Edisi 24 Mei 2011 | International Bali Post

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16 Pages Number 114 3st Year Price: Rp 3.000,-

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

President to officially open NAM meeting in Bali Antara

DENPASAR - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to officially open the upcoming 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) at Nusa Dua, Bali, Wednesday (May 25).

Vice president opens 5th IFRS Forum PAGE 8

Rebooted ‘Pirates’ sets overseas box office record PAGE 12

AFP PHOTO/ SONNY TUMBELAKA

Senior officials from 118 Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) member countries arrive before the opening ceremony for the NAM conference in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali, on May 23, 2011. NAM, made up of 118 developing countries, will attend a ministerial conference and commemorative meeting from May 23-27 on the Indonesia resort island of Bali.

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London – Balinese traditional music and dances entertained the visitors who was coming to Horniman Museum in an event entitled “Bali Day”. The event is a part of the exhibition “Bali: Dancing for the Gods” which is held started on April 2011 through January 2012.

More than a hundred visitors who were mostly coming from Forrest Hill, southeast London, were coming to see the Bali Day in the museum. The Secretary of Indonesian Embassy in London, Novan Ivanhoe Saleh, said that there are various event in the exhibition such Kecak Dance work-

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Continued on page 6

Balinese traditional Dances performed in Museum Horniman

CITY

SUNNY

The ministerial meeting will be preceded by a closed-door Senior Officials Meeting and a committee meeting to discuss political, economic and social issues, on May 23 and 24, according to an official statement of the meeting‘s organizing committee, here Monday.

The NAM ministerial meeting which will be held until May 27 coincides with the 50th Anniversary of NAM. The meeting‘s theme is “Shared Vision on the Contribution of NAM for the Next 50 Years.”

The meeting is to be participates by the foreign ministers of 118 NAM member countries, guests and observers.

Fiji and Azerbaijan will officially join the grouping at the meeting.

shop, story telling, and Balinese traditional music and dances performances.

One of the visitors said “it`s amazing, I have never seen such fantastic musical instrument”. She was amazed when she was watching the performance of the gamelan performance by Gamelan Bali Lila Cita group who most of the members are staying in London.

In addition to the traditional music performance, there were also Balinese dances performances

by Lila Bawa group lead by Ni Made Pujawati and Topeng Dance performed by I Wayan Dibia from Indonesian Art Institute, Denpasar.

Continued on page 6

IBP/Doc

Balinese dancers performing Balinese dance.

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International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bali News

Mini Market Spreading, Small Shops Future Blurred Out

The spreading mini markets nearby small shops (warung kecil) especially in Denpasar seemed devastating. A number of small shop owners have stated their uneasy situation. “I use to sell essentials yet now my goods to sell are less. Mini markets can give cheaper prices and we small shop owners felt kicked out and ignored,” one unnamed shop owner at Nusa Kambangan Street, Dauh Puri, stated last Saturday (21/5).

The mini market that has lowered their income this time is an Alfa Midi around the area.

Apparently this mini market was sealed in the morning by Police Civil Service yet opened again in the afternoon. Another shop owner Madame Kadek who’s shop in front of the mini market also stated her uneasy situation. “I use to sell essentials too but now no longer. Now I only sell meals like nasi campur, tipat santok and rujak. Others like soap, shampoo and aqua are no longer an interest. We can only surrender in this mini market spread as government itself was never clear. Government should’ve looked over small shops and traditional markets,” she stated.

Other example was a small shop in the east of Indomaret at Tukad Yeh Aya Street, Renon.

The shop owner seemed quiet waiting for buyers yet hardly there was. “We are very worried of this situation. I use to can get income for my kids to go to university, now the situation has changed, empty and we loss

the competition,” stated the owner. She also plans to rent the place for something else rather than seeing her shop empty.

It is also found out, the short distanced mini markets were also a game done by the village officials. According to Madame Rita, owner of a shop nearby Alfa Midi, Tukad Yeh Aya Street, the building was just being bought so they can get building permit then with the game going on it started being a business place. “At first we were suspicious it will be a mini market yet village officials will not sign the building permit agreement. Yet it became a business place in the end,” she explained.

Since the existence of the mini market, her shop’s income have gone really down from the essentials and so she completed her shop with menus like ice drinks and fruit salad rujak. “If the goods are not variety then it’ll be really hard to get income. We only can surrender, at least we get something to live on with,” she concluded.

IBP/File

The seller in a traditional market. The spread of Mini market made the small seller treathen by bancruptcy

Wood Warehouse Burnt Waste Increasing, Facility Limited Denpasar (Bali Post) –

I Ketut Artaya (40) was devastated as a fire engulfed his woods warehouse at Pengiasan Street VI, No. 2, Wairasatya, Sidakarya Village, South Denpasar last Saturday (21/5) at 11.30 pm local time. It is still unknown what have caused it yet no casualties were found also it is admitted to have caused IDR 500 million loss.

The 1,500 meters squared warehouse was filled by flammable woods like jati or for furniture. As it caught on fire no local residents could help out as it is at night. Luckily three fire brigades came to help and turned off the source of the fire until 2 am in local time. Police has been questioning witnesses and finding evidences. The case is still being further investigated. (kmb21)

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With the growing population and the many houses in Gianyar Regency, caused each year’s waste became a serious attention. Apparently each year there’s a 10 percent increase according to the Gianyar Cleanliness and Grounds Agency (DKP) and with Temesi Waste Area (TPA) data not included.

At this time Gianyar has at least 360 cubic meters waste each day in the cities and sub district markets.

Yet in general in TPA Temesi it reaches 450 cubic meters each day and doubles on religious days.

Even so, only nine trucks (DAM Trucks and three Amrol units) provided with 430 people working for grounds and cleanliness. It’s ironic the fact that new vehicles of cars Avanza and Innova provided for Regency government where nine for House of Representatives, yet DKP this year only got 1 truck extra when actually they worked hard in keeping the Adipura Trophy for Gianyar.

IBP/file

A man is carrying the garbage using motorcycle.

Head of Gianyar DKP, Ir. Ida Bagus Kesawa, last Wendesday (18/5) did not decline the limitation.

Yet in between the limitation the agency keeps on their work by having overnight shifts in keeping the regency clean. Meanwhile the pro-

gram to separate inorganic and organic waste hasn’t been applied properly also due to the limited facility. “Don’t think that first, for the general wastes itself has a limited facility, how can we do it separately?” he concluded. (dar)

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Bali News

International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

3

Young generation reluctant to farm INTEREST of young generation to get involved the agricultural sector seems to be getting lower. This phenomenon can be seen from the minimal graduates of senior high school/vocational high school who enroll for the student selection and admission to state-run higher education (SMNPTN) in the study programs existing in the Faculty of Agriculture, Udayana University. Strategies to provide full scholarships for prospective students wishing to continue their study to Faculty of Agriculture were unable to increase the excitement of young generation to go into the agricultural sector. It is indicated by the fact that faculty categorized to have rare enthusiasts was only occupied by no more than 60 percent of the quota provided. Rector of Udayana University, Prof. Dr. I Made Bakta, said the matter to Bali Post on Sunday (May 22).

Bakta observed the conferment of scholarships was quite helpful to increase the number of students in the Faculty of Agriculture. However, the policy was unable to make all the ‘seats’ allocated in the faculty full considering the number of prospective students enrolling in the selection remained below the specified capacity. “For each study program in the Faculty of Agriculture, we have allocated 72 chairs for new students.

However, we are incapable of filling them entirely. At best, it will reach 60 percent of the quota provided. In this academic year, we expect the demand to increase,” said Bakta while adding that a number of other

studies in the Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Letters also lacked of applicants.

Considering the number of enthusiasts in the Faculty of Agriculture was very low, he said, starting the academic year 2009/2010 Udayana University officially ‘diminished’ the number of courses existing in the faculty. Originally, the Faculty of Agriculture, Udayana University, had six courses of study namely Department of Soil Science, Agricultural Cultivation, Plant Disease, Social Economics of Agriculture, Agricultural Extension and Landscaping Architecture.

Since the six courses had rare en-

thusiasts, Udayana University then issued a policy to merge the six courses into two courses of study namely the Department of Agribusiness originating in the Social Economics of Agriculture and Agricultural Extension as well as Department of Agricultural Agroecotechnology originating in the Soil Science, Agricultural Cultivation, Pests and Plant Diseases and Landscaping Architecture. “Admittedly, the interest of senior high school graduates and the equivalent to continue their study to Faculty of Agriculture is very low. Perhaps, this phenomenon indicates that young generation is reluctant to farm,” he said regretfully.

