Nov T. 19º/ 24º C H. 55/ 85% - Macau Daily Timesmacaudailytimes.com.mo/files/pdf2014/2195-2014-11-20.pdfPublic safety and security is part of broader government restructuring plans

Founder & Publisher Kowie Geldenhuys editor-in-ChieF Paulo Coutinho

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Citi predicts 20 pct drop in Nov

clash in cotai ii

Fighters join public workout session, Pacquiao back in town

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China an overloaded makeshift school bus collided with a truck in eastern china yesterday, killing 11 kindergarteners and the bus driver, state media reported. three other children were injured. the accident happened in a rural area of shandong province, the official Xinhua News agency said. citing police, Xinhua said a minibus hired by a kindergarten as a school bus was designed for eight passengers, but was carrying 14 children at the time of the collision.

inDia at least six people die in a standoff between police and a religious leader who is believed to be holed up inside his sprawling ashram with thousands of devotees, some of whom are armed, police say. the guru, sant Rampal, is wanted for questioning in a 2006 murder case. More on p12

nORTh KOREa the world’s boldest effort yet to hold north Korea and leader Kim Jong Un accountable for alleged crimes against humanity moves forward at the United nations. the U.n. General assembly’s human rights committee approved a resolution that urges the security council to refer the country’s harsh human rights situation to the international criminal court. More on p13

PaKiSTan a Pakistani court sentences four men to death over the mob killing of a woman who married against her family’s wishes. Farzana Perveen, who was pregnant at the time, was beaten to death by her father and other relatives outside a courthouse in the eastern city of lahore on May 27. the father surrendered to police after the killing and was among those sentenced to death.

SOUTh KOREa launches a new safety agency in the wake of april’s ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people, mostly teenage students, and exposed shortcomings in disaster response. the creation of the Ministry of Public safety and security is part of broader government restructuring plans that center on disbanding the coast guard and splitting its responsibilities between the new ministry and the national police agency.

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mgm art space exhibits old beijing city gates

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Analysts forecast rebound by Q3 next year

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4g mobile services to be ready next year

beijing plans to slow energy consumption

DsRt opened six tenders for the 4G mobile network submitted by all four current telecommunications operators in Macau, as well as two new bidders

china plans to cap the increasing rate at which it consumes energy to 28 pct of seven-year period to 2020

honG KonG

Activists try to storm legislature

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DiRECTOR anD EDiTOR-in-ChiEf_Paulo Coutinho [email protected] Managing EDiTOR_Paulo Barbosa [email protected] COnTRibUTing EDiTORS_Eric Sautedé, Leanda Lee, Severo Portela China & fOREign EDiTOR_Vanessa Moore [email protected]

DESign EDiTOR_João Jorge Magalhães [email protected] | nEwSROOM anD COnTRibUTORS_Albano Martins, António Espadinha Soares, Brook Yang, Catarina Pinto, Cyril Law, Emilie Tran, Grace Yu, Irene Sam, Jacky I.F. Cheong, Jenny Philips, João Pedro Lau, Joseph Cheung, Juliet Risdon, Keith Ip, Renato Marques (photographer), Richard Whitfield, Robert Carroll (Hong Kong correspondent), Rodrigo de Matos (cartoonist), Ruan Du Toit Bester, Sandra Norte (designer), Sum Choi, Viviana Seguí | aSSOCiaTE COnTRibUTORS_JML Property, MacauHR, MdME Lawyers, PokerStars | nEwS agEnCiES_ Associated Press, Bloomberg, Lusa News Agency, MacauHub, MacauNews, Xinhua | SECRETaRy_Yang Dongxiao [email protected]

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Catarina Pinto

The Head of the Trade Sec-tion of the EU Office to

Hong Kong and Macau, Ales-sandro Paolicchi, has vowed for deeper business cooperation between the European Union countries and the MSAR. At a cocktail reception to celebrate the Macau European Chamber of Commerce’s first anniver-sary, he acknowledged that bi-lateral trade in 2013 has “made the EU the second largest ex-porter to Macau, accounting for 23 percent of Macau’s total imports.”

He believes that deeper busi-ness cooperation will help the territory achieve its long-time goal of diversifying its eco-nomy.

“A platform for regular dia-logues between EU businesses and the Macau government should be established to better reflect the dynamic business si-tuation and issues,” he said.

Bilateral EU-Macau trade re-corded strong growth in 2013, the EU Office said in a statement. Total bilateral trade increased by 28.3 percent reaching EUR656.5 million; while EU exports to Macau rose by 37 percent to EUR542 million last year.

Honorary chairman of the Macau European Chamber of Commerce (MECC) and SJM’s CEO, Mr Ambrose So, stressed

Brook Yang

In commemoration of the 15th anniversary

of Macau’s handover, the MGM inaugurated two exhibitions at its Art Space yesterday, featu-ring two red sandalwood replicas of ancient Bei-jing buildings and the works of hundreds of photographers which reflected changes to the MSAR.

“This time, we want to help people remember that we’ve [belonged to] China, our motherland,

Toby Leung

MGM Art Space exhibits old Beijing city gates

MEcc 1st annivERsaRy

Macau and EU set to deepen cooperation

how MECC has played a role in strengthening cooperation between Macau and the EU over the past year. “MECC has quickly established itself as the forefront of European business and culture in Macau in its first year,” he said.

Mr So stated that SJM will continue to support MECC’s activities and its determination to strengthen Macau-European ties.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, SJM’s

CEO said he hopes the Cham-ber will move forward while bringing a taste of European culture and businesses to the city. He stressed that SJM likewise hopes to reinforce ties with Europe, as the company will be showcasing two renow-ned European brands in its first Cotai resort, the Lisboa Palace.

“We are showcasing two Eu-ropean-style hotels in Macau, Versace and Karl Lagerfeld. We will keep supporting this approach, so that entertain-

ment, design and culture are more diversified,” he said.

MECC’s honorary chairman and Consul General of Portugal to Macau and Hong Kong, Mr Vitor Sereno, also acknowled-ged that EU-Macau relations have intensified. He stressed that, “during crisis manage-ment, partnerships are one of the most valuable assets that re-gions, countries, organizations and individuals can rely on.”

He too vowed for deeper coo-peration between the two re-

gions, stating MECC can play an important role in furthering partnerships.

The cocktail celebration for MECC’s first anniversary took place yesterday at Clube Mili-tar. The Head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macau, Mr Vincent Piket, will be in Macau on November 27 to attend a lun-cheon, where he’s due to highli-ght Europe’s Asia agenda now that the European Parliament and the European Commission are headed by new teams.

for fifteen years, so we’d like to include some-thing from Beijing,” said

the MGM vice-president of marketing and com-munications, Mr Toby

Leung, at a media pre-view held on Tuesday.

The two red san-dalwood carvings are miniature landscapes made on the scale of 1:10 by the China Red Sandalwood Museum, which comprises of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven as well as the main entrance of the ou-ter city, Yongding Gate.

“They are a good re-presentation of the old Beijing city, a city who-se planning begun 800 years ago,” explained

Mr Leung, “it’s actually a very good example for all cities in China to use that imperial model for city planning. It’s like a tale of two cities, Beijing and Macau.”

Red sandalwood car-ving craftsmen will de-monstrate traditional carving techniques at the exhibition, in order to encourage the preser-vation of this intangible cultural heritage.

“Unfortunately, it’s a dying art. If you ask members of the younger generation now about

whether they might pur-sue a career as a san-dalwood artist, they mi-ght not even know what you are talking about,” said Mr Leung, adding that the remaining craf-tsmen mostly have been working on this art form for several decades.

Meanwhile, the photo exhibition, titled “One Hundred Photographers Focus on Macao,” illus-trates Macau’s develo-pment over the past 15 years. Both of the exhi-bitions will take place till March 22, 2015.

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Q: An organization collects the non-criminal record certificates of its employees and put them in a specific data cabinet. Does this constitute a violation of the PDPA? A: This practice constitutes the central register of information of unlawful activities. Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the PDPA provides that “central registers relating to persons suspected of illegal activities, criminal and administrative offences and decisions applying penalties, security measures, fines and additional penalties may only be created and kept by public services vested with that specific responsibility by a legal provision or a statutory regulation with organizational nature,

subject to observance of procedural and data protection rules in force.” Thus, an ordinary organization cannot maintain a central register of unlawful activity information. Moreover, central storage of the said certificates might have significant influence to the rights of the data subjects involved, thus violating the principle of appropriateness. The GPDP considers that for administrative purposes, the mentioned certificates should be stored in the personal files of the employees, and should not be stored centrally.

(The above content is provided by the Office for Personal Data Protection. General Enquiry Hotline: 2871 5666)

Tim Dahlberg, Macau

Manny Pacquiao di-dn’t need the huge bouquet of flowers he was holding to

feel welcome in this gambling enclave, where he will be fighting at an odd hour Sunday against an opponent who has to already feel as though he won boxing’s big-gest lottery.

Pacquiao got them anyway Tuesday night at his official grand entrance in the lobby of the mas-sive Venetian hotel-casino. He smiled and posed with them be-cause there’s a fight with Chris Al-gieri to sell, something Pacquiao seems to be taking more seriously as his career begins heading into the later rounds.

There are also new rumblings along the Floyd Mayweather Jr. front, but more on that later. For now, Pacquiao seems re-ener-gized as he plots what he hopes will be a spectacular performan-ce that might stop talk about his declining knockout power — he hasn’t had a stoppage in five years now — and entice Maywea-ther to finally enter the ring with him sometime next year in what would surely be boxing’s richest fight ever.

“I’m not predicting a knockout, but I’m looking for a good fight and looking to prove I can still fight,” Pacquiao said. “I’m willing to fight anybody. I’m not ducking anyone.”

That includes Mayweather, of

More than half of tourists visiting Ma-

cau do not think there are enough attractions in the city, with touristic oppor-tunities centered mainly on shopping, accommo-dation and dining.

According to the visitors’ comments survey conduc-ted in the third quarter by the Statistics and Cen-sus Service (DSEC), only 47 percent of the visitors considered Macau’s tou-rist attractions adequate.

Tourists unaware of heritage, survey says

BOXING

Pacquiao back in town against unbeaten Algieri

Meanwhile, about 86 percent of visitors were satisfied with the servi-ces and hotel facilities; 84 percent spoke positively of travel agency services, and 17 percent believed that public transport ser-vices could be improved.

