Thursday, December 27, 2012

16 Pages Number 85th year

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

DPs 23 - 32

EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Continued on page 6

The queen said she was struck by the “strength of fellowship and friendship” shown by well-wishers to mark her 60 years on the throne. “It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago,” she said as foot-age showed crowds lining the Thames River in the rain earlier this year for a boat pageant. “People of all ages took the trouble to take part in various ways and in many nations.”

The queen also reflected on Britain’s host-ing of the Olympic games in 2012, praising the “skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes” and singling out the volun-teers who devoted themselves “to keeping others safe, supported and comforted.”

Elizabeth’s message aired shortly after she attended a traditional church service at St. Mary Magdelene Church on her sprawling Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Wearing a turquoise coat and matching hat, the monarch rode to church in a Bentley,

accompanied by granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie. Her husband, Prince Philip, walked from the house to the church with other members of the royal family.

Three familiar faces were missing from the family outing. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury. Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.

After the church service, the royals usually gather to watch the queen’s prerecorded tele-vision broadcast, a tradition that began with a radio address by King George V in 1932.

The queen has made a prerecorded Christ-mas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on tele-vision since 1957. She writes the speeches her-self and the broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation. Her switch to 3D was not the only technological leap for prominent British figures this Christmas.

Associated Press Writer

BOSTON — Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for John Kerry’s seat in the U.S. Senate, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.

Affleck says in a Monday posting on his Facebook page that while he loves the political process, he will not be running for public office.

Speculation about the Massachusetts native rose slightly when he did not completely rule out a Senate bid during an appearance on CBS on Sunday.

In his Facebook posting, Affleck says he would continue working with the Eastern Congo Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps direct humanitar-ian aid to the war-torn region, and for other causes. Affleck says Kerry would make a great secretary of state.

Sen. John Kerry D-Mass., speaks with actor Ben Affleck during a meeting with foreign relations members to discus the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.

Ben Affleck says he won’t run for US Senate

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Queen delivers 1st Christmas message in 3DAssociated Press Writer

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has hailed the holidays in a new dimension, delivering her Christmas message for the first time in 3D. In the annual, prerecorded broadcast, the monarch paid tribute to the armed forces, “whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends” over the holidays, and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of enthusiasm for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from children after attending

the British royal family’s traditional Christmas

Day church service in Sandringham, England, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012.

Iran rejects interference accusation by Gulf Arabs

Associated Press

TOKYO — Japan’s parliament elected Shinzo Abe as the nation’s prime minister on Wednesday, ending three years of rule by liberal administrations and bringing back to power the conservative, pro-big business party that has run Japan for most of the post-World War II era.

Abe, whose nationalist positions have in the past angered Japan’s neighbors, is the country’s seventh prime minister in just over six years. He has prom-ised to restore growth to an economy that has been struggling for 20 years.

He led the Liberal Democratic Party to victory in nationwide elections Dec. 16 to cement his second term as Japan’s leader. He was also prime minister in 2006-2007 before resigning for health reasons that he says are no longer an issue.

He won elections in both houses of Parliament, though in the less powerful upper house, where his party is weaker, he finished second in the first round and needed a runoff to win. He was to name his Cabinet later Wednesday.

Shinzo Abe returns as Japan’s prime minister

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party lead-er Shinzo Abe bows after being named Japan’s new prime minister during the plenary session at the lower house of Parliament in Tokyo, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012.AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) of Bali, Prof. Nyo-man Suparta, said that up to now Bali had not owned a holistic design of agricultural development. According to him, the agricul-tural development in Bali should not only be viewed in terms of economic aspect but also in terms of social, cultural, customary and environmental aspect. “It distinguishes the agriculture in Bali from the ones in other

regions. Agriculture does not only include crops, but also livestock, estate and fishery. Basically, farmers are also breeders or fish farmers and do not merely implement the program of central government but in fact does not meet the local potential,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that agricultural de-velopment should include a number of aspects such as the physical, earth, institution system of subak, quality of human resources, educa-tion, counseling, mindset, behavior, entrepre-neurship, technology application, processing,

capital, markets and marketing system in an integrated way. “Agriculture in Bali must be built with maturely designed planning, while the relation to tourism and industry sectors should be programmed holistically,” he said.

According to him, the welfare of farmers should also be built in an integrated manner. For instance, the integrated agricultural sys-tem (Simantri) should not only be based on the pattern, but also on the proper concept. “The pattern may change, but the concept application must be pervasive into various

patterns. This can make the Simantri group fail. Indigenous wisdom of subak should be empowered to make sustainable and give welfare to farmers, union of farmer groups (Gapoktan) must be deleted and replaced with subak and yield of tourism should be distributed evenly to agricultural sector to nearly meet 10 percent of the budget share. The role of agricultural NGOs should be maximized to make the life pattern of farm-ers independent,” he explained.

Bali has not had holistically designed agricultural development

Continued on page 6

Pope’s Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China

Liverpool’s sterling commits to England over Jamaica

International2 Thursday, December 27, 2012 15International Activities

Bali News

Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Diah Dewi Juniarti Editors: Gugiek Savindra,Alit Susrini, Alit Sumertha, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sri Hartini, Suana, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Pujawan, Buleleng: Adnyana, Gianyar: Agung Dharmada, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Bali Putra Ariawan. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Development: Alit Purnata, Mas Ruscitadewi. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Tele-phone (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.

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

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

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

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Calendar Event for December 12 through December 27, 2012

Thursday, December 27, 2012

12 Des Buda Keliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Banjar Pu-lasari Desa Peninjoan Tembuku - BangliPura Pasek Gelgel Boading Kaba-kaba TabananPura Pemayun Banyuning Te n -gah - BulelengPura Desa Kayangan Tiga Desa Bubunan Seririt - BulelengPura Agung Gunung Raung Ban-jar Taro Kaja Taro - TegalalangMerajan Pasek Dangka Bungbun-gan

22 Des Hari Tumpek Wayang Pura Majapahit JembranaOdalan Betara ratu Gede Celuk SukawatiOdalan Betara Ratu Wedyadari Camenggaon SukawatiPura Panti Gelgel Pengembun-gan Sesetan DenpasarBetara Ratu Alit dan Ratu Lingsir Singakerta UbudPura Pedarmaan Dalem Suka-wati BesakihPura Pedarmaan Mengwi Be-sakihPura Pedarmaan Kaba-kaba BesakihPura Pedarmaan dalem Bakas BesakihPura Dadia Agung Pasek Gelgel

Pegatepan Gelgel KlungkungPura Pemrajan Agung Sulang Kec Dawan KlungkungMerajan Pasek Bendesa Kori Agung PengatepanPura Pedarmaan Dinasti dalem sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan P u r a Besakih (Dalem Klungkung)Pura Penataran Giri Purwa dan Pesraman Dusun Kuto Rejo Kendal Rejo Tegal Delimo Banyu-angi

26 Des Buda Wage Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Pa-dang KarangasemPura Melanting Desa Cameng-gaon SukawatiPura Penataran Ped Nusa Peni-daPura Pasek Gelgel Pangembun-gan Bongkase AbiansemalPura Pasek Bendesa Reyang Gede Penebel TabananPura Pasek Gelgel Br. Jawa Ten-gah BulelengPura Gaduhan Jagat Desa Sin-gakerta UbudPura Masceti Tegeh Mancawarna Sanding TampaksiringPura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan KlungkungPura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Gobleg Desa Kedonganan Kuta

Pura Goa BesakihPura Basukian BesakihPenataran Agung BesakihMerajan Pasek Gelgel PejengMerajan Pasek Gelgel SonganMerajan Pasek Prateka Pekan-delan SidemenMerajan Pasek Prateka Taman Sari SukasadaPura dadia Pasek Gelgel Side-men KarangasemMerajan Pasek Gelgel Tampua-gan, Tembuku, Bangli

27 Des Purnama Kepitu Pr. Benua Besakih.Pura Dalem Desa Camenggaon - SukawatiPura Suranadhi LombokPura Narmada LombokPura Segara Ampenan LombokMr Agung Dewa Agung Klung-kung Ulah SidemenPura Gunungrene S i d e m e n - Karangasem.Merajan Pasek Gelgel AbabiMr. Pasek gelgel TistaPura Gunung Gunung - Tianyar - Kubu - KarangasemPura Pingit Klenting sari Banjar Sumberkelompok - Gerokgak - SingarajaPura Payogan Agung Kutai Kartanegara

IBP/Courtesy of Dynasty Resort

Bali Dynasty Resort scores a “Hat Trick”

IBP

As the year draws to a close the Bali Dynasty resort is celebrating its’ latest 3 accolades which have been awarded in December. Among others; Bali Dynasty resort was recognised by the Travel Corporation and awarded a Gold Plaque in recognition of the resorts’ outstanding partnership and cooperation throughout 2012 enabling it to become the number one supporter in Bali. The Travel Corporation encompasses both New Horizons Holidays and Creative Holidays and is one of the biggest wholesaler producers of room nights out of Australia to Bali.

Bali Dynasty Resort also have an award as the Best Family Resort in Indonesia as recognised by the Indo-nesian Tourism and Travel Awards for 2102/13 which was conducted through an online poll as well as final selection committee who re-viewed the hotels credentials and feedback from guests.

Earlier in the year the Bali Dynasty Resort also received recognition from Holiday With Kids as the best Family Resort in Bali as voted by Holiday with Kids, an Australian holiday publication.

Over the past year the resort has focused on fur-ther enhancing its’ facili-ties to create an even more memorable family experi-ence with the addition of the new Kids Water Fun Zone with its’ giant bucket and water cannons as well as the introduction of the

High Flyer Trapeze School, a thrilling experience for all the family which helps over-comes inhibitions and builds self confidence. In addition to this the resort has also launched the Ashoka Spa in June 2012 which offers a variety of spa treatments which also focus on treat-ments for him and her, as well as for children.

The resort continues to enhance its product offer-ing through an activity pro-gramme which runs seven days a week for all ages as well as in the Teen Club and Kids Club offering an array of activities from vil-lage walks, water volley-ball, towel origami lessons, Indonesian lessons where you cook your own authentic Balinese lunch leaving not a dull moment for those look-ing for more of a holiday experience than just lying around the pool.

According to the graduate of Faculty of Agriculture, Udayana University, Bali government and county/municipality should work hand in hand with universities in re-solving the agricultural problems in Bali. He pointed out that government might ask universities to carry out research whose results could be ap-plied by Balinese farmer community to improve the quality and quantity of the agricultural production.

Meanwhile, local governments should help fund the research including having an obligation to socialize the result of research to farmers and facilitate it so that it could be applied in the field. “If synergy between the government and universities can be made prop-erly, I am optimistic the agricultural development will be more focused

and can improve the welfare of farmers in Bali. Universities have knowledge and technology that can be applied by farmers, while the government has fund to help apply the results of research conducted by universities in the field,” he said.

This people’s representative from Buleleng added both government and universities had actually moved to empower the agricultural sector in Bali. Unfortunately, the parties sup-porting the successful development of the agricultural sector seemed to run independently, so that the result achieved was never optimal. If the great potential possessed by both parties could come along, there would be great hope if synergy of both parties could create a better condition for the agricultural devel-opment in Bali. “In the future, the

synergy must be established. Do not work independently,” he reminded.

The hope of Kariyasa Adnyana was positively responded by an agricultural researcher and observer from the Udayana University, Dr. G.N. Alit Susanta Wirya. This doctoral graduate from a university in Japan did not deny that synergy between researchers and local gov-ernments to apply the results of research to farmer remained low. Such synergy needed improving. As a researcher, his party actu-ally had a great interest so that the results of research carried out with great difficulty could be adopted by farmers. “In this context, we really need the participation of local gov-ernments to disseminate and apply the results of research to farmers,” he affirmed. (kmb13)

Generate agricultural sector

Local govt should increase synergy with universitiesDenpasar (Bali Post)—

To raise the increasingly worse agricultural sector, it was time for local government in Bali to increase the synergy with universities, particularly those having the Faculty of Agriculture. To make a binding synergy, it would be much more effective if the govern-ment and universities signed a kind of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with full obligations and responsibilities that should be executed by the parties. Deputy Chairman of Commission Iv of Bali House, Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, revealed the matter to Bali Post on Tuesday (Dec 25).

IBP/File

A woman is working in her ricefield. It is time for local government in Bali to increase the synergy with universities, particularly those having the Faculty of Agriculture to develop farming in the island.

Avalanche on Jalan Bypass SoekarnoClogs river channel, inundates Beji Mumbul templeTabanan (Bali Post)—

Avalanche on Jalan Bypass Su-karno, Tabanan, did not only inter-fere with the traffic flows. After the disaster, the Beji Mumbul temple at Dukuh hamlet, Dauh Peken village, Tabanan, was inundated on Tuesday (Dec 25). Such condition made local customary villagers anxious. If coming to sink, it would need a grandiose ritual.

Inundation to the sacred temple was triggered by avalanche block-ing the river channel. Since it was clogged, the water turned stagnant and overflowed. Within hours, the water discharge continued to rise. Even, until 4:00 p.m. last Tuesday, the water was soaking the temple gate. Within few more spans, the water could penetrate the innermost courtyard. “We have reported this to the road project leader. Without im-

mediate handling, the Beji Temple will sink, even collapses as inun-dated by water,” said a pilgrim of Beji Mumbul Temple, Gede Ketut Munggah, 68, last Tuesday.

The man explained the Beji Mumbul Temple was venerated by a number of customary hamlets around Dauh Peken. Every ritual, people always invoked holy water to the temple. The temple activities paralyzed because the water inun-dated the entrance and the fountain. In later afternoon, said Ketut Gede Munggah, surface of the water dis-charge was getting higher.

He told the disaster afflicting the Beji Temple started when an avalanche occurred to Jalan Bypass Soekarno on Sunday af-ternoon (Dec 23). Incidentally, the river channel under the avalanched road passed next to Beji Temple.

When the flow was clogged, the water overflowed and kindled the flooding. Representing the temple pilgrims, he hoped the government could quickly clean up the landslide materials especially the ones ham-pered the streams so that the Beji Temple would not be drowned. “If it sinks, we must spend much money for ritual and repairing the infrastructure,” he said.

Request for improvement accel-eration to the avalanched roads was also conveyed by Deputy Director of Traffic Affairs of Bali Police, AA Made Sudana. He asked the Bali Public Works to improve it more quickly. However, the quality standards had to be addressed. “The sooner the work, the better will be. It is related to interprovincial high-way users,” said the former Chief of Tabanan Police amidst his visit

to the avalanche site.Meanwhile, the Bali Public

Works still found difficulty in re-pairing the avalanched road. Two units of heavy equipment deployed since the incident were unable to find the buried river channel. “We’ve done dredging quite deeply. However, the water line cannot be found yet,” said the officer of Bali Highways Division, Agung Sukarja.

According to him, if the buried water line was found, the work would be focused on the smooth-ness of the river flow. Thus, it would not trigger any flooding and inundate the Beji Temple. The man explained if the buried water line was just five meters wide. However, its depth could not be predicted. If the river channel was found, the repair process would use gabion

box. The material would consist of a mixture of wire and cast stone. The construction was predicted to last up to six months. After that, it would be considered a repair pro-cess as a whole.

Jalan Bypass Soekarno at kilo-meter post 30, Dauh Peken village, Tabanan, avalanched on Sunday afternoon (Dec 23). This national road avalanched along 48 meters and 3.5 meters wide with a depth of 20 meters. There was no loss of lives in the incident. As a result, the traffic from Denpasar to Gilimanuk was diverted from Kediri intersec-tion to Tabanan town. Based on the analysis of the Public Works official, the avalanche was trig-gered by seepage of water under the road. As a result, the backfill turned loose, unstable and then triggered the avalanche. (kmb30)

3Thursday, December 27, 201214 InternationalInternational Bali NewsScience Thursday, December 27, 2012

Antara

DENPASAR - Bali tourism businessmen presumably reduced the use of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco imports. They have now started offering local prod-ucts, such as local spirits.

According to the Assistant Di-rector of the representative office of Bank Indonesia Region III, Sunarto, during the period Janu-ary to July 2012, the amount of foreign exchange spent to import food and alcoholic beverages de-creased. The amount is relatively small, amounting to about 650 thousand dollars. “Foreign ex-change issued to import food and booze during January-July 2012 for example relatively small, i.e. only 650 thousand US dollars,” said Sunarto.

In a report on the study of re-gional economy of Bali, foreign exchange expenditure mentioned in order to buy food and drink imports for seven months in 2012 only 650 thousand dollars less than the previously reached 16 million dollars in 2007.

Reduced imports of alcoholic beverages for foreign tourists, presumably because travelers are

like to try alcoholic beverages which are local production. Lo-cal production is generally made from the native fruit of Bali.

Thanks to the guidance of the officers and the hard efforts of the farmers, there are beverages that produced to support alcohol con-sumption of foreign tourists who come to the island of the Gods.

The original frui t of Bali that is able to be processed into drinks and presented to tour-ists who are on holiday to Bali, among others, a drink made of grape, salak, strawberry, ginger, cashew nuts and bananas.

Antara

DENPASAR - Hundreds of foreign tourists attended a Christmas Mass at St Fran-siskus Xaverius Paroki church in Badung district on Christ-mas Eve, where the Mass was delivered in both Indonesian and English.

On Monday, at 6pm local time, the Christmas Mass in English was led by Romo Se-bastianus Yordan Ado, Pr.

Later, at 10pm, the Mass in Indonesian was led by Romo

Hady Setiawan, Pr.The next day, on Christmas,

Romo Hady Setiawan, Pr deliv-ered two Masses in Indonesian at 7am and 9.30 am local time.

