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Sport
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bangladesh rare leopard renews hopes for species survival
16 Pages Number 419 1st Year
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Hayden determined to keep Ducati ride Nicky Hayden says he wants to stay on at Ducati for 2010 as he is determined to get to grips with its bike despite his tough start. Like Casey Stoner’s previous team-mates at the Italian squad, Hayden has struggled to adapt his riding style to the Desmosedici. An accident in Qatar also set him back, but in recent events his form has improved, with a breakthrough fifth place at Laguna Seca and fourth on the grid - the best qualifying position for any of Stoner’s Ducati team-mates - in Germany. Whereas both Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri moved on from Ducati after just one difficult year alongside Stoner, Hayden says he hopes to convince Ducati to keep him on for another season. “It’s a two-year deal but it’s their option if they want to bring me back,” he told AUTOSPORT. “It’s been hard but now we’re making progress. I looked at this as a challenge from the beginning and I don’t want to give up. I want to say hey I conquered it, I was able to ride that bike, I was able to do it. We’ll see if they want
U.S rider Nicky Hayden waits for the start of the MotoGP practice session of the German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring circuit in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany, Saturday, July 18, 2009. AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil
Raikkonen: Hungary is big opportunity
Kimi Raikkonen believes the Hungarian Grand Prix will be one of Ferrari’s best chances to fight at the front this season. Monte Carlo was Raikkonen’s strongest race of the year so far, and he reckons the similarly twisty Hungaroring will prove equally well-suited to the Ferrari - which he thinks could prove crucial as the team is set to switch its focus to 2010 soon afterwards. “The next race will definitely be the most similar one to the one at Monaco,” said Raikkonen. “This year we gained a place on the podium at Monaco and this is our objective for Budapest. We were able to fight for the pole [in Monaco] until the last moment and I think
that if we had gained it, the race would have gone in a completely different direction.” But he acknowledged that with all the teams having carried out significant development programmes since Monte Carlo, form on the street track back in May might no longer be relevant this weekend. “We’ll retry in Hungary, but it will be difficult,” said the former champion. “The F60 should adapt pretty well to the track, but we know that all the other teams have improved their cars considerably after the race at Monaco, so there will be fierce competition. We’ll get a better picture of the situation on Friday morning after the first free practice.” Team boss Stefano Domenicali
revealed that Ferrari would switch most of its efforts to its 2010 car “in the next couple of weeks”, and Raikkonen admitted that the remainder of 2009 could prove tough with development on the disappointing F60 set to conclude. “We’ve been working hard to close the gap we had since the start between us and the leaders; naturally also all the others have been improving their cars,” he said. “Furthermore with the fact that we can’t test this year during the championship it’s even more difficult to make up ground. How the season’s second part will go also depends on the decision of how to use the resources, because the work on next year’s car is now already in full swing.”
to bring me back.” He admitted that so far he had probably not done enough to earn a contract extension. “I know at some stage I’m going to have to put up some results, I know fifth and eighth probably isn’t going to be enough to get Marlboro or Ducati - they might want to try somebody else at that spot,” said Hayden. “We’ll see, but I’m not too worried about that. Obviously you worry about your future and what’s going on but I think we can continue.” Hayden’s Sachsenring weekend
went downhill after he crashed heavily both late in qualifying - collecting Niccolo Canepa in the process - and in the warm-up, and his strong fourth on the grid only translated to an eighth place finish. He reckoned that he had got carried away and pushed too hard in his hurry to turn his season around. “I believe in myself a lot. That’s maybe what caught me out a bit in Germany and why I crashed a couple of times,” said Hayden. “I saw the front and thought I can be there this weekend, got a bit excited and threw it away making a mistake. But I believe in myself fully, that’s not what I’m lacking. But sitting around here saying it is one thing, doing on Sunday is always a different story. Saying it doesn’t mean much, I’ve got to go and do it and prove it. But I think I can.”
Friday, July 24, 2009 Japanese soldiers and firefighters work around a house that was hit by a torrential mudslide at Hofu, southern Japan, on Wednesday July 22, 2009. Hundreds of police, soldiers and rescue workers searched Thursday for nine people missing after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides in southern Japan.
Bali’s Police Department tighten coastal area
Malaysian woman accepts flogging for drinking beer
PAGE 8
Hayden determined to keep Ducati ride
Associated Press
PAGE 16
Death toll rises to 11 from Japan landslides, floods
AP Photo/Kyodo News
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TOKYO - Rescue workers recovered a woman’s body Thursday from mud and rubble that filled a nursing home after a landslide, raising to 11 the death toll after heavy rains hit western Japan, police said.
Soldiers, police and emergency services staff continued their search for seven people still missing in the aftermath of floods and landslides triggered two days ago by rainy-season torrential downpours in the region. “Search operations are getting more and more difficult, but we are working on the assumption that there are survivors,” said a police spokes-
man by telephone from hard-hit Yamaguchi prefecture on Honshu island. One person was still missing on the mud-filled ground floor of the nursing home where at least six people died when a large landslide Tuesday hit the building in Hofu City, 750 kilometres (470 miles) west of Tokyo. Continued on page 6
KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian woman sentenced to flogging for drinking beer has accepted the Islamic court’s order, saying she wants the punishment to be carried out soon, news reports said Thursday. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old model, was arrested on charges of drinking beer after Islamic authorities raided a hotel nightclub last year. She was sentenced Monday to six lashes with a rattan cane after pleading guilty in the Shariah High Court. Consuming alcohol is a religious offense in Malaysia only for Muslims, who make up nearly twothirds of the population. Offenders are prosecuted in Shariah courts, which handle cases mainly related to family and moral issues for Muslims.
Continued on page 6
MALAYSIA OUT AFP PHOTO / BERNAMA NEWS AGENCY
This picture taken on 20 July, 2009 shows Singaporean Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno looking on at the Sharia High Court in Kuantan, Pahang State
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International
Friday, July 24, 2009
News WORLD NEWS
Schwarzenegger defends knife-wielding Twitter video
MUNICH - A new generation of Wagners is at the helm as the annual Bayreuth festival opens this weekend, with composer Richard Wagner’s greatgranddaughter, Katharina Wagner saying that she hopes to help bring “opera to the people.”
Staying the course PARIS - Leaders of NATO nations are vowing to stay the course in Afghanistan despite rising violence, casualties and pressure from the public and fellow politicians. But the increasingly public domestic disputes in the war’s deadliest month for the coalition could foreshadow longterm trouble for the effort to commit more resources to defeat the Taliban.
Schwarzenegger, under fire for a budget plan announced this week that will see 15 billion dollars in spending cuts from services such as education and health care, said the light-hearted video was intended as a bit of fun. The movie-star-turned-politician brushed off suggestions from reporters in Sacramento that the video might be viewed by some as being insensitive. “You know, you sent a governor to Sacramento — not El Stiffo, like some of the past were, but you sent someone that is a little bit more entertaining and has a little bit more fun with the whole thing,” Schwarzenegger said. “Not that I have fun with making the cuts; they sadden me. But fun with the job itself, because I think it is the most rewarding job that I’ve ever done, even though with a huge responsibility. “So just relax and have a little bit of a sense of humor.” California lawmakers are set to approve the spendings at a vote on Thursday which will pass a budget aimed at closing the state’s 26.3 billiondollar deficit.
They arrived in Singapore Thursday after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Thailand on Wednesday evening following a 0-0 draw with St Gallen of Switzerland and a 1-0 loss to Rapid Vienna. In the Thailand match a second-half strike by Sutee Suksomkit cancelled out an early opener from Ryan Babel but there was little goalmouth action to excite the crowd, with Liverpool looking decidedly rusty. They are clearly missing the talismanic Steven Gerrard, who is in court back home on charges of affray stemming from a nightclub incident last December. It didn’t get any better for manager Benitez, with defender Martin Skrtel (hamstring) and young Moroccan forward Nabil El Zhar (knee) injured in the Thailand match, with medical staff assessing how badly they have been hurt. “They were not the best conditions in Bangkok and the worst thing was to lose Skrtel and El Zhar,” said Benitez. “The idea of the game was to improve match fitness. So to lose
Onion torture SAN JUAN - Police in the Dominican Republic have been seizing people off the streets and torturing them by choking them with onions to obtain information about crimes, a human rights group alleges. Source: ap
Max Whittaker/Getty Images/Agence France-Presse
‘I’d get shot’ breaking into White House, Obama jokes Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama joked Wednesday that even he would get shot if he lost his keys and tried to break into the White House. He was answering a question about the arrest of his friend, prominent African-American Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who was handcuffed and detained after having to break into his home in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge. “I guess this is my house now. So it probably wouldn’t happen,” Obama said, looking around the ornate East Room and trying to put himself into a similar situation. “But let’s say my old house in Chicago,” he continued. “Here, I’d get shot,” he quipped, to
laughs from the gathered press corps. Turning serious though, the nation’s first African-American president castigated Cambridge police for the incident. “Now, I don’t know, not having been there, and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in this,” Obama told a press conference. “But, I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.” Cambridge police have already apologized to Gates, a leading expert on African-American relations, for the incident in which he was handcuffed outside his front door and spent four hours in detention.
two players is bad news.” The unsettled Xabi Alonso sat out the game with an ankle injury. The Spanish international has not failed to hide his desire to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka at Real Madrid while Chelsea have also expressed an interest in signing him. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano’s agent has been quoted by South American media as saying the player was fed up with life in England and wanted to move to Barcelona. Benitez has made clear he wants both to stay but it is unsettling for the team. Vicecaptain Jamie Carragher is hoping for a swift end to the Alonso saga at least. “The feeling within the squad is that he is a top player and you do not want to lose your top players, and hopefully it can be sorted out as soon as possible,” said Carragher. “If the club thinks it is in their best interests (for him to move) sometimes you have to do what they think is best. We all go through these situations — well, hopefully not me — and as I said, I just hope it gets sorted out.”
Man Utd to offer Park new contract Agence France - Presse
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama smiles while responding to questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
z Founder : K.Nadha, z Chief Editor: ABG Satria Naradha z Managing Editor: Wirata z Editors: Alit Purnata, Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Darmasunu, Daniel Fajry, Diah Dewi, Iwan Darmawan, Martinaya, Mawa, Palgunadi, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Sutiawan, Wirya, Yudi Winanto zDenpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Mas Ruscitadewi, Oka Rusmini, Umbu Landu Paranggi, Subagiadnya, Subrata, Suentra, Sumatika, Gregorius Rusmanda, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan, Tabanan: Surpi. Jakarta: Nikson, Suharto Olii, Indu P. Adi, Ahmadi Supriyanto, Achmad Nasrudin, Hardianto, Darmawan S. Sumardjo, Heru B Arifin, Asep Djamaluddin, Ade Irawan, Ipik Tanoyo. NTB: Agus Talino, Syamsudin Karim, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani, Nur Haedin, Suyadnya. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. z Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. z Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publiser: PT Bali Post
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Agence France - Presse
SINGAPORE - Rafael Benitez is facing a mini crisis at Liverpool with no wins in three pre-season games, a captain on trial for affray and his top midfield duo looking to leave the club. It is not ideal preparation for a team that senses its best chance to win the League title in 20 years.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks to reporters outside his office in July 22, 2009 in Sacramento, California. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders reached a budget deal Monday to close California’s $26 billion budget gap.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Rafa facing difficult period at Liverpool
Agence France-Presse
LOS ANGELES - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday defended a video on his Twitter page which shows him brandishing a huge hunting knife as he talks about the state’s budget crisis.
Bayreuth festival
Sport
International
SEOUL - The hard-working Park Ji-Sung is to be rewarded with a new contract by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who praised the South Korean midfielder’s intelligence and penetration on the field. Chief executive David Gill made the announcement at a press conference here Thursday, a day ahead of the Premier League champions’ preseason game against FC Seoul. “Discussions will take place,” Gill said of a player who became the first Asian to contest a Champions League final when he played in United’s 2-0 defeat to Barcelona last season. “We’re looking to extend the contract. Sir Alex and the coaches are very happy with him and Ji enjoys his time with us immensely. When it’s done it will be announced.” Park moved to Old Trafford in 2005 from PSV Eindhoven for four million pounds (6.6 million dollars) and his current contract runs out at the end of the forthcoming season. When asked if he wanted to play at
another club, he said in May: “I have no reason to move.” He has been crucial to United building a huge fan base in South Korea and despite a lack of preparation, is expected to play a part of their match here on Friday. “I feel he may be able to play some minutes but he’s not been with us (for the last few weeks) so he’s not done the same preparation as the rest of the players,” said Ferguson. “But I’m sure he’ll get a few minutes and that will be a big lift to the fans here in Korea.” Park has made 123 appearances for United and Ferguson took time to reflect on the qualities that first attracted him to the 28-year-old. “I went to see him play for PSV in two quarter-finals and we identified a player with great understanding of space,” he said. “When his team had the ball his movement was always clever and he had decisive penetration in attacking areas. We felt at the time that we needed a player who could penetrate in the last third and that’s why we brought him to Manchester United.”
AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn
Liverpool’s head coach Rafael Benitez wraps up a press conference in Bangkok on Monday July 20, 2009. Liverpool will play with Thailand’s national team in a friendly match on Wednesday.
Ronaldo to star in film about tragic Palestinian fan: report
Agence France - Presse
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil Brazil’s three-time world player of the year Ronaldo has agreed in principle to star in a film about a Palestinian child fan of his who dies in a refugee camp, it was reported on Wednesday. The 32-year-old two-time World Cup winner will be with his club Corinthians in the Middle East - for a September 15 friendly in the Palestinian Territories against fellow Brazilians Fluminense at the time that the film is set to be made in Lebanon. “Ronaldo signed an agreement in principle last week,” his agent Fabiano Farah told sports information provider ‘El Globo’. “A definitive agreement will be reached in September.” Ronaldo, though, has still to get permission from his club to act in the Iranian-directed film. The all-time leading World Cup scorer is to play a peace emissary, a role he has already played in reality as in May 2005 he spent several hours visiting the Palestinian Territories.
AFP
Brazil’s three-time world player of the year Ronaldo has agreed in principle to star in a film about a Palestinian child fan of his who dies in a refugee camp
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Sport
Friday, July 24, 2009
Timberwolves pick Rubio to leave Spanish club
AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File
Ricky Rubio Associated Press Writer
GERONA, Spain – Ricky Rubio plans to part ways with Spanish basketball club DKV Joventut even if the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot reach a deal to bring their first round draft pick to the NBA. Timberwolves president David Kahn was in Spain this week to try and help the fifth overall pick negotiate a buyout of his contract with Joventut. Rubio is at odds with his boyhood club over a buyout clause that could cost the 18-year-old point guard as much as $6.6 million. The NBA’s collective bargaining rules limit the Timberwolves’ contribution to $500,000. Regardless of whether Rubio makes the trip across the Atlantic next season, he won’t be playing at Joventut. “I want to continue with the club but, after everything that’s happened, I don’t think they’re too comfortable having me in their squad,” Rubio said Wednesday. “I want to play in a winning team, on a team that can
achieve many things.” Rubio signed with Joventut at 14 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to play in a Spanish ACB League game. He rose to prominence over the next few years, playing for Spain’s silver medal-winning team in the Beijing Olympics at 17 and becoming a popular player thanks to his flashy passes and floppy hair. Minnesota drafted him fifth overall in June and holds his NBA rights for as long as Rubio is playing basketball professionally. But it is not exactly clear what ramifications, if any, Rubio’s parting with Joventut has on the Timberwolves’ chances of bringing the popular point guard to the United States this season. Rubio has two years remaining on his deal with Joventut. The enormity of the buyout has a player who made less than $100,000 last season thinking twice about coming to the NBA right away. That’s what prompted Kahn to hop a plane to Spain on Monday. He met with Joventut officials to see if he could help resolve the issue, but declined to comment — both on the news that Rubio will leave Joventut and the trip in general — when reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Spanish basketball clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona are both interested in signing Rubio if he cannot make it to the NBA this season. Unlike the Timberwolves, they are not subject to the collective bargaining rules of the NBA and could pay the entire buyout fee to get him. Kahn has said in the past that the rebuilding Timberwolves are willing to wait a year, or even two, for Rubio to come to Minnesota. But the sooner Rubio can get there, the better for a franchise that has struggled to fill seats at Target Center since trading Kevin Garnett to Boston two years ago.
International
News
International
Haye to take on Russian heavyweight Valuev
Agence France-Presse
LONDON Former world cruiserweight champion David Haye will face current WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev later this year, the British fighter confirmed on Thursday.
British heavyweight boxer David Haye as he talks at a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Haye said Thursday July 23, 2009 that he has signed a contract to challenge Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title on Nov. 7. Although no venue has yet been fixed, the fight is expected to take place in Germany.
AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazovl
Visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili review honour guard outside a presidential palace in Tbilisi, Thursday, July 23, 2009. Biden arrived Wednesday in the former Soviet republic a year after its war with Russia.
Georgia to ask Biden for weapons, observers Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Reavie seeks to defend Canadian Open title Agence France - Presse
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese
Defending champion Chez Reavie hits out of a bunker on the fifth hole during the Pro-Am round for the Canadian Open golf tournament at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, on Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
TORONTO, Canada - Chez Reavie, who busted through with his first PGA Tour victory by capturing the 2008 Canadian Open, returns to the Glen Abbey Golf Club this week to try can defend his title. The 27-year-old American is seeking to equal compatriot Jim Furyk’s feat in 2006 and 2007 and win back-to-back Canadian Open titles. Last year, Reavie beat Billy Mayfair by three strokes on the water-logged course in Oakville, Ontario, 30 kilometres southwest of Toronto. “You never know when it’s your time,” Reavie said. “You’ve just got to go out there and play as hard as you can every day. When you add them up, hopefully you’re the lowest guy out here.” Reavie’s best finish so far this year is a tie for 12th in his season-opening event, the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Thursday’s opening round marks the start of the 100th Canadian Open
and the 25th time it has been held at Glen Abbey. The 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir is the best known Canadian in the field and hopes to end his country’s 55 year winless drought. Pat Fletcher is the last Canadian champ, taking the 1954 tournament in Vancouver. “It’s our national championship, and all us Canadians, we want to put to rest that it’s been so long since one of us has won one,” Weir said. Weir tied for fifth last year and lost to Vijay Singh in a playoff in 2004. Canadian Nick Taylor is also in the field thanks to a sponsor’s exemption. He was the low amateur at the 2009 US Open when he tied for 36th. “It’s cool to be in a PGA Tour event, but being back home in Canada with a bunch of people working and pulling for you, that’s going to be fun,” Taylor said. The Canadian Open also marks the return of Trevor Immelman to the Tour, following a wrist injury. He is making his first start since the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
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British PM dismisses criticism on Afghanistan
Agence France - Presse
Haye, 28, has signed a contract to meet the 7ft 2in Russian on November 7 at an undecided venue. The announcement ends speculation about who Haye’s next opponent would be, following reports the Londoner had agreed a bout with Vitali Klitschko. Haye had been scheduled to fight Klitschko’s brother Wladimir in June but had to withdraw because of a back injury. “I am thrilled to announce that my dream of becoming world heavyweight champion will be realised on November 7, when I challenge the tallest and heaviest champion of all time, Nikolai Valuev,” Haye said in a statement. “There were reports in the German press that I had signed to fight Vitali Klitschko in September, but those reports were never true. “There have been long and exhausting discussions about the clash, but unfortunately I could never put my name to the fight contract the Klitschkos offered. The level of disrespect they have shown me throughout has left me feeling insulted.”