IBP/file

Tourists are enjoying the sunset in Kuta.

Papua draws tourists in Bali Mangupura (Bali Post)—

Bali tourism is not only able to attract domestic tourists but also foreign tourists. As a result, no less provinces of Indonesia take advantage of this island of the gods to boost their tourist visits to their regions. Papua and West Papua, for instance, promoted their tourism in Bali to draw more visitors.

Division Head of Promotion and Marketing of Papua Cultural and Tourism Services, Nela Yembise, said that tourists visit in the period of 2010 reached five thousand people. Meanwhile, the target of this year was 7 thousand tourist visits.

“We do direct promotion in the malls throughout Indonesia, including in Bali. It is intended to invite the perpetrators of tourism business such as travel agencies, hotels and airlines so they could offer our package tours,” revealed Yembise on Saturday (May 21).

Nela recognized the rate of tourist visit to Papua did not increase significantly as constrained by transportation infrastructure that made difficult to reach the existing tourist sites in the region. “The travel expenditure becomes more expensive due to such transportation obstacle.

Undeniably, it is also an impor-

tant consideration for domestic and foreign tourists to visit Papua and West Papua,” he said.

A legislator of Raja Ampat House, Yos Awom, said that Papua had the third best maritime tourism in the world, namely Raja Ampat located in West Papua.

“He came to Bali with a mission to attract foreign tourists and domestic tourists to visit this exotic destination,” he said.

According to him, West Papua targeted the tourist visit to reach 4 thousand in 2011 from 2 thousand tourists in 2010. “With the allocation of promotional fund worth IDR 16 billion, we expect the tourist visit could increase significantly,” he said. He further explained that Papua Province offered a traditional life style of local society in Wamena. For instance, local people still used penis sheath in their daily life.

Meanwhile, Subdivision Head V of the Tourism Destination Promotion, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Diah Widiati, did hope that tourism promotion of Papua and West Papua in the Bali tourism gateway would be able to increase the number of tourist arrivals to Indonesia. In 2010, the number of tourist visit reached 7.1 million. “Hopefully, the rate of tourist visit could reach 7.6 million in 2011,” she said. (par)

IBP/ist

The beautiful rice paddy in Bali. Currently, the young generation in Bali is relcutant to enter the arming industry.

Within four months, 56 foreigners die in Bali 50 percent due to unnatural causes Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Bali as one of the world tourist destinations will surely be visited by tourists from various countries.

On that account, Bali is also vulnerable to infectious disease that should exist in foreign countries but entering Bali coincides with the traffic of tourists. To that end, the authority of Higher Education in collaboration with the School of Medicine, Udayana University-

Sanglah Hospital conducts a research on the number and causes of death to foreign citizens making a visit to Bali.

Head of Forensic Medicine Installation of Sanglah Hospital, I.B. Putu Alit, said that his department collected the data of foreigners who died and were left in mortuary of Sanglah Hospital.

Results of data collection indicated that in January to April

there were 56 foreigners who died. The average number of cases per month tended to show an increase where in January was recorded 4 people, then in February (13), March (18) and April (21). Most of those foreigners were from the Netherlands (11), Japan (8), Australia (5), Russia (4) and the rest from various countries like Asia, Europe and America. (kmb24)

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News

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

International

US and Britain set up joint security body: reports Agence France Presse

LONDON – A new joint security body set up by Britain and the United States is to be unveiled at the start of President Barack Obama’s two-day visit to London later this week, Britain’s newspapers reported Monday.

The “National Security Strategy Board” will be chaired by British National Security adviser Peter Ricketts and his US counterpart, Tom Donilon, and is being established to help coordinate long-term foreign policy agendas.

Details of the initiative are due to be announced on Tuesday, as Obama arrives in Britain to begin a two-day official state visit.

“The new board will allow us to look ahead and develop a shared view of emerging challenges, how we

should deal with them and how our current policy can adapt to longer-term developments,” an adviser to British leader David Cameron told The Times.

“It reflects a welcome further development of our close relationship on foreign and defence business,” he added.

The board, which is expected to meet several times a year, will address the response to the ongoing “Arab Spring” uprisings as part of a broader brief to examine rogue states and the threat from international terrorism.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague maintained Sunday that the “special relationship” between the two countries remained strong despite suggestions in Britain that Obama was not as UK-friendly as some of his predecessors.

“It is very special. I think the longer a US administration is in power the more they appreciate that,” he said.

“You can see that in government,” he added. “The co-operation that I see every day in intelligence matters is without parallel in the world.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, leave the White House in Washington, Sunday, May 22, 2011.

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Missouri officials fear dozens dead in tornado Associated Press Writer

AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMMED HUWAIS

Yemeni army soldiers who defected to the opposition wave their national flag in Sanaa on May 22, 2011 during a parade by anti-government protesters marking the anniversary of Yemen’s reunification on the sidelines of a daily demonstration calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yemen leader again balks at leaving; tension grows Associated Press Writer

SANAA, Yemen – Armed with guns, knives and swords, supporters of Yemen’s leader trapped U.S., European and Arab ambassadors at a diplomatic mission in new turmoil that swept across the capital Sunday as the president refused to sign an agreement calling for him to step down in 30 days.

Security forces broke up the crowd after several hours of letting them besiege the embassy. But President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s balking at the U.S.-backed deal threatened to wreck hopes for a peaceful resolution to the chaos that has consumed this key Arab nation, where hundreds of thousands have protested for three months, defying a bloody crackdown, to demand his ouster.

If the mediation collapses, many fear further deterioration of the political situation, including an escalation of armed conflict between Saleh’s loyalists and military units that have joined the opposition.

At nightfall Sunday, tensions were high in Sanaa, the capital. Pro-government gunmen and soldiers locked down main streets around the capital with roadblocks, while tens of thousands of anti-Saleh demonstrators were massed at their protest camp in a central Sanaa square, worried that a new crackdown could ensue.

Saleh refused twice before to sign the agreement. But this weekend it had appeared he was finally relenting, under intense pressure from his allies, the United States and Gulf Arab countries that mediated the accord.

JOPLIN, Mo. – A massive tornado that blasted a four-mile path across southwestern Missouri slammed into this city with cataclysmic force, ripping into a hospital, upending cars and leaving only a forest of splintered tree trunks behind where entire neighborhoods once stood.

An unknown number were killed in Joplin on Sunday night, and officials struggling to communicate without power and cell phone service were leery of putting a hard figure on a death toll they feared would rise after daybreak.

Asked about a report that 24 people had died, city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot said grimly that officials were “afraid it may be more. ... Our fear is that’s a low number.”

The Missouri National Guard planned to search for the injured throughout the night.

“You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That’s really what it looked like,” said Kerry Sachetta, the principal of a flattened Joplin High School. “I couldn’t even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn’t believe what I saw.”

The same storm system that produced the Joplin tornado spawned twisters along a broad swath of the Midwest, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis. But the devastation in Missouri appeared to be the worst of the day, eerily reminiscent the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South

last month.

Onstot said the twister — believed to be between one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide — was on the ground for nearly four miles. It hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area including a Home Depot construction store, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged in this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

Among the worst hit locations in Joplin was St. John’s Regional Medical Center, which appeared to suffer a direct hit from a tornado.

The staff had just a few moments’

notice to hustle patients into hallways before the storm struck the multistory building, blowing out hundreds of windows and leaving the facility useless.

In the parking lot, a helicopter lay crushed on its side, its rotors torn apart and windows smashed.

Nearby, a pile of cars lay crumpled into a single mass of twisted metal.

Matt Sheffer dodged downed power lines, trees and closed streets to make it to his dental office across from the hospital.

“My office is totally gone. Probably for two to three blocks, it’s just leveled,” he said. “The building that my office was in was not flimsy. It was 30 years old and two layers of brick. It was very sturdy and well built.”

AP Photo/Mike Gullett

A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses.

Activities

International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

5

Bipartite inauguration at Meliã Bali IBP

NUSA DUA - The Bipartite of Meliá Bali conducted inauguration for its new elected caretaker for the period of 2011-2014 on Tuesday, May 10, 2011. Placed in Nusa Dua Ballroom, the inauguration was attended by the Head of the Social and Labor Department of Badung Regency; Mr. Tjok Ngurah Bagus Agung accompanied by Mr. I Nengah Subagia, the Chairman of the Hotel Union of Badung Regency, Mr. Putu Satyawira Marhaendra, General Manager of Meliá Bali, Mr. Jim Boyles accompanied with the Management, as well as the members of the Bipartite of the resort.