The DSEC also revea-led yesterday that tou-

rist spending in the third quarter of this year rea-ched MOP15.5 billion, 5 percent more than that of the previous year.

Visitors mainly spent money on shopping (49 pct), accommodation (26 pct) and on food & beve-rages (18 pct). Per-capita shopping spending of vi-

sitors increased slightly by 1 percent year-on-year to MOP921, with items such as jewellery and wa-tches (26 pct), local food products (22 pct) and handbags & shoes (18 pct) being preferred.

The total amount spent by overnight visitors tota-led MOP12.9 billion while

that of same-day visitors was MOP2.6 billion, res-pectively up by 5 and 3 percent year-on-year. The per-capita spending of the visitors dropped slightly by 1 percent to MOP1,878.

Visitors from mainland China spent an average of MOP2,220, 4 percent less year-on-year. Howe-

ver, per-capita spending of visitors from Japan increased by 12 percent to MOP1,954. Visitors from the United Kingdom had relatively high per-capita spending among the long-haul visitors, at MOP1,563, representing a 38 percent increase on an annual basis.

course, and promoter Bob Arum said there have been some preli-minary behind-the-scenes talks to make the long-awaited fight fi-nally happen. Whether it actually takes place, though, depends lar-gely on Mayweather, who only recently has given indications he may be more agreeable to make the fight than he has in the past.

Arum said he has had recent discussions with Leslie Moonves, head of CBS Corp., about the fi-ght and is somewhat optimistic that the parent company of the Showtime network Mayweather

is contracted to can help get it made. “I believe they have talked to Mayweather and that he is on board,” Arum said. “Whether that is true or not, I don’t know.”

Arum could be using the pos-sibility of a Mayweather fight to try to spark interest in Pacquiao’s second bout in China, which will take place about noon Sunday so it can be sold on pay-per-view in the United States. A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has been the talk of boxing for five years now, and nothing has come of it, mainly because Mayweather

wants to control his own destiny and wants nothing to do with his Arum, his former promoter.

Pacquiao could certainly use a fight with Mayweather to re-vitalize his career and possibly cement his legacy as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters of his time. But if he doesn’t take care of business against Algieri in a fight in which he is heavily fa-vored, boxing may never get the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight that is the one fans really want. “Let’s finish this fight first,” the Filipino congressman said Tuesday. “My job is to fight. I’m not picking opponents. Whoever wants to fi-ght me, we will fight.”

In Algieri, Pacquiao has an opponent who seems to have everything but a big punch. Algie-ri is a promoter’s dream, a college graduate with a masters in clinical nutrition who wants to be a doc-tor. Algieri still lives in his paren-ts’ basement on Long Island, but talks confidently about not only beating Pacquiao but making himself into a big name.

Algieri got the fight after getting off the canvas twice in the first

round to win a disputed decision over Ruslan Provodnikov for a piece of the welterweight title in June. They will fight this bout at a catch weight of 144 pounds.

Arum said he believes Algieri’s story will help sell the fight, un-like Pacquiao’s first fight in Ma-cau last November against Bran-don Rios that did well at the box office but was not a pay-per-view smash.

“This time we’re selling Algieri instead of trying to sell the fight as being from China,” Arum said. “So far it seems to be working.” AP

fighters join public workout session

as the Clash in Cotai II world championship boxing event fast approaches, some of the fighters participated in an open workout session at the West Lobby of The Venetian Macao yesterday, giving fans a chance to see the boxers up-close ahead of the Nov. 23 Cotai Arena event.

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MACAU 澳聞

Catarina Pinto

Analysts are fo-recasting a rebound of Macau’s VIP seg-ment towards the

third quarter of next year. Phi-lip Tulk, director of equities research, at Standard Charte-red, said that the VIP market is likely to “be down double digits in the coming months”. However, he suggested that growth should return by the third quarter of next year.

Providing a financial outlook and discussing projected and real gaming industry growth, Philip Tulk and Union Ga-ming Research analyst, Grant Govertsen, agreed that Macau will see positive growth reve-nue in the second half of next year.

Speaking at the Macao Ga-ming Summit yesterday, Phi-lip Tulk acknowledged that forecasting gaming revenue in Macau is “challenging” due to two main factors. “One of them is the junket system and the lack of transparency in terms of their revenue. The se-

Grant Govertsen, panel moderator Emanuel Graça and Philip Tulk

GaMinG

Analysts forecast VIP segment rebound by Q3 next year

confidence of investors.”Grant Govertsen believes

that a full smoking ban imple-mented in mass floors and the Hong Kong protest might help explain Macau’s casino reve-nue drop. “The smoking ban was stricter than some casinos

cond is the extremely fast rise in mass tables over the past ten years.”

He had estimated last year that gaming revenue would grow by 14 percent by now. But Macau’s casino revenue declined for a fifth consecuti-

ve month and October saw the worst monthly revenue per-formance on record. Total ca-sino revenue fell by 23.2 per-cent year-on-year last month.

Mr Tulk recalled that the slowdown in Macau’s gaming revenue does not appear to be

linked to visitation, but is ra-ther about spending. A high number of tourists continue to visit Macau, but are most likely spending less. Tulk also thinks there is a huge challen-ge moving forward, while “junkets try to recapture the

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south korea ‘could be a significant market’

GaminG analysts are confident that Macau’s decrease in casino revenue is not linked to other emerging markets that have invested in the gambling sector. However, they acknowl-edged the potential of Japan as the next big thing. Japan’s ca-sino bill was delayed again last month, halting progress. “It is a very conservative country and it is difficult to build consensus,” said Union Gaming Research analyst, Grant Govertsen. Philip Tulk, director, equities research, at Standard Char-tered, said that South Korea could also be a significant mar-ket if there is more government support. “It’s a great market geographically for Northeast Chinese,” he stated. Mr Govert-sen expressed his enthusiasm to see whether Korea will move forward and pass a gaming bill or if it will wait for Japan to liberalize gaming. “My gut tells me it’s the latter,” he said.

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i think steve Wynn said it best in a conference call: it was a perfect storm of issues affecting Macau

GRANT GoVERTSEN

MACAU澳聞

Citi Research yester-day cited its industry

sources indicating that Macau table GGR for the first 16 days in November reached MOP12.3 billion (or MOP12.9b, including an estimated MOP640m in slot-related revenue).

Total daily GGR run rate over last week equated to MOP760m per day, lower than the daily run rate of MOP846m/day in the first nine days of November.

The research house sus-pects Macau suffered a double-hit with the Grand Prix affecting mass (parti-cularly in Peninsula) and bad hold affecting VIP.

Citi believes mass GGR will recover after Grand Prix, but it lowered its November GGR forecast to MOP24bn (-20% YoY), conservatively assuming the remainder of the mon-

Citi predicts 20 pct drop in November

th to track at month-to-da-te daily run rate.

In overall, investors re-main cautious about in-vestment in Macau, after total casino revenue fell 23.2 percent to MOP28b

(USD3.5 billion) in Oc-tober, dropping for the fif-th month in a row.

This week, analysts at Fi-tch Ratings Service predic-ted zero growth in Macau’s gaming revenue by the end

of 2014 and an overall de-cline of 1 percent in 2015.

“Fitch’s forecast reflects the persistent weakness in the VIP business, which seems to be spilling over to the premium mass seg-ment,” explained analyst Michael Paladino, cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

According to Paladino, the market will recover in the second half of next year, with Galaxy Enter-tainment’s expansion of the Galaxy Macau, and Melco Crown’s opening of Studio City. “Our 2015 forecast may prove overly conserva-tive if VIP bounces back to recent historical averages,” Paladino said.

However, the analyst re-mains optimistic about long-term investment in Macau.

“Despite these setbacks, we do remain positive about Macau, as we believe that Macau and the grea-ter China market remain underpenetrated (…) We expect gaming revenue growth will be driven by new supply and infras-tructure development, and that the Chinese economy will continue to grow, an-choring mass-market de-mand.”

Cameron McKnight, ga-ming analyst for Wells Fargo Securities, predicted this week that revenue will decrease another 18 to 21

percent during November. “We are staying on the si-delines regarding the Ma-cau market, as we believe China’s policy settings are negatively affecting grow-th,” he said.

David Bain, a gaming analyst working for wealth management and invest-ment bank firm Sterne Agee observed that the “Macau Grand Prix auto race would hurt high-end gambling revenue during November but could ac-tually provide a small boost to gaming revenue overall.” He added that the anti-graft campaign and challenges facing the Chi-nese economy are likely to change the market.

GaMinG

Analysts forecast VIP segment rebound by Q3 next year

initially anticipated. And ou-tside of Macau, you have the protest in Hong Kong, and our view is that the protest had a significant impact on Macau’s gaming market,” he said, ad-ding that Macau was “collate-ral damage.”

He suggested that Hong Kong’s occupy movement has even influenced VIP premium level in Macau, as some custo-mers might have avoided this region while the protest takes place due to “political sensiti-vity.” “I think Steve Wynn said it best in a conference call: it was a perfect storm of issues affecting Macau,” he added.

Mr Govertsen does not be-lieve there’s a structural pro-blem with demand in Macau. “I think once some of these issues resolve themselves, we should see GGR begin to bou-nce again.”

Although acknowledging that positive growth revenue will most likely be restored by the second half of next year, Mr Tulk said he’s mostly

concerned about the VIP seg-ment, and a possible lack of trust from those investing in junket rooms. “Junkets rely on funding from various sources, and a lot of that funding comes from individuals who might be playing in those junket rooms. Some of these individuals have lost confidence in the system,” he said, adding that there have been accounts of money disa-ppearing from junket rooms.

“What we need is confiden-

ce in the business model,” he said.

Analyst Grant Govertsen thinks the VIP recovery might take longer than mass reco-very. “We might see the mass market getting back to a po-sitive territorial sooner” to coincide with Galaxy Macau’s phase three opening. “We will probably see more liquidity injected in the system,” he ad-ded.

Mr Govertsen believes that the next wave of Cotai resorts will not experience significant delays.

Professor Glenn McCart-ney, from the University of Macau’s Faculty of Business Administration, gave a talk

on how to appeal to both the mass-market customers and lucrative Chinese gamblers. Understanding how the junket system works in China, he said, is key.

“China has four times the po-pulation of the USA – so we need to think about the sin-gularity of the Chinese gam-blers,” he reiterated.

He considered the locations of wealthy Chinese people, in-cluding Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Fujian or Shan-dong. Mr McCartney stressed that Macau needs to think of strategies to attract them here and convince them to stay longer. Restaurants as well as events, tournaments, royalty

cards, gifts and event marke-ting are tools often used by casino resorts to VIPs draw attention.

