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North Korean leader open to summit with South

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

EntertainmentFriday, January 2, 2015

Friday, January 2, 2015

16 Pages Number 117th year

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DPs 23 - 32WEATHER FORECAsT

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Seven bodies have been recov-ered from the jet, which crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people aboard.

Search crews began finding wreckage and corpses Tuesday, but in the thick of Indonesia’s rainy season, the weather has frequently prevented helicopters and divers from operating while strong sea currents have kept debris moving.

While searchers had no suc-cess Thursday finding bodies as of late afternoon, authorities announced that they had identi-fied one of the seven previously recovered bodies: flight attendant Hayati Lutfiah Hamid.

Singapore’s navy sent in an unmanned underwater vehicle capable of surveying the seabed to try to help pinpoint the wreck-age and the all-important “black boxes.” Indonesia is using a mine-sweeper and a private survey ship that specializes in sea mapping, while aircraft capable of detecting metal also were deployed.

We are “focusing on finding the body of the plane,” Indonesia air force spokesman Rear Mar-shal Hadi Tjahjanto told report-ers. “There was something like a dark shadow once seen from a plane, but it cannot yet be proven as wreckage.”

The seven bodies were recov-ered from an area off Borneo island, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the site where bodies were first spotted. Remains are being sent initially to Pangkalan Bun, the closest town, before be-ing transported to Surabaya, Indo-nesia’s second-largest city, where Flight 8501 had taken off.

Choppy conditions had pre-vented divers from entering the water Wednesday, and helicop-ters were largely grounded, but

18 ships continued to survey the narrowed search area.

Sonar images have identified what appeared to be large parts of the plane.

“It’s possible the bodies are in the fuselage,” said Vice Air Mar-

shal Sunarbowo Sandi, search and rescue coordinator in Pang-kalan Bun. “So it’s a race now against time and weather.”

The longer the search takes, the more bodies will decompose and more debris will scatter.

It is still unclear what brought the plane down about halfway into its two-hour flight from Surabaya to Singapore. The jet’s last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permis-sion to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the airliner disappeared

from the radar without issuing a distress signal.

AP Photo/Dita Alangkara

A relative, center, weeps as Indonesian soldiers lift a coffin containing the body of Hayati Lutfiah, one of the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501, during the handover ceremony to her family at the police hospital in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. Searchers were racing “against time and weather” Thursday to recover the dead from the crash, with a window of good conditions slammed shut by another onslaught of wind and heavy rain.

AirAsia jet searchers fight ‘time and weather’PANGKALAN BUN — Searchers were racing “against time and weather” Thursday to recover

the dead from the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, with a window of good conditions slammed shut by another onslaught of wind and heavy rain.

This news can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 at 9.30 until 10.00 am

LOS ANGELES — Model Sonni Pacheco has filed for di-vorce from actor-husband Jer-emy Renner after 10 months of marriage, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles on Dec. 5.

The petition cites irreconcil-able differences as the reason for the separation. Pacheco, in the petition, also seeks return of her stolen passport, birth certificate

and Social Security card, as well as invalidation of their prenuptial agreement based on fraud.

Pacheco and Renner have one child, Ava Berlin Renner, who is 20 months old.

The two wed in secret on Jan. 13, 2014, and only confirmed their union to the press in Sep-tember. Renner has 30 days to file a response to the summons and petition. (ap)

The star of potboilers including “The Stud” and “The Bitch” was recognized for her services to charity. Collins, 81, is a longtime supporter of nonprofit groups helping children.

London-born Collins said Tuesday it was “humbling to receive this level of recognition from my queen and country, and I am thrilled and truly grateful.”

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, who is due to play the British monarch in stage play “The Audience” next year, was also made a dame, and said she initially didn’t believe the news.

“I am thrilled, astonished and worried that I might suddenly wake up,” said Scott Thomas, who received an Academy Award nomination in 1997 for “The English Patient.”

Fashion designer Mary Quant, who made the mini-skirt synonymous with 60s style, was also named a dame, as were television presenter Esther Rantzen, who founded the ChildLine telephone service for neglected and abused young people, and British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

Veteran actor John Hurt, star of “The Naked Civil Servant,” ‘’The Elephant Man” and “Alien,” was made a knight.

And it will be “Arise, Sir Simon” for chemist Simon Campbell, part of the team that created erectile dysfunc-tion drug Viagra.

Comic actor James Corden, incoming host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE. The same honor went to his ex, actress Sheridan Smith.

Actress Emily Watson, who was Oscar nominated for “Breaking the Waves” and “Hilary and Jackie,” also received an OBE.

Music producer Peter Asher, half of 1960s pop duo Peter and Gordon, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE. So were comedian Meera Syal, a star of groundbreaking sketch comedy show “Goodness Gracious Me,” and Scottish writer Ali Smith, whose novel “How To Be Both” was shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.

A century after the start of World War I, ceramic art-ist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper were recognized for creating a sea of ceramic poppies that filled the moat of the Tower of London in tribute to the war dead. They were made Members of the Order of the British Empire, or MBEs, for creating the work, which was visited by 5 million people, including the queen.

Britain’s honors are bestowed by the monarch, but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public. In descending order, the main honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE. Knights are addressed as “sir” or “dame,” followed by their name. Recipients of the other honors have no title, but can put the letters

NEW YORK — Guitarist Slash has filed for divorce from his wife of 13 years. Court documents filed Tuesday in Los Angeles cite irrec-oncilable differences for Slash and Perla Hudson’s split. Slash’s real name is Saul Hudson.

The former Guns N’ Roses per-former and Hudson were married in 2001, and he also filed for divorce in 2010, citing irreconcilable differ-

ences. The couple have two sons, 10-year-old Cash and 12-year-old London.

Tuesday’s documents say the couple separated June 15.

The 49-year-old musician has had success as a solo star and in the bands Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. (ap)

Jeremy Renner’s wife files for divorce

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File

In this March 31, 2012 file photo, musician Slash right, and Perla Hudson arrives at the launch of Marquee, The Star en-tertainment venue in Sydney, Australia.

Guitarist Slash files for divorce after 13 years

Joan Collins honored by queen

Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File

LONDON — The diva of “Dynasty” is now a dame. Joan Collins, who played scheming, shoul-der pad-wearing Alexis Carrington in the hit 1980s TV show, was made the female equivalent of a knight in Queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year’s honors list.

Huge fire razes Philippine shanties, killing 3

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Lampard to stay at Man City to end of season

International2 Friday, January 2, 2015 15International Activities

Bali News

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

Friday, January 2, 2015

Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, 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

“The hotel located at Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai 1001x Nusa Dua stands on an area of around 4,717 square meters with a

While at school, he was known to be mischievous and naughty among his friends. But it was just a past time. Now, the holder of full name Adi Soenarno has changed. He is a very inspiring figure due to his creativity in writing. The books he has written are also unique and cool to be made as reference. “Being mis-chievous, I have many imaginations to write,” he said while laughing.

This man occupying the position as General Manager of the Natya Hotel Kuta spent his teenage time in Malang, East Java. After com-pleting his undergraduate study, Adi then decided to be involved in the tourism industry. When he was in Malang, Adi was actively writing articles about tourism and publish-ing them in multiple media. Writing was not his main job at the time as he was a General Manager at one of the hotels in Malang.

Adi continued his graduate study at Purdue University, the USA. In the course of his career, Adi is a person who loves all kinds of work. During his high school period, he already became an inspiration provider and motivator at schools and often participated in the youth exchange program overseas. As

motivator, he had roamed around the world such as to Germany and the UK. “I used to be a lecturer, but unfortunately I had to focus on hospitality field,” he said.

Amidst his bustling time as a General Manager at the Natya Ho-tel, he still makes his spare time by writing. So far, he has already writ-ten 60 books where one of which has been named in the MURI record. In the near future, the collection will continue to grow. In accordance with the expertise, Adi wrote some books on management, tourism and social fictions, tourism diction-ary and motivation. The books are distributed throughout Indonesia and overseas.

When writing, Adi has some tips to be always applied every day. Among them, he always writes something what he is good at and understands and writes it in popular language and always looked for reference as much as possible. “To dismiss laziness, I promise to myself to get used to write every night be-fore going to bed,” he said.

Right now, his interest and achievement in literature and tour-ism has encouraged him to hold something unique in Bali. He

IBP/File Photo

Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua

Soft Opening Commenced with Inaugural Ceremony

NUSA DUA - Apparently Bali remains to become a strong mag-net of tourism industry in In-donesia. Even though it had dimmed at the end of 2002 and 2005, the development of tourist visit and hospitality business still seems high on this island. Based on this reason, the Metropolitan Golden Management, a hotel management network manag-ing the Hotel Horison decided to expand its hospitality business to Bali.In cooperation with PT Erina Anugerah Dewata posing a group of business engaged in cold storage, gas stations and some other business units ultimately developed the Hotel Horison Nusa Dua, Bali.

total building area of 5,358 square meters, equivalent to the coefficient of 40/60, with the progress of development for approxi-mately 1 year. This hotel will be operated in stages starting from 79 rooms. Then, it will be resumed until the operation of the total hotel rooms. Initial operation of the hotel is marked with the inauguration ritual or melaspas and mecaru resi gana at the soft opening on Sunday (Dec 21),” explained Nyoman Wija, the General Manager of Hotel Horison Nusa Dua.

Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua is an elegant hotel with minimalist decor by combining

Profile

Adi Soenarno:In creativity, impossible is nothing

the elements of Balinese style. It offers a total of 103 rooms and suites with six types of rooms. Some rooms have a special view directly to swimming pool beautifully designed that can become an added value for guests.

It has been equipped with supporting facilities such as Malabar Coffee Shop, Putri Lounge as well as the Sky Lounge on the third floor of the hotel. From the loca-tion, guests can enjoy the beautiful sunset view, while enjoying a typical delicacies presented by Hotel Horison Nusa Dua. Sky Lounge and the overall rooms can

be enjoyed early 2015. The hotel is also equipped with supporting business activities, namely three meeting rooms and one ballroom with the capacity of 20 to 280 people.

“With a strategic location that is only 15 minutes away by car from Ngurah Rai International Airport through toll road, 15 minutes from Pandava Beach, 10 minutes to Jimbaran Beach, and 1 km to Nusa Dua Beach, we are confident the Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua is the right choice for leisure and business travelers,” said Nyoman Wija who has joined the management of Hotel Horizon since October 2014.

IBP/Ocha

planned to make the Natya Hotel Kuta as a venue of creative writing. Ultimately, the activities could be held and ran successfully. Thus, he also wanted to implement it in Bali. “In Creativity, Impossible is Nothing” is the tagline owned by this tennis and golf hobbyist. (ocha)

TABANAN - The government has prepared a budget to provide subsidies for farmers. However, according to one of the independent politicians, I Nengah Mastajaya, the subsidy going to farmers were considered inappropriate so far, especially in terms of its admin-istration mechanism. He said the subsidy given to farmers was in the form of fertilizer. “In my opinion, the subsidy given to farmers is not perceived by them. Even though it has already been in the form of fer-tilizer, but in the form of money will be more appropriate,” he said. With the cash subsidy, he added, farmers could enjoy directly the subsidy provided by the government.

As an entrepreneur in the field of property, he was also concerned with the continuity of Tabanan as the rice granary. According to him, currently some investors had considered Tabanan a potential land to build housing. “Tabanan begins to be considered as the land price is cheaper than in Denpasar and Badung,” said Mastajaya, a pro-

spective regent candidate of Golkar party. Public interest was already increasing to buy property in Ta-banan area due to more affordable price. The growing interest could be seen from the increase in land price around the town of Kediri and Tabanan where it had reached IDR 300 million from IDR 50 million in the span of one year.

Proliferation of property busi-ness in Tabanan caused the agri-cultural land to be threatened. He also saw the agricultural land in the subdistrict of Tabanan and Kediri gradually began to disappear and be replaced by concrete buildings. Similarly, he worried when seeing the green belt already started to be converted. “For example, the green belt at Megati was already reached by investors,” he said. In addressing the issue, according to him, there should be a shield from customary villages through their awig-awig or bylaw. In terms of the government, the issuance of building permit should be made stricter. (kmb24)

Increase of the corruption case settlement as presented by BCW Bali was in tune with the expla-nation of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office. However, the Bali Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that one of the county prosecutor’s offices in Bali still had not submitted corruption cases, namely the Denpasar Prosecutor’s Office. However, in the prosecutor’s of-fice under leadership of Jaya Kusuma was mentioned if it already targeted three cases. In the meantime, the other prosecutor’s office competed to submit corrup-tion cases to the Denpasar Corruption Court.

Spokesperson of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office, Ashari Kurniawan, said on Tuesday (Dec 30) that in general the handling of corruption cases from year to year already increased. Even, in 2014 it increased sharply. Based on the data received from the Spe-cial Crime of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office, the case handling within the past three years had increased dramatically. In details, the handling of corruption in 2012 amounted to 12 cases in inquiry stage and six cases in the process of investigation. Meanwhile, in 2013, a total of 34 cases were in the stage of inves-tigation and 23 other cases in inquiry. Until the mid of December 2014, the Bali Prosecutor’s Office sent 33 cases in the prosecution of the Corruption Court and 39 other cases in the investigation process. The

data did not include the case of the former Klungkung Pier setting the former Regent of Klungkung, Wayan Candra, as suspect along with a number of Klungkung officials.

Then, with a total of 33 cases submitted to the Den-pasar Corruption Court, has the prosecutor’s office been satisfied? Does each county prosecutor’s office have no target in alleviating corruption? Chief of Bali Prosecutor’s Office, Adityawarman accompanied by Spokesperson Ashari Kurniawan said that in the han-dling of a case his party did not specify a target. But, his party, added Adityawarman, would do the best in the law enforcement. “It will be mistaken if we have proposed to the court without enough evidence. So, it must not be enforced,” he said.

Even, when asked about the handling of corruption that tended to pursue quantity and still targeted lower class group of community, the prosecutor’s authority stated that in the handling of corruption it did not do it discriminatively. Even though the cases were worth a little, they remained a corruption. “Therefore, we put forward the rule of law. It is not the matter of the loss to the state, or who is the culprit,” affirmed Ashari Kurniawan. Nevertheless, Ashari Kurniawan said that in general the prosecutor’s office had optimally handled the corruption case in Bali. (asa)

NEGARA - After mounted for few months, the sign of parking restriction in the area of shopping complex across the Negara Public Market is ignored. Parking restriction on the lane of Jalan Ngurah Rai was often broken and many motorcycles are parked in a row every day. Similarly, the parking barrier of iron chain is no longer installed.

Actually the official of Transpor-tation Agency was often deployed at the location to direct all vehicles to parking area of Ijogading Market located not too far away. The time of parking restriction was applied from 07:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. However, as seen on Tuesday (Dec 30), many motorcycles lined at the parking lot and were charged with levies by parking attendant. Road shoulder used for parking space has made the traffic crowded. Moreover, similar parking service was also provided at the Negara Public Market so that it made the road body narrower.

Unavoidably, the parking of mo-torcycles was also followed by cars

so that the road space was getting narrower. Such conditions made the parking attendant confused to charge parking levy. Previously, the sign of parking restriction was meant to make the area more orderly. At the same time, it was also intended to direct vehicles to a centralized parking space at the Ijogading Market having a wider space.