Meanwhile, Bandung police office deputy chief, Commis-sioner Sang Gede Sukawi-yasa, said the Christmas Eve activities in the district `went smoothly`.

“To ensure security dur-ing Christmas and New Year celebrations, Bali Police are conducting Candle Operation 2012,” he added.

IBP/Net

The photo shows product of wine salak that made from Salak Bali, one of Bali’s local fruits that already famous in tourism industry. Bali tour-ism businessmen presumably reduced the use of food, alco-holic drinks and tobacco im-ports. They have now started offering local products, such as local spirits.

Christmas mass in Kuta delivered in English

Bali tourism businessmen serve local beveragesIn fact, prominent climate sci-

entist James Hansen, of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and colleagues published research saying recent heat waves “were a consequence of global warming, be-cause their likelihood in the absence of global warming was exceedingly small.” Some other climate scien-tists, however, disagreed about the degree to which heat waves can be attributed to climate change.

Meanwhile, many of the top climate stories this year have be-come something like annual rites recently, as people around the world grapple with human-caused climate change, and attempt to address it and its effects.

Natural disasters, such as Hur-ricane Sandy (actually a hybrid storm) this year like others last year, have sparked discussion of the connection between climate change and increased risk for some extreme weather events. A major-ity of Americans also seem to be making the connection between ex-treme weather and climate change, according to surveys by the Yale Project on Climate Change Com-munication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.

In reality, attributing any single weather event to global warming is tricky, though some scientists said the planet’s increasing temperatures may have worsened Sandy. “The climate influences on this are what we might call the ‘new normal,’ the changed environment this storm is operating in,” Kevin Trenberth, who heads the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Live-Science at the end of October. For instance, the warmer ocean surfaces — which fuel hurricanes — may increase the risk that a storm will become more intense, Trenberth said. In addition, rising sea levels worsen the risk of flooding, the cause of much of the devastation Sandy wrought.

Likewise, global climate talks moved forward slowly, as they have in the last few years, against warnings that nations must curb the planet’s rising greenhouse gas emissions or face dramatic consequences.

This year also brought some milestones. Arctic sea-ice cover retreated to a record low in Sep-tember. As with unusually warm-ing temperatures, the record sea-ice retreat did not come out of the

blue. In recent years, the sea-ice cover has fallen below the aver-age extent for 1979 to 2000, and, likewise, the first decade of this century was the warmest decade ever recorded in all continents of the globe, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Scientists who study sea ice have blamed a combination of natural fluctuations and human-caused warming for the increased loss of ice, although some differ as to how much humans have con-tributed, Claire Parkinson, a se-nior scientist who studies climate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in September.

Early in the year, the United States, once the biggest contribu-tor to greenhouse gas emissions, saw its carbon-dioxide emissions from energy use drop to the low-est level since 1992, a decline the Department of Energy attributed to a mild winter, a shift from coal to natural gas and a slow economy. In 2011, the United States con-tributed 16 percent to the world’s emissions from fossil fuel use, behind the 28 percent contribution from the top emitter, now China, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project.

According to Chairman of the MMDP of Denpasar, Made Ka-rim, the decision would become a reference for customary villages across Denpasar in disciplining the use of fireworks in their area. He explained the decision would be followed up in accordance with the local situation, time and subject. “Every area has a particular policy, but still aims to maintain the security and or-der ahead of the New Year,” he explained.

Karim also appealed not to use the large size fireworks or

firecrackers. It was based on consideration that they were very hazardous to users and people in the surroundings. “The use of firecrackers or fireworks of smaller size can be tolerated. But most importantly, fireworks or firecrackers of larger size should be banned because they are very hazardous,” he said.

According to Karim, the follow-up of one customary village to another would be different. In other words, they could be different in delivering the policy or providing action against the offenders. “The

policy will be in accordance with each village, time and subject. Probably, the policy will concern with the time when setting off firecrackers is not allowed or the action taken against violation in each region,” he said.

Under the Joint Decree, the decision was made to keep the se-curity on the celebration of New Year at customary village because the use of firecrackers, fireworks and the like frequently caused accidents each year. They were quite disturbing society physi-cally and mentally. (kmb12)

Ahead of New Year

Customary village across Denpasar bans the use of firecrackersDenpasar (Bali Post)—

After the police authority in this case the Bali Police banned the use of fireworks or firecrack-ers to celebrate the New Year, the Denpasar customary village also implemented a similar ban. Pursuant to joint decision of the Customary Village Medium Assembly (MMDP) of Denpasar and the Meeting of Denpasar Customary Village Chief, the use of firecrackers, fireworks and the like within the territory of Denpasar customary village was banned. In other words, the use of firecrackers and fireworks was banned across Denpasar area ahead of the New Year.

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES — Volunteers who patrol California beaches for plastic, cigarette butts and other litter will be on the lookout this winter for flotsam from last year’s monstrous tsunami off Japan’s coast. Armed with index-size cards, beachcombers will log water bottles, buoys, fishing gear and other possessions that might have sailed across the Pacific to the 1,100-mile shoreline.

The March 2011 disas ter washed about 5 million tons of debris into the sea. Most of that sank, leaving an estimated 1 1/2 million tons afloat. No one knows how much debris — strewn across an area three times the size of the United States — is still adrift.

Tsunami flotsam has already touched the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii this year. The West Coast is bracing for more sight-ings in the coming months as sea-sonal winds and coastal currents tend to drive marine wreckage ashore.

Like the past winter, scientists expect the bulk of the debris to end up in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and British Co-lumbia. Last week, the Coast Guard spotted a massive dock that possibly came from Japan on a wilderness beach in Wash-ington state.

Given recent storm activity, Northern California could see

“scattered and intermittent” episodes, said Peter Murphy, a marine debris expert at the Na-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which recently received a $5 million donation from Japan to track and remove tsunami debris.

To prepare, state coastal regu-lators have launched a cleanup project to document possible tsunami items that churn ashore. Working with environmental groups, volunteers will scour beaches with a checklist. It’s like a typical beach cleanup, but the focus will be to locate articles from Japan.

Until now, efforts in California have been haphazard. The goal is to organize tsunami debris clean-ups at least once every season stretching from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border and then posting the findings online.

Debris from Asia routinely floats to the U.S. It’s extremely difficult to link something back to the Japanese tsunami without a serial number, phone number or other marker.

Of the more than 1,400 tsu-nami debris sightings reported to NOAA, the agency only traced 17 pieces back to the event, includ-ing small fishing boats, soccer balls, a dock and a shipping con-tainer housing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Japanese license plates. No confirmed tsunami debris so far has reached Cali-fornia.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File

FILE -In this file photo from Wednesday, June 6, 2012, a man looks at a 70-foot-long dock with Japanese lettering that washed ashore on Agate Beach in Newport, Ore.

IBP/ist

The Hottest Climate Change Stories of 2012

Global warming was hot news this year, literally. Perhaps the most unavoidable climate story of 2012 was the warmth that gripped much of the United States, and to a lesser degree, the planet, throughout the entire year. Heat waves brought “spring in March” to parts of the country, and broke all-time high-temperature records in a number of places. This, inevitably, led to a discussion of global warming and the degree to which it contributes to some types of extreme weather, in this case heat waves.

West Coast girds for more tsunami debris in winter

U.S. moves to sell advanced spy drones to South Korea

Bali News International4 Thursday, December 27, 2012 Thursday, December 27, 2012 13International RLDW

The communique did not elabo-rate, but the most common Gulf Arab complaint relates to Bahrain, which has repeatedly accused Tehran of interference in its internal politics by provoking protests.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokes-man Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed the statement. “Shifting the respon-sibility for the domestic problems of the regional countries is a way of running away from reality, and blam-ing others or using oppressive meth-ods are not the right ways to answer civil demands,” he said, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

The oil-producing GCC states wield influence out of proportion to their sparse populations due in part

to global energy and investment links, generous international aid and Saudi Arabia’s role as home to Islam’s two holiest sites. Iran sees the Gulf as its own backyard and believes it has a legitimate interest in expanding its influence there.

In Manama, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa told reporters on Tuesday that Iran posed a “very serious threat”.

“Politically, (there is) lots of med-dling in the affairs of GCC states; an environmental threat to our region from the technology used inside nu-clear facilities; and there is of course the looming nuclear programme,” he said, referring to Iran’s disputed atomic work.

Reuters WASHINGTON - The Obama administration

formally proposed a controversial sale of advanced spy drones to help South Korea bear more of its defense from any attack by the heavily armed North.

Seoul has requested a possible $1.2 billion sale of four Northrop Grumman Corp RQ-4 “Global Hawk” remotely piloted aircraft with enhanced surveillance capabilities, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement dated on Monday and distributed on Tuesday.

South Korea needs such systems to assume top responsibility for intelligence-gathering from the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command as scheduled in 2015, the security agency said in releasing a notice to U.S. lawmakers. “The proposed sale of the RQ-4 will maintain adequate intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities and will ensure the alliance is able to monitor and deter regional threats in 2015 and beyond,” the notice said.

The United States has agreed with Seoul to turn over the wartime command of Korean troops later this decade. Current arrangements grew from the U.S. role in the 1950-1953 Korean War that repelled

a North Korean takeover of the South.

Seoul has shown interest in the high-altitude, long-endurance Global Hawk platform for at least four years. The system, akin to Lockheed Martin Corp’s U-2 spy plane, may be op-timized to scan large areas for stationary and moving targets by day or night and despite cloud cover.

It transmits imagery and other data from 60,000 feet at near real-time speed, us-ing electro-optical, infrared and radar-imaging sensors built by Raytheon Co.

The possible sale has been held up by discussions involving price, aircraft con-figuration and a go-slow on release of such technology subject to a voluntary 34-nation arms control pact.

Reuters

YANGON - Myanmar’s presi-dent called on Wednesday for a shake-up in the running of his fast-changing country, which he said was still mired in corruption and inefficiency and lagging behind its international peers.

Thein Sein, the unlikely reform-er to emerge from within a military junta 19 months ago, called for big improvements across Myanmar’s outdated bureaucracy to strengthen democracy and the economy, as for-eign firms weigh whether to invest in the resource-rich country.

“ W h e n i t comes to mea-su r ing good g ove r n a n c e , o u r c o u n t r y still falls far shor t o f the international standards,” the former general told a meeting of cabinet min-isters, regional l e a d e r s a n d civi l service chiefs aired on television and radio.

“ T h e r e i s still a lack of

the characteristics of clean gov-ernment and good governance ... reforms are needed from the grassroots to the union (national) levels.”

World leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama have praised Thein Sein for spearheading political, democratic and social reforms since the military stopped ruling, but his government faces problems in rid-ding Myanmar of its reputation for being an army-dominated state and a risky place to do business.

Western diplomats and analysts believe the central government has

the pol i t ical will to drive re-forms but ques-tion the limits of its influence, pointing to sev-eral standoffs wi th par l i a -ment, sectar-ian violence i n R a k h i n e state, heavy-handed police and the presi-dent’s inability to halt fight-ing between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels as signs o f p rob lems ahead.

Iran rejects interference accusation by Gulf ArabsReuters

DUBAI - Iran rejected accusations from Gulf Arab states that it was meddling in their affairs, saying those countries were “running away from reality”, an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. Six U.S.-allied states demanded Iran end what they called interference in the region, in a statement on Tuesday at the end of a two-day summit of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reiterating a long-held mistrust of their main rival.

REUTERS/Caren FirouzIranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast speaks with a Reuters correspondent during an interview in Tehran June 29, 2011.

REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Bobbi Zapka/HandoutAn undated U.S. Air Force handout photo of a RQ-4 Global Hawk un-manned aircraft.

Reformist leader says Myanmar needs transformation

REUTERS/Samrang PringMyanmar’s President Thein Sein at-tends a session of the 21st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh November 18, 2012.

Tabanan (Bali Post) –

The residents around Mandung final waste disposal (TPA) at Sembung Gede Village, Kerambitan, seened shocked last Tuesday (25/12) as dried rubbishes started to caught fire and spread to other piles of rubbishes. The TPA workers tried to turn it off with limited equipments yet it failed. Later on, Four fire brigades were sent to turn off the fire yet the fire got bigger. At least 10 tanks of water were needed to kill the fire in several hours. “At first were only a tiny smoke yet later it spread everywhere,” Nengah Wirata (45), one of the TPA workers, explained.

During the incident, Wirata was taking a break at the office. As he saw the smoke, he straight away called the fire brigade knowing that the fire is on the east wall which is the near-est to a resident’s land. This spot was hard to reach yet fire brigades managed to turn and search for the place. This fire hasn’t been the first one; several days ago the same happened to a spot not far from this recent one. It is suspected the dry weather that caused it. The workers here have continuously checked every pile of rubbishes and declined that this inci-dent has anything to do with sabotaging TPA workers. “It is possible due to the rubbishes overload so it is flammable,” Wirata concluded. (kmb30)

Negara (Bali Post) –

Jembrana Police Officers last Monday (24/12) confiscated hundreds of fireworks from a number of shops as those shops couldn’t show their official distributor permit. Some of the fireworks are big size and contains high explosive. Head of Jembrana Police Public Relation, APC Wayan Setiayajaya, as permitted by Head of Jembrana Police GAPC Komang Sandi Arsana last Tuesday (25/12) stated that these shops got it from a local distributor such as from Java and Denpasar also has no permits in selling it. Those evidences were then brought to Jembrana Police Headquarters. Before an announcement letter from Indonesia Police and Bali Po-lice connected to not sell any fireworks and fire crackers have been sent. (kmb26)

Precisely at 9:00 a.m., the Christ-mas mass was commenced. Hun-dreds of Catholics adults and chil-dren flocked to church. Process of the Christmas mass was led by Fa-ther Dinong from Batunya, Baturiti. Like Christmas celebration in other Catholic churches, spiritual hymns were chanted during the mass. Congregations solemnly listened to the sermon of Father Dinong. In essence, it was in memory of the birth of Jesus to save mankind. The mass was ended with distribution of bread of Mary by Father Dinong. One by one, people come forward to the altar and received the distribu-tion of sacred bread.

Chairman of the church, Patris I Ketut Suka Wiratnaja, said the Christmas mass was regularly held every year. There was no specific theme highlighted in the Christmas this year. Hopefully, the peaceful Christmas could bring prosperity to mankind. According to him, the congregation of St. Mikhail Church

came to 40 families with a total of 146 people. He explained the church established in 1976 was no longer able to accommodate the congregation. Moreover, many con-gregations from outside the village also came to church to celebrate Christmas.

He added the church deliber-ately applied Balinese ornament style, starting from arched en-trance to split gates because most congregations of the church were Balinese people. Therefore, it remained to use local sculpture. Nevertheless, it did not change the meaning of the Christian gospel, where one of which was Jesus on a cross. Church decorations during Christmas also made use of local materials such as young coconut leaf and palm leaf. Other local cultures were still in prac-tice such as ngejot or sharing food before Christmas to Hindus neighbors. Like the Hindus, the local Christians also slaughtered

pigs, prepared lawar delicacy and various other dishes on Christmas. “It’s a part of preserving Balinese culture,” he said.

Catholic Christianity began at Piling hamlet in 1955 with the presence of Christian Pastor. In harmony with the passage of time, the number of congregation in-creased. As a result, in 1976 Pastor Zeberger from Germany established St. Mikhail Church. This fourth pastor at Piling made the church like a temple style. One of which it adopted the bale kulkul or wooden split drum tower. Painting of Jesus on the cross also implemented Ba-linese style.

Another solemn Christmas celebration was the one held in Emmanuel Church located not far from St. Mikhail Church. The difference lay in the attires where not all congregations used Balinese customary attires. Some of them looked to put on national attires. Similarly, its church ornaments were also more modern and adopt-ed European style. Nevertheless, the typical Balinese ornaments could still be found. Two pieces of penjor were installed at the church entrance. Christmas mass in the church was led by Pastor Mariani. (kmb30)

Hundreds of illegal fireworks confiscated

IBP/FileThe police is inspecting the illegal fireworks which was confiscated from various stores.

Christmas celebration at Piling hamlet

Congregation puts on customary attires, church decorated with penjor

CHRISTMAS celebration as a whole in Tabanan took place sol-emnly on Tuesday (Dec 25). Among the existing churches, the most unique Christmas celebration was found in Penebel. Congregation of St. Mikhail Church at Piling hamlet, Mengesta village, Penebel, for instance, put on typical Balinese attires. Their church was also decorated with penjor or bamboo pole with various palm-leaf decora-tions. The activity has been going on for generations.

Again, Mandung waste disposal burn

Bali News Thursday, December 27, 2012 5InternationalThursday, December 27, 201212 International

Reuters

SEOUL - South Korea’s presi-dent-elect asked the leaders of the country’s big businesses, or chaebol, on Wednesday to think twice before cutting jobs, saying it was time for the conglomerates her father helped build four decades ago to look beyond profits.

The election last week of Park Geun-hye, the 60-year-old daughter of former military ruler Park Chung-hee, was welcomed by the country’s big businesses which dominate the world’s 14th largest economy. The five biggest chaebol control assets worth more than half of gross domes-tic product.

A week after her victory, Park said in a meeting with leaders of the top conglomerates that she would make sure fair business activities were encouraged and uncertainties were minimized.

“At the same time, I have a request that I must make to you,” Park told the heads of such conglomerates as Hyundai Motor <005380.KS>, Sam-sung (SAGR.UL), SK and POSCO <005490.KS>. “It is my feeling that big conglomerates should try to change.”

“I believe that the management goal of conglomerates should not remain maximizing profit but should involve pursuing coexistence with the larger community.”

“I ask that as you try to overcome management difficulties, that you do not start with restructuring or layoffs but instead with sharing wisdom and

pain, by trying as much as you can to save the jobs of our workers.”

