Edisi 14 September 2010 | International Bali Post

16 Pages Number 174 2st Year

Jihadists ‘planned maximum casualties’ at Aus base PAGE 6

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

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File photo shows children who have been displaced by violence waiting for food at a camp in Kibati

Sarbagita transportation mode expected to resolve PAGE 8

MTV awards agog for Lady Gaga PAGE 12

AFP/File

Donors must ramp up aid to Africa: Blair commission Agence France Presse LONDON – International donors must commit to giving billions more dollars in aid to Africa to reduce poverty and help the continent face new challenges, a commission set up

by Tony Blair urged Monday.

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There had been “extraordinary progress” in the past five years since the body first laid out a series of recommendations to pro-

mote development on the continent, said the Commission for Africa.

Growth rates had surged in many places, governance had improved

and aid had increased, said the new report from the body set up in 2004 by the then prime minister Blair, which has 17 members including prominent African politicians.

But it warned the vast majority of Africans had not benefited from the success of recent years and new challenges, such as climate change and the economic crisis, meant poverty reduction was becoming in-

creasingly difficult.

The Group of 20 advanced and developing nations — the main economic forum for world leaders — should take over responsibility for providing long-term aid to Africa, and this aid should be increased, urged the commission. This was something previously carried out by the Group of Eight rich nations.

Continued on page 6

S.Korea to give N.Korea flood aid as tensions ease Agence France Press

SEOUL - South Korea Monday announced aid to flood-stricken North Korea and a US envoy discussed the possible resumption of nuclear disarmament talks, amid signs of a thaw in cross-border relations. But Seoul reiterated that Pyongyang was responsible for a deadly torpedo attack in March on a South Korean warship, an incident which sharply raised regional tensions.

The North, which has reportedly delayed a key ruling communist party

meeting due to the poor health of leader Kim Jong-Il, has made a series of apparent peace overtures in recent weeks, after months of fiery rhetoric.

It freed a US citizen jailed for an illegal border crossing after former President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang, and returned the crew of a South Korean boat accused of poaching on its fishing grounds. The North also accepted offers of flood aid and called for the restarting of a reunion programme for families separated since the 1950-53 war on the peninsula.

Continued on page 6

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

An unidentified visitor looks at the North Korean side through the barbed wire fence decorated with messages wishing for reunification of the two Koreas, at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, north of Seoul, near the demilitarized zone, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010.

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International

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Bali News Return traffic

Kuta Asker To Effectively Discipline Residents Mangupura (Bali Post) –

Going back current from Lebaran (Idul Fitri) will cause the number of new comers not least in Kuta. Badung House of Representative demanded institute involve increasing security also to intensify people’s data.

Member of the House of Representative from Kuta, I Gusti Anom Gumanti, on Sunday (12/9) said the disciplinary on demography need to be intensified during this going back current from the banjar surrounds to the traffic. It’s to anticipate unwanted things happening, “We are not anti to new comers but it’s to anticipate things unwanted because of demography.

Also if new residents do not complete

themselves with clear identity, why is it let to live in Kuta, its better in they go back to where they came from.”

The politician asked those new comers especially in Bali to complete their identity and asked securities to tighten the security.

Kuta Village Chief, I Gede Suparta, mentioned the steps for demography disciplinary has been routinely done.

Such as asking those new comers to have

their identity as regulated and a disciplinary was done by Demography Administration Order Team in the village and each areas. The team members are from police, village administration and militaries. Especially in Lebaran it is more intensive, “This is an effective effort to increase security and order in the environment.” There have been around 12 thousands comer residents dominated from East Java in Kuta. (ded)

KMB Held Free Medication in Nusa Penida Nusa Penida (Bali Post) –

The Bali Post Media Group (KMB) join work with Sanglah Hospital and Medical Faculty from Udayana University held a free medication at Nusa Penida Pesraman on Sunday (12/9).

The medical team had 11 people from Sanglah Hospital and 18 from the Medical Faculty. “We brought general doctors, neuron specialist, psyche specialist, clinic pathology specialist and pharmacist,” dr I Made Sudarmaja, M.Kes, coordinator of the medical team mentioned.

This free medication is not only for Nusa Penida residents but also

for those who were praying to Pura Dalem Ped. Guru Suka, a Banjar Seming, Desa Ped resident complained his nerves are stiff, “My left hand can’t be used to plow the paddy field. Like stiff, and to eat is not well too.”

Another patient, Ni Made Pada, Jungut Batu resident, Lembongan said had a painful knee for so long.

She’s been taking medication often yet it’s not healed. This 67 years old lady was thankful of KMB’s free medication.

Meanwhile Made Tiken, Banjar Waru resident, Klumpu village complained pain in the waist, flu and

sometimes heartburn. After checked, everyone got medicines and vitamins from medic team.

From the 38 patients treated, dr.

Sudarmaja said majority the patient had rheumatism, skin disease and digestion disorders, “Age and tiredness became the factors that affected health.”

Besides doing medical check up, KMB also did praying and cleaning up Pura Segara, Pura Taman, Pura Penataran and Pura Ratu Gede. The clean up was done by giving an example of throwing used canang (flowers) to the rubbish bin after used for praying. (wah)

VAR Stock Enough for 400 Thousands Dogs

Husbandry Agency Ready for Mass Vaccination Denpasar (Bali Post) –

In the mended APBN (State Budget and Expenses) year 2010, Bali asked for IDR 15 Billion budget to treat rabies in Bali. Yet it is unsure if that budget will be liquefied by the central government.

Head of Bali Province Husbandry Agency, Ir. I Putu Sumantra, M. App. Sc. Made sure that his side is ready to do a mass vaccination as the anti rabies vaccination (VAR) for dogs and other rabies potential animals are around 400 thousand dose, “We still have enough vaccination stock for 400 thousands dogs.”

According to Sumantra, the dogs’ population in Bali has

reached around 500 thousand dogs and from that number there’s around 260 thousand dogs have been vaccinated and 100 thousand of them have been re-boost or re-vaccinated again after six months first vaccinated.

This means the stock can still complete the vaccination in Bali including re-vaccination, “Different with VAR for human which its stock is relatively limited, the vaccine stock for dogs is still okay.”

More over, Sumantra said there has been a foreign institution who’s ready to help eliminate rabies in Bali.

It was said that institution is ready to give trainings to workers who will be operational workers in the field for mass vaccination and elimina-

tion, “The agreement with that foreign institute is scheduled this week.

If this join work process is as scheduled, we are targeting the mass vaccination can be done in the end of this September.”

Besides mass vaccination for pet dogs owned by the people, his side will intensively socialize important steps needed to be done by the people to anticipate rabies spreading. One of them is those who have pet dogs should cage them to minimize a contact with those dogs who got rabies already. Besides that they will always do elimination (destroying) on street dogs, “To take out this rabies case, we will work it all out.” (kmb13)

Had PLN ID, Kopong Tricked Tens of Victims Denpasar (Bali Post)-

I Kadek Widiastama alias Kopong (40) successfully tricked tens of victims who want to use State Electricity Service (PLN). For sure, Kopong took all their money such as from prosecutors, police even a representative member.

The technique used is very simple, using a fake PLN worker ID. Kopong who’s from Banjar Bengkel, Busungbiu, Buleleng was captured by Abiansemal Police in Gunung Agung Street, Gang Bumi Ayu, Denpasar just lately.

From the information collected by Bali Post, the accused was faking himself as a PLN worker by using a fake ID. He admitted that he was an electricity technician and he managed to trick 9 victims in Badung and more in Denpasar. When interrogated, accused who had wives and two girlfriends admitted needed more money for family needs. Before jailed in Abiansemal, Kopong was jailed for 7 months before in Gerokgak Police, Buleleng with the same case.

Head of Abiansemal Police, Adjunct Police Commissioner IG Made Sudiana mentioned, this unacceptable action was because of a report by Nyoman Sudarma (43), a Cengkok resident, Abiansemal, Badung who admitted have been tricked by a fake PLN worker for IDR 11,5 Million, “Accused used a fake PLN worker ID to ensure victims.”

As reported, at first victim Sudarma

was visited by accused after building a villa. Kopong promoted an electricity installation service with deposit IDR 1,5 Million. After given, Kopong also asked for installation fee IDR 2,5 Million and tools such as cables IDR 7,5 Million.

The total money given reached IDR 11,5 Million.

Head of Police Sudiana stated, after it’s all fixed and the lights were on, victim was then visited by a PLN worker who’s suspicious of the new installation. After checked, the electricity current to this villa is illegal alias not on the PLN data. Sudarma then realize he’s been tricked and PLN reported him to have stolen electricity, “Victim then report it to the police and said the installation was done by the accused.”

Kopong did not only trick Sudarma, other victims were asked for IDR 2 Million deposit for the installation. After receiving a receipt, accused was gone. The accused admitted to police he have done it in 9 locations in Badung including Penarungan, Blahkiur, Baha and Bumbungan. Meanwhile in Denpasar there has been tens of location, “Accused admitted has done it to collect fees for his 2 wives and 2 girlfriends.”

Police confiscated an electricity measurement kit, ID card, and other equipments such as screwdriver, hammer and more. Accused is now jailed at Abiansemal Police Department. (jep)

Denpasar promises to repatriate regional migrants without identity Denpasar (Bali Post)—

It becomes a tradition that after the homecoming traffic has gone by, now it is the turn of backflow overflowing to Denpasar. To anticipate the backflow of Idul Fitri this year, the Denpasar municipality government will perform a raid to regional migrants at Ubung Terminal and Benoa Harbor. Even, the municipal government has promised to repatriate citizens arriving without identity required.

This assertion was made by the Head of Denpasar Civil Registry Office, Nyoman Gede Narendra, contacted last Sunday (Sep 12). He admitted that disciplining the population without any identity would be carried out as in the previous year, namely targeting the entrance both from Ubung Terminal and Benoa Harbour. The backflow was estimated to happen in this mid-week. “As schedule, we are going to raid them

on September 14 and 15, coincided with the peak of backflow,” he said.

In the upcoming raid, his party would target the regional migrant having no identity, such as ID cards.

Even, residents known to come without carrying any identity would be repatriated to their place of origin. “For those coming with identity from the region of origin would be provided with seasonal identity registration (Kipem). However, if they do not carry any identity we will repatriate them,” promised the Head of Kadisdukcapil last Sunday.

This decisive action was taken to anticipate the mobilization of population coming after Idul Fitri. Moreover, each year the total population after Idul Fitri was constantly increasing, particularly those that did not carry any identity. “We attempt to suppress the number of illegal population that does not have a complete identity,” he continued.(kmb12)

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Bali News

International

A number of vehicles entering Bali through Gilimanuk Harbor are undergoing document check held by attendants in Post II. Since last Sunday many regional migrants had entered Bali.

IBP/sur

Regional migrants set to enter Bali through Gilimanuk Negara (Bali Post)—

The backflow of homecomers into the Bali has set to be bustling since last Sunday (Sep 12).

From the morning, the ships had been overrun by homecomers riding motorcycles and driving private cars.

Observations made last Sunday afternoon showed that every passenger ship (KMP) anchoring in the dock was always crowded by motorcycles and cars crossing from Java. A number of joint police officers performing the document check in Post II got overwhelmed. Standard inspection of vehicle document and luggage was applied but not implemented thoroughly.

The reason, such inspection kindled wavy queues. Similar condition occurred to identity examination in Gilimanuk where it was also flooded

by regional migrants.