Meanwhile, Director of the Lo-cal Government-owned Enterprise (Perusda), I Wayan Wasa, since the parking restriction sign was posted in the area, the revenue from parking levy reduced. Parking attendant could not charge levy at the location and should focus on parking lot at the Negara Public Market. This year, admitted Wasa, the target of parking revenue could not be achieved 100 percent. Until November, it just achieved IDR 2.2 billion from the target of IDR 2.6 billion. He estimated that in December it could only reach 95 percent. (kmb26)

Parking restriction sign ignored

Disbursement of farmer subsidy inappropriate

IBP/file

The Chairman of the Bali Corruption Watch (BCW),

Putu Wirata Dwikora

Quantitatively, corruption handling rises

Denpasar Prosecutor’s Office still zero

DENPASAr - Chairman of the Bali Corruption Watch (BCW), Putu Wirata Dwikora, said the handling of corruption cases in Bali throughout 2014 was quite good compared to previous year. However, discrimination in the case handling was still visible carried out by prosecutor or police authority. A number of active officials were made a suspect. Uniquely, small cases got serious attention to detention. Meanwhile, top officials suspected of com-mitting corruption worth hundreds of millions of rupiahs remained to officiate in one of the agencies in Bali.

3Friday, January 2, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTraveling Friday, January 2, 2015

AP Photo/Mike Groll

In this Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014 photo, lights decorate the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid, N.Y. Known for decades as a winter wonderland and where the U.S. Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians in 1980 in perhaps the most-celebrated sporting event ever, Lake Placid is not just for snowy fun anymore, but is a town for all seasons.

Lake Placid isn’t just for winter lovers anymore

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Perhaps it’s the fresh-baked cookie that’s offered to guests as they check into the Mirror Lake Inn, the village’s crown jewel of lodging. Or perhaps it’s how just about every quaint store and restaurant in town has some sort of reminder that miracles can, and have, happened there.

Either way, it doesn’t take long upon arriving in Lake Placid to realize there’s something unique about the place.

Known for decades as a winter wonderland and where the U.S. Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians in 1980 in perhaps the most-celebrated sporting event ever, Lake Placid is not just for snowy fun any-more. The vacation haven in the Adirondack Mountains is a town for all seasons now, though the sights this time of year are noth-ing short of Rockwellian.

“It’s the place you never really think about coming to, and then you get here and you never want to leave,” said Scott Natter, a va-cationer from Philadelphia who was touring the Olympic Cen-ter — the arena where the 1980 Miracle On Ice happened — with two of his children on a recent snowy day. “For us, it’s an annual thing now. We say ‘vacation’ and our kids say ‘Placid.’”

With a year-round population of about 2,500, Lake Placid has remained small but bustling. Tourism and continuing to tell

the Olympic tales of 1932 and 1980 are the backbone of the little community, where cell service can still be a touch spotty and few seem to mind.

But with a mix of classic and new attractions and amenities, there’s more to the place now than ever before. Whiteface Mountain still packs in skiers and snowboarders with arguably the best terrain in the East. Thrill-seekers can get their fix for speed and danger by taking a bobsled ride at Mount Van Hoevenberg. And those just looking to unwind can enjoy a maple sugar body scrub — yes, it is what it sounds like — at Mirror Lake Inn.

Hikers looking to scale any or all of the 46 Adirondack peaks that stand 4,600 feet or higher tend to start visiting in the spring. In the summer, there’s a full-scale

Ironman triathlon and a renowned horse show (which takes place in the shadow of the 1980 Olympic cauldron). Leaf-peepers pack the region in the fall, getting a look at the brilliant hues before the trees fall barren again for the inevitable winter.

Bookstores, a little theater, an arts center that lures kids from 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, fishing, golfing ... some of those might not all be available 12 months a year, but they’re all there. And many of those places are connected by brick sidewalks where people can walk about unbothered and unworried, even after nightfall.

“It is beyond a year-round destination,” said Lisa Weibrecht, who owns and operates the Mir-ror Lake Inn with her husband, Ed. “Winter is such a small part

of Lake Placid. I would say definitely summer is the most recognized season here between the lakes, the mountains, people leaving the city. This started as a summer resort and our population swells by three times during the summer. I don’t think there’s any place more beautiful to be than in Lake Placid in the summer and the fall.”

Still, its calling card might be winter, as evidenced by the two Olympic medals that hang behind the front desk at Mirror Lake.

Those medals were won by the Weibrecht’s son, Andrew — at the last two Olympic Winter Games.

“People always say, ‘Can you swim in the lake?’” Ed Weibrecht said. “And I tell them, here, you can drink the lake. It’s a wonder-ful place.” (ap)

Farmers are the backbone of food security. However, not all farmers can get a decent welfare. High production cost due to ex-pensive price of fertilizer is not comparable to the price of grain frequently sold at cheap price.

The data of the IDEP Selaras Alam Foundation released last May indicated that more than 50 percent of Indonesian people were farmers and almost 90 percent of them planted hybrid seeds. The foundation observed that all the agricultural products were har-vested and sold in order to get money quickly. After that, farmers set aside the money obtained to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs for the next plant-ing season. But, this could only be done if they got good harvest. Otherwise, borrowing money to cooperatives or middlemen was the next solution. The more farm-ers getting trapped in the circle, the sooner farmers were getting poorer.

In the field, farmers claimed to desperately need a help from

ANTARA FOTO/Nyoman Budhiana

IBP/Eka Adhiyasa

Today farmers no longer produce their own seeds. However, they depend on hybrid seeds and genetically modified seeds (GMOs) from the national agricultural industry and imports. The price is not cheap, so that it will increase their production cost.

Reaching food security

Farmers depend on hybrid seedsDENPASAR - Today farmers no longer produce their own

seeds. However, they depend on hybrid seeds and genetically modified seeds (GMOs) from the national agricultural industry and imports. The price is not cheap, so that it will increase their production cost.

the government and insurance. Production cost was much more expensive than the selling price of grain during harvest season. Not to mention, within the past two years farmers relied fully on manufactured seed. The seed was purchased at IDR 90,000 per 10 kg.

“The price of seed is catego-rized to be expensive because the price of grain is only IDR 3,200-IDR 3,400 per kg. Moreover, we must also buy three kinds of fertil-izer, namely the organic, NPK and urea. Since the result is incompa-rable, the income is also a little. As a result, young generation rarely wants to be a farmer. Working in the field is also pretty heavy,” said Chief of Subak Suradadi, Be-limbing village, Pupuan, Nyoman Suardika, some time ago.

He added the results were not comparable so that this condition also triggered land conversion. Currently, the land conversion at Subak Suradadi already reached 10 hectares of a total of 82 hect-ares of wetland. Local farmers

were said to convert their paddy fields into a coffee and cacao plan-tation because the production was much easier and cheaper, plus the price was more expensive.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Subak Gemuh, Pupuan, I Nengah Sutar-sa, admitted that the other threat faced by farmers was mouse. Sim-ilar condition was also recognized by the Chief of Subak Belimbing, Nyoman Suarnata. Although hav-ing been sprayed or poisoned, the

mouse still haunted farmers.“Mouse is major obstacle. They

can savor the whole paddy plants right in the middle of the field, so they only leave the plants at the edge. Automatically it can reduce the production. Moreover, when it rains, the selling price of grain also slumps dramatically,” he complained.

Suarnata admitted that without mouse attack the benefit of farm-ers was very minimal because they

should buy fertilizer and manufac-tured seed. Meanwhile, preparing the seed by themselves was not possible because Belimbing vil-lage was often flushed by rain.

“We hope the government can subsidize fertilizer and attempt the grain price to remain stable during harvest season. As usual, the high selling price can only last for around a week, after which it declines drastically,” he explained. (kmb32)

Bid Farewell to 2014Balinese artists performed dances and art performances during the art and culture parade. The event was held to celebrate the coming year, 2015, and bid farewell to 2014

on Wednesday, December 31, 2014.

International4 Friday, January 2, 2015 Friday, January 2, 2015 13InternationalBali News

Kim’s call for improving inter-Korea relations comes as Pyong-yang is facing heightened criti-cism over its human rights record and souring ties with Washington over allegations it was involved in the massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures linked to “The Interview,” a dark comedy that portrayed an assassination attempt on Kim.

North Korea has denied in-volvement, but said the hack was a “righteous deed” and suggested it might have been carried out by sympathizers or supporters abroad.

“We believe we can resume suspended senior-level talks and hold other talks on specific issues if South Korea sincerely has a position that it wants to improve North-South relations through a dialogue,” Kim said in the nation-ally televised address. “And there

is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks if the atmosphere and conditions are met.”

Meeting such conditions has proven to be virtually impossible in the past. The two countries have not held a summit since 2007 and, despite Kim’s remarks, the likeli-hood of one happening again soon is very low given the deep distrust that remains between the two coun-tries. Some experts in the South, however, cautiously welcomed the possibility of increased talks at lower levels.

“Animosities between South and North Korea would deepen ... if they fail to improve their politi-cal ties and ease military tension through a summit this year,” said Cheong Seong-chang at the private think-tank Sejong Institute.

South Korean officials say they are basically open to any form of talks. Seoul is waiting for the North

to respond to its earlier proposal to hold talks this month to discuss a range of issues needed to prepare for the unification and other is-sues of mutual concern. South Korea made the proposal earlier this week.

“If North Korea truly has a will to improve South-North relations through a dialogue, we hope (the North) quickly respond positively to our proposal for talks,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.

Kim noted that this year is particularly significant because it marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Both sides claim to hold reunification as a fundamental goal, but a vast gap remains over how that should be accomplished and under what form of govern-ment a unified Korea would be administered. (ap)

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the backing of his hard-line Likud party in its primary and will lead it into general elections this March, Israeli media reported Thursday. With about 20 percent of the ballots cast Wednesday counted, Israeli media said Netanyahu had won the support of about 75 percent of electors, giving him an unas-sailable lead over challenger Danny Danon, a former deputy defense minister.

Some 100,000 Likud members were eligible to vote in the poll. Netanyahu was the heavily favored candidate in the vote. Early opinion polls ahead of the March 17 general elections show Netanyahu’s Likud party in a neck-and-neck race with a joint list headed by Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni of the Hatnuah party.

Netanyahu has been Israeli prime minister since 2009, taking a hard-line in Israel’s relations with the Palestinians. He has cultivated members of his right-wing coalition through sup-porting contentious legislation that would enshrine into law Israel’s status as a Jewish state.

But he has so far drawn a line with the right at efforts to change the status at a disputed Jerusalem holy site by allowing Jews to pray there, fearing that such a change would solidify anti-Israeli opinion in the Islamic world and undermine the country’s relations with the United States and Europe.

Early returns in the Likud primary suggest that one major backer of the change in the status quo at the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Nobel Sanctuary, did not win enough support to gain a chance to return to parliament, while another supporter of that change did. (ap)

AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement after wining his hard-line Likud party primary in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

Israel’s Netanyahu wins Likud

party primary

AMLAPURA - Collection of a number of levies could not meet the target this year. They included the parking levy at the edge of public roads as well as recreation and sport centers.

It was announced by the Head of Karangasem Revenue Services (Dispenda), Nengah Toya, Tuesday (Dec 30) in Karangasem. Toya from Bebandem said the parking levies at the edge of public roads could only reach IDR 2.59 bil-lion, while the target was IDR 2.83 billion. In the meantime, the recreation and sport levy was targeted at IDR 2.85 bil-lion, while could only reach IDR 2.55 billion this year.

He claimed not to know why from the previous year the collection of the levies still could not meet the targets. He did not know whether there was a leak or not. Actu-ally, his party had attempted to optimize the levy. “The levies of parking service at the edge of public roads lie in the authority of Transportation Agency, while the levy of recreation and sport lies in the Culture and Tourism Agency,” he said.

He admitted, other than in the parking services as well as recreation and sports, the unattainable target also occurred in the sectors of business services and public services including the levies of building permit (IMB). According to him, minus in the target achievement was not too large. Aside from the two types of levies, the minimum achieve-ment also occurred in the levies of permit. However, the results of taxation in tourism sector showed a great surge. Hotel and restaurant tax (PHR), according to him, was very encouraging. Previously, the increase in the collec-tion ranged from IDR 1 billion, but this year it jumped to IDR 5 billion from the target of IDR 21.2 billion so that it totally reached IDR 25.5 billion. Such an achievement, he said, occurred after collaboration with the Development and Finance Supervisory Agency (BPKP) in the case of tax audit.

Meanwhile, the tax of non-metal mineral or quarry, the collection also gained great amount. From the target of IDR 78.8 billion, it could be reached IDR 82.2 billion.

Collection of the land and property tax (PBB) with the target of IDR 5.4 billion could be reached IDR 6.28 billion. Meanwhile, the fees of land and building acquisi-tion (BPHTB) with the target of IDR 11.57 billion could achieve IDR 13.78 billion. It was said the total regionally generated revenue (PAD) this year with the target of IDR 202 billion had reached IDR 224 billion or exceeded the target of about 11 percent.

On the other hand, Regional Secretary of Karangasem government, Gede Adnya Muliadi, some time ago said in front of community leaders in the evaluation of develop-ment said although the tax of quarry was great, in the future it should be found a substitute. It happened when the poten-tial of the quarry had almost run out. The potential substitute was the tourism sector which was more eco-friendly. In contrast, the quarry was in the form of exploitation against unrenewable natural resources. (013)

Based on the data of crimes in Gianyar Police during the past four years from 2011 to 2014, there were 1,825 reports of criminal acts such as motor vehicle theft, theft with violence, special theft, domestic violence, mistreatment and oth-ers. But of all the reports, a total

of 1,456 cases had been resolved, while 369 other criminal cases were still under investigation.

In details, in 2011 were recorded 459 crimes, with the report reached 459 cases and 358 cases could be re-solved. The report on criminal cases decreased in 2012 to 430 cases,

where 342 cases could be resolved. But in 2013 the report on criminal acts increased to 462 cases, where 389 cases could be resolved. In the following year, the criminal action increased to 474 cases. However, in 2014 the number of settled case showed a decrease from previous

year to 367 cases.The last action handled by Gi-

anyar Police Criminal Investiga-tion was the theft at Alfamart mini market on Jalan Kebo Iwa, Gianyar on Thursday (Dec 25). From the action coinciding with the celebra-tion of Christmas, the culprit took some valuables worth IDR 20 mil-lion. Meanwhile, police authority was still investigating the case of special theft.

In the meantime, the Chief

of Criminal Investigation, Aris Purwanto, said on Tuesday (Dec 30) that of the criminal actions occurred his party had attempted to optimally resolve all the re-ports throughout the year 2014. However, the remaining cases, especially theft cases, some had been detected. “Obviously we are still investigating the cases. When having been arrested, we will definitely let you know,” he promised. (kmb35)

2014, crime rate in Gianyar on the rise

GIANYAR - Report on criminal actions in Gianyar continues to increase every year. Even, since the year 2011 until the end of 2014 in the jurisdiction of Gianyar Police was recorded a total of 1,825 reports on criminal action, where a total of 1,456 cases could be resolved. Meanwhile, the Gianyar Police Criminal Investigation continued to accelerate the process of investigation.

Parking and recreation levies miss the target

IBP/Dewa Farend

Tirta Tangga, one of the famous tourism destination in Karangasem is crowded with visitors.

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

People watch a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a speech, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

North Korean leader open to

summit with SouthPYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s

speech Thursday that he is open to more talks or even a summit with his South Korean coun-terpart, a statement welcomed by Seoul, which in turn urged the North to take concrete steps toward normalization of relations.

