Edisi 12 Februari 2014 | International Bali Post

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Entertainment

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Oscar nominees hobnob three weeks ahead of Hollywood’s big night Reuters

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - This year’s Oscar nominees gathered for the ultimate Hollywood power lunch on Monday in a celebration of the old adage “it’s an honor just to be nominated” three weeks before the film industry’s biggest night. The annual Oscars nominees luncheon convened more than 200 contenders pursuing an Academy Award on March 2 - from 18-time nominee Meryl Streep for best actress in “August: Osage County” to Lupita Nyong’o, who won a best supporting actress nod for her first film role ever in “12 Years a Slave.”

The eclectic group of movie stars, directors and technical wizards even boasted U2 frontman Bono, who lined up for the “class picture” thanks to his best song nomination for “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

While no one is foolish enough to look confident of a win before Academy members begin voting on Friday, Monday’s luncheon was a chance to turn on the charm by praising the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the magic of Hollywood filmmaking.

“I’m going to celebrate no matter what,” said Matthew McConaughey, the presumed frontrunner for best actor for his role as an unlikely AIDS activist in the low-budget “Dallas Buyers Club,” for which he won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards.

“This is my first time nominated and if I ever get nominated again, who knows,” he added.

“But there will never be another first time, so I’m going to enjoy this.”

Cate Blanchett, the favorite to win best actress for her role as a disgraced socialite in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” said this nomination “certainly took me by surprise.” “You’re part unconscious when you’re working deeply, but it’s always a thrill, particularly because I’ve been away from the film industry for so long,” Blanchett said.

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

Georgia braces for 2nd snowstorm in 2 weeks

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Somali piracy thriller “Captain Phillips.” For the nine films nominated in the best picture category, odds appear to be strongest for the brutal slavery drama “12 Years a Slave,” space thriller “Gravity” and 1970s corruption caper “American Hustle,” which have all won top prizes in the awards season and lead the Oscar nominations.

One challenge facing “12 Years a Slave,” is the reputation it has earned as a film that is hard to watch. But British director Steve McQueen said he believed he was winning the battle against that notion. “It just shows you that audiences are interested in challenging films. Audiences are interested in films that give them a perspective of their history,” said McQueen.

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

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Mourinho stokes up feud with Man City

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Italian President Napolitano under fire over Monti appointment

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‘INTERESTED IN CHALLENGING FILMS’ This year’s Oscars nominations reflect a field crowded with high-quality films and a large number of strong performances that resulted in notable exclusions. At the luncheon, many attendees lamented that Tom Hanks was not there for his acclaimed role in the

Alain Resnais fuses art forms in new comedy at Berlin festival Reuters

BERLIN - At 91-years-old, veteran French filmmaker Alain Resnais shows no sign of letting up his experimentation, drawing on theatre, graphic illustration and cinema in his

Alan Resnais

IBP/ist

whimsical comedy “Life of Riley” that premiered at Berlin’s festival on Monday. In his third adaptation of a play by Britain’s Alan Ayckbourn, the lives of three couples are shaken up by the news their good friend George Riley is ill and has just months to live.

The news rekindles old emotions, and the three women start fighting to look after George in his last weeks and accompany him on his last holiday, creating unexpected and tragicomic tumult in their middle-aged, respectable relationships.

Through George’s imminent death, they all seem to come alive. As Kathryn, played by Resnais’ wife Sabine Azéma, says - it is as if George, the invisible character around which all revolves, had a scheme in mind.

Actress Sandrine Kiberlain, who plays George’s estranged wife, told a news conference in Berlin that the French title of the film, “Aimer, boire et chanter” (to love, drink and sing), “reflects the message of let’s live our lives to the full”. Resnais, a doyen of French cinema who found fame in the 1950s with hits “Hiroshima mon amour” and “Night and Fog”, was too ill to make the screening in Berlin but remains true to form on creativity.

Punctuated by graphic illustrations of the houses where the characters live and panoramas of the English countryside, the action takes place in an artificial, cardboard cut-out studio world, underscoring the film’s theatricality. The characters themselves are amateur actors rehearsing scenes, presenting the viewer with a play within a play.

“Alain started by telling us he wanted to make a film that would pay homage to theatre, cinema and radio, and also comics and graphic novels,” said Kiberlain.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Journalists doing stand up report in front of villa where Corby stay after her released from jail on Monday, February 10, 2014. Schapelle Corby faced criticism Tuesday that she is cashing in on her crime, as reports she has been offered millions for her first post-jail interview were played down by the Australian network trying to sign her up.

Corby’s TV interview deal sparked controversy Agence France-Presse

SEMINYAK - Freed drug trafficker Schapelle Corby faced criticism Tuesday that she is cashing in on her crime, as reports she has been offered millions for her first post-jail interview were played down by the Australian network trying to sign her up.

Channel Seven was widely reported to have secured the first interview with the 36-year-old for up to AUS$2 million (US$1.8 million) following her release on parole Monday from prison on Bali island.

But reporter Mike Willesee said Tuesday that no deal had been finalised, calling reports of the sums involved “silly” and insisting the money being discussed was “considerably lower”.

His comments came as contro-

versy builds about whether Corby should be allowed to profit from her more than nine years behind bars, with experts divided on whether Australian law would permit it.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously made clear that Corby should not be allowed to profit while on Tuesday Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey tweeted that it would send “all the wrong messages”.

Corby’s case has been the subject of huge fascination back home ever since her 2004 arrest in Bali,

a favourite holiday spot for Australians, with marijuana stashed in her surfing gear.

She fought through a huge media scrum with her face covered on her release Monday before being whisked away to a luxury resort and spa in Bali’s upmarket Seminyak district.

The first picture of Corby without her face covered since her release was published Tuesday in an Australian magazine, showing her smiling as she drank a beer with

her brother.

But which organisation has secured the first sit-down chat with the convicted drug smuggler is unclear with Channel Seven’s Willesee playing down reports it would be his network.

“At this stage we don’t have a paid interview, but I can tell you the money they’re talking about... is just really silly,” the veteran journalist said as he went for a walk outside the luxury resort.

Continued on page 6

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International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Bali News Avalanche

Hectares of paddy at risk of harvest failure Bali Post

TABANAN - Several hectares of paddy field at Subak Gading Wani, Pengreregan Kaja hamlet, Lumbung village, West Selemadeg, are threatened to face crop failure. Meanwhile, tens of hectares of other paddy fields are also threatened by drought as the main subak irrigation channel has been blocked since two months ago. This condition is caused by avalanche along 23 meters spreading over two points.

To resolve the problem, the subak member has done mutual assistance since the past few weeks to clean up the irrigation channel from the avalanche materials. Even, they had to pass through a rather extreme path to reach the irrigation channel buried by the avalanche.

Though the incident has been reported by local resident, so far there is no help from the government.

Subak chief of Semaja subgroup, Made Suarba, when met amidst the mutual assistance on Monday (Feb10) said the main irrigation channel had not irrigated the subak subgroup area namely the Lalanglinggah and Semaja. “To my knowledge, the Public Works has made survey but there is no follow up so far,” he said.

More severely, since the irrigation program in 1982 there has been no improvement of irrigation channel. “In the 1980s, there was a government program

to build irrigation channel on the left and right side, where the water source was from Balian River. On the left side was intended for Subak Gading Wani, while on the right for Subak Anyar, Surabrata.

Unfortunately, the right channel did not work, while the left channel had abnormal water discharge,” he explained.

Further, he said that fortunately before the avalanche, some farmers at Lalanglinggah had completed their harvest. “Although some farmers have harvested, at least around 5 hectares of paddy field are at risk of facing harvest failure because the 1.5-months old paddy plant no longer get the irrigation water.

Meanwhile, other farmers cannot grow rice because their land is dry,” he said.

He expected the government could soon help farmers cope with the problem. Thus, most residents getting deeply involved in growing rice could resume their activities. (kmb28)

The avelanche which happen at Subak Gading Wani, Pengreregan Kaja hamlet, Lumbung village, West Selemadeg, Tabanan treathen the crops in the area

NEGARA - Mediator team of the Bali Manpower Agency led by the Industrial Relations Mediator Division Head, Gede Raka, accompanied by the Head of Jembrana Manpower Agency Ketut Doster performed a mediation related to the layoff of the two employees of the Hotel Jimbarwana, Monday afternoon (Feb 10).

The meeting was attended by ten representatives of hotel employees, Operations Manager of Hotel Jimbarwana Nurhadi and its Training Manager Nyoman Yudi Wartono. However, the bipartite meeting failed and deadlocked because the management that should make decision was absent without explanation.

On that occasion, a number of employees expected the manage-

ment to provide the best solution in resolving the problem. Meanwhile, Gede Raka said that in resolving the problem the management and General Manager or authorized proxy that could take decision should be present. So, there would be no legal problems later on. “We expect the bipartite meeting can result in a solution in the form of agreement. Since the layoff process has not been completed, each party must carry out its obligations before there is a permanent decision,” he explained.

He said the terminated employees should be re-employed.

Similarly, it should also be made a negotiation treatise. It had to set forth that the management should reinstate the two employees, revoke the termination letter dated February 3, 2014 to ensure the

rights of employees and make a joint work agreement and each party should carry out its obligations.

In the meeting last Monday was agreed that the subsequent mediation would be held back next week or Monday (Feb 17). In case before that date could have been reached an agreement it should be accompanied with the joint work agreement legalized with a stamp.

According to Gede Raka, the management could not dismiss the Labor Union (SPSI) established at the Hotel Jimbarwana as it was protected by the Act. Similarly, the management of Hotel Jimbarwana should comply with the local minimum wage (UMK); otherwise it would result in legal problems. “Necessarily, any company employing over 10

people should make a joint work agreement so that both parties will know their rights and obligations,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the SPSI Jembrana Sukirman hoped the problem in the Hotel Jimbarwana could be resolved well by both parties through win-win solution. “We do expect there is no discrimination and intimidation. So, the employees can work again and we from the SPSI will still escort,” he said.

On the other hand, the Operations Manager of the Hotel Jimbarwana Nurhadi said the company actually got profit as much as IDR 665 million in 2013. However, in January 2014 the hotel revenue decreased reaching IDR 148 million. “As consequence, the company sustains a great loss and

must make efficiency. Similarly, the quality of Hotel Jimbarwana was decreasing, not getting better.

Almost every day his party got complaints either regarding the damaged air conditioning or the phone that did not work,” said Nurhadi.

According to Nurhadi, the ideal number of employee for a total of 50 hotel rooms amounted to 30 people. However, since 2011 the number of employees had increased to 52 people so the number of hotel employee was considered to be overloaded.

As has been known, the problem at Hotel Jimbarwana emerged because two employees were fired and the case is alleged to have something to do with the inclusion of both employees in the Indonesian Labor Union or SPSI. (120)

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IBP

JIMBARAN - Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to share some quality time with your loved one and be seduced by Bali’s most romantic venues. In addition to Ayana’s private venues, Dava restaurant is also offering a special Valentine’s Menu prepared by Chef de Cuisine Sebastian Arnold, highlighting his signature European technique and modern presentation. of the world’s largest Aquatonic Seawater Therapy Pools and the Spa on the Rocks villas set amidst the Indian Ocean. There are five purpose-built wedding venues; the avant-garde Champa Garden for grand-scale events; four freshwater swimming pools including a children’s pool; a salt-water, infinity-edged Ocean Beach Pool at the cliff’s base, accessed via an inclinator;12 dining venues; 18-hole golf putting course; tennis pavilion; jogging/cycling path; fitness center; children’s center;perfume-making studio and boutiques; comprehensive meeting facilities and business center; and resort-wide WiFi.

Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014

IBP/File

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Valentine’s Day Dining at Ayana Resort and Spa

Named after a ‘place of refuge’ in Sanskrit, Ayana Resort and Spa enjoys majestic ocean views along its 1.3km coastline on cliffs above Jimbaran Bay, just 12km from Bali’s airport. Guests enjoy unrivaled sanctuary from the resort’s location within the 77-hectare Karang Mas Estate, which is also home to Rimba Jimbaran Bali, a 282-room hotel, and Ayana Residences, Bali’s first purely residential community integrated with a 5-star resort.

Ayana’s 368 guestrooms comprise 78 private pool villas and a 290-room hotel.

Resort highlights include the 22,000sqm Thermes Marins Thalasso spa with one

Mediation of Hotel Jimbarwana employee layoff deadlocks Bali Post

Activities

International

1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati Sukawati Pura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel Bebetin Pura Maspahit Sesetan Pura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih 11 Jan Tumpek Kandang Pura Desa Gianyar Pura Luhur Dalem Sagening Kediri Tabanan Pura Sang Hyang Tegal Tegalalang 15 Jan Purnama Sasih Kapitu Pura Dalem Tarukan Cemenggaon Sukawati Pura Penataran Dalem Ketut Pejeng Kaja Gianyar Pura Puseh Manakaji Peninjauan Bangli Pura Taman Limut Pengosekan Mas Ubud Pura Benua Besakih Pura Gunung Rena Sidemen Karangasem Pura Pasek Gelgel Abadi Karangasem Pura Pucak Gunung Mangun Kubu Karangasem 16 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan

17 Jan Hari Bhatara Sri 21 Jan Anggara Kasih Prangbakat Pura Bukit Buluh Gunaksa Klungkung Pura Tirtha Sidamala Bebalang Bangli Pura Gunung Pangsong Lombok Pura Dalem Benawah Gianyar Pura Dalem Bitra Gianyar Pura Pura Hyang Haluh/Jenggala Besakih

Pura Tengkulak Tulikup Gianyar Pura Taman Sari Ubud Pura Penataran Badung

Pura Penataran Giri Purwo Tegal Delimo Banyuwangi Pura jala Sidhi amerta Juanda Surabaya

29 Jan Hari Siwaratri

19 Feb Buda Cemeng Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Padang Karangasem Pura Melanting Camenggaon Sukawati Pura Penataran ped Nusa Penida Pura Gaduhan Jagat Singakerta Ubud Pura Masceti Sanding Tampak Siring Pura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan Kelungkung Pura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Kedonganan Kuta Pura Guwa Besakih Pura Basukian Besakih Pura Jati Ubud Pura Melanting Ubud Pura Dalem Peed Nusa Penida Pura Sad Kayangan Nusa Penida Pura Penataran Agung Gunung Karangasem

30 Jan Tilem Sasih Kepitu Pura Buana Kawan Besakih Pura Ulun Kulkul Besakih 31 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Enyitan 5 Feb Buda Kliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Peninjauan Tembuku Bangli Pura Pemayun Banyuning Tengah Buleleng Pura Kayangan Tiga Seririt Buleleng Pura Agung Gunung Raung Taro Tegalalang 6 Feb Pura Dalem Puri Besakih 14 Feb Purnama Sasih Kawulu Pura Dalem Batur Bangli Pura Ida Ratu Pasek Besakih Pura Dalem Suci Sidemen Karangasem Pura Buana Kawan Besakih 15 Feb Tumpek Wayang & Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan Pura Majapahit Jembrana Pura Panti Gelgel Pengembungan Sesetan Pura Pedarman Dalem Sukawati Besakih Pura Pedarman Mengwi Besakih Pura Pedarman Kaba-kaba Besakih Pura Pedarman Dalem Bakas Besakih Pura Pedarman Dinasti Dalem Besakih

21 Feb Hari Bhatara Sri 25 Feb Anggara Kasih Dukut Pura Dalem Batuyang Batubulan Pura Pasek Gelgel Mengening Kediri Tabanan Pura Pasek Undagi Krambitan Tabanan Pura Pucak Taman bedulu Gianyar Pura Puser Jagat Nusa Penida Pura Dalem Purwa Kawan Bangli Pura Desa Ketewel Gianyar 26 Feb Pura Agung Pasek gelgel Sibang Kaja Abian Semal Pura Dalem Samprangan Gianyar

IBP/Net

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.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Health

International

Scientists find gene linking brain’s grey matter to intelligence Reuters

LONDON - Researchers have found a gene linking intelligence to the thickness of so-called “grey matter” in the brain, and say their discovery could help scientists understand how and why some people have learning difficulties. An international team of scientists analysed DNA samples and brain scans from more than 1,500 healthy 14-year-olds and gave them a series of tests to establish their verbal and non-verbal intelligence.

