Monday, February 17, 2014 16 Pages Number 44 6 th Year e-mail: [email protected]online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com. Price: Rp 3.000,- Page 6 I N T E R N A T I O N A L DPS 23 - 32 WEATHER FORECAST Page 8 Page 13 A search party was combing the seas for the five tourists and two in- structors -- all women -- who went missing during their third dive near the islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida southeast of Bali on Friday afternoon, deputy consul general of Japan in Bali Yasue Katsunobu said. Their boat’s skipper called the police after the women did not re- surface, Katsunobu said, adding the boat was hired from Yellow Scuba on the beachside strip of Sanur. “We are still searching for the seven missing divers. So far there’s no indication of where they are,” Katsunobu said on Sunday. A staff member for Bali’s search and rescue agency said a around 100 people had joined the opera- tion from his agency, the maritime police, the navy, as well as fisher- men, and Japanese and Indonesian diving instructors. “After having no luck on Satur- day, we have expanded the search area,” said Amtarama, a Bali search and rescue official who goes by one name. “We have seven official boats, not including the fishermen’s, and a heli- copter has been scanning the waters since the early morning,” he said. The team will continue until dark, he said, adding that weather conditions had so far been fine. Rescuers searched until 3 pm on Saturday when bad weather, includ- ing heavy rain, forced them to halt the mission, officials said. Police said earlier that the wom- en had left from Crystal Bay on the larger island Nusa Penida when they went missing. Popular dive site Crystal Bay is a popular site for seeing Nusa Penida’s famous mola-mola, or ocean sunfish, and is recommended for experienced divers because of its strong down- ward current. The bay was closed temporarily in August 2012 after a Danish man and Japanese woman died diving in the same week, according to reports. The skipper said that he was following the divers for some 20 minutes before a sudden downpour of rain made the water cloudy, ac- cording to a report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper. He moved his 10-metre-long boat to a point some hundreds of metres away where the divers were expected to resurface at an agreed time, the report said. The skipper said he searched for them for an hour before reporting the incident. “I’ve been guiding since 2009, and I’ve been to the area (of the accident) many times. Why did this happen?” he said in the report. Katsunobu said that the seven women were very experienced scuba divers with at least 50 dives each under their belts. Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the missing women were named by police and rescue authorities as: Ritsuko Miyata, 59, Emi Yama- moto, 33, Nahomi Tomita, 28, Aya Morizono, 27, Atsumi Yoshinobe, 29, Shoko Takahashi, 29, and Saori Furukawa, 27. Bali is often pounded by heavy afternoon rain during the wet sea- son, which lasts around six months of the year. Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida are popular scuba diving spots and are part of the Coral Triangle, widely considered the world’s richest underwater wilderness. The Coral Triangle includes the waters of six nations in the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Missing from Friday Search resumes for seven Japanese divers IBP/Bagiarta Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said. Agence France-Presse DENPASAR - Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said. Renzi set to become Italy’s youngest prime minister Thai police fail to reach deal with protesters Messi scores 2 in Barca’s 6-0 rout of Rayo
I N T E R N A T I O N A L I N T E R N A T I O N A L
DPs 23 - 32
EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT
Monday, February 17, 2014
Page 8 Page 13These are the men who developed the
computer technology behind the bullet scene in “The Matrix” and the animation techniques in “Life of Pi.” They’re the visionaries who build the things the film industry needs that don’t yet exist, like advanced remote helicopter cameras and the Pneumatic Car Flipper (which does what it sounds like), for which they received certificates and plaques from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
One honoree, Joshua Pines, who helped develop image-processing mathematics to standardize color, called the evening “this year’s annual winter Olympics for geeks.”
The two Oscar statuettes were presented among the night’s 21 awards: The Gordon E. Sawyer Award to Peter W. Anderson for his contributions to 3-D technology, and an Academy Award of Merit in honor of the countless owners and operators of film-processing labs over the past century. “The Dark Knight” writer-director Christopher No-lan accepted the film lab Oscar, which will be on permanent dis-play at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles when it opens in 2017.
Nolan described film proces-sors as alchemists who “(turn) silver and plastic into dreams — and not just any kind of dreams, but the kind of dreams you can unspool from a reel and hold in your hand, hold up to the light and see, frozen: magic.” He also contributed to the film-versus-digital debate that other
honorees nudged at during the night.Film is “the technology that lies at the
heart of filmmaking,” Nolan said, “and still represents the gold standard in imaging technology.” Still, the majority of Saturday’s awards honored research and inventions re-lated to digital filmmaking.
Eric Veach was recognized for his Stanford doctoral thesis that incorporates the physics of lighting into computer graphics. Dan Piponi, part of a team who created a system to simu-late smoke and fire first used in films such as “Avatar” and “Puss In Boots,” joked about his unlikely road to Oscar recognition.
Associated Press Writer
SAUGERTIES, New York — John Henson, the son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, has died in New York. He was 48. Cheryl Henson says her brother died of a “massive heart attack” at his home in Saugerties on Friday. She says it happened after he had been building an igloo in the snow with his daughter.
Henson followed in his famous father’s footsteps as a puppeteer, performing as Sweetums the ogre in several films, including “Muppet Treasure Island” and “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.” He was also a shareholder and board member of the Jim Henson Company. Henson leaves behind his wife Gyongyi and two daughters, ages 10 and 15.
John Henson, son of Muppets creator, dies at 48
AP Photo/FILE
FILE - Puppeteer John Henson, the son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson is seen with Muppets Miss Piggy and Kermit at the Disney/MGM studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida in this June 15, 1990 file photo.
Academy honors scientists behind special effectsAssociated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, California — The scientists and inventors who make big-screen superheroes, spectacular explosions and other only-in-the-movies effects possible have their own Oscar ceremony. Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan hosted the film academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hotel, recognizing more than 50 of the most creative scientists and engineers in the movie business.
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Left to right, Dan Piponi, Olivier Maury and Ian Sachs, creators of the ILM Plume system that simulates and renders fire, smoke and explosions for motion picture visual effects and recipients of a Technical Achievement Award, pose together at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A search party was combing the seas for the five tourists and two in-structors -- all women -- who went missing during their third dive near the islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida southeast of Bali on Friday afternoon, deputy consul general of Japan in Bali Yasue Katsunobu said.
Their boat’s skipper called the police after the women did not re-surface, Katsunobu said, adding the boat was hired from Yellow Scuba on the beachside strip of Sanur.
“We are still searching for the seven missing divers. So far there’s no indication of where they are,”
Katsunobu said on Sunday.A staff member for Bali’s search
and rescue agency said a around 100 people had joined the opera-tion from his agency, the maritime police, the navy, as well as fisher-men, and Japanese and Indonesian diving instructors.
“After having no luck on Satur-day, we have expanded the search area,” said Amtarama, a Bali search and rescue official who goes by one name.
“We have seven official boats, not including the fishermen’s, and a heli-copter has been scanning the waters since the early morning,” he said.
The team will continue until dark, he said, adding that weather conditions had so far been fine.
Rescuers searched until 3 pm on Saturday when bad weather, includ-ing heavy rain, forced them to halt the mission, officials said.
Police said earlier that the wom-en had left from Crystal Bay on the larger island Nusa Penida when they went missing.
Popular dive siteCrystal Bay is a popular site
for seeing Nusa Penida’s famous mola-mola, or ocean sunfish, and is recommended for experienced divers because of its strong down-ward current.
The bay was closed temporarily in August 2012 after a Danish man and Japanese woman died diving in the same week, according to
reports.The skipper said that he was
following the divers for some 20 minutes before a sudden downpour of rain made the water cloudy, ac-cording to a report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
He moved his 10-metre-long boat to a point some hundreds of metres away where the divers were expected to resurface at an agreed time, the report said.
The skipper said he searched for them for an hour before reporting the incident.
“I’ve been guiding since 2009, and I’ve been to the area (of the accident) many times. Why did this happen?” he said in the report.
Katsunobu said that the seven women were very experienced scuba divers with at least 50 dives each under their belts.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the missing women were named by police and rescue authorities as: Ritsuko Miyata, 59, Emi Yama-moto, 33, Nahomi Tomita, 28, Aya Morizono, 27, Atsumi Yoshinobe, 29, Shoko Takahashi, 29, and Saori Furukawa, 27.
Bali is often pounded by heavy afternoon rain during the wet sea-son, which lasts around six months of the year. Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida are popular scuba diving spots and are part of the Coral Triangle, widely considered the world’s richest underwater wilderness.
The Coral Triangle includes the waters of six nations in the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Missing from Friday
Search resumes for seven Japanese divers
IBP/Bagiarta
Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said.
Agence France-Presse
DENPASAR - Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said.
Renzi set to become Italy’s youngest prime minister
Thai police fail to reach deal with protesters
Messi scores 2 in Barca’s 6-0 rout of Rayo
International2 Monday, February 17, 2014 15International Activities
Bali News
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
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 con-sidered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.
The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.
In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.
Balinese Temple Ceremony
Monday, February 17, 2014
Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014
1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati SukawatiPura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel BebetinPura Maspahit SesetanPura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih
11 Jan Tumpek Kandang Pura Desa GianyarPura Luhur Dalem Sagening Kediri TabananPura Sang Hyang Tegal Tegalalang
15 Jan Purnama Sasih Kapitu Pura Dalem Tarukan Cemenggaon SukawatiPura Penataran Dalem Ketut Pejeng Kaja GianyarPura Puseh Manakaji Peninjauan BangliPura Taman Limut Pengosekan Mas UbudPura Benua BesakihPura Gunung Rena Sidemen KarangasemPura Pasek Gelgel Abadi KarangasemPura Pucak Gunung Mangun Kubu Karangasem
16 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan 17 Jan Hari Bhatara Sri 21 Jan Anggara Kasih Prangbakat Pura Bukit Buluh Gunaksa KlungkungPura Tirtha Sidamala Bebalang BangliPura Gunung Pangsong LombokPura Dalem Benawah GianyarPura Dalem Bitra GianyarPura Pura Hyang Haluh/Jenggala Besakih
Pura Tengkulak Tulikup GianyarPura Taman Sari UbudPura Penataran Badung
5 Feb Buda Kliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Peninjauan Tem-buku BangliPura Pemayun Banyuning Tengah Bule-lengPura Kayangan Tiga Seririt BulelengPura Agung Gunung Raung Taro Tegalalang
6 Feb Pura Dalem Puri Besakih
14 Feb Purnama Sasih Kawulu Pura Dalem Batur BangliPura Ida Ratu Pasek BesakihPura Dalem Suci Sidemen KarangasemPura Buana Kawan Besakih
19 Feb Buda Cemeng Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Padang KarangasemPura Melanting Camenggaon SukawatiPura Penataran ped Nusa PenidaPura Gaduhan Jagat Singakerta UbudPura Masceti Sanding Tampak SiringPura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan KelungkungPura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Kedonganan KutaPura Guwa BesakihPura Basukian BesakihPura Jati UbudPura Melanting UbudPura Dalem Peed Nusa PenidaPura Sad Kayangan Nusa PenidaPura Penataran Agung Gunung Karangasem
21 Feb Hari Bhatara Sri 25 Feb Anggara Kasih Dukut Pura Dalem Batuyang BatubulanPura Pasek Gelgel Mengening Kediri TabananPura Pasek Undagi Krambitan TabananPura Pucak Taman bedulu GianyarPura Puser Jagat Nusa PenidaPura Dalem Purwa Kawan BangliPura Desa Ketewel Gianyar
26 Feb Pura Agung Pasek gelgel Sibang Kaja Abian SemalPura Dalem Samprangan Gianyar
Experience one magical day of pure silence in the island of Gods and explore the resort by staying at InterContinental Bali Resort during Nyepi. Enjoy our Nyepi Family Fun Package which includes daily buffet breakfast for up to four persons, daily access to Planet Trekkers and unlimited gelato for two children, complimentary internet access and extra person charge. Package starts from IDR 1.500.000++ per room per night. Terms and conditions apply. InterContinental Bali Resort as one of the leading family resort which provides a wide range of activities for both parents, teens and toddlers. IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental
Celebrate Balinese New Year with InterContinental Bali Resort
IBP
JIMBArAN - Like any other countries, Bali also celebrates its new year which is called “Nyepi”, also known as the “Day of Silence.” As one of the most important dates of the local calendar, every effort is made to observe the rules of this cultural holiday. It is celebrated with a 24-hour period of solitude and all forms of activity on the island come to a complete standstill. The Balinese believe that the New year is a time to appease the unseen forces of the underworld and use this as an opportunity to cleanse the island from impurities and disturbing elements. A night before Nyepi is called Ngrupuk or The Bhuta yajna ritual, which is meant to appease Batara Kala by Pecaruan offering. Every Hindu Balinese villages normally make ogoh-ogoh, demonic statues made of bamboo and paper symbolizing negative elements. Af-ter the ogoh-ogoh have been paraded around the village, the Ngrupuk ritual takes place, which involves burning the ogoh-ogoh.
As observation at the location on Friday (Feb 14), the breakdown of the road had been posted with road sign notice to avoid accidents. Road users should be very careful. Otherwise, it could harm their safety. The collapsed road was one of the main accesses from Gianyar town heading for Lebih Beach, Jalan Bypass Ida Bagus Mantra.
The Head of Gianyar Public Works, Ida Bagus Sudewa, justified the damage to the road condition. Some time ago, a team from the Public Works had come down to check the damage. The breakdown of the road was still kindled by conditions of the culvert under the road.
In the future, according to the official from the Geria Sedawa, Tegal Tugu, in accordance with the plan the culvert under the road would be totally dismantled. The road body from Gianyar town to Lebih Beach would be entirely paved, continuing the pavement undertaken in the previous year.
He added it was currently still under bidding process. The project would include the repair of culvert, the making of revetment at the northern side and resumed the pavement that connected the pavement project in the previous year at the road section near Lebih. “Techni-cally, the repairing process of the culvert is indeed quite difficult considering the traditional culvert in the form of earthen cave under the culvert, just below the paved road. In order to avoid the break-down of the road in the future, the old culvert will be demolished,” he explained.
As the first step to avoid any loss of life before the repair was done, his party would first backfill the collapsed road with makeshift materials as well as put up a road sign notice so that road users could be cautious. (kmb16)
Bali Post
AMLAPURA - In a month, at least four villas occupied by for-eign tourists have been robbed or burglarized in Karangasem region. The last incident occurred on Friday (Feb 14) where two villas on the Jasri Beach, Karangasem, were burglarized by thief. A villa located on the Jasri Beach, Karangasem, occupied by a German, Sirene, was burglarized. At this villa, the thief stole cash valued at IDR 2 million, two ATM cards, laptop and iPhone. Sirene stayed alone at the villa because her husband was returned
to Germany.Meanwhile, the adjacent villa at
the same location occupied by Jans-en and his wife, equally Germans, was about to be burglarized. A gang of thief alleged to consist of three people opened the villa window. But when a person came in, the window sounded, so that Jansen’s wife yelled for her husband to get up and check the open door. The gang of thief then fled westward of the villa denoting a plantation land of resident.
Previously, another tourist stay-ing at the villa in the east of Jasri was also robbed two weeks ago.
The robbers consisting of three men threatened the villa dweller, tourists from Europe, by pointing a sickle. When a robber pointed a sickle at the villa dweller, two other robbers took out the victim’s possession freely. Upon receiving the report of Sirene that her villa was burglar-ized, police rushed to the scene to make investigation.
Police assessed the presence villa on the west coast of Jasri was prone to theft. It happened because the compound wall in the north or the back of the villa was low and bordered with lush gardens owned by resident, shrubs and garden
with coconut or banana trees. On the west side of the villa was seen a compound wall. In addition, of approximately 12 units of villas, only two occupants hired a security guard, not the entire units. Most of the villas were empty, while the two occupied villas were inhabited by a female and old couple. Amidst the activity of police to take the finger-prints of the thief, some gardeners said that the thieves only targeted the occupied villas. The thieves knew which villas were occupied and the careless inhabitants were burglarized.
