March 17, 2012

The two leaders spoke byphone and reaffirmed theywere committed to the agreedtimetable in which Afghan for -ces would complete the processof transition and have full re-sponsibility for security acrossthe country by the end of 2014.

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE(AFP) - President BarackObama and his Afghan coun-terpart Hamid Karzai yester-day reaffirmed that US troopswould leave Afghanistan bythe end of 2014, despite callsfor an earlier withdrawal.

Mike Eman and Minister of Fi-nance, Utilities, Communica-tions and Energy, Mike deMeza announced yesterdaymorning that after attempting tointerest a number of nearby na-tional oil companies in partner-ing with Valero, those who relyon the refinery for their liveli-hood should not yet give uphope.

Continued on page 4

the retooling and reopening ofthe refinery took place in De-cember of 2010. However, withthe continual climb of the priceof crude oil, Valero announcedclosing of some of their U.S.refineries, such as DelawareCity, and indicated towards theend of the forth quarter 2011that Aruba’s refinery wouldalso no longer be profitable.

Aruba’s Prime Minister

ORANJESTAD -- The roller-coaster ride that is Aruba’s rela-tionship with Valero Refi - neryover the past 3 years may con-tinue beyond the deadline set ofApril 1, 2012 for the completeshutdown of operations.

Prime Minister Mike Emancalled an extraordinary pressconference yesterday morningto announce a new develop-ment that may result in a last-minute solution for thebeleaguered San Nicolas facil-ity.

For more than a year beforeValero shutdown in June of2009, the refinery had been onthe market with no takers; taxissues with the governmentthen in place were at an im-passe, so operations were dis-continued, but employees kepton payroll pending the out-come of elections in Septem-ber 2009.

A change of administrationbrought a new agreement and

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Prime Minister Eman announcespossible “11th hour” rescueof refinery

Obama, Karzai reaffirm

2014 Afghan withdrawal

of evolving techniques andtechnology to impact unfairpractices, and the enormouspublic response they elicit.

Continuedonpage3

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9108#ixzz1pHcc5a7E

Mr. Combee explained howconsumerism has advanced inHolland by taking advantage

But they are the only importantgroup in the economy who arenot effectively organized,whose views are often notheard.” The speech, in its en-tirety can be found at:

the majority of the population,consumers.

She recited Kennedy’s Con-sumer Bill of Rights: 1. The Right to Safety 2. The Right to Be Informed3. The Right to Choose4. The Right to Be Heard

Guest Keynote SpeakerBert Combee, CEO of Hol-land’s national consumer pro-tection agency, Consumen -tenbond, elaborated with anadditional 4 essential con-sumer considerations to ex-pand this Consumer Bill ofRights: 5. The Right to Satisfaction of

Basic Needs6. The Right to redress7. The Right to Consumer

Edu cation8. The Right to a Healthy En-

vironment

Until the 1950’s, consumershad no rights or resources toaction; a movement began dur-ing that decade, which Presi-dent Kennedy recognized andsummarized in his speech toCongress.

“Consumers, by definition,include us all. They are thelargest economic group in theeconomy, affecting and af-fected by almost every publicand private economic decision.Two-thirds of all spending inthe economy is by consumers.

-Those wishing to be smarter,better informed consumerswere welcomed to an initiativeby the Ministry of Social &Economic Affairs and Cultureon Thursday, March 15 at theRenaissance Convention Cen-ter, in observance of Interna-tional Consumer’s Day.

Minister of Social & Eco-nomic Affairs and Culture,Michelle Hooyboer-Winklaarpersonally welcomed atten-dees to the free, informativeprogram, taking up two-evenings; she quoted PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, who initiatedthe day in March of 1962 withthe recognition of the rights of

2 Saturday, March 17, 2012

Aruba observes International Consumer’s Day with

informative conference

Bart Combee CEO Dutch

Consumer Protection

and being able to discern if acontract is actually placing il-legal obligations on the debtor.

