Edisi 16 Agustus 2010 | International Bali Post

16 Pages Number 155 2st Year

Australia set for cliffhanger poll

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Tourism villages in Badung, only one ready for Sale PAGE 8

Julia Roberts to receive award at San Sebastian film fest PAGE 12

FOTO ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana

Teenagers sing while playing with water during a musical performance to commemorate the 65th Indonesian Independent Day in Badung River, Bali on Sunday, August 15th 2010. Many events and competitions are being held in the river to commemorate the Independent day as well as to promote environment conservation.

Not Published We, the International Bali Post will not be published on Tuesday, August 17th 2010 due to Indonesian Independent Day Thank You

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Australians on death row launch final appeal in Indonesia Agence France-Presse

DENPASAR - Two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia launched a final appeal against their sentences on Friday, seeking to have them reduced to 20-year jail terms.

Lawyers for Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, members of the so-called “Bali Nine” gang of heroin smugglers, lodged the appeal to the country’s Supreme Court via the Denpasar district court on Bali, pleading for the right to life which is guaranteed by the constitution.

“We filed a judicial review as we consider this case is against basic rights which are guaranteed in our constitution,” one of their lawyers Todung Mulya Lubis told reporters at the Denpasar district court.

“It’s true that they should be punished, but not the death penalty. We are seeking to have it reduced to a 20-year jail term,” Lubis added.

Sukumaran and Chan were convicted over an attempt in 2005 to smuggle 8.3 kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin into Australia from the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.

Five other “Bali Nine” members — Martin Stephens, Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen, Michael Czugaj and Thanh Nguyen — are serving life sentences.

Lubis said that the judges should take into consideration the two convicts’ contribution in teaching fellow inmates at Kerobokan prison in Denpasar.

“They have taught fellow inmates skills such as operating computers and art painting. In this case they are supporting the government’s rehabilitation programme for prisoners,” he added.

IBP/ist

One of the “Bali Nine” defendants, Myuran Sukumaran, is waiting to enter the court.

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International

Monday, August 16, 2010

Bali News Foreign tourists complain as Padangbai Beach scattered by trashes Amlapura (Bali Post)—

A number of foreign tourists enjoying holidays on the Padangbai Beach, Karangasem, complained related to dirty beach within the past few days. It was kindled by trashes scattering around the beach because such condition made tourists uncomfortable when they were sunbathing or enjoying marine attraction.

One of tourists that complain over the trashes is Gerome from Australia.

The guy who comes frequently to Padangbai since 16 years ago stated that trashes in Padangbai are very disturbing. He said that lots of his friends also complaining the same thing but never get any reaction from Padangbai people. ‘’I’m already complaining about the trashes to the government but never get reaction. They always said that they will call me back but just stop there,” he said.

Gerome very disappointed with the situation in Padangbai because every times he gets there, the place get dirtier.

He said that if the situation keep goings on, tourists will not come to Padangbai. ‘’It’s such a same if Padangbai will not get any tourists because the view is fantastic and tourists like to go there for water sports activities.”

Related to the protests submitted by a number of foreign tourists, Village Head of Padangbai, Kadek Aris Suyasa, last Friday (Aug 13), at Padangbai said that such trashes were not thrown by local people. However,

they were trashes washed away from local coastal area and waters nearby.

Such trashes routinely happened every year especially during the season of wind blowing fast from the south along with the ocean currents. Ordinarily, they were not inorganic trashes or plastic wastes, but generally in the form of algae washing away from rivers or sea algae. River algae or hyacinth trashes were alleged to have been washed away several days before, as previously it rained heavily in some areas. “Those trashes just last for few days and later they will be destroyed and sank into the seabed. We do hope tourists could understand because it was the influence of nature and beyond the human control,” he said.

Aris Suyasa added that the piling trashes on the Padangbai Beach were also caused by condition as the coastal area was in the form of gulf. Additionally, trashes were also taken by the winds and ocean currents to Padangbai, and finally they were hard to go out because the condition of the bay shore.

When asked if there was no effort

to mobilize local residents through mutual assistance for cleaning the trashes, Aris Suyasa said to have conducted monthly trash cleanup under the sea, coastal area and on land. Such mutual assistance involved the stakeholders (those having interests in the sanitation of Padangbai area), such as the circles of hotels and diving guides.

The underwater trashes were cleaned by a group of volunteers consisting of fishermen and diving tourism practitioners. Divers cleaned up those trashes, especially plastic trashes caught in the coral reefs. Even, the cleanup was done until outside the Padangbai Cove like the Blue Lagoon.

Meanwhile, local residents and students that could not dive, they cleaned up trashes on the beach. Then, attendants of clean up service of the village were assigned to clean the trashes each afternoon around the Padangbai Village. The village itself had two attendants of clean up service. “We hire two sweepers and paid them at IDR 300,000 each per month taken from the village funds,” he said. (kmb18/013)

Graffiti action by artists makes Tjok Ace infuriated Gianyar (Bali Post)—

Graffiti action performed by vandalistic artists at the area of Kebo Iwa Terminal Stadium made the Regent of Gianyar Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati infuriated. The regent added that such graffiti action on the wall of public place certainly denoted an act that was not praiseworthy.

Aside from making it appear dirty, the action was very rude and moreover those drawings and writings were not very nice to see.

This complaint was conveyed by Tjok Ace as Chairman of the Advisory Panel of the Gianyar Scouting, last Friday (Aug 13) in front of hundreds of scouting members undertaking the clean up against graffiti at the Kebo Iwa Terminal Stadium,

Gianyar. Tjok Ace gave appreciation to the scouting activities at that time.

It was very positive action to foster a love to the environment. “As a Balinese granted with extraordinary nature, I do expect the awareness of all parties to collectively maintain the environment,” he explained.

Similarly, the regent invited the entire community, particularly those being over creative to scribble on the walls, to stop their action. It would be better if the creativity at hand was distributed properly in the right place, because other than fostering the creativity it could be profitable.

“Graffiti action on the walls done by some over creative individuals will certainly go very detrimental to many people and it is far from the aesthetics. Let us learn to love the

environment by giving contribution to maintain the sanitation and beauty,” said the Regent called to love the art.

Meanwhile, in the clean up service to the graffiti conducted by the vandalistic artists, hundreds of scouting members from the level of Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting and Coach across the Gianyar Quarter held a clean up service en masse against the graffiti on the wall of Ciung Wanara Stadium.

Chairman of Gianyar Quarter, I Gusti Ngurah Wijana, said the implementation of such an action posed a real measure toward the nature and environment. The action could be used as a means to improve the sense of caring in maintaining, loving and caring the environment. (kmb16)

AFP PHOTO / STANNY ANGGA

A grand daughter attends to Ketut Liyer, 95, the Balinese spiritual guru who featured in Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir “Eat Pray Love” as he recovers from heart ailment and bladder surgery at a hospital in Denpasar in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on August 12, 2010.

Interpreting the Independence celebration of the RI Life of the nation should be getting better Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the RI is important to be used as a moment to organize the life as a nation and state into a better direction.

Spirit of the Independence of the RI should be able to drive us to do more patterned programs in improving the fate of society being less fortunate in terms of economic aspect, improving the quality of human resources and accessibility to education.

Aside from eradicating poverty, the unemployment problems should be searched for its solutions. In that context, the spirit of philanthropy should be developed in years to come. It was revealed by Deputy Head of Bali House Ida Bagus Putu Sukarta and a lecturer of the Hindu University of Indonesia (Unhi) Denpasar, Wayan Budi Utama, last Friday (Aug 13).

Ida Bagus Sukarta added that the problems faced by community like poverty needed finding its solutions by enhancing the economic improvement programs targeting the regions of poverty. Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the RI denoted a right moment to make the program more strategic to improve the fate of the poor. The problems faced by society should be resolved as good as possible so people could be truly “independent” economically. In other words, with the freedom of community from economic issues, poverty and unemployment in Bali could be minimized. “Celebration of the Independence Day is an important moment to restructure the life of the nation and state heading for the better one than in the previous years, based on the concept of Tri Kaya Parisudha and other values of indigenous wisdom of Bali,” said Ida Bagus Sukarta. In the

meantime, he also considered the moment important to be made into spirit in order residents progressively could more love and respect their domestic products.

Likewise, nationalism was important to be consolidated. The endeavor to undertake the improvement on the quality of education would result in improvement of human resources and strengthening the identity or character of the nation. This needed practicing.

With a good quality and having a strong identity, our human resources would be able to compete against the others in the era of globalization.

A lecturer of Hindu University of Indonesia, Wayan Budi Utama, said at 65 years old of the Indonesian Independence, we apparently still left a fairly high level of poverty and increasingly difficult public access to affordable education. In the other side, religious education seemed to have not created a maximal social piety in our society. This was discernible from the increasing sense of individualism and the narrowing of social sensitivity. Therefore, it would become our common task in filling this independence in the future by developing a spirit of philanthropy in the society. The emergence of school dropouts—disability to continue to college education—also indicated that local economy has not been so good.

In this regard, the spirit of philanthropy namely helping the others in need should be raised or promoted in the society. It included in the empathy to those requiring assistance for continuing education. Through this spirit, it was expected that quality of Bali human resources would increase along with the tight competition in the global era. (08)

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Bali News

International

Rate of dropout students in Bali increases Denpasar (Bali Post)—

High dropout rates seem to have become a classical problem for the education field in Bali.

Based on recent data collected by Bali Post from the Bali Education Agency (Disdikpora), last Friday (Aug 13), Bali in fact retained 1,898 dropout students for elementary education, junior high, senior high and vocational high school. The rate collected by the end of 2009 in fact boosted if compared to the number of dropouts in 2008 amounted to 1,613 people. In other words, the increase of dropouts throughout Bali Province within the past year reached 285 students.

Head of the Bali Education Agency, I Wayan Suasta, did not reject such an increase in the number of dropouts in Bali over the past year. Viewed from the level of education, he said, the highest dropout rates occurred in the elementary education reaching 863 people, followed by secondary education (455), senior high education (352) and vocational high (228). It was said that the dominant factor causing more than a thousand students dropped out of school in Bali was economic reason. It meant the majority of the dropout students came from poor families.

Beyond that, there were also students forced to leave school because their settlement was far from the location of education facilities/schools. Besides, it was also triggered by a number of other factors such as low parental awareness to send their children to school. “Especially for senior high/vocational high school students, we have got a report from Regency/City Education Agency that some of them were forced to drop out of school because they got married at early age,” he said.

