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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Thursday, February 5, 2015

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News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http://globalfmbali.listen2my-

radio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Kee-lung River a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore. Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage.

The ATR-72-600 prop-jet air-craft was flying on its side, with one wing scraping past Taiwan’s busy National Freeway No. 1 just sec-onds before it plunged into the river, local television images showed. It had taken off from Taipei’s down-town Sungshan Airport en route

to the outlying Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands.

Civil aviation officials said the flight took off at 10:53 a.m. and lost contact with controllers two min-utes later. Thirty-one passengers were from China, Taiwan’s tourism bureau said. Kinmen’s airport is a common link between Taipei and China’s Fujian province.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency said 12 people were killed.

Wu Jun-hong, a Taipei Fire Department official who was coor-dinating the rescue, said the victims

were among 27 people pulled from the plane. The remaining people were unaccounted for, and were ei-ther were still in the fuselage or had been pulled downriver, he said.

“At the moment, things don’t look too optimistic,” Wu told re-porters at the scene. “Those in the front of the plane are likely to have lost their lives.”

Rescuers were pulling luggage from an open plane door to clear the fuselage, and Wu said they planned to build a pontoon bridge to facilitate those efforts.

The plane’s wing also hit a taxi, the driver of which was injured, on the freeway just before it crashed into the river, Taiwanese broad-caster TVBS reported.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it had sent 165 people and eight boats to the riverside res-cue scene, joining fire department rescue crews.

A TransAsia media office de-clined comment on possible reasons for the crash, deferring to a news conference scheduled for later on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Civil Aero-nautics Administration also was also unable to discuss possible causes of the crash.

A plane operated by the same

Taipei-based airline crashed in the outlying Taiwan-controlled islands of Penghu last July 23, killing 48 at the end of a typhoon for reasons that are still under investigation.

Wednesday’s crash is likely to further hurt the reputation of the 64-year-old airline along with that of the Civil Aeronautics Adminis-tration. (ap)

As does director Paul Tibbitt’s new movie, which is zany and clever and fun (and in 3D), as long as you can take 93 minutes of it. That may depend on your age. As I exited the theater I heard a father telling his young son wearily, “That’s about all the SpongeBob I can take.” The son, it seemed, could have taken a few hours more.

The movie — the second feature-length outing for the durable Nickelodeon TV character, and the first since 2004 —begins somewhere above the undersea hamlet of Bikini Bottom, where SpongeBob lives. We meet a nefarious pirate character named Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas, in live action and game for anything), tracking down a precious ancient book via his treasure map.

The book tells the story of Bikini Bottom — a device to bring newcomers up to speed. (In a clever touch that parents will like, an old library card shows the previous borrowers, who include Davy Jones. “This is way overdue,” the pirate says.) We learn how Bikini Bottom is addicted to Krabby Patties, the succulent burgers made only at Krusty Krab, the fast-food joint where SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) works for Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), who keeps the secret recipe stowed away in a vault.

Back down in Bikini Bottom, rival restaurant owner Plankton is trying to steal the formula, as usual. He fails, but the formula actually disappears. The two rivals join forces to find it, and this quest drives the movie, with many a wacky tangent awaiting — including time travel and even space travel, up to a weird platform somewhere in the universe where a porpoise who sounds delightfully like Christopher Walken makes sure the planets don’t collide.

But back to the recipe. It’s an urgent mission, because

without its beloved snack, Bikini Bottom falls immediately into an apocalyptic state, with everyone wearing leather and turning evil. They’re hungry — very hungry.

Eventually, SpongeBob and his posse, which includes series regulars Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence) and of course starfish Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), will end up traveling somewhere they’ve never been: Up to the surface, and out of the water. Here, they assume their new, 3D form, the better to run around the beach (peopled by live-action humans) and track down the villainous Burger Beard, who’s up to something nasty.

This isn’t a battle to be fought by mere, well, pup-pets — and so they make another transformation, into glorious superhero versions of themselves, the better to battle that snack-stealing pirate and rescue their desperate hometown.

Kids, likely, will be the prime audience for these ener-getic shenanigans. Adults may prefer the clever wordplay. “Unleash the condiments!” Krabs says at one point in a battle. “With relish!” SpongeBob replies. There’s also a cute visual gag making fun of those of us who would never mix the garbage with the recycling.

It’s striking to realize that SpongeBob, the character, is more than 15 years old in sponge years (the TV series’ creator, Stephen Hillenburg, is an executive producer here.) He’s isn’t slowing down. If you like the yellow guy on TV, you should have a good, squishy time here, too.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,’” a Paramount release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture As-sociation of America “for mild action and rude humor.” Running time: 93 minutes. Three stars out of four. (ap)

AP Photo/Wally Santana

Emergency personnel try to extract passengers from a commercial plane after it crashed in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. A Taiwanese flight with 58 people aboard went sideways, clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island’s capital of Taipei.

Taiwan plane crashes, 12 killedTAIPEI — A Taiwanese flight with 58 people aboard went sideways, clipped an elevated

roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island’s capital of Taipei, killing at least 12 people, local media and officials said.

LOS ANGELES - Iggy Azalea has soared to stardom as a rare white woman in hip-hop, but her meteoric rise has triggered a backlash that re-veals much about the music business’s fault-lines on race and gender.

The 24-year-old Australian, who released her first full album just nine months ago, is up for four Grammy awards on Sunday, including the prestigious Record of the Year for her smash hit “Fancy.”

But even as Azalea wins plaudits from the industry and packs arenas, detractors see her as uncanny or even offensive -- a white, blonde woman who raps in an accent that is identifi-ably African American.

Her most vociferous critic has been fellow rapper Azealia Banks, a black woman who has accused Azalea of mocking African Americans.

Banks, who has never been nomi-nated for a Grammy, charged that

Azalea -- whom she taunted as “Igloo Australia” -- shied away from issues important to the black community such as police brutality.

“When they give these Grammys out, all it says to white kids is, ‘Oh yeah, you’re great, you’re amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to.’

“And it says to black kids, ‘You don’t have shit -- you don’t own shit, not even the shit you created for yourself,’” Banks said in a radio interview.

Azalea -- who moved to the United States as a teenager to pursue her hip-hop dreams and has been romantically linked to African American men -- has denounced Banks as a “bigot.”

“There are many black artists suc-ceeding in all genres. The reason you haven’t is because of your piss poor attitude,” Azalea wrote on Twitter. (afp)

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies shows characters, from left, Mr. Krabs, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, Squidward Tentacles, and SpongeBob SquarePants in a scene from “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.”

SpongeBob’s back, on a zany venture up to our world

Would that all of our brains resembled that of SpongeBob SquarePants — and we’re talking about his actual brain, like, the cerebral matter located somewhere inside that porous yellow body. When, in the thoroughly enjoyable (though somewhat exhausting) “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water,” the tiny, scheming Plankton takes a surreptitious trip into one of those sponge-holes, he finds a brain coated with cotton candy, rainbows and all manner of sweets, like a scene from “The Nutcracker.” It’s enough to make a cynical little organism sick, but it makes us love sweet SpongeBob even more.

Iggy Azalea rise tests music industry on race, gender

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

International2 Thursday, February 5, 2015 15International Activities

Bali News

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

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

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

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

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Thursday, February 5, 2015

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

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

With Mataram being Lombok’s commercial center and seat of government, the hotel aims to bring a breath of fresh air to Lom-bok’s limited choices of business traveler focused accommodations offering 117 functional and mod-ern guest rooms in the for fave-hotels typical edgy and cheerful design, 4 meeting rooms, ample of parking space, an eclectic café shop/restaurant and of course as in every fave, truly high speed, complimentary and reliable Wi-Fi throughout the entire property.

“favehotels has gone from strength to strength over the years winning numerous award and accolades as Indonesia’s most

Every single unique property built must be in accordance with the intended market. On that ac-count, Avilla Hospitality with a vision to become a local cham-pion in Bali has determined the target market. “I learned about differentiation from Hermawan Kartajaya,” said Director of Op-erations of the Avilla Hospitality, Henry Setiono.

Henry Setiono explained that Avilla set foot in Bali in 2005. So far, there are nine brands managed by the Avilla Hospitality. Collabo-ration is the key word. “One of our business units is the Bale Udang Mang Engking, a restaurant in collaborate with one of the leading restaurants in Jogjakarta opening a branch in Bali. From the idea, it then came out the Bale Udang Mang Engking that has been en-riched with local flavor of Bali,” said the bespectacled man.

The other cooperation, he add-ed, is with one of the international surf brands and Bliss Wayan Hotel so as to create a thematic hotel for surfers-wanna-be. “There are many more examples of our properties making collaboration

IBP/Courtesy of Archipelago International

The first favehotel opened in LombokLOMBOK – Archipelago

International’s popular select service hotel brand, favehotel, is making its debut on the flourishing island of Lom-bok with the opening of the favehotel Langko Mataram – Lombok presenting a vivid alternative for business and leisure travellers seeking a reasonably priced, yet modern, comfortable and professionally managed hotel.

popular budget hotel brand. We are delighted to be marking yet another milestone with the opening of our first fave in Lombok which is also the first

international standard select service hotel on the island.” Said Norbert Vas, Archipelago International’s VP Sales & Marketing. (r)

Profile

Henry SetionoIn accordance to intended market

IBP/kmb

with another brand differentiation to further strengthen our property,” he said. In addition, with a limited budget, the strategy of low budget high impact of Hermawan is totally applied at the Avilla. Focus on digital marketing

strategy is made by building social media platform. “Repeater guests are the most effective marketing for the Avilla this time,” he added. The Avilla Hospitality continued to develop itself to seek strategic partners. (kmb)

Local resident, Wayan Artayasa, conveyed the severity of the situation on Tuesday (Feb 3). He explained that con-ditions have been such for a long time. “During the dry season, I am forced to buy water at a very high price; IDR 200,000 for 5,000 liter. This amount of water lasts for about 20 days, so it adds up to a lot of money,” he said.

Artayasa and others catch rainwater using 3x2 meter tarpaulin, and the re-sulting water looks more like a catfish pond with greenish water. “I haven’t had enough money to built a permanent reservoir, so I use this tarpaulin in the mean time,” said Artyasa.

All local residents catch rainwater from the roof of their houses channeling it into make-shift reservoirs. This water is used for cooking, drinking and sanita-tion purposes. When asked whether the rainwater causes illness, Artayasa said that it had not. “Thankfully, it has not caused any diseases so far,” he said.

When asked about the nearest water

springs, Artayasa said there was no spring near the village. Residents had no choice but to buy water during the dry season. Nengah Tegteg, another resident of Landih village confirmed such condi-tions saying that during the rainy season, he and others used rainwater because buying so much water is simply not an option given that he and his neighbours work as farmers. Nengah explained say-ing: “my income is extremely modest, so that I take advantage of rainwater so that I don’t have to purchase water.”

Artayasa hopes that local govern-ment can provide a permanent reservoir because tarpaulins do not last very long.. Apart from not having a spring nearby, badly damaged roads in the area make access to water even more challenging.

Another resident, I Wayan Karsa, said that all he could do was to surrender to the government. Karsa said that the road is damaged due to high volume of traffic during the tangerine harvest. (sos)

SEMINYAK - Double Six Luxury Hotel Seminyak orga-nized melaspas or inauguration ceremony on full moon, Tuesday (Feb 3). The ceremony taking place at the local hotel was at-tended by the owner, family of the owner, General Manager, Corporate Management and the entire hotel staff.

Peak of the event held on the second day was officiated over by Ida Pedanda Gde Made Jelantik Karang from Griya Buda Keling, Karangasem. On the same day, it was also held the ceremony of rishi gana, mendem pedagingan, ngenteg linggih and padudusan agung.

Corporate Sales & Public Rela-tions of Double Six Luxury Hotel

Seminyak, Dayu Basmiari, con-veyed the purpose of the ceremony was to purify the shrines and hotel buildings. “This hotel has been in operation for seven months in which currently the buildings and shrines have been totally accom-plished,” she said on the sidelines of the event.

The ceremony, continued Bas-miari, was also meant to give posi-tive energy to staff, management and guests who stayed at hotel. On that account, the in-house guests were also invited to come. “We provide the opportunity for the in-house guests to see the ceremo-nial procession. Even, we provide them with traditional Balinese at-tires,” she explained friendly.

More interestingly, the cer-

emony was accompanied with several Balinese art performances such as the Rejang Dewa Dance, Sidakarya Mask and Bondres Gag. The performance aimed to complete the ceremonial pro-cession as well as enliven and entertain guests. In addition, they also had the opportunity to enjoy the Balinese dishes presented in buffet style.

Basmiari hoped the ceremony would help strengthen and develop the Double Six Luxury Hotel spiri-tually. “The owner of this hotel is a native to Bali. So, 99 percent of the human resources employed are the locals. I am confident this hotel is not less competitive against the other hotels in terms of quality,” she said optimistically. (ocha)

IBP/Bit

A couple who are making bricks are working to fulfill the demand of the customers. The demand from bricks are increasing due to the development of housing in Bali

With no other source, residents rely on rainwater

IBP/Sosiawan

One of the water reservoir made by the locals to collect water from the rain.

BANGLI - residents of Pondok Glagah, Buayang hamlet, Landih village, Bangli, long for water services so that they do not have to rely on rainwater nor buying expensive water to meet their daily needs.

Inauguration ceremony at Double Six Luxury Hotel

3Thursday, February 5, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsHealth Thursday, February 5, 2015

The evidence is so strong, the experts said, that health watchdogs should overhaul guidelines for elec-tronic device use by youngsters.

The team carried out an investiga-tion among nearly 10,000 people aged 16 to 19 in Hordaland county, western Norway, in 2012, they reported in the journal BMJ Open on Tuesday.

The teens were questioned about their sleeping patterns, how long they looked at a screen outside of school hours and the type of gadget they used.

The respondents said they needed between eight and nine hours’ sleep on average to feel rested.

Those with screen time of more than four hours per day were three-and-a-half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night, the probe found.

They also were 49 percent likelier to need more than 60 minutes to fall asleep. Adults normally nod off in under 30 minutes.

The study also confirmed what many parents of a sleepy teen have

experienced already -- using an elec-tronic device in the hour before bed-time badly affects both onset of sleep and its duration.

In particular, teens who used a computer or mobile phone in the last hour were 52 and 48 percent likelier to take more than 60 minutes to fall asleep.

They were also 53 and 35 percent likelier to lose out on two or more hours of sleep.

Somewhat smaller risks of delayed or shortened sleep were observed among youngsters who used an MP3 player, tablet, game console or TV in the final hour before bedtime.

The researchers, led by Mari Hys-ing at a regional centre for child health in the city of Bergen, point to several possible explanations.

One is quite simple: that teenagers are getting to bed later -- screen time eats into sleep time.

Another idea is that the bright light from devices interferes with circadian rhythm, the day-night system that tells our brain when we should sleep and

when we should wake up.There could also be muscle pains,

tension or headaches, for instance from playing a game for too long.

The media content, too, may play a role by causing “increased psy-chophysiological arousal” -- which means the mind is spinning just as it should be slowing down for the night.

“The recommendations for healthy media use given to parents and adoles-cents need updating, and age specific guidelines regarding the quantity and timing of electronic media use should be developed,” the study said.

The current recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics set down in 2004 is to not have a TV in the bedroom.

“It seems, however, that there may be other electronic devices exerting the same negative influence on sleep, such as PCs and mobile phones,” said the study.

“The results confirm recommen-dations for restricting media use in general.” (afp)

MIAMI - Vigorous exercise such as fast running might be harmful to your health over time, according to a Danish study Monday that found light jogging is best for longevity.

People who did not jog at all were just as likely to die as people who jogged strenuously and often, according to the 12-year study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

But those who jogged lightly, between one and 2.4 hours per week, were the least likely to die suddenly, said the findings based on 1,098 healthy joggers and 413 healthy but sedentary non-joggers in the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

Researchers had access to records that tracked hours of jogging, frequency and the individual’s perception of pace.

The optimal frequency of jogging was no more than three times per week, and slow to moderate joggers expe-rienced significantly lower mortality rates than fast-paced runners.

“It is important to emphasize that the pace of the slow jog-gers corresponds to vigorous exercise and strenuous jogging corresponds to very vigorous exercise,” said Peter Schnohr, a researcher from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, Fred-eriksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“When performed for decades, this activity level could pose health risks, especially to the cardiovascular system.”

Past research has found similar correlations between light to moderate exercise and long life, as well as the higher death risk associated with vigorous exercise.

“If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy,” Schnohr said.

“Anything more is not just unnecessary, it may be harm-ful.” (afp)

MIAMI - Women whose bodies contained high levels of certain chemicals found in plastics and cosmetics experienced menopause two to four years earlier than women with lower amounts in their systems, US researchers said Wednesday.

While the study in the journal PLOS ONE did not prove that the chemical exposures caused earlier menopause, study authors said the associations they uncovered merit further research.

“Chemicals linked to earlier menopause may lead to an early decline in ovarian function, and our results suggest we as a society should be concerned,” said senior author Amber Cooper, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecol-ogy at the Washington University School of Medicine.

The findings were based on a nationally representative sample of 1,442 menopausal women, whose average age was 61.

None of the women were taking estrogen-replacement therapies, nor had they undergone surgery to remove their ovaries.

Researchers examined the wom-en’s blood and urine for signs of 111 chemicals that are suspected of interfering with the natural produc-tion and distribution of hormones in the body, the study said.