The villa burglary also occurred
last week in the waterfront area of Amed, Abang subdistrict. On Thursday morning (Feb 13), the Artanadi Villa at Tebola, Sidemen, Karangasem, was also burglarized. Two occupants of Dutch citizens consisting of Floor Amemie Deru-kamp, 29 and Esmee Hilgard Ger-alda Jongshoop, 29, suffered a loss of about IDR 50 million. The thief was alleged to enter the victim’s room around 02:00 on Thursday morning. At that time, both the vic-tims fell asleep. They just learned if their valuables vanished around 07:00 when getting up in the morn-ing. (013)
Again, a villa at Jasri burglarized by thief
IBP/File
The sign that says collapse road is seen on the side of Serongga-Abianbase border
Patchwork, the road at border of Serongga-Abianbase collapses againBali Post
GIANyAr - After collapsing a few months ago and was then repaired with patchwork by Gianyar Public Works, finally the road at the border between the Serongga and Abianbase village, Gianyar broke again. Even, the breakdown of road body oc-curred nearly along seven meters, with the width of two meters and the collapse spread around 15 centimeters.
3Monday, February 17, 201414 InternationalInternational Bali NewsLifestyle Monday, February 17, 2014
“Airports in Surabaya and Yogyakarta are still closed,” co-general manager of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Ardita said on Saturday.
The cancelled flights included those of Lion Air to Band-ung with flight number JT-905, Wings Air to Malang with flight numbers IW-1840 and IW-1823, Garuda Indonesia to Yogyakarta with flight number GA-253, Wings Air to Surabaya with flight number IW-1815, and Lion Air to Bandung with flight number JT-961.
The cancelled flights were not to have taken off from the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport between 01.00 p.m. and 03.30 p.m. local time.
The Air Asia flight which was originally planned to depart at 08.55 a.m. for Bandung has been rescheduled.
“We continue to ask for confirmation from the relevant airports and monitor the notice given by airmen,” he said.
Mount Kelud in Kediri district, East Java, erupted on Thursday night, leading to a temporary closure of seven airports and one airstrip on the Java Island.
The head of Data and Information Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in a statement on Saturday that the seven airports and one airstrip remain closed on Saturday, as of 10:00 am local time (GMT +7), due to volcanic ash from Mount Kelud.
The airports are Juanda (Surabaya), Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang), Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) besides the Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap.
IBP
DENPASAR - Tourist arrivals from year to year continues to increase. In Bali alone, Department of Tourism projecting foreign tourist and domestic tourists arrivals in 2014 as many as 3.5 million and 6.5 million people. Meanwhile, foreign tourists that visited Bali last year recorded around 3,278,697 people. This figure increased from previous year as many as 2,892,019 foreign tourists.
According to one of practitioners on online travel agent (OTA), Arnold Sebastian Egg, the existence of this condition make OTA a promising busi-ness. He said that in the middle of rapid advances in technology, people need something that can be easily accessed. OTA is one of tool that can be use by people when they want to book airplane ticket, hotel room, and tour package. “OTA is promising because people are now using online to book tickets and accommodation,” he explained.
The Director of Happyholiday.travel said Indonesia is a potential market for e-commerce businessmen. Especially, when viewed from the population, Indonesia has great potential of purchasing power. “Travelling, from domestic to international, are on great demand. The trend is travelers find their own tickets, hotels, and tour packages that they want to enjoy using online travel agent. This is why, OTA has bright prospects to move forward,” he said.
Arnold said to exist in the world of online travel agents, entrepreneur have to be active on promoting and cooperate with hotel managements around the world. He also mentioned about actively join on international tourism exhibition. Currently Happyholiday.travel already established cooperation with more than 200 thousand hotels around the world. “For now, we focus on accommodation. Yet if anyone is looking for a voucher to certain tourism destination that we can provide, we will serve them,” said Arnold.
Arnold assured tourism market still in peak condition so it’s perfect to be paired with OTA business. He emphasized the key to doing this business is patience. “We can’t expect a large profit by doing this business for one year. At least we have to work for 5-6 years,” he concluded. (kmb18)
ANTARA FOTO/Eric Ireng
Flights from the resort island of Bali to several destinations in Java were cancelled on Saturday in the wake of eruption of Mount Kelud on Thursday night.
On Saturday
Several flights to Java canceledAntara
KUTA - Flights from the resort island of Bali to sev-eral destinations in Java were cancelled on Saturday in the wake of eruption of Mount Kelud on Thursday night.
Tourism still promising OTA will be prospective business
IBP/Yudi Karnaedi
One of practitioners on online travel agent (OTA), Arnold Sebastian Egg, said the increase of tourist arrivals make OTA a promising business.
“Consumers are in a great position because of the amount of wine that is coming out of California,” said Erica Moyer of Riverbank, a grape and wine broker for Turrentine Brokerage in Novato. Wine grapes are one of California’s top commodities, a crop worth $3.16 billion last year, according to the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary figures show that the crop of red and white varieties combined weighed in at 4.23 million tons in 2013, up 5 percent from 4.02 million tons in 2012. The industry is well positioned to take advantage of the large crops, said Heidi Scheid, chairwoman of the winegrape growers’ association.
“After short crops in 2010 and 2011, growers delivered two remarkable vin-tages, with record-sized harvests and exceptional quality,” she said. While Napa County’s vineyards carry international cache, the San Joaquin Valley, stretching for 220 miles (354 kilometers) from Stockton to Bakersfield, is the U.S.’s most prolific grape-growing region and home to 44 percent of the state’s crop.
Along with raisins and table grapes, vast tracts of wine grapes are mechani-cally harvested for popular labels such as Gallo’s economy brands and Bronco’s popular Charles Shaw, aka Two Buck Chuck, and blended into higher end wines.
Large growers in the valley are poised to profit from the higher volumes, analysts said. “We had a good-quality harvest, and heavier than expected,” Fred Franzia, CEO of Bronco, said in an email. Bronco is California’s largest vineyard owner.
Associated Press Writer
RENO, Nevada — A big-game hunter from Montana is suing a Canadian outfitter and a world-renowned hunting guide in Tajikistan he accuses of turning his once-in-a-lifetime adventure of bagging a rare, wild argali sheep known as the “Marco Polo” into a nightmare. Rick Vukasin said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Reno last week that he spent more than $50,000 pursuing the animal in the Pamir mountains of northeast Tajikistan near China’s border in December 2012.
The 65-year-old electrician said he felt like he was literally on top of the world after he tracked, shot and killed a 400-pound (181-kilogram), big-horned ram with the coveted, spiraling horns at an elevation of 14,000 feet (4,267 meters). But he was mortified two months later when he opened up the box shipped to his home in Great Falls to find the horns were not the 58-inch (147.32-centimeter)-long ones from his trophy animal.
“I could tell right away,” Vukasin told The Associated Press. “I was sick.” The native Montanan who grew up hunting deer on the eastern front of the Northern Rockies had stalked moose in Saskatchewan and red stag elk in New Zealand.
“But the thing I really wanted to do was a Marco Polo sheep hunt,” he said. He poured over books, guides and websites before settling on the excursion halfway around the world. “The biggest of the species is in Tajikistan. So I figured if I was only going to be able to do this once, I’m going top shelf,” he said.
Vukasin and his guide, Yuri Matison, saw animals the first day but had dif-ficulty tracking them partly because it’s hard to breathe at that altitude, he said. But the next day he said he “felt lucky” to land a prize with a rack in “pretty good shape ... not all busted up from fighting.” The horns he ended up with are missing a few noticeable chips and weathered to the point he suspects they are at least two years old.
Vukasin said Matison and the booking outfitter — Ameri-Cana Expeditions Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta — first insisted the horns were the originals, then offered to send a replacement.
AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File
FILE - This Oct. 27, 2011, file photo shows a sign along Highway 29 welcoming visitors to the Napa Valley in Oakville, Calif. Napa Valley wine grape growers said Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, some vines are ripening early and that farmers are planning fewer crops to save water.
MODESTO, California — California agriculture officials reported good news for wine lovers and vineyard operators alike: a record harvest of wine grapes. Growers in America’s premier wine region brought in a bumper crop last year, thanks to expanded acreage and overall favorable weather. Wine brokers told The Modesto Bee that two back-to-back years of large harvests will mean wine aficionados should find plenty of bargain bottles on grocery store shelves.
AP Photo/Rick Vukasin
This Dec. 2012 photo provided by Rick Vukasin shows Vukasin, 65, of Great Falls, Mont., posing with a rare argali sheep known as the “Marco Polo’’ that he shot in the Pamir mountains of northeast Tajikistan near Karakul Lake along the Chinese border.
Hunter sues over alleged fraudulent big game hunt
Bali News International4 Monday, February 17, 2014 Monday, February 17, 2014 13International RLDW
President Giorgio Napolitano was likely to ask Renzi, the current mayor of Florence, to put together a government on Monday, a PD source told Reuters. The president completed consultations with par-ties on Saturday evening without announcing his preferred candidate. “It was an interesting and richly stimulating day in which I received many suggestions that I must pass on to the person who I ask to form a government,” Napolitano told re-porters after a full day of talks.
Renzi, whose PD is the largest party in parliament, would become the youngest leader in Italy’s 163-year history as a united country, younger even - by two months - than Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was when he took over in 1922. But before he can stake his claim on history and attempt to install Italy’s 65th government since World War Two, he must overcome institu-tional rituals and much political wheeling-and-dealing, a process likely to take several days.
After receiving a mandate from
the president, he will have to strike an accord with the small New Centre Right (NCD) party, whose support the PD needs to command a majority in the parliament of the euro zone’s third-largest economy.
The party, which split from scandal-plagued tycoon and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi last year, said it was ready to work with the centre-left on forming a new gov-ernment after meeting Napolitano. But it made it clear it would demand guarantees in areas from tax and jobs to family policy, meaning a new government may not be in place until next week.
“We have very clear and concrete ideas on what the policy platform must be. If the ambition of the new government is great, then we can-not do things in a rush,” said NCD leader Angelino Alfano, who saw no accord in “less than 48 hours”. Berlusconi, the centre-right leader booted out of parliament last year after a conviction for tax fraud, accompanied leaders of his Forza Italia party to meet the head of state
in the afternoon.The 77-year-old ex-premier said
his centre-right Forza Italia party would carry on a “responsible” op-position in parliament. Berlusconi also vowed to continue to support an accord on electoral and politi-cal reforms agreed with Renzi last month which created tensions within the coalition that the centre-left leader is about to take over.
After reaching a deal with parlia-mentary allies, Renzi must name the members of his cabinet, swear them in and then seek confidence votes in both houses of parliament.
He would become the third prime minister in a row nominated by Napolitano without having won an election. Letta was chosen to helm a right-left government after last year’s deadlocked election, and Mario Monti took over for Berlusconi during a burgeoning euro zone debt crisis in 2011. “If they think that this is democracy, we don’t agree,” said Vito Crimi, a leading member of the 5-Star Movement in the Senate.
Associated Press Writer
HANOI, Vietnam — Anti-China protesters hoping to lay wreaths at a famous statue in the Vietnamese capital on Sunday were obstructed by an unusual sight of ballroom dancers and an energetic aerobics class held to a thumping sound system. The demonstrators suspect the government deployed the dancers as a way to stop them from getting close to the statue and make their speeches inaudible. The few who tried to get close to the statue of Ly Thai To, the founder of Hanoi and a nationalist icon, were shooed away.
The protesters were marking the 35th anniversary of a bloody border war between China and Vietnam,
where anger over Beijing’s increas-ingly assertive territorial claims on islands in the South China Sea that Hanoi insists belong to it is already running high.
Relations with China, Vietnam’s ideological ally and major trading partner, are a highly sensitive domestic political issue for Hanoi’s rulers. They don’t want anger on the street against China to spread to other areas of its repressive rule.
Nguyen Quang A, a well-known dissident, and others attending the rally in Hanoi on Sunday said the govern-ment deployed the dancers at the statue of Ly Thai To, and at another statue nearby, to prevent them gathering there. The tactic appeared to be part of a low-key approach to policing the event to avoid confrontation. There were scores of plainclothes security officers at the rally, but very few wear-ing uniform. Quang said he asked the dancers to stop for a few minutes but that they refused.
Renzi set to become Italy’s youngest prime ministerReuters
ROME - Centre-left leader Matteo Renzi was set to be nominated as Italy’s youngest prime minister in a matter of days after a party coup forced Enrico Letta to resign as premier of the euro zone state strug-gling to pull out of recession. Letta bowed out on Friday after his Democratic Party (PD) forced him to step aside and make way for Renzi, 39, who is promising bold economic reforms and a government than can survive until 2018.
AP Photo/Fabrizio GiovannozziDemocratic Party leader Matteo Renzi, a Fiorentina supporter, attends a Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Inter Milan at the Ar-temio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Vietnam deploys dancers to foil protests
A Vietnamese couple ballroom dance close to a statue in the Vietnamese capital on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. AP Photos/Chris Brummitt
Bali Post
DENPASAR - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS), National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and UNFPA in 2010 mentioned that 30 percent (65 million) of Indonesia’s popula-tion belongs to 10-24 year group. Approxi-mately 15-20 percent of school-age teenagers in Indonesia have performed sexual intercourse. Meanwhile, a total of 2.3 million abortion cases occurred each year in which 20 percent of them involved teenagers.
It was revealed by Manager of the Dua Hati Foundation, Vicky Gerong, Wednesday (Feb 13). Early sexual behavior and the occurrence of abortion among teenagers would make them vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS infection so that they should get the attention from many parties.
To give attention to the problems faced by teenagers, it was then established the Indonesian Teenager Movement Caring for AIDS and Drugs (Geriphin) which aimed to make the Indone-sian teenagers strong, insightful, creative and independent. According to Vicky, as one of the steps to achieve these goals Geriphin started to organize a program known as One Thousand Rupiah Action Movement (Gaser). The event was held on Thursday (Feb 13) in the Secretariat of the AIDS Mitigation Commission (KPA) of Bali Chapter featuring This Time for Youth.
Gaser was organized for fundraising in order to support the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse among teenagers in Bali as well as to support the strategy of the AIDS Mitigation Commission of Bali Chapter to reach the zero new infection.
Added Vicky, the birth of Gaser program was based on the sense of concern about the high number of teenagers who were at risk of sexual behavior and drug abuse. Such behavior was also susceptible to HIV infection and sexually transmitted infection. “Teenagers are the future generation of the nation. On the other hand, the teenage is a period of transition between child-hood and adulthood being tumultuous in the search for identity,” said Vicky.
In social life, teenagers were always required to be a sociable person, follow the trend, fashion or lifestyle these days, so they could be accepted by the peers. Without being shielded with the faith and attention of families and communities, this demand could certainly plunge the teen into the wrong crowd.
Vicky explained, a series of events con-ducted were the presentation on Geriphin and Gaser, discussion and it was commenced by the willingness of participants that symbolically donated one thousand rupiahs. After that, it was resumed with the placement of donation box at some schools by teenagers coalescing into the members of the Geriphin organization. “This fundraising activity will be closed officially on December 1, 2014,” said Vicky.
The funds collected would be used to finance several programs for teenagers such as provision of scholarships for students originating in the underprivileged family, mentoring teenagers who had experienced sexual violence, futsal cup tournament for teenagers and teenager seminar on building strong, resourceful, creative and independent character. (san)
According to one of the residents of Sakah hamlet, Pemogan, I Ketut Badra, the tornado taking place about four minutes happened around 1:30 in the afternoon. At that time, he was taking a bath. Suddenly a strong wind hit his home hard enough. Before his surprise lost, dozens of roof tiles broke down. “We worried when see-ing many roof tiles were falling down,” said Badra while cleaning up the remnants of his roof tile fragments.
Other than the home of Badra, the tor-nado also affected the home of his family to damage. The damage was almost the same, namely the fall of roof tiles. “The house of my brother also suffered damage.
Even, his surya shrine also collapsed as toppled over by a fallen tree. Incidentally, the mango tree in the yard also collapsed and toppled over the surya shrine,” he explained.
The hamlet chief of Sakah, Pemogan, I Wayan Sujana, said that most damages occurred to the roof. On average, the dam-age occurred to the roof tile whose amount reached thousands of pieces. “Luckily, people quickly made self-improvement so that all the broken tiles could be replaced,” he said.