Friday, July 24, 2009
TBILISI - Georgia’s president was expected to ask U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday for advanced weaponry, military aid and unarmed U.S. observers to monitor a cease-fire along the boundaries of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions. Russia, however, reiterated its warning that it would lower or halt military cooperation with any country supplying Russian arms to Georgia. President Mikhail Saakashvili said he and Biden had spoken informally Wednesday at a dinner in the $40 million presidential compound’s glass-domed dining room ahead of talks Thursday. “I told you there was no such thing as a free dinner in Georgia,” Saakashvili told Biden in front of reporters, an apparent reference to Georgia’s requests for expanded military assistance. The smiling Georgian leader, who referred to Biden as “Joe,” called the discussions “very productive.” Biden seemed more reserved, calling Saakashvili “Mr. President.” While citing U.S.-Georgia ties, he also expressed support for political reforms that Saakashvili announced earlier in the week. “We’re here to talk about your security, economy, your democracy and the steps you are taking for so-
lidifying your democracy,” he told Saakashvili. The White House has so far avoided making any public commitment on aid, arms or observers, although it says it stands behind Georgia’s application for NATO membership despite determined opposition from Russia. The U.S. gave Georgia $1 billion in aid shortly after Russia defeated Georgia in a short war last August. But Washington has so far not supplied the Georgian military with arms to replace those lost in the war, amid warnings from Moscow that such a step would raise the risk of another conflict. A spokesman for the Georgian Defense Ministry, David Nardaya, said he could not say how much military aid was being sought because the information was classified but described the weapons as defensive. In Moscow, the government said it would not stand by while Georgia was resupplied with weapons. “We will continue inhibiting rearmament of the Saakashvili regime
and are taking concrete measures for this,” Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said, the ITARTass news agency reported. He said this was in line with a presidential decree issued in January. Ukraine supplied weapons to Georgia during last summer’s conflict with Russia, and Belarus has expressed support for Georgia’s claims to two Russian-backed breakaway regions at the center of last year’s war. Both former Soviet republics have military ties with Russia. Biden is on a four-day mission to Ukraine and Georgia to demonstrate U.S. support for the two countries, where Western-style democracies have struggled in the wake of peaceful revolutions. A number of Eastern European political figures have expressed concern that the Obama administration could weaken its support for democratic reform as it tries for better relations with Russia. But Biden’s message on the trip so far has been that restoring cordial relations with the Kremlin will not come at the price of weakening support for democratic allies in the region. Nor will the U.S. recognize Moscow’s claim to an exclusive sphere of influence among former Soviet states, Biden has said.
LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed remarks by one of his ministers Wednesday that Britain does not have enough helicopters in Afghanistan, as he sought to move past a damaging row over resources. Brown said the remarks to a newspaper by outgoing junior Foreign Office minister Lord Mark Malloch-Brown had been misrepresented and repeated his insistence that British troops had everything they need. “I am satisfied that Operation Panther’s Claw has the resources it needs to be successful,” he said, referring to a major assault on Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand which British troops began in June. “I think the fact that it is making progress at the moment and yielding results already shows that that is the case.... For the operation we are doing at the moment we have the helicopters we need.” Brown has been forced to defend Britain’s strategy in Afghanistan following a surge in troops deaths there, in a row that has piled the pressure on a government already struggling with the recession and an expenses scandal. A soldier was killed Wednesday in an explosion whilst on patrol in Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand, the Ministry of Defence said, taking the toll since operations began in 2001 to 188, more than in Iraq. Malloch-Brown’s intervention is an embarrassing addition to calls from military figures including army chief General Richard Dannatt and the main opposition Conservatives — who are leading Brown’s Labour party in opinion polls — for more troops and equipment. “We definitely don’t have enough helicopters. When you have these modern operations and
insurgent strikes what you need, above all else, is mobility,” Malloch-Brown told the Daily Telegraph. The minister, whose Foreign Office brief includes responsibility for Afghanistan and who is due to step down this week for personal reasons, later issued a statement that he said clarified his remarks. In what appeared to be a U-turn, he said he had meant that “while there are without doubt sufficient resources in place for current operations, we should always do what we can to make more available on the frontline.” In his monthly press conference shortly afterwards, Brown said the way the newspaper had interpreted Malloch-Brown’s interview remarks was a “misrepresentation”, which had been corrected. Asked whether more helicopters would have saved troops’ lives in Afghanistan, he said: “More helicopters in general, yes... But in the operations we are having at the moment it is completely wrong to say that the loss of lives has been caused by the absence of helicopters.” However a former commander of British troops in Helmand disputed Brown’s comments, saying that while Operation Panther’s Claw might be properly resourced, the country’s general mission in Afghanistan was not. “I think the wider campaign in Afghanistan, and this has been the case from the early days, has been insufficiently resourced to undertake a proper counter-insurgency,” retired Brigadier Ed Butler told BBC radio. Malloch-Brown told the Telegraph that the British public had not been properly warned about the Afghan offensive before the death toll began rising. Britain suffered its blackest day in Afghanistan earlier this month, with eight troops dying within 24 hours.
AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau, pool
Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for questions during his monthly press conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday July 22, 2009. Responding to a question on the economy, Brown said that economic recovery “cannot be taken for granted”. He also defended his government’s record of providing enough equipment for British troops in Afghanistan, where eighteen soldiers have already been killed in July.
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News
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
Life Style
International
Australia PM AFP ‘sickened’ over teen Jakarta bomber SYDNEY - Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Thursday said he found it “sickening” that one of the Jakarta bombers was apparently a boy aged just 16 or 17. Rudd was speaking after Indonesian police released digitally reconstructed images of two militants suspected of last week’s blasts which left seven dead including three Australians. “If those reports are true, it is sickening that these evil terrorists would prey on children to do their dirty work,” Rudd told reporters. “The thought that terrorists engaged in their evil business would also prey upon children defies any standard of civilised behaviour,”
he added. Indonesian police said the youthful bomber was responsible for the attack on the JW Marriott hotel, which killed the three Australians and two others. The other attacker, whose suicide blast killed two people at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, was aged between 20 and 40. The images are being shown to witnesses as part of the investigation into the first major terror atrocity in Indonesia since 2005. Australian embassy official Craig Senger was among the dead, along with mining executive Garth McEvoy and human resources manager Nathan Verity.
Clinton says nuclear North Korea has ‘no friends left’
AFP PHOTO/ROMEO GACAD
US Secretary of State Hillary. Agence France-Presse
PHUKET - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday North Korea had “no friends left” to offer it refuge from nuclear sanctions, triggering vitriolic defiance from the Stalinist regime. Pyonyang hurled personal invective at Clinton and declared nuclear talks “dead”, as she told Asia’s largest security forum that international efforts to squeeze the North over its atomic programme were paying off. “They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community’s efforts to move toward denuclearisation,” Clinton told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket. “In their presentation today they evinced no willingness to pursue the path of denuclearisation and that was troubling, not only to the United States but to the region and the international community,” she added. “I was gratified by how many countries from throughout the region stood up and expressed directly to the North Korean delegation their concern over the provocative behaviour we have seen over the past few months.”
This undated photo provided by WildEarth Guardians shows a white-sided jackrabbit in New Mexico. There are an estimated 150 whitesided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday, July 21, 2009 they will study the elusive rodent to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the biggest threat is change to the hare’s habitat brought on by drought, grazing, the suppression of wildfire and the encroachment of shrubs into the Chihuahuan grasslands of New Mexico’s bootheel — the only place in the U.S. where the jackrabbit has been documented.
In Phuket, Clinton has met with counterparts from China and Russia, two other ARF heavyweights that have traditionally been lukewarm about forthright action against North Korea. North Korean delegates appeared agitated as they tried to organize a rare press conference just before Clinton was supposed to speak in the press area of a seaside hotel in the Thai resort island of Phuket. Regime officials described Clinton’s renewed offer of a package of incentives in return for disarmament as “nonsense”, and lambasted the top US diplomat as unintelligent, a “funny lady” and a “primary schoolgirl”. “Hearing about the comprehensive package, I should say this is basically nonsense,” roving ambassador Ri Hung-Sik said, vowing no dialogue until Washington changed its “deep-rooted hostile policy”. “The six-party talks are already dead,” Ri added, referring to negotiations with the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea which Pyongyang quit after the UN Security Council censured it for a rocket launch in April. North Korea then conducted an underground nuclear test in May, triggering a Security Council resolution for beefed-up inspections of shipments going to and from the country and an expanded arms embargo. Pyongyang’s state media took an even more venomous line against Clinton, who earlier this week said the North Koreans were acting out like “unruly teenagers.” “Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping,” a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying in attacking her “vulgar” remarks. “Anyone making misstatements has to pay for them,” he said. held a rare meeting late Wednesday with a delegation from Myanmar’s ruling junta.
AFP PHOTO / DIETER NAGL
Palestinian Ihsan (L) and Israeli teenager Sagi (R) smile during a debate during a Israeli-Palestinian peace camp in Rechnitz on July 21, 2009 some 150 kilometers south-east from Vienna. Just kilometres from where the Iron Curtain once stood, youths from another divided region — Israelis and Palestinians — are coming together these days to seek a dialogue and learn about each other.
Dialogue, dancing at Israeli-Palestinian peace camp in Austria Agence France-Presse
RECHNITZ - Just kilometres from where the Iron Curtain once stood, youths from another divided region — Israelis and Palestinians — are coming together to seek a dialogue and learn about each other. They are between 16 and 20years-old, boys and girls from two different worlds who at home have no opportunity to meet. “This is the first time I meet people from the West Bank and Gaza and hear their side, their point of view,” said Yoni, 17, from the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. And yet over the past week, they have eaten their meals together,
played football and danced together. Entitled “Dialogue 4 the future”, the two-week camp in Rechnitz, a small town near the Austro-Hungarian border, was organised by Austrian evangelical groups and partly funded by the European Union. A first camp was held in 2007 and the idea was again to bring these communities together through discussions, games and outdoor activi-
ties. Eight youths came from Ramallah in the West Bank, eight from Haifa, eight from Hungary and three from Austria. “I was a bit afraid of hearing what they’d have to say, maybe they wouldn’t want to talk to us,” Yoni said of his initial concerns. But “they’re really nice, and I have new friends now,” he added. Under camp rules, everyone must eat the same food — no pork, banned under kosher dietary rules, is served — and the rooms are mixed, said Klaus Pahr, one of the camp’s organisers.
Honduran regime scotches plan for president’s return Agence France-Presse
SAN JOSE - Honduras’s de facto government has shot down a lastgasp deal to resolve the country’s political crisis, insisting ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot return to office. The return of Mr Zelaya as president was impossible, interim foreign minister Carlos Lopez Contreras said on CNN’s Spanish station, effectively killing hopes of a settlement. Crisis mediator and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has proposed
a fresh plan for Zelaya’s return Wednesday, with concessions for the interim government, which backed the army’s June 28 expulsion of the Honduran leader. Arias’s plan called for Zelaya’s return to the country as president in a national unity government, until his term ended in January. In return, the current de facto leadership would see sanctions against the country lifted, a limited amnesty for political crimes and a bar on Zelaya seeking constitutional reforms designed to let him seek
another term in office. But negotiators for the de facto government returned to Honduras saying the deal presented in Costa Rica would not be signed by their leader Roberto Micheletti. “As I see it, it will be difficult for him to sign up,” spokesman Mauricio Villeda said. Zelaya meanwhile told Venezuela’s Telesur channel that the crisis mediation “had practically failed.” The interim leaders had “decided to deny all possibility of an agreement,” he added.
AP photo/Courtesy of Cesar Mendez, WildEarth Guardians
Multiplying like bunnies? Not this jackrabbit Associated Press Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rabbits are certainly known for their propensity for multiplying, but one species of jackrabbit is having trouble keeping up. There are an estimated 150 white-sided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday they will study the elusive rabbit to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. It’s not lack of libido that’s holding back the white-sided jackrabbit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the biggest threat is change to the rabbits’ habitat brought on by drought, grazing, the suppression of wildfire and the encroachment of shrubs into the Chihuahuan grasslands of New Mexico’s bootheel — the only place in the United States where the jackrabbit has been documented. Wildfire helps keep shrubs in check and revitalizes grasslands, which the rabbits depend on. The rabbit also lives in Mexico, and those populations have also declined, said Nicole Rosmarino, a biologist with the Western environmental group WildEarth Guardians. Rosmarino said the existing pressures on the white-sided jackrabbit likely will worsen. Forecasters predict extended and more-frequent periods of drought in the Southwest because of
climate change. The Fish and Wildlife Service says it’s uncertain how climate change will affect the jackrabbit and its habitat, but it plans to look more closely at the potential impact during its 12-month review. After the review, the agency will decide whether the rabbit warrants protection as an endangered or threatened species. In New Mexico, the rabbit has been listed as a state endangered species since 1975. “The rabbit has cleared the first hurdle toward federal protection, so that’s good news,” Rosmarino said. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to review the rabbit is the result of a petition and lawsuit filed by environmentalists. The rabbit’s name comes from a conspicuous white area along its body, most noticeable when the rabbit runs.
The jackrabbits, usually seen in pairs, mate for life. While they can produce several litters a year, the litters are usually small — between one and three young. The rabbit’s large ears and long limbs are disproportionate to its body, creating more surface area to help the animal dissipate the heat that’s part of living in the desert. Besides the white-sided jackrabbit, WildEarth Guardians is seeking protections for other species, including the Sonoran desert tortoise. The Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to issue a finding on that species, but WildEarth Guardians says the tortoises’ numbers have also been cut in half in recent decades. As Rosmarino points out, Wednesday’s decision by the agency puts the rabbit ahead of the tortoise, in both species’ race to avoid extinction.
Friday, July 24, 2009
13
Manufacturers brewing new swine flu vaccine Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Attention is shifting to the world’s five leading flu vaccine makers: How fast are they really producing swine flu vaccine, and just how do they plan to test that it works? A meeting Thursday of the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific advisers offers the first in-depth public progress report since U.S. scientists delivered the novel virus to manufacturers and asked them to turn it into usable vaccine. They’ve succeeded to a degree. The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday called for a few thousand volunteers, from babies to the elderly, for studies to see if pilot batches are safe and protective. The first shots should go into adult volunteers’ arms in early August, with child studies to follow quickly if there are no signs of immediate side effects. Those government-directed studies — and more that manufacturers will run — are key as the government decides whether to offer swine flu vaccine to millions of Americans starting in mid-October, besides vaccinating against the regular winter flu. Health authorities in other countries are looking to the U.S. studies, too, as they make their own plans. Assuming the studies show the vaccine is OK, a big question is how much will be available and when. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that
production is going slower than predicted, with the strains now in use yielding only about half as much of the main vaccine ingredient as is usual. Wednesday, London-based GlaxoSmithKline echoed that caution, saying it is “working as quickly as possible” but being hindered by those low yields. “Some of us are skeptical that very much will be available by midOctober,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine specialist at Vanderbilt University. And the government has warned that any vaccination campaign will put higherrisk people in line for the first batches, as supplies gradually increase over time. Manufacturers’ vaccine studies are expected to largely mirror the NIH’s plans: Volunteers will get two vaccinations, 21 days apart. By early September, the NIH should have blood tests showing how much immune protection the initial inoculation triggered, and if a lowdose or higher-dose version was needed. It will take another month to get information on the second inoculation. Complicating the question: If plain vaccine doesn’t spur enough protection or there isn’t enough supply, manufacturers could add immune-system boosters called adjuvants. That will pose a dilemma as the U.S. has never approved a flu vaccine containing those ingredients, although they are widely used in vaccine given to older adults in Europe.
FILE - This 2009 file microscope image originally provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows a negativestained image of the H1N1 flu virus.
BP/AP Photo
Researchers to implant pig cells in diabetics Associated Press Writer
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand biotech company began a trial Thursday that will implant cells from newborn pigs into eight human volunteers as an experimental treatment for their diabetes. The cells produce pig insulin, which is very similar to human insulin and has the same effect of lowering blood sugar, and Living Cell Tech-
nologies hopes the cells may be able to delay the effects of Type 1 diabetes — including blindness, premature coronary illness and limb amputation caused by poor blood circulation. Though Prof. Bob Elliott, medical director of the company, acknowledges that, even in the best case scenario, the treatment would not eliminate all of the symptoms. Some scientists have warned, how-
ever, that implanting pig cells carries the risk of introducing a new virus to humans. Others have noted that it is too soon to begin testing on humans because no animal trials were conducted. Elliott said Thursday that the risk of a pig endogenous retrovirus — the porcine virus thought to be most contagious for humans — infecting humans is largely “theoretical.” “There is no evidence of a risk” of
retrovirus infection, he said. “Nobody has developed a retrovirus.” The piglets being used, recovered from 150 years of isolation on islands south of New Zealand, carried no known agent that could infect humans and are held in a fully closed, sterile environment, he added. Elliott has run two previous trials, the first with six patients in New Zealand in 1995-1996. The other, in Russia with 10 patients, began in July
2007. The cells implanted into one of the volunteers in the New Zealand study continued producing insulin 12 years after being implanted — “proof of principle that this (methodology) can work,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press in October. The others either rejected the pigs cells or the implanted cells stopped producing insulin after a year.