The declaration of the new board of Bipartite was read by Mr. I Nengah Subagia followed by the inauguration of the new elected caretaker by the Head of the Social and Labor Department of Badung Regency, Mr. Tjok Ngurah Bagus Agung. The hand over was performed by Mr. I Made Suardika, the former Chairman of Bipartite, to Mr. I Wayan Udiasa, the new elected Chairman.

“It is hoped for the two parties to be proactive and to be hand in hand together to improve the guest experience, the employee experience and the community experience, also to continue the best service to achieve the best result.” as stated by the General Manager of the resort, Mr. Jim Boyles.

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

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

2 May Tilem Jiyestha Bhujangga Waisnawa Gumrih Temple Jembrana

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

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

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

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

Balinese Temple Ceremony EVERY Temple and Shrine has a special date for it annual Ceremony, or “ Odalan “, every 210 days according to Balinese calendar, including the smaller ancestral shrine which each family possesses. Because of this practically every few days a ceremony of festival of some kind takes place in some Village in Bali.

There are also times when the entire island celebrated the same Holiday, such as at Galungan, Kuningan, Nyepi day, Saraswati day, Tumpek Landep day, Pagerwesi day, Tumpek Wayang day etc.

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

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

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

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

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News

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

China, Philippines warn vs. aggression in Spratlys Associated Press Writer

MANILA, Philippines – The Chinese and Philippine defense chiefs have warned rival claimants to avoid unilateral action in disputed South China Sea islands.

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and his Philippine counterpart, Voltaire Gazmin, tackled the territorial disputes Monday in a meeting in Manila that also focused

on military cooperation.

Liang’s four-day visit comes amid renewed tensions in the disputed Spratly Islands, which are contested by China, the Philippines and four other nations.

The two defense chiefs acknowledged in a joint statement the need to ensure that the South China Sea remains stable and called for responsible behavior while claimant nations seek a peaceful solution.

AFP PHOTO / JAY DIRECTO

Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie shakes hands with his Filipino counterpart Voltaire Gazmin after their one on one meeting at Manila’s military headquarters on May 23, 2011.

Passenger jet makes emergency landing in Israel Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Israeli rescue services say an El Al jet with 260 passengers and crippled landing gear has safely made an emergency landing at Israel’s international airport. Rescue services spokesman Zaki Heller says the jet made a successful landing at dawn Monday as dozens of medical crews stood by and local hospitals were put on

President...

From page 1 The 16th NAM Ministerial Meeting is expected to produce a declaration on Palestine, a Bali Commemorative Declaration, and a final document to update the results of the 15th NAM Summit which was held in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, in July 2009.

The NAM was founded in 1961 at its inaugural summit in Belgrade, capital of former Yugoslavia with 25 founding members, namely Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen, Myanmar, Cambodia, Srilanka, Congo, Cuba, Syprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi

alert.

Earlier, media reported that the Boeing 777 had been en route to Newark, New Jersey, when the problem was discovered and it was forced to turn back. The jet dumped its fuel into the Mediterranean in preparation for the landing.

Heller said more than 70 rescue crews were waiting at the airport outside Tel Aviv, where a state of emergency had been declared.

Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia.

The Belgrade conference put its emphasis on world peace and security and elimination of disputes through international peace and cooperation.

The movement declared its stand for the unity of the countries of the developing world in defense of their political and economic sovereignty and their choice of the political system that they would practice in their respective countries.

Josep Broz Tito of then Yugoslavia, Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Sukarno of Indonesia, and Kwame Nkruma of Ghana were among the founders of NAM.

AFP PHOTO/RIZWAN TABASSUM

Flames and smokes rise from a Pakistan’s naval air base following an attack by militants in Karachi early on May 23, 20112011.

Pakistani troops hunt militants on naval base Associated Press Writer KARACHI, Pakistan – Pakistani commandos backed by helicopters on Monday hunted down a group of heavily armed Taliban fighters who laid siege to a naval base in the country’s largest city and sparked an hours-long clash that destroyed two U.S.-supplied surveillance aircraft and killed at least seven people, officials said.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was part of their revenge for the May 2 U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden.

The insurgents’ ability to penetrate the facility further rattled

a military establishment already humiliated by the unilateral American raid, and raised the possibility that the Taliban had inside help.

At least six navy personnel and a paramilitary Ranger were

Balinese traditional Dances...

From page 1 He was coming to London only to perform in Horniman Museum. The event which is fully supported by Indonesian Embassy in London is also being used to promote Indonesian tourism to the visitors. The staffs of the embassy give away brochures about tourism and also

giving explanation to those who have question about it.

The Bali Day event is being held started on 10 am to 5 pm and attracted attention of the visitors of the museum. Horniman Museum was build in 1901 and specailising on ethnography and musical instruments from all over the world.

killed, while 14 security forces were wounded in fighting at the Naval Station Mehran, navy spokesman Irfan ul Haq said. It was unclear how many militants were killed or wounded. But between 10 and 15 attackers entered the high-security facility before splitting into smaller groups, setting off explosions and hiding in the sprawling facility, Haq said.

He added that the militants were “not in possession of anything” when asked about reports of hostages being held.

The militants attacked the base from three sides and had control of one building as of Monday morning, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said. Navy helicopters were flying over the base in search of the attackers.

International

Indonesia Today

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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Indonesia heading for FIFA ban Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA – FIFA is expected to ban Indonesia from international football including World Cup qualifiers and the Southeast Asian Games, which the country is hosting in November, a report said Monday.

AFP PHOTO / ADEK BERRY

Motorists pass banners featuring the 26th SEA Games which will be held in Jakarta and Palembang next November, taken in Jakarta on May 23, 2011. FIFA is expected to ban Indonesia from international football including World Cup qualifiers and the Southeast Asian Games, which the country is hosting in November, a report said on May 23.

Government to review 8,000 mining licenses Antara

JAKARTA - The government is planning to review 8,000 mining licenses it has issued following reports that many of the licenses overlap, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa said here on Monday.

Citing an example, he said, a company which had obtained an operating license from a regional government could lose the license to another company if the district head or governor in the area was changed.

Such a condition could lead to disputes which would have a negative impact on the investment climate in Indonesia.

“According to a report I received

Sanctions are imminent after the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) failed to resolve a bitter row on the weekend over how the game should be run in the country of 240 million people.

“In my opinion, the chance of a FIFA sanction is 2,000 percent,” acting PSSI Secretary-General Joko Driyono was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe daily.

Football in Indonesia is in turmoil after the PSSI failed to elect a new leadership panel on Friday night ahead of a deadline set by FIFA, the sport’s global governing body.

An election congress broke down in acrimonious deadlock as supporters of a breakaway faction demanded a ban on the nomination of two “reformist” candidates be lifted.

A PSSI normalization committee was tasked by FIFA to contest the election after the world governing body took control of the league last month.

“All I can say is we’ve commu-

nicated to FIFA that we failed to hold the congress,” Driyono said.

Army chief of staff George Toisutta and oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro were banned from contesting the vote for chairman, as was outgoing boss Nurdin Halid, who has been tainted by corruption.

Panigoro started a breakaway Indonesian Premier League in January, introducing privately-owned clubs instead of the PSSI model where teams are funded by regional governments.

FIFA is expected to decide on any sanctions against Indonesia at its executive committee meeting on May 30.

“We could hold a local league, but we could not play in any of FIFA’s events. I don’t know how long (a suspension) would last, but it depends on the association’s commitment to solving its problems,” Driyono said.

Indonesia is 130th in the FIFA rankings — below Ethiopia and Yemen — and has never reached the World Cup finals.

Malaysian sentenced to life for meth smuggling

recently, 6,000 of a total of 8,000 licenses are overlapped in the field. Therefore, we will form a special team to review the licenses and solve the problem,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said verification and audits on the 8,000 mining licenses were needed to ensure that all mining companies were operating well and in accordance with existing regulations, including regulations on preserving the environment.

The minister also expressed hope that the review would improve coordination among the central and local governments as well as improve the investment climate in Indonesia.

Antara

MATARAM - A Malaysian national, Chow Kit Nang, received a life sentence here on Monday for smuggling in 3.17 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Three judges of the Mataram District Court in West Nusa Tenggara read the verdict on Mondaym saying that Cow was proven violating Article 113 and Article 114 of Law Number 35 of 2009 on narcotics.