The researchers looked at the cerebral cortex - the outermost layer of the brain that is also known as “grey matter” and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness.

They then analysed more than 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development and found that, on average, teenagers with a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left half of their brains and were the ones who performed less well on tests for intellectual ability.

“The genetic variation we identified is linked to synaptic plasticity - how neurons communicate,” said Sylvane Desrivieres, who led the study at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry.

“This may help us understand what happens at a neuronal level in certain forms of intellectual impairments, where the ability of the neurons to communicate effectively is somehow compromised.” She stressed, however, that their finding did not amount to a discovery of a “gene for intelligence”.

“It’s important to point out that intelligence is influenced by many

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Hotels alleged to have not applied local minimum wage MANGUPURA - Local minimum wage (UMK) of Badung County is feared to just become paper tiger. It is kindled by the allegation that there are a number of companies including large companies in Badung that have not paid their workers in accordance with the local minimum wage or at least IDR 1,728,000.

Such concern was expressed by a member of Commission A of the Badung House, I Made Duama.

Duama admitted to have received complaints from a number of hotel employees in Badung who were paid under the local minimum wage. “In Nusa Dua, for instance, there is hotel staff complaining because they have not been paid

pursuant to the local minimum wage,” said Duama.

Interestingly, the hotel did not belong to a budget hotel or city hotel, but to a renowned five-star hotel. Based on the confession of the employees, the hotel was incapable of paying salary in accordance with the local minimum wage due to the diminishing ho-

tel occupancy. “It’s funny. Why does such a big hotel not implement the local minimum wage?

Besides, the reason also sounds illogical,” he said.

Further, Duama admitted to be apprehensive because the local minimum wage could not be applied in all the companies in Badung if there was no good

will of the companies. He worried if the rules related to the local minimum wage would only become a paper tiger as could not be applied.

On that account, he asked all the companies to consistently implement the local minimum wage.

The government was also urged to make supervision including imposing sanctions against the violators.

By doing so, the companies in Badung were expected to adhere to the local minimum wage. “We will propose to chairman of the house to carry out an inspection to companies in relation to the

implementation of the local minimum wage. We’ve already had the data of the companies alleged to violate,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Head of Badung Social and Labor Agency, Ni Luh Putu Suryaniti, could not be reached for her confirmation.

However, she recently revealed that the Governor Regulation on the local minimum wage had been enacted as of January 2, 2014. Companies were given one month to adjust the application of the new local minimum wage.

If the company could not carry it out, the company could file a delay. (kmb25)

Land brokers besiege Nusa Penida Bali Post

Biggest cockfighting bust in New York history nets 3,000 birds Reuters

A rescued animal is pictured at the site of an ASPCA animal rescue during “Operation Angry Birds” in Ulster County, New York, in this February 9, 2014 handout photo.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

In Badung

Bali Post

genetic and environmental factors.

The gene we identified only explains a tiny proportion of the differences in intellectual ability,” she said. The findings, published on Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could help scientists gain more insight into the biological mechanisms underlying several psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, since people with these conditions often have impaired cognitive ability.

The genetic variation that Desrivieres’ team found affects a gene known as NPTN, which encodes a protein acting on neuronal synapses and therefore affects how brain cells communicate.

To confirm the finding, the team studied the NPTN gene more closely in mouse and human brain cells in the lab and found it had a different activity in the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

This, they said, suggests the left hemisphere may be more sensitive to the effects of NPTN mutations, and that some differences in intellectual ability are due to decreased NPTN function in particular regions of the left brain hemisphere.

REUTERS/ASPCA/Handout via Reuters

Bali News

International

Nine people were arrested and some 3,000 fighting roosters and hens rescued when New York authorities busted a cockfighting ring they said was one of the biggest ever uncovered in the United States. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the arrests and said in a statement: “Cockfighting is a cruel, abusive and barbaric practice that tortures animals, endangers the health and safety of the public and is known to facilitate other crimes.”

Officials simultaneously raided an apartment building in the New York City borough of Queens where 70 people were attending a fight overnight Saturday, and also a pet shop in Brooklyn that

dealt in fighting chickens as well as a 90-acre (36-hectare) farm in Plattekill, New York, where thousands of roosters and hens were kept and trained.

“Operation Angry Birds,” named after a popular mobile game, targeted a gambling operation where people bet up to $10,000 on a single fight to see roosters, often fitted with knives, battle to the death, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Some 70 people at the Queens apartment building, where cockfights had been held twice a month since May, were detained and questioned, and about 65 birds seized, the attorney general’s office said.

It was the biggest cockfighting

bust in New York history, authorities said. Nine people were charged with felonies, punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine up to $25,000, authorities said. Cockfighting is illegal in every U.S. state.

Spectators paid admission and a seat fee for the all-night fights in the basement, where alcohol and drugs were sold, prosecutors said.

In some of the locations, authorities found cockfighting paraphernalia, such as fake rooster spurs, candle wax and syringes used to inject the birds with performance-enhancing drugs, ASPCA officials said. Humane societies and animal rescue groups in seven states are helping with the shelter and transfer of the animals, officials said.

SEMARAPURA - The price of land on Bali Island skyrockets. This condition causes the investment to lead to Nusa Penida islands, chiefly the Nusa Gede. Moreover, the current Klungkung Regent is from Nusa Penida. Along with more attention given to Nusa Penida, the land brokers begin to besiege the vacant land located on Nusa Penida to be offered to local and foreign investors. Moreover, the price of land on Nusa Penida stays much lower than that of on Bali Island.

A community leader of Nusa Penida, Ketut Pesta, said on Monday (Feb 10) that since the current

regent served, many people believed the islands of Nusa Penida would become a very strategic area in line with a variety of programs rolled out to promote the region. Nusa Penida was assessed to increasingly have an attraction for investment because it was considered to retain a good economic potential in the future. Thus, the land also had an attraction to be owned by different parties. Moreover, on the mainland Bali the price of land had soared.

Similarly, the price of land on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan was very expensive and almost ran out.

As the next alternative, it was natural if the land in Nusa Penida became

a seizure.

“Tourist accommodation on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan has already overloaded, so the Nusa Gede becomes the next target,” he said. Indeed, no body prohibited the purchase of land on Nusa Penida.

According to him, anyone could purchase land and anywhere in Bali and of course also on Nusa Penida because Bali did not have a special autonomy governing the matter.

However, one thing to be watched out was the movement of the land broker itself. They often speculated just to look for their own benefits without thinking about the benefits to society. Thus, no economic impact

could be enjoyed by local community due to the purchase of the land. The economic impact could only be enjoyed by the surrounding community if the land purchase was really made by real investors and was willing to build in accordance with the potential of the region.

Another community leader, I Gede Tanjung, also worried about the same thing. If the coming were only brokers, the development master plan in Nusa Penida would lose its direction. High interest of investor to go to Nusa Penida should be coupled with the realization of Detail Spatial Plan (RDTR) of the Klungkung region itself.

Nusa Penida should be prevented from becoming suddenly crowded by the development without direction. It was important to consider more maturely because not all of the investments gave good impact.

Indeed, what we saw lately was even damaging. In addition, Tanjung also asked the government to think about local people in order they would not easily sold their land. Even, when being necessary the local residents needed to be empowered so they did not die in their home region.

“Blue print of the development must empower local residents. It should not take side with the interests of investors,” he said. (kmb31)

IBP/File Photo

The photo shows villas at Nusa Penida, Klungkung Regency, Bali Island.

The price of land on Bali Island skyrockets. This condition causes the investment to lead to Nusa Penida islands, chiefly the Nusa Gede.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Bali News

International

International

Target of Bangli to win Adipura besieged by rubbish

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RLD

Reuters

BANGLI - Although having become a classic problem, the rubbish issue in Bangli County seems to have never been addressed thoroughly. Actually, this year 2014 Bangli is determined to hold the village Adipura (sanitation award) competition to establish itself in the Adipura of the next level.

In fact, the awareness of Bangli community on the hazards of litter especially in rainy season remains very low.

ROME - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano faced fierce criticism on Monday over reports that he asked Mario Monti about replacing Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister months before his government fell at the height of the euro zone crisis in 2011. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party expressed “bitterness and shock” at the reports, based on interviews with Monti and others in a forthcoming book by journalist Alan Friedman, extract of which were published by the Financial Times and the Corriere della Sera newspapers.

Crash a truck moving backward, motorcycle plunged into ravine Bali Post

TABANAN - A traffic accident occurred again in the region of Tabanan.

At this time, a Honda Supra motorcycle with license plate DK 3503 GS ridden

by Ni Made Sukarni, 29, a resident of Munggal hamlet, Kukuh Marga, slid into a ravine at Peken hamlet, Belayu village, Marga, after crashing the back part of truck moving backward from a building material store on Jalan Raya Marga, precisely at Peken hamlet, Belayu village, Marga, Sunday afternoon (Feb 9). Fortunately, the motorcyclist did not fall into the ravine. Nevertheless, the victim Ni Made Sukarni was forced to get intensive care in the Tabanan Hospital as sustaining injuries.

Other than Sukarni, the accident also caused her father, I Wayan Catra, 64, who was in a position of piggybacking, to get injured. As information compiled, the traffic incident occurred about eleven o’clock. At that time, the victim Ni Made Sukarni piggybacked Wayan

Catra from the west (Kukuh) to the east (Belayu). Suddenly at the scene, a truck transporting iron was moving out of a building material store on the north of the road. Allegedly when the truck was driving backwards, Sukarni was shocked and could not control her motorcycle speed and eventually crashed the left back side of the unidentified truck.

Even, the father of Sukarni, Wayan Catra, previously had jumped from the motorcycle, while Sukarni fell onto the road. Meanwhile, the motorcycle continued to slide and eventually plunged into the two-meter ravine in south of the road.

As a result of the incident, Sukarni suffered bruises on both eyes and a wound on the forehead. Meanwhile, his father suffered lacerations behind the head and bleeding from the mouth and nose. They were immediately rushed to emergency room of the Tabanan Hospital to get intensive care. In the meantime, the truck even escaped and left the victims. (kmb28)

Garbage pile up in the rural area of Bangli Regency

IBP/File

Wanted for eight months, theft arrested

Bali Post

DENPASAR - After the suspect Toha was arrested by the officers of Kuta Police and detained in Kerobokan Prison due to motorcycle theft case, it is now the turn of Moh Nur Fadilah Efendy alias Efendy to be arrested by the Criminal Detective of Denpasar Police.

Toha and Efendy belong to one motorcycle thief gang who take action in a number of crime scenes.

Although being capable of arresting the suspect Efendy, police are still hunting for the other culprit with initials YS. “Efendy stole a motorcycle on July 19, 2013. He took action with Toha and YS. However, Toha was arrested by Kuta Police, while YS is still at large,” said Criminal Detective Chief of Denpasar Police, Benny Murjayanto, Monday (Feb 10).

Chief Benny explained that since the arrest of the suspect Toha, Efendy was put on wanted list because Toha admitted to have taken action with Efendy and YS. Well, since then they (Efendy and YS—Ed) have been

hunted. “We have hunted them for nearly eight months, but we can only arrest Efendy, while YS is still in pursuit,” he explained.

He further explained the motorcycle thief gang stole the motorcycle owned by I Ketut Kariyasa living on Jalan Dewi Sri II, Legian Kuta, Badung, on July 18, 2013. The motorcycle of victim was Honda Vario with license plate DK 5840 OF and was taken away by the suspects using a fake key. “When stealing, the suspect YS served as an executor, while Toha and Efendy oversaw the surrounding area,” he said.

After stealing, the victim’s motorcycle was taken to the boarding house of Efendy on Jalan Buluh Indah Gang Cempaka Biru No.5 Denpasar. The motorcycle was disassembled for three days at his boarding house.

Furthermore, all the motorcycle parts were then sent by using the service of travel transport. “When examined at Gilimanuk, the motorcycle parts were suspected as stolen goods. From the investigation, police the arrested the suspect Efendy and Toha,” he revealed. (kmb21)

13

Italian President Napolitano under fire over Monti appointment

Bali Post

Low awareness of maintaining sanitation is found around Jalan Melati, Cempaga village and Tamanbali. At Tamanbali, for example, people seemed to deliberately dispose rubbish into local conduits.

Meanwhile, at Cempaga, according to one of the residents, Marini, a pile of rubbish in the western corner of Bangli town originated from household waste. Quite often the people around the location also disposed pig manure at the same location.

Actually, in the vicinity also sat a fishing pond visited by many people, but the local people seemed less concerned. More unfortunately, not far from the location had been prepared a trash bin that would routinely be taken by the officers. Unluckily, people were not aware of the environmental sanitation where they remained to litter casually.

The Head of Bangli Urban Planning, Ida Ayu Gede Yudi Sutha, when asked for her confirmation promised to address the rubbish issue. She also promised to mobilize her men to haul the rubbish.

Previously, the Head of the Bangli Environment Agency (BLH), Wayan Sukartana, also briefly lamented the lack of public awareness of waste in Bangli. Although so far the waste management program had been undertaken through waste separation into three bins provided, some few people in Bangli were reluctant to use it and stayed to throw rubbish haphazardly. (ina)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Although the events recounted in the book occurred more than two years ago, they risk reopening wounds between the parties that could complicate the already difficult situation facing Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile ruling coalition, which is struggling to adopt economic and political reforms.

“We are dismayed to learn that, as early as June 2011, the head of state was actively taking steps to bring down the Berlusconi government and replace him with Mario Monti,” the parliamentary floor leaders of Forza Italia, Renato Brunetta and Paolo Romani, said in a statement. Napolitano has been widely praised outside Italy for his role in helping to navigate the crisis and is seen as a guarantor of stability. But he has faced bitter attacks at home from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and many in Berlusconi’s camp, who accuse him of overreaching his powers.

Napolitano, who as head of state is responsible for appointing the prime minister, named Monti to lead a technocrat government after Berlusconi resigned during an economic crisis that sent Italy’s borrowing costs spiraling out of control and put the future of the euro zone itself in doubt.

In the book, Monti himself confirmed that Na-

politano had given him “signals in that direction” as early as June or July, months before Berlusconi’s center-right government fell in November 2011.

Forza Italia senator Augusto Minzolini said his party should consider supporting the impeachment motion against Napolitano launched by the 5-Star Movement last month.

Letta, whom Napolitano appointed to head a coalition of rival parties from the left and right after last year’s deadlocked election, issued a statement saying the attacks on the 88-year-old head of state amounted to a “shameful attempt to distort reality”.

Napolitano himself dismissed suggestions of a plot to replace Berlusconi as “smoke”.

He said he had spoken to Monti frequently during the course of 2011 but noted that Berlusconi’s government had only fallen after a split in his own center-right party and growing tensions with key members of the cabinet including the economy minister at the time, Giulio Tremonti.

The spat over Napolitano’s role in appointing Monti comes as Letta’s coalition has faced growing pressure to come up with a coordinated reform program to pull Italy’s stagnant economy clear of its longest postwar recession.

REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano arrives in the plenary room of the European Parliament ahead of his address to the assembly in Strasbourg, February 4, 2014.

Australian wildfires destroy more than 30 homes Agence France Presse

REUTERS/Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES)/Handout via Reuters

A firefighter is pictured among burning trees as he battles wildfires in Banjup, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, February 3, 2014. A bushfire continues to burn out of control, threatening lives and homes in Perth’s southern suburbs, according to local news reports.

Melbourne - More than 30 homes have been razed in the worst fire conditions Australia has seen since a 2009 inferno killed 173 people, with flames threatening the country’s second-largest city, officials said Monday. Hot, dry winds and soaring temperatures fanned scores of major blazes across the southeast on Sunday, with Victoria state sweltering through its worst fire risk weather in five years.

“They were ferocious fires, they ran hard, they hit homes,” said fire commissioner Craig Lapsley. The emergency came exactly five years after the so-called Black Saturday firestorm devastated the state, flattening whole towns in what was Australia’s deadliest natural disaster of the modern era.

Victoria state premier Dennis Napthine said it had been the worst fire danger day since Black Saturday, with more than 30 homes confirmed lost so far across the state.

“At this stage we have no evidence of loss of life, which is a great effort by the firefighters and all emergency services, and at this stage we have no evidence of serious injury,” Napthine said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government stood ready “to do all we reasonably can to ensure that people get the help they need in these difficult, difficult hours and days”.