To anticipate the growing number

of dropout rate due to economic reason, he said, the Bali Provincial Government further strengthened the implementation of the Nine-Year Compulsory Education program and pioneered the 12-Year Compulsory Education program. To complete the funding of the School Operational Assistance (BOS) disbursed by the central government to elementary and junior high school students, Bali Provincial Government has allocated an additional fund to the School Operational Assistance (BOS). “In the Regional Budget 2010, Bali Provincial Government allocated IDR 10.74 billion more for companion funding of elementary school and IDR 8.79 billion more for a companion of junior high school. Later, each elementary school student is entitled to get BOS fund worth IDR 25,000 per year and junior high school at IDR 50,000 per year,” he said while adding that the number of elementary students in Bali currently amounted to 429,882 and junior high school to 171,592 students.

Meanwhile, to counteract the increasing rate of dropouts in the level of

senior high/ vocational high school, he said, the Bali Provincial Government had allocated a budget worth IDR 57.29 billion more. Such a fund would be disbursed for all senior high and vocational high schools belonging to state/private school in Bali in the form of Operational Support of Education (BOP) to 76,771 high school students and 53,180 vocational high school students in Bali. In details, every student of senior high school (SMA) was allocated IDR 400,000 per year, while vocational high school (SMK) students got IDR 500,000 per year.

“With the imbursement of BOP, Bali Provincial Government hoped all people of Bali at least can be educated up to senior high/vocational high school eligibly because of the education cost has been subsidized by government. Especially for students from the level of elementary, junior high and senior high/vocational high school coming from poor families, Bali Provincial Government also provides subsidies for education in the form of scholarships to poor students,” he asserted. (kmb13)

Condition of 96 hectares of coral reefs in Jimbaran bad Mangupura (Bali Post)—

Ninety six hectares of coral reef in Jimbaran area is in bad condition.

Other than caused by human activities such as withdrawal of coral reef for decoration materials, use of chemicals for capturing fish, the damage to coral reefs becoming the underwater tourist attraction, according to the Regent of Badung, AA Gede Agung, was also caused by anchor release.

“Out of the seven zones of coral reefs in Badung region, the existence of coral reefs in Jimbaran, especially Kedonganan ranked the worst. This condition is due to improper anchor release to the coral reefs, so when taken out the coral reefs get caught. As a result, the coral reefs will be broken and dead,” explained AA Gede Agung on the placement of 40 artificial reefs and coral transplantation in Nusa Dua. Preserving the coral reefs becoming the habitat of marine life such as fish, shrimp, crabs and others to breed, according to AA Gede Agung, required the public attention for the sake of realizing the ecofriendly tourism.

“The idea of Nusa Dua commu-

nity in creating eco-friendly tourism should be made into example by other parts of the Badung Regency.

This effort must be continued to undertake. One of the ways is by placing artificial reefs and coral transplantations,” he said.

Nevertheless, the overall condition of coral reefs in Badung as disclosed by the number one man in Badung was in good condition.

“Technically, there will be zoning in order the existing marine ecosystems are not annoyed. In addition, the persons that have damaged the coral reefs will also be convicted,” he added.

Except for Jimbaran, the Badung Animal Husbandry and Maritime Services also reported that condition of coral reef at Benoa area to Nusa Dua having the extent of 228 hectares was in moderate condition; Pemingen-Geger area covering 75 hectares in good condition; Sawangan area covering 58 hectares in excellent condition; KutuhUngasan area covering 168 hectares in good condition; Pecatu area covering 394 hectares in moderate condition; and Tuban-Kuta area covering 309 hectares in moderate condi-

tion. “We’ve been doing supervision to the ships releasing the anchor.

Because, the damage occurred does not only harm the surrounding environment, but also had an impact on the tourism sector,” he said.

Director of the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) Made Mandra previously stated that condition of many ocean floors in Bali remained dirty so their waters were quite apprehensive.

“As a result of damaged ecosystems, lots of fishes died, like sharks, turtles and other endangered species.

In response to the condition, we invite all parties to take care and resolve the damage marine ecosystems, particularly the undersea habitat where widely found plastic trashes, so many coral reefs and other marine biota can live healthily,” he said.

According to him, the destruction of undersea nature along the Nusa Dua area was not too severe. Nevertheless, the efforts to reduce trashes washed away from the estuaries required continuous movement, especially the wider community participating in the clean up services. (par)

Monday, August 16, 2010

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

Based on the development of archaeological studies and the related studies especially in field of archaeological protection, now such problems is a technical matter and besed on scientific consideration. Facing such problem , Indonesian government have done a number of works e.g the safeguarding of borobudur tample {in cooperation with {UNESCO}, Prambanan tample ,Demak mosque, and other tamples in Bali namely Pura Besakih ,Pura Mengening , Pura Pegulingan , Pura Taman Sari etc. In this case, our government as one of the ASEAN countries have carried out a coordinate programmers through SPAFA (Sub project of archaeology and fine art) to find out the effective ways and means dealing with the problems of archaeological protection .

Discussing the archaeological protection in Bali, it should be remembered that Bali, even a very small island, but has a lot of archaeological monuments, which most of them belonged to living monuments. Among them are a number of Hindu tample, spreated nearly in the whole island, as well as Hindu stastues , inscription etc.

As the holy monuments for Balinese society, so the Balinese have the responsibility to take care their monuments as their religious function Officially, archaeological protection in Bali is done by Bali Office for Preservation of archaeological and Historical Heritage (Kantor Bali Suaka peninggelang Sejarah dan Purbakala Bali) in coordialnation and corporation with the local government and local people as well. This office have done a lot of archaeological reconstruction, but not yet covered the whole of them, because of the limited budgets etc.

In case of protecting the archaeological monuments in Bali, Bali Office for Preservation of archaeological and Historical

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

Based on religious reasons, actuality Balinese society has a strong spirit to keep their monuments in a well condition as holy monuments. Since a very long time the Balinese people have maintained and restored their monuments in a very traditional ways, based on their own religious will and spirit, and for this purpose they collected the materials, even reasonable money from the village members. The village members, especially the skilled members (Balinese, undagi) did the restoration and led by the village leader, without any payment (Balinese, ngayah). This mutual model of works named gotong royong is one of the Indonesian spirits, which has been developed since the early time until today.

It is a remarkable fact since the early time Balinese people have done the archeological protection in their traditional ways, which really should be regarded as a community based conservation. The most important meaning of these facts is the Balinese have done their religious task, which still continued from one generation to next generation and still retained until today. Therefore these facts indicated that the Balinese people from time to time have played important role for protecting their archeological monuments, for worshipping their ancestor’s spirit, the Hindu Trinity as well as their local deities. It is hoped that this religious traditions should be keep in people’s mind and increased, now and in the near future for the safeguarding the archeological monuments and its cultural values. Through this way it is hoped that our cultural identity could be preserved in the people’s mind for facing the forthcoming modern world. (BTN)

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News

Monday, August 16, 2010

International

UN chief urges world to speed up Pakistan aid Agence France Presse

ISLAMABAD – UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday urged the world to quicken aid for up to 20 million people hit by Pakistan’s worst humanitarian crisis as he flew in to visit areas ravaged by record floods. The United Nations has appealed for 460 million dollars to deal with the immediate aftermath of the floods but has warned that billions will be required in the long term with villages, businesses, crops and infrastructure wiped out.

Pakistan’s weak civilian government has appealed to the international community to help it cope with the challenges of a crisis that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has compared to the 1947 partition of the sub-continent.

Ban arrived on a Pakistan Air Force jet at Chaklala air base, sweeping into talks with Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari, before flying over some of the worst affected areas of central province Punjab.”I’m here also to urge the world community to speed up their

assistance to the Pakistani people,” he told reporters.

He said he would report back to the UN General Assembly first thing this week and “we will try to mobilise all necessary assistance and remember that the whole world is behind the people of Pakistan in this time of trial”.

Ban later flew over devastated areas in Punjab, the breadbasket of Pakistan, and met survivors at a relief camp in Muzaffargarh, where people are now returning after the flood danger passed, local officials said. Around a quarter of the country appears to have been affected by the flooding, officials estimate.

Some of the worst-hit areas are in the volatile northwest, where Taliban militants have been locked in fighting with Pakistani troops, and the wealthiest and agriculturally most important areas of Punjab and Sindh.

Fresh foods hit the southwestern province of Baluchistan overnight, devastating hundreds of villages and causing tens of thousands to flee, said Sher Khan Bazai, the commissioner in the town of Jaffarabad.

REUTERS/Pete Souza-The White House/Handout

U.S. President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha swim at Alligator Point in Panama City Beach, Florida, August 14, 2010.

Obama, daughter swim in Gulf in act of reassurance Agence France Presse

PANAMA CITY - US President Barack Obama and his daughter have taken a dip in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to reassure Americans that, despite a massive oil spill, its waters remain safe for tourists. The president, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their younger daughter, Sasha, traveled to this Florida panhandle city to talk to local officials and business leaders, and highlight the region’s tourist attractions.

AFP/Farooq Naeem

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik (2L) and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi (R) listen as UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon (C) addresses the media at Chaklala Airbase in Rawalpindi.

“Oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf,” said Obama, speaking at a regional US Coast Guard headquarters. “But I’m here to tell you that our job is not finished, and we are not going anywhere until it is.”

Obama said that he wanted to deliver the message directly to residents of the Gulf Coast, which he has visited four times since an April explosion on a BP-leased oil rig triggered the disaster.

“I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you... until you have fully recovered from the damage that has been done.

And that is a commitment my ad-

ministration is going to keep,” he said. And Obama also demanded that BP speed up processing of compensation claims, saying that “any delays — by BP or by those managing the new fund — are unacceptable.”

Earlier this week BP made its first deposit into the 20-billion-dollar Gulf of Mexico oil disaster fund intended to compensate thousands of residents and businesses hit by the largest maritime oil spill of all time.

During the height of the spill Obama urged his fellow Americans to continue taking vacations in the region, famous for its sugar-white beaches, and heavily dependent on tourism.

Obama later went for a swim with Sasha at Panama City Beach, away from the public and press cameras, with only an official photo of the pair — heads bobbing just above the water line — issued by the White House.

While the image might go far to reassure Americans that Gulf waters are safe, Obama had stressed he would take a presidential plunge in private.

The last time Obama, who is physically fit, was photographed swimming without a shirt was in December 2008, shortly before he took office. The pictures were broadly circulated and used on the cover of news magazines.