Park’s defeated left-wing chal-lenger in the election had threatened to end the complex shareholding of subsidiaries that allows chaebol own-ers to control their sprawling business empires.

Park did not say she would intro-duce any changes to make it easier for companies to lay off workers.

South Korean employment law makes it nearly impossible for com-panies to dismiss salaried workers, which has led employers to use part-time, or contract, workers to ensure some degree of management flexibility in a notoriously rigid labor market.

South Korea has the third highest rate of temporary workers among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries.

Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor Co., Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group and Koo Bon-moo, chairman of the LG Group, were in attendance but not Lee Kun-hee, chairman of the Samsung Group, who was on a business trip abroad.

Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, was responsible for building up the chae-bol during the 1960s and 1970s with a mix of threats and inducements for their bosses, the fathers and grandfa-thers of the current company heads.

Analysts said the president-elect was not likely to use regulatory mea-sures on conglomerates but she has pledged to share wealth more widely to try to ease social inequities.

Asian shares and other assets were capped in thin holiday trade, with investors focusing on the fate of U.S. negotiations to avert a budget crunch loom-ing at the end of the year.

Markets in Singapore, Ma-laysia, Indonesia, the Philip-pines and South Korea reopened on Wednesday after closing on Tuesday for the Christmas holi-day. Hong Kong and Australia remain closed on Wednesday. Europe also will not trade, but U.S. markets reopen later in the day.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Ja-pan was little changed. Shang-hai shares were flat, but stayed in positive territory on the year after a 2.5 percent jump on Tuesday erased 2012 losses. It is set for a first annual gain

in three years. South Korean shares ended nearly flat.

Shinzo Abe, whose party won a landslide victory in an election earlier this month, was elected Japan’s premier on Wednesday. Abe, who is expected to appoint his cabinet later Wednesday, is calling for a mix of aggressive monetary policy easing and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and rein in the strong yen.

He has kept up pressure on the Bank of Japan to be more drastic and adopt a 2 percent inflation target to beat deep-rooted deflation, pushing the yen to a 20-month low of 85.38 yen on trading platform EBS on Wednesday. Traders eyed the dollar’s 2011 high of 85.53 yen as the next target.

The euro rose as high as

112.55 yen on EBS, just below its 16-month high of 112.59 yen hit on December 19.

The weaker yen has bol-stered hopes for better earnings from Japanese companies and underpinned the Nikkei, which has gained some 18 percent since mid-November when the election was scheduled, fuelling expectations for Abe’s party to win. The yen has lost nearly 8 percent against the dollar in the same period. The Nikkei closed at a nine-month high with a 1.5 percent gain.

Japanese government debt prices fell, with the 10-year bond futures hitting a three-month low of 143.65 in active trade. Ten-year JGB yields rose 1.5 basis points to 0.780 percent, matching a six-week high hit on December 19.

Reuters

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp expects its global production under the Toyota and Lexus brands to hit 8.7 million vehicles in 2013, nearly the same as the 8.74 million vehicles it expects to have produced in 2012, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.

Global sales of Toyota and Lexus brands are expected to be at 8.9 mil-lion vehicles in 2013, up 2.5 percent from the sales expected this year.

Group-wide, Toyota expects to

produce 9.94 million vehicles and sell 9.91 million vehicles in 2013. The group-wide forecasts include figures at Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd.

For 2012, Toyota expects its group-wide production to be 9.92 million vehicles globally, up 26 percent from a year ago, as it recov-ers from a huge earthquake in Japan and Thai floods that took place in 2011.

It sees its group-wide global sales for 2012 to be 9.7 million vehicles, up 22 percent.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Asian stock markets rose Thursday with the help of Japan’s Nikkei 225, which was propelled higher by a weakening yen.

Yen falls, Nikkei surges as Japan gets a new governmentReuters

TOKYO - The yen fell to a 20-month low against the dollar on Wednesday, buoying the bench-mark Nikkei stock average to nine-month highs, as Japan swore in a new prime minister eager to pursue drastic stimulus steps to drive the country’s economy out of deflation.

Toyota sees 2013 output at 8.7 million vehicles

President-elect urges chaebol think twice before layoffs

As observation in the field last Tuesday, Christian congregations had come to a number of churches in Singaraja town from the morn-ing around 08:00 a.m. Not only congregation from Singaraja, many Christians who wondered about from outside Buleleng also attended the Christmas mass with family in Singaraja. Due to many congrega-tions, some of them should attend the mass outside of the church.

As seen in the St. Paul Church on Jalan Kartini, Singaraja, the main room was unable to accommodate worshipers who came up to 800 people. As a result, the committee was forced to set up tents and chairs outside. The congregation security

held by joint team consisting of Buleleng Police, military, municipal police and Transportation Agency was fairly tight. Even, the day be-fore Christmas, police had sterilized the sanctuary by deploying canine squad and examining the room by means of metal detector.

Meanwhile, the security in the Western Indonesia Protestant Church (GPIB) on Jalan Ngurah Rai Singaraja was conducted by involving pecalang. It was assigned to help the security of Christmas celebration from the morning until noon. Involvement of the pecalang security officer was a form of in-terfaith tolerance in celebrating the holiday. “We are assigned every

Christmas and this is a form of tol-erance. Besides, it is also intended to give comfort to the people cele-brating Christmas,” said a pecalang officer from Banjar Jawa customary village, Singaraja.

Meanwhile, Chief of Buleleng Police, Benny Arjianto, monitored the Christmas celebration in a num-ber of churches in Seririt and Singa-raja. Even, he had begged blessing on the Christmas celebration in St. Paul Church. When asked about the situation on Christmas Day, Benny said the situation was conducive. In appropriate with the standard opera-tion procedures, the security would be carried out until the celebration of New Year’s Eve (Dec 31). (kmb)

In the area of Ambengan Ham-let, Pesanggaran, lies in a haunted ancient temple named Dalem Petingan Temple. The temple looks so classical and has much inspired the art of life in Bali. It includes in usadhic or traditional healing practices and guidance how to inhibit the Lapindo mud-flows. Why?

To reach this temple, people should pass through a circular path toward Benoa Harbor. In the west of the road lies a path leading to the swamp to get through the temple. The temple itself has no compound wall and is situated in the middle of the swamp. Strangely, it has been securely protected by invisible compound wall.

This temple is easily accessible even though located in the middle of the swamp. From the street, we can walk along some five meters toward the temple. Jero Mangku Tanggu is responsible for oversee-ing and cleaning up the temple area every day. He receives these tasks from his ancestors. During the period of temple anniversary, fifteen days before Galungan, it is always crowded by devotees.

The shrines existing in the temple consist of a main chamber as the sanctum to venerate deity Ida Ayu Mas having connection with Pulaki Temple. She is be-lieved to be the source of life, so many traders and businessmen say prayers to this temple. Ad-ditionally, this temple is also the place to invoke divine inspiration (taksu) in the field of arts. Many art troupes invoked such divine inspiration in this temple, said Nyoman Sukayasa, one of the devotees who frequently wor-shiped in this temple.

On the left front side of the chamber occurs the shrine used for meeting hall of deities. Mean-while, in front of the meeting hall there is a gamelan pavilion. Then, in the north of chamber shrine, there are two shrines, namely the Panglurah and representative shrine of Ida Bhatara Pulaki.

Interestingly, under a big tree lies a shrine for venerating Ida Bhatara Lingsir Sidi Ngucap. People having profession as traditional healer usually invoke efficacy in this shrine. Then, at outermost courtyard lies a guard-ian shrine. This temple does have a compound wall, so that a series of stone are piled in such a way used as the wall, but its front wall is marked by a pile of bricks.

According to I Nyoman Su-kayasa and Ida Bagus Sudira serving as mediator of the vener-ated deities in this temple con-

firmed the existence of invisible compound wall protecting the temple. These two devotees were often assigned as mediator to inform any instructions received in the temple. Even, Bagus Sudira often performed a healing service in the temple and most people got their recovery within relatively a short time.

In the east of the temple, there is a pond without a shrine. It is believed as the abode of Anant-abhoga dragon. Though without shrine, at this location lies a small burrow that often appears used as an augury. Guardian animal of the deities abiding in this temple are black tiger and ivory tiger. However, they have not been realized in the form of effigies.

Nyoman Sukayasa added that deities abiding in the temple also had ties and linkages to Dalem Warung Temple located at Benoa landfill. The deity venerated in this temple was Ida Bhatara Manik Segara. His father abided in the Dalem Muter Temple, Kesiman, having the title of Ida Bhatara Catur Pramana Lingga. In addition, it had relation to Uluwatu Temple as the mother called Ida Sang Hyang Ibu Per-tiwi with the title of Ida Bhatara Baruna and Ida Bhatara Rudra. It was Ida Bhatara Rudra which endowed the cessation of Lap-indo mudflows, said Nyoman Sukayasa.

In the meantime, Ida Ayu Mas in the Dalem Petingan Temple was also said to have a grandfather who was worshiped in Pulaki Temple as Ida Bhatara Lingsir. Meanwhile, his sibling was venerated in the Rambutsiwi Temple with the title of Ida Bha-tara Sakti. Another brother was worshiped in the Dalem Peran-cak Temple at Canggu revered as Ida Bhatara Tri Premana Lingga and had relation to Ida Bhatara Sakti Pengadangan.

Even, Nyoman Sukayasa claimed to have received a rev-elation in the temple about the best way to discontinue the Lapindo mudflows. His trip to Sidoarjo with other Hindu devotees was so long. He did a pecaruan exorcism rite on the full moon in last April precisely in center of outburst. It was carried out under life-threatening chal-lenge, but he was determined to resume the holy mission because it was a part of God’s will. Ulti-mately, he thanked God because the Lapindo mudflows had now subsided. “That’s His will, we are only an intermediary,” said Sukayasa. (BTN/kmb)

IBP/Adnyana Ole

Local security personnels participated on securing the Christmas celebration at Buleleng Regency.

Christmas in Buleleng

Customary security joins to safeguard church Singaraja (Bali Post)—

Security in a number of churches in Buleleng on Christmas, Tuesday (Dec 25), was pretty tight. Other than conducted by joint forces of the Buleleng Police, military, municipal police, and the Buleleng Transportation Agency, it also involved pecalang or customary security officer.

Invoking divine inspiration of arts in

Dalem Petingan TempleBUSINESS

Thursday, December 27, 2012 Thursday, December 27, 20126 11International International

From page 1

INDONESIAW RLD

AP Photo/Heri Juanda

Indonesian

workers climb

the dome of a

mosque’s con-

struction site

in Aceh Besar,

Aceh province,

Indonesia, Tues-

day, Dec. 25,

2012.

“The bomb was in the form of a five-litre red-coloured jer-rycan, which was placed inside a backpack,” the chief of Central Sulawesi Regional Police Office, Brigadier General Dewa Parsana, said in an SMS sent from Poso on Tuesday.

While dismantling the bomb, the police found a cellular phone as the timer of the bomb, urea ni-trate powder, hundreds of 13-inch nails and two detonators.

Parsana said the bomb was timed to go off at 7.30am local time.

However, a Poso Police Sector Station officer found the bomb at 6.30am, near a security post in front of Poso Central Market, and then reported to the bomb squad of Polres (District Police Office) Poso, which was situated just 200

metres away from the bomb’s location.

After the bomb was defused, it was taken to Polres Poso for further investigation.

“We are still investigating and are on the alert,” Parsana said.

Previously, on October 22, there was a bomb explosion near a traffic observation post of Polres Poso, in which two people were injured.

Antara

YOGYAKARTA - Manpow-er and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said that gap still existed between the country`s education system and the work field.

“As a manpower minister, I found the fact that the cur-rent education curriculum has not yet met the requirements needed by the work field and market,” the minister said here on Thursday.

He said that to remove the gap, the curriculum should be improved so that education and work field would have a link which matched the work field requirements.

The system can be changed and adjusted to the work field by collecting data as input from the ministry of manpower, he said.

“It is quite easy because what remains to be done is to see data at the manpower ministry on work opportunities. We can measure the work competence standards needed in the fields,” the minister added.

He hoped that formal educa-tional institutions in the future would not produce high educa-tional institution graduates who were not able to be self-reliant.

It should not also happen that educational institutions only produce certificate-oriented graduates because it is a fact now that many graduates were not able to get jobs.

Muhaimin said that he would discuss the matter with the education minister to change the system and to significantly improve the links between edu-cation and the work field.

“I will build a link and match system with the education minister so that the education system could be changed sig-nificantly,” he said.

The manpower minister said that his ministry continued to develop entrepreneurship and to create productive labour-intensive centers in villages.

He said his ministry had three main sectors where it would build labour-intensive centers, namely the industry, services and trade sectors.

AntaraJAKARTA - A total of 6,491

Christian prisoners have been granted remission by the Directorate Gen-eral of Correction (Ditjen PAS) of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on December 25 (Christmas).

Akbar Hadi, spokesperson for the Ditjen PAS of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said here on Tuesday that the remission is dependent on the inmates` time served in their respective prisons.

Prisoners who have served five months in their respective prisons will be granted remission, and their

time in the prison will be reduced to 15 days. Prisoners who have been sentenced to one to two years in prison will have their prison time reduced to one month.

Convicted criminals who have served three to four years (up to five years) in their respective prisons will have their prison time reduced to two months.

Special remission I (RK I) has been granted to 6,373 prisoners. 118 prisoners have been granted special remission II (RK II). These 118 prisoners will be released im-mediately.

“Immediate release has been

given to prisoners who have 15 days left to complete their prison time (for those sentenced to two months in prison),” Hadi said.

The Director of Information and Communication of Ditjen PAS, Haru Tamtomo, said special remission on December 25 had been proposed by several regional offices.

There are around 102,945 con-victed criminals and 48,624 detain-ees. A total of 151,569 people are in prisons nationwide.

The maximum capacity of prisons in Indonesia is 102,466. The current figure exceeds the maximum capac-ity by 148 percent, Tamtomo said.

ANTARA FOTO/ZAINUDDIN MN

The bomb squad of Central Sulawesi Police, assisted by Poso Police Sector Of-fice personnel, defused a

bomb found in front of Poso Central Market on Tuesday

at 7am local time.

Police defuse bomb in front of Poso marketAntara

PALU - The bomb squad of Central Sulawesi Police, assisted by Poso Police Sector Office personnel, defused a bomb found in front of Poso Central Market on Tuesday at 7am local time.

6,491 Christian prisoners granted remission on ChristmasEducation yet to match work field

Delivering the traditional speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

The pope prayed that China’s new leadership may “esteem the contribu-tion of the religions, in respect for each other” to help build a “fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people.”

It was a clear reference to the Chi-nese government’s often harsh treat-ment of Catholics loyal to the pontiff instead of to the state-sanctioned church. Earlier this month, the Vati-can refused to accept the decision by Chinese authorities to revoke the title of a Shanghai bishop, who had been appointed in a rare show of consensus between the Holy See and China.

As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans

below backing St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers.

Less than 12 hours earlier, Benedict had led a two-hour long Christmas Eve ceremony in the basilica. He sounded hoarse and looked weary as he read his Christmas message and then holiday greetings in 65 languages.

In his “Urbi et Orbi” speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, Benedict prayed that “peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims.” He called for easier access to help refugees and for “dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict.”

Benedict prayed that God “grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path to negotiation.”

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the City and to the World) speech from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012.

Pope’s Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY — In his Christmas message to the world Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to the slaughter in Syria and for more meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while encouraging more religious freedom under China’s new leaders.

He said that Bali government should immediately make regulation on synergy of the agriculture and tour-ism. There should be an obligation for tourism to take advantage of local fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs and other products. Why was Bali government difficult to arrange such regulation? Hopefully, Bali could soon realize it before it had been controlled by non-Balinese human.

Related to bylaw on local fruits as an effort to empower the agricultural products and promote Bali tourism, one of the estate and export business-men, Ida Bagus Raka Wiryanatha, said the discourse to promote local fruits or local products to luxury hotels in Bali was still far from expectation. The problem was that the local fruits were seasonal, could not be supplied continuously except during their harvest season. He firmly stated the regulation would be redundant if the quality of local products owned by the community was not maximally worked on.

“Our farmers need serious coach-ing, not only the coaching on how to plant it. In other words, the govern-ment and the experts in agricultural field should team up in the effort to build the future of agriculture. We do not bring along the experts in theories to farmers, but those with real expertise in the field. For instance, the government should nurture ranging from nursery to planting so that the

Capitalizing on voter discontent with the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan, Abe has vowed to shore up the economy, deal with a swelling national debt and come up with a recovery plan following last year’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crises.

Abe has also stressed his desire to make Japan a bigger player on the world stage, a stance that has resonated with many voters who are concerned that their nation is taking a back seat economically and diplomatically to China. Abe has vowed to stand up to Beijing over an ongoing territorial dispute and strengthen Tokyo’s security alliance with Washington.

“I feel as fresh as the clear sky today,” he told reporters before the vote, adding that he wanted to get right to work.

He has already named a roster of top party executives that includes two women — more than previous LDP administrations — and is younger than earlier ones, with three of the four in their 50s.

Abe was expected to give the finance portfolio to another former prime minister, Taro Aso. The new foreign minister likely will be Fumio Kishida, an expert on the southern island of Okinawa, where residents are calling for the removal of nearly 20,000 US troops based there. The defense minister was expected to be Itsunori Onodera, who was in Abe’s previous administration.

The LDP governed Japan for decades after it was founded in 1955. Before it was ousted in 2009, the LDP was hobbled by scandals and problems getting key legislation through a divided parliament.

This time around, Abe has promised to make the economy his top priority and is expected to push for a 2 percent inflation target de-signed to fight a problem that was until recently relatively unique in the world — deflation. Continually dropping prices deaden economic activity, and the Japanese economy has been stuck in deflation for two decades.