Hundreds of people spent the night in evacuation shelters after being forced to flee their homes. A major open-cut coal mine was ablaze, with a nearby power station in the path of one fire. Napthine said emergency crews were working “very, very hard in that area to protect those strategic assets”.

Six blazes remained at emergency level Monday including a 40kilometre (25-mile) front on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city, with tens of thousands of hectares scorched.

At least 12 of Sunday’s fires were thought by police to have been deliberately lit.

12

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

BUSINESS Japan faced with gloomy data ahead of tax hike Agence France-Presse

IBP/Net

Google overtook US oil giant ExxonMobil on Monday to become the world’s number two company when rated by market value, behind its high-tech rival Apple.

Google becomes number two in market value

Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK - Google overtook US oil giant ExxonMobil on Monday to become the world’s number two company when rated by market value, behind its high-tech rival Apple.

Even though Google shares fell 0.38 percent, a bigger drop in Exxon stock allowed the Internet giant to capture the second spot in market capitalization.

Google’s market cap at the end of the trading day was $394 billion, compared to the $388 billion of ExxonMobil. Apple remained well ahead with a market capitalization of $472 billion.

Google briefly overtook Exx-

on during the trading session last Friday but Monday was the first time this was confirmed at the close of trade.

ExxonMobil shares fell 1.17 percent on Monday to $89.53, bringing its year-to-date loss to 11.5 percent.

Google, despite Monday’s modest dip, is near its all-time high and has doubled in value since July 2012. The shares closed Monday at $1,172.93.

The California-based Internet group is the world leader in online advertising, its Android operating system has become the dominant platform for smartphones and is also gaining fast in tablet devices.

Google’s other projects include a self-driving car and its Google Glass eyewear. The company recently bought Nest Labs in what is seen as a move into connected home technology.

TOKYO - Japan produced a gloomy batch of economic data Monday showing shoppers growing nervous and the trade deficit ballooning, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to launch a controversial sales tax rise.

The government said consumer sentiment weakened in January, while the current account surplus -- the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world -- hit a record low in 2013 as the cheap yen pushed up energy bills.

A policy blitz by Abe, which meshes government spending with central bank monetary easing, has driven the yen down and boosted stock prices, earning him acclaim for kickstarting the long-sluggish economy.

A recent tally of the Nikkei economic daily showed nearly 70 percent of listed Japanese companies are likely to post sales and profit growth in the current business year to March.

However, many firms have yet to embrace Abe’s call to hike wages. A poll by Kyodo news agency last month showed nearly three-quarters of Japanese people are feeling no effect from the so-called Abenomics.

Worryingly for the premier, it also showed that only 17 percent of firms -- around a sixth -- are planning to hike wages, even as Japan begins to experience real inflation for the first time in several years.

Monday’s data from the Cabinet Office showed the consumer sentiment index fell to 40.5 in January, the lowest level since 39.9 in December 2012. A reading below 50 indicates pessimism.

The subindex on views on livelihood fell to its lowest reading since June 2011 and that on willingness to buy durable goods dropped to the weakest since May 2011 -- suggesting the mood is as gloomy as the months soon after the earthquake-tsunami that wrecked the northeast coast and hammered the economy.

Separate data from the finance ministry showed Japan had a surplus of 3.31 trillion yen ($32 billion) on its current account in 2013, the weakest on comparable data stretching back to 1985.

The current account is the broadest measure of the country’s trade with the rest of the world, including not only trade in goods but also services, tourism and returns on the country’s foreign investment.

Government leaders last month said they were winning the war on stubborn deflation as consumer prices logged their their first rise for five years in 2013.

But the rise was largely driven by soaring import bills due to a cheap yen and the country’s reliance on importing expensive fossil fuels since its nuclear plants were shuttered after the tsunamisparked Fukushima crisis.

Japan’s trade deficit more than doubled to 10.6 trillion yen in 2013 from the previous year as costlier imports of oil and gas overwhelmed export growth.

Abe has decided to follow through on a pledge by his predecessor to hike Japan’s 5.0 percent sales tax to 8.0 percent in April.

The move is seen as a crucial first step towards bringing down an eye-watering national debt, but naysayers fear it will derail Japan’s budding recovery.

Some economists say continuing trade deficits may be a sign that Abenomics is actually succeeding.

Unlike previous recoveries in Japan, his policy of much greater monetary easing and bringing inflation into the economy is aimed more at domestic consumption than pushing goods overseas.

“If Abenomics succeeds, domestic demand-led economic growth will be achieved, making current account deficits a more regular feature of the Japanese economy,” predicted Koya Miyamae, economist with SMBC Nikko Securities.

Bali News

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

5

Bali to host international conference on oil palm, environment Antara

DENPASAR - WWF-Indonesia, CIRAD research institute and PT SMART Tbk will hold the fourth International Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) in Bali, on February 12-14, 2014.

The theme of ICOPE 2014 will be “Oil Palm Cultivation: Becoming a Model for Tomorrow’s Sustainable Agriculture”, WWF-Indonesia said in a statement, Monday.

Among key topics of discussion will be land use and deforestation, green house gas emission, smallholders as well as palm oil certification standards, “There is no doubt that palm oil industry provides benefits for Indonesia, such as economic and social development. But it is beyond doubt that unsustainable practices in palm oil industry lead to negative impacts,” said WWFIndonesia Conservation Director Nazir Foead.

Last year WWF released “Palming off a National Park” report conveying indication of illegal oil palm supply to global market and impact of irresponsible palm oil production to Tesso Nilo National Park and forest complex.

“Unsustainable practices like the

one we found in Riau shall not be repeated,” Nazir said as quoted in the statement.

Palm oil industry is one of the most lucrative industries in Indonesia where 4.5% of 2012 GDP came from this commodity. But environmental concern always loom the industry, as expansion for palm oil plantations become the main driver for deforestation and the loss of biodiversity in Indonesia.

Trend shows increasing demand of palm oil for biofuels in addition to its traditional function for foods and hygene products.

With the continuously growing global and domestic demand, there is urgency for sustainable agribusiness practices, according to WWFIndonesia.

Participants of the he conference will include scholars, and representatives of research institutes, companies, governments, as well as NGOs. WWF-Indonesia hopes that the

international conference with participants from 19 countries will be able to offer solutions to palm oil problems.

“Through ICOPE, experts and players in palm oil industry can share their experiences and best practices so their positive achievements can be adopted elsewhere. With innovation and implementation of best practices, it is possible for Indonesia palm oil industry to achieve its target of 40 million tons of palm oil in 2020 without expansion to natural forest,” stated Nazir.

IBP/Net

The palm oil always been a concerned for environmentalist, including WWF. On that occassion, WWF-Indonesia, CIRAD research institute and PT SMART Tbk will hold the fourth International Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) in Bali, on February 12-14, 2014.

Kebo Iwa, a knight willing to die for unity IBP

The name Kebo Iwa has long been known by Balinese people.

When reading or hearing about the story of his life, as though we are proffered with a fiction mixed with history. As a historical figure, Kebo Iwa is described as a mighty and powerful knight. There is a source mentions if he was a governor of the king Gajahwaktra ruling at Bedahulu (now Bedulu) around 1324 -1343 AD. Kebo Iwa is mentioned as one of the military commanders of Bali during the reign of King Sri Asta Sura Ratna Bumi Banten in the early fourteenth century.

IBP/File Photo

As a fictional character, Kebo Iwa who also has another name like Kebo Taruna and Kebo Wandira is described as a remarkable man. The son of Commander Rakryan Buncing is described as a giant man having a big posture.

Range of his feet is very wide, so that he can travel quickly. If he wants to drink, he just needs to stab his finger into the ground and

a small well will emit water.

Kebo Iwa can also carve a stone with his nail. Whenever there is a big hole, people always call it as the footprint of Kebo Iwa. Others also say that a hollow rock on Soka Beach (Tabanan) is the pot of Kebo Iwa. He is described as a strong giant man that eats so much so that to cook rice he needs a large pot.

Though being powerful, Kebo Iwa does not have egoistic or arrogant nature. Story on the end of his life is very tragic and even it draws a variety of interpretations and meanings. It can be seen when Gajah Mada intended to conquer Bali for the realization of the unity of the archipelago. This vice regent from Majapahit kingdom considered it impossible to conquer Bali as long as Kebo Iwa was still alive. He then arranged a strategy where Kebo Iwa was picked up to be invited to Majapahit. Kebo Iwa requested the help dig a well for the kingdom in East Java experiencing water crisis. As a prize, he would be awarded a beautiful and graceful girl from Lemah Tulis.

Kebo Iwa met the request.

When digging a well, the men of Gajah Mada pelted Kebo Iwa with rock stones in order the strong man from Bali could be buried alive. Kebo Iwa got up and was aware if he was deceived. He then opened the secret of his weakness where to kill him was enough to use whiting and betel leaf.

Such a word-of-mouth story also raises a variety of interpretations. Balinese people call that whiting symbolizes Lord Shiva and betel leaf symbolizes Lord Vishnu. Thus, Kebo Iwa got purification from Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to attain moksha. In some regions, before people chew betel leaf, the tip of betel leaf is cut first.

Why? It is done to commemorate the death of Kebo Iwa. A variety of interpretations apparently cannot be resisted.

For example, why was Kebo Iwa willing to die? There are commentaries saying if the ideal of Gajah Mada was very noble namely to unite the archipelago.

Therefore, for the sake of unity, Kebo Iwa was willing to sacrifice his life.

6

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

W

RLD

International

River Thames on flood alert as blame game rages Agence France Presse

London - Flooding in Britain spread along the River Thames and began to threaten London on Monday, as a political row over the handling of devastating winter storms erupted into the open. The Environment Agency issued 14 severe flood warnings -- meaning lives are at risk -- in the affluent counties of Surrey and Berkshire to the west of the capital, after the Thames broke its banks.

Some areas are already under water, including parts of the Great Windsor Park, the grounds of Queen Elizabeth II’s castle at Windsor, which itself is built on higher ground.

The Berkshire fire service rescued at least 16 people on Monday, including several from their homes in the flooded village of Wraysbury, a spokeswoman said. In the village, residents donned waders and even a full wetsuit as the waters rose. Some complained that the village had been abandoned by the authorities, who are already under fire over their handling of flooding in southwest England.

“It’s been bloody hopeless, there has been nobody to help at all,” Sylvia Davies, the wife of the parish council chairman, told AFP. “We need sandbags desperately but they have only just arrived.”

Wettest January since 1766.

REUTERS/Mark Makela

Numerous electric line crew trucks contracted from Georgia are parked in a line outside William Tennent High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, February 8, 2014, in the aftermath of an ice storm which hit the Philadelphia area, where an estimated 280,000 PECO customers from the region lacked power.

Georgia braces for 2nd snowstorm in 2 weeks Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — When snow fell on Atlanta two weeks ago, downtown streets of the South’s business hub were jammed with unmoving cars, highway motorists slept overnight in vehicles or abandoned them where they sat, and students were forced to camp out in school gymnasiums when roads turned too treacherous for buses to navigate.

Things promised to be different Tuesday, when another round of rain, sleet and freezing rain was expected to begin walloping the area. That’s not necessarily because city and state officials are going to be better prepared — although they promised they would be — but because many people aren’t going to take a chance that they will get trapped again.

“Basically, everyone from the office is going to be working from home” on Tuesday, said Dakota Herrera as he left a car park in downtown Atlanta to go to his office Monday.

Atlanta has a long and painful history of being ill-equipped to deal with snowy weather. Despite officials’ promises following a crippling ice storm in 2011 that they would be better prepared next time, the storm that hit the area Jan. 28 proved they still had many kinks to work out. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal indicated on Monday that he and other state officials had learned their lesson.

Before a single drop of freezing

rain or snow fell, Deal declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state and state employees were told they could stay home if they felt conditions were too dangerous. Schools canceled classes, and Deal urged people who didn’t need to be anywhere to stay off the roads. Tractor-trailer drivers were handed fliers about the weather and a law requiring chains on tires in certain conditions.

“We are certainly ahead of the game this time, and that’s important,” Deal said. “We are trying to be ready, prepared and react as quickly as possible.” That kind of reassurance was a hard sell with some. “I’m not counting on it,” said Terri Herod, who bought a large bag of sand and a shovel at local hardware store. “I’ve been in Georgia on and off for 20 years.

It’s usually the same scenario: not enough preparations and not enough equipment.”

Memories of the last storm are still painfully fresh. Students were trapped on buses or at schools and

thousands of cars were abandoned along highways as short commutes turned into odysseys. One woman gave birth on a jammed interstate. Officials reported one accident-related death.

This storm could be worse this time. A one-two punch of winter weather was expected for Atlanta and northern Georgia. Rain and snow were forecast Tuesday, followed by sleet and freezing rain Wednesday. Downed power lines and icy roads were a major worry.

Other parts of the South were expected to get hit as well. Alabama, which saw stranded vehicles and had 10,000 students spend the night in schools during the January storm, was likely to get a wintry mix of precipitation. Parts of Mississippi could see 3 inches of snow, and a blast of snow over a wide section of Kentucky slickened roads and closed several school districts. South Carolina, which hasn’t seen a major ice storm in nearly a decade, could get a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of ice.

AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

A view of the river Thames, with the Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, left, in central London, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014.

Corby’s...

From page 1 “The money being discussed is considerably lower. It’s way, way lower.”

Willesee said that there were a “few things up in the air” and he did not know when an interview might happen.

It is unclear whether Corby will be able to profit from her criminal notoriety due to the Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act. Her case is seen as complicated as the offence took place in Indonesia and she has not been convicted in Australia, although the act does state that it “can sometimes be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime that break foreign laws”.

Experts were divided on whether Corby and her family would be able to hang on to the money through clever accounting or whether they would end up losing much of it.

“If Corby’s smart... she won’t profit directly from this money,” law lecturer Hugh McDermott at Charles Sturt University told The Australian newspaper.

“The money will go to her family or a separate trust. There’s millions of dollars to be made here and I imagine they’ll structure it in a way to keep it out of the hands of law enforcers.”

Hordes of Australian journalists were still staking out the luxury resort Tuesday, scrutinising every vehicle going in and out, trying to catch a glimpse of Corby and what her next move might be.

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

11

INDONESIA Military chief wades into ship row with Singapore Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s military chief said Monday Jakarta stood by its decision to name a warship after two marines who staged a deadly 1960s bombing in Singapore, insisting the pair were not “terrorists”.

It came a day after Indonesian defence officials pulled out of this week’s Singapore Airshow after the city-state complained about the Indonesian navy’s decision to name the refurbished frigate “KRI Usman Harun”.

Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said were executed in Singapore for their roles in the March 1965 blast at a downtown office complex which killed three people and injured 33.

“We won’t change the name of (the) warship,” General Moeldoko, the head the Indonesian armed forces, told reporters.

“I cannot accept Usman and Harun being declared as terrorists,” he added.

Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro backed up Moeldoko’s view, insisting the marines were “heroes”.

Their remarks were the latest salvo in the row between the neighbours which began last week when Singapore complained to Indonesia, its third-largest trading partner, over the ship’s name.

The attack by the marines was

part of an effort by then Indonesian president Sukarno to stage an armed confrontation against the newly formed federation of Malaysia, which included Singapore.

The dispute over the name escalated Sunday when Jakarta announced that Indonesian defence officials had pulled out of the Singapore Airshow, which starts on Tuesday.

A defence ministry statement said that a visit by Deputy Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to Singapore for a “strategic dialogue” had been scrapped too. However an Indonesian air force aerobatic team would still perform at the airshow, it added.

Despite the rising tensions, Moeldoko insisted Monday that the row had so far caused “no significant change in Singapore and Indonesian military ties”.

Singapore acrimoniously split from Malaysia to become an independent country on August 9, 1965.

Total trade between Singapore and Indonesia reached Sg$79.4 billion ($62.6 billion) in 2012.

210 schools in Riau closed due to haze Antara

PEKANBARU - The Siak district administration in Riau Province, has decided to shut around 210 schools for two days (Feb 11-12) due to the haze coming from forest and plantation fires.

“A total of 210 schools are being kept closed because the haze is getting thicker and may cause harm to children,” Head of the Siak education office Kadri Yafis stated on Tuesday.