Chow Kit Nang alias Cow was guilty of importing non-plant grade one narcotic drug weighing more than five grams or 3.17 kilograms of the drug from Malaysia.

Upon hearing the verdict Cow immediately said he would appeal it and had seven days to file his appeal to the Higher Court of Mataram.

Chow‘s trial had been going on since February

9. Chow was caught carrying the drug worth Rp6 billion upon arrival at Selaparang airport here at 7.15pm on November 2, 2010, aboard Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight Number MZ831 serving the Kuala Lumpur-Surabaya-Mataran route.

Customs officers at the airport was suspicious when seeing an image analysis of stuff put on the wall of a bag on the X-Ray Scanner and paid special to it. Chow as the owner of the bag later took the bag and when he walked past the Baggage Check Point he was stopped and his bag was thoroughly examined.

When customes officers sliced the wall of the bag open they discovered five aluminum foiled packages later found to contain quality methamphetamine. After the findings Chow Kit Nang was then interrogated intensively before being handed over to the police.

Overseas marine industries need 10,000 Indonesian workers per year Antara

JAKARTA - A number of countries need a total of around 10,000 workers from Indonesia per year for their marine and fisheries sector, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said.

The minister made the statement at the opening of an International Marine and Fisheries Job Fair at the SMESCO UKM building here on Monday.

Fadel said information on the need for Indonesian workers in the

foreign countries was obtained from various companies participating in the International Job Fair.

He expressed hope that after the job fair, demand for workers from Indonesia would rise to around 40,000 per year.

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry was staging the international fair May 23-25, 2011 in cooperation with the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry, the National Education Ministry, the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry, and the

Jakarta Manpower Office.

Fadel said the first ever event was participated in by around 50 leading national and international companies in the maritime and fisheries fields, such as fishing companies, fish farming companies, marine and fisheries product processing companies, labor recruitment agencies and other companies from among others Japan, China, South Korea, and Spain.

The fair offered around 10,000 job opportunities to job seekers who could apply by directly coming to the fairgrounds or apply online at

www.jobfairkkp.com.

Preliminary data indicated that, as per May 22, the number of online applicants had reached 1,900 and was expected to increase before the fair closed.

Fadel said here early this month that many countries had expressed their interest in recruiting Indonesian sailors in overseas marine and fishery related industries.

“Following increasing demand for Indonesian sailors from many countries, the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) will make

a new breakthrough to accommodate the request,” Fadel said.

Therefore the Job Fair would be a perfect event for job seekers, marine and fisheries related education and training promotion, consultation, job applicants’ interview, direct recruitment for job applicants, and for opportunity to go abroad.

He said various job opportunities were among others in the fields of fishing, aquaculture, and fishery products processing and marketing would be offered to around 30,000 people who were expected visit the job fair.

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International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Bali Today Lovina Tourism

Rivaled by villas, budget hotels slump Bali Post

SINGARAJA - Widespread development of foreign-owned villas on the north coast of Buleleng seems to influence the occupancy rate of budget hotels in the Lovina and other tourist resorts in Buleleng.

As consequence, many hotels originally owned by local residents are eventually sold to foreigners because the formers are no longer able to manage.

Frequent changes of ownership happening to hotels in Lovina and the surrounding areas cause the hotel renaming so often. Every new owner renames the hotel in accordance with his desire.

Even, there is a hotel in the region whose name has been changed up to five times. Apart from the change of ownership, the name change is also carried out by other reasons, such as the old name is considered not profitable, so needs replacing with a saleable new name that can provide benefits.

A tourism business perpetrator in Lovina tourist resort said that Lovina had slumped since 1997. Such condition was then aggravated by the Bali bombings. Continuous decline in tourist visits caused the hotels in Lovina to get no guests. As a result, hotel owners who were mostly local residents were forced to sell their hotel properties to investors from outside Bali or overseas.

Actually, before 2000, hotels in Lovina were able to compete against star hotels. However, the budget hotels were now on the verge of extinction because they did not get many guests as ever before. A budget hotel in the resort only had an average occupancy rate of 10 percent a month.

“The occupied rooms were sold at very cheap price. Otherwise, budget

hotels will not be able to draw tourists,” said one of the hotel owners in Lovina.

Information obtained from a number of budget hotel owners mentioned that rampant construction of beachside villas by foreign nationals was one of the causes of decline in occupancy rate among the budget hotels. Tourists preferred to stay in villas spreading out along the beach in Buleleng.

Moreover, the management of villas had a better promotion and marketing system via the Internet or through direct overseas promotion. So, tourists arriving at the airport were immediately picked up by villas and directly taken to the accommodation because they had booked through the Internet.

“These villas finally vanquish the budget hotels. Additionally, most owners of those villas are foreigners, so their marketing is more intensive.

Meanwhile, the budget hotels are now just waiting for those who are unable to book room in villas and we are forced to sell our rooms at lower price to attract customers,” said a budget hotel owner in Lovina.

In the meantime, Chairman of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) of Buleleng Chapter, Dewa Ketut Suardipa, did not deny if the occupancy rate of budget hotels in Lovina and the surrounding areas never increased, whereas Lovina was formerly known to have a lot of budget hotels.

Unfortunately, the budget hotels were vanquished by many villas built near the beach and in countryside.

Likewise, large number of villas also had an impact on the tourist arrivals to the region of Lovina. “The number of villas on the coastal regions and rural areas also causes Lovina not busy as ever before,” he said. (kmb/ole)

Prisoner Follow English and Computer Course Antara

Badung - Second Class Jail (LP) Denpasar supported by Australian institution to hold English and computer courses for their tens occupants. It is their skill provision when they are free.

This course is a form of government training to the prisoner, said the Head of Jail Division Law and Human Rights Ministry, Kristiadi.

“I hope all of prisoner can take

the courses because it is a precious chance,” said him. The English course is the fifth phase while computer course has entering its sixth phase though some prisoner has graduated both courses.

The course held below fund support of Australian institution through two Bali Nine convicts, Myuran Syukumaran and Matthew James Norman. According to Kristiadi, the course is the first time in Indonesia.

FOTO ANTARA/Prasetyo Utomo

Indonesian Vice President Boediono (left) opened the fifth International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Regional Policy Forum when on a working visit to Denpasar, Bali province, on Monday.

Vice president opens 5th IFRS Forum Antara DENPASAR - Indonesian Vice President Boediono opened the fifth International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Regional Policy Forum when on a working visit to Denpasar, Bali province, on Monday.

Managing board chairman of the Indonesian Accountants Association Mardiasmo said that some 300 delegates came from Asia, Oceania and other countries, including China, South Korea, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, Nyanmar, New Zeland, Philippines, Singapore, the US and the UK. Mardiasmo said it was time for Indonesia to play an important role in discussions on accountancy standards in facing global challenges and opportunities.

The Vice President who arrived at Ngurah Rai airport here from Bandung at 10.15 am flew back to Jakarta after opening the event.

He was greeted by Bali Governor Made Mangku Prastika, the local legislative assembly speaker and members the Bali Regional Board Coordinating Forum.

The Vice President went to the

IFRS forum and greeted by Mardiasmo and representative of IFRS Foundation Jeffrey Lucy.

Deputy Finance Minister Ani Ratnawati was also present on the occasion.

Boediono in his address opening the fifth International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Regional Policy Forum here on Monday, called for the implementation of international accounting standards in Indonesia.

The vice president said the standards were expected to support the improvement of the quality and transparency of companies’ financial reports in Indonesia.

“Uniting Indonesian and international accounting standards is not easy. Adherence to IFRS is not only an accounting issue because it is also intended to improve the quality and transparency of financial reports of companies in Indone-

sia,” the vice president said.

Boediono said policy makers‘ support for the application of IFRS accounting standards was needed.

Therefore he appreciated the support from policy makers such as Capital Market Supervisory Board, Bank Indonesia, and State Ministry for State Enterprises which required the use of accounting standards from IFRS. Managing board chairman of the Indonesian Accountants Association Mardiasmo said that some 300 delegates came from Asia, Oceania and other countries, including China, South Korea, Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong, Nyanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, the US and the UK. Mardiasmo said it was time for Indonesia to play an important role in discussions on accountancy standards in facing global challenges and opportunities.

International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Balinese Culture

Some 600 delegates attend NAM meeting in Bali Antara

NUSA DUA - Some 600 delegates are to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Ministerial (NAM) Meeting which is preceded by a Preparatory Senior Officials Meeting, in Nusa Dua, Bali Island, from May 23 to 27, 2011.

