Edisi 16 Januari 2014 | International Bali Post

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16 Pages Number 23 6th year

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Billy Bob Thornton says TV’s a haven for actors Associated Press Writer

PASADENA, California — Billy Bob Thornton said actors who want to work on sophisticated projects are finding them in television and not film. He’s proving the point with a starring role in the upcoming FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Joel and Ethan Coen movie.

Thornton told a Television Critics Association meeting Tuesday that while Hollywood studios churn out action movies, broad comedies and “movies where apparently vampires are all models,” TV offers the kind of insightful

work once common in films. He says that’s why peers like Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Bacon have turned to television.

“The entertainment business can pretend all they want, but the movie world has changed drastically, particularly in the last five or six years,” said Thornton, who won a best-screenplay Oscar for “Sling Blade” and was nominated for his role in the 1996 film.

“If you want to be an actor, get on a really good series in television because there’s where it’s at,” said Thornton, whose neatly groomed hair contrasted

LOS ANGELES — “Grown Ups 2” is making the most noise at this year’s Golden Raspberry Awards. The silly comedy sequel about four childhood friends starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade led the Razzie lineup Tuesday with eight nominations, including worst picture, sequel, ensemble, screenplay, lead actor for Sandler, supporting actor for Taylor Lautner, supporting actress for Salma Hayek and director for Dennis Dugan.

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

Thursday, January 16, 2014 Bombings in Iraq striking markets, funeral kill 41

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Cast member Billy Bob Thornton of “Fargo” participates in a panel during FX Networks’ part of the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2014 presentations in Pasadena, California, January 14, 2014.

Associated Press Writer

Armie Hammer, Tyler Perry’s holiday comedy “A Madea Christmas,” sci-fi coming-of-age story “After Earth” starring Will and Jaden Smith, and comedy anthology “Movie 43” featuring the likes of Kate Winslet, Richard Gere, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.

“After Earth,” ‘’A Madea Christmas” and “Movie 43” are tied with six nods each. In addition to worst picture, screenplay and ensemble nominations, they’re also in worst actor, actress and supporting actor slots for Will and Jaden Smith

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

with striped pants decorated with buttons, embellished cowboy boots and a sleeveless black T-shirt that showed numerous arm tattoos. “Fargo” also stars Martin Freeman of “Sherlock” and the “Hobbit” films. It debuts in April on FX.

‘Grown Ups 2’ leads Razzies worst-of list Sandler is no a stranger to the Razzies, which launched in 1980 as a spoof of Hollywood’s awards season. He won the worst actor trophy last year for the man-child comedy “That’s My Boy,” and his 2011 cross-dressing comedy “Jack and Jill” made Razzie history the year before with a record 10 awards, with Sandler winning both the worst actor and actress prizes.

This year’s other worst-picture nominees are the Wild West romp “The Lone Ranger” starring Johnny Depp and

Entertainment

REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

Indian police say Danish tourist was gang-raped

3rd-tier Racing, Atletico reach Copa last 8

Thai PM stands firm on election

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of “After Earth,” Perry and Larry the Cable Guy of “A Madea Christmas,” and Berry and Naomi Watts of “Movie 43.”

The Razzies announcement comes ahead of Thursday’s Oscar nominations.

Winners for the 34th annual Razzies will be announced March 1, the night before the 86th annual Academy Awards. While far less star-studded than other award shows, past winners like Berry and Sandra Bullock have sometimes shown up in person to claim their gold spraypainted prizes.

Thai anti-government protesters perform a puppet play durng a rally at the Democracy Monument Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Reuters

BANGKOK - Thailand’s government stuck to a plan for a February election on Wednesday despite mounting pressure from protesters who have brought parts of Bangkok to a nearstandstill, and said it believed support for the leader of the agitation was waning. Some hardline protesters have threatened to blockade the stock exchange and an air traffic control facility if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra does not step down by a deadline media said had been set for 8 p.m. (1300 GMT).

AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Tracy Bennett

This film publicity image released by Columbia Pictures shows, from left, Kevin James, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in a scene from “Grown Ups 2.”

The unrest, which flared in early November and escalated this week when demonstrators occupied main intersections of the capital, is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict.

The country’s political fault line pits the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006

who is seen as the power behind her government. Yingluck invited protest leaders and political parties to discuss a proposal to delay the general election, which she has called for Feb. 2, but her opponents snubbed her invitation.

After the meeting, the government said the poll would go ahead as scheduled, and it derided the leader of the protest movement, Suthep Thaugsuban. “We believe the election will bring the situation

back to normal,” Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana told reporters. “We can see that the support of Mr. Suthep is declining. When he is doing something against the law, most people do not support that.”

Speakers at protest sites across central Bangkok have given the impression Yingluck is worn out and eager to quit. But she seemed relaxed and cheerful at the meeting, which was held inside an air force

base near Don Muang International Airport. Her senior officials stressed the caretaker government had no legal powers to postpone or cancel the election and stressed that even an imperfect poll was better than none.

“The ballot box doesn’t solve everything, and she knows that. But at least that’s the right step,” Suranand Vejjajiva, secretary-general to the prime minister, told Reuters.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ASSURED The protesters say they will occupy the city’s main arteries until an unelected “people’s council” replaces Yingluck’s administration.

Thaksin’s rural and working-class support has ensured he or his allies have won every election since 2001

AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn

and Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party seems certain to win any vote held under present arrangements.

The protesters want to suspend what they say is a democracy commandeered by the self-exiled billionaire Thaksin, whom they accuse of nepotism and corruption, and eradicate the political influence of his family by altering electoral arrangements. There was no sign of trouble at the two targets named by hardliners in the protest movement, the stock exchange and the central Bangkok offices of AeroThai, which is in charge of air traffic control communication for planes using Thai air space. AeroThai said it had back-up operations to ensure no disruption to air travel if its control centre was shut down.

Continued on page 6

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International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bali News

Three Munduk villagers killed Singaraja (Bali Post)—

victims had mourned to the home of a dead resident.

At that time, the victims consumed liquor and the remaining was taken back. Unluckily, police did not know where the location of the subsequent liquor binge was carried out. “We’re still developing the location of liquor binge after mourning the dead person because local residents did not know where the victim did the liquor binge,” he added.

Meanwhile, the liquor seller, Komang Duta Hartawan, before the police claimed to sell pure liquor without any mixture and it was brought in from Bestala village, Seririt subdistrict. The arrack liquor of large-size mineral water bottle was sold for IDR 20,000. At that time, he indeed sold the arrack drunk by the victims with their colleagues. However, he did not know whether the arrack was mixed with other ingredients. “I sell pure arrack and do not mix it with any other ingredients, but do not know when the arrack was drunk by the victims with their colleagues,” he added.

To date, police were still investigating the poisoning case due to the adulterated liquor. As planned, policed would examine the remaining liquor that had not been consumed by the victims. (mud)

Tabanan government limited the permit of the modern store establishment. It was intended to maximize the operation of the existing markets as well as provide the opportunities for small traders to be in operation. This rule was confirmed by the Regent of Tabanan, Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, to avoid unfair competition in the region. “Temporarily, we stop the permit of modern store establishment until the enactment of local

regulation on an ongoing basis,” she said, Monday (Jan 13).

She also asked investors not to build a modern store. “However, the existing modern stores are allowed to remain in operation,” she explained. In addition to avoiding unfair competition, the prohibition on the establishment of modern store was also meant to provide an opportunity for traditional traders.

So far, she said that Tabanan County still referred to the Regent

Regulation No.18/2011 which stipulated that Tabanan government temporarily stopped the application process of modern shopping mall and store establishment until the enactment of local regulation of Tabanan about spatial plan and detailed spatial plan. “Meanwhile, the existing modern stores are still allowed to operate in accordance with the applicable regulations,” she said.

Her party added with the issuance of the new Regional Bylaw

UBUD - Spend this Chinese New Year surrounded by nature, deep in the Balinese jungle at Hanging Gardens Ubud; a secluded luxury fivestar hotel located just North of Ubud, Bali’s cultural and spiritual centre. The hotel is offering a 3-night package including transfers, one dinner, a massage for two and a Balinese Blessing for two.

Stay three nights in a luxury private villa with stunning views across the rainforest and down to the holy Ayung River with your own stone heated infinity pool, cascading down the hillside into the valley below.

Feast on a sumptuous Chinese New Year dinner prepared by the hotel’s chefs. Together they will source the very best local and international produce, some grown organically on Hanging Gardens estate. They will combine their skills to create a one-off gastronomic delight, an event not to be missed. Dinner will be served overlooking the Hanging Garden’s famous tiered swimming pool, recently voted #4 in the world

by Trip Advisor.

Guests can then detox over the following days at the hotel’s stunning, natural spa, with views over the jungle and fast-flowing waterfalls, set to the sounds of chattering monkeys and indigenous wildlife. Enjoy two “Revitalising Ayung Massage” signature treatments, using all locally grown organic products, to rebalance, re-energise and begin the New Year in perfect bodily alignment.

Finally, reward your soul with a Balinese Blessing for health, wealth and happiness, held at the Holy Water Temple in the hotel’s verdant grounds.

For guests wanting to acknowledge the Year of the Wooden Horse, associated with greenery and nature, the hotel offers complimentary morning jungle tours and village visits, providing guests with an authentic Balinese countryside experience.

Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014 1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati Sukawati Pura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel Bebetin Pura Maspahit Sesetan Pura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih

IBP/File

The police is confiscating the liquor that alleged to kill three people

Tabanan County stops permit of modern store establishment Tabanan (Bali Post)—

IBP

2014 is the Year of the Green Wooden Horse, signifying unexpected adventure and surprising romance and where better to explore, relax and unwind than the cool climes of our hidden tropical wonderland.

Green is also the feng shui colour of renewal, fresh energy and new beginnings - in the feng shui theory of five elements, the colour green embraces the Wood element. Hanging Gardens Ubud’s stunning grounds and 38 private pool villas and suites were carefully designed using principles of feng shui; including 88 (the number 8 signifies success) steps leading down from the Lobby to the Library water feature.

Three villagers of Munduk, Banjar subdistrict, died after drinking arrack traditional liquor.

Allegedly, the liquor was mixed so it claimed up to three casualties. Besides, a victim was hospitalized and 13 others were referred to Buleleng Hospital because they stayed to experience the symptoms of poisoning. Even, seven other victims getting involved in the drinking binge also took medical checkup in Prodia medical laboratory in Singaraja. died an hour later.

Chief of Banjar Police Made Sanjaya with permission from Buleleng Police Chief Benny Arjanto found at the scene on Tuesday (Jan 14) explained the case of poisoning alleged to have been caused by liquor adulteration was received by police last Tuesday.

Afterward, his party came down to the scene to conduct an investigation. As a result, the three casualties were indeed true if they died of liquor suspected to have been mixed. Besides, police also seized the remaining liquor put into a bottle of mineral water. Police directly secured the liquor seller on behalf of Komang Duta Hartawan equally denoting the resident of Beji hamlet, Munduk village. “We received the report and came down to the scene.

Indeed, their death was caused by the liquor,” he said.

According to Sanjaya, the results of provisional investigation indicated if the victims died because of consuming liquor suspected to have been mixed. To search for certainty related to the toxicities of the liquor, his party planned to examine the remaining liquor in laboratory. Meanwhile, police had not got certain information yet where the liquor binge was committed by the three victims with their colleagues. Information from residents mentioned that the three

Thursday, January 16, 2014

15

Celebrate Chinese New Year at Hanging Gardens

After liquor binge

The three casualties respectively Made Dwi Adnyana, 45, passed away on Sunday (Jan 12), while two other victims namely Komang Rudi Alam, 35, and Gede Suta Arjana, 45, died on Tuesday morning (Jan 14). All the casualties were from Taman hamlet, Munduk village, Banjar subdistrict.

Originally, the alcohol poisoning case occurred when the victim Dwi Adnyana attended the cremation ceremony of one of the local residents.

At the event, the victim drank arrack having been prepared. On Sunday (Jan 12), Dwi died of poisoning, but it had not been known if the poisoning was caused by the arrack. Later on, during the staying up (magebagan) at the funeral home, many residents trooped to stay up at the victim Dwi Adnyana’s home. The remaining liquor was taken out and drunk together by residents, Monday (Jan 13).

Unexpectedly, the arrack brought in a catastrophe for the two victims.

On Tuesday morning, both victims were immediately taken to Buleleng Hospital to get an immediate help.

Unfortunately, the team of doctors failed to save because the liquor with unclear mixture had entered into the entire blood vessels. The victim Rudi Alam died on Tuesday around 03:00 a.m., while the victim Sutha Arjawa

Activities

International

local government would determine which modern stores could be re-opened in accordance with the rules adapted to the concept of Tabanan population and did not harm small businesses. “We’d like to reaffirm that it is not determined by investors! Even, if it is considered adequate, it cannot surely be reopened at all locations. However, it can be established at tourist areas or other places considered qualifying,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Ta-

banan Cooperative, Industry, Trade and SME Agency, AA Gede Dalem Tresna Ngurah, said that Tabanan was currently still applying the Regent Regulation No.18/2011 until the issuance of the new Regional Bylaw (Perda) on the modern store that was currently being drafted. “We are in the agency only drafting the legal products, while the matter of permits lies in the authority of the Regional Investment and Licensing Office,” he said. (kmb28)

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

(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

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

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

Pura Tengkulak Tulikup Gianyar Pura Taman Sari Ubud Pura Penataran Badung

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

29 Jan Hari Siwaratri

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

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

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

IBP/Courtesy of Hanging Gardens

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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Health

Thursday, January 16, 2014

International

Mosquito-borne virus spreading in Caribbean Associated Press Writer

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A mosquito-borne virus appears to be spreading quickly in the Caribbean during the winter tourism season just weeks after epidemiologists first found local transmission occurring in the French dependency of St. Martin.

Scientists said Tuesday that St. Martin now has as many as 200 cases of chikungunya, a virus found mainly in Africa and Asia that can cause a debilitating but rarely fatal sickness with fever, rash, fatigue and intense muscle and joint pain.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said new cases have been confirmed on the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Barthelemy. The virus also infected a couple of residents of Dutch St. Maarten, which shares an island with St. Martin that was already battling dengue fever, a more serious mosquito-borne illness.

On Monday, the British Virgin Islands reported three cases on the tiny isle of Jost Van Dyke, which has fewer than 300 inhabitants but fills with thousands of international revelers each New Year’s Eve. “It is important to note that these confirmed cases were not exposed to travel, which alerts us that the virus is already in our mosquito population,” British Virgin Islands medical officer Ronald Georges said.

The World Health Organization was notified of chikungunya’s presence in the Caribbean in early December when the first two cases were confirmed in St. Martin among residents who had not traveled recently.

Public health officials on the islands have stepped up fogging programs and increased epidemiological surveillance. They are also urging people to clear out stagnant water to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

CDC epidemiologist Erin Staples said in a Tuesday email that “further spread to other Caribbean islands and to the surrounding mainland areas is possible in the coming months and years.”

AP Photo/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, James Gathany, File

FILE - This 2006 file photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito acquiring a blood meal from a human host at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Pregnant, brain-dead woman’s husband sues hospital Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron T. Ennis

In this Friday, Jan. 3, 2014 photo, Erick Munoz talks about his wife who is currently on life support from their Haltom City, Texas home. Munoz filed a lawsuit in state district court in Fort Worth, Texas, where his wife, Marlise Munoz, has been on life support since he found her unconscious in their home on Nov. 26, 2013. She was 14 weeks pregnant at the time.

DALLAS — The husband of a pregnant, brain-dead U.S. woman on Tuesday sued the hospital keeping her on life support, saying doctors are doing so against her and her family’s wishes. The lawsuit filed in Texas district court asks a judge to order John Peter Smith Hospital to remove life support for Marlise Munoz, who fell unconscious in November.