The schools, consisting of elementary, junior and senior high schools, are located across 13 sub-districts in Siak district.

However, the sixth, ninth and 12th grade students will continue

with studies because of the fast approaching final examinations. But the starting time of the schools have been postponed from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.

“Usually, during the day the smog diminishes,” he explained.

The schools will operate normally, only in Kandis sub-district, since the area has not been affected by the haze.

The Siak Environmental Agency (BLH) added that the condition of the air is currently at a dangerous level due to the haze.

In the Bunga Raya sub-district, where a number of hotspots were detected, the visibility was only 50 meters on Tuesday morning due to the haze.

ANTARA FOTO/Novrian Arbi

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has risen the status of Mount Kelud from Advisory (second level) to Watch (third level) on Monday.

Status of Mount Kelud rises to watch

Antara

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has risen the status of Mount Kelud from Advisory (second level) to Watch (third level) on Monday.

“Following the increase of the volcanic activities of Mount Kelud, its status has been risen, by the Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center, to Watch,” BNBP spokesman Nugroho Sutopo stated.

He warned mountain climbers, tourists and the public in general not to go to the mountain’s top.

The increased volcanic activities have been indicated by, among other things, a number of shallow and deep volcanic quakes as well as high tem-

perature of water in the Mount Kelud’s crater.

Under the Watch status, the area within a radius of two kilometers from the volcano’s top is considered dangerous because of hot clouds, toxic gas, lava and ashes.

“There is no human settlement within the radius of two kilometers,” he confirmed.

He reminded the people, approximately 100 in number, living within the radius of five kilometers from the mountain’s top to be on an alert, always, of intensified volcanic activities.

Earlier, the East Java regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) prepared contingency plans along with the local administration and other concerned parties following the rise of the activity status of Mount Kelud.

“This is part of preventive efforts after the volcano’s activity status was upgraded from normal to alert yesterday,” head of East Java BPBD Sudharman clarified when asked about the issue on February 3.

The contingency plans are used as a reference for readiness exercises and for programs to deal with during emergencies.

He noted that people living near the mountain assembled on Monday to get updated on the situation.

About 19 volcanoes in Indonesia have had their statuses upgraded from normal to alert levels from Sunday, February 2, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated here on Monday.

10

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Destination

International

Sports

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

7

Tatag Hamlet IBP

TABANAN - Aside from having the Alas Kedaton tourist attraction, Kukuh village, Marga subdistrict, also has the other potential tourist attractions. The presence of wood-carving, traditional house compound, ancient relics, trekking path and Ulun Danu (a pond owned by Subak) has become the supporting tourist attraction.

A researcher, Ida Bagus Ketut Surya, said that Kukuh village was potential to be made a tourism village because it had Alas Kedaton tourist attraction. Tatag hamlet located in the north of Alas Kedaton had potential to be developed into trekking tourism. A journey for 1.5 hours could offer a very beautiful rice fields.

The Head of Tabanan Culture and Tourism, Wayan Adnyana, explained that Tabanan had 25 tourist objects and attractions.

However, only eight of them complied with the new standards of tourist object management. One of them was the Alas Kedaton at Kukuh village. He said there were changes in the current trend of tourist interest where they went back to nature tourism, so that the potential of the nature and culture-based tourism in Tabanan was very possible to be managed as tourist attraction.

Tatag hamlet had a myriad of uniqueness so that it was very potential to be made into a tourism village. Some of the uniqueness included a temple spring surrounded by four showers in the four directions; local residents abstained from consuming beef; as well as most of elderly villagers served as temple priests. Topography of the hamlet was terraced so that it made the hamlet look very unique.

Snow threatens Miller time but all white for Ligety REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler

Bode Miller of the U.S. skis in a training session for the men’s alpine skiing downhill race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center February 8, 2014.

Reuters ROSA KHUTOR, Russia - According to one study, the Yupik dialect in central Siberia contains around 50 words for snow, whether it be the fluffy stuff, the mushy type or just the downright slippery variety. Some of those descriptions might come in handy at the Sochi Olympics Alpine skiing centre over the next few days where snow conditions are dominating conversations and dividing opinions among the world’s top racers.

Ted Ligety, triple world champion and favourite for Friday’s super combined, joined the debate on Tuesday after getting his first feel of the snow since jetting in from Switzerland and seemed happy enough. Team mate Bode Miller, never short of a few words when discussing snowflakes, especially

since rising temperatures softened the Rosa Khutor slope too much for his liking in Sunday’s downhill, was less enthusiastic.

The 36-year-old Miller blamed the weather for wrecking his hopes of gold in the downhill and fears the warmer conditions may scupper his hopes of successfully defending his

super combined title, saying softer snow favoured slalom technicians like team mate Ligety.

An icy, unforgiving downhill gives speed specialists more of a chance in the super combined, allowing them to build larger time gaps over those who shine at zigzagging between poles.

“There’s no difficult parts any more, this whole course now is manageable for anybody,” Miller, who was quickest in training under grey skies on Tuesday, told reporters. “It’s going to be a tough race for me. When the conditions get like this, it’s just everything gets more even. It’s hard to make up time on

anybody.”

BIG DEFICIT Ligety, favourite for Friday’s race, famously won super combined gold in Turin in 2006 after hauling back a three-second deficit from the downhill. The 29-year-old, who has been training in Austria in the past week, was 4.5 seconds slower than Miller on Tuesday but was relaxed about the conditions.

“I’m just getting a feeling for the speed of the hill and hopefully I can start ratcheting it up a notch,” Ligety, who missed fellow American Julia Mancuso winning a bronze medal in the women’s super

combined on Monday, told reporters. “Actually the snow on the hill is really good, they did a great job preparing the races so far.

“We’ll see, it could change a lot if it starts to rain and it gets warmer and stays cloudy. “Hopefully, we’ll get some cold nights and it stays hard and compact otherwise it could get beat up pretty quickly.”

He also played down Miller’s assertion that the downhill course had transformed from a Siberian tiger into a pussy cat. “It’s a challenging downhill,” Ligety, who won the super combined, super-G and giant slalom at last year’s world championships, said.

Rossi impressed by Open, Espargaro

Valentino Rossi

IBP/File

For many years Valentino Rossi has been calling for more fuel and less electronics in the MotoGP World Championship.

That will happen in 2014 in the new Open category, which must run the less sophisticated control ECU system, but will benefit from four litres of extra race fuel. Meanwhile Rossi and the other Factory class riders will continue with their own manufacturer software and have seen their race fuel cut by a further litre relative to last year.

At the end of this week’s Sepang test, when Aleix Espargaro put his Open class Yamaha a shock fourth on the timesheets, Crash.net asked Rossi to review the performance of the new machines.

“I think the potential of the Open class is very impressive. Also in the [race] simulation, Espargaro is very fast,” replied the seven time MotoGP champion. “But especially it is him, so it means he is in a very good shape and able to bring the bike to the limit. “Also more fuel and less electronic is a good idea for sure, for everybody!”

Would you like to try the Open class Yamaha? “I feel good with my bike, but I want my bike with 24 litres!” he smiled.

Rossi, who took his first race win since 2010 on his return to Yamaha last season, finished the Sepang test second fastest to Honda’s reigning champion Marc Marquez.

8

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sp rt

Mourinho stokes up feud with Man City

Reuters

LONDON - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stoked up his war of words with Manuel Pellegrini on Monday by questioning the Manchester City manager’s sums. Mourinho, who will have Fernando Torres fit to return at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday after a three-week layoff with a knee problem but is again without John Terry due to a minor injury, took the mind games to a new level on the eve of the Premier League tussle at The Hawthorns.

Chelsea went to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, one point ahead of Arsenal and two in front of City. Mourinho has said repeatedly that he views City’s expensive squad as the title favourites but Pellegrini recently pointed out that it is Chelsea who have spent the most money in the last decade and also in last month’s transfer window.

“What I’d like to say is that the other day Pellegrini made some comments about the money we have spent,” Mourinho told a news conference. “I think he’s a fantastic coach who I respect a lot and on top of that he’s an engineer,” said the Portuguese, referring to the fact the City manager studied engineering at university.

“I don’t think an engineer needs a calculator to work out we sold Juan Mata for 37 million pounds ($60.7 million) last month and Kevin De Bruyne for 18 million.

“That’s 55 million pounds, more or less. We bought Nemanja Matic for 21 million and Mohamed Salah

for 11 million. That’s 55 million minus 32 million so Chelsea in this transfer window are at 23 million plus. “It’s easy to understand that we are working with Financial Fair Play...there are no arguments against that.”

BARBED COMMENTS

Mourinho, who often provokes and antagonises other managers with barbed comments and memorably said last week that “everything I say or do is mind games”, hinted City were not operating within the same UEFA Financial Fair Play guidelines. “This is what we are doing, others aren’t doing the same,” said the Chelsea manager.

“We are building a team for the next decade if possible and City have a team to win now because they don’t have a team for 10 years.” Mourinho then turned his attentions to City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, who aimed an off-the-ball kick at Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel

in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Carrow Road.

An FA video review panel decided against charging Toure on Monday but Mourinho, speaking before the verdict, was certain the midfielder should be punished. “(If he gets off) it means that it doesn’t matter about the cameras, doesn’t matter about the consequences, if the referee doesn’t see it they can do it (but) normally the FA defends football and fair play,” he said.

For his part, Van Wolfswinkel said on Twitter: “Good to see Toure not getting suspended. Players like him belong on the pitch! What happens at Carrow Road stays at Carrow Road.”

AP Photo/Clint Hughes

Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho celebrates victory at the end of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Monday Feb. 3, 2014.

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Lukaku wants Chelsea return to play Champions League Reuters

Romelu Lukaku wants to return to Chelsea next season to play in the Champions League but says his future depends on what manager Jose Mourinho thinks about his ability, the striker said in an interview published on Tuesday.

The Belgian international striker is on loan at Everton this season but says it is high time he played in continental competition.

“I’m turning 21, I’ve been a professional for five years already.

It is time,” he said in Tuesday’s edition of the Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws. “It is high time that I play in the Champions League. It is the next step I need in my development. Full stop. “Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were experienced already at that level when they were just 23-24 years old. I want to play Champions League football now. I must now show I’m ready for it.

“I still have two years on my contract and I know Chelsea follow my development. In the end it depends on what the manager thinks about me.” Mourinho had previously said Lukaku would need to publicly explain why Chelsea did not keep him but instead sent him on loan for a second successive season, after playing at West Bromwich Albion in the last campaign.

Asked to provide the explana-

tion, the striker told the newspaper: “After the season I had at West Brom (17 goals in 35 appearances), it was important that as a young player I kept developing. That means to play. “To me there is difference between playing in 20 or 45 matches a season and scoring 10 or 20 goals. Mourinho eventually understood that.

“If I can be better than I was last season, what is then holding me back? Then it will be time to play Champions League football, which is what I want to do.” Lukaku said taking the opportunity of impressing at the World Cup in Brazil would depend on going into the tournament with a “positive spirit”.

“You must not go there to play for yourself, to try and force a transfer but to work for the team.

The World Cup is our opportunity to show the world we have good players and a good team,” he said.

But he also feared that Belgium might not make the impact many feel they are capable of.

“A semi-final might be a bit far. To get to the quarter-finals would be really nice. It is more realistic to speak about reaching the semi-finals or the final of the 2016 European Championship,” Lukaku said.

RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian television cameraman was pronounced brain dead by surgeons at a Rio de Janeiro hospital Monday, four days after a firework lit by a protester struck him in the head. His death, the first in Brazil this year due to protests that threaten to disrupt the World Cup soccer tournament beginning in June, underscores the unruliness and violence that have come to characterize the small, but continued rallies that began with a series of mass demonstrations last year.

Santiago Ilídio Andrade, a 49-year-old cameraman for the Bandeirantes television network, was filming a protest over a hike in Rio’s bus fares last Thursday when a protestor, as yet unidentified, lit a large bottle rocket that flew up from the ground and struck him.

Photographs and video of the firework’s deadly, albeit accidental, trajectory have filled the front pages of newspapers and prime time

news coverage in the days since. The incident is prompting renewed discussion about the protests, the sometimes oppressive police tactics to contain them and whether violence so far could lead to worsening unrest.

While Andrade was treated for blood loss and cranial injuries at a Rio hospital, the police have been searching for the protester, who is believed to be affiliated with a loose collective of young anti-government militants.

Over the weekend, they arrested a young man who in photographs was seen handing the firework to the protester who ignited it. The man, according to local media reports, said he did not know the other protestor, but recognized him from previous demonstrations.

With World Cup games scheduled in Rio and eleven other cities, and a presidential election shortly afterward, Brazil’s government is closely watching the protests and the disruption they could cause were they to grow larger or more violent.

Neymar back in training and close to Barca return

Reuters

BARCELONA - Barcelona forward Neymar has trained with the squad for the first time since injuring his ankle last month and is close to a return to action, the club said on Monday.

The Brazil international damaged tendons in a King’s Cup tie against Getafe on Jan. 16, the latest setback for the 22-year-old who had not started a match since Christmas due to lack of fitness and a stomach bug.

“Neymar Jr has taken one more step in his recovery and had his first training session with the team on Monday morning,” La Liga leaders Barca said on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es).

Barca will be protecting a 2-0 lead in their King’s Cup semi-final second leg at Real Sociedad on Wednesday. They then host Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday before travelling to play Manchester City in a Champions League last-16 first leg on Feb. 18.

REUTERS/Vincent West

Osasuna’s Raoul Loe (L) fights for the ball with Real Madrid’s Isco during their Spanish King’s Cup soccer match at Reyno de Navarra stadium in Pamplona January 15, 2014.

No major role for ”Golden Boy” Isco at Real Madrid Reuters

Brazil cameraman pronounced brain dead after protest injury

Reuters

9

REUTERS/Darren Staples

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku (L) is challenged by West Bromwich Albion’s Liam Ridgewell as he attempts an overhead kick during their English Premier League soccer match at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich, central England January 20, 2014.

MADRID - When Real Madrid paid around 30 million euros ($41 million) to buy Isco from Malaga in the close season it seemed the talented playmaker was poised to become a fixture for club and country. He had just helped Spain to victory in the European Under21 championship in Israel, scoring a penalty in a 4-2 final win over Italy, and had already made his full senior debut in a friendly against Uruguay.

Initially, all appeared to be going according to plan as the ‘Golden Boy’ trophy winner for the best young player in Europe in 2012 hit the ground running with a series of impressive performances and some delightful goals.

However, the arrival of world record signing Gareth Bale at the end of the transfer window prompted Real coach Carlo Ancelotti to change his formation and Isco in-

creasingly found himself watching from the bench. Ancelotti appears to have settled on a 4-3-3 system for his first-choice team with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Bale up front and Angel Di Maria, Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric across the middle.

It has been working effectively in recent weeks and Real are through to the last 16 of the Champions League, level on points at the top of La Liga with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and poised to claim a berth in the final of the King’s Cup. If Bale had not picked up a series of minor injuries Isco would probably have seen even less playing time but his lack of a prominent role could put his World Cup place in Brazil in June in jeopardy. Ancelotti was asked at a news conference on Monday whether he felt he was being unfair to Isco.

“It’s a difficult question to answer because I don’t believe I am here to work for a player but to do

the best possible job for Real Madrid,” the Italian said.

“Sometimes it can happen that I am not so fair to some players and it’s normal that he is not happy right now. I don’t like players who are happy if they are not playing. “He should have the desire to play and I hope that at the end of the season he and everyone else can say they have been important to the team,” said Ancelotti. “He did it very well at the start and I have no doubt about his talent.”

With Real holding a 3-0 advantage over Atletico ahead of their King’s Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday, Ancelotti may rest one or two of his regulars and give Isco a chance to impress.

However, if he does not start playing a more significant role soon and with a host of gifted midfielders to choose from, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque could be forced to give his ticket for the trip to Brazil to someone else.

8

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Sp rt

Mourinho stokes up feud with Man City

Reuters

LONDON - Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho stoked up his war of words with Manuel Pellegrini on Monday by questioning the Manchester City manager’s sums. Mourinho, who will have Fernando Torres fit to return at West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday after a three-week layoff with a knee problem but is again without John Terry due to a minor injury, took the mind games to a new level on the eve of the Premier League tussle at The Hawthorns.

