may 26, 2012

Saturday, May 26, 2012

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) -Thousands of people turnedout in several cities acrossHonduras on Friday to protesta wave of journalist killings inthe country, where 20 re-porters have been murdered in

the past three years."Killing journalists does

not kill the truth," chanted thedemonstrators, some of themreporters themselves dressedin yellow and white shirts, asthey marched past the offices

of the president and thehuman rights commission.

Organizers said 5,000 peo-ple turned out in Tegucigalpaalone. Other marches wereheld in San Pedro Sula, LaCeiba, Comayagua andCholuteca.

"No more impunity," saidone sign held by a protester.

Twenty journalists havebeen killed in Honduras sincethe overthrow of presidentManuel Zelaya on June 28,2009. None of the murdershave been solved.

The body of HRN Radiojournalist Alfredo VillatoroRivera, 47, was found lastweek wearing an old policeuniform, blindfolded with ared scarf and with gunshotwounds to the head, a policespokesman said.

He had been kidnapped theweek before.

President Porfirio Lobo,who met with some of theprotesters, admitted it was"difficult to have to combatthose tasked with the people'ssecurity" -- an allusion to po-lice, who are regularly impli-cated in criminal activity here.

According to UN agencies,Honduras had the world'shighest murder rate in 2011,with 86 homicides a year forevery 100,000 inhabitants.

Thousands march against media killings in Honduras

SOUL BEACH MUSIC FES-TIVAL will set the stage ablazeand immerses music lovers inthe mellow glow of famed R &B performer R. Kelly as he andMelanie Fiona take to the stage

for the final concertof SBMF 2012 at theNikky Beach Am-phitheater in Oranjes-tad tomorrow night.

The three-timeGrammy winningking of R&B, makesmusic of epic pro-portions. After 18years of stardom, themulti-instrumental-

ist, producer and vocalist con-tinues to forge an artistic paththat caters to fantasy and cap-tures the hearts of adoringfans. He exemplifies how anartist sells over 34 millionrecords, and wears the crownof a king. The charts are proofof the Chicago native’s storiedsuccess: six #1 albums, 11 #1singles, and 12 consecutiveplatinum albums. From thetantalizing eight-time plat-inum “R”, to the Grammy-award winning anthem “IBelieve I Can Fly,” and his re-cent hit single “I’m a Flirt”with Bow Wow, which gar-nered a 2008 ASCAP Rhythmand Soul Music Award, R.Kelly has shown he is theessence of R&B and why heis the recipient of multipleBillboard, BMI and AmericanMusic Awards.

Melanie Fiona is a two-time Grammy Award winningsinger who recently releasedher sophomore album THE

MF LIFE to critical acclaim.The album, which peaked at#1 on the Billboard Hip Hop& R&B Charts was named"One of the best R&B albumsof 2012" by People Magazine,while Entertainment Weeklygave it an "A-" . MelanieFiona’s 2009 debut, TheBridge, reached No. 4 on theBillboard R&B/Hip-Hop Al-bums Chart, No. 4 on the Bill-board Heatseekers AlbumsChart, and No. 10 on the Bill-board Tastemaker AlbumsChart. In addition, the albumwas certified gold in Europe.She's received multiple BET,NAACP, and Juno Awardnominations as well as beingcrowned "Best New Artist" atthe 2010 Soul Train Awards.

Aruban group Youth X-Treme first made their nameduring Aruba’s Carnival sea-son 2004.

Continue on pg 2

Catch some classic, classy soulwith R. Kelly and Melanie Fionaat the Soul Beach Music Festival

Left to right: Officers Vrolijk, Boyrard and Catalina withMarco, Beer and Gino. Minister of Justice and Education,Arthur Dowers, awarded certificates to a new member ofAruba’s K-9 Corps, Officer Gilbert Vrolijk, along with twoofficers from the St. Maarten Police Force, Officer JohnBoyrard and Officer Sharlon Catalina. (see story on pg 2)

Aruba’s K-9 Corps goesinternational

R. Kelly

2 Saturday, May 26, 2012

Minister of Justice and Edu-cation, Arthur Dowers, wasproud to award certificates toa new member of Aruba’s K-9 Corps, Officer GilbertVrolijk, along with two offi-cers from the St. Maarten Po-lice Force, Officer JohnBoyrard and Officer SharlonCatalina, during an informalceremony yesterday morningat the offices of government.

The St. Maarten police-men had just completed threeweeks of recertification underthe expert training of Dickvan Leenen from Holland,who was introduced to the

community in January of thisyear, with the official unveil-ing of Aruba’s K-9 Corps,consisting of 6 dogs and offi-cers.

The event was multi-pur-posed; not only did the offi-cers receive theircertification, but marked thefull inauguration of the ArubaInternational K-9 Academyunder Dick van Leenen. Theschool is prepared to providespecialized training to notonly Aruban police, but withthe recertification of the twoSt. Maarten officers, affirmsits position as a training cen-

ter for the entire region. Present for the “gradua-

tion” was St. Maarten ChiefCommissioner of PolicePeter de Witte, who held thatposition in Aruba for threeyears, prior to accepting hispresent post in 2010. Duringthe Friday morning meeting,he and Minister Dowerssigned an agreement of col-laboration between the policecorps of Aruba and St.Maarten to share training pro-grams at all levels, not onlyK-9, with a Special Forcesprogram beginning within thenext few months.

Dick van Leenen pre-sented souvenir tee shirts forthe occasion to Police Com-missioner De Witte, MinisterDowers, and Deputy PoliceCommissioner Trudy Hasselof the Aruban force. Com-missioner De Witte in turnpresented memorial pinsfrom the San Maarten forceto the abovementioned, alongwith Officer Coffie, com-mander of Aruba’s K-9 Divi-sion.

Continued on pg 4

Aruba’s K-9 Corps goesinternational

The creative drive of the op-eration is Derwin, a.k.a Mas-ter Gusto and Harvey, a.k.aToolman, who put together acrew of musicians that were asensation from their first per-formance. During carnival2006, they once more werenamed Youth Band of theYear. In 2009, they won Bandof the Year and it was theirsong named the Roadjam2009 by popular choice. As ofSeptember 2011, Youth X-Treme now fully resides onthe beautiful island of Aruba.

For information aboutticket sales, accommodationsand the latest updates sign upfor CLUB SOUL BEACH, athttp://www.soulbeach.net orvisit http://www.aruba.com.Join the Soul Beach MusicFestival community: followdevelopments on Twitter@SoulBeachMusic and be-come a fan of 2012 SoulBeach Music Festival onwww.Facebook/soulbeach-music.

