. The result of their actionrevealed that some patientscome to the hospital with bed-sores acquired before their ar-rival. In most cases this wasnot discovered in time, andwhat’s more, there wasn’tenough material to prevent thismalady. The Hospital’s action

plan included more informa-tion to nurses regarding decu-bitus, and better care for thoseadmitted with the problem.This past November the Hos-pital’s control revealed that thepercentage of bedsores de-creased considerably from20% to 8%.

One of the steps in the ac-tion plan was to have a woundsspecialist visit each patient ad-mitted, also a dokter and nurseand the care manager wouldvisit the patient. They also in-troduced what they call a “de-cubitus check” at the momenta patient is admitted to theHospitsl. In the event a patientchecks in with bedsores, ap-propriate and necessary actionis taken to correct the situation.The Hospital has also em-ployed a special nurse trainedin dealing with decubitus,whose job it is to monitor thesituation and provide expertguidance and corrective ac-tions to prevent this problemfrom occuring.

The Hospital is verypleased with the last resultswhich shows that they have thesituation completley undercontrol and that their effortshave resulted in a drastic re-duction in the incidence ofbedsores in our Hospital. Fi -gures show a sizeable decreasefrom 20% to 8%. They intendto see this drop even more inthe new year.

ORANJESTAD -- The ArubaDr. Horacio Oduber Hospital isworking dilligently to reducethe percentage of patients suf-fering from bedsores (“decubi-tus”). They have accomplishedthus far a 12% reduction . Theproject to improve this phe-nomenon began back in 2009when it was discovered thatcertain departments had a highincidence of patients with bed-sores. To address this situationthey formed a special careteam with a team manager,cluster manager, and a depart-ment of quality and security.They also added a specialwounds counselor togetherwith the personnel of the nur -sing department in an effort toprevent bedsores among pa-tients in the Hospital. This wasalso to improve the situation of

Aruba Hospital making significantimprovement in reducing theincidence of bedsores

Del Diablo, Brut; Laurent Per-rier Brut and Laurent Perrier,Cuvee Rose.

A grateful crowd of winelovers appreciated every sip ofbubbly and every master-piecenibble presented by the cheffor the day. Pictured here,Romar’s Champagne and FoodPairing, at La Bodega WineShop. A new series of tastingsis planned for 2012, beginningwith a unique New Zealandfood and wine showcase.

An evening dedicated tosparkling wines and Cham-pagne was recently hosted byRomar Trading at La Bodega,wine shop, on Gutenberstraat4. The evening concluded a se-ries of wine pairings hosted bythe company’s Wine Artists,over the course of the pasttwelve months.

The evening’s mystery chefwas no other than Romar Trad-ing executive Monique Bou wer,who multi-tasked in the minia-ture kitchen to present a trulydelectable array of hors d’oeu-vres, such as Tuna Tartar,Sautéed Prawns, SmokedSalmon, Pumpkin Soup, GarlicEscargot, Sundried TomatoQuiche, assorted Dutch chee ses,chocolates and mini olie bollen.

Wine artist Clive Faustinserved as the sommelier, pop-ping a variety of Champagnesand Sparkling Wines fromItaly, Argentina, Chile andFrance, such as Torresella,Prosecco; Trivento, Brut Na-ture; Conch Y Toro, SparklingWine; Banfi, Brut; Castillero

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ment experienced a rather calmchange of the year. On theevening of the 1st of Januarythey attended to many patientswho needed the atention of ahouse dokter. These were notemergency cases.

With repect to emergencycases, they treated 6 victimsfor physical abuse, a few withintoxication with alcohol aswell as traffic accident vic-tims.

ORANJESTAD -- The Emer-gency Department of the Dr.Horacio Oduber Hospitaltreated relatively less fire-works victims during the pastend-of-the-year weekend com-pared to the year 2010 and2009.

Registration of fireworksvictims began December 28,2011 up until January 2nd2012. Up to last count at 1:00in the afternoon on January2nd, they had registered 7 vic-

tims who needed treatment forfireworks burns, which is 1person less than 2010-2011.

The youngest victim was a3 year old with a fireworksburn over his eyes. The major-ity of the victims were malesbetween ages 3 to 68. Of the 7cases none were of a seriousnature needing hospitalization.Many of the victims receivedburns from falling fireworkson their eyes or hands.

The Emergency Depart-

with their parents and RhonaDijkhoff

Photos describes the happyfaces at seeing the new babies

outstanding example of love inaction for our fellowman.

mothers everywhere.The last baby to be born in

2011 was Damian Gotze whosaw daylight for the first timeat exactly 5:50AM on Decem-ber 31st, 2011. Damian also re-ceived some gifts and Huggiesproducts from Oduber Agen-cies.

Huggies in this manner gra-ciously welcomed two babiesinto our world and on Arubasoil with their beloved prod-ucts. Oduber Agencies con-gratulates the parents of theseboys and their entire familiesand wishes them a wonderful2012.

The Morning News cer-tainly applauds Oduber Agen-cies’ wonderful generosity and

It has become an Aruban tradi-tion that the prestigious Odu-ber Agencies recognizes thefirst baby to be born every yearand showers this baby withwonderful gifts. The baby iswelcomed with a basket full ofHuggies products. The firstbaby of the year somehow typ-ifies the beginning of a yearand a new life which is one ofthe symbols of our celebration,according to observers.

Aruba’s baby of the year isa boy named Daniel Martis.Daniel was born at exactly12:01 midnight, exactly oneminute after the beginning ofthe New Year. This baby wasexpected on the 10th of Janu-ary, but he decided to make hisappearance 10 days early.Daniel was delivered weighing3900 grams with a length of52cm. His proud parents areMelitza Martis-Werleman andEdgar Martis.