Chelsea went to the top of the table with a 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, one point ahead of Arsenal and two in front of City. Mourinho has said repeatedly that he views City’s expensive squad as the title favourites but Pellegrini recently pointed out that it is Chelsea who have spent the most money in the last decade and also in last month’s transfer window.

“What I’d like to say is that the other day Pellegrini made some comments about the money we have spent,” Mourinho told a news conference. “I think he’s a fantastic coach who I respect a lot and on top of that he’s an engineer,” said the Portuguese, referring to the fact the City manager studied engineering at university.

“I don’t think an engineer needs a calculator to work out we sold Juan Mata for 37 million pounds ($60.7 million) last month and Kevin De Bruyne for 18 million.

“That’s 55 million pounds, more or less. We bought Nemanja Matic for 21 million and Mohamed Salah

for 11 million. That’s 55 million minus 32 million so Chelsea in this transfer window are at 23 million plus. “It’s easy to understand that we are working with Financial Fair Play...there are no arguments against that.”

BARBED COMMENTS

Mourinho, who often provokes and antagonises other managers with barbed comments and memorably said last week that “everything I say or do is mind games”, hinted City were not operating within the same UEFA Financial Fair Play guidelines. “This is what we are doing, others aren’t doing the same,” said the Chelsea manager.

“We are building a team for the next decade if possible and City have a team to win now because they don’t have a team for 10 years.” Mourinho then turned his attentions to City’s Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, who aimed an off-the-ball kick at Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel

in Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Carrow Road.

An FA video review panel decided against charging Toure on Monday but Mourinho, speaking before the verdict, was certain the midfielder should be punished. “(If he gets off) it means that it doesn’t matter about the cameras, doesn’t matter about the consequences, if the referee doesn’t see it they can do it (but) normally the FA defends football and fair play,” he said.

For his part, Van Wolfswinkel said on Twitter: “Good to see Toure not getting suspended. Players like him belong on the pitch! What happens at Carrow Road stays at Carrow Road.”

AP Photo/Clint Hughes

Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho celebrates victory at the end of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against Manchester City at the Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Monday Feb. 3, 2014.

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Lukaku wants Chelsea return to play Champions League Reuters

Romelu Lukaku wants to return to Chelsea next season to play in the Champions League but says his future depends on what manager Jose Mourinho thinks about his ability, the striker said in an interview published on Tuesday.

The Belgian international striker is on loan at Everton this season but says it is high time he played in continental competition.

“I’m turning 21, I’ve been a professional for five years already.

It is time,” he said in Tuesday’s edition of the Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws. “It is high time that I play in the Champions League. It is the next step I need in my development. Full stop. “Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were experienced already at that level when they were just 23-24 years old. I want to play Champions League football now. I must now show I’m ready for it.

“I still have two years on my contract and I know Chelsea follow my development. In the end it depends on what the manager thinks about me.” Mourinho had previously said Lukaku would need to publicly explain why Chelsea did not keep him but instead sent him on loan for a second successive season, after playing at West Bromwich Albion in the last campaign.

Asked to provide the explana-

tion, the striker told the newspaper: “After the season I had at West Brom (17 goals in 35 appearances), it was important that as a young player I kept developing. That means to play. “To me there is difference between playing in 20 or 45 matches a season and scoring 10 or 20 goals. Mourinho eventually understood that.

“If I can be better than I was last season, what is then holding me back? Then it will be time to play Champions League football, which is what I want to do.” Lukaku said taking the opportunity of impressing at the World Cup in Brazil would depend on going into the tournament with a “positive spirit”.

“You must not go there to play for yourself, to try and force a transfer but to work for the team.

The World Cup is our opportunity to show the world we have good players and a good team,” he said.

But he also feared that Belgium might not make the impact many feel they are capable of.

“A semi-final might be a bit far. To get to the quarter-finals would be really nice. It is more realistic to speak about reaching the semi-finals or the final of the 2016 European Championship,” Lukaku said.

RIO DE JANEIRO - A Brazilian television cameraman was pronounced brain dead by surgeons at a Rio de Janeiro hospital Monday, four days after a firework lit by a protester struck him in the head. His death, the first in Brazil this year due to protests that threaten to disrupt the World Cup soccer tournament beginning in June, underscores the unruliness and violence that have come to characterize the small, but continued rallies that began with a series of mass demonstrations last year.

Santiago Ilídio Andrade, a 49-year-old cameraman for the Bandeirantes television network, was filming a protest over a hike in Rio’s bus fares last Thursday when a protestor, as yet unidentified, lit a large bottle rocket that flew up from the ground and struck him.

Photographs and video of the firework’s deadly, albeit accidental, trajectory have filled the front pages of newspapers and prime time

news coverage in the days since. The incident is prompting renewed discussion about the protests, the sometimes oppressive police tactics to contain them and whether violence so far could lead to worsening unrest.

While Andrade was treated for blood loss and cranial injuries at a Rio hospital, the police have been searching for the protester, who is believed to be affiliated with a loose collective of young anti-government militants.

Over the weekend, they arrested a young man who in photographs was seen handing the firework to the protester who ignited it. The man, according to local media reports, said he did not know the other protestor, but recognized him from previous demonstrations.

With World Cup games scheduled in Rio and eleven other cities, and a presidential election shortly afterward, Brazil’s government is closely watching the protests and the disruption they could cause were they to grow larger or more violent.

Neymar back in training and close to Barca return

Reuters

BARCELONA - Barcelona forward Neymar has trained with the squad for the first time since injuring his ankle last month and is close to a return to action, the club said on Monday.

The Brazil international damaged tendons in a King’s Cup tie against Getafe on Jan. 16, the latest setback for the 22-year-old who had not started a match since Christmas due to lack of fitness and a stomach bug.

“Neymar Jr has taken one more step in his recovery and had his first training session with the team on Monday morning,” La Liga leaders Barca said on their website (www.fcbarcelona.es).

Barca will be protecting a 2-0 lead in their King’s Cup semi-final second leg at Real Sociedad on Wednesday. They then host Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday before travelling to play Manchester City in a Champions League last-16 first leg on Feb. 18.

REUTERS/Vincent West

Osasuna’s Raoul Loe (L) fights for the ball with Real Madrid’s Isco during their Spanish King’s Cup soccer match at Reyno de Navarra stadium in Pamplona January 15, 2014.

No major role for ”Golden Boy” Isco at Real Madrid Reuters

Brazil cameraman pronounced brain dead after protest injury

Reuters

9

REUTERS/Darren Staples

Everton’s Romelu Lukaku (L) is challenged by West Bromwich Albion’s Liam Ridgewell as he attempts an overhead kick during their English Premier League soccer match at The Hawthorns in West Bromwich, central England January 20, 2014.

MADRID - When Real Madrid paid around 30 million euros ($41 million) to buy Isco from Malaga in the close season it seemed the talented playmaker was poised to become a fixture for club and country. He had just helped Spain to victory in the European Under21 championship in Israel, scoring a penalty in a 4-2 final win over Italy, and had already made his full senior debut in a friendly against Uruguay.

Initially, all appeared to be going according to plan as the ‘Golden Boy’ trophy winner for the best young player in Europe in 2012 hit the ground running with a series of impressive performances and some delightful goals.

However, the arrival of world record signing Gareth Bale at the end of the transfer window prompted Real coach Carlo Ancelotti to change his formation and Isco in-

creasingly found himself watching from the bench. Ancelotti appears to have settled on a 4-3-3 system for his first-choice team with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Bale up front and Angel Di Maria, Xabi Alonso and Luka Modric across the middle.

It has been working effectively in recent weeks and Real are through to the last 16 of the Champions League, level on points at the top of La Liga with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and poised to claim a berth in the final of the King’s Cup. If Bale had not picked up a series of minor injuries Isco would probably have seen even less playing time but his lack of a prominent role could put his World Cup place in Brazil in June in jeopardy. Ancelotti was asked at a news conference on Monday whether he felt he was being unfair to Isco.

“It’s a difficult question to answer because I don’t believe I am here to work for a player but to do

the best possible job for Real Madrid,” the Italian said.

“Sometimes it can happen that I am not so fair to some players and it’s normal that he is not happy right now. I don’t like players who are happy if they are not playing. “He should have the desire to play and I hope that at the end of the season he and everyone else can say they have been important to the team,” said Ancelotti. “He did it very well at the start and I have no doubt about his talent.”

With Real holding a 3-0 advantage over Atletico ahead of their King’s Cup semi-final second leg on Tuesday, Ancelotti may rest one or two of his regulars and give Isco a chance to impress.

However, if he does not start playing a more significant role soon and with a host of gifted midfielders to choose from, Spain coach Vicente del Bosque could be forced to give his ticket for the trip to Brazil to someone else.

10

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Destination

International

Sports

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

7

Tatag Hamlet IBP

TABANAN - Aside from having the Alas Kedaton tourist attraction, Kukuh village, Marga subdistrict, also has the other potential tourist attractions. The presence of wood-carving, traditional house compound, ancient relics, trekking path and Ulun Danu (a pond owned by Subak) has become the supporting tourist attraction.

A researcher, Ida Bagus Ketut Surya, said that Kukuh village was potential to be made a tourism village because it had Alas Kedaton tourist attraction. Tatag hamlet located in the north of Alas Kedaton had potential to be developed into trekking tourism. A journey for 1.5 hours could offer a very beautiful rice fields.

The Head of Tabanan Culture and Tourism, Wayan Adnyana, explained that Tabanan had 25 tourist objects and attractions.

However, only eight of them complied with the new standards of tourist object management. One of them was the Alas Kedaton at Kukuh village. He said there were changes in the current trend of tourist interest where they went back to nature tourism, so that the potential of the nature and culture-based tourism in Tabanan was very possible to be managed as tourist attraction.

Tatag hamlet had a myriad of uniqueness so that it was very potential to be made into a tourism village. Some of the uniqueness included a temple spring surrounded by four showers in the four directions; local residents abstained from consuming beef; as well as most of elderly villagers served as temple priests. Topography of the hamlet was terraced so that it made the hamlet look very unique.

Snow threatens Miller time but all white for Ligety REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler

Bode Miller of the U.S. skis in a training session for the men’s alpine skiing downhill race during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center February 8, 2014.

Reuters ROSA KHUTOR, Russia - According to one study, the Yupik dialect in central Siberia contains around 50 words for snow, whether it be the fluffy stuff, the mushy type or just the downright slippery variety. Some of those descriptions might come in handy at the Sochi Olympics Alpine skiing centre over the next few days where snow conditions are dominating conversations and dividing opinions among the world’s top racers.

Ted Ligety, triple world champion and favourite for Friday’s super combined, joined the debate on Tuesday after getting his first feel of the snow since jetting in from Switzerland and seemed happy enough. Team mate Bode Miller, never short of a few words when discussing snowflakes, especially

since rising temperatures softened the Rosa Khutor slope too much for his liking in Sunday’s downhill, was less enthusiastic.

The 36-year-old Miller blamed the weather for wrecking his hopes of gold in the downhill and fears the warmer conditions may scupper his hopes of successfully defending his

super combined title, saying softer snow favoured slalom technicians like team mate Ligety.

An icy, unforgiving downhill gives speed specialists more of a chance in the super combined, allowing them to build larger time gaps over those who shine at zigzagging between poles.

“There’s no difficult parts any more, this whole course now is manageable for anybody,” Miller, who was quickest in training under grey skies on Tuesday, told reporters. “It’s going to be a tough race for me. When the conditions get like this, it’s just everything gets more even. It’s hard to make up time on

anybody.”

BIG DEFICIT Ligety, favourite for Friday’s race, famously won super combined gold in Turin in 2006 after hauling back a three-second deficit from the downhill. The 29-year-old, who has been training in Austria in the past week, was 4.5 seconds slower than Miller on Tuesday but was relaxed about the conditions.

“I’m just getting a feeling for the speed of the hill and hopefully I can start ratcheting it up a notch,” Ligety, who missed fellow American Julia Mancuso winning a bronze medal in the women’s super

combined on Monday, told reporters. “Actually the snow on the hill is really good, they did a great job preparing the races so far.

“We’ll see, it could change a lot if it starts to rain and it gets warmer and stays cloudy. “Hopefully, we’ll get some cold nights and it stays hard and compact otherwise it could get beat up pretty quickly.”

He also played down Miller’s assertion that the downhill course had transformed from a Siberian tiger into a pussy cat. “It’s a challenging downhill,” Ligety, who won the super combined, super-G and giant slalom at last year’s world championships, said.

Rossi impressed by Open, Espargaro

Valentino Rossi

IBP/File

For many years Valentino Rossi has been calling for more fuel and less electronics in the MotoGP World Championship.

That will happen in 2014 in the new Open category, which must run the less sophisticated control ECU system, but will benefit from four litres of extra race fuel. Meanwhile Rossi and the other Factory class riders will continue with their own manufacturer software and have seen their race fuel cut by a further litre relative to last year.

At the end of this week’s Sepang test, when Aleix Espargaro put his Open class Yamaha a shock fourth on the timesheets, Crash.net asked Rossi to review the performance of the new machines.

“I think the potential of the Open class is very impressive. Also in the [race] simulation, Espargaro is very fast,” replied the seven time MotoGP champion. “But especially it is him, so it means he is in a very good shape and able to bring the bike to the limit. “Also more fuel and less electronic is a good idea for sure, for everybody!”

Would you like to try the Open class Yamaha? “I feel good with my bike, but I want my bike with 24 litres!” he smiled.

Rossi, who took his first race win since 2010 on his return to Yamaha last season, finished the Sepang test second fastest to Honda’s reigning champion Marc Marquez.

6

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

W

RLD

International

River Thames on flood alert as blame game rages Agence France Presse

London - Flooding in Britain spread along the River Thames and began to threaten London on Monday, as a political row over the handling of devastating winter storms erupted into the open. The Environment Agency issued 14 severe flood warnings -- meaning lives are at risk -- in the affluent counties of Surrey and Berkshire to the west of the capital, after the Thames broke its banks.

Some areas are already under water, including parts of the Great Windsor Park, the grounds of Queen Elizabeth II’s castle at Windsor, which itself is built on higher ground.

The Berkshire fire service rescued at least 16 people on Monday, including several from their homes in the flooded village of Wraysbury, a spokeswoman said. In the village, residents donned waders and even a full wetsuit as the waters rose. Some complained that the village had been abandoned by the authorities, who are already under fire over their handling of flooding in southwest England.

“It’s been bloody hopeless, there has been nobody to help at all,” Sylvia Davies, the wife of the parish council chairman, told AFP. “We need sandbags desperately but they have only just arrived.”

Wettest January since 1766.

REUTERS/Mark Makela

Numerous electric line crew trucks contracted from Georgia are parked in a line outside William Tennent High School in Warminster, Pennsylvania, February 8, 2014, in the aftermath of an ice storm which hit the Philadelphia area, where an estimated 280,000 PECO customers from the region lacked power.

Georgia braces for 2nd snowstorm in 2 weeks Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — When snow fell on Atlanta two weeks ago, downtown streets of the South’s business hub were jammed with unmoving cars, highway motorists slept overnight in vehicles or abandoned them where they sat, and students were forced to camp out in school gymnasiums when roads turned too treacherous for buses to navigate.

Things promised to be different Tuesday, when another round of rain, sleet and freezing rain was expected to begin walloping the area. That’s not necessarily because city and state officials are going to be better prepared — although they promised they would be — but because many people aren’t going to take a chance that they will get trapped again.

“Basically, everyone from the office is going to be working from home” on Tuesday, said Dakota Herrera as he left a car park in downtown Atlanta to go to his office Monday.

Atlanta has a long and painful history of being ill-equipped to deal with snowy weather. Despite officials’ promises following a crippling ice storm in 2011 that they would be better prepared next time, the storm that hit the area Jan. 28 proved they still had many kinks to work out. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal indicated on Monday that he and other state officials had learned their lesson.

Before a single drop of freezing

rain or snow fell, Deal declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state and state employees were told they could stay home if they felt conditions were too dangerous. Schools canceled classes, and Deal urged people who didn’t need to be anywhere to stay off the roads. Tractor-trailer drivers were handed fliers about the weather and a law requiring chains on tires in certain conditions.

“We are certainly ahead of the game this time, and that’s important,” Deal said. “We are trying to be ready, prepared and react as quickly as possible.” That kind of reassurance was a hard sell with some. “I’m not counting on it,” said Terri Herod, who bought a large bag of sand and a shovel at local hardware store. “I’ve been in Georgia on and off for 20 years.

It’s usually the same scenario: not enough preparations and not enough equipment.”

Memories of the last storm are still painfully fresh. Students were trapped on buses or at schools and

thousands of cars were abandoned along highways as short commutes turned into odysseys. One woman gave birth on a jammed interstate. Officials reported one accident-related death.

This storm could be worse this time. A one-two punch of winter weather was expected for Atlanta and northern Georgia. Rain and snow were forecast Tuesday, followed by sleet and freezing rain Wednesday. Downed power lines and icy roads were a major worry.

Other parts of the South were expected to get hit as well. Alabama, which saw stranded vehicles and had 10,000 students spend the night in schools during the January storm, was likely to get a wintry mix of precipitation. Parts of Mississippi could see 3 inches of snow, and a blast of snow over a wide section of Kentucky slickened roads and closed several school districts. South Carolina, which hasn’t seen a major ice storm in nearly a decade, could get a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of ice.

AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

A view of the river Thames, with the Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, left, in central London, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014.

Corby’s...

From page 1 “The money being discussed is considerably lower. It’s way, way lower.”

Willesee said that there were a “few things up in the air” and he did not know when an interview might happen.

It is unclear whether Corby will be able to profit from her criminal notoriety due to the Commonwealth Proceeds of Crime Act. Her case is seen as complicated as the offence took place in Indonesia and she has not been convicted in Australia, although the act does state that it “can sometimes be used to confiscate the proceeds of crime that break foreign laws”.

Experts were divided on whether Corby and her family would be able to hang on to the money through clever accounting or whether they would end up losing much of it.

“If Corby’s smart... she won’t profit directly from this money,” law lecturer Hugh McDermott at Charles Sturt University told The Australian newspaper.

“The money will go to her family or a separate trust. There’s millions of dollars to be made here and I imagine they’ll structure it in a way to keep it out of the hands of law enforcers.”

Hordes of Australian journalists were still staking out the luxury resort Tuesday, scrutinising every vehicle going in and out, trying to catch a glimpse of Corby and what her next move might be.

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

11

INDONESIA Military chief wades into ship row with Singapore Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s military chief said Monday Jakarta stood by its decision to name a warship after two marines who staged a deadly 1960s bombing in Singapore, insisting the pair were not “terrorists”.

It came a day after Indonesian defence officials pulled out of this week’s Singapore Airshow after the city-state complained about the Indonesian navy’s decision to name the refurbished frigate “KRI Usman Harun”.

Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said were executed in Singapore for their roles in the March 1965 blast at a downtown office complex which killed three people and injured 33.

“We won’t change the name of (the) warship,” General Moeldoko, the head the Indonesian armed forces, told reporters.

“I cannot accept Usman and Harun being declared as terrorists,” he added.

Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro backed up Moeldoko’s view, insisting the marines were “heroes”.

Their remarks were the latest salvo in the row between the neighbours which began last week when Singapore complained to Indonesia, its third-largest trading partner, over the ship’s name.

The attack by the marines was

part of an effort by then Indonesian president Sukarno to stage an armed confrontation against the newly formed federation of Malaysia, which included Singapore.

The dispute over the name escalated Sunday when Jakarta announced that Indonesian defence officials had pulled out of the Singapore Airshow, which starts on Tuesday.

A defence ministry statement said that a visit by Deputy Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to Singapore for a “strategic dialogue” had been scrapped too. However an Indonesian air force aerobatic team would still perform at the airshow, it added.

Despite the rising tensions, Moeldoko insisted Monday that the row had so far caused “no significant change in Singapore and Indonesian military ties”.

Singapore acrimoniously split from Malaysia to become an independent country on August 9, 1965.

Total trade between Singapore and Indonesia reached Sg$79.4 billion ($62.6 billion) in 2012.

210 schools in Riau closed due to haze Antara

PEKANBARU - The Siak district administration in Riau Province, has decided to shut around 210 schools for two days (Feb 11-12) due to the haze coming from forest and plantation fires.

“A total of 210 schools are being kept closed because the haze is getting thicker and may cause harm to children,” Head of the Siak education office Kadri Yafis stated on Tuesday.

The schools, consisting of elementary, junior and senior high schools, are located across 13 sub-districts in Siak district.

However, the sixth, ninth and 12th grade students will continue

with studies because of the fast approaching final examinations. But the starting time of the schools have been postponed from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m.

“Usually, during the day the smog diminishes,” he explained.

The schools will operate normally, only in Kandis sub-district, since the area has not been affected by the haze.

The Siak Environmental Agency (BLH) added that the condition of the air is currently at a dangerous level due to the haze.

In the Bunga Raya sub-district, where a number of hotspots were detected, the visibility was only 50 meters on Tuesday morning due to the haze.

ANTARA FOTO/Novrian Arbi

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has risen the status of Mount Kelud from Advisory (second level) to Watch (third level) on Monday.

Status of Mount Kelud rises to watch

Antara

JAKARTA - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) has risen the status of Mount Kelud from Advisory (second level) to Watch (third level) on Monday.

“Following the increase of the volcanic activities of Mount Kelud, its status has been risen, by the Volcanology and Geology Disaster Mitigation Center, to Watch,” BNBP spokesman Nugroho Sutopo stated.

He warned mountain climbers, tourists and the public in general not to go to the mountain’s top.

The increased volcanic activities have been indicated by, among other things, a number of shallow and deep volcanic quakes as well as high tem-

perature of water in the Mount Kelud’s crater.

Under the Watch status, the area within a radius of two kilometers from the volcano’s top is considered dangerous because of hot clouds, toxic gas, lava and ashes.

“There is no human settlement within the radius of two kilometers,” he confirmed.

He reminded the people, approximately 100 in number, living within the radius of five kilometers from the mountain’s top to be on an alert, always, of intensified volcanic activities.

Earlier, the East Java regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) prepared contingency plans along with the local administration and other concerned parties following the rise of the activity status of Mount Kelud.

“This is part of preventive efforts after the volcano’s activity status was upgraded from normal to alert yesterday,” head of East Java BPBD Sudharman clarified when asked about the issue on February 3.

The contingency plans are used as a reference for readiness exercises and for programs to deal with during emergencies.

He noted that people living near the mountain assembled on Monday to get updated on the situation.

About 19 volcanoes in Indonesia have had their statuses upgraded from normal to alert levels from Sunday, February 2, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho stated here on Monday.

12

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

BUSINESS Japan faced with gloomy data ahead of tax hike Agence France-Presse

IBP/Net

Google overtook US oil giant ExxonMobil on Monday to become the world’s number two company when rated by market value, behind its high-tech rival Apple.

Google becomes number two in market value

Agence France-Presse

NEW YORK - Google overtook US oil giant ExxonMobil on Monday to become the world’s number two company when rated by market value, behind its high-tech rival Apple.

Even though Google shares fell 0.38 percent, a bigger drop in Exxon stock allowed the Internet giant to capture the second spot in market capitalization.

Google’s market cap at the end of the trading day was $394 billion, compared to the $388 billion of ExxonMobil. Apple remained well ahead with a market capitalization of $472 billion.

Google briefly overtook Exx-

on during the trading session last Friday but Monday was the first time this was confirmed at the close of trade.

ExxonMobil shares fell 1.17 percent on Monday to $89.53, bringing its year-to-date loss to 11.5 percent.

Google, despite Monday’s modest dip, is near its all-time high and has doubled in value since July 2012. The shares closed Monday at $1,172.93.

The California-based Internet group is the world leader in online advertising, its Android operating system has become the dominant platform for smartphones and is also gaining fast in tablet devices.

Google’s other projects include a self-driving car and its Google Glass eyewear. The company recently bought Nest Labs in what is seen as a move into connected home technology.

TOKYO - Japan produced a gloomy batch of economic data Monday showing shoppers growing nervous and the trade deficit ballooning, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to launch a controversial sales tax rise.

The government said consumer sentiment weakened in January, while the current account surplus -- the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world -- hit a record low in 2013 as the cheap yen pushed up energy bills.

A policy blitz by Abe, which meshes government spending with central bank monetary easing, has driven the yen down and boosted stock prices, earning him acclaim for kickstarting the long-sluggish economy.

A recent tally of the Nikkei economic daily showed nearly 70 percent of listed Japanese companies are likely to post sales and profit growth in the current business year to March.

However, many firms have yet to embrace Abe’s call to hike wages. A poll by Kyodo news agency last month showed nearly three-quarters of Japanese people are feeling no effect from the so-called Abenomics.

Worryingly for the premier, it also showed that only 17 percent of firms -- around a sixth -- are planning to hike wages, even as Japan begins to experience real inflation for the first time in several years.

Monday’s data from the Cabinet Office showed the consumer sentiment index fell to 40.5 in January, the lowest level since 39.9 in December 2012. A reading below 50 indicates pessimism.

The subindex on views on livelihood fell to its lowest reading since June 2011 and that on willingness to buy durable goods dropped to the weakest since May 2011 -- suggesting the mood is as gloomy as the months soon after the earthquake-tsunami that wrecked the northeast coast and hammered the economy.

Separate data from the finance ministry showed Japan had a surplus of 3.31 trillion yen ($32 billion) on its current account in 2013, the weakest on comparable data stretching back to 1985.

The current account is the broadest measure of the country’s trade with the rest of the world, including not only trade in goods but also services, tourism and returns on the country’s foreign investment.

Government leaders last month said they were winning the war on stubborn deflation as consumer prices logged their their first rise for five years in 2013.

But the rise was largely driven by soaring import bills due to a cheap yen and the country’s reliance on importing expensive fossil fuels since its nuclear plants were shuttered after the tsunamisparked Fukushima crisis.

Japan’s trade deficit more than doubled to 10.6 trillion yen in 2013 from the previous year as costlier imports of oil and gas overwhelmed export growth.

Abe has decided to follow through on a pledge by his predecessor to hike Japan’s 5.0 percent sales tax to 8.0 percent in April.

The move is seen as a crucial first step towards bringing down an eye-watering national debt, but naysayers fear it will derail Japan’s budding recovery.

Some economists say continuing trade deficits may be a sign that Abenomics is actually succeeding.

Unlike previous recoveries in Japan, his policy of much greater monetary easing and bringing inflation into the economy is aimed more at domestic consumption than pushing goods overseas.

“If Abenomics succeeds, domestic demand-led economic growth will be achieved, making current account deficits a more regular feature of the Japanese economy,” predicted Koya Miyamae, economist with SMBC Nikko Securities.

Bali News

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

5

Bali to host international conference on oil palm, environment Antara

DENPASAR - WWF-Indonesia, CIRAD research institute and PT SMART Tbk will hold the fourth International Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) in Bali, on February 12-14, 2014.

The theme of ICOPE 2014 will be “Oil Palm Cultivation: Becoming a Model for Tomorrow’s Sustainable Agriculture”, WWF-Indonesia said in a statement, Monday.

Among key topics of discussion will be land use and deforestation, green house gas emission, smallholders as well as palm oil certification standards, “There is no doubt that palm oil industry provides benefits for Indonesia, such as economic and social development. But it is beyond doubt that unsustainable practices in palm oil industry lead to negative impacts,” said WWFIndonesia Conservation Director Nazir Foead.

Last year WWF released “Palming off a National Park” report conveying indication of illegal oil palm supply to global market and impact of irresponsible palm oil production to Tesso Nilo National Park and forest complex.

“Unsustainable practices like the

one we found in Riau shall not be repeated,” Nazir said as quoted in the statement.

Palm oil industry is one of the most lucrative industries in Indonesia where 4.5% of 2012 GDP came from this commodity. But environmental concern always loom the industry, as expansion for palm oil plantations become the main driver for deforestation and the loss of biodiversity in Indonesia.

Trend shows increasing demand of palm oil for biofuels in addition to its traditional function for foods and hygene products.

With the continuously growing global and domestic demand, there is urgency for sustainable agribusiness practices, according to WWFIndonesia.

Participants of the he conference will include scholars, and representatives of research institutes, companies, governments, as well as NGOs. WWF-Indonesia hopes that the

international conference with participants from 19 countries will be able to offer solutions to palm oil problems.

“Through ICOPE, experts and players in palm oil industry can share their experiences and best practices so their positive achievements can be adopted elsewhere. With innovation and implementation of best practices, it is possible for Indonesia palm oil industry to achieve its target of 40 million tons of palm oil in 2020 without expansion to natural forest,” stated Nazir.

IBP/Net

The palm oil always been a concerned for environmentalist, including WWF. On that occassion, WWF-Indonesia, CIRAD research institute and PT SMART Tbk will hold the fourth International Conference on Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) in Bali, on February 12-14, 2014.

Kebo Iwa, a knight willing to die for unity IBP

The name Kebo Iwa has long been known by Balinese people.

When reading or hearing about the story of his life, as though we are proffered with a fiction mixed with history. As a historical figure, Kebo Iwa is described as a mighty and powerful knight. There is a source mentions if he was a governor of the king Gajahwaktra ruling at Bedahulu (now Bedulu) around 1324 -1343 AD. Kebo Iwa is mentioned as one of the military commanders of Bali during the reign of King Sri Asta Sura Ratna Bumi Banten in the early fourteenth century.

IBP/File Photo

As a fictional character, Kebo Iwa who also has another name like Kebo Taruna and Kebo Wandira is described as a remarkable man. The son of Commander Rakryan Buncing is described as a giant man having a big posture.

Range of his feet is very wide, so that he can travel quickly. If he wants to drink, he just needs to stab his finger into the ground and

a small well will emit water.

Kebo Iwa can also carve a stone with his nail. Whenever there is a big hole, people always call it as the footprint of Kebo Iwa. Others also say that a hollow rock on Soka Beach (Tabanan) is the pot of Kebo Iwa. He is described as a strong giant man that eats so much so that to cook rice he needs a large pot.

Though being powerful, Kebo Iwa does not have egoistic or arrogant nature. Story on the end of his life is very tragic and even it draws a variety of interpretations and meanings. It can be seen when Gajah Mada intended to conquer Bali for the realization of the unity of the archipelago. This vice regent from Majapahit kingdom considered it impossible to conquer Bali as long as Kebo Iwa was still alive. He then arranged a strategy where Kebo Iwa was picked up to be invited to Majapahit. Kebo Iwa requested the help dig a well for the kingdom in East Java experiencing water crisis. As a prize, he would be awarded a beautiful and graceful girl from Lemah Tulis.

Kebo Iwa met the request.

When digging a well, the men of Gajah Mada pelted Kebo Iwa with rock stones in order the strong man from Bali could be buried alive. Kebo Iwa got up and was aware if he was deceived. He then opened the secret of his weakness where to kill him was enough to use whiting and betel leaf.

Such a word-of-mouth story also raises a variety of interpretations. Balinese people call that whiting symbolizes Lord Shiva and betel leaf symbolizes Lord Vishnu. Thus, Kebo Iwa got purification from Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu to attain moksha. In some regions, before people chew betel leaf, the tip of betel leaf is cut first.

Why? It is done to commemorate the death of Kebo Iwa. A variety of interpretations apparently cannot be resisted.

For example, why was Kebo Iwa willing to die? There are commentaries saying if the ideal of Gajah Mada was very noble namely to unite the archipelago.

Therefore, for the sake of unity, Kebo Iwa was willing to sacrifice his life.

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Bali News

International

International

Target of Bangli to win Adipura besieged by rubbish

W

RLD

Reuters

BANGLI - Although having become a classic problem, the rubbish issue in Bangli County seems to have never been addressed thoroughly. Actually, this year 2014 Bangli is determined to hold the village Adipura (sanitation award) competition to establish itself in the Adipura of the next level.

In fact, the awareness of Bangli community on the hazards of litter especially in rainy season remains very low.

ROME - Italian President Giorgio Napolitano faced fierce criticism on Monday over reports that he asked Mario Monti about replacing Silvio Berlusconi as prime minister months before his government fell at the height of the euro zone crisis in 2011. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party expressed “bitterness and shock” at the reports, based on interviews with Monti and others in a forthcoming book by journalist Alan Friedman, extract of which were published by the Financial Times and the Corriere della Sera newspapers.

