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Monday, March 21, 2011

Many Japanese Tourists Cancel Their Trips to Bali

US, allies strike Libyan targets from air and sea

PAGE 8

Ricky Martin gets top award by GLAAD PAGE 12

AFP PHOTO / US NAVY VISUAL NEWS SERVICE

In this image released by the US Navy Visual News Service March 19, 2011 shows US Navy file photo taken September 29, 2010 in the Pacific Ocean. Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) conduct an operational tomahawk missile launch while underway in a training area off the coast of California.

Associated Press Writer TRIPOLI, Libya – The U.S. and European nations targeted Moammar Gadhafi’s forces with airstrikes and dozens of cruise missiles, shaking the Libyan capital with explosions and the sound of gunfire early Sunday in the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war. Libyan state TV claimed 48 people died in the attacks, but the report could not be independently verified. The strikes, which were aimed at enforcing a U.N.-mandated nofly zone, were a sharp escalation in the international effort to stop Gadhafi after weeks of pleading by the rebels who have seen early gains reversed as the regime unleashed the full force of its supe-

WEATHER FORECAST

ians at risk. The U.S. military said 112 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from American and British ships and submarines at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya’s air force. French fighter jets fired the

Continued on page 6

CITY

TEMPERATURE C

DENPASAR

23 - 31

JAKARTA

23 - 32

BANDUNG

20 - 29

YOGYAKARTA

23 - 31

Agence France Presse

SURABAYA

23 - 33

KAMAISHI, Japan – Workers struggled Sunday to restore power to a nuclear plant’s overheating reactors as the toll of dead or missing from Japan’s worst natural disaster in nearly a century surpassed

SUNNY

rior air power and weaponry. The longtime Libyan leader vowed to defend his country from what he called “crusader aggression” and warned the involvement of international forces will subject the Mediterranean and North African region to danger and put civil-

first salvos, carrying out several strikes in the rebel-held east, while British fighter jets also bombarded the North African nation. President Barack Obama said military action was not his first choice and reiterated that he would not send American ground troops. “This is not an outcome the U.S. or any of our partners sought,” Obama said from Brazil, where he is starting a five-day visit to Latin America. “We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy.”

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20,000 dead, missing in Japan crisis 20,000. The discovery of radiation in foodstuffs in regions around the plant, and of traces of radioactive iodine in Tokyo tap water well to the southwest, compounded public anxiety but authorities said there was no danger to health. Continued on page 6

An emergency worker cycles past debris in Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, days after the area was devastated by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami, March 17, 2011.

REUTERS/Aly Song

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Bali News Bali Tourism Office targets tour guides impersonating as driver Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Complaints of the Indonesian Tour Guides Association (HPI) related to the presence of tour guides who disguised as a driver have been taken seriously by Bali Government Tourism Office (Diparda). In the near future, a joint team will trace their existence in some tourist destinations in Bali. Section Head of Tourism Business Control, Ni Ketut Riani, with permission of the Head of Bali Government Tourism Office, IB Kade Subhiksu, acknowledged the existence of tour guides impersonating as a driver posed an old mode to fool the field officers. “ We w i l l d e p l o y o u r team to follow up the complaints of tour guides. Previously, our team had ensnared some tour guides who practiced illegally by disguising as a driver,” said Ketut Riani when met by Bali Post, Friday (Mar 18). Aside from ensnaring illegal tour guides, the joint team of Bali Government Tourism Office would also c a p t u r e t r ave l a g e n c i e s having no operating permit. In accordance with the Regional Regulation No. 1/ 2010 concerning with travel services business, those who violated would be thr eatened by a fine worth IDR 50 million or a minimum of IDR 30 million with corporal punishment of six months in jail. “Results of the raid will be forwarded to public order officers (Satpol PP) to be processed pursuant to prevailing laws,” she said. According to her, field supervision would be conducted at tourist destinations throughout Bali. Tourism Office would not only discipline the tour guides without license, but also the official tour guides whose license validity had expired. “We admit it is

quite difficult to monitor their whereabouts. On that account, we expect the participation of society and tourism practitioners to report the presence of illegal tour guides or travel agencies in the field,” she added. In the meantime, Chairman of the Indonesian Tour Guides Association (HPI) Nyoman Kandia previously complained about the action of illegal tour guides camouflaging as a driver wa s ve r y d e t r i m e n t a l t o t o u r i s t s a n d l eg a l t o u r guides. Kandia pointed that Regional Regulations governing the presence of travel agencies in Bali was powerless because it was unable to cope with the rampant p r a c t i c e o f i l l eg a l t o u r guides. “The existence of Regional Regulation governing the existence of tour guides is not functioning optimally. As consequence, the presence of illegal tour guides is turning rampant in Bali up to these days,” he said. He added that legal tour guides should obtain certification (license) and training from local institutions. “We do hope that the laws set forth are not merely m a d e a s d i s p l a y, bu t i t should be able to make the illegal tour guides as well as employers of illegal travel agencies deterrent,” he said. It was added the currently registered tour guides throughout Indonesia reached 12,000 members. Meanwhile in Bali, the number of licensed tour guides reached 8,000 members where only 5,000 of them were still active. They were divided into 14 divisions (languages) including the domestic division (Indonesian). Most of them were English-speaking tour guides, and then followed by Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Italian, German, Russian, French and others. (par)

A suspicious package destroyed by bomb squad unit Gianyar (Bali Post)—

A suspicious package astonished the residents around Jalan Manik, Gianyar, Saturday (Mar 19). The package found on the road median was alleged to contain an explosive. Ultimately, it was detonated by the bomb squad unit of Bali Police Mobile Brigade after being checked-up by X-ray detector. Chief of Gianyar Police, Heny Harsono, said the explosion performed by the bomb squad unit because his party had not dared to make sure whether it contained an explosive or not. Based on the result of X-ray examination, it was found a wire coil, pliers, and others. Therefore, the package was detonated. “Up to now, it could not be explained whether it was a bomb or not. Content of the package was still being checked up in the dorm of Mobile Brigade,” he explained. Meanwhile, based on information compiled, the suspicious package was found around 10:30 a.m. Local Time. Police officer received the report from one of the residents, H. Agus Salim, who happened to pass through on Jalan Manik. The package accompanied with a padlock on the iron pipe was then reported to police as suspected to contain an explosive. To avoid undesired things happened, police took security measures by securing the road section. Afterward, the officers set up a police line to secure the scene and then contacted the bomb squad unit of

Bali Police Mobile Brigade to further examine the contents of the package. Bomb squad unit coming to location instantly checked up the package. One of the officers in anti-bomb robot suit approached the package and had time to remove the padlock chain. Then, he took an X-ray photograph. From the result of X-ray image, the squad unit had not dared to ascertain whether it contained an explosive or not as the image showed something like a wire coil. On that account, the further action taken was to disrupt it by low-powered explosion. Having been declared safe, two officers of the bomb squad unit secured the content of the package. From a distance, the contents were seen in the form of pliers, wrenches, chains, pulleys, nails, rope and other carpenter’s tools. After the case, Chief of Gianyar Police called on the public to remain vigilant. When found any suspicious objects, they should be quickly reported to police station.

Further examination

In response to the suspicious package, police did not know yet who owned the package. Police were still investigating the ownership of the goods. “We are still investigating it whether it was intentionally placed so as not to be taken or driven by other motive,” he explained. Meanwhile, a number of suspicions saying the package were a bomb kindled a doubt in the community including the police. However, no one dared to approach and open the package because they were traumatic due to similar package bombings in Jakarta. Based on observation at location, the package was bound by chains with padlock on iron pipe in front of the Pondok Wisata Gianyar, right on Jalan Manik. Some estimation came into view that it belonged to a push cart trader. It was supported by the existence of the package accompanied with a padlock. Additionally, it could possibly belong to a carpenter or some others. “Police are still figuring out who owns the package,” said the Police Chief. (kmb16)

To avoid food crisis

Bali should become a self-contained region Denpasar (Bali Post)—

To avoid food crisis, Bali is not only enough to rely on the national food security. Despite conditions of food security is important, the food security on self-sufficiency basis is much more important. A professor of the Udayana University, Prof. Dr. Nyoman Suparta, stated that Bali belonged to the food secure category because the food demands of the population remained to be fulfilled. It was indicated by the sufficiency of equitable and affordable food stock for the community. “Yet, Bali could not continue to depend on the supply of other regions. We must be able to become a self-sufficient region to avoid the food crisis and achieve food security,” said Suparta to Bali Post, Thursday (Mar 17). He said the condition of food security in Bali stayed to source from out-

side Bali such as rice, beans, corn, fish and vegetables. Therefore, if there was any disruption in distribution, it could possibly cause a crisis. On that account, he recommended Bali to self-suffice as aspired by other regions. “Bali is still capable of achieving self-sufficiency, provided there is a strong commitment and togetherness. Hard work of farmers and consistency of human resources becomes a key to successful application of technology, while improving the income and welfare of farmers,” he said. Nevertheless, to achieve the self-sufficiency, Bali remained to face several obstacles, such as the diminishing availability of farm land due to land conversion or lack of water, irrigation water availability tending to decline, availability and application of effective farming technologies and so forth. “Indeed, it requires a hard work of

all parties together with farmers to make the food self-sufficiency a reality in Bali. Complexity of the existing problems must be addressed wisely and prudently through togetherness,” he said. An observer of agriculture from the Third World Network, Hira Jhamtani, said the conversion of productive land in Bali was turning unstoppable. High demand of land conversion in Bali was caused by rapid population growth. In keeping with the growth and development, various threats came up the sustainability of agriculture such as the reduction of agricultural land. “Production of the agricultural commodities in Bali such as rice is very popular in Indonesia as it has the best quality. Similarly, its horticultural commodities such as citrus, mangosten and others are also very well known, but this condition is gradually shrinking,” he said. (par)

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

News

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Health Minister Inspects Sanglah Hospital After delayed so many times, Indonesia Republic Health Minister, Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, had her first Sanglah Hospital inspection last Saturday (19/3). She started her visit by touring the hospital checking all rooms from Wings International, Sanjiwani Rooms, VCT Rooms, Bird Flu Building, Angsoka also Jempiring Rooms. The visit lasted one hour, where a presentation about Sanglah Hospital by the hospital’s First Director, dr. Wayan Sutarga, was also given. In between, she was commenting on the rabies cases that haunted Bali

these last years. According to her the success in tackling this has to be supported from all sides, Animal Husbandry Agency, Health Agency and the public. “Either Regional Government or even central has given Anti Rabies Vaccination (VAR) supplies to handle bites on human,” she stated. Yet the problem can’t stop if dog bite cases still happen so for that it is hoped dog population can be controlled by elimination, sterilizing, and vaccination on dogs. According to Sedyaningsih, even though these three ways are limited yet if it’s done optimally it can decrease dog bites happening. (kmb24)

Kuta Police Rewards Gambling Informer Denpasar (Bali Post) –

IBP/File

The beautiful sunset in Tanah Lot. the people of Beraban Village, Kediri, proposed to Tabanan Government so the management of Tanah Lot will be only between the regency government and Beraban Village.

Beraban Requests Only Two Sides Management for Tanah Lot Tabanan, DenPost

Remembering the agreement letter on Tanah Lot Tourist Object join work management, letter Number 01/HK/2002 ending this coming 1st April 2011, the people of Beraban Village, Kediri, proposed to Tabanan Government so the management of Tanah Lot will be only between the regency government and Beraban Village. Besides it’s the people’s aspiration, it is also for a preparation either for management, human resources also social, as Head of Beraban Traditional Village, Wayan Arwata, stated last Friday (18/3) in his office. Looking from the law perspective, based on Bali Province Law No. 3 Year 2001 about traditional village, these villages have its pure rights and obligations to manage a tourist object including Tanah Lot by Beraban. Since year 2000, Beraban Village has proved and trusted with its own human resource, also able to increase quality of Tanah Lot object quickly as seen by the achievements received all this time. According to Arwata, these prove that Beraban can be given an opportunity to manage the Tanah Lot tourist object attraction aspect. Meanwhile, Head of Regional Development Board, Komang Gede Putra Astawa, stated around 1999 there was an agreement between CV. Ariadi and Tabanan Government of

15 percent compensation from Tanah Lot Tourist Object management income which expires this 1st April 2011. “This was between Mr. Wijana (Tabanan Regent at the time – red) and Mr. Ariadi. Meanwhile Beraban Village only received IDR 5 million at that time,” Astawa explained. Then in 2000, Beraban Village directly involved themselves in managing Tanah Lot using all sources it has and joined work with Tabanan Village. “We recommended the management to be done professionally and proportional which we prepared to make it Limited Company (PT) where the shareholders are from Tabanan Government and Beraban Village. For that we asked Mr. Ariadi to be fair also supports Beraban

people’s aspiration. For sure we don’t want this just to chase incomes, but also for people’s prosperity remembering many needs to be increased such as schools to health facilities,” Astawa concluded. Beraban General Village Head, Made Sumawa, stated the same. The people have proposed this to previous Tabanan Regent, N. Adi Wiryatama, yet not realized yet as the agreement letter still on hold. After consulted and revised, the proposal is sent again to the government and now is waiting for the decision from recent Regent Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti. “This time the people are ready to manage it themselves. Also it’s on the village’s traditional law (awig-awig),” Sumawa explained. (122)

Kuta Police under APC I Gede Ganefo SH, MH, created a reward connecting to gambling operation in the area. The reward is IDR 300 thousand if there are any public members that gave accurate and right information connecting to a gambling operation. Those who inform will be secreted and so public don’t need to worry. “This is to clean up these kinds of operations from the Kuta area,” Ganefo explained last Friday (18/3). While holding this reward, Kuta Police Criminal Research managed to capture one togel seller initialed KTGN (46) from Singaraja. Accused

was captured in a parking areal of a hotel in Dewi Sartika Street, Kuta, last Thursday (17/3) around 3 pm local time. The capture was due to information received by a public member. Police also confiscated evidences such as cell phone, notebook and IDR 100 thousand. Accused has now been jailed. During investigation, accused admitted have run this business for the past few months. What’s disappointing that accused knows the supplier and always changes. Accused did not mean to know this supplier and for that investigators are still searching for the supplier. The case is now still further investigated. (kmb21)

Mexico Ambassador Opens Exhibition Mexico Ambassador for Indonesia, Melba Pria, represented by Mexico Consulate for Bali, WestEast Nusa Tenggara, Maluku And Papua, I Gusti Bagus Yudhara, last Friday (18/3) with Head of Bali Culture Agency, Ketut Suastika and Head of Bali Tourism Agency, Subiksu, opened the Mexican photography exhibition “Blanco Licor de la diosa Mayahue” in Danes Art Veranda, Denpasar. The exhibition shows old pho-

tographs of the Mexican people with traditional drinks named pulque (from a cactus kind plant) which is similar to Balinese tuak, a low alcohol drink. Through this exhibition, in Melba Pria’s written speech he hoped to have a more intensive connection especially in culture with Indonesia and so Bali was chosen as a location because it represents Indonesia which the exhibition can be enjoyed by foreigners and the people in Bali. (sue)

IBP/Sue

IGB Yudhara, left, along side Subhiksu and Suastika visit the photography exibition.

News

Monday, March 21, 2011

International

Egyptians vote on reform Reuters

CAIRO – Egyptians flocked to the polls on Saturday for the first time since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled to vote in a referendum on political reform marred by an attack on presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei. Youths pushed and hurled missiles at the former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog as he tried to vote in the constitutional referendum which will determine how quickly Egypt can hold elections. “We don’t want you, we don’t want you,” chanted the crowd of about 60, many of them teenagers. “I went to vote with my family and I was attacked by organized thugs,” ElBaradei wrote on Twitter. “Top figures of Mubarak’s regime still at large and undermining the revolution,” he said. Rocks thrown at ElBaradei’s car smashed its rear window as he fled the crowd, a Reuters witness said. He was unable to vote at the Cairo polling station and went elsewhere to cast his ballot. “They came out of nowhere. They were not in line to vote. They started chanting in unison ‘We don’t want you’ all of a sudden. It looks like it was coordinated,” said Sameh Fathi, 25, who had been waiting in line to vote.

Observers said there appeared to have been an unprecedented turnout for the first Egyptian ballot in living memory whose outcome was not known in advance. “I’m 53 and I have never voted before because they were all rigged,” said Ahmed al-Hami, one of close to 100 people waiting in line to vote at a polling station in a suburb south of Cairo. “Now I am voting for freedom,” he said. LOOMING ELECTIONS

Voters were being asked to approve or reject proposed reforms drafted by a judicial committee appointed by the country’s military rulers, who have pledged to hold early elections. They took power from Mubarak when he was forced

from office on February 11 by an uprising that continues to reverberate across the Arab world. The referendum has divided Egyptians between those who say the constitution needs to be completely rewritten and others who argue amendments will suffice for now. “Judging from what I saw in many stations, the turnout will range between 60 and 70 percent which is unprecedented,” Gamal Eid, a monitor, said. “We have not seen any forgery today. What we saw was a true will to make the voting process fair.” The Muslim Brotherhood, a well organized Islamist group, has backed the amendments, setting it at odds with secular groups and reform advocates including ElBaradei and Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who is also a presidential candidate. Remnants of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party (NDP) have also said they support the amendments. Reformists see members of the party as one threat to the deep changes they are seeking.

AP Photo/Ahmed Ali

Egyptian officials count votes at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, March 19, 2011 folliwing referendum on constitutional amendments.

Palin warns of China’s rise in visit to India Associated Press Writer

AP Photos/India Today

Sarah Palin

NEW DELHI – U.S. politician Sarah Palin stressed the importance of America’s ties with India, saying they were based on the shared values of freedom and free-market capitalism, while sounding a warning note on China’s rise during a speech Saturday in New Delhi. The visit to India is a rare foreign venture for the ex-Alaska governor and reality TV star, who was John McCain’s running mate in his failed 2008 campaign for president. The trip, which also includes a stop in Israel, is raising speculation Palin wants to burnish her foreign policy credentials ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run.

Palin told a well-heeled audience of Indian business leaders, professionals and socialites that U.S.-Indian relations were “key to the future of our world.” “We’re going to need each other, especially as these other regions rise,” she said, in an apparent reference to China, during a Q&A that followed a keynote speech titled “My Vision of America.” “Free people that make up a free country don’t wage war on another free country,” she said. “I want peace on Earth.” She questioned the Chinese military’s ascent, saying the Communist country’s stockpiling of ballistic missiles, submarines and “new-age, ultramodern aircraft” seemed unjustified when it did not

face an outside threat. “What’s with the military buildup?” she said. “China’s military growth can’t just be for defensive purposes.” Reporters who had been assured access were barred at the last minute. But the speech was shown on Indian television and in a live webcast. Palin was coy about whether she planned to run for the White House, but at times sounded like she was campaigning. She took a swipe at President Barack Obama and what she described as his “dithering” response to the political upheaval in the Middle East, saying he “should have done more for Arab protesters.” Obama visited India in November during a wider Asian tour, affirming the country’s growing impor-

tance on the global scene. Palin said the Republican Party’s apparatus was at times frustrating to deal with, but said presidents Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln were role models and reasons for why she joined the party. She also took aim at one of her favorite targets, the U.S. media. She accused them of failing “to set the record straight” and joked that they willfully cost her and McCain the 2008 election. “I will not sit back and take media criticism,” Palin said. “Too often, Republicans, I don’t know, they kind of have the fighting instinct of sheep.” Palin is due to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her visit to the Jewish state.

Prince William wows crowds in disaster-hit Australia Agence France Presse IPSWICH, Australia – Prince William wowed crowds in Queensland’s flood-devastated southeast on Sunday as Prime Minister Julia Gillard reiterated her belief that the country should become a republic. Thousands turned up to glimpse the prince as he visited the northern Queensland towns of Cardwell and Tully on Saturday, and the admirers were out on force again on Sunday. Queensland has been hit by a series of natural disasters this year, with massive floods covering an area bigger than France and Germany combined, which swamped the state capital Brisbane. The dramatic flash floods in January swept away entire homes, killing more than 30 people, and within days Queensland was facing another disaster in Cyclone Yasi, which smashed the state with ferocious winds and lashing rains. On Sunday, William visited the West Moreton Anglican College in Ipswich, where he was greeted by hundreds of squealing students. The personable prince, dressed casually in an open-necked shirt with his sleeves rolled up, mouthed “hello” as he stepped out of his car and greeted as many people as possible. Accompanied by Queensland premier Anna Bligh, he had morning tea before travelling to Grantham — one of the communities

worst affected by the floods — and then to Toowoomba for a country music concert. The prince, who marries his fiancee Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, was to end a busy day in Brisbane at a 500 dollars (497 US) a head fundraiser for disaster victims. “He’s been putting smiles on people’s faces, he’s really been reaching out to people,” Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale told reporters. Among the onlookers was Beth Clark, who saw the Queen in 1954. “We also got married the same time as the Queen, my husband and I, in November 1947,” she said. Kate Woolf drove for 40 minutes to see the prince. “I’m here to see the prince because he’s gorgeous and because it’s probably the only time he’ll ever come to Ipswich,” she said. While William’s visit has been a public relations success, the Welshborn Gillard believes Australia, a former British colony, should become a republic. “Inevitably, we will continue to debate and work through when this nation wants to become a republic,” she told Sky News when asked if she thought Australia would be a republic by the time William becomes king. “It’s not a debate at the forefront of our national conversations at the moment, but I believe it will return.

AFP PHOTO / POOL

Britain’s Prince William meets community members and volunteers during a flood briefing for the community of Ipswich on March 20, 2011.

Activities

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Aston International

Opens new high end boutique villa resort in Ubud IBP

UBUD - Aston International announced the opening of its first 5 star plus “Royal Kamuela” villa resort in Ubud, Bali. The new property, the Royal Kamuela at Monkey Forest – Ubud, promises to become one of Bali’s most charismatic boutique resorts and features 12 immaculately designed luxury pool villas in an integrated resort setting with a range of facilities and services such as a full service spa, private butlers for each villa and an eclectic café-restaurant that overlooks a creek running through the resorts tropical gardens. Royal Kamuela at Monkey Forest – Ubud sits in the midst of Ubud’s main attractions just a few hundred meters of the entrance to Monkey Forest and is within walking distance to many attractive restaurants, art galleries and boutiques, making it an ideal location from which to enjoy Ubud’s many offerings. Aston International’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, Mr. Norbert Vas, said:” With Royal Kamuela Villas, Aston International aims to offer an arresting line of exclusive low density pool villa resorts that feature larger than usual private pools and comprehensive resort facilities.

The new Royal Kamuela at Monkey Forest certainly delivers the goods offering an unprecedented level of privacy, contemporary comforts, anticipatory hospitality and a sense of place inspired by admiration and respect for the local destination”.Aston also operates upper mid market villas under the Kamuela brand In Seminyak and Sanur and will soon open another up market Royal Kamuela in Nusa Dua. Aston International entered the Indonesian market in the late nineties and has since then become the leading hospitality management company in the Indonesian archipelago offering a fast growing network of hotels, condotels, resorts, serviced apartments and villas.Aston Hotels and Resorts currently operate under the 5 star Grand Aston, 4 star Aston, 3 star Aston City and Quest and 2 star favehotel brands but the company also offers luxury villa resorts under the Royal Kamuela and Kamuela labels as well as an eclectic selection of non standardized and unique boutique hotels. With a proven track record of success, Aston has a very definitive vision of the future - to be universally recognized as the preferred hospitality management company in Asia Pacific.

Temple Ceremony Calendar Event for March 8 through March 19, 2011 8 March Anggar Kasih Perangbakat Bukit Buluh Gunaksa - Klungkung Tirta Sudamala Bebalang - Bangli Paibon Pasek Bendesa Sangsit - sawan Buleleng Pasek Gelgel Pangi Dawan - Klungkung Gunung Tengsong Lombok - NTB Dalem Benawah Benawah - Gianyar Dalem Bitra Bitra - Gianyar Dalem Banyuning Banyuning Timur Buleleng Dalem Pauman Batan Getas Titih Denpasar Tengah Padang Tegalalang - Gianyar Merajan Pasek Gelgel Desa Sande - Pupuan Tabanan Kawitan Tangkas Kori Agung Desa Adat Pagan Denpasar Hyangaluh/Jenggala Besakih - Gianyar Merajan Pasek Lurah Tutuan Gunaksa Klungkung Merajan Pasek Gelgel SelulungSelulung Merajan Pasek Subrata Medahan Merajan Pasek Munggu Munggu Pura Tengkulak Tulikup - Gianyar Penataran Badung Ogang Village Sidemen Karangasem 9 March Buda Umanis Perangbakat Puri Agung Dalem Tarukan Tarukan Pejeng Tampak Siring-Gianyar Rambut Siwi Jembrana Batu Bolong Canggu - Kuta Pasek Marga Klaci Klaci - Tabanan Agung Pasek Dauh Waru Jembrana Ratu Pasek Sangsit Sawan - Buleleng Pasek Tangkas Darma Reyanggede Tabanan Banyuning Village Temple Banyuning Buleleng Srijon Tabanan Pasek Gelgel Lebah Pangkung Petemon

Tirta Anom Padang Sigi Sading - Tampak Siring Dadi Agung Pasek Bendesa Dukuh Manuaba Tegalalang Pedarmaan Batursari Ngilis Jegu Penebel Tabanan Puncak Mundi Nusa Penida 19 March Purnama Kedasa Odalan Betara Turun Kabeh Besakih Karangasem Ngusaba in Bukit Jati Temple Bangli Batur Kalanganyar Bangli Masceti Pejeng Aji Tegalalang - Gianyar Dalem Tangsub Sukawati - Gianyar Penambangan Badung Denpasar City Ngusaba in Lempuyab Madia Temple Karangasem Ngusaba in Batur Temple Bangli Village Temple Singakerta Ubud Pasek Gelgel Tagtag Kukuh Marga Tabanan Gaduh Ketapian Sumerta Denpasar Pasek Bendesa Batur Tuak Ilang Tabanan Pasek Agung Tagtag Kelod Peguyangan Denpasar Agung Pasek Bendesa Tonja Tonja - Denpasar Pasek Gelgel Angsri Baturiti - Tabanan Pasek Gelgel Bale Agung Subamia Beraban Dukuh Sari Belatung Bengkel Timpag Kerambitan Pusat Dukuh Sari Belatung Rendang Karangasem Pita Maha Palangkaraya Kalteng Canda Peraba Komplek Polri Jelambar Jakarta Barat Agung Jagat Natha Denpasar Pemerajan Agung Puri Petak Gianyar Dadia Agung Tangkas Kori Agung Abiansemal Badung

Balinese Temple Ceremony EVERY Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali. There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc. The dedication or inauguration day of a Temple is considered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion. The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines. In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

Monday, March 21, 2010

News Coal mine explosion in Pakistan kills 6, traps 46 Associated Press Writer

QUETTA, Pakistan – A senior mining official says a methane gas explosion in a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan has killed at least six miners and trapped 46 others. Iftikhar Ahmed, a top mine inspector, said Sunday’s accident occurred at a mine in Baluchistan province, some 25 miles (40 kilo-

meters) east of the provincial capital, Quetta. The mine is owned by the state-run Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation but leased to a contractor. Ahmed said the mine was declared dangerous two weeks ago, but the warning was ignored. Rescue workers are trying to reach the trapped miners, but the presence of methane gas is hampering their efforts.

20,000 dead... From page 1

AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File

FILE - In this March 23, 2007 file photo, Knut, the polar bear cub, has its first public appearance with his keeper in the Berlin zoo. A Berlin zoo official says world-famous polar bear Knut has died. Bear keeper Heiner Kloes said that four-year-old Knut died Saturday afternoon while alone in his compound. He says the cause is not yet clear.

Polar bear star Knut dies Agence France Presse

BERLIN – Knut the polar bear, who became a global media sensation as a cub after being rejected by his mother and reared by hand, died suddenly for unexplained reasons, the Berlin Zoo said. “Everyone is just in shock here,” said Claudia Bienek, a spokeswoman for the zoo in the German capital. Knut, who shot to fame as a highly photogenic, snow-white cub in 2007, was aged just four years and three months, well below the average life expectancy for polar bears of around 35. He was found floating dead on Saturday afternoon in the enclosure he shared with three other bears including his mother Tosca. The cause of death was not immediately known, said Heiner Kloes, in charge of bears at Berlin Zoo, said. Vets were due to conduct an autopsy on Monday. The BZ daily quoted witnesses as saying that Knut was sitting on rocks in his enclosure when his left leg began to shake. The bear then started walking around in circles before falling into the water, lifeless. Zoo workers then erected a screen around the enclosure. Soon afterwards the zoo closed, BZ

said. “This is awful,” said Berlin’s mayor Klaus Wowereit. “We had all taken him to our hearts. He was the star of the Berlin Zoo.” Knut weighed nine kilogrammes (19 pounds) at birth and triggered a wave of media coverage after an animal activist said he should have been put down after he and his brother, who later died, were rejected by their mother. Claims by the activist that he was misquoted have been lost in the ensuing media storm as Knut was reared by hand, with his keeper Thomas Doerflein bottlefeeding him and strumming Elvis Presley songs for him on his guitar. The first public appearance of “Cute Knut” in March 2007 attracted 100 camera crews from around the world. He generated millions of euros (dollars) for the Berlin Zoo in lucrative merchandising and extra

entrance fees. Twice-daily appearances allowed the public to watch Knut splash in a pond, jump on rocks and play with his handler, who had carefully removed the newborn from his aggressive mother’s cage. The cuddly white cub sent Berlin Zoo’s shares soaring to an all-time high on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange as visitors queued in their thousands to watch him play. Stuffed toy “Knut” bears sold out several times over, the cub made it onto the cover of glossy magazine Vanity Fair and Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and his daughter Suri came to visit him, as did Leonardo DiCaprio. But once Knut grew into a strapping adolescent and then adult, experts began to worry that he was displaying abnormal behaviour because of all the attention.

The Fukushima No. 1 plant was struck on March 11 by a massive earthquake and tsunami which, with 8,133 people confirmed killed, is Japan’s deadliest natural disaster since the Great Kanto quake levelled much of Tokyo in 1923. Another 12,272 are missing, feared lost to the tsunami or buried in the wreckage of buildings. For half a million survivors, many huddled in poorly supplied and spartan shelters, conditions in the icy north are miserable. In Miyagi prefecture on the devastated northeast coast, where

the 10-metre (33-foot) tsunami reduced entire towns to splintered matchwood, the death toll stood at 4,882. But Miyagi police chief Naoto Takeuchi told a task force meeting that his prefecture alone “will need to secure facilities to keep the bodies of more than 15,000 people”, Jiji Press reported. According to the charity Save the Children, around 100,000 children were displaced by the disaster, and signs of trauma are evident among survivors as the nuclear emergency and countless aftershocks heighten their terror.

US attack... From page 1 Thousands of regime supporters, meanwhile, packed into the sprawling Bab al-Aziziya military camp in Tripoli where Gadhafi lives to protect against attacks. Explosions rocked the coastal cities, including Tripoli, where antiaircraft guns could be heard firing overnight. Libyan TV quoted the armed forces command as saying 48 people were killed and 150 wounded in the allied assault. It said most of the casualties were children but gave no more details. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was “deeply concerned” about civilians and called on all sides work to distinguish between civilians and fighters and allow safe access for humanitarian organizations. Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 41 years, said in a telephone call to Libyan state TV that he was opening weapons depots to allow his people to arm themselves in defense. He said the international action against his forces was unjustified, calling it “simply a colonial crusader aggression that may ignite another large-scale crusader war.” His regime acted quickly in the run-up to the strikes, sending warplanes, tanks and troops into the eastern city of Benghazi, the rebel capital and first city to fall to the rebellion that began Feb. 15. Then the government attacks appeared to go silent. Operation Odyssey Dawn, as the allied assault has been dubbed, fol-

lowed an emergency summit in Paris during which the 22 leaders and top officials agreed to do everything necessary to make Gadhafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution Thursday calling for the no-fly zone and demanding a ceasefire, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said. Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, told reporters in Washington that U.S. ships and a British submarine had launched the first phase of a missile assault on Libyan air defenses. Gortney said the mission has two goals: prevent further attacks by Libyan forces on rebels and civilians, and degrade the Libyan military’s ability to contest a no-fly zone. Defense officials cautioned it was too early to fully gauge the impact of the onslaught. But a senior defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the mission was ongoing, said the Americans felt that Libya’s air defenses had been heavily damaged given the precision targeting of the cruise missiles. Mohammed Ali, a spokesman for the exiled opposition group the Libyan Salvation Front, said the Libyan air force headquarters at the Mateiga air base in eastern Tripoli and the Aviation Academy in Misrata had been targeted. About 20 French fighter jets carried out “several strikes” earlier Saturday, military spokesman Thierry Burkhard told The Associated Press.

Indonesia Today

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Police watch concerned about parcel bomb scare Antara/AFP

Police tape secures the residence of Indonesian rock musician Ahmad Dhani, who is known for his songs protesting against religious extremism, in Jakarta on March 17, 2011 after police found a bomb hidden in a hollowed-out book entitled “Jewish Militant” addressed to the musician.

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) has expressed concern about the recent parcel bomb scare and asked police to immediately unveil the perpetrators of the bomb terror to avoid public unrest. “IPW is concerned about the spate of bomb terror acts. Ironically, they occurred before Chief of Intelligence and Security of the National Police Commissioner General Wahyono enters retirement on April 15, 2011,” IPW coordinator Neta S Pane said on Sunday. The book-bomb scare began when a book parcel containing bomb was sent to chief of the Islam Liberal Network Ulil Abshar Abdalla at his office in Utan Kayu, East Jakarta, last Tuesday. The bomb exploded when the police were trying to secure the book. East Jakarta chief detective Comr. Dodi Rahmawan suffered serious injury in the bomb blast. Such bomb parcels were also sent to Goris Mere, the chief of the National Anti-Narcotics Agency, Yapto Soeryosumarno, the chief of the Pancasila Youth organization, and Ahmad Dhani, a musician. According to IPW, there has been a tug of war within the National Police ahead of Wahyono‘s retirement. Neta said a ranking police officer who graduated from the Police Academy in 1978 had been widely tipped to replace Wayono.

“The rumor has made police officers of other alumni jealous. They hope strategic posts will not be dominated or monopolized by the Police Academy graduates of 1978,” he said. Neta noted that 10 strategic posts were currently held by Police Academy graduates of 1978. Book bomb

Meanwhile according to the report by AFP, Indonesian police said they had found a “book bomb” in Jakarta, the fourth such incident this week in a campaign apparently aimed at moderate Muslims and counter-terror officials. The latest bomb, hidden in a hollowed-out book entitled “Jewish Militant”, was addressed to Indonesian rock musician Ahmad Dhani, who is known for his songs protesting against religious extremism. “The package was delivered to his house on March 15 but it was not opened,” Jakarta police spokesman Baharudin Djafar told AFP. “The police were called to look at the package today. We found a bomb in it and defused it,” he added. Police found three similar bombs

AFP PHOTO / Bay ISMOYO

on Tuesday, one of which exploded and injured four people. That package was addressed to Ulil Abshar Abdalla, a well-known liberal Muslim figure who espouses pluralism and religious tolerance. The other bombs were mailed to former top counter-terrorism police official Goris Mere and Yapto Suryosumarno, chairman of youth organisation Pemuda Pancasila. National Anti-Terror Agency

(BNPT) chief Ansyaad Mbai told AFP Wednesday that regional militant group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) was behind the “book bombs”. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed the National Intelligence Agency, police and the military to investigate the incidents and not “give anyone the opportunity to rip apart the security situation”. “Perhaps the group which has been carrying out terror activities has

changed its tactics and techniques,” he told a cabinet meeting Thursday. “We must not be defeated, we mustn’t lose our initiative and we must ensure we carry out our duty as best as we can and in a professional and anticipatory manner,” he added. The country of 240 million people has been rocked by a series of bombings staged by JI in recent years, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Indonesia screens Japan travelers for radiation Agence France-Presse

AFP PHOTO / CHAIDEER MAHYUDDIN

Acehnese journalists offers flowers at the tsunami memorial monument in capital city of Banda Aceh on March 18, 2011 during a prayer offering by local journalists for the victims of tsunami in Japan. Aceh was devastated by a massive tsunami in December 26, 2004 following a 9.3 magnitude quake where 168,000 people died in Indonesia’s western province.

JAKARTA – Indonesia gave a preliminary all-clear Saturday after radiation-screening passengers arriving at Jakarta airport from Japan, which is battling to prevent leaks at a stricken nuclear power plant. “The nuclear energy regulatory agency, with the airport’s management, started to carry out screenings on Tuesday,” Soekarno Hatta international airport official Frans Yoseph told AFP. “Up until now we have not detected any sign of radiation,” Yoseph said adding that they will continue to conduct checks until the Japan’s nuclear crisis ends. The team conducted screenings for passengers, crew members and luggage coming off direct flights from Japan, he said, adding that there were six flights to and from Tokyo and Narita every day. A 9.0-magnitude earthquake on March 11 triggered a giant tsunami that flattened Japan’s northeast coast and killed 7,197, according to the latest police death toll, with almost 11,000 officially listed as missing. Four of the six reactors at Fukushima No. 1 plant have been in danger of leaking dangerous amounts of radioactivity after an earthquake and tsunami led to a series of hydrogen explosions and fires at buildings housing the units.

Indonesia issues red alert as volcano erupts Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA – Indonesia issued a red alert Friday after Mount Karangetang on the island of Sulawesi erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds down its

slopes, a volcanologist said. “We raised the volcano’s status to the highest red alert level today at 5:45 pm (1045GMT) and ordered an evacuation in three villages on the slopes,” government volcanologist Surono told AFP.

He said that the 1,784-metre (5,850-foot) mountain on the sparsely-populated island off North Sulawesi oozed lava, heat clouds and debris reaching as far as 3,800 metres away down its slopes. “The eruption is still going on and

its current activity remains high,” he said. “The main threat is heat clouds that will be fatal for people living in villages on the slope.” The volcano killed four people during an eruption in August 2010.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The archipelago nation is home to 129 active volcanoes, including 21 on Java.

Internationa

Monday, March 21, 2011

Bali Today Some 175 Jembrana Residents in Japan Save Antara

NEGARA - A total of 175 residents of Jembrana district, Bali province, were safe from Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami, a government official said. Head of the Jembrana Population Verification, Workforce and Transmigration Office Dede Heryady said here Thursday that the migrant workers’ families were expected to remain calm. They need not believe in rumors and baseless information on the fate of the 175 Jembrana workers in Japan, he said. “The Jembrana residents taking an internship program are not only taken care of by the Jembrana district government but also the ministry for workforce and transmigration,” he said. They were also taken care of by the Indonesian embassy and Tsukuba cooperative, where they were taking the internship program, he said. The deep concern of parents and relatives of the Indonesians living in Japan is understandable because the earthquake and tsunami that struck that country on March 11 had killed thousands of people. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa even hinted that the fate and whereabouts of 139 Indonesians in Japan were still uncertain. “The number of Indonesians

whose whereabouts cannot yet be confirmed totaled 139 people,” he told journalists at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday. The number of Indonesians still unaccounted for had decreased from 160 on the previous day. “Their number is believed to keep decreasing,” Marty Natalegawa said. About the impact of the leaking nuclear power plant, he said the Indonesian embassy had been ordered to evacuate Indonesians to locations 50 kilometers from the danger zone. The devastating earthquake with its subsequent deadly tsunami on March 11 had reportedly killed at least 5,000 people and caused almost 10,000 others go missing. CNN quoted a Tokyo resident as saying on Thursday that food shortages were spreading in the capital city and Japanese forces kept trying to control the nuclear plant crisis by dropping water from helicopters. As a result of its nuclear plant crisis, Japan has asked Indonesia to increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to help the country deal with the crisis. Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta met with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa in Jakarta on Thursday.

IBP/Eka Adhiyasa

Tourists talking with street vendor at Kuta beach. Japanese tourists had canceled at least 1,000 rooms at a number of hotels in Bali following the devastating quake and subsequent tsunami which hit their country last Friday.

Many Japanese Tourists Cancel Their Trips to Bali Antara

DENPASAR - Japanese tourists had canceled at least 1,000 rooms at a number of hotels in Bali following the devastating quake and subsequent tsunami which hit their country last Friday. “At first the number of hotel rooms that had been canceled was not so many, but increased to 1,000 after the quake and tsunami had caused a leak in their nuclear reactor,” the Bali tourism board coordinator Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya

said here Friday. On the fourth and fifth day following the quake and subsequent tsunami, especially after the nuclear reactor has developed a leak, many more of the Japanese tourists had canceled their trip to the island paradise, causing a great deal of loss to the hotel owners, he said. However, he fully understood the reason of the Japanese tourists to cancel their holidays to Bali. Ngurah Wijaya also admitted that the decline in the number of

Japanese tourists to Bali had actually been going in 2009 and 2010, reaching 25 pct. The number of Japanese tourists in Sanur alone, he said, reached only 20 percent of the total number of foreign tourists from other countries. Therefore he is considering special measures and plans to promote the island paradise in Japan because their number had always been more than those of other countries, and its first position has even been taken over by Australia.

Men Must Also Be Involved In Cervical Cancer Prevention: Expert Antara

TABANAN - Men also have to be involved in efforts to prevent the infection of women by the human papilloma virus (HPV) that causes cervical cancer, an international anti-cancer official said. “Since this cancer is a sexualviral related disease, both men and women have to get their vaccination and this is also our concern,” Prof Sr Lex Peter, chairman of the International Female

Cancel Program, said here Saturday. Peter made the statement when accompanying Indonesian Health Minister Endang R Sedyaningsih on a visit to a Community Health Center (Puskesmas) in downtown Tabanan, around 27 kilometers northwest of Denpasar. The visit was part of activities conducted by participants of a conference of the Asia-Oceania Research Organization on Genital Infections and Neoplasm being held in Nusa Dua. At the Puskesmas the conference participants witnessed a demonstra-

tion of the application of the visual inspection by acetate acid (VIA) method to prevent cervical cancer. Peters is also a gynecologist at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He also did some research on the progress of cancer cells in woman’s reproductive organs in the last decade. “We know that vaccine is a cure for this cancer causing virus. But the effectiveness is only 70 percent so far. It means that there is still a 30 percent failure rate and this may have been caused by many things. One of them is the woman’s male

partner,” he said. In other words, he said, “Even if a woman has been vaccinated, it doesn’t mean she is absolutely free from cervical cancer. Remember, there is a 30 percent failure rate,” he said. He admitted the challenges of persuading men to be vaccinated against HPV. In the Netherlands itself, he said, it was still not so easy thing to do. Another challenge was the medicine’s price that was still high. “It’s still very expensive even for

Europeans, about 100 US dollars per vial, so may be the producers should do something to lower it,” he said. Other thing that made eradicating HPV difficult was the fact that HPV does not need an animal host to multiply. HPV was a so-called “smart” virus capable mutating. “HPV enters the human body through skin, particularly the soft tissue inside our body. It may change and affect many organs, from cervical cancer to malfunction of kidney or brain,” he said.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Cancer therapy ability must be developed TABANAN – Indonesian Health Minister, Endang R Sedyaningsih, stated that hospitals throughout Indonesia must be able to manage cancer therapy and their ability must be developed in terms of the human resources and the equipments. “This is one of the challenges that currently faced by the hospitals especially after the government committed to emphasizes on the preventive measure rather than the curative one,” she added. Sedyaningsing is in Bali to take part in the Genital Infection and Neoplasm Research Organization Meting for Asia and Oceanic Region (AOGIN). The main focus of the meeting is cervix cancer, the number two female killer after breast cancer.

The Minister along with several doctors watched the early detection method of cervix cancer using Visual Inspection by Acetate Acid (IV A) in Tabanan Health Center. She said that there is significant development of early detection of the disease in the last three years. There are also several hospitals throughout Indonesia that is able to use radiology technique in handling cancer such as Cipto Mangunkusomo Hospital and Dharmais Cancer Hospital. The expensive radiology equipments which cost around 20 billion rupiah make many hospitals finding difficulties in having the equipment not to mention the difficult process in getting the license. Indonesian Government prepared 27 trillion rupiah for

Balinese Culture

health sector this year where 49 goes to the prevention steps and the rest is for the handling process. “The cervix cancer only can be cured by radiology method in the early stages so the government is committed to prevent the spread of the disease,” the Minister said. Meanwhile, the head of Denpasar Health Department, I Ketut Sumiarta, said that the people who want to inspect their health is free of charge. “We urge everyone to check their helath regularly so they are free from deadly disease. It is better to prevent rather than cure the disease,” he added. In Indonesia, the number of cervix cancer sufferer is 17.6 in every 100,000 people, second after breast cancer which is 31/100,000. while in the male, bronchus and prostate cancer is the highest.

Denpost/Sudirga

Health Minister dr. Endang Rahayu (left) shake hand with Tabanan Regent Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti during her visit to Tabanan.

Teep Beans: Lazing while Enjoying Slow Snack Among the delicacy of Balinese food with hot spices, in fact, Balinese community also retains easypeasy snack but sometimes a bit harder. One of them is the bean of teep. Its tree resembles to that of breadfruit. However, its beans are far smaller compared to that of breadfruit. When its fruits have turned ripe, they usually attract the presence of civet. Actually, this nocturnal cat is only interested to eat the flesh of fruit. Similar thing also happens to coffee beans. Since the skin of beans is hard it cannot digest them so civet could only enjoy the flesh. On the next day, those seeds could be found at the feces of civet. All seeds remain intact. However, if people see the ripe fruits first, they will not need to wait the coming of civet to pick them. To process the beans, they are first cleansed thoroughly and dry under the sun. Afterward, they should be fried without oil but sand. When they have been finely cooked they can be enjoyed while relaxing or lazing. As the shell and beans are slightly hard, it may take a bit long time to open and chew them. However, if they are indeed dry enough and cooked well they must be easy to open and crispy. They are good to consume as slow snack while chatting or watching TV. (BTN/punia)

Special Mussels: Dissolved in Tenderness of Coconut Milk While boring with the ordinary servings, simply try a delightful flavor of seafood. For instance, with a combination of mussel ingredient and Balinese tuber spices, it could pamper the appetite of foodies or culinary adventurers. Tender coconut milk will enhance the flavor of mussel.

Ingredient: 250g mussel, a cup of coconut milk Spices: 6 cloves shallot, 4 cloves garlic, 1 large chili, 2 small chilies, 1 slice turmeric, 1 slice kencur (aromatic ginger), 1 slice ginger, 1 pc salam leaf, 2 pcs kaffir lime leaf, ½ tsp coriander, ½ tsp pepper, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp of lime juice and 2 tbsp palm oil Method: · Cleanse the mussels and drain. Give lime juice to remove its odor. · All spices are ground finely, except for kaffir lime leaf, salam leaf, pepper, salt and coriander. · Stir fry the ground spices until smelling fragrant. Pour the mussel into the spices on the frying pan and stir for a while. Add coconut milk while pouring salt, pepper, coriander. Wait for a while until the coconut milk turns a little dry. Take out and it is ready to serve. (BTN/punia) C.045 ibp

Monday, March 21, 2011

Destinations

International

Enjoy Beautiful Golf Experience IBP

When you visit Bali and love to do golf, you surely can try several golf courses in Bali that give you beautiful golf experience. With the international Bali Golf Course and beautiful of landscape will be your value interest to play the golf that is served in three several gold club in Bali Island. Here are several golf courses that you should try during your holiday in Bali. Get ready to join the game and served by the professional staff and caddy will complete your lovely holiday in the Paradise Island of Bali. Golf in Bali is a fantastic and exciting golf playing experience in paradise Bali Island. Nusa Dua Bali Golf and Country Club

Nusa Dua Bali Golf and Country Club, voted ‘One of Asia’s 5 Best Golf Courses’(Fortune Magazine USA) will offer visitors to Bali a truly unique golfing experience due to the fantastic setting of the course. Golfers will experience three distinct playing environments throughout the 18hole course. The setting of holes 1

through 9 features creeks, canyons, and native vegetation filled with tropical birds. The golf course architect team of Robin Nelson and Rodney Wright incorporated small hand-built stone walls to terrace the sides of fairways and tees in order to emulate the rice fields terraces of the Bali countryside. The setting for holes 10 through 16 present the golfer with lush gently sculptured fairways through a mature coconut grove. The coconut palms, some as tall as 100 feet, provide vertical definition to the golf course. The 17th hole plays out to the beautiful blue Indian Ocean and usually into a cool ocean breeze. The 18th hole plays from the beach back to the clubhouse along side a 16-acre lake. Nirwana Bali Golf Country Club

Nirwana Bali Golf Country Club is a visual masterpiece of dramatic ocean views and lush Balinese landscapes. Greg Norman has designed it golf course, Nirwana Bali Golf Course offers a spectacular challenge and a unique world-class experience for golfers of all skill levels. The golf course that is designed by legendary golfer Greg Norman with hole 18 th is one of the most photographed and

challenging golf courses in the world. With three holes running along the cliffs of the Indian Ocean and terraced rice paddies providing unique hazards and this course has been tested the accuracy and consistency of a PGA Professional and still be enjoyable for the average golfer. It is set on the southwest coast of Bali with 45 minutes drive from Bali’s International Airport. Nirwana Bali Golf Club is the centerpiece of the fully integrated Nirwana Bali Resort. You can come and experience the ultimate golf course in Bali or you can join the Nirwana Bali Golf Package. New Kuta Golf

New Kuta Golf is a new golf course set on the 85 hectares land right on the limestone cliff with stunning view of the Indian Ocean. It is a great golf course with 18 holes located 20 minutes drive from Bali’s International Airport to the southern part of Bali and blessed the magnificent of sunset. New Kuta Golf is designed with four of tees for each of the 18 holes there’s enough variety to ensure a satisfying for all skill levels. The golf course will invite you to experience this championship

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Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club

Bali Handara Kosaido Country Club is one of the golf courses located in the mountain and sightseeing area with beautiful panorama of Tamblingan Lake. It is situated in the plateau area of Bedugul Bali, the cool temperature surrounds the golf course, and the green rain forest covers your view from the course hence making your golf experiences are

more enjoyable and full fun. The world-class of golf tournament have been executed in this place and serve with the professional staff and caddy who guide you on your lovely golf game. Bali Handara Kosaido is located about 1000 meter above sea level and 3 hours drive from Bali’s International Airport. Some of the places of interest around the golf course like Beratan Lake, Ulun Danu Temple can be visited on your way to the golf course and in our package we have provided one hour, Bedugul Tour to visit this tourist places.

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Monday, March 21, 2010

BUSINESS Europe polishes response to year-long debt crisis Agence France-Presse

BRUSSELS – Europe’s leaders put the finishing touches to their response to a year-long debt crisis this week, as financial strain in Portugal threatens a third bailout after Greece and Ireland. Heads of state and government of the 27 European Union states meet Thursday and Friday in Brussels, with the situation in Libya, and nuclear safety issues in the wake of Japan’s quake and tsunami severely damaging a reactor, high on the agenda. Their remaining focus will be on meeting a self-imposed deadline for a “comprehensive” response to a roller-coaster euro debt crisis aimed at soothing nervous money markets. The European Union’s economic in-tray is full. The summit must strengthen an existing 440-billion-euro temporary rescue fund, while agreeing a change to the EU treaty rulebook to enable the creation of a 500-billion-euro permanent fund from 2013, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). To avoid future bailouts, eurozone nations want to deepen coordination of economic policies and create new sanctions to punish countries that exceeded debt limits. The European Parliament will vote on Thursday on the treaty change, but a staggering 2,000plus amendments lodged by MEPs to make sanctions against debt offenders more automatic means it may be difficult to meet the June target-date for adoption of the legislation on economic

governance. A eurozone leaders’ summit on March 11 saw countries most directly concerned agree to increase funding to the temporary mechanism in order to make the full 440 billion Euros available to countries in trouble. Currently almost half is held back as a guarantee to keep borrowing rates down. They also agreed to allow the fund to buy bonds directly from governments in need of finance, although only within the straitjacket of a bailout. This left the European Central Bank unhappy. The ECB reluctantly took on the role of supporting struggling eurozone countries by buying billions of Euros of their bonds on secondary markets to keep interest rates down, and wanted to hand that role to the ESM. Eurozone leaders also decided to reduce the rate of interest charged Greece on its bailout loans and lengthened the repayment period, in principle making support cheaper for all countries faced with a financial emergency. But a row with Ireland over its low corporate tax rate meant there were no favors for Dublin — a question sure to return to the summit agenda. More generally, leaders also set out guidelines on economic indi-

cators to be used to benchmark eurozone nations to improve and better harmonize their economic competitiveness. European trade unions are planning protests on Thursday to decry the biting austerity programmes imposed by governments in the wake of the debt crisis. Ahead of the March 24-25 summit, finance ministers will use an extraordinary meeting on Monday to try to settle remaining issues. Time is running out after a period of relative calm, with Portugal struggling after a downgrade by the influential Moody’s credit rating agency and facing a growing likelihood of early elections as the opposition opposes a new austerity programme. Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, meanwhile want to prioritize a real opening-up of the EU economy, the world’s largest tariff-free area with 500 million consumers and 12 trillion Euros of economic activity. Removing restrictions, accelerating free-trade deals with India, Canada, Japan, Mercosur and the Asian nations, as well as deepening economic integration with nonEU eastern European and southern Mediterranean nations is their prescription.

Economic aftershocks of Japan quake roil Asia Associated Press Writer

Economic aftershocks of the devastation in Japan are rolling through Asia. It is here, among Japan’s neighbors, that the reverberations of the catastrophe are being felt hardest. Automakers in Thailand are slowing production. South Korean electronics manufacturers face shortages of critical parts. Thousands of Japanese have canceled trips to Taiwan. Panic buying has driven up prices of Japanese cameras in China, while Indian policymakers brace for higher oil prices. The 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami that laid waste to Japan’s industrial northeast on March 11 and triggered an unfolding crisis at a crippled nuclear power plant has exacted a terrible human toll with estimates of

more than 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. It might also undermine Japan — and China — as manufacturing bastions as the catastrophe gives global companies further reason to spread suppliers over more countries to avoid reliance on a handful of production powerhouses. “Even before the Japan disaster, there was a sense that many multinationals had become too dependent on a single source of production,” said Frederic Neumann, HBSC’s co-head of Asian economics research. “The broad trend to diversify production will not just affect Japan, it will affect China. China’s production has become very concentrated.” South Korea, a manufacturing force in its own right, has been among the first to shudder as Japanese suppliers grappled with damaged factories and

power shortages. SUV and luxury sedan maker Ssangyong Motor Co. is facing production constraints because of shortages of Japanese parts, said its chairman Pawan Goenka. “Most of the parts sourced from any given country are developed over time,” he said. “It’s not possible in most cases to switch sources. By the time you’re able to switch sources the crisis will be over.” Profits at Taiwanese electronics firms will likely slump in the second quarter due to shortages of Japanese components, said Alex Huang, an analyst at Taipei’s Mega Securities Corp. In mainland China, businesses have already started looking for replacement markets for the some $100 billion of exports they ship to Japan annually.

JPMorgan, others boost payouts after Fed tests Reuters

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON – U.S. regulators gave major banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co the green light on Friday to boost dividends, loosening the reins on the industry 2-1/2 years after the government bailed out the financial system. The strongest banks, including JPMorgan, are entitled to raise dividends and buy back shares in a matter of weeks, while weaker banks, including SunTrust Banks Inc, were authorized to issue shares and pay back government bailout money. The Federal Reserve tested how banks would fare if the economy were to come under more pressure, in another round of stress tests nearly two years after the first round. European banks face similar tests. Banks received billions of dollars of rescue funds from the government in 2008 and 2009 after suffering huge losses in a credit crunch. But in 2010 the banking system turned a profit, emboldening regulators to permit banks to return money to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. “This is one of the final steps in terms of showing the redemption of the banks from 2008,” said Matt McCormick, a portfolio manager at Cincinnati-based Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, which owns bank stocks. Banks are still recovering from the financial crisis, and the Federal Reserve has still kept some restrictions on their payouts to shareholders. The central bank said on Friday it was generally restricting dividend payments to 30 percent or less of the company’s expected earnings in 2011— a ratio well below the 50 percent level paid out during better times. But a flurry of banks announced plans to return capital to shareholders on Friday. Wells Fargo & Co, the fourth-largest bank, said it was paying a 12 cent per share dividend for the first quarter, compared with a prior level of 5 cents. Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it was buying back $5 billion of preferred shares from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, ending a costly deal that shored up confidence in the bank at the height of the financial crisis. “This gets the banks some investor credibility. If you’re a retail in-

vestor, the reason to own these names was the dividend stream, and that was taken away with the crisis,” said Jason Ware, a senior analyst with Albion Financial, a Salt Lake City-based wealth management firm. Albion currently does not own any bank stocks, but Ware said the dividend increases have made the firm more interested in buying into the sector. In this second round of stress tests, the Fed had banks submit their own analyses of whether they could withstand adverse economic conditions. In 2009, the Fed played a much larger role in analyzing banks’ capital. Banks historically have paid dividends, but often have trouble cutting their payouts when times get tough, for fear of panicking investors. In the years leading up to the crisis, banks paid out billions of dollars to investors, through dividends and share buybacks, even as the financial system grew shaky. The stress tests are not over. Under the Dodd-Frank law tightening regulation of the financial industry, large banks and other financial firms are required to conduct stress tests at least once a year. Three of the 19 largest banks have yet to repay the U.S. bailout aid they took at the height of the financial crisis. But investors hailed plans by two of the three, SunTrust Banks Inc and Keycorp, to do so as another sign of the industry’s recovery. “That’s very good,” said Marshall Front, chairman and chief investment officer at Front Barnett Associates in Chicago, who owns bank stocks. Regions Financial Corp, the last remaining TARP holdout in the group of 19, said the company did not propose any capital action in its regulatory review, and will repay TARP in a “prudent manner, on shareholder-friendly terms.” Investors have been eager for banks to restore quarterly payouts after they were suspended or slashed to as little as a penny a share at the height of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. According to the Fed, common equity increased by more than $300 billion at the big banks from the end of 2008 through 2010.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Entertainment

International

Ricky Martin gets top award by GLAAD Reuters

NEW YORK – Latin pop star Ricky Martin was honored by media group GLAAD for his work as a role model at a gala held on Saturday where he urged people to spread gay rights throughout Latin America. “I just want to be free. I can say, today I am free,” the Puerto Rican singer said at New York’s Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards, which recognize the best portrayals of gay community members in film, television, radio, music, newspapers and blogs. Martin, the 39 year-old singer of hits such as his 1999 single “Livin’ la Vida Loca” who has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, revealed he was gay in 2010 after more than a decade in the international spotlight. His coming-out included a TV

interview with Oprah Winfrey and since then, he has been heralded as a gay role model, especially for Latin Americans. Martin thanked his parents and boyfriend before urged the audience to “let’s go Latin America and let’s share the love.” U.S. comedian Tina Fey accepted the outstanding individual episode award for a program on her TV show “30 Rock,” and music mogul Russell Simmons received an excellence award for breaking boundaries in the world of hip-hop music. Vampire TV show “True Blood” won outstanding drama series,

while “The Oprah Winfrey Show” claimed best talk show episode for “Ricky Martin Coming Out as a Gay Man and a New Dad.” Martin, who became the father of twin boys with a surrogate mother in 2008, was given the Vito Russo Award, named for the late gay activist and film historian. Among other winners were U.S. band Scissor Sisters and stage play “The Pride.” CNN’s Anderson Cooper, newspapers The Star-Ledger and The Denver Post and online magazine Essence.com were singled out for their coverage of gay and lesbian issues. GLAAD, which promotes positive images of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the media, will present additional media awards in Los Angeles on April 10 and San Francisco in May 14.

Thornton hopes documentary will be lasting tribute Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Lionsgate, Saeed Adyani

In this film publicity image released by Lionsgate, country singer Trace Adkins portrays Eddie Vogel in a scene from ‘The Lincoln Lawyer.’

Trace Adkins passes ‘Lincoln Lawyer’ screen test Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trace Adkins summed up his role in the new film “The Lincoln Lawyer” in his own succinct way when he gathered friends and media for a screening of it recently. “I’m in it at the beginning and the end and there’s a buncha crap in the middle,” Adkins said with a smile of the movie, which opened Friday. He’s on screen about 3 minutes, but it’s another solid step in the country singer’s second career with a handful of parts slated for later this year. While short, Adkins’ scenes are humorous, memorable and key character development moments for star Matthew McConaughey’s character, a defense attorney who operates his practice out of a Lincoln. Adkins plays a biker in the film who has engaged McConaughey to represent a member of his gang.

McConaughey, a country music fan, invited him to try out for the role, but it wasn’t given to him. “I had to go read for it,” Adkins said last week. “And I really appreciate the fact that the director Brad Furman told me, `I didn’t know who you were. You got the part because you won the part.’ I appreciated that. But it kind of hurt my feelings at the same time. I thought I was a bigger deal than that. What do you mean you don’t know who I am?’” Once he got the part, Adkins said McConaughey made sure he was able to make the best of it. “He was very generous and he went to rehearse with me before we did the scenes,” Adkins said. “I went over to his trailer and he said, `Let’s rehearse these scenes, let’s do this and let’s do that.’ I thought it was very gracious to do that. Here’s an old guy that don’t know what I’m doing. He took me under his wing and helped me out.”

AUSTIN, Texas – Billy Bob Thornton thought a documentary tribute to Willie Nelson was long overdue. So he made one himself. Thornton’s “The King of Luck” premiered Saturday in Austin, the final film to premiere as part of the South by Southwest Film Festival. “We just wanted to do an accurate and loving tribute to Willie,” Thornton said from the red carpet, shortly before the start of the premiere. “He’s a guy that’s been a legend, especially in these parts, for a long time and we thought he deserved kind of a full-length documentary.” Thornton started shooting the documentary while on the road touring with Nelson. The title is a reference to Nelson’s Austin-area ranch, which he named Luck, Texas. “His crew and his band and Willie,

they’re all such laid back and nice people,” said Thornton, whose mother turned him onto Nelson’s music as a kid. “It’s a real easy thing, they have no ego about them.” Like a lot of folks, Thornton said, he can’t quite remember the first time he met Nelson. “I can’t remember it, it just happened,” he said chuckling. “But it was a long time ago.” Fittingly, Nelson was on the road again and did not attend the premiere. Several of Nelson’s contemporaries, like entertainer Kinky Friedman, musician Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, were in attendance. Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel also attended the premiere, as did U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, who introduced the film. “This is really a movie that’s told by the people around him, who love him and we thought he deserved it,” Thornton said.

Shakira, Brazilian president pledge to help kids Associated Press Writer

RIO DE JANEIRO – Colombian singer Shakira and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are pledging to improve the welfare of children in Brazil.

AP Photo/Eraldo Peres

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, left, receives an autographed guitar from Colombian singer Shakira at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday March 17, 2011.

Shakira met with Rousseff for about 20 minutes Thursday in front of reporters in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia prior to a scheduled concert. The two discussed the work of Shakira’s Alas Foundation, which promotes early-childhood development in Latin America. The singer gave Rousseff a guitar after the meeting. Before coming to Brazil, Shakira inaugurated 20 childhood development centers in Argentina. She has said she has plans to do similar work in Panama and Mexico.

Science

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Trauma stalks children of Japan tsunami Agence France Presse

AFP PHOTO / GENYA SAVILOV

A car passes the Dytyatki admission point to the 30-km zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on March 16, 2011. Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where the world’s worst nuclear disaster took place in April 1986, and the 30-km zone around it remain unhabited until now.

Size of Chernobyl’s deadly legacy hard to measure Associated Press Writer

PRIPYAT, Ukraine – The ruins of a city call up questions in the mind, and this high-rise ghost town where the Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers once lived raises a daunting number of them. How many people have died, or may die in the future, because of the April 26, 1986, reactor explosion that spewed radioactive fallout across much of the Northern Hemisphere? The only clear answer is “too many” — the number is still hotly debated. Will the effects of the world’s worst nuclear accident ever go away? In time, maybe, but in this generation, the Chernobyl consequences can seem like an endless run of rapids as studies detect possible new problems. Perhaps the only question with a possible concrete answer is how much it will cost to make Chernobyl reasonably safe. At least 1.6 billion euros — but 740 million euros of that has yet to be found. If any of the troubled nuclear reactors in Japan go into full meltdown or explode like the one here

did 25 years ago, one lesson from Chernobyl is that the consequences are likely to be breathtakingly expensive, unimaginably complicated and traumatic for decades to come. Japan may not have fully learned Chernobyl’s clearest lessons — that candor about a catastrophe is key. Authorities there are coming under increasing criticism from the international community as well as their own people for failing at full disclosure. Still, the Japanese have been more forthcoming than Soviet officials, who were variously secretive, defen-

sive and bewildered about the plant in what is now Ukraine. There was no official acknowledgment of the blast until three days later; the first indications of trouble came from a Swedish nuclear plant where unusual levels of radiation were detected on workers’ clothes. “At that time, for a day and a half we did not know anything about what had happened,” Mikhail Gorbachev, who was then Soviet leader, said Tuesday. Even in Pripyat, few knew what had happened when the plant’s No. 4 reactor blew up around 1:30 in the morning. Andrei Glukhov, a reactor operator, heard the explosion in his apartment when he was up late entertaining friends visiting from Moscow, but didn’t think much of it. The next morning he called that reactor’s unit to find out and there was no answer. He called a colleague at another reactor’s control room, who told him “everything went OK.”

KESENNUMA, Japan – The horror of Japan’s tsunami has raised concerns over the long-term impact on children, some of whom are already displaying signs of trauma, from screaming nightmares to silent withdrawal. According to the charity Save the Children, around 100,000 children were displaced by what has become Japan’s worst natural disaster since 1923, with nearly 20,000 people dead or missing. The potential for lasting trauma is compounded by the unusual multiple nature of the event: a massive 9.0 earthquake, a devastating tsunami and a nationwide scare over a possible meltdown at a nuclear plant. Experts say the scale of the loss and disruption for some children would have been almost inconceivable: homes destroyed, friends disappeared, one or both parents maybe killed, or siblings and other close family members missing. Initial efforts to help them come to terms with the tragedy can only be made in extremely stressful circumstances, with families packed into ill-equipped evacuation shelters, suffering bitterly cold nights and frequent terrifying aftershocks. “We found children in desperate conditions, huddling around kerosene

lamps and wrapped in blankets,” said Save the Children spokesman Ian Woolverton, who visited a number of evacuation centres in the coastal regions of northeast Japan that bore the brunt of the March 11 tsunami. “They told me about their anxieties, especially their fears about radiation,” Woolverton said, adding that several youngsters had mentioned the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which they know from school books. Parents, many traumatised themselves, have struggled to keep their own fears in check as they try to soothe their children and provide them with some sense of normality and security. Atsushi Takahashi, 36, said his two-year-old son Haruto has been terrified by the constant, sometimes powerful aftershocks. “He’s been very scared, crying out ‘the house is shaking. I don’t like the house’,” Takahashi said, holding his son as he waited in a queue for a truck bringing fresh water to his neighbourhood. “I always tell him that everything is okay and I hug him,” Takahashi said. “I think we just have to let time heal the wounds.” Many children have had trouble sleeping, woken repeatedly in the night by bad dreams, while others have mentally shut down, shunning any company but their parents, whom they refuse to let out of their sight for even a moment.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

A child eats noodle during a lunch at an evacuation center in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, March 20, 2011, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the area.

Smithsonian keeps meteorite that fell in Va. Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A small meteorite that crashed through the roof of a Virginia medical office last year is becoming part of the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History in Washington. The Smithsonian paid $10,000 for the meteorite to Marc Gallini and Frank Ciampi, the Lorton, Va. doctors who found it. They have in turn given the $10,000 check to the Doctors Without Borders charity. Museum spokesman Randall Kremer said Saturday the meteorite is part of the museum’s research collection. The Smithsonian holds the world’s largest collection of natural history specimens and artifacts. Meteorites are lucrative, and after the tennis-ball-sized rock fell from the sky and landed in an examination room in the office in January 2010, the landlords at the doctors’ building made a legal claim to it. But that claim was later dropped.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Sport

International

Palermo beat Milan to blow title race open Agence France Presse

AP Photo/Jon Super

Manchester United’s Dimitar Berbatov, left, us tackled by Bolton’s Gary Cahill during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Saturday March 19, 2011.

Fergie happy to take a break as United beat Bolton

ROME – Palermo stunned AC Milan 1-0 on Saturday to end a run of five straight defeats and blow the Serie A title race wide open. Romania centre-back Dorin Goian was the unlikely hero, scoring the only goal of a game that could result in Milan’s lead being cut. The rossoneri came into the game five points clear of champions and city rivals Inter Milan, who play Lecce on Sunday, while Napoli could also reduce the arrears to three points if they beat Cagliari. Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted that his team missed suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. “We didn’t play well in the first half and we made many mistakes in the final third,” he said. “In the second half we did better, we created a few chances but we weren’t very clinical. “We’ll kick on from here. We started with a five-point advantage and we’ll see what Inter and Napoli do. “Ibrahimovic is important for us but tonight we needed to do more. We didn’t do it but we’ll analyse it calmly, knowing that at the end of the weekend we’ll still be top.” Palermo’s win also improved their hopes of securing European football next season. They got off

to a great start as they took the lead after just 10 minutes from a corner. Ezequiel Munoz rose at the back post to head the ball back across goal where Giulio Migliaccio nodded it into the middle and the unmarked Goian had time to control the ball, turn and volley home. Milan’s response was almost immediate as a Clarence Seedorf corner somehow flashed across the face of the six-yard box with Alessandro Nesta sliding in a fraction too late to turn it in at the back post. Palermo in general enjoyed the better chances and Javier Pastore played a one-two with Mauricio Pinilla before rifling just off target. A Pastore back-flick then gave Pinilla a chance but Christian Abbiati got down low to his right to save. Cassano had a chance on the break but fired wildly off target before Palermo goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu came out quickly to save at Alexandre Pato’s feet. Palermo played on the counter-attack in the second half but wasted several glorious chances to stretch their advantage. Milan nearly made them pay on 65 minutes as substitute Robinho found space in the box and crossed for Mathieu Flamini, whose goalbound shot was punched away by Sirigu.

Agence France Presse

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – Sir Alex Ferguson believes that the international break has come at a perfect time for Manchester United as they attempt to regain the Premier League title. United recorded a nervous 1-0 victory over Bolton on Saturday thanks to a late winner from Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov at Old Trafford, opening a five-point lead over Arsenal at the top of the table. They also achieved the win without 10 injured or suspended first team players and having lost defender Jonny Evans to a 75th minute sending off for an horrendous studs-up tackle on Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden. But United now have two weeks rest for the international period and Ferguson hopes to have a number of key players available by the time United resume their season at West Ham next month. “It is a great lead,” said United manager Ferguson. “They have a game in hand but we’ve got the points so we don’t need to worry about that. Once we start getting players back from injury, we will have a great chance. “Park JiSung, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, hopefully, they will be back and bit by bit we will hopefully get them all together.” To add to United’s injury

problems, Wes Brown was forced to come off at half-time with an unspecified problem, while Evans will now face a three-match suspension for his automatic red card. United showed their ner ves against a determined Bolton team and only seemed to raise their game once they were reduced to 10 men, a point conceded by Ferguson. “I think the fans were magnificent, the sending off galvanised us and the fans got us over the line,” he said. “We’ve had five massive games the last couple of weeks, it’s been a hell of a programme, and the lads deserve praise for that. “It wasn’t a 100 per cent top performance but we never gave in. That’s the fantastic character of this club. There is no other club in the country that has got that character. “We’re fantastic at getting something out of a dead situation, a lost situation. We did that

today, full marks to them.” Ferguson had no complaints about the dismissal of Evans and Bolton manager Owen Coyle revealed the extent of the injury although, in the immediate aftermath of the game, the true damage was still unknown. “I think the referee sent him off because the player had a bad injury,” he said. “I don’t think it was a malicious tackle. The two went for the same ball, his boot was raised off the ground so we cannot have a complaint about the sending off. “Once you raise your foot, you are putting yourself in a dangerous area.” Coyle added: “We don’t know yet but we just hope it isn’t broken or damage to ligaments. “If there was any malice in it, I don’t know. But the referee was well placed. The knee was open, one or two of our players could see everything inside it. That was the concern.”

AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO LINGRIA

Palermo’s Dorin Goian reacts after scoring a goal during their Italian Serie A football match against Inter Milan at Renzo Barbera stadium in Palermo on March 19, 2011.

Sport

International

Monday, March 21, 2011

Djokovic beats Federer to take number two ranking Agence France Presse

AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Ryan Remiorz

Lucian Bute, right, from Montreal, sends Brian Magee, from Ireland, to the canvas during their IBF Super Middelweight Title fight on Saturday, March 19, 2011 in Montreal.

Lucian Bute stops Brian Magee to keep IBF title

INDIAN WELLS, California – Serbia’s Novak Djokovic continued his blistering pace this season by beating Roger Federer to reach the Indian Wells final and snatch the Swiss star’s world number two ranking. Djokovic reached Sunday’s title match at the $4.5 million ATP Masters 1000 event, where he will take on Rafael Nadal, by defeating Federer 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 Saturday to extend his match winning streak this season to 17. “I am playing the best tennis of my life,” said Djokovic, who won the Australian Open in January. Djokovic, who won here in 2008, won 11 consecutive points in the third set to break open the match and post his third victory over 16-time major winner Federer in the past three months. “My approach to matches against Roger is maybe different than it was in the past two

years,” Djokovic said of Federer, who still leads their overall series 13-9. “Right now I have more self-belief when I step on the court against him. Before it was, ‘Let’s hope that I can play well.’” Djokovic, who is the first player to start the season with 17 wins in a row since Pete Sampras in 1997, moves to Sunday’s final, where he will face world number one Nadal, who beat Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4. “I have played Nadal many times,” Djokovic said. “I want this trophy as much as he wants it.” Federer is now 18-3 on the season with all three defeats coming at the hands of Djokovic, who clinched Saturday’s victory on a second match point when the Swiss fired a forehand service return long. With the win, Djokovic moved into the second ranking spot, dropping Federer to third. “It makes me feel very happy. It’s the crown for my achievements this year,” he said.

Associated Press Writer

MONTREAL – Hometown favorite Lucian Bute stopped Brian Magee with an uppercut to the chin at 2:04 of the 10th round Saturday night to retain his IBF super-middleweight title. It was the third time that Bute (280) knocked down Magee (34-4-1), having dropped the 35-year-old Irishman in the sixth and seventh rounds of the scheduled 12-round bout between southpaws. The Montreal fighter defended the IBF belt he won in 2007 for the seventh time. Magee failed to go the distance for only the second time in his career. Both fighters tried to establish the jab in a fight that took place almost entirely in the center of the ring. The first five rounds were mostly even, but there was a sense that the taller, quicker Bute had another move up his sleeve. It came out in the sixth when a quick left to the midsection put Magee down. The same thing happened in the seventh and then it was

matter of time before the knockout blow came. As Magee winced and fell in the 10th, referee Pete Podgorski of Chicago immediately signaled the end of the fight before 12,219 fans at the Bell Centre. In the co-feature, hard-hitting Pier Olivier Cote of Quebec City stopped Michael Lozada of Mexico with three knockdowns in the first round to win his light welterweight bout. A crushing right to the ear at 2:50 of the first gave Cote (15-0) an impressive victory over Lozada (37-8-1) and a second straight one-round win. “I thought he’d be more aggressive, but I saw he was backing up,” said Cote, one of Canada’s most promising young fighters along with middleweight David Lemieux. “I got him with a shot, he lost his legs and it was pretty much over

from that point.” The victory assured Cote of a spot on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight May 7 in Las Vegas against an opponent yet to be announced. However, Cote said his top priority is to fight for a North American title and would take that over a non-title bout, even in Las Vegas. The 26-year-old Cote was born in Cali, Colombia, but at 18 months old was adopted by Rejean Cote and Christiane Pleau of Charlesbourg, Quebec. He started boxing at 20 and was Canadian amateur champion within two years. He turned pro in 2008 and has impressed many with his devastating right-hand shots. Carl Moretti of promoter Top Rank this week called Cote a “special talent.”

Matthews powers Portland past Philadelphia Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. – Wesley Matthews had 17 of his 28 points in the first quarter, helping the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 110-101 Saturday night. Gerald Wallace added 25 points and a season-high eight assists for the Blazers (40-29), who won for the seventh time in nine games to move within a half-game of Denver for the fifth playoff spot in the Western Conference. LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and Nicolas Batum finished with 16.

Lou Williams had 24 points, part of a 59-point night for Philadelphia’s reserves. Thaddeus Young had 19 points and Jodie Meeks added 17. The Sixers (36-34) played without Andre Igoudala, who has been bothered by knee tendinitis. Leading scorer Elton Brand was held to 10 points. The Blazers led the whole way. Philadelphia was as close as 92-89 with 9:11 remaining after Brand hit three straight shots, but Portland responded with a 9-0 run. Philadelphia was coming off a 10280 victory at Sacramento on Friday night

and wrapping up a five-game road trip. But the Sixers showed little fatigue, shooting 50 percent from the field and playing aggressive in transition. The Blazers, who beat Cleveland 111-70 on Thursday night, led 62-54 at halftime. Matthews had 20 points at the break after hitting six 3-pointers and seven of his eight shots. Wallace converted a three-point play to increase Portland’s lead to 83-73, but Philadelphia closed the third with a 104 surge. Williams capped the spurt with a 3-pointer. The Blazers shot 51 percent from the field.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images/AFP

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a forehand to Roger Federer of Switzerland during the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 19, 2011 in Indian Wells, California.

Monday, March 21, 2011

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

Sport

Rossi: Poor grid slot due to shoulder Losail - Valentino Rossi said his continuing shoulder problem was the primary reason why he only qualified ninth for his first grand prix with Ducati in Qatar this weekend. Although the Italian has not yet shown frontrunning pace for his new team, he got into the top six in practice.

AFP PHOTO/KARIM JAAFAR

Ducati’s MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi of Italy races during the qualifying practice session at the Losail International Circuit in Doha on March 19, 2011 ahead of the Grand Prix of Qatar.

Barbera sure he can stay near top HECTOR Barbera is confident that he has the race pace to build on his surprise sixth place on the Qatar Grand Prix grid. The Aspar rider equalled his MotoGP career-best qualifying position at Losail on Saturday night, as he produced a shock

by outpacing all the other Ducatis in the field. Barbera was ecstatic to start his season with such an achievement. “I am really happy because at the first round of the season I have already equalled my best grid from the

whole of last year,” he said. “We are pretty close to third place and after a long and hard winter, with all the sacrifices we have to make, it has all been worthwhile.” He had also been sixth in final practice and third on Thursday, though this was put down to getting a tow at the right moment. However Barbera insisted that he could show consistent pace in race trim. “We have done well in each session so far but the only one that counts is tomorrow,” he acknowledged. “Our race pace is in the low 1m56s and all being well tomorrow that should see us inside the top eight, which would be a good result. “I think I have a great bike and we are ready. The only doubt is over tyre choice but we’ll probably go for the harder option. “I guess there’ll be a group from fourth place down to ninth and I hope to be in it. We will need to make a strong start and push hard for the first few laps to stay in there.”

Rossi said that the bike’s performance was encouraging in qualifying, but that by the end of the session pain from his shoulder - which underwent surgery over the winter following a Motocross accident earlier in 2010 - was preventing him from pushing to the maximum. “I think that without my shoulder problem, which is causing us to lose five or six tenths, we could have been on the second row today, because we were able to improve the set-up by making changes that will also be important in the foreseeable future,” he said. “Today I was able to ride the GP11 better, but by the time we used the soft tyre at the end of the session, my strength was gone. When I tried to do my lap time, there were some parts of the track where I just couldn’t push. “Anyway, we got an okay time and we still have some

things we can try in the warm-up.” He believes only Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa’s Hondas are out of reach for the Ducati - but admitted his shoulder might decide his race form as well. “I think that as long as my shoulder lasts, we’ll be able to have a pace that’s relatively competitive, apart from the two Hondas,” Rossi said. “We’ll see how it goes from a physical point of view in the second half of the race, after 11 or 12 laps in a row riding on the limit.” Rossi’s team-mate Nicky Hayden was an unhappy 13th on the other Ducati. “It was pretty much the same way that it has been all weekend. I just clearly wasn’t fast enough,” he said. “We tried something toward the start of the session that was very similar to last year’s set-up, but it didn’t work. I got back on my other bike and had one decent lap going, but I made a mistake in the last corner.