Edisi 05 Mei 2011 | International Bali Post

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Military personnel march during the rehearsal. The chief of Regional Military Command IX/Udayana, Major General Rachmat Budiyanto, has instructed the tightening of security at buildings housing foreign offices on Bali Island, following the death of Osama bin Laden.

PAGE 6

The death of Osama Has no impact on tourist visit to Bali PAGE 8

FOTO ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma

Bali Military Chief orders tighter security at Foreign Offices

Review: ‘Thor’ rumbles, never quite roars

Antara

PAGE 12

DENPASAR - The chief of Regional Military Command IX/Udayana, Major General Rachmat Budiyanto, has instructed the tightening of security at buildings housing foreign offices on Bali Island, following the death of Osama bin Laden.

“In Bali, there are tens of foreign consulates, and representative offices of international bodies, international hotels and restaurants, and many foreign tourists, as well. This is a good thing but at the same time it makes this region vulnerable, so we must give special attention to security at these places,” he said.

Budiyanto said terrorists who had now found a new form and mechanism, re-

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Foreign workers from China and Taiwan increase

WEATHER FORECAST CITY

mained dangerous to the community.

“We must remain alert and anticipate any possibility. We will continue intensifying information and intelligence networks to prevent any undesired happening,” he said.

Among foreign offices in Bali Province are consulates of the United States, Britain, France, Japan and Australia.

AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY

China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (3rd-R) walks next to Indonesia’s Vice President Boediono (2nd-R) as they arrive for a business dialog in Jakarta on April 30, 2011. The number of Taiwanese and Chinese workers in Bali increasing around 30 percent this year comparing to last year numbers.

Denpasar – Bali’s Manpower, Transmigration, and Social Department, said that there is an increase of the number of foreign worker from Taiwan and China. The number increase 30% this year compare to 2010.

The Head of Bali Manpower, Transmigration, and Social Department, Made Erwin Suryadarma Sena, said “the current number of workers from Taiwan and China in 2011 is 180 people, it is increasing 30% compare to last year.”

He said that most of the workers are coming from Taiwan and they

work in the tuna company in Benoa Harbor. “Most of them are working as sales division and quality control,” Erwin added.

He explained that most of them have been working in Bali and contracted in a long term job, started from six month to a year. The permit for the worker is arranged by the company that hires them.

Based on the data of the department, currently there are 600 foreign workers listed in Bali and in addition to coming from Taiwan and China, the workers are coming from European counties and US who work in tourism and education field.

Continued on page 6

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International

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bali News

Tourist visit to Bali increases by 2.75 percent Dominated by Australians Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Despite afflicted by the publication of TIME magazine and outbreak of caterpillars, the visit of foreign tourists to Bali even indicated an increase. Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali Province recorded the number of tourist visit in March rose by 2.75 percent compared to February 2011. “So, the foreign tourist visit is not affected by anything,” said the Head of BPS Bali, Gede Suarsa, in Denpasar, Monday (May 2).

He said the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali through Ngurah Rai International Airport in March reached 202,539 people and through seaports reached 5,368 people. “If calculated, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Bali in March reached 207,907 people. Meanwhile, foreign tourist visit in February 2011 rose by 7.96 percent compared to February 2010 and down 0.91 percent compared to January 2011,” he said.

According to him, if compared to the same month in 2010, the

number of tourist visits in March 2011 increased by 7.96 percent.

For the period of January-February 2011, the foreign tourists by nationality from Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea occupied the greatest number with respective percentage of 24.84 percent, 10.74 percent, 8.40 percent, 5.79 percent and 4.86 percent.

Meanwhile, the occupancy rate of star hotel in Bali in February 2011 reached an average of 62.23 percent and the length of stay of foreign and Indonesian tourists at similar hotels in Bali averagely

reached 3.20 nights. “Compared to January 2011, the room occupancy rate decreased by 2.43 points and the average length of stay also declined at 0.29 points,” he said.

In the meantime, room occupancy rate in non-star hotels in February 2011 reached an average of 38.37 percent and the average length of stay of foreign and Indonesian tourists at similar hotels in Bali came to 2.92 nights. Compared to January 2011, the occupancy rate increased by 2.42 points, while the average length of stay decreased by 0.19 points. (par)

IBP/file

The tourists are enjoying their time on Kuta Beach.

The visit of foreign tourists to Bali even indicated an increase.

Negara Police Failed Poultry Smuggling Jembrana - Negara Police, Jembrana Regency, Bali failed smuggling of 229 roosters by truck from East Java. They covered the truck by books and bamboo screen.

The smuggling used truck with N-6023-UJ plate number which was going to Beringkit Market, Badung. It revealed after the police did an inspection on Sudirman Street, Negara on Monday early morning.

Hundred poultries owned by Jumadi (50), a Jember citizen, and Marzuki who comes from Probolinggo, East Java. The

truck driver named Slamet Haryono, a Malang citizen.

The Head of Negara Police AKP Wimboko soon reported the poultry smuggling case to Jembrana Police AKBP Irfing Jaya. “We were soon held an inspection after we got information about the illegal poultry. The information informed us if there were illegal poultry delivery which slipping away from the inspection in Gilimanuk Harbor,” said Wimboko.

According to him the smuggling broke passage 31 (1) verse Laws Number 16 in the year 1992 about Quarantine. They threatened three years-prison and paid 150 million rupiah fine. After it revealed by Negara Police, the illegal hundreds poultry directly sent to Gilimanuk Quarantine. The Head of Quarantine Gilimanuk Nyoman Budiartha said his team will check the poultry to ensure whether the livestock got avian influenza or not.

“If the poultry are getting avian influenza, we should do prevention action like usual. They should vanish,” said him.

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

3

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Complaints about silver price

Gianyar Regency writes to Minister Gianyar (Bali Post)—

In following up the complaints of silversmiths about the soaring price of silver raw materials from the past three months, Gianyar Regency Government will write to the Minister of Industry to immediately address the problems afflicting the crafters in Gianyar, particularly the region of Celuk, Sukawati. Serious point regarding to this matter is the tax exemption on silver raw materials for handicrafts.

It was revealed in the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) of Small-Medium Enterprise Industry (SME) of Precious Stone and Jewelry Cluster in Gianyar, Tuesday (May 3).

Head of Gianyar Industry and Trade Services, Wayan Suamba, after the discussion explained at least there were four main points being the current concern of the government in response to the complaints of precious stone and jewelry crafters, including silversmiths, in Gianyar. Among them, it concerned with the 10 percent VAT exemption, increase of human resources, tool assistance and working capital. Among the four, the price hike of raw materials was the latest obstacle faced by crafters.

As mandated by the Act No. 42/2009 governing the taxes, the crafters very much expected to be given the ease in taxes to cope with the price stability. They hoped not to be imposed double taxes. If taxes had been imposed on the mining company, they should not be imposed again on raw materials managed by crafters. So, it would result in double taxes, he explained.

However, PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) as a state-owned company in charge of managing silver did not dare to impose tax-free because there had been no further regulation from the government set forth in government regulation. “To that end, Regency Government will soon write to the Minister of Industry in order the complaints of silversmiths could be accommodated,” he explained.

Other than Gianyar Regency, there are many other centers of silversmiths undertaking the same measures. It is merely intended to urge immediate issuance of a legal instruments governing about the VAT exemption for silver raw materials.

Previously, silversmiths complained because of the soaring price of silver raw materials and the slump of export purchases. The price hike in silver raw materials had reached 100 percent since the past three months. Even, within the last week, the price of silver raw materials which was originally only IDR 5,000 per gram, but now soared to IDR 15,000 per gram. (kmb16)

IBP/file

Silver workers are doing their job.

BAF 2011 must be better

After death of Osama bin Laden

Bali Art Center should be bustling every day Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Bali Arts Festival (BAF) 2011 should be better than the previous years. Bali Art Center as the venue of BAF is expected not only to be crowded during the BAF implementation. This assertion was submitted by Governor of Bali Made Mangku Pastika, Tuesday (May 3) when making a site inspection to the construction of bridge renovation and some improvements on the facilities of Bali Art Center.

“BAF should be better through the years. Both implementation and contents must better than previous years, more orderly and convenient. BAF should be really made a platform for the arts festival, not a night market,” said the Governor accompanied by Spokesperson Ketut Teneng, Assistant II Ketut Wija and Assistant III Wayan Suasta.

When asked about the renovation of several facilities in the area of Bali Art Center before the BAF 2011, Governor Pastika conveyed that Bali Art Center had been constructed 30 years ago, so it definitely needed a renovation and arrangements. Of course, it was intended to make them better. Moreover, implementation of BAF 2011 was getting closer.

He affirmed that Bali Art Center as the central venue for cultural implementation should always

survive. It should not only be busy during the BAF. Each day there should be an activity and put into the tourism agenda. By doing so, each day tourists could enjoy and appreciate the arts. The Bali Art Center should be used optimally and not only wait for the BAF once a year. Therefore, it was required an endless creativity and innovation so when tourists coming to the Bali Art Center there would be spectacles to be appreciated.

At the moment, various facili-

Bali Police tighten pacification and deploy 8,000 personnel

ties in the area of Bali Art Center were being renovated such as the bridge, split gates, compound wall, Ayodya Stage and so forth. Based on observation of Bali Post last Tuesday, the construction of split gates on the border between the Bali Art Center and campus of the ISI Denpasar already finished, while the works on split gates, Ayodya Stage were in finishing phase. Meanwhile, installation of ceramic on the seating of audience was under progress.

IBP/file

The parade during the opening ceremony of the 32nd BAf last year.

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

The death of the highest terrorist leader, Osama Bin Laden, apparently had an impact on Bali. Bali Police ranks even took anticipatory measures to ward off any intruders of radical groups into Bali. The death of Osama bin Laden was worried to cause his followers to do retaliation. Thus, the Bali Police tightened the pacification throughout the vital objects.

Even, in pacification measure the Chief of Bali Police mobilized 2/3 of existing personnel or equivalent to 8,000 personnel.

In reality, the number of personnel in Bali was only some 12,000.