But the hospital says a state law prohibits life-saving treatment from being denied to pregnant patients. Experts familiar with the law say the hospital is incorrectly applying the statute. “Marlise Munoz is dead, and she gave clear instructions to her husband and family — Marlise was not to remain on any type of artificial ‘life sustaining treatment’, ventilators or the like,” the lawsuit says. “There is no reason JPS should be allowed to continue treatment on Marlise Munoz’s dead body.”

Erick Munoz says he and his wife are both paramedics and are familiar with end-of-life issues. His wife’s parents agree. Munoz found his wife unconscious in the early morning on Nov. 26. The family says it doesn’t know the exact cause of her condition, though a blood clot is a possibility. Marlise Munoz was 14 weeks pregnant at the time.

The health of the fetus is unknown. Munoz is believed to have been without oxygen for some time before her husband found her. A 2010 article in the journal BMC Medicine found 30 cases of brain-dead pregnant women over about 30 years. Of 19 reported results, the journal found 12 in which a viable child was born. It had post-birth data for two years on only six of them — all of whom developed normally, according to the journal.

The hospital has cited a provision of the Texas Advance Directives Act that reads: “A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient.”

Experts interviewed by The Associated Press, including two who helped draft the legislation, said a brain-dead patient’s case wouldn’t be covered by the law.

“This patient is neither terminally nor irreversibly ill,” said Dr. Robert Fine, clinical director of the office of clinical ethics and palliative care for Baylor Health Care System. “Under Texas law, this patient is legally dead.”

Tom Mayo, a Southern Methodist University law professor, said he did not believe the law applied in this case. Hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe has said hospital officials stand by their decision: “This is not a difficult decision for us. We are following the law.”

Bali News

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

3

Minapolitan area

Infrastructure at Kedonganan inadequate Bali Post

MANGUPURA - Condition of the infrastructure in the area of Kedonganan Beach is still inadequate. At some points, especially around the traditional fish market, can be found the road condition remaining less feasible. This condition is in contrast to the status of Kedonganan established as the minapolitan or fishery town area in Badung.

Behind the fish market or near the southern entrance to the Mina Segara Cooperative of Kedonganan, for example, the road access along about 100 meters is not paved or installed with paving block at all. In addition to having potholes and bumpy, puddles are easily formed when it rains. The road is muddy and slippery, while the puddles make this area look dirty.

Impression of the rundown condition due to lack of infrastructure turns more complete with the amount of garbage scattered. The garbage dumped near the SPDN Kedonganan also frequently resulted in unpleasant odor.

When asked for his confirmation about this issue, the Head of Badung Livestock, Fisheries and Maritime Agency, I Made Badra, admitted recently that the infrastructure arrangement for the Kedonganan region was currently still necessary to be done. And according to the plan, the arrangement at Kedonganan would continue until 2015.

Especially for the road access, the installation of paving block project could not be done immediately because such a plan would just be undertaken in 2015.

“Installation of the paving block is planned to be implemented next year because in 2014 the central government has been providing funds for the construction of breakwater and ice factory,” said Badra.

The fund for the construction of breakwater reached IDR 20 billion.

Meanwhile, the ice plant would be worth IDR 2.3 billion. In addition, according to the plan, a waste management plant would also be built in the area of Kedonganan.

Further, he said that Kedonganan area was expected to be completely transformed into a pilot project of minapolitan in Bali in 2015. A number of supporting projects such as the entrance gates would also be implemented to support it. To that end, any project needed, he admitted to prepare the detailed engineering design. (kmb25)

IBP/Edi

Condition of the infrastructure in the area of Kedonganan Beach is still inadequate. At some points, especially around the traditional fish market, can be found the road condition remaining less feasible.

58 cruise ships to visit Bali in 2014 Antara

IBP/File Photo

Tourists disembarked from cruise ship that berthed at Benoa Harbor. The seaport operator, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III, of the Bali provincial chapter of Benoa, has set a target to welcome 58 cruise ships during 2014, the company’s official stated.

DENPASAR - The seaport operator, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III, of the Bali provincial chapter of Benoa, has set a target to welcome 58 cruise ships during 2014, the company’s official stated.

“The potential of tourist visits via cruise ships to Bali, especially through the Benoa seaport, is still high. We have made the required preparations (for the tourist comings),” noted Pelindo III Benoa General Manager Ali Sodikin, here on Tuesday.

The 2014 target of cruise ship arrivals is higher as compared to its 2013 target of 38 cruise ships, Ali remarked, noting the fact that 41 cruise ships visited Bali during 2013, which surpassed the target.

“In 2013, the number of tourists who come to Bali in the 41 cruise ships totaled about 39 thousand,” he claimed.

More number of tourists visited Bali by cruise ships and this should be optimally handled, Ali pointed out.

In an effort to offer improved services to the foreign tourists, Ali emphasized that his office is working in tandem with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, including an increase in the activities to promote Indonesian tourism abroad.

Apart from that, Pelindo III has also coordinated with the Transportation Ministry in a bid to prepare ship lanes for the cruise ships, Ali added.

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bali News

International

International

W

Rice grower turns to become a job increasingly in demand

RLD

Pursuing the profession as a rice grower seems to slowly be left by community. Currently, the number of people who are still getting involved in rice field mud can even be counted on fingers. Nevertheless, amid the lack of rice growers, in fact it makes the profession become quite popular. The owners of rice fields in Bangli must be willing to queue in order to get the services of such rice growers.

AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

An Indian investigator speaks on his phone at the spot which police say is where a Danish tourist was gang-raped in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

The rice grower is working in a rice field

Aftermath of land conversion

Klungkung faces deficiency of 600 tons of rice each year Semarapura (Bali Post)—

Proliferation of farmland conversion threatens food security. The Klungkung Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation Agency stated the conversion occurred to productive farmland with a total of 10 hectares each year. As a result, Klungkung still lacks of 600 tons of rice per year. Now, to anticipate the threat, the establishment of sustainable agricultural land is set forth in Regional Bylaw No.1/2013 on Klungkung Regional Spatial Plan 2013-2033.

It was announced by Regional Secretary of Klungkung, Ketut Janapria, Sunday (Jan 14). With the regional bylaw, he said the Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation Agency did not need to make a draft of regional bylaw on the sustainable agricultural land. Such bylaw had accommodated the interest of the draft. Meanwhile, such food security threats emerged in the plenary meeting related to the Klungkung food security 2013 some time ago. “Klungkung remains to lack of 600 tons of rice each year, with the assumption that all

the 180,000 residents of Klungkung eat rice,” said Janapria.

The impact of food security threat was highly felt in Nusa Penida subdistrict. Residents of several villages still survived with foodstuff other than rice such as corn and tubers. Similarly, there was virtually no agricultural land to produce rice in the region. With a tough challenge of rampant land conversion, the shortage of 600 tons of rice per year seemed to be difficult to fulfill. Even, it was feared the food shortages would be even greater in the upcoming years.

Under Regional Bylaw No.1/2013, the total land area of food allotment in each subdistrict had been established including the Klungkung subdistrict (888 hectares); Dawan (600 hectares) and Banjarangkan (2008 hectares).

Meanwhile, based on the recent data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Klungkung subdistrict had the area of 1,227 hectares, Dawan (616 hectares) and Banjarangkan (2,000 hectares). By observing the number, the acreage of food production allotment remarkably slumped in each district. “We worry if

the area of food production allotment continues to decrease the region is also difficult to feed its own residents.

Hence, the rule of sustainable farmland was set forth in the regional bylaw,” said the official from Pangi village.

Concerns about declining food security were quite reasonable. The record of Bali Post indicated the rice production of Klungkung in 2007 reached 37,613 tons and fell to 35,536 tons in 2008, but slightly rose to 36,294 in 2009. However, when entering the year 2010, the rice production fell again to 32,132 tons and a similar condition happened in 2011, reaching 31,472 tons. Such condition was also predicted to occur in 2012 and 2013.

Observing such condition, the existence of regional bylaw was estimated to reduce the land conversion. In addition, farmers were not easy to convert their farmland and utilize the land as optimally as possible. Excessive and nonpartisan investment marginalizing small communities like farmers should be prevented. The farmland should not be let be savored by investors. (kmb31)

IBP/File

Alleged to be sick, an Australian tourist dies in clinic

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Unfortunate fate was experienced by a tourist from Australia named Duncan Seymour, 67. When he wanted to seek a treatment to a medical clinic of Dr. Adi at Jalan Nakula No. 28, Legian Kaja, Kuta, his sickness suddenly relapsed. The victim passed out and then died at the clinic on Monday (Jan 13). Case of the victim’s death is being handled by Kuta Police.

As information, the victim and his wife, Julia Ann McGillivray, was on vacation in Bali and staying at The Villa Sunset on Jalan Plawa Gang Ratna Seminyak, Kuta. The elderly victim is known to have a history of shortness of breath. Before his death, the victim was asking permission to his wife for treatment. However, it was just intended for reflection.

Once arrived at the clinic, his sickness relapsed. The victim passed out and then died. A number of people at the location were panic and attempted to help. Unfortunately, the victim’s life could not be saved and he died at the scene. When receiving the report on the incident, the Kuta Police officers immediately came down to the scene.

They investigated the crime scene and examined witnesses.

After being inspected, the victim’s body was immediately taken to hospital. From the results of provisional examination, it was not found any signs of violence on the victim‘s body. As first approximation, the victim died due to illness. Chief of Kuta Police, I Nyoman Resa, when asked for his confirmation on Tuesday (Jan 14) justified the incident. (kmb21)

Indian police say Danish tourist was gang-raped Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI — A Danish tourist was gang-raped near a popular shopping area in New Delhi after she stopped to ask for directions, police said Wednesday, the latest case to focus attention on the scourge of violence against women in India. The 51-year-old woman also was robbed and beaten in the attack, which happened Tuesday afternoon or early evening near Connaught Place, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. The woman had lost her way and was trying to get back to her hotel, he said.

She approached a group of men for directions, but they lured her to a secluded area where they raped her at knife-point, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The woman managed to reach her hotel Tuesday evening and the owner called police. Police are questioning several suspects but no arrests have been made. “When she came, it was miserable,” said Amit Bahl, owner of the Amax Hotel in the Paharganj area, which is popular with backpackers. The woman was crying and “not in good shape,” he said.

“I am really ashamed that this happened,” said Bahl, who sounded shaken. The Danish Embassy had no comment.

The problem of sexual violence in India has gained widespread attention since the horrific gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in December 2012.

Public fury over the case has led to more stringent laws that doubled prison terms for rape to 20 years and criminalized voyeurism and stalking.

But for many women, particularly the poor, daily indignities and abuse continue unabated and the new laws have not made the streets any safer. Ranjana Kumari, Director of India’s Center for Social Research, said India’s conservative, patriarchal traditions lead men to use rape as a tool to instill fear in women.

“This mindset is not changing,” she said. “It’s a huge challenge.”

Experts say the rapid growth of India’s cities and the yawning gulf between rich and poor are exacerbating the problem of sexual violence, with young men struggling to prove their traditional dominance in a changing world. Cultural stigmas,

police apathy and judicial incompetence have long made it difficult for women to even report rapes.

Still, there has been a surge in the number of rapes being reported recently, suggesting women are emboldened to speak up. Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures. Foreigners also have been targets, including a Swiss woman who was cycling with her husband in central India when she was gang-raped.

The cases threaten India’s lucrative tourism industry. Last year, the Tourism Ministry launched an “I Respect Women” campaign to reassure travelers. Tourism accounted for 6.6 percent of India’s GDP in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available.

13

Egypt vote lays bare sharp, post-coup divisions Associated Press Writer

Bangli (Bali Post)—

One of the rice growers from Sedit hamlet, Bebalang village, Bangli, Wayan Andep, admitted that working as a rice grower was indeed dirty. Nevertheless, the profession being familiar with soil and water had been deeply involved since nearly fifteen years.

Andep admitted that such profession had been left by most communities in Bangli. Public interest to take such a work slowly diminished. Community, especially younger generation, preferred to take another job sector with a clean working environment and certainly having better prestige such as in the tourism sector as well as civil servants.

Actually, continued Andep, when compared to the income of other labors, the wage he received as a rice grower could be said to be much higher. The planting cost he usually obtained for growing rice in the field was about IDR 12,000 per 100 square meters. He usually worked from 09:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. “When calculated, the result obtained is greater than the wage of construction worker,” said Andep.

Moreover, he usually received many orders when planting season came in Bangli. He admitted the order was not just coming from farmers in Bangli, but also from outside Bangli. Even, due to many orders, the rice growers like him had become highly in demand, even he should implement a queue system. (ina)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

CAIRO — A referendum on a new constitution has laid bare the sharp divisions in Egypt, six months after the military removed the elected Islamist president, with pro-army voters lining up outside polling stations, singing patriotic songs, kissing images of Egypt’s top officer and sharing upbeat hopes for their troubled nation.

Sporadic violence flared across much of the country on the first day of the voting, leaving 11 dead, with protesters burning tires and pelting police with rocks and firebombs creating just enough tension to keep many voters at home Tuesday.

The constitutional vote, which ends Wednesday evening, is a key milestone in a military-backed political roadmap toward new elections for a president and a parliament after the July 3 coup that left the nation sharply divided between Muslim Brotherhood supporters in one camp, and the military and security forces in another, backed by a large segment of the population that is yearning for stability after three years of deadly turmoil and economic woes.

Still, the vote so far has yielded telling signs that the national sentiment is overwhelmingly behind military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whose possible presidential run later this year has grown more likely by the day.

That a career army officer might be Egypt’s next president has raised questions about the future of democracy here, but it also speaks to the fatigue felt by most Egyptians after all the upheaval that engulfed the country since the 2011 ouster of the longtime

autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak.

The vote is taking place in a climate of fear and paranoia, with authorities, the mostly pro-military media and a significant number of Egyptians showing little or no tolerance for dissent. Campaigning for a “no” vote risked arrest by the police. Egyptians who have voiced their opposition to the charter, or even just parts of it, are quickly labeled as traitors.

Nearly 400,000 soldiers and policemen fanned out across the nation of some 90 million people on Tuesday to protect voters against possible attacks by militants loyal to ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood. Military helicopters hovered over Cairo and other major cities, while grim-faced, black-clad masked commandos stood guard outside polling centers.

An explosion struck a Cairo courthouse before polls opened, damaging its facade and shattering windows in nearby buildings but causing no casualties in the densely populated Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba, a Brotherhood stronghold.

The Health Ministry said 11 people were killed and 28 were wounded in clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and security forces — a relatively low number of fatalities, well below the grim predictions in the run-up to the ballot.

The Brotherhood, now branded a terrorist group, had called for a boycott and vowed mass demonstrations to disrupt the vote. But Tuesday’s widely scattered protests numbered no more than 200-300 people each, mostly teenagers and men in their early 20s, many armed with rocks, firebombs and bird shot.

AP Photo/Hiro Komae

An Egyptian woman casts her ballot in a two-day constitutional referendum in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Egyptians voted on the second, final day of a key referendum on a new constitution seen as a precursor to the country’s presidential elections, in which it is largely expected that El-Sissi will run.

12

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

BUSINESS

Agence France-Presse

BEIJING - China’s foreign exchange reserves, already the world’s largest, reached $3.82 trillion yuan at the end of 2013, the central bank said Wednesday, a new record. trade surpluses as the country has grown to become the world’s second-largest economy.

The surpluses have caused friction with China’s rivals in the West, headed by Washington, which says Beijing keeps its yuan currency artificially low in order to make its goods cheaper overseas and give exporters an unfair advantage.

But the rate of growth of China’s

reserves has slowed in recent years as the once-booming economy is hit by troubles in the key export markets of Europe and the United States, while the yuan has been steadily strengthening against the dollar.

Analysts attributed some of the 2013 surge to speculative capital inflows, sometimes disguised as exports or foreign direct investment.

“We reckon hot money inflow

pressures could be still strong at the moment,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists said in a research note, citing China’s rising interest rates, the rise of the yuan and confidence in the currency’s strength despite the tapering of the US stimulus.

A government report last month cited in state media suggested China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.6 percent in 2013, down from 7.7 percent in 2012, which was the worst performance in 13 years.