Related to funds, his party claimed if it had been done independently. For emergency case, his party also alerted the
fund owned by the local hamlet. “The im-provement is undertaken independently,” he explained.
Handling the disaster last Friday, it was also seen the officers of the Denpasar Re-gional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Sanitation and Landscaping Agency (DKP), South Denpasar Subdistrict Head AA Risnawan and the Chief of BPM I Made Mertajaya who directly made a visit to loca-tion. “The damage is not as severe as the one occurring at Pedungan not long ago,” said the South Denpasar Subdistrict Head.
Deputy Chairman of the Denpasar House, I Wayan Mariyana Wandhira, also directly made a visit to residents whose house was damaged. Meanwhile, a number of residents were also seen to be making mutual assistance to fix the damaged roof as hit by the high winds. “We are con-cerned if it is not immediately repaired it will be raining again,” said one of the residents. (kmb21)
Teenagers prone to HIV infection
IBP/FileThe house owner is repairing the damage due to the whirlwind
Whirlwind hits Pemogan
18 houses damaged, 3 shrines collapseBali Post
DENPASAR - Whirlwind disaster occurred again in South Denpasar. If previ-ously hitting Pedungan village, the tornado on Friday (Feb 14) hit the Sakah hamlet, Pemogan. At least 18 homes were damaged, especially their roof. In addition, three surya shrines also collapsed as hit by the tornado.
Bali News Monday, February 17, 2014 5InternationalMonday, February 17, 201412 International
Bali Post
DENPASAR - Distribution of subsidized diesel fuel to 500 fishing vessels at Benoa Harbor, Denpasar, has been sluggish since last month. Actually, about 7,500 vessel crews are ready to go hunting tuna. As an impact, the vessel crews are unem-ployed so far and if the condition is not quickly addressed, they are at risk of layoff.
“In the meeting on the subsidized fuel for fishermen on February 4, 2014 between the Directorate General of Oil and Gas, Director-ate General of Fisheries, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas) and Pertamina, it is agreed the vessels of 30 GT can use subsi-dized fuel. But the Pertamina here (Bali) has not dared to follow up the deal. They argue the letter of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency dated January 15, 2014 about the policy of not distributing subsidized fuel to vessels over 30 GT has not been revoked. This condition is very burdensome to us,” said Central Executive Chairman of the Indo-nesian Tuna Long Line Association (ATLI), Hendrik Kosasih.
Hendrik accompanied by his Secretary General, Dwi Agus Siswa Putra, added that since three months
ago hundreds of vessels had not dared to go to sea because of bad weather. At that time, the vessel crews chose to return home.
Since January 2014, the weather had been getting fine and they began to come into the harbor. Unfor-tunately, the vessel crews mostly coming from outside of Bali could not go to sea because there was no fuel supply. Hundreds of vessels were parked at the western part of the harbor. Other than causing damage, the persistent friction of vessels’ body was feared to cause fire.
“This has something to do with survival. We worry if their patience runs out, we as entrepreneurs also suffer substantial losses because they cannot get fish catch and can-not cover their consumption. Our losses can reach billions of rupi-ahs,” said Hendrik.
In addition, the fish processing factories were also idle. According to Dwi Agus, there had been fish processing company that com-plained. Other than the companies were dormant, their employees were also unemployed. “The impact of fuel is wide enough. If they are too long idle, this can kindle a mas-sive layoff,” he said.
This problem also had an impact
on the export of tuna, particularly to Japan. “Automatically, there is no fish export because so far our vessel
cannot sail. Hopefully, Pertamina could immediately follow up the agreement and the fuel can be sup-
plied to Benoa Harbor. I also have reported this issue to central gov-ernment,” said Dwi Agus. (rah)
“There are indications show-ing he may be part of a Nigerian international syndicate,” Chief of Customs Office for Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Rahmat Subagio said.
He stated the suspect, Stephen Henri Lubbe (58), was believed to have been paid to smuggle the illegal stuff into the resort island.
However, relevant officers are still investigating the case, ques-tioning his role and investigating possible other actors behind the narcotic smuggling attempt.
Lubbe, known to be an electri-cian, was caught by the security officers on Sunday (Feb 9) at 01.00 AM shortly after disem-barking from Hong Kong Air-lines Flight HX 6705, serving the Hong Kong-Denpasar route.
He said he had concealed the contraband in his grey suitcase.
“An X-ray screening showed
something suspicious in his suitcase, following which our officers found inside the grey suitcase white crystal substance wrapped in a plastic. We then examined it and it was later proven to be narcotic stuff,” he said.
Subagio further explained that in the black market, the price of the meth is estimated at around Rp2 million per gram.
“Based on our calculations, the total value of the meth is about Rp3 billion,” he said.
Bali’s customs office then handed over the suspect to the Bali Regional Police for further investigation.
Lubbe is believed to have vio-lated Article 113 of Law Number 35 of 2009 relating to narcotics.
If convicted, he may face a minimum sentence of five years, and a maximum one of 20 years in jail.
Customs foils attemp to smuggle 1,540 grams of methaphetamine
ANTARA FOTO/Nyoman BudhianaCustoms officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,540 grams of methamphetamine into the island by a South African national.
Antara
KUTA - Customs officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,540 grams of meth-amphetamine into the island by a South African national.
Fuel sluggish, thousands of vessel crews at risk of layoff
ANTARA FOTO/Oky LukmansyahDistribution of subsidized diesel fuel to 500 fishing vessels at Benoa Harbor, Denpasar, has been slug-gish since last month. Actually, about 7,500 vessel crews are ready to go hunting tuna.
Agence France-Presse
SHANGHAI - China’s bank lending surged in January from December, the central bank said, but analysts attributed the rise to seasonal factors.
Loans by Chinese banks reached around 1.3 trillion yuan ($216 billion) in January, up 246.9 billion yuan from the same month a year ago, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement late Saturday.
In December, banks granted just 482.5 billion yuan in new loans, previous figures
showed.The January lending figure beat the
1.1 trillion yuan median forecast by 11 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Social financing, a broader measure of credit in the economy than lending alone, rose 39.9 billion yuan year-on-year to 2.6 trillion yuan in January, the central bank said.
But analysts said Chinese banks tend to lend more at the beginning of the year after being granted their annual lending
quotas, and they expect the government to keep a grip on credit due to worries over financial risk.
“This is a common occurrence at the beginning of the year and we do not believe it reflects any shift in policy,” research firm Capital Economics said.
“On the contrary, with policymakers concerned about credit risks, we think that tight monetary conditions are probably here to stay and that this will continue to weigh on credit growth,” it said in a report.
China’s central bank pumped funds
into the money market last month to ease a liquidity squeeze that rattled financial markets before the Chinese New Year holiday.
Demand for funds traditionally increases before the week-long holiday, which began on January 31 this year, as companies pay salaries, year-end bonuses and other obliga-tions while individuals withdraw cash for gifts and shopping.
But the government worries a credit binge could cause bad debts to rise and ex-pose the financial system to greater risk.
So-called “regional” jets -- short to medium-haul aircraft that gen-erally seat under 100 passengers -- were among the best-sellers at the Singapore Airshow which ended at the weekend.
Jimmy Lau, managing director of show organiser Experia Events, said demand for smaller aircraft will rise as Asia’s burgeoning middle class sustains the growth in air travel that began in metropolitan areas.
“The people who will be likely making good inroads are the Em-braers and the Bombardiers who will be selling their smaller regional jets to countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia,” Lau told reporters as the Airshow ended with deals total-ling a record $32 billion.
Embraer, the Brazilian plane maker, forecasts that Asia-Pacific carriers will take delivery of 1,500 new jets in the 70- to 130-seat seg-ment over the next 20 years, with a total value of $70 billion. This would represent nearly 20 percent of global demand.
Canada’s Bombardier expects the region to get one-third of the 12,800 aircraft in the 20 to 150-seat segment it forecasts to be delivered world-wide in the next two decades.
The company’s vice president for marketing Philippe Poutissou told AFP that Bombardier sold almost 80 percent of its planes to Western countries in the past.
Four-month-old Indian carrier Air Costa sprang the biggest surprise at the event when it ordered 50 E-Jets E2 planes from Brazilian manufac-turer Embraer worth $2.94 billion, with purchase rights for 50 more.
Air Costa wants to connect cities in southern India such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Vijayawa-da, as well as key secondary cities in the country’s north and northwest.
“Our philosophy is that we believe that 70 percent of the population, of the huge 1.2 billion population in In-dia, still reside in these non-metros,” Air Costa chief financial officer Vivek Choudhary said.
Bangkok Airways, which de-scribes itself as a “boutique” airline that serves popular tourist destina-tions in the country as well as the Maldives, Laos and Cambodia, ordered six 72-600 planes from Eu-ropean plane maker ATR for $150 million.
Thai budget carrier Nok Air or-dered two Q4 100 aircraft -- which can seat 70-80 passengers -- from Bombardier to help it expand into smaller cities in Thailand and neigh-bouring countries, and may buy six more.
Nok Air chief executive Patee Sarasin said the airline’s strategy is to use 33-seater planes to penetrate small towns and stimulate air travel, and then to increase frequency or use bigger aircraft as demand rises.
“There are so many airports in Thailand that are underutilised and so many towns that are underdevel-oped in terms of the flying experi-ence,” Patee said.
Poutissou of Bombardier said his company is also aiming at a slightly larger aircraft class with its C Series of planes that can seat up to 150 passengers, competing directly with popular single-aisle planes made by Boeing and Airbus.
China bank lending surges in January
Smaller planes in demand as Asia travel boom deepens
AP Photo/Francois Mori, FileIn this June 20, 2013 file photo, an Airbus A380 performs its demonstration flight during the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris. Smaller passenger planes are increasingly in demand in Asia as budget carriers cash in on the region’s growing middle classes by expanding their reach to less prominent cities, industry executives say.
Agence France-Presse
SINGAPORE - Smaller passenger planes are increasingly in demand in Asia as budget carriers cash in on the region’s growing middle classes by expanding their reach to less prominent cities, industry executives say.
BUSINESS
Monday, February 17, 2014 Monday, February 17, 20146 11International International
INDONESIAW RLD
After removing his shoes out-side the Istiqlal mosque in the heart of Jakarta, Kerry walked through the vast building ac-companied by grand imam Kyai al-Hajj Ali Mustafa Yaqub.
Calling it an “extraordinary place”, the top US diplomat told Indonesian reporters: “I am very privileged to be here and I am grateful to the grand imam for allowing me to come.”
The administrat ion of US President Barack Obama has worked hard to try to repair re-lations with the Muslim world, which were badly frayed under the previous administration with
the 2003 invasion of Iraq.The United States and other
Western powers have often re-ferred to Indonesia -- the world’s third biggest democracy -- as a bridge to the Muslim world.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, also visited the mosque in 2010 when he trav-elled to the archipelago.
In signing a note to be placed in the mosque’s guestbook, Kerry wrote: “It has been a special hon-our to visit this remarkable place of worship.
“The amazing space and light and the extraordinary dome are the perfect way to welcome prayers.
“We are all bound to one God and the Abrahamic faiths tie us... together in love for our fellow man and honour for the same God. May peace be with you.”
The Istiqlal mosque was com-missioned in 1961 by the then-Indonesian leader Sukarno and took 17 years to complete.
Its vast 12 columns hold up an impressive green dome, and at Ramadan it is often packed to capacity with space for some 130,000 worshippers.
Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 250 million people identify as Muslims, and most practise a moderate form of Islam.
Agence France-Presse
JAKARTA - More than 100 Islam-ic hardliners slammed the Indonesian government Friday for approving Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby’s parole from jail, saying the convicted drug mule should receive the death penalty.
Corby, 36, was released from prison on the holiday island of Bali on Monday after a drawn-out application that took more than a year finally led to her release.
The crowd of mostly men from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other hardline groups gathered in the capital Jakarta demanding Corby’s parole be revoked, saying the justice minister “should be ashamed” for green-lighting her freedom.
“This person brings marijuana into our country and is freed? That is simply unjust. Where are our rights?” senior FPI member Haji Awit Masy-huri told AFP at the protest.
“She should have been given the death penalty -- all drug traffickers
should,” he said, adding that the Indonesian government had shown special treatment for Corby because she was Australian.
A speaker on a megaphone shout-ed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was “bowing down to Australia” when he granted Corby a five-year sentence cut in 2012, paving the way for her eligibility for parole.
“Drugs are not our culture. That’s Australia’s culture. In Indonesia drugs means the death penalty -- why did we free her?” the protester shouted, to which others replied “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater), before marching to the presidential palace.
The protesters also repeated past demands that the president issue a decree banning the sale of alcohol, claiming that alcohol consumption leads to increased HIV rates, crime and road accidents.
Corby was arrested in 2004 when customs officials found 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana in her body board bag.
AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, Pool
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, tours the Istiqlal Mosque with Grand Imam K.H. Ali Mustafa Yaqub on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, in Jakarta.
Kerry visits largest mosque in Southeast AsiaAgence France-Presse
JAKARTA - US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Southeast Asia’s largest mosque during his visit to Indonesia Sunday, paying tribute to Islam in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Islamists protest parole for Australian drug mule Corby
Buddha Issara said the govern-ment was using a request to reopen roads as an excuse to crack down on protesters. “If there is blood loss...will the authorities take responsibility? Or will you blame it on provocateurs?,” Buddha Issara asked police represen-tatives. Speaking to the monk during a televised video conference, Naret Nanthachot, commissioner of Provin-cial Police Region 1, said police would not use force.
“I am asking for your kindness and understanding...tens of thousands of people are frustrated each day by their inability to use roads,” said Naret. Both sides agreed to talk at a later date.
Hundreds of riot police began an operation to reclaim key intersections and state buildings in Bangkok on Friday in what authorities said would be a slow operation to take back areas that have been occupied by protesters for several weeks. Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, who is charge of the operation, said the government would continue with its operation and
try to reclaim five protest sites next week. “This gathering has caused dis-tress to others...that’s why we have to reclaim the sites starting next week,” Chalerm said at a news conference on Sunday.
The security operation has so far avoided larger sites in the city centre occupied by the main protest group, the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), focusing instead on state offices on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Authorities say the protest move-ment is dwindling in size, giving security forces an opportunity to try to re-open major thoroughfares and remove barricades that have blocked access to ministries and prevented the government from functioning fully. Security forces put up little resistance when protesters moved to occupy ministries and major intersections over the past few months, but despite efforts to show restraint 11 people have been killed and hundreds hurt in sporadic violence since the protests began in November.
DEEPER CRISIS
The protests are the latest episode in an eight-year conflict that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and roy-alist establishment against supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. An elec-tion on February 2 failed to break the deadlock. Protesters, aligned with the opposition Democrat Party, blocked voting in a fifth of constituencies, a result that left parliament without a quorum to approve a new govern-ment.
The protesters are demanding that Yingluck resign to make way for an appointed “people’s council” to overhaul a political system they say has been tainted by her brother, who lives in exile abroad to avoid a jail term for graft.
Thailand’s Election Commission will meet with government represen-tatives on Monday to discuss how to complete voting that has been marred by violence and resistance from pro-testers.
Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal — A Nepal Airlines plane with 18 people on board flying in bad weather is missing in Nepal’s mountainous west. Ram Hari Sharma of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the plane left Sunday from the resort town of Pokhara after making an unscheduled fuel stop, but that contact was lost a few minutes later.
The Twin Otter plane had 15 passengers and three crew members on board and was heading toward the town of Jumla. It has been snowing this weekend in parts of the mountainous region, and vis-ibility has been low due to fog.
A rescue helicopter was trying to reach the area where contact with the plane was lost, but the weather conditions were making it difficult.
Reuters
JACKSONVILLE, Fla - A Florida jury convicted a white, middle-aged man on Saturday of three counts of attempted murder for opening fire on a car of black teenagers during an argument over loud rap music, but could not reach a verdict on a murder charge for the killing of a 17-year-old in the car. Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old software engineer, fired 10 rounds at a vehicle carrying four teens in a Jacksonville gas station parking lot in November 2012, killing black teen Jordan Davis.
The jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of first-degree murder against Dunn, forcing Judge Russell Healey to declare a mis-trial on that count. The failure to reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge is a blow for the prosecution and the Davis family. But Dunn still faces at least 60 years in jail for the attempted murder convictions against the three other teens, legal analysts said.
Prosecutors told a press conference after the verdicts were read that they plan to retry Dunn, who has been in jail since his arrest in 2012, on the first-degree murder charge. The jury also found Dunn guilty on a fifth count of firing into an occupied vehicle.
The trial has drawn international attention because of racial overtones and Dunn’s claims of self-defense. The case has drawn comparisons to the self-defense trial of George Zimmerman, the former central Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted last year of murder in the shooting of an unarmed, black 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin.
Attorney Cory Strolla said Dunn and his family are devastated by the four guilty verdicts. “He never saw it coming, not one bit,” Strolla said. Dunn, who had no prior convictions, testified earlier this week that he began shooting in a state of panic after he thought he saw the barrel of a gun in the back window as Davis started to get out of the car.
Prosecutors said Davis, who had no arrest record, had used foul language when confronting Dunn after the argument broke out, but was unarmed and never posed a physical threat. “The self-defense argument made some headway. The jury, or some of them, believed he saw a muzzle of a gun,” said David Weinstein, a former state prosecutor, now in private practice in Miami.
Mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines in Florida for crimes committed with a gun mean that Dunn faces 20 years for each of the three counts of his conviction.
“It has been a long, long road and we’re so very happy to have just a little bit of closure,” Davis’ teary mother, Lucy McBath, told reporters. “It’s sad for Mr. Dunn that he will live the rest of his life in that sense of torment. I will pray for him,” she said.
REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
Anti-government protesters have their lunch in front of a barricade during a rally near the Government Complex in Bangkok February 16, 2014.
Thai police fail to reach deal with protestersReuters
BANGKOK - Thai police and a prominent protest leader failed to reach a deal on Sunday to reopen state offices and roads in Bangkok that have been occupied for months by protesters seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Talks with Buddhist monk Luang Pu Buddha Issara, a protest leader, failed to free up an occupied government complex in the north of the capital as a third day of a security operation designed to retake sites occupied by protesters drew to a close.
Plane with 18 people missing in Nepal’s
mountains
Florida man faces 60 years in prison for shooting teens over loud music
Monday, February 17, 2014 7SportsMonday, February 17, 201410 InternationalInternationalDestination
IBP/File Photo
IBP
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, North-ern Badung, The way down to the source of the water is about 50 meters and used to be very dif-ficult 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 wa-terfalls 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.
Nungnung, Fresh Falls
Answering Sacramento rookie Ben Mc-Lemore’s dunk in which he leaped over Shaquille O’Neal seated in a king’s throne, Wall took the ball from over the head of the Wizards mascot, brought it between his legs and slammed down a reverse dunk. “It was only my second time doing it. My first time was on Thursday,” Wall said. “So I just felt comfortable with myself and I knew it was a dunk that hasn’t been done before.”
Judges Dominique Wilkins, Magic John-son and Julius Erving all gave the victory to Wall in his matchup, after previously voting for George over Golden State’s Harrison Barnes, and defending champion Ross over Portland’s Damian Lillard.
Earlier, San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 3-point contest, and Lillard and Utah rookie Trey Burke won the skills chal-lenge to give the Western Conference two victories on the night. Miami’s Chris Bosh, Wilkins and WNBA star Swin Cash won the night’s first event for the East, the shooting stars contest.
The NBA tried to jazz up All-Star Saturday for its return to New Orleans, with a number
of tweaks to the format. The biggest was in the dunk contest, which was broken into two parts. The first was the freestyle portion, where the teams had 90 seconds to execute as many dunks as they could, before the three 1-on-1 matchups in the battle format.
McLemore came out wearing a king’s robe and was trailed by O’Neal, a new minority owner of the Sacramento Kings. McLemore made it over O’Neal’s throne on his second attempt, and the 15-time All-Star center presented him with a crown. Moments later, however, Wall was the real king. “The slam dunk has returned,” said Erving, one of the NBA’s most famed dunkers.
Belinelli needed to win a tiebreaker in the 3-point contest to beat the Wizards’ Bradley Beal. Beal had made his final six shots, includ-ing two “money balls” worth two points each, to tie Belinelli’s final-round score of 19. The Italian then racked up an event-high score of 24 for the win.
“I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and I think that I shot like two airballs,” Be-linelli said. “But in the end I was focused. I really cared about this trophy.”
Associated Press Writer
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic dominated women’s snowboard-cross on Sunday, posting three wire-to-wire victories on her way to Olympic gold. The 20-year-old Samkova was easily the fastest in qualifying and never trailed in the elimination rounds, her board pulling her well clear of the madness behind her.
Dominique Maltais of Canada earned her second Olympic medal by grabbing silver. Chloe Trespeuch of France earned bronze. Lindsey Jacobellis of the U.S. failed to make it to the medal round. She was leading in her semifinal race when she crashed near the end of the slushy course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Jacobellis recovered to win the consolation
final.It marked the third straight disappointing Olympic
finish for the eight-time X Games winner. Jacobellis had gold in her hand in Turin in 2006 only to fall while attempting a fancy grab with a big lead in the final. She recovered for silver. Four years ago in Vancouver, Jacobellis was in the semifinals when she washed out early in her run.
Even if Jacobellis managed to remain upright, it would have been hard for her to catch Samkova, who wore a camera on her helmet to capture the action. The footage proved to be pretty boring.
At no point during snowboarding’s version of NA-SCAR did she appear to be in any trouble. She was the fastest in qualifying by nearly a full second over Jacobellis and appeared only to get faster as the day wore on.
The flag of her home country painted just above her lip, Samkova gave one quick peek back to the field in the finals. No worries, Maltais was well behind. Samkova thrust her arms into the air after crossing the finish line then started a giddy celebration. She threw her board toward the flower stand before receiving hugs from her fellow competitors.
Samkova streaks to gold in women’s snowboardcross
Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova reacts after her seeding run during women’s snowboard cross competition at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
Wall leads East to All-Star dunk triumph
AP Photo/Gerald HerbertJohn Wall of the Washington Capitals participates in the slam dunk contest during the skills competition at the NBA All Star basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in New Orleans.
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS — John Wall soared over his own mascot as the East stomped on the West in the slam dunk contest at the NBA’s All-Star Saturday. Wall’s sensational slam finished off a clean sweep for the Washington Wizards star and his Eastern Conference teammates, Indiana’s Paul George and Toronto’s Terrence Ross, in the contest’s new battle format.
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Barcelona’s big win, which includ-ed the scoring return of Neymar after a monthlong injury absence, came three days before it visits Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
While two of the league’s top teams thrilled their fans, a device thrown onto the pitch at El Madrigal released noxious smoke, forcing the match to be temporarily interrupted in the 87th minute with Celta win-ning 1-0 after Fabian Orellana’s goal four minutes before. Fans and players streamed out of the stadium to avoid the irritating effects of the smoke.
Reuters
Inter Milan’s Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi struck in a 2-1 win at Fiorentina on Saturday to secure their struggling side’s first away victory in Serie A since early November. Inter’s second win in a row moves Walter Maz-zarri’s fifth-placed side to 39 points, within five of their hosts and eight adrift of Napoli who are third and visit Sassuolo on Sunday.
Palacio poked home his 11th goal of the season in the 34th minute and fellow Argentine Icardi came off the bench to sweep home Yuti Nagatomo’s cross with a deft finish after 65 minutes.
Icardi’s winner came after the lively Juan Cuadrado levelled for Fiorentina with a deflected shot seconds after the break, the 20-year-old Inter striker deemed just onside to score three minutes after replacing compatriot Diego Milito. Fiore substitute Ales-sandro Matri almost grabbed an equaliser at the death when he screwed the ball wide from close range but Inter held on to pick up all three points. “I think Inter deserved to lead in the first half. They played better than us,” said Fiore coach Vincenzo Montella.
“But that changed in the sec-ond half when we had the match in our hands after equalising, and we objectively suffered some bad luck,” he added referring to Icardi’s controversial goal.
Fiorentina missed a chance to move level with Napoli, who oc-cupy the last Champions League qualifying place, after a disap-pointing display that even the return of striker Mario Gomez off the bench after five months out could not salvage. Inter’s victory also moved them three points ahead of surprise package Hellas Verona.
IMPROVEMENT NEEDED
“We were brilliant today but we risked throwing it all away because we wasted so much in the first half, and if you do that at teams like Fiorentina anything can happen,” said Mazzarri. “We need to improve. Playing well for me doesn’t mean giving your opponents opportunities. If we had put our chances away in the first half then it would have been a more convincing result and we wouldn’t have suffered.”
Inter were far the better side in the first half and, had Milito not twice shot weakly on the counter with better options to his left the
visitors may have reached the break with a bigger lead than that given to them by Palacio. The Argentine neatly took down Fredy Guarin’s chipped through ball and toed the opener past on-rushing keeper Neto to score his first goal since winning the Milan derby with a dramatic late strike before the winter break.
“The important thing is that we won, we played really well and we’re all happy. We need to carry on playing like this,” said Palacio, who hit the post before opening the scoring. “It won’t be easy getting a place at the World Cup, Argentina has some great attackers. I can only do my best here at Inter and then we’ll see.”
The home side came out fir-ing in the second half and im-mediately grabbed an equaliser when Cuadrado’s weak shot was deflected off Juan Jesus and squirmed under keeper Samir Handanovic’s hand.
But Inter always looked dan-gerous on the break and grabbed a precious win with Icardi’s strike to end an awful run of away results and keep alive their slim hopes of finishing third and securing a Champions League qualifying place for next sea-son.
Associated Press Writer BERLIN — Bayern Munich
stretched its Bundesliga lead to 16 points with a comfortable 4-0 win over Freiburg on Saturday, while Hamburger SV fired its coach after losing 4-2 at bottom side Eintra-cht Braunschweig. Dante headed Bayern into a 19th-minute lead and Xherdan Shaqiri scored with de-flected shots in the 34th and 42nd. Claudio Pizarro completed the rout in the 88th as Bayern stretched its league record unbeaten run to 46
Reuters
CUIABA, Brazil - An October fire at a Brazil-ian World Cup stadium caused far more damage than previously reported, according to a report by local prosecutors obtained by Reuters, rais-ing questions about whether the stadium will be ready for the competition and why government officials have insisted the blaze was minor.
State officials overseeing construction of the still-unfinished Arena Pantanal in the western city of Cuiabá, which is among 12 Brazilian cit-ies scheduled to host games, have long said the Oct. 25 fire wasn’t a major cause for concern.
However, an 18-page report prepared in December by the Mato Grosso state Public Ministry, an independent judicial body similar to the district attorney’s office in the United States, warned that the blaze caused “structural damage” that “could compromise the overall stability of the construction.”
The report was delivered in December to the state agency overseeing the stadium’s construc-tion, the Extraordinary Secretariat for the World
Cup, or Secopa. State prosecutors provided Reuters with access to the document, whose content has not been previously disclosed to the public.
It is unclear whether the damage described in the report has since been fixed. Prosecutors are scheduled to conduct a follow-up inspection of the fire site next Thursday, and they said they hoped the disclosure of the report’s contents would lead local officials to be more cooperative and transparent than they have until now. Mato Grosso state government officials continue to say that the fire did not cause structural damage.
“It has been impossible to get good informa-tion to this point,” said Clovis de Almeida, a prosecutor at the Public Ministry. “We will make sure that no games occur (at the stadium) until the safety is completely guaranteed.”
Under Brazil’s complex legal system, the Public Ministry has a preventive role in addition to its prosecutorial mandate. Almeida is part of a special unit of prosecutors charged with monitoring the state government’s actions as it prepares for the Cup.
Reuters
LONDON - Liverpool winger Ra-heem Sterling’s outstanding form has made the teenager a strong contender for a place at this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil, said England manager Roy Hodgson. After making his debut away to Sweden in 2012, Sterling, 19, was left out by England and his club but since being restored to Liverpool’s first team he has again impressed Hodgson.
“He lost his place for a while and wasn’t on the radar to quite the same extent,” said Hodgson. “Then I was very impressed with him in an England under-21 game and since he got back into the Liverpool team his form seems to be going up and up.” England seem certain to be without injured Arsenal winger Theo Walcott for the World Cup but Hodgson believes they are “awash” with potential replacements.
As well as Sterling, he mentioned
Walcott’s club mate Alex Oxlade-Cham-berlain, Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Wilfried Zaha (on loan to Cardiff City from Manchester United) and Nathan Redmond (Norwich City).
Another youngster who has forced his way into contention is 18-year-old Southampton left back Luke Shaw, now challenging the more experienced pair of Ashley Cole, who has not been play-ing regularly for Chelsea, and Everton’s Leighton Baines. “I’m satisfied with the two left backs I’ve got but I also think that Luke Shaw is a player who could quite easily play for England today,” Hodgson said.
The England manager, who has travelled to Brazil to inspect facilities in Manaus where his side start in Group D against Italy on June 14, is expected to name Sterling and Shaw in his squad for the friendly at home to Denmark on March 5.
Improving Inter chalk up 2-1 win at Fiorentina
AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi
Inter Milan’s Hernanes, left, vies for the ball with Fiorentina’s Matias Fernandez during a Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Inter Milan, at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Bayern’s Dante of Brazil, left, and goalkeeper Man-uel Neuer celebrate after scoring during the Ger-man first division Bundes-liga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and SC Freiburg in Munich, Ger-many, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Unbeaten Bayern Munich stretches Bundesliga lead
games.“It’s always hard when the whole
world says you have to win,” said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola after his side’s 13th consecutive Bundes-liga victory. Guardiola rested several players with an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Arsenal.
But Shaqiri will miss the game after tearing a muscle at the back of his right thigh in the second half. French winger Franck Ribery was already out after undergoing surgery on a burst blood vessel in his buttock. Second-place Bayer Leverkusen lost 2-1 at home to Schalke, which was on a four-game winning streak. Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka won the ball from Lars Bender, lifted it over an incoming defender’s challenge and chipped the goalkeeper in the 28th.
Leverkusen equalized in the 66th after Schalke defender Felipe Santana cleared off the line but conceded an own goal from the
resulting corner. The home side was left to rue several missed chances when Klaas Jan Huntelaar headed a free kick inside the far post in the 74th.
Leverkusen was knocked out of the German Cup by second-division Kaiserslautern on Wednesday and next faces Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League on Tuesday.
“We played the better football, I feel for the team,” Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia said. “If we play like this on Tuesday I’ll be happy. We showed a lot of character.”
AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
Bayern’s Dante of Brazil, left, and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer celebrate after scoring during the German first division Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and SC Freiburg in Mu-nich, Germany, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
Brazil World Cup stadium was structurally damaged by fire
Sterling’s form has boosted his World Cup chances-Hodgson
FC Barcelona’s Neymar, from Brazil, reacts after scoring against
Rayo Vallecano during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain,
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Messi scores 2 in Barca’s 6-0 rout of RayoAssociated Press Writer
BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up another to help Barcelona brush aside Rayo Vallecano 6-0 and keep its share of the Spanish league lead on Saturday, while a smoke bomb with tear gas forced an evacuation during Villarreal’s 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid beat Valladolid 3-0 as Diego Simeone’s side and Barcelona opened up a three-point advantage over Real Madrid before it plays at Getafe on Sunday.
After a 20-minute delay, the game was restarted and Celta’s Manuel “Nolito” Agudo scored from a free kick in the 90th.
Villarreal president Fernando Roig said police were looking for the per-son who threw the bomb. He said the device released tear gas. Barcelona punished a visiting Rayo side intent on trying to deploy a similar precision passing attack and was unfortunate to head into halftime only up 2-0 from Adriano’s second-minute opener and Messi’s lob in the 36th.
The Camp Nou hosts found their finishing touch in the second half, as
Messi struck again before assisting Alexis Sanchez, with Pedro Rodriguez and Neymar also adding goals.
