Edisi 22 Juli 2010 | International Bali Post

YK

16 Pages Number 138 2st Year

China beaches closed after oil spill

Price: Rp 3.000,-

PAGE 6 I

N

T

E

R

N

A

T

I

O

N

A

L

e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Indian tourists to Bali up PAGE 8

The “Salt” Premiere Shakes Up Hollywood PAGE 12

AFP PHOTO/YONHAP

The 97,000-ton aircraft carrier USS George Washington arrives at the southern port city of Busan on July 21, 2010 for a fiveday port call. The US aircraft carrier and three destroyers arrived in South Korea ahead of a naval exercise to deter North Korea following the sinking of one of Seoul’s warships.

US to impose new sanctions on North Korea: Clinton Agence France-Presse

SEOUL - The United States will impose new sanctions on North Korea following the sinking of a South Korean warship, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.

WEATHER FORECAST

The sanctions were designed to prevent Pyongyang from funding weapons programmes and spread-

ing weapons of mass destruction, Clinton told a press conference.

She announced measures “to in-

crease our ability to prevent North Korea’s proliferation, to halt their illicit activities that help fund their weapons programmes and to discourage further provocative actions”.

Clinton and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates were visiting South Korea to show support after

the sinking of the ship with the loss of 46 lives.

The US and South Korea, citing findings of a multinational investigation, accuse the North of torpedoing the Cheonan near the disputed Yellow Sea border in March — a charge it denies.

Continued on page 6

CITY

TEMPERATURE OC

DENPASAR

25 - 31

JAKARTA

25 - 31

Mass Ngaben in Padangsambian

BANDUNG

20 - 29

Bali Post

YOGYAKARTA

23 - 33

SURABAYA

25 - 33

Denpasar – Mass cremation ceremony or “ngaben” will be held in Padangsambian village on Friday, July 23rd 2010. The other ceremony as the part of the ngaben was already started on Wednesday, July 21st 2010.

I Gusti Putu Gede Suwira, the head of the village, said that the ceremony is held for the first time in Padangsambian. The fund was taken from the donation, the local bank and from the participants of the mass ngaben.

The peak of the ceremony will be done tomorrow. “The ceremony is for the member of Padangsambian village especially for those who

SUNNY

BRIGHT/CLOUDY

RAIN

HOTLINE

For placing advertisment, please contact: Eka Wahyuni

0361-225764

BISNIS BALI/GUNAWAN

The situation of Mass Cremation that held

by Padangsambian district, Denpasar.

didn’t afford to carry out the ceremony by them self. There is great hope that other village in Denpasar could create the same program,” Suwirya said. I Made Suparman, the head of the committee of the ceremony, said that 130 participants take part in the ceremony and the fund needed is 390 million rupiah. In the ceremony, there are special priests for every caste which take part in the ceremony.

This allows everyone to conduct the ceremony freely without any worries. On Wednesday, the participants already prayed to the local temples at 8 am. The gaben ceremony will be held on Friday followed by mamukur ceremony on Tuesday, July 27th 2010 and other ceremony such as mecaru will be done until Wednesday, July 28th 2010. (kmb)

2

International

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bali News Employees of Aston Bali threatened to obtain no severance Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Hundreds of employees of Aston Bali Resort & Spa, Tanjung Benoa, rejecting the bankruptcy of PT Dewata Royal International (DRI) and rejecting the offer proposed by curator were threatened to get no severance. Even, most of them who rejected the severance package offered by the new owner were also threatened to be jobless or unemployed.

“At the moment, we have just recorded 48 employees of Aston receiving the severance amounting to IDR 1.2 billion, including the General Manager (GM). If the other employees would not receive the severance offered by the curator, the employees will get a big loss. They will lose their jobs and severance all at once,” said Curator Team of PT Dewata Royal International (DRI), Nasrullah Nawawi, last Tuesday (Jul 20) in Denpasar.

It was said, the employees refusing the severance had miscalculated by wasting the curator’s offer. He considered, by not accepting the severance, employees had decided on the wrong gambling. In fact, if they received the severance, they would remain to be employed by the new owner because winner of the auction would continue to operate the Aston and required employees.

“I’m just getting confused why these workers were willing to be utilized as a living shield by the former management. As a matter of fact, we expect the employees of Aston to take immediate severance becoming their right until the deadline of payment in next August. We can not wait too long or force the employees of Aston who did not want to receive the severance pay,” he said.

Explained, the Commercial Court of Surabaya had already decided the company owned by Rustandi Jusuf family to go bankrupt. “The legal efforts had been completed and just waited for the process of execution.

We’ve asked the determination of dis-

charging Aston from the former management. They may not insist on staying there. Please do not sacrifice the workers for the sake of previous owner,” he said.

The amount of severance to be paid by the winner of auction was estimated to reach IDR 7-10 billion to 286 employees plus 70 daily workers of Aston.

Meanwhile, based on the results of calculation and value of the auction carried out by curator toward DRI was it was only worth IDR 182 billion.

Company’s debt listed valued at IDR 214 billion, necessity of funds for the severance worth IDR 7-10 billion, and hotel and restaurant tax arrears reached IDR 7 billion. “Liability of the company was very much, so winner of the auction must complete a number of obligations belonging to the previous owner,” he asserted.

In the meantime, Chairman of Badung Tourism Labor Union (FSP Par-SPSI), Putu Satyawira Marhaendra, expressed his hope in order the employees should think about the choice thoroughly before everything was too late. Socialization of bankruptcy law held by Badung Tourism Labor Union would be truly beneficial for the workers.

“Many employees do not understand about their rights and obligations when a bankruptcy happened to the company where they work. They occasionally become an object taken advantage by other parties. However, we can not force the employees of Aston to accept or not to accept the severance offered by DRI,” he revealed. (par)

Green Province Program benefits Bali The Bali Green Province (BGP) program officially launched on last February 22, 2010, will provide many positive effects for the island of the gods. If this program can be undertaken well, there will be very positive multiplier effects for Bali. To that end, Governor of Bali Made Mangku Pastika invited all community members to participate actively in making this program successful. This statement was conveyed at the opening of workshop on Bali Green Province in Wiswa Sabha Utama, Governor’s Office, last Tuesday (Jul 20).

Governor reminded that BGP program did not just become the government’s responsibility. “Do not assume that this program merely belongs to the government. The success of this program highly depends on the active participation of all components of the Balinese people,” he explained.

He added the program had a lot of positive impacts on Bali either politically, economically or socio-culturally.

Politically, the program was able to uplift Bali into a region having high profile. It had been reflected in the flows of support for the success of the program. Those supports came from home and overseas. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had delivered his support in person during the opening of the 32nd Bali Arts

Festival (BAF) not long ago. Moreover, the support also came from the Regional Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) based in Bangkok.

Economically, Bali would also reap the benefits of this program. In years to come, Bali would be visited by tourists emphasizing a great importance on health, clean air and organic food. “And generally, this type of tourists are wealthy,” he said.

In addition, the program was also very positive for the conservation of Bali. One of the emphases in this program was the Organic Bali. During this time, the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides became one of the triggers of excessive environmental damage. Governor explained that some chemical fertilizers and pesticides that widely utilized by many farmers were drifted down to the beach. As a result, chemical fertilizers and pesticides killed the planktons and coral reefs which in turn aggravated the abrasion. “If the Organic Bali can be realized, I believe that environmental damage can be minimized,” he added.

Governor also realized the efforts to create Bali as the green province was not an easy task. There were still many obstacles and challenges faced.

Some of the issues included the problem of waste, water availability and

limited electricity. According to him, the issues of waste, either organic or inorganic waste (plastic), were very worrying because they could not do comprehensive and integrated efforts from upstream to downstream. In addition, the quality and quantity of water resources in Bali kept on declining due to increasingly narrowing absorption areas, destruction of forests and increasing exploitation of water resources. This needed serious attention by controlling the land conversion and illegal logging, reforestation, development of catchment pits and other efforts involving the entire community.

BGP program was expected to provide friendly solutions to various environmental problems faced by Bali.

According to him, implementation of the workshop had significant importance and strategic meaning. Governor hoped that the workshop could engender a clear road map on the BGP program. It was the road map that could be sold to obtain concrete support from various parties putting a great concern for the environment.

Such all-day workshop was followed by 230 participants from relevant agencies in Bali Provincial Government, regency/city, Hindu Dharma Council of Indonesia (PHDI), hotel management, university, customary village and journalists.

Hundreds of Ngis residents attacked by mysterious plague Resembling to chikungunya Amlapura (Bali Post)—

Residents at two hamlets of Ngis Village, Manggis, Karangasem, have been attacked by a mysterious plague since two months ago. Its symptom resembled to that of chikungunya symptoms, but a laboratory test carried out by the Karangasem Health Services proved negative to disease caused by garden mosquitoes. Up to now, the type of disease was unknown and considered mysterious by local residents.

Hamlet Chief of Ngis Kelod, I Gede Suartawan, last Tuesday (Jul 20), said that his residents approximately amounted to 125 people had been or were suffering from disease with symptoms like that of chikungunya. Meanwhile, some 50 other residents of Ngis Kangin were also attacked by similar disease.

It was said the common symptoms of people suffering from the disease was that the patient’s body was fever to shivering. Several hours after the appearance of fever symptom, it was followed by pain on the whole body

and then sore and aching joints. If patient was not given medication administration within 24 hours, they were threatened to be unable to walk or paralyzed. “I had once suffered from such disease and could not walk,” said Suartawan.

As experienced by Suartawan, the symptoms of the disease were similar to that suffered by other residents. Two residents who had ever suffered from the disease were I Kadek Rai, 35, but he had now recovered, while his wife Ni Wayan Suartini, 33, stayed sick.

Formerly, the house wife was not able to walk or paralyzed.

In the meantime, a grandmother named Ni Wayan Konyer, 82, also suffered from the disease and until now is still paralyzed. This old woman admitted to have been suffering from fever since last Monday (Jul 19) afternoon with the symptoms like dizziness, queasiness, fever and painful on the entire joints. So far, there had been no fatalities because of the mysterious illness.

But, some people could not walk. A

part of them had recovered from the paralysis, while some others had not.

Residents suffering from almost the same symptoms at the village immediately requested medical assistance to community health center or registered nurse nearby.

Gede Suartawan said he was surprised because people claiming to suffer from the disease even domiciled in the heart of densely populated village center. In fact, the population of garden mosquitoes at his village was so rare. He added that the mosquito species with checkered body were only encountered in local gardens or bushes situated on the outskirts of the residential settlement surrounded by hills with adequately dense forests.