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Entertainment
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
News
International
Laughing All the Way to the Bank at the “Funny People” Premiere
Mihcael Jakcson
Blanket Jackson’s Biological Mother Revealed? The mother of Michael Jackson’s youngest child Prince Michael II is a Norwegian dental hygienist he met on vacation in Tunisia, according to sensational tabloid reports. Jackson never disclosed the identity of seven-yearold Blanket’s true mother, revealing only that he was born to an anonymous surrogate. Star magazine claims she is close friend Pia Bhatti, who agreed to donate her eggs to the superstar after befriending him through her son Omer - who found fame as an impersonator of the King of Pop, and later became known as his ‘fourth child’. Omer captivated Jackson when they met in the African country in 1996, through the then-12 year old’s ability to mimic him and his dance moves. The singer took the child on tour with him and his fam-
ily moved to live with Jackson at his Neverland Ranch. Star’s report alleges Jackson struck up a deal with Pia Bhatti to provide him with a third child, alongside son Prince Michael, 12, and daughter Paris, 11, and she promised to keep her identity a secret. A source tells the magazine, “Pia was sworn to secrecy about Blanket. The agreement she had with Michael was that she would never reveal herself to be Blanket’s mum.” When approached by Star reporters, Bhatti refused to comment on the claims. Omer, meanwhile, is the subject of a separate report suggesting he is Jackson’s biological son. The claims are fueled by the 25 year old’s presence at the King of Pop’s July memorial service, where he sat on the front row with the Jackson family.
opportunities,” he said at an earlier press conference. “I was given dramatic opportunities, so there wasn’t that much I was able to do or wanted to do about that. I was pretty burnt out of comedy by the time I walked away from it. Even though no one here had seen any of it, it was irrelevant to me. I was sort of done. But in this case, I think it’s definitely given me a taste of how much more fun it is on set to do a comedy.” Other million-dollar men on hand included Ryan Seacrest, who recently signed a $45 million deal with “American Idol,” Chris Rock, Garry Shandling, David Spade and Don Johnson. A few pretty gals turned out for the show, too, including Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann and their daughters ? all three star in his film, too ? plus Anna Faris, Rashida Jones, Elizabeth Banks, and Toni Collette.
Agence France-Presse
ROME - Two luxury yachts, built in Italy and destined for North Korea, have been seized by Italian police as part of international sanctions on Pyongyang, an Italian ministry official said Thursday. Confirming a report in the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, the official from the ministry of economic development said the yachts — worth 13 million euros (18.5 million dollars) — were seized more than two months ago.
AFP PHOTO MICHEL GANGNE
A Red Cross volunteer helps two women during the evacuation of a retirement home, on July 23, 2009, in Marseille, southern France, after one of France’s worst fires for three years raged on the eastern outskirts of Marseille late Wednesday. The wildfire sparked, by practice shelling by the military, was under control Today after threatening hundreds of homes but claiming no victims.
(Fashion Wire Daily/Maria Ramirez)
FWD125 Judd Apatow, left, and Adam Sandler at the Film premiere of “Funny People” in Los Angeles, Calif. on Monday, July 20, 2009.
Patrick Swayze Denies Heart Attack Reports Cancer-stricken actor Patrick Swayze has hit out at false reports he has suffered a heart attack - insisting he is “doing very well”. The actor, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, moved swiftly on Wednesday to deny claims made by the National Enquirer that he had suffered the
heart scare. His spokesperson says, “He’s well. He’s continuing his treatment and doing very well, actually. Contrary to reports, he did not suffer a heart attack and has even gained a little weight.” It’s not the first false report the 56-year-old actor has been forced to dispute since he was diag-
nosed with the disease. Back in May Swayze’s spokesperson denied “reckless reports” stemming from a Florida radio station he had died. In March he asked publications to “think twice about printing inaccuracies and painting an unpleasant picture when I have so much to be thankful for at this time.”
Sam Raimi Signs On To Direct ‘World Of Warcraft’ Movie
Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man series, has agreed to direct the live-action film adaptation of World of Warcraft. According to Variety, the Drag Me to Hell director will finish his work on Spider-Man 4, which is set to begin filming next year, before shooting World of Warcraft. Legendary Pictures and the video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment are working with Warner Bros. to make the film. World of Warcraft boasts approximately 11 million subscribers worldwide, over half of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game market. It has become a pop-culture phenomenon, being featured in a Toyota commercial and a South Park episode. Mr. T, William Shatner, Verne Troyer, and Ozzy Osbourne are among the celebrities that have made commercials for the game. The game’s latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, sold over 2.8 million copies its first day, and more than 4 million copies its first month of release.
5
Italy seizes luxury yachts bound for North Korea
Million-dollar men were everywhere on the red carpet in Hollywood on Monday, July 20, at the Arclight Cinemas as the “Funny People” gang and their best pals celebrated the premiere of their new comedy. Starting with the flick’s star, Adam Sandler, the highest-paid comedian in the world, who routinely makes $25 million per movie, adding in his co-star Seth Rogen, whose pockets are overflowing with revenues from both acting and screenwriting, and throw in writerdirector-producer Judd Apatow, whose hits include “The 40-YearOld Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” and right there you have some the wealthiest guys working in Hollywood today. Plus, there was Eric Bana, who also stars in the comedy; he’s been raking it in as a leading man ever since he had his own TV comedy show in Australia, but admits that most American audiences don’t think of him as one of the “Funny People.” “While I was given great opportunities here, I wasn’t given comic
Friday, July 24, 2009
Foreign Legion shooting exercise sparks French wildfire Agence France-Presse
MARSEILLE - A Foreign Legion drill instructor was suspended Thursday after what was branded an “imbecilic” shooting exercise triggered a huge wildfire that threatened the outskirts of Marseille. No-one was killed as the blaze ripped through 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of brush and damaged homes in the suburbs of France’s second city, but one fireman suffered burns and four rescuers were treated for smoke inhalation. The fire erupted on Wednesday after troops from the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment used tracer rounds, which contain an incendiary substance to make them visible in flight, during a practice session at their base. At dawn on Thursday firefighters pronounced the blaze under control, but this did little to calm the anger of local officials, who noted that this was the second time in as many years that the army had started a wildfire.
Local prefect Michel Sappin, the French government’s senior regional offical and police chief, blasted the “imbecilic” actions of the military. “It was the same thing last year near the camp in Canjuers. That was the biggest fire last summer,” he said. Thursday’s fire, started at a camp in Carpiagne, was the worst to hit southern France in three years. Marseille’s mayor and senator, Jean-Claude Gaudin, demanded that the military help out with the cleanup operation. “Personally, I can’t see the need to carry out military exercises in 32 degree heat and a strong wind. It must really have been someone who is not from round here who took this
decision,” he said. “We did the best we can but when you’re faced with this kind of incredible stupidity, you need to say so with a certain force,” he added. The military accepted responsibility for the fire. “It was found that tracer rounds were used in violation of orders given. As a result, the army general staff has taken an interim decision to suspend the leader responsable from his duties,” Colonel Benoit Royal announced. Philippe Pancarzi, head of Marseille’s fire service, told local radio that the fire had stopped spreading. “At around 7:00 am, there were still some sources of fire, but the fire is contained and under control,” he said. But with winds not forecast to weaken before evening, “we are keeping all our assets on the scene,” including nearly 500 firefighters — backed up by water dropping planes — spread over eight kilometres (five miles).
“These yachts were destined for North Korea and they were seized because they violationed EU and international regulations based on UN resolutions that prohibit the export of luxury goods to that country,” he told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official, from the ministry of economic development, refused to say if the vessels were meant for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. They were built by AzimutBenetti, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of luxury yachts.
Baby whale’s first breath caught on camera off Australia Agence France-Presse
MELBOURNE - Australian scientists have photographed a humpback whale helping a newborn calf take what appears to be its first breath, a rare event described as the “Holy Grail” for whale-watchers. The marine scientists from Western Australia’s Centre for Whale Research said they watched in astonishment as the mother swam beneath the distressed baby and lifted it above the water, clearing its blowhole to take in air. “We feel awed and privileged to have finally seen this spectacle after over 20 years of research,” said scientist Curt Jenner. The researchers said the water was full of blood, indicating the mother had just given birth on the
migration route off Western Australia. They added that the “small and skinny” baby was instantly revived by its first breath. “It was apparent that the calf was struggling to stay at the surface to breathe and was swimming around in tight, clockwise circles with only the tip of its snout protruding,” said Jenner’s wife and fellow scientist, Micheline. “As soon as the cow lowered its newborn back into the water, its little tail flukes began to beat like a wind-up toy being lowered into the bath,” she added. Humpbacks are one of the largest whale species, growing up to 18 metres (60 foot) long. They are a mainstay of the whale-watching industry in Australia, which is worth an estimated 300 million dollars (246 million US) a year.
At least 53 people missing in China landslide Agence France-Presse
BEIJING - At least 53 people were missing after heavy rains triggered a landslide in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Thursday, the state-run Xinhua news
agency reported. Another 97 “trapped” people had been rescued after the disaster, said the brief dispatch, which gave few other details. The disaster occurred in remote and mountainous Kangding county,
an area traditionally populated by ethnic Tibetans. Sichuan province was rocked in May of last year by a massive 8.0magnitude earthquake that triggered huge landslides across the region’s mountainous terrain.
AFP PHOTO / HO
This handout photo shows a tiny humpback whale calf named Tanatabiddi blowing water out of its blowholes as it practices the art of breathing.
6
News
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bangladesh rare leopard renews hopes for species survival Agence France-Presse
DHAKA - Bangladeshi conservationists said Thursday the discovery of a rare leopard captured by villagers in the southeast of the country renewed hopes for the survival of the critically endangered species.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
After festivals and celebrations in early July, the National Mall is worn from wear, as seen from the top of the Washington Monument facing the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.
Malaysian... From page 1 Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the law also provides for a threeyear prison term and caning. Some politicians and women’s rights activists have criticized the religious court’s sentence, calling it too harsh. Caning is usually reserved for men in various crimes ranging from rape to bribery. But several Islamic lawyers have insisted that the penalty for Kartika is fair, saying she will be whipped with a thin rattan cane that does not cause severe pain. Kartika told reporters in her
northern home state of Perak on Wednesday that she wants authorities to carry out the penalty quickly so that she can resume her life with her husband and two children. “I will accept this earthly punishment,” the national news agency Bernama quoted her as saying. “I want to advise youngsters to learn from my experience, not to repeat my mistake and cause shame to yourself and family.” Kartika’s lawyer could not immediately be contacted Thursday. Rattan canes are made from palm plants common in tropical parts of Asia. They have been used for decades for corporal punishment, but
offenders in serious crimes are flogged with thicker canes that can cause bleeding and scars. Kartika was the only Muslim caught in last year’s raid at the Pahang nightclub. Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol and are not legally required to check if customers are Muslim before serving them, so the hotel nightclub operators were not charged with any offense. The judge in Kartika’s case did not elaborate on why he imposed a relatively severe sentence, but local media noted that he had a history of being tough on alcohol offenders.
Professor Anwarul Islam, chief executive of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, said the three-month-old clouded leopard cub had been released back into the wild. It had been caged by villagers in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region, which borders Myanmar and Mizoram state in India, for the past three weeks, he said. “Locals stumbled upon two cubs and their mother eating a monkey in the district of Rangimati three weeks ago. They were only able to capture one cub,” he said “It was tremendous news because many conservationists thought the animal was extinct from Bangladesh due to habitat loss.” He said in most cases where a rare species is captured, villagers sell the animal, but in this case conservationists had convinced them to release it back into the wild. The species is timid and nocturnal and little is known about it, he added. The clouded leopard is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 100,000 of the species believed to still be living worldwide. It is mainly found in South and Southeast Asian countries, and the last reported sightings of the animal in Bangladesh were in 1992 and 2005.
AFP PHOTO
In this undated handout picture released by The Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh on July 23, 2009, a clouded leopard cub sits in a cage in Rangamati. (foto macan)
Death... From page 1 “We found the body of a woman inside the bathing facility on the ground floor in the afternoon. We have yet to identify her,” another police officer told AFP. “We are not certain if she was bathing at the time of the landslide.” Rescue workers on Thursday afternoon also recovered a man’s remains from a field near a country highway, where flows of mud and rocks hit a dozen cars and damaged some houses, police said. It was the second body found there, and two others were still miss-
ing in the highway area, some five kilometres (three miles) from the nursing home. Of the 11 dead, 10 were killed in Yamaguchi and one, a man, drowned in a flooded river in the neighbouring prefecture of Tottori. At the nursing home, a man and a woman were found dead late Wednesday, a police official said, adding that “both died after being suffocated by mud.” Some 700 workers from the police, fire brigades and the Ground Self-Defence Force were operating in Hofu on Thursday, a city official said.
11
BUSINESS
Asia economies to rebound in 2010 but fears remain
Agence France-Presse
BANGKOK - Asian economies will likely bounce back from the global economic slump in 2010 but fears remain over the sustainability of growth if there is no wider recovery, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday. The bank’s chief economist Lee JongWha said the outlook for East Asia this year remained “pessimistic” but foresaw a Vshaped recovery led by China if countries continue to focus on stimulating domestic demand. “We are optimistic for developing Asia for a V-shape recovery.... But the big question is whether it will be sustainable growth — in that part we are rather pessimistic without a full global recovery,” Lee told AFP ahead of the launch of ADB’s biannual Asia Economic Monitor in Bangkok. Despite an increasing proportion of export demand coming from within Asia, notably China, countries in the region continue to rely on markets in the US, European Union and Japan for 60 percent of final goods exports, Lee said. Those markets are less likely to recover from the global financial crisis so quickly, he said. The ADB report recommended a continued focus on loose monetary and fiscal policies to stimulate domestic demand, with
support for small enterprises and stimulus packages that must be fast and efficient. “The issue is how effectively they (Asian governments) can mobilise these additional fiscal resources,” Lee said. The report showed that the pace of capital outflows from Asia had slowed in the first quarter of 2009, and Lee urged large Asian investors to focus more of their capital spending within the region. While China’s recovery has “gained traction” and the more closed smaller economies such as Indonesia are on course to stronger growth levels, Lee said concern remained for more export-dependent small regional economies such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Manila-based bank said earlier this month it would update on September 22 its flagship Asian Development Outlook forecasts, which predicted earlier this year that developing Asia will see its economic growth fall to 3.4 percent this year compared to 6.3 percent in 2008.
AFP PHOTO /PATRICK LIN
Restaurant employees prepare food in Taipei on July 22, 2009. Asian economies will likely bounce back from the global economic slump in 2010 but fears remain over the sustainability of growth if there is no wider recovery, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.
Regional banks weak link IMF welcomes China’s in US financial system progress on currency Agence France-Presse
NEW YORK - Several large US regional banks recently have reported disappointing quarterly earnings, as a lack of market activities widens their exposure to bad loans and the housing slump. The troubles of these banks, essential gears in getting the recession-mired economy back on track, contrasts with the spectacular multibillion-dollar profits posted by their much larger rivals, such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase or Wells Fargo. But these megastars “were getting benefits from the trading” in markets, which have put in strong gains since March, said Marc Pado, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. “The small community banks just don’t have this ability, so in terms of the loans, it’s not that they had worse loans, they lack the diversity, the advantage of where things are better in the economy,” Pado said. “The mortgage industry, the home loans, they haven’t really turned around,” he added. The big banks have attributed their resurgent profitability largely to an equity market rally from early March. Their
smaller siblings have underlined their pain from rising loan defaults. KeyCorp, based in Ohio, announced Wednesday a net loss of 236 million dollars in the March-June period. KeyCorp, one of the 10 leading US banks deemed insufficiently capitalized by federal “stress tests,” said the quarterly loss was largely due to an 850-million-dollar increase in the provision for loan losses. Georgia-based SunTrust Banks posted a loss of 164.4 million dollars after taking a 962.2-million-dollar provision for loan losses. And behind the top-line profit of BB&T, based in North Carolina, of 208 millions dollars, was a bad-loan charge of 701 million dollars. “The regional banks have good oldfashioned loans that experience losses over a longer period and come later,” said Tanya Azarchs of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, explaining why these banks, which were relatively spared last year amid the global financial crisis, are suffering now while their bigger rivals thrive. “Most of the the banks are sounding hopeful about the consumer credit portfolio maybe deteriorating at a slower rate,” Azarchs said.
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday hailed China’s progress on currency liberalization, but said some member countries still view the yuan as “substantially undervalued.” In its first bilateral review of the Chinese economy since 2006, the IMF executive board also praised Beijing’s massive efforts to bolster the economy amid the worst global contraction since the Great Depression. The board “welcomed the important progress made in the past few years in increasing the market’s role in determining the exchange rate, as well as the consequent substantial real appreciation that has been achieved since the exchange rate reform in 2005,” the multilateral institution said. “Some directors nevertheless supported the view that the renminbi remains substantially undervalued,” the board noted. Since the middle of 2008, the yuan’s nominal exchange rate appreciation against the US dollar “has stopped although the nominal effective exchange rate has appreciated 5.0 percent,” it said. Real appreciation in the 12 months to May was estimated at 5.0 percent. The statement on the conclusion of the so-called Article IV bilateral consultation with China on July 8 signaled an improvement in strained relations between the Washington-based IMF and the Asian powerhouse, which wants more clout in the institu-
tion to reflect its rising economic might. The Chinese authorities had disagreed sharply with the IMF’s October 2006 report, which found China’s yuan, or renminbi, currency was misaligned with the country’s economic fundamentals. The United States, the largest IMF stakeholder, and European countries have pressed China to allow the yuan to appreciate, accusing Beijing of keeping it artificially low to protect its crucial export sector. Cheaper Chinese products have flooded into the US, building a gargantuan, politically sensitive trade surplus. The US trade gap with China, the country’s second-largest trading partner, widened to 17.5 billion dollars in May. The latest IMF board assessment on China’s economy comes ahead of next week’s first US-China high-level strategic and economic talks under President Barack Obama’s administration. IMF directors were divided over the role of the currency in China’s rebalancing of its economy to reduce its dependence on exports, a reorientation long advocated by the financial institution. “Looking ahead, many directors considered that a further strengthening of the renminbi would be part of a comprehensive strategy to rebalance the economy by increasing the purchasing power of households and the labor share of income, and reorienting investment toward non-tradable sectors,” the statement said.