Dr. Kloosterman was the at-tending gynecologist and hisassistant Midwife, Mrs. HelenBoekhoudt. Attending nurseswere Magaly Arends and RitaRicao.

Aruba’s first baby of theyear received a basket of Hug-gies products, which are recog-nized as the most lovedproducts and most used among

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 3

Emergency Department saw less fireworks

victims this end-of-the-year

Daniel Martis is Aruba’s first Baby of the Year 2012

puppies in her care can callher at 565-2130 or 742-8732.You can also report an animalin need of assistance, as shemaintains an Animal Ambu-lance to rescue them. Her ex-penses for feeding all theanimals she has taken in areastronomical, as well as herve terinary bills. You can alsohelp by paying on her ac-count at the Contreras Clinicsin Shaba or Savaneta, or toAnimal Care Clinic, phonenumber 582-8382, as well asdirectly to the bank accountof Cas Animal Foundation,CMB Bank account #25762110. If you are not anisland resident and wish toadopt a dog, Kiki will assistyou in the process, as it ismuch easier to return to theU.S. with an Aruban dog thanyou might think, and anywould be examined and cer-tified by a qualified vet topass quarantine standards.

by Rosalie Klein

expect anyone totake in the entire lit-ter. She does recom-mend to take at least2, as puppies at thisage need to be withother puppies tolearn to socialize,otherwise it is verydifficult to keepthem in a caninecommunity after-wards. She will pro-vide bottles andformula, a cage inwhich to keep them,and come to helpclean up after themdaily.

THE MOR -NING NEWS hasalready agreed tocare for 2 of thepuppies; those inte -rested in helping out Kiki inher predicament or perhapsadopting one of the older

They are just starting toopen their eyes but are stilltoo young to eat on their ownand have to be bottle fed.Kiki has them in her refuge,but does not want to keepthem there, because sheknows that the Parvo virushas come in with some of theother stray dogs she has res-cued off the streets. Olderdogs can survive a bout ofParvo, but it is deadly to pup-pies, and she needs to findtemporary homes for the newlitter until they are oldenough to get their first Parvovaccination. She is not askingvolunteers to take in the dogspermanently, though they arewelcome to do so, but just tohelp her keep them clear ofpossible infection until theycan get proper protection.

She would also be veryhappy if anyone is willing totake only 2 or 3, she does not

home into a no-kill sanctuaryfor Aruba’s abandoned andstray dogs and cats, and beenunstinting in her dedication tosaving these unwanted ani-mals for 14 years. Recently, anew litter of 7 adorable pup-pies were “dumped at herdoor step,” and she is nowseeking assistance in theirsurvival.

Holidays are done and it istime to get back to some rou-tine, but for those looking forsomething worthwhile to de -dicate a few weeks to, CasAnimal has an urgent call outfor anyone willing to take ina couple of extremely youngpuppies for a about a month.

Kiki Arndt, founder of CasAnimal, has converted her


Cas Animal Cont’dUrgent! Volunteers needed to help young puppies survivethe next few weeks

Eyes are opening

On the bottle for now

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3. Contest begins todayand deadline for submissionsof photos is Monday, Febru-ary 20, 2012 at 6:00 PM;drawing for raffle will takeplace on Ash Wednesday,February 22.

4. Judging is final; win-ners will be announced inFriday’s paper, February 24.

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are the basis for global prosper-ity; this is one of the main rea-sons our military forces operatein the region," he said, withoutreferring directly to Iran.

The Pentagon statementcame after Tehran's militaryyesterday warned that one ofthe US Navy's biggest aircraftcarriers -- the USS John C.Stennis -- not to return to theGulf, amid escalating tensionsover Tehran's nuclear ambi-tions.

The Stennis, a nuclear-power "supercarrier" that trans-ports up to 90 warplanes andhelicopters -- including F/A-18Hornet fighter jets -- passedthrough the Strait of Hormuzlast Tuesday without incident,according to the US Navy.

The carrier is now in theArabian Sea where it is provid-ing air power for US-led troopsin Afghanistan but defense of-ficials have not said when itmight be heading back throughthe Strait of Hormuz.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - TheUnited States vowed yesterdayto keep American warships de-ployed in the Gulf region, de-spite Iran issuing warningsover the Strait of Hormuz.

"The deployment of USmilitary assets in the PersianGulf region will continue as ithas for decades," Pentagonpress secretary George Littlesaid in a statement.

The movement of US air-craft carriers and accompany-ing ships in the Gulf andthrough the strategic Strait ofHormuz were part of long-standing security commit-ments, supported US militaryoperations in the region andwere in compliance with thelaws of the sea, he said.

"Our transits of the Strait ofHormuz continue to be in com-pliance with international law,which guarantees our vesselsthe right of transit passage," hesaid.

"We are committed to pro-tecting maritime freedoms that

US vows to keep warships

in Gulf region

LEBANON, ADAYSSEH : A picture taken from the Lebaneseside shows a fence on the border separating southern Lebanonfrom Northern Israel, near the town of Adaysseh, on January 3,2012. Israel is considering walling off a section of its borderwith Lebanon, fearing sniper fire at newly-built apartmentblocks in the frontier town of Metulla, military sources said. Any final decision on such a project would be coordinated withofficials in Lebanon in a move which would hopefully preventsniper attacks during the construction work. (AFP PHOTO)

been reported to the WorldOrganisation for AnimalHealth.

The authorities yesterdayordered the slaughter of about150 cattle belonging to arancher near San Pedro, some400 kilometers (250 miles)north of Asuncion.

The new outbreak wasabout 30 kilometers from anoutbreak reported in Septem-ber, which led to the slaugh-ter of some 1,000 animals.