Crash a truck moving backward, motorcycle plunged into ravine Bali Post

TABANAN - A traffic accident occurred again in the region of Tabanan.

At this time, a Honda Supra motorcycle with license plate DK 3503 GS ridden

by Ni Made Sukarni, 29, a resident of Munggal hamlet, Kukuh Marga, slid into a ravine at Peken hamlet, Belayu village, Marga, after crashing the back part of truck moving backward from a building material store on Jalan Raya Marga, precisely at Peken hamlet, Belayu village, Marga, Sunday afternoon (Feb 9). Fortunately, the motorcyclist did not fall into the ravine. Nevertheless, the victim Ni Made Sukarni was forced to get intensive care in the Tabanan Hospital as sustaining injuries.

Other than Sukarni, the accident also caused her father, I Wayan Catra, 64, who was in a position of piggybacking, to get injured. As information compiled, the traffic incident occurred about eleven o’clock. At that time, the victim Ni Made Sukarni piggybacked Wayan

Catra from the west (Kukuh) to the east (Belayu). Suddenly at the scene, a truck transporting iron was moving out of a building material store on the north of the road. Allegedly when the truck was driving backwards, Sukarni was shocked and could not control her motorcycle speed and eventually crashed the left back side of the unidentified truck.

Even, the father of Sukarni, Wayan Catra, previously had jumped from the motorcycle, while Sukarni fell onto the road. Meanwhile, the motorcycle continued to slide and eventually plunged into the two-meter ravine in south of the road.

As a result of the incident, Sukarni suffered bruises on both eyes and a wound on the forehead. Meanwhile, his father suffered lacerations behind the head and bleeding from the mouth and nose. They were immediately rushed to emergency room of the Tabanan Hospital to get intensive care. In the meantime, the truck even escaped and left the victims. (kmb28)

Garbage pile up in the rural area of Bangli Regency

IBP/File

Wanted for eight months, theft arrested

Bali Post

DENPASAR - After the suspect Toha was arrested by the officers of Kuta Police and detained in Kerobokan Prison due to motorcycle theft case, it is now the turn of Moh Nur Fadilah Efendy alias Efendy to be arrested by the Criminal Detective of Denpasar Police.

Toha and Efendy belong to one motorcycle thief gang who take action in a number of crime scenes.

Although being capable of arresting the suspect Efendy, police are still hunting for the other culprit with initials YS. “Efendy stole a motorcycle on July 19, 2013. He took action with Toha and YS. However, Toha was arrested by Kuta Police, while YS is still at large,” said Criminal Detective Chief of Denpasar Police, Benny Murjayanto, Monday (Feb 10).

Chief Benny explained that since the arrest of the suspect Toha, Efendy was put on wanted list because Toha admitted to have taken action with Efendy and YS. Well, since then they (Efendy and YS—Ed) have been

hunted. “We have hunted them for nearly eight months, but we can only arrest Efendy, while YS is still in pursuit,” he explained.

He further explained the motorcycle thief gang stole the motorcycle owned by I Ketut Kariyasa living on Jalan Dewi Sri II, Legian Kuta, Badung, on July 18, 2013. The motorcycle of victim was Honda Vario with license plate DK 5840 OF and was taken away by the suspects using a fake key. “When stealing, the suspect YS served as an executor, while Toha and Efendy oversaw the surrounding area,” he said.

After stealing, the victim’s motorcycle was taken to the boarding house of Efendy on Jalan Buluh Indah Gang Cempaka Biru No.5 Denpasar. The motorcycle was disassembled for three days at his boarding house.

Furthermore, all the motorcycle parts were then sent by using the service of travel transport. “When examined at Gilimanuk, the motorcycle parts were suspected as stolen goods. From the investigation, police the arrested the suspect Efendy and Toha,” he revealed. (kmb21)

13

Italian President Napolitano under fire over Monti appointment

Bali Post

Low awareness of maintaining sanitation is found around Jalan Melati, Cempaga village and Tamanbali. At Tamanbali, for example, people seemed to deliberately dispose rubbish into local conduits.

Meanwhile, at Cempaga, according to one of the residents, Marini, a pile of rubbish in the western corner of Bangli town originated from household waste. Quite often the people around the location also disposed pig manure at the same location.

Actually, in the vicinity also sat a fishing pond visited by many people, but the local people seemed less concerned. More unfortunately, not far from the location had been prepared a trash bin that would routinely be taken by the officers. Unluckily, people were not aware of the environmental sanitation where they remained to litter casually.

The Head of Bangli Urban Planning, Ida Ayu Gede Yudi Sutha, when asked for her confirmation promised to address the rubbish issue. She also promised to mobilize her men to haul the rubbish.

Previously, the Head of the Bangli Environment Agency (BLH), Wayan Sukartana, also briefly lamented the lack of public awareness of waste in Bangli. Although so far the waste management program had been undertaken through waste separation into three bins provided, some few people in Bangli were reluctant to use it and stayed to throw rubbish haphazardly. (ina)

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Although the events recounted in the book occurred more than two years ago, they risk reopening wounds between the parties that could complicate the already difficult situation facing Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s fragile ruling coalition, which is struggling to adopt economic and political reforms.

“We are dismayed to learn that, as early as June 2011, the head of state was actively taking steps to bring down the Berlusconi government and replace him with Mario Monti,” the parliamentary floor leaders of Forza Italia, Renato Brunetta and Paolo Romani, said in a statement. Napolitano has been widely praised outside Italy for his role in helping to navigate the crisis and is seen as a guarantor of stability. But he has faced bitter attacks at home from the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and many in Berlusconi’s camp, who accuse him of overreaching his powers.

Napolitano, who as head of state is responsible for appointing the prime minister, named Monti to lead a technocrat government after Berlusconi resigned during an economic crisis that sent Italy’s borrowing costs spiraling out of control and put the future of the euro zone itself in doubt.

In the book, Monti himself confirmed that Na-

politano had given him “signals in that direction” as early as June or July, months before Berlusconi’s center-right government fell in November 2011.

Forza Italia senator Augusto Minzolini said his party should consider supporting the impeachment motion against Napolitano launched by the 5-Star Movement last month.

Letta, whom Napolitano appointed to head a coalition of rival parties from the left and right after last year’s deadlocked election, issued a statement saying the attacks on the 88-year-old head of state amounted to a “shameful attempt to distort reality”.

Napolitano himself dismissed suggestions of a plot to replace Berlusconi as “smoke”.

He said he had spoken to Monti frequently during the course of 2011 but noted that Berlusconi’s government had only fallen after a split in his own center-right party and growing tensions with key members of the cabinet including the economy minister at the time, Giulio Tremonti.

The spat over Napolitano’s role in appointing Monti comes as Letta’s coalition has faced growing pressure to come up with a coordinated reform program to pull Italy’s stagnant economy clear of its longest postwar recession.

REUTERS/Vincent Kessler

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano arrives in the plenary room of the European Parliament ahead of his address to the assembly in Strasbourg, February 4, 2014.

Australian wildfires destroy more than 30 homes Agence France Presse

REUTERS/Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES)/Handout via Reuters

A firefighter is pictured among burning trees as he battles wildfires in Banjup, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, February 3, 2014. A bushfire continues to burn out of control, threatening lives and homes in Perth’s southern suburbs, according to local news reports.

Melbourne - More than 30 homes have been razed in the worst fire conditions Australia has seen since a 2009 inferno killed 173 people, with flames threatening the country’s second-largest city, officials said Monday. Hot, dry winds and soaring temperatures fanned scores of major blazes across the southeast on Sunday, with Victoria state sweltering through its worst fire risk weather in five years.

“They were ferocious fires, they ran hard, they hit homes,” said fire commissioner Craig Lapsley. The emergency came exactly five years after the so-called Black Saturday firestorm devastated the state, flattening whole towns in what was Australia’s deadliest natural disaster of the modern era.

Victoria state premier Dennis Napthine said it had been the worst fire danger day since Black Saturday, with more than 30 homes confirmed lost so far across the state.

“At this stage we have no evidence of loss of life, which is a great effort by the firefighters and all emergency services, and at this stage we have no evidence of serious injury,” Napthine said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government stood ready “to do all we reasonably can to ensure that people get the help they need in these difficult, difficult hours and days”.

Hundreds of people spent the night in evacuation shelters after being forced to flee their homes. A major open-cut coal mine was ablaze, with a nearby power station in the path of one fire. Napthine said emergency crews were working “very, very hard in that area to protect those strategic assets”.

Six blazes remained at emergency level Monday including a 40kilometre (25-mile) front on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia’s second-biggest city, with tens of thousands of hectares scorched.

At least 12 of Sunday’s fires were thought by police to have been deliberately lit.

14

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Health

International

Scientists find gene linking brain’s grey matter to intelligence Reuters

LONDON - Researchers have found a gene linking intelligence to the thickness of so-called “grey matter” in the brain, and say their discovery could help scientists understand how and why some people have learning difficulties. An international team of scientists analysed DNA samples and brain scans from more than 1,500 healthy 14-year-olds and gave them a series of tests to establish their verbal and non-verbal intelligence.

The researchers looked at the cerebral cortex - the outermost layer of the brain that is also known as “grey matter” and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language and consciousness.

They then analysed more than 54,000 genetic variants possibly involved in brain development and found that, on average, teenagers with a particular gene variant had a thinner cortex in the left half of their brains and were the ones who performed less well on tests for intellectual ability.

“The genetic variation we identified is linked to synaptic plasticity - how neurons communicate,” said Sylvane Desrivieres, who led the study at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry.

“This may help us understand what happens at a neuronal level in certain forms of intellectual impairments, where the ability of the neurons to communicate effectively is somehow compromised.” She stressed, however, that their finding did not amount to a discovery of a “gene for intelligence”.

“It’s important to point out that intelligence is influenced by many

3

Hotels alleged to have not applied local minimum wage MANGUPURA - Local minimum wage (UMK) of Badung County is feared to just become paper tiger. It is kindled by the allegation that there are a number of companies including large companies in Badung that have not paid their workers in accordance with the local minimum wage or at least IDR 1,728,000.

Such concern was expressed by a member of Commission A of the Badung House, I Made Duama.

Duama admitted to have received complaints from a number of hotel employees in Badung who were paid under the local minimum wage. “In Nusa Dua, for instance, there is hotel staff complaining because they have not been paid

pursuant to the local minimum wage,” said Duama.

Interestingly, the hotel did not belong to a budget hotel or city hotel, but to a renowned five-star hotel. Based on the confession of the employees, the hotel was incapable of paying salary in accordance with the local minimum wage due to the diminishing ho-

tel occupancy. “It’s funny. Why does such a big hotel not implement the local minimum wage?

Besides, the reason also sounds illogical,” he said.

Further, Duama admitted to be apprehensive because the local minimum wage could not be applied in all the companies in Badung if there was no good

will of the companies. He worried if the rules related to the local minimum wage would only become a paper tiger as could not be applied.

On that account, he asked all the companies to consistently implement the local minimum wage.

The government was also urged to make supervision including imposing sanctions against the violators.

By doing so, the companies in Badung were expected to adhere to the local minimum wage. “We will propose to chairman of the house to carry out an inspection to companies in relation to the

implementation of the local minimum wage. We’ve already had the data of the companies alleged to violate,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Head of Badung Social and Labor Agency, Ni Luh Putu Suryaniti, could not be reached for her confirmation.

However, she recently revealed that the Governor Regulation on the local minimum wage had been enacted as of January 2, 2014. Companies were given one month to adjust the application of the new local minimum wage.

If the company could not carry it out, the company could file a delay. (kmb25)

Land brokers besiege Nusa Penida Bali Post

Biggest cockfighting bust in New York history nets 3,000 birds Reuters

A rescued animal is pictured at the site of an ASPCA animal rescue during “Operation Angry Birds” in Ulster County, New York, in this February 9, 2014 handout photo.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

In Badung

Bali Post

genetic and environmental factors.

The gene we identified only explains a tiny proportion of the differences in intellectual ability,” she said. The findings, published on Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, could help scientists gain more insight into the biological mechanisms underlying several psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, since people with these conditions often have impaired cognitive ability.

The genetic variation that Desrivieres’ team found affects a gene known as NPTN, which encodes a protein acting on neuronal synapses and therefore affects how brain cells communicate.

To confirm the finding, the team studied the NPTN gene more closely in mouse and human brain cells in the lab and found it had a different activity in the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

This, they said, suggests the left hemisphere may be more sensitive to the effects of NPTN mutations, and that some differences in intellectual ability are due to decreased NPTN function in particular regions of the left brain hemisphere.

REUTERS/ASPCA/Handout via Reuters

Bali News

International

Nine people were arrested and some 3,000 fighting roosters and hens rescued when New York authorities busted a cockfighting ring they said was one of the biggest ever uncovered in the United States. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced the arrests and said in a statement: “Cockfighting is a cruel, abusive and barbaric practice that tortures animals, endangers the health and safety of the public and is known to facilitate other crimes.”

Officials simultaneously raided an apartment building in the New York City borough of Queens where 70 people were attending a fight overnight Saturday, and also a pet shop in Brooklyn that

dealt in fighting chickens as well as a 90-acre (36-hectare) farm in Plattekill, New York, where thousands of roosters and hens were kept and trained.

“Operation Angry Birds,” named after a popular mobile game, targeted a gambling operation where people bet up to $10,000 on a single fight to see roosters, often fitted with knives, battle to the death, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Some 70 people at the Queens apartment building, where cockfights had been held twice a month since May, were detained and questioned, and about 65 birds seized, the attorney general’s office said.

It was the biggest cockfighting

bust in New York history, authorities said. Nine people were charged with felonies, punishable by up to four years in prison and a fine up to $25,000, authorities said. Cockfighting is illegal in every U.S. state.

Spectators paid admission and a seat fee for the all-night fights in the basement, where alcohol and drugs were sold, prosecutors said.

In some of the locations, authorities found cockfighting paraphernalia, such as fake rooster spurs, candle wax and syringes used to inject the birds with performance-enhancing drugs, ASPCA officials said. Humane societies and animal rescue groups in seven states are helping with the shelter and transfer of the animals, officials said.

SEMARAPURA - The price of land on Bali Island skyrockets. This condition causes the investment to lead to Nusa Penida islands, chiefly the Nusa Gede. Moreover, the current Klungkung Regent is from Nusa Penida. Along with more attention given to Nusa Penida, the land brokers begin to besiege the vacant land located on Nusa Penida to be offered to local and foreign investors. Moreover, the price of land on Nusa Penida stays much lower than that of on Bali Island.

A community leader of Nusa Penida, Ketut Pesta, said on Monday (Feb 10) that since the current

regent served, many people believed the islands of Nusa Penida would become a very strategic area in line with a variety of programs rolled out to promote the region. Nusa Penida was assessed to increasingly have an attraction for investment because it was considered to retain a good economic potential in the future. Thus, the land also had an attraction to be owned by different parties. Moreover, on the mainland Bali the price of land had soared.

Similarly, the price of land on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan was very expensive and almost ran out.

As the next alternative, it was natural if the land in Nusa Penida became

a seizure.

“Tourist accommodation on Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan has already overloaded, so the Nusa Gede becomes the next target,” he said. Indeed, no body prohibited the purchase of land on Nusa Penida.

According to him, anyone could purchase land and anywhere in Bali and of course also on Nusa Penida because Bali did not have a special autonomy governing the matter.

However, one thing to be watched out was the movement of the land broker itself. They often speculated just to look for their own benefits without thinking about the benefits to society. Thus, no economic impact

could be enjoyed by local community due to the purchase of the land. The economic impact could only be enjoyed by the surrounding community if the land purchase was really made by real investors and was willing to build in accordance with the potential of the region.

Another community leader, I Gede Tanjung, also worried about the same thing. If the coming were only brokers, the development master plan in Nusa Penida would lose its direction. High interest of investor to go to Nusa Penida should be coupled with the realization of Detail Spatial Plan (RDTR) of the Klungkung region itself.

Nusa Penida should be prevented from becoming suddenly crowded by the development without direction. It was important to consider more maturely because not all of the investments gave good impact.

Indeed, what we saw lately was even damaging. In addition, Tanjung also asked the government to think about local people in order they would not easily sold their land. Even, when being necessary the local residents needed to be empowered so they did not die in their home region.