It was said, the officers from Karangasem Health Services had carried out fogging 13 days ago. Simultaneously, the officers also had taken blood samples of the patients. However, the laboratory test indicated negative results to chikungunya. (013)

z Founder : K.Nadha, z General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti z Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Wirya, Yudi Winanto zDenpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subagiadnya, Subrata, Suentra, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan, Tabanan: Surpi. Jakarta: Nikson, Suharto Olii, Indu P. Adi, Ahmadi Supriyanto, Achmad Nasrudin, Hardianto, Darmawan S. Sumardjo, Heru B Arifin, Asep Djamaluddin, Ade Irawan, Ipik Tanoyo. NTB: Agus Talino, Syamsudin Karim, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani, Nur Haedin, Suyadnya. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. z Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. z Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

C M Y K

International

Bali News

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sutarmi, 9th Rabies Victim at Buleleng

Hundreds of students are dancing “Pendet” dance in Ngurha Rai sport center on Wednesday, July 21st 2010. The event was breaking the Indonesian record for the most people dance in one place.

Still No Anti Rabies Vaccines Stored Singaraja (Bali Post) –

Death from Rabies increased as Kadek Sutarmi (43), a Banjar Dinas Sari Mekar dangin Margi Desa Sari Mekar Kecamatan Buleleng, died at Buleleng General Hospital after being bitten by a dog 2 months ago.

Victim’s husband, Putu Sadia alias Pan Berno, confirmed the incident last Tuesday (20/7). The wound wasn’t serious and it’s only a scratch at the right hand that got well several days later.

But after several weeks, he was worried that his wife got rabies. So, he bought her Anti Rabies Vaccine (VAR) which then planned to be injected coming 7th August yet she died before it.

Victim left two teen kids.

Before the death, his wife did not complain and seemed fresh. But all of a sudden she couldn’t breathe and vomit blood last Saturday (17/7) which then brought to the hospital. After 10 hours hospitalized, Sutarmi died Sunday (18/7) midnight around 12.15 am wita.

The hospital’s Director, dr. Nyoman Mardana confirmed the case. It is true that Sutarmi had a history of being bitten by a dog, “To make sure victim died of rabies we have sent a sample to be examined at the Region’s Lab.” He also added Sutarmi is the 9th victim to die caused by rabies in Buleleng.

3

IBP/doc

VAR Empty

Mardana added even the number of people died of rabies keeps increasing, Buleleng Health Agency until today said there hasn’t been a VAR prepared for the region. Also the free VAR has been empty since 22nd June and until now there’s no more stored. In the amended Region Budget and Expenses, Buleleng Government had given budget to buy the VAR yet this is not official yet, “The VAR buying process is still long because it has to be done tender processed.”

According to Mardana, there is an information that Sanglah Hospital has already got the VAR vaccinations and so if there’s any Buleleng people bitten by dogs again, it will straight brought to Sanglah Houspital. Although he had to admit there are people buying the vaccination but outside the General Hospital, “In here (Buleleng General Hospital) we will bring the patients to Sanglah Hospital when there is no VAR stored here.” (kmb15)

Russian Tourist Tricked at Selat Bag with Clothes and Keys Gone Amlapura (Bali Post) –

A Russian tourist, Victor Cornikov (35) was tricked while at Wates, Duda Timur Village, Selat, Karangasem while he was taking pictures of the hills scenery on Monday (19/7) afternoon where his bag with clothes and keys was taken by an unknown man.

The incident then reported to the police Tuesday (20/7) morning.

Public Relation Karangasem Police Resort, Adjunct Police Commissioner IW Suratha as permitted con-

firmed the report submission and the robber is being investigated but unknown yet. It’s hard to get directions as victim only remembered that the robber was riding a red motorcycle but the plate number was not remembered. Victor said, he was going to take pictures of the amazing hills sceneries and parked his car on the Wates Tengah’s gate parking lot, at Pesangkan market alternative road. At location, victim was stopped by two men coming with a bike offering him to bring

him around as the place to get good shots were quite far from the parking lot.

Meanwhile one of the men stayed near the car. When victim was turning around, his car’s baggage door was opened and the big blue bag with clothes and house key were taken.

Victim asked help from the other man and the locals to catch the robber yet it’s too difficult as couldn’t be reached. Victim reaches loss of 1 million. (013)

Rare VAR, Health Department must escort the citizens to the Leko Arts become extinct Sanglah hospital.

Negara, DenPost

Leko art is a part of Jembrana’s great art pieces besides the jegog music. But this one was not known as well as jegog and it still exists yet rare.

This art is now only saved by Banjar Pancar Dawa, Kelurahan Pendem, Jembrana sub district.

The art is quite old and it is an art of music accompanied by dance just like the traditional bumbung. Its gamelan is made from bamboos but the difference with the 1915 created art piece was its notes and rhythm more into legong keraton.

Even it’s not as popular as the others, Leko still can exist and was invited so many times to the Bali Arts Festival (BAF)’s stage. This old art was raised again since Regent IB Indugosa governs which is when some rare arts was born again and given places at events such as BAF. One of the Leko dancers still alive is Ni Nengah Nawar. In her age, she still confesses her awareness to this rare art.

Nawar admits, she rarely dances it but if there’s an event she often accompanied the younger dancers to a Leko performance at the BAF.

Another older Leko performer, I Nyoman Dika, met not long ago said there’s no official notes when it is actually created but according to the elderly people the art piece was created way before Indonesian’s Independence or around 1915. It was said that time Pendem locals were planting rice in their paddy fields. After that, while resting they made gamelans from bamboo then made a rhythm/song and named it Leko.

Dika mentioned the Leko arts was quite hard to be attracting the youngsters especially the gamelan playing or players part yet the dancers has been younger ones now.

Like jegog, leko was also visited by Korean guests who want to learn it too.

Ni Nengah Nawar met at her simple house with her husband, Wayan Nandres, admitted has been a Leko dancer since Japan invaded.

At that time she was still a teenager and has danced if there have been invitations.

Nawar was the second generation to learn this and from Kyang Bangkol.

According to Nawar, at that time she was dancing using simple clothings, using kebaya and when dancing usually given money limang ketip. (120)

Denpasar (Bali Post) -

VAR stock issued by the Bali provincial government budget funds amounting to 2.5 billion out changes in the middle of 2010.

This makes the stock VAR in several rabies centers in Bali Regency blanks. Bali authorities had taken some steps to overcome these problems. Bali Provincial Head of Public Relations, I Ketut Teneng when contacted Tuesday (20 / 7) yesterday said that there are some steps have been taken.

The first step is to provide a return of funds to purchase VAR budget funds through the change. ‘’It was agreed at 2.5 billion more for the purchase of VAR. It is expected that the fund could go down this month,’ he said.

To fund the purchase of VAR

by Teneng, funds amounting to 2.5 billion this would be a budget for supplies Parent VAR in Bali.

But that does not mean districts often have vacancies VAR silence for granted. District ‘in Bali which is often experienced VAR vacancies are expected to spend

up to buy the VAR in order to meet the needs of residents in the area, ‘said Teneng.

During this inventory VAR is only available in Sanglah hospitals that can afford to buy VAR directly without passing through an auction process. To address the needs of the VAR by Teneng the second step is the existence of regulations Health / Social Department of the local District VAR blanks shall deliver its citizens to Sanglah Hospital to get the VAR. ‘’This is done to help the citizens especially the poor to make no transportation costs. For example as far as Singaraja Regency, Jembarana and Karangasem, where people need transportation funds to come to Sanglah Hospital,’ said Teneng.

However, in practice, none of the residents outside of Denpasar and Badung who came to Sanglah Hospital Health Service officers and escorted by her Social Department. When asked why, most people come directly to the hospital took the initiative to ask Sanglah VAR Area Hospital after

they phoned and learned there is no VAR. As Made Kerada (70) for example. Residents Gumbrih Jembarana this initiative to come directly to Sanglah Hospital to ask for VAR. Because’ I called up to the State Hospital. He said out of stock VAR. So instead of having to go all the way straight to the hospital Sanglah , ‘said Kerada who claimed to live in this border Jembrana and Tabanan. He was bitten by a dog of his neighbors in the finger and because rabies alert will come to ask the VAR. The same is done by citizens Sukraningsih Brembeng Tabanan.

She was admitted directly to hospitals Sanglah ask VAR without bothering to ask the Tabanan Hospital. Because ‘is often low. So it’s better straight here,’ he said.

In addition to providing funding and delivering citizen, the third step to prevent the continued proliferation of rabies continued Teneng is implemented the legislation of Rabies in each District as soon as possible, especially in the manufacture or perarem awig-awig in indigenous villages. (Kmb24)

4

News

Thursday, July 22, 2010

International

China flood toll tops 700 with conditions set to worsen Agence France-Presse

BEIJING - Flooding in China that has killed more than 700 people this year and inundated countless communities looks set to worsen as the country gets deeper into typhoon season, the government warned Wednesday.

But officials, in the first highlevel press briefing on weeks of deadly flooding plaguing much of the country’s southern half, said a disaster on the scale of historic 1998 flooding on the Yangtze River would likely be averted.

A total of 701 people have died so far this year in flooding that has also left 347 people missing, Liu Ning, head of the country’s flood control authority and vice minister of water resources, told reporters.

He said the annual rainy season would continue at least through August, and that more downpours

were expected, further straining reservoirs and other water control projects, especially as the East Asian typhoon season has just begun.

“During this period there will be heavy rainfall and serious floods.

The rainfall will continue,” Liu said.

He said meteorologists expected heavy rains could spread to northern China, possibly causing flooding along major rivers such as the Huai, Yellow and Songhua.

“In these rivers they haven’t seen major floods in many years and they are very likely to see some soon. So we must anticipate big disasters,” he said.

Liu said more than 230 rivers in the country had seen water levels rise past warning points, with two dozen exceeding historic highs.

Liu did not say how many of the 701 deaths came since June, when the current bout of extreme rains began, but he said 187 of the deaths — and 173 of those left missing — occurred in just the past two weeks.

Tens of thousands of homes and other structures have been destroyed in floods and landslides, and economic losses have hit at least 142 billion yuan (21 billion dollars), with 110 million people affected, he said.

The floods have dominated the country’s attention for weeks, with state television each day broadcasting dramatic images of villagers being rescued from raging rivers or plucked from rooftops in inundated

Africa mulls response to Somali threat Agence France-Presse

KAMPALA - African leaders gathering in Kampala days after Somalia’s Shebab carried out deadly suicide attacks in the Ugandan capital are expected this weekend to mull sending more troops to war-torn Mogadishu.

The venue for the African Union summit was picked long before the July 11 attacks that killed 76 people but the unprecedented bombings were expected to inject renewed urgency in the continental body’s approach to Somalia.

The Al Qaeda-inspired group Shebab who claimed the attacks, the region’s worst in 12 years, said they were in retaliation for Uganda’s leading role in the AU’s mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

But instead of being bullied into a pullout, Uganda looked set to take advantage of the 53-member organisation’s summit to muster support for a beefed-up deployment and more aggressive mandate.

Heads of state meeting from Sunday to Tuesday are expected to endorse a decision made earlier this month by the regional body IGAD (Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) to send an extra 2,000 troops to Mogadishu.

While Uganda, which already provides more than half of the existing contingent, has called on its neighbours to chip in, Kampala looks once again set to contribute the bulk of the reinforcements.

“We are capable of providing the required force if other countries fail to do so,” Ugandan army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said last week in the aftermath of the attacks.

AMISOM’s more than 6,000 troops are better trained and equipped than the Shebab but their mandate has restricted them to protecting Somalia’s weak western-backed transitional government.