The government is due to issue 2013 GDP growth figures on

Monday.

Chinese leaders have repeatedly said they want to transform the economy to one in which domestic demand is the key growth driver, rather than public investment and exports.

But the daunting task looks set to be a long and arduous process.

The central bank said Wednesday Chinese lenders extended a total of 8.89 trillion yuan ($1.47 trillion) in new loans last year, 687.9 billion yuan more than in 2012 and surpassing the reported official target of 8.5 trillion yuan set at the start of 2013.

Apple fights for bigger slice of China smartphone pie Agence France-Presse

SHANGHAI - The world’s biggest mobile network is ready to offer Apple’s iPhone, but while the US technology giant has declared China its biggest future market, it faces an uphill battle to unseat Samsung and homegrown competitors.

China Mobile has more than 760 million customers but for years it has declined to provide the iPhone as the two companies argued over commercial terms.

The country’s other big mobile telecommunications firms, China Unicom and China Telecom, already stock the product, and China Mobile will join them on Friday.

Analysts expect the move to boost the number of subscribers for China Mobile and lift Apple’s iPhone sales in China by millions -- but in all likelihood it is far too late for it to take the lead.

Although the iPhone commands fanatical devotion from its Chinese fans, South Korea’s Samsung rules the smartphone market with more than 18 percent share, according to consultancy Analysys International.

Apple sits in a lowly eighth place with a 3.5 percent share as of the third quarter last year, with six Chinese companies ahead of it, many offering cheaper phones using the Android operating system.

REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Apple’s iPhone 5Cs phones are displayed on racks bearing the logo of China Mobile, at a mobile phone shop in Beijing December 23, 2013.

Apple Inc said it has signed a long-awaited agreement with China Mobile Ltd to sell iPhones through the world’s biggest network of mobile phone users.

“The domestic high-end smartphone market is much more diversified and competitive now, leaving users more choices,” said Wang Jun, an analyst for Beijingbased Analysys.

“It’s likely Apple will move up one or two places in the marketshare rankings, but it’s impossible for it to make it into the top three or four,” he said.

China’s Lenovo, renowned for buying IBM’s personal computer business, is in second position, while two companies best known

Thursday, January 16, 2014

5

Ulun Danu Batur Temple:

China foreign exchange reserves top $3.8 trillion in 2013

The end-of-year figure was up from the $3.66 trillion as of the end of September, according to data published by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

It came after the country’s trade surplus reached $259.75 billion last year, up 12.8 percent on 2012 and its highest since the global financial crisis.

Growth in China’s vast reserves has been fuelled by years of huge

Bali News

International

for telecom equipment and controversy over network security -- Huawei and ZTE -- are also in the top five, according to Analysys.

The iPhone launch just two weeks before the Chinese New Year, a traditional time for giftgiving, should benefit both China Mobile and Apple, analysts said.

But Kevin Wang, director of China research for consultancy IHS iSuppli, agrees that Apple has a tough job on its hands.

“Although cooperation with China Mobile will help boost Apple’s sales and market share in China, it’s unlikely that its share will rise to among the top three, given the intense competition in China’s smartphone market,” he said.

“Smartphones that cost around 1,000 yuan ($164) are the most popular,” he added.

In the United States, an iPhone 5s with 16GB of storage retails for $649 while that same phone is $726 in Hong Kong -- the special administrative region that borders China -- and $867 in the mainland itself through the Apple Store, due to taxes and other charges.

The higher prices in China have given rise to a flourishing market for smuggled iPhones, eroding official sales in the country.

As a result, many China Mobile subscribers have already procured iPhones and use them on its network, though some functions suffer.

Apple’s revenue in Greater China -- which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan -- still reached $5.7 billion for its fiscal quarter ended in September 2013, up 24 percent from the previous quarter, according to the company.

The firm does not reveal iPhone sales in China.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in January last year

that he expected the country to become its largest market, though he gave no timeframe.

Unlike many network providers in the United States and other Western countries, Chinese telecommunications firms require hefty up-front payments for iPhone and other packages.

But analysts said China Mobile will have to make its pricing attractive to potential subscribers to promote sales of the iPhone, which could eat into its profits.

China Mobile had yet to announce prices Tuesday, despite the imminent launch, but with investors also worried about profitability, its Hong Konglisted shares had fallen 3.72 percent since the agreement with Apple was announced in late December.

China Mobile is majority state-owned and authorities in December awarded it a licence for 4G (fourth generation) services.

It plans the world’s largest 4G network, promising faster speeds and a better quality service, a natural fit for the iPhone.

But some Chinese consumers are unimpressed by the combination. One microblog user posted: “Those who like the iPhone wouldn’t wait for China Mobile to sell it. Those who dislike the iPhone will not like it after China Mobile launches it.”

IBP

A sanctum to worship Goddess Danu

BANGLI - If the Besakih Temple is known as Purusha, then the Ulun Danu Batur Temple belongs to Pradhana. In the Besakih Temple, God is worshiped to strengthen the people’s spirituality in the efforts to achieve spiritual happiness, while in the Batur Temple God is venerated to strengthen the spirituality in building the economic prosperity.

Spiritually peaceful and economically prosperous pose a universal desire of every human being on this mundane world. Why are they called Purusha and Pradhana? It is mentioned in the Usana Bali palm-leaf manuscript.

In the Usana Bali manuscript is mentioned that mythologically the Mount Mahameru in India was very high and almost touching the sky. If the sky was touched, the universe would be destroyed. Therefore, the Lord Pasupati took the summit of the Mount Mahameru in India by both hands. Chunks of the Mount Mahameru were then flown to Bali.

The chunks were grasped with his right hand and then transformed into the Mount Agung, while the chunk on his left hand into the Mount Batur. On the Mount Agung was enthroned the Lord Putra Jaya (Lord Mahadeva), while on the Mount Batur was enthroned the Goddess Danu. Goddess Danu is no other than the consort of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is the god of water for the prosperity of living beings.

The palm-leaf manuscripts mentioning the existence of the Batur

Temple, among others, are the Usana Bali, Kusuma Dewa and Raja Purana Batur. According to those manuscripts, the Batur Temple is the Sad Kahyangan Temple also belonging to Kahyangan Jagat or universal temple functioned to worship God as the Gods of Prosperity. Kahyangan Jagat is a sanctum used to worship God for all the Hindus.

The foundations to develop prosperity expressed in the BhagavadGita are kris, goraksya and vanjyam meaning agriculture, livestock and trade. Such prosperity is not possible without water. It is due to the help of water the stavira (plants), janggama (animal) and human can develop their life.

One of the goals to establish the Sad Kahyangan is to motivate mankind to preserve Sad Kerti in building the inner and outer wellbeing. Danu Kerti and Wana Kerti are two of the six Sad Kerti elements. Ocean water evaporates into clouds. Then, the cloud falls in the form of rains.

Ultimately, the rainwater passing through no vegetation will directly flow into the sea.

If there are vegetations on the

Devotees are saying prayers in the Ulun Danu Temple.

highland forest like on the hills and mountains, the rain water will get absorbed well. Afterward, the water absorbed by forests will form a lake and river and flow endlessly. It is the natural law created by God. Such natural processes should be kept and maintained by human beings properly and sagaciously.

Water, plants, groceries and wise

words are three jewels on the earth according to Canakya Nitisastra. If water and plants are not managed by wise words, then they will bring in disaster to mankind and other living creatures on earth.

Venerating God as Goddess Danu, the consort of Lord Vishnu, is to nurture the establishment of the wise words in managing the natural pro-

IBP/File Photo

cess. If natural processes are managed by greed, it will even bring in disaster to mankind. Combination of the Ulun Danu Batur Temple, Mount Batur, Lake Batur and Kintamani forests is a very stunning beauty. Hindu religious ceremonies and prayers in Ulun Danu Batur Temple should be directed to enlighten people in order to maintain such amazing beauty. (kmb)

Bitter gourd to crunchy anchovy IBP

Challenging food can encourage appetite, spirit and even togetherness. In megibung (shared meals) tradition, it is started by bitter flavor like that of star fruit leaf vegetable. Next, it is followed by other nicer flavor.

IBP/File Photo

Meanwhile, this delicacy attempts to present similar flavor with grated coconut spice. It combines distinctiveness of bitter gourd, fried peanut and small crispy fried or grilled anchovy being familiar seafood with Balinese life. As religious community, the Balinese also present this food for elements of their oblation.

Some people also called it Bitter melon. It looks like a cucumber but with ugly gourd-like bumps all over it. As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon that is bitter. There are two varieties of this vegetable: One grows to about 20 cm long, is oblong and pale green in color. The other is the smaller variety, less than

10 cm long, oval and has a darker green color.

Both varieties have seeds that are white when unripe and that turn red when they are ripe. The vegetablefruit turn reddish-orange when ripe and becomes even more bitter. is generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage.

The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon may also be eaten as greens.

Bitter gourds are very low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.

Bitter melon contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.

6

Thursday, January 16, 2014

W

RLD

International

JAL Dreamliner hit by another battery problem Agence France Presse

AP Photo/Karim Kadim

Baghdad municipality workers clean up as civilians inspect the site of a car bomb attack near the Technology University in Sinaa Street in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

Bombings in Iraq striking markets, funeral kill 41 Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - A wave of bombings across Iraq striking busy markets and a funeral north of Baghdad killed at least 41 people Wednesday, authorities said, as the country remains gripped by violence after al-Qaida-linked militants took control of two cities in western Anbar province.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Insurgent groups, mainly al-Qaida’s local branch and other Sunni militants, frequently target civilians in cafes and public areas, as well as Shiites and members of Iraqi security forces in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and stir sectarian tensions.

The deadliest attack struck a funeral in the town of Buhriz, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad. That bombing killed 16 people and wounded 26 inside of a mourning tent, a police officer said.

The funeral was for an anti-alQaida Sunni militiaman who died of natural causes two days ago.

The Sunni militia, known as the Awakening Council, was formed

by U.S. forces during the height of the insurgency. They are seen as traitors by al-Qaida’s local branch and other militant groups.

In Baghdad, a series of bombings

killed at least 25 people.

The deadliest attack there took place in the northern Shula neighborhood, where a parked car bomb exploded in an outdoor market, killing five shoppers and wounding 12, a police officer said. A car bombing in the nearby Shaab neighborhood killed four civilians and wounded 14, officials said.

Another car bomb in a commercial area in the central Karrada area killed four civilians and wounded 14, police said. A car bomb in another part of Karrada killed two civilians and wounded 10, authorities said.

In Baghdad’s southern suburb of Hussainya, a car bomb killed four civilians and wounded 11 in a market, officials said. In the capital’s eastern Palestine Street, a car bomb killed three civilians and wounded 10, authorities said. Another market bombing killed three civilians and wounded eight in the eastern Maamil area, police said.

Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

The army and allied tribesmen have been fighting al-Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group around Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi, and the nearby city of Fallujah. The militants control the center of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, a major challenge to the government and its forces two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year. Last year, Iraq saw the highest death toll since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007, according to United Nations figures. The U.N. said violence killed 8,868 last year.

At least 285 people have died in violence across the country so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

Tokyo - Japan Airlines has grounded another one of its Dreamliner jets after “white smoke” was seen outside the cockpit window during maintenance, a year after the aircraft suffered a months-long global grounding over battery problems. The carrier said that a technician at Tokyo’s Narita airport, who was working on the parked plane before its departure to Bangkok Tuesday afternoon, first noticed what appeared to be smoke outside the cockpit window and then a battery system warning.

An investigation found that one of the eight lithium-ion cells in the plane’s battery system had leaked, but its safety valve, which is designed to release excessive pressure, was properly open.

“The temperature of the cell was high. We believe it caused ‘white smoke’, which could be smoke or vapour,” a JAL spokesman said. The airline said it replaced the grounded plane with another Dreamliner, which left as scheduled, carrying 169 passengers and crew. “We are making sure of the safety of every plane before its departure. We will continue regular flights (with Dreamliners),” said a separate JAL spokesman, Norihisa Hanyu. In response to the incident on Tuesday, US-based Boeing said the “improvements made to the 787 battery system last year appear to have worked as designed”.

Boeing admitted in April that despite months of testing it did not know the root cause of the battery problems, but rolled out modifications it said would ensure the issue did not recur. The measures comprised redesigning the battery and charger system and adding a steel box to prevent burning.

Since then, Dreamliners have experienced a series of minor glitches, including a fault with an air pressure sensor and the brake system. In October, unflushable toilets caused JAL pilots to turn their plane around just after it left Moscow bound for Tokyo.

JAL’s domestic rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) also said Wednesday it would continue flying the plane -- the pair are the aircraft’s two biggest customers and have invested heavily in its success.

The incident was the latest for the Dreamliner since the troubleplagued aircraft returned to service in the middle of last year following a months-long worldwide grounding.

Thai PM...

From page 1 Suthep’s supporters have blockaded at least seven big Bangkok intersections and are also trying to stop ministries from functioning, forcing many to remain closed, with civil servants working from back-up facilities or from home. Yingluck herself has been unable to work from her offices in Government House since late November.

Demonstrators marched to the home of Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal carrying a coffin with his name on it, ASTV news reported.

They handed one of his aides a note demanding that he cut LPG prices and resign, it said.

According to the official Twitter account of National Police spokesman Piya Utayo, an off-duty policeman dressed in civilian clothes was attacked and had his gun taken off him by about 10 protesters at a rally near the Energy Ministry.

“RED SHIRTS” TO STAY OUT OF BANGKOK

The latest protests have been less violent than a spasm of unrest in 2010, when troops were sent in to end a two-month protest in central Bangkok by “red shirt” Thaksin supporters. More than 90 people died during those protests. Thaksin, who turned to politics after making a fortune in telecommunications, redrew Thailand’s political map by courting rural voters. He lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence handed down in 2008 for abuse of power.

There have been relatively few factional clashes in this upsurge of unrest with the government keen to avoid confrontation. Government supporters said they held protests on Monday and Tuesday in provinces neighbouring Bangkok but had no plans to demonstrate in the city.

“All we ask is that Prime Minister Yingluck does not resign,” said Worawut Wichaidit, spokesman for the pro-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship.

“If (Suthep) and his group achieve their goal ... the outcome would be similar to a coup, and we all saw what happened the last time there was a coup,” Worawut said, referring to instability and factional strife in the years that followed the last army takeover in 2006.

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

11

INDONESIA Indonesia mineral row heightens business uncertainty Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - A drawn-out row between the Indonesian government and the mining industry over a mineral export ban has added to growing uncertainty in Southeast Asia’s top economy ahead of elections, observers warn.

The ban on the export of unprocessed mineral ores from resource-rich Indonesia came into effect Sunday after ministers agreed at the 11th hour to concessions following sustained lobbying by domestic and foreign miners.

The government had originally proposed a blanket ban on the export of certain raw minerals but the revised version does not cover concentrates for the time being, allowing US giants Freeport McMoRan and Newmont to continue to export from their huge copper mines.

Despite the last-minute tweaks, the industry is still set to suffer as exports of key unprocessed ores, notably nickel and bauxite, have been banned and even minerals granted concessions will be hit with higher taxes.

While there was relief that the policy was not as restrictive as initially feared, the run-up to the ban has been criticised as highly chaotic, affirming the image of Indonesia as a notoriously difficult place to do business.

Bill Sullivan, a Jakarta-based lawyer and mining expert, said the process highlighted “the shameful failure of government policymaking” in Indonesia.

“This past year has been quite extraordinary -- the number of regulatory and policy changes, the complete disregard of the interests of foreign investors. It’s just made it so hard for foreign investors to justify putting money into Indonesia,” he added.

Export ban aimed at keeping profits at home The export ban is one of a series of policies, from the banking

to the energy sectors, promoted by nationalist politicians who argue Indonesia should do more to stop foreigners reaping all the benefits from business opportunities in the fast-growing economy.

The trend towards such nationalistic policies has only intensified in recent times as politicians seek to win votes before parliamentary elections in April and presidential polls in July, observers say.

The export ban was first announced as part of a 2009 mining law.