Bali News Friday, January 2, 2015 5InternationalFriday, January 2, 201512 International

BUSINESS

Information gathered told if the emergence of the crocodile had been seen by people on the beach in front of Vila Batu Gang-ga around 5:00 p.m. Residents around the beach just dared to see it from a distance until the croco-dile disappeared in the darkness of night. Various speculations arose related to the appearance of crocodile whose origin could not be ascertained. Many people believed if the crocodile escaped from captivity, but there was no crocodile breeding nearby. The vagueness kindled some specula-tions leading to mystical realm.

When asked for his confirma-tion related to the presence of the crocodile, the Chief of Abang Police, Cok Arim Mahaputra, ad-mitted that his party had received complaints on the emergence of a crocodile on Banyuning Beach. Unluckily, the report could not ascertain the truth considering the crocodile was no longer in place when the apparatus came down to location. “We’re still collecting information this time,” he explained.

According to Cok Arim, the emergence of crocodile on the beach could happen. However,

police did not get accurate infor-mation regarding the case.

People’s report had been coor-dinated with the subdistrict head of Abang, Marine Police Unit of Karangasem Police, Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and surrounding com-munities. Even though the pres-ence of the crocodile on the beach could not yet be ascertained, his party appealed to the communi-ties on Banyuning Beach to be careful and increase alertness, especially the diving activity in the vicinity of the beach.

On the other hand, the Chief of Marine Police Unit of Karan-gasem Police, Made Wartama, claimed to have checked to loca-tion and made coordination with the local headman. According to him, the information on the appearance of a crocodile still needed to be explored and inves-tigated further.

Based on the result of moni-toring on Tuesday, there was no information if the crocodile emerged again on the tourist beach area. “We remain to ask the public to be alert. If it indeed emerges, we will surely take se-curity measures,” he said. (dwa)

The Dollar Index ended the year 11 percent higher against a basket of rival currencies.

The expectation that the Fed-eral Reserve will tighten near-zero interest rates next year, a lure for investors seeking higher returns, marked a sharp contrast with the easing track set out by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan to counter a stalling eurozone and recession in Japan.

“The impressive rally for the greenback, which really only began around the middle of this year, has been fueled by a divergence in the policy outlook for the Federal Re-serve, which is expected to raise US borrowing costs around the middle

of 2015, and most other major central banks, that are expected to either remain on hold or ease monetary conditions further in the months ahead,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Common-wealth Foreign Exchange.

“The prospect of an improving economy and higher borrowing cost has been and should remain a pillar of the dollar’s broad-based strength.”

In thin trade Wednesday, on the eve of the New Year’s holiday, the euro dropped to $1.2097 around 2200 GMT, from $1.2154 at the same time Tuesday, hitting its low-est level since July 2012.

Over the year, the euro has

tumbled about 12 percent against the greenback, its worst year since 2005 when it shed 12.6 percent.

Neal Gilbert of Forex.com noted that the euro fell even though the US jobless claims data showed a larger increase in claims last week than expected.

“The success of the USD and the failure of the EUR through-out 2014 has been a long running and blatantly obvious story that has dominated the currency world,” Gilbert said in a research note.

“After nearly ascending the 1.40 mountain very early in the year, the EUR/USD has done nothing but taken a beating since.” (afp)

PARIS — It was supposed to force millionaires to pay tax rates of up to 75 percent: “Cuba without the sun,” as described by a critic from the banking industry. Social-ist President Francois Hollande’s super tax was rejected by a court, rewritten and ultimately netted just a sliver of its projected proceeds. It ends on Wednesday and will not be renewed.

And that critic of the tax? He’s now Hollande’s economy minister, trying mightily to undo the damage to France’s image in international business circles.

The tax of 75 percent on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million) was promoted in 2012 by the newly-elected Hol-lande as a symbol of a fairer policy for the middle class, a financial contribution of the wealthiest at a time of economic crisis.

But the government was never able to fully implement the mea-sure. It was overturned by France’s highest court and rewritten as a 50 percent tax paid by employers.

Faced with a stalling economy and rising unemployment, the gov-ernment reversed course in 2014 with a plan to cut payroll taxes by up to 40 billion euros ($49 billion) by 2017, hoping to boost hiring and attract more investments.

All the while, Prime Minister Manuel Valls kept repeating his new credo: “My government is pro-business”.

Ultimately, while the super tax

affected only a small number of taxpayers, it triggered huge protests in business, sporting and artistic communities.

French actor Gerard Depardieu decried it vociferously and took Russian citizenship. Soccer clubs threatened to boycott matches for fear that 114 of their players or coaches would be taxed. The final version of the tax allowed them to minimize the burden.

The announcement of the 75 percent tax had “a very bad psycho-logical effect” in business circles, says Sandra Hazan, a lawyer who heads Dentons Global Tax Group. Even if most of the companies were able to minimize or avoid the tax, “I think it had an extremely devastat-ing impact on the attractiveness of France for foreigners.”

At the time of its proposal, Brit-ish Prime minister David Cameron ironically proposed to “roll out the red carpet” to French companies willing to avoid the tax.

Economist Thomas Piketty, author of the book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, criticized it as “a millstone around the neck” of the government, asking instead for global reform of tax laws.

Proceeds from the tax are esti-mated to total 420 million euros ($512 million) for about 1,000 employees in 470 companies, ac-cording to the government. By comparison, France’s budget deficit has soared well over 80 billion euros ($97 billion).

SEOUL - South Korea en-joyed record exports last year, data showed Friday, despite slow economic growth in key market China and a sluggish recovery in Europe.

For the whole of 2014, overseas shipments grew 2.4 percent to $573.1 billion and imports rose 2.0 percent to $525.70 billion, the trade ministry said.

As a result, South Korea’s trade surplus widened to a record high of $47.41 billion, it said. The trade balance has been in the black since February 2012.

In December alone, exports rose 3.7 percent year on year to

$49.74 billion, while imports fell 0.9 percent to $43.96 billion. Trade surplus widened to $5.78 billion in December from the previous month’s $5.51 billion.

The trade ministry attributed the 2014 increase in exports partly to South Korea’s free-trade agree-ments, including with the United States.

Last year exports to the United States increased 13.4 percent, while those to China fell 0.9 percent, it said.

The ministry predicted South Korea’s overall exports are ex-pected to rise 3.7 percent to $594 billion this year. (afp)

South Korea exports hit record high in 2014

France drops its super tax on

millionaires

Wood materials, especially those of good quality, are hard to get. It happens because the availability of wood on earth has run thin as it takes decades to be used. Wood is best favored by property owners because it looks natural and classical so that it is widely used mainly for wood flooring.

With the advances in technol-ogy, a number of bright ideas emerge to resolve this problem. Finally, it is made laminate par-quet denoting the development of wood flooring. This product is composed of several layers of material glued together. One of them is wood is the layer with wood texture made from resin. Meanwhile, the top layer is transparent film serving as a protection so that the laminate

parquet is scratch resistant and waterproof.

“It is pretty good for a varia-tion. In terms of durability, cer-tainly it is not durable because when exposed to water it will definitely bubble and be dam-aged,” said Ida Bagus Dedy Dar-mawan, a property businessman, some time ago.

He added when weather con-dition changed from hot to rainy and humid condition, it would quickly flake off. Meanwhile, the advantages of this product were looking new and beautiful, but lasting temporarily. “To be durable, the installation must be appropriate and the handyman installing them should be an ex-pert. Avoid moisture and water, and the temperature should be stable,” said Dedy.

“Indeed, this product is be-coming a trend in Indonesia today, including Bali. There are so many advantages when using this product,” said an architect of Bali, I Made Suardana.

According to Suardana, teak planks or teak plywood had been uncomfortable to be used because the quality was not good and dif-ficult to be applied. Meanwhile, the advantages of using laminate parquet were reasonably afford-able, having many color options, easily applied, scratch-resistant, in need of low maintenance and eco-friendly. This product was more suitable for the existing building interior, preferably used in minimalist building. “It is not appropriate to be applied for ethnic styles. Meanwhile, the parquet floor fits for any other

style of building,” he said.Compared to the price of tile,

it was indeed more expensive. But when compared to granite, the laminate parquet was cheaper. “In short, it highly depends on taste anyway. But parquet is more promising when viewed from the aesthetic and artistic aspect be-cause the floor will look cooler,” said Suardana.

Currently, according to the Op-eration Director of PT Graha Giri Kencana, consumers preferred to use natural model and definitely determined their option to this product. Moreover, it was equal to the use of natural stone.

What is the weakness? Suar-dana said each product indeed had a weakness. One of them was that it would be easily scratched, but more resistant than the genu-

ine wooden parquet. “When it comes to parquet, there are two options, namely the genuine wood parquet and the parquet of laminating materials. In addi-tion to flooring of house, it was also widely used for villa rooms. Many have used it,” he said.

The laminate parquet, he em-phasized, was not overly in-fluenced by weather condition. Genuine parquet made from wood was prone to damp areas and hazardous in the area con-taining soil with termites. “I have used it for more than two years, especially for interior needs. Its color and motif or texture is the same as wood, like teak wood model. More specifically, it no longer needs any application of polyurethane,” said Suardana. (rah)

Laminate parquet serves as wood substituteIBP/Net

Banyuning Beach

Crocodile appears on Banyuning Beach

People appealed to carefully move around the beach

AMLAPURA - Police authority cautioned people to carefully do activities on Banyuning Beach, Bunutan village, Abang sub-district. There was a report mentioning about the emergence of a large crocodile on Banyuning Beach, Monday afternoon (Dec 29). Local residents mostly working as fishermen remained uneasy after the emergence of crocodile although it finally disappeared.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

A trader wears glasses in the shape of 2015 while working on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The dollar strengthened Wednesday, cap-ping a powerful year of gains against other major currencies as the US economy proved to be a bright spot in a dimming global economy.

Dollar ends strong year vs euro, yen

NEW YORK - The dollar strengthened Wednesday, capping a powerful year of gains against other major currencies as the US economy proved to be a bright spot in a dimming global economy.

Friday, January 2, 2015 Friday, January 2, 20156 11International International

From page 1

INDONESIAW RLD

The Jakarta Night Festival went on despite the uneasy situ-ation. Certain elements in the society still launched fire works in the capital city.

Several thousands of Jakartans and those from greater Jakarta areas, such as Bogor, Bekasi and Depok, flocked the capital city to enjoy the live music concerts staged on Thamrin and Medan Merdeka Selatan streets in Central Jakarta.

The live music concerts were also performed in Ancol amuse-ment park complex in North Jakarta, featuring musicians and singers from such genres as Dan-gdut, pop, and folk music.

Amid this joyful situation, the calls on the people to celebrate the NYE moderately were, however, echoed by Police Chief General Sutarman and other figures, such as West Java Province’s Deputy Governor Deddy Mizwar by con-sidering the nation’s misery.

“Indonesia is mourning for the

missing AirAsia aircraft. Therefore, I call on the people not to celebrate the New Year’s Eve extravagantly. Instead, we need to show our soli-darity for those in misery,” General Sutarman said.

Sharing the grief of families of the victims of such natural disasters as the recent landslides in Banjarne-gara District which killed more than 100 people and the missing aircraft carrying 162 people, Deddy Mizwar also echoed the same call for solidarity.

“Amid the joy of celebrating the coming of new year, it is better if we fill the moment with prayers and fund raising activities for our brothers and sisters who are suffering from the impacts of disasters,” Mizwar said.

Rhoma Irama, the country’s noted Dangdut singer, also asked the people attending his concert to show their solidarity and sympathy for those losing their beloved family members.

Indonesia has been undergoing several misfortunate events and natural disasters, such as floods and deadly landslides, the crash of an AirAsia plane and the fire that ravaged Surakarta city’s Klewer market.

In response to this hardship, Siti Hadijah suggested that fund raising activities be organized to assist those suffering from the natural disasters and other mis-fortunate events.

The 28-year-old resident of Cililitan in East Jakarta told Antara that Indonesia was expected to be better in 2015 in which its people were more prepared for facing any natural disaster and the prices of goods could be lowered.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was in Solo, Cen-tral Java, on the New Year’s Eve, has ordered the local authority to rebuild the Klewer Market because it is the business hub of traditional traders. (ant)

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s gov-ernment scrap its gasoline sub-sidy from January 1 to free up more funds to boost the slowing economy, a senior minister said Wednesday.

The prices of gasoline and diesel in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy will float following the market price and will be re-viewed monthly, Chief Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said.

Djalil said he hoped the move would help accustom Indone-sians to price fluctuations after decades of being insulated by hefty fuel subsidies.

In January, the price of gaso-line will fall in line with declin-ing global oil prices to 7,600 rupiah (61 cents) a litre, from 8,500 rupiah. Diesel will also be lowered to 7,250 rupiah, from 7,500 rupiah a litre.

The government also fixed its diesel subsidy at 1,000 rupiah a litre for 2015.

“Diesel fuel is still subsidised because it is used for economic activities and the government deems it necessary to subsidise it,” Djalil told reporters.

Previous subsidy cuts have sparked violent protests and stone-throwing youths clashed with police in Makassar, a protest hotspot on Sulawesi island, when the new gov-ernment hiked fuel prices by more than 30 percent in November.

Scrapping fuel subsidies is seen as an urgently needed move to boost an economy that is expand-ing at its slowest pace in five years, with growth slipping to 5.01 per-cent on-year in the third quarter.

In the past the payouts had gobbled up 20 percent of the state budget. (afp)

AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

Indonesian children hold candles to pray for the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501 in Surabaya, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

Joy of NYE mixes with prayer for mourners

JAKARTA - The New Year’s Eve (NYE) was celebrated on Wednesday evening with the mixture of joy and prayers for a better Indonesia in 2015 and for Indonesians suffering from natural disasters and the missing AirAsia plane.

ANTARA FOTO/Anis Efizudin

People launched lanterns in Borobudur, Central Java during the celebration of New Year Eve’s on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

ANTARA FOTO/Embong Salampessy

Fireworks lightened up the New Year Eve’s celebration at Ambon on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

Indonesia scraps controversial gasoline

subsidy

Strong winds fanned the flames racing through nearly a kilometer (half a mile) -long row of shanties in a village in subur-ban Quezon city in metropolitan Manila before dawn Thursday, said village officer Noel Carino. Firefighters struggled to get near the burning shanties because of narrow alleys. “It’s really a tragic way to welcome the new year,” Carino said.

Firefighters recovered the body of a woman and two other residents who were trapped in their houses after rains helped douse the six-hour inferno. Three people were injured, including a firefighter, whose three fingers

were ripped off by metal shrapnel that flew around when a cooking gas tank exploded, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

Residents struggled to save anything they could from the fire, including cats and dogs, with many using improvised floating devices to cross a murky river and escape the flames.

Bureau of Fire Protection spokesman Renato Marcial said nearly a thousand houses, mostly shanties and huts , were de-stroyed, displacing about 4,000 poor families.

At least 17 fires have raged across the country prior to and during New Year’s revelry. De-

spite threats of arrest and a government scare campaign, outlawed powerful firecrackers were still used, according to the bureau.

At least seven people died in two of the fires, Marcial said, adding that some of the flames were believed to have been ig-nited by illegal firecrackers.

The Department of Health reported Thursday that more than 350 people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gun-fire in recent weeks and on New Year’s Eve. The figure is con-siderably lower than last year’s, but still an alarming sign of an unstoppable annual folly. (ap)

SHANGHAI — People unable to contact friends and relatives streamed into hospitals Thursday, anxious for information after a stampede during New Year’s celebrations in Shanghai’s historic waterfront area killed 36 people in the worst disaster to hit one of China’s showcase cities in recent years.