Besides generous promises to boost public works spending — by as much as 10 trillion yen ($119 billion), according to party officials — Abe is pressuring the central bank to work more closely with the government to reach the inflation target.

He has acknowledged, however, that the road ahead for Japan will be bumpy.

“Our party leadership will undoubtedly have to deal with many issues,” he said Tuesday.

Shinzo Abe... Bali... From page 1

result will be maximal. For example, like in Vietnam, one hectare of paddy field can produce 10 to 12 tons of rice, while our farmers to produce 4 ton was very difficult. Consistency of govern-ment to support the agricultural sector should be adopted and implemented in Bali,” he explained.

Meanwhile, based on the existing data, the agricultural sector in Bali was increasingly abandoned by communi-ties. According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali, the number of people working in the sector decreased from 653,790 (February 2012) to 572,690 (August 2012).

Such condition was recognized by the Head of BPS Bali, I Gede Suarsa, where it occurred over the same period in 2011. Total employment in the sec-tor reached 643,030 in February 2011, while in August 2011 only remained 556,620. “Compared to February 2011, the number of people working in the agricultural sector, especially those aged 15 years and over has de-creased considering in February 2011 it amounted to 643,030 people,” he explained. The agricultural sector was no longer becoming a leading sector because it was no longer promising. It was also recognized by a practitioner of agriculture from the Warmadewa University, IB Komang Mahardika. Such condition was caused by the rampant onslaught of the agricultural land conversion.

“Protection of government to sus-tainability of the agricultural sector by minimizing land conversion was still ineffective. As evidence, this sector is increasingly marginalized due to

uncontrolled development,” he said.According to him, Bali had to

immediately make bylaw to protect productive lands. It could be a policy of local government in the form of regional bylaw on land protection. Similarly, the enforcement of bylaw on spatial planning (RTRW) should also be carried out well. If the RTRW of Bali Province could be implement-ed properly, Bali could still maintain the agricultural land. “I propose in order the local government makes zoning or mapping of the agricultural areas. So, if there are parties trying to violate could be imposed with penal-ties. Without it, it is hard to maintain the agriculture in Bali,” he said.

Besides, the government needed to provide incentives for farmers whose land was located in the agricultural zoning. The incentive could be a re-duction in property tax or tax exemp-tion. “We need leaders that dare to stop the land conversion and implement the agreed rules,” he said. The draft of Bali spatial planning had also clearly set out the designation of the agricultural area amounting to 298,214 hectares or 52.9 percent of the Bali Province. Among them, the food crops reached 76,337 hectares (13.5 percent), horticultural areas covered 108,511 hectares (19.3 percent) and 113,366 hectares for estate area (20.1 percent).

“In the future, we should look for leaders that dare to stop the land con-version and firmly enforce the existing rules. Lest we feel proud excessively as the agriculture got international award, but we are unable to maintain and preserve it,” he said. (bit/par)

Thursday, December 27, 2012 7SportsThursday, December 27, 201210 InternationalInternationalDestinations

IBP

Seseh Beach had black sand and awesome sight. The atmosphere of the beach is different with Kuta and Legian beaches, not crowded and quiet.

Perhaps for those of you who still rarely visit Bali or a few time come to Bali, it name is still unfamiliar. But for surf hunters, this beach is a target for hunters. Location of Seseh beach is at Munggu, Mengwi, Badung city. The distance to get there about 15 km from the city of Denpasar and about 55 minutes if you going by motorbike from Ngurah Rai Airport.

Seseh Beach had black sand and awesome sight. The atmosphere at the beach is far different with Kuta and Legian beaches, not crowded and quiet. Your eyes will be soothed with a view of green fields. This beach can be used as an alternative vacation spots while enjoying sunset view.

Seseh beach has big wave and blustery with an extend coastline that make suitable for surfing and Kitesurf. Besides, the beach is always used as a religious place by the locals to do ceremony, such as Melasti ceremony and Melarung Bumi.

Seseh beach are still clean, natural and beautiful, those due the beach have no much visitors yet. But don’t worry, now the beach is equipped with facilities such as parking lots, villas, restaurant, café and others.

So, if you come to Bali and love the tranquility and natural ambience, the beach should become one of the beaches on your list trip.IBP/File Photo

Seseh Beach

“We’re two teams that have the same aspirations and that’s to try and win a championship,” James told reporters after the game. “Both teams are not going to short cut anything and just try to get better each and every day. “It was good fight by both teams.” James added nine assists and eight rebounds to go along with his 29 points while Dwyane Wade had 21 and Mario Chalmers contributed a season-high 20 as the Heat stretched their win-ning streak to five games.

The Thunder received a 33-point effort from Kevin Durant while Russell Westbrook had 21 but both missed potential game-tying three pointers in the dying seconds. Led by a 34-point performance from the NBA’s leading scorer Kobe Bry-ant, the Los Angeles Lakers also

extended their winning run to a season-high five games getting their record back to .500 (14-14) with a 100-94 win over the Knicks.

Playing in his record 15th Christ-mas Day game, Bryant passed Oscar Robertson as the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scorer with 383 points. Steve Nash, playing his second game after missing nearly two months with a broken leg, was quickly back in stride hitting for 16 points while making 11 assists and grabbing six rebounds.

“I don’t know if (Nash) is all of it, but he’s maybe the last piece that makes it work,” said Lakers coach Mike D’Antonio, explaining the Lakers turnaround. “There are a lot of pieces that you have to have.”

Metta World Peace chipped in with 20 points off the bench while

Dwight Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Pau Gasol 13 points, including a thundering dunk with 12 seconds to play that sealed the win. Carmelo Anthony, who is second in league scoring behind Bryant, also had 34 points while JR Smith added 25 and Raymond Felton with 10 were the only other Knicks to hit double figures for the Atlantic division leaders.

The Boston Celtics had earlier kicked off the Christmas Day fes-tivities with a feisty 93-76 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at the Bar-clays Center. Rajon Rondo, who was ejected from an ill-tempered contest the last time the two teams clashed on Nov. 28, scored a game high 19 points while adding six rebounds and five assists.

Rookie Jared Sullinger chipped in with 16 points off the bench while Kevin Garnett added eight points and was a force on the boards pulling down 10 rebounds.

“I think we are getting better, I think we’re very, very close to becoming a good team but we’re not there yet,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

Associated Press Writer

MADRID — Rafael Nadal announced Tuesday that doctors have ordered him to pull out of what was to have been his first comeback tournament after a seven-month hiatus nursing a knee injury. The 26-year-old Spaniard said on his Facebook page that a fever caused by a stomach infection has forced him to pull out of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 27.

“I am very disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “Everything had been prepared.” Nadal added that he had been very keen to return to the Middle East competition but doctors had told him his body needs rest “to fight this stomach virus.”

Nadal acknowledged his withdrawal would be a disappointment to fans and the tournament, which is due to feature top-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 3-ranked Andy Murray of Britain, but emphasized that it was not prompted by his knee injury. “My rehab has gone well, my knee feels good and I was looking forward to competing,” he said.

Nadal is now expected to make his return at the Qatar Open, which begins on Dec. 31. The knee injury prevented Nadal from defending his Olympic singles gold at the Olympics in London, where he was supposed to be Spain’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He also had to pull out of the U.S. Open and Spain’s Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic, which his teammates lost without him.

The 11-time Grand Slam winner and former top-ranked player said his knee has improved over the last two months after making frustrat-ingly little progress during the summer.

The tournament in Abu Dhabi would have been Nadal’s first com-petitive action since being sidelined with tendinitis in his left knee following a second-round loss to then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June.

Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY — Favorite Wild Oats XI was first out of Sydney Harbour on Wednesday ahead of fellow super maxi and defending champion Ragamuffin Loyal in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. With spinna-kers up, the 76-yacht fleet weaved its way around thousands of spectator craft in the harbor before heading out to the Tasman

Sea for the 628-nautical-mile (723-mile; 1,163-kilometer) race to the island state of Tasmania.

Five-time line honors champion Wild Oats XI’s race record from 2005 is 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds — a time that could be in danger of falling this year, given the favorable weather forecasts. Ragamuffin Loyal was being skippered by 85-year-old Syd Fischer, who is taking part in his 44th

Sydney to Hobart race.Two hours before the start of the race, of-

ficials said super maxi Wild Thing, the 2003 line honors winner, would not be allowed to compete because it had not provided necessary documentation following hull modifications.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia com-modore Howard Piggott said the boat’s owner had failed to provide paperwork after

the length of the yacht’s hull was extended from 98 feet to 100.

“The race committee has worked with the owner of the boat to allow him up to three hours prior to the start of race to provide the documentation required,” Piggott said. “However, this has not been forthcoming. The race committee has no option but to not accept the entry of Wild Thing.”

Wild Oats XI first out of Sydney Harbour to Hobart

James leads Heat past Thunder in finals rematchReuters

LeBron James scored 29 points and flirted with a triple-double as the Miami Heat claimed a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of last season’s NBA finals on a Christmas Day schedule of five games. The Thunder, the NBA’s top team and the Heat, the Eastern Conference leaders clashed in a physical contest that was thick with playoff intensity.

AP Photo/J Pat Carter

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) dunks as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell

Westbrook (0) and Heat’s Mario Chal-mers (15) watch during the first half

of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, in Miami.

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, FileFILE - This June 26, 2012 file photo shows Rafael Nadal of Spain returning a shot to Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil during a first round men’s singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Champion-ships at Wimbledon, England.

Nadal pulls out of Abu Dhabi with stomach bug

98 InternationalThursday, December 27, 2012 International Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sp rt

“It was a dream come true,” Ster-ling told the British media of playing for England in Stockholm. “As a 15-year-old, I can remember sitting at home and praying to get an under-16 call-up. “To be getting a senior call-up a few years later was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

After making his full England de-but, he could still have opted to play for Jamaica, where he lived until he was six, and the country’s FA have continued to court the player.

“I’ve got Jamaican roots but no-one tried to put any pressure on me,” said Sterling, who has represented England at every level from under-16

upwards.“I couldn’t turn my back on Eng-

land because I’ve grown up through the English youth system and pro-gressed from there. I want to keep driving on and do a bit more.”

Sterling’s decision, though hardly a surprise, will be a blow to Jamaica, whose soccer chief Horace Burrell held talks with the player in October.

However, it provides a boost to England boss Roy Hodgson, giving him more options as he plots the national side’s course to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I couldn’t just switch over,” said Sterling, currently a Liverpool regular under Brendan

Rodgers and a firm fan favourite at Anfield. “So it was a good thing for me to be called up and make my debut. It’s 100 percent going to be England from now on.”

Sterling’s elevation from the fring-es of the Liverpool first-team squad under Kenny Dalglish last season was rewarded with a lucrative new deal last week.

“The contract was never about finance,” said Sterling, referring to the protracted talks leading up to the signing of his contract. “When people were asking why I wasn’t signing it was at a time when we hadn’t even started negotiating.”

Flamengo have abandoned their pursuit of Robinho after fail-ing to agree a fee with AC Milan for the forward. Milan vice-pres-ident Adriano Galliani travelled to Rio de Janeiro on Monday to thrash out a sale of the 28-year-old – who is understood to be keen on a return to his homeland – but the Flamengo offer of six million euros was quickly dismissed.

A statement on Flamengo’s official website read: “Flamengo directors Wallim Vasconcellos and Flavio Godinho met on Mon-

day afternoon with Mr. Adriano Galliani in an attempt to bring Robinho to the club. “However, because of the amount requested by Milan, the club believes it is appropriate to abandon the deal and step aside.”

Galliani, meanwhile, refused to concede defeat in negotiations with the Brasileirao outfit warned that they must improve their offer or face losing out in the race to sign Robinho. “There is nothing concrete with Flamengo, not at least until January 2,” he told

reporters.“Robinho wants to go back

to Brazil, but can Flamengo can come up with the money that Milan want? I do not know. You should ask their leaders.”

Reports in Brazil suggest league champions Fluminense are ready to step up their inter-est in the striker with the Copa Libertadores imminent, while Sao Paulo feel the former Real Madrid man could plug the gap left by Paris Saint-Germain bound Lucas Moura.

Associated Press Writer

LONDON — England coach Roy Hodgson believes using penal-ties to settle deadlocked friendlies could help reverse the country’s dismal record in tournament shootouts. England lost its sixth shootout from seven attempts to be knocked out of the European Championship quarterfinals in June by Italy.

Hodgson said his players need to overcome the “weight of failure” in shootouts ahead of the 2014 World Cup, so he is focusing part of his preparations on tackling the problem.

“Maybe in one of the friendly matches, if the game finishes in a draw, you should suggest to the opponents that, ‘Let’s finish it on a penalty shootout,’” Hodgson told Sky Sports TV.

In 2013, England has already confirmed two friendlies against 2014 World Cup host Brazil, as well as fixtures against Scotland and Ireland.

“There is a lot more relevance to a (shootout) competition at the end of a friendly in front of a big crowd than there is when you are taking penalties day after day in training and watching players quite happily whizz them into the back of the net,” Hodgson said. England is second in its World Cup qualifying group, two points behind Montenegro with six matches remaining.

Alessandro Del Piero’s uncertain future in Australia could be close to being resolved, with the former Italy striker pledging his support for strug-gling Sydney FC. The 38-year-old former World Cup winner arrived at the club to much fanfare this season but has failed to prevent Sydney’s plummet to the foot of the A-League.

But with negotiations to take up the option to extend his lucrative one-year deal dragging on, Del Piero appeared keen to dismiss rumours he would leave at the end of the season. “Everything is clear for me and the club,” the former Juventus forward, who has struggled recently with a hamstring tweak, told local media on Wednesday.

“We can do earlier than we think about the contract. It’s not a stress here for me. I want to put all my knowledge and my heart into games.”

Del Piero asserted his management team, including brother Stefano, were working hard on negotiating a second season at the A-League side. “My brother talks about that,” he said of his contract. “It’s his problem, not mine. “I’ve spent a really good time here. At the moment the best thing for me, the club and for teammates and everyone here is to concentrate about the games.

“We have to put all of our energy, mentally and physically (into games),” added Del Piero, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006. “Not about other things. I’m really enjoying it here. Now we have to win a couple of games for more enjoyment.”

Del Piero’s signing was hailed as ground-breaking for the A-League but the expectations heaped on the club as a result led to the resignation of former manager Ian Crook. Sydney have won just three times this season but Del Piero, making A$2 million ($2.07 million) a year, vowed to fight on.

“This is our moment,” he said. “We have to jump over this moment with heart, with fight and pressure and a little luck for us.”

Reuters

LONDON - Veteran goalkeeper Brad Friedel has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur through to 2014, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. The 41-year-old American, Tottenham’s first choice goalkeeper since joining the north London club from Aston Villa in 2010, has found himself edged out by France international Hugo Lloris in recent weeks but remains a popular figure.

Friedel is the only player in Premier League history to make more than 300 consecutive starts, reaching 310 before his incredible run was ended in October when Lloris started the home match against Aston Villa. The former Columbus Crew and Liverpool player was recently linked with a move back to Blackburn Rovers, another one of his former clubs but said he was happy at Spurs.

Speaking at the time he said: “There is no rivalry with Hugo, but do I thrive on competition? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be playing at the age of 41 if I didn’t.”

Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas has added fuel to rumours linking him with a January exit from San Paolo. Vargas, 23, is widely tipped to be farmed out on loan in January following a disappointing start to his career in Italy, with Brazilian side Gremio having confirmed interest in the talented attacker.

Il Corriere dello Sport claims Gremio are ready to offer Napoli €1 million for a year-long loan, and the player admits he is thinking about leaving San Paolo. “For me it was a horrible year. Now I have to make a decision, the only thing I want is to play,” Vargas told reporters at an airport in Chile.

Vargas is spending his holidays with the family in Chile, but there is every chance his future will be decided before he returns to Naples.

The Chile international did make 19 Serie A appearances since arriving at the club from Universidad de Chile, but all of those were substitute appearances.

He is now looking to kick-start his career and prove his worth to his current employers, so a move to Gremio could be the best solution for all three parties.

AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

West Ham’s James Collins, right, vies for the ball with Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground in London, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012.

Liverpool’s Sterling commits to England over JamaicaReuters

Liverpool’s teenage winger Raheem Sterling has pledged his international future to England, despite still being eligible for his place of birth, Jamaica. The 18-year-old, who recently signed a five-year contract extension with Liverpool, won his first senior England cap last month in the 4-2 friendly defeat by Sweden.

Misfiring English suggest shootouts in friendlies

AP Photo/Tom Hevezi

Chelsea’s Oscar celebrates scoring a penalty for his side’s sixth goal, during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012.

Del Piero dismisses Sydney exit talk

Vargas hints at Napoli exit

Veteran keeper Friedel extends Tottenham contract

AP Photo/Massimo Pinca

AC Milan’s Robinho jumps past Torino’s Alessandro Gazzi during a Serie A soccer match at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. AC Milan won 4-2.

Milan reject Flamengo bid for Robinho

98 InternationalThursday, December 27, 2012 International Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sp rt

“It was a dream come true,” Ster-ling told the British media of playing for England in Stockholm. “As a 15-year-old, I can remember sitting at home and praying to get an under-16 call-up. “To be getting a senior call-up a few years later was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

After making his full England de-but, he could still have opted to play for Jamaica, where he lived until he was six, and the country’s FA have continued to court the player.

“I’ve got Jamaican roots but no-one tried to put any pressure on me,” said Sterling, who has represented England at every level from under-16

upwards.“I couldn’t turn my back on Eng-

land because I’ve grown up through the English youth system and pro-gressed from there. I want to keep driving on and do a bit more.”

Sterling’s decision, though hardly a surprise, will be a blow to Jamaica, whose soccer chief Horace Burrell held talks with the player in October.

