Edisi 05 April 2011 | International Bali Post

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Badung Regency assessed less serious In developing tourism village

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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REUTERS/Jeff Haynes/Files

“Hop” skips and jumps to No. 1 at box offices PAGE 12

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet takes off at Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois in this July 24, 2008 file photo.

Southwest Airlines grounded 81 aircraft from its Boeing 737 fleet for inspection after a gaping hole in the fuselage forced one of its planes to make emergency landing in Arizona on Friday, the company said on Saturday.

Widespread cracks found on Southwest jet-NTSB Reuters

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - Evidence of widespread fuselage cracks and fatigue were found on a Southwest Airlines Co jet that made an emergency landing in Arizona with a hole in the cabin, a U.S. safety investigator said on Sunday. The incident on Friday prompted Southwest, the largest domestic airline by passengers flown, to ground planes and cancel hundreds of flights over the weekend so it could inspect its older model 737-300s.

Small subsurface fuselage cracks were found on two other planes, which may require repairs, Southwest said. Nineteen had been

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inspected and returned to service without any problems by Sunday.

Southwest anticipated 175 flight cancellations on Monday and hoped

to complete the remaining inspections of 79 planes by late Tuesday.

The 737-300 represents roughly 20 percent of Southwest’s all-737 fleet,

the most popular commercial aircraft ever and a workhorse globally.

So far, the problem has been limited to Southwest, which paid a $7.5 million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) fine for operating 737s without required fuselage structural inspections in 2006/07. US Airways Group flies 19 737-300s and a spokesman said periodic inspections have turned up no fatigue-related problems.

Continued on page 6

Women take centre stage in Berlusconi trial Agence France Presse

ROME – From the judge’s bench to the witness stand, women are at the centre of a sex trial for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi starting Wednesday that has breathed new life into Italy’s feminist movement. The trial revolves around allegations that Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage prostitute — just 17 at the time — and then committed abuse of office by getting her released from police custody in a separate incident.

The Moroccan girl, Karima El Mahroug — stage name “Ruby the Heart Stealer” — was questioned

four times in mid-2010 by prosecutors in Milan and made compromising statements about parties held at Berlusconi’s residence. One of the organisers of the soirees was Nicole Minetti, a 25-year-old brunette and Berlusconi confidante who is accused in a separate case of incitement to prostitution of a minor and more than 30 other young women.

Considered by Milan prosecutors as a sort of madam working for 74-year-old Berlusconi, Minetti has had a meteoric career starting from when she was a dental hygienist and a starlet on one of Berlusconi’s television channels.

Continued on page 6

AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (C) gestures as he addresses people upon arrival in the Italian southern island of Lampedusa, on March 30, 2011.

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International

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Bali News Buleleng still haunted by rabies

58 infected villages, mostly in urban areas Singaraja (Bali Post)—

Despite the discourse on rabies virus transmission is not as extensive as a few months ago Buleleng Regency remains to be haunted by the spread of such deadly virus. Data at the Buleleng Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Services show the number of villages affected by rabies in Northern Bali continues to grow.

In August 2010 was reported the number of villages contracted by rabies amounted to 50 villages. Earlier this April, the number had increased to 58 villages.

Among them, the most villages infected by rabies virus located in Buleleng Subdistrict. The subdistrict sitting downtown Singaraja had 10 villages contracted by such deadly virus.

Division Head of Animal Health, Buleleng Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Services, Wayan Susila, with permission of the Head of Buleleng Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Services, Putu Mertha Jiwa, said on Sunday (Apr 3) that villages de-

clared to be infected by rabies obtained intensive supervision.

Officers would be watching closely to prevent the handover of rabies carrier animal (HPR) from one village to another. “We keep an eye on people so they do not move out or receive dogs deliberately from outside the region,” he said.

According to him, since the transmission of rabies virus the team of Animal Husbandry Services already took preventive measures through socialization and elimination. Especially for elimination, Buleleng Animal Husbandry Services had eliminated 16,268 dogs. The number of

overall dogs in Buleleng was estimated to reach 48,988. Of the total population, as many as 42,928 dogs had received rabies vaccine for free from local animal husbandry services.

This year, the animal husbandry services would make the second stage of mass vaccination. As scheduled, the mass vaccination would be in effect in next July 2011. In the mass vaccination program, residents were expected to tie their pet animals so it would be easier for the officials to provide rabies vaccine. Currently, the vaccine stocks in Buleleng Animal Husbandry Services reached 1973 doses. (kmb)

Five Elite Houses Robbed Gianyar (Bali Post) –

Nuansa Tjampuhan residence located at IB Mantra St r e e t , P e r i n g Vi l l a g e , Blahbatuh, Gianyar again became a crime act location last Sunday (3/4). Five elite houses were robbed yet the previous case on January 2011 still hasn’t been revealed.

Based on information collected, from the five houses robbers managed to take several valuables and millions of rupiah cash. The incident happened between 3-4 am local time and each house is quite distanced from another.

First victim was Australian M r. H a r t ( 5 0 ) w h o h a d 2 laptops and a cell phone taken totaling loss IDR 15 million.

Then a couple’s house, Repli and Reni, from Bandung, West Java, at least lost a laptop, 4 cell phones and IDR 4,8 million cash totaling IDR 25 million loss. It is sus-

pected by Reni the robber went in from next door’s stairs, went up to the roof and went in the house from the kitchen. Apparently before the robber left, they managed to look over valuable documents like their Tiger brand motorcycle property document. It is suspected they were going to take it but as the fence was totally locked they didn’t do it.

Another newly lived couple’s house, Baim and Tia, also had their IDR 3 million worth silver jewelry box, a cell phone and IDR 500,000 cash taken. Then tragically Nyoman Murjana (38) and his wife Ni Kadek Rini (34) from Tedung, Gianyar, who just lived there for one day also victimized. It is suspected robbers went in by passing the house’s wall and forced open a window.

At last, an elite house owned by IGA Gde Jayaningrat from Denpasar yet robbers didn’t manage to rob things as it was known

by Gde. The case was then reported to the police and still fur-

ther investigated.

Student Victimised

In another place, a student living in Banjar Lokaserana, S i a n g a n Vi l l a g e , G i a n y a r named Putu Govinda Prasada (20) had several valuables taken such as laptop, 2 million cash, motorcycle number plate document, driving license, National ID Card and savings book causing IDR 11 million loss.

It was stated the incident was witnessed by a resident named Tunas Jaya (38). Jaya saw a person came out from victim’s house and after chasing the robber who’s running also calling for help in the end he didn’t manage to catch him as robber escaped by motorcycle.

Hearing that Prasada got up and saw valuables were gone. It was then reported to Gianyar Police and investigated yet no results shown so far. (kmb16)

IBP/Asmara

The crowded Sulawesi Street.

Cancelled, parking-free area on Jalan Sulawesi Denpasar (Bali Post)—

The plan of Denpasar Municipality to free the area of Jalan Sulawesi from car and motorcycle parking could not be realized. Even, the Denpasar Transportation Services remained to ‘allow’ the road body along the west side used for parking space.

When contacted on Sunday (Apr 3), the Head of Denpasar Transportation Services, I Gede Astika, did not dismiss if the plan to clean up the area of Jalan Sulawesi from the parking of vehicles could not be accomplished.

The reason was the Badung Market central parking lot was unable to accommodate all vehicles. It was said the Badung Market central parking could only accommodate 40 cars on the basement and 80 cars in the courtyard parking lot. Meanwhile, the number of cars parked surpassed the carrying capacity. With such a shortage of capacity, the transportation services ultimately compensated the parking space along Jalan Sulawesi. “Parking on Jalan Sulawesi is to accommodate the vehicles that are not accommodated in the central parking lot,” he said.

According to Astika, his party only allowed vehicles to parking on the west side of Jalan Sulawesi, while parking on the other road

sections was not allowed. For these purposes, his party planed to make the parking boundaries on Jalan Sulawesi so vehicles would not be parked haphazardly. “Currently, our team is re-assessing to install the parking limit along the Jalan Sulawesi,” he said.

Though parking was ultimately allowed along Jalan Sulawesi, he said, it was ensure not to disturb the traffic flows on that crowded lane as parking of vehicles was only allowed on the west side. “From our observation, so far it does not disturb the traffic flows on this road section,” he explained.

As reported previously, the arrangement of Gajah Mada Heritage posed one of the programs of Denpasar Municipality that had ‘cost’ some casualties. Aside from hundreds of traders on Jalan Sulawesi and Jalan Kartini that had been relocated, the parking space along Jalan Gajah Mada was also disciplined. As consequence, the shops along Jalan Gajah Mada lacked of visitors. As the existing plan, in the near future, some traders committing their activities on the road sections like on Jalan Gunung Kawi, Jalan Gunung Raung and several other roads would also be disciplined and relocated to several locations prepared. (kmb13)

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

Bali News

International

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

As cured to be afflicted by floods, Sepang Village forms forest pecalang SINCE early 2011, the residents of Sepang Village, Busungbiu Subdistrict, were very vigorous to protest against the destruction of reserved forests in the surrounding of their village. Protest was delivered because they became aware of the importance of forests for their livelihoods. Even, the awareness was not only shown by way of protest. It was also followed up by establishing pecalang (traditional security) to oversee forests in their respective customary hamlet. Similarly, they were ready to replant with trees the damaged forests.

Loud protests and awareness of local residents set to emerge after the village was hit by flash floods and landslides on the New Year ’s Eve 2011. The floods caused a number of people homeless and some roads were cut off. In addition to material losses suffered in large numbers, local residents also suffered from mental inconvenience because of damaged homes and the roads caused them to be unable to work peacefully.

Since then, residents felt embarrassed. They started doing forest security in their own way.

Residents came into the forest and encountered hundreds of forest areas had become the victims of illegal logging. Later, they reported the incident to the officials of Forest Services and at the same time invited the authority to come to the village. “We are cured to be afflicted by floods. We want these forests to survive forever,” said one of the Sepang villagers.

The effort of villagers was able to bring in the Head of the Bali Forestry Services, IGN Wiranata, to the village. Likewise, residents expressed a variety of grudges. Among other things, residents suspected a rogue officer was getting involved so the timber poaching ran safely. In addition, residents also wanted to be involved in the management and supervision of forest in the village. At the moment, the number of ranger was inadequate so the village would like to participate in overseeing the forest security by establishing a kind of ranger. Even, respective customary hamlet throughout Sepang Village had formed forest pecalang.