Paraguay, one of the 10largest beef exporters in theworld, suspended exports inSeptember and was preparingto resume sales to Russia,Brazil and Venezuela.

imposed in the region in Sep-tember.

Daniel Rojas, head of thegovernment's animal healthservice, said a "positive testresult" of the highly conta-gious disease for cattle had

ASUNCION (AFP) - Majorbeef exporter Paraguay yes-terday confirmed a new out-break of foot-and-mouthdisease in the north of thecountry, just four days afterlifting a state of emergency

water Horizon rig on April 20,2010, killed 11 people, and theMacondo well gushed oil intothe ocean for 87 days, blacken-ing the southern US shorelineand crippling the local tourismand fishing sectors.

By the time the well wascapped, 4.9 million barrels(206 million gallons) of oil hadspilled out of the runaway well5,000 feet (1,500 meters)below the surface of the Gulfof Mexico.

BP alleges that Halliburtonused defoaming and dispersantadditives that should not beused with foamed cement slurryit used to seal the bottom of theMacondo well, and the contrac-tor failed to inform BP of prob-lems with the slurry, bothbefore and after the incident.

"Halliburton's knowingmis representations were acause-in-fact and also a legalcause of BP's injuries," theBritish firm said in its Aprillawsuit.

marked an expansion of thescope of BP's April 2010 law-suit, in which the British com-pany had sought re im- burse ment from Halliburton"for all or a part of the dam-ages, costs and expenses."

BP has spent more than $40billion on the disaster andcould still be liable for billionsin fines, compensation andrestoration costs.

A BP spokesman declinedto comment on the case.

In October the US govern-ment slapped BP, Transocean -- the Swiss owner and operatorof the drilling rig -- and Hal-liburton with citations for vio-lating oil industry regulationsin what is expected to lead tomassive fines.

Last week The Wall StreetJournal reported that US pro -secutors are readying criminalcharges against BP employees,which would be the first cri -minal charges over the disaster.

The explosion at the Deep-

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Bri -tish oil giant BP is pushing USenergy services firm Hallibur-ton to pay for all the costs BPincurred in the 2010 Gulf ofMexico oil spill, the worst en-vironmental disaster in US his-tory.

In a US federal court filing,BP said that it was seeking fullrepayment of damages fromHalliburton, alleging it fraudu-lently putting a defective ce-ment seal on a deepwater well,causing a deadly explosion andpollution of the Gulf andneighboring states.

BP filed suit Monday withthe US district court in NewOrleans seeking damages fromHalliburton including "theamount of costs and expensesincurred by BP to clean up andremediate the oil spill" and "allother costs and damages in-curred by BP" related to theDeepwater Horizon rig blow -out and resulting oil spill.

The latest court filing


INTERNATIONAL NEWS

BP sues Halliburton for full cost ofGulf disaster

Paraguay confirms new foot-and-mouth

outbreak

no longer remain president,"the FTD said.

In a hastily called four-minute television statement inDecember, Wulff had tried todraw a line under the scandal,admitting he should have dis-closed a loan from the wife ofbusiness leader Egon Geer kens.

Merkel has thus far de-fended Wulff. Her office, con-tacted by AFP yesterday,declined further comment.

when he returned from a trip toKuwait, from where he madethe call.

Amid rising anger at a per-ceived attack on press free-dom, the Financial TimesDeutschland said he shouldstep down."Everything takentogether, it's slowly becomingtoo much ... his credibility hasbeen hit by this plethora ofmistakes. A man who is drag-ging around such a burden can

coon friend's wife.He left a furious message

on the voicemail of Bild'spowerful editor Kai Diekmannthreatening legal action andalso reportedly contacted thechief executive of Bild's pub-lishing house Axel Springerand its main shareholder.

According to media reports,the president told Diekmannthat if Bild wanted to "wagewar," they could discuss it

BERLIN (AFP) - German Pres-ident Christian Wulff, an ally ofChancellor Angela Merkel,faced calls for his re signationyesterday over a home loanscandal and allegations he triedto hush up the story.

Wulff, 52, has been hit byaccusations he intervened totry to stop mass circulationnewspaper Bild revealing de-tails last month of a personalloan he had received from a ty-

LONDON (AFP) - A Britishjury found two white menguilty yesterday of the murder18 years ago of black teenagerStephen Lawrence in an un-provoked attack that became adefining moment in race rela-tions in Britain.

Gary Dobson, 36, andDavid Norris, 35, had deniedinvolvement in the knife attackon the 18-year-old at a bus stopin Eltham, southeast London inApril 1993, by a gang of whiteyouths. But on the third day oftheir deliberations followingan emotionally-charged six-week trial, the jury at the OldBailey court in London foundthem both guilty on the basisof new forensic evidence.

As he was led from thecourt, Dobson -- who will besentenced along with Norristoday -- protested his inno-cence, shouting: "You havecondemned an innocent manhere, I hope you can live withyourselves." His mother calledout from the public gallery asher son was led away: "He didnot kill that man."

Lawrence's parents Doreenand Neville, who have cam-paigned tirelessly for justicefor their son, struggled to con-tain their emotions as the juryread out their verdict but weptas the news sank in. DuwayneBrooks, Law rence's best friendwho had been with him on thenight of the murder but man-aged to escape the gang,tweeted: "Some justice at last."

The verdict brings some clo-sure to one of Britain's mosthigh-profile unsolved murdercases, which remained in thepublic eye both for its brutalityand the part it played in the de-velopment of race relations. Amajor inquiry into the handlingof the case in 1999 found "insti-tutional racism" within the policeand led to significant changes inthe way murders involving blackvictims are investigated.


Two guiltyof StephenLawrencerace murderin Britain

Scandal-hit German president faces resignation calls

An undated handout pictureobtained from the StephenLawrence Charitable Trust.

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sity of Science and Technol-ogy in Trondheim told AFP.

Berg said the herring mayhave been chased up on landby other fish or other oceanmammals.

They may also have fallenvictim to the tides or high lev-els of freshwater in the area,where a river flows into theocean, he said.

According to the Nordreisamunicipality, many of the fishhave now been swept out tosea by the tides.

(AFP) - Thousands of herringhave floated ashore on Nor-way's western coast, leavingexperts perplexed about thephenomenon, according to theNorwegian Institute of MarineResearch.

Local media reported thatsome 20 tonnes of fish werefound at the end of Decemberon a beach in northern Nor-way.

"We have seen herringstranded before but never thismuch," biologist Ole KristianBerg at the Norwegian Univer-

A dog walk around on tons of dead herring on a beach inat Kvaenes in Nordreisa, northern Norway, on January 2.

(AFP) - Twitter apologizedTuesday after a "verified" ac-count in the name of WendiDeng Murdoch, wife of globalmedia tycoon Rupert Mur-doch, turned out to be bogus.

In an email to AFP, a Twitterspokeswoman said, "We don'tcomment on our verificationprocess but can confirm thatthe @wendi_deng accountwas mistakenly verified for ashort period of time."

It appeared the fake accountwas set up on New Year's Day,a day after Murdoch himself -- according to a spokesman for

his British newspaper unitNews International in Lon-don -- made his Twitterdebut.

"Joining my husband@rupertmurdoch in our newdigital adventure on Twit-ter," read its profile, along-side a photo of the smilingMurdochs at the November2008 premiere in New Yorkof the film "Australia." The anonymous imposter

tweeted Tuesday: "Hello Twit-ter. As News International hasfinally come to their senses, it'stime to confirm that yes, this isa fake account. I'm not Wendi."

"To those of you who keptmaintaining the account wasfake, even after being verified,good on you for being suspi-cious," added the mystery@Wendi_Deng in a lively ex-change with his or her nearly10,000 followers.

"Above all, this was a bit offun. If you don't think it was,then you'd better ask Twitter to

remove every other spoof ac-count too."

On its website, Twitter saysit grants "a Verified Badge" towell-known users, such ascelebrities, once it has estab-lished their authenticity, for ex-ample through a link with anofficial website.

To which @Wendi_Deng,who disclosed no personal de-tails, remarked: "What verifi-cation process?... There wasnone. I was never contacted."

Australian-born Murdoch,83, and Chinese-born Deng,43, have been married since1999, two years after they metat a party in Hong Kong.

In July, Deng famouslyleaped out of her seat andcounter-attacked a protesterwho hit Murdoch with a creampie during testimony before aBritish parliamentary commit-tee over the hacking of cell-phone voice mails by hisnow-defunct News of theWorld tabloid.

Murdoch's 'wife' an imposteron Twitter BHUBANESWAR (AFP) -

India's prime minister onTuesday said the country wasnot spending enough on scien-tific research, meaning itlagged badly behind regionalrival China.

Speaking at an annual sci-ence conference, ManmohanSingh said India was spendingonly one percent of its trillion-dollar gross domestic product(GDP) on scientific research.

"As far as resources are con-cerned, the fraction of GDP onresearch and development inIndia has been too low andstagnant," Singh said in theeastern Indian city ofBhubaneswar.

"We must aim to increasethe total research and develop-ment spending as a percentageof the GDP to at least two per-cent by the end of the 12thplan (2012-2017) period,"Singh said.

Singh added spending on re-

search can only be doubled ifindustry jacked up its contri-bution "significantly" in thesector but warned that scien-tific programmes should notbe "pre-occupied with prob-lems of the rich."

He added that "India's rela-tive position in the world ofscience had been decliningand we have been overtakenby countries like China."

While India boasts a bur-geoning class of urban richthanks to a rapidly expandingeconomy, hundreds of millionsof people still face a lack offood, clean water and properhousing.

Singh also lauded Indianwomen scientists and said oneof them currently headed anambitious project to developnuclear-tipped ballistic mis-siles capable of striking targets3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles)away.

India lags China in research,complains PM

Sci-Tech

(AFP) - A former banker andstock exchange head could be-come the first-ever independ-ent chair of Research inMotion in a shakeup of the be-leaguered BlackBerry maker, areport said Tuesday.

The National Post, citingsources familiar with a reviewof RIM's governance structure,said Barbara Stymiest, 55, anindependent director whojoined RIM's board in 2007,has been tipped for the post.

RIM would only say that a

committee of independent di-rectors were "on track" tostudy the company's gover-nance structure and report theirfindings by the end of January.

The board will then respondwithin 30 days to the commit-tee's recommendations, a RIMspokesman said.

The review was demandedby a group of shareholders un-happy with the direction set byco-founders Mike Lazaridisand Jim Balsillie that led toRIM's stock price sinking

under the weight of gloomyearnings figures.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM saw its share ofsmartphone subscribers fall to16.6 percent from 19.7 percentin the key US market after amajor outage in October, whileRIM shares lost 80 percent oftheir value in the past year.

The board committee wasasked to assess the merits ofhaving an independent chairand of reducing the board rolesof Lazaridis and Balsillie, whoare also RIM's co-chief execu-tives.

RIM agreed to the gover-nance review last July to avoida public confrontation withshareholders at its annualmeeting. A group of sharehold-ers proposed splitting the chairand chief executive roles toboost accountability.

Stymiest, 55, is the formerhead of the TSX Group, whichoperates the Toronto Stock Ex-change, and the Royal Bank ofCanada's former chief operat-ing officer.