Japan PM shuns shrine, apologizes at WWII ceremony Associated Press Writer

TOKYO – Japan’s new liberal prime minister shunned a visit to a shrine that has outraged Asian neighbors for honoring war criminals, breaking from past governments’ tradition and instead apologizing Sunday for the suffering World War II caused.

Members of the now-opposition Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled Japan nearly continuously since the end of the war, made a point by carrying out their own trip to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Shinto shrine — a spectacular building with sweeping roofs and a museum in its grounds that glorifies kamikaze pilots — has set off controversy by honoring the 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including Class A war criminals such as

Hideki Tojo, Japan’s wartime prime minister who was executed in 1948.

Among those who visited Yasukuni was LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. About 40 legislators went to the shrine, but none from Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s Cabinet, according to Japanese media reports.

Kan leads the Democratic Party, which took power last year after winning elections on promises of greater transparency and grass-roots democracy. It is the first time since the end of World War II that the entire Japanese Cabinet has avoided visiting Yasukuni on Aug. 15, the day Japan surrendered in the war.

“We caused great damage and suffering to many nations during the war, especially to the people of Asia,” Kan told a crowd of about 6,000 at an annual memorial service for the

war dead at Budokan hall in Tokyo.

“We feel a deep regret, and we offer our sincere feelings of condolence to those who suffered and their families,” he said. “We renew our promise to never wage war, and we promise to do our utmost to achieve eternal world peace and to never repeat again the mistake of war.”

Among those listening to Kan’s words were Emperor Akihito, whose father Hirohito announced the surrender 65 years ago in a radio broadcast — the first time the Japanese public had heard the real voice of the emperor, who had been revered as a living god to justify imperial expansion.

Akihito, who has never visited Yasukuni, led a moment of silence at noon, bowing deeply before a stage filled with yellow and white chrysanthemums.

AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa

Visitors in Japanese Imperial army and navy uniforms enter Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan’s war dead, including convicted war criminals, during a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Tokyo, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010.

Hotel Activities

International

Monday, August 16, 2010

5

The private spa wellness center opens this summer IBP

NUSA DUA – The ultimate spa sanctuary, The Private Spa Wellness Centre, will soon open its doors in the stylish strip of Seminyak, Bali. Using state-of-the-art equipments, the spa brings forth ancient Asian rituals to the next level. This Wellness Centre boasts a range of facilities designed not only to rejuvenate but also maintain your wellbeing in a relaxed yet energizing setting.

The Private Spa Wellness Centre has been engineered as an opulent wellness facility where personal indulgence takes on a whole new meaning. A choice of seven exclusive treatment rooms and highend spa facilities such as vitality pool, steam room and Far Sauna are available. The Private Spa Wellness Centre is also one of the first spas in the world to feature hydrothermal biotherapy treatment, which promotes fitness and health restoration. The bio-charge supplied by this Water Energy System will help reinforce the body’s immune system and increase overall energy.

The spa menu is tailored by experts, with 50 years of combined experience in the industry to create a spa ritual beyond pampering. The core menu consists of Stress Prevention Delights, including body work, body care, traditional therapies, and signature rituals, as well

as Beauty Fashion that include facial care, nail care, and pulse light hair removal services as well as unique Wellness section with Bio thermal Hydrotherapy, Chakra balancing, LED light Chromotherapy and energy levels diagnosis. Facial treatments will be performed using result-based products, such as the award-winning Pevonia Botanica skin care line and Banyu Spa natural products specially engineered in the on site laboratory.

The Private Spa Wellness Centre strives to become the icon of the spa industry in Bali and beyond. This spa is the turn-key project of The Private Spa Corporation, a hub of expertise covering all aspects of a Spa development, from the initial conceptualizing until the final delivery of specially crafted spa treatments and equipments.

In The Private Spa Wellness Center, luxury comes in environmentally friendly. Minimizing its carbon footprint, The Private Spa Corporation keeps 90% of the productions created in Bali. The furniture and accessories are manufactured using recycled woods, stones, glass and terrazzo, while the water used for the vichy shower is also recycled.

The people behind this phenomenal health and beauty Sanctuary are Ian Lyons, Fabrice Garrigues and Erika Dewi. Ian Lyons is the Chairman of The Private Spa Corporation,

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

an expert in energy physics and crystal hydro technology, carrying more than 27 years of experience in hydrotherapies and alternative medicines in energy fields. Fabrice Garrigues is the Managing Director of The Private Spa Corporation and

the strategic backbone of the company, while Erika Dewi as Manager of Operations is a qualified master in traditional therapies, specializing in aromatherapy product manufacturing and training.

“With a dedicated team of healers,

Honorary Consulate of Spain Komplek Istana Kuta Galleria Blok Vallet 2 No 11. Jalan Patih Jelantik Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.769 286 USA Consulate Agency Jalan Hayam Wuruk No. 188 Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.222 426

Royal Danish & Norwegian Mimpi Resort Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 070

Consulate General of Japan Jalan Raya Puputan No. 170 Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.227 628

The Czech Republic Jalan Pengembak No. 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.286 465

Honorary Consulate of British Jalan Tirta Nadi No. 20 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.270 601

France Consulate Agency Jalan Merta Sari Gang II No. 8 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.285 485

Swiss and Austria Consulate Jalan Patih Jelantik, Komplek Pertokoan Istana Galleria Phone +62.361.751 735

The Federal Republic of Germany Jalan Pantai Karang No 17 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.288 535 The Republic of Hungary Jalan By Pass No 219 Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.287 701 Italian Consulate Jalan By Pass Ngurah Rai Jimbaran, Bali Phone +62.361.701 005 Honorary Consulate of Mexico Jalan Mohamad Yamin 1 A, Renon, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.223 266 Honorary Consulate of The Netherlands Jalan Raya Kuta 127, Bali Phone +62.361.761 506

craftsmen and designers ready and eager to bring the best result based spa services, I believe the opening of The Private Spa Wellness Center heralds a new and exciting era for Bali as the Spa capital of the world,” claims Fabrice Garrigues. *

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

RSUP Sanglah is the main provincial public hospital. Its facilities have improved since the emergency ward had been built in 1991. Difficult/critical cases would not become a problem anymore since it has complete equipments. It is located on Jl. Kesehatan Selatan 1 Sanglah Denpasar with : Phone : 227 911 – 15 Fax : 226 363

Honorary Consulate of Brazil Jalan Legian No. 186, Bali Phone +62.361.757 775

Kasih Ibu Hospital is a private hospital which caters for less serious cases such as diarrhea, intestinal disorders, anemia, asthma and minor accidents. Kasih Ibu is also equipped to care for pregnant women. This hospital is located on Jl. Teuku Umar 120 Denpasar.

Phone : 223 036 Fax : 268 690.

Honorary Consulate of Thailand Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 81, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.263 310

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

Phone : 222 142.

Embassy of India Jalan Raya Puputan Renon 42-44, Denpasar, Bali Phone +62.361.241 978 Honorary Consulate of Sweden anf Finland Segara Village Hotel, Jalan Segara Ayu, Sanur, Bali Phone +62.361.282 223 Honorary Consulate of Malaysia Alam Kulkul Boutique Resort, Jalan Pantai Kuta, Bali Phone +62.361.752 520

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

6

Monday, August 16, 2010

News Thousands evacuated in Lourdes bomb scare Agence France Presse

LOURDES, France – A bomb scare forced the evacuation of the Roman Catholic sanctuaries in the French pilgrimage destination of Lourdes on Sunday as 30,000 worshippers celebrated the Feast of the Assumption. “A bomb warning was received at the police station, announcing that four bombs were going to go off at around 3.00pm in the sanctuaries,” the site’s press officer Pierre Adias

told AFP just before 2.00pm (1200 GMT).

“We’re trying to evacuate the shrines and to prevent those people who left to have lunch from coming back in. This is proceeding calmly,” he said.

On August 15, Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary’s ascent to heaven, and Lourdes — a southern French town where the faithful believe the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision 152 years ago — is a popular site to mark the event.

(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, left, signs her autographs for apprentices and construction workers during the campaign trail in Sydney, Australia, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. Australians will go to the polls on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010 to vote in the federal election.

Australia set for cliffhanger poll Agence France Presse

SYDNEY – Australia was Sunday heading for a knife-edge election, with no party streaking ahead in opinion polls with less than a week to go, raising the prospect of the first hung parliament in 70 years. As Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the first woman to lead the country, battles an energised conservative opposition headed by the plain-speaking Tony Abbott, polls predict that the August 21 contest could go down to the wire.

“At the moment it looks like it could be a hung parliament,” Michele Levine, chief executive of the Roy Morgan polling group, told AFP on Sunday.

The latest Roy Morgan poll, which surveyed close to 1,000 voters across the country on Saturday, found centre-left Labor had the support of 51 percent of voters and the right-leaning Liberal/National coalition some 49 percent.

Former lawyer Gillard has conceded that she is heading into one of the tightest races in the nation’s history, after a Nielsen poll released Saturday put her ahead 53 to 47 percent and a Newspoll found she would just scrape into government.

“I’m keenly aware that as we go into the final week, if today’s polls are right, then Mr Abbott could end up prime minister by the end of the next Saturday,” 48-year-old Gillard said ahead of Monday’s campaign launch. Polling in recent weeks has found that Labor is losing ground against Abbott, an unlikely challenger nicknamed the “Mad Monk” who only became opposition leader last year after bruising party infighting on climate change.

Levine said voters appeared uneasy about Gillard’s brutal wresting of power from her former leader

Kevin Rudd in her own party coup in late June.

“That really plagued the whole of the Labor Party’s first few weeks,” Levine said. “There’s a clear indication, in both our national polling and our marginal seat polling, that there is a move to the coalition,” she added.

Although the candidates are starkly different — Welsh-born Gillard is a career woman who has never married or had children while Abbott is a conservative family man who once trained to become a Catholic priest — the campaign has been criticised as uninspiring.

Labor is leaning heavily on its performance during the global financial crisis — arguing that its massive stimulus package kept the economy out of recession and saved tens of thousands of jobs.

It is promising to develop infrastructure — including a high-speed national broadband Internet network — and improve Sydney’s congested rail links if reelected.

On climate change — a key factor in the 2007 election which saw Labor’s Rudd topple conservative prime minister John Howard, ending his 11-year-rule — Gillard has repeatedly said she believes climate change is real and wants to put a price on carbon emissions.

The outspoken and gaffe-prone Abbott, a former Rhodes scholar and minister in the Howard government, has meanwhile vowed to cut government spending to reduce national debt and “stop the boats” of asylum seekers.

Political analyst Clement Macintyre said while it was an historic vote because it was the first time Australians have a chance to vote for a party led by a woman, the campaign has been lacklustre.