The more sublime endeavor was that local people wanted to do reforestation in mutual assistance. People only asked the Bali Forestry Services to provide timber seedlings. “We can do the greening in mutual assistance, yet we find difficulty in seedling procurement,” revealed the Secretary of Sepang Village, Ketut Wijaya Astika Giri.

Astika Giri also said the forest destruction at the village made citizens more aware and ready to carry out reforestation to the forest that had been cut down by irresponsible person.

Originally residents would plant tree seedlings on the severely damaged forest areas. However, the plan was still hampered as the tree seedlings were not ready. To that end, they applied for seedling assistance to the Bali Forestry Services. “We already submitted assistance in the form of tree seedlings. The sooner the application approved the better will be and reforestation can be done in the near future,” he said.

Apart from the greening, local residents were also ready to secure the forest by forming forest pecalang in their respective customary hamlet. If pecalang encountered perpetrators of the illegal logging, it should be handed over to authorized rangers. As for the seedlings, residents asked for productive plants such as durian, candlenut, mangosten and several other crops. On that account, after five years they could reap benefits from the plants. “If possible, we’d like to ask for productive plants, so that they will be useful for us here,” he explained.

In response to the request, the Head of Bali Forestry Service, IGN Wiranata, asserted to help by providing plant seedlings so it could be distributed immediately to Sepang forest. Yet, regarding to the type of plants, Wiranata did not dare to decide because not all forest areas at Sepang suited for productive trees as expected. For that, in the near future his party would conduct a survey to location to determine the condition of forest that would be rehabilitated. “We will collect the data first because not all areas are suitable for productive crop, but certain slope should be planted with trees for conservation,” he explained.

On the other hand, Wiranata admitted to appreciate the awareness of residents to jointly rehabilitate the forest. The awareness of reforestation was important as the task could not be conducted by government alone. By people’s participation the rehabilitation effort would run optimally. Support of residents was not only required in the rehabilitation but also in the maintenance of the planted seedlings. “Having been planted we expect all residents could participate in maintaining the plant seedlings.

Otherwise, they will die soon. And most importantly, if people find any violation, they should report it.

If possible, please arrest the perpetrators to be processed by the law,” he added. (ole/kmb)

IBP/File

The fishermen in Gianyar is collecting the fish.

Post a Year, Fishing Results Decreased Gianyar (Bali Post) –

Last Sunday (3/4) it was revealed Gianyar fishermen has been experiencing a decrease in their fishing results by 8.72 percent from the year before with 438.87 tons in year 2010 from 480.80 tons in year 2009. Gianyar 20 km beaches are sea product potential with fishermen living at Siyut, Lebih, Saba, Purnama, Pabean and Ketewel beaches.

It was explained that the causer has been the unsettled sea waves causing fishing trips delayed comparing to unsalted fish results increased rapidly up

to 1440.45 tons in year 2010, 185.01 percent more from the year before.

A fisherman from Lebih Beach, Gianyar, stated it’s not only because of

the waves, operationally the fund to do it has gone high causing income will not close operational fee and fishermen not sailing. (kmb16)

Thousands of Balinese Cows Smuggled Negara, DenPost

It is suspected Balinese cows are being smuggled these days through illegal routes such as Cupel Beach in Negara and Sumbersari Beach in Melaya. Every month it is suspected thousands of them transit through these beaches and then sent to Java using a huge boat according to information received last Sunday (3/4).

A resident from Negara who has a small business of cows trade admitted this problem has been going on too long. Usually these smugglers placed the cows in the beaches as if it’s the local residents. When every-

thing is clear, they then bring the cows to the traditional boats and then shipped it to Java. Even though this smuggling hasn’t affected him now, it will affect in the future. As he found out, with 4000 Balinese cows smuggled to Java each month, these cows will extinct, price will go up and his business will die. “It only needs justice officers in these locations and smuggling can be prevented, but it seems there’s a game behind this,” he stated.

Meanwhile head of Jembrana House of Representatives Commission B, I Nyoman S Kumsumayasa,

stated the number of smuggled cows is worrying and if not prevented not only it affects market but also on cow breeders and Balinese cows extinct.

For that Water Police have to tighten security in Bali Strait.

In other hand, Head of Jembrana Animal Livestock, Forestry and Sea Agency, Wayan Windra, admitted to have heard of the smuggling yet there hasn’t been any official reports about it. “In regulations, distributing cows between islands is Province’s responsibility but because this happens in Jembrana, I will check it further,” he explained. (120)

21 Abandoned Corpses Cremated Sanglah Hospital yet again held a cremation for abandoned corpses, this time 21 of them, left at Sanglah Hospital Corpse Room last Thursday (31/3) at Nusa Dua Mumbul Crematorium without

their families. From the 21 corpses 91 percent of them were adults and the rest were forced born babies also skeletons who were abandoned at most a year. According to Head of Sanglah Hospital Fo-

rensic Installation, dr. Dudut Rusytadi, SpF, the hospital waited for 6 months to decide if a corpse can be cremated or not by waiting if the families will pick them up or not. (san)

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News

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

International

Taliban twin bombers kill 42 at Pakistani shrine Associated Press Writer

MULTAN, Pakistan – A pair of Taliban suicide bombers struck one of Pakistan’s most important Sufi Muslim shrines on Sunday, killing 42 people and wounding 100 who were celebrating the anniversary of its founder’s death with music, meditation and other practices abhorred

by Islamist militant groups.

Another bomber was wounded when his explosive vest partially detonated. He was arrested along with a fourth militant who was seized before attacking, police official Ahmad Mubarak said.

The attack on the Sakhi Sarwar shrine ended a months-long respite in a relentless militant campaign against the shrines founded by ancient adherents of Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam that sees dancing, chanting and visiting holy sites as expressions of devotion to God. Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan called The Associated Press to claim responsibility for the assault.

“It was a huge blast. People were running in panic,” said Fida Bakhsh, 42, a vendor outside the shrine. “It was horrible. We were running over bodies and blood.” Nineteen men, 14 women and nine children were killed, emergency coordinator Natiq Hayat said. Twenty of the wounded were in critical condition, he said.

From one-room tombs in small villages to large complexes in major cities, Sufi shrines are visited by millions of Pakistanis. The sites are anathema to the Pakistani Taliban, al-Qaida and other militant followers of the austere brand of Wahabi Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia.

Followers of the Barelvi school of Islam, one of the two main branches of the religion in Pakistan, consider themselves the custodian of the shrines. They have Dera Ghazi Khan Sunday been one of the main Two Taliban suicide bombers targets of Islamist attack a Sufi shrine during an militants since some annual ceremony for a Sufi saint of their leaders issued edict calling suicide bombings religiously illegitimate.

Several thousand people were marking of the 942nd anniverIslamabad Line control sary of the death of AFGHANthe saint Ahmad SulPunjab tan, better known as ISTAN Sakhi Sarwar, at his shrine in the Dera PAKISTAN Ghazi Khan district INDIA of Punjab province when the bombers struck crowds waiting 400 km outside, government Arabian Sea administrator Iftikhar Saho said. A stampede followed the Map of Pakistan locating Dera Ghazi Khan bombings, but it was in Pakistan where a double suicide bomb- not immediately clear ing at a Sufi shrine killed at least 41 people if that caused any casualties. on Sunday night.

PAKISTAN BLASTS

AFP PHOTO/MOHAMED HUWAIS

Members of Yemen’s Republican Guards stand on a military tank on a road leading to the Presidential Palace in Sanaa on April 1, 2011, as Yemenis gather for a pro-governemt protest.

Yemen protesters and police clash, 400 wounded Reuters

SANAA – Police using live rounds and tear gas wounded more than 400 protesters who tried to march to a presidential palace in Yemen’s Red Sea city of Hudaida early on Monday, doctors said. Protests inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have brought President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule to the verge of collapse. But the president called on Sunday for an end to the violence, signaling he has no intention of resigning soon.

Residents told Reuters that demonstrators organised the 2 a.m. march in protest against a security crackdown on rallies in Taiz, south of the capital, that killed two and wounded hundreds on Sunday. A few thousand took part in the march, they said.

“They suddenly gathered around the province’s administrative building and headed to the presidential palace, but police stopped them by firing gunshots in the air and using teargas. I saw a lot of plainclothes police attack them too,” a witness told Reuters by phone.

Doctors at a local hospital said nine people had gunshot wounds, 350 suffered from teargas inhalation, and around 50 had been wounded by plainclothes police hurling rocks.

The presidential palace in Hudaida is one of several homes kept by Saleh, 68, around the country. He was most likely at the presidential palace in capital Sanaa on Monday.

The New York Times reported U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has shifted position on Saleh and now believes he should leave office. A Yemeni official was cited as saying negotiations with Saleh on the

terms of his possible departure began a little over a week ago.

“The Americans have been pushing for transfer of power since the beginning” of the negotiations which were still in progress, the official told the newspaper. The president has seen a string of defections from key tribal, military and political allies in recent weeks, but Saleh has said he will not step down until he can transfer power to “safe hands”.

Saleh has said he would be prepared to step down within a year after parliamentary and presidential elections and that an abrupt exit would cause chaos. But talks with the opposition over a transfer of power appeared to have stalled.

On Saturday, Saleh appeared more defiant as he thanked supporters and promised to protect Yemen with “blood and soul,” which many read as a signal he had no plans to step down.

Than Shwe retires as head of Myanmar military Agence France Presse

YANGON – Myanmar strongman Than Shwe, who ruled with an iron fist for almost two decades, has retired as head of the military after handing power to a nominally civilian government, officials said Monday.

Than Shwe, previously known as the “senior general”, last week disbanded the ruling junta following a November election marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheat-

ing and intimidation.

“The senior general and vice-senior general (Maung Aye) have retired already,” a Myanmar official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “They are going to have a rest now.” A second official said: “Although they are retired, they will

give some advice when the government asks for it.”

The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich Southeast Asian country, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will retain a significant role behind the scenes.

In this image made from Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) video footage on Sunday, March 27, 2011, Myanmar junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, left, shakes hands with an unidentified military attache during a reception to mark Armed Forces Day in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw.