“Junkets have also diversi-fied their offerings over the past ten years,” he acknowle-dged.

Analyst Philip Tulk also agreed that the non-gaming sector has been an aspiration for the Macau government and its relevance might beco-me greater when current con-cessions are discussed in 2015 and 2016.

The Macao Gaming Summit program runs until today, as part of the Macao Gaming Show (MGS) taking place at The Venetian Macao.

Ambrose So welcomes gov’t ‘cautious’ budget

The CEO of SJM, Ambrose So, has wel-comed Macau’s ‘cautious’ budget for

next year, as he believes the government should exercise prudence when drafting it. “They are the government, so they need

to be cautious, while entrepreneurs need to be more aggressive, so we cannot have a very aggressive budget,” he said.

Acknowledging that Macau’s economy does not have a specific stimulus now, he believes that “in the next half of next year, the economy will rebound [sic].” He also added that “China will come very close to finishing the restructuring of its economic structure and it will start growing on a more solid basis.”

SJM’s CEO is convinced that the casino revenue decline will not harm Macau’s economy. “We still have a surplus. I think we have a healthy budget, and there’s no reason for the Macau people [to think] that we will run into some economic trou-ble,” he acknowledged.

Asked whether this will be a good oppor-tunity for Macau to further diversify its economy, Mr So said Macau needs “space, policy and infrastructure in order for the economy to be diversified.” “I’ve recently seen small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those which are more innovati-ve and [related to the] local culture. I hope this [trend] remains and helps with the di-versification of our economy,” he said.

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Brook Yang

The new Fourth Ge-neration (4G) mobile network can be built in as soon as six months,

whereas 4G data services are expected to be provided only by the fourth quarter of next year.

Yesterday afternoon, the Bu-reau of Telecommunications Regulation (DSRT) technicians opened six tenders that were submitted by all four current telecommunications operators in Macau, as well as two new bidders.

China Mobile Hong Kong Company and a local new mo-

Lawmakers re-quested that the go-

vernment should intro-duce penalties and asses-sment criteria to the ten-dering for public works, as several construction delays have resulted in low execution rates of the public investment plan (PIDDA).

The lowest execution rate of the 2013 budget occurred with the cons-truction of the Macau Pri-son which was lower than 17 percent; whereas the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DS-SOPT) executed less than 40 percent of its budget.

When discussing the bu-dget situation yesterday,

Lawmakers call for revision on public work tendering guidelines lawmakers at the Legislati-ve Assembly (AL)’s second standing committee indi-cated that PIDDA’s current guidelines are vague and counterintuitive, especially concerning the fact that a contractor’s poor perfor-mance in previous projects won’t affect his chances in future tendering.

“If you didn’t do a good job, you shouldn’t win the future bid. But currently there’s no mechanism in

the law to roll them out,” said the committee presi-dent, Chan Chak Mo.

“Many lawmakers ques-tioned whether or not the guidelines can be modi-fied, taking into consi-deration the quality of the bidder’s performance and if they have caused delays, disputes and fare increases,” he added, “the government said it will consider [the revision].”

The Secretary for Trans-

port and Public Works, Lau Si Io, also acknow-ledged that there is no legislative material stipu-lating that a contractor’s previous performance is a key assessment factor in public work tendering. He responded by saying that the government has started studying the enactment that will regu-late the accreditation sys-tem of contractors.

Related government of-

ficials, including the Se-cretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam, also attended the meeting. They explained that the low budget execution of Macau Prison’s was due to construction problems and the contractor’s ina-dequate supervision.

Besides the new prison project, delays have oc-curred in the construction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT), the Mong-Ha so-

cial housing project, Fai Chi Kei public housing project, the Taipa Ferry Terminal, and the new urban reclamation.

The government revea-led that some of the pro-blems that caused the delays have now been re-solved, such as requests to conduct safety asses-sments for neighboring buildings, and changes in construction foundation by contractors.

Hoi Chi Leong

4G mobile services to be ready next year

bile operator founded specially for the tender, namely U Hong Communications Ltd, joined the competition for the four 4G mobile services licenses, besi-des CTM, China Telecom, Hu-tchison Macau and SmartTone.

“We’re very happy to see dif-ferent operators willing to in-vest and develop telecommu-nication services in Macau. We expect to have the tendering result out in the first quarter of next year,” said the DSRT depu-ty director, Hoi Chi Leong.

He explained that the assess-ment criteria covers technical capacity, amount of investment, the company’s financial condi-

tion, plan of network coverage, tarrif scheme, mobile data pro-tection and safeguard measures against malfunction.

“Our bid evaluation commit-tee will select the investors who can bring more benefits to Ma-

cau’s telecom market,” Mr Hoi stated, adding that currently the DSRT isn’t considering is-suing any more 4G licenses.

According to the telecom regu-lator, all the bidding companies are requested to start providing

4G data services and achieve 50 percent network coverage wi-thin the next year.

Responding to the media’s in-quiry on whether such a time-frame would be unfair to the new bidders, Hoi said that all will be treated equally.

“Basically we are looking at the overall demand of society; we’ve stipulated the standard clearly in the tendering ru-les. If they were not confident to achieve that, they wouldn’t have come to bid,” he added. “The Bureau has also formula-ted the penalties for failing to meet the requirements.”

Head of U Hong Communica-tions, Mr Patrick Yang, who is also MASTV’s deputy director, likewise expressed confidence in his firm’s capabilities. “Our company has experience in sa-tellite communications; we are trying to expand our business and provide local residents with diversified telecom services.”

“I think [the] Macau govern-ment will support local com-panies; as one of the two opera-tors, we have more advantages in building the network and operational recources, rather than the overseas companies,” he added.

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8 BUSINESS 分析

corporate bits

While it’s unclear whether Revel AC Inc. will ever pay a dime to unsecured creditors, one thing is known: The buyer, Brookfield Property Partners LP, won’t operate the now-shu-ttered Atlantic City, New Jer-sey, casino under its old name.

The bankruptcy court in Camden, New Jersey, appro-

As the holiday season creeps in, Wynn Macau is unveiling its ‘Winter Solstice Touch’, a sea-sonal spa treatment to keep you warm through the coldest days of winter.

revel to use new name under brookfield ownership oriental inspired journey this winter at forbes five-star spas at wynn macau

ved a USD110 million sale to Brookfield on Oct. 7. The sale has yet to be completed, Revel said in a court filing.

In the course of asking court permission to terminate a li-cense to use the Revel trade-mark, the casino said Brook-field won’t be using the name when the property reopens.

From December 22 to March 31 guests can enjoy ‘Winter Solstice Touch’ at both The Spa at Wynn and The Spa at Enco-re. During the 90-minute treat-ment, master therapists take a

Narayanan Somasundaram

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ) suspended seven

traders amid an investiga-tion by regulators into whe-ther market participants tried to influence Australia’s benchmark interest rates.

ANZ’s internal review and the investigation by the Aus-tralian Securities & Invest-ments Commission “may not be complete for some time,” the bank said in a statement yesterday. Since mid-2012, ASIC has inquired into possi-ble manipulation of the bank-bill swap rate, or BBSW, the local equivalent of the Lon-don interbank offered rate, by 14 banks that contributed prices to the rate-setting pro-cess. ANZ didn’t name the traders in yesterday’s state-ment.

Banks across the globe have paid billions of dollars in fi-nes and made legal provi-sions as regulators probed rigging of foreign-exchange markets and benchmark in-terest rates including Libor. ASIC said in July that traders from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc sought to mani-pulate the Australian ben-chmark, and in January that traders from BNP Paribas SA tried to influence the French lender’s submissions on it.

“It’s a good opportunity for ASIC to assert its authority given it’s been criticized for not doing enough on market manipulation,” said Mar-tin Smith, a senior market analyst with Sydney-based

VolkswaGen will expand carmaking in China more

than planned as the German ma-nufacturer tries to keep pace with growth in its largest market.

Volkswagen will raise its Chine-se plant capacity to more than the previously targeted 4 million au-tos a year by 2018, Jochem Heiz-mann, head of the carmaker’s business in the country, told re-porters Tuesday. That compares with capacity there of more than 3.1 million vehicles in 2013.

The carmaker’s sales growth in China has slowed in recent mon-ths because it hasn’t been able to manufacture enough vehicles, Heizmann said at the press brie-fing in the southern city of Guan-gzhou. Volkswagen is the top fo-reign automaker in China, and it builds cars in the country for its main VW brand and the Audi and Skoda marques with local part-ners FAW Car Co. and SAIC Mo-tor Corp.

“It’s really a topic of having no more capacity available,” he said. Volkswagen’s Chinese plan-ts “are at present producing on more than 300 days per year. We’re producing every weekend as well.”

China is a crucial part of Wol-fsburg-based Volkswagen’s plan to surpass Toyota as the world’s largest auto manufacturer by 2018. The German company is poised to retain its top sales rank in China this year with deliveries forecast at more than 3.6 million vehicles, about a 10 percent gain.

The company is preparing for the opening of plants in cities such as Changsha, Heizmann said. It star-ted construction of a factory in Qingdao, in eastern China, earlier this month. Bloomberg

Customers use Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. automated teller machines in Sydney

VW to raise Chinese capacity to more than 4m cars

ANZ suspends 7 traders as regulator reviews swaps rates

research firm East & Part-ners Pty. “If the misconduct is clear, ASIC needs to act swiftly.”

Royal Bank of Scotland agreed July 21 to make a A$1.6 million (USD1.4 million) vo-luntary contribution toward financial literacy projects af-ter acknowledging limited instances of communications discussing the rate setting. UBS AG and BNP Paribas agreed to make a A$1 million contribution Dec. 23 and Jan. 28 respectively, according to statements from ASIC.

“ASIC can confirm it is in-vestigating ANZ, including the conduct of individuals, as part of its wider probe into the BBSW submission pro-cess and trading in reference bank bills,” Daniel Wright, a Sydney based spokesman for the commission, said in an e-mailed statement, without commenting further.

ANZ Chief Risk Officer Ni-

gel Williams said the bank is “taking the precaution of having seven staff involved in markets trading step down pending completion of the investigation into practices” over a period ending in 2013.

“We have been treating this matter very seriously and we are continuing to cooperate fully with ASIC,” Williams said in the statement. The potential outcomes from the regulator’s inquiries include civil and cri-minal penalties, ANZ said.