“Yes, the Preparatory Senior Officials Meeting is held behind closed doors to discuss the final document of the NAM Summit held in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, and prepare a Declaration on Palestine,” Sunu M. Soemarno, chairman of the NAM meeting`s organizing committee, said here Monday.

The senior officials meeting will be followed by a Commemorative Meeting expected to produce a Bali Commemorative Declaration (BCD) to mark the 50th anniversary of NAM. The theme of the 16th NAM ministerial meeting and the Commemorative meeting is “Shared Vision on the Contribution of NAM for The next 50 years.”

“The meeting will certainly also review the NAM progress since the Summit in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, in July 2009,” he said.

“At present, almost 60 percent of the United Nations (UN) members are NAM members. Active participation of the NAM member countries are required to find global solutions to challenges such as the energy crisis, finan-

cial crisis, food security, climate change, pandemic, migration and disarmament,” he said.

“Therefore, at its age of 50 years, NAM must determine its vision for the next 50 years, to actively participate in dealing with global challenges and at the same time find the solutions,” he said.

The NAM meeting‘s organizing committee has invited 118 member countries, Fiji and Azerbaijan as the new members, 18 observer countries (such as Argentine, Bosnia, Brazil,

China, Serbia, Mexico and Ukraine), 10 observer organizations (among others the African Union, the United Nations, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference - OIC), 26 guest countries (such as the United States, Japan, and Russia), and 23 guest organizations (among others UNIDO, UNESCAP, and ICRC).

NAM was founded in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in September 1961, to forge solidarity, boost confidence and unite visions of 25 developing countries joining the Belgrade meeting.

Udang Pantung Kuning (Lobster in Yellow Sauce) OVERVIEW: A real gourmet treat from Bali, this could also be made with huge prawns. In Bali, coconut chunks are roasted directly on charcoal, then the charred skin scrapped off and the flesh grated for making the coconut milk.

INGREDIENTS: 4 sml lobsters, weighing about 500 gr each or 1 kg large prawns 5 cups water 2 lemongrass, bruised 2 fragrant lime leaves 4 cups coconut milk few drops white vinegar fried shallots to garnish

FOTO ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana

Tourists riding bycicle passing the flags of Non-Allignment Movement members at Nusa Dua, Bali Island. Some 600 delegates are to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Ministerial (NAM) Meeting which is preceded by a Preparatory Senior Officials Meeting, in Nusa Dua, Bali Island, from May 23 to 27, 2011.

SPICE PASTE: 5 red chilies, seeded and chopped 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 7 shallots, peeled and chopped 5 cm fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped 5 cm ginger, peeled and chopped 4 candlenuts 1 ½ tsp coriander ½ tsp dried shrimp paste toasted 1 sml tomato, peeled and seeded 2 tbsp oil 1 ½ tbsp tamarind pulp 1 salam leaf 1 lemon grass, bruised PREPARATION: Prepare spice paste by grinding or blending all ingredients except oil, tamarind, salam leaf and lemongrass.

Heat oil, add spice paste and all other ingredients. Cook over moderate heat for about 5 minutes, then cool.

Wash lobsters and leave whole. Bring water to the boil, add lobsters and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove lobsters, plunge in iced water for 1 minutes, then drain and remove meat. Return shells to the pot of water, keeping lobster meat aside.

Add spice paste, lemongrass, lime leaves and vinegar to the water with the shells and simmer until 4 cups of stock remain. Add coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain stock and return to pan. Add lobster and simmer for 1 minute. Serve garnished with fried shallots and accompanied by white rice.

Helpful hints: if using prawns instead of lobster, peel the raw prawns and put prawns shells 4 cups of water. Simmer for 5 minutes, and then combine this stock with coconut milk, prawns and all other ingredients, simmering until cooked. (www.baliguide.com/balifood)

C.045 ibp

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Destinations

International

Ubud Traditional Art Market IBP

Ubud Traditional Art Market where the existence is not far different from other markets available in the tourism area. This market as a society economics center of Ubud and it is apposite to the existence of Ubud Empire that is called Puri Saren. The market is unfolding from west to easterly divided become two group with different purpose. There are two markets available at the same area those are one block at the Westside is for a traditional artistic market and another block located in the east as an everyday traditional fundamental market requirement. This market is opened every day about at 08:00 until 18:00, even some from them still open until nighttime. While the traditional market for the fundamental requirement is opened everyday at 06:00 - even before that there is morning market started at 04:00 morning.

The art crafting are sold in this art market consisted of various crafting, from traditional until contemporary crafting which its price is relatively cheap. You can do the transaction directly to the merchant which generally can be bargained. All the crafting sold in this place you can bring home as souvenir like slipper, wood idol, bag, clothes, matting, painting and a lot of more.

It is very simple way and easily to find Ubud Market since it is very famous among the Balinese and it is strategically located in the center of Ubud Village. This market is located just in the front of Ubud Palace with crowded of visitor who purchases the items every day.

International Bali Post Classifieds Contact us

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

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

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

11

BUSINESS Threat of volcano ash cloud hits airline shares Agence France-Presse

PARIS – The threat of ash from an Icelandic volcano shutting European airspace hit airline shares on Monday.

Shares in German airline Lufthansa plunged by 4.56 percent while the DAX slid 1.5 percent.

Air France-KLM fell more than four percent at the opening of trading, the biggest loser on the Paris stock market.

Shares in International Airline Group (IAG), the owner of British Airways and Iberia, plunged

3.55 percent in early trading while London was down 1.34 percent overall.

Shares in Scandinavian airline SAS dropped 3.02 percent while Stockholm’s exchange was down 1.55 percent.

The Grimsvoetn volcano began erupting late on Saturday, with the first ash expected to begin hitting Europe on Tuesday.

I n A p r i l 2 0 1 0 I c e l a n d ’s Eyjafjoell volcano erupted, spewing a massive cloud of ash that caused the planet’s biggest airspace shutdown since World War II with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and eight million passengers stranded.

The costs in terms of lost revenue and compensation to passengers were a body blow to the

airline industry, particularly in Europe.

Denmark has already closed airspace over Greenland and Norway said it will cancel flights on Monday to the country’s Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.

France’s junior transport secretary Thierry Mariani warned on Monday that flights would be cancelled if an ash cloud from Iceland’s Grimsvoetn volcano blew over Europe.

“One thing that is certain ... is that if Europe is affected then

flights will be cancelled,” Mariani said on Europe 1 radio, adding that it was too early to say for certain if it would.

“If the ash isn’t noxious then the planes will fly. If the ash is noxious or presents a risk, then the planes won’t fly,” he added.

Concerns that the ash could damage aircraft engines led authorities to cancel flights as a precaution.

“The priority should always remain safety, without of course abusing the principle of precaution,” said Mariani.

Debt woes hammer Moody’s warns Japan recession euro and world stocks is negative for rating Reuters

LONDON – Debt worries hammered European markets on Monday, knocking both the euro and regional shares down 1 percent while also weighing heavily on world equities, sending emerging markets down nearly 2 percent.

Investors were digesting a block of bad news about the euro zone crisis. Following Fitch Ratings cut of Greece’s debt ratings by three notches on Friday, pushing the country’s debt deeper into junk status, rival Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for Italy to “negative” from “stable” on Saturday.

Spanish voters added to the angst, becoming the latest electorate to punish sitting European governments for the current economic climate.

The ruling Socialists were hit by stinging losses in local elections and now face a balancing act between voter anger over sky-high unemployment and investor demands for strict austerity measures.

“There’s a risk of everything becoming excessively politicized which will be detrimental for the economy,” said Carlos Berzosa, professor of applied economy at Madrid’s Complutense University.

Investors reacted to the various events with a burst of risk aversion, shifting funds into U.S. government debt, gold and the dollar.

The euro fell, for example, to a record low against the generally safehaven Swiss franc.

It lost around 1 percent against the dollar and was down 1.2 percent against the yen.

Worries about some form of debt restructuring by Greece was a key element of the selloff.

If Greece were to restructure its debt that could prompt Ireland and Portugal to follow with debt restructuring of their own, Adrian Foster, head of financial markets research for Asia-Pacific for Rabobank International in Hong Kong, said in a research note.

“It is difficult to imagine them proceeding with economically (and politically) painful fiscal austerity whilst Greece gets debt forgiveness,” he said.

European shares suffered the same fate as the euro, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index selling of 1.3 percent.