Among the many speakersduring the conference wereLitigator Jeannot de Cuba withVan Eps, Kunneman, vanDorne, Dean of the Faculty ofLaw at the University of ArubaCarlos Bollen, Head of theConsumer Section at the Bu-reau of Rent & Consumer Af-fairs, Luciano Maduro,Managing Director of theStichting Balansa Nobo, Jen-nifer Tjon A Meeuw, Directorof the Central Bank of ArubaPrakash Mungra, and Execu-tive Manager of EconomicServices for Aruba InvestmentBank, Marielsa Arends-Croes.

by Rosalie Klein

Dutch consumer in makingwise choices.

Last night’s sessions parti -cularly addressed debt, under-standing financial agreements

Consumentenbond also issuesa seal of approval and pub-lishes information pamphlets,while maintaining online sitesand blogs to further assist the

aided by consumer advocateswho are battling for them, aslong as they will speak out andhelp to make others aware ofunfair or illegal practices. The

This is proving effective asConsumentenbond takes theresults to the offending compa-nies or industries, demonstra -ting that their lack of qualityhas been noticed, and con-sumers are upset and rebelliousin numbers they cannot ignore.Deploying social media hasproved highly efficient in pro-viding a platform for consu -mers to register theirdissatisfaction en force, thusprovi ding the evidence of un-fair practices they need to taketo legislators to establish regu-lations and to effect change inthe various industries.

An important side benefit isthat consumers facing difficultsituations realize they are notalone and that they have re-course to insure fair practices,

Saturday, March 17, 2012 3

Aruba observes International Consumer’s Day . . .Continued from page 2

Minister Hooyboer Winklaar and guest speakers

Eman advised his administra-tion is actively attempting to fa-cilitate a viable resolution to thesituation, but the final agree-ments and contracts must bemade by Valero, which hasownership at present, not theAruban government.

by Rosalie Klein

and laid off staff in 2009. Notquite the major economic forceit was from 1927 to 1986 underLago, Aruba’s refinery still hasquite some impact on severalfamilies, businesses and the sur-rounding community.

During yesterday’s pressconference, the Prime Minister

margin, not the least a legallabor system that enforces de-cent wages and benefits.

Aside from those directlyemployed by the refinery, thereare also peripheral businesseswhich depend on its operationfor their solvency. A number ofthese discontinued operations

the very least a suspension of re-finery production until contractsare finalized and new suppliesof crude oil begin arriving onAruba.

Earlier this week, Minister deMeza spent two days in NewJersey to participate in talks withPetroChina; Petrobras of Brazilhas also toured the refinery andexpressed interest, and the saleprice originally set has droppeddras tically, but the volatile oilindustry and the continually in-creasing price of crude oil areimpediments to agreements.Aruba’s refinery is tooled towork with a particularly lowgrade of crude, which makes itattractive to a number of compa-nies, but there are other factorsaffecting the refinery’s profit

Colombia’s state oil company,Ecopetrol, which is one of thefour principal oil companies inLatin America, has decided toagain sit down at the bargainingtable with Valero, and the PMexpressed he is optimistic re-garding the outcome.

April 1 is the deadline set forValero to discontinue produc-tion on Aruba, as their reserveswill then be depleted. They havebeen operating at reduced ca-pacity since the imminent clos-ing was announced, with thecontinuing hope a last-minutesolution would present itself.

The PM advised that even ifan agreement is reached be-tween Valero and Ecopetrol bythe deadline, it is too close to theplanned shutdown to prevent at


Prime Minister Eman announces . . . Continued from page 1

A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever

may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the

history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth.- Henry Ward Beecher.”


Come celebrate with us thisnational holiday This Sundayfrom 10 am to 3 pm we havean Open House at the Ateliers89 & Kinderatelier located atthe Dominanessenstraat # 34in Oranjestad.

This is an invitation to allart lovers to come and visit us.The exhibit rooms of the Ate-liers 89 will be open. On exhi-bitiobn will be art works fromthe RAKU workshop; therewill be music by a Caha diOrgel, and artisans will offertheir works for sale. Arroz conpollo is on the menu, free re-freshments, coffee and tea.