The Shanghai government said 47 others received hospital treatment, includ-ing 13 who were seriously injured, after the chaos about a half-hour before mid-night. Seven of the injured people had left hospitals by Thursday afternoon.

The Shanghai government information office said one Taiwanese was among the dead, and two Taiwanese and one Malaysian were among the injured.

The deaths and injuries occurred at Chen Yi Square in Shanghai’s popular riverfront Bund area, an avenue lined with art deco buildings from the 1920s and 1930s when Shanghai was home to international banks and trading houses. The area is often jammed with people during major events.

At one of the hospitals where the injured were being treated, police brought out photos of unidentified dead victims, causing dozens of waiting relatives to crowd around. Not everyone could see, and young women who looked at the photos broke into tears when they recognized someone.

A saleswoman in her 20s, who declined to give her name, said she had been celebrating with three friends. “I heard people screaming, someone fell, people shouted ‘don’t rush,’” she said. “There were so many people and I couldn’t stand properly.” She added that she still could not contact one of her friends.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a woman with the surname Yin who was caught with her 12-year-old son in the middle of crowds of people pushing to go up and down steps leading from the square.

“Then people started to fall down, row by row,” Yin said. When her son was finally brought to safety, he had shoe prints over his clothes, “his forehead was bruised, he had two deep creased scars on his neck, and his mouth and nose were bleeding,” she said. Xia Shujie, vice president of Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital, told reporters that some of the victims had been suffocated. (ap)

AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

Residents carry their belongings following a fire that razed their houses along a creek in sub-urban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on New Year’s day Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

Huge fire razes Philippine shanties, killing 3

MANILA — A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thou-sand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year’s celebrations.

AP Photo

Residents lay flowers at the site of a deadly stampede in Shanghai, China on Thursday Jan. 1, 2015. Dozens died in a stampede during New Year’s celebrations in downtown Shanghai, city officials said - the worst disaster to hit one of China’s showcase cities in recent years.

36 killed, 47 injured in Shanghai stampede

The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, or black boxes, hold data that will help investigators determine the cause of the crash but have yet to be recovered. Items recovered so far include a life jacket, an emergency exit door, an inflatable slide, children’s shoes, a blue suitcase and backpacks filled with food.

Officials have not announced the identities of the recovered bodies. Rela-tives have given blood for DNA tests and submitted photos of their loved ones, along with identifying information such as tattoos or birthmarks that could help make the process easier.

The long wait, with its starts and stops, has been frustrating for Sugiarti, 35. Her 40-year-old sister, Susiyah, was a nanny traveling to Singapore for a vaca-tion with her employers and their 2-year-old daughter.

“I hope that they can find her body soon. I feel sorry for my sister because it has already been five days,” she told reporters at a crisis center set up at a Surabaya police station. “I am trying very hard to be patient.”

Nearly all the passengers were Indonesian, and many were Christians of Chinese descent. The country is predominantly Muslim, but sizeable pockets of people of other faiths are found throughout the sprawling archipelago. (ap)

AirAsia...

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Among other games to close out 2014, Milwaukee downed a Cleveland side still without Le-Bron James, Oklahoma City beat Phoenix in a high-scoring thriller and Houston posted a comfortable win against Charlotte.

San Antonio star Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds, ty-ing Hall of Famer Karl Malone for fifth in career double-doubles with 814. It was Duncan who was cred-ited with tipping in Boris Diaw’s inbound pass at the rim with a split second remaining in regulation. Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans.

Milwaukee led most of the way to win 98-80 at Cleveland. LeBron James missed his second straight game with knee soreness, and Kevin Love was also absent with

back spasms, and the Cavaliers went on to their fourth loss in five games. Brandon Knight scored 26 points and O.J. Mayo added 15 points for the Bucks.

Kyrie Irving notched 25 points for Cleveland, which scored only seven points in the third quarter; a season low. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 44 points in his return from six games out with an ankle sprain, and helped the Thunder beat Phoenix 137-134 in overtime.

Durant was 13 of 23 from the field and 12 for 12 at the free-throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and seven assists. Oklahoma City man-aged to win despite Russell West-brook being ejected for his second technical foul just before halftime.

Anthony Murrow broke a tie in

overtime with a four-point play, and the Thunder held on when Markieff Morris missed a 3-pointer attempt with 2.9 seconds left. Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 29 points. Houston made a big run early in the third quarter to set up a 102-83 win against Charlotte.

James Harden scored 36 points, including eight straight to push the advantage to 99-79 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. It was the NBA-leading 14th 30-point game this season for Harden, who leads the league in scoring. He made eight 3-pointers and also had six assists and seven rebounds.

The loss extends Charlotte’s skid to four games. The Hornets played without leading scorer Al Jefferson, who is out with a groin strain. (ap)

BRISBANE, Australia — Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has withdrawn from the Brisbane In-ternational with a left wrist injury, joining another former U.S. Open champion, Marin Cilic, on the tour-nament sidelines.

Del Potro has been off the tour since undergoing surgery in March, but had targeted Brisbane as his return. The withdrawal of the 2009 U.S. Open champion also leaves him in doubt for

the Australian Open, while he appears unlikely to defend the Sydney International he won last year.

Cilic, who has a right shoulder injury, announced his withdrawal Tuesday. Roger Federer, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and defend-ing Lleyton Hewitt are playing in the men’s event at Brisbane, while Victoria Azarenka and Sam Stosur are among those in the women’s draw. (ap)

MOSCOW — Former European champion weightlifter Gevorik Poghosyan has been handed a 10-year ban for doping.

The sanction is likely to effec-tively end the career of the 30-year-old Poghosyan, who had previously been banned for two years in 2011 after testing positive for the banned steroid oxandrolone.

The latest ban comes after the Russian Anti-Doping Agency re-ported that Poghosyan tested pos-itive for an unspecified “banned

substance” while trying to resur-rect his career at August’s Rus-sian national championships.

Poghosyan won gold for his native Armenia in the 85-kilo-gram category at the 2010 Eu-ropean championships in Minsk before switching allegiance to Russia.

He came third in the same cat-egory at the 2011 European cham-pionships, but was stripped of the medal as part of his first doping ban. (ap)

MANGUPURA - Spring of the Ta-man Sari Sangeh Temple has unique-ness as a sanctum to invoke medicine to cure skin diseases. Only by taking a bath at the shower with clear and cool water, the itchy skin can be healed. Smallpox, scabies, acne and other kinds of skin diseases will recover after invoking medicine in the shower.

Location of the shower is very close to the Bukit Sari Sangeh tourist attrac-tion. Even, to get there the pilgrim should pass through the ecotourism area. After that, the pilgrim must fol-low a descending path through stairs near the Penet River. Shower area is overgrown by large and small plants. Aura of the beji or spring is very strong, so that sometimes it makes pilgrim’s body creep.

I Made Sumohon, one of the Sangeh villagers, said that Sangeh community strongly believed if the water from the shower at the spring could cure skin diseases. Rural com-munities outside Sangeh also often invoked healing in the shower. “After getting recovery, they would usually come back to express their gratitude through offerings,” he said.

Any pilgrim wishing to invoke a healing, explained Sumohon, should carry a pejati offering to be presented at the spring temple. People could wor-ship at the temple anytime. However, it was suggested not to worship at midday and dusk. Then, people who were in cuntaka (temporarily impure due to the death of family member and afterbirth) period and menstruating women were not allowed to invoke the medicine.

Spring of Taman Sari Sangeh Temple

IBP/File Photo

Russian weightlifter Poghosyan banned 10 years

Del Potro joins Cilic on Brisbane withdrawal list

IBP/net

Juan Martin del Potro

AP Photo/Darren Abate

San Antonio Spurs masters of ceremony J.C. Carpenter, left, and Chuck Cureau, pose before an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 95-93 in overtime.

Spurs end OT blues by edging Pelicans 95-93

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio shook off its home-court overtime blues to beat New Orleans 95-93 on Wednesday, having only tied the game with 0.2 seconds of time remaining in regulation. The Spurs lost in overtime at home three times in the month of December and seemed destined for a fourth such defeat on New Year’s Eve when they fell behind by six points in the extra period, but Manu Ginobili had seven points in overtime to turn it around for the hosts.

98 InternationalFriday, January 2, 2015 International Friday, January 2, 2015

Sp rt

Lampard will now be available to face Sunderland in a league match at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday. The 36-year-old former England and Chelsea midfielder was on a short-term deal which was due to expire on New Year’s Day when he would officially become a player of MLS team New York City FC — a sister club of Manchester City.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini had made no secret of his desire to keep Lampard, who has scored six goals in 17 appearances for the club, although he has only started three league games. The most important of Lampard’s goals so far came against

former club Chelsea in a 1-1 draw.Lampard’s stay has added value

with Yaya Toure set to go to the African Nations Cup, while City is also light on proven scorers with Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko both out injured. Lampard joined City in August, ostensibly to maintain fitness ahead of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, which begins in March.

Halfway through the Premier League season, which ends May 24, City is in second position — three points behind Jose Mourinho’s Chel-sea. City will also look to gain from Lampard’s European experience.

The Londoner captained Chelsea when it won the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. City is through to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the sec-ond straight year and plays Barcelona on Feb. 24 in the home leg. (ap)

Coach Paul Le Guen has guid-ed Oman to a third Asian Cup ap-pearance and despite being drawn in the toughest of groups, the well-travelled Frenchman is con-fident he can lead the side into the knockout stages for the first time. Oman would have been fearing the worst when they were drawn in Group A with hosts Australia, regional giants South Korea and Kuwait, and few will expect them to progress from a pool that con-tains two of Asia’s regular World Cup representatives.

Le Guen, however, says his side are ready to face up to the challenge, firmly believing they can advance from the group after previous failures in 2004 and 2007. “I have belief in my team. It will be a tough challenge but I know that sides like Australia are scared of us,” the 50-year-old Frenchman told reporters in Muscat recently.

“They know we have the abil-ity to trouble them. We are no longer pushovers.” Should they get anything out of their opening match against South Korea in Canberra on Jan. 10, or the Soc-ceroos in Sydney three days later, Oman could be in a strong posi-tion ahead of the match against a Kuwait side they thrashed 5-0 in November.

However, with a patchy lead-up to the competition and back-to-back matches against two of the pre-tournament favourites, any victory against Kuwait is likely to end up being a consolation win in another group stage exit. Bar-ring Wigan Athletic goalkeeper and skipper Ali Al-Habsi, Oman will arrive in Australia with an

entirely home-based squad, who have had a busy build-up period to the finals, kicking off with an entertaining 4-3 loss to Costa Rica in October.

After a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay, Le Guen’s men claimed their first win since May when they defeated Yemen 2-0 at home be-fore encouraging draws against the UAE and Iraq. Looking to follow up their 2009 triumph with a second Gulf Cup of Nations title in November, Oman opened with that resounding victory over Kuwait but lost to eventual champions Qatar and the UAE to depart the tournament in the pool phase.

Undeterred by their inconsis-tent form, Le Guen, who enjoyed club success in his native France with Lyon and Paris St Germain and guided Cameroon to the 2010 World Cup finals, hopes the squad will repay his faith in them with positive results.

“It is a good feeling when you know that rival teams consider us strong and competitive. Our players need to capitalise on it and become more ambitious,” he said.

“I can assure you, we are not just going to make up the num-bers in Australia,” he added. “We are travelling not just to play, we want to bring good results. I have faith in my boys, they can deliver.” While Al-Habsi will need to be at his best to prevent Oman from conceding at one end, 30-year-old striker Amad Al-Hosni, who has scored 36 goals in 115 appearances, is likely to spearhead the Red Warriors’ at-tack.(rtr)

MONTEVIDEO - Colombia striker Teofilo Gutierrez has been voted South America’s footballer of the year and their Argentine coach Jose Pekerman the best coach for the third time in a row. Gutierrez, who helped Colombia reach the World Cup quarter-finals in Brazil, was a key mem-ber of the River Plate side that

won the Copa Sudamericana, the region’s equivalent of the Europa League, this month.

Argentina’s River boasted the top three players in the an-nual poll by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais with Uruguay winger Carlos Sanchez second and midfielder Leonardo Piscu-lichi third.

The top three coaches were all Argentine with Alejandro Sa-bella, who steered Argentina to the World Cup final, second and River’s Marcelo Gallardo third.

Libertadores Cup winners San Lorenzo, runners-up to Real Madrid in the Club World Cup, had three players to River’s five in the year’s best 11.(rtr)

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina striker Carlos Tevez, quizzed over the chances of him returning to Boca Juniors, has no plans to sign a contract extension with Juventus. The Italian champions reportedly want to offer Tevez, whose contract runs until June 2016, a deal to stay in Turin to 2018.

“I said I wanted to fulfil my contract and that’s my idea, I’m not thinking of signing an extension because that’s not how I feel at the moment,” Tevez told reporters in Buenos Aires on Wednesday

before returning to Turin from the year-end holidays.

“As I always said, my idea is to complete my contract. Everyone knows I said so from the moment I arrived at Juve,” the 30-year-old former West Ham United, Manchester United and Manchester City striker said.

Tevez, who has been in fine form since joining Juventus from City last year and earned an Argentina recall in October after a three-year international absence, said it was too soon for him to

think of returning to his first club Boca.

“I have a year and a half left on my contract and i t ’s c o m p l i c a t e d to leave when you’re playing well at this level,” Tevez said. “I have to take things calmly and enjoy and not go crazy with the idea of coming back (to Buenos Aires).”(rtr)

WEST BROMWICH, England — West Bromwich Albion has hired Tony Pulis as its fourth man-ager in just over a year to keep the club in the Premier League.

The central England team said on its website that “Pulis has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Baggies”. He

takes charge after West Brom’s league match at West Ham on Thursday.

West Brom fired Alan Irvine on Monday just four months into his first season with the team only a point above the relega-tion zone.

The 56-year-old Pulis had been

out of work since leaving Crystal Palace in August two days before the start of the season.

The former Stoke coach has never been relegated as a man-ager and helped Palace to 11th place last season, leading to the Premier League manager of the year award. (ap)

West Brom hires Tony Pulis to manage EPL strugglers

Colombia’s Gutierrez voted South American

player of year

IBP/net

Teofilo Gutierrez

IBP/net

Paul Le Guen

Le Guen confident Oman can upset odds in Group A

Manchester City’s Frank Lampard dur-ing their English Premier League soccer

match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England, Wednes-

day, Dec. 3, 2014.

Lampard to stay at Man City to end of season

MANCHESTER — Frank Lampard will carry on playing for Manchester City throughout the Premier League season, the English champions announced Wednesday night. “Manchester City can confirm that it has extended Frank Lampard’s contract up to the end of Manchester City’s season, enabling his continued participation in both domestic and European campaigns,” the club said in a statement on its website.

Tevez does not intend to extend Juventus contract

AP Photo/Scott H

eppell

98 InternationalFriday, January 2, 2015 International Friday, January 2, 2015

Sp rt

Lampard will now be available to face Sunderland in a league match at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday. The 36-year-old former England and Chelsea midfielder was on a short-term deal which was due to expire on New Year’s Day when he would officially become a player of MLS team New York City FC — a sister club of Manchester City.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini had made no secret of his desire to keep Lampard, who has scored six goals in 17 appearances for the club, although he has only started three league games. The most important of Lampard’s goals so far came against

former club Chelsea in a 1-1 draw.Lampard’s stay has added value

with Yaya Toure set to go to the African Nations Cup, while City is also light on proven scorers with Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko both out injured. Lampard joined City in August, ostensibly to maintain fitness ahead of the 2015 Major League Soccer season, which begins in March.