This was conveyed by Subdivision Head of Bali Police Public Information Sri Harmiti, Tuesday (May 3). “Up to now, Bali Police remain in the highest alertness. The death of Osama bin Laden in the hands of American soldiers urges Bali Police to tighten the pacification,” she said.

Pacification was tightened at entrances into Bali such as the Ngurah Rai Airport, Port of Gilimanuk, Padangbai, Ubung Terminal and others. Not only that, similar alertness was also undertaken at unofficial pathways spreading across Bali. At those points, it had been deployed the officers to perform the custody and surveillance. “Other than custody and surveillance, it is also accompanied with regular patrol,” said Sri Harmiti to journalists.

This officer from Bangli explained that extra tight custody was also performed in each consular office of foreign countries in Bali, including the American consular office. In addition, police also conducted custody in busy tourist attractions and shopping malls in Bali.

“This measure is performed to anticipate the possible retaliation by followers of Osama bin Laden,” she said.

Furthermore, she said that increased pacification was performed for 12 hours instead of 8 hours. Nevertheless, her party also performed other measures such as operation of vehicles examination, civil administrative inspection and others. “Vehicle examination is targeting the entire vehicles, whether twowheeled, four-wheeled, truck and box van. And these measures have been intensified today,” she added. (kmb21)

4

News

Thursday, May 5, 2011

International

Gaddafi rockets force exodus from western Libya Reuters

TRIPOLI - Libya’s army fired volleys of rockets at the rebel-held town of Zintan in the Western Mountains, pressing on with a campaign that has created a humanitarian crisis and forced thousands to flee the country.

Rebels said more than 40 Grad rockets hit Zintan late on Tuesday, and aid to the western port of Misrata was hindered by artillery fire and mines near the harbour entrance. The city has become one of the bloodiest battlefields in the two-month war.

Rebel spokesmen said fighting had flared again in Misrata’s eastern suburbs, but that intense air strikes by NATO planes appeared to have won the port, the city’s lifeline, a respite in shelling by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. In Tripoli, witnesses heard two loud explosions late on Tuesday but there was no explanation

of their cause.

Gaddafi, who seized power in a 1969 coup, has not been seen in public since a NATO missile attack on Saturday on a house in Tripoli, which killed his youngest son and three grandchildren. Officials in Tripoli said he was in good health.

U.S. intelligence officials believe Gaddafi is alive, CIA Director Leon Panetta said. “(The) best intelligence we have is that he’s still alive,” Panetta told NBC News. Vowing to fight to the death, Gaddafi has not followed the examples of fellow leaders in Egypt and Tunisia who stepped down as a tide of popular unrest rolled across the Arab world.

The civil war has split the oilproducing desert state, Africa’s fourth biggest, into a governmentheld western area round the capital Tripoli and an eastern region held by ragged but dedicated rebel forces.

A police officer with a sniffer dog checks a passenger’s suitcase at a security control before boarding their plane, at the Nice-Cote d’Azur airport, in Nice, France, Wednesday, May 4, 2011.

Security personnel remain vigilant following the death of alQaida’s Osama bin Laden.

AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau

Concerns raised over shooting of unarmed bin Laden, burial Reuters

BERLIN/SINGAPORE - The killing of Osama bin Laden when he was unarmed has raised concerns the United States may have gone too far in acting as policeman, judge and executioner of the world’s most wanted man. But for several Muslim leaders, the more unsettling issue is whether the al Qaeda leader’s burial at sea was contrary to Islamic practice.

AP Photo, File

FILE - In this April 23, 2011 file photo, Libyan rebel fighters run across a street in the besieged city of Misrata, Libya.

The White House said on Tuesday that bin Laden had resisted the U.S. team which stormed his Pakistan hideout and that there had been concerns he would “oppose the capture operation”.

Spokesman Jay Carney declined to specify what sort of resistance bin Laden offered but added: “We expected a great deal of resistance and were met with a great deal of resistance. There were many other people who were armed ... in the compound.” Former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt told German TV the operation could have incalculable consequences in the Arab world at a time of unrest there. “It was quite clearly a violation of international law,” . It was a

view echoed by high-profile Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson.

“It’s not justice. It’s a perversion of the term. Justice means taking someone to court, finding them guilty upon evidence and sentencing them,” Robertson told Australian Broadcasting Corp television from London.

“This man has been subject to summary execution, and what is now appearing after a good deal of disinformation from the White House is it may well have been a coldblooded assassination.”

Robertson said bin Laden should have stood trial, just as World War Two Nazis were tried at Nuremburg or former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was put on trial

at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague after his arrest in 2001.

“The last thing he wanted was to be put on trial, to be convicted and to end his life in a prison farm in upstate New York. What he wanted was exactly what he got - to be shot in mid-jihad and get a fast track to paradise and the Americans have given him that.”

Gert-Jan Knoops, a Dutch-based international law specialist, said bin Laden should have been arrested and extradited to the United States.

“The Americans say they are at war with terrorism and can take out their opponents on the battlefield,” Knoops said. “But in a strictly formal sense, this argument does not stand up.” A senior Muslim cleric in New Delhi, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, said U.S. troops could have easily captured bin Laden.

“America is promoting jungle rule everywhere, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan or Libya.

People have remained silent for long but now it has crossed all limits.”

Palestinian leaders in Cairo for deal, face hitch Reuters

CAIRO – The Palestinian president, who heads Fatah, and the leader of the Islamist group Hamas were in Cairo on Wednesday to endorse a deal to end a four-year rift but a last minute hitch cast doubt on the durability of the accord. The Egyptianbrokered deal, denounced by Israel, calls for forming an interim government to run the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and prepare for a general election within a year.

Palestinians see this reconciliation as crucial for their drive to establish an independent state in the territories

captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

But the ceremony was delayed by a disagreement over protocol shortly before it began over whether Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal should sit on the podium with President Mahmoud Abbas or down among other Palestinian delegates in the hall. “There is a dispute in the protocol over the seating of leaders,” said one Palestinian source, who declined to be named.

“The difference is about where Meshaal will sit, whether he should be on the stage or among leaders of factions.” Officials from all the Palestinian factions had earlier signed the deal that Meshaal and Abbas were expected to

endorse at the ceremony. It was not immediately clear why they were not going to put their own signatures to it.

“The signing has been done, everyone signed. Today is the crowning of this achievement,” said senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath, speaking shortly before the ceremony.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a news conference after a meeting with members of the Israeli Peace Initiative in the West Bank city of Ramallah April 28, 2011.

REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

International

Activities

Thursday, May 5, 2011

5

Ayana becomes 1st hotel in Bali To be tsunami ready certified IBP

JIMBARAN – Ayana Resort and Spa has become the first hotel in Bali to be certified as Tsunami Ready, following a comprehensive audit and training program.

Although Ayana’s cliff-top location 35 meters above the ocean puts it and its guests at low-risk in case of a tsunami, the hotel wanted to be prepared to take care of guests in case of any emergency.

“We may be considered low-risk because of our cliff-top location, but that is no reason to be complacent,” said Ayana’s General Manager Charles de Foucault. “This certification will enable us to safeguard our guests and also assist with people from outside the hotel who may come to Ayana to seek refuge on higher ground, in case of a tsunami.”

Ayana’s 78 private villas and 290room hotel are located on towering cliffs above Jimbaran Bay, on Bali’s southwestern peninsula. The award-winning resort occupies 77 hectares of cliff-top land along a 1.3 kilometer coastline.

Most of its facilities including the Thermes Marins Bali Spa and 10 dif-

ferent dining venues are located on the cliff-top; beach-front facilities comprise the iconic Rock Bar, Spa on the Rocks treatment villas, Ocean Beach Pool, Kisik seafood restaurant, and secluded Kubu Beach.

Alexander Kesper, senior CIM advisor to the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism, congratulated Ayana on being the first hotel to achieve certification, despite it not being at high-risk.

“Ayana exceeded our standards in terms of safety and evacuation procedures, and as a Tsunami Ready Hotel, Ayana guests can be sure that a well prepared team will take care of them in case of emergency,” Alex said.

“Significantly, the resort’s management showed great initiative as they had already registered for Tsunami Ready certification before the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March. That disaster further drives home the need for other hotels to be prepared, especially those located on beach-front land.”

Tsunami Ready is actively supported

by Bali Hotels Association and cooperates with the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Association of South East Asian Nations.

Temple Ceremony Calendar Event forApril 27 through May 23, 2011 27 Apr Pagerwesi Day Laban Sindu Jiwa Temple Kedewatan Ubud Kehen Temple Bangli Wirabuana Temple Magelang Jawa Tengah Padang Sakti Tangtu Temple Denpasar Timur Jogan Agung Temple Ketewel Sukawati Gadung Pengiasan Temple Dauh Puri Denpasar Pasek Gelgel Temple Buruan Kaja Tabanan Pasek Gobleg Temple Kerambitan tabanan Pasek Gelgel Meliling Temple Tabanan Masceti Selasih Temple Sanding Tampak Siring Paek Gaduh Temple Buduk Dadia Pasek Gelgel Temple Kelabang Moding Merajan Pasek Gelgel Sekalan Marga - Tabanan

8 May Redite Umanis Ukir Sangah Gede Dukuh Segening Temple Tegal Tugu Gianyar

2 May Tilem Jiyestha Bhujangga Waisnawa Gumrih Temple Jembrana

17 May Anggar Kasih Kulantir Penataran Tangkas Temple Sukawati Dalem Lagan Temple Bebalang Bangli Puseh Lembeng Temple Ketewel Sukawati Pasek Gelgel Penulisan Temple Kerambitan Tabanan Gaduh Temple Sading Dalem Gandamayu Temple Klungkung Pura Sanghyang Tegal Temple Banjar Taro Kaja Tegalalang