In the Kindertelier artist andart teacher Miriam de l’Islewill be exhibiting artworks byher students, some artworkswill be for sale. Also there arethe little art plates painted byVictoria del’Isle offered forsale. These are little clay plateshand painted specially to com-memorate the Dia di Himno yBandera. These lovely platesare one of a kind, not availableanywhere else, beautiful tohave or as a gift or souvenir ofAruba.

Put us on your Scheduleand come early.

BINI UN y BINI TUR

Open Houseat Ateliers 89 Sunday March 18

long-range rocket in April.Ban "is seriously concerned"

by North Korea's announcedlaunch, said the spokesman.

The UN leader reaffirmedhis call on the North "to fullycomply with the relevant reso-lutions of the Security Council,particularly including the reso-lution 1874 (from 2009) whichbans 'any launch using ballisticmissile technology.'"

UN Security Council Reso-lution 1874 was passed afterthe North's second nuclearbomb test in 2009.

North Korea announcedearlier it would launch a rocketcarrying a satellite next month,just 16 days after agreeing to

suspend long-range missiletests in return for massive USfood aid.

The United States, Japanand South Korea have con-demned the plan.

Britain, one of the five per-manent members of the Secu-rity Council, said North Koreawould be in violation of UNsanctions resolutions if it fol-lowed through on the threat-ened operation.

"If this launch goes aheadour understanding is that itwould be a violation of Secu-rity Council resolutions," saidBritain's UN ambassador MarkLyall Grant. Britain is thecouncil president for March.

mends a negotiated solution tothe decades-long dispute.

Cameron met with Presi-dent Barack Obama on Wed -nesday at the White House todiscuss the US-British al-liance..

Cameron said he discussedthe Falklands with Obama, andthe president said he preferredthe "status quo" regarding sov-ereignty over the South At-lantic islands.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - TheUnited States will remain neu-tral in Britain's dispute withArgentina over sovereignty ofthe Falkland Islands, a seniorUS official said yesterday afterBritish Prime Minister DavidCameron's White House visit.

"Our position remains oneof neutrality," the officialspeaking on condition ofanonymity told AFP, addingthat Washington also recom-

undertaking to refrain fromlong-range missile launches,"said UN spokesman MartinNesirky after the North said itwould launch a satellite on a

could breach UN sanctionsresolutions.

"The secretary general urgesNorth Korea to reconsider itsdecision in line with its recent

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -UN leader Ban Ki-moon yes-terday called on North Koreanot to carry out a rocket launchnext month which he warned

October for abuse of power,for which she was jailed forseven years.

In papers filed to the Stras-bourg-based court last year, the51-year-old politician com-plained that she had been re-ceiving "no medical care pro -vided for her numerous healthproblems," the statement said.

The court had decided toprioritise the case "in view ofthe serious and sensitive natureof the allegations raised" andKiev had until next Thursdayto make any observations onthe matter, it said.

STRASBOURG (AFP) - Eu-rope's top human rights courtsaid yesterday it had asked theUkraine to ensure that jailedopposition leader Yulia Ty-moshenko gets proper medicaltreatment.

A statement from the Euro-pean Court of Human Rightssaid it had written to the au-thorities in Kiev asking thegovernment to ensure the for-mer prime minister received"adequate medical treatment inan appropriate institution."

Tymoshenko is currentlyappealing her conviction last


EU court: The Ukraine mustensure Tymoshenko getsmedical care

UN leader warns N. Korea against rocket launch

US reiterates neutrality in

dispute over Falklands

Ravi was never accused inClementi's death, but he faceda string of charges accusinghim of being motivated byanti-gay bias. The jury returnedmixed verdicts on that aspectof the charges.

In addition to the raft ofguilty verdicts on invasion ofprivacy, he was also foundguilty on all charges related toattempting to hinder the prose-cution.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - GrievingBelgians held a minute's si-lence and church bells tolledacross the nation Friday as thebodies of 22 children and sixadults killed in a coach crash ina Swiss tunnel were flownhome.

Soldiers carried small whitecoffins out of two militaryplanes after they landed nearBrussels, while the cause of theaccident remained murky afterSwiss prosecutors concludedthat the driver was neither ine-briated nor ill.