“Blue print of the development must empower local residents. It should not take side with the interests of investors,” he said. (kmb31)

IBP/File Photo

The photo shows villas at Nusa Penida, Klungkung Regency, Bali Island.

The price of land on Bali Island skyrockets. This condition causes the investment to lead to Nusa Penida islands, chiefly the Nusa Gede.

2

International

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Bali News Avalanche

Hectares of paddy at risk of harvest failure Bali Post

TABANAN - Several hectares of paddy field at Subak Gading Wani, Pengreregan Kaja hamlet, Lumbung village, West Selemadeg, are threatened to face crop failure. Meanwhile, tens of hectares of other paddy fields are also threatened by drought as the main subak irrigation channel has been blocked since two months ago. This condition is caused by avalanche along 23 meters spreading over two points.

To resolve the problem, the subak member has done mutual assistance since the past few weeks to clean up the irrigation channel from the avalanche materials. Even, they had to pass through a rather extreme path to reach the irrigation channel buried by the avalanche.

Though the incident has been reported by local resident, so far there is no help from the government.

Subak chief of Semaja subgroup, Made Suarba, when met amidst the mutual assistance on Monday (Feb10) said the main irrigation channel had not irrigated the subak subgroup area namely the Lalanglinggah and Semaja. “To my knowledge, the Public Works has made survey but there is no follow up so far,” he said.

More severely, since the irrigation program in 1982 there has been no improvement of irrigation channel. “In the 1980s, there was a government program

to build irrigation channel on the left and right side, where the water source was from Balian River. On the left side was intended for Subak Gading Wani, while on the right for Subak Anyar, Surabrata.

Unfortunately, the right channel did not work, while the left channel had abnormal water discharge,” he explained.

Further, he said that fortunately before the avalanche, some farmers at Lalanglinggah had completed their harvest. “Although some farmers have harvested, at least around 5 hectares of paddy field are at risk of facing harvest failure because the 1.5-months old paddy plant no longer get the irrigation water.

Meanwhile, other farmers cannot grow rice because their land is dry,” he said.

He expected the government could soon help farmers cope with the problem. Thus, most residents getting deeply involved in growing rice could resume their activities. (kmb28)

The avelanche which happen at Subak Gading Wani, Pengreregan Kaja hamlet, Lumbung village, West Selemadeg, Tabanan treathen the crops in the area

NEGARA - Mediator team of the Bali Manpower Agency led by the Industrial Relations Mediator Division Head, Gede Raka, accompanied by the Head of Jembrana Manpower Agency Ketut Doster performed a mediation related to the layoff of the two employees of the Hotel Jimbarwana, Monday afternoon (Feb 10).

The meeting was attended by ten representatives of hotel employees, Operations Manager of Hotel Jimbarwana Nurhadi and its Training Manager Nyoman Yudi Wartono. However, the bipartite meeting failed and deadlocked because the management that should make decision was absent without explanation.

On that occasion, a number of employees expected the manage-

ment to provide the best solution in resolving the problem. Meanwhile, Gede Raka said that in resolving the problem the management and General Manager or authorized proxy that could take decision should be present. So, there would be no legal problems later on. “We expect the bipartite meeting can result in a solution in the form of agreement. Since the layoff process has not been completed, each party must carry out its obligations before there is a permanent decision,” he explained.

He said the terminated employees should be re-employed.

Similarly, it should also be made a negotiation treatise. It had to set forth that the management should reinstate the two employees, revoke the termination letter dated February 3, 2014 to ensure the

rights of employees and make a joint work agreement and each party should carry out its obligations.

In the meeting last Monday was agreed that the subsequent mediation would be held back next week or Monday (Feb 17). In case before that date could have been reached an agreement it should be accompanied with the joint work agreement legalized with a stamp.

According to Gede Raka, the management could not dismiss the Labor Union (SPSI) established at the Hotel Jimbarwana as it was protected by the Act. Similarly, the management of Hotel Jimbarwana should comply with the local minimum wage (UMK); otherwise it would result in legal problems. “Necessarily, any company employing over 10

people should make a joint work agreement so that both parties will know their rights and obligations,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the SPSI Jembrana Sukirman hoped the problem in the Hotel Jimbarwana could be resolved well by both parties through win-win solution. “We do expect there is no discrimination and intimidation. So, the employees can work again and we from the SPSI will still escort,” he said.

On the other hand, the Operations Manager of the Hotel Jimbarwana Nurhadi said the company actually got profit as much as IDR 665 million in 2013. However, in January 2014 the hotel revenue decreased reaching IDR 148 million. “As consequence, the company sustains a great loss and

must make efficiency. Similarly, the quality of Hotel Jimbarwana was decreasing, not getting better.

Almost every day his party got complaints either regarding the damaged air conditioning or the phone that did not work,” said Nurhadi.

According to Nurhadi, the ideal number of employee for a total of 50 hotel rooms amounted to 30 people. However, since 2011 the number of employees had increased to 52 people so the number of hotel employee was considered to be overloaded.

As has been known, the problem at Hotel Jimbarwana emerged because two employees were fired and the case is alleged to have something to do with the inclusion of both employees in the Indonesian Labor Union or SPSI. (120)

 Founder : K.Nadha,  General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti  Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bagiarta. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto.  Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi.  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.

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IBP

JIMBARAN - Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to share some quality time with your loved one and be seduced by Bali’s most romantic venues. In addition to Ayana’s private venues, Dava restaurant is also offering a special Valentine’s Menu prepared by Chef de Cuisine Sebastian Arnold, highlighting his signature European technique and modern presentation. of the world’s largest Aquatonic Seawater Therapy Pools and the Spa on the Rocks villas set amidst the Indian Ocean. There are five purpose-built wedding venues; the avant-garde Champa Garden for grand-scale events; four freshwater swimming pools including a children’s pool; a salt-water, infinity-edged Ocean Beach Pool at the cliff’s base, accessed via an inclinator;12 dining venues; 18-hole golf putting course; tennis pavilion; jogging/cycling path; fitness center; children’s center;perfume-making studio and boutiques; comprehensive meeting facilities and business center; and resort-wide WiFi.

Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014

IBP/File

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Valentine’s Day Dining at Ayana Resort and Spa

Named after a ‘place of refuge’ in Sanskrit, Ayana Resort and Spa enjoys majestic ocean views along its 1.3km coastline on cliffs above Jimbaran Bay, just 12km from Bali’s airport. Guests enjoy unrivaled sanctuary from the resort’s location within the 77-hectare Karang Mas Estate, which is also home to Rimba Jimbaran Bali, a 282-room hotel, and Ayana Residences, Bali’s first purely residential community integrated with a 5-star resort.

Ayana’s 368 guestrooms comprise 78 private pool villas and a 290-room hotel.

Resort highlights include the 22,000sqm Thermes Marins Thalasso spa with one

Mediation of Hotel Jimbarwana employee layoff deadlocks Bali Post

Activities

International

1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati Sukawati Pura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel Bebetin Pura Maspahit Sesetan Pura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih 11 Jan Tumpek Kandang Pura Desa Gianyar Pura Luhur Dalem Sagening Kediri Tabanan Pura Sang Hyang Tegal Tegalalang 15 Jan Purnama Sasih Kapitu Pura Dalem Tarukan Cemenggaon Sukawati Pura Penataran Dalem Ketut Pejeng Kaja Gianyar Pura Puseh Manakaji Peninjauan Bangli Pura Taman Limut Pengosekan Mas Ubud Pura Benua Besakih Pura Gunung Rena Sidemen Karangasem Pura Pasek Gelgel Abadi Karangasem Pura Pucak Gunung Mangun Kubu Karangasem 16 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan

17 Jan Hari Bhatara Sri 21 Jan Anggara Kasih Prangbakat Pura Bukit Buluh Gunaksa Klungkung Pura Tirtha Sidamala Bebalang Bangli Pura Gunung Pangsong Lombok Pura Dalem Benawah Gianyar Pura Dalem Bitra Gianyar Pura Pura Hyang Haluh/Jenggala Besakih

Pura Tengkulak Tulikup Gianyar Pura Taman Sari Ubud Pura Penataran Badung

Pura Penataran Giri Purwo Tegal Delimo Banyuwangi Pura jala Sidhi amerta Juanda Surabaya

29 Jan Hari Siwaratri

19 Feb Buda Cemeng Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Padang Karangasem Pura Melanting Camenggaon Sukawati Pura Penataran ped Nusa Penida Pura Gaduhan Jagat Singakerta Ubud Pura Masceti Sanding Tampak Siring Pura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan Kelungkung Pura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Kedonganan Kuta Pura Guwa Besakih Pura Basukian Besakih Pura Jati Ubud Pura Melanting Ubud Pura Dalem Peed Nusa Penida Pura Sad Kayangan Nusa Penida Pura Penataran Agung Gunung Karangasem

30 Jan Tilem Sasih Kepitu Pura Buana Kawan Besakih Pura Ulun Kulkul Besakih 31 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Enyitan 5 Feb Buda Kliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Peninjauan Tembuku Bangli Pura Pemayun Banyuning Tengah Buleleng Pura Kayangan Tiga Seririt Buleleng Pura Agung Gunung Raung Taro Tegalalang 6 Feb Pura Dalem Puri Besakih 14 Feb Purnama Sasih Kawulu Pura Dalem Batur Bangli Pura Ida Ratu Pasek Besakih Pura Dalem Suci Sidemen Karangasem Pura Buana Kawan Besakih 15 Feb Tumpek Wayang & Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan Pura Majapahit Jembrana Pura Panti Gelgel Pengembungan Sesetan Pura Pedarman Dalem Sukawati Besakih Pura Pedarman Mengwi Besakih Pura Pedarman Kaba-kaba Besakih Pura Pedarman Dalem Bakas Besakih Pura Pedarman Dinasti Dalem Besakih

21 Feb Hari Bhatara Sri 25 Feb Anggara Kasih Dukut Pura Dalem Batuyang Batubulan Pura Pasek Gelgel Mengening Kediri Tabanan Pura Pasek Undagi Krambitan Tabanan Pura Pucak Taman bedulu Gianyar Pura Puser Jagat Nusa Penida Pura Dalem Purwa Kawan Bangli Pura Desa Ketewel Gianyar 26 Feb Pura Agung Pasek gelgel Sibang Kaja Abian Semal Pura Dalem Samprangan Gianyar

IBP/Net

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.

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

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

16 Pages Number 41 6th year

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Entertainment

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Oscar nominees hobnob three weeks ahead of Hollywood’s big night Reuters

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - This year’s Oscar nominees gathered for the ultimate Hollywood power lunch on Monday in a celebration of the old adage “it’s an honor just to be nominated” three weeks before the film industry’s biggest night. The annual Oscars nominees luncheon convened more than 200 contenders pursuing an Academy Award on March 2 - from 18-time nominee Meryl Streep for best actress in “August: Osage County” to Lupita Nyong’o, who won a best supporting actress nod for her first film role ever in “12 Years a Slave.”

The eclectic group of movie stars, directors and technical wizards even boasted U2 frontman Bono, who lined up for the “class picture” thanks to his best song nomination for “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.”

While no one is foolish enough to look confident of a win before Academy members begin voting on Friday, Monday’s luncheon was a chance to turn on the charm by praising the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the magic of Hollywood filmmaking.

“I’m going to celebrate no matter what,” said Matthew McConaughey, the presumed frontrunner for best actor for his role as an unlikely AIDS activist in the low-budget “Dallas Buyers Club,” for which he won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards.

“This is my first time nominated and if I ever get nominated again, who knows,” he added.

“But there will never be another first time, so I’m going to enjoy this.”

Cate Blanchett, the favorite to win best actress for her role as a disgraced socialite in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” said this nomination “certainly took me by surprise.” “You’re part unconscious when you’re working deeply, but it’s always a thrill, particularly because I’ve been away from the film industry for so long,” Blanchett said.

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

Georgia braces for 2nd snowstorm in 2 weeks

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Somali piracy thriller “Captain Phillips.” For the nine films nominated in the best picture category, odds appear to be strongest for the brutal slavery drama “12 Years a Slave,” space thriller “Gravity” and 1970s corruption caper “American Hustle,” which have all won top prizes in the awards season and lead the Oscar nominations.

One challenge facing “12 Years a Slave,” is the reputation it has earned as a film that is hard to watch. But British director Steve McQueen said he believed he was winning the battle against that notion. “It just shows you that audiences are interested in challenging films. Audiences are interested in films that give them a perspective of their history,” said McQueen.

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

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Mourinho stokes up feud with Man City

Page 8

Italian President Napolitano under fire over Monti appointment

Page 13

‘INTERESTED IN CHALLENGING FILMS’ This year’s Oscars nominations reflect a field crowded with high-quality films and a large number of strong performances that resulted in notable exclusions. At the luncheon, many attendees lamented that Tom Hanks was not there for his acclaimed role in the

Alain Resnais fuses art forms in new comedy at Berlin festival Reuters

BERLIN - At 91-years-old, veteran French filmmaker Alain Resnais shows no sign of letting up his experimentation, drawing on theatre, graphic illustration and cinema in his

Alan Resnais

IBP/ist

whimsical comedy “Life of Riley” that premiered at Berlin’s festival on Monday. In his third adaptation of a play by Britain’s Alan Ayckbourn, the lives of three couples are shaken up by the news their good friend George Riley is ill and has just months to live.

The news rekindles old emotions, and the three women start fighting to look after George in his last weeks and accompany him on his last holiday, creating unexpected and tragicomic tumult in their middle-aged, respectable relationships.

Through George’s imminent death, they all seem to come alive. As Kathryn, played by Resnais’ wife Sabine Azéma, says - it is as if George, the invisible character around which all revolves, had a scheme in mind.

Actress Sandrine Kiberlain, who plays George’s estranged wife, told a news conference in Berlin that the French title of the film, “Aimer, boire et chanter” (to love, drink and sing), “reflects the message of let’s live our lives to the full”. Resnais, a doyen of French cinema who found fame in the 1950s with hits “Hiroshima mon amour” and “Night and Fog”, was too ill to make the screening in Berlin but remains true to form on creativity.

Punctuated by graphic illustrations of the houses where the characters live and panoramas of the English countryside, the action takes place in an artificial, cardboard cut-out studio world, underscoring the film’s theatricality. The characters themselves are amateur actors rehearsing scenes, presenting the viewer with a play within a play.

“Alain started by telling us he wanted to make a film that would pay homage to theatre, cinema and radio, and also comics and graphic novels,” said Kiberlain.

IBP/Yudi Karnaedi

Journalists doing stand up report in front of villa where Corby stay after her released from jail on Monday, February 10, 2014. Schapelle Corby faced criticism Tuesday that she is cashing in on her crime, as reports she has been offered millions for her first post-jail interview were played down by the Australian network trying to sign her up.

Corby’s TV interview deal sparked controversy Agence France-Presse

SEMINYAK - Freed drug trafficker Schapelle Corby faced criticism Tuesday that she is cashing in on her crime, as reports she has been offered millions for her first post-jail interview were played down by the Australian network trying to sign her up.

Channel Seven was widely reported to have secured the first interview with the 36-year-old for up to AUS$2 million (US$1.8 million) following her release on parole Monday from prison on Bali island.

But reporter Mike Willesee said Tuesday that no deal had been finalised, calling reports of the sums involved “silly” and insisting the money being discussed was “considerably lower”.

His comments came as contro-

versy builds about whether Corby should be allowed to profit from her more than nine years behind bars, with experts divided on whether Australian law would permit it.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously made clear that Corby should not be allowed to profit while on Tuesday Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey tweeted that it would send “all the wrong messages”.

Corby’s case has been the subject of huge fascination back home ever since her 2004 arrest in Bali,

a favourite holiday spot for Australians, with marijuana stashed in her surfing gear.

She fought through a huge media scrum with her face covered on her release Monday before being whisked away to a luxury resort and spa in Bali’s upmarket Seminyak district.

The first picture of Corby without her face covered since her release was published Tuesday in an Australian magazine, showing her smiling as she drank a beer with

her brother.

But which organisation has secured the first sit-down chat with the convicted drug smuggler is unclear with Channel Seven’s Willesee playing down reports it would be his network.

“At this stage we don’t have a paid interview, but I can tell you the money they’re talking about... is just really silly,” the veteran journalist said as he went for a walk outside the luxury resort.

Continued on page 6