New chair tipped to lead BlackBerry maker:report

'20 tonnes of herring' washedup on Norwegian coast



Dec 31 - Jan 07

O’stad :’ Botica Serv. Maria ’ - S.N: ‘ 4 Centro Medico N.v.’

FREE Coverage on our website:

www.themorningnewsaruba.com

"Reservoirs from the Creta-ceous Period, Santonian Age(between 85.8 and 83.5 millionyears ago) were identified... ata depth between 4,530 and4,670 meters, and in good con-ditions for production."

SAO PAULO (AFP) - Brazil'senergy giant Petrobras said ithas found a reservoir of lightoil and natural gas off the coastof the southeastern state of Es-pirito Santo.

A company statement re-leased overnight said the findwas made during drilling of awell known as Tambuata, lo-cated 74 kilometers (45 miles)off the coast, at a depth of1,520 meters (4,600 feet).

"Drilling will continue to adepth of 6,100 meters in orderto test deeper formations,"Petrobras added.

"no time to lose" in attempt-ing to halve the number ofpeople suffering, and said hewould "increase resourcesdestined for Africa."

The former Brazilian foodsecurity minister isinternatio nally acclaimed forhis role in designing and im-plementing the Brazilian"Zero Hunger" ("FomeZero") program, whichhelped lift 24 million peopleout of extreme poverty.

Asked whether the pro-gram could work in other af-flicted areas, Graziano saidthat it "needs to be adapted tolocal systems to work," andstressed that it is "very im-portant for each country tofind its own way out ofhunger."

"There is no general for-mula to cure hunger," he said."It's not only governmentswho fight hunger: civil soci-ety and the private sector alsohave a role to play. We needchurches and unions to jointhe fight."

Graziano, who has bothBrazilian and Italian nationa -lity, is expected to kick off hisfour year term by carryingout much-needed efficiencyreforms on the heavily bu-reaucratic agency to create "astrong and effective FAO".

"I'm committed to bring-ing the reform of FAO to asatisfactory conclusion.There is still a lot to do," hesaid yesterday.

June to take over this yearfrom Jacques Diouf, who hadled the organisation for 17years.

He is the first Latin Amer-ican representative to headthe UN's agency, which bat-tles hunger which affectsover a billion people globally.

The 61-year-old professorpromised yesterday to putAfrica first in the fight "toeliminate hunger" in theworld.

"Africa will be a priorityduring my mandate. I willtravel to the continent at theend of January to participatein the African Union Summitand visit the Horn of Africa,"he said.

Nations in the region --mainly Somalia, Djibouti,Ethiopia and Kenya -- are fa -cing one of the worstdroughts in more than half acentury, which has causedmalnutrition and food short-ages. Over 13 million peoplein the region need aid, ac-cording to the UN.

The FAO has describedthe situation in the Horn ofAfrica as "inadmissible", andhas called several times onthe international communityto not only give emergencyaid but support long-term in-vestments in sustainable agri-culture.

Graziano said there was

Global food prices remain volitile,new FAO head warnsROME (AFP) - Global foodprices -- a major catalyst forsocial unrest in the MiddleEast and Africa -- will remainhigh in 2012, the head of aUN body said yesterday as hewarned there was no simpleformula to beat hunger.

"We are expecting thatprices will not grow and notdrop. There will be some re-ductions but not drastically,volatility will remain," JoseGraziano da Silva said at hisfirst press conference as bossof the Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO).

The Rome-based UNagency warned in a Novem-ber report that while globalfood prices had fallen sharplyin October, volatility on com-modity markets is still hurt-ing pros pects for world foodsecurity.

It also forecast that highprices -- seen as one of thefactors behind the famine insouthern Somalia and the up-risings in North Africa lastyear -- were likely to con-tinue "well into 2012".

As unrest continues inSyria in particular, the Brazil-ian Graziano said the conflict"makes our work more diffi-cult".

"It is expected that we willface problems on food secu-rity issues," he added.

Graziano was elected in

seats, the ECB said in a state-ment.

FRANKFURT (AFP) - TheEuropean Central Bank yes-terday named executiveboard member Peter Praet ofBelgium as its new chiefeconomist, taking over fromJuergen Stark of Germany,who stepped down at the endof 2011.

Praet, who turns 63 laterthis month and has been amember of the ECB's execu-tive board since June 2011,"will be responsible for eco-nomics, human resources,budget and organisation"under a redistribution of re-sponsibilities following thechangeover of two board


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ECB names Belgium's PeterPraet as new chief economist

Brazil's Petrobras finds oil,gas off Espirito Santo state

pop radio are over, and I knowthat and I accept it and I'm notunhappy about it. It's a differ-ent time of my life now, and itgives me the freedom to dowhatever kind of music I wantto do," he said.

He also paid tribute to LadyGaga, with whom he duets on"Hello, Hello," saying: "I waskind of like that at the begin-ning of my career. I dressedoutrageously, and I didn't careabout boundaries."

The star, who has homes inLos Angeles, Britain and thesouth of France, said the Christ-mas just gone was special as heand Furnish celebrated the firstbirthday of their son Zachary,born to a surrogate mother onDecember 25, 2010.

"I love him so much. It's adifferent kind of love for yourchild than you have for yourpartner. Everyone kept sayingthat, and now I realize that,having had Zachary," he said.

"He's the light of our lives.I've had an amazing profes-sional life, personal life, but at64 to have a son who gives usthat much love and enjoymentis, 'Wow!'"

lake, because he played me be-fore in a David LaChapellevideo of (Elton classic) 'RocketMan' and was superb."

The film will be a "jukeboxmusical" with possibly a cou-ple of new songs, he said.