“It’s more than Greece now. This is more a reflection of the inability of the EU to sort out anything, and that makes people worry beyond Greece,” said Lothar Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus Investments.

Risk aversion spread beyond Europe. World stocks as measured

by MSCI were down more than 1 percent.

It was particularly hit by emerging markets losses. The MSCI emerging market stock index was down more than 2 percent, for a year to date loss of more than 3 percent.

Emerging markets, despite the strong economic condition that some of them enjoy, are still seen as relatively risky investments and therefore sell off when sentiment turns cautious.

Yields on peripheral euro zone bonds rose.

The spread between the yields on 10-year Spanish and Italian bonds and their German counterparts reached their widest levels since January.

Investors, however, bought core euro zone debt. The June Bund future hit its highest level since January.

Reuters

TOKYO – Japan’s return to recession and a bigger-than-expected slump in first-quarter economic growth are negative for its credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service said, warning that a delay in recovery could warrant additional fiscal and monetary stimulus.

The triple blow of the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis has nudged Japan into recession and led to a surprisingly deep 0.9 percent contraction in January-March, which Moody’s said, was negative for Japan’s rating and made it increasingly urgent for Prime Minister Naoto Kan to compile a second extra budget.

“Reconstruction and relief expenditures will eventually lead to a rebound in economic growth later this year and in 2012,” Moody’s said in a statement on Monday.

“But the scale of the loss in output and income caused by the earthquake may already have lowered the future growth trajectory of the Japanese economy, thwarting Japan’s long-term growth rate, which is currently around 1 percent,” it said.

While the shock from power shortages will be temporary, the risk of Japanese companies permanently losing global market share due to current supply chain disruptions is more damaging, Moody’s said.

“Should the rebound in Japan’s economy be weaker than forecast or delayed entirely, additional actions by both the Ministry of Finance and Bank of Japan may be needed,” the ratings agency said in a statement.

Japan is facing its worst crisis since World War Two after the magnitude 9.0 earthquakes and a deadly tsunami battered its northeast coast on March 11, leaving about 25,000 dead or miss-

ing and crippling a nuclear power plant.The economy shrank in JanuaryMarch at nearly double the pace forecast by markets and is expected to contract again in the second quarter as supply chain disruptions and power shortages hit factory output.

The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy days after the quake but has stood pat since then on the view — shared by many economists — which growth will pick up from around autumn when supply constraints ease.

But the central bank has expressed its readiness to ease policy further if the damage from the quake is bigger than expected and threatens Japan’s return to a moderate recovery.

The government, for its part, passed through parliament a 4 trillion yen ($48 billion) first emergency budget for immediate disaster relief and is now eyeing a second extra budget for reconstruction, which Moody’s said will “likely need to be much larger than the first one.”Kan has signaled that the second extra budget would be quite big, while Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said reconstruction may cost up to 15 trillion yen.

But any progress in compiling the second extra budget would be slow as Kan needs cooperation from opposition parties, which control the upper house, to pass necessary legislation through parliament.

Another uncertainty overshadowing Japan’s fiscal outlook is the extent to which the government will share the burden of Tokyo Electric Power’s (9501.T) rising quake-related liabilities, Moody’s said.Japan’s public debt, at double the size of its $5 trillion economy, is the biggest among major industrialized economies, limiting room for additional fiscal stimulus and triggering warnings from ratings agencies.

But lawmakers are hesitant about raising taxes, particularly the politically sensitive sales tax, for fear of scaring voters away, even as the cost of quake reconstruction adds to the heavy burden of spending for social welfare in a rapidly aging society.

Moody’s warned in February that it might cut Japan’s Aa2 rating — its third highest rating — if the government fell short of crafting comprehensive tax reform to fix the country’s tattered finances.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Entertainment

International

Rihanna, Swift take prizes in Billboard’s return Associated Press Writer

Rihanna and Taylor Swift were two of the key winners at the Billboard Music Awards, which returned after a five-year hiatus with a major dose of star power, featuring Beyonce, U2, the Black Eyed Peas — even First Lady Michelle Obama.

Like many other awards shows, the three-hour Billboard Awards served more as a promotional vehicle for today’s top pop stars than a trophy presentation. The show was packed with performances — a piano-levitating Cee Lo Green, a scantily clad Rihanna on “S&M” joined by Britney Spears, a much-bleeped Lil Wayne with Mary J. Blige, and Neil Diamond leading the audience in a sing-a-long to “Sweet Caroline” and “America.”

Among Rihanna’s wins were for radio artist of the year and top female artist. Swift won the evening’s first award, as top album artist, behind the multimillion sales for “Speak Now.” She also won top country artist.

“The impact of an album is all determined by the fans,” she told the audience when she picked up her first. “You’ve just given me another reason to be completely in love with you.” Other award winners included Justin Bieber, Lady Antbellum and the Black Eyed Peas.

Beyonce received a special “Millennium” Award for her career achievements: The 29-year-old phenomenon was lauded in a video by an array of legends and luminaries, including Stevie Wonder, Barbara Streisand, Bono, Lady Gaga and Michelle Obama.

“This is a moment I have to soak in because it’s gonna be — and it is — one of the best moments of my life,” said Beyonce after getting the award from her mother, Tina Knowles. Beyonce also performed her new song, “Run the World (Girls).”

U2 was also honAP Photo/Matt Sayles, file FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2011 file photo, ored for their blockRihanna, left, and Eminem perform at the buster “360” tour as 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Ange- the top touring act of les. Rihanna and Eminem are among the 2010, while Diamond top competitors at the Billboard Music received Billboard’ “Icon” award.

Awards on Sunday May 22.

AP Photo/Francois Mori

From left, actors Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Geoffrey Rush, Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp and director Rob Marshall pose on the red carpet for the screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, at the 64th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Rebooted ‘Pirates’ sets overseas box office record Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK – The reengineered “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel “On Stranger Tides” found its smoothest sailing overseas, where it took in a record $256.3 million at the international box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That surpasses the previous record foreign opening of the sixth “Harry Potter” film, 2009’s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which earned $236 million internationally.

Walt Disney co. said “On Stranger Tides,” the fourth “Pirates” installment, earned $90.1 million domestically. Its combined worldwide total is $346.4 million, the fourth largest global opening ever.

The new 3-D film jettisons costars Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, but brings back Johnny

Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. “Chicago” director Rob Marshall took the helm from Gore Verbinski, who directed the trilogy. Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane introduce new characters.

It was a risky reboot considering the popularity of the previous “Pirates” films. The last, 2007’s “At World’s End,” opened with $114.7 million.

But “At World’s End” was also badly reviewed and disappointing to much of its audience. For Disney,

which has expansive merchandising and theme park tie-ins to “Pirates of the Caribbean,” it’s a crucial franchise.

The first three movies earned a combined $2.7 billion worldwide.

“The whole play of this particular movie was based on a worldwide release because of our feeling of how strong the international marketplace would be,” said Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney. “Johnny is not just a domestic star. Johnny is an international star.”

Viane said the result vindicated the franchise’s new look, that audiences “loved the rebooted attitude.” Viane didn’t comment on whether this meant a subsequent fifth film, but that seems extremely likely. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer already has a script in the works.

Lady Gaga hatches new album, to mixed reviews Agence France Presse

LOS ANGELES – Pop provocateur Lady Gaga unveils her second full-length album this week, three years after taking the music world by storm — but while sales will likely be huge, early reviews are mixed.

True to her social media-friendly form, the 25-year-old is releasing “Born this Way” in unconventional style by posting some songs on online social game Farmville ahead of Monday’s launch, as well as other singles already issued.

The title track was released in February, shortly before Gaga — real name Stefani Joanne Angelina

Germanotta — caused a storm by turning up inside a giant translucent egg at the music industry’s annual Grammys awards show.

She also raised eyebrows this weekend when, during a television performance of the song on Saturday Night Live, she simulated giving birth as the finale to the song, surrounded by her writhing dancers.

“I want to celebrate and share ‘Born This Way’ with my little monsters in a special way that’s never been done before,” Gaga said of the release of excerpts on her in-game “GagaVille” farm last week. Her “little monsters” are the legions of fans who worship the star, whose hit singles from her first album,

2008’s “The Fame,” included “Bad Romance,” “Paparazzi” and “Poker Face.”

Gaga has sold over 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide, won five Grammys and was included in Time’s list of the most influential people and the top 10 of Forbes’ world’s “100 Most Powerful Women,” her website says.

Compared by some to chameleon-like pop legends David Bowie and Madonna, she has rocketed into the pop stratosphere despite only having made one full-length album, “The Fame” in 2008, followed by 2009’s eight-track “The Fame Monster.”