The Australian Financial Markets Association shut the rate-setting panel last year and moved to a mecha-nism where the benchmark is compiled directly using prices from brokers and elec-tronic markets.

At least A$350 billion of Australian syndicated loans and floating-rate bonds are priced off BBSW, according to data compiled by Bloom-berg last year. Trading of

swaps, forward rate agree-ments and options tied to BBSW was valued at more than A$8.7 trillion in the 2009 financial year, accor-ding to a letter from the Aus-tralian Financial Markets As-sociation to global banking regulators in 2010.

BBSW rates “substantially differed” from Libor in that lenders were required to make submissions based on the average mid-rate obser-ved on bank bills, while Li-bor is subjective and not tied to observable transactions, ASIC said yesterday.

Singapore’s central bank said this month that it gave back as much as S$12 billion ($9.2 billion) taken from 19 lenders last year as a penalty for trying to manipulate ben-chmark rates. The lenders took steps to prevent a recur-rence of attempts to rig rates, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said. Bloomberg

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Revel filed for creditor pro-tection in June with a propo-sed Chapter 11 plan contem-plating a sale. The company said this week that the plan must be modified and asked the bankruptcy judge to extend its exclusive plan-filing rights until March 16.

Before a plan can be filed, Revel said, it must resolve dis-putes over real estate taxes. To that end, the casino this week asked the judge to abrogate a settlement made in an earlier bankruptcy that fixed the tax assessment at $1.15 billion.

Revel said the property is “grossly” over-assessed, giving it the highest taxes among the casinos in Atlantic City, even though it sold for only $110 million.

holistic approach by combining Oriental techniques to detoxi-fy and energize the body and spirit.

The pampering begins with a scalp massage to take stress away and bring you into a state of euphoria. Drawing from the Orient’s most soothing practi-ces, guests then enjoy an in-tensive full body massage that combines stretching, chi ba-lancing and Chinese pressure point technique, relieving sto-red tension, stimulating body circulation and promoting a healthy energy flow along the body’s meridians.

The final touch is a deep-tissue massage, using a blend of war-med rosemary, ginger, lavender and black pepper oils that reju-venate the skin, resulting in a feeling of uplifting energy and a deep sense of relaxation.

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FORUM中葡論壇published in partnership with macauhub.com.mo

ad

Bureaucratic constraints on the financing of in-vestment projects

in Angola are being over-come with the approval of several orders that allow easier access to loans, An-gola’s Minister for the Eco-nomy said in Ndalatando.

Minister Abraão Gourgel was speaking at the end of a visit to investment pro-jects in Kwanza Norte pro-vince funded under the Angola Investe program, moments after meeting with local businessmen who told him about cons-traints on private invest-ment, especially those related to granting work visas to skilled personnel and the repayment period of credit received.

At the meeting, the busi-nessmen said that the de-lay in the renewal of work

A new issue of banknotes approved by the go-vernment of Cape Verde is expected to go into

circulation later this year, according to pan-African news agency Panapress.

The issue consists of new notes of 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 escudos and honors Cape Verdean figures from the world of culture and politics, inclu-ding deceased songstress Cesaria Evora and the first president of Cape Verde, Aristides Pereira.

Announcing the decision to allow the central bank to issue new notes, the spokesman for the govern-ment and Minister of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Demis Lobo said that the notes, whi-ch contain technological advances and “innovati-ve” security features also replenish the amount of cash in circulation, which is considered low.

According to the ordinance, the new 200-escu-do note honors the physician and Cape Verdean writer Henrique Teixeira de Sousa and his native island, Fogo.

The poet Jorge Barbosa, one of the founders of the Claridade literary movement, and his island, Santiago, will be honored on the new 500-escudo note.

The new 1000 escudo notes has a picture of musi-cian and composer Codé di Dona, whose real name was Gregório Vaz, one of the foremost exponents of funaná music.

Singer Cesaria Evora’s “morna” music will be honored on the 2,000 escudo note, while the first President of the Republic of Cape Verde, Aristides Maria Pereira, as well as his native island, Boa Vis-ta, will be on the 5,000 escudo note, the highest value. MDT/Macauhub

Cape Verde to issue new banknotes

constraints on private investment include difficulties in granting work visas to skilled personnel

The road that leads to Luanda’s port, where about 80 percent of cargo shipped to Angola is processed, according to Bloomberg news agency

anGola

Gov’t facilitates lending to entrepreneurs

permits jeopardizes some projects and the minis-ter replied that this was a matter “we have to solve or at least help with,” ac-cording to Angolan news agency Angop.

These bureaucratic pro-cesses, he said, would also be simplified with the approval of several orders, one of which has already been approved an will reduce the cost of

founding a company, and another, being approved by parliament, simpli-fying the creation of com-mercial companies.

The province of Kwanza Norte has over ten in-vestment projects appro-ved for funding by the Angola Investe program. MDT/Macauhub

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China, a week after unvei-ling an accord aimed at li-

miting carbon emissions, plans to cap the increasing rate at which it consumes energy to 28 percent for the seven-year pe-riod to 2020.

The nation is targeting energy use equivalent to an annual 4.8 billion metric tons of standard coal by 2020, according to a statement issued by the Sta-te Council yesterday. China’s energy use surged 45 percent in the seven years to 2013, accor-ding to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The statement marks the la-test attempt by China’s policy makers to limit the nation’s appetite for energy. Reflecting its rapid industrialization and

Kana Nishizawa

The flood of buy or-ders for Shanghai

shares through the Hong Kong exchange link has slowed to a trickle two days after the program’s debut.

Net purchases of main-land equities by global in-vestors totaled 2.6 billion yuan (USD425 million) yesterday, down from about 4.8 billion yuan on Tuesday and the maxi-mum 13 billion yuan on Nov. 17. Hong Kong sto-ck buying slowed 68 per-cent from Tuesday to 253 million yuan. The Shan-ghai Composite Index

Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.

Birds fly as the sun sets through haze in Beijing

More ‘Ghost Train’ than ‘Through Train’ as Shanghai stock link flows plunge

slipped 0.2 percent and shares of Hong Kong Ex-changes & Clearing Ltd. posted the biggest three-day drop since 2011.

The tumble in demand Tuesday spurred CLSA Ltd. to call the program a “Ghost Train,” a referen-ce to the so-called Throu-gh Train plan to let main-land investors buy Hong Kong shares in 2007. That proposal sent the Hang Seng Index surging before being abandoned. While CLSA analysts said it’s too early to judge the sustainable level of tra-ding through the link, they said usage so far has been disappointing

and profit projections for Hong Kong’s bourse may be cut.

“While the bulls will point to rumors that many investors are wai-ting on the sidelines for now, the bears will point to the already huge visible fall in demand,” Marcus Liu, a Hong Kong-based analyst at CLSA, wrote in a report. “Our expec-tations on Stock Connect are at the bottom end of consensus.”

Hao Hong, a managing director for research at Bocom International Holdings Co., called the debut an “anticlimax,” while Yuliang Chang, the

Beijing plans to slow energy consumption increase to 28pct by 2020

economic growth, China has become a voracious consu-mer of energy, changing global energy markets and the geopo-litics of energy security.

The goals set by the State Cou-ncil represent a road map for China’s energy development strategy until 2020 and are con-tained in a paper dated June 7. The document, compiled before President Xi Jinping last week said China will strive to doub-le the amount of energy it gets from zero-emission sources in the next 16 years, aims to cut coal consumption in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze Delta region.

As part of the State Council plan, the government also tar-

gets getting 15 percent of its energy from non-fossil fuels, more than 10 percent from natural gas and less than 62 percent from coal. The nation will limit coal consumption to about 4.2 billion tons by 2020.

The targets are set against the backdrop of increasing envi-ronmental pollution, which is pressuring China’s authorities to curb coal consumption and increase the share of lower-e-mission technology used in energy production.

Coal accounted for 66 percent of China’s energy consumption last year, according to the sta-tistics bureau. The U.S. gets about 30 percent of its elec-tricity from coal, according to

Bloomberg New Energy Finan-ce data.

Global coal demand surged by more than 50 percent in the 10 years to 2013, with China the principal source of the increase, the International Energy Agen-cy said in its most recent World Energy Outlook. China surpas-sed the European Union as the world’s largest net coal impor-ter in 2012, the IEA said.

China aims to have coal-bed methane output of 30 billion cubic meters by 2020 and sha-le gas production of above 30 billion cubic meters, according to the statement.

The country has said its car-bon dioxide emissions will peak in 2030 but has yet to announ-

ce at what level.The environmental group

Greenpeace said the 2020 coal target is too lenient, and shou-ld only allow 8 percent growth.

“That’s something we would really like to change,” said Li Shuo, Greenpeace East Asia’s senior climate and energy offi-cer. “It’s not a very progressive situation. We have more poten-tial to even move further down.”

The world’s second-biggest economy also plans to install as much as 58 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2020, with an additional 30 gigawatts or more under construction by then. China has about 15 gi-gawatts of nuclear power at the moment. Bloomberg/AP

smog returns to hazardous level after days of apec blue

smoG in Beijing jumped to haz-ardous levels, dashing hopes the capital would hold on to pollution-free skies that marked last week’s summit of world leaders. The fog blanketing the capital was a stark contrast to the clean air, dubbed APEC Blue, that resulted from smog-control efforts ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-tion forum. The concentration of fine particulates known as PM2.5 was 406 micrograms per cubic meter at 4 p.m. yesterday in down-town Beijing, the Municipal Envi-ronmental Monitoring Center said.Yesterday’s pollution levels ex-ceeded World Health Organization

recommendations for 24-hour exposure by almost 16 times and demonstrated the challenge city leaders will face as they seek to make good on pledges to make “APEC Blue” permanent. The offi-cial Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday that Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing and is China’s biggest steel-producing region, will try to shift some pro-duction abroad. Hebei will move production of 5 million metric tons of steel, 5 million tons of ce-ment and about 150,000 tons of glass overseas by 2017 and eyes a more ambitious goal by 2023, ac-cording to Xinhua.

chief China and Hong Kong equities strategist at Deutsche Bank AG, said initial flows are disa-ppointing on both sides of the link.

One reason for the weak demand is that share pri-ces had already surged in anticipation of the link, said Wu Kan, a money manager at Shanghai-ba-sed Dragon Life Insuran-ce Co., which oversees about $3.3 billion.