AP Photo/MRTV

Activities

International

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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Temple Ceremony Calendar Event for March 21 through April 23, 2011 21 Mar Betara Turun Kabeh Ceremony Besakih - Karangasem Bukit Jati Temple Bangli Batur Temple Kalanganyar - Bangli Masceti Pejengaji Temple Tegallalang - Gianyar Dalem Temple Tangsud,Sukawati - Gianyar Penambangan Badung Temple Denpasar Lempuyang Madia Temple Karangasem Batur Temple Bangli Desa Temple Singakerta,Ubud - Gianyar Pasek Gelgel Temple Marga - Tabanan Gaduh Temple Ketapian, Sumerta - Denpasar Pasek Bendesa Temple Tuakilang - Tabanan Pasek Agung Temple Tatag Kelod,Peguyangan Denpasar Agung Pasek Bendesa Temple Tonja - Denpasar Pasek Gegel Angsri Temple Baturiti - Tabanan Pasek Gelgel Baleagung Temple Braban - Tabanan Dukuh Sakti Belatung Temple Timpag,KerambitanTabanan Puseh Dukuh Sakti Belatung Rendang - Karangasem Pitamaha Temple Palangkaraya - Kalimantan Tengah Candra Praba Temple Komplek Polri,JelambarJakarta Barat Agung Jagatnatha Temple Denpasar Pemerajan Agung Temple Puri Petak - Gianyar Dadya Agung Bendesa Tangkas Abiansemal - Badung Puseh Temple Sidemen - Karangasem Agung Giri Natha Temple Semarang - Center of Java 2 April Puseh Temple , Village Temple Sukawati Gianyar Pasek Gelgel-Bebetin Temple Sawan Buleleng Maspahit Temple Sesetan Denpasar Pasek Bendesa Manik Mas Tegallalang Gianyar Panti Pasek Gaduh Temple Sesetan - Denpasar Pedarman Arya Kanuruhan Temple Besakih Karangasem 5 April Kahyangan Tiga Temple Batur Kintamani - Bangli Batur Temple Camenggaon, Sukawati Gianyar

Luhur Bhujangga Temple Canggu,Kuta Badung Kawitan Kayu Selem Temple Batur, Kintamani Bangli 12 April Puseh Temple , Desa Temple Gianyar Luhur Dalem Segening Temple Kediri Tabanan Sanghyang Tegal Temple Taro,Tegallalang Gianyar 16 April Dalem Tarukan Temple Cemenggon, Sukawati-Gianyar Penataran Dalem Ketut Temple Pejeng Kaja Gianyar Puseh Manakaji Temple Peninjoan - Bangli Kawitan Gusti Celuk Temple Mengwi Badung 20 April Segara Temple Lombok Island Dwijawarsa Temple Malang East Java Puncak Tinggah Temple Baturiti Tabanan Kawitan Batur Pande Tonja Temple Tonja - Denpasar Penyungsungan Pasek Tohjiwa Wanagiri,Selemadeg Tabanan Penataran Agung Temple Sidemen Karangasem Samuan Tiga Temple Bedulu Gianyar Kawitan Jati Luwih Bhujangga Jatiluwih Tabanan 21 April Dalem Taman Temple Peguyangan Denpasar 23 April Puri Agung Dalem Tarukan Pejeng,Tampaksiring Gianyar Rambut Siwi Temple Jembrana Batu Bolong Temple Canggu,Kuta Badung Pasek Temple Klaci,Tabanan Agung Pasek Temple Dauh Waru - Jembrana Ratu Pasek Temple Sangsit Buleleng Pasek Tangkas Temple Gede Tabanan Pedharman Batur Sari Ngiis Temple Jegu,Penebel Tabanan Desa Temple Banyuning Buleleng Srijong Temple Tabanan Puncak Mundi Temple Klumpu,Nusa PenidaKlungkung

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

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

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

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbulumbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land.

Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

6

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

News Sadat’s grandniece briefly kidnapped in Egypt Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Brazil’s Air Force, file

FILE - In this Monday, June 8, 2009 file photo released by Brazil’s Air Force, Brazil’s Navy sailors recover debris from the missing Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean. Undersea robots have located a “large part” of an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, but haven’t yet found its black box flight recorders, French officials said Monday April 4, 2011.

Air France plane crash parts found in Atlantic Associated Press Writer

PARIS – Underwater search teams have located pieces of an Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic in 2009, French investigators said Sunday, offering a surprising new glimmer of hope in the protracted hunt for clues to what happened.

Previous extensive and expensive search efforts proved futile in attempts to shed light on the cause of the crash. All 228 people aboard Flight 447, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, were killed when the plane slammed into the ocean during an intense high-altitude thunderstorm.

The French air accident investigation agency BEA said in a statement Sunday night that a team aboard the expedition ship Alucia “has located pieces of an aircraft ... in the last 24 hours.” BEA says its investigators identified the pieces as parts of Flight 447, and that further details will come later. It did not identify what parts of the plane were located, or where. Messages left with the agency Sunday night were

not returned.

Searchers are carrying out a fourth effort to find remains of the plane — and especially its flight recorders, in hopes of determining the cause of the crash.

Finding the cause took on new importance last month when a French judge filed preliminary manslaughter charges against Air France and the plane’s manufacturer, Airbus. Experts say without the flight data and voice recorders, authorities will not likely determine what was at fault.

Air France and Airbus are financing the estimated $12.5 million cost of the new search. About $28 million has already been spent on the three previous searches for the jet’s wreckage.

The team involved in this weekend’s discovery was led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, or WHOI, based in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The search is being targeted in area of about 3,900 square miles (10,000 square kilometers), several hundred miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast, and could last until July.

Searchers are using up to three autonomous underwater search vehicles, each of which can stay underwater for up to 20 hours while using sonar to scan a mountainous area known as the Mid-Ocean Ridge. Researchers download the data, and a vehicle with a high resolution camera is sent to check out an area if scientists see evidence of debris.

Australian survives six-story car-park plunge Agence France Presse

MELBOURNE – A woman miraculously survived Monday after her car plunged six stories from the top of a car park in Melbourne and became wedged between two buildings.

The driver, in her 40s, was freed

half an hour after the vehicle fell an estimated 30 metres (100 feet) before becoming stuck at ground level between the walls of the car park and another building.

“The site was terrible. Just looking at it now, I’m not sure how the lady got out at all,” witness Michael Rockefeller told reporters at the

scene. “It sounded like a truck was crashing. The noise went on for five or six seconds. It was followed by a loud bang at the end.”

Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said the woman suffered serious cuts to her head and was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.

CAIRO – Gunmen abducted the 12-year-old grandniece of the late Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat but released her nearly 24 hours later for 5 million pounds (about $840,000) in ransom, security officials said Monday.

The girl was kidnapped on her way to school Sunday morning in the upscale Cairo suburb of Heliopolis, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They said the kidnappers were in two cars and drove the girl through three Nile Delta provinces north of the Egyptian capital before they released her on the desert road from Cairo to the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The officials said police on Monday arrested six men for their alleged part in the kidnapping.

The schoolgirl was being driven to school in a family car when one

of the gunmen intercepted them and forced his way into the girl’s vehicle. The kidnappers later beat the driver and forced the girl into one of their cars. Sadat was assassinated in 1981. The girl’s father is Sadat’s nephew, businessman Effat Sadat.

Kidnap for ransom is uncommon in Egypt, but the country of some 80 million people is in the grips of a crime wave that followed the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February, with rampant armed robberies and break-ins.

Police disappeared from Cairo and other major cities three days into the 18-day uprising that forced Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11.

Their as-yet unexplained withdrawal has created a security vacuum that persists to this day, with just about 50 percent of the police force back to the streets.

Several prison breaks during the uprising have unleashed thousands of criminals, including murderers and drug barons, on the streets.

Women...

From page 1 Last year she became a local councillor from Berlusconi’s People of Freedom party in Lombardy — Italy’s wealthiest region.

She has even confided to La Repubblica newspaper that she would like to be foreign minister one day.

Not an unlikely career move in Italy: Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna was also once a show girl on one of the Berlusconi-owned channels. The scandals have given Italy’s feminist movement a boost — with help from well-known personalities like film directors Cristina and Francesca Comencini.

Around one million people took part in rallies called by women’s groups across Italy in February to protest what they said

is a political system that treats women as objects. Many participants voiced outrage against Berlusconi. Feminist group Arcidonna now wants to present itself as an injured party at the trial against Berlusconi for having “damaged the dignity of women”. Women are set to be heavily represented in the courtroom as it is.

Ilda Boccassini, one of the main prosecutors and a leading anti-mafia investigator, has had run-ins with Berlusconi before. The three judges selected by a computer at random for the trial are also all women. It’s the peak of a nightmare for a billionaire Latin lover who admits to liking the company of beautiful women but who swears he has never paid for sex.

Widespread...

From page 1 Continental Airlines, now a unit of United/Continental Holdings, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, all fly newer model 737 that are not linked to the problem. United Airlines does not fly any 737s.

The FAA is assisting the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the Southwest investigation of Flight 812, which was heading from Phoenix to Sacramento at 36,000 feet when a 5-foot (1.52 meters) tear opened in the fuselage 20 minutes after takeoff.

The plane landed safely at a military base in Yuma, Arizona, minutes later. NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said at a news conference in Yuma on Sunday that post-flight inspections revealed “widespread cracking across” the damaged area.

“Was the aircraft well maintained and should it have been maintained better? That is exactly why we are here, to look at why this problem occurred,” he said. A Southwest official said the airline was in compliance with inspection requirements for the plane.

“What we saw with Flight 812 was a new and unknown issue,” said Mike Van de Ven, Southwest’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Sumwalt said the tear occurred in a concealed part of the plane and could not have been detected by the naked eye. He said the plane was most recently disassembled for heavy maintenance in March 2010, which would have been the last time such a fracture could have been detected.

International

Indonesia Today

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

7

BIN examines possible sabotage in Cilacap’s fire Antara

AFP PHOTO / DIDA NUSWANTARA

Fishing boats are gathered on the shore of Cilacap on April 4, 2011 as fishermen kept away from the sea following a 6.7 magnitude earthquake that struck south of Java before. The epicentre in the Indian Ocean was 24 kilometres (15 miles) miles deep, the US Geological Survey said, after initially estimating it at 10 kilometres underground, and 277 kilometres south of the Javanese coast.