7 May Tumpek Landep Day Pasek Gelgel Temple Pedungan South of Denpasar Agung Pasek Temple Tangun Titi kaler Tabanan Agung Pasek Silamadeg Temple Selamadeg Tabanan Pasek Tangkas Temple Kediri Tabanan Kerta Temple Banyuning Barat Buleleng Dalem Tenggaling Sengguan Tenggaling Sengguan Singapadu Kawitan Arya Wang Bang Pinatih Pinatih Peguyangan Singaraja Bhujangga Weisnawa Temple Tegalcangkring Jembrana Taman Desa Bubunan Temple Seririt Buleleng Penataran Pande Dalem Batur Jati Banjar Pandean Mengwi Dalem Pingit Temple Br, Taro Kaje Tegalalang Dadia Pasek Gelgel Gobleg Selat Village Sukasada Buleleng Batur Arya Warih Kepaon Cengolo Sudimara Tabanan Ida ratu Pande Temple Besakih - Karangasem Mr. Pasek Toh Jiwa Temple Toh Jiwa Tangungtiti Penataran Pande Kusamba Temple Klungkung Penataran Agung Pinatih Tulikup Temple Banjar Menak Desa Tulikup Gianyar

11 May Buda Wage Ukir Pasar Agung Temple Besakih - Karangasem Pasek Bendesa Pasar Badung Temple Legian Kuta Gede Gunung Agung Dukuh Temple Munggu Badung Hyang Agung Ibuwanasari Temple Tegal Puseh Village Temple Temple Bebalang Village Bangli Dalem Perancak Temple Badung Pasek Bendesa Hyang Selat Temple Kerobokan Badung Kekeran Langit Temple Sading Mengwi

18 May Buda Umanis Kulantir Pasek Tangkas kaler Temple Tabanan Gaduh Benoh Temple Ubung Denpasar 22 May Redite Keliwon Tolu Dalem Alas Harum Temple Kaba-kaba Kediri Tabanan 23 May Soma Umanis Tolu Puseh/Balai Agung Ubung Temple Kupang Penebel Tabanan Kawitan Sakula Gotra Temple Kepuh Kaba-kaba Kediri Tabanan Bhujangga Rsi-Tambak Bayuh Temple Bayuh Paibon Tangkas Kori Agung Temple Ceningan KanginNusa Penida Batu Madeg Temple Besakih - Karangasem Penataran Agung Penatih Temple Banjar Saba Penatih

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

News

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Clean-up begins after New Zealand tornado Agence France Presse

WELLINGTON – A major cleanup began in tornado-hit Auckland Wednesday, as authorities in New Zealand’s largest city expressed amazement that the destructive twister resulted in only one death. Winds exceeding 200 kilometres an hour (125 miles an hour) tore through the suburb of Albany when the tornado hit without warning on Tuesday afternoon, flipping cars, uprooting trees and shearing the roof off a shopping mall.

A 37-year-old construction worker, originally from the Philippines, was killed when the swirling winds picked him up and threw him into a concrete wall, civil defence officials said.

Student nurse Sophie Bond said she rushed to help the man, who has not been named, but he had suffered a major head injury and could not be saved. “It was too late, there was a lot of blood and when we rolled him over to try to perform CPR we could see that he had a very bad head wound,” she told Radio New Zealand.

Another 14 people were injured and local MP Jonathan Coleman said it was “a miracle” no one else was killed. “It was a powerful force of

nature, we’re lucky that the damage wasn’t a heck of a lot greater but there’s still quite a mess to clear up today,” he told reporters.

Emergency crews began the clean up at first light, restoring power, removing felled trees and clearing wrecked vehicles from roads. The tornado was the latest in a string of disasters to hit New Zealand, including two earthquakes in Christchurch, the second of which claimed more than 180 lives, and a colliery explosion in November in which 29 miners died.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand said damage from the twister was likely to be “in the tens of millions of dollars”, placing further pressure on an industry already facing billions in payouts from the Christchurch earthquakes.

“Dramatic video footage tells us that the cost will be reasonably high once all claims are in,” chief executive Chris Ryan told the New Zealand Herald. The worst-hit area was the Albany Mega Centre, one of the country’s largest shopping malls.

It remained cordoned off Wednesday but civil defence officials said they were assessing whether parts of it could reopen later in the day.

AP Photo/Grupo Zocalo, Sinhue Samaniego

People wait outside a coal mine in San Juan de Sabinas, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Authorities in northern Mexico said a gas explosion in the mine has trapped 14 miners. There are no deaths reported.

3 dead, 11 trapped in Mexican coal mine explosion AP Photo/New Zealand, Steven McNicholl

A car is crushed by a fallen tree in suburban Auckland, New Zealand after a tornado ripped through Tuesday, May 3, 2011.

The tornado ripped across part of New Zealand’s largest city, upturning cars and sending debris slicing through the air, witnesses and news reports said.

Foreign...

From page 1 “We didn’t found any problem regarding the permit of the foreign workers yet. Hopefully this will con-

tinue in the future,” Erwin said.

The companies always arrange the paper works for the foreign worker and also renew their permit if it is already expire.

Bali Military Chief...

From page 1 The US consulate was a target of a terrorist bomb attack in October 2002.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika had also instructed the tightening of security on the tourist island following the death of Osama bin Laden.

“This is to follow up the instruction of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to step up security in Indonesia,” the governor said here Tuesday.

Security measures will be intensified not only at the gates into Bali, but also places where foreign tour-

ists, especially those from America, usually stay or gather, he said.

“Certainly we are particularly protecting foreign tourists, not only American tourists but all foreign tourists,” he said.

The security of tourists was the responsibility of Bali’s authorities, he said.

“During their stay in Bali, automatically we are responsible for their security and comfort,” Made Mangku Pastika said.

The former Bali Police chief said all security personnel in Bali were now on high alert.

Associated Press Writer

SAN JUAN DE SABINAS, Mexico – A gas explosion in a coal mine in northern Mexico on Tuesday killed three miners, injured one and left 11 others trapped deep underground. Officials said chances were slim that anyone could have survived the massive blast.

Labor Secretary Javier Lozano said mine employees found the bodies of three miners at the front of the blast area, and given the size of the explosion and its force, “the outlook is very bad.” “The truth is that it does not allow us to hold out much hope,” said Lozano, who was at the mine located in San Juan de Sabinas, Coahuila state, about 85 miles (135 kilometers) southwest of Eagle Pass, Texas.

He noted the blast was so strong that it severely wounded a 15-yearold boy who had been working on a conveyor belt outside the mine pit separating coal from tailings.

The boy was taken to a hospital in serious condition, said Jesus Espinoza, a spokesman for mining company BIMSA. Federal prosecutors later said both the boy’s arms had been amputated and that he remained in serious condition.

Lozano said the boy’s employment at the mine was an apparent violation of labor laws. The announcement of the three deaths came just after Mexico said it was

calling in mine rescue experts from Chile to help in the effort.

President Felipe Calderon called on Mexicans “to pray that they are still alive.” Lozano said five mine employees who had been lowered into the mine tunnel were able to operate safely, and that the gas appeared to have dissipated.

A wailing cry went up from about 80 relatives and friends of the trapped miners gathered at the site when a truck from the local morgue showed up at the mine.

“No, Lord, I don’t want this to happen,” said one woman, as relatives clutched one another and wept. The mine had opened just over a month ago, and employed a total of about 25 miners. The 14 miners had gone down the 197-feet (60-meter) deep shaft when the explosion happened early Tuesday.

The national mine workers’ union said in a statement that the mine’s work force was not unionized, and it criticized what it called “the totally unsafe conditions in which coal mines in Mexico, and

especially in this region known as the coal belt, operate.” Officials said they were investigating who was actually operating the mine, because there was conflicting registry data.

And the federal Attorney General’s Office said it had opened an investigation in to the blast, which it said was caused by a gas buildup. A similar blast caused by methane gas killed 65 miners in February 2006 at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in San Juan de Sabinas, near where Tuesday’s explosion occurred.

Rescuers eventually recovered the bodies of two miners from the 2006 blast but tons of wood, rock and metal, as well as toxic gas, prevented the recovery of the others.

Still smarting from criticism about the government’s failings in mine safety, and their inability to recover the bodies from the 2006 blast, federal officials promised aid to the trapped miners’ families and all necessary assistance in the rescue effort.

International

Indonesia Today

Thursday, May 5, 2011

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Greenpeace urges industries to stop polluting Citarum River Antara

JAKARTA - Greenpeace has called on the Indonesian government to take immediate action to curb pollution of freshwater sources at the launch of a public campaign to protect the Citarum River.

The Environment NGO made the appeal during the launch of the Greenpeace Toxic Free Water project entitled “Citarum Nadi Ku, Mari Rebut Kembali” (Let’s Take Back Our Citarum), here Tuesday.

“Greenpeace believes that the vision of a clean Citarum is achievable. We will work together with all stakeholders of this river to take back the Citarum. Poll results confirm that communities know that industrial pollution is poisoning their river, and has very dangerous impacts on their health, environment and livelihoods. With this project we hope to inspire people and catalyze a collective effort to enact solutions to save the Citarum,” said Ahmad Ashov Birry, FOTO ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma Campaigner Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

The launch coincided with the release The picture taken from the air showing the flood near Citarum river, Bandung, West Java. Greenpeace has called on the Indonesian government to take immediate action to curb pollution of freshwater of a public opinion poll conducted by LP3ES that estimates that 81% of people sources at the launch of a public campaign to protect the Citarum River.

in and around Bandung agree that industries should stop polluting Western Java’s most important freshwater source.

As part of the launch, activists from Greenpeace and PKK DAS Citarum (Citarum Community Activists) unfurled a giant banner with a “?”.

Community members also collected river water in a glass jar, as a symbol that Indonesia’s people don’t know what toxic poisons are killing their beloved river.

“Issues of land degradation, erosion, sedimentation, floods, drought and industrial pollution are consequences of massive land use change in Citarum’s basin for the sake of industrial corporations.

Therefore PKK recommends spatial policy reform, reconstruction of green areas around Citarum basin, rehabilitation of critical land in the upstream, implementation of clean production and strict law enforcement,” said Deni Riswandini from PKK DAS Citarum.

The Citarum River provides freshwater for most of West Java Province and also supplies 80 percent of Jakarta. However, the river is recognized as one of the dirtiest in the world.

Police examine suspicious object near Asean Summit venue Antara

Tigthening security

JAKARTA - A police bomb squad examined a suspicious object inside a car parked at the ASEAN Summit venue at Gate 1 Senayan, Gelora Bung Karno, Central Jakarta.