It obliges miners to build smelters in Indonesia to process mineral ore to high levels of purity in an effort to keep more of the profits from the lucrative industry in the country.

Its implementation was delayed until 2014 to give time for smelters to be built.

However, many miners took

little action, betting that Jakarta -- notorious for backtracking on policies -- would not push through a ban that could cost the government vast amounts in tax revenues and lead to huge layoffs.

In the event, the government did water down the policy following warnings of widespread job losses and closures in the industry.

But even that was only finally decided on an hour before the ban took effect and there is still confusion over the policy several days after it was implemented, with the government yet to release all the details.

Even after the concessions, the problem has only been kicked down the road, critics say. The blanket ban on mineral ore exports has simply been delayed to 2017 and the threat of new taxes is looming.

While miners such as Freeport can export so-called “concentrates” -- partially processed ore -- of certain minerals such as copper, they face higher export

taxes which will increase to up to 60 percent in coming years.

Freeport is liable to pay almost $1 billion in 2014 and the amount could rise to just below $5 billion in 2016 due to the new taxes, an industry source, who declined to be identified, told AFP. The impact could also be devastating for nickel and bauxite miners affected by the ban.

Siswo Awaliyanto, from bauxite producer Harita Prima Abadi Mineral, told AFP the firm would cut production by up to half this year, had closed one its three sites and was mulling laying off at least 25 percent of its 1,600 workers.

Despite the industry concerns, the Indonesian government sees the ore export ban as a sensible policy to keep more profits from the mining industry at home.

“I went to China recently and there I witnessed very high piles of bauxite, three million tonnes, piled up on the coast, all raw exports from Indonesia,” Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat said. “This is what we want to stop.”

Sinabung volcano spews fresh lava Agence France-Presse

KARO - Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted more than 30 times Tuesday spewing lava and ash clouds over a wide area, officials said, with more than 26,000 people now forced to flee their homes.

Sinabung, which lies in the northwest of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, sent hot rocks and ash 5

kilometres (3.1 miles) into in the air, spreading hot clouds over a 4.5 kilometres radius, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation told AFP. Enormous clouds rose from the mountain, as thick layers of grey ash blanketed plantations and nearby houses.

With the volcano erupting regu-

larly, many of those who have left their homes since Sinabung started erupting in September have fallen ill, a local government official said.

“Some refugees are sick, coughing mainly, and they are also in need of clean water,” Robert Peranginangin,a spokesman for Karo district, told AFP.

Volcanoes are a regular threat for many living in Indonesia near their fertile slopes. Mount Sinabung is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia that straddle major tectonic fault lines, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

It had been quiet for around 400 years until it rumbled back to life in 2010, and again in September

last year.

In August 2013, five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a small island in East Nusa Tenggara provin ce erupted.

The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of eruptions in 2010.

IBP/ant

The eruption of Mount Sinabung

10

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Destination IBP

Sports

International

International

Nungnung, Fresh Falls

MANGUPURA - Nungnung waterfalls have increased in popularity for French and German visitors to Bali. The waterfalls are located near the village of Plaga in the area of Petang, Northern Badung, The way down to the source of the water is about 50 meters and used to be very difficult and steep. But now it can be easily reached through hundreds of concrete stairs. The idea to build these stairs was initiated by the people who live in the neighborhood in cooperation with the government. It takes about 60 minutes (40 km) from Denpasar to get to the location of the waterfalls by bus.

Walking up and down the stairs is not as tiring as it sounds, thanks to the cool air in the mountain which makes the body fresh, as does the surrounding panorama.

IBP/File Photo

Thursday, January 16, 2014

7

No more meltdowns for ‘more efficient’ Djokovic Reuters

MELBOURNE - The Novak Djokovic that bowed out of his first Australian Open title defence with heat sickness in 2009 has now been replaced by a mentally and physically tougher upgrade not prone to meltdowns, the world number two said. After a rusty opening round, Djokovic’s bid for a fourth successive title at Melbourne Park shifted up a gear on Wednesday as he trounced Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-0 6-4 6-4 in Rod Laver Arena to march to the third round on another day of stifling heat.

Players have grumbled about the conditions, and a Canadian in the men’s draw described the tournament’s organisers as “inhumane” after he fainted on Tuesday when temperatures peaked at 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit).

In 2009, a 21-year-old Djokovic was criticised by players and pundits for pulling out of his quarterfinal when trailing American Andy Roddick on a day of extreme heat, having earned a reputation for retiring when the going got tough.

There was little moaning from the Serb on Wednesday, however, after he wrapped up his match against 98th-ranked Mayer in less than two hours to escape the 40-degree heat. Apart from the hat-trick of titles won at Melbourne Park from 2011-13, Djokovic said there were “plenty of differences” between himself and the 2009 model.

GAINED STRENGTH “Obviously as the years go by,

I’m more mature as a player, as a person. I learned new things in life.

I developed myself,” he said. “I physically got stronger - mentally also. All of this plays, of course, an important role when you are playing in such conditions. “It’s not easy. Maybe it looks (easy), but I do go through tough times after long rallies, as everybody, trying to get some air, obviously.

“Generally it’s much more efficient for me nowadays to recover and to get ready for the next point than it used to be in 2009 when I retired in my match against Roddick, yeah.”

Djokovic completed his transformation into tennis’s undisputable iron-man by outlasting super-fit Spaniard Rafa Nadal to win the 2012 Australian Open in a final that lasted a grand slam record of just under six hours. The 26-year-old plays Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the third round on Friday, another day forecast to exceed 40 Celsius.

“Everything is fine,” Djokovic

AP Photo/Aaron Favila

Novak Djokovic of Serbia makes a forehand return to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

repeated like a Buddhist invocation during his post-match media conference when asked about his ankle which rolled during a first-set

tumble against Mayer. “I’m physically fit. I’ve been practising, preparing for the Australian summer that we all know can be difficult at

times with the conditions.

“Knowing that I played a day match today, I prepared myself mentally for that.

Grizzlies win, stop Thunder topping Northwest Associated Press Writer

MEMHIS, Tennessee — Memphis prevented Oklahoma City from taking top spot in the NBA Northwest Division by beating the Thunder 90-87 on Tuesday, with Courtney Lee scoring a season-high 24 points, including the closing two free throws. In the day’s other games, league leader Indiana kept rolling on with a comfortable victory over Sacramento, Charlotte ended New York’s winning streak and Cleveland edged the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

Memphis’ Zach Randolph had 23 points and 13 rebounds on the night his

AP Photo/Lance Murphey

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Memphis, Tenn.

inside partner Marc Gasol came back after missing almost eight weeks with a left knee injury. Gasol played 24 minutes and finished with 12 points for the Grizzlies, who won a third straight.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 37 points, converting 15 of 28 shots, but Oklahoma City’s cause was undermined by committing 19 turnovers.

Indiana’s Paul George scored 31 points, making four 3-pointers, as the Pacers beat Sacramento 116-92.

David West had 16 points and eight rebounds in a victory which clinched the Eastern Conference coaching spot for Frank Vogel, since the Pacers are guaranteed to have the best winning percentage in the conference through games of Feb. 2. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra is ineligible after coaching last year. DeMarcus Cousins had 31 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who were held under 100 points for the first time in 12 games.

Charlotte’s Al Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Bob-

cats to a 108-98 win over New York.

Kemba Walker had 12 of his 25 in the fourth quarter to steer Charlotte to its first win in four games. He was 4 of 4 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. He also finished with seven rebounds and five assists.

Carmelo Anthony had 20 points and six rebounds for the Knicks, who had won their previous five. Cleveland’s Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers while scoring 27 points, lifting the Cavaliers to a 120-118 victory over the Lakers.

Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won only their fourth road game of the season. It was a sweet win for coach Mike Brown in his return to Staples Center to face the Lakers, who fired him early last season.

Jodie Meeks hit six 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 26 points for injury-plagued Los Angeles, which has lost 11 of its past 12 and now goes into a seven-match road trip.

8

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Sp rt

3rd-tier Racing, Atletico reach Copa last 8 Associated Press Writer

MADRID — Third-tier Racing Santander shrugged off its financial woes to win 2-0 at topflight Almeria and reach the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey alongside cup holder Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. Atletico compounded Valencia’s disappointing league campaign by knocking it out of the cup with a 2-0 home victory in the second leg and a 3-1 win on aggregate.

Almeria enjoyed the away-goal advantage following a 1-1 first-leg draw at El Sardinero, a match better remembered for a player protest over wages and the storming of the president’s box by unruly Santander fans frustrated by the club’s rapid fall in the professional ranks.

Santander had already eliminated Sevilla and Mariano Sanz made the last eight look likely with his 62nd minute header.

Ruben Duran secured the visitors’ spot 3-1 on aggregate in the 79th as he ran onto a throw-in and tapped it up with his left foot before volleying home with his right on the run. “These circumstances are making us stronger,” Mariano said. “This is a way to fight back against all of these problems.”

Santander’s players haven’t been paid for three months. The club has slipped down to the third division in just two seasons following the exit of former owner Ahsan Ali Syed, who left the club in crisis, relegated from the top-flight after the 2011/12 season and needing a cash injection just to stay afloat. Racing now faces either Villarreal or Real Sociedad, who meet on Thursday after a scoreless first leg.

Following its Spanish league showdown with Barcelona, Atletico showed no dip in intensity against a Valencia side that has seen its form slide amid its own financial problems.

Valencia looked determined to try and stay in the competition but Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was again in stellar form, making a reflex save to stop Juan Bernat’s rising shot just before the break.

Atletico took the lead in the 52nd minute when Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita misjudged a corner kick and the ball flew over him to the far post where Diego Godin rose above Antonio Barragan to head home. Atletico midfielder Raul Garcia then found the post with a powerful shot just after. Although that seemed to awaken the visitors, they could only watch as Courtois denied them time and again.

Raul Garcia sealed the victory by heading in Gabi F e r nandez’s corner in the 89th at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, where Valencia midfielder Dan-

iel Parejo was sent off in stoppage time. “We want to beat every rival,” Garcia said after coach Diego Simeone fielded a largely unchanged side from the one that drew 0-0 on Saturday against Barcelona to remain co-leader of the Spanish league. “We’ve got a squad that can play all competitions.”

Atletico plays either Athletic Bilbao or Real Betis next, with Betis going into Wednesday’s game at Bilbao leading 1-0. Real Madrid is nursing a 2-0 advantage traveling to Osasuna on Wednesday, and Barcelona is at Getafe on Thursday holding a 4-0 advantage.Madrid and Valencia at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014.

AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

Atletico’s Raul Garcia celebrates his goal during a Spanish Copa del Rey soccer match between Atletico de

Aguero back from injury for Man City Associated Press Writer

MANCHESTER, England — Argentina striker Sergio Aguero will return from a month out with a calf injury in Manchester City’s third-round replay against Blackburn in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

Aguero, who last played on Dec. 14, was training as normal and was in the squad for the match at Etihad Stadium, City manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Tuesday.

City has won seven of its eight games during the absence of Aguero, who has 19 goals this season.

Sweden striker John Guidetti was loaned out by City to fellow Premier League team Stoke on Tuesday for the rest of the season.

AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File

FILE - This is a Wednesday Dec. 26, 2012 file photo of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, right, as he has a shot towards the goal goal Sunderland’s captain Carlos Cuella, left, during their English Premier League soccer match at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England.

Milan running risk with rookie coach say Dutch masters

Thursday, January 16, 2014

9

US gets early taste of Brazil ahead of World Cup

Reuters

Associated Press Writer

AC Milan are taking a risk by employing Clarence Seedorf as their new coach said two former Dutch internationals, who were major figures at the Italian club when they won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990. Marco van Basten said Milan should have appointed an experienced coach while Ruud Gullit said he was taken aback by the decision to give the job to 37-year-old Seedorf, who had been winding down his playing career in Brazil but had never before taken charge of a club.

“Clarence has no experience as a coach and will have to prove himself quickly,” Gullit told Dutch media on Wednesday. Van Basten, a former Dutch national coach and now at Heerenveen, said he could understand some of the rationale of selecting Seedorf but that the Italians were running a major risk.

“Milan is a massive club that is currently suffering from a lot of problems,” Van Basten told Dutch NOS television. “I think they could have rather used an experienced coach.”

SAO PAULO — Jurgen Klinsmann is giving American players an early chance to get to know Brazil ahead of the World Cup. The U.S. began a 12-day training camp Tuesday in Sao Paulo, where the team will be based during the tournament in June. The Americans, with a roster of 26 players mostly from Major League Soccer, are the first of the 32 World Cup nations to arrive in Brazil this year in an effort to get acquainted to the host country.

The U.S. coach calls the dry run for the World Cup a great chance to know more about what to expect. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us,” Klinsmann said after the team’s first practice session at the training center of Sao Paulo Futebol Clube.

“It gives us the opportunity to be already at the facility we are going to stay in the World Cup, to get to know the hotel we are going to stay at and to get a feeling for the country,” Klinsmann said.

“What we want to get out of it is that the players experience all those things. In the

technical side there is a lot that we can achieve, on the organizational, logistical side there is a lot we can experience.”

Klinsmann even wants his staff to start learning Portuguese in order to know some basic words by the time the team returns. The Americans will stay in Brazil until Jan. 25 before heading home for a friendly against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif., where it began its 11th annual January training camp last week.

Klinsmann is using mostly U.S.based players, including 10 who helped the Americans qualify for their seventh straight World Cup. Among them are midfielder Graham Zusi, defender Omar Gonzalez and forward Eddie Johnson.

Star midfielder Landon Donovan also is in Brazil, but new Toronto FC signing Michael Bradley is among the absences.

“We can bring more players because the European-based players are not coming in, obviously,” Klinsmann said.

“So it gives more spots to young players who want to show how good they

are. Maybe they can still jump on the train for the World Cup. They all have a point to prove. They all want to prove to me that they deserve to be back during the World Cup.” Klinsmann originally intended to bring only 23 players to Sao Paulo but after watching last week’s training was pleased and decided not to trim his roster.

He never considered moving the team’s World Cup training base from Sao Paulo after last month’s draw gave the U.S. first-round matches in the northern cities of Manaus, Natal and Recife. “We have probably the worst travel schedule of all teams, but we will take it as a challenge,” he said.

The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. Klinsmann said the Americans may stay up north between their second and third matches rather than return to Sao Paulo, which would cut a group-stage itinerary currently at about 14,400 kilometers (9,000 miles).

PSG beats Bordeaux 3-1 to reach League Cup semis Associated Press Writer

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 away to Bordeaux to reach the semifinals of the French League Cup on Tuesday. PSG lost in a penalty shootout at the quarterfinal stage last season, but took the lead on the stroke of halftime through Argentina playmaker Javier Pastore, who has been largely out of favor so far this season.

In a hard-fought match, midfielder Andre Poko pulled a goal back just after the interval for defending French Cup champion Bordeaux, before 18-year-old midfielder Adrien Rabiot restored PSG’s lead in the 85th minute.

Fellow midfielder Blaise Matuidi completed the win for the French league leaders in the 88th. Former seven-time league champion Lyon hosts Marseille in the pick of Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

REUTERS/Victor Moriyama

U.S. national soccer team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (3rd L) gives instructions to his players during a training session in Sao Paulo January 14, 2014.

8

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Sp rt

3rd-tier Racing, Atletico reach Copa last 8 Associated Press Writer

MADRID — Third-tier Racing Santander shrugged off its financial woes to win 2-0 at topflight Almeria and reach the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey alongside cup holder Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. Atletico compounded Valencia’s disappointing league campaign by knocking it out of the cup with a 2-0 home victory in the second leg and a 3-1 win on aggregate.

Almeria enjoyed the away-goal advantage following a 1-1 first-leg draw at El Sardinero, a match better remembered for a player protest over wages and the storming of the president’s box by unruly Santander fans frustrated by the club’s rapid fall in the professional ranks.

Santander had already eliminated Sevilla and Mariano Sanz made the last eight look likely with his 62nd minute header.