Uganda has said it was seeking a “li-

cense to kill” for AMISOM forces to make an impact but the force’s defensive mortar shelling has caused many civilian casualties and analysts argue the Shebab are trying to draw it into a trap.

“We are quite worried about the consequences of such an operation, because if they are engaged in quite an indiscriminate manner, they run the risk of playing in the hands of the Shebab,” said the International Crisis Group’s Ernst Jan Hogendoorn.

Somalia’s seemingly inexorable descent into chaos and the rise of a group affiliated to Al-Qaea that has proved its ability to strike beyond Somalia’s borders are likely to overshadow the summit’s official theme of maternal and child health.

The continent’s leader are also expected to discuss the future of Sudan, where the oil-rich south is due to hold a referendum on independence in January.

Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, whose movements have been under close scrutiny since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against him over the war in Darfur, is not expected to attend. In a year that saw a raft of elections, Africa’s top officials and diplomats are also expected to reflect on the progress of democracy and accountability in member states.

Elections in Burundi are being boycotted after opposition claims of fraud, polls in Ethiopia were marred by similar accusations and Rwanda’s ongoing campaign has been tarnished by murders and arrests.

The only recent elections that met international standards were those in Somaliland, which is not a state.

The northern Somali breakaway territory has been asking for international recognition for years and hopes that its smooth and democratic transfer of power will boost its case with the African Union.

villages.

The situation has triggered fears China could see a repeat of the disastrous flooding of 1998, when heavy rain swelled the Yangtze, China’s longest river, and many tributaries, leading to a series of devastating levee collapses.

At least 4,150 people were believed killed, 18 million were evacuated and millions of homes were destroyed in the floods, the country’s worst in recent memory.

However, Liu and other officials stressed that lessons learned from 1998, and the 2006 completion of the Three Gorges Dam — which was built partly for flood control — would prevent such a recurrence.

He said rainfall levels, although extremely high, have remained 20 percent lower than those of 1998.

And although the upper reaches

of the Yangtze drainage basin have seen the highest flood peak since 1987, Liu said the dam would prevent flood surges on the river’s upper and lower reaches from “converging” as they did in 1998.

He said the government was now feverishly coordinating the release of water by dams throughout the region to maintain a smooth flow.

“The Three Gorges Dam is now playing an effective role in flood control,” Liu said, adding that numerous dams and other flood control facilities were built in the wake of the 1998 disaster on the Yangtze.

“All these efforts have laid a good foundation and act as a pillar in our flood control campaign,” he said.

However, Liu also acknowledged that six small dams had collapsed this year and more than 1,000 displayed potential “risks”.

Two killed in ‘terror attack’ on Russian power plant Agence France-Presse

MOSCOW - Militants Wednesday burst into a hydroelectric plant in Russia’s volatile Caucasus region in a brazen dawn attack, killing two people and setting the facility ablaze with a string of blasts, officials said. The unknown attackers set off the explosions at the station in the unrest-infested North Caucasus’s Kabardino-Balkaria region by laying mines in the turbine room. The plant has been shut down as a result.

“A terror act took place at the Baksanskaya hydroelectric power plant,” state-run power group RusHydro, which runs the plant, said in a statement.

White smoke billowed from the plant tucked into a thick forest and masked security officials were seen outside its premises, according to footage aired on national television.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was urgently convening officials for a meeting, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

He was in constant contact with Igor Sechin, his deputy in charge of the energy sector, and told him to make sure the accident does not disrupt energy flow in the region, Peskov told AFP. Regional police said a group of between three and five assailants burst onto the premises of the station located in the village of Atazhukino and killed two police guards and stole their weapons.

The assailants also injured two plant employees and one of them was now in a serious condition.

“The assailants mined the power plant’s turbine room,” police said, adding two turbines were blown up, setting the engine room on fire. The blaze was later put out.

Officials could not immediately say how many explosions shook the plant. A regional police spokesman told AFP there were two blasts, while Russia’s NTV television, reporting from the scene, spoke of four explosions.

“There is no danger of a technological accident or catastrophe,” regional official Gennady Vykhristyuk said in televised remarks. “The power plant’s staff are alive and well.”

An officer with Russia’s security service FSB, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said law enforcement officials, including sappers, were now working at the scene.

Oleg Grekov, a regional official with the country’s emergency situations ministry, confirmed that two of the power plant’s turbines had been damaged.

“The third aggregate remained intact but the power plant has been halted, it is not working now,” he said in comments on the Echo of Moscow radio station.

Built in the 1930s, the power plant is located on the Baksan river in Kabardino-Balkaria, part of the North Caucasus region where Russian authorities are battling a Muslim insurgency.

The accident is the latest blow to RusHydro. Last August 75 people died in an accident at the SayanoShushenskaya dam, a Siberian hydropower station that the state-run power group operates.

That catastrophe was claimed by an Islamist group which said it had detonated an anti-tank grenade in the plant’s turbine hall. But this was denied by authorities who insisted technical faults were to blame. Deadly attacks in the republics of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan are a near-daily occurrence.

Kabardino-Balkaria is also part of the Caucasus but has until now seen less of the unrest that characterises the simmering guerilla conflict between Russian forces and Islamist rebels.

Militants have long pledged to bring war to Russia’s heartland and also destroy key infrastructure sites.

In March, Russia was shaken to the core when two female suicide bombers, both from the North Caucasus region of Dagestan, killed 40 people in a pair of coordinated attacks on the Moscow metro.

President Dmitry Medvedev has said the unrest in the Caucasus is Russia’s most serious domestic problem. Earlier this month, Putin unveiled a new economic drive to end the unrest in the Caucasus in an ambitious drive to bring prosperity to the violence-torn region.

International IMIGRATION Australian Consulate General Jalan Tantular 32 Renon Denpasar Phone: +62 361 241118 Fax: +62 361 221195 (General) +62 361 241120 (Immigration)

General Info

Thursday, July 22, 2010

HOSPITAL Denpasar There are 4 major hospitals usually used by foreigners Denpasar General Hospital (RSUP Sanglah), Kasih Ibu Hospital, Rumah Sakit Wongaya and Rumah Sakit Dharma Husada.

HOSPITAL Bangli Bangli General Hospital Jl. Kesumayuda 27, Bangli Phone : +62 366 91521 Gianyar

Royal Danish & Norwegian Mimpi Resort Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 070 The Czech Republic Jalan Pengembak No. 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.286 465 France Consulate Agency Jalan Merta Sari Gang II No. 8 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.285 485 The Federal Republic of Germany Jalan Pantai Karang No 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.288 535 The Republic of Hungary Jalan By Pass No 219 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.287 701 Italian Consulate Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 005 Honorary Consulate of Mexico Jalan Mohamad Yamin 1 A, Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.223 266 Honorary Consulate of The Netherlands Jalan Raya Kuta 127, Bali Phone +62.361.761 506 Honorary Consulate of Spain Komplek Istana Kuta Galleria Blok Vallet 2 No 11. Jalan Patih Jelantik Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.769 286 USA Consulate Agency Jalan Hayam Wuruk No. 188 Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.222 426 Consulate General of Japan Jalan Raya Puputan No. 170 Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.227 628 Honorary Consulate of British Jalan Tirta Nadi No. 20 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.270 601 Swiss and Austria Consulate Jalan Patih Jelantik, Komplek Pertokoan Istana Galleria Phone +62.361.751 735 Honorary Consulate of Brazil Jalan Legian No. 186, Bali Phone +62.361.757 775 Honorary Consulate of Thailand Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 81, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.263 310 Embassy of India Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 42-44, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.241 978 Honorary Consulate of Sweden anf Finland Segara Village Hotel, Jalan Segara Ayu, Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.282 223 Honorary Consulate of Malaysia Alam Kulkul Boutique Resort, Jalan Pantai Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.752 520

RSUP Sanglah is the main provincial public hospital. Its facilities have improved since the emergency ward had been built in 1991. Difficult/critical cases would not become a problem anymore since it has complete equipments. It is located on Jl. Kesehatan Selatan 1 Sanglah Denpasar with : Phone : 227 911 – 15 Fax : 226 363 Kasih Ibu Hospital is a private hospital which caters for less serious cases such as diarrhea, intestinal disorders, anemia, asthma and minor accidents. Kasih Ibu is also equipped to care for pregnant women. This hospital is located on Jl. Teuku Umar 120 Denpasar.

Phone : 223 036 Fax : 268 690.

Rumah Sakit Wongaya (Public Hospital; Psychiatric Unit) Jl. Kartini, Denpasar.

Phone : 222 142.

Rumah Sakit Dharma Husada , (Private) Jl. Sudirman No 50, Denpasar Phone : 227 560, 234 824 In relating with health, Bali also has insurance and medical evacuation company, that is: AEA International - SOS Assistance Bali.

PT Abhaya Eka Astiti, Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No. 24X, Kuta 80361.

Phone : 755 768 Fax : 755 768 One thing that should be noted by tourists here is that the Blood Bank in Bali normally carries no stock of Rhesus (Rh) Negative blood.

Badung Bali Medical Clinics There are some medical clinics that are well known by foreigners in Bali. Some of them are western owned and operated : Bali International Medical Center (BIMC) Bali International Medical Centre (BIMC) provides excellent Primary Health Care & Emeregency Medical Services for tourists, traveler, and expatriate living in Bali.

Emeregency Room, Ambulance, Clinic Services, Insurance & Medical Evacuations also available. Open 24 hours Phone : 761 2631. Located Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai No.100X, Kuta, Bali 80361 - Indonesia. http://www.bimcbali.com International SOS Clinic Bali Opened in 1999, offers International SOS members and visitors to Bali comprehensive primary health care and 24-hour emergency medical service.

Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai 505X, Kuta 80361, Bali - Indonesia Phone : 720 100 Fax : 721 919 E-mail : info@sos-bali.com ttp ://www.sos-bali.com Bali Nusa Dua Emergency Clinic Jl Pratama No. 81 Phone : 771 324 Kuta Clinic Jl. Raya Kuta Phone : 753 268 Dental Clinic Dr Indra Guizot, Jl. Patimura 19, Denpasar Phone : 222 445, 234 375 DDS. Ritjie Rihartinah, Jl Pratama No. 81 Nusa Dua Phone : 771 324 Retno W. Agung, Jln. Bypass Ngurah Rai No.4A Br. Tamansari – Sanur Phone : 288 501

Clinic Mas Jl. Raya Mas, Ubud Phone : +62 361 974573 Toyo Clinic Jl. Pengosekan, Ubud Phone : +62 361 978078 Permata Bunda Clinic Jl. Patih Jelantik 50 X, Gianyar Phone : +62 361 942082 Ubud Clinic Jl Raya Ubud No.36 Campuhan, Ubud Phone : +62 361 974911 Gianyar General Hospital Jl. Ciung Wanara 2, Gianyar Phone : +62 361 943049 Karangasem Karangasem General Hospital Jl. Ngurah Rai, Karangasem Phone : +62 363 21001 Klungkung Klungkung General Hospital Jl. Flamboyan 40-4, Klungkung Phone : +62 366 21371 Negara Negara General Hospital Jl. Gelar, Negara Phone : +62 365 41006 Tabanan Laboratorium Clinic Jl. Gunung semeru No. 8, Tabanan Phone : +62 361 819260 Mengwi Clinic Jl. I Gusti Ngurah Rai 46, Tabanan Phone : +62 361 880550 Darma Kerti Hospital Jl. Teratai 16, Tabanan Phone : +62 361 812359 Tabanan General Hospital Jl. Pahlawan 14, Tabanan Phone : +62 361 811027 Singaraja Prodia Clinic Jl. RA Kartini 12, Singaraja Bali 0362 - 24-516 Singaraja Hospital Jl. Ngurah Rai 30, Singaraja Bali 0362 - 22-573 Pet Clinics Kayumas: (0361) 226934 Sayang Binatang: (0361) 483121 Satwa Kertha Husada: (0361) 263018 Pantai Sindhu: (0361) 287518 Sidakarya: (0361) 724492 Pedungan: (0361) 720026

TAXIS Praja Taxi : (0361) 289090 Bali Taxi : (0361) 701111 Ngurah Rai Taxi : (0361) 724724 Pan Wirthi Taxi : (0361) 723366 Komotra Taxi : (0361) 758855

5

6

Thursday, July 22, 2010

News Airport strike disrupts flights in France Agence France-Presse

CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO

A picture taken on July 18, 2010 shows people inspecting an oil slick in the Yellow Sea at the coast in Dalian, in Liaoning province, after a huge spill following the pipeline fire at the coastal city’s port.

Dozens of oil-skimming vessels were working to remove the slick off the port city of Dalian following a weekend pipeline explosion and fire, which spilled an estimated 1,500 tonnes of crude into the Yellow Sea. The oil slick had stretched over at least 183 square kilometres of ocean.

China beaches closed after oil spill Agence France-Presse

BEIJING - Chinese authorities have closed several beaches and an island resort near the major port of Dalian as they try to clean up an oil spill that has affected crude shipments, state media said Wednesday.

Tourists were barred from Bangchui island and city beaches amid ongoing efforts to clean up the slick that stretches over at least 183 square kilometres (70 square miles) of ocean, the China Daily newspaper said.

More than 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria and dozens of oil-skimming vessels are being used to remove the slick, after a pipeline explosion and fire on Friday sent tonnes of crude spilling into the sea.

Some state media reports put the amount of the spill at 1,500 tonnes, but others said the total amount was unknown. So far, at least 460 tonnes

of oil have been scooped up, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Hundreds of soldiers and residents have been involved in the clean-up effort, the report said. One firefighter was killed Tuesday after he was pushed into the ocean by a huge wave and drowned.

Authorities lifted a partial ban on port traffic on Tuesday after oil was cleared from the main shipping waterways, but the interruption in port access has affected shipments of oil from Dalian to the south of the country.

Dalian is China’s second-largest port for crude oil imports and a major

domestic production hub, according to the China Daily.

Refineries in the port city are processing inventories so oil prices are not expected to be impacted, Xinhua said.

Workers in Dalian are using barriers to prevent the slick from spreading, but are concerned wind and heavy rain could worsen the situation.

Most of the hundreds of fishing boats called in to help the clean-up were forced to return to shore due to the poor weather conditions.

The action was scheduled to run until Thursday morning, they said.

L’Oreal scandal: French minister’s wife quizzed by cops Agence France-Presse

PARIS - Police questioned the wife of France’s embattled labour minister Eric Woerth on Wednesday as part of the investigation into the financial scandals dogging President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Florence Woerth once worked for the company managing the family wealth of Liliane Bettencourt, L’Oreal heiress and France’s richest woman, at a time when Woerth was both budget minister and Sarkozy’s chief party fundraiser.

The government has been hit by allegations that Woerth had a conflict of interest as the minister in

charge of fighting tax evasion at a time when his wife was helping manage Bettencourt’s fortune and he was seeking donations.

A former Bettencourt accountant has alleged that Woerth received 150,000 euros (about 190,000 dollars) in cash from the heiress during Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign, a charge he firmly denies.

And leaked recordings of private conversations between Bettencourt and Florence Woerth’s boss at the wealth management firm Clymene suggest the 87-year-old heiress was seeking to avoid tax and saw Woerth as a possible ally.

Florence Woerth’s lawyer,

Antoine Beauquier, confirmed he had accompanied his client to a police station in Paris for questioning, and said she was treated as a witness, not a suspect, and was neither detained nor charged.

“I’m pleased that Mrs Woerth can at last put her side of the story after she has been victim of so many stories in recent weeks,” he said.

Sarkozy’s cabinet was to meet later Wednesday and was expected to give permission for their colleague Woerth to be questioned by prosecutors looking into the various scandals surrounding Bettencourt’s vast fortune.

PARIS - An air traffic control strike disrupted journeys from airports across France on Wednesday with one in five flights cancelled from Paris’s main international airport Charles de Gaulle.

Queues formed as half of all flights were also cancelled from Paris’s second biggest airport, Orly, which serves domestic and some international destinations, the civil aviation authority DGAC said.

Cancellations began on Tuesday evening at Orly, where Simone Battaglia, 30, was stranded overnight after his Easyjet flight home to Naples was scrapped.

“The company is just offering us a flight for Milan tomorrow,” he told AFP. “But Milan is hundreds of kilometres from Naples. That means we’ll have to take the train. It’s a waste of time and money.”

DGAC said disruption was expected at most French airports due to the strike, which comes as many people are leaving for their summer holidays.

Storms forecast later in the day were likely to add to the disruption.

Unions representing air traffic controllers called the strike to protest against plans to merge France’s 4,000 controllers and 8,000 other DGAC personnel into a Europeanwide system.

Air France said 80 percent of its short- and medium-haul flights and all its long-haul ones from Charles de Gaulle would run as normal, and half its short- and medium-haul

flights from Orly.

Its long-haul flights were not affected.

Budget airline Easyjet cancelled about a third of its departures overall from Charles de Gaulle and Orly to destinations across Europe, according to its website.

At Nice airport, the biggest hub for the holiday hotspots of southern France, nine percent of flights were cancelled on Wednesday, authorities said.

The action was scheduled to run until Thursday morning. It was the third major airport strike in France this year, after similar actions in January and February.

Currently the European Union’s air space is a patchwork of 27 air traffic control systems, subdivided into 250 sectors.

As a pilot enters a new sector he must change radio wave frequency and contact the next air traffic control team.

The European Union’s 2009 single sky legislation calls for “Functional Airspace Blocks” to be in place by 2012, creating boundaryfree airspace to improve efficiency and safety.

France would become part of the Central Europe block, along with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In Spain, two-thirds of air traffic controllers in Barcelona called in sick on Tuesday in what was interpreted as an undercover strike. Spanish Transport Minister Jose Blanco said military personnel would cover for them.

US...

From page 1 Clinton said the new “countryspecific” sanctions aim to curb the North’s sale and procurement of weapons and related material, the procurement of luxury goods and other illicit activities.

She said they would strengthen enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions passed after its nuclear and missile tests, and would provide new authority to target illicit activities.

The US would also strengthen current efforts to “identify pressure and put out of business North Korean entities involved in proliferation and other illicit practices overseas”.

Clinton said the State Department and the Treasury would designate more entities and individuals supporting proliferation and freeze their assets.

She said there would be new efforts with key governments to stop North Korean trading firms engaged in illicit activities from op-

erating, and to prevent banks in overseas countries from handling illicit transactions.

There would be greater global efforts to stop travel by individuals designated under Security Council resolutions, as well as “other key North Korean proliferators”.

The US would place greater emphasis on the North’s “repeated abuse” of its diplomatic privileges to engage in activities banned by the Security Council.

Clinton said the US would press countries not to buy banned items from the North or to sell it proliferation-related goods.

She said the measures were not directed at the North Korean people, “who have suffered too long due to the misguided and malign priorities of their government”.

“They are directed at the destabilising, illicit and provocative policies pursued by that government.”

International

Indonesia Today

Thursday, July 22, 2010

7

Police to investigate canister blasts Antara

AFP PHOTO / Bay ISMOYO

A street vendor walks past wall decorated with graffiti showing a support for the goverment’s anti-corruption drive in Jakarta on July 20, 2010. The graffiti depicts a scene where an anti-corruption officer (C) grabs the arm of a corrupt official (R) but is handcuffed and held back by an unknown agent (L), thus prompting him to say “how can I fight corruption under these conditions?”

Four hundred nite spots in Jakarta closed during Ramadhan Antara

JAKARTA - Some 400 night spots in Jakarta will be asked to stop operating one day before the start of the Islamic fasting month until two days after the post-fasting holiday.

“The entertainment centers that will close include night clubs, discotheques, saunas, message parlors and bars,” the head of the city’s tourism service, Arie Budiman, said here on Tuesday.

The number is only around eight percent of the total entertainment centers in the city reaching 1,129 and therefore Arie believed the decision would not disrupt those needing them.

The closure is in line with Regulation Number 10 of 2004 on tourism and the governor’s decision Number 98 of 2004 regarding time for tourism industrial activities in the city.

Not all entertainment centers are

closed as karaoke and live music centers are still allowed to open although the schedule of their activities are limited from 8pm to 2am.

Billiard activity held in the same room of a club, discotheque, sauna or a message parlor has to be closed. “Entertainment activities at star-rated hotels are allowed to remain operating because Jakarta is the main tourism destination. In addition to that entertainment activities at star-rated hotels meet international standards,” he said.

Arie said Satpol PP (city’s law enforcement agency) would monitor the implementation of the decisions in cooperation with the police.

Entertainment centers that defy the rules would be given sanctions from a reprimand to revocation of their license, he said.

In 2009 a total of 11 violations had been made by operators and three of them received a reprimand while eight other entertainment centers were sealed consisting of message parlors, karaoke centers and bars.

“If they violate again this year their license will be revoked. Besides revocation the operators may face a threemonth jail or a fine of Rp5 million,” Arie said. The general chairman of the Association of Recreation and Entertainment Operators, Adrian Mailite, said his members were ready to implement the decisions.

“Indeed there will be significant reduction in revenue of up to 60 percent but we have to adhere to the existing regulations,” he said.

JAKARTA - The Indonesian National Police (Polri) will investigate the 3kg canister explosions that have occurred frequently in the country, a spokesman said.

“We will meet the House Commission VII on energy to discuss the matter,” Director V for certain crimes affairs of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Police Headquarters, Brig Gen. Suhardi Aliyus said here on Tuesday.

He said that Polri will not remain silent and would encourage stateowned oil and gas firm Pertamina to supervise the sales of its gas canisters down to dealers and sub-dealers. Suhardi said that Polri up to now had now yet received reports from Petamina whether or not it had conducted supervision down to its subdealers.

At least 20 legislators of the House Comission VII from various House factions have put their signatures on a proposal for the formation of a 3kg gas canister working

committee because they were of the view that the government was careless in carrying out its kerosene-togas conversion program.