The Shanghai Compo-site reached a three-year high on Nov. 12, while the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong shares traded at the highest in almost two months on Nov. 14.

“News of the stock con-nect has already been fully digested and priced in,” Wu said. “Investors won’t enter the markets to buy shares at such le-vels now.”Bloomberg

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Dominic Lau and Janet Ong

HonG Kong will seek to remove barricades erected by pro-de-mocracy protesters

in the Mong Kok district as early as tomorrow, amid sig-

Chinese censors have newly blocked access to

several popular websites as they target content delivery networks that serve much of the Internet, according to a U.S. Internet service com-pany.

The action comes as China hosts the World Internet Con-ference, which brings together many of the world’s top techno-logy companies.

EdgeCast, an affiliate of Ve-rizon, says censors have taken down several networks that provide local servers to help speed website performance. EdgeCast provides such a ne-twork, and its clients include software company Mozilla, pu-blishing company The Atlantic

Pro-democracy protesters use a fence to break the glass window of the Legislative Council

Alibaba founder Jack Ma

honG KonG

Bailiffs to move on Mong Kok protest sites after Admiralty clash

ns of escalating tension after some demonstrators broke into lawmakers’ offices.

A small group of protesters smashed through a glass door of the Legislative Council bui-lding in the Admiralty district early yesterday using metal

barricades and concrete blo-cks. Police used pepper spray to repel people who charged at them, footage broadcast on Ca-ble TV Hong Kong showed.

The clash yesterday morning is another sign the movement is splintering, with pro-demo-

cracy lawmakers and student leaders unable to restrain the demonstrators. The protesters want China to reverse its de-cision that candidates for the city’s 2017 leadership election be vetted by a committee, a process they say renders the concept of universal suffrage meaningless.

“We don’t understand the point of the action,” Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, told reporters today, referring to the break-in. Still, “the gover-nment in some way is pushing citizens into action as they have no options.”

Protesters’ options are shrin- king after their attempts to ne-gotiate with the government failed, a trip by representati-ves to Beijing was thwarted and Hong Kong courts issued injunctions for the removal of some barricades.

“The use of violence is defini-tely against the umbrella move-ment’s emphasis as that of using peaceful, non-violent means to fight for full democracy,” Alan Leong, leader of the Civic Par-ty, said in a briefing with other legislators. “It seriously under-mines” the movement.

“Umbrella movement” refers to protesters’ use of umbrellas as shields against pepper spray. The demonstrations, in their ei-ghth week, are the largest since China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997.

Hong Kong police condemned yesterday’s action and reitera-ted that “any acts endangering public order and public safety will not be tolerated.” Six peo-ple were arrested and three po-lice officers were injured, the government said in a statement.

Court bailiffs on Tuesday re-moved barricades outside Citic Tower in the Admiralty district with little resistance from de-monstrators. High Court Chief Judge Andrew Cheung Kui

-nung ruled last week that bai-liffs can remove obstructions at two protest sites in Mong Kok on the north side of Victoria Harbor and at Citic Tower.

Bailiffs and police may under-take the Mong Kok clearance as early as today, the South China Morning Post said yesterday, citing an unidentified police official. They may first clear Argyle Street before moving on to dislodge the larger crowd on Nathan Road, a main north-south thoroughfare in the dis-trict, the SCMP said.

At least 3,000 police officers, more than a 10th of the city’s force, will go to the densely po-pulated residential, shopping and entertainment district, the newspaper said.

Mong Kok was the scene of some of the most violent clashes during the protests for free elections.

“Some protesters have not com-plied with protest leaders in Mong Kok and that’s the loose canon,” said Michael Davis, a law pro-fessor at the University of Hong Kong. Students would demons-trate their respect for the rule of law by cooperating, he said.

Chiu Luen Public Light Bus Co., a plaintiff in a civil court case to dislodge the demons-trators, on Tuesday published a court injunction in the Sing Tao Daily asking protesters to stop occupying public roads in Mong Kok, a step toward having baili-ffs enforce the court order. The city government hasn’t yet said when clearance will start.

The protesters are losing pu-blic support that surged in af-ter an earlier police attempts to disperse them by using tear gas and pepper spray. About 67 percent of people surveyed said the activists should give up their street occupation im-mediately, a poll conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11 showed. Bloomberg

Censors block websites as Internet meeting begins and content management sys-tem Drupal.

The online activist group Greatfire.org said yesterday that it was the target of the Chinese action, which blocked many other sites that use Ed-geCast. The group enables Chi-nese Internet users to access websites otherwise blocked by Chinese censors. EdgeCast did not confirm Greatfire.org’s sta-tement.

A Greatfire.org co-founder, who goes by the pseudonym Charlie Smith, said they had chosen to use several content delivery networks knowing that any move to take down their site would affect others.

“We knew that ahead of time,” he said. “It was our feeling that

the authorities would not take that kind of action.”

China employs thousands of

censors who block hundreds of websites and erase social media messages dealing with sensiti-

ve political topics. At the same time, it claims some of the wor-ld’s most popular online sites, including e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma told the Internet conference yester-day that China’s online strength is bound to transform the Web. Outside the conference hall, several protesters were detai-ned after holding up a banner demanding that China allow access to sites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter.

“I believe China’s Internet is not only profoundly influencing aspects of China’s economic de-velopment but is also participa-ting in the development of the Internet across the world,” Ma told the conference. AP

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Nirmala George, New Delhi

The bodies of four women were found inside an In-

dian guru’s heavily fortified ashram, police said yesterday, a day after security forces tried to storm the sprawling complex and arrest the spiritual leader.

Sant Rampal, 63, is believed to be holed up inside the compou-nd in Haryana state, protected by thousands of devotees, many of them armed, according to police. Nearly 200 people were injured Tuesday as riot police tried to force their way into the ashram.

Rampal is wanted by police for questioning in a 2006 mur-der case.

As of yesterday afternoon, police had not managed to enter the 5-hectare complex. Shriniwas Vashisht, director-general of police in Haryana, said the bodies of four women were handed over to authorities from inside.

It was not clear how the wo-men died. Autopsies were being conducted, he said.

Vashisht said thousands of people were pouring out of the ashram yesterday, including

Five Thai university students were de-

tained yesterday after giving a three-fingered salute inspired by “The Hunger Games” to the army-backed prime mi-nister in a daring protest against the country’s military government.

The students, wearing T-shirts saying, “Don’t Want a Coup,” stood up with their backs to Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha whi-le he spoke on a stage in Khon Kaen, a city in the northeast, an area that is a stronghold of former Premier Thak-sin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

They raised three fin-gers above their heads, a symbol of resistance inspired by the book trilogy and Hollywood blockbuster, before po-lice escorted them out.

Niniek Karmini, Jakarta

The first Christian governor of the Indonesian capital in 50

years was sworn in yesterday des-pite loud protests from Islamic har-d-liners who insisted Jakarta’s top political job go to a Muslim.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Pro-testant who is also the first ethnic Chinese to become an Indonesian governor, had gained a reputation as deputy governor for being ou-tspoken and combatting corrup-tion and cutting red tape. He is better known by Chinese nickname “Ahok.”

Indonesia is the world’s most po-pulous Muslim nation, where 87 percent of its 250 million people are Muslim. Christians make up about 10 percent.

Purnama, 48, took the oath of office in a ceremony presided over by Pre-sident Joko Widodo — the city’s pre-vious leader before he became presi-dent last month — at the state palace in Jakarta, where 10,000 police and soldiers were deployed for security.

Supporters of controversial Indian guru Sant Rampal displaying his photographs, chant slogans praising him as they gather to show support at a protest venue near the Indian Parliament in New Delhi

inDia

Bodies of 4 women found after police raid guru’s ashram

many who apparently had been held against their will, but that 5,000 to 6,000 still remained inside.

Rampal and 38 others were charged with murder and other offenses after a violent clash be-tween his supporters and ano-

ther group killed one person in July 2006. He was freed on bail, which was canceled in July after his followers entered a cour-

troom and threatened lawyers.Since 2010, Rampal, an engi-

neer-turned-guru, has ignored 43 court summonses, seeking exemptions each time. The court set a final deadline for him to appear in court on Mon-day, which he also ignored.

Rampal’s supporters say he is too ill to make the 250-kilome-ter journey from his ashram in Haryana’s Hisar district to the court in the state capital, Chan-digarh.

Thousands of police and pa-ramilitary troops have erected barricades on the road leading to the ashram. People leaving the compound were being sear-ched and questioned before being dropped at bus and train stations to return to their ho-mes, officials said.

Several people who left the ashram said Rampal’s armed supporters had attempted to stop them.

“They closed and locked the gates inside the compound and would not let us out,” said Bi-render Satya, who had traveled from central India with his mo-ther to listen to Rampal’s prea-ching.

Police said a group of armed supporters was detaining wo-men and children in the ashram to act as human shields.

“They know that we will not allow innocent women and chil-dren to be caught in the crossfi-re and they are taking advanta-ge of that,” Vashisht said.

Police appealed to Rampal to give himself up so no more lives are lost. AP

thailanD

Protesters flash ‘Hunger Games’ sign at PM

The five men from Khon Kaen University were taken to a police station and then an army camp, where they questioned by soldiers, human ri-ghts lawyer Sasinan Thamnithinan said. She said they have not been charged.

Thai protesters used the salute immediately after the May 22 coup, but have mostly stopped amid police crackdowns on demonstrations.

In “The Hunger Ga-mes,” the salute symbo-lizes rebellion against totalitarian rule, signi-fying thanks, admira-tion and good-bye to a loved one. But Thai pro-testers have also cited the French Revolution’s values of liberty, equa-lity, fraternity, while others said it means freedom, election and

democracy.Prayuth, often prickly

with critics, stopped his speech when the stu-dents stood, and smiled calmly. “Anyone else wants to protest? Come quickly. Then I can con-tinue with my speech,” he said into the micro-phone as the audience chuckled.

Since taking power from a civilian, elected government in May, the military has heavily suppressed resistance from opposition groups and activists. Martial law, invoked a few days before the coup, remains in effect and bans politi-cal gatherings of five or more people.

“Mockingjay,” the third movie in the “The Hunger Games” series, opens in Thai cinemas today. AP

inDonEsia

Jakarta gets a Christian governor

Purnama’s term runs until 2017.Islamic hard-liners have held

street protests against Purnama’s installment as governor of the city of 12 million. The Islamic Defenders Front, a hard-line group known by its Indonesian acronym FPI, has vowed to stage weekly protests against him. FPI has a long record of vandalizing nightspots, hurling stones at Western embassies and at-tacking rival religious groups.