They found 15 chemicals that were significantly associated with earlier menopause and declines in ovarian function.

They included nine polychlori-nated biphenyls (PCBs), three pes-ticides, two phthalates --- which are typically found in plastics, common household items, pharmaceuticals, lotions, perfumes, makeup, nail pol-ish, liquid soap and hair spray -- and a toxic chemical known as a furan “that warrant closer evaluation,” the study said.

Ovarian function is important because without it, women are infertile and may be at risk for earlier development of heart dis-ease, osteoporosis and other health problems.

“Many of these chemical ex-posures are beyond our control because they are in the soil, water and air,” Cooper said.

“But we can educate ourselves about our day-to-day chemical exposures and become more aware of the plastics and other household products we use.”

She recommended people use glass or paper containers when microwaving food, and minimize their exposure to harmful chemicals in the cosmetics and personal care products they choose.

The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health. (afp)

Screen time affects teens’ sleep

PARIS - Parents have long suspected it, but now doctors have proof: the more time teenagers spend on computers or mobile phones, the less they sleep -- especially if the gadget is used just before bedtime.

Plastic chemicals linked to earlier menopause

Light jogging is best for a long life

AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

A couple men make their way around the jogging and cycling

trail in Allegheny County’s North Park. Vigorous exercise such as fast running might be harmful to your health over time, according

to a Danish study Monday that found light jogging is best for

longevity.

It was conveyed by the Rector of the Mahasaraswati University Denpasar, Dr. I Made Sukamerta, in Denpasar. “High dropout rate has become an opaque portrait of the edu-cation in Bali so that it needs a serious attention. Do not be half-hearted. Set out a strategic program with careful planning and a clear performance target,” he said.

He added the issues of dropout in elementary, junior high and high school or vocational school could not be underestimated. Likewise, it was closely related to the problems of poverty in the community. Admitted-ly, the dropout students were largely derived from poor family so that if children did not get eligible educa-tion, at least high school or vocational school, they would be unable to get a better job and could not get out of the cycle of poverty and help their family. On that account, the disbursement of scholarship assistance for the poor (BSM) from the government was expected to be increased and should be right on target and distributed to those who were worthy to receive and need it.

“Many dropout students are in rural areas, poor areas and their par-ents are farmers. The government

SINGARAJA – Repairs to agricul-tural irrigation systems in Buleleng require assistance from various parties in order to preserve the paddy fields, and support food security in the region. Farmers use their respective fields and irrigation water as provided through farmer groups called sekaa. The roles and responsibilities of farmers are stated in a bylaw known as awig-awig and these responsibilities are discussed through the assembly of residents in the form of customary meetings.

Agriculture in Buleleng has been supported by awareness of the com-munity who have enforced these bylaws which they grew up with. This has ensured that minimal amounts of land conversion have occurred here, allowing the land to remain beautiful. Paddy fields, as a crucial part of life

in Bali, have been preserved thanks to Balinese people who have imple-mented the Tri Hita Karana concept of harmony. Tri Hitta Karana refers to the parahyangan (spiritual), pawongan (social) and palemahan (environmen-tal) relationships that we all share.

“As the chief of subak organiza-tion, I always suggest that every subak member refrain from converting their productive lands into buildings. I often remind people in the area of Subak Banyumati to not let our village be transformed into a tourist attraction. We enforce strict bylaws so that we can save the paddy field irrigation water and ensure food security in Buleleng,” said I Ketut Darsana, Chief of Subak Banyumati, Umaanyar vil-lage, Seririt.

So far there have been no further

A school dropouts become scavengers to help parents make a living. Dropout rate in Bali is high enough namely reaching 5,886 students within the past five years so that it becomes a severe slap for the education field on the Island of the Gods.

High dropout rate opaque portrait of education in Bali

DENPASAR - Dropout rate in Bali is high enough namely reaching 5,886 students within the past five years so that it be-comes a severe slap for the education field on the Island of the Gods. It is also becoming an opaque portrait of the education field in Bali. Therefore, a serious commitment is required from central government as well as provincial and county/municipal government and all relevant stakeholders to improve and build the education in Bali, chiefly in suppressing the dropout rate so that the 9-year compulsory education program will not become a utopian program.

should prioritize the education in rural areas by improving education and infrastructure. The BSM must be increased to the areas and facilitate the educational access to the public and improve the infrastructure to school. Educational facilities should not just be concentrated in urban areas,” said Sukamerta.

He also worried about the plan of provincial government that would reduce the budgetary support for basic and secondary education in the county and municipality with the reason that it would focus on the education in high school and vocational school and the school for the disabled which had be-come its responsibility and authority in accordance with the Law No.23/2014. If the provincial budget to elementary and junior high school was terminated, the basic education was feared to even lack of budgets and the dropout student could increase because the BSM was reduced. By all means, it would even become contradictory and counter-productive. Basic education should still receive more attentions because it was the foundation of education for the next level. If the quality of basic education was poor, the quality of student output to secondary education would also be poor.

“If the budget for the primary and junior high school is indeed reduced by provincial government, the drop-out rate will increase and the 9-year compulsory education will not reach the target. Necessarily, the provincial and county / municipal government still has to have a shared responsibility to fund all levels of the educational unit. The government must think that education is the key to advanced society,” he said.

Separately, the Head of Bali Educa-tion Agency, Tjok Istri Agung (TIA) Kusuma Wardhani, confirmed that Bali government continued to focus on improving the quality of educa-

tion in Bali, especially in suppressing the dropout rate. Various attempts had been made such as increasing the scholarship for the poor (BSM) for elementary, junior high and high school / vocational school students throughout Bali, facilitating educa-tion access for the poor in rural areas, providing boarding house at a number of schools for poor students who lived far from school to the assistance of infrastructure and educational facili-ties for school.

“High dropout rate is also caused by the culture of our society. Many children are still reluctant to attend school and prefer to help parents

work although we have prepared a wide range of assistance such as the school operating assistance (BOS) and scholarship for the poor (BSM). Thus, we expect that local leaders such as hamlet chief and headman to participate in giving understanding to parents and students so as to take lon-ger education and we are concerned to help with a variety of programs,” she said. (wid)

Subak preservation, productive land not converted

IBP/Dewa Kusuma

Repairs to agricultural irrigation systems in Bule-

leng require assistance from various parties in or-der to preserve the paddy

fields, and support food security in the region.

sanctions imposed on people for abusing their land by converting its usage. Nonetheless, Umaanyar vil-lagers remain firm in their awareness of the philosophy of paddy fields as a source of life. Thanks to this aware-ness, many different types of rice

grow in the area. “Indeed, there have been no sanctions imposed on rule-breaking subak members. Maybe we will start to apply sanctions early next year, so that the government will also participate in providing stricter rules,” he said. (kmb34)

International4 Thursday, February 5, 2015 Thursday, February 5, 2015 13InternationalBali News

The photos are the first images of the revolutionary leader since a set of photos came out in August showing him talking with Venezu-elan President Nicolas Maduro.

Perdomo said that he and Cas-tro met for more than three hours in the former leader’s house after an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Castro starting his studies at the University of Havana.

The student leader said Castro said that he is keeping abreast of the news and performing daily ex-ercises, and he engaged Perdomo in a wide-ranging discussion of topics including international

politics, agriculture, astronomy, and even Namibia’s donation of animals to Cuba’s National Zoo.

Perdomo said the two men dis-cussed the release of three Cuban intelligence agents as part of the Dec. 17 declaration by Cuba and the United States that they would move to re-establish full diplo-matic relations. The photos show Castro examining a newspaper report on their release.

“He’s full of life, he keeps up his exercises and he reads closely,” Perdomo told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said that Castro rose from his seat without help, read several articles without help

and remembered details of past events with astonishing recall.

Castro did not issue a public statement for nearly a month after the announcement that Cuba and the U.S. were mov-ing to re-establish full diplo-matic relations. Castro’s public appearances and statements have become increasingly infrequent since he stepped down from duties as president after a serious illness in 2006 and handed over leader-ship to his younger brother Raul. His unusually lengthy silence after the Dec. 17 announcement sparked intense speculation about his health. (ap)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities issued arrest warrants Wednesday for two suspects wanted in connection with a pair of small bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok that wounded one person.

Police have released blurry images of two men seen on closed-circuit camera footage close to where the homemade pipe bombs detonated Sunday. One man in the footage is carrying a small bag over his shoulder.

National police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thawornsiri described the pair as “Asian-looking.” But police have given few other details and have not yet identified the pair by name.

After Prawut spoke to reporters, a Bang-kok court approved arrest warrants for the unidentified men.

Police say the explosive devices were designed to cause panic, rather than death, but it’s not known why they were planted and no one has claimed responsibility.

Thailand’s military overthrew the South-east Asian nation’s elected government in May, and analysts say the army is likely to use Sunday’s blasts as a reason to prolong martial law.

The explosions came a little more than a week after the junta-appointed legislature formally impeached former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the leader of the ousted government, for her role in oversee-ing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars. (ap)

Cuba publishes first photos of Fidel Castro in 5 months

AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Student leader Randy Perdomo Garcia shows pictures of his meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday Feb. 3, 2015. Cuba has published the first photos of Fidel Castro in five months, showing the 88-year-old former leader engaged in conversation with the head of the main Cuban student union.

HAVANA — Cuba has published the first photos of Fidel Castro in more than five months, showing the 88-year-old former leader engaged in what appears to be a lively conversation with a university student. Nearly two dozen images were published virtually simultaneously on the websites of Cuba’s main state media outlets around midnight Monday. In them, Castro is seated and discussing cur-rent events with the head of the main Cuban student union. A first-person account by student leader Randy Perdomo Garcia says the meeting took place on Jan. 23.

AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Photos of two suspects believed linked to a pair of small bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok over the weekend, are shown by police officers at the police headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.

Thailand issues arrest warrants for Bangkok bombing suspects

A legislator of the Denpasar House from Sesetan, Gede Semara, who met at his office on Tuesday (Feb 3) admitted to have received many complaints on the condition of the asphalt of the road section. Other than bumpy, many parts of the asphalt layer already flaked off, especially on the edge of the DSDP box controller.

He said that other than bumpy, there were also a few small potholes making them prone to accident. Those small potholes were alleged to occur as a result of frequent stagnant water on the road section because when it rained the run-off could not directly flow into nearest drains. Even, the rainwater stagnat-ed for quite a long time on the road. As a result, such condition acceler-ated the road damage.”In the future, we expect there will be drain repair, so that no stagnant water occurs on the street,” said Semara.

According to Semara, the bumpy condition happened due to poor paving workmanship of the exca-

vated area such as in front of the SMA Harapan high school. As a result, many riders crashed. “In or-der to avoid the continued increase in casualties, we expect the repair of Jalan Raya Sesetan can be given priority,” said Semara doubling as Chairman of Commission IV of the Denpasar House.

Semara hoped that other than the roads, the drain and sidewalk along Jalan Raya Sesetan also needed to be given attention. For instance, the drain had started to be getting shal-lower because it was rarely dredged. Likewise, many sidewalks were broken and damaged by the roots of shade tree that appear to the surface.

“Other than condition of the drain and sidewalks, the presence of shade trees must also be evaluated. If possible, they need to be rejuve-nated by planting trees that do not damage pavement,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of mega projects would be worked on by the Denpasar Public Works Agency in 2015, especially those in the field

of Highway Development with a total budget of IDR 45 billion. More allocations would be given to construction project, road improve-ment, pavement installation and supervision.

“Of the four areas existing in the Public Works Agency, Highway Development (Bina Marga) indeed gets the most budget. It happens because it works on large enough physical projects,” said the Head of Denpasar Public Works Agency, I Ketut Winarta.

He described that of a total budget worth IDR 45,104,725,020, the Highway Development divi-sion was further divided into three programs. Firstly, it was allocated to road and bridge construction pro-gram with a total budget worth IDR 40,919,177,020. “The first program consists of five activities such as the increase of road, supervision, plan-ning, construction of bridges and sidewalks,” he said accompanied by Highway Development Division Head, Dirgayasa. (kmb12)

GIANYAR - Sample test of fruits, especially the imported apples circulating widely in Gi-anyar, indicated negative result or did not contain Listeria monocy-togenes bacteria. It was the result of the bacteria test against apple conducted by the Agency for Food and Drug Control (BPOM) Den-pasar with Gianyar government on January 28.

The test result of samples was delivered on Tuesday (Feb 3) via e-mail to Spokesperson of Gianyar government. According to the report on the results of the tests performed by the Microbiological Testing Division Head of the BPOM Den-pasar, Ni Putu Teny Desyani, there were three apple samples taken in Gianyar to be tested in roving van. The three samples included the Granny Smith and Royal Gala apple taken at Hardy’s and the Gala apple taken at Made Dami Store at Buruan, where the results were entirely negative.

Although the test results of the samples made by the BPOM Denpasar declared if the imported apples were safe from Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, Regional

Secretary of the Gianyar govern-ment, I.B. Gaga Adi Saputra, al-ways reminded people of staying cautious if they wanted to consume it. It included avoid any unwanted things.

The regional secretary of Gian-yar also urged people to make local fruits such as rambutan, snakefruit, tangerine or mango their prominent fruits. They were not inferior to imported fruits. Even, they were healthier and the price was much cheaper. “Local fruits are much healthier because they are not given preservative such as wax or the like,” he said.

Making local fruits the promi-nent ones, in addition to cheap and healthy, they could also help the economy of fruit growers in Gianyar. Gianyar actually had lots of local fruits with superior quality. The potential of local fruit in Gi-anyar was quite diverse and spread across all the subdistricts. One of them was the temple orange from Taro village, Tegallalang subdistrict which had penetrated the supermar-kets in Gianyar and Denpasar,” said the Head of Gianyar Agriculture Agency, Dewi Hariani. (kmb16)

IBP/Gung Dar

The local fruit should become the main product in Bali.

Negative, test result of imported apples

Residents complain about bumpy asphalt

IBP/Wawan

The officers are fixing the road in Denpasar area.

DENPASAR - Traffic density on Jalan Raya Sesetan is pretty high. Unfortunately, condition of the asphalt is bumpy and has potholes at many points. As a result, many riders get accident. Similarly, this condition is complained by a number of residents and road users.

Bali News Thursday, February 5, 2015 5InternationalThursday, February 5, 201512 International

BUSINESS

With Internet-based apps and services like Uber, Airbnb and others, you make money, and the consumer saves. So it’s a win-win? That’s the multibillion-dollar question.

The new way of operating has been reshaping entire economic sec-tors, with the promise of improved efficiency and more flexibility.

The spectacular rise of ride-sharing, home-sharing and other services turned these economic models upside down, and has fueled complaints that these services effectively skirt rules on safety, consumer protection and labor rights.

Some economists say this “peer-to-peer” model offers numerous advantages by tapping underutilized resources.

The sharing economy “can im-prove consumer welfare by offering new innovations, more choices, more service differentiation, better prices and higher quality services,” says a study by George Mason University economists.

Researcher Christopher Koopman, an author of the George Mason report, said the sharing economy “allows people to take idle capital and turn them into revenue sources.”

“People are taking spare bedroom, cars, tools they are not using and be-

coming their own entrepreneurs.”There is no official definition of

the sharing economy. Some include online delivery services like Instacart and Postmates; neighbor-sharing plat-forms like Peerby; pet-sitting service DogVacay; and the restroom service Airpnp.

The research firm PwC estimates that five sharing economy segments -- finance, online staffing, accom-modation, car sharing and music or video streaming --could be worth $335 billion by 2025, up from just $15 billion today.

“The sharing economy will be part of the overall economy going forward,” said technology strategist Mary Jesse in a blog post.

Uber is the best known platform in the sharing economy, having reached a valuation of $40 billion while ex-panding to more than 200 cities in 54 countries. But Uber and similar ser-vices like Lyft and Sidecar have fueled heated protests from taxi drivers, who complain that the new entrants don’t have to meet the same requirements for licensing, safety and insurance, making the competition unfair.

Airbnb, the leading online platform for peer-to-peer lodging, has sparked similar complaints from the hotel sec-tor. Responding to complaints, the San

Francisco startup recently expanded efforts to collect lodging taxes in some locations.

Other services in the sharing economy include “Feastly,” which allows individuals to cook meals for customers; Vinted, a marketplace for unwanted clothing; and Lending Club, one of several platforms for peer-to-peer loans.

Dean Baker, an economist with the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said these players can thrive largely because they don’t play by the same rules as incumbents.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a regulated sector and another one where the rules don’t apply,” Baker told AFP.

“What you want to do is separate out is where they deliver innovation or create a real benefit.”

Baker said ride-sharing services have raised particular concerns be-cause drivers are competing against taxis, which are limited by most cities under a licensing scheme such as the “medallions” in San Francisco which can sell for $250,000 or so.

“There is an issue of fairness,” Baker said. “If the cities want to let anyone drive, they should buy back the medallions.” (afp)

TOKYO - Sony on Wednesday cut its full-year loss forecast by more than a quarter to $1.4 billion, point-ing to its latest three-month results that benefited from a weak yen and improving smartphone sales.

The struggling consumer elec-tronics firm said it now expected to lose 170 billion yen in the fiscal year to March, down from an earlier loss forecast of 230 billion yen, as it also cited lower restructuring costs.

Sony’s projected earnings im-proved as its October-December net profit more than tripled from a year earlier to an estimated 89 bil-lion yen.

Operating profit doubled to 178.3

billion yen as sales grew 6.1 per-cent to 2.55 trillion yen, Sony estimated.