“The bomb squad came to the spot and examined the suspicious object,” said Jakarta Police’s bureau chief Senior Commissary Sujarno here Wednesday.

The suspicious object was located inside an Isuzu Panther minibus that was parked just several hundreds

meters from where the 18th ASEAN summit is to be held starting May 4, 2011. A police line was installed around the car’s location.

One of the police officers said the suspicious object was spotted inside the car with a pile of paper documents on top of it.

Related to Asean Summit, police deploy about 2,000 military personnel at Soekarno-Hatta (Jakarta) and Halim Perdanakusumah (Bandung) airports to maintain security ahead of the arrival of ASEAN heads of state/government and delegations to the ASEAN Summit 2011.

The 2000 personnel received final directives and instructions from Halim Perdanakusmah Air Base commandant Air Commodore Nurullah here on Wednesday.

Ship carrying 2,349 migrant workers arrives in Jakarta Antara

JAKARTA - The MV Labobar, a ship carrying 2,349 migrant workers from Jidda, Saudi Arabia, arrived at Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok seaport here Wednesday at around 4.30 am local time. The ship had left Jidda on April 22, 2011, and made a transit at Teluk Bayur seaport in Padang, West Sumatra, on May 2.

The ship’s arrival in Tanjung Priok was one and half hour earlier than scheduled at 6 am.

Upon the ship’s arrival, 12 passengers were rushed to hospitals because of illnesses such as stroke, heart problems, tuberculosis (TBC), tumor, hemorrhage, and measles, Imam Bukhori of the National

Agency for Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers Overseas (BNP2TKI) said here Wednesday.

The 12 patients were taken to Persahabatan Hospital and Koja Hospital for further medical treatment. There were also four paralyzed people among the just arrived migrant workers but they were not sent to hospital.

Meanwhile, the body of Musrifah (50), one of the migrant workers (TKI) who died on Saturday (April 30) aboard the “Labobar”, was taken to Kramat Jati Police Hospital, East Jakarta, Wednesday (May 4).

“Her body would be given formaldehyde before being flown (to her home town in Pontianak, West

Kalimantan) at 2.30 pm,” Khusnul, an official of BNP2TKI, said.

The 2,349 Indonesian migrant workers (TKIs) who had overstayed their visas were repatriated by the Indonesian government aboard the “Labobar” ship from Jidda port on Friday night (April 22) or Saturday April 23, Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

However, the number changed to 2,352 because during the voyage four expecting mothers gave birth to four babies and one female worker (Musrifah) died.

Earlier, the government had returned a total of 2,073 over-stayer TKIs in four batches in the period of Feb. 14 - March 19, 2011 by Garuda airplanes.

Delegates and parties will begin to arrive on Thursday while heads of state/government of ASEAN arrive on Friday.

“But there are several heads of state/government who will arrive on Thursday such as Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein,” Tri Bowo said.

In the meantime, joint security guards from the National Police and the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) have been deployed to maintain security around the Jakarta Hall Convention Center (JHCC), venue

of the ASEAN Summit.

Security checks have begun to be carried out at the entrance gate of the Bung Karno Sports Stadium where military personnel with complete arms examined each person or vehicle passing through the gate.

The pacification by police and military personnel was also seen in a number spots outside the JHCC building while officers also conducted security checks on the belongings of guests coming into the building.

Six South Korean companies to invest US$52 million in East Java Antara

SURABAYA - Six South Korean companies have made commitments to invest a total of US$52 million in various sectors in East Java. The South Korean companies’ commitment was formalized in memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed by their heads before East Java Governor Soekarwo and Gyeongsangnam-Do Governor Kim Do Kwan here on Wednesday.

The six companies from South Korea are Bo-Kyung, C02 Byo, PT Leader Music, PT Seong Dong Abadi, PT Agro Deka Industri, PT Mitra Lestari Hanjaya. Bo-Kyung, a company engaged in the footwear industry, is to invest US$15 million in Bangil, Pasuruan district.

PT Leader Music would invest US$2 million in the music instrument industry in Mojosari, Mojokerto district. Also in Mojosari, PT Seong Dong Abadi is to invest US$ 10 million in the chemical industry.

PT Agro Deka Industri with an investment value of US$2 million is to operate in an agricultural industry in Bangil, Pasuruan, while PT Mitra Lestari Hanjaya would invest around US$20 million. Soekarwo said six more companies from South Korea would also invest in East Java later and the memorandums of understanding were signed when he visited Seoul last April 5-7, 2011.

“They will relocate their production facilities in South Korea and Vietmam to East Java,” the governor said.

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International

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bali Today Balinese Characters: From Palm-leaf to Keyboards Probably, you have watched or are going to watch arja operetta or Ramayana Ballet during the visit in Bali. It would be more convenient if it is enjoyed while having dinner of Balinese cuisine. At the same time, you watch the beauty of culture and taste the delicacy of local culinary. You may hear the language spoken by players or puppeteer was not understandable.

Of course, it is Balinese language.

As Japanese and Chinese, Balinese language also has its own characters.

They consist of some 18 main characters and 10 vowel sounds. Ordinarily, Balinese characters are used to write palm-leaf manuscript or lontar. Such characters are incised with sharp knife or stylus. When the writing works have completed, they should be rubbed with a blend of oil and lamp shoot to blacken them. So they are visible easily. Since the works were performed manually, the copying of a manuscript took a long time.

At a glance, Balinese characters look like Old Javanese, Tamil (India).

It is inseparable from historical aspect where they had similarity of genealogical lines. Today, Balinese characters still have restricted use, namely at school for local subject from elementary school to senior high school. It is becoming the responsibility of local government to preserve and develop Balinese language in order it could survive in the midst of the growth of other languages like Bahasa Indonesia and foreign languages.

Balinese language poses a medium and spirit of Balinese culture. To preserve Balinese culture should also simultaneously maintain and use of Balinese language in daily life. In other words, speaking Balinese language also characterizes one of the identities as a Balinese. Among the use of other languages, Balinese language should remain to give a space to grow and

develop. Other than speaking and teaching it at schools, it should also accommodate the need of modern community or use in wider functions of language.

Balinese community receives abundant heritages of lontar or palm-leaf manuscripts from the predecessors retained by individuals and museums.

They carry many aspects of knowledge, ranging from philosophy, local healing, literature, architecture, agriculture, herbal practice, astrology and so forth.

Therefore, if they could be interpreted and presented in popular language, they could become attractive information for young generation and saleable books for commercial needs. Today, there is also a trend of poising the tradition with modern science namely by re-interpreting the indigenous wisdoms that are relevant to the current time. People will get balanced inputs from the past and current orientation.

Of course, such treasures will be beneficial for the conservation and future development of Balinese culture because it stays in touch with its original roots. Young generation should be introduced to these roots at early stage.

Later, they will not lose their identity and even could feel proud of it. Moreover, it could give them inspiration in making their creativities, either in fine arts, performance, traditional architecture or herbal healings.

Thanks to modern technology, the writing of Balinese characters now can be made easy by Bali Simbar font. It is the innovative thinking of I Made Suatjana (1986) lies behind the composing of this font. His work has helped the writing of Balinese characters in word processing application like Microsoft Word. Hopefully, there would be more creative software helping the development and learning of Balinese language so it would not come into extinction or be far left behind with the modern life. (BTN/punia)

The death of Osama

Has no impact on tourist visit to Bali Bali Post

DENPASAR — Head of Bali Government Tourism Office, Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, said that tourist visit to Bali was not disturbed by the death of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Conversely, the number of tourist visit was expected to increase because anxiety of tourists about the dangers of terrorism would diminish. However, precautions should still be alerted to prevent any inconvenience causes.

“We hope that after the world’s terrorist mastermind was killed the security would be getting better.

Nevertheless, the community must remain vigilant,” appealed Subhiksu in Denpasar, Tuesday (May 3).

According to him, security issues in tourist destinations were absolutely necessary. Tourism image depended on the security. If tourists did not feel safe on paying a visit to a tourist destination they would automatically not come. When the terrorist mastermind had been killed it was expected that security assurance against terrorist in tourist destinations could be better. “If one of these requirements can be met, we are optimistic if the tourist visits to Bali will increase,” he said.

He explained, so far the tourist visit to Bali was quite good ranging from 7,000 to 7,800 people per day.

On that account, it was expected the

target of 2.6 million tourists in 2011 could be realized. Most of the foreign tourists came from Australia, China, Japan and Europe. “After the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese market shows a decline. Maybe Japanese people are still concentrating on the recovery of their country, so they defer to travel or have sightseeing,” he said.

In the meantime, the Head of Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali Province, I Gde Suarsa, said the number of foreign tourist arrivals since the last March indicated an increase compared to February. In March, the number of foreign tourist visits rose 2.75 percent compared to February 2011. Additionally, if compared to the same period in March of last year, the number of tourist visits in March this year increased by 7.96 percent.

“This increasing number means the

foreign tourist visit is not affected by any issues occurred recently, including other bad issues concerning with Bali such as traffic congestion or the large amount of rubbish,” he said.

According to data of BPS Bali on the nationality of tourist arrival in the period of January-February 2011, Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea occupied the greatest number with respective percentage of 24.84 percent, 10.74 percent, 8.40 percent, 5.79 percent and 4.86 percent. Meanwhile, room occupancy rate for February 2011 in five-star hotels in Bali reached an average of 62.23 percent and the average length of stay of foreign and Indonesian tourists in similar hotels in Bali reached 3.20 nights. Then, if compared to January 2011, the room occupancy rate decreased by 2.43 points and the average length of stay dropped by 0.29 points. (par/kmb13)

Community - Based Conservation in Bali It is generally accepted that each nation of the world, have their own history, which depends on the local situation and condition, as proved by their archeological and historical remains. In this connection, Indonesia for example, has so many interesting monuments, which could be found nearly in the whole of the archipelago namely in Sumatera, Java, Bali, Sulawesi and Eastern Indonesian Island.