Jakarta’s first Christian governor was Henk Ngantung from 1964 to 1965. Christians are spread out une-venly across the Indonesian archi-pelago, with larger concentrations in northern Sulawesi island and some other eastern islands.

Born as Zhong Wan Xie off of Su-matra island, Purnama was elected to Indonesia’s legislature in 2009, and was installed as Jakarta deputy governor three years later.

Ethnic Chinese make about 15 per-cent of the country, and were sub-ject to government discrimination during the dictatorship of Suharto that ended in 1998. AP

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Cara Anna, United Nations

The world’s boldest effort yet to hold North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un

accountable for alleged cri-mes against humanity moved forward Tuesday at the Uni-ted Nations, where a Pyon-gyang envoy threatened fur-ther nuclear tests.

The U.N. General Assem-bly’s human rights commi-ttee approved a resolution that urges the Security Cou-ncil to refer the country’s harsh human rights situation to the International Crimi-nal Court. The non-binding resolution now goes to the General Assembly for a vote in the coming weeks. China and Russia, which hold veto power on the council, voted against it.

The resolution was inspired by a groundbreaking U.N. com-mission of inquiry report early this year that declared North Korea’s human rights situation “exceeds all others in duration, intensity and horror.”

The U.N committee has adopted similar resolutions on the North’s abysmal hu-man rights conditions in the past. But the fact that this year’s resolution includes the new idea that their absolute leader could be targeted by prosecutors has pushed the communist country to make a more furious response as that would pose a setback to its recent efforts to improve ties with the outside world to lure foreign investment and aid and revive the country’s troubled economy. North Ko-rean officials would also view the resolution as a potential embarrassment to their you-ng leader who took power after the death of his dicta-tor father Kim Jong Il in late 2011.

North Korea sent a sharp warning in comments before the vote. Trying to punish it over human rights “is com-pelling us not to refrain any further from conducting nu-clear tests,” said Choe Myong Nam, a foreign ministry advi-ser for U.N. and human righ-ts issues. His colleagues gave no details on that threat.

Choe also accused the Eu-ropean Union and Japan, the resolution’s co-sponsors, of “subservience and sycophan-cy” to the United States, and he promised “unpredictable and serious consequences” if the resolution went forward.

The European Union qui-ckly issued a statement wel-coming the support of 111 countries in the vote. Nine-teen countries voted against, and 55 abstained.

“It is admirable that the member states of the United Nations are acting to protect the people of North Korea when their own government

A man watches a TV news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, showing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

the mere possibility that its leader could be targeted by prosecutors has put north Korean officials, once dismissive of human rights issues, on edge

noRth KoREa

UN human rights probe against Kim Jon Un moves ahead fails to do so,” the head of the commission of inquiry, retired Australian judge Mi-chael Kirby, said in an email, adding that he is confident the Security Council will “act responsibly.”

Human rights groups tur-ned their attention to Chi-na and Russia, which could block any Security Council move. “No Security Council country, including China, can deny the horror endured

by so many North Koreans,” Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement just after the vote. “The time has come for justice.”

North Korea and its allies have argued that a resolution that targets a single country would set a dangerous prece-dent and that other develo-ping countries could be sin-gled out, too.

The resolution says the com-mission of inquiry report fou-nd grounds to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed under poli-cies “established at the highest level of the State for decades.” It calls for targeted sanctions against the people who appear to be most responsible. The commission of inquiry earlier warned Kim Jong Un that cou-ld include him.

Cuba proposed an amend-ment that would have stri-pped out the tough language on the ICC, but the commit-tee’s member countries voted that down earlier Tuesday.

The mere possibility that its leader could be targe-ted by prosecutors has put

North Korean officials, once dismissive of human righ-ts issues, on edge. In recent weeks, it dangled the possi-bility of a visit by the U.N. human rights chief, among other attempts at outreach.

“The North Koreans are strongly responding to the U.N. resolution because they think it’s shaking the young leader who’s been trying to consolidate his power since inheriting power only a few years ago,” said Lim Eul Chul, a North Korea expert at Sou-th Korea’s Kyungnam Uni-versity. “They would think their international image has been seriously hit.”

But the North is unlikely to make good on its threat to conduct a nuclear test becau-se the country knows such an action would invite further international condemnation. Also, there is little chance that Russia and China will let the Security Council refer the North’s human rights situa-tion to the ICC in The Hague, analysts said.

“North Korea’s reaction will mostly be verbal. They may threaten nuclear and missi-

le tests, but they probably won’t carry them out,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Ko-rean Studies in Seoul.

In the chamber Tuesday, a North Korean foreign minis-try adviser, Kim Ju Song, was witnessed trying to get a U.N. official to eject Shin Dong-Hyuk, a young man who fled North Korea and has since spoken out against the Pyon-gyang regime.

The commission of inquiry report was based on inter-views with dozens of people like Shin who had fled and detailed abuses including starvation and a system of harsh prison camps con-taining up to 120,000 people.

North Korea has accused people who cooperated with the commission of inquiry of lying, and it produced a video showing Shin’s father in Nor-th Korea condemning him.

But Shin, who bowed to Ja-pan’s ambassador in thanks after the vote, said North Korea’s attempt to intimida-te him and others backfired. “This was an overwhelming defeat,” he said. AP

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Lori Hinnant, Paris

A second French militant has been identified in the video

showing a beheaded American aid worker and the deaths of Syrian soldiers, France’s presi-dent said yesterday, calling for vigilance on “how these young people can be indoctrinated.”

Speaking in Canberra, Austra-lia, President Francois Hollan-de said yesterday that the roles of the two men have yet to be determined precisely.

“All we can say for now is that there are two French peo-ple who have been identified,” Hollande said.

Government officials on Mon-day identified 22-year-old Ma-xime Hauchard among the Islamic State militants see in the video announcing the dea-th of aid worker Peter Kassig. Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre of the Paris prosecutor’s office said there was a “strong presump-tion” that Michael Dos Santos, a 22-year-old from the Paris suburbs who like Hauchard left for Syria in August 2013, was among those wielding knives in the video.

European jihadis have taken an increasingly visible role in propaganda by the Islamic State group, as the militants try to de-

Michael Weissenstein, Havana

A member of the 165-member medical

team Cuba sent to fight Ebola in Sierra Leone has been diagnosed with the disease, according to sta-te media.

Dr. Felix Baez Sarria is being treated by British doctors in Africa but he will be transferred to a special unit in Geneva at the recommendation of the World Health Organi-zation, Cuban state media said, citing the island’s Ministry of Public Health.

Cuba won global prai-se for sending at least 256 medical workers to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea to help treat Ebola patients. State of-ficials have emphasized the medics’ high state of readiness for the mission, saying the doctors, nurses and support staff received weeks of instruction in protective measures and equipment.

Once in Africa, the Cubans got two to three weeks of additional

Frances D’Emilio, Rome

Recruits for Italy’s ‘ndrangheta crime syndicate have been cau-

ght on video taking a loyalty oath, swearing “under the splendor of the moon,” in a ceremony secretly recor-ded by police in what investigators called authorities’ first such glimpse of the ritual.

Carabinieri paramilitary police in Milan on Tuesday released video of what they said were two “convivial” get-togethers of suspected mobsters at a farmhouse in Castello di Brian-za, northern Italy, with one recruit as young as 17.

The oath reminds the recruits that traitors are expected to kill themsel-ves and to keep an extra bullet handy in case it comes to that.

Investigators did not explain how they managed to film at the cere-mony. Prosecutors said it was the first time authorities have obtained video of an ‘ndrangheta initiation ri-tual. The same investigation led to 38 arrests. The probe concentrated on loans mobsters made to businesses in northern Italy and Switzerland that were unable to get credit otherwise.

In a separate intercepted phone call, one suspect says to tell someone re-luctant to repay money: “I will cut his head off.’”

Milan prosecutor Ilda Boccassini said the video shows how “the force

This still image taken from an undated video published on the Internet by the Islamic State group shows a militant that the French government says is Frenchman Maxime Hauchard

Nurse Dalila Martinez, trainer of the Cuban medical team to travel to Sierra Leone, washes her gloved hands during a practice drill at a training camp in Havana

In this photo taken from a video provided by the Italian Carabinieri (paramilitary police), people identified by police as Italian cryme sindicate ‘ndrangheta members kiss each other

islaMic statE

2nd French militant seen in beheading video

monstrate a global profile. Fran-ce is a significant source of its foreign recruits, with hundreds who have made the trip and about 1,100 under surveillance, officials said this week.

Western officials fear that an Islamic militant with a Eu-ropean passport could return from the war zone with dan-gerous skills and the means to reach more than two dozen countries undetected. More than 2,000 Europeans are be-lieved to be among an estimated 15,000 foreigners who have joi-ned the fighting, most of them for the Islamic State group, ac-cording to various government and analyst estimates.

The Islamic State group has declared a self-styled Islamic caliphate in areas under its con-trol, which it governs according to its violent interpretation of Shariah law. AP

cUba

Doctor catches Ebola in Sierra Leone

training before heading into the field. They were to be quarantined in Afri-ca for weeks at the end of their six-month mission before returning to Cuba.

State media said that Baez, an internal medici-ne specialist, came down with a fever of more than 100 degrees on Sunday and was diagnosed with Ebola the following day.

Cuban officials did not say how he caught the di-sease or immediately re-lease any other informa-

tion about the case, the first reported among the health workers the island sent to Africa.

Early symptoms of Ebo-la include fever, heada-che, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and patien-ts aren’t contagious until those begin. The virus re-quires close contact with body fluids to spread so health care workers and family members caring for loved ones are most at risk.

Ebola has killed more than 5,000 people in the west African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Cuba is one of the lar-gest global contributors of medical workers to the fight against Ebola, a commitment that has drawn rare praise from the U.S. and focused wor-ldwide attention on the island’s unique program of medical diplomacy, which deploys armies of doctors to win friends abroad and earn billions a year in desperately nee-ded foreign exchange. AP

italy

Mobsters take secret oath in police video

of tradition” helps the ‘ndrangheta, a global cocaine trafficking organiza-tion, to thrive.

Suspected mobsters are seen kissing each other on the cheek in greeting. The ‘ndrangheta, rooted in the sou-thern Calabrian region, has spread north as it invested illicit revenues.

In another scene, four males huddle together as words of a loyalty oath are repeated.