Ruben Duran secured the visitors’ spot 3-1 on aggregate in the 79th as he ran onto a throw-in and tapped it up with his left foot before volleying home with his right on the run. “These circumstances are making us stronger,” Mariano said. “This is a way to fight back against all of these problems.”

Santander’s players haven’t been paid for three months. The club has slipped down to the third division in just two seasons following the exit of former owner Ahsan Ali Syed, who left the club in crisis, relegated from the top-flight after the 2011/12 season and needing a cash injection just to stay afloat. Racing now faces either Villarreal or Real Sociedad, who meet on Thursday after a scoreless first leg.

Following its Spanish league showdown with Barcelona, Atletico showed no dip in intensity against a Valencia side that has seen its form slide amid its own financial problems.

Valencia looked determined to try and stay in the competition but Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was again in stellar form, making a reflex save to stop Juan Bernat’s rising shot just before the break.

Atletico took the lead in the 52nd minute when Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita misjudged a corner kick and the ball flew over him to the far post where Diego Godin rose above Antonio Barragan to head home. Atletico midfielder Raul Garcia then found the post with a powerful shot just after. Although that seemed to awaken the visitors, they could only watch as Courtois denied them time and again.

Raul Garcia sealed the victory by heading in Gabi F e r nandez’s corner in the 89th at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, where Valencia midfielder Dan-

iel Parejo was sent off in stoppage time. “We want to beat every rival,” Garcia said after coach Diego Simeone fielded a largely unchanged side from the one that drew 0-0 on Saturday against Barcelona to remain co-leader of the Spanish league. “We’ve got a squad that can play all competitions.”

Atletico plays either Athletic Bilbao or Real Betis next, with Betis going into Wednesday’s game at Bilbao leading 1-0. Real Madrid is nursing a 2-0 advantage traveling to Osasuna on Wednesday, and Barcelona is at Getafe on Thursday holding a 4-0 advantage.Madrid and Valencia at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014.

AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

Atletico’s Raul Garcia celebrates his goal during a Spanish Copa del Rey soccer match between Atletico de

Aguero back from injury for Man City Associated Press Writer

MANCHESTER, England — Argentina striker Sergio Aguero will return from a month out with a calf injury in Manchester City’s third-round replay against Blackburn in the FA Cup on Wednesday.

Aguero, who last played on Dec. 14, was training as normal and was in the squad for the match at Etihad Stadium, City manager Manuel Pellegrini said on Tuesday.

City has won seven of its eight games during the absence of Aguero, who has 19 goals this season.

Sweden striker John Guidetti was loaned out by City to fellow Premier League team Stoke on Tuesday for the rest of the season.

AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File

FILE - This is a Wednesday Dec. 26, 2012 file photo of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, right, as he has a shot towards the goal goal Sunderland’s captain Carlos Cuella, left, during their English Premier League soccer match at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England.

Milan running risk with rookie coach say Dutch masters

Thursday, January 16, 2014

9

US gets early taste of Brazil ahead of World Cup

Reuters

Associated Press Writer

AC Milan are taking a risk by employing Clarence Seedorf as their new coach said two former Dutch internationals, who were major figures at the Italian club when they won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990. Marco van Basten said Milan should have appointed an experienced coach while Ruud Gullit said he was taken aback by the decision to give the job to 37-year-old Seedorf, who had been winding down his playing career in Brazil but had never before taken charge of a club.

“Clarence has no experience as a coach and will have to prove himself quickly,” Gullit told Dutch media on Wednesday. Van Basten, a former Dutch national coach and now at Heerenveen, said he could understand some of the rationale of selecting Seedorf but that the Italians were running a major risk.

“Milan is a massive club that is currently suffering from a lot of problems,” Van Basten told Dutch NOS television. “I think they could have rather used an experienced coach.”

SAO PAULO — Jurgen Klinsmann is giving American players an early chance to get to know Brazil ahead of the World Cup. The U.S. began a 12-day training camp Tuesday in Sao Paulo, where the team will be based during the tournament in June. The Americans, with a roster of 26 players mostly from Major League Soccer, are the first of the 32 World Cup nations to arrive in Brazil this year in an effort to get acquainted to the host country.

The U.S. coach calls the dry run for the World Cup a great chance to know more about what to expect. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us,” Klinsmann said after the team’s first practice session at the training center of Sao Paulo Futebol Clube.

“It gives us the opportunity to be already at the facility we are going to stay in the World Cup, to get to know the hotel we are going to stay at and to get a feeling for the country,” Klinsmann said.

“What we want to get out of it is that the players experience all those things. In the

technical side there is a lot that we can achieve, on the organizational, logistical side there is a lot we can experience.”

Klinsmann even wants his staff to start learning Portuguese in order to know some basic words by the time the team returns. The Americans will stay in Brazil until Jan. 25 before heading home for a friendly against South Korea on Feb. 1 at Carson, Calif., where it began its 11th annual January training camp last week.

Klinsmann is using mostly U.S.based players, including 10 who helped the Americans qualify for their seventh straight World Cup. Among them are midfielder Graham Zusi, defender Omar Gonzalez and forward Eddie Johnson.

Star midfielder Landon Donovan also is in Brazil, but new Toronto FC signing Michael Bradley is among the absences.

“We can bring more players because the European-based players are not coming in, obviously,” Klinsmann said.

“So it gives more spots to young players who want to show how good they

are. Maybe they can still jump on the train for the World Cup. They all have a point to prove. They all want to prove to me that they deserve to be back during the World Cup.” Klinsmann originally intended to bring only 23 players to Sao Paulo but after watching last week’s training was pleased and decided not to trim his roster.

He never considered moving the team’s World Cup training base from Sao Paulo after last month’s draw gave the U.S. first-round matches in the northern cities of Manaus, Natal and Recife. “We have probably the worst travel schedule of all teams, but we will take it as a challenge,” he said.

The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, plays Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal six days later and closes the group stage against Germany on June 26. Klinsmann said the Americans may stay up north between their second and third matches rather than return to Sao Paulo, which would cut a group-stage itinerary currently at about 14,400 kilometers (9,000 miles).

PSG beats Bordeaux 3-1 to reach League Cup semis Associated Press Writer

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain won 3-1 away to Bordeaux to reach the semifinals of the French League Cup on Tuesday. PSG lost in a penalty shootout at the quarterfinal stage last season, but took the lead on the stroke of halftime through Argentina playmaker Javier Pastore, who has been largely out of favor so far this season.

In a hard-fought match, midfielder Andre Poko pulled a goal back just after the interval for defending French Cup champion Bordeaux, before 18-year-old midfielder Adrien Rabiot restored PSG’s lead in the 85th minute.

Fellow midfielder Blaise Matuidi completed the win for the French league leaders in the 88th. Former seven-time league champion Lyon hosts Marseille in the pick of Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

REUTERS/Victor Moriyama

U.S. national soccer team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann (3rd L) gives instructions to his players during a training session in Sao Paulo January 14, 2014.

10

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Destination IBP

Sports

International

International

Nungnung, Fresh Falls

MANGUPURA - Nungnung waterfalls have increased in popularity for French and German visitors to Bali. The waterfalls are located near the village of Plaga in the area of Petang, Northern Badung, The way down to the source of the water is about 50 meters and used to be very difficult and steep. But now it can be easily reached through hundreds of concrete stairs. The idea to build these stairs was initiated by the people who live in the neighborhood in cooperation with the government. It takes about 60 minutes (40 km) from Denpasar to get to the location of the waterfalls by bus.

Walking up and down the stairs is not as tiring as it sounds, thanks to the cool air in the mountain which makes the body fresh, as does the surrounding panorama.

IBP/File Photo

Thursday, January 16, 2014

7

No more meltdowns for ‘more efficient’ Djokovic Reuters

MELBOURNE - The Novak Djokovic that bowed out of his first Australian Open title defence with heat sickness in 2009 has now been replaced by a mentally and physically tougher upgrade not prone to meltdowns, the world number two said. After a rusty opening round, Djokovic’s bid for a fourth successive title at Melbourne Park shifted up a gear on Wednesday as he trounced Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-0 6-4 6-4 in Rod Laver Arena to march to the third round on another day of stifling heat.

Players have grumbled about the conditions, and a Canadian in the men’s draw described the tournament’s organisers as “inhumane” after he fainted on Tuesday when temperatures peaked at 42 degrees Celsius (108 Fahrenheit).

In 2009, a 21-year-old Djokovic was criticised by players and pundits for pulling out of his quarterfinal when trailing American Andy Roddick on a day of extreme heat, having earned a reputation for retiring when the going got tough.

There was little moaning from the Serb on Wednesday, however, after he wrapped up his match against 98th-ranked Mayer in less than two hours to escape the 40-degree heat. Apart from the hat-trick of titles won at Melbourne Park from 2011-13, Djokovic said there were “plenty of differences” between himself and the 2009 model.

GAINED STRENGTH “Obviously as the years go by,

I’m more mature as a player, as a person. I learned new things in life.

I developed myself,” he said. “I physically got stronger - mentally also. All of this plays, of course, an important role when you are playing in such conditions. “It’s not easy. Maybe it looks (easy), but I do go through tough times after long rallies, as everybody, trying to get some air, obviously.

“Generally it’s much more efficient for me nowadays to recover and to get ready for the next point than it used to be in 2009 when I retired in my match against Roddick, yeah.”

Djokovic completed his transformation into tennis’s undisputable iron-man by outlasting super-fit Spaniard Rafa Nadal to win the 2012 Australian Open in a final that lasted a grand slam record of just under six hours. The 26-year-old plays Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the third round on Friday, another day forecast to exceed 40 Celsius.

“Everything is fine,” Djokovic

AP Photo/Aaron Favila

Novak Djokovic of Serbia makes a forehand return to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

repeated like a Buddhist invocation during his post-match media conference when asked about his ankle which rolled during a first-set

tumble against Mayer. “I’m physically fit. I’ve been practising, preparing for the Australian summer that we all know can be difficult at

times with the conditions.

“Knowing that I played a day match today, I prepared myself mentally for that.

Grizzlies win, stop Thunder topping Northwest Associated Press Writer

MEMHIS, Tennessee — Memphis prevented Oklahoma City from taking top spot in the NBA Northwest Division by beating the Thunder 90-87 on Tuesday, with Courtney Lee scoring a season-high 24 points, including the closing two free throws. In the day’s other games, league leader Indiana kept rolling on with a comfortable victory over Sacramento, Charlotte ended New York’s winning streak and Cleveland edged the struggling Los Angeles Lakers.

Memphis’ Zach Randolph had 23 points and 13 rebounds on the night his

AP Photo/Lance Murphey

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol (33), of Spain, shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, in Memphis, Tenn.

inside partner Marc Gasol came back after missing almost eight weeks with a left knee injury. Gasol played 24 minutes and finished with 12 points for the Grizzlies, who won a third straight.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 37 points, converting 15 of 28 shots, but Oklahoma City’s cause was undermined by committing 19 turnovers.

Indiana’s Paul George scored 31 points, making four 3-pointers, as the Pacers beat Sacramento 116-92.

David West had 16 points and eight rebounds in a victory which clinched the Eastern Conference coaching spot for Frank Vogel, since the Pacers are guaranteed to have the best winning percentage in the conference through games of Feb. 2. Miami’s Erik Spoelstra is ineligible after coaching last year. DeMarcus Cousins had 31 points and 13 rebounds for the Kings, who were held under 100 points for the first time in 12 games.

Charlotte’s Al Jefferson scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Bob-

cats to a 108-98 win over New York.

Kemba Walker had 12 of his 25 in the fourth quarter to steer Charlotte to its first win in four games. He was 4 of 4 from the field in the fourth quarter, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions. He also finished with seven rebounds and five assists.

Carmelo Anthony had 20 points and six rebounds for the Knicks, who had won their previous five. Cleveland’s Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers while scoring 27 points, lifting the Cavaliers to a 120-118 victory over the Lakers.

Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won only their fourth road game of the season. It was a sweet win for coach Mike Brown in his return to Staples Center to face the Lakers, who fired him early last season.

Jodie Meeks hit six 3-pointers while scoring a season-high 26 points for injury-plagued Los Angeles, which has lost 11 of its past 12 and now goes into a seven-match road trip.

6

Thursday, January 16, 2014

W

RLD

International

JAL Dreamliner hit by another battery problem Agence France Presse

AP Photo/Karim Kadim

Baghdad municipality workers clean up as civilians inspect the site of a car bomb attack near the Technology University in Sinaa Street in downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

Bombings in Iraq striking markets, funeral kill 41 Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD - A wave of bombings across Iraq striking busy markets and a funeral north of Baghdad killed at least 41 people Wednesday, authorities said, as the country remains gripped by violence after al-Qaida-linked militants took control of two cities in western Anbar province.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Insurgent groups, mainly al-Qaida’s local branch and other Sunni militants, frequently target civilians in cafes and public areas, as well as Shiites and members of Iraqi security forces in an attempt to undermine confidence in the Shiite-led government and stir sectarian tensions.

The deadliest attack struck a funeral in the town of Buhriz, about 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of Baghdad. That bombing killed 16 people and wounded 26 inside of a mourning tent, a police officer said.

The funeral was for an anti-alQaida Sunni militiaman who died of natural causes two days ago.

The Sunni militia, known as the Awakening Council, was formed

by U.S. forces during the height of the insurgency. They are seen as traitors by al-Qaida’s local branch and other militant groups.

In Baghdad, a series of bombings

killed at least 25 people.

The deadliest attack there took place in the northern Shula neighborhood, where a parked car bomb exploded in an outdoor market, killing five shoppers and wounding 12, a police officer said. A car bombing in the nearby Shaab neighborhood killed four civilians and wounded 14, officials said.

Another car bomb in a commercial area in the central Karrada area killed four civilians and wounded 14, police said. A car bomb in another part of Karrada killed two civilians and wounded 10, authorities said.

In Baghdad’s southern suburb of Hussainya, a car bomb killed four civilians and wounded 11 in a market, officials said. In the capital’s eastern Palestine Street, a car bomb killed three civilians and wounded 10, authorities said. Another market bombing killed three civilians and wounded eight in the eastern Maamil area, police said.

Medical officials confirmed the causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

The army and allied tribesmen have been fighting al-Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group around Anbar’s provincial capital, Ramadi, and the nearby city of Fallujah. The militants control the center of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, a major challenge to the government and its forces two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Violence has escalated in Iraq over the past year. Last year, Iraq saw the highest death toll since the worst of the country’s sectarian bloodletting began to subside in 2007, according to United Nations figures. The U.N. said violence killed 8,868 last year.

At least 285 people have died in violence across the country so far this month, according to an Associated Press count.

Tokyo - Japan Airlines has grounded another one of its Dreamliner jets after “white smoke” was seen outside the cockpit window during maintenance, a year after the aircraft suffered a months-long global grounding over battery problems. The carrier said that a technician at Tokyo’s Narita airport, who was working on the parked plane before its departure to Bangkok Tuesday afternoon, first noticed what appeared to be smoke outside the cockpit window and then a battery system warning.

An investigation found that one of the eight lithium-ion cells in the plane’s battery system had leaked, but its safety valve, which is designed to release excessive pressure, was properly open.

“The temperature of the cell was high. We believe it caused ‘white smoke’, which could be smoke or vapour,” a JAL spokesman said. The airline said it replaced the grounded plane with another Dreamliner, which left as scheduled, carrying 169 passengers and crew. “We are making sure of the safety of every plane before its departure. We will continue regular flights (with Dreamliners),” said a separate JAL spokesman, Norihisa Hanyu. In response to the incident on Tuesday, US-based Boeing said the “improvements made to the 787 battery system last year appear to have worked as designed”.

Boeing admitted in April that despite months of testing it did not know the root cause of the battery problems, but rolled out modifications it said would ensure the issue did not recur. The measures comprised redesigning the battery and charger system and adding a steel box to prevent burning.

Since then, Dreamliners have experienced a series of minor glitches, including a fault with an air pressure sensor and the brake system. In October, unflushable toilets caused JAL pilots to turn their plane around just after it left Moscow bound for Tokyo.