However, it provides a boost to England boss Roy Hodgson, giving him more options as he plots the national side’s course to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. “I couldn’t just switch over,” said Sterling, currently a Liverpool regular under Brendan

Rodgers and a firm fan favourite at Anfield. “So it was a good thing for me to be called up and make my debut. It’s 100 percent going to be England from now on.”

Sterling’s elevation from the fring-es of the Liverpool first-team squad under Kenny Dalglish last season was rewarded with a lucrative new deal last week.

“The contract was never about finance,” said Sterling, referring to the protracted talks leading up to the signing of his contract. “When people were asking why I wasn’t signing it was at a time when we hadn’t even started negotiating.”

Flamengo have abandoned their pursuit of Robinho after fail-ing to agree a fee with AC Milan for the forward. Milan vice-pres-ident Adriano Galliani travelled to Rio de Janeiro on Monday to thrash out a sale of the 28-year-old – who is understood to be keen on a return to his homeland – but the Flamengo offer of six million euros was quickly dismissed.

A statement on Flamengo’s official website read: “Flamengo directors Wallim Vasconcellos and Flavio Godinho met on Mon-

day afternoon with Mr. Adriano Galliani in an attempt to bring Robinho to the club. “However, because of the amount requested by Milan, the club believes it is appropriate to abandon the deal and step aside.”

Galliani, meanwhile, refused to concede defeat in negotiations with the Brasileirao outfit warned that they must improve their offer or face losing out in the race to sign Robinho. “There is nothing concrete with Flamengo, not at least until January 2,” he told

reporters.“Robinho wants to go back

to Brazil, but can Flamengo can come up with the money that Milan want? I do not know. You should ask their leaders.”

Reports in Brazil suggest league champions Fluminense are ready to step up their inter-est in the striker with the Copa Libertadores imminent, while Sao Paulo feel the former Real Madrid man could plug the gap left by Paris Saint-Germain bound Lucas Moura.

Associated Press Writer

LONDON — England coach Roy Hodgson believes using penal-ties to settle deadlocked friendlies could help reverse the country’s dismal record in tournament shootouts. England lost its sixth shootout from seven attempts to be knocked out of the European Championship quarterfinals in June by Italy.

Hodgson said his players need to overcome the “weight of failure” in shootouts ahead of the 2014 World Cup, so he is focusing part of his preparations on tackling the problem.

“Maybe in one of the friendly matches, if the game finishes in a draw, you should suggest to the opponents that, ‘Let’s finish it on a penalty shootout,’” Hodgson told Sky Sports TV.

In 2013, England has already confirmed two friendlies against 2014 World Cup host Brazil, as well as fixtures against Scotland and Ireland.

“There is a lot more relevance to a (shootout) competition at the end of a friendly in front of a big crowd than there is when you are taking penalties day after day in training and watching players quite happily whizz them into the back of the net,” Hodgson said. England is second in its World Cup qualifying group, two points behind Montenegro with six matches remaining.

Alessandro Del Piero’s uncertain future in Australia could be close to being resolved, with the former Italy striker pledging his support for strug-gling Sydney FC. The 38-year-old former World Cup winner arrived at the club to much fanfare this season but has failed to prevent Sydney’s plummet to the foot of the A-League.

But with negotiations to take up the option to extend his lucrative one-year deal dragging on, Del Piero appeared keen to dismiss rumours he would leave at the end of the season. “Everything is clear for me and the club,” the former Juventus forward, who has struggled recently with a hamstring tweak, told local media on Wednesday.

“We can do earlier than we think about the contract. It’s not a stress here for me. I want to put all my knowledge and my heart into games.”

Del Piero asserted his management team, including brother Stefano, were working hard on negotiating a second season at the A-League side. “My brother talks about that,” he said of his contract. “It’s his problem, not mine. “I’ve spent a really good time here. At the moment the best thing for me, the club and for teammates and everyone here is to concentrate about the games.

“We have to put all of our energy, mentally and physically (into games),” added Del Piero, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006. “Not about other things. I’m really enjoying it here. Now we have to win a couple of games for more enjoyment.”

Del Piero’s signing was hailed as ground-breaking for the A-League but the expectations heaped on the club as a result led to the resignation of former manager Ian Crook. Sydney have won just three times this season but Del Piero, making A$2 million ($2.07 million) a year, vowed to fight on.

“This is our moment,” he said. “We have to jump over this moment with heart, with fight and pressure and a little luck for us.”

Reuters

LONDON - Veteran goalkeeper Brad Friedel has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur through to 2014, the Premier League club said on Wednesday. The 41-year-old American, Tottenham’s first choice goalkeeper since joining the north London club from Aston Villa in 2010, has found himself edged out by France international Hugo Lloris in recent weeks but remains a popular figure.

Friedel is the only player in Premier League history to make more than 300 consecutive starts, reaching 310 before his incredible run was ended in October when Lloris started the home match against Aston Villa. The former Columbus Crew and Liverpool player was recently linked with a move back to Blackburn Rovers, another one of his former clubs but said he was happy at Spurs.

Speaking at the time he said: “There is no rivalry with Hugo, but do I thrive on competition? Absolutely. I wouldn’t be playing at the age of 41 if I didn’t.”

Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas has added fuel to rumours linking him with a January exit from San Paolo. Vargas, 23, is widely tipped to be farmed out on loan in January following a disappointing start to his career in Italy, with Brazilian side Gremio having confirmed interest in the talented attacker.

Il Corriere dello Sport claims Gremio are ready to offer Napoli €1 million for a year-long loan, and the player admits he is thinking about leaving San Paolo. “For me it was a horrible year. Now I have to make a decision, the only thing I want is to play,” Vargas told reporters at an airport in Chile.

Vargas is spending his holidays with the family in Chile, but there is every chance his future will be decided before he returns to Naples.

The Chile international did make 19 Serie A appearances since arriving at the club from Universidad de Chile, but all of those were substitute appearances.

He is now looking to kick-start his career and prove his worth to his current employers, so a move to Gremio could be the best solution for all three parties.

AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth

West Ham’s James Collins, right, vies for the ball with Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling during the English Premier League soccer match between West Ham United and Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground in London, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012.

Liverpool’s Sterling commits to England over JamaicaReuters

Liverpool’s teenage winger Raheem Sterling has pledged his international future to England, despite still being eligible for his place of birth, Jamaica. The 18-year-old, who recently signed a five-year contract extension with Liverpool, won his first senior England cap last month in the 4-2 friendly defeat by Sweden.

Misfiring English suggest shootouts in friendlies

AP Photo/Tom Hevezi

Chelsea’s Oscar celebrates scoring a penalty for his side’s sixth goal, during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012.

Del Piero dismisses Sydney exit talk

Vargas hints at Napoli exit

Veteran keeper Friedel extends Tottenham contract

AP Photo/Massimo Pinca

AC Milan’s Robinho jumps past Torino’s Alessandro Gazzi during a Serie A soccer match at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012. AC Milan won 4-2.

Milan reject Flamengo bid for Robinho

Thursday, December 27, 2012 7SportsThursday, December 27, 201210 InternationalInternationalDestinations

IBP

Seseh Beach had black sand and awesome sight. The atmosphere of the beach is different with Kuta and Legian beaches, not crowded and quiet.

Perhaps for those of you who still rarely visit Bali or a few time come to Bali, it name is still unfamiliar. But for surf hunters, this beach is a target for hunters. Location of Seseh beach is at Munggu, Mengwi, Badung city. The distance to get there about 15 km from the city of Denpasar and about 55 minutes if you going by motorbike from Ngurah Rai Airport.

Seseh Beach had black sand and awesome sight. The atmosphere at the beach is far different with Kuta and Legian beaches, not crowded and quiet. Your eyes will be soothed with a view of green fields. This beach can be used as an alternative vacation spots while enjoying sunset view.

Seseh beach has big wave and blustery with an extend coastline that make suitable for surfing and Kitesurf. Besides, the beach is always used as a religious place by the locals to do ceremony, such as Melasti ceremony and Melarung Bumi.

Seseh beach are still clean, natural and beautiful, those due the beach have no much visitors yet. But don’t worry, now the beach is equipped with facilities such as parking lots, villas, restaurant, café and others.

So, if you come to Bali and love the tranquility and natural ambience, the beach should become one of the beaches on your list trip.IBP/File Photo

Seseh Beach

“We’re two teams that have the same aspirations and that’s to try and win a championship,” James told reporters after the game. “Both teams are not going to short cut anything and just try to get better each and every day. “It was good fight by both teams.” James added nine assists and eight rebounds to go along with his 29 points while Dwyane Wade had 21 and Mario Chalmers contributed a season-high 20 as the Heat stretched their win-ning streak to five games.

The Thunder received a 33-point effort from Kevin Durant while Russell Westbrook had 21 but both missed potential game-tying three pointers in the dying seconds. Led by a 34-point performance from the NBA’s leading scorer Kobe Bry-ant, the Los Angeles Lakers also

extended their winning run to a season-high five games getting their record back to .500 (14-14) with a 100-94 win over the Knicks.

Playing in his record 15th Christ-mas Day game, Bryant passed Oscar Robertson as the NBA’s all-time Christmas Day scorer with 383 points. Steve Nash, playing his second game after missing nearly two months with a broken leg, was quickly back in stride hitting for 16 points while making 11 assists and grabbing six rebounds.

“I don’t know if (Nash) is all of it, but he’s maybe the last piece that makes it work,” said Lakers coach Mike D’Antonio, explaining the Lakers turnaround. “There are a lot of pieces that you have to have.”

Metta World Peace chipped in with 20 points off the bench while

Dwight Howard had 14 points and 12 rebounds and Pau Gasol 13 points, including a thundering dunk with 12 seconds to play that sealed the win. Carmelo Anthony, who is second in league scoring behind Bryant, also had 34 points while JR Smith added 25 and Raymond Felton with 10 were the only other Knicks to hit double figures for the Atlantic division leaders.

The Boston Celtics had earlier kicked off the Christmas Day fes-tivities with a feisty 93-76 victory over the Brooklyn Nets at the Bar-clays Center. Rajon Rondo, who was ejected from an ill-tempered contest the last time the two teams clashed on Nov. 28, scored a game high 19 points while adding six rebounds and five assists.

Rookie Jared Sullinger chipped in with 16 points off the bench while Kevin Garnett added eight points and was a force on the boards pulling down 10 rebounds.

“I think we are getting better, I think we’re very, very close to becoming a good team but we’re not there yet,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers.

Associated Press Writer

MADRID — Rafael Nadal announced Tuesday that doctors have ordered him to pull out of what was to have been his first comeback tournament after a seven-month hiatus nursing a knee injury. The 26-year-old Spaniard said on his Facebook page that a fever caused by a stomach infection has forced him to pull out of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 27.

“I am very disappointed that I will not be able to compete this year in Abu Dhabi,” he said. “Everything had been prepared.” Nadal added that he had been very keen to return to the Middle East competition but doctors had told him his body needs rest “to fight this stomach virus.”

Nadal acknowledged his withdrawal would be a disappointment to fans and the tournament, which is due to feature top-ranked Novak Djokovic and No. 3-ranked Andy Murray of Britain, but emphasized that it was not prompted by his knee injury. “My rehab has gone well, my knee feels good and I was looking forward to competing,” he said.

Nadal is now expected to make his return at the Qatar Open, which begins on Dec. 31. The knee injury prevented Nadal from defending his Olympic singles gold at the Olympics in London, where he was supposed to be Spain’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony. He also had to pull out of the U.S. Open and Spain’s Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic, which his teammates lost without him.

The 11-time Grand Slam winner and former top-ranked player said his knee has improved over the last two months after making frustrat-ingly little progress during the summer.

The tournament in Abu Dhabi would have been Nadal’s first com-petitive action since being sidelined with tendinitis in his left knee following a second-round loss to then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon in June.

Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY — Favorite Wild Oats XI was first out of Sydney Harbour on Wednesday ahead of fellow super maxi and defending champion Ragamuffin Loyal in the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race. With spinna-kers up, the 76-yacht fleet weaved its way around thousands of spectator craft in the harbor before heading out to the Tasman

Sea for the 628-nautical-mile (723-mile; 1,163-kilometer) race to the island state of Tasmania.

Five-time line honors champion Wild Oats XI’s race record from 2005 is 1 day, 18 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds — a time that could be in danger of falling this year, given the favorable weather forecasts. Ragamuffin Loyal was being skippered by 85-year-old Syd Fischer, who is taking part in his 44th

Sydney to Hobart race.Two hours before the start of the race, of-

ficials said super maxi Wild Thing, the 2003 line honors winner, would not be allowed to compete because it had not provided necessary documentation following hull modifications.

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia com-modore Howard Piggott said the boat’s owner had failed to provide paperwork after

the length of the yacht’s hull was extended from 98 feet to 100.

“The race committee has worked with the owner of the boat to allow him up to three hours prior to the start of race to provide the documentation required,” Piggott said. “However, this has not been forthcoming. The race committee has no option but to not accept the entry of Wild Thing.”

Wild Oats XI first out of Sydney Harbour to Hobart

James leads Heat past Thunder in finals rematchReuters

LeBron James scored 29 points and flirted with a triple-double as the Miami Heat claimed a 103-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in a rematch of last season’s NBA finals on a Christmas Day schedule of five games. The Thunder, the NBA’s top team and the Heat, the Eastern Conference leaders clashed in a physical contest that was thick with playoff intensity.

AP Photo/J Pat Carter

Miami Heat’s LeBron James (6) dunks as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell

Westbrook (0) and Heat’s Mario Chal-mers (15) watch during the first half

of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012, in Miami.

AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus, FileFILE - This June 26, 2012 file photo shows Rafael Nadal of Spain returning a shot to Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil during a first round men’s singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Champion-ships at Wimbledon, England.

Nadal pulls out of Abu Dhabi with stomach bug

Thursday, December 27, 2012 Thursday, December 27, 20126 11International International

From page 1

INDONESIAW RLD

AP Photo/Heri Juanda

Indonesian

workers climb

the dome of a

mosque’s con-

struction site

in Aceh Besar,

Aceh province,

Indonesia, Tues-

day, Dec. 25,

2012.

“The bomb was in the form of a five-litre red-coloured jer-rycan, which was placed inside a backpack,” the chief of Central Sulawesi Regional Police Office, Brigadier General Dewa Parsana, said in an SMS sent from Poso on Tuesday.

While dismantling the bomb, the police found a cellular phone as the timer of the bomb, urea ni-trate powder, hundreds of 13-inch nails and two detonators.

Parsana said the bomb was timed to go off at 7.30am local time.

However, a Poso Police Sector Station officer found the bomb at 6.30am, near a security post in front of Poso Central Market, and then reported to the bomb squad of Polres (District Police Office) Poso, which was situated just 200

metres away from the bomb’s location.

After the bomb was defused, it was taken to Polres Poso for further investigation.

“We are still investigating and are on the alert,” Parsana said.

Previously, on October 22, there was a bomb explosion near a traffic observation post of Polres Poso, in which two people were injured.

Antara

YOGYAKARTA - Manpow-er and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said that gap still existed between the country`s education system and the work field.

“As a manpower minister, I found the fact that the cur-rent education curriculum has not yet met the requirements needed by the work field and market,” the minister said here on Thursday.

He said that to remove the gap, the curriculum should be improved so that education and work field would have a link which matched the work field requirements.

The system can be changed and adjusted to the work field by collecting data as input from the ministry of manpower, he said.

“It is quite easy because what remains to be done is to see data at the manpower ministry on work opportunities. We can measure the work competence standards needed in the fields,” the minister added.

He hoped that formal educa-tional institutions in the future would not produce high educa-tional institution graduates who were not able to be self-reliant.

It should not also happen that educational institutions only produce certificate-oriented graduates because it is a fact now that many graduates were not able to get jobs.

Muhaimin said that he would discuss the matter with the education minister to change the system and to significantly improve the links between edu-cation and the work field.

“I will build a link and match system with the education minister so that the education system could be changed sig-nificantly,” he said.

The manpower minister said that his ministry continued to develop entrepreneurship and to create productive labour-intensive centers in villages.

He said his ministry had three main sectors where it would build labour-intensive centers, namely the industry, services and trade sectors.

AntaraJAKARTA - A total of 6,491

Christian prisoners have been granted remission by the Directorate Gen-eral of Correction (Ditjen PAS) of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights on December 25 (Christmas).

Akbar Hadi, spokesperson for the Ditjen PAS of the Indonesian Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said here on Tuesday that the remission is dependent on the inmates` time served in their respective prisons.

Prisoners who have served five months in their respective prisons will be granted remission, and their

time in the prison will be reduced to 15 days. Prisoners who have been sentenced to one to two years in prison will have their prison time reduced to one month.

Convicted criminals who have served three to four years (up to five years) in their respective prisons will have their prison time reduced to two months.

Special remission I (RK I) has been granted to 6,373 prisoners. 118 prisoners have been granted special remission II (RK II). These 118 prisoners will be released im-mediately.

“Immediate release has been

given to prisoners who have 15 days left to complete their prison time (for those sentenced to two months in prison),” Hadi said.

The Director of Information and Communication of Ditjen PAS, Haru Tamtomo, said special remission on December 25 had been proposed by several regional offices.

There are around 102,945 con-victed criminals and 48,624 detain-ees. A total of 151,569 people are in prisons nationwide.

The maximum capacity of prisons in Indonesia is 102,466. The current figure exceeds the maximum capac-ity by 148 percent, Tamtomo said.

ANTARA FOTO/ZAINUDDIN MN

The bomb squad of Central Sulawesi Police, assisted by Poso Police Sector Of-fice personnel, defused a

bomb found in front of Poso Central Market on Tuesday

at 7am local time.