Earthquake forces Cilacap residents to go up hills Antara

MAGELANG - A 7.1-magnitude earthquake that rocked Central Java’s Cilacap district on Monday at 3.06 am had caused massive panic to local residents.

Some of the local residents had even fled to nearby hills in Ayah Subdistrict, Kebumen district, Head of Ayah subdistrict, Ahmad Bahrun, said here Monday.

Ayah sub-district borders with Nusawungu sub-district in Cilacap district, and they are separated by the Bodo River. Ahmad Bahrun said many of the residents were also shocked by the strong earthquake.

They rushed out their homes to go to higher ground but later returned to their villages shortly after they stop receiving tsunami warning, he said.

Ayah sub-district is located near the sea and therefore prone to a tsunami, he said adding that he had yet to know the material loss and damage caused by the earthquake, he said.

Ahmad Lani of the Meteorology,

Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said earlier that the strong earthquake’s epicenter was located 10.01 degrees southern latitude, 107.86 degrees eastern longitude, at a depth of 10 km some 293 km southwest of Cilacap.

Villagers at Kalikudi village, Adipala subdistrict, rushed out of their homes and beat tong tongs to awaken and war the other villagers.

“The tremors are very strong,” villager Tadiwirya (75) said.

In the Cilacap town, residents packed squares to avoid undesired possibilities.

Thousands of people living in the Cilacap coastal areas fled to safer places following the strong quake.

Various parts of Indonesia are naturally vulnerable to earthquakes because this archipelago is located on what it is called the “ring of fire”.

In October 2010, a strong earthquake rocked Mentawai Island, West Sumatra, triggering a deadly tsunami. The Mentawai earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale last year killed 427 people and caused 75 others to go missing.

Besides the fatalities, the disaster also seriously injured 325 people and lightly to 173 others.

Another one die

A Cilacap earthquake victim died after suffering from fever at a junior high school used by locals as a temporary shelter here Monday morning.

The 50-year-old Sutrisno died at 9 am local time six hours after the 7.1magnitude earthquake rocked the area, said Sarijo, a displaced resident.

“Before his death, Sutrisno has suffered from fever since he has taken refuge here,” Sarijo said.

Sutrisno’s body had been evacuated to a local health center for autopsy before being brought to the house of mourning in Tegalkamulyan village, Cilacap Selatan sub-district, he said.

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has been examining all possibilities which may have caused the fire at Pertamina’s refinery in Cilacap, Central Java, including sabotage.

Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of his plenary session with the House of Representatives’(DPR) Commission I here Monday, BIN Chief Sutanto said his men are still focused on all possibilities.

“Whether the causes of the fire are related to technical factors or others are still being examined thoroughly,” he said.

In another development, the police in Cilacap district have so far examined nine witnesses in connection with the fire that has gutted three fuel oil tanks until Sunday (April 3).

Cilacap district police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Rudi Darmoko said nine witnesses had been summoned and examined but the police managed only to collect information on the fire.

“It is not a questioning session for investigation purposes,” he

told newsmen in Cilacap district, Central Java, on Sunday.

The witnesses were all local residents who firstly saw the fire that gutted the first tank of state oil company Pertamina’s refinery on Saturday morning.

Pertamina’s efforts to extinguish the fire that had gutted three tanks were the priority. “We let the Pertamina authorities to focus on its efforts of putting out the flames,” he said.

The fire broke out on Saturday morning at around 4.30 am local time. According to Iik (42), a local resident, he heard an explosion in the Limonis refinery complex.

“The fire is quite big, but I don’t know from which refinery it has started,” he said.

The state oil company’s authorities have been investigating the causes of the fire and tried hard to put it out.

The fire itself actually did not disrupt Pertamina’s fuel production in its Cilacap refinery, Pertamina’s spokesman Kurdi Susanto said.

“The production process goes on and the fuel oil stocks are still sufficient for the next 22 days.

Therefore, we asked the people to remain calm,” he said.

BI summons all credit card issuing banks Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s central bank or Bank Indonesia (BI) on Monday held a meeting with all credit-card issuing banks regarding the management of the billing of customers through the services of debt collectors.

“The meeting took place at 14.00 at the BI building,” said Bank Indonesia’s public relations officer Difi A Johansyah here Monday.

Difi said the meeting was held by the central bank’s Accounting and Payment System Directorate following an incident in which a credit card customer had allegedly died after being manhandled by debt collectors. “The meeting discussed good governance in the credit card industry,” he said.

It was earlier reported, a Citibank credit card customer, Irzen Octa had died in a room of a Citibank office at the Menara Jamsostek building in central Jakarta, after being pressured by a few debt collectors to pay his bill.

The police had stated that the debt collector company was the suspect in this case, and Citibank a witness.

According to BI data, there are 20 Indonesian banks that issue credit cards with the backing of five credit card principals namely American Express, Japan Credit Bureau, Mastercard International, Visa Card International and China Unionpay.

In 2010, over 13.5 million credit cards circulated in Indonesia with transaction amounting to 199.036 million US dollars or Rp63.208 trillion.

Umar Patek also involved in terror in Pakistan Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s mostwanted terror suspect, Umar Patek, arrested in Pakistan late in March 2011, was also involved in a terror group in the South Asian country, State Intelligence Agency (BIN)

Chief Sutanto said.

Therefore, Sutanto said, the Indonesian government would have to wait for some time before it could have Patek extradited from Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a working meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR)’s

Commission I here on Monday, the BIN chief said Patek was involved in a terror group in Pakistan and therefore the country also intended to prosecute him under Pakistani law.

Consequently, Sutanto said the Indonesian government would have

to exercise some patience before it could have him repatriated.

“We are still coordinating with Pakistan in our efforts to have Patek extradited to Indonesia for legal process at home but unfortunately he was also involved in violations of the law in Pakisatan,” Sutanto said.

Patek was caught in injured condition after a shootout with Pakistani security forces.

Patek was arrested with his wife, an Indonesian, when he was engaged in an encounter with Pakistani security forces that lost one man in the incident.

8

Internationa

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Bali Today Badung Regency assessed less serious In developing tourism village Bali Post

MANGUPURA - Though having been given priority pursuant to law, the seriousness of Badung Regency Government in developing tourism village is still questioned. Continuation of tourism village development in terms of infrastructure, funding facilities and human resources development at tourism village is considered less serious or not optimal.

It was stated by Chairman of Commission B of Badung House, I Putu Parwata, Sunday (Apr 3). According to him, the establishment of 11 tourism villages through the Regent Regulation No. 47/2010 should be followed up immediately. Relevant agencies had contributed to the growth and development of tourism village. Aside from Government Tourism Office, there were a number of agencies that could be involved in the endeavor including the Agricultural Services, Cooperative and SME Services, Public Health Services as well as Sanitation and Landscaping Services.

Furthermore, he disclosed that rural development needed to be worked on more seriously to poise the monotonous tourist object and attractions in Badung. Badung Regency itself was expected to encourage the economic growth at each village, interurban and inter-rural development equality both in terms of physical and non-physical aspect. It was a manifestation of coun-

terbalance between the development of the Northern and Southern Badung.

“To further strengthen the potential of the villages as tourism village, the program formulated by the Industry and Commercial Services in the form of One Village One Product (OVOP) can become an integral part in this tourism village program. Synergy of tourism village with OVOP has superiority in local content and potential within each village. Every single tourism village developed has its own characteristics and difference from the products of other villages,” he said.

Similar subject matter had also been criticized by other legislators of the Badung House. One of them was the member of Commission A, I.B. Sunartha. According to him, a number of tourist infrastructures at villages still needed improvement because they were less qualified. Even, in some areas belonging to tourism village could still be found some damaged road sections. (kmb25)

http://suaramerdeka.com

Though having been given priority pursuant to law, the seriousness of Badung Regency Government in developing tourism village is still questioned. Continuation of tourism village development in terms of infrastructure, funding facilities and human resources development at tourism village is considered less serious or not optimal.

Special tourism attraction to draw Japanese tourists Antara

DENPASAR – The Director of International Promotion in Indonesian Tourism and Cultural Department, Noviendi Makalam said that the tourism industry practitioners should work harder to attract the tourists from Japan.

The extra effort is needed because the number of tourists from Japan keeps on decreasing after the earthquake and tsunami disasters. “We hope that the businessmen will make a new way to attract tourists from Japan such as spa, golf, honeymoon package and others,” he added.

In the welcoming of California Bali sailor, Bob Rama Rambini, Noviendi said that the

decreasing number in the Japanese tourists was happening since two years ago, when the financial crisis was started and it become worst after the disasters hit Japan.

He explained that the department had done the proper step to handle the problem, one of them is by intensify the tourism segment to the country. Noviendi also said that the decreasing number of tourists from Japan is not happen to Indonesia but all over the world.

“The trend of traveling among Japanese people is not like before and after the disasters, they tend to shorten the length of stay and become only five or four days,” he added.

Noviendi not agree if Indonesia not longer attractive for the tourists from Japan. He said that every

country has its own uniqueness.

The main consideration for tourists is usually the safety during their holiday.

Meanwhile, Bali Statistic Department (BPS) stated that the number of tourists from Japan in March 2011 decreased 5% compare to the previous month. In February 2011, the number of Japanese tourists was 18,221 people while in March 2011 were 17,192 tourists.

The head of BPS, Gde Suarsa, said that the decrease is not significant but he can not predict the number of tourists from Japan in the future. However, even tough it is decreasing, the number of tourists from Japan still on the third spot on the list after Australia and China.

Unud-Japan Cooperation Missed From Disaster Antara

Joint program of Udayana University with some universities in Japan kept walk. It is not influenced by the natural disaster happened.

“After the earthquake and tsunami, our cooperation program with universities in Japan still continues,” said Unud Rector Prof I Made Bakta to ANTARA. He said some universities in Japan which joint with Unud are Yamaguchi University, Chiba, Ibaraki, and “Tokyo Agricultural University”.

The cooperation program has many forms. It starts from the exchange students until collective research. “The joint program with Yamaguchi University creates simultaneous scholar for postgraduate environmental engineering,” he said. The cooperation with Chiba University now is finishing double degree of remote sensing postgraduate. Joint program with Ibaraki University and “Tokyo Agricultural

University” took form of exchange program for both students and lecturer staff.