A day after families had toidentify the bodies in Switzer-land and visited the crash site,pupils, parents and teachersclutched hands in the court-yards of the victims' twoschools in their hometowns ofHeverlee and Lommel.

With flags flying at half-mast for a national day ofmourning, Belgians every-where held a minute of silenceat 11:00 am (1000 GMT) be-fore church bells rang in re-membrance of the youngvictims whose deaths shockedthe nation.

Broadcasters went quietwhile drivers of buses, metrosand trains switched off theirengines for a minute as Bel-gium coped with an outpouringof grief for children who wereno older than 11 or 12 whenthey died Tuesday night.

In the central town of Hev-erlee, pupils released white bal-loons as adults sobbed daysafter a bus carrying 46 children,four teachers and two driversslammed into an Alpine tunnelwall as they returned from aweek-long ski trip.

In the Netherlands, DutchPrime Minister Mark Ruttesaid his "entire cabinet feels thesame: shock, powerlessnessand especially deep compas-sion for all those affected".

Members of the Belgian andDutch royal families were in-vited by the parents of the vic-tims to memorial ceremoniesin both towns next Wednesday.

In Switzerland, investigatorssought to unravel the cause ofthe tragedy.

Investigators were workinginitially on three hypothesesfor the accident, including thepossibility that the driver fellill, technical problems with ve-hicle and human error.

Probes were ongoing on thetwo remaining theories, Elsigsaid, adding that the driver hadbeen going "well below" thetunnel speed limit of 100 kilo-metres (60 miles) per hour.


Belgium holdsday of mourning ascrash deadflown home

was found guilty of invasion ofprivacy, although acquitted onsome of the hate crimes chargeslodged after the tragedy, thelocal news site said.

Ravi faces a hefty prisonterm and possibly deportationto his native India.

His lawyer had argued thatRavi was guilty only of a prankgone wrong when he filmedroommate Tyler Clementi in a

NEW YORK (AFP) - A for-mer US university student wasfound guilty Friday on mostcounts after he secretly filmeda gay roommate in a sexual en-counter shortly before the mancommitted suicide, news sitenj.com reported.

Dharun Ravi, who sharedthe webcam footage withfriends in his dormitory at Rut-gers University in New Jersey,

kiss with a man, Tweetedfriends about what he'd seenand invited them to watch alive webcam video.

The incident, which wasfollowed days later byClementi's suicide leap fromthe George Washington Bridgeleading into New York City,touched off a debate across theUnited States about privacyrights and gay bashing.

US student guilty in gay webcam suicide case

would not have given anynew information aboutBehring Breivik," Berg in-sisted.

"He was, in our view, asolo terrorist... He plannedhis terror acts alone for sev-eral years and he was ex-tremely careful," he said.

Berg's comments came ashe presented a PST evalua-tion report of its handling ofthe attacks.

On July 22, BehringBreivik, who has claimed tobe on a crusade against multi-culturalism and the "Musliminvasion" of Europe, set off acar bomb outside governmentbuildings in Oslo, killingeight people.

He then went to the islandof Utoeya northwest of Oslo,and, dressed as a police offi-cer, spent more than an hourshooting and killing another69 people, mainly teenagers,attending a summer camphosted by the ruling LabourParty's youth wing.

Berg said he "regretted"his agency was unable to stopBehring Breivik.

On Thursday, Norwegianpolice apologised for failingto stop Behring Breivik'sshooting rampage sooner, ad-mitting that lives were lost asa result and listing a slew ofareas where police efforts hadnot worked effectively.

OSLO (AFP) - Norway's in-telligence agency said Fridayit would not have been ableto stop the gunman whokilled 77 people in twin at-tacks last year even if it hadpursued a tip that he hadbought chemicals to make abomb.

The intelligence servicePST has been widely criti-cised for failing to preventthe July bombing and shoot-ing massacre committed by33-year-old rightwing ex-tremist Anders BehringBreivik.

"We would not have un-covered Behring Breivik'splans if we had investigatedthe information in an ordi-nary way. It is not illegal tobuy these chemicals," PSTacting director Roger Bergtold reporters.

PST had received fromNorwegian customs a list ofnames, including that ofBehring Breivik, who hadbought chemical products on-line that could be used tomake bombs.