The government has been launching the kerosene-to-gas conversion program in an effort to reduce its heavily subsidized kerosene burden in the state budget.

For the program, the government distributed for free 3kg gas stove canisters to poor families.

The number of 3-kg cylinders distributed so far had reached about 60 million units from the 45 million packages which were distributed since 2007. But 3kg gas cylinder explosions have been taking place almost every day a number of provinces in Indonesia.

Substandard products have caused fatalities among the public.

The government noted that in 2007, there were five cases of gas canister explosions with injured victims.

In 2008 there 27 cases with two dead and 35 injured while in 2009 there were 30 blasts killing 12 victims and injuring 48 others.

Government encourages revitalization of integrated economic zones Antara

JAKARTA - The government is encouraging the development of 13 integrated economic zones (Kapet), most of which are said to have failed due to lack of interest among investors, an official said.

“The government has developed the Kapet areas since 1996. Some have stopped operations because there were no private firms involved in their management,” Director for Special Zones of the National Development Plannging (Bappenas) Suprayoga Hadi said here on Monday.

Hadi said that the government had spent Rp200 billion for the development of the integrated economic zones in the country.

He said that the Kapets in Bitung, Northh Sulawesi and Pare-Pare in South Sulawesi had relatively gained progress because the private sector was involved there and one-stop-over office for the issuance of business

permits had been established there.

“Not all of the Kapets have failed.

Some in several palaces have been able to generate the private sector’s activities,” Hadi added.

He said that the absence of fiscal and other licensing facilities had caused investors to wait and see.

In a related development, the Bappenas said it had found 3,091 problematic bylaws that needed cancellations or revision because they hampered economic activities.

Deputy Minister for Development of the Bappenas Max Hasudungan Pohan said as of July 2009 his office had found 246 problematic bylaws while in 2008 there were 1,033 problematic regional government regulations.

“The biggest number was found in 2008 while in the 2001 - 2006 period there were 1,039, and in 2007 it was recorded at 773. So the total number of problematic bylaws in the 2001 - 2009 period was 3,091 in the,” he said.

RI appointed Chief of 2011 SEANWFZ commission Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesia has been appointed chairman of the session of the Commission for Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) in 2011.

Indonesia’s chairmanship of the SEANWFZ Commission will be effective as of January 2011, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tues-

day. Indonesia was appointed to the post at a meeting of SEANWFZ Commission held as part of ASEAN ministerial meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, also attended by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto.

At the meeting of the SEANWFZ Commission on Monday, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast

Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to step up efforts to implement Plan of Action for the SEANWFZ Treaty, including continuing consultations with nuclear weapon states to see their views and support SEANWFZ. By considering the positive results of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in April 2010 and the Review Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May 2010,

the ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to enhance coordination at multilateral forums on the issues relevant to ASEAN and the implementation of SEANWFZ Treaty.

The SEANWFZ treaty, signed by all ASEAN members in 1995 and coming into force in 1997, expresses the region’s desire to contribute towards general and complete nuclear disarmament and the promotion of international peace and

security.

Minister Djoko Suyanto and Miniter Marty Natalegawa also attended the 4th session of the ASEAN Political and Security Community (APSC) Council.

The sessions were chaired by Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and attended by all ASEAN foreign ministers. Vietnam is currently a rotating ASEAN chairman.

8

Internationa

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bali Today Bali’s exports to Japan up 24 percent early 2010 Antara

http://www.rnw.nl

DENPASAR - Bali’s non-oil/gas exports to Japan in January 2010 reached 28.3 million US dollars, a 24.3 pct increase compared to the 22.8 million dollars in last year’s same period.

“This means that the Balinese businessmen had become increasingly able to to meet the wished for the Japanese for quality products, head of the Bali industrial and trade export agency Putu Bagiada said in Denpasar.

Bagiada said Japan is only second to the United States in purchasing Bali’s handicraft articles and some other nonoil/gas commodities worth 30.5 million dollars on the same time, while third on the list is France with 17.9 million dollars.

The various handicraft articles and goods of the Balinese like household utensils from bamboo combined with rattan have become very popular.

Garments of Balinese handicraft workers have beautiful designs and styles and had also been exported to Japan, in addition to Japanese traditional clothing developed by the

Balinese like the kimonos were also exported to Japan.

An exporter of handicraft goods from Mas Ubud village, Nyoman Sudana, said the handicraft articles from Bali had been increasingly imported to Japan as that country’s economy had been improving substantially.

Bali’s paintings had also been exported to Japan, especially those of a spiritual nuance like pictures on worshipers of Buddhism on big canvas.

Japanese like small and practical articles for gifts or presents, like albums of banana leaves, kimonos, gold coated ballpoints with Balinese ornaments.

Silver accessories are also sought like earrings, broaches of different types and styles, flowers, butterflies and sought by youngsters, Nyoman Sudana said.

VP to open ATBC conference in Bali Antara

DENPASAR - Vice President Boediono is scheduled to open the international conference of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) 2010 in Sanur, Bali, on Wednesday.

The annual meeting which would end on Friday brought together 900 participants from 60 countries, Dr Adi Basukriadi, chief of the event’s steering committee, said on Wednesday.

A great number of global scientists, activists and observers particularly those dealing with biodiversity conservation are among participants of the threeday meeting.

ATBC is the world’s largest and oldest professional organization dealing with tropical biology and conservation.

Themed “Tropical Biodiversity:

Surviving the Food, Energy, and Climate Crisis”, the conference will feature a number of noted speakers, including Charlie Veron, former chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences.

Veron is the author of 100 scientific articles, including 14 books and monographs, on subjects ranging from climate change, molecular biology, paleontology, coral identification, bio-geography, coral reefs, conservation, marine science policy, marine science history, cell biology, reptilian physiology and biography.

The other speakers are Michael Donoghue, a professor of ecology and evolution biology at Yale University in the United States and Kathy MacKinnon, former lead biodiversity specialist in the Environment Department of the World Bank.

Tourists spending their holiday on Kuta Beach, Bali Island. The number of Indian tourists to Bali had increased from 2,565 in April to 4,061 in May 2010.

Indian tourists to Bali up Antara

DENPASAR -The number of Indian tourists to Bali had increased from 2,565 in April to 4,061 in May 2010.

The increase in the number of Indian tourists to Bali had been expected by Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, a Bali observer of tourism Made Sudana said.

Jero Wacik when on an inspec-

tion of the Bali Tourism High School, had wished for more rich Indian tourists to Bali, especially as they have a traditional and historical close relationship with Hindus.

The number of Indian tourists to Bali had reached 14,116 in the January-May 2010 period.

Sudana who also owned a hotel in Bali hailed the efforts of the community, including their spiritual leaders, to promote and de-

velop tourism in Bali.

In the meantime, the Raja Yoga Spiritual University, Brahma Kumaris, based in Maduban, Nothern India, had developed in Indonesia, including in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali, so that many Yogis came to Indonesia including to Bali.

The Yogis are not traveling alone to Bali, there are money of their followers including their students.

Archeological protection in Bali and the role of the society Archeological protection through maintenance, preservation and conservation, even through reconstruction as well, has turned to be an international problem not only today, but actually in the future. Such matters were indicated by the activities of UNESCO as an international institution, who concerned with the most important of world cultural heritage e.g. archeological remains. UNESCO have done a lot of excellent work, which need a reasonable budgets, expert, equipment etc. and the best example is the safeguarding of Brobudur temple. As the UNESCO member, our governments are concerned and responsible to protect our monuments for our national interest, such as Brobudur temple.

Based on the development of archaeological studies and the related studies especially in field of archaeological protection, now such problems is a technical matter and besed on scientific consideration. Facing such problem , Indonesian government have done a number of works e.g the safeguarding of borobudur tample {in cooperation with {UNESCO}, Prambanan tample ,Demak mosque, and other

tamples in Bali namely Pura Besakih ,Pura Mengening , Pura Pegulingan , Pura Taman Sari etc. In this case, our government as one of the ASEAN countries have carried out a coordinate programmers through SPAFA (Sub project of archaeology and fine art) to find out the effective ways and means dealing with the problems of archaeological protection .

Discussing the archaeological protection in Bali, it should be remembered that Bali, even a very small island, but has a lot of archaeological monuments, which most of them belonged to living monuments. Among them are a number of Hindu tample, spreated nearly in the whole island, as well as Hindu stastues , inscription etc. As the holy monuments for Balinese society, so the Balinese have the responsibility to take care their monuments as their religious function Officially, archaeological protection in Bali is done by Bali Office for Preservation of archaeological and Historical Heritage (Kantor Bali Suaka pening-gelang Sejarah dan Purbakala Bali) in coordialnation and corporation with the local government and local people as well. This office have

done a lot of archaeological reconstruction, but not yet covered the whole of them, because of the limited budgets etc.

In case of protecting the archaeological monuments in Bali, Bali Office for Preservation of archaeological and Historical Heritage has given a technical guidance to the local people for reconstructing their monuments and financial support as well. As the governments have a very limited budget for these works, and as the owner of the living monuments, so the Balinese people have their religious tasks and responsibility to protect sacred monuments. In Bali generally each village have three village temples named Pura Kyayangan Tiga e.g Pura Puseh,Pura Desa (sometime combined with Pura Bale Agung ) and Pura dalem. Among them are belonged to archaeological monuments and frequently in these temple a number of archaeological monuments are preserved such as statues, inscription etc.

It is important to note here that the unity of the Balinese society is tightly bounded by the village temples and social organization. (BTN)

C M Y K

al

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Balinese Culture

Bali paintings export decrease Antara

UBUD – The paintings export from Bali was decreasing in the early 2010 and it is because the global recession which happen throughout the world. Made Sunarta, a Balinese artist, said that the demand for paintings from Bali keep decreasing in the last few months.

The demand fluctuated in the past few months especially af-

ter the Bali Bomb incident in 2002. However, even if the demand is decreasing but Balinese artists keep creating many art works. Sunarta who have a workshop in Ubud, said that he mostly received orders from Belgium but now the demand is very low.

The customers from Europe like paintings with bright color and natural. There is great hope that the demand will increase by the end of the year especially

near Christmas and New Year 2011.

Putu Bagiada, the head of Export division in Bali Industrial and Trade Department, said that from the data in the department, paintings exports was decreasing in the early 2010. During January through May 2010, the number of export was 158,000 paintings worth $640,000. The number decreased 50% compared to the same period last year.

Be Sampi Mesitsit (Dry Spiced Beef)

OVERVIEW: Don’t be misled by the rather uninteresting appearance and name of this beef dish. It is wonderfully flavored and generally so popular that it’s worth making a large amount. Cook as directed below, then if you have leftovers after a meal, deep fry the beef until very crisp. Drain thoroughly and store in an airtight container.

This crisp beef is excellent as a finger food with cocktails, and also makes a tasty accompaniment to rice-based meals.

http://jimmysastra.com

The photo shows two painter at painting gallery in Bali Island.

INGREDIENTS: 1 kg beef topside, cut in 4 steaks 250g each 8 cloves garlic, peeled 2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed 1 tbsp chopped palm sugar 2 large red chilies, seeded 2 tbsp laos peeled and sliced 2 tsp dried shrimp paste 2 cloves ground 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black peppercorns, coarsely ground 2 tbsp oil 2 tsp freshly squeezed limejuice PREPARATION: Bring 5 liters (20 cups) of lightly salted water to the boil in stockpot. Add beef and boil for approximately 1 hour, until very tender. Remove from stock. Meat must be so tender that its fibers separate very easily. Keep stock. Pound meat until flat and shred by hand into fine fibers.

Place garlic, coriander, palm sugar, red chilies, Laos, dried shrimp paste, cloves, salt and peppercorns in food processor and puree coarsely, or grind in a stone mortar. Heat oil heavy saucepan and sauté the marinade for 2 minutes over medium heat.

Add shredded beef, mix well and sauté until dry.

Season with limejuice.

Remove from heat and allow cooling. Serve at room temperature with steamed rice.

Helpful hint: Do not tempted to use a food processor to shred the meat; you will obtain the correct texture only by shredding the meat with your fingers or a fork. (www.baliguide.com/balifood)

C.045 ibp

9

10

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Destinations

International

Elephant Cave IBP

http://kesumatours.com

International Bali Post Classifieds Contact us

Welcome to Gua Gajah (Elephant Cave) which is located in west side of Bedulu countryside, Blah Batuh Sub district and Gianyar Regency. It is about 27 km from Denpasar town.

This cave is built at crevasse edge from the federation of 2 rills that is called Pangkung River, where the irrigation is mixed with Petanu River flow. The federation area of two rivers is called Campuhan/Mixture. It owns the magical energy on the basis of Rwabineda Concept/two different matters on this basic concept hence Gua Gajah (Elephant Cave) is intentionally built among two rivers.

The word of Gua Gajah is anticipated coming from the word of Lwa Gajah, the name of Buddhist Temple or hermitage for Buddhist monk.

The Gua Gajah’s name is written on Negarakeertagama papyrus which is compiled by Mpu Prapanca on 1365 M. Lwa or Lwah/loh mean the river and it reflect to the meaning that the hermitage is located at Gajah River or in Air Gajah. In the year inscrip-

tion 944 Saka, it is mentioned with the name of ‘ser ring Air Gajah’ that is meaning the Subak leader in Air Gajah. The word has mentioned that the hermitage of Lwa Gajah is located in Subak Air Gajah.

There is a relief which is almost looking like the form of mountain on the entrance of this cave. It was carved many designed on the relief like grove with the stick, close leaf, animal for example forest pig, tortoise and specters. The cave mouth is decorated by the bas-relief with the eye turn around to the right or west side. There is an article letter of Kediri type from the early of 11 century was written on the wall left side or east side. There is a pool (Patirthaan) as a place to take the holy Tirtha water for Hindu ceremony which is located in the middle of the cave courtyard. This Holy Pool is previously piled up by land and it has been found on 1954

by Krijgsman from the Ancient Department. The Holy pool is equipped by the statue douche which is parallel arranged in two groups.

... gets maximum benefits with minimum charge Denpasar : +62 361 22-5764 Jakarta : +62 21 535-6271

Jl. Kepundung 67 A, e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id Jl. Palmerah Barat 21 F

g

www.solo-cctv.com

Rekam 24 jam Non Stop - Internet on line Apapun kebutuhan CCTV Anda, ada di sini!

Garansi Barang & Jasa... PASTI ! !

Dengan tenaga berpengalaman, instalasi dijamin rapi Hubungi:

C.492607-rpa

Jln. Buluh Indah No. 23 Denpasar Telp. (0361) 2764411-088802911054 C.492248-elk

PKM - KONTRAKTOR BUILDING & ELECTRICAL Consulting - Design - Build

House, Villa, Pool, Ruko Price Start @ 1,75 jt / m2 Standar Building Material Email:pkm@bali-net.org

Telp : (0361) 8823214 C.493865-kont

C.500470-rpa

C M Y K

11

Thursday, July 22, 2010

BUSINESS Obama set to sign finance reform bill Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama claims a moment of history Wednesday as he signs into law the most sweeping finance reform since the 1930s Great Depression.

The legislation, which some Republicans have already pledged to repeal if they regain power in Washington, will fundamentally overhaul the US government’s regulation of Wall Street and create a political legacy for Obama.

Obama says the bill will cut down on a culture of greedy risktaking and “shadowy deals” that triggered the worst financial crisis in generations.

His opponents though argue that the legislation punishes the whole banking industry for the sins of the few, and is another example of government intervention in the economy that will choke growth.

The administration touts the new law as an example for the rest of the world, as top global economies seek to flush out the causes of the crisis, from which they are now only slowly emerging.

“We reaffirmed our commitment to fiscal responsibility and reform,” Obama said on Tuesday after White House talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

He called the bill “the toughest financial reforms since the aftermath of the Great Depression” and said it was part of a global effort to rebuild confidence since the economic crisis that erupted in 2008.

“And I commend David (Cameron) for his leadership in Europe to rebuild confidence in the financial sector,” Obama said.

“Together, we’re determined to make sure the financial catastrophe that we are emerging from never happens again.”

Obama was due to sign the financial reform legislation at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, and in the process bolster his claims as a significant reformer, following his health care reform law passed this year.

However, despite passing more significant legislation than any Democratic president in decades, Obama has yet to enjoy much of a political boost from fulfilling campaign promises.

His approval ratings are now between the mid 40s and 50 percent in most polls — dangerous territory for a first-term president facing mid-term congressional

elections in November in which Democrats fear heavy losses.

Many analysts put Obama’s political woes down to the economy, and the slowing rebound — with unemployment still at 9.5 percent, as many Americans feel pessimistic about their futures.

The financial reform bill may eventually become popular with everyday Americans, but much of it, like the health care bill, is so complicated that it will not come into force for months.

For instance, it will be up to 12 months before a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is set up to protect American consumers from hidden fees, and deceptive lending practices when they get a new mortgage or credit card.

Similarly, it will take up to 18 months to set up new regulations to stop banks from engaging in impermissible proprietary trading and investment in hedge funds — a new system known as the Volcker rule after former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker.

The legislation also closes loopholes in regulations and requires greater transparency and accountability for hedge funds, mortgage brokers and payday lenders, and arcane financial instruments called derivatives.

Just three Republicans — Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts — backed the bill in the Senate, where it squeaked through last week after passing the House of Representatives in June.

The measure has drawn praise but also skepticism from economists and analysts.

The bill “addresses a number of key weaknesses in the US financial regulatory structure that led to the financial meltdown in 2008 and early 2009,” said Brian Bethune at IHS Global Insight.

But Diane Swonk at Mesirow Financial warned that much of the impact is not known.

“We will have more regulators overseeing — but not necessarily averting — risk, and with a bill so large and undefined, we are likely to get more, in terms of unintended than intended consequences, going forward,” she said.

AFP PHOTO

A man walks pass a Suzuki car displayed during an auto fair in Changchun, northeast China’s Jilin province on July 20, 2010. China’s growing importance to companies’ bottom lines has led foreign firms to complain more openly about what they say are unfair business policies and market restrictions, experts say.

Foreign execs grow impatient with China Agence France-Presse

BEIJING - China’s growing importance to companies’ bottom lines has led foreign firms to complain more openly about what they say are unfair business policies and market restrictions, experts say.

While many top executives express their frustrations anonymously through their chambers of commerce, others from leading US and European firms are openly saying they are unhappy with the investment environment in China.

“These companies have a lot more at stake than they used to when China was an interesting experiment for them,” said Patrick Chovanec, a professor at Tsinghua University’s school of economics and management in Beijing.

“They can’t afford to hope that things will get better — they need to express their concerns.”

Last week, senior officials from German firms BASF and Siemens added their voices to the chorus of complaint over the business climate — during a meeting attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

BASF chief executive Jurgen Hambrecht complained that foreign companies were forced to transfer business and technological know-how to their Chinese competitors in exchange for market access, according to the Financial Times.

Siemens chief executive Peter Loescher — whose company last week signed a deal to create a joint venture with Shanghai Electric Group in the steam and gas turbine power plant mar-

ket — said foreign firms “expect to find equal conditions in the fields of public tenders”.

Merkel herself prodded China on the issue Friday, saying she hoped that “German enterprises can enjoy the same access to the Chinese market” as Chinese firms do in her country.

Those remarks follow public complaints by other senior executives of foreign companies including General Electric and US Internet giant Google, which was embroiled for months this year in a row with Beijing over censorship.

“I think they are emboldened because they feel now many people are coming out to complain,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai.

GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt reportedly told a private dinner in Italy that China was becoming more protectionist and that Beijing was hostile towards foreign companies.

The company later objected that the comments had been taken out of context — after they made headlines around the world. GE then was named as a supplier of the electronic systems for China’s first-ever jumbo passenger jet.

Earlier this year, Google effectively shut down its Chinese search engine and rerouted users to a server in Hong Kong after a public spat with Beijing over state censorship and cyberattacks the company said originated in China.

The US web giant has since tweaked the way it rerouted users, in order to gain the renewal of its business licence in China — a move which underlined the importance of the world’s third-largest

economy to many foreign companies.

Surveys by the American and European chambers of commerce in recent months also show overseas companies are increasingly unhappy with the way they are treated in China.

American executives reported feeling increasingly unwelcome while European businesses warned their investment in China was not “unconditional”, suggesting they would consider pulling out of the country if the situation worsened.

Rein however said he does not believe the investment environment in China is any worse than it was a decade ago — the market is just far more crucial to the foreign firms present in the world’s most populous country.

“It’s always been difficult to operate here,” Rein said.

“You have always had to transfer technology and have joint ventures, but it is a market that matters now.”

At last weekend’s meeting with German businesses, Wen rejected suggestions that the Asian giant did not provide a level playing field to foreign investors and insisted overseas businesses were not at a disadvantage.

Rein said he expected the Chinese government to ease restrictions on foreign firms in the next six to 12 months, as they try to walk a fine line between securing foreign investment and avoiding criticism at home.

“I think the government is very sensitive to be seen letting foreign companies making money off poor Chinese,” Rein said.

“They need to be protectionist for political reasons.”

12

Entertainment

Thursday, July 22, 2010

International

The “Salt” Premiere Shakes Up Hollywood AP Photo/Nickelodeon

In this publicity image released by Nickelodeon, a scene is shown from the animated Avatar Mini series, ‘Legend of Korra.’

Los Angeles – Collective sighs of relief echoed down Hollywood Boulevard as Brad Pitt joined his superstar partner Angelina Jolie at the massive premiere of her new action flick “Salt.” Jolie looked gorgeous as always in a skimpy black beaded minidress, but Pitt looked positively stunning after months of sporting a mountain man grizzle of facial hair that obscured his handsome visage.

Nickelodeon sets ‘Last Airbender’ sequel for 2011 Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – A sequel to Nickelodeon’s “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is in the works. The channel said Wednesday the new animated TV series will premiere in 2011. It has the working title, “The Legend of Korra.”

Nickelodeon says the series will build on the “mythology” of the original “The Last Airbender” series, which inspired this summer’s liveaction movie from filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (SHAH-muh-lahn).

The “Legend of Korra” is from the creator-producers of “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

Nickelodeon executive Brown Johnson says the new series will focus on a teenage girl avatar named Korra. Brown describes her as hotheaded, independent and “ready to take on the world.” “Avatar: The Last Airbender” has ranked among the highest-rate series on the Nickelodeon and Nicktoons channels.

Clooney to receive TV academy’s humanitarian award

Fashion Wire Daily/Maria Ramirez

FWD101 Angelina Jolie arrives at the Film Premiere of “Salt” in Hollywood, Calif. on Monday, July 19, 2010.

But that’s no more, and as Hollywood’s golden couple crossed the street in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Monday, July 19, to greet the masses of fans gathered there, the fight was on to get a photo with the beautiful pair. Genially signing autographs and posing, both Pitt and Jolie were all smiles.

The duo had left their six children at home for the night, for Philip Noyce’s violent CIA spy thriller “Salt” is rated PG-13, but a surprising family member was on hand for the celebration. Jon Voight, Angelina’s long-estranged father, walked the red carpet with his son James Haven, Jolie’s brother, thus proving that the three have made peace with the past and are all finally getting along as a family.

And speaking of family, at an earlier press event, Jolie explained what made her decide to take on the physically challenging title role of Evelyn Salt.

“I’d just had babies and I’d been at home for a year and a half when I decided to do ‘Salt,’” she recalled. “I felt like it was complex enough and all those wonderful things, but I also knew that it would be really good for me to jump around and get active after that time.

It’s important to do something that kind of gets you out of yourself, gets you physical and strong.”

Also making the glittery scene on the red carpet and at the elaborate after party were Liev Schreiber, Jolie’s costar in the film, his life partner Naomi Watts, and action fans including Antonio Sabato, Jr., Kristin Cavallari, Sharlto Copley, Charlotte Ross, Amber Heard, Gretchen Rossi, Oscar Nunez and Mary Jane Rajskub.

Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File

FILE - George Clooney arrives at the 82nd Academy Awards in this March 7, 2010 file photo taken in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced it will present the 49year-old actor with its Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy ceremony next month.

LOS ANGELES – George Clooney will be recognized for his humanitarian efforts at the Emmy Awards. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences will present the 49-year-old actor with its Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the ceremony next month.

Clooney is being honored for the “Hope for Haiti” TV special, which is nominated for an Emmy award, and his efforts to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Katrina and raise awareness about genocide in Darfur. John Shaffner, chairman and chief executive of the TV academy, said Clooney was “an obvious choice” for the award because he used the power of television to move people to act.

The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award was established in 2002. Clooney is the fourth recipient of the honor and will receive the award at the Emmy ceremony on Aug. 29.

Taylor Swift to release album ‘Speak Now’ Oct. 25 Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Taylor Swift will release her third album, “Speak Now,” worldwide on Oct. 25. She announced it to her fans Tuesday through a live web chat. It’s been two years since Swift released her sophomore album “Fearless.”

She says, “You’ve got to give yourself a little bit of time to live a lot of things so you can write about a lot of things.”

Swift explains that the title, “Speak Now,” is the theme, and that “track by track, each song is a different confession to a different person.”

She wrote all 14 tracks herself. The first single, “Mine,” will be released Aug. 16. Swift also plans to launch a world tour following the release.

“Fearless” was the top-selling album of 2009 and earned Swift every major award, including four Grammys.

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, Taylor Swift attends the 2010 Songwriters Hall of Fame awards gala in New York.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file

Life Style

International

Petition seeks to have wolves howl across US Associated Press Writer

BILLINGS, Mont. – Tens of thousands of gray wolves would be returned to the woods of New England, the mountains of California, the wide open Great Plains and the desert West under a scientific petition filed Tuesday with the federal government.

The predators were poisoned and trapped to nearextermination in the United States last century, but have since clawed their way back to some of the most remote wilderness in the lower 48 states.

That recovery was boosted in the 1990s by the reintroduction of 66 wolves in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park. Yet as those first packs have flourished, increased livestock killings and declining big game herds have drawn sharp backlash from ranchers, hunters and

AP Photo/Tom Gannam

An adult Mexican Gray wolf keeps watch at the Endangered Wolf Center, Thursday, July 1, 2010 in Eureka, Mo. Five Mexican Gray pups, recently born at the center, will eventually be re-introduced into the wild in the southwest United States.

officials in the Northern Rockies.

But biologists with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity want to expand that recovery across the country. A few isolated pockets of wolves, they say, are not enough.

“If the gray wolf is listed as endangered, it should be recovered in all significant portions of its range, not just fragments,” said Michael Robinson, who authored the petition. Robinson said the animals occupy less than 5 percent of their historic range in the lower 48 states.

The federal Administrative Procedure Act allows outside parties to petition the government to act when species are in peril. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Chris Tollefson, whose agency received the petition, said there was no deadline by which the agency must respond to the one filed Tuesday, which was signed

by Robinson and another biologist, Noah Greenwald.

Tollefson also said an internal review was under way to figure out where wolves once lived and where they might be returned.

“We need to look at what is realistic and where the suitable habitat would be,” Tollefson said.

The review will be completed by late 2010 or early 2011 and will contain recommendations but no final decision on whether to create new wolf populations, Tollefson said. About 6,000 wolves live in the U.S. outside Alaska, with most of those in the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies, with only a few dozen in Arizona and New Mexico. They are listed as endangered except in Alaska, Idaho and Montana.

In early 2008, a similar petition was lodged by the Natural Resources Defense Council. In its rejection of that petition, the Fish and Wildlife Service said the Great Lakes and Northern Rockies programs had succeeded and any additional recovery efforts would be “discretionary.” The Fish and Wildlife Service faces no deadline to respond to such petitions Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has pushed to end federal protections for wolves and return control over the animals to the states.

But both administrations have been rebuffed in the courts. Federal judges have ruled repeatedly that the government failed to prove existing wolf numbers will ensure the population’s long-term survival. Last year, the Interior Department relented to pressure from environmentalists in the Great Lakes. The agency agreed to put wolves back on the endangered list at least temporarily — just months after they had been removed for the second time in recent years.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

13

New Products

AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO

Sydney Olympics marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi displays Japanese mobile communication giant NTT docomo’s new senior mobile phone “Raku-raku phone 7”, produced by Japanese computer giant Fujitsu in Tokyo on July 21, 2010. Docomo’s most popular cellular has a new application to analyze user’s walking form with built-in gyro and acceleration sensors to give instructions for walking exercise to maintain senior’s healthy life.

AFP PHOTO/RAVEENDRAN

Indian models pose during a launch of Akai televisions in New Delhi on July 21, 2010. Akai announced it’s re-entry into the Indian market with new range of ultra slim LED and LCD televisions, Akai one of the largest Japanese consumer electronics brands is targetinn Indian Rupees 43500000 (USD 9,25,53191) turnover in the next one year.

Elephant tooth fossil found in Brazil: report Japan’s electronics giant Kyocera employee displays the new smart phone “Zio M6000” based on Google’s Android OS with a 3.5-inch touch-screen LCD display in Tokyo on July 16, 2010.

Kyocera is expecting to put it on the US market this year.

Agence France Presse

SAO PAULO – Scientists in Brazil say a fossil of an elephant’s tooth found in the Amazon jungle proves the presence of pachyderms in South America some 45,000 years ago, a report said on Tuesday.

“Only elephants and capybaras (large rodents) have teeth with this kind of laminate structure, but those of capybaras are no longer than five centimeters (two inches),” while the fossil measured 12 centimeters, said paleontologist Mario Cozzuol in the daily Folha de Sao Paulo.

Previous evidence showed that elephants had reached Costa Rica, in Central America, but no further south, said the expert from the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

The fossil was discovered at the start of the 1990s by a precious metals researcher, but a university student only noticed its laminate structure years later.

AFP/File/Jewel Samad

Scientists in Brazil say a fossil of an elephant’s tooth found in the Amazon jungle proves the presence of pachyderms in South America some 45,000 years ago, a report said on Tuesday.

AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO

14

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Sport

International

Fabregas only ‘on loan’ at Arsenal Agence France Presse

AFP PHOTO / BERTRAND GUAY

French midfielder Franck Ribery (R) arrives at a French pimping prevention squad, on July 20, 2010 in Paris. Bayern Munich’s France international football player Franck Ribery has been quizzed by French police investigating an affair of prostitution involving a minor, allegedly employed by the Zaman Cafe, located in a passage on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris.

LONDON Barcelona midfielder Xavi has told Arsenal they will only have Cesc Fabregas “on loan” for a year if the Spanish champions are unable to sign the Gunners captain this season.

Barca had a 25-million-pound (38 million dollar) bid for Fabregas rejected earlier in the close-season and, although the Arsenal midfielder has made it clear he would love to return to his former club, there is no sign of a deal being completed in the immediate future.

The 23-year-old Fabregas still has five years to go on his current Arsenal contract and Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is desperate to keep his prize asset. But Xavi, who played with Fabregas in Spain’s World Cupwinning team, is convinced the player will move to the Nou Camp in 12 months time if Barca can’t get him now.

“We know where Cesc wants to be this coming season, but perhaps there is not enough time for

Barcelona and Arsenal to agree a deal,” Xavi told the Daily Express.

“Arsenal need to understand they are only delaying the inevitable. “If we don’t manage to get his signature this season then Arsenal only really have him on loan for a year because there is nothing they can do to stop him joining next summer.

“I haven’t given up on him joining us this season but, if he doesn’t, it won’t be more than a year before he is back home. “His people will have a whole season to sort out the deal between the two clubs and it will happen at the very latest next summer.”

Xavi claims Fabregas told his international team-mates he was keen on joining Barcelona while on World Cup duty. “We were all with him for five weeks in South Africa and we know he wants to be at Barcelona, he made it very clear,” Xavi added.

“But he will under no circumstances do anything that will upset the Arsenal fans. And that’s probably why we are going to have to wait for him for another year.”

French footballer Ribery charged in under-age sex probe Agence France Presse

PARIS - France international footballers Frank Ribery and Karim Benzema were charged with having had sex with an under-age prostitute Tuesday, as magistrates cracked down on an alleged celebrity vice ring. The indictments are the first stage of a formal judicial investigation that could lead to a trial and, if convicted, both players face up to three years in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (58,000 dollars).

Ribery, who plays for German giants Bayern Munich, arrived at the offices of the investigating magistrates at the Palace of Justice in Paris in handcuffs, according to several witnesses, but he was freed without preconditions after the hearing.

Ribery’s lawyer Sophie Bottai expressed surprise at the charge.

“The only thing that’s new since the last time he was questioned is that the World Cup is over and he played badly,” she told reporters, confirming that her client’s 22-yearold brother-in-law had also been charged. The counsel for Real Madrid striker Benzema was not immediately available for comment.