Addition personnel for ID check seemed to have been increased either from the public order agency (Satpol PP) and civil servants of Civil Registry Office (Dafdukcapil) of Jembrana Regency. Meanwhile, condition of Gilimanuk Harbor was tranquil. It had been predicted that accumulation of vehicles would occur on Sunday night.

Private car and inter-provincial city bus (AKAP) largely dominated by passengers of domestic tourist would return to Java. Until last Sunday afternoon,

the number of private cars increasingly overran the harbor. Ospar said that based on experience in the previous years, homecomers coming back to Bali would come gradually.

According to him, this condition would happen until next weekend because many homecomers would return after the next Friday. In the meantime, the waters transportation services (ASDP) of Gilimanuk Harbor anticipated the next lines at Ketapang by monitoring the time of every vessel berthing at Gilimanuk. (sur)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Cliff excavations rampant in Buleleng

Local residents worry about avalanche Singaraja (Bali Post)—

Cliff excavation for landfill at several villages in Buleleng is now getting more intense and widespread. Despite frequently complained by residents, local government officials seemingly could do nothing because the soil excavated largely belonged to private property.

For instance, the excavation was carried out at Kekeran Village in Busungbiu subdistrict and Lokapaksa Village in Seririt subdistrict. At Kekeran, a cliff located at the edge of a road was dug up by its owner and then it was sold for landfill in other places. Such excavation activities were often complained because of disturbing traffic. In addition, the cliff excavation was also worried to cause landslides because some locations of the cliff were excavated without paying attention to the level of steepness.

A resident of Kekeran Village, last Sunday (Sep 12), said the cliff land excavated belonged to private property. The land was dug because it was not productive. If neglected, the land would not produce anything. Since situating strategically on the edge of the highway, the land was flattened that later on could be built any shops or stalls for small business.

Moreover, according to him, the excavated soil could be sold for landfill. Such cliff land was highly demanded by people as it was crum-

bly and sandy, and it could harden fast. As consequence, it was suitable for landfill. According to him, such excavated soil was sold at IDR 25,000 per pick-up truck. Regarding to excavation permit, the resident confessed to have no permission as the soil excavated was an individual property obtained from his parents.

Other than at Kekeran, C-class excavation also widely occurred at Lokapaksa Village, Seririt subdistrict. Transportation of such excavated materials was often complained by residents because it was considered to be one of the causes of damaged roads and traffic accidents.

Chairman of the Village Consultative Body (BPD) of Lokapaksa Village, Putu Wisnu Atmaja, said that his party could do nothing with the existence of such C-class excavation. If prohibited, the excavation business had become a source of community’s livelihood. On the contrary, it would damage the roads.

Meanwhile, the Head of Buleleng Public Works, Nyoman Gede Suriyawan, said that steep land in Busungbiu subdistrict was prone area to landslide during the rainy season. However, since the land was owned by individuals in the area, it could not be banned. Nevertheless, his party only reminded the owner to pay attention to the excavation techniques so any accidents on location could be avoided. (kmb15)

Balinese women:

Cycle of Life Ceremony in Bali

In devotional services through the arts

Balinese Hindu believe on reincarnation, cycle of life, before they can reach moksha, the highest condition of atman or soul where the soul is back to the main source, God, the soul must be born and reborn again.

Born, growth up, old, and die then born again are a must in Balinese Hindu. And in every step of those stages, Balinese will perform special ceremony. When the souls are ready to reborn again, they will enter into red and white elements of desire that are united in the sexual love, it symbols of sperm (red) and ovum (white). The eventual merging of the two kamas begets what is often called Sang Hyang Jabang Bayi or fetus-Balinese always assume that the soul comes from heaven that is why a baby in Bali is called dewa or gods during his first year of life to honor the soul.

The ritual is beginning from pregnancy with the aim to fasten the soul in its body before birth. The seventh moth when the fetus is strong enough is a time for Magedong-gedongan or strength the

Beauty can stop everyone’s eyes flickering. Beauty of the kid song can lullaby a baby. Similarly, beauty also can toss the imagination, soothe the mind and draw people to get near. Bali has many sources of that beauty offering the charm of nature, culture or adventure.

By maintaining traditions inspired by Hinduism, Balinese people go on running in harmony with the time. In other words, they do not feel inferior because of inheriting those traditions. Beauty in the form of various dance movements has been introduced since early ages. On seeing a dance staged, a toddler may watch it attentively or its fingers move and move as if imitating the movement of the dance.

Virtually all customary villages in Bali have gamelan troupe. This troupe plays important role in expressing their entertainment arts and accompanying every ritual activity. This existence gives opportunity to villagers from child to adult to express their artistic talent especially in dance, drama and gamelan arts. Young girls under

soul in “new house” ceremony. It is a simple ceremony.

When the baby is born, his/her ari-ari or placenta will get special treatment. It puts on clay pot then brings to house compound. Baby’s father should wash it until clean from the blood then put it in a coconut together with some spices and some tools; it depends on the custom, before burry it in front of the house’s door. On the place where it buried will be put a cook’s cage or basket and candle or lamp to protect it from animal and unseen force.

The fact this is a sign to community, there are a new baby in that house On the seventh days or depends on when the umbilical cord the ceremony is held to celebrate it. Just a simple ceremony, run by baby’s mother. The baby is then celebrate through tutug kambuhan or continuous to grow which fall on 42 days after birth. Commonly the parent will invite the priest to do the ceremony for the baby’s four siblings that company him when his born by giving special offering.

Since this day baby’s parent is allowed to enter holly place again,

before, since the birth both are not allowed to enter holy place, Balinese called they are on cuntaka or prohibited time. Logically during this time baby’s parent is still in weak and busy condition, so they cannot do normal activities, including did a festival feast or communal activities.

Bigger ceremony is held at three months, named nyambutin or celebration ceremony. This time a baby is allowed to touch the ground and get his name. The child has entered the earthly world and the ceremonies are to welcome and guide the child during his or her first steps in life. This is how a child attains full incarnation of human status.

Then regular ceremony will be held, called otonan ceremony or happy birthday Balinese Hindu version, it is based on one cycle in the wuku year or Balinese calendar which is celebrate every 210 days or every six months, to remain and strength the soul in the child’s body.

And this ceremony will be held until he or she becomes an adult, but some people still celebrate it until their old age. (BTN/Doc)

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twelve or elementary school age have a chance to participate in performing Rejang Dance. By wearing white and yellow costumes and floral decoration on head, they dance beautifully accompanied by gamelan music. Rejang Dance is one of the sacred dances performed in relation to the organization of temple anniversary or odalan. Other than putting a basic love to their tradition, they also show devotional service or ngatur ayah through the arts.

When they grow older, right on entering secondary school, they join customary village youth club or Sekaa Taruna. Here, with their male friends and their brothers and sisters start to learn about organization.

Many things can be learned through this organization. Since it has affiliation to customary village, they can learn about the making of some simple oblation under guidance of senior oblation maker and various traditional arts. In Bali, this youth club actually play important role in preparing young generation to maintain their valuable cultural heritages or to prepare themselves for inheriting customary responsibility. (BTN/punia)

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News

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

International

Pope’s visit aimed at easing tensions with Anglicans Agence France Presse

LONDON – Historic tensions and a modern row over women bishops will simmer beneath Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britain, despite efforts to use the trip as an opportunity for rapprochement with Anglicans.

On the first papal state visit to the country since King Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic faith in 1534, Pope Benedict XVI will make a series of deeply symbolic gestures towards the Church of England.

The pope will attend a service on Friday at London’s historic Westminster Abbey — where monarchs are crowned — led by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans. Benedict will also have a “very important meeting” with Williams at Lambeth Palace, his official residence, said Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The Very Reverend John Hall, the Dean of Westminster Abbey, told AFP he hoped the pope’s visit would be a “chance to advance the relationship between Christians and to move us towards reconciliation and church unity.”

But the pope’s visit comes just 11 months after he shocked the religious world with an offer to take in dissident Anglicans angered by their church’s moves to consecrate female bishops.

The announcement last October came as the Church of England edged closer

to finally approving the consecration of women bishops, angering elements of the global Anglican community of more than 70 million. At the time the Vatican’s move was described by newspaper The Times as “potentially the most explosive development in Anglican-Catholic relations since the Reformation”.

That was no small claim amid nearly 500 years of strained relations since Henry VIII split with the Catholic faith after Pope Clement VII refused to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. It was not until 1982 that a pope, John Paul II, set foot in Britain again. The Vatican says that was officially only a pastoral visit, making Benedict’s the first state visit to the country in half a millennium.

But the churches have drifted apart again in the past two decades on the issue of female and homosexual clergy.

Commentators said the Vatican offer would continue to cause strains, despite

efforts by both churches to present a unified front on the pope’s British visit.

“Certainly the Anglican hierarchy will want to welcome Benedict XVI serenely,” Vatican commentator Marco Politi, of the Italian newspaper Il Fatto, told AFP. “But part of the Anglican world considers the movement of Anglican dissidents to the Roman Catholic community as a sort of annexation

by Rome,” he added.

A wave of Anglicans switched to Catholicism with its all-male clergy after women priests were approved in 1992. Even Nichols warned against expecting any major developments when the pope is in Britain, saying it was a “visit to the UK as a whole, it’s not a moment in which to explore the relationship between the Churches.”

Monsignor Andrew Faley, the assistant general secretary for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, admitted that the strains were still clear to see.

AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his Angelus blessing from his window overlooking the courtyard of his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, on the outskirts of Rome, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010.

Philippine Muslim rebels say ready for peace talks Agence France Presse

MANILA – Muslim separatist rebels waging a decades-old insurgency in the southern Philippines on Monday said they were ready to return to peace talks with the government. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in a statement, said it had reactivated its team of negotiators and was only awaiting word from Malaysia on the exact date of the talks hosted by Kuala Lumpur.

“This means we are gearing up

for the resumption of talks,” chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told AFP. “We have already submitted the names of our peace panel to Kuala Lumpur.”

“We can only hope that the government is now really sincere in the negotiations,” he said. The 12,000strong MILF has been waging an insurgency for more than three decades to carve out a separate Muslim state in the mostly Catholic country’s southern island of Mindanao.

The rebellion has killed more than 150,000 people and stunted economic growth in the mineral rich but impoverished southern region.

President Benigno Aquino has said peace talks with the MILF would resume after the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which ended last week. No specific date however has yet been set for the negotiations hosted by Malaysia.

Peace talks have been stalled since 2008 after two MILF commanders led large-scale attacks

across the main southern island of Mindanao, killing hundreds and plunging the region into a humanitarian crisis.

The attacks were carried out in retaliation for a Supreme Court decision outlawing a deal offered by the government of then-president Gloria Arroyo giving the MILF control over large areas it claims as its “ancestral domain.” Nearly 400 people were killed in the clashes, while more than 750,000 were displaced at the height of the conflict.

Both sides agreed to a ceasefire in 2009, allowing most of the displaced to return home, but the MILF opted to wait for Arroyo to step down before agreeing to return to the peace table. Arroyo was replaced by Aquino, who won the presidency in May and has vowed to end the insurgency during his six-year term.

The MILF first agreed to a truce with Manila in 2003, paving the way for peace negotiations, setting aside its ultimate goal of independence to settle for greater autonomy.

Japan leadership duel nears vote amid China spat Agence France Presse

TOKYO – Japan braced for yet another new leader ahead of Tuesday’s ruling party vote that pits the prime minister against a veteran lawmaker known as a backroom powerbroker. The race comes amid an escalating diplomatic spat with China and a surging yen that is battering the country’s vital exporters.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan appeared to have a slight edge over party kingpin Ichiro Ozawa ahead of the internal Democratic Party of Japan election. If Ozawa wins, he would become the country’s third prime minister in a year and sixth new leader in four years, perpetuating Japan’s leadership merry-go-round.

Both men have stressed the need to revive Japan’s sluggish economy, which has fallen behind China’s and is now the world’s

AP Photo/Kyodo News

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan speaks to the crowd during a campaign stop near Yurakucho train station in Tokyo Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010. Days before a party vote that will determine Japan’s leader in the face of pressing economic and international concerns, Kan and powerful challenger Ichiro Ozawa scrambled to woo lawmakers over the weekend.

third-biggest. Ozawa favors more stimulus spending and has suggested that Japan needs to intervene in the currency market to reverse the yen’s recent spike to 15-year highs.

Kan, in office just three months, has stressed the need to create more jobs while cutting wasteful programs and maintaining fiscal discipline.

Whoever wins also must deal with an increasingly assertive China, who has blasted Japan for arresting the captain of Japanese fishing boat that collided with two Japanese patrol boats near disputed islands in the East China Sea. Opinion surveys show that Kan is preferred by the public by a 4-to-1 margin over Ozawa, a gruff “shadow shogun” who wields a great deal of power behind the scenes. Ozawa has championed various reforms, such as deregulation and reining in Japan’s powerful bureaucrats.

The leadership decision will be made by party members, not the public. Tuesday’s vote by 411 Democratic members of parliament will account for about two-thirds of the tally. Rank-and-file party members around the country, which account for the remaining third, cast their ballots Saturday. Because of the Democrats’ clout in parliament, their leader will automatically become the prime minister.

Hotel Activities 5 Favehotels Announces First Hotel in Malaysia Tuesday, September 14, 2010

International

IBP

JAKARTA - Aston International announced that the group has secured a management contract for its smart select service favehotel brand in Langkawi, Malaysia.

The favehotel Cenang Berach, Langkawi will be a 100 room two star hotel within walking distance to Langkawi’s famed Cenang Beach making it an ideal value proposition for travelers seeking quality budget accommodations in an otherwise high cost resort destination. To enhance the new favehotels resort character the hotel will feature facilities that are usually not associated with select service hotels such as an outdoor swimming pool and an eclectic and trendy café shop.

Aston Internationals Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Mr. Norbert Vas, said “Aston is very grateful to have been awarded this management contract. The site is extremely promising as it enjoys a privilege location right of the beach

and within walking distance of Cenang’s many restaurants and boutiques. We are confident that the new hotel will be one of Langkawi’s most convenient and popular hotels.”

The favehotel Cenang Beach, Langkawi will the Aston groups first favehotel outside Indonesia.

Aston has opened its first favehotel in Denpasar, Bali in mid 2009 and has since then been able to secure projects in prime locations such as Bali’s fashionable resort destinations of Seminayak and Legian as well as several locations in Jakarta, Solo, Surabaya and Benjarmasin .

Favehotel is a new select service brand established by Aston International, Indonesia’s leading Hotel Group, aiming to offer inexpensive, fresh, attractive and contemporary 2 star hotels to smart budget minded travelers.

Since its inception in July 2009 favehotel has been on the forefront of the budget hotel sector redefining the industry’s standards for select service hotels through imagi-

nary design, mid market features such as high quality beddings and LCD televisions and a small environmental footprint.

Further favehotels are currently being developed in several locations in Jakarta and in Seminyak, Legian, Kuta, Banjarmasin, Solo,

Solo-Baru and Langkawi – Malaysia as well as in various strategic locations within the Philippine archipelago.

Temple Ceremony Calendar of Event (Sep 3- 23 2010) 4 h – “Tumpek Wayang”, day devoted to “Sanghyang Iswara”, the lord of puppeteers, when blessing ceremony is given to shadow – puppet play sets for proper function and magical power.

Temple Festival at: - Pr.aspahit, Jembrana.

- Pr. Panti Gelgel, Ds. Pangembungan, Sesetan, Badung.

- Pedharman Dalem Sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan, Besakih.

- Pedharman Dalem Sukawati, Besaih.

- Pedharman Kaba-Kaba , Besakih.

- Pedharman Dalem Bakas, Besakih.

- Pr. Pedharman Mengwi, Besakih.

- Pr. Penataran Giri Purwa, Ds. Kutarejo, Tegal Dalimo, Banyuwangi.

5th _ Temple Festival at: - Pr. Maospahit, Ds. Gerenceng Denpasar.

8th _ Temple Festival at: - Pr. Ulun Kulkul, Besakih.

- Pr. Melanting, Ds. Camenggaon, Sukawati.

- Pr. Penataran Agung, Teluk Padang, Karangasem.

- Pr. Pasek Gelgel, Ds. Pangembungan, Bongkasa, abiansemal.

- Pr. Pasek Bandesa, Ds. Riyang Gede, Penebel Tabanan.

- Pr. Pasek Banjar Jawa, Buleleng.

- Pr. Gaduhan Jagat, Ds. Singakerta, Ubud.

- Pr. Masceti Tengah, Ds. Mancawarna, Tampaksiring.

- Pr. Penataran Batulepang, Ds. Kamasan, Klungkung.

- Pr. Paibon Pasek Gobleg, Ds. Kedonganan, Kuta - Pr. Pasek Gelgel, Ds. Songan, Batur,

Kintamani.

- Pr. Pasanggerahan Agung, Ds. Bebandem, Karangasem.

- Pr. Penataran Dalem Peed, Nusa Penida.

- Mr.Pasek Perateka, Ds. Pekandelan, Sidemen, Karangasem.

- Mr.Pasek Perateka Taman Sari, Sukasada.

- Pr. Kawitan Jero Wenayu, Ds. Wenayu, Bedulu, Gianyar.

- Pr. Jati, Ubud.

- Pr. Gua, Besakih.

10th _ Temple Festival at: - Merajan Geriya Kebon – Tabanan.

- Pr. Candi Gora, Ds. Tianyar, Karangasem.

14th _ Temple Festival at: - Pr. Puseh Jagat Dalem Dukut, Nusa Penida.

- Pr. Dalem, Ds. Batuyang, Batubulan.

- Pr. Pasek Magending, Kediri, Tabanan.

- Pr. Pasek Undagi, Ds. Timpag, Kerambitan, Tabanan.

- Pr. Desa + Pura Pucak, Br. Taman Bedulu, Gianyar.

- Mr.Pasek Tangkas Kori Agung, Ds. Sulahan.

- Mr.Pasek Padang Rata, Ds. Padang, Karangasem.

- Pr. Telaga Sakti/Dalem Tarukan, Ds. Ambengan, Nusa Penida.

- Pr. Dalem, Ds. Padangan, Pupuan, Tabanan.

- Pr. Yogha, Br. Teba Jero, Kaba-Kaba, Kediri Tabanan.

- Pr. Dalem Purwa, Br. Kawan, Bangli.

15th _ Temple Festival at: - Pr. Agung Pasek Gelgel, Ds. Sibang Kaja, abiansemal.

- Pr. Dalem Samprangan, Gianyar.

- Pr. Ds. Galiran, Bhakti Seraga, Buleleng.

Balinese Temple Ceremony EVERY Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.

The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

6

News

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Jihadists ‘planned maximum casualties’ at Aus base Agence France Presse

MELBOURNE – Five men plotted to storm an Australian army base with high-powered weapons and shoot as many people as possible to further the cause of Islam, a court heard on Monday.

Melbourne’s Supreme Court heard the men, who have been linked with Islamic extremists in Somalia, planned to continue their rampage at Sydney’s Holsworthy army barracks until they were killed or captured.

Crown prosecutor Nick Robinson said the plot was hatched between February and August 4 last year, when the five were arrested in a swoop involving hundreds of police in Melbourne.

He said one of the accused visited Somalia to seek a fatwa, or religious decree, for the attack, adding they had condemned Australia’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan and believed the country was oppressing Muslims.

Robinson said the men believed Islam was under attack from several countries, including Australia, and wanted to advance their religion as they perceived it.

Saney Edow Aweys, 27, Yacqub Khayre, 23, Abdirahmin Mohamud Ahmed, 26, Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, 34, and Nayef El Sayed, 26, have all pleaded not guilty to conspiring to do acts in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. Fattal had visited Holsworthy and described it as an easy target, according to Robinson. Justice

Betty King told the jury that the trial was not about the religion of Islam, but whether the accused had committed any offences.

The arrests highlighted security standards at army bases, and police said the alleged attack would have been the worst in Australian history.

It also prompted Canberra to list Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab group as a terrorist organisation, although the outfit has denied any link to the alleged plot.

Australia was a staunch supporter of ex-US leader George W. Bush’s “war on terror” and sent troops to Iraq as well as Afghanistan, where about 1,550 personnel are still based in the country’s south.

Some 92 Australians were killed in the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, while three died in blasts at luxury hotels in July 2009 in Jakarta, where extremists also carried out a deadly car-bombing on Australia’s embassy in 2004. In Feb-

ruary, five Muslims who plotted a gunsand-explosives attack on an unknown target to protest against Australia’s part in the “war on terror” were jailed for up to 28 years, after the country’s longest extremism trial.

And in September last year, an Australian convert to Islam was jailed for five years after admitting being part of a terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing sports events.

Former forklift truck-driver Shane Kent was part of a group that planned to attack events including the Australian Football League’s 2005 Grand Final, which attracted 92,000 fans. Eight other men were earlier jailed for up to 15 years over the plot, including a radical Muslim cleric.

Also last September, an ex-airline worker was jailed for nine years for producing a do-it-yourself jihad manual including how-to guides on bomb-making, assassinations and shooting down planes.

US post in Afghan hamlet a ‘bullet magnet’ Agence France Presse

CHAHAR QOLBAH, Afghanistan – In Chahar Qolbah, a deserted hamlet on the edge of the village of Jelawar in southern Afghanistan, US paratroopers have taken over an old Taliban base and turned it into a forward combat post.

Patrol base Lugo, named after one of the soldiers’ comrades who was killed in action, is “a bullet magnet”, joked one of the men from Alpha Battery 1-320 of the 101st Airborne Division The post is in the Arghandab Valley in the heart of Kandahar province — cradle and bastion of the Taliban insurgency. Riddled with bullets and some of it in ruins, the building has been transformed into a fortified camp, with machine gun posts on the roof, sandbags, camouflage netting and sniper nests.

“When we moved in, we found weapons and underground medical facilities. They were treating their wounded here,” platoon commander Lieutenant George Babcock said as he showed the cellar. The inhabitants of Chahar Qolba left more

(AFP/File/Patrick Baz)

This file photo taken on September 10, shows a US Army soldier holding a bandolier as he battles the Taliban from the rooftop of Lugo patrol base in Chahar Qolbah on the outskirts of Jellawar in Arghandab Valley.

than two years ago — when then the village leader died, the Taliban moved in and the residents fled the hamlet’s 30 or so houses.

“We call it the garden or the green zone, it is Taliban heaven,” Lieutenant Colonel David Flynn said, adding that the area was also a stronghold of Afghan resistance during the Soviet invasion of the 1980s.

Corn and pomegranate fields stretch away from the village as far as the eye can see, giving fighters from the Islamist Taliban militia cover to approach with ease. “It is very dense vegetation — you can?t see any movement five metres (yards) from the road. It is a severe terrain and we need more than two hours to walk 700 metres,” said Major Jeff Burrell.

“If we cut the trees we will upset the population. It is a very tricky situation.” Flynn’s men come under almost nonstop attack from the Taliban about 400 metres away. As bullets whizz in from all directions, the post swings into action.

Soldiers from the Afghan National Army open fire with heavy machine gun and mortar, making the walls of the building tremble.

“It is harassing fire, they move in a group of two to five, shoot RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades), run away and come back the day after,” said Babcock.

Helicopters are called in, and the noise of their blades puts the insurgents to flight. The Taliban know they have no chance against them, the US troops say. In nearby fields, Afghan farmers wear orange armbands and their donkeys orange collars so the soldiers can identify them.

But in practice, there is no way of identifying the Taliban.

“They blend into the population, they fire at us, drop the AK (automatic rifle) and pick up a shovel, we probably run into them and we wouldn?t ever know it,” said Burrell.

“If they wore Taliban T-shirts it would be easier.” As darkness fell, the battle started again. Tracer bullets tore across the sky, flares lit up the night and fell on to the cornfields.

While the Afghan soldiers fired in every direction, the snipers of the 101st Airborne scanned the horizon for their target with night-vision goggles. “We own the night,” said Babcock.

AFP/File –

File photo shows Australian commandos taking part in counterterrorism exercises at the Holsworthy military

Donors...

From page 1 “The G20 should take on the G8?s previous role in making and monitoring commitments to supporting growth and development in Africa,” concluded the report.

“The G20 should commit to increasing aid to Africa from 2010 onwards to a further 16 billion pounds per annum by 2015,” it said.

The publication of the report comes ahead of a summit in New York from September 21-23 to review a set of ambitious development goals first set out at the Millennium summit in 2000.

S.Korea...

From page 1 The South’s Red Cross said it would send aid worth 10 billion won (8.3 million dollars), including 5,000 tons of rice, 10,000 tons of cement and three million packs of instant noodles.

Its chief Yoo Chong-Ha said the rice would go to the town of Sinuiju on the China border, which was swamped last month by an overflowing river. He said the aid would be mainly financed by the Seoul government.

Yoo also proposed holding talks this Friday with the North’s Red Cross on resuming the family reunions, which have been on hold for a year.

About 80,000 elderly South Koreans are desperate for a brief meeting with family left in the North after the war, but up to 4,000 of them die each year before getting the chance.

The North has announced it will hold a rare party conference this month which is expected to pave the way for

The Commission for Africa said that, despite the progress of recent years, sub-Saharan Africa was not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals. It further warned: “Economic growth and trade have been damaged by the global economic crisis.

“Climate change and rising food prices will make poverty reduction more challenging in many parts of the continent.” The commission’s new report reviews how well the recommendations in their original 2005 report have been acted upon. Commission members include Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa. an eventual leadership succession.

It has given no dates for the meeting, the nation’s most important political gathering for 30 years, but South Korean cable TV channel YTN said it would likely be held soon since Kim’s health was not bad enough to merit a cancellation. The station said Kim’s health had worsened after his five-day trip to northeast China late last month.

Cross-border relations have been icy since Seoul accused Pyongyang in May of the warship attack which killed 46 people. The North vehemently denies the charge.

The South’s defence ministry Monday released a full 313-page report into the sinking, saying it was acting to quell “groundless” suspicions about who was to blame.

The report reaffirmed conclusions reached by international investigators — that an attack by a North Korean submarine sank the corvette in one of the divided peninsula’s deadliest incidents for decades.

International

Indonesia Today

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

7

Indonesian police probe knife assault on Christians Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesian police were questioning nine people Monday in relation to an armed assault on Christian worshippers that left one man seriously wounded and a priest with head injuries.

Members of the congregation said a group of men on motorcycles launched the unprovoked attack on church elders Sunday as they were going to hold a service in an area of Jakarta that has seen months of religious tension.

One man described as a church elder was knifed in the stomach while Reverend Luspida Simandjuntak, who tried to help the wounded man, was bashed in the head with a plank of wood.

The attack came during the Muslim festival at the end of the holy month of Ramadan and after a US pastor provoked global Muslim outrage with threats — since withdrawn — to burn copies of the Koran.

“A police task force is investigating this matter,” national Police spokesman Marwoto Soeto told AFP. “We’ve questioned nine wit-

nesses. We haven’t arrested any suspects yet. There had been conflicts previously after the local residents rejected having a church built there.”

The investigation was still in its early stages but there was no evidence that the attackers had religious motives, he said.

“At this point, we consider this attack purely criminal. We have yet to establish any link to Muslim groups. And no, there’s no link to the Koran burning issue,” he said.

Nelson Sitorus, an official from the protestant church group apparently targeted, said the attackers were clearly Muslims, who form 80 percent of Indonesia’s 240-million population.

“If the police say that the attack was purely criminal, they’re confused and wrong. They don’t have all the facts,” he said.

“We can’t say if the attackers were from a specific Muslim group but they were wearing Muslim caps and Islamic shirts.”

The Indonesian authorities have done little if anything to stop Islamic radicals and vigilante groups from attacking members of the Bekasi church group on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Local Muslims say the Christians do not have the required community approval to build a church in the area, leaving members of the congregation to hold services in the open where they are regularly abused and threatened.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who depends on Islamic parties for political support, issued a statement Friday condemning the US pastor’s planned Koran burning and saying Indonesia stood for religious tolerance.

Temblor damages one house in Yogyakarta Antara

YOGYAKARTA - One house was damaged after being hit by a magnitude-5.0 earthquake in Yogyakarta, Sunday (Sept 12) at 11.38 pm local time.

“The damaged house belongs to Ros and is located at Krapyak, Panggungharjo, Sewon. Its roof was damaged,” Giyanto of the Bantul chapter of the Indonesian Red Cross, said, here Monday.

The house was empty when the quake occurred as its owner and

other tenants had gone out of town to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.

The temblor was felt quite strongly in Bantul but it did not cause any damage, he said.

A number of residents went into a panic when the earthquake shook Yogyakarta and Bantul. They rushed out of their houses, but a few minutes later they returned to their respective houses, according to Giyanto.

The temblor’s epicenter was located at 8.10 degrees southern lati-

tude, 10.37 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km below sea level, around 23 km southeast of Bantul, Yogyakarta, Sidik Pramono, a staff member of the Yogyakarta meteorology , climatology and geophysics office, said here Monday.

“Up to now, there is no report of damage from the earthquake, but it caused panic among residents of Yogyakarta and its surroundings,” he said.

The temblor was felt by inhabitants of Yogyakarta, Bantul, Klaten dna Sukojarjo, Central Java.

Belgian Premier Opens ‘’Remarkable Indonesia” Festival Antara

JAKARTA - Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme and Indonesian Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar officially kicked off an Indonesian trade exhibition and cultural festival dubbed “Remarkable Indonesia” in Gent, Belgium, recently.

Minister Counselor PLE Priatna of the Indonesian embassy in Belgium said Monday the Indonesian trade exhibition and the cultural week were being held until September 19, in Gent, around 50 km from

Brussels.

“Remarkable Indonesia” is being held as part of the Flanders Expo Accenta 2010, one of the leading trade fairs for the media and advertising industry in East Flanders. The exhibition provides an opportunity to meet professionals from related industries under one roof. The event is being held September 12-20, 2010 at the Flanders Expo Center.

Some 40 Indonesian companies are participating in the fair and promoting their products such as furniture, garments, handicraft, and jewelries.

An Acehnese traditional dance called “Saman” was performed to highlight the opening of the Indonesian trade expo and cultural festival.

Indonesia’s exports to Belgium reaches a value of Rp240 billion annually. The trade expo is expected to help boost Indonesia’s exports to the European country.

Belgian Prime Minister Ives Leterme in his opening remarks congratulated Indonesia for being able to achieve an economic growth of 6 percent in 2010 amidst the prolonged global economic crisis.

AFP PHOTO / Bay ISMOYO

An Indonesian Muslim woman reads the Koran at Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Jakarta on September 12, 2010. Muslims believe that Koran is a book of guidelines and directions for living in a society, and as God’s final revelation to mankind. Terry Jones, a US pastor who threatened of torching the Muslim holy book triggering riots and protests around the world — and attracted supporters and opponents to his tiny church in north-central Florida, said on September 11 his church will never burn the Koran.

Australia probed Indonesia torture allegations: official Agence France-Presse

SYDNEY - Australia sent officials to investigate alleged torture by members of an Indonesian counter-terrorism unit which receives funding from Canberra, an official said Monday.

A foreign affairs spokesman said Australia is “aware of and concerned by” claims against Indonesia’s Detachment 88, which is accused of beating a group of detained separatists and attacking them with lit cigarettes and nails.

“The Australian government is aware of, and concerned by, the allegations of brutality towards political prisoners raised by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International,” the official said in a statement.

“Australian embassy officials from Jakarta have made inquiries with the Indonesian National Police, including during a recent visit to Ambon, where these allegations were discussed with both government and civil society representatives.”

The Sydney Morning Herald said Detachment 88 receives millions of US dollars in funding each year in funding from Australia to

combat extremism in Indonesia, a northern neighbour.

It said about 12 separatists were detained last month in Maluku province and were blindfolded and hit around the face and body, including with wooden sticks and bars, while holding painful positions.

The report said recorded statements from seven of the separatists, and an interview with another who was recovering in hospital, claimed police jumped on the detainees and put plastic bags over their heads so they could not breathe.

One of the separatists said he was forced to eat raw chillies and two others said they were told to hug and kiss, and were beaten when they refused.

“We were all tortured beyond the limit and, during the torture, if we mentioned the name of the Lord Jesus we would be punched and slapped,” one was quoted as saying. The separatists were reportedly arrested over plans to hold a demonstration during a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Maluku, an eastern region with a history of pro-independence sentiment.

8

Internationa

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Bali Today To anticipate congestion in Denpasar

Sarbagita transportation mode expected to resolve Bali Post

DENPASAR - Imbalanced rate of vehicle growth to the road construction in Denpasar certainly triggers a number of bottlenecks in the road. This treat should be considered by all parties, so the traffic congestion in Denpasar is not like that in Jakarta. Fluency of traffic streams must be supported by facilities and highway infrastructure, environment, community behavior and regulation on the transportation system itself.

Meanwhile, growing interest of the community to use public transport should be promoted and encouraged by government. It should be carried out properly and appropriately starting from now on.

Chairman of the Great Indonesian Faction (FIR) in Denpasar House, I Ketut Resmiyasa, in a round table discussion held in Denpasar by Bali Post not long ago revealed that public interest to use the public transport decreased. This condition would definitely trigger the growth on the ownership of private vehicles increasing every year. “This phenomenon will make the road segments in Denpasar crowded with private vehicles,” said this representative of the people of South Denpasar.

The threat of traffic congestion in Denpasar had been in sight. Moreover, the growth rate of private vehicles has achieved 10 percent and rose steadily each year. These conditions were not comparable to the growth of new roads. Just imagine, in every family consisting of father, mother and two children, was not uncommon to have four bicycles. In other words, each person had to use private vehicle when

he or she went out of the house, either to work or to go to school.

Similar opinion was delivered by Division Head of Transportation, Denpasar Transportation Services, Hari Edi. It was recognized the current users of public transport in Denpasar was only ranging from 2-3 percent. The remaining residents of Denpasar had used private vehicle when going out. An ideal city should have a public transport users amounting to 70 percent. To reach such ideal condition, the Government of Bali Province was going to operate a new transportation mode, namely Sarbagita. This new transport mode would serve the routes in some districts in Bali, such as Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan. On that account, this transport mode was named Sarbagita. “At the end of this year, the buses used to serve the transportation mode within the Sarbagita territory will arrive,” he said.

Operation of the Sarbagita transportation mode was expected to reduce the use of private vehicles in Denpasar.

Based on the data owned by Denpasar Transportation Services, the number of motorcycles in Denpasar had reached 457.772 units, 22,115 units of cars,

1,610 units of bus, and 90,534 units of public transportation. “These are vehicles registered in Denpasar only. Actually, there were many more vehicles belonging to other regions overrunning the streets in Denpasar, so there is a great possibility of traffic congestion to occur,” he said. As a matter of fact, it was not only vehicles causing the bottlenecks in Denpasar.

Numerous road bodies used as a parking lot also triggered the narrowing of roads used by vehicle owners.

In response to such condition, the ranks of PD Parkir Denpasar should also think about how to realize the road body in Denpasar to be free from parking lot of vehicles.

Division Head of Operational Services of PD Parkir, Denpasar, A.A. Gede Agustina admitted that the road body used for parking lot was getting wider and wider. According to him, the condition was kindled by the shortage of existing parking lot. To realize the road body free from the parking use, his party had made an effort such as by filing an empty land of investors that could be used for parking. One of them still under process was the existing land next to the Ngurah Rai Sta-

Bali Post/Yudi Karnaedi

The congestion that happened in one of the main roads in Denpasar. Imbalanced rate of vehicle growth to the road construction in Denpasar certainly triggers a number of bottlenecks in the road. This treat should be considered by all parties, so the traffic congestion in Denpasar is not like that in Jakarta. dium. “We’re fighting for the existence of convenient parking lot for residents of Denpasar,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hari Edi admitted that for the early stage Sarbagita would operate two corridors out of 17 planned corridors. However, the total vehicles operated was still fairly minimal, namely 18 units of bus. “We realize that Sarbagita transport mode is impossible to overcome the traffic jam in Denpasar. However, it should be acknowledged that Sarbagita bus

poses one of the ways to tackle the congestion in the culture-based city,” said Hari Edi. In the meantime, Resmiyasa added that for the success of such transport mode, there should be at least 100 units of bus in the first year. If the number of vehicle was inadequate, one of the elements supporting the success of the mass transportation would not be achieved. Consequently, this transport mode would possibly go bankrupt, because it was left by the community. (kmb12)

The number of garbage 2,600 meter cube during Lebaran Antara

DENPASAR – The garbage produced by the people of Denpasar during Lebaran holiday was quite similar with the regular number of garbage a day. The number of garbage was 2,600 meter cube on the holiday.

Ketut Wisada, the head of Denpasar Cleaning and Gardening, said “the increase during Lebaran holiday was only 100 meter cube.”

http://annova.files.wordpress.com

The Lebaran holiday make the garbage volume that need to be taken care are increase greatly.

He added that the number of garbage less than the one during Galungan and Kuningan day which can up to 3,000 meter cube a day.

“The most common garbage during Lebaran was the paper and plastic used during the pray. 79% of the garbage is coming from regular household, 7% from the markets, 4% is coming from local facilities and the rest is from commercial areas such as hotels, restaurants and others,” Wisada said.

He also explained that during Galungan or Kuningan, the garbage can be doubled the normal day so the number of trucks to take the garbage is also increased. The work-

ing hours from the officers is also extending from 6 hours in one shift to 8 or 9 hours.

Wisada said that the facilities to handle garbage in Denpasar are far from adequate, for example currently from 52 units of trucks available only 44 trucks can be used.

The trucks are also can not work properly, some of them are damage. “In addition to the facilities, the number of officers is also not balance with the number of garbage. Currently, there are 1,429 officers which are divided into three main works, cleaning, gathering, and transporting the garbage,” Wisada said.

al

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Balinese Culture Ngurah Rai Airport secure during Lebaran Antara

BADUNG – The officers in Lebaran post in Ngurah Rai Airport said that the security condition seven days before and two days after Lebaran is safe and secure. I Gusti Raka Witaya, one of the officers in the post, said “there are not security problems during the Lebaran holiday.”

Raka said that the officers don’t

receive any crime report in the airport area. There is great hope that there will be major crime happen during the holiday. He also explained that the number of tourists visited Bali during the holiday increased 13% compared to last year.

“On this year’s Lebaran, the number of tourists was 8,782 people, increased from 2009 which was 7,419 tourists,” Raka said.

The number of tourists using the

extra flights was 12,000 people, much higher than last year. Ngurah Rai Airport is located 13 kilometers southern of Denpasar. It is the main entrance for tourists who wan to spend their holiday in Bali.

While the tourism sites in Bali was packed by domestic tourists during the holiday. Traffic jam also happened in some areas such as Kuta and Gianyar due to the increasing number of tourist coming to the island.

Blood stock in Bali sufficient for Lebaran Antara

DENPASAR - The Bali branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (MPI) blood transfusion unit has sufficient blood stock for the Lebaran holidays demand.

“We have sufficient blood stock for the Lebaran holiday because we have made an anticipation by intensifying blood donation from nonMuslims,” local PMI spokesperson Made Geria Arnita said here on Sunday.

She said that in addition, the local PMI transfusion unit continued to open its blood donation service 24 hours for volunteers who would like to donate their blood.

According to Arnita, the blood stock as of Sunday reached 60 pouches of type-A blood, 10 pouches of type-B blood, 15 pouches of type-O blood, and 10 pouches of type-AB blood.

“The amount of blood stock we have at the moment is enough for the Lebaran holidays, because we have also limited our medical treatments, including operations except if it is very urgent,” Arnita said.

She added that the average blood consumption at Sanglah public hospital and private hospitals in Denpasar ranged from 80 to 100 pouches per day, and 80 percent of which was met from voluntary blood

donors.

According to her, there were 300 units of the Indonesian Blood Donors Association (PDDI) in Denpasar and Badung district at present.

Urutan Celeng (Fried Pork Sausages) OVERVIEW: This is always found in stalls selling roasted whole pig. Be Celeng, better known to visitors to Bali by its Indonesian name, Babi Guling. Not one part of the pig is wasted, and even the skin is deep fried as a crisp garnish. In Bali, this sausage is usually hung in a tree to dry to keep it away from the dogs and chickens.

INGREDIENTS: 600 gr (1¼ lb) boneless pork leg or shoulder, cut in 1 cm (1/2in) cubes ½ cup basic spice paste 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed 2 tbsp tamarind pulp, seeds and fibres removed vegetable oil for frying 1 meter (3ft) pork intestine or sausage casings

PREPARATION: Combine pork meat with basic spice paste, salt, pepper and tamarind paste. Mix well for 5 minutes. Tie one end of pork intestines with string. Insert large round nozzle into pastry piping bag and fill it with the meat mixture. Place open end of intestine over nozzle of http://4.bp.blogspot.com

Two men are donating their blood. The Bali branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (MPI) blood transfusion unit has sufficient blood stock for the Lebaran holidays demand.

piping bag and fill intestine tightly. Tie end with string.

Dry sausage for 8 hours on wire rack in oven at very low heat. Deep fry in oil over medium heat until golden brown.

This dish is traditionally served with lawar (Vegetable Salad made from green beans) or with young jackfruits. (www.baliguide.com/balifood)

Cekuh (Kencur) Zedoary (Kaemferia galanga) is sometimes erroneously known as lesser galangal. This ginger like root has a unique, camphor flavor and should be used sparingly. Wash it and if you are fussy (most Balinese cooks aren’t), scrape off the skin before using. Dried sliced kencur or kencur powder can be used as a substitute. Soak dried sliced in boiling water for 30 minutes, use 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of powder for 1 inch fresh root. If not available replace quantity given with half ginger and half laos (galangal). (www.baliguide.com/balifood) C.045 ibp

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Destinations

International

Kintamani IBP

http://www.kasuribalitour.com

For those who love to go hiking or go to the mountainous area, Bali is famous for its beautiful mountainous scenery. Kintamani for example. Kintamani is the most favorite tourist destinations in Bali with the active volcano of mount Batur and beautiful lake.

Kintamani is surrounded by the captivating nature and there are six ancient villages around cauldron of Batur Lake which is often conceived by Bali Age Village. The local people from these Bali Age villages own the unique cultures, houses and life style.

Kintamani Area is consisted of some Villages those are Kedisan Village , Buahan, Abang, Trunyan, Songan, South Batur, Middle Batur, North Batur, Sukawana and Kintamani Village . The total of resident in these area are about 15 thousand who are mostly working as farmer, merchant, or work at industrial tourism.

Mount Batur is located at Kintamani and it has erupted about 24 times since year 1800 and still active up to now. Since the mount erupting, it has impacted to the local society life around this mount, like removing altar (Temple), improve or repairing the village and re-arrange the tradition. Lake Batur is the biggest lake in Bali and functioning as irrigation source to all farmers around it and

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it is also for all Bali society generally.

Kintamani area has been founded some lodging, hotels and restaurants which are located in Kintamani and Penelokan Village. It is a famous tourist place because Kintamani area owns the beautiful panorama and it is encircled by the cold atmosphere.

Kintamani is beautifully seen at the day time around 10:00 am until 15:00 pm especially having fine weather where entire Kintamani area will be able to be seen clearly.

Generally, all tourists who pay a visit to this place will arrive in the day time where they can enjoy the panorama or enjoy the lunch in the local restaurant with lake view. Mostly restaurants at Kintamani generally own very beautiful view where tourist merging into their lunch in this restaurant and meanwhile enjoy the panorama.

Kintamani is located in Kintamani sub district, Bangli Regency and about 50 km from Denpasar Town or about 2 hours by car. All roads are generally in good condition to access to this place. The fog will descend and blanket entire area of Kintamani with cold temperature in particular at late afternoon until the whole of night. The most amazing panorama at Kintamani can be seen in the morning time, when the sunrise emerges on the surface of earth precisely on the mount Batur.

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

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

11

BUSINESS EU tips faster euro economy growth of 1.7 percent for 2010 Agence France-Presse

BRUSSELS - Europe’s economy will grow by a substantially faster than expected 1.7 percent across the core eurozone this year, according to new European Union forecasts released on Monday.

“Based on an update for the seven largest EU member states focusing on growth and inflation this year... real Gross Domestic Product growth is now projected at 1.8 percent in the EU and 1.7 percent in the euro area in 2010,” the European Commission said.

The previous forecast was for 0.9 percent growth in the eurozone in 2010, and 1.0 percent for the 27 EU members as a whole.

Brussels said it was encouraged to see signs of a “revival in domestic demand, including private consumption... particularly in Germany” alongside an exportdriven industrial rebound.

But it also warned that “amid continued high uncertainty, risks to the EU growth outlook remain elevated.”

Europe’s economy outpaced the United States and Japan between April and June, pulled up by Germany’s best quarterly performance since reunification in 1990, with growth of 2.2 percent.

The eurozone grew by 1.0 percent compared to quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.4 percent in the United States and 0.1 percent in Japan, according to official data, but masking deepening divergences even among the biggest countries and leading the EU to warn of “multi-speed” recovery in Monday’s predictions.

Canada rode recession well but should cut health costs Agence France-Presse

MONTREAL - Canada’s economic policies and conservative banking culture helped the country weather the global financial crisis, but the government should lower health care spending to stave off debt, a report said Monday.

“Despite a mostly cyclically driven move into deficit, Canada’s overall public finances still compare favorably with those in other OECD countries, but fiscal tightening should nevertheless begin in 2011,” the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development’s Economic Survey for Canada said.