Messi’s double left him with 228 goals in league play, giving him one more than Alfredo Di Stefano and tying him with Raul Gonzalez as the competition’s third all-time leading scorer. The 26-year-old Messi reached the mark in 263 league games, while Raul needed 550. Former Athletic Bilbao star Telmo Zarra holds the re-cord with 251 goals in 277 games in the 1940s-50s.
“Messi will surpass all the records he sets out to break,” Barcelona coach
Gerardo Martino said. “He will lose count. We are in the presence of a kind of player that only comes round every 30 or 40 years.” The Argentina forward appears to have regained his full fitness following a two-month injury layoff, with four goals in his last two games.
AP Photo/M
anu Fernandez
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Barcelona’s big win, which includ-ed the scoring return of Neymar after a monthlong injury absence, came three days before it visits Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
While two of the league’s top teams thrilled their fans, a device thrown onto the pitch at El Madrigal released noxious smoke, forcing the match to be temporarily interrupted in the 87th minute with Celta win-ning 1-0 after Fabian Orellana’s goal four minutes before. Fans and players streamed out of the stadium to avoid the irritating effects of the smoke.
Reuters
Inter Milan’s Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi struck in a 2-1 win at Fiorentina on Saturday to secure their struggling side’s first away victory in Serie A since early November. Inter’s second win in a row moves Walter Maz-zarri’s fifth-placed side to 39 points, within five of their hosts and eight adrift of Napoli who are third and visit Sassuolo on Sunday.
Palacio poked home his 11th goal of the season in the 34th minute and fellow Argentine Icardi came off the bench to sweep home Yuti Nagatomo’s cross with a deft finish after 65 minutes.
Icardi’s winner came after the lively Juan Cuadrado levelled for Fiorentina with a deflected shot seconds after the break, the 20-year-old Inter striker deemed just onside to score three minutes after replacing compatriot Diego Milito. Fiore substitute Ales-sandro Matri almost grabbed an equaliser at the death when he screwed the ball wide from close range but Inter held on to pick up all three points. “I think Inter deserved to lead in the first half. They played better than us,” said Fiore coach Vincenzo Montella.
“But that changed in the sec-ond half when we had the match in our hands after equalising, and we objectively suffered some bad luck,” he added referring to Icardi’s controversial goal.
Fiorentina missed a chance to move level with Napoli, who oc-cupy the last Champions League qualifying place, after a disap-pointing display that even the return of striker Mario Gomez off the bench after five months out could not salvage. Inter’s victory also moved them three points ahead of surprise package Hellas Verona.
IMPROVEMENT NEEDED
“We were brilliant today but we risked throwing it all away because we wasted so much in the first half, and if you do that at teams like Fiorentina anything can happen,” said Mazzarri. “We need to improve. Playing well for me doesn’t mean giving your opponents opportunities. If we had put our chances away in the first half then it would have been a more convincing result and we wouldn’t have suffered.”
Inter were far the better side in the first half and, had Milito not twice shot weakly on the counter with better options to his left the
visitors may have reached the break with a bigger lead than that given to them by Palacio. The Argentine neatly took down Fredy Guarin’s chipped through ball and toed the opener past on-rushing keeper Neto to score his first goal since winning the Milan derby with a dramatic late strike before the winter break.
“The important thing is that we won, we played really well and we’re all happy. We need to carry on playing like this,” said Palacio, who hit the post before opening the scoring. “It won’t be easy getting a place at the World Cup, Argentina has some great attackers. I can only do my best here at Inter and then we’ll see.”
The home side came out fir-ing in the second half and im-mediately grabbed an equaliser when Cuadrado’s weak shot was deflected off Juan Jesus and squirmed under keeper Samir Handanovic’s hand.
But Inter always looked dan-gerous on the break and grabbed a precious win with Icardi’s strike to end an awful run of away results and keep alive their slim hopes of finishing third and securing a Champions League qualifying place for next sea-son.
Associated Press Writer BERLIN — Bayern Munich
stretched its Bundesliga lead to 16 points with a comfortable 4-0 win over Freiburg on Saturday, while Hamburger SV fired its coach after losing 4-2 at bottom side Eintra-cht Braunschweig. Dante headed Bayern into a 19th-minute lead and Xherdan Shaqiri scored with de-flected shots in the 34th and 42nd. Claudio Pizarro completed the rout in the 88th as Bayern stretched its league record unbeaten run to 46
Reuters
CUIABA, Brazil - An October fire at a Brazil-ian World Cup stadium caused far more damage than previously reported, according to a report by local prosecutors obtained by Reuters, rais-ing questions about whether the stadium will be ready for the competition and why government officials have insisted the blaze was minor.
State officials overseeing construction of the still-unfinished Arena Pantanal in the western city of Cuiabá, which is among 12 Brazilian cit-ies scheduled to host games, have long said the Oct. 25 fire wasn’t a major cause for concern.
However, an 18-page report prepared in December by the Mato Grosso state Public Ministry, an independent judicial body similar to the district attorney’s office in the United States, warned that the blaze caused “structural damage” that “could compromise the overall stability of the construction.”
The report was delivered in December to the state agency overseeing the stadium’s construc-tion, the Extraordinary Secretariat for the World
Cup, or Secopa. State prosecutors provided Reuters with access to the document, whose content has not been previously disclosed to the public.
It is unclear whether the damage described in the report has since been fixed. Prosecutors are scheduled to conduct a follow-up inspection of the fire site next Thursday, and they said they hoped the disclosure of the report’s contents would lead local officials to be more cooperative and transparent than they have until now. Mato Grosso state government officials continue to say that the fire did not cause structural damage.
“It has been impossible to get good informa-tion to this point,” said Clovis de Almeida, a prosecutor at the Public Ministry. “We will make sure that no games occur (at the stadium) until the safety is completely guaranteed.”
Under Brazil’s complex legal system, the Public Ministry has a preventive role in addition to its prosecutorial mandate. Almeida is part of a special unit of prosecutors charged with monitoring the state government’s actions as it prepares for the Cup.
Reuters
LONDON - Liverpool winger Ra-heem Sterling’s outstanding form has made the teenager a strong contender for a place at this year’s World Cup finals in Brazil, said England manager Roy Hodgson. After making his debut away to Sweden in 2012, Sterling, 19, was left out by England and his club but since being restored to Liverpool’s first team he has again impressed Hodgson.
“He lost his place for a while and wasn’t on the radar to quite the same extent,” said Hodgson. “Then I was very impressed with him in an England under-21 game and since he got back into the Liverpool team his form seems to be going up and up.” England seem certain to be without injured Arsenal winger Theo Walcott for the World Cup but Hodgson believes they are “awash” with potential replacements.
As well as Sterling, he mentioned
Walcott’s club mate Alex Oxlade-Cham-berlain, Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Wilfried Zaha (on loan to Cardiff City from Manchester United) and Nathan Redmond (Norwich City).
Another youngster who has forced his way into contention is 18-year-old Southampton left back Luke Shaw, now challenging the more experienced pair of Ashley Cole, who has not been play-ing regularly for Chelsea, and Everton’s Leighton Baines. “I’m satisfied with the two left backs I’ve got but I also think that Luke Shaw is a player who could quite easily play for England today,” Hodgson said.
The England manager, who has travelled to Brazil to inspect facilities in Manaus where his side start in Group D against Italy on June 14, is expected to name Sterling and Shaw in his squad for the friendly at home to Denmark on March 5.
Improving Inter chalk up 2-1 win at Fiorentina
AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi
Inter Milan’s Hernanes, left, vies for the ball with Fiorentina’s Matias Fernandez during a Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Inter Milan, at the Artemio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Bayern’s Dante of Brazil, left, and goalkeeper Man-uel Neuer celebrate after scoring during the Ger-man first division Bundes-liga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and SC Freiburg in Munich, Ger-many, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Unbeaten Bayern Munich stretches Bundesliga lead
games.“It’s always hard when the whole
world says you have to win,” said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola after his side’s 13th consecutive Bundes-liga victory. Guardiola rested several players with an eye on Wednesday’s Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Arsenal.
But Shaqiri will miss the game after tearing a muscle at the back of his right thigh in the second half. French winger Franck Ribery was already out after undergoing surgery on a burst blood vessel in his buttock. Second-place Bayer Leverkusen lost 2-1 at home to Schalke, which was on a four-game winning streak. Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka won the ball from Lars Bender, lifted it over an incoming defender’s challenge and chipped the goalkeeper in the 28th.
Leverkusen equalized in the 66th after Schalke defender Felipe Santana cleared off the line but conceded an own goal from the
resulting corner. The home side was left to rue several missed chances when Klaas Jan Huntelaar headed a free kick inside the far post in the 74th.
Leverkusen was knocked out of the German Cup by second-division Kaiserslautern on Wednesday and next faces Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League on Tuesday.
“We played the better football, I feel for the team,” Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia said. “If we play like this on Tuesday I’ll be happy. We showed a lot of character.”
AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
Bayern’s Dante of Brazil, left, and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer celebrate after scoring during the German first division Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and SC Freiburg in Mu-nich, Germany, on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014. AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson
Brazil World Cup stadium was structurally damaged by fire
Sterling’s form has boosted his World Cup chances-Hodgson
FC Barcelona’s Neymar, from Brazil, reacts after scoring against
Rayo Vallecano during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain,
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Messi scores 2 in Barca’s 6-0 rout of RayoAssociated Press Writer
BARCELONA, Spain — Lionel Messi scored two goals and set up another to help Barcelona brush aside Rayo Vallecano 6-0 and keep its share of the Spanish league lead on Saturday, while a smoke bomb with tear gas forced an evacuation during Villarreal’s 2-0 home loss to Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid beat Valladolid 3-0 as Diego Simeone’s side and Barcelona opened up a three-point advantage over Real Madrid before it plays at Getafe on Sunday.
After a 20-minute delay, the game was restarted and Celta’s Manuel “Nolito” Agudo scored from a free kick in the 90th.
Villarreal president Fernando Roig said police were looking for the per-son who threw the bomb. He said the device released tear gas. Barcelona punished a visiting Rayo side intent on trying to deploy a similar precision passing attack and was unfortunate to head into halftime only up 2-0 from Adriano’s second-minute opener and Messi’s lob in the 36th.
The Camp Nou hosts found their finishing touch in the second half, as
Messi struck again before assisting Alexis Sanchez, with Pedro Rodriguez and Neymar also adding goals.
Messi’s double left him with 228 goals in league play, giving him one more than Alfredo Di Stefano and tying him with Raul Gonzalez as the competition’s third all-time leading scorer. The 26-year-old Messi reached the mark in 263 league games, while Raul needed 550. Former Athletic Bilbao star Telmo Zarra holds the re-cord with 251 goals in 277 games in the 1940s-50s.
“Messi will surpass all the records he sets out to break,” Barcelona coach
Gerardo Martino said. “He will lose count. We are in the presence of a kind of player that only comes round every 30 or 40 years.” The Argentina forward appears to have regained his full fitness following a two-month injury layoff, with four goals in his last two games.
AP Photo/M
anu Fernandez
Monday, February 17, 2014 7SportsMonday, February 17, 201410 InternationalInternationalDestination
IBP/File Photo
IBP
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, North-ern Badung, The way down to the source of the water is about 50 meters and used to be very dif-ficult 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 wa-terfalls 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.
Nungnung, Fresh Falls
Answering Sacramento rookie Ben Mc-Lemore’s dunk in which he leaped over Shaquille O’Neal seated in a king’s throne, Wall took the ball from over the head of the Wizards mascot, brought it between his legs and slammed down a reverse dunk. “It was only my second time doing it. My first time was on Thursday,” Wall said. “So I just felt comfortable with myself and I knew it was a dunk that hasn’t been done before.”
Judges Dominique Wilkins, Magic John-son and Julius Erving all gave the victory to Wall in his matchup, after previously voting for George over Golden State’s Harrison Barnes, and defending champion Ross over Portland’s Damian Lillard.
Earlier, San Antonio’s Marco Belinelli won the 3-point contest, and Lillard and Utah rookie Trey Burke won the skills chal-lenge to give the Western Conference two victories on the night. Miami’s Chris Bosh, Wilkins and WNBA star Swin Cash won the night’s first event for the East, the shooting stars contest.
The NBA tried to jazz up All-Star Saturday for its return to New Orleans, with a number
of tweaks to the format. The biggest was in the dunk contest, which was broken into two parts. The first was the freestyle portion, where the teams had 90 seconds to execute as many dunks as they could, before the three 1-on-1 matchups in the battle format.
McLemore came out wearing a king’s robe and was trailed by O’Neal, a new minority owner of the Sacramento Kings. McLemore made it over O’Neal’s throne on his second attempt, and the 15-time All-Star center presented him with a crown. Moments later, however, Wall was the real king. “The slam dunk has returned,” said Erving, one of the NBA’s most famed dunkers.
Belinelli needed to win a tiebreaker in the 3-point contest to beat the Wizards’ Bradley Beal. Beal had made his final six shots, includ-ing two “money balls” worth two points each, to tie Belinelli’s final-round score of 19. The Italian then racked up an event-high score of 24 for the win.
“I was a little bit nervous at the beginning and I think that I shot like two airballs,” Be-linelli said. “But in the end I was focused. I really cared about this trophy.”
Associated Press Writer
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Eva Samkova of the Czech Republic dominated women’s snowboard-cross on Sunday, posting three wire-to-wire victories on her way to Olympic gold. The 20-year-old Samkova was easily the fastest in qualifying and never trailed in the elimination rounds, her board pulling her well clear of the madness behind her.
Dominique Maltais of Canada earned her second Olympic medal by grabbing silver. Chloe Trespeuch of France earned bronze. Lindsey Jacobellis of the U.S. failed to make it to the medal round. She was leading in her semifinal race when she crashed near the end of the slushy course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park. Jacobellis recovered to win the consolation
final.It marked the third straight disappointing Olympic
finish for the eight-time X Games winner. Jacobellis had gold in her hand in Turin in 2006 only to fall while attempting a fancy grab with a big lead in the final. She recovered for silver. Four years ago in Vancouver, Jacobellis was in the semifinals when she washed out early in her run.
Even if Jacobellis managed to remain upright, it would have been hard for her to catch Samkova, who wore a camera on her helmet to capture the action. The footage proved to be pretty boring.
At no point during snowboarding’s version of NA-SCAR did she appear to be in any trouble. She was the fastest in qualifying by nearly a full second over Jacobellis and appeared only to get faster as the day wore on.
The flag of her home country painted just above her lip, Samkova gave one quick peek back to the field in the finals. No worries, Maltais was well behind. Samkova thrust her arms into the air after crossing the finish line then started a giddy celebration. She threw her board toward the flower stand before receiving hugs from her fellow competitors.
Samkova streaks to gold in women’s snowboardcross
Czech Republic’s Eva Samkova reacts after her seeding run during women’s snowboard cross competition at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
Wall leads East to All-Star dunk triumph
AP Photo/Gerald HerbertJohn Wall of the Washington Capitals participates in the slam dunk contest during the skills competition at the NBA All Star basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in New Orleans.
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS — John Wall soared over his own mascot as the East stomped on the West in the slam dunk contest at the NBA’s All-Star Saturday. Wall’s sensational slam finished off a clean sweep for the Washington Wizards star and his Eastern Conference teammates, Indiana’s Paul George and Toronto’s Terrence Ross, in the contest’s new battle format.
Monday, February 17, 2014 Monday, February 17, 20146 11International International
INDONESIAW RLD
After removing his shoes out-side the Istiqlal mosque in the heart of Jakarta, Kerry walked through the vast building ac-companied by grand imam Kyai al-Hajj Ali Mustafa Yaqub.
Calling it an “extraordinary place”, the top US diplomat told Indonesian reporters: “I am very privileged to be here and I am grateful to the grand imam for allowing me to come.”
The administrat ion of US President Barack Obama has worked hard to try to repair re-lations with the Muslim world, which were badly frayed under the previous administration with
the 2003 invasion of Iraq.The United States and other
Western powers have often re-ferred to Indonesia -- the world’s third biggest democracy -- as a bridge to the Muslim world.
Obama, who spent part of his childhood in Jakarta, also visited the mosque in 2010 when he trav-elled to the archipelago.
In signing a note to be placed in the mosque’s guestbook, Kerry wrote: “It has been a special hon-our to visit this remarkable place of worship.