Police defuse bomb in front of Poso marketAntara

PALU - The bomb squad of Central Sulawesi Police, assisted by Poso Police Sector Office personnel, defused a bomb found in front of Poso Central Market on Tuesday at 7am local time.

6,491 Christian prisoners granted remission on ChristmasEducation yet to match work field

Delivering the traditional speech from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

The pope prayed that China’s new leadership may “esteem the contribu-tion of the religions, in respect for each other” to help build a “fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people.”

It was a clear reference to the Chi-nese government’s often harsh treat-ment of Catholics loyal to the pontiff instead of to the state-sanctioned church. Earlier this month, the Vati-can refused to accept the decision by Chinese authorities to revoke the title of a Shanghai bishop, who had been appointed in a rare show of consensus between the Holy See and China.

As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans

below backing St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers.

Less than 12 hours earlier, Benedict had led a two-hour long Christmas Eve ceremony in the basilica. He sounded hoarse and looked weary as he read his Christmas message and then holiday greetings in 65 languages.

In his “Urbi et Orbi” speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, Benedict prayed that “peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims.” He called for easier access to help refugees and for “dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict.”

Benedict prayed that God “grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path to negotiation.”

AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Pope Benedict XVI delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the City and to the World) speech from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012.

Pope’s Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY — In his Christmas message to the world Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI called for an end to the slaughter in Syria and for more meaningful negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, while encouraging more religious freedom under China’s new leaders.

He said that Bali government should immediately make regulation on synergy of the agriculture and tour-ism. There should be an obligation for tourism to take advantage of local fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs and other products. Why was Bali government difficult to arrange such regulation? Hopefully, Bali could soon realize it before it had been controlled by non-Balinese human.

Related to bylaw on local fruits as an effort to empower the agricultural products and promote Bali tourism, one of the estate and export business-men, Ida Bagus Raka Wiryanatha, said the discourse to promote local fruits or local products to luxury hotels in Bali was still far from expectation. The problem was that the local fruits were seasonal, could not be supplied continuously except during their harvest season. He firmly stated the regulation would be redundant if the quality of local products owned by the community was not maximally worked on.

“Our farmers need serious coach-ing, not only the coaching on how to plant it. In other words, the govern-ment and the experts in agricultural field should team up in the effort to build the future of agriculture. We do not bring along the experts in theories to farmers, but those with real expertise in the field. For instance, the government should nurture ranging from nursery to planting so that the

Capitalizing on voter discontent with the left-leaning Democratic Party of Japan, Abe has vowed to shore up the economy, deal with a swelling national debt and come up with a recovery plan following last year’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crises.

Abe has also stressed his desire to make Japan a bigger player on the world stage, a stance that has resonated with many voters who are concerned that their nation is taking a back seat economically and diplomatically to China. Abe has vowed to stand up to Beijing over an ongoing territorial dispute and strengthen Tokyo’s security alliance with Washington.

“I feel as fresh as the clear sky today,” he told reporters before the vote, adding that he wanted to get right to work.

He has already named a roster of top party executives that includes two women — more than previous LDP administrations — and is younger than earlier ones, with three of the four in their 50s.

Abe was expected to give the finance portfolio to another former prime minister, Taro Aso. The new foreign minister likely will be Fumio Kishida, an expert on the southern island of Okinawa, where residents are calling for the removal of nearly 20,000 US troops based there. The defense minister was expected to be Itsunori Onodera, who was in Abe’s previous administration.

The LDP governed Japan for decades after it was founded in 1955. Before it was ousted in 2009, the LDP was hobbled by scandals and problems getting key legislation through a divided parliament.

This time around, Abe has promised to make the economy his top priority and is expected to push for a 2 percent inflation target de-signed to fight a problem that was until recently relatively unique in the world — deflation. Continually dropping prices deaden economic activity, and the Japanese economy has been stuck in deflation for two decades.

Besides generous promises to boost public works spending — by as much as 10 trillion yen ($119 billion), according to party officials — Abe is pressuring the central bank to work more closely with the government to reach the inflation target.

He has acknowledged, however, that the road ahead for Japan will be bumpy.

“Our party leadership will undoubtedly have to deal with many issues,” he said Tuesday.

Shinzo Abe... Bali... From page 1

result will be maximal. For example, like in Vietnam, one hectare of paddy field can produce 10 to 12 tons of rice, while our farmers to produce 4 ton was very difficult. Consistency of govern-ment to support the agricultural sector should be adopted and implemented in Bali,” he explained.

Meanwhile, based on the existing data, the agricultural sector in Bali was increasingly abandoned by communi-ties. According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) of Bali, the number of people working in the sector decreased from 653,790 (February 2012) to 572,690 (August 2012).

Such condition was recognized by the Head of BPS Bali, I Gede Suarsa, where it occurred over the same period in 2011. Total employment in the sec-tor reached 643,030 in February 2011, while in August 2011 only remained 556,620. “Compared to February 2011, the number of people working in the agricultural sector, especially those aged 15 years and over has de-creased considering in February 2011 it amounted to 643,030 people,” he explained. The agricultural sector was no longer becoming a leading sector because it was no longer promising. It was also recognized by a practitioner of agriculture from the Warmadewa University, IB Komang Mahardika. Such condition was caused by the rampant onslaught of the agricultural land conversion.

“Protection of government to sus-tainability of the agricultural sector by minimizing land conversion was still ineffective. As evidence, this sector is increasingly marginalized due to

uncontrolled development,” he said.According to him, Bali had to

immediately make bylaw to protect productive lands. It could be a policy of local government in the form of regional bylaw on land protection. Similarly, the enforcement of bylaw on spatial planning (RTRW) should also be carried out well. If the RTRW of Bali Province could be implement-ed properly, Bali could still maintain the agricultural land. “I propose in order the local government makes zoning or mapping of the agricultural areas. So, if there are parties trying to violate could be imposed with penal-ties. Without it, it is hard to maintain the agriculture in Bali,” he said.

Besides, the government needed to provide incentives for farmers whose land was located in the agricultural zoning. The incentive could be a re-duction in property tax or tax exemp-tion. “We need leaders that dare to stop the land conversion and implement the agreed rules,” he said. The draft of Bali spatial planning had also clearly set out the designation of the agricultural area amounting to 298,214 hectares or 52.9 percent of the Bali Province. Among them, the food crops reached 76,337 hectares (13.5 percent), horticultural areas covered 108,511 hectares (19.3 percent) and 113,366 hectares for estate area (20.1 percent).

“In the future, we should look for leaders that dare to stop the land con-version and firmly enforce the existing rules. Lest we feel proud excessively as the agriculture got international award, but we are unable to maintain and preserve it,” he said. (bit/par)

Bali News Thursday, December 27, 2012 5InternationalThursday, December 27, 201212 International

Reuters

SEOUL - South Korea’s presi-dent-elect asked the leaders of the country’s big businesses, or chaebol, on Wednesday to think twice before cutting jobs, saying it was time for the conglomerates her father helped build four decades ago to look beyond profits.

The election last week of Park Geun-hye, the 60-year-old daughter of former military ruler Park Chung-hee, was welcomed by the country’s big businesses which dominate the world’s 14th largest economy. The five biggest chaebol control assets worth more than half of gross domes-tic product.

A week after her victory, Park said in a meeting with leaders of the top conglomerates that she would make sure fair business activities were encouraged and uncertainties were minimized.

“At the same time, I have a request that I must make to you,” Park told the heads of such conglomerates as Hyundai Motor <005380.KS>, Sam-sung (SAGR.UL), SK and POSCO <005490.KS>. “It is my feeling that big conglomerates should try to change.”

“I believe that the management goal of conglomerates should not remain maximizing profit but should involve pursuing coexistence with the larger community.”

“I ask that as you try to overcome management difficulties, that you do not start with restructuring or layoffs but instead with sharing wisdom and

pain, by trying as much as you can to save the jobs of our workers.”

Park’s defeated left-wing chal-lenger in the election had threatened to end the complex shareholding of subsidiaries that allows chaebol own-ers to control their sprawling business empires.

Park did not say she would intro-duce any changes to make it easier for companies to lay off workers.

South Korean employment law makes it nearly impossible for com-panies to dismiss salaried workers, which has led employers to use part-time, or contract, workers to ensure some degree of management flexibility in a notoriously rigid labor market.

South Korea has the third highest rate of temporary workers among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries.

Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor Co., Chey Tae-won, chairman of the SK Group and Koo Bon-moo, chairman of the LG Group, were in attendance but not Lee Kun-hee, chairman of the Samsung Group, who was on a business trip abroad.

Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, was responsible for building up the chae-bol during the 1960s and 1970s with a mix of threats and inducements for their bosses, the fathers and grandfa-thers of the current company heads.

Analysts said the president-elect was not likely to use regulatory mea-sures on conglomerates but she has pledged to share wealth more widely to try to ease social inequities.

Asian shares and other assets were capped in thin holiday trade, with investors focusing on the fate of U.S. negotiations to avert a budget crunch loom-ing at the end of the year.

Markets in Singapore, Ma-laysia, Indonesia, the Philip-pines and South Korea reopened on Wednesday after closing on Tuesday for the Christmas holi-day. Hong Kong and Australia remain closed on Wednesday. Europe also will not trade, but U.S. markets reopen later in the day.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Ja-pan was little changed. Shang-hai shares were flat, but stayed in positive territory on the year after a 2.5 percent jump on Tuesday erased 2012 losses. It is set for a first annual gain

in three years. South Korean shares ended nearly flat.

Shinzo Abe, whose party won a landslide victory in an election earlier this month, was elected Japan’s premier on Wednesday. Abe, who is expected to appoint his cabinet later Wednesday, is calling for a mix of aggressive monetary policy easing and big fiscal spending to beat deflation and rein in the strong yen.

He has kept up pressure on the Bank of Japan to be more drastic and adopt a 2 percent inflation target to beat deep-rooted deflation, pushing the yen to a 20-month low of 85.38 yen on trading platform EBS on Wednesday. Traders eyed the dollar’s 2011 high of 85.53 yen as the next target.

The euro rose as high as

112.55 yen on EBS, just below its 16-month high of 112.59 yen hit on December 19.

The weaker yen has bol-stered hopes for better earnings from Japanese companies and underpinned the Nikkei, which has gained some 18 percent since mid-November when the election was scheduled, fuelling expectations for Abe’s party to win. The yen has lost nearly 8 percent against the dollar in the same period. The Nikkei closed at a nine-month high with a 1.5 percent gain.

Japanese government debt prices fell, with the 10-year bond futures hitting a three-month low of 143.65 in active trade. Ten-year JGB yields rose 1.5 basis points to 0.780 percent, matching a six-week high hit on December 19.

Reuters

TOKYO - Toyota Motor Corp expects its global production under the Toyota and Lexus brands to hit 8.7 million vehicles in 2013, nearly the same as the 8.74 million vehicles it expects to have produced in 2012, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.

Global sales of Toyota and Lexus brands are expected to be at 8.9 mil-lion vehicles in 2013, up 2.5 percent from the sales expected this year.

Group-wide, Toyota expects to

produce 9.94 million vehicles and sell 9.91 million vehicles in 2013. The group-wide forecasts include figures at Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd.

For 2012, Toyota expects its group-wide production to be 9.92 million vehicles globally, up 26 percent from a year ago, as it recov-ers from a huge earthquake in Japan and Thai floods that took place in 2011.

It sees its group-wide global sales for 2012 to be 9.7 million vehicles, up 22 percent.

AP Photo/Koji Sasahara

People walk by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012. Asian stock markets rose Thursday with the help of Japan’s Nikkei 225, which was propelled higher by a weakening yen.

Yen falls, Nikkei surges as Japan gets a new governmentReuters

TOKYO - The yen fell to a 20-month low against the dollar on Wednesday, buoying the bench-mark Nikkei stock average to nine-month highs, as Japan swore in a new prime minister eager to pursue drastic stimulus steps to drive the country’s economy out of deflation.

Toyota sees 2013 output at 8.7 million vehicles

President-elect urges chaebol think twice before layoffs

As observation in the field last Tuesday, Christian congregations had come to a number of churches in Singaraja town from the morn-ing around 08:00 a.m. Not only congregation from Singaraja, many Christians who wondered about from outside Buleleng also attended the Christmas mass with family in Singaraja. Due to many congrega-tions, some of them should attend the mass outside of the church.

As seen in the St. Paul Church on Jalan Kartini, Singaraja, the main room was unable to accommodate worshipers who came up to 800 people. As a result, the committee was forced to set up tents and chairs outside. The congregation security

held by joint team consisting of Buleleng Police, military, municipal police and Transportation Agency was fairly tight. Even, the day be-fore Christmas, police had sterilized the sanctuary by deploying canine squad and examining the room by means of metal detector.

Meanwhile, the security in the Western Indonesia Protestant Church (GPIB) on Jalan Ngurah Rai Singaraja was conducted by involving pecalang. It was assigned to help the security of Christmas celebration from the morning until noon. Involvement of the pecalang security officer was a form of in-terfaith tolerance in celebrating the holiday. “We are assigned every

Christmas and this is a form of tol-erance. Besides, it is also intended to give comfort to the people cele-brating Christmas,” said a pecalang officer from Banjar Jawa customary village, Singaraja.

Meanwhile, Chief of Buleleng Police, Benny Arjianto, monitored the Christmas celebration in a num-ber of churches in Seririt and Singa-raja. Even, he had begged blessing on the Christmas celebration in St. Paul Church. When asked about the situation on Christmas Day, Benny said the situation was conducive. In appropriate with the standard opera-tion procedures, the security would be carried out until the celebration of New Year’s Eve (Dec 31). (kmb)

In the area of Ambengan Ham-let, Pesanggaran, lies in a haunted ancient temple named Dalem Petingan Temple. The temple looks so classical and has much inspired the art of life in Bali. It includes in usadhic or traditional healing practices and guidance how to inhibit the Lapindo mud-flows. Why?

To reach this temple, people should pass through a circular path toward Benoa Harbor. In the west of the road lies a path leading to the swamp to get through the temple. The temple itself has no compound wall and is situated in the middle of the swamp. Strangely, it has been securely protected by invisible compound wall.

This temple is easily accessible even though located in the middle of the swamp. From the street, we can walk along some five meters toward the temple. Jero Mangku Tanggu is responsible for oversee-ing and cleaning up the temple area every day. He receives these tasks from his ancestors. During the period of temple anniversary, fifteen days before Galungan, it is always crowded by devotees.

The shrines existing in the temple consist of a main chamber as the sanctum to venerate deity Ida Ayu Mas having connection with Pulaki Temple. She is be-lieved to be the source of life, so many traders and businessmen say prayers to this temple. Ad-ditionally, this temple is also the place to invoke divine inspiration (taksu) in the field of arts. Many art troupes invoked such divine inspiration in this temple, said Nyoman Sukayasa, one of the devotees who frequently wor-shiped in this temple.

On the left front side of the chamber occurs the shrine used for meeting hall of deities. Mean-while, in front of the meeting hall there is a gamelan pavilion. Then, in the north of chamber shrine, there are two shrines, namely the Panglurah and representative shrine of Ida Bhatara Pulaki.

Interestingly, under a big tree lies a shrine for venerating Ida Bhatara Lingsir Sidi Ngucap. People having profession as traditional healer usually invoke efficacy in this shrine. Then, at outermost courtyard lies a guard-ian shrine. This temple does have a compound wall, so that a series of stone are piled in such a way used as the wall, but its front wall is marked by a pile of bricks.

According to I Nyoman Su-kayasa and Ida Bagus Sudira serving as mediator of the vener-ated deities in this temple con-

firmed the existence of invisible compound wall protecting the temple. These two devotees were often assigned as mediator to inform any instructions received in the temple. Even, Bagus Sudira often performed a healing service in the temple and most people got their recovery within relatively a short time.

In the east of the temple, there is a pond without a shrine. It is believed as the abode of Anant-abhoga dragon. Though without shrine, at this location lies a small burrow that often appears used as an augury. Guardian animal of the deities abiding in this temple are black tiger and ivory tiger. However, they have not been realized in the form of effigies.

Nyoman Sukayasa added that deities abiding in the temple also had ties and linkages to Dalem Warung Temple located at Benoa landfill. The deity venerated in this temple was Ida Bhatara Manik Segara. His father abided in the Dalem Muter Temple, Kesiman, having the title of Ida Bhatara Catur Pramana Lingga. In addition, it had relation to Uluwatu Temple as the mother called Ida Sang Hyang Ibu Per-tiwi with the title of Ida Bhatara Baruna and Ida Bhatara Rudra. It was Ida Bhatara Rudra which endowed the cessation of Lap-indo mudflows, said Nyoman Sukayasa.

In the meantime, Ida Ayu Mas in the Dalem Petingan Temple was also said to have a grandfather who was worshiped in Pulaki Temple as Ida Bhatara Lingsir. Meanwhile, his sibling was venerated in the Rambutsiwi Temple with the title of Ida Bha-tara Sakti. Another brother was worshiped in the Dalem Peran-cak Temple at Canggu revered as Ida Bhatara Tri Premana Lingga and had relation to Ida Bhatara Sakti Pengadangan.

Even, Nyoman Sukayasa claimed to have received a rev-elation in the temple about the best way to discontinue the Lapindo mudflows. His trip to Sidoarjo with other Hindu devotees was so long. He did a pecaruan exorcism rite on the full moon in last April precisely in center of outburst. It was carried out under life-threatening chal-lenge, but he was determined to resume the holy mission because it was a part of God’s will. Ulti-mately, he thanked God because the Lapindo mudflows had now subsided. “That’s His will, we are only an intermediary,” said Sukayasa. (BTN/kmb)

IBP/Adnyana Ole

Local security personnels participated on securing the Christmas celebration at Buleleng Regency.