AFP/File/Martin Bureau

Pop provocateur Lady Gaga, pictured here in Cannes, unveils her second full-length album this week, three years after taking the music world by storm — but while sales will likely be huge, early reviews are mixed.

Science

International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

13

Mozambique seeks to reduce measles deaths by 98%: UN Agence France Presse

AFP/File/Nicole Alayne Hammermeister

A flash flood is seen in the centre of the Austrlian city of Brisbane. Sea levels are set to rise by up to a metre within a century due to global warming, a new Australian report said Monday as it warned this could make “once-a-century” coastal flooding much more common.

Sea levels set to rise by up to a metre: report Agence France Presse

SYDNEY – Sea levels are set to rise by up to a metre within a century due to global warming, a new Australian report said Monday as it warned this could make “once-a-century” coastal flooding much more common.

The government’s first Climate Commission report said the evidence that the Earth’s surface was warming rapidly was beyond doubt.

Drawn from the most up-to-date climate science from around the world, the report said greenhouse gas emissions created by human industry was the likely culprit behind rising temperatures, warming oceans, and rising sea levels.

Its author Will Steffen said while the report had been reviewed by climate scientists from Australian science body the CSIRO, the Bureau of

Meteorology and academics, some judgments, including on sea levels, were his own. “I expect the magnitude of global average sea-level rise in 2100 compared to 1990 to be in the range of 0.5 to 1.0 metre,” Steffen said in his preface to “The Critical Decade”.

He said while this assessment was higher than that of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change in 2007, which was under 0.8m, it was not inconsistent with the UN body which had said higher values were possible.

“We’re five years down the track now, we know more about how those

big ice sheets are behaving,” Steffen told reporters. “In part we have some very good information about the Greenland icesheet. We know it’s losing mass and we know it’s losing mass at an increasing rate.

“So that’s telling us that we need to extend that upper range a bit towards a metre. Now there are commentators who say it should be even higher than that.”

The report said a sea-level rise of 0.5m would lead to surprisingly large impacts, with the risk of extreme events such as inundations in coastal areas around Australia’s largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne hugely increased.

Steffen said in some instances, a one-in-a-hundred year event could happen every year.

M A R R A C U E N E , Mozambique – Mozambique plans to vaccinate 3.6 million children against measles over the next five days in a bid to reduce deaths by 98 percent by the end of 2012, a UN Foundation official said Sunday.

This will bring the southern African country closer to a World Health Organisation (WHO) goal signed by 46 sub-Saharan countries to reduce measles deaths by 98 percent.

“This campaign has put Mozambique in a position to be the first sub-Saharan African country to reach the 2012 goal,” said Andrea Gay, executive director for children’s health at the UN Foundation.

Health officials across the country will vaccinate children under five years from Monday to Friday in a $4.5 million (threemillion-euro) campaign.

Representatives of the WHO,

the American Academy of Pediatrics, and former US senator Bob Bennett inspected preparations at the Marracuene district hospital outside the Mozambican capital Maputo before the start of the campaign.

One of the world’s poorest countries, Mozambique has improved measles immunisation to cover 74.1 percent of the population. “On a global scale we can eradicate measles by 2020,” said Gay. Increased vaccination campaigns in Mozambique helped reduce the number of infections an outbreak in 2010, according to a statement by UNICEF and WHO. The country recorded 434 cases, down from 197,000 cases in 2007.

“It is very rare for doctors to find cases of measles in Mozambique nowadays”, Health Minister Paulo Ivo Garridohe told state news agency AIM. The country of 22.1 million people is prone to flooding and access to medical care is limited.

AFP/File/Ishara S.Kodikara

Mozambique plans to vaccinate 3.6 million children against measles over the next five days in a bid to reduce deaths by 98 percent by the end of 2012, a UN official said.

Earliest mammals sniffed their way to smarts Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/Mark A. Klinger

This undated artists reconstruction image provided by the magazine Science, shows Hadrocodium wui.

WASHINGTON – The unusually large brains of mammals apparently didn’t evolve so that we could ponder philosophy — but so we could sniff our way to success. A new analysis of some of the earliest mammals and mammal-like creatures shows their complex brains evolved in stages, starting with the regions that handle the sense of smell.

The tiny creatures that evolved into today’s mammals “exploited

a world of information dominated to an unprecedented degree by odors and scents,” report researchers led by Timothy B. Rowe, a paleontologist at the University of Texas.

“If I had to tell a freshman class what it means to become a mammal, it means to become a superb smeller,” Rowe said in a telephone interview.

Enlargement of the brain’s smell-sensing region was followed by upgrades in the brain areas that deal with touch sensitivity from

body hair, and then parts providing improved movement, Rowe and colleagues report in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.

Among mammals, today’s humans have traded away some of that ability to smell for improved vision and hearing, Rowe observed, but we still have close companions called dogs who heavily exploit the sense of smell.

As the mammal brain evolved, the area involved in sensory response “underwent particularly spectacular development,” said R.

Glenn Northcutt of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who was not part of Rowe’s team. The studies “provide the first solid evidence of the stages of mammalian brain evolution,” Northcutt said.

The report is “very significant because it outlines, for the first time, the evolutionary history of major brain regions in the closest relatives of mammals, and early mammals,” said Hans-Dieter Sues, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Sport

International

Manchester United players celebrate with the English Premier League trophy after their match against Blackpool at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England, on May 22, 2011. United celebrated winning the league for a 19th time beating Liverpool’s long standing record.

AFP PHOTO/PAUL ELLIS

Domestic trophy still warm, Ferguson plots Barca upset Reuters

MANCHESTER - The Premier League trophy was not even in the cabinet when Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson switched his attention to picking a team to beat Barcelona to add the European Cup to his haul.

United face Barcelona on Saturday in the Champions League final and Ferguson was already pondering his lineup for the huge task of beating the hot favourites while the fireworks were still going off to celebrate domestic success on Sunday. “I think I could pick four or five teams for next week and they wouldn’t let us down,” he told MUTV. Ferguson has attributed this

season’s success to using the full potential of a strong squad, highlighted by a procession of 21 players being presented with Premier League winners’ medals, all eligible as they had made 10 appearances or more.

It gives him plenty of options to choose from next weekend — a clear sign that the lines between fringe player and starter are not as clear as usual — but the reality is that only the

best will do.

Asked if he had finalised his starting XI, Ferguson said: “Not entirely but we’ve got the nucleus who deserve their place and there are others who deserve a place.

“But I can only pick 11 and that’s the horrible part of being a manager now. At a cup final, it’s absolute agony and something you don’t relish at all but I have to do it.”

With Ferguson keen to avoid the mistakes that led to defeat by the Spaniards in the 2009 final, when he rested many of his first-choice players for an end-of-season league game against Hull City only for them to then lose 2-0 to Barca, he played a stronger-than-expected side for Sunday’s last domestic game at home to Blackpool that ended with a 4-2 victory.

Having already wrapped up the title, United had been expected by many pundits to field a second-string side but instead big game players like Nemanja Vidic, Edwin van der Sar,

Park Ji-sung and Nani were among the starters.

There were of course notable players like Rio Ferdinand, Antonio Valencia, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs either on the bench or rested altogether but there were certainly more possible Wembley starters involved than many had predicted. “I have to pick a team and leave some very good players out,” Ferguson said. “Hopefully, those who have all played a part in the European campaign this season will feel satisfaction at the end of the night at Wembley and we’ll win the cup.”

Ronaldinho shines in Brazilian championship opener Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO - Former FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldinho inspired Flamengo to a 4-0 home win over Avai in their opening match of the Brazilian championship on Sunday. Holders Fluminense were upset 2-0 at home by Santos while Corinthians beat Gremio 2-1 away thanks to a fine performance from striker Liedson.

Ronaldinho, who had disappointed Flamengo fans with his indifferent form since joining from AC Milan in January, scored

a brilliant goal and laid on another for Diego Mauricio with a one-two inside the box.

Modest Avai fielded a secondstring side ahead of their Copa Brasil semi-final on Wednesday.

“That’s as good as it gets. To return scoring a goal, laying on another after a long time is marvellous,” Ronaldinho told reporters.

“I’m going to try to go after the conquest that’s missing from my curriculum,” added Ronaldinho, who had been criticised and jeered by fans after Flamengo’s Copa Brasil elimination earlier in May.