"It's going to be a surreallook at my life, and not just afactual look at my life... I justdon't want it to be a normalbiopic because my life hasn'tbeen like that," he added.

The singer -- who is nomi-nated for a Golden Globe onJanuary 15 for his song "Hello,Hello" from the film "Gnomeo& Juliet," will be back in thestudio soon to record a newalbum -- but insisted his daysas a top-40 pop star are over.

"As Elton John, my days on

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - EltonJohn is working on a biopicabout himself and would likeJustin Timberlake to take on thelead role, he said in an inter-view published on week-end.

The British veteran star alsospoke about his and partnerDavid Furnish's love for theirson Zachary -- whose firstbirthday was on ChristmasDay -- saying the child was the"light of our lives."

An announcement about thebiopic is due very soon, the 64-year-old told the Los AngelesTimes newspaper.

"That's very much in theworks. We're making an an-nouncement about that very,very soon. We have a directoron board, and then it's justgoing to be a matter of gettingthe script exactly the way wewant it," he said.

Lee Hall, who wrote megahit"Billy Elliot," has written thescreenplay, he said, adding theywill soon start trying to castand plan production.

On who will play him, hesaid: "I don't know. I've got awish list of people. No. 1 onmy wish list is Justin Timber-

Rockenbach (and Friends)are on Aruba on the invitationof Divi's Alex Nieuwmeijerand Peter Balličre of theClown Doctors of Aruba. Thegroup, which has just releasedtheir christmas single HappyXmas by John Lennon, willperform various times onAruba, among others in Cas diCultura for the ArubaanseKunstkring for a fundraisingfor the Clown Doctors. Tick-ets for this upcoming event areon sale already.

Photos show the open-mouthed children, who greatlyenjoyed the songs by Rocken-bach and Kris Struyven andHarry Hendrickx with HugoUlens and Manuella vanGeenhoven in the backgroundat Windows on Aruba.

Sunday Brunch guests at Win-dows on Aruba received a spe-cial treat on January 1st whenthe Belgian formation Rock-enbach performed live in theelegant, top-floor restaurant.Kris Struyven and Harry Hen-drickx, both classicallyschooled tenors, delightedeveryone with their outstand-ing renditions of favorite,light-classical songs. The twoperformers, who are makingwaves in the Idols-style pro-gram The Voice van Vlaan-deren, were joined byManuella van Geenhoven (so-prano) and Hein de Meester.Together with Hugo Ulens,keyboards, they caused goose-bumps from even theyoungest listeners.


Rockenbach delightsbrunch guests at Windows on Aruba

Elton John wants Timberlake toplay him in biopic


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are extremely popular; liter-ally flying off the shelves,”note the owners. In the twoyears since they opened theirdoors, they have found pa-trons are very impressed withthe quality and style of thegoods.

Just a short time ago, thedesign house created an ex-tremely attractive new linefeaturing the art of WilliamDeBilzan, noted Americanartist whose work is often seenadorning the chic homes of te -levision characters; he has po -pular galleries in both Floridaand California and his work isexhibited in over 28 galleriesacross the U.S. and Europe.

Mario Hernandez has beencreating and designing pro -ducts for over 30 years; hisname is synonymous withmanufacturing excellence andinnovation in design. Thestore in Paseo Herencia Mallin Palm Beach is opened until10:00 PM for convenientnight-time shopping andboasts the latest collection ofthese timelessly styled acces-sories, each of them hand-crafted at the Bogotá factory.

by Rosalie Klein

“It’s all in the details,” be-lieves the owners of the MarioHernandez shop in the PaseoHerencia Mall “The finehandcraftsmanship and classicstyling of the Mario Hernan-dez accessories have placedthem in high demand aroundthe world, and we are proud tohave the only MH store onAruba.”

The cozy little shop can befound tucked away just acrossfrom The Cinemas ticketbooth, featuring fine qualityleather goods with a trendytouch, the best of the currentMario Hernandez designercollection. It also features astylish selection of the de-signer’s logo unisex shirts andstunning silk scarves. Our per-sonal favorite was a cashmereshawl with MH 25th anniver-sary Chrysalis motif in suedeappliqués; the look and feel ofit is simply gorgeous. Shawlsand scarves perfectly combinewith the buttery leather hand-bags and accessories for anensemble fashion statement.

The Mario Hernandez col-lection encompasses luggage,handbags and wallets of everysort, with specialized func-tions. “Our men’s accessories

Visit the Mario Hernandezshop for the finest inLatin American designer accessories

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United defender, insisted in aseparate statement he had doneno wrong.

"I am very upset by all thethings which have been saidduring the last few weeksabout me, all of them beingvery far from the truth.

"In my country, 'negro' is aword we use commonly, aword which doesn't show anylack of respect and is even lessso a form of racist abuse.Based on this, everythingwhich has been said so far istotally false.

"I will carry out the suspen-sion with the resignation ofsomeone who hasn't done any-thing wrong and who feels ex-tremely upset by the events.

Liverpool manager KennyDalglish later said the club re-mained firmly behind Suarez.

"We stand alongside LuisSuarez as a football club, aswe've always done for peoplewe respect and people who ap-preciate the efforts they'vegiven to the club," Dalglishtold Sky Sports News.

"The club have made quite acomprehensive statement, Luishas made a brilliant statement,so we'll stand right beside him.

"That's really, basically,without getting myself intotrouble, that's all I'm preparedto say. There's plenty more I'dlove to say but I don't think Ishould go there."

now wished to draw a lineunder the affair despite dis-agreeing with the verdict.

"There are ultimately largerissues than whether or not LuisSuarez has been treated fairlyby the Football Association inthis matter," it said.