“We are doing collective research in any subjects to improve the quality of our students and lecturer staff,” said Prof Bakta. “A prove of undisturbed cooperation is the stable number of lecturers or Japanese students who entering the exchange program or research program,” he said.

He explained the amount of Japanese students who included in this program was around 20 persons. Besides them, there was some professor who had had research in Unud. While the students and Unud lecturers amount who were following exchange program to Japan also 20 persons.

“However the participants dominated by lecturers who were finishing their postgraduate school,” he said. All of students participant in Japan are safe because they learned in the university that far away from the disaster location, added him.

al

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Balinese Culture Potato and Beef Perkedel

Balinese women:

Ingredients

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

By maintaining traditions inspired by Hinduism, Balinese people go on running in harmony with the time. In other words, they do not feel inferior because of inheriting those traditions.

Beauty in the form of various dance movements has been introduced since early ages. On seeing a dance staged, a toddler may watch it attentively or its fingers move and move as if imitating the movement of the dance.

Virtually all customary villages in Bali have gamelan troupe. This troupe plays important role in expressing their entertainment arts and accompanying every ritual activity. This existence gives opportunity to villagers from child to adult to express their artistic talent especially in dance, drama and gamelan arts. Young girls under twelve or elementary school age have a chance to participate in performing Rejang Dance. By wearing white and yellow costumes and floral decoration on head, they dance beautifully accompanied by gamelan music.

Rejang Dance is one of the sacred dances performed in relation to

the organization of temple anniversary or odalan. Other than putting a basic love to their tradition, they also show devotional service or ngatur ayah through the arts.

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

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

With their male counterpart, here the young girls also learn to play drama or more complex traditional arts. Popular genres of performance showed are pure entertainment and the one in combination with sacred dance. The latter usually features Calonarang.

This magical drama involves a combination of male and female players. In essence, this Calonarang drama highlights the endless fight between truth and untruth symbolizing by sanctified effigies or tapakan like Rangda and Barong. By and large, it is also associated with ritual events

at local temple.

In the following stage, when woman gets married she will enter the new organization, namely customary village. Having learned much about ritual works, it is now the time to practice them in wider social life. They should attend some socio-religious activities when the events engage the members of customary village. At this stage, household mother can remain to show her devotional service through the arts other than social works. Through the arts, they may join the drama or individual psalmodic singing or pasantian.

How is about their private life?

It is normal as others. They also have opportunity to build career in their profession. In modern life with heterogeneous professions as today, woman also works as men do. Traditions do not impede them to reach outstanding achievement in self-employee or office job. If they work at daytime, some social works will be held at the evening.

Tradition is not something obsolete. Even, it retains abundant inspirations to create something new and creative that is advantageous for modern life. However, traditions should also be reviewed and adjust to the current condition without leaving behind its core. Tradition does not hinder women to get their career achievement. Even, it stays to give them a channel to express their spiritual sense through devotional services. (BTN/punia)

* 2 lb Baking potatoes, boiled and -mashed * 1 1/2 ts Salt * 1/2 ts Freshly ground pepper * 2 ts Ground coriander * 1/8 ts Nutmeg * 1/4 c Chopped parsley leaves * 1 lg Egg * 2 tb Peanut oil, plus more for -deep frying * 4 Shallots, finely chopped * 2 Garlic cloves, minced * 1/2 lb Lean ground beef.

Directions In Indonesia, these fritters are served as part of a rijstaffel (rice-table) or as a side dish to embellish a main course. You will find they work well as a delicious appetizer for a Western meal.

Mix together the mashed potatoes, 1 teaspoon of the salt, half the pepper, the coriander, nutmeg, parsley and egg.

Preheat a wok until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, the shallots and garlic; saute until soft. Add beef and stir to break up clumps; brown until meat is no longer red, about 2 minutes. Season with remaining salt and pepper. Cool.

Combine the meat with the potato mixture. Form into 16 balls and flatten them into cakes about 2 inches round by 1 inch thick. Set on a tray. Refrigerate, if not fried immediately.

Pour 2 inches of oil into a preheated wok. Heat to 365F. Add 4 or 5 cakes, or as many as will fit into the pan without crowding or reducing the temperature of the oil. Deep fry, turning occasionally until golden brown, about 3 minutes. (If preferred, the cakes may be panfried in a flat skillet.) Remove to paper towels to drain.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 15 cakes. (http://asiarecipe.com)

Prawns with Peanut Sauce Ingredients * 1 lb Medium prawns * 1 c White wine * 1 1/2 tb Smooth peanut butter * 2 tb Safflower oil * 1 1/2 tb Light honey * 2 tb Low-sodium soy or tamari -sauce * 2 ts Rice vinegar * 1/2 ts Dark sesame oil * 1/2 ts Cayenne pepper * 1 tb Green onion; minced * 1 1/2 ts Ground coriander * 1/2 ts Ground cumin * 4 c Steamed rice; (optional)

Directions 1. Wash prawns, peel, and devein. Place in a large saucepan with wine. Cook over medium-high heat until they turn bright pink. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl mix together peanut butter and safflower oil until smooth. Add honey, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, cayenne, green onion, coriander, and cumin. Mix well, then add prawns. Place prawns and sauce in saucepan and reheat. Serve over steamed rice (if desired). (http://asiarecipe.com) C.045 ibp

9

10

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Destinations

International

Penelokan IBP

Penelokan is situated on the southern part of Batur Tengah Village of Kintamani District, around 20 kms from the town of Bangli or some 63 km from Denpasar, the capital of Bali Province.

Many guests, domestic or foreign choose this place so they can enjoy the cold but refreshing air of the mountainous land. Of course, while they taste the stunning views of the solid black lavas of Mount Batur’s eruption in 1917 that devastated the surrounding village.

Batur has scenic views and is part of Kintamani that is in the northern side of Bangli Regency. Penelokan (Look Out Point) is the best place to see the drooping jaws sceneries offered by Mount and Lake Batur. It is about 1,500 meters above sea level. Its temperature is at the average 22 degrees Celsius at noon and 16 degrees Celsius during the night.

And we invite those adventurous to climb the mountain until reaching the peak. The crater seems to be a beautiful painting carved to the mountain.

In addition to seeing the mountain, Batur also offers the charming Lake Batur with its clean water and the unique graveyard and Barong Brutuk of Trunyan Village that cannot be found anywhere else in Bali.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

11

BUSINESS Vodafone sells SFR stake to World stock Vivendi for 7.75 billion euros markets gain after US jobs report Agence France-Presse

Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK – World stock markets rose Monday after a drop in U.S. unemployment boosted sentiment despite ongoing crises in Japan and the Middle East.

Oil prices jumped to fresh 30month highs near $109 a barrel, pushed upward by signs that a stronger U.S. economy would strengthen demand for oil while continuing unrest in some oil-producing countries could disrupt supplies.

European bourses were higher in early trading, with Britain’s FTSE 100 up 0.2 percent to 6,021.71.

Germany’s DAX rose 0.2 percent to 7,192.27 and France’s CAC-40 was little changed at 4,055.35. Wall Street also appeared set for a higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures up 11 points to 12,329 and S&P 500 futures 2.1 points higher to 1,329.80.

Asian shares ended the day mostly higher, with traders looking past a host of crises, including Japan’s leaking nuclear power plant and a violent rebellion in Libya.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index eked out a gain of 0.1 percent to close at 9,718.89, shrugging off a Bank of Japan report that business confidence among major manufacturers had fallen following last month’s catastrophic earthquake, which unleashed a tsunami that killed up to 25,000 people and caused $300 billion in damage.

The central bank’s revised quarterly survey of business sentiment showed the main index for large manufacturers fell to 6 from 7 before the March 11 disasters. The outlook for the next three months was bleaker, with sentiment falling into pessimistic territory.

The crisis drawing the most attention was unfolding at the heavily damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex along the northeastern coast, where officials were three weeks into a still-unsuccessful mission to contain a menacing radiation leak caused by the tsunami.

The damage forced the plant to cut its daily power supply in Tokyo and surrounding areas, causing many factories to suspend or limit operations.

Still other companies have limited or stopped production because of disruptions in supply chains.

Worries over that are “still weighing on sentiment,” said Simon

Wong, economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong. Another worry was future power supplies in Japan since the country “is in for a prolonged period of power rationing, at least until summer.”

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 1.5 percent to 24,150.58, with banking shares among major gainers. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. rose 1.8 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 percent to 4,886.80. Benchmarks in Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and New Zealand were also higher.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2 percent to 2,115.87. Markets in mainland China and Taiwan were closed for a holiday.

On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department said the unemployment rate fell to 8.8 percent, the lowest since March 2009, as companies added workers at the fastest twomonth pace since before the recession began. Approximately 216,000 new jobs were created last month, offsetting layoffs by local governments. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain at 8.9 percent.

“Markets took much comfort from Friday’s payrolls, which ... reinforced the idea that recovery is proceeding apace and that it now includes job growth, which will reinforce it all the more,” DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore said in a research note.

The report helped send the Dow Jones industrial average to a new 2011 high during early trading. The Dow closed up 0.5 percent to 12,376.72. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.5 percent to 1,332.41. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 percent to 2,789.60.

In currencies, the dollar fell to 84.03 yen from 84.09 late Friday in New York. The euro weakened to $1.4202 from $1.4236.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 80 cents to $108.74 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract settled at $107.94 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday, a new 30-month high.

LONDON – British mobile phone giant Vodafone confirmed Monday that it was selling its 44 percent stake in French rival SFR to media group Vivendi for 7.75 billion euros ($11 billion) in cash.

Vodafone said it would return £4.0 billion (4.5 billion euros, $6.5 billion) of the net proceeds to its shareholders by way of buying back shares, while the remainder would be used to reduce the company’s debt.

“Our board remains committed to realizing maximum value from our non-controlled assets,” Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao said in a statement.

“By returning £4.0 billion to our shareholders, we are increasing our current buy-back programme to £6.8 billion in total, equivalent to over 7.0 percent of Vodafone’s current market capitalization,” he added.

The deal was expected to close

by June, subject to regulatory approval, Vivendi said earlier.