10
Business
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
International
Fiat extends losses but is upbeat on prospects for Chrysler Agence France-Presse
MILAN - Italian auto giant Fiat said Wednesday its first quarter losses extended into the April-June period but predicted a positive outcome to the year and foresaw a return to profit for its struggling US partner Chrysler. Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne in a conference call with analysts also said it was “inevitable” that Fiat Group Automobiles would be detached from the rest of the Fiat group to stand alone. The auto maker reported that it had suffered a second quarter net loss of 179 million euros (254 million dollars) compared with a profit of 646 million euros a year earlier. The loss eclipsed the 110 mil-
lion euros expected by Dow Jones Newswires in a consensus forecast. But Fiat said it still expected to achieve a trading profit of more than one one billion euros over the year and a net profit greater than 100 million, the company said. Hard hit by the global financial crisis like the rest of the auto sector, Fiat went into the red in the first quarter, recording a loss of 411 million euros (584 million dollars) in
what it called an “extremely difficult trading environment”. It was the first loss since the group returned to profitability in early 2005 after four years of red ink. The loss continued in the second quarter when trading profit, Fiat’s key profitability indicator, fell 72.5 percent to 310 million euros, while sales fell 22.5 percent to 13.18 billion euros. Marchionne in a later conference call with journalists focused on prospects for Chrysler, with which Fiat has been allied since June. “We’ll begin to see the impact of the technology transfer in the last part of 2010,” he added, referring to the expertise Fiat has begun provid-
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ing Chrysler under the partnership. The technology will allow the Detroit automaker to meet upcoming emissions and fuel economy standards and expand its product offerings. “I’ve no doubt that Chrysler will be profitable,” Marchionne said, cautioning however: “It is too early to talk about profit margins for Chrysler.” The Italian-Canadian chief executive credited with turning Fiat back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2004 said Chrysler “does need to go public at some point”. Fiat acquired a 20 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for sharing its technology. The stake will rise to
35 percent and eventually to a majority position as long as targets mandated by the deal are achieved and US government funds provided Chrysler are repaid. The deal gives the Italian auto maker access to the lucrative US market and brings it closer to economies of scale, which Marchionne has said are necessary to compete in the global automotive industry. Marchionne also said that Fiat’s automobile unit was destined for an independent existence. Fiat Group Automobiles markets the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands. Besides automobiles the overall group makes buses, trucks and farm and agricultural machinery.
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Agence France-Presse
AFP PHOTO/HO/EDITIAWARMAN/STATE SECRETARIAT
A handout photo shows Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gestures during a press conference over the attacks on JW. Marriott hotel and Ritz Carlton hotel at the presidential palace in July 17, 2009.
Indonesian president says ‘we cannot be defeated’ JAKARTA - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent a message of defiance Thursday to the perpetrators of last week’s deadly suicide attacks in Jakarta, saying the country would not be cowed by terror.
Hub:
Friday, July 24, 2009
Indonesia attacks: random carnage or surgical strike?
Agence France-Presse
r pe Su ve a S
G.1044-ibp
Indonesia Today
The president said the mainly Muslim archipelago must remain vigilant against further attacks after suicide bombers killed seven people at the adjacent JW Marriott and RitzCarlton hotels last Friday. “I’m sure we will find these perpetrators of terror. We’ll also recover the national situation,” he told reporters at Jakarta’s international airport, referring to four years of growth and stability since the last major attack. “As a nation we cannot be defeated by terrorism.” Three Australians, an Indonesian and a New Zealander have been confirmed killed in the blasts, which also injured 53 people. Two Dutch tourists are also believed to have been killed, as well as the two suicide bombers. Police have not publicly named
any suspects, but senior counter-terrorism officials have said the attacks are the suspected work of Islamist fanatics linked to the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Digital sketches of two men believed to be the bombers were released Wednesday. Both were Asians with short hair and one, the Marriott bomber who killed five people, was aged just 16 to 17 years, police said. Police deputy spokesman Sulistyo Ishak said police were searching for two Indonesian men, Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim, who might be able to provide information on the attacks. Hasbi, otherwise known as Nur Said, is a known disciple of JI splinter group leader Noordin Mohammed Top, while Ibrahim is believed to have worked at a florist at one of the hotels and has been
missing since Friday. Police have also detained a woman believed to be the third wife of Malaysian-born Noordin, the alleged mastermind of a string of deadly blasts in Indonesia including the 2003 truck bombing of the Marriott. Police took samples from relatives of Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim on Monday which ruled them out as either of the unidentified bombers, but Ishak said they were still people of interest. “Although DNA tests showed that Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim were not the suspected suicide bombers, we’re still looking for them,” he said. Investigators have said the Marriott bomber checked into Room 1808 of the luxury hotel two days before the attacks, disguised as a guest and bearing false identification. Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper, quoting “well-placed sources”, reported Thursday that the Ritz-Carlton bomber, aged 20 to 40 years according to police, received help from Ibrahim to enter the hotel via a staff door.
JAKARTA - The suicide bombings which rocked the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Indonesia last Friday pose frightening questions for business leaders in the mainly Muslim country, analysts say. The attacks, especially the bombing at the Marriott, showed a higher level of sophistication than previous hits by Indonesian-based extremists and may have been carefully planned to strike high-value targets, they said. Previous attacks blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group — such as the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people, mostly tourists — were designed to inflict maximum Western casualties. Truck bombings at the Australian embassy in 2004 and the Jakarta Marriott in 2003 targeted iconic Western facilities but killed and injured mainly Indonesians. Last week’s attack at the Marriott, however, used a small backpack bomb which was secretly assembled inside the hotel and detonated in a room during a weekly breakfast hosted by a well-known Western businessman. Five people plus the bomber were killed — three Australians, a New Zealander and an Indonesian hotel worker. Another two people, believed to be Dutch tourists, were killed in a similar suicide blast at the adjacent Ritz-Carlton. Fifty-three people were injured in both attacks, compared to about 150 in the Marriott bombing six years ago. Analysts have been puzzling over why the Marriott bomber, whom police believe was as young as 16, descended from his room on the 18th floor to the lobby and walked straight into the small meeting room rather than the closer and more crowded main restaurant. “In this case they penetrated the hotel and reached the heart of their target,” Singapore-based terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna told AFP. “It is very likely that they knew about the Castle Group meeting because it was a weekly meeting. The bomber came down the lift to the lobby and walked directly into the meeting room.” The CastleAsia group is an investment consultancy headed by prominent Jakarta-based American businessman James Castle, who survived with minor injuries. Seventeen foreign and Indonesian executives were reportedly attending the breakfast, including Castle’s associate Max Boon, Freeport Indonesia director Dave Potter, former Rio Tinto director Noke Kiroyan, Theiss executive Garth McEvoy and Holcim Indonesia president Timothy Mackay. Some were saved from the full force of the blast by two columns; others such as Boon suffered horrific injuries, but survived. Mackay, a New Zealander, died of his wounds in hospital, while McEvoy and two other Australians — recruitment specialist Nathan Verity and trade diplomat Craig Senger — died at the scene. The attackers appear to have carefully gathered intelligence on their targets, perhaps helped by a hotel employee, analysts said. Rather than driving a truck past the hotels and going “Boom”! they evaded airport-style security checks and disguised themselves as guests for two days while assembling their bombs. Despite these differences, police say the blasts still bear the hallmarks of the Jemaah Islamiyah splinter group headed by Malaysianborn Islamist Noordin Mohammed Top, the alleged mastermind of the 2003 Marriott and 2004 embassy attacks, and a second set of Bali bombings in 2005.
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Indonesia airline to expand after EU ban lifted
G.1042-ibp
Agence France-Presse
G.1043-ibp
G.2090-ibp
CENGKARENG - Indonesian national airline Garuda announced plans on Thursday for an aggressive expansion after it was removed from a European Union aviation safety blacklist. The expansion, labelled “Quantum Leap”, will see the airline nearly double its number of aircraft and increase by half the destinations it flies to within five years,
Chief Executive Officer Emirsyah Satar said. “Garuda Indonesia’s fleet, which now consists of 62 aircraft, will grow to 116 aircraft by 2014,” he said. He said the airline was adding Boeing 777s, 737s and Airbus A330-200s, having already taken delivery of three new aircraft. It plans to boost passenger numbers to 27.6 million per year in the same period, up from 10.1 million
currently, by increasing its domestic and international destinations from 41 to 62, he said. “Although the external situation is less supportive because of the global financial crisis and increasing competition, Garuda will continue its development programmes prudently.” Satar did not specify the planned new destinations. The company earlier said it planned to reopen its flights to the Netherlands next year,
as well as possible later routes to Frankfurt and London. Garuda was one of four Indonesian airlines to have EU flight bans lifted earlier this month by the EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, citing “significant improvements” in safety. All Indonesia-registered aircraft were banned from flying to the EU in June 2007 after a string of deadly crashes, including the March 2007 crash-landing of a
Garuda Boeing 737 that killed 21 people. Despite its poor safety record and the global economic downturn which has savaged the airline industry, Garuda posted a 10-fold increase in profits last year thanks to increased revenue and passenger numbers. The company’s net profit for 2008 surged to 670 billion rupiah (60.97 million dollars) from 60 billion rupiah the year before.
8
International
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bali Today
Bali’s Police Department tighten coastal area Antara
DENPASAR – Bali’s Marine Police intensified the patrol in the sea area throughout Bali. This was done in order to maintain the security after the bomb blasts in Jakarta on July 17th 2009. Oka C Eswara, the Director of Bali Marine Police, said “we inspect carefully the sea traffic throughout Bali. We wanted to prevent the terrorists entering Bali through sea.” All ships whether they were docked in the harbor or sailing in the sea examined by the police officers. Not only the big ships but also small fishing boats were checked by the officers. “Besides checking the cargo of the ships, the officers also examined the crews carefully. Until now, we didn’t find any suspicious ship sailing through Bali’s coastal area,” he added. If there is the crew who doesn’t have identification, the police will take him to the station for further investigation. Bali Police Department also carried out operations to secure Bali from security disturbance. The police checked and searched every people who just came to Bali in the bus terminals and harbors, patrolling and inspecting rented houses. The police in every regency in Bali conducted similar actions. In Badung regency, the police arrested several people without identification card. They will be trial and must arrange the paper work needed to stay in Bali. The steps was done to anticipate the terrorists undercover in the society.
FOTO ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana
Telkomsel SMS Campus use in 6 colleagues
IBP
Denpasar - Telkomsel SMS Campus program which used communication based is trusted to serve six colleges in Bali, they are STPBI & SPB Denpasar, Wearnes, LPBA, STIKI, LP3i, and STIKOM. By using the program, the students don’t have to wait or queue to know the education information. They can easily access the information through text messaging or SMS. Hendrat Widjanarko, the Telkomsel Manager branch Denpasar, officially launched the program on Wednesday, July 22nd 2009. Mr. Hendrat said that the current
development of information technology could improve the education world. One of them is through Telkomsel SMS Campus program that can help the colleges to socialize the academic information to its students. The program is not only helping the students but also the student parents. “The parents can examine and watch their children because each student must give their Telkomsel number and their parent’s number,” he added. The program makes grade information, present lists, payments, test schedules and other can be easier to find. The students don’t have to open internet or go to the campus to see the announcement.
Mr. Hendrat said “the confidentiality of the information is guaranteed because the numbers that they registered directly connected to their student number.” I Wayan Bendhi, the head of International Bali Tourism Academy (STPBI) and Bali Hotel School (SPB), is quite happy by the new program. By using Telkomsel SMS Campus program, the campus is not using paper anymore to announce information to student. The sophisticated program is also free because all information will be placed in the Telkomsel partner server. “The program is can give the information with les amount of time,” added Mr. Bendhi.
Telkomsel had the opportunity to provide six campuses in Bali with SMS Campus service that will make easier for college students to get information about their academic progression.
Telkomsel
A guide tour shows tourist how to play wind surfing at Sanur Beach on Wednesday, July 22. Bali’s Marine Police intensified the patrol in the sea area throughout Bali. This was done in order to maintain the security after the bomb blasts in Jakarta on July 17th 2009.
Northern Bali attracts tourists Antara
SINGARAJA – Buleleng regency located in northern Bali started to attract the attention of tourists. Dewa Putu Suardipa, the head of Hotel and Restaurants Association (PHRI) Buleleng, said “Buleleng has the combination between mountain and beach. The regency also has many old historical buildings and it can attract tourists to come to Buleleng.” Buleleng has the possibility to become famous tourist destination. Buleleng has twenty one waterfalls spread throughout the regency and only few people know about it. “Buleleng also has beautiful undersea view but the number of tourists visited the area is smaller than other regencies in Bali,” he added. Tourism facilities are also available in Buleleng. Currently, there are 275 hotels and restaurants. It consists of 11 star hotels,
100 small hotel, 90 villas with the total number of room up to 2,500 units. The famous tourism destinations in Buleleng are Pancasari and Munduk in southern area, Air Sanih in the eastern area, Lovina and Kaliasem in the middle, and Pemuteran and Batu Ampar in the western of Buleleng. The hotel occupancy rate in western area up to 80%, in the middle and south was 40% through 50% and in the eastern part up to 70%. In order to attract more tourists, Buleleng Government needs to improve the road to the tourism site. Putu Tastra Wijaya, the head of Buleleng Cultural and Tourism Department, said that the government had conducted many efforts in promoting Buleleng such as through the internet, art group that travel abroad and many more. The government also had performed many traditional arts to attract tourists.
Friday, July 24, 2009
A Hidden Treasure of Children Heritage
Today, children have unlimited choices of games. They have been pampered by modern games, ranging from Turtle Ninja, Kung Fu, war games and many more. These can make them stay for hours in front of television or computer. Yet, behind this ease and enjoyment, they lose some values like creativity and do not know they have traditional games. It is said so because there is a trend where children, both in urban and rural areas, begin to leave their traditional games. Many game options have been available in the form of CD, DVD, Internet and cartoon in television. Just by CD rental or buying the cheapest one and sitting down sweetly, they could enjoy the games they like best. If the games contain competition, they will compete against machine or some times against friends. Without realized, this may result in sight disorder where children should gaze the monitor and finally require thick glasses at earlier age. Advancement is not always bad. However, parents should control them to what extent those games could drive good impact. Before the presence of these modern games, there were many traditional games. They are no less interesting than the modern ones. Many children even find it attractive and make them creative. Art parade of Bali Arts Festival 2009 has shown the treasure of tradi-
tional games. This event is just like a kaleidoscope highlighting a variety of traditional games that ever existed within the life of Balinese children. To play one of the games, children should first search for its materials by themselves at backyard or garden. Actually, it is here where the challenge of the games begins. Sometimes, they got injury because they are unable to use a knife properly. It did not matter as intriguing power has superseded it. Among the parade, there was a space intended for children world where they displayed some bizarre games like coconut shell clog, walking on stilts, pulling friend by the sheath of areca nut, pulling rope ingroup and two-wheeled toy where its stick carried on shoulder. Meanwhile, the heavier one was gallivanting show by barong effigy. To play the coconut shell clog, for instance, they should keep their balance well. Standing on the tips of coconut shell is not easy. Moreover, they have to maintain the harmony of steps with the pulling of rope connected to each coconut shell. When the pull and steps can go harmoniously, the player can walk faster. Balance is also entailed in walking on stilts or tajog or egrang. This game is even riskier because the position of pedal is higher from the ground. However, when a player can
operate these stilts properly it is more challenging and pleasant. The higher the pedal the more challenging it is. Walking on stilts looks like a walking long-legged heron. It would be more interesting when passing through a muddy or knee-deep watery road. These games are often put into competition related to traditional sports. Another game requiring cooperation is pulling the sheath of areca nut. If the bean of areca nut is used by grandfathers or grandmothers for ingredient of chewing betel, the sheath of it is used by their grandchildren to make ‘a pulling vehicle’. Yellow leaf signifies it has been mature. It is time for children to take it. They just need to leave out the ribs of leaf. The main rib is not cut as it will be used to pull. One child serves as passenger while another as driver who pulls the sheath. This role is exchanged so both can have an opportunity to enjoy the ‘comfort’ of this vehicle game. Children also put an interest in dancing barong gallivanting show. For them, it has been designed a smallersized barong. Therefore, before growing adult they have been introduced to art world of adult people. By performing gallivanting show like this, they will obtain experience and earn money. However, the emphasis here is not on the money, but on the experience and fun. (BTN/punia)
Balinese Culture
Base Be Siap (Spice Paste for Chicken) Ingredients: * 225 gr shallots, peeled * 125 gr cloves garlic, peeled * 50 gr kencur root, peeled and chopped * 60 gr laos, peeled and chopped * 100 gr candlenuts * 125 gr fresh turmeric, peeled & chopped * 50 gr bird’s eye chilies, finely sliced * 50 gr chopped palm sugar * 150 ml coconut oil * 2 stalks lemon grass, bruised * 3 salam leaves * 250 ml water * ¾ tbsp salt Directions: Grind all ingredients except lemon grass, salam leaves and water, coarsely in food processor. Place in heavy sauce pan, add all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for approximately 60 minutes or until water is evaporated and marinade changes to golden color. Cool before using. (http://www.baliguide.com/balifood)
Curly-podded Pea in Balinese Spices Mostly, living at countryside gives closer access to resources of fresh vegetables and spices, at least the access to vegetables at large like water spinach and fern tips. Another resource is garden at backyard through intercropping with other plants. For instance, curly-podded pea can be grown by letting it climb on the plants nearby. Pick it up before truly mature in order its skin or flesh is not too hard. It is good when served with simple Balinese sauces. Ingredient: 150gr curly-podded pea Ground spices: 2 cloves garlic, 4 cloves shallot, 1 pc small chili, 1 pc large chili, 1 coriander, 1 slice turmeric, 1 slice kencur and ½ tsp salt, Other: 1 tbsp cooking oil. Method: • Take out its side-fiber and cleanse thoroughly. Divide each pod into two or three parts. • Boil it half-done. Take out and drain. • Stir-fry the ground spices until smelling fragrant. Add a cup of water and put the peas into the spices on the frying pan. Let it boil and when it has cooked, take out and it is ready to serve. (BTN/punia)
9
8
International
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bali Today
Bali’s Police Department tighten coastal area Antara
DENPASAR – Bali’s Marine Police intensified the patrol in the sea area throughout Bali. This was done in order to maintain the security after the bomb blasts in Jakarta on July 17th 2009. Oka C Eswara, the Director of Bali Marine Police, said “we inspect carefully the sea traffic throughout Bali. We wanted to prevent the terrorists entering Bali through sea.” All ships whether they were docked in the harbor or sailing in the sea examined by the police officers. Not only the big ships but also small fishing boats were checked by the officers. “Besides checking the cargo of the ships, the officers also examined the crews carefully. Until now, we didn’t find any suspicious ship sailing through Bali’s coastal area,” he added. If there is the crew who doesn’t have identification, the police will take him to the station for further investigation. Bali Police Department also carried out operations to secure Bali from security disturbance. The police checked and searched every people who just came to Bali in the bus terminals and harbors, patrolling and inspecting rented houses. The police in every regency in Bali conducted similar actions. In Badung regency, the police arrested several people without identification card. They will be trial and must arrange the paper work needed to stay in Bali. The steps was done to anticipate the terrorists undercover in the society.