JAL’s domestic rival All Nippon Airways (ANA) also said Wednesday it would continue flying the plane -- the pair are the aircraft’s two biggest customers and have invested heavily in its success.

The incident was the latest for the Dreamliner since the troubleplagued aircraft returned to service in the middle of last year following a months-long worldwide grounding.

Thai PM...

From page 1 Suthep’s supporters have blockaded at least seven big Bangkok intersections and are also trying to stop ministries from functioning, forcing many to remain closed, with civil servants working from back-up facilities or from home. Yingluck herself has been unable to work from her offices in Government House since late November.

Demonstrators marched to the home of Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal carrying a coffin with his name on it, ASTV news reported.

They handed one of his aides a note demanding that he cut LPG prices and resign, it said.

According to the official Twitter account of National Police spokesman Piya Utayo, an off-duty policeman dressed in civilian clothes was attacked and had his gun taken off him by about 10 protesters at a rally near the Energy Ministry.

“RED SHIRTS” TO STAY OUT OF BANGKOK

The latest protests have been less violent than a spasm of unrest in 2010, when troops were sent in to end a two-month protest in central Bangkok by “red shirt” Thaksin supporters. More than 90 people died during those protests. Thaksin, who turned to politics after making a fortune in telecommunications, redrew Thailand’s political map by courting rural voters. He lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence handed down in 2008 for abuse of power.

There have been relatively few factional clashes in this upsurge of unrest with the government keen to avoid confrontation. Government supporters said they held protests on Monday and Tuesday in provinces neighbouring Bangkok but had no plans to demonstrate in the city.

“All we ask is that Prime Minister Yingluck does not resign,” said Worawut Wichaidit, spokesman for the pro-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship.

“If (Suthep) and his group achieve their goal ... the outcome would be similar to a coup, and we all saw what happened the last time there was a coup,” Worawut said, referring to instability and factional strife in the years that followed the last army takeover in 2006.

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

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INDONESIA Indonesia mineral row heightens business uncertainty Agence France-Presse

JAKARTA - A drawn-out row between the Indonesian government and the mining industry over a mineral export ban has added to growing uncertainty in Southeast Asia’s top economy ahead of elections, observers warn.

The ban on the export of unprocessed mineral ores from resource-rich Indonesia came into effect Sunday after ministers agreed at the 11th hour to concessions following sustained lobbying by domestic and foreign miners.

The government had originally proposed a blanket ban on the export of certain raw minerals but the revised version does not cover concentrates for the time being, allowing US giants Freeport McMoRan and Newmont to continue to export from their huge copper mines.

Despite the last-minute tweaks, the industry is still set to suffer as exports of key unprocessed ores, notably nickel and bauxite, have been banned and even minerals granted concessions will be hit with higher taxes.

While there was relief that the policy was not as restrictive as initially feared, the run-up to the ban has been criticised as highly chaotic, affirming the image of Indonesia as a notoriously difficult place to do business.

Bill Sullivan, a Jakarta-based lawyer and mining expert, said the process highlighted “the shameful failure of government policymaking” in Indonesia.

“This past year has been quite extraordinary -- the number of regulatory and policy changes, the complete disregard of the interests of foreign investors. It’s just made it so hard for foreign investors to justify putting money into Indonesia,” he added.

Export ban aimed at keeping profits at home The export ban is one of a series of policies, from the banking

to the energy sectors, promoted by nationalist politicians who argue Indonesia should do more to stop foreigners reaping all the benefits from business opportunities in the fast-growing economy.

The trend towards such nationalistic policies has only intensified in recent times as politicians seek to win votes before parliamentary elections in April and presidential polls in July, observers say.

The export ban was first announced as part of a 2009 mining law.

It obliges miners to build smelters in Indonesia to process mineral ore to high levels of purity in an effort to keep more of the profits from the lucrative industry in the country.

Its implementation was delayed until 2014 to give time for smelters to be built.

However, many miners took

little action, betting that Jakarta -- notorious for backtracking on policies -- would not push through a ban that could cost the government vast amounts in tax revenues and lead to huge layoffs.

In the event, the government did water down the policy following warnings of widespread job losses and closures in the industry.

But even that was only finally decided on an hour before the ban took effect and there is still confusion over the policy several days after it was implemented, with the government yet to release all the details.

Even after the concessions, the problem has only been kicked down the road, critics say. The blanket ban on mineral ore exports has simply been delayed to 2017 and the threat of new taxes is looming.

While miners such as Freeport can export so-called “concentrates” -- partially processed ore -- of certain minerals such as copper, they face higher export

taxes which will increase to up to 60 percent in coming years.

Freeport is liable to pay almost $1 billion in 2014 and the amount could rise to just below $5 billion in 2016 due to the new taxes, an industry source, who declined to be identified, told AFP. The impact could also be devastating for nickel and bauxite miners affected by the ban.

Siswo Awaliyanto, from bauxite producer Harita Prima Abadi Mineral, told AFP the firm would cut production by up to half this year, had closed one its three sites and was mulling laying off at least 25 percent of its 1,600 workers.

Despite the industry concerns, the Indonesian government sees the ore export ban as a sensible policy to keep more profits from the mining industry at home.

“I went to China recently and there I witnessed very high piles of bauxite, three million tonnes, piled up on the coast, all raw exports from Indonesia,” Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat said. “This is what we want to stop.”

Sinabung volcano spews fresh lava Agence France-Presse

KARO - Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung erupted more than 30 times Tuesday spewing lava and ash clouds over a wide area, officials said, with more than 26,000 people now forced to flee their homes.

Sinabung, which lies in the northwest of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, sent hot rocks and ash 5

kilometres (3.1 miles) into in the air, spreading hot clouds over a 4.5 kilometres radius, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation told AFP. Enormous clouds rose from the mountain, as thick layers of grey ash blanketed plantations and nearby houses.

With the volcano erupting regu-

larly, many of those who have left their homes since Sinabung started erupting in September have fallen ill, a local government official said.

“Some refugees are sick, coughing mainly, and they are also in need of clean water,” Robert Peranginangin,a spokesman for Karo district, told AFP.

Volcanoes are a regular threat for many living in Indonesia near their fertile slopes. Mount Sinabung is one of 129 active volcanoes in Indonesia that straddle major tectonic fault lines, known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

It had been quiet for around 400 years until it rumbled back to life in 2010, and again in September

last year.

In August 2013, five people were killed and hundreds evacuated when a volcano on a small island in East Nusa Tenggara provin ce erupted.

The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of eruptions in 2010.

IBP/ant

The eruption of Mount Sinabung

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International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

BUSINESS

Agence France-Presse

BEIJING - China’s foreign exchange reserves, already the world’s largest, reached $3.82 trillion yuan at the end of 2013, the central bank said Wednesday, a new record. trade surpluses as the country has grown to become the world’s second-largest economy.

The surpluses have caused friction with China’s rivals in the West, headed by Washington, which says Beijing keeps its yuan currency artificially low in order to make its goods cheaper overseas and give exporters an unfair advantage.

But the rate of growth of China’s

reserves has slowed in recent years as the once-booming economy is hit by troubles in the key export markets of Europe and the United States, while the yuan has been steadily strengthening against the dollar.

Analysts attributed some of the 2013 surge to speculative capital inflows, sometimes disguised as exports or foreign direct investment.

“We reckon hot money inflow

pressures could be still strong at the moment,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists said in a research note, citing China’s rising interest rates, the rise of the yuan and confidence in the currency’s strength despite the tapering of the US stimulus.

A government report last month cited in state media suggested China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.6 percent in 2013, down from 7.7 percent in 2012, which was the worst performance in 13 years.

The government is due to issue 2013 GDP growth figures on

Monday.

Chinese leaders have repeatedly said they want to transform the economy to one in which domestic demand is the key growth driver, rather than public investment and exports.

But the daunting task looks set to be a long and arduous process.

The central bank said Wednesday Chinese lenders extended a total of 8.89 trillion yuan ($1.47 trillion) in new loans last year, 687.9 billion yuan more than in 2012 and surpassing the reported official target of 8.5 trillion yuan set at the start of 2013.

Apple fights for bigger slice of China smartphone pie Agence France-Presse

SHANGHAI - The world’s biggest mobile network is ready to offer Apple’s iPhone, but while the US technology giant has declared China its biggest future market, it faces an uphill battle to unseat Samsung and homegrown competitors.

China Mobile has more than 760 million customers but for years it has declined to provide the iPhone as the two companies argued over commercial terms.

The country’s other big mobile telecommunications firms, China Unicom and China Telecom, already stock the product, and China Mobile will join them on Friday.

Analysts expect the move to boost the number of subscribers for China Mobile and lift Apple’s iPhone sales in China by millions -- but in all likelihood it is far too late for it to take the lead.

Although the iPhone commands fanatical devotion from its Chinese fans, South Korea’s Samsung rules the smartphone market with more than 18 percent share, according to consultancy Analysys International.

Apple sits in a lowly eighth place with a 3.5 percent share as of the third quarter last year, with six Chinese companies ahead of it, many offering cheaper phones using the Android operating system.

REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Apple’s iPhone 5Cs phones are displayed on racks bearing the logo of China Mobile, at a mobile phone shop in Beijing December 23, 2013.

Apple Inc said it has signed a long-awaited agreement with China Mobile Ltd to sell iPhones through the world’s biggest network of mobile phone users.

“The domestic high-end smartphone market is much more diversified and competitive now, leaving users more choices,” said Wang Jun, an analyst for Beijingbased Analysys.

“It’s likely Apple will move up one or two places in the marketshare rankings, but it’s impossible for it to make it into the top three or four,” he said.

China’s Lenovo, renowned for buying IBM’s personal computer business, is in second position, while two companies best known

Thursday, January 16, 2014

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Ulun Danu Batur Temple:

China foreign exchange reserves top $3.8 trillion in 2013

The end-of-year figure was up from the $3.66 trillion as of the end of September, according to data published by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC).

It came after the country’s trade surplus reached $259.75 billion last year, up 12.8 percent on 2012 and its highest since the global financial crisis.

Growth in China’s vast reserves has been fuelled by years of huge

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International

for telecom equipment and controversy over network security -- Huawei and ZTE -- are also in the top five, according to Analysys.

The iPhone launch just two weeks before the Chinese New Year, a traditional time for giftgiving, should benefit both China Mobile and Apple, analysts said.

But Kevin Wang, director of China research for consultancy IHS iSuppli, agrees that Apple has a tough job on its hands.

“Although cooperation with China Mobile will help boost Apple’s sales and market share in China, it’s unlikely that its share will rise to among the top three, given the intense competition in China’s smartphone market,” he said.

“Smartphones that cost around 1,000 yuan ($164) are the most popular,” he added.

In the United States, an iPhone 5s with 16GB of storage retails for $649 while that same phone is $726 in Hong Kong -- the special administrative region that borders China -- and $867 in the mainland itself through the Apple Store, due to taxes and other charges.

The higher prices in China have given rise to a flourishing market for smuggled iPhones, eroding official sales in the country.

As a result, many China Mobile subscribers have already procured iPhones and use them on its network, though some functions suffer.

Apple’s revenue in Greater China -- which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan -- still reached $5.7 billion for its fiscal quarter ended in September 2013, up 24 percent from the previous quarter, according to the company.

The firm does not reveal iPhone sales in China.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in January last year

that he expected the country to become its largest market, though he gave no timeframe.

Unlike many network providers in the United States and other Western countries, Chinese telecommunications firms require hefty up-front payments for iPhone and other packages.

But analysts said China Mobile will have to make its pricing attractive to potential subscribers to promote sales of the iPhone, which could eat into its profits.

China Mobile had yet to announce prices Tuesday, despite the imminent launch, but with investors also worried about profitability, its Hong Konglisted shares had fallen 3.72 percent since the agreement with Apple was announced in late December.

China Mobile is majority state-owned and authorities in December awarded it a licence for 4G (fourth generation) services.

It plans the world’s largest 4G network, promising faster speeds and a better quality service, a natural fit for the iPhone.

But some Chinese consumers are unimpressed by the combination. One microblog user posted: “Those who like the iPhone wouldn’t wait for China Mobile to sell it. Those who dislike the iPhone will not like it after China Mobile launches it.”

IBP

A sanctum to worship Goddess Danu

BANGLI - If the Besakih Temple is known as Purusha, then the Ulun Danu Batur Temple belongs to Pradhana. In the Besakih Temple, God is worshiped to strengthen the people’s spirituality in the efforts to achieve spiritual happiness, while in the Batur Temple God is venerated to strengthen the spirituality in building the economic prosperity.

Spiritually peaceful and economically prosperous pose a universal desire of every human being on this mundane world. Why are they called Purusha and Pradhana? It is mentioned in the Usana Bali palm-leaf manuscript.

In the Usana Bali manuscript is mentioned that mythologically the Mount Mahameru in India was very high and almost touching the sky. If the sky was touched, the universe would be destroyed. Therefore, the Lord Pasupati took the summit of the Mount Mahameru in India by both hands. Chunks of the Mount Mahameru were then flown to Bali.

The chunks were grasped with his right hand and then transformed into the Mount Agung, while the chunk on his left hand into the Mount Batur. On the Mount Agung was enthroned the Lord Putra Jaya (Lord Mahadeva), while on the Mount Batur was enthroned the Goddess Danu. Goddess Danu is no other than the consort of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is the god of water for the prosperity of living beings.

The palm-leaf manuscripts mentioning the existence of the Batur

Temple, among others, are the Usana Bali, Kusuma Dewa and Raja Purana Batur. According to those manuscripts, the Batur Temple is the Sad Kahyangan Temple also belonging to Kahyangan Jagat or universal temple functioned to worship God as the Gods of Prosperity. Kahyangan Jagat is a sanctum used to worship God for all the Hindus.

The foundations to develop prosperity expressed in the BhagavadGita are kris, goraksya and vanjyam meaning agriculture, livestock and trade. Such prosperity is not possible without water. It is due to the help of water the stavira (plants), janggama (animal) and human can develop their life.

One of the goals to establish the Sad Kahyangan is to motivate mankind to preserve Sad Kerti in building the inner and outer wellbeing. Danu Kerti and Wana Kerti are two of the six Sad Kerti elements. Ocean water evaporates into clouds. Then, the cloud falls in the form of rains.

Ultimately, the rainwater passing through no vegetation will directly flow into the sea.

If there are vegetations on the

Devotees are saying prayers in the Ulun Danu Temple.

highland forest like on the hills and mountains, the rain water will get absorbed well. Afterward, the water absorbed by forests will form a lake and river and flow endlessly. It is the natural law created by God. Such natural processes should be kept and maintained by human beings properly and sagaciously.

Water, plants, groceries and wise

words are three jewels on the earth according to Canakya Nitisastra. If water and plants are not managed by wise words, then they will bring in disaster to mankind and other living creatures on earth.

Venerating God as Goddess Danu, the consort of Lord Vishnu, is to nurture the establishment of the wise words in managing the natural pro-

IBP/File Photo

cess. If natural processes are managed by greed, it will even bring in disaster to mankind. Combination of the Ulun Danu Batur Temple, Mount Batur, Lake Batur and Kintamani forests is a very stunning beauty. Hindu religious ceremonies and prayers in Ulun Danu Batur Temple should be directed to enlighten people in order to maintain such amazing beauty. (kmb)

Bitter gourd to crunchy anchovy IBP

Challenging food can encourage appetite, spirit and even togetherness. In megibung (shared meals) tradition, it is started by bitter flavor like that of star fruit leaf vegetable. Next, it is followed by other nicer flavor.

IBP/File Photo

Meanwhile, this delicacy attempts to present similar flavor with grated coconut spice. It combines distinctiveness of bitter gourd, fried peanut and small crispy fried or grilled anchovy being familiar seafood with Balinese life. As religious community, the Balinese also present this food for elements of their oblation.

Some people also called it Bitter melon. It looks like a cucumber but with ugly gourd-like bumps all over it. As the name implies, this vegetable is a melon that is bitter. There are two varieties of this vegetable: One grows to about 20 cm long, is oblong and pale green in color. The other is the smaller variety, less than

10 cm long, oval and has a darker green color.