Halfway through the Premier League season, which ends May 24, City is in second position — three points behind Jose Mourinho’s Chel-sea. City will also look to gain from Lampard’s European experience.

The Londoner captained Chelsea when it won the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich. City is through to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the sec-ond straight year and plays Barcelona on Feb. 24 in the home leg. (ap)

Coach Paul Le Guen has guid-ed Oman to a third Asian Cup ap-pearance and despite being drawn in the toughest of groups, the well-travelled Frenchman is con-fident he can lead the side into the knockout stages for the first time. Oman would have been fearing the worst when they were drawn in Group A with hosts Australia, regional giants South Korea and Kuwait, and few will expect them to progress from a pool that con-tains two of Asia’s regular World Cup representatives.

Le Guen, however, says his side are ready to face up to the challenge, firmly believing they can advance from the group after previous failures in 2004 and 2007. “I have belief in my team. It will be a tough challenge but I know that sides like Australia are scared of us,” the 50-year-old Frenchman told reporters in Muscat recently.

“They know we have the abil-ity to trouble them. We are no longer pushovers.” Should they get anything out of their opening match against South Korea in Canberra on Jan. 10, or the Soc-ceroos in Sydney three days later, Oman could be in a strong posi-tion ahead of the match against a Kuwait side they thrashed 5-0 in November.

However, with a patchy lead-up to the competition and back-to-back matches against two of the pre-tournament favourites, any victory against Kuwait is likely to end up being a consolation win in another group stage exit. Bar-ring Wigan Athletic goalkeeper and skipper Ali Al-Habsi, Oman will arrive in Australia with an

entirely home-based squad, who have had a busy build-up period to the finals, kicking off with an entertaining 4-3 loss to Costa Rica in October.

After a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay, Le Guen’s men claimed their first win since May when they defeated Yemen 2-0 at home be-fore encouraging draws against the UAE and Iraq. Looking to follow up their 2009 triumph with a second Gulf Cup of Nations title in November, Oman opened with that resounding victory over Kuwait but lost to eventual champions Qatar and the UAE to depart the tournament in the pool phase.

Undeterred by their inconsis-tent form, Le Guen, who enjoyed club success in his native France with Lyon and Paris St Germain and guided Cameroon to the 2010 World Cup finals, hopes the squad will repay his faith in them with positive results.

“It is a good feeling when you know that rival teams consider us strong and competitive. Our players need to capitalise on it and become more ambitious,” he said.

“I can assure you, we are not just going to make up the num-bers in Australia,” he added. “We are travelling not just to play, we want to bring good results. I have faith in my boys, they can deliver.” While Al-Habsi will need to be at his best to prevent Oman from conceding at one end, 30-year-old striker Amad Al-Hosni, who has scored 36 goals in 115 appearances, is likely to spearhead the Red Warriors’ at-tack.(rtr)

MONTEVIDEO - Colombia striker Teofilo Gutierrez has been voted South America’s footballer of the year and their Argentine coach Jose Pekerman the best coach for the third time in a row. Gutierrez, who helped Colombia reach the World Cup quarter-finals in Brazil, was a key mem-ber of the River Plate side that

won the Copa Sudamericana, the region’s equivalent of the Europa League, this month.

Argentina’s River boasted the top three players in the an-nual poll by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais with Uruguay winger Carlos Sanchez second and midfielder Leonardo Piscu-lichi third.

The top three coaches were all Argentine with Alejandro Sa-bella, who steered Argentina to the World Cup final, second and River’s Marcelo Gallardo third.

Libertadores Cup winners San Lorenzo, runners-up to Real Madrid in the Club World Cup, had three players to River’s five in the year’s best 11.(rtr)

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina striker Carlos Tevez, quizzed over the chances of him returning to Boca Juniors, has no plans to sign a contract extension with Juventus. The Italian champions reportedly want to offer Tevez, whose contract runs until June 2016, a deal to stay in Turin to 2018.

“I said I wanted to fulfil my contract and that’s my idea, I’m not thinking of signing an extension because that’s not how I feel at the moment,” Tevez told reporters in Buenos Aires on Wednesday

before returning to Turin from the year-end holidays.

“As I always said, my idea is to complete my contract. Everyone knows I said so from the moment I arrived at Juve,” the 30-year-old former West Ham United, Manchester United and Manchester City striker said.

Tevez, who has been in fine form since joining Juventus from City last year and earned an Argentina recall in October after a three-year international absence, said it was too soon for him to

think of returning to his first club Boca.

“I have a year and a half left on my contract and i t ’s c o m p l i c a t e d to leave when you’re playing well at this level,” Tevez said. “I have to take things calmly and enjoy and not go crazy with the idea of coming back (to Buenos Aires).”(rtr)

WEST BROMWICH, England — West Bromwich Albion has hired Tony Pulis as its fourth man-ager in just over a year to keep the club in the Premier League.

The central England team said on its website that “Pulis has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the Baggies”. He

takes charge after West Brom’s league match at West Ham on Thursday.

West Brom fired Alan Irvine on Monday just four months into his first season with the team only a point above the relega-tion zone.

The 56-year-old Pulis had been

out of work since leaving Crystal Palace in August two days before the start of the season.

The former Stoke coach has never been relegated as a man-ager and helped Palace to 11th place last season, leading to the Premier League manager of the year award. (ap)

West Brom hires Tony Pulis to manage EPL strugglers

Colombia’s Gutierrez voted South American

player of year

IBP/net

Teofilo Gutierrez

IBP/net

Paul Le Guen

Le Guen confident Oman can upset odds in Group A

Manchester City’s Frank Lampard dur-ing their English Premier League soccer

match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England, Wednes-

day, Dec. 3, 2014.

Lampard to stay at Man City to end of season

MANCHESTER — Frank Lampard will carry on playing for Manchester City throughout the Premier League season, the English champions announced Wednesday night. “Manchester City can confirm that it has extended Frank Lampard’s contract up to the end of Manchester City’s season, enabling his continued participation in both domestic and European campaigns,” the club said in a statement on its website.

Tevez does not intend to extend Juventus contract

AP Photo/Scott H

eppell

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Among other games to close out 2014, Milwaukee downed a Cleveland side still without Le-Bron James, Oklahoma City beat Phoenix in a high-scoring thriller and Houston posted a comfortable win against Charlotte.

San Antonio star Tim Duncan had 16 points and 10 rebounds, ty-ing Hall of Famer Karl Malone for fifth in career double-doubles with 814. It was Duncan who was cred-ited with tipping in Boris Diaw’s inbound pass at the rim with a split second remaining in regulation. Anthony Davis had 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Pelicans.

Milwaukee led most of the way to win 98-80 at Cleveland. LeBron James missed his second straight game with knee soreness, and Kevin Love was also absent with

back spasms, and the Cavaliers went on to their fourth loss in five games. Brandon Knight scored 26 points and O.J. Mayo added 15 points for the Bucks.

Kyrie Irving notched 25 points for Cleveland, which scored only seven points in the third quarter; a season low. Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant scored 44 points in his return from six games out with an ankle sprain, and helped the Thunder beat Phoenix 137-134 in overtime.

Durant was 13 of 23 from the field and 12 for 12 at the free-throw line. He also had 10 rebounds and seven assists. Oklahoma City man-aged to win despite Russell West-brook being ejected for his second technical foul just before halftime.

Anthony Murrow broke a tie in

overtime with a four-point play, and the Thunder held on when Markieff Morris missed a 3-pointer attempt with 2.9 seconds left. Eric Bledsoe led the Suns with 29 points. Houston made a big run early in the third quarter to set up a 102-83 win against Charlotte.

James Harden scored 36 points, including eight straight to push the advantage to 99-79 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining. It was the NBA-leading 14th 30-point game this season for Harden, who leads the league in scoring. He made eight 3-pointers and also had six assists and seven rebounds.

The loss extends Charlotte’s skid to four games. The Hornets played without leading scorer Al Jefferson, who is out with a groin strain. (ap)

BRISBANE, Australia — Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina has withdrawn from the Brisbane In-ternational with a left wrist injury, joining another former U.S. Open champion, Marin Cilic, on the tour-nament sidelines.

Del Potro has been off the tour since undergoing surgery in March, but had targeted Brisbane as his return. The withdrawal of the 2009 U.S. Open champion also leaves him in doubt for

the Australian Open, while he appears unlikely to defend the Sydney International he won last year.

Cilic, who has a right shoulder injury, announced his withdrawal Tuesday. Roger Federer, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and defend-ing Lleyton Hewitt are playing in the men’s event at Brisbane, while Victoria Azarenka and Sam Stosur are among those in the women’s draw. (ap)

MOSCOW — Former European champion weightlifter Gevorik Poghosyan has been handed a 10-year ban for doping.

The sanction is likely to effec-tively end the career of the 30-year-old Poghosyan, who had previously been banned for two years in 2011 after testing positive for the banned steroid oxandrolone.

The latest ban comes after the Russian Anti-Doping Agency re-ported that Poghosyan tested pos-itive for an unspecified “banned

substance” while trying to resur-rect his career at August’s Rus-sian national championships.

Poghosyan won gold for his native Armenia in the 85-kilo-gram category at the 2010 Eu-ropean championships in Minsk before switching allegiance to Russia.

He came third in the same cat-egory at the 2011 European cham-pionships, but was stripped of the medal as part of his first doping ban. (ap)

MANGUPURA - Spring of the Ta-man Sari Sangeh Temple has unique-ness as a sanctum to invoke medicine to cure skin diseases. Only by taking a bath at the shower with clear and cool water, the itchy skin can be healed. Smallpox, scabies, acne and other kinds of skin diseases will recover after invoking medicine in the shower.

Location of the shower is very close to the Bukit Sari Sangeh tourist attrac-tion. Even, to get there the pilgrim should pass through the ecotourism area. After that, the pilgrim must fol-low a descending path through stairs near the Penet River. Shower area is overgrown by large and small plants. Aura of the beji or spring is very strong, so that sometimes it makes pilgrim’s body creep.

I Made Sumohon, one of the Sangeh villagers, said that Sangeh community strongly believed if the water from the shower at the spring could cure skin diseases. Rural com-munities outside Sangeh also often invoked healing in the shower. “After getting recovery, they would usually come back to express their gratitude through offerings,” he said.

Any pilgrim wishing to invoke a healing, explained Sumohon, should carry a pejati offering to be presented at the spring temple. People could wor-ship at the temple anytime. However, it was suggested not to worship at midday and dusk. Then, people who were in cuntaka (temporarily impure due to the death of family member and afterbirth) period and menstruating women were not allowed to invoke the medicine.

Spring of Taman Sari Sangeh Temple

IBP/File Photo

Russian weightlifter Poghosyan banned 10 years

Del Potro joins Cilic on Brisbane withdrawal list

IBP/net

Juan Martin del Potro

AP Photo/Darren Abate

San Antonio Spurs masters of ceremony J.C. Carpenter, left, and Chuck Cureau, pose before an NBA basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 95-93 in overtime.

Spurs end OT blues by edging Pelicans 95-93

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio shook off its home-court overtime blues to beat New Orleans 95-93 on Wednesday, having only tied the game with 0.2 seconds of time remaining in regulation. The Spurs lost in overtime at home three times in the month of December and seemed destined for a fourth such defeat on New Year’s Eve when they fell behind by six points in the extra period, but Manu Ginobili had seven points in overtime to turn it around for the hosts.

Friday, January 2, 2015 Friday, January 2, 20156 11International International

From page 1

INDONESIAW RLD

The Jakarta Night Festival went on despite the uneasy situ-ation. Certain elements in the society still launched fire works in the capital city.

Several thousands of Jakartans and those from greater Jakarta areas, such as Bogor, Bekasi and Depok, flocked the capital city to enjoy the live music concerts staged on Thamrin and Medan Merdeka Selatan streets in Central Jakarta.

The live music concerts were also performed in Ancol amuse-ment park complex in North Jakarta, featuring musicians and singers from such genres as Dan-gdut, pop, and folk music.

Amid this joyful situation, the calls on the people to celebrate the NYE moderately were, however, echoed by Police Chief General Sutarman and other figures, such as West Java Province’s Deputy Governor Deddy Mizwar by con-sidering the nation’s misery.

“Indonesia is mourning for the

missing AirAsia aircraft. Therefore, I call on the people not to celebrate the New Year’s Eve extravagantly. Instead, we need to show our soli-darity for those in misery,” General Sutarman said.

Sharing the grief of families of the victims of such natural disasters as the recent landslides in Banjarne-gara District which killed more than 100 people and the missing aircraft carrying 162 people, Deddy Mizwar also echoed the same call for solidarity.

“Amid the joy of celebrating the coming of new year, it is better if we fill the moment with prayers and fund raising activities for our brothers and sisters who are suffering from the impacts of disasters,” Mizwar said.

Rhoma Irama, the country’s noted Dangdut singer, also asked the people attending his concert to show their solidarity and sympathy for those losing their beloved family members.

Indonesia has been undergoing several misfortunate events and natural disasters, such as floods and deadly landslides, the crash of an AirAsia plane and the fire that ravaged Surakarta city’s Klewer market.

In response to this hardship, Siti Hadijah suggested that fund raising activities be organized to assist those suffering from the natural disasters and other mis-fortunate events.

The 28-year-old resident of Cililitan in East Jakarta told Antara that Indonesia was expected to be better in 2015 in which its people were more prepared for facing any natural disaster and the prices of goods could be lowered.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was in Solo, Cen-tral Java, on the New Year’s Eve, has ordered the local authority to rebuild the Klewer Market because it is the business hub of traditional traders. (ant)

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s gov-ernment scrap its gasoline sub-sidy from January 1 to free up more funds to boost the slowing economy, a senior minister said Wednesday.

The prices of gasoline and diesel in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy will float following the market price and will be re-viewed monthly, Chief Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil said.

Djalil said he hoped the move would help accustom Indone-sians to price fluctuations after decades of being insulated by hefty fuel subsidies.

In January, the price of gaso-line will fall in line with declin-ing global oil prices to 7,600 rupiah (61 cents) a litre, from 8,500 rupiah. Diesel will also be lowered to 7,250 rupiah, from 7,500 rupiah a litre.

The government also fixed its diesel subsidy at 1,000 rupiah a litre for 2015.

“Diesel fuel is still subsidised because it is used for economic activities and the government deems it necessary to subsidise it,” Djalil told reporters.

Previous subsidy cuts have sparked violent protests and stone-throwing youths clashed with police in Makassar, a protest hotspot on Sulawesi island, when the new gov-ernment hiked fuel prices by more than 30 percent in November.

Scrapping fuel subsidies is seen as an urgently needed move to boost an economy that is expand-ing at its slowest pace in five years, with growth slipping to 5.01 per-cent on-year in the third quarter.

In the past the payouts had gobbled up 20 percent of the state budget. (afp)

AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati

Indonesian children hold candles to pray for the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501 in Surabaya, Indonesia, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

Joy of NYE mixes with prayer for mourners

JAKARTA - The New Year’s Eve (NYE) was celebrated on Wednesday evening with the mixture of joy and prayers for a better Indonesia in 2015 and for Indonesians suffering from natural disasters and the missing AirAsia plane.