“Right in this holy evening, in the si-lence of the night, under the light of the stars and under the splendor of the moon, I create the holy chain...the holy society,” one man says. AP

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資訊／娛樂

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this day in history

General Francisco Franco, who ruled Spain with an authori-tarian hand for 39 years, has died at the age of 82.

He had been ill for five weeks and died early this morning at La Paz hospital, Madrid. Doctors said the cause of death was heart failure aggravated by peritonitis.

Flags all around the country are at half-mast and the gene-ral’s body is now lying in state at the El Pardo Palace.

Franco, also know as the Generalissimo, will be buried next week at the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum.

The Prime Minister, Carlos Arias Navarro, his voice trem-bling with emotion, announced the death at 1000 local time on radio.

He said that on his deathbed General Franco had asked his enemies to forgive him.

“I ask pardon of all my enemies, as I pardon with all my heart all those who declared themselves my enemy, although I did not consider them to be so,” the general had said.

He also asked the Spanish people to remain loyal to Prince Juan Carlos, his designated successor who will be sworn in as king tomorrow.

In a veiled warning to resist separatist movements such as the Basque nationalist group ETA, he advised the nation to “keep the lands of Spain united”.

General Franco successfully led the Nationalist armies against the Loyalists during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, with support from Hitler’s Germany and Italy under Mussolini.

Franco allowed Hitler to use Spain’s naval bases during World War II, then declared Spain neutral in 1943 when it looked like the Allies would win.

Under Franco Spain has enjoyed stability and relative pros-perity, especially after reforms introduced since 1959 that mo-dernised administration and industry.

His regime has also been deeply reactionary, with political parties and non-government trade unions banned, and sepa-ratists and communists repressed.

Leaders of European countries have been guarded in their reaction the dictator’s death and expressed hope that the new king would introduce modern democracy to Spain.

The European Commission expressed “sympathy and friendship for the people of Spain” and condolences to Ge-neral Franco’s widow.

No western European nation will be sending a head of state to the funeral apart from Monaco.

But staunch supporters in South America, such as President Pinochet of Chile and Bolivia’s President Banzer will attend.

In Britain, Labour backbenchers are furious that the gover-nment is sending a representative - Lord Shepherd, the Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords - to the funeral. Stanley Newens, MP for Harlow, said the decision was “an affront to those who fought and died in the Civil War in Spain in the 1930s”.

Courtesy BBC News

1975 spanish dictator franco dies

in context

Prince Juan Carlos was sworn in as King of Spain on 22 November 1975. His speech hinted at democratic reform and tolerance for other cultures within Spain. The following day thousands joined the new king for General Fran-co’s funeral. He was buried at the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum that was built on his orders by prisoners of the Spanish Civil War. King Juan Carlos led Spain to democracy and in 1977 for the first time in four decades free and fair elections were held. In 1978 a new constitution confirmed Spain as parliamentary mon-archy. The king won further respect from liberals after he helped to crush a military coup in 1981. Some regions such as the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia and Andalusia were given a great deal of autonomy, which was then extended to all Spanish regions. But Spain was dogged by separatist violence in a long-running campaign by the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) to promote Basque independence. The group declared a permanent ceasefire in March 2006. The Franco years left the country alienated internationally but after Franco’s death Spain won European support and became a member of the EC, now the EU, in 1986.

Offbeat

He faced execution for failure to perform. But Benjy, the gay bull of Ireland, has been saved following a worldwide appeal backed by “The Simpsons” co-creator Sam Simon.

Ireland’s Animal Rights Action Network said earlier this week that Simon is paying for Benjy’s transportation to an animal sanctuary in England. Simon, who is battling colon cancer, has been giving away much of the fortune from his television career and is a leading donor to animal welfare causes.

Benjy, a Charlerois bull, failed this year to impregnate any heifers at a County Mayo farm in western Ireland. Veterina-rians determined he was fertile, but was more attracted to the bull that replaced him.

After the farmer announced he planned to send Benjy to an abattoir, activists last week launched a social media campaign seeking 5,000 pounds (USD7,825) to send the bull to the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk, England, which is home for about 2,000 unwanted farm animals and horses. About 300 donors contributed 4,000 British pou-nds ($6,200) to an ongoing fundraising drive organized by the British online magazine TheGayUK.

ireland’s gay bull benjy saved from slaughterhouse

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Mar. 21-Apr. 19An uncomfortable social situation awaits — and you may know full well what’s happening even before it hits. That doesn’t mean you can avoid it, though. Just suffer through it and try to learn something.

April 20-May 20You aren’t always jealous — but when you are, things heat up fast! You may feel like asking more of your partner or best friend, but make sure that you’re not just testing them. Who likes that?

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May 21-Jun. 21Your backbone is unbendable today — metaphorically speaking! You can stand up to almost any pressure and make sure that your people are on your side when the chips are finally down.

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Libra Scorpio

Nov. 22-Dec. 21You need to ask yourself some tough questions today — why are you feeling what you’re feeling? Can you make any changes to improve your life? These need answering, and you are sure to surprise yourself.

Dec. 22-Jan. 19A friend calls on you for some serious help — and that’s the kind you’re best at! You may need to give them advice, or they may need assistance in settling a big family dispute. Your wisdom shines through!

Sagittarius Capricorn

Feb.19-Mar. 20You make up your mind — and then almost immediately switch back. It’s hard to move forward on a day like today, but that could be a good thing. More information is sure to come in tomorrow.

Jan. 20-Feb. 18You may be frustrated with career advancement or other long-range goals, but now is not the time to give up. If anything, you need to rethink and retool your plans so they are a bit more realistic.

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SPORTS體育

Rob MaaddiPro Football Writer

SayinG the NFL is “making things up as they go along,” players’ union chief DeMauri-

ce Smith wants the league and its owners to take disciplining players out of the hands of Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Already at odds over the pro-cess used to punish Ray Rice, the dispute heightened yester-day when the league suspen-ded Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson for the rest of the season for using a branch to discipline his 4-year-old son.

The central issue remains the same for both sides: Finding a way to fairly hold players ac-countable for transgressions that damage the credibility and image of the league and its players. The union wants disci-plinary power transferred from Goodell to a neutral arbitra-tor. The league, so far, doesn’t agree.

And while the league and the NFL Players Association want to change the personal conduct policy, the sides disagree on how to do it. The union wants to bargain for changes to the policy, while the NFL wants to implement changes with union input the same way it changes rules on the field, like when it moved kickoffs to the 35-yard line.

Smith told The Associated Press in an email that the lea-gue indicated it was open to discussing the policy as recently as two months ago, but didn’t follow through in coming to the table. He said those discussions were distinct from the union re-presenting Peterson in his case, though on a parallel track.

“There is one fact that does make those things similar thou-gh, and that is the NFL is clear-

Adam Scott will at-tempt to win his third

Australian Masters title in a row on yet another renow-ned Melbourne sand-belt course, and with a tryout caddie on his bag.

Scott went close to winning Australian golf’s so-called “Triple Crown” last year but Rory McIlroy’s birdie on the 18th hole at the Australian Open rele-gated Scott to second place at that tournament.

Today, Scott begins play at Metropolitan, which is hosting the Masters for the first time. Last year, Scott beat American Matt Kuchar by two strokes at Royal Melbourne, success-

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson

Adam Scott

GolF

Scott begins defense of Australian Masters title

fully defending the Austra-lian Masters title he won at Kingston Heath in 2012.

No. 2-ranked Scott, with U.S.-based Englishman David Clark as caddie, will then renew his rivalry with

No. 1 McIlroy in the Aus-tralian Open next week at Sydney.

Scott will also aim to de-fend his Australian PGA title next month at Royal Pines in Queensland state.

“I am very happy with where my game is coming in,” Scott said yesterday. “I had a good summer here last year, so to keep that momentum would be great. I’m hoping to make it three in a row.”

Scott said he always in-tended to play in Australia’s three biggest tournaments of the year. The only other event that attracts interna-tional players in Australia is the Perth International, a joint European Tour event which was held in October.

“If all I have to do to help the game in Australia is play these events, then it is a pretty easy role for me,” he said.

Others in the Australian Masters field include Ame-ricans Kyle Stanley and Boo Weekley. Weekley is also entered in next week’s Open at Sydney, joining Scott, McIlroy and Jordan Spieth at The Australian Golf Club. McIlroy won by a stroke last year at Royal Sydney.

The Masters’ first appea-rance at Metropolitan, which hosted the world match play in 2001, comes with some controversy. Re-cently, a betting agency was confirmed as the primary sponsor of the event, which was first played at nearby Huntingdale in 1979.

At the same time, the

Union, NFL at odds over personal conduct policy

ly making things up as they go along,” Smith said. “Our goal is to pursue a new personal con-duct policy that is fair, transpa-rent and consistent. The only way that happens is if the NFL and the owners commit to col-lective bargaining.”

Troy Vincent, the NFL’s exe-cutive vice president of foo-tball operations, countered that Goodell’s authority was collec-tively bargained with the union in 2011, while the personal con-duct policy in place for nearly 20 years has never been part of contract negotiations.

“The union agreed to the com-missioner maintaining authori-ty to discipline. The league be-lieves it is in the best interest of football to retain that authori-ty,” Vincent said. “The league is following the process dictated by the CBA.”

The union and players helped

to revise the personal conduct policy in 2007, Vincent said. He said the league has had mul-tiple meetings with the union this year on revising the policy using the same approach.

The rules in place have some players and agents wondering if the NFL has too much power and whether the union fell short by agreeing to give Goo-dell central power over discipli-ne in 2011.

Agent Jerrold Colton, who represents New Orleans tackle Jahri Evans, Pittsburgh corner-back William Gay and six-time Pro Bowl kicker David Akers, said the union’s failure to ne-gotiate changes to the personal conduct policy in 2011 was a “tremendous oversight.”

“I felt strongly at the time that it was a mistake and clearly it’s turned out to be one for the players the way it’s played out,

and we’re stuck with it for ano-ther six years,” said Colton, who said the players and league ab-solutely need an independent, third-party arbitrator. “Due process exists in most places in the United States except in the NFL.”

Pittsburgh safety Mike Mit-chell said the personal conduct policy needs more well-defined terms and clear guidelines ba-sed on precedent.

“Right now it’s kind of you know, one man has all the power, and I don’t know if that’s ever really a good thing. Roger does his best but he’s got a lot on his plate that he has to control,” Mitchell said. “I’m not just trying to bash him or come down on him, but players wou-ld feel better if he wasn’t just ju-dge, jury and executioner.”