FOTO ANTARA/Nyoman Budhiana
Telkomsel SMS Campus use in 6 colleagues
IBP
Denpasar - Telkomsel SMS Campus program which used communication based is trusted to serve six colleges in Bali, they are STPBI & SPB Denpasar, Wearnes, LPBA, STIKI, LP3i, and STIKOM. By using the program, the students don’t have to wait or queue to know the education information. They can easily access the information through text messaging or SMS. Hendrat Widjanarko, the Telkomsel Manager branch Denpasar, officially launched the program on Wednesday, July 22nd 2009. Mr. Hendrat said that the current
development of information technology could improve the education world. One of them is through Telkomsel SMS Campus program that can help the colleges to socialize the academic information to its students. The program is not only helping the students but also the student parents. “The parents can examine and watch their children because each student must give their Telkomsel number and their parent’s number,” he added. The program makes grade information, present lists, payments, test schedules and other can be easier to find. The students don’t have to open internet or go to the campus to see the announcement.
Mr. Hendrat said “the confidentiality of the information is guaranteed because the numbers that they registered directly connected to their student number.” I Wayan Bendhi, the head of International Bali Tourism Academy (STPBI) and Bali Hotel School (SPB), is quite happy by the new program. By using Telkomsel SMS Campus program, the campus is not using paper anymore to announce information to student. The sophisticated program is also free because all information will be placed in the Telkomsel partner server. “The program is can give the information with les amount of time,” added Mr. Bendhi.
Telkomsel had the opportunity to provide six campuses in Bali with SMS Campus service that will make easier for college students to get information about their academic progression.
Telkomsel
A guide tour shows tourist how to play wind surfing at Sanur Beach on Wednesday, July 22. Bali’s Marine Police intensified the patrol in the sea area throughout Bali. This was done in order to maintain the security after the bomb blasts in Jakarta on July 17th 2009.
Northern Bali attracts tourists Antara
SINGARAJA – Buleleng regency located in northern Bali started to attract the attention of tourists. Dewa Putu Suardipa, the head of Hotel and Restaurants Association (PHRI) Buleleng, said “Buleleng has the combination between mountain and beach. The regency also has many old historical buildings and it can attract tourists to come to Buleleng.” Buleleng has the possibility to become famous tourist destination. Buleleng has twenty one waterfalls spread throughout the regency and only few people know about it. “Buleleng also has beautiful undersea view but the number of tourists visited the area is smaller than other regencies in Bali,” he added. Tourism facilities are also available in Buleleng. Currently, there are 275 hotels and restaurants. It consists of 11 star hotels,
100 small hotel, 90 villas with the total number of room up to 2,500 units. The famous tourism destinations in Buleleng are Pancasari and Munduk in southern area, Air Sanih in the eastern area, Lovina and Kaliasem in the middle, and Pemuteran and Batu Ampar in the western of Buleleng. The hotel occupancy rate in western area up to 80%, in the middle and south was 40% through 50% and in the eastern part up to 70%. In order to attract more tourists, Buleleng Government needs to improve the road to the tourism site. Putu Tastra Wijaya, the head of Buleleng Cultural and Tourism Department, said that the government had conducted many efforts in promoting Buleleng such as through the internet, art group that travel abroad and many more. The government also had performed many traditional arts to attract tourists.
Friday, July 24, 2009
A Hidden Treasure of Children Heritage
Today, children have unlimited choices of games. They have been pampered by modern games, ranging from Turtle Ninja, Kung Fu, war games and many more. These can make them stay for hours in front of television or computer. Yet, behind this ease and enjoyment, they lose some values like creativity and do not know they have traditional games. It is said so because there is a trend where children, both in urban and rural areas, begin to leave their traditional games. Many game options have been available in the form of CD, DVD, Internet and cartoon in television. Just by CD rental or buying the cheapest one and sitting down sweetly, they could enjoy the games they like best. If the games contain competition, they will compete against machine or some times against friends. Without realized, this may result in sight disorder where children should gaze the monitor and finally require thick glasses at earlier age. Advancement is not always bad. However, parents should control them to what extent those games could drive good impact. Before the presence of these modern games, there were many traditional games. They are no less interesting than the modern ones. Many children even find it attractive and make them creative. Art parade of Bali Arts Festival 2009 has shown the treasure of tradi-
tional games. This event is just like a kaleidoscope highlighting a variety of traditional games that ever existed within the life of Balinese children. To play one of the games, children should first search for its materials by themselves at backyard or garden. Actually, it is here where the challenge of the games begins. Sometimes, they got injury because they are unable to use a knife properly. It did not matter as intriguing power has superseded it. Among the parade, there was a space intended for children world where they displayed some bizarre games like coconut shell clog, walking on stilts, pulling friend by the sheath of areca nut, pulling rope ingroup and two-wheeled toy where its stick carried on shoulder. Meanwhile, the heavier one was gallivanting show by barong effigy. To play the coconut shell clog, for instance, they should keep their balance well. Standing on the tips of coconut shell is not easy. Moreover, they have to maintain the harmony of steps with the pulling of rope connected to each coconut shell. When the pull and steps can go harmoniously, the player can walk faster. Balance is also entailed in walking on stilts or tajog or egrang. This game is even riskier because the position of pedal is higher from the ground. However, when a player can
operate these stilts properly it is more challenging and pleasant. The higher the pedal the more challenging it is. Walking on stilts looks like a walking long-legged heron. It would be more interesting when passing through a muddy or knee-deep watery road. These games are often put into competition related to traditional sports. Another game requiring cooperation is pulling the sheath of areca nut. If the bean of areca nut is used by grandfathers or grandmothers for ingredient of chewing betel, the sheath of it is used by their grandchildren to make ‘a pulling vehicle’. Yellow leaf signifies it has been mature. It is time for children to take it. They just need to leave out the ribs of leaf. The main rib is not cut as it will be used to pull. One child serves as passenger while another as driver who pulls the sheath. This role is exchanged so both can have an opportunity to enjoy the ‘comfort’ of this vehicle game. Children also put an interest in dancing barong gallivanting show. For them, it has been designed a smallersized barong. Therefore, before growing adult they have been introduced to art world of adult people. By performing gallivanting show like this, they will obtain experience and earn money. However, the emphasis here is not on the money, but on the experience and fun. (BTN/punia)
Balinese Culture
Base Be Siap (Spice Paste for Chicken) Ingredients: * 225 gr shallots, peeled * 125 gr cloves garlic, peeled * 50 gr kencur root, peeled and chopped * 60 gr laos, peeled and chopped * 100 gr candlenuts * 125 gr fresh turmeric, peeled & chopped * 50 gr bird’s eye chilies, finely sliced * 50 gr chopped palm sugar * 150 ml coconut oil * 2 stalks lemon grass, bruised * 3 salam leaves * 250 ml water * ¾ tbsp salt Directions: Grind all ingredients except lemon grass, salam leaves and water, coarsely in food processor. Place in heavy sauce pan, add all remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for approximately 60 minutes or until water is evaporated and marinade changes to golden color. Cool before using. (http://www.baliguide.com/balifood)
Curly-podded Pea in Balinese Spices Mostly, living at countryside gives closer access to resources of fresh vegetables and spices, at least the access to vegetables at large like water spinach and fern tips. Another resource is garden at backyard through intercropping with other plants. For instance, curly-podded pea can be grown by letting it climb on the plants nearby. Pick it up before truly mature in order its skin or flesh is not too hard. It is good when served with simple Balinese sauces. Ingredient: 150gr curly-podded pea Ground spices: 2 cloves garlic, 4 cloves shallot, 1 pc small chili, 1 pc large chili, 1 coriander, 1 slice turmeric, 1 slice kencur and ½ tsp salt, Other: 1 tbsp cooking oil. Method: • Take out its side-fiber and cleanse thoroughly. Divide each pod into two or three parts. • Boil it half-done. Take out and drain. • Stir-fry the ground spices until smelling fragrant. Add a cup of water and put the peas into the spices on the frying pan. Let it boil and when it has cooked, take out and it is ready to serve. (BTN/punia)
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10
Business
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
International
Fiat extends losses but is upbeat on prospects for Chrysler Agence France-Presse
MILAN - Italian auto giant Fiat said Wednesday its first quarter losses extended into the April-June period but predicted a positive outcome to the year and foresaw a return to profit for its struggling US partner Chrysler. Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne in a conference call with analysts also said it was “inevitable” that Fiat Group Automobiles would be detached from the rest of the Fiat group to stand alone. The auto maker reported that it had suffered a second quarter net loss of 179 million euros (254 million dollars) compared with a profit of 646 million euros a year earlier. The loss eclipsed the 110 mil-
lion euros expected by Dow Jones Newswires in a consensus forecast. But Fiat said it still expected to achieve a trading profit of more than one one billion euros over the year and a net profit greater than 100 million, the company said. Hard hit by the global financial crisis like the rest of the auto sector, Fiat went into the red in the first quarter, recording a loss of 411 million euros (584 million dollars) in
what it called an “extremely difficult trading environment”. It was the first loss since the group returned to profitability in early 2005 after four years of red ink. The loss continued in the second quarter when trading profit, Fiat’s key profitability indicator, fell 72.5 percent to 310 million euros, while sales fell 22.5 percent to 13.18 billion euros. Marchionne in a later conference call with journalists focused on prospects for Chrysler, with which Fiat has been allied since June. “We’ll begin to see the impact of the technology transfer in the last part of 2010,” he added, referring to the expertise Fiat has begun provid-
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ing Chrysler under the partnership. The technology will allow the Detroit automaker to meet upcoming emissions and fuel economy standards and expand its product offerings. “I’ve no doubt that Chrysler will be profitable,” Marchionne said, cautioning however: “It is too early to talk about profit margins for Chrysler.” The Italian-Canadian chief executive credited with turning Fiat back from the brink of bankruptcy in 2004 said Chrysler “does need to go public at some point”. Fiat acquired a 20 percent stake in Chrysler in exchange for sharing its technology. The stake will rise to
35 percent and eventually to a majority position as long as targets mandated by the deal are achieved and US government funds provided Chrysler are repaid. The deal gives the Italian auto maker access to the lucrative US market and brings it closer to economies of scale, which Marchionne has said are necessary to compete in the global automotive industry. Marchionne also said that Fiat’s automobile unit was destined for an independent existence. Fiat Group Automobiles markets the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands. Besides automobiles the overall group makes buses, trucks and farm and agricultural machinery.
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Agence France-Presse
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A handout photo shows Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono gestures during a press conference over the attacks on JW. Marriott hotel and Ritz Carlton hotel at the presidential palace in July 17, 2009.
Indonesian president says ‘we cannot be defeated’ JAKARTA - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono sent a message of defiance Thursday to the perpetrators of last week’s deadly suicide attacks in Jakarta, saying the country would not be cowed by terror.
Hub:
Friday, July 24, 2009
Indonesia attacks: random carnage or surgical strike?
Agence France-Presse
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Indonesia Today
The president said the mainly Muslim archipelago must remain vigilant against further attacks after suicide bombers killed seven people at the adjacent JW Marriott and RitzCarlton hotels last Friday. “I’m sure we will find these perpetrators of terror. We’ll also recover the national situation,” he told reporters at Jakarta’s international airport, referring to four years of growth and stability since the last major attack. “As a nation we cannot be defeated by terrorism.” Three Australians, an Indonesian and a New Zealander have been confirmed killed in the blasts, which also injured 53 people. Two Dutch tourists are also believed to have been killed, as well as the two suicide bombers. Police have not publicly named
any suspects, but senior counter-terrorism officials have said the attacks are the suspected work of Islamist fanatics linked to the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Digital sketches of two men believed to be the bombers were released Wednesday. Both were Asians with short hair and one, the Marriott bomber who killed five people, was aged just 16 to 17 years, police said. Police deputy spokesman Sulistyo Ishak said police were searching for two Indonesian men, Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim, who might be able to provide information on the attacks. Hasbi, otherwise known as Nur Said, is a known disciple of JI splinter group leader Noordin Mohammed Top, while Ibrahim is believed to have worked at a florist at one of the hotels and has been
missing since Friday. Police have also detained a woman believed to be the third wife of Malaysian-born Noordin, the alleged mastermind of a string of deadly blasts in Indonesia including the 2003 truck bombing of the Marriott. Police took samples from relatives of Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim on Monday which ruled them out as either of the unidentified bombers, but Ishak said they were still people of interest. “Although DNA tests showed that Nur Hasbi and Ibrahim were not the suspected suicide bombers, we’re still looking for them,” he said. Investigators have said the Marriott bomber checked into Room 1808 of the luxury hotel two days before the attacks, disguised as a guest and bearing false identification. Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper, quoting “well-placed sources”, reported Thursday that the Ritz-Carlton bomber, aged 20 to 40 years according to police, received help from Ibrahim to enter the hotel via a staff door.
JAKARTA - The suicide bombings which rocked the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Indonesia last Friday pose frightening questions for business leaders in the mainly Muslim country, analysts say. The attacks, especially the bombing at the Marriott, showed a higher level of sophistication than previous hits by Indonesian-based extremists and may have been carefully planned to strike high-value targets, they said. Previous attacks blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah regional terror group — such as the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people, mostly tourists — were designed to inflict maximum Western casualties. Truck bombings at the Australian embassy in 2004 and the Jakarta Marriott in 2003 targeted iconic Western facilities but killed and injured mainly Indonesians. Last week’s attack at the Marriott, however, used a small backpack bomb which was secretly assembled inside the hotel and detonated in a room during a weekly breakfast hosted by a well-known Western businessman. Five people plus the bomber were killed — three Australians, a New Zealander and an Indonesian hotel worker. Another two people, believed to be Dutch tourists, were killed in a similar suicide blast at the adjacent Ritz-Carlton. Fifty-three people were injured in both attacks, compared to about 150 in the Marriott bombing six years ago. Analysts have been puzzling over why the Marriott bomber, whom police believe was as young as 16, descended from his room on the 18th floor to the lobby and walked straight into the small meeting room rather than the closer and more crowded main restaurant. “In this case they penetrated the hotel and reached the heart of their target,” Singapore-based terrorism analyst Rohan Gunaratna told AFP. “It is very likely that they knew about the Castle Group meeting because it was a weekly meeting. The bomber came down the lift to the lobby and walked directly into the meeting room.” The CastleAsia group is an investment consultancy headed by prominent Jakarta-based American businessman James Castle, who survived with minor injuries. Seventeen foreign and Indonesian executives were reportedly attending the breakfast, including Castle’s associate Max Boon, Freeport Indonesia director Dave Potter, former Rio Tinto director Noke Kiroyan, Theiss executive Garth McEvoy and Holcim Indonesia president Timothy Mackay. Some were saved from the full force of the blast by two columns; others such as Boon suffered horrific injuries, but survived. Mackay, a New Zealander, died of his wounds in hospital, while McEvoy and two other Australians — recruitment specialist Nathan Verity and trade diplomat Craig Senger — died at the scene. The attackers appear to have carefully gathered intelligence on their targets, perhaps helped by a hotel employee, analysts said. Rather than driving a truck past the hotels and going “Boom”! they evaded airport-style security checks and disguised themselves as guests for two days while assembling their bombs. Despite these differences, police say the blasts still bear the hallmarks of the Jemaah Islamiyah splinter group headed by Malaysianborn Islamist Noordin Mohammed Top, the alleged mastermind of the 2003 Marriott and 2004 embassy attacks, and a second set of Bali bombings in 2005.
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Indonesia airline to expand after EU ban lifted
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Agence France-Presse
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CENGKARENG - Indonesian national airline Garuda announced plans on Thursday for an aggressive expansion after it was removed from a European Union aviation safety blacklist. The expansion, labelled “Quantum Leap”, will see the airline nearly double its number of aircraft and increase by half the destinations it flies to within five years,
Chief Executive Officer Emirsyah Satar said. “Garuda Indonesia’s fleet, which now consists of 62 aircraft, will grow to 116 aircraft by 2014,” he said. He said the airline was adding Boeing 777s, 737s and Airbus A330-200s, having already taken delivery of three new aircraft. It plans to boost passenger numbers to 27.6 million per year in the same period, up from 10.1 million
currently, by increasing its domestic and international destinations from 41 to 62, he said. “Although the external situation is less supportive because of the global financial crisis and increasing competition, Garuda will continue its development programmes prudently.” Satar did not specify the planned new destinations. The company earlier said it planned to reopen its flights to the Netherlands next year,
as well as possible later routes to Frankfurt and London. Garuda was one of four Indonesian airlines to have EU flight bans lifted earlier this month by the EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, citing “significant improvements” in safety. All Indonesia-registered aircraft were banned from flying to the EU in June 2007 after a string of deadly crashes, including the March 2007 crash-landing of a
Garuda Boeing 737 that killed 21 people. Despite its poor safety record and the global economic downturn which has savaged the airline industry, Garuda posted a 10-fold increase in profits last year thanks to increased revenue and passenger numbers. The company’s net profit for 2008 surged to 670 billion rupiah (60.97 million dollars) from 60 billion rupiah the year before.
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News
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bangladesh rare leopard renews hopes for species survival Agence France-Presse
DHAKA - Bangladeshi conservationists said Thursday the discovery of a rare leopard captured by villagers in the southeast of the country renewed hopes for the survival of the critically endangered species.
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
After festivals and celebrations in early July, the National Mall is worn from wear, as seen from the top of the Washington Monument facing the Capitol in Washington, on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.