ANTARA FOTO/Anis Efizudin

People launched lanterns in Borobudur, Central Java during the celebration of New Year Eve’s on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

ANTARA FOTO/Embong Salampessy

Fireworks lightened up the New Year Eve’s celebration at Ambon on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014.

Indonesia scraps controversial gasoline

subsidy

Strong winds fanned the flames racing through nearly a kilometer (half a mile) -long row of shanties in a village in subur-ban Quezon city in metropolitan Manila before dawn Thursday, said village officer Noel Carino. Firefighters struggled to get near the burning shanties because of narrow alleys. “It’s really a tragic way to welcome the new year,” Carino said.

Firefighters recovered the body of a woman and two other residents who were trapped in their houses after rains helped douse the six-hour inferno. Three people were injured, including a firefighter, whose three fingers

were ripped off by metal shrapnel that flew around when a cooking gas tank exploded, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

Residents struggled to save anything they could from the fire, including cats and dogs, with many using improvised floating devices to cross a murky river and escape the flames.

Bureau of Fire Protection spokesman Renato Marcial said nearly a thousand houses, mostly shanties and huts , were de-stroyed, displacing about 4,000 poor families.

At least 17 fires have raged across the country prior to and during New Year’s revelry. De-

spite threats of arrest and a government scare campaign, outlawed powerful firecrackers were still used, according to the bureau.

At least seven people died in two of the fires, Marcial said, adding that some of the flames were believed to have been ig-nited by illegal firecrackers.

The Department of Health reported Thursday that more than 350 people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gun-fire in recent weeks and on New Year’s Eve. The figure is con-siderably lower than last year’s, but still an alarming sign of an unstoppable annual folly. (ap)

SHANGHAI — People unable to contact friends and relatives streamed into hospitals Thursday, anxious for information after a stampede during New Year’s celebrations in Shanghai’s historic waterfront area killed 36 people in the worst disaster to hit one of China’s showcase cities in recent years.

The Shanghai government said 47 others received hospital treatment, includ-ing 13 who were seriously injured, after the chaos about a half-hour before mid-night. Seven of the injured people had left hospitals by Thursday afternoon.

The Shanghai government information office said one Taiwanese was among the dead, and two Taiwanese and one Malaysian were among the injured.

The deaths and injuries occurred at Chen Yi Square in Shanghai’s popular riverfront Bund area, an avenue lined with art deco buildings from the 1920s and 1930s when Shanghai was home to international banks and trading houses. The area is often jammed with people during major events.

At one of the hospitals where the injured were being treated, police brought out photos of unidentified dead victims, causing dozens of waiting relatives to crowd around. Not everyone could see, and young women who looked at the photos broke into tears when they recognized someone.

A saleswoman in her 20s, who declined to give her name, said she had been celebrating with three friends. “I heard people screaming, someone fell, people shouted ‘don’t rush,’” she said. “There were so many people and I couldn’t stand properly.” She added that she still could not contact one of her friends.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a woman with the surname Yin who was caught with her 12-year-old son in the middle of crowds of people pushing to go up and down steps leading from the square.

“Then people started to fall down, row by row,” Yin said. When her son was finally brought to safety, he had shoe prints over his clothes, “his forehead was bruised, he had two deep creased scars on his neck, and his mouth and nose were bleeding,” she said. Xia Shujie, vice president of Shanghai No. 1 People’s Hospital, told reporters that some of the victims had been suffocated. (ap)

AP Photo/Bullit Marquez

Residents carry their belongings following a fire that razed their houses along a creek in sub-urban Quezon city, north of Manila, Philippines on New Year’s day Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

Huge fire razes Philippine shanties, killing 3

MANILA — A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thou-sand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year’s celebrations.

AP Photo

Residents lay flowers at the site of a deadly stampede in Shanghai, China on Thursday Jan. 1, 2015. Dozens died in a stampede during New Year’s celebrations in downtown Shanghai, city officials said - the worst disaster to hit one of China’s showcase cities in recent years.

36 killed, 47 injured in Shanghai stampede

The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders, or black boxes, hold data that will help investigators determine the cause of the crash but have yet to be recovered. Items recovered so far include a life jacket, an emergency exit door, an inflatable slide, children’s shoes, a blue suitcase and backpacks filled with food.

Officials have not announced the identities of the recovered bodies. Rela-tives have given blood for DNA tests and submitted photos of their loved ones, along with identifying information such as tattoos or birthmarks that could help make the process easier.

The long wait, with its starts and stops, has been frustrating for Sugiarti, 35. Her 40-year-old sister, Susiyah, was a nanny traveling to Singapore for a vaca-tion with her employers and their 2-year-old daughter.

“I hope that they can find her body soon. I feel sorry for my sister because it has already been five days,” she told reporters at a crisis center set up at a Surabaya police station. “I am trying very hard to be patient.”

Nearly all the passengers were Indonesian, and many were Christians of Chinese descent. The country is predominantly Muslim, but sizeable pockets of people of other faiths are found throughout the sprawling archipelago. (ap)

AirAsia...

Bali News Friday, January 2, 2015 5InternationalFriday, January 2, 201512 International

BUSINESS

Information gathered told if the emergence of the crocodile had been seen by people on the beach in front of Vila Batu Gang-ga around 5:00 p.m. Residents around the beach just dared to see it from a distance until the croco-dile disappeared in the darkness of night. Various speculations arose related to the appearance of crocodile whose origin could not be ascertained. Many people believed if the crocodile escaped from captivity, but there was no crocodile breeding nearby. The vagueness kindled some specula-tions leading to mystical realm.

When asked for his confirma-tion related to the presence of the crocodile, the Chief of Abang Police, Cok Arim Mahaputra, ad-mitted that his party had received complaints on the emergence of a crocodile on Banyuning Beach. Unluckily, the report could not ascertain the truth considering the crocodile was no longer in place when the apparatus came down to location. “We’re still collecting information this time,” he explained.

According to Cok Arim, the emergence of crocodile on the beach could happen. However,

police did not get accurate infor-mation regarding the case.

People’s report had been coor-dinated with the subdistrict head of Abang, Marine Police Unit of Karangasem Police, Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and surrounding com-munities. Even though the pres-ence of the crocodile on the beach could not yet be ascertained, his party appealed to the communi-ties on Banyuning Beach to be careful and increase alertness, especially the diving activity in the vicinity of the beach.

On the other hand, the Chief of Marine Police Unit of Karan-gasem Police, Made Wartama, claimed to have checked to loca-tion and made coordination with the local headman. According to him, the information on the appearance of a crocodile still needed to be explored and inves-tigated further.

Based on the result of moni-toring on Tuesday, there was no information if the crocodile emerged again on the tourist beach area. “We remain to ask the public to be alert. If it indeed emerges, we will surely take se-curity measures,” he said. (dwa)

The Dollar Index ended the year 11 percent higher against a basket of rival currencies.

The expectation that the Fed-eral Reserve will tighten near-zero interest rates next year, a lure for investors seeking higher returns, marked a sharp contrast with the easing track set out by the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan to counter a stalling eurozone and recession in Japan.

“The impressive rally for the greenback, which really only began around the middle of this year, has been fueled by a divergence in the policy outlook for the Federal Re-serve, which is expected to raise US borrowing costs around the middle

of 2015, and most other major central banks, that are expected to either remain on hold or ease monetary conditions further in the months ahead,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Common-wealth Foreign Exchange.

“The prospect of an improving economy and higher borrowing cost has been and should remain a pillar of the dollar’s broad-based strength.”

In thin trade Wednesday, on the eve of the New Year’s holiday, the euro dropped to $1.2097 around 2200 GMT, from $1.2154 at the same time Tuesday, hitting its low-est level since July 2012.

Over the year, the euro has

tumbled about 12 percent against the greenback, its worst year since 2005 when it shed 12.6 percent.

Neal Gilbert of Forex.com noted that the euro fell even though the US jobless claims data showed a larger increase in claims last week than expected.

“The success of the USD and the failure of the EUR through-out 2014 has been a long running and blatantly obvious story that has dominated the currency world,” Gilbert said in a research note.

“After nearly ascending the 1.40 mountain very early in the year, the EUR/USD has done nothing but taken a beating since.” (afp)

PARIS — It was supposed to force millionaires to pay tax rates of up to 75 percent: “Cuba without the sun,” as described by a critic from the banking industry. Social-ist President Francois Hollande’s super tax was rejected by a court, rewritten and ultimately netted just a sliver of its projected proceeds. It ends on Wednesday and will not be renewed.

And that critic of the tax? He’s now Hollande’s economy minister, trying mightily to undo the damage to France’s image in international business circles.

The tax of 75 percent on income earned above one million euros ($1.22 million) was promoted in 2012 by the newly-elected Hol-lande as a symbol of a fairer policy for the middle class, a financial contribution of the wealthiest at a time of economic crisis.

But the government was never able to fully implement the mea-sure. It was overturned by France’s highest court and rewritten as a 50 percent tax paid by employers.

Faced with a stalling economy and rising unemployment, the gov-ernment reversed course in 2014 with a plan to cut payroll taxes by up to 40 billion euros ($49 billion) by 2017, hoping to boost hiring and attract more investments.

All the while, Prime Minister Manuel Valls kept repeating his new credo: “My government is pro-business”.

Ultimately, while the super tax

affected only a small number of taxpayers, it triggered huge protests in business, sporting and artistic communities.

French actor Gerard Depardieu decried it vociferously and took Russian citizenship. Soccer clubs threatened to boycott matches for fear that 114 of their players or coaches would be taxed. The final version of the tax allowed them to minimize the burden.

The announcement of the 75 percent tax had “a very bad psycho-logical effect” in business circles, says Sandra Hazan, a lawyer who heads Dentons Global Tax Group. Even if most of the companies were able to minimize or avoid the tax, “I think it had an extremely devastat-ing impact on the attractiveness of France for foreigners.”

At the time of its proposal, Brit-ish Prime minister David Cameron ironically proposed to “roll out the red carpet” to French companies willing to avoid the tax.

Economist Thomas Piketty, author of the book “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”, criticized it as “a millstone around the neck” of the government, asking instead for global reform of tax laws.

Proceeds from the tax are esti-mated to total 420 million euros ($512 million) for about 1,000 employees in 470 companies, ac-cording to the government. By comparison, France’s budget deficit has soared well over 80 billion euros ($97 billion).

SEOUL - South Korea en-joyed record exports last year, data showed Friday, despite slow economic growth in key market China and a sluggish recovery in Europe.

For the whole of 2014, overseas shipments grew 2.4 percent to $573.1 billion and imports rose 2.0 percent to $525.70 billion, the trade ministry said.

As a result, South Korea’s trade surplus widened to a record high of $47.41 billion, it said. The trade balance has been in the black since February 2012.

In December alone, exports rose 3.7 percent year on year to

$49.74 billion, while imports fell 0.9 percent to $43.96 billion. Trade surplus widened to $5.78 billion in December from the previous month’s $5.51 billion.

The trade ministry attributed the 2014 increase in exports partly to South Korea’s free-trade agree-ments, including with the United States.

Last year exports to the United States increased 13.4 percent, while those to China fell 0.9 percent, it said.

The ministry predicted South Korea’s overall exports are ex-pected to rise 3.7 percent to $594 billion this year. (afp)

South Korea exports hit record high in 2014

France drops its super tax on

millionaires

Wood materials, especially those of good quality, are hard to get. It happens because the availability of wood on earth has run thin as it takes decades to be used. Wood is best favored by property owners because it looks natural and classical so that it is widely used mainly for wood flooring.

With the advances in technol-ogy, a number of bright ideas emerge to resolve this problem. Finally, it is made laminate par-quet denoting the development of wood flooring. This product is composed of several layers of material glued together. One of them is wood is the layer with wood texture made from resin. Meanwhile, the top layer is transparent film serving as a protection so that the laminate

parquet is scratch resistant and waterproof.

“It is pretty good for a varia-tion. In terms of durability, cer-tainly it is not durable because when exposed to water it will definitely bubble and be dam-aged,” said Ida Bagus Dedy Dar-mawan, a property businessman, some time ago.

He added when weather con-dition changed from hot to rainy and humid condition, it would quickly flake off. Meanwhile, the advantages of this product were looking new and beautiful, but lasting temporarily. “To be durable, the installation must be appropriate and the handyman installing them should be an ex-pert. Avoid moisture and water, and the temperature should be stable,” said Dedy.

“Indeed, this product is be-coming a trend in Indonesia today, including Bali. There are so many advantages when using this product,” said an architect of Bali, I Made Suardana.

According to Suardana, teak planks or teak plywood had been uncomfortable to be used because the quality was not good and dif-ficult to be applied. Meanwhile, the advantages of using laminate parquet were reasonably afford-able, having many color options, easily applied, scratch-resistant, in need of low maintenance and eco-friendly. This product was more suitable for the existing building interior, preferably used in minimalist building. “It is not appropriate to be applied for ethnic styles. Meanwhile, the parquet floor fits for any other

style of building,” he said.Compared to the price of tile,

it was indeed more expensive. But when compared to granite, the laminate parquet was cheaper. “In short, it highly depends on taste anyway. But parquet is more promising when viewed from the aesthetic and artistic aspect be-cause the floor will look cooler,” said Suardana.

Currently, according to the Op-eration Director of PT Graha Giri Kencana, consumers preferred to use natural model and definitely determined their option to this product. Moreover, it was equal to the use of natural stone.

What is the weakness? Suar-dana said each product indeed had a weakness. One of them was that it would be easily scratched, but more resistant than the genu-

ine wooden parquet. “When it comes to parquet, there are two options, namely the genuine wood parquet and the parquet of laminating materials. In addi-tion to flooring of house, it was also widely used for villa rooms. Many have used it,” he said.

The laminate parquet, he em-phasized, was not overly in-fluenced by weather condition. Genuine parquet made from wood was prone to damp areas and hazardous in the area con-taining soil with termites. “I have used it for more than two years, especially for interior needs. Its color and motif or texture is the same as wood, like teak wood model. More specifically, it no longer needs any application of polyurethane,” said Suardana. (rah)

Laminate parquet serves as wood substituteIBP/Net

Banyuning Beach

Crocodile appears on Banyuning Beach

People appealed to carefully move around the beach

AMLAPURA - Police authority cautioned people to carefully do activities on Banyuning Beach, Bunutan village, Abang sub-district. There was a report mentioning about the emergence of a large crocodile on Banyuning Beach, Monday afternoon (Dec 29). Local residents mostly working as fishermen remained uneasy after the emergence of crocodile although it finally disappeared.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

A trader wears glasses in the shape of 2015 while working on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. The dollar strengthened Wednesday, cap-ping a powerful year of gains against other major currencies as the US economy proved to be a bright spot in a dimming global economy.

Dollar ends strong year vs euro, yen

NEW YORK - The dollar strengthened Wednesday, capping a powerful year of gains against other major currencies as the US economy proved to be a bright spot in a dimming global economy.

International4 Friday, January 2, 2015 Friday, January 2, 2015 13InternationalBali News

Kim’s call for improving inter-Korea relations comes as Pyong-yang is facing heightened criti-cism over its human rights record and souring ties with Washington over allegations it was involved in the massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures linked to “The Interview,” a dark comedy that portrayed an assassination attempt on Kim.

North Korea has denied in-volvement, but said the hack was a “righteous deed” and suggested it might have been carried out by sympathizers or supporters abroad.