Ticket prices for the SOULBEACH MUSIC FESTIVALare $70 US (AFL 126) perconcert or $200 US (AFL360) for a three-night concertpackage (plus applicable serv-ice charges).

*De Palm Tours Desks atMajor Hotels

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Nikky Beach Club - Oran-jestad

SETAR – at Selected Lo-cations

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Hours Before ShowtimeSponsors: Aruba Tourism

Authority, Uptown MediaGroup, AHATA, RenaissanceAruba Resort & Casino,Westin Resort & CasinoAruba, Radisson Aruba Resort,Casino & Spa, Divi Resorts,Hyatt Regency Aruba, Tierradel Sol Aruba Resort Spa andCountry Club, De Palm Tours,InselAir, Dushi Magazine,SETAR, Europcar, HertzLease, Balashi, Chill, GreyGoose, Bacardí, AWA,Dewar’s, Coca-Cola, Hennesy,Hpnotiq, Moët & Chandon.

Catch some classic, classy soulwith R. Kelly and Melanie Fiona

at the Soul Beach Music Festival Continued from pg 1

Newly certified officers with Minister Dowers, St. Maarten Chief Commissioner of PolicePeter de Witte, Deputy Police Commissioner Trudy Hassel of the Aruban force andtrainer Dick van Leenen

K 9 Corp with Minister Dowers and Police Commissioner

De Witte

Saturday, May 26, 2012 3


Following the formal events,Officers Vrolijk, Boyrard andCatalina introduced theirpartners, Marco, Beer andGino, who completelycharmed the gathering.

They are all Belgian Mali-nois, a shepherd breed whichhas consistently proven theirintelligence and courage. Un-like German Shepherds, theyhave not suffered from the

over-breeding and inbreedingthat produces a number ofphysical ailments. The UnitedStates Secret Service and RoyalAustralian Air Force use thebreed exclusively, and the U.S.Navy SEALs used a BelgianMalinois war dog named Cairoin Operation Neptune Spear,which resulted in the death ofOsama bin Laden.

By Rosalie Klein

Aruba’s K-9 Corps goesinternationalContinued from pg 2

A new island foundation pro-viding free workshops andclasses allowing island youthto explore possibilities and“be all they can be” was in-troduced to the public onThursday, May 24. “Cre-ciendo” meaning to “growand blossom” was foundedby “Social Entrepreneur’Joase-Ann van der Biest, acommunity activist, and thefoundation’s name is self-ex-planatory.

Aruba offers a wealth ofafter-school activities foryoungsters: dance art andmusic schools among them.

However, a portion of thecommunity would very muchlike to expand and develop-ment their talents, but cannotafford the classes. Workingwith various groups andcompanies donating theirtime, Creciendo Foundationis providing these programsat no charge, and the resultsof the first series, dedicatedto the arts, will be on displayat the Cas di Cultura in Oran-

jestad on Sunday, July 8 incombination program of per-forming and visual arts.

“When so many claim ourchildren are “disconnected”to the community and theirfamilies, we think it is up toall of us to step up and showour commitment to the nextgeneration and our island bygiving all children the oppor-tunity to discover culture, andthe power within themselvesto create and appreciate art,”commented Joase-Ann vander Biest. “We plant a seed inthe youngsters with whichwe work; these seeds are thetools to change lives andmake a difference.”

During the first series ofworkshops, Creciendo part-nered with the cultural foun-dation Muchila Creativo,represented by PresidentRosemary Provance. Notedperforming artist EmeritaEmerencia and painter Ruth-bert Wolff along with othermembers of the foundation,worked intensively with sixty

children between the ages ofseven to eighteen years, put-ting together an original “ro-mantic play with music”titled “A Story of PlayaPabao.” This will be accom-panied by an art exposition inthe Cas di Cultura exhibitionroom for the first demonstra-tion of youthful talent andcreativity.

The program was fundedby UNOCA, Aruba’s officialfinancial funding for culturalprojects, and VNO, the offi-cial contingent of the Dutch

government on Aruba, repre-sented by Meno Bart andDiedrich ten Holden duringthe press conference.

Creciendo Foundation isnot only about encouragingappreciation for the arts, butaddressing a number of is-sues faced while developing

into adulthood. On Monday, June 28, a

new session of workshops in-stilling “life skills” willbegin, conduced by AbigailArends of ELKA, which isdedicated to promoting self-esteem for all ages and Mon-rick Croes of Art of Dining,who will give classes on timemanagement and workingmore efficiently; combined,the program’s goal is to in-spire leadership and commu-nity activism in the nextgeneration.

The Creciendo founderalso expressed her gratitudeto a number of companiesand individuals who have do-nated their time or goods tomaking the program a suc-cess and shown their com-mitment to the community.These include REVLON,

CELLAR 23 and ARUBATRADING, SUBWAY, An-drew Curiel, Elite and Up-grade Music, BillionairesMedia, Maria Silva and Vi-brations, and InternationalSchool of Aruba.

Creciendo and FoundationMuchila Creativo invite all toshow their commitment to is-land youth and support themin this community-buildingprogram by attending therecital and art show on July 8.The show begins at 7:30 PMand tickets are on sale for a

donation of 25 Arubianflorins to the foundation.They are available atUNOCA offices on the Sta-dionweg, Veneta Cuchinashop on Avenida MilioCroes, and Antraco Book-store.

By Rosalie Klein

Island youth expanding their horizons with newfoundation “Creciendo”

from the left, Rosemary Provance, Joese van der Biest, Meno Bart, Emerita Emerencia,Diedrich ten Holden, Monrick Croes, Abigail Arends and Ruthbert Wolff

Police Commissioner De Witte and Minsiter Dowers sign

agreement


Charuba and UNOCA arehappy to announce that thebook “Mr. Finney y e otrobanda di awa” (Mr. Finneyand the other side of thewater”) is here on the islandand ready to go on sale. Mr.Finney himself will presentthe book to different book-stores who have ordered thebook from UNOCA. Thebook will be officially intro-duced midday Saturday in anofficial ceremony. The DrumiDushi team will also be pres-ent.

Princess Laurentien, is thewife of HRH Prince Constan-tijn, the third and youngestson of HRM Queen Beatrixof The Netherlands.

Princess Laurentien, along-time advocate of pro-moting literacy,was recentlyon the island for the launch ofthe second in a series of chil-dren’s books she has au-thored called “Mr. Finny andthe Other Side of the Water,”which has been translatedand published in Papiamentothrough the auspices ofUNOCA. The first in the se-ries is “Mr. Finny and theWorld Upside Down.”

The children’s book wasoriginally launched in Hol-land in February of last year.

During the launch of thePapiamento version, PrincessLaurentien revealed that herconcern for the environmentand how it will affect her is-land home inspired her topicfor the second book.