"The issue of race in sports,as in other industries, has avery poor history. Far toooften, and in far too manycountries, the issues of racismand discrimination have beencovered over or ignored."

"It is time to put the LuisSuarez matter to rest and forall of us, going forward, towork together to stamp outracism in every form both in-side and outside the sport."

Suarez, who was found tohave repeatedly called Evra a"negro" during his confronta-tion with the Manchester

LONDON (AFP) - Liverpoolsaid Tuesday they had ac-cepted Luis Suarez's eight-match ban for racially abusingPatrice Evra but insisted theyfully supported the player ashe again maintained his inno-cence.

Liverpool had lashed out atSuarez's ban and £40,000 fineafter it was confirmed lastmonth but stopped short oflaunching an appeal until thefull written ruling of the disci-plinary panel was released lastweekend.

Suarez's ban will now takeimmediate effect, ruling theUruguayan international out ofTuesday's Premier Leagueclash with Manchester City.

In the 115-page written rul-ing from the case released lastSaturday, the FA panel saidSuarez had given "unreliable"and "inconsistent" evidenceduring the hearing, where ele-ments of his testimony were"incredible."

A Liverpool statement re-leased on Tuesday maintainedthat the case against Suarez re-mained "highly subjective"and was "based on an accusa-tion that was ultimately unsub-stantiated."

However the club said it

Prince Sheikh Tamim binHamad al-Thani, and clubpresident Nasser al-Khelaifi.

Following the close-seasonpurchase of the club bywealthy investors QatarSports Investments (QSI),headed by the crown prince,rumours had been rife in theFrench press that the dealwas as good as done.

But other sources close toBeckham had long kept theirdistance.

QSI strode into the Frenchcapital and bought a 70 per-cent controlling stake in PSGin June, with Khelaifi prom-ising "to make the club agreat team and a strong brandon the international scene".

They promptly spent 85million euros in the summerto attract new talent includinga massive 42 million eurosforked out to Italian sidePalermo for 22-year-old mid-fielder Javier Pastore.

DOHA(AFP) - David Beck-ham will not join Paris Saint-Germain for "familyreasons", the big-spendingQatar-backed French club'ssporting director Leonardosaid on Tuesday.

"He will not come toPSG," said the Brazilian, cit-ing "family reasons" for the36-year-old former Englandcaptain's decision not to relo-cate from Los Angeles to theFrench capital.

Leonardo's announcementbrings to an end months ofspeculation linking Beckham,whose contract with Los An-geles Galaxy finished on De-cember 31, with a transfer toPSG, which on Friday namedItalian Carlo Ancelotti as newcoach.

PSG, which play AC Milanin a friendly in Dubai onWednesday, earlier trainedunder the watchful eye ofnew owner, Qatar's Crown


Football: Family first asBeckham rules outPSG move

Football: Liverpool acceptSuarez ban

SPORTS

the Mavericks.Reigning NBA scoring

champion Kevin Durant ledthe Thunder with 27 pointswhile Russell Westbrookadded 18 points and eight re-bounds.

At Miami, Joe Johnsonscored 21 points and Al Hor-ford added 16 points and ninerebounds to power theHawks, who improved to 4-1, just behind Miami in theSoutheast division.

Tracy McGrady added 16points, seven rebounds andfour assists for Atlanta.

Behind James, the Heatwere led by Chris Bosh with19 points and Dwyane Wadewith 12 points and a game-high 10 assists.

Meanwhile at MinneapolisSan Antonio Spurs play-maker Manu Ginobili hasbeen sidelined indefinitelywith a broken left hand aftersuffering the injury on Mon-day in a 106-96 loss at Min-nesota.

Ginobili, a guard from Ar-gentina, suffered the injury inthe second quarter when hefouled the Timberwolves' An-thony Tolliver while movingto make a shot. He suffered abreak below his pinky finger.

The victory was Min-nesota's first over the Spurs in17 meetings between theclubs and only the second intheir past 23 games againsteach other. The T-Wolves im-proved to 2-3 one night afterbeating Dallas for their firstvictory.

Kevin Love had 24 pointsand 15 rebounds to lead theTimberwolves while TimDuncan and Richard Jeffer-son each scored 16 points tospark the Spurs, who fell to3-2.

And at New York UtahJazz forward Josh Howardwas fined $25,000 by theNBA on Monday for a fla-grant foul, the league an-nounced.

Howard was called for alesser degree foul against SanAntonio's James Anderson onSaturday but after reviewingvideo footage of the foul, theleague upgraded the violationto a level two foul and im-posed the fine.

The incident came with3.3 seconds remaining in thethird quarter of Utah's 104-89loss at San Antonio.

Howard is averaging 11points and 3.0 assists a gamefor the Jazz, who have lostthree of their first four gamesof the NBA season.

MIAMI (AFP) - Miami andOklahoma City, the last twoundefeated teams in the NBAthis season, both lost for thefirst time on Monday as thereigning champion DallasMavericks and AtlantaHawks celebrated triumphs.

The Mavericks defeatedthe visiting Thunder 100-87,improving to 2-4 and aveng-ing a loss at Oklahoma Citylast week, while the hostsHeat fell 100-92 to theHawks despite a game-high28 points from Miami's Le-Bron James.

Miami and OklahomaCity still share the NBA'sbest record at 5-1 after ninedays of a season that wasshortened to 66 games perclub by a contract dispute be-tween players and team own-ers.

At Dallas, German starDirk Nowitzki scored 26points and grabbed six re-bounds to power the Maver-icks while Shawn Marionadded 17 points, Jason Terryadded 15 and Vince Cartercontributed 14.

Jason Kidd had a game-high nine assists for Dallasand Ian Mahinmi had agame-high nine rebounds for

iting San Francisco on Sun-day.