“The amazing space and light and the extraordinary dome are the perfect way to welcome prayers.
“We are all bound to one God and the Abrahamic faiths tie us... together in love for our fellow man and honour for the same God. May peace be with you.”
The Istiqlal mosque was com-missioned in 1961 by the then-Indonesian leader Sukarno and took 17 years to complete.
Its vast 12 columns hold up an impressive green dome, and at Ramadan it is often packed to capacity with space for some 130,000 worshippers.
Ninety percent of Indonesia’s 250 million people identify as Muslims, and most practise a moderate form of Islam.
Agence France-Presse
JAKARTA - More than 100 Islam-ic hardliners slammed the Indonesian government Friday for approving Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby’s parole from jail, saying the convicted drug mule should receive the death penalty.
Corby, 36, was released from prison on the holiday island of Bali on Monday after a drawn-out application that took more than a year finally led to her release.
The crowd of mostly men from the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and other hardline groups gathered in the capital Jakarta demanding Corby’s parole be revoked, saying the justice minister “should be ashamed” for green-lighting her freedom.
“This person brings marijuana into our country and is freed? That is simply unjust. Where are our rights?” senior FPI member Haji Awit Masy-huri told AFP at the protest.
“She should have been given the death penalty -- all drug traffickers
should,” he said, adding that the Indonesian government had shown special treatment for Corby because she was Australian.
A speaker on a megaphone shout-ed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was “bowing down to Australia” when he granted Corby a five-year sentence cut in 2012, paving the way for her eligibility for parole.
“Drugs are not our culture. That’s Australia’s culture. In Indonesia drugs means the death penalty -- why did we free her?” the protester shouted, to which others replied “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater), before marching to the presidential palace.
The protesters also repeated past demands that the president issue a decree banning the sale of alcohol, claiming that alcohol consumption leads to increased HIV rates, crime and road accidents.
Corby was arrested in 2004 when customs officials found 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana in her body board bag.
AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, Pool
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, tours the Istiqlal Mosque with Grand Imam K.H. Ali Mustafa Yaqub on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014, in Jakarta.
Kerry visits largest mosque in Southeast AsiaAgence France-Presse
JAKARTA - US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Southeast Asia’s largest mosque during his visit to Indonesia Sunday, paying tribute to Islam in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.
Islamists protest parole for Australian drug mule Corby
Buddha Issara said the govern-ment was using a request to reopen roads as an excuse to crack down on protesters. “If there is blood loss...will the authorities take responsibility? Or will you blame it on provocateurs?,” Buddha Issara asked police represen-tatives. Speaking to the monk during a televised video conference, Naret Nanthachot, commissioner of Provin-cial Police Region 1, said police would not use force.
“I am asking for your kindness and understanding...tens of thousands of people are frustrated each day by their inability to use roads,” said Naret. Both sides agreed to talk at a later date.
Hundreds of riot police began an operation to reclaim key intersections and state buildings in Bangkok on Friday in what authorities said would be a slow operation to take back areas that have been occupied by protesters for several weeks. Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, who is charge of the operation, said the government would continue with its operation and
try to reclaim five protest sites next week. “This gathering has caused dis-tress to others...that’s why we have to reclaim the sites starting next week,” Chalerm said at a news conference on Sunday.
The security operation has so far avoided larger sites in the city centre occupied by the main protest group, the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), focusing instead on state offices on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Authorities say the protest move-ment is dwindling in size, giving security forces an opportunity to try to re-open major thoroughfares and remove barricades that have blocked access to ministries and prevented the government from functioning fully. Security forces put up little resistance when protesters moved to occupy ministries and major intersections over the past few months, but despite efforts to show restraint 11 people have been killed and hundreds hurt in sporadic violence since the protests began in November.
DEEPER CRISIS
The protests are the latest episode in an eight-year conflict that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and roy-alist establishment against supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. An elec-tion on February 2 failed to break the deadlock. Protesters, aligned with the opposition Democrat Party, blocked voting in a fifth of constituencies, a result that left parliament without a quorum to approve a new govern-ment.
The protesters are demanding that Yingluck resign to make way for an appointed “people’s council” to overhaul a political system they say has been tainted by her brother, who lives in exile abroad to avoid a jail term for graft.
Thailand’s Election Commission will meet with government represen-tatives on Monday to discuss how to complete voting that has been marred by violence and resistance from pro-testers.
Associated Press Writer
KATMANDU, Nepal — A Nepal Airlines plane with 18 people on board flying in bad weather is missing in Nepal’s mountainous west. Ram Hari Sharma of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said the plane left Sunday from the resort town of Pokhara after making an unscheduled fuel stop, but that contact was lost a few minutes later.
The Twin Otter plane had 15 passengers and three crew members on board and was heading toward the town of Jumla. It has been snowing this weekend in parts of the mountainous region, and vis-ibility has been low due to fog.
A rescue helicopter was trying to reach the area where contact with the plane was lost, but the weather conditions were making it difficult.
Reuters
JACKSONVILLE, Fla - A Florida jury convicted a white, middle-aged man on Saturday of three counts of attempted murder for opening fire on a car of black teenagers during an argument over loud rap music, but could not reach a verdict on a murder charge for the killing of a 17-year-old in the car. Michael Dunn, a 47-year-old software engineer, fired 10 rounds at a vehicle carrying four teens in a Jacksonville gas station parking lot in November 2012, killing black teen Jordan Davis.
The jury deadlocked on the most serious charge of first-degree murder against Dunn, forcing Judge Russell Healey to declare a mis-trial on that count. The failure to reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge is a blow for the prosecution and the Davis family. But Dunn still faces at least 60 years in jail for the attempted murder convictions against the three other teens, legal analysts said.
Prosecutors told a press conference after the verdicts were read that they plan to retry Dunn, who has been in jail since his arrest in 2012, on the first-degree murder charge. The jury also found Dunn guilty on a fifth count of firing into an occupied vehicle.
The trial has drawn international attention because of racial overtones and Dunn’s claims of self-defense. The case has drawn comparisons to the self-defense trial of George Zimmerman, the former central Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted last year of murder in the shooting of an unarmed, black 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin.
Attorney Cory Strolla said Dunn and his family are devastated by the four guilty verdicts. “He never saw it coming, not one bit,” Strolla said. Dunn, who had no prior convictions, testified earlier this week that he began shooting in a state of panic after he thought he saw the barrel of a gun in the back window as Davis started to get out of the car.
Prosecutors said Davis, who had no arrest record, had used foul language when confronting Dunn after the argument broke out, but was unarmed and never posed a physical threat. “The self-defense argument made some headway. The jury, or some of them, believed he saw a muzzle of a gun,” said David Weinstein, a former state prosecutor, now in private practice in Miami.
Mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines in Florida for crimes committed with a gun mean that Dunn faces 20 years for each of the three counts of his conviction.
“It has been a long, long road and we’re so very happy to have just a little bit of closure,” Davis’ teary mother, Lucy McBath, told reporters. “It’s sad for Mr. Dunn that he will live the rest of his life in that sense of torment. I will pray for him,” she said.
REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom
Anti-government protesters have their lunch in front of a barricade during a rally near the Government Complex in Bangkok February 16, 2014.
Thai police fail to reach deal with protestersReuters
BANGKOK - Thai police and a prominent protest leader failed to reach a deal on Sunday to reopen state offices and roads in Bangkok that have been occupied for months by protesters seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Talks with Buddhist monk Luang Pu Buddha Issara, a protest leader, failed to free up an occupied government complex in the north of the capital as a third day of a security operation designed to retake sites occupied by protesters drew to a close.
Plane with 18 people missing in Nepal’s
mountains
Florida man faces 60 years in prison for shooting teens over loud music
Bali News Monday, February 17, 2014 5InternationalMonday, February 17, 201412 International
Bali Post
DENPASAR - Distribution of subsidized diesel fuel to 500 fishing vessels at Benoa Harbor, Denpasar, has been sluggish since last month. Actually, about 7,500 vessel crews are ready to go hunting tuna. As an impact, the vessel crews are unem-ployed so far and if the condition is not quickly addressed, they are at risk of layoff.
“In the meeting on the subsidized fuel for fishermen on February 4, 2014 between the Directorate General of Oil and Gas, Director-ate General of Fisheries, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas) and Pertamina, it is agreed the vessels of 30 GT can use subsi-dized fuel. But the Pertamina here (Bali) has not dared to follow up the deal. They argue the letter of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency dated January 15, 2014 about the policy of not distributing subsidized fuel to vessels over 30 GT has not been revoked. This condition is very burdensome to us,” said Central Executive Chairman of the Indo-nesian Tuna Long Line Association (ATLI), Hendrik Kosasih.
Hendrik accompanied by his Secretary General, Dwi Agus Siswa Putra, added that since three months
ago hundreds of vessels had not dared to go to sea because of bad weather. At that time, the vessel crews chose to return home.
Since January 2014, the weather had been getting fine and they began to come into the harbor. Unfor-tunately, the vessel crews mostly coming from outside of Bali could not go to sea because there was no fuel supply. Hundreds of vessels were parked at the western part of the harbor. Other than causing damage, the persistent friction of vessels’ body was feared to cause fire.
“This has something to do with survival. We worry if their patience runs out, we as entrepreneurs also suffer substantial losses because they cannot get fish catch and can-not cover their consumption. Our losses can reach billions of rupi-ahs,” said Hendrik.
In addition, the fish processing factories were also idle. According to Dwi Agus, there had been fish processing company that com-plained. Other than the companies were dormant, their employees were also unemployed. “The impact of fuel is wide enough. If they are too long idle, this can kindle a mas-sive layoff,” he said.
This problem also had an impact
on the export of tuna, particularly to Japan. “Automatically, there is no fish export because so far our vessel
cannot sail. Hopefully, Pertamina could immediately follow up the agreement and the fuel can be sup-
plied to Benoa Harbor. I also have reported this issue to central gov-ernment,” said Dwi Agus. (rah)
“There are indications show-ing he may be part of a Nigerian international syndicate,” Chief of Customs Office for Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Rahmat Subagio said.
He stated the suspect, Stephen Henri Lubbe (58), was believed to have been paid to smuggle the illegal stuff into the resort island.
However, relevant officers are still investigating the case, ques-tioning his role and investigating possible other actors behind the narcotic smuggling attempt.
Lubbe, known to be an electri-cian, was caught by the security officers on Sunday (Feb 9) at 01.00 AM shortly after disem-barking from Hong Kong Air-lines Flight HX 6705, serving the Hong Kong-Denpasar route.
He said he had concealed the contraband in his grey suitcase.
“An X-ray screening showed
something suspicious in his suitcase, following which our officers found inside the grey suitcase white crystal substance wrapped in a plastic. We then examined it and it was later proven to be narcotic stuff,” he said.
Subagio further explained that in the black market, the price of the meth is estimated at around Rp2 million per gram.
“Based on our calculations, the total value of the meth is about Rp3 billion,” he said.
Bali’s customs office then handed over the suspect to the Bali Regional Police for further investigation.
Lubbe is believed to have vio-lated Article 113 of Law Number 35 of 2009 relating to narcotics.
If convicted, he may face a minimum sentence of five years, and a maximum one of 20 years in jail.
Customs foils attemp to smuggle 1,540 grams of methaphetamine
ANTARA FOTO/Nyoman BudhianaCustoms officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,540 grams of methamphetamine into the island by a South African national.
Antara
KUTA - Customs officers at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport have foiled an attempt to smuggle 1,540 grams of meth-amphetamine into the island by a South African national.
Fuel sluggish, thousands of vessel crews at risk of layoff
ANTARA FOTO/Oky LukmansyahDistribution of subsidized diesel fuel to 500 fishing vessels at Benoa Harbor, Denpasar, has been slug-gish since last month. Actually, about 7,500 vessel crews are ready to go hunting tuna.
Agence France-Presse
SHANGHAI - China’s bank lending surged in January from December, the central bank said, but analysts attributed the rise to seasonal factors.
Loans by Chinese banks reached around 1.3 trillion yuan ($216 billion) in January, up 246.9 billion yuan from the same month a year ago, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement late Saturday.
In December, banks granted just 482.5 billion yuan in new loans, previous figures
showed.The January lending figure beat the
1.1 trillion yuan median forecast by 11 economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Social financing, a broader measure of credit in the economy than lending alone, rose 39.9 billion yuan year-on-year to 2.6 trillion yuan in January, the central bank said.
But analysts said Chinese banks tend to lend more at the beginning of the year after being granted their annual lending
quotas, and they expect the government to keep a grip on credit due to worries over financial risk.
“This is a common occurrence at the beginning of the year and we do not believe it reflects any shift in policy,” research firm Capital Economics said.
“On the contrary, with policymakers concerned about credit risks, we think that tight monetary conditions are probably here to stay and that this will continue to weigh on credit growth,” it said in a report.
China’s central bank pumped funds
into the money market last month to ease a liquidity squeeze that rattled financial markets before the Chinese New Year holiday.
Demand for funds traditionally increases before the week-long holiday, which began on January 31 this year, as companies pay salaries, year-end bonuses and other obliga-tions while individuals withdraw cash for gifts and shopping.
But the government worries a credit binge could cause bad debts to rise and ex-pose the financial system to greater risk.
So-called “regional” jets -- short to medium-haul aircraft that gen-erally seat under 100 passengers -- were among the best-sellers at the Singapore Airshow which ended at the weekend.
Jimmy Lau, managing director of show organiser Experia Events, said demand for smaller aircraft will rise as Asia’s burgeoning middle class sustains the growth in air travel that began in metropolitan areas.
“The people who will be likely making good inroads are the Em-braers and the Bombardiers who will be selling their smaller regional jets to countries like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia,” Lau told reporters as the Airshow ended with deals total-ling a record $32 billion.
Embraer, the Brazilian plane maker, forecasts that Asia-Pacific carriers will take delivery of 1,500 new jets in the 70- to 130-seat seg-ment over the next 20 years, with a total value of $70 billion. This would represent nearly 20 percent of global demand.
Canada’s Bombardier expects the region to get one-third of the 12,800 aircraft in the 20 to 150-seat segment it forecasts to be delivered world-wide in the next two decades.
The company’s vice president for marketing Philippe Poutissou told AFP that Bombardier sold almost 80 percent of its planes to Western countries in the past.
Four-month-old Indian carrier Air Costa sprang the biggest surprise at the event when it ordered 50 E-Jets E2 planes from Brazilian manufac-turer Embraer worth $2.94 billion, with purchase rights for 50 more.
Air Costa wants to connect cities in southern India such as Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Vijayawa-da, as well as key secondary cities in the country’s north and northwest.
“Our philosophy is that we believe that 70 percent of the population, of the huge 1.2 billion population in In-dia, still reside in these non-metros,” Air Costa chief financial officer Vivek Choudhary said.
Bangkok Airways, which de-scribes itself as a “boutique” airline that serves popular tourist destina-tions in the country as well as the Maldives, Laos and Cambodia, ordered six 72-600 planes from Eu-ropean plane maker ATR for $150 million.
Thai budget carrier Nok Air or-dered two Q4 100 aircraft -- which can seat 70-80 passengers -- from Bombardier to help it expand into smaller cities in Thailand and neigh-bouring countries, and may buy six more.
Nok Air chief executive Patee Sarasin said the airline’s strategy is to use 33-seater planes to penetrate small towns and stimulate air travel, and then to increase frequency or use bigger aircraft as demand rises.
“There are so many airports in Thailand that are underutilised and so many towns that are underdevel-oped in terms of the flying experi-ence,” Patee said.
Poutissou of Bombardier said his company is also aiming at a slightly larger aircraft class with its C Series of planes that can seat up to 150 passengers, competing directly with popular single-aisle planes made by Boeing and Airbus.
China bank lending surges in January
Smaller planes in demand as Asia travel boom deepens
AP Photo/Francois Mori, FileIn this June 20, 2013 file photo, an Airbus A380 performs its demonstration flight during the 50th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget airport, north of Paris. Smaller passenger planes are increasingly in demand in Asia as budget carriers cash in on the region’s growing middle classes by expanding their reach to less prominent cities, industry executives say.