Mr. Finny is a precocious,inquisitive human/dolphin,who has received a distresscall from Pinky Pepper, theinhabitant of island whereimmersion from rising sealevels are imminent; the otheranimals living on the islandare trying to flee from drown-ing. Mr. Finney has signifi-cant questions that all shouldponder about how we treatthe earth and each other andsearches for solutions bothabove and below the sea.

Princess Laurentien hasstated she created her charac-ter as a catalyst for dialogsbetween adults and childrenabout the environment, hope-

fully prompting children toalso be inquisitive and con-cerned. She studied Historyat the University of Gronin-

gen, and received a (BA) de-gree in Political Sciencefrom the University of Lon-don followed by a Masters

in Journalism from the Uni-versity of California, Berke-ley, in 1991.

Everyone is invited to

visit the bookstores to pur-chase this lovely bookwritten by Princess Lau-rentien.

Book written by Princess Laurentien translated in Papiamento is on Aruba!

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Vati-can police arrested Friday aman -- reportedly the pope'sbutler -- on allegations of hav-ing leaked confidential docu-ments and letters from thepontiff's private study to news-papers.

The man was caught in pos-session of secret documents, theVatican said, but it would notconfirm the suspect's identity,age, or when he had been ar-rested.

According to Il Foglio news-paper and ANSA news agency,the detained man is none otherthan the pope's butler, PaoloGabriele, a member of the smallteam which works daily in PopeBenedict XVI's apartments.

The Italian daily said he islikely to be used by the Vaticanas "a handy scapegoat" for sev-eral others suspected of beinginvolved in leaking documents,some of which ended up in a

In this frame grab from a NASA video, the robotic arm ofthe International Space Station holds the SpaceX Dragoncapsule on May 25, 2012 as astronauts prepare to dockthe capsule with the station. SpaceX has become the firstprivate company to rendezvous with the orbiting lab.

AFP PHOTO / NASA

lowing a meeting of the SKAorganisation's members.

The two southern-hemi-sphere countries had beenfighting fiercely to host the in-novation, billed as a revolu-tionary giant that will be 50times more powerful thanpresent radio telescopes. NewZealand is included in Aus-tralia's bid.

Conceived more than twodecades ago, the Square Kilo-metre Array aims at bringingtogether unprecedented sizeand new technology.

It would use a forest of an-tennae, spread out over remote

AMSTERDAM (AFP) - Along-running joust to host aradio telescope that wouldgive mankind its farthest peekinto the Universe ended onFriday with a Solomon-likejudgement to split the site be-tween Australia and SouthAfrica.

"We have decided on a dualsite approach," said JohnWomersley, chairman of theboard of the Square KilometreArray (SKA) project, at apress conference in theNetherlands.

He was speaking at Amster-dam's Schiphol Airport fol-


terrain, to pick up radio signalsfrom cosmic phenomena thatcannot be detected by opticaltelescopes.

Stars that flare into life orexplode at their death, blackholes, mysterious "dark en-ergy," and relic traces of an-cient events that occurred inthe dawn of the Universe 14billion years ago, are amongits targets.

South Africa swallowed itsdisappointment, saying a splitwas "unexpected".

"We had hoped the unam-biguous recommendation (tobuild the telescope in one lo-cation) ... would be acceptedas the most sound scientificoutcome; however we acceptthe compromise in the interestof progress," Minister of Sci-ence and Technology NalediPandor said.

For its part Australia wasjubilant.

"This is an outstanding re-sult for the Australia-NewZealand bid after many yearsof preparation and an intensiveinternational process," saidScience and Technology Min-ister Chris Evans.

At the press conference,Womersley said the compro-mise decision was taken aftera recent meeting by a SKAworking group, which he said"made the best use of both thesignificant investments thesecountries made into astron-omy."

But a source told AFP thedecision was made becausethe SKA organisation wantedto "maintain our broad supportbase", hinting that the therewas concern that the loser ofthe two contenders might havepulled support.

The scheme entails linking3,000 antennae, sited in groupsalong five spiral arms, pro-gressively farther from a corearray.

Battle over SKA super-telescopeleads to split site

International News

new book on the tiny state pub-lished a week ago.

Gianluigi Nuzzi's "His Holi-ness" reproduces dozens of topsecret and private letters andfaxes which were smuggled outby whistle-blowers tired of thecorruption and unhealthy bitter-ness in the Vatican.

The number of people whohave access to the pope's privatestudy is very limited, and in-cludes his butler, four nuns andBenedict's two secretaries,Georg Gaenswein and AlfredXuereb.

Last month, the pope set upa special commission of cardi-nals to probe the leaks, whichbegan in January and have seenprivate documents splashed inthe Italian media -- to the em-barrassment and rage of theHoly See.

Among papers leaked toItaly's press are some that havedealt with allegations of corrup-tion within the Vatican.

They have mainly centredon the activities of the Vaticanbank and Vatican Secretary ofState Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The arrest came a day afterthe head of the Vatican Bankwas ousted for failing to cleanup the image of an institutionthat has come to symbolise theopacity and scandal grippingthe Holy See's administration.

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi wasthrown out by the bank's boardfor failing to do his job -- buthad also recently been sus-pected of being one of those be-hind the leaks.

Pope's butler arrestedin Vatican leaks scandal: reports

Artists impression of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA)radio telescope project

cent and Sabbahi with 21.1percent, basing on figures an-nounced by judges in countingstations.

The Muslim Brotherhoodalso announced that its candi-date was leading, with 90 per-cent of votes tallied from theWednesday-Thursday elec-tion.

Representatives of the 12candidates contesting the elec-tion watched the overnightvote count across the countryand were present when the in-dividual results were an-nounced at each pollingstation.

Judges overseeing thecount then handed the officialresults of each station to thecandidates' representatives.The Islamist group compiledthe results from around thecountry and then announcedthem.

A spokesman from Shafiq'scampaign, Karim Salem, said

CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt looksset for a run-off presidentialvote between the MuslimBrotherhood's MohammedMursi and Mubarak-era minis-ter Ahmed Shafiq, pitting theIslamists who helped oust adictator against his last pre-mier.

A run-off between Shafiqand Mursi will further polarisea nation that rose up againstpresident Hosni Mubarak's au-thoritarianism 15 months agobut has since suffered a spikein violence and a decliningeconomy.

Candidate campaigns andEgyptian media reportedMursi leading, with Shafiq insecond place and pan-Arab so-cialist Hamdeen Sabbahi inthird.