FILE - In this May 1, 2011, file photo, Flamengo’s Ronaldinho gestures to fans during a Rio de Janeiro state ‘Taca Rio’ final soccer match against Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro.

AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File

Sport

International

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

15

Bosh carries Heat over Bulls 96-85 for 2-1 lead Associated Press Writer MIAMI – Chris Bosh has fought the perception all year. He’s the third wheel, the forgotten star, the one who would never shine alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. The Miami Heat never saw it that way. This was why.

AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA

Serbian’s Jelena Jankovic returns the ball to Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko during their Women’s first round match in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 22, 2011, in Paris. The event runs from May 22 to June 5, 2011. Jankovic won 6-3, 6-1.

Stosur, Jankovic ease into French Open round two Agence France Presse

PARIS – Last year’s beaten finalist Samantha Stosur and former world number one Jelena Jankovic led the way into the French Open second round on Sunday’s lowkey opening day.

Eighth seed Stosur, the highestseeded woman in action on the tournament’s first day, defeated Czech Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-3 to set up a clash with Romanian teenager Simona Halep, who she beat in last year’s first round.

Jankovic, beaten by Stosur in the semi-finals 12 months ago, overcame Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-1 and will now face Russia’s Vera Dushevina.

Stosur, returning to the scene of her defeat by Francesca Schiavone in last year’s final, was broken in her opening service game on Court Philippe Chatrier but broke straight back before romping to a 4-1 lead.

The 27-year-old Australian converted her second set point

when Benesova, the world number 52, miscued a stretching forehand and Stosur concluded a straightforward victory with a love service game in the second set.

“Overall I’m getting better and better,” said Stosur, who lost to Maria Sharapova in the Rome Masters final earlier this month.

“I hope I’m becoming a better player, a more complete player as each year goes on. This time last year I played some of the best matches of my career and hopefully I can do that again this week.”

Bosh made 13 of his final 15 shots on the way to a 34-point night, James finished with 22 points and 10 assists, and the Heat remained unbeaten at home in the postseason by beating the Chicago Bulls 96-85 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Sunday.

A 9-0 run in the fourth quarter helped Miami pull away for good and grab a 2-1 lead in the series.

“C-B had it going,” James said.

“And when we have someone going on our team, we continue to give the ball to him and continue to feed off their energy offensively. And he brought it home for us tonight.” Game 4 is Tuesday in Miami.

Wade added 17 points and nine rebounds for Miami, which is 7-0 at home in the playoffs and handed the team that finished with the NBA’s best record its first losing streak since Feb. 5-7. Udonis Haslem sealed it with a jumper with 1:29 left, putting Miami up 93-84.

Wade was the one who got the phone call that started putting the move toward a Miami “Big 3” into overdrive, when Bosh dialed him up last summer and said, “I’m feeling Miami.” With that, Wade decided to stay with the Heat, and James made his decision to join them a day or so later. They came together to win titles and are two wins away from heading to the NBA finals.

“Obviously, I’m very happy for him,” Wade said. “A lot of people don’t understand how difficult it’s been to make the adjustment, to play with two other players who dominate the ball so much. Some games he gets it, some games he doesn’t, so to find a flow, to find a rhythm, sometimes it’s tough.” Not on Sunday, it wasn’t.

Bosh missed his first three shots, and never worried. He was in a rhythm. He was catching the ball where he wanted. And then midway through the first quarter, he finally saw the ball go through the hoop for the first time. “That was good enough for me,” Bosh said. And more than good enough for the Heat.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP

Chris Bosh #1 of the Miami Heat dunks against Derrick Rose #1, Joakim Noah #13 and Carlos Boozer #5 of the Chicago Bulls in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2011 NBA Playoffs on May 22, 2011 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

’60 Minutes’ report: Armstrong encouraged doping Associated Press Writer

Tyler Hamilton used to pull Lance Armstrong up mountains, chasing down breakaway threats by other riders and making sure Armstrong was kept out of harm’s way. That was years ago.

Hamilton is finally coming clean about doping in the cycling world, and his version of the truth is anything but helpful to the planet’s most famous cyclist. Once one of Armstrong’s key teammates, Hamilton is casting more doubts on an unparalleled career that some

people believe was tainted by drugs.

In an interview aired on “60 Minutes,” Sunday, Hamilton said Armstrong not only took performance-enhancing drugs, he also encouraged other cyclists on the U.S. Postal team to take them as part of an extensive doping program

designed to keep Armstrong in front at the Tour de France.

“He obviously was the biggest rider in the team and he helped to call the shots,” Hamilton said. “He doped himself, you know, like everybody else, but he was just being part of the culture of the sport.”

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

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

Sport

Red Bull won’t get ‘arrogant’ over pace Red Bull Racing insists it is not arrogant enough to believe its car is as far ahead of the opposition as its stunning qualifying form suggests.

AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO

Red Bull Racing’s German driver Sebastian Vettel drives at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 22, 2011 in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona during the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix.

Alonso never thought win was possible FERNANDO Alonso said he never believed he had much of a chance of fighting for victory in the Spanish Grand Prix - despite leading the early stages of the race.

The Spaniard jumped from fourth on the grid to move to the front of the pack at Barcelona, but fell down the order and off the pace when he switched to the prime tyres at his third spot.

He eventually finished a lap down in fifth place – but thinks his performance looked worse than it was simply because of his strong qualifying form and early position in the race.

“We were not quick enough,” explained Alonso. “That is the main issue. Yesterday we should maybe qualify eighth and ninth, and ‘unfortunately’ I was fourth. Today, if you start the race eighth, you finish fifth, so it is a great result. “We were out of position yesterday, it was a good lap, and we were out of position today because of the good start, so everything looks sad. But that is the way it is.

“We had a great start and found ourselves leading the race but not with the pace to lead the race, so step by step, lap by lap, you are losing ground.

“And then, at the end with hard tyres, we were not competitive with them all weekend. And unfortu-

nately, anticipating the stops with the soft, we found ourselves for 40% of the race with the hard tyre, which was a less competitive tyre for us, so we were slow with the soft and very, very slow with the hard.”

Even though Alonso kept his lead for the first stint of the race, he said he knew fairly early on that he was not going to be able to keep his advantage for the race.

“It was great, a great experience to lead the race for the first time this year, in front of my people. I enjoyed the first 20 laps of the race, even if

there was a lot of pressure from behind. “You have to use your strategy, your KERS, everything in the right place to defend the position and I enjoyed, I really enjoyed, those laps.

“But I was thinking in the pitstops there is nothing you can do, stop one lap early they will overtake you, if they stay out they will overtake you. The only possibility is stopping the same lap as they were doing but, because I had three or four cars behind me, you cannot do that with all the cars - so I had no big hopes for the winning.”

AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO

Ferrari’s Spanish driver Fernando Alonso waves at the Circuit de Catalunya on May 22, 2011 in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona during the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix.

The RB7 has started from pole position at every grand prix so far this year, but its sometimes one-second per lap advantage in single-lap performance has not been matched in the races.

At Barcelona, the team was again in a class of its own in qualifying but in the grand prix Vettel was pushed all the way by Lewis Hamilton - at an aerodynamicallydemanding track which should have enabled Red Bull Racing to have more of an advantage.

When asked if McLaren’s challenge was a concern, because Barcelona should have been much easier for Red Bull owing to its supposed car advantage, team principal Christian Horner said: “It wasn’t concerning at all because we won the grand prix.

“I think that at the end of the day, it would be very arrogant of us to think we have a car advantage that would enable us to pull away at one second per lap.

“We managed to have a phenomenal qualifying here and, as we saw in China, McLaren pushed us hard there. They were competitive in the

race and they were not competitive two weeks ago in Turkey. It tends to see-saw. “But they brought a huge upgrade, almost a B-spec car here, and the upgrades that we have introduced have moved us forward. So I think that we are in a good situation.

“The form will continue to vary and is circuit dependent, where some teams will be stronger in race and some in qualifying.” Horner believes that Red Bull Racing’s bigger advantage that it has in qualifying compared to the race is most probably related to the way it uses its Pirelli rubber.

“It is all about the tyre,” he said.

“I think that we managed to extract a lap out of the tyre in qualifying that led to a hugely impressive margin here, but I don’t think you can abuse the tyre like that in the race.

“You either do that and go for a five-stop, or you make the stints suit your strategy and react to the pace of people around you. McLaren were a lot more competitive as we expected they would be in the race.

But it is funny because two weeks ago Ferrari were our main competitors, and in Spain we lapped them.

So it varies circuit to circuit.”