Malaysian... From page 1 Most alcohol offenders are fined, but the law also provides for a threeyear prison term and caning. Some politicians and women’s rights activists have criticized the religious court’s sentence, calling it too harsh. Caning is usually reserved for men in various crimes ranging from rape to bribery. But several Islamic lawyers have insisted that the penalty for Kartika is fair, saying she will be whipped with a thin rattan cane that does not cause severe pain. Kartika told reporters in her
northern home state of Perak on Wednesday that she wants authorities to carry out the penalty quickly so that she can resume her life with her husband and two children. “I will accept this earthly punishment,” the national news agency Bernama quoted her as saying. “I want to advise youngsters to learn from my experience, not to repeat my mistake and cause shame to yourself and family.” Kartika’s lawyer could not immediately be contacted Thursday. Rattan canes are made from palm plants common in tropical parts of Asia. They have been used for decades for corporal punishment, but
offenders in serious crimes are flogged with thicker canes that can cause bleeding and scars. Kartika was the only Muslim caught in last year’s raid at the Pahang nightclub. Malaysian clubs and lounges typically serve alcohol and are not legally required to check if customers are Muslim before serving them, so the hotel nightclub operators were not charged with any offense. The judge in Kartika’s case did not elaborate on why he imposed a relatively severe sentence, but local media noted that he had a history of being tough on alcohol offenders.
Professor Anwarul Islam, chief executive of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh, said the three-month-old clouded leopard cub had been released back into the wild. It had been caged by villagers in the remote Chittagong Hill Tracts region, which borders Myanmar and Mizoram state in India, for the past three weeks, he said. “Locals stumbled upon two cubs and their mother eating a monkey in the district of Rangimati three weeks ago. They were only able to capture one cub,” he said “It was tremendous news because many conservationists thought the animal was extinct from Bangladesh due to habitat loss.” He said in most cases where a rare species is captured, villagers sell the animal, but in this case conservationists had convinced them to release it back into the wild. The species is timid and nocturnal and little is known about it, he added. The clouded leopard is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 100,000 of the species believed to still be living worldwide. It is mainly found in South and Southeast Asian countries, and the last reported sightings of the animal in Bangladesh were in 1992 and 2005.
AFP PHOTO
In this undated handout picture released by The Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh on July 23, 2009, a clouded leopard cub sits in a cage in Rangamati. (foto macan)
Death... From page 1 “We found the body of a woman inside the bathing facility on the ground floor in the afternoon. We have yet to identify her,” another police officer told AFP. “We are not certain if she was bathing at the time of the landslide.” Rescue workers on Thursday afternoon also recovered a man’s remains from a field near a country highway, where flows of mud and rocks hit a dozen cars and damaged some houses, police said. It was the second body found there, and two others were still miss-
ing in the highway area, some five kilometres (three miles) from the nursing home. Of the 11 dead, 10 were killed in Yamaguchi and one, a man, drowned in a flooded river in the neighbouring prefecture of Tottori. At the nursing home, a man and a woman were found dead late Wednesday, a police official said, adding that “both died after being suffocated by mud.” Some 700 workers from the police, fire brigades and the Ground Self-Defence Force were operating in Hofu on Thursday, a city official said.
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BUSINESS
Asia economies to rebound in 2010 but fears remain
Agence France-Presse
BANGKOK - Asian economies will likely bounce back from the global economic slump in 2010 but fears remain over the sustainability of growth if there is no wider recovery, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday. The bank’s chief economist Lee JongWha said the outlook for East Asia this year remained “pessimistic” but foresaw a Vshaped recovery led by China if countries continue to focus on stimulating domestic demand. “We are optimistic for developing Asia for a V-shape recovery.... But the big question is whether it will be sustainable growth — in that part we are rather pessimistic without a full global recovery,” Lee told AFP ahead of the launch of ADB’s biannual Asia Economic Monitor in Bangkok. Despite an increasing proportion of export demand coming from within Asia, notably China, countries in the region continue to rely on markets in the US, European Union and Japan for 60 percent of final goods exports, Lee said. Those markets are less likely to recover from the global financial crisis so quickly, he said. The ADB report recommended a continued focus on loose monetary and fiscal policies to stimulate domestic demand, with
support for small enterprises and stimulus packages that must be fast and efficient. “The issue is how effectively they (Asian governments) can mobilise these additional fiscal resources,” Lee said. The report showed that the pace of capital outflows from Asia had slowed in the first quarter of 2009, and Lee urged large Asian investors to focus more of their capital spending within the region. While China’s recovery has “gained traction” and the more closed smaller economies such as Indonesia are on course to stronger growth levels, Lee said concern remained for more export-dependent small regional economies such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The Manila-based bank said earlier this month it would update on September 22 its flagship Asian Development Outlook forecasts, which predicted earlier this year that developing Asia will see its economic growth fall to 3.4 percent this year compared to 6.3 percent in 2008.
AFP PHOTO /PATRICK LIN
Restaurant employees prepare food in Taipei on July 22, 2009. Asian economies will likely bounce back from the global economic slump in 2010 but fears remain over the sustainability of growth if there is no wider recovery, the Asian Development Bank said Thursday.
Regional banks weak link IMF welcomes China’s in US financial system progress on currency Agence France-Presse
NEW YORK - Several large US regional banks recently have reported disappointing quarterly earnings, as a lack of market activities widens their exposure to bad loans and the housing slump. The troubles of these banks, essential gears in getting the recession-mired economy back on track, contrasts with the spectacular multibillion-dollar profits posted by their much larger rivals, such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase or Wells Fargo. But these megastars “were getting benefits from the trading” in markets, which have put in strong gains since March, said Marc Pado, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. “The small community banks just don’t have this ability, so in terms of the loans, it’s not that they had worse loans, they lack the diversity, the advantage of where things are better in the economy,” Pado said. “The mortgage industry, the home loans, they haven’t really turned around,” he added. The big banks have attributed their resurgent profitability largely to an equity market rally from early March. Their
smaller siblings have underlined their pain from rising loan defaults. KeyCorp, based in Ohio, announced Wednesday a net loss of 236 million dollars in the March-June period. KeyCorp, one of the 10 leading US banks deemed insufficiently capitalized by federal “stress tests,” said the quarterly loss was largely due to an 850-million-dollar increase in the provision for loan losses. Georgia-based SunTrust Banks posted a loss of 164.4 million dollars after taking a 962.2-million-dollar provision for loan losses. And behind the top-line profit of BB&T, based in North Carolina, of 208 millions dollars, was a bad-loan charge of 701 million dollars. “The regional banks have good oldfashioned loans that experience losses over a longer period and come later,” said Tanya Azarchs of ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, explaining why these banks, which were relatively spared last year amid the global financial crisis, are suffering now while their bigger rivals thrive. “Most of the the banks are sounding hopeful about the consumer credit portfolio maybe deteriorating at a slower rate,” Azarchs said.
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday hailed China’s progress on currency liberalization, but said some member countries still view the yuan as “substantially undervalued.” In its first bilateral review of the Chinese economy since 2006, the IMF executive board also praised Beijing’s massive efforts to bolster the economy amid the worst global contraction since the Great Depression. The board “welcomed the important progress made in the past few years in increasing the market’s role in determining the exchange rate, as well as the consequent substantial real appreciation that has been achieved since the exchange rate reform in 2005,” the multilateral institution said. “Some directors nevertheless supported the view that the renminbi remains substantially undervalued,” the board noted. Since the middle of 2008, the yuan’s nominal exchange rate appreciation against the US dollar “has stopped although the nominal effective exchange rate has appreciated 5.0 percent,” it said. Real appreciation in the 12 months to May was estimated at 5.0 percent. The statement on the conclusion of the so-called Article IV bilateral consultation with China on July 8 signaled an improvement in strained relations between the Washington-based IMF and the Asian powerhouse, which wants more clout in the institu-
tion to reflect its rising economic might. The Chinese authorities had disagreed sharply with the IMF’s October 2006 report, which found China’s yuan, or renminbi, currency was misaligned with the country’s economic fundamentals. The United States, the largest IMF stakeholder, and European countries have pressed China to allow the yuan to appreciate, accusing Beijing of keeping it artificially low to protect its crucial export sector. Cheaper Chinese products have flooded into the US, building a gargantuan, politically sensitive trade surplus. The US trade gap with China, the country’s second-largest trading partner, widened to 17.5 billion dollars in May. The latest IMF board assessment on China’s economy comes ahead of next week’s first US-China high-level strategic and economic talks under President Barack Obama’s administration. IMF directors were divided over the role of the currency in China’s rebalancing of its economy to reduce its dependence on exports, a reorientation long advocated by the financial institution. “Looking ahead, many directors considered that a further strengthening of the renminbi would be part of a comprehensive strategy to rebalance the economy by increasing the purchasing power of households and the labor share of income, and reorienting investment toward non-tradable sectors,” the statement said.
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Entertainment
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
News
International
Laughing All the Way to the Bank at the “Funny People” Premiere
Mihcael Jakcson
Blanket Jackson’s Biological Mother Revealed? The mother of Michael Jackson’s youngest child Prince Michael II is a Norwegian dental hygienist he met on vacation in Tunisia, according to sensational tabloid reports. Jackson never disclosed the identity of seven-yearold Blanket’s true mother, revealing only that he was born to an anonymous surrogate. Star magazine claims she is close friend Pia Bhatti, who agreed to donate her eggs to the superstar after befriending him through her son Omer - who found fame as an impersonator of the King of Pop, and later became known as his ‘fourth child’. Omer captivated Jackson when they met in the African country in 1996, through the then-12 year old’s ability to mimic him and his dance moves. The singer took the child on tour with him and his fam-
ily moved to live with Jackson at his Neverland Ranch. Star’s report alleges Jackson struck up a deal with Pia Bhatti to provide him with a third child, alongside son Prince Michael, 12, and daughter Paris, 11, and she promised to keep her identity a secret. A source tells the magazine, “Pia was sworn to secrecy about Blanket. The agreement she had with Michael was that she would never reveal herself to be Blanket’s mum.” When approached by Star reporters, Bhatti refused to comment on the claims. Omer, meanwhile, is the subject of a separate report suggesting he is Jackson’s biological son. The claims are fueled by the 25 year old’s presence at the King of Pop’s July memorial service, where he sat on the front row with the Jackson family.
opportunities,” he said at an earlier press conference. “I was given dramatic opportunities, so there wasn’t that much I was able to do or wanted to do about that. I was pretty burnt out of comedy by the time I walked away from it. Even though no one here had seen any of it, it was irrelevant to me. I was sort of done. But in this case, I think it’s definitely given me a taste of how much more fun it is on set to do a comedy.” Other million-dollar men on hand included Ryan Seacrest, who recently signed a $45 million deal with “American Idol,” Chris Rock, Garry Shandling, David Spade and Don Johnson. A few pretty gals turned out for the show, too, including Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann and their daughters ? all three star in his film, too ? plus Anna Faris, Rashida Jones, Elizabeth Banks, and Toni Collette.
Agence France-Presse
ROME - Two luxury yachts, built in Italy and destined for North Korea, have been seized by Italian police as part of international sanctions on Pyongyang, an Italian ministry official said Thursday. Confirming a report in the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, the official from the ministry of economic development said the yachts — worth 13 million euros (18.5 million dollars) — were seized more than two months ago.
AFP PHOTO MICHEL GANGNE
A Red Cross volunteer helps two women during the evacuation of a retirement home, on July 23, 2009, in Marseille, southern France, after one of France’s worst fires for three years raged on the eastern outskirts of Marseille late Wednesday. The wildfire sparked, by practice shelling by the military, was under control Today after threatening hundreds of homes but claiming no victims.
(Fashion Wire Daily/Maria Ramirez)
FWD125 Judd Apatow, left, and Adam Sandler at the Film premiere of “Funny People” in Los Angeles, Calif. on Monday, July 20, 2009.
Patrick Swayze Denies Heart Attack Reports Cancer-stricken actor Patrick Swayze has hit out at false reports he has suffered a heart attack - insisting he is “doing very well”. The actor, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, moved swiftly on Wednesday to deny claims made by the National Enquirer that he had suffered the
heart scare. His spokesperson says, “He’s well. He’s continuing his treatment and doing very well, actually. Contrary to reports, he did not suffer a heart attack and has even gained a little weight.” It’s not the first false report the 56-year-old actor has been forced to dispute since he was diag-
nosed with the disease. Back in May Swayze’s spokesperson denied “reckless reports” stemming from a Florida radio station he had died. In March he asked publications to “think twice about printing inaccuracies and painting an unpleasant picture when I have so much to be thankful for at this time.”
Sam Raimi Signs On To Direct ‘World Of Warcraft’ Movie
Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man series, has agreed to direct the live-action film adaptation of World of Warcraft. According to Variety, the Drag Me to Hell director will finish his work on Spider-Man 4, which is set to begin filming next year, before shooting World of Warcraft. Legendary Pictures and the video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment are working with Warner Bros. to make the film. World of Warcraft boasts approximately 11 million subscribers worldwide, over half of the Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game market. It has become a pop-culture phenomenon, being featured in a Toyota commercial and a South Park episode. Mr. T, William Shatner, Verne Troyer, and Ozzy Osbourne are among the celebrities that have made commercials for the game. The game’s latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, sold over 2.8 million copies its first day, and more than 4 million copies its first month of release.
5
Italy seizes luxury yachts bound for North Korea
Million-dollar men were everywhere on the red carpet in Hollywood on Monday, July 20, at the Arclight Cinemas as the “Funny People” gang and their best pals celebrated the premiere of their new comedy. Starting with the flick’s star, Adam Sandler, the highest-paid comedian in the world, who routinely makes $25 million per movie, adding in his co-star Seth Rogen, whose pockets are overflowing with revenues from both acting and screenwriting, and throw in writerdirector-producer Judd Apatow, whose hits include “The 40-YearOld Virgin” and “Knocked Up,” and right there you have some the wealthiest guys working in Hollywood today. Plus, there was Eric Bana, who also stars in the comedy; he’s been raking it in as a leading man ever since he had his own TV comedy show in Australia, but admits that most American audiences don’t think of him as one of the “Funny People.” “While I was given great opportunities here, I wasn’t given comic
Friday, July 24, 2009
Foreign Legion shooting exercise sparks French wildfire Agence France-Presse
MARSEILLE - A Foreign Legion drill instructor was suspended Thursday after what was branded an “imbecilic” shooting exercise triggered a huge wildfire that threatened the outskirts of Marseille. No-one was killed as the blaze ripped through 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of brush and damaged homes in the suburbs of France’s second city, but one fireman suffered burns and four rescuers were treated for smoke inhalation. The fire erupted on Wednesday after troops from the 1st Foreign Legion Regiment used tracer rounds, which contain an incendiary substance to make them visible in flight, during a practice session at their base. At dawn on Thursday firefighters pronounced the blaze under control, but this did little to calm the anger of local officials, who noted that this was the second time in as many years that the army had started a wildfire.
Local prefect Michel Sappin, the French government’s senior regional offical and police chief, blasted the “imbecilic” actions of the military. “It was the same thing last year near the camp in Canjuers. That was the biggest fire last summer,” he said. Thursday’s fire, started at a camp in Carpiagne, was the worst to hit southern France in three years. Marseille’s mayor and senator, Jean-Claude Gaudin, demanded that the military help out with the cleanup operation. “Personally, I can’t see the need to carry out military exercises in 32 degree heat and a strong wind. It must really have been someone who is not from round here who took this
decision,” he said. “We did the best we can but when you’re faced with this kind of incredible stupidity, you need to say so with a certain force,” he added. The military accepted responsibility for the fire. “It was found that tracer rounds were used in violation of orders given. As a result, the army general staff has taken an interim decision to suspend the leader responsable from his duties,” Colonel Benoit Royal announced. Philippe Pancarzi, head of Marseille’s fire service, told local radio that the fire had stopped spreading. “At around 7:00 am, there were still some sources of fire, but the fire is contained and under control,” he said. But with winds not forecast to weaken before evening, “we are keeping all our assets on the scene,” including nearly 500 firefighters — backed up by water dropping planes — spread over eight kilometres (five miles).
“These yachts were destined for North Korea and they were seized because they violationed EU and international regulations based on UN resolutions that prohibit the export of luxury goods to that country,” he told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official, from the ministry of economic development, refused to say if the vessels were meant for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. They were built by AzimutBenetti, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of luxury yachts.
Baby whale’s first breath caught on camera off Australia Agence France-Presse
MELBOURNE - Australian scientists have photographed a humpback whale helping a newborn calf take what appears to be its first breath, a rare event described as the “Holy Grail” for whale-watchers. The marine scientists from Western Australia’s Centre for Whale Research said they watched in astonishment as the mother swam beneath the distressed baby and lifted it above the water, clearing its blowhole to take in air. “We feel awed and privileged to have finally seen this spectacle after over 20 years of research,” said scientist Curt Jenner. The researchers said the water was full of blood, indicating the mother had just given birth on the
migration route off Western Australia. They added that the “small and skinny” baby was instantly revived by its first breath. “It was apparent that the calf was struggling to stay at the surface to breathe and was swimming around in tight, clockwise circles with only the tip of its snout protruding,” said Jenner’s wife and fellow scientist, Micheline. “As soon as the cow lowered its newborn back into the water, its little tail flukes began to beat like a wind-up toy being lowered into the bath,” she added. Humpbacks are one of the largest whale species, growing up to 18 metres (60 foot) long. They are a mainstay of the whale-watching industry in Australia, which is worth an estimated 300 million dollars (246 million US) a year.
At least 53 people missing in China landslide Agence France-Presse
BEIJING - At least 53 people were missing after heavy rains triggered a landslide in southwestern China’s Sichuan province on Thursday, the state-run Xinhua news
agency reported. Another 97 “trapped” people had been rescued after the disaster, said the brief dispatch, which gave few other details. The disaster occurred in remote and mountainous Kangding county,
an area traditionally populated by ethnic Tibetans. Sichuan province was rocked in May of last year by a massive 8.0magnitude earthquake that triggered huge landslides across the region’s mountainous terrain.
AFP PHOTO / HO
This handout photo shows a tiny humpback whale calf named Tanatabiddi blowing water out of its blowholes as it practices the art of breathing.
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News
Friday, July 24, 2009
International
Life Style
International
Australia PM AFP ‘sickened’ over teen Jakarta bomber SYDNEY - Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Thursday said he found it “sickening” that one of the Jakarta bombers was apparently a boy aged just 16 or 17. Rudd was speaking after Indonesian police released digitally reconstructed images of two militants suspected of last week’s blasts which left seven dead including three Australians. “If those reports are true, it is sickening that these evil terrorists would prey on children to do their dirty work,” Rudd told reporters. “The thought that terrorists engaged in their evil business would also prey upon children defies any standard of civilised behaviour,”
he added. Indonesian police said the youthful bomber was responsible for the attack on the JW Marriott hotel, which killed the three Australians and two others. The other attacker, whose suicide blast killed two people at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, was aged between 20 and 40. The images are being shown to witnesses as part of the investigation into the first major terror atrocity in Indonesia since 2005. Australian embassy official Craig Senger was among the dead, along with mining executive Garth McEvoy and human resources manager Nathan Verity.