But the agency did not fol-low up on the information be-cause Behring Breivik, whoactively expressed anti-Is-lamic and anti-immigrationremarks online, was not listedin its files.

"Even if we had prioritisedthe investigation our search


Democracy is the only system capable of reflecting thehumanist premise of equilibrium or balance. The keyto its secret is the involvement of the citizen.

-John Ralston

Norway intelligencesays it couldn't havestopped attacks

the Church hierarchy, de-nounced what he called the"lack of loyalty" and "cow-ardice" of those behind theleaks.

Among the confidential Vat-ican documents leaked toItaly's press are some that havedealt with allegations of cor-ruption within the Vatican.

Another document, datedDecember 30, warns the Vati-can of an unspecified plot toassassinate Pope BenedictXVI.

Vatican officials have alsodenounced Italy's press, whichhas been happy to run storiesbased on the leaked docu-ments.

VATICAN (AFP) - PopeBenedict XVI has ordered aninvestigation into the leaks ofa string of confidential Vaticandocuments to the Italianmedia, the Holy See's officialdaily newspaper reported Fri-day.

The investigation wouldcover every branch of the Vat-ican administration, wroteGiovanni Maria Vian, the di-rector of the l'Osservatore Ro-mano.

The newspaper interviewedArchbishop Angelo Becciuwho will take charge of the in-vestigation. Becciu, who asdeputy secretary of state is thethird most powerful figure in

making progress, including de-mobilising some 3,000 chil-dren since the civil war endedseven years ago, and support-ing SPLA promises to releasethe rest.

Although there have beenno exact figures on SouthSudan's army since independ-ence, it is thought that it num-bers somewhere between100-150,000.

The United Nations classi-fies a child soldier as anyoneunder the age of 18.

South Sudan, oil-rich butgrossly underdeveloped, isriven by brutal ethnic violence,while the government hassought to quell multiple rebel-lions by offering to integratefighters into the army's ranks.

However, Coomaraswamysaid the reintegration of formerchild soldiers was a huge chal-lenge in a nation where over80 percent are illiterate, andwhere the bloated army is theonly source of paid employ-ment for many.

Following South Sudan'sslashing of budgets followinga drastic shut down of oil pro-duction in January -- providing98 percent of revenues --Coomaraswamy said educa-tion must be supported to keepchildren out of armed groups."Even if there is an austeritybudget, education should be apriority," she said.


dependence in July -- to re-lease children from its ranks.

In 2003 the SPLA was puton a UN blacklist of forceswho use child soldiers, whenthe then guerrilla army wasbattling the Khartoum govern-ment in Sudan's bloody 1983-2005 civil war.

"It is very important that wedelist them as soon as possible,and now they are a nationalarmy, it becomes extremelyimportant," UN Special Repre-sentative for Children andArmed Conflict RadhikaCoomaraswamy told reporters.

"If you're a violator that'sbeen persistent, there's the pos-sibility of sanctions," sheadded, noting those could in-clude asset freezes, arms ortravel embargoes.

However, she also said thefledgling nation had been

JUBA (AFP) - South Sudanmust uphold promises to abol-ish its use of child soldiers,with some 2,000 minors stillserving in its rebel turned reg-ular army, the UN's top experton children in conflict said Fri-day.

The South's military, theSudan People's LiberationArmy (SPLA), repeatedpledges again this week -- butthe first time as a nationalarmy following the South's in-

2,000 child soldiers in South Sudanranks: UN

Pope sets up inquiry into leaksat Vatican

The injured were trans-

ported to the nearest hospital

in Morropon.

Peru's roads are among the

most treacherous in Latin

America, accounting for an

average of 3,300 deaths per

year over the past decade

among its nearly nearly 30

million residents.

Despite safety improve-

ments in recent years, 2,900

people were killed in Peru-

vian traffic accidents in 2010

and 2,830 last year, according

to government figures

LIMA (AFP) - At least 15people were killed and six in-jured Friday in northern Peruwhen a bus left a road and fell200 meters (660 feet) into aravine, police said.