Among them are belonged to prehistoric and historic period, which consist of movable and immovable monuments, and made of tangible and intangible material. Based on the function when the monuments were dis-

covered, our monuments could be classified into two groups namely the dead monuments, which were not used any more by local people.

The second one is the living monuments, which until now is still used for religious purpose by the local people as seen in Bali.

It is a matter of facts that only a very few of our monuments have been removed to the government museum to protect them from further deterioration.

The facts mean that most of them are still in its original places, standing alone struggle against all kind of dangers, which are coming from environment and human activities.

IBP/Eka Adhiyasa

Tourists walking at Ground Zero, Legian, Bali Island. Head of Bali Government Tourism Office, Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, said that tourist visit to Bali was not disturbed by the death of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

International

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Balinese Culture Tambusan Be Pasih (Diced Fish Roasted in Banana Leaf) OVERVIEW: The spicy fish dish is excellent for barbeques.

INGREDIENTS: 600 gr (1¼ 1lb) boned mackerel fillets, skin removed and cut in 2.5 cm (1in) cubes ½ cup basic marinade 1 heaped tbsp tamarind pulp, soaked in ¼ cup warm water and juice extracted 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed 1 ½ tsp salt 3 lemon leaves, cut in hair like shreds 3 tbsp oil 2 salam leaves 2 square of banana leaf 30x30cm (10x10 in) FOTO ANTARA/Ismar Patrizki

A staff counting Rupiah in one of the currency exchanges at Jakarta. The Rupiah strengthen against Dollar make exporters suffered revenue lost on export-import transaction.

Rupiah strengthening make businessmen suffer financial loss Antara

Denpasar – Bali Industrial and Trade Department stated that the strengthen of rupiah made the exporters and importers in Bali could suffer financial loss. “It is based on the data that we received from the exporters and importers in Bali,” said the Head of Bali Industrial and Trade Department, Gede Darmaja He explained that the loss could happen because almost all of the value of contract is made in US dollar and if it converted into rupiah,

the value will be less then before.

The other factor is the increasing of production cost because the high price of material.

Darmaja said “we are optimist that the businessmen in Bali will be able to overcome the problem. They could reduce the loss by revising the sale strategy and reducing spending.”

Meanwhile, the head of Bali Businessmen Association (Apindo), Panudiana Kuhn, said that actually it is very good that rupiah can strengthen up to 8,500 rupiah per

dolar. “Many people hope that the rupiah can be 5,000 per dollar so Indonesia will have $100 billion of saving. However, for exporters and tourism businessmen, it will be a hard blow because it could decrease their revenue,” he added.

This is because the contract was made in midterm or long terms basis, 6 months or a year and all was made using US dollar.

“In the contract, 1 dollar worth 9,000 rupiah and it could make the businessmen suffer financial loss,” Panudiana said.

PREPARATION: In deep bowl combine mackerel cubes, spice paste, tamarind juice, crushed black pepper, salt, lime leaf and oil, and mix very well in order to coat fish evenly. Cover and marinate in cool place for 2 hours. Place one salam leaf in center of each piece of banana leaf. Top with half of seafood mix and fold the same way as for Tum Bebek.

Place parcels directly onto moderately hot charcoal and roast very slowly for one hour. Alternatively, bake on rack in a moderate oven or under a grill for about 30 minutes. Serve with Sambal Matah, Sambel Tomat, wedges of lime and steamed rice. (www.baliguide.com/ balifood)

Base Gede (Basic Spice Paste) INGREDIENTS: 300 gr large red chili halved, seeded and chopped 100 gr garlic, peeled and chopped 75 gr ginger, peeled and chopped 500 gr shallot, peeled and chopped 75 gr laos, peeled and chopped 100 gr kencur root, peeled and chopped 175 gr fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped 2½ tbsp dried shrimp paste, roasted 2½ tbsp coriander seed crushed 75 gr candlenut 1¼ tbsp black pepper corn crushed 2½ pinch nutmeg, freshly grated 8 cloves 150 ml coconut oil 250 water ¾ tbsp salt PREPARATION: Combine all ingredients except water in food processor and grind coarsely. Place in heavy sauce pan, add all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for approximately 60 minutes or until all water is evaporated and marinade changes to golden color.

Cool before using. (www.baliguide.com/balifood)

C.045 ibp

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Destinations

International

Yeh Pulu Relief:

Description of Life in Bali Ancient Kingdom BALI is a bijou island, but the content of traditional values, arts, history and culture is not as small as the area. Artistic heritage, history and culture almost spread throughout the nine regencies and city existing on the Island of the Gods. The search on the heritage, arts and cultural relics of this time is to Yeh Pulu Relief.

Relief of the ancient rock stone is located at the Bedulu (Bedahulu) Village, Blahbatuh Subdistrict, Gianyar Regency. Location to Tampaksiring and Kintamani is only about 40 minutes drive from Denpasar City. The entrance to the tourist attraction of holy water is not far from the main road east of Goa Gajah Temple, to the right, into the village street. Visitors should be careful because there are many road junctions without a clue heading for the object of Yeh Pulu Relief, or ask the way to local residents.

The monument in the form of relief becoming the main attraction to tourists, especially foreign tourists, was discovered in 1925 by a courtier or Ubud Royal family. The name was taken from the barrel (or container

International Bali Post Classifieds Contact us

of rice in the past) located at the central axis of purified water nestling in the west of the relief. The word yeh in Balinese language means water and pulu means a barrel.

The appeal of this monument is not only because of the uniqueness of relief sculpture immortalized on the rock stone wall of the hill, but also due to the spread of rice field view along the two-hundred-meters and the sound of clinking water on the left-right path to location is always neatly trimmed and maintained sustainably, emanating a natural beauty.

With such a natural atmosphere, the clear and the sharpness of splashing water are always flowing along the trench making the ambience around this object really peaceful and enchanting. On that account, it is not mistaken if the niches (caves) in southern relief suspected as the hermitage of the last Balinese ancient King before the collapse of Bali to Majapahit administration in 1343.

Relief with magical nuance and meaningful is 25 meters long and 2 meters high. Many researches con-

ducted by experts from home and overseas to recognize the implicit meaning behind the wall relief of the rock cliffs on the hills. As consequence, it drove many commentaries and analysis to uncover the mystery behind the veil of the true meaning of the relief. Overall, the theme of this story recounts the life in the forest atmosphere and daily life in the ancient kingdom of Bali. In addition to the Balinese classical carvings, this monument also has niches of Bedahulu Royal Hermitage before his death against the army of the Majapahit kingdom in 1343 AD. Yeh Pulu Relief poses one of the many historical classical monuments of Bali originating in ancient Bali (14th century AD) retaining full knowledge of art, which until now is still sustainable and be cared by the members of Subak, as one of the classical organizations that in particular organizes farmers and manage all aspects of rice field cultivation. For tourists who would like to visit this object first should purchase admission ticket of the object, at IDR 6,000 for adult and IDR 3,000 for child. (BTN/014)

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

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

Thursday, May 5, 2011

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BUSINESS JP Morgan ADB: 3 billion Asians intends tofund RI infrastruc- could be affluent by 2050 ture projects Associated Press Writer

Antara

JAKARTA - JP Morgan, a leading financial services firm with global scale and reach, is interested in funding infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

A press release from the Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday said JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Demon met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the presidential office here on Tuesday.

It said that at the meeting the head of state was accompanied by Capital Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Chief Gita Wirjawan.

The purpose of Demon’s meeting with the president was to obtain further information about infrastructure projects under the Master Plan of Expansion and Acceleration of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) program.

At the meeting the Indonesian head of state asked JP Morgan to give special attention to the MP3EI program which was launched recently.

JP Morgan, an international financial institution, is expected to be ready to fund the infrastructure projects, and to inform the international community that the investment climate in Indonesia remains promising.

It was indicated by the ratio of debt to the low gross domestic product of 26 percent.

“We have been at the Double B Plus position, and hopefully in the near future we can be Triple B Minus,” Gita Wirjawan said in the press statement.

He said the MP3EI program needed a big amount of funds and therefore JP Morgan was expected to play its role in the program especially in funding infrastructure projects in Indonesia.

JP Morgan is a leading global investment bank with one of the largest client basis in the world.

It serves nearly 20,000 clients, including corporations, governments, states, municipalities, healthcare organizations, education institutions, banks and investors.

Its clients operate in more than 100 countries, offering a complete range of financial services to help them achieve their goals.

The company provides strategic advice, lend money, raise capital, and help manage risks, extend liquidity, and hold global leadership positions in all our major business lines.

MANILA – Some 3 billion Asians could rise to affluent status by 2050 if Asia sustains its present growth momentum and avoids being trapped at middle income levels, according to an Asian Development Bank report.

The report released Wednesday said as the global economy’s center of gravity shifts toward Asia, the region could account for about half of world economic output in 2050, up from the current 27 percent, as well as half of trade and investment.

Under an optimistic “Asian Century” scenario, the region’s gross domestic product would soar to $148 trillion by mid-century. GDP per person on a purchasing power

parity basis would climb to $38,600 compared with the projected 2050 global average of $36,600.

The draft “Asia 2050” report said the less optimistic “Middle Income Trap” scenario assumes that Asia’s fast-growing economies of China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam will have slower growth rates and stagnant income levels over the next five to 10 years. It also assumes that none of Asia’s slow-

growing economies would have faster growth rates.

If these events occur, the report said, Asia would account for only 32 percent or $61 trillion of global GDP in 2050. GDP per capita would also rise to only $20,300, or just over half of what it would be under the more optimistic scenario.

“The difference in outcomes under the two scenarios and thus the opportunity cost of not realizing the

Asian Century scenario is huge, especially in human terms,” said Haruhiko Kuroda, the Manila-based lender’s president.

Under the Asian Century scenario, almost 3 billion Asians would enjoy the fruits of prosperity at least one generation earlier than under the Middle Income Trap scenario, the draft report said.

It warned that poverty still remains pervasive in Asia, with half of all Asians living without basic sanitation and 900 million people in the region with no access to electricity.

The draft report was prepared for ADB’s 2011 annual meeting this week in Vietnam.