Clinton says nuclear North Korea has ‘no friends left’
AFP PHOTO/ROMEO GACAD
US Secretary of State Hillary. Agence France-Presse
PHUKET - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday North Korea had “no friends left” to offer it refuge from nuclear sanctions, triggering vitriolic defiance from the Stalinist regime. Pyonyang hurled personal invective at Clinton and declared nuclear talks “dead”, as she told Asia’s largest security forum that international efforts to squeeze the North over its atomic programme were paying off. “They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community’s efforts to move toward denuclearisation,” Clinton told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) in Phuket. “In their presentation today they evinced no willingness to pursue the path of denuclearisation and that was troubling, not only to the United States but to the region and the international community,” she added. “I was gratified by how many countries from throughout the region stood up and expressed directly to the North Korean delegation their concern over the provocative behaviour we have seen over the past few months.”
This undated photo provided by WildEarth Guardians shows a white-sided jackrabbit in New Mexico. There are an estimated 150 whitesided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday, July 21, 2009 they will study the elusive rodent to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the biggest threat is change to the hare’s habitat brought on by drought, grazing, the suppression of wildfire and the encroachment of shrubs into the Chihuahuan grasslands of New Mexico’s bootheel — the only place in the U.S. where the jackrabbit has been documented.
In Phuket, Clinton has met with counterparts from China and Russia, two other ARF heavyweights that have traditionally been lukewarm about forthright action against North Korea. North Korean delegates appeared agitated as they tried to organize a rare press conference just before Clinton was supposed to speak in the press area of a seaside hotel in the Thai resort island of Phuket. Regime officials described Clinton’s renewed offer of a package of incentives in return for disarmament as “nonsense”, and lambasted the top US diplomat as unintelligent, a “funny lady” and a “primary schoolgirl”. “Hearing about the comprehensive package, I should say this is basically nonsense,” roving ambassador Ri Hung-Sik said, vowing no dialogue until Washington changed its “deep-rooted hostile policy”. “The six-party talks are already dead,” Ri added, referring to negotiations with the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea which Pyongyang quit after the UN Security Council censured it for a rocket launch in April. North Korea then conducted an underground nuclear test in May, triggering a Security Council resolution for beefed-up inspections of shipments going to and from the country and an expanded arms embargo. Pyongyang’s state media took an even more venomous line against Clinton, who earlier this week said the North Koreans were acting out like “unruly teenagers.” “Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping,” a foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying in attacking her “vulgar” remarks. “Anyone making misstatements has to pay for them,” he said. held a rare meeting late Wednesday with a delegation from Myanmar’s ruling junta.
AFP PHOTO / DIETER NAGL
Palestinian Ihsan (L) and Israeli teenager Sagi (R) smile during a debate during a Israeli-Palestinian peace camp in Rechnitz on July 21, 2009 some 150 kilometers south-east from Vienna. Just kilometres from where the Iron Curtain once stood, youths from another divided region — Israelis and Palestinians — are coming together these days to seek a dialogue and learn about each other.
Dialogue, dancing at Israeli-Palestinian peace camp in Austria Agence France-Presse
RECHNITZ - Just kilometres from where the Iron Curtain once stood, youths from another divided region — Israelis and Palestinians — are coming together to seek a dialogue and learn about each other. They are between 16 and 20years-old, boys and girls from two different worlds who at home have no opportunity to meet. “This is the first time I meet people from the West Bank and Gaza and hear their side, their point of view,” said Yoni, 17, from the northern Israeli port city of Haifa. And yet over the past week, they have eaten their meals together,
played football and danced together. Entitled “Dialogue 4 the future”, the two-week camp in Rechnitz, a small town near the Austro-Hungarian border, was organised by Austrian evangelical groups and partly funded by the European Union. A first camp was held in 2007 and the idea was again to bring these communities together through discussions, games and outdoor activi-
ties. Eight youths came from Ramallah in the West Bank, eight from Haifa, eight from Hungary and three from Austria. “I was a bit afraid of hearing what they’d have to say, maybe they wouldn’t want to talk to us,” Yoni said of his initial concerns. But “they’re really nice, and I have new friends now,” he added. Under camp rules, everyone must eat the same food — no pork, banned under kosher dietary rules, is served — and the rooms are mixed, said Klaus Pahr, one of the camp’s organisers.
Honduran regime scotches plan for president’s return Agence France-Presse
SAN JOSE - Honduras’s de facto government has shot down a lastgasp deal to resolve the country’s political crisis, insisting ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot return to office. The return of Mr Zelaya as president was impossible, interim foreign minister Carlos Lopez Contreras said on CNN’s Spanish station, effectively killing hopes of a settlement. Crisis mediator and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias has proposed
a fresh plan for Zelaya’s return Wednesday, with concessions for the interim government, which backed the army’s June 28 expulsion of the Honduran leader. Arias’s plan called for Zelaya’s return to the country as president in a national unity government, until his term ended in January. In return, the current de facto leadership would see sanctions against the country lifted, a limited amnesty for political crimes and a bar on Zelaya seeking constitutional reforms designed to let him seek
another term in office. But negotiators for the de facto government returned to Honduras saying the deal presented in Costa Rica would not be signed by their leader Roberto Micheletti. “As I see it, it will be difficult for him to sign up,” spokesman Mauricio Villeda said. Zelaya meanwhile told Venezuela’s Telesur channel that the crisis mediation “had practically failed.” The interim leaders had “decided to deny all possibility of an agreement,” he added.
AP photo/Courtesy of Cesar Mendez, WildEarth Guardians
Multiplying like bunnies? Not this jackrabbit Associated Press Writer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Rabbits are certainly known for their propensity for multiplying, but one species of jackrabbit is having trouble keeping up. There are an estimated 150 white-sided jackrabbits left in the United States, and federal wildlife officials announced Wednesday they will study the elusive rabbit to determine if it needs to be protected under the Endangered Species Act. It’s not lack of libido that’s holding back the white-sided jackrabbit. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the biggest threat is change to the rabbits’ habitat brought on by drought, grazing, the suppression of wildfire and the encroachment of shrubs into the Chihuahuan grasslands of New Mexico’s bootheel — the only place in the United States where the jackrabbit has been documented. Wildfire helps keep shrubs in check and revitalizes grasslands, which the rabbits depend on. The rabbit also lives in Mexico, and those populations have also declined, said Nicole Rosmarino, a biologist with the Western environmental group WildEarth Guardians. Rosmarino said the existing pressures on the white-sided jackrabbit likely will worsen. Forecasters predict extended and more-frequent periods of drought in the Southwest because of
climate change. The Fish and Wildlife Service says it’s uncertain how climate change will affect the jackrabbit and its habitat, but it plans to look more closely at the potential impact during its 12-month review. After the review, the agency will decide whether the rabbit warrants protection as an endangered or threatened species. In New Mexico, the rabbit has been listed as a state endangered species since 1975. “The rabbit has cleared the first hurdle toward federal protection, so that’s good news,” Rosmarino said. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to review the rabbit is the result of a petition and lawsuit filed by environmentalists. The rabbit’s name comes from a conspicuous white area along its body, most noticeable when the rabbit runs.
The jackrabbits, usually seen in pairs, mate for life. While they can produce several litters a year, the litters are usually small — between one and three young. The rabbit’s large ears and long limbs are disproportionate to its body, creating more surface area to help the animal dissipate the heat that’s part of living in the desert. Besides the white-sided jackrabbit, WildEarth Guardians is seeking protections for other species, including the Sonoran desert tortoise. The Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to issue a finding on that species, but WildEarth Guardians says the tortoises’ numbers have also been cut in half in recent decades. As Rosmarino points out, Wednesday’s decision by the agency puts the rabbit ahead of the tortoise, in both species’ race to avoid extinction.
Friday, July 24, 2009
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Manufacturers brewing new swine flu vaccine Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON – Attention is shifting to the world’s five leading flu vaccine makers: How fast are they really producing swine flu vaccine, and just how do they plan to test that it works? A meeting Thursday of the Food and Drug Administration’s scientific advisers offers the first in-depth public progress report since U.S. scientists delivered the novel virus to manufacturers and asked them to turn it into usable vaccine. They’ve succeeded to a degree. The National Institutes of Health on Wednesday called for a few thousand volunteers, from babies to the elderly, for studies to see if pilot batches are safe and protective. The first shots should go into adult volunteers’ arms in early August, with child studies to follow quickly if there are no signs of immediate side effects. Those government-directed studies — and more that manufacturers will run — are key as the government decides whether to offer swine flu vaccine to millions of Americans starting in mid-October, besides vaccinating against the regular winter flu. Health authorities in other countries are looking to the U.S. studies, too, as they make their own plans. Assuming the studies show the vaccine is OK, a big question is how much will be available and when. Last week, the World Health Organization warned that
production is going slower than predicted, with the strains now in use yielding only about half as much of the main vaccine ingredient as is usual. Wednesday, London-based GlaxoSmithKline echoed that caution, saying it is “working as quickly as possible” but being hindered by those low yields. “Some of us are skeptical that very much will be available by midOctober,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a vaccine specialist at Vanderbilt University. And the government has warned that any vaccination campaign will put higherrisk people in line for the first batches, as supplies gradually increase over time. Manufacturers’ vaccine studies are expected to largely mirror the NIH’s plans: Volunteers will get two vaccinations, 21 days apart. By early September, the NIH should have blood tests showing how much immune protection the initial inoculation triggered, and if a lowdose or higher-dose version was needed. It will take another month to get information on the second inoculation. Complicating the question: If plain vaccine doesn’t spur enough protection or there isn’t enough supply, manufacturers could add immune-system boosters called adjuvants. That will pose a dilemma as the U.S. has never approved a flu vaccine containing those ingredients, although they are widely used in vaccine given to older adults in Europe.
FILE - This 2009 file microscope image originally provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows a negativestained image of the H1N1 flu virus.
BP/AP Photo
Researchers to implant pig cells in diabetics Associated Press Writer
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A New Zealand biotech company began a trial Thursday that will implant cells from newborn pigs into eight human volunteers as an experimental treatment for their diabetes. The cells produce pig insulin, which is very similar to human insulin and has the same effect of lowering blood sugar, and Living Cell Tech-
nologies hopes the cells may be able to delay the effects of Type 1 diabetes — including blindness, premature coronary illness and limb amputation caused by poor blood circulation. Though Prof. Bob Elliott, medical director of the company, acknowledges that, even in the best case scenario, the treatment would not eliminate all of the symptoms. Some scientists have warned, how-
ever, that implanting pig cells carries the risk of introducing a new virus to humans. Others have noted that it is too soon to begin testing on humans because no animal trials were conducted. Elliott said Thursday that the risk of a pig endogenous retrovirus — the porcine virus thought to be most contagious for humans — infecting humans is largely “theoretical.” “There is no evidence of a risk” of
retrovirus infection, he said. “Nobody has developed a retrovirus.” The piglets being used, recovered from 150 years of isolation on islands south of New Zealand, carried no known agent that could infect humans and are held in a fully closed, sterile environment, he added. Elliott has run two previous trials, the first with six patients in New Zealand in 1995-1996. The other, in Russia with 10 patients, began in July
2007. The cells implanted into one of the volunteers in the New Zealand study continued producing insulin 12 years after being implanted — “proof of principle that this (methodology) can work,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press in October. The others either rejected the pigs cells or the implanted cells stopped producing insulin after a year.
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Sport
Friday, July 24, 2009
Timberwolves pick Rubio to leave Spanish club
AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, File
Ricky Rubio Associated Press Writer
GERONA, Spain – Ricky Rubio plans to part ways with Spanish basketball club DKV Joventut even if the Minnesota Timberwolves cannot reach a deal to bring their first round draft pick to the NBA. Timberwolves president David Kahn was in Spain this week to try and help the fifth overall pick negotiate a buyout of his contract with Joventut. Rubio is at odds with his boyhood club over a buyout clause that could cost the 18-year-old point guard as much as $6.6 million. The NBA’s collective bargaining rules limit the Timberwolves’ contribution to $500,000. Regardless of whether Rubio makes the trip across the Atlantic next season, he won’t be playing at Joventut. “I want to continue with the club but, after everything that’s happened, I don’t think they’re too comfortable having me in their squad,” Rubio said Wednesday. “I want to play in a winning team, on a team that can
achieve many things.” Rubio signed with Joventut at 14 years old, becoming the youngest player ever to play in a Spanish ACB League game. He rose to prominence over the next few years, playing for Spain’s silver medal-winning team in the Beijing Olympics at 17 and becoming a popular player thanks to his flashy passes and floppy hair. Minnesota drafted him fifth overall in June and holds his NBA rights for as long as Rubio is playing basketball professionally. But it is not exactly clear what ramifications, if any, Rubio’s parting with Joventut has on the Timberwolves’ chances of bringing the popular point guard to the United States this season. Rubio has two years remaining on his deal with Joventut. The enormity of the buyout has a player who made less than $100,000 last season thinking twice about coming to the NBA right away. That’s what prompted Kahn to hop a plane to Spain on Monday. He met with Joventut officials to see if he could help resolve the issue, but declined to comment — both on the news that Rubio will leave Joventut and the trip in general — when reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Spanish basketball clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona are both interested in signing Rubio if he cannot make it to the NBA this season. Unlike the Timberwolves, they are not subject to the collective bargaining rules of the NBA and could pay the entire buyout fee to get him. Kahn has said in the past that the rebuilding Timberwolves are willing to wait a year, or even two, for Rubio to come to Minnesota. But the sooner Rubio can get there, the better for a franchise that has struggled to fill seats at Target Center since trading Kevin Garnett to Boston two years ago.
International
News
International
Haye to take on Russian heavyweight Valuev
Agence France-Presse
LONDON Former world cruiserweight champion David Haye will face current WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev later this year, the British fighter confirmed on Thursday.
British heavyweight boxer David Haye as he talks at a press conference at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Haye said Thursday July 23, 2009 that he has signed a contract to challenge Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title on Nov. 7. Although no venue has yet been fixed, the fight is expected to take place in Germany.
AP Photo/ Shakh Aivazovl
Visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili review honour guard outside a presidential palace in Tbilisi, Thursday, July 23, 2009. Biden arrived Wednesday in the former Soviet republic a year after its war with Russia.
Georgia to ask Biden for weapons, observers Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Reavie seeks to defend Canadian Open title Agence France - Presse
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese
Defending champion Chez Reavie hits out of a bunker on the fifth hole during the Pro-Am round for the Canadian Open golf tournament at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, on Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
TORONTO, Canada - Chez Reavie, who busted through with his first PGA Tour victory by capturing the 2008 Canadian Open, returns to the Glen Abbey Golf Club this week to try can defend his title. The 27-year-old American is seeking to equal compatriot Jim Furyk’s feat in 2006 and 2007 and win back-to-back Canadian Open titles. Last year, Reavie beat Billy Mayfair by three strokes on the water-logged course in Oakville, Ontario, 30 kilometres southwest of Toronto. “You never know when it’s your time,” Reavie said. “You’ve just got to go out there and play as hard as you can every day. When you add them up, hopefully you’re the lowest guy out here.” Reavie’s best finish so far this year is a tie for 12th in his season-opening event, the Mercedes-Benz Championship. Thursday’s opening round marks the start of the 100th Canadian Open
and the 25th time it has been held at Glen Abbey. The 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir is the best known Canadian in the field and hopes to end his country’s 55 year winless drought. Pat Fletcher is the last Canadian champ, taking the 1954 tournament in Vancouver. “It’s our national championship, and all us Canadians, we want to put to rest that it’s been so long since one of us has won one,” Weir said. Weir tied for fifth last year and lost to Vijay Singh in a playoff in 2004. Canadian Nick Taylor is also in the field thanks to a sponsor’s exemption. He was the low amateur at the 2009 US Open when he tied for 36th. “It’s cool to be in a PGA Tour event, but being back home in Canada with a bunch of people working and pulling for you, that’s going to be fun,” Taylor said. The Canadian Open also marks the return of Trevor Immelman to the Tour, following a wrist injury. He is making his first start since the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
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British PM dismisses criticism on Afghanistan
Agence France - Presse
Haye, 28, has signed a contract to meet the 7ft 2in Russian on November 7 at an undecided venue. The announcement ends speculation about who Haye’s next opponent would be, following reports the Londoner had agreed a bout with Vitali Klitschko. Haye had been scheduled to fight Klitschko’s brother Wladimir in June but had to withdraw because of a back injury. “I am thrilled to announce that my dream of becoming world heavyweight champion will be realised on November 7, when I challenge the tallest and heaviest champion of all time, Nikolai Valuev,” Haye said in a statement. “There were reports in the German press that I had signed to fight Vitali Klitschko in September, but those reports were never true. “There have been long and exhausting discussions about the clash, but unfortunately I could never put my name to the fight contract the Klitschkos offered. The level of disrespect they have shown me throughout has left me feeling insulted.”
Friday, July 24, 2009
TBILISI - Georgia’s president was expected to ask U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday for advanced weaponry, military aid and unarmed U.S. observers to monitor a cease-fire along the boundaries of two Moscow-backed breakaway regions. Russia, however, reiterated its warning that it would lower or halt military cooperation with any country supplying Russian arms to Georgia. President Mikhail Saakashvili said he and Biden had spoken informally Wednesday at a dinner in the $40 million presidential compound’s glass-domed dining room ahead of talks Thursday. “I told you there was no such thing as a free dinner in Georgia,” Saakashvili told Biden in front of reporters, an apparent reference to Georgia’s requests for expanded military assistance. The smiling Georgian leader, who referred to Biden as “Joe,” called the discussions “very productive.” Biden seemed more reserved, calling Saakashvili “Mr. President.” While citing U.S.-Georgia ties, he also expressed support for political reforms that Saakashvili announced earlier in the week. “We’re here to talk about your security, economy, your democracy and the steps you are taking for so-
lidifying your democracy,” he told Saakashvili. The White House has so far avoided making any public commitment on aid, arms or observers, although it says it stands behind Georgia’s application for NATO membership despite determined opposition from Russia. The U.S. gave Georgia $1 billion in aid shortly after Russia defeated Georgia in a short war last August. But Washington has so far not supplied the Georgian military with arms to replace those lost in the war, amid warnings from Moscow that such a step would raise the risk of another conflict. A spokesman for the Georgian Defense Ministry, David Nardaya, said he could not say how much military aid was being sought because the information was classified but described the weapons as defensive. In Moscow, the government said it would not stand by while Georgia was resupplied with weapons. “We will continue inhibiting rearmament of the Saakashvili regime
and are taking concrete measures for this,” Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said, the ITARTass news agency reported. He said this was in line with a presidential decree issued in January. Ukraine supplied weapons to Georgia during last summer’s conflict with Russia, and Belarus has expressed support for Georgia’s claims to two Russian-backed breakaway regions at the center of last year’s war. Both former Soviet republics have military ties with Russia. Biden is on a four-day mission to Ukraine and Georgia to demonstrate U.S. support for the two countries, where Western-style democracies have struggled in the wake of peaceful revolutions. A number of Eastern European political figures have expressed concern that the Obama administration could weaken its support for democratic reform as it tries for better relations with Russia. But Biden’s message on the trip so far has been that restoring cordial relations with the Kremlin will not come at the price of weakening support for democratic allies in the region. Nor will the U.S. recognize Moscow’s claim to an exclusive sphere of influence among former Soviet states, Biden has said.
LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown dismissed remarks by one of his ministers Wednesday that Britain does not have enough helicopters in Afghanistan, as he sought to move past a damaging row over resources. Brown said the remarks to a newspaper by outgoing junior Foreign Office minister Lord Mark Malloch-Brown had been misrepresented and repeated his insistence that British troops had everything they need. “I am satisfied that Operation Panther’s Claw has the resources it needs to be successful,” he said, referring to a major assault on Taliban insurgents in the southern Afghan province of Helmand which British troops began in June. “I think the fact that it is making progress at the moment and yielding results already shows that that is the case.... For the operation we are doing at the moment we have the helicopters we need.” Brown has been forced to defend Britain’s strategy in Afghanistan following a surge in troops deaths there, in a row that has piled the pressure on a government already struggling with the recession and an expenses scandal. A soldier was killed Wednesday in an explosion whilst on patrol in Nad-e-Ali district of Helmand, the Ministry of Defence said, taking the toll since operations began in 2001 to 188, more than in Iraq. Malloch-Brown’s intervention is an embarrassing addition to calls from military figures including army chief General Richard Dannatt and the main opposition Conservatives — who are leading Brown’s Labour party in opinion polls — for more troops and equipment. “We definitely don’t have enough helicopters. When you have these modern operations and
insurgent strikes what you need, above all else, is mobility,” Malloch-Brown told the Daily Telegraph. The minister, whose Foreign Office brief includes responsibility for Afghanistan and who is due to step down this week for personal reasons, later issued a statement that he said clarified his remarks. In what appeared to be a U-turn, he said he had meant that “while there are without doubt sufficient resources in place for current operations, we should always do what we can to make more available on the frontline.” In his monthly press conference shortly afterwards, Brown said the way the newspaper had interpreted Malloch-Brown’s interview remarks was a “misrepresentation”, which had been corrected. Asked whether more helicopters would have saved troops’ lives in Afghanistan, he said: “More helicopters in general, yes... But in the operations we are having at the moment it is completely wrong to say that the loss of lives has been caused by the absence of helicopters.” However a former commander of British troops in Helmand disputed Brown’s comments, saying that while Operation Panther’s Claw might be properly resourced, the country’s general mission in Afghanistan was not. “I think the wider campaign in Afghanistan, and this has been the case from the early days, has been insufficiently resourced to undertake a proper counter-insurgency,” retired Brigadier Ed Butler told BBC radio. Malloch-Brown told the Telegraph that the British public had not been properly warned about the Afghan offensive before the death toll began rising. Britain suffered its blackest day in Afghanistan earlier this month, with eight troops dying within 24 hours.
AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau, pool
Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for questions during his monthly press conference at 10 Downing Street in London, Wednesday July 22, 2009. Responding to a question on the economy, Brown said that economic recovery “cannot be taken for granted”. He also defended his government’s record of providing enough equipment for British troops in Afghanistan, where eighteen soldiers have already been killed in July.
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International
Friday, July 24, 2009
News WORLD NEWS
Schwarzenegger defends knife-wielding Twitter video
MUNICH - A new generation of Wagners is at the helm as the annual Bayreuth festival opens this weekend, with composer Richard Wagner’s greatgranddaughter, Katharina Wagner saying that she hopes to help bring “opera to the people.”
Staying the course PARIS - Leaders of NATO nations are vowing to stay the course in Afghanistan despite rising violence, casualties and pressure from the public and fellow politicians. But the increasingly public domestic disputes in the war’s deadliest month for the coalition could foreshadow longterm trouble for the effort to commit more resources to defeat the Taliban.
Schwarzenegger, under fire for a budget plan announced this week that will see 15 billion dollars in spending cuts from services such as education and health care, said the light-hearted video was intended as a bit of fun. The movie-star-turned-politician brushed off suggestions from reporters in Sacramento that the video might be viewed by some as being insensitive. “You know, you sent a governor to Sacramento — not El Stiffo, like some of the past were, but you sent someone that is a little bit more entertaining and has a little bit more fun with the whole thing,” Schwarzenegger said. “Not that I have fun with making the cuts; they sadden me. But fun with the job itself, because I think it is the most rewarding job that I’ve ever done, even though with a huge responsibility. “So just relax and have a little bit of a sense of humor.” California lawmakers are set to approve the spendings at a vote on Thursday which will pass a budget aimed at closing the state’s 26.3 billiondollar deficit.
They arrived in Singapore Thursday after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Thailand on Wednesday evening following a 0-0 draw with St Gallen of Switzerland and a 1-0 loss to Rapid Vienna. In the Thailand match a second-half strike by Sutee Suksomkit cancelled out an early opener from Ryan Babel but there was little goalmouth action to excite the crowd, with Liverpool looking decidedly rusty. They are clearly missing the talismanic Steven Gerrard, who is in court back home on charges of affray stemming from a nightclub incident last December. It didn’t get any better for manager Benitez, with defender Martin Skrtel (hamstring) and young Moroccan forward Nabil El Zhar (knee) injured in the Thailand match, with medical staff assessing how badly they have been hurt. “They were not the best conditions in Bangkok and the worst thing was to lose Skrtel and El Zhar,” said Benitez. “The idea of the game was to improve match fitness. So to lose
Onion torture SAN JUAN - Police in the Dominican Republic have been seizing people off the streets and torturing them by choking them with onions to obtain information about crimes, a human rights group alleges. Source: ap
Max Whittaker/Getty Images/Agence France-Presse
‘I’d get shot’ breaking into White House, Obama jokes Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama joked Wednesday that even he would get shot if he lost his keys and tried to break into the White House. He was answering a question about the arrest of his friend, prominent African-American Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who was handcuffed and detained after having to break into his home in the Massachusetts town of Cambridge. “I guess this is my house now. So it probably wouldn’t happen,” Obama said, looking around the ornate East Room and trying to put himself into a similar situation. “But let’s say my old house in Chicago,” he continued. “Here, I’d get shot,” he quipped, to
laughs from the gathered press corps. Turning serious though, the nation’s first African-American president castigated Cambridge police for the incident. “Now, I don’t know, not having been there, and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in this,” Obama told a press conference. “But, I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.” Cambridge police have already apologized to Gates, a leading expert on African-American relations, for the incident in which he was handcuffed outside his front door and spent four hours in detention.
two players is bad news.” The unsettled Xabi Alonso sat out the game with an ankle injury. The Spanish international has not failed to hide his desire to join Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka at Real Madrid while Chelsea have also expressed an interest in signing him. Meanwhile, Javier Mascherano’s agent has been quoted by South American media as saying the player was fed up with life in England and wanted to move to Barcelona. Benitez has made clear he wants both to stay but it is unsettling for the team. Vicecaptain Jamie Carragher is hoping for a swift end to the Alonso saga at least. “The feeling within the squad is that he is a top player and you do not want to lose your top players, and hopefully it can be sorted out as soon as possible,” said Carragher. “If the club thinks it is in their best interests (for him to move) sometimes you have to do what they think is best. We all go through these situations — well, hopefully not me — and as I said, I just hope it gets sorted out.”
Man Utd to offer Park new contract Agence France - Presse
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President Barack Obama smiles while responding to questions during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 22, 2009.
z Founder : K.Nadha, z Chief Editor: ABG Satria Naradha z Managing Editor: Wirata z Editors: Alit Purnata, Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Darmasunu, Daniel Fajry, Diah Dewi, Iwan Darmawan, Martinaya, Mawa, Palgunadi, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Sutiawan, Wirya, Yudi Winanto zDenpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Mas Ruscitadewi, Oka Rusmini, Umbu Landu Paranggi, Subagiadnya, Subrata, Suentra, Sumatika, Gregorius Rusmanda, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan, Tabanan: Surpi. Jakarta: Nikson, Suharto Olii, Indu P. Adi, Ahmadi Supriyanto, Achmad Nasrudin, Hardianto, Darmawan S. Sumardjo, Heru B Arifin, Asep Djamaluddin, Ade Irawan, Ipik Tanoyo. NTB: Agus Talino, Syamsudin Karim, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani, Nur Haedin, Suyadnya. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. z Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. z Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publiser: PT Bali Post
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Agence France - Presse
SINGAPORE - Rafael Benitez is facing a mini crisis at Liverpool with no wins in three pre-season games, a captain on trial for affray and his top midfield duo looking to leave the club. It is not ideal preparation for a team that senses its best chance to win the League title in 20 years.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks to reporters outside his office in July 22, 2009 in Sacramento, California. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders reached a budget deal Monday to close California’s $26 billion budget gap.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Rafa facing difficult period at Liverpool
Agence France-Presse
LOS ANGELES - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday defended a video on his Twitter page which shows him brandishing a huge hunting knife as he talks about the state’s budget crisis.
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SEOUL - The hard-working Park Ji-Sung is to be rewarded with a new contract by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who praised the South Korean midfielder’s intelligence and penetration on the field. Chief executive David Gill made the announcement at a press conference here Thursday, a day ahead of the Premier League champions’ preseason game against FC Seoul. “Discussions will take place,” Gill said of a player who became the first Asian to contest a Champions League final when he played in United’s 2-0 defeat to Barcelona last season. “We’re looking to extend the contract. Sir Alex and the coaches are very happy with him and Ji enjoys his time with us immensely. When it’s done it will be announced.” Park moved to Old Trafford in 2005 from PSV Eindhoven for four million pounds (6.6 million dollars) and his current contract runs out at the end of the forthcoming season. When asked if he wanted to play at
another club, he said in May: “I have no reason to move.” He has been crucial to United building a huge fan base in South Korea and despite a lack of preparation, is expected to play a part of their match here on Friday. “I feel he may be able to play some minutes but he’s not been with us (for the last few weeks) so he’s not done the same preparation as the rest of the players,” said Ferguson. “But I’m sure he’ll get a few minutes and that will be a big lift to the fans here in Korea.” Park has made 123 appearances for United and Ferguson took time to reflect on the qualities that first attracted him to the 28-year-old. “I went to see him play for PSV in two quarter-finals and we identified a player with great understanding of space,” he said. “When his team had the ball his movement was always clever and he had decisive penetration in attacking areas. We felt at the time that we needed a player who could penetrate in the last third and that’s why we brought him to Manchester United.”
AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn
Liverpool’s head coach Rafael Benitez wraps up a press conference in Bangkok on Monday July 20, 2009. Liverpool will play with Thailand’s national team in a friendly match on Wednesday.
Ronaldo to star in film about tragic Palestinian fan: report
Agence France - Presse
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil Brazil’s three-time world player of the year Ronaldo has agreed in principle to star in a film about a Palestinian child fan of his who dies in a refugee camp, it was reported on Wednesday. The 32-year-old two-time World Cup winner will be with his club Corinthians in the Middle East - for a September 15 friendly in the Palestinian Territories against fellow Brazilians Fluminense at the time that the film is set to be made in Lebanon. “Ronaldo signed an agreement in principle last week,” his agent Fabiano Farah told sports information provider ‘El Globo’. “A definitive agreement will be reached in September.” Ronaldo, though, has still to get permission from his club to act in the Iranian-directed film. The all-time leading World Cup scorer is to play a peace emissary, a role he has already played in reality as in May 2005 he spent several hours visiting the Palestinian Territories.
AFP
Brazil’s three-time world player of the year Ronaldo has agreed in principle to star in a film about a Palestinian child fan of his who dies in a refugee camp
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Sport
Friday, July 24, 2009
Bangladesh rare leopard renews hopes for species survival
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Hayden determined to keep Ducati ride Nicky Hayden says he wants to stay on at Ducati for 2010 as he is determined to get to grips with its bike despite his tough start. Like Casey Stoner’s previous team-mates at the Italian squad, Hayden has struggled to adapt his riding style to the Desmosedici. An accident in Qatar also set him back, but in recent events his form has improved, with a breakthrough fifth place at Laguna Seca and fourth on the grid - the best qualifying position for any of Stoner’s Ducati team-mates - in Germany. Whereas both Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri moved on from Ducati after just one difficult year alongside Stoner, Hayden says he hopes to convince Ducati to keep him on for another season. “It’s a two-year deal but it’s their option if they want to bring me back,” he told AUTOSPORT. “It’s been hard but now we’re making progress. I looked at this as a challenge from the beginning and I don’t want to give up. I want to say hey I conquered it, I was able to ride that bike, I was able to do it. We’ll see if they want
U.S rider Nicky Hayden waits for the start of the MotoGP practice session of the German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring circuit in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany, Saturday, July 18, 2009. AP Photo/Roberto Pfeil
Raikkonen: Hungary is big opportunity
Kimi Raikkonen believes the Hungarian Grand Prix will be one of Ferrari’s best chances to fight at the front this season. Monte Carlo was Raikkonen’s strongest race of the year so far, and he reckons the similarly twisty Hungaroring will prove equally well-suited to the Ferrari - which he thinks could prove crucial as the team is set to switch its focus to 2010 soon afterwards. “The next race will definitely be the most similar one to the one at Monaco,” said Raikkonen. “This year we gained a place on the podium at Monaco and this is our objective for Budapest. We were able to fight for the pole [in Monaco] until the last moment and I think
that if we had gained it, the race would have gone in a completely different direction.” But he acknowledged that with all the teams having carried out significant development programmes since Monte Carlo, form on the street track back in May might no longer be relevant this weekend. “We’ll retry in Hungary, but it will be difficult,” said the former champion. “The F60 should adapt pretty well to the track, but we know that all the other teams have improved their cars considerably after the race at Monaco, so there will be fierce competition. We’ll get a better picture of the situation on Friday morning after the first free practice.” Team boss Stefano Domenicali
revealed that Ferrari would switch most of its efforts to its 2010 car “in the next couple of weeks”, and Raikkonen admitted that the remainder of 2009 could prove tough with development on the disappointing F60 set to conclude. “We’ve been working hard to close the gap we had since the start between us and the leaders; naturally also all the others have been improving their cars,” he said. “Furthermore with the fact that we can’t test this year during the championship it’s even more difficult to make up ground. How the season’s second part will go also depends on the decision of how to use the resources, because the work on next year’s car is now already in full swing.”
to bring me back.” He admitted that so far he had probably not done enough to earn a contract extension. “I know at some stage I’m going to have to put up some results, I know fifth and eighth probably isn’t going to be enough to get Marlboro or Ducati - they might want to try somebody else at that spot,” said Hayden. “We’ll see, but I’m not too worried about that. Obviously you worry about your future and what’s going on but I think we can continue.” Hayden’s Sachsenring weekend
went downhill after he crashed heavily both late in qualifying - collecting Niccolo Canepa in the process - and in the warm-up, and his strong fourth on the grid only translated to an eighth place finish. He reckoned that he had got carried away and pushed too hard in his hurry to turn his season around. “I believe in myself a lot. That’s maybe what caught me out a bit in Germany and why I crashed a couple of times,” said Hayden. “I saw the front and thought I can be there this weekend, got a bit excited and threw it away making a mistake. But I believe in myself fully, that’s not what I’m lacking. But sitting around here saying it is one thing, doing on Sunday is always a different story. Saying it doesn’t mean much, I’ve got to go and do it and prove it. But I think I can.”
Friday, July 24, 2009 Japanese soldiers and firefighters work around a house that was hit by a torrential mudslide at Hofu, southern Japan, on Wednesday July 22, 2009. Hundreds of police, soldiers and rescue workers searched Thursday for nine people missing after torrential rains triggered floods and landslides in southern Japan.
Bali’s Police Department tighten coastal area
Malaysian woman accepts flogging for drinking beer
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Hayden determined to keep Ducati ride
Associated Press
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Death toll rises to 11 from Japan landslides, floods
AP Photo/Kyodo News
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22 - 32
JAKARTA
24 - 34
BANDUNG
19 - 29
YOGYAKARTA
23 - 32
SURABAYA
23 - 34
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TOKYO - Rescue workers recovered a woman’s body Thursday from mud and rubble that filled a nursing home after a landslide, raising to 11 the death toll after heavy rains hit western Japan, police said.
Soldiers, police and emergency services staff continued their search for seven people still missing in the aftermath of floods and landslides triggered two days ago by rainy-season torrential downpours in the region. “Search operations are getting more and more difficult, but we are working on the assumption that there are survivors,” said a police spokes-
man by telephone from hard-hit Yamaguchi prefecture on Honshu island. One person was still missing on the mud-filled ground floor of the nursing home where at least six people died when a large landslide Tuesday hit the building in Hofu City, 750 kilometres (470 miles) west of Tokyo. Continued on page 6
KUALA LUMPUR - A Malaysian woman sentenced to flogging for drinking beer has accepted the Islamic court’s order, saying she wants the punishment to be carried out soon, news reports said Thursday. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old model, was arrested on charges of drinking beer after Islamic authorities raided a hotel nightclub last year. She was sentenced Monday to six lashes with a rattan cane after pleading guilty in the Shariah High Court. Consuming alcohol is a religious offense in Malaysia only for Muslims, who make up nearly twothirds of the population. Offenders are prosecuted in Shariah courts, which handle cases mainly related to family and moral issues for Muslims.
Continued on page 6
MALAYSIA OUT AFP PHOTO / BERNAMA NEWS AGENCY
This picture taken on 20 July, 2009 shows Singaporean Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno looking on at the Sharia High Court in Kuantan, Pahang State