“While the polling is so close both sides are conscious that one mistake could cost office and they are less bold and adventurous,” Macintyre, who is head of politics at the University of Adelaide, told AFP. The last time Australia faced a hung parliament was in September 1940 when the United Australia Party/Country Party coalition and the combined Labor parties each won 36 seats, leaving the balance of power with two independents.

Haydon Manning, head of politics at Flinders University in South Australia, said a similar result in 2010 was unlikely, but Saturday’s election could leave the Greens holding the balance of power in the upper house.

“As a consequence ... whoever forms government in the lower house, will have to go cap in hand frequently to negotiate with the Greens,” he said.

(AFP/Pascal Pavani)

Pilgrims queue to visit the Grotto of the Apparitions, also called Grotto of Massabielle as part of the Assumption festivities in the Sanctuary of Our Lady in the French southwestern city of Lourdes.

In sign of calm, Israel removes gunfire barrier Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military says it is removing a concrete barrier erected nine years ago to protect a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem from Palestinian gunfire.

The neighborhood of Gilo is located in southern Jerusalem on land captured by Israel in 1967 along with the rest of east Jerusalem and the adjacent West Bank. The removal is a sign of the relative calm that has

taken hold in the West Bank. The wall was erected in 2001, at the height of Israeli-Palestinian violence. It was meant to protect Gilo residents from Palestinian militants firing from a nearby West Bank village.

An Israeli military statement Sunday said the wall was removed because of “a reduced security threat” and increased cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces.

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

An Israeli army crane loads a part of a concrete wall in the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010.

International

Indonesia Today

Monday, August 16, 2010

7

Hundreds protest over church attacks in Indonesia Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Hundreds of Indonesians held a prayer vigil in Jakarta on Sunday urging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to stop attacks by radical Islamists on Christian churches.

Carrying several Indonesian flags at half-mast, the group comprising mostly Christians prayed and sang hymns.

“The president and the government have violated constitutional rights of minority groups to freely practise their religion,” rally coordinator Judianto Simanjuntak told AFP. “They yielded to pressure by the Muslim groups and allowed churches to be closed and attacks to continue.

We ask the president to be responsible and guarantee religious freedom,” he added.

Indonesian rights group Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace in July said there were 28 cases of religious freedom violations from January to July, up from 17 for the whole

AFP PHOTO / Bay ISMOYO

Infotainment programs blamed for surge in divorces Antara

JAKARTA - Infotainment programs broadcast on televisions contribute to the increasing number of divorces as many young couples tend to emulate the behavior of celebrities, an official said.

“About 80 percent of divorces of young couples married for five years were due to the influence of infotainment programs,” Director General for Islamic Mass Guidance Nasaruddin Umar said here on Saturday.

He made the remarks after opening a national exemplary family and religious office (KUA)

contest. Infotainment is a popular term for soft news or information which entertains viewers.

Nasrudin said the increase in the number of divorces at present had caused concerns because the number of divorces over the last ten years has been showing an upward trend.

About one million couples get married annually but those who divorced reached 200 thousand couples per annum. The figures were collected from KUA offices throughout the country.

He said the risks of the increasing number of divorces included a rise in the number of young widows which could disturb others’ husbands, neglected children and an in-

crease in the number of unregistered marriages.

Unregistered marriages would increase because relatively wealthy husbands are interested in marrying young widows, and as a result their children are not registered in their family cards because they have no birth certificates.

Nasarudin said that the ministry of religious affairs through his directorate general was doing its best to put things in the matter in order.

This means that all marriages, divorces, reconciliations, births and deaths must be registered.

This was merely intended to make the identities of all citizens clear.

Traffic jams hamper investment Antara

JAKARTA - The government should immediately find a solution to or a way-out of traffic congestion because it is now hampering investment, particularly in goods distribution, a chamber official said.

“Investors are suffering big losses due to delays in transportation of their goods to or from ports,” chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) for communications affairs Chris

Kanter said here on Saturday.

Chris said goods dispatches from Jakarta’s industrial zones to Tanjung Priok port or the other way round needed hours before they could arrive at their destinations. Because of traffic jams the dispatch of goods which could actually be done twice, could only be done once.

“Investors have not yet voiced their complaints but I am sure that some investors who had planned to operate in Indonesia eventually canceled their

plans due to the traffic congestion,” Kanter said. He said that every year about 3,000 new motor vehicle documents (STNKs) were issued, both for four- and two-wheel vehicles, in Jakarta. Thus, the number of fourwheel vehicles totaled 90,000 units and two-wheel vehicles two million.

Kanter said the government should therefore speed up the operations of toll road access from industrial areas to Tanjung Priok port so that the flow of goods could be smoothed.

of 2008 and 18 in 2009.

The violations — mostly by radical Muslim groups — included forced closure of churches and attacks such as torching and damaging churches, it said.

Human Rights Watch early this month called on Yudhoyono to repeal laws that it says have given extremists from the dominant religious group the legal space to launch violent attacks on people of other faiths and sects.

Indonesia’s constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of religion and the country of some 240 million people, 80 percent of whom are Muslim, has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Indonesian Christian women shout slogans during a protest against attacks on churches in Jakarta on August 15, 2010. Hundreds of Indonesians held a prayer vigil in the capital Jakarta urging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to stop attacks on Christian churches, which the protesters and a report by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace blame on radical Muslim groups.

Floods inundate 525 houses in Ciamis Antara

CIAMIS - A total of 525 houses in four villages in Pamarican sub district, Ciamis district, are now inundated by floodwater but the disaster claims no casualties, a rescuer said.

Chairman of the Tarun Disaster Alert Group Ade Deni said here on Saturday that the floods were caused by the overflowing of Cikembang River after rain showered the regions since Friday.

He said that heavy rains continued to fall until almost midnight on Fri-

day had caused the river to suddenly overflow its banks and caused floods that inundated the houses of local people in the four villages.

“The floods peaked at 7 am on Saturday,” Ade said.

The floods caused residents to evacuate to higher places but by the evening on Saturday, they have begun to return to their homes.

“When the floods peaked at 7 am, all residents evacuated but now they have been returning to their respective houses,” he said.

Illegal migrants head for Australia after Indonesia escape Agence France-Presse

KUPANG - A group of illegal migrants escaped from an Indonesian detention centre Friday and was believed to be heading for Australia, where boatpeople are a hot issue ahead of elections next week, an official said.

Local immigration office head I Gusti Ngurah Rai said the 21 from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran were among 44 people who ran away from the detention centre in Kupang, East

Nusa Tenggara province.

Officials managed to arrest 23 of the migrants in Kupang town.

“The 21 people may have left to Australia using different boats,” he told AFP. “Some witnesses said that seven migrants had rented a boat and left this morning to Australia,” he added.

Indonesia has been a key staging point for people smugglers taking migrants on the perilous sea journey south to Australia.

8

Internationa

Monday, August 16, 2010

Bali Today China ranks 3rd as Bali’s source of foreign tourists Antara

DENPASAR - China ranked third after Australia and Japan as a source country of foreign tourists visiting Bali in the first half of 2010 with 98,258 tourists, up slightly from 97,930 a year earlier.

All but one Chinese tourist in the first semester came to Bali by direct flights from their country, Head of the Bali Provincial Statistics Office Ida Komang Wisnu said on Saturday.

Chinese tourists were made up of 8.33 percent of the overall tourist arrivals in Bali in the first half of 2010 reaching 1,180,118, a 10.23 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

He said six out of top ten source countries of foreign

tourists saw an increase in the number of their citizens visiting Bali in the January-June 2010 period, while the number of tourist arrivals from the other four declined.

The number of tourist arrivals from Australia rose 53.89 percent to 278,049 from 180,686, The Netherlands 40.53 percent to 36,082 from 25,676, Taiwan 13.10 percent to 65,589 from 57,994, Singapore 55.36 percent to 41,483 from 26,702, Britain 2.19 percent to 38,526 from 37,701, and China 0.33 percent to 98,258 from 97,930.

Meanwhile, the number of tourist arrivals from Japan fell 22.29 percent to 119,772 from 154,071, Malaysia 6.23 percent to 69,251 from 73,853, South Korea 5.81 percent to 59,384 from 63,045, and France 7.67 percent to 42,211 from 45,716.

Bali possibly to host 8th world choir games Antara

DENPASAR - Bali may be entrusted with the task of hosting the 8th World Choir Games (WCG) in 2014, a local government offficial said.

“This international event will involve a very large number of participants from many countries around the world,” I Putu Suardhika, the head of the Bali provincial administration’s public relations and protocol affairs bureau, said here Friday.

He said, hopefully, the event would further improve the image of Bali, including its tourism, as well as Indonesia’s in general in the eyes of the international community.

“Bali vice Governor AAN Puspayoga received a team from the Culture and Tourism Ministry that gave official explanations about the planned international event,” Putu Suarhika said.

According to the Culture and Tourism Ministry team led

by Nur Muslim, the Indonesian government had conveyed an offer to host the 8th World Choir Games to the “Interkultur Foundation Germany”.

“In the offer, Jakarta and

Bali were mentioned as the possible venue for the event, and hopefully, the choice will fall on Bali. Bali is in principle ready and willing to support and host the WCG 2014 event. If the ‘Island of Gods’ gets the opportunity to host the WCG it will certainly reap many benefits from it,” Putu said.

The benefits would include orders to meet the consumption needs of 110.000 people, provide 250 tourism buses, 250,000 hotel rooms and aircraft tickets for the festival’s guests.

Bali deserved to be chosen as the host, according to Putu Suardhika, because the province was the ultimate tourism destination for Indonesians as well as foreigners. Besides, Bali also has appropriate facilities for the games, apart from the attractions of its unique culture and arts.

“The types of choir that will compete in the international festival are gospel, folk, pop, and jazz vocal groups. It will also feature a dance competition. The conpetition categories are for children, adolescents, women, men, and mixed groups,” Putu Suardhika added.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com

Tourists looking at a Banyan tree on Bongkasa Village, one of tourism villages that prepared by Badung regency to be tourism objects. Out of the four tourism villages prepared by Badung Regency Government, only one of them is ready for sale. Major obstacle encountered in the development of tourism village is in the form of capital.

Tourism villages in Badung, only one ready for Sale Bali Post

MANGUPURA — Out of the four tourism villages prepared by Badung Regency Government, only one of them is ready for sale. Major obstacle encountered in the development of tourism village is in the form of capital.