The cause of the accidenthas not yet been announced.The bus driver was killed inthe morning crash, which oc-curred in Peru's MorroponProvince about 652 miles(1,050 km) north of the capi-tal Lima.

"We have so far identified15 killed," police officer LuisBarreto told AFP.


At least 15 killed

when bus in Peru

falls into a ravine

“Patriotism is your conviction that this country issuperior to all other countries because you wereborn in it.” George Bernard Shaw

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Agroup of Democratic law-makers in the US Congressyesterday pushed PresidentBarack Obama to namerenowned American econo-mist Jeffrey Sachs as the nextWorld Bank president.

Sachs, whose self-de-clared candidacy has drawn anumber of endorsementsfrom around the world, hasthe leadership skills for thejob, 27 members of theHouse of Representativessaid in a letter to Obama.

bloc, it was decided that a nextround of negotiations will beheld in Brazil in July 2012.

Trade ministers urged Japanto come forward with pro-posed changes to enable nego-tiations to begin on an FTAthere over coming months.

They said they would meetwith another FTA target, Sin-gapore, in two weeks' timehoping to resolve problemsover banking market access inthose negotiations.

agreement."De Gucht said there re-

mained now only "technicalobstacles, no more than that."

Initialled in March 2011,the agreement "includes com-mitments on the enforcementof labour and environmentalstandards" and is also open fortake-up by Ecuador and Bo-livia, the other two members ofthe Andean Community.

In a separate joint EU-Mer-cosur statement, referring to awider South American trade

EU states "reached a politicalagreement on a draft decisionapproving the signing and pro-visional application of a multi-partite free trade agreementwith Colombia and Peru," astatement said after day-longtalks in Brussels.

"This decision will beadopted at a forthcomingmeeting, once the text of theagreement has been finalised,and the consent of the Euro-pean Parliament will be re-quested for conclusion of the

BRUSSELS (AFP) - EuropeanUnion governments hailedtoday a "political agreement"that leaves only "technical ob-stacles" to the final signing ofFree Trade Agreements (FTA)with Colombia and Peru.

European Union TradeCommissioner Karel De Guchtsaid the two deals would scraparound 500 million euros induties every year between the27-nation bloc and the twoSouth American nations.

Trade ministers from the 27

EU hails 'political agreement' on Colombia,Peru trade deals

WASHINGTON - A group ofDemocratic lawmakers in theHouse of Representatives isagain urging PresidentBarack Obama to aggres-sively use the threat of releas-ing oil from emergencyreserves to rain on specula-tors driving up oil prices.

The three lawmakers aregathering signatures from oth-ers in Congress for a letter toObama to press him to wieldthe 696 million barrels of oilthat the government stores insalt caverns as a weaponagainst "rapid price escala-tions resulting from specula-tion in the oil markets."

According to British sour -ces released yesterday, Bri -tain is poised to cooperatewith the United States on arelease of strategic oil stocksthat is expected withinmonths.

The White House said nodeal had been reached on arelease of reserves.


Finance

House inOranjestad

Property Land

For info call

5643713 or

6607469

FOR SALE

Tap oilreserveto popspeculativebubble

US lawmakersback Sachs tolead WorldBank


Song: Aruba DushiTera

Aruba Dushi TeraAruba patria aprecianos cuna venerachikito y simpel bo por

tapero si respeta.

Refran:O, Aruba, dushi teranos baranca tan stimanos amor p’abo t’asina

grandicu n’tin nada pa kibre

(bis)

Bo playanan tan admiracu palma tur dornabo escudo y bandera taorgullo di nos tur!

Refran

Grandeza di bo pueblota

su gran cordialidadcu Dios por guia y conservasu amor pa libertad!

Refran

Aruba Precious Country

Aruba beloved home

our venerated cradle

though small and simple

you may be

you are indeed

esteemed.

Refrain:

Aruba our dear country

our rock so well beloved

our love for you is so

strong

that nothing can destroy

it. (repeat)

Your beaches so much

admired

with palm trees all

adorned

your coat of arms and

flag

the symbols of our pride.

Refrain

The greatness of our

people

is their great cordiality

and may God guide and

preserve

its love for freedom.