Vivendi chief executive JeanBernard Levy said the group was “very pleased” to have secured 100 percent of SFR, which will help management “to focus further on profitable growth and innovation.

“I am very confident that this will greatly benefit both the group’s industrial development and our millions of subscribers and consumers globally,” Levy said in a statement.

For Vodafone, the sale continues chief executive Colao’s strategy of selling minority interests as the mobile phone company looks to strengthen its position in Europe, India and Africa.

Vodafone last week paid $5 billion to buy out its Indian partner Essar in their phone venture.

AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU

File picture taken on September 1, 2011 in Paris shows French Vivendi’s CEO Jean-Bernard Levy speaking during a press conference. British mobile phone giant Vodafone confirmed on April 4, 2011 y that it was selling its 44 percent stake in French rival SFR to media group Vivendi for 7.75 billion euros ($11 billion) in cash.

Japan business mood to worsen after quake Reuters

TOKYO – Japanese big manufacturers expect conditions to worsen significantly in the next three months, responses to a Bank of Japan survey collected after the March 11 earthquake showed on Monday. It was a reversal of the full survey results.

The BOJ separated figures in its tankan survey of corporate sentiment for March into responses ob-

tained before and after the earthquake to obtain a clearer picture of how firms perceived the effects of the devastation.

The post-quake index for big manufacturers’ sentiment was plus 6 for March, unchanged from the full survey.

But the index for June was seen at minus 2 against the full survey’s plus 2, indicating that big manufacturers expect to turn pessimistic.

The separated survey figures are the first such data to quantify the impact of the quake, tsunami and a subsequent nuclear crisis on business confidence. But the BOJ warns against reading too much into the tankan because its post-quake sentiment index only takes into account the views of 23.6 percent of the respondents to the survey.

In the regular tankan survey for March was compiled from February 24 to March 31.

12

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Entertainment

International

“Hop” skips and jumps to No. 1 at box offices Reuters

LOS ANGELES – Family film “Hop,” about a music-loving teenage rabbit, jumped to No. 1 on North American box office charts with a strong $38 million ticket sales even as theaters continued seeing sluggish overall demand, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The movie, which combines liveaction with animation and features comedian Russell Brand in the voice of a young rabbit who will one day become the Easter Bunny, outdistanced the No. 2 film, thriller “Source Code,” which collected $15 million.

Rounding out the top three was horror film “Insidious” with $13.5 million. All three movies were in their first weekends in theaters, and they entered during a months-long period of slumping ticket sales. The major studios are hoping their blockbuster summer movies will reverse that trend.

Overall ticket sales were down a

sharp 27 percent this weekend compared to the same period last year, and year-to-date domestic box office is off just more than 20 percent, according to ticket sales tracker Hollywood.com Box Office. One of the few bright spots has been the market for family films. Among some of the best performers have been movies such as “Hop” and the animated “Rango,” in which Johnny Depp voices the character of a cowboy chameleon in the Wild West.

“Rango,” in its fifth week in theaters, continues to play in the top 10 on box office charts. It landed at No. 8 this weekend with $4.6 million in ticket sales, pushing its cumulative

total to nearly $114 million.

Last week’s No. 1, youthfulminded “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules,” fell to No. 4 with a 57 percent drop in revenue to $10.2 million. Its total now stands at $38.4 million.

Rounding out the top 5 was another holdover, thriller “Limitless,” which took in $9.4 million and pushed its total box office to $55.6 million in three weeks in theaters.

Hollywood also was closely watching the release of Oscar winner “The King’s Speech” in a new version that extracted some of the strong language in order to appeal to younger fans who may not have been able to see the original. The new version took in an estimated $1.2 million, down 23 percent from last weekend when the adult “King’s Speech” raked in $1.5 million. Its overall sales now stand at $137 million.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP

Actor David Hasselhoff arrives at the premiere of Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s “HOP” at CityWalk on March 27, 2011 in Universal City, California.

Lohan, rehab worker Swift’s fans carry her to ACM entertainer award heard yelling on 911 call Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Mario Anzuoni, Pool

Lindsay Lohan Associated Press Writer

RIVERSIDE, California — A rehab worker told an emergency dispatcher that she ordered Lindsay Lohan to pack her bags and leave the Betty Ford Center after the actress hit her during a December argument, according to a recording of the call released Friday.

The six-minute call started with a chaotic exchange between Lohan and the worker, Dawn Holland, arguing over control of the phone at the facility in Palm Desert. Later, Holland told the dispatcher she wanted to press charges. “I have a problem because Lindsay Lohan pushed me and hit me with the phone while I was trying to talk to you,” Holland said on the recording.

A phone message for Lohan’s attorney, Shawn Holley, seeking comment on the recording was not im-

mediately returned Friday. Lohan was nearing the end of a three-month court-ordered rehab stint at the center after authorities said she had failed a drug screening. The Dec. 12 call resulted in an investigation by Riverside County sheriff’s detectives into Holland’s accusations. Prosecutors said Tuesday they found insufficient evidence to file any charges.

At one point during the call, Lohan told the dispatcher she had never seen Holland before.

“She’s freaking me out,” Lohan said when she was able to get on the phone.

Commotion was then heard before Holland returned to the line. “Lindsay, you need to pack your (expletive),” Holland told the actress. “Cause now I’m getting ready to file charges on you.” Lohan then asked Holland pointedly, “What, you want money?”

Holland said no and told Lohan she wanted to be treated with respect.

By that point, the two women were yelling at one another and the audio became garbled. The call was lost and a dispatcher had to call the facility back. Holland returned to the line and said Lohan was among three girls caught leaving the property without permission. The two other girls reeked of alcohol, Holland said.

Two of the women, including Lohan, were refusing breathalyzer tests, which prompted the argument, Holland told the dispatcher. The dispatcher asked if Lohan was involved in sneaking out of the facility. “Oh yes,” Holland replied. “She got busted trying to hop back over the fence.” Holland was later fired by the center after giving an on-camera interview to celebrity website TMZ.

Chesney and Tim McGraw for taking her on the road before she became an international sensation and showed her how to do it.

“I see those people when I think of entertainers,” Swift said. Lambert, also an entertainer nominee, had few expectations after topping the ACMs with three wins last year on the strength of her aptly titled album “Revolution” and the song “White Liar.” She had no idea she would top all nominees with seven

LAS VEGAS – Taylor Swift might not be able to count on the men in her life, but her fans have yet to let her down. And on Sunday, they rewarded her with one of the biggest prizes in country music — The Academy of Country Music’s entertainer of the year award.

A record of nearly 600,000 voters participated in selecting this year’s winner of the academy’s most prestigious award, the only major award determined by fans. Swift’s crew came through for her on a night when the industry and her peers rewarded firecracker Miranda Lambert with four trophies.

“I feel like of all that has happened to me in my life, that’s the best thing I’ve ever gotten to have,” the 21-year-old Swift said after the show. “My relationship with them is everything to me.”

Fans could vote during the show and her spirited performance of “Mean,” a rebuke to her critics on which she played banjo and nailed the vocal performance, probably led to a spike in voting. Swift, known for detailing her broken romances and the men who have wronged her, credited a quartet of men who have done her right. She thanked Brad Paisley and Keith Urban — who were among the five other nominees in the catTaylor Swift egory — along with fourtime winner Kenny

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

this year.

“I just expected to come to the ACMs in 2011 and chill,” she said.

It turned out that her poignant song “The House That Built Me” would be an even bigger hit than “White Liar,” though.

Written by Allen Shamblin and Tom Douglas, “House” won song, single record and video of the year with the 27-year-old Lambert sharing in all those wins. It mirrors a difficult time for the singer’s family, but those times are over and the song has helped Lambert’s star rise to new heights. She also won her second straight ACM for top female vocalist.

As last year’s album of the year winner she got to hand out the 2011 award to close friends Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, who won for their breakthrough “Need You Now.” The trio openly campaigned for Lambert’s “Revolution” last time around and told the crowd they were glad it was out of the way as they picked up three trophies, including their second straight top vocal group award.

“Thank you, Miranda Lambert, for winning this last year and not being in the category this year,” Lady A’s Charles Kelley quipped.

It wasn’t necessarily a surprise that Lady A won the award given the strength of that album since its release in January 2010, but it beat out an impressive list of stars that included Swift, Chesney and the Zac Brown Band. “Everyone in the category made such an incredible album,” Scott said.

Science

International

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

13

After delay, NASA preparing Mars rover for launch Associated Press Writer

PASADENA, California — NASA engineers are putting the finishing touches on a mega-rover to Mars before shipping it off to Florida for launch later this year. A small army of technicians dressed in protective bunny suits has been working around the clock inside a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles assembling the craft, called Curiosity, and testing its science instruments.

AP Photo/NASA/JPL Rover Spirit, File

FILE - This file photo taken Jan. 28, 2004, shows NASA’s Exploration Rover Spirit when communication problems began. The prospect of ever hearing from the stuck Mars rover Spirit is fading after it failed to respond to repeated calls from Earth.

The $2.5 billion (•1.8 billion) mission was supposed to launch in 2009, but problems during construction forced a two-year delay. With launch scheduled for late November, engineers have been busy testing the spacecraft’s various systems — all the while making sure that contamination from Earth doesn’t accidentally hitch a ride to Mars.

The nuclear-powered Curiosity — the size of a small sport utility vehicle — will probe rocks and soil to determine whether the red planet ever had the right environment to support primitive life. It will carry the most high-tech instruments to the Martian surface including a laser that can zap boulders from afar.

To the dismay of some space fans, Curiosity won’t carry a high-resolu-

Census spotlights India’s ‘missing girls’ Agence France Presse

NEW DELHI – The problem of India’s “missing girls” has been put under a harsh spotlight by new census data showing the ratio of female to male children at its lowest level since independence in 1947. According to the latest national headcount, there are now just 914 girls for every 1,000 boys under the age of six, down from a ratio of 927 for every 1,000 a decade ago.

Despite India’s steady economic rise in the past 10 years, the figures show the social bias against having girls remains as strong as ever, with illegal sex-selective abortions facilitated by cheap ultrasound technology. “The figures should make us think 100 times before we call ourselves citizens of a progressive nation,” said Delhi University social scientist Gitika Vasudev.