Feds sue Deutsche Bank, alleging mortgage fraud Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – The federal government sued Deutsche Bank Tuesday, saying the bank committed fraud and padded its pockets with undeserved income as it repeatedly lied so it could benefit from a government program that insured mortgages.

The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims that the government has had to pay when homeowners defaulted on their mortgages. The lawsuit also asked for punitive damages.

The government said the bank made substantial profits between 2007 and 2009 from the resale of the risky mortgages, leaving the government to foot the bill for loans that defaulted. The mortgage insurance is issued by the Federal Housing Administration.

The lawsuit said the bank carried out the fraud through its subsidiary, MortgageIT, which employed more than 2,000 people at branches in all 50 states. Deutsche acquired MortgageIT in 2007.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the bank “repeatedly and brazenly” engaged in a pattern of reckless lending practices for mortgages “that were really ticking time bombs,” sometimes failing even to verify that a mortgage applicant had a job.

“In fact, they often seemed to treat red flags as if they were green lights,” he said.

Still, the prosecutor said the government found no evidence of the criminal intent necessary to take the case beyond a civil lawsuit.

“Every lie is not a crime,” he said.

In a statement, Deutsche spokeswoman Renee Calabro said the bank had received the complaint and was

reviewing it.

“We believe the claims against MortgageIT and Deutsche Bank are unreasonable and unfair, and we intend to defend against the action vigorously,” she said.

Calabro said nearly 90 percent of the activity described in the lawsuit occurred before Deutsche Bank acquired MortgageIT, which had been an FHA lender operating with government oversight for almost a decade.

Since last fall, federal regulators and attorneys general of all 50 states have been investigating lenders accused of cutting corners and using flawed documents to foreclose on many homeowners. In some cases, employees of financial institutions engaged in so-called robo-signing — approving documents in foreclosures without actually reading them. Foreclosure-fraud class-action lawsuits are

also piling up against major banks nationwide.

Bharara said it “would not be a fantastical stretch to think we are looking at other lending institutions as well.”

The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank sought to recover more than $386 million that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has paid out in FHA insurance claims and related costs arising out of MortgageIT’s approval of more than 3,100 mortgages, among 1,400 loans that have defaulted so far.

It said HUD had paid more than $97 million in FHA claims and related costs arising out of more than 600 mortgages that defaulted within six months.

HUD sets the rules for the FHA mortgage insurance program, including requirements relating to the adequacy of the borrower’s income to meet mortgage payments, the borrower’s creditworthiness and the ap-

propriateness of the valuation of the property being purchased.

The lawsuit said Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT failed to comply with HUD rules and regulations regarding required quality control procedures, and then lied about their purported compliance.

The government said the quality control violations were egregious, including the failure to review all early payment defaults and to implement minimal quality control processes.

The lawsuit noted that MortgageIT hired an outside vendor, Tena Companies Inc., to conduct quality control reviews of closed FHA-insured loans in 2004 but then never read letters that Tena wrote identifying serious underwriting violations.

“Instead, MortgageIT employees stuffed the letters, unopened and unread, in a closet in MortgageIT’s Manhattan headquarters,” the lawsuit said.

AFP PHOTO/Philippe Lopez

A tea shop employee uses a calculator in Shanghai on May 4, 2011. While China’s government has been on edge over spiralling prices with China’s consumer price index rising 5.4 percent year-on-year in March well above the government’s 2011 target of four percent.

12

Entertainment

Thursday, May 5, 2011

International

Nielsen: 56 million watch Obama’s bin Laden speech Associated Press Writer

AFP PHOTO / Chris KLEPONIS

US President Barack Obama announces the death of Osama Bin Laden at The White ouse in Washington DC, May 1, 2011.

NEW YORK – Despite the late hour in the East, President Obama’s speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden had an audience of 56.5 million viewers.

The Nielsen Co. says Sunday’s audience was larger than Obama’s recent prime-time addresses, including his March 28 speech on Libya. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nielsen says it was Obama’s biggest audience since election night in 2008. On that night, about 70 million people were watching election coverage during the period that included Obama’s speech.

Sunday’s audience is evidence of how quickly word spread and interest in the story no matter the hour. Obama did not begin speaking until 11:35 p.m. on the East Coast, the night before the start of the work and school week. The speech was carried on ABC, CBS, NBC, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, Fox News, HLN and MSNBC.

Berlin swimming pool hosts underwater opera Agence France Presse

BERLIN – A specially composed opera with a difference premiered in a Berlin swimming pool this week, with singers performing in and out and even under the water.

“Aquaria Palaoa” is the brainchild of Claudia Herr, a champion swimmer in her youth before turning to singing, who plays the lead role, diving into the Stadtbad Neukoelln pool in her green evening dress.

With the help of oxygen tanks strapped to her back, Herr sings underwater, with the whale-like sounds she produces transmitted onto speakers situated around the swimming pool with the help of special microphones. Her voice and those of other singers — who also sing underwater but without oxygen tanks — are mixed with sounds recorded 100 metres (330 feet) under an ice shelf in Antarctica. The orchestra stays dry, seated around the pool.

The opera tells the story of a young woman looking for the

elixir of eternal youth. In her quest she comes across a killer whale — played by a man in a black costume — and a choir of seals.

There is also a message on climate change and pollution, with rubbish bins placed in the pool. Before the premiere on Sunday evening a live phone call with the Alfred Wegener Institute’s Neumayer base in Antarctica took place.

Herr told AFP she first had the idea for the opera when she visited the art nouveau Stadtbad Neukoelln, built almost a century ago and complete with neo-classical pillars, for the first time 10 years ago for a swim. “I felt like I was at the opera,” she said.

For the opera Herr teamed up with composer Susanne Stelzen.

“Before agreeing to do it, I listened to music in the bath,” she told AFP. “Sound underwater is much weaker, it is muted. But that gives it a bit of a mystical quality.” The opera runs from May 1 until September 17.

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures-Marvel Studios, Zade Rosenthal

In this film publicity image released by Paramount Pictures, Chris Hemsworth, left, and Anthony Hopkins are shown in a scene from the film, “Thor.”

Review: ‘Thor’ rumbles, never quite roars Associated Press Writer

The Norse gods are off to a decent, though not divine, start in “Thor,” the latest movie in Marvel Comics’ big-screen expansion of its superhero pantheon. Held to a more brisk running time than some superhero epics that swell to Elizabethan stage proportions, “Thor” nevertheless manages to cram in a lot of Shakespearean intrigue.

Director Kenneth Branagh, whose big-screen Shakespeare adaptations include “Hamlet” and “Henry V,” pits father against son and brother against brother, with loads of palatial pride, envy, rivalry and resentment driving the action. The human part of the equation often is where “Thor” comes up short, as in the puny humans of whom the god, played by statuesque Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, supposedly becomes so fond.

Fresh off her Academy Award win for “Black Swan,” Natalie Portman as Thor’s mortal love interest is a surprisingly insubstantial presence. We have to be told by a colleague that Portman’s Jane Foster is a “master physicist,” but there’s little in the actress’ demeanor to make you believe it.

Thor is the god who fell to Earth, but why he wants to stay among these little Earthlings never feels genuine, given the far cooler place he calls home. That place is Asgard, the dwelling of superpowered beings who, in Marvel’s reworking of mythology, became objects of worship among the ancient Norsemen.

Hemsworth’s Thor is in line to inherit the throne from his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), over his scheming brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). But after Thor defies his dad and leads a mission of revenge against old enemies on the ice planet Jotunheim, Odin strips his cocky son of his power and his mighty hammer, banishing him to Earth to learn some humility. In the New Mexico desert, Thor falls in

with scientist Jane, her mentor (Stellan Skarsgard) and their wisecracking assistant (Kat Dennings, who keeps the movie lively with her comic timing and delivery).

The Asgard sets are impressive, but while the celestial setting of this heavenly dominion gleams, it often looks fake, even cartoonish. “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings” have presented much better fantasy lands.

The action sequences also are muddled at times, though an armored guy smashing things with a giant hammer certainly is a fresh take on superhero violence.

The plot — credited to three screenwriters and two story developers, among them Marvel Comics scribe J. Michael Straczynski — is a bit unfocused, since it not only has to relate Thor’s journey but also help set up next year’s superhero ensemble tale “The Avengers.”

That film will team Thor with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo’s Incredible Hulk, Chris Evans’ Captain America and other Marvel heroes.

“Songs for Japan” charity album raises $5 million Reuters

AFP/Unterwasseroper/File/Reichelt

This handout picture taken in April 2011 shows actors rehearsing a scene of the “AquAria Palaoa” underwater opera at the Stadtbad Neukoelln public swimming pool in Berlin.

LONDON – A charity album featuring hits from the likes of Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan and Madonna has raised $5 million for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the record labels involved said on Wednesday.

The album “Songs For Japan,” a collaboration between the world’s

biggest record companies, was released a month ago and has been on sale in digital format and as a two-disc CD set. It was available from March 25 on iTunes and from April 4 as a CD. Organizers said the Japanese Red Cross Society last month received $2 million on behalf of featured artists, songwriters, labels, publishers and iTunes, who

waived their royalties and proceeds. A further payment of $3 million was made on Monday.

More than 500,000 copies of the album have been sold so far in all formats. Songs For Japan featured 38 hits and classic songs, including “Imagine” by John Lennon, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” by Elton John and “Pray” by Justin Bieber.

Science

International

Thursday, May 5, 2011

13

Despite rapid growth, India lets its girls die Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/John McConnico, File

FILE - In this July 19, 2007 file photo an iceberg is seen off Ammassalik Island in Eastern Greenland. A new assessment of climate change in the Arctic shows the ice in the region is melting faster than previously thought and sharply raises projections of global sea level rise this century.

Report sees sharper sea rise from Arctic melt Associated Press Writer

STOCKHOLM – The ice of Greenland and the rest of the Arctic is melting faster than expected and could help raise global sea levels by as much as 5 feet this century, dramatically higher than earlier projections, an authoritative international assessment says.

The findings “emphasize the need for greater urgency” in combating global warming, says the report of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), the scientific arm of the eight-nation Arctic Council.