The independent Al-Masryal-Youm newspaper reportedon its website that Mursi hadwon with 24.9 percent, fol-lowed by Shafiq with 24.5 per-


they were "confident that Gen-eral Shafiq would be in thesecond round" but they werestill waiting for official results.

The top two vote-getterswill face each other in a run-off on June 16-17.

Between now and then,there is likely to be intensehorse-trading between the twofrontrunners to win over sup-porters of the losing candi-dates, some of whom sharesimilar beliefs.

In a statement, moderate Is-lamist candidate Abdel Mon-eim Abul Fotouh appeared tothrow his support behindMursi, urging voters to con-front the "corrupt" regimeousted last year, to whichShafiq belonged.

In Cairo, voters werethrilled by the free, contestedelection, whose results werenot predetermined, but con-ceded that many challengeslay ahead.

Egypt vote narrows to Islamist,Mubarak holdover

International News

as quickly as possible," Ver-hofstadt said.

A Ukrainian court onMonday once more adjourneda tax evasion trial of Ty-moshenko due to her absencein hospital with debilitatingback pains and set the nexthearing for late June.

With the delay, Ty-moshenko believes Ukraine'sleaders have found a way to"eliminate a political adver-sary for legislative electionson October 29", Verhofstadt

said.Her latest trial began on

April 19 but has been ad-journed twice already becausethe opposition leader com-plained that her severe backpains forced her to lie down.She has been hospitalised at apublic clinic since May 9.

Last week the Ukrainianappeals court also decided topostpone until June 26 its con-sideration of Tymoshenko's ap-peal against her sentence forabuse of power.

Her jailing prompted howlsof international criticism. TheEuropean Union and manymember countries have threat-ened their officials will boycottmatches in the Euro 2012 thatUkraine co-hosts with Polandfrom June 8 to July 1.

Kharkiv in eastern Ukraineis one of the four Ukrainiancities to host the tournament,but the last match will be heldin the city on June 17, beforeTymoshenko's next hearing.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Ukraine'sex-premier Yulia Tymoshenkois weak yet combative and willturn to the European Court ofHuman Rights to rule on hercase, Belgium's former primeminister Guy Verhofstadt saidFriday.

"Physically she is veryweak. She has back pain andwas lying down throughout thevisit," Verhofstadt told AFPafter a meeting with the fieryOrange Revolution leader thatlasted over an hour.

"But she is in high spiritsand remains very combative,"said Verhofstadt, who leads theliberals and democrats in theEuropean Parliament.

Tymoshenko, 51, is servinga seven-year sentence forabuse of power and now facesfresh charges that could extendher sentence to 2023.

"For her, the only objectiveauthority capable of treatingher case is the European Courtof Human Rights and shewishes to bring her case there

Ukraine's Tymoshenkoto bring case to European rights court

Pedro Hernandez (51), the suspect in the 1979 killing ofNew York City child, Etan Patz was arrested Thursdayafter several hours of questioning by police. Hernandezis facing a charge of second-degree murder in the deathof six-year-old Etan. Hernandez has also been placed onsuicide watch. Patz was a 6-year-old boy when he disap-peared on his way to his school bus stop in 1979. It is al-leged that Pedro Hernandez used a soda to lure the boydown to a basement of a bodega, then strangled him. Her-nandez had been living quietly in New Jersey with hiswife and teenage daughter and he had no criminal record.Following the media frenzy a day before the 33-year an-niversary of the tragedy and a surprise decision in Aprilto reactivate the cold case and over last month's searchof the basement, a tipster came forward, Police Commis-sioner Raymond Kelly said , and told police that Hernan-dez had talked about killing a child. No motive has beenestablished yet, Kelly said.

of the crisisthat we needto invest insocial protec-t i o n s , "Bernard saidat an interna-tional meet-ing in Athensheld "in soli-darity" withGreece.

The headof the group'sGreek chap-ter, Nikitas

Kanakis, said the country wasbeing driven toward a "hu-manitarian crisis" as the gov-ernment desperately tries tocut spending to meet the termsof a bailout from the EuropeanUnion and International Mon-etary Fund.

Kanakis warned the prob-lem of worsening health carein Greece risked spreading tothe rest of Europe as govern-ments slash spending.

Nearly half of patients ex-amined in 2011 in Doctors ofthe World's clinics in Nice,Amsterdam, Brussels, Londonand Munich had not receivedthe level of care appropriate

(AFP) - Access to health careis declining in Europe, andGreece in particular faces ahumanitarian crisis as it cutshealth and social spending, aidgroup Doctors of the Worldwarned Thursday.

Even priority patients suchas pregnant women and chil-dren are not getting the carethey need in large Europeancities -- a problem that islinked to, but also larger than,the eurozone crisis, OlivierBernard, head of the group'sFrench chapter, told a pressconference.

"The economic crisis does-n't explain everything. On thecontrary, it's precisely because

President of medical charity Medecins duMonde, Olivier Bernard, is pictured in 2009.

timidated if they see tattoos(on workers) in services and itundermines trust in the city,"Hashimoto has said.

The mayor reportedly be-came infuriated earlier thisyear after learning that aworker at a children's homethreatened kids by showingthem his tattoos.

Hashimoto -- who says headmires cockroaches and al-legedly offered on air to im-pregnate a TV personality --earlier said he would "turndown" American pop divaLady Gaga or actor JohnnyDepp if the tattooed pair ap-plied for a job.

solved through consultationUkraine and Honduras can re-quest formal adjudicationthrough a WTO panel, whichcould force Canberra to scrapthe legislation.

The cigarettes packagingplan is also currently subject toa challenge by several tobaccogiants in Australia's HighCourt. Hearings concluded lastmonth but a ruling is yet to bedelivered.

The government has said itis confident it will see off thechallenge to the law, whichwill see all cigarettes sold inthe same drab olive-greenpackets with graphic healthwarnings from December 1.

Australia is the first countryto mandate plain packaging,but the ground-breaking moveis being closely watched byother countries consideringsimilar approaches, includingBritain and Canada.

Neighbouring New Zealandlast month announced it hadagreed "in principle" to goahead with laws mandatingsimilar plain packaging, aspart of a wider strategy tostamp out smoking in thecountry by 2025.

Australia estimates it has15,000 deaths each year fromtobacco-related illnesses.

"As a matter of course, itwill never happen that some-one is promoted without anyproblem after ignoring a legit-imate order from his or her su-perior," Hashimoto toldreporters on Tuesday.

Body art is deeply taboo inJapan. Public baths, fitnesscentres and many other venuesthroughout the country usuallyban customers with tattoos.

Most Osaka employeeshave filled out the survey --with about 110 admitting tosporting a tattoo, most of themwaste disposal workers -- butmore than 500 others have not,according to media reports.