“We believe we can resume suspended senior-level talks and hold other talks on specific issues if South Korea sincerely has a position that it wants to improve North-South relations through a dialogue,” Kim said in the nation-ally televised address. “And there

is no reason not to hold the highest-level talks if the atmosphere and conditions are met.”

Meeting such conditions has proven to be virtually impossible in the past. The two countries have not held a summit since 2007 and, despite Kim’s remarks, the likeli-hood of one happening again soon is very low given the deep distrust that remains between the two coun-tries. Some experts in the South, however, cautiously welcomed the possibility of increased talks at lower levels.

“Animosities between South and North Korea would deepen ... if they fail to improve their politi-cal ties and ease military tension through a summit this year,” said Cheong Seong-chang at the private think-tank Sejong Institute.

South Korean officials say they are basically open to any form of talks. Seoul is waiting for the North

to respond to its earlier proposal to hold talks this month to discuss a range of issues needed to prepare for the unification and other is-sues of mutual concern. South Korea made the proposal earlier this week.

“If North Korea truly has a will to improve South-North relations through a dialogue, we hope (the North) quickly respond positively to our proposal for talks,” South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement.

Kim noted that this year is particularly significant because it marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Both sides claim to hold reunification as a fundamental goal, but a vast gap remains over how that should be accomplished and under what form of govern-ment a unified Korea would be administered. (ap)

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the backing of his hard-line Likud party in its primary and will lead it into general elections this March, Israeli media reported Thursday. With about 20 percent of the ballots cast Wednesday counted, Israeli media said Netanyahu had won the support of about 75 percent of electors, giving him an unas-sailable lead over challenger Danny Danon, a former deputy defense minister.

Some 100,000 Likud members were eligible to vote in the poll. Netanyahu was the heavily favored candidate in the vote. Early opinion polls ahead of the March 17 general elections show Netanyahu’s Likud party in a neck-and-neck race with a joint list headed by Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog and former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni of the Hatnuah party.

Netanyahu has been Israeli prime minister since 2009, taking a hard-line in Israel’s relations with the Palestinians. He has cultivated members of his right-wing coalition through sup-porting contentious legislation that would enshrine into law Israel’s status as a Jewish state.

But he has so far drawn a line with the right at efforts to change the status at a disputed Jerusalem holy site by allowing Jews to pray there, fearing that such a change would solidify anti-Israeli opinion in the Islamic world and undermine the country’s relations with the United States and Europe.

Early returns in the Likud primary suggest that one major backer of the change in the status quo at the site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Nobel Sanctuary, did not win enough support to gain a chance to return to parliament, while another supporter of that change did. (ap)

AP Photo/Ariel Schalit

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement after wining his hard-line Likud party primary in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

Israel’s Netanyahu wins Likud

party primary

AMLAPURA - Collection of a number of levies could not meet the target this year. They included the parking levy at the edge of public roads as well as recreation and sport centers.

It was announced by the Head of Karangasem Revenue Services (Dispenda), Nengah Toya, Tuesday (Dec 30) in Karangasem. Toya from Bebandem said the parking levies at the edge of public roads could only reach IDR 2.59 bil-lion, while the target was IDR 2.83 billion. In the meantime, the recreation and sport levy was targeted at IDR 2.85 bil-lion, while could only reach IDR 2.55 billion this year.

He claimed not to know why from the previous year the collection of the levies still could not meet the targets. He did not know whether there was a leak or not. Actu-ally, his party had attempted to optimize the levy. “The levies of parking service at the edge of public roads lie in the authority of Transportation Agency, while the levy of recreation and sport lies in the Culture and Tourism Agency,” he said.

He admitted, other than in the parking services as well as recreation and sports, the unattainable target also occurred in the sectors of business services and public services including the levies of building permit (IMB). According to him, minus in the target achievement was not too large. Aside from the two types of levies, the minimum achieve-ment also occurred in the levies of permit. However, the results of taxation in tourism sector showed a great surge. Hotel and restaurant tax (PHR), according to him, was very encouraging. Previously, the increase in the collec-tion ranged from IDR 1 billion, but this year it jumped to IDR 5 billion from the target of IDR 21.2 billion so that it totally reached IDR 25.5 billion. Such an achievement, he said, occurred after collaboration with the Development and Finance Supervisory Agency (BPKP) in the case of tax audit.

Meanwhile, the tax of non-metal mineral or quarry, the collection also gained great amount. From the target of IDR 78.8 billion, it could be reached IDR 82.2 billion.

Collection of the land and property tax (PBB) with the target of IDR 5.4 billion could be reached IDR 6.28 billion. Meanwhile, the fees of land and building acquisi-tion (BPHTB) with the target of IDR 11.57 billion could achieve IDR 13.78 billion. It was said the total regionally generated revenue (PAD) this year with the target of IDR 202 billion had reached IDR 224 billion or exceeded the target of about 11 percent.

On the other hand, Regional Secretary of Karangasem government, Gede Adnya Muliadi, some time ago said in front of community leaders in the evaluation of develop-ment said although the tax of quarry was great, in the future it should be found a substitute. It happened when the poten-tial of the quarry had almost run out. The potential substitute was the tourism sector which was more eco-friendly. In contrast, the quarry was in the form of exploitation against unrenewable natural resources. (013)

Based on the data of crimes in Gianyar Police during the past four years from 2011 to 2014, there were 1,825 reports of criminal acts such as motor vehicle theft, theft with violence, special theft, domestic violence, mistreatment and oth-ers. But of all the reports, a total

of 1,456 cases had been resolved, while 369 other criminal cases were still under investigation.

In details, in 2011 were recorded 459 crimes, with the report reached 459 cases and 358 cases could be re-solved. The report on criminal cases decreased in 2012 to 430 cases,

where 342 cases could be resolved. But in 2013 the report on criminal acts increased to 462 cases, where 389 cases could be resolved. In the following year, the criminal action increased to 474 cases. However, in 2014 the number of settled case showed a decrease from previous

year to 367 cases.The last action handled by Gi-

anyar Police Criminal Investiga-tion was the theft at Alfamart mini market on Jalan Kebo Iwa, Gianyar on Thursday (Dec 25). From the action coinciding with the celebra-tion of Christmas, the culprit took some valuables worth IDR 20 mil-lion. Meanwhile, police authority was still investigating the case of special theft.

In the meantime, the Chief

of Criminal Investigation, Aris Purwanto, said on Tuesday (Dec 30) that of the criminal actions occurred his party had attempted to optimally resolve all the re-ports throughout the year 2014. However, the remaining cases, especially theft cases, some had been detected. “Obviously we are still investigating the cases. When having been arrested, we will definitely let you know,” he promised. (kmb35)

2014, crime rate in Gianyar on the rise

GIANYAR - Report on criminal actions in Gianyar continues to increase every year. Even, since the year 2011 until the end of 2014 in the jurisdiction of Gianyar Police was recorded a total of 1,825 reports on criminal action, where a total of 1,456 cases could be resolved. Meanwhile, the Gianyar Police Criminal Investigation continued to accelerate the process of investigation.

Parking and recreation levies miss the target

IBP/Dewa Farend

Tirta Tangga, one of the famous tourism destination in Karangasem is crowded with visitors.

AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon

People watch a TV news program showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a speech, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015.

North Korean leader open to

summit with SouthPYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s

speech Thursday that he is open to more talks or even a summit with his South Korean coun-terpart, a statement welcomed by Seoul, which in turn urged the North to take concrete steps toward normalization of relations.

3Friday, January 2, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsTraveling Friday, January 2, 2015

AP Photo/Mike Groll

In this Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014 photo, lights decorate the Mirror Lake Inn in Lake Placid, N.Y. Known for decades as a winter wonderland and where the U.S. Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians in 1980 in perhaps the most-celebrated sporting event ever, Lake Placid is not just for snowy fun anymore, but is a town for all seasons.

Lake Placid isn’t just for winter lovers anymore

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Perhaps it’s the fresh-baked cookie that’s offered to guests as they check into the Mirror Lake Inn, the village’s crown jewel of lodging. Or perhaps it’s how just about every quaint store and restaurant in town has some sort of reminder that miracles can, and have, happened there.

Either way, it doesn’t take long upon arriving in Lake Placid to realize there’s something unique about the place.

Known for decades as a winter wonderland and where the U.S. Olympic hockey team stunned the unbeatable Russians in 1980 in perhaps the most-celebrated sporting event ever, Lake Placid is not just for snowy fun any-more. The vacation haven in the Adirondack Mountains is a town for all seasons now, though the sights this time of year are noth-ing short of Rockwellian.

“It’s the place you never really think about coming to, and then you get here and you never want to leave,” said Scott Natter, a va-cationer from Philadelphia who was touring the Olympic Cen-ter — the arena where the 1980 Miracle On Ice happened — with two of his children on a recent snowy day. “For us, it’s an annual thing now. We say ‘vacation’ and our kids say ‘Placid.’”

With a year-round population of about 2,500, Lake Placid has remained small but bustling. Tourism and continuing to tell

the Olympic tales of 1932 and 1980 are the backbone of the little community, where cell service can still be a touch spotty and few seem to mind.

But with a mix of classic and new attractions and amenities, there’s more to the place now than ever before. Whiteface Mountain still packs in skiers and snowboarders with arguably the best terrain in the East. Thrill-seekers can get their fix for speed and danger by taking a bobsled ride at Mount Van Hoevenberg. And those just looking to unwind can enjoy a maple sugar body scrub — yes, it is what it sounds like — at Mirror Lake Inn.

Hikers looking to scale any or all of the 46 Adirondack peaks that stand 4,600 feet or higher tend to start visiting in the spring. In the summer, there’s a full-scale

Ironman triathlon and a renowned horse show (which takes place in the shadow of the 1980 Olympic cauldron). Leaf-peepers pack the region in the fall, getting a look at the brilliant hues before the trees fall barren again for the inevitable winter.

Bookstores, a little theater, an arts center that lures kids from 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, fishing, golfing ... some of those might not all be available 12 months a year, but they’re all there. And many of those places are connected by brick sidewalks where people can walk about unbothered and unworried, even after nightfall.

“It is beyond a year-round destination,” said Lisa Weibrecht, who owns and operates the Mir-ror Lake Inn with her husband, Ed. “Winter is such a small part

of Lake Placid. I would say definitely summer is the most recognized season here between the lakes, the mountains, people leaving the city. This started as a summer resort and our population swells by three times during the summer. I don’t think there’s any place more beautiful to be than in Lake Placid in the summer and the fall.”

Still, its calling card might be winter, as evidenced by the two Olympic medals that hang behind the front desk at Mirror Lake.

Those medals were won by the Weibrecht’s son, Andrew — at the last two Olympic Winter Games.

“People always say, ‘Can you swim in the lake?’” Ed Weibrecht said. “And I tell them, here, you can drink the lake. It’s a wonder-ful place.” (ap)

Farmers are the backbone of food security. However, not all farmers can get a decent welfare. High production cost due to ex-pensive price of fertilizer is not comparable to the price of grain frequently sold at cheap price.

The data of the IDEP Selaras Alam Foundation released last May indicated that more than 50 percent of Indonesian people were farmers and almost 90 percent of them planted hybrid seeds. The foundation observed that all the agricultural products were har-vested and sold in order to get money quickly. After that, farmers set aside the money obtained to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other inputs for the next plant-ing season. But, this could only be done if they got good harvest. Otherwise, borrowing money to cooperatives or middlemen was the next solution. The more farm-ers getting trapped in the circle, the sooner farmers were getting poorer.

In the field, farmers claimed to desperately need a help from

ANTARA FOTO/Nyoman Budhiana

IBP/Eka Adhiyasa

Today farmers no longer produce their own seeds. However, they depend on hybrid seeds and genetically modified seeds (GMOs) from the national agricultural industry and imports. The price is not cheap, so that it will increase their production cost.

Reaching food security

Farmers depend on hybrid seedsDENPASAR - Today farmers no longer produce their own

seeds. However, they depend on hybrid seeds and genetically modified seeds (GMOs) from the national agricultural industry and imports. The price is not cheap, so that it will increase their production cost.

the government and insurance. Production cost was much more expensive than the selling price of grain during harvest season. Not to mention, within the past two years farmers relied fully on manufactured seed. The seed was purchased at IDR 90,000 per 10 kg.

“The price of seed is catego-rized to be expensive because the price of grain is only IDR 3,200-IDR 3,400 per kg. Moreover, we must also buy three kinds of fertil-izer, namely the organic, NPK and urea. Since the result is incompa-rable, the income is also a little. As a result, young generation rarely wants to be a farmer. Working in the field is also pretty heavy,” said Chief of Subak Suradadi, Be-limbing village, Pupuan, Nyoman Suardika, some time ago.

He added the results were not comparable so that this condition also triggered land conversion. Currently, the land conversion at Subak Suradadi already reached 10 hectares of a total of 82 hect-ares of wetland. Local farmers

were said to convert their paddy fields into a coffee and cacao plan-tation because the production was much easier and cheaper, plus the price was more expensive.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Subak Gemuh, Pupuan, I Nengah Sutar-sa, admitted that the other threat faced by farmers was mouse. Sim-ilar condition was also recognized by the Chief of Subak Belimbing, Nyoman Suarnata. Although hav-ing been sprayed or poisoned, the

mouse still haunted farmers.“Mouse is major obstacle. They

can savor the whole paddy plants right in the middle of the field, so they only leave the plants at the edge. Automatically it can reduce the production. Moreover, when it rains, the selling price of grain also slumps dramatically,” he complained.

Suarnata admitted that without mouse attack the benefit of farm-ers was very minimal because they

should buy fertilizer and manufac-tured seed. Meanwhile, preparing the seed by themselves was not possible because Belimbing vil-lage was often flushed by rain.

“We hope the government can subsidize fertilizer and attempt the grain price to remain stable during harvest season. As usual, the high selling price can only last for around a week, after which it declines drastically,” he explained. (kmb32)

Bid Farewell to 2014Balinese artists performed dances and art performances during the art and culture parade. The event was held to celebrate the coming year, 2015, and bid farewell to 2014

on Wednesday, December 31, 2014.

International2 Friday, January 2, 2015 15International Activities

Bali News

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

Friday, January 2, 2015

Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, 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

“The hotel located at Jalan Bypass Ngurah Rai 1001x Nusa Dua stands on an area of around 4,717 square meters with a

While at school, he was known to be mischievous and naughty among his friends. But it was just a past time. Now, the holder of full name Adi Soenarno has changed. He is a very inspiring figure due to his creativity in writing. The books he has written are also unique and cool to be made as reference. “Being mis-chievous, I have many imaginations to write,” he said while laughing.

This man occupying the position as General Manager of the Natya Hotel Kuta spent his teenage time in Malang, East Java. After com-pleting his undergraduate study, Adi then decided to be involved in the tourism industry. When he was in Malang, Adi was actively writing articles about tourism and publish-ing them in multiple media. Writing was not his main job at the time as he was a General Manager at one of the hotels in Malang.

Adi continued his graduate study at Purdue University, the USA. In the course of his career, Adi is a person who loves all kinds of work. During his high school period, he already became an inspiration provider and motivator at schools and often participated in the youth exchange program overseas. As

motivator, he had roamed around the world such as to Germany and the UK. “I used to be a lecturer, but unfortunately I had to focus on hospitality field,” he said.