Refrain

Our National AnthemAruba's National Anthem, "Aruba Dushi Tera"

is a waltz composed by Juan Chabaya 'Padu'

Lampe (lyrics) and Rufo Wever (music).

Our national flag was offi-cially adopted on March 18,1976, along with the officialanthem "Aruba Dushi Tera."The four colors each havesignificance. The blue repre-sents the sea that surroundsAruba; yellow is the color ofabundance, representing theisland's past and its industriesof gold, aloe and oil; red isfor the love each Aruban hasfor the country and the an-cient industry of Brazilwood;and white symbolizes thesnow-white beaches as wellas the purity of the hearts ofAruba's people who strive forjustice, order and liberty.

The symbols on the flagconsist of a red star and twoyellow stripes. The red starrepresents the four points ofthe compass, with the islandhaving drawn people fromaround the world. The staralso represents the island it-self, surrounded by the beau-tiful blue sea. The horizontalyellow stripes denote the freeand separate position Aruba

enjoys in the Kingdom of theNetherlands.

We celebrate all that theflag and anthem have cometo signify with the nationalholiday of Flag and Anthem

Day each March 18, thesame day that in 1948, Hol-land accepted Aruba’s rightto autonomous status in theKingdom of the Nether-lands.

OUR FLAG

LanguageDutch and the local language of Papiamento are the

official languages of Aruba, but most Arubans speak

a minimum of four languages including English and

Spanish.

Clooney said to cheering sup-porters shortly before his ar-rest.

Speaking earlier before theUS Congress, Clooney said hesaw hundreds of people flee-ing in terror to the hills andinto caves in South Kordofandue to the constant buzzing ofplanes dropping bombs meantfor insurgents but which fre-quently kill and maim civil-ians.

The conflict has severelyimpeded agriculture in themountainous region, leading tofears of hunger. The UnitedStates has demanded thatSudan let in outside food ship-ments, but Khartoum is deeplysuspicious of US intentions.

The protest was orderly,with some campaigners wait-ing patiently for police to bringanother van. Inside Sudan'sembassy, one woman could beseen snapping a photo fromthe window before the Holly-wood heartthrob was takenaway.

Four members of the Houseof Representatives -- Al Green,Jim McGovern, Jim Moranand John Olver -- were also ar-rested at the protest, alongwith human rights activists andreligious leaders.

They were released later inthe day.

WASHINGTON (AFP) -Actor George Clooney andseveral members of the USCongress were handcuffed andarrested Friday outsideSudan's embassy as they de-manded an end to an offensivethey fear will cause a humani-tarian crisis.

Swarmed by flashing cam-eras and TV crews, Clooneyled more than one dozenprominent campaigners to thesteps of Sudan's mission inWashington's Embassy Row,ignoring several warnings bypolice to leave the premises.

Officers escorted the "De-scendants" star and the othercampaigners in plastic hand-cuffs to police vans. Hundredsof supporters chanted slogansnearby against Sudan's Presi-dent Omar al-Bashir andwaved banners reading,"Sudan: Stop Using Food as aWeapon."

Clooney, a longtime activistfor human rights in Sudan, metThursday with US PresidentBarack Obama after paying aclandestine visit to South Ko-rdofan, where aid groups say250,000 people are at risk ofimminent food shortages.

"We need humanitarian aidto be allowed into the Sudanbefore it becomes the worsthumanitarian crisis in theworld -- immediately,"

Journalist Nick Clooney (2nd R), his son actor GeorgeClooney (3rd R) and U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) (4th R) arearrested by members of the U.S. Secret Service Uniform Di-vision during a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy.


Clooney arrested inSudan protest

As citizens, we all have an obligation tointervene and become involved - it's thecitizen who changes things.

- Jose Saramago

an extreme case of it."

Craig Glenday, editor in

chief of Guinness World

Records, said being a record

holder had its benefits, "but

none so important than the

gift of essential medical treat-

ment that would otherwise be

beyond one's means."

a non-invasive radiosurgicaldevice known as a GammaKnife.