Christmas in Buleleng

Customary security joins to safeguard church Singaraja (Bali Post)—

Security in a number of churches in Buleleng on Christmas, Tuesday (Dec 25), was pretty tight. Other than conducted by joint forces of the Buleleng Police, military, municipal police, and the Buleleng Transportation Agency, it also involved pecalang or customary security officer.

Invoking divine inspiration of arts in

Dalem Petingan TempleBUSINESS

U.S. moves to sell advanced spy drones to South Korea

Bali News International4 Thursday, December 27, 2012 Thursday, December 27, 2012 13International RLDW

The communique did not elabo-rate, but the most common Gulf Arab complaint relates to Bahrain, which has repeatedly accused Tehran of interference in its internal politics by provoking protests.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokes-man Ramin Mehmanparast dismissed the statement. “Shifting the respon-sibility for the domestic problems of the regional countries is a way of running away from reality, and blam-ing others or using oppressive meth-ods are not the right ways to answer civil demands,” he said, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

The oil-producing GCC states wield influence out of proportion to their sparse populations due in part

to global energy and investment links, generous international aid and Saudi Arabia’s role as home to Islam’s two holiest sites. Iran sees the Gulf as its own backyard and believes it has a legitimate interest in expanding its influence there.

In Manama, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa told reporters on Tuesday that Iran posed a “very serious threat”.

“Politically, (there is) lots of med-dling in the affairs of GCC states; an environmental threat to our region from the technology used inside nu-clear facilities; and there is of course the looming nuclear programme,” he said, referring to Iran’s disputed atomic work.

Reuters WASHINGTON - The Obama administration

formally proposed a controversial sale of advanced spy drones to help South Korea bear more of its defense from any attack by the heavily armed North.

Seoul has requested a possible $1.2 billion sale of four Northrop Grumman Corp RQ-4 “Global Hawk” remotely piloted aircraft with enhanced surveillance capabilities, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement dated on Monday and distributed on Tuesday.

South Korea needs such systems to assume top responsibility for intelligence-gathering from the U.S.-led Combined Forces Command as scheduled in 2015, the security agency said in releasing a notice to U.S. lawmakers. “The proposed sale of the RQ-4 will maintain adequate intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities and will ensure the alliance is able to monitor and deter regional threats in 2015 and beyond,” the notice said.

The United States has agreed with Seoul to turn over the wartime command of Korean troops later this decade. Current arrangements grew from the U.S. role in the 1950-1953 Korean War that repelled

a North Korean takeover of the South.

Seoul has shown interest in the high-altitude, long-endurance Global Hawk platform for at least four years. The system, akin to Lockheed Martin Corp’s U-2 spy plane, may be op-timized to scan large areas for stationary and moving targets by day or night and despite cloud cover.

It transmits imagery and other data from 60,000 feet at near real-time speed, us-ing electro-optical, infrared and radar-imaging sensors built by Raytheon Co.

The possible sale has been held up by discussions involving price, aircraft con-figuration and a go-slow on release of such technology subject to a voluntary 34-nation arms control pact.

Reuters

YANGON - Myanmar’s presi-dent called on Wednesday for a shake-up in the running of his fast-changing country, which he said was still mired in corruption and inefficiency and lagging behind its international peers.

Thein Sein, the unlikely reform-er to emerge from within a military junta 19 months ago, called for big improvements across Myanmar’s outdated bureaucracy to strengthen democracy and the economy, as for-eign firms weigh whether to invest in the resource-rich country.

“ W h e n i t comes to mea-su r ing good g ove r n a n c e , o u r c o u n t r y still falls far shor t o f the international standards,” the former general told a meeting of cabinet min-isters, regional l e a d e r s a n d civi l service chiefs aired on television and radio.

“ T h e r e i s still a lack of

the characteristics of clean gov-ernment and good governance ... reforms are needed from the grassroots to the union (national) levels.”

World leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama have praised Thein Sein for spearheading political, democratic and social reforms since the military stopped ruling, but his government faces problems in rid-ding Myanmar of its reputation for being an army-dominated state and a risky place to do business.

Western diplomats and analysts believe the central government has

the pol i t ical will to drive re-forms but ques-tion the limits of its influence, pointing to sev-eral standoffs wi th par l i a -ment, sectar-ian violence i n R a k h i n e state, heavy-handed police and the presi-dent’s inability to halt fight-ing between the army and ethnic Kachin rebels as signs o f p rob lems ahead.

Iran rejects interference accusation by Gulf ArabsReuters

DUBAI - Iran rejected accusations from Gulf Arab states that it was meddling in their affairs, saying those countries were “running away from reality”, an Iranian news agency reported on Wednesday. Six U.S.-allied states demanded Iran end what they called interference in the region, in a statement on Tuesday at the end of a two-day summit of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), reiterating a long-held mistrust of their main rival.

REUTERS/Caren FirouzIranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast speaks with a Reuters correspondent during an interview in Tehran June 29, 2011.

REUTERS/U.S. Air Force/Bobbi Zapka/HandoutAn undated U.S. Air Force handout photo of a RQ-4 Global Hawk un-manned aircraft.

Reformist leader says Myanmar needs transformation

REUTERS/Samrang PringMyanmar’s President Thein Sein at-tends a session of the 21st ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits in Phnom Penh November 18, 2012.

Tabanan (Bali Post) –

The residents around Mandung final waste disposal (TPA) at Sembung Gede Village, Kerambitan, seened shocked last Tuesday (25/12) as dried rubbishes started to caught fire and spread to other piles of rubbishes. The TPA workers tried to turn it off with limited equipments yet it failed. Later on, Four fire brigades were sent to turn off the fire yet the fire got bigger. At least 10 tanks of water were needed to kill the fire in several hours. “At first were only a tiny smoke yet later it spread everywhere,” Nengah Wirata (45), one of the TPA workers, explained.

During the incident, Wirata was taking a break at the office. As he saw the smoke, he straight away called the fire brigade knowing that the fire is on the east wall which is the near-est to a resident’s land. This spot was hard to reach yet fire brigades managed to turn and search for the place. This fire hasn’t been the first one; several days ago the same happened to a spot not far from this recent one. It is suspected the dry weather that caused it. The workers here have continuously checked every pile of rubbishes and declined that this inci-dent has anything to do with sabotaging TPA workers. “It is possible due to the rubbishes overload so it is flammable,” Wirata concluded. (kmb30)

Negara (Bali Post) –

Jembrana Police Officers last Monday (24/12) confiscated hundreds of fireworks from a number of shops as those shops couldn’t show their official distributor permit. Some of the fireworks are big size and contains high explosive. Head of Jembrana Police Public Relation, APC Wayan Setiayajaya, as permitted by Head of Jembrana Police GAPC Komang Sandi Arsana last Tuesday (25/12) stated that these shops got it from a local distributor such as from Java and Denpasar also has no permits in selling it. Those evidences were then brought to Jembrana Police Headquarters. Before an announcement letter from Indonesia Police and Bali Po-lice connected to not sell any fireworks and fire crackers have been sent. (kmb26)

Precisely at 9:00 a.m., the Christ-mas mass was commenced. Hun-dreds of Catholics adults and chil-dren flocked to church. Process of the Christmas mass was led by Fa-ther Dinong from Batunya, Baturiti. Like Christmas celebration in other Catholic churches, spiritual hymns were chanted during the mass. Congregations solemnly listened to the sermon of Father Dinong. In essence, it was in memory of the birth of Jesus to save mankind. The mass was ended with distribution of bread of Mary by Father Dinong. One by one, people come forward to the altar and received the distribu-tion of sacred bread.

Chairman of the church, Patris I Ketut Suka Wiratnaja, said the Christmas mass was regularly held every year. There was no specific theme highlighted in the Christmas this year. Hopefully, the peaceful Christmas could bring prosperity to mankind. According to him, the congregation of St. Mikhail Church

came to 40 families with a total of 146 people. He explained the church established in 1976 was no longer able to accommodate the congregation. Moreover, many con-gregations from outside the village also came to church to celebrate Christmas.

He added the church deliber-ately applied Balinese ornament style, starting from arched en-trance to split gates because most congregations of the church were Balinese people. Therefore, it remained to use local sculpture. Nevertheless, it did not change the meaning of the Christian gospel, where one of which was Jesus on a cross. Church decorations during Christmas also made use of local materials such as young coconut leaf and palm leaf. Other local cultures were still in prac-tice such as ngejot or sharing food before Christmas to Hindus neighbors. Like the Hindus, the local Christians also slaughtered

pigs, prepared lawar delicacy and various other dishes on Christmas. “It’s a part of preserving Balinese culture,” he said.

Catholic Christianity began at Piling hamlet in 1955 with the presence of Christian Pastor. In harmony with the passage of time, the number of congregation in-creased. As a result, in 1976 Pastor Zeberger from Germany established St. Mikhail Church. This fourth pastor at Piling made the church like a temple style. One of which it adopted the bale kulkul or wooden split drum tower. Painting of Jesus on the cross also implemented Ba-linese style.

Another solemn Christmas celebration was the one held in Emmanuel Church located not far from St. Mikhail Church. The difference lay in the attires where not all congregations used Balinese customary attires. Some of them looked to put on national attires. Similarly, its church ornaments were also more modern and adopt-ed European style. Nevertheless, the typical Balinese ornaments could still be found. Two pieces of penjor were installed at the church entrance. Christmas mass in the church was led by Pastor Mariani. (kmb30)

Hundreds of illegal fireworks confiscated

IBP/FileThe police is inspecting the illegal fireworks which was confiscated from various stores.

Christmas celebration at Piling hamlet

Congregation puts on customary attires, church decorated with penjor

CHRISTMAS celebration as a whole in Tabanan took place sol-emnly on Tuesday (Dec 25). Among the existing churches, the most unique Christmas celebration was found in Penebel. Congregation of St. Mikhail Church at Piling hamlet, Mengesta village, Penebel, for instance, put on typical Balinese attires. Their church was also decorated with penjor or bamboo pole with various palm-leaf decora-tions. The activity has been going on for generations.

Again, Mandung waste disposal burn

3Thursday, December 27, 201214 InternationalInternational Bali NewsScience Thursday, December 27, 2012

Antara

DENPASAR - Bali tourism businessmen presumably reduced the use of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco imports. They have now started offering local prod-ucts, such as local spirits.

According to the Assistant Di-rector of the representative office of Bank Indonesia Region III, Sunarto, during the period Janu-ary to July 2012, the amount of foreign exchange spent to import food and alcoholic beverages de-creased. The amount is relatively small, amounting to about 650 thousand dollars. “Foreign ex-change issued to import food and booze during January-July 2012 for example relatively small, i.e. only 650 thousand US dollars,” said Sunarto.

In a report on the study of re-gional economy of Bali, foreign exchange expenditure mentioned in order to buy food and drink imports for seven months in 2012 only 650 thousand dollars less than the previously reached 16 million dollars in 2007.

Reduced imports of alcoholic beverages for foreign tourists, presumably because travelers are

like to try alcoholic beverages which are local production. Lo-cal production is generally made from the native fruit of Bali.

Thanks to the guidance of the officers and the hard efforts of the farmers, there are beverages that produced to support alcohol con-sumption of foreign tourists who come to the island of the Gods.

The original frui t of Bali that is able to be processed into drinks and presented to tour-ists who are on holiday to Bali, among others, a drink made of grape, salak, strawberry, ginger, cashew nuts and bananas.

Antara

DENPASAR - Hundreds of foreign tourists attended a Christmas Mass at St Fran-siskus Xaverius Paroki church in Badung district on Christ-mas Eve, where the Mass was delivered in both Indonesian and English.

On Monday, at 6pm local time, the Christmas Mass in English was led by Romo Se-bastianus Yordan Ado, Pr.

Later, at 10pm, the Mass in Indonesian was led by Romo

Hady Setiawan, Pr.The next day, on Christmas,

Romo Hady Setiawan, Pr deliv-ered two Masses in Indonesian at 7am and 9.30 am local time.

Meanwhile, Bandung police office deputy chief, Commis-sioner Sang Gede Sukawi-yasa, said the Christmas Eve activities in the district `went smoothly`.

“To ensure security dur-ing Christmas and New Year celebrations, Bali Police are conducting Candle Operation 2012,” he added.

IBP/Net

The photo shows product of wine salak that made from Salak Bali, one of Bali’s local fruits that already famous in tourism industry. Bali tour-ism businessmen presumably reduced the use of food, alco-holic drinks and tobacco im-ports. They have now started offering local products, such as local spirits.

Christmas mass in Kuta delivered in English

Bali tourism businessmen serve local beveragesIn fact, prominent climate sci-

entist James Hansen, of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and colleagues published research saying recent heat waves “were a consequence of global warming, be-cause their likelihood in the absence of global warming was exceedingly small.” Some other climate scien-tists, however, disagreed about the degree to which heat waves can be attributed to climate change.

Meanwhile, many of the top climate stories this year have be-come something like annual rites recently, as people around the world grapple with human-caused climate change, and attempt to address it and its effects.

Natural disasters, such as Hur-ricane Sandy (actually a hybrid storm) this year like others last year, have sparked discussion of the connection between climate change and increased risk for some extreme weather events. A major-ity of Americans also seem to be making the connection between ex-treme weather and climate change, according to surveys by the Yale Project on Climate Change Com-munication and the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.

In reality, attributing any single weather event to global warming is tricky, though some scientists said the planet’s increasing temperatures may have worsened Sandy. “The climate influences on this are what we might call the ‘new normal,’ the changed environment this storm is operating in,” Kevin Trenberth, who heads the climate analysis section of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told Live-Science at the end of October. For instance, the warmer ocean surfaces — which fuel hurricanes — may increase the risk that a storm will become more intense, Trenberth said. In addition, rising sea levels worsen the risk of flooding, the cause of much of the devastation Sandy wrought.

Likewise, global climate talks moved forward slowly, as they have in the last few years, against warnings that nations must curb the planet’s rising greenhouse gas emissions or face dramatic consequences.

This year also brought some milestones. Arctic sea-ice cover retreated to a record low in Sep-tember. As with unusually warm-ing temperatures, the record sea-ice retreat did not come out of the

blue. In recent years, the sea-ice cover has fallen below the aver-age extent for 1979 to 2000, and, likewise, the first decade of this century was the warmest decade ever recorded in all continents of the globe, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Scientists who study sea ice have blamed a combination of natural fluctuations and human-caused warming for the increased loss of ice, although some differ as to how much humans have con-tributed, Claire Parkinson, a se-nior scientist who studies climate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, said in September.

Early in the year, the United States, once the biggest contribu-tor to greenhouse gas emissions, saw its carbon-dioxide emissions from energy use drop to the low-est level since 1992, a decline the Department of Energy attributed to a mild winter, a shift from coal to natural gas and a slow economy. In 2011, the United States con-tributed 16 percent to the world’s emissions from fossil fuel use, behind the 28 percent contribution from the top emitter, now China, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project.

According to Chairman of the MMDP of Denpasar, Made Ka-rim, the decision would become a reference for customary villages across Denpasar in disciplining the use of fireworks in their area. He explained the decision would be followed up in accordance with the local situation, time and subject. “Every area has a particular policy, but still aims to maintain the security and or-der ahead of the New Year,” he explained.

Karim also appealed not to use the large size fireworks or

firecrackers. It was based on consideration that they were very hazardous to users and people in the surroundings. “The use of firecrackers or fireworks of smaller size can be tolerated. But most importantly, fireworks or firecrackers of larger size should be banned because they are very hazardous,” he said.

According to Karim, the follow-up of one customary village to another would be different. In other words, they could be different in delivering the policy or providing action against the offenders. “The

policy will be in accordance with each village, time and subject. Probably, the policy will concern with the time when setting off firecrackers is not allowed or the action taken against violation in each region,” he said.

Under the Joint Decree, the decision was made to keep the se-curity on the celebration of New Year at customary village because the use of firecrackers, fireworks and the like frequently caused accidents each year. They were quite disturbing society physi-cally and mentally. (kmb12)

Ahead of New Year

Customary village across Denpasar bans the use of firecrackersDenpasar (Bali Post)—

After the police authority in this case the Bali Police banned the use of fireworks or firecrack-ers to celebrate the New Year, the Denpasar customary village also implemented a similar ban. Pursuant to joint decision of the Customary Village Medium Assembly (MMDP) of Denpasar and the Meeting of Denpasar Customary Village Chief, the use of firecrackers, fireworks and the like within the territory of Denpasar customary village was banned. In other words, the use of firecrackers and fireworks was banned across Denpasar area ahead of the New Year.

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES — Volunteers who patrol California beaches for plastic, cigarette butts and other litter will be on the lookout this winter for flotsam from last year’s monstrous tsunami off Japan’s coast. Armed with index-size cards, beachcombers will log water bottles, buoys, fishing gear and other possessions that might have sailed across the Pacific to the 1,100-mile shoreline.

The March 2011 disas ter washed about 5 million tons of debris into the sea. Most of that sank, leaving an estimated 1 1/2 million tons afloat. No one knows how much debris — strewn across an area three times the size of the United States — is still adrift.

Tsunami flotsam has already touched the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii this year. The West Coast is bracing for more sight-ings in the coming months as sea-sonal winds and coastal currents tend to drive marine wreckage ashore.

Like the past winter, scientists expect the bulk of the debris to end up in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and British Co-lumbia. Last week, the Coast Guard spotted a massive dock that possibly came from Japan on a wilderness beach in Wash-ington state.

Given recent storm activity, Northern California could see

“scattered and intermittent” episodes, said Peter Murphy, a marine debris expert at the Na-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which recently received a $5 million donation from Japan to track and remove tsunami debris.

To prepare, state coastal regu-lators have launched a cleanup project to document possible tsunami items that churn ashore. Working with environmental groups, volunteers will scour beaches with a checklist. It’s like a typical beach cleanup, but the focus will be to locate articles from Japan.

Until now, efforts in California have been haphazard. The goal is to organize tsunami debris clean-ups at least once every season stretching from the Oregon state line to the Mexican border and then posting the findings online.

Debris from Asia routinely floats to the U.S. It’s extremely difficult to link something back to the Japanese tsunami without a serial number, phone number or other marker.

Of the more than 1,400 tsu-nami debris sightings reported to NOAA, the agency only traced 17 pieces back to the event, includ-ing small fishing boats, soccer balls, a dock and a shipping con-tainer housing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Japanese license plates. No confirmed tsunami debris so far has reached Cali-fornia.

AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File

FILE -In this file photo from Wednesday, June 6, 2012, a man looks at a 70-foot-long dock with Japanese lettering that washed ashore on Agate Beach in Newport, Ore.

IBP/ist

The Hottest Climate Change Stories of 2012

Global warming was hot news this year, literally. Perhaps the most unavoidable climate story of 2012 was the warmth that gripped much of the United States, and to a lesser degree, the planet, throughout the entire year. Heat waves brought “spring in March” to parts of the country, and broke all-time high-temperature records in a number of places. This, inevitably, led to a discussion of global warming and the degree to which it contributes to some types of extreme weather, in this case heat waves.

West Coast girds for more tsunami debris in winter

International2 Thursday, December 27, 2012 15International Activities

Bali News

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

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

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

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

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

In front of important shrine one sees, besides these umbrellas soars, tridents and other weapons, the “umbul-umbul”, long flags, all these are prerogatives or attributes of Holiness. In front of the Temple gate put up “Penjor”, long bamboo poles, decorated beautifully ornaments of young coconut leaves, rice and other products of the land. Most beautiful to see are the girls in their colorful attire, carrying offerings, arrangements of all kinds fruits and colored cakes, to the Temple. Every visitor admires the grace with which the carry their load on their heads.

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Calendar Event for December 12 through December 27, 2012

Thursday, December 27, 2012

12 Des Buda Keliwon Ugu Pura Dalem Tarukan Banjar Pu-lasari Desa Peninjoan Tembuku - BangliPura Pasek Gelgel Boading Kaba-kaba TabananPura Pemayun Banyuning Te n -gah - BulelengPura Desa Kayangan Tiga Desa Bubunan Seririt - BulelengPura Agung Gunung Raung Ban-jar Taro Kaja Taro - TegalalangMerajan Pasek Dangka Bungbun-gan

22 Des Hari Tumpek Wayang Pura Majapahit JembranaOdalan Betara ratu Gede Celuk SukawatiOdalan Betara Ratu Wedyadari Camenggaon SukawatiPura Panti Gelgel Pengembun-gan Sesetan DenpasarBetara Ratu Alit dan Ratu Lingsir Singakerta UbudPura Pedarmaan Dalem Suka-wati BesakihPura Pedarmaan Mengwi Be-sakihPura Pedarmaan Kaba-kaba BesakihPura Pedarmaan dalem Bakas BesakihPura Dadia Agung Pasek Gelgel

Pegatepan Gelgel KlungkungPura Pemrajan Agung Sulang Kec Dawan KlungkungMerajan Pasek Bendesa Kori Agung PengatepanPura Pedarmaan Dinasti dalem sri Aji Kresna Kepakisan P u r a Besakih (Dalem Klungkung)Pura Penataran Giri Purwa dan Pesraman Dusun Kuto Rejo Kendal Rejo Tegal Delimo Banyu-angi

26 Des Buda Wage Kelawu Pura Penataran Agung Teluk Pa-dang KarangasemPura Melanting Desa Cameng-gaon SukawatiPura Penataran Ped Nusa Peni-daPura Pasek Gelgel Pangembun-gan Bongkase AbiansemalPura Pasek Bendesa Reyang Gede Penebel TabananPura Pasek Gelgel Br. Jawa Ten-gah BulelengPura Gaduhan Jagat Desa Sin-gakerta UbudPura Masceti Tegeh Mancawarna Sanding TampaksiringPura Penataran Batu Lepang Kamasan KlungkungPura Paibon Pasek Gelgel Gobleg Desa Kedonganan Kuta

Pura Goa BesakihPura Basukian BesakihPenataran Agung BesakihMerajan Pasek Gelgel PejengMerajan Pasek Gelgel SonganMerajan Pasek Prateka Pekan-delan SidemenMerajan Pasek Prateka Taman Sari SukasadaPura dadia Pasek Gelgel Side-men KarangasemMerajan Pasek Gelgel Tampua-gan, Tembuku, Bangli

27 Des Purnama Kepitu Pr. Benua Besakih.Pura Dalem Desa Camenggaon - SukawatiPura Suranadhi LombokPura Narmada LombokPura Segara Ampenan LombokMr Agung Dewa Agung Klung-kung Ulah SidemenPura Gunungrene S i d e m e n - Karangasem.Merajan Pasek Gelgel AbabiMr. Pasek gelgel TistaPura Gunung Gunung - Tianyar - Kubu - KarangasemPura Pingit Klenting sari Banjar Sumberkelompok - Gerokgak - SingarajaPura Payogan Agung Kutai Kartanegara

IBP/Courtesy of Dynasty Resort

Bali Dynasty Resort scores a “Hat Trick”

IBP

As the year draws to a close the Bali Dynasty resort is celebrating its’ latest 3 accolades which have been awarded in December. Among others; Bali Dynasty resort was recognised by the Travel Corporation and awarded a Gold Plaque in recognition of the resorts’ outstanding partnership and cooperation throughout 2012 enabling it to become the number one supporter in Bali. The Travel Corporation encompasses both New Horizons Holidays and Creative Holidays and is one of the biggest wholesaler producers of room nights out of Australia to Bali.

Bali Dynasty Resort also have an award as the Best Family Resort in Indonesia as recognised by the Indo-nesian Tourism and Travel Awards for 2102/13 which was conducted through an online poll as well as final selection committee who re-viewed the hotels credentials and feedback from guests.

Earlier in the year the Bali Dynasty Resort also received recognition from Holiday With Kids as the best Family Resort in Bali as voted by Holiday with Kids, an Australian holiday publication.

Over the past year the resort has focused on fur-ther enhancing its’ facili-ties to create an even more memorable family experi-ence with the addition of the new Kids Water Fun Zone with its’ giant bucket and water cannons as well as the introduction of the

High Flyer Trapeze School, a thrilling experience for all the family which helps over-comes inhibitions and builds self confidence. In addition to this the resort has also launched the Ashoka Spa in June 2012 which offers a variety of spa treatments which also focus on treat-ments for him and her, as well as for children.

The resort continues to enhance its product offer-ing through an activity pro-gramme which runs seven days a week for all ages as well as in the Teen Club and Kids Club offering an array of activities from vil-lage walks, water volley-ball, towel origami lessons, Indonesian lessons where you cook your own authentic Balinese lunch leaving not a dull moment for those look-ing for more of a holiday experience than just lying around the pool.

According to the graduate of Faculty of Agriculture, Udayana University, Bali government and county/municipality should work hand in hand with universities in re-solving the agricultural problems in Bali. He pointed out that government might ask universities to carry out research whose results could be ap-plied by Balinese farmer community to improve the quality and quantity of the agricultural production.

Meanwhile, local governments should help fund the research including having an obligation to socialize the result of research to farmers and facilitate it so that it could be applied in the field. “If synergy between the government and universities can be made prop-erly, I am optimistic the agricultural development will be more focused

and can improve the welfare of farmers in Bali. Universities have knowledge and technology that can be applied by farmers, while the government has fund to help apply the results of research conducted by universities in the field,” he said.

This people’s representative from Buleleng added both government and universities had actually moved to empower the agricultural sector in Bali. Unfortunately, the parties sup-porting the successful development of the agricultural sector seemed to run independently, so that the result achieved was never optimal. If the great potential possessed by both parties could come along, there would be great hope if synergy of both parties could create a better condition for the agricultural devel-opment in Bali. “In the future, the

synergy must be established. Do not work independently,” he reminded.

The hope of Kariyasa Adnyana was positively responded by an agricultural researcher and observer from the Udayana University, Dr. G.N. Alit Susanta Wirya. This doctoral graduate from a university in Japan did not deny that synergy between researchers and local gov-ernments to apply the results of research to farmer remained low. Such synergy needed improving. As a researcher, his party actu-ally had a great interest so that the results of research carried out with great difficulty could be adopted by farmers. “In this context, we really need the participation of local gov-ernments to disseminate and apply the results of research to farmers,” he affirmed. (kmb13)

Generate agricultural sector

Local govt should increase synergy with universitiesDenpasar (Bali Post)—

To raise the increasingly worse agricultural sector, it was time for local government in Bali to increase the synergy with universities, particularly those having the Faculty of Agriculture. To make a binding synergy, it would be much more effective if the govern-ment and universities signed a kind of memorandum of understanding (MoU) with full obligations and responsibilities that should be executed by the parties. Deputy Chairman of Commission Iv of Bali House, Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, revealed the matter to Bali Post on Tuesday (Dec 25).

IBP/File

A woman is working in her ricefield. It is time for local government in Bali to increase the synergy with universities, particularly those having the Faculty of Agriculture to develop farming in the island.

Avalanche on Jalan Bypass SoekarnoClogs river channel, inundates Beji Mumbul templeTabanan (Bali Post)—

Avalanche on Jalan Bypass Su-karno, Tabanan, did not only inter-fere with the traffic flows. After the disaster, the Beji Mumbul temple at Dukuh hamlet, Dauh Peken village, Tabanan, was inundated on Tuesday (Dec 25). Such condition made local customary villagers anxious. If coming to sink, it would need a grandiose ritual.

Inundation to the sacred temple was triggered by avalanche block-ing the river channel. Since it was clogged, the water turned stagnant and overflowed. Within hours, the water discharge continued to rise. Even, until 4:00 p.m. last Tuesday, the water was soaking the temple gate. Within few more spans, the water could penetrate the innermost courtyard. “We have reported this to the road project leader. Without im-

mediate handling, the Beji Temple will sink, even collapses as inun-dated by water,” said a pilgrim of Beji Mumbul Temple, Gede Ketut Munggah, 68, last Tuesday.

The man explained the Beji Mumbul Temple was venerated by a number of customary hamlets around Dauh Peken. Every ritual, people always invoked holy water to the temple. The temple activities paralyzed because the water inun-dated the entrance and the fountain. In later afternoon, said Ketut Gede Munggah, surface of the water dis-charge was getting higher.

He told the disaster afflicting the Beji Temple started when an avalanche occurred to Jalan Bypass Soekarno on Sunday af-ternoon (Dec 23). Incidentally, the river channel under the avalanched road passed next to Beji Temple.

When the flow was clogged, the water overflowed and kindled the flooding. Representing the temple pilgrims, he hoped the government could quickly clean up the landslide materials especially the ones ham-pered the streams so that the Beji Temple would not be drowned. “If it sinks, we must spend much money for ritual and repairing the infrastructure,” he said.

Request for improvement accel-eration to the avalanched roads was also conveyed by Deputy Director of Traffic Affairs of Bali Police, AA Made Sudana. He asked the Bali Public Works to improve it more quickly. However, the quality standards had to be addressed. “The sooner the work, the better will be. It is related to interprovincial high-way users,” said the former Chief of Tabanan Police amidst his visit

to the avalanche site.Meanwhile, the Bali Public

Works still found difficulty in re-pairing the avalanched road. Two units of heavy equipment deployed since the incident were unable to find the buried river channel. “We’ve done dredging quite deeply. However, the water line cannot be found yet,” said the officer of Bali Highways Division, Agung Sukarja.

According to him, if the buried water line was found, the work would be focused on the smooth-ness of the river flow. Thus, it would not trigger any flooding and inundate the Beji Temple. The man explained if the buried water line was just five meters wide. However, its depth could not be predicted. If the river channel was found, the repair process would use gabion

box. The material would consist of a mixture of wire and cast stone. The construction was predicted to last up to six months. After that, it would be considered a repair pro-cess as a whole.

Jalan Bypass Soekarno at kilo-meter post 30, Dauh Peken village, Tabanan, avalanched on Sunday afternoon (Dec 23). This national road avalanched along 48 meters and 3.5 meters wide with a depth of 20 meters. There was no loss of lives in the incident. As a result, the traffic from Denpasar to Gilimanuk was diverted from Kediri intersec-tion to Tabanan town. Based on the analysis of the Public Works official, the avalanche was trig-gered by seepage of water under the road. As a result, the backfill turned loose, unstable and then triggered the avalanche. (kmb30)

Thursday, December 27, 2012

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EntertainmentWEATHER FORECAsT

Thursday, December 27, 2012

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The queen said she was struck by the “strength of fellowship and friendship” shown by well-wishers to mark her 60 years on the throne. “It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago,” she said as foot-age showed crowds lining the Thames River in the rain earlier this year for a boat pageant. “People of all ages took the trouble to take part in various ways and in many nations.”

The queen also reflected on Britain’s host-ing of the Olympic games in 2012, praising the “skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes” and singling out the volun-teers who devoted themselves “to keeping others safe, supported and comforted.”

Elizabeth’s message aired shortly after she attended a traditional church service at St. Mary Magdelene Church on her sprawling Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Wearing a turquoise coat and matching hat, the monarch rode to church in a Bentley,

accompanied by granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie. Her husband, Prince Philip, walked from the house to the church with other members of the royal family.

Three familiar faces were missing from the family outing. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury. Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.

After the church service, the royals usually gather to watch the queen’s prerecorded tele-vision broadcast, a tradition that began with a radio address by King George V in 1932.

The queen has made a prerecorded Christ-mas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on tele-vision since 1957. She writes the speeches her-self and the broadcasts mark the rare occasion on which the queen voices her own opinion without government consultation. Her switch to 3D was not the only technological leap for prominent British figures this Christmas.

Associated Press Writer

BOSTON — Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for John Kerry’s seat in the U.S. Senate, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.

Affleck says in a Monday posting on his Facebook page that while he loves the political process, he will not be running for public office.

Speculation about the Massachusetts native rose slightly when he did not completely rule out a Senate bid during an appearance on CBS on Sunday.

In his Facebook posting, Affleck says he would continue working with the Eastern Congo Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps direct humanitar-ian aid to the war-torn region, and for other causes. Affleck says Kerry would make a great secretary of state.

Sen. John Kerry D-Mass., speaks with actor Ben Affleck during a meeting with foreign relations members to discus the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012.

Ben Affleck says he won’t run for US Senate

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

Queen delivers 1st Christmas message in 3DAssociated Press Writer

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has hailed the holidays in a new dimension, delivering her Christmas message for the first time in 3D. In the annual, prerecorded broadcast, the monarch paid tribute to the armed forces, “whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends” over the holidays, and expressed gratitude for the outpouring of enthusiasm for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

AP Photo/Matt Dunham

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from children after attending

the British royal family’s traditional Christmas

Day church service in Sandringham, England, Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012.

Iran rejects interference accusation by Gulf Arabs

Associated Press

TOKYO — Japan’s parliament elected Shinzo Abe as the nation’s prime minister on Wednesday, ending three years of rule by liberal administrations and bringing back to power the conservative, pro-big business party that has run Japan for most of the post-World War II era.

Abe, whose nationalist positions have in the past angered Japan’s neighbors, is the country’s seventh prime minister in just over six years. He has prom-ised to restore growth to an economy that has been struggling for 20 years.

He led the Liberal Democratic Party to victory in nationwide elections Dec. 16 to cement his second term as Japan’s leader. He was also prime minister in 2006-2007 before resigning for health reasons that he says are no longer an issue.

He won elections in both houses of Parliament, though in the less powerful upper house, where his party is weaker, he finished second in the first round and needed a runoff to win. He was to name his Cabinet later Wednesday.

Shinzo Abe returns as Japan’s prime minister

Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party lead-er Shinzo Abe bows after being named Japan’s new prime minister during the plenary session at the lower house of Parliament in Tokyo, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012.AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye

Denpasar (Bali Post)—

Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI) of Bali, Prof. Nyo-man Suparta, said that up to now Bali had not owned a holistic design of agricultural development. According to him, the agricul-tural development in Bali should not only be viewed in terms of economic aspect but also in terms of social, cultural, customary and environmental aspect. “It distinguishes the agriculture in Bali from the ones in other

regions. Agriculture does not only include crops, but also livestock, estate and fishery. Basically, farmers are also breeders or fish farmers and do not merely implement the program of central government but in fact does not meet the local potential,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that agricultural de-velopment should include a number of aspects such as the physical, earth, institution system of subak, quality of human resources, educa-tion, counseling, mindset, behavior, entrepre-neurship, technology application, processing,

capital, markets and marketing system in an integrated way. “Agriculture in Bali must be built with maturely designed planning, while the relation to tourism and industry sectors should be programmed holistically,” he said.

According to him, the welfare of farmers should also be built in an integrated manner. For instance, the integrated agricultural sys-tem (Simantri) should not only be based on the pattern, but also on the proper concept. “The pattern may change, but the concept application must be pervasive into various

patterns. This can make the Simantri group fail. Indigenous wisdom of subak should be empowered to make sustainable and give welfare to farmers, union of farmer groups (Gapoktan) must be deleted and replaced with subak and yield of tourism should be distributed evenly to agricultural sector to nearly meet 10 percent of the budget share. The role of agricultural NGOs should be maximized to make the life pattern of farm-ers independent,” he explained.

Bali has not had holistically designed agricultural development

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Pope’s Christmas message focuses on Mideast, China

Liverpool’s sterling commits to England over Jamaica