The OECD praised Canada for limiting financial and economic damage by maintaining credit flow to households, which increased household debt but kept the economy moving.

The think-tank also pointed to Canada’s “conservative risk culture” in the banking sector as a factor that helped it avoid the financial meltdown seen in other industrialized nations.

The OECD projected economic growth in Canada to decline, potentially averaging only 1.6 percent annually from 2010 to 2017, more than a full percentage point less than over the 1998-2008 decade.

The organization also warned that spending on health care needed to be controlled in order to avoid hiking taxes or slashing other vital social programs.

The OECD said the government ran an overall surplus of 1.6 percent in 2007 to deficits of 5.1 percent of GDP in 2009 and a projected 3.4 percent in 2010, of which half is estimated to be structural.

It noted that Canada’s health care system had achieved a good balance between quality, cost and health outcome for Canadians, offering “top-notch care for legislatively-defined essential services, without charge to all residents.”

Yet “in the longer run, the soundness of Canada’s public finances will likely be largely determined by the decisions taken regarding the health care system,” the report said.

Canada’s public health and long-term care spending as a share of GDP is set to nearly double by 2050, from 7.3 percent in 2005 to 13.5 percent, according to the OECD. It pointed to several problems plaguing Canada’s health care system: longer waiting lists, difficulties in finding physicians, and “expanding gaps” in the coverage of services.

It recommended that doctors’ fees should be set by regional and institutional authorities, where there is accountability for performance.

It called for a more competitive delivery of health services, saying regulations that currently prohibit private insurance for core services, and measures that make it difficult for doctors to engage in mixed public-private contracts should be eased.

AP Photo/ KEYSTONE/Georgios Kefalas

The building of the Bank for International Settlements, BIS, in Basel, Switzerland is pictured on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010.

Bank shares rose on Monday despite new “landmark” rules raising capital held by financial bodies to avert another crisis like the one which nearly broke the system two years ago.

Bank shares rally despite new tough rules on capital Agence France-Presse

BASEL - Bank shares rose on Monday despite new “landmark” rules raising capital held by financial bodies to avert another crisis like the one which nearly broke the system two years ago.

The new rules, called Basel III, would force banks to more than triple their current reserves.

They would raise the capital base as a form of insurance against sudden strains in the system or on any particular financial institution, and would be phased in from 2013, a statement from the Bank for International Settlements, the so-called central bankers’ bank, said.

The long-awaited but controversial regulations amount to the highest-profile response to chaos in the global financial system in 20072008 which forced governments to rescue banks, tipped many economies into recession and added hugely to national debt in Europe and the United States.

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, the chairman of the group of regulators who met in northern Switzerland on Sunday, said that the deal reached was a “fundamental strengthening of the global capital standards.”

He said: “Their contribution to long-term financial stability and growth will be substantial.

The transition arrangements will enable banks to meet the new standards while supporting the economic recovery.”

Under the new rules to be phased in from 2013, banks would be required to hold more reserves by January 1, 2015, with the so-called core Tier 1 capital raised to 4.5 percent of overall assets from 2.0 percent at the moment.

In addition, banks would be required by January 1, 2019 to set aside an additional buffer of 2.5 percent to “withstand future periods of stress”, bringing the total core reserves required to 7.0 percent.

This additional reserve helps “to ensure that banks maintain a buffer of capital that can be used to absorb losses during periods of financial and economic stress”, said regulators.

Certain assets would also no longer be considered as appropriate reserves, and would have to be replaced by better quality assets beginning 2013.

Big banks of systemic importance can expect to see further curbs, as regulators also noted in their statement that they “should have loss absorbing capacity beyond the standards an-

nounced today and work continues on this issue”.

“The combination of a much stronger definition of capital, higher minimum requirements and the introduction of new capital buffers will ensure that banks are better able to withstand periods of economic and financial stress, therefore supporting economic growth,” said Nout Wellink, who heads the Dutch central bank.

The set of new regulations would be submitted for ratification at a meeting of Group of 20 major developed and developing nations in South Korea in November.

Bank shares rallied across Asia and Europe following the announcement which has been largely anticipated.

An analyst from Bank Vontobel said that the 7.0 percent “is in the lower end of what had been expected.”

Japan’s banking supervisory agency said major banks of the Asian economic power would be able to meet the new rules, while Singapore’s main lenders also voiced confidence and pointed out that the agreement provided more clarity.

Banks have been campaigning in recent weeks against what they describe as over-regulation, warning that it could kill off nascent growth in the economy.

German banks have been particularly vocal in raising their fears over the past week, but the head of the German central bank Axel Weber said there was sufficient time for banks to adjust to the new rules.

“The gradual transition phase will allow all banks to meet the requirements,” said Weber.

“Even the particular nature of German financial institutions ... have been correctly taken into account,” he added.

Switzerland’s top central banker Philipp Hildebrand said the “landmark agreement sets a much needed new global regulatory minimum standard for banks” but warned that the package “does not yet comprehensively address the ‘too big to fail’ problem”.

“Further efforts will be required in that area at the international and at the national level,” said Hildebrand.

12

Entertainment

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

International

MTV awards agog for Lady Gaga Agence France Presse

LOS ANGELES - Flamboyant diva Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” won best video late Sunday at the MTV awards, sealing her reputation as the larger-than-life queen of the pop scene. The Video of the Year gong was one of eight MTV Moonmen for Lady Gaga, 24, who, true to form, changed from elaborate dress to elaborate dress throughout the ceremony in Los Angeles.

“I was so nervous tonight that I’d let my fans down,” she said accepting the top award, a tear rolling down her cheek. She then revealed the name of her upcoming album, “Born this way,” and sang part of the title song. “I promised if I won I’d announce the name of my record,” she said.

Earlier, Gaga, whose prizes also included Best Pop Video, Best Female Video and Best Collaboration, thanked her fans whom she calls “little monsters.” “Tonight, little monsters, we’re the cool kids at the party,” she said.

The other big beast at the MTV Video Music Awards was rapper Eminem, who picked up Best Hip Hop Video and Best Male Video and opened the live televised show with a performance of his winning AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK Lady Gaga arrives on the red carpet for the 2010 song, “Not Afraid.”

Among the male performers, another notable success was teeny MTV Video Music Awards at the Nokia Theater bopper sensation Justin Bieber, who won Best New Artist after arrivin Los Angeles on Sepetember 12, 2010.

ing at the theater pursued by screaming teenage girls. “This means a lot to my family. I come from a little town in Canada, I never thought I’d be in this position,” Bieber said.

No less gripping for music watchers were the appearances of the protagonists in last year’s most memorable VMAs moment — when Kanye West shocked viewers by rudely sabotaging country sensation Taylor Swift’s award acceptance speech.

Although they didn’t meet on stage again, Swift sang what was quickly interpreted as an acceptance of Kanye’s repeated apologies.

“You’re still an innocent. Thirty two and still growing up now. Who you are is not what you did,” she sang in the gentle song.

Although comedian Chelsea Handler urged the audience to behave badly — going as as far to call on tongues to be “shoved somewhere where they’re not supposed to be” — the show passed off without disruptions.

MTV now plays relatively few music videos, having relegated the genre behind the more lucrative reality shows such as “Jersey Shore,” whose cast turned up on stage in their trademark Jacuzzi.

The first MTV Video Music Awards ceremony took place in 1984.

Since then, it has become increasingly popular, drawing millions of young viewers each year. The awards are now presented annually, with the ceremony being broadcast live on the MTV cable channel. The winners are given statuettes of an astronaut on the Moon.

Hugh Jackman takes Stars from British band Take That in live show reunion Aussie love story global Agence France Presse

Agence France Presse

SYDNEY – It was meant to be a romantic video message just for his wife, but cancer-stricken Kristian Anderson’s four-minute tribute, starring Hollywood heart-throb Hugh Jackman, has become a global phenomenon. Anderson, who was last year diagnosed with bowel and liver cancer, contacted the “Wolverine” star via an Australian radio host and within three days had an email from the actor’s assistant containing a video clip, he said.

Jackman appears in the video to tell Anderson’s wife of seven years, “He loves you Rachel, he loves you”.

“Hugh Jackman certainly gave the clip some Hollywood glamour,” Anderson, 35, told Australian magazine Woman’s Day published on Monday. “It’s certainly taken its popularity to a whole new level.”

Jackman’s unlikely co-star in the touching video, which has been viewed some 295,000 times on the Vimeo website (http://vimeo.com/ 14325334) is New Zealand Prime Minister John Key who introduces the video with a birthday message to Rachel.

“I wanted someone from New Zealand, where Rachel was born, to be in the video and I thought ‘Who better than the guy who runs the place?’” Anderson explained to the magazine. Rachel said she did a “double take” on seeing Jackman addressing her onscreen, but it was seeing her two sons Cody, three, and Jakob, two, with their father in the video which made her cry.

“I was blown away,” she told the magazine. “I was gobsmacked when John Key and Hugh Jackman appeared. It’s a good thing I was sitting down, I was like, ‘Oh my goodness that’s Hugh Jackman’.”

Anderson, who in the video holds handwritten cards in which he thanks his wife for her support as he undergoes chemotherapy, said he decided on the format because he didn’t think he could do justice to his feelings in words. He said he was inspired by one of the couple’s favourite films “Love Actually” in which a heartsick character tells a woman he loves her via placards.

In Anderson’s video, one of these cards reads: “Without you... Life just doesn’t work. I need you like I need a cure for cancer.”

Anderson’s blog (http:// howthelightgetsin.net) has been inundated with messages of support from around the world since the mini movie was posted. “I only ever put Rachel’s video on the web in order to share it with our friends and family,” he wrote.

“They live so far away and I wanted them to be able to share in Rachel’s birthday in some small way.

But then it got a little crazy and, well, here we are. I have no words to thank you for your support. I’m really at a loss.”

AFP/Getty Images/File/Jemal Countess

Hugh Jackman

AFP PHOTO / BEN STANSALL

British singers Robbie Williams (R) and Gary Barlow (L) perform during the Help for Heroes Concert 2010 at Twickenham Stadium, southwest London, on September 12, 2010.

LONDON - Reunited Take That stars Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow performed live together on Sunday for the first time in 15 years, singing new single “Shame” which is based on their once stormy relationship.

The two members of the British band took to the stage in front of 60,000 people in London at a concert in aid of the Help For Heroes charity which supports the country’s armed forces.

The pair embraced on stage in front of fans, in a sign they had buried the hatchet after years of animosity following the band’s split.

Introducing Barlow to the stage, Williams said: “Have I got a treat for you, this is one of the most amazing moments in my professional career

so far.

“It has been 15 years in the making.” Take That revealed in July that Williams was rejoining the boy band that dominated the British pop scene in the 1990s.

He left in 1995 and went on to have a successful solo career and the remaining members of Take That disbanded in 1996. The group reformed five years ago without Williams and have since enjoyed three number one singles and two successful tours.

Williams, who married US actress Ayda Field in California last month, was headlining the concert which also featured performances from a host of other stars and comedians. Free tickets were given to injured members of the armed forces and their careers.

‘Resident Evil’ movie capitalizes on slow weekend Agence France Presse

NEW YORK – On a weekend that Hollywood was largely content to cede to football and late-summer barbecues, Sony-Screen Gems’ “Resident Evil: Afterlife” led the box office.

The 3-D horror film earned $27.7 million over the weekend according to studio estimates Sunday, a total that exceeded expectations. It’s the fourth “Resident Evil” film, all of which have starred Milla Jovovich.

This installment opened better than the three previous movies.