Both varieties have seeds that are white when unripe and that turn red when they are ripe. The vegetablefruit turn reddish-orange when ripe and becomes even more bitter. is generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage.

The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon may also be eaten as greens.

Bitter gourds are very low in calories but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folic acid, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.

Bitter melon contains a unique phyto-constituent that has been confirmed to have a hypoglycemic effect called charantin. There is also another insulin-like compound known as polypeptide P which have been suggested as insulin replacement in some diabetic patients.

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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bali News

International

International

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Rice grower turns to become a job increasingly in demand

RLD

Pursuing the profession as a rice grower seems to slowly be left by community. Currently, the number of people who are still getting involved in rice field mud can even be counted on fingers. Nevertheless, amid the lack of rice growers, in fact it makes the profession become quite popular. The owners of rice fields in Bangli must be willing to queue in order to get the services of such rice growers.

AP Photo/Altaf Qadri

An Indian investigator speaks on his phone at the spot which police say is where a Danish tourist was gang-raped in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014.

The rice grower is working in a rice field

Aftermath of land conversion

Klungkung faces deficiency of 600 tons of rice each year Semarapura (Bali Post)—

Proliferation of farmland conversion threatens food security. The Klungkung Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation Agency stated the conversion occurred to productive farmland with a total of 10 hectares each year. As a result, Klungkung still lacks of 600 tons of rice per year. Now, to anticipate the threat, the establishment of sustainable agricultural land is set forth in Regional Bylaw No.1/2013 on Klungkung Regional Spatial Plan 2013-2033.

It was announced by Regional Secretary of Klungkung, Ketut Janapria, Sunday (Jan 14). With the regional bylaw, he said the Agriculture, Forestry and Plantation Agency did not need to make a draft of regional bylaw on the sustainable agricultural land. Such bylaw had accommodated the interest of the draft. Meanwhile, such food security threats emerged in the plenary meeting related to the Klungkung food security 2013 some time ago. “Klungkung remains to lack of 600 tons of rice each year, with the assumption that all

the 180,000 residents of Klungkung eat rice,” said Janapria.

The impact of food security threat was highly felt in Nusa Penida subdistrict. Residents of several villages still survived with foodstuff other than rice such as corn and tubers. Similarly, there was virtually no agricultural land to produce rice in the region. With a tough challenge of rampant land conversion, the shortage of 600 tons of rice per year seemed to be difficult to fulfill. Even, it was feared the food shortages would be even greater in the upcoming years.

Under Regional Bylaw No.1/2013, the total land area of food allotment in each subdistrict had been established including the Klungkung subdistrict (888 hectares); Dawan (600 hectares) and Banjarangkan (2008 hectares).

Meanwhile, based on the recent data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Klungkung subdistrict had the area of 1,227 hectares, Dawan (616 hectares) and Banjarangkan (2,000 hectares). By observing the number, the acreage of food production allotment remarkably slumped in each district. “We worry if

the area of food production allotment continues to decrease the region is also difficult to feed its own residents.

Hence, the rule of sustainable farmland was set forth in the regional bylaw,” said the official from Pangi village.

Concerns about declining food security were quite reasonable. The record of Bali Post indicated the rice production of Klungkung in 2007 reached 37,613 tons and fell to 35,536 tons in 2008, but slightly rose to 36,294 in 2009. However, when entering the year 2010, the rice production fell again to 32,132 tons and a similar condition happened in 2011, reaching 31,472 tons. Such condition was also predicted to occur in 2012 and 2013.

Observing such condition, the existence of regional bylaw was estimated to reduce the land conversion. In addition, farmers were not easy to convert their farmland and utilize the land as optimally as possible. Excessive and nonpartisan investment marginalizing small communities like farmers should be prevented. The farmland should not be let be savored by investors. (kmb31)

IBP/File

Alleged to be sick, an Australian tourist dies in clinic

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Unfortunate fate was experienced by a tourist from Australia named Duncan Seymour, 67. When he wanted to seek a treatment to a medical clinic of Dr. Adi at Jalan Nakula No. 28, Legian Kaja, Kuta, his sickness suddenly relapsed. The victim passed out and then died at the clinic on Monday (Jan 13). Case of the victim’s death is being handled by Kuta Police.

As information, the victim and his wife, Julia Ann McGillivray, was on vacation in Bali and staying at The Villa Sunset on Jalan Plawa Gang Ratna Seminyak, Kuta. The elderly victim is known to have a history of shortness of breath. Before his death, the victim was asking permission to his wife for treatment. However, it was just intended for reflection.

Once arrived at the clinic, his sickness relapsed. The victim passed out and then died. A number of people at the location were panic and attempted to help. Unfortunately, the victim’s life could not be saved and he died at the scene. When receiving the report on the incident, the Kuta Police officers immediately came down to the scene.

They investigated the crime scene and examined witnesses.

After being inspected, the victim’s body was immediately taken to hospital. From the results of provisional examination, it was not found any signs of violence on the victim‘s body. As first approximation, the victim died due to illness. Chief of Kuta Police, I Nyoman Resa, when asked for his confirmation on Tuesday (Jan 14) justified the incident. (kmb21)

Indian police say Danish tourist was gang-raped Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI — A Danish tourist was gang-raped near a popular shopping area in New Delhi after she stopped to ask for directions, police said Wednesday, the latest case to focus attention on the scourge of violence against women in India. The 51-year-old woman also was robbed and beaten in the attack, which happened Tuesday afternoon or early evening near Connaught Place, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said. The woman had lost her way and was trying to get back to her hotel, he said.

She approached a group of men for directions, but they lured her to a secluded area where they raped her at knife-point, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

The woman managed to reach her hotel Tuesday evening and the owner called police. Police are questioning several suspects but no arrests have been made. “When she came, it was miserable,” said Amit Bahl, owner of the Amax Hotel in the Paharganj area, which is popular with backpackers. The woman was crying and “not in good shape,” he said.

“I am really ashamed that this happened,” said Bahl, who sounded shaken. The Danish Embassy had no comment.

The problem of sexual violence in India has gained widespread attention since the horrific gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in December 2012.

Public fury over the case has led to more stringent laws that doubled prison terms for rape to 20 years and criminalized voyeurism and stalking.

But for many women, particularly the poor, daily indignities and abuse continue unabated and the new laws have not made the streets any safer. Ranjana Kumari, Director of India’s Center for Social Research, said India’s conservative, patriarchal traditions lead men to use rape as a tool to instill fear in women.

“This mindset is not changing,” she said. “It’s a huge challenge.”

Experts say the rapid growth of India’s cities and the yawning gulf between rich and poor are exacerbating the problem of sexual violence, with young men struggling to prove their traditional dominance in a changing world. Cultural stigmas,

police apathy and judicial incompetence have long made it difficult for women to even report rapes.

Still, there has been a surge in the number of rapes being reported recently, suggesting women are emboldened to speak up. Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures. Foreigners also have been targets, including a Swiss woman who was cycling with her husband in central India when she was gang-raped.

The cases threaten India’s lucrative tourism industry. Last year, the Tourism Ministry launched an “I Respect Women” campaign to reassure travelers. Tourism accounted for 6.6 percent of India’s GDP in 2012, the latest year for which figures are available.

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Egypt vote lays bare sharp, post-coup divisions Associated Press Writer

Bangli (Bali Post)—

One of the rice growers from Sedit hamlet, Bebalang village, Bangli, Wayan Andep, admitted that working as a rice grower was indeed dirty. Nevertheless, the profession being familiar with soil and water had been deeply involved since nearly fifteen years.

Andep admitted that such profession had been left by most communities in Bangli. Public interest to take such a work slowly diminished. Community, especially younger generation, preferred to take another job sector with a clean working environment and certainly having better prestige such as in the tourism sector as well as civil servants.

Actually, continued Andep, when compared to the income of other labors, the wage he received as a rice grower could be said to be much higher. The planting cost he usually obtained for growing rice in the field was about IDR 12,000 per 100 square meters. He usually worked from 09:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. “When calculated, the result obtained is greater than the wage of construction worker,” said Andep.

Moreover, he usually received many orders when planting season came in Bangli. He admitted the order was not just coming from farmers in Bangli, but also from outside Bangli. Even, due to many orders, the rice growers like him had become highly in demand, even he should implement a queue system. (ina)

Thursday, January 16, 2014

CAIRO — A referendum on a new constitution has laid bare the sharp divisions in Egypt, six months after the military removed the elected Islamist president, with pro-army voters lining up outside polling stations, singing patriotic songs, kissing images of Egypt’s top officer and sharing upbeat hopes for their troubled nation.

Sporadic violence flared across much of the country on the first day of the voting, leaving 11 dead, with protesters burning tires and pelting police with rocks and firebombs creating just enough tension to keep many voters at home Tuesday.

The constitutional vote, which ends Wednesday evening, is a key milestone in a military-backed political roadmap toward new elections for a president and a parliament after the July 3 coup that left the nation sharply divided between Muslim Brotherhood supporters in one camp, and the military and security forces in another, backed by a large segment of the population that is yearning for stability after three years of deadly turmoil and economic woes.

Still, the vote so far has yielded telling signs that the national sentiment is overwhelmingly behind military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whose possible presidential run later this year has grown more likely by the day.

That a career army officer might be Egypt’s next president has raised questions about the future of democracy here, but it also speaks to the fatigue felt by most Egyptians after all the upheaval that engulfed the country since the 2011 ouster of the longtime

autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak.

The vote is taking place in a climate of fear and paranoia, with authorities, the mostly pro-military media and a significant number of Egyptians showing little or no tolerance for dissent. Campaigning for a “no” vote risked arrest by the police. Egyptians who have voiced their opposition to the charter, or even just parts of it, are quickly labeled as traitors.

Nearly 400,000 soldiers and policemen fanned out across the nation of some 90 million people on Tuesday to protect voters against possible attacks by militants loyal to ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood. Military helicopters hovered over Cairo and other major cities, while grim-faced, black-clad masked commandos stood guard outside polling centers.

An explosion struck a Cairo courthouse before polls opened, damaging its facade and shattering windows in nearby buildings but causing no casualties in the densely populated Cairo neighborhood of Imbaba, a Brotherhood stronghold.

The Health Ministry said 11 people were killed and 28 were wounded in clashes between pro-Morsi protesters and security forces — a relatively low number of fatalities, well below the grim predictions in the run-up to the ballot.

The Brotherhood, now branded a terrorist group, had called for a boycott and vowed mass demonstrations to disrupt the vote. But Tuesday’s widely scattered protests numbered no more than 200-300 people each, mostly teenagers and men in their early 20s, many armed with rocks, firebombs and bird shot.

AP Photo/Hiro Komae

An Egyptian woman casts her ballot in a two-day constitutional referendum in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014. Egyptians voted on the second, final day of a key referendum on a new constitution seen as a precursor to the country’s presidential elections, in which it is largely expected that El-Sissi will run.

14

Health

Thursday, January 16, 2014

International

Mosquito-borne virus spreading in Caribbean Associated Press Writer

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A mosquito-borne virus appears to be spreading quickly in the Caribbean during the winter tourism season just weeks after epidemiologists first found local transmission occurring in the French dependency of St. Martin.

Scientists said Tuesday that St. Martin now has as many as 200 cases of chikungunya, a virus found mainly in Africa and Asia that can cause a debilitating but rarely fatal sickness with fever, rash, fatigue and intense muscle and joint pain.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said new cases have been confirmed on the French Caribbean islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe and St. Barthelemy. The virus also infected a couple of residents of Dutch St. Maarten, which shares an island with St. Martin that was already battling dengue fever, a more serious mosquito-borne illness.

On Monday, the British Virgin Islands reported three cases on the tiny isle of Jost Van Dyke, which has fewer than 300 inhabitants but fills with thousands of international revelers each New Year’s Eve. “It is important to note that these confirmed cases were not exposed to travel, which alerts us that the virus is already in our mosquito population,” British Virgin Islands medical officer Ronald Georges said.

The World Health Organization was notified of chikungunya’s presence in the Caribbean in early December when the first two cases were confirmed in St. Martin among residents who had not traveled recently.

Public health officials on the islands have stepped up fogging programs and increased epidemiological surveillance. They are also urging people to clear out stagnant water to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

CDC epidemiologist Erin Staples said in a Tuesday email that “further spread to other Caribbean islands and to the surrounding mainland areas is possible in the coming months and years.”

AP Photo/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, James Gathany, File

FILE - This 2006 file photo made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a female Aedes aegypti mosquito acquiring a blood meal from a human host at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Pregnant, brain-dead woman’s husband sues hospital Associated Press Writer

AP Photo/The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Ron T. Ennis

In this Friday, Jan. 3, 2014 photo, Erick Munoz talks about his wife who is currently on life support from their Haltom City, Texas home. Munoz filed a lawsuit in state district court in Fort Worth, Texas, where his wife, Marlise Munoz, has been on life support since he found her unconscious in their home on Nov. 26, 2013. She was 14 weeks pregnant at the time.

DALLAS — The husband of a pregnant, brain-dead U.S. woman on Tuesday sued the hospital keeping her on life support, saying doctors are doing so against her and her family’s wishes. The lawsuit filed in Texas district court asks a judge to order John Peter Smith Hospital to remove life support for Marlise Munoz, who fell unconscious in November.

But the hospital says a state law prohibits life-saving treatment from being denied to pregnant patients. Experts familiar with the law say the hospital is incorrectly applying the statute. “Marlise Munoz is dead, and she gave clear instructions to her husband and family — Marlise was not to remain on any type of artificial ‘life sustaining treatment’, ventilators or the like,” the lawsuit says. “There is no reason JPS should be allowed to continue treatment on Marlise Munoz’s dead body.”

Erick Munoz says he and his wife are both paramedics and are familiar with end-of-life issues. His wife’s parents agree. Munoz found his wife unconscious in the early morning on Nov. 26. The family says it doesn’t know the exact cause of her condition, though a blood clot is a possibility. Marlise Munoz was 14 weeks pregnant at the time.

The health of the fetus is unknown. Munoz is believed to have been without oxygen for some time before her husband found her. A 2010 article in the journal BMC Medicine found 30 cases of brain-dead pregnant women over about 30 years. Of 19 reported results, the journal found 12 in which a viable child was born. It had post-birth data for two years on only six of them — all of whom developed normally, according to the journal.

The hospital has cited a provision of the Texas Advance Directives Act that reads: “A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient.”

Experts interviewed by The Associated Press, including two who helped draft the legislation, said a brain-dead patient’s case wouldn’t be covered by the law.

“This patient is neither terminally nor irreversibly ill,” said Dr. Robert Fine, clinical director of the office of clinical ethics and palliative care for Baylor Health Care System. “Under Texas law, this patient is legally dead.”

Tom Mayo, a Southern Methodist University law professor, said he did not believe the law applied in this case. Hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe has said hospital officials stand by their decision: “This is not a difficult decision for us. We are following the law.”

Bali News

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

3

Minapolitan area

Infrastructure at Kedonganan inadequate Bali Post

MANGUPURA - Condition of the infrastructure in the area of Kedonganan Beach is still inadequate. At some points, especially around the traditional fish market, can be found the road condition remaining less feasible. This condition is in contrast to the status of Kedonganan established as the minapolitan or fishery town area in Badung.

Behind the fish market or near the southern entrance to the Mina Segara Cooperative of Kedonganan, for example, the road access along about 100 meters is not paved or installed with paving block at all. In addition to having potholes and bumpy, puddles are easily formed when it rains. The road is muddy and slippery, while the puddles make this area look dirty.

Impression of the rundown condition due to lack of infrastructure turns more complete with the amount of garbage scattered. The garbage dumped near the SPDN Kedonganan also frequently resulted in unpleasant odor.

When asked for his confirmation about this issue, the Head of Badung Livestock, Fisheries and Maritime Agency, I Made Badra, admitted recently that the infrastructure arrangement for the Kedonganan region was currently still necessary to be done. And according to the plan, the arrangement at Kedonganan would continue until 2015.