India’s sex ratio has been falling continuously since 1961, when it stood at 976 girls for every 1,000 boys, and Vasudev said the latest data was “proof of India’s collective failure” to protect girl children. The global average is 1,050 girls for every 1,000 boys.

Married women in India face huge pressure to

produce male heirs who are seen as breadwinners, family leaders and carers when parents age.

Girls are often viewed as a burden to the family as they require hefty dowries to be married off.

“Measures put in place over the last 40 years have not had any impact on the ratio,” conceded India’s home secretary G.K. Pillai, announcing the need for a “complete” family planning policy review. India has a long history of female infanticide — of girls suffocated, poisoned, drowned or left to die.

More common now, thanks to technological advances, is the abortion of female foetuses, or “female foeticide” — a simple, cheap and difficult to police process with ultrasound tests costing as little as $10. Signboards at clinics stipulating: “No sex determination tests done here” often pay little more than lip service to the law, and portable ultrasound machines mean tests can be carried out in the most remote villages.

As many as half a million female foetuses are estimated to be aborted each year in India, according to a 2006 study by British medical journal Lancet.

AFP/File/Deshakalyan Chowdhury

This file photo shows young Indian girls during the celebration of Ramnavami, the birthday of Hindu god Rama, at a temple in Dakshneswar, north of Calcutta.

tion 3-D camera that “Avatar” director James Cameron was helping to build. NASA recently nixed it because there wasn’t enough time to fully test the zoom lens before launch. Scientists expect Curiosity to build on the discoveries of the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have uncovered geologic evidence of ancient water and the Phoenix lander, which found ice at its Martian north pole landing site.

Curiosity’s road to the launch pad has been bumpy. Engineers had to redesign the rover’s heat shield and fix problems with the parachute.

NASA also faced delivery delays from subcontractors that affected the launch timetable and raised the mission price tag.

Part of the reason why Curiosity is so technically challenging is because NASA has never built such an advanced rover before. While the cruise to Mars and descent through the fiery atmosphere are similar to past missions, NASA is testing a brand-new technology for landing.

Instead of using airbags to bounce to a stop, the 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) Curiosity will be gently lowered to the surface by a sky crane.

NASA will begin shipping spacecraft parts to Cape Canaveral beginning next month. The three-week launch window opens on Nov. 25.

In preparation for launch, Curiosity has been on a publicity blitz.

NASA last October installed a camera in a viewing gallery overlooking the clean room that allows anyone with a computer to watch a live stream of the rover construction.

There’s no audio feed, but the space agency hosts periodic online chats with viewers to explain what’s going on. Curiosity also has its own Twitter feed with more than 29,000 followers.

A woman, suffering from Alzheimer’s desease, walks in a corridor in a retirement house. Scientists said Sunday they had uncovered five genes linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, doubling the number of genetic variants known to favour the commonest form of dementia.

AFP/File/Sebastien Bozon

Five new genes linked to Alzheimer’s Agence France Presse

PARIS – Scientists said Sunday they had uncovered five genes linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, doubling the number of genetic variants known to favour the commonest form of dementia. The findings, published in the journal Nature Genetics, may provide clues on the causes of this incurable and complex disease and help doctors predict who is most at risk, they said.

In the largest such studies to date, some 300 scientists in two consortia combed the genomes of 54,000 people — some afflicted, others not — to tease out the newly identified genetic variations. The two projects started out independently but later swapped their data, enabling each group to confirm the overall findings.

“Prior to these studies, there were five accepted late-onset genes,” said Gerard Schellenberg, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the main architect of one of the studies. “Now there are five more — MS4A, ABCA7, CD33, EPHA1 and CD2AP,” he said in an email exchange.

Identifying which snippets of DNA con-

tribute to Alzheimer’s boosts our understanding of the role of inheritance in its onset, Schellenberg said, adding that others surely remained to be found. But, he added, “the biggest contribution will be in helping to understand the underlying mechanism that causes Alzheimer’s.

These genes highlight new pathways that are critical to the disease process.”

Over the course of the illness, unwanted proteins form plaque in some areas of the brain, ultimately destroying neurons and leading to irreversible brain damage. Typically, symptoms include memory loss, erratic behaviour and eventually full-on dementia.

The ultimate aim, said Schellenberg, is creating drugs that can stop or even prevent this progression. Toward that goal, “molecular biologists who work on disease mechanisms now need to figure out exactly how these new genes plug into the Alzheimer’s process,” he said.

Current treatments, he added, are only “marginally effective” in masking symptoms or slowing the disease’s inexorable advance. Alzheimer’s affects 13 percent of people over 65, and up to 50 percent of those over 85.

14

Sport

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

International

Madrid, Tottenham wait on injuries for 1st leg Associated Press Writer

MADRID — Real Madrid and Tottenham must decide whether to risk key players battling injuries when they meet Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. Only three days after Madrid lost its perfect home record, coach Jose Mourinho said he may play forward Cristiano Ronaldo, whose nagging thigh injury left the Portugal forward out of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Sporting Gijon.

“If Cristiano plays, it is because he and I risk it,” Mourinho said. Striker Karim Benzema is unlikely to return from a leg injury, so Mourinho may also test Marcelo’s health after the Brazil fullback missed Saturday’s match with an upper body injury.

With Madrid’s domestic title hopes fading, Madrid may need Ronaldo in the lineup to focus on winning the European Cup for a record 10th time. Madrid now trails Spanish league leader Barcelona by eight points. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has his own injury worries with Gareth Bale recovering from a hamstring injury.

The London club has only two fully fit central defenders in Michael Dawson and Sebastien Bassong, with Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul out and William Gallas a game-time decision because of a knee injury.

Midfielder Steven Pienaar is also out with a groin injury.

Bale is having a breakout season for Tottenham but has made only three brief appearances since the end of January. “We sincerely believe that we can get past both legs,” the Wales international said in an interview in Monday’s AS newspaper. “We know how to win. Madrid play on the counter and the for-

ward three have a lot of quality. Mourinho’s got them well organized, and Xabi Alonso always knows what the match needs. “(But) a tie in the first leg would be fine.”

Madrid had won all 22 games before its first loss in the Spanish capital since last April.

Mourinho’s run of nine years without a home loss — which includes the Portuguese coach’s spells at FC Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan — was also halted after 150 games.

With Benzema missing, Emmanuel Adebayor is set to start again while Gonzalo Higuain is available off the bench after returning from a back injury. Redknapp has relied on Peter Crouch, who scored the lone goal to get the Premier League club past AC Milan in the round of 16, in attack for Champions League games, while Netherlands playmaker Rafael van der Vaart is also set to start in his first return to the Bernabeu after being sold by Madrid last year.

Tottenham is also coming off its own domestic stumbles as it was held to a 0-0 draw by Wigan on Saturday. “Of course it will be a tough game against Real Madrid,” Redknapp said. “We will have to play better than we did at Wigan if we are going to get the result we need there. It was one of those days.”

AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez

Real Madrid’s Emmanuel Adebayor from Togo, left, vies for the ball with Sporting de Gijon’s Alberto Botia, center, and Ivan Hernandez, right, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Saturday, April 2, 2011.

Cavani’s half-hour hat-trick puts Napoli second FIFA confirm two-horse race for president Reuters

MILAN - Edinson Cavani scored a hat-trick in the last half-hour as Napoli came from two goals down to beat Lazio 4-3 and go second in Serie A on Sunday. Catania thrashed Palermo 4-0 in the clash of the two Sicilian teams while Alessandro Matri continued his impressive form for Juventus, scoring his sixth goal since joining them at the end of January in the 2-0 win at AS Roma.

Napoli stayed three points behind leaders AC Milan, who have 65 points from 31 games after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Inter, and moved above the defending champi-

AFP PHOTO / ROBERTO SALOMONE

Napoli’s Edinson Cavani celebrates after scoring against Lazio on April 3, 2011 during his team’s Serie A football match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples. Napoli won 4-3.

ons.

Uruguay striker Cavani took his Serie A tally to 25 goals, level with Udinese’s Antonio de Natale, as Napoli kept alive their scudetto hopes in a fiery match which left the visitors fuming at three key decisions.

Lazio appeared to have a goal wrongly disallowed with the score at 2-2 when Cristian Brocchi’s long-range effort bounced down off the crossbar. Replays suggested it had crossed the line by at least a metre.

“You can see very well, it wasn’t a case of five centimetres over the line, it was very evident that it went in, there’s no way you can consider that it was not a goal,” said Lazio president Claudio Lotito. The visitors, who stayed fifth in the table two points behind Udinese in the Champions League qualifying round spot, were also angry with the Napoli penalty which made it 3-3 and said Napoli’s winner came from an offside position.

Stefano Mauri put Lazio ahead with a delightful individual goal, weaving his way past several defenders and scoring with the subtlest of touches as he flicked the ball past the helpless Fernando Muslera into the far corner in the 29th minute. Minutes later, he nearly scored again from an identical position but this time sent his effort past the post. It did not seem to matter when Brazilian defender Andre Dias doubled Lazio’s lead in the 57th minute, sticking out his foot to volley in from Javier Garrido’s whipped free kick.

However, Napoli were level within five minutes with goals from Andrea Dossena and Cavani, both following free kicks which Lazio failed to clear.

That was followed by the Brocchi incident, Lazio’s protests barely subsiding before they were gifted the lead when Salvatore Aronica turned the ball into his own goal from close range.

The hosts levelled again when Giuseppe Biava and Cavani both fell in the penalty area, the referee awarding a penalty and sending off the Lazio player before Cavani converted in the 82nd minute.

With two minutes left, Cavani broke clear of the Lazio defence and cleverly lobbed over his compatriot Muslera who got a hand to the ball but could not stop it going in.

Reuters

ZURICH - Mohamed Bin Hammam will be the only challenger for the FIFA presidency when incumbent Sepp Blatter stands for re-election on June 1, soccer’s world governing body confirmed on Monday. FIFA said that Swiss Blatter, who has been president since 1998 and will be trying for a fourth term, and Qatari multi-millionaire businessman Bin Hammam were the only candidates to register by the April 1 deadline.

The election will be held on June 1 at the FIFA Congress in Zurich where each one of the 208 member national associations holds a vote, provided they are not suspended at the time. There had been two other possible candidates but U.S. journalist Grant Wahl said he failed to get the written support of one national football association, which candidates must have, and former Chile captain Elias Figueroa pulled out last Thursday.