The warning of much higher seas comes as the world’s nations remain bogged down in their two-decadelong talks on reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Rising sea levels are expected to cause some of global warming’s worst damage — from inundated small islands to possible flooding of New York City’s subways.

Oceans will not rise uniformly

worldwide, because of currents, winds and other factors, but such low-lying areas as Bangladesh and Florida will likely be hard-hit.

The new report, whose executive summary was obtained by The Associated Press, is to be delivered to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and foreign ministers of the other seven member nations at an Arctic Council meeting next week in Greenland. It first will be discussed by some 400 international scientists at a conference this week in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Drawing on improved research techniques and recent scientific papers, the AMAP report updates

forecasts made by the U.N.’s expert panel on climate change in its last major assessment in 2007.

The melting of Arctic glaciers and ice caps, including Greenland’s massive ice sheet, is projected to help raise global sea levels by 35 to 63 inches (90 to 160 centimeters) by 2100, AMAP said, although it noted that estimate was highly uncertain.

That’s up from the 2007 projection of 7 to 23 inches (19 to 59 centimeters) by the U.N. panel. The U.N. group had left out the possible acceleration of melting in Greenland and Antarctica, saying research on that hadn’t advanced sufficiently by the mid-2000s. The U.N. estimate was based largely on the expansion of ocean waters from warming and the runoff from melting land glaciers elsewhere in the world. Now the AMAP assessment finds that Greenland was losing ice in the 2004-2009 period four times faster than in 1995-2000.

MORENA, India – The room is large and airy, the stone floors clean and cool — a welcome respite from the afternoon sun. Until your eyes take in the horror that it holds. Ten severely malnourished children — nine of them girls. The starving girls in this hospital ward include a 21month-old with arms and legs the size of twigs and an emaciated 1year-old with huge, vacant eyes. Without urgent medical care, most will not live to see their next birthday.

They point to a painful reality revealed in India’s most recent census: Despite a booming economy and big cities full of luxury cars and glittering malls, the country is failing its girls.

Early results show India has 914 girls under age 6 for every 1,000 boys. A decade ago, many were horrified when the ratio was 927 to 1,000.

The discrimination happens through abortions of female fetuses and sheer neglect of young girls, despite years of high-profile campaigns to address the issue. So serious is the problem that it’s illegal for medical personnel to reveal the gender of an unborn fetus, although evidence suggests the ban is widely circumvented.

“My mother-in-law says a boy is necessary,” says Sanju, holding her severely malnourished 9-month-old daughter in her lap in the hospital.

She doesn’t admit to deliberately starving the girl but only shrugs her own thin shoulders when asked why her daughter is so sick. She will try again for a son in a year or two, she says.

Part of the reason Indians favor sons is the enormous expense in marrying off girls. Families often go into debt arranging marriages and paying elaborate dowries. A boy, on the other hand, will one day bring home a bride and dowry. Hindu custom also dictates that only sons can light their parents’ funeral pyres.

But it’s not simply that girls are more expensive for impoverished families. The census data shows that the worst offenders are the relatively wealthy northern states of Punjab and Haryana.

In Morena, a sun-baked, largely rural district in the heart of India, the numbers are especially grim. This census showed that only 825 girls for every 1,000 boys AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi in the district made In this photo taken Wednesday, April 13, 2011, one it to their sixth year and 9-month-old Sania cries as she is birthdays, down weighed only 5 kilograms (11 pounds) on a scale from an already after eating a meal at a ward for malnourished troubling 829 a de- children at a government hospital in Morena in the cade ago.

Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh.

NASA says no shuttle launch until early next week Associated Press Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA says the next-to-last space shuttle launch is off for at least another week. Friday’s launch attempt was scuttled by a bad fuse box aboard

AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

the shuttle Endeavour. NASA managers met Monday and decided they needed more time to replace and test the fuse box.

They said Endeavour won’t launch before Tuesday, May 10.

Endeavour is making its final voy-

Space shuttle Endeavour is seen at Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Saturday, April 30, 2011. Yesterdays’ launch attempt was scrubbed due to technical problems.

age before NASA ends the program with one last flight this summer.

Endeavour’s commander, Mark Kelly, is married to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The wounded Arizona congresswoman traveled to Kennedy Space Center last week but returned to a Houston rehab hospital when the launch was called off. A spokesman says she’ll return for the next try.

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International

World Cup final ref Webb gets United-Chelsea clash Agence France Presse

LONDON – World Cup final referee Howard Webb will be in charge for the potentially Premier League title-deciding clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend, it was announced on Tuesday.

Victory for Chelsea on Sunday would see them go ahead of United on goal difference with just two games of the season left.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has resorted to a familiar tactic recently in complaining about the number of decisions that have gone against his side.

He was given a five-game

touchline ban after criticising referee Martin Atkinson for his performance during the first league meeting this season between the two sides at Stamford Bridge in March.

However, Webb - in charge for Spain’s victory over the Netherlands during last year’s World Cup final in South Africa - ruled in United’s favour when he gave them a penalty against Liverpool in an FA Cup tie earlier this season. That led to Ryan Babel posting a mocked-up picture of the Yorkshireman wearing a United shirt on Twitter, a gesture that saw the Dutchman fined £10,000 ($16,530).

FC Barcelona’s Eric Abidal is lifted by other players at the end of the match against the Real Madrid during a semifinal, second leg Champions League soccer match at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Tuesday May 3, 2011.

AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti

Barca in final after seeing off arch rivals Real Reuters

BARCELONA - Barcelona’s slick football at a rain-swept Nou Camp had Real Madrid chasing shadows for long periods again as the Catalans reached the Champions League final after a 1-1 draw sent the 2009 winners through 3-1 on aggregate. Barca, in the final for the second time in three years, built on their lead from an ill-tempered first leg in Madrid when Pedro rifled in after 54 minutes.

AFP/File/Ian Kington

World Cup final referee Howard Webb, pictured in March 2011, will be in charge for the potentially Premier League title-deciding clash between Manchester United and Chelsea at Old Trafford this weekend, it was announced on Tuesday.

Marcelo gave Real some hope with an equaliser 10 minutes later but their challenge petered out against the three-times European champions. “There has been a great deal of effort behind this, a team that returned from the World Cup almost without having a

FIFA to test goal line tech by July 2012 Agence France Presse

ZURICH – Football’s lawmakers will reevaluate controversial goal line technology in July 2012 after a fresh battery of tests on equipment, FIFA said on Tuesday. World football’s governing body invited equipment makers to take part in a two-stage technical testing process between September 2011 and March 2012, which will be verified by an independent technical institute.

“The final results of this evaluation will be presented to the International Football Association Board (IFAB) at a special meeting in July 2012,” FIFA said in a statement. “The tests will be conducted in two phases at a football stadium selected by the respective technology providers, in consultation with FIFA.” FIFA has softened its stance on the use of goalline technology to help referees since last year’s World Cup, when a goal scored by England midfielder Frank Lampard against Germany was wrongly disallowed.

About 10 different goal-line technology systems have been tested but so far none has been up to the necessary standard, according to the IFAB. The first battery of tests in daylight and floodlit conditions between September and December 2011 will check the required goal scoring indicator to a bracelet worn by the referee,

the range of the signal and demand 90 to 100 percent accuracy on different types of shots.

The standards will be raised on a second set of tests on shortlisted equipment from March to June 2012 under simulated match conditions, different surfaces and weather conditions.

The IFAB — made up of FIFA and the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — decided in March to look at technological aids again.

AFP/File/Adrian Dennis

LFootball’s lawmakers will re-evaluate controversial goal line technology in July 2012 after a fresh battery of tests on equipment, FIFA said on Tuesday.

break,” Barca coach Pep Guardiola told Spanish television referring to the players who were world champions with Spain last year.

“Just let us enjoy this moment,” he added, when asked about the controversy of recent weeks. Bad blood had boiled up between the Spanish giants around four meetings in three competitions in 18 days and the final game of the series was again marred by diving.

Barca’s success was payback for last month’s King’s Cup final defeat, as well as giving them a measure of revenge over Real coach Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese, who was absent from the bench after being sent to the stands in last week’s first leg, knocked the Catalan club out at the same stage last season with Inter Milan before leading the Italian club to victory in the final. Real’s players spent long periods chasing the ball as the Barca players sent it fizzing across the slick surface and they would have been out of sight by halftime if not for a slew of brilliant saves from goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

The Spanish World Cup-winner was finally beaten when Pedro raced on to Andres Iniesta’s through ball and slotted into the corner.

Real got their first goal of the tie when fullback Marcelo followed up to score after Angel Di Maria struck the post but there was no way back for the ninetimes winners. While there was no repeat of the ugly scenes that marred last week’s ill-tempered

first leg, referee Frank De Bleeckere brandished six yellow cards — five to Real players — in another tetchy contest. A massive thunderstorm had broken over the stadium a couple of hours before kickoff, drenching the huge arena.

The adverse weather conditions did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Barca faithful, who were in fine voice at the packed, nearly 100,000-capacity arena. World Player of the Year Lionel Messi, who scored both goals in the first leg and is the competition’s top scorer with 11, was a near-constant threat to the Real goal in the first half and was twice denied by superb Casillas saves.

The Argentina forward released striker David Villa into space in the 34th minute but Casillas was equal to his Spain team mate’s curling shot. As the match wore on, Mourinho’s assistant, Aitor Karanka, and the Real players appeared powerless in the face of the relentless Barca tackling and possession and they managed just one shot on target to Barca’s six.

“We have to lift our heads up and be proud,” Real captain Casillas said in an interview with Spanish television as the Barca players celebrated wildly on the pitch. “Anything we say now could be used against us,” he added, referring to the controversy that led to the clubs filing complaints about each other with UEFA. European soccer’s governing body opened its own probe into the pair and is due to rule on Friday.

Sport

International

Thursday, May 5, 2011

15

Miami put heat on Celtics, Thunder level series Reuters

MIAMI – The Miami Heat piled the pressure on bruised and battered Boston by taking a 2-0 lead in their NBA playoff series with a 102-91 victory on Tuesday.

AFP PHOTO / ANDREJ ISAKOVIC

World number two tennis player Serbian Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Romanian Adrian Ungur during their match at ATP World Tour 250 tournament on April 27, 2011, in Belgrade.