Head of Badung Government Tourism Office (Disparda), I Made Subawa, last Friday (Aug 13), said the four tourism villages in Badung consisted of Pangsan Village, Baha Village, Bongkasa Pertiwi Village and Kapal Village. Among the four villages, only Pangsan Village had already been equipped with accommodation facilities. “Only Pangsan Village has provided with accommodation facilities so it is ready for sale.

Meanwhile, other three villages have not had accommodation facility especially cottage,” he said.

According to Subawa, the development of tourist accommodation facilities in the village was hindered by capital matter. Until recently, there had no been any public capital invested for the construction of tourist huts in three

villages. In addition, Subawa stated, Badung Regency Government would be “more selective” in issuing the investment license for tourism village.

Indeed investors were allowed to enter into tourism village. From the regulatory side, Disparda Badung actually had been preparing permit for cottages. Each household would be given permission a license with a maximum of 5 cottage rooms. However, Disparda Badung would not give permission to investors holding the capital. However, permission would only be given to landowners or the local community.

“Owner of capital only serves as developer. It is intended as a guarantee that local people could really benefit from the development of tourism village program,” he said.

Not only that, to build an accommodation of tourism village, the building leased should be real Balinese building equipped with its Balinese style landscape. “The building should apply sikut satak or Balinesestyle architectural measurement accompanied with Balinese landscaping garden,” he asserted.

Subawa further explained that the development of tourism villages was selected because during all this time circulation of money in the tourism industry was very good. However, the circulation of money only ended at the hand of the owner that mostly consisted of investors from outside Bali or overseas. Besides, the core node and essence of Balinese tradition lay in agricultural areas located in the countryside. (ded)

al

Monday, August 16, 2010

Balinese Culture Japanese tourists expected to be back to Bali Antara

DENPASAR - Japanese tourists are expected to be back to Bali following the opening of Jakarta-Tokyo direct flights by PT Garuda Indonesia as of August 31, 2010.

“I am sure after Garuda opens the Jakarta -Tokyo flights, it will increase the number of Japanese tourists coming to the island,” said Dewa Nyoman Putra, a tourism observer in Denpasar on Thursday.

He admitted that Garuda has been serving flights from Denpasar to various cities in Japan like

Nagoya three times a week and to Osaka five times a week.

Meanwhile, Garuda Airlines has already served flights from Denpasar to Tokyo everyday. It will increase choices for Japanese tourists to come to Bali. So, it increases flights from Japan to Indonesia.

The presence of many airlines would not automatically cause an increase in the number of tourists to Bali. It also followed regular tourism promotion to various tourist places in Japan.

The quality of services must be improved from the first time tour-

ists arrive at Bali’s airport, stay at hotels or until they visit tourism objects, said Dewa Nyoman.

Dewa Nyoman as a Bali tourism world practitioner also said that comfort and safety are absolutely necessary for tourists.

According to information from the Bali tourism office, during the first half of 2009, the number of Japanese tourists visiting Bali dropped 22.29 percent from 154.071 in 2010, he said.

The decline was due to the global economic crisis that also hit the country.

Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) Yield: 2 servings Ingredients * 4 c Longgrain rice * 8 Shallots or 1 small onion * 4 Red chillis or 2 tsp chilli -powder and 2 tsp paprika * 4 tb Vegetable oil * Salt * 2 ts Sweet soya sauce * 2 ts Tomato ketchup

Directions The name Nasi Goreng means simply ‘fried rice’, and it is really a collective description of an indefinite number of slightly differing dishes. You can vary the trimmings and garnishes to suit your taste; but even the most elaborate Nasi Goreng is quick to make. It is a particularly good luncheon dish.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com

Japanese couple taking their picture in Kuta Beach. Japanese tourists are expected to be back to Bali following the opening of Jakarta-Tokyo direct flights by PT Garuda Indonesia as of August 31, 2010.

Boil the rice a good long time before you intend to fry it; you can fry freshly boiled rice, but the Nasi Goreng will be better if the boiled rice is allowed to cool. Two hours is a satisfactory interval. Leaving the rice to cool overnight, however, gives less good results-the rice has time to go dry and stale. An important point to note here is that rice for Nasi Goreng must be cooked with the least possible quantity of water; this prevents it from becoming too soft. For 1 cup of rice, use 1 cup of water.

Assuming you have now got your cool, boiled rice, proceed like this: slice the shallots or onion, seed and slice the chilli (or pound the shallots and chilli together in a mortar). Heat the oil in a wok; it makes no difference, by the way, whether you use oil, fat, or butter. Saute the shallots and chilli for a minute or so, and season with salt, soya sauce, and tomato ketchup. Put in all the rice, and stir it continuously until it is well heated: this will take 5 to 8 minutes. Serve in a good large dish, generously garnished with sliced cucumber, tomatoes, fried onions, and Krupuk. (http://asiarecipe.com)

Steamed Mushroom Wraps (Pepes Jamur Kuping) Ingredients * 100 gram cloud ear mushroom, soaked in hot water until soft, then drained * 1 egg, beaten * 125 ml medium thick coconut milk from ¼ coconut * banana leaves Spice Paste Ingredients: * 10 red chilies * 10 bird shit chilies (prik kii nuu) * 7 small shallots * 3 small cloves garlic * 5 candlenuts * 2 tomatoes * 1 cm fresh galangal (langkuas) * 1 tsp. salt * 1 tsp. palm sugar or brown sugar

Directions Slice the mushroom in 1 cm lengths and mix together with the egg, santan and the spice paste blend.

Devide the mixture among 20 packets made of banana leaves. Fold the ends of the packets and seal.

C.045 ibp

Steam the packets for about 25 minutes until done.

Remove and set aside. Broil the packets over medium heat until liquid has evaporated. (http://asiarecipe.com)

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10

Monday, August 16, 2010

Destinations

International

Kehen Temple IBP

http://i783.photobucket.com/

Kehen Temple is a beautiful Hindu temple located in foothills, south part of Bangli Regency and it is about 45 Km from Denpasar town. Inside of this temple are, there is Panyimpenan Temple building keep 3 inscriptions which is relating to its contents and temple existence. It is strategically located in the high land, so we can see the beautiful view. It is a famous temple in Bali and many visitors from foreign country has visited it.

The existence of the inscription at Kehen Temple can be explained as follows: * Kehen Temple Inscription ‘A’ is mentioning the existence of 3 sanctums those are Hyang Api, Hyang Tanda, and Hyang Karimama * Kehen Temple Inscription ‘B’ from 11 century is mentioning the empire functionary that is the Senapati Kuturan pu Kandara and it elaborate with the anathema words in oath * The Inscription from 13 century (year 1204 M) is mentioning Hyang Kehen and Hyang Wukir. At the moment Hyang Kehen is equal to Kehen Temple and Hyang Wukir is Puncak Bukit Bangli Temple.

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

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* It is one of Monarchic Temple, The temple under the aegis of king while ceremony execution and construction is delivered to local countryside custom * As a sanctum which is used as a altar (oath) for empire functionary who disloyal to his obligation will incur the Sapata or very horrible anathema. The function of Kehen Temple as sanctum in execution of oath ceremony is supported by the existence of a circumlocutory canister by 4 dragon tails which is called canister Sarpantaka. Nowadays, the canister is placed in a building in form of Gedong * Worshiping supremacy Siwa God in the form of Eka Dasa Rudra utilizes to request the godsend to the good human life and universe for blessing of fertile life, secure, prosperous and peaceful.

The structure of Kehen Temple yard is arranged to have a terrace and it shows the existence of tradition megalithic which is continued as a symbol from the existence of mount that is one of the fertility sources. The temple festival can be divided into 2 types those are Piodalan Ceremony which is executed every 6 month, that is on Wednesday Keliwon Sinta (Balinese Calendar) and Ngusaba Ceremony which is executed every 5 years.

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

Monday, August 16, 2010

11

BUSINESS Japan’s PM to watch closely strength of yen: Jiji Agence France-Presse

TOKYO - Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday he would monitor closely the strength of the yen and hinted at holding talks with the central bank chief amid the recent rise of the unit, Jiji Press reported.

“I want to continue to closely watch” currency market moves, Kan was quoted by Jiji as telling reporters after the dollar hit a 15-year low of 84.73 yen before easing earlier this week.

The greenback rose back above the 86-yen level on news that Japanese officials showed concern over the unit’s strength, which poses a threat to the export sector driving Japan’s fragile economic rebound.

AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON

Americans hold up “I want to work” placards as they join a protest of several thousand people demanding jobs outside City Hall in Los Angeles on August 13, 2010.

Fed dissenter slams ultra low rate policy Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - The lone dissenter on the US Federal Reserve’s policy-making body lashed out Friday at its decision to keep interest rates at virtually zero percent, warning such a policy could boomerang.

The Federal Open Market Committee’s decision Tuesday to maintain rates at zero to 0.25 percent, a policy adopted since December 2008, was adding to uncertainty over US economic recovery prospects, said Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

“As much as I want short-term improvement, I am mindful of possible longer-term consequences of zero interest rates and further easing actions,” Hoenig said at a community gathering in Nebraska state.

“Zero rates during a period of modest growth are a dangerous gamble,” he said.

Hoenig is the only one of the FOMC’s 10 members who has at all its meetings this year voted against the decision to keep interest rates extraordinarily low for an “extended period.”

“Rather than improve economic outcomes, I worry that the FOMC

is inadvertently adding to ‘uncertainty’ by taking such actions,” he argued, citing previous recessions.

The US economy began growing in the middle of last year after a brutal recession but expansion has moderated in recent months, raising the prospect of the economy contracting again in what many call a double-dip recession.

Analysts said the remarks by Hoenig, the longest-serving of the Federal Reserve’s 12 district bank presidents, were an unusually scathing attack on US monetary policy by a FOMC member.

“I have to say that I have never, in nearly 20 years of watching the Fed, seen a speech quite like this from a member of the FOMC,” remarked analyst Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities.

“Within the constraints of how Federal Reserve officials operate, I would call this a scathing critique of monetary policy now and

over the last 10 years.”

Hoenig said the recession that struck the US economy in December 2007 was not caused by high interest rates “but by low rates that contributed to excessive debt and leverage among consumers, businesses and government.”

He said he agreed that the Federal Reserve needed to keep its policy rate accommodative but pointed out that the economy now “is improving and is growing” at a rate faster than the last two recoveries.

“We need to get off of the emergency rate of zero, move rates up slowly and deliberately. This will align more closely with the economy’s slow, deliberate recovery so that policy does not lag the recovery.