Agence France-Presse
SINGAPORE - Smaller passenger planes are increasingly in demand in Asia as budget carriers cash in on the region’s growing middle classes by expanding their reach to less prominent cities, industry executives say.
BUSINESS
Bali News International4 Monday, February 17, 2014 Monday, February 17, 2014 13International RLDW
President Giorgio Napolitano was likely to ask Renzi, the current mayor of Florence, to put together a government on Monday, a PD source told Reuters. The president completed consultations with par-ties on Saturday evening without announcing his preferred candidate. “It was an interesting and richly stimulating day in which I received many suggestions that I must pass on to the person who I ask to form a government,” Napolitano told re-porters after a full day of talks.
Renzi, whose PD is the largest party in parliament, would become the youngest leader in Italy’s 163-year history as a united country, younger even - by two months - than Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was when he took over in 1922. But before he can stake his claim on history and attempt to install Italy’s 65th government since World War Two, he must overcome institu-tional rituals and much political wheeling-and-dealing, a process likely to take several days.
After receiving a mandate from
the president, he will have to strike an accord with the small New Centre Right (NCD) party, whose support the PD needs to command a majority in the parliament of the euro zone’s third-largest economy.
The party, which split from scandal-plagued tycoon and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi last year, said it was ready to work with the centre-left on forming a new gov-ernment after meeting Napolitano. But it made it clear it would demand guarantees in areas from tax and jobs to family policy, meaning a new government may not be in place until next week.
“We have very clear and concrete ideas on what the policy platform must be. If the ambition of the new government is great, then we can-not do things in a rush,” said NCD leader Angelino Alfano, who saw no accord in “less than 48 hours”. Berlusconi, the centre-right leader booted out of parliament last year after a conviction for tax fraud, accompanied leaders of his Forza Italia party to meet the head of state
in the afternoon.The 77-year-old ex-premier said
his centre-right Forza Italia party would carry on a “responsible” op-position in parliament. Berlusconi also vowed to continue to support an accord on electoral and politi-cal reforms agreed with Renzi last month which created tensions within the coalition that the centre-left leader is about to take over.
After reaching a deal with parlia-mentary allies, Renzi must name the members of his cabinet, swear them in and then seek confidence votes in both houses of parliament.
He would become the third prime minister in a row nominated by Napolitano without having won an election. Letta was chosen to helm a right-left government after last year’s deadlocked election, and Mario Monti took over for Berlusconi during a burgeoning euro zone debt crisis in 2011. “If they think that this is democracy, we don’t agree,” said Vito Crimi, a leading member of the 5-Star Movement in the Senate.
Associated Press Writer
HANOI, Vietnam — Anti-China protesters hoping to lay wreaths at a famous statue in the Vietnamese capital on Sunday were obstructed by an unusual sight of ballroom dancers and an energetic aerobics class held to a thumping sound system. The demonstrators suspect the government deployed the dancers as a way to stop them from getting close to the statue and make their speeches inaudible. The few who tried to get close to the statue of Ly Thai To, the founder of Hanoi and a nationalist icon, were shooed away.
The protesters were marking the 35th anniversary of a bloody border war between China and Vietnam,
where anger over Beijing’s increas-ingly assertive territorial claims on islands in the South China Sea that Hanoi insists belong to it is already running high.
Relations with China, Vietnam’s ideological ally and major trading partner, are a highly sensitive domestic political issue for Hanoi’s rulers. They don’t want anger on the street against China to spread to other areas of its repressive rule.
Nguyen Quang A, a well-known dissident, and others attending the rally in Hanoi on Sunday said the govern-ment deployed the dancers at the statue of Ly Thai To, and at another statue nearby, to prevent them gathering there. The tactic appeared to be part of a low-key approach to policing the event to avoid confrontation. There were scores of plainclothes security officers at the rally, but very few wear-ing uniform. Quang said he asked the dancers to stop for a few minutes but that they refused.
Renzi set to become Italy’s youngest prime ministerReuters
ROME - Centre-left leader Matteo Renzi was set to be nominated as Italy’s youngest prime minister in a matter of days after a party coup forced Enrico Letta to resign as premier of the euro zone state strug-gling to pull out of recession. Letta bowed out on Friday after his Democratic Party (PD) forced him to step aside and make way for Renzi, 39, who is promising bold economic reforms and a government than can survive until 2018.
AP Photo/Fabrizio GiovannozziDemocratic Party leader Matteo Renzi, a Fiorentina supporter, attends a Serie A soccer match between Fiorentina and Inter Milan at the Ar-temio Franchi stadium in Florence, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014.
Vietnam deploys dancers to foil protests
A Vietnamese couple ballroom dance close to a statue in the Vietnamese capital on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014. AP Photos/Chris Brummitt
Bali Post
DENPASAR - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS), National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and UNFPA in 2010 mentioned that 30 percent (65 million) of Indonesia’s popula-tion belongs to 10-24 year group. Approxi-mately 15-20 percent of school-age teenagers in Indonesia have performed sexual intercourse. Meanwhile, a total of 2.3 million abortion cases occurred each year in which 20 percent of them involved teenagers.
It was revealed by Manager of the Dua Hati Foundation, Vicky Gerong, Wednesday (Feb 13). Early sexual behavior and the occurrence of abortion among teenagers would make them vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS infection so that they should get the attention from many parties.
To give attention to the problems faced by teenagers, it was then established the Indonesian Teenager Movement Caring for AIDS and Drugs (Geriphin) which aimed to make the Indone-sian teenagers strong, insightful, creative and independent. According to Vicky, as one of the steps to achieve these goals Geriphin started to organize a program known as One Thousand Rupiah Action Movement (Gaser). The event was held on Thursday (Feb 13) in the Secretariat of the AIDS Mitigation Commission (KPA) of Bali Chapter featuring This Time for Youth.
Gaser was organized for fundraising in order to support the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse among teenagers in Bali as well as to support the strategy of the AIDS Mitigation Commission of Bali Chapter to reach the zero new infection.
Added Vicky, the birth of Gaser program was based on the sense of concern about the high number of teenagers who were at risk of sexual behavior and drug abuse. Such behavior was also susceptible to HIV infection and sexually transmitted infection. “Teenagers are the future generation of the nation. On the other hand, the teenage is a period of transition between child-hood and adulthood being tumultuous in the search for identity,” said Vicky.
In social life, teenagers were always required to be a sociable person, follow the trend, fashion or lifestyle these days, so they could be accepted by the peers. Without being shielded with the faith and attention of families and communities, this demand could certainly plunge the teen into the wrong crowd.
Vicky explained, a series of events con-ducted were the presentation on Geriphin and Gaser, discussion and it was commenced by the willingness of participants that symbolically donated one thousand rupiahs. After that, it was resumed with the placement of donation box at some schools by teenagers coalescing into the members of the Geriphin organization. “This fundraising activity will be closed officially on December 1, 2014,” said Vicky.
The funds collected would be used to finance several programs for teenagers such as provision of scholarships for students originating in the underprivileged family, mentoring teenagers who had experienced sexual violence, futsal cup tournament for teenagers and teenager seminar on building strong, resourceful, creative and independent character. (san)
According to one of the residents of Sakah hamlet, Pemogan, I Ketut Badra, the tornado taking place about four minutes happened around 1:30 in the afternoon. At that time, he was taking a bath. Suddenly a strong wind hit his home hard enough. Before his surprise lost, dozens of roof tiles broke down. “We worried when see-ing many roof tiles were falling down,” said Badra while cleaning up the remnants of his roof tile fragments.
Other than the home of Badra, the tor-nado also affected the home of his family to damage. The damage was almost the same, namely the fall of roof tiles. “The house of my brother also suffered damage.
Even, his surya shrine also collapsed as toppled over by a fallen tree. Incidentally, the mango tree in the yard also collapsed and toppled over the surya shrine,” he explained.
The hamlet chief of Sakah, Pemogan, I Wayan Sujana, said that most damages occurred to the roof. On average, the dam-age occurred to the roof tile whose amount reached thousands of pieces. “Luckily, people quickly made self-improvement so that all the broken tiles could be replaced,” he said.
Related to funds, his party claimed if it had been done independently. For emergency case, his party also alerted the
fund owned by the local hamlet. “The im-provement is undertaken independently,” he explained.
Handling the disaster last Friday, it was also seen the officers of the Denpasar Re-gional Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the Sanitation and Landscaping Agency (DKP), South Denpasar Subdistrict Head AA Risnawan and the Chief of BPM I Made Mertajaya who directly made a visit to loca-tion. “The damage is not as severe as the one occurring at Pedungan not long ago,” said the South Denpasar Subdistrict Head.
Deputy Chairman of the Denpasar House, I Wayan Mariyana Wandhira, also directly made a visit to residents whose house was damaged. Meanwhile, a number of residents were also seen to be making mutual assistance to fix the damaged roof as hit by the high winds. “We are con-cerned if it is not immediately repaired it will be raining again,” said one of the residents. (kmb21)
Teenagers prone to HIV infection
IBP/FileThe house owner is repairing the damage due to the whirlwind
Whirlwind hits Pemogan
18 houses damaged, 3 shrines collapseBali Post
DENPASAR - Whirlwind disaster occurred again in South Denpasar. If previ-ously hitting Pedungan village, the tornado on Friday (Feb 14) hit the Sakah hamlet, Pemogan. At least 18 homes were damaged, especially their roof. In addition, three surya shrines also collapsed as hit by the tornado.
3Monday, February 17, 201414 InternationalInternational Bali NewsLifestyle Monday, February 17, 2014
“Airports in Surabaya and Yogyakarta are still closed,” co-general manager of the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport I Gusti Ngurah Ardita said on Saturday.
The cancelled flights included those of Lion Air to Band-ung with flight number JT-905, Wings Air to Malang with flight numbers IW-1840 and IW-1823, Garuda Indonesia to Yogyakarta with flight number GA-253, Wings Air to Surabaya with flight number IW-1815, and Lion Air to Bandung with flight number JT-961.
The cancelled flights were not to have taken off from the I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport between 01.00 p.m. and 03.30 p.m. local time.
The Air Asia flight which was originally planned to depart at 08.55 a.m. for Bandung has been rescheduled.
“We continue to ask for confirmation from the relevant airports and monitor the notice given by airmen,” he said.
Mount Kelud in Kediri district, East Java, erupted on Thursday night, leading to a temporary closure of seven airports and one airstrip on the Java Island.
The head of Data and Information Center of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said in a statement on Saturday that the seven airports and one airstrip remain closed on Saturday, as of 10:00 am local time (GMT +7), due to volcanic ash from Mount Kelud.
The airports are Juanda (Surabaya), Adi Sumarmo (Solo), Adi Sucipto (Yogyakarta) Abdulrahman Saleh (Malang), Ahmad Yani (Semarang), Husein Sastranegara (Bandung) besides the Tunggul Wulung airstrip in Cilacap.
IBP
DENPASAR - Tourist arrivals from year to year continues to increase. In Bali alone, Department of Tourism projecting foreign tourist and domestic tourists arrivals in 2014 as many as 3.5 million and 6.5 million people. Meanwhile, foreign tourists that visited Bali last year recorded around 3,278,697 people. This figure increased from previous year as many as 2,892,019 foreign tourists.
According to one of practitioners on online travel agent (OTA), Arnold Sebastian Egg, the existence of this condition make OTA a promising busi-ness. He said that in the middle of rapid advances in technology, people need something that can be easily accessed. OTA is one of tool that can be use by people when they want to book airplane ticket, hotel room, and tour package. “OTA is promising because people are now using online to book tickets and accommodation,” he explained.
The Director of Happyholiday.travel said Indonesia is a potential market for e-commerce businessmen. Especially, when viewed from the population, Indonesia has great potential of purchasing power. “Travelling, from domestic to international, are on great demand. The trend is travelers find their own tickets, hotels, and tour packages that they want to enjoy using online travel agent. This is why, OTA has bright prospects to move forward,” he said.
Arnold said to exist in the world of online travel agents, entrepreneur have to be active on promoting and cooperate with hotel managements around the world. He also mentioned about actively join on international tourism exhibition. Currently Happyholiday.travel already established cooperation with more than 200 thousand hotels around the world. “For now, we focus on accommodation. Yet if anyone is looking for a voucher to certain tourism destination that we can provide, we will serve them,” said Arnold.
Arnold assured tourism market still in peak condition so it’s perfect to be paired with OTA business. He emphasized the key to doing this business is patience. “We can’t expect a large profit by doing this business for one year. At least we have to work for 5-6 years,” he concluded. (kmb18)
ANTARA FOTO/Eric Ireng
Flights from the resort island of Bali to several destinations in Java were cancelled on Saturday in the wake of eruption of Mount Kelud on Thursday night.
On Saturday
Several flights to Java canceledAntara
KUTA - Flights from the resort island of Bali to sev-eral destinations in Java were cancelled on Saturday in the wake of eruption of Mount Kelud on Thursday night.
Tourism still promising OTA will be prospective business
IBP/Yudi Karnaedi
One of practitioners on online travel agent (OTA), Arnold Sebastian Egg, said the increase of tourist arrivals make OTA a promising business.
“Consumers are in a great position because of the amount of wine that is coming out of California,” said Erica Moyer of Riverbank, a grape and wine broker for Turrentine Brokerage in Novato. Wine grapes are one of California’s top commodities, a crop worth $3.16 billion last year, according to the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary figures show that the crop of red and white varieties combined weighed in at 4.23 million tons in 2013, up 5 percent from 4.02 million tons in 2012. The industry is well positioned to take advantage of the large crops, said Heidi Scheid, chairwoman of the winegrape growers’ association.
“After short crops in 2010 and 2011, growers delivered two remarkable vin-tages, with record-sized harvests and exceptional quality,” she said. While Napa County’s vineyards carry international cache, the San Joaquin Valley, stretching for 220 miles (354 kilometers) from Stockton to Bakersfield, is the U.S.’s most prolific grape-growing region and home to 44 percent of the state’s crop.
Along with raisins and table grapes, vast tracts of wine grapes are mechani-cally harvested for popular labels such as Gallo’s economy brands and Bronco’s popular Charles Shaw, aka Two Buck Chuck, and blended into higher end wines.
Large growers in the valley are poised to profit from the higher volumes, analysts said. “We had a good-quality harvest, and heavier than expected,” Fred Franzia, CEO of Bronco, said in an email. Bronco is California’s largest vineyard owner.
Associated Press Writer
RENO, Nevada — A big-game hunter from Montana is suing a Canadian outfitter and a world-renowned hunting guide in Tajikistan he accuses of turning his once-in-a-lifetime adventure of bagging a rare, wild argali sheep known as the “Marco Polo” into a nightmare. Rick Vukasin said in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Reno last week that he spent more than $50,000 pursuing the animal in the Pamir mountains of northeast Tajikistan near China’s border in December 2012.
The 65-year-old electrician said he felt like he was literally on top of the world after he tracked, shot and killed a 400-pound (181-kilogram), big-horned ram with the coveted, spiraling horns at an elevation of 14,000 feet (4,267 meters). But he was mortified two months later when he opened up the box shipped to his home in Great Falls to find the horns were not the 58-inch (147.32-centimeter)-long ones from his trophy animal.
“I could tell right away,” Vukasin told The Associated Press. “I was sick.” The native Montanan who grew up hunting deer on the eastern front of the Northern Rockies had stalked moose in Saskatchewan and red stag elk in New Zealand.
“But the thing I really wanted to do was a Marco Polo sheep hunt,” he said. He poured over books, guides and websites before settling on the excursion halfway around the world. “The biggest of the species is in Tajikistan. So I figured if I was only going to be able to do this once, I’m going top shelf,” he said.
Vukasin and his guide, Yuri Matison, saw animals the first day but had dif-ficulty tracking them partly because it’s hard to breathe at that altitude, he said. But the next day he said he “felt lucky” to land a prize with a rack in “pretty good shape ... not all busted up from fighting.” The horns he ended up with are missing a few noticeable chips and weathered to the point he suspects they are at least two years old.
Vukasin said Matison and the booking outfitter — Ameri-Cana Expeditions Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta — first insisted the horns were the originals, then offered to send a replacement.
AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File
FILE - This Oct. 27, 2011, file photo shows a sign along Highway 29 welcoming visitors to the Napa Valley in Oakville, Calif. Napa Valley wine grape growers said Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014, some vines are ripening early and that farmers are planning fewer crops to save water.
MODESTO, California — California agriculture officials reported good news for wine lovers and vineyard operators alike: a record harvest of wine grapes. Growers in America’s premier wine region brought in a bumper crop last year, thanks to expanded acreage and overall favorable weather. Wine brokers told The Modesto Bee that two back-to-back years of large harvests will mean wine aficionados should find plenty of bargain bottles on grocery store shelves.
AP Photo/Rick Vukasin
This Dec. 2012 photo provided by Rick Vukasin shows Vukasin, 65, of Great Falls, Mont., posing with a rare argali sheep known as the “Marco Polo’’ that he shot in the Pamir mountains of northeast Tajikistan near Karakul Lake along the Chinese border.
Hunter sues over alleged fraudulent big game hunt
International2 Monday, February 17, 2014 15International Activities
Bali News
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
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 con-sidered its birth day and celebration always takes place on the same day if the wuku or 210 day calendar is used. When new moon is used then the celebration always happens on new moon or full moon. The day of course can differ the religious celebration of a temple lasts at least one full day with some temple celebrating for three days while the celebration of Besakih temple, the Mother Temple, is never less than 7 days and most of the time it lasts for 11 days, depending on the importance of the occasion.
The celebration is very colorful. The shrine are dressed with pieces of cloths and sometimes with brocade, sailings, decorations of carved wood and sometimes painted with gold and Chinese coins, very beautifully arranged, are hung in the four corners of the shrine. In front of shrine are placed red, white or black umbrellas depending which Gods are worshipped in the shrines.
In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.
Balinese Temple Ceremony
Monday, February 17, 2014
Calendar Event for January 1 through February 26, 2014
1 Jan Buda Kliwon Matal, Kajeng Kliwon And Tilem Sasih Kenam Pura Desa Sukawati SukawatiPura Pasek Gelgel Gelgel BebetinPura Maspahit SesetanPura Padharman Arya Kanuruhan Besakih
11 Jan Tumpek Kandang Pura Desa GianyarPura Luhur Dalem Sagening Kediri TabananPura Sang Hyang Tegal Tegalalang
15 Jan Purnama Sasih Kapitu Pura Dalem Tarukan Cemenggaon SukawatiPura Penataran Dalem Ketut Pejeng Kaja GianyarPura Puseh Manakaji Peninjauan BangliPura Taman Limut Pengosekan Mas UbudPura Benua BesakihPura Gunung Rena Sidemen KarangasemPura Pasek Gelgel Abadi KarangasemPura Pucak Gunung Mangun Kubu Karangasem
16 Jan Kajeng Kliwon Uwudan 17 Jan Hari Bhatara Sri 21 Jan Anggara Kasih Prangbakat Pura Bukit Buluh Gunaksa KlungkungPura Tirtha Sidamala Bebalang BangliPura Gunung Pangsong LombokPura Dalem Benawah GianyarPura Dalem Bitra GianyarPura Pura Hyang Haluh/Jenggala Besakih
Pura Tengkulak Tulikup GianyarPura Taman Sari UbudPura Penataran Badung
5 Feb Buda Kliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Peninjauan Tem-buku BangliPura Pemayun Banyuning Tengah Bule-lengPura Kayangan Tiga Seririt BulelengPura Agung Gunung Raung Taro Tegalalang
6 Feb Pura Dalem Puri Besakih
14 Feb Purnama Sasih Kawulu Pura Dalem Batur BangliPura Ida Ratu Pasek BesakihPura Dalem Suci Sidemen KarangasemPura Buana Kawan Besakih
19 Feb Buda Cemeng Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Padang KarangasemPura Melanting Camenggaon SukawatiPura Penataran ped Nusa PenidaPura Gaduhan Jagat Singakerta UbudPura Masceti Sanding Tampak SiringPura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan KelungkungPura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Kedonganan KutaPura Guwa BesakihPura Basukian BesakihPura Jati UbudPura Melanting UbudPura Dalem Peed Nusa PenidaPura Sad Kayangan Nusa PenidaPura Penataran Agung Gunung Karangasem
21 Feb Hari Bhatara Sri 25 Feb Anggara Kasih Dukut Pura Dalem Batuyang BatubulanPura Pasek Gelgel Mengening Kediri TabananPura Pasek Undagi Krambitan TabananPura Pucak Taman bedulu GianyarPura Puser Jagat Nusa PenidaPura Dalem Purwa Kawan BangliPura Desa Ketewel Gianyar
26 Feb Pura Agung Pasek gelgel Sibang Kaja Abian SemalPura Dalem Samprangan Gianyar
Experience one magical day of pure silence in the island of Gods and explore the resort by staying at InterContinental Bali Resort during Nyepi. Enjoy our Nyepi Family Fun Package which includes daily buffet breakfast for up to four persons, daily access to Planet Trekkers and unlimited gelato for two children, complimentary internet access and extra person charge. Package starts from IDR 1.500.000++ per room per night. Terms and conditions apply. InterContinental Bali Resort as one of the leading family resort which provides a wide range of activities for both parents, teens and toddlers. IBP/Courtesy of InterContinental
Celebrate Balinese New Year with InterContinental Bali Resort
IBP
JIMBArAN - Like any other countries, Bali also celebrates its new year which is called “Nyepi”, also known as the “Day of Silence.” As one of the most important dates of the local calendar, every effort is made to observe the rules of this cultural holiday. It is celebrated with a 24-hour period of solitude and all forms of activity on the island come to a complete standstill. The Balinese believe that the New year is a time to appease the unseen forces of the underworld and use this as an opportunity to cleanse the island from impurities and disturbing elements. A night before Nyepi is called Ngrupuk or The Bhuta yajna ritual, which is meant to appease Batara Kala by Pecaruan offering. Every Hindu Balinese villages normally make ogoh-ogoh, demonic statues made of bamboo and paper symbolizing negative elements. Af-ter the ogoh-ogoh have been paraded around the village, the Ngrupuk ritual takes place, which involves burning the ogoh-ogoh.
As observation at the location on Friday (Feb 14), the breakdown of the road had been posted with road sign notice to avoid accidents. Road users should be very careful. Otherwise, it could harm their safety. The collapsed road was one of the main accesses from Gianyar town heading for Lebih Beach, Jalan Bypass Ida Bagus Mantra.
The Head of Gianyar Public Works, Ida Bagus Sudewa, justified the damage to the road condition. Some time ago, a team from the Public Works had come down to check the damage. The breakdown of the road was still kindled by conditions of the culvert under the road.
In the future, according to the official from the Geria Sedawa, Tegal Tugu, in accordance with the plan the culvert under the road would be totally dismantled. The road body from Gianyar town to Lebih Beach would be entirely paved, continuing the pavement undertaken in the previous year.
He added it was currently still under bidding process. The project would include the repair of culvert, the making of revetment at the northern side and resumed the pavement that connected the pavement project in the previous year at the road section near Lebih. “Techni-cally, the repairing process of the culvert is indeed quite difficult considering the traditional culvert in the form of earthen cave under the culvert, just below the paved road. In order to avoid the break-down of the road in the future, the old culvert will be demolished,” he explained.
As the first step to avoid any loss of life before the repair was done, his party would first backfill the collapsed road with makeshift materials as well as put up a road sign notice so that road users could be cautious. (kmb16)
Bali Post
AMLAPURA - In a month, at least four villas occupied by for-eign tourists have been robbed or burglarized in Karangasem region. The last incident occurred on Friday (Feb 14) where two villas on the Jasri Beach, Karangasem, were burglarized by thief. A villa located on the Jasri Beach, Karangasem, occupied by a German, Sirene, was burglarized. At this villa, the thief stole cash valued at IDR 2 million, two ATM cards, laptop and iPhone. Sirene stayed alone at the villa because her husband was returned
to Germany.Meanwhile, the adjacent villa at
the same location occupied by Jans-en and his wife, equally Germans, was about to be burglarized. A gang of thief alleged to consist of three people opened the villa window. But when a person came in, the window sounded, so that Jansen’s wife yelled for her husband to get up and check the open door. The gang of thief then fled westward of the villa denoting a plantation land of resident.
Previously, another tourist stay-ing at the villa in the east of Jasri was also robbed two weeks ago.
The robbers consisting of three men threatened the villa dweller, tourists from Europe, by pointing a sickle. When a robber pointed a sickle at the villa dweller, two other robbers took out the victim’s possession freely. Upon receiving the report of Sirene that her villa was burglar-ized, police rushed to the scene to make investigation.
Police assessed the presence villa on the west coast of Jasri was prone to theft. It happened because the compound wall in the north or the back of the villa was low and bordered with lush gardens owned by resident, shrubs and garden
with coconut or banana trees. On the west side of the villa was seen a compound wall. In addition, of approximately 12 units of villas, only two occupants hired a security guard, not the entire units. Most of the villas were empty, while the two occupied villas were inhabited by a female and old couple. Amidst the activity of police to take the finger-prints of the thief, some gardeners said that the thieves only targeted the occupied villas. The thieves knew which villas were occupied and the careless inhabitants were burglarized.
The villa burglary also occurred
last week in the waterfront area of Amed, Abang subdistrict. On Thursday morning (Feb 13), the Artanadi Villa at Tebola, Sidemen, Karangasem, was also burglarized. Two occupants of Dutch citizens consisting of Floor Amemie Deru-kamp, 29 and Esmee Hilgard Ger-alda Jongshoop, 29, suffered a loss of about IDR 50 million. The thief was alleged to enter the victim’s room around 02:00 on Thursday morning. At that time, both the vic-tims fell asleep. They just learned if their valuables vanished around 07:00 when getting up in the morn-ing. (013)
Again, a villa at Jasri burglarized by thief
IBP/File
The sign that says collapse road is seen on the side of Serongga-Abianbase border
Patchwork, the road at border of Serongga-Abianbase collapses againBali Post
GIANyAr - After collapsing a few months ago and was then repaired with patchwork by Gianyar Public Works, finally the road at the border between the Serongga and Abianbase village, Gianyar broke again. Even, the breakdown of road body oc-curred nearly along seven meters, with the width of two meters and the collapse spread around 15 centimeters.
I N T E R N A T I O N A L I N T E R N A T I O N A L
DPs 23 - 32
EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT
Monday, February 17, 2014
Page 8 Page 13These are the men who developed the
computer technology behind the bullet scene in “The Matrix” and the animation techniques in “Life of Pi.” They’re the visionaries who build the things the film industry needs that don’t yet exist, like advanced remote helicopter cameras and the Pneumatic Car Flipper (which does what it sounds like), for which they received certificates and plaques from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
One honoree, Joshua Pines, who helped develop image-processing mathematics to standardize color, called the evening “this year’s annual winter Olympics for geeks.”
The two Oscar statuettes were presented among the night’s 21 awards: The Gordon E. Sawyer Award to Peter W. Anderson for his contributions to 3-D technology, and an Academy Award of Merit in honor of the countless owners and operators of film-processing labs over the past century. “The Dark Knight” writer-director Christopher No-lan accepted the film lab Oscar, which will be on permanent dis-play at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles when it opens in 2017.
Nolan described film proces-sors as alchemists who “(turn) silver and plastic into dreams — and not just any kind of dreams, but the kind of dreams you can unspool from a reel and hold in your hand, hold up to the light and see, frozen: magic.” He also contributed to the film-versus-digital debate that other
honorees nudged at during the night.Film is “the technology that lies at the
heart of filmmaking,” Nolan said, “and still represents the gold standard in imaging technology.” Still, the majority of Saturday’s awards honored research and inventions re-lated to digital filmmaking.
Eric Veach was recognized for his Stanford doctoral thesis that incorporates the physics of lighting into computer graphics. Dan Piponi, part of a team who created a system to simu-late smoke and fire first used in films such as “Avatar” and “Puss In Boots,” joked about his unlikely road to Oscar recognition.
Associated Press Writer
SAUGERTIES, New York — John Henson, the son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson, has died in New York. He was 48. Cheryl Henson says her brother died of a “massive heart attack” at his home in Saugerties on Friday. She says it happened after he had been building an igloo in the snow with his daughter.
Henson followed in his famous father’s footsteps as a puppeteer, performing as Sweetums the ogre in several films, including “Muppet Treasure Island” and “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.” He was also a shareholder and board member of the Jim Henson Company. Henson leaves behind his wife Gyongyi and two daughters, ages 10 and 15.
John Henson, son of Muppets creator, dies at 48
AP Photo/FILE
FILE - Puppeteer John Henson, the son of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson is seen with Muppets Miss Piggy and Kermit at the Disney/MGM studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida in this June 15, 1990 file photo.
Academy honors scientists behind special effectsAssociated Press Writer
BEVERLY HILLS, California — The scientists and inventors who make big-screen superheroes, spectacular explosions and other only-in-the-movies effects possible have their own Oscar ceremony. Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan hosted the film academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hotel, recognizing more than 50 of the most creative scientists and engineers in the movie business.
Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Left to right, Dan Piponi, Olivier Maury and Ian Sachs, creators of the ILM Plume system that simulates and renders fire, smoke and explosions for motion picture visual effects and recipients of a Technical Achievement Award, pose together at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ annual Scientific and Technical Awards on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
A search party was combing the seas for the five tourists and two in-structors -- all women -- who went missing during their third dive near the islands of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida southeast of Bali on Friday afternoon, deputy consul general of Japan in Bali Yasue Katsunobu said.
Their boat’s skipper called the police after the women did not re-surface, Katsunobu said, adding the boat was hired from Yellow Scuba on the beachside strip of Sanur.
“We are still searching for the seven missing divers. So far there’s no indication of where they are,”
Katsunobu said on Sunday.A staff member for Bali’s search
and rescue agency said a around 100 people had joined the opera-tion from his agency, the maritime police, the navy, as well as fisher-men, and Japanese and Indonesian diving instructors.
“After having no luck on Satur-day, we have expanded the search area,” said Amtarama, a Bali search and rescue official who goes by one name.
“We have seven official boats, not including the fishermen’s, and a heli-copter has been scanning the waters since the early morning,” he said.
The team will continue until dark, he said, adding that weather conditions had so far been fine.
Rescuers searched until 3 pm on Saturday when bad weather, includ-ing heavy rain, forced them to halt the mission, officials said.
Police said earlier that the wom-en had left from Crystal Bay on the larger island Nusa Penida when they went missing.
Popular dive siteCrystal Bay is a popular site
for seeing Nusa Penida’s famous mola-mola, or ocean sunfish, and is recommended for experienced divers because of its strong down-ward current.
The bay was closed temporarily in August 2012 after a Danish man and Japanese woman died diving in the same week, according to
reports.The skipper said that he was
following the divers for some 20 minutes before a sudden downpour of rain made the water cloudy, ac-cording to a report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
He moved his 10-metre-long boat to a point some hundreds of metres away where the divers were expected to resurface at an agreed time, the report said.
The skipper said he searched for them for an hour before reporting the incident.
“I’ve been guiding since 2009, and I’ve been to the area (of the accident) many times. Why did this happen?” he said in the report.
Katsunobu said that the seven women were very experienced scuba divers with at least 50 dives each under their belts.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the missing women were named by police and rescue authorities as: Ritsuko Miyata, 59, Emi Yama-moto, 33, Nahomi Tomita, 28, Aya Morizono, 27, Atsumi Yoshinobe, 29, Shoko Takahashi, 29, and Saori Furukawa, 27.
Bali is often pounded by heavy afternoon rain during the wet sea-son, which lasts around six months of the year. Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida are popular scuba diving spots and are part of the Coral Triangle, widely considered the world’s richest underwater wilderness.
The Coral Triangle includes the waters of six nations in the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Missing from Friday
Search resumes for seven Japanese divers
IBP/Bagiarta
Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said.
Agence France-Presse
DENPASAR - Indonesian rescuers on Sunday resumed their search for seven Japanese scuba divers who vanished during a dive near Bali two days ago, a consular official said.
Renzi set to become Italy’s youngest prime minister