"This was a difficult deci-sion," Rams owner StanKroenke said. "No one indi-vidual is to blame for this dis-appointing season and we allmust hold ourselves account-able.

"However, we believe it'sin the best interest of the St.Louis Rams to make thesechanges as we continue ourquest to build a team that con-sistently competes for playoffsand championships," addedKroenke, who is the majorshareholder in English Pre-mier League side Arsenal.

Tampa Bay fired coach Ra-heem Morris after the Bucca-neers lost 45-24 to Atlanta onSunday, the team's 10th loss ina row. That is the worst one-season run since the Bucs losttheir first 12 games in 1977.

"I have a lot of respect and

WASHINGTON (AFP) - TheSt. Louis Rams and TampaBay Buccaneers fired theircoaches on Monday, one dayafter concluding miserableNational Football League sea-sons with losses to playoff-bound rivals.

And the IndianapolisColts, who joined the Rams infinishing a league-worst 2-14,saw chairman Bill Polian andgeneral manager Chris Polianfired by owner Jim Irsay, whokept coach Jim Caldwell.

The Colts were withoutstar quarterback Peyton Man-ning all season due to a neckinjury.

The Rams dumped coachSteve Spagnuolo and generalmanager Billy Devaney.Spagnuolo was 10-38 in threeseasons with the Rams. Hewas hired less than a monthinto Devaney's tenure.

St. Louis lost 34-27 to vis-


appreciation for the passion

coach Morris gave to our foot-

ball team, but this change is

one we felt was necessary,"

Buccaneers general manager

Mark Dominik said.

The Buccaneers finished 4-

12 after winning four of their

first six games, the reversal of

Morris' first campaign in 2009

when the team opened 1-12.

"We want to thank coach

Morris for all his hard work

and dedication as head coach

of the Buccaneers," said Buc-

caneers co-chairman Joel

Glazer, whose family also

owns English Premier League

giants Manchester United.

The Buffalo Bills, who fin-

ished 6-10, fired defensive co-

ordinator George Edwards

and replaced him with Dave

Wannstedt, an assistant coach

working with linebackers.

NFL: Rams, Bucs fire coacheswhile Colts dump execs

NBA: Last unbeatenslose as Heat, Thunderfall


DOHA (AFP) - Spain's RafaNadal had to fight hard not tolose his opening match of2012, going a break of servedown in the final set beforesurviving against an oppo-nent ranked outside the top40 in the Qatar Open here onTuesday.

The French Open cham-pion fought back with typicalcourage in his 6-3, 6-7 (2/7),6-3 win over Germany'sPhilipp Kohlschreiber but itwas a patchy performancewhich left an impression thattennis is a bit of a struggle forhim at the moment.

Nadal found it hard toachieve rhythm and consis-tency with his groundstrokes, sometimes leavingthe ball short, and allowinghis intensity to subside sur-prisingly during a second setspell when he went 1-4down.

But after dropping serve inthe first game of the final set,the world number two beganto hit some more solid blows,particularly with inside outforehands taken from thebackhand corner, and fin-ished looking much more incharge.

"I didn't have a chance topractise much, I had prob-lems with my shoulder andknee, and arrived feeling so-so," Nadal said, referring toan off-season curtailed by thelate finish of the 2011 DavisCup.

"So a victory was very im-portant. The beginning was abit risky but I came back welland played a bit more aggres-sive."

This was not though theNadal depicted in his newyear resolution, one whoaims to become more perma-nently an aggressive player,taking the ball on or insidethe baseline at every opportu-nity.

"When I say I want to bemore aggressive, it doesn'tmean that I want to try thatevery day," Nadal explained."It doesn't mean it will hap-pen in the first match.

"I need time. But I havedecided to play aggressive.This is something which isneeded."

Nadal was probably refer-ring both to his long termphysical survival on an in-creasingly arduous tour, andthe extra dimension neededto answer the surge of NovakDjokovic, who took over asworld number one last year.

He might have made lifeeasier for himself had he con-verted the two break points

he had at 5-5 in the secondset, but Kohlschreiber savedone with a bold volley andanother with a pressurisingbackhand drive.

The world number 43 fromGermany also producedsome good variations as hetried to deny the winner often Grand Slam titles asmuch rhythm as possible.

But Nadal, who next playsanother German, the qualifierDenis Gremelmayr, believeshis shortcomings were justsome of the normal difficul-ties in re-acquainting himselfwith a tennis match. He latercame up with a more positiveinterpretation.

"I was happy with mylevel," he said. "I think it isreally positive I am through,and that is very important. Iam happy having matches onthe court. I didn't know if Iwould be here a week and ahalf ago."

Later Nadal’s perennialrival Roger Federer had anutterly different start to theyear.

The second-seeded defend-ing champion from Switzer-land needed less than an hourto get past the former cham-pion, Nikolay Davydenko, by6-2, 6-2.

Federer admitted he sur-prised himself with the levelof his performance againstthe Russian opponent whobeat both himself and Nadalwhile winning the 2010 titlehere.

"I played aggressively,served well, and I had goodmovement, which is surpris-ing early on in the season,"said Federer.

"But there again everymatch is new, and I will haveto work on my game becauseevery match in the draw ispotentially tough."

He next plays GregaZemlja, a qualifier fromSlovenia who won 4-6, 6-1,6-1 against Sergei Bubka, awild card entrant who is theson of the Soviet pole vaulter(of the same name) who wasrepeatedly voted the world’sbest athlete.

Tennis: Nadal has a difficult start to 2012

Rafael Nadal of Spain serves to Philipp Kohlschreiber ofGermany during their ATP Qatar Open tennis match.

january 4, 2012

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