“In trying to use policy as a cure-all, we will repeat the cycle of severe recession and unemployment in a few short years by keeping rates too low for too long.”

Kan also voiced hope of holding a meeting with Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa on foreign exchange rates, saying: “I have not decided when and how, but want to have necessary forms of communications.”

Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda has earlier said he wanted the Bank of Japan to “cooperate” more with the government to tackle the rising yen, in a sign of fresh pressure on the body from officials.

For every one-yen rise in the currency’s value against the dollar, companies can lose tens of billions of yen earned overseas when repatriated, threatening a sector that Japan depends on to offset its weak domestic picture.

IMF asks Malaysia to take ”decisive” action on reforms Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - The IMF asked Malaysia Friday to take “decisive” action on reforms under a model program aimed at revamping a controversial four-decade-old affirmative action policy.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced in March a “New Economic Model” or NEM, aimed at reforming elements of the policy favouring the country’s majority ethnic Malays in a bid to boost economic competitiveness.

Details of the reform program, including its timing, have not been announced yet.

The Washington-based International Monetary Fund said Friday it was looking forward to the NEM’s rollout.

In a report after annual consultations between the IMF executive board and the Malaysian government, the fund acknowledged the “ambitious vision” of Najib’s administration for a far-reaching economic transformation over the longer term.

The board directors “agreed that the comprehensive structural reform agenda, at the heart of the New Economic Model, holds out promise of faster and inclusive growth,” the report said.

“Directors looked forward to a decisive effort and sustained momentum in implementing this agenda,” it said.

They also called for an “effective communication strategy” to forge “broad public support” for these efforts.

“Further gradual liberalization of product and labor markets will help exploit policy complementarities, encourage private investment and harness the benefits of reform,” the report said.

Najib, who came to office last year, said the New Economic Model was designed to boost growth, create a high-quality workforce, and attract badly needed foreign investment.

The model also aims to stem Malaysia’s “brain drain” with measures to retain skilled professionals, and make markets more competitive by phasing out price controls and subsidies.

The affirmative action policy which hands Malays privileges in housing, education and business has been criticised as uncompetitive and improperly benefiting the elites.

Under the planned changes to the policy, the government will seek to raise the income levels of all disadvantaged groups, rather than focusing solely on ethnic Malays, the dominant ethnic group in the Southeast Asian nation.

Najib’s reforms face opposition from conservative Malay rights groups.

The country has sizeable ethnic Indian and Chinese minorities, who mostly deserted Najib’s ruling coalition in 2008 elections.

The IMF also said that Malaysia’s near-term growth prospects were favorable.

The economy was projected to expand by 6.7 percent in 2010 but growth is expected to moderate to 5.3 percent in 2011, the IMF report said.

It also said that IMF staff felt Malaysia’s ringgit currency appeared to be “weaker than its equilibrium level in real effective terms.”

The IMF executive board, according to the report, agreed with the Malaysian authorities’ view that a stronger ringgit could boost over time the role of domestic demand as a growth driver and promote a shift toward higher-value added industries.

12

Monday, August 16, 2010

Entertainment

International

Julia Roberts to receive award at San Sebastian film fest Agence France Presse

MADRID – US actress Julia Roberts, star of Hollywood blockbusters, will receive an award for her movie career at next month’s film festival in San Sebastian in northern Spain, organisers said Saturday.

Roberts will also attend the film fest to promote her latest movie “Eat Pray Love” by US director Ryan Murphy and co-starring Spanish actor Javier Bardem, which is an official entry in the competition.

“Eat Pray Love”, based on a novel of that name by Elizabeth Gilbert, is the story of a recent divorcee, played by Roberts, who travels to Italy, India and Bali, rediscovering through each place her inner peace.

The 42-year-old Roberts came to

AFP/Getty Images/File/Michael Loccisano

fame for her role in the 1990 movie “Pretty Woman” and spent a decade becoming one of Hollywood’s favourite box office draws and highest paid actresses.

She won an Oscar for best actress in 2001 for “Erin Brockovich”. In

US actress Julia Roberts, pictured on August 10, will receive an award for her movie career at next month’s film festival in San Sebastian in northern Spain, organisers said Saturday.

recent years she has taken some time off from acting to get married and give birth to three children.

She will receive the award for her film career on September 20. Previous winners since 1987 have included British actor Sir Ian McKellen, US actors Glenn Ford and Bette Davis, and US directors Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen. The San Sebastian International Film Festival runs from September 17 to 25.

Zsa Zsa Gabor undergoes “Toy Story 3” top-grossing animated film of all time surgery for blood clots Reuters

Agence France Presse

LOS ANGELES - Zsa Zsa Gabor, the ageing Hollywood glamor queen known for her multiple marriages and tabloid-magnetic lifestyle, was recovering Saturday from more surgery, this time for blood clots, a spokesman said.

The latest surgery came just two days after Gabor, 93, was released from a California hospital following complications from a fall.

“Her doctors told us it was a fairly routine procedure, that it wasn’t something to panic over,” a statement read from Ed Lozzi, who represents Gabor’s only daughter, Constance Francesca Hilton, whom she had with hotel magnate Conrad Hilton.

Gabor also underwent surgery after a bad fall on July 17 when she broke her hip. A serial marrier, famous cop slapper and Hollywood star of yore — fell from

her bed at her posh Bel Air, California home last Saturday when she reached for a ringing phone while watching her favorite television show, “Jeopardy.”

The Hungarian-born actress and former beauty queen was left partially paralyzed and wheelchairbound after a 2002 car accident.

She also had a stroke in 2005.

Her lengthy film career includes spots in a dozen films and television series, including John Huston’s 1952 “Moulin Rouge” and the 1958 film noir “Touch of Evil” by Orson Welles. She lent her voice to several animated films and TV series.

But the platinum blonde is especially known for her flamboyant lifestyle, legal troubles, nine marriages and a propensity to call just about everyone “darling” with her distinctive accent. She immigrated to the United States with her late actress sisters Eva and Magda.

LOS ANGELES – Woody and his pals have elbowed aside the green ogre, with Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3” climbing above Paramount/DreamWorks’ “Shrek 2” to become the top-grossing animated film worldwide.

Walt Disney Studios announced Friday that “Toy” has taken in $920 million at the global box office, topping “Shrek’s” $919.8 million. Globally, it’s Disney’s fourth-highest-grossing film, trailing two of the installments in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

The 3D toon also has crossed the $400 million mark domestically, the second Disney film to hit that level, after 2006’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” which took in $423 million domestically.

In 1995, Pixar launched the “Toy Story” franchise, with its central characters of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and their fellow toys.

Released June 18, “Toy Story 3,” directed by Lee Unkrich, recorded Pixar’s highest-grossing opening

IBP/ist

A scene from the movie “Toy Story 3”

weekend, taking in $109 million in North America, and was the 11th Disney/Pixar title to debut in the No. 1 position on its opening weekend of wide release. The movie will be released on Blu-ray and DVD November 2.

Jazz singer Abbey Lincoln dies at 80 Agence France Presse

NEW YORK – Acclaimed US jazz singer Abbey Lincoln, who was also a dedicated civil rights activist, has died at the age of 80, her family said. Lincoln died Saturday in a nursing home in New York, according Evelyn Mason, her niece.

No cause was given, but she had been in failing health. Lincoln built a career as an actress and singer in the late 1950s and 1960s. She stopped singing during the 1970s, but returned to the stage years later.

Her first album, “Affair ... a Story of a Girl in Love” was released in 1956 and became an immediate success. That same year she appeared in her first film, “The Girl Can?t Help It.” Lincoln became active in the civil rights movement after marrying in 1962 drummer Max Roach, who was a bebop pioneer with an interest in progressive causes. One of the highlights of her career was the 1968 romantic comedy “For Love of Ivy,” where she starred opposite Sidney Poitier.

AFP PHOTO/FILES/Mark RALSTON

(FILES) Photo dated August 11, 2010 shows actress Zsa Zsa Gabor in the back of an ambulance as she returned to her home after being discharged from the UCLA hospital in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

US Jazz singer Abbey Lincoln performs at the Concert For Hurricane Relief at Lincoln Center, New York City, in September 2005. The acclaimed singer, who was also a dedicated civil rights activist, has died at the age of 80, her family said.

AFP/Getty Images/File/Brad Barket

Life Style

International

Lien foundation report manuals, shaped as tombstones are displayed on a field in Singapore on August 13, 2010. The report describes charitable actions that need to be and are being taken care of by the foundation.

AFP PHOTO/ROSLAN RAHMAN

Philanthropy thriving in newly rich Singapore Agence France Presse

SINGAPORE - If you want to smell like roses and help the world’s less privileged people, part with some of that extra money and give it to Lee Poh Wah. “Philanthropic money is like manure. It smells if you have too much of it in the bank,” said the 40-year-old chief executive officer of the Lien Foundation, one of Singapore’s most high-profile philanthropic organisations.

“Its intended use is to fertilise and support ideas that can improve society, so we should spread it wisely,” the earnest, bespectacled promoter of “radical philanthropy” told AFP in an interview. As Singapore celebrates 45 years of independence this month, it takes pride in its transformation into one of Asia’s richest societies, and the idea of sharing wealth is gaining broader support.

A report by the Boston Consulting Group in June said Singapore had the highest concentration of US dollar millionaire households in the world, with 11.4 percent of families owning investable assets in seven figures or higher.

Donations to charitable organisations grew from 381 million

dollars (279 million US) in 2001 to 687 million dollars (504 million US) last year, according to the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC).

This includes foundations established by wealthy families including the Liens, whose patriarch Lien Ying Chow founded the Overseas Union Bank.

Other wealthy Singaporean families who made their fortunes from banking and trading have also set up foundations involved in a wide range of activities.

Even middle-class Singaporeans are getting their hands dirty by doing volunteer work, said Kevin Lee, NVPC director of sector development.

“Singapore’s volunteerism rate

has been rising over the past decade.

It has risen from 9.3 percent in 2000 to 16.9 percent in 2008. This 16.9 percent, or 590,000 people, gave 45 million hours of their time,” he noted. The NVPC’s Lee singled out the younger generation for praise.

On weekends, schoolchildren spread out across Singapore to solicit donations for various charities from shoppers and commuters who find it hard to say “no” to the young fund-raisers.

“Youth volunteering in particular has improved the most over the years. At 23 percent, which excludes compulsory community service required by schools, it is significantly above the national volunteerism rate of 16.9 percent.”

Monday, August 16, 2010

13

Champagne fizzics: Science backs pouring sideways Associated Press Writer

PARIS – French scientists say they have settled a question that has long divided Champagne lovers: How best to pour the bubbly? At an angle, not straight down. The scientists at the University of Reims say pouring bubbly at a slant, as you would a beer, preserves more of the tiny gas bubbles that improve the drink’s flavor and aromas.

The study — “On the Losses of Dissolved CO2 During Champagne Serving” — appears this week in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a U.S. publication.

The researchers say they looked at two ways of pouring Champagne: the “traditional” method, with the liquid poured vertically to hit the bottom of the Champagne flute; and the “beer-like way,” executed by tilting the glass and gently sliding in the Champagne.

They say the study matters not just to Champagne drinkers but to glassmakers. They note that the industry is researching a “new generation” of Champagne glasses specially designed to control the release of carbon dioxide, the gas that gives the drink its sparkle.

The researchers used bottles of 2008 vintage from Cooperative Nogent l’Abbesse to examine how the two methods of pouring affected the release of CO2.

They said they used two ways to measure the amount of CO2 in each pouring, and tested bottles chilled to varying degrees. the result: Champagne poured like beer retained more gas than Champagne poured to create a head of “mousse,” or foam. And the colder the bottle, the less gas was lost, the study found.

It did not say whether professional tasters were called in to confirm their findings, and none of the six researchers could be reached for comment. But their expertise appears formidable: They’re French, their university is in the

heart of Champagne country, and lead researcher Gerard LigerBelair, a professor of chemical physics, is the author of “Uncorked: The Science of Champagne,” a book that appeared in the U.S. in 2004 to admiring reviews. The study will be presented this month in Boston at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The verdict in favor of sidewayspouring came as no surprise to Guillaume Ranvier, the head of food and beverage at the Hyatt Regency Paris-Madeleine, whose Cafe M & Champagne Bar offers around 30 different kinds of Champagne from about $100 to $320 a bottle. “But of course, when I pour a glass of Champagne I pour it like that,” he said.

Ranvier said the establishment’s barman always pours Champagne into a tilted glass to keep the bubbles in. Informed that top French researchers had delivered scientific confirmation, Ranvier laughed and said: “Great. I’ll tell the barman when he gets back from vacation.”

Ap Photo/Jacques Brinon

Champagne is being poured ‘beer-like way,’ achieved by tilting the glass and gently sliding the Champagne down its inside wall into the flute, Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 in Paris, to illustrate a theory

by French scientist from Reims university.

Poultry fingered as No. 1 food poisoning culprit Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA – Cooking chicken on the grill this summer? Be careful.

Poultry is still the leading culprit in food poisoning outbreaks, health officials said Thursday. Chicken, turkey and other poultry accounted for 17 percent of the food-borne illness outbreaks reported to the government.

Beef and leafy vegetables were close behind, at 16 percent and 14 percent.

The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covers outbreaks in 2007. Poultry was also the No. 1 source of outbreaks in 2006.

Salmonella and other kinds of bacteria caused about half of the outbreaks, the CDC said. Viruses — like

norovirus — caused about 40 percent, mushroom toxin or other chemical agents were blamed for 7 percent.

Parasites accounted for 1 percent.

Several things can cause an outbreak. For example, an infected person might contaminate the food while handling it. A contaminated food may be left out a room temperature for hours, allowing bacteria to multiply.

It may not be cooked enough to kill the bacteria.

The CCD counted more than 21,000 illnesses in about 1,100 outbreaks in 48 states and Puerto Rico.

There were 18 deaths from food poisoning.

It’s far from a complete picture, however. Experts estimates that only about 5 percent of people who get

food poisoning are part of a recognized outbreak, which is a cluster of two or more cases. “It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said Michael Doyle, head of the University of Georgia’s food safety center.

An estimated 87 million cases of food-borne illness occur in the United States each year, including 371,000 hospitalizations and 5,700 deaths, according to an Associated Press calculation that combines a CDC formula with recent population estimates.

The CDC also closely tracks food-borne illnesses in 10 states to watch for food poisoning trends. Its report for last year showed rates of food-borne illness have been holding steady for the past five years.

14

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sport

International

Ben Arfa at odds with Marseille over transfer Agence France Presse

AFP PHOTO/GLYN KIRK

Chelsea’s French midfielder Florent Malouda (L) scores the sixth goal past West Brom’s English goalkeeper Scott Carson (R) during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge in London, England on August 14, 2010.

Chelsea’s six appeal proves too much for Baggies Agence France Presse

LONDON - Didier Drogba scored a hat-trick as Chelsea began the defence of the English Premier League title with a crushing 6-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. Victory left Chelsea on top of the table after an opening day that saw Blackpool mark their first top-flight match in 39 years with a shock 4-0 win away to Wigan.

Florent Malouda, who ended the goal spree in the 90th minute, started Chelsea’s rout with a sixth-minute goal after Baggies keeper Scott Carson spilled Drogba’s tame free-kick.

Chelsea doubled their lead in the 45th minute when Drogba scored a free-kick from 25 yards against a West Brom side managed by former Blues midfielder Roberto di Matteo. Ten minutes after the break, Drogba made it 3-0 when he forced home from close range after John Terry’s goalbound header from a corner was cleared.

England midfielder Frank Lampard added a fourth goal in the 63rd minute after good work by Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole.

Ivory Coast striker Drogba, who ended the last Premier League season with a hat-trick against Wigan, completed his treble five minutes later with the aid of a shot deflected off Gabriel Tamas.

“I am very happy because we played a good game, we showed good football,” said Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, whose side came into this game on the back of a Community Shield final loss to Manchester United.

Malouda added: “We are champions and we have to improve what we did last season. We had a great record and scored a lot of goals but it’s a new season and we have to work harder and be even better than last year.” Blackpool, promoted via the playoffs, have been widely tipped to go straight back down, but the Tangerines were 3-0 up before half-time, with former Villa striker Marlon Harewood scoring twice.

They went ahead in the 16th minute at Wigan’s DW Stadium when Charlie Adam played in Harewood, whose cross was tapped in by Gary Taylor-Fletcher. Harewood then held off Antolin Alcaraz, before beating Chris Kirkland from more than 20 yards for his first Premier League goal in two-and-a-half-years.

Two minutes before the break, Harewood tapped in after Elliot Grandin’s shot was parried. Then, 15 minutes before full-time, Alex Baptiste made it 4-0 when his cross beat Kirkland at the goalkeeper’s near post.

“I don’t think any of us in our wildest, wildest dreams imagined we could come here and do something like that,” Blackpool manager Ian Holloway told Sky Sports. “I’m so proud of the lads and the work ethic they showed.”

Aston Villa showed there was life after Martin O’Neill with a 3-0 win at home to West Ham just days after their former manager’s resignation. England goalkeeper Robert Green, playing his first senior match since his World Cup blunder, helped give Villa a 15th minute lead when his poor punch ultimately led to a goal from Stewart Downing.

Villa made it 2-0 when Stiliyan Petrov headed in five minutes before half-time. And in what could be a parting gift to Villa fans, before his possible transfer to Manchester City, England midfielder James Milner made it 3-0 after shooting powerfully from Albrighton’s cut back in the

66th minute.

In Saturday’s early kick-off England goalkeeper Joe Hart — chosen

by Roberto Mancini ahead of Shay Given — produced several fine saves to help big-spenders Manchester City secure a point in a goalless draw at Tottenham.

But Everton’s United States goalkeeper Tim Howard gifted hosts Blackburn a 14th minute winner in a 1-0 victory when he somehow dropped a cross into the path of Nikola Kalinic, who duly scored. Birmingham came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against 10man Sunderland.

Darren Bent opened the scoring for hosts Sunderland with a 24th minute penalty. But two minutes before the break, Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole became the first player sentoff in the Premier League this season after collecting two yellow cards.

Sunderland went 2-0 up when Steve Carr looped a header into his own net.

However, late goals from Scott Dann and Liam Ridgewell saw Birmingham draw. Wolves beat Stoke 21 after Kenwyne Jones, Stoke’s club record eight million signing, limped off injured after just 14 minutes at Molineux.

They scored twice in two minutes late in the first half, going ahead through a 20-yard strike from David Jones before Steven Fletcher headed in a second.

But Stoke scored early in the second half through Abdoulaye Faye’s header. Bolton and Fulham shared the points in a goalless draw.

PARIS - Marseille midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has sworn he will leave Marseille for Newcastle even if it means not playing for a season. The 23year-old French international has been told by the reigning champions that he will not be released to play in the English Premier league with Chris Hughton’s newly-promoted side.

But after staying away from training on Thursday and Friday and not travelling to Valenciennes for Saturday’s league game, Ben Arfa told L’Equipe newspaper he is ready to continue his strike action.

“It’s because the club officials don’t give a damn about me that today I announce that I am prepared to put my career on

hold if they do not accept the offer from Newcastle as agreed at the start,” he said. “I am prepared not to play all season.

“I am not just a sack of dirty washing or a piece of shit. I will do what it takes and I will organise myself to train physically.”

Ben Arfa, who scored in France’s 1-2 loss to Norway in a friendly match last week also had harsh words for Marseille coach Didier Deschamps saying that the pair did not hit it off.

“When he talks to me I always have the feeling that there is something else going on inside his head,” he said.

Marseille have lost their opening two league games and are currently joint bottom with Deschamps saying that all the off-pitch disputes were not helping things.

Sevilla stun Barca in Spanish Super Cup first leg Agence France Presse

MADRID - Sevilla came back from one goal down to defeat league champions Barcelona 3-1 in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Saturday.

Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Barca the lead after 20 minutes after being setup by Maxwell. But Sevilla dominated the second half with Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano equalising with a fierce drive just after the

hour mark.

Lionel Messi replaced Ibrahimovic, but the great Argentine was upstaged by Mali veteran Freddie Kanoute whose two goals gave Sevilla the advantage ahead of next Saturday’s second leg.

He put his team ahead in the 74th minute when he slipped the ball past Ruben Mino in the Barcelona goal following a long ball from Negredo.

Kanoute added the third in the 83rd minute with a header from a cross

by Diego Perotti.

(AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi of Argentina, left, duels for the ball with Sevilla’s Alvaro Negredo during their supercup first leg match at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla, Spain, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010.

Sport

International

Monday, August 16, 2010

15

Russia strike treble Euro gold Agence France Presse

BUDAPEST - Russia claimed three gold medals at the European swimming championships on Saturday to leapfrog Britain and hosts Hungary to second place in the overall medals table behind France. With just Sunday left, France head the competition with 17 medals (six gold, six silver and five bronze), but Russia have kept the pressure up and now have six gold, three silver and a bronze.

Evgeny Korotyshkin won the 100m butterfly and Stanislav Donets the 200m backstroke on a day rounded off by the Russian quartet claiming gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

It was also a good day for the Italy team which claimed their first two golds of the competition through Fabio Scozzoli in the men’s 50m breaststroke and Federica Pellegrini in the women’s 200m freestyle.

Korotyshkin kickstarted proceedings for Russia with victory in 51.73sec, ahead of Dutchman Joeri Verlinden and Poland’s Konrad Czerniak “My plan was to swim a fast first lap, about 24sec flat,” said the Rus-

sian. “I finished as best I could because I was completely exhausted in the last 10 metres.”

Donets made it double gold by powering to a narrow win in the 200m backstroke, finishing in 1min 57.18sec, with Austrian Markus Rogan taking silver in 1:57.31 and Frenchman Benjamin Stasilius bronze (1:57.37). “I had a strenuous programme here with the three backstroke competitions, and am quite tired now,” admitted Donets. “But I am very pleased that it was enough to win the title.”

Daniil Izotov then anchored the Russian foursome to 4x200m freestyle relay from Germany and

France. The Russian team completed the 800m swim in 7:06.71, with the Germans at 1.42sec and the French a further 1.57 adrift.

“This was a really good relay,” said Izotov. “That’s how we like it. Although the French had Yannick Agnel in their team that didn’t bother us.”

Italian Scozzoli wrapped up the 50m breastroke in 27.38sec ahead of Romanian Dragos Agache, with Lennart Stekelenburg of the Netherlands taking bronze. Scozzoli’s teammate Pellegrini then claimed gold in the women’s 200m freestyle in 1:55.45, with German Silke Lippok taking silver and Hungarian Agnes Mutina bronze.

(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

Russia’s team celebrate winning the gold medal in the Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the Swimming European Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010.

Clijsters, Sharapova advance LeBron’s move OK, to WTA Cincinnati final Heat no lock, say Hall inductees

Agence France Presse

CINCINNATI - Reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters and Russian beauty Maria Sharapova advanced to the WTA Cincinnati Open final in very different fashion on Saturday.

Belgian fourth seed Clijsters needed only 12 minutes to reach Sunday’s title match of the two million-dollar hardcourt event after Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic retired due to a left foot injury and left the court in tears.

Sharapova needed 2 1/2 hours to defeat Russian teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the

other semi-final. Sharapova made 40 unforced errors to 35 for her rival.

Clijsters led 2-1 after breaking Ivanovic in the third game, but the showdown of former world number ones would end after only 25 points being played and with the Serbian’s US Open hopes in great jeopardy.

Ivanovic hurt her left foot making a forehand return from the baseline and after one more shot dropped her racket and doubled over in pain.

“I was very scared,” Ivanovic said.

“All of a sudden on that one shot, I felt something crack a little bit. “Just on that one forehand when I went to step

(AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Maria Sharapova, of Russia, reacts after winning the first set against compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova,in a semi final match at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010, in Mason, Ohio.

around it, I just felt like pain all of a sudden, so much pain in my foot and I couldn’t step on it anymore.”

Ivanovic limped to her chair and called for the trainer who taped the injured foot. But after the next point, a serve Ivanovic never challenged, she halted the match and hobbled to the net where Clijsters embraced her and advancing to her third final of the year.

“I tried bit of tape, but I could not put any weight on it and there was no point in me continuing,” Ivanovic said.

Ivanovic, ranked 62nd, struggled with a right shoulder injury earlier this year and was in only her third semi-final of the year, having yet to reach a final.

“I played some really great tennis and I was very excited about this match,” Ivanovic said. Clijsters made her return to tennis last year at Cincinnati after a two-year layoff to have a family and went on to lift the US Open trophy.

This year she missed nearly two months after a left foot injury that kept her out of the French Open. “It sounds very similar to what I had with my left foot,” Clijsters said of Ivanovic’s injury.

“I hope it’s not that bad.” Clijsters, ranked seventh, ran for half an hour after the abbreviated match and practiced to keep her form. “I was really into it,” she said. “I felt I was moving well, really well. My contact with the ball was better than in previous matches.” Pavlyuchenkova, 19, struggled with her serve after deeps runs in singles and doubles this week. “I’ve played a lot of tennis,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I had tough matches here. I was just getting tired.”

Pavlyuchenkova had a trainer work on her right arm after the third game, a delay that stretched 10 extra minutes due to a lighting problem. “It changed many things,” Sharapova said. “I really gave her a chance to get back into the match.”

Associated Press Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Don’t blame LeBron James for leaving Cleveland. Don’t fit him for a ring yet, either. That was the message at the Hall of Fame on Friday, where James’ move to Miami was a topic among this year’s induction class. With James joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, the Heat have become a title favorite. But Karl Malone is sticking with the reigning champions, and Scottie Pippen isn’t even sure Miami will reach the NBA finals.

“I would say this: With the guys they got, they’re going to be a hell of a team,” Malone said of the Heat. “I pick the Lakers.”

Malone also joked that former coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy “must have had some red wine that night, a lot of it,” when he predicted recently that the Heat could break Chicago’s record of 72 wins set in 1995-96.

Pippen, who played on that team, said the Heat need to start with smaller expectations. “I’d like to see them win a championship first,” he said.

James was criticized for deciding to announce his free agency decision during an ESPN special, rather than inform the Cavaliers and his other suitors himself.

Pippen agreed that wasn’t the best choice, but said there was nothing wrong with him leaving Ohio.

“I don’t know what all the grief was about,” Pippen said. “No fans, no organization, no one can decide what a free agent can do or should do or where he’s going to go, and there’s no reason for anyone to

hold a grudge against LeBron for making that decision.”

Oscar Robertson also defended James, saying the free agents were just taking advantage of the “Oscar Robertson Rule.” Robertson, as president of the NBA Players Association, filed a class-action lawsuit against the league and its teams that the league settled in 1976, removing a team’s option to keep a player for life and opening the door for unrestricted free agency.

Malone spent nearly his entire career in Utah before joining a powerful Lakers team that had Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant for a last-ditch run at a title in 2003-04. So he wasn’t going to criticize James for bolting Cleveland for a better shot on a better team — though he didn’t care for the way it was done, either.

“That’s his decision. My decision, when I left Utah, I went to L.A. to win a championship and had an opportunity,” Malone said.

“Him leaving, that’s him. I don’t know what to tell you. The way it went down, I’m not into that.”

Malone ended up getting hurt and the Lakers fell short, and he warns that injuries could get in the Heat’s way. Pippen, meanwhile, thinks Miami’s size could be a problem.

“There are a couple of teams in the East that they’re going to have to contend with, that they’re going to have matchup problems with,” Pippen said. “You think of Boston, Orlando. I don’t see anybody that they can get to run up and down the court with (Dwight) Howard right now and that’s a game changer.”

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

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sport

Lorenzo racks up magnificent seventh win Agence France Presse

BRNO, Czech Republic - Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo recorded his seventh MotoGp victory of the season here on Sunday riding his Yamaha to glory in the Czech Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old, who in an unusual celebration got off his bike and walked on to a neighbouring golf course to take a putt which he needed two to hole, beat home compatriot and pole sitter Dani Pedrosa on a Honda while Australia’s former world champion Casey Stoner was third.

Lorenzo took the lead from pole sitter Pedrosa on the first of the 22 laps as five riders battled for the top three in the opening exchanges including Stoner while nine-time champion Valentino Rossi was adrift in eighth. Italian Andrea Dovizioso was the first of the front five to crack as he came to grief in the middle of the track on the fourth

lap and was extremely fortunate not to suffer a serious injury by being hit by one of the oncoming bikes.

The Repsol rider - winner this season of the British MotoGp - resumed the race but tailed off in last place and eventually gave up the ghost and pulled into his stable.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” said the 24-year-old Italian, who was 125cc world champion in 2004. “There was a lot of wind so that explains the slower times out there. I made one mistake as I really pushed hard at the beginning to keep in touch with Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

“However, I am really angry because the way the race has panned out I think we would have been re-

ally challenging for second or third place.”

Both Lorenzo and his compatriot Pedrosa slowly started to open a gap on third placed American rookie Ben Spies and Stoner, who was also cast adrift by the young American.

The Spanish duo had a lead of over four seconds over Spies and Stoner while that pair had a sizeable lead over a group including fifth placed Rossi, who was some nine seconds adrift along with Nicky Hayden with 12 laps to go.

Stoner stoically had stuck to his task and passed Spies to take third place with 11 laps remaining and it was at this point that Lorenzo wound up the pressure on Pedrosa opening a gap of over a second on him with 10 laps remaining.

Pedrosa was unable to peg him back and Lorenzo ended up coasting to victory and ever nearer to his first MotoGp world title.

AFP PHOTO / MICHAL CIZEK

Elias stamps authority with Brno win

AP Photo/Jens Meyer

Moto 2 Moriwaki rider Toni Elias from Spain celebrates after winning the Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the circuit in Brno, Czech Republic, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010.

THE Gresini Moriwaki rider had been disqualified from Friday practice at Brno for an illegal test session last Sunday at Misano - his team simply hadn’t realised it wasn’t allowed - but he still qualified third on the grid and led the field through turn one.

Former title leader Shoya Tomizawa moved ahead at the end of the first lap, and some frantic Moto2 racing followed before double 2010 winner Andrea Iannone - tenth at the end of lap one - took the lead on lap six, When the Fimmco Speed Up rider began to pull clear, a repeat of his dominant wins at Mugello and Assen looked likely, but a determined Elias reeled in the Italian - with Roby Rolfo in tow.

Rolfo briefly took the lead before being cruelly sidelined by a technical problem, leaving Elias to build a 2.3sec victory margin over the remaining five laps.

And it wasn’t over Iannone. The #29 lost out to Catalunya winner Yuki Takahashi in the closing stages, as the Tech 3 rider claimed his second podium of the season. Early leader Tomizawa faded back to tenth, while Thomas Luthi - who began round nine second in the points behind Elias - was one place behind the Japanese in eleventh.

Elias - who took the Gresini team’s 100th podium today - is now 55 points ahead of new nearest rival Iannone, with Luthi down to third.

Home star Karel Abraham, who will move with his team to MotoGP next year on a sixth satellite Ducati, was not able to start the race after his accident in qualifying.

Jorge Lorenzo of Spain wheelies his Yamaha during a free practice session of MotoGP in Czech Grand Prix in Brno on August 14, 2010 in Brno ahead of the grand prix on August 15.