Ribery has never denied having paid for sex with the young woman at the centre of the scandal, 18-yearold blonde party girl Zahia Dehar, but his lawyer told reporters that he had had no idea in 2008 that she was under-age. “There’s not a single element of physical proof,” she said.

“This woman told them she was of age, was all made up, dressed up, appeared very switched on.”

The players appeared before investigating magistrate Andre Dando after having been detained by vice squad officers and questioned for six

hours on a charge of having “solicited an under-age prostitute.” The players were detained at the request of the magistrate, who is probing claims that a Champs Elysees nightclub gave clients access to minors working as call girls.

Ribery, 27, was a member of France’s ill-fated World Cup squad, which went out in the first round at this month’s tournament in South Africa. He did not score and his performance was seen as disappointing.

Benzema, 22, was not chosen for this year’s French team despite playing in much of the World Cup qualifying campaign. Dehar is now 18 years and four months old. She has been questioned by police and gave a tell-all interview to the news and gossip weekly Paris Match after the scandal erupted.

She described selling sexual encounters to Ribery in 2009 and to Benzema in 2008, while she was underage, and with a third French player, 30-year-old Panathinaikos winger Sidney Govou, in March, when she was an adult.

Dehar has said the players did not know she was a minor. In France the general age of consent is 15 years, but in the case of prostitution a

young person remains legally a minor until he or she reaches 18.

Secretary of state for urban policies, Fadela Amara, said the episode set a poor example for French youth.

“It is not a good image of a man to give to the youth of France,” Amara said in an interview with French news channel iTele. “I am sorry to see a man like Ribery find himself in such a terrible, catastrophic situation.”

Adult prostitution is in itself legal in France, but pimping, solicitation and running organised vice networks are outlawed. The footballers became caught up in the investigation after detectives probing allegations of a vice ring bugged the Zaman Cafe, an expensive nightspot just off Paris’s most glamorous street, the Champs Elysees.

Four people — including the owner of the club, a waiter who worked there and a man suspected of pimping call girls to celebrities and sportsmen — have been placed under formal judicial investigation and could face trial. The club itself has been closed down by an administrative order.

AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL RIOPA

Spain’s midfielder Cesc Fabregas and Spain’s goalkeeper Pepe Reina (L) celebrate on a stage set up for the Spanish team victory ceremony in Madrid on July 12, 2010 a day after they won the 2010 FIFA football World Cup match against the Netherlands in Johannesburg.

Maradona keeps everyone guessing about his future Associated Press Writer

BUENOS AIRES - Diego Maradona continues to keepeveryone guessing about his future as Argentina’s national teamcoach.

Maradona was supposed to meet early this week with Argentinefootball association president Julio Grondona, whose office saidlast week it would offer him a four-year extension through the 2014World Cup in Brazil.

On Monday, however, Maradona was planning to travel to Venezuelaat the invitation of President Hugo Chavez to give a

series offootball clinics. The Venezuelan government offered few details.Argentine football officials have suggested this may delay Maradona’s decision.

Maradona has not talked publicly about his plans since Argentinawas knocked out of the World Cup by Germany in a humiliating 4-0loss in the quarterfinals.

Argentina President Cristina Fernandez has openly supportedMaradona and a legislator has proposed building a monument to honorhim.

Argentina is scheduled to play a friendly match on Aug. 11against Ireland in Dublin.

Sport

International

Thursday, July 22, 2010

15

Ginepri’s jitters fade in victorious hometown debut Agence France Presse

ATLANTA, Georgia – Robby Ginepri posted a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 hometown debut Tuesday, defeating Australian qualifier Nick Lindahl to book into the second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

The event, returned to circulation after a nine-year pause, came back to life after the American federation bought the ATP sanction of the illstarred former tournament in Indianapolis, a venue where Ginepri won two editions - including the last in 2009.

While he’s a seasoned campaigner, the 27-year-old Ginepri confessed to an uncharacteristic case of pre-match nerves during the run-up.

“It felt a little bit like the days before the start of a Grand Slam,” said the player with up to 20 friends and family in the stands for his victory. “I had some anxiety in practise which I

usually don’t have. “I recognised it and got through it. When you step onto the court most of the worries go away.”

Ginepri said he started to feel more comfortable after getting a break back for three-all in the tight opening set with Lindahl, Swedish-born but now an Australian and ranked a distant 244.

The 75th-ranked Ginepri finished with eight aces, breaking four times in the 82-minute contest. Ginepri will next face American compatriot friend Mardy Fish, Queen’s club finalist and winner of grass this month in Newport.

“It will be tough as we know each other’s game inside and out. He’s got a big serve and he’s playing as well as I’ve seen him play for some time.”

Belgian seventh seed Xavier Malisse, who turned 30 on Monday, defeated American Ryan Sweeting 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 with the loser firing eight aces.

AFP PHOTO / JOEL SAGET

Fans cheer on US Lance Armstrong (R) drinking with stage winner, France’s Pierrick Fedrigo (C) and Italy’s Damiano Cunego in the Col du Tourmalet pass during the 199,5 km and 16th stage of the 2010 Tour de France cycling race run between Bagneres-de-Luchon and Pau, Southwestern France, on July 20, 2010.

Does Armstrong still have shot at Tour stage win?

Associated Press Writer

PAU, France – Lance Armstrong came oh-so-close to the Tour de France stage win he’s been yearning for in his final appearance, and one could still come with four racing days left. The seven-time Tour champion ruled himself out of contention 10 days ago after struggling in the first Alpine challenge, and he’s looking forward to retirement when the race ends in Paris on Sunday.

But Armstrong’s coach says the American could win a stage. “It’s not yet finished,” said Johan Bruyneel, manager of Armstrong’s RadioShack team and the man who coached him during all his victories from 1999 to 2005.

“There’s a single (mountain) stage left on Thursday ... we’re going to try again,” said Bruyneel, who also has coached the winner in nine of the last 11 Tours — including Spaniard Alberto Contador in 2007 and 2009.

Heading into the final rest day on Wednesday, Armstrong finished a respectable — even impressive — sixth in Stage 16 on Tuesday by keeping up with and at times leading a breakaway bunch that got out early in the 124mile trek up four nasty Pyrenean peaks.

Tuesday’s stage, which featured a 40-mile ride down from the Aspin pass, wasn’t suited for a possible Armstrong win as long as he was surrounded by other — and mostly younger — riders. After a plodding day of climbs, his 38year-old legs weren’t ready to battle the final bunch sprint won

by France’s Pierrick Fedrigo.

“It was full-gas all day,” said Armstrong. “It’s been awhile since I sprinted ... Just not quick enough.

I’m not the best guy in the race but I still have the spirit of a fighter.”The main race contenders, including overall leader Contador and his closest rival, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, trailed deep in the main pack that crossed nearly 7 minutes after Armstrong’s breakaway band.

Because the Texan was over 40

minutes back of Contador as the stage began, and none of the other’s who sprinted ahead were in close range, the Spaniard and his biggest challengers didn’t lay chase.

Armstrong’s now 33:46 back, in 25th place — up from 31st.

Tuesday’s trek began along two tough Pyrenean climbs — one right from the start, when Armstrong joined an attack — and then up two even harder ones: the Tourmalet and Aubisque passes.

On paper, it was the hardest day on the Tour this year. But in terms of consequence for the race victory, Thursday’s last of four stages in the mountains straddling the French-Spanish border is likely to be the most important. It features an uphill finish up the Tourmalet — one almost certain to sift out the potential winners from the losers.

(AFP/Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox)

Robby Ginepri returns a forehand to Nick Lindahl of Australia on Day 2 of the Atlanta Tennis Championships at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Ginepri posted a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 hometown debut Tuesday, defeating Lindahl to book into the second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

Semenya waits on Commonwealth Games inclusion Associated Press Writer

JOHANNESBURG – Caster Semenya will have to wait until late August to see if she is included on South Africa’s team for the Commonwealth Games. South Africa’s Olympic body, SASCOC, named an initial 115-member squad Wednesday for the competition in India, which begins Oct. 3, but says the track and field and rugby sevens teams will only be announced on Aug. 25.

Semenya returned to competition after an 11-month layoff because of gender tests by winning both her recent comeback races in Finland. Coach Michael Seme said the aim is to get the 800-meter world champion fit enough to compete for gold in New Delhi.

Semenya is expected to make the team and South Africa’s athletics federation has said it will do all it can to help her prepare for the Commonwealth Games.

(AP Photo / LEHTIKUVA / Roni Rekomaa)

South Africa’s athlete Caster Semenya gets ready in Lappeenranta, eastern Finland on Thursday, July 15, 2010 for her first start since the Berlin World Championships last year.

CMY

16

Thursday, July 22, 2010

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Vettel: Home GP no extra pressure Sebastian Vettel is confident that his home crowd will not put any extra pressure on him in this weekend’s German Grand Prix. The 23-year-old has yet to win a grand prix on home soil, but is hopeful that the support of the fans will give him an extra performance boost.

“The fact that the next race is my home grand prix doesn’t give me any extra pressure,” he told AUTOSPORT. “If anything, it’s extra motivation so maybe I can squeeze an extra tenth or two out of myself and the car simply because of that support.

“We have a strong car and should

be able to put a good show on. If it’s your home grand prix and you have so many people cheering for you, it’s something you will always remember.”

Vettel added that he expects a similar atmosphere to that experienced by the British drivers at Silverstone two weeks ago, where a

Sport

race day crowd of 115,000 turned out to back Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

“I hope we can have at least as good an atmosphere as there was at Silverstone,” he said. “You look forward to your home grand prix, but what you like to see is that the people around the track are enjoying it and being passionate. “There are some races that have something special about them and hopefully plenty of people should come to Hockenheim.”

Tyres tipped to spice up Hockenheim THE German Grand Prix could be spiced up by Bridgestone’s decision to allocate super soft and hard tyre compounds, according to Williams technical director Sam Michael.

Bridgestone has opted to supply its softest and hardest tyres for the race in the hope of creating a more exciting contest. Tyre degradation played a key role in making the Canadian Grand Prix a multi-stop, and therefore unpredictable, race and there is hope that the German GP could produce a similar spec-

tacle.

“It will be good for the racing,” Michael told AUTOSPORT. “It’s possible that there will be more than one pitstop. We’ve seen that happen at other tracks, so it could definitely happen.

“It has got the potential to throw things up in the air. It’s a long time since we’ve seen tyre blistering on the Bridgestones, so that’s probably not going to happen, but it’s going to be interesting.”

Michael added that the capacity to make differing strategies work

is key to making the races more unpredictable. He pointed to the long first stints on prime tyres that several drivers used to good effect at last week’s British Grand Prix as an example of how strategic alternatives can influence the results.

“That’s what was good about Silverstone; you could make something different work, which is what Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg did. That’s pretty rare though. I’m not sure that’s going to happen again.”

IBP/ist

McLaren pit crew is changing the tires for Lewis Hamilton

AFP PHOTO / DAVID EBENER GERMANY OUT

Red Bull’s German Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel drives a quad bike in his hometown Heppenheim, western Germany on July 18, 2010. Vettel drove several laps with his racing car on a converted race track during the “Sebastian-Vettel-Homerun”.