"While Mr Kosen is thetallest person, he is notunique," Sheehan said. "Interms of pituitary disorders,acromegaly is one of the morecommon disorders you canhave. Obviously, Sultan had

a tumor can result in the pro-duction of too much growthhormone, leading in turn togigantism, or excessivegrowth.

Sheehan and his teamtreated Kosen's tumor in Au-gust 2010 with a precisely tar-geted shot of extremely highfrequency gamma rays, using


which is good," neurosurgeonJason Sheehan, who per-formed the non-invasive pro-cedure that zapped thetroublesome pituitary tumorwithin Kosen's brain with ex-treme precision, told AFP.

"He will still have somemedical therapy to deal withthe excessive height he hasachieved," added Sheehan bytelephone from the Universityof Virginia Medical Center inCharlottesville.

"However, it is hopeful thathe will not have any addi-tional challenges because ofcontinued growth."

Born into a farming familyin southeastern Turkey, Kosengained global renown in Sep-tember 2009 when GuinnessWorld Records declared himthe tallest man in the world.He was then eight feet oneinch (2.47 meters) tall.

Acromegaly typically re-sults from a benign tumor inthe pea-sized pituitary glandat the base of the brain. Such

WASHINGTON (AFP) -Turkey's Sultan Kosen, ateight foot three (2.51 meters)the world's tallest living man,says it's "a blessing" he is nolonger growing thanks to ra-diosurgery in the UnitedStates.

"I am honored and gratefulfor this life-saving surgery,"said Kosen, 29, via an emailto AFP on Thursday fromGuinness World Records inLondon, whose offices he vis-ited the day before.

"Without my record-break-ing status, I would never havehad the opportunity to tellpeople about my condition,"he added. "It is a blessing."

Nearly two years aftergamma ray radiosurgery inthe eastern state of Virgina,doctors confirmed this weekthat Kosen has overcomeacromegaly, a rare hormonaldisorder that caused him tokeep growing well into adult-hood.

"He's stopped growing,

To no longer grow is a 'blessing' for world's tallest man

file photo of Sultan Kosen


Army to be armed, and the fallof the regime," several thou-sand demonstrators chanted inAleppo in northern Syria, anactivist at the scene told AFPin Beirut by telephone.

Thousands of others tookpart in protests in the flash-point provinces of Homs andacross Daraa in the south aswell as several districts ofDamascus and the region, saidRami Abdel Rahman of theSyrian Observatory for HumanRights.

On the day after the first an-niversary of the outbreak of therevolt against President Basharal-Assad, the Britain-basedmonitoring group said at least15 people were killed in vio-lence across Syria on Friday.

Huge rallies in support ofAssad were held in Damascusand other major cities onThursday to mark the anniver-sary. But numbers have fallenat anti-regime demonstrationsas security forces seize protestcentres.

With the opposition divided,Western countries have beenopposed to military interven-tion although Qatar and SaudiArabia, Assad's fiercest criticsin the Arab world, have comeout in favour of arming therebels.

In a breakdown of 9,113deaths in the past 12 months,not including the latest fatali-ties, the Syrian Observatorysaid the toll comprised 6,645civilians, 1,997 members of thesecurity forces and 471 rebels.

The United Nations and Or-ganisation of Islamic Coopera-tion are this weekend to sendexperts on a Syrian govern-ment-led humanitarian missionto the protest cities of Homs,Daraa and Hama where thou-sands have reportedly beenkilled.

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Thou-sands of anti-regime protesterscalled on Friday for foreignmilitary intervention to bringdown a Syrian governmentwhose brutal crackdown ondissent monitors say has costmore than 9,100 lives.

The protests after weeklyMuslim prayers were called byactivists on their Facebookpage, Syrian Revolution 2011,to demand "immediate mili-tary intervention by the Arabsand Muslims, followed by therest of the world."

"The people want militaryintervention, the Free Syrian

Syria protesters urgemilitary intervention

"It's especially troublesome when the very

people who are supposed to protect children

put them in harm." - Jennifer Andary


March 17, 2012

Documents

arubas refinery wouldalso

prime minister mike

minister of fi

mike demeza

valero announcedclosing

reopening ofthe refinery

sumer bill of rights

valero refi neryover