Djokovic won with a 6-2, 6-3.

Djokovic hopes to keep living undefeated tennis dream Agence France Presse

MADRID, France – Novak Djokovic, untouchable to date in a season which has seen him rack up 27 wins for no losses, admitted Tuesday he’s living a tennis dream which cannot go on. The second seed at the ATP-WTA Madrid Masters owns five titles coming into his first serious clay test of the spring in Madrid as the French Open start on May 22 draws near.

“I don’t think it’s realistic to go without a defeat in the first for months of the season,” admitted the Serb as he prepared to face an opening match against South African Kevin Anderson, a winner over Olivier Rochus in the first round 6-2, 6-4. “But anything is possible if you believe you can achieve it and you are fit physically and mentally fresh, motivated and dedicated to the sport,” said the world number two behind Rafael Nadal.

“I’ve been working very hard on my game, my mental approach over the past few years and now

it’s paying off. There is no secret.”

Djokovic, who latest trophy triumph came at his family-owned Serbian Open on Sunday, added: “I always knew I had the quality, I just needed to get things together - and that’s happening right now.”

But Djokovic does not believe his dream can go on forever. “I don’t believe I can win every match on clay, but I’ll take it one match at a time and we’ll see how far it can go.”

While Djokovic, who played Madrid in 2009 with a marathon semi-final loss to Rafael Nadal and withdrew last year with illness, was psyching up for battle, Estoril champion Juan Del Potro was reaching the second round, defeating 13th seed Mikhail Youzhny 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open champion, missed more than eight months of play last season after wrist surgery but has now won two titles in 2011. He has claimed victories in 24 or 28 matches since February as his return towards the elite gains pace.

Quicker and more athletic than the veteran Celtics, who were hampered by a series of nagging injuries, the Heat again met the challenge of the defending Eastern Conference champions and have a commanding lead in the bestof-seven second-round series with Game Three set for Saturday in Boston.

In the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder slowed the inside force of the Memphis Grizzlies in a 111-102 victory that leveled their series 1-1. Kevin Durant scored 26 points and the Thunder held red-hot Zach Randolph to 2-for-13 shooting as Oklahoma City bounced back from their series-opening loss to the giantkilling Grizzlies.

In Miami, LeBron James took his turn to carry the load with 24 of his game-high 35 points coming in the second half, while Game One standout Dwyane Wade added 28. “This is a great team we’re going against right now,” James told reporters. “We’re playing as hard as we can defensively and just trying to wear them down throughout the course of the game.”

“They made a run but we stuck to our principles and finally wore them down.” With the game tied 80-80 midway through the fourth, the Heat exploded with a 14-0 burst to put the contest out of reach.

Boston’s Paul Pierce, who was ejected from the contentious seriesopener with two technical fouls in the fourth quarter, returned from a strained left foot but the injury forced him off the court briefly in the first quarter. Ray Allen also played with a bruised chest following a collision with James in the third.

Rajon Rondo led the way with 20

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP

Dwyane Wade #3 of the Miami Heat drives against Kevin Garnett #5 of the Boston Celtics during Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals of the 2011 NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Arena on May 3, 2011 in Miami, Florida. points and 12 assists for Boston who Having allowed 34 points from trailed by five points after both the sec- Memphis’s Zach Randolph in Game ond and third quarters.

One, the Thunder restricted him to just The Celtics will have to regroup at 15 points, as they charged to a 28-17 home if they are to take down Miami’s lead after the first quarter and stretched “Big Three,” who were brought to- it to 97-76 in the fourth. Russell gether in the off-season to challenge Westbrook had 24 points and James Boston’s supremacy. Chris Bosh, the Harden put in 21 for the Thunder. Mike Heat’s final member of the triumvirate, Conley led the way with 24 points for finished with 17 points and 11 re- Memphis who will host Game Three bounds. on Saturday.

Florence wants 2014 Tour de IOC on bin Laden: no bearing on Olympic security France ‘Grand Depart’ Associated Press Writer

Agence France Presse

PARIS – Italian city Florence officially launched its bid to host the start of the 2014 Tour de France, according to race organisers Wednesday, as part of its celebrations to honour Italian cycling great Gino Bartali. Bartali won the world’s biggest bike race twice, 10 years apart in 1938 and 1948.

Surprisingly, Florence would become the first Italian city to host a ‘Grand Depart’ — when the host city and surrounding region hosts the opening stages of the race, such as London in 2007 and Rotterdam in 2010. Given Italy’s proximity to France, Tour director Christian

Prudhomme hinted it could be time to redress the balance.

“From a geographical and historical point of view, it’s almost abnormal that the Tour has never started in Italy,” Prudhomme told AFP. The world’s biggest bike race usually has Grand Departs in foreign cities on alternate years, and has already received bids from Spain (Barcelona), Scotland (Edinburgh), England (Yorkshire), Netherlands (Limburg, Utrecht), Germany (Mannheim), Austria (Tyrol, Salzburg) and Qatar.

The west coast region of Vendee will host the start of the 2011 edition, the Belgian city of Liege will

host the Grand Depart in 2012 and the French island of Corsica is favourite to host the start of the 100th edition of the race in 2013.

For 2014, organisers have also received bids from the Liguria province in Italy, close to the French border, and been contacted by a delegation from Venice led by a relation of Ottavio Bottecchia, a two-time yellow jersey winner in the 1920s.

The Tour last raced through Italy in 2008, when stage 15 — won by Australian Simon Gerrans — ended on Prato Nevoso in the Italian Alps, starting the next day in the nearby Italian town of Cuneo.

DOHA, Qatar – IOC President Jacques Rogge said security at next year’s London Olympics remains the “top priority” and is not affected by the death of Osama bin Laden.

Rogge declined to comment Monday on the killing of the AlQaida leader by U.S. forces in Pakistan, calling it a “political issue.” But he said the International Olympic Committee’s security strategy has remained the same since the killing of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Games.

“Security has always been our concern,” Rogge said in Doha, where he attended a conference on sports and the environment. “Right

from the Munich Games, we’ve been giving top priority to it. But as far as enhancing security is concerned, it’s up to the respective governments and associations to take care of it.”

Security at next year’s London Olympics has always been a top issue for British organizers. The terror threat was brought home the day after London was awarded the games in 2005, when homegrown suicide bombers attacked the city’s transit network, killing 52 people.

The British government has repeatedly said the national terror threat will remain at the “severe” level during the Olympics, just one notch below the most extreme level of “critical” and meaning an attack is “highly likely.”

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Sport

News Corp explores F1 takeover with Ferrari backer Associated Press Writer

LONDON – Formula One’s owners have been approached

by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. about a potential joint takeover bid with the investors behind Ferrari, the sport’s oldest team. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, which has owned the rights to F1 since 2006, said Tuesday it has received a “friendly” approach from News Corp.

Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, has a controlling 30 percent stake in global automaker Fiat Group — the majority owner of sports car manufacturer Ferrari, which has competed in every F1 championship since it was launched in 1950. CVC maintains that it is not actively trying to sell F1, but a statement opens the door to future takeover talks. “(News Corp. chairman and chief executive) James Murdoch has informed us that the approach is friendly, at a very preliminary stage, and that they acknowledge that Formula One is privately owned by CVC and not currently for sale,” CVC said.

“CVC recognizes the quality of

Exor and News Corporation as potential investors, but any investment in Formula One will require CVC’s agreement and will need to demonstrate that it is in the interest of the sport and its stakeholders, taken as a whole.”

News Corp. showed how seriously it is pursuing a potential bid by making its first public comments on the matter from New York. In a joint statement with Exor, News Corp. announced they are discussing the “possibility of creating a consortium with a view to formulating a long-term plan for the development of Formula One in the interests of the participants and the fans.”

The companies added that “over the coming weeks and months ...

they will approach potential minority partners and key stakeholders in the sport.”

But they cautioned that there “can be no certainty” they will go ahead with a bid for the sport which F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has valued F1 at around $6 billion, A potential stumbling block to any takeover is the current Concorde Agreement between F1’s commercial rights holder, its governing body FIA and the participating teams.

A clause in the agreement, which expires at the end of the 2012 season, stipulates that races should be shown on free-to-air television where possible rather than on subscription networks that have proved so profitable for Murdoch.

News Corp.’s U.S. media outlets include Fox Television, while the British government has approved its plans to buy the 61 percent of satellite broadcaster BSkyB it does not already own.

Another hurdle to overcome would be Turin-based Exor being part of a bid for the sport given that it controls Ferrari through Fiat.

AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File

McLaren seeks exhaust flow answers RED Bull Racing’s qualifying advantage could be helped by ‘elaborate’ engine mapping that helps make its blown diffuser more effective over a single lap. That is the view of McLaren principal race engineer Phil Prew, who says his team is working hard on getting a

grips as to why rivals Red Bull Racing have more of an advantage in qualifying than they do in a race.

“We are aiming to improve the performance of our car right the way through the range, in qualifying and in the race,” said Prew, during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

McLaren Formula One driver Jenson Button of Britain drives his car during the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix in Shanghai, China, Sunday, April 17, 2011

phone-in, about where he believes Red Bull’s advantage lies.

“I think tyre optimisation may be one area, and the use of elaborate engine modes may be another - with the generation of downforce being quite highly influenced with the exhaust flows. “There are many reasons why it may exist and we are aiming to improve our performance in qualifying and the race, and hopefully close in both areas.”

F1 teams last year began experimenting with engine modes that pump more exhaust gases out - to help increase the airflow through a blown diffuser. This also included having gases flowing through the exhausts when drivers were offthrottle.

Red Bull Racing could be using a more extreme version of such engine mapping to dramatically increase exhaust flow in qualifying but this would likely put a strain on its Renault power unit which could threaten reliability in the races. Prew believes that McLaren is only a few tenths of a second behind Red Bull Racing in terms of out-and-out pace.

“I think that we are between three tenths and half a second off the pace of Red Bull, and obviously that is the gap that we are aiming to close,” he said.

FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2009 file photo, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone walks on the starting grid prior to the start of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix auto race at the Yas Marina racetrack , in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.