Especially for the road access, the installation of paving block project could not be done immediately because such a plan would just be undertaken in 2015.

“Installation of the paving block is planned to be implemented next year because in 2014 the central government has been providing funds for the construction of breakwater and ice factory,” said Badra.

The fund for the construction of breakwater reached IDR 20 billion.

Meanwhile, the ice plant would be worth IDR 2.3 billion. In addition, according to the plan, a waste management plant would also be built in the area of Kedonganan.

Further, he said that Kedonganan area was expected to be completely transformed into a pilot project of minapolitan in Bali in 2015. A number of supporting projects such as the entrance gates would also be implemented to support it. To that end, any project needed, he admitted to prepare the detailed engineering design. (kmb25)

IBP/Edi

Condition of the infrastructure in the area of Kedonganan Beach is still inadequate. At some points, especially around the traditional fish market, can be found the road condition remaining less feasible.

58 cruise ships to visit Bali in 2014 Antara

IBP/File Photo

Tourists disembarked from cruise ship that berthed at Benoa Harbor. The seaport operator, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III, of the Bali provincial chapter of Benoa, has set a target to welcome 58 cruise ships during 2014, the company’s official stated.

DENPASAR - The seaport operator, PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III, of the Bali provincial chapter of Benoa, has set a target to welcome 58 cruise ships during 2014, the company’s official stated.

“The potential of tourist visits via cruise ships to Bali, especially through the Benoa seaport, is still high. We have made the required preparations (for the tourist comings),” noted Pelindo III Benoa General Manager Ali Sodikin, here on Tuesday.

The 2014 target of cruise ship arrivals is higher as compared to its 2013 target of 38 cruise ships, Ali remarked, noting the fact that 41 cruise ships visited Bali during 2013, which surpassed the target.

“In 2013, the number of tourists who come to Bali in the 41 cruise ships totaled about 39 thousand,” he claimed.

More number of tourists visited Bali by cruise ships and this should be optimally handled, Ali pointed out.

In an effort to offer improved services to the foreign tourists, Ali emphasized that his office is working in tandem with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, including an increase in the activities to promote Indonesian tourism abroad.

Apart from that, Pelindo III has also coordinated with the Transportation Ministry in a bid to prepare ship lanes for the cruise ships, Ali added.

2

International

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Bali News

Three Munduk villagers killed Singaraja (Bali Post)—

victims had mourned to the home of a dead resident.

At that time, the victims consumed liquor and the remaining was taken back. Unluckily, police did not know where the location of the subsequent liquor binge was carried out. “We’re still developing the location of liquor binge after mourning the dead person because local residents did not know where the victim did the liquor binge,” he added.

Meanwhile, the liquor seller, Komang Duta Hartawan, before the police claimed to sell pure liquor without any mixture and it was brought in from Bestala village, Seririt subdistrict. The arrack liquor of large-size mineral water bottle was sold for IDR 20,000. At that time, he indeed sold the arrack drunk by the victims with their colleagues. However, he did not know whether the arrack was mixed with other ingredients. “I sell pure arrack and do not mix it with any other ingredients, but do not know when the arrack was drunk by the victims with their colleagues,” he added.

To date, police were still investigating the poisoning case due to the adulterated liquor. As planned, policed would examine the remaining liquor that had not been consumed by the victims. (mud)

Tabanan government limited the permit of the modern store establishment. It was intended to maximize the operation of the existing markets as well as provide the opportunities for small traders to be in operation. This rule was confirmed by the Regent of Tabanan, Ni Putu Eka Wiryastuti, to avoid unfair competition in the region. “Temporarily, we stop the permit of modern store establishment until the enactment of local

regulation on an ongoing basis,” she said, Monday (Jan 13).

She also asked investors not to build a modern store. “However, the existing modern stores are allowed to remain in operation,” she explained. In addition to avoiding unfair competition, the prohibition on the establishment of modern store was also meant to provide an opportunity for traditional traders.

So far, she said that Tabanan County still referred to the Regent

Regulation No.18/2011 which stipulated that Tabanan government temporarily stopped the application process of modern shopping mall and store establishment until the enactment of local regulation of Tabanan about spatial plan and detailed spatial plan. “Meanwhile, the existing modern stores are still allowed to operate in accordance with the applicable regulations,” she said.

Her party added with the issuance of the new Regional Bylaw

UBUD - Spend this Chinese New Year surrounded by nature, deep in the Balinese jungle at Hanging Gardens Ubud; a secluded luxury fivestar hotel located just North of Ubud, Bali’s cultural and spiritual centre. The hotel is offering a 3-night package including transfers, one dinner, a massage for two and a Balinese Blessing for two.

Stay three nights in a luxury private villa with stunning views across the rainforest and down to the holy Ayung River with your own stone heated infinity pool, cascading down the hillside into the valley below.

Feast on a sumptuous Chinese New Year dinner prepared by the hotel’s chefs. Together they will source the very best local and international produce, some grown organically on Hanging Gardens estate. They will combine their skills to create a one-off gastronomic delight, an event not to be missed. Dinner will be served overlooking the Hanging Garden’s famous tiered swimming pool, recently voted #4 in the world

by Trip Advisor.

Guests can then detox over the following days at the hotel’s stunning, natural spa, with views over the jungle and fast-flowing waterfalls, set to the sounds of chattering monkeys and indigenous wildlife. Enjoy two “Revitalising Ayung Massage” signature treatments, using all locally grown organic products, to rebalance, re-energise and begin the New Year in perfect bodily alignment.

Finally, reward your soul with a Balinese Blessing for health, wealth and happiness, held at the Holy Water Temple in the hotel’s verdant grounds.

For guests wanting to acknowledge the Year of the Wooden Horse, associated with greenery and nature, the hotel offers complimentary morning jungle tours and village visits, providing guests with an authentic Balinese countryside experience.

Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014 1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati Sukawati Pura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel Bebetin Pura Maspahit Sesetan Pura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih

IBP/File

The police is confiscating the liquor that alleged to kill three people

Tabanan County stops permit of modern store establishment Tabanan (Bali Post)—

IBP

2014 is the Year of the Green Wooden Horse, signifying unexpected adventure and surprising romance and where better to explore, relax and unwind than the cool climes of our hidden tropical wonderland.

Green is also the feng shui colour of renewal, fresh energy and new beginnings - in the feng shui theory of five elements, the colour green embraces the Wood element. Hanging Gardens Ubud’s stunning grounds and 38 private pool villas and suites were carefully designed using principles of feng shui; including 88 (the number 8 signifies success) steps leading down from the Lobby to the Library water feature.

Three villagers of Munduk, Banjar subdistrict, died after drinking arrack traditional liquor.

Allegedly, the liquor was mixed so it claimed up to three casualties. Besides, a victim was hospitalized and 13 others were referred to Buleleng Hospital because they stayed to experience the symptoms of poisoning. Even, seven other victims getting involved in the drinking binge also took medical checkup in Prodia medical laboratory in Singaraja. died an hour later.

Chief of Banjar Police Made Sanjaya with permission from Buleleng Police Chief Benny Arjanto found at the scene on Tuesday (Jan 14) explained the case of poisoning alleged to have been caused by liquor adulteration was received by police last Tuesday.

Afterward, his party came down to the scene to conduct an investigation. As a result, the three casualties were indeed true if they died of liquor suspected to have been mixed. Besides, police also seized the remaining liquor put into a bottle of mineral water. Police directly secured the liquor seller on behalf of Komang Duta Hartawan equally denoting the resident of Beji hamlet, Munduk village. “We received the report and came down to the scene.

Indeed, their death was caused by the liquor,” he said.

According to Sanjaya, the results of provisional investigation indicated if the victims died because of consuming liquor suspected to have been mixed. To search for certainty related to the toxicities of the liquor, his party planned to examine the remaining liquor in laboratory. Meanwhile, police had not got certain information yet where the liquor binge was committed by the three victims with their colleagues. Information from residents mentioned that the three

Thursday, January 16, 2014

15

Celebrate Chinese New Year at Hanging Gardens

After liquor binge

The three casualties respectively Made Dwi Adnyana, 45, passed away on Sunday (Jan 12), while two other victims namely Komang Rudi Alam, 35, and Gede Suta Arjana, 45, died on Tuesday morning (Jan 14). All the casualties were from Taman hamlet, Munduk village, Banjar subdistrict.

Originally, the alcohol poisoning case occurred when the victim Dwi Adnyana attended the cremation ceremony of one of the local residents.

At the event, the victim drank arrack having been prepared. On Sunday (Jan 12), Dwi died of poisoning, but it had not been known if the poisoning was caused by the arrack. Later on, during the staying up (magebagan) at the funeral home, many residents trooped to stay up at the victim Dwi Adnyana’s home. The remaining liquor was taken out and drunk together by residents, Monday (Jan 13).

Unexpectedly, the arrack brought in a catastrophe for the two victims.

On Tuesday morning, both victims were immediately taken to Buleleng Hospital to get an immediate help.

Unfortunately, the team of doctors failed to save because the liquor with unclear mixture had entered into the entire blood vessels. The victim Rudi Alam died on Tuesday around 03:00 a.m., while the victim Sutha Arjawa

Activities

International

local government would determine which modern stores could be re-opened in accordance with the rules adapted to the concept of Tabanan population and did not harm small businesses. “We’d like to reaffirm that it is not determined by investors! Even, if it is considered adequate, it cannot surely be reopened at all locations. However, it can be established at tourist areas or other places considered qualifying,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Head of Ta-

banan Cooperative, Industry, Trade and SME Agency, AA Gede Dalem Tresna Ngurah, said that Tabanan was currently still applying the Regent Regulation No.18/2011 until the issuance of the new Regional Bylaw (Perda) on the modern store that was currently being drafted. “We are in the agency only drafting the legal products, while the matter of permits lies in the authority of the Regional Investment and Licensing Office,” he said. (kmb28)

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

(0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post

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

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

Pura Tengkulak Tulikup Gianyar Pura Taman Sari Ubud Pura Penataran Badung

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

29 Jan Hari Siwaratri

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

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

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

IBP/Courtesy of Hanging Gardens

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

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

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

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

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

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

16 Pages Number 23 6th year

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

Price: Rp 3.000,-

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Billy Bob Thornton says TV’s a haven for actors Associated Press Writer

PASADENA, California — Billy Bob Thornton said actors who want to work on sophisticated projects are finding them in television and not film. He’s proving the point with a starring role in the upcoming FX series “Fargo,” inspired by the 1996 Joel and Ethan Coen movie.

Thornton told a Television Critics Association meeting Tuesday that while Hollywood studios churn out action movies, broad comedies and “movies where apparently vampires are all models,” TV offers the kind of insightful

work once common in films. He says that’s why peers like Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Bacon have turned to television.

“The entertainment business can pretend all they want, but the movie world has changed drastically, particularly in the last five or six years,” said Thornton, who won a best-screenplay Oscar for “Sling Blade” and was nominated for his role in the 1996 film.

“If you want to be an actor, get on a really good series in television because there’s where it’s at,” said Thornton, whose neatly groomed hair contrasted

LOS ANGELES — “Grown Ups 2” is making the most noise at this year’s Golden Raspberry Awards. The silly comedy sequel about four childhood friends starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock and David Spade led the Razzie lineup Tuesday with eight nominations, including worst picture, sequel, ensemble, screenplay, lead actor for Sandler, supporting actor for Taylor Lautner, supporting actress for Salma Hayek and director for Dennis Dugan.

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

Thursday, January 16, 2014 Bombings in Iraq striking markets, funeral kill 41

Page 6

Cast member Billy Bob Thornton of “Fargo” participates in a panel during FX Networks’ part of the Television Critics Association (TCA) Winter 2014 presentations in Pasadena, California, January 14, 2014.

Associated Press Writer

Armie Hammer, Tyler Perry’s holiday comedy “A Madea Christmas,” sci-fi coming-of-age story “After Earth” starring Will and Jaden Smith, and comedy anthology “Movie 43” featuring the likes of Kate Winslet, Richard Gere, Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry.

“After Earth,” ‘’A Madea Christmas” and “Movie 43” are tied with six nods each. In addition to worst picture, screenplay and ensemble nominations, they’re also in worst actor, actress and supporting actor slots for Will and Jaden Smith

WEATHER FORECAST 23 - 32 Dps

with striped pants decorated with buttons, embellished cowboy boots and a sleeveless black T-shirt that showed numerous arm tattoos. “Fargo” also stars Martin Freeman of “Sherlock” and the “Hobbit” films. It debuts in April on FX.

‘Grown Ups 2’ leads Razzies worst-of list Sandler is no a stranger to the Razzies, which launched in 1980 as a spoof of Hollywood’s awards season. He won the worst actor trophy last year for the man-child comedy “That’s My Boy,” and his 2011 cross-dressing comedy “Jack and Jill” made Razzie history the year before with a record 10 awards, with Sandler winning both the worst actor and actress prizes.

This year’s other worst-picture nominees are the Wild West romp “The Lone Ranger” starring Johnny Depp and

Entertainment

REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

Indian police say Danish tourist was gang-raped

3rd-tier Racing, Atletico reach Copa last 8

Thai PM stands firm on election

Page 13

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of “After Earth,” Perry and Larry the Cable Guy of “A Madea Christmas,” and Berry and Naomi Watts of “Movie 43.”

The Razzies announcement comes ahead of Thursday’s Oscar nominations.

Winners for the 34th annual Razzies will be announced March 1, the night before the 86th annual Academy Awards. While far less star-studded than other award shows, past winners like Berry and Sandra Bullock have sometimes shown up in person to claim their gold spraypainted prizes.

Thai anti-government protesters perform a puppet play durng a rally at the Democracy Monument Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Reuters

BANGKOK - Thailand’s government stuck to a plan for a February election on Wednesday despite mounting pressure from protesters who have brought parts of Bangkok to a nearstandstill, and said it believed support for the leader of the agitation was waning. Some hardline protesters have threatened to blockade the stock exchange and an air traffic control facility if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra does not step down by a deadline media said had been set for 8 p.m. (1300 GMT).

AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Tracy Bennett

This film publicity image released by Columbia Pictures shows, from left, Kevin James, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock in a scene from “Grown Ups 2.”

The unrest, which flared in early November and escalated this week when demonstrators occupied main intersections of the capital, is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict.

The country’s political fault line pits the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006

who is seen as the power behind her government. Yingluck invited protest leaders and political parties to discuss a proposal to delay the general election, which she has called for Feb. 2, but her opponents snubbed her invitation.

After the meeting, the government said the poll would go ahead as scheduled, and it derided the leader of the protest movement, Suthep Thaugsuban. “We believe the election will bring the situation

back to normal,” Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana told reporters. “We can see that the support of Mr. Suthep is declining. When he is doing something against the law, most people do not support that.”

Speakers at protest sites across central Bangkok have given the impression Yingluck is worn out and eager to quit. But she seemed relaxed and cheerful at the meeting, which was held inside an air force

base near Don Muang International Airport. Her senior officials stressed the caretaker government had no legal powers to postpone or cancel the election and stressed that even an imperfect poll was better than none.

“The ballot box doesn’t solve everything, and she knows that. But at least that’s the right step,” Suranand Vejjajiva, secretary-general to the prime minister, told Reuters.

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL ASSURED The protesters say they will occupy the city’s main arteries until an unelected “people’s council” replaces Yingluck’s administration.

Thaksin’s rural and working-class support has ensured he or his allies have won every election since 2001

AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn

and Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party seems certain to win any vote held under present arrangements.

The protesters want to suspend what they say is a democracy commandeered by the self-exiled billionaire Thaksin, whom they accuse of nepotism and corruption, and eradicate the political influence of his family by altering electoral arrangements. There was no sign of trouble at the two targets named by hardliners in the protest movement, the stock exchange and the central Bangkok offices of AeroThai, which is in charge of air traffic control communication for planes using Thai air space. AeroThai said it had back-up operations to ensure no disruption to air travel if its control centre was shut down.

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