"Citizens feel uneasy or in-

TOKYO (AFP) - The mayorof one of the largest cities inJapan, where body art is asso-ciated with gangsters, has toldmunicipal workers to forgetabout promotion unless theyreveal whether or not theyhave a tattoo.

Toru Hashimoto, the hugelypopular mayor of Osaka and arising star on the national po-litical stage, described theorder to about 34,000 cityworkers earlier this month as"necessary for labour affairsmanagement".

Ukraine to the World TradeOrganisation.

The action was launched byUkraine at the WTO in Marchand Honduras joined the fol-lowing month, according tothe global trade arbiter.

"We'll be vigorously de-fending any WTO actions --our steps aren't anti-trade,they're anti-cancer," a spokes-woman for Attorney-GeneralNicola Roxon told AFP.

While Honduras is a to-bacco producer, the motivesfor opposition by Ukraine -- anation of heavy smokers witha large tobacco industry but nodirect trade with Australia --were unclear.

If the dispute cannot be re-

CANBERRA (AFP) Australiasaid Friday it would "vigor-ously defend" itself againstcomplaints about its plan forplain cigarette packagingmade by Honduras and


Health & Living

Australia defiant on WTO cigarettechallenge

Come clean on tattoo or forgetpromotion: Japan mayor

for their conditions, while 79percent of pregnant womenhad received no pre-natal care,the group said in a report.

Doctors of the World calledfor European governments toguarantee health care for everyEuropean citizen, stop deport-ing sick immigrants and im-plement policies to fightinfectious diseases amid aresurgence of poverty-driveninfections like tuberculosis.

Doctors group warns EU healthcare access shrinking


JERUSALEM (AFP) - Ar-chaeologists have uncovered atiny clay seal inscribed withthe word "Bethlehem" in whatis believed to be the earliestevidence for the existence ofthe ancient biblical city.

"The first ancient artefactconstituting tangible evidenceof the existence of the city ofBethlehem, which is men-tioned in the Bible, was re-

cently discovered inJerusalem," a statementWednesday from the Is-rael Antiquities Authoritysaid.

The artefact -- a pieceof clay used for sealing adocument or other object,known as a 'bulla' -- wasuncovered during excava-tions at the City of David,a site just outside thesouthern wall ofJerusalem's Old City.

On the seal, whichmeasures around 1.5 cen-timetres (about half aninch), was the name of the

city written in ancient Hebrewscript, it said.

"This is the first time thename Bethlehem appears out-side the Bible, in an inscriptionfrom the First Temple period,which proves that Bethlehemwas indeed a city in the King-dom of Judah, and possiblyalso in earlier periods," saidEli Shukron, who led the dig.

He said the bulla belongedto a shipment of tax docu-ments which were sent fromBethlehem to the king inJerusalem, as part of a taxationsystem used in the Kingdom ofJudah in the late eighth andseventh centuries BC.

Bethlehem is first men-tioned in Genesis, the firstbook of the Bible, as the burialplace of Rachel, wife of thepatriarch Jacob.

According to the New Tes-tament, the West Bank city ofBethlehem, which lies justsouth of Jerusalem, was alsothe birthplace of Jesus.

Archaeologists find earliest evidenceof Bethlehem

LONDON (AFP) - The Britoncredited with designing someof Apple's most revolutionaryproducts -- the iPod, iPhone,iPad and iMac computer --was knighted by PrincessAnne Wednesday.

Jonathan Ive, Apple's seniorvice president of industrial de-sign, was made a Knight Com-mander, Order of the BritishEmpire (KBE) in a ceremonyat Buckingham Palace.

Ive, who is now entitled tocall himself "Sir", told TheDaily Telegraph in a rare inter-view that the knighthood was"incredibly humbling".

The products Ive de-signed not only trans-formed Apple's fortunesbut also rocked the musicand entertainment indus-tries. He has been de-scribed as the mostinfluential Briton livingin the US.

So it is almost unnerv-ing to hear him revealthat, despite having al-ready set the bar so high,his most important workis yet to be revealed to theworld.

"What we’re workingon now feels like the most

important and the best workwe?ve done... which of courseI can?t tell you about," he saidin the Telegraph interview.

Ive, aged 45, was born inLondon but now lives in SanFrancisco.

Also receiving honours atthe ceremony were Sir PeterBazalgette, 59, of Endemol,the company behind BigBrother, who is knighted forservices to broadcasting, andOxford professor of poetry SirGeoffrey Hill, 79, who wasknighted for services to litera-ture.

British designer behindApple iPhone isknighted

Sci-Tech

A clay seal recently unearthed byIsraeli archaeologists is dis-played

Sir Jonathan Ive


MAY 26 - JUNE 02

O’stad :’ Botica Centraal N.V.’ - S.N : ‘ ALOE N.V.’

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Finance

YESTERDAY’S

Crossword Answer

LONDON (AFP) - Manycommodity markets sank thisweek to fresh multi-monthlows, as the dollar surged to22-month peaks against theeuro on mounting fears thatGreece could be heading forthe eurozone exit.

"The ongoing uncertaintyover the eurozone debt crisisand contagion fears are hold-ing markets hostage," saidBarclays Capital analyst Su-dakshina Unnikrishnan.

"The EU summit endedwith no major breakthroughs,with Chancellor Merkel re-jecting eurobonds for now.

"With the Greek electionsscheduled for 17 June and thenext EU summit at the end ofJune, market anxiety is likelyto remain high over the nextmonth."

The European single cur-rency sank to $1.2496 on Fri-day, touching a low last seenon July 6, 2010.

The strong greenbackmakes dollar-priced com-modities more expensive forbuyers using weaker curren-cies. That tends pull priceslower.

Commodities were alsoroiled by concerns over apossible slowdown in Asianpowerhouse economy China.

OIL: The crude oil markettumbled as investors shunnedrisky assets after formerGreek prime minister LucasPapademos warned thatAthens might leave the euro-zone.

The euro has slumped ongrowing evidence of an eco-nomic slowdown and as anEU summit failed to reassure

investors over Greece's futurein the eurozone.

EU leaders pledged sup-port for Greece at an informalBrussels summit on Wednes-day, but analysts said themeeting highlighted divisionsbetween France and Ger-many on dealing with the re-gion's ongoing sovereigndebt crisis.

Brent North Sea crudestruck $105.03 per barrel onThursday, touching the low-est point since December 20.New York's light sweet crudesank on Wednesday to $89.28a barrel, hitting the lowestlevel since November 1.

Prices have fallen consid-erably after soaring earlierthis year on the back of sim-mering Middle East tensions.