Figueroa, one of South America’s most respected footballers, was representing a group called Change FIFA but said he did not have enough time from which to launch a creditable platform.

Blatter, FIFA’s eighth president since the organisation was founded

in 1904, joined as a technical officer in 1975 and was general secretary from 1981 to 1998 under the presidency of Joao Havelange. In 1998 he swept to a 111-80 victory over Swede Lennart Johansson, the UEFA president, who conceded defeat, forgoing a second ballot. Four years later, Blatter took a landslide 139-56 vote victory over Cameroon’s Issa Hayatou, the president of the African confederation, and, if anything, his grip on FIFA has tightened since then. There were no opponents when he was reelected in 2007.

Under Blatter’s leadership, FIFA took the World Cup to Africa for the first time, holding what was widely seen as a successful tournament in South Africa. Bin Hammam, 61, is also a candidate from within FIFA, having been a member of the powerful executive committee since 1996. Although he was not part of the bidding team, he played a huge role in securing Qatar the rights to stage the 2022 World Cup finals in December. A former Blatter ally, he helped the Swiss win the elections in 1998 and 2002 but has been increasingly critical of Blatter’s leadership, saying that change is needed at the top and FIFA needs a new figurehead. FIFA have confirmed that Bosnia and Brunei are the only two associations currently suspended.

Sport

International

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

15

Djokovic sinks Nadal in thrilling Miami final Reuters

MIAMI - In an epic final, Novak Djokovic defeated world number one Rafa Nadal in a third set tiebreak to win the Sony Ericsson Open 4-6 6-3 7-6 on Sunday. The victory extends second ranked Djokovic’s winning streak to 26 matches going back to last year and follows his victory over the Spaniard in Indian Wells two weeks ago.

“It is just incredible to win against the number one player in the world in a third set tie break,” a delighted Djokovic said on court before he was handed the trophy. It was a magnificent battle that lived up to its billing as a clash between the sport’s top-ranked player and the most in-form competitor on tour at the moment, producing quality, drama and tension throughout.

Nadal began strongly, breaking the Serb in the third game of the opening set to end Djokovic’s remarkable streak of 41 successive service games held in the tournament. Djokovic failed to convert on two break points in the next game and then Nadal took advantage of two loose forehand shots from the Serb to break again and after holding serve he ran out to a 5-1 lead.

But Djokovic does not buckle easily and the world number two

came back fighting, winning three straight games. With Nadal serving for the set at 5-4, Djokovic worked himself into a position to break, up 30-15, but the Spaniard’s big serve came out and he held to secure the set.

The Serb’s rally should have been warning to Nadal that he could expect a real onslaught in the second set, and so it was - after a wonderful rally, Djokovic held his serve and then broke Nadal in the second game. There was a tantrum from Djokovic, who smashed his racket to the ground, after he gave Nadal break point in the third game but he held on to go ahead 3-0.

Nadal was trying everything to get back into the set but he came up against some inspired strokes from the Serb who twice beat him with perfectly placed lobs and was aggressive coming to the net. Djokovic

served out the set to love in emphatic fashion with an ace but Nadal found reserves of energy and drew on his outstanding technique as he proved a match for the Serb throughout the third set.

The enthralled crowd lapped up every game and even though neither player could get a break point in the final set, the aggressive way that both players approached the encounter ensured there was drama throughout.

A tiebreak was a fitting conclusion and in the end Djokovic grabbed a 5-2 lead and then an outstanding forehand winner down the line gave him the comfort of four championship points. Nadal saved the first two points but Djokovic delivered a big forehand winner and raised his arms to the air, to acknowledge the roars from a crowd who had been treated to tennis at its very best.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP

Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates with the trophy after he defeated Rafael Nadal of Spain during the men’s singles championship at the Sony Ericsson Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 3, 2011 in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Denver clinch eighth straight playoff berth in win over L.A. Reuters

LOS ANGELES - The Denver Nuggets clinched a playoff berth on Sunday with a 95-90 victory over the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. The result means the Nuggets will play in their eighth consecutive postseason despite trading franchise player Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks in February.

A revamped Denver team has won six consecutive games, thriving

Kenyon Martin #4 of the Denver Nuggets scores a basket above Pau Gasol #16 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA basketball game at Staples Center on April 3, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.

Djansezian/Getty Images/AFP

with teamwork and added depth.

The Nuggets (47-29) are currently fifth in the Western Conference, three games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, with six regular season games remaining.

George Hill scored 29 points as the NBA-leading San Antonio Spurs beat the Phoenix Suns 114-97 on Sunday to stop a six-game losing streak — the longest of Tim Duncan’s 14-year career with the team. San Antonio went winless for two weeks and squandered a oncecomfortable lead for the top seed in the Western Conference. The win moves the Spurs 2½ games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Aaron Brooks and Channing Frye had 14 points apiece for the Suns.

The loss guaranteed that Phoenix will miss the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Matt Bonner added 16 points and 11 rebounds for San Antonio.

In New York, Amare Stoudemire scored 28 points to lead New York to its first

postseason berth since 2004.

Shortly after Charlotte’s home loss to Washington, the Knicks beat the Cavaliers to secure their spot.

They are seventh in the Eastern Conference, but closed to within 1½ games of the 76ers.

Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points and Chauncey Billups added 23 for the Knicks, who had lost 11 straight to the Cavaliers dating to December 2007. J.J. Hickson had 23 points and Baron Davis added 22 for Cleveland.

In Boston, Kevin Garnett scored 23 points and Paul Pierce added 22 as Boston topped Detroit in Shaquille O’Neal’s brief return to the Celtics lineup.

O’Neal played only 5½ minutes in his first game back after missing 27 with a sore right leg. He left the game at the beginning of the second quarter with a new injury — a strained right calf muscle. Will Bynum scored 20 points, Tayshaun Prince had 16 and Charlie Villanueva 15 for Detroit.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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

Sport

Marshals favoured Rossi, says angry Stoner Reuters

MADRID - Angry Australian Casey Stoner accused MotoGP marshals of regularly favouring Valentino Rossi after he and the Italian great collided at a wet Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. Rossi’s Ducati slid into Stoner’s Honda at the Jerez circuit while fighting for second place with 20 laps remaining in a race full of incident that was eventually won by Spain’s world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

While marshals helped the Italian remount and return to the action, finishing fifth, Stoner was forced to retire and lost the overall MotoGP lead when he could not get the Honda push-started. “I think if we’d got over the hill with more people pushing, there’s a good chance we could’ve started the bike,” the autosport.com website quoted Stoner as saying.

“When I looked back I had like one guy pushing me, all the rest were walking back to their posts...

What am I supposed to do with that?

“This is something that riders who are against Valentino have had to learn to deal with. It’s completely unfair, but it’s something that’s happened to me in the past when I’ve crashed,” added the 2007 world

champion.

“I’ve had people pushing my bike off the track - even when it’s perfect and I can still race. I’ve had to fight with marshals to get them to try and get me started again.

“This was a racing incident, just him losing the talent in this corner.

It’s disappointing for me, but for me the worst was the marshals not helping me and to completely forget me like I’m nothing, and then trying to push me off the bike basically,” said the 25-year-old.

Stoner, who has started both races this season on pole position and won the opener in Qatar, said the issue needed to be addressed even if he saw no point in going to the authorities himself. “I’d like to see something done about it, not just for me but for

other riders,” he declared.

“I just think it’s completely unfair. There’s not enough consistency in the marshalling all around the world. There’s got to be consistency with everyone, not hampering someone’s race just because of popularity.” “I don’t go to the safety commission anymore,” he added.

“It’s like knocking your head against a wall. Nothing happens.

“You put a lot of effort in for nothing in that safety commission.

There are just certain people they listen to, certain people who complain about small things.”

Rossi did go to see the Australian after the race to apologise, although even that did not placate the Honda rider who felt the nine times world champion had made too much of a public show of it.

“I would prefer it if Valentino did it away from the cameras and would say something to me quietly without always having to have proof,” he told the official motogp.com website.

“Valentino doesn’t do this for himself, he just wants to show to everybody that he has apologised.”

Simoncelli denies pushing too hard MotoGP website. “I wasn’t pushing too much because I was controlling the gap to Lorenzo.

“But today was very difficult because the tyres after five laps were completely finished, so lap by lap it became more difficult to ride. “I wasn’t pushing more, but I lost the front just a little bit. I could pick up the bike, but I also lost the rear and I did a bad high-side.”

Simoncelli echoed Stoner’s complaint that the marshals had not been sufficiently helpful in trying to get him back in the race. “Afterwards nobody was pushing me to restart the bike,” said the Italian.

Despite being very frustrated with his accident, Simoncelli said he was still encouraged by his performance at Jerez, and hopes to show the same speed in the next race in Portugal.

“I’m so disappointed with the final result of this race,” he admitted. “But I’m happy because I showed that this year I can fight with the top riders in this AFP PHOTO / Jorge Guerrero category.

San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Italian Marco Simoncelli crashes dur“Last year at Estoril I did my ing the MotoGP race of the Spanish Prix at Jerez’s racetrack in best result of the year and I like Jerez de la Frontera on April 3, 2011. Yamaha Factory Racing’s the characteristics of the track. So Spanish Jorge Lorenzo won ahead of Repsol Honda Team’s Span- I hope to do race like here at Jerez, ish Dani Pedrosa and Ducati Team’s US Nicky Hayden. but with a different ending.”

JEREZ - Marco Simoncelli insisted he was not pushing too hard when he crashed out of the lead of the Spanish Grand Prix. The Gresini Honda rider had charged to the front in the wet race, and when Valentino Rossi took Casey Stoner out of second place and gave him a clear lead over Jorge Lorenzo, it looked like

Simoncelli might become the first satellite team rider to win a grand prix since Toni Elias claimed the 2006 Estoril race for Gresini.

But just before half-distance, Simoncelli had an accident at the first corner and had to retire. “When I crashed I was going fast but I was quite calm,” he told the official

AFP PHOTO / Jorge Guerrero

Repsol Honda Team’s Australian Casey Stoner (top) claps his hands as Ducati Team’s Italian Valentino Rossi rides after their crash during the MotoGP race of the Spanish Prix at Jerez’s racetrack in Jerez de la Frontera on April 3, 2011.