“Resident Evil” was the only film in new release on the historically slow moviegoing weekend following Labor Day. With an estimated box-office total of $82 million, it was the lowest grossing weekend of the year.

Screen Gems’ “Takers,” in its third week of release, came in second with $6.1 million. Last

weekend’s top film, the George Clooney thriller “The American,” took in $5.9 million for Focus Features.

With little competition, “Resident Evil” was able to capitalize on the post-Labor Day weekend, when two of the previous entries to the franchise were also released.

“It had all of what its core audience was looking for and more,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony. Bruer credited the marketing of the film and the draw of its 3-D, which he said “was made to be that way.” The film also got a boost from IMAX, where it was released on 141 digital screens and earned $2.6 million.

That the fourth “Resident Evil” performed so well suggests that a fifth is likely. Asked if he expects one, Bruer said he didn’t know, as it’s produced by Constantin Film.

But he acknowledged: “It wouldn’t surprise me.”

AP Photo/Courtesy Sony Pictures

This undated photo released by Sony Pictures shows Milla Jovovich in a scene from “Resident Evil: Extinction.”

Life Style

International

A picture taken on September 10, 2010 shows French videogame company Ubisoft employees playing a video game called “Mickael Jackson The Experience” at the Ubisoft studio in Castelnau-leLez, near Montpellier, southern France.

AFP PHOTO / GERARD JULIEN

Dance like Michael Jackson in new video game Agence France Presse

MONTPELLIER – Moonwalking just like Michael Jackson will soon be possible for everyone with the launch later this year of the first video game dedicated to the star since his death last year. A game, developed under the watchful eye of Jackson’s beneficiaries by French video game titan Ubisoft, will teach players to master the King of Pop’s most famous dance moves.

Named “Michael Jackson: The Experience”, the game is being produced by Ubisoft’s French editor in his studios in Montpellier and Montreal with a team of around 200 people. The version for the Wii console, which has been seen by AFP, sets the tone right from the start with background music from the star’s many hit songs. In total there will be between 25 and 30 available in the final version.

In the early 1990s, Jackson was the star of a video game adapted from his 1988 “Moonwalker” film which involved players fighting supposed enemies of the star.

This game, however, invites the player to try to move like Jackson with points awarded for the most successful. “We have looked at hundreds of hours of video and collabo-

rated with choreographers, notably Travis Payne, who was involved in the preparation for the “This Is It” tour,” for which Jackson was preparing at the time of his death, said creative director Alkis Argyriadis.

Respect for the work of the singer, who sold more than 750 million albums worldwide and had 13 No. 1 singles, is guaranteed by a firm managing the interests of Jackson’s beneficiaries including his three children, with whom Ubisoft is in contact.

“The attention to detail even extends to the length of the hem on the trousers.... (and) the famous white glove,” said producer Abdelhak Elguess.

Some Jackson moves have, nonetheless, had to be modified to give players a realistic chance of replicating them, according to Argyriadis.

“Not everyone can dance as well as he could,” he added.

A “dance school” made up of videos sets out his choreographies so that players can familiarise themselves with his body language. The less gifted can take the role of one of Jackson’s dancers.

Stephane Vallet, of Ubisoft Europe, said it takes “around two years to conceive a game” so the game was apparently already in the pipeline before Jackson died.

Of the consoles, the game can be played on Nintendo’s DS and Sony’s Playstation 2 portable and will be available from November 23 in the United States and two days later in Europe and Asia. But consumers will have to wait until the start of 2011 for Playstation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

13

Scientists find drugs that may fight bat disease Associated Press Writer

BOSTON – Scientists may have found some ways to help the nation’s bats, which are being wiped out by a novel fungal disease. Lab tests show that several drugs can fight the germ and that some antiseptics might help decontaminate areas where bats live or the shoes and hands of people who visit them, researchers reported at an infectious-diseases conference Sunday.

“Both of those are critical elements. The decontamination is in my mind the most immediate need,” because people may be helping to spread the disease, called white-nose syndrome, said Jeremy Coleman, who heads the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response to the problem.

Coleman had no role in the research, which was done by NewYork state’s Department of Health in Albany, the state capital. The department’s scientists helped identify the fungus as the cause of the bat die-off, first seen in Albany, about 150 miles north of NewYork City, in 2006.

Bats have a key role in nature — eating and helping control mosquitoes and other insects that harm crops and carry disease. One type, the little brown bat, “was the most common bat in the Northeast and typically the most common bat in the nation, and they’ve been just completely deci-

mated,” Coleman said. In some areas, “we’re down to 3 percent of the original population.”

More than 1 million bats have died from the fungus, which has been found as far south as Tennessee and as far west as Oklahoma.

Some caves on federal land have been closed to the public to try to stem the spread, but scientists don’t know how the disease is transmitted or even how it is killing the bats.

The fungus grows on the nose, wings and ears, and one theory is that it irritates these membranes, causing bats to wake often during hibernation and burn so much energy that they starve to death before spring. But there are signs the fungus is directly damaging wings, which are important for maintaining water balance and blood pressure control, Coleman said. “It might not be as simple as they’re waking up too much,” he said.

Which is why the work by microbiologist Vishnu Chaturvedi and others at the New York state lab is so important. They wanted to find treatments in case scientists have to take drastic steps to preserve the species or specific colonies. They tested six strains of the novel fungus against drugs already used to treat people and animals such as cats and dogs for ailments ranging from athlete’s foot to lifethreatening infections.

AP Photo/Mike Groll, File

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2009 file photo, a radio transmitter is inserted into a little brown bat in an abandoned mine in Rosendale, N.Y.

Australia hopes for carbon capturing ‘sponges’ Agence France Presse

SYDNEY - Australian scientists said Monday they are working to develop “molecular sponges” that they hope will soak up carbon gases and help in the fight to contain greenhouse gas pollution. Researchers at Sydney University have produced crystals full of minute holes which can retain gases such as carbon dioxide, and which they hope could be used in places where these gases are

AFP PHOTO / HO / University of Sydney

produced, such as power stations.

“You could think of them a little bit like your kitchen sponge,” lead researcher and postdoctoral fellow Deanna D’Alessandra told ABC Radio.

The chemical frameworks are full of so many tiny holes or pores that they have a far greater surface area than would be expected from their size, she said.

“So if you thought of all of the area inside of the little pores of the sponge, then in fact it would add up to an incredible amount.

A computer generated image from the school of chemistry at the University of Sydney shows the molecular structure of highly porous threedimensional solids known as metal-organic frameworks that can filter and capture gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), September 13, 2010.

“So in fact if you took a teaspoon of one of the best materials we have at the moment, then it would actually have a surface area of about a rugby field, which is pretty amazing,” she said. D’Alessandro said the “sponges” currently in development are more robust than previous ones, and could potentially withstand the high temperatures in power stations.

The process of soaking the “molecular sponges” with carbon dioxide could also be reversible, allowing the gas to be released under certain conditions, she said.

The scientists say their findings are not yet ready for commercial adaptation, but D’Alessandro said she hopes they will become viable.

14

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Sport

International

Juventus boss rules out title after just two games Agence France Presse

(AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov, left, during a training session with teammates at Carrington training ground, the day before their Champion’s League soccer match against Rangers, in Manchester, England, Monday Sept. 13, 2010. Rio Ferdinand is on the right.

Fergie eyes Euro glory as Man Utd face Rangers

ROME – Juventus coach Luigi Delneri has dismissed his team’s title chances after just two Serie A games, insisting they are not ready yet to challenge. Juve earned their first point of this campaign in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Sampdoria on Sunday in a game they probably should have won due to their second half dominance.

But having twice taken the lead after the break they were soon pegged back on each occasion by stubborn opponents who now have four points from their first two games.

Having finished seventh last season in their worst ever Serie A campaign — that included record numbers of defeats and goals conceded — Juventus are rebuilding and Delneri added 10 new players since joining the club in the summer.

Just by being Juve they are expected to fight for the scudetto but Delneri isn’t listening. “Juve for the title? No, others will play for that, we’re a normal team,” he said.

Delneri insisted he was expect-

ing things to be difficult but expressed his belief that his team have come on since their 1-0 defeat at Bari in the opening game.

“We were expecting difficulties.

Our difficulties against Bari were also because of a physical impasse given that we’d not stopped playing for two months, as well as due to Bari’s ability,” he added.

“This time the team was in better physical shape to meet the challenge. We need time to be more clinical, even if we were at times.

“We’ve overcome the problems we had in Bari but now we have to overcome the defensive problems that allowed Sampdoria to equalise. “(Antonio) Cassano will always have the individual quality to shoot from distance, you can’t stop that but you have to contain him.

“But we played our game, Sampdoria have good players. We have to be more clinical and read the game better than we did on their second goal. “I want the team to be more effective and we can be if we can continue to play as we did in the second half.”

Agence France Presse

MANCHESTER - The bitter memory of last year’s Champions League exit to Bayern Munich is driving Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United launch their latest quest for European silverware against Rangers at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Despite already guiding United to two Champions League triumphs, Ferguson remains unshaken in his belief that the English giants could and should have had more to show for their efforts in Europe during his 24-year reign. And nothing rankles Ferguson more than the manner of last season’s defeat to Bayern, when United raced into a 3-0 lead in the second leg before the Germans scored twice to advance on away goals.

Ferguson is convinced that the quarter-final defeat deprived United of the opportunity of adding to the club’s haul of Champions League crowns, believing they would have proved more of a match for eventual winners Inter Milan in the Madrid final.

“We’ve only won it three times, which is not enough for this club, and we’ve been unlucky a lot of times. Other times we’ve just ballsed it up,” Ferguson said. “The reality is we could have won it another two or three years.

“Last year still plays on my mind, that Bayern Munich game.

Christ, I’m still not sleeping after that! I keep thinking about that game and keep getting angry about the way we lost it. “If we’d got past Bayern Munich I think we would have reached the final last year and I’d have fancied us

against Inter Milan,” Ferguson told the People newspaper.

Tuesday’s Group C encounter pits Ferguson against the club he supported as a boy and played for as a professional between 1967 and 1969. It also sees him renew his rivalry with close friend Walter Smith, the Rangers boss whose career included a brief stint as Ferguson’s assistant at United during the 2003-2004 season.

Smith was also part of Ferguson’s coaching staff during Scotland’s 1986 World Cup campaign. Despite a record against Scottish clubs in Europe that suggests a winning start for United on Tuesday, Ferguson has warned his players against complacency as they seek to shake off the disappointment of throwing away three points in the 3-3 Premier League draw with Everton on Saturday.

“You’ve got to respect Rangers and with their history you can’t take them for granted,” Ferguson said. “I know Walter Smith well and just how organised and difficult to beat his side will be.”

Ferguson has confirmed Wayne Rooney will be available for selection after missing the Everton game in the wake of revelations about his private life. Captain Rio Ferdinand is also expected to return from injury. The last time United faced Rangers in the Champions League, Ferguson’s men

prevailed in both games, winning 3-0 in Manchester and 1-0 at Ibrox.

In fact United have lost only one game in eight encounters with Scottish teams in Europe, a 1-0 loss to Celtic in a 2006 group stage match.

Smith meanwhile acknowledges the Glasgow giants could be in for a difficult evening against a side he ranks along with Real Madrid and Barcelona as one of the biggest clubs in world football.

“It doesn’t matter how much money Chelsea or any of the rest of them have got, they will never get what Manchester United have got; that certain aura around them,” Smith said.

“The top Italian teams can always reach it at different times but I think there is just something about Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United.”

Smith remains confident that Manchester will be spared the ugly crowd violence which marred the 2008 UEFA Cup final, when Rangers fans rioted in the city centre.

Only 4,700 ticketed fans are expected to travel for Tuesday’s game, compared to the estimated 130,000 who descended on the city two years ago. “I just hope that we have no recurrence of the scenes that followed the UEFA final,” Smith said.

“I’m certain we won’t because our supporters have been going away over the last few years and and there has not been any real incidents of note.”

AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTE

Juventus midfielder Simone Pepe (L) fights for the ball with Sampdoria’s Luciano Zauri during their Serie A football match against Udinese in Turin’s Olympic Stadium on September 12, 2010.

Sport

International

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

15

Rain forces 3rd straight Monday final at US Open Agence France Presse

(AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Tournament MVP USA’s Kevin Durant, left, smiles as he stands with teammates after the final of the World Basketball Championship between Turkey and the USA, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010, in Istanbul. USA won 81-64.

Gold again: US wins world basketball championship Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL – Kevin Durant pulled up for another impossibly long 3-pointer, wheeled and began shouting and gesturing at the rowdy fans along the sideline. “I was just pounding my chest and letting everybody know who we are,” Durant said. They were supposedly a “B-Team.” They turned out to be the best team in the world.

The United States won its first world basketball championship since 1994 on Sunday, beating Turkey 81-64 behind another sensational performance from the tournament MVP. Durant scored 28 points, setting a record along the way for most in the tournament by a U.S. player.

He left the court with 42 seconds remaining and shared a long hug with coach Mike Krzyzewski, who finally won the world title after his previous two attempts ended with bronze medals.

“Our only option was to come out here and get a gold, and it feels really good to bring this back home to the States,” Durant said.

Lamar Odom added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Americans, who won gold in the worlds for the fourth time, doing so with a team that was no sure thing after coming to Turkey without the superstars from its Olympic gold medal team.

With Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Co. sitting at home, this group was called a “B-Team,” which the players were aware of and couldn’t wait to disprove. “I think that was extra motivation,” Durant said. “It was exciting to come out here and win and also to prove people wrong.”

And they came through where many of their bigger-name predecessors couldn’t four years ago in Japan in the world championship, beginning to quiet a raucous crowd midway through the second quarter with a superb defensive effort.

“In order to win the championship, we had to be the best defensive team and we were able to do that throughout the tournament,” Odom said.

Durant, who scored 33 and a U.S.-record 38 points in the previous two games, again took care of the offense, qualifying the U.S. for the 2012 Olympics.

Hedo Turkoglu of the Phoenix Suns scored 16 points for the Turks, who were bidding for their first title and were boosted by huge crowd support, with fans in red filling most of the 15,000-seat Sinan Erdem Dome. Lithuania beat Serbia for the bronze earlier in the day.

Durant scored 20 in the first half, then hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the third quarter, yelling at Turkish fans sitting courtside and pounding his chest after the second, as the U.S. quickly extended a 10point halftime lead. “I was just lost in the moment and it was a lot of fun out there,” Durant said.

The Americans already knew they’d be bringing a different team

to Turkey after all the gold medalists from the 2008 Olympics opted to take this summer off. Then AllStar forwards Amare Stoudemire and David Lee were forced to withdraw on the opening day of training camp.

The U.S. was left with a young, undersized team, featuring six players 22 or younger and only one true center in Tyson Chandler, who quickly became a backup when forward Odom was installed as the starter.

“I thought we rallied and we became a little bit of an unconventional team,” Krzyzewski said.

“We thought we could win, we just felt it would be a lot harder, and they worked real hard and they made it happen.”

So this team simply rode Durant to the gold medal. The NBA scoring champion made seven 3-pointers against Turkey, often pulling up from places that were simply too far away for its zone to reach, and returns to Oklahoma City on the next level of superstardom. “He elevated,” Krzyzewski said. “He was on a pretty high floor already, but he went close to being in the penthouse.”

The whistling was so loud when U.S. players were introduced that it was hard to make out the names.

NEW YORK – Novak Djokovic got the rain and the rest he was hoping for. Now, tennis fans will see if that makes for a fair fight against the world’s top-ranked player, Rafael Nadal. A rainout at the U.S. Open postponed the Djokovic-Nadal final until Monday, giving Djokovic the reprieve he wanted after his grueling, five-set semifinal victory over Roger Federer.

After No. 3 Djokovic’s win on Saturday — 3 hours, 34 minutes of exhausting tennis — he was told about the possibility of rain pushing back Sunday’s final.

He opened his eyes wide and rubbed his hands together. “I don’t know the rituals; how to invite the rain,” he said. “An extra day would be great.”

He started warming up about 90 minutes before his match was supposed to start, but shortly after, rain started spitting on Flushing Meadows. It picked up from there. Tournament officials waited a few hours, then decided to call it a day, meaning the men’s final will be decided on Monday for the third straight year.

Assuming there’s no more rain — the forecast calls for a 30 percent chance of showers — the match is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. This marks the first threeyear string of delayed finishes at the tournament since the men’s and women’s singles competitions were combined and played at the same site in 1935.

“It was such an uncertain forecast that we felt the right

thing to do for the players — and certainly for the fans — was to postpone the remaining matches until tomorrow,” U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said. Nadal, of course, gets an extra day of rest, too, though he may not have needed it.

His semifinal was a straightset win over Mikhail Youzhny that lasted only 2 hours, 13 minutes. Nadal hasn’t lost a set in the tournament. Either way, the delay means he had to wait another 24 hours for his shot at history. Playing in his first U.S. Open final, the Spaniard is seeking to become the seventh man to own at least one singles title at each of tennis’ four prestigious tournaments.

He takes a 20-match Grand Slam winning streak to the final, having won the French Open and Wimbledon to raise his major title total to eight. A victory over Djokovic also would make the 24-year-old Nadal the first man since Rod Laver ’s true, calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969 to win at Paris, London and New York in the same season.

If he wins, Nadal will head to the Australian Open in January with a chance to pull off the “Rafa Slam” — four major titles in a row, something nobody has done since Laver.

The steady rain came on what was supposed to be the last day of a tournament that was threatened by Hurricane Earl during the first week, then hammered by persistent winds the second.

In all, though, there was only a single, 25-minute delay over the first 13 days.

(AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Fans head for the exits after play was cancelled due to rain at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010. The men’s championship match was postponed until Monday because of the foul weather.

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010

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

Sport

Ferrari: Title boost caps Monza win Monza - Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says the biggest positive to come out of Fernando Alonso’s Italian Grand Prix victory was not the win itself - but that his outfit was now firmly back in the title hunt.

Alonso had come into Ferrari’s home race at Monza admitting that he needed a good result to keep his championship hopes alive - but reckoned just a podium finish was enough to fulfil that. However, Alonso delivered one of his best drives of the season to hound early leader Jenson Button before jumping his McLaren rival at the mandatory pitstop.

Allied to Lewis Hamilton’s retirement from the race on the first lap, the victory meant that Alonso cut the deficit to the series leader from 41 points to just 21 to reignite his title challenge.

Afterwards, Domenicali was full of emotion at seeing Ferrari take its first win at Monza since 2006 – but thought the title situation was the best thing to come out of the day.

“Of course we are very happy to have done this performance here in front of our people,” he said. “It is amazing when you are on the podium to feel that live – with the people under you, with a sea of red supporters who were singing the national anthem.

“I was saying together with Jenson on the podium that this feeling is unique and fantastic. I am very happy no doubt.

“But, on the other hand, as I said in Belgium, the only objective that we had to reach today was to try and close the gap to the leaders – and we did it.

We achieved it – it was target accomplished for today.

“Now, for sure, the championship will be open until the end. The races this year are very peculiar. If someone that is in front loses an opportunity – makes a mistake, or goes out, or crashes, or whatever it is, then the others will jump very close. It is really important to be consistent and stable up until the end, and we will see in Abu Dhabi.”

Although Alonso’s victory hung on the pitstop that allowed him to leap frog Button, Domenicali reckons that whatever strategy Ferrari had chosen it would have come out on top – simply because its car was better than McLaren’s on the day.

When asked if he believed that whatever Ferrari did it would have won, Domenicali said: “To be honest today, yes. I think that today we really had a great car in terms of performance, soft or hard with no difference at all.

“Unfortunately, with the fact that we lost the position at the start, we had to be there and try to understand what was the best scenario for us to try and jump in front of them.

“The only thing that was possible, unless there was a mistake which you don’t consider when you think about the strategy, was to try to stay close, as much as you can, and try to consider the traffic of the backmarkers who were

AP Photo/Alex Trovati

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain, left, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali, center, and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil celebrate after the Italian Formula One Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack, in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sept.12, 2010. in front. These were the two variables that you had to consider from the strategy point of view.

“We were very close to call Fernando in the same lap as Jenson because we were watching the backmarkers in front and we had the experience of Canada, where we lost the win of the race being held by some backmarkers.

“That was in our mind quite fresh, and that was the reason why we con-

Hamilton told not to change approach LEWIS Hamilton should not change his aggressive approach to racing despite the heartbreak of his first lap exit from the Italian Grand Prix. That is the view of his boss Martin Whitmarsh, who thinks that part of what makes Hamilton such a good driver is the fact he is so willing to take things to the edge all the time.

Whitmarsh sat down with Hamilton after the Monza race on Sunday night to talks through the events of the day - where a collision with Felipe Massa at the second chicane put him out of the race and dented his title challenge - and he urged the former champion to not dwell on what happened but switch his focus to the final events of the campaign.

“I knew Lewis was in his room and knew he had been in there for some time,” said Whitmarsh. “I went in to see

AP Photo/Luca Bruno

McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car during a free practice ahead of Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack, in Monza, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2010.

him to talk to him. He had time to reflect on it, we discussed what happened and we will learn from it.

“The important thing is that Lewis jumps out of bed in the morning, gets in to training, focuses on Singapore and wants to do the job there. And he will.”

Although Hamilton’s crash meant he threw away a great opportunity to extend his lead in the world championship, Whitmarsh said he would not want his driver to change his approach to the sport. “That is Lewis Hamilton. He is an aggressive racing driver, who when viewing the slow motion replay from the comfort of an armchair probably wishes he had not done it, and so do we.

“But that is being a racing driver - and you have to go for it. That is Lewis Hamilton. I don’t want to change Lewis Hamilton. I think he is a great product, a great human being and a great racing driver.

“He and we wish he had done something different in that corner but we will just now focus on Singapore, getting the car quicker and focusing on beating other people.”

Whitmarsh remained upbeat about McLaren’s title challenge, as it faces the final flyaway events that are set to favour rival Red Bull Racing’s car more. “We could have been leading both championships, but we are not.

We are five points behind in drivers’ championship and three in the constructors’ but that is nothing.

“It is disappointing when you don’t get the points your potential can deliver, but overall, we have been in tough championship fights before, Lewis has been in several, and we are battle hardened. We will get over the disappointment.”

sidered the gaps, so we said: Okay we have to do one lap, it has to be very, very good, it has to be perfect and, as I said before, I have to thank really the team that did a perfect pit stop. And that made the difference – to be first rather than second.”

He added: “But I would say today, our car was really strong. This is the nature of racing – there were some crucial moments, the start, and the pit stop, which clearly made the difference, and

that is it. We have seen since the beginning that this is the situation.

“We had other occasions where we saw the opposite. I give you the example of our car in Hungary where we had behind a car that was much faster than our cars but it was not possible to overtake because of the nature of the track.

That is what we have to consider for the future and for the next races – this will be one of the key points for the final five races.”