Iran and the so-calledP5+1 world powers endedtwo days of "very intense"nuclear talks in Baghdad onThursday with little to showexcept a deal to meet again inMoscow, on June 18-19, aftersharp disagreements over theway forward.

The P5+1 powers com-prise Britain, China, France,Russia and the United Statesplus Germany.

By late Friday on Lon-don's Intercontinental Ex-change, Brent North Seacrude for delivery in Julydived to $106.91 a barrelfrom $107.40 for the Junecontract a week earlier.

On the New York Mercan-tile Exchange, West Texas In-termediate or light sweetcrude for June sank to $90.99from $92.20.

PRECIOUS METALS:Precious metals also fell vic-tim to the broader marketssell-off.

By late Friday on the Lon-don Bullion Market, gold hadfallen to $1,569.50 an ouncefrom $1,589.50 a week ear-lier.

Silver declined to $28.24an ounce from $28.48.

On the London Platinumand Palladium Market, plat-inum fell to $1,456 an ouncefrom $1,466.

Palladium slid to $590 anounce, from $605 an ounce.

Commodity prices slideon Greek euro exit fears

Apple chief passes on $75million in stock dividends SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -Apple chief executive TimCook has opted not to take$75 million in dividendpayout on restricted sharesof stock he owns in themaker of iPhones, iPads,iPods and Macintosh com-puters.

Cook, who took the helmof the iPhone and iPadmaker in August last year,two months before the deathof founder Steve Jobs,clocked in total annual com-pensation of $378 million.

Cook earned $900,000for his annual salary and$900,000 for his annual in-centives.

***Standard & Poor's down-grades five Spanish banksMADRID (AFP) - Standard& Poor's on Friday loweredthe credit rating of fiveSpanish banks in a movethat follows the agency'sdowngrade of Spain lastmonth.

The affected banks areBanco Popular, Bankinter,Banca Civica and Bankiaalong with its parent BancoFinanciero y de Ahorro(BFA), the ratings agencysaid in a statement.

The downgrade comes asthe board of Bankia washolding a board meeting todecide on its recapitalisationplan amid media reportsthat it may seek up to 20 bil-lion euros ($25 billion)from the state to stay afloat.

Briefs...

The Obama administration on Friday rejected calls from Con-gress to brand China a currency manipulator, but said its "sig-nificantly undervalued" currency was a key brake on globalgrowth. The US Treasury Department said China had not metthe standards for manipulation of the yuan, also known as therenminbi, to gain an unfair competitive trade advantage. Sucha distinction could pave the way for retaliatory sanctions. Bei-jing's tightly managed currency policy has triggered huge tradedeficits in the United States, fueling a long-running source offriction between the world's two largest economies. (AFP)

US says China's yuan undervalued,not manipulated

THE HAGUE (AFP) - TheNetherlands aims to make12.4 billion euros ($15.5 bil-lion) in savings and tax hikesnext year to bring its publicdeficit back to the EU limit of3.0 percent of GDP, the fi-nance ministry said Friday.

"The total value of themeasures in the accord is12.4 billion in 2013," said theministry which released de-tails of the deal reached lastmonth by five political par-ties, days after the govern-

ment fell when the far-rightparty of Geert Wilders re-fused to back the measures.

"It is clear that this pack-age could bring us backunder three percent," saidoutgoing Prime MinisterMark Rutte after a weeklycabinet meeting.

The Netherlands has beenunder pressure from Brusselsto get its pubic deficit back tothe EU limit of 3.0 percent ofgross domestic product afterit rose to 4.7 percent last year.

The measures includelabour market reforms, afreeze of salaries for manystate employees and raisinghealth care charges.

Rutte called the package -- the result of seven weeks ofnegotiations -- a good bal-ance between an increase inrevenues, cutting spendingand structural reforms.

The Netherlands will holdlegislative elections on Sep-tember 12.

Netherlands to get deficit back to 3%next year: minister

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

0.98

1.710

2.730

1.8581

2.2143

0.2385

0.2910

0.2862

222.87

1.78

1.00

1.730

2.780

1.8653

2.2345

0.2457

0.2982

0.2934

233.90

1.80

1.002

1.750

2.840

1.8733

2.2570

0.2537

0.3062

0.3014

226.15

Currency

Code

Buyingrate

banknotes

Buying

ChequesSelling

Rate

Current as of:

05/25/2012

All rates for amounts up to AWG 100,000.00 per item.

2008 and 2009 -- will supporther new album "MDNA."

She last performed in Israelin 2009, on the Sticky andSweet tour.

During that visit she metPrime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu and visited the West-ern Wall in the Old City of

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Inter-national music icon Madonnaarrived in Israel on Friday tokick off her hotly anticipatedworld tour with a sold-out per-formance in Tel Aviv.

She arrived amid tight secu-rity on a chartered El Al flightfrom New York, accompaniedby partner Brahim Zaibat, herfour children and an entourageof 70, local media reported.

Thursday's Tel Aviv show isthe first of 84 dates across Eu-rope and the Americas, accord-ing to her website.

They are to be followed bya visit to Australia, whereMadonna has not appeared in20 years, it said.

The tour -- Madonna's firstsince her wildly successful"Sticky and Sweet" outing in

Madonna poses with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu, his wife Sara and Guy Oseary at the Prime Min-ister’s official residence in Jerusalem (Sept. 2009)

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Jerusalem, the holiest sitewhere Jews are allowed topray.

Although not Jewish,Madonna is a keen follower ofthe Jewish mystic discipline ofKabbalah.

She visited Israel in 2004and 2007 on private trips.

Tonight marks the start ofthe week-long Jewish holidayof Shavuot, or the Feast ofWeeks.

Israeli public radio said thatMadonna was expected tospend much of the holiday"resting and making shorttrips," with rehearsals on theeve of her show.

Walla! news website saidthat among the star's demandsfor the backstage area at theRamat Gan football stadiumare a treatment room with mas-sage table and jacuzzi, a per-sonal laundry room and spacesfor Madonna, her children, herdressmaker and other staff.


Madonna touches down in Israel atstart of world tour

opposition alliance whichbrings together the main oppo-sition parties in the energy-richnation.

But police grabbed about 30protesters from the crowd ofseveral dozen people as theyshouted "Freedom!", puttingthem in vans, an AFP corre-spondent reported.

The busy public place filledwith journalists and observers,including some representativesof Europe's security bodyOSCE, as police officers strug-gled to identify more protestersin the crowd.

Azerbaijan has pulled out allthe stops to put on the interna-tional Eurovision song contest.But the festivities have beenovershadowed this week by ar-rests of dozens of oppositionsupporters who have seized onthe opportunity to draw atten-tion to the country's rightsrecord and issues like politicalprisoners.

BAKU (AFP) - Police in Azer-baijan detained about 30 peopleFriday when a group of opposi-tion protesters held a small rallyin central Baku on the eve of theEurovision Song Contest final.

The gathering on a busypromenade beside the CaspianSea in the glitzy capital wascalled by the Public Chamber

Azerbaijan detains 30 oneve of Eurovision final

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onship in Poland and Ukrainewill test whether Eriksen has itin him to go on and becomeone of Europe's finest talents,as the Laudrups did in the1980s and 1990s.

"My first step should not betoo big. I knew that playing inthe Netherlands would be verygood for my development,"said Eriksen, who first startedplaying football before he wasthree.

"Then Ajax arrived and thatwas a fantastic option."

His choice has paid off forboth him and the club andearned him praise from asharsh a critic as Dutch legendJohan Cruyff, who is not givento delivering praise freely.

"He's a player I really likewith all my heart," said Cruyffwhen Eriksen was awarded theDutch talent of the year in2011. "This prize is just the be-ginning, a stimulus to get themaximum out of his career.

"The talent is there, therecognition also; now it is upto the player himself. He is atypical product of the Danishschool. You can compare himwith Brian and Michael Lau-drup. Only time will tell ifEriksen can reach the samelevel as them."

This European champi-

and co-hosts Ukraine.However Gerrard said

England can take comfortfrom the against-the-oddsChampions League triumphsof Chelsea this season andLiverpool in 2005.

Gerrard is also adamantthat the Football Associationchose wisely when they ap-pointed Hodgson earlier thismonth despite a public clam-our for Tottenham's HarryRedknapp, saying he hadbeen impressed by the 64-

year-old during his ill-fatedsix-month stint as Liverpoolmanager.

"I got on fantastically wellwith him. Roy took the Liver-pool job in very difficult cir-cumstances because themajority of our fantastic sup-porters really wanted Kenny(Dalglish) to be our manager,"Gerrard said.

"So from day one Roy hada really tough job. But I canassure everyone he's a reallygood manager. I've workedwith him day in, day out andhe's a winner.

Gerrard also discountedsuggestions of lingering ten-sions in the squad followingthe inclusion of John Terry,who was stripped of the cap-taincy in February followingconcerns over his upcomingcourt case on charges ofracially abusing Anton Ferdi-nand, the younger brother ofRio. Terry denies the charges.

Asked if there were divi-sions in the squad, Gerrardreplied: "It's false. We'reunited, we're together, we're allafter the same thing.That's towin.

He also welcomed the pres-ence of Terry, who had fa-mously threatened to stage amutiny at the World Cup in anapparent challenge to formermanager Fabio Capello.

OSLO (AFP) - Steven Gerrardchallenged his England team-mates to banish their 2010World Cup nightmare here onFriday as he prepared to kickoff a new era under managerRoy Hodgson.

Gerrard was promoted tothe captaincy on the eve of theWorld Cup two years ago afteran injury to Rio Ferdinandruled the Manchester Uniteddefender out of the tourna-ment.

However the 31-year-oldLiverpool midfielder presidedover a miserable campaignwhich ended with a humiliat-ing 4-1 drubbing by Germanyin the last 16 after a dismalperformance in the groupphase.

"It was very difficult out inSouth Africa because we neverperformed at a good level,"Gerrard told reporters.

"We never reached the levelthat this team's capable of andthat was the frustrating thing.But I think throughout theEuro qualifying campaign weshowed we are a good teamand we have bounced back.

England's chaotic build-upto next month's tournamenthas left expectations at an all-time low, with most observersbelieving Gerrard and histeam-mates will do well toqualify from a Group D whichsees them face France, Sweden


Gerrard determined tobanish World Cup woe

COPENHAGEN (AFP) -Christian Eriksen is regardedas one of the brightest youngstars in football and he willhope that he can justify the tagof being Denmark's successorto Michael Laudrup at Euro2012.

At just 20 years of age, theplaymaker will be appearing athis second major champi-onships, after being part of theside that bowed out in thegroup stage of the 2010 WorldCup.

A lot will revolve aroundthe Ajax star, as the Daneslook to progress beyond theso-called "Group of Death".

Eriksen, who already hastwo Dutch league title winnersmedals, will be a marked manwhen Denmark step out tomeet Germany, the Nether-lands and Portugal, who theDanes edged in their qualify-ing group.

Unlike Michael Laudrupand his brother Brian, Eriksen-- scorer of two goals in 21 in-ternational appearances -- doesnot have other top class cre-ative players around him in aside that relies on hard workand team spirit to beat classieropponents.

But the youngster hasshown in qualifying and in afriendly against England thathe is an exceptional talent,with a maturity also reflectedin his decision to choose Ajaxas his first step on the profes-sional ladder.

While European giantssuch as Chelsea and AC Milancame knocking on his door in2008 when he was just 16 andplaying for Odense, Eriksenrefused to be swept off his feetand opted for a side that has atradition in allowing youngtalent to flourish.

Eriksen bearer of greatexpectations

Christian Eriksen (right) fights for the ball during the UEFAEURO 2012 qualifier against Iceland

one of the best rounds I haveplayed and probably one of theeasiest, or it felt easy. I wishgolf was like that every day butit isn't."

Morrison was a promisingcricketer as a youth and playedin the same England age-groupsides as current internationalsAlastair Cook, Tim Bresnanand Ravi Bopara.

He switched to golf aged 16and within a year he was ascratch player before acceptinga scholarship in the UnitedStates ahead of turning profes-sional.

Donald got off to a bad startby dropping a shot at the firstbut five subsequent birdies andan eagle helped him keep Mor-rison in his sights.

Gusting winds did not helpthe afternoon starters andMcIlroy suffered more thanmost as he missed a second cutin a row after failing to makethe weekend at the PlayersChampionship.

McIlroy shipped shots con-sistently through the secondround less than three weeksaway from his defence of theUS Open at the Olympic Clubin San Francisco and willheading straight for the range.

He said: "I will have to goand work really hard to get mygame back to the level it wasbefore the Masters. I have beenputting the work in it is justbeing more specific.

followed up his 66with a 70. Ire-land's PeterLawrie and Al-varo Quiros ofSpain were a fur-ther shot back infourth on seven-under.

World numberthree Lee West-wood made abirdie on the par-5last to squeezeinto the last twodays after finish-ing on 145, one-over par.

Morrison didnot have a bogey

on his card, making six birdiesbefore a grandstand finish atthe par-5 18th where he rolledin a 30-foot putt for an eagleand the second best 36-holescore in this tournament's his-tory. Paul McGinley was 13-under at the same stage in2008.

Despite his one tour winMorrison is not used to com-peting in tournaments of thismagnitude and admitted he cansee Donald out of his rear viewmirror.

"I expect a lot but at thesame time you have got thelikes of Donald and companybehind you," he said.

"This is my third year ontour and I have won but this isa different level. But that was

WENTWORTH (AFP) - Eng-land's James Morrison was theshock leader after two roundsof the PGA Championshiphere on Friday but world num-ber one Rory McIlroy washeading home after missingthe cut.

Morrison shot a 64 for a tworound aggregate of 132,twelve-under par, 21 shots bet-ter than McIlroy who im-ploded with a second round 79and will lose his top-rankedstatus if Luke Donald finisheseighth on his own or better thisweekend.

Morrison, 27, leads by fourfrom defending championDonald, who had a second suc-cessive 68 and overnightleader David Drysdale who

the whole cost," added Valcke.The issue of compensating

clubs whose players are in-jured on international duty hasbeen a source of discord be-tween clubs and federationsfor some time.

Also South Sudan on Fridaybecame the 209th member ofFIFA, just under a year after itdeclared independence andjoined the United Nations.

The country's admissionwas passed by 98 percent ofFIFA members at the body'sannual congress in Budapest.

The president of the SouthSudan football association,Oliver Mori Benjamin, re-minded members that thecountry was "still at war" butadded: "We promise that wewill develop football to fightagainst war and hunger."

South Sudan and Sudanhave been blighted by conflict.Peace talks between the twonations are due to resume nextweek after weeks of borderskirmishes and bombardmen

BUDAPEST, (AFP) - Foot-ball's world governing bodyFIFA decided at their 62ndCongress here on Friday tocompensate clubs whose play-ers are injured while on inter-national duty.

FIFA general secretaryJerome Valcke confirmed thatthe so-called "player protec-tion programme" will cover allsenior international matchesplayed between Septemberthis year and October 2013, aswell as the football tournamentat this summer's LondonOlympics.

The amount of compensa-tion will depend on the salaryearned by the player in ques-tion, although the maxiumumsalary taken into account willbe $8.75 million, excludingbonuses.

FIFA's total budget for thescheme will be $75 million.

"European players will alsobe insured from May 15 to Au-gust 31 to cover the risk posedby the European Champi-onship, but UEFA will assume


FIFA to compensateclubs for injuredplayers

Golf: Morrison leads but Donaldlooms as McIlroy heads home

BaLtiMore

taMPa

toronto

yankeeS

BoSton

cLeveLand

chicaGo

detroit

kanSaS

MinneSota

W L Pct GB28 17 .622 --

27 18 .600 1.0

24 21 .533 4.0

23 21 .523 4.5

22 22 .500 5.5

26 18 .591 --

23 22 .511 3.5

20 24 .455 6.0

17 26 .395 8.5

15 29 .341 11.0

27 18 .600 --

22 23 .489 5.0

21 25 .457 6.5

21 26 .447 7.0

26 18 .591 --

26 20 .565 1.0

24 21 .533 2.5

24 21 .533 2.5

23 23 .500 4.0

25 19 .568 --

25 20 .556 0.5

21 23 .477 4.0

20 24 .455 5.0

18 26 .409 7.0

15 29 .341 10.0

30 14 .682 --

24 25 .444 10.5

20 25 .444 10.5

16 27 .372 13.5

17 29 .370 14.0

american League

east

central

texaS

oakLand

La anGeLeS

SeattLe

West

national League

WaShinGton

atLanta

ny MetS

MiaMi

PhiLadeLPhia

cincinnati

St. LouiS

houSton

PittSBurG

MiLWaukee

chicaGo

east

central

La dodGerS

San franciSco

arizona

coLorado

San dieGo

West

MLB Standings

x-Clinched Playoff Spot; y-Division Champ

W L Pct GB

W

W

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GBGB

a dangerous scorer as well asa facilitator for Durant.

France's Parker, however,boasts dazzling quicknessand scoring ability and awealth of experience in cre-ating plays for his team-mates.

He averaged more than 18points and a career-highseven assists per game thisseason.

Former Spurs player SteveKerr says the Spurs "have be-come Tony Parker's team."

"He sets the entire table forthe Spurs," Kerr said. "Hisspeed leads to everything forthem."

both 23, have youth and en-thusiasm on their side, butWestbrook said they knowtheir opponents' experiencewill be hard to overcome.

San Antonio were 2-1against Oklahoma City inthe regular season, with Gi-nobili missing all three

games because of injury.The Thunder won the first

meeting in January, but theSpurs won the next two inFebruary and March.

The match-up betweenpoint guards Westbrook andParker will be key.

Rising star Westbrook hasthe advantage in size, and is

vance. They were the topseeds in the West last yearwhen they were stunned inthe first round by Memphis.

"As far as the winningstreak is concerned, it doesn'texist for us," Spurs coachGregg Popovich said. "Eachgame is its own and we don'ttalk about it, it doesn't comeup and it's not even on theradar for us."

What the Spurs will drawon is their wealth of post-sea-son experience.

Duncan, Tony Parker andManu Ginobili have played130 playoff games as team-mates.

Popovich's 116 careerpost-season wins are third all-time among coaches behindPhil Jackson (229) and PatRiley (171).

Westbrook and Durant,

age of 14 points per game,finishing off the regular sea-son with 10 successive vic-tories before sweeping pastthe Utah Jazz and then theLos Angeles Clippers toreach the conference finalsfor the first time since 2008.

The young Thundersquad led by Kevin Durantand Russell Westbrook dis-patched defending NBA

champions Dallas in the firstround, and the 2010 champi-ons Los Angeles Lakers inthe second as they seek a firsttitle since the club moved toOklahoma City.

San Antonio host gameone of the best-of-seven se-ries on Sunday, a week afterthe Spurs finished off theClippers in a game four inwhich Tim Duncan led sixSpurs players in double fig-ures with 21 points and ninerebounds.

The Spurs' last defeat wasan April 11 setback againstthe Lakers.

But San Antonio, who wonfour titles from 1999 through2007, know the streak countsfor nothing if they don't ad-

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - TheSan Antonio Spurs and Okla-homa City Thunder, havingstormed through the first tworounds of the NBA playoffs,begin their duel for the West-ern Conference crown onSunday.

The Western Conferencefinals, with a berth in theNBA finals championship se-ries at stake, pits the West'stop two teams against eachother.

The Thunder, the dominantforce in the West for much ofthe season, saw the Spurs as-sume that mantle with a late-season winning streak thathas now reached 18 games.

During the streak theSpurs have won by an aver-


NBA: Western powers Spurs, Thunder duelfor finals berth

may 26, 2012

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