Peterson pleaded no contest on Nov. 4 to misdemeanor re-

ckless assault in Texas for inju-ries to his 4-year-old son with a branch. He said he intended no harm, only discipline.

Goodell told Peterson he will not be considered for reinstate-ment before April 15 for his vio-lation of the personal conduct policy — the first example of a crackdown on players involved with domestic violence since stricter rules were put in place earlier this season.

The union, which announced it plans an appeal on behalf of Peterson, is demanding a neu-tral arbitrator to oversee the hearing in the same way Rice’s case was handled. Rice is wai-ting for an arbitrator to decide whether his indefinite suspen-sion should be upheld or over-turned. Goodell made Rice’s suspension more severe when video of Rice hitting his then-fiancee was released online.

Goodell has said he hopes to have a new personal conduct policy ready before the Super Bowl.

Vincent said the league’s in-ternal process — including in-vestigation, consulting inde-pendent experts, suspending players with pay and ultimately determining discipline — has been fair and transparent whi-le following the collective bar-gaining agreement.

“In reality, those who are most upset with the personal con-duct policy are those who vio-late it,” Vincent said. “The vast majority of players do not come into contact with the discipline process.” AP

word “Australian” was de-leted from the tournament masthead and replaced with the betting agency name, a move that didn’t sit well with anti-gam-bling groups. It was also too much, it seems, for the website of the century-old Metropolitan club, which continues to refer to the tournament as the Austra-lian Masters and makes no mention of the new spon-sor on its site.

The Australian PGA, sche-duled for Dec. 11-14, will include Scott, Weekley and former champion Robert Allenby, who is the only golfer to win Australia’s Triple Crown in 2005. AP

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Prague wall dedicated to John lennon Painted over

Prague’s colorful wall dedicated to the me-mory of John Lennon has been painted over, leaving just a single message: “Wall is over!”

The wall, located at the heart of the Czech capital in the picturesque Little Quarter nei-ghborhood, began to be painted with Lennon’s images and related graffiti after the Beatle’s as-sassination in 1980.

Under the communist regime, it became a symbol of freedom and opposition to commu-nism and young people used to meet there to li-

ght candles and lay flowers. After the 1989 anti- communist Velvet Revolution, it turned into a tourist attraction.

Recently, messages in support of democracy protests in Hong Kong appeared on the wall, while another Lennon wall sprang up in Hong Kong itself.

A group of art students claimed responsibili-ty for painting the wall white and leaving the message, an apparent play on the words of the Lennon hit “Happy Xmas (War is Over).”

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Michael Hill, Ithaca (NY)

Richard Johnson can see right through the mas-

terpieces of Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

The Cornell University elec-trical and computer enginee-ring professor is a digital art detective, able to unlock the mysteries of a work’s age and authenticity by analyzing its underlying canvas or paper.

Using high-resolution X-ray images, the 64-year-old acade-mic can actually determine if paintings came from the same bolt of hand-loomed canvas, each of which has a varying thread density pattern that can be as unique as a fingerprint. Linking multiple pieces of can-vas to the same bolt can shore up arguments for authenticity and even put works in chrono-logical order.

It’s a valuable service to world- class museums that comes through the unlikely cross- pollinating of traditional art history and contemporary computer science.

“By mixing the two groups we’ve been able to do more than either group had been able to do separately studying the paintings,” Johnson said in a room full of Dutch paintings at Cornell’s Johnson Museum. “We’re not trying to replace the art historian, we’re trying to extend their reach.”

Johnson is a tech whiz and an art lover — the rare person able to speak with authori-ty about Rembrandt’s brush strokes and adaptive feedback systems theory.

Although he didn’t make his first visit to an art museum until he was a student on

DiGital aRt DEtEctivE

Cornell professor unlocks mysteries of paintings

fellowship in Germany, the rooms full of Rembrandts left him thunderstruck.

Johnson melded the two worlds in 2007 with a stint as an adjunct research fellow at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. He began exa-mining high-resolution X-ray images of the canvases used by the 19th century master.

Eventually, Johnson and Rice University professor Don Johnson (no relation) deve-loped digital “weave density maps” of canvases that added computational power to what had been a painstaking pro-cess that required scholars to study small samples with mag-nifying glasses.

“It turns out with the eye, you make mistakes,” said Louis van Tilborgh, senior resear-cher at the Van Gogh museum.

Van Tilborgh sees the weave maps as an important tool in the ongoing work of precisely dating and ordering all of Vin-cent Van Gogh’s paintings.

The technique has also pro-vided evidence to date Die-go Velazquez’s “Sebastian de Morra.” A separate analysis of

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opinion

Leading again. First crony capitaLism now most narcissistic ceos

In April, the Economist magazine placed Hong Kong at the top of the world rankings for crony capitalism. Crony capitalism is whe-re the government and businesses collude or turn a blind eye to allow unfair advantages; to distort or control markets; or to discourage or eliminate competition. Academic resear-ch in Australia has now resulted in another accolade for local business leaders, finding that a pair of Hong Kong CEOs had the hi-ghest individual rankings compared to peers in New York, London and Sydney. However, on average the leaders of the territory’s listed firms were equal with New York. Phew! So on average our leaders are not worse than the self-proclaimed “Masters of the Universe”.

The point of the exercise was to see whether there is a link between reporting inflated profi-ts and high narcissism among CEOs. Well, in New York, the higher the narcissism level the more likely company leaders were to cook the books, amending accounting records to show higher profits. Whether that link can be pro-ven in Hong Kong is still a work in progress for the research team at Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

It may be fine and perfectly legal to glorify a company’s performance but the findings no-ted that the infamous jailed head of Enron - whose questionable actions left many ordi-nary investors deprived of much of their life’s savings - had one of the highest narcissism scores among CEOs of firms listed in the New York stock exchange.

Leaving the Enron-type rogue captains of industry aside, does it matter whether or not business chiefs are highly narcissistic? In ad-dition to this, how do we define a high degree of narcissism? According to business psycho-logists and academics, personality traits are important to identify in order to find the right mix of traits which will culminate in manage-rial success. Likewise, negative personality features need screening out when so much is at stake. One of the traits studied is nar-cissism, particularly in the context of whether modest narcissism is a good attribute for a CEO and of the effects high levels of narcis-sism can have on an individual’s colleagues and company.

Healthy narcissism is considered to be self-confidence, which in turn can be interpreted as charisma, authority and innovation; think Steve Jobs. This impresses boards and sin-gles out individuals for the top jobs. However, research is confirming that CEOs and senior management personnel may be domineering, with, as one definition has it: a sense of en-titlement, grandiosity and low empathy. Es-sentially, they may not perform as effectively in the workplace as it might seem.

In fact a recent study at Stanford Univer-sity demonstrated that among 32 leading US high tech companies, overly narcissistic CEOs, identifiable based on their extraordi-narily high compensation packages, were not consistently successful.

Once again, Hong Kong is leading, first in crony capitalism and now in narcissistic CEOs.

One of the two leaders in the narcissism survey was a Hong Kong CEO based in the property field. Do the big property developers not show an overt sense of self-entitlement, love of grandiose schemes, and with their squeezing of the market also not show low empathy?

HK ObserverRobert Carroll

afghaniSTan a report says half of all medicine available on the afghan market has either been smuggled into the country or made under sub-standard conditions in neighboring Pakistan. it says up to 300 companies in Pakistan are producing poor quality drugs exclusively for afghanistan because their products do not meet Pakistani government standards.

aUSTRalia-fRanCE the French president tells australia’s prime minister that countries should make their own decisions on how to achieve any binding greenhouse gas reduction targets that emerge from a United nations climate change conference in Paris next year. the australian government has been widely criticized for repealing a 2-year-old carbon tax levied on australia’s worst industrial carbon gas polluters aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions.

iRaq a suicide car bomber struck in the heart of the northern iraqi Kurdish city of irbil, killing at least four people, according to initial reports in local Kurdish media. the blast in irbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern iraq, took place near the city’s historic citadel. Mayor nawzad hadi told the state-run Rudaw tv channel that there were casualties, although the number was not immediately known. Rudaw reported separately that at least four people were killed in the blast, including two police officers. The Iraqi Kurdish health ministry reported at least 22 were wounded.

iSRaEli forces demolish the east Jerusalem home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly october attack after Prime Minister benjamin netanyahu promised strict measures to deal with a rising wave of violence in the area.

USa the senate on tuesday blocked a bill to end bulk collection of americans’ phone records by the national security agency, dealing a blow to President barack obama’s primary proposal to rein in domestic surveillance.

24 Johannes Vermeer canva-ses supported the sometimes doubted attribution of one painting and provided fresh evidence to link two paintings at the National Gallery in Lon-don as complementary works.

“It’s one more technical tool in the box of studying pic-tures,” said Walter Liedtke, curator of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, who worked with Johnson on the Vermeers.

“You take this added eviden-ce and you join it with — in the case of the two Vermeers in London — pigment analysis, the iconography of the pictu-res, whether they were toge-ther in their history at earlier dates. “

Researchers have been con-ducting science-based analy-ses of artworks for some time. But it has become more common to use computers to analyze large amounts of digi-tal data. It’s sometimes called computational art history and also includes assessing brushs-trokes for distinctive patterns.

Johnson in recent years has left the canvas to other resear-chers as he focuses on paper. He’s been analyzing the old-fashioned paper used by Rem-brandt for his prints, which was made by laying pulp on screens. Scholars know the dates when Rembrandt etched the copper plates to make the prints, but they are often less sure when an individual print was made. Was it one of the initial prints or did it come years later after the artist’s death?

Johnson is using high-re-solution digital images of Rembrandt prints owned by Cornell’s museum to try to dis-cern patterns that the screens impressed on the back of the prints. Separate prints cut from the same larger sheet of paper could be matched to provide the same sort of con-textual information revealed by studying canvas.

The details are different, but the idea of searching for useful patterns is the same, as is the idea of bridging the gap be-tween art and tech.

“My philosophy all along has been to convince both sides that this is worth doing and they should be talking to each other,” Johnson said. AP

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A watermark depicting a foolscap, upper right center, is seen faintly, on the etching, The Small Lion Hunt (with Two Lions), ca. 1641, by famed Dutch artist, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn

We’re not trying to replace the art historian, we’re trying to extend their reachPRoF. RICHARD JoHNSoN

CoRNELL UNIVERSITY

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