Amidst his bustling time as a General Manager at the Natya Ho-tel, he still makes his spare time by writing. So far, he has already writ-ten 60 books where one of which has been named in the MURI record. In the near future, the collection will continue to grow. In accordance with the expertise, Adi wrote some books on management, tourism and social fictions, tourism diction-ary and motivation. The books are distributed throughout Indonesia and overseas.

When writing, Adi has some tips to be always applied every day. Among them, he always writes something what he is good at and understands and writes it in popular language and always looked for reference as much as possible. “To dismiss laziness, I promise to myself to get used to write every night be-fore going to bed,” he said.

Right now, his interest and achievement in literature and tour-ism has encouraged him to hold something unique in Bali. He

IBP/File Photo

Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua

Soft Opening Commenced with Inaugural Ceremony

NUSA DUA - Apparently Bali remains to become a strong mag-net of tourism industry in In-donesia. Even though it had dimmed at the end of 2002 and 2005, the development of tourist visit and hospitality business still seems high on this island. Based on this reason, the Metropolitan Golden Management, a hotel management network manag-ing the Hotel Horison decided to expand its hospitality business to Bali.In cooperation with PT Erina Anugerah Dewata posing a group of business engaged in cold storage, gas stations and some other business units ultimately developed the Hotel Horison Nusa Dua, Bali.

total building area of 5,358 square meters, equivalent to the coefficient of 40/60, with the progress of development for approxi-mately 1 year. This hotel will be operated in stages starting from 79 rooms. Then, it will be resumed until the operation of the total hotel rooms. Initial operation of the hotel is marked with the inauguration ritual or melaspas and mecaru resi gana at the soft opening on Sunday (Dec 21),” explained Nyoman Wija, the General Manager of Hotel Horison Nusa Dua.

Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua is an elegant hotel with minimalist decor by combining

Profile

Adi Soenarno:In creativity, impossible is nothing

the elements of Balinese style. It offers a total of 103 rooms and suites with six types of rooms. Some rooms have a special view directly to swimming pool beautifully designed that can become an added value for guests.

It has been equipped with supporting facilities such as Malabar Coffee Shop, Putri Lounge as well as the Sky Lounge on the third floor of the hotel. From the loca-tion, guests can enjoy the beautiful sunset view, while enjoying a typical delicacies presented by Hotel Horison Nusa Dua. Sky Lounge and the overall rooms can

be enjoyed early 2015. The hotel is also equipped with supporting business activities, namely three meeting rooms and one ballroom with the capacity of 20 to 280 people.

“With a strategic location that is only 15 minutes away by car from Ngurah Rai International Airport through toll road, 15 minutes from Pandava Beach, 10 minutes to Jimbaran Beach, and 1 km to Nusa Dua Beach, we are confident the Hotel Horizon Nusa Dua is the right choice for leisure and business travelers,” said Nyoman Wija who has joined the management of Hotel Horizon since October 2014.

IBP/Ocha

planned to make the Natya Hotel Kuta as a venue of creative writing. Ultimately, the activities could be held and ran successfully. Thus, he also wanted to implement it in Bali. “In Creativity, Impossible is Nothing” is the tagline owned by this tennis and golf hobbyist. (ocha)

TABANAN - The government has prepared a budget to provide subsidies for farmers. However, according to one of the independent politicians, I Nengah Mastajaya, the subsidy going to farmers were considered inappropriate so far, especially in terms of its admin-istration mechanism. He said the subsidy given to farmers was in the form of fertilizer. “In my opinion, the subsidy given to farmers is not perceived by them. Even though it has already been in the form of fer-tilizer, but in the form of money will be more appropriate,” he said. With the cash subsidy, he added, farmers could enjoy directly the subsidy provided by the government.

As an entrepreneur in the field of property, he was also concerned with the continuity of Tabanan as the rice granary. According to him, currently some investors had considered Tabanan a potential land to build housing. “Tabanan begins to be considered as the land price is cheaper than in Denpasar and Badung,” said Mastajaya, a pro-

spective regent candidate of Golkar party. Public interest was already increasing to buy property in Ta-banan area due to more affordable price. The growing interest could be seen from the increase in land price around the town of Kediri and Tabanan where it had reached IDR 300 million from IDR 50 million in the span of one year.

Proliferation of property busi-ness in Tabanan caused the agri-cultural land to be threatened. He also saw the agricultural land in the subdistrict of Tabanan and Kediri gradually began to disappear and be replaced by concrete buildings. Similarly, he worried when seeing the green belt already started to be converted. “For example, the green belt at Megati was already reached by investors,” he said. In addressing the issue, according to him, there should be a shield from customary villages through their awig-awig or bylaw. In terms of the government, the issuance of building permit should be made stricter. (kmb24)

Increase of the corruption case settlement as presented by BCW Bali was in tune with the expla-nation of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office. However, the Bali Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that one of the county prosecutor’s offices in Bali still had not submitted corruption cases, namely the Denpasar Prosecutor’s Office. However, in the prosecutor’s of-fice under leadership of Jaya Kusuma was mentioned if it already targeted three cases. In the meantime, the other prosecutor’s office competed to submit corrup-tion cases to the Denpasar Corruption Court.

Spokesperson of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office, Ashari Kurniawan, said on Tuesday (Dec 30) that in general the handling of corruption cases from year to year already increased. Even, in 2014 it increased sharply. Based on the data received from the Spe-cial Crime of the Bali Prosecutor’s Office, the case handling within the past three years had increased dramatically. In details, the handling of corruption in 2012 amounted to 12 cases in inquiry stage and six cases in the process of investigation. Meanwhile, in 2013, a total of 34 cases were in the stage of inves-tigation and 23 other cases in inquiry. Until the mid of December 2014, the Bali Prosecutor’s Office sent 33 cases in the prosecution of the Corruption Court and 39 other cases in the investigation process. The

data did not include the case of the former Klungkung Pier setting the former Regent of Klungkung, Wayan Candra, as suspect along with a number of Klungkung officials.

Then, with a total of 33 cases submitted to the Den-pasar Corruption Court, has the prosecutor’s office been satisfied? Does each county prosecutor’s office have no target in alleviating corruption? Chief of Bali Prosecutor’s Office, Adityawarman accompanied by Spokesperson Ashari Kurniawan said that in the han-dling of a case his party did not specify a target. But, his party, added Adityawarman, would do the best in the law enforcement. “It will be mistaken if we have proposed to the court without enough evidence. So, it must not be enforced,” he said.

Even, when asked about the handling of corruption that tended to pursue quantity and still targeted lower class group of community, the prosecutor’s authority stated that in the handling of corruption it did not do it discriminatively. Even though the cases were worth a little, they remained a corruption. “Therefore, we put forward the rule of law. It is not the matter of the loss to the state, or who is the culprit,” affirmed Ashari Kurniawan. Nevertheless, Ashari Kurniawan said that in general the prosecutor’s office had optimally handled the corruption case in Bali. (asa)

NEGARA - After mounted for few months, the sign of parking restriction in the area of shopping complex across the Negara Public Market is ignored. Parking restriction on the lane of Jalan Ngurah Rai was often broken and many motorcycles are parked in a row every day. Similarly, the parking barrier of iron chain is no longer installed.

Actually the official of Transpor-tation Agency was often deployed at the location to direct all vehicles to parking area of Ijogading Market located not too far away. The time of parking restriction was applied from 07:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. However, as seen on Tuesday (Dec 30), many motorcycles lined at the parking lot and were charged with levies by parking attendant. Road shoulder used for parking space has made the traffic crowded. Moreover, similar parking service was also provided at the Negara Public Market so that it made the road body narrower.

Unavoidably, the parking of mo-torcycles was also followed by cars

so that the road space was getting narrower. Such conditions made the parking attendant confused to charge parking levy. Previously, the sign of parking restriction was meant to make the area more orderly. At the same time, it was also intended to direct vehicles to a centralized parking space at the Ijogading Market having a wider space.

Meanwhile, Director of the Lo-cal Government-owned Enterprise (Perusda), I Wayan Wasa, since the parking restriction sign was posted in the area, the revenue from parking levy reduced. Parking attendant could not charge levy at the location and should focus on parking lot at the Negara Public Market. This year, admitted Wasa, the target of parking revenue could not be achieved 100 percent. Until November, it just achieved IDR 2.2 billion from the target of IDR 2.6 billion. He estimated that in December it could only reach 95 percent. (kmb26)

Parking restriction sign ignored

Disbursement of farmer subsidy inappropriate

IBP/file

The Chairman of the Bali Corruption Watch (BCW),

Putu Wirata Dwikora

Quantitatively, corruption handling rises

Denpasar Prosecutor’s Office still zero

DENPASAr - Chairman of the Bali Corruption Watch (BCW), Putu Wirata Dwikora, said the handling of corruption cases in Bali throughout 2014 was quite good compared to previous year. However, discrimination in the case handling was still visible carried out by prosecutor or police authority. A number of active officials were made a suspect. Uniquely, small cases got serious attention to detention. Meanwhile, top officials suspected of com-mitting corruption worth hundreds of millions of rupiahs remained to officiate in one of the agencies in Bali.

Page 13

North Korean leader open to summit with South

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

EntertainmentFriday, January 2, 2015

Friday, January 2, 2015

16 Pages Number 117th year

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DPs 23 - 32WEATHER FORECAsT

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Seven bodies have been recov-ered from the jet, which crashed into the Java Sea on Sunday with 162 people aboard.

Search crews began finding wreckage and corpses Tuesday, but in the thick of Indonesia’s rainy season, the weather has frequently prevented helicopters and divers from operating while strong sea currents have kept debris moving.

While searchers had no suc-cess Thursday finding bodies as of late afternoon, authorities announced that they had identi-fied one of the seven previously recovered bodies: flight attendant Hayati Lutfiah Hamid.

Singapore’s navy sent in an unmanned underwater vehicle capable of surveying the seabed to try to help pinpoint the wreck-age and the all-important “black boxes.” Indonesia is using a mine-sweeper and a private survey ship that specializes in sea mapping, while aircraft capable of detecting metal also were deployed.

We are “focusing on finding the body of the plane,” Indonesia air force spokesman Rear Mar-shal Hadi Tjahjanto told report-ers. “There was something like a dark shadow once seen from a plane, but it cannot yet be proven as wreckage.”

The seven bodies were recov-ered from an area off Borneo island, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the site where bodies were first spotted. Remains are being sent initially to Pangkalan Bun, the closest town, before be-ing transported to Surabaya, Indo-nesia’s second-largest city, where Flight 8501 had taken off.

Choppy conditions had pre-vented divers from entering the water Wednesday, and helicop-ters were largely grounded, but

18 ships continued to survey the narrowed search area.

Sonar images have identified what appeared to be large parts of the plane.

“It’s possible the bodies are in the fuselage,” said Vice Air Mar-

shal Sunarbowo Sandi, search and rescue coordinator in Pang-kalan Bun. “So it’s a race now against time and weather.”

The longer the search takes, the more bodies will decompose and more debris will scatter.

It is still unclear what brought the plane down about halfway into its two-hour flight from Surabaya to Singapore. The jet’s last communication indicated the pilots were worried about bad weather. They sought permis-sion to climb above threatening clouds but were denied because of heavy air traffic. Four minutes later, the airliner disappeared

from the radar without issuing a distress signal.

AP Photo/Dita Alangkara

A relative, center, weeps as Indonesian soldiers lift a coffin containing the body of Hayati Lutfiah, one of the victims of AirAsia Flight 8501, during the handover ceremony to her family at the police hospital in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. Searchers were racing “against time and weather” Thursday to recover the dead from the crash, with a window of good conditions slammed shut by another onslaught of wind and heavy rain.

AirAsia jet searchers fight ‘time and weather’PANGKALAN BUN — Searchers were racing “against time and weather” Thursday to recover

the dead from the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, with a window of good conditions slammed shut by another onslaught of wind and heavy rain.

This news can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 at 9.30 until 10.00 am

LOS ANGELES — Model Sonni Pacheco has filed for di-vorce from actor-husband Jer-emy Renner after 10 months of marriage, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles on Dec. 5.

The petition cites irreconcil-able differences as the reason for the separation. Pacheco, in the petition, also seeks return of her stolen passport, birth certificate

and Social Security card, as well as invalidation of their prenuptial agreement based on fraud.

Pacheco and Renner have one child, Ava Berlin Renner, who is 20 months old.

The two wed in secret on Jan. 13, 2014, and only confirmed their union to the press in Sep-tember. Renner has 30 days to file a response to the summons and petition. (ap)

The star of potboilers including “The Stud” and “The Bitch” was recognized for her services to charity. Collins, 81, is a longtime supporter of nonprofit groups helping children.

London-born Collins said Tuesday it was “humbling to receive this level of recognition from my queen and country, and I am thrilled and truly grateful.”

Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, who is due to play the British monarch in stage play “The Audience” next year, was also made a dame, and said she initially didn’t believe the news.

“I am thrilled, astonished and worried that I might suddenly wake up,” said Scott Thomas, who received an Academy Award nomination in 1997 for “The English Patient.”

Fashion designer Mary Quant, who made the mini-skirt synonymous with 60s style, was also named a dame, as were television presenter Esther Rantzen, who founded the ChildLine telephone service for neglected and abused young people, and British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

Veteran actor John Hurt, star of “The Naked Civil Servant,” ‘’The Elephant Man” and “Alien,” was made a knight.

And it will be “Arise, Sir Simon” for chemist Simon Campbell, part of the team that created erectile dysfunc-tion drug Viagra.

Comic actor James Corden, incoming host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE. The same honor went to his ex, actress Sheridan Smith.

Actress Emily Watson, who was Oscar nominated for “Breaking the Waves” and “Hilary and Jackie,” also received an OBE.

Music producer Peter Asher, half of 1960s pop duo Peter and Gordon, was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE. So were comedian Meera Syal, a star of groundbreaking sketch comedy show “Goodness Gracious Me,” and Scottish writer Ali Smith, whose novel “How To Be Both” was shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.

A century after the start of World War I, ceramic art-ist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper were recognized for creating a sea of ceramic poppies that filled the moat of the Tower of London in tribute to the war dead. They were made Members of the Order of the British Empire, or MBEs, for creating the work, which was visited by 5 million people, including the queen.

Britain’s honors are bestowed by the monarch, but recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public. In descending order, the main honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE and MBE. Knights are addressed as “sir” or “dame,” followed by their name. Recipients of the other honors have no title, but can put the letters

NEW YORK — Guitarist Slash has filed for divorce from his wife of 13 years. Court documents filed Tuesday in Los Angeles cite irrec-oncilable differences for Slash and Perla Hudson’s split. Slash’s real name is Saul Hudson.

The former Guns N’ Roses per-former and Hudson were married in 2001, and he also filed for divorce in 2010, citing irreconcilable differ-

ences. The couple have two sons, 10-year-old Cash and 12-year-old London.

Tuesday’s documents say the couple separated June 15.

The 49-year-old musician has had success as a solo star and in the bands Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses, with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. (ap)

Jeremy Renner’s wife files for divorce

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File

In this March 31, 2012 file photo, musician Slash right, and Perla Hudson arrives at the launch of Marquee, The Star en-tertainment venue in Sydney, Australia.

Guitarist Slash files for divorce after 13 years

Joan Collins honored by queen

Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File

LONDON — The diva of “Dynasty” is now a dame. Joan Collins, who played scheming, shoul-der pad-wearing Alexis Carrington in the hit 1980s TV show, was made the female equivalent of a knight in Queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year’s honors list.

Huge fire razes Philippine shanties, killing 3

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Lampard to stay at Man City to end of season