The Tokyo-based firm released the estimates after saying it would delay releasing finalised numbers until at least next month after a cy-berattack at its Hollywood film unit linked to North Korean satire “The Interview” compromised “a large amount of data”.

The company has said that the hack attack was unlikely to have a material impact on its financial results.

Sony’s improving results were primarily “due to the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates, a

significant increase in mobile com-munication segment sales reflecting an increase in unit sales of smart-phones” among others, it said in a statement.

Revenue from image sensors and its PlayStation games business also picked up, it said.

But revenue was down in the movie and television production business.

Restructuring costs in the quarter were reduced by a third from a year ago, it said.

For the nine months to December, Sony estimated it had a net loss of 20.1 billion yen, reversing 9.9 billion yen in profit a year earlier. (afp)

TOKYO - Toyota on Wednes-day raised its earnings forecast for the year to March, saying it expects to book a record $18.1 billion an-nual net profit thanks to a weak yen and cost cuts.

The revision marked the second upgrade for the fiscal year to March as the world’s biggest automaker lifted its net profit estimate to 2.13 trillion yen from an earlier 2.0 tril-lion yen forecast.

The Corolla and Camry maker also said sales would come in at 27 trillion yen, up from an earlier 26.5 trillion yen forecast.

Operating profit would be 2.7 trillion yen, against a previous 2.5 trillion yen estimate, it added.

“While we expect a reduction in vehicle sales, we are raising our operating income forecast ... factoring in the change in our foreign exchange rate assump-tion and the progress in our profit improvement activities, such as cost reduction efforts,” Toyota’s managing officer Takuo Sasaki said in a statement.

Also Wednesday Toyota said it booked a 1.7 trillion yen net profit for the nine months through De-cember, up from 1.5 trillion yen a year earlier.

Revenue rose 5.2 percent to 20.1 trillion yen in the period.

Japanese car companies have been big winners over the past year as a sharp drop in the yen inflated their repatriated profits, while sales demand has also picked up in the key North American market.

“We expect Toyota to benefit from both developed market recov-eries and emerging market growth,” Barclays said in report before the earnings were published.

“(The company) is building a highly lucrative operating structure while continuing long-term devel-opment/investment,” it added

In Japan, nine-month sales de-clined to 1.53 million units from 1.64 million vehicles, as consumer demand continued to be hit by a sales tax rise last April -- Japan’s first in 17 years.

In North America, however, sales rose 7.4 percent to 2.11 mil-lion units.

“In the US, we expect a new-model offensive to support volume growth reining in sales costs amid a firm overall demand recovery,” Barclay’s said.

Toyota also enjoyed sales gains in Europe, but results in Asia slowed. (afp)

‘Sharing economy’ reshapes markets, as complaints rise

WASHINGTON - Want to make a bit of extra cash driving strangers around in your car, tak-ing care of someone’s dog, renting your apartment or cooking a meal? Welcome to the sharing economy.

Sony cuts full-year net loss forecast to $1.4 billion

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Visitors look at Toyota cars at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. Toyota raised its earnings forecast after third quarter profit jumped 14 percent, boosted by a weak yen.

Toyota raises full-year profit forecast to record $18 billion

On Jalan Wanara Wana, for example, a number of vehicles still use half of the road body as a parking space. Motorcycles or cars are parking here. Dominantly those vehicles are owned by tour guides as well as hotel and restaurant employees. Obviously, this condi-tion shows the look of chaotic path on Monkey Forest road section to Ubud Palace.

Along Jalan Hanuman and Jalan Dewi Sita can also be encountered similar sight. Half of the road body remains to be used for vehicle park-ing space. Unavoidably, it results in congestion whose peak happens at 12:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

However, a different look oc-curs on Jalan Suweta located in the north of Jalan Wanara Wana. Traffic condition at this road section runs smoothly. The smoothness posed the test result of the traffic arrange-ment in Ubud area from February 2 to March 3, 2015. As an arrange-ment effort in Ubud region, the Head of Gianyar Transportation, Informatics and Communication Agency, Cokorda Gde Agusnawa,

explained that based on the results of meeting it had been agreed to make a trial by banning parking on Jalan Suweta from Catus Pata (central intersection) to Ubud cen-tral parking on both road sides from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Parking on Jalan Suweta is only allowed on the west side starting at 6:00 p.m. to 8:50 a.m. Dropping-off or loading zone on Jalan Suweta was allowed in the north of wantilan hall of Desa Temple of Ubud and Jalan Wanara Wana, in the east of Ubud headman’s office.

In the traffic calming area (pav-ing block) on Jalan Wanara Wana starting in front of the Tropica Seafood and Grill to Catus Pata is prohibited to park on both sides. Parking prohibition on both road-sides also applies in the area of the traffic calming zone on Jalan Cok Sudarsana from in front of the Ubud Market / Ari Medika Pharmacy to Lotus Café.

Cok Agusnawa expected vehicles to park in the allowed parking space or in the central parking available. Meanwhile, for bus the parking

space allowed is in the area of the outermost courtyard of Dalem Puri Temple, Monkey Forest and exist-ing private central parking.

When asked about the condition of Jalan Wanara Wana, Jalan Dewi Sita and Jalan Hanuman remain-ing to become parking space, Cok Agusnawa said that when parking space at Padang Tegal had been prepared, the parking at roadside at the three road sections could surely be diverted. “If the Padang Tegal customary village can pre-pare parking space, I will abolish the parking (at roadside—Ed),” he promised.

Meanwhile, Regional Secretary of Gianyar, I.B. Gaga Adi Sapu-tra, revealed that traffic arrange-ment test was a serious attempt of Gianyar government with local community to immediately obtain a solution against congestion in Ubud. He also hoped the support and cooperation of the people, community leaders and tourism stakeholders in Ubud denoting the key factor of the problem solving in Ubud. (nik/dar)

AMLAPURA - Tenganan Village or better known as Tenganan Pegringsingan is one of many ancient villages on the Island of Bali. Life pattern of the community reflects the culture and customs of Bali Aga (pre-Hindu) tradition being different from other villages in Bali.

On that account, Tenganan Village is developed into one of the objects and cultural tourist attractions. Tenganan Pegringsingan sits in the Manggis Subdistrict, about 17 km from Amlapura town—regency capital of Karangasem—5 km from Candidasa tourist resort, and about 65 km east of Denpasar. Another attraction owned by Tenganan Village is the Mekare-kare ritual tradition or better known as ‘pandanus war.’

Mekaré-kare is the culmination of a series of Ngusaba Sambah ceremonial procession held in June lasting for 30 days. During a month long procession, the Mekaré-kare event is organized for 2-4 times and each event will be accompanied with the presentation of offerings to the ancestors. Mekaré-kare or ‘pandanus war’ is carried out by men from children to old people.

As the name implies, the means used are thorny pandanus leaves cut into pieces along ± 30 cm as a weapon and accompanied with a shield which serves to fend off the attacks from the scratches of pandanus thorn conducted by the opponent. Any injuries caused by scratches of the pandanus thorn will be smeared with herbal ingre-dients such as galangal, turmeric, and some others.

Mekaré-kare essentially has the same meaning as the cockfighting usually performed by Hindus in Bali when carrying out religious ceremonies. Mekaré-kare event is always accompanied by native gamelan music to Tenganan Village, known as Selonding. (kmb)

Mekare-kare Tradition at

Tenganan Village

IBP/File Photo

IBP/Manik

On Jalan Wanara Wana, for example, a number of vehicles still use half of the road body as a parking space.

Ubud remains chaotic, parking problems unfinished

GIANYAR - Various endeavors have been carried out by Gianyar government to overcome the chaotic traffic in Ubud and surrounding areas. One of them is by providing a central parking located on Jalan Suweta, precisely in the area of Batukaru Temple. However, the area of 2,200 square meters with the capacity of more than 200 cars is not necessarily overcoming the chaos in the three road sections becoming the pockets of parking, namely the Jalan Wanara Wana, Jalan Dewi Sita and Jalan Hanuman.

Thursday, February 5, 2015 Thursday, February 5, 20156 11International International

INDONESIAW RLD

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo revealed that next week, he will solve the issues arising due to the cancellation of Commis-sioner General Budi Gunawan’s inauguration as the police chief.

“I will solve all next week. There are matters that I must resolve first,” he stated on the sidelines of a coordination meeting of the Na-tional Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Wednesday.

The head of state said he will firstly deal with “other matters” this week, and thus, the Budi Gunawan issue would be solved next week.

President Joko Widodo is sched-

uled to leave for a four-day visit to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines on Thursday.

Syafi’i Ma’arif, the chairman of the nine-member team set up by the president to conduct a fact-finding mission on the Corruption Eradica-tion Commission (KPK)-police con-flict, has recommended that the head of state should find other candidates to fill the post of police chief.

The ongoing KPK-police conflict surfaced after the anti-graft body named Budi Gunawan, the sole candidate for the Indonesian police chief’s post, a suspect in a corruption case on January 13, 2015.

The KPK investigators accused Budi Gunawan of receiving bribes through a suspicious transaction when he headed the Police Head-quarters’ Career Planning Bureau during the 2003-2006 period and held other posts in the police.

Amid the conflict, certain ele-ments in the society filed reports about the alleged wrongdoings of four KPK commissioners, includ-ing Bambang Widjojanto, to the police.

However, the only KPK commis-sioner who has, so far, been named a suspect by the police is Bambang Widjojanto. (ant)

None of the 33 people on board were hurt when the turboprop jet belonging to Indonesian flag carrier Garuda slid about 10 metres (33 feet) off the runway into the grass at the airport on Lombok island, said the spokesman.

The ATR 72-600 plane was ar-riving from the neighbouring island of Bali, also a popular holiday desti-nation, when the accident happened on Tuesday evening.

“All the people on board -- 29 passengers including a baby, and

four crew members -- are safe and unhurt,” spokesman Ikhsan Rosan told AFP.

Everyone on the plane was able to disembark using the normal stairs, he said. News website Detik reported that the airport was closed after the accident but reopened for smaller aircraft on Wednesday.

It was the latest accident to hit the aviation sector in Indonesia, adding to concerns that safety standards are failing to keep pace as the vast archipelago’s skies become

increasingly crowded.An AirAsia plane crashed into

the Java Sea on December 28 dur-ing what was supposed to be a short flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.

The Garuda accident came the day before a TransAsia Airways plane -- also an ATR 72-600 -- clipped a road bridge and plunged into a river outside Taiwan’s capital, leaving at least 11 feared dead. (afp)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Ah-madis are no strangers to persecu-tion, with attacks and discrimi-nation rife, but leader Iskandar Gumay hopes better days are ahead for the minority Muslim sect under new President Joko Widodo.

The cleric has witnessed at-tempts to torch his mosque and seen worshippers elsewhere pre-vented from burying their dead, however he believes a draft law shows Indonesia’s leader is com-mitted to tackling religious intol-erance.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority na-tion, has seen its image as tolerant and pluralist suffer due to a spike in religious violence. As well as Ahmadis, minority Muslim Shiites and Christians have been targeted in the Sunni-majority country.

The Indonesian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Six faiths are officially recognised -- Islam, Catholicism, Protestant-ism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

But this has not stopped attacks, and Ahmadis in particular have been targeted by hardline groups who oppose the sect’s belief that a lesser prophet followed Moham-mad.

Gumay says Ahmadis are some-times denied ID cards, while his sister was refused a marriage certificate because the authorities claimed she was not a Muslim.

Just west of Jakarta his fellow Ahmadis have faced much worse, with three adherents of the sect brutally murdered by a mob in 2011 as police stood by.

Gumay believes the new presi-dent faces a challenge addressing this scourge but is confident Wido-do, a reformist who has pledged to defend religious minorities, is up to the task.

“If the spirit of Jokowi... comes down through the government to the people, I think things will get better,” he told AFP, referring to the president by his common nickname.

The new legislation, expected to go before parliament in April, is an ambitious step towards bolstering protection.

The bill, which is still being drafted, will guarantee religious minorities protection from per-secution, the head of research in the ministry of religious affairs, Abdurrahman Mas’ud told AFP.

It will outlaw the destruction of houses of worship and aim to offer

protection not just to those whose religions are recognised under the constitution, but all minorities.

The law is being pushed by new Religious Affairs Minister Luk-man Hakim Saifuddin, who has been praised for his progressive attitude.

Many different belief systems are practised in Indonesia, from animism to those that mix aspects of Islam with local tribal customs, although more than 90 percent of Indonesians describe themselves as Muslim on their ID cards.

In another move that won praise, the new government recently ended the requirement for people to select one of the officially recognised religions on their cards, instead allowing them to put nothing.

The new approach is a stark contrast to Widodo’s predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He was criticised for inaction on hardline groups during his 10-year tenure, and for remaining quiet as politicians rammed through changes that activists claimed were a backwards step for religious freedom.

Strict new approval processes for houses of worship ushered in in 2006 prompted the closure of hundreds of churches, while another ministerial decree two years later that outlawed the spread of Ahmadi-yah teachings prompted an increase in attacks against the sect.

The courts meanwhile took a soft approach to perpetrators of re-ligious violence, with the accused often given light sentences or go-ing unprosecuted altogether.

Twelve men charged with beat-ing the three Ahmadis to death in 2011 were given sentences of three to six months, despite the entire grisly incident being captured on video and widely circulated throughout the country.

Persecution has continued in re-cent years, with regular reports of minority Muslims and Christians being targeted.

While there is optimism about the new government’s approach, there is also much scepticism in a country with a poor record on protecting minorities.

Even if the law gets through par-liament, some are concerned that local authorities in the sprawling archipelago, where power is heav-ily decentralised, may continue to pass discriminatory bylaws that en-able persecution. Others question Widodo’s long-term committment to helping minorities. (afp)

Plane skids off runway on Lombok

JAKARTA - A passenger jet skidded off the runway as it landed at a holiday island in central Indonesia, a spokesman said Wednesday, just weeks after the deadly crash of an AirAsia jet in the archipelago.

Minorities hope for a safer future under Widodo

ANTARA FOTO/Ismar Patrizki

Indonesian President Joko Widodo revealed that next week, he will solve the issues arising due to the cancellation of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan’s inauguration as the police chief.

President vows to solve Budi Gunawan issue next week

“The start of Pueblo is an enor-mous step forward to a world free of chemical weapons,” said Paul Walker, who has tracked chemical warfare for more than 20 years, first as a U.S. House of Representatives staffer and currently with Green Cross International, which advo-cates on issues of security, poverty and the environment.

The work starts less than a year after chlorine gas killed 13 people in Syria in April 2014. Interna-tional inspectors concluded last month that the gas had been used as a weapon. Before the chlorine attack, 1,400 people were killed in a 2013 nerve gas attack in Syria, the U.S. said.

Pueblo has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent, which can maim or kill, blistering skin, scarring eyes and inflaming air-ways. Mustard agent is a thick liquid, not a gas as commonly believed. It’s colorless and almost odorless but got its name because

impurities made early versions smell like mustard.

After nightmarish gas attacks in World War I, a 1925 treaty barred the use of chemical weapons, and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Conven-tion set a 2012 deadline to eradicate them. Four nations that acknowl-edged having chemical weapons have missed the deadline: the U.S., Russia, Libya and Iraq. The cost of safely destroying the weapons, and concerns about public health and the environment, have slowed the process, experts say. Violence in Iraq also has been an obstacle.

Libya expects to finish in 2016 and Russia in 2020, according to the Organization for the Prohibi-tion of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention. Iraq’s completion date is unknown.

The U.S. amassed 30,600 tons of chemical weapons, both mustard agent and deadly nerve agent, much of it during the Cold War. The Army

described them as a deterrent, and the U.S. never used them in war. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. stock-pile has been eliminated at depots in six states and Johnson Atoll in the Pacific, mostly by incineration.

Coloradans worried, however, about mercury vapor from incinera-tion, said Irene Kornelly, a member of the Pueblo Citizens Advisory Commission, a liaison group estab-lished by Congress. The opposition in Colorado and in Kentucky, where chemical weapons are stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Rich-mond, prompted Congress to order alternatives.

The Army will use two methods for the Pueblo stockpile. In March, the first of an estimated 1,400 shells that are leaking or otherwise dam-aged will be placed in a sealed steel chamber with walls up to 9 inches (23 centimeters )thick. Explosives will tear open the shells, and the mustard agent will be neutralized with chemicals. (ap)

VALHALLA, New York — A crowded commuter train slammed into a sport utility vehicle on the tracks at a suburban New York crossing and burst into flames, killing seven people and seriously injuring nearly a dozen, authori-ties said. The collision involving a Metro-North Railroad train and a Jeep Cherokee Tuesday evening in Valhalla, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of New York City, sent hundreds of passengers scrambling to get to safety. Authori-ties said the impact was so forceful the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train.

Killed were the SUV’s driver and six people aboard the train, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, making this crash the railroad’s deadliest. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said the front part of the train was “completely charred and burned.” “I am amazed anyone got off that train alive. ... It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke,” he said.

Astorino said 12 people were injured, 10 of them seriously. Authorities said the SUV’s driver had gotten out of her vehicle mo-mentarily after the crossing’s safety gates came down around her. She then got back in and was trying to drive forward when she was hit, they said.

“You have seven people who started out today to go about their business and aren’t going to be making it home tonight,” Cuomo said Tuesday at the crash site. The northbound Metro-North Railroad

train left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan around 5:45 p.m. and struck the SUV about 45 minutes later. It was unclear how fast the train was going, but the maximum would be 60 mph (96.5 kph), a railroad official said.

The train shoved the SUV about 10 train car lengths. Smoke poured out of the scorched front rail car, its windows blackened. “This is a truly ugly and brutal site,” Cuomo said. Witnesses said they saw the flames shooting from where the crash occurred, in a wooded area near a cemetery.

Ryan Cottrell, assistant director at a nearby rock climbing gym, said he had been looking out a window because of an earlier, unrelated car accident and saw the train hit the car, pushing it along. “The flames erupted pretty quickly,” he said. Passengers described a bump and said they smelled gasoline from the vehicle.

Around 650 passengers likely were aboard the train, including Justin Kaback, commuting home to Danbury, Connecticut. “I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot,” he told ABC News. “All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, ‘The train’s on fire. There’s a fire.’” Passengers were moved to the rear of the train so they could get off. Buses picked them up and took them to other stations. (ap)

AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

In this Jan. 29, 2015 photo, protective suits for workers used in chemical munitions destruc-tion hang inside the Pueblo Chemical Depot, east of Pueblo, in southern Colorado. The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remaining stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells, a milestone in the global campaign to eradicate a debilitating weapon that still creeps into modern wars.

US to destroy its largest remaining chemical weapons cache

PUEBLO, Colorado — The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remain-ing stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells, marking a milestone in the global campaign to eradicate a debilitating weapon that still creeps into modern wars. The Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado plans to start neutralizing 2,600 tons of aging mustard agent in March as the U.S. moves toward complying with a 1997 treaty banning all chemical weapons.

AP Photo/The Journal-News, Frank Becerra, Jr.

Firefighters work the scene of a collision between a Metro-North Railroad passenger train and a vehicle in Valhalla, N.Y., Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

Commuter train slams into SUV on tracks, killing 7 people

Thursday, February 5, 2015 7SportsThursday, February 5, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination

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TABANAN - Mengesta village is not only beautiful to look at because of its cool nature, but also famous for chal-lenging adventure by using all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The adventurers from different parts of the world are used to conquer the winding and steep route. Even, once spending holidays on the is-land, they try more than once because it is really absorbing. One of the operators offering this kind of adventure at this location is Bali By Guard. It is located at Kedampal hamlet, Mengesta village,

Penebel subdistrict, Tabanan, or about 45 km northwest of Denpasar. By riding the ATV tourists are invited to explore the countryside, see terraced rice fields as well as local cultural activities.

Riding the ATV here requires a tech-nique and intelligence to complete each route. At least, there are four routes where each of which has its own uniqueness. The route passes through the village in the midst of the activities of local residents, muddy subak area with terraced rice fields, moor and river with swift streams.

It is really spurring the adrenaline. Activi-ties of rural people become the companion on the way because almost all the people are friendly and nice. They include the lo-cal farmers cultivating the farmland. The distance to be covered is more than 5 km and may take about 1.5 hours to 2 hours with three stopovers.

After halfway, all the participants are invited to relax amidst the subak area with verdant rice fields. Chatting in a small hut while drinking coffee, tea or min-eral water with refreshment can elevate

a very beautiful experience. Or you can sit together with farmers in the rice field while talking about their farmland. Dur-ing the planting or harvest season, ritual activities can spice up your adventure in the countryside. Balinese girls passing in traditional attire with the background of Mount Batukaru become a nice spectacle. In school holiday season, local children are bathing in the pristine river with crystal clear water exuberantly. Hunting dragon-fly or dragonfly nymph and eel are some activities they like best. (kmb)

An-dre Iguodala

added 17 points, and Marreese Speights finished with

17 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors sweep the four-game series with Sacramento for the sec-

ond straight season. DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings.

De t ro i t ’s D .J . August in had 25

points and 13 assists as the Pistons closed the first quarter on a 25-1 run, going on to beat the Mi-ami Heat 108-91. Chris Bosh scored 34 points, includ-ing 21 in the third

quarter, but no-body else provided

much help offensively for Miami, which was

still without injured star Dwyane Wade. Detroit is now 2 1/2 games behind Miami and Charlotte, which occupy the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

At New York, Avery Bradley scored 26 points and Jared Sullinger

added 22 as the Boston Celtics end-ed a three-game losing streak with a 108-97 victory over the Knicks.

Bradley shot 11 for 14 from the field for the Celtics, who rediscovered their offense after a lineup change that put rookie Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Bradley. Smart made con-secutive 3-pointers during the Celtics’ 14-2 start, and they never trailed. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who had won five of seven during their best stretch of the season. The Philadelphia 76ers downed the Denver Nuggets 105-98 after Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points.

Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Robert Covington added 17 points for the improving 76ers, who won their third straight home game for the first time since March 2013. Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points to pace the Nug-gets, who dropped their 10th in 11 games. (ap)

ReNAulT has revealed that its Formula 1 testing efforts at Jerez have been hurt by reliability worries over what it calls a “stupid part” on its engine. While rivals Mercedes and Ferrari made an encouraging start to their 2015 programmes, Renault outfits Red Bull and Toro Rosso have had a tougher time. AUTOSPORT has learned that concerns about the durability of a small metallic shaft that is related to the Renault ERS water pump has left both its teams having to limit their maximum stint lengths.

Renault’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul revealed that the problem with the part only emerged in dyno testing last week - which meant it was too late to sort out a solution for this week’s running at Jerez.

However, a proper fix will be in place for the next test, which starts at Barcelona on February 19. “We know what the issue is; we know what we have to do,” Abiteboul told AUTOSPORT. “It is just that logistics did not allow for this to take place here. “It is a metallic shaft that we have to change, and we have to optimise and review the design.

“It is something that was working very well last year, but we decided to change and improve it a bit further with the overall packaging of the engine to also support Red Bull in their attempt to also have very good packag-ing. That is why we did not really care for that part.

“Usually you have very spe-cific simula- tions,

design tests, and validation pro-tocol. But honestly we did not do it for this part because it is such a stupid part...”

As well as the issues with the metal part, Ricciardo had to have an engine change on Tuesday and both Red Bull and Toro Rosso have encountered battery prob-lems related to unrefined mapping settings. Abiteboul says that the reliability problems that Renault have encountered in testing are the consequence of its aggressive push to close down the gap to Mercedes this year.

“We are trying to keep things calm and under control,” he ex-plained. “I think strategically for this season and next season, the sort of gap that we have to face is not the sort of gap that you can recover in one winter.

“It is such an environment that we have no choice but to be a late braker. And when you are a late braker in this business you must be prepared to take some risks and see a few issues on track.” (net)

Kindle your adrenaline at Mengesta Village

IBP/File Photo

‘Stupid part’ blights Renault teams’ Jerez Formula 1 test

AP Photo/Ben Margot

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) is helped back onto the court by fans during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, in Oakland, Calif.

Warriors ride hot first-half stretch to beat Kings, 121-96

SACRAMeNTO, California — Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists as the Golden State War- riors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Sacramento K i n g s 121-96 on Tuesday. The Warriors shut down Sacramento f o r more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter

and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead. They went ahead by 20 at the half and 25 in the third quarter before holding off a brief Kings comeback.

98 InternationalThursday, February 5, 2015 International Thursday, February 5, 2015

Sp rt

Although Cambridge failed to match the “giant-killing” feats of Bradford and Middlesbrough, which knocked out Chelsea and Manchester City respectively in the fourth round, the visitors did have an early chance to score at Old Trafford.

After 50 seconds, Daley Blind slipped and somehow sent Tom Elliott through on goal. The striker, seemingly taken aback by the scor-ing opportunity at Old Trafford, just about managed to maintain his balance and bent a shot past goalkeeper David de Gea with the instep of his right boot. Luckily for the hosts there was not enough curl on the shot, which hit the outside of the post and bounced to safety.

The 20-time English champions regained their composure, but the 4-1-4-1 formation seemed to hinder their ability to carve open the away defense. Wayne Rooney, marooned out on the right side, had United’s first shot on target but it was a weak effort. Nothing was really going for United and its fans became impa-tient. Cambridge fans were reveling in the fact that they were holding a team sat 79 places above them in the league pyramid.

But their defense was finally breached in the 25th minute. Angel di Maria latched on to a clever pass from Paddy McNair and whipped a cross to the back post. Marouane Fellaini nodded the ball down to Mata and he stabbed the ball in off the bar. Seven minutes later, the nerves inside Old Trafford eased further as the lead was doubled.

Fellaini’s shot was deflected into the path of Robin van Persie and

ROME — Roma’s miserable year continued as it lost 2-0 at home to Fiorentina and was eliminated from the Italian Cup quarterfinals amid the boos of its own fans on Tuesday.

Mario Gomez scored twice for Fiorentina, which lost last year’s final to Napoli at Roma’s Stadio Olimpico and now faces a semi-final against Juventus.

“Reaching the semifinal was a very important goal for all of us,” Gomez said. “We lost here last year against Napoli and, who knows, maybe we’ll be back.

“It was a very difficult period for me, I was out for a year, but I needed time to return to my best, I needed to play.”

Roma was loudly booed at the end of the match and the players trudged despondently down the tunnel after being called over by the team’s fans and told in no uncertain terms to give more on the pitch.

After beginning 2015 with a narrow win over Udinese, four successive draws have seen Roma fall seven points behind Serie A leader Juventus and the capital side’s title hopes slip away.

Gomez, who ended an eight-month scoring drought at the end of November, broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, dinking Man-

FRANKFURT, Germany — Bayern Munich remained win-less in the second half of the Bundesliga season after holding on with 10 men to earn a 1-1 draw with Schalke on Tuesday. The defending champion retained its eight-point lead over Wolfsburg, which clinched a late 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolfs-burg beat Bayern 4-1 on Friday but needed a late equalizer from Kevin de Bruyne to escape with a point.

Bayern lost Jerome Boateng to a red card in the 17th minute and was lucky not to fall behind as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer easily caught the resulting penalty from Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. Ar-jen Robben put Bayern ahead in the 67th but Benedikt Hoewedes equalized five minutes later.

Also, Borussia Moenchengla-dbach beat Freiburg 1-0 and Hannover and Mainz drew 1-1. Bayern dropped points at home for the first time this season, while Schalke stayed fourth. Boateng was sent off for bringing down Sydney Sam as he surged forward. Choupo-Moting’s pen-alty was low and weak, and Neuer had no problem diving to his left to smother the ball.

Schalke did not change any-thing in its game plan and mostly defended despite being a man up. Bayern controlled the game but produced few chances in a dull contest. Bayern coach Pep Guar-diola brought in striker Robert

Lewandowski early in the second half, livening up the match. The home team went ahead when Robben headed in a corner from Xabi Alonso.

Schalke’s goal also came from a corner, with Sam providing the cross for Hoewedes to head home. “It’s frustrating,” Robben said. “We go ahead and then we let him score. We were down a man but we ran and fought, and controlled the game, so it’s dis-appointing. “Schalke didn’t do anything, they only defended. We didn’t allow any counter-attacks, we played much better than against Wolfsburg.”

Bayern failed to exploit the inexperience of 19-year-old Ti-mon Wellenreuther, who made his Bundesliga debut in Schalke’s goal in the second half, replacing the injured Fabian Giefer. Ein-tracht was also coming off a 4-1 loss in Freiburg and shored up its defense against Wolfsburg.

Frankfurt was the better side and Stefan Aigner scored in the 58th. But De Bruyne followed up his two-goal performance against Bayern by notching the equalizer in the 88th.

Wolfsburg’s latest signing Andre Schuerrle was not in the squad. Patrick Herrmann scored in the 23rd to secure third-place Moenchengladbach’s win. Jimmy Briand scored in the 26th for Hannover, but Elkin Soto earned a draw for Mainz in the 77th. (ap)

PARIS — Brazilian defender Maxwell’s goal was enough to send defending champi-on Paris Saint-Germain into the League Cup final after a 1-0 win at Lille on Tuesday.

The left back scored in the 27th minute, running onto a pass from Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani and firing into the top left corner as PSG recorded a sixth straight win in all competitions.

PSG created the early chances, with Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama saving

smartly from Cavani and Brazilian winger Lucas.

Coach Laurent Blanc’s side will meet either Monaco or Bastia in the final on April 11. They play their semifinal on Wednesday.

Lille did not threaten until the 40th minute when midfielder Idrissa Gueye’s powerful shot was blocked, and striker Kevin Koubemba’s drive in the 63rd drew a save from Nicolas Douchez. (ap)

LONDON — Seeking to clean up scandal-scarred FIFA would seem a comparatively straightfor-ward mission for Prince Ali bin al-Hussein compared with one of his current roles in Jordan. “I work right now in the field in cri-sis management, which is prob-ably a good thing for someone running for a FIFA presidency,” the Jordanian royal said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It is seven years since the Princeton University-educated prince established Jordan’s se-curity and crisis management center. It is a job he will step aside from if successful in his bid to unseat Sepp Blatter in May to take control of world football.

The prince was speaking in London just as Jordan was con-tending with the security crisis created by the Islamic State extremist group in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Hours after Prince

Ali’s interview in London, a Jor-danian pilot captured by the IS group was confirmed as having been killed.

“We are very, very concerned,” the prince said. “This is a global phenomenon which affects all of us ... it’s a world threat and one that will take a while to resolve.” As a FIFA vice president and head of the Jordanian football federation, the prince is troubled by the impact too on the sport as IS has gained territory.

“There are concerns ... I did volunteer to go to Iraq to see what can be done to help them play the sport they love,” he said. “Foot-ball should not be held hostage to anyone. It’s global, it’s for the world.”

The prince’s own position at FIFA relies on him preventing Blatter from winning a fifth, four-year term in May, with his own four-year spell representing Asia on world football’s govern-

ing body ending soon.Although the FIFA presiden-

tial poll is of the 209 national as-sociations, the perception is that Blatter’s re-election is a formality given how many countries ben-efit from FIFA’s financial support for development projects. The prince believes there is a “culture of intimidation” sustaining the 78-year-old Blatter’s reign with a fear of speaking out.

“I have never been intimidated myself, but I do know there is a little bit of a culture of fear and ramifications, especially for members who maybe are not England or the U.S., but for smaller FAs who get a lot from FIFA,” the prince said. “I under-stand the concerns that doing the right thing might harm the sup-port that they get.” The prince’s election nominations came from the United States, England, Be-larus, Malta, Georgia and his homeland. (ap)

Defending champion PSG beats Lille to reach League Cup final

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez, center, celebrates with his team-mates after he scored during an Italian Cup, quarterfinal match between Roma and Fiorentina, at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

Roma out of Italian Cup after 2-0 loss to Fiorentina

AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson

Bayern’s Arjen Robben from the Netherlands celebrates after scoring during the soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and FC Schalke in the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

10-man Bayern held 1-1 by Schalke

Man United beats 4th tier Cambridge in FA Cup replay

LONDON — Manchester United overcame fourth-tier Cambridge in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday, winning 3-0 less than two weeks af-ter a humbling 0-0 draw. Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo and second-half substitute James Wilson scored to send United through to a fifth-round match at third-tier Preston. “I think that is our greatest chance to win a title,” United manager Louis van Gaal said of his team, which is third in the league and not in Europe.

the striker curled a short-range cross with the outside of his left boot to find Rojo, who headed in his first goal for the club. As the second half progressed, Cambridge began to tire. De Gea saved Robbie Simpson’s header, but Cambridge rarely crossed the halfway line.

After Di Maria and Van Persie came off, their replacements combined for the third goal in the 73rd minute. Ander Herrera drove at the Cambridge de-fense and laid the ball off for Wilson, who smacked a powerful low shot across goalkeeper Chris Dunn into the far corner. The night’s other FA Cup replay saw Sunderland come from behind to beat Fulham 3-1.

After Hugo Rodallega put second-tier side Fulham in front, a fumbled own goal by goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli gifted Sunderland the equalizer. Ricardo Alvarez’s strike and Jordi Gomez’s penalty sent Sun-derland through to a meeting with third-tier Bradford in the fifth round. (ap)

AP Photo/Jon Super

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, left, fights for the ball against Cambridge’s Greg Taylor during their English FA Cup fourth-round replay soccer match between Manchester United and Cambridge at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday Feb. 3, 2015.

Prince Ali taking on Blatter, FIFA ‘culture of intimidation’

uel Pasqual’s cross over Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski from close range.

The two combined again in the final minute, with Gomez controlling another Pasqual cross before firing under the bar.

The Germany striker, who suffered a serious knee injury last season, has now scored four goals in two Italian Cup match-es, as well as once in the two league matches between those cup games. (ap)

98 InternationalThursday, February 5, 2015 International Thursday, February 5, 2015

Sp rt

Although Cambridge failed to match the “giant-killing” feats of Bradford and Middlesbrough, which knocked out Chelsea and Manchester City respectively in the fourth round, the visitors did have an early chance to score at Old Trafford.

After 50 seconds, Daley Blind slipped and somehow sent Tom Elliott through on goal. The striker, seemingly taken aback by the scor-ing opportunity at Old Trafford, just about managed to maintain his balance and bent a shot past goalkeeper David de Gea with the instep of his right boot. Luckily for the hosts there was not enough curl on the shot, which hit the outside of the post and bounced to safety.

The 20-time English champions regained their composure, but the 4-1-4-1 formation seemed to hinder their ability to carve open the away defense. Wayne Rooney, marooned out on the right side, had United’s first shot on target but it was a weak effort. Nothing was really going for United and its fans became impa-tient. Cambridge fans were reveling in the fact that they were holding a team sat 79 places above them in the league pyramid.

But their defense was finally breached in the 25th minute. Angel di Maria latched on to a clever pass from Paddy McNair and whipped a cross to the back post. Marouane Fellaini nodded the ball down to Mata and he stabbed the ball in off the bar. Seven minutes later, the nerves inside Old Trafford eased further as the lead was doubled.

Fellaini’s shot was deflected into the path of Robin van Persie and

ROME — Roma’s miserable year continued as it lost 2-0 at home to Fiorentina and was eliminated from the Italian Cup quarterfinals amid the boos of its own fans on Tuesday.

Mario Gomez scored twice for Fiorentina, which lost last year’s final to Napoli at Roma’s Stadio Olimpico and now faces a semi-final against Juventus.

“Reaching the semifinal was a very important goal for all of us,” Gomez said. “We lost here last year against Napoli and, who knows, maybe we’ll be back.

“It was a very difficult period for me, I was out for a year, but I needed time to return to my best, I needed to play.”

Roma was loudly booed at the end of the match and the players trudged despondently down the tunnel after being called over by the team’s fans and told in no uncertain terms to give more on the pitch.

After beginning 2015 with a narrow win over Udinese, four successive draws have seen Roma fall seven points behind Serie A leader Juventus and the capital side’s title hopes slip away.

Gomez, who ended an eight-month scoring drought at the end of November, broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, dinking Man-

FRANKFURT, Germany — Bayern Munich remained win-less in the second half of the Bundesliga season after holding on with 10 men to earn a 1-1 draw with Schalke on Tuesday. The defending champion retained its eight-point lead over Wolfsburg, which clinched a late 1-1 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt. Wolfs-burg beat Bayern 4-1 on Friday but needed a late equalizer from Kevin de Bruyne to escape with a point.

Bayern lost Jerome Boateng to a red card in the 17th minute and was lucky not to fall behind as goalkeeper Manuel Neuer easily caught the resulting penalty from Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. Ar-jen Robben put Bayern ahead in the 67th but Benedikt Hoewedes equalized five minutes later.

Also, Borussia Moenchengla-dbach beat Freiburg 1-0 and Hannover and Mainz drew 1-1. Bayern dropped points at home for the first time this season, while Schalke stayed fourth. Boateng was sent off for bringing down Sydney Sam as he surged forward. Choupo-Moting’s pen-alty was low and weak, and Neuer had no problem diving to his left to smother the ball.

Schalke did not change any-thing in its game plan and mostly defended despite being a man up. Bayern controlled the game but produced few chances in a dull contest. Bayern coach Pep Guar-diola brought in striker Robert

Lewandowski early in the second half, livening up the match. The home team went ahead when Robben headed in a corner from Xabi Alonso.

Schalke’s goal also came from a corner, with Sam providing the cross for Hoewedes to head home. “It’s frustrating,” Robben said. “We go ahead and then we let him score. We were down a man but we ran and fought, and controlled the game, so it’s dis-appointing. “Schalke didn’t do anything, they only defended. We didn’t allow any counter-attacks, we played much better than against Wolfsburg.”

Bayern failed to exploit the inexperience of 19-year-old Ti-mon Wellenreuther, who made his Bundesliga debut in Schalke’s goal in the second half, replacing the injured Fabian Giefer. Ein-tracht was also coming off a 4-1 loss in Freiburg and shored up its defense against Wolfsburg.

Frankfurt was the better side and Stefan Aigner scored in the 58th. But De Bruyne followed up his two-goal performance against Bayern by notching the equalizer in the 88th.

Wolfsburg’s latest signing Andre Schuerrle was not in the squad. Patrick Herrmann scored in the 23rd to secure third-place Moenchengladbach’s win. Jimmy Briand scored in the 26th for Hannover, but Elkin Soto earned a draw for Mainz in the 77th. (ap)

PARIS — Brazilian defender Maxwell’s goal was enough to send defending champi-on Paris Saint-Germain into the League Cup final after a 1-0 win at Lille on Tuesday.

The left back scored in the 27th minute, running onto a pass from Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani and firing into the top left corner as PSG recorded a sixth straight win in all competitions.

PSG created the early chances, with Lille goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama saving

smartly from Cavani and Brazilian winger Lucas.

Coach Laurent Blanc’s side will meet either Monaco or Bastia in the final on April 11. They play their semifinal on Wednesday.

Lille did not threaten until the 40th minute when midfielder Idrissa Gueye’s powerful shot was blocked, and striker Kevin Koubemba’s drive in the 63rd drew a save from Nicolas Douchez. (ap)

LONDON — Seeking to clean up scandal-scarred FIFA would seem a comparatively straightfor-ward mission for Prince Ali bin al-Hussein compared with one of his current roles in Jordan. “I work right now in the field in cri-sis management, which is prob-ably a good thing for someone running for a FIFA presidency,” the Jordanian royal said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

It is seven years since the Princeton University-educated prince established Jordan’s se-curity and crisis management center. It is a job he will step aside from if successful in his bid to unseat Sepp Blatter in May to take control of world football.

The prince was speaking in London just as Jordan was con-tending with the security crisis created by the Islamic State extremist group in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Hours after Prince

Ali’s interview in London, a Jor-danian pilot captured by the IS group was confirmed as having been killed.

“We are very, very concerned,” the prince said. “This is a global phenomenon which affects all of us ... it’s a world threat and one that will take a while to resolve.” As a FIFA vice president and head of the Jordanian football federation, the prince is troubled by the impact too on the sport as IS has gained territory.

“There are concerns ... I did volunteer to go to Iraq to see what can be done to help them play the sport they love,” he said. “Foot-ball should not be held hostage to anyone. It’s global, it’s for the world.”

The prince’s own position at FIFA relies on him preventing Blatter from winning a fifth, four-year term in May, with his own four-year spell representing Asia on world football’s govern-

ing body ending soon.Although the FIFA presiden-

tial poll is of the 209 national as-sociations, the perception is that Blatter’s re-election is a formality given how many countries ben-efit from FIFA’s financial support for development projects. The prince believes there is a “culture of intimidation” sustaining the 78-year-old Blatter’s reign with a fear of speaking out.

“I have never been intimidated myself, but I do know there is a little bit of a culture of fear and ramifications, especially for members who maybe are not England or the U.S., but for smaller FAs who get a lot from FIFA,” the prince said. “I under-stand the concerns that doing the right thing might harm the sup-port that they get.” The prince’s election nominations came from the United States, England, Be-larus, Malta, Georgia and his homeland. (ap)

Defending champion PSG beats Lille to reach League Cup final

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez, center, celebrates with his team-mates after he scored during an Italian Cup, quarterfinal match between Roma and Fiorentina, at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

Roma out of Italian Cup after 2-0 loss to Fiorentina

AP Photo/Kerstin Joensson

Bayern’s Arjen Robben from the Netherlands celebrates after scoring during the soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and FC Schalke in the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

10-man Bayern held 1-1 by Schalke

Man United beats 4th tier Cambridge in FA Cup replay

LONDON — Manchester United overcame fourth-tier Cambridge in an FA Cup replay on Tuesday, winning 3-0 less than two weeks af-ter a humbling 0-0 draw. Juan Mata, Marcos Rojo and second-half substitute James Wilson scored to send United through to a fifth-round match at third-tier Preston. “I think that is our greatest chance to win a title,” United manager Louis van Gaal said of his team, which is third in the league and not in Europe.

the striker curled a short-range cross with the outside of his left boot to find Rojo, who headed in his first goal for the club. As the second half progressed, Cambridge began to tire. De Gea saved Robbie Simpson’s header, but Cambridge rarely crossed the halfway line.

After Di Maria and Van Persie came off, their replacements combined for the third goal in the 73rd minute. Ander Herrera drove at the Cambridge de-fense and laid the ball off for Wilson, who smacked a powerful low shot across goalkeeper Chris Dunn into the far corner. The night’s other FA Cup replay saw Sunderland come from behind to beat Fulham 3-1.

After Hugo Rodallega put second-tier side Fulham in front, a fumbled own goal by goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli gifted Sunderland the equalizer. Ricardo Alvarez’s strike and Jordi Gomez’s penalty sent Sun-derland through to a meeting with third-tier Bradford in the fifth round. (ap)

AP Photo/Jon Super

Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney, left, fights for the ball against Cambridge’s Greg Taylor during their English FA Cup fourth-round replay soccer match between Manchester United and Cambridge at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday Feb. 3, 2015.

Prince Ali taking on Blatter, FIFA ‘culture of intimidation’

uel Pasqual’s cross over Roma goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski from close range.

The two combined again in the final minute, with Gomez controlling another Pasqual cross before firing under the bar.

The Germany striker, who suffered a serious knee injury last season, has now scored four goals in two Italian Cup match-es, as well as once in the two league matches between those cup games. (ap)

Thursday, February 5, 2015 7SportsThursday, February 5, 201510 InternationalInternationalDestination

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TABANAN - Mengesta village is not only beautiful to look at because of its cool nature, but also famous for chal-lenging adventure by using all-terrain vehicle (ATV). The adventurers from different parts of the world are used to conquer the winding and steep route. Even, once spending holidays on the is-land, they try more than once because it is really absorbing. One of the operators offering this kind of adventure at this location is Bali By Guard. It is located at Kedampal hamlet, Mengesta village,

Penebel subdistrict, Tabanan, or about 45 km northwest of Denpasar. By riding the ATV tourists are invited to explore the countryside, see terraced rice fields as well as local cultural activities.

Riding the ATV here requires a tech-nique and intelligence to complete each route. At least, there are four routes where each of which has its own uniqueness. The route passes through the village in the midst of the activities of local residents, muddy subak area with terraced rice fields, moor and river with swift streams.

It is really spurring the adrenaline. Activi-ties of rural people become the companion on the way because almost all the people are friendly and nice. They include the lo-cal farmers cultivating the farmland. The distance to be covered is more than 5 km and may take about 1.5 hours to 2 hours with three stopovers.

After halfway, all the participants are invited to relax amidst the subak area with verdant rice fields. Chatting in a small hut while drinking coffee, tea or min-eral water with refreshment can elevate

a very beautiful experience. Or you can sit together with farmers in the rice field while talking about their farmland. Dur-ing the planting or harvest season, ritual activities can spice up your adventure in the countryside. Balinese girls passing in traditional attire with the background of Mount Batukaru become a nice spectacle. In school holiday season, local children are bathing in the pristine river with crystal clear water exuberantly. Hunting dragon-fly or dragonfly nymph and eel are some activities they like best. (kmb)

An-dre Iguodala

added 17 points, and Marreese Speights finished with

17 points and eight rebounds to help the Warriors sweep the four-game series with Sacramento for the sec-

ond straight season. DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Rudy Gay scored 20 for the Kings.

De t ro i t ’s D .J . August in had 25

points and 13 assists as the Pistons closed the first quarter on a 25-1 run, going on to beat the Mi-ami Heat 108-91. Chris Bosh scored 34 points, includ-ing 21 in the third

quarter, but no-body else provided

much help offensively for Miami, which was

still without injured star Dwyane Wade. Detroit is now 2 1/2 games behind Miami and Charlotte, which occupy the last two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

At New York, Avery Bradley scored 26 points and Jared Sullinger

added 22 as the Boston Celtics end-ed a three-game losing streak with a 108-97 victory over the Knicks.

Bradley shot 11 for 14 from the field for the Celtics, who rediscovered their offense after a lineup change that put rookie Marcus Smart in the backcourt with Bradley. Smart made con-secutive 3-pointers during the Celtics’ 14-2 start, and they never trailed. Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points for the Knicks, who had won five of seven during their best stretch of the season. The Philadelphia 76ers downed the Denver Nuggets 105-98 after Hollis Thompson scored a career-high 23 points.

Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Robert Covington added 17 points for the improving 76ers, who won their third straight home game for the first time since March 2013. Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points to pace the Nug-gets, who dropped their 10th in 11 games. (ap)

ReNAulT has revealed that its Formula 1 testing efforts at Jerez have been hurt by reliability worries over what it calls a “stupid part” on its engine. While rivals Mercedes and Ferrari made an encouraging start to their 2015 programmes, Renault outfits Red Bull and Toro Rosso have had a tougher time. AUTOSPORT has learned that concerns about the durability of a small metallic shaft that is related to the Renault ERS water pump has left both its teams having to limit their maximum stint lengths.

Renault’s managing director Cyril Abiteboul revealed that the problem with the part only emerged in dyno testing last week - which meant it was too late to sort out a solution for this week’s running at Jerez.

However, a proper fix will be in place for the next test, which starts at Barcelona on February 19. “We know what the issue is; we know what we have to do,” Abiteboul told AUTOSPORT. “It is just that logistics did not allow for this to take place here. “It is a metallic shaft that we have to change, and we have to optimise and review the design.

“It is something that was working very well last year, but we decided to change and improve it a bit further with the overall packaging of the engine to also support Red Bull in their attempt to also have very good packag-ing. That is why we did not really care for that part.

“Usually you have very spe-cific simula- tions,

design tests, and validation pro-tocol. But honestly we did not do it for this part because it is such a stupid part...”

As well as the issues with the metal part, Ricciardo had to have an engine change on Tuesday and both Red Bull and Toro Rosso have encountered battery prob-lems related to unrefined mapping settings. Abiteboul says that the reliability problems that Renault have encountered in testing are the consequence of its aggressive push to close down the gap to Mercedes this year.

“We are trying to keep things calm and under control,” he ex-plained. “I think strategically for this season and next season, the sort of gap that we have to face is not the sort of gap that you can recover in one winter.

“It is such an environment that we have no choice but to be a late braker. And when you are a late braker in this business you must be prepared to take some risks and see a few issues on track.” (net)

Kindle your adrenaline at Mengesta Village

IBP/File Photo

‘Stupid part’ blights Renault teams’ Jerez Formula 1 test

AP Photo/Ben Margot

Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) is helped back onto the court by fans during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on Friday, Jan. 23, 2015, in Oakland, Calif.

Warriors ride hot first-half stretch to beat Kings, 121-96

SACRAMeNTO, California — Stephen Curry had 23 points and nine assists as the Golden State War- riors rode a 23-0 spurt in the first half to beat the Sacramento K i n g s 121-96 on Tuesday. The Warriors shut down Sacramento f o r more than seven minutes at the end of the first quarter

and start of the second quarter to take an 18-point lead. They went ahead by 20 at the half and 25 in the third quarter before holding off a brief Kings comeback.

Thursday, February 5, 2015 Thursday, February 5, 20156 11International International

INDONESIAW RLD

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo revealed that next week, he will solve the issues arising due to the cancellation of Commis-sioner General Budi Gunawan’s inauguration as the police chief.

“I will solve all next week. There are matters that I must resolve first,” he stated on the sidelines of a coordination meeting of the Na-tional Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Wednesday.

The head of state said he will firstly deal with “other matters” this week, and thus, the Budi Gunawan issue would be solved next week.

President Joko Widodo is sched-

uled to leave for a four-day visit to Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and the Philippines on Thursday.

Syafi’i Ma’arif, the chairman of the nine-member team set up by the president to conduct a fact-finding mission on the Corruption Eradica-tion Commission (KPK)-police con-flict, has recommended that the head of state should find other candidates to fill the post of police chief.

The ongoing KPK-police conflict surfaced after the anti-graft body named Budi Gunawan, the sole candidate for the Indonesian police chief’s post, a suspect in a corruption case on January 13, 2015.

The KPK investigators accused Budi Gunawan of receiving bribes through a suspicious transaction when he headed the Police Head-quarters’ Career Planning Bureau during the 2003-2006 period and held other posts in the police.

Amid the conflict, certain ele-ments in the society filed reports about the alleged wrongdoings of four KPK commissioners, includ-ing Bambang Widjojanto, to the police.

However, the only KPK commis-sioner who has, so far, been named a suspect by the police is Bambang Widjojanto. (ant)

None of the 33 people on board were hurt when the turboprop jet belonging to Indonesian flag carrier Garuda slid about 10 metres (33 feet) off the runway into the grass at the airport on Lombok island, said the spokesman.

The ATR 72-600 plane was ar-riving from the neighbouring island of Bali, also a popular holiday desti-nation, when the accident happened on Tuesday evening.

“All the people on board -- 29 passengers including a baby, and

four crew members -- are safe and unhurt,” spokesman Ikhsan Rosan told AFP.

Everyone on the plane was able to disembark using the normal stairs, he said. News website Detik reported that the airport was closed after the accident but reopened for smaller aircraft on Wednesday.

It was the latest accident to hit the aviation sector in Indonesia, adding to concerns that safety standards are failing to keep pace as the vast archipelago’s skies become

increasingly crowded.An AirAsia plane crashed into

the Java Sea on December 28 dur-ing what was supposed to be a short flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.

The Garuda accident came the day before a TransAsia Airways plane -- also an ATR 72-600 -- clipped a road bridge and plunged into a river outside Taiwan’s capital, leaving at least 11 feared dead. (afp)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Ah-madis are no strangers to persecu-tion, with attacks and discrimi-nation rife, but leader Iskandar Gumay hopes better days are ahead for the minority Muslim sect under new President Joko Widodo.

The cleric has witnessed at-tempts to torch his mosque and seen worshippers elsewhere pre-vented from burying their dead, however he believes a draft law shows Indonesia’s leader is com-mitted to tackling religious intol-erance.

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority na-tion, has seen its image as tolerant and pluralist suffer due to a spike in religious violence. As well as Ahmadis, minority Muslim Shiites and Christians have been targeted in the Sunni-majority country.

The Indonesian constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Six faiths are officially recognised -- Islam, Catholicism, Protestant-ism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

But this has not stopped attacks, and Ahmadis in particular have been targeted by hardline groups who oppose the sect’s belief that a lesser prophet followed Moham-mad.

Gumay says Ahmadis are some-times denied ID cards, while his sister was refused a marriage certificate because the authorities claimed she was not a Muslim.

Just west of Jakarta his fellow Ahmadis have faced much worse, with three adherents of the sect brutally murdered by a mob in 2011 as police stood by.

Gumay believes the new presi-dent faces a challenge addressing this scourge but is confident Wido-do, a reformist who has pledged to defend religious minorities, is up to the task.

“If the spirit of Jokowi... comes down through the government to the people, I think things will get better,” he told AFP, referring to the president by his common nickname.

The new legislation, expected to go before parliament in April, is an ambitious step towards bolstering protection.

The bill, which is still being drafted, will guarantee religious minorities protection from per-secution, the head of research in the ministry of religious affairs, Abdurrahman Mas’ud told AFP.

It will outlaw the destruction of houses of worship and aim to offer

protection not just to those whose religions are recognised under the constitution, but all minorities.

The law is being pushed by new Religious Affairs Minister Luk-man Hakim Saifuddin, who has been praised for his progressive attitude.

Many different belief systems are practised in Indonesia, from animism to those that mix aspects of Islam with local tribal customs, although more than 90 percent of Indonesians describe themselves as Muslim on their ID cards.

In another move that won praise, the new government recently ended the requirement for people to select one of the officially recognised religions on their cards, instead allowing them to put nothing.

The new approach is a stark contrast to Widodo’s predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He was criticised for inaction on hardline groups during his 10-year tenure, and for remaining quiet as politicians rammed through changes that activists claimed were a backwards step for religious freedom.

Strict new approval processes for houses of worship ushered in in 2006 prompted the closure of hundreds of churches, while another ministerial decree two years later that outlawed the spread of Ahmadi-yah teachings prompted an increase in attacks against the sect.

The courts meanwhile took a soft approach to perpetrators of re-ligious violence, with the accused often given light sentences or go-ing unprosecuted altogether.

Twelve men charged with beat-ing the three Ahmadis to death in 2011 were given sentences of three to six months, despite the entire grisly incident being captured on video and widely circulated throughout the country.

Persecution has continued in re-cent years, with regular reports of minority Muslims and Christians being targeted.

While there is optimism about the new government’s approach, there is also much scepticism in a country with a poor record on protecting minorities.

Even if the law gets through par-liament, some are concerned that local authorities in the sprawling archipelago, where power is heav-ily decentralised, may continue to pass discriminatory bylaws that en-able persecution. Others question Widodo’s long-term committment to helping minorities. (afp)

Plane skids off runway on Lombok

JAKARTA - A passenger jet skidded off the runway as it landed at a holiday island in central Indonesia, a spokesman said Wednesday, just weeks after the deadly crash of an AirAsia jet in the archipelago.

Minorities hope for a safer future under Widodo

ANTARA FOTO/Ismar Patrizki

Indonesian President Joko Widodo revealed that next week, he will solve the issues arising due to the cancellation of Commissioner General Budi Gunawan’s inauguration as the police chief.

President vows to solve Budi Gunawan issue next week

“The start of Pueblo is an enor-mous step forward to a world free of chemical weapons,” said Paul Walker, who has tracked chemical warfare for more than 20 years, first as a U.S. House of Representatives staffer and currently with Green Cross International, which advo-cates on issues of security, poverty and the environment.

The work starts less than a year after chlorine gas killed 13 people in Syria in April 2014. Interna-tional inspectors concluded last month that the gas had been used as a weapon. Before the chlorine attack, 1,400 people were killed in a 2013 nerve gas attack in Syria, the U.S. said.

Pueblo has about 780,000 shells containing mustard agent, which can maim or kill, blistering skin, scarring eyes and inflaming air-ways. Mustard agent is a thick liquid, not a gas as commonly believed. It’s colorless and almost odorless but got its name because

impurities made early versions smell like mustard.

After nightmarish gas attacks in World War I, a 1925 treaty barred the use of chemical weapons, and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Conven-tion set a 2012 deadline to eradicate them. Four nations that acknowl-edged having chemical weapons have missed the deadline: the U.S., Russia, Libya and Iraq. The cost of safely destroying the weapons, and concerns about public health and the environment, have slowed the process, experts say. Violence in Iraq also has been an obstacle.

Libya expects to finish in 2016 and Russia in 2020, according to the Organization for the Prohibi-tion of Chemical Weapons, which oversees the Chemical Weapons Convention. Iraq’s completion date is unknown.

The U.S. amassed 30,600 tons of chemical weapons, both mustard agent and deadly nerve agent, much of it during the Cold War. The Army

described them as a deterrent, and the U.S. never used them in war. Nearly 90 percent of the U.S. stock-pile has been eliminated at depots in six states and Johnson Atoll in the Pacific, mostly by incineration.

Coloradans worried, however, about mercury vapor from incinera-tion, said Irene Kornelly, a member of the Pueblo Citizens Advisory Commission, a liaison group estab-lished by Congress. The opposition in Colorado and in Kentucky, where chemical weapons are stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Rich-mond, prompted Congress to order alternatives.

The Army will use two methods for the Pueblo stockpile. In March, the first of an estimated 1,400 shells that are leaking or otherwise dam-aged will be placed in a sealed steel chamber with walls up to 9 inches (23 centimeters )thick. Explosives will tear open the shells, and the mustard agent will be neutralized with chemicals. (ap)

VALHALLA, New York — A crowded commuter train slammed into a sport utility vehicle on the tracks at a suburban New York crossing and burst into flames, killing seven people and seriously injuring nearly a dozen, authori-ties said. The collision involving a Metro-North Railroad train and a Jeep Cherokee Tuesday evening in Valhalla, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of New York City, sent hundreds of passengers scrambling to get to safety. Authori-ties said the impact was so forceful the electrified third rail came up and pierced the train.

Killed were the SUV’s driver and six people aboard the train, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, making this crash the railroad’s deadliest. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said the front part of the train was “completely charred and burned.” “I am amazed anyone got off that train alive. ... It must have been pure panic, with the flames, the third rail and the smoke,” he said.

Astorino said 12 people were injured, 10 of them seriously. Authorities said the SUV’s driver had gotten out of her vehicle mo-mentarily after the crossing’s safety gates came down around her. She then got back in and was trying to drive forward when she was hit, they said.

“You have seven people who started out today to go about their business and aren’t going to be making it home tonight,” Cuomo said Tuesday at the crash site. The northbound Metro-North Railroad

train left Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan around 5:45 p.m. and struck the SUV about 45 minutes later. It was unclear how fast the train was going, but the maximum would be 60 mph (96.5 kph), a railroad official said.

The train shoved the SUV about 10 train car lengths. Smoke poured out of the scorched front rail car, its windows blackened. “This is a truly ugly and brutal site,” Cuomo said. Witnesses said they saw the flames shooting from where the crash occurred, in a wooded area near a cemetery.

Ryan Cottrell, assistant director at a nearby rock climbing gym, said he had been looking out a window because of an earlier, unrelated car accident and saw the train hit the car, pushing it along. “The flames erupted pretty quickly,” he said. Passengers described a bump and said they smelled gasoline from the vehicle.

Around 650 passengers likely were aboard the train, including Justin Kaback, commuting home to Danbury, Connecticut. “I was trapped. You know there was people in front of me and behind me, and I was trapped in the middle of a car and it was getting very hot,” he told ABC News. “All the air was turned off so there was no circulation so it was definitely scary especially when people are walking by on the outside and they said, ‘The train’s on fire. There’s a fire.’” Passengers were moved to the rear of the train so they could get off. Buses picked them up and took them to other stations. (ap)

AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

In this Jan. 29, 2015 photo, protective suits for workers used in chemical munitions destruc-tion hang inside the Pueblo Chemical Depot, east of Pueblo, in southern Colorado. The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remaining stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells, a milestone in the global campaign to eradicate a debilitating weapon that still creeps into modern wars.

US to destroy its largest remaining chemical weapons cache

PUEBLO, Colorado — The United States is about to begin destroying its largest remain-ing stockpile of chemical-laden artillery shells, marking a milestone in the global campaign to eradicate a debilitating weapon that still creeps into modern wars. The Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado plans to start neutralizing 2,600 tons of aging mustard agent in March as the U.S. moves toward complying with a 1997 treaty banning all chemical weapons.

AP Photo/The Journal-News, Frank Becerra, Jr.

Firefighters work the scene of a collision between a Metro-North Railroad passenger train and a vehicle in Valhalla, N.Y., Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015.

Commuter train slams into SUV on tracks, killing 7 people

Bali News Thursday, February 5, 2015 5InternationalThursday, February 5, 201512 International

BUSINESS

With Internet-based apps and services like Uber, Airbnb and others, you make money, and the consumer saves. So it’s a win-win? That’s the multibillion-dollar question.

The new way of operating has been reshaping entire economic sec-tors, with the promise of improved efficiency and more flexibility.

The spectacular rise of ride-sharing, home-sharing and other services turned these economic models upside down, and has fueled complaints that these services effectively skirt rules on safety, consumer protection and labor rights.

Some economists say this “peer-to-peer” model offers numerous advantages by tapping underutilized resources.

The sharing economy “can im-prove consumer welfare by offering new innovations, more choices, more service differentiation, better prices and higher quality services,” says a study by George Mason University economists.

Researcher Christopher Koopman, an author of the George Mason report, said the sharing economy “allows people to take idle capital and turn them into revenue sources.”

“People are taking spare bedroom, cars, tools they are not using and be-

coming their own entrepreneurs.”There is no official definition of

the sharing economy. Some include online delivery services like Instacart and Postmates; neighbor-sharing plat-forms like Peerby; pet-sitting service DogVacay; and the restroom service Airpnp.

The research firm PwC estimates that five sharing economy segments -- finance, online staffing, accom-modation, car sharing and music or video streaming --could be worth $335 billion by 2025, up from just $15 billion today.

“The sharing economy will be part of the overall economy going forward,” said technology strategist Mary Jesse in a blog post.

Uber is the best known platform in the sharing economy, having reached a valuation of $40 billion while ex-panding to more than 200 cities in 54 countries. But Uber and similar ser-vices like Lyft and Sidecar have fueled heated protests from taxi drivers, who complain that the new entrants don’t have to meet the same requirements for licensing, safety and insurance, making the competition unfair.

Airbnb, the leading online platform for peer-to-peer lodging, has sparked similar complaints from the hotel sec-tor. Responding to complaints, the San

Francisco startup recently expanded efforts to collect lodging taxes in some locations.

Other services in the sharing economy include “Feastly,” which allows individuals to cook meals for customers; Vinted, a marketplace for unwanted clothing; and Lending Club, one of several platforms for peer-to-peer loans.

Dean Baker, an economist with the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said these players can thrive largely because they don’t play by the same rules as incumbents.

“It doesn’t make sense to have a regulated sector and another one where the rules don’t apply,” Baker told AFP.

“What you want to do is separate out is where they deliver innovation or create a real benefit.”

Baker said ride-sharing services have raised particular concerns be-cause drivers are competing against taxis, which are limited by most cities under a licensing scheme such as the “medallions” in San Francisco which can sell for $250,000 or so.

“There is an issue of fairness,” Baker said. “If the cities want to let anyone drive, they should buy back the medallions.” (afp)

TOKYO - Sony on Wednesday cut its full-year loss forecast by more than a quarter to $1.4 billion, point-ing to its latest three-month results that benefited from a weak yen and improving smartphone sales.

The struggling consumer elec-tronics firm said it now expected to lose 170 billion yen in the fiscal year to March, down from an earlier loss forecast of 230 billion yen, as it also cited lower restructuring costs.

Sony’s projected earnings im-proved as its October-December net profit more than tripled from a year earlier to an estimated 89 bil-lion yen.

Operating profit doubled to 178.3

billion yen as sales grew 6.1 per-cent to 2.55 trillion yen, Sony estimated.

The Tokyo-based firm released the estimates after saying it would delay releasing finalised numbers until at least next month after a cy-berattack at its Hollywood film unit linked to North Korean satire “The Interview” compromised “a large amount of data”.

The company has said that the hack attack was unlikely to have a material impact on its financial results.

Sony’s improving results were primarily “due to the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates, a

significant increase in mobile com-munication segment sales reflecting an increase in unit sales of smart-phones” among others, it said in a statement.

Revenue from image sensors and its PlayStation games business also picked up, it said.

But revenue was down in the movie and television production business.

Restructuring costs in the quarter were reduced by a third from a year ago, it said.

For the nine months to December, Sony estimated it had a net loss of 20.1 billion yen, reversing 9.9 billion yen in profit a year earlier. (afp)

TOKYO - Toyota on Wednes-day raised its earnings forecast for the year to March, saying it expects to book a record $18.1 billion an-nual net profit thanks to a weak yen and cost cuts.

The revision marked the second upgrade for the fiscal year to March as the world’s biggest automaker lifted its net profit estimate to 2.13 trillion yen from an earlier 2.0 tril-lion yen forecast.

The Corolla and Camry maker also said sales would come in at 27 trillion yen, up from an earlier 26.5 trillion yen forecast.

Operating profit would be 2.7 trillion yen, against a previous 2.5 trillion yen estimate, it added.

“While we expect a reduction in vehicle sales, we are raising our operating income forecast ... factoring in the change in our foreign exchange rate assump-tion and the progress in our profit improvement activities, such as cost reduction efforts,” Toyota’s managing officer Takuo Sasaki said in a statement.

Also Wednesday Toyota said it booked a 1.7 trillion yen net profit for the nine months through De-cember, up from 1.5 trillion yen a year earlier.

Revenue rose 5.2 percent to 20.1 trillion yen in the period.

Japanese car companies have been big winners over the past year as a sharp drop in the yen inflated their repatriated profits, while sales demand has also picked up in the key North American market.

“We expect Toyota to benefit from both developed market recov-eries and emerging market growth,” Barclays said in report before the earnings were published.

“(The company) is building a highly lucrative operating structure while continuing long-term devel-opment/investment,” it added

In Japan, nine-month sales de-clined to 1.53 million units from 1.64 million vehicles, as consumer demand continued to be hit by a sales tax rise last April -- Japan’s first in 17 years.

In North America, however, sales rose 7.4 percent to 2.11 mil-lion units.

“In the US, we expect a new-model offensive to support volume growth reining in sales costs amid a firm overall demand recovery,” Barclay’s said.

Toyota also enjoyed sales gains in Europe, but results in Asia slowed. (afp)

‘Sharing economy’ reshapes markets, as complaints rise

WASHINGTON - Want to make a bit of extra cash driving strangers around in your car, tak-ing care of someone’s dog, renting your apartment or cooking a meal? Welcome to the sharing economy.

Sony cuts full-year net loss forecast to $1.4 billion

AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

Visitors look at Toyota cars at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. Toyota raised its earnings forecast after third quarter profit jumped 14 percent, boosted by a weak yen.

Toyota raises full-year profit forecast to record $18 billion

On Jalan Wanara Wana, for example, a number of vehicles still use half of the road body as a parking space. Motorcycles or cars are parking here. Dominantly those vehicles are owned by tour guides as well as hotel and restaurant employees. Obviously, this condi-tion shows the look of chaotic path on Monkey Forest road section to Ubud Palace.

Along Jalan Hanuman and Jalan Dewi Sita can also be encountered similar sight. Half of the road body remains to be used for vehicle park-ing space. Unavoidably, it results in congestion whose peak happens at 12:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

However, a different look oc-curs on Jalan Suweta located in the north of Jalan Wanara Wana. Traffic condition at this road section runs smoothly. The smoothness posed the test result of the traffic arrange-ment in Ubud area from February 2 to March 3, 2015. As an arrange-ment effort in Ubud region, the Head of Gianyar Transportation, Informatics and Communication Agency, Cokorda Gde Agusnawa,

explained that based on the results of meeting it had been agreed to make a trial by banning parking on Jalan Suweta from Catus Pata (central intersection) to Ubud cen-tral parking on both road sides from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Parking on Jalan Suweta is only allowed on the west side starting at 6:00 p.m. to 8:50 a.m. Dropping-off or loading zone on Jalan Suweta was allowed in the north of wantilan hall of Desa Temple of Ubud and Jalan Wanara Wana, in the east of Ubud headman’s office.

In the traffic calming area (pav-ing block) on Jalan Wanara Wana starting in front of the Tropica Seafood and Grill to Catus Pata is prohibited to park on both sides. Parking prohibition on both road-sides also applies in the area of the traffic calming zone on Jalan Cok Sudarsana from in front of the Ubud Market / Ari Medika Pharmacy to Lotus Café.

Cok Agusnawa expected vehicles to park in the allowed parking space or in the central parking available. Meanwhile, for bus the parking

space allowed is in the area of the outermost courtyard of Dalem Puri Temple, Monkey Forest and exist-ing private central parking.

When asked about the condition of Jalan Wanara Wana, Jalan Dewi Sita and Jalan Hanuman remain-ing to become parking space, Cok Agusnawa said that when parking space at Padang Tegal had been prepared, the parking at roadside at the three road sections could surely be diverted. “If the Padang Tegal customary village can pre-pare parking space, I will abolish the parking (at roadside—Ed),” he promised.

Meanwhile, Regional Secretary of Gianyar, I.B. Gaga Adi Sapu-tra, revealed that traffic arrange-ment test was a serious attempt of Gianyar government with local community to immediately obtain a solution against congestion in Ubud. He also hoped the support and cooperation of the people, community leaders and tourism stakeholders in Ubud denoting the key factor of the problem solving in Ubud. (nik/dar)

AMLAPURA - Tenganan Village or better known as Tenganan Pegringsingan is one of many ancient villages on the Island of Bali. Life pattern of the community reflects the culture and customs of Bali Aga (pre-Hindu) tradition being different from other villages in Bali.

On that account, Tenganan Village is developed into one of the objects and cultural tourist attractions. Tenganan Pegringsingan sits in the Manggis Subdistrict, about 17 km from Amlapura town—regency capital of Karangasem—5 km from Candidasa tourist resort, and about 65 km east of Denpasar. Another attraction owned by Tenganan Village is the Mekare-kare ritual tradition or better known as ‘pandanus war.’

Mekaré-kare is the culmination of a series of Ngusaba Sambah ceremonial procession held in June lasting for 30 days. During a month long procession, the Mekaré-kare event is organized for 2-4 times and each event will be accompanied with the presentation of offerings to the ancestors. Mekaré-kare or ‘pandanus war’ is carried out by men from children to old people.

As the name implies, the means used are thorny pandanus leaves cut into pieces along ± 30 cm as a weapon and accompanied with a shield which serves to fend off the attacks from the scratches of pandanus thorn conducted by the opponent. Any injuries caused by scratches of the pandanus thorn will be smeared with herbal ingre-dients such as galangal, turmeric, and some others.

Mekaré-kare essentially has the same meaning as the cockfighting usually performed by Hindus in Bali when carrying out religious ceremonies. Mekaré-kare event is always accompanied by native gamelan music to Tenganan Village, known as Selonding. (kmb)

Mekare-kare Tradition at

Tenganan Village

IBP/File Photo

IBP/Manik

On Jalan Wanara Wana, for example, a number of vehicles still use half of the road body as a parking space.

Ubud remains chaotic, parking problems unfinished

GIANYAR - Various endeavors have been carried out by Gianyar government to overcome the chaotic traffic in Ubud and surrounding areas. One of them is by providing a central parking located on Jalan Suweta, precisely in the area of Batukaru Temple. However, the area of 2,200 square meters with the capacity of more than 200 cars is not necessarily overcoming the chaos in the three road sections becoming the pockets of parking, namely the Jalan Wanara Wana, Jalan Dewi Sita and Jalan Hanuman.

International4 Thursday, February 5, 2015 Thursday, February 5, 2015 13InternationalBali News

The photos are the first images of the revolutionary leader since a set of photos came out in August showing him talking with Venezu-elan President Nicolas Maduro.

Perdomo said that he and Cas-tro met for more than three hours in the former leader’s house after an event celebrating the 70th anniversary of Castro starting his studies at the University of Havana.

The student leader said Castro said that he is keeping abreast of the news and performing daily ex-ercises, and he engaged Perdomo in a wide-ranging discussion of topics including international

politics, agriculture, astronomy, and even Namibia’s donation of animals to Cuba’s National Zoo.

Perdomo said the two men dis-cussed the release of three Cuban intelligence agents as part of the Dec. 17 declaration by Cuba and the United States that they would move to re-establish full diplo-matic relations. The photos show Castro examining a newspaper report on their release.

“He’s full of life, he keeps up his exercises and he reads closely,” Perdomo told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said that Castro rose from his seat without help, read several articles without help

and remembered details of past events with astonishing recall.

Castro did not issue a public statement for nearly a month after the announcement that Cuba and the U.S. were mov-ing to re-establish full diplo-matic relations. Castro’s public appearances and statements have become increasingly infrequent since he stepped down from duties as president after a serious illness in 2006 and handed over leader-ship to his younger brother Raul. His unusually lengthy silence after the Dec. 17 announcement sparked intense speculation about his health. (ap)

BANGKOK — Thai authorities issued arrest warrants Wednesday for two suspects wanted in connection with a pair of small bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok that wounded one person.

Police have released blurry images of two men seen on closed-circuit camera footage close to where the homemade pipe bombs detonated Sunday. One man in the footage is carrying a small bag over his shoulder.

National police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thawornsiri described the pair as “Asian-looking.” But police have given few other details and have not yet identified the pair by name.

After Prawut spoke to reporters, a Bang-kok court approved arrest warrants for the unidentified men.

Police say the explosive devices were designed to cause panic, rather than death, but it’s not known why they were planted and no one has claimed responsibility.

Thailand’s military overthrew the South-east Asian nation’s elected government in May, and analysts say the army is likely to use Sunday’s blasts as a reason to prolong martial law.

The explosions came a little more than a week after the junta-appointed legislature formally impeached former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the leader of the ousted government, for her role in oversee-ing a government rice subsidy program that lost billions of dollars. (ap)

Cuba publishes first photos of Fidel Castro in 5 months

AP Photo/Desmond Boylan

Student leader Randy Perdomo Garcia shows pictures of his meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday Feb. 3, 2015. Cuba has published the first photos of Fidel Castro in five months, showing the 88-year-old former leader engaged in conversation with the head of the main Cuban student union.

HAVANA — Cuba has published the first photos of Fidel Castro in more than five months, showing the 88-year-old former leader engaged in what appears to be a lively conversation with a university student. Nearly two dozen images were published virtually simultaneously on the websites of Cuba’s main state media outlets around midnight Monday. In them, Castro is seated and discussing cur-rent events with the head of the main Cuban student union. A first-person account by student leader Randy Perdomo Garcia says the meeting took place on Jan. 23.

AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Photos of two suspects believed linked to a pair of small bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping mall in Bangkok over the weekend, are shown by police officers at the police headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015.

Thailand issues arrest warrants for Bangkok bombing suspects

A legislator of the Denpasar House from Sesetan, Gede Semara, who met at his office on Tuesday (Feb 3) admitted to have received many complaints on the condition of the asphalt of the road section. Other than bumpy, many parts of the asphalt layer already flaked off, especially on the edge of the DSDP box controller.

He said that other than bumpy, there were also a few small potholes making them prone to accident. Those small potholes were alleged to occur as a result of frequent stagnant water on the road section because when it rained the run-off could not directly flow into nearest drains. Even, the rainwater stagnat-ed for quite a long time on the road. As a result, such condition acceler-ated the road damage.”In the future, we expect there will be drain repair, so that no stagnant water occurs on the street,” said Semara.

According to Semara, the bumpy condition happened due to poor paving workmanship of the exca-

vated area such as in front of the SMA Harapan high school. As a result, many riders crashed. “In or-der to avoid the continued increase in casualties, we expect the repair of Jalan Raya Sesetan can be given priority,” said Semara doubling as Chairman of Commission IV of the Denpasar House.

Semara hoped that other than the roads, the drain and sidewalk along Jalan Raya Sesetan also needed to be given attention. For instance, the drain had started to be getting shal-lower because it was rarely dredged. Likewise, many sidewalks were broken and damaged by the roots of shade tree that appear to the surface.

“Other than condition of the drain and sidewalks, the presence of shade trees must also be evaluated. If possible, they need to be rejuve-nated by planting trees that do not damage pavement,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of mega projects would be worked on by the Denpasar Public Works Agency in 2015, especially those in the field

of Highway Development with a total budget of IDR 45 billion. More allocations would be given to construction project, road improve-ment, pavement installation and supervision.

“Of the four areas existing in the Public Works Agency, Highway Development (Bina Marga) indeed gets the most budget. It happens because it works on large enough physical projects,” said the Head of Denpasar Public Works Agency, I Ketut Winarta.

He described that of a total budget worth IDR 45,104,725,020, the Highway Development divi-sion was further divided into three programs. Firstly, it was allocated to road and bridge construction pro-gram with a total budget worth IDR 40,919,177,020. “The first program consists of five activities such as the increase of road, supervision, plan-ning, construction of bridges and sidewalks,” he said accompanied by Highway Development Division Head, Dirgayasa. (kmb12)

GIANYAR - Sample test of fruits, especially the imported apples circulating widely in Gi-anyar, indicated negative result or did not contain Listeria monocy-togenes bacteria. It was the result of the bacteria test against apple conducted by the Agency for Food and Drug Control (BPOM) Den-pasar with Gianyar government on January 28.

The test result of samples was delivered on Tuesday (Feb 3) via e-mail to Spokesperson of Gianyar government. According to the report on the results of the tests performed by the Microbiological Testing Division Head of the BPOM Den-pasar, Ni Putu Teny Desyani, there were three apple samples taken in Gianyar to be tested in roving van. The three samples included the Granny Smith and Royal Gala apple taken at Hardy’s and the Gala apple taken at Made Dami Store at Buruan, where the results were entirely negative.

Although the test results of the samples made by the BPOM Denpasar declared if the imported apples were safe from Listeria monocytogenes bacteria, Regional

Secretary of the Gianyar govern-ment, I.B. Gaga Adi Saputra, al-ways reminded people of staying cautious if they wanted to consume it. It included avoid any unwanted things.

The regional secretary of Gian-yar also urged people to make local fruits such as rambutan, snakefruit, tangerine or mango their prominent fruits. They were not inferior to imported fruits. Even, they were healthier and the price was much cheaper. “Local fruits are much healthier because they are not given preservative such as wax or the like,” he said.

Making local fruits the promi-nent ones, in addition to cheap and healthy, they could also help the economy of fruit growers in Gianyar. Gianyar actually had lots of local fruits with superior quality. The potential of local fruit in Gi-anyar was quite diverse and spread across all the subdistricts. One of them was the temple orange from Taro village, Tegallalang subdistrict which had penetrated the supermar-kets in Gianyar and Denpasar,” said the Head of Gianyar Agriculture Agency, Dewi Hariani. (kmb16)

IBP/Gung Dar

The local fruit should become the main product in Bali.

Negative, test result of imported apples

Residents complain about bumpy asphalt

IBP/Wawan

The officers are fixing the road in Denpasar area.

DENPASAR - Traffic density on Jalan Raya Sesetan is pretty high. Unfortunately, condition of the asphalt is bumpy and has potholes at many points. As a result, many riders get accident. Similarly, this condition is complained by a number of residents and road users.

3Thursday, February 5, 201514 InternationalInternational Bali NewsHealth Thursday, February 5, 2015

The evidence is so strong, the experts said, that health watchdogs should overhaul guidelines for elec-tronic device use by youngsters.

The team carried out an investiga-tion among nearly 10,000 people aged 16 to 19 in Hordaland county, western Norway, in 2012, they reported in the journal BMJ Open on Tuesday.

The teens were questioned about their sleeping patterns, how long they looked at a screen outside of school hours and the type of gadget they used.

The respondents said they needed between eight and nine hours’ sleep on average to feel rested.

Those with screen time of more than four hours per day were three-and-a-half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night, the probe found.

They also were 49 percent likelier to need more than 60 minutes to fall asleep. Adults normally nod off in under 30 minutes.

The study also confirmed what many parents of a sleepy teen have

experienced already -- using an elec-tronic device in the hour before bed-time badly affects both onset of sleep and its duration.

In particular, teens who used a computer or mobile phone in the last hour were 52 and 48 percent likelier to take more than 60 minutes to fall asleep.

They were also 53 and 35 percent likelier to lose out on two or more hours of sleep.

Somewhat smaller risks of delayed or shortened sleep were observed among youngsters who used an MP3 player, tablet, game console or TV in the final hour before bedtime.

The researchers, led by Mari Hys-ing at a regional centre for child health in the city of Bergen, point to several possible explanations.

One is quite simple: that teenagers are getting to bed later -- screen time eats into sleep time.

Another idea is that the bright light from devices interferes with circadian rhythm, the day-night system that tells our brain when we should sleep and

when we should wake up.There could also be muscle pains,

tension or headaches, for instance from playing a game for too long.

The media content, too, may play a role by causing “increased psy-chophysiological arousal” -- which means the mind is spinning just as it should be slowing down for the night.

“The recommendations for healthy media use given to parents and adoles-cents need updating, and age specific guidelines regarding the quantity and timing of electronic media use should be developed,” the study said.

The current recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics set down in 2004 is to not have a TV in the bedroom.

“It seems, however, that there may be other electronic devices exerting the same negative influence on sleep, such as PCs and mobile phones,” said the study.

“The results confirm recommen-dations for restricting media use in general.” (afp)

MIAMI - Vigorous exercise such as fast running might be harmful to your health over time, according to a Danish study Monday that found light jogging is best for longevity.

People who did not jog at all were just as likely to die as people who jogged strenuously and often, according to the 12-year study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

But those who jogged lightly, between one and 2.4 hours per week, were the least likely to die suddenly, said the findings based on 1,098 healthy joggers and 413 healthy but sedentary non-joggers in the Copenhagen City Heart Study.

Researchers had access to records that tracked hours of jogging, frequency and the individual’s perception of pace.

The optimal frequency of jogging was no more than three times per week, and slow to moderate joggers expe-rienced significantly lower mortality rates than fast-paced runners.

“It is important to emphasize that the pace of the slow jog-gers corresponds to vigorous exercise and strenuous jogging corresponds to very vigorous exercise,” said Peter Schnohr, a researcher from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, Fred-eriksberg Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark.

“When performed for decades, this activity level could pose health risks, especially to the cardiovascular system.”

Past research has found similar correlations between light to moderate exercise and long life, as well as the higher death risk associated with vigorous exercise.

“If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good strategy,” Schnohr said.

“Anything more is not just unnecessary, it may be harm-ful.” (afp)

MIAMI - Women whose bodies contained high levels of certain chemicals found in plastics and cosmetics experienced menopause two to four years earlier than women with lower amounts in their systems, US researchers said Wednesday.

While the study in the journal PLOS ONE did not prove that the chemical exposures caused earlier menopause, study authors said the associations they uncovered merit further research.

“Chemicals linked to earlier menopause may lead to an early decline in ovarian function, and our results suggest we as a society should be concerned,” said senior author Amber Cooper, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecol-ogy at the Washington University School of Medicine.

The findings were based on a nationally representative sample of 1,442 menopausal women, whose average age was 61.

None of the women were taking estrogen-replacement therapies, nor had they undergone surgery to remove their ovaries.

Researchers examined the wom-en’s blood and urine for signs of 111 chemicals that are suspected of interfering with the natural produc-tion and distribution of hormones in the body, the study said.

They found 15 chemicals that were significantly associated with earlier menopause and declines in ovarian function.

They included nine polychlori-nated biphenyls (PCBs), three pes-ticides, two phthalates --- which are typically found in plastics, common household items, pharmaceuticals, lotions, perfumes, makeup, nail pol-ish, liquid soap and hair spray -- and a toxic chemical known as a furan “that warrant closer evaluation,” the study said.

Ovarian function is important because without it, women are infertile and may be at risk for earlier development of heart dis-ease, osteoporosis and other health problems.

“Many of these chemical ex-posures are beyond our control because they are in the soil, water and air,” Cooper said.

“But we can educate ourselves about our day-to-day chemical exposures and become more aware of the plastics and other household products we use.”

She recommended people use glass or paper containers when microwaving food, and minimize their exposure to harmful chemicals in the cosmetics and personal care products they choose.

The study was funded by the US National Institutes of Health. (afp)

Screen time affects teens’ sleep

PARIS - Parents have long suspected it, but now doctors have proof: the more time teenagers spend on computers or mobile phones, the less they sleep -- especially if the gadget is used just before bedtime.

Plastic chemicals linked to earlier menopause

Light jogging is best for a long life

AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

A couple men make their way around the jogging and cycling

trail in Allegheny County’s North Park. Vigorous exercise such as fast running might be harmful to your health over time, according

to a Danish study Monday that found light jogging is best for

longevity.

It was conveyed by the Rector of the Mahasaraswati University Denpasar, Dr. I Made Sukamerta, in Denpasar. “High dropout rate has become an opaque portrait of the edu-cation in Bali so that it needs a serious attention. Do not be half-hearted. Set out a strategic program with careful planning and a clear performance target,” he said.

He added the issues of dropout in elementary, junior high and high school or vocational school could not be underestimated. Likewise, it was closely related to the problems of poverty in the community. Admitted-ly, the dropout students were largely derived from poor family so that if children did not get eligible educa-tion, at least high school or vocational school, they would be unable to get a better job and could not get out of the cycle of poverty and help their family. On that account, the disbursement of scholarship assistance for the poor (BSM) from the government was expected to be increased and should be right on target and distributed to those who were worthy to receive and need it.

“Many dropout students are in rural areas, poor areas and their par-ents are farmers. The government

SINGARAJA – Repairs to agricul-tural irrigation systems in Buleleng require assistance from various parties in order to preserve the paddy fields, and support food security in the region. Farmers use their respective fields and irrigation water as provided through farmer groups called sekaa. The roles and responsibilities of farmers are stated in a bylaw known as awig-awig and these responsibilities are discussed through the assembly of residents in the form of customary meetings.

Agriculture in Buleleng has been supported by awareness of the com-munity who have enforced these bylaws which they grew up with. This has ensured that minimal amounts of land conversion have occurred here, allowing the land to remain beautiful. Paddy fields, as a crucial part of life

in Bali, have been preserved thanks to Balinese people who have imple-mented the Tri Hita Karana concept of harmony. Tri Hitta Karana refers to the parahyangan (spiritual), pawongan (social) and palemahan (environmen-tal) relationships that we all share.

“As the chief of subak organiza-tion, I always suggest that every subak member refrain from converting their productive lands into buildings. I often remind people in the area of Subak Banyumati to not let our village be transformed into a tourist attraction. We enforce strict bylaws so that we can save the paddy field irrigation water and ensure food security in Buleleng,” said I Ketut Darsana, Chief of Subak Banyumati, Umaanyar vil-lage, Seririt.

So far there have been no further

A school dropouts become scavengers to help parents make a living. Dropout rate in Bali is high enough namely reaching 5,886 students within the past five years so that it becomes a severe slap for the education field on the Island of the Gods.

High dropout rate opaque portrait of education in Bali

DENPASAR - Dropout rate in Bali is high enough namely reaching 5,886 students within the past five years so that it be-comes a severe slap for the education field on the Island of the Gods. It is also becoming an opaque portrait of the education field in Bali. Therefore, a serious commitment is required from central government as well as provincial and county/municipal government and all relevant stakeholders to improve and build the education in Bali, chiefly in suppressing the dropout rate so that the 9-year compulsory education program will not become a utopian program.

should prioritize the education in rural areas by improving education and infrastructure. The BSM must be increased to the areas and facilitate the educational access to the public and improve the infrastructure to school. Educational facilities should not just be concentrated in urban areas,” said Sukamerta.

He also worried about the plan of provincial government that would reduce the budgetary support for basic and secondary education in the county and municipality with the reason that it would focus on the education in high school and vocational school and the school for the disabled which had be-come its responsibility and authority in accordance with the Law No.23/2014. If the provincial budget to elementary and junior high school was terminated, the basic education was feared to even lack of budgets and the dropout student could increase because the BSM was reduced. By all means, it would even become contradictory and counter-productive. Basic education should still receive more attentions because it was the foundation of education for the next level. If the quality of basic education was poor, the quality of student output to secondary education would also be poor.

“If the budget for the primary and junior high school is indeed reduced by provincial government, the drop-out rate will increase and the 9-year compulsory education will not reach the target. Necessarily, the provincial and county / municipal government still has to have a shared responsibility to fund all levels of the educational unit. The government must think that education is the key to advanced society,” he said.

Separately, the Head of Bali Educa-tion Agency, Tjok Istri Agung (TIA) Kusuma Wardhani, confirmed that Bali government continued to focus on improving the quality of educa-

tion in Bali, especially in suppressing the dropout rate. Various attempts had been made such as increasing the scholarship for the poor (BSM) for elementary, junior high and high school / vocational school students throughout Bali, facilitating educa-tion access for the poor in rural areas, providing boarding house at a number of schools for poor students who lived far from school to the assistance of infrastructure and educational facili-ties for school.

“High dropout rate is also caused by the culture of our society. Many children are still reluctant to attend school and prefer to help parents

work although we have prepared a wide range of assistance such as the school operating assistance (BOS) and scholarship for the poor (BSM). Thus, we expect that local leaders such as hamlet chief and headman to participate in giving understanding to parents and students so as to take lon-ger education and we are concerned to help with a variety of programs,” she said. (wid)

Subak preservation, productive land not converted

IBP/Dewa Kusuma

Repairs to agricultural irrigation systems in Bule-

leng require assistance from various parties in or-der to preserve the paddy

fields, and support food security in the region.

sanctions imposed on people for abusing their land by converting its usage. Nonetheless, Umaanyar vil-lagers remain firm in their awareness of the philosophy of paddy fields as a source of life. Thanks to this aware-ness, many different types of rice

grow in the area. “Indeed, there have been no sanctions imposed on rule-breaking subak members. Maybe we will start to apply sanctions early next year, so that the government will also participate in providing stricter rules,” he said. (kmb34)

International2 Thursday, February 5, 2015 15International Activities

Bali News

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

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

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

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

Balinese Temple Ceremony

Thursday, February 5, 2015

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

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With Mataram being Lombok’s commercial center and seat of government, the hotel aims to bring a breath of fresh air to Lom-bok’s limited choices of business traveler focused accommodations offering 117 functional and mod-ern guest rooms in the for fave-hotels typical edgy and cheerful design, 4 meeting rooms, ample of parking space, an eclectic café shop/restaurant and of course as in every fave, truly high speed, complimentary and reliable Wi-Fi throughout the entire property.

“favehotels has gone from strength to strength over the years winning numerous award and accolades as Indonesia’s most

Every single unique property built must be in accordance with the intended market. On that ac-count, Avilla Hospitality with a vision to become a local cham-pion in Bali has determined the target market. “I learned about differentiation from Hermawan Kartajaya,” said Director of Op-erations of the Avilla Hospitality, Henry Setiono.

Henry Setiono explained that Avilla set foot in Bali in 2005. So far, there are nine brands managed by the Avilla Hospitality. Collabo-ration is the key word. “One of our business units is the Bale Udang Mang Engking, a restaurant in collaborate with one of the leading restaurants in Jogjakarta opening a branch in Bali. From the idea, it then came out the Bale Udang Mang Engking that has been en-riched with local flavor of Bali,” said the bespectacled man.

The other cooperation, he add-ed, is with one of the international surf brands and Bliss Wayan Hotel so as to create a thematic hotel for surfers-wanna-be. “There are many more examples of our properties making collaboration

IBP/Courtesy of Archipelago International

The first favehotel opened in LombokLOMBOK – Archipelago

International’s popular select service hotel brand, favehotel, is making its debut on the flourishing island of Lom-bok with the opening of the favehotel Langko Mataram – Lombok presenting a vivid alternative for business and leisure travellers seeking a reasonably priced, yet modern, comfortable and professionally managed hotel.

popular budget hotel brand. We are delighted to be marking yet another milestone with the opening of our first fave in Lombok which is also the first

international standard select service hotel on the island.” Said Norbert Vas, Archipelago International’s VP Sales & Marketing. (r)

Profile

Henry SetionoIn accordance to intended market

IBP/kmb

with another brand differentiation to further strengthen our property,” he said. In addition, with a limited budget, the strategy of low budget high impact of Hermawan is totally applied at the Avilla. Focus on digital marketing

strategy is made by building social media platform. “Repeater guests are the most effective marketing for the Avilla this time,” he added. The Avilla Hospitality continued to develop itself to seek strategic partners. (kmb)

Local resident, Wayan Artayasa, conveyed the severity of the situation on Tuesday (Feb 3). He explained that con-ditions have been such for a long time. “During the dry season, I am forced to buy water at a very high price; IDR 200,000 for 5,000 liter. This amount of water lasts for about 20 days, so it adds up to a lot of money,” he said.

Artayasa and others catch rainwater using 3x2 meter tarpaulin, and the re-sulting water looks more like a catfish pond with greenish water. “I haven’t had enough money to built a permanent reservoir, so I use this tarpaulin in the mean time,” said Artyasa.

All local residents catch rainwater from the roof of their houses channeling it into make-shift reservoirs. This water is used for cooking, drinking and sanita-tion purposes. When asked whether the rainwater causes illness, Artayasa said that it had not. “Thankfully, it has not caused any diseases so far,” he said.

When asked about the nearest water

springs, Artayasa said there was no spring near the village. Residents had no choice but to buy water during the dry season. Nengah Tegteg, another resident of Landih village confirmed such condi-tions saying that during the rainy season, he and others used rainwater because buying so much water is simply not an option given that he and his neighbours work as farmers. Nengah explained say-ing: “my income is extremely modest, so that I take advantage of rainwater so that I don’t have to purchase water.”

Artayasa hopes that local govern-ment can provide a permanent reservoir because tarpaulins do not last very long.. Apart from not having a spring nearby, badly damaged roads in the area make access to water even more challenging.

Another resident, I Wayan Karsa, said that all he could do was to surrender to the government. Karsa said that the road is damaged due to high volume of traffic during the tangerine harvest. (sos)

SEMINYAK - Double Six Luxury Hotel Seminyak orga-nized melaspas or inauguration ceremony on full moon, Tuesday (Feb 3). The ceremony taking place at the local hotel was at-tended by the owner, family of the owner, General Manager, Corporate Management and the entire hotel staff.

Peak of the event held on the second day was officiated over by Ida Pedanda Gde Made Jelantik Karang from Griya Buda Keling, Karangasem. On the same day, it was also held the ceremony of rishi gana, mendem pedagingan, ngenteg linggih and padudusan agung.

Corporate Sales & Public Rela-tions of Double Six Luxury Hotel

Seminyak, Dayu Basmiari, con-veyed the purpose of the ceremony was to purify the shrines and hotel buildings. “This hotel has been in operation for seven months in which currently the buildings and shrines have been totally accom-plished,” she said on the sidelines of the event.

The ceremony, continued Bas-miari, was also meant to give posi-tive energy to staff, management and guests who stayed at hotel. On that account, the in-house guests were also invited to come. “We provide the opportunity for the in-house guests to see the ceremo-nial procession. Even, we provide them with traditional Balinese at-tires,” she explained friendly.

More interestingly, the cer-

emony was accompanied with several Balinese art performances such as the Rejang Dewa Dance, Sidakarya Mask and Bondres Gag. The performance aimed to complete the ceremonial pro-cession as well as enliven and entertain guests. In addition, they also had the opportunity to enjoy the Balinese dishes presented in buffet style.

Basmiari hoped the ceremony would help strengthen and develop the Double Six Luxury Hotel spiri-tually. “The owner of this hotel is a native to Bali. So, 99 percent of the human resources employed are the locals. I am confident this hotel is not less competitive against the other hotels in terms of quality,” she said optimistically. (ocha)

IBP/Bit

A couple who are making bricks are working to fulfill the demand of the customers. The demand from bricks are increasing due to the development of housing in Bali

With no other source, residents rely on rainwater

IBP/Sosiawan

One of the water reservoir made by the locals to collect water from the rain.

BANGLI - residents of Pondok Glagah, Buayang hamlet, Landih village, Bangli, long for water services so that they do not have to rely on rainwater nor buying expensive water to meet their daily needs.

Inauguration ceremony at Double Six Luxury Hotel

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Thursday, February 5, 2015

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radio.com or live video streaming at http://radioglobalfmbali.com and http://ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.

The death toll was expected to rise as rescue crews cleared the mostly sunken fuselage in the Kee-lung River a couple dozen meters (yards) from the shore. Teams of rescuers in rubber rafts clustered around the wreckage.

The ATR-72-600 prop-jet air-craft was flying on its side, with one wing scraping past Taiwan’s busy National Freeway No. 1 just sec-onds before it plunged into the river, local television images showed. It had taken off from Taipei’s down-town Sungshan Airport en route

to the outlying Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands.

Civil aviation officials said the flight took off at 10:53 a.m. and lost contact with controllers two min-utes later. Thirty-one passengers were from China, Taiwan’s tourism bureau said. Kinmen’s airport is a common link between Taipei and China’s Fujian province.

Taiwan’s Central News Agency said 12 people were killed.

Wu Jun-hong, a Taipei Fire Department official who was coor-dinating the rescue, said the victims

were among 27 people pulled from the plane. The remaining people were unaccounted for, and were ei-ther were still in the fuselage or had been pulled downriver, he said.

“At the moment, things don’t look too optimistic,” Wu told re-porters at the scene. “Those in the front of the plane are likely to have lost their lives.”

Rescuers were pulling luggage from an open plane door to clear the fuselage, and Wu said they planned to build a pontoon bridge to facilitate those efforts.

The plane’s wing also hit a taxi, the driver of which was injured, on the freeway just before it crashed into the river, Taiwanese broad-caster TVBS reported.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it had sent 165 people and eight boats to the riverside res-cue scene, joining fire department rescue crews.

A TransAsia media office de-clined comment on possible reasons for the crash, deferring to a news conference scheduled for later on Wednesday. Taiwan’s Civil Aero-nautics Administration also was also unable to discuss possible causes of the crash.

A plane operated by the same

Taipei-based airline crashed in the outlying Taiwan-controlled islands of Penghu last July 23, killing 48 at the end of a typhoon for reasons that are still under investigation.

Wednesday’s crash is likely to further hurt the reputation of the 64-year-old airline along with that of the Civil Aeronautics Adminis-tration. (ap)

As does director Paul Tibbitt’s new movie, which is zany and clever and fun (and in 3D), as long as you can take 93 minutes of it. That may depend on your age. As I exited the theater I heard a father telling his young son wearily, “That’s about all the SpongeBob I can take.” The son, it seemed, could have taken a few hours more.

The movie — the second feature-length outing for the durable Nickelodeon TV character, and the first since 2004 —begins somewhere above the undersea hamlet of Bikini Bottom, where SpongeBob lives. We meet a nefarious pirate character named Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas, in live action and game for anything), tracking down a precious ancient book via his treasure map.

The book tells the story of Bikini Bottom — a device to bring newcomers up to speed. (In a clever touch that parents will like, an old library card shows the previous borrowers, who include Davy Jones. “This is way overdue,” the pirate says.) We learn how Bikini Bottom is addicted to Krabby Patties, the succulent burgers made only at Krusty Krab, the fast-food joint where SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny) works for Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), who keeps the secret recipe stowed away in a vault.

Back down in Bikini Bottom, rival restaurant owner Plankton is trying to steal the formula, as usual. He fails, but the formula actually disappears. The two rivals join forces to find it, and this quest drives the movie, with many a wacky tangent awaiting — including time travel and even space travel, up to a weird platform somewhere in the universe where a porpoise who sounds delightfully like Christopher Walken makes sure the planets don’t collide.

But back to the recipe. It’s an urgent mission, because

without its beloved snack, Bikini Bottom falls immediately into an apocalyptic state, with everyone wearing leather and turning evil. They’re hungry — very hungry.

Eventually, SpongeBob and his posse, which includes series regulars Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence) and of course starfish Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), will end up traveling somewhere they’ve never been: Up to the surface, and out of the water. Here, they assume their new, 3D form, the better to run around the beach (peopled by live-action humans) and track down the villainous Burger Beard, who’s up to something nasty.

This isn’t a battle to be fought by mere, well, pup-pets — and so they make another transformation, into glorious superhero versions of themselves, the better to battle that snack-stealing pirate and rescue their desperate hometown.

Kids, likely, will be the prime audience for these ener-getic shenanigans. Adults may prefer the clever wordplay. “Unleash the condiments!” Krabs says at one point in a battle. “With relish!” SpongeBob replies. There’s also a cute visual gag making fun of those of us who would never mix the garbage with the recycling.

It’s striking to realize that SpongeBob, the character, is more than 15 years old in sponge years (the TV series’ creator, Stephen Hillenburg, is an executive producer here.) He’s isn’t slowing down. If you like the yellow guy on TV, you should have a good, squishy time here, too.

“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,’” a Paramount release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture As-sociation of America “for mild action and rude humor.” Running time: 93 minutes. Three stars out of four. (ap)

AP Photo/Wally Santana

Emergency personnel try to extract passengers from a commercial plane after it crashed in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. A Taiwanese flight with 58 people aboard went sideways, clipped an elevated roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island’s capital of Taipei.

Taiwan plane crashes, 12 killedTAIPEI — A Taiwanese flight with 58 people aboard went sideways, clipped an elevated

roadway and careened into a river Wednesday shortly after takeoff from the island’s capital of Taipei, killing at least 12 people, local media and officials said.

LOS ANGELES - Iggy Azalea has soared to stardom as a rare white woman in hip-hop, but her meteoric rise has triggered a backlash that re-veals much about the music business’s fault-lines on race and gender.

The 24-year-old Australian, who released her first full album just nine months ago, is up for four Grammy awards on Sunday, including the prestigious Record of the Year for her smash hit “Fancy.”

But even as Azalea wins plaudits from the industry and packs arenas, detractors see her as uncanny or even offensive -- a white, blonde woman who raps in an accent that is identifi-ably African American.

Her most vociferous critic has been fellow rapper Azealia Banks, a black woman who has accused Azalea of mocking African Americans.

Banks, who has never been nomi-nated for a Grammy, charged that

Azalea -- whom she taunted as “Igloo Australia” -- shied away from issues important to the black community such as police brutality.

“When they give these Grammys out, all it says to white kids is, ‘Oh yeah, you’re great, you’re amazing, you can do whatever you put your mind to.’

“And it says to black kids, ‘You don’t have shit -- you don’t own shit, not even the shit you created for yourself,’” Banks said in a radio interview.

Azalea -- who moved to the United States as a teenager to pursue her hip-hop dreams and has been romantically linked to African American men -- has denounced Banks as a “bigot.”

“There are many black artists suc-ceeding in all genres. The reason you haven’t is because of your piss poor attitude,” Azalea wrote on Twitter. (afp)

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies

This image released by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies shows characters, from left, Mr. Krabs, Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, Squidward Tentacles, and SpongeBob SquarePants in a scene from “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.”

SpongeBob’s back, on a zany venture up to our world

Would that all of our brains resembled that of SpongeBob SquarePants — and we’re talking about his actual brain, like, the cerebral matter located somewhere inside that porous yellow body. When, in the thoroughly enjoyable (though somewhat exhausting) “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water,” the tiny, scheming Plankton takes a surreptitious trip into one of those sponge-holes, he finds a brain coated with cotton candy, rainbows and all manner of sweets, like a scene from “The Nutcracker.” It’s enough to make a cynical little organism sick, but it makes us love sweet SpongeBob even more.

Iggy Azalea